Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1896-08-31
IsAw CLOUDS OF HoRsEMEN.

tire by General Hancock and his staff, to
whom the dashing Custer and six troops of
the Seventh cavalry from Fort Hayes acted
as an escort.
At this time the Kansas Pacific railroad
was about to send several corps of engi
neers toward the Pacific. and as the sue
cess of the survey depended from the start
on the friendliness of the nomad tribes
this council was called to secure it.
Roman Nose, chief of the Arapahoes,
was by all odds the most prominent and
picturesque figure among the Indians
After the treaty was made Roman Nose
took n fancy to cavalry buglc and the
full dress coat of Lieutenant Duncan
Graham, and the general, to make the
compact doubly sure, gave him these arti.
cles
Confident that the Indian war was over
for that summer at least, the engineer ad-
vance proceeded from Salina, Kan. then
the farthest western railroad point, to Fort
Wallace, near the Colorado line
General Hancock went on to Wallace,
where Captain Keogh was then in com.
mand, and he took the troop with him to
Denver, thing Hancock would not have
done had he the faintest suspicion that the
Indians had already violated the treaty
| and were then numbering white men along
the Kaw and the Smoky Hill rivers.
Lieutenant Beecher, Il nephew Of the IA
nous clergyman, was at that time quar-
termaster at Wallace. He was killed by
the Indians q few weeks after this, but in
the meantime he was busy getting up the
| necessary buildings, and for this purpose
had opened a quarry of magnetism lime
stone. This quarry was on the southern
edge OF the military reservation, which the
engineers were then laying out. and some
| 90 civilians were employed in getting out
stone.
After Keogh left with General Hancock
the uniformed fighting force at Wallace
| consisted of about IS men, under command
of First Lieutenant Bell.
Ono morning early was startled by
hearing the beating of the long roll fol-
lowed by the hoarse shouting of excited
men. Then came q loud rapping with the
butt of a carbine on my cabin door, and an
Irish sergeant shouted:
Get up at once, sir!''
What for?" asked.
1.-THE 1njuns are about the fort in
swarms They are attacking the men in
the quarry cabins. Just hear the yelling
Of the devilsr'
| BY this time was up and dressing The
sergeant went on, and looking out the lit.
tie window at the back I saw clouds Of
horsemen galloping over the rolling plains.
Many time before this had been
startled from weary man s sleep by drum
| or bugle, and l awoke to the fierce yells OF
Drawer men, and the rafting, irregular fire
of vedette or skirmisher that always struck
me as a weird prelude to the opera of death
but was never SO completely demoralized
as on this occasion.
l dressed, strapped on my pistols ant
threw myself into the saddle, Beecher hav
ing thoughtfully sent me a good mount
1--WE must save the men at the quarry, >
said Bell, who rode up at the head of hi
little band
| IF you take so many men from tn,
fort, said Bennett, the post scout and in
terpreter, 1.-The Indians will sweep in here
for there's no defense and only about 2;
civilians. 1t looks to me like suicide -
with 90 men in the main building, tn
only one they can't fire." said Beecher
l"I'll contract to stand off . 900 till Custe
sends or brings help from Hayes; SO wad
In, Bill. See! The red dogs have fired tn
building over at the quarry
Cp against the rising sun black smok
pillars rose, and through this the centaur
like savages plunged like demons born @
the fire.
Riding beside Bell, and with our heav
American horses leaping the buffalo wal
lows and plunging into the prairie do
holes, felt that our men were hardly
} match for an equal number of the viii
!, horsemen in our front.
The night before the rolling plains wer
black with buffalo. This morning |
looked as If thousands Of mounted Indian
had taken their place
Beyoud Pond creek and a few hundre
yards from the quarry we dismounted, an
. single volley from the spencers of til
troopers opened up wide path to the from,
was now in position to take in tn
whole situation. The Indians. in bands &
% or 100, galloped all around US, takin
care, however, to keep out of range Their
were al least 1900 Warriors presen,
Through my feldglass most Of them locke
to be naked A few had rifles and pistol
but the weapons were principally speal
and arrows
II Conspicuous among the red riders was
man mounted on q large gray horse. b
! directed The movements Of his warriors