The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1896-01-17
WITHOUT FIRING A SHOT.

WITHOUT FIRING A SHOT.
The Feat OF Forty Men Who Understood
| Indian Supcrstiti0ns -Unwritten History.
| From the Pittsburg Times.
In the pionerr days, to reach Montana
from Cheyenne in Wyoming. required
| roundabout journey that involved a
| double crossing of the Rocky noun
tains, with a change of base at Salt
Lake City. The United States govern
| ment brought about a better condition
| of travel by constructing trail
| through the Gallatin valley along the
course of the Gunpowder river. reach
| ing around the base OF the mountains in
| a curvilinear form, which avoided the
| heights of the Rockies. To protect this
route from marauding Indians three
forts were built-Reno, Phil Kearney
and &. +. Smith. These were garri-
soned by United States troops.
! In 1866 the murderous Sioux from the
| Yellowstone valley pursued a sangui-
nary course through the Gallatin valley
| and into Montana. 1t was marked by
rapine and plunder. They besieged Fort
| Reno and killed many of it's garrison.
| including a brother of A. h. Mcclure.
They environed Fort Phil kearney. and
| wiped from the face of the earth every
| human being whose walls II failed to
protect. They surrounded Fort &. f..
| Smith. where 200 Union soldiers found
| themselves surrounded by more than
| 1000 death-seeking Indians. Escape
seemed impossible. a courier got word
of this condition of affairs to Gen. Han
cock. who was then stationed at St.
| Paul. and he sent messenger to the
| governor of Montana at BoZeman. call
ing upon him to relieve the besieged
| garrison.
The chief executive of the territory Of
Montana a. that time was Green Clay
Smith, who. by the way, recently died
| In Washington. Baptist clergymen.
| He had been u member of congress
| from Kentucky. but President Lincoln
| made him territorial governor of Mon
| tant. He was seated on the porch Of
his residence in Bozeman when Han
| cocks message was handed to him.
| To "a visitor from the East, who was
| seated by his side, and who Is the au
| thority for this narrative, he said:
| What in the name of heaven can |
do? Fort &. +. Smith is 25O miles away.
| The country between here and there is
filled with Sioux Indians. our militia
force consists Of exactly 427 men. Not
| a man of them could reach Fort Smith
| alive. | am absolutely powerless. How
ever. l will send for Colonel Howie."
At that time Colonel Neil HOwies was
| United States marshal for the Territory
| u
| man. He commanded the Montana VOL
unteers. and it has been said Of him that
General Sherman might have been at
| Bozeman City with 5000 troops and the
| people of Gallatin could not have es-
| capped the scalping knife of the savage;
| but Colonel HOWE, with less than 400
| men, protected 100 miles of exposed
| frontier but a little distance from the
| hostile tribes
1t was to this man shat Governor
| Smith addressed himself. handing him
General HancOck's dispatch. and say
| ing: Colonel. we can't do anything
for those poor devils in Fort c. +. Smith.
| We haven't enough men, and those we
| have couldn't get there. Am / not
| right?"
No" said Colonel Howies, quietly.
without any exhibition Of excitement
| and with the gentle voice Of woman.
| There is no trouble about that, Cover
| nor. We can arrange that matter and
still leave the Montana frontier pro-
tected. will need some picked men
and a good leader for them. / think
Captain McCabe is best fitted for this
undertaking. ! will go out and find
him.
Another Blue Eyed Man.
| McCabe was another gentle-voiced
man with blue eyes. He didn't make
much noise. He acted. He said to the
| governor: "Oh, yes; it's easy enough.
But I'll need forty of the best men I can
| select. You can keep the rest of your
volunteer force here Governor Smith
| looked at him in amazement. So did
| the visitor from the fort They both
| thought that he was either insane or a
| braggart. Governor Smith said to him:
How i'm the name of heaven do you
expect to raise the siege Of Fort G. F.
| Smith with forty men. when you know
| that it is surrounded by more than
| 1000 bloodthirsty Indians. and that the
| country between here and there is COW
| cred with thousands more of the lnur-
| derous Sioux
| Said McCabe quietly: "Why, gover-
| nor 1T Is easy enough. The Indians
know us, and know that we know them
| better than they know themselves. You
| folks from the East have an idea that
what you call Indian atrocities are
/ simply unmeaning exhibitions of bru-
| tality: that scalping. for instance, is
| simply a form of torture. In that you
are mistaken. The Indian believes that
no man can go to the happy hunting
| ground-heaven. we call it-who has
been deprived of his hair. Their mo-
| tive In ScalDing a victim is to cary out
| fiendinsh hatred to it's utmost by pre-
| venting him from having happy here
after. My men never kill an Indian
without scalping him. and the Indians
know that. The forty men I will select
| for this expedition are unerring in their
aim with the rifle. They can shoot six
ten shots in sixteen seconds, and every
| ball means a dead Indian. and every
| dead Indian means a scalp. and every
| scalp means warrior deprived eter-
| nally of a chance of ever reaching the
happy hunting grounds. My forty men
will walk from here to Fort c. +. Smith
| without firing ashot."
| ''Incredible!" said Governor Smith,
True" said McCabe.
What was the result.
Forty men walked the $50 miles from
| BOZeman to Fort e. F.. Smith. Indians
| watched them on every side BY days
their progress was signalled by circling
| columns of smoke, and by night by fire
from mountain tops. But not a shot
was fired When they got within sight
of Fort G. +. Smith the 1000 whooping
Sioux who held the garrison i'm siege
fted, and the forty frOntiersmen from
| BoZenan marched I'm and escorted the
| 100 Union soldiers back to the territorial I
| capital without the loss OF life. Not
a shot had been fired. Not a scalp had
| been lifted.
This is unwritten history.
A NOVELTY IN BICYCLES.