The people's journal. (Pickens, S.C.) 1891-1903, 1896-11-05
CHAPTER "

CllAIAltlt ~.
Tho winter came on early at cid Fort
hrayno. Even as early us mid. October
tho lco was forming in the shallow
pools along tho Platte, and that ccrcu
THO Stronm itself had tlwindlcd away in
Volume until it seemed but the uloyt OF
ITS former self. Raging and unfordabIo
III Juno, swollen by tho melting SHOWS
or tho Colorado peaks and tho torrents
lrom the Medicine Bow, it spent its
hlrcnSlh III the arid heat of u long. dry
summer and WhCn autumn camc WIS
blllu ;i3 Il mlll stream rs far as the cyo
could reach and fordablc in !: dozen
places within ri1lo shot Of the post.
Many timo did old Fcnton wish it
wasn't. Erayno's reservation was biz
and generous; but, unlucliily, it never
extended across the river. Souuttcrs,
smugglcrs and shurpcrs could not in
trudo upon It's guarded limits along the
southern shore, and tho nearest grog-
gcry-that inevitable accompaniment
OF tho westward march of civilization
was long two miles away down tho
right bank, but only Il pistol shot across
tho stream.
In his day Farrar had wagcd war
against tho runscllcrs on the north
shore and won, because then there were
only soldiers and settlers and no LAWYERS
--outsido the guardhouse--within 80
miles of the post. But with tho lido of
clVlllzatlon came more settlers, and Il
cattle town, and lawyers in abundance,
and with their coming the question ut
Issue became no longer that Of abstract
right or wrong, but how Il jury would
decide 1T, and frontier jury always
decides III favor of tho Suuuttcr and
against the soldier. Fcnton strovc to
take pattern after Earrar and very nearly
succeeded i'll landing himself in jail, as
tho outraged ycndcr went down to Lara.
mic, hired lawyers there, sworc out
warrants OF assault and appealed to his
countrymcn. The fact that no less than
four of the TwriGth within six months
had died with thcir boots ON, victims Of
the ready knives or rcNolvcrS of tho
sQuattclFi across tho stream, had no bear
mS III the eyes Ot the laW. IuntUu had
warned the divclloepcr II dozen times TO
no purpose, but when finally Sergeant
Ialinht was set upon and murdered
there one fine April evening within easy
range, and almost within hearing of his
comrades at ErayDc, EcutOn Groko loose
and said impctuous things, which roach
cd the ears OF his men, who went and
did things equally impctuous, to the
demolition Of tho "shackn and the de-
struction Of its StO>l; Of spirits and gam
bling paraphcrnalia, ana it WAS proved
to the satisfaction Of the jury that Fen
ton dlu not lntrrpOSo to stop tho row
until it had burncd itself and tho
'shack' inside out The people rallied
to tho support of the saloon kCcpcr-hc,
at least, was man and Il brother, u
voter, and, when he couldn't lie out of
it, taxpayer. The officers at Fraync,
on tho other hand, il the opinion of the
citizens of that section Of Wyoming,
WCro none Of the four, and Bunko Jnn's
new resort across the Platte was Il big
Improvement i'll point Of size, though
not in stock or S0nctity, ovcg its prci.c-
CcSS0r. jim ran tcrryOoat for the ben
Gift OF customers from the fort 1t was
forbidden to land ON tho reservation,
but did SO, nevertheless, when the sentry
on tho bluff couldn't sec, and sometimes
it must be owned, whon he could.
The boat WAS used when tho water
was high, tho fords when it was low,
and the ice when it WAS frozen, and it
was q curious thing in winter TO SEQ
how quickly tho now fallen snow would
be scanned with paths leading by
devious routes from the barracks to tho
shore and then across the iccbound
pools straight to BunkO Jim's. Bowling,
as became tho soldier of the republic, to
the supremacy of the civil law, Fenton
40 hc n ,l,,,t
tho whisky, but jim had his full share
Of customers from the fort, and the
greatest Of these it soon transpircd, was
the big recruit speedily known through
out the command as Tough Tom Graico.
Joining tho regiment at tho end Of
September, it was less than Il month be-
foro hc was as well though not as ia
vorably known as the sergeant major.
There is moro than one way of being
conspicuous in tho military service, and
Graico had chosen the worst. Even tho
recruits who camc with him from the
depot, the last lot to be shipped from
that once crowded garner Of "fOod for
POWDER" could tell nothing of his an
tcccdcnts, though they wcro full of
grcwsomo details of his doings since ell
llSllllcHl lit " d' itii tSlIi N'ti'iS tili
billiards, said thcy--for they had found
it out to their sorrow--and demon
when aroused by drink. Twice in
drunken rage nc had assaulted compar-
ativcly iuollonSivo men, and only tho
prompt and forciblo intervention Of
comrades had prevented murder Oh tho
spot, while the traditional habit of tho
soldier OF telling 40 tales had saved
him from richly m0ritcd punishment.
Within the month Of his arrival Ctraico
had made giant strides to notoricty. lie
was q powerful fellow, with fine COM
mand Of language and an education far
superior to that Of the general run Of
noncommiSSi0ncd officers, and it was
among the Younger set OF these he first
achieved q certain standing. Protesting
to hold himself above tho private sol
der, proving himself an excellent ridcl
and an expert i'll drill with carbino o,
sabor, he nevertheless declared 1T Wai