The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1897-12-05
THEY POISONED 800.
How Montana Pioneers Retaliated
Upon Murderous Sioux.

Helena independents: The early his
tory of the west is made up of thrill
ing stories of privation and adventure,
and there still remain many who took
part in those stirring times when the
plains swarmed with hostile Indians
and the mountain regions were under
the control of the still more savage
outlaws, who robbed and murdered
with little restraint. Montana has
among it's residents hundreds of pio-
neers, each of whom could tell of in
teresting personal experiences that go
\ to make up the history of the country.
| Some of these stories find their way
| into the newspapers and are preserved;
! but the vast majority of them will die
with the men and women to whom they
! are personally known.
/ The State Historical society has long
made an effort to preserve stories of
| the west in which residents of Montana
! were in any way interested. Every con-
tributiOn of an historical nature is pre-
! served, but, while the collection of the
society is steadily increasing, there is
still a vast amount of material that
| might be secured to it if the pioneers
would take more interest in recording
! early day incidents. The last issue OF
the BOZeman Avant Courier, which was
| received by the society yesterday, con-
tanned a story of frontier history that.
it is believed was never before pub
ished, although il records no less an
event than the killing of almost 800 In
dams. Here is the story:
ed Anderson has just added to his
collection of curios at this Office an ar
rOwhead with d history. 1t killed q
man back in the early days of "a, when
the Indian in all his war paint and
savage splendor, rOamed the whole
west. 1t is about three inches in length,
cut from the shank of a spade or show
el and ground almost as carefully to
an edge as a well made knife or razor;
much finer finished that the usual run
of Indian arrOwheads. 1t was brought
to this country by Peter lie Beau of
Salesville, who tells the following in
teresting story:
In 1854 MI lie Beau, in company
with something over a hundred other
emigrantS and an escort OF nearly 90
soldiers left Minnesota for Idaho all
the present states OF Idaho and Mon
tana being then comprised under that
name. The train was in command of
Captain Fisk, elected captain of the
expedition by the emigrantS. The
troops We're under Lieutenant Smith.
About 90 miles from the Little Missouri
in the Bad Lands of Dakota, one of the
train thought he saw two Indian heads
peering over the bank of the stream on
which they were enCamped. The train
! was doubled and guards put out, but
no attack was made. In crossing the
stream, one OF the army wagons con-
tanning the officers stores was over
turned, and detail OF six men was left
to get it out while the train went on.
The Indians soon began a desultOry at
tack on the train, without, however,
doing much damage. As the one Wogan
did not appear, it was finally decided
/ to return for it. Not man was left
1T5 ho
bodies were hastily buried in one COM
mon grave. Later, the grave was dug
open by wolves, and when the eXpedl-
ton returned that way only the skele-
: tons were found. Mr.. lie Beau found
this arrow, which had been driven
through one poor fellows heart, and
kept it until giving it to the present
. owner.
on breaking camp the soldiers took
q gruesorne revenge on their purSuers.
The hunting had been very poor that
year. and the Indians were we'll nigh
starving. This the soldiers knew, and
they laid their plans accordingly. TAX
ing q box of bareback they put strych-
nine in every piece, then nailed up the
box, and put it in the smoldering
. campfire as they got ready to leave,
:. knowing that the hungry Indians would
soon find it. They did, and almost 300
of Them as was afterward learned,
were killed by the deadly drug. Al
! terward, when the party returned to
the east having given up the thought
of going farther west in the face of the
Indian opposition. they found numbers
of grinning skulls, gnawed bare by
wolves, to cOrrObOrate the CHASTITY
tale
Captain Fisk despatched 10 soldiers
General Sully, who had large COM
pany of soldiers at Fort Rice, in Da-
kOta for aid A strong force was i'm
ta1x ont
In the meantime the emigrants had
- been undergoing a regular siege. Tney
. had left their river camp and been
- caught out in the open prairie where
r for IL days they had no water but
what they found in buffalo WallOWS.
IL In one of the fights two Indians were
- very troublesome. Mr.. LeBeau sue
- ceeded in killing them both, and cap
- turing a fine horse, with q beautifully
- Ornamented buckskin saddle, which
- had followed them. The saddle was
a. given to Lieutenant Smith, the gallant
young officer who had led in that at
tack The horse he was persuaded to
al sell to Captain Fisk for the govern
to ment, to replace some cavalry horse
- that had been killed. The government
"a neverpaid the bill, and Mr.. LeBeau
- still has the warrants.
- when aid finally came to the party
10 General Sully sent along peremptOry
- orders for all the soldiers to return to
10 / Fort Rice. Captain Fisk, who still
- wished to proceed, had no choice but
&c. to obey Mr.. LeBeaU, with seven com
- panions, sold off their OK teams and
-, hoated down the Missouri to Omaha
~. then little more than a thriving vii
- lage A year later ne came to this
e. country and not long afterward pur-
ny chased his fine farm, where he still
- - resides.
y The confederation of the killing Oh
H. Il. the 500 warriors by means of stryCh-
- nine forms in itself an interesting ro-
'H nance. a Mrs Kelly, who had beer
travelling west had been captured-tht
Vi sole survivor of the party-and held by
IS this band of Indians for heavy ransom
IL The Indians opened negotiations sew
~; eral times, but never fulfilled the prom
NJ Uses they made. They were in camI
oI five days ride from Fort Sully. Fl
ou nally a daring Indian scout attached
A'' to the garrison volunteered to rescue
her Taking the best two horses il
at the garrison, private property of tn,
su officers. he rode to the camp early il
p the afternoon, when the braves wer
ne all out on the hunt, took the woman
n from the chiefs tepee and fled to tn
en- post. In a few moments the prairi
l!d was covered with hOwling pursuers
IN but the Indian ponies were no mattel
as for the thoroughbred racers, and tn