The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-09-19
ROMAN NOSES LAST FIGHT.
GEN FORsTTH'S GREAT BATTLE
WITH THE CHEFENNEs.
For Nine Days FIFTY Frcutiersmen on an Island
in the Arickarce stood on 1000 braves
A Magnificent charge By the indtans-Tho
Nonndha GnnernINs Display % CenraEe.

in the Aricharee stood or 1000 Brnvc.-
Magnificent CHARGE By the indians-The
wounded Generals Display % Courage.
"Comanche' Jack Stillwell Of Z Reno. Okla.
homa, is one Of the last Of the great scouts who
took part In tho operations OF Government
troops against the hostile Indians In the sixties.
For the last i've years no has been City Judge
of Ell Reno. In his time he was one of the most
famous scouts of the frontier. Custer called
him the coolest man in n fight he had seen, and
tho "Yollow-Ha Chief was quite at home
himself under Hre. Sheridan said that he had
no superior as a scout, and Gen. Forsyth, who
had the hrst opportunity Of testing tho young
follows mcttle, has praised him many times In
his writings That first battle was the gallant
resistance Gen. Forsyth made to q band Of
Cheyennes under Roman Nose, the huge Chey-
enne chieftain, who had him cornered on n small
sand bar in tho Arickarce branch Of the Repub-
lican River. in September. 1858. Gen. Forsyth
had started in pursuit Of tho hostiles with a
party OF fifty frontiersmon no had enlisted at
Fort Hsrkor aud Fort Hays. With Gen. For
syth were Lieuts. Fred II. Boecher. Third In
fsntry; J. IL Mooers, surgeon, and w. II. Nc
Call, sergeant Beecher was a nephew of Henry
Ward Beecher. Sergeant Mccall had been q
Colonel in a Pennsylvania regiment during the
civil war, and had been breveted u Brigadier-
General for his brilliant services at the sioge Of
Petersburg. sharp Grover was tho chief scout
On sept. 10 the party went into camp In q
well-grassed valley about two miles wide,
through which the Arickaree flowed. In the
from either side. was a small island. II was
raised about q foot above the water and was
covered with long sage grass and there wero
several thickcts Of alders, willows. and cotton.
woods. The next morning Gen. Forsyth dis.
pursuing had surrounded him.
Al early dawn" said Judge sttllwell in
| The sppnd IF rinR shpta and aanipp IN p,tr feat
was s%warmins with Indians.
order, and he was as cool as a suntiower in the
morning, In less than q minute the entire
stood at our horses heads ready for the attack.
As the Indians drew within range we gave them
FUSION. They Tasyy fESe0y Counted ante In" ON . sSrpstsi M eU u.s..
and our warm reception was rather delnoraliz-
Ing: An Indian cannot stand a surprise. By
to the east, and 1t was decided that we should
retreat 20, the island. as We were completely
surrounded, and were outnu mbcred twenty to
AS We moved toward, the island u half dozen
Beecher. covered the retreat. Gen. Forsyth
detailed mo and i've other men to remain
river, covering the north end OF the island. When
the Indians saw our game they h9wiod with
rage at \ c fhs top and o. i 'h snI iSRsI i've ,e esmra sssy
weri t7r"rd to retreat TO the island. The charge
wa ,r rep ~ d,S ind the ;, wen { To- ins advantage iDSH of
Forsyth was among the INST -. L.e wounded,
his leg having been shattered, but he sat on
enemy. giving directions for the defence OF the
island as coolly AS II he were at home directing
lasp man to seek the shelter Of a pit. The light
had lasted about an hour and a half.
ut was about this time that we discovered
that the Indians were wranGllng, az 10 who
should. command them. At 10 o'clock old ko.
a nHn s sssam sde e mSs1 Hsieor ae w nsn a m TI MAJ
OF massive frame; He wore q large headdress,-
IA gaudy, barbartc contrivanCo with a buffalo
horn standing on end just above the forehead.
and fianked on either side by a stuffed bird.
He was mounted on a large-limbed horse. lie
which also, clutched the guard Of his rife. His
ward the bank Of the 3,rcaIn at the head OF
about nvssc9re re-, mounted indians he shook
throwing back his head. he cIaPped his palm
across his mouth, and emitted the most thrill.
i heard hl Ssd !, Ms, s.S waT w Sb Sy II, that .Dd J sys5
braves that surrounded us and by tho women
SInr s '6 sss US Shnihi had come Ps.n to th the CHARGED 5iysrs
sisat.,, Old Roman Nose was at the head. bis
and it looked as II nothing but a stone wall
through the water. but We did not Are. As
Roman Noses horso. plunged on 10 the island
Gen a;L t9Fs sa lat Ssy apF i; Z hi; pit ana and bo ssGH, snd
the command was repeated by Bcocher.
Forty bullets crashed INTO The chars ing war
riprs, but they only answered with q ringing
whoop, a second volley staggered them, and
tho third vol!ev did bloody execution. for above
the noise OF tho battle we could hear the cries
Of the women and children on the hills; But
they hesitated for a moment only, and then
dashed on; only to meet another whitening
Another " crash OF OF rin ese and II" Roman n ins nose s"" WAS
the few survivors broke wildly for the bank,
and we firod a scattering volley at them from
our revolvers.
1T was "a magnificent charge. Since that
day on The Arickareo. have been in many
men were wounded and Lieut.. Beecher was
s sids and Gen fn tDp F9hr eSyd no was T Ssr Z 7 hin II , the
broken. bur he did not give up for a moment.
DR.. Mooer was m%ortalIy wounded in the head.
was q relative OF Dull Knife now assumed com
Inand. He had just succeeded in rallylng his
at the dsat Rh' Of Roman M. %' N SHe% wf GSrf hS a's soo' fSii
dead. From that moment the Indians didn't
seem to recognize any commander, but kept mp
the nght In a haphaZard way until about .
O'Clock In the afternoon when they received re-
T rrG'S'" she now !" " isSder "J they S"'f made S@ S0' anoiRer
charge. but It WAS u failure. After n third
sthhsr 1Eias which ap a had d 5 nS e ;aS' ,6 5sssi,' they they Ssys
wrought 10 a frenzy by tho taunts of the women.
1t was simply dea h to approach that island,
and the boldcst OF the redskins could not stand
our IRE, for the scouts had u habit OF making
every shot count; At1er tho third attnak it be-
the Ion. day on the blistcring sand it was
mighty grateful. Tho General had time TO
draw up a list of tho dead and wounded. Seven
names we're on tho list of killed and sixteen men
were more or less wounded. There were twcn.
ty-eight fairly sound mon TO continue the fight
on the next day,
at was nearly midnight when Cen. Forsyth
ordered old Pierre Trudeau and myself TO MAKE
an attempt TO slip through the Indian lines and
reach Fort Wallace, which WAS about l25 miles
away. Pierre WAS an old trappcr and the best
rifle shot ! have ever seen. Wrapping blankets
about ourselves. We crawied out among tho
Indians. Each OF US had cut Off IA chunk OF
raw horse meat for food on tho way, and then.
with mOccasins made from tho tops Of our
boots and with the saddle blankets wrapped
around us, we made, as we Thought, fairly
representative Indians, at least AS far ms power.
" mud hlth were concerned. Wo succeeded
In making three miles tho first night.
Then 70 hid ourselves In u washout In o
rayine where the grass had grown 20 tall that
II hung over the hedges. We remained there
all the next day listening to the fighting on tho
island. and power!ess 10 get the relief we were
after or return to our party. That might We
made more tracks toward Fort Wallace. only
to tnd ourselves within half "a mile OF the main