The age-herald., 1898-07-18
shrIelsed. The rest had safely got Into the

RdHlOW.
 "Tt was with this appeal ringing in his ears that Amos Chapman without word to his mates. but just yell, I'm coming sprang up out of the wailow, his six-shoot- CT in hand, ran to the wounded man, seized and sought to drag him back. The Indians fired a volley at him and made a rush toward him. I don't know how many bullets struck Chapman. but the only place he was hit was below the left knee. sey- eral must have hit 1t, for the bone was shattered to splnters- Some of the bull i lets hit the dying soldier and hastened his end. Chapman's leg gave way under him like a piece of rubber but he never weak ened or let go. Reaching ahead with his good leg and the knee of the left, he
 dragged the soldier along with his left
 hand, piece by piece, firing his gun with his
 right.
 'The men in the wallow kept up fusi- Jade and the Indians were held back Pain- fully but consistently Chapman dragged himself and the man along Sometimes he sought to rise, hoping that the leg would hold, but 1t doubled under him. It did not take many minutes for all this to trans pire. Chapman and the wounded soldier reached the hole, where the latter died in a little while. Now, if that isn't an example of heroic bravery, then don't know what is. One might criticize his judgment but
 not his bravery. He could not and would not see that soldier slaughtered and | scalped, and put his own life in peril to
 prevent it. Had he been killed, the lives | of all the others would have been placed in | still greater jeopardy by the loss of de- 1 fender, but those things were not thought | Of There was but one idea, and the in- stant it was conceived it was put into ex- l ecutfon. Dixon would have done the same l thing had not Captain Chapman been quicker. When I think of such thing to- | day I believe that men like Chapman 1 should have a monument. He got A cork I leg from the government and a second | lieutenant's pension when he retired. "I cannot go into the details of the un- | even fight that followed, for was not there | and only know the story from what Dixon l and Chapman afterwards told me. The | ordinary buffalo wallow which Is made by
 buffaloes rolling and walowing around in 1 the soft earth, is perhaps two or three feet l deep. The men cut away the dirt from l around the edge with their. knives and 1 threw the loose material up in front. This afforded greater protection, as only the
 head was exposed and then only when fir- ing. which had to be kept up.
 'They stood off that big band of cow ards all that day, and it must have been something awful. The shooting the part of the Indians was almost continuous, for there were a lot of them and they had plenty of ammunition, they captured a lot on the horses. Whole yolleys were fired at the hole Three more of the soldiers were killed, the sergeant was shot twice. and In fact the only one to escape with a whole skin was Bill Dixon.
 Just to illustrate what CUTS Indians are they just camped around that buffalo wal low hiding behind their horses. shooting, while some of them yelled in English to Chapman to come out and fight Just think they wanted him to stand up and be shot at by the 300. They were anxious to kill
 him particularly, for he had married one of their squaws and was against them. That night there was a terrific rain storm which filled the wallow to the brim
 with water The wounded men had to keep their heads above water so as not to drown, while they had to keep thir guns and ammunition dry and be constantly on the watch for an attack l need not dwell upon the horrors of that night and of the suffering of those men, who rested their bodies upon those of the dead ones below. and sat through the long hours in the water thick with the blood that oozed from their wounds and from the remains of their com panlons. It must have been fearful expe- rlence.
 he crawled out of the wallow during the worst of the storm and started south to- ward Major Compton's command for help. He had no trouble passing the Indians, for
 they were intent upon protecting them selves from the downpour. Indians do not like water. Dixon travelled fully thirty miles on foot that night, in the drenchlng rain. and as day broke he took refuge in a clump of wild plum bushes During the forenoon he saw body of horsemen in the distance. but it was some time before he assured himself that it was party of soldiers out scouting. He fired his gun and attracted their attention.
 "The party at once started back to the rescue but some precaution had to be taken. Dixon. with remarkable instinct, brought them back to within a few yards of the wallow, but it was dusk. and there was danger of being mistaken for Indians, who. by the way, had cleared out for req sons known to themselves. It was some time before Chapman could be convinced that it was Dixon calling him and not the Indians, who had tried to lure him out by talking English.
 ''All that day the men had been In tor ture, and still they were a long way from tho hospital. Chapman rode seventy-ive miles on horseback to Camp Supply. where the leg was amputated below the knee. He was out in a month, but always had to mount his horse afterward with his right leg, as the Indians do. He and Ben Clark escorted Dull Knife's band of Chey- ennes down from the Dakotas to the In- dian reservation in 1877. It was Dull Knlfes band which stole Dewitt c. Web Der, of this city. which you have publishd. Chapman is living with the Indians now, Billy Dixon has a ranch at the old 'Dobey Walls"