Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1898-07-21


they reached 1t in a shower Of shot. It
Is impossible to shoot we'll from the
back Of rapidly moving horse.
at was the plan to find buffalo
wallow, lie as fat as possible in It,
and shoot until dead. Before such a
place was found the scouts and sol
diers dismounted, so as to shoot bet
ter and keep the Indians from getting
too close before they could get into
cover. A couple Of dead Indians will
stop one hundred live ones from COM
ing too near. One soldier held the
bride reins OF the horses while the
rest of the men retreated behind them
and shot at the advancing host. The
Indians likewise dismounted, so that
be such good targets. It may seem
strange that such la large body of In
dams would not make just one charge
and overwhelm the white men by force
of numbers, but that is not the In
dian way. They will not take a risk
if they can help it, They will not
trade anywhere near even with the
WulIG Ildu WuSu lll0 Is dI SIdhS
Before a buffalo wallow could be
found the soldier holding the horses
was shot and killed and the animals
stampeded. Then there was a race
for life to the nearest hole. Some
thirty feet from one another soldier
was shot, but not killed He lay there
and yelled in the agony of fear and
pain.
Don't let them scalp me, boys!
For Gods sake don't let them get mel
he shrieked The rest had safely got
into the wallow.
ut was with this appeal ringing in
his ears that Amos Chapman, without
a word to his mates, but just yell.
I'm coming sprang up out of the
wallow, his six-shooter in hand, ran
to the wounded man, seized and sought
to drag him back. The Indians fired
a volley at him and made rush to-
ward him. l don't know how many
shot were fired at Chapman, but the
only place he was hit was below the
left knee. The bone was shattered to
splinters. Some of the bullets hit the
dying soldier and fastened his end.
Chapman's leg gave way under him
like a piece of rubber, but he never
weakened 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 a
fusillade and the Indians were held
back Painfully but persistently Chap
man dragged himself and the man
along. Sometimes he sought to rise
hoping that the leg would hold, but it
doubled under him. 1t did not take
many minutes for all this to happen.
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 crit
icise his judgment, but not his brav-
cry. He could not and would not see
that soldier slaughtered and scalped,
and put his own life in peril to pre-
vent it. Had he been killed the lives
of all the others would have been
placed In still greater jeopardy by the
loss of a defender, but those things
were not thought of. There was but
one idea, and the instant it was con-
ceived it was put into execution. Dixon
would have done the same thing had
not Chapman been quicker. When
think of such things to-day l believe
that men like Chapman should have a
monument He got cork leg from
the government and second lieuten-
ants pension when he retired.
II cannot go into the details OF the
uneven fight that followed, for was
not there, and only know the story
from what Dixon and Chapman after
ward told me. The ordinary buffalo
wallow, which is made by buf1aloes
rolling ana wallowing around in the
soft earth, is about a dozen feet in
diameter and perhaps two or three feet
deep. The men cut away the dirt from
around the edge with their knives and
threw the loose material up in front.
This Afforded greater protection, as
only the head was exposed, and then
only when firing, which had to be kept
up.
'"rhey stood off that big band of
towards all that day, and it must have
been something awful. The shooting
on the part of the Indians was almost
continuous, for there were a lot OF
them, and they had plenty of ammu-
milton, as they captured lot Of the
horses. Three more Of the soldiers
were killed, the sergeant was shot
txzinn and in fact the only one to