The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1898-09-01
LAST OF B TROOP.

Imagine plain stretching away to the
east for 300 miles-a plain SO fiat and
sterile that its very monotony is menace
Ing; to the north foothills covered with
stunted pines, to the south tongue OF
sandy desert, to the west q succession Of
barren ridges on which neither wolf nor
buzzard can find drop of water nor q
morsel of food. Right there, 100 miles
from the nearest pioneer hamlet, they
built Fort Brown and garrisoned it with
men who thought of suicide day by day
as they looked upon The dreariness There
were skeleton company of infantry and
skeleton company of cavalry-the last Of
B troop. There was time in the history
of these horsemen when B numbered full
hundred men and when it's officers were
the proudest men in the regiment, but
there are fatalities in army life as well as
elsewhere.
One day over in Green valley as B troop
rode gayly along 500 Indian warriors rose
up in the dry guliies and emptied 40 sad
dies at the first volley. There was court
Of inquiry, and the captain resigned.
Again ten troopers were sent out to con-
voy a wagon train, and the Indians slaugh-
tored the whole number. In the next three
months five troopers deserted and three
committed suicide. One afternoon the
first lieutenant Of the troop rode out for
hunt, but had not gone mile when he
was thrown from his horse and killed.
Once more, two troopers were sent out to
catch horse which had broken loose and
was cavorting around half a mile from the
post They were on foot, and as they ran
they were bitten by rattlesnakes on which
they trod, and both were dead before sum
set. The army said that B troop was I'M
der hoodoo, and the remnant Of the COM
pany felt themselves almost outlawed. The
day they rode into Fort Brown they num-
bered 81 men, and they were under the
temporary command Of second lieuten-
ant. :. Captains and first 1ieutenants as
signed to B troop always fought off the
day of joining, and some had pull enough
at Washington to have the assignment
countermanded. There is superstition in
the army as well as out Of it.
"Here is our graveyard" whispered the
men of the troop as they caught sight of
Fort Brown and its lonesome environ
ment after their long ride to reach it.
They looked at the foothills to the north,
at the plain to the east, at the desert to
the south aud the ridges to the west, and
man turned to man and repeated:
''Here is our graveyard, the last OF the
troopp'
If You know an unlucky man, you pity
him, but you also avoid him. The in
fantry at Fort Brown could not avoid the
unlucky troopers, but they pitied them
and displayed no fraternal feeling. 1t was
SO from the colonel down to the last pri-
vate. We smile in derision at the idea of q
hoodoo, and yet we do not like to rub ell
bows with people who are pursued with
i'll luck. The freshly graduated cadet
knew nothing about the hoodoo when he
was assigned to B troop. With boys
ambition and Impotence he had hurried
from West Point and home into the wilds
Of the far west to take active service. There
was no superstition about him. He heard
of the fatalities, he saw the dispirited
look of the remnant Of the once gallant
troop, he was made to realize that he was
under ban, as it were, but he was not
disheartened.
Army records will tell you what hap
pened at Fort Brown within week after
B troop rode through the gates. The in
fantry had been there for three months,
but not an Indian had been seen. A cor
poral and three men were sent to the foot
hills after fuel, when they fell into an am
buscade and were cut off. The four troop
ers were mounted, and yet all were killed,
while the teamster made safe escape on
foot. This was the hoodoo again. That
there might be no cayil about it a trooper
hung himself in the barracks that night.
Thus five more men were wiped OF the
rolls within a week, and the troop reduced
to 80.
The colonel at Fort Brown had received
the Young officer half in welcome, half i'll
pity. He knew the history Of B troop, and
he realized that any connection with 1T
must cast shadow on the career OF an
officer Had he been in command OF the
he would have recommended
that the troop be consolidated and its name
lost on the rolls. The loss of the five men
gave the colonel anxious thought. No one
could be held to blame. 1t was simply one
of the fatalities which had SO persistently
pursued the troop. One day he got news
which determined him on certain step,
and he sent for the young lieutenant and
said:
"A SCOQu l6 III WIFI bu6 1QlOEuldtkOu oh"o
a band of hostiles is headed for Browns
Valley. That is where the pioneers who
came along two weeks ago were going to
settle. fear they will be unprepared for
an attack and will all be wiped out. y
And you will sent B troop out to head
the Indians off?'' eagerly exclaimed the
lieutenant.
''If you could reach Panther gap, 30
miles away, before the hostiles, you might
turn them back. If they get ahead OF
you'-
II would push on after them and hope
to save the settlers. can be ready in 30
minutes. ="
The colonel was a man Of Is, the lieu
tenant not yet 23. The older officer looked
ont of the omen WindoW nnnn the sandy