The Morris County chronicle. [volume] (Morristown, N.J.) 1877-1915, 1898-11-11
The Soldiers Who Were Left
Behind on the Western
Frontier Suffered.
BUT THEY DID THEIR DUTY
They Do Not Like Their Assign
mentS AS There Is Very Little
Chance of Promotion.

AIoOps again.
About the lonesomest places in this
country are the army posts of the from
tier from which have gone the soldiers
who made the life there so pleasant.
By every post is a town, and to these
towns the absence of the regulars is
like the taking away of the charter; it
means loss of trade andsof people on
the streets that gives the place the ap-
pearance of having a funeral. A few
trades almost compensated for the abb
sence of the large business done just
previous to the call for the movement
to the front. For instance, the pho
tographers took pictures of the soldiers
and of their families day and night
that all might have remembrance. But
when the trains pulled out there was
sincere grief and longing that has not
been assuaged by the passing of the
long weeks
And the lonesomest men in the ma
ton are the dozen or more soldiers who
have been detailed to watch the weedy
parade ground and to keep in order the
quarters of the troops who are at the
front. One young West Pointer, de-
tailed for duty at one of the far north
west forts when he expected to have
berth near Washington, had added to
his disappointment the task of staying
with the Indians and feeding them
with beef while the other troops went
to Cuba. In desperation he offered his
services in any capacity to his home
governor, but there was such pull
for appointments that he was not con-
Ridered 1t is on record that he wept
some very salty tears as he read of the
bravery of his comrades at the front,
and had several periods of vigorous
scolding of fate for the scurvy trick she
played on him. He is but type, for to
every regular in the army and navy the.
war was the chance Of a lifetime for
promotion and experience To be de-
priyed of these was indeed hard, and
the boys who are guarding the posts
feel it. Somebody had to do it, how
ever, and not always the highest hon
ors come from service in the field.
On the most prominent height of the
beautiful Fort Riley reservation. in
central Kansas, and at what is called
the geographical center of the United
States, stands monument to one of
the bravest soldiers of the nations
history He did not win his laurels on
the battlefield-not his brightest ones.
Maj. Ogden was one of the military
commissioners who selected the mag
nificent 19,000-acre reservation. He
went there with the troops, and when
one day in the later Sos the plague of
cholera broke out among the soldiers
he was one of the men who did not
leave. He stayed day after day nurs-
ing the dying soldiers and listening to
their last messages. 1t was weary
staying, but he did not finch, and
when at last he felt the numbness of
the disease he gave up his life as will
buried him there on the crown of a
prairie hill, and every visitor reyer-
ences the man who died in so noble
cause. The men who are guarding the
reservation while their companions are
camped at FL Caney, in sight of the
spires of Santiago, look at the monu-
ment outlined against the evening sky
and take new courage to meet their
condition.
There are other deserted forts and
posts on the frontier that will never
be occupied by troops again. They are
scattered along the water courses of
Kansas and Nebraska, where once the
Indians were many, but where there
is nothing more to be feared than the
herds of the cattlemen and the families
of the settlers. There are Fort Hays,
Fort Wallace, Fort Dodge and dozen
others that have been once the scene
of the Hveliest happenings of the from
tier The rough riders of those days
were the men who rode after Custer
and Sheridan and Forsythe The In
dian raids were frequent and severe.
The tribes came down from the north
ern reservations and terrified the set
tiers, killed a few and destroyed the
houses and stock. One Of these raids,
headed by Roman Nose, ended in
company from Wallace and Hays fol-
lowing the raiders up the Republican
Fork. There the soldiers were sur
rounded on piece of low ground near
the river, and for four days and nights
held the enemy at bay, until the brave
trooper who sneaked out of the camp
could go to the fort and bring REIN
forcements. Such are the reminis-
cences that cluster about these forts,
and the older members of the army re-
call them with affection. But there is
now no use for the buildings and they
have stood for years, slowly rotting
away. Fort Hays has a long line OF
officers houses that are gradually go
ing to decay, and the land itself is be-
ing used for large cattle pasture.
of Interest to Butchers.
Nouz Zoo1ordar hoe yatar+nd -, -