El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1898-05-18
DIR Leonard Woods Record.

A Washington letter to the New
York Tribune says: DR.. Wood has
excited the admiration of every one in
Washington, and is easily the lion of
the day. During the last year his
principal fame has been ma as the
presidents family physician. Mrs. Nc
Kinley's health having undergone a
remarkable improvement through his
professional skill. He is quiet, I'M
assuming man, and apparently devoted
to peaceful pursuits; but from the mo-
ment war became inevitable bis whole
demeanor changed, and although he
has said little of what he exp .cts to do,
being particularly averse to advertising
he has developed into the remarkable
soldier he had already shown himself
to be 10 the Far West before he came
to Washington. His career there was
q continuous succession of military eX
d otis of daring. The compression al
medal of honor he holds testifies to his
courage and devotion to duty.
GERONIMO.
In 1886 he was a surgeon in the Reg
ular Army, ranking rs captain, and
CO nected with the 9Th Infantry GerO-
nimO, the Apache, WAS making track
across the Southwest marked with the
blood of women and children and the
horn BILE murders of unprotected set
tiers The Ssh Infantry was without
officers of rank, but Wood took COM
mand of ready detachments of the
peerless Sth and took up the Indians
trail. For 2, 400 miles he hu on it
through the worst country on the face
of the earth. Hunger, thirst, miseries
untold, were the lot of that gallant
baud and Wood shared all, like any
ulations of that 400 miles were for
gotten in the triumph at the end of it,
when Geronimo and his band of rene
gades were captured.
Wood took the Dand into Texas and
had barely placed it in custody when
he was called upon to carry his men on
another awful journey 1t was after
Apaches again. A band OF them. equal
| ly as murderOus as GerOnimo's. and
pursued. Wood drove them far into
Old Mexico, through a country civilized
feet had n=ver trOd before, until they
disappeared in the mysterious noun
tains south of the Yaqui River. For
years they never dared to come back
| into United States territory, but the
recent killing of settlers on the Mex
lean border is attributed to them.
CAPTURE OF APACHE KID.
In 1888 Wood was again called on to
exercise his courage and unyieldinP
determination In relieving the west OF
another terror. This time the motor
ious Apache Kid, worse even than
Geronimo, was the object of pursuit.
Wood and his men captured the Kid,
and government sentimentality,
which had spared Geronimo's worth
less life, again came to the rescue of
as internal scounirel as ever MUIR
dered women and children, and Apache
K I'd was sent to California island.
OF course he escaped and at intervals
since then he has followed his old GUS
tom of numbering innocent people
wherev he found them.
Sincehis activity in Indian fighting,
for which, as stated, congress awarded
him a medal of bonor, Colonel Wood
has been on duty in California, and
afterward in Georgia His selection as
colonel of the mounted regiment of
rihemen was made at the sug ges5ion of
Mr.. Roosevelt, to whom the command
was first rendered by President McKin-
ley. Mr.. Roosevelt told the president
that he did not have the military ex-
perience requisite to command the
regiment, but that he would like
nothing better than to serve as second
in command to Leonard Wood.