The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1898-07-17

! OF the divisions of Skaters army and
| whose men 'we-e engaged IN the desperate
assault of Eli Caney. They have told Of
MS long years OF service. Of how he has
worked himself up through the lieuten-
| snc!es to his present rank and of the train
ing gwen him by more than a quarter of
a century Of experience; but Of the
gigantic size, the phenomenal strength
and activity, the abnormal endurance.
the uter fearlessess and tha in2lienable
| picturesquesness OF the man not q word.
I have the honor TO know MIN well, and.
| since l like men whose basic manhood
has not been utterly refined out Of them,
l ike him.
| Lawton reminds me always - SCOTS
Norman baron, Front de Boeut. He has
| better morals, of course. as wei as very
pretty taste IN red wines and red birds,
| but is as Dig as the giant slain by Rich
ard of the Lion Heart, is as direct IN his
methods and, IN personal or general COM
bat, evefy Bit as savage. There is plenty
OF the primal man in him. What he thinks
! he says He has strong sense OF jus
tics, but his temper is terrific and he is
not gentle. He requires OF subordinateS
the utmost endeavor, ana gets II. He
asks no one TO do work that he is NOT will
ling and competent 20 do himself. Natur-
ally a leader, ne goes first. and tho more
difficult or desperate the undertaking the
faster he goes. Upon uhe gray granite
slab which covers the moidertng bones OF
confederate officer who sleeps on che
magnona-petaled uplands of Louisiana Is
when he diesetaoinc shrd
an inscriptions He never told his men 60
go on" That Will do for Lawton when
he dies.
He is six fet Tire inches high. He weighs
q pounds, and nearly every ounce Of it
is bone and blood and tendon and muscle,
He Is So years old and is as springy az a
youth. His capacity to go without food,
"Macumazahn,' the Zulus called Quarter
main-'the ono who has his eyes open"
Macumazahan Lawton will KEEP them open
for a week at a stretch. when necessary. |
and then walk, talk eat, drink, or fight |
a dozen men to a standstill. He has lived |
a life of peril and hardship. His only rule |
of hygiene is a tub in the morning. He
has taken no sort of care of himself. |
Vt so spiendidly was he endowed by nat
ure that there IS no percepuble weaken
ing of his forces. Apparently he Is as
powerful and enduring as when I saw him
first. That was more than ten etars ago
He had completed one Of the most remark
able feats OF strength and perseverance
chronicled in the long annals OF the Anglo
Saxon race, but he was as fresh as a rose
in the morning.
He stood on the government reservation
at San Antonio surrounded by the tawny
savage band OF Cmrcahua Apaches,
whom ne had hunted off their fet. Near
him ,tsciturn but of kindlyvisage, stood
young Chief Naches, almost as tail as he
In tent close ~ lay Geronimo, the medl-
cine man, grooming from a surplusage Of
fresh beef eaten raw. The squat figures
OF the hereditary enemies Of the whites
shoulder. He lowered among them. stern,
powerful dominant-an incarnation of he
spirit of the white man, whose war drum
has beqi around the world. Clad in
faded dirty fatigue Jacket greasy fan
mel shirt or grey, trousers so soiled that
the stripe down the leg was barely Wis
ible, broken boots and a disreputable SOM
brero that shaded the HAIRS features
v
inch a soldier and man. To the other
officers at the post the Indians paid no
sort of attention. To them General Stan
ley and his staff were SO many wel-dresed
lay figures standing about as part Of
for their amusement, but the
huge, massive man with the stubble on
his chin had shown them that ne was their
superior on hunting grounds that were
theirs by birthrght, and they hung upon
his lightest word
For the tenth time Geronimo's mand had
jumped the San Carlos reservation. The
spring grass was two inches high and the
Indian lust for blood was awake As US
lal, troops were started upon a periIous
chase. For days they followed the trail
over a country that God Almighty made
n wrath. Farther and farther into the
vast soltudes they tOiled. Volcanic crests
reared about them. Lava tore the leather
from their feet They drank from springs
hat gushed thousands of feet above the
valleys. They wandered in canons so dark
and deep that through the narrow ribbon
IF white far above them the stars were
seen at midday. They lived upon animals
10 wilder than the men they were pursu-
ng and scarcely more wild than they
Now and then, from a forest of pines far
above them, a shred OF blue smoke drifted |
IN the furnance air, followed by the shriA |
IF bullets wild singing. The horses long
since had been left behind. The cavalry
men were on foot with Lawton at their
head. his teeth hard set. Wei walk them
down." he told his sergeant when the
"a ms Ia J
them down.
Six weeks afterward an Indian. whose
bones seemed ready to start through his
skin, came 10 the camp and said that
Geronimo was ready 10 surrender Lawton
went alone TO the lair of the starving
wolves and received their submission. Ca
yernous eyes glared at him. Lips black
from thirst and hunger were drawn back
over discolered teeth. Skeleton fingers
pointed al him. From skeleton jaws came
sounds of pleadings mixed with wrath.
The poison Of bitter racial hatred was in
every glance. Even the rocks smaled
ike mad indian he told me with laugh
ong afterward He l3unged among them,
heir master by virtue or superior cour-
age and strength and hardihoOd. ard they
followed him like sheep to food and i'm
prisonmeut That is the story in outline
Of the capture of Geronimo. physician,
wizard. conjurer. orator and murderer.
The man Of FL Caney is the man OF the
Nogallons, and the man Of the MogaUans
IS the reinoarnasion OF some shining. hel-
meted giant warrior who fell upon the
sands Of Palestine in the first crusade.