The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1898-09-13
FOUGHT THE APACHES WITH CUSTER
Valuable Services of a Woman Warrior in SURPRISING
Indian Disturbances.

| given her to be performed, but these
she always succeeded in accomplishing
| in safety. Only at one time did she
despair of her life, being entrapped by
two Indians, but her ability as a shot
/ served her well, and, after woundlnS
one of the Indians, she made her es-
cape, and, upon reporting to Generai
Custer, was warmly praised
The outbreak was duly quelled, and
upon returning TO Fort Landers, Wyo.,
in 1872, it was reported that the Nursey
! Pursey Indians in the AIusSelshell
country, were on the warpath, and an
| expedition under General Custer, Miles,
Terry and Crook was ordered there.
1t was during this campaign that she
received her cognomen Calamity
Jane" Relating the circumstances
thereof she said: 81 was serving I'M
der Captain Egan, and while near
Goose Creek (the present city of Sher-
idan, Wyo.). after having been on a
three days skirmish, during which the
company
HAD SIX MEN KILLED
and several wounded. we were am
pushed about a mile from our destina-
ton. Captain Egan was one OF the
| first to be shot during the engagement
| and l happened to be in close proximity
1 to him, and noticed him Keeling in his
saddle. l was able to reach his side in
time to prevent him from falling, and,
getting him on my horse, in front or
me, bore him to camp in safety. Al
ter he recovered, one day he laughingly
christened me Calamity Jane. the he
roine of the plains and even to this
day she has borne that title among
her more intimate friends"
The Nursey Purseys were subdued in
1873, and the early portion of 1874 was
spent in various minor engagements in
| Montana and Wyoming, when, in 1873,
under General Crook, she was ordered
| to the Black Hills of South Dakota, to
protect the miners and settlers in that
! section, as the country was overrun
and practically controlled by the Sioux
Indians. After a nominal campaign in
that section, lasting until 1876. they
We're again ordered north to join Gen
erals Custer. Miles and Terry on the
Big Horn river.
During this march Mrs. Burke was
detailed as the bearer of important dis
! patches, and although the trip was one
| of 80 miles, the weather wet and cold,
and IL necessitated
SWIMMING THE PLATTE RIVER
at Fort Fetterman, she performed her
| duty willingly, but at a fearful cost,
as she contracted pneumonia and was
confined in hospital for three weeks,
and, being too i'll TO return to her COM
pany, was granted an indefinite fur
| Tough, which in all probability saved
her life, for the next year witnessed
that fearful massacre in which General
| Custer and his brave men were so wan
tonly butchered.
Calamity Jane" next found service
in the employ of the government car
rying the United States mail between
Deadwood and Custer, Mont, and al
though the route was considered an
extremely hazardous one, her reputa-
ton as an unerring marksman was
such that not once did she have an
opportunity to display her skill to Ell
Their the Sioux or highwaymen in behalf
of Uncle Sam.
While thus engaged she was present
/ in Deadwood at the time William Hic-
kok (Wild BID was assassinated by
Jack Mccall, a notorious desperate,
and was a member of the posse that
arrested and confined him in a log
cabin, she having the honor of COM
handing him to surrender, when cor
nered in a butcher shop, with a meat
| cleaver as her weapon.
Her love for the army service was
such, however, that she again volun-
teered in the Seventh cavalry, and
HELPED BUILD FORT MEADE,
.. d., out lnlS SORT OIL Work was not 10
her liking, and in 1878 she was honor
ably discharged and took up" a ranch
on the Yellowstone river, near Miles
City, Mont, which, however, was not
a brilliant financial success. In 1884,
while visiting in Ell Paso, Tex, she met
Clinton Burke, to whom she was sub
sequently married, and of this mar
riage a daughter was born. Her hus-
band died in 1895, since which time she
has been quietly ensconced on a ranch
near here. living life Of contentment
so near the scene of her earlier and
more exciting escapades. She was,
however, sorely tempted to don her
lighting clothes" last fall, when it was
reported that the Indians were on the
warpath near Rosebud, yet, she says,
her intuition told her it was only a
scare" and while awaiting develop
ments of more definite character her
insight was proven true, and she did
not go.
Mrs. Burke's voice glows in praise of
General Custer, whom she describes as
an absolutely fearless, tireless and
brave man, and over whose untimely
and sudden end she has shed not a
few tears. From her front door may
be seen the tomb of General Custer.
and to this fact may be ascribed the
principal reason of her residence here.