The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1899-11-17
FROM ADVANCE SHEETS
Operations of the First Montana
in the Philippines.
MADE A GLORIOUS RECORD

The Book Is Written by Lieutenant
Alexander Laist OF Butte = A Com
pilation of Historical Data-It
Has Official Approval.
The Standard is in receipt of the ad-
| vance sheets of 1.-THE Official History
of the Operations OF. the First Montana
| Infantry, U. S. ", in the Campaign in
| the Philippine Islands, written by
Lieutenant Alexander Laist, who serv-
| ed as chief clerk and chief of Drderlies
| on General MacArthur's staff. Lieu
tenant Laist is a resident of Butte, and
| his book will be of special interest, as
| it is the compilation of historical data
of the campaign in which the First
Montana gained a glorious record and
won the esteem and admiration not
| only of'the citizens of Montana, but OF
the whole world. Through the cour-
! tesy of General Harry c. Kessler. Lieu
tenant Laist was permitted to use the
! official records of the regiment in COM
piling the history of the campaign
| which will appear in book form in the
| near future. Therefore the account
|
in a clever and very interesting style,
but bears the stamp of official ap
4 prevail.
BY way of introduction the writer
goes into the history of the organiza-
ton of the old Montana National
| Guard, which was formed in 1887. This
| was expanded to form the First Mon
| tana infantry, U. s. V. H. c. Kessler
was its colonel, Lieutenant Colonel
Wallace its military instructor, Major
| ]. w. brennan adjutant general, B. E.
Calkins, first lieutenant and adjutant.
4 and Albert Seadorf was first lieutenant
and quartermaster. All the old officers
of the guard except two volunteered
and Joined the new regiment Some OF
| the volunteers had seen service in the
civil war and others had served in the
1 regular, and of these a brief sketch is
| given.
Then follows an interesting account
of the enrolment of the volunteers and
| of the scenes at the muster-in head
quarters. The general muster-in at
Camp Smith is given much space and
/ furnishes a great deal of interesting
reading. Here the realities of camp
life We're experienced in the mud. and
it was the beginning Of series Of dis
agreeable features in camp life, for at
| San Francisco more of the same was
taken straight. The stay at San Fran
! cisco is gone into in interes ing detail,
i and much that has not been published
in the newspapers is given Then comes
| the trip across the sea and the arrival
| and incidents thereto at CaVite, all of
which in the main is familiar history.
| After the regiment had gone into quar-
tiers the boys naturally looked about
/ for impressions of the natives and the
writer says that the first impressions
of the Philippines We're not pleasant
ones. In the first place there was an
entire absence of enthusiastic reception
such as the regiment had been used to-.
There We're no rfags. no dinners, no
shouts of welcome. and all this was
| unconsciously resented. Nor We're the
! natives, to our eyes, pleasant to look
upon. Some of the younger men and
| women were notill favored. but the older
Filipinos with their. dark yellow or
| brown, leathery skin, We're not unlike
| Cinnamon b1ackened for a niger min
strel show They had way of holding
up the forefinger of one hand to rep
resent the tAmericanos" and that of
| the other to represent the Filipinos, and
then putting the two together to rep
resent the unity of the two races in in
| terest and amity. americana mucho
bueno, Spanish mueho malo,' was an
heard phrase of theirs. And with
/ their professions their friendship end
ed, for from the very first their atti-
| tude was covertly hostile. and when
ever possible they victimized those who
had destroyed the power of their Span
! ish oppressors.
| Trading with the natives was nov
city. When you wanted tomatoes, po-
tatoes or onions you did not buy a
peck or pound. but bought them by
the piece. On landing money was quite
/ scarce. so that some of the boys We're
compelled TO spend their aluminium
Identification medals provided by the
ID 4. .eS Ga ~ ,,a,-
! Life in the camp is detailed at length
and the incidents thereof are told in
pleasing style. Sickness compelled
many to return to the country from
| which they had Travelled in the hope OF
making name and fame for themselves
| and their land. All this is recorded
after which the author goes into the
4 facts relative to the outbreak of hos
tilities. Says he: 1.-THE attitude of the
| Filipinos was hostile throughout. and
the relations between the two forces
| became more and more strained every
day. All sorts of challenges were
| called to the sentries in bad Spanish
which. when translated, meant: Come
and fight The Americans areno good,
Pretty soon the Montanas will be ex-
| terminated and so on.
| about the middle of January a pain
full accident occurred. A sentry belong
ing to Company B carelessly discharg-
ed MS rlIle, the pan lodging in the hiE
of Filipino woman and inflicting a
mortal wound. Major Cater lieuten.
ant coloneD Cook. who was field officer
of the day, quelled the excitement
which was running high. A money
contribution by Colonel Kessler to the
bereaved widower large enough tc
bury the remains with. pomp and en-
able him to get a handsomer and
younger wife, sufficed to smooth over
the incident.
"The first actively hostile demonstra-
ton at the Montana line was made on
January 10. Company E was on duty
and Captain Jensen was in charge of
his company. At aboute2 o'clock p. m
a squad composed of Corporal w. II.
Mace and Privates Robert Johnston. J.
L. Banks. NJ Phelan. w. P. Mulcahay.
Otto Olson and Eli Loucks, posted $50
yards in front of the main body, OBJ
! nod, of A ellin aldn,S snld;e rs