The Indianapolis journal., 1899-02-23

camps at night and thus made his way
safely without loss of men or property. Cen
eral Miles came to meet him, or, rather, TO
find him, for the general thought Otis had
been surrounded and massacred, as he GER
tainly would have been had he relaxed one
minute in his watchfulneSS. With him, on
that expedition, indeed, the price of liberty
was eternal vigilance. General Miles be-
slowed the highest praise upon him for his
able generalship and his grand qualities as
When Otis was in Montana a band Of
marauding GroS Verge Indians went over
the border into Canada and robbed the Blood
Indians OF l, 400 ponies. The Blood Indians
complained to the Dominion police who in
turn addressed Otis for relief. General Otis
took q battalion of four troops of cavalry,
and with these he proposed to bring the
American Indians to terms. Under an or
dnary man such force had been entirely
inadequate, but Otis needed no more. he
knew the Indians. Starting out after night
fall, he came up with the Gros Verges at
o'clock in the morning. He had them at his
mercy and they meekly surrendered. Otis
forced them to take back to their owners
the 400 ponies they had stolen. Then he Sc
lected the chiefs Of the band and meted them
out such severe punishment that the braves
hated the sight Of any pony forever after
ward.
The Indian wars through which General
Otis passed and in which he played a promi-
nent part were small affairs. Their in
terminable character was due to the peculiar
method the North American red man has or
fighting. In pitched battles the whites could
whip the savages in short order, but the In
dians knew their strength, and they led the
soldiers a pretty dance. This training, as
one subordinate said, gave General Otis
four eyes and several new ears, and keyed
him UP to pitch of vigilance that could not
be surprised. He took nothing on trust.
When Aguinaldo matched his puny strength
with this adept Of the mountains and the
plains, he was measuring his wit against no
lazy Spanish general who could be forced
to buy him out. The Malays would be lambs
in the hands of the willy North American In
dians, and these latter were no match at all
for Otis.
General Otis Is one of the hardest men
in the army. An example of his powers OF
endurance is seen in his record-breaking
ride from Price, Utah, to Fort Duchesne.
The Governor of Colorado complained to
Gen. Otis in 1873 that the Utah Indians We're
slaughtering game over the border. Otis de-
termined to see for himself just what was
going forward, but to do this he had to go
to Duchesne, a distance of ninety miles. He
ordered relays Of horses and carefully at
tended every detail of the arrangement be-
fore he started out The road along almost
the entire distance was covered with alkalt
dust half foot thick, and those who have
ridden on Western roads know what kind OF
travelling that means. Otis ploWed along
undismayed, and covered the distance or
ninety miles in twelve hours. The ride is
as famous in the West as the great ride or
General Sheridan-even more so, for the
stage men in That country know what grit,
endurance, courage and force OF character
were required to accomplish 1t.
THANKS FROM WASHINGTON.
When Otis was promoted to be the colonel
Of the Twentieth Infantry that regiment
was stationed at Fort Brown, Texas. The
buildings of the post were destroyed by a
storm and Otis undertook to reconstruct
them with no help from the outside. He
rebuilt the post in such admirable fashion,
using only the men Of the regiment for car
penters and masons that a special note OF
thanks and praise was issued from Wash
ington. Soon he was transferred to Fort
.I.v EArr
wretched buildings undeserving the name
of army post. Otis presently put things to
rights. He suspended drill and set the SOL
dierS at work clearing timber, laying out
grounds and buildings barracks. He worked,
ak, pick and shovel in hand, beside them.
AS the saw the place being metamor-
phosed into a beautiful army post ana all
by the work of their own hands they We're
enthusiastic, and 1t was hard to restrain
them from working overtime. Such was the
influence Otis eXerted on his men.
At Forth Leavenworth Col. Otis founded
the infantry and cavalry school or the
army one of the most useful branches of the
service. Many private can bless the gen
eral for having thus provided the common
soldier with a means of rising from the
ranks in times of peace. In 1893 Colonel OTIS
was made q brigadier general and IN 1873 a
major general. When the war with Spain
broke out he was engaged on the court
martial trial Of Captain Oberlin M; carter
chafed under the restraint, but he was above
all soldier and he did his duty without
word of complaint. When he was assigned
to go out with General Merritt to the Phil
ippines he hailed his release with joy.
General Otis was always beloved by the
men over whom he was placed In COZ command; ma a.
His readiness to share their troubles and TO
work with his hands as we'll as his head won
for him the familiar title of Teddy Otis,
or father of the boys" Some one has re-
marked that all really great soldiers are
given nicknames by their men, and that the
general who has not so won soorlquet
lacks something in his makeup as a sololer.
Judged by this standard Otis Is certainly
great soldier He is a severe discipinar1an,
too, but his discipline is such as not to make
him unpopular. Quite the reverse, in fact,
for his influence over them IS such as 70
make them instinctively feel their response
bilities and to impress them with the very
highest notions of duty The general mates
q lazy, good-for- nothing soldier, ana VIII
have none such about him Moreover, every
soldier who has ever come into contact win
him knows it is useless to try to he 70 tne
general Some instinct tells men that Gus
is not to be deceived. There is not known d
case in which one of his soldiers deliberately
lied to him. This fact is all the better Tor
the men. They find IN The genera IA 9isei- ttsei.
feelings or their sense of manhood by INSIST
ing on trifes and by perading his authority
braid and a pomposity that is ever oftenslVe
whether It be in military or civil NE: 49,,
He is fII six feet high, and while his face
shows evidence of the life he has led, II lS
not without a rough. kindly oeamlness ana
hopefuI He is a soldier who has never
cared much for the trifies of the drawing
he care to do so, he has rather avoided than
courted the bowings and scrapings which
are always made before military hero.
While General Otis is a hardy fighter and
a rough, bluff commander, he is by no 10
means lacking in intellectual graces; he is
fond of books and in spite of his active life
in the open he has found time to study law,
of which he is very, fond. There are few
wide information in this field. His home
life is especially happy. He has been twice
married and has three children, two by ms
The latter was the widow Of Colonel Nc
Aiister, of the engineer corps. when she Pc
came Mrs Otis. His, two daughters py ms
women. and ''Bobbie," the seventeen-year-
old daughter of the general by his present
spouse, is a charming GIRL tall' pretty anu
of most gracious manners.