The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1899-12-31

| the barking of a dog which had discover
| ed the approach of the whites, and the
accidental discharge of a gun moment
| later aroused the whole village.
The women and children were hurried
! into the woods by a path not yet occu-
| pied by the whites. but the warriors, who
might easily have escaped in the same
manner, remained to defend their homes.
This, considering the fact that they num-
| bered only about thirty and must have
known that the attacking force was
much larger was an evidence of no little
| courage.
The whites Immediately took posse ssion
| Of some deserted cabins, while all icne m
! dams took refuge in one of the stronger
| buildings. Captain Logan, who was in
charge of one Of the attachments, in
| structed his men to tear the doors from
the cabins and to carry them before them
| as a breastwork in advancing to attack
the Indians This mode of attacking was
being successfully carried out when an
| order to retreat came from Colonel Bow
man. In an instant the men were thrown
into confusion, each thinking onIv to Sc
cure his own safety The Indians, aston
ished at this sudden change Of tactics, ct
once sailed out in pursuit, and the thirty
warriors under the command of Black
Fish succeeded in routing Colonel tcN-
mans force of two hundred men and rur-
sued them quite a distance, killing nine
men The whites finally made sand,
beat off their pursuers, AMI made an IN
molested march homewards.
This defeat emboldened the Indians
greatly, and another expedition was or
ganized against Chillcothe IN the sue
ceeding year. 1880 and placed under the
command of Colonel Clark. This eXpedi-
ton was more fortunate. Only few
warriors were found at ChillicoIhe.
These were routed and the town burned
to the ground the extensive corntteIds
and other means Of subsistence Of the
Indians being totally destroyed. This
compelled the Indians to devote their time
to hunting in order to support their fam
lilies. and for almost year thei" attacks
on the settlers ceased.
But in the summer of 1882 a great ex-
petition was organized at Chillicothe to
march against the white settlers Of Ken
lucky. and in the fall of that year an
Their expedition burned the town to the
ground although, as on the former os-
casion, the Indians again succeeded in es-
Gaping.
Another period of peace followed, while
the Indians repaired the damage, and in
17S4 their assaults on the settlers broke
out again, and the country around Chilli
Gothic was the scene of many conflicts,
none of them, however, of very decisive
nature. And then, in 1871, came the most
desperate battle Of all.
General Harmer, at the head of an ex-
petition numbering 100 men, had entered
the country from Fort Washington, and
marched steadily westward. Colonel
Hardin. in command Of six hundred Ken
lucky frontiersmen, skilled in Indian war
fare, formed a accommodating party in
advance. The Indians, dismayed al the
size Of the expedition, burned their VIII
lage and fed in front of it, and to over
take them Colonel Hardin formed a party
of two hundred Of his most experienced
men, and pushed onward with the utmost
speed.
They found the Indians much sooner
than they had expected running into an
v
them. and twenty three of the whites
were killed, while only small proportion
of the two hundred succeeded in rejoining
the army. The Indians were elated at
this victory, and determined to make a
stand at the old town of Chillcothe.
In spite Of his reverse, General Harmer
had pushed on and succeeded in reducing
all the Indian towns in his path to ashes
and destroying the provisions stored in
them. He finally occupied a position
eight miles from Chillicothe, where he
halted. and later at night he sent forward
a considerable force under Colonel Har-
din to attack the Indians. The action
commenced early on the morning of the
following day, and the battle which fol-
lowed was one of the most severe and
disastrous in the history Of Indian war
fare 1t continued until dark and General
Harmer was then compelled to withdraw
his troops, leaving nearly two hundred
dead upon the field. Many Of these were
officers, who had shown an utter disre-
gard for their personal safety in trying to
rally their troops. The Indians were so
severely crippled by the fight that they
could make no pursuit and Harmer's
army was permitted to march home
again without molestation.
The details of the defeat Of General Ar
thur St. Clair, who succeeded Harmer in
command Of the forces Of the Northwest,
and who headed an expedition Of over
TWO thousand men against the Indians in
1872, is too well known to merit repetition
here. He lost SOL in killed and is in
wounded, and this dastrous defeat was
only partially retrieved a short time la
ter by the brilliant victory of the mount
ed Kentucky volunteers under General
Scott, who crossed into Ohio. found the
Indians rioting on the spoils Of st. Glars
army. and completely routed them. kill
ing more than two hundred and recaptur-
ing St Glars cannon and most Of his
stores,
The final battle Of this long series Of
struggles for supremacy IN Ohio was
fought on August %. 1924. by a force of
over three thousand men under the COM
mand of General Anthony Wayne. He
met the Indians at the junction of Aug
laize and Miami and so brilliant was the
action that the Indians were routed Gnd
utterly cut to pieces. their loss being
very great The Americans lost lot IN the
conflict. All of the Indian towns and
cornfields within fifty miles of the scene
of action were completely destroyed, end
the power of the Indians was finally
broken. They continued to commit occa-
sional depredatons, however. until the
following summer. but finally on the Srd
OF August 1875. a definite peace was es-
"a h1iShs9 and the tide If CONFLICT v-bicl,
had swsyed backward and forwards Tor
50 many years over the dark and bloody
ground came % an end