Pike County press. (Milford, Pa.) 1895-1925, 1899-02-17
BUFFALO TROOPERS.
rHt NAME ~ WHICH NLene eel
BIGRs ARE KNOWN.

rhsy CssprLss Several Of ths srask Hlusa-
.euts in tar Army-The IsdA-as ssAa
In Abiect Tsrrsr 81 Thsz-ThsIr A ~
IsIIs ives = battle win the HsSsatss.
1T is net necessary to revert - Ae
civil war to prove that America ne
groes are faithful, devoted weEers Of
uniforms" says a Washington nAn
who has seen service in both the arny
and the navy. There are at the pres
ent time four regiments Of negro SOL
diers in the regular army Of the Uni
ted States-two outfits Of cavalry and
two OF infantry. All four Of these reg
lments have been under fire in import
ant Indian campaigns, and there is yet
to be recorded a single instance of
man in any of the four layouts show
ing the white feather-and the two
cavalry regiments of negroes have on
several occasions found themselves In
very serious situations. While the fact
is we'll known out on the frontier,
don't remember ever having seen it
mentioned back here that an American
Indian has a deadly fear of an Aneri-,
can negro The most utterly reckless,
daredevil savage OF the copper hue
stands literally in awe Of negrs, and
the blacker the negro the more the
Indian quails. cant understand why
this should be- for the Indians decline
to give their reasons for fearing the
black men-but the fact remains that
even a very bad Indian will give the
mildest- negro imaginable all
the room he wants, and to spare, as
any old regular army soldier who has
frontiered will tell you. The Indians
| fancy, attribute uncanny and eerie
qualities to the blacks.
THE cavalry troop to which l be-
longed soldiered alongside a couple Of
troops of the 9Th Cavalry, black reg
iment, up in the Sioux country eight
or nine years ago. We were perform
ing chain guard, hemming-in duty. Rad
it was our chief business to prSEsat
the saVagss from strayinE froH -
reservation. We weren't unda -
structiOns 10 riddle then IL thsy sa-
tempted to pass eur guard posts, buS
We were authorised " tickle thS1 -
10 any reasonable oItsnt EASa ~
manning thsEi. with our bAVSAaHs, n
any Of them attempted to hluR Rast ~.
We'll, the mes 81 my troop had ell eel
srs OF trSubls while en- EuarG N hold
iaE the saTaGSs in. The @UAlallas
would hardly pay any attention - ths
white ssntriSs of the chain guABa, SRA
when they wanted to pass bsySad tks
guard limits they veuld inVsRAby
pick cut q spot for passage that WSs
patrolled by a white 'post-huRpSC.
But the guards Ss che two black trSePs
didn't have a single ruH-iH with the
savages. The Indians made 1t . psiRt
to remain strictly away fren the ne
gro soldiers guard posts. Moreover
the black soldiers got ten times as
much obedience from the indians leaf
ing around the teepees and WicklsuPs
as did we of the white outfit. The In
dians would fairly jump to ebey the
uniformed negroes. ! remember sseiAg
a black sergeant make a miner chief
go down to a creek to get q pail Of wa
| ter-an unheard OF thing, for the chiefs
and even the ordinary bucks among
the Sioux always make their squaWs
perform this sort of work. This chief
was summing himself, reclining, beside
| his teepee, when his squaw started
with the bucket for the creek some dis
tance away. The negro sergeant saw
the move. He walked up to the lazy
grunting savage.
Look a-yeah, yo' spraddle-nosed
| yalluh voodoo nigguh' said the black
sergeant-he was as black as stove
pipe-to the blinking chief, jes' shake
yo' no-count bones an tote dat wattut
yo'sef. Yo' ain no bettuh to pacl
wattuh dan All am, yo' heah me-.
The heap-much Indian chief didR'
understand a word Of what the negro
sergeant said to him, but he under
stands pantomime all right, and wher
the black man in uniform grabbed thu
pail out of the squaw's hand anC
thrust it inCe TIE lirty paw of the chic
the chief went after that bucket OF Wa
ter. and he went a-loping, too.
ne olOuA Will manu- uOWn TO Ilcl
children's children the story of
charge that a couple OF the negro cav
airy troops made during the Pine Ridg
troubles. 1t was of the height OF the fra
ccs, and the bad Indians were regular
ly lined up for battle. These two blacl
troops were ordered to make the initia
swoop upon them. You know the neis
one black man can make when he get
right down to the business of yelling
Well, these two troops OF blacks start
|. ed their terrific whoop in unison whS
they we're a mile away from the walt
ing Sioux, and they got warmed up an
In better practice with every Jun
. their horses made. l give you my 81
emn word that in the ears of US 81 n
white outfit, stationed three Ails
away, the yelps these tive KSSrS trSNR
Of cavalry gave sounded like ths sSl
Rival whosplng Of tea thousand leVs.
The Sioux weren't scared a little bit ;
the approaching clouds OF AlkOA dug
but, all the same, when the tive blsc
troops were more thaA q quarter Of
mile away the Indians brskS sAa ~
As II the Sld BOY himself we're SRts
them. and it was then an easy nAStl
to reund them up aHG aiaArn thea
! oh - aFA l..