The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1899-07-19
YOAKUM'S REPRIEVE.
THE FIRING SQUAD WAS FORMED
WHEN The DOCUMENT ARRIVED.


tain His Hold Upon Life.
In 1860 our regiment, then the First
United States cavalry, was quartered at
Fort Kearney, Neb. 1t was hardly
worthy to be called village then. There
were only q few mud houses and one or
two framA. Six small field pieces,
Founders, comprised the artillery. We
were having frequent brushes with the =
Cheyennes those days. They were
hard lot, tell you. The last fight we
had with the Indians was on Aug. .,
1860. They were armed with bows ana
arrows, and part OF our men Tell INTO
their ambush. We could see the boys IN
blue battling hard with the red fiends
and were ordered to mount and 60 to
their relief.
On the way there we had to cross
rayine, the edges of which were abrupt.
NV horse fell, and l was thrown abrupt
ly to the ground, but got up, remounted
and caught up with the troop. The bat
tie didn't last long, and the red men soon
skedaddled, leaving many of their dead
and wounded on the field. l remember
we took some Of their injured back to
the fort. 1t was a hot, blistering day,
and the atmosphere in the covered wag-
ons must have been something like that
In hadcs, but never cry nor groan did
one Of them utter.
Among the enemy captured was
white man who had been fighting with
the Indians. He was well armed, but
had shot all his ammunition away and
was fighting with his carbine as a club
when overpowered and shackled. lie
was q tall, swarthy fellow, with hand
some, dark eyes and nervous tempera-
ment; had been a member of one of the
regular army posts farther west, but got
into some difficulty with one of his OH
GERS and deserted.
He was put through a court martial
and sentenced to be shot
These sentences, of course, have to be
approved by the administration. Report
of the courts action was forwarded to
Washington, and the prisoner was close
ly guarded until the president had signed
the death order. This was finally done,
and the day of execution set. The pris-
oner's name was Yoakum, and | had
several talks with him. He took the
trouble to make fair statement Of his
case to me and offered several good
points in mitigation. He wrote some
letters to friends he had in the east,
which I afterward learned were for the
purpose of getting them to intercede for
him. The curious part of the story, which
follows, was told me, and 1t shows the
slender thread by which n man some
times retains his hold on life.
The colonel at the next post, some $50
miles away, received the order from
Washington passing upon Yoakum's
case. He selected messenger from
among the best riders and, without tell
ing him the import Of what he was car
rying, simply ordered him to use all
haste in reaching Fort Kearney. The
trooper took 1t and lit out at rapid
gait three days before the sentence was
to be executed.
The second day afterward he returned
and presented himself to the colonel,
looking rather sheepish. The colonel in.
terrogated him on his early return, and
the soldier confessed that he had got in
with some companions at N, sort Of
settlement on the road to Fort Kearney,
and while drinking there had lost the
message.
The colonel's face blanched, and for
once he lost his composure. In excited
tones he asked the trooper II he knew
what the message contained. The mes
senger shook his head.
you internal scoundrel" Numbered
the colonel, that was Ioakums re-
prieve, and now no power on earth can
get message there before his execution
He was sentenced to be shot at noon to-
day, the order approved by the president
and later on rescinded. The paper gave
you was the annument Of the death SEN
tence. You have been the cause of his
death, SIR and by the eternal | intend
that you be shot for the infamous man
ner in which you have attempted to per-
form your duty" Oh, but he was hot.
The trooper was as badly scared as
man ever gets when he heard the awful
consequences of his derelicton. There
were no telephones nor telegraph wires
in those days, and it was out Of the ques-
ton to attempt to get another message
there in time
Here is the odd feature Of the story:
The messenger, while drinking at the bar
in the little settlement, had inadvertent-
" pulled the dispatch out Of his pocket.
An hour later, while on the road to the
most, he discovered his loss and hurried
" renaced. The saloon was then closed,
hut Hle barkeeper was aroused from his
bed and thorough search made on the
floor, but nothing could be found The
trooper, not knowing the Importance OF
his message, resolved to ride back and
get new one.
At sun up next morning soldier who
had spent the night in town was walking
ND the street, when he noticed dog
lying on the sidewalk playing with Il
scrap of paper There was nothing III
that, but when passing breeze jerked IT
from the animals paws and sent it whir-
ring across the street, the dog made a
quick bound to get it, The rapidly OF
his action excited the admiration of the
soldier. He saw chance for some fun.
He went over to the dog took the pa
Der from his paws and held it up for the
wind to blow it again, SO the dog could
make another run. As soon as he touch
ed the paper his trained eye saw that il
was IN army document. He opened and
read it.
To say that he was astonished would
be putting it mildly. He went into the
saloon and asked the bnrkeeper about it.
The dispenser of Rocky mountain corpse
reviver related the incident of the even
ing before. The trooper secured the best
horse in town and struck out, arriving
at the outpost just as the firing squad
was getting ready to perform its unpleas
ant duty.
Yoakum's friends had managed to gel
in their work with the authorities, but il
would have gone for naught bad not that
breeze blown the paper from the dogs
paws Just at the time it did.-kansas
City World.
For Future Decision.