, 1900-07-17
F0UCHT|N WYOMING
LContinued from page 81

boys had filled their pockets in the In,
dian village. The incidents Of this
fight would make interesting reading
Many acts of personal bravery cannot
be recorded. Suffice it to say every
man was a general. Not a command
was given by the general after the
first order to charge-not a man in
the command but that realized that his
life vas in the balance. We must
either whip the Indians, and whip
them badly, or be whipped ourselves,
We could see that the Indians outnum-
bered us; We were better armed than
they. AS for fighting qualities. the
savages proved themselves as brave
as any of our men. The fight COM
menced at 9 o'clock, was offensive until
about II a. m, when the general was
driven back into camp with his small
squad of men: from that time until
midnight W. fought IN the defensive.
Yet we had accomplished a great vic
tory Two hundred and fifty lodges
had been burned with their entire win
ter supply of dried meat. The son of
the principal chief (Black Bear was
killed, sixty-three Indians we're slain,
and about LOO head of ponies cap
tured. While We were in the village
destroying the plumber, most of Il
men Were busy r~emounting. Our own
tired stock was turned into the herd
and the Indian ponies were lassGed
and mounted; this afforded
the boys no little fun, as in nearly every
instance the rider was thrown or else
badly shook up by the bucking ponies.
The ponies appeared to be as afraid of
the white men as our horses were
afraid of the Indians. If it had not
been for Captain North, with his In
dians, it would have been impossible
for us to take away the captured stock,
as they were constantly breaking away
Indians, who were as constantly dash
ing toward the herd in the vain hope
of recapturing their stock.
Many exciting scenes were witnessed
upon the field of battle. During the
chase up Wolf creek with the general
one Of North's braves picked up a little
Indian boy that had been dropped by
the wayside. The little fellow was
crying, but when picked up by the SOL
der Indian fought like a wildcat. One
of u men asked the Indian what he
was going to do with the papoose.
He said: Don't know; kill him, meb-
by He vas told to put him down and
not to injure the bright title fellow.
The Indian obeyed, and at least one
papoose owed his life to the kind
hearted soldier. Several of our men
were wounded, some of them quite Sc
verely. Three or four died of their
wounds. Two OF Il soldiers, white
men, l forget their names, were found
among the dead, and three or four of
North's Indians were killed.
Lieutenant Oscar Jewett, the gen.
erals aide-de-camp, the generals bug
Ter and orderly were among the wound
ed. Lieutenant Jewett was shot
through the thigh and through the
hand, and yet was compelled to ride
over sixty-five miles after receiving
his wounds. We were absent from
camp thirty-six hours; during that
time had nothing to eat except a few
hard lacks and some jerked buffalo
meat. If there is a better record to
the credit Of the volunteer cavalry SOL
der | am not aware Of the fact. We
brought back to camp with us eight
squaws and thirteen children, who
were turned loose a day or two after
ward. This battle, known as the
Tongue river fight, August 30, 1865
was the last important fight of the war
of 81 to '65, inclusive-it was the last
battle in which volunteer soldiers par
%ticipated. (The only official report OF
this battle is shown IN rebellion rec
ords, volume 4S, page 1,236-a tele-
gram from General Dodge to General
Pope, advising hat Conner had had a
fight on Tongue river, August 2S. with
Medicine Mans band and killed fifty
and captured 600 horses; the battle
was fought On the Goth, as above stated,
and the result as given in my diary is
correct. There are no other official
records giving a history of the cam
paign).
Out of seventeen officers present in
this fight there are today only five sur
v~ivors, viz: Captain N. J. O'Brien, of
Cheyenne, this state; Lieutenant J. b.
Furay, of Omaha; Lieutenant Eugene
Ware, of Fort Scott, Kas.; Lieutenant
Oscar Jewett, of Michigan, and my
self.