Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1900-09-20
Acy's Little I'm.
BY ELLIS MEREDITH.


LIN 1872, when Wallace, Kansas,
as the terminus of the Kansas Paci-
4 Railway, it had about a hundred
Inhabitants, and the usual two-story
fame hotel few feet from the sta
Ion. The Smoky Hill River was then,
8 now about three miles from the
Bwn, and Fort Wallace was two
lilies distant.
At that time the fort was a two
bmpany post, garrisoned by between
he and two hundred soldiers, all told.
The buildings were arranged compact
Il, the only foes to be feared being
bdians, and there were water-tanks
bat were always kept filled, lest in
lime of trouble the Sioux might come
i nd cut off the water-supply from the
&ver
s The scenery in: this portion of Kan
Rs can be pictured pretty accurately
&y a straight line drawn across a
1heet of blank paper, with the labels
sky and land above and below it.
There was tree, appropriately named
lone Tree, four miles from Wallace,
hd visible for many miles in every
erection. 1t was a beacon, a guide,
harbnger of hope to every citizen
bid to every traveller. 1t told the
oints of the compass by day as the
North Star does at night. Lonely and
esolate. it stood on the wide prairie,
i friend to all and beloved by ALL
3fter a fashion, with never an ans
Eering rustic from any kindred cot
bnwood.
In view of these natural advantages
or the lack of them-the social life
II Wallace was limited. The ladies
t the garrison exchanged patterns
nd recipes, and the officers amused
bemselyes as best they could, and
Aoped and prayed for marching orders
hat did not come.
What was euphoniously called The
$kunkkill Club" included all the Off
lOlu lAC lol StAIl dAA tAS 1Noo
4hg citizens. While it does not sound
Promising, it was real boon, for its
3heetings, which were held monthly,
we're the sole function of the town.
Pm that occasion the man who could
Dot show the pelt of at least one of
<hese chicken-thieves paid for an oys-
Ter supper for the remainder. The
OYSTER the little canned cove oyster,
|Eas, in those dark and mythical ages,
fhe greatest delicacy known to the
Western palate.
Among the Nimrods of this club was
quiet, middle-aged man named
Wheeler. Probably his first name
ad originally been Asa, but it had
Ping since degenerated into ''Acy."
e, had served as a government scout,
<hd it was generally held that what
He did not known about horses, crit
PRS" and Indians was not worth
nowing.
Acy seldom spoke of any of his ex-
%eriences, and was altogether uncom-
&unicative, except when he was with
No or three of the garrison children,
no seemed to have found their way to
Ps heart through his pony's stomach.
he pony was a very pretty bay mus
Rng, with black points and an insati-
<ble appetite for sugar. She had re
Diced in the name of Bet until the
Rajor's small daughter had re-christ-
ped her ''Tweetheart," and prevailed
p Acy to accept the change.
Sweetheart knew more than most
Zen, so Acy said. and no one cared to
pntradict him. She could trail him
|ke dog, she could find her way in
be darkest night, she never stumbled
to prairie dog holes, and she could
BENT an Indian five miles away. Acy
Rd probably never read the Arabs
ldress to My beautiful! my beauti-
but when an Fastener offered
buy the little mare, he said, CURLY,
tranger. a man don't sell his hull
mily," and walked away, his arm
Ter her neck.
Acy was foreman of the Allen Clark
pck ranch, fifteen miles from Wal
ee on Rose Greek, and as foreman
was his business to conduct, the
und-ups. The Ogalallas and Sioux