The Washington weekly post., 1900-04-10


WbeB He Tries TO Avoid the Enemy. Fire
and Fisat, Him ia III. Own style.
I'm glad the Beers have been teachiag
tas British how 10 tight" said Uncle sam
Eagt Co "a Post reporter the other day.
This business 81 standing up and letting
taa bullets Hit you because you don't
E.ua any better is IN error that me I,re-
usl soldiers have made from the time OF
I-a--.cS down 60 the present day. was
-....ty-ane years Oid last month, and
fHa ...g time 4 vas ever accused OF cow
ar...- Was IN I,5l. and the charge was
made b. a man who didn't know how to
asa. Indians.
The United States was so taken M
With ,h. conflict between the North and
south at that time that our little war out
aa .ae frontier didn't attract any atten-
rrl. J don believe j ever saw any men-
..a .s ir anywhere, although there " 70
...E. killed ID give il a place on the
ar- ..r. 70. auybOdys paper But We
yer. away from The haunts Of civilization.
and there was "a mfghtier struggle which
took -En eyes OF men away from a little
4.
rh.s. vino were on the frontier In IN So
a.ys Hoa their right 10 be enrolled anon,
r.a defenders 0f the country as much as
those Who wore the blue AT Shiloh and
Gettysburg The marches against a hid
a,a .Je through aH unknown country. en-
during hunger and thirst, exposed 10 all
ta. r.g0Ts OF "a mountain climate without
DE protection o. shelter tent. these were
among the things that the loyalist of the
Tar West had 20 Undergo in those days.
] was .u Cal 1-uia when the war b-o|le
out 10 Was some time afterward that we
heard OF the firing on Fort Sumter. Cali
!oTa!4 had d smal prepond rance Of Union
HrI, and they carried the day. Compa-
u.rs were organized, and / sent word TO a
..' 70. my old friends who had been with
100" iH iar mining business in ~ and the
bis iAa- ] would pay their travelling ex-
I'Ust- and buy them their outfits II tnev
would enlist IN company ! was getting
.F IL WASH long before / had eighty as
good men as ever ran their eye along 4
Henry rife, and they were all friends OF
mine. TOO There wasn't a man in the
u-n'H That u'dn't have given his hfe
Tor mine. ur ! mine for his. Some Of us
Had h''- uG specting trips together
oilers I had hired to work claims In the
placer a.lgings OF the Sierras, and the,
knew That as long as l had a dollar. 81
cents o il was jhcrs
Secession in the West.
"An old regular army man by the name
a. Col trluOT Wa getting up the rfei-
m@ai, al1 my company was mustered in |
al Stockton. The regiment had about half
infantry aud half cavalry. but there WIS
boo objection raised on that score. for
Whit "e wanted vas men who could fight |
\ IJu"r had reached US out there tiat
the tonteuerates We're going 10 try to |
ora" California and some Of the other |
"e..-Tn States into secession More than |
That. il Was reported that they were going |
lo come up on the ranges OF the Sierras /
4lI Eastern Rockies. ana run off herds of /
cattle and horses. The theater Of The |
proposed operations was said TO BE- Utah |
ald gossip had ii that the MoFmons were
secretly in league with them. OF course !
al She regulars were withdrawn from the
frontier 10 fight in the East, and we had
10 take their place
Our regiment started East in the latter
part Of the summer of 1861 for Salt Lake |
'.LE, uLd We got there some time in Sep
tem5er and went into camp. The Nor
mons Were friendly to US on the surface
but We did not trust them The story of !
IhelF uut!ases was too fresh in our minds
Tor implicit confidence Still. nothing oc-
t-rrea, and We began TO think that We |
would waste our time by STAYING there |
Ihc men We're anxious for fighting. |
g-ol many of them. in fact. most of them
had seen service in the Mexican war, and
'-e rest OF them had been more or less en-
gagged IN occasional tights with the In
l~Hs. The colonel was afraid that his
reputation would suffer on the ground
that he was doing nothing when word
reached us that the Bear River Indians
were cut on the warpath.
Were MOngreI Tribe.
The Bear River Indians were a mon
glrl lot Of redskins. and the tribe consist
cl OF renegades from the Utes, Piutes.
haeEile,, and other tribes, which were
even TOO respectable to own them They
hal swept down and wiped out a Mormon
Village al the head of the Great Salt
LAKE, ana were reported To be gathered
about go strong among the canyons along
Bear River, which is the outlet of Bear
Lake lLlO The northern part of Great Salt
Lake.
i think il was some time in December
hArn the news reached US, and Col Con-
LUl decided to start at once He feared
l-al there might be an outbreak of the
"oino-s While We were gone, so he left
..e greater part of the regiment in the
'4L'aeas al salt Lake City, and took only
~'.I' lg' men with him. l had between +
-'Ils aaa fifty OF my company OF infan-
.l'' ana The rest of the force was cavalry.
'-e eo.oae. ordered me TO set out ahead
w." my men, and the cavalry would start |
."..! ana oyertake Us. II was . good I
-''t DAYS. march 10 where the Indians |
"..' reported 10 be, and We wanted TO |
--"N' 90" haste and reach them before |
A.y sut away
"-.a We started it was nice weather,
G ~. we "-lH got out more than twenty !
- D.-"'e The worst blizzard | ever !
-. ga" lu NA-rl the snow in our faces. |
'..' '.-uiAe.ar dropped about ~ de- :
..... -.- IL cot colder than a Klondyke !
,...- i"r SNOW piled in great ]
-....., o''' .- 'he jTall. and il was with DIFF >
.' nat Nc found our way. | had q Q
..-.s.' 1-, ley The men ride il ona afrar ,
d. '-ey sot too Tired To push on. {
5r'e oI al the obstacles we mad Z
1H......r .'.A miles 4 day. blowing
81 '-e snow Up TO our waists and i
'.'-..t a.u not ov.rtake MS until We J.
80. "'..'" twenty miles of the randaz- {
Na-s ut i.. Indian. ''e c
i-a lr w.. .,-. .... .'.'ao. came up he was rid P
- ~. s.'.,. Ign. -'a"H ts rwo horses. and !.
~r VAN a. many robes as a Rms !,
prince. lie told m. 10 hurry up r
i. ,. ...l ~. on WIKI ~ sla4abeIls jing!ing
q. .. ... Hosy air like lie Lines Of a ca ca, h
a.. I.., asked him 10 take the bells c
f. ..s.s. ana be- finally did 50. II J
81. r.. refused we wouldn't have found Il
J.... '..,. "..h.h hundred miles Of Bear b
~. "' stopped for the night about
,..s .- from the canyon where the
were located. and pushed on in
morning "a little before daybreak F
&. "..h We got TO Bear River We found
, -'-.Ty already there. and they were p
-..H away with their carbines as II q
20 we're s!aughtering the enemy bv r
My men laughed at the idea q
.t..Eg Indians in tnat fashion. and Il
a.t Where the redskins were One Of n
captains or the cavalry replied that n
'F "rre on the other side Of the river +
--..h IL Was the most ridiculous $