The Guthrie daily leader. [volume] (Guthrie, Okla.) 1893-1996, 1901-04-23
SMITHS STORY OF
FRONTIER DAYS.
Stirring Events Prior to oklahoma's
Settlement Are Recalled.


Settlement Are Recalled.
Oklahoma has many men who have
seen and participated in numerous
stirring events, but none have had
more experience or seen more service
than F. r. Smith Of this city For
eighteen years Smith was in the sery-
ice of the government, mostly as a Z
messenger in the army and the last
years OF his service in the ambulance .
corps Smith is So years of age and is /
known all over the west as a 4
"papoose" He states that this name /
was given him by Major Inman, whose /
messenger he was for some time The /
name has stayed right with him and .
his associates call him by that title
when speaking to him. Smith has
seen service and hard service, too For
three years he was with General Gus
ter in his Indian round ups He saw
the battle Of the Washita and has
many interesting things to tell of that
event His opinion of Custer is that
the general was a terrible indian
fighter. He said: General Custer
always wanted to catch those Indians
and that was all that he seemed to
think Of At first when we got into
skifmishes he did not want the
squaws killed and he found out that
they could shoot as wei as the bucks
This made him change his mind and
at the battle of the Washita squaws
were killed as well as bucks"
Smith had some experiences on the
staked plains with Custer. Those
were the times that mule meat was
considered luxury and as Mr.. Smith
stated it, 1--WE were mighty glad to get
anything to eat, mule or no mule.
Mule meat is not bad when you have
nothing else to eat"
Smith has been around and worked
in different positions in fifteen forts
during his eighteen years Of service.
He has a fund of information that
would startle tho old timer and moth
ing delights him more than to talk
with some one who knew the men of
the early days. In 1868 he was at Fort
Sill at the time that Phil Sheridan and
Custer were there, He liked Sheri-
dan but preferred Custer to Sheridan
because he knw him and had been out
with him on many skirmish when
provisions were low and the dangers
many. One of his experiences on the
stsked plainF was being without
water. Concega aing it he said: Eve
we're on those stalxed plains and It was
hard to get water. Ons morning we
dug a well in the sand and saddled
our horses and started off. We hrd
some water along put we were sery
dry The pack mules and horses suf-
fered considerable, but we pushed
ahead After we had travelled some
fifty miles we decided to camp and
then we unloaded the pack and turn
ed the pack mules loose. Some of the
soldiers started to dig a well in the
sand TO reach water and just before
tue water WIS Aohhhf NAboN pawn
i mules, all OF them, started back to
where we had stopped in the morning
and the soldiers had 10 ride back and
get them before we could move on.
t The mules had their tongues out and
nearly dead It seemed but they made
that fifty miles all right.
"The Nineteenth Kansas was with
; Custer a part Of the time and those
? fellows could fight all right, too.
have seen Custer, when one OF the
! horses belonging to some of his men
\ would get weary, order one of the
Kansas boys TO let his man have his
b horse. We usually had the ambulance
! full, but the Kansas boys were per
a fectly willing to let Clusters men have
q their horses.
4 Clusters men always liked him ant
they would do almost anything In thC
q world for him. He never had any
n trouble only he wanted his men to b,
: the soldier all Of the time and on al
occasions.
II "The boys had a good time wheI
!, they were down around Fort sill