The National tribune., 1901-05-09

of the fort at that time, and when he was
informed that the Indians were coming,
he sent the interpreter-Fred Jones-out
to meet them and arrange with the head
chiefs to come into the fort and hold a
council, customary thing in those days
when trade was to be made.
1.-The fort was situated on the bank Of
the Arkansas River, and was in the
shape of half-circle. Close to the bank
were a number Of dugouts, with portfolios
in the doors, in which the men were
quartered, so that if the Indians ever
| charged and took the fort, the men could
fall back and retire to the dugouts. On
| the east side OF the fort was a large gate,
the officers being quartered in sod houses
| located inside the inclosure.
when the time arrived for the pow
| WOW, or council, about 100 of the chiefs
and sub-chiefs came through the big gate,
| and as soon as they were inside the ute
was closed. When they were all ready
| for the talk, Mai. Sheridan instructed the
interpreter to inform the Indians that they
| were his prisoners, and that they would
| be held as hostages until Mrs. Box and
| her child were brought in and turned over
to him. The Indians jumped to their feet
in an instant. threw aside their blankets,
and prepared for a fight.
"The mountain howitzers had been
double-shotted with grape and canister,
the guns being depressed SO as to sweep
| the ground where the Indians were. Some
| of the soldiers were marching back and
| forth, with guns loaded and bayonets
| fixed, while number of others, with
| revolvers concealed under their blorses,
! were sitting around watching the proceed
ings. The main portion of the garrison
| was concealed in the dugouts, the men all
armed and provided with 2Go rounds of
| ammunition per man. The Indians were
all armed with tomahawks, which they
had carefully concealed under their large
| blankets.
When they were informed that they
were prisoners, they made dash for the
soldiers in sight, but when the men came
pouring out of the dugouts and opened
fire on them, while the mountain howitzers
| belched forth, they fell back and sur
rendered. One of the old chiefs was taken
up on the palisades and compelled to sig
nal to his warriors in their camp.
I'm less than 10 minutes Mrs. Box and
her child were brought up to the big gate,
and one of the most affecting sights ever
witnessed was when the mother and the
girls met and hugged and kissed each
other it was sight once seen never to
be forgotten.
Maj. Sheridan then told the interpreter
to inform the Indians that they could go,
warning them not to steal any more
women or children. We had killed about
% or 80 Of the red devils, to say nothing
about those wounded, before they tn ew
up their hands and surrendered. They took
their dead and wounded away with them,
which we were only too glad to see them
do, as it saved us the trouble of throwing
them into the river. A representative of
Harper's Weekly was at the fort at the
time, and took number Of photographs
of the Indians and the Box family.
This piece OF strategy, or treachery,
on the part Of the commanding Off er,
cost scores OF lives after that, for those
Apaches went on ths warpath and mur-
the 18th Cav. caught up with and annihi-
lated the entire band in the Wichita
Mountains in November, 1868.
AT this time Anderson's stage line was
making trips between Fort Leayenworth
and Fort Union, but the Indians became
so troublesome that they could not run a
stage without a large escort of soldiers
with each coach. The stages were final
ty taken off altogether and all official mail
and dispatches had to be taken through
by scouts and couriers. The men could
only travel at night, as it was sure death
to be caught out in daylight.
BUFFALO STAMPEDE.
During the Winter of '67, vast herd
of buffalo stampeded in a heavy wind
storm. There were thousands of them,
and when we first heard them coming 1t
sounded like the distant roar of thunder.
The Ice was pretty thick in the Arkansas
River at that time, but after the buffalo
ran through it there was no ice to be seen.
| They came so close to us that we had to
| take to our dugouts, where we remained
| for several hours.
"a short distance from the fort was
/ stacked several hundred tons of hay, for
the use of our stock and for outftting ex-
| peditions which frequently started from
the fort. The buffalo were not slow about
| finding that, and they cleaned it up slick
and fast Nothing could be done to dive
| them away, as firing into the herd would
have been just like shooting into a sand
| pit.
in 81 Gen. Hancock was out with an
! expedition after Indians. He had one
regiment of cavalry, one OF infantry, be-
sides two batteries of light artillery He
had the Indians surrounded, as be sup
posed, and was preparing to attack them
| the next morning, but when his troopers
advanced on the village they found the
Indians had gone-slipped through his