Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1902-02-01
CHAPTER, I

CHAPTER l.
Just after the war between the North
and South a great many people from the
border States went to the far West. In
the majority of eases their leaving home
was due to the party bitterness which in
Virginia, Kentucky and Missouri broke
up families and arrayed neighbors
against each other. Victors and van
pushed felt equally uneasy, and, as has
been said, many Of them fled to new
lands, where, like their pioneer forefath-
ers, they hoped to establish homes for
themselves and children.
At that time the Indians on the great
Understanding from British America
to the Gulf of MeXico-were on the war
path, and the troops in all the frontier
posts were engaged in a service more
harassng and dangerous than that of the
sad conflict in which brothers faced each
other to battle for principles that each
felt to be right
Oliver Greyson was, in 1867, fifty
years of age; he was still a powerful
man, with 4 quiet, resolute manner, and
n look of strength in his face that had
been intensified by an important position
during four years Of conflict. He com
young man of 21, had an equally impor
tant command on the side of the South.
1t had been the fate of father and son
to confront each other on the terrible
field of Chickamauga-a name that in the
language of the Cherokees means 1.-The
river of blood" and here Col. Ledbetter
Greyson, the son, was reported killed.
From that day on, Oliver Greyson, the
fothnr phnnunl m EJn did hi4
duty, but the light of his hfe seemed
to have been extinguished. He had been
conspicuous for his daring; now he be-
came absolutely reckless. There was a
general belief among his men that he
did not wish to survive his son. He en-
tered the army as Col Greyson in com
mand of eleven hundred sabers; he came
home as Gen. Greyson at the close of
the war, and the sabers of the old regi-
ment numbered ninety-seNen.
Gen. Greyson had been a well-to-do
planter. He was respected by friend
and foe, and he might have remained in
his old home and prospered had not the
spirit of unrest come on him, and led
him to so to new and comparatively
an unknown land.
His family consisted of his wifc--a
iubSt CStIiudtlC lbhN HIS habSHlcl. jim
mic, aged TO- and an adopted daughter,
Mabel Fleming, now p, who had been
engaged to the dead son, Ledbetter.
Mabel Fleming had been wooed by
Charles Nodine, who had been a captain
in Gen. Greyson's regiment, but without
success. lie was man of no principle
and was many years Mabel's senior.
When he got his first answer in 1865 he
L.
had followed out his natural inclinations
and become gambler and desperate.
Mrs. GreySon was not i'll favor of leav-
ing the old home, but, like a good wife,
she yielded to the wishes of the general
when she found that he was determined
to go to the far West.
Whenever immigrant trains were not
strong enough to protect themselves
troops were furnished by the govern
ment, for their defense in crossing the
plains Gen. Hancock, then stationed at
Fort Leavenworth, offered an escort to
Gen. Greyson's party. but that gentle
man, confident of his own strength,
politely refused it,
The immigrant train consisted Of ten
wagons. There were eight families, with
seventeen well-mounted, well-armed men,
all bound for the Yellowstone region, or
the head waters of the Missouri; the ac-
tual destination was uncertain Gen.
Greyson was elected the leader, and Mt
Fort Wallace, near the Colorado line, a
man named Robert Whitman, who had
been a government scout, was engaged
to guide the party to the upper Missouri.
This man, Whitman, was under 80,
tall, strong, heavily bearded. and the
bare part of his face was so burned
SCARED and predetermined as to make
it repulsive ut the first glance. He was
very quiet man, with a low, sad voice.
and an distracted manner. He spoke
but little, yet from the first he showed
a great desire to join the party.
Despite his Disagreement, Whitman
soon became a favorita with the women,
the children and The dogs. He was a
most thoughtful man, and when he smil-
ed, which was not often, a real beauty,
like soul-Gght. flushed his face and
made it captivating.
The only family not Americans in the
train was that of Lawrence Costello, an
Irishman, and one of the wittiest and
most genial fellows in the world. He
had two sons. twins, and just of age:
and these fine, strapping fellows, as day