The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1903-08-09
TELLS SENSATION
OF BEING SCALPED.
Graphic Description by William
Thompson, Who Survived Cru
city of Sayages.
HOW He SAVED HIS LIFE.
Said to Be the Only Case on Rec.
ord in Nebraska of a Man
Surviving Such
Barbarity.
How He SAVED HIS LIFE.
REPrEIIc SPECIAL

ltflf lbl-lS SPECIAL.
| Lincoln. Neb., Aug. S-A true account OF
the man who was scalped and lived to
tell the story has been filed with the Ne
traska State Historical Society, and the in
| disputahle proof is a wrinkied scalp in a
heTmeticaily sealed glass case 1t is one of
the curiosit:es in the museum of the Omaha
| Public Library.
| The scalp once adorned the head of Will
nam Thompson. and was torn from its nat
ural resting place in an Indian attack on
| the employees of the Union Pacific Railroad
| August 6, 1861 The attack was made short
dissence from TIE present site of Nearney.
Nen.- and il that city lives Moses H. Sy-
| denh2m. veteran journalist, who printed the
| iirs1 newspaper IN the State, and he is
| the authority for the authenticity of the
| lncidei.
| In q personal interview Thompson de-
! scribed TO Nh Sydsnham his s,nsations
| while the scalp.ng knife of the savage was
removing the scalp.
THOMPSON was one of the five men or
dered out OF the Plum Creek Station on
August 8 TO repair the telegraph line
short distance from kearney. On the after
| noon of the next day. they encountered the
sarages. The first suggestion. OF danger was
pile Of ties on the railroad track.
ihey had no sooner stopped the hand
car. said Mr.. Sydenham. 'tlan rifle shots
The prairie grass along the Platte River
Sesned alive with Indians, all IN war paint
These rushed upon the fivc lremen, VINO
aimed a few shots at the Indians and then
rai! 10. cove.
A shot from one of the pursurers hit
thompson in the right arm. but he kept on
from tomahawk. For a moment he lay
stunned. and then he recovered sufficiently
70 realize what the Indian was doing. He
determined to remain perfectly quiet. and to
this decision he probably owed his life.
INDIAN YIELDS KNIFE.
With the dizziness of an expert
Thompson said, the savage grabbed my
scalp lock in one hand, cut around it again
and again until the edges of the skin were
.oosened. Then he tore 1t free The sensa-
ton was about the same as if some one had
passed red-hot iron over my head. After
most uncomfortable. / never felt anything
that hurt SO much. l had to bite my tongue
10 keep from putting my hand on the
top Of my head was left
The Indian left Thompson and hurried
on in the pursuit Of the others. Just as he
turned TO go he tucked the hair of the scalp
under his girdle. In his hurry 1t was inse-
curely fastened and fell into the grass. The
piece of scalp was just about as big as a
mans hand. In the distance the Indians
pursued the flying linemen. Just as Thomp-
sen prepared TO crawl into the grass he
was roughly seized. hand clutched his
hair again. and once more he felt knife.
He felt that another Indian was scalp'ng
him. After removing couple of inches Of
the scalp the Indian rushed on. ;,tt-s .-s1i
To the pain of the wounds was soon
added the torture of thirst. Thompson felt
dizzy and unable to rise. He heard the In
dams moving near him. He lay perfectly
preaching In the distance. The Indians had
placed ties on the track. Thompson dared
approaching 1t crashed into the ties and
the Indians surrounded the defenseless train
crew: Several cars and the engine were
derailed. The Indians found a barrel Of
whisky among the freight. and as darkness
came on Thompson heard their frcnzied
yells. They fired the derailed cars. and
and engineer thrown into the flames.
ESCAPED IN DARKNESS.
TN the darkness Thompson picked up
the scalp-lcck and crawied away. He met
a rcscuipg party from Omaha in the morn
Ing. The charred bodies of the fireman
and engineer were taken from the debris
and conveyed to Omaha. None. of tho
other linemen or members of the train
crew could be found. They were never
when Thompson arrived in Omaha Doc
tor r. c. Moore took charge Of the case:
Antiseptic surgery was then unknown. and
However. the wound was done up ip sweet
Thompson went to Melburn. England. az
socn as he recovered. A few years ago
Doctor Moore received letter from him.
Thompson said that he was getting old. and
few people believed the scalping story. He
wanted to know IL the doctor wanted a
slight token of the case Doctor Moore re-
piled in the affirmative and soon after he
received the dried and wrinkled scalp. He
recognized 1t at once and has given 1t to
the Omaha Public Library
Mr.. Sydenham regards the incident worthy
Of permanent record. as THOMPSON is the
only man in the history of the State who I
has survived scalping experience. His |
account has been given to J. Amos Barrett;
secretary OF the Nebraska State Historical |
Society. and will be kept among the records |
in the library building of the State Uni |
yersity