The Washburn leader. [volume] (Washburn, McLean County, N.D.) 1890-1986, 1903-08-08

the swift flying years, and half con-
vince ourselves that the human
mind is capable of reconciling the
past with the present, or rather OF
comprehending the general growth
and onward stride Of the country;
but the magnitude Of it's growth
and Of these strides is not appreci-
ated, nor can it be described.
Twenty years ago your cores
pondent was in the. heart Of that
portion of Dakota lying east OF the
Missouri-in homeless, trackless.
Dakota, so far as civilization is
commemorative, treeless, bound-
less Dakota, the land of the I'M
tanned savage and the wild animals
that were his congenial associates.
On a bright June morning in 1863,
the Sibley expedition, Of which your
correspondent was a member, filed
out of the Minnesota valleyat Camp
Pope, above Fort Ridgeley a few
miles, and wendell its way up and
over the hills on the west side OF
the river, their FURNISHED armor
blazing grandly in the rays Of the
summer sun, and presenting a strik-
ing contrast of the "pomp and her
aldry' of the living to the "broken
%statfs'' that told Of death and desc
lation, for here and there We're the
charred fragments Of plundered
homes, from whose ruins the ago
nizing shrek Of victims welter-
ing in their own blood had hardly
ceased to echo, so fresh in our his
tory was the terrible Sioux massa-
ere Of the preceding summer. The
expedition was composed of four
thousand or five thousand men and
was destined to.play a conspicuous
part in the history Of the northwest
as the Introductory agency Of CIV
ilizing influences in Dakota. Days,
weeks, and eve months were given
to weary marching without once
beholding in all the summers cam
paign a single mark OF civilization.
The sun blistered us with monot-
onous familiarity, while an ever
present mirage tainted us with sill
very lakes and shady groves never
to be reached-mockery unhallowed
in such a land, and no more to be
forgiven than forgotten. But [
will not attempt to pull away the
wall of years and return to detailed
scenes that are now buried beneath
twenty summers. Our march was
northward nearly to Devils Lake,
then southwest to the Missouri,
the westward terminal point of our
campaign being Camp Slaughter,
within sight and a few moments
drive of the present city Of Bis
marck, now the capital Of doomed
and booming Dakota.
Three days before reaching the
Missouri river we had daily engage
ments with the hostile Sioux, wEo
in great numbers sought to resist
our progress, and especially did
they struggle to hold the command
in check until their families and
personal effects could be transferred
to safety on the opposite side OF
tie Missouri. What trials and suf-
ferings we're encountered in the
feat of their passage of the river
will never be known, but the river
is about a mile in width, and moth
ing had been provided for such a
hasty transfer, yet, without. the
kindly i~ntercession Of a Moses, the
great. river was crossed; and us u
command marched into the Mis-
souri, valley from the east on a
bright midsummer forenoon, the
advance Of the flying hoarde scram-
bled up the hills where Ft. Lincoln
now stands, in the widest confus-
ion, a thousand sunbeams glinting
from the much priced and always
present mirror of the flying nomads
giving the fugitive mass at a dis
lance of a few miles a wierd appear
ance that for a time was not under
stood, and one that persists in being
remembered. Without recounting
the scenes enacted at Camp Slaugh-
ter. where a number of good and