Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Benton County, Or.) 1900-1909, 1903-07-17

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been testing the efficiency of the "med-
icine'' of Sitting Bull.
Apparently satisfied, he turned his
back on the soldiers and rode again
at full speed for the timber, never
looking back. Two weeks later this
same Indian started the fight at
Wounded Knee by Draining Captain
Wallace in the presence of his entire
company.
Killing of Capt. Wallace.
Dec. % the Indians were camped on
Wounded Knee creek, waiting for a
conference the following day with
Gen. Forsythe, commanding the troops.
During the day the scouts Little Bat
and Lone Star had been among the
Sioux Indians, led by Big Foot, and
had learned the serious condition of af-
fairs. The following morning they re-
ported to Gen. Forsythe that the In
dians would probably resist unless an
overwhelming force of soldiers was
brought up. Forsythe did not agree
with the scout and continued to ad-
vance.
But Capt Wallace, who believed the
report of the scout, together with Lit
tie Bat" and Lone STAR" rode ahead
of the troops, in order to pacify the
Indians. ..-
The three men drew in close to the
troops of savages which had advanced
to meet them, and then Lone Star"
recognized the daring warrior who had
tried his medicine two weeks before
that day. He. together with several
other Indians, left the main body and
advanced toward Capt. Wallace.
Suddenly, from within the crowd
arose the shrill death song OF the
Sioux. Both the scouts now saw the
deadly danger in which all three stood,
but Capt. Wallace did not understand,
and before he could be warned, held
out his hand to greet the advancing
braves.
From their positions, neither Of the
scouts could fire and Capt. Wallace
walked toward his death, oblivious of
the terrible fate awaiting him.
The singing Indian grasped Capt.
Wallace's outstretched hand, and sud-
denly drawing his other hand from be
meath his blanket, struck the brave
captain a terrible blow with a toma-
hawk, killing him instantly.
But the medicine shirt failed to pro-
tect the Indian from the bullet which
left the pistol of Lone STAR mo-
ment later, and the savage fell dead
with bullet through his heart.
The Bloody Gulch.
: The two scouts backed away, firing
as they went, and in turn received the
fire of the entire band. Both escaped
without a scratch. But not so the In
dians. A number were killed by the
scouts before the soldiers got into ac-
tion. The Indians broke for cover and
succeeded in reaching a ravine from
which the soldiers could not drive
them.
Gen. Forsythe wrote an order for re
Inducements and handed it to Lone
Star, who rode the fourteen miles to
the agency in thirty-five minutes. In
1 hour and % minutes the reinforce
ments dashed up, the soldiers having
left too hurriedly to place saddles on
their horses.
But they had brought the gatling
guns with them. These We're new to
the Indians, who did not understand
the rapid fire. Three of these were
placed in position to rake the ravine.
and the slaughter began. The savages
could not escape, and later in the day
the ravine was found to be actually
choked with dead Indians. more than
two hundred lying within space of
few hundred feet. (The Indians still
call this Bloody Gulch.'O
The soldiers that day lost Capt. Wal
lace and twenty-four men killed and
thirty-four wounded.
But under the spot on which the In
dian monument rests are the bones of
more than two hundred and fifty Indi-
ans who were killed that day, and for
many months it was nothing uncom-
mon to discover the bleached skeleton
of an Indian lying in the grass any
where in the neighborhood of the bat
tlefeld. The exact number Of killed
was never known.