The San Francisco call., 1904-04-08
INDIANS MEET
TRAGIC DEATH
Special Car Conveying Them
to Washington Is Run Into
by a Fast Mail Train
THREE LIVES ARE LOST
Badly Injured Chief Asks
Rescuers to Place Him
Near His Dead Companions

HAYWOOD, Ill, April Sixty
three Indians in a special car en- route
to Washington to see President Roose-
welt were smashed into by mail
train two miles west of here to-day
during fog. Three of the Indians
were killed, three were fatally injured
and twenty others were more or less
seriously hurt. The Indians who were
not pinned in the wreck fed in panic
across the prairie. The dead:
KILL HEAD, skull crushed.
PHILIP IRONTAIL JR., body
crushed.
THOMAS COMELAST. body crushed.
The injured: Big Chief White Horse,
body crushed and legs broken, will die;
Luther Standing Bear crushed about
body and head, will die; Annie Goose
face, crushed about body, will die;
Mrs. Thomas Comelast, wife of one of
the killed, cut about head and shoul-
ders; Tomlnie Comelast, 6 years old,
son of dead man, head injured and be-
lieved to have been made temporarily
insane from fright Sammy Lone Bear.
Goodnow. cut on head. Blind Eagle,
cut on head by flying glass; Little Elk,
head cut and bruised; Charge the En-
emy, head cut and body bruised; Head
Chief High Bear, at the head of the
delegation of Indians, severely crush
vi dDOul the nSdus sf Wlllldm SlJt1nS
Bull, son Of Chief Sitting Bull, %
years old, seriously injured.
The trains which collided were the
Oregon Express and the fast mail on
the Chicago and Northwestern Rail-
way. The express train was run into
by the mail train. Both trains were
eastbound.
The coach containing the Indians
was light day car. 1t was complete
ly wrecked. The rear end of the coach
ahead was also damaged.
After the collision the passengers in
the other coaches of the two trains
hurried to the rescue and after a hard
struggle pulled the injured from be-
meath the wreckage. Chief White
Horse, in charge of the Indians on the
train, was fatally injured. The bodies
of the Indians who had been killed
outright were laid on the prairie beside
the track, Chief White Horse being
carried with them. He said he knew
that death was near and requested
that he be placed near his dead COM
panions. The chief was propped up
and sat stoically while physicians
worked over his wounds. He smoked
pipe quietly and showed no signs of
the pain he must have been suffering.
one by one the other injured Indians
were slowly taken from the splintered
car and placed upon he ground near
their dying chief and their dead COM
rades. The physicians hurried from
one to another of the injured, admins
tering to the wants of all, while ar
rangements were being made to take
them to the nearest hospital.
A moment after the crash there was
not sound from the Inflated coach.
When one by one those surviving the
crash regained in part their senses
they began to shout for aid. A terri
flying series of wild yells from the In
dams were heard by the passengers
jumping from the cars ahead All the
men passengers and many of the wo-
men on board the two trains hastened
to the aid of the injured Indians. The
fact that one side of the rear car fell
out with the impact undoubtedly saved
the lives Of many Indians who were
thrown out on the prairie.
The Indians were from the reserva-
tion near Rushville, Neb, and their
journey eastward was primarily for
show purposes at New York
1t was a pitiable sight to see the In
dians lying on the ground, clad in
their native costumes, with their red
blankets dyed deeper by the blood of
their friends. The Elen were of splen-
did physique and the exhibition of
calm nerve on the part of White Horse
was la good example for the other
members of the Indian party
After the bodies of the dead had
been removed from the wreckage and
placed in a row on the. prairie beside
the tracks an incident probab bly, un-
paralleled in railroad accidents took
place. The uninjured among the In /
dians gathered about and led by Chief |
Irontail, solemnly chanted the Indian /
'f60qth SOnQo