The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-04-24

with military honors. we started again for Phil Kearney as escort of a big bull train belonging to Qirkendall, an old-time Omaha freighter. We reach ed Clear Fork on the road back with out incident but just after we went into the camp a bunch of Indians came into the camp pretending to be friendly. Later in the evening they attacked Kirkendalfs train, which was oamped about a half mile east of us, and tried to stampede his cattle herd. They killed one of his party. The h. dians began to get pretty thick and acting ugly/so Captain BurrougSs call ed for volunteers to ride fifteen miles into Fort Phil Kearney for reinforce ments. was fool enough to volunteer as one of the party and Jim Badger led the outfit It was dark when we started and we had not got a mile from the camp beforN the Indians were after us. We were well armed with carbines and pistols, and at Bridger's suggestion we kept away from the road but took to the high ground near the foothills. We had a good start for the Indians and it was a run for your whiskers. Brldger's orders were for us to keep close together, and under no circumstances to scatter, and, above all things, keep cool. It was a beauti- full summer night and we put the horses down to it in earnest. We would stop in draw for few minutes to let the horses blow. and then the In- dians would come up pretty close Once they lost sight of us and we hid in "a ravine until they came up within tweh- ty yards of us. We opened up on them with a nasty volley of our Spencer car- pines and got two or three of them. That
 had only pistols. They fell back out of range and for the rest of the ride kept that distance. We got into the fort all right and started back with the re-in- forcements the next morning. When we got there the Indians had with drawn and didn't disturb us any more on that trip"
 Chick Merriar, of the 27th, wanted to know if any of the boys remem- bered Lake DeSmet. He said:
 Tt used to be in the old days one of the prettiest bodies of water in that whole country. It wasn't very long. but 1t was great place for wild geese and duck. The Indians had a sort of super stitious reverence for the lake and sel- dom hunted there, so we had 1t all our own way Though We never dared go out to the lake unless with a big party We lived high up there at Phil Kearney the fall preceding the massacre. Sometimes we would go up to the lake and bring back a wagon load of geese and duck and we lived like kings as long as they lasted. There were also lots of ante lope about the lake and we had heaps of fun Tagging them. Did you ever flag an antelope? They are the most curi- ous animal on earth. One time Tom Lowry and started out to flag some an- telope. I did the Tagging, having hid myself down behind some sage brush, and Tom, he crawled out toward the herd. He must have got 100 yards ahead of me waiting for a shot. I Was Tagging with red bandana handkerchief and the old buck leading the herd kept circling and paving and gradually coming near to us. Finally the whole bunch of them charged right toward the flag and Tom saw them coming and got the buck fever so had that he got scared and instead of shooting at them he got up and ran toward me Of course that scared the antelope and they were of like the wind. I asked Tom why he didn't shoot. Shoot be hanged. do you suppose that I was going to let that bunch of fool antelope run over me said he. We'll We didn't get any ante loupe that day"