Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1906-05-08
ed to be sufficient protection from
further possible danger.


ed to be sufficient protection from
further possible danger.
On the afternoon of July 18--it had
been an excessively hot day-the car
|ayan went into camp at an early hour.
The escorting troops stacked arms
about half mile distant, but in full
view Of the train. The men should
have kept a good lookout for surpris-
es, propable did in a way, but there
was feeling of security In the knowl-
edge that regular attack by savages
is rarely made until the early hours
Of the morning when sleep Is heaviest.
About o'clock, however, band Of
Brule Sioux, under the lead Of Little
Turtle, descended from the sand hills
in all the fury Of tornado, uttering
their wild war whoops, and Of all the
small army Of men employed by the
caravan young Robert MCGEE alone
came out alive to tell the story Of the
massacre. Every individual was shot
dead and scalped as he lay or eat at
the mess table The mules. of course,
went to swell the herd Of the srvages,
but the wagons were destroyed by fire,
their canvas covers cut up into breach
clouts and the -four with which the
caravan was loaded emptied from its
sacks on the prairie.
Young McGee was attacked by Little
Turtle himself and knocked to the
ground by one blow Of his tomahawk
AS he lay there. partially stunned and
bleeding. Little Turtle fired two ar
rows into his body, pinning him to the
earth. Then in a transport Of fend-
ishness, he took Roberts own pistol
and shot him, the bullet lodging In his
backbone. Not quite satisfied that he
had made good job OF It, he stopped
over the PROSTATE boys body and. rum
ming his knife around his head, lifted
sixty-four square inches Of his scalp.
trimming 1t OF Just back OF the ears.
Believing his victim to be dead by
this time, the chief abandoned him,
but others of the band In passing
hacked him with their knives and
poked holes into him with their long
lances. All the others in the train
were long since dead, killed outright,
and their bodies mutilated.
After the savages had completed
their work they rode, whooping and
yelling away, and the troops that had
witnessed the whole affair from their
xro,, 20
to investigate and learn whether the
Sioux had been properly met or not by
the ill-fated men Of the caravan. The
officer In command was very properly
court-martialed and dismissed In dis
grace from theservice. He never gave
any satisfactory reason for his out
rageous and cowardly conduct.
The only part the troops took in the
affair was to bury the dead. When
they attempted TO put young McGee
under the ground they found very
lively corpse. despite the fact that he
was scalped and had received fourteen
distinct wounds, any one of which
would have terminated the life Of the
ordinary man.
After interring the dead the soldiers
hastened to Fort Larned, -thi11g miles
distant. where young MCGEE was
placed under the care Of the post sur
geon. It was three months before he
was able to be moved from there.
During that time he had fair command
Of his mental faculties and was SUN.
ciently strong to tell all the incidents
Of the attack.
Barret, the owner of the caravan,
who had remained in Leavenworth, on
hearing what had befallen his proper
ty, put in a claim for big damages
from the government and was awarded
a sum which made him independent
for life, but he persistently refused to
do anything for the sole survivor.
McGee's claims were laid before the
president, and in October, 1864, Mr..
Lincoln sent him a letter and a pass
by special envoy, directing him to
come to Washington as soon as he was
able to travel, and stating that he him.
self would see that McGee's wrongs
were righted.
When MCGEE had recovered sufi-
ciently to move about his mind, which
had been remarkably clear up to- that
time, began to cloud, and he became
possessed Of mania to hunt Sioux to
the death. In one Of his frenzied spells
the pass and letter from President
Lincoln were stolen from him, and
neither the president nor the army
took any further notice Of him.
For a dozen years after receiving
his injuries McGee was wanderer,
and when It was discovered that Little
Turtle was wiped out, 1t was said that
the biggest notch on McGee's gun bar
rel commemorated the full measure Of
his revenge, long mark for the chief
and nine shorter ones for the subordi-
nate head men who had bitten the
dust at the command OF the unerring
rifle that never failed to execute its
mission when pointed at Brule's
breast.
After Little Turtle had been sent to
the happy hunting grounds. McGee's
mind began to regain its normal equi-
librium until at last he cnce more be-
came perfectly sane.
RousED THE AUDIENCE.