The Washington herald., 1906-11-25

/ into large parties. and in 4 body had pro-
/ gressed very well, but the journey soon
! scattered them. There was one party Of
/ about 100 men. no women at all, who kept
/ together. They called themselves the
! Boston Packing Company When I came
! across them they demanded help. fresh
/ beef. and so on, but investigation soon
| showed they could get along all right;
/ beyond a few pounds Of fresh beef, 1 gave
/ them nothing. They sized up my com
pany and the strength Of their own, and
! there was some talk of their taking what
I they wanted by force But my Oregon
/ trappers ranged UD alongside me when
/ they suspected there might be a row. and
/ as they We're just aching for a good fight
! they were rather disappointed when the
/ immigrants backed down and went on
/ their way.
Il went back to Fort Leavenworth-I
/ cant quite recall the dat" continued
the general, 10 serve with an expedition
| against the Utes-the same people who
have recently been causing trouble again
/ under Col. Fauntleroy. Their scene Of
activity was about the headwaters Of the
| Arkansaw and through the St Louis
valley. / think, perhaps, this was one Of
| the most unpleasant experiences in my
military career. II was a midwinter ex-
! peditiOn, and il was a deuce Of a hard
trip, I tell you! 1t was a pack expedi-
| tion-that is, We took no wagons with Us
/ and there were only two small pup-tents
| in the outfit, one for Col Fauntleroy and
one for myself hardly used mine at all
/ Kit Carson had been the agent for the
! CITES, and he was with Us, and when We
/ did pitch the tent which was seldom
! Carson and shared il. forget the force
! Of the Utes, but they were pretty num-
! erous, and against them we took two
| companies OF the First Dragons, one
/ company Of foot artillery, and four COM
/ panles OF Mexican Observation-Disclosures
a force Of about 600 men The Mexicans
were very handy; they were a hardy set
and were professional packers. Pretty
good fighters. too, when they had some
/ one to lead them. Already in those days
/ the Utes were well armed with rifles, and
/ they caused Us a little trouble. Not
much, for the Indian was never the sort
/ Of fighter to stand up and take his medi-
/ cine. Ambushing helpless people was
more IN his line. The Utes realized they
/ had no chance from the start and-the
| Indians Of those days were no fools-they
came in and behaved.
When I got through with this task I
| came back East I sailed from San Fran
cisco for Panama on one of the first
| steamers out after the AspinwaH treaty
/ had been signed. Lieutenant, afterward
/ Gen. Sherman, was one Of my compan-
| Ions. We went across the isthmus on
1 ponies, and in pirOgues down the Chagres
/ River, and on the Atlantic side we took
/ the steamer City of New York for
! Jamaica, where Sherman and myself went
/ to call on our adversary of a few years
! previously, Gen Santa Anna"
! The general gave many an unctuous,
reminiscent chuckle as he recalled this
/ trip with Sherman, and laughed heartily
| as he remembered the forlorn condition
Of both his and Sherman's wardrobes. He,
/ himself, was wearing an old green blanket
/ coat, and Shermans was evidently not
/ any better, for, as Gen. Rucker says.
( Sherman was as poor as a crow then 3"
/ But when the young men got to New
/ York they had a lot Of pay coming TO
/ them, and they put I'D at Delmonico's, s,
/ which was away downtown then, and as
/ Gen. RUcker says: Il bought myself
/ some decent things from the slop-shop. -
/ The young soldier remained in the East
only short time. He was sent out to
! California again, and while there he
/ changed from the cavalry into the staff.
/ I never regretted anything as much as
/ this, he says, to-day. II ought to have
/ stayed with the cavalry. lost rank BY
the change and lost money, but 1 guess
| I was little tired OF knocking about,
4 and thought I ought TO be doing some
thing to settle myself down"
( For ten years thereafter Gen. Rucker
served in the West, in New Mexico, the
usual frontier life Of occa sionaI brushes
} with indians and the usual monotony Of