, 1906-01-22

PM kedrney, NeD., DeCeLipSi ~ AS""'
Colonel Henry B. Darlington, who COM
manded the troops at the fort, is writ
ing a history of the tragedy, says the
Washington Post. The colonel, now OF
Massachusetts,, was married a second
time, and to the widow of Lieutenant
George w. Grummond, who lost his
life. supposedly by his own hand, rath-
err tina fall into the hands of the saw
ages. a monument marks the spot
where the eighty men fell.
Special articles have appeared in diff
ferent eastern papers in the last few
days. No one of them has told the en-
tire truth as it is revealed in an cd
senate document. printed in 1867, in
which Colonel Darlington himself
states the details of the struggle.
The trouble with the Indians grew
out of the treaty of Laramie, made by
the United States with the Indians in
July, 1866. The treaty provided Tor the
opening of a new route from Montana
to Fort Laramie, through the hunting
grounds of the Sioux, Cheyenne, Arapa-
hoe and Grow tribes. 1t was stipulated
that the government should have the
right to establish military posts along
the road. This the larger number OF
the Indians %resenteds and when Colonel
Darlington was sent on with 700 men
to Fort Phil Kearney, Red Cloud and
his cohorts prepared for war and Kill
ed 1874 men before the final massacre
in December.
Finally, some 1900 of the red men,
who had been worked up to the point
of ~ferocity, appeared around the fort,
and December 20 they attacked a par
ty under Colonel Fetterman, which was
seeking to relieve a wood train, and
killed several, the main part being able
to retreat tt the fort. The Indians then
discovered hat it vas not impossible
for them to overcome the white men
with their superior numbers, and they
awaited the next day.
At II o'clock on the morning of the
|21st, Colonel Darlington gave orders
to Brevet Colonel Fetterman to pro
coed with eighty-one soldiers and two
citizens to relieve the wood train and
not to advance beyond what was called
Lodge Trail ridge. The colonel, in tell
ing the story, says:
AT ~ O'Clock firing was heard to-
ward Peno creek beyond Lodge Trail
ridge. A few shots were followed by
constant shots, not to be counted. Cap
tain Ten Eyck was Immediately dis
patched with infantry and the remain-
ing cavalry and two wagons, with or
Iders to join Colonel Fetterman at all
hazards. The men moved promptly
and on the rum, but within little more
than half an hour from the first shot,
and just as the supporting party reach
ed the hill overlooking the scene of ac-
ton, all firing ceased.
Captain Ten Eyck sent a mounted
orderly back with the report that he
could not see or hear nothing of Fetter-
man, but that a body of Indians on the
road below was challenging him to
come down, while larger bodies were
in all the valleys for several miles
around. Moving cautiously forward
with the wagons, he rescued from the
spot where the enemy had been near
est forty-nine bodies, including Fetter-
mans and Captain Browns. Ten Eyck
fell back slowly, followed by the en-
lemy, reaching the post without loss.
THE scene of action told its own sto-
'ry. The road on the little ridge where
with arrows, arrow heads, scalp poles,
and broken shafts of spears. The ar
rows that were spent harmlessly from
all directions show that the command
was suddenly overwhelmed, surround
ed, and cut off from retreat. Not an
officer or man survived. A few bodies
were found at the north end of the df-
vide over which the road runs, just be-
yond Lodge Trail ridge. Nearly all
were heaped neal four rocks, ~inclosing
a SPACE about six feet square, having
been the last refuge for defense. Here
were also a few unexploded cartridges.
"FettefTnsa and Brown each had a
revolver shot in the left temple. AS
Brown always declared he would re-
serve a shot for himself as a last re-
sort, l am convinced that these two
brave men fell, each by the others
hand, rather than undergo the slow tor
ture inflicted on others. The officers
who fell believed that no Indian force
could overwhelm their troops if well
held in hand. Their terrible massacre
bore marks of great valor, Inc has
demonstrated the force n character
of the foe. but no valor could have
saved them.
pools of blood on the sloping sides