Omaha daily bee., 1908-11-04

escaping from those Indians never entered
too. Lord! what a sight It was when that
big chief Roman Nose lined 'em up and
led those charges! The squaws and chill
dren were on a high bluff a few hundred
yards up the river. yelling and singing,
but they got to wailing when we began
to bowl the Indians over. I am sure 1t
was Louis Farley who killed Roman Nose.
He was a fine %shot-one of the best among
the scouts-and he had picked Roman Nose
for his target. u wasn't long after Roman
Nose fell that Farley lost his life, but the
scout had done his work and done 1t we'll.
"And we had to be on the watch even
after the Indians had given up trying to
take the rifle pits by assault" continued
Ranahan. ''They had sh~arpshooters sta
toned all around the island and 1t went
pretty hard with the man who exposed
himself to their fire. One Of the bravest
Of our boys crawled out and got a spade
which was lying some distance from the
island-did 1t under fire, too. When we
got that we felt better, as It didn't take
us long to dig to water. But living on
dead mules isn't very pleasant-and when
the mule meat began to spoil life on that
island can't be described. 1t was espe-
cialy hard for the wounded. but they were
game, every one of them. Forsyth took
his razor and cut the bullet and gangrened
flesh out of his own hip. He was a good
soldier and full of pluck. 1 remember
when we were following the big Indian
trail. Just a day or two before the fight
at the island began, one of the scouts said:
Colonel, this is a big war party we
are following, and II we keep on well go
right into a trap Some OF the others said;
That's So and Forsyth Just smiled and
said:
Now. look here, boys-when you fellows
signed that agreement with Uncle Sam
didn't YOU specify that it was Indian fight
ing that you wanted?' After that there
wasn't another kick-and we sure got all
the Indian fighting we wanted for awhile"
scouts Growing Fewer.
Forsyth's command, which had such a
memorable experience. was an independent
body of scouts. Forsyth was on General
Sheridan's staff in the civil war. He is
living TODAY and unveiled the Beecher is
land morument In 1905. Aside from him
self and Lieutenant Beecher, the
was composed of frontiersmen-stage
drivers, pony express riders, buffalo hunt
ers and free lances of the plains In general
Many of the scouts have died since the
battle on the Arikaree. Pierre Trudeau
never recovered lIOm TIC tlluINb VI ms
terrible trip to Fort Wallace with Stillwell
The latter died a few years ago, and Jack
Donovan, the hero of the relief, died at his
home in Denver. Fourteen of the scouts
have never been heard from since the bat.
tie. Hudson Farley. who lives in a little
town in Washington, had a peculiarly pain
full experience. as he had his dying father
in his arms on the island. Sigmund Schles.
niger, the kid" Of the command. is a.
business in Cleveland. o. Eli Ziegier is a
resident of Salem. Ore. and George Cakes,
a famous marksman, lives in Tusoon. Arlz.
Soon there will be no more scouts to
gather on the battle-ground and tell their
experiences, but 1t is evident that the
scene of this display Of Yankee courage is
not going to be neglected. even though It
is comparatively remote from the beaten
routes. The story Of American grit written
on the Beecher island will live
as long as the story of the Alamo or any
other tale of courage in the face Of over
whelming odds.-New York Herald.