Omaha daily bee., 1908-11-29

several Indian warriors armed with bows
and arrows hung about begging for the
food scraps that were left. Alexis wanted
to know why the Indians carried their an
Client weapons and was told that they pres
ferred them to their firearms for killing
buffalo. AS the grand duke seemed skep-
teal, General Custer secretly sent out two
Brule bucks with orders to find a buffalo,
run II into camp. and there XIII II in the
presence of the Russians with an arrow.
Within an hour the Indians. whooping
and yelling, rode back chasing a buffalo
COW. In spite of her efforts to escape she
was guided straight into the camp, where
Two Lance, one of the bucks. swiftly cir
cled TO her left and with bow full drawn
drove his arrow into the body behind the
shoulder. The animal fell. pierced through
the heart, and so delighted was the grand
luke with this exhibition of skill that he
gave the archer a $50 gold piece and then
paid as much more for Two Lance's bow
and CULVER of arrows. which he took to
Russia as souvenirs Of the plains.
There was a great dinner in camp that
night and the stories of former hunts lost
nothing from the champagne which helped
in the telling.
An indian sham Battle.
After the feast the Indians entertained
with a sham battle and then, there was a
war dance, and the day closed with a
powwow, at which General Sheridan, the
Grand Duke. Alexis, Spotted Tail and all
the rest smoked the peace pipe. The duke
would not make a speech, although urged
to do so by the hosts, but he pleased the
Indians even more with gifts of silver
coins, blankets and hunting knives.
That ended the buffalo hunt for which
Tlr.sna1 had Aaa, rnndn and
the party vent on to Denver, where the-e
was some sightseeing among the m mes and
a grand ball was given in honor of the
grand duke. c. NJ. Beeson, a famous buff
falo hunter and Indian fighter, who hap
pened to be playing a fiddle that night in
the orchestra, told General Sheridan that a
large herd of buffalo had been reported in
the nelghborhood of Kit Carson, 100 miles
east Of Denver. The general told the grand
duke, who Immediately became keen for
another hunt.
There were no mounts available ex ept
the troop horses Of the cavalry in the Dem
yer region, and these animals were not
used to bison hunting. Tit general ex-
planned this, and added that an unframed
horse, when confronted by a roaring mass
of frightened buffalo, becomes frantic and
a very unsafe animal to be astrlde of. That
only made Alexis more determined to go
after the herd, so General Sheridan gave the
necessary orders and the second expedition
set put.
The herd was located without difficulty,
and the same tactics were employed as be-
fore, except that General Custer was the
grand dukes only immediate companion
when the attack was made. The troop
horses were as unruly as had been antici-
pated, and added mroe than their share TO
the excitement of the chase.
Clusters Fine HOrsemRnsbip. =
When the general and the grand duke
approached the numbering avalanche of the
herd, their mounts became u~nmanageable.
Bit and spur was useless, and finally, in a
frenzy Of excitement, the horses ran away,
straight toward the herd, and to the hun
ters watching from the background 1t SEEM
ed as thought the son of the car and an
Americai general were about to be killed
in a stampede. But Clusters matchless
Workmanship saved them both. Abandon
ing useless attempts at force, the riders
lured their mounts away from the herd by
strategy. Little by little they were guided
out of the LANCER zone, and when once
away from close contact with the excited
bison the horses were induced to make a
wide circuit over the plains at the top of
their speed, and then, by means of whips
and spurs, the riders regained control.
In the meantime the herd had escaped,
but after a long chase the hunters again
got within killing distance, and the grand
duke brought down his second buffalo.
Once more the hunt was open for all hands.
and the green troop horses were ridden
hard toward the herd, with the inevitable
results. One of the incidents OF the flight
that followed was the riding into a prairie
dog town at full gallop. Scores OF horses
stumbled, sending their riders over their
heads. In the meantime, everybody was
shooting at will and without much regard
for the mark. One horse was gazed by a
bullet. Another shot went through Colonel
Mike Sheridan's coat, and after the ex-
element was over Count Bodisco sheepishly
confessed that he had fired it. There was
hardly a man who did not return to camp
with a cut or bruise of SOM sort, but the
real wonder of the day was that nobody
had been killed or seriously hurt.
That was the end the the grand dukes