The morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1899-1930, 1909-02-07

party or hornets nest In not exaggor.
alton, Tie kept Fort Phil Kearny prac-
lcally invested for year, and with
predatory bands. sent here and there
over the plains. he carried devastation
and destruction 10 tho most unoxpect.
ed quarters, possessing as he did an
organization that conditions permit.
ting, made his force a8 effective as
light horse cavalry. However, the In.
ventive genius and commercial spirit
OF tho white man In shop and factory
was actively engaged IN producing Gre.
arms 30 improved that. like the needle
gun In the Prnsslans' hands IN the Eu.
Fopean wars Of 1909 to 1872. they ere
ated In his simple mind an aBtonish.
ment that h0 could not believe or
dream OF until he suffered from a fear
ful demonstration Of the fact Myself
and others, Of course, kept up our per.
sonal 'pull" by adopting every i'm.
provement from the old muzzle loader
to the breechloadlng Springfield and
tho repeateFs- Henry, Remington and
Winchester which gave us often the
necessary protective advantage. This
Improvement IN arms was destined q
little over q year after the FetteFman
massacre to give Red Cloud and "Mr.
Injun' the surprise OF their lives and
something 10 think Of as "bad medi.
cine"
Savage as we have called him. tho
Indian IN bis primitive state was most
loyal In his belief and appeal under
all circumstances and conditions 70 the
Supreme Being, always appealing Tor
guidance, assistance and success TO the
Great Spirit Whether II was In fol-
lowing the chase for subsistence, sue
cess IN war, for rapine, murder, plum.
der or horse stealing. for abundance
Ia crops aud gFasaes or 10 conquests
IN love, ho was atriklngly imbued with
the necessity Of the Great Rulers
friendly assistance. or Good Medi.
cine" Failure In ali these pursuits be
attributed to the preponderating In
tiuence Of the "Evil Spirit" or bad
Medicine" 80, after several cam.
paigna Of continued success. the reader
can imagine the surprise, not to say
CONSERVATION aud depression, that 70.
suited from his audacious attempt to
at last annlhIlate the garrison at Fort
Phil Kearny He assembled nearly
1900 warriors for this purpose. all
well equipped with carblnes and mug
Ele leaders, but was unaware that the
fort had been supplied with the new
Allen modification Of tho Springfield
breechloading rife. Besides the rides,
carblnes, etc, the Indians were
mighty well equipped for Close.ln
lighting with the bow and arrow,
With the latter in time Of war and In
a close flght with the whites an ex.
pert nrcher could keep up stream Of
these death dealing missiles with
rapidity equallng the best Winchester
OF toduy and limited only 10 the mum.
Der of arrows, hundred or more, that
his qulvers held. In the scheme Of
battle that Red Cloud had designed on
this occasion he had intended to over.
whelm, even at great loss, the ability
Of nlussle loading enemy to with.
stand his attack, backed with the ar.
row experts. whose work would be far
superior to that Of the revolver. This
had been done 10 minor engagements
successfully, but had never been tried
on as complete scale as "Red" In
tended II on this occasion, though the
idea just simply happened a little too
late. Suddenly investing the fort he
found the wood train, as he thought
In exactly the same condition as It had
been under Fetterman, but experience
had taught the troops, who. armed
magnihcently and under the capable
lead Of Captain James w. Powell and
Lieutenant Jenness, had been long pre-.
pairing for defense In case OF surprise.
In hauling the timber and wood for
winter use the wagon beds were not
used, the wood and timber being car
Fied upon the running gears, and the
wagon beds were used to form an OBJ
long corral, with openings at each end,
so that in emergency they could be
closed by wagons which had the beds
on them. The wagon beds were used
to store all the camp eQuipage, cloth.
ing, commissaries, etc, while re-en-
forced with sandbags and anything
that would stop bullet, and. If re-
member correctly, they were lined
with boiler iron, with ride loOpholes.
AS preliminary to the attack on the
fort, Red Cloud thought to repeat the
Fetterman result and sent about 800
picked men to surround the little cor
raj, to which Powell and the woodnlen
had retreated, numbering thirty-two in
all Wagon sheets were thrown over
the tops Of the wagon beds to screen
the defenders from observation and
save them perhaps from the III effects
Of tho arrow Gre at close quarters
There was plenty Of ammunition aud
plenty OF rides. Every man had at
least three and some no fewer than
eight. Some men who were not con-
Bidered deadly shots we're told OF to
keep cleaning up for the others. There
was quartet OF old frontiersmen, led
BY one renowned as dead shot. Joe
Merlyllle, and others whose names at
the present time sincerely regret that
nnnnnf rAmnmher who nverARed