The river press. [volume] (Fort Benton, Mont.) 1880-current, 1909-02-17

ting, made his force as effective as
light horse cavalry. However, the in.
ventive genius and commercial spirit
OF the white man in shop and factory
was actively engaged in producing fire.
arms so improved that, like the needle
gun in the Prussians' hands in the Eu.
ropean wars Of 1866 to 1872, they Gre
ated in his simple mind an astonish.
ment that he 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 breechloading Springfield and
the repeaters-Henry, Remington and
W1nchester-which gave US often the
necessary protective advantage. This
improvement in arms was destined a
little over a year after the Fetterman
massacre to give Red Cloud and "Mr.
1njun' the surprise Of their lives and
something to think Of as dad medi-
cine"
Savage as we have called him, the
Indian in his primitive state was most
loyal in his belief and appeal under
all circumstances and conditions to the
Supreme Being, always appealing for
guidance, assistance and success to the
Great Spirit. Whether it was in fol-
lowing the chase for subsistence, sue.
cess in war, for rapine. murder, plum
der or horse stealing, for abundance
In rrOnC and uroccnc nr In oDr~,,oc@1
In love. he was striklngly imbued with
the necessity of the Great Rulers
friendly assistance, or Good Medi-
cine" Failure in all these pursuits he
attributed to the preponderating in.
fluence Of the EVIL Spirit" or bad
Medicine" So, after several cam
paigns Of continued success, the reader
can imagine the surprise, not to say
CONSERVATION and depression, that re-
suited from his audacioue attempt to
at last a%nnihilate the garrison at Fort
Phil Kearny. He assembled nearly
5000 warriors for this purpose, all
we'll equipped with carbines and muz-
zle leaders, but was unaware that the
fort had been supplied with the new
Allen modification Of the Springfield
breechloading rife. Besides ehe rifles,
carbines, ETC., the Indians were
mighty we'll equipped for close-in
fighting with the bow and arrow
With the latter in time of war and in
a close fight with the whites an ex-
pert archer could keep up a stream Of
these death dealing missiles with a
rapidity equaling the best Winchester
of today and limited only to the num-
Der of arrows, a hundred or more, that
his quivers held. In the scheme of
battle that Red Cloud had designed on
this occasion he had intended to over
whelm, wen at great loss, the ability
Of a muzzle 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 in minor engagements
successfully, but had never beer tried
On as complete q scale as "RcG" in.
tended IT 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
beer under Fetterman, but experience
had taught the troops. who. armed
magn!icently and under the capable
'ead II Captain James w. Powell and
Lieutenant ~Jenness, had been long pre-.
Daring Cor defense In case Of surprise.
IL hauling the timber and wood for
winter use the wagon beds were not
used. the wood and timber being car
ted upon the running gears. and the
wagon beds were used to form an OBJ
long corral, with openings ut 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 a bullet, and, if I re-
member correctly, they were lined
with boiler iron, with rife loopholes.
As preliminary to the attack on the
fort, Red Cloud thought to repeat the
Fetterman result and sent about 500
picked men to surround the little cor.
raj, to which Powell and the woodmen
had r%etreated, 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 i'll effects
Of the arrow fire at close quarters.
There was plenty of ammunition and
plenty of rifles. Every man had at
least three and some no fewer than
eight. Some men who We're not con
sidered deadly shots We're told off to
keep cleaning up for the others. There
was a quartet of old frontiersmen. led
by one renowned as a dead shot. Joe
Meriville. and others whose names at
the present time I sincerely regret that
I cannot remember. who averaged
eight or ten weapons apiece. Powell
himself took one end Of the corral and
Jenness the other, and everything "A
prepared to give the naughty Sioux a