Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1909-03-29
INDIAN WAR IN OKLAHOMA;
CREEKS IN AN UPRISING

stay by him and help him forclDly
to redress the wrongs under which
his people writhed.
Have War Dance.
To a man the creeks expressed
their intention of staying by the un-
dertaking and of fighting the states
soldiers to the death So enthusi-
astic did they become after Crazy
Snakes appeal that a war dance was
started and the camp was in an up
roar for the balance of the night.
Tried to Arrest Chief.
Oklahoma City, Okla, March %
Two officers dead and another fatally
wounded Is the result of an attempt
Saturday evening of five officers to Ar
rest Chief Harjo, chief of the Snake
clan of Creek Indians, at Hickory
Ground, the scene of the fight last
Thursday The dead:
HERMAN ODOM of Checotah, son
of the sheriff of Mcintosh county.
EDWARD DAUM, city marshal of
Checotah
Fatally wounded:
Frank Smith of Muskogee
Frank Jones and William Carr.
other members of the posse, escaped
unhurt, and carrying Swift with them
reached Pierce, where the alarm was
given.
Score Fired on Them.
When the officers approached Har-
JOS cabin they were fired upon by 1t
least 20 persons.
Odom and Daum fell dead and
Swift was seriously injured Jones
ran few yards and hid himself in
a clump of trees until the Indians dis
appeared. Then he and Carr returned
TO the bodies of their companions.
Finding them dead they returned 10
Pierce. A dispatch from Checotah says
that the Snake Indians have been pur-
| chasing rifles and ammunition for i
month and that they are supplied with
powder and lead enough to last them
two days.
| Avoid n Battle.
| Oklahoma City, Okla, March %
Chief Crazy Snake and 100 followers
retreated before five companies oi
/ Oklahoma militia last night. thus dc
| ferring an unexpected battle until to
day.
] Hastily setting fire to his tepee and
tents, the Indian leader. with his
mixed company of redskins and
negroes. fled from their blazing CAM
as the troops advanced They took II!
a strong position between the Nortf
Canadian river and Deep Fork cheek
about seven miles east of Henryetta
Colonel Hoffman, in command of tn,
state troops, considered it unwise I,
push the pursuit and engage the In
; dians in the darkness. Accordingly h
bivouacked his troops for the night
Colonel Hoffman sent out numerous
; scouts to watch the movements of tn,
enemy and to give the alarm if the.
: attempted to flee under cover of dark
ness. The commander planned to a
low his weary troops to rest on tn
field during the night unless the in
, dians attempted to escape to a strong
= er position.
I Signal Fires Lighted.
i The militia officers believe Graz
f Snake wants to reach the Tiger mour
tains with his followers before Ell
e gaging in general fight The oil
: chief is striving to stir the Greeks
n an uprising and strike for what il
i conceives to be liberty was evideE
o from the smoke of three signal fire
d on adjacent hills just before sundowl
Old time frontiersmen who insi>
they know what such things mean d
: clare this is sign which always us
c ers in Indian trouble. Nobody is will
X enough to say the old chief will g
|. anywhere in his fanatical dream
e overturning the government, but ce
It tain it is that he is trying, and ju
e as certain that he will be ruthless
h crushed if he persists.
IS Believe List Will Grow.
a. Six men have been killed and
dozen wounded since the trouble J.
r gan Thursday This is the official T
s. port, and it is generally believed mar
y more of the negroes and Indians we
III killed. DR.. l. NJ. Wallace of Dusto
ct Okla, who went to the Hickory hill
Sc with the troops yesterday, declar,
t. more than 20 negroes were kill,
Sc Thursday and Saturday and We
1T given rude burial without collins