Morris tribune., 1909-01-23

luOuuIeu anu SHcdkeu tOWdIu IHe SuSc
i of the village, where there was an ave-
nue. of escape. Their faithful dogs, of
course, alarmed the camp, so the best
we could do was to make a dash out,
wheel and fire as quick as we could,
and Kershaw with his faithful bugle
blew the charge. Riding quickly
around the village, we made another
little firing at them and sounded the
bugle charge again. A repetition of
! this at another point and a bugle
charge threw them into confusion.
stampeded their ponies, prevented
their quick mounting, and while they
went in one direction bold Kershaw and
myself were riding in another. Natu-
rally, or course, this gave the Indians
something to think of in the night
while we got to the post and informed
Colonel Royal of the location and, with
Major Brown, Captain Bache, Lieuten-
ant Jack Hayes and detachment of
cavalry, went on the trail, which was
followed for two days, and the Indians
were severely punished, with but few
casualties on our side.
Getting fresh meat for Fort Sheridan,
we were greatly annoyed at times on
our buffalo hunt by being jumped by
the Indians, who in those days were
generally out with the same object.
Many a hot skirmish or many run
for it was necessary. Buffalo natural
ly were some distance from the fort,
and I thought of trick by which 1
could give my red brothers a surprise.
In run for it few miles from the
fort was a hogback that furnished a
good defensive position, and [ had
often noticed that it had a long, deep,
bushy ravine. 1t was in the nature
almost of a natural fortifcation. So
thought how l could get them to re-
peat their many attacks on me when
ran to this particular point, from
which l could signal for help to the
fort with hasty grass fires and ''smoke
that talked" Buffaloes were at the
time plentiful, so l secured Kershaw
and about fifteen good marksmen,
with provisions for the trip, and start
ed out before daylight for the hunt.
Hiding the soldiers in this ravine, we
proceeded on our journey and had not
the wagons half filed before my
striker Bill White, announced Indians
in the distance, ''and big band, too" !
said Bill. Away we went for the hog
back, and it was lickety split, with
the Indians gaining on us every min
Tn
into position, packed our buffalo hams ;
out for breastworks. threw some (
straw about and gathered up some |
dead grass to make signal. The In !
dians, seeing ii. knew that relief /
would come and they hadn't Il mo- |
ment to lose If they wanted our scalps. !
On they came, dashing around. My /
self and teamsters and five or six of !
US banging away at them, they cir |
cled around and drew off, as they :
commonly did, and at distance Of |,
about seventy-five yards from the am !
bush AS usual, they punched togeth
er listening to the wrangle of the !
chief Bang! Bang! Bang! And the
old Winchesters began to talk from
the ravine, while Kershaw with his
bugle blew the charge, the Indians
tumbliug mere, there and everywhere
out of their saddles, the rest scattering
with the speed of jack rabbits in al
directions. Assembling on the distant
hills, they realized that the jig was
up. particularly when they saw the
cavalry coming in the distance. Some
how or other during the remainder Of
the season they never seemed to mo-
est the butcher wagon with the same
appetite And the fort always had
fresh meat
A country of such vast expanse, un-
settled save for few forts as places
If refuge and succor so comparatively
,ew in number as to. be. as it were. like
pebbles on the seashore. rendered the
in winter. with the blizzard
conditions. not only hazardous and
dangerous, but even if successfully
.ombated attended by excruciating SUI
'ering This the old army officers and
soldiers of the early campaigns will
lever forget, the physical discomforts
and mental worrying with climatic
conditions far excelling those that de-
eated Napoleon in his winter cam
,aign in the region about Moscow
I relate two or three examples. On
me occasion I was out with some of
he Fifth cavalry under the command
# Lieutenant Bache, a descendant OF
Benjamin Franklin and member of a
veil known Philadelphia family and,
" the way, magnificent young Off
er, who in various campaigns showed
bravery and dash that one would
lot associate with his aristocratic bear .
ng and extreme gentility. A blizzard
rose Fortunately we were near shell
er in the shape Of some bluffs and .
scattered wood. When the blizzard ,
vas over it was necessary for us to
trike out on the path of duty. The ,
thermometer was away below zero and
he wind cutting and sharp. :
On coming back from the lead to con- 8
ult with Lieutenant Bache | passed 9