Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1909-02-19

over the plains. he carried devastation
and destruction to the most uueXpect-
ed quarters. possessing as be did an
organization that. conditions permit
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 Ed
rOpean wars Of 1866 to 1872, they ere
ated in his simple mind an astoniSl-
mcnt that be could not believe or
dream of until he suffered from Il fear
ful demonstration of the fact. Myself
and others. of course, kept up cur per
sonal "pul!'' by adopting every i'm
provement from the old muzzle loader
to the breeIhloading Springfield and
the reDeaters-E enry, Remington and
which gave us often the
necessary protective advantage, This
Improvement in arms was destined 4
little over Il year after the Fetterman
Injun" the surprise of their lives and
something to think OF as bad medi-
cine"
Savage as we have called him, the
Indian il 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 rGpine. murder, plum
der or horse stealing. for abundance
In crops ard grasses or in conqueSts
in love, he was strikingly imbued with
the necessity of the Great Rulers
friendly assistance. or Good Medi-
cine" Failure in I'LL these pursuits he
attributed TO the preponderating in
fluence of the Evil Spirit" or Bad
Medicine" So, after several cam
paiSrs OF continued success. the reader
can imagine the surprise, not TO say
CONSERVATION and depression, that re-
suited from his audacious attempt to
at last annihilate the garrison at Fort
Phil Nearny. he assembled nearly
1000 warriors for this purpose. all
well equipped with carbines and nu2,9
zle leaders, but was unaware that the
fort had been supplied with the new
Allen modification of the Springfield
breechlOading rifle. Besides the rifles.
carbiles, etc, the Indians We're
mighty we'll equipped for close-in
fighting with the bow and arrow
With the latter IN time of war and in
Il close fight with the whites an ex-
pert archer could keep UP stream of
these death dealing missiles with a
rapidity equallnG the best Winchester
CT today aud 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. even ut great loss. the ability
of. 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 enga gements
successfully, but had never been tried
on as complete a scale as Red in
tended 1t on this occasion, though the
idea just simply happened a little too
late. Suddenly investing the fort, he
found the wood train, as be thought.
In exactly the same condition as it had
been under Fetterman. but experience
had taught the troops, who armed
magniticently 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
ried 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 equ;page. 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 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 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 Ill effects
Of the arrow FIRE at close quarters
f., There was plenty of ammunition and
plenty of rifles. Every man had at
least three and some no fewer than
| eight. Some men who were not con-
sidered deadly shots were told off to
keep cleaning up for the others There
was quartet of old frontiersmen. led
by one renowned as a dead shot. Joe
Merirille. and others whose names al
The present time | sincerely regret that
cannot remember. who averaged
tight or ten weapons apiece. Powell
aimself took one end of the corral and
Jenness the other, and everything was
prepared tn give the naughty Sioux q