The Wrangell sentinel., 1909-07-22

ization. He was assigned to the First dragons, then on duty at For; Leav enworth. Lieutenant Fucker made his way overland by stage coach until he got to the nearest point which the stage coach service of those days could bring him to the Kansas outpost. He was then still 200 miles from his desti- nation.
 He had hardly settled down to the comparative ease of his frontier post before he was ordered into the heart of the Cherokee country. and for half dozen years he was kept busy with his soldiers driving off marauding In. dians, protecting settlers and emi- grants caravans and holding the hos tile reds In check. He was still busy in this hazardous campaigning when the First dragons were ordered of to Mexico as part of General Zachary Taylor's expedition. He took part in the battle of Buena Vista. and dis tinguished himself by an act of per sonal gallantry in the field It was an act of bravery under the eye of a commanding officer, who recommended him for brevet commission as major. When peace was declared Major Ruck- CTS command was sent across the continent to Los Angeles.
 The discovery of gold brought the rush of '49, and then there was more than plenty to do. It was a feverish time, and the soldiers of Uncle Sam had to hold in check the madness of the men that swarmed into the new Fl Dorado. Few of those who started across the mountains and the deserts that fenced off California knew of the hardships they must face. Each new arrival brought tales of horror from the trail. Lost and starving. the i'm migrants struggled of their paths. un- til sacrifice of life made terrible the days.
 Finally Fucker was ordered east He left San Francisco in a steamer for Panama. with Lieutenant Sherman -afterward General Sherman-as one of his companions. They made the trip across the isthmus of Panama by ponies and small boats and then sailed for Jamaica, where Sherman and Fucker paid a friendly call on General Santa Ana. whom they had worsted at Buena Vista. Major Rucker saw several years of comparatively peaceful service in the East and then he was again sent out to the frontier This time his battlefields covered New Mexico, in constant warfare with the Apaches While he was in this work the civil war broke out and he was ordered back to Washington.
 In September. 1861, he was pro- noted to Colonel of volunteers and in May, 1863. President Lincoln made him Brigadier General of volunteers. In 1865 he was made Brevet MajT | General of volunteers and in 1866 he was mustered out of the volunteer l ranks.
 But he was made Colonel and as- sistant quartermaster general of the regular service and served as such un- til February 13. 1882, when he was UldQe bTlSduleI bcllSl dl anu Qudl lcl master general. At that time he had seen forty-five years of service and seventy-one years of life. He was then placed on the retired list as a Major General.
 He is still hale and hearty and de- l lights in walks in the beautiful DOT tion of residential Washington, near his home; but he Is leading a quiet life, and even the excitement of recall l ing the hard days of fighting is too much for his strength. With him lives l his daughter. Miss Sarah Fucker. Another daughter. Mrs. Philip H. Sheridan. widow of the hero of Win chester, lives but few blocks away, where she can see the statue of her husband that grateful nation erected.
 Tn all his years of service General Rucker was never wounded. What Is more remarkable. in all the years of