Mountain Home maverick. [volume] (Mountain Home, Idaho) 1906-1911, 1910-01-27
BUTcHERY WAS JUSTIFIED.
Story of George l.. ShOup's Fighting
Days-His Men Wiped Out
Entire Indian Band.

The Washington Post publishes
the following:
George l.. Shoup was a resident
of the little mining town of Denver,
Colo. more than AZ years ago." said
James J. Miller of Idaho, who, at
the Raleigh. discussed the unwilling
of Senator Shoup's monument. "On
the one hand he was denounced as
an infamouse leader OF the Chiving-
ton massacre, but among his neigh
bors was lauded as the hero of the
Dartle or Sand Greek.
The surrounding country was
overrun with a band of aborigines,
known as the Sand Creek Indians.
under the leadership of White Ante
lope. They were what are known
as friendly Indians. Notwithstanding
their demonstrations OF affection
numerous outrages we're traced to
the warriors OF the tribe. Men were
murdered, children stolen, property
purloined, and stock driven of the
ranches. To the demands for aid the
United States officials responded that
the Sand Creek Indians were friend
ly, and could not be the authors of
the outrages. One day mutilitated
bodies of four settlers were brought
into Denver. They had been treated
with nameless violence. People Of
what was then a mining camp arose
in indignation. A militia regiment
of 400 men was at once organized;
all trained, picked men familiar with
Indian methods. George l.. ShOup
was one of that body. He was not
its nomal leader, but in the events
which followed he took virtual COM
mand and led the fighting.
THE men who went out upon this
expedition were not noisy, blatant
rufIiains They were quiet-voiced
gentle, but determined citizens of a
pioneer town, nearly all with what
have been described as the newt
able blue eyes which seem to prevail
among the heroes of the west They
followed the Indians, found their
villages at nightfall and pre-
pared for attack at sunrise A line
of pickets was thrown out to guard
against surprise. During the night
one of the friendly Indians sneaked
up to one of the watchers, killed him,
scalped him, cut out his heart, di-
vided it into four quarters and laid
it upon the bleeding body. This was
the spectacle which confronted the
band of avengers in the morning
The sight drove them to frenzy. They
fell upon the Indians with merciless
purpose, sparing neither warrior,
spuaw, nor papoose. II was a battle
of humiliation. White Antelope and
his people were absolutely wiped
out. Not one lived to tell the tale.
But from that time to this, a period
covering more than "A years, there
has never been an Indian outbreak
IN Colorado.
Colonel Shoup led the men who
destroyed that band of Indian mar
auders That the claim made for
the Indians being friendly was a
mockery was demonstrated by the
fact that in their camp were found
the scalps of three women. still wet
with blood, and a vast amount Of
plumber which had been stolen from
settlers and from trains passing
through that region. When subse-
0uently asked why he permitted the
butchery to extend to both women
and children, Colonel Shoup quietly
answered: 1t was impossible to con-
troll my men The spectacle of their
comrade with his cut up heart upon
his breast made madmen of them.
AS to the squaws, they founght us
more desperately than the warriors.
They crawled on their hands and
knees in efforts TO cut us down.
Z" There was not a man among us
who had not witnessed evidences of
nameless atrocities which had been
perpertrated upon white women. The
battle was probably. considering the
numbers involved. one of the fiercest
in the history of the world 1t was
a hand-to-hand conflict from begin
ming to end. and if we had not wiped
the Indians out of existence they
would have destroyed us. / admit
that it was a butchery. but a neces-
sary one