Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1912-03-19
allan G. Ridge Tells Of tie Eeuent6
CaUolry Camp

convenience, but keeping In mind the
one thought that human beings and
animals needed succor from the storm;
The sufferdngs Of men and stock will
remain fresh in the memory OF the
participants az long as life lasts and
at this late day again wish to thank
the old+time residents of Yankton for
their kindly administrations and
hearty welcome. and in doing so feel
assured that those of the command
who are stilQ In this world Of strug.
gle and strife win add hearty amen.
The men had barely made them
selves comfortable when rumors be-
came rife that their beloved COM
mander and his estimable wife. with
one or two officers and a score OF men
had been left behind In camp to fight
1t out on the open prairie, and dras-
| tic measures were resorted to by the
cddzens to prevent officers and men
from going to the rescue of those Lett
behind. To the eastern citizen the
detention Of the rescuers may seem
inhuman, but to those hardy pioneers
OF the western territory who had
braved many dangers unknown to
their. eastern brethren, the departure
of the rescuers meant the counting Of
certain death, as It wasL and is, q well
known fact that no human being rare
ly survives a Dakota blizzard When
the storm had abated a reecuing party,
headed by several Of Yankton's citi-
zens. who were familiar with the lay
of the land, started out, and after en-
countering what seemed instrmount-
able dangers reached the camp and 1t
was then they learned of the illness
that had befell the commander and
the sufferings OF those left behind;
and what was more astonishing one of
the residents of "suds row" had be-
come a mother, with NO other shelter
than a canvas tent.
Yankton, of the time of which I
write, was a typical frontier town.
the railroad to the town having short
ly before been completed, and as a
result the population was composed
Of all classes and conditions OF society.
Some of the men were OF the kind on.
would hardly introduce into society
il the south or east-they were not
gentlemen as they understood the
term: but they stood ready to be Your
friend, and an inward feeling told you
they would ring true to the end II met
half way.
They had their own code a. regards
honor and morals: honor meant 10y
atty and fairness, nothing more. Sim.
Pile, unpublished, as 1t were. but their
word wa a good or better than the
o-called gentleman's bond. One seemed
to fall under the spell Of this bland
comradeship; blinded as you were to
their vulgaritdes, quaint blasphemy
and lack of ve1aaty az applied to per-
sonal achievements, you found in them
a splendtt chivairy and their regard for
women. even Of the snderworad, was
a revelation to those Of the east who
came among them, and they, too, soon
became imbued with the idea that, no
matter what one may be in private Life
In public due respect must be paid
to womankind. If this code had not
been strictly adhered to the vast prai-
ries Of the northwestern territories
would never have become populated
and towns and cities grown and pros
pered.
As l have let my thoughts run on
unhampered as regards space I shall
defer mention. until my next, of the
arrival of the command at Fort Rice,
the socalled Yellowstone campaign,
and our later arrival at Fort Lincoln,
ALLAN G. RIDGE.