Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1912-10-28

a solid mass al the foot of the valley
and there they halted while their
chef rode up and down their line
making g speech to them. | recog-
nized him at once. 1t was Roman
Nose. then the greatest Injun warrior
on the plains. / knew him we'll. I
had met him the year before in con-
ference in Medicine Lodge at which
Colonel Tom Murphy, a special Injun
agent, tried to close a treaty with The
Cheyennes. Al that conference Ro-
man Nose. who was six feet tall and a
ragnihoent specimen of manhood,
arose and said in reply to sugges-
ton that the Father in Washington
wanted the treaty made.
In the SKY is my Great Father.
Tire earth is my Great Mother and on
her bosom l win enc day lay my
SCARED body, stin fighting against the
white man.
AS Roman Nose dashed forward al
The head OF his troops he looked SUI
perb. He was perfectly naked, except
that he had crimson sash around his
waist and moceasins on his feet. His
face was hideously painted, and he
wore a magnificent war bonnet. AS
it 1stlliC cAl ilC TIL iltb HIS lslNt LIN NAit
tile women and children of the tribe
who lined the crest of the bluff and
waved his hand at them and then
shook his fist defiantly at us
When the advancing column was
within 200 yards of us General Forsyth
shouted: Now and 40 rifles belched
lead and fire. l was a good shot in
those days, one of the best on the
border. and I aimed direct at the
heart of Roman Nose and fired. But
| did not touch him. l fired three
titaes point blank at him and missed.
l said to myself: All right. old Ro-
man Nose, your time has not come
yet But | laid down my Spencer
rifle and turned to Jim Curry, who
was in a pit behind a bush in my rear,
and asked him to hand me Lieutenant
Beecher's Henry rifle Lieutenant
Fred H Beecher was a nephew of
Henry Ward Beeeher and he had been
killed in his pit. took his Henry rifle
and several of us shot at the same
time at Roman Nose and his horse.
Both fell dead. don't know whether
l killed him or not.
Now let me read you description
of that charge as it was written by
General Forsythe 20 years ago and
printed in Harper's Monthly:
"'Forty good men and true sent
their first of seven successive vol
leys into the ranks of the charging
warriors.
"'Crash!
ON they come, answering back the
first volley with a ringing war whoop.
Crash!
land now begin to see falling war
riors, ay, and horses, too; but still they
sweep forward with yet wilder yells.
Crash!
They seemed to be fairly falling
over each other both men and horses
are down in heaps. and wild shrieks
from the women and children on the
hills proclaim that they too, see the
slaughter of their braves; but still they
come.
Crash.
They have ceased to yell, but yet
come bravely on. What? No! Yes. down
goes their medicine man. but Roman
Nose, still recklessly leads the column;
but now | see great gaps in their ranks
Showing that our bullets have told heavi-
Ily among them.
Crash!
:" Can believe my eyes? Roman Nose
is down. He and mis- horse lie dead to-
gether on the sand and for an instant
the column shakes; but a hundred yards
more and they are upon us
| Crash.
/" They stagger. They draw half rein!
They hesitate! They are breaking.
".Crash,
| land like an angry wave that hurls
| itself upon a mighty rock and breaks
upon it's rugged front. and Indians divide
each side of the little breastwork, throw
themselves almost beneath the off side of
their chargers, and with hoarse cries of
rage and anguish break for. either bank
of the river and scatter wildly in every
direction, as the scouts, springng to
their feet with a ringing cheer pour in
volley after volley from their revolyers
almost in the very faces of their now
demoralized and retreating foe.
Down, men, Lie down. | fairly
shrek. Get down, down or your lives
And the men, hurting bitter taunts and
impreeations after the retreating saw
ages, throw themselves, painting fiat on
their faces inside of their rifle pits just
in time to escape a scorchHg yolleY
from the Indians still lying in ambush
around us, who have been anxiously
watching the charge. and naturally
enough are wildly enraged at its 1ail-
ure.
well, after the death of Roman Nose
they charged us twice again and then
they simply lay around us in the grass
and kept peppering us so hard that none
of us dared to even show hand. That
night General Forsyth selected Pierre
ITrudeau. an old trooper, and Jack Still
we'll, handsome boy of 10, to try and
sneak through the lines of Injuns and
get to TT. Wallace for re-enforcements.
They sneaked out at midnight in their
stocking feet, with their boots tied
around their necks
"rhe next day it was plain that the
1niuns intended to starve us out. They
lay and kept firing at us, but we SIM
ply lay still in our pits and their bullets
could not harm US. The third day 1t was
the same. BY this time We were so near
ly starved that we We're eating the flesh
from the dead horses. We got water by
digging down into the sand.