Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1912-09-05

nrOug 10 their mission.
Didn't Fear Indians.
1.-The soldiers were ordered to keep
near the wagon train both day and
night, but to no avail They declared
they had seen three a of the bat
tlefield and had no fear Of Indians.
Consequently they employed their
time according to their own liking and
many times ignored the protection of
their charges.
one-half mile west of Lake De Smet in
Johnson county, fording Little Goose
creek in h neighborhood of the pres
ent town of Big Horn and reaching
Wolf creek, sometime in August, 1865.
Captain Cole, commanding the COM
pany of he Sixth Michigan cavalry
preceded the train on the north or west
side Of the river. In company with
Lieutenant Moore he rode UP the steep
bluff on the west side OF the river for
a better view of the country Of the
Indians. The w officers were con-
fronted by a large force of h painted
their guns. Captain Cole fell from his
pony. pierced through the heart
by a bullet. The lieutenant re-
treated down the embankment at a
mad gallop and escaped uninjured
though no effort vas made by the red
skins to overtake him. They were
VA OAO uCdlIk dt
this time. The next morning we broke
camp M passed over the scene of
the tragedy, between Wolf creek and
Tongue river, about two and One-tenth
miles to the former stream. We did
not bury Coles body at this time, but
to nave 1t taken back to Fort Conner
for interment.
Many Camp Fires.
owe know hocfi1o Indians ;rPouxaA
the country and so were guarded
against any emergency which might
arise and kept our arms ready for in
slant USE. Upon descending into the
Tongue river valley we saw smoke
from numerous camp fires rising slow
there must have been a veritable
horde OF the redskins. From our
previous experience we knew they
were not friendly. We trained our
howstzer on a spot where the smoke
was the thfckest n sent a few shells
flying into the camp. The result verb
fed u suspicious for the Indians lit
orally swarmed from the trees and
un%derbrush. They were arrayed in
war paint with feathers, bells and ami
NAL skins for their garb. In q double
column our train forded Tongue river,
but this a was so arduous that by
the time the last wagon was over the
S> WOoOAS "SAO Ald4x Il 1lIlS III
the lead. Forty head Of loose oxen
were bringing up the rear inc were
still in the water when the Indians,
about 100 In number, and Of the Arap-
Q nation, swooped down on them
and succeeded in cutting several of
from the train. The wagon drivers
couldn't use their ans as their oxen
required their entire attention. We
formed an irregular corral with our
wagons and took the defensive against
the Indians who by this time had been
increased to about 600. They would
ride in circles around our corral and
shoot al us from under their horses
necks. All were bareback and the
way they yelled would shame the most
ardent football rooters Of our big coll
leges.
Short Of Powder.
The Indians were short Of powder
so that the force of the bullets was
n,a,,f t. to infict dangerous
the Indians was good but their bullets
didn't hurt either the cattle or men.
Had they used more powder and shot
less, they would have done far better
execution and the list Of fatalities
would have been far more. even max
ing 1t a doubt whether any Of US would
have escaped. The Indians swarmed
the dense timber along the river and
toward this point we decided to direct
9 heavy fire from out baby howitzer.
We hauled the cannon to q comand-
ing position n dropped a lew shells
into their midst. The Indians yelled
with rage and we knew the cannon
balls had lone execution. The In
dams did not retaliate but started
building great fires and q barbecue OF
the stock captured from us was
soon in progress. We thought the In
dians would be appeased for the time
being with their bellies full 80 we
broke corral and IN two columns en-
tered the low hills beyond Tongue
river. The Indians saw our move and
attempted to Illustrate II by riding
ahead and firing upon ~ from the
hills. We did not know how far It
was to the e stream and rather
than be cut on from q water supply
we decided to 30 back to Tongue river.
Bullets Didn't Hvst.
1.-THE Indians OWNED our motive
and attempted to cut on our retreat.
From there until we reached the river
1t was - pretty Q skif1nish fight AZ
ever occurred, according to our mill
tary escort of - soldiers. The In
dams attacked us from all sides, but
on our They poured voIleyS into
the wagon train, but the bullets lacked
force and many OF them landed on the
hides OF the oxen with Q thud. but
failed to ven break the skin. We
approached the river farther down
than our first fording point. Twenty
hve Indians circumvented the train
and rode ahead to q vantage point
along q high bank. We continued
toward this bank in two columns with
the bullets flying thick and fast, de-
noting q much superior force than nrst
opposed W.. James Dilliner, driving
an oxen team In the lead, was killed
hWf n hfA1onk Whe0h ~tpnsOh hRwM e. AAA
back, and In . few minutes =. q. Mer-
rtll, an emigrant Of Sioux Falls, was
also killed by . bullet while standing
near tho wheels Of his wagon. Both