The Washburn leader. [volume] (Washburn, McLean County, N.D.) 1890-1986, 1913-05-02
A Woman )
!. Vigilance
3, CARROLL Il. PIERCE

AmeI1ce q q R4HAsG1 80 49, -
ground the stirring events sof lnoian
warfare that lasted from the arst occu'
nancy Of the continent to the annthiia'
ton Of General Custer and bis III hated
command. Yet this last great event
Of the. long struggle. with the aborisilptsaa
Of the country occurred but q genera =
don agone.
There still lives a woman more tnan
ninety years Of age who passed through
one. Of these Indian events At twenty
she wa married to a lieutenant In the
army on duty in the east. but who had 9
been ordered to a small fort in what
was then the far west. Immediately
after the wedding the couple started
for the on'cers' station, pursuing their
way by canal, stagecoach and, lastly,
an army supply wagon.
At that time there were white men
in that region who were worse than
the Indians in that they often melted
the latter to pillage and bloodshed.
They were not the settlers, .butsa ,claA
Of ~desperadoes that are always found
lounging about the skirmish line OF the
advancing army Of civilization.
Mrs. Lieutenant-we shall call hef
Whittlesey-found herself in q one com.
pany post, and, the company's captain
heinr absent and her husband being
the ranking officer, he was -comman-
dant. Indeed, there was but one ofheF
ofncer there, and Mrs.. Whittlesey was
the only woman among some sixty
mel Indians now and again would
come into the fort, and-their appear
ance was quite enough to scare q wo-
man out Of her senses. for Of all the
names most appropriate to these PEG
ple-Indians, redskins, s~avages-the last
is the most appropriate. They looked
savage and acted savage. were fierce
In their natures and made themselves
hideous to correspond with what they
were.
One day a dirty white man clad In
skins came into the fort and. claiming
to be a settler, told a pitiful story OF
q wife and children at some distance
from the garrison who were having 9
hard time. His little girl had been
shot by an Indian with.a barbed ar.
row and the father wished to cut It
out. Would the surgeon let him have
some chloroform?
The surgeon gave him the chloro-
form. telling him how to use It and
the precautions he must take. Then
the man went away.
Though the redskins were at peacs
with the whites, Mrs. Whittlesey
would not trust them. she did not
consider the post free from danger Of
attack at any time. It was nothing
more than q blockhouse or stockade
with q raised platform for the sentries
to pace upon and little towers with
loopholes from which they might DIRE
upon an enemy IL attacked.
One night Mrs. Whittlesey stole out
Of bed, leaving her husband asleep.
and, putting or some clothing, she
went out to inspect the guard. She
found one sentry nodding and another
fast asleep. She took the sleeper's
musket and awakened him to rec him
self covered by a woman with his own
gun.
Mrs. Whittlesey told her husband in
the morning that she had gone out and
found the guard unwatchful. Though
knowing that sleeping on post II death
to . sentry. she made 10 definite
charges. The commandant endeavor.
Cd to arouse his guards to greater en-.
cheney, but his efforts were short lived.
and discipline soo relaxed again.
Mn. Whittlesey. being q woman. wa
disdredited In the matter, and her hus'
band told her to make NO more visits
to the guards lest she put him, d
commandant, In . ridiculous position.
Ono night the lady, not having {
mans confidence In the peacefulnesa
Of the Indians. got stsalthily ont Of
bed and went to assure herself that
the guards were awake. She found
three Of the four noddlng, while thu
fourth had ssnnk down unconscious,
his mnsket lying beside ,mm. But
what,especially attracted her attsntion
was Z strong odor Of chlorofofm.
II was this odor that led her TO nus
pect an especial danger and % make
an observation. Rising on tptoe, she
saw d dark body moving toward the
fort Seixing the unconscious 1entry'l