The Dickinson press. (Dickinson, Stark County, D.T. [i.e. N.D.]) 1883-1927, 1914-08-01

49, >, = - {! - .s
ORTIZ DAKOTA SATURDAY, A
Regiment" by Hon William H.Houlton
|of Elk River, Mimi, is an interesting
account Of the Kildeer mountain en-
I |gagement, said to be the greatest In
dian battle ever fought in the u. s.
The book which. Mr.. Houlton had with
him at Dickinson will be presented to
the State Historical Society. In the
roster "a this work is found the name
[of Amos T. Crowl Of Dickinson, q
member Of Go. D. The map in the
book shows the Sully trail from Ft.
Rice below Mandan up Heart river
Ito the point southeast Of Richardton,
where the corrals were located, the
route northwest to Kildeer, etc. The
account Of the battle which Mr.. Houl-
ton gives is as follows: n.
On July 26th we corral1ed our
train on Heart river, and leaving it
under strong guard started north
ward in search Of the Indians, and in
the afternoon Of the 28th found them
iocated on Knife river or rather on
| the foothills Of some mountains near
| 1T. The camp was an extensive one
and embraced one hundred ten bands
tof Sioux. They had congregated this
great force to clear out the white
soldiers, and appeared to believe that
they could do It. We were about
eight or ten miles from the camp
when they were first discovered by
1.-The scouts. There was no excitement
lapparent on either side, and both
prepared for battle with equal. con-
/ tfidence. The line was formed by dis
Snounting three men out of four, leav-
ling the fourth man in charge Of the
horses, who followed the line in close
columns. These dismounted men
,tWere formed in line as skirmishers,
Iabout four PAGES apart, with q re-
(verse Of cavalry to cover the TANKS
land the artillery within supporting
Idistance Of the line of battle.
It was formidable looking force
4 and when the Forward" was sound
led there was determined look on the
faces of the men that indicated that
1they now had chance to get satisfac-
ition from the redskins. The Indians
y gathered on their horses, stripped for
battle and began to leisurely ride out
howard us; first a few fine looking
Ifeliows rode up nearly within gun
Ishot to reconnoiter and then little
I bands would leave the camp and ad-
4 vance, but without any demonstra-
Ition other than waving their arms IN
i the air or cantering across the plain
iAt last they came within our reacn
j and few rifle shots precipitated the
conflict but not until we had passeo
.Ihalf the distance to their camp. At
1.-The first shot everything was changed
1.-THE band concentrated and utterlng
Etheir war cries they dashed toward
our lines. Riding at full spead they
Ewou1d fire their guns and wheel. ane n
ssfaisappeaft to load and come again N
4 front, in flanks and in rear. 1t was
i a continuous succession OF charges
that were always repelled by, the
steady volleys of our men. We kept
steadily advancing, their camp our
objective point. Their confidence was
such that they did not make an ct.
4 fort to save it until we We're within
q half mile; then for the first time time
we set the artillery to work a1le
); threw shells from eight guns with
terrifying effect. It was a nagn!h'
cent sight, 800 lodges filled witt
women and children, dogs, horses .ane
|, al The paraphernalia Of their homes
and they attempting to save then
with the shells bursting about them
carving destruction in their path
The lodges came, down., but too late
The warriors shot their guns and ar
rows hissed through the air, but on
, ward went the blue-coated line ant
;. the camp was taken The fighting
was kept up in a desultory way untl
J Ithe sun went down but the Indians
were whipped and what was worse
had lost their camp and all supplies
!, and were fleeing almost naked 1ntt
!, the mountains. The white soidlefi
tcamped upon the ground. Genera
! Snllv q ordered Major Camp, will
Companies E, F, n and ] OF tn
lEighth Minnesota, to follow the IN
dians through the deep wooded ra
. vines and drive them off the high hill
bevond The; camp, which they accom-
Inlished with some loss to the IN
la;ans.s From these hills fine view
of the Indians and their families
lconld be had as they swarmed ava!
, through the rayines Of the Bat
\ Lands, mostly beyond reach. III Thi
detachment reached camp where tnell
horses were at II p. M, and supper
Hess and exhausted lay down, l,a,e onss :,
q again to be called to tae saoole =
, midnight. sully had 2,20o men ant
hMa M \ estimated the number Of 1ndian'
!, at n: from 5000 to 5000 and that thei,
/ loss was from 100 to $50 killed q ed
!. Half Of the next day was spent IN es, de
stroying the camp ana a kltThs Ths o,,' en'
. Ie superemely nell sad thing about q battl'
IA sburying the dead and in this case
Il although h l they were but few. il wa
4 was sad indeed. In the middle Q Q
! the night the graves were prepaare' !
q and without a light or the sound g
!. 8 bugle, their bodies were placed 9
/ the earth and carefully covered gp
,lleyeling the surface go that tn 9
graves would not be noticed and Whel g
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