American Falls press. [volume] (American Falls, Idaho) 1907-1937, 1915-02-04

der had his gun pointed at her. Don't
shoot that woman, let her come on
up here" shouted the Cen
eral but too late to stop the speeding
bullet. The soldier justified himself
by saying I'VE had orders to kill ev-
erything.' The morning after the fight
1t was 23 degrees below zero. Three
wagon loads of dead soldiers were
gathered up, frozen stiff and loaded in
wagons like cordwood Mr.. Benefits
feet were quite badly frozen and he
rode in the back of one of the wagons
with his dead comrades all the way
back to Salt Lake.
General Pocatello was always dress
ed in Colonels uniform, cast off by
some of the officers at Ross Fork, and
wore a fine sword at his side which
had been given him by the officers. He
was very proud of his uniform and
wore 1t all the time. BY reason of
this he was called General He
was buried in this Aniform end the
sword with him. He was a great char
acter and gave Pocatello it's name
The enterprising citizens of Pocatello
could do nothing more appropriate
than to erect a monument to his mem
ory at the spring where his bones lie
Pocatello was succeeded as chief by
Gibson Jack, a well educated Indian,
who could converse intelligentlv on
almost any subject, and a friend of
the whites. The Shones gave no trbu-
BILE to the settlers under his leader
ship
Hardest Winter We Ever Had.
Both Mr.. Morgan and Mr. Sorenson,
in their stories of early days, have
spoken of the hard winters beginning
with 1898. The hardest winter ever
experienced here since white men
came was the winter of 1880. The
snow was about two and a half feet
deep. 1t began showing I'm November
and kept stormy through most of De-
cember. Early In January there was
a thaw, followed by a sleet storm and
freezing weather, forming so hard
not travel without being all cut up. 1t
was not strong enough to sustain their
weight, but was SO hard that stock
could not break through 1t to get at
the feed buried beneath 1t. In the fall
Of 1879, the Indians being quiet,
Oregon stockme's dcove large herds of
cattle to Granger, the nearest ship
ping point. Four outfits, whose cat
tie were poor, stopped here to winter
on account of the splendid feed. Ryan
& Lang with 5000 head had their camp
at the Swanson place on the Portneuf.
a few miles this side of Pocatello.
Ryan e. Eberhardy, with 1000
head of cattle, built a dugout for
winter quarters on Bannock Creek,
where the old grade of the Oregon
Short Line crossed it about fifteen
miles east of American Falls.
Searight Bros, with 1000 head win
tered at Old Fort Hall. The men used
the officers quarters and stabbed the
horses in the barracks. These out
fits had secured permission from Ma
jor Danielson, Indian agent at Ross
Fork, to range their cattle Oh the res
ervation G. II. Beemer with l.o90
bead. stopped at Warm Creek and
built the house Suisted was living I'm
at the time he met his tragic death.
There was no hay to be had n any
price. Beemer lost all of his cattle,
and in the spring packed his worldly
possessions on saddle horses and pull
ed out for Oregon. The winter lasted
until March.
In June, 1880 the three outfits that
camped on the reservation, with fifty
men. began their roundup They
found cattle--more dead ones than i've
all the way from Shoshone Falls TO
Idaho Falls, and In the foothills and
valleys all along the river, Every
small stream was filled with carcases.
Near Arbon, we found 25 head. all
dead, which had been showed In on
about half acre. The sage brush on
this land had been six feet high, but
It was eaten. clean as a floor, clear TO
the ground. Along the streams. willows
up to two inches through. had been
eaten clear to the roots. OF the 10000
bead brought in. only 1000 had sur
vived the winter. ] have seen 300
dead cattle in a distance Of four blocks.
The cattle were driven to Granger and
shipped and Mr. Shilling who had the
store at Ross Fork. got about all the
money The men in charge had un-
limited credit, and lived high. They
had no idea that any large numbe- Of
their cattle were dying.
First Indian Settlement.
Association with the cowboys in
charge Of these outfits. gave the In
dians their first idea OF settling on
lands and making permanent homes.
They we're all wanderers aside from a
very few who hung around the agency
at Ross Fork. attracted by the activity
there. Mosho. for whom Michaud sid
ing was named. Pocatello Tom. Poca-
tello John, China Eye and Big Tipped
George settled on Bannock Greek, just
above the railroad crossing in 1881,