Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1916-02-06
Government Gives Attention to
Services Rendered in From
tier Fighting.
5000 WERE IN ADVANCE
GUARD OF THE SETTLERS
Favorable Report Prepared on Bill
Which Has Been Pending
Before Congress.

some of whom served with Custer and
with Crook and other generals in the
later Indian wars, who are not PEN
stoned; and to meet the pressing de-
mand that they shall be put on tho
same pension basis as survivors of tho
Indian wars before 1855. legislation is
pending in Congress and a Favorable
report has been written on it by Repre-
sentative Heating of Colorado.
The bill was introduced by Repre-
sentative Key of Ohio and. in examin-
ing into the merits of the proposed
pension roll. light has been thrown on
some very interesting features OF the
Indian campaigns from the Bad Lands
to the Rio Grande.
There is not the slightest doubt that
the wars proposed to be covered in the
Key bill were of the bitterest character:
that the scouts and soldiers who were
the advance guard of the Westward
Ho" movement met with hardships
and sufferings rarely eXcelled in any
other set of campaigns. Little by lit
tie the compilation of experiences in
those wars is being woven together,
and when the complete history is writ
ter ii will be a tale of romance and
adventure and heroism unsurpassed.
Clashes With Settlers.
AS the white man pressed westward,
Of course, the redskin opposed him, and
the outbreaks against settlers and
wagon trains necessitated the use of
United States troops on the border land
between the east and the then new
west. The Heating report describes it
In this way:
For a quarter of a century after the
close of the civil war the transmits
souri, country was the scene of almost
innumerable conflicts between the
whites and Indians. The latter stub
bornly contested the invasion of their
hunting ground by the settlers who
had been lured to the frontier by tales
of the marvellous fertility of the soil
mountains. Many of these settlers
were men who had served in the war
between the states; they were seasoned
veterans, skilled in the use of Are
arms; and they proved most valuable
allies to the small bodies Of regular
troops that were called on to patrol
the thousands of miles of trail between
the Missouri and the Pacific. These
generous treatment accorded to the
members Of the regular establishment.
Many Not Mustered In.
I'm many instances they were not
regularly mustered into the service of
their country. The exigencies OF the
time did not permit of the usual for
malities of enlistment. There was
ex-"Yank' and ex-"Reb" rode away to
meet the enemy without taking the
oath of allegiance, DOMINIC uniform
or procuring needed ratfona Fortu-
nate1y most of these men will be able
to establish their service from the Of
ficial records, either state or national.
1T is impossible to overestfmate the
importance of the service rendered by
west to civilization and settlement.
They battled with a brave. cunning.
merciless foe, and usually they faced
fearful odds. but they were almost uni
formly successful. They fought no
Austerlitz. but in every state of the
transmissouri west is some Thermop-
ylae rendered immortal by their life's
| blood.
81 saw more fighting at Beecher's
Island than during all the four years
I served with the army of the Poto-
mac is the testimony of one of the
survivors of Forsyth's famous fight
with Roman Nose.
Names Household Words.
These Indian fights We're had by
men whose names are household words
among our people-Sherman. Sheridan,
the Inflated Custer, Howard, the gal
liant Forsyth. Miles. Baldwin. Only a
few of these great soldiers survive"
Probably the services rendered by these
Indian fighters of the period mentioned
have never been excelled from stand
point of hardship and suffering and dam
ger. They fought in frontier country.
uninhabited except for the hostile tribes
who burned and tortured their enemies
whenever an unfortunate white fell into
their hands. The campaigns which are
covered by the bill are follows:
Southern Oregon and Idaho and north
ern parts of California and Nevada, 1885,
1858.
Campaign against the Cheyennes. FRA
pahoes. Kiowas and Coma nches in KAN
sas Colorado and Indian Territory, 1867
1863 Modoc war. lS72-1S73.
Campaign against the Apaches of Ari-
IONA, 1873.
Campaign against the Kiowas. Co
manches and Cheyennes in Kansas. Colo
RADIO, Texas, Indian Territory and New
Mexico, 1874 and 1875.
Campaigns against the northern Chey.
ennes and Sioux, 1876 and 1877.
Nez Perez war. 1877.
Bannock war, 1878.
Campaign against the northern Chey-
ennes, 1878 and 1879.
Campaign against the Utes in Colorado
and Utah. September, 1879, to November,
1850.
Campaign against the Sioux Indians in
South Dakota, November, 1890, to JAM
nary 1891