Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1916-04-19

What of Pershing, the field commander
whom Funston selected to lead the Ameri-
can regular into the desert wastes of Chi
huahua. Like Funston, Pershing is every
inch a soldier. and his career is one of
splendid achievements in the service or
the country. From that day in June, 1886,
when West Point turned him over to the
regular army as a second lieutenant OF
the famous Sixth cavalry. PershlnS, as
one of his friends put it a few days ago.
has never been out OF the saddle"
In the first few years of his service he
fought in the border campaigns against
Apaches in Arizona. he led his troopers in
the Sioux wars of the early '@s. fought in
the campaign of Santiago de Cuba, and
when, by the treaty of Paris. the Philip
pines came under the American flag, Per-
shing was ordered to the islands. where,
as one of the leaders against the turbu-
lent Moros. he was to gain fame and hon-
orS and, finally, as a reward, win the
star of a brigadier, being at the time of
his nomination the youngest West Point
er ever named as a general of the regular
army. President Roosevelt jumped him
from a captain of cavalry to a %brigadier
general In 1906, and to do this Roosevelt
passed over $50 other officers who We're
seniors to Pershing in the regular estab-
lishment.
Pacification of the Moros.
y Cii oSO tlIS OlS PIoOlCIIl AZ tIle
Philippines involved the p%aciication of the
Moros on the great island of Mindanao.
General Pershing, who as a captain of
cavalry had won honors and promotion in
the earlier fights with these Mohammedan
warriors, was named governor of the Moro
province and commander of the military
department of the Mindanao. His orders
were to pacify the Moros. The job sound
ed easy from a distance Of some thousands
OF miles. but the fact remains tina a
tougher problem has seldom been given to
an officer OF the regulars.
But Pershing gritted his teeth. smiled
his famous smile and got busy. This was
In the last days Of 1911, and the jerky,
short news dispatches that filtered out
into civilization told a story of GOO des-
perate Moros-every one of them a Mo
hammedan fanatic-intrenched in the era
ter of the extinct volcano Bud Dajo on the
island OF Jolo. The war that Pershing
waged taxed to the utmost the endurance
and ingenuity OF the American regular.
In fact, 1t was more than two years be-
fore the news that 1.-The Job had been ac-
complished" was flashed from Manila to
Washington.
In 1906 the Moros had made a stand In
the crater OF Bud Dajo. There, in all the
hideeus regalta Of Moro warfare and
armed to the teeth with guns and knives.
they babe defiance to the Americans who
had come to civilize and pacifiy them,
peacefully II possible, with gun and DOW
der as q last resort. The last resort was
the method that had to be adopted.
Disarmed the Savage suIus.
Bud Dajo stands in the interior Of the
Island OF Sulu. the sultan OF which has
been immortalized in comic opera by
George AIDE. From the day that the
Americans took over the Philippines the
Moros had been fighting against the adj
vance Of the>white man. What is known
as the uprising OF 1911 was brought about
by an order of General Pershing, who de-
cided that the time had come for the
Moros to give up their arms. and issued
an order to that effect. No order so dras-
tic had ever before been issued in the
country of the Moros. It stated that all
guns had to be turned in to the American
authorities, and that no Moro would be-
permitted to take his barong, his kris or
bolo outside of his home or the little plot
of ground that surrounded that home.
The Moro loves his kris, an ugly knife.
and his barong. an enlarged edition of
the kris, as he loves his own soul. To
him these frightful eapon which he
yields with savage dexterity, are a part
of his very being. so to speak. 1t is easy.
therefore, to imagine the effect of the
Pershing order in the villages of these
untamed warriors.
With 1000 picked men. regulars and