Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1919-02-06
Herron's BeIoted Reward
New York Times.

4
Leander Heron of ST. Paul, Neb., has just
won a congressional gold medal for bravery in
! 1868. That the medal, thus tardily conferred,
is awarded only to the bravest is shown by the
fact that, although the law under which medals
of this class are awarded was enacted in 1865,
only 327 have been issued, Mr.. Herron's medal
bearing this last number. The story of the in
cident on which the award was based is told in
the Modern Woodman.
Heron, now 20 years old, was corporal of
Company A, Third United States infantry. With
a pistol in each hand, he rode directly through
a band of dog soldier" Indians and rescuef a
government wagon train which was under at
tack.
In 1868 the Indians were more troublesome
along the Santa Fe trail than at any other time
in the history of that famous highway. Five
thousand OF the red men had banded together
for the purpose of running the whites out of the
country Indians from dozen tribes were in
the league. After all the stage lines had been
forced out of business, a sort of pony express
service was started in western Kansas. All the
riding had to be done at night, and it meant
death for any lone white man who fell into the
hands of the Indians. Among the thousands
OF braves on the warpath was band of So
called dog soldiers"-Indians who had been
drummed out of their own tribes because they
were too mean to live with 1t was with these
depraved savages that Heron had his encoun-
ter
One the night of September 2, 1868, this
man, with one companion Trooper Paddy
Boyle, was carrying government dispatches
from Fort Dodge to Fort Larned, rs miles to
the east. AS the men travelled along through
the darkness they suddenly heard the sound of
distant firing. Soon they made out the flashes
Of guns across the plains and going nearer, saw
that United States wagon train was being at
tackled by Indians.
Pausng long enough to load pistols for each
hand, the two soldiers, guiding their horses with
Enaac rnda kirr srAA Aba
and whooping as wildly as any braves in the
crowd. They had got through the lines and up
to the wagons before the Indians realized what
had happened. They were also fewer red men
to fight because of their passage. The wagon
train proved to have only four soldiers with it:
all the horses had been killed and the men were
beginning to wonder how long they could keep
up their desperate resistance to the Indians
Before Heron and Boyle had been five
minutes at the wagons, the bucks made another
vicious charge. which was repulsed with diff
Guilty Realizing that they could not possibly
get away with the horses gone, the soldiers de-
termined that one of them should break through
the lipe under cover of darkness and get to the
fort for assistance. Trooper Boyle volunteered
for this attempt, shook hands with his compan-
ions and started off, Within a few minutes
shots and yels convinced the waiting party that
Paddy had been killed and that it was up to
them to fight to the last
Ammunition was getting low as the attacks
increased in number and in violence. Moreover,
the troopers were suffering sadly from wounds
One OF the men had been wounded seven times
by arrows and bullets. Another had been hit
on the head by tomahawk during a hand-to-
hand encounter The third man had been
wounded twice, and the fourth had bullet
through his arm Only Heron himself was
uninjured. They talked the prospect over and
decided that each man, as he reached his last
cartridge, should shoot himself so that the In
dams might not torture him. Finally but IL
rounds of ammunition were left. The Indians
were apparently preparing for another charge
Another band of what the troopers thought
to be Indians, dressed in white, came up as
dawn broke, and the beleaguered men realized
that to beat off both bands was hopeless task
The rest of the story is told in Herron's own
words:
Before we could fire we heard call in Eng
fish: Don't frep Then the man threw his car
bine up in the air and yelled To our delight
we recognized Paddy Boyle. He had got
through the lines all right and had reached the
fort. The savages had now broken and were
fleeing across the prairie.
What kind of uniform do you call this ?
I asked Paddy.
WELL the boys were asleep when l reached
the fort he answered. They didn't take time
to dress. They haven't got anything on but
their underclothes.'
1t was fact. The band of troopers had
almost literally jumped from their beds to their
horses backs when the call came from their
brothers in distress.