The Washington times., 1919-02-09
GIVEN MEDAL DUE
FIFTY YEARS AGO

Leander Heron, Of st. Paul, Neb.,
has just won a Congressional gold
medal for bravery in 1865. 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 1868, only
32s have been issued, Mr.. Herrou's
medal bearing this last number. The
story Of the incident on which the
award was based is told in the Mod
I ern Woodman. ;
Heron, now seventy years old, was
a corporal of Company A, Third
! United States Infantry. With a pis-
| toll in each hand he rode directly
through a band of dog soldier" In
dams and rescued a Government
wagon train which was under attack.
In 1868 the Indians were more trou-
blesome 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 a
dozen tribes were in the league. After
all the stage lines had been forced
d
service was started in Western Kan
sas.
Capture Meant Death.
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
Indians who had been drummed out
of their own tribes because they were
too mean to live with. It was with
these deprayed savages that Heron
had his encounter.
On the night of September ., 1865,
this man with one companion. Troop
er Paddy Boyle, was carrying Gov
eminent dispatches from Fort Dodge
to Fort Larned, seventy five 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 a United St9Les
wagon train was being attacked by
Indians.
Pausing long enough TO load pistols
for each hand, the two soldiers.
guiding their horses with their knees
rode directly into the fray. yelling
and whooping as wildly as any braves
in the crowd
Men In Last Straits.
They had got through the lines
and up to the wagons before the In
dams realized what had happened.
There we're 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 be-
ginning to wonder how long they
could keep up their desperate resist
ance to the Indians.
Before Heron and Boyle had been
five minutes at the wagons, the Bucks
made another vicious charge, which
was repulsed with difficulty. Realiz-
ing that they could not possibly get
away with the horses gone, the SOL
diers determined that one of them
should break through the line under
cover of darkness and get to the
fort for assistance. Trooper Boyle
volunteered for this attempt sh0ok
hands with his companions and start
ca OH. within few minutes shots
and yells convinced the waiting party
that Paddy had been killed, ami that
II was up to them to fight to the last.
Little Ammunition Left.
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
a tomahawk during a hand -to-hand
encounter. The third man had been
wounded twice, and the fourth had a
bullet through his arm. Only Heron
himself was uninJUred. They talked
the prospect over and decided that
each man. as he rnached his last