Connecticut western news., 1920-03-25
LEONARD WOODS
 WESTERN CAREER
Won Congressional Medal of Honor in Apache Campaign.
 Sent to Washington.
By JOHN @. HoLME.

III.
 The sea was Leonard Woods first ambition. He wanted to enter the navy, but chances for advancement In the service were meager, and adven- ture beckoned in the form of an arctic expedition. He had decided to become an explorer when his father, Dr. Wood, took his son into his study one day and advised him to follow his own profession, that of medicine. The re- suit was that Leonard Wood entered the Harvard Medical School in 1880, graduating four years later. With the worked his own way through college. He tutored students and picked up oth- CT odd jobs. to pay expenses.
 The struggle to get start was bit ter. After serving as an interne in one of the Boston hospitals and practicing for several months in one of the poor CT sections of Boston, where the peo- pie were too poor to pay much, if any thing, for medical attendance, young pr. Wood, with ffty-nine other physi- clans, took an examination for army surgeons, passing second in the class. He was asked if he would accept a po- sition as contract surgeon at S100 per month.
 "Yes, if can go West and see ac- tive service" answered Wood.
 The examining officer smiled and as- sured Wood that he would see plenty of active service. This proved to be no Idle talk.
 The summons came In June, 1885. Dr. Wood was ordered to report for duty to General Crook at Fort Hua- chuca, Ariz., in command of operations against the Apache Indians under Geronimo. Wood arrived at Fort Hua- chuca on the Fourth of July. Soldiers, cowboys, Indians and frontiersmen were celebrating the day with gunpow- der and red liquor. The "tenderfoot' was assigned to the Fourth Cavalry, commanded by Captain Henry ". Law ton, who became famous in the Span ish-American War as a Major-General. The latter looked at his visitor and said:
 "what the hell are you doing out hereT
 'T want to get into the line as soon as possible"
 Lawton chuckled and slapped Wood on the back and said:
 "rll see that you'll get into the line"
 Rode an Outlaw"
 There was a column of Indian fight CTS starting off the following morning. and Wood was ordered to go along. An old sergeant brought him a mount "A very special horse, sir" he remark ed as he handed Wood the reins. The I latter mounted and rode off. He soon found out that his special horse" was in reality an outlaw" half-broke and mean-tempered. Its gait was so vi- cious that even the veteran troopers summed 1t. Wood rode the animal thirty-five miles that day and was not thrown. He was blistered, for the sun was hot and the outlaw" was rough, but Wood stayed with the troopers, and, in the language of the army, he "healed in the saddle" The campaign lasted for fourteen months, leading over thousands of miles of wilderness in New Mexico and Arizona. Wood was one of the few men that went through the whole campaign. Early in the pursuit, after a twenty-five mile he rode seventy-four miles by night, carrying dispatches through the Indian lines, and on the following day he rode thirty miles with his troops.
 When Geronimo sent word to the Americans that he was ready to sur render, Wood was one of the four offi- cers who went into the Apache camp to negotiate. This was in old Mexico. The American officers accompanied the Indians for two weeks as they marched In parallel column with the Ameri- can troops into United States territory for formal equalization. At one time during the march the two columns lost and Wood, with his brother officers, was left at the mercy of the Reds.
 Geronimo, observing Woods new . Hotchkiss rifle, asked to examine 1t. T must confess I felt a little nervous" General Wood said in telling the story, but made no objections, and let him have the rifle and showed him how to 1se it." Geronimo fired at mark and just missed one of his men. This he as huge joke rolling on the ground in high glee and saying: Good gun. Good gun" The Indians tried 10 treachery and surrendered as they lad promised to do.
 Twelve years later Wood was given he Congressional Medal of Honor, the lation's highest military reward, flor service in the campaign against the Apache Indians in 1886 while serving as medical and line off, 'er in Captain Lawton's expedition"
 Wood spent several years in the Southwest. He was General Miles thief assistant in surveying Arizona. Ie studied military science and field with such devotion that he