Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1922-06-13
., SITTING BULL RECALLED
Sergeant Who Prevented His Escape
is Teaching Mail Clerks TO Shoot.
GREAT STORY OF FRONTIER TROOPS
Was Best Shot in His Regiment but
- He Missed Bad Injun Six Times
Happened Just After Massacre OF
Custer.
d.. NIrillinnn Ilihhln
BY William Dibble.


hbsomert; of the 9Th Regiment Armory
;;l.i,by aSergtl gCorFie. s3d Engineers
HiiiG2afoused a fat mail clerk with glasses
who stepped to the pistol re nge. He
s .sy..s "a was aKtimid man. this clerk who was
- being taught to kill bandits. and his
!, SPINS pudey fingers trembled about the gun
9F, He fred. He fired again and again,
Then the marker stepped forward and
-sls examined the target.
eTh !" six misses!"
The clerk grew rale and rubbed his
hands in agitation -.
- Now said Sergt. Corri compass
sionatcly and gently, you vc got to
do better than that. There's IN order
out that IL you can't shoot h. April
3a{ 81 know" said the clerk
well take six more, and see if you
can do Better"
So il goes, day after day. The
III, pistols spout fame the crashes Of the
~ tu guns make loud me ranges. and mail
, clerks pass or don't pass and shoot
4 again. first slow fire. six shots at
twenty feet, then rapid fire. three
,,u,shots in minutes time. And day
% < after day Sergt. Corrie, crack shot
winner of a dozen prizes, cajoles, pets
f,---- advises young men and old. eX-army
men with half dozen children, men
n, "a &ho have lived in mail offices all their
lives and shtdder at the feel or the
pistol, braves who know they can
S,s,y shoot and then nearly blow their feet
:. cDeff, ldubs who look down the barrel
to. put these chunks of lead some
where near the bull's-eyc
1t is a risky job, this teaching, but
n al Il, n wi
and he has kindness that no amount
of stupidity can spoil.
f5' '"Tell me, sergeant said one af-
-; ternoon, when there were only few
candidates for heaven left, &" IL me
something about yourself" The SER
sstJos. Ageant is modest man, oh, very
modest man. timid, you might say,
I}Awith q respect for officers that be-
trays long service in the Regular
Army. l urged him to speak about
match in which Gen. Psrshing and
himself had contested. But Sergt.
Corrie appeared abashed. lie shuffed
49,. his feet removed his glasses and wiped
frN9Enshem
N ut would be fresh" he murmured.
=. ito couple my name with general
: officer~SfJAht united State$-A' -~
Y that match. So then I asked him to-
= tell me about his prizes ard about his
services in the woolly West, those
days when the Indians galloped the
- plains and picked off United States
81 troopers in facile manner
b -.,,, He hemmed little pushed back
K n,;his white hair from his ruddy, smooth
= forehead, considered. Then he be-
q gan:
81 enlisted in the 18th Infantry in
= 1879 Well, in September 1884, was
z at Fort Yates, s. d. That was lit
- tie time after the Custer massacre
i S|and Sitting Bull and about three hum
= dred of his men were at the fort wait
= ing to be taken to Fort Randall by
." party under command of Capt. Howe
The day came for Sitting Bull to be
- carried away in a wood burning boat
E ~ DIP the river.
Now there were about ten thous-
T. and Sioux Indians on the other side
of the river. They had heard of Sit
ftiN".''3tfg Bulls removal, and they were
hanging around in the distance, hop
Ssf.saxing that maybe he would get away to
them.
> THE boat came in sight and Sitting
SBull and his men were let out and
placed under guard close to the river
bank. l there. right near him.
3 Well sir, the boat gave a toot and let
let off q cloud of white smoke. That
must have sounded bad to Sitting
Bull. | guess he realized that his last
chance had come. So what did he do?
Up goes his arm with the handouts