The Powder River County examiner and the Broadus independent. [volume] (Broadus, Mont.) 1919-1935, 1922-09-29
|BACK-TRAILING ON THE OLD FRONTIERS
\ NE Of the most notable of
the western plainsmen of4he

6ASOs oSVUS0 0I10 XU1OSo TVA yuOS
period who are still living, is 'sYel-
lowstone" Kelly. or Major Luther
S. Kelly, as his name appears on
the records Of the war department.
At Paradise, Calf, on a little farm
that he bought some years ago,
Kelly is spending the declining
years Of his life in peaceful con-
trast to the stirring times that he
lived through half a century ago.
At the age Of 73 he is still active
and vigorous.
yellowstone" Kelly was the
perfect type Of plainsman, combin-
ing the picturesque appearance of
the early day trapper and hunter
with the reserved manner and quail
ity of cool daring that marked the
best type of frontiersman. He be-
gan his adventurous career at the
age of IA, when, despite his youth
he contrived to enlist in the Union
army and fought through the last
year of the war, marching with his
regiment in the grand parade in
Washington in 1865. After that
his battalion was ordered to Mime
sofa, and in 1866 relieved the gar
rison of Minnesota volunteers at
Fort Wadsworth, Dakota. He then
was honorably discharged from the
service, and after visiting the Hud-
son Bay post, Fort Garry, on the
Red River of the North, he rode
alone through the wilderness to the
Missouri river, encountering nu-
merous adventures. One of these
was meeting with Sitting Bull,
who then was becoming of promin-
ence among the Sioux as medicine
man.
Arriving at Fort Buford on the
Missouri, situated on the. present
North Dakota-Montana boundary
line, his appearance caused some-
thing of a sensation, for although
he was now II, Kelly appeared
much younger. In fact he could
not make the post trader believe
that he was older than IA or Is
years. The trappers at the post
spent good deal of their time
playing practical jokes on him, all
of which he took in good part. He
was quiet and retiring, and might
easily have been mistaken for a
timid boy who was very much out
of place in a wild country where
danger lurked on every side.
Sioux Nation Powerful and
Warriors Are Hostile
The Sioux nation, flushed with
its success in, Kidding the country
surrounding Fort Phil Kearney,
Wyoming, from whites and forcing
the abandonment of that post, was
at this time arrogant and extreme
ly hostile to whites. The country
about Fort Buford was infested
with these Indians, who made war
on every occasion on the American
trappers and traders along the
river, as we'll as upon their heridi-
tary enemies, the Gros Ventres and
Arickarees. So dangerous was the
passage Of the trail between Fort
Buford and the next army post
down the river, Fort Stevenson.
that mail between the forts had to
be accompanied always by an es-
cort of cavalry.
>One day, not long after Kelly's
arrival at the fort, the mail car
riers from down the river had be-
come considerably overdue and
the post commander gave them up
as lost. There was important mail
to be carried to Fort Stevenson,
but every soldier at the post was
needed for other duties and there
was none to spare for guarding the
mail. It was then that Kelly, look
ing pathetically youthful, went to
the officer in charge and volun-
teered to carry the mail to- Steven
son alone. A group standing near.
by heard the offer and a shout Of
laughter went up. Kelly was re-
fused permission. He announced
calmly that he was going to make
the journey in any event, and was
so persistent that the post com.
mander finally decided to let him
start to see what he could do. They
therefore furnished him with q
pony, and with the mail in a sack
he set out at dusk of a winter even.
ing from the walls Of the post.
Crossing the Missouri river or
the ice he reached winter camp
of the friendly Mandan Indians al