Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1921-current, 1922-07-16

troops. The assistant surgeon was
sent out. therefore, with orders 10
join them, but returned soon after with
the information that the wood train had
gone IN, that nothing was to be seen
of F~ettermans men. but that Indians
were swarming about Lodge Trail ridge.
DESPITE his orders. the officer must
have led his men into forbidden terri
tory.
The alarm that this news caused at
the Fort was Increased in a few min
utcs by the sound Of firing from owe
Lodge Trail ridge. General Caring
ton at once dispatched Captain Ten
Eyck with the rest of the infantry,
numbering ~ men. to aid Fetterman,
although this left too few men to man
the walls of the fort.
a Scene of Dreadful Carnage
Late in the afternoon Ten Eyck's par
ty returned to the post with tidings Of
disaster. In the wagons with his com
mand were the bodies of 10 of Fetter-
mans men, the remaining 30 being so
far unaccouted for. After crossing the
ridge he had looked down on at least
1000 Mounted Indians. who tried with
taunts and insults 10 tempt him TO fight.
Ten EyCk had waited for some time
until they Withdrew, and then marched
carefully to the lower ridge over which
the trail ran. where he came upon a
scene of carnage On the end of the
ridge, IN 4 space no more than six
feet square. enclosed by huge rocks,
he found the bodies of the 40 men that
he brought back. After their ammuni-
ton had been spent they had been
stripped, shot full of arrows, hacked
TO pieces and scalped. Fetterman and
Captain rBown were lying side by side.
each with a bullet wound in the left
temple. Seeing that all was lost, they
evidently had stood fac~e-to-face. and
each had shot the other dead with his
revolver.
The night was one of wild excitement
and anxiety. Nearly one-fourth of the
fighting force of the fort had been
wiped out. Mirror signals, flashed
from the hills during the day, and fires
here and there in the night indicated
that the Eavages were active and evil
IDENTIFY planning some sort of campaign.
The guards were redoubled. the men
sleeping with their rifles beside them.
In each barrack q non-commissioned
officer and two men kept watch. Car
rington and the remaining officers did
not sltPp 1T an, as tNeE IHilN expected
the fort to be attacked. The women
and children were mostly in a condition
of hysteria.
Fate of the Missing
The next day was bitterly cold, with
overcast and lowering sky that
threatened a fierce storm. No Indians
were in sight on the hills when day
broke. Darlington determined to 20
out at once and ascertain the fate of
his missing men. Although all the Of
ficers remaining advised against at
tempting to do SO because they ex-
another attack, the commanding
officer quietly excused them, told the
to remain with him and the
bugle call for assembly instantly dis
his purpose in spite of dissent !
ing protests. He believed, and rightly. |
the Indians would be much more
over their victory if the bodies
IF the whites were not recovered, and
he further felt it necessary to find out |
he fate of his men. His W wife ap-
proved his action and nerved herself
meet the possible fate involved. Mrs.
Iirummond protested strongly against
The proposed expedition, saying that