The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1924-04-04
Bv T.. l.. DOHENi


would have been paradise for any
boy For there were gathered the
men who made the west, and later,
the fiction that has been the JOY of
ten every rcd-hloodcd young~tcr Cen
TO cral Custer and Buffalo Bill; Gen
an clal Stanley and Texas Jack; Chris
Me Gibson, Billy Smith, Little Rover, Red
ar Clara, Ben Clark and many others.
to- There were gamblers there, and
Sc bad men; dead ringers and Indian
ra fighters. And was running a
NJ, butchers counter
hi when / heard that an expedition
III was being organized TO go INTO the
ly Power River country in Dakota, |
could restrain myself no longer.
pc told Matt Ryan | had to quit. He
w gave me II note to Levi Wilson, II
Xxi law, who had charge of
st hiring the help forxthe expedition.
b, | was ea,ed-only to be disappoint-
n ed again.
For Wilson said was too young
b: and too small to go ON the trip.
ct But he promised to send me on
BIT another expedition that soon was TO
II be undertaken.
He kept his word. When the plans
lie for Lieutenant Wheeler survey of
i the New Mexico Arizona boundary
d were completed, my long dream fin
d ally came true. | was to go with it
p as a mule herder!
Drove Mules
n Six of us had to drive 10 shave
7 tail mules down to Santa Fee, where
I the expedition was to start.
The man in charge didnt like me.
/ was bubblng over too much with
j the enthusiasm of youth. SO he as
signed me to night herding the
toughest shift.
= There wasn't much time for rest,
for | couldn't sleep during the day,
while the bunch was on the move;
and | couldn't sleep at night while
! was on duty. We drove down past
j Fort Bent, Fort Lyons, southwest to
Trinidad, through Raccoon Pass,
where Dick Wootan's night herders
held sway. 1t was Il wild country
and cattle thieves were rampant SO
they armed me.with an old Fashioned
Spanish Spencer carbine, and gave
me orders to shoot on sight without
warning. One night | almost shot
the boss berder when he sneaked
up on me to see if | was asleep.
An escort of soldiers went with US
part of the way. One Of them came
to me one evening and told me that
there were snakes in his cot. | went
to beat them out. The next day
was the laughing stock of the camp.
The man had delerium tremens-and
! dldn t know what they were.
Between this drunk and the wild
mules | had to handle. was driven
hard.
Finally we reached Santa Fe, and
] joined the expedition proper, go
ing with the Wheeler forces as a
packer.
Wheeler Expedition
On the Wheeler Expedition ] got
the training which made my later
pros pecting possible. Oregon Jack.
an experienced packer taught me the
diamond hitch "a knack of pack
ing an animal properly. | later de-
vised the ''muzzle loading diamond
hitch a one-man packing stunt.
We found some mineral on the
trip. But it wasn't my chief inter
est yet.
After three months | returned to
& Leavenworth flat broke. But the
M call Of the southwest had got me-
When | Heard that another eXped-
Il ition was going into the Indian Ter
ritory, sneaked into the camp, sid
led alongside a soldier, who threw
his blanket over me, and became sort
81 of stowaway; for this expedition was
81 primarily military.
We went to Wichita, at the hey
dey of its wild days. There Wyatt
carp, who later refereed the Shark
cy-Fitzsimmons fight, was head of
mounted police force. He had his
hands full. The memories of my
M month there haven't faded with the
SO years that have gone by.
Went on Survey
] drifted southwestward
With Charles Du Boise | went ON
surrey into Indian Territory, COW
ering from the 9S-10O meridian as
far south as Red River. We travelled
many hundred miles on foot. We
crossed the Cow Skin" River, Sc
named1 BECAUSE of the thousands OF
1 cattle that were drowned in it; Slate
H Creek; we went past Wellington
through the Wood Of the Arc
"a Near Fall Creek we found mar
strung from tree. We shot at the
rope and brought the man down
Then we were almost Enched our
selves, for interfering with ,t;the
law
|H The dead man was only young
ster-yet he was killer" Later
found that most of the, bad men
f murderers and others, were 20 or un
der!
M In another place we found the bod
sa les of four freighters who had JUS
Ia been burned at stake. One of tn,
"a men was Pat Hennessey, at the plac,
HI of whose death now stands towr
# I that bears his name.
IN For time l acted as extra man t,
/ some Of the surveyors, and / Otter
Fl had to go on foot to Fort Sill OF
u their errands.
u Varied experiences came rapidly
81 Some Indians taught me how to trap
" Then with Keka Ahaka, one of thei
d 4 number. went trapping for thre
n years. used to run horse race
M Nth tha Jrd;arc Thn hnnf no II