The Bozeman courier., 1926-09-24

Of the trip was to ascertain whether or nor
1t was navigable that far. This was one
OF the military moves that led but three
years later to the Battle Of the Little Big
Horn, and the subsequent subjectiOn Of the
/ hostile Sioux nation.
Well protected so far as military at
taches were concerned, General Forsyth, at
Fort BufOrd was ready to start on his
exploration trip, but was at complete
loss IN that he knew of no guide competent
to lead through this uncharted country.
| captain Grant Marsh, the pilot of the "Key
! West, said that he knew but one man who
was thoroughly familiar wit hthe Yellow
stone, and that was yellowstone" Kelly.
The Captain added that he felt confident
that they would run across him shortly i'm
one Of the river bottoms of the Missouri.
where he was known to be trapping and
cutting wood. His log cabin was sighted
the following day. The boat tied up to
shore and the General went to talk to, the
plainsman,
"YeIlOwstOne'' Kelly, the PIainsman
| According to Captain Marsh, Kelly was
dressed entirely in a suit Of fringed buck
skin, and his feet were encased in beaded
mOccasins. His face, darkly tanned by
sun and weather, was smOOth-shaven ex-
cept for a slender mOustache and his fea-
lures were lean and hard, muscular gaunt-
ness OF hunting animal that carries not
an ounce Of superfluOus flesh. A mass Of
thick hair, straight and black as an In
dlan s, was swept back from his forehead
and hung below his shoulders Across his
arm he carried a long, breech- loading
Springfield rifle, on the butt Of which was
carved the name he had bestowed upon his
ly life, "Old Sweetness" The rifles barrel
from muzzle to stock was covered with the
skin Of a great bull snake, shrunk on so
! tightly that it resembled vanishing. This
was the appearance that impressed Cen
eral Forsyth, and this was the guide who
was chosen to pilot the expedition. This.
: too, was the man who became keen friend
: OF the military leader throughout the years
that followed.
Kelly's services that summer proved in
valuable to General Forsyth, who admit
ted frankly that the important work Of
mapping the region for military purposes
could not have been carried on had it not
been for the knowledge of his guide con-
cerning the territory.
With Miles I'm Montana
In the few years that followed, Koily's
services became greatly in demand. In 1877
he was sco~- for General Miles during the
campaigns OF southeastern Montana, and
when Chief Joseph was trailed to north
ern Montana and there brought to sur
render.
The Wolf Mountain Campaign
A number of years ago, Kelly wrote a
on an incident of the wolf Mountain
campaign in 1877, while he was working
under General Miles. He said
About January 3, 1877, the command
went into camp near Wolf Mountain,
Tongue River, close to the canyon. I was
still in the saddle contemplating with a
! wagon that contained the scouts plund-
er and bedding, which as usual had been
overturned in one of the numerous cross
1ngs of Tongue River, when General Miles
called to me and directed me to take a
party of scouts and go up the river some
distance and watch out for Indians.
1--WE had passed, the day before, the
freshly abandoned camp of large force
Of Indians, who were still in the vic
, unity.
Proceeding a mile up the canyon Of
the Tongue, we turned to the left and
from a point of bluff found an excellent
lookout that was sheltered by a large
cedar tree.
"FrOm this point we presently observ-
) ed some Indians travelling down the val
ley; on nearer approach, observing them
with glasses, they appeared to be squaws.
1t was. evident to me that they were
either ignorant of the recent removal Of
the Indian camps from that vicinity, and
, the proximity Of the troops, or that the
: Indians were up to some scheme.
"As they neared our place of conceal
) cealment, l saw that there were several
2 women and a boy. I at once turned to the
. Indian scouts and warned them not to
2 touch them. We rode down gulch and
! quietly approached them. They stopped
s and commenced to cry. We made signs
to them not to be afraid and motioned
=. them to move on in the direction of our
camp. They appeared to be Cheyennes,
, and could not, or would not talk Sioux.
8 "They were taken to headquarters, and
there being shortly thereafter an alarm
q of Indians in the valley, we struck out
3 again in that direction.
, 'This time the Indian scouts did not
Z follow us. The party numbered five, as
follows: the three JOhnsOns, Tom La
Forge and myself. The Indians were seen
: in the distance, and when we had at
v tanned the point where the sQuaWs were
q found, ten or fifteen Indians showed
: themselves behind a little rise of ground
e awaiting our approach. We Immediately
Q charged them and that is where we made
lt 2 mistake.
d 's.The Indians were resting their guns
: on their crossed gun sticks, and when
e within some sixty yards, some f0rty or
e fifty of them who had been concealed,
d rose up and delivered their fire as we
e eircled and returned the vOlley. The
i poor craftsmanship Of the Indians, alone,
saved US from determination. Tom La
3 FOrge'S horse was shot under him, and
u for this reason, we took position in a
e small clump OF scrub oak.
e 1.-THE firing then became general the
9 hOstiles soon enclosing as on three sides.
Il Our Indian scouts who had followed us,
e took position about three hundred yards
below; only one the "BannOck," riding
cOOlly through the fire to join u.s. I re-
an member that be Joined me in scaling
" bank that overlooked our position, and
to together we drove off five Indians who
lri were crawling to reach the brow Of the
X bank. They were not fifteen yards
tn away, and disappeared before we could
no get in a shot. We fired at a party rid
W. ing across the flat and had the satisfac-
sct ton Of knocking one off his horse.
"They made it so hot for us here that
Wdb lOLCeu 70 EcIOAu NY companions
in the oak grove. The "Bannock.' how
ever, concealed himself in the grass and
did good execution during the engage
ment This Indian did not know what
fear was.
'By this time the command had become
swere OF our predicament and q detach-
me.N Under Lieutenant HargOus, Of the
FHc had been sent to help us out. The
Scrf. ' n OF this force and the fire Of the
GfSeI s4e eale0n gan which sent q shell
Z. dinei ~ apsr "s drove the Indians, or
SeSus.., =: - our front, and about
aspsE@t fs.r vantage II the lull and
! ~ ..st eGaG
ar IA fs8sf-c Eadi<nR were Op-
9.Hsd =. IS, AZ yt- % % 0nS IS-
dun S-Sz kaS,Eaes l II w0s
struck frCE 2ls sarse tsS T. Sat
followed; but rl,sa tb. usltlsusst
ticI and mode Of fighting . i.sv,
pie It is impossible tc cell u 9lllsn q,
hit All Of my party We.se gSed fis.Sbs
AMI trained frOntieySmtn.
"The next morning tie Indixss wire an
around us and a verg pretty iIgAt fol-