The Bozeman courier., 1926-09-24

lOnged to the government and l was ac-
cOuntable for him.
"The Indian lay sprawled at my feet,
dead. / surveyed the situation and lis
tened for sounds, for l was Obsessed with
the fear that there was a war party close
by. / knew that not far up the river
was a camp Of friendly Indians with
whom had stayed on my. way down.
lOnged for company. At last l turned
and made for the stOckade camp of Red
Mike as fast as I could travel looking
back every moment expecting to see a
bunch Of mounted Indians in pursuit"
Reaching Red Mikes stOckade, Kelly
bathed his knee and prepared to continue
his journey. With the old hunter, he re-
Sioux, there to find both Indians cold in
death. He went on to BufOrd, accomplish
| ing the remainder Of the jOruney without
further adventure, finding upon his ar
rival that the news of his deed had pre-
ceded him, carried by Indian runners. His
fame was established for he had singly
handed killed two Sioux warriors. His
standing at Fort Buford had become great
ly changed; the Indians around the post
/ admiring him so much that they named
| i'm "The- Little Man With Strong Heart"
Fame meant little to this lad, however,
| and he soon tired Of so prOsaic a calling
as "maii-car1ying" A restless nature
! beckOned him forth to new thrills, and the
early summer finds him packing rifle and
blankets into the wilds of the Yellowstone
| River valley. Here he spent months hunt
ing and trapping, growing familiar with
every mile of the valley and the valleys
of the tributaries Of that stream, even up
| to and beyond the great Crow country.
II Surrounded by the Sioux
1t was during the fall of 1869 that Kelly
experienced another Of his stirring eXper
fences. He had stopped for a visit with
some hunters and trappers at point
about 40 miles above the mouth of the Yel-
lOwstOne. A party of Indians had been dis
covered a short distance off, and here is
II what this One-time habitue of the plains
n incident W
Life did not seem to run in a salts
factory groove as long as these Indians
remained in our neighbOrhOOd, and the
reason thereof unsOlved. After due delib-
Grafton on this matter, therefore, we sal
lied forth into the woods, and by trails
known to us, reached the spot Of their
except an empty prairie, Sinking coy
Ote, some piles Of bones and the ashes Of
their camp still warm.
I'VE now decided to climb the hill
III back of the river, from which a fine
view was to be had, as we had no time
to follow the tracks that seemed to Ov-
errun the flat. When We had done so,
finding nothing in sight, we sat down on
the grass to smoke and rest. Suddenly
II a mounted Indian showed himself about
five hundred yards away, and circled
around us as though he had just dis
covered us. I knew that l could come
killed an antelope once at about that dis
lance, 50 I raised the sight Of my rifle
and fired.
III Before 1 could note any result of the
shot the ground around the savage was
| alive with Indians, whipping their horses
| in our direction. On they came, in wild
disorder, their ornaments Of bright met
Il al flashing in the rays Of the bright
morning sun, and there was such
flutter Of waving plumeS and feathers
= that the sight was altogether thrilling.
We did not stop to admire it, however,
for, so great was our anxiety 70 reach the
! protecting line Of timber that with one
accord, we dropped behind the hill and
made for cover as fast as our legs would
carry us.
81 fear we did not present a pleasant
spectacle as we raced down hill in this
sudden change Of base, but it was good
strategy. On the edge of the slough we
turned about and faced the war party,
which had now divided it's force and was
streaming out of the cOulees on either
side. They had a notion of charging us
direct, but on our opening fire they
/ scattered and, forming a thin line,
charged past our position, delivering
their fire as they passed. The bullets
sped over and around us, but no one was
hit, for the sagebrush afforded us some
protection. Our fire was more effective.
Missouri (the nickname Of one Of the
men) tumbled an, Indian off his horse,
and soon there were several riderless
animals running about.
''While these Indians were drawing our
fire several others had dismOunted be-
low and were entering the woods. In
crossing the slough everyone lost his
mOccasins except Ed, who wore boots.
Entering the willows, we waited for the
attack Of the Indians, whose shrill cries
sounded in different parts of the woods
in support and encouragement Of each
other.
Gas the war party greatly Outnum-
bered as, we looked for them to follow
up their advantage, since they had us on
the run, but they evidently lacked stom-
ach for it, though / have known three
reckless Sioux warriors to follow two
whites into thick brush, an encounter thai
ended in a draw Of one white man and
one Indian. AS for us being barefoot
ed, our ambition for fighting was at the
zero point, and we sympathized with the
sentiment Of one Of our party who had
seen more or less fighting in the late
war; I wish 1 was baby, and a girl
baby, at that
Z painfully we made our way across
? the openings and through patches OF
I fire-killed cacti to our cabin, where we
} found that the Indians had been there
before us and had taken everything
worth taking, leaving as mOmentoes Of
/ their visit an arrow and a coup lance
{ sticking in the doorway"
J, Guides the key West"
: In 1873 General George A. Forsyth, a
e aide on General Sheridans staff, was giI
t en- orders at Fort Lincoln, DakOtah,
Z take military command Of the MissOu
river steamboat, key West" and to e.
D plOre the Yellowstone as far as the mout
] of Powder river. Up to that time .
t steamers had ever ascended the yellow
: stone to that piOnt, and the main Obje'
IL