Plentywood herald. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1908-current, 1930-01-09
~ w ne-.--@ Who Lived In Yellowstone Valley Early ~
40 w oman F10nAfAT Days Recalls Thrilling Euns of Overland WN
w - Trip From Black Hills in 1877 When Hd- Y
y ans Were H0MG Found DenwWd Quiet and Miners DEpoany of Property at Half Price D

brought in the body of the dead man,
rolled in a blanket, and five or six of
them went around the haystacks and
called loudly for the boy, but there was
no response.
Lot Boy Is Found
About 10 o'clock the next morning
the emigrants saw some one come from
the vicinity of the stacks, running pell-
nell over the prairies like a Whirlwind.
He seemed to be running blindly, as
though he did not know where he was
going. Some of the men went out and
stopped him. 1t was the lost boy and
he was nearly beside himself with
fright. After learning he had been
hiding in a stack, they asked him why
he had not answered. He said he had
heard no n but the Indians prowl-
ing around the stacks. They kept
calling me Bill" he said. 81 don't
know how they knew my name, but I
was too wise to answer them"
There was no more trouble with the
Indians until they got to the Big
Horns. The party travelled across to
upper part of the Tongue river and other
dAioh Why C0NilSQ VIC dAltlC
Horn. Sometimes a wagon wheel would
break and it was necessary to place
a timber pole in its place under an
axle until it could be repaired. At
other places, it was necessary to put
brakes on logs or to use ropes in let
ting a wagon down a steep hill. There
were difficult streams to cross and &C.
casionally miry places would be reached
uyharn thn ura urp111d npt cf11pk
A prank Mrs. Schock particularly re-
calls was the letting of brakes loose
while going down a high hill on the
wagon of a very bossy oma
There was plenty of fun, too, as the
big party travelled leisurely along the
way. Game was plentiful and there
was good hunting and fishing. There
was an Italian family who composed
a band along and the company had
a school teacher and a preacher, al
though the preacher left after the
Black Hills episodes. Captain Burn
ham had two COWS in his outfit and
sold milk, and there was another out
fit whose wagon was drawn by two
COWS and two horses.
One afternoon as Mrs. Reed was
asleep in the wagon, her husband got
out to look for signs where the road
forked. The pack outfit belonging to
Wustum came along and the rafting
pots and kettles scared the horses.
They started to run over a road cut
through some timber. She was awak-
ened by the jolting wagon and push
ing back the curtain in front, she got
her feet braced underneath some
boards and then she reached far down
and got hold of the lines, checking the
horses on the verge of a precipice.
When they reached the Big Horn,
the company separated for various des-
tinations. A Mr.. Brown, who had a
contract to put up hay at the newly
built Fort Custer, had 16 head of Mis-
souri, mules in charge Of a man named
Brewer. Two partners by the name OF
Burnstein and Roper had brought a
load of liquor across the plains, in
tending to establish themselves at some
mining place. The Reeds and Nichol-
sons started down the Big Horn with
these two outfits and travelled two days.
Reed had been promised a place as
cook with a haying party.
One night some Indians ran the
horses and mules of and Reed, Roper
and Brewer started after them. They
followed Wolf creek, finding where the
Indians had trailed the horses in the
water, and finally had driven them on
a fiat. They had just discovered the
horses when an Indian on bareback
got to the animals and began driving
them on. Reeds horses dropped out
and soon the Burnstein and Roper
horses also, but they continued after
Brewers mules. They got to some
trees and were pressing closely when
they saw the Indian wave a blanket
to about SO Indians encamped in a
valley below, and they were immedi-
ately astir.
Refuge In Buffalo Wallow
The three men found a deep buffalo
wallow not far from the trees and they
determined to stand off the Indians
there. Aiming at their horses, Reed
and the other two shot or dismounted
the first few Indians as they came up.
Roper was sitting up tailor fashion,
shooting the approaching Indians, I'M
til he was shot in the heart and fell
dead.
Reed and Brewer remained there all
day, warding off the Indian attacks,
but when darkness came, they crept
away On their hands and knees to
some rocks from where they could see
the Indians having a war dance. On
their way back, they heard the rafting