Plentywood herald. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1908-current, 1931-05-07

stream before venturing to go out to
the water where they expected to fish,
they spied a little Indian standing on
some jutting rocks engaged in fishing.
Presently the little fellow caught a
fish. They watched from their covert
and witnessed a sight that McEvoy
has never forgotten. The watchers
saw the Indian eat the fish raw after
he bit off the tail. That done, he
started to fish again. The men went
back to camp to make a report of what
they had seen.
did you see any grown Indians
McEvoy was asked.
"Only the little fellow who was fish
ing" he stated.
A group of cavalrymen. to the num-
Der Of about so were ordered out. They
made a reconnoiter and while in the
act Of ~deploying to rush in upon the
lone little Indian, he heard the com
motion, became scared and started to
run away. An interpreter, who was
taken along, succeeded in capturing the
little fellow. In his conversation with
the Indian, he asked him if there were
any other members Of his tribe in that
immediate vicinity. His reply was
there were not more Indians so far as
he knew. Taken back to camp, the
little fellow was given something to
eat and allowed to go to sleep. When
he awoke the next day, refreshed from
his rest and strengthened by the food
he ate, he was more willing to talk
and stated that he became lost, and
did not know which way the body Of
Indians of which he was a member
went, whether up or down the Little
Muddy.
It was at this juncture that Tobacco
Jake appeared in the incident that fol-
lowed and which almost led him to the
post at sunrise, said Pat McEvoy, who
gives the details. Scouts we're sent
out to find a trace of the Indians. Sew
eral ranged wide In the open country
adjacent to the Little Muddy, while
a number followed through the thickets
along the banks. They indicated in
their reports, as they returned to camp,
that they saw nothing. One scout,
however, came In a little later and
stated that he saw some tepee tracks
where a camp had been set up and that
the trail from the spot led eastward.
They we're fresh tracks, he said. He
estimated, from his examination of the
ground, there must have been from
eighty to ninety tepees at the camp.
Other scouts were sent forward to
recOnnoiter. Among them was Tobacco
Jake, who volunteered for the service
as a civilian and rider. The work of
scouting about was kept up for several
days. 1t was noticed, said McEvoy,
that Jake was the last man in, every
night. The circumstances appeared
suspicious. Was Tobacco Jake hold
ing something back? became the per-
tinent inquiry. He always told his
story of not having seen, nor had he
been with, any Indians. That was his
contention.
One OF the prominent scouts in camp
doubted the sufficiency of Tobacco
Jake's reports that he saw no Indians
while out scouting. He decided to
watch his movements instead of at
tempting to discover the location of
any possible band of enemy savages.
His efforts, according to McEvoy, were
rewarded. After trailing him for a
considerable distance to an almost
inaccessible place, he saw Jake enter
the tepee of a leading Indian warrior.
The scout proceeded no further and
retraced his steps back to camp to
await the arrival of Tobacco Jake, who
came IN some time late in the night.
Tobacco Jake made his report as
usual to the leading scout. He said he