The Hardin tribune-herald. [volume] (Hardin, Mont.) 1925-1973, 1937-10-29

Nv west were partial 70 mules as
NvA saddle animals. Mules have
selves under the saddle for such pur-
poses as horses are used in the livestock
industry, but even as late as h early
eos of the last century many pros
pectOrs and miners preferred a. good,
steady saddle mule, If they, could find
were tough and hardy, easily kept and
caught and for the most part gentle
if their propensity for kicking was
overlooked.
Now and then a saddle mule stood
out from his fellows Just a. some
horses do. One such was a white mule
owned by the late William T.. Uncle
connected with the military forces at
Fort Walla Walla, WASH, in the ca
pacity of scout. The animal, 16 hands
high, was given to him by Little Dog,
chief of the Piegan Indians, during
q trip he made to the tribe In the
Walla Walla, Hamilton was asked to
make a trip to The Dalles, a: distance
of ITS miles, with military dispatches.
and was told that it vas Of the great
est Importance that they be delivered
as soon as possible.
horse from the quartermaster's de-
partment, and started riding it and
leading his white mule. He rode the
horse for 60 miles, left it with a settler
and rode his white mule the remainder
of the distance, lis miles. He left Walla
and delivered his dispatches at The
Dalles, ITS miles away, at 6:15 o'clock
the following morning. He was three
days making the return trip. The army
commander at The DalleS gave him a
letter to the Walla Walla commander
giving the time at which the dis
patches were received.
Sold Mule for $500
When it became noised about the
post that Hamilton had made a trip
Of ITS miles in Is minutes less than
% hours, and that his white mule had
gone the entire distance and carried
him lis miles of it, he was flooded with
animal for $500, but afterwards said
that he regretted doing so.
Hamilton came into the west with
an Indian trading expedition from st.
Louis in 1912, the party which he &C
companied making headquarters in the
Green river country of Wyoming. From
there they traded as far north as the
to California in 1849 and engaged in
mining and also in farming on a small
scale. He married at that time, but
both his wife and their children died
a couple of years later, and Hamilton
resumed his wilderness life:
He drifted north and took part In
various Indian wars in northern Cal
ifornia and in the Oregon country.
His knowledge of the sign language, at
which he was unusually expert, made
him valuable to the army as an IN
terpreter and scout, and it was in that
W Vaaal'y with ia"t Colonel wright in 1855.
Another of the officers there at that
time was Lieut.. Phil Sheridan, who
became famous as a general of cavalry
during the Civil war.
Hanged IL Indians
The so-called Spokane and Yakima
Indian war had just been brought to
Colonel Wright had taken a number
of the chiefs and head men of the
Spokanes, the Yakimas and the Pa
louise, their allies prisoners, tried II
of them by drumhead court martial,
found them guilty of murder at various
the presence Of $500 Of their tribes
men whom he ordered to the fort to
witness the executions. Nine of the
the good conduct Of the tribes.
The colonel thought he had the In
dian situation pretty we'll in hand in
but Indians coming from the buffalo
country east of the Rocky mountains
told him that the tribes there were
inclined to be hostile to the whites.
AS the government was getting fed up
on Indian fighting, he decided to in
vestigate the int He did it by send
ing Hamilton among the tribes east
Of the mountains.
Hamilton, enrolled as an army scout,
was for this trip assigned to secret
service duty. among the Indians, and
was outfitted as a trader to effectually
conceal, if necessary, his real purpose
in making the trip.
Hamilton chose as his companion for
the journey, a one-eyed half breed
named Alex Mckay, also a member of
the Walla Walla band of army scouts.
They left Fort Walla Walla Sept. Is,