The Hardin tribune-herald. [volume] (Hardin, Mont.) 1925-1973, 1937-10-22

! the livestock of the gold hunters were
beaten off. The members of the ex-
petition then ran their wagons into
a circle and took off the inside wheels,
clear to the ground and from behind
which they fought with such ~ferocity
that the Indians became discouraged
n went away.
At 10 o'clock that night a posse ar
rived from Deadwood. The saddle
horses of both the sheriff and his
deputy had run all the way to town
and when they and their bloodstained
saddles were found, a posse of SO men
ance to the officers. The bodies of the
sheriff and his deputy were recovered
and given burial. When the posse re-
turned to DeadWood, 81 of the gold
seekers returned with them, among
them 10 of the m
The expedition remained one more
day in camp on Redwater creek, then
old military road which ran through
that section. A group of three were cut
off by the Indians while prospecting,
two of them being killed outright and
the other fatally wounded, although
he managed to reach camp before
dying.
While the expedition was camped on
Powder river. near Fort Phil Kearney,
a detachment of soldiers came along.
The lieutenant in command knew
Lyons. They had campaigned together.
This fact raised Lyons somewhat in
the estimation of his followers, SOM
Of whom had begun to look at him
aSkance.
Late in July the expedition reached
the Tongue river at the point where
it leaves the mountains. Water was
caor0a hhor1v nf fha horcor IoI L11~
alkalied and others crippled by rattle
snake bites. At this point the party
was again attacked by Indians and
three men were killed. There also a
German member of the party who was
cleaning his gun and forgotten to I'M
load it, accidentally discharged the
weapon and killed another of the party.
careless German, but instead he was
given a trial and banished. He left the
next morning on horseback towards the
Yellowstone, $50 miles distant. Various
members of the party prospected the
Tongue river country and its tribu-
taries but found no gold.
From the Tongue river they skirted
the foothills to the Little Big Horn.
BY this time there were several men,
bers of the expedition sick. Some died.
Everyone had lost confidence in Lyons
n they were all pretty we'll dis
couraged. Numerous robberies were
committed within the party and one
man was under suspicion of having
killed his partner while they out pros
never returned.
A meeting was finally called and
Lyons was hailed before the assembled
gold seekers. He insisted that he had
not misled the party; that the dig
gings to which they were bound were
on Clark's fork, 80 miles distant, in
stead of the Big Horn and hat even
actly as he had represented it. The
expedition then hurried on to the Big
Horn and camped on an island in the
river. There it was proposed that
Lyons be kept under guard. But the
proposal came too late. When he was
sought, his associates said that he had
mounted his horse and said he would
ride circle on the camp to- see if
there were any Indian signs in the
vicinity. Hurrying to the edge of the
island. the men who had thought to
place him under guard dimly discerned
him disappearing in the darkness on
n shore OF the stream. They never saw
him again, but learned later that he
passed through Bozeman, presumably
on his way to Oregon.
He had come from that country as
an army packer during the Nez Perce
war, it was also learned. After Chief
Joseph and his band were captured
in northern Montana, the detachment
with which Lyons was on duty was
ordered to Fort Sturgis in Dakota, and
there he was discharged. He went
broke in Deadwood, and, it was pre-
sumed, having himself heard it rumored
there was gold on the Big Horn, had
manufactured his story as q means
Of raising money on which to get back
to Oregon, and assure himself a safe
passage through the Indian country.
Of the party followed the river to
Fort Custer, then under construction,
and continued on to the Gallatin
valley, where they disba nded.