Coulee City dispatch. [volume] (Coulee City, Wash.) 19??-19??, 1939-02-23
ADVENTUROUS
AMERICANS
By
Elmo Scott Watson
Historic Footrace

Historic Footrace
w HEN Capt. John Whistler ar
w rived on the shores of Lake
Michigan in 1903 to build military
post-F'ort Dearborn of tragic mem
ory-one of the subalterns in his
command was his son, Lieut.. Will
liam Whistler. Young Whistler was
more than six feet tall and famous
for his strength and endurance.
A frequent visitor at Fort Dear
born was young Pottawatomie
chief, the champion runner of the
tribe. Believing that Lieutenant
Whistler was just the man to spoil
the Indians record, the officers at
the fort proposed five-mile foot
race between the two men to which
they readily agreed.
The race was a thriller. At the
start the Pottawatomie sprang into
the lead and held it for almost the
entire distance. But near the end
young Whistler managed to close
the gap between them and by a
final burst of speed plunged across
the finish line several yards ahead
of his rival.
The race had an exciting sequel.
During the War of 1872 the same
Pottawatomie chief, who was now
an ally of the British, sent chal-
lenge for a hand-to-hand combat
with Whistler or any other officer
or soldier in the American army.
Whistler promptly accepted. It was
agreed that no firearms were to be
used.
The fight began. Whistler lodged
the tomahawk that was hurled at
him and closed in on his opponent.
The Indian stabbed at him with his
long hunting knife but missed. Then
the ieutenant's sword finished the
duel.
An American Mandarin
IN 1859 TAPPING rebels had almost
overthrown the Manchu dynasty
in China. Fifteen of the eighteen
provinces had been captured when
Frederick T. Ward, 2S-year-old
sailor from Salem, Mass, quit his
ship and offered to put down the
revolution-if they would pay him
$4,000 for each city recaptured.
The rebels were knocking at the
gates of Shanghai when the Manchu
leaders agreed to young Wards
price and allowed him to train his
own army. He recruited his men
from among the human derelicts
around the wharves, but he instilled
in them the discipline he had
learned as a soldier in the French
army during the Crimean war.
Then, at the head of 500 men, and
with a pistol in each hand, he or
dered an attack on Sungkiang, held
by 5000 rebels. His men fought
hand to hand on the top of the city
wall and held it by tossing over the
bodies of TAPPING soldiers. In "a
hours Manchu re-enforcements ar
rived. When the battle was over,
Ward had only 1913 men left and 100
of them were wounded. But he had
earned his first $4,000 and a wide
reputation as a military leader.
He continued to fight, successfully
taking the city of Singpo by outma-
neuvering 10000 TAPPING rebels.
When they again threatened Shang-
hal, he drove 10000 of them back 10
miles with a force of only $500.
Then he took the city of Quanfuling.
Ward was made mandarin and
his fame spread throughout the en-
pire. Soon he was able to increase
his well-trained army to 5000 men,
besides piling up a huge fortune.
He had been wounded five times,
but in September, 1862, in a battle
at Tseki, he was hit for the sixth
time and killed. The Chinese
incurred him as national hero and
buried him in the Temple of Confu.
cius at Sungkiang.