Glacier County chief., 1940-02-09
When Yellowstone Kelly Was
Scout for Nelson A. Miles

! startled, but must be taken to head
They continued to advance along the
snoW-covered trail, apparently unaware
that their people had moved camp far
above the Tongue river. There was a
boy, girl, and younger child of
whose sex Kelly was uncertain. As
the scouts waited behind the cedar
trees, Kelly motioned to his men to
surround them. They stopped where
they were and began to cry.
Kelly took them to General Miles
who questioned them, then provided
them with tent and food.
Another Indian Alarm
Shortly after this there was another
alarm OF Indians. Kelly routed out
the four white scouts and raced up
the river again, the Crows and the
Bannock not following Presently the
! white men saw four or five warriors
, along the crest of ridge. They skulked
forward and when they had attained
the highest point of the ridge they
saw 10 or Is Indians awaiting their
approach.
Kelly concluded the best thing to
do was charge. The Indians had their
guns resting on cross sticks, and when
the scouts were so or 60 yards away
they fired. But the indifferent marks
manship of the red men saved the
| whites, though one of the scouts
horses was killed.
Kelly saw a little knot of scrub oak
in hollow and made a rush for it.
I To reach it the white men were COM
PEELED to jump their horses down
rocky shelf five or six feet to solid
ground. The Indians continued to fire,
the bullets striking the rocks and rails
ing little dust patches from the ground.
Yellowstone Kelly during his later life
expressed amazement that nobody was
seriously hurt.
/ The overwhelming force of the odds
changed when the scouts dismounted
and prepared to use their guns. The
Indians were scattered all along the
ridge and would pop up at intervals,
to fire and duck They did not take
much aim. Whenever one did show his
head long enough for the whites to
| appeared for good. The red men kept
up constant whooping to encourage
each other. and shifted their ground
so as to surround the scouts on three
sides
The Indian scouts attached to the
command, who at the first warning
had followed. took up position about
200 yards away in the direction Of the
command and kept their side clear.
Buffalo Horn, in spite of bullets buzz
ing all around him, rode up to the
! white men and took a station with
| them.
Forced to Drop Back
i There were now more than hun
dred Indians. Presently there occurred
pointed to high bank above the
scouts, and nodded to Buffalo Horn,
and the two dashed up it Just in time
to intercept three Indians Stealthily
approaching. The trio wormed away
at sight of the two whites, but the
other Indians opened fire so furiouSly
that Kelly and Buffalo Horn dropped
back into the oak thicket
In the meantime, the main body Of
the command had not been inactive.
General Miles directed a detachment
under Lieutenant HargouS to proceed
up the valley. Then he ordered a shell
fired at some Indians that could be
seen near the position of the be-
leaguered scouts.
/ The explosion of the shell discon-
certed the Indians, and they retreated
The main body OF the detachment now
arrived, but since it was dusk, General
Miles deemed it advisable to make
camp and continue the pursuit on the
morrow. Kelly was extremely thankful
to get back among the soldiers Buff
falo: Horn would not follow, but hid
behind fallen tree and shot two
Cheyennes before he would return to
camp.
All night the Indians surrounded the
camp. and under an overcast sky some
of them managed to creep close enough
to communicate with the prisoners,
who cried out to them in answer to
some shouted words in the Cheyenne
language. Some shots were exchanged
with the camp guards, then quiet
settled down.
At dawn the Indians attacked At
this point there was a bench above
the edge of the camp, forming a little
mesa to a sloping flubb that extended
TO ridge about 400 yards distant. Up
this bank fieldpiece was taken and
planted
Fighting became general on two
sides. above in the time and across
the river, which at this point was
shallow and small. The Indians closed
in gradually, taking advantage of the
covering on all sides But the soldiers
also had excellent cover, of which they
took advantage to drive the Indians
from some of the positions they had
attained. Firing became fast and furi-
GUS on both sides.
Since this was now a soldiers fight.