 Chapter 9 of MY LIFE ON THE PLANES This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. On the evening of the day following, that upon which we had consigned the remains of Lieutenant Kitter and his party to their humble resting place, the command reached Fort Wallace on the Smoky Hill route. From the occupants of the fort we learned much that was interesting regarding events which had transpired during our isolation from all points of communication. The Indians had attacked the fort twice, within the past few days, and both of which engagements men were killed on each side. The fighting on our side was principally under the command of Colonel Barnett's, whose forces were composed of detachments of the Seventh Calvary. The fighting occurred on the level plain near the fort, where owing to the favorable character of the ground the Indian had ample opportunity to display their powers both as warriors and horsemen. One incident of the fight was related, which, as correctness is being vouched for, is worthy of being here repeated. Both parties were mounted, and the fighting consisted principally of charges and countercharges. The combatants of both sides becoming at times mingled with each other. During one of these attacks a bugler boy belonging to the Calvary was shot from his horse. Before any of his comrades could reach him a powerfully built warrior, superbly mounted on a war pony, was seen to dash at full speed toward the spot where the dying bugler lay. Scarcely checking the speed of his pony, who seemed to divine his rider's wishes, the warrior grasped the pony's mane with one hand and, stooping low as he neared the bugler, seized the ladder with the other hand and lifted him from the earth, placing him across his pony in front of him. Still maintaining the full speed of his pony, he was seen to retain the body of the bugler but a moment, then cast it to the earth. The Indians being routed soon after and driven from the field, our troops, many of whom had witnessed the strange and daring action of the warrior, and possession of the dead where the mystery became solved, the bugler had been scalped. Our arrival at Fort Wallace was most welcome, as well as opportune. The Indians had become so active and numerous that all travel over the smoky hill-route had ceased, stages had been taken off the route and many of the stage stations had been abandoned by the employees, the ladder fearing a repeat of the look-out station massacre. No dispatches or mail had been received at the Fort for a considerable period, so that the occupants might well have been considered as undergoing a status siege. Adding to this embarrassment, which were partly unavoidable, and additional and under the circumstances a more frightful danger, stared the troops in the face. We were over two hundred miles from the terminus of the railroad over which our supplies were drawn, and a still greater distance from the main depots and supplies. It was found that the reserve of the stores at the post was well nigh exhausted, and the commanding officer reported that he knew of no fresh supplies being on the way. It is difficult to account for such a condition of affairs. One must surely have been the fault, but it is not important here to determine who or where the parties were. The officer commanding the troops in my absence reported officially to headquarters at the bulk of the provisions issued to his men consisted of rotten bacon and hard bread that was no better. Cholera made its appearance among the men, and deaths occurred daily. The same officer, in officially commenting upon the character of the provisions issued to his troops, added, the low state of vitality in the men resulting from the long confinement of this scanty and unwholesome food will, I think, account for the great mortality among the cholera cases. And I believe that unless we can obtain a more abundant and better supply of rations than we have had, it will be impossible to check this fearful epidemic. I decided to select upward of a hundred of the best-mounted men in my command, and with this force open away through Fort Harker, a distance of two hundred miles, where I expected to obtain abundant supplies, from which point the latter could be conducted well protected against the Indians by my detachment back to Fort Wallace. Owing to the severe marching of the past few weeks, the horses of the command were generally in an unfit condition for further service without rest. So that after selecting upward of a hundred of the best and remaining might for the time be regarded as unserviceable, such they were in fact. There was no idea or probability that the portion of the command to remain in camp near Fort Wallace would be called upon to do anything but rest and recuperate for their late marches. It was certainly not expected that they would be molested or called out by the Indians, nor were they. Regarding the duties to be performed by the picked detachment as being by far the most important, I chose to accompany it. The immediate command of the detachment was given to Captain Hamilton, of whom mention had been previously made. He was assisted by two other officers. My intention was to push through from Fort Wallace to Fort Hayes, a distance of about one hundred and fifty miles, as rapidly as was practicable, then, being beyond the most dangerous portion of the route, to make the remainder of the march to Fort Harker with half a dozen troopers, while Captain Hamilton with his command should follow leisurely. Under this arrangement I hoped to have a train loaded with supplies at Harker, and in readiness to start for Fort Wallace by the time Captain Hamilton should arrive. Leaving Fort Wallace about sunset on the evening of the fifteenth of July, we began our ride eastward, following the line of the overland stage route. At that date the Kansas Pacific Railway was only completed as far westward as Fort Harker. In Fort Wallace and Harker we expected to find the stations of the overland stage company at intervals of from ten to fifteen miles. In time of peace these stations are generally occupied by a half a dozen employees of the route, embracing the stablemen and relays of drivers. They were well supplied with firearms and ammunition and every facility for defending themselves against the Indians. The stables were also the quarters for the men. They were usually built of stone, and no one would naturally think that against Indians no better defense work would be required. Yet such was not the case. The hay and the other combustible materials usually contained in them enabled the savages by shooting prepared arrows to easily set them on fire, and thus drive the occupants out to the open plane where their fate would soon be settled. To guard against such an emergency each station was ordinarily provided with what on the planes is termed a dugout. The name implies the character and description of the work. The dugout was commonly located but a few yards from one of the corners of the stable, and was prepared by excavating the earth, so as to form an opening not unlike a cellar, which was usually about four feet in depth and sufficiently roomy to accommodate at close quarters half a dozen persons. This opening was then covered with earth, and loophold on all sides at a height of a few inches above the original level of the ground. The earth was thrown on the top until the dugout resembled an ordinary mound of earth, some four or five feet in height. To the outside observer, this means apparently were provided for egress or ingress, yet such was not the case. If the entrance had been made above ground rendering it necessary for the defenders to pass from the stable unprotected to their citadel, the Indians would have posted themselves accordingly, and picked them off one by one as they should emerge from the stable. To provide against this danger an underground passage was constructed in each case, leading from the dugout to the interior of the stable. With these arrangements for the defense, a few determined men could withstand the attacks of an entire tribe of savages. The recent depredations of the Indians had so demoralized the men at the various stations that many of the latter were found deserted, their former occupants having joined their forces with those of other stations. The Indians generally burned the deserted stations. Marching by night was found to be attended with some disadvantages. The men located at the stations which were still occupied having no notice of our coming, and having seen no human beings for several days except the war parties of the savages who had attacked them from time to time, were in a chronic state of alarm, and held themselves in readiness for defense at a moment's notice. The consequence was that as we pursued our way in the stillness of the night, and we were not familiar with the location of the various stations, we generally rode into close proximity before discovering them. The station men, however, were generally on alert, and as they did not wait to challenge us or be challenged, but it took it for granted that we were Indians. Our first greeting would be a bullet whistling over our heads and sometimes followed by a perfect volley from a dugout. In such a case nothing was left for us to do, but to withdraw the column to a place of security, and then for one of our numbers to creep up stealthily in the darkness to a point with inhaling distance. Even this was an undertaking attended by no little danger, as by this time the little garrison of the dugout would be thoroughly awake, and every man at his post, his finger on the trigger of his trusty rifle, and straining both eye and ear to discover the approach of the hateful Redskins, who alone were believed to be the cause of all this ill-time disturbance of their slumbers. Huddled together, as they necessarily would be in the contracted limits of their subterranean citradull, and all sounds from without being deadened and rendered indistinct by the heavy roof of earth, and the few apertures leading to the inside, it is not strange that under the circumstances it would be difficult for the occupants to distinguish between the voice of an Indian and that of a white man. Such was in fact the case, and no sooner would the officer sent forward for that purpose hail the little garrison and endeavor to explain who we were, then guide it by the first sound of his voice they would respond promptly with their rifles. In some instances we were in this manner put to considerable delay, and all this was, at times, most provoking. It was not a little amusing to hear the description given by the party sent forward of how closely he hugged the ground when endeavoring to establish friendly relations with the stage-people. Finally, when successful and in conversation with the latter we inquired why they did not recognize us from the fact that we hailed them in unbroken English, they replied that the Indians resorted to so many tricks that they had determined not to be caught, even by that one. They were somewhat justified in this idea as we knew that among the Indians who were with them on the warpath there was at least one full-blooded who had been educated within the limits of civilization, graduated at a popular institution of learning, and only exchanged a civilized mode of dress for the paint, blanket, and feathers of savage life after he had reached the years of manhood. Almost at every station we received intelligence of Indians having been seen in the vicinity within a few days of our arrival. We felt satisfied that they were watching our movements, although we saw no fresh signs of Indians until we arrived near Downer Station. Here, while stopping to rest our horses for a few minutes, a small party of our men who had without authority halted some distance behind, came dashing into our midst and reported that twenty-five or thirty Indians had attacked them some five or six miles in the rear, and had killed two of their number. As there was a detachment of infantry guarding the station, and time being important, we pushed on toward our destination. The two men reported killed were left to be buried by the troops on duty at the station. Frequent halts and brief rests were made along our line of march. Occasionally we would halt long enough to indulge in a few hours' sleep. About three in the morning on the morning of the 18th we reached Fort Hayes, having marched about one hundred and fifty miles in fifty-five hours, including all halts. Some may regard this as a rapid rate of marching. In fact, a few officers of the army who themselves have made many along marches, principally in ambulances and railroad cars, are of the same opinion. It was far above the usual rate of a leisurely made march, but during the same season, and with a larger command, I marched sixty miles in fifteen hours. This was officially reported, but occasioned no remark. During the war, and at the time of the enemy's cavalry under General J. E. B. Stuart made its famous raid around the army of the Potomac in Maryland, a portion of our cavalry accompanied by horse artillery in attempting to overtake them marched over ninety miles in twenty-four hours. A year subsequent to the events narrated in this chapter, I marched a small detachment eighty miles in seventeen hours, every horse accompanying the detachment, completing the march in as a fresh condition apparently, as when the march began. Leaving Hamilton and his command to rest one day at Hayes, and then to follow on leisurely to Fort Harker, I continued my ride to the latter post accompanied by Colonel's Cook and Custer and two Troopers. We reached Fort Harker at two o'clock that night, having made the ride in sixty miles without change of animals in less than twelve hours. As this was the first telegraph station, I immediately sent telegrams to headquarters and to Fort Sedgwick, announcing the fate of Kitter and his party. General A. J. Smith, who was in command of this military district, had his headquarters at Harker. I had once reported to him in person and acquainted him with every incident worthy of mention, which had occurred in connection with my command since leaving him weeks before. Arrangements were made for the arrival of Hamilton's party and for a train containing supplies to be sent back under their escort. Having made my report to General Smith as my next superior officer, and there being no occasion for my presence until the train and escort should be in readiness to return, I applied for and received authority to visit Fort Riley, about ninety miles east of Harker by rail, where my family was then located. No movements against Indians of any marked importance occurred in General Hancock's department during the remainder of this year. Extensive preparations had been made to chastise the Indians both in this department and in that of General Auger's on the north. But about that date at which this narrative has arrived, a determined struggle between the adherents of the Indian Ring and those advocating stringent measures against the hostile tribes resulted in the temporary ascendancy of the former. Owing to this ascendancy, the military authorities were so hampered and restricted by instructions from Washington as to be practically powerless to inaugurate or execute any decisive measures against the Indians. Their orders requiring them to simply act on the defensive. It may not be uninteresting to go back to the closing month of the preceding year. The great event in Indian affairs of that month and year was that Fort Phil Kearney Massacre, which took place within a few miles of the Fort bearing that name and in which a detachment of troops, numbering in all ninety-four persons, were slain and not one escaped or was spared to tell the tale. The alleged grievance of the Indians prompting them to this outbreak was the establishment by the government of a new road of travel to Montana and the locating of military posts along this line. They claimed that the building in use of this road would drive all the game out of their best hunting grounds. When once war was determined upon by them, it was conducted with astonishing energy and marked success. Between the 26th of July and the 21st of December of the same year, the Indians opposing the establishment of this new road were known to have killed ninety-one enlisted men, five officers and fifty-eight citizens, besides wounding twenty more and capturing and driving off several hundred had a valuable stock. And during this period of less than six months, they appeared before Fort Phil Kearney in a hostile array of fifty-one separate occasions and attacked every train and individual attempting to pass over the Montana road. It has been stated officially that at the three posts established for the defense of the Montana road, there were the following reduced amounts of ammunition. Fort CF Smith, ten rounds per man. Fort Phil Kearney, forty-five rounds per man. At Fort Reno, thirty rounds per man. And that there were but twelve officers on duty at the three posts, many of the enlisted men of which were raw recruits. The force being small in the amount of labor necessary in building new posts being very great, but little opportunity could be had for drill or target practice. The consequence was the troops were totally lacking in the necessary preparations to make a successful fight. As the massacre at Fort Phil Kearney was one of the most complete as well as terrible butcheries connected with our entire Indian history, some of the details as subsequently made evident are here given. On the sixth of December, the wood train was attacked by Indians about two miles from the fort. Colonel Fetterman, with about fifty mounted men, was sent to rescue the train. He succeeded in this, but only after a severe fight with the Indians and after suffering a loss of one officer, Lieutenant Bigham of the Calvary, and one sergeant who were decoyed from the main body into an ambuscade. This affair seemed to have given the Indians great encouragement and induced them to form their plans for the extensive massacre, which was to follow. On the twenty-first, the wood train was again assailed and as before the party was sent out from the fort to its relief. The relieving party consisted of infantry and cavalry, principally the former, numbering and all ninety-one men with three officers, Captain Brown of the infantry, Lieutenant Groomand of the Calvary and Colonel Fetterman of the infantry in command. Colonel Fetterman sailed forth promptly with his command to the rescue of the train. He moved out rapidly, keeping to the right of the wood road for the purpose as is supposed of getting in the rear of the attacking party. He had advanced across the piney and a few Indians appeared on his front and flanks and kept showing themselves just above rifle range until they finally disappeared beyond Lodge Trail Ridge. When Colonel Fetterman reached the Lodge Trail Ridge, the picket signaled the fort that the Indians had retreated and that the train had moved toward the timber. About noon Colonel Fetterman's command, having thrown out skirmishes, disappeared over the crest of Lodge Trail Ridge, firing at once commenced and was heard distinctly at the fort. From a few scattering shots it increased in rapidity until it became a continuous and rapid fire of musketry. A medical officer was sent from the post to join the detachment but was unable to do so, Indians being encountered on the way. After the firing had become quite heavy, showing that a severe engagement was taking place, Colonel Carrington, the commander of the post, sent an officer and about seventy-five men to reinforce Colonel Fetterman's party. These reinforcements moved rapidly toward the point from which the sound of the firing proceeded. The firing continued to be heard during their advance, diminishing in rapidity and number of shots until they had reached a high summit overlooking the battlefield when one or two shots closed all sound of conflict. From this summit a full view could be obtained of the Pinot Valley beyond in which Fetterman's command was known to be, but not a single individual of this ill-fated man could be seen. Instead, however, the valley was seen to be overrun by Indians, estimated to number fully three thousand warriors. Discovering the approach of the reinforcements the Indians beckoned them to come on, but without awaiting their arrival commenced retreating. The troops then advanced to a point where the savages had been seen collecting in a circle and there found the dead naked bodies of Colonel Fetterman, Captain Brown, and about sixty-five of their men. All of the bodies lay in a space not exceeding thirty-five feet in diameter. A few American horses lay dead nearby all with their heads toward the fort. The spot was by the roadside and beyond the summit of a hill rising to the east of the Pinot Creek. The road after ascending this hill followed the ridge for nearly three-quarters of a mile and then descended abruptly into the Pinot Valley. About midway between the point where these bodies lay and that where the road begins to descend was the dead body of Lieutenant Grumman, and at the point where the road leaves the ridge to descend to the Pinot Valley were the dead bodies of three citizens and a few of the old long-tried and experienced soldiers. Around this little group were found a great number of empty cartridge shells, more than fifty were found near the body of a citizen who had used a Henry rifle, all going to show how stubbornly these men had fought and that they had fought with telling effect on their enemies was evidenced by the fact that within a few hundred yards in front of their position ten Indian ponies lay dead and near them were sixty-five pools of dark and clotted blood. Among the records of the Indian department in Washington there is on file a report of one of the peace commissioners sent to investigate the circumstances of this frightful slaughter. Among the conclusions given in this report it is stated that the Indians were massed to resist Colonel Fetterman's advance along Pinot Creek on both sides of the road that Colonel Fetterman formed his advance lines on the summit of the hill overlooking the Creek and Valley with a reserve near where the large number of dead bodies lay. That the Indians in large force attacked them vigorously in this position and were successfully resisted for a half an hour or more that the command then being short of ammunition and seized with a panic at this event and the great numerical superiority of the Indians attempted to retreat toward the fort that the Mountaineers and old soldiers who had learned that a movement from Indians in an engagement was equivalent to death remained in their first position and were killed there. That immediately upon the commencement of the retreat the Indians charged upon and surrounded the party who could not now be formed by their officers were immediately killed. Only six men of the whole command were killed by balls and two of these, Colonel Fetterman and Captain Brown, no doubt inflicted this death upon themselves or each other by their own hands for both were shot through the left temple and powder was burnt into the skin and flesh upon the wound. These officers had asserted that they would never be taken alive by the Indians. The difficulty as further explained by this commissioner was that the officer commanding the Phil Kearney district was furnished no more troops for a state of war than had been provided for a state of profound peace. In regions where all was peace, as at Laramie in November, twelve companies were stationed while in regions where all was war as at Phil Kearney there were only five companies allowed. The same criticism regarding the distribution of troops would be justified if applied to a much later date. The Indians invariably endeavored to conceal their exact losses, but they acknowledged afterwards to have suffered a loss of twelve killed on the field, sixty severely wounded, several of whom afterwards died, and many others permanently maimed. They also lost twelve horses killed outright and fifty-six so badly wounded that they died within twenty-four hours. The intelligence of this massacre was received throughout the country with universal horror and awakened a bitter feeling toward the savage perpetrators. The government was implored to inaugurate measures looking for their punishment. This feeling seemed to be shared by all classes. The following dispatch sent by General Sherman to General Grant immediately upon receipt of the news of the massacre, briefly but characteristically, expresses the views of the Lieutenant General of the Army. St. Louis, December 28th, 1866. General. Just arrived in time to attend the funeral of my adjutant General Sawyer. I have given general instructions to General Cook about the Sioux. I do not yet understand how the massacre of Colonel Fetterman's party could have been so complete. We must act with vindictive earnestness against the Sioux, even to their extermination, men, women, and children. Nothing less will reach the root of this cause, signed W. T. Sherman, Lieutenant General. The old trouble between the war and the interior departments as to which should retain control of the Indian question was renewed with increased vigor. The Army accused the Indian department and justly, too, of furnishing the Indian arms and ammunition. Prominent exponents of either side of the question were now slow in taking upon their pens in advocacy of their respected views. In the succeeding chapter, testimony will be offered from those high in authority, now the highest, showing that among those who had given the subject the most thoughtful attention, the opinion was unanimous in favor of the abolition of the civil Indian agents and licensed traders, and of the transfer of the Indian Bureau from the interior department back to the war department where it originally belonged. End of Chapter 9. Chapter 10, Part 1 of My Life on the Plains. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. The winner of 1867 through 68 was a period of comparative idleness and quiet, so far as the troops guarding the military posts on the plains and frontier were concerned. The Indians began their periodical depredations against the frontier settlers and overland immigrants and travelers early in the spring of 1868, and continued them with but little interruption or hindrance from any quarter until late in the summer and fall of that year. General Sully, an officer of considerable reputation as an Indian fighter, was placed in command of the district of the Upper Arkansas, which embraced the Kansas frontier and those military posts on the central plains most intimately connected with the hostile tribes. General Sully concentrated a portion of the troops of his command consisting of detachments of the 7th and 10th Cavalry and 3rd Infantry at points on the Arkansas river and set on foot various scouting expeditions, but all to no purpose. The Indians continued as usual not only to elude the military forces directed at them, but to keep up their depredations upon the settlers of the frontier. Great excitement existed along the border settlements of Kansas and Colorado. The frequent massacres of the frontiersmen and utter destruction of their homes created a very bitter feeling on the part of the citizens of Kansas towards the savages and from the governor of the state down to its humblest citizen appeals were made to the authorities of the general government to give protection against the Indians, or else allow the people to take the matter into their own hands and pursue retaliatory measures against the hereditary enemies. General Sheridan then in command of that military department with headquarters at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, were fully alive to the responsibilities of his position and in his usual effective manner set about organizing victory. As pretended but not disinterested friends of the Indians frequently equipped to the latter of committing unprovoked attacks on helpless settlers and others who have never in the slightest degree injured them, and often deny even that the Indians have been guilty of any hostile acts which justify the adoption of military measures to ensure the protection and safety of our frontier settlements, the following tabular statement is here given. This statement is taken from official records on file at the headquarters military division of the Missouri and as it states gives only those murders and other depredations which were officially reported and the white people mentioned as killed are exclusive of those slain in warfare. I am particular in giving time, place, etc. of each occurrence so that those who hitherto have been believed that the Indians were a creature who could do no wrong may have ample opportunity to judge of the correctness of my statements. Many other murders by the Indians during this period no doubt occurred but occurring as they did over a wide and sparsely settled tract of country were never reported to the military authorities. The mass of troops being concentrated and employed along the branches of the upper Arkansas by General Sully thus leaving the valleys of the Republican Solomon and Smoky Hill Rivers comparatively without troops and the valleys of the upper Republican being as we have in previous chapters learned a favorite resort in camping ground for the hostile tribes of the upper plains. General Sherman determined that while devoting full attention to the Kiowas, Comanches, Apaches, Arapahos, and southern Cheyennes to be found south of the Arkansas he would also keep an eye out for the Sioux upper Cheyennes and Arapahos and the dog soldiers usually infesting the valley of the upper Republican and Solomon Rivers. The dog soldiers were a band of warriors principally composed of Cheyennes but made up of turbulent and uncontrollable spirits of all the tribes. Neither they nor their leaders had ever consented to the ratification of any of the treaties to which their brothers of the other tribes had agreed. Never satisfied except when at war with the white man they were by far the most troublesome, daring, and war-like band to be found on the plains. Their warriors were all fine-looking braves of magnificent physique and in appearance and demeanor more nearly conformed to the ideal warrior and those of any other tribe. How they came by their name the dog soldiers I never was able to learn satisfactorily. One explanation is that they are principally members of the Cheyennes tribe and were at first known as the Cheyennes soldiers. The name of the tribe Cheyennes was originally Cheyennes, the French word for dog, hence the term dog soldiers. To operate effectually against these bands General Sheridan was without the necessary troops. Congress, however, had authorized the employment of detachments of frontier scouts to be recruited from among the daring spirits always to be met with on the border. It was upon a force raised from this class of our Western population that General Sheridan relied for material assistance. Having decided to employ frontiersmen to assist in punishing the Indians, the next question was the selection of a suitable leader. The choice, most fortunately, fell upon General George A. Forsyte, Sandy, then acting Inspector General of the Department of Missouri, who eager to render his country an important service and not loath to share in the danger and excitement attended upon such an enterprise, sent himself energetically to work and raise the equipment for his command in the field. But little time was required under Forsyte's stirring zeal to raise a required number of men. It was wisely decided to limit the number of frontiersmen to fifty. This enabled Forsyte to choose only good men and the size of the attachment, considering that they were to move without ordinary transportation, in fact were to almost adopt the Indian style of warfare, was as large as could be without being cumbersome. Last but not least, it was to be composed of men who, from their leader down, were intent on accomplishing an important purpose. They were not out of any holiday tour or pleasure excursion. Their object was to find Indians, a difficult matter for a large force to accomplish, because the Indians are the first to discover their presence and take themselves out of the way. Whereas, with a small or moderate-sized detachment, there is some chance, as Forsyte afterwards learned, of finding Indians. Among all officers of the army, old or young, no one could have been found better adapted to becoming the leader of an independent expedition such as this was proposed to be than General Forsyte. This is more particularly true, considering the experiences which awaited this detachment. I had learned to know him very well when we rode together in the Shenandoah Valley, sometimes in one direction and sometimes but rarely in the other, and afterwards in the closing struggle around Petersburg and Richmond, when his chief had been told to press things, General Forsyte Sandy, as his comrades familiarly termed him, was an important member of the press. In fact, one of the best terms to describe him by is irrepressible, for, no matter how defeat or disaster might stare us in the face, and as I have intimated caused us to ride the other way, Sandy always contrived to be of good cheer and to be able to see things coming of a better day. This quality came into good play in the terrible encounter which I am about to describe. The frontiersmen of the Kansas border stirred up by numerous massacres committed in their midst by the savages were only too eager and willing to join in an enterprise which promised to afford them the opportunity to visit just punishment upon their enemies. Thirty selected men were procured at Fort Harker, Kansas, and twenty more at Fort Hayes, sixty miles further west. In four days the command was armed, mounted, and equipped, and at once took the field. Lieutenant F.H. Beecher of the Third Regular Infantry, a nephew of the distinguished divine of the same name, and one of the ablest and best young officers on the frontier was second in command, and a surgeon was found in the person of Dr. John S. Movers of Hayes City, in Kansas, a most competent man in his profession, and one who had a large experience during the War of the Rebellion, as a surgeon of one of the volunteer regiments from the State of New York, Sharp Grover, one of the best guides and scouts the planes afforded, was the guide of the expedition, while many of the men had at different times served in the regular and volunteer forces. For example, the man selected to perform the duties of first sergeant of the detachment was Brevet Breiketeer General W.H.H. McCall, United States Volunteers, who commanded a brigade at the time of the Confederate forces attempted to break the federal lines at Fort Hell, in front of Petersburg, in the early spring of 1865, and was breveted for gallantry on that occasion. As a general thing, the men composing the party were just the class eminently qualified to encounter the dangers, which were soon to confront them. They were brave, active, hardy, and energetic, and wildly required a tight reign held over them, when they were properly handled, capable of accomplishing about all that any equal number of men could do under the same circumstances. The party left Fort Hayes on the 29th day of August 1868, and under special instruction from Major General Sheridan, commanding the department, took a northwesterly course, scouting the country to the north of the Saline River, crossing the south fork of the Solomon, bow creek north fork of the Solomon, prairie dawn creek and then well out toward the Republican River, and swinging around in the direction of Fort Wallace, made that post on the eighth day from their departure. Nothing was met with notice, but there were frequent indications of large camps of Indians which had evidently been abandoned only a few days or weeks before the arrival of the command. Upon arriving at Fort Wallace, General Fortsight communicated with General Sheridan, and proceeded to refit his command. On the morning of September 10th, a war party, small Indians attacked a train near Sheridan, a small railroad town some 80 miles beyond Fort Wallace, killed two teamsters, and ran off a few cattle. As soon as the information of this reach for Wallace Fortsight started his command for the town of Sheridan, where he took the trail of the Indians and followed it, until dark. The next morning it was resumed, till the Indians finding themselves closely pursued, scattered in many directions, and the trail became so obscure as to be lost. Determined, however, to find the Indians this time, if they were in the country, he pushed on to short-nose quick, hoping to find them in that vicinity. Carefully scouting, in every direction for the trail, and still heading north as far as the Republican River, the command finally struck the trail of a small war party on the south bank of that stream, and followed it up to the forks of that river. This is familiar ground, perhaps to some of my readers. As it was here, Pawnee Killer and his band attacked our camp early one morning in the summer of 67, and hurried me from my tent without attending me time to attend to my toilet. Continuing on the trail and crossing to the north bank, Fortsight found the trail growing consistently larger, as various smaller ones entered it from the south and north, and finally it developed into a broad and well-beaten road, along which large droves of cattle and horses had been driven. This trail led up to the Oricachy Fork of the Republican River, and consistent indications of Indians in the way of moccasins, jerked buffalo meat, and other articles were found every few miles, but no Indians were seen. On the evening of the eighth day from Fort Wallace, the command halted about five o'clock in the afternoon and went into camp at or near the little island in the river. A mere sand spit of earth formed by the stream dividing as a little rift of earth that was rather more gravely than the sand in its immediate vicinity, and coming together again about a hundred yards further down the stream, which just here was about eight feet wide and two and three inches deep. The water courses in this part of the country in the dry season are mere threads of water meandering along the broad, sandy bed of the river, which during the months of May and June is generally full to its banks and that time capable of floating an ordinary ship, while later in the season there is not enough water to float the smallest rowboat. In fact, in many places the stream sinks into the sand and disappears for considerable distance, finally making its way up to the surface and flowing on again until it disappears and reappears many times in the course of a long day's journey. In camping upon the bank of the stream at this point, which at that time was supposed by the party to be Delaware Creek, but which was afterwards discovered to be a rickety fork of the Republican River, the command made the usual preparations for passing the night. This point was but a few marches from the scene of Kidder's Massacre, having already been out from Fort Wallace's aid days and not taking any wagons with them, their supplies began to run low, although they had been husband with great care. During the last three days game had been very scarce, which fact convinced Fortsight and his party that the Indians whose trail they had been following had scorched the land and country and driven off every kind of game by their hunting parties. The following day would see the command out of supplies of all kinds, but feeling assured that he was within striking distance of the Indians, Fortsight determined to push on until he found them and fight them, even if he could not whip them in order that they might realize that their rendezvous was discovered and that the government was at last in earnest when it said that they were to be punished for their depredations on the settlements. After posting their pickets and partaking of the plain of suppers, Fortsight's little party disposed of themselves on the ground to sleep, little dreaming who was to sound their revelry in so unceremonious a manner. At dawn on the following day, September 17, 1868, a guard gave the alarm, Indians. Instantly every man sprang to his feet and with the true instinct of the frontiersman grabbed his rifle with one hand, while with the other he seized his lariat, that the Indians might not stampede the horses. Six Indians dashed up towards the party, rattling bells shaking buffalo roads and firing their guns. The four pack mules belonging to the party broke away and were last seen galloping over the hills. Three other animals made their escape, as they had only been hobbled in direct violation of the orders which directed that all animals of the command should be regularly picketed to a stake or picket pinned firmly into the ground. A few shots caused the Indians to shear off and disappear in a gallop over the hills. Several of the men started in pursuit but were instantly ordered to rejoin the command, which was ordered to saddle up with all possible haste. Foresight feeling satisfied that the attempt to stampede the stock was but the prelude to a general and more determined attack. Scarcely were the saddles thrown on the horses and the girths tightened when Grover, the guide placing his hand on Foresight's shoulder, gave vent to his astonishment as follows. Oh, Heaven's general, look at the Indians! Well, might he be excited from every direction they dashed towards the band over the hills from the west and the north along the river on the opposite bank, everywhere, and in every direction they made their appearance. Finally mounted in full war paint, their long scalp-lock braided with eagle feathers and with all the paraphernalia of a barbarious war-party, with wild whoops and exultant shouts, on they came. There was but one thing to do. Realizing that they had fallen into a trap, Foresight, who had faced danger too often to hesitate in an emergency, determined that if he came to a Fort Fetterman affair, described in a preceding chapter, he should at least make the enemy bear their share of the loss. He ordered his men to lead their horses to the island, tie them to the few bushes that were growing there in a circle, throw themselves upon the ground in the same form and make the best fight they could for their lives. In less time than it takes to pen these words the order was put into execution. Three of the best shots in the party took position in the grass under the bank of the river which covered the north end of the island. The others formed in a circle inside of the line of animals and throwing themselves upon the ground began to reply to the fire, of which the Indians, which soon became hot and galling in the extreme. Throwing themselves from their horses, the Indians crawled up to within a short distance of the island and opened a steady and well-directed fire upon the party, armed with the best quality of guns, many of them having the latest pattern breach loaders with fixed ammunition, as proof of this many thousand empty shells of Spencer and Henry Rifle ammunition were found on the ground occupied by the Indians after the fight. They soon made sad havoc among the men and horses. As it grew lighter and the Indians could be distinguished, Grover expressed the greatest astonishment at the number of warriors, which he placed at nearly one thousand. Other members of the party estimated them at an even greater number. Forsyte expressed the opinion that there could be not more than four or five hundred, but in this it seems he was mistaken, and some of the brules, Sue and Cheyennes have since told him that their war party was nearly nine hundred strong, and was comprised of brules, Sue, Cheyennes, and dog soldiers, furthermore that they had been watching him for five days previous to their attack and had called in all the warriors they could get to their assistance. The metaphor sites party began covering themselves at once by using case and pocket knives in the gravelly sand, and soon had thrown up quite a little earthwork consisting of detached mounds in the form of a circle. About this time Forsyte was wounded by a mini-ball, which striking him in the right thigh raged upwards, inflicting an exceedingly painful wound. Two of his men had been killed, and a number others wounded, leaning over to give directions to some of his men who were fighting too rapidly, and in fact becoming a little too nervous for their own good. Forsyte was again wounded, this time in the left leg, the ball breaking and badly shattering the bone midway between the knee and ankle. About the same time Dr. Movers, the surgeon of the party, who, owing to the hot fire of the Indians, was unable to render surgical aid to his wounded comrades, had seized his trusty rifle and was doing capital service, was hit in the temple by a bullet, and never spoke but one intelligible word again. Matters were now becoming desperate, and nothing but cool, steady fighting would avail to mend them. The hill surrounding the media vicinity of the fight were filled with women and children who were chanting war songs and filling the air with whoops and yells. The medicine men, a sort of high priest, and older warriors, rode around the outside of the combatants, being careful to keep out of range, and encouraged their young braves by beating a drum, shouting Indian chants and using derisive words toward their adversaries, whom they cursed roundly for skulking like wolves, and dared to come out and fight like men. Meanwhile the scouts were slowly but surely counting game, and more than one Indian fell to the rear badly wounded by the rifles of the frontiersmen. Within an hour after opening of the fight, the Indians were fairly frothing at the mouth with rage at the unexpected resistance they met, while the scouts had now settled down to earnest work and obeyed to the letter the orders of forthsight, who off reiterated command was, fire slowly, aim well, keep yourselves covered, and above all, don't throw away a single cartridge. Taken all in all, with very few exceptions, the men behaved superbly, obedient every word of command, cool, plucky, determined, and fully realizing the character of their foes, they were a match for their enemies thus far at every point. About nine o'clock in the morning the last horse belonging to the scouts was killed, and one of the redskins was heard to exclaim, and tolerably good English, there goes the last damned horse anyhow, a proof that some of the savages had at some time been intimate with the whites. Shortly after nine o'clock a portion of the Indians began to form in a ravine just below the foot of the island, and soon about one hundred and twenty dog soldiers, the bandit of the plains, supported by some three hundred or more other mounted men, made their appearance, drawn up just beyond rifle shot below the island, and headed by the famous chief Roman Nose, prepared to charge the scouts. Superbly mounted, almost naked, although in full-war dress and painted in the most hideous manner, with their rifles in their hands and formed with the front of about sixty men, they waited the signal of their chief to charge, with apparently the greatest confidence. End of Chapter 10 Part 1 Chapter 10 Part 2 of My Life on the Plains This Librivox recording is in the public domain. Roman Nose addressed a few words to the mounted warriors and almost immediately afterward the dismounted Indians surrounding the island poured a perfect shower of bullets into the midst of Forsyte's little party. Realizing that a crisis was at hand and hot work was before him, Forsyte told his men to reload every rifle, and to take and load the rifles of the killed and wounded of the party, and not to fire a shot until he ordered to do so. Few moments the galling fire of the Indians rendered it impossible for any of the scouts to raise or expose any part of their person. This was precisely the effect which the Indians desired to produce by the fire of their riflemen. It was this that the mounted warriors under the leadership of Roman Nose were waiting for. The Indians had planned their assault in a manner very similar to that usually adopted by civilized troops in a sailing a fortified place. The fire of the Indian riflemen performed a part of the artillery on such occasions in silencing the fire of the besieged and preparing the way for the assaulting column. Seeing that the little garrison was stunned by the heavy fire of the dismounted Indians and rightly judging that now, if ever, was the proper time to charge them, Roman Nose and his band amounted warriors with a wild ringing war-whoop echoed by the women and children on the hills, started forward. On they came, presenting even to the brave men awaiting the charge, a most superb sight. Brandishing their guns, echoing back the cries of encouragement of their women and children on the surrounding hills, and confident of victory, they rode bravely and recklessly into the assault. Soon they were within the range of the rifles of their friends, and, of course, the dismounted Indians had to slacken their fire for fear of hitting their own warriors. This was the opportunity for the scouts, and they were not slow to seize it. Now, shouted forth sight, now echoed Beecher, McCall, and Grover, and the scouts springing to their knees and casting their eyes coolly along the barrels of their rifles, opened on the advancing savages as deadly afires, the same number of men ever yet sent forth from an equal number of rifles. Unchecked, undaunted, on dashed the warriors, steadily rang the clear sharp reports of the rifles of the frontiersmen. Roman Nose, the chief, is seen to fall dead from his horse. Then medicine man is killed, and for an instant the column of braves, now within ten feet of the scouts, hesitates, falters. Our ringing cheer from the scouts have perceived the effect of their well-directed fire, and the Indians began to break and scatter in every direction, unwilling to rush to a hand-to-hand struggle with the men who, although outnumbered, yet knew how to make such effective use of their rifles. A few more shots from the frontiersmen and the Indians are forced back beyond range, and their first attack ends in defeat. Force I turns to Grover anxiously and inquires, can they do better than that, Grover? I've been on the plains general since I was a boy, and never saw such a charge as that before. I think they have done their level best, was the reply. All right, responds Sandy, then we are good for them. So close to the advanced warriors of the attacking column come in the charge that several of their dead bodies now lay within a few feet of the entrenchments. The scouts had also suffered a heavy loss in this attack. The greatest and most irreparable was that of Lieutenant Beecher, who was mortally wounded and died at sunset of that day. He was one of the most reliable and efficient officers doing duty on the plains, modest, energetic, and ambitious in his profession. Had he lived, undoubtedly, would have had a brilliant future before him, and had opportunities such as it is offered by a great war as ever occurred, Lieutenant Beecher would have without a doubt achieved great distinction. The Indians still kept up a continuous fire from their dismounted warriors, but as the scouts by this time were well covered by their miniature earthworks, it did little execution. At two o'clock in the afternoon the savages, again, attempted to carry the island by a mounted charge and again at sunset. But having been deprived of their best and most fearless leader by the fall of Romanos, they were not so daring or impulsive as in the first charge, and were both times repulsed with heavy losses. At dark they ceased firing and withdrew their forces for the night. This gave the little garrison on the island an opportunity to take a breathing spell and foresight to review the situation and sum up how he had fared. The result was not consoling. His trusted Lieutenant Beecher was lying dead by his side. His surgeon, Movers, was mortally wounded. Two of his men killed, four mortally wounded, four severely, and ten slightly. Here, out of a total of 51, were 23 killed and wounded. His own condition, his right thigh fearfully lacerated and his left leg badly broken, only rendered the other discouraging circumstances doubly so. As before stated, the Indians had killed all of his horses early in the fight, his supplies were exhausted, and there was no way of dressing the wounds of himself or comrades, as a medical stores had been captured by the Indians. He was about 110 miles from the nearest post and the savages were all around him. The outlook could scarcely have been less cheering, but foresight's disposition and pluck inclined him to speculate more upon that which is, or maybe gained, than to repine at that which is irrevocably lost. This predominant trait in his character now came into good play. Instead of wasting time in vain, regrets over the advantages gained by his enemies, he quietly set about looking upon the chances in his favor, and let the subject be what it may, I will match Sandy against any equal number for making a favorable showing of the side which he exposes and advocates. To his credit account he congratulated himself and comrades first upon the fact that they had beaten off their foes. Second, water could be had inside their entrenchments by digging a few feet below the surface, then for food, horse and mule meat. To you Sandy's expression was lying around loose in any quantity, and last but most important of all he had plenty of ammunition. Upon these circumstances and facts foresight built high hopes of successfully contending against any renewed assault of the savages. Two men, Trudeau and Stillwell, both good scouts and familiar with the plains, were selected to endeavor to make their way through the cordon of Indians and proceed to Fort Wallace, one hundred and ten miles distant, and report the condition of forth sight and party, and act as guides to the troops, which would be at once sent to the relief of the besieged scouts. It was a perilous mission, and called for the display of intrepid daring, cool judgment, and unflinching resolution, besides a thorough knowledge of the country, as much of their journey would necessarily be made, during the darkness of night, to avoid discovery by wandering bands of Indians who no doubt would be on the alert to intercept just a party going for relief. Fourth sight selection of the two men named was a judicious one. Stillwell, I afterwards knew well, having employed him as a scout with my command for a long period, and the time referred to, however, he was a mere beardless boy of perhaps nineteen years, possessing a trim, lithe figure, which was set off to great advantage by the jaunty suit of buckskin which he wore, cut and fringed according to the true style of the frontiersmen. In his waist belt he carried a large-size revolver and hunting knife. These, with his rifle, constituted his equipment. A capital shot, whether a foot or on horseback, and a perfect horseman, this beardless boy and more than one occasion proved himself a dangerous foe to the wily red man. We shall not take final leave of Stillwell in this chapter. These two men, Trudeau and Stillwell, after receiving Fourth Sights instructions in regards to their dangerous errand, and being provided with his compass and map, started as soon as was sufficiently dark on their long, weary tramp over a wild, desert country, thickly infested with deadly enemies. After their departure the wounded were brought in, the dead animals unsaddled and the horse blankets used to make the wounded as comfortable as possible. The earthworks were strengthened by using the dead animals and saddles. A well was dug inside the entrenchments and large quantities of horse and mule meat were cut up and buried in the sand to prevent it from putrefying. It began to rain and the wounded were rendered less feverish by their involuntary but welcome bath. As it was expected, the night passed without incident or disturbance from the savages, but early the next morning the fight was renewed by the Indians again surrounding the island as before and opening fire from the rifles of their dismounted warriors. They did not attempt to charge the island as they had done the previous day, when their attempts in this direction had cost them too dearly, but they were nonetheless determined and eager to overpower the little ban which had been the cause of such heavy loss to them already. The scouts, thanks to their efforts during the night, were now well protected and suffered but little from the fire of the Indians while the latter being more exposed paid the penalty whenever affording the scouts a chance with their rifles. The day was spent without any decided demonstration on the part of the red man except to keep up as constant a fire as possible on the scouts and to endeavor to provoke the latter to reply as often as possible, the object no doubt being to induce the frontiersmen to exhaust their supply of ammunition, but they were not to be led into this trap. Each cartridge they estimated as worth to them one Indian and nothing less would satisfy them. On the night of the 18th two more men were selected to proceed to Fort Wallace as it was not known whether Tridu and Stidwell had made their way safely through the Indian lines or not. The last two selected however failed to elude the watchful eye of the Indians and were driven back to the island. This placed a gloomy look on the probable fate of Tridu and Stidwell and left a little garrison in anxious doubt not only as to the safety of the two daring messengers but as to their own final relief. On the morning of the 19th the Indians promptly renewed the conflict but with less energy than before. They evidently did not desire and tend to come too close to the quarters again with their less numerous but more determined antagonists, but aimed on at the previous day to provoke harmless fire from the scouts and then, after exhausting their ammunition in this manner, overwhelm them en masse by numbers and finish them with tomahawks and scalping knives. The style of tactics did not operate as desired, but there is little doubt that some of the Indians who had participated in the massacre of Fettermen and his party a few months before, when the three officers and ninety-one men were killed outright, were also present and took part in the attack upon forthside and his party, and they must have been not a little surprised to witness the stubborn defiance offered by this little party, which even at the beginning numbered but little over fifty men. About noon the women and children who had been constant and excited spectators of the fight from the neighboring hilltops began to withdraw. It is rare indeed that in an attack by Indians their women and children are seen. They are usually sent to a place of safety until the result of the contest is known. But in this instance, with the overwhelming numbers of savages and the recollection of the massacre of Fettermen and his party, there seemed that the Indians to be but one result expected and that a complete, perhaps bloodless victory for them. And the women and children were permitted to gather as witness of their triumph and perhaps at the close would be allowed to take part by torturing those of the white men who should be taken alive. The withdrawal of the women and children regarded as a favorable sign by the scouts. Soon after, and as a last resort, the Indians endeavored to hold a parlay with foresight by means of a white flag. But this device was too shallow and of too common adoption to attract the frontiersmen. The objects simply being to accomplish by stratagem and perfidity what they had failed in by superior numbers and open warfare. Everything now seemed to indicate that the Indians had enough of the fight and during the night of the third day it was plainly evident that they had about decided to withdraw from the contest. Fortsight now wrote the following dispatch and after nightfall confident it is to be to have as best men, Donovan and Plyley, and they, notwithstanding the discouraging result of the last attempt, set out to try and get through to Fort Wallace with it, which they successfully accomplished. On Delaware Creek, Republican River, September 19th, 1868, to Colonel Bankhead, or commanding officer, Fort Wallace, I sent you two messengers on the night of the 17th instant informing you of my critical condition. I tried to send two more last night but they did not succeed in passing the Indian pickets and returned. If the others have not arrived then hasten it once to my assistance. I have eight badly wounded and ten slightly wounded men to take in and every animal I had was killed saved seven, which the Indians stampeded. Lieutenant Beecher is dead and acting assistant surgeon movers probably cannot live the night out. He was hit in the head Thursday and has spoken but one rational word since. I am wounded in two places in the right thigh and my left leg broken below the knee. The Cheyenne numbered 450 or more. Mr. Grover says they never fought so before. They were splendidly armed with Spencer and Henry rifles. We killed at least 35 of them and wounded many more besides killing and wounding a quantity of their stock. They carried off most of their kill during the night. The three of their men fell into our hands. I am on a little island and have still plenty of ammunition left. We are living on mule and horsemeat and are entirely out of rations. If it was not for so many wounded I would come in and take the chances of whipping them if attacked. They are evidently sick of their bargain. I had two of the members of my company killed on the seventeenth, namely William Wilson and George W. Caller. You had better start with not less than 75 men and bring all the wagons and ambulances you can spare. Bring a six pound howitzer with you. I can hold out here for six days longer if absolutely necessary, but please lose no time. Very respectively your obedient servant George A. Fortsight, U.S. Army, commanding company, Scouts. P.S. My surgeon, having been mortally wounded, none of my wounded have had their wounds dressed yet, so please bring out a surgeon with you. A small party of warriors remained in the vicinity watching the movements of the Scouts, the main body however, had departed. The well men, relieved of the constant watching and fighting, were now able to give some attention to the wounded. Their injuries which had grown very painful were rudely dressed. Soup was made out of horse flesh and shelters were constructed protecting them from the heat, damp, and wind. On the sixth day the wounds of the men began to exhibit more decided and alarming signs of neglect. Magots infested them, and the first traces of gangrene had set in. To multiply the discomforts of the situation the entire party was almost overpowered by the intolerable stench created by the decomposing bodies of the dead horses. Their supply was nearly exhausted. Under these trying circumstances Fortsight assembled his men. He told them they knew their situation as well as he. There were those who were helpless, but aid must not be expected too soon. It might be difficult for the messengers to reach the fort, or there might be some delay by their losing their way. Those who wish to go should do so, and leave the rest to take their chances. With one voice they resolved to stay, and if all hope vanished they die together. At last the supply of jerked horsemeat was exhausted, and the chances of getting more were gone. By this time the carcasses of the animals were a massive corruption. There was no alternative. Strips of putrid flesh were cut and eaten. The effect of this offensive diet was nauseating in the extreme. An experiment was made with a view of improving the unpalatable flesh, using gunpowder as salt, but to no purpose. The men allayed only their extreme cravings of hunger, trusting that supper might reach them before all is over. On the morning of September 25th the sun rose on forth sight and his famished party with unusual splendor, and the bright colors of the morning horizon seemed like a rainbow of promise to their weary longing spirits. Hope, grown faint with long waiting, gathered renewed strength from the brightness of nature. The solitary plain receding in all directions possessed a deeper interest than ever before, though it still showed no signs of life and presented the same monotonous expands upon which the heroic band had gazed for so long in many trying days. Across the dim and indefinable distance which swept in all directions the eye often wandered and wondered what might be the revelations of the next moment. Suddenly several dark figures appeared faintly on the horizon. The objects were moving. The question uppermost in the minds of all was, are they savages or messengers of relief? As on such occasions of anxiety and suspense, time wore heavily, minutes seemed like hours, yet each moment brought the sufferers near the realization whether this was their doom or their escape therefrom. Over an hour had elapsed since the objects first came in sight and yet the mystery remained unsolved. Slowly but surely they developed themselves until finally they approached sufficiently near for their characters, friends or foes, to be unmistakably established. To the joy of the weary watchers the parties approaching proved to be troops. Relief was at hand. The dangers and anxieties of the past few days were ended, and death either by starvation or torture at the hands of the savages no longer stared them in the face. The strong set up a shout such as men seldom utter. It was the unburdening of the heart of the weight of despair. The wounded lifted their fevered forms and fixed their glaring eyes upon the now rapidly approaching Sukkar, and in their delirium involuntarily but feebly reiterated the acclamations of their comrades. The troops arriving for the relief were a detachment from Fort Wallace, under the command of Colonel Carpenter, of the regular Calvary, and had started from the fort promptly upon the arrival of Trudeau and Stillwell, with intelligence of the condition and peril in which forth sight and his party were. When Colonel Carpenter and his men reached the island they found its defenders in a most pitable condition. Yet the survivors were determined to be plucky to the last. Fourth sight himself, with rather indifferent success, affected to be reading an old novel that he had discovered in a saddlebag. But Colonel Carpenter said his voice was a little unsteady, and his eyes somewhat dim, when he held out his hand to Carpenter and bade him a welcome to Beecher's Island, a name that has since been given to the battleground. During the fight foresight counted thirty-two dead Indians within rifle range of the island. Twelve Indian bodies were subsequently discovered in one pit and five in another. The Indians themselves confessed to loss of about seventy-five killed in action, and when their proclivity for concealing or diminishing the number of their slain in battle is considered, we can readily believe that their actual loss in the fight must have been much greater than they would have had us believe. Of the scouts, Lieutenant Beecher, Sergeant Movers, and six of the men were either killed outright or died of their wounds, eight more were disabled for life, of the remaining twelve who were wounded nearly all recovered completely. During the fight innumerable interesting incidents occurred, some laughable and some serious. On the first day of the conflict a number of young Indian boys from fifteen to eighteen years of age crawled up and shot about fifty arrows into the circle in which the scouts lay. One of these arrows struck one of the men, Frank Harrington, full in the forehead. Not being able to pull it out, one of his companions lying in the same hole with him cut off the arrow with his knife, leaving the iron arrow ahead sticking from his frontal bone. In a moment a bullet struck him in the side of the head, glancing across his forehead, impinged upon the arrow head, and the two fastened together fell to the ground, a queer but successful piece of amateur surgery. Harrington wrapped a cloth around his head which bled profusely, continued fighting as if nothing had happened. Howard Morton, another of the scouts, was struck in the head by a bullet, which finally lodged in the rear of one of his eyes, completely destroying its sight forever. But Morton never faltered, but fought bravely until the savages finally withdrew. Hudson Farley, a young stripling of only eighteen, whose father was mortally wounded in the first day's fight, was shot through the shoulder, yet never mentioned the fact until dark, when the list of wounded was called for. McCall, the first sergeant, Villette, Clark, Farley, the elder, and others who were wounded, continued to bear their full share of the fight, notwithstanding their great sufferings, until the Indians finally gave up and withdrew. These incidents, of which many similar ones might be told, only go to show how remarkable character of the men who composed Fortsight's party. Considering this engagement in all its details, and with all its attendant circumstances, remembering the Fortsight's party, including himself, numbered all but fifty-one men, and that the Indians numbered about seventeen to one, this fight was one of the most remarkable, and at the same time successful contests in which our forces on the planes have ever been engaged. The whole affair, from the moment of the first shot, was fired, until the beleaguered party was finally relieved by Colonel Carpenter's command, was wonderfully an exhibition of daring courage, stubborn bravery, and heroic endurance, under circumstances of greatest peril and exposure. In all probability there will never occur in our future hostilities with the savage tribes of the West a struggle, the equal of that in which we were engaged, the heroic men who defended so bravely, Beecher's Island. Fortsight, the gallant leader after a long period of suffering and leading the life of an invalid for nearly two years, finally recovered from the effects of his severe wounds, and is now, I am happy to say, as good as new, contently awaiting the next war to give him renewed excitement. End of Chapter 10, Part 2. Chapter 11, Part 1 of My Life on the Plains. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. The winter of 1867 through 68 found me comfortably quartered at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, on the banks of the Missouri. A considerable portion of my regiment had been ordered to locate at that post in the fall, and make that their winter quarters. General Sheridan and commanding the military department had also established his headquarters there, so that the post became more than ever the favorite military station in the West. I had not been on duty with my regiment since my rapid ride from Fort Wallace to Fort Harker in July, nor was I destined to serve with it in the field for some time to come. This, at a time, seemed a great deprivation for me, but subsequent events proved most conclusively that it was, for all the best, and the result could not have been to me more satisfactory than it was, showing as it did that the best laid plans of mice and men, etc., but I am anticipating. Those who have read the tabulated list of depredations committed by the Indians, as given in the article describing General Forsythe's desperate fight on the Arrikachi Fork may have noticed the name of William Comstock in the column of Killed. Comstock was a favorite and best known scout on the Central Plains. Frequent reference has been made to him in preceding numbers particularly in the description of the attack of the Indians on the detachment commanded by Robbins and Cook. Strange as it may seem, when his thorough knowledge of the Indian character is considered, he fell victim to their treachery and barbarity. The Indians were encamped with their village not far from Big Spring station in western Kansas, and were professedly at peace. Still, no one familiar with the deceit and bad faith invariably practiced by the Indians when free to follow the bent of their inclinations, ought to have thought of trusting themselves in their power. Yet Comstock, with all his previous knowledge and experience, did that which he would certainly have disapproved in others. He left a camp of the troops which was but a few miles from the Indian village and with but a single companion rode to the ladder and spent several hours in friendly conversation with the chiefs. Nothing occurred during their visit to excite suspicion. The Indians assumed a most peaceable bearing toward them and were profuse in their demonstration of friendship. When the time came for Comstock and his comrade to take their departure, they were urged by the Indians to remain and spend the night in the village. The invitation was declined, and after the usual salutations, the two white men mounted their horses and set out to return to their camp. Comstock always carried in his belt a beautiful white-handled revolver and wore it on this occasion. This had often attracted the covetous eyes of savages, and while in the village propositions to barter for it had been made by more than one of the warriors. Comstock invariably refused all offers to exchange it, no matter how tempting. Once before, when riding together at the head of the column in pursuit of Indians, Comstock, who had observed that I carried a revolver closely resembling his, remarked that I ought to have the pair, and then laughingly added that he would carry his until we found the Indians, and after giving them a sound whipping he would present me with the revolver. Frequently during the campaign, one on the march and while sitting around the evening campfire, Comstock would refer to his promise concerning the revolver. After hunting Indians all summer, but never finding them, just when we desired them, Comstock was not infrequently joked upon the condition under which he was depart with his revolver, and fears were expressed that if he carried it until we caught and whipped the Indians, he might be forced to go armed for a long time. None of us imagined then that the revolver which was so often the subject of jest, and of which Comstock was so proud, would be the pretext for his massacre. Comstock and his companion rode out of the village in the direction of their own camp, totally unconscious of coming danger, and least of all from these whose guests they had just been. They had proceeded about a mile from the village when they observed about a dozen of the young warriors galloping after them. Still, suspecting no unfriendly design, they continued their ride until joined by the young warriors. The entire party then rode in company until, as was afterward apparent, the Indians succeeded in separating the two white men, the one riding in front, the other Comstock following in the rear, each with the Indians riding on either side of them. Had a pre-concerted signal, a combined attack was made by the savages upon the two white men. Both the latter attempted to defend themselves, but the odds and the suddenness of the attack deprived them of all hope of saving their lives. Comstock was fatally wounded at the first onslaught, and soon after was shot from his horse. His companion, being finely mounted, wisely entrusted his life to the speed of his horse, and soon outstripped his pursuers and reached camp but with a few slight wounds. The Indians did not seem disposed to press him as closely as their usual custom, but seemed only anxious to secure Comstock. He, after falling to the ground severely wounded, was completely riddled by steel-pointed arrows and a scalp taken. The principal trophy, however, in the opinion of the savages, was a beautifully finished revolver with its white ivory handle, and as they afterward confessed when peace was proclaimed with their tribe, it was to obtain this revolver that the party of young warriors left the village and followed Comstock to his death. Thoroughly reliable in his reports, brave, modest, and preserving in character, with a remarkable knowledge of the country, and the savage tribes infesting it, he was the superior of all men who were scouts by profession, with whom I have had any experience. While sitting in my quarters one day at Fort Leavenworth late in the fall of 1867, a gentleman was announced whose name he called a sad and harrowing sight. It proved to be the father of Lieutenant Kitter, whose massacre with that of his entire party of eleven men was described in preceding pages. It will be remembered that the savages had hacked, mangled, and burned the bodies of Kitter and his men to such an extent that it was impossible to recognize the body of a single one of the party. Even the clothing had been removed so that we could not distinguish the officer from his men or the men from each other by any fragment of their uniform or insignia of their grade. Mr. Kitter, after introducing himself, announced the object of his visit. It was to ascertain the spot where the remains of his son lay buried, and after procuring suitable military escort to proceed to the grave and to center his son's remains, preparatory to transferring them to a resting place in Dakota, of which territory he was at that time one of the Judiciary. It was a painful task I had to perform when I communicated to the father the details of the killing of his son and followers. And equally harassing to the feelings was it to have to inform him that there were no possible chances of his being able to recognize his son's remains. Was there not the faintest mark or fragment of his uniform by which he might be known, inquired the anxious parent? Not one, was the reluctant reply. And yet since I still recall the appearance of the mangled and disfigured remains, there was a mere trifle which attracted my attention, but it could not have been your son who wore it. What was it, eagerly inquired his father? It was simply the collar band of one of those ordinary check-overshirts, so commonly worn on the planes, the color being black and white, the remainder of the garment as well as all other articles of the dress, having been torn or burned from the body. Mr. Kidder then requested me to repeat the description of the collar and material of which it was made. Happily I had some cloth of similar appearance and upon exhibiting this to Mr. Kidder to show the kind I meant. He declared that the body I referred to could be no other than that of his murdered son. He went on to tell us how his son had received his appointment in the army but a few weeks before his lamentable death, he only having reported for duty with his company a few days before being sent out on the scout which terminated his life, and how before leaving home to engage in the military service, his mother with that thoughtful care and tenderness which only a mother can feel, prepared some articles of wearing apparel, among others a few shirts made from the checkered material already described. Mr. Kidder had been to Fort Sedgwick on the plat from which post his son had last departed, and there learned that on leaving the post he wore one of the checkered shirts and put an extra one in his saddle pockets. Upon this trickling link of evidence Mr. Kidder proceeded 400 miles west to Fort Wallace, and there furnished with military escort, visited the grave containing the bodies of the twelve massacred men. Upon disinterring the remains a body was found as I had described it, bearing the simple checked collar band, the father recognized the remains of his son and thus, as was stated at the close of a preceding chapter, was the evidence of a mother's love that made the means by which her son's body was recognized and reclaimed when all others had failed. The winter and spring of 1868 were uneventful, so far as Indian hostilities or the movements of troops were concerned, to be on the ground when its services could be made available in the case of Indians becoming troublesome, the seventh cavalry left its winter quarters at Fort Leavenworth in April, and marched two hundred and ninety miles west to a point near the present site of Fort Hayes, where the troops established their summer rendezvous in camp. It not being my privilege to serve with the regiment at that time, I remained at Fort Leavenworth some time longer, and later in the summer repaired to my home in Michigan, there amid the society of friends to enjoy the cool breezes of the eerie, until the time came which would require me to go west. In the meantime, until I can relate some of the scenes which were enacted under my own eye, and which were afterwards the subject of excited and angry comment, as well as emphatic and authoritative approval, it will not be uninteresting to examine into some of the cases which led to the memorial winter campaign of 1868 to 69, including the battle of the Wachita, and the reader may also be unable to judge as to what causes the people of the frontier are most indebted for the comparatively peaceful condition of the savage tribes of the plains during the past three years. The question may also arise as to what influence the wild nematic tribes of the west are most likely to yield, and become peaceable, inclined toward their white neighbors, willing to forego their accustomed raids and attacks upon the frontier settlements, and content to no longer oppose the advance of civilization. Whether this desirable condition of affairs can be permanently at best secured by the display, and exercise a strong but just military power, or by the extension of the olive branch, or one hand, and government annuities on the other, or by a happy combination of both has long been one of the difficult problems whose solution was baffled the judgment of our legislators from the formation of the government to the present time. My firm conviction based upon an intimate and thoroughly analysis of the habits, traits, and characters, and natural instinct of the Indian, and strengthened and supported by the almost unanimous opinion of all persons who have made the Indian problem a study, and have studied it not from a distance, but in immediate contact with all the facts bearing thereupon. It is that the Indian cannot be elevated to the great level where he can be induced to adopt any policy or mortal life varying from those to which he has ever been accustomed, by any method of teaching, argument, reasoning, or coaxing, which is not preceded and followed closely in reserve by a superior physical force. In other words, the Indian is capable of recognizing no controlling influence, but that of stern arbitrary power. To assume that he can be guided by appeals to his ideas of moral right and wrong, independent of threatening or final compulsion, is to place him far above his more civilized brothers of the white race, who, in the most advanced stage of refinement to morality, still find it necessary to employ force, sometimes resort to war, to exact justice from a neighboring nation. And yet, there are those who will argue that the Indian, with all his lack of moral privileges, is so superior to the white race as to be capable of being controlled by his savage traits and customs and induced to lead a proper life, simply by being politely requested to do so. The campaign of 1868 through 69 under the direction of General Sherman, who had entire command of the country infested by five troublesome and warlike tribes, the Cheyennes, Arapahos, Kayoas, Comanches, and Apaches, was fruitful in variable results. At the same time the opponents of a war policy raised the cry that the military were making war on friendly Indians. One writer, an Indian agent, even asserted that the troops had attacked and killed Indians, half civilized, who have fought on the side of the government during the war with the Confederate States. It was claimed by the adherents of the peace party that the Indians above had been guilty of no depredations against the whites and have done nothing deserving of the exercise of military power. I believe it is a rule in evidence that a party coming into court is not expected to impeach his own witness. I propose to show by the official statement of the officers of the Indian department, including some of those who were loudest and most determined in their assertions of the innocence of the Indians after prompt punishment had been administered by the military that the Indian tribes whose names had been given were individually and collectively guilty of unprovoked and barbarous assaults on the settlers of the frontier, that they committed these depredations at the very time they were receiving arms and other presents from the government, and that no provocation had been offered either by the government or the defenseless citizens of the border. In other words, by those advocating the Indian side of the dispute, it will be clearly established that a solemn treaty had been reluctantly entered into between the Indians and the government by which the demands of the Indians were complied with and the conditions embraced in the treaty afterwards faithfully carried out on the part of the government and that the very time that the leading chiefs and old men of the tribes were pledging themselves and their people that they will not attack any persons at home or traveling or disturb any property belonging to the people of the United States or to persons friendly there within, and that they will never capture or carry off from the settlements women or children and they will never kill or scalp white men or attempt to do them harm. The young men and warriors of these same tribes embrace the sons of the most prominent chiefs and signers of the treaty, were actually engaged in devastating the settlements on the Kansas frontier, murdering men, women, and children, and driving off stock. Now to the evidence. First glance at the following brief summary of the terms of the treaty which was ratified between the government and the Cheyennes and Arapahos on the 19th of August 1868, and signed and agreed to by all the chiefs of these tribes known or claiming to be prominent and men of influence among their own people. As the terms of the treaty are almost identical with those contained in most of the treaties made with other tribes, accepting the limits and location of reservations, it will be interesting for a purpose of reference. First, peace and friendship shall forever continue. Second, whites or Indians committing wrongs will be punished according to the law. Third, the following district of country to wit, commencing at the point where the Arkansas River crosses the 37th parallel of north latitude. Thence west on said parallel, then said line being the southern boundary of the state of Kansas to the Cimarron River, sometimes called the red fork of the Arkansas River. Thence down said Cimarron River in the middle of the main channel thereof, to the Arkansas River, thence up the Arkansas River in the middle of the main channel thereof, to the place of beginning is set apart for the Cheyennes and Arapaho Indians. Fourth, the said Indian shall have the right to hunt on the unoccupied lands of the United States so long as game may be found thereon, and so long as peace subsists among the whites and Indians on the border of the hunting districts. Fifth, is a provision for the selection and occupation of lands for those of said Indians who desire to commence farming on said reserve and for expenditures for their benefit. Sixth, the United States further provides an additional distribution of clothing for a term of years. The treaty with the Kiowa's Comanche and Apache tribes ratified August 25, 1868, embraced substantially the same provisions as those just quoted, accepting that relating to their reservation which was as follows. Commencing at a point where the Washita River crosses the 98th Meridian west from Greenwich, thence upon the Washita River in the middle of the main channel thereof to a point 30 miles west of Fort Cobb, as now established, thence due west to the north folk of the Red River, providing said line strikes said River east of the 100th Meridian of the West Longitude, if not then only to said Meridian line, and thence south on said Meridian line to the said North Fork of the Red River, thence down said North Fork in the middle of the main channel thereof, from the point where it may be first intersected by the lines above described to the main Red River, thence down said River in the main channel thereof to its intersection with the 98th Meridian of Longitude west of Greenwich, thence north on said Meridian line to the place of the beginning. To those who proposed to follow the movements of the troops during the winter campaign of 1868 through 69, it will be well to bear in mind the limits of the last name reservation, as the charge was made by the Indian agents that the military had attacked the Indians where the ladder were peacefully located within the limits of their reservation. To show that the government thought its civil agents were doing everything required of it to satisfy the Indians, and that the agent of the Cheyennes and Arabahos was firmly of the opinion that every promise of the government had not only been faithfully carried out, but that the Indians themselves had no complaint to make, the following letter from the agent to the superintendent of Indian affairs is submitted. Fort Larn, Kansas, August 10th, 1868, Sir, I have the honor to inform you that I yesterday made the whole issue of annuity goods, arms, and ammunition to the Cheyennes chiefs, the Arabahos and the Apaches had received their portions in July, and people of their nation. They were delighted at receiving the goods, particularly the arms and ammunition, and never before have I known them to be better satisfied and express themselves as being so well contented previous to the issue. I made them a long speech following your late instruction with reference to what I said to them. They have now left for their hunting grounds, and I am perfectly satisfied that there will be no trouble with them this season, and consequently with no Indians of my agency. I have the honor to be with much respect to your obedient service, E. W. Weincoupe, United States Indian agent, Honorable Thomas Murphy, Superintendent, Indian Affairs. The italics are mine, but I desire to invite attention to the confidence and strong reliance placed in these Indians by a man who was intimately associated with them, interested in their welfare and supposed to be able to speak authoritatively as to their character and intentions. If they could deceive him, it is not surprising that other equally well-meaning persons further east should be equally misled. The above letter is dated August 10th, 1868. The following extract is from a letter written by the same party and to the superintendent of Indian Affairs, dated at the same place on the 10th of September, 1868, exactly one month after his positive declaration that the Cheyennes were perfectly satisfied, and there will be no trouble with them this season. Here is the extract referred to. Subsequently I receive permission from the department to issue them their arms in ammunition, which I courtingly did. But a short time before the issue was made, a war-party had started north from Cheyenne village on the war-path against the Pawanese, and they, not knowing of the issue, and smarting under their supposed wrongs committed by the outrages on the Saline River, which have led to the present unfortunate aspect of affairs. The United States troops are now south of the Arkansas River in hot pursuit of the Cheyennes, in effect of which I think will be to plunge other tribes into difficulty and finally culminate in a general Indian war. It will be observed that no justification is offered for the guilty Indians, except that they had been aware of the wise and beneficial intention of the government to issue them a fresh supply of arms. They might have delayed their murderous raids against the defenseless settlers until after the issue. Fears are also expressed that other tribes may be plunged into difficulty, but by the same witness and others it is easily established that the other tribes referred to were represented prominently in the war-party which had devastated the settlements on the Saline. First, I will submit an extract of a letter dated Fort Lawn, August 1, 1968, from Thomas Murphy, Superintendent of Indian Affairs, and to the Honorable N. G. Taylor, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, Washington, D.C. Sir, I have the honor to inform you that I held a council today with the Arapahos and Apache Indians, at which I explained to them why their arms and ammunition had been withheld, that the white settlers were now well-armed and determined that no more raids should be made through their country by large bodies of Indians, and that while whites were friendly and well-disposed towards the Indians, yet if the Indians attempted another raid such as they recently made on the Kaul Reservation, I feared themselves and the whites would have a fight and they'd bring on war. The head chief of the Arapahos, Little Raven, replied, that no more trips would be made by his people into the settlements, that their hearts were good toward the whites, and they wished to remain at peace with them. I told him I would now give them their arms and ammunition, that I hope they would use them for the sole purpose of securing food for themselves and families, and that in no case would I ever hear of their using these arms against their white brethren. Little Raven and the other chiefs then promised that these arms should never be used against the whites, and Agent Winecop then delivered the Arapahos one hundred pistols, eighty Lancaster rifles, twenty kegs of powder, one-and-a-half kegs of lead, and fifteen thousand caps. And to the Apaches he gave forty pistols, twenty Lancaster rifles, three kegs of powder, and one-half keg of lead, and five thousand caps, for which they seemed much pleased. I would have remained here to see the Cheyennes. Did I deem it important to do so? From what I could learn there will be no trouble whatsoever with them. They will come here, get their ammunition, and leave immediately to hunt Buffalo. They are well and peacefully disposed toward the whites, and unless some unlooked-for event should transpire to change the present feelings they will keep their treaty pledges. This certainly reads well, and at Washington or further east would be regarded as a favorable indication of the desire for peace on the part of the Indians. The reader is asked to remember that the foregoing letters and extracts are from professed friends of the Indian and advocates of what is known as the peace policy. The letter of Superintendent Murphy was written the day of Council August 1. Mark has words of advice to Little Raven as to how the arms were to be used, and Little Raven's reply containing his strong promises of maintaining friendly relations with the whites. Yet the second night following the issue of the arms a combined war party of Shahans and Arapahos, numbering over 200 warriors, almost the exact number of pistols issued at the Council, left the Indian village to inaugurate a bloody raid in the Kansas settlement, and among the Arapahos was the son of Little Raven. By reading the speech made by this chief in the Council referred to by Mr. Murphy, a marked resemblance will be detected to the stereotype responses delivered by Indian chiefs visiting the authorities of Washington or when imposed upon the credulous and kind-hearted people who assemble at Cooper Institute periodically to listen to these untutored orders of the planes. The statements and promises uttered in one instance are fully and reliable as those listened to so breathlessly in the others. Regarding the raid made by the Shahans and the Arapahos, it will be considered sufficient perhaps when I base my statement upon the following. Report of an interview between Colonel E. W. Weinkop, United States Indian agent, and the Little Rock, a Cheyenne chief held at Fort Larn, Kansas, August 19th, 1868, in the presence of Lieutenant S. M. Robbins, Seventh United States Cavalry, John S. Smith, United States interpreter, and James Morrison, scout for Indian agency. Questioned by Colonel Weinkop, six nights ago I spoke to you in regard to the depredations committed on the saline. I told you to go and find out by whom these depredations were committed and to bring me straight news. What news do you bring? Little Rock. I took your advice and went there. I am now here to tell all I know. This war-party of Shahans, which left the camp of these tribes above the forks of the Walnut Creek about the second or third of August, went out against the Pawnees, crossed the smoky hill about Fort Hayes, and then proceeded to the saline, where there were ten lodges of Sioux in the Cheyenne camp when this war-party left, and about