 Chapter 13 Part 2 of My Life on the Plains This labor box recording is in a public domain. I had kind of a sneak in notion that he'd hurt somebody if they'd ever turned him loose. Lord but ain't he ol' ladnin'. This was a man whom upon a short acquaintance I decided to appoint as chief of the scouts. This thrust of professional greatness as the sequel will prove was more than California Joe aspired to, or considering some of his undeveloped traits was equal to, but I am anticipating. As the four detachments already referred to were to move as soon as it was dark, it was desirable that the scouts should be at once organized and assigned, so sending for California Joe I informed him of his promotion, and of what was expected of him and his men. After this official portion of the interview had been completed it seemed proper to Joe's mind that a more intimate acquaintance between us should be cultivated, as we never met before. His first interrogatory, addressed to me in furtherance of this idea, was frankly put as followed. See, head general, in order that we have no misunderstanding I'd just like to ask you a few questions. Assuming that I had somewhat of a character to deal with, I signified my perfect willingness to be interviewed by him. Are you an ambulance man or a horseman? Pretending not to discover his meaning I requested him to explain. I mean, do you believe in kitchen engines and ambulances or on horseback? Still assuming ignorance, I replied, well, Joe, I believe in kitchen Indians wherever we can find them whether they are found in ambulances or on horseback. This did not satisfy him. They ain't what I'm driving at. Suppose you're half the Indians and really want to have a tussle with them. Would you start after them on horseback or would you climb into an ambulance and be hauled after them? That's the point I'm heading for. I answered that I would prefer the method on horseback, provided I really desired to catch the Indians. But if I wished them to catch me, I would adopt the ambulance system of attack. This reply seemed to give them complete satisfaction. You hit the nail squound ahead. I've been with them on the planes when they started out after the engines on wheels, just as if there was a going to a town funeral in the States, and they stood about as many chances of catching Indians as a six-mule team would have catching a pack of thieve and coyotes just as much. Why, that sort of work is only for fun. For the Indians, they don't want anything better. You ought to have seen how they peppered it to us, and we ain't doing nothing at a time. Some of them was afraid the mules was going to stampede and run off with the train and all our forage and grub, but that was impossible. For besides the big loads of corn and bacon and baggage in the wagons we had in them, that war from eight to a dozen infantrymen piled in besides them, you ought to have heard the quartermaster in charge of the train trying to drive the infantrymen out of the wagons and get them into the fight. I suspect he was an Irishman by his talk, for he said to him, get out of them wagons, get out of them wagons. You'll have me tried for disobedience of orders for marching them men in wagons when I have orders but for at. How long I might have been detained listening to California Joe's recital of the incidents of the first campaign, sandwiched here and there by his peculiar, but generally correct ideas of how to conduct an Indian campaign properly. I do not know, time was limited, and I had to remind him of the fact to induce himself to shorten the conversation. It was only deferred, however, as on every occasion thereafter, California Joe would take his place at the head of the column on the march, and his newest companion was made the receptacle of a fresh installment of Joe's facts and opinions. His career as Chief Scout was the briefest of nature. Everything being in readiness, the four scouting columns, the men having removed their sabers to prevent the clanging and detection, quietly moved out of camp as soon as it was sufficiently dark and set out in different directions. California Joe accompanied that detachment, whose prospects seemed best for encountering the Indians. The rest of the camp soon afterwards returned to their canvas shelter, indulging in all manner of surmises and conjectures of the likelihood of either or all of the scouting parties meeting with success. As no tidings would probably be received in camp until a late hour of the following day, Tapsee, usual signal from the bugle for lights out, found the main camp in almost complete darkness, with only here and there a straying glimmering of light from the candle of some officer's tent, who was probably reckoning in his own mind how much he was losing or perhaps gaining by not accompanying one of the scouting parties. What were the chances of success to the four detachments which had departed on this all night's ride? Next to nothing. Still, even if no Indians could be found, the expeditions would accomplish this much. They would leave their fresh trail all over the country within a circuit of twenty miles of our camp, trails which the practiced eyes of Indians would be certain to fall upon in daylight and inform them for the first time that an effort was being made to disturb them, if nothing more. Probably the scouting columns can be disposed of now by the simple statement that they discovered no Indians, nor the remains of any camps or lodging places indicating the recent presence of a war-party on any of the streams visited by them. The fourth detachment was the one that California Joe had accompanied as scout. What a feather it would be in his hat if after the failure of the scouts accompanying the other columns to discover Indians the party guided by him should pounce upon the savages by the handsome fight settle a few of the old scores charged against them. The night was passing away uninterrupted by any such event, and but a few hours more intervened before daylight would make its appearance. The troops had been marching constantly since leaving camp. Some were almost asleep in their saddles when the column was halted, and word was passed along from man to man that the advance guard had discovered signs indicating the existence of Indians near at hand. Nothing more was necessary to dispel all sensations of sleep and to place every member of the command on the alert. It was difficult to ascertain from the advance guard consisting of a non-commissioned officer and a few privates precisely what they had seen. It seemed that in the valley beyond into which the command was about to descend, in which could be overlooked from the position the troops then held, something unusual had been seen by the leading troopers just as they had reached the crest. What this mysterious something was or how it produced, no one could tell. It appeared simply for a moment and then only as a bright flash of light of varied colors. How far away it was was impossible to determine in the heavy darkness of night. A hasty consultation of the officers took place at the head of the column when it was decided that in the darkness which then reigned it would be unwise to move the attack of an enemy until something more was known of the numbers and position of the foe. As the moon would soon rise and dispel one of the obstacles of conducting a careful attack, it was determined to hold the troops in readiness to act upon a moment's notice and at the same time send a picked party of men under the guidance of California Joe to crawl as close to the supposed position of the Indians as possible and gather all the information available. But where was California Joe all this time? Why was he not at the front with his service where it would be more likely to be in demand? Such a search made for him all along both flanks of the column but on careful inquiry it seemed that he had not been seen for some hours and then at a point many miles from that which the halt had been ordered. This was something remarkable and admitted of no explanation unless perhaps California Joe had fallen asleep during the march and been carried away from the column. But this theory gained no supporters. His absence at this particular time when his advance in services might prove so invaluable was regarded as most unfortunate. However, the party to approach the Indian camp was being selected when a rifle shot broke out from the stillness of the scene surrounded in the direction of a mysterious appearance which had first attracted the attention of the advanced troopers. Another moment and the most powerful gales and screams rose in the same direction as if a terrible conflict was taking place. Every carbine was advanced ready for action. Each trigger was carefully sought. No one is yet being able to define the cause of this sudden outcry when in a moment who should come charging wildly up to the column, now dimly visible by the first rays of the moon, but California Joe shouting and striking wildly to the right and left as if beset by a whole tribe of warriors. Here then was the solution of the mystery. Not then, but in a few hours everything was rendered clear. Among the other traits or peculiarities of his character, California Joe numbered an uncontrollable fondness for strong drink. It was one of his greatest weaknesses, a weakness to which he could only be kept from yielding by keeping all intoxicating drink beyond his reach. It seemed from an after-development of the affair that the sudden elevation of California Joe, unsought and unexpected as it was to the position of Chief Scout, was rather too much good fortune to be borne by him in a quiet and undemonstratable manner. Such a profusion of greatness had not been thrust upon him so often as to render him secure from being affected by its preferment. At any rate he deemed the event deserving of celebration professional duties to the contrary notwithstanding, and before proceeding on the night expedition had filled his canteen with a bountiful supply of the worst brand of whiskey such as is only attainable on the frontier. He perhaps did not intend to indulge to that extent which might disable him from properly performing his duties, but in this, like many other good men whose appetites are stronger than their resolutions, he failed in his reckoning. As the liquor which he imbibed from time to time after leaving camp began to produce the natural or unnatural effect, Joe's independence greatly increased until the only part of the expedition which he recognized as at all important was California Joe. His mule no longer restrained by his hand gradually carried him away from the troops until the latter were left far in the rear. This was the relative position when the halt was ordered. The Joe, indulged in drink sufficiently for the time being, concluded that the best thing would be to smoke, nothing would be better to cheer him on his lonely night ride. Filling his ever-present briar wood with tobacco, he next proceeded to strike a light, employed for this purpose, a storm or tempest match. It was the bright and flashing colors of this which had been so suddenly attracted to the attention of the advance guard. No sooner was his pipe lit than the measure of his happiness was complete. His imagination picturing him to himself perhaps is leading into a grand Indian fight. His mule by this time had turned toward the troops, and when California Joe set up his unearthly howls and began his imaginary charge into an Indian village, he was carried at full speed straight to the column, where his good fortune alone prevented him from receiving a volley before he was recognized as not an Indian. His blood was up, all the efforts to quiet or suppress him proved unavailing, until finally the officer in command was forced to bind him hand and foot, and in this condition secure him on the back of his faithful mule. In this sorry plight the chief scout continued until the return of the troops to camp when he was transferred to the tender mercies of the guard as prisoner for misconduct. Thus ended California Joe's career as chief scout. Another was appointed in his stead, but we must not banish him from our good opinion yet. As a scout, responsible only for himself, he will reappear in these pages with a record which rebounds to his credit. Nothing was accomplished by the four scouting parties except perhaps to inspire the troops with the idea that they were no longer to be kept acting merely on the defensive, while the Indians no doubt learned the same fact, and at the same time. The cavalry had been lying idle except when attacked by the Indians for upward of a month. It was reported that the war parties, which had been so troublesome for some time, came from the direction of Medicine Lodge Creek, a stream running in the same general direction as Bluff Creek, and about two marches from the latter in a northeasterly direction. It was on this stream, Medicine Lodge Creek, that the Great Peace Council had been held with all the southern tribes with whom we had been, and were then at war. The government being represented at the council by senators and other members of Congress, officers high in rank in the Army, and prominent gentlemen selected from the walks of civil life. The next move, after the unsuccessful attempt in which California Joe created the leading sensation, was to transfer the troops across from Bluff Creek to Medicine Lodge Creek, and to send scouting parties up and down the latter in search of our enemies. This movement was made as soon after the return of the four scouting expeditions sent out from Bluff Creek. As our first day's march was to be a short one, we did not break camp on Bluff Creek until a late hour in the morning. Soon, everything was in readiness for the march, and like a traveling village of Bedowins, the troopers and their train of supplies stretched out into column. First came the cavalry, moving in column of fours. Next came the immense wagon trade, containing the tents, forage, rations, and extra ammunition of the command, a very necessary but unwieldy portion of the mounted military force. Last of all came the rear guard, usually consisting of about one company. On this occasion it was the company commanded by the officer, whose narrow escape from the Indians while in search of a party of his men, who had gone buffalo hunting, had been already described in this chapter. The conduct of the Indians on this occasion proved that they had been keeping an unseen but constant watch on everything transpiring in or about camp. The column had scarcely straightened itself out in commencing the march, and the rear guard had barely crossed the limits of the deserted camp, went out from a ravine nearby dashed a war-party of fully fifty well-mounted well-armed warriors. Their first onslaught was directed against the rear guard, and a determined effort was made to drive them from the train, and thus place the latter at their mercy to be plundered of its contents. After disposing of flankers for the purpose of resisting any efforts which might be made to attack the train from either flank, I rode to where the rear guard were engaged to ascertain if they required reinforcements. At the same time orders were given for the column of troops and train to continue the march, as it was not intended that so small a party as that attacking us should delay our march by any vain effort on our part to ride them down or overhaul them when we knew they could outstrip us if the contest was to be decided by a race. Joining the rear guard I had an opportunity to witness the Indian mode of fighting in all its perfection. Surely no race of men, not even the famous Cossacks, could display more wonderful skill and feats of horsemanship, and the Indian warrior on his native plains mounted on his well-trained warpony, voluntarily running the gauntlet of his foes, drawing and receiving the fire of hundreds of rifles, and in return sending back a perfect shower of arrows, or more likely still, well-directed shots from some souvenir of a peace commission in the shape of an improved breech loader. The Indian warrior is capable of assuming positions on his pony, the latter at full speed, which no one but an Indian could maintain for a single moment without being thrown to the ground. The pony, of course, is perfectly trained and seems possessed of the spirit of his rider. An Indian's wealth is most generally expressed by the number of his ponies. No warrior or chief is of any importance or distinction who is not the owner of a herd of ponies numbering from twenty to many hundreds. He has, for each special purpose, a certain number of ponies that are kept as pack animals being the most inferior and in quality and value than the ordinary riding ponies used on the march or about camp or when visiting neighboring villages. Next, in consideration, is the buffalo pony, trained to the hunt and only employed when dashing into the midst of the huge buffalo herds, when the object is either food from the flesh or clothing and shelter for the lodges to be made from the buffalo hide. Last, or rather first, considering its value and importance, is the warpony, the favorite of the herd, fleet of the foot, quickened intelligence, and full of courage. It may be safely asserted that the first place in the heart of the warriors held by his faithful and obedient warpony. Indians are extremely fond of bartering and are not behind hand in catching the points of a good bargain. They will sign treaties relinquishing their lands and agree to forsake the burial grounds of their forefathers. They will part for due consideration with their bow and arrows and their accompanying quiver, handsomely wrought in dressed furs. Their lodges even may be purchased at a not unfair valuation and it is not an unusual thing for a chief or warrior to offer the exchange of his wife or daughter for some article which may have taken his fancy. This is no exaggeration, but no Indian of the plains has ever been known the trade, sell, or barter away his favorite warpony. To the warrior his battle horse is the apple of his eye. Neither love nor money can induce him to part with it. To see them in battle, or to witness how one almost becomes part of the other, one might well apply to the warrior the lines, but this gallant had witchcraft in it he grew into his seat, and as such wondrous doing brought his horse, as he had been encorpsed and deminatured, with the bravest beast so far he passed my thought, that eye and forgery of shapes and tricks come short of what he did. The officer in command of the rear guard expressed the opinion that he could resist successfully the attacks of the savages until a little later when it was seen that the latter were receiving ascensions to their strength and were becoming correspondingly bolder and more difficult to repulse when a second troop of cavalry was brought from the column as a support to the rear guard. These last were ordered to fight on foot, their horses in charge of every fourth trooper being led near the train. The men being able to fire so much more accurately when on foot compelled the Indians to observe greater caution in their manner of attack. Once a warrior was seen to dash out from the rest and the peculiar act of circling, which was simply to dash along in front of the line of troopers receiving their fire and firing in return. Suddenly his pony while at full speed was seen to fall on the ground, showing that the aim of at least one of those soldiers had been effective. The warrior was thrown over and beyond the pony's head and as captured by the cavalry seemed a sure and easy matter to be accomplished. I saw him fall and called to the officer commanding the troops which had remained mounted to gallop forward and secure the Indian. The troop advanced rapidly but the comrades of the fallen Indian also witnessed this mishap and were rushing to his rescue. He was on his feet in a moment and the next moment another warrior mounted on a fleet of ponies was at his side and with one leap the dismounted warrior placed himself astride the pony of his companion and thus doubly burdened the gallant little steed with his no less gallant rider galloped leggingly away. With about eighty cavalrymen mounted on strong domestic horses in full cry after them there is no doubt but that by all the laws of chance the cavalry should have been able to soon overhaul and capture the Indians in so unequal a race. But whether from a lack of zeal on the part of the officer commanding the pursuit or from the confusion created by the diversion attempt by the remaining Indians the pony doubly weighed as he was distanced his pursuers and landed his burden in a place of safety. Although chagrin at the failure of the pursuing party to accomplish the capture of the Indians I could not wholly suppress a feeling of satisfaction if not gladness that for once the Indians had eluded the white man. I need not add that any temporary tenderness or feelings towards the two Indians was prompted by their individual daring and the heroic display of comradeship in a successful attempt to render assistance to a friend in need. Without being able to delay our march yet it required the combined strength and resilience of two full troops of cavalry to defend the train from the vigorous and dashing attacks of the Indians. At last finding that the command was not to be diverted from its purpose or hindered in completing its regular march the Indians withdrew, leaving us to proceed unmolested. These contests with the Indians while apparently yielding the troops no decided advantage were of the greatest value and view of the future in more extensive operations against the savages. Many of the men and horses were far from being familiar with the actual warfare, particularly on this irregular character. Some of the troopers were quite inexperienced as horsemen and still more inexpert in the use of their weapons as their inaccuracy of fire while attempting to bring down an Indian within easy range clearly proved. Their experience, resulting from these daily contests with the red men, was to prove of incalculable benefit and fit them for the duties of the coming campaign. Our march was completed to Medicine Lodge Creek where a temporary camp was established while scouting parties were sent both up and down the stream as far as there was at least probability of finding Indians. The party consisting of three troops which scouted down the valley of Medicine Lodge Creek proceeded down to the point where was located and then standing the famous Medicine Lodge, an immense structure erected by the Indians and used by them as a council house where once in a year the various tribes of the southern plains were wont to assemble in mysterious conclave to consult the great spirit as to the future and offer up rude sacrifices and engage in imposing ceremonies such as were believed to be appeasing and satisfactory to the Indian deity. In the conduct of these strange and interesting incantations, the presiding or directing personages are known among the Indians as Medicine Men. They are the high priests of the red man's religion and in their peculiar spear are superior in influence and authority to all others in the tribe, not accepting the head chief. No important step is proposed or put in execution whether relating to war or peace even the probable success of a contemplated hunt, but it is first submitted to the powers of divination, confidently believed to be possessed by the Medicine Man of the tribe. He, after a series of enchantments, returns the answer supposed to be prompted by the great spirit as to whether the proposed step is well advised and promises success or not. The decisions given by the Medicine Man are supreme and admit of no appeal. The Medicine Lodge just referred to had been used as a place of assembly of the Grand Council held between the warlike tribes and the representatives of the government referred to in the preceding pages. The Medicine Lodge was found in a deserted but well preserved condition. Here and there hanging overhead were collected various kinds of herbs and plants, vegetable offerings no doubt to the great spirit, while in strange contrast to these peaceful specimens of the fruits of the earth were trophies of the warpath and the chase, the latter being represented by the horns and dressed skins of animals killed in the hunt, some of the skins being beautifully ornamented in the most fantastic of styles peculiar to the Indian idea of art. Of the trophies relating to war, the most prominent were human scalps representing all ages and sexes of the white race. These scalps, according to the barbarous custom, were not composed of the entire covering of the head but of a small surface surrounding the crown and usually from three to four inches in diameter, consisting what is termed the Sculp Lock. To preserve the Sculp from decay, a small hoop of about double the diameter of the Sculp is prepared from a small width which grows on the banks of some of the streams in the west. The Sculp is placed inside the hoop and properly stretched by a network of thread connecting the edges of the Sculp with a circumference of the hoop. After being properly cured, the dried, fleshy portion of the Sculp is ornamented in bright colors according to the taste of the captor. Sometimes the addition of beads of bright and varied colors being made to heighten the effect. In other instances the hares died, either to a beautiful yellow or golden, nor to crimson. Several of these horrible evidences of past depredations upon the defenseless inhabitants of the frontier or overland immigrants were brought back by the troopers on their return from their scout. Old trails of small parties of Indians were discovered, but none indicating the recent presence of a war-party in the valley were observable. The command was then marched back to near its former camp on Bluff Creek from whence after the sojourn of three or four days it marched to a point on the north bank of the Arkansas River, about ten miles below Fort Dodge, there to engage in earnest preparation and reorganization for the winter campaign, which was soon to be inaugurated and in which the Seventh Cavalry was to bear so prominent a part. We pitched our tents on the bank of the Arkansas on the 21st of October, 1868, there to remain usefully employed until the twelfth of the following month when we mounted our horses, beta due to the luxuries of civilization, and turned our faces towards the Wichita Mountains in the endeavor to drive from their winter-hiding places the savages who had during the past summer waged such ruthless and cruel war upon our exposed settlers on the border. How far, and in what way we were successful in this effort, will be learned in the following chapter. In concluding to go into camp for a brief period on the banks of the Arkansas, two important objects were in view. First, to devote the time to refitting, reorganizing and renovating generally that portion of the command, which was destined to continue active operations during the inclement weather season. Second, to defend our movement against the hostile tribes until the last traces of the fall season had disappeared, and winter and all its bitter force should be upon us. We had crossed weapons with the Indians time and again during the mild summer months when the rich verger of the valleys seemed as bountiful and inexhaustible granaries and supplying forge to their ponies, and the immense herds of buffalo and other varieties of game roaming undisturbed over the plains supplied all the food that was necessary to subsist the war parties, and at the same time allow their villages to move freely from point to point. And the experience of both officers and men went to prove that in attempting to fight the Indians in the summer season we were yielding to them the advantages of climate and supplies. We were meeting them on ground of their own selection, and at a time when every natural circumstance controlling the result of the campaign was wholly in their favor. And as a just consequence the troops in nearly all these contests with the red man had come off second best. During the grass season nearly all Indian villages are migratory, seldom remaining longer than a few weeks, at most in any one locality, depending upon entirely the supply of grass. When this becomes exhausted the lodges are taken down and the entire tribe or band moves to some other point chosen with reference to the supply of grass, water, wood, and game. The distance to the new location is usually but a few miles. During the fall when the buffalo are in the best condition to furnish food, and the hides are suitable to be dressed as robes or to furnish covering for the lodges, the grand annual hunts of the tribes take place by which the supply of meat for the winter is procured. This being done the chiefs determined upon the points at which the village shall be located. If the tribe is a large one, the village is often subdivided, one portion or band remaining at one point, other portions choosing localities within a circuit of 30 or 40 miles. Except during the seasons of most perfect peace, and when it is the firm intention of the chiefs to remain on friendly terms with the whites at least during the winter and early spring months, the localities selected for their winter resorts are remote from the military posts and the frontier settlements and the knowledge which might lead to them carefully withheld from every white man. Even during a moderate winter season it is barely possible for the Indians to obtain sufficient food for their ponies to keep the ladder and anything above a starving condition. Many of the ponies actually die for want of forage while the remaining ones become so weak and attenuated that it requires several weeks of good grazing in the spring to fit them for service. Particularly such service is required from the war ponies. Guided by these facts it was evident that if we chose to avail ourselves to the assistance of so exacting and terrible an ally as the frost of winter, an ally who would be almost as uninviting to friends as to foes, we might deprive our enemy of his points of advantage and force him to engage in a combat in which we should do for him what he had hitherto done for us. Compel him to fight upon ground and under circumstances of our own selection. To decide upon making a winter campaign against the Indians was certainly in accordance with that maxim in the Art of War, which directs ones to do that which the enemy neither expects nor desires to be done. At the same time it would dispel the old foggy idea, which was not without supporters in the army and which was confidently relied on by our Indians themselves, that the winter season was an insurmountable barrier to the prosecution of a successful campaign. But aside from the delay which was necessary to be submitted to before the forces of winter should produce their natural but desired effect upon our enemies, there was much to be done on our part before we could be ready to cooperate in an offensive movement. The Seventh Cavalry, which was to operate in one body during the coming campaign, was a comparatively new regiment, dating its existence as an organization from July 1866. The officers and companies had not served together before, with much over half of their full force. A large number of fresh horses were required and obtained. These had to be drilled. All the horses in the command were to be newly shot and an extra four in hind shoe fitted to each horse. The companies with the necessary nails were to be carried by each trooper in the saddle pocket. It had been seen that the men lacked accuracy in the use of their carbines. To correct this, two drills in target practice were ordered each day. The companies were marched separately to the ground where the targets had been erected, and under the supervision of the troops' officers were practiced daily in firing at targets placed at 800, 200, and 300 yards distance. The men had been previously informed that out of the 800 men composing the command, a picked corps of sharpshooters would be selected, numbering 40 men, and made up of the 40 best marksmen in the regiment. As an incentive to induce every enlisted man, whether non-commissioned officer or private, to strive for appointment in the sharpshooters, it was given out from headquarters that the men so chosen would be regarded, as they would really deserve to be, as the elite of the command, not only regarded as such, but treated with corresponding consideration. For example, they were to be marched as a separate organization, independently of the column, a matter of which itself is not so trifling as it may seem to those who have never participated in a long and weary some march. Then again, no guard or picket duty was to be required of the sharpshooters, which alone was enough to encourage every trooper to excel as a marksman. Besides these consideration, it was known that, should we encounter the enemy, the sharpshooters would be the most likely to be assigned a post of honor, and would have superior opportunities for acquiring distinction and rendering good service. The most generous, as well as earnest rivalry, at once sprung up, not only between the various companies as to which should secure the largest representation among the sharpshooters, but the rivalry extended to individuals of the same company, each of whom seemed desirous of the honor of being considered as one of the best shots. To be able to determine the matter correctly, a record of every shot fired by each man of the command throughout a period of upwards of one month was carefully kept. It was surprising to observe the marked and rapid improvement in the accuracy of aim attained by the men generally during this period. Two drills at target practice each day, and allowing each man an opportunity at every drill to become familiar with the handling of his carbine, and in judging of the distances of the different targets, worked a most satisfactory improvement in the average accuracy of fire, so that at the end of the period named by taking the record of each trooper's target practice, I was able to select 40 marksmen in whose ability to bring down any warrior, whether mounted or not who might challenge us, as we had often been challenged before I felt every confidence. They were a superb body of men, and felt the greatest pride in their distinction. A sufficient number of non-commissioned officers who had proved their skill as marksmen were included in the organization. Among them, fortunately, a first sergeant, whose expertness in the use of any firearms was well established throughout the command. I remember having seen him, while riding at full speed, bring down four buffaloes by four consecutive shots from his revolver. When it is remembered that even experienced hunters are usually compelled to fire half a dozen shots or more to secure a single buffalo, this statement will appear the more remarkable. The 40 sharpshooters being supplied with their compliments of sergeants and corpals, and thus constituting an organization by themselves, only lacked one important element. A suitable commander, a leader who, aside from being a thorough soldier, should possess traits of character which would not only enable him to employ skillfully the superior abilities of those who were to constitute his command, but at the same time feel the esprit core, which is so necessary to both officer and soldiers when success is to be achieved. Fortunately, in my command were a considerable number of young officers, nearly all of whom were full of soldierly ambition and eager to grasp any opportunity which opened their way to honorable performant. The difficulty was not in finding an officer properly qualified in every way to command the sharpshooters, but among so many who I felt confident would render a good account of themselves if assigned to that position to designate a leader par excellence. The choice fell upon Colonel Cook, a young officer whose acquaintance the reader will remember to have made in connection with the Plutky fight he had with the Indians near Fort Wallace the preceding summer. Colonel Cook, at the breaking out of the rebellion, although then but a lad of sixteen years, entered one of the New York cavalry regiments commencing at the foot of the ladder. He served in the cavalry arm of the service throughout the war, participating in Sheridan's closing battles near Richmond. His services and gallantry resulted in his promotion to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. While there were many of the young officers who would have been pleased if they instead of another had been chosen, there was no one in the command perhaps who did not regard the selection as a most judicious one. Future events only confirm this judgment. After everything in the way of reorganization and refitting which might be considered as actually necessary had been ordered, another step, bordering on the ornamental perhaps, although in itself useful, was taken. This is what was termed in the cavalry as coloring the horses, which does not imply as might be inferred from the expression that we actually changed the color of our horses, but merely classified or arranged them throughout the different squadrons and troops according to the color. If there too the horses had been distributed to the various companies of the regiment indiscriminately, regardless of color, so that in each company and squadron horses were found of every color. For uniformity of appearance it was decided to devote one afternoon to a general exchange of horses. The troop commanders were assembled at headquarters and allowed in the order of their rank to select the color they preferred. This being done every public horse in the command was let out and placed in line. The grays collected at one point, the bays of which there was a great preponderance in numbers at another, the blacks at another, the sorals by themselves, then the chestnuts, the blacks and the browns. And last of all came what were jocularly designated as the brindles, being the odds and ends so far as color were concerned, rones and other mixed colors. The junior troop commander, of course, becoming the reluctant recipient of the last, valuable enough except as to color. The exchanges having been completed, the men of each troop led away to their respective picket or stable line their newly acquired chargers. Arriving upon their company grounds, another assignment in detail was made by the troop commanders. First, the non-commissioned officers were permitted to select their horses in the order of their rank. Then the remaining horses were distributed among the troopers generally, giving the best soldiers the best horses. It was surprising to witness what a great improvement in the handsome appearance of the command was affected by this measure. The change when first proposed had not been greeted with much favor by many of the troopers who, by long service and association in times of danger, had become warmly attached to their horses. But the same reasons which had endeared the steed to the soldier in the one instance soon operate in the same manner to render the new acquaintances fast friends. Among the other measures adopted for carrying the war to our enemy's doors, and in a matter of fight the devil with fire, was the employment of Indian allies. These were to be procured from the reservation Indians, tribes who from engaging and long and devastating wars with the Whites and with other hostile bands, had become so reduced in power as to be glad to avail themselves of the protection and means of subsistence offered by the reservation plan. These tribes were most generally the objects of hatred in the eyes of their more powerful and independent neighbors of the planes, and the latter when making their raids and bloody incursions upon the Whites settlements of the frontiers did not hesitate to visit their wrath equally upon Whites and reservation Indians. To these smaller tribes it was a welcome opportunity to be permitted to ally themselves to the forces of the government and endeavor to obtain that satisfaction which acting alone they were powerless to secure. The tribes against which we proposed to operate during the approaching campaign had been particularly cruel and relentless in their wanton attacks upon the Osages in cause, two tribes living peaceably and contently on well-chosen reservations in southwest Kansas and the northern portion of the Indian territory. No assistance in fighting the hostile tribes was desired, but it was believed and correctly too that in finding the enemy and in discovering the location of his winter hiding places the experience and natural tact and cunning of the Indians would be a powerful auxiliary if we could enlist them in our cause. An officer was sent to the village of the Osages to negotiate with the head chiefs and was successful in his mission returning with a delegation consisting of the second chief in rank of the Osage tribe named Little Beaver. Hard rope, the counselor or wise man of his people, and eleven warriors with an interpreter. In addition to the monthly rate of compensation which the government agreed to give them, they were also to be armed, clothed and mounted at the government's expense. Advices from General Sheridan's headquarters then at Fort Hayes, Kansas were received early in November informing us that the time for resuming active operations was near at hand and urging the early completion of all preliminaries looking to that end. Fort Dodge on the Arkansas River was the extreme post south in the direction proposed to be taken by us until the Red River should be crossed and the northwestern posts of Texas could be reached, which were further south than our movements would probably carry us. To use Fort Dodge as our base of supplies and keep open to that point our long line of communications would have been considering the character of the country and that of the enemy to be encountered an impractical matter with our force. Dramity this temporary base was decided upon to be established about one hundred miles south of Fort Dodge at some point yet to be determined, from which we could obtain our samples during the winter. With this object in view, an immense train consisting of about four hundred army wagons was loaded with forage, rations and clothing for the supply of the troops composing the expedition. A guard composed of a few companies of infantry was detailed to accompany the trains and to garrison to point which was to be selected as the new base of supplies. Everything being in readiness the cavalry moved from its camp on the north bank of the Arkansas on the morning of the twelfth of November and after forting the river began its march toward the Indian territory. That night we were encamped on the Mulberry Creek where we were joined by the infantry and the supply train. General Sully commanding the district here took active command of the combined forces. Much anxiety existed in the minds of some of the officers remembering no doubt their late experience leased the Indians should attack us while on the march. When, hampered as we should be in the protection of so large a train of wagons, we might fare badly. The country over which we were to march was favourable to us as we were able to move our trains in four parallel columns formed close together. This arrangement shortened our flanks and rendered them less exposed to attack. The following morning after reaching Mulberry Creek the march was resumed soon after daylight, the usual order being the 400 wagons of the supply train and those belonging to the troops formed in four equal columns. In advance of the wagons at a proper distance rode the advance guard of Calvary, a corresponding Calvary force formed the rear guard. The remainder of the Calvary was divided into two equal parts and these parts again divided into three equal detachments. These six detachments were disposed of along the flanks of the column, three on a side maintaining a distance between themselves and the train of from a quarter to a half a mile. While each of them had flanking parties thrown out opposite the train, rendering it impossible for an enemy to appear in any direction without timely notice being received. The infantry on beginning the march in the morning were distributed throughout the train in such a manner that should the enemy attack their services could be rendered most effective. An accustom, however, to field service, particularly marching, the infantry apparently were only able to march for a few hours in the early part of the day, when becoming weary they would struggle from their companies and climb into the covered wagons, from which there was no determined effort to route them. In the afternoon there would be little evidence preceptible to the eye that infantry formed any portion of the expedition, save here and there the butt of a musket or point of a bayonet peeping out from under the canvas waken covers, or perhaps an officer of infantry treading alone in his native heath, or better still mounted on an Indian pony, the result of some barter with the Indians when times were a little more peaceable, and neither wars nor rumors of wars disturbed the monotony of garrison life. Nothing occurred giving us any clue to the whereabouts of the Indians until we had been marching several days and were moving down the valley of Beaver Creek, when our Indian guides discovered the trail of an Indian war-party, numbering according to their estimate from one hundred to one hundred and fifty warriors mounted and moving in a northeasterly direction. The trail was not over twenty-four hours old, and by following it to the point where it crossed Beaver Creek almost the exact numbers and character of the party could be determined from the fresh signs at the crossing. Everything indicated that it was a war-party sent from the very tribes we were in the search of, and the object judging from the direction they had been moving in other circumstances was to make a raid on the settlements in western Kansas. As soon as we had reached camp for the night, which was but a short distance from the point at which we crossed the Indian trail, I addressed communications to the senior officer who was commanding the expedition, and after stating the facts learned in connection with the trail requested that I might be permitted to take the cavalry belonging to the expedition, leaving the trains to be guarded by the infantry, whose numbers were ample for this purpose, and with the Indian scouts and trailers set out early the next morning following the trail of the war-party, not in the direction taken by them as this would be an idle attempt, but in the direction from which they came expressing the conviction that such a course would in all probability lead us direct to the village of the Marauders, which was the ultimate object of the movement we were thus engaged in. By doing so we might be able to strike at plump blow against our enemies and visit swift punishment upon the war-party whose hostile purposes were but too evident. In these views I was sustained by the opinions of our Indian allies who expressed confidence in their ability to take the trail and follow it back to the villages. The officer to whom my application was submitted, and whose sanction was necessary before I could be authorized to execute my proposed plan, returned an elaborate argument attempting to prove that no successful results could possibly attend the undertaking I had suggested, and ended with the remark that it was absurd to suppose for one moment that a large military force such as ours was, and accompanied by such shenanigans train of wagons, could move into the heart of Indian country and their presence remain undiscovered by the watchful savages for even a single day. This spesious reasoning sounded well, read well, but it gave no satisfaction to the men and officers of the cavalry, all of whom thought they saw a fine opportunity neglected. However, we shall strike this trail again but on different ground and under different circumstances. Great as was our temporary disappointment at being restrained, the results satisfied all of us that, for very different reasons from those adducted to withhold us from making the proposed movement, all as the sequel proved was for the best. On the sixth day after leaving our camp on the north bank of the Arkansas the expedition arrived at the point which was chosen as our future base, where the infantry were to remain and erect quarters for themselves and storehouse for military supplies. The point selected, which was then given the name and now Bear's Camp Supply, was in the angle formed by the wolf in the Beaver Greeks about one mile above the junction of these two streams. These streams, by their union, formed the north fork of the Canadian River. The exact geographical location of the point referred to as latitude 36 degrees, 30 minutes, longitude 99 degrees, 30 minutes, being in the neighborhood of 100 miles in a southerly direction from Fort Dodge on the Arkansas. We of the cavalry knew that our detention at this point would be but brief. Within two or three days of our arrival the hearts of the entire command were gladdened by the sudden appearance in our mist of strong reinforcements. These reinforcements consisted of General Sheridan and staff. Hearing of his near approach I mounted my horse and was soon galloping beyond the limits of Bear's Camp to meet him. If there were any persons in the command who hitherto had been in doubt as to whether the proposed winter campaign was to be a reality or otherwise, such persons soon had caused to dispel all mistrust at this point. Selecting from the train a sufficient number of the best teams and wagons to transport our supplies of rations and forage, enough to subsist the command upon for a period of 30 days, our arrangements were soon completed, by which the cavalry consisting of 11 companies and numbering between eight and nine hundred men were ready to resume the march. In addition we were to be accompanied by a detachment of scouts, among the number being California Joe, also our Indian ally from the Osage tribe headed by little beaver and hard-rope. As the country in which we were to operate was beyond the limits of the district which constituted the command of General Sully, that officer was relieved from further duty with the troops composing of the expedition and in accordance with his instructions withdrew from Camp Supply and returned to his headquarters at Fort Harker, Kansas, accompanied by Colonel Keough, 7th Cavalry, then holding the position of Staff Officer at District Headquarters. After remaining at Camp Supply six days nothing was required but the formal order directing the movement to commence. This came in the shape of a brief letter of instructions from the Department Headquarters. Of course as nothing was known positively as to the exact whereabouts of the Indian villages, the instructions had to be in general terms. In substance I was to march my command in search of the winter hiding places of the hostile Indians and wherever found to administer such punishment for past depredations as my force was able to do. On the evening of November 22nd orders were issued to be in readiness to move promptly at daylight the following morning. That night in the midst of other final preparations for a long separation from all means of communications with absent friends, most of us found time to hastily pen a few parting lines informing them of our proposed expedition and the uncertainties with which it was surrounded, as none of us knew when or where we should be heard from again, once we bated due to the bleak hospitality of camp supply, alas some of our numbers were destined never to return. It began snowing the evening of the 22nd and continued all night, so that when the shrill notes of the bugle broke the stillness of the morning air at Reveley on the 23rd, we awoke at four o'clock to find the ground covered with snow to a depth of over one foot, and the storm still raging in full force. Only this was anything but an inviting prospect as we stepped from our frail canvas shelters and found ourselves standing in the constantly and rapidly increasing depth of snow which appeared in every direction. All this do for a winter campaign, was the half-sarcastic query of the adjutant, as he came trudging back to the tenth through a field of snow, extending almost to the top of his tall troop boots, after having received the reports of the different companies at Reveley. Just what we want, was the reply. Little grooming did the shivering horses receive from the equally uncomfortable troopers that morning. Breakfast was served and disposed of more as a matter of form and regulation than to satisfy the appetite. For who, I might inquire, could rally much of an appetite at five o'clock in the morning, and when standing around a campfire almost up to the knees in snow? The signal, the general, for tense to be taken down and wagon's packed for the march, gave everyone employment. Upon the principle that a short horse is soon curried in, as we were going to take but little with us in the way of baggage of any description, the duties of packing up were soon performed. It still lacked some minutes of daylights when the various commanders reported their commands in readiness to move, save the final act of saddling the horses, which only arrested the signal sounds of the chief bugler at headquarters. Boots and saddles rang forth, and each trooper grasped his saddle, and the next moment was busily engaged, arranging and disposing of the few buckles and straps upon which the safety of his seat and the comfort of this horse demanded. While they were thus employed, my horse, being already saddled and held nearby by the orderly, I improved the time to gallop through the darkness, across the narrow plain to the tents of General Sheridan to say good-bye. I found the headquarters tent wrapped in silence, and at first imagine that no one was yet stirring except the sentinel in front of the General's tent, who kept up his lonely tread, apparently indifferent to the beating storm. I found the headquarters tent wrapped in silence, and at first imagine that no one was yet stirring except the sentinel in front of the General's tent, who kept up his lowly tread, apparently indifferent to the beating storm. But I had no sooner given the bridal rain to my orderly than the familiar tones of the General called out, letting me know that he was awake, and had been attentive listening to our notes of preparation. His first greeting was to ask what I thought about the snow in the storm, to which I replied that nothing could be more to our purpose. We could move, and the Indian villages could not. If the snow only remained on the ground for one week, I promised to bring the General's satisfactory evidence that my command had met the Indians. With an earnest injunction from my chief to keep him informed, if possible should anything important occur, and many hearty wishes for a successful issue of the campaign, I bade him adieu. After I had mounted my horse, and had started to rejoin my command, a staff officer of the General, a particular friend having just been awakened by the conversation, called out, while standing in the door of his tent, enveloped in the comfortable folds of a huge buffalo-robe. Good-bye, old fella. Take care of yourself. And in these brief sentences the usual farewell greetings between brother officers separating for service took place. By the time I rejoined my men they had saddled their horses, and were in readiness for the march. Two horse was sounded, and each trooper stood at his horse's head, then followed the commands, prepare to mount, and mount, when nothing but the signal advance was required to put the column in motion. The band took its place at the head of the column preceded by guides and scouts, and when the march began it was to the familiar notes of the famous old marching tune, the girl I left behind me. If we had entered into solemn compact with the clerk of the weather, this being before the reign of old probabilities, to be treated to winter in its severest aspect, we could have claimed no forfeiture on account of non-fulfillment of contract. We could not refer to the oldest inhabitant, that mythical personage in most neighborhoods, to attest to the fact that this was a storm unparalleled in severity in that section of the country. The snow continued to descend in almost blinding clouds. Even the appearance of daylight added us but little in determining the direction of our march. So dense and heavy were the falling lines of snow that all view of the surface of the surrounding country, upon which the guides depended, to enable them to run their course, was cut off. To such an extent was this true that it became unsafe for a person to wander from the column? A distance equal to twice the width of Broadway, as in that short space all view of the column was prevented by the storm. CHAPTER XIV None of the command except the Indian guides had ever visited the route we desired to follow, and they were forced to confess that until the storm abated sufficiently to permit them to catch glimpses of the landmarks of the country, they could not undertake to guide the troops to the point where we desired to camp that night. Here was a serious obstacle encountered quite early in the campaign. The point of which we proposed to encamp for the night was on the wolfcrec, only some twelve or fifteen miles from camp supply, it not being intended that our first day's progress should be very great. We had started, however, and not withstanding the discouraging statements of our guides, it would never do to succumb to the opposition so readily. There was but one course to pursue now that the guides could no longer conduct us with certainty, and that was to be guided, like a mariner in mid-ocean, by the never-failing compass. There are a few cavalry officers but would carry a compass in some more or less simple form. Mine was soon in hand, and having determined, as accurately as practicable from my knowledge of the map of the country, the direction in which we ought to move in order to strike wolfcrec at the desired camping-ground, I became for the time guide to the column, and after marching until about two p.m. reached the valley of Wolfcrec, where a resting place for the night was soon determined upon. There was still no sign of abatement on the part of the weather. Timber was found along the banks of the Crick and Ample Quantity to furnish us with fuel, but so embedded in snow as to render the prospect of a campfire very remote and uncertain. Our march of about fifteen miles through the deep snow and blinding storm had been more fatiguing to our horses than an ordinary march of thirty miles would have been. Our wagons were still far in the rear. Why they were coming up, every man in the command, officers as well as enlisted men, set briskly to work in gathering a good supply of wood, as our personal comfort and camp in such weather would be largely dependent upon the quality and quantity of our firewood. Fallen and partly seasoned trees were in great demand, and when discovered in the huge beds of snow, were soon transformed under the vigorous blows of a score of axes into available fuel. It was surprising and well as gratifying to witness the contentment and general good humor everywhere prevailing throughout the command. Even the chill of winter and the bitterest of storms were insufficient to produce a feeling of gloom or to suppress the occasional ebullation of mirthful feeling, whichever in a non would break forth from some Celtic or Teutonic disciple of Mars. Fires were soon blazing upon the ground, assigned to the different troops, and upon the arrival of the wagons which occurred soon after. The company cooks were quickly engaged in preparing the troopers' dinner, while the servants of the officers were employed in a similar manner for the benefit of the latter. While the cooks were so engaged, officers and men were busily occupied in pitching the tents, an operation which under the circumstances was most difficult to perform satisfactorily, for the reason that before erecting the tent it was desirable, almost necessary, to remove the snow from the surface of the ground intended to form the floor of the tent. Otherwise the snow, and soon as a fire should be started within the tent, would melt and reduce the ground to a very muddy condition. But so rapidly did the large flakes continue to fall that the most energetic efforts of two persons were insufficient to keep the ground properly clear, such at least was the experience of Lieutenant Molen, the adjutant, and myself in our earnest endeavours to render our temporary abiding place a fit habitation for the night. Tents up at last dinner was not long in being prepared, and even less time employed in disposing of it. A good cup of strong coffee went far towards reconciling us to everything that had but a few moments before appeared somewhat uninviting. By this time a cheerful fire was blazing in the center of our tent. My comfortable bed of buffalo robes was prepared on a framework of strong bows with my ever-faithful dogs lying near me. I was soon reclining in a state of comparative comfort, watching the smoke as it ascended through the narrow apex of the tent, there to mingle with the descending flanks of snow. In regard to the storm still prevailing outside, and which in itself or in its effects were to encounter the following morning, and for an indefinite period thereafter, I consoled myself with the reflection that to us it was an unpleasant remedy for the removal of a still more unpleasant disease. If the storm seemed terrible to us, I believe it would prove to be even more terrible to our enemies, the Indians. Properly at the appointed hour, four o'clock, the following morning, the storm was bustling and active in response to the bugle note of Reveley. The storm had abated, the snow had ceased falling, but that which had fallen during the previous twenty-four hours now covered the ground to a depth of upward of eighteen inches. The sky was clear, however, or to adopt the expressive language of California Joe, the traveling was good overhead. It is always a difficult matter, the first few days of a march, to inculcate upon the minds of the necessary hangers on of a camp such as Teamsters, Wagonmasters, etc. The absolute necessity of promptness and strict obedience to orders, particularly orders governing the time and manner of the marching, and one or two days usually are required to be devoted to disciplining these unruly characters. When the hour arrived which had been previously designated as the one at which the command would begin the second day's march, the military portion were in complete readiness to move out. But it was found that several of the teams were still unharnessed and the tenths of the Wagonmasters still standing. This was a matter requiring a prompt cure. The officer of the day was directed to proceed with his guard and, after hastening the unfinished preparations for the march, to arrest the Wagonmasters and most dillatory of the Teamsters and compel them to march on foot as a punishment for their tardiness. This was no slight matter considering the great depth of the snow. So effective was this measure, that not many hours had elapsed before the deposed drivers and their equally unfortunate superiors sent through the officer of the guard a humble request, that they be permitted to resume their places in the train, promising, at the same time, never to give renewed cause for complaints of tardiness to be made against them. Their request was granted, and their promise most faithfully observed during the remainder of the campaign. All of the second day we continued to march up the valley of the stream we had chosen as our first camping ground. The second night we encamped under circumstances very similar to those which attended us the first night, except that the storm no longer disturbed us. The snow did not add to our discomfort particularly, save by increasing the difficulty of obtaining good insufficient fuel. Our purpose was to strike the Canadian River in the vicinity of Antelope Hills, which are famous in prominent landmarks in that region, and then be governed in our future course by circumstances. Resuming the march at daylight on the morning of the third day, our route still kept us in the valley of Wolf Crick, on whose banks we were to encamp for the third time. Nothing was particularly worthy of noticing our third day's march, except the immense quantities of game to be seen seeking the weak shelter from the storm, offered by the little strips of timber extending along the valley of Wolf Crick and its tributaries. Even the buffalo, with their huge shaggy coats, sufficient one would imagine to render the wearer indifferent to the blasts of winter, were frequently found huddled together in the timber, and so drowsier benumbed from the effects of the cold as to not discover our approach until we were within easy pistol range, when the Indian guides and our white scouts who rode in advance would single out those appearing in best condition, and by deliberate aim bring them down. Details of a few troopers from each company were left at these points to cut up the butchered game, and to see it being loaded in the company wagons as the trains came along. In this way a bountiful supply of good fresh meat was laid in, the weather favoring the keeping of the meat for an indefinite period. Occasionally we would discover a herd of buffaloes on the bluffs overlooking the stream, then would occur some rare scenes of winter sport. A few of the officers and men would obtain permission to lead the column and join in the chase, an indulgence that could be safely granted as no fears were entertained that hostile Indians were in our immediate vicinity. The deep snow was a serious obstacle to exhibiting speed either in the buffalo or his pursuers. It was most laughable to witness the desperate and awkward efforts of the buffalo horse and rider in the frantic endeavor to make rapid headway through the immense fields of snow. Occasionally an unforeseen hole or ditch or ravine covered up by the snow would be encountered when the buffalo or his pursuer, or perhaps all three horse rider and buffalo, would disappear in one grand tumble into the depths of the snow-drifts, and when seen to emerge therefrom it was difficult to determine which of the three was most badly frightened. Fortunately no accidents occurred to mar the pleasure of the excitement. Seeing a fine herd of young buffaloes a short distance in the advance I determined to test the courage of my stag hounds, Blutcher and Maida. Approaching as near the herd as possible before giving them the alarm I managed to single out and cut off from the main herd a fine yearling bull. My horse, a trained hunter, was soon alongside but I was unable to use my pistol to bring the young buffalo down as both dogs were running close to either side and by resolutely attacking him and endeavoring to pull him down. It was a new experience to them, a stag they could easily have mastered, but a lusty young buffalo bow was an antagonist of different caliber. So determined had the dogs become their determination strengthened no doubt by the occasional vigorous blows received from the ready hoofs of the buffalo that I could not call them off. Neither could I render them assistance from my pistol for fear of injuring them. There was nothing left for me to do but to become a silent, although far from distress, participant in the chase. The immense drifts of snow through which we were struggling at our best pace would soon vanquish one or the other of the party. It became a question of endurance simply, and the buffalo was the first to come to grief. Finding escape by running impossible, he boldly came to bay and faced his pursuers. In a moment both dogs had grappled with him as if he had been a deer. Blucher seized him by the throat, may I endeavor to secure a firm hold on the shoulders. The result was that Blucher found himself well trampled in the snow, and but for the latter would have been crushed to death. Fearing for the safety of my dogs I leaped from my horse, who I knew would not leave me, and ran to the assistance of the stag hounds. Drawing my hunting-knife and watching a favorable opportunity, I succeeded in cutting the hamstrings of the buffalo, which had the effect to tumble him over in the snow, when I was unable to dispatch him with my pistol. On that afternoon we again encamped in the same valley at which we had been moving during the past three days. The next morning following the lead of our Indian guides who had been directed to conduct us to a point on the Canadian River near the Antelope Hills, our course which so far had been westerly, now bore off almost due south. After ascending gradually for some hours to the Crestor divide which sloped on the north down to the valley of the stream we had just left, we reached the highest line and soon began to gradually descend again, indicating that we were approaching a second valley. This, the Indians assured us, was the valley of the Canadian. Delayed in our progress by the deep snow and the difficulty from the same cause always experienced by our guides in selecting a practicable route, darkness overtook us before the entire command arrived at the point chosen for our camp on the north bank of the Canadian. As there was little or no timber found along the immediate banks of that river as far up as we then were, we pitched our tents about one mile from the river and near a small freshwater tributary whose valley was abundantly supplied with wood. If any prowling bands or war parties belonging to either of the tribes with which we were at war were moving across the Canadian in either direction, it was more than probable that their crossing would be made at some point above us and not more than ten or fifteen miles distance. The season was rather far advanced to expect any of these parties to be absent from the village, but the trail of the war party discovered by our Indian guides just before the expedition reached camp supply was not forgotten, and the heavy storm of the past few days would be apt to drive them away from the settlements and hasten their return to the village. We had every reason to believe that the ladder was located somewhere south of the Canadian. After discussing the matter with little beaver and hard rope and listening to the suggestions of California Joe and his conferees, I decided to start a strong force of the valley of the Canadian at day break the following morning to examine the banks and discover if possible if Indians had been in the vicinity since the snow had fallen. Three full troops of cavalry under Major Joel H. Ellie at Seventh Cavalry ordered to move without wagons or otro impermentio, each trooper to carry one hundred rounds of ammunition, one day's rations and forage. Their instructions were to proceed up the north bank of the Canadian, a distance of fifteen miles. If any trail of Indians was discovered, pursuit was to be taken up at once, at the same time sending information of the fact back to the main command, indicating the number and character of the Indians as determined by their trail, and particularly the direction in which they were moving, in order that the main body of the troops might endeavor if possible to intercept the Indians, or at least strike the trail by a shorter route than by following the first detachment. A few of our Indian trailers were designed to accommodate the party, as well as some of the White Scouts. The latter were to be employed in carrying dispatches back to the main command should anything be discovered of sufficient importance to be reported. In the meantime, I informed Major Elliot that as soon as it was fairly daylight I would commence crossing the main command over the Canadian, an operation which could not be performed hastily as the banks were almost overflowing, the current being very rapid, and the water filled with floating snow and ice. After making the crossing I would, in the absence of any reports from him, march up the bluffs forming Antelope Hills and Strike, nearly due south, aiming to encamp that night on some of the small streams forming the headwaters of the Washita River, where we would again unite the two portions of the command and continue our march to the south. Major Elliot was a very zealous officer, and daylight found him in his command on the march in the execution of the duty to which they had been assigned. Those of us who remained behind were soon busily occupied in making preparations to affect a crossing of the Canadian. California Joe had been engaged since early dawn searching for a fort which would be practicable for our wagons. The troopers and horses could cross almost anywhere. A safe fort in place, barely practicable, was soon reported, and the cavalry and wagon train began to move over. It was a tedious process, sometimes the treacherous quicksand would yield beneath the heavy laden wagons, and double the usual number of mules would be required to extricate the load. In less than three hours the last wagon in the rear guard of the cavalry had made a successful crossing. Looming up from our front like towering battlements were the Antelope Hills. These prominent landmarks which can be seen from the distance of over twenty miles in all directions are situated near the south bank of the Canadian, and at one hundred degrees west longitude. The Antelope Hills form a group of five separate hillocks and are sometimes called boundary mounts. They vary in height above the average level of the plains between one hundred and fifty and three hundred feet. Two of the hills are conical and the others oblong. They are composed of porous sandstone and are crowned with white and regular terraces about six yards in depth. From the summit of these terraces one enjoys a most commanding view. On the left is to be seen the red bed of the Canadian, whose torturous windings come from the southwest, direct their course for a while northwards, and finally disappear in a distant easterly direction. The horizon is but an immense circle of snowy whiteness of which the center is the point of observation. Here and there a few eclivities rise above the plains, divided by the rows of stunted trees, indicating a ravine, or more frequently a humble brook such as that on whose banks we camped the night previous to crossing the Canadian. It never occurred to any of us when folding our tents that the bleak winter morning on the bank of the Canadian, that there were those among our number who had bitten a last and final adieu to the friendly shelter of their canvas-covered homes, that for some of us, some who could but sadly be spared, the last revelry had sounded, and that when sleep again closed their eyes it would be that sleep from which there is no awakening. But I am anticipating. One by one the huge army wagons with their immense white covers began the longest scent which was necessary to be overcome before attaining the level of the plains. As fast as they reached the high ground the leading wagons were halted and parked to await the arrival of the last to cross the river. In the meantime the cavalry had closed up and dismounted, except the rear-guard, which was just then to be seen approaching from the river, indicating that everything was closed up. I was about to direct the chief bugler to sound to horse. When far in the distance on the white surface of the snow I decried a horseman approaching us as rapidly as his tired steed could carry him. The direction was that in which Elliot's command was supposed to be, and the horseman was approaching could be none other than the messenger from Elliot. What tidings would he bring was my first thought. Perhaps Elliot could not find a Ford by which to cross the Canadian, and simply desired instructions as to what his course should be. Perhaps he has discovered an Indian trail, a fresh one, but it must be fresh if one at all, as the snow is scarcely three days old. If a trail had been discovered, then woe to the luckless Indians whose footprints are discoverable in the snow! For so long as that remains, and the endurance of men and horses holds out, just so long will we follow that trail, until the pursuer and the pursued are brought face to face. Or the one or the other succumbs to the fatigues and exhaustion of the race. These and a host of kindred thoughts flashed in rapid succession through my mind as soon as I had discovered the distant approach of the scout. For a scout I knew it must be. As yet none of the command had observed him coming, not being on as high ground as where I stood. By means of my field-glass I was able to make out the familiar form of Corbin, one of the scouts. After due waiting, when minutes seemed like hours, the scout galloped up to where I was waiting, and in a few hurried, almost breathless words informed me that Elliot's command, after moving up the north bank of the Canadian about twelve miles, had discovered the trail of an Indian war-party, numbering upwards of one hundred and fifty strong, that the trail was not twenty-four hours old, and the party had crossed the Canadian, and taken a course a little east of south. Elliot had crossed his command, and had once taken up the pursuit as rapidly as his horses could travel. Here was news and of a desirable character. I asked the scout if he could overtake Elliot if furnished with the fresh horse. He thought he could. A horse was at once supplied to him, and he was told to rejoin Elliot as soon as possible, with instructions to continue the pursuit with all possible vigor, and I would move with the main command in such a direction as to strike his trail about dark. If the Indians changed their general direction, he was to inform me of the fact, and if I could not overtake him by eight o'clock that night, Elliot was to halt his command and await my arrival, when the combined force would move as circumstances might determine. My resolution was formed in a moment, and as quickly put in train of execution. The bugle summoned all the officers to report it once. There was no tardiness on their parts, for while they had not heard the report brought in by the scout, they had witnessed his unexpected arrival and his equally sudden departure. Circumstance which told them plainer than mere words that something unusual was in the air. The moment they were all assembled about me, I acquainted them with the intelligence received from Elliot, and at the same time informed them that we would at once set out to join in the pursuit. A pursuit which could and would only end when we overtook our enemies. And in order that we should not be trampled in our movements, it was my intention, then and there, to abandon our train of wagons, taking with us only such supplies as we could carry on our persons and strep to our saddles. The train would be left under the protection of about eighty men, detailed from the different troops, and under the command of only one officer, to whom orders would be given to follow us with the train as rapidly as the character of our route would permit. Each trooper was to carry with him one hundred rounds of ammunition, a small amount of coffee and hard bread, and on his saddle an equally small allowance of forage for his horse. Tents and extra blankets were to be left with the wagons. We were to move in the light marching order as far as this was practicable. Then, taking out my watch, the officers were notified that in twenty minutes from that time the advance would be sounded, and the march in pursuit begun, the intervening time to be devoted to carrying out the instructions just given. In a moment every man and officer in the command was vigorously at work, preparing to set out for a rough ride, the extent or result of which no one could foresee. Wagons rampantied, mess chests called upon to contribute from their stores, ammunition chests opened and their contents distributed to the troopers. The most inferior of the horses were selected to fill up the detail of eighty cavalry, which was to remain and escort the train. An extra amount of clothing was donned by some who realized that when the bitter freezing hours of night came, we would not have the comforts of tents and campfire to sustain us. If we had looked with proper dread upon the discomforts of the past three days, the severity of the storm, the deep snow, in our limited facilities forwithstanding the inclement seas of a mid-winter, even when provided with shelter, food and fire, what was the prospect now open before us, when we proposed relinquish even the few comforts we had at command and start out on a mission, not only full of danger, but where food would be very limited and then only of the plainest kind. Shelterless we should be in the midst of the wide open plains, where the winds blow with greater force and owing to our proximity to the Indians, even fires would be too costly an aid to our comfort to be allowed. Yet these thoughts scarcely found a place in the minds of any members of the command, all felt that a great opportunity was before us, and to improve it only required determination and firmness on our part. How thoroughly and manfully every demand of this kind was