Going on south I made camp at Old El Dorado south of present El Dorado. Here was the crossing of the great "California Trail", also the Osage Trail to their hunting ground on the Arkansas River. Here Stine and Dunlap's famous Indian trading store was located. Some buildings had been built to rent but they were deserted because  of the war of the Rebellion (Civil War) to the and savage tribes to the west.
    One of the two families lived at the crossing near by Jerry Conner, which had a house and claim; also Harvey Young. Some others I have forgotten, Lieut. Mathew Cowley and Mr. Johnson were living on the West Branch.
    As I wanted to hunt big game and engage in the fur trade, I followed the Osage Trail west to the Whitewater, the last settlement this side of New Mexico. 

    Finding a lovely spot by the big spring with abundant timber near, I pitched my camp to stay. I bought out J.C. Chandler's buildings and holding, put up other buildings, brought my wife and baby boy, put in a stock of goods for my neighbors, my hunters, and the Indians who soon came in by the hundreds. 
    There wer a few settlers on the Whitewater at that time. Williams Vann, Martin Huller, Dan Cupp, who helped build my house; Anthony Davis, Old Man Gillian; at Plum Grove lived Joseph Adams. Soon came Samuel C. Fulton, Mrs. Lawton, and her son Jack; and others. 

    As soon as I was settled, I made a hunt on the Arkansas River to show what could be done in that line. I took two inexperienced men with two teams. and in three weeks we were back with 330 buffalo hides, 3500 pounds of buffalo tallow, some elk and antelope meat.  Soon I had half of the men in the country hunting and trading. These I outfitted and supplied their families while they were gone.  None of them failed to make returns; people were honest in those days including our red brother. Of the Indians one winter I obtained 3000 buffalo robes. 

    The government sent agency Major Milo Gookins to look after the various Indians tribes. He established his agency at my place. We had a school in a log building on the hill where Towanda is built. Father Stansburg preached once a month at my house, sermon pure gospel without price or creed.
    Life has its tragedies then as now. Of those employed by me, George Adams died from exposure in the icy waters of the Arkansas, Jack Lawton was shot by an outlaw a the mouth of the Arkansas, and Sam Carter died of cholera at my house. 
    At my home and trading post, widely known as "Meads Ranch", were born to me two daughters and a son, and there passed to her long rest, my beloved wife whose life was full of love and kindness. 
    The seven years I lived in Towanda from 1863-1869 were full of activity and success with much joy and sorrow. Butler County in those years, was as nature made it, was beautiful to the eye, green prairies, gushing springs, stately timer, clear flowing streams; birds and fish abounded and nearby were elk, deer, antelope, and buffalo innumerable, free to all for the taking. 

THIS WAS A 3 PART SERIES PUBLISHED IN THE HERALD BY A MAN WHO FOUGHT UNDER GENERAL CUSTER.  IT RAN FROM AUGUST 8, 1899 THROUGH OCTOBER 31, 1899.  IT IS A TRUE STORY OF INDIAN WARFARE.  WRITTEN FOR AND GENEROUSLY CONTRIBUTED TO THIS PAPER IN TOWANDA, KANSAS BY ONE OF ITS READERS. THIS IS AN INCREDIBLE PIECE OF AMERICAN HISTORY THAT WERE WERE SO VERY LUCKY TO STUMBLE UPON DURING OUR RESEARCH THROUGH THE OLD NEWSPAPERS. IT IS OUR PLEASURE TO SHARE WITH THE PUBLIC. DUE TO THE LENGTH AND UNCLEAR PRINT, WE HAD TO RETYPE THE WORDS ON THIS BLOG TO MAKE IT MORE LEGIBLE FOR YOU TO READ. 

Among the many triumphs which has crowned the career of the "Herald", we can count the production by one of our subscribers to this paper, of a history of his five adventurous years on the plains fighting "Injuns" under General Custer. Written by himself from notes taken by him at the time and from memory, as among the greatest.
  We give the narrative in the author's own language and style, and we feel pretty sure that a more graphic description of this western country and the modes of Indian life and warfare could not be produced; and that the reading will be of the intensest interest to both old and young; and what is better yet, is full of instruction from beginning to end.
  The author, in the first place, evinces a desire for adventure on the plains, which is gratified by doing the rands going west to fight the Indians. He is drilled in the company of his own color, and after practicing sword and riding exercises they march west and meet their first adventure which proves no picnic.
  The barbaric savagery of the "noble red man" is portrayed in their treatment of captives; and the renegades (white out-laws) are shown to be often the leading spirits in the Indian outbreaks. 
  The many hair breadth and almost miraculous escapes of the writer are told in the style peculiar to himself, and the reader will readily follow him from the exciting scene to another, as he leads him across the unsettles plains of the western Kansas and Colorado.
  Another merit, and no mean one either is the exact truth of these accounts. He gives places, dates and names of parties.He is conversant with the geography of the country over which he has passed; and his comrades, into whose hands this piece of history may fall, will most likely recognize the writer and remember the events he so graphically describes. 
  it is with the greatest pleasure, and with gratitude to the author that we present our readers with our friend's adventures; and we have every reason to hope that you all will be entertained, delighted, interested and instructed by their perusal.
  The first chapter of this narrative will appear next week.

As I sat meditating one bright July morning in 1867 the thought came to me that I would like to be a calvary soldier and I said to my partner: "Come Jeff let us join the 10th cavalry that is going out west," and he said agreed; so off we went to the recruiting office then situated at Leavenworth, Kansas, and we enlisted for five years in Co. H 10th regiment of cavalry. We were drilled at the Fort for six weeks and then we had horses furnished to us, and then we drilled two weeks on horse-back and took up our live of march for the far west. Our first days march was a picnic, the second was a little mixed, and the third was, "say Sergeant where are we going?" The Sargeant's reply was, "don't get discouraged boys you are in for it now," and so we were in for it, we made Fort Riley that day and went in to camp and drilled three weeks and then took up our line for march for Fort Harker and drilled there for three weeks and then marched for Denver, Colorado, but met with a band of Indians, they stampeded our horses and pulled the scalps of two white men, got fifteen of our horses. Got up on on a hill and bid us the time of day. Well you see the Captain said, "boys we will take those rascals in," so off we started after them two or three miles over the hills when we came across an old buffalo and fires about 1,000 shots at him at the distance of a mile, we then went back and reported that we killed two of their horses; thus ended our first fight with the Indians. In October 1867 we went to Delver, Col. and stayed there until December. We then came back to Fort Riley and went into winter quarters, where we drilled and laid in guard house part of the time and carried ammunition boxes, knapsacks of sand and were a jolly lot of fellows.
  In the spring of 1866 we went to Fort Wallace and business commenced in earnest. The Indians were more than Custer could manage so he took us to help him out. He sent us after old Saturday, Lone Wolf and Big Tree, of the Cheyenne Tribes, we packed our saddles and started for the Republicao River, Col. We struck the Indian's trail one hundred miles from Wallace. Gen. Custer was one who did not want more than 200 soldiers to whip 3000 Indians. So he started  us out one hundred and twenty five strong with twelve teamsters. 137 all told. Well we were hungry for blood and we got it too 'on the reverse' so we were on their trail and we followed to the North Platte River Valley, there we camp up with them 1500 strong, and the jig was up, and we that danced had to pay the fiddler and dearly to a; my God, they whipped us out of our boots. "Why the squaws could have whipped us." They shot down 30 horses and men for us quicker than it takes me to write this. They got off with two wagons of hard-tack which was a serious loss to us, we bought them from 9 o'clock in the morning til 3 o'clock in the evening, we then drew off and crossed the Platt River and pulled for better company, which we found 125 miles from there in the shape of a regiment of white cavalry which had just been whipped by 3,000 Indians of Sitting Bulls band; you bet they made us welcome to their hard tack and sow belly to which we did ample justice.  I might say here that the Indians got all our rations, therefore we did not get anything to eat while traveling that 125 miles until we got to the 7th cavalry and you bet we were about starved though we did get a few prairie dogs on the way. But that was little among so many. This ended our second fight of April 1868.
  May 1868 We were hungry for more Indian blood, but we shaped things a little better this time. We struck Beaver Creek, and roused old Captian Jack in the renegade, we done him up in good shape and took his three squaws and fifty others and 75 old men and boys, ponies, saddles, and wigwams, but the warriors got away, but I would rather fight 5 bucks than one squaw. For they will not give up the fight till they are dead. I will relate an incident that occurred after we had captured them one day. The Captain send out a detail to kill a Buffalo for the captive Indians, and sent the squaws along under guard to where the buffalo was and he went along to give orders, (well you know the officers of the regular army put on more style than the President of the United States) well he walked up to where an old squaw was gutting the buffalo and when she got the entrans out she ripped the paunch open and took it in both hands and made a dive for the captain and emptied the contents all over him, the soldiers did not dare to laugh, but we disobeyed orders that time, which cost us something. Well after we got recruited up and our horses and men replaced, that we had lost, we were in good shape again; as I said we came up with the 7th Cavalry a "a white regiment," and we all went to Fort Wallace, about 800 strong white and colored and we began to prepare for the Grand Campaign back over the same ground. The North Platte Valley where we had been so badly defeated General Custer wanted to divide the soldiers, to cover more country, which was a bad mistake; Co. H and Co. I of the 10th Cavalry went north of Wallace to Beaver Creek and Short Knolls and the 7th Cavalry went north east to the Republican River and big tree country. We were strung out in the find shape for fighting Indians 15,000 strong, we went at it like veterans, September 1868 we landed in the famous Platte Valley, but we found the Indians gone; so we hundred up and found them comfortably encamped about 300 miles up the Republican River, in Colorado. Well as I said my two companies were the first to come up with the gents and we opened the ball with the loss of six men killed. We soon found that our party was too small to hold a candle tor them and General Carr ordered a retreat, which order was at once put in motion, we progressed without any interruption until three o'clock in the afternoon. All day we had seen Indians scattered away off on the hills following and watching us until we got where they wanted us, we had a regard about a mile behind the column, and about 3 o'clock in the afternoon the rear guard came in on the run. We got up on the rise and looked back and as far as we could see the world was alive with Indians. The captain chose his ground and we went for it on the run and made the place we wanted and made corral by placing the wagons in a circle with the tongues under each other and put the horses inside of the circle. The wagons were partly loaded with forage in the sacks, we tumbled them out and took our spades and there sand up against them and entrenched ourselves in behind them, by the time we had done this, and ti was done before I could tell it, the Indians had come up and the medicine man had made his first circle and the captain said boys do not lei him go round three times or we are got up. We began to shoot at this, but he made the second round and had got half way round the third time, we brought him down; let me say here that it is the custom of the Indians to send the medicine man around and if he can succeed in circling you three times no power on earth will save you then, as they think the medicine man has drawn the charm, as I said we shot him before he had completed the third round and broke the charm. Then we made a sally to get the medicine man and that brought on a hand to hand encounter which lasted 30 minutes and caused a good many poor fellows to bite the dust on our side as well as theirs. But we succeeded in driving them back and getting their medicine man, but he was not quite dead and one of our boys went running to him when he made about two moves and pinned his legs together with an arrow, but before he could shoot his bow again, one of the boys shot him. Well the Indians withdrew and left us: so we hurried our dead and taking our wooded with us we pulled out for a better situation, and thus ended one of the darkest day Is ever saw, for we were out numbered five to one; then a runner came to us from Teachers Island which was 75 miles above us; Let me relate here the after we left Fort Wallace there was not any cavalry left at the Fort and the Indians got so bold that the commander took steps to raise a small calvary force; Now there was t the Fort at that time 65 white men who in the employ of the Government and one them one that had been  in the war of the rebellion, he had been a Lieutenant by the name of Beecher, well he told the Commander that he could pick out fifty men that would be as good as any cavalry company in the Army and could whip all the Indians that he could show him. Well the Post Commander commissioned him and told him to pick out his men, and the Lieutenant Beecher picked out fifty men and equipped them with horses and arms and pack mules they drew new carbines of the Spencer seven shot and got 5,000 rounds of ammunition, five pack mules well loaded and they started due north and struck an Indian trail of 900 strong and they followed it fifteen miles up the river fire miles below where the 7th cavalry had crossed one week before and the Indians had been watching them from the Tim they left the Fort and as they crossed the river they came down on them. In the middle of the river was an Island about fifty yards square and it was on that island that Beecher and his men made a stand. The first day they chose a man and dispatched him after us, and it took him five days to find us and we were seven more days before we could get to them: now I will just give you a description of the battle field as we found it, can you imagine a plot of ground fifty yards square with fifty dead men, horses and mules all laying in the sun. Some of them had been dead 10 or 12 days, and they were stolen beyond all human shape. The Indians had not left one man, horse or mule alive, all had been massacred: the man they had send to us was the only one left: it was the safest sight I ever saw, the man that came to us, when he got back and saw his comrades that he had left so gallant a few days before, preparing for the fight the next day, he cried out Oh! my friends! and wept like a child. Well they died like hers and the way they fought would have done honor to veterans. After we had buried the dead and rested one day at the island, we started after the Indians and followered their trail and we counted 400 fresh made Indian graves on the route besides 175 dead which we buried on the island. Let me state here that the Indians got all their pack mules first thing and so they had no rations and were nearly starved, they had cut pieces out of the dead horses and laid them in the sun to dry and they lived on that until they were all killed. Reader you may want to know why the Indians did not come and take all the plunder that Beecher had? Well they had suffered so severely that they were all dead and they thought it best to keep out of the way of those deadly Spencer carbines that they poor fellows used so effectively. The island is known as Beechers Island to this day.

    I will give you a slight description of Beecher and his men; as I told you Beecher was a Lieutenant in the Army during the Civil War and his men were employed by the Government, they consisted of blacksmiths, carpenters, stone masons and mule drivers. Lieutenant Beecher was a clerk in the commissary. They had never been drilled and had no discipline, they were not even good riders and had no idea of fighting on horseback nevertheless they did well; as it appears the Indians had been watching them, and as soon as they got them on the island they knew they were not soldiers, and they piled right into them, the men jumped off their horses and went to fighting and the Indians crowded right down and shot all their horses; they said afterwards that knew that the white men would never get away. About 300 yards below the island there was a natural fort of deep hollows, where if Lieutenant B had kept his presence of mind and led his men to them, he could have whipped them if they had attacked h I'm, or, he could have held his own until night and then slipped out. Let me say here that if they had been drilled as company of cavalry they would have whipped those Indians out of their boots. In the first place, if he had been compelled to give battle on that ground, and to such superior numbers, he would have given the command to prepare to dismount and fight on foot that would have thrown the horses in a compact circle with no, 4 holding them they then never could run, for one horse holds the others and it is impossible to stampede them and the men would have formed a circle around the horses and that would have been a line of battle two men deep all around the horses and the Spencers being long range guns and the Indians really close on such line. But we will pass and leave Lieutenant B. and his brave boys to rest. Thus ends our third campaign, June 1868. 

  We now left the main Republican River and stared for the north fork of the Republican which was called afterwards, Custers Creek. We traveled west 150 miles and found five companies of the 7th and 8th cavalry which had left Wallace the same time we did, the Indians had eluded them to try us, to see what kind of timber we were made of, they knew what the 7th and 8th were, and after the Beecher massacre and the little lesson we gave them, they thought the whites and black were small potatoes and they did not care for us and them to be in the same hill. Well we joined the 7th and 8th and camped on Custer Creek and had 2 weeks drill which was rather interesting, one regiment in rivalry with another. Well now for a buffalo chase and some beef steak, Lieutenant L, myself and 9 others composed the hunting party, after breakfast Lieutenant L. ordered myself and 9 others to saddle our horse and 'they being the fasted company' and provide ourselves with one hundred rounds of cartridges a piece that he wanted us to go with him after some buffalo that he had seen through his spy glass 5 miles to the right of camp, horses were saddled and riders were up and off, we went like the wind for about 4 miles from camp. The brutes scented us and started out straight for us about 1,000 in the herd. Let me explain here, the supposed reason why they started towards us, "for instance if a herd of buffalo are to the north of you and strong wind from the south, you go toward them, they get the scent of you and they will run toward you trying to get past the scent and the closer they get the faster they will run. This was the position were were in that caused them to run toward us, I tell this for the benefit of some that would suppose the buffalo would run from us in place of toward us, but after they get past and out of scent, they will of't times stop within fifty yards of the hunter, if he is well concealed: so Lieutenant L. said now hold your horses well in the hand and when they get within 300 yards, let them have it as fast as you can. Lieu't L. picked out a large old fellow and made for him, as for myself I began to look a little out for we were in danger of being run down and trampled to death; Lieu't L., now began to take in this fact, so he said boys take care of yourselves. We expected they would scatter when we fired into them, but it didn't happen so quick as we expected, so Lieu't L. said boys follow me. Obeyed orders and soon found that we were on a charge right in front of the buffalo's 1,000 strong, and there was no stopping either; we shot back at them to get them scattered, but with no success, we could not ride to the right or left as they were pressing us so hard: well they dove us three or four miles and we got them separated, but we now ten miles from camp, a small party in an Indian country; remember the Indians were watching us since we had got together and they were watching this hunting party. Lieu't L had orders not to go farther than five miles from camp and here we were ten: after looking for a while through his glass he said men we are in a bad fix, if we get back to camp alive we are hero's; now I want you men to be calm and dent get excited, there is a party of Indians about twenty-five of them between us and camp and we have got to fight to death, we must not be taken or they will burn us at the stake. Our horse had rested a little so we mounted and started for camp, we had travelled two miles when Lieu't L. said, "boys, they are on us." Then putting away his glass he said, "now for that buffalo wallow," which was 300 yards away, we made it in good shape bu by the time we got to it 75 of the powder faces young Bucks were at our heels. Well we dismounted and got down in the hollow and our racket commenced in earnest.  Let me give you a description of a buffalo wallow. It is a place on the level prairie where the buffalo have met and fought and wallowed and by fighting, pawing and wallowing, some of those places get to be 5 or 6 feed deep and 75 or 100 yards square. I have seen them cover three acres, but this was a small one, but deep, and had steep banks to it except at one place where they had don in or out, this was our position. Well those young bucks stuck close to us for about 30 minutes, but our presence offend and the faithful Spencer carbines soon taught them that buffalo soldiers were, - as they afterwards said, - made of powder. Well they killed private C. poor boy and wounded B. and D. and shot one of our horses; our fire was so well directed that they drew off, but we knew that they would soon return, so we took our lariat ropes and threw the other horses down to conceal them below the banks of the wallow, which worked like a charm, this done we prepared to fight indeed.
    About one o'clock they began to put in an appearance, but seemed disconcerted at not seeing our horses and being very superstitious they stopped at about 600 yards from us and held a council, there were about 100 warriors; Lieutenant L. who was a dead shot saluted them with his Spencer rifle. Down went one of their horses, at the same time the rest of us that were able to saluted them in the life manner, they thought then that would not do, so they came straight for us whopping and yelling, as if that would do any good. So we let them get within 100 yards of us and then weave them a broadside which took deadly effect, still on they came, you bet we piled them in good style. The two boys that were hurt, fought like heroes in spike of their wounds. I must here state that we had taken our iron picket pins and dug hollows in the side of the bank where we could conceal ourselves and when they came close to try to see us, we would get out of sight. Then they would skip back out of sight, and that would draw us out to watch their movements and get a shot at them which we did and caused and Indian to bite the dust every time. Generally an dIndian will not fight an enemy that is hid from view, but our party was so small and theirs so large, and we had a white Lieutenant in command that they wanted so bad to burn, this is why they struck so close to us. Out of 1100 cartridges that we left camp with, we had 300 left. Fate had begun to settle down upon us. The Indians had increased to 200 and they had began to get bold, they were just fixing to make a rush and come over right into our fort, when all at once we heard the hum of a shower of bullets pass over our fort and then all at once we say the Indians scattering in eery direction: Lieutenant L. said those shots were from long range funds, and we raised up to look, and soon caught sight  of our old Com. H of the 10 cavalry bringing the Indians right toward us. They had slipped upon them and surprised them and run them over us, we did our part as they passed us. 
    It will be remembered that when we left camp that were were to be back by noon and as we didn't to turn up, General Custer know that something was afloat and he had stared partied out in every direction to look for us. Out company happened to sight the Indians by the aid of the spy glass; they could see something's up and thought the Indians were having a war dance over our bodies, but Lieutenant L. had no such idea. Neither did his men, but if the company had been one hour later it would have been dark night with us. Well Captain C. was very mad when he came up to where were were and saw no dead horse and rider, but when he heard the facts in the case he cooled down and thought we had done well. we laid our comrade to rest and then took our Cours to camp, thanking heaven for our deliverance from the stake. Well the 4 or 5 buffalos that we had crippled, the company had found on their way to find us, and we now took them in on our way to camp, we had steak any how, tough it cost us dearly. The Indians had gone all except 5 and 3 dead horses which they compelled to leave in our possession. 

    Well camp was reached and things quieted down once more. Then marching orders came and we prepared to go. We did not know where to, but when we had gone three days march we got to the foot of Thunderhead Mountain, 200 miles south of Denver, Col. And here we were separated Co's, H. and I. went together, and three white Co's went in one batch and two Co's in another. We were in fine shape for a little racket which we got to our hearts content. My Co's H. and I. went straight for the Colorado River and then traveled for Salt Lake City but before we got there we turned south and went to the famous Powder Mountain and Bid Horn River, which six years after proved to be Busters fatal and last battle ground. When we got to the Powder River or mountain we made ourselves acquainted with Captain Jack and his band of Modocs and Utes where are a brace set of chaps. Well then we saw the boys and in such numbers, we send out our scouts to find where Generals Pinro and Custer were , in order to keep up communication. But the Indians got our scouts and took their scalps and left us without any knowledge of where Gen. Custer was. We were 275 strong and with an enemy 1700 strong, we were in a bad fix. It will be remembered that one third of those Indians were renegade white men and they were most of them armed with Winchester rifles and had plenty of ammunition. We encamped at the foot of Powder Mountain about one hundred yards form the river and chose our battle ground. Taking care to keep out of range of the lava beds, the identical place to which General Custer allowed himself to be enticed afterwards when he and his whole party were so brutally massacred. 
    Well the battle opened about sun rise: this was in October 1868. They came out and saluted us with their Winchesters at about 100 yards and halloo'd, "Oh! you d---d niggers, we will roast your black hides over the fire before night!". We answered back, "Come on you Texas S. of B's!" And they did come on to within 30 yards of our wagons, but we piled them up in such a way that 75 of them were not able to take part in the roasting us. They now went back about a mile and on eat hill stopped and held a council, and with the aid of the spy glass we could see them mustering their tomahawks and lances. Then we knew that we were in for a hand to hand encounter, so we piled our swords out of the wagon and reloaded our revolvers and preparer to see them when they came back. About noon we saw several bands of Indians joining them. Things began to look dark at that time. Where were our scouts? At that time we were in hopes that they had got to Custer and Pinro but we afterwards found that they never got there. I will here state that when these Indians first saluted us they shook some-thing at us but we had no idea that is was the scalps of our good scouts, but it was. And we began to realize that we could have to fight it alone. When we spared into three parties it was arranged that Custer and Pinto took three companies and to travel north, my two companies went north west and the other two Co's went south. Each band had two scouts and the way the scouts had to keep each army informed as to the other was by meeting on the route and each scout would carry the news to his command that he had seen scouts of such company, and they would be at Powder Mountain on such a day. This will show you what we had lost in losing our scouts. We were lost from the rest of the army and they had no means of knowing that we were being pressed by the renegades and Indians. The whole army was to have met at Powder Mountain in 25 days if nothing happened, but as I said, things were looking dark for us. Well at 2 o'clock they got ready and so were we. They separated and came for us in three bands at once. We prepared to receive them, we were buried in the ground and held our fire until they got within 40 yards of us and then we gave it to them. We covered the ground with them, but only made them more blood-thirsty. They came up close enough tot use the tomahawk and lance. We emptied our Spencers and then took our revolvers to them. We grappled with them but did not have to use our sabres. By the time our revolvers were empty the battle was won. I don't relive there was a more sever battle fought intuit space of time the that was. They lost 375 killed and wounded, we lost 13 killed and 26 wounded, also 51 horses and 30 mules. The Indians lost 200 horses, but there was a large number killed that we didn't to get. They went away, thinking that they had a costly roast, out of the number killed, 96 were white men renegades of the rebel army from Texas and bad ones at that. 

      Now let us see what Generals Custer, and Piro, have been doing: They went north  and instead of meeting us at the time and place allotted, Old Sitting Bull and 1200 of his braves yanked on to him 55 miles from where he left us and gave
him plenty of employment, 'They kept him there 28 days, and we were left with the Mr. Modoos to make their acquaintance, which we did in pretty good shape.
    Custer joined us at last, and we were glad to see him, but sorry to say he was 25 men short. Now about Captain Cloud and his two companies that went south, they met with 600 Crowfeet Indians who stampeded their horses and that left them afoot for the Indians caught most of their horses and their progress was slow, however they came in all right. But some what sorefooted and a little ashamed. So we were all together again and Custer takes command of all the troops and now we prepared to fight five tribes which had consolidated to wind us up or burn us at the stake. Sitting Bull, Captain Jack, Storm cloud, Rain-in the-face, and Powder-face, were the Chiefs of the tribes that we now had to deal with. After we had whipped the Modoes and the renegades they went away and got all these tribes to help to take us, but by the time they could get them all together all the soldiers had got together again. They prepared to try us anyhow as their numbers were so strong they would not give it up. But if those renegade had not been at the head of it, the Indians would not have united their forces to fight as they did. For two of those tribes were at war with each other at the time and fought it out 2 weeks after their battle with us, that we will now record.  
    About the last of December we received word through scouts that a mixed army of Indians and renegades were preparing to come down and take us and roast us before the cold weather set in. For we were too near their winter quarters.
    Well we fixed up for them, but before they got ready, we had a cold storm, and all had like to have been frozen to death. So they did not come; Indians do not fight in right cold weather if they can help it. Well it kept getting colder and so we had to make for winter quarters. Gen. Custer thought it best to go over in the valley and bid the gents goodbye before we started for Fort Wallace. Accordingly, one cold day we were put in motion and travelled 50 miles that day and went in-to camp at 10 o'clock that night. We were about frozen, we got supper and was ordered not to put up tents, which we thought strange. I believe some of the boys did curse Custer behind his back about the tent. At 12 o'clock the bugle sounded, boots and saddles! I don't believe I ever came so near freezing to death as I did that night, but we tumbled out and was on the road in 30 minutes. We went about 25 miles and dismounted with orders not to whisper, but to run around and keep warm. Which we had to do to keep ourselves from freezing to death. We remained quietly here until break of day then we looked down in the valley and it ever my heart sank within me it did at that moment. We were about 500 yards from the Indian village and it extended for five miles up and down the valley, and all the poor wretches sound asleep and thought us 75 miles away.
    We will now leave the soldiers and go back to show whether we had provocation for the slaughter that is now to take place or not. You know I said that two companies were sent south and they got their horses stampeded by the Indians? And they had to come all the way on foot. Well their business was to meet a wagon train of supplies for us, that was sent from Fort Wallace to reach Powder Mountain. Well after our party had whipped the Indians they went away and met the train before the soldiers did and whipped the infantry that was escorting it and captured the whole thing 75 strong. And tied the men to the wagon wheel and cut out their tongues and burned them alive, then carried off all the mules, sugar, coffee and hard bread, 5,000obs of forage, 800 suits clothing, they destroyed $100,000 worth of property beside burning 75 men, now judge whether we had provocation or not for the slaughter that we to take place in a few moments.
    Now we will go back to the soldiers on the hill; at peep of day we were looking down on the Indian village, well now we prepare for bloody work. We were about 758 strong; so we mount for the fray Custer leads with three companies, Pinro with two Co', and Car with two Co's. We glided silently down the hill until we got within two hundred yards of them we then saluted the village with 800 rounds from our Spencers, then with revolver in hand we charged right in to the camp yelling like ten thousand demons. Then the awful carnage commenced squaws, children boys and girls, young and old running in every direction, we shot them down like birds. They came out naked with their tomahawks and fought bravely, but to no avail we charged one charge after another for six hours. I had thought we had been fighting before, but we were now putting on the cap sheaf little babies that seemed to have been born that night were trampled to death under the feet of our horses. My heart sank with pitty,and I thought -O! cruel Custer hold thy mighty band, those little babes know not why thou art in this land. Little boys and girls came out naked with their bow and tomahawksand fought like little tigers. By this time the warriors began to take in the situation and began to give us an introduction to their Winchesters and old smooth bores. Which turned the tide for a while and caused some of the soldiers to bite the dust, but it was so cold that they could not compete with us in their naked condition and began to try to get away. We surrounded that part of the village occupied by the renegades who were going to roast our black hides and we all shouted: "Hey! you are playing the devil roasting our black hides. Why are you laying up here snoozing at this time of day? Trot out here and take your medicine'. All the time we were talking, we were pouring deadly vollies of leaden bail into their tents and by that time they had taken in the situation we had them foul. But I want you to know that they fought desperate, for they knew that no quarters are shown to renégaden. We cut, and we cut, and slashed until I suppose General Custer got tired of the bloody work, and we drew off on to the hill from whence we came and reckoned up our losses, which were very light, for the reason that it was so cold that the Indians could not fight and they had all their women and children in their way. Of the renegades, we killed all we could find in the camp.
    Much has been said about Rain-in-the-face, I will give a description of him as I saw him: I think he was a half breed, large, portly, intelligent, and brave as a lion. He wore a hideous smile on his face and it was said that he wore the scalps of 300 white men about his war dress, which I believe was so. He was the worst Chief that we had to contend with. He and his family suffered severely in the above fight. He lost three sons and eight other children. Also five of his squaws' and for this loss he swore to cut Custer's heart out and drink his blood. Which it is said that he afterwards did. We went back to the village and burnt a few wigwams, which cost me a little more than had been bargained for. I5 miles up the valley was another Indian village that we did not know of, but they had been notified and had prepared a war party and was on us before we knew it. We turned our attention to them and shook them off. By this time, the weather had moderated a little which favored the Indians greatly, and you bet they took advantage of the opportunity. Now the tide had began to turn and we had to a assume the defensive and look out for ground to fight on. We found this too hot and had to get away. We had lost heavily by this time and a great many horses had been killed. Rain-in-the-face had taken command of all the warriors, and for three days we had to fight if ever men did, and if the weather had turned warm there would not have been one of us left to tell where the other one. But we got out of that scrape and shaped things up a little and pulled tor Fort Wallace 400 miles distance on half rations. Before we had got 100 miles, the weather turned warm like Spring and the Indian had fixed up, organized and was on to us 8 to 1 there was nothing for it but fight or burn, and we fought on the run when we could and when we had to stop we gave them the best we could. We had to travel after night to save our scalps. You see General Custer made a mistake by going over it the valley to bid them good-bye. For it cost us dearly in the end; we just got away and back to Fort Wallace with 60% men out of 768. Well no were at Fort Wallace now. Looking back over our journey and telling how each other acted: we were in good warm quarters and plenty to eat and plenty of clothes, drawing new horses, drilling, boxing and dancing. We were having a good time. Captain Onol came down to the quarters to join in the fun. We say to him,"Say B.. heard nothing about marching again?" He said "I don't know, heard Captain say a'while
ago that we would freeze to death. bin weather, my God!" Then he said;
"well I think that we will bare to go in two or three days." You may guess, how our feathers drooped. We had been in only one week, the bugle had sounded for dinner call and we were all seated when the Great sargent came to dining room door and shouted, "After dinner I want every man to form in line, to draw over shoes, gloves, cape of fur, doable suits of under clothing. We are under marching orders, hurry up, est and get out." Dinner eaten, we formed in line the Captain then made a speech something like the following, "Now men we have been out all through the cold weather and have suffered a great deal. We are going to draw clothing and I want every man to have plenty of clothes for we are to start in the morning for a 60 day campaign up in the Yellowstone mountains. The Indians surprised and massacred two companies of the 8th cavalry and are pressing the corps hard up. These and we will join them for the winter." 
    We have now come to January 1869 when we started on the Yellowstone
campaign. We made good time until we got to where the massacre had taken place and joined the troops operating in that district and made it warm for Mr. Redmun. While he made it hot for us. We stayed with them through January and marched for Fort Wallace to rest a month, which we needed very much. At Fort Wallace we scouted until July and then began to prepare for more work with our red brother. Well this is two years of my experience as a Soldier on the plains, if the printer accepts I will give the other three years.

    We had by this time got pretty well rested, both mend and horse, and the paymaster came along and paid the boys which gladened our hearts. We had a good time which terminated in a bad job. There were two or three white Cos of infantry stationed at Fort Wallace. An infantry and cavalry cannot live in peace together (that is in the regular army) and they got too much whiskey in and raised a mutiny between the white and colored soldiers, which caused six white and three colored men to bite the dust and 50 to be put in the guard-house and they threw cloud over our character as soldiers, and caused some on both sides to go to the pen; for five years. This was H. and I. cos. of 10 cavalry, and A. and K. and M. was at Fort Zero, and 3 cos. of white cavalry were at the same place. And the paymaster went here and paid the men off, and they all got too much whiskey and mutinied; and had a pitched battle. I. co. got their stable burnt with 181 horses in it. There were twenty men killed and several wounded. (and a lot more prison birds! Well those fellows were bad!) but if it had not been for whiskey this would never have been.They lost $15,000, in a few minutes.
    Well we will start for the state plains again, and see what our red brothers are doing. About the 30th of July we left Fort Wallace for the last time. We bid goodbye to our old stamp ground and go to White Mountain. Here we meet up with the great Chief Doghead, "and bulldog he was "we hung in with him and 1200 of his dog warriors, and had a little racket about sundown, and gave them a flogging which however only lasted them one night, the next morning they were on to us by peep of day and we had it hot, nearly all day when about four o'clock they were reinforced by two bali tribes of Modes and Utes which turned the tide against us. We traveled all night and tried to give them the slip. We travelled 55 miles that night, but by morning they were on us in good style and we began to think we would all be "massacred; but it happened that we had chosen a good battle ground, and had a small piece of artillery with us, and that was all that saved us. They stuck to us until we got breast-works up, then they drew off out of range of our guns and went into amp, saying they were going to starve us out for water but Lieutenant L. was a good engineer and he picked out his old Buffalo party and slipped out after night and went within 300 yards of their camp and gave them about fifteen grape and canister which taught them a lesson that they will remember to this day if any of them were alive. The next morning we got ourselves in fighting trim, but they failed to show up, so we thought we would rattle them out and so we started after them and came up with them but they did not want any fight (because they said we had a smoke wagon that would kill all Indians at one shot) and so they got away. But we thought they were up to some of their tricks, so we kept a strict watch on the chaps, and in about a week they tried some more of their smart tricks on us.
    We had gone into camp at Yellowstone Mountain to rest horses and men and drill a while there. There was a part of the boys out fishing and swimming and the first thing they knew about fifty Utes was on them and killed three of the boys. But before they could do any more harm we had our rifles in hand and gave them a round, we dropped four of them on the spot and got four horses, by that time the soldiers at camp were in arm and mounted and ready for the chase, which was some fun, but they got away. We now avowed vengence, and began to fix up to take them at night. Their main camp was 90 miles away, over in Utah, so we waited about two weeks and then we started for their village, we made the 90 miles in two days and one night, we travelled at night and the last day in

​    -Cutting and shouting like terrors, and tore their camp up and routed all the Indians; but we had to get away before daylight. We went all night and camped 45 miles from their camp and entrenched, and I then awaited their arrival; which was not very long, for they came ten to one. But we had by this time met with some of the 6th cavalry and we together made a pretty good army, and we were in good fighting trim, but they attacked us any way, and we fought two days, and had a hot time. We lost several men and horses but we routed them at last and then had to go on the run, for they were receiving bands of warriors every day and had by this ttme 1100 warriors and we were only 400 strong, and so we went into the mountains and fixed up for a general fight. The Indians had an object in view. It will be remembered that when we went back to Fort Wallace from the Yellow Stone massacre, General Custer went over the mountains into Utah and was operating there. And the object that the Indians had was to keep us from joining him. All the time they were fighting us they were concentrating over on the other side of the mountain in order to over-power and massacre him and all his soldiers. As soon as we got into the mountains the Indians all left us, and went to join the main band that was gathering around Custer, but as we did not catch on to their racket at first we made ourselves content, but kept a strict watch for them, for we knew their tricks too well. All went well with us, but Custers position was dangerous for he had only seven Co's, and he had seven tribes of Indians to compete with beside a band of renegades. Well we did not know this, neither did Custer, so we were waiting for orders from Custer to know what to do next.
    Well now for a buffalo hunt for we were sadly in want of meat, and the buffalo were passing our camp every day in great herds. We were afraid to venture out after them, but now the temptation was too strong and the need so great, that at last Lieu't. L. persuaded the Captain that he could take his old hunting party and take one in within half a mile of camp. So the captain consented that he should try his hand, so he myself and four others to saddle horses and go with him. So we mounted and off in quick time. Lieu't LB. horse was very high spirited and when excited was unmanageable; we came up with the buffalo one half mile from camp. Lieu't I. made for one old fellow and gave him a shot six inches from a vital spot which dropped him. But quick as thought he got up and was off. Lieu't I, was so anxious that he should not get too far from camp. He was charging on him and I was fifty yards behind him to see it well. All at once I saw his horse throw up his head then I knew that he had broken his curb and was running away. He made a straight line for the brute. I urged my steed too within fifty feet of the horse, for I knew the brute would turn on his horse and as quick as thought, the buffalo did turn and caught the horse just behind the fore shoulder. The horse was going with such speed that the buffalo ripped
him from one end to the other and strung his entrails for 50 yards. The horse ran
75 yards before he fell dead; the fall knocked Lien't L. senseless. After the buffalo hooked the horse he kept straight after him and was fixing to make a charge at Lieu't L., who was by this time trying to get up, but was right in front of the buffalo as I was the nearest to him. I took it all in at a glance and made a shot at the brute and found the vital spot. He dropped within 20 feet of Lieu't L. One minute later his doom would have been sealed. I had in previous buffalo hunts learned the vital spot. I have often shot down six or seven in their tracks and only given each but one shot. I said: "Lieutenant, are you hurt?" He said he was "not much hurt, but you have saved my life. You are a faithful soldier and shall be rewarded." He afterward presented me with a badge of honor which was of silver and about the size of a silver quarter,-a star and half-moon. Well we got our meat and started for camp, which we reached without further mishaps and had our tenderloin stake for dinner and supper. 

    We stayed in that camp for one week, and we began to think that all was not right, as the Indians were no where to be seen. So we struck camp and started for the line of Utah which was 125 miles from general Custer. We began to see that something was wrong, so without further waiting for orders, the captain started for Custor's camp which was situated at the Little Big Horn. We traveled day and night til within forty miles of his camp. There we met a band of renegades who ordered us to go no farther, but we got them to understand that they were not running that part of the army. They then yoked onto us, we shook them off and undertook to go ahead, but we soon found they meant what they said, for they came out as in double force. They were determined that we shouldn't  join Custer at all hazzards. They said that they could take care of him and his band without our help. But we knew they would not do it to suit us, so we wanted a hand in it. We had to go into camp and fix for fighting in earnest. We had been in camp two days, one of Custer's scouts came to us with orders for us to get to him that night, if we had to ride every horse to death. Then we realized what the Indians had been up to all the time. 
    We had to ride sixty miles to get to Custer, forty miles away. And we had a bad job on our hands but had to make the trial, so we pulled ont by 8 o'clock that night and by daybreak we were fifty miles from where we started and about fourteen from Custer; and we could get no closer for five days.
     The Indians had us just where they wanted us and they made good use of us.
We fought five days as hard as men ever did, considering the number engaged. We lost heavily, but the Indians did not lose so much as we did. You see the only way that we could travel at all to join Custer was to put out sharp-shooters ahead, and these would keep the Indians at bay till we could get past and take another stand, and so we worked that way till we got half a mile of Custer, and could see his awefull condition. He was hemmed in on all sides and fighting for
dear life.
    As soon as the Indians saw that their renegades could not keep us from joining Custer, they sent a lot more. Hailed us within eighty rods of his position and there we were between two bands of Indians. When we came around the
mountain, we completely surprised the Indians. For they they thought the rene-
gades were giving us all we wanted. When we got around and came in sight we were coming between two large villages, and had to come that way since we had got in, and we were now in front of Custer's position instead of behind him as we wanted to. We were in a position to receive all Custer's fire, and he in danger of ours, which could not be helped. For we had to do all the shooting we could even if we shot some of our own men. If we had known Custer's position we could have gone in behind and joined him in good shape. But as it was now, we were exposed to all the Indian forces which Custer was contending with. We had only 390 men left after our losses, and you can see that we had to join Custer at all hazzards and quick too.
    We were now within 100 yards of each other and fighting for dear life. Let me here give you a description of our position. The valley was surrounded by huge mountains, and about two miles square and was badly broken by lava beds and ravines. The valley extended east and west; half way from the west end of the valley were two large valleys, one south of the other eighty rods, and Custer was at the east pass. We had to get around to the west side and pass between the two villages to join our forces. We could not get to them any other way, for they were hemmed in on all sides by mountains and we would have had to travel over a hundred mile to get to them any other way. Then between the villages, all that we could do was to cut our way through; and we went at it like heroes. All that Custer could do, was to sit and look at us poor fellows shot down.  
    Well, he could not help us any, for he would only have killed more of us than the Indians did, had he attempted it. He was entrenched and did not dare to show his head above ground, for the Indians were hovering around him like bees; and the balls from our rifles bid him lie still and bide his time.
    Our first move was to unlimber our brass piece, (Lion Gun, we called it.) and sweep their villages one by one, which did not harm the Indians badly for they were all out in the ravines and lava beds scattering death in our suffering ranks, Now comes the deadly rush to pass the village. The Indians raise up all around us as it by magic. We are enveloped in a cloud of smoke. On we go fighting for life; we pass the villages and get beyond but ten out of thirty wagons are left behind, were instantly surrounded by the Indians and in a few minutes were in flames. And the Indians were getting rich booty till we turned loose on them with our General Lion gun, which swept down mule and horses and even killed of some of our wounded who had got left and had fallen into the hands of the Indians; but were thereby saved from the powerful tortures always inflicted on captives by these Indians.
    Well, we were altogether at last, but at a fearful loss. We began to make preparation to save our worded. We said we were all going back to the burning wagons to save our wounded if we all died in the act. So four hundred of us started on foot on a dead run for the bloody spot, but when we got there, the men were all scalped and their tongues cut out and some of the party disected joint by joint. Some of them had life in them and they cried to us to shoot them. Some of them had been thrown in the fire of the wagons and were scorched all over. It was dreadful. But we could not help them.
    Before now it will be noticed that it was bad management on the part of the head officers in separating the soldiers into such small parties. But we will pass back to Custer's entranced position. 

    As I said, we got to him at a fearful loss; we found him in a good place of defense and old Rain-in-the-face might peg away at him till dooms-day for all the good it would do him. We mustered in all about 900 men fit for duty, when if all things had been properly managed we would have been 1100 men besides 75 wagon driver and 30 scouts. All we had to do was to prepare to fight the great chiefs, Dog-chief, Black-bear, Captain Jack and others. They were all on to us and we had all our work before us. You may want to know why we made such efforts to get to Custer. The reason was this, after we had got round the mountain we were exposed to overpowering forces of Indians, and we could not get a position for defense until we got to him. The Indians did all they could to keep us from joining him as he was well entrenched and they could not do much with him, they made as suffer. You may also wonder why the soldiers from his command did not rally out and help us through the villages. They had been fighting the Indians for about 20 days and the Indians whipped them out of their boots, and drove them into the ground and had stationed sharpshooters all around in such a way that they could kill every man that put bis head above ground, and as we had to go straight toward his fort, we were shooting that way as the main line of battle was between us and them. So they could not render us any service until the Indians had been driven from between us and our fire drawn from their direction. All the good they could do us was after the deadly rush and we were all in, then they could tell as what they would have done if there had not been danger of shooting us.
    A tent deal has been said about Gen Custer's fighting Indians, but he had one fault. He was too brave and did not rightly estimate the power of the Indians. He would venture into the greatest danger with as few men as any General in the U.S. army, and that eventually caused his death. He was good to his men, but woe to the soldier that did not come up to the military point after the third warning. I never saw a man fail that was acquainted with him. After we had been in camp three days and fighting like fury, we had lost heavily in men, horse, mules and wagons. We saw that we would have to change our position and began to prepare for a little move which cost us mere in the way of horses and a few men. So General Custer had a pretty good army be concluded to give them some more fight and at them we went, but they had the advantage of us for they were in the Lava beds and we could not get them out, and so we wrestled about for four or five days and gave up at present and waited awhile to see what the Indians would do next. Well, some of them pulled out and went. They hooked on to some cavalry from Fort Union and got their jackets tanned badly.  Then came back to see what we were doing, they found us always ready and awaiting. Well this campaigning did not suit the authorities of the Army, so we were to be broken up, and assigned other fields for operation. All the colored soldiers were called away from that district to perform on the line of New Mexico, Colorado and Kansas.
    These orders came in September 1869 And so we break of all connection with our white brothers and go to new fields of operations. Well I then saw what I had never seen before; that was my whole regiment together. 12 companies of black cavalry show up pretty nice.  I once heard General Sherman say "ebonies made the finest soldiers; as they were more submissive than the whites, and would take drilling better." I will say here that the whites could beat us at stealing. I remember that on one cold night in 1848, we all camped together the white soldiers stole all of our blankets and used them that night and the next morning returned them and thanked us for them, we thought that was cheeky stealing, but aside of a little cursing they got off with it for that time. They told us we had no need of getting up so high about it, but to be thankful that we got them back and some graybacks to boot, so it passed off. But we waited until an opportunity occurred to get it back on to them which took about a week. Then one night, four of our boys made a raid on their cook wagon and got 40 pounds of sugar from them which left them mighty short for breakfast. Then they wrote on the wagon "When you beat our times you drive the d-1 out of h-I." And so they found it before they had done with that joke. Well we will pass on to our new field of operation, where we had to make the acquaintances of a new kind of Indians, such as the Arapahoes, Apaches, Southern Cheyennes, Kechies, Tonkaways and others whose names I have forgotten. We all settled down in our new places and waited to see what would turn up. We had two or three weeks drill, and a good time in general. There was one regiment going from Texas to take our place with Custer up in Utah, the sixth cavalry. They arrived at our station on their way, and stopped six or seven days to get repairs. As we were drilling and playing baseball, they took a hand in the drill and we made them ashamed of themselves. We beat them at drilling and then we played base ball with them and beat them out of their boots and told them to go up to Utah and take lessons of the Utes, Modocs and the renegades. They took up their march, and we were left at Fort Kearney. We had began to got tired of such a peacefull life and wanted to fight. Our whole regiment was together at this time, but before long three companies was ordered away, and four more companies were under marching orders. Inside of four weeks all the soldiers were gone

    Time came and we were off. We went and took a peep at Santa-Fe, New Mexico, and come back. We were fixing to have a good time when the news came that the Modocs had come onto the 6th cavalry and thrashed the life out of them before they got to Fort Custer. We had began to anticipate a trip back to Utah (whicb would have gladened our hearts) for things were too peacefull where we were. So we waited four or five days to see what would turn up. At the end of four days, the 6th cavalry scout came in and said the Modocs and Utes had surprised the 6th cavalry and got about all their horses. So the jig was up and we now pulled out after them and found them minus 400 horses out of 1200. Oh! But didn't we have some fun with them fellows? Joking them about fighting Indians. Well they repair up and start back in haste, but we are left behind again, which did not suit us at all. The Chians were all on the war path, but were not made of the same fighting blood that our other pets were up in Utah and we had but little fear of them. They would sneak around and capture a small party and scalp and burn them. They are the most cruel rascals on the plains, and the greatest cowards of any Indians I ever saw. 25 of them will not face 7 of our soldiers to fight them if they can help it; so we did not want any truck with them.
    We now come to the year 1870 which opened to us new fields of operation. We
went from our quiet quarter to Fort Deadwood to see what was there for us. As we were on the road looking out for Mr. Chian (for he don't like buffalo soldiers as they called us) and they wanted to get one of us to see what kind of scalps
we would make. We met with a band of them one day and fixed to give them a
shaking up, but they were not like our old pets the Utes and Modocs. They got a way off about three miles and took a good look, at us and then went off.  While we were on the road to Fort Deadwood, orders came for us to go back out where Custer was. And you bet we were a glad set of boys, for we were all getting tired of fooling around. And in a few days, we were on the road a happy set of chaps. We had got 100 miles of our distance when a band of Sioux and Sorapees wanted to know where we were going? And we introduced ourselves to them. They accepted our challenge and waltzed out and took hold of us, but we flogged them before dinner was ready. They left us and went into Mamon Mountain and prepared to deal us a heavy blow. Well, we were rested up and had been well fed and we wanted all of the fighting we could get. We only had to wait two weeks for the racket. Keep in mind that while on the road to Fort Deadwood, we received orders to join Custer from that Fort, and meanwhile we were to see after this band of Indians. We were 300 strong, but it would have made no difference if we had been 300 or 400, we had to go there. They attacked us and we gave them another flogging (they attacked us on Deadman Mountain, that is what the Indians called it). This racket cost as 18 horses and 12 or 17 men killed and wounded. Then they skipped out and went to their village, which was 50 miles from there. So we began to prepare for another night ride. We went to Deadwood and did what we were sent to do, and then started for our big village to gee if there was any business there. We got within five miles of their village and thought we were slipping up on them in good shape. We went into camp to wait for night. About ten o'clock we rigged up and started. When we got within one mile of the village we made a rush, but we found the village deserted. We bad to accept one of the greatest suprises that we had ever heard of. And that was the Indians attacking at night. While we were slipping up on their village, they were slipping up on our wagons. One mile in our rear, when we understood what was going on at the wagon train. we marched back double quick to find teamsters fighting like veterans. There were some sick soldiers left at the wagons and that was all that saved the train from being burned. We soon routed the Indians when we got there. We then went into camp, wondering what was up that the Indians attacked after night, but it was accounted for. There were 50 renegades at the head of it. The next day we overtook them and they had their families with them and could not get out of our way. Well we took them in or tried to. I tell you, They fought like heroes. They stood us man to man, and at the hotest of the fight, 250 Sioux joined them and turned the tide against us, and we had all we could do to save our scalps. We had a running fight all day until about 2 or 3 o clock in the afternoon when they thought they had us. And they made a charge on us. Well if ever you have shot in a flock of black birds, you can form an idea how the poor fellows were slaughtered. For we held our re until they were within fifty yards of us and then let them have a double broadside. For my part, I felt sorry for them, but we could not help it. If they had got us, they would have burned us at the stake, and we were soldiers and had to obey orders and not a few of the boys liked that kind of order. Well, they came at us two or three times but we repulsed them each time, too severely to suit them, and they drew off at last. We saw them no more that day. We did not lose much that time in the fight.

    Let me know relate the circumstance of the devotion and the courage of a young Sioux Squaw. "It is the custom of the Sioux, when they go to battle to take their wives along with them, and the women will get up on a hill and dance, sing and clap their hands. They call it pleasing the great spirit, so that he will help the warriors in gaining a victory." This young squaw that I am telling about was the wife of a young chief, and when the ball opened, he came within 300 yards of our lines and emptied his 16 shot Henry rifle right into our lines. Of course he was shot down at once with 50 belle in his body. His wife saw when he fell and she came on the run and got to where he laid and gathered him up in her arms, and started away. But before the poor thing had got 20 steps she fell wounded. We were all amazed to see her. We went to where she was and she said "O! you mean soggers!" Well, I tell you it touched a tender spot in our hearts. We tried to save her, but she was shot in seven places. She was young and pretty and could talk very plain, I have seen lots of Indians shot but I never saw anything to make a fellow think of mothers and sisters at home as that did.
    That battle ended. We were called back to Texas to witness as heart-rending an affair as I ever saw or heard tell of. We went back to Texas in all haste. In Texas the people were trying to settle up the Territory, for there was some fine land in Texas, the Cheyennes and Arapahoes were raiding the settlers, that is why we were called there. There was a Colony of people settling south west of Fort Worth 100 miles, and the Indians had swooped down upon them and killed and scalped about 30 of them. We were right on their heels on one occasion when they were about exterminating a whole settlement. They had killed eight men and had taken three young girls and ravished them to death. Among the women that were scalped was, Mrs. Jon Friend, now living east of El Dorado. Several years ago I was helping to run a threshing machine and we went to their house and the men were talking of her having been scalped by the Indians, and I recognized her by the description of the time and place that the incident occurred. I asked her if she remembered that on the morning that she was scalped by the Indians, how the colored soldiers swooped down on them and saved her life? I told her that I was one of those soldiers, and we made it hot for those Indias. She looked at me in astonishment. I have never seen her since. That was one of my adventures that she can witness to if you ask her.  Well a short time afterward they made a raid in Texas and took four more young girls and ravished them to death and cut their breasts off close to the bone, and took one man and chopped him up alive. Now let us follow them and see where they went, and what becomes of them. They went from Texas to Colorado and then back to Fort Sill. Why did they come back to Fort Sill? They were on a treaty at the time they committed these depredations. We were at their heels. We followed them on all the round that they went, and when they brought up at Fort Sill, we were on their track and knew just what they had done. 'They did not know what we were up to but they found out in a few days. We had full details of the tradgedy's. Let us see what had happened after the lndians had left the place of crime in Texas and we were on their trail. General Sherman was on his way to visit the Army at Fort Sill and as it happened he came up through Texas by way of Fort Worth, and heard what the Indians had been doing. He went to the spot and saw with his own eyes, and he hastened to Sill and got there two days before we did and was waiting for us to come so he could find out what lndians we had followed from Texas, and we told him those were the gents that had just got in a day before us, and he was satisfied that he had the coon up the tree. So he ordered boots and saddles sounded and had all the cavalry in arm, and mounted
in 15 minutes and General Sherman took command himself. He marched us down to the Indian village and demanded old Satanta, Bigtree, Lonewolf, Stumbling bear, and 75 warrior; which the Indians refused to give up. Then Sheman asked to have a talk with those four chiefs, all the time, the village was surrounded by 1200 soldiers and 8 pieces of artillery. Well they consented that the chiefs hold council with the great Chief Sherman. So the council sat and Sherman put this question, "Satanta why did you break your treaty and going into Texas and massacre those helpless people?" Satanta was silent and refused to answer. "Why did you go into Texas and and capture three young girls and ravish
them to death? Satanta refused to answer. General Sherman then made a speech to the tribe about as follows, "To all the Indians present. Your four great Chief have broken their treaty of peace acceded to them by the great Chief at Washington and have gone into Texas and massacred a settlement of white people. And taken three young girls and brutally murdered them, ravished them
to death, and cut their breast off! And now they are here asking privileges of the treaty. I appeal to you Indians of the tribes that these four Chiefs and 75
warriors be given up to be taken back to Texas, to be tried." "Old Satanta speaks and confesses to all the crimes, "I and my 75 young men did go to Texas and kill heap of white people, and did capture three white squaws and ravished them, but I did not mean that my young men should do that. But when I found out what they were doing I did not stop them it was too late, white squaw was
almost dead. Then, we did not break our treaty, you did not give us (chuckaway) rations as you promised you would do. Your soldiers in Texas killed all my family two years ago, and burned up my village. And you promised to pay me for them and your great Chief at Washington lied and you are heap big dog (at the same time drawing a revolver) and I and my 75 warriors will not go to Texas to be tried. (at the same time Sherman gives command "read arms,") "what I did in Texas I did it to train my young men for I will fight the white men till I die. I am on the war-path now and never will I treat again." Sherman speaks: "I will not talk any longer; will you surrender, Santanta?"Santanta: "I will not (he drew big revolver, but a soldier, Sherman's orderly, fired at the chief, and he jumped his poney and started away, but he was surrounded and bound. All the men began to shoot at the soldiers and the whole band of soldiers cut loose at them and killed 30 on 40 of them on the spot.
    Well, we had it hot, for all day and many of the Indians were killed. They all broke out on the war-path and made it hot for the white man wherever they fought him, which was pretty often. The soldiers shot these fellows awfully. We
put chains on the chiefs and sent to the authorities for them to come and fetch
them, and they came in a hurry after the gents. And started back with them and
they rebelled at the Fort before they got them away, and displayed concealed weapons, and all four of them got shot dead. All the rest of the tribe struck the warpath and took to the mountains.

     We now leave Fort Sill and go back to Colorado, and spend a short time. We
went to Fort Kiuney on the Colorado River, and the Six, Utes and three other tribes that I do not remember the names of, offered us some business, which we gladly accepted and got done up in bad shape, for the scamps surrounded us with prairie fire and came near burning us all up, taking advantage of the occasion. And if they didn't warm our jackets. I don't know anything. 
    Now, let me tell you how I came near passing in my checques. This was in 1870 as my time came to go on Videt Post, one half mile from camp, after a
hard days travel in the rain and I was much worn out, after sunset I was put
on Videt Post, to stand until dark. I was standing there and all at once my
faithtul horse gave a sudden jump and in an instant I looked behind me and saw four Sioux Indians, within 75 feet of me, trying to lip up on me and capture
me. Well you may bet I showed them different from that. I had two Smith & Wesson 45 calibre revolvers with me and before they could spring on to me I fired and emptied one saddle or thought I did. I know the pony ran into camp and was captured by the soldiers. The instant I fired 5 or 6 rushed right up to me and
threw several lances at me, all of which went wide of the mark. Well I just stayed
with them chaps until they got too hot for me, then I started for camp. And as
I started, one of them threw his lariat rope at me and missing me, caught my
horse around the neck. At the same time, five of the guard from camp joined me and turned the game. I got the rope the Indian had it tied to his saddle and
when be caught my horse he out it. They fired as much as twenty shots at me and I did not get a scratch other than e fearful blow over the head with à lance as it was thrown at me. 
    My horse got a fearful out with a lanos as it was thrown at me; one of the Indians rode up to my side and snapped his pistol at my bead, but it refused to go. And as I brought down on him he sang out "waugh towoth!" (me dead!). Well, with the guard, We soon ended that affair. You will ask why a good soldier will let the enemy slip up on him. You see it was in the fall. We had a heavy fog and mist of rain, and at sun set it was almost dark. As the fog settled around me I could not see more than seventy five or eighty steps, I had just looked in the direction from which they had come and turned around in another direction, when my horse got a scent of them. If it had been clear I would seen them them three hundred yards off. What a miracle that I got away.
    Well I went to guard at the Post and close to camp. We put out a heavy guard that night, for we knew that the Indians were close to us. Before day the next morning we were up in arms and making ready for fight, for we knew that they would be on us.
    Sure enough, all day break we put on another videt on the Post where I was the evening before. He had not been there twenty-five minutes before he reported the Indians by the hundreds. So, we rolled out, for we were not in a good
place to accept battle. We had gone 3 miles when they pressed us so hard we had to stop and give battle. They charged on us, and we piled the poor fellows up in heaps. Still they were determined to capture our whole force. We made one charge on them which was a bad mistake. When a company charges, they always get scattered at the end of charge, and if they have no supporting columns behind, they are in a bad fix if they do not rout the foe. We were not supported and the Indians took advantage of this move on our port and shot our men down like birds for a few moments. We got straight at last and turned the tide.
    In this charge, I had liked to have passed in my checks again.
My old faithful horse fell, and threw me in the midst of the savages and all that saved me was my trusty Spencer rifle and my nimble legs. When my horse got up he kept on with the column and got in his place (a well drilled cavalry horse will keep his place in ranks without a rider. I have often seen my horse do it ) as I was about the middle of the column when my horse fell, by running my best I kept up, as we did not have far to go before we stopped to form again and I came out with the last of the column. But that was a a narrow escape. When we got righted again we left charges out, got down to fine work and that was all that saved our scalps. We whipped them on the run and followed them ten miles. I went by the place where I encountered the Indians while on videt Post and two or three yards from there laid two dead Indians. I told the boys that I had done that piece of work on videt Post the evening before. They hardly believed that I did, but one of them had a lance with blood and black hair on it. As my horse had been cut with a lance, I was certain that this was the same one that had given him the cut the evening before.
    This ends one of the closest rubs we ever got into. I do not know how many got killed, but a lot of the boys went down to rise no more.
    We now are called to Camp Supply for winter quarters. Custer, Miles, Pinro
and Reno were rounding the Indians up in good shape and sending them to Camp
Supply; and we were sent there to watch them and never saw General Custer again, for he stayed in the mountains and sent us to Camp Supply-that is, all the colored troops. 

    This is 1870: Now we were all at Camp Supply, and the Indians were coming in by the thousand. We were not
to fight any more for some time, but had to watch the Indians. We bad 80,000 Indians at Camp Supply, and we went to work building quarters for winter
and having fun with the Indians.
    At Supply, there is lots of timber and we had to cut logs and build houses. Well, we went to work chopping logs, fishing, and hunting turkeys. And still the Indians come in from Custer's battle field. These were parts of the tribes of the Cheyennes, Arapahoes, Apaches, Sioux,
Serapees, Dogheads, Utes, Crowfeet, and many others that I have forgotten. Well we got winter quarters done and moved into them and lived at home for the first time since we had been in the army. The Indians were coming in by hundreds every day and rations were being moved from Fort Dodge Kansas, for the Indians and we had some pleasant trips guarding the wagon trains from Dodge to Supply. The most fun we had was driving cattle from Texas to Supply, for the Indians beef. We had all the time at the post from 1000 to 3000 head of Texas cattle and we had to herd them and we had a great time with them long horns. They often stampeded us and we could not dismount from our horses while on the prairie herding and it was an interesting night to see the Indians on ration drawing days. We would cut out 100 head of cattle for them to make beef of. They would then mount their ponies and stampede the cattle and they would all start for them. It was a sight to see them shoot the cattle. They would go at it like they did when they were fighting us. They would be half a day killing 100 head of cattle, some of the cattle would run 5 or 6 miles before they would get them killed.
    The Indians at Supply numbered about 3,000 and drawing rations every day,
cattlé, bacon, sugar, coffee, flour, meal, beans and rice. Well this went on for a
month or so and we were awakened to the fact that the Indians were dissatisfied
about something, and so the Officers go about to find out where the trouble is and when found out, it turned out that the Indians had got provisions enough
laid up to last them to fight on all winter and they want to start on the war path. 
    It must be remembered that all the rations the Government had given them
they had carried out in the mountains and stowed away for future use. We found this out but too late. The interpreters are sent among the Indians to try to get them to resist from going to war, but in vain, they are ordered out of the village with threats of scalping them. They come back and say, "it is no use the Indians are bound to go to war."
    Well we were in a close place, 30,000 Indians around us and we were only 1200 strong, and no chance of getting reinforcements in time to check the on-coming tide. Col. Nelson, then in command of the Fort causes a mighty stir in the
Fort. He ordered all the guns man'd, 5 in number, and called in all the Fort labor-
ers and got ready to fight.
    We had at this time some small stations, such as stage station and scouting
station and they were all exposed to sudden destruction and we could not
help them, for we had not the men to send. But the stage stations, these were
of importance, so we had to make an effort to save it at all hazzards. So my company was sent out at night to get to the stage Station and entrench. The Station was forty miles from Supply and we started on forced march, at 12 o'clock that night and got to the Station at daybreak, but found all the soldiers
dead and all the horses gone and the stage that was due at Supply had been
captured and all the passengers massacred and scalped. The stage burned and
the mail gone. 45 lives were destroyed at the Station and stage, 32 soldiers were
killed at the start, without firing a shot. You will want to know why the soldiers did not fight the Indians? Well at the station, the Indians were in the habit of drawing rations, and they were known by the soldiers to be at peace. Nothing was suspected until all were struck down as at one blow. The Indians showed no sign of war and each Indian picked out his men and at a given signal from their Chief, each killed his man. And so the 32 soldiers were killed at one stroke. Well
it was a sad sight, but could not be helped. If the soldiers had known what had
been going on at the Fort, they would have been ready, but you see, the whole
thing was done in one day. We buried the dead and gave chase to some of the
Indians, but to no purpose.
    Let us now go back to the Fort and see what went on there after we left. The Indians broke out at the Fort and tried to take it, but they used the cannon on them and saved the Fort, but they had a hard fight. Well, the Indians said they would take us in, so they came for us, but we had seen too many Indians for them to take us in.
    For some reason we did not stop at the stage Station and entrench ourselves as we intended to do. But we went on to Fort Dodge, Kansas, and got some Infantry that was there, and started back to Camp Supply. Well, when we got back to the stage Station, Mr. Indian was waiting for us on the road, and they
jumped onto us, but we beat them bad and followed them and overtook them
and recaptured one whole herd of stage horses that they had stolen from the station. We killed 31 of their band and got five of them alive, and here was the first time that I had ever seen an Indian scalped. But our boys had began to get mad now and they scalped all five of them to revenge the victims at the stage Station. I did not think it was right, not with standing the cruel slaughter at the Station, perpetrated by them.
    We hastened on to Camp Supply and joined our forces for the 'fray. All the
Indians had left when we got back and were out on the Chippewa Mountains and so we had a long ride ahead of us. We go to pay them a visit. Well we went up there to see them, we sent them word that no quarters would be shown until the Station massacre was paid off. And they fixed up for the same (and don't you forget it.) 1200 Infantry came down to Camp Supply and took possession of good quarters, that we had built. And we were deprived of them, and had to go
and get Custer half whipped Indians. We saw some of Custer's soldiers, and
told them for heavens sake, to whip them well before they sent them down to me. For we had to go back and do their work all over again. We told them when
we were with them; we taught them to do a good job. But they were getting care less now. Well, we brought up at Chippewa Mountain, there we found the Indians concealed in the great hill and hard to get out, but we were bound to make the effort and so we picked out 100 good sharp-shooters and stationed them in the hills with Lieutenant L. in command. While all the rest of the troops went round
to punch them out on the side where the sharp-shouters were stationed. And the
racket commenced. We have got them now, but we are too few in number. Major
K. is none too gritty, but my Captain and Lieutenant saved the day, (Let me tell you here, what kind of timber our Major was made of) He had never been in any Indian fights with us, although he was then in command of our Regiment. Well we find him to be a baby in fighting Indians, and if it had not been for our Captain and Lieutenant, the Indians would have taken us all in that day. I will describe the ground that we fought over. Chipewa Mountain is not unlike the northern mountains, but are very much the same. I say northern because this is 100 miles south of the mountains of Utah and Dakota, where we used to have so much fun with Custer. There are two large mountains, one the south of the other, and one mile between the two is a nice green valley of about 600 acres. And broken at the foot of the mountains by lava beds and ravines, and the pass or inlet to the valley was 76 yards wide. And only one way for the soldiers to go in at. But the Indians have many ways of getting into it. Well, Major K drove the Indians in at the pass and followed right into the valley. Our Captain told him that he would never get out, but he said "He was in command and knew his business:" Well, Captain O. said he was not going to take his men in there to save them massacred, and so he disobeyed order and kept us out and chose a place to fight. He drew us back about 500 yards from the pass, and waited to see what Major K. was going to do. Captain C. had been fighting Indians about 3 years and knew just how to take them, and so did his men. But Major K. had his orderly black his boots that morning as if going on dress parade and had on a white shirt. Something I never saw Custer wear. 

    Well, the Major went into the pass about ten companies strong and all had got well in, when the Indians with a fearful "yell" raised up out of the Lava beds within 460 yards of him, and poured in a deadly volley from their Winchester rifles into his ranks and that spread confusion among his men that he lost all control over them. They made a rush for the gap only to meet death at the door. Well, where were the old companies H and I?  The old Custer-Indian fighters, who had disobeyed orders, and would not go in? A soon as the fight began we made a rush for the pass, but not to go in. We dismounted and climbed up the mountains on each side of the pass, and acted as sharpshooters. The Indians followed the soldiers close up to the pass and by this time we had got 75 or 80 rods back from the pass up in the mountain and that left the Indians between us. As they got close to the pass driving the soldiers out, they sallied out in a close
space. At that moment, Captain C. gave the command to charge.
    We swooped down behind them and had them in open field, and, if ever I
heard Spencers crack. I did that day. There was no way to get out but behind the soldiers. They had just drove out, and you will remember that we had deployed
sharp-shooters at the commencement on the right and left of us. When the Indians attempted to go to ether side of the pass to go up in the hills, they would cover the ground with them.  Well, H and I companies captured and killed two hundred Indians on the spot, while Major K was running from them with ten companies.
    You will want to know what we had done with our horses? While we slipped
up in the hills, we left number 1's and 3's to hold horses heads and tails fashion.
When Major K cleared the pass, he came near taking our horses for Indians and
firing into them. The flag is all that saved them. 
    Well, we had to do those Indians up, and get out of there, as quick as we could. We had so completely surprised the Indians, that they did not know what to make of it. They thought all the soldiers were in the valley and supposed they had stampeded the whole army, but when we were brought to bear on them, they were scared and superstitious and said the "Great Spirit had sent us." And he did; for Captain C. had a great spirit when he got some of Custer's tricks in his head. We had thrashed the rascals out of their boots, or mocassins rather, before they knew what we were about.
    We had it hot the next day. Some bands came and joined them and made preparations to come and pay us back. So, we fix for them and the third day after we defeated them, they came to see us again. We met them on the half-way ground, and had a flying fight all day until 4 or 5 o'clock in the evening, when they made a mad circle and came on us in full force.
​    We had a little hand to hand scramble for about twenty-five minutes which cost us a good many horses. This is one of their tricks, first to kill all the horses and they think we cannot get away. But we had not come to that part, they had to whip us before we would try to get away. We whipped them and drove them off for the present but they came back with other fresh bands. We could hear the renegades say, "Look out for them soldiers that was with Custer! For they are h- to fight." They were some of the same renegades we had to deal with while we
were with our old friend Custer.
    Most of our men were new except H. and I. companies. We had been in over
three years and had been through the flint mills. I remember on one occasion I was sent out on a hill to look out for Indians. They got between me and camp and they thought they had me. Four of them made a dive for me and we had a running fight. My old faithful horse always a little wiser than I was, always knew when I was in a close place and he did not appreciate it any better than I
did. Well the Indians run on to me and shot at me with arrows, one of which went through my canteen and the next struck my saddle. One of the scamps came too close to me and I let him have the contents of my Smith & Wesson revolver, which knocked him out of his saddle. An soon as he fell I stopped and tried to give him a sure shot but at that moment, two others closed on me and we had it for awhile. As it happened, they had nothing but arrows to fight with and I soon taught them that arrows would not compete with Spencer rifles which I used to perfection on that occasion.

Well I suppose they would have got me then if the rest of the lookout had not arrived on the spot at that moment. I always made it a point not to run
until I was compelled to. I always had an idea
that I could whip three or four Indians and I wanted the opportunity that I just had.  When I got back to camp, the Captain wanted to know why I did not
hasten back when I was attacked? I told him that I did not like to run before I had fought any. I told him I could take care of 4 of them any time. I heard that
be said afterwards that, that was more than he would have done. He would not risk himself with 4 Indians. But I saw him on one occasion encounter 7 Indians. They had him completely surrounded. But we got there in time to save him from the stake. I say stake, because when ever they caught an officer they burned him and they generally took one whole day over it. We will now go back to the battle. We wallowed about with them two or three days more and drove them all back up into the mountains.
    We then ran down to Fort Hayes to rest a while; and found the pay-master there, and he paid us all off. Then we had a racket with Wild Bill and his band of outlaws.

    At Fort Hays, there in a settlers town called Hayes City, and Wild Bill was running the whole thing. When we were paid off, all were allowed to go to Hayes City to trade, as it was only one half mile from the Fort. So we all went over there one day, and Wild Bill was there, and he said that he built that town and he did not want any negros in it. We told him that we would give him until night to take that back. He said, "There in not negro soldiers enough in the 10th Caralry to make him take back any thing."
    So we all started back to tho Fort and told him we would be back that night.
We had not been gone more than thirty minutes when he shot one o" his own
cowardly men. Well fifty of the boys slipped out, that night and went down there and demanded Wild Bill and his crew, which wan about 75 or 80 me. And they sent the boys word to leave the town in 20 minutes or they would hang the last one of them. So the ball opened with a shower of bullets into the building in which the outlaws were, which killed 4 or 5 of them.  They made a rush for the door, and were shot down as fast as they came out. Let me my here that they shot one soldier and hung another before the this was done. Well, that town was
all torn to pieces, and that band of Wild Bill's was broken up for good. And it did
the citizens good favor to have such a set of fellows cleared out. For they always
did things to smit themselves. And would shoot down helpless men that got in their way. But the soldiers cleared them out without orders.
    I will give you a short history or the Wild Bills that were on the Plains.  First,
were a dirty lot of cowards that would not shoot a man unless his back was toward them. They would not come out and face a man fairly, and they got their
names by shooting down helpless men that were not prepared for encounter. I remember on one occasion when with five others, I was sent to Sheridan City, near Fort Wallace. There were five Wild Bills there, that had a grudge against one of our scouts. (our scouts were all white men) and was going to kill him on first sight. We had the same scout with us. They saw us coming and recognized their man that they were going to kill. He said to us boys, stand by me, and we told him if he showed the coward we would give him up to them, and told him that we would be at his heels.
    As we got into the town, they got their winchester rifles, and demanded Johnie
(that was the scouts name) and we told them, If they want him, and would go at him one at a time, they could take him, but we would not have two against one. We know that Johnie would whip any one of them. We told them if they attempted to double on him, we would riddle them with bullets. Well they were too cowardly to attack him one at a time and we had Johnie to dare them to fight him, and could not get them too cheap. This shows what kind of timber the Wild Bills were made of.
    We will now go back and finish with Hayes City, the town was burned that night. That is all the disroputable houses that were run by the outlaws. One soldier was killed and ten of the outlaws and one found hanging dead by the neck. The next morning the boys had to do some tall talking to get out of that scrape. For it was done by soldiers that had slipped out of camp without order. And by the time the Post was, alarmed by the shooting and the guard had got down there, the soldiers had all got back to camp and ready to answer to roll call.
Which was always the case when any racket was raised after tape.
    We only stayed at Fort Hayes two weeks, and was then off to the mountains
again. We go now to the Rocky Mountains, and then south to Mexico, and then
back to Fort Keeny. Here we met with a band of Sioux and had a fight. And got
whipped out of our Jackets. We were divided up and scouting the country when one of our parties came up with the Indians, and had a set to, the Indians
outnumbered us five to one. But we never would run, without a fight, so we
accepted, fought and got flogged; but we laid it up to get buck on them.
    We now left Fort Keeny and went to Nevada and got on to them and had one
of the hardest fights I ever witnessed. We had the Utes, Arapahoes and Elk
Mountain Utos, all on us at once. We were now on Grand River, and in the
Canyon we took our stand, where the Big Man Creek empties into Grand River. We had a good battle ground, but the Indians had better. They came out to try us on fair ground. When they appeared out of view, we gave them galling fire,
but they came on. When they got within 200 yards of us, we started out to meet
them. Two of our officers fell in that charge, but we locked with them and had an interesting time for 30 minutes. We finally got the advantage on them and gave them a flank movement and got them separated and moved them down like grass. Well, we slaughtered them fellows unmercifully, but we lost fearfully in horses and wounded. But not any killed; when we got them on the ran we kept up with them until they got to the Canyons and when they got in we were right at their heels and saw where they hid. But before they could prepare to give us a galling fire, we were in their holes, dealing death on every side. We stayed with them two days, and allowed them no chance to rest or rally together. Well it was awful, I never saw such wholesome slaughter and we shared a good part of it.
I saw one of our men get separated from his company in this fight, and the Indians cut him off, then one Indian rode hard at him with a lance, at the same time, the Indian threw his lance. A the same time the Indian threw his lance, the soldier shot the Indian and they both fell dead at the same time. And I saw another hand to hand combat between a soldier and an Indian. They had both emptied their rifles and were attempting to reload. But the Indian was getting there first. We yell'd out, "give him the cold steel Dick!", and Dick drew his sabre and made the Indian draw his knife, and for a while those chaps did fly around. Dick broke the arm of the Indian, at the same moment, someone stuck in a good shot that caught the Indian between the eyes and parted his skull.
    We just whippod those fellows as bad as I ever saw a band of Indians whipped.
We were 975 strong and they were 1500 strong. We pulled out of that bloody
scrape only to find another in a few days afterwards. 

We travelled 17 miles south and they jumped us again and got four of our wagons and burned four teamsters and six soldiers, and tried to get us all to
burn. We got 30 squaws and children, and 100 head of ponies, but they made a
charge on us and killed most all the ponies. Our fire was so galling that they
lost ten to one of men killed. We had to shoot some of our captives, for when
the Indians made a charge, or when they got a chance, they would pounce upon
a soldier and clip him to pieces with their knives. But we soon put a stop to
that, by the time we had shot two or three, they learned a lesson. But we
stuck to that crowd.  We killed old White Cloud, and many more great Chiefs
whose names I have forgotten just now
    This battle lasted four days, and we had our hands more than full. We were
by this time greatly reduced in numbers and the enemy had increased. But there
was no way out of it. But fight to the bitter end, which we did, like heroes.
    The Indians had laid on ambush with-in 100 yards of our main line of battle,
which was doing deadly execution, and we had to get them out of their position Lieutenant L, called for fifty veterans which was quickly responded to. I was

Now before we talk about the slaughter that took place, I will give you a description of our journey that night. We had to hug close to the fool of the mountains and the great boulders lay thick and as large as a covered wagon.
Some places we could walk under them and some we had to climb over them, and some places we would have to wade a pool of water up to our belts and some places we would climb up on a big boulder and down under us would be a pool of water four feet deep and we would have to slide down under the boulder into the water in order to get over. We had no way to get round, it was strict orders for a man not to speak or even to grunt. I remember one fellow that was in front that night. He had got up on one of the great rocks and looked down and said, "Captain, I can't go down there," at the same time he slipped and fell about 90 feet and struck in a large pool of water and be cried out, "Great God! Boys, I am a goner." Well he struggled for dear life, and we made sure our trick was made known, but the Indians did not hear him. But the Captain gave orders
that the next man that spoke, he would split his head open with his sword and
we took him at his word. For me knew him too well to disobey, so we toiled on
until two o'clock and settled down to wait the dreaded morning. We were now in the Indians hiding place and they did not have men enough on the Plains to get us out, we had 400 men in charge of the wagons, and one piece of artillery at the pass of the valley and to see there in no way for the Indians to escape. They could do nothing but die brave which they did. We were in a complete circle around the village, and now comes the tide of excitement on our part, and death to the Indians.
    At break of day the big gun at the pass saluted us and the Indians, which made the valley tremble. The ball went about 100 feet over our heads and struck far beyond us up in the hills. At the same time, the Indians came on the run for their places of safety. They were about 1,300 strong, besides 2000 women and children in the village. It looked impossible for impossible for us to check such a mass of men, but we did. They came within fifty feet of us before we opened fire on them. A blaze from our rifles lighted up all around the village at once. They had not taken in their situation yet, and we gave them Colley after Colley, and then they saw what was up. Well, I never saw such a sight as I witnessed that day. When they saw what was up, they ran back to the village to warn them, and the women and children, and old men, swarmed out like bees. All the time the lead hail was rain gin on them like throwing beaus against a barn. They were determined to try to get us out. They would make a rush to one side, and they would received such a deadly volley that they would run to the other side, only to meet with the same fate. It went on this way until 11 o'clock and we began to try to get them to surrender, or be killed the last one of them; for we had them in a place just like they had our brave Custer in, when they massacred him several years afterwards. But they were stubborn and would not give up. So, the horrible slaughter went on until it looked like a petty to murder them in such a way. By this time, we had killed about 800 out of 1800 men. And and women and children were killed by hundreds, and we only had 5 men wounded. 
    At about four o'clock in the afternoon, they showed the white flag but they only wanted  us to let the women and children out and they would stop fighting, but that trick was too old, and they got word from General B. that if they did not stop fighting at once, he would kill every last one of them. They said if we would not burn them they would stop, (they thought that as they would have burned as if they had got us, we would burn them.) So, at last they surrendered, and Gabe up their arms. They said, "Me no fight any more to day." So, we let them bury their dead and sent them to their Utah reservation, where Custer was there operating.
    We now leave Utah and travel into Mexico. And there we found the Grand River, Modocks and the Red Cloud Apaches, raising Cain with the Mexicans and Whites and we got after them and they squared off before us. And we whipped them out of their boots before breakfast, and captured 100 of them and send them off to their Utah reservation. We were then called back to Camp Supply, for all the Indians that we had subdued and many other tribes, were to be send there on a treaty of peace. After a long hard march we were once more at Camp Supply, and took charge of the Fort and waited the arrival of our pets. Which was not long, for they began to come in by hundreds. Inside of three weeks, we had 10,000 on our hands, an still they kept coming, all the Indians we captured at Wabaw Mountain was with us. And all that Custer had subdued also, so you can see we had plenty of company. Camp Supply was to be the great centre for feeding the Indians. It had been so before but you have seen how it turned out but we were to try it again with better success; for the Indians were destitute and we had handed them so roughly. They were not able to fight, until Uncle Sam should feed them up and then them fat. Well, rations began to arrive for them and we had to guard it for them and attend to the issuing it to them. Out gallant Lieutenant L. is made Indian Commissary Officer, and we had to have a band to help him and as I had been his best man, in days gone by, he rewarded me with the place, as his assistant clerk., which gave me a good easy place that I enjoyed very much. Well, I might say that I put on some style. 
    When the first rations day came, we had lots of fun shaking hands with the brave warriors. Inside of three weeks I had learned more of the customs and habits of the Indians than I had in all four years I had been out there. Their mode of cooking and eating, was amusing to me and I also learned to talk by their sign, and could understand them pretty well. I was by this time getting to be pretty well liked by all the Indians, as I had the handling of all the rational they called be the great Chuckawa Chief and a great many of them thought that I was the great source from whence it all came and I never told them any better. They come every day and flock to the commissary by the hundred and it was my duty to weight and issue out the rations. Lieutenant L, namginf the amount to be given to each one or family. So, I got to be a Chuckawa or ration Chief, and often I would have to go to their camp and carry provisions and clothing to their sick, and they were such thieves that we could not trust them to wait on their own sick, that is to carry food and clothes to them off to the other tribes and come back the next day and swear that they were not the ones that the things were sent by. 
    I had began to see good time now for the first time in four years. We were having lots of fun. Lieut. L. and myself as the great centre of attraction among the Indians. One day as I was sitting in the office, I saw a pitiful looking Indian and his wife come into the ration rooms and I noticed he was stranger and had not been there before. I asked what he wanted, he told me he had just arrived from Utah "and was heap hungry." So, I unlocked the gate and let him in the yard and set down his number, but I had to wait until Lieutenant come back and while waiting I noticed the Indian eyeing me so close. I asked him if he knew me, and said, "Yes, me heap know you." I questioned him and he stepped up to me and moved his blanket and shoed me an ugly wound on his shoulder, which had disable his left arm. I asked him who did that? He said, "yes, heap good soldier done it, what me shoot you yes you; me slip up on you, big horse smell Injun, Injun no get you, but you keep shoot." After much talk we found that he was one of the party that attached when on Biden post 700 miles from where we now were. I will give our conversation as near as I can recall it. How came you to try to slip up on me? "Me see sojer all day me follow way off, when night come me come close me see you go up on hill me say me go get sojor, me lay down gun arrow make no noise, me ride easy pony no make noise, me get close, big horse smell Injun, you look around, see me run quick." How many did you have with you? "Five." Did I shoot any more besides you? "Yes you kill one, and one die long time." I did not want to kill Indians. "You brave sojer, me would kill you." Why did you want to kill me? "you help big, white Chief Custer kill all Injuns, squaws and papoosus." Why did you lay you gun down when you slipped up on me? "Me thought me slip up easy and shoot you with arrow and make no noise, but you shoot heap quick." Well, I felt bad, and dripped the conversation and said that I would 

...not take up arms against the Indians, anymore. If I got out of this scrap with Uncle Sam.

    Now as I am almost done, I will tell you my love tale, and attempt to marry among the Indians. I had been in the Commissary four months, and was pretty popular among the Indians, Old Red Cloud was one of the great village Chief's and he was the one appointed to draw rations for his tribe. Well, I got pretty well aquatinted with him, and he thought well of the great Chuckawa Chief as he Calle me. He had a daughter named Annie Redcloud and she could talk English pretty good. She Often came to the commissary and I would talk to her a great deal, so one day I said "Annie, you see my squaw?" She said, "Yes, you see Chief, me be your squaw," and as I was partly joking, I thought no more about it.
    That day after rations were drawn Old Red Cloud came back to the office to see me. I will give our conversation just as it took place all through this piece. Red Cloud said, "My Daughter says you want her for wife squaw; you talk to her one week and see how much you love squaw, and if you then say you like squaw, me try you and see how much you like squaw." After the old Chief has left, I thought that I would talk to that girl, so next day she came to get her Chuckawa (rations). As she was handy, I had hertz help me hand out the rations, after they were weighed, and when it was all over I gave her some things extra, and asked her if she liked me? She said, "Me like you heap, me be good squaw to you." Well, as she was very pretty and my time was nearly out I thought I would marry her. So, I talked to her for two weeks, at the old Chiefs request. Every day she would come up to the office. All dressed in her beaded buck skin suit, and she looked as good as any civilized person. I need to say, Great God! Who am I. I had began to think that I really loved the girl. The two weeks passed, and the old Chief came one day and said, "You love squaw yet?" I said of course I love her, he said, "---see how much you love her." That day after the business was all over, I went down to the village with her, and I was surprised and a little startled, to see they were preparing for the wedding (Oh! I shrink when I think of it now.) The next day the old Chief came and told me to come down to the his house or tent. "Inside of four days at night me try you fix you heap big wedding." Well, now I began to want to know what that trial would be, so I asked the squaw what the trial would be? All she would say was, "Me tell you when me your squaw." So you see that left me in bad shape. I insisted, but all she would say was me tell you when me your squaw but at any rate, I was determined to make the race for that squaw. On one occasion, I went up to the Gurison with her, and some of the boys envied me my good fortune, when I told them that I was going to marry her. I told me old partner that I was going to marry that girl; he told me that I was fooling away my time, since I had got in that commissary I was getting too big for my clothes, and that the first thing I knew the Indians would get me down there at their village and beat h''l out of me. Well, I laughed and J. and took my intended and went away, thinking there would be nothing like that of course.
    Well, the four days come round and at night I fixed up in my best, and went down to the village. My intended met me and embraced me, and said Com wah (I love you much). The old Chief took me as follow, "You have been a brave man in war and you have been a good Chuckawa chief to all my people. You have told me, you love my daughter squaw and my daughter squaw says she loves you; Now my brave young chief will you connect to go through our tent and promise to be flesh of our flesh and bone to our bone?" Yes. "Will you take my daughter squaw and be a brave chief? Yes., "If squaw gets sick you no leave squaw to die?" No. "If white man Custer come to kill injuns you fight heap brave, kill all white man?" Chief you said to white man you would not fight anymore. Now we are giving you and your people lots of chuckawa, and if I marry your daughter, I don't want you and your people to fight any more for white man can kill all your people. 
    If you keep fighting you can not whip the soldiers, for you have been fighting four years and the white man and his soldiers have killed over 3,100 of your people, and the white man has got more soldiers than when he commenced to fight you. When I got through talking to him his eyes sparked like fire, but as I could get the girl in to other way. I said, if you will not fight anymore, and then the white man comes to fight you when you are at peace, then I will help you, that is if I marry your daughter. That seemed to satisfy him, and he said we now go where squaw is. Well, I felt pretty good, but a little uneasy too; he said for me to follow him, and off we went. He had gone about 300 yards from his tent when we came to a tent as large as a show tent, and it was all lighted up with torches. He opened the tent and had me go in first; and the sight that my eyes first beheld was grand. I recognized my intended bride the first one. She was dressed in a costume of fine buckskin beaded  and had silver stairs all over it and she had a wreath of eagle quills that extended from head to foot. The way she was dressed was not to be laughed at by some of our high toned society ladies: with her there were about twenty squaws dressed in like manner. It was said the costume of the bride would have sold for one hundred dollars. In the tent was twenty warriors dressed up in their war costume with their lances, guns and pistols all seated in a circle, and looking like demons, in the centre of the tent was a large cottonwood post with the bark pealed off, and set two feet in the ground and painted all colors and beaded all over; altogether it was a pretty sight. 4 feet from the post small stakes were driven in to the ground in a circle and a rope was stretched around the stakes, so as to form a small circle around the post. I thought it was the prettiest sight I had ever seen among the Indians, and I fancied myself a married Chief. In a few moments, as all was ready as soon as we got in the tent, the Chief introduced me as after this manner, "My people, this is our great Chuckawa Chief, he has been brave in battle dan has been good to our people, he has talked to my daughter, and says he like squaw heap. And squaw says he good, she like him. He says he keep her sixty moons, or until death, he says he helps fight white man if white man fights our people; and if squaw gets hep sick, him no leave her. Now my people take him and marry him to squaw."
    At this time, there was a great commotion in the tent, and the squaw took her position in the circle, and four squaws took hold of me and gently led me into the circle and placed me by her side. Then the old Chief brought a stick about three feet long and the size of a broom stick painted in all colors, and placed one end in my intended brides hand and the other end in my hand; Then all gathered around us, and killed us, and shook hands with us. Then the Chief addressed me again and said, "My brave son, you are now to be tried to see how much you love squaw, and then you will never leave my people, (I leaned close to her and asked her what the trial would be? She only said you love me you see.) But will be flesh of our flesh." When he sad finished one of the squaw came and gently took hold of me and placed me close to the post, and my intended about three feet away and placed the stick in our hands, all was silent for a moment and then the warriors gathered around the circle and began to dance the wedding dance. This lasted a few moments then all of them walked up to the post and with all the power they had they send their lanced into the post, just over my head. I dodged and dripped the stick and all was silent, but for my part, all the love was scared out of me. As quick as I thought one of the bridesmaids picked up the end of the stick and placed if in my hand again. Then all began to dance again, and one of them waltzed up to me and fired his pistol into the post just over my head, and I did not drop the stick that time, but I began to look for the door, but could not see where I have come in at. You may bet I was trembling, had when all at once whack went a tomahawk into the post by my head. I gave a tremendous jump and like to fell over the rope circle. All the time my intended bride was still as date and never smiled but seemed to be uneasy for, my sake; which did not help in the least. 
    The dancing went on, and all at once the whole band of warriors made a break as though they would chop me into mince meat. They shot and threw their lances and tomahawks in that confounded post just like they were on a field of battle. They had the tent full of smoke, while this foolishness was going on I had made

a break and tore the circle down had left my indented and was trying to find the door, and it kept the brides maids busy keeping the door bid from me, after they had shot and lanced at my head for in awhile they cooled down and was dissatisfied with the way I had stood the test and the old Chief was called upon to decide whether I was a fit candidate for marriage or not, he decided that it was not oweing to cowardice that I failed to go through the trial, but he  said as I like Chuckawa Chief me try him again; this was something they did not do often, such as give a man two trials; well it had all to be gone over again, and my intended so far violated their rules or customs as to whisper to me when no one was looking. And told me "no get scared they no hurt you first time" by first time she meant the present degree that we were to go through.  I asked her if there was any more beside this, she only said "you love me heap, wait and you see." Well the racket commenced again, but I went through it in good shape and it seemed to please all present. The old Chief was so pleased that he stroked me on my head and said "my son you live long time". Well after this was over, the men were all withdrawn from the tent and left my intended and I in the care of six finely dressed squaw. 
    The tend was closed so that I could no see out. But, I could near a great commotion outside. We had been in the tent about half an house when all at once the tent was thrown open (the tents are made in sections and are put together in small pegs) well they just took out one section, that left an opening from the top to bottom about ten feet wide, the fist thing that my eye caught was the twenty warriors standing in two lines 10 feet apart facing each other and each line come close up to the tent to the edge of the opening, that made a lane about 30 years long. We call it the gauntlet in my company, this lane was all lighted up with torches and at the farther end there stood three squaws to close the mouth of the lane. Each man had in his hands a raw hide whip made for that purpose. 

Well I insisted that my intended should tell me what was going to take place, but she only said "me soon be your wife squaw," not till then did the thought strike me that it would be a little uncertain whether she would be my wife or not, since so much had to be done. I was seated in the tent all this time taking in all that was going on. All was ready and the old Chief came and ordered my intended to be brought out. Two of the squaws led me out and two took her out, to the door looking down the gauntlet. We were stopped side by side and the stick placed in our hands same as before. Then the Chief spoke to me as follows, "now my son me try you the last time, you be brace and my daughter squaw will be your wife squaw, and you no leave squaw all your moons, and squaw be good to you you do all your work, and all my people love you, and they no get mad at you." When he was done talking one of the squaws that was dressed like the intended bride came and relieved me of my end of th stick and took my place, and two others led me out in front of my intended, and now I was ready to be married, but was I? We shall see. Now I will explain about that gauntlet, as I said it was composed of 20 men, ten on each side, ten of them were the relations of the bride, and the others were intimate friends of the family. Three of them were rejected lovers of the bride. Now the object of the gauntlet was this, that if any were apposed to my married they could make their objections know by applying the raw hide whit to me whilst I was running the gauntlet, but they could only strike me twice, once as I went up, and once s I came back to the intended wife. There were three bid squaws at the farther end, their duty was to stand across the end of the lane and hold each others hand to keep the candidate from going out. You may say why not go out at the side if they got hot? Well, there was resent at my wedding 500 Indians and on each side of the gauntlet they crowded so close and thick that a cannon ball would not have gong through without killing 200 of them, so you can see there was no chance in that direction. All that opposed had a chance at the candidate, with their fatal whips (but they could not exceed 20). Let me say here, that they can wield those whips with deadly effect. They can cut the blood from a horse every time. I have known them to cut off the head of a turkey the same as if it had been shot off. I said three of them were rejected lovers of Annie Redcloud and you may be sure they were going to apply their whips in opposition to my marrying her, as that was the only way they could oppose. Before we go back and witness the start I will give you an idea how the wedding always terminates. The bride maids hold the stick while the candidate  starts on the dead run, and at the same time, the twenty bucks are applying the whips  to his back , or any place they choose, and the faster he runs the better he will fare. And I the can go up to the squaws at the farther end, and return in the midst of the whips and take hold of the stick which the squaw has held for him, the married is completed, and the showers of blessings are heaped upon him in every conceivable manner. Ponies, tents, buckskins, and even gold and silver was in store for me that night. 
    Well I was standing in forest of my intended and her brides maids, looking down that fatal gauntlet, and I could see those confounded scamps placing their feet and raising up on the tip of their toes preparing to receive me. Well, before I started I requested to see the old Chief. He came to me, and I said to him, "What is all this ado, and what is to be done any how?" He said, "You are to run my son, run you best you go to three squaws and come back quick, and you get heap wife, she live long time, she young girl." I said, "Young nothing, me no go." "My son, you must go Great Spirit could not give you wife any other way, if I give you wife your way, all my people would die." Well the old Chief and I had quite an argument, but I could not reason him out of his superstitious ideas. So at the last I consented to try to make the race, but I will describe my dress that it may be seen how little protection I had against those raw hide whips. I had on a parade coat that fitted skin tight and pants that fitted the same and a vest, and thin white shirt. well, after a lot of coaxing I said I would run, and at the old Chief's orders, all was still as death. The Chief had a drum and at the should of it I was to start, so he hit the drum a light tap  and off I went , and the way those rascals did play their whips, my!! When I had made two of three jumps, they had me so hot that I did not know whether I was on the ground or up in the air. Just as I was near the three squaws at the father end of the gauntlet, one of the confounded rascals reached out the caught me on the flank an lifted me, it seemed to me about six feet up off the ground, and when I touched ground again; talk about running. Why, my God I ran so fast that the wind almost took my breath.
    Then on elf them that chanced to love the girl. Pointed for me and caught me at the bottom of my parade coat, which came just three inches below the belt and to the rear of me. Well, I made the three squaws, but instead of turning back to complete the marriage, why, my God! They had me so hot that I could not stop. I ran over one of the three squaws and knocked her down, and took to the woods on my way to the commissary, which was one half mile, and I bet you, that I made that half mile in two minutes and ten seconds, and when I got to the commissary, you may know that I felt like Samson's 300 foxes did when they had the fire brand tied to their tails going through the Philistines corn-fields and from the time I left my intended till I got to the commissary I had not once thought of love. 
    Well, when I got settled down in my room I examined the parts affected, And said to myself, that was the confoundedest wedding that I ever heard of, or want to hear of, Well I had unpleasant dreams that night, what time I did sleep. When I first started in the gauntlet I run out of my cap, and the next morning the cap was laid on the porch of the office. Some one, at the time I did not know who, (but found out afterwards) had brought it. I did not see any of my intendeds wife's fold for two or three days about eh fourth day after the intended wedding, I thought I would go over to the company to see the boys, and find out if they heard anything the affair, but to my great joy they had not. Wile I was in the barracks, my old partner came to me and said, "That girls wants you outside, come trout old hand, been at some of our shines. I suppose, that girl is too pretty for any of your foolishness, if we get on to any of your shines, we will help her unravel you old hoss." Well I went out and there she stood looking as pretty as an age but I felt as sore as the old scratch. All the boys followed me out to see what was up, but she would not talk to me in their presence, but tole me to go over to Chuchawa house, she was going that way. We started, and the boys all watching us envied me, my position; when we got to the office she said calling me by my name, "You no love me, you tell me lie, you no good, my people heap mad at you. you no make me your squaw, me no want to see you any more me marry my own people." Well the girl cut me to the quick, but I thought I would bluff her off so I unbuttoned my coat, and showed her a few pointers in the shape of a few whip marks about eh size of my finger that I had got that night. She said, "Well, you love me heap little, you let whip make you run, you heap coward: you leave me know, me leave you, good bye." And that was the end of my first love, and attempt to marry. 
    You may think this was a put up job of me. but let me tell you, if I had gone back down that gauntlet and rejoined my bride, we would have been married without further ceremony. Now I will explain the meaning of the different parts of the ceremony. First, the post I stood against, was to show that I would stand firm in all dangers: Second, the cutting and sooting was to try me: Third, the stick that we held in our hands, meant dangers shall not separate us, and as this stick holds together, so will we:4th Running the gauntlet was to show that all that were opposed  have been revenged never to oppose again. Now you can see that I never gave them the chance to oppose me again. This is the only way that one outside the tribe can marry into it. I know this as I had the opportunity to witness the marriage of one of another tribe into this what I have just described. 

  Now we will turn to other scenes, I had a good time at the commissary for ten months. And then it all changed. The Indians were sent to Fort Sill, and we were ordered out to Mexico, to look after a band of Cheyenes, which had not treated. So we were off on our long journey, and we were a mad set of fellows, for we always gated to leave a good thing. We now went to Mexico, and were wanting a little fight, as the Indians would not do without. So we locked arms with 1,700 Cheyenes and Renegades, and we skirmished around with them until they bought they had us, and they walked out of their ambush and stood us a hard fight. We had 600 horses killed out of 1200 and 65 men killed and wounded. Owing to some mismanagement of the officers, we all came very near being taken in that time. In this dreadful girth, I saw one of our best friends get hilled by the Indians. He had not separated from us, and five Indians surrounded him, and before we could get to him, one threw his lance through his body, and he fell dead within fifty yards of me. I said "boys he is dead but they shall not have his body, to mutilate it," so we went to take charge of his body, and just as we were about 30 yards from the body we received a deadly fire from some Indians lying concealed 200 yards off. One man was killed on the spot and five wounded. The Indians were using some bad powder else more would have been killed. I was struck by three large balls from smooth bore rifles which only stung me, and made me skip about. My horse received a slight bruise by one of these balls. If the Indians had been as well armed as many other tribes were, that we have known. We would surely have been killed, for the soldiers were badly managed at this battle and I can not understand how we got out. 
    You have heard me say in former pages that the Cheyenes were a cowardly set, and so they are, but I wasn't to give you an idea about Indian warfare. At camp Supply, we had thirteen different tribes on our hands, and when we left Supply, they were all en route for Fort Sill, but there were a great many of them that never went to Fort Will, but went to Mexico, and joined the Cheyenes. You can see by that we had some of the best of fighting Indians in the west at hand. I have already spoken of fighting some tribes up north that were on treaty at the time they were fighting us. 
    They were Sioux, Modocks, Utes, and Pintes, all those tribes were on the treaty of peace and the northern Cheese, Arapahoes, Apaches, and Comanches, were all at war and oft times on the Utes or Modocks reservation. And these angels of peace would always join in fighting the soldiers. I know several times the Utes would draw rations one week to feed them while they found us the next week: ti is strange that our Government would be fooled by them that way, but these are facts, for I had a friend that was married in the Utes tribe, and I know where of I speak. Well we fought the Mexico Indians for three of round weeks and lost about all we had, but we captures all of the scamps and took them to Fort Sill. And then we had a large city full of Indians at Sill. I supposed that there was about 40,000 Indians at Fort Sill at that time. 
    We had all we could do to keep them in subjection: we had to go after band of them very often and sometimes had to fight them. Well, I am almost done for I am getting to the time when my duty as fighting the Indians was drawing  to a close. I said I would not take up arms against the Indians any more, and I will stick to it. We are through fighting the Indians in my time. We were all at Fort Sill, and were passing the time playing base ball and drilling and practicing with the boxing gloves, and we had some grand prize fights, with the gloves on. My company (H) could beat any club we crossed, playing base-ball. 
    We had a club of fifty members and we send to New York and got $400 worth of blue woods, and were rigged up in fine shape for playing. Our club was organized in 1868, and we would often play ball one day and fight the Indians the next; we played so all through my five years service. 
    Well, as that gal I tried to marry was at the big school in Fort Sill, I thought I would go see her one day, as I was to be discharged the next and leave the service. I had a long talk with her, but took care not to make love to her any more. I will remark here before I close, that, if all the candidates now, had to thorough  such a sever test as I was put to, there would not be so many good women being hammered around as there are by worthless men. I have notices it as a rule among the Indians, that are married that way, that they are generally true to each other. In some cases, there are expectation, but no so often among out people. I remember several years afterwards, I asked a certain old man, for his girl. The toughest of my first attempt at that business came up before me and made me hesitate a moment, and if the old man had said, "my son, me try you , see how much you love her," it would have even settled and, I do not think she would have been bothered with me anymore. 
    Well, my day came, to be discharged and break off all attachments in the five years - I fell you it was hard: for although I had had some good times, - I had friends I had to leave, my faithful horse that had carried me through five years of dangers, I had to turn him in with my other things, that was the greatest trial. I expect that if I had not hired out before my time was out, I would have been strongly tempted to enlist again. 
    As I have told the most important events that occurred during my five years service, I will close for the present. I would like to write another part by have not the leisure and you may rest assured that this is all right for it all came under my personal observation. I was there through it all. 

   
GEORGE WASHINGTON MOORE, 
owner of the Towanda News (newspaper)
​during the early 1900's.


Will this part of the West in the next fifty years produce so much to satisfy adventuring youth as have the last fifty years?  George Washington Moore of Wichita and I were speculating on that proposition the other day, and came to no definite answer to the question. But there is a guess that looks good.

   Certainly this corner of the country in the last half-century offered plenty of adventure.  When Moore was a boy in West Virginia, he heard a heap about the West.  One relative had done the California gold thing.  Another relative, an uncle, had the Union Pacific construction - buffalo - Indian experience, and had come home to tell about it in young George's hearing.  So, when he was fourteen, Moore left his fathers 525 acre farm in West Virginia and headed West alone.  He landed in Wichita.

   He put up at the old City Hotel on Market Street and the day after his arrival was told by a man there that if he wanted to pick up some pointers about this country, he might attend and Old Settler's meeting at the Turner Opera House that day and listen.  This was in February 1885.  Moore went.  He sat in the gallery and listened.  Near him sat Henry Hudson, a farmer north of Wichita.  Hudson made inquiries of the lone youth beside him and asked him to go out on the farm with him.  Mr. Hudson told Moore he would have to become acclimated; that this was a different country than West Virginia.  Moore drove home with Mr. and Mrs. Hudson.  On their way to the farm, Mr. Hudson pointed out to Moore a gray cloud on the northwest horizon and asked Moore if he knew what that was.  Moore didn't.  Hudson told him it was a blizzard.  Moore had never heard of a blizzard before.  He found out about blizzards the next day.  He went out that morning with Len Hudson, his own age, to feed the stock.  When he returned to the house, Mr. Hudson, seeing that Moore had no overcoat, bundled him up, took him to Valley Center, and ordered for him a sheepskin coat, felt boots, mittens, everything, and asked the merchant the amount of the bill.  The merchant named the amount and the boy from West Virginia cooly reached into his jeans and to Mr. Hudsons amazement, produced a roll of three hundred dollars.  He had brought the money from West Virginia.

   Moore had always ridden horses in the hills of West Virginia.  He found the little bucking western cayuse something new, but he mastered the mustangs, and eventually, upon Mr. Hudson's recommendation, he got a job "riding fence" on a big ranch in the Indian country south of Kiowa.
   He liked the livestock business.  He worked for M.C. Campbell, B.H. Campbell and once for "Sand Hill" Davis.  Once he tried farming in McLean county, Illinois, but he liked this part of Kansas best and returned.

   By this time, the exciting Wichita boom, all of which Moore had witnessed as a lad, had come and gone.  He had married and had decided to settle down.  He picked Towanda and, having a knack for writing, bought the Towanda Times, changed its name to the News, and became an editor. 

   This was along about 1903.  In that period Towanda had little to offer in the way of adventure.  Towanda had had an abundance of that earlier in its history.  It was the earliest Indian trading post in this section.  It was the western-most terminal of the pioneer stage route for a long time.  And once, years before Mr. Moore came there, Towanda had experienced one of the most spectacular tornadoes that ever tore across this part of the world.
   One of the things Mr. Moore did, after he had taken up his residence in Towanda, was to compile the reminiscences of the citizens who went through the tornado.  It was a most unusual storm and the stories about it persist to this day.  One of them is the account of the church that was picked up and split into smithereens.  But the wind never touched the church organ, nor disturbed in the slightest, the hymn book which was stood upon upon that organ.

There was nothing in those first editorial days of George Washing Moore to indicate that Towanda would ever have further adventures.  But Towanda did.  One day, two miles east of town, the Trapshooter oil well came in with a bang; and then the Shumway and with its other big producers.  There were no pipe lines to the pool then and few storage tanks.  The oil, a lot of it, poured out over the landscape and ran down the draws.  Here was excitement and to spare, Moore sold his newspaper and joined one of the thousand and one activities which oil awakes in a community.

In an incredible space of time, the population of Towanda, jumped from about 600 to over 3,000, and almost in the twinkling of an eye the town was changed into a high-tensioned oil center. 

All of which evidences that a lad coming West fifty years ago, to experience a few added thrills in life and happening to halt in these parts, was not disappointed.  And I suspect that the same thing will hold good in the next fifty years.

By Grant Overstake, as published in the Myriad 1977:

   First time I met Clyde he offered me a chew.  Next time I saw him, he offered me a drink.  When I see him again, he might offer me the shirt off his back.
   Clyde Brush turned 69 years old last Friday, but don't think he's gettin' old.  His attitudes and outlook on life are as up to date as just about anyone - even a student on campus.
   We sat and talked in the garage across the road from his Towanda home, where he used to repair 1950 Chevrolets.  He sat on a stool next to a pot bellied stove and we talked about old time, and new times.  Once in awhile, he'd lean over and spit tobacco juice into a tin can, then wipe his mouth with the sleeve of his blue denim shirt.

   "Came to Kansas from Illinois in 1922,"  he  began.  "Dad was in poor health and the doctor said to come to a better climate."
​   "I got married in 1927 and I'm gonna have my 50th wedding anniversary this year," he smiled.  "Had five boys and they all had a sister.  Now everybody asks me 'You mean you have ten kids?' I tell'em Nope, I got six kids.  All the boys have one sister."
   We talked about old times and squirrel hunting and when he got lucky and missed the war because of an ear infection.  Then the talk turned around to today.  Clyde sat up straight on his stool, spat in the can, wiped his sleeve and began.
   "I listen to the news a lot, and what gets me more than anything now days is the law.  They've got too many laws now.  Hell, they don't even enforce the ones they have."
   He pushed his fan held hat back upon his head and thought a moment before saying, "But I heard on the news that there have been seven people murdered in Kansas this week.  Now I know hanging someone or electrocuting them isn't right, but you've got to set an example for the others.  Haven't we?"
   He spat again and we talked about the weather for a while.  Then his eyes lit up and he leaned over and said, "Hey, you know they're going to have a gamecock fight this weekend?  They're trying to get rid of that, too.  I know it's being cruel to dumb animals, but I say as long as someone wants to do it they should be able to.  Don't you?  It's just like these movies over in Wichita.  If a person wants to go and see something like that, he should be able to.  Is is supposed to be a free country, but sometimes it makes you wonder, doesn't it?"
   I sat there in the warmth of the stove and thought about my place in history and the things my generation was fighting for.  So I just decided to ask Clyde what he thought about marijuana, hoping he wouldn't take it wrong and blow up or something. His answer blew my mind.
   "Oh, hell,"  he said. "They used to fight whiskey the same way.  I'll tell you, I feel the same way about marijuana as I do about whiskey.  I say put it on the market.  Put an age limit on it.  Let him go to the drug store to get it, make it be good stuff, but make him be 18 or 21 before he can buy it.  I'll tell you what one of the problems right now is.  It's that some 14 or 15 year old kid can go out to some damn bootlegger and pay twice what the weed is worth and get what isn't good quality.  I just figure that kids are treating marijuana today like we used to treat whiskey, don't you?"

   I smiled and laughed a little and said, "Yeh, Clyde, I think you have some good points there."  We talked about a lot of things and Clyde showed me around his property, where he has a pretty good collection of old junk.  He talks about having a sale one day, but he figures his sons will sell it all when he's gone.
   "You sell something and damned if you don't turn around and need it a week later," he said with a laugh.
   So, if you're ever in Towanda and feel like stepping into the past, or just feel like having a good talk, drop over to Clyde's garage, pull up a stool, have a chew or a drink, and be prepared to be treated right.
  
​   Because Clyde's like that.

The accounts of the victims following the aftermath of the tornado on March 31, 1892 as told by the Wichita Daily Eagle, published on April 2, 1892.  

"Thursday  night at about half-past 9, I was called by Mr. Sorter, in whose hotel I was staying, to save myself."  These were the words of Miss Ella Thornton of Towanda yesterday to a reporter for the Eagle.  "He cried for me to get out of the house and I could feel it lifting and quivering.  I ran to the north door and threw it open, and then I must say I passed through an experience that is the strangest of my life.  My  hand had scarcely flung the door back when I was caught up and wafted into the air like a feather; for a moment I was queered by the suddenness of the whirl, but I soon recovered sufficiently to see that I was burned upward by a irresistible force, amid a shower of boards, planks, chairs and household articles that I could easily distinguish in the flashes of the continuous lightning.  My body was sometimes horizontal, sometimes my feet were up and sometimes my head.  After what seemed to me an eternity, I saw a white object near me which proved to be a large pillow.  This I threw both arms around, hoping that if I ever descended, it would help to break my fall.  Soon, I was dropped head foremost; struck something, and that was all.  Afterwards, they told me that it was a horse I fell upon.  You see, I am not hurt badly.  My neck is a little stiff.  I was carried through the air two blocks.  

The little town of Towanda yesterday presented the appearance of having been swept by the gigantic besom of some ferocious monster.  But a few houses were left standing, and these showed the dire effects of the terrible storm.  Everywhere were strewn the boards of the once happy homes and the household articles and decorations, which served to make them attractive and dear to their occupants.  The site of the town was not covered with heaps of debris of fallen buildings; it was worse than that, it was "swept."  Everything was flat on the ground.  For miles beyond the town in the track of the storm articles and boards were picked up.

THE DEAD

In one of the few remaining buildings which was until yesterday the local restaurant, on a few hard weather-beaten, blackened plants, lay three long suggestive forms, covered rudely with coarse blankets.  The dead are:

Herschel Cupp, 21 years, incision in the back of the head.
James Bailey, 21 years, strangulation.
John Blake's baby, 6 months, head severed from body.
Mr. J.D. Godfrey, 78 years, injured internally.
Albert Barnes, Age 22, crushed by timbers.

  The first of these, Herschel Cupp, a son of a prominent man, was pending the evening at the house of Mr. Kerr, when the storm struck.  He must have got out into the street and was felled there.  His body was picked up a thousand feet away in a ravine.  His face showed numerous wounds and bruises.
  The corpse of James Bailey had a horrible appearance and every feature was indicative of the horrible agony of his death.  Bailey was a section hand in the employ of the Missouri pacific and was staying at the National Hotel.  When his body was extricated from the ruins, it was found that he had fallen head foremost in a feather mattress and had smothered to death.  He was an exemplary citizen.  Bailiey's parents live in Guthrie.
  Mr. and Mrs. John Blake's 6-month old baby met a ghastly death.  It was decapitated.  Early Friday morning the baby's head was picked up, but the body could nowhere be found.  Finally it was picked up three hundred yards from where the head was found.  The mystery to all is what cut the baby's head off.  The guillotine never did a neater piece of work.  Surgeons present said that the best master of the scalpel in the world could not have made a neater incision.  In the temporary morgue the head and body were laid together and a very narrow ribbon tied about the baby throat would have entirely concealed the fatal would, and for all appearances, the little child might have been only asleep.  The parents of the infant were among the wounded.
  Dr. J. D. Godfrey was a retired physician of Towanda.  He was an old man and liked by every one.  He was invalid and was in bed when the raging blast struck his little home and wiped it from the face of the earth.  He was picked up in the street bleeding at the lungs and died in a few hours.  Even in the community that has been stricken to heavily, the loss of Dr. Godfrey is felt with particular keenness by his old friends and neighbors.
  Albert Barnes, the fifth dead man lived on the John Kibby farm, eight miles south west of Towanda.  Barnes was formally of Wichita.  His house completely collapsed and the grinding timbers crushed the breath and life out of him.

THE HURT AND WOUNDED

The few houses that stood the strain of the wind were at once turned into hospitals.  There are five of three places, and they were all crowded.  Two in every bed and lying on blankets on the floor.  They were some potable scenes; but the poor creatures were only too glad to have the doctors dress their wounds for the little relief it afforded them.  Over in one corner on an improvised cot of two chairs, laid a little baby with its leg broken in two places; crying with its terrible pain; on the floor lay a little boy with his skull crushed in on his brain, smiling bravely a the doctor's anxiety for his relief; on the bed, a woman in the full bloom of life, with a hole through her lungs and another her stomach.  Everywhere pictures of misery and resignation.  The doctors say several cannot live.  The list of the wounded contains:

Miss Annie Robbins, 35 years old, compound fracture of high arm, perforating wood under the collar bone piercing the lungs, bowls also pierced; may die.  Miss Robbins was postmistress.
Miss. Fern Maxwell, 8 years, fracture of the skull; will probably die.
C.L. Wescote, 78 years, coal dealer, two scalp wounds, contusion of the back, bleeding at the lungs.  Some hopes.
Miss Lucy Poorbaugh, 25 years, hips crushed, crippled for life.
Mrs. Hall's baby, leg fractured.
M.H. Gibbs, three ribs broken.
Effie Keer, gash in the head.
Mrs. Cary, three ribs fractured.
Mrs. Walter Mooney, fractured clavicle.
Walter Mooney, gash in the side; scalp wound.
Eddie Mooney, scalp wound.
Mrs. J.P. Keer, back and shoulder bruised; injured internally, will probably die.
Elmer Hall, badly bruised about the head.
Mrs. George Cornelius, three ribs broken.
William Mitchell, hurt internally.
Mrs. William Mitchell, collar bone broken; injured in back of head.
Sherwin Cupp, bruised about the head.
Mrs. Sorter, badly burned and hurt internally.
Mrs. Chanelle, badly bruised.
Mrs. Blake, internally injured.
Harry Roach, two ribs broken.
Mrs. Harry Roach, burnt and injured about the head.
Mr. and Mrs. Tedow and aged couple, both badly hurt.
Will Hagen, hurt on the side.
Mr. T.W. Sorter, shoulder crushed.

 Scores of others were injured.  Nearly every man, woman and child in the little town received a bruise of some kind and black eyes and bandaged heads were a common sight in the solemn little group that stood on the corner of what was once Main street and talked over their terrible trouble in lowered voices.
  There was another peculiarity about the condition of the wounded which would appear strange to one who hadn't not hear other action of the elements. Most of the wounded are covered from head to foot with mud, and this, getting into the woulds, increased the aggravation of the suffering, until the medical corps could arrive.  Dr. Russell, the only practicing physician in Towanda, was in the country with a patient at the time of the storm.  Doctors Siegler, McGinnis, Koogler, Armstrong and Hunt of El Dorado, arrived about midnight from El Dorado.  Yesterday morning they were reinforced by Doctors Van Nuys, McClees, Purdue, L. J. Jones, St. John, Minnick, Wilson and Taylor, who responded to the call from Mayor Carey, and were carried over to the scene of the disaster in Superintendent Russell Harding's special car, which he kindly tendered.
  Most of the wounded are in their night clothes; only a few have on their every day dress, and most of the citizens who are unhurt are but scantily robed and in case of change to colder weather would no doubt bring much suffering.  Nearly all personal property is destroyed or blown out of sight and the town will undoubtedly need aid and that quickly.

HOW THE STORM CAME

  Most of the citizens of Towanda had gone to bed at the time.  A steady gale was blowing from the south, but as that is not unusual at this time of the year, no great fear was felt by most of the inhabitants and many retired with no thought of how close, death and destruction were lurking.  At 9:30 those who were up an awake, noticed that the wind all at once lulled and there was perfect quiet.  Two or three old-timers knew the sign and went to their cellars.  Then there was a distant roar, increasing every moment and coming nearer.  Down it came growling whistling, roaring wild.  "It sounded just like a sawmill," said one man.  Telegraph poles were twisted out of the ground, the depot was lifted and carried eighteen feet and dropped.  Farther up the town houses were lifted, twisted, crushed and blown away.  Everybody in the storm agree on their point:  the houses were picked up, then twisted and then crushed like cockie shells.  The storm struck Towanda from the southwest, and went straight through the town.  The greatest force of the storm seems to have been on the northwest part of town, as every house in that portion of the village is completely demolished and the remaining few which stood the tempest beat were in the southeast portion.  The creamery was saved because it was full of ice.  Granaries with corn on the ear withstood the gale well, but yellow piles of grain in the other places showed all that was left of granaries.
  There are probably seventy-five or eighty buildings in Towanda, there are only a dozen left standing and they are in badly dilapidated condition.  Main street, which was the business thoreughfare of the town has on each side two rows of frame business building totally destroyed.
  The site of the livery stable is only marked by a pile of broken buggies and a dead horse or two in the pile of broken and split timber.
  The office of the Towanda Herald was shown to have once existed by the conglomeration of type, a hand-press, a Bible and a few agricultural reports.  An organ which had, by some strange freak, stayed into a print-shop, was also scattered about among the ruins.
  The forge of Andy Johnson's blacksmith shop, as that of Jim Reid's, is the only indication that they ever existed.
  A little farther down the street, an office is literally turned upside down and remains in that position.
  The lumber yard is only a memory, and a stranger would never suspect that is was ever such, as there is not a board in sight.  The fence posts were twisted out of the ground here and two thrashing machines were turned upside down, their wheels sticking up in the air.
  A residence near this is entirely swept away and the maple trees, of good size, stripped of every limb and twig.
  Two hotels present the very worst appearance.  The are both two story buildings.  Once was called the National and was run by Mr. and Mrs. Hager.  It was here that James Bailey was killed and Miss Poorbaugh wounded.  The house was a complete wreck.
  The other is the Towanda House and was run by J. M. Sorter.  The Towanda House was build over twenty years ago an dis one of the oldest frame buildings in the southwest.  It, also, is totally destroyed.
  Between this and the school house in the extreme northeastern portion of Towanda, not one house is left standing.  Every fence, barn, tree, is leveled.
  It is a singular fact, said to be characteristic of tornadoes, that the corner of the school house, in the direction of the storm, is uninjured while the opposite corner, away from the storm, is shattered badly, so much so in fact that the whole building has fallen in before this probably.  The house is a large four room brick, two story building and in a heavy loss.
  The whole town is almost a total loss; there being some fire insurance but with one exception, no cyclone policies.  The exception is $1,000 on the National Hotel.
  The village church is a total wreck.

THE FIRST NEWS

  The first news of the disaster was received at El Dorado and an engine with medical relief was at once dispatched. An engine came over to Wichita and the station agent notified Mr. A. H. Webb of the Missouri Pacific who immediately repaired to the scene.  "It was terrible," said Mr. Webb to the Eagle reporter, "The town was in ruins.  The rain and hail came down in torrents.  Women were running about the streets in their bare feet and nightgowns; lost children, all but naked, wandering about crying for help and those missing were thought to be dead and this was cause for fresh grief.  Its was a scene of the wildest and most heart rendering confusion.  I have never seen anything like it, and I can tell you I never want to again."
  The hail was larger at Towanda than Wichita and the rain came down in sheets.  Every flue in town was down and no fires could be built, and neither the bed clothing , which was wet, could be dried or the wounded who were soaked could be warmed.  Its as indeed a precarious outlook.
  J. M. Sorter, proprietor of the Towanda House, had a thrilling experience.  He is a stalwart man of 62 and his story to the Eagle man:  I feared trouble and was sitting up; when I heard the roar, I ran to my granddaughters' room and seized one of the 14 years, the other of 12, under each arm and rushed for the door.  I felt the hotel raised up, twisted and then it went to pieces like a castle of cards.   When I extricated myself from the rubbish, I found that my shoulder was crushed.  I still had the two girls and seeing by the lighting that only thing about that was not moving was a refrigerator, I put them behind it, and covered them with a blanket to protect them from the rain and hail, which was dreadful.  Just then I hear my wife calling me.  She had just gained consciousness, and by digging in the rubbish I soon discovered that she was pinned down by the red hot stove!"
  "Hurry," she said, "for goodness' sake, hurry! Its burning me!"
  "I grasped a board and pried on the stove, but I didn't not have a fulcrum, and I was crazy with my wife's appeals for help.  Finally, good fortune sent a box along, which I used as a fulcrum and got my wife out.  I was nearly overcome myself now, and my shoulder was paining badly.  I was just fixing up a shelter for my wife when I hear a voice calling me as if it were in the distance.  I listened and discovered that it was away down in the ruins of the hotel.  I went to work again and dug down to where M. H. Biggs, one of my lodgers, was pinned down by a fallen ceiling.  I pried this up an asked him if it relieved him.  He said no, and to hurry - the he could not breathe two minutes longer  I then discovered that there was another ceiling was bearing on him.  When I got this away, he felt relieved at once and I soon had him out.  It was awful - awful - awful," added Mr. Sorter, "and the long wait through the night in the hail and rain was not the least terrible part of it."

OTHER STORIES

  "My wife and I were still up when the storm struck, " said E. E. Hall.  "I was undressing one of the children preparatory to putting them to bed, when the house collapsed.  I grabbed two of the children and, strange to relate, that is all I know, until I found myself at the neighbors in another part of town, still holding the babies and my wife still with me.  I have been told that I went to Mrs. James' house, my wife following with the other child.  I positively have no recollection of this.  Neither has my wife.  All these wounds on my head I remember nothing of.  Mrs. James said the we both looked dazed and she took us to Mrs. Nance's.  An hour or two later, I came to.  I absolutely knew nothing all this time.  I cannot understand it.  How could I carry those children and keep my feet in an unconscious condition?  The baby I carried had its leg broken; oh it is terrible, terrible."

  "My wife," said E. G. Thornton, "was sitting on the edge of the bed undressing the baby, when we suddenly felt the house lifted, twisted and turned over.  The next thing I knew, we were all sprawled out in the mud, the rain and hail and flying missiles increasing to our periled discomfiture."

  James Porter, the well-known stockman of Towanda, had gone to bed.  His wife and daughter with him.  The first thing he knew the roof of his house went off, followed by the second story.  He tried to go down stairs but found the way blockaded.  He finally was thrown off with Mrs. Porter and the daughter, but they all escaped unhurt.  Mr. Porter is especially happy that he did not go to the cellar as he intended; as the foundation of the house caved in and that would have meant certain death.

THE TRACK OF THE STORM

The storm has been traced.  It probably started five miles east of Wichita, destroying Mr. Winder's place.  Its course is shown southwest of Towanda by the demolition of the farm houses and barns of George Sneider, Ed Corbin, John Anderson, Peter Seitergreen and Johnny Hammon.  The twister struck Towanda from the southeast, and a few feet beyond the school house, turned and went north.  This is shown by the fact that the hay stack a few hundred yards northeast of the school house was untouched.  The storm continued on its fearful journey six miles directly north, playing with the houses of J. E. Jarton, A Leimann, Colonel Crabtree, A.J. and J. K Ralston and Banker Gillespie's barn.  Six miles north of Towanda the storm turned east and struck DeGraff, a small station north of El Dorado.  At the time of the storm at Towanda, the suction of the air resulting, caused the wind to blow violently from the east at El Dorado and from the west at Benton, the storm making a vortex.

HISTORY OF TOWANDA

Towanda is the oldest town in this part of the country.  It was founded by Isaac Mooney in 1856.  Mr. Mooney still resides in Towanda and his house was truck by lightning but not otherwise injured in Thursday nights storm.  For some years, J. R. Mead of this city had an Indian trading post at Towanda and it was the headquarters of the great southwest.  At the time of its destruction it probably had 200 to 250 people.  It is now doubtful that is till ever be rebuilt, and may become a mere flag station, where hitherto, it has been a very prosperous village.
  "It as just twenty-one year ago this 17th of June," said an old settler at Towanda, yesterday that "this country was visited by a similar storm and El Dorado suffered greatly."

There heve been several stories about the early days of Towanda and they all seem to vary a little as to the others, but one thing they all seem to agree about is Daniel Cupp being the first white settler to settle in this area along the Whitewater River.

This is a story as told to the “Towanda News” by Daniel H. Cupp in the year 1916.  This article was copied from the early newspaper by Hank Burchard.  All of these newspapers will be available for review in the near future at the Museum. 
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“You should have been here in 1859 and 1860, as I was, if you think this is a dry hot time,” said pioneer D.H. Cupp to several who were discussing the discomforts and crop failures of the existing drought.

  Upon request of those present for the story of that time, Mr. Cupp said it was in December, 1859 that it stopped raining entirely.  “The year I cam here, arriving on the Whitewater in the spring.  There were several light rains in April and one or two during the summer, but none to do much good to what little crops that had been planted - - corn, potatoes, and garden truck.

  A little of which was harvested that fall, but not enough to feed the people.   Bread stuffs were hauled in by wagon from Leavenworth.  This, with meat, of which there was an abundance, such as buffalo, deer, antelope, wild turkey, prairie chickens, quail, which would be had for the killing, afforded everyone plenty to eat and aided the settlers to live through the following winter very comfortable.  Our stock lived on the range had plenty of feed and came through in good condition.  Cattle were fat enough for beef.

  Up to this time, with the exception of one light snow in January, no moisture had fallen.  So ever, were went ahead an put in our crops, trusting providence for rain.  But this time it disappointed us.  A long, hot, dry fall, until the September when rain came, but too late to do any good.  There was absolutely nothing raised and no surplus left from the preceding year, so we were up against it.  Grass was but two to three inches high and could not be cut for hay.  I and a neighbor, at one time during the summer noticed a little rain cloud down in the direction of Dry Creek and decided to try for hay there.  We found a patch of grass about a foot high, which we mowed and raked by hand, getting seven loads for our work.  No one lived near there; but wild cats and panthers were there, lots of them and they howled and screeched around our camp all night.  We paid them no attention and they did not bother us further than that.

​MY TRIP TO CHICAGO

"On account of my Shorthorn steer LOCHDHU LINDY winning First Prize at Championship in the Shorthorn Division of the 4-H Club show a the Kansas National Live Stock Show at Wichita in November 1927, I was awarded a trip to Chicago by the Rock Island Railroad.

We left Wichita at 9:15 in the morning and arrived in Kansas City at 4:15 in the afternoon.  Several other boys and girls who belonged to the 4-H Clubs in Kansas and who had been awarded free trips to Chicago were also in the train.  When we arrived at the Union Station in Kansas City we were met by Miss Bender who had charge of the club Boys and Girls.  We got our suppers in the Union Station and left Kansas City for Chicago at 5:45 in a special sleeping car attached to the regular Rock Island train, arriving at Chicago the next morning at 8:15.  We left the train at the La Salle Street Station and walked to the La Salle Hotel which was our headquarters while in Chicago.  After checking in, we were taken for a bus ride along Michigan Boulevard which is the longest street in Chicago and follows the shore of Lake Michigan for several miles.

After coming back to the Hotel, we cleaned up for supper.  Mr. Coe, who was charge of the Club work in Kansas took we boys and girls to a cafe about a block from the Hotel.  After we had finished our supper we went back to the Hotel for the balance of the evening.  The next morning we went out to the International Live Stock Show and saw the fine stock that was on exhibition there.  In the afternoon we were entertained at the Horse Show.  On Monday we went to the Wilson Packing Company, by invitation from Mr. Wilson, and were given our suppers there and entertained for a couple of hours, then back to our Hotel on the elevated Railway.

On Tuesday morning w were invited to the Armour Packing Company, where they gave us our breakfast and entertained us for about and hour.  We were then shown through the packing plant.  In the afternoon we were taken to the Field Museum where we spent a very enjoyable afternoon looking at the mounted animals and other things they had there.  It was a grand place and would take more than one day to see it all.  From the Field Museum we took taxis back to our hotel, got supper there and spent the evening in the Hotel.  Wednesday morning we went to the Argo Corn Starch Factory at Argo, Illinois.  Also went to the International Harvester Co. and saw them making tractors, stationary engines and other kinds of machinery.  There are almost every nationality of people working in this factory.  The manager of the plant took Mr. Coe, Mr. Clapp and Mr. Gibson down the line where all the different nationalities of the world almost were working in the factory assembling tractors.  As they passed each man, the manager would speak to them in their language and they would answer him, but we could not understand anything they said.

We went back to Lincoln Park in Chicago and saw the many kinds of animals and birds they have there and watched the keepers feed and care for them.  Lincoln Park is very fine and contains several hundred acres.  From Lincoln Park we went back to our Hotel.

Friday morning we went back to the Museum and from there we went across the street and saw the second largest stadium in the world.  It is called Soldiers Field Stadium.  This is where the University of Southern California and Notre Dame University played football on Thanksgiving Day this year.  We went from there back to the La Salle Hotel, packed our grips and left on the Rock Island for Kansas City.  We arrived at Kansas city the next morning on time and left at 10:25 for Wichita, arriving at Wichita at 6:00 P.M.  It was a grand trip and I enjoyed it very much.  I thank the Rock Island Railroad Company for giving me the trip."

This story was written by JC Robison, JR following his journey to Chicago in November 1927.  JC Robison, JR was the son of James Robison, creator of the Whitewater Falls Stock Farm Barn.