Chapter 16, Part 2 of My Life on the Plains. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. The exact distance he would have to ride in order to reach General Sheridan's headquarters at Camp Supply could not be determined. The command had occupied four days in accomplishing it, but California Joe, with his thorough knowledge of the country and the experience of our march, would be able to follow a much more drunk route than a large command moving with a train. He did not seem in the least disturbed when told of his selection for this errand so full of danger. When informed that he might name the number of men to accompany him, I suppose he would say about twelve or more under command of a good non-commissioned officer. Very few persons in or out of the military service would have cared to undertake the journey with much less than ten times at force, but he contented himself by informing me that, before answering that question, he would walk down to where the scouts were in camp and consult with his partner. He soon returned, saying, I've just been talking the matter over with my partner, and him and me both concludes that as safe and sure way as any is for him and me to take a few extra rounds of ammunition and strike out from here together the very minute it's dark, as for any more men we don't want them, because you see in a case of this year kind there's more to be made by dodging and running than there is by fighting, and two Sprite men can do better at that than twenty. They can't be seen half as fur. Besides, two won't leave as much a trail for the engines to find. If my partner and me can get away from here as soon as it's plum dark, we'll be so fur from here by daylight tomorrow morning. The engines never couldn't touch hide nor hair of us. Besides, I don't reckon the pesky varmints will be so overly keen and meddling with our business, seeing as how they got their hands tolerable for setting things to rights at home. Oh, and to the little visit we just made them.   Well, I'm going back to the boys and see if I can borrow a little smokin' tobacco. I may want to take a smoke on the way. Whenever you get your documents ready, just send your orderly down there, and me and my partner will be ready. I'm mighty glad I'm goin' tonight, for I know General Sheridan will be monstrously glad to see me back so soon. Did I tell ya I used to know that General, when he was 2nd or 3rd Lieutenant, a post-quotimaster, an overgun? It must have been before your time. Leaving California Joe to procure his tobacco, I assembled all the officers of the command and informed them that as there was but an hour or two in which I was to write my report of the Battle of the Washeta, I would not have time, as I should have preferred to do, to send to them for regular and formally written reports of their share in the engagement. But in order that I might have the benefit of their combined knowledge of the battle and its results, each officer and respond to my request gave me a brief summary of some of the important points which his report would have contained if submitted in writing. With this information of my possession, I sat down in my tent and penned in as brief a manner as possible a report to General Sheridan, detailing our movements from the time Elliot, with his three companies, discovered the trail, up to the point from which my dispatch was written, giving particular and main facts of our discovery, attack and complete destruction of the village of Black Kettle. It was just about dark when I finished this dispatch and was able to send for California Joe, when that laquacious personage appeared at the door of my tent. I'm not so anxious to leave you all here, but the fact is the sooner me and my partner are off, I reckon the better it'll be in the end. I want to put at least fifty miles between me and this place by daylight tomorrow morning, so if you just hurry up your papers it'll be a lift for us. On going outside the tent I saw that the partner was the scout Jack Corbin. The same who had first brought this intelligence of Elliot's discovery of the trail to us at Antelope Hills. He was almost the antipodes of California Joe in regards to many points of character, seldom indulging at a remark or suggestion unless prompted by a question. These two scouts recalled to my mind an amicable arrangement said to exist between a harmonious married pair in which one was willing to do all the talking, and the other was perfectly willing. He should. The two scouts who were about to set out to accomplish a long journey through an enemy's country with no guide saved the stars, neither ever having passed over the route they proposed to take, and much of the ride to be executed during the darkness of night, apparently felt no greater as if great anxiety as to the result of their hazardous mission than one ordinarily feels in contemplating a journey of a few hours by rail or steamboat. California Joe was dressed and equipped as usual, about his waist and underneath his cavalry great-code and cap he wore a belt containing a colt revolver and a hunting-knife. These, with his inseparable companion, the long spring-field breach-loading rifle, composed his defensive armament. His partner, Jack Corbin, was very similarly arrayed except in equipment his belt contained two revolvers instead of one, while a sharp's carbine supplied the place of a rifle, being more readily carried and handled on horseback. The mounts of the two men were as different as their characters. California Joe confiding his safety to the transporting powers of his favorite mule, while Corbin was placing his reliance on a fine gray charger. Acquainting the men with the probable route we should pursue in our onward march towards Camp Supply, so that, if desirable, they might be able to rejoin us, I delivered my report to General Sheridan into the keeping of California Joe, who, after unbuttoning numerous coats, blouses, and vests, consigned the package to one of the numerous capacious inner pockets with which each garment seemed supplied, with the remark, ah, reckon it'll keep dry there in case of rain or accident. Both men having mounted, I shook hands with them, wishing them Godspeed and a successful journey. As they rode off into the darkness, California Joe, irrepressible to the last called out, well, I hope and trust you won't have any screamage while I'm gone, because I'd hate modally now to miss anything of the sort seeing I'm stuck to you for this fur. After enjoying a most grateful and comparatively satisfactory night's rest, the demands of hunger on the part of man and beast having been bountifully supplied from the stores contained in our train, while a due supply of blankets and robes with the assistance of huge campfires enabled the men to protect themselves against the intense cold of midwinter, our march was resumed at daylight in the direction of camp supply. Our wounded had received every possible care and attention that a skillful and kind-hearted medical officer could suggest. Strange to add, and greatly to our surprise as well as joy, Colonel Barnett's, who had been carried into the village shot through the body and, as all supposed, mortally wounded, with apparently but a few minutes to live, had not only survived the rough jostling of the night march made after leaving the village, but the surgeon, Dr. Lippincott, who was unceasing in his attention to the wounded, reported indications favorable to a prolongation of life if not a complete recovery. This was cheering news to all of the comrades of Colonel Barnett's. I well remember how, when the Colonel was first carried by four of his men in the folds of an army blanket into the village, his face wore that pale, deathly aspect, so common and peculiar to these mortally wounded. He, as well as all who saw him, believed his end near at hand. But like a brave soldier, he was, and had proven himself to be, death had no terrors for him. When asked by me, as I knelt at the side of the litter of which he was gasping for breath, whether he had any messages to send to absent friends, he realized the perils of his situation, and in half-finished sentences mingled with regrets, delivered as he and all of us supposed, his farewell messages to be transmitted to the dear ones at home. And yet, despite the absence of that care and quiet, not to mention little delicacies and luxuries regarded as so essential, and which would have been obtainable under almost any other circumstances, Colonel Barnett's continued to improve, and before many weeks his attendant medical officer was able to pronounce him out of danger. Although to this day he is, and for the remainder of life, will be, disabled from further active duty, the ball by which he was wounded, having severed one of his ribs in such a manner as to render either riding or the wearing of a sabre or revolver, too painful to be endured. By easy marches we gradually neared Camp Supply, and had begun to descend a long slope leading down to the valley of Wolf Creek, the stream on which we had in Camp Three Nights when we first set out from Camp Supply in search of Indians. With two or three of the assage guides and as many of the officers, I was riding some distance in advance of the column of troops and could indistinctly see the timber fringing the valley in the distance when the attention of our little party was attracted to three horsemen who were to be seen riding slowly along near the edge of the timber. As yet they evidently had not observed us, the troops behind us not having appeared in view. We were greatly at a loss to determine who the three horsemen might be. They were yet too distant to be plainly visible to the eye, and the orderly with my field-glass was still in the rear. While we were halting and watching their movements, we saw that they had also discovered us, one of their number riding up to a small elevation nearby, from which to get a better view of our group. After studying us for a few moments, he returned at a gallop to his two companions, when all three tuned their horses toward the timber and moved rapidly in that direction. We were still unable to determine whether they were Indians or white men, the distance being so great between us when my orderly arrived with my field-glass by which I was able to catch a glimpse of them just as they were disappearing in the timber, when whose familiar form should be revealed, but that of California Joe, urging his mule to its greatest speed in order to reach the timber before we should discover them. They had evidently taken us for Indians, and, well, they might, considering that two of our party were osages, and the others were dressed in anything but their regulation uniform. To relieve the anxious minds of California Joe and his companions, I put spurs to my horse, and I was soon bounding down the plains leading into the valley to join them. I had not proceeded over halfway when the scouts rode cautiously out from the timber. In California Joe, after shading his eyes with his hands and looking for a few moments, raised his huge sombrero from his matted head, and waving it above him as a signal of recognition, pressed his great Mexican spurs deep into the sides of his humble-looking steed, if a mule may receive such an appellation, and the three scouts were soon galloping towards us. The joy at the meeting was great on both sides, only dampened somewhat on the part of California Joe by the fact that he and his comrades had taken to the timber so promptly when first they discovered us. But he explained it by saying, I counted on it being you all the time when I first got my eyes on you, until I saw two engines in the squad, and forgetting all about them old sages we had along. I jumped at the conclusion that if there were any engines around, the comfortablest place I knowed for us three was to make for the timber, and there make a stand. We were getting ready to give it to you, if it turned out you are all engines. Well, I'm awfully glad to see you again, and that's sure. From his further conversation we were informed that Jack Corbin and himself had made their trip to General Sheridan's headquarters without hindrance or obstacle being encountered on their way, and that after delivering the dispatches and being well entertained in the meantime they, with one other scout, had been sent by the general to endeavor to meet us, bringing from him a package of orders and letters. While the column was overtaking us, and while California Joe now in his element was entertaining the attentive group of officers, scouts, and osages who gathered around him to hear him relate, in his quaint matter, what he saw, heard, and told at General Sheridan's headquarters, I withdrew to one side and opened the large official envelope in which were contained both official and personal dispatches. These were eagerly read, and while the satisfaction derived from the perusal of some of the letters of a private and congratulatory nature from personal friends at Camp Supply was beyond expression, the climax of satisfaction was reached when my eye came to an official looking document bearing the date and heading, which indicated department headquarters as its source. We had but little further to go before going into camp for that night, and as the command had now overtaken us, we moved down to the timber and there and camped, and in order that the approving words of our chief should be transmitted promptly to every individual of the command, the line was formed, and the following order announced to the officers and men, headquarters department of the Missouri in the field depot on the North Canadian at the junction of Beaver Creek Indian Territory. November 29, 1868. General Field Orders No. 6 The Major General Commanding announces to this command the defeat by the seventh regiment of the Calvary, of a large force of Cheyenne Indians under the celebrated Chief Black Kettle, reinforced by the Arapahos under Little Raven and the Kayoas under Satana, on the morning of the 27th instant, on the Washita River near the Antelope Hills Indian Territory, resulting in a loss to the savages of 103 warriors killed, including Black Kettle and capture of 53 squads and children, 875 ponies, 1123 buffalo robes and skins, 535 pounds of powder, 1,050 pounds of lead, 4,000 arrows, 700 pounds of tobacco, besides rifles, pistols, saddles, bows, lariots, and immense quantities of dried meat and other winter provisions, the complete destruction of their village and almost total annihilation of this Indian band. The loss to the seventh Calvary was two officers killed, Major Joel H. Alliot and Captain Lewis Hamilton, and 19 enlisted men, three officers wounded, Brevet Lieutenant Colonel Albert Barnett's badly, Brevet Lieutenant Colonel T. W. Custer and Second Lieutenant T. Z. March slightly, and 11 enlisted men. The energy and rapidity shown during one of the heaviest snow storms that has visited this section of the country, with the temperatures below freezing point, and a gallantry and bravery displayed, resulted in such signal success reflect to the highest credit upon both the officers and the men of the seventh Calvary, and the major general commanding while regretting the loss of such gallant officers as Major Alliot and Captain Hamilton, who fell while gallantly leading their men, desires to express his thanks to the officers and men engaged in the Battle of the Wachita, and a special congratulations are tendered to their distinguished commander, Brevet Major General George A. Custer, for the efficient and gallant services rendered which have characterized the opening of the campaign against hostile Indian south of the Arkansas. By command of Major General P. H. Sheridan, signed J. Shuler Crosby, Rev. Col. A. D. C. A. A. General, this order containing as it did the grateful words of approval from our revered commander, went far to drown the remembrance of the hunger, cold, and danger encountered by the command, in the resolute and unified effort made by it to thoroughly discharge its duty. Words like these, emanating from the source they did and upon an occasion such as this was, were immeasurably more welcome gratifying and satisfactory to the pride of the officers and men than would have been the reception of a budget of brevets worded in the regular stereotype form and distributed in a promiscuous manner, having but little regard to whether the recipient had bravely impaired his life on the battlefield in behalf of his country or taken particular care to preserve that life upon some field far removed from battle. The last camp, before we reached camp supply, was on Wolf Creek, about ten miles from General Sheridan's headquarters. The weather had now moderated to the mildest winter temperature, the snow having melted and disappeared. From this point I sent a courier to General Sheridan soon after going into camp and forming him of our whereabouts at the distance from his camp and that we would reach the latter in such an hour in the forenoon, when the officers and men of my command would be pleased to march and review before him and his staff as we finished our return march from the opening of the winter campaign. Officers and men in view of this prepared to put on their best appearance, and the appointed hour on the morning of December 2nd the command moved out of camp and began its last day's march toward camp supply. Considering the hard and trying character of the duty they had been engaged in since leaving camp supply, the appearance of the officers' men and horses were far better than might naturally have been expected of them. When we arrived within a couple of miles of General Sheridan's headquarters, we were met by one of the staff officers with a message from the General that it would give him great pleasure to review the seventh cavalry as proposed that he and his staff would be mounted and take up a favorable position for the review near headquarters. In approaching camp supply by the route we were marching, a view of the camp and depot is first gained from the point where the high-level plane begins to descend gradually, to form the valley in the middle of which camp supply is located, so that by having a man on the lookout to report when the troops should first make their appearance on the height overlooking Beaver Creek, the General was enabled not only to receive timely notice of our approach, but to take position with his staff to witness our march down the long gradual slope leading into the valley. The day was all we could wish, a bright sun overhead and favorable ground for the maneuvering of troops. I had taken the precaution to establish the formation of the marching column before we should appear in view from General Sheridan's camp, so that after our march began down a beautifully descending slope to the valley, no change was made. In many respects the column we formed was unique in appearance, first road-arrow sage guides and trailers dressed and painted in the extremist fashions of war according to their rude customs and ideas. As we advanced these warriors chanting their war songs, firing their guns in triumph, and at intervals gave utterance to their shrill war-woops. Next came the scouts riding abreast, with California Joe astride his faithful mule bringing up the right, but enable even during this ceremonious informal occasion to dispense with his pipe. Immediately in rear of the scouts rode the Indian prisoners under guard, all mounted on Indian ponies and in their dress, conspicuous by its white colors, many of them wearing the scarlet blanket so popular with the wild tribes presenting quite a contrast to the dull and motley colors worn by the scouts. Some little distance in rear came the troops formed in column of platoons, the leading platoon preceded by the band playing Gary Owen, being comprised of the sharpshooters under Colonel Cook, followed in succession by the squadrons in the regular order of March. In this order and arrangement we marched proudly in front of our chief, who as the officers rode by giving him the military salute with the saber, returned their formal courtesy by a graceful lifting of his cap and a pleased look of recognition from his eye, which spoke of his approbation and language far more powerful than studied words could have done. In speaking of the review afterwards, General Sheridan said the appearance of the troops with the bright rays of the sun reflecting from their burnished arms and equipments, as they advanced in beautiful order and precision down the slope, the band playing in the blue of the soldier's uniform slightly relieved by the gaudy colors of the Indians, both captives and Osages. The strangely fantastic part played by the Osage guides, their shouts chanting their war songs and firing their guns in the air, all combined to render the scene one of the most beautiful and highly interesting he remembered ever having witnessed. After marching in review the troops were conducted across the plain to the border of Beaver Creek, about a quarter of a mile from General Sheridan's camp where we pitched our tents and prepared to enjoy a brief period of rest. We had brought with us on a return march from the battleground of the Washtar, the remains of our slain comrade, Captain Lewis McLean Hamilton. Arrangements were at once made upon our arrival at camp supply to offer the last formal tribute of respect and affection which we as his surviving comrades could pay as he had died a soldier's death, so like a soldier he should be buried. On the evening of the day after our arrival at camp supply the funeral took place. A little knoll not far from camp was chosen as the resting place to which we were to consign the remains of our departed comrade. In the arrangements for the conduct of the funeral ceremonies, no preliminary or important detail had been omitted to render the occasion not only one of imposing solemnity but deeply expressive of the highest steam in which the deceased had been held by every member of the command. In addition to the eleven companies of the Seventh Calvary, the regular garrison of camp supply numbering several companies in the Third Regular Infantry, the regiment in which Captain Hamilton first entered the regular service, was also in attendance. The body of the deceased was carried in an ambulance as a hearse and covered with a large American flag. The ambulance was preceded by Captain Hamilton's squadron, commanded by Brevet Lieutenant Colonel T. B. Weir, and was followed by his horse covered with a mourning sheet and bearing on the saddle the same in which Captain Hamilton was seated when he received his death wound, the saber and belt and reverse top boots of the deceased. The Paul Bearers were Major General Sheridan, Brevet Lieutenant Colonel J. Shuler Crosby, W. W. Cook and T. W. Custer, Brevet Major W. W. Beebe, Lieutenant Joseph Hall, and myself. Our sojourn at Camp Supply was to be brief. We arrived there on the 2nd of December and in less than one week we were to be in the saddle with our numbers more than doubled by reinforcements and again wending our way southward over the route we had so lately passed over. Before setting out on the last expedition I had stated to the officers in a casual manner that all parties engaged in the conduct of the contemplated campaign against the Indians must reconcile themselves in advance no matter how the expedition might result to becoming the recipients of censure and unbounded criticism, that if we failed to engage and whip the Indians, labor as we might to accomplish this. The people in the West, particularly along and near the frontier, those who had been victims of the assaults made by Indians, would denounce us in unmeasured terms as being inefficient or lukewarm in the performance of our duty, whereas if we should find and punish the Indians as they deserve a wail would rise up from the horrified humanitarians throughout the country and we would be accused of attacking and killing friendly and defenseless Indians. My predictions proved true. No sooner was the intelligence of the battle of the Washtar flashed over the country than the anticipated cry was raised. In many instances it was emanated from a class of persons truly good in themselves and in their intentions, but who were familiar to only a very limited degree with the dark side of the Indian question and whose ideas were of the sentimental order. There was another class, however, equally loud in their utterances of pretended whore, who were actuated by pre-cunity motives alone, and who, from their supposed or real intimate knowledge of the Indian character and of the true merits of the contest between the Indians and the government, were able to give some weight to their expressed opinions and assertations of alleged facts. Some of these, last described, actually went so far as to assert not only that the village we had attacked and destroyed was that of Indians who had always been friendly and peaceable towards the Whites, but that many of the warriors and chiefs were partially civilized and had actually borne arms in the Union Army during the War of Rebellion. The most astonishing fact connected with these assertations was not that they were uttered, but that many well-informed people believed them. The government, however, was in earnest in its determination to administer proper and deserved punishment to the guilty, and as a mark of approval of the opening event of the winter campaign, the following telegram from the Secretary of War was transmitted to us at Camp Supply. Lieutenant General Sherman, St. Louis, Missouri. War Department, Washington City. December 2, 1868. I congratulate you, Sheridan and Custer, on the splendid success with which your campaign has begun. Asked Sheridan to send forward the names of officers and men deserving of special mention, signed J. M. Schofield, Secretary of War. It was impracticable to comply with the requests contained in the closing portion of the dispatch from the Secretary of War for the gratifying reason that every officer and man belonged to the expedition had performed his full part in rendering the movement against the hostile tribes a complete success. End of Chapter 16, Part 2. Chapter 17 of My Life on the Plains. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. The close of the last chapter left my command in Camp near General Sheridan's headquarters, at the point known as Camp Supply, Indian Territory. We had returned on the 30th of November from the campaign of the Washota, well, satisfied with the result of our labors and exposures. But we were not to sit quietly in our tents or winter quarters and give way to mutual congratulations upon the success which had already rewarded our efforts. The same spirit who, in the Shenandoah Valley Campaign of 1864, had so successfully inaugurated the whirling movement, was now present, and it was determined that upon a slightly modified principle reinforced by the biting frosts of winter we should continue to press things until our savage enemies should not only be completely humbled but be forced from the combined perils of war and winter to beg for peace and settle quietly down within the limits of their reservation. Such was the import of the closing sentences in the congratulatory order published by General Sheridan to the Seventh Cavalry and quoted in the preceding chapter. The opening of the campaign against Tostal India and south of the Arkansas were the words used. We have seen the opening, if the reader will accompany me, I will endeavor to relate that which followed in introducing the principal events which, in connection with the Battle of the Machita resulted in forcing all the hostile Indians south of the Arkansas to a condition of comparative peace and gave peace and protection to that portion of our frontier which had so long suffered from their murderous and thieving raids. And listen one week, from the date of our arrival at Camp Supply, we were to be again in the saddle and wending our way southward toward the supposed winter haunts of our enemies, this time, however, with more than double our former numbers. So long had the thrifty and enterprising settlers upon the frontier of Kansas, particularly those who had settled homes in the fertile valley of the saline Solomon and Republican rivers, had been subjected to the depredations of the Cheyennes, Arapahos, Apaches, Kiowas, and the Sioux, and so frequent had the murder and capture of settlers by these Indians become that the citizens and the officials of the state felt forced to take measures in their own defense and for the purpose of uniting with the forces of the general government in the attempt to give quiet and protection to life and property to the inhabitants of the border settlements. The last needed impulse to this movement on the part of the people of Canvas was given when the Indians, late in the preceding summer, had made two raids upon the settlements in the saline Solomon and Republican valleys, and after murdering many of the men and children, burning houses and destroying or capturing a vast amount of stock, carried off into captivity two young women or girls, both belonging to highly respected families residing on the exposed border of the state. Although one of the captives was married, her marriage to a farmer having been celebrated less than one month prior to the day of her unfortunate capture by the Indians, yet neither of them could scarcely be said to have passed the line which separates girlhood from womanhood. Mrs. Morgan, the bride, was but nineteen, while her companion in misfortune, Miss White, was still her junior by a year or more. As they played no unimportant part in the subsequent operation against the Indians, the principal events attending their capture may not be out of place. Neither knew the other nor had they ever seen each other until they met as captives in the Indian village hundreds of miles from their frontier homes. One can readily imagine with what deep interest and mutual sympathy the acquaintance of these two helpless girls began. Miss White had been captured and carried to the Indian village about one month before the capture of Mrs. Morgan occurred. The brief story of the capture of the former is soon told. One day her father being at work in the field, she and a younger sister were engaged in a garden when she saw four Indians entering the house where her mother and younger children of the family were. Her first impulse was to fly, but seeing an Indian on the opposite side of the garden she turned and entered the house. One or two of the Indians could speak broken English. All of them assumed a most friendly demeanor and requested something to eat. This request was met by a most prominent and willing response upon the part of Mrs. White and her children. With true Western hospitality they prepared for their unbidden guests as bountifully as the condition of the larder would permit. No depredations had been committed in that vicinity for some time and, as was not an unusual occurrence for small parties of Indians when engaged on hunting excursions to visit the settlements where they invariably met with kind treatment at the hands of the settlers, it was hoped that after obtaining the desired meal the party would quietly withdraw without committing any depredations. Such, however, was not the intention of the savages. Already on that day their hands had been dipped in the white man's blood and the peaceful procurement of something to appease their hunger was merely the dropping of the curtain between two acts of terrible drama. Having satisfied the demands of their appetites it was then time for them to throw aside the guise of friendship under which they had entered the house and been treated as favored guests and to reveal the true object of their visit. Two stalwart warriors grasped Mrs. White in their arms and rushed toward the door.  As she found herself being rapidly carried from the house the last glimpse she obtained of those within revealed her mother engaged in an unequal struggle with a powerful warrior. Why another of the savages had felled a younger sister to the floor and was then engaged in destroying such articles of furniture or tableware as he could lay his hands upon. Her two captors hurried her from the house, hastened to the spot where they had left their ponies and, after binding their captive upon the back of one of their ponies and being joined by the others of the party, began their flight from the settlements, while knowing that the alarm would soon be given and pursued by the enraged settlers would be the result. Amid the terrible surroundings of her own situation the anxieties of the fair captive to know the fate of the dear ones left behind must have been unspeakable. I can scarcely imagine a more deplorable fate than that to which this defenseless girl had become the victim. Torn from her home amid scenes of heart-trending atrocities distracted with the anxious thoughts as to the fate which had befallen her mother and sisters, she now found herself a helpless prisoner in the hands of the most cruel, heartless and barbarous of human enemies. Unable to utter or comprehend a word of the Indian language and her captors only being able to express their most ordinary words in broken English, her condition was rendered the more forlorn, if possible, by her inability to communicate with those in whose power she found herself. With war parties returning from a foray upon the settlements the first object is to place as long a distance as possible between themselves and any party which may be in pursuit. To accomplish this as soon as they have completed the destruction and havoc of which the settlers are the victims, the entire party usually numbering from fifty to one hundred warriors, collect at a point near the settlements previously agreed upon and at once begin their flight toward their village, probably located at least two hundred miles from the scene of their attack. Being mounted as all war parties are, upon the flitest of Indian ponies with the extra animals driven along, little or no rest for either pony or rider is taken during the first twenty-four hours, by which time it is no unusual feat for a war party to traverse a distance of one hundred miles. During the early part of the flight every precaution is adopted to prevent leaving a heavy trail, or one easily to be followed. To this end, instead of moving as is customary in single file, thereby leaving a clearly defined path, each warrior moves independently of his fellows till all danger from pursuit is safely passed. When the party falls into single file and with the chief at the head moves along in an almost unbroken silence. If during an attack upon the frontier settlements the Indians should encounter unexpected and successful resistance, necessitating a premature withdrawal and flight on their part, they still resort to the stratagem in order to secure their safety. In accordance with the plan previously formed and understood by each member of the party, and specially provided for an emergency, the war party finding themselves about to encounter successful resistance on the part of the frontiersmen beat a hasty retreat, but instead of taking their flight in a single direction and in one party thereby leaving an unmistakable clue for their pursuers, the entire party breaks up into numerous smaller bans, each apparently fleeing in an independent direction. A few of the best mounted usually falling behind to attract the attention of the pursuers and give time to those of the party who were burdened with the prisoners and captured stock to make good their escape. In such an emergency as this, a rendezvous for the entire party has been previously fixed upon. Its location is usually upon or near some water course or prominent landmark, distant perhaps 30 or 40 miles, to their all smaller parties direct their course each by a separate and usually a circuitous course. Should either of these smaller parties find themselves closely pursued or their trail being followed and all efforts to throw the pursuers off prove unavailing, they relinquish the plan of uniting with the others at the established rendezvous, as that would imperil the safety of their comrades and select a new route leading neither in the direction of the rendezvous nor of the village, in order not only to elude but mislead their pursuers. Then ensues a long and tiresome flight until having worn out or outwitted their pursuers or whose movements they kept themselves thoroughly informed, they make their way in safely to the village. At the latter, lookouts are constantly kept on some prominent hill to watch the coming of the absent warriors and give notice of their approach. A war party returning from a successful raid into the settlement and bringing with them prisoners and captured stock is an event of the greatest importance to every occupant to the village. Having arrived within a few miles of the village and feeling safe from all danger, from pursuit, the chief in command of the war party causes a smoke signal to be sent up from some high point along the line of march, while knowing that watchful eyes near the village are on the alert and will not fail to observe the signal and understand its meaning. It is wonderful to what a state of perfection the Indian has carried the simple mode of telegraphing, scattered over a great portion of the plains from British America to the north almost to the Mexican border on the south, are to be found isolated hills or, as they are usually termed, buttes, which can be seen a distance from twenty to more than fifty miles. These peaks are selected as the telegraphic stations. By varying the number of the columns of smoke different meanings are conveyed by the messages. The most simple as well as most easily varied mode and resembling somewhat the ordinary alphabet employed in the magnetic telegraph is arranged by building a small fire, which is not allowed to blaze. Then by placing an armful of partially green grass or weeds over the fire as if to smother it, a dense white smoke is created, which ordinarily will ascend to a continuous vertical column for hundreds of feet. This column of smoke is to the Indian mode of telegraphing what the current of electricity is to the system employed by the white man. The alphabet so far as it goes is almost identical, consisting as it does of long lines and short lines or dots. But how formed is perhaps the query of the reader by the simplest methods. Having as current smoke established the Indian operator simply takes his blanket and by spreading it over the small pile of weeds or grass from which the column of smoke takes its source and properly controlling the edges and corners of the blanket. It confines a smoke and it is in this way able to retain it for several moments. By rapidly displacing a blanket the operator is unable to cause a dense volume of smoke to rise, the length or shortness of which as well as the number and frequency of the columns he can regulate perfectly simply by the proper use of the blanket. For the transmission of brief messages previously determined upon no more simple method could easily be adopted. As soon as the lookout near the village discerns the approach in the distance of the expected war party the intelligence is at once published to the occupants of the village through the stentorian tomes of the village crier, the duties of which office are usually performed by some superannuated or deposed chief. Runners mounted upon fleet ponies or at once dispatched to meet the returning warriors and gather the particulars of the expedition, whether successful or otherwise, whether they are returning laden with scalps and plunder or come empty handed, have they brought prisoners and captured horses and are their own numbers unbroken or do their losses exceed their gains. These and similar questions are speedily solved when the runners hasten back to the village and announce the result, where upon the occupants of the entire village old and young sally forth to meet the returning warriors if the latter has been successful and have suffered no loss they become the recipients of all the triumph which the barbarous and excited people are capable of heaping upon them. They advance towards the village, painted and dressed in full war costume, singing their war songs, discharging their firearms and uttering ever an anon the war whoop peculiar to their tribe. Added to this every soul in the village capable of uttering a sound joins in the general rejoicing, and for a time the entire population is wild with excitement. If, however, instead of returning in triumph, the war party has met with disaster and suffered the loss of one or more warriors, the scene witnessed upon their arrival at the village is as boisterous as the other, but even more horrible. The party is met as before by all the inhabitants of the village, but in a wildly different manner. Instead of the shouts and songs of victory which greet the successful warriors, only the screams and wails of an afflicted people are to be heard, and bright colors give way to a deep black with which all the mourners and friends of the fallen warriors besmure their faces, while members of the immediate family begin hacking and scarifying their faces, arms and bodies with knives, and give way to the lamentations, the most piercing and horrible in sound. A not infrequent mode of disfiguring themselves and one which I have often seen is for the mourner, particularly if the one mourned is a wife or a husband, to cut off the first joint of the little finger. This, of course, is done without the slightest regard for the rules of surgery of which the Indians generally are woefully ignorant. The aberration is simply performed by taking a knife, often a questionable sharpness, and cutting through the flesh at the first joint of the little finger, leaving no flap of flesh to cover the exposed bone. As a result, in healing, the flesh withdraws from the mutilated portion of the finger and usually leaves nearly an inch of bone exposed, presenting, of course, a most revolting appearance. The village to which Ms. White's captors belonged was located at that time south of the Arkansas River, and distant from her home at least 300 miles. How many girls of 18 years of age possess a physical ability to survive a journey such as lay before this lonely captive, unprovided with a saddle of any description? She was mounted upon an Indian pony and probably required to accomplish nearly, if not quite, 100 miles within the first 24 hours, and thus to continue the tiresome journey, but with little rest or nourishment. Added to the discomfort and great fatigue of the journey was something more terrible and exhausting than either. The young captive, although a mere girl, was yet sufficiently versed in the perils attending frontier life to fully comprehend that upon her arrival at the village a fate awaited her more dreadful than death itself. She realized that if her life had been spared by her savage captors, it was due to no sentiment of mercy or kindness on their part, but simply that she might be reserved for a doom far more fearful and more to be dreaded than death. The capture of Mrs. Morgan occurred about one month later and in the same section of the country, and the story of her capture is in its incidence almost a repetition of that of Miss White. Her young husband was engaged at work in a field not far from the house when the crack of a rifle from the woods nearby summoned her to the door. She barely had time to see her husband fall to the ground when she discovered several Indians rushing toward the house. Her first impulse was to seek safety in flight, but already the Indians had surrounded the house and upon her attempting to escape one of the savages fell her to the ground by a blow from his war-club. She lost all consciousness. When she recovered her senses it was only to find herself bound upon the back of a pony which was being led by a mounted warrior, while another warrior rode behind and urged the pony she was mounted upon to keep up the trot. There were about fifty warriors in the party, nearly all belonging to the Cheyenne tribe, the others belonging to the Sioux and Arapahos. In the case of the capture of Miss White, a rapid flight immediately followed the capture. It was the story oft repeated of these outrages, like these, but particularly of these two, that finally forced the people of Kansas to take up arms in their own defense. Authority was obtained from the general government to raise a regiment of Calvary, whose services were to be accepted for a period of six months. So earnest and enthusiastic had the people of the frontier become in their determination to reclaim the two captives, as well as administer justly merited punishment that the people of all classes and callings were eager to abandon their professions and take up arms against the traditional enemy of the frontier. The governor of the state, Honorable S. J. Crawford, resigned the duties of the executive of the state into the hands of the lieutenant governor and placed himself at the head of the regiment, which was then being organized and equipped for service during the winter campaign. After the return of the seventh Calvary from the Washataw Campaign, we were simply waiting the arrival at Camp Supply of the Kansas Volunteers, before again setting out to continue the campaign, whose opening had begun so auspiciously. Severe storms delayed the arrival of the Kansas troops beyond the expected time. They reached Camp Supply, however, in time for the seventh of December to be fixed upon as the date of our departure. My command, as thus increased, consisted of eleven companies of the seventh United States Calvary, ten companies of the nineteenth Kansas Volunteer Calvary, Colonel S. J. Crawford commanding, a detachment of scouts under Lieutenant Silas Papoon, tenth Calvary, and between twenty and thirty whites, Osage, and Caw Indians as guides and trailers. Our ultimate destination was Fort Cobb, Indian Territory, where we would obtain a renewal of our supplies after the termination of our proposed march, as General Sheridan desired to transfer his headquarters in the field to that point. He decided to accompany my command, but generously declined to exercise any command of the expedition, merely desiring to avail himself of the opportunity of an escort, without rendering a detachment for that purpose necessary, and, as he remarked when announcing his intention to accompany us, he simply wished to be regarded as a passenger.  Any person who has had much to do with expeditions in the Indian country knows how many and how frequent are the applications made to the commanding officer to obtain employment as scouts or guides. Probably one in fifty of the applicants is deserving of attention, and if employed would prove worthy of his hire. Taking but a glance at the young man who addressed me and believing him to be one of the numerous applicants for employment, my attention being at the time absorbed with other matters, I was in no mood to carry on a conversation which I believed would terminate in an offer of service not desired. I was disposed to be somewhat abrupt in my answers, but there was something in the young man's earnest manner, the eagerness with which he seemed to await my answers that attracted and interested me. After a few questions on his part as to what portion of the country I expected to march through, what tribes I might encounter and other of a similar nature, he suddenly said, General, I want to go along with you. This only confirmed my first impression, although from his conversation I soon discovered that he was not one of the professional applicants for employment as a scouter guide, but more likely had been seized with a spirit of wild romance and imagined the proper field for its display would be discovered by accompanying an expedition against the Indians. Many instances of this kind had previously fallen under my observation, and I class this as one of them. So I simply informed him that I had already employed as many scouts and guides as were required, and that no position of that character or any other in fact was open to him. Not in the least discouraged by this decided refusal, he replied, but you do not understand me. I do not desire employment in your command nor any position requiring pay. I only ask permission to accompany your expedition. I have neither arms nor horse, if you will furnish me these, and permit me to go with you, I will serve you in any capacity I can and will expect. No pay. My curiosity was now excited. I therefore pressed him to explain his motive and desiring to accompany the expedition. Well, I tell you, it's a sad story. About four months ago the Indians attacked my home and carried off my only sister, a girl, nineteen years of age. Since that day I have not heard a word as to what has become of her. I know not whether she is among the living or the dead, but when I think of what must be her fate if among the living I am almost tempted to wish she was quietly resting among the dead. I do not even know what tribe was engaged in her capture, but hearing of your expedition I thought it might afford me the means of getting some clues to my sister's fate. You may have a counsel with some of the chiefs or some of the prisoners you capture at the battle of the Wachita. They may tell me something of her, or if I can only learn where she is perhaps you can exchange some of your prisoners for her. At any rate the only chance I have to learn anything concerning hers by being permitted to accompany your expedition. Of course he was permitted to accompany the expedition. Not only that, but he was provided with a horse and arms and appointed to a renumerative position. I ask him why he had not informed me at first as to his object in desiring to go with us. He replied that he feared that if it was known that he was in search of a lost sister, and we should afterward have interviews with the Indians as certainly we would at Fort Cobb, he might not be as successful in obtaining information as if the object of his mission was unknown. The name of this young man was Brewster, and the lost sister in whose search he was so earnestly engaged was Mrs. Morgan, whose capture has already been described. From him I learned that Mrs. Morgan's husband, although shot down at the first fire of the Indians, was in a fair way to recover, although crippled probably for life, but for his wounds he too would have joined the brother in search for the sister and for his bride whose honeymoon had met with such a tragic interruption. Young Brewster remained with my command during the entire winter, accompanying it and every detachment made from it in the eager hope to learn something of the fate of his sister. In his continued efforts to discover some clue leading to her he displayed more genuine courage, perseverance, and physical endurance, and a greater degree of true brotherly love and devotion than I had ever seen combined in one person. We will hear from him as the story progresses. It was decided to send the captives taken at the Wachita to Fort Hayes, Kansas, where they could not only be safely guarded but be made far more comfortable than at camp supply. Before the expedition moved I suggested to General Sheridan that I should take with the expedition three of the squads who were prisoners in our hands with a view to rendering their services available and establishing communications with the hostile villages, if at any time this should become a desirable object. General Sheridan approved of the suggestion and I selected three of the captives who were to accompany us. The first was Moisa, the sister of Black Kettle, who acquaintance the reader may have formed in the preceding chapter. The second was a Sousqua, probably 50 years of age whom Moisa expressed a desire to have accompany her, and who at times was disposed to be extremely communicative in regard to the winter resorts of the various tribes and other matters connected with the purposes of the expedition. The third was the daughter of Little Rock, the chief second in rank to Black Kettle, who had been killed at the battle of the Wachita. Little Rock's daughter was an exceedingly cumbly squaw, possessing a bright, cheery face and continence beaming with intelligence and a disposition more inclined to be merry than one usually finds among the Indians. She was, probably, rather under than over 20 years of age. Added to bright, laughing eyes, a set of pearly teeth and a rich complexion, her well-shaped head was crowned with a luxuriant growth of the most beautiful silken tresses, rivaling in color of the blackness, the raven, and extending when allowed to fall loosely over her shoulders to below her waist. Her name was Monicita, which anglicized means the young grass that shoots in the spring. Monicita, although yet a maiden in years in appearance, had been given in marriage, or, more properly speaking, she had been traded in marriage as an Indian maiden who should be so unfortunate as to be given away would not be looked upon as a very desirable match. In addition to her handsome appearance, both in form and feature, and to any other personal attraction which might be considered, peculiarly her own, Monicita, being the daughter of a chief high in rank, was justly considered as belonging to the cream of their aristocracy, if not to the royalty itself. Consequently, the suitors who hoped to gain her hand must be prepared, according to the Indian custom, to pay handsomely for an alliance so noble, little rock while representing as having been a kind of affectionate father, yet did not propose that the hand of his favorite daughter should be disposed of without the return of a due equivalent. Among the young warriors of the tribes there were many who would have been proud to call Monicita to preside over the domestic destinies of their lodge, but the price to be paid for so distinguished an alliance was beyond the means of most of them. Among the number of young braves who aspired to the honor of her hand was one who, so far as worldly wealth was concerned, was eligible. Unfortunately, however, he had placed too much reliance upon this fact, and had not thought that while obtaining the consent of the paterfimilias it would be well also to win the heart of the maiden, or perhaps he had in seeking her hand, also attempted to gain her heart. But not meeting with the desired encouragement from the maiden of his choice was willing to trust a time to accomplish the latter, provided only he could secure the first. According to Indian customs, the consent of the bride to a proposed marriage, while it may be so ever desirable, is not deemed essential. All that is considered absolutely essential is that the bridegroom shall be acceptable to the father of the bride, and shall transfer to the possession of the latter ponies or other articles of barter and sufficient number and value to be considered a fair equivalent for the hand of his daughter. When it is stated that from two to four ponies are considered as the price of the average squaw, and that the price for the hand of Monasita, as finally arranged, was eleven ponies, some idea can be formed of the high opinion entertained of her. It proved, however, so far as young warrior was concerned, an unsatisfactory investment. The ponies were transferred to Little Rock, and all the formalities were duly executed, which, by Indian law and custom, were necessary to constitute Monasita, the wife of the young brave. She was forced to take up her abode in his lodge, but refused to acknowledge him as her husband, or to render him that obedience and manil service which the Indian husband exacts from his wife. Time failed to soften her heart, or to cause her to look kindly upon herself constituted but unrecognized lord and master. Here was a clear case of incompatibility of disposition, and within the jurisdiction of some of our state laws a divorce would have been granted almost unquestioned. The patience of the young husband having become exhausted, and he having unsuccessfully resorted to every measure of kindness, deemed likely to win with the love and obedience of his wife, he determined to have recourse to harsher measures, if necessary to employ force. Again he mistook the character of her upon whose apparently obdurate heart neither threats nor promise had produced the faintest effect. Monasita had probably been anticipating such a decision and had prepared herself accordingly. Like most Indian women, she was skilful in the handling and use of weapons as most warriors are, and when her husband, or rather the husband who had been assigned to her, attempted to establish by force an authority which she had persistently refused to recognize, she reminded him that she was the daughter of a great chief, and rather than submit to the indignities of which she was thus attempting to heap upon her, she would resist even to the taking of life, and, suiting the action to the words, she leveled a small pistol which she had carried concealed beneath her blanket and fired, wounding him in the knee and disabling him for life. Little rock, learning of what had occurred and finding upon investigation that his daughter had not been to blame, concluded to cancel the marriage to grant a divorce which was accomplished simply by returning to the unfortunate husband, the eleven ponies which had been paid for the hand of Monasita. What an improvement upon the method prescribed in the civilized world. No lawyer fees, no publicity, no scandal, altidious delays are avoided, and the result is as nearly satisfactory to all parties as possible. Having sent a messenger to ask the three Indian women referred, too, to come to my tent, I acquainted them with my intention of taking them with the expedition when we moved in search of hostile villages. To my surprise they invinced great delight at the idea and explained it by saying that if they accompanied us they might be able to see or communicate with some of their people, while by remaining with the other prisoners and becoming further separated from their own country in hunting grounds, they could entertain little or no hope of learning anything concerning the fate of other portions of their tribe. They gladly acceded to the proposition to accompany the troops. I then inquired of them in which mode they preferred to travel, mounted upon ponies as was their custom or in an ambulance. Much to my surprise, remembering how loathe the Indian is to adopt any contrivance of the white man, they chose the ambulance, and wisely, too, as the season was that of mid-winter, and the interior of a closely covered ambulance was a much less exposed position than that was to be found on the back of a pony. End of Chapter 17 Chapter 18 of My Life on the Plains This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Forge for the horses and mules and rations for the men sufficient of both to last thirty days, having been loaded on the wagons, the entire command composed as previously stated, and accompanied by General Sheridan and staff, left camp supply early on the morning of December 7, and turning our horses head southward, we marched in the direction of the battleground of the Washita. Our march to the Washita was quiet and uneventful, if we accept the locacity of California Joe, who, now that we were once more in the saddle with the prospect of stirring times before us, seemed completely in his element, and gave vent to his satisfaction by indulging in a connected series of remarks and queries, always supplying the answer to the latter himself if none of his listeners evinced a disposition to do so for him. His principal delights seemed to be in speculating audibly as to what would be the impression produced on the minds of the Indians when they discovered us returning with an increased numbers of both men and wagons. I'd just like to see the strict continents of Satana, Metacinero, Lone Wolf, and a few others of them when they kitsch the first glimpse of the outfit. Do you think we come and dispend an evening with them, show, and have broad-eyed, knitting with us? One look will satisfy them, that'll be the sum of the dirtest kicking out over the plains that ever were here in Telove. One good thing it's going to come is not killing of them to start them out this time of year as if we had an out-and-out scrimmage with them. The way I look at it, they have just this preference. Them, as don't like being shot to death, can take the chances at freezing. In this interminable manner California Joe would pursue his semi-soliloquies only, too delighted if some one exhibited interest sufficient to propound an occasional question. As our proposed route bored to the southeast after reaching the battlefield, our course was so chosen as to carry us to the Wachita River a few miles below, at which point we encamped early in the day. General Sheridan desired to ride over the battleground, and we hoped by a careful examination of the surrounding country, to discover the remains of Major Elliot and his little party of whose fate there could no longer be the faintest doubt. With one hundred men at the Seventh Calvary under the command of Captain Yates, we proceeded to the scene of the battle, and from there dispersed in small parties in all directions, with orders to make a thorough search for our lost comrades. We found the evidence of the late engagement much as we had left them. Here were the bodies now frozen of the seven hundred ponies which we had slain after the battle, here and there scattered in and about the site of the former village of Black Kettle, lay the bodies of the many Indians who fell during the struggle. Many of the bodies, however, particularly those of Black Kettle and Little Rock, had been removed by their friends. Why any had been allowed to remain uncared for could only be explained upon the supposition that the hasty flight of the other villages prevented the Indians from carrying away any except the bodies of the most prominent chiefs or warriors, although most of those remaining on the battleground were found wrapped in blankets and bound with lariats, preparatory to removal and burial. Even some of the Indian dogs were found loitering in a vicinity of the places where the lodges of their former masters stood, but like the Indians themselves they were suspicious of the white man and could hardly be induced to establish friendly relations. Some of the soldiers, however, managed to secure possession of a few young puppies. These were carefully brought up, and to this day they or some of their descendants are in the possession of the members of the command. After running over the ground in the immediate vicinity of the village, I joined one of the parties engaged in the search for the bodies of Major Elliot and his men. In describing the search and its results I cannot do better than transcribe from my official report, made soon after to General Sheridan. After marching a distance of two miles in the direction in which Major Elliot and his little party were last seen, we suddenly came upon the stark, stiff, naked and horribly mutilated bodies of our dead comrades. No words were needed to tell how desperate had been the struggle before they were finally overpowered. In a short distance from where the bodies lay could be seen the carcasses of some of the horses of the party which had probably been killed early in the fight. Seeing the hopelessness of breaking through the line which surrounded them, and which undoubtedly numbered more than one hundred to one, Elliot dismounted his men, tied their horses together and prepared to sell their lives as dearly as possible. It may not be improper to add that in describing as far as possible the details of Elliot's fight, I rely not only upon a critical and personal examination of the ground and attendant circumstances, but I am sustained by the statements of Indian chiefs and warriors who witnessed and participated in the fight, and who have since been forced to enter our lines and surrender themselves up, under circumstances which will be made to appear in the other portions of this report. The bodies of Elliot and his little band, but with a single exception were found lying within a circle, not exceeding twenty yards in diameter. We found them exactly as they fell, except that their barbarous foes had stripped and mutilated the bodies in the most savage manner. All the bodies were carried to camp. The latter was reached after dark. It being the intention to resume the march before daylight the following day a grave was hastily prepared on a little knoll near our camp, and with the exception of that of Major Elliot, whose remains were carried with us for internment at Fort Arbuckle, the bodies at the entire party under the dim light of a few torches held by of souring comrades were consigned to one of common resting place. No funeral notes were sounded to measure their passage to the grave. No volley was fired to tell us a comrade was receiving the last sad rites of burial that the fresh earth had closed over some of our truest and most daring soldiers. Before internment I caused a complete examination of each body to be made by Dr. Lippincott, Chief Medical Officer of the expedition, with direction to report on the character and number of wounds received by each, as well as mutilations to which they had been subjected. The following extracts are taken from Dr. Lippincott's report. Major Joel H. Elliot, two bullet holes in the head, one in the left cheek, right hand cut off, left foot almost cut off, deep gash in right groin, deep gashes and calves of both legs, little finger of left hand cut off and throat cut.  Corporal Harry Mercer, troopee, bullet hole in right axilla, one in region of heart, three in back, eight arrow wounds in back, right ear cut off, head scalped and skull fractured, deep gashes in both legs and throat.  Corporal William Carrick, troopee, bullet hole in right parietal bone, both feet cut off, throat cut, left arm broken. Private Eugene Clover, troopee, head cut off, arrow wound in right side, both legs terribly mutilated. Private William Milligan, troopee, bullet hole in left side of head, deep gashes in right leg, left arm deeply gashed, head scalped and throat cut. Corporal James F. Williams, troopee, bullet hole in back, head and both arms cut off, many in deep gashes in back.   Private John Myers, troopee, several bullet holes in head, scalped, 19 bullet holes in the body, throat cut. Private Cal, sharp, troopee, two bullet holes in the right side, throat cut, one bullet hole in left side of head, one arrow hole in left side, left arm broken.  Unknown, head and right hand cut off, three bullets and nine arrows in the back. Unknown, scalped, skull fractured, six bullet and thirteen arrow holes in back, and three bullet holes in chest. I have quoted these extracts in order to give the reader an insight of the treatment invariably met it out to white men who are so unfortunate as to fall within the scope of the red man's bloodthirsty and insatiable vengeance. The report to General Sheridan then continues as follows. In addition to the wounds and barbarities reported by Dr. Lippincott, I saw a portion of the stock of a Lancaster rifle protruding from the side of one of the men. The stock had been broken off near the barrel and the butt of it, probably twelve inches in length, had been driven into the man's side a distance of eight inches. The forest along the banks of the Washtaw from the battleground a distance of twelve miles was found to have been one of continuous Indian village. Black Kettle's band of Cheyennes was above, then came other hostile tribes camped in the following order. A wrapahose under Little Raven, coyotes under Satana and Lonewolf, the remaining bands of Cheyennes, Comanches, and Apaches. Nothing could exceed the disorder of haste with which these tribes had fled from their camping grounds. They had abandoned thousands of lodge poles, some of which were still standing as when last used. Immense numbers of camp kettles, cooking utensils, coffee mills, axes, and several hundred buffalo rogues were found in the abandoned camps adjacent to Black Kettle's village, but which had not been visited before by our troops. By actual examination it was computed that over six hundred lodges had been standing along the Washtaw during the battle and within five miles of the battleground, and it was from these villages and others still lower down the stream that the immense number of warriors came, who, after our rout and destruction of Black Kettle and his band, surrounded my command and fought until defeated by the seventh cavalry about three p.m. on the twenty-seventh. The deserted camp lately occupied by Satana with the coyotes, my men discovered the bodies of a young white woman and child, the former apparently about twenty-three years of age, the latter probably eighteen months old. They were evidently mother and child and had not long been in captivity, as the woman still retained several articles of her wardrobe about her person, among others a pair of cloth-gaters, but little worn.  The woman had received a shot in the forehead, her entire scalp had been removed and her skull horribly crushed. The child also bore numerous marks of violence. At daylight on the following morning the entire command started on the trail of the Indian villages, nearly all of which had moved down the Washatah toward Fort Cobb, where they had good reason to believe they would receive protection. The Arapahos and remaining band of Cheyennes left the Washatah Valley and moved across in the direction of the Red River. After following the trail of the Kayawas and the other hostile Indians for seven days over an almost impassable country, where it was necessary to keep two or three hundred men almost consistently at work with picks and acts and spades before being able to advance with our immense train, Myosage Scouts came galloping back on the morning of the 17th of December and reported a party of Indians in our front bearing a flag of truce. It is to this day such a common occurrence for Indian agents to assert in positive terms that the particular Indians of their agency had not been absent from their reservation nor engaged in making war upon the white men when the contrary is well known to be true, that I deem it proper to introduce one of the many instances of this kind which have fallen under my observation as an illustration not only of how the public and distant sections of the country may be misled and deceived as to the acts of the intentions of the Indians, but also of the extent to which the Indian agents themselves will proceed in attempting to shield and defend the Indians of their particular agency. Sometimes, of course, the agent is the victim of the deception and no doubt conscientiously proclaims that which he firmly believes, but I am forced by long experience to the opinion that instances of this kind are rare being the exception rather than the rule, in the example to which I refer the high character and distinction as well as the deservedly national reputation achieved by the official then in charge of the Indians against whom we were operating will at once absolve me from the imputation of intentionally reflecting upon the integrity of his action in the matter. The only point to occasion surprise is how an officer possessing the knowledge of the Indian character derived from an extensive experience on the frontier which General Hazen could justly lay claim to, should be so far misled as to give the certificate of good conduct which follows. General Hazen had not only had the superior opportunity for studying the Indian character, but had participated in Indian wars, and at that very time he penned the following note he was partially disabled from the effects of an Indian wound. The government had selected him from that large number of intelligent officers of high rank whose services were available for the position, and had assigned him with plenary powers to the superintendency of all the southern Indian district, a portion in which almost the entire control of all the southern tribes was vested in the occupant. If gentlemen of the experience in military education of General Hazen occupied the intimate and official relation to the Indians, which he did, could be so readily and completely deceived as to their real character, it is not strange that the mass of people living far from the scene of the operations, and only possessing such information as reaches them in scraps through the public press, and generally colored by interested parties, should at times entertain extremely erroneous impressions regarding the much vexed Indian question. Now to the case in point. With the assaged scouts who came back from the advance with the intelligence that a party of Indians were in front, also came a scout who stated that he was from Fort Cobb, and delivered to me a dispatch which read as follows. Headquartered, Southern Indian District, Fort Cobb, 9 p.m., December 16th, 1868, to the officer commanding troops in the field. Indians have just brought in word that our troops today reach the Washtas some 20 miles above here. I send this to say that all the camps this side of the point reported to have been reached are friendly, and have not been on the war path this season. If this reaches you, it would be well to communicate at once with Satana or Black Eagle, Chiefs of the Kayawas near where you are now, who will readily inform you of the position of the Cheyennes and Arapahos, also of my camp. Respectfully, W. B. Hazen, Brevet, Major General. This scout at the same time informed me that a large party of Kayawa warriors under Lone Wolf, Satana and other leading chiefs were within less than a mile of my advance, and notwithstanding the above certificate regarding their friendly character they had seized a scout who accompanied the bearer of the dispatch, disarmed him, and held him as prisoner of war. Taking a small party with me, I proceeded beyond our lines to meet the flag of Truce. I was met by several of the leading chiefs of the Kayawas, including those above named. Large parties of their warriors could be seen posted in the neighboring ravines and upon the surrounding hilltops. All were painted and plumed for war, and nearly all were armed with one rifle, two revolvers, bow and arrow, some of their bows being strung and their whole appearance and conduct plainly indicating that they had come for war. Their declarations to some of my guides and friendly Indians proved the same thing, and they were only deterred from hostile acts by discovering our strength to be far greater than they had imagined and our scouts were on the alert. Aside, however, from the question, as to what their present or future intentions were at that time, how deserving were those Indians of the certificate of good behavior which they had been shrewd enough to obtain. The certificate was dated December 16th and stated that the camps had not been on the warpath this season. What were the facts? On the 27th of November, only 21 days prior to the date of the certificate, the same Indians, who peaceably character was vouched for so strongly, had engaged in battle with my command by attacking it during the fight with Black Kettle. It was in their camp that the bodies of the murdered mother and child were found, and we had followed day by day the trail of the Kayawas and other tribes leading us directly from the dead and mangled bodies of our comrades slain by them only a few days previous, until we were about to overtake them and punish the guilty parties when the above communication was received some 40 or 50 miles from Fort Cobb in the direction of the Washataw battleground. This of itself was conclusive evidence of the character of the tribes we were dealing with. But aside from these incontrovertible facts, had additional evidence been needed of the openly hostile conduct of the Kayawas and the Comanches and their active participation in the battle of the Washataw. It is only necessary to refer to the collected testimony of Black Eagle and other leading chiefs. This testimony was written and was then in the hands of the agents of the Indian Bureau. It was given voluntarily by the Indian chiefs referred to and was taken down at the time by the Indian agents, not for the army or with a view of furnishing it to officers of the army, but simply for the benefit and information of the Indian Bureau. This testimony, making due allowance for the concealment of much that would be prejudicial to the interests of the Indians, plainly states that the Kayawas and Comanches took part in the battle of the Washataw, that the former constituted a portion of the war party whose trail I followed and which led my command into Black Kettle's village, and that some of the Kayawas remained in Black Kettle's village until the morning of the battle. This evidence is all contained in a report made to the Superintendent of Indian Affairs by one Philip McCuskey, United States interpreter for the Kayawas and Comanche tribes. This report was dated Fort Cobb, December 3rd, while the communication from General Hazen, certified to the friendly disposition and conduct of these tribes, was dated at the same place 13 days later. Moissa also confirmed these statements and pointed out to me, when near the battleground, the location of Satena's village. It was from her too that I learned that it was in Satena's village that the bodies of the white woman and child were found. As I pen these lines the daily press contains frequent allusions to the negotiations which are being conducted between the Governor of Texas and the General Government, looking to the release of Satena from the Texas Penitentiary, to which institution Satena, after a trial before the civil authorities for numerous murders committed on the Texas frontier, was sent three or four years ago to serve out a life sentence. After meeting the chiefs who, with their bands, had approached our advance under the flag of Truce and compelling the release of the scout whom they had seized and held prisoner, we continued our march toward Fort Cobb, the chiefs agreeing to ride with us and accompany my command to that place. Every assurance was given me that the villages to which these various chiefs belonged would have once moved to Fort Cobb, and there in camp, thus separating themselves from the hostile tribes, or those who preferred to decline this proposition of peace, and to continue to wage war and, as an evidence of the sincerity of their purpose, some eighteen or twenty of the most prominent chiefs, generally Kiowas, voluntarily proposed to accompany us during the march of that day, by which time it was expected that the command would reach Fort Cobb. The chiefs only requested that they might send one of their number mounted on a fleet pony to the villages in order to hasten their movement to Fort Cobb. How eager for peace were these poor confiding sons of the forest as the mentally ejaculation of some of my readers, particularly if they are inclined to be converts to the humanitarian doctrines supposed to be applicable in the government of Indians. If I am addressing any of this class for whose kindness of heart I have the utmost regard, I regret to be compelled to disturb the illusion. Peace was not included among the purposes which governed the chiefs so freely and unhesitatingly proffered their company during our march to Fort Cobb, nor had they the faintest intention of either accompanying us or directing their villages to proceed to the fort. The messenger whom they seemed so anxious to dispatch to the village was not sent to hasten the movement of the villages toward Fort Cobb as claimed by them, but to hasten their movement in a precisely opposite direction. This toward the head of the waters of the Red River near the Northwestern limits of Texas. This sudden effusion of friendly sediments rather excited my suspicions, but I was unable to at first to divine the real intents and purposes of the chiefs. Nothing was to be done but to act so as to avoid exciting their suspicion and trust to the time to unravel the scheme. When we arrived at our camping ground on the evening of that day the chiefs requested permission to dispatch another messenger to their people to inform them where we were encamped. To this proposition no objection was made. That evening I caused an abundant supply of provisions consisting of principally beef, bread, coffee, and sugar to be distributed among them. In posting my pickets that night for the protection of the camp I arranged to have the reserve stationed within a short distance of the spot on which the chiefs were to encamp during the night, which point was but a few paces from my headquarters. Before retiring I took Romeo the interpreter and strolled down to pay a visit to the chiefs. The latter, after the substantial meal in which they had just indulged, were seated. Indian fashion, around a small fire, enjoying such comfort as was to be derived from the occasional whiffs of smoke which in proper turn inhaled from the long-stemmed pipe of red clay that was kept passing from right to left around the circle. Their greeting of me was cordial in the extreme, but as in the play of Richelieu I believe they bowed too low. Through Romeo I chatted on the indifferent subjects with the various chiefs and from nearly all of them received assurances of their firmly fixed resolution to abandon forever the dangers and the risks of the war-path, to live no longer at variance with their white brothers, to ensure, henceforth, all such unfriendly customs as scalp-taking, murdering defenseless women and children, and stealing stock from the settlers of the frontier. All this was to be changed in the future. It seemed strange listening to these apparently artless sons of nature that man entertaining the ardent desire for repose which they professed had not turned their backs on the war-path long ago and settled down to the quiet enjoyment of the blessings of peace. But better that this conclusion should be arrived at late than not at all. The curtain had fallen from their eyes and they were unable to see everything in its proper light. To adopt their own language their hearts had become good, their tongues had become straight, they had cast aside the bad ways in which they had so long struggled unsuccessfully and had now resolved to follow the white man's road to adopt his mode of dress till the soil and establish schools for the education of their children, until in time the white man and the red man would not only be brothers in name, but would be found traveling the same road with interests in common. Had I been a Latter-day Peace Commissioner, I should have felt it duty-bound to send a dispatch to the Chief of the Proper Bureau at Washington in terms, somewhat as follows. Honorable John Smith, Secretary of the Department. I have just concluded a most satisfactory council with the Kiowa and other tribes, certain members of which have lately been accused of being more or less connected with the troubles lately occurring upon our frontier. All the prominent Chiefs met me and council and after a free interchange and expression of our opinions, I am happy to inform the Department that these Chiefs, representing as they do, one of the most powerful and important of the Southern tribes, have voluntarily and solemnly agreed to cease all hostile acts against the white man, to prevent raids or war parties from being organized among their young men, to abandon all future time the war path, and to come within the limits of their reservation there to engage in the peaceful pursuits of civilized life. They express a warm desire to have educational facilities extended them for the benefit of their children, as the season is far advanced rendering it too late for them to successfully cultivate a crop the present year. They asked and I recommend that provision sufficient for their sustenance the present season be issued to them. They also request that owing to the scarcity of game, a few breech loading arms be furnished them, say one rifle and one revolver teach mail over 14 years of age. I am satisfied that this is a most reasonable request, and that the granting of it would go far to restore confidence in the good intentions of the government, as I am forced to remark that some of the recent acts of the military, such as the occurrence on the washota, have done much to produce an unsettled feeling on the part of these untutored wards of the nation. No further anxiety need be felt as to the complete pacification of this tribe. I wish you might have had shared with me the pleasure of listening to these untaught chieftains begging for such assistance and guidance as would lead them into the paths of peace. I leave here to visit the neighboring tribes, provided the military commander at this point will furnish me a suitable escort. I have the honor to be your obedient servant, John Jones, Indian agent. PS. I have thought that if we could confer the ballot upon those of the chiefs and warriors who show the greatest aptitude and desire for peace, it might be a great step toward completing their civilization. Of course, some line of distinction or qualification would have to be drawn. For example, confer the rights of ballot upon those who faithfully accept their rations from the government for a period of six months. I merely throw this one out for the consideration of the department. JJ. Not being an orthodox peace commissioner in good standing in that fraternity, I did not send the dispatch of this character. What I did, however, answered every purpose. I went to the station of the guard nearby and directed the non-commissioned officer in charge to have his men keep a watchful eye upon those same untutored sons of the forest, as I felt confident their plans bowed at us no good. Romeo was also told to inform the chiefs that after the camp had quieted down for that night, it would not be prudent for them to wander far from their campfire, as the sentries might mistake them for enemies and fire upon them. This I knew would make them hug their fire closely until morning. Before daylight we were again in the saddle and commencing the last march necessary to take us to Fort Cobb. Again did it become important in the opinion of the chiefs to dispatch another of their number to hurry up the people of their villages in order, as they said, that the villages might arrive at Fort Cobb at the same time we did. As the march progressed these applications became more frequent until most of the chiefs had been sent away as messengers. I noticed, however, that in selecting those to be sent, the chiefs lost rank and importance were first chosen, so that those who remained were the highest. When their numbers had dwindled down to less than half of the original party, I saw that instead of acting in good faith this party of chiefs was solely engaged in the effort to withdraw our attention from the villages, and by apparent offer on their part to accompany us to Fort Cobb, where we were encouraged to believe the villages would meet us, prevent us from watching and following the trail made by the lodges, which had already diverged from the direct route to Fort Cobb, the one the villages would have pursued had the fort been their destination. It became pulpably evident that the Indians were resorting, as usual, to stratagem to accomplish their purpose, which of course involved our deception. Fortunately, their purpose was divined in time to thwart it. As no haste was necessary, I permitted the remaining chiefs to continue the march with us, without giving them any grounds to suppose that we were strongly doubting their oft-repeated assertions that their hearts were good and their tongues were straight. Finally, as our march for that day neared its termination, and we were soon to reach our destination, the party of chiefs, which at first embraced upwards of twenty, had become reduced until none remained except the two head chiefs, Lone Wolf and Satana, and those no doubt were laughing in their sleeves, if an Indian may be supposed to possess that article of apparel, and the happy and highly successful manner in which they had hoodwinked their white brethren. But had they known all that had been transpiring, they would not have felt so self-satisfied. As usual, quite a number of officers and orderlies rode at the head of the column, including a few of General Sheridan's staff. As soon as the scheme of the Indians was discovered, I determined to seize the most prominent chiefs as hostages for the fulfillment of their promises regarding the coming-on of the villages. But as for the purpose two hostages were as valuable as twenty, I allowed all but this number to take their departure apparently unnoticed. Finally, when none but Lone Wolf and Satana remained, and they no doubt were prepared with a plausible excuse to bet us in the most improved Kayawah, a revoy, the officers just referred to, had a given signal, drew their revolvers, and Lone Wolf and Satana