Part 20 (1/2)

Valuable ti on The Indians were fighting desperately to keep us fro been inforetting away

During the afternoon we had all we could do to hold our oith the mounted warriors They stayed stubbornly in our front, contesting every inch of ground

The wagon-train, which had been ordered to come up, had not arrived

Fearful that it had been surrounded, General Carr ordered the command to return and look for it We found it at nine o'clock that night, and went into ca, e e and all, they had disappeared Two e had been located Here we found ht These we gathered up and burned

The trail, which we followed as rapidly as possible, led northeast toward the Republican River On reaching that streaain pulled out We gained rapidly on the Indians, and could occasionally see the, while Major Babcock was ahead with his co a deep ravine, ere surprised by perhaps three hundred warriors They at once began a lively fire

Our h prairie and returned it We soon succeeded in driving the enemy before us At one time ere so close upon thees and camp equipment, and left their played-out horses behind them For miles we could see Indian furniture strewn in all directions

Soon they scattered into san to give out, and a halt was called A company was detailed to collect all the loose Indian ponies, and to burn the abandoned camp equipment

We were now nearly out of rations I was sent for supplies to the nearest supply point, old Fort Kearney, sixty miles distant

Shortly after this the command reached Fort McPherson, which for some time thereafter continued to be the headquarters of the Fifth Cavalry

We re out for a new expedition We were reenforced by three companies of the celebrated pawnee Indian Scouts, commanded by Major Frank North At General Carr's recommendation I was now made chief of scouts in the Departht this position

I became a firm friend of Major North and his officers froood reputation for thehting against the Sioux, whose bitter ene our stay at Fort McPherson I e P Belden, known as ”The White Chief” His life has been written by Colonel Brisbin, of the ar rider and an excellent shot An hour after our introduction he challenged ed

We were to shoot ten shots each at two hundred yards for fifty dollars a side Belden was to use a Henry rifle I was to shoot my old ”Lucretia” This match I won Belden at once proposed another, a hundred-yardover his distance This he won

We were now even, and we stopped right there

While ere at Fort McPherson, General Augur and Brevet-Brigadier-General Thomas Duncan, colonel of the Fifth Cavalry, paid us a visit for the purpose of reviewing our command The men turned out in fine style, and showed themselves to be well-drilled soldiers Next the pawnee scouts were reviewed It was a to see theular cavalry uniform, but on this occasion soe black hats with all the brass accoutrements attached; some were ulation pantaloons, but only shi+rts Part of the only the leggings Still others had big brass spurs, but wore no boots nor moccasins

But they understood the drill reiven theue as readily as any full-blooded pawnee They ell ular United States soldiers That evening after the drill es I have ever seen, the pawnees are the most accomplished dancers

Our command set out on the trail the next day Shortly afterward, ere encamped on the Republican River near the mouth of the Beaver, we heard the yells of Indians, followed by shots, in the vicinity of our mule herd, which had been driven down to water

Presently one of the herders, with an arrow still quivering in his flesh, ca into the ca hialloped after the mule herd, which had been stampeded I supposed that I would be the first man on the scene But I found I was ular soldiers, had not waited for the for their ponies bareback and putting ropes in the animals' mouths, they had hurried to the place froot there before I did

The marauders proved to be a party of fifty or more Sioux, who had endeavored to stampede our animals They were painfully surprised to find their inveterate eneallop They had no idea the pawnees ith the coular soldiers a few minutes to turn out, and fancied they would have plenty of tiht of fifteen or twenty miles several of the Sioux were killed I was mounted on an excellent horse Colonel Royal had selected for me For the first mile or tas in advance of the pawnees Soon a pawnee shot pastI deter buckskin, or yellow horse I took a careful look at hiot back to camp

After the chase was over I rode over to Major North and asked him about the animal I was told that he was one of the favorite steeds of the command

”What chance is there to trade for him?” I asked

”It is a Government horse,” replied the Major ”The Indian who rides him is very much attached to him”

I told Major North I had fallen in love with the horse, and asked if he had any objections toto secure hi the Indian several presents, I persuaded him to trade horses with h he still remained Government property I naha the summers of '69, '70, '71, and '72 He was the horse ridden by the Grand Duke Alexis on his buffalo hunt In the winter of '72, after I had left Fort McPherson, Buckskin Joe was condemned and sold at public sale to Dave Perry at North Platte In 1877 he presented him to me He remained on my ranch on the Dismal River for many years, stone blind, until he died