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+The Project Gutenberg eBook, Little Pills, An Army Story, by Robert
+Henderson McKay
+
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+
+
+
+Title: Little Pills, An Army Story
+       Being Some Experiences of a United States Army Medical Officer on the Frontier Nearly a Half Century Ago
+
+
+Author: Robert Henderson McKay
+
+
+
+Release Date: April 26, 2011  [eBook #35973]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+
+***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LITTLE PILLS, AN ARMY STORY***
+
+
+E-text prepared by David Edwards, Martin Pettit, and the Online
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+
+
+LITTLE PILLS
+
+An Army Story
+
+by
+
+R. H. McKAY
+
+Formerly Acting Assistant Surgeon United States Army
+
+Being Some Experiences of a United States Army
+Medical Officer on the Frontier Nearly
+A Half Century Ago
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+1918
+Published by
+Pittsburg Headlight
+Pittsburg, Kansas
+
+
+
+
+FOREWORD
+
+BY R. H. McKAY
+
+
+This little sketch of army life on the frontier was first written,
+merely for the pleasure it might bring to my children in looking it over
+in after years. It remained in the form of a manuscript for that
+purpose, until some of my friends urged its publication. The merit of
+the story itself, if it has any, lies in the fact of actual experience,
+but probably a matter of more importance is to call attention to the
+wonderful changes that have taken place in the fifty years just passed.
+The term frontier today would be a misnomer. There is no frontier. The
+immense areas of wild and waste country that then existed has vanished
+before the tide of civilization and settlement. The present generation
+can never realize the vast changes. Possibly this little book may bring
+to mind, by way of contrast, at least some of the conditions then and
+now.
+
+
+
+
+LITTLE PILLS
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+
+My children have often asked me to write out some of my experience while
+a medical officer in the United States Army on the frontier, and I have
+often resolved to do so. But for many years after leaving the service my
+time was so thoroughly taken up in an effort to make a living and
+educate the children that my good resolutions received scant attention.
+Now in my 78th year the apathy of old age is such a handicap, that great
+effort is required to do things that at one time I could have done
+cheerfully but did not.
+
+I think my experiences during the Civil War gave me something of a taste
+for military duty, for when in the summer or early fall of 1868 I
+noticed that an Army Medical Board was in session at New York, I at once
+made application to appear before it for examination for a position in
+the regular service. I was examined in October, 1868, and as the board
+continued in session for some time afterwards I waited with some anxiety
+and misgivings as to the result of my examination. I had the impression
+that the examination would be severe and was doubtful of my ability to
+pass. In this connection it is proper to say that some had failed in
+these examinations that afterwards became noted medical men. Among them,
+I was informed, was Dr. Austin Flint, Sr., whose work on the practice of
+medicine was standard and considered the best when I was a student. His
+son, Dr. Austin Flint, Jr., also became famous as our great Physiologist
+and his work on that subject is standard today. It was not until the
+following January that I heard from my examination, and was then
+directed to report at St. Louis to be mustered into the service as
+Acting Assistant Surgeon in the United States Army. There was
+necessarily some delay in disposing of the few things we had, some of
+which we sold and some of which we stored. Finally everything being
+disposed of, we left our home in Washington, Iowa, and from there, after
+a day with friends, took a train for Burlington, thence to Keokuk, where
+my wife remained visiting relatives, I going on to St. Louis to report.
+
+I was mustered into the service January 29th, 1869, and ordered to
+report to the Medical Director, Department of the Missouri at
+Leavenworth, Kansas, for assignment to duty. The Department of the
+Missouri at the time comprised the States of Missouri, Kansas, Colorado,
+New Mexico, The Indian Territory, and I think Arkansas.
+
+General Sheridan was the commanding officer of the department at that
+time. He also had a brother who was a captain and who was also stationed
+at Leavenworth. Dr. Miles was the Medical Director of the Department and
+Dr. McGruder was Post Surgeon at Leavenworth. I was on waiting orders at
+Fort Leavenworth for something over a month during which time I got my
+first impression of the rank and file of the Regular Army. The officers
+impressed me as very self important, exceedingly courteous and cordial,
+and charming in their broad-gauge views of current events and their
+unreserved candor in discussing all subjects. I must except one subject,
+however, and that was politics. An army officer is supposed to have no
+politics, or if he has he keeps them in reserve. Seldom during nearly
+seven years of my life in the army did I hear politics mentioned. An
+army officer is supposed to do his duty regardless of who holds
+political authority over him, and this he does most loyally. The
+enlisted men impressed me as a clean, attractive and well disciplined
+body of soldiers. Another thing that impressed me was the absolute
+separation of the officers and enlisted men. It may be different now but
+at that time there seemed to be nothing of even a fraternal interest.
+The officer commanded and the soldier obeyed. In this way they seemed as
+distinct as oil and water, and it was a rather surprising contrast to
+the volunteer service during the war, where enlisted men and officers
+often from the same town and nearly always from the same community
+fraternized and often addressed each other by their given names; while
+in the regular service there was nothing of the kind. An officer when
+passing an enlisted man always received a salute. The men or man
+standing at attention when giving it and the officer was required to
+return the salute. The men may be sitting down, say outside of their
+barracks, and when an officer approaches and gets within a certain
+distance they all rise at once, stand at attention, and give the salute,
+and this is the extent of their relations with each other.
+
+The officers mess at Leavenworth was quite a large one, mostly of
+unmarried men, although there were maybe two or three married couples,
+and was exceedingly cordial and sociable with each other. Those of the
+rank of Captain or higher up in rank were always addressed by their
+military title of Captain or Major, as it might be, but the Lieutenants
+were addressed as Mister, or by their surnames, as Mr. Jones or simply
+Jones.
+
+The first of March came and with it came pay-day, a matter that seemed
+of much interest to the officers. It did not take me long to learn its
+importance for army officers at that time as a rule literally lived up
+their salaries. I finally learned that an officer was considered by many
+other officers as a little off color if he was close-fisted and tried to
+save money out of his pay. To me it was a matter of importance because I
+was poor and needed it. I sent most of my first month's pay, after
+paying mess bill and a few other necessary expenses, to my wife, not
+keeping enough, as I afterward learned, for an emergency that might
+arise. Expecting to be ordered to some frontier post, I took the
+precaution to invest in a pistol, a very ridiculous thing to do, as I
+now think of it. The further history of that pistol will appear later on
+in this story.
+
+While at Leavenworth the officers gave a hop. I never knew why it was
+called a hop instead of a dance, but it was always so designated in the
+army. Officers came from other places, particularly Fort Riley, among
+whom was General Custer of cavalry fame during the Civil War, and a
+noted Indian fighter on the frontier. I watched him with a good deal of
+interest, for at that time he was a distinguished man in the service,
+and I must say that I was rather disappointed in his appearance. He
+seemed to me to be under-sized and slender, and at first blush to be
+effeminate in appearance. Maybe his long hair, almost reaching to his
+shoulders, gave this impression, but the face was something of a study
+and hard to describe. Something of boldness or maybe dash, a quick eye,
+and he was intensely energetic, giving the impression that he would be a
+veritable whirlwind in an engagement. He did not convey the idea of a
+great character. He was a very graceful dancer. His career ended at the
+famous battle in our Indian warfare, that of the Little Big Horn. Not a
+man of his command escaped to tell the story.
+
+I think it was about the 8th or 9th of March that I received orders to
+report to the Chief Medical Officer, District of New Mexico, for
+assignment to duty. The quartermaster furnished transportation, that is
+to say, orders to the transportation companies, railroads, stage-lines,
+etc., to carry the officer to point of destination. This, together with
+the order of assignment to duty, would carry one wherever the assignment
+directed. At this time the so-called Kansas-Pacific railroad was built
+out pretty well towards the west line of the state, but there were no
+transcontinental lines finished until the following summer. The Union
+and Central Pacifics joining that year in Utah in July.
+
+I left Fort Leavenworth in the morning and before night was out on the
+plains. From Leavenworth to Topeka there was some settlement. The towns
+as I remember them were mere railroad stations, except Lawrence, which
+was more pretentious, and the scattering farmhouses were small and
+primitive in style. Topeka seemed to be something of a town, but from
+there west the country was only partially inhabited. Fort Hayes stood
+out prominently to the left of the railroad but the whole country seemed
+one great sea of desolation unlimited in extent. At that time I would
+not have given ten dollars per square league for what has since become
+one of the famous wheat fields of the country. The evening of the second
+day we arrived at a place called Sheridan which was the terminus of the
+railroad. It was a straggling place of tents and wooden shacks, dance
+halls, bawdy houses, gambling houses and saloons. Murders were of
+frequent occurrence and it was considered dangerous to be on the street
+at night. There was only one street in the town. I started out on this
+street about dusk, thinking I had better go to the stage office and
+arrange for my transportation on to Santa Fe. The landlord happened to
+notice me and called for me to wait a minute and when he had joined me
+he inquired where I was going. He said he would go with me as it might
+not be safe for me to be alone, and told me of a killing in front of the
+hotel the night before.
+
+My bed that night was on the second story, merely floored, and not
+plastered or sealed, and the roof slanted down close to the bed. The
+space between the floor and the edge of the roof was open and I could
+look down into the saloon. I watched the patrons of this place for some
+time for it was altogether a new experience. The clinking of glasses;
+the loud talk; the dim lights; and the thorough abandonment of the
+motley crowd remains quite vividly in my memory. It finally occurred to
+me that in the event of a shooting scrape, even there in bed was not a
+very safe place, so I edged over to the far side of the bed and soon
+dropped to sleep, not waking until called in the morning.
+
+We got an early start and I had the stage mostly to myself until we
+crossed the Raton spur of the mountain. The nights were chilly and I was
+not over-warmly clad, but I managed after the first night to get a fair
+amount of sleep. I felt some fear of Indians although it was too early
+in the season for them to go on the war-path. The summer before had been
+a particularly bad one on the plains. Forsythe's command was almost
+annihilated in October, 1868, on the Ariskaree Fork of the Republican
+river, and at every stage station until after we reached Trinidad,
+Colo., the first salutation between the men at the station and our
+conductor was whether either had seen any Indians. The apprehension was
+not that the Indians would go on the war-path at that time of the year,
+because their ponies could not exist until the grass was well started,
+but that some of the venturesome young bucks might take it into their
+heads to attack the stage coach. I peeked out of the coach at night and
+wondered if there was any probability of Indians attacking us and
+thought of my pistol, but was not proud of it, or of my ability to use
+it.
+
+The stage stations were interesting to me. On the plains proper they
+were uniformly built, underground as far up as the sidewalls extended,
+and was located near some water hole and at an elevation that would
+command a view of the surrounding country for some distance. Above the
+dirt walls large logs were laid, upon which the cross timbers were
+placed for supporting the roof. These logs were raised from the ground
+enough, say three or four inches, to give the occupants a good view of
+the surrounding country, and an opportunity of using their carbines
+against attack from the Indians, with comparative safety to themselves.
+The roof was covered with dirt. The stables were built the same way with
+underground passages or open ditches connected with the station proper.
+Both station and stable were connected in the same way with the water
+hole. At these stations on the plains proper, were stationed a small
+squad of soldiers, maybe a half dozen, under the command of a
+noncommissioned officer, generally a sergeant, and you can readily see
+that the Indians would be a little cautious about getting too near such
+a place although during the summer season they often attacked the stage
+between stations. The stations were at variable distances apart,
+depending on the water supply, generally from eight to twenty miles
+apart, and were supplied by government trains on their way to the
+military posts of the West. There was not much to attract attention in
+approaching these stations, no building in sight, no sign of life. The
+first thing you knew some one would hollow "Hello!" and "Hello!" would
+come back. "Have you seen any Indians?" and there you are. The last
+inquiry was natural enough when you consider the near approach of
+spring, when the grass would be green enough to furnish feed for Indian
+ponies. Indians would not appear in large numbers at this time of the
+year, but little roving bands, maybe one or two venturesome bucks might
+be seen almost daily at a safe distance, evidently spying out the
+prospects for more serious work later in the season. Of course we got
+our meals at these stations, consisting generally of bacon, hot
+corn-bread or biscuit, a vegetable or two, and black coffee. This menu
+varied some after we crossed the Raton Mountains and were practically
+out of Indian troubles, when we had a greater variety, and it was
+better prepared.
+
+We got to Trinidad late at night, the first town after crossing the
+plains, and located just at the base on the north side of the Raton
+Range near the Purgatory river. This was a mining town of some
+importance in those days, and had the usual quota of dance halls,
+gambling dens and other equipment of a typical mining town.
+
+We got to Dick Wooton's early the following morning and had a good
+breakfast. His place was located near the top of Raton Pass and
+consisted at that time of a rambling lot of log buildings; one for a
+house proper, which was clean, comfortable, and attractive inside, and
+the others for stables, blacksmith and wagon shops, and in fact anything
+and everything where repairs to transportation could be made. Dick
+himself was an attractive personality, was large, quite above the
+average in size, with a cheery open face giving little evidence of the
+frontier man, and yet he was almost as noted as Kit Carson with whom he
+was associated as pioneer and scout. Both were noted men on the
+frontier. Wooton, however, took a more practical view of life than
+Carson and conceived the idea of building a wagon road over the Raton
+Pass. This road was completed and I think had been for some time before
+I crossed the pass. If I remember correctly we crossed a little stream
+coming down from near the top of the range thirteen times before we came
+to the top of the pass. Wooton had some kind of permit or authority from
+the government for building this road and was authorized to make it a
+toll road. He was reported to have made quite a fortune from the revenue
+derived from it.
+
+A little place called Cimarron, (which in Spanish means mountain of
+sheep) or Maxwell's ranch was the next place of interest to me. This is
+some distance south of the Raton Range, maybe half way from Trinidad to
+Fort Union. It seemed that Maxwell married a high class Spanish woman
+whose family owned an immense estate in what was Mexico before it was
+ceded to the United States. In the division of the estate Maxwell's wife
+got a grant of many thousands of acres on the head waters of the
+Cimarron, a tributary of the Canadian, which I understand was very much
+reduced as a result of extended litigation with the government as to
+title. We traveled for miles on what was then called Maxwell's Ranch,
+where great herds of sheep, cattle and horses were to be seen, with an
+adobe house here and there, where herders lived. It was a great pleasure
+to stop even for one meal at such a place as Maxwell's. The house was
+commodious and handsomely furnished and everything was prosperous and
+home-like. Some years later I had the pleasure of acquaintance of a
+daughter of Mr. Maxwell's who married a lieutenant in the army and we
+were serving at the same post.
+
+We passed Fort Union in the night and I did not get to see much of it,
+but I understand it to be only a military post and base of supplies, for
+the Quarter-Master or Commissary Department of the army for the District
+of New Mexico.
+
+My first view of Las Vegas (The Meadows, in Spanish) was over a
+beautiful wide valley, some three or four miles across, through which a
+pretty little stream of water, the source of the Pecos river, was
+wending its way. The view was beautiful and the town looked to be a
+place of importance, but proved to be disappointing on a closer
+acquaintance.
+
+Not far from Las Vegas we passed what was called the old Pecos church.
+It was only a little distance from the road and said to have been built
+in the seventeenth century. It stood alone in its desolation and had
+partially fallen into decay. The roof was off, the walls partly broken
+down and it looked to be as old as reported.
+
+We arrived in Santa Fe late in the evening and stopped at the hotel or
+fonda, as it is called in Spanish. At first one feels that he is in a
+different country; something foreign and out of the usual, and this
+feeling grows with closer acquaintance. For instance you go direct from
+the street to your room if your wife is with you, or to a kind of a
+lobby or sitting room with a bar at one side if alone.
+
+I was thankful that the stage ride was ended. We had been going night
+and day since leaving the railroad at Sheridan, Kans., a distance of
+nearly four hundred miles, and although I had the stage to myself most
+of the way, one passenger got on at Cimarron that I will feel grateful
+to the balance of my days, and from Fort Union to Santa Fe the coach was
+crowded all the way. The stage lines in those days had a conductor who
+went to the end of the route, much as our railroad conductors do today,
+while the drivers like our engineers, only went to what might be called
+division points, say twelve-hour trips.
+
+The conductor has charge, and is responsible for the United States mail
+and the express packages which are carried in what is called the front
+boot, and where the conductor curls up among the mail sacks and packages
+and sleeps at night. The back boot is devoted to baggage. Inside there
+are generally two seats facing each other and wide enough for three
+persons if not too big, on each seat. The stage coach had a great
+swinging body resting on two immense leather straps for springs, one on
+each side underneath and extending from front to back. These flexible
+springs gave the coach an easy side swing and it was not a particularly
+unpleasant thing to ride in.
+
+Having arrived in Santa Fe late Saturday evening I did not report until
+next morning, and about noon an orderly brought to the hotel my orders
+from the Chief Medical officer directing me to report to the commanding
+officer at Fort Selden, New Mex., for assignment to duty. This was
+startling news, for Fort Selden was the last military post before
+reaching the Mexican border and I had only $2.50 in my pocket and my
+hotel bill to pay. Being new in the service and something of a
+tenderfoot I did not want to go to the other officers for help. I left
+my room and went down to the hotel lobby and among others who were there
+was the gentleman who got on the stage at Cimarron. We had traveled
+together from Cimarron to Santa Fe with hardly the exchange of the usual
+courtesies. I was not a good mixer and he had nothing to say, but my
+case was very desperate. I had to talk to someone so I asked if he was
+acquainted in Santa Fe and he said "some." I told him my troubles and
+that I had a good watch and a good pistol (that pistol was a hoodoo by
+this time) that I would put up as security for a few dollars to pay my
+expenses on the way to Fort Selden. He said: "Well, nobody would give
+you anything for them things. If I had the money I would let you have
+it." This in a rather slow drowning voice. I took this as a matter of
+course. Anybody would talk the same way, I thought, whether they had it
+or not.
+
+Dinner was soon ready. The dining room was away to the rear end of this
+somewhat rambling hotel building. We passed through a billiard hall and
+maybe some store rooms before reaching it. I think, however, there was a
+different route for the ladies. I suppose the dinner was good but do not
+remember much about it. I do remember, however, on the way back through
+the pool hall I stopped to glance around the room which was a very long
+one with many tables and many players. The second table away became very
+interesting to me for near it stood my man of short acquaintance
+apparently talking to one of the players, a large fine looking man who,
+laying his cue across the corner of the table, pulled out such a wad of
+bills as I had never seen before and commenced counting out the money to
+my newly made acquaintance. I passed and went up to my room wondering if
+he would keep his word, now that he had the money. I tried to read but
+made poor headway. Pretty soon there was a light tap on the door and I
+said "come in." The door opened and there was my new found friend who
+took a seat in a rather deliberate way and said nothing. I made some
+remark about the weather which seemed to meet his approval but directly
+he asked me: "About how much money do you think you will need?" I told
+him I thought about twenty dollars would be enough. He brought from his
+pocket a great bunch of bank notes and counted out twenty dollars and
+handed it to me. When I offered my security he politely turned them down
+saying he would take chances. When I asked him if he had never lost
+money that way he replied, "Yes, some." And when I said I would feel
+better myself if he would take something to make himself safe he said,
+"Oh no, I'll take chances." When next I inquired about his knowledge of
+Santa Fe and the west generally he became more communicative and
+informed me that he had spent all his life from a youngster as a
+prospector, sometimes striking it good and selling out and trying it
+again; sometimes having plenty of money, and at other times having
+nothing. Someone else would then furnish him a "grub-stake" as he called
+it with which to try again. He and his partners had just sold out a gold
+mine at Cimarron and I presume the money I saw him receive from the big
+man at the pool table was part of the proceeds of that sale. He finally
+asked me if I cared to walk about the town some. I think I would have
+gone with him anywhere, so I responded very promptly that I would like
+to. The town was utterly strange to me, so different from anything I had
+ever seen: adobe walls, adobe houses, and the people were as strange
+looking as the houses. The women wore some kind of a wrap over their
+head called a mantilla (pronounced man-tee-ya, with the accent on the
+second syllable) leaving a little open space for one eye to peep out at
+people they met, and the men with the wide brimmed, high peaked hats
+that I afterwards learned are the universal costumes of the Mexican
+people. After looking around a bit my companion asked me if I would like
+to see a cock-fight. Sure thing, of course I would, although having been
+raised a strict Scotch Presbyterian I felt some qualms of conscience
+about witnessing such an exhibition on the "Sabbath."
+
+[Illustration: SATANTA War Chief of the Kiowas
+
+Original in our possession, taken by Soule, of Boston, while we were
+stationed at Fort Sill]
+
+The amphitheater in which the exhibition was given was without cover and
+enclosed by a high adobe wall. It was crowded with men and women, mostly
+Mexicans, in gala dress, some very richly dressed women and some whose
+attire attested poverty, but even these wore bright colors. The head
+covering was universal but as varied in colors and quality as the fancy
+and wealth of the wearers suggested. I think some of the hats of the men
+must have cost a small fortune. The exhibition itself was not very
+attractive to me. I could see the chickens sparring around as though for
+a good opening and finally one of the cocks would drive the gaff home
+with deadly effect and the people would shout and clap their hands and
+exchange the money they had wagered on the result. The management would
+then bring in another pair of birds for another contest. The betting
+consisted not only of money but all kinds of trinkets and valuables. I
+saw one woman take off her white slippers handsomely ornamented with
+gold braid and spangles and bet them on the result of the contest. The
+affair was conducted in Spanish-Mexican and I could not understand
+anything that was said, but they all seemed to be delighted with the
+exhibition. To me it was not only cruel but was uninteresting. We did
+not stay until the finish but went out and saw some more of the town,
+then returned to our hotel.
+
+My newly made friend came up to my room after supper, and spent part of
+the evening with me. I found his experiences interesting. The old story
+of ups and downs, money to spare, and grub-stakes furnished by some one
+else, to give him another start. He gave me his address and I was very
+prompt in returning his twenty dollars as soon as I got to Fort Selden,
+which by the way, I borrowed from the post trader until pay-day. In
+answer to my remittance I received a post card without address or date
+saying, "You needn't have been in such a hurry." Thus ended an
+acquaintance and experience that I think could not have happened
+anywhere else than on the American frontier. His name was Robert
+Daugherty and nothing could give me greater pleasure than to meet him
+again and furnish him a "grub-stake" if he needed it.
+
+Santa Fe (Holy Faith, in Spanish) was an old town when the Pilgrims
+landed at Plymouth Rock. About 1606 according to Colonel R. E.
+Twitchell, the best authority on the early history of New Mexico, it was
+made the capital of one of the Spanish provinces, and had been built on
+the site of two small Indian pueblos. I believe if I had been dropped
+down in some town in the interior of China and had found a few Americans
+to talk to it would not have seemed more strange to me. The office of
+the chief medical officer of the district was located in a building on
+the plaza that someone told me was the old palace, but which I thought
+did not look much like a palace, and which I understand is now used as a
+museum in which are to be found the most remarkable collection of
+archaeological specimens in America.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+
+Monday morning I started for Fort Selden on the Rio Grande, nearly three
+hundred miles away. We had a different type of stage coach, a small
+affair, more like a carriage, and drawn by two horses. Some eight or ten
+miles out of Santa Fe we almost literally dropped off into a canon that
+widened out into more of a valley as we continued our journey until we
+reached the Rio Grande some distance above Albuquerque. This town was at
+that time a straggling Mexican village of adobe houses along the east
+bank of the river. It is now a city of considerable size on the east
+side, with modern improvements and is a division point on the Santa Fe
+railway and a town of commercial importance.
+
+The river was disappointing. I expected something bigger, and it wound
+around from one side of the valley to the other as though in doubt as to
+the best way to go. The valley was interesting because of its being
+occupied by an altogether different type of Indians. We had left the
+plains Indian at Trinidad and from there to Santa Fe had seen only
+Mexicans with a fair proportion of Americans whose business interests
+were in the country. The Plains Indian, Cheyennes, Commanches, and
+Kiowas and Arapahoes, were nomadic and warlike. Here was an agricultural
+people who lived in little villages called pueblos, a name also attached
+to the Indians themselves. Their villages were located at convenient
+distances apart and both men and women went to the fields to work. The
+land was divided off into little patches separated by irrigating
+ditches, called asacies, and there were no fences or lines to show
+individual ownership. It was seemingly a community interest, a kind of
+socialism. The Pueblo Isletta was the capital and principal town and was
+the place of meeting for the disposal of important questions of interest
+to the tribe, and for the observance of such religious services as was
+their wont. The hoe was the principal agricultural implement, both for
+making ditches and for cultivating the land. The people seemed to be
+kindly disposed, and in every way a contrast to the Plains Indian whose
+women do the work while the men do the hunting and fighting. They enter
+their houses by way of the roof, climbing a ladder from the ground to
+the roof and pulling the ladder up after them, then descending by way of
+an opening in the room to the room or rooms below. No doors, and only
+little peep-holes for windows, sometimes covered with a thin cloth of
+muslin. I suppose this was done in the first place as a protection
+against the Mountain Indians (Utes and Navajos) who in early times
+raided the valley and carried off anything they could lay their hands
+on. The valley was sparsely wooded except here and there when we would
+come to great groves or boscas as they were called, of immense
+cotton-wood trees which were very beautiful. The valley as described
+above was the same all the way down to Fort Selden.
+
+After leaving the Pueblo settlements we came to a country occupied
+nearly altogether by Mexicans. The commercial interests were conducted
+by so-called foreigners: Americans, Germans and Jews, the latter
+predominating, but the population was principally Mexican. Stock raising
+and farming were the principal industries, the latter in a very
+primitive way. They had no modern farm implements, such as plows,
+harrows, wagons, etc., and only such improved tools as they could
+construct from the scant material at hand. I saw at one place a man
+driving a yoke of cattle attached to what appeared to be the limb of a
+tree with a projecting prong entering the ground, and at the other end,
+which bent up something like a handle, was another man holding it. They
+were going back and forth making little ditches or furrows but not
+turning the ground over as our plows do. It looked primitive indeed and
+reminded me of a picture I saw in an almanac when a kid, representing
+the Egyptian plowing. Stock business was more promising. A good many
+cattle were reported on the range and I was told the sheep numbered many
+thousands scattered all along the mountain range to the west. Soccorro
+was the principal town, typically Mexican, but a place of some business
+importance. There were small villages at frequent intervals all the way
+to Paraja, the last town near the river before crossing the Jornada del
+Muerto (or "Journey of Death" in Spanish) which extends from Paraja
+(pronounced Paraha, j having the sound of h in Spanish) to Fort Selden,
+nearly one hundred miles across, a desert properly named and that has
+some pitiful associations in my memory. It was what was known as the
+Apache Indian country and grewsome stories are related concerning it.
+Death by Indians, famishing for want of water, etc., etc. I must tell a
+legend concerning it and the desert country to the east and north. Near
+Paraja and rising bluff from the river's edge is a high bit of mountain,
+hardly worth the name of range, on the top of which lying in a recumbent
+position is as perfect profile of a face and bust as you could imagine.
+You get a fine view of it from Fort Craig and for a great distance to
+the northwest and northeast. The legend is that a friar, Christobal by
+name, and for whom the mountain or range was named, was traveling
+through the country on his work for the souls of men when he perished
+from thirst. Some supernatural agency brought his body to this mountain
+top where it hardened into stone and remains to this day a monument
+commemorating a tragedy, and a land mark and guide to the weary and
+thirsty traveler pointing the way to where he may find water.
+
+We left Paraja and the river and valley at night after a good supper,
+having supplied ourselves with water enough for the trip, expecting to
+get breakfast at a place about half-way across, called the Alaman
+(Allemand) literally meaning "Dutchman" where it was reported a German
+had been found some years before, killed and scalped by Indians. There
+had been repeated efforts made to find water on this desert. General
+Pope when a young officer of the service had spent a large amount of
+government money digging for water. Finally a man by the name of Martin,
+a Scotchman, who furnished the meat supply at Fort Selden, was so
+persistent with the commanding officer in asserting his ability to find
+water, that he was furnished a body of soldiers as an escort and guard
+and commissary supplies for the undertaking. He had been working
+faithfully and persistently for some months. He had also put some adobe
+rooms and had them furnished, his hauling his water supply from a spring
+in a canon some six or eight miles away and had built an adobe wall
+around his camp. He had also put some adobe rooms and had them
+furnished, his wife being an important assistant in the undertaking, and
+he was still sinking his well deeper and expressing an abiding faith in
+the result. It must be a glorious feeling to be vindicated in such an
+undertaking. It was rumored along the overland route that Jack Martin
+had found water but not enough, and upon our arrival we found that he
+not only had water but had an abundance of it and our stage was the
+first to arrive after he struck it. After eating a late breakfast, which
+was a very good one, we started for Fort Selden still some fifty miles
+away. This part of the trip was uneventful as we only stopped once to
+feed and water the team, having carried the necessary supplies with us.
+We arrived at Fort Selden in the evening. All the way from Santa Fe down
+I frequently noticed little piles of stone by the wayside, sometimes
+with little hand-made wooden crosses standing up in the center marking
+the place where someone had met a violent death, maybe by Indians or
+maybe at the hands of some renegade Mexicans. It is the custom among the
+Mexican people in passing to toss another stone on the pile and in this
+way some of them became of considerable size, the size of the pile
+indicating in a way the time that had elapsed since the murder had been
+committed.
+
+I reported to the commanding officer at the post and the following day
+was assigned to duty. By invitation I took dinner with one of the
+officers the evening of my arrival. Among other good things we had a
+choice roast of beef which they informed me was from their very choice
+and only milk cow. It seems the herders were not sufficiently on guard
+and this animal had become separated from the herd but in rounding up
+the herd in the evening it was discovered that this particular cow had
+an Indian arrow in her side and on examination it was thought best to
+kill her. The good woman did not have much appetite for beef but grieved
+over the loss of her favorite cow. There was some small timber and
+underbrush along the streams affording a good hiding place for sneaking
+Apaches who might be disposed to commit depredations. It was the rule at
+this post that when the officers' wives wanted to take an airing to
+send an escort along with the ambulance as a protection against the
+Indians.
+
+It was a two company post and the duties of the medical officer were
+light; so much so as to become a little monotonous, but was sometimes
+varied by a trip to Las Cruces or Messilla, some fifteen or eighteen
+miles distant. These towns were at one time separated by the river but
+some years before an unusual flood had swept down the valley and the
+river had made a new channel leaving the towns close neighbors. Even in
+those days they were places of some importance.
+
+While stationed at this post I made my first acquaintance with gambling.
+It did not take me long to learn that it was the universal custom in the
+country. The Sutler's or Post Trader's store was a favorite resort for
+those who indulged in the various games. I remember an old man camping
+not far from the post who made it his business. He remained there for
+some time and in conversation one day I expressed my surprise at the
+universal custom and he informed me that he had rather bet his money on
+Monte than loan it out at ten per cent interest, and yet his dress and
+camping outfit did not indicate a man of fortune.
+
+One of the most interesting incidents of my experience here was one
+Sunday morning after inspection when a group of officers were standing
+out on the parade grounds talking on various subjects when one of them
+was attracted by something at our feet and called attention to it. Upon
+closer investigation we discovered it to be the outlines of a human
+skull, the top of which had been worn away by the trampling of many feet
+over the parade ground. The post commander ordered the dirt removed from
+around it and thus unearthed a complete human skeleton except where the
+top of the head had been worn away. It was in a sitting position with
+the knees flexed up close to the chin but the bones crumbled upon being
+exposed to the air. There was no evidence of shroud or other covering to
+the body. What race of people buried their dead that way? How long had
+it been in its resting place?
+
+This post at that time was about seven hundred miles from the railroad.
+I doubt if there is a place in the United States today outside of Alaska
+or our insular possession where one could go and be seven hundred miles
+from a railroad.
+
+Along in the first part of May of that year I received orders from the
+chief medical officer of the district to exchange places with Dr.
+Seguin, post surgeon at Fort Craig. General Grover was the commanding
+officer at Fort Craig and was considered a good deal of a Martinet. As
+explained to me by Doctor Seguin, it seems that Mrs. Grover wanted
+something from the hospital which the doctor declined to send her and
+General Grover thereupon ordered it sent. The doctor disobeyed the order
+and the matter was carried to district headquarters and probably higher
+up for it involved the question of military discipline and also the
+rights of medical officers under army regulations. It is well enough
+here to say that the medical corps is a corps to itself, distinct from
+any other branch of the service, and orders come through the medical
+officers from the surgeon general down to the divisions; departments and
+districts, and yet at the military post the commanding officer is
+supposed to be "monarch of all he surveys" as you see there was a chance
+for controversy. Any way it was settled by Doctor Seguin being ordered
+to Fort Selden to take my place and I to his place at Fort Craig.
+
+General Grover was a severe looking man past middle age, and had seen
+service on the frontier before the Civil War. He was a strict
+disciplinarian and held himself aloof from everything around. I have
+seen him walking down the line of officers' quarters straight as an
+arrow, maybe with hands clasped behind his back and an orderly walking
+the proper distance behind. He never entered an officer's quarters but
+if he wanted anything he would send his orderly to the officer with "the
+General's compliments and would like to see you." The officer then
+walked out to where the general was standing and at the proper distance
+stopped, stood at attention and saluted and waited for such
+communications as the general would make. He then saluted again and
+returned to his quarters and the general went on his way.
+
+Mrs. Grover was confined soon after my arrival at the post and gave
+birth to a daughter. When the general was called in to see the new
+arrival he merely looked at it, gave a grunt, or "huh," and then turned
+and walked out. Mrs. Grover was the most queenly looking woman I ever
+saw; a magnificent physique; a commanding presence and a dignified and
+gracious manner. She seemed to possess all the qualities my imagination
+had conjured up as befitting a queen. She was the daughter of Dr. Austin
+Flint, Sr., whom I mentioned in an earlier chapter, and a sister of Dr.
+Austin Flint, Jr., the eminent physiologist. I was frequently called to
+their quarters to see the baby, not I thought, that it needed anything,
+but that the mother wanted someone to talk with. The general was civil
+enough to me but never cordial. I think it was not his nature to be so.
+He invited me occasionally to go with him in his carriage to places away
+from the post, say to Paraja some twelve miles away, or perhaps just for
+a ride, a courtesy he never extended to other officers of the post. On
+these little excursions I found that the general was an interesting
+talker, mostly with reference to his experiences on the frontier before
+the war. The war itself and the army since the war was never mentioned
+that I remember. He had been a major general during the war and was now
+a colonel and it was thought by most of the officers that he felt
+humiliated by being assigned to a negro regiment, the twenty-fourth
+infantry. I was invited to their quarters one morning for breakfast and
+maybe one or two other meals during the summer but as I remember them
+now they were rather formal and uninteresting.
+
+Fort Craig was a walled fort, made so in early days as a protection
+against Indians. It was typical of most of the posts at which I served
+in being built in the form of a square. The parade ground being a square
+plot varying in size at different posts, around which are located the
+buildings. The officers occupying one side of the square; the barracks
+being directly opposite and the commissary and quarter master department
+generally occupying one side and the commanding officer's quarters and
+post headquarters and adjutant's office occupying the other side. At
+Fort Craig just outside of these buildings was an adobe wall about ten
+feet high. Next to the guardhouse was an opening large enough for wagons
+to enter the parade ground with heavy gates to close at night, and there
+were some small openings in the wall for other purposes, one being near
+the hospital. The walls of the buildings were of adobe with heavy
+timbers across to support the roof of dirt. The floors were what the
+Mexicans called "Jaspa" (pronounced Haspa), a kind of cement made of
+gypsum or lime sulphate which is found in great beds through a great
+portion of New Mexico. It is quarried or blasted out, heated to drive
+out the water or crystalization, then ground into a powder and when
+mixed with sand and water makes a pretty fair quality of cement. It was
+used altogether in the floors for the military posts along the Rio
+Grande.
+
+The water supply at Fort Craig was obtained from the Rio Grande river
+and there were times about June when the snows melted in the mountains
+that it answered very well to a description I once read of the Missouri
+river water, "Too thick to drink and too thin to cultivate." This was a
+great bother to us during the summer rise for it was persistent for more
+than a month. I conceived the idea of making a filter by making a good
+sized ball of jaspa and charcoal which I held together by mixing a
+little cotton batting carefully in the mortar and kneading it into a
+very stiff paste. After it hardened I bored a hole in the ball and
+inserted a rubber tube and then put the ball in a "Tanaja," a large
+ungalvanized earthen jar holding eight or ten gallons of the muddy
+water. This jar was put in an army blanket and was swung in the hallway.
+The jar being porous would let enough water through to keep the blanket
+damp, which cooled the water. By swinging another tanaja just below the
+first and having it blanketed in the same way, and having a rubber tube
+connecting the two, I had a filter that furnished clear, sparkling, cool
+water. I put one in the hospital and they became quite the vogue at the
+post.
+
+The wood supply was brought from the mountains some thirty miles away.
+Trains comprising several wagons would be sent out in charge of a
+wagonmaster with men enough to load them promptly and by starting early
+and returning late they sometimes made the round trip in two days, but
+generally they were three days out.
+
+For a month or more I was in the officers' mess, consisting only of
+single men or those whose families were away. The meals were rather
+stately affairs and to me seemed a little tinged with the ridiculous in
+that far-away place. There was a colored man standing behind each
+officer's chair dressed in the proper toggery to do his duty and to give
+him every attention. I never saw any more perfect service at any hotel
+and the table was the best the commissary department and the surrounding
+country would provide.
+
+Prices outside the commissary were much higher than we had then in Iowa.
+Eggs were fifty cents a dozen; butter a dollar and a quarter a pound. I
+paid these prices regularly when I started my own mess. I had what was
+called a student's lamp in those days and paid five dollars a gallon for
+coal oil, as it was then called. Of course that was before oil tanks
+were known and it was carried across the plains in barrels, maybe in hot
+weather, and on slow moving ox trains, being months on the way. The
+evaporation would necessarily be very great, and by the time the
+sutler's store got its percent of profit (probably one hundred percent
+or more) one could easily see that fifty cent oil in Iowa could easily
+be five dollars in New Mexico. Some years later at Fort McRae, further
+down the river, we got it for two dollars and a half per gallon by
+sending a five gallon can to Santa Fe to be filled.
+
+Thinking that I was a fixture at Fort Craig for some time I wrote my
+wife and asked her to join me after her visit in the East was over. In
+view of her coming I started a mess of my own and had a little colored
+drummer boy detailed as servant and cook. He was as black as night and I
+called him Sandy. To start with I laid in a pretty good supply of
+commissaries, among them ten pounds of cut loaf sugar. I had my first
+dinner on Saturday and the following Monday morning I asked Sandy if
+anything was needed. "Yas sah, Doctor, we needs some moah sugar." Why
+Sandy, I said, we got ten pounds of each kind on Saturday, which kind do
+you want? "We needs some moah cut loaf sugar, sah," he said. What, cut
+loaf sugar? "Yas sah, Doctor, it takes a powerful sight 'o sugar for
+deserts." Well all right Sandy, I said, I'll see about it. I thought it
+was going pretty fast for only two dinners so I stopped on my way back
+from the hospital at Major Sweet's quarters and asked Mrs. Sweet how
+much cut loaf sugar they used. She was bright and quick as a flash, and
+wished to know, while trying to look serious, why I asked such a
+question. Finally she broke out into a jolly rippling laugh and said, "I
+know what's the matter, Sandy has been carrying your sugar off to the
+laundresses." I told Sandy when I returned to my quarters that I did not
+mind his having all the sugar he wanted himself but I did not want to
+feed all the laundresses at the post on cut loaf sugar. He did better
+afterwards but I still think the laundresses got some sugar.
+
+There is no other part of the country so far as I know where skunks were
+so plentiful as in New Mexico. They were a nuisance at all the posts at
+which I served in that territory, but if possible were worse at Fort
+Craig than elsewhere. One evening I had gone to the post trader's to get
+my mail and upon my return I found the odor in my quarters so pronounced
+that I investigated and found that Sandy had killed a skunk in the
+kitchen. He explained by saying that he had tried to drive it out and
+could not do so and that he had killed it. I told him to open up all the
+windows and doors and scrub the kitchen floor and I went back to the
+sutler's store in self protection. I did not return until late when I
+found the odor worse than ever and Sandy explained the matter this time
+by saying another skunk came in and had made its way into my bed-room
+and got under the wardrobe and he could not get it out and was compelled
+to kill it. This he did by punching it to death. The result can be
+imagined, but not very well described. I slept on a cot in the front
+room for some time afterwards and found hunting and out-door exercise
+more interesting than remaining in my quarters.
+
+The sand storms at Fort Craig were something to remember, or rather I
+should say impossible to forget. They are simply a straight wind blowing
+with terrific force and loaded with fine sand and dust and very fine
+gravel. I remember particularly one that came up one day when the
+steward and I were making out the monthly reports at the hospital. The
+windows and doors were closed and everything made as snug as possible,
+yet when the storm was over one made tracks when walking across the
+floor as visible as he would have made walking along a sandy highway. It
+was a serious matter to be out in one of them, for unless the face was
+covered one would suffer severely from the stinging sand and fine
+gravel, and everything a short distance away was shut out from sight.
+There are also some pleasant things to remember of my experience at this
+post. The hunting, particularly of wild fowl, was very good, the ducks
+remaining late in the spring and returning early in the fall. The
+sunsets were beautiful beyond my power of description. It was my first
+summer in a rarified atmosphere and I imagined at times I could see
+objects moving along the mountain range some thirty miles away. I
+remember one evening when Doctor Seguin was visiting a few days with me
+on his return from Fort Selden to New York, having left the service, we
+were out for a walk together and were up on a little mound just west of
+the post as the sun went down and his attention was called to the
+beautiful cloud effects. He remarked that he had never seen anything
+more beautiful in Italy. The doctor was a Frenchman by birth; his father
+was a medical man of distinction, and while most of his life had been
+spent in this country he had traveled extensively abroad and his
+education, particularly in medicine, had been acquired in Europe. He was
+now returning to New York to take up his work as a lecturer on nervous
+diseases in the College of Physicians and Surgeons.
+
+While the doctor was visiting with me we went up to San Marcial to
+witness the games on St. John's day, June 24th. San Marcial was at that
+time a small straggling Mexican village of one street with adobe houses
+on each side and all told maybe had one hundred inhabitants. We did not
+go into any of the houses and only witnessed one game of any interest,
+it was a rough-and-tumble affair and excited great interest among the
+Mexicans. A rooster with its legs tied would be buried in a little mound
+of sand in the middle of the street, leaving only its head and neck
+sticking above the mound. The game was for the horsemen to form in line
+some distance up the street and come at full speed swooping down from
+the saddle, grab the chicken by the head, and then the battle was on for
+the chicken. The possessor of the unfortunate chicken would strike out
+over adobe walls and across irrigating ditches, anywhere to get out of
+the way of his pursuers and when at last he would be cornered, or
+surrounded, a battle royal would follow. I could not determine how the
+matter was decided but when the game was over they would come back and
+repeat the performance. There were many misses in their efforts to pick
+up the rooster, but a few of the contestants were more expert than the
+others and several succeeded in swinging down and retrieving the rooster
+from the mound of sand. We left while the game was still in progress. In
+all the games I witnessed among the Mexicans there appeared the element
+of cruelty in some form or other.
+
+During the summer of 1869 while stationed at this post I went to Paraja
+to see the Penitentes parade. I don't know why it was called a parade
+for it was an exhibition of cruelty that I have never at any other time
+in my life seen equaled. It was supposed to be a religious ceremony but
+consisted of a procession in single file of those who had committed
+great crimes or sins. The one in front carried a great wooden cross, the
+cross-bar of which rested on his neck and shoulders, he carrying it in a
+somewhat stooped position. It was of an enormous size, the cross-bar
+extending as I estimated it, at least eight feet in length and the stem
+in proportion. It had been made of dry cotton-wood logs and hewn out to
+probably eight or ten inches square and was a crude looking affair, but
+was probably not as heavy as it looked. The one bearing this cross took
+the lead and was naked to the waist and from there down wore only a
+single cotton garment, pants-like in shape, but very full, something
+like a skirt, and all those following were dressed in a similar way. All
+were bare-footed and there were probably twenty or more of them. Each
+carried thongs with which he struck the man in front of him on the bare
+back, all acting in something like uniformity as to time and repeating
+in unison and in a drone like voice something in Spanish that I could
+not understand. Before the procession ended the backs of most of the
+participants were notably bloody and some of them very much so. Paraja
+is located literally in a bed of sand and I wondered how they could
+stand it that hot August day in their bare feet and the bloody work of
+the thongs left the impression on my mind of being a most brutal
+performance. But they were sincere and no doubt believed they were
+atoning for sins committed. What kind of a God is it who would accept
+such an atonment or approve of its offering? The faces of the
+participants were mostly of a brutal type and they looked as though they
+were capable of committing almost any crime. This exhibition did not
+impress me as in any way religious but on the contrary as exceedingly
+barbarious and superstitious.
+
+By act of Congress during the winter of 1868 and 1869 the army was
+ordered reduced, which to me was a serious matter as it rendered
+improbable any convening of a medical board for examination of medical
+officers for promotion, at least for some years to come. As I remember
+such line officers as wished to resign could do so with the privilege of
+a year's additional pay, and enough others would be dropped from the
+service to bring the number down to the required standard, also with a
+year's additional pay. The only difference being that of resigning or
+being dropped from the service. Quite a number of line officers
+preferred resigning. Among those who did so was Lieutenant Page of the
+twenty-fourth infantry at Fort Craig. He proposed selling me his cow and
+I proposed trading him my pistol for it. He thought the matter over and
+said that he proposed locating on a farm in Missouri and the pistol
+might come very handy, so we made the exchange. He came to visit me at
+Girard, Kansas, after I had quit the service and gave me a farther
+history of the pistol. He had missed a good deal of corn from his fields
+and watched for the thieves and shot one of them quite seriously. The
+matter got into the courts and being so soon after the War the factional
+feeling had not died out, and the long litigation that followed almost
+bankrupted Mr. Page, rather a disreputable record for a pistol to make,
+but I imagine that there have been comparatively few occasions where
+pistols were used in personal encounters, that it would not have been
+better if they had never been made.
+
+I expected my wife in September. In the meantime Captain Lawson had
+returned from a leave of absence and joined my mess until his wife
+should come. Just before I expected my wife to start on her trip to join
+me, a command came up from Texas, an exchange of regiments had been
+ordered. The fifteenth infantry went to the Department of the Missouri,
+and the twenty-fourth infantry to the Department of Texas, and I was
+ordered to accompany a part of the fifteenth infantry from Fort Craig to
+Fort Wingate, New Mex. I at once wrote my wife to await developments.
+She had already started and got as far as Fort Wallace, Kans., near the
+terminus of the railroad when word reached her from Fort Wingate that I
+was to go with one company of the fifteenth infantry to Fort Dodge,
+Kans., and she could meet me at Fort Lyon, Colo., which would be on my
+way to Fort Dodge.
+
+[Illustration: THE OLD GOVERNOR'S PALACE
+
+Santa Fe, New Mexico, as it appeared in 1869. Army Headquarters for the
+District of New Mexico was located at the far end of this building.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+
+Fort Wingate is a post about one hundred and fifty miles west and a
+little north of Albuquerque and in the mountains in what was then called
+the Navajo country. While there I saw one of the squaws making a Navajo
+blanket. I supposed it would be called weaving but was unlike any
+weaving I ever saw, yet when a lad I was quite familiar with the looms
+and spinning wheels of the times, and the making of cloth. The blanket
+making appeared to be a very tedious process, the warp being held taut
+by stakes in the ground and the filling or woof worked in under and over
+the threads forming the warp and pressed in place by a little flat piece
+of wood passing between the threads of the warp. I could more readily
+understand why the blankets were so expensive.
+
+We remained at Wingate probably two weeks. I was a guest of Doctor
+Vickery, the post surgeon. He was a most charming host and all-around
+good fellow. He gave me a little handful of garnets the Indians had
+brought him from the little ant hills so abundant in the country. I sent
+a few of the choicest stones to Tiffany & Company of New York and had
+two rings made; one for my wife and one for a friend, the post surgeon's
+wife at Fort Wallace, who had been most kind to her while she was
+waiting for an opportunity to join me.
+
+The company from Fort Wingate to Fort Dodge together with the
+headquarters' paraphernalia was under the command of Mr. Krause, a
+lieutenant of the fifteenth infantry. Instead of coming around by
+Albuquerque we came part way and then cut across country to the
+northeast. When within a few miles of the Rio Grande the wagon road bore
+down to the southeast. The infantry cut across in the direction of
+Barnalillo (double L has the sound of E in Spanish) and the
+transportation followed the wagon road. Mr. Krause and I took the
+ambulance and when we reached the river in place of going up stream on
+the west side as the wagons were directed to do we crossed over to the
+old overland stage route and then went north on the east side. It was
+late when we reached the outskirts of the town and we noticed a great
+light as though some building was on fire. We had now left the stage
+road and were trying to find one that would take us to a crossing on the
+river. We were about to enter the town or pueblo, for it was an Indian
+pueblo, when we had a good view of the fire which proved to be an
+immense bonfire in the middle of the street with many people gathered
+around it. An Indian met us and gave us to understand that we could go
+no farther. With what little Spanish we could command, and by signs, we
+got him to understand that we wanted to reach the command on the other
+side of the river. By that time another Indian or two had joined us and
+they at once took the matter in hand. One of them got into the ambulance
+and by signs indicated to the driver which way to go and the first man
+to meet us signalled Mr. Krause and myself to follow him. He would take
+us through the pueblo, but started around the outskirts of the place and
+after what seemed to me an interminable time brought us up at a high
+bluff. It was quite dark and we could see the campfires across the
+river, but how to get there, or whether we would get there, seemed
+questionable to me. However, the Indian knew what he was about, and soon
+found the place he wanted, and disappeared over the side of the bluff on
+what proved to be steps cut out of the rock, leading down to the valley
+below. It was then only a short distance to the ford and our guide
+motioned us to stay there, and we understood he wanted us to wait for
+the ambulance, but he waded across the river. We found him on our
+arrival in camp carrying wood for the campfires and seemingly greatly
+pleased at being able to help us. We gave him a dollar at which he was
+evidently delighted. The transportation arrived soon after we reached
+camp and all was right again.
+
+We reached Santa Fe early in November--I think the 4th--and only stayed
+in town a few hours to rest and report to district headquarters where
+arrangements were made to have the paymaster come out to a place agreed
+on some five miles out where we would camp that night and pay off the
+men. This precaution was taken because there are always some men who
+cannot stand prosperity and will blow their money for anything they may
+fancy, particularly for liquor, and quite a number of them were likely
+to get drunk and be put in the guardhouse and cause delay in getting
+away from the town. It seems however, that some of them had money and
+those disposed to load up on "tangle-foot" had borrowed enough to put
+themselves past good marching condition, for at roll call preparatory to
+being paid off, some were missing and came straggling into camp one at a
+time later on in the afternoon, one without shoes, hat or clothing,
+excepting underwear, and one entirely naked. They had fallen out of
+ranks and taken a nap, and on trying to join the command had been held
+up by Mexicans. Of course their guns and accoutrements had gone with
+their clothing. We were camped where we could see some distance back
+along the road we had come and it was rather an odd sight to see the men
+coming into camp in that condition. It was quite ridiculous to see men
+in such uniforms, or rather lack of them, come into camp, stand at
+attention and salute when reporting to the commanding officer.
+
+We followed the old overland stage route from Santa Fe to Fort Lyon,
+Colo., a distance of nearly three hundred miles. From there it was some
+two hundred miles to our destination at Fort Dodge. There was little of
+interest on the way to Fort Lyon, the usual routine of making and
+breaking camp and marching during the day. By this time the men were
+thoroughly hardened to the march and the roads being good we made good
+time. It is interesting to know that for a distance of one thousand
+miles men will beat horses.
+
+At Cimarron we waked up in the morning to find six inches of snow on the
+ground and at Wooton's just north of the crest of Raton Pass, we stayed
+two or three days to have transportation repaired. I hunted a little but
+as I was afraid to go far from camp found nothing. One evening while
+there, Mr. Krause and I went down to Trinidad, a mining town of some
+importance in those days with the usual equipment of saloons and
+gambling halls. I had some curiosity to see the later, so we visited
+one. It was located in a long room a hundred feet or more in length by
+probably forty feet wide, in which there were many tables, at most of
+which were men engaged in playing games. The poker players sat at small
+tables, four or five players around each one, with stacks of chips or
+money at their side, or perhaps a buckskin sack containing gold dust,
+(for this was a placer mining camp) which was weighed out as occasion
+demanded in the fluctuations of the game. At other tables dice were
+used, or balls were rolled, and the bets were made as to which little
+pocket they would enter. Everything was quiet and orderly and seriously
+business-like. It was a curious exhibition and to this day I do not
+understand the fascination that seems to be in it.
+
+At Trinidad we were still a hundred miles or more from Fort Lyons where
+I expected to meet my wife, and while we made exceptional progress for
+infantry it seemed all too slow for me. It was on the 25th of November
+when we reached Fort Lyons, and I had the great pleasure of seeing my
+wife and baby boy again. We rested over for two or three days at Fort
+Lyons and then started on the last long lap of nearly two hundred miles
+down the Arkansas river to Fort Dodge, Kans. We did not see a habitation
+or a soul on the way except at one place where a man was standing at the
+roadside as we passed along. He informed us that he and his partner were
+there killing buffalo and poisoning wolves for their hides. We found an
+immense gray wolf lying by the roadside and the men threw it on one of
+the wagons and we left it with the lone hunter by the roadside.
+
+When pretty well down toward Fort Dodge, I had one of the most exciting
+hunting experiences of my life. Buffalo in great numbers were seen
+nearly all the way down and I was anxious to get a fine robe from an
+animal I had killed myself. My opportunity occurred one afternoon after
+we had gone into camp. I saw a good sized herd leave the river and start
+back to the high ground to graze, probably a mile or more away. I did
+not know any better than to go on foot and alone. It never occurred to
+me that there could be any danger. The ground was level as a floor and I
+got up within a hundred yards or less and picked out a large black bull
+that I thought would furnish the prize I was after, and fired. At the
+crack of the rifle he started for me and of course I turned and ran, and
+ran for my very life. I thought how hopeless it looked for me, for the
+camp seemed far away, but I did my best. Finally I could hear him close
+behind me and while I expected every moment to be gored it occurred that
+he was breathing heavily, and I kept the pace as best I could until the
+breathing seemed less distinct and looking over my shoulder I discovered
+that he had stopped running and was walking around and around. However,
+I kept going until I was sure I was at a safe distance and then fell on
+the ground and lay there for a while. My heart was beating like a
+trip-hammer. I had no notion then of giving up the contest and as he
+turned broadside to me I fired and he started, and I started for another
+race. He did not make much headway this time and my courage arose
+accordingly. Pretty soon he stopped again and commenced turning around.
+He did not chase me again, but it took the fourth shot before he fell.
+The rifles of those days were very different from the modern repeating
+rifles. This was a breech loader with only a single shot and it was
+necessary to raise up what was called the breachblock by hand and insert
+the cartridge, then replace the breachblock, cock the gun, and you were
+ready for another shot. Too slow a process when a mad buffalo is chasing
+you.
+
+I had been aiming for the heart but shot too high and the wound in the
+lungs had caused the blood to choke him so he could not keep up the
+pace. All four of the shots went into a space not larger than my hand
+and one of the bullets lodged under the skin on the opposite side which
+I was careful to keep as a souvenir of the chase. Some of the enlisted
+men who had gone out to the right for a shot came to my assistance and
+skinned the animal for me and carried the hide into camp. They assured
+me that the animal was certainly within ten or fifteen feet of me at one
+time during our race.
+
+Another hunting incident occurred on our trip down the valley in which I
+was only a spectator. Some men had gone off into the hills to get a
+buffalo for the command. They had separated one from the herd and had
+wounded it and got the animal turned in the direction so as to cross the
+road ahead of the command. When it came in sight our cook became
+enthused with the idea of going out and killing it and thus have some of
+the glory of the chase. He asked permission to take my riding mule that
+followed behind the ambulance. I readily gave my consent and watched the
+proceedings with a good deal of interest. He started away at full speed
+with a pistol in one hand swinging it in anticipation of a great
+victory. All went well enough until the mule got close to the game when
+I suppose he got a whiff of an odor that did not please him, for without
+slacking his pace he turned and never stopped until he was back in the
+rear of the ambulance again. All this with the rider making the most
+frantic effort to get him into the fight. He did not even get a shot.
+The buffalo was killed near the road and loaded on one of the wagons and
+taken into camp.
+
+Another little incident occurred on this trip that was quite exciting
+for a few moments: We had camped near the river in some very tall grass,
+blue-stem I think it was called, the company some little distance away
+and to windward of headquarters. Some way in starting their campfire, it
+got beyond their control, and a shout in that direction gave as warning.
+I gathered the baby in my arms and we all ran for the river. Fortunately
+there was a sandbar extending out from the bank and we jumped some four
+or five feet down to that, and huddled up against the bank until the
+danger was past. There was a strong wind blowing and it was all over in
+a few moments. We thought of the ammunition wagon and feared the
+results, but the only harm done was a little scorching of my wife's
+side-saddle which was under the wagon. Only those who have seen a
+prairie fire in tall grass with a stiff wind blowing, can picture the
+scene as it actually happened. The ground was swept clean but was black
+with the ashes and stubble of the burned grass.
+
+On arriving at Fort Dodge we stayed a few days waiting for a surgeon who
+was returning from Fort Larned and who accompanied us from Fort Dodge to
+Fort Hayes, Kans. While at Fort Dodge there was a dust storm that
+continued for three or four days, blowing a steady gale during that
+time. Major Morris was commanding officer at that post and I remember a
+lieutenant, Phil Reed, who was a charming and entertaining talker at the
+table. My recollection is that he was afterwards married to Minnie
+Reams, an actress of note at that time. The road from Fort Dodge to Fort
+Hayes was a very desolate one. By starting early and urging our team
+along until after dark we came to a stream bordered by timber where we
+camped for the night. It was snowing very hard when we reached camp and
+by morning there were six or eight inches of snow on the ground. The
+road was so obscure in many places that we were doubtful whether we were
+on the right road or on any road at all. Not a house or sign of life in
+all that great white waste and even now I think of it as the most
+desolate day of all my life. We arrived at Fort Hayes after midnight of
+the second day, and were soon comfortably located at Doctor Meacham's
+quarters and sound asleep. My orders read to accompany the command to
+Fort Dodge and then proceed to St. Louis, Mo., and report to the medical
+director of the department which had been changed from Fort Leavenworth
+to that place. We were now at the railroad and the worst of the long
+journey from Fort Craig, N. Mex., to St. Louis was over.
+
+When in the ticket office at Fort Hayes arranging my transportation, I
+was introduced to one of the most noted characters on the frontier. He
+was generally known as "Wild Bill," but his name was Hickok and his
+brother had been our wagon master from Fort Wingate to Fort Dodge. He
+did not look wild at all but was a rather mild mannered and genteel
+looking fellow. He had long hair and wore good clothes and had nothing
+of the appearance of a desperado.
+
+The trip to St. Louis was uneventful.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+
+On reporting to the medical director at St. Louis I was ordered to Fort
+Sill, Indian Territory, (now Oklahoma) by way of railroad to Fort Scott,
+Kans., and thence by stage to my destination. We arrived at Fort Scott,
+Kans., late in the evening. This was the end of the Kansas City, Fort
+Scott and Gulf Railroad at that time, and a booming town. The hotels
+were crowded and we had great difficulty in finding a place to sleep,
+but finally were located at what was called the Western Hotel where we
+were fortunate enough to get a room for ourselves. Many were compelled
+to sleep on cots or beds made down on the floor in sitting rooms, dining
+rooms and parlors.
+
+The next morning I waded through deep snow some distance southeast of
+town to a soldiers' camp where Major Roy was in command and reported. He
+informed me that it would be impossible for me to go by stage to Fort
+Sill, that the stages had quit running on account of the deep snow, and
+that he would order me back to St. Louis, which he did. We arrived in
+St. Louis about the 20th of December, and stopped at the Lindell, one of
+the good hotels in those days. The controversy between Doctor Mills, the
+medical director and the department quartermaster was quite amusing. The
+doctor ending up by saying, "You sent him the only road he couldn't go."
+It was decided I should wait for a boat down the Mississippi and up the
+Arkansas to Fort Smith, and stage across country from there to Fort
+Sill.
+
+On my first arrival at St. Louis from the West I had gone to see a
+furrier about tanning my buffalo hide and he informed me it would
+require several days to put it in prime condition. I went to see him
+again on our return to St. Louis and was told it would probably be ready
+by the time we would start to Fort Sill by boat and that he would make a
+robe I would be proud of. He sent it to the boat the day before we left,
+and as it seemed a little damp, I spread it out on the hurricane deck to
+dry. As it dried it became hard around the edges and I kept trimming
+away the hard parts, particularly those of the neck and legs until I
+had my robe in the shape of a parallelogram. This was disappointing but
+I still praised it as a souvenir of the chase. We found it a very great
+help in keeping us warm while in the stage from Fort Smith to Fort Sill.
+It disappeared one night while hanging outside of our tent at Fort Sill
+which was only a camp at that time. It had cost me a most thrilling
+experience when first getting possession of it and then ten dollars to
+have it tanned, and now after a short service it was gone and I
+concluded it was hardly worth the ammunition.
+
+We were in St. Louis a week or more waiting for the boat to start and
+while there we had the pleasure of seeing Joseph Jefferson in "Rip Van
+Winkle." He was then in his prime and although I have seen and heard him
+since in the same play it did not appeal to me in the same way it did at
+the first performance.
+
+I think it was the last day of December that we went on the boat and
+started on our trip down the river the following evening. It was a light
+craft, stern wheel boat, and I was amazed at the vast quantity of
+freight that it carried. The trip down the Mississippi was without
+incident but we had frequent delays on the Arkansas unloading freight
+and crossing sandbars. From Little Rock to Fort Smith we tied up every
+night. Most of the time up the Arkansas a man stood at the head of the
+boat taking soundings.
+
+We were cordially received and entertained on our arrival at Fort Smith
+by the post surgeon, Doctor Theibaut and his family, where we remained
+two or three days.
+
+We started from Fort Smith very early in the morning, about four o'clock
+if I remember rightly, and it was very cold. In the stage with us, was a
+deputy United States marshal, who told us of the disastrous results
+attending those who brought liquor into the country--confiscation of
+property, jail sentences, etc. The trouble with us was that we had a
+bottle of brandy with us. By the time we stopped for breakfast my wife
+was thoroughly aroused to the importance of the occasion and whispering
+to me expressed her fears. I tried to assure her that it would be all
+right, and that no one would search an army officer's baggage, but it
+was of no use, and when the marshal was out of sight I broke the bottle
+over the fence corner and went into breakfast as though nothing had
+happened. We learned afterwards that army officers were permitted to
+bring it in for their own use and while at Fort Sill I had some sent me
+with other medical supplies.
+
+It was very cold for a day or two and we had the stage to ourselves
+after the marshal left us. I think it was the following night when we
+were in some very rough mountainous country that the driver stopped the
+stage and asked if I would get up on the outside with him, explaining
+that his team was hard to manage and that he might need assistance, to
+which I readily consented. The team was spirited enough and we went
+along at a spinning gait. I thought noticeably so for such rough roads
+and I believe my wife thought it was the ride of her life. After two or
+three hours the driver said he believed the team was settling down and
+would probably not give any trouble and if I wished I could go back
+inside the stage where it was warmer. I accepted this suggestion
+promptly and found it much more comfortable. The driver explained to me
+at the end of his division that in the rough country we had passed there
+were frequent hold-ups and he thought someone ought to sit with him to
+create the impression that the stage was loaded and highwaymen would be
+less liable to attack it.
+
+The second day out we had dinner at the house of the chief of the
+Chickasaws, having had breakfast at a freedman's house, both of which
+were worth describing. When we entered the house for breakfast there
+were a few smoldering coals in the fireplace although it was quite cold.
+There was some wood by the chimney and I stirred up the embers and put
+on some wood and soon had a fire started. The table was set in the next
+room, if so called, for it was only partly enclosed, so it was
+practically as cold as out of doors. On the table was some headcheese
+and cornbread, light rolls and sweet potatoes, all frozen so that the
+frost stood out on them, and some black coffee and no cream or milk. I
+managed to cut off a piece of the headcheese and cornbread and took my
+coffee and went back to the fireplace to eat and my wife soon followed,
+making her breakfast on some cookies we had brought with us. For this
+treat we were charged the modest sum of fifty cents each. At dinner we
+had some fried pork, fried eggs swimming in grease, and coffee similar
+to that we had at breakfast, and cornbread and all at the same price.
+
+The evening of the third day we arrived at Fort Arbuckle and were the
+guests of Doctor Brewer and family for two or three days and were most
+hospitably entertained. From Fort Arbuckle to Fort Sill we went in an
+army ambulance, the distance being eighty to a hundred miles. We camped
+one night along the road and I shot my first wild turkey at this camp.
+
+Fort Sill at that time was only a camp, but there was a sawmill on Cache
+creek a short distance below, where they were getting out material for
+permanent quarters, barracks and storehouses. The plan was for a six
+company post, and at that time there were two companies of infantry and
+six troops of cavalry stationed there. I reported on my arrival as usual
+and after being settled in our tent, was assigned to duty by Doctor
+Forward, the post surgeon.
+
+Doctor Forward was among the oldest assistant surgeons in the service
+and I thought a little peculiar in some ways. He was dignified and
+cordial but after assigning me to duty I thought he showed little
+interest in the service. He would call at my quarters occasionally and
+say that he wished to go over to the hospital and would look carefully
+over everything and would go away simply remarking that everything was
+all right. I remember going to his quarters one day and informing him
+that a man by the name of Fields in the hospital had fistula and I
+thought an operation necessary. He replied: "Can't you stick a knife in
+it?" I told him I thought I could and he came a few days after the
+operation and expressed his satisfaction at the results. He was promoted
+to a full surgency while I was there and assigned to a different post.
+It is proper here to say that the medical officers in the army are never
+addressed by their military title or rank but always as doctor. Although
+their military rank may be that of major (for full surgeon) or captain
+or lieutenant (for assistant surgeon).
+
+General Grierson of note as a cavalry commander during the Civil War
+was in command of the camp. Our quarters consisted of one hospital tent,
+fourteen by sixteen and two wall tents ten by twelve for bed room and
+dining room, and still back of that was the kitchen which was used for
+servants' quarters. All these tents were framed to hold them in shape
+and as a protection against strong winds.
+
+Our first experience with what was called a "Norther," was at this post.
+These usually occurred in the change of the seasons from cold to hot
+weather or the reverse. They are typical, resembling other storms only
+in their intensity. They are always preceded by delightful weather. My
+first experience was in the early spring of 1870. I was on the roof of
+the new commissary building where the quartermaster's employes were
+putting on shingles and one of them happened to look up and said,
+"Hello; that looks like a Norther coming." The weather was quite warm
+but ideally pleasant and he noticed my light clothing and said, "You had
+better get down off here and hunt some heavier clothes." I followed his
+suggestion at once and by the time I got to our quarters a half mile
+away I noticed the difference in the temperature and in a few minutes it
+came on us in all its fury. It is simply the coldest wind I have ever
+experienced. It blows straight and with a mighty force and is so
+penetrating that one is thoroughly chilled in a few minutes. I have
+since learned that it often kills cattle and other live stock down in
+Texas and occasionally people who are not properly clothed. It comes up
+from the Northwest, a bank of clouds, not clearly outlined but hazy, I
+suppose from dust that gathers on the way. Anyone who has once
+experienced it looks at its coming with dread and apprehension. We had
+two or three experiences with a "Norther" at Fort Sill while still in
+camp. In one of these my wife and I both braced ourselves against the
+tent frame to keep it from blowing down.
+
+There were six companies of colored troops of the Tenth Cavalry of which
+General Grierson was the colonel, stationed at Fort Sill. I did not see
+that they were very different from other enlisted men. If anything they
+seemed to take more interest in their personal appearance than the
+white soldiers but were accused in the army as they are out of it, of
+petit larceny. I had one experience in the hospital that may be worth
+relating: A trooper by the name of Stanley had shot the index finger off
+his right hand, he claimed accidentally, but it was thought by most of
+the officers that it had been done for the purpose of getting a
+discharge from the service. I kept him as nurse in the hospital as he
+was capable and did his work promptly and carefully and we often had him
+come to our quarters to stay with our little boy when we were spending
+the evening with our fellow officers and their wives. I had frequently
+missed small change and little things of no great value but he would
+deny any knowledge of them with such apparent candor and honesty that my
+suspicions were allayed. One morning, however, when attending sick calls
+at the hospital the hospital steward informed me that Stanton was
+discovered taking money from under the pillow of one of the sick men
+during the night. I sent for him and explained the matter to him for I
+was really disposed to let him off as easy as possible. He denied any
+knowledge of it, so I said to him: "Now look here Stanton, the evidence
+is too strong against you, you go and give Fields his money and behave
+yourself hereafter and I will let the matter drop. You are a good man
+and I would like to keep you." He looked me straight in the face and
+said: "Fore God, Doctor, I never did take that money." I sent the
+steward's assistant over to the guardhouse with orders to the sergeant
+of the guard to send a man over to take charge of a prisoner. A corporal
+came and I explained the matter to him and I directed him to take
+Stanton to the guardhouse and to tell the sergeant of the guard that I
+wanted him to get that money and for him to resort to any means
+necessary to get it, even if he had to tie the prisoner up by the
+thumbs. This is of course a very severe punishment, and consisted of
+using a very strong cord, the ends of which are looped over each thumb
+and then thrown over a crossbar a short distance above the prisoner's
+head and drawing him up, if necessary, off the ground. When I got
+through my hospital duties and was on my way to my quarters I heard the
+howling of the prisoner at the guardhouse and stopped where I had a
+good view and watched the results with interest. Stanton was protesting
+his innocence, and the sergeant's orders were "pull him up a little
+higher." It did not take long for Stanton to see his mistake, for he
+said, "Let me down and I will tell you where it is." "No you don't. Tell
+me first where it is, then I will let you down." Stanton said, "It's in
+the lining of my cap." And sure enough there was the ten dollars. The
+result was that a courtmartial gave him six months with "ball and
+chain." I think this occurrence illustrates one of the characteristic
+traits of the colored race, and to me it is remarkable that he would
+have taken such a course when he was offered the chance of taking one
+that in every way would have been so much better for himself.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+
+Fort Sill was the first post at which I had any experience with Indians.
+It was located on what was then called the Kiowa and Comanche
+reservation near the junction of Cache and Medicine Bluff creeks. Mount
+Scott, the highest point of the Wichita mountains was some nine miles to
+the northwest and both places had been geographically located and were
+used as a base for triangulation in locating other points. These tribes
+of Plains Indians were famous fighters and were finally subdued and
+brought to terms by Custer's great battle on the Washita. They were very
+numerous and there was always a feeling that an outbreak might occur at
+any time. During my service there from January, 1870, to August, 1871,
+there were seventeen men brought in and buried who had been killed and
+scalped by Indians. They would not attack a large party of men in
+soldier's uniform but boot-leggers and stragglers stood a poor show if
+caught out alone. Once while there a woman, one girl sixteen or
+seventeen years old, and one about twelve years old, and two smaller
+ones and two boys, one of whom belonged to another family, were brought
+into the camp on the promise of a hundred dollars apiece ransom. They
+were from Texas and at their homes when attacked by Indians, and the men
+were killed and these people brought away captives. If attempt had been
+made to recover them by force they would have been killed.
+
+I once saw Lone Wolf, a Comanche chief, with a United States mail sack
+of leather on his pony, and the interpreter, Mr. Jones, told me that he
+and some of the other young bucks had been on a raid down in Texas and
+among other depredations they had killed the mail carrier and destroyed
+the mail, only keeping the sack for his own use. I saw him frequently
+with it afterwards. Mr. Jones told me that Lone Wolf had said that his
+heart felt better now, as he had avenged the death of his son who had
+been killed on one of their raids in Texas. These raids were of frequent
+occurrence, and there was generally some evidence of them in the wearing
+apparel or trinkets, or anything the Indians might fancy, and that had
+evidently belonged to some settlers or travelers who had been so
+unfortunate as to come in their way. But so far as I know, they never
+killed a soldier.
+
+I have witnessed from the bluff near the hospital on Medicine Bluff
+creek their dances in the valley just across the streams at night, many
+times, but never had any desire to make a closer acquaintance. It always
+seemed to me a wild kind of a thing, consisting of jumping and gyrating
+and stooping and gliding and then straightening up suddenly, and
+swinging the arms, and all the time droning in short jerky cough-like
+notes, interspersed with sharp penetrating yells. There might be only
+one performer or maybe a half dozen or more. Where there is a number
+engaged, it is not only exciting but decidedly wild, certainly unlike
+any other dance I have ever seen.
+
+They were great thieves and anything left outside of our tents which
+might strike their fancy was liable to be carried off. One day a squaw
+brought a venison ham to our tent to sell. The regular price was fifty
+cents and I bought it although we had bought one less than an hour
+before, and when taking it back to hang up with the first one I thought
+the squaw looked very much like the one from whom I had made the first
+purchase, and was not much surprised to find the first ham missing. We
+usually hung them out for a while to get the Indian odor off them, and I
+have no doubt that I bought the same ham from the same squaw the second
+time.
+
+There were fixed days each month on which rations were issued to the
+Indians by the commissary department and I have seen the squaws carry
+sacks of flour a little distance away from the place of issue and empty
+out the flour and carry off the sacks, hundreds of them, so that the
+ground for a considerably distance around would be literally white with
+flour.
+
+They were permitted to go about the camp any where during the day, but
+at sundown scarcely an Indian was to be seen and none were permitted in
+camp at night.
+
+It was a very comfortable feeling to hear the hours called at night, by
+those on guard if one should happen to wake up and hear the announcement
+that "All's well." For instance, the sergeant of the guard announces in
+a loud enough voice to be heard by the first sentinel, "Two o'clock and
+all's well." On hearing it the sentinel repeats the message, and so on
+around the camp, and when the last sentinel has finished, the sergeant
+of the guard says, "Two o'clock and all's well all around." This is
+repeated each hour during the night.
+
+[Illustration: MEDICINE BLUFF
+
+The original of this picture is in our possession, and was taken by
+Soule, of Boston, when we were stationed at Fort Sill]
+
+A very different announcement is the long roll of the drums which
+happened twice while we were at this camp. It is the alarm to awaken the
+camp, and made by rapid and long continued beating of the drum without
+break or stop until the garrison is fully aroused. The assembly call by
+the bugle of the cavalry, takes the place of the long roll of the drum
+for the infantry, and the two together, and the clanking of arms, and
+the orders to "Fall in," "Fall in," "Fall in," makes an exceedingly
+interesting, not to say exciting experience. If you are quick in getting
+out of your tent you may see the officers scurrying across the parade
+ground to their command, fastening on their clothes as they go and soon
+everything is in order for whatever may happen. The women and children
+in these cases, hurry with all possible speed to a place of safety. At
+this camp it was always at Major Van De Weile's quarters, some of them
+very scantily clothed, generally with some kind of wrap over their night
+clothes, but it was not cold weather, and any way what did it signify in
+such an emergency. The major's quarters were what was called a "hakel"
+building and the only one in camp better than a tent except General
+Grierson's that offered any protection. Such buildings are made by
+standing posts on end in the ground and as close together as possible
+and filling in the cracks with mortar and pieces of boards or anything
+suitable, and the inside is then plastered up along the cracks until it
+makes a fairly smooth wall and is then whitewashed and makes comfortable
+quarters but not a first class protection against rifle bullets. They
+would huddle together and talk in undertones as to what might happen
+until the report came that it was a false alarm. In both these instances
+it proved to be so, but the anxiety and excitement was just as real as
+if the results had been different. Probably some nervous sentinel had
+fired his gun at what he supposed to be an Indian crawling toward him,
+but that may have been only a dog or some other animal, or it may have
+been purely his imagination. Any one who has not gone through such an
+experience cannot imagine its uncanny quality as the Scotch would
+express it. It is a very vivid impression with me today after more than
+forty years.
+
+We remained under more or less strain of anxiety until the new quarters
+were finished or enough of it so that we could crowd into them. Officers
+take quarters according to rank, and it not infrequently happens that
+one will have to vacate his quarters and give place to another who
+outranks him, the ranking officer having this right and as a rule he
+does not hesitate to use it although he may be a single man and the man
+displaced be a man of family. This is so well understood and so
+graciously accepted that there is seldom any feeling or resentment about
+it.
+
+In our own case we had to occupy quarters with another officer and his
+wife, Mr. Spencer of the Tenth cavalry, and this reminds me of an
+experience we had that shows something of the Indian character. We had
+for some time previous to this, a Cherokee Indian woman employed as
+servant. She probably had a little negro blood in her veins as her long
+black hair was slightly wavy, but in every other way she was typically
+Indian. She was exceedingly neat and clean and a thorough housekeeper
+and an exceptionally good cook and a most devoted servant, but she would
+take orders from no one except my wife. Soon after going into our new
+quarters she informed my wife that she was going to leave us, and this
+she did, knowing full well that she could not remain at the post if she
+did so. My wife was surprised and so expressed herself and also her
+sorrow at having her go, but no inducement she could offer had any
+effect on this high-strung woman. She cleaned out the stove and put in
+the kindling and had everything neat and clean as possible before
+leaving. It developed afterwards that she was offended at some orders
+given her by Mrs. Spencer.
+
+Another little incident will show the Indian blood: One of the colored
+sergeants took quite a fancy to her and would often stand in the door
+and talk to her, which was all well enough with Charlotte until she
+wanted him to go. I think on this occasion he was disposed to nag her
+about something, for I overheard her say in a loud and angry tone, "Now
+you go, I won't talk to you again. Go now!" I hurried to the kitchen and
+opened the door just in time to see the butcherknife sticking in the
+outside door-jam and still vibrating from the force that sent it. The
+sergeant had jumped in time, but Charlotte was furious. When I asked,
+"Why, Charlotte, what is the matter?" she simply replied, "Next time I
+tell that nigger to go I guess he will go." I frequently thought how
+near we came to having another patient in the hospital.
+
+I will relate one or two other instances that occurred while we were
+stationed here that may be interesting: My wife had the only sewing
+machine in the camp and one day Satanta, the war chief of the Kiowas,
+was passing down the line of officers' quarters and heard the hum of the
+sewing machine. It was summer time and the door was open so he stalked
+in and sat down without any ceremony or sign of recognition and watched
+my wife sewing. He was evidently very much interested but gave no
+evidence of it by word or look. He remained for quite a while observing
+the performance intently and then got up and said, "Adios!" and stalked
+out again. He made several calls afterwards and went through the same
+performance each time until I suppose he became satisfied for his visits
+ceased. He was the finest specimen of an Indian I ever saw; very large,
+well proportioned, with a remarkably forceful expression of face and
+walked with a dignity becoming a prince.
+
+Adjacent to the sutler's store was a large corral enclosed by a high
+stockade, inside of which were the necessary buildings for storage,
+stables, etc., and near the front of this corral and on a line with the
+store was the houses for the clerks, a few feet back from the stockade.
+In front of each house was a small gate which was always closed at night
+but often kept open during the day. In the summer the front doors were
+also left open. One day a tall, rather handsome Indian, that I had often
+noticed about the camp, and who was something of a "dandy" in dress,
+happened to be passing and happened to catch his reflection in a large
+mirror on the dresser that stood in line with the door and gate. He
+immediately marched in without looking right or left, made a thorough
+survey of himself in the glass then turned and walked out saying "How"
+to Mrs. Rector, who was sitting in the room during this rather
+unceremonious call.
+
+I had a little experience one day with Stumbling Bear, a subchief of the
+Kiowas that at that time made me a little nervous and I have since
+thought with little reason. I was returning from a duck hunt up Medicine
+Bluff creek and was a short distance above the bluff that gave it its
+name when Stumbling Bear came up behind me, and we talked a little and I
+offered him some ducks which he took, and soon rode ahead. I knew of a
+little canon that broke its way down to the stream a little distance
+ahead and across which the trail must lead. For some reason which I
+cannot explain, I thought it best to wait until he came up on the other
+side of the canon. This canon opened out into the river valley and from
+my position I could see the valley thoroughly. He did not come upon the
+opposite side as I expected, and I felt equally sure that he did not go
+down the canon and come out in the valley. He had his rifle with him and
+of course could have killed me as he came up behind, if he had wished to
+do so, but I was nervous about him not showing up on the opposite side
+of the canon, and so I concluded to make a detour around the head of the
+canon and out of gunshot range, and went on my way to camp. That he
+could have gotten out of there without my seeing him still seems to me
+impossible, and why he should stay in there until I had gone seems
+equally unaccountable. Any way I did not see him again for several days
+when he rode into camp as usual.
+
+The Indian agency was located just outside the military reservation,
+some five or six miles down the creek from the fort. Colonel Boone, a
+nephew of Daniel Boone of frontier fame, was Indian agent when we
+arrived at the camp but was succeeded the following spring by an
+appointee under a new ruling of the Interior Department. Colonel Boone
+was a very large man and his wife was quite below the average sized
+woman. I mention him here only because we were mutual friends, but also
+of at least one commendable trait of Indian character that is
+illustrated by their journey back to their ranch in Colorado. The
+colonel had decided, much against our protestations of the dangers, to
+go across the country, which to us seemed to be wilfully sacrificing
+their lives; but he insisted that he would send up to the chief of the
+Arapahoes, whose name I have forgotten, and if he thought it fairly safe
+and would send an escort, he certainly would take the chances.
+
+The escort came in a few days and they were certainly a fine looking lot
+of fellows, being extra well mounted and equipped and I felt sure that
+they would give a good account of themselves in case of trouble and the
+colonel assured us that the last one of them would die in defense of
+himself and wife if necessary. So, we said good-bye to them with some
+misgivings, but with a strong hope that they would make the journey
+safely. I got a letter from the colonel some months later announcing
+their safe arrival home, and praising the fidelity and other good
+qualities of his Indian escort. It was refreshing to hear and know
+something good of Indians that had so much that was bad to their credit.
+
+I am quite convinced that any Indian appreciates justice and a square
+deal as much as we do, and recognizes force and submits to it quickly
+enough, if tempered with justice, but he does not understand moral
+suasion as we understand it. I think that his conception of it is
+cowardice. He cannot comprehend why one should return good for evil but
+believes in an eye for an eye and he faithfully carries it out in
+practice. He believes in all kinds of ghosts and spirits, good and bad,
+and his life is largely shaped by this belief.
+
+A story Mr. Jones told me one day will illustrate their practical view
+of things: Mr. Jones had married a squaw and some of the chiefs were at
+his house for dinner that day. He tried to explain to them our Bible
+history of how sin came into the world, and they listened intently, and
+without interruption, until he had finished. Then one old chief spoke up
+and said, "That is just like a white woman. Now if that had been a
+squaw, she would have taken a stick and killed that snake, and saved all
+the trouble." And while it may sound funny it was not intended as
+levity or anything like a joke, but was said in all seriousness. He
+evidently did not grasp our interpretation of it in any way, but on the
+contrary he looked on the woman's actions as cowardly and inexcusable.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+
+During General Grant's first term as President, the Indian agencies were
+put in the hands of the representatives of the following churches,
+namely: Congregational, Presbyterian, Catholic, Dutch Reform, Episcopal,
+Methodist, Baptist, Unitarian, and the two branches of Friends. This was
+brought about by a resolution on January 13th, 1871 at a conference of
+the President, the board of Indian commissioners and the official
+representatives of the religious bodies above mentioned. This was
+considered at the time as the President's policy and was something of a
+surprise to many army officers. But there was no marked criticism, most
+of them believing that if the management of Indian affairs could not be
+in the hands of the war department, it would have as good a chance of
+being honestly managed by representatives of the churches as in any
+other way.
+
+The Kiowa and Commanche agency was put in the hands of a Mr. Tatum, a
+Quaker and most estimable gentleman, but I afterwards thought he as illy
+understood the Indian character as the Indians did the peace loving
+creed of the Quaker persuasion. He was unfortunate in being found in his
+shirt sleeves and at work, when the first delegation of the Indian
+chiefs went to the agency to see him, and from that time was spoken of
+by the Indians as the squaw agent. They could see nothing elevating or
+even respectable in a man working, that being the squaw's duties, and
+had little respect for the agent afterwards, although he did the best he
+could for them.
+
+Mr. Tatum thought it would be better for the Indians to live in houses
+like white people, instead of in tents, and proposed building them
+houses, and some of the chiefs agreed to occupy them. He at once got
+busy and built six or seven neat log houses in the timber a few miles
+north of the camp. The Indians moved in as they had agreed and it was
+reported that some of them put their tepees up inside the houses. Of
+course they did not stay long in such an unnatural place, and when I saw
+the houses some time afterwards, there was no evidence of recent
+occupation.
+
+He also established a school for Indian children at the agency, and I
+think it was patronized by some of the Indians sending their children,
+but up until the time we left the post, the attendance was small. We
+cannot tell what the eventual results of these honest efforts to do good
+may be.
+
+One of the most interesting places about the camp to me was Mr.
+Orleman's office. He was a West Point graduate, a lieutenant in one of
+the companies at the camp, and was the engineer under Major Rockwell,
+who had charge of the construction of the new post. Maybe my everlasting
+desire to know things interested him, for he was very kind in showing me
+his instruments and explaining their uses. I was a frequent caller at
+his office and he always seemed glad to see me. I mention this more
+particularly from the fact that in the spring of 1871 there was a part
+of the garrison, I think two troops of cavalry sent to establish a camp
+on or near the junction of Cache creek and Red river, and I was ordered
+to make a survey of the route and distance. I had never done such a
+thing and was more than doubtful of my ability to do it properly, so I
+went to see Mr. Orleman about it. He said, "Oh, you can do it as well as
+anybody. I have explained these instruments, and how to use them; of
+course you can do it." And that settled it. It was simple enough after
+all. A meter is fastened to the hub and spoke of one of the rear wheels
+of the ambulance, the hand pointing down and with a weight on the end of
+it to hold it steady over rough ground. A clockwork inside records the
+revolutions of the wheel. In other words, the clock goes around instead
+of the hand, and by knowing the circumference of the wheel it is easy
+then to calculate the distance traveled. The compass and tripods were
+not so easy, but a little practice before starting gave me some
+confidence. The zig-zag course we had to take to get around the head of
+the canons and to avoid rough ground where the ambulance could not go,
+were the principal difficulties, but by recording the degrees of each
+change of direction one gets fairly good results. Mr. Orleman came down
+some time after we had established that camp, and corrected the survey
+by triangulation, and complimented me on missing the location less than
+one-fourth of a mile in a distance of more than forty-five miles
+traveled.
+
+From this camp I was ordered to make a topographical survey to the
+junction of the North fork of the Red river with the main stream, a
+distance of about one hundred miles by the route we took along the
+river. Mr. Spencer with a detachment of about thirty troopers was sent
+with me as an escort. This kind of survey did not pretend to be accurate
+but was intended to observe and record the principal features of the
+country, such as canons, high points of land, valleys and table lands,
+and to estimate the altitudes and distance. The compass was the only
+instrument used on this trip. We arrived at our destination about the
+middle of the forenoon of the third day and crossed the North fork and
+went into camp at the junction of the two streams. There was an immense
+cottonwood tree just on the bank where the two streams united and we
+conceived the idea of marking our names and date on it, supposing that
+we might be the first white people in that locality. After the work was
+done I suggested that we have a picket pin heated and burn the letters
+to keep them from healing over so soon, but we discovered there were no
+matches in the command to start a fire, a piece of carelessness that we
+thought inexcusable. It occurred to me that the medical panniers are
+always provided with matches and on investigation I found a little box
+of wax matches and we soon had a fire started. When we had seared the
+letters over thoroughly we were quite pleased with the result and if
+that tree is still standing it will probably show some marks of the
+vandal hands that scarred its magnificent body. I remember the dinner
+that day among other good dinners that I have had on my hunting trips.
+We had buffalo hump and I thought it at that time the best thing I had
+ever tasted.
+
+The country from our camp at the mouth of Cache creek to the junction of
+North fork and the main stream of Red river is made up mostly of wide
+valleys and high table lands called mesa in Spanish. These vary in
+extent from a mile or less to several miles and near the river the
+country is broken up by frequent canons. It was a beautiful country to
+look at but it was, of course, entirely uninhabited except by prairie
+dogs and wild game and buffalo were plentiful, and I recall one bunch of
+wild horses.
+
+We came on them unawares, going up from a wide valley to a mesa or table
+land, and they were grazing some three or four hundred yards from the
+edge of the mesa. It was astonishing how quickly they were bunched up,
+the colts in the middle, the mares on the flanks and the stallions in
+the lead, going full speed to get away. When we came to the edge of the
+mesa again they had crossed a wide valley and were going up on another
+mesa several miles away still at full speed. They were a beautiful bunch
+of animals, a reddish roan in color, long tails and manes, and in size
+much larger than the Indian ponies, but were of a pony build and smaller
+than our best roadsters.
+
+Prairie dog villages were numerous. We went through one that must have
+been four or five miles in extent.
+
+We had an early dinner that day, and concluded to start on our return
+march, and about five o'clock in the evening we came to a pretty little
+valley with numerous water holes and some dead timber and went into
+camp.
+
+I took my shotgun and was having some good sport with the ducks when Mr.
+Spencer's orderly came to me and said, "the lieutenant's compliments and
+he would like some matches to start a fire." I replied, "give the
+lieutenant my compliments and tell him I gave the matches to the trooper
+to start a fire to heat the picket pins, and have not seen them since."
+When I returned to camp and was within hearing distance I saw two men
+riding away and heard Mr. Spencer hallow and say, "Corporal, it will be
+about midnight when you get back, and we will have a bonfire on the hill
+for you as a guide to our camp." When I got close enough I said,
+"Spencer, how are you going to get a fire?" and then it dawned on him
+that we had no matches. "My God," he said, "I never thought of that."
+But the men had gone at full gallop and we let them go. I thought of
+the powder I used in my shotgun and thought I would try an experiment.
+That was when muzzle loaders were still in vogue, the breechloader not
+having come into general use, and I cut a hole in the lining of my coat
+where it was padded about the shoulders and took out some cotton wadding
+which I tamped lightly down on the powder in the gun. At first I had too
+much powder and it would not work but after a few trials the wadding
+caught fire and with some dry sticks for kindling we soon had a fire
+under way and Mr. Spencer had his bonfire on the hill that night. The
+corporal and the careless troopers who had left the matches at our
+midday camp returned before midnight having made the round trip of about
+twenty-eight miles for a little box of matches.
+
+The following day was uneventful until toward night. Some troopers who
+had permission were out hunting. We had heard a shot occasionally but
+attached no importance to it, but late in the afternoon an Indian or two
+were seen off on the hills to the north and in a little while they
+became numerous enough to create some apprehension. It developed that
+one of the fool troopers had taken a shot at one of them, but
+fortunately had missed him and by nightfall there were great numbers of
+them in sight.
+
+We soon found a little water hole and went into camp and made the best
+preparation we could for trouble if it came. We got everything close
+about the water supply and the horses lariated close around us and
+awaited results. Soon the advance guard of the Indians appeared in
+perfect alignment silhouetted against the western sky and Mr. Spencer
+with two men went out to meet them. Explanations and apologies followed,
+but before the parley was over they informed Mr. Spencer that if they
+had found us to have been soldiers from Texas they intended to make a
+clean sweep of it, but as we were from Fort Sill they wanted to be
+friends. I have often thought it was fortunate for us that we were from
+Fort Sill, as they outnumbered us twenty or more to one. We waited a
+half hour or more after they had gone and then quietly mounted and rode
+away, not a man saying a word until we felt that we were out of danger.
+We camped again about midnight and saw no more of the Indians.
+
+The following morning I had taken my gun and gone ahead a mile or so and
+came down off the mesa and found a pony in the valley below. I rode up
+to it and tried to catch it but it would not allow me to get close
+enough. I then waited until the command came up. The column marching in
+twos separated at the order right and left oblique march and made a V
+shape that surrounded the pony and we took him along with us. We soon
+came to the trail where the Indians had crossed, a very wide one,
+showing that great numbers had passed. There were other evidences of
+their having been on a raid in Texas; some bed ticking and feathers,
+some pieces of clothing, evidently taken from some settler whom they had
+probably murdered and scalped. The pony had a sore back and had
+evidently been abandoned as useless and a hindrance on their march.
+
+Although it was a long day's march we concluded to try and make the camp
+at Cache creek that night, which we did, getting in very late. We had
+come by compass directly across country from the junction of the two
+forks of Red river instead of following the stream as we did going up.
+
+We captured a young antelope, the last day out, and one of the troopers
+carried it on the saddle in front of him into camp. It lived until we
+were back at Fort Sill some time, but that kind of life was too hard for
+it and it gave up the struggle.
+
+There was plenty of game in the country around the camp at Cache creek.
+Turkeys were very abundant and duck shooting was good in season, and the
+fishing was fine. I have always regretted my impulsive disposition when
+thinking of my first shot at turkeys near this camp. When the command
+was nearing the mouth of Cache creek from Fort Sill, I had taken my last
+observation with the compass and directed the ambulance driver to a
+point indicated, and went ahead of the command to select the camp.
+Having decided on a desirable place I went down stream a little distance
+and heard some turkeys making a great ado about something. I got down on
+a sand bar and slipped along the river bank until I thought I was at the
+right place for a shot. On looking over the bank I discovered that
+there was quite a bunch of turkeys standing around in a circle and
+making a great chatter. I fired into them without waiting to see what
+caused such a commotion, and when I was near where two of them lay an
+immense diamond rattler uncoiled and glided away. What would have
+happened if I had waited? Would the turkeys have killed the snake, or
+the snake some of the turkeys, or would the turkeys have gotten tired of
+the game and quit? I have often asked myself these questions. Does
+anybody know? If so I would like to hear their comment. While in that
+camp we killed two diamond rattlers, one six feet and the other six
+feet, four inches in length. It may be that one of them was among my
+first acquaintances in that camp.
+
+There was a turkey roost some three miles above camp where we generally
+got our supply of turkeys. A young son of General Grierson, having
+returned from school for his summer vacation, came down to our camp, and
+was enthusiastic for a visit to the turkey roost, so we arranged to go
+the following evening, and got permission to take a couple of troop
+horses for the purpose, a thing not provided for in the regulations.
+When we had reached the timber we left the trail and hunted for a secure
+place to tie our horses, as dense a thicket as we could find. We found a
+place where we thought they would be secure and from there walked to the
+roost, a short distance away, and sat down and waited for the birds to
+come in. We did not have long to wait until we could hear the sound of
+wings, and they commenced lighting in the tree tops above us. We waited
+until they were well settled before shooting. It had been a warm day and
+by this time was murky and getting quite dark, and we had difficulty in
+marking our birds, but we soon had four handsome ones and gathered them
+up and started to find our horses. I was confident I had observed
+closely the directions and distance we had gone from the trail and also
+from the horses to the roost, but we failed to find them where we
+expected. It was pitch dark by this time and very still and we tramped
+the neighborhood where we thought we had left them, and then sat down
+and waited, hoping they might neigh or make some noise and thus guide
+us to them. When this failed we went to the trail and by lighting
+matches found where we had left it, and from there we followed the
+course that we thought would take us to the thicket where we had left
+the horses. We found it, or thought we had, and tramped it over
+thoroughly without finding them. We carried our guns and turkeys with
+us, not daring to put them down for fear we would lose them. We finally
+concluded some thieving Indians had watched us and had followed us into
+the timber and stolen our horses, and so we started for the camp on
+foot. It was a hot, sultry night and I soon began to think three turkeys
+and a shotgun a good deal of a load and when I inquired of my companion
+how he was making it he admitted that he was getting a little tired. We
+rested a little bit and started again, I having taken his bird, much
+against his protest, and by frequent rests on the way we got into camp
+between ten and eleven o'clock, a very tired pair of hunters. I sent for
+the sergeant of the guard and told him I wished to be awakened at four
+o'clock in the morning. The young lad insisted that he would go with me
+but I told him no, that he was too tired and had better sleep and that I
+could get the horses if they were there. At four o'clock, however, he
+was up as quick as I was and we were soon on the way afoot to the turkey
+roost. We found the horses just where we had tied them and I felt
+greatly relieved, not only because it saved me the price of two valuable
+horses but because it saved the captain of the company who loaned them,
+as well as myself, a severe reprimand. I came to have a great admiration
+for the pluck and manliness of my young hunter friend, and if he is an
+officer in the service now, as many of the sons of my army acquaintances
+are, and he should ever see this story of army life on the frontier, I
+wish here and now to present him my compliments, and would like to hear
+from him.
+
+We had an abundance of fish while at this camp. The quartermaster had
+built us a little boat so we could stretch troutlines across the stream
+and we not only had the officers' mess well supplied but often had
+plenty for the men of the command.
+
+A few days after we had returned from the North fork or Red river,
+Captain Norvel's troop of cavalry was ordered out on a scout down the
+valley on the north side of the river, and I was ordered to accompany
+the command. We started late in the afternoon and by evening it
+commenced a drizzling rain. We went into camp about dark but did not
+unwrap our blankets as expected to be out some days and did not wish
+them to get wet. The blankets in a scout like this are made into a roll
+and wrapped in a poncho or oil cloth covering and fastened up against
+the cantle of the saddle by straps which are always a part of the
+equipment of the army saddle. The captain and I placed our rolls of
+blankets at the foot of a big tree and with our waterproof to protect us
+against the rain, sat down on them until the shower should be over. It
+never let up raining during the whole night, and there we sat dozing and
+talking by spells until morning. Soon after daylight a messenger arrived
+with orders to return to camp.
+
+We found nearly everything ready for the return trip to Fort Sill and
+were soon on the way. We had already heard that General Sherman and
+staff, Colonels Marcey, Audenried and Tourtellotte, were there on an
+inspection trip of the military posts of the west. They had come by way
+of Texas and were fully informed of the doings of the large band of
+Indians with whom we had our little pow-wow and whose horse we had
+captured, and whose trail we had crossed on our return from the north
+fork of Red river to the camp on Cache creek. They had also learned that
+they came very near being in line with the depredations committed. This
+band had not only burned houses and killed settlers but had also
+captured a government wagon train and had tied the teamster to the wagon
+and having looted the train of all they wanted, burned the teamsters
+with the wagons and contents. The young bucks on their return to the
+reservation, and feeling secure at Fort Sill had bragged about it. The
+names of the leaders in the raid were known and the matter could not be
+overlooked by General Grierson, but he was powerless without the
+authority of Mr. Tatum, the Indian agent. This always struck me as a
+ridiculous phase of our Indian policy.
+
+It was a universal feeling in the army that the war department should
+have the exclusive control and management of the Indian problems,
+instead of the interior department, but I suppose politics, the bane of
+the country in so many ways, ruled in Washington then as it does now,
+and it was to the interests of the politicians to have it where it was.
+General Grant was at this time President and had served as a young army
+officer on the frontier and knew better. The Republicans were in control
+of congress but it would have been the same with any other political
+party in control, and was probably the worst that could have been done.
+Mr. Tatum was fully informed of the raid and the leaders in it, and
+called for a pow-wow at General Grierson's quarters. A number of Indian
+chiefs came in to talk the matter over, among them being Satanta, the
+war chief of the Kiowas; Big Tree, a young chief of the same tribe, and
+Satank, an old and wizzened up and vicious looking Indian, and council
+chief among the Kiowas; all known to have been in the raid. There was a
+heavy guard standing around the quarters ready for any emergency. Mr.
+Tatum had demanded the surrender of the guilty parties. While the
+pow-wow was in progress Lone Wolf, chief of the Comanches, came among
+them, a rifle in each hand, and a couple of bows and a quiver full of
+arrows swung over his back. I suppose it was a pre-concerted arrangement
+among the Indians for he handed one gun to an Indian near him, and a
+couple of Indians behind him grabbed the bows and arrows and in an
+instant these were pointed at the breast of Mr. Tatum, General Grierson,
+General Sherman, and other officers present. I suppose the click, click,
+click of the rifles as the guard cocked and brought them to shoulder,
+gave Lone Wolf a better understanding of the bloody work at hand, for he
+raised one hand and said "No shoot! No shoot!" and by the interpreter
+explained that it was only a joke and that he did not intend to hurt
+anybody. The interpreter reported afterwards that he had also said when
+presenting these guns to the breasts of those men mentioned, "Now let
+these men go and we can fix things up all right." During the excitement
+Big Tree broke away from the crowd and mounted a horse near by, and
+tried to escape but the garrison was wide awake to the condition of
+things, and after a shot or two he surrendered. He and Satanta and
+Satank were put in the guard-house, a newly built one at the new post,
+and a strong guard placed about the building, until they were removed to
+Texas to be tried by the civil authorities.
+
+We arrived at Fort Sill from our camp on Cache creek a day or two after
+these occurrences but I got the details of the incident from officers
+present and from my wife who remembers them better than I do. Promptly
+after the depredations had been committed General Mackenzie of the
+Department of Texas with several troops of cavalry got on the trail of
+these Indians and had followed it up into the territory and into the
+Wichita mountains and from there to Fort Sill and arrived at the post
+shortly after our return from camp.
+
+After resting his troops for a few days General Mackenzie was ready for
+the march back to Texas with his prisoners. Quite a number of officers
+were present to witness their departure. I was standing next to Mr.
+Jones, the interpreter, when they were brought out of the guard-house,
+all hand-cuffed, and all in the usual blanket attire of the Indians.
+When old Satank appeared he set up the most weird and doleful sing-song
+wail I ever heard, and his face I thought was not so vicious looking as
+usual, but was more solemn and maybe with a trace of sadness in it. I
+asked Mr. Jones what it meant, and he replied in an undertone, "It means
+he ain't going far."
+
+Satanta and Big Tree were placed in one wagon with guards sitting behind
+them and Satank in another wagon with one of the sergeants sitting
+beside him and guards behind and when the columns were formed troopers
+rode alongside the wagons and in this formation they left the post. When
+in the valley south of the post and probably a couple of miles away we
+heard the report of firearms from that direction. Soon a messenger
+arrived with the compliments of General Mackenzie and requested that an
+ambulance be sent for a trooper who had been wounded. He also gave the
+essential particulars of what occurred. It seems that by some means
+unknown, Satank had a knife hidden about his person somewhere and
+although hand-cuffed had got possession of it and stabbed the sergeant
+sitting next to him and then grabbed the sergeant's gun and shot the
+teamster. The sergeant's wound was only slight and he went forward with
+the command, but the teamster was shot through one side of the neck and
+fell from his saddle and was brought back to the post hospital for
+treatment. It proved to be only a deep flesh wound and he was soon
+discharged from the hospital, and returned to his own command. When the
+guards realized the state of affairs they made short work of it, and
+Satank was laid by the roadside and General Grierson sent a squad of
+soldiers and buried him there in his blankets. It was his death song
+that had so impressed me as they brought him from the guard-house.
+
+Satanta and Big Tree were tried and convicted in Texas and sentenced to
+the penitentiary for life. It was reported in the papers some years
+afterwards that Satanta jumped out of a window at the prison and killed
+himself and it was rumored that Big Tree had hung himself, but so far as
+I know this was not confirmed.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+
+The first time I saw General Sherman was at Rome, Georgia, during the
+Civil war. I was in the field hospital there at that time and was in the
+dispensary one day when my attention was called to some military
+procession on the street. It turned out to be only General Sherman and
+his staff, the general riding alone in front, his orderly a few yards
+behind, and a few yards farther back the general staff officers. The
+procession, if it could be so called, impressed me; first the isolated
+position of the commanding officer. I thought of pictures I had seen of
+Napoleon, always alone, and while I could not see the general's face to
+advantage, for he looked neither to the right or left, I thought him a
+stern, unbending, self-centered, iron-hearted military despot, without
+sentiment or generous impulse. I saw him often thereafter, for I was
+with his command from "Atlanta to the Sea" and up through the Carolinas,
+and he was always alone on horse-back and in the order mentioned. I
+never saw him in company with anybody. I had occasion to change my
+impression regarding him somewhat at the battle of Bentonville. We had
+marched all night to reach the battlefield in time to take part in the
+engagement, and arrived on the ground early in the afternoon. As it
+happened, we stopped near the general's headquarters. The battle was in
+progress and as we could not go into the trenches until night, I had a
+good opportunity of observing him during the afternoon. He was walking
+back and forth along a space of ground a hundred feet or more in extent
+and when there was a lull in the firing he would slow up to a very
+moderate walk, but when it became heavy his pace would increase and when
+it became a roar, as it did several times in the afternoon, he would go
+at great strides back and forth, back and forth, until it would again
+quiet down, when he would slow up in harmony with the lull in the
+battle. From this I learned that he was at least impressionable.
+Officers would arrive from different parts of the field and report, and
+instantly receive orders and return at full speed as they came.
+
+From that time I never saw him until at Fort Sill at a "hop" given by
+Colonel Carpenter in his new quarters at the post. Here I had to again
+change my impression of the general. He was one of the most cordial of
+men; he seemed to know everybody, and I was told seldom forgot a name or
+a face. He had the remarkable gift of making everyone feel that he was
+an old acquaintance, and he entered into the amusements of the evening,
+mostly dancing, with zest, and after supper went with the officers to
+the front porch to smoke and talk. He ridiculed the idea of being a
+candidate for the presidency, saying he did not possess the temperament
+or disposition that seemed necessary to qualify one for holding an
+office where there were so many adverse interests to consider, and where
+they were so frequently presented from questionable motives, but as far
+as I remember he admitted no preference for political parties. However,
+he did express a desire to pass his old age in a quiet way, and free
+from political strife. He left the crowd on the porch before all were
+through smoking, and joined the ladies with whom he seemed to enjoy
+himself as much or more than with the men. I though him a rather awkward
+dancer but he took part with apparent enthusiasm.
+
+After General Sherman and his party had left the post the feeling of
+uneasiness increased in the camp, and General Grierson ordered the
+remaining officers into the new post which was being built. It fell to
+our lot to be quartered with Mr. Spencer and wife and except for losing
+a good servant we found it a pleasant change, and were relieved of all
+apprehension regarding Indians.
+
+There was a band-stand in the center of the parade ground and the Tenth
+Cavalry band was an excellent one, and in the summer evenings when
+retreat had been sounded by the buglers and the signal gun fired "just
+as the sun went down," the band struck up and gave us very delightful
+music for an hour or so. At such times the families of the officers
+would be sitting on the front porches of their quarters or visiting with
+others and chatting and listening to the music.
+
+The bugle calls at the army posts were always interesting to me, and
+seemed to convey the idea intended almost as well as words. A number of
+them have words set to the music, if it can be so called, as "Give your
+horses some corn and some hay" for stable call, and "Take your quinine"
+for sick call. Reveille had a rousing, get-up quality about it. Sick
+call was for those who had only slight ailments and were treated at the
+hospital and returned to duty, or if found to be something serious
+enough, were sent to one of the wards in the hospital for treatment.
+Maybe a so-called bilious condition or a scratch on the hand, or if a
+colored soldier a "misery," or he was "powerful weak." There were not
+many maligners, and they were soon detected. In the cavalry drill there
+are many bugle calls for the different evolutions. The bugler rides near
+the commanding officer and receives the orders and transmits them by
+bugle to the command. Of all the bugle calls in the service "Taps" the
+last call at night, affected me most. It has all the quality of our
+good-bye or goodnight, but to me it had much more. To me our good-bye
+conveys only the idea of separation, and I like the Spanish word "Adios"
+much better. It not only conveys the idea of separation but also the
+sentiment "God be with you" and so "Taps" always impressed me
+"Good-night, and God be with you," and as the last prolonged note died
+away the lights went out and everything was still. This did not apply to
+the officers when at the post, and they and their families could enjoy
+themselves in their own way, and could put out their lights early or
+late.
+
+Toward the latter part of June, 1871 a command came up from the
+Department of Texas on its way to the military posts in Kansas. The
+medical officer accompanying it returned from Fort Sill to his own
+department and post, and I was ordered to accompany the command to
+Kansas. My recollection is that there were three companies. In this
+command were two young officers, lieutenants, not long out of West
+Point, who proved very charming companions. One was a Mr. Reese from
+Kentucky and the other was a Mr. Parker from Connecticut, a son of the
+maker of the famous Parker shotgun, generally thought to be the best to
+be had in those days.
+
+The first thing of special interest on this march was when we had gone
+into camp about sixty miles north of Fort Sill, which was the second day
+out. This was about four o'clock in the afternoon, to give the horses
+and transportation mules a chance to graze. I happened to look back in
+the direction of our march and saw a small black object far in the
+distance that I could not make out. I borrowed field glasses of one of
+the captains and discovered it to be a horse and buggy. I became quite
+curious about it, as I did not think any sane man would travel through
+that Indian country alone for any consideration. I would not have done
+so for all the money in the mint unless in military dress. He came
+directly to our camp and I walked out to meet him. He proved to be
+Father Poncelona of Osage Mission, now St. Paul, Kansas, who had been
+down to Fort Sill to baptise the children and give what comfort he could
+to the followers of his faith at that post. He was very tired for he had
+started before daylight, and had driven all day hoping to find our camp
+somewhere, but he did not know where. I took him to my tent and insisted
+on him lying down on my cot, which he did under protest, and I brought
+him some brandy which he drank with seeming relish, and by the time
+dinner was ready he was ready to join us. I asked him how he came to
+take such chances alone. He said it was part of his work and that there
+was a higher power (pointing his finger upwards) that would take care of
+those who were doing God's service. He was past middle age and had spent
+most of his life since taking orders as a missionary among the Indians.
+He had a benign faith-abiding expression of face, such as I have never
+seen on any other man, and his voice was low and musical, and his manner
+most winning. I had some difficulty in getting him to take my cot for
+the night, he insisting that he was used to sleeping on the ground and
+did not mind it. I finally told him that I was boss of the ranch, and he
+must do as I told him. To this he smilingly assented, and said that if
+it was orders he would have to obey. We always had breakfast and broke
+camp early in the morning and aimed if a suitable campground could be
+found to go into camp by four o'clock in the afternoon. The priest had
+expressed a wish for an early start, and I had ordered his horse and
+buggy to be ready for him, and he had breakfast with us and went his way
+across the prairie and was soon out of sight in the direction of Camp
+Supply where he intended going. I have often thought of this and
+wondered at it. Why did he do it? It was not for money for he was poor
+and had spent years at the work. What motive had he? What guardian angel
+accompanied him and kept him from harm? If it is true that there is a
+divinity that shapes our ends, why are they shaped so differently, and
+why is it that some are immune where others fear to tread? Right here I
+think it proper to say that the Catholic priests have always been the
+pioneers in religious matters on the frontier.
+
+During this trip Mr. Reese and Mr. Parker and myself rode ahead one
+afternoon to select camp. We went at good speed and were soon out of
+sight of the command when Mr. Reese discovered he had lost his pocket
+book. He was quartermaster and it contained about fifteen hundred
+dollars of government money. He was sure he had taken it from under his
+pillow in the morning and he became quite nervous about it. He referred
+to his loss several times before the command came up with, "Well, if I
+am mistaken and Andy (his old negro servant whom he had brought from
+Kentucky) got it I am all right, and I will quit talking about it." But
+he was ill at ease and went out to meet the command as it approached and
+we could see the old darky take something from his pocket and give it to
+Mr. Reese who came back smiling and told us Andy said, "Oh yes, Massa, I
+just got it right down here, I done found it under your pillow" and this
+illustrates a phase of negro character quite in contrast with my
+political experience with Stanton.
+
+Mr. Reese, Mr. Parker and I generally rode together on this march and
+were seldom out of sight or hearing of prairie dogs. It was suggested
+one day that maybe they would be good to eat. Knowing that they were not
+dogs at all but rather a kind of marmot, and sometimes called so, and
+are strict vegetarians, we killed a young one and had it for dinner. I
+was quite pleased with the experiment before trying it, and was not
+particularly enthusiastic about it afterwards. It was not very bad but
+was not very good. It tasted something like rabbit but I think mostly
+like prairie dog. At one time in my life I wanted to try almost
+everything that was brought to bag in my hunting experiences and I have
+tested worse things than prairie dogs, and I think that if one were
+hungry enough he might relish it.
+
+We crossed the line into Kansas about the last of July and soon saw a
+new house away to the front, a thing we had not seen since leaving Fort
+Sill. It proved to be a kind of business and residence combination and
+was the first house in what is now known as Caldwell, Kansas, now the
+county seat of one of the famous wheat counties of Kansas, and a
+thriving city. The contrast between the two sides of the land separating
+Kansas and the Indian territory was very pronounced. Small houses of
+settlers and little patches of broken ground and other evidences of an
+inhabited country on the one side, and nothing but absolute vacancy on
+the other.
+
+At Wichita we remained three or four days, having our transportation
+repaired. As I remember it, we had a long stretch of sand before
+crossing the Arkansas and forded the river below the town and then
+turned to the west. It was a little village of one main street and I
+think they called it Douglas avenue. The houses were small but neat, and
+being the first town I had seen for a year or two it looked very
+attractive. We were there over the Fourth of July and I remember a
+delightfully clean, attractive little place where they sold ice cream.
+We had camped just north of the village and Mr. Reese, Mr. Parker and I
+frequently visited the ice cream parlor. If there were any saloons in
+the place I do not remember them for if there had been it would have
+probably shown on the enlisted men of the command.
+
+I do not remember which one suggested it, but we concluded that it would
+be some fun to visit the real estate offices, of which I think there
+were two in the town, and hear what the agents had to say. They treated
+us most cordially and were anxious to show us around and told us what a
+wonderful city it was going to be. All the southwest was going to be a
+great wheat country, although we saw no wheat, and would be tributary to
+their town and they were going to vote bonds the following Monday for a
+railroad from Newton, then the terminus of the Santa Fe. If not the
+terminus it was the great cattle shipping point for the immense herds
+that came up the Chisholm trail from Texas, the trail we had followed
+some distance from Fort Sill. Everything would eventually come to
+Wichita and it would be a second Chicago. One agent offered us a corner
+lot centrally located for one hundred dollars, and out farther to the
+west, or north, whichever it might have been, I don't remember, on down
+to fifteen dollars a lot. We approved of the wonderful prospects for the
+town and told them we would consider the the matter of investing, and
+then went back to our tents and laughed about it. We at least had an
+enjoyable hour or so.
+
+I have had occasion to think about it since, not with any particular
+feeling of hilarity, but rather one of regret that I did not grasp the
+wonderful possibilities of the country. Either of the three of us could
+have invested a little money if we had known enough. After we had again
+started on the march I stopped and talked with a man standing by the
+roadside and he told me each alternate section of the land was offered
+by the Santa Fe railroad at two dollars per acre. It was a beautiful
+valley and the land looked rich but the country generally looked very
+primitive.
+
+One company left our command near here and I think went to Fort Larned
+or Fort Dodge, Kansas, the other two going on to the railroad at Fort
+Harker, where one company remained, and if I remember right, one company
+went on to Fort Hayes. I remained with Captain Kerin's company at Fort
+Harker for a day or two during which time the paymaster came and paid us
+for June. Captain Kerin was a typical Irishman and his company, almost
+without exception were Irish, and they were very much devoted to each
+other. The captain looked on his men very much I thought, as a father
+would look on a bunch of wayward children. The payment was made by the
+middle of the afternoon and by night I think most of the men were
+drunk, the few on guard duty being about the only sober ones, and the
+captain told me they would stay that way until their money was all gone.
+
+A funny thing occurred that evening. The captain and I were sitting in
+his tent talking when there was a scratch at the tent cloth and when the
+captain said, "Come!" the flap was thrown back and one of the sergeants
+saluted and said: "Report for duty, captain." The captain said:
+"Sergeant, have ye got any money?" "Yis, captain, a little." "Go and
+spend it, go and spend it." The sergeant saluted and dropped the tent
+flap and walked away and the captain turned to me and said: "No use
+trying to do anything with them until the money is spent, and the
+whiskey is out of them." Two or three hours afterwards the sergeant
+returned, scratched on the tent, threw the flap back as before and
+saluted, and again said in a rather husky voice: "Report for duty,
+captain." "Sergeant, have you got any money?" "Not a cint, captain."
+"Very well, report to the first sergeant for duty." The captain told me
+this was a fair illustration of his experience on every pay day. It is
+hardly necessary to say that the captain was not a West Point graduate,
+but he was a royal good fellow and a good soldier and I observed while
+in the service that officers promoted from the ranks were the most
+devoted to the interests and comforts of their men. The trip back to my
+post was east by rail to Junction City and thence on the M., K. and T.
+to its terminus in the territory. The railway was then under
+construction and the terminus was changed every month or so. From the
+railroad I went by stage to Fort Sill. Nothing of interest occurred on
+the way until we arrived at the last stage station east of the fort. We
+had breakfast there and were told we had better get in the stage as they
+were about ready to start. We found a bunch of men hitching up a pair of
+mules to a light stage-like vehicle, and were told that they were just
+breaking them in and that it was better to get in the stage first. The
+driver was already up in his seat and Mr. Stearns, a very large man and
+owner of the ranch where we had breakfast, was up beside the driver, and
+was going with us some three or four miles to where they had made a
+cut-off that took us by a large spring of water, the last we could get
+before reaching Cache creek, some eighteen miles away. When all was
+ready and the driver had the lines well in hand the word "Go" was given,
+and away we went at full speed, much like a horse race. The driver's
+efforts being wholly devoted to keeping the team in the road. They ran
+full speed most of the way to the springs but when we arrived there they
+were going in a quiet little trot, seemingly satisfied with the fun they
+had had on the way. Mr. Stearns got down and held their bits and the
+driver got down and we got out of the stage--another man and myself
+being the only passengers--and walked toward the springs. I do not know
+how it happened, but when one trace was unfastened the mules broke away
+from Mr. Stearns and struck out over the prairie. My first thought was
+that we would have to walk back and wait for some other means of
+conveyance, but the off mule having one trace unfastened had the
+advantage in the race and out over the prairie they went in a great
+circle, round and round at full speed, scattering luggage from the hind
+boot of the stage until they ran themselves down, the driver and Mr.
+Stearns cutting across and trying to catch them. At last they succeeded
+for the mules were pretty well winded by this time and ready to go slow.
+We found nothing broken and soon had our luggage gathered up and the
+mules watered and were on our way. We got into Fort Sill a little later
+than the usual stage time, nothing the worse for the wear.
+
+I do not remember whether it was before or after my trip to Fort Harker
+that I was called to the Indian agency near Fort Sill to see Black
+Beaver, the chief of the Delawares, who was sick and had come there for
+treatment. I found him suffering from dysentery and was seriously ill,
+and as he was an old man I had serious doubts as to his recovery. He was
+neither able nor disposed to talk although he knew enough English to
+make himself understood, but after a few days he began to feel some
+interest in life and gradually improved until he was convalescent. I
+felt particularly interested in him because of a story I had read about
+him as interpreter in an early day for Colonel Marcey who was one of
+General Sherman's staff officers when they visited Fort Sill a short
+time before. When the colonel was a young officer in the service and had
+been sent out to make talks to the Indians, the story ran that the young
+officer had a pow-wow day appointed with the Kiowas and Comanches, and
+when they had assembled and gone through the preliminaries of such an
+occasion Captain Marcey told them of the great benefits the great father
+at Washington wished to confer on them, and wound up by saying: "We wish
+to put up poles across the country and string a wire on them and then
+you can talk over that wire to the Great Father in Washington and not
+have to wait until some of your people travel such a great way to see
+him." When he had finished he waited for Black Beaver to get up and tell
+it to the Indians, but Black Beaver did not move but hung his head and
+sat there. "Why don't you tell them," asked the captain. Black Beaver
+shook his head and said: "It's no use to tell them, I don't believe it
+myself." I was anxious to hear Black Beaver's report of that pow-wow, so
+when he was well enough I said to him one day: "General Sherman and
+staff were here a short time ago and Colonel Marcy was among them. I
+understand you knew Colonel Marcy a good many years ago." He brightened
+up and said: "Yes, I heard Captain Marcy was here and I wish I could
+have seen him." By careful questioning I got the story from him
+practically as Colonel Marcy had recorded it in his book. I said to him:
+"Well, do you believe it now?" He replied: "Oh, yes, I know it now, I
+know it can be done, but I don't know how." How much more ignorant was
+he than the most of us?
+
+I find I have not made my sketch of the events at Fort Sill in order of
+their occurrence and must now refer back to the winter of 1870 and '71
+and we were still under canvas in the camp. It was an unusually cold
+winter. The thermometer fell to fourteen degrees below zero and the snow
+was a foot or more deep on the ground. I mention this incident both for
+the purpose of showing some of the hardships that officers and their
+wives underwent and also to show the self-sacrifice and loyalty and
+devotion of the enlisted men in an emergency. Doctor Brown and his
+young wife were on their way to Fort Sill where he was to become post
+surgeon, a position I had held since Doctor Forward had been transferred
+to another post, and they were at the half-way camp between Fort
+Arbuckle and Fort Sill when the storm broke. The doctor's wife was
+confined there and the escort accompanying them devoted themselves night
+and day to making the camp as comfortable as possible, getting water,
+bringing wood, building fires and cooking, and this they kept up until
+the weather moderated and Mrs. Brown was sufficiently recovered to make
+it safe for her to travel. As the result of such heroism and devotion
+some of them were badly frost bitten, and all suffered more or less. I
+removed all the toes except one from one man's feet--only one of the
+large toes being left--and others lost a finger or two or parts of
+fingers and were otherwise frost bitten. In these cases nature sets up
+the line between the healthy and dead tissue and the amputation is made
+in the healthy part and far enough back to get a flap sufficient to
+cover the bone if possible.
+
+Mrs. Brown and her beautiful baby came with us when we left the post,
+intending to quit the service. She to visit with friends and relatives
+in the east.
+
+Another interesting occurrence took place when we were still in camp at
+Fort Sill. This was the loss of the quartermaster's mules, which
+occurred the latter part of the winter. The Indians--supposed to be--by
+some means got the gate of the corral open and with the leader on
+horseback rushed into the corral and set up the usual yells and shouts
+and soon had the whole bunch of 140 mules under way before the alarm
+could be given and the cavalry mounted for pursuit. They had such a
+start that they could not be followed in the night, it being very dark.
+Different commands of cavalry were sent out in pursuit but returned in a
+few days empty-handed. There was one young officer by the name of
+Harmon, a second lieutenant in the Tenth cavalry, a tall, rather good
+looking young fellow who had said to some officers that if they would
+give him a chance he would like to show what he could do. I think he
+finally went to General Grierson and expressed a wish to try. The
+general promptly gave him a detachment of cavalry, some thirty or more
+men, and told him to stay as long as he liked, but to bring back the
+mules if possible. Nothing was heard of him for some time but finally
+word came from Fort Arbuckle that Mr. Harmon had reported there with a
+bunch of horsethieves and that most of the mules were then on their way
+back to Fort Sill. I heard Mr. Harmon himself tell some of the details
+of the scout. He had got on the trail of the thieves--not Indians at
+all--somewhere south of Red river and found two of them in a house he
+went to at night for information, believing he was close to their camp.
+He took these two prisoners and waited until morning to attack the camp.
+The ranchmen where they had stopped and where they had already captured
+two of the thieves, knew the country well and acted as guides. Mr.
+Harmon and he had exchanged firearms on the way, he taking Mr. Harmon's
+pistol and Mr. Harmon his shotgun. They rode along the bed of a little
+stream until quite near their camp. Most of the thieves were still in
+bed but the negro cook was busy about the fire. Mr. Harmon's horse being
+much superior to anything in the command, he was among the thieves
+practically alone. He shot and wounded one of the men with the second
+barrel of his shotgun, and commanded them all to throw up their hands or
+he would kill the last one of them. He dropped the shotgun and reached
+for his pistols but of course they were gone. However, the thieves stood
+there with their hands up until the command came and they were
+hand-cuffed and were soon ready for the march to Fort Arbuckle, the
+nearest military post. Not more than a half dozen mules had been
+disposed of.
+
+The sequel to this story was interesting to me for it caused me a trip
+to Fort Arbuckle and back. The guardhouse at Fort Arbuckle was not
+considered safe and it was thought best to send the thieves to the new
+guardhouse at Fort Sill until the law could take its course. They were
+sent under a guard of colored troops commanded by a sergeant with
+instructions to kill them if they tried to escape. The guard claimed
+that one man made a break for the brush, but the prisoners claimed that
+he did nothing of the kind, anyway one of them was badly wounded and
+was taken back to Fort Arbuckle, and as Doctor Brewer, the post surgeon
+was sick at that time a request for a medical officer come to Fort
+Arbuckle and cut a man's leg off was received at Fort Sill and I was
+ordered on that duty. Before I arrived at Fort Arbuckle, Doctor Brewer
+considered it too urgent a case to be delayed any longer, and although
+hardly able to handle the knife, he had amputated the leg before I got
+there. I remained a few days until the doctor was sufficiently recovered
+to attend to the medical duties of the post, and then returned to Fort
+Sill.
+
+I now come to the last record I shall make of service at this post and
+have hesitated about mentioning it at all, and do so now in as few words
+as possible, not only because "there are sorrows too sacred to be
+babbled to the world" but also because they pull so hard on the heart
+strings. Our little boy was scalded to death at this camp. The negro
+servant had set a large kettle of boiling water off the stove, and some
+way in his play he fell into it. We laid him away in the cemetery on the
+hillside and had a stone covering placed over his grave, to mark the
+place where his little scalded body lay.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+
+This experience with the little prospect of promotion in the service
+decided us on our desire to return to private life, and I wrote to the
+medical director of the department expressing my wishes in the matter,
+and my reasons for quitting the service, and received orders to report
+at the headquarters of the department, Leavenworth, Kansas.
+
+It may be well here to relate an experience of army life that occurred
+at Fort Sill after we had left the post. The feeling of apprehension
+regarding the Indians had subsided to such an extent that the officers'
+wives would take outings in the ambulance, and it became in time
+considered safe to go to the Washita agency and make purchases and
+return the same day. Two of the officers' wives had made the trip and
+were nearing the head of Cache creek on their return, when they saw the
+Indians coming. The negro driver urged the mules with such good effect
+that they reached the timber and the driver escaped but the women were
+carried away to the mountains, and for two weeks were subjected to all
+the brutal horrors to be expected of savages and then were ransomed. We
+were well acquainted with one of these women but the other had only been
+at the post a short time before we left.
+
+I think few of the people of our country today realize how recently such
+horrors have been committed. For most of them it is a matter of the long
+forgotten past.
+
+We left Fort Sill about the middle of August, 1871 and had for company
+Mrs. Harmon, wife of Lieutenant Harmon, who captured the horse thieves
+and Mrs. Brown, wife of the post surgeon, and their little baby and
+nurse girl. We had an escort of a half dozen men under command of a
+sergeant as far as Fort Gibson, Indian Territory, near the junction of
+the Grand and Arkansas rivers, and from there to the end of the railroad
+two or three men to help about camp. The M., K. and T. railroad was then
+only finished to Pryor's creek and we had to take a freight train from
+there to Chetopa, Kansas, the end of the passenger run. We camped at
+Stearn's ranch the first night out of Fort Sill. As we were starting the
+following morning we were informed that a dead man had just been found
+near the road we were to take, and only two or three miles away. We got
+some tools at the ranch and stopped long enough to bury him. He had
+soldier's clothes on and had probably been only recently discharged from
+the service. A little money was found in his pocket which I told the
+sergeant to take and on his return to Fort Sill try and have the man
+identified, if possible, and send the money to his friends. He had not
+been dead long as the wolves had not disturbed the body.
+
+Our night camp on the Washita was something we shall always remember.
+Before it got dark the mosquitoes had made our acquaintance in such
+numbers that we were doubtful of our night's rest, but we had the tent
+put up and supper over without suffering serious loss of blood. They
+kept coming in greater numbers until we realized that the first were
+only installments of the advance guard, and by bedtime they were almost
+unbearable. We smudged the tent to drive them out but only succeeded in
+driving out the little nurse girl who was caring for the baby. I tried
+my usual place in the ambulance for a nap but could not sleep and heard
+the women talking in the tent until toward midnight when I called my
+wife and told her that if she would come out to the ambulance I would
+try and keep the mosquitoes off her until she could get a little rest.
+We tried that for an hour but had to acknowledge our defeat and we still
+heard the other women talking in the tent. I was now ready to surrender,
+so called the sergeant and told him to have the ambulance driver hitch
+up and we would get out of there and he and the escort could come on
+when they liked, as we were then away from danger from the Indians. We
+drove for some time after daylight and found a beautiful camp ground
+with fine running water and went into camp. The escort was not far
+behind us--they had also met with defeat. We spent that day and the
+following night in that camp and had a good rest. The escort had brought
+a cub bear along and he was a very amusing rascal although a cause of
+some anxiety to the women. This day after we had sat down to dinner
+some trash fell on the table and looking up we discovered him out on a
+limb above us. The women thought best to have the table removed. His
+home while on the road was in the feed box at the rear of the wagon
+where he was chained, and the first thing when released was to hunt the
+water and take a good bath and then he was ready to investigate
+everything around camp. He would roam around at his own sweet will until
+away in the night when he would return to his box where we always found
+him in the morning. We had to keep the commissary supplies well
+protected, for he was a born thief.
+
+We had a good supply of small game on the way particularly turkeys and
+prairie chickens. We found the young turkeys at this season of the year
+to be unusually fine.
+
+When we arrived at Oswego my wife went to visit friends in the country
+and I went on to the department headquarters at Leavenworth to report.
+When I got there the medical director was anxious that I should remain
+in the service and said that he would give me a good post and suggested
+Camp Limestone in Southeast Kansas in what was then known as the
+Cherokee neutral lands, about thirty miles south of Fort Scott. It would
+be close to the railroad and other conveniences and comforts of
+civilization, and he was sure I would like it, and he hoped there would
+be an examining board before long for promotions and I had better
+consider the matter. I asked for two weeks leave of absence to consider
+his proposition which was cheerfully granted, and I went back to Iowa
+and looked up the prospects and in ten days was back to continue in the
+service.
+
+My wife and I together went to our new station at Camp Limestone and
+arrived there September 9th, 1871. At that time the railroad was
+finished to Baxter Springs but there had been trouble with the settlers
+when crossing the Cherokee neutral lands, an area embracing Cherokee and
+Crawford counties and the southern tier of townships in Bourbon county.
+The land had been sold for the Indians by the government to James F.
+Joy, representing what was then known as the Kansas City, Fort Scott and
+Gulf railroad. The settlers thought they should have the right to
+homestead the land, and resisted the construction of the railroad,
+caught and whipped the engineers and threatened their lives and burned
+their instruments, the result being that troops were sent to protect the
+purchasers and their employees in the construction of the road.
+
+There were three camps established along the line of the railroad on
+these lands, one at Drywood, one at Limstone creek, and one near
+Columbus, and occupied by one company at each post. Temporary buildings
+were constructed and the troops made as comfortable as possible where
+they were not expected to remain permanently. Fort Scott was the
+headquarters, General Neal being in command, but there was a company
+commander at each camp. We arrived late in the afternoon and went to a
+house close by and remained there until the mail messenger from the camp
+should return and report our arrival. In the course of an hour an
+ambulance came, and we made our way across country to camp and I
+reported to Captain Fenton of the Sixth cavalry in command of the camp,
+and we remained at his quarters over night and had our own quarters
+ready for occupancy the following day. The country was fairly well
+settled immediately around the camp and along the streams, and there was
+a schoolhouse less than a mile away.
+
+Part of the settlers had been there for some years and were getting
+things about them to look quite home-like. Fruit trees growing, peach
+trees bearing, and hedge-fences set out, and while there was always a
+seeming scarcity of money and farm products brought low prices, the
+people seemed contented and hopeful. This was a very comfortable
+contrast with our experiences among the Indians. Small game,
+particularly quail and prairie chickens were plentiful, and wild fowl
+abundant in season. There being very little to do in a professional way
+I had plenty of time to indulge in my favorite sport with dog and gun.
+We had not been at that camp long until Captain Fenton's company was
+replaced by another company of which Captain (Brevet Major) Upham was in
+command and Mr. Gordon, first lieutenant and Mr. Kerr, just recently
+from West Point was second lieutenant, and this company remained at Fort
+Limestone during my service there, and until the spring of 1873 when
+all the camps on the neutral lands were discontinued, the Supreme Court
+having decided the title of the land in the railroad company.
+
+When General Neal was assigned to another post, Major Upham took his
+place at Fort Scott, leaving Mr. Gordon in command at our camp. The
+officers of the different camps had transportation or yearly passes on
+the railroad from Fort Scott to Baxter Springs and Fort Scott being then
+the principal town in the southeast part of the state we were frequently
+there to make purchases or for any purpose our wishes might suggest. We
+boarded the train at a place called Engleton, since changed to Beulah
+although there was no station or side-track and only one house close by,
+and trains only stopped on signals or to let off passengers. Take it
+altogether it was very much like living on a farm in a new country that
+was fairly well settled, but we had many comforts that farmers could not
+afford and did not have to work as they did to earn a living.
+
+Most of the farmers belonged to what was called the Settlers' League and
+those of them who did not belong from choice did so from fear. I got
+acquainted with a number who felt no way in sympathy with some of their
+doings such as burning bridges and other unlawful acts. They were all
+civil enough to the officers and men of our camp and quite a number were
+disposed to be friendly. Some of them had contracted their land from the
+railroad company considering their investments, which in many cases
+embraced good improvements, too valuable to take chances but kept their
+contracts a secret. I frequently took their payments to the land offices
+in Fort Scott, they preferring to send it rather than go themselves.
+
+Eighteen hundred and seventy-two was a bountiful crop year and we could
+get all the peaches and many other things we needed very cheap. The
+quartermaster contracted his corn that year at 14 cents a bushel and the
+farmers who furnished it were greatly pleased at getting such a good
+price for shelled corn. Early in the spring of the year I received
+orders to take charge of the surgical needs of the camp near Columbus
+and to make a trip three times each week and as much oftener as I though
+it necessary. This I could do and return to my own camp the same day.
+This was a pleasant duty for it gave me more to do and I was taken to
+and from the railroad in the ambulance each trip.
+
+Captain Bennett of the Fifth infantry was the commanding officer at
+Columbus, a dignified, courteous, soldierly gentleman, to whom I became
+very much attached. In a letter from General Miles he speaks of Captain
+Bennett as follows: "Captain Bennett who was in command of the camp at
+Columbus was a very gallant officer. He had an excellent record during
+the Civil war and went with the regiment to Montana. He was engaged in
+several Indian campaigns and in 1879 was killed in an engagement with
+hostile Bannock Indians at Clark's Fork of the Yellowstone. He was an
+ideal officer and one of the many heroes who gave his life in protecting
+the homes of the defenseless settlers and maintaining the supremacy of
+the government." This duty continued until late the following fall when
+another surgeon, Doctor Gray, was sent to take charge of that camp.
+
+When the open season for chicken shooting began we had frequent visitors
+who were fond of the sport. Major Upham, commanding at Fort Scott, would
+come often and bring friends from Fort Scott, generally Mr. Drake and
+Mr. McDonald and sometimes others, to spend a day with dog and gun.
+Captain Butler from the camp on Drywood would come for a day. Colonel
+Delancey Floyd-Jones of the Third infantry came down from Fort Hayes for
+two or three days, and brought with him an excellent setter dog, that
+could not stand the heat as well as the pointers, but was much more
+easily controlled. I was a bit amused at his experience while there.
+When asked at the dinner table the first day if he would be helped to
+both beef and chicken he replied, "No beef for me while I'm here, I can
+get all the beef I want at Fort Hayes, I came down here to eat prairie
+chicken." The last morning he was there I said, "Well Colonel, how is it
+this morning, prairie chicken or steak, or both?" "Well, he said, I
+believe I will try a little steak this morning." He went away delighted
+with his experience and promised me another visit in the fall, but for
+some reason we did not see him again. He was a fine type of the old
+army officer, dignified, courteous and cordial.
+
+I had done my first chicken shooting on the way in from Fort Sill, and
+was by no means a good shot. Mr. Kerr, the young lieutenant, who was
+stationed here, was the best wing-shot I have ever seen on the sporting
+field. He had his gun made to measure and although he was six feet tall
+and finely proportioned he had ordered his gun to be only 6½ pounds in
+weight. Up to that time I had thought the bigger the gun the more deadly
+the weapon. I found I had a good deal to learn about guns and how to
+shoot them. I must tell you about one of my first experiences in
+chicken-shooting with Mr. Kerr. I happened to see one on the ground and
+could not resist the temptation and I will never forget the disgusted
+expression on his face as he turned to me and said, "For God's sake, are
+you hungry." That one precipitation cured me of shooting birds on the
+ground, unless I was hungry. Time and practice finally made me a fairly
+creditable shot but I was never steady in the field or at the trap. Mr.
+Kerr on the other hand was always steady and reliable. I remember one
+day just before Christmas when the snow was several inches deep he asked
+me to count out one hundred loaded cartridges for him while he attended
+guard mount. The ambulance was at the door and he started promptly when
+guard mount was over. He brought back eighty-four quail and nine loaded
+cartridges. Poor old Dick, his faithful pointer had retrieved them all,
+and was an invalid for two or three days thereafter.
+
+Mr. Kerr's quarters and ours were just across the corner of the parade
+ground from each other, his facing north and ours east, and he was at
+our house a great deal, especially in the evenings. The conversation
+generally turned to guns and their different makes and merits; to dogs
+and their different breeds and training; the loads to be used and the
+proper proportion of powder and shot. All these things were discussed
+until we felt we were authorities on the subject but for fear we might
+be wrong about the powder and shot, we experimented to find if any of
+the powder left the gun-barrel unburnt, and with target we settled at
+least to our own satisfaction, the amount of shot and powder to be used.
+My subsequent hunting experience has not materially modified our
+conclusions. In those days we used black powder and loaded our own
+shells, the smokeless powder and machine loaded shells being then
+unknown.
+
+One of the interesting things at this camp that year was Mr. Gordon's
+company garden, some four or five acres in extent with everything
+imaginable planted in it. The company did the work of planting and
+cultivating but the rabbits did a large part of the eating. There would
+be days when all the company would be out shooting rabbits and it was
+much like the picket firing I had become familiar with in the volunteer
+service. This was kept up until the rabbits were comparatively few
+around camp, and the garden produced abundantly and was a great help in
+rounding out the men's rations. One of the enlisted men was an expert
+with the rifle and caught many of the rabbits on the run.
+
+While here I had an opportunity of observing for the first time the
+variableness in area of rainfall at different seasons of the year. The
+latter part of winter and early spring I observed that if it was cloudy
+or raining at Fort Scott, it was the same way at Columbus fifty miles
+away and I presume over a much greater area. But as the season advanced,
+I would find it raining at Limestone, while on my arrival at Columbus
+the weather would be clear and dry only twenty miles away. Sometimes a
+heavy shower would fall between the camps and both camps would be dry.
+This was a surprise to me because I had not thought of it before, and I
+think the feeling generally is if it is raining where you happen to be,
+it is raining everywhere else.
+
+Before this camp was abandoned I had some hospital property on hand for
+which I was responsible, and that had ceased to be of service, and I had
+applied for its inspection and condemnation. Soon afterwards Colonel
+Nelson A. Miles of the Fifteenth infantry and inspector general of the
+department came and condemned the property. After dinner we played chess
+until time for him to be taken to the northbound train, and I have often
+wondered since that time if he remembers victory as well as I do
+defeat. Since then he became a distinguished officer in our Indian
+warfare and finally attained the rank of lieutenant general and
+commander-in-chief of the army.
+
+Most of the officers who served at the different camps on the neutral
+land while I was at Limestone have since died. So far as I know, General
+Kerr--the Mr. Kerr of our camp life there--and myself are the only ones
+remaining. Mr. Kerr became a captain in 1885 and was wounded in the
+assault on San Juan ridge July 1, 1898, promoted to major in October,
+1898, was military attache at Berlin in 1900 to 1902, promoted to
+colonel in 1903 and to brigadier general in 1908 and retired from active
+service in 1909 as brigadier general in the United States Army. He saw
+much Indian fighting on the frontier, and received numerous medals and
+honorable mention, in orders from different departments and army
+headquarters. It is a pleasure to mention these promotions and orders
+commending him for meritorious conduct for as a young man good things
+were expected of him by his friends. He is still living and it must be a
+great comfort to him in his old age to reflect on the distinguished and
+valuable services he has rendered his country.
+
+The following winter the Supreme Court rendered its decision in the case
+involving the title to the Cherokee neutral lands in favor of the
+railroads. I think the settlers generally felt that the decision would
+be against them for many of them sold their improvements and moved away,
+and most of those remaining contracted their land from the railroad
+companies.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+
+Orders came the latter part of March to abandon the camp and I was
+ordered to accompany the command to Fort Gibson, Indian Territory, and
+then to report to the commanding officer at Fort Garland, Colorado, for
+assignment to duty. From Fort Gibson I returned to Camp Limestone for my
+wife and little girl baby, who was born the previous November. We were
+furnished tickets by the railroad as far as Kansas City, but when we
+came to use them we found they had been packed with our baggage and of
+course had to pay car-fare. We went over the same railroad from Kansas
+City as the one I had first taken in crossing the plains but in place of
+stopping in Kansas, as it did then, it had been finished to Denver.
+
+There was a narrow gauge road from Denver to Pueblo. Its passenger train
+was at the depot when ours pulled in and our train stopped beside it. It
+was quite a curiosity to me. It looked so very small, I thought of it as
+a toy affair and wondered if we could make any headway on such a thing.
+I was surprised and much gratified to soon know how much I had
+miscalculated its merits. It was a long train and went in and out among
+the canons and around the mountain sides in an amusing way and with
+surprising speed. Maybe we would look out and see an engine coming down
+the track across the canon from us and would discover it to be our own
+engine puttering along as though pleased with its job. We stayed over
+night at Pueblo and in the morning we found there was an ambulance to
+take us and Major Hartz over the mountains to Fort Garland. The major
+had introduced himself the previous night on our arrival from Denver. On
+the route to Garland we spent the night at the different stage stations
+and were made fairly comfortable. As we neared the summit of Sangre De
+Cristo Pass (Blood of Christ) the snow was very deep and soft. We
+thought it too much of a load for the mules and so the major and I
+concluded to walk. It was well we did so, for the mules had all they
+could do to flounder through it. I stood the walking very well but it
+was laborious work. The major did not fare so well, for as we neared
+the top, which is about eleven thousand, five hundred feet above sea
+level, he was spitting blood and having difficulty in breathing. The
+west side of the range was clear of snow and it was only two or three
+miles from the summit to Stearn's ranch, where we stayed over night, and
+by morning although the major had a restless night the hemorrhage had
+stopped. The following day we drove to Fort Garland only twenty miles
+away.
+
+Fort Garland is situated at the edge of the foothills just south of old
+Baldy, one of the highest peaks of the Sangre De Cristo range. It was a
+pretty location overlooking the Rio Grande valley to the south and west
+and we were assigned to comfortable quarters.
+
+About the first part of May a troop of cavalry under command of Major
+Carraher was ordered to establish a camp at the junction of the west
+fork with the main stream of the Rio Grande, about one hundred miles
+west and a little north of the post, and I was assigned to duty as
+surgeon of the command. This camp was established as a base of supplies
+for government surveyors who were to survey the San Juan Indian
+reservation. There had been trouble for some years between the Ute
+Indians and prospectors who had gone into their reservation and located
+some valuable mines, and warfare between them had resulted in the
+government buying the land and opening it to settlers, and this survey
+was to fix the boundaries and divide the land into sections and cross
+sections so legal title could be given.
+
+The surveyors arrived a few days after we had established camp. A Mr.
+Prout was in charge of the party and they stayed at camp several days to
+establish the exact latitude and longitude of the camp as a base from
+which to make additional surveys. I became very much interested in this
+work and they explained a good deal of it to me but I was surprised at
+the time it required and the figuring necessary. I had the pleasure of
+watching the chronometer and calling time on signal from the observer.
+The nights were clear and in that rare atmosphere the stars shone with
+great brilliancy.
+
+An escort accompanied the surveyors in their work, a squad of a half
+dozen men in command of a noncommissioned officer, generally a sergeant,
+and each week these were relieved by others and returned to camp. There
+was practically no need for a surgeon with the camp that summer, the
+only two cases in the hospital being a man who was blinded by a
+premature shot in the mines and my pointer dog which I shot on one of my
+hunting trips.
+
+The country along the Rio Grande was unsettled, there being but one
+abandoned log-house between Fort Garland and Loma, now called Del Norte,
+a Mexican village with a good sprinkling of American houses, and located
+at the head of what was called the San Luis valley. The log-house was
+dignified by the name of Alamoosa and was our camp-ground and half-way
+place between Fort Garland and our summer camp. The trip was generally
+made in two days although the distance was nearly one hundred miles.
+From Loma to the camp, a distance of some fifteen miles, the mountains
+sloped gradually to the river and there were a few adobe houses occupied
+by Mexicans. As there was very little to do I spent a good deal of time
+hunting and fishing. Rainbow trout are very plentiful in the river for
+here it was a clear rushing mountain stream with deep pools and the
+water was cold throughout the summer from melting snows. We had fish at
+all times and cooked in every imaginable way until we were almost
+sickened at the thought of fish, although they were always pretty to
+look at. To this day my wife does not want to see or eat fish. All kinds
+of game were abundant but I never had much success with the larger
+varieties, I did not understand deer hunting and always managed it the
+wrong way. I did not know anything about their runways, so still hunting
+was not practical and in riding over the mountains they saw me before I
+saw them and that settled the matter. I tried repeatedly to get a shot
+at an elk that I frequently saw on his favorite grazing ground, a small
+park a half mile or more away near the top of one of the high points in
+the mountains, but with all my care, and calculating the direction of
+the wind, and figuring on the best way of approach, he would always
+scent the danger while I was making my way through the thicket of
+aspens that surrounded the park and I could hear the keen whistle-like
+note and hear him bounding away before I caught sight of him.
+
+On these hunting trips I rode a government mule that General Alexander,
+the post commander at Fort Garland, had given me for the summer's use,
+and who spoke of him with great praise as an exceptionally good saddle
+animal. He was said to be twenty-seven years old, and had formerly been
+used as a messenger mule between Fort Garland and Taos when the mail was
+brought to the post from the latter point. I suppose he had been gray at
+one time but now he was white from age, but had been well cared for and
+although in fine condition, had been retired from actual service. I
+found him all that he was recommended to be, and with an additional
+merit that he was not afraid of a gun. I could fire from the saddle and
+he would not flinch, and because of this exceptional quality, I had a
+great deal of sport shooting jack-rabbits. They would jump up and run
+away fifty or a hundred yards and sit up straight, which is their habit,
+and I would aim in line and a little below the mark and as the mule
+would inhale it would raise the muzzle of the rifle and by pulling the
+trigger at the right moment I was sure to see the rabbit tumble over. I
+never had much chance from the saddle at larger game. The color of the
+mule was against it, and I was not a good shot with the rifle at moving
+objects.
+
+I became much attached to this mule for his exceptionally easy gait and
+his fine disposition, however, he played me a bad trick one day for
+which I have since forgiven him because of my own culpable ignorance. It
+was getting late and I was out of my usual hunting range when I saw an
+antelope grazing in one of the many beautiful parks to be found in the
+mountains. There was a small ravine down the center of this park near
+which I noticed a clump of willows and figured that if I could approach
+from behind the willows I could get a good shot. My scheme worked all
+right and I got up within range and fired. To my great surprise I saw
+the shot take effect on the hillside beyond and had passed over the
+antelope's shoulders. This was a puzzle to me for I was sure I had taken
+good aim, and equally sure that I did not have the "buck-ague." The
+antelope ran away and stopped and looked back at me when I estimated him
+to be about two hundred and fifty yards away. I made a careful allowance
+for the distance and fired at the shoulder and at the report of the gun
+he dropped in his tracks apparently without a struggle. I thought a
+little strange of this, for I had aimed just back of the shoulders and
+supposed he would at least make a jump or two and struggle some after
+falling. Imagine my surprise when I found his neck broken just back of
+his ears, a purely accidental shot. I went back to my mule, which by the
+way I had named "Paddy O'Rooney" but always addressed him by his given
+name, and I thought I would put the antelope on him without dressing it
+as it was getting late and I wanted to find a trail down to the valley.
+I found that Paddy had an altogether different view of the matter, for
+he had no desire to get acquainted with the dead antelope. There was no
+timber near where I could tie him to a tree, to force him to accept the
+load and so a bright idea occurred to me. I have done a good many
+foolish things in my life, but I think nothing quite so idiotic as this.
+I decided that I would tie the end of the lariat rope to the antelope's
+hind legs, the other end being fastened around Paddy's neck and I would
+then get on the mule and pull the antelope up. This scheme worked pretty
+well at least part way. I was in the saddle and my gun across in front
+of me and I backed Paddy up toward the antelope, wrapping the lariat
+around the horn of the saddle as he backed. Paddy would look back and
+snort a little, but was quite gentle until I attempted to raise the
+antelope up to me. When Paddy saw it move I believe he thought the thing
+had come to life and was going to swallow him, for the way he went down
+the mountain side would have shamed John Gilpin and his foam covered
+horse. I tried to hold him but I might as well have tried to hold a
+cyclone. I had been raised on a farm and helped break the young horses
+to ride and work, and I thought I could hold anything, but I had never
+been on a scared mule before, and I found I was utterly helpless. My
+first impulse was to throw away my gun and try to get off and let the
+mule and the antelope have it out together but the lariat was across my
+right thigh and I could not get away from it. I believe the thing
+following him added to his terror, for we went over places I could not
+have forced him over in his sane condition. I went over the track of our
+runaway race a few days later and found a ledge of nearly four feet in
+height that we had gone over, and I really think it would have been the
+same thing to Paddy if it had been forty feet in place of four. The old
+saying "All's well that ends well" proved true in this case. The lariat
+rope slipped around the saddle horn caused by the jerking of the
+antelope as it bounded along and choked Paddy down just as we got to the
+edge of the timber. I hurriedly dismounted and loosened the lariat so
+that he could get his breath and found that he was pretty well tuckered
+out. I tied him to a tree and then went back to examine my antelope. The
+hind and fore-quarters were held together by the backbone and a strip of
+skin along the belly but the ribs and entrails were gone. Fortunately we
+had stopped near a trail which I knew would lead down to the valley,
+although I had never been over it before. When I tried to put what was
+left of the antelope on Paddy's back he again rebelled. I then tied his
+neck up against a small tree and wrapped the lariat around the tree and
+his neck until he could not buck, but in his struggles he lost his
+footing and hung himself. I cut the rope as quickly as I could, and got
+him on his feet again and gave him a little more freedom the next time
+and while he protested most vigorously, I finally got my antelope
+securely fastened in the saddle and led the poor worn-out mule down the
+trail. It was very dark by this time and we made slow progress but
+finally reached the valley and I estimated that we were not more than
+three or four miles from camp. We had only gone a short distance when we
+met a detachment of cavalry that had been ordered out by Major Carraher
+in search of me. The major had been over to my tent two or three times
+and finding I was not there became uneasy, thinking I might have met
+with some accident, or the Indians might have found me. We arrived in
+camp about nine or ten o'clock with what was left of the antelope, a
+very tired hunter and a very tired mule.
+
+The following day I tested my rifle at a mark and found good cause for
+my wild shooting the previous day. I suppose the front sight had been
+slightly moved by striking on a tree or something on my trip before I
+found the antelope. Paddy and I still remained good friends and he took
+me many pleasant rides through the mountains.
+
+With the latter part of August came the wing-shooting of the dusky
+grouse (Canace of the Ornothologist) a large slate-colored bird, some
+larger than our prairie chickens (Cupidonia Cupido). The young birds
+could then fly strong and afforded great sport. My observation is that
+it is a very stupid bird. I have seen them sit on the limb of a tree
+until knocked off after repeated throwing and have seen them sit on the
+bare ground apparently thinking they were hid, until I have walked up to
+within ten or fifteen feet of them, before they would take wing. Until
+well grown I found them most frequently in the open parks where there
+was a ravine with water and willows and other undergrowth, and more or
+less grass for cover, but later in the season they took to the large
+timber. So far as my experience goes they are the best table bird of all
+the grouse family. The flesh is white and delicious. Their range is as
+high as timber line in the summer but they go lower as the season
+advances. There were no quail at this altitude. I think they do not go
+so high and I saw no other game birds.
+
+There was a bird about camp called the "Nut-cracker" and I believe in
+some places known as "lark's Crow" (Nussifrage Columbrana) that for a
+nuisance I believe could not be equalled. In action, in size and
+something in appearance and rasping voice he much resembled our jays.
+They were in great numbers about our camp and were impudent fellows and
+seemed determined to get into everything. Mr. H. W. Henshaw was with us
+that summer collecting natural history specimens for the Smithsonian
+Institute. He was quite anxious to find the nest and eggs of this bird.
+I supposed from their abundance this would be a matter requiring little
+effort, but I found I was mistaken. I made it my special part that
+summer to locate a nest of these birds and was constantly on the
+lookout. I often went out with Mr. Henshaw in the morning when he would
+start on his day's round but generally lost out after the first hour. He
+was an athlete in size and finely proportioned and hardened to the work
+by constant practice, and could walk the legs off me in an hour's
+travel. I would then strike out for myself but was always looking for
+the Nut-cracker and trying to locate his nest. One day I saw him fly
+away from a hole some fifteen feet up in an old tree stump, the limbs
+having fallen away. This looked encouraging so I climbed up and found a
+nest but no eggs. I reported my find to Mr. Henshaw that evening and he
+was pleased with the prospects and said we would go together in about a
+week, and by that time we might find eggs in the nest. I had marked the
+place well and we had no difficulty in finding it. Mr. Henshaw did the
+climbing this time and thrust his hand in the hole but found no eggs.
+"Wait a minute though," he said and thrust his hand down in the hole
+again, but brought it out in a hurry and the blood was dripping from it.
+He suggested I make a forked stick such as every boy knows who has ever
+twisted a rabbit out of a stone wall or hollow log, and he twisted the
+thing out which proved to be a mountain rat, something entirely new to
+me. It was a rat in every way I had known them but had a bushy tail like
+a squirrel. We took it to camp with us and the skin went away with his
+other specimens to the institute. This is commonly called the
+bushy-tailed rat but is designated Neotoma Cinera Orelestes by the
+zoologist.
+
+Mr. Henshaw is now chief of the biological survey in the United States
+Department of Agriculture, to whom I am indebted for many agreeable
+experiences and for most of my knowledge concerning most of the birds
+and animals herein mentioned. His contributions to the National
+Geographical Magazine are particularly interesting and instructive. The
+rat mentioned is also one of the varieties of what is known as
+pack-rats. They construct a nest of sticks and other rubbish found in
+the neighborhood, and if near a house may carry off spoons or knives or
+anything that attracts their attention. There is a smooth tailed rat
+belonging to this genus that is very abundant in New Mexico and is apt
+to leave something in place of the article he carries away, and on that
+account is often called the swap-rat.
+
+General Alexander and some other officers from the post at Fort Garland
+came to our camp the latter part of July. Complaint had been made by
+cattlemen, really some Englishmen by the name of Hamilton, that some of
+their cattle had been killed and they blamed the escort that accompanies
+the engineers for their death. Mr. Delaney, who came with the general,
+and I were detailed to go to Antelope park, where the ranch was located,
+and investigate the matter. The general and some other officers
+accompanied us as far as Wagon-wheel Gap and with a small escort we
+continued on to the park, the general and other officers returning to
+camp. We found the Hamilton brothers very cordial and hospitable. We
+talked the business over quite thoroughly and remained until near
+midnight before returning to our camp a short distance away. The
+following morning we found a half-inch or more of ice in a cup that had
+been left with some water in it the night before, rather cool weather I
+thought for the 30th of July. It was very chilly riding for the first
+two or three hours in the morning, but the sunshine finally got the
+better of the cold, and we were comfortable for the balance of the day.
+We camped at Wagon-wheel Gap the following night and found it an
+interesting place, although there was but one log building and that
+unoccupied, in the place.
+
+The river here makes a great circular bend around an almost
+perpendicular wall of rock that I judged to be about a half-mile high.
+Across the river from this was a beautiful valley sloping gradually up
+into the mountains and in it were many hot springs varying in
+temperature from barely tepid to boiling hot.
+
+The following day brought us back to our summer camp again. Our camp
+here was beautifully located among the pines and between the camp and
+bluff there was a pretty little lake which had been made by turning a
+little mountain stream into the low ground between the camp and the
+bluff. The officers' tents were in line facing this lake, and at the
+back ground sloped gradually to the river about a half-mile away. A very
+interesting "nature feature" of this camp, was the uniformity with
+which we got a shower of rain every morning during July and August, and
+we got into the habit of expecting it at eleven o'clock and were seldom
+disappointed. One day, August 17th, the water from the cloud in passing
+over became congealed and formed snow-flakes that for size were really
+astonishing. I was on my way to Loma on my faithful mule Paddy O'Rooney,
+and when it came it shut out practically everything from sight, a few
+yards away, and lasted probably twenty or thirty minutes. About four
+inches of snow fell in that time, then the sun came out bright and warm,
+and it seemed to go away almost as fast as it came. On my way back to
+camp the depressions along the way were flooded and by night only the
+spots protected by ledges of rock or dense foliage were left. With all
+these pleasant surroundings, and nothing to do but fish and hunt, life
+became a little monotonous. I sometimes wonder if people will get tired
+of golden streets and heavenly music.
+
+The survey being ended we broke camp September 9th and started back to
+Fort Garland. Mr. Prout and one other engineer, whose name I cannot now
+recall, accepted commissions in the Egyptian army and a letter received
+some months later assured me it was not a very comfortable service.
+
+While in this camp my wife and I thought one day it would be fine to
+take an outing together, so the ambulance was ordered and she and our
+little baby girl and nurse girl and myself and the driver made up the
+party. We crossed the west fork of the Rio Grande and went up the valley
+for some distance. The west fork is smaller than the main stream, with
+many pools and little rapids and hugs close to the north side of the
+valley as far as we went. The mountains rose abruptly from the waters
+and at a great height divided into peaks and spires, pinnacles and
+domes, in abandoned confusion, that impressed me not only as most
+remarkable but also the most beautiful combination of mountain scenery I
+had ever witnessed. The pools were especially attractive for I had taken
+my tackle with me, so I left the party in charge of the driver and
+started out for some good sport. I did not meet with the ready response
+I expected from the fish, and kept going on up stream trying one pool
+after another until I was quite out of sight of the ambulance but still
+kept going, each pool looking more inviting than the one just passed. I
+finally came to an unusually large pool, deep and wide, and that ran
+close to the perpendicular bluff on the opposite side. I had made a
+number of casts when a voice from somewhere called out "What luck?" It
+might have been from the clouds and I would not have been more
+surprised, and at first I could not locate it, but looked up and down
+stream and back over the valley but saw no one. Finally just across from
+me on a big block of rock that had become detached from the mountainside
+and in plain view sat a man. His clothing was so near the color of the
+rock and he sat so stalk still that I would never have discovered him if
+he had not made the inquiry. Answering I said, "Not very good," but some
+way I was so startled by that inquiry seemingly coming from the unknown
+and then finding a real man where of all places I least expected him,
+that I think I was a little nervous about it, and soon lost interest in
+fishing and returned to the ambulance. He had evidently been watching me
+as I was going up stream but made no other effort for closer
+acquaintance and I left him with that one response, "Not very good."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+
+A few days after returning to Fort Garland I was ordered to report to
+Major McClave who commanded a troop of cavalry and was camped near the
+top of Sangre De Cristo pass. The nights were cold and the camp was in
+every way an unpleasant one. We only remained there a few days when we
+broke camp and went down the Veta pass. The Sangre De Cristo and Veta
+passes joined just beyond the top of the range on the west side. We
+camped near La Veta, a Mexican village, the first night. In coming down
+La Veta pass we had a good view of the Spanish peaks, a name I
+remembered in connection with my very limited study of geography when a
+lad, and which for some reason I expected to be grand and commanding.
+After spending a summer in the mountains and seeing them in all their
+rugged grandeur, the peaks looked small and their hay-stack tops were
+disappointing. We went by easy marches until we reached a point on the
+Purgatory river some forty miles above its mouth where we remained in
+camp about a month. Our camp here was several thousand feet lower than
+the one near Sangre de Cristo pass and was in a fine grove of large
+cotton-wood trees and by comparison was a very comfortable place. The
+nights were a little cool but the days were delightfully pleasant. The
+Purgatory valley was practically unsettled in those days except near
+Trinidad, where there were a number of small ranches but I only remember
+one ranch between our camp and the mouth of the river. While in this
+camp a wind-storm came up one afternoon and grew in volume as the
+evening advanced but we felt secure on account of the bluff just across
+the river to the windward of us. However, I could hear it among the tree
+tops before dropping to sleep, and I wondered if it could do any harm.
+When I awoke the next morning the ridge pole of my tent was broken, and
+the tent crushed in by some great thing extending obliquely upward, and
+only a few inches above my chest. I hurried outside as quickly as I
+could and found an immense dead cotton-wood tree lying across my tent
+with the top caught in the forks of another tree a few yards away.
+
+I found both Major McClave and Mr. Williams, his lieutenant, very
+interesting companions. The major had served in the ranks before the
+war, and had been promoted for bravery and efficiency in the service. He
+was a thorough soldier, courteous and considerate to everybody, and like
+all the officers I met from the ranks, was very devoted to his men. Mr.
+Williams was a West Point graduate and an accomplished gentleman, and I
+shall always remember my experience with this command with pleasure. Mr.
+Williams and I had found a fine bathing pool in the river and had
+frequent occasions to enjoy its chilly but invigorating qualities. One
+day when in the midst of our bath the bugle call for "boots and saddles"
+sounded. We hurried from the water, dressed and got to camp in time to
+find everything ready to move. A messenger had arrived in camp bringing
+word of an Indian raid and the killing of cattle at some point down the
+river toward Las Anamis. We kept going until some time after midnight
+when we were within a few miles of Fort Lyon and from there the major
+and I took the ambulance and went on into Fort Lyon to report and get
+such information as we could, and instructions for any further action
+that was considered necessary. We got back to our camp just at good
+daylight and found Mr. Williams and the men almost ready for the march.
+After a hurried breakfast we were soon on the way up the Arkansas
+Valley. We followed this valley to where Wild Horse creek enters the
+river, then turned up that creek and marched until near sundown when
+some cattlemen and rangers met us and reported that the Indians had
+turned east and would probably cross the Arkansas below Fort Lyon. Right
+here it is just as well to say that cavalry stand a poor show to
+overtake a band of Indians if they have a few miles the start. The
+Indian pony does not eat corn; the cavalry horses must have it or at
+least some kind of grain. Stop and unsaddle your Indian pony, lariat him
+out and give him an hour to rest and graze, and he is ready for another
+jaunt of a half day or more. He is a tough, hardy beast and can be
+forced to keep going when the cavalry horse will simply quit. We
+returned slowly to Fort Lyon and reported to the commanding officer for
+instructions, and were ordered back to Fort Union where Major McClave's
+troop of cavalry belonged.
+
+There was nothing of special interest on this trip although the night we
+camped at Dick Wooton's there was a heavy snow and the major spent a
+good part of the night looking after the comfort of his men and horses.
+After crossing this spur of the mountains the weather was pleasant and
+the country free from snow and we reached Fort Union without further
+incident. I returned by stage to Fort Garland and arrived at that post
+the forepart of December and was there awaiting orders until the 18th.
+The weather was cold, Fort Garland being at an altitude of about seven
+thousand feet above sea level, and it was comfortable to be with my wife
+and little girl, and in good quarters again.
+
+General Kautz had taken General Alexander's place as post commander, but
+Dr. Happersett, the post surgeon, and the other officers were the same
+as when we arrived the preceding April. The social features of the post
+were charming and I hoped it would be my good fortune to remain there
+during the winter, but a few days after my arrival orders came for me to
+report to the commanding officer at Fort Stanton, New Mexico, for duty.
+We started on December 18th and the thermometer registered eighteen
+degrees below zero that morning. We were well equipped for the trip,
+having four mules to the ambulance and a six-mule team and wagon for our
+baggage. The question may occur to some of my readers how could all your
+household goods be carried in one wagon? We did not have much to carry,
+particularly in the way of furniture. The quarters at the different
+military posts were furnished by the quartermaster with stoves, tables,
+bedsteads and all kinds of furniture that would be cumbersome to move.
+We carried folding chairs, carpets, bedding and numerous household
+necessities and comforts with us, but one wagon was sufficient for this
+purpose in addition to carrying grain and hay for the mules from one
+government supply station to another. On most of the routes traveled
+there were government stations where grain and forage were kept for the
+animals used in government transportation. We started early, having
+forty miles to make that day to reach Conejos (Jackrabbit) the first
+government station on the route. We heated bricks for our feet and by
+drawing the curtains around the ambulance, it was made quite
+comfortable. We crossed the Rio Grande on the ice and reached Conejos in
+the evening and had a very comfortable place for the night. We remained
+one day at Conejos for supplies of grain and hay for the mules. For the
+next three days and two nights we were in deep snow all the way, and of
+course made slow progress, and the escort melted snow for water for
+ourselves and the animals during this time. We hoped to reach San Juan
+on the Rio Grande by the end of the third day, but were apprehensive,
+for we knew we had to cross the Rio Chama, a stream that had acquired an
+unenviable reputation because of its quicksand. We reached this stream
+just at dusk of the third day and for the first time in three days saw
+the friendly lamplights at a Mexican village a short distance above the
+ford. This was my first acquaintance with quicksand, and I would know
+better now. We should have unfastened the mules from the wagon, and
+broken the ice, which was not strong enough to hold them up, and thus
+made the way clear so we could cross without stopping. To stop is fatal.
+In place of doing this, we expected the mules to break the ice as they
+went. About the middle of the stream was a sand-bar only slightly
+covered with ice and water and the water had been shallow over to this
+bar, but when the mules came into the deep water beyond, the leaders
+refused to break the ice, the team stopped, and the wagon gradually
+settled down until the running gear and bed rested on the sand-bar. I
+ordered the team unhitched and the ice broken so we could get around
+with the ambulance, and we made the crossing without difficulty. It was
+then quite dark and I decided to ask for a volunteer to remain with the
+wagon and the balance of us would go on to San Juan.
+
+I called the men together, and asked if any one of them would volunteer
+to stay with the wagon over night. An Irishman stepped out and said,
+"Yis Doctor, I will stay with it." It seems to me that in a case like
+this, or for that matter in any emergency, one can always depend on the
+Irishman. I knew his habits at the post, for he was in the guardhouse
+occasionally for drunkenness, so I said to him, "Look here, this is not
+an easy job. If those Mexicans up there knew this wagon was in here they
+might give you trouble, and if they found you drunk they would probably
+kill you and loot the wagon. Now I am going to leave a bottle of whiskey
+with you, for it is a very cold night and you will need some before
+morning, so be careful and do not take too much of it. Get out and walk
+when you get too cold to sleep but don't get drunk for your life may be
+in danger if you are not able to take care of yourself." "Yis Sir,
+Doctor, I understand that sir, and I will keep sober, sir, and I will
+take care of the stuff all right, sir." We left him there and the
+balance of the escort with the six mule team, and my wife and baby and I
+in the ambulance, started on to San Juan some six miles away. We got off
+the road as we neared the station, and our ambulance got into an
+irrigation ditch and turned over on one side, but did no harm and we
+soon had it right again, and after some trouble in finding a road,
+finally reaching San Juan about midnight. We had wandered around a good
+deal in trying to find the road again.
+
+The following day the escort returned to the Rio Grande, and found the
+Irishman all right and only about half of the whiskey gone. He had fully
+merited all my confidence. They unloaded the wagon and slid the contents
+across the river on the ice, and by digging and prying with the tools
+they had taken from the station, and hitching all ten mules to the
+wagon, they drew it out the quick-sand and across the river and arrived
+at the station with everything in good shape about dark that evening.
+The morning before Christmas my wife and I concluded to ride to Santa Fe
+about twenty miles away for breakfast. It was a stinging cold morning,
+and we had to go over a little mountain range on the way, but the roads
+were hard and smooth as a pavement, and we made the trip at a clipping
+gait, but were thoroughly chilled by the time we reached Santa Fe. There
+was no fire in our room and I went to the landlord, Alex McDowell and
+asked him to send us something to warm us up. In a few minutes a man
+came in with a tray and glasses and something he called Tom-and-Jerry
+and hoped we would like it. I think I never tasted anything so
+delicious, and I believe my wife appreciated it as much as I did, and
+the effect was marvelous. We were soon warm and comfortable, and by
+comparison with the experience of the past few days, it seemed a
+paradise indeed. This was my first acquaintance with Tom-and-Jerry, and
+while I became better acquainted with these gentlemen afterwards, we
+were never very cordial friends but I never met them under such
+favorable conditions as on the morning after that cold ride over the
+mountains. We did some shopping on the 24th and remained over Christmas
+at the hotel. The morning after Christmas we again started on our way to
+Fort Stanton.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+
+The trip from Santa Fe to Fort Stanton was not an attractive one. There
+was not much snow and no mountains to cross but the route was
+uninhabited and dreary, consisting of alternate stretches of timber and
+alkali lands, until we neared Fort Stanton when the timber improved in
+quality, and the country generally was more inviting. We reached Fort
+Stanton on the second of January and were at once assigned to
+comfortable quarters which we occupied the following day but stayed with
+a brother officer's family the first night. I found Fort Stanton a very
+desirable post at which to serve. Major Clendenning was in command and
+Doctor Fitch was post surgeon until my arrival. The fort and military
+reservation were beautifully located on what was then the Mescalero
+Apache reservation in the White mountains, El Capitan being the nearest
+peak, and on a little stream called Rio Bonito, (pretty little river)
+and it was an exceptionally pretty stream. Anywhere east it would have
+been called a creek or branch. It was a mountain stream of clear cold
+water and the post was supplied with water through a ditch taken out
+from the river at some distance above the post, and carried to the
+highest point on the parade ground, and from there distributed each way
+around the parade ground and then taken to the corral and the stables
+lower down the valley. In front of each officer's quarters a barrel was
+sunk in the ditch to a depth where the water would almost reach the top
+of the staves and the up and down stream sides were cut away as low as
+the bottom of the ditch, thus allowing the water to pass through freely.
+Small trout were often dipped up in the water taken from these barrels.
+Fort Stanton is located at an altitude of a little over six thousand
+feet and is not only a beautiful location but is a very healthy post. It
+was abandoned long ago as a military post but is still owned by the
+government and used as a sanitarium for tuberculosis. I have visited it
+since it was converted in to a sanitarium, and for cleanliness and
+general sanitary conditions it did not compare with the post when used
+for military purposes.
+
+In those days game was plentiful in the mountains and the duck shooting
+along the pretty little river was exceptionally good.
+
+What was afterwards known as the Lincoln County War was just then in its
+incipiency. Considerable shooting was done between the cattle and sheep
+men, and the death of a sheepherder--always a Mexican--or a cattleman,
+was of frequent occurrence. Word came to the post one evening, that a
+deputy sheriff had been shot while attempting to settle some difficulty
+between the cattle and the sheep men, and a surgeon was requested to go
+to Lincoln, the county seat some ten miles down the valley to see him.
+Major Clendenning sent for me and explained the matter, but said if he
+were in my place he would not go, as those Mexicans would just as leave
+take a shot at me as anybody else. He said, however, that if I decided
+to go I should have the ambulance and any help I needed. I decided no
+help was necessary, but took the ambulance and driver and went to
+Lincoln that night. Mr. Mills, the deputy sheriff who had been shot had
+a half-brother at the post by the name of Stanley and I had heard the
+story of one of their shooting experiences when little fellows. They
+were practising with pistols and had become so expert that one day they
+tried the experiment of holding something out in one hand for the other
+to shoot at, but as this was not exciting enough, one of them extended
+his arm and pointed out his index finger and said to the other: "See if
+you can clip the end of that." He clipped a little too much for I had
+seen Stanley's hand and the finger was off at the first joint from the
+end. "You fool, you, you took too much. Now give me a chance." The other
+being willing to play fair, extended his finger the same way and lost
+the same amount of finger. This was the story, and I was curious to see
+Mr. Mills' hand which I took good care to observe while dressing his
+wound and found it almost exactly like Stanley's. Mr. Mills' wound was
+by a shot that entered near the heart, struck a rib and did not enter
+the plural cavity, but followed the rib around and came out on the back
+and was not a very serious wound.
+
+The Sutler's store at Fort Stanton was up-stream some distance and just
+around the point of a little canon that led down to the river. A path
+from the corner of the parade ground led up to the store but there was
+only a narrow space between the point of the canon and the ditch that
+supplied the post with water. There was also a bridge across the ditch
+at the Sutler's store, for the convenience of getting in and taking out
+goods. One dark night I had been up to the store and started home, and
+after going a short distance, I concluded I had crossed the ditch on the
+bridge, instead of going along the narrow strip between the ditch and
+canon. To save time and retracing of steps I concluded to jump into the
+ditch. I knew it was wide and required a good jump but I found that
+instead of jumping the ditch, I had jumped off the bluff into the canon.
+Fortunately it had been made a dumping ground for chips and trash from
+the wood-yard, and I landed on this trash and rolled the balance of the
+way to the bottom of the canon among the rocks, probably twenty-five or
+thirty feet. My first thought was that I was seriously hurt, but after
+groaning a while and finding no bones broken, I got up and felt my way
+out at the top of the canon near the Sutler's store. I was very sore for
+a few days but no serious injuries resulted.
+
+In March of this year Captain Fechet (pronounced Fe-sha, accent on the
+last syllable), with his troop of cavalry, was ordered to go over on the
+Jornada del Muerto, and try to find a shorter route across that desert
+from Fort Stanton to Fort Selden, and I was sent along. We took the
+usual route to Fort McRae, where I again met Dr. Lyons, the post
+surgeon, whom I had visited at this point when I was post surgeon at
+Fort Craig in 1869. We found the doctor at dinner when we arrived. The
+cloth was spread at one end of the table and just beyond the cloth, at
+the farther end, was a human skull, with the necessary instruments,
+which the doctor had been dissecting. It struck me as a rather strange
+mixture of diet and scientific investigation. It is hardly necessary to
+say that the doctor was not a married man, for no woman would stand for
+that sort of table decoration, but would probably prefer a bunch of
+flowers as a center-piece for the table. Some unfortunate had been
+fished out of the river, and no relations having been found, the body
+was considered of service for a better knowledge of anatomy.
+
+From Fort McRae we went to the Aleman, or as it was better known, Jack
+Martin's, where we stayed over night, and from there we went to Fort
+Selden and remained several days. While there the captain and I made a
+trip to Las Cruces where we remained over night, and had a very pleasant
+evening with some Catholic priests, where we were cordially received and
+entertained. On our return to Fort Selden we again took up the march to
+Fort Stanton but did not leave the beaten track either going or coming.
+We had taken some half-dozen Mescalero Apache Indians along with us as
+guides and scouts, but I could never see that we accomplished anything
+by the trip, or that we made any effort to do so.
+
+Along about the first of April I received a suit of clothes from Fort
+Leavenworth, Kansas, that I had ordered the previous September upon my
+return from the summer camp on the Rio Grande. It had not occurred to me
+that I might have changed some in physique, but when I got the clothes I
+found that I could only wear the pants by putting a V-shape in the back
+of the waistband and I could only wear the vest by inserting pieces
+below the arm-holes, but the coat was entirely too small to be of any
+practical service. My experience in the mountains had evidently made
+quite a different type of man out of me, and I should have had my
+measure taken again before sending orders to the tailor.
+
+Soon after our return from the trip to find a new route across the
+Jornada, I received a letter from Doctor Lyons asking me to exchange
+stations with him. I wrote back that I would make the change if he would
+make the application, which he did, and orders soon came directing the
+change. We started from Stanton the latter part of April, with the usual
+ambulance, and wagon and baggage, and an escort to care for us on the
+way. Between the White mountains and the lower range to the west is
+quite a wide valley which is called the Malpais (or bad country) near
+the center of which is a lava flow a few hundred yards wide. The crater,
+or peak from which it came is not in the mountain range as one would
+naturally suppose it to be but stands out near the middle of the valley,
+maybe ten miles above where we crossed. The outlines of the streams are
+quite distinct until some distance below, where it is lost in a great
+white plain of alkali. There had been much work done to make a road
+across this lava flow passable for vehicles, but it was still very rough
+when we crossed it, so much so that my wife preferred to walk, and
+nearly wore her shoe soles out in doing so. When did this lava flow
+occur? I don't know. Maybe ten thousand years ago, but it looked as
+though it might have been last week.
+
+There were quite a number of little cone-shaped mounds in this valley,
+and I examined some of those close to the road. They varied in size, and
+none that I saw were more than ten or twelve feet in height, and they
+all had craters, containing blackish looking water. In some of them the
+water seemed to be higher than the valley in which they were located.
+
+We camped on the second night in the foothills of the San Andres range,
+and the following evening at the Oho De Anija. These springs were
+interesting because of the great amount of painted and broken pottery to
+be found nearby. I think some excavating might bring to light whole
+pieces of value to the archaeologist. The spring is located only a few
+miles from Paraja a on the Rio Grande, and at the extreme northern limit
+of the Jornada del Muerto, and the next day we arrived at Fort McRae.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+
+McRae was a one company post, and located on a little bench of land at
+the side of the canon that led down to the Rio Grande from the Frau
+Christobel mountains. There were no square for a parade ground but all
+buildings faced toward the canon, of which at this point was not abrupt
+but sloped gradually to the bottom.
+
+The officers' quarters were very comfortable, being built of heavy adobe
+walls, and covered with dirt, consequently were warm in winter and cool
+in summer. The rooms were large and had the usual jaspa floors common to
+the military posts along the Rio Grande. Government blankets are first
+laid on these floors and over them is laid the carpet and both are
+nailed down with lath or shingle nails, with leather heads, to hold the
+carpet in place. There was a fireplace in both living and dining rooms
+and water was obtained at a spring in the canon, a short distance away.
+While the quarters were comfortable the outlook and surroundings were
+anything but attractive. The view from the front porch was of a bleak
+cactus covered ridge across the canon, and this was limited in extent
+and back of the post the canon rose abruptly to a great height. Up the
+canon was the barracks of the men, and farther up was the Sutler's
+store. Below the officers' quarters, was the quartermaster and
+commissary storehouses and corrals and stables.
+
+For some time we were quite reconciled to the situation. Both the
+commanding officer, Captain Farnsworth and his lieutenant, a Mr.
+Carlton, were bachelors, and were courteous and pleasant gentlemen. They
+did not remain long, however, after our arrival at the post, but were
+superseded by Captain Kauffman and Mr. Fountain, the latter a West
+Pointer, but Captain Kauffman was raised from the ranks, and to me never
+seemed to fit the promoted position he held. Mr. Fountain on the
+contrary, I thought, gave promise of becoming a distinguished officer.
+Until they came, my wife was the only officer's wife at the post, and
+with the addition of Mrs. Kauffman it could hardly be considered a
+great social center. We made the most of it, however, and were fairly
+well satisfied with our position.
+
+During the early part of the summer we attended an entertainment given
+by the men at the barracks, and our little girl caught cold. At first we
+thought it only a temporary illness and that she would soon be better,
+but in this we were disappointed. She gradually lost appetite and grew
+weaker and I wrote to Dr. Boughter, post surgeon at Fort Craig,
+requesting him to come and see her, which he did. We concluded the water
+at the post was bad for her, as it was strongly impregnated with alkali,
+and we thought it best to take her out to Jack Martin's ranch, where we
+knew the water was good. Captain Kauffman was very considerate about the
+proposed change, and we agreed that I should return to the post three
+times a week to look after any who needed medical attention. This trip
+could be made in one day on horse-back, the distance for the round trip
+being about forty miles. We got out there the latter part of July, but
+within a few days realized more fully the serious nature of our little
+daughter's illness. Dr. Boughter came from Fort Craig to see her but
+could give us no encouragement.
+
+The Scotch are a superstitious folk, and up to the age of fourteen I was
+raised in an atmosphere of superstition. They had signs and omens, and
+attributed a personality to everything, animate and inanimate. While
+they denied a belief in spirits and hob-goblins, I am satisfied these
+things influenced their lives. I remember two old crones at an uncle's,
+wizened up old maids, that I think were no relation, but just lived
+there, who used to tell us little ones spook and ghost stories until I
+was afraid to go to bed in the next room, or out of doors at night. It
+seemed to be in the blood and Walter Scott's books are full of it. This
+may explain in a way my hope that something would happen that would
+bring our little one back to health again. My frequent trips to the post
+and sitting up at night to give my wife a little rest, which she so
+sorely needed, together with my anxiety, had probably made me morbid,
+for one day, August 14th, as I remember, I was on my way to the post. It
+was a very hot day and the atmosphere was shimmering with radiated
+heat, and not a living thing was to be seen over that vast, desolate
+Jornada del Muerto, except maybe a lizard scurrying across the road, and
+I was half-way or more to the head of that canon in which the post was
+located, when a little grayish-brown bird suddenly appeared from
+somewhere, and fluttered over the horses' head just out of reach of my
+hand. I accepted it at once and without question, as a messenger sent to
+me, and my anxiety was to interpret its message. I tried to reach it
+with my hand, but it kept just out of reach, and presently lit in the
+road in front. I immediately got off my horse, and taking the lariat
+rope in my hand, walked up to it, but it kept moving out of the way, but
+only just out of reach. I again got on my horse but had no sooner done
+so, than it came back again and fluttered over the horse's head. From
+there it flew to a cactus bush by the roadside, and I got off my horse
+again and walked up to the bush and took my canteen--no one travels
+through such a country without a canteen of water--and holding it up
+over the bush poured out a little stream of water. The bird at once
+gathered from the leaves, such drops as lodged, and seemed greatly
+delighted. I then pressed my left hand, back downward, into the sand,
+and holding the canteen up poured a little stream of water into the palm
+of my hand. The bird at once left its perch, and flew down and lit near
+my hand, and after a little debating with herself, hopped up on my hand
+and drank, and at each swallow would look up at me as if to say, "Oh, I
+am so thankful." I was greatly comforted and got on my horse again
+feeling that my hopes would be realized, and that I would find my little
+child on the road to recovery, upon my return in the evening. I had only
+gone a short distance when the little bird again flew around in front of
+me and again fluttered its wings just out of reach of my hand. I got off
+again and this time did not take the lariat rope down, but merely
+stepped up by the horse's head, stooped down and pressed my hand in the
+sand as before, and the bird did not hesitate, but came at once, and
+stood on my hand and drank the water, and when its thirst was fully
+satisfied it hopped away, and I got on my horse and went on to the
+post. When I returned that evening I found our little child no better
+and she died that night.
+
+A messenger was sent to the post and the ambulance came the following
+day with a little coffin made at the quartermaster's and the trip back
+to the post was to us indeed the "Journey of Death." Our home was so
+desolate that I became more morbid than ever, and was soon taken down
+with typhoid dysentery, and Dr. Boughter came from the Fort Craig to
+wait on me. My recovery was very slow and I was indifferent to anything
+that might happen. My wife at last became discouraged and she and
+Captain Kauffman talked the situation over, and after consulting Dr.
+Boughter concluded to have me taken to Fort Craig for treatment. I was
+not informed of their conclusion, and when they told me the ambulance
+was at the door, and a bed in it and that I was going to Fort Craig, it
+did not even interest me. If they had told me I was going to the
+cemetery I would have been just as well satisfied with the arrangement,
+although they thought I would be interested because of having been post
+surgeon there some years before. After I was at Fort Craig a few days, I
+began to take some interest in life and thought I would like to see what
+changes had been made, and the more I thought about it, the more
+interest I took until I finally wanted to see for myself. With this
+awakening I began to have some appetite for food, and I soon began to
+gain strength and as I improved I wanted to cross the river and see my
+old hunting grounds. All these things undoubtedly contributed to my
+recovery for I soon made rapid progress toward good health again. The
+doctor had given us his quarters to occupy while there and they were
+handsomely furnished and we were made most comfortable. It was then the
+latter part of September and the nights were cool and the days pleasant.
+We took our meals at the officers' mess and had good things to eat, and
+I shall always remember how delicious the pigeon squabs were to me.
+Before returning to Fort McRae the doctor and I planned to hunt across
+the river. One of the officers had a gun he would loan us, and the
+doctor said the blacksmith had one, and he had no doubt he would loan
+it. I preferred going for it myself, as I wanted to see the shop and
+house close to the bluff where the blacksmith lived. The blacksmith was
+very well pleased to loan his gun, but said one barrel was loaded, and
+he shot it off and handed the gun to me, saying, "Now it is all right."
+It was a muzzle-loader and after wiping it out carefully at the doctor's
+quarters I found one of the tubes were stopped up. I put a cap on the
+tube and in place of taking the gun out of doors, or pointing it in the
+fireplace, I merely turned the muzzle down toward the carpet and pulled
+the trigger. A report followed that astonished the doctor, my wife and
+myself, who were all taking interest in the preparation for the hunt.
+The shot tore through the carpet and into the jaspa floor and sent the
+plaster flying in all directions, and made a hole in the floor big
+enough to bury a small-sized dog. Another instance of where the gun that
+was not loaded, did serious damage, but fortunately no one was hurt.
+
+The post had changed very little since I was there five years before but
+I took great interest in seeing everything. Doctor Boughter was a
+bachelor, a man of ability in his profession, an accomplished gentleman,
+and a friend in our great affliction.
+
+On our return to Fort McRae, while I felt a great repugnance to ever
+seeing the place again, I was more resigned to what I considered the
+inevitable that is, that death comes to everybody, is one of nature's
+laws, and is the culminating process, just as birth is the beginning of
+life. When we reached the head of the canon leading down to the post I
+was able to look upon the incident of my experience with the little
+bird, from a very different point of view.
+
+It was now clear enough to me, that there was nothing miraculous or
+unnatural about it, but that for some cause it had simply become
+separated from the flock to which it belonged, for they are generally
+found in flocks along with cattle. I think it was the female and may
+have gone to some other bird's nest to deposit its egg, as is its habit,
+for I had studied it closely while drinking out of my hand, and
+recognized it as one of the cowbirds or buntings, and I have since been
+able to identify it as belonging among the blackbirds and orioles or the
+icteridae of the ornothologist, its special division being Molothrus
+Aster, a division found in Texas and Southern New Mexico, but I think
+not much farther north. The sexes are difficult to distinguish at a
+distance, differing in this respect from their near relatives farther
+north, where the male is a glossy black with chocolate colored head and
+neck. Whatever the cause may have been this one was evidently lost, and
+was famishing for water, and recognized the horse as a friend, and in no
+way could have considered me in that relation, it came to my hand simply
+and only as a matter of necessity. It was pleasant to relieve the thirst
+of the little lost bird, but I shall never again think of it as in any
+way supernatural.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+
+Our quarters were just as we had left them but with the added feeling of
+desolation, and from that time we frequently discussed the question of
+leaving the service. It being then well toward winter we deferred it
+until spring, and we spent the time until then performing our duties in
+a perfunctory way, and planning and rejecting plans as we made them,
+being undecided where to locate. I spent a part of the time in hunting
+with more or less success, but more as a recreation than as a matter of
+interest. On one of these trips I killed three antelopes with two shots,
+being the only ones seen that day. I managed to get in good range and
+when the first one fell the other two ran together and stood looking at
+the fallen one. They stood so that a shot through the flank of one would
+hit the other just back of the shoulder. I dressed the first one and got
+it on the horse and found the second some two hundred yards away, but by
+the time I had it on the horse it was too dark to track the third. Next
+morning I went out and found only the bones and some pieces of the hide,
+the wolves having cared for the rest of it. On another occasion I took
+an orderly with me to care for my horse in case I found occasion to
+stalk any game, but when we got into a valley which was the customary
+route for Indians from the White mountains on the east, to the
+Magdalenas west of the river, some horsemen came in at the head of the
+valley, and set up a yell and at that distance we took them for Indians
+and did not wait for a closer acquaintance but made for the post with
+all possible speed.
+
+My wife visited that winter at Fort Selden with Mrs. Conrad, wife of
+Lieutenant Conrad, who was quartermaster at Fort Stanton when we were
+there, and who died at sea on his way back from the Spanish war in Cuba.
+
+We were in the habit at Fort McRae of trading an army ration to which I
+was entitled, in addition to my pay, to Mexicans for vegetables, eggs,
+etc., or paying cash as the occasion offered. One day a Mexican brought
+a grain sack full of onions and we weighed them and found they weighed
+a little over forty-one pounds. I agreed to pay him four cents a pound,
+but said to him we will call it forty pounds and allow the balance for
+the weight of the sack. He could not speak English but I could talk
+Spanish enough to make him understand and he would nod his head and say
+"Bueno" (Good) but when I counted out the money he did not seem
+satisfied. I went over it repeatedly showing it was one dollar and sixty
+cents and he would nod his head and say "Bueno" but went away and
+brought another Mexican with him who understood and talked English, and
+when he heard the transaction repeated he called his fellow countryman a
+fool and they walked away together. I counted the onions after they had
+gone, and there were just twenty-four of them. I like to tell this story
+to my friends, for while they smile their assent, there is an expression
+on their faces that is at least suggestive. Two or three of the onions
+that I measured were over eighteen inches in circumference. These onions
+were raised in the Rio Grande valley and were as crisp as celery, and
+comparatively free from the characteristic sting of the ordinary onion.
+Eggs were fifty cents per dozen and if one did not need any today, they
+would take them back home, and perhaps bring them tomorrow at the same
+price, but would not take less. We paid one dollar per pound for butter
+to Mrs. Jack Martin who sent it to us by the messenger who went there
+for our mail, and it was very choice butter.
+
+At the Sutler's store one day I was introduced to a Mr. Garcia, a young
+man of fine appearance, and who could talk English well, who had
+returned from the university for his vacation. I found him very
+interesting and intelligent, and while we were talking, Mr. Ayers, the
+post trader, brought us some native wine which we sipped while in
+conversation. He belonged to a wealthy family of Spanish descent and was
+quite a different type from the ordinary Mexican, and would compare
+favorably with our average university student. After he had gone Mr.
+Ayers told me his name in full was "Hasoos Christo Garcia." I spell it
+this way to give the Spanish pronunciation, and not the Spanish
+spelling. In the middle name the accent is on the first syllable. In
+English the name would be Jesus Christ Garcia, and this is not mentioned
+in this startling way, in any spirit of irreverence, for a name that is
+held sacred over a great part of the world, but is done for the purpose
+of showing the difference in the customs of different countries. Jesus
+Christ is almost as common a given name among the Mexicans as James or
+John is with us.
+
+While at Fort McRae Mr. Fountain had heard of a beautiful place on the
+Rio Polomas, a little stream that enters the Rio Grande from the west a
+few miles below the post, and that he thought might be worth
+investigating. I agreed to join him and we had a few troopers detached
+as an escort, and went to see it. On the way we passed through the
+little Mexican village of Polomas, where a Jew had established a
+business and who had told Mr. Fountain of the proposed place of visit.
+He joined us and acted as guide for the trip. On the way while working
+our way through a thick undergrowth Mr. Fountain and I became separated
+from the men and came out on a pretty open park of a few acres in
+extent, about the middle of which was an immense cinnamon bear,
+apparently waiting to see what caused the disturbance in the brush. On
+our coming into the open he took to his heels and we followed, the men
+having joined us, and firing our pistols and shouting, but when my horse
+caught the scent of the bear, he just stopped and stood there trembling
+with fright, and all my efforts to make him go by spurring and cuffing
+him, were unavailing. I could not move him, but sat there and awaited
+his pleasure. After a bit he began to move cautiously but was much
+frightened, and I did not join the crowd until they had chased the bear
+into the rocks at the foot of the canon, and had returned to the place
+we intended to visit. It was a beautiful place indeed, and a beautiful
+stream of water came out from the side of the bluff some twenty feet
+above the valley, and meandered down to the main stream. The valley was
+not wide but impressed both Mr. Fountain and myself, as a desirable
+place to establish a ranch, which he was desirous of doing for a brother
+he wished to set up in business. I agreed to join him in the enterprise,
+and we sent for a Studebaker wagon and the necessary implements and
+outfit for starting a ranch. I afterwards disposed of my interest to Mr.
+Fountain, and have since learned that he had his brother come out, and
+fitted him up with stock, etc., sufficient for a start, but that the
+Indians took a part in the affair; destroyed his ranch and killed his
+cattle. I have since then, often thought of it as a desirable place for
+a cattle ranch.
+
+In the spring of 1875, there having been no medical examining board
+ordered, and so far as we knew no prospect of one, we fully decided to
+try our lives in a different way, and made preparations accordingly. I
+ordered a metallic casket for the body of our little daughter, believing
+that the post would soon be abandoned, and we could not bear the idea of
+leaving her in that wretched place, and the first part of May we packed
+such household goods as we thought desirable to take with us, only
+leaving such as I might need after my wife should start, it being my
+intention to go during the summer or early fall. My wife started about
+the middle of May and soon afterwards the casket came, and the captain
+gave me a detail of men to take up the body of our little girl and place
+it in the quartermaster's storehouse until we should decide where to
+have it shipped. This we were to do after I should join my wife and
+decided on a location for a home. My wife had gone to her old friend's
+home west of Oswego, Kansas, where she had stopped on a previous
+occasion when we thought of leaving the service. On application, Doctor
+Lyon returned to his old post at Fort McRae and I went to Stanton in
+July and about the first of September together with Mr. Clark, who was
+going on leave of absence, I proceeded to the end of the railroad at Las
+Animas, Colorado, and thence to Leavenworth, Kansas, where I reported to
+the medical director of the department and left the service October
+30th, 1875.
+
+Upon my return to Fort Stanton from Fort McRae I found Mr. Stanley, the
+one who had his finger shot off when a boy, was just able to hobble
+about again from an experience he had with a cinnamon bear. He had gone
+out to some ranch where they were losing some of their stock,
+particularly their pigs, by what they thought to be a bear, and Stanley
+went out to kill it. He was an excellent shot, was fearless and
+deliberate and found the bear as he expected, but in some unaccountable
+way which he could not explain, he failed to stop it, and the result was
+most disastrous to himself. It had torn one side of his face away, and
+had broken both legs and one arm, before leaving him. They found him the
+next day and brought him to a hospital and he was able to get around on
+crutches when I saw him, but would be a cripple for life. The ranchmen
+went out and finished the bear, but it was found he had nine shots
+through his body before giving up the fight.
+
+The military reservation at Fort Stanton was the largest of any post at
+which I served, and is located as before mentioned on what was then
+known as the Mescalero Apache Indian reservation. These Indians were
+considered friendly, and so far as I know have remained so, and they are
+the only tribe of Indians of which I have acquaintance who cremate their
+dead. I was invited one day to go with the hay contractor, who intended
+making the rounds of his various hay camps, and on the way we passed
+through an Indian camp not far from the post at which there was a sick
+Indian. We stopped to inquire as to his condition. It seems that a day
+or so before they had gone to the post for medicine, and had said the
+patient was suffering great pain, and asked for some physic. The post
+surgeon, a Spaniard by birth, and educated abroad, understood the term
+physic in its generic sense and not as it is so universally used by us,
+and had sent him opiates, when a cathartic was probably indicated. When
+we saw him that day, which we did from our saddles, as we did not
+dismount, he was greatly swollen up, and when we passed the same
+neighborhood a few days afterwards, the Indian had died and his tent and
+all his belongings including a pony to ride, had been burned and the
+band had moved across the river and established a new camp.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+(Social Life at the Military Posts.)
+
+
+The social life at the military posts on the frontier, nearly a half
+century ago, was necessarily very limited. Except at Fort Sill, I served
+at no post at which more than two companies of troops comprised the
+garrison, and even in these cases there was not always the full
+complement of officers, some probably being on detached service, or
+maybe on leave of absence. As before remarked, Fort McRae was only a one
+company post, and at no time were there more than three officers, and
+there were only two officers' wives. There were no social relations
+outside of the post, and no effort or disposition to form acquaintances.
+The nearest military post was fifty or more miles away, and the
+exception to the usual dull routine of life in such an isolated place,
+was when some fellow officer happened to come our way, enroute to some
+other post, maybe for assignment to duty or maybe on detached service.
+Another exception was when the paymaster made his appearance to pay off
+the garrison, which he did every two months. These were always enjoyable
+occasions, and we would sit up late and talk about everything of
+interest at the different posts, or of what may have been seen or heard
+on the way. This was the most isolated and desolate of all the posts at
+which I served. It was about twenty miles from the southern overland
+stage line, and we had to send a messenger from the post for our mail
+which we did three times a week. Magazines and such reading matter as
+could be brought by mail helped cheer our lonely lives, so that taken
+altogether, it was a good deal better than being in the penitentiary.
+
+At Fort Garland, though only two companies were stationed there during
+my service at the post, there were about the full complement of
+officers, several of whom were married, and it proved to be an unusually
+pleasant place socially. There was no formality, and so far as I know
+this was true at all the military posts on the frontier, except at Fort
+Craig where my wife was not with me, but on the contrary there was a
+feeling of mutual interest and sympathy that made it seem like one
+family. We would meet at some officer's quarters for dinner or luncheon,
+and maybe at some other officer's quarters in the evening to play a
+social game of cards, and the officers' wives would make informal visits
+with each other and maybe spend an hour or so, very much as if they were
+sisters.
+
+Fort Sill was one of the largest military posts in the service at that
+time, and there were twenty or more officers there, probably half of
+whom were married and had their families with them. It will be readily
+seen that this made quite a social center.
+
+There were frequent military dances or "hops" as they were called in the
+service. There were also card parties, not always by invitation, but
+maybe a half-dozen would be talking together, and would decide to drop
+into some officer's quarters for a game of cards, others were likely to
+drop in also, so that sometimes there would be quite a crowd of us
+together to spend the evening. I thought the informality of these
+meetings added very much to their charm.
+
+There was a good library at this post which was liberally patronized by
+the officers and their families, and also by the enlisted men.
+
+A jockey club was formed among the officers and a race-course laid out
+on the flat south of the post, and race meetings were held on Saturday
+afternoons, which afforded a great deal of pleasure and amusement. In
+one of these races which was to take place in the course of a month, it
+was agreed that each officer should ride his own horse. The difference
+in the weight of the riders it was thought, would be an important factor
+in determining the results. Major Van de Weyle weighed one hundred and
+ninety pounds while Mr. Lebo weighed only one hundred and fifteen
+pounds. They all had good horses and the race was looked forward to with
+great interest. The major was jollied a good deal about his weight, but
+he insisted that he would be able to train down, and he would show them
+what his horse, which was a fine one, could do. The race-course was a
+mile in length and it was supposed the heavyweights would stand no
+show, but Captain Walsh, who weighed one hundred and sixty-five pounds,
+won the race and Major Van de Weyle, who had increased six pounds in
+weight, came in fourth, in a bunch of seven, who started in the race.
+
+In addition to the social life at the post, the fishing and hunting were
+good for those of us who cared to indulge in that kind of sport. Both
+Medicine Bluff and Cache creeks were fine fishing streams, and I found
+congenial company in one or two of the officers who enjoyed the fishing
+as much as I did myself. Among those most pleasantly remembered, was a
+Mr. Pratt, a lieutenant in one of the cavalry companies at the post He
+was an expert fisherman and a cordial good fellow and I have always
+thought of our fishing trips with pleasure.
+
+After we left Fort Sill he was detached from his command and put in
+charge of the educational interests of the Indians.
+
+He became a distinguished officer in this work. When still a lieutenant
+he established the Indian school at Carlisle, Pa., a well known
+industrial school, in 1879, and was superintendent until 1904. In 1916,
+when my wife and I were on our golden wedding trip we met him again at
+Nye Beach, Oregon, and were pleased to renew our acquaintance after more
+than forty-five years.
+
+His distinguished services raised him to the rank of brigadier general,
+and he is now on the retired list of the army.
+
+At Camp Limestone there were three officers and two officers' wives. We
+had acquaintances at Fort Scott and Girard, who either visited us or
+made the customary calls. These, with the officers and others who came
+in the shooting season, made up the social features of the camp.
+
+In those days drinking was far more prevalent, both in the army and out
+of it, than it is today. I think none but the old people of today can
+have the correct "view-point" of the difference in which the use of
+alcoholic beverages was considered fifty years ago and now. At that time
+it was not considered harmful, but rather commendable, if not taken to
+excess, as a means of promoting social intercourse, and except at Fort
+Sill it was to be had at all the post trader's stores at the military
+posts on the frontier, and at most of them it was on the sideboard or on
+the mantle over the fire-place, in the officers' billiard room free to
+those who cared to use it. Of course, even in those days, there were
+those who talked very energetically if not violently against the use of
+it and some preachers would even tell you you would go to hell if you
+drank it. But people don't scare easily, and you would maybe think about
+it and take another drink, concluding that maybe there is no hell, or if
+there is you won't go there, or maybe the preacher didn't know anything
+about it anyway. Since then the scientific medical man has come to the
+front. He does not try to scare you, but he has some scientific facts
+which he has fully proven, and tells you about them, among these are: it
+promotes hardening of the arteries (Arterio Sclerosis); it produces
+fatty degeneration and other diseases of the liver; it impairs
+digestion; it interferes with the assimilation of food; it impairs heart
+action, and has many other injurious effects on the system, such as
+preparing it for fatal results in pneumonia and most of the acute
+inflammatory diseases.
+
+He appeals to your reason in place of to your fears, and you are bound
+to take notice. The result is a vast difference in public opinion
+regarding its use then and now.
+
+In the army it was used almost exclusively in a social way. There were
+occasional excesses, but these were not of frequent occurrence and there
+was one restraining influence; the fear of court-martial.
+
+It will be readily understood that there were so-called "black sheep" in
+the army as well as in the churches, and in the fraternal orders. In the
+army, however, there was no hesitancy in getting rid of them, a thing I
+have seldom known to be done either in the churches or in the fraternal
+orders, and this was by means of court-martial. No matter what the
+specific charges may have been, there is generally, if not always added
+this one: "Conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman." This it will
+be readily seen covers a wide range, and permits thorough investigation
+of character and the very terms of this charge indicates not only the
+high character that is expected, but that is demanded of an officer in
+the service.
+
+I had been in the army nearly seven years with no chance for promotion,
+and while feeling some doubt as to my success in private life we felt it
+to be the best thing to leave the service. We decided to live at Girard,
+Kansas, and came to this place in November of that year.
+
+Two things have particularly impressed me, in looking back over the
+nearly half century since I entered the service--one is the amazing
+development of the west, and the other is the wonderful evolution in the
+practice of medicine and surgery. As an example of the first, take
+Kansas--not because it is Kansas, but because it is typical of the great
+west. Population in 1870, 364,399; in 1914, 1,677,106. Wheat crop in
+1871, 4,614,924 bushels; in 1914, 180,925,885 bushels. And other crops
+in proportion. The western half of the state was then practically
+uninhabited. Today it is the great wheat belt of the country.
+
+When I entered the service people died wholesale from diphtheria,
+typhoid fever and inflammation of the bowels. Bacteriology, the great
+searchlight of medicine, as we have it today, was then practically
+unknown. Today we innoculate against typhoid fever and are immune. Today
+we operate for appendicitis and inflammation of the bowels practically
+disappears from our list of diseases. Today we give antitoxin and the
+child's life is saved. We used to expect pus after a surgical operation
+and were disappointed if we did not get a so-called "healthy pus." Today
+the surgeon would be ashamed of it.
+
+Both before leaving the army and since, I have had people refer to our
+army officers and their families, with some degree of aspersion, saying
+they were too proud and would not speak to common folk; that they were
+aristocrats, and much other nonsense. Possibly their isolated condition
+when I was in the service, gave some color to such accusations, but as
+far as I can estimate them, if they are an aristocracy, it is an
+aristocracy of merit; of intellect; of honor; of integrity; of loyalty;
+of a strong sense of duty and many other worthy qualities that mark them
+as distinguished from any other kind of aristocracy we have in this
+country, and I think particularly from our so-called aristocracy of
+wealth, so often associated with snobbery, and whose daughters so often
+present the nauseating spectacle, of trading themselves off to some
+degenerate and profligate descendant of inherited title and giving a
+million to boot.
+
+Just now, 1918, we hear a great deal about the army and the necessity of
+increasing its numbers, and much about its officers, but do we ever hear
+anything about the officers' wives? They may not be of great importance
+now, but how was it forty or fifty years ago? At that time the great
+western half of our country was practically unsettled. There were few
+railroads, and no transcontinental line until 1869. Denver and Santa Fe
+were considered mere trading posts. There were only two overland stage
+lines and no settlements of consequence. The military posts were
+scattered over this vast region, separated from each other by many miles
+of distance and the ever present danger of attack from Indians. How
+about the wives of the army officers of that day, who shared with their
+husbands the dangers and hardships of frontier life? I wish here to pay
+my tribute to one who shared with me all of the sorrows, and most of the
+hardships herein related, and many others not considered of sufficient
+importance to mention. One who seldom complained; whose courage never
+faltered; whose abiding faith often prompted her to say, "It will all
+come out for the best in the end."
+
+Thus, we have traveled along life's pathway, with its joys and sorrows,
+until now we realize that we have crossed the divide, and are going down
+the western slope. The shadows are growing longer, the valley is not far
+distant, night is coming on, it will soon be taps and the lights will go
+out.
+
+
+
+
++---------------------------------------------------+
+|Transcriber's note:                                |
+|                                                   |
+|Obvious typographical errors have been corrected.  |
+|                                                   |
++---------------------------------------------------+
+
+
+
+
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+<h1>The Project Gutenberg eBook, Little Pills, An Army Story, by Robert
+Henderson McKay</h1>
+<pre>
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at <a href = "http://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a></pre>
+<p>Title: Little Pills, An Army Story</p>
+<p>       Being Some Experiences of a United States Army Medical Officer on the Frontier Nearly a Half Century Ago</p>
+<p>Author: Robert Henderson McKay</p>
+<p>Release Date: April 26, 2011  [eBook #35973]</p>
+<p>Language: English</p>
+<p>Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1</p>
+<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LITTLE PILLS, AN ARMY STORY***</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<h4>E-text prepared by David Edwards, Martin Pettit,<br />
+    and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team<br />
+    (<a href="http://www.pgdp.net">http://www.pgdp.net</a>)<br />
+    from page images generously made available by<br />
+    Internet Archive<br />
+    (<a href="http://www.archive.org/">http://www.archive.org</a>)</h4>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<table border="0" style="background-color: #ccccff;margin: 0 auto;" cellpadding="10">
+  <tr>
+    <td valign="top">
+      Note:
+    </td>
+    <td>
+      Images of the original pages are available through
+      Internet Archive. See
+      <a href="http://www.archive.org/details/littlepillsarmys00mckaiala">
+      http://www.archive.org/details/littlepillsarmys00mckaiala</a>
+	</td>
+  </tr>
+</table>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<hr class="full" />
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<div class="center"><img src="images/i001.jpg" width='480' height='700' alt="cover" /></div>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span></p>
+
+<h1><span>LITTLE PILLS<br />AN ARMY STORY</span> <span id="id1">BY</span> <span>R. H. McKAY</span></h1>
+
+<p class="center">Formerly Acting Assistant Surgeon United States Army</p>
+
+<hr class="smler" />
+
+<p class="bold">Being Some Experiences of a United States Army<br />
+Medical Officer on the Frontier Nearly<br />A Half Century Ago</p>
+
+<p class="tbrk">&nbsp;</p>
+
+<div class="center"><img src="images/i002.jpg" width='60' height='61' alt="decoration" /></div>
+
+<p class="tbrk">&nbsp;</p>
+
+<p class="center">1918<br />PUBLISHED BY<br />PITTSBURG HEADLIGHT<br />PITTSBURG, KANSAS</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p class="bold2">CONTENTS</p>
+
+<table summary="CONTENTS">
+  <tr>
+    <td class="left"><span class="smaller">CHAPTER</span></td>
+    <td>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<span class="smaller">PAGE</span></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td>FOREWARD.</td>
+    <td><a href="#Page_5">5</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td>I.</td>
+    <td><a href="#Page_7">7</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td>II.</td>
+    <td><a href="#Page_19">19</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td>III.</td>
+    <td><a href="#Page_33">33</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td>IV.</td>
+    <td><a href="#Page_40">40</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td>V.</td>
+    <td><a href="#Page_47">47</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td>VI.</td>
+    <td><a href="#Page_55">55</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td>VII.</td>
+    <td><a href="#Page_67">67</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td>VIII.</td>
+    <td><a href="#Page_80">80</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td>IX.</td>
+    <td><a href="#Page_89">89</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td>X.</td>
+    <td><a href="#Page_100">100</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td>XI.</td>
+    <td><a href="#Page_106">106</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td>XII.</td>
+    <td><a href="#Page_111">111</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td>XIII.</td>
+    <td><a href="#Page_117">117</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td>XIV.</td>
+    <td><a href="#Page_122">122</a></td>
+  </tr>
+</table>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><span>FOREWORD</span></h2>
+
+<p class="bold">BY R. H. McKAY</p>
+
+<p>This little sketch of army life on the frontier was first written,
+merely for the pleasure it might bring to my children in looking it over
+in after years. It remained in the form of a manuscript for that
+purpose, until some of my friends urged its publication. The merit of
+the story itself, if it has any, lies in the fact of actual experience,
+but probably a matter of more importance is to call attention to the
+wonderful changes that have taken place in the fifty years just passed.
+The term frontier today would be a misnomer. There is no frontier. The
+immense areas of wild and waste country that then existed has vanished
+before the tide of civilization and settlement. The present generation
+can never realize the vast changes. Possibly this little book may bring
+to mind, by way of contrast, at least some of the conditions then and
+now.</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span></p>
+
+<p class="bold2">LITTLE PILLS</p>
+
+<h2><span>CHAPTER I.</span></h2>
+
+<p>My children have often asked me to write out some of my experience while
+a medical officer in the United States Army on the frontier, and I have
+often resolved to do so. But for many years after leaving the service my
+time was so thoroughly taken up in an effort to make a living and
+educate the children that my good resolutions received scant attention.
+Now in my 78th year the apathy of old age is such a handicap, that great
+effort is required to do things that at one time I could have done
+cheerfully but did not.</p>
+
+<p>I think my experiences during the Civil War gave me something of a taste
+for military duty, for when in the summer or early fall of 1868 I
+noticed that an Army Medical Board was in session at New York, I at once
+made application to appear before it for examination for a position in
+the regular service. I was examined in October, 1868, and as the board
+continued in session for some time afterwards I waited with some anxiety
+and misgivings as to the result of my examination. I had the impression
+that the examination would be severe and was doubtful of my ability to
+pass. In this connection it is proper to say that some had failed in
+these examinations that afterwards became noted medical men. Among them,
+I was informed, was Dr. Austin Flint, Sr., whose work on the practice of
+medicine was standard and considered the best when I was a student. His
+son, Dr. Austin Flint, Jr., also became famous as our great Physiologist
+and his work on that subject is standard today. It was not until the
+following January that I heard from my examination, and was then
+directed to report at St. Louis to be mustered into the service as
+Acting Assistant Surgeon in the United States Army. There was
+necessarily some delay in disposing of the few things we had, some of
+which we sold and some of which we stored.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span> Finally everything being
+disposed of, we left our home in Washington, Iowa, and from there, after
+a day with friends, took a train for Burlington, thence to Keokuk, where
+my wife remained visiting relatives, I going on to St. Louis to report.</p>
+
+<p>I was mustered into the service January 29th, 1869, and ordered to
+report to the Medical Director, Department of the Missouri at
+Leavenworth, Kansas, for assignment to duty. The Department of the
+Missouri at the time comprised the States of Missouri, Kansas, Colorado,
+New Mexico, The Indian Territory, and I think Arkansas.</p>
+
+<p>General Sheridan was the commanding officer of the department at that
+time. He also had a brother who was a captain and who was also stationed
+at Leavenworth. Dr. Miles was the Medical Director of the Department and
+Dr. McGruder was Post Surgeon at Leavenworth. I was on waiting orders at
+Fort Leavenworth for something over a month during which time I got my
+first impression of the rank and file of the Regular Army. The officers
+impressed me as very self important, exceedingly courteous and cordial,
+and charming in their broad-gauge views of current events and their
+unreserved candor in discussing all subjects. I must except one subject,
+however, and that was politics. An army officer is supposed to have no
+politics, or if he has he keeps them in reserve. Seldom during nearly
+seven years of my life in the army did I hear politics mentioned. An
+army officer is supposed to do his duty regardless of who holds
+political authority over him, and this he does most loyally. The
+enlisted men impressed me as a clean, attractive and well disciplined
+body of soldiers. Another thing that impressed me was the absolute
+separation of the officers and enlisted men. It may be different now but
+at that time there seemed to be nothing of even a fraternal interest.
+The officer commanded and the soldier obeyed. In this way they seemed as
+distinct as oil and water, and it was a rather surprising contrast to
+the volunteer service during the war, where enlisted men and officers
+often from the same town and nearly always from the same community
+fraternized and often addressed each other by their given names; while
+in the regular service there was nothing of the kind. An officer<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span> when
+passing an enlisted man always received a salute. The men or man
+standing at attention when giving it and the officer was required to
+return the salute. The men may be sitting down, say outside of their
+barracks, and when an officer approaches and gets within a certain
+distance they all rise at once, stand at attention, and give the salute,
+and this is the extent of their relations with each other.</p>
+
+<p>The officers mess at Leavenworth was quite a large one, mostly of
+unmarried men, although there were maybe two or three married couples,
+and was exceedingly cordial and sociable with each other. Those of the
+rank of Captain or higher up in rank were always addressed by their
+military title of Captain or Major, as it might be, but the Lieutenants
+were addressed as Mister, or by their surnames, as Mr. Jones or simply Jones.</p>
+
+<p>The first of March came and with it came pay-day, a matter that seemed
+of much interest to the officers. It did not take me long to learn its
+importance for army officers at that time as a rule literally lived up
+their salaries. I finally learned that an officer was considered by many
+other officers as a little off color if he was close-fisted and tried to
+save money out of his pay. To me it was a matter of importance because I
+was poor and needed it. I sent most of my first month's pay, after
+paying mess bill and a few other necessary expenses, to my wife, not
+keeping enough, as I afterward learned, for an emergency that might
+arise. Expecting to be ordered to some frontier post, I took the
+precaution to invest in a pistol, a very ridiculous thing to do, as I
+now think of it. The further history of that pistol will appear later on
+in this story.</p>
+
+<p>While at Leavenworth the officers gave a hop. I never knew why it was
+called a hop instead of a dance, but it was always so designated in the
+army. Officers came from other places, particularly Fort Riley, among
+whom was General Custer of cavalry fame during the Civil War, and a
+noted Indian fighter on the frontier. I watched him with a good deal of
+interest, for at that time he was a distinguished man in the service,
+and I must say that I was rather disappointed in his appearance. He
+seemed to me to be under-sized and slender, and at first blush to be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span>
+effeminate in appearance. Maybe his long hair, almost reaching to his
+shoulders, gave this impression, but the face was something of a study
+and hard to describe. Something of boldness or maybe dash, a quick eye,
+and he was intensely energetic, giving the impression that he would be a
+veritable whirlwind in an engagement. He did not convey the idea of a
+great character. He was a very graceful dancer. His career ended at the
+famous battle in our Indian warfare, that of the Little Big Horn. Not a
+man of his command escaped to tell the story.</p>
+
+<p>I think it was about the 8th or 9th of March that I received orders to
+report to the Chief Medical Officer, District of New Mexico, for
+assignment to duty. The quartermaster furnished transportation, that is
+to say, orders to the transportation companies, railroads, stage-lines,
+etc., to carry the officer to point of destination. This, together with
+the order of assignment to duty, would carry one wherever the assignment
+directed. At this time the so-called Kansas-Pacific railroad was built
+out pretty well towards the west line of the state, but there were no
+transcontinental lines finished until the following summer. The Union
+and Central Pacifics joining that year in Utah in July.</p>
+
+<p>I left Fort Leavenworth in the morning and before night was out on the
+plains. From Leavenworth to Topeka there was some settlement. The towns
+as I remember them were mere railroad stations, except Lawrence, which
+was more pretentious, and the scattering farmhouses were small and
+primitive in style. Topeka seemed to be something of a town, but from
+there west the country was only partially inhabited. Fort Hayes stood
+out prominently to the left of the railroad but the whole country seemed
+one great sea of desolation unlimited in extent. At that time I would
+not have given ten dollars per square league for what has since become
+one of the famous wheat fields of the country. The evening of the second
+day we arrived at a place called Sheridan which was the terminus of the
+railroad. It was a straggling place of tents and wooden shacks, dance
+halls, bawdy houses, gambling houses and saloons. Murders were of
+frequent occurrence and it was considered dangerous to be on the street
+at night. There was only one street in the town. I started out<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span> on this
+street about dusk, thinking I had better go to the stage office and
+arrange for my transportation on to Santa Fe. The landlord happened to
+notice me and called for me to wait a minute and when he had joined me
+he inquired where I was going. He said he would go with me as it might
+not be safe for me to be alone, and told me of a killing in front of the
+hotel the night before.</p>
+
+<p>My bed that night was on the second story, merely floored, and not
+plastered or sealed, and the roof slanted down close to the bed. The
+space between the floor and the edge of the roof was open and I could
+look down into the saloon. I watched the patrons of this place for some
+time for it was altogether a new experience. The clinking of glasses;
+the loud talk; the dim lights; and the thorough abandonment of the
+motley crowd remains quite vividly in my memory. It finally occurred to
+me that in the event of a shooting scrape, even there in bed was not a
+very safe place, so I edged over to the far side of the bed and soon
+dropped to sleep, not waking until called in the morning.</p>
+
+<p>We got an early start and I had the stage mostly to myself until we
+crossed the Raton spur of the mountain. The nights were chilly and I was
+not over-warmly clad, but I managed after the first night to get a fair
+amount of sleep. I felt some fear of Indians although it was too early
+in the season for them to go on the war-path. The summer before had been
+a particularly bad one on the plains. Forsythe's command was almost
+annihilated in October, 1868, on the Ariskaree Fork of the Republican
+river, and at every stage station until after we reached Trinidad,
+Colo., the first salutation between the men at the station and our
+conductor was whether either had seen any Indians. The apprehension was
+not that the Indians would go on the war-path at that time of the year,
+because their ponies could not exist until the grass was well started,
+but that some of the venturesome young bucks might take it into their
+heads to attack the stage coach. I peeked out of the coach at night and
+wondered if there was any probability of Indians attacking us and
+thought of my pistol, but was not proud of it, or of my ability to use it.</p>
+
+<p>The stage stations were interesting to me. On the plains<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span> proper they
+were uniformly built, underground as far up as the sidewalls extended,
+and was located near some water hole and at an elevation that would
+command a view of the surrounding country for some distance. Above the
+dirt walls large logs were laid, upon which the cross timbers were
+placed for supporting the roof. These logs were raised from the ground
+enough, say three or four inches, to give the occupants a good view of
+the surrounding country, and an opportunity of using their carbines
+against attack from the Indians, with comparative safety to themselves.
+The roof was covered with dirt. The stables were built the same way with
+underground passages or open ditches connected with the station proper.
+Both station and stable were connected in the same way with the water
+hole. At these stations on the plains proper, were stationed a small
+squad of soldiers, maybe a half dozen, under the command of a
+noncommissioned officer, generally a sergeant, and you can readily see
+that the Indians would be a little cautious about getting too near such
+a place although during the summer season they often attacked the stage
+between stations. The stations were at variable distances apart,
+depending on the water supply, generally from eight to twenty miles
+apart, and were supplied by government trains on their way to the
+military posts of the West. There was not much to attract attention in
+approaching these stations, no building in sight, no sign of life. The
+first thing you knew some one would hollow "Hello!" and "Hello!" would
+come back. "Have you seen any Indians?" and there you are. The last
+inquiry was natural enough when you consider the near approach of
+spring, when the grass would be green enough to furnish feed for Indian
+ponies. Indians would not appear in large numbers at this time of the
+year, but little roving bands, maybe one or two venturesome bucks might
+be seen almost daily at a safe distance, evidently spying out the
+prospects for more serious work later in the season. Of course we got
+our meals at these stations, consisting generally of bacon, hot
+corn-bread or biscuit, a vegetable or two, and black coffee. This menu
+varied some after we crossed the Raton Mountains and were practically
+out<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span> of Indian troubles, when we had a greater variety, and it was
+better prepared.</p>
+
+<p>We got to Trinidad late at night, the first town after crossing the
+plains, and located just at the base on the north side of the Raton
+Range near the Purgatory river. This was a mining town of some
+importance in those days, and had the usual quota of dance halls,
+gambling dens and other equipment of a typical mining town.</p>
+
+<p>We got to Dick Wooton's early the following morning and had a good
+breakfast. His place was located near the top of Raton Pass and
+consisted at that time of a rambling lot of log buildings; one for a
+house proper, which was clean, comfortable, and attractive inside, and
+the others for stables, blacksmith and wagon shops, and in fact anything
+and everything where repairs to transportation could be made. Dick
+himself was an attractive personality, was large, quite above the
+average in size, with a cheery open face giving little evidence of the
+frontier man, and yet he was almost as noted as Kit Carson with whom he
+was associated as pioneer and scout. Both were noted men on the
+frontier. Wooton, however, took a more practical view of life than
+Carson and conceived the idea of building a wagon road over the Raton
+Pass. This road was completed and I think had been for some time before
+I crossed the pass. If I remember correctly we crossed a little stream
+coming down from near the top of the range thirteen times before we came
+to the top of the pass. Wooton had some kind of permit or authority from
+the government for building this road and was authorized to make it a
+toll road. He was reported to have made quite a fortune from the revenue
+derived from it.</p>
+
+<p>A little place called Cimarron, (which in Spanish means mountain of
+sheep) or Maxwell's ranch was the next place of interest to me. This is
+some distance south of the Raton Range, maybe half way from Trinidad to
+Fort Union. It seemed that Maxwell married a high class Spanish woman
+whose family owned an immense estate in what was Mexico before it was
+ceded to the United States. In the division of the estate Maxwell's wife
+got a grant of many thousands of acres on the head waters of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span>
+Cimarron, a tributary of the Canadian, which I understand was very much
+reduced as a result of extended litigation with the government as to
+title. We traveled for miles on what was then called Maxwell's Ranch,
+where great herds of sheep, cattle and horses were to be seen, with an
+adobe house here and there, where herders lived. It was a great pleasure
+to stop even for one meal at such a place as Maxwell's. The house was
+commodious and handsomely furnished and everything was prosperous and
+home-like. Some years later I had the pleasure of acquaintance of a
+daughter of Mr. Maxwell's who married a lieutenant in the army and we
+were serving at the same post.</p>
+
+<p>We passed Fort Union in the night and I did not get to see much of it,
+but I understand it to be only a military post and base of supplies, for
+the Quarter-Master or Commissary Department of the army for the District
+of New Mexico.</p>
+
+<p>My first view of Las Vegas (The Meadows, in Spanish) was over a
+beautiful wide valley, some three or four miles across, through which a
+pretty little stream of water, the source of the Pecos river, was
+wending its way. The view was beautiful and the town looked to be a
+place of importance, but proved to be disappointing on a closer acquaintance.</p>
+
+<p>Not far from Las Vegas we passed what was called the old Pecos church.
+It was only a little distance from the road and said to have been built
+in the seventeenth century. It stood alone in its desolation and had
+partially fallen into decay. The roof was off, the walls partly broken
+down and it looked to be as old as reported.</p>
+
+<p>We arrived in Santa Fe late in the evening and stopped at the hotel or
+fonda, as it is called in Spanish. At first one feels that he is in a
+different country; something foreign and out of the usual, and this
+feeling grows with closer acquaintance. For instance you go direct from
+the street to your room if your wife is with you, or to a kind of a
+lobby or sitting room with a bar at one side if alone.</p>
+
+<p>I was thankful that the stage ride was ended. We had been going night
+and day since leaving the railroad at Sheridan, Kans., a distance of
+nearly four hundred miles, and although I had the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span> stage to myself most
+of the way, one passenger got on at Cimarron that I will feel grateful
+to the balance of my days, and from Fort Union to Santa Fe the coach was
+crowded all the way. The stage lines in those days had a conductor who
+went to the end of the route, much as our railroad conductors do today,
+while the drivers like our engineers, only went to what might be called
+division points, say twelve-hour trips.</p>
+
+<p>The conductor has charge, and is responsible for the United States mail
+and the express packages which are carried in what is called the front
+boot, and where the conductor curls up among the mail sacks and packages
+and sleeps at night. The back boot is devoted to baggage. Inside there
+are generally two seats facing each other and wide enough for three
+persons if not too big, on each seat. The stage coach had a great
+swinging body resting on two immense leather straps for springs, one on
+each side underneath and extending from front to back. These flexible
+springs gave the coach an easy side swing and it was not a particularly
+unpleasant thing to ride in.</p>
+
+<p>Having arrived in Santa Fe late Saturday evening I did not report until
+next morning, and about noon an orderly brought to the hotel my orders
+from the Chief Medical officer directing me to report to the commanding
+officer at Fort Selden, New Mex., for assignment to duty. This was
+startling news, for Fort Selden was the last military post before
+reaching the Mexican border and I had only $2.50 in my pocket and my
+hotel bill to pay. Being new in the service and something of a
+tenderfoot I did not want to go to the other officers for help. I left
+my room and went down to the hotel lobby and among others who were there
+was the gentleman who got on the stage at Cimarron. We had traveled
+together from Cimarron to Santa Fe with hardly the exchange of the usual
+courtesies. I was not a good mixer and he had nothing to say, but my
+case was very desperate. I had to talk to someone so I asked if he was
+acquainted in Santa Fe and he said "some." I told him my troubles and
+that I had a good watch and a good pistol (that pistol was a hoodoo by
+this time) that I would put up as security for a few dollars to pay my
+expenses on the way to Fort Selden. He said: "Well, nobody would<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span> give
+you anything for them things. If I had the money I would let you have
+it." This in a rather slow drowning voice. I took this as a matter of
+course. Anybody would talk the same way, I thought, whether they had it or not.</p>
+
+<p>Dinner was soon ready. The dining room was away to the rear end of this
+somewhat rambling hotel building. We passed through a billiard hall and
+maybe some store rooms before reaching it. I think, however, there was a
+different route for the ladies. I suppose the dinner was good but do not
+remember much about it. I do remember, however, on the way back through
+the pool hall I stopped to glance around the room which was a very long
+one with many tables and many players. The second table away became very
+interesting to me for near it stood my man of short acquaintance
+apparently talking to one of the players, a large fine looking man who,
+laying his cue across the corner of the table, pulled out such a wad of
+bills as I had never seen before and commenced counting out the money to
+my newly made acquaintance. I passed and went up to my room wondering if
+he would keep his word, now that he had the money. I tried to read but
+made poor headway. Pretty soon there was a light tap on the door and I
+said "come in." The door opened and there was my new found friend who
+took a seat in a rather deliberate way and said nothing. I made some
+remark about the weather which seemed to meet his approval but directly
+he asked me: "About how much money do you think you will need?" I told
+him I thought about twenty dollars would be enough. He brought from his
+pocket a great bunch of bank notes and counted out twenty dollars and
+handed it to me. When I offered my security he politely turned them down
+saying he would take chances. When I asked him if he had never lost
+money that way he replied, "Yes, some." And when I said I would feel
+better myself if he would take something to make himself safe he said,
+"Oh no, I'll take chances." When next I inquired about his knowledge of
+Santa Fe and the west generally he became more communicative and
+informed me that he had spent all his life from a youngster as a
+prospector, sometimes striking it good and selling out and trying it
+again; sometimes having plenty of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span> money, and at other times having
+nothing. Someone else would then furnish him a "grub-stake" as he called
+it with which to try again. He and his partners had just sold out a gold
+mine at Cimarron and I presume the money I saw him receive from the big
+man at the pool table was part of the proceeds of that sale. He finally
+asked me if I cared to walk about the town some. I think I would have
+gone with him anywhere, so I responded very promptly that I would like
+to. The town was utterly strange to me, so different from anything I had
+ever seen: adobe walls, adobe houses, and the people were as strange
+looking as the houses. The women wore some kind of a wrap over their
+head called a mantilla (pronounced man-tee-ya, with the accent on the
+second syllable) leaving a little open space for one eye to peep out at
+people they met, and the men with the wide brimmed, high peaked hats
+that I afterwards learned are the universal costumes of the Mexican
+people. After looking around a bit my companion asked me if I would like
+to see a cock-fight. Sure thing, of course I would, although having been
+raised a strict Scotch Presbyterian I felt some qualms of conscience
+about witnessing such an exhibition on the "Sabbath."</p>
+
+<div class="center"><img src="images/i003.jpg" width='445' height='700' alt="" /></div>
+
+<p class="tbrk bold">SATANTA<br />War Chief of the Kiowas<br />Original in our possession, taken by Soule,<br />of Boston, while we were
+stationed<br />at Fort Sill</p>
+
+<p>The amphitheater in which the exhibition was given was without cover and
+enclosed by a high adobe wall. It was crowded with men and women, mostly
+Mexicans, in gala dress, some very richly dressed women and some whose
+attire attested poverty, but even these wore bright colors. The head
+covering was universal but as varied in colors and quality as the fancy
+and wealth of the wearers suggested. I think some of the hats of the men
+must have cost a small fortune. The exhibition itself was not very
+attractive to me. I could see the chickens sparring around as though for
+a good opening and finally one of the cocks would drive the gaff home
+with deadly effect and the people would shout and clap their hands and
+exchange the money they had wagered on the result. The management would
+then bring in another pair of birds for another contest. The betting
+consisted not only of money but all kinds of trinkets and valuables. I
+saw one woman take off her white slippers handsomely ornamented with
+gold braid and spangles and bet them on the result<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span> of the contest. The
+affair was conducted in Spanish-Mexican and I could not understand
+anything that was said, but they all seemed to be delighted with the
+exhibition. To me it was not only cruel but was uninteresting. We did
+not stay until the finish but went out and saw some more of the town,
+then returned to our hotel.</p>
+
+<p>My newly made friend came up to my room after supper, and spent part of
+the evening with me. I found his experiences interesting. The old story
+of ups and downs, money to spare, and grub-stakes furnished by some one
+else, to give him another start. He gave me his address and I was very
+prompt in returning his twenty dollars as soon as I got to Fort Selden,
+which by the way, I borrowed from the post trader until pay-day. In
+answer to my remittance I received a post card without address or date
+saying, "You needn't have been in such a hurry." Thus ended an
+acquaintance and experience that I think could not have happened
+anywhere else than on the American frontier. His name was Robert
+Daugherty and nothing could give me greater pleasure than to meet him
+again and furnish him a "grub-stake" if he needed it.</p>
+
+<p>Santa Fe (Holy Faith, in Spanish) was an old town when the Pilgrims
+landed at Plymouth Rock. About 1606 according to Colonel R. E.
+Twitchell, the best authority on the early history of New Mexico, it was
+made the capital of one of the Spanish provinces, and had been built on
+the site of two small Indian pueblos. I believe if I had been dropped
+down in some town in the interior of China and had found a few Americans
+to talk to it would not have seemed more strange to me. The office of
+the chief medical officer of the district was located in a building on
+the plaza that someone told me was the old palace, but which I thought
+did not look much like a palace, and which I understand is now used as a
+museum in which are to be found the most remarkable collection of
+archaeological specimens in America.</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><span>CHAPTER II.</span></h2>
+
+<p>Monday morning I started for Fort Selden on the Rio Grande, nearly three
+hundred miles away. We had a different type of stage coach, a small
+affair, more like a carriage, and drawn by two horses. Some eight or ten
+miles out of Santa Fe we almost literally dropped off into a canon that
+widened out into more of a valley as we continued our journey until we
+reached the Rio Grande some distance above Albuquerque. This town was at
+that time a straggling Mexican village of adobe houses along the east
+bank of the river. It is now a city of considerable size on the east
+side, with modern improvements and is a division point on the Santa Fe
+railway and a town of commercial importance.</p>
+
+<p>The river was disappointing. I expected something bigger, and it wound
+around from one side of the valley to the other as though in doubt as to
+the best way to go. The valley was interesting because of its being
+occupied by an altogether different type of Indians. We had left the
+plains Indian at Trinidad and from there to Santa Fe had seen only
+Mexicans with a fair proportion of Americans whose business interests
+were in the country. The Plains Indian, Cheyennes, Commanches, and
+Kiowas and Arapahoes, were nomadic and warlike. Here was an agricultural
+people who lived in little villages called pueblos, a name also attached
+to the Indians themselves. Their villages were located at convenient
+distances apart and both men and women went to the fields to work. The
+land was divided off into little patches separated by irrigating
+ditches, called asacies, and there were no fences or lines to show
+individual ownership. It was seemingly a community interest, a kind of
+socialism. The Pueblo Isletta was the capital and principal town and was
+the place of meeting for the disposal of important questions of interest
+to the tribe, and for the observance of such religious services as was
+their wont. The hoe was the principal agricultural implement, both for
+making ditches and for cultivating the land. The people seemed to be
+kindly disposed, and in every way a contrast to the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span> Plains Indian whose
+women do the work while the men do the hunting and fighting. They enter
+their houses by way of the roof, climbing a ladder from the ground to
+the roof and pulling the ladder up after them, then descending by way of
+an opening in the room to the room or rooms below. No doors, and only
+little peep-holes for windows, sometimes covered with a thin cloth of
+muslin. I suppose this was done in the first place as a protection
+against the Mountain Indians (Utes and Navajos) who in early times
+raided the valley and carried off anything they could lay their hands
+on. The valley was sparsely wooded except here and there when we would
+come to great groves or boscas as they were called, of immense
+cotton-wood trees which were very beautiful. The valley as described
+above was the same all the way down to Fort Selden.</p>
+
+<p>After leaving the Pueblo settlements we came to a country occupied
+nearly altogether by Mexicans. The commercial interests were conducted
+by so-called foreigners: Americans, Germans and Jews, the latter
+predominating, but the population was principally Mexican. Stock raising
+and farming were the principal industries, the latter in a very
+primitive way. They had no modern farm implements, such as plows,
+harrows, wagons, etc., and only such improved tools as they could
+construct from the scant material at hand. I saw at one place a man
+driving a yoke of cattle attached to what appeared to be the limb of a
+tree with a projecting prong entering the ground, and at the other end,
+which bent up something like a handle, was another man holding it. They
+were going back and forth making little ditches or furrows but not
+turning the ground over as our plows do. It looked primitive indeed and
+reminded me of a picture I saw in an almanac when a kid, representing
+the Egyptian plowing. Stock business was more promising. A good many
+cattle were reported on the range and I was told the sheep numbered many
+thousands scattered all along the mountain range to the west. Soccorro
+was the principal town, typically Mexican, but a place of some business
+importance. There were small villages at frequent intervals all the way
+to Paraja, the last town near the river before crossing the Jornada del
+Muerto (or "Journey of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span> Death" in Spanish) which extends from Paraja
+(pronounced Paraha, j having the sound of h in Spanish) to Fort Selden,
+nearly one hundred miles across, a desert properly named and that has
+some pitiful associations in my memory. It was what was known as the
+Apache Indian country and grewsome stories are related concerning it.
+Death by Indians, famishing for want of water, etc., etc. I must tell a
+legend concerning it and the desert country to the east and north. Near
+Paraja and rising bluff from the river's edge is a high bit of mountain,
+hardly worth the name of range, on the top of which lying in a recumbent
+position is as perfect profile of a face and bust as you could imagine.
+You get a fine view of it from Fort Craig and for a great distance to
+the northwest and northeast. The legend is that a friar, Christobal by
+name, and for whom the mountain or range was named, was traveling
+through the country on his work for the souls of men when he perished
+from thirst. Some supernatural agency brought his body to this mountain
+top where it hardened into stone and remains to this day a monument
+commemorating a tragedy, and a land mark and guide to the weary and
+thirsty traveler pointing the way to where he may find water.</p>
+
+<p>We left Paraja and the river and valley at night after a good supper,
+having supplied ourselves with water enough for the trip, expecting to
+get breakfast at a place about half-way across, called the Alaman
+(Allemand) literally meaning "Dutchman" where it was reported a German
+had been found some years before, killed and scalped by Indians. There
+had been repeated efforts made to find water on this desert. General
+Pope when a young officer of the service had spent a large amount of
+government money digging for water. Finally a man by the name of Martin,
+a Scotchman, who furnished the meat supply at Fort Selden, was so
+persistent with the commanding officer in asserting his ability to find
+water, that he was furnished a body of soldiers as an escort and guard
+and commissary supplies for the undertaking. He had been working
+faithfully and persistently for some months. He had also put some adobe
+rooms and had them furnished, his hauling his water supply from a spring
+in a canon some six or<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span> eight miles away and had built an adobe wall
+around his camp. He had also put some adobe rooms and had them
+furnished, his wife being an important assistant in the undertaking, and
+he was still sinking his well deeper and expressing an abiding faith in
+the result. It must be a glorious feeling to be vindicated in such an
+undertaking. It was rumored along the overland route that Jack Martin
+had found water but not enough, and upon our arrival we found that he
+not only had water but had an abundance of it and our stage was the
+first to arrive after he struck it. After eating a late breakfast, which
+was a very good one, we started for Fort Selden still some fifty miles
+away. This part of the trip was uneventful as we only stopped once to
+feed and water the team, having carried the necessary supplies with us.
+We arrived at Fort Selden in the evening. All the way from Santa Fe down
+I frequently noticed little piles of stone by the wayside, sometimes
+with little hand-made wooden crosses standing up in the center marking
+the place where someone had met a violent death, maybe by Indians or
+maybe at the hands of some renegade Mexicans. It is the custom among the
+Mexican people in passing to toss another stone on the pile and in this
+way some of them became of considerable size, the size of the pile
+indicating in a way the time that had elapsed since the murder had been committed.</p>
+
+<p>I reported to the commanding officer at the post and the following day
+was assigned to duty. By invitation I took dinner with one of the
+officers the evening of my arrival. Among other good things we had a
+choice roast of beef which they informed me was from their very choice
+and only milk cow. It seems the herders were not sufficiently on guard
+and this animal had become separated from the herd but in rounding up
+the herd in the evening it was discovered that this particular cow had
+an Indian arrow in her side and on examination it was thought best to
+kill her. The good woman did not have much appetite for beef but grieved
+over the loss of her favorite cow. There was some small timber and
+underbrush along the streams affording a good hiding place for sneaking
+Apaches who might be disposed to commit depredations. It was the rule at
+this post that when<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span> the officers' wives wanted to take an airing to
+send an escort along with the ambulance as a protection against the Indians.</p>
+
+<p>It was a two company post and the duties of the medical officer were
+light; so much so as to become a little monotonous, but was sometimes
+varied by a trip to Las Cruces or Messilla, some fifteen or eighteen
+miles distant. These towns were at one time separated by the river but
+some years before an unusual flood had swept down the valley and the
+river had made a new channel leaving the towns close neighbors. Even in
+those days they were places of some importance.</p>
+
+<p>While stationed at this post I made my first acquaintance with gambling.
+It did not take me long to learn that it was the universal custom in the
+country. The Sutler's or Post Trader's store was a favorite resort for
+those who indulged in the various games. I remember an old man camping
+not far from the post who made it his business. He remained there for
+some time and in conversation one day I expressed my surprise at the
+universal custom and he informed me that he had rather bet his money on
+Monte than loan it out at ten per cent interest, and yet his dress and
+camping outfit did not indicate a man of fortune.</p>
+
+<p>One of the most interesting incidents of my experience here was one
+Sunday morning after inspection when a group of officers were standing
+out on the parade grounds talking on various subjects when one of them
+was attracted by something at our feet and called attention to it. Upon
+closer investigation we discovered it to be the outlines of a human
+skull, the top of which had been worn away by the trampling of many feet
+over the parade ground. The post commander ordered the dirt removed from
+around it and thus unearthed a complete human skeleton except where the
+top of the head had been worn away. It was in a sitting position with
+the knees flexed up close to the chin but the bones crumbled upon being
+exposed to the air. There was no evidence of shroud or other covering to
+the body. What race of people buried their dead that way? How long had
+it been in its resting place?</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span></p><p>This post at that time was about seven hundred miles from the railroad.
+I doubt if there is a place in the United States today outside of Alaska
+or our insular possession where one could go and be seven hundred miles
+from a railroad.</p>
+
+<p>Along in the first part of May of that year I received orders from the
+chief medical officer of the district to exchange places with Dr.
+Seguin, post surgeon at Fort Craig. General Grover was the commanding
+officer at Fort Craig and was considered a good deal of a Martinet. As
+explained to me by Doctor Seguin, it seems that Mrs. Grover wanted
+something from the hospital which the doctor declined to send her and
+General Grover thereupon ordered it sent. The doctor disobeyed the order
+and the matter was carried to district headquarters and probably higher
+up for it involved the question of military discipline and also the
+rights of medical officers under army regulations. It is well enough
+here to say that the medical corps is a corps to itself, distinct from
+any other branch of the service, and orders come through the medical
+officers from the surgeon general down to the divisions; departments and
+districts, and yet at the military post the commanding officer is
+supposed to be "monarch of all he surveys" as you see there was a chance
+for controversy. Any way it was settled by Doctor Seguin being ordered
+to Fort Selden to take my place and I to his place at Fort Craig.</p>
+
+<p>General Grover was a severe looking man past middle age, and had seen
+service on the frontier before the Civil War. He was a strict
+disciplinarian and held himself aloof from everything around. I have
+seen him walking down the line of officers' quarters straight as an
+arrow, maybe with hands clasped behind his back and an orderly walking
+the proper distance behind. He never entered an officer's quarters but
+if he wanted anything he would send his orderly to the officer with "the
+General's compliments and would like to see you." The officer then
+walked out to where the general was standing and at the proper distance
+stopped, stood at attention and saluted and waited for such
+communications as the general would make. He then saluted again and
+returned to his quarters and the general went on his way.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span></p><p>Mrs. Grover was confined soon after my arrival at the post and gave
+birth to a daughter. When the general was called in to see the new
+arrival he merely looked at it, gave a grunt, or "huh," and then turned
+and walked out. Mrs. Grover was the most queenly looking woman I ever
+saw; a magnificent physique; a commanding presence and a dignified and
+gracious manner. She seemed to possess all the qualities my imagination
+had conjured up as befitting a queen. She was the daughter of Dr. Austin
+Flint, Sr., whom I mentioned in an earlier chapter, and a sister of Dr.
+Austin Flint, Jr., the eminent physiologist. I was frequently called to
+their quarters to see the baby, not I thought, that it needed anything,
+but that the mother wanted someone to talk with. The general was civil
+enough to me but never cordial. I think it was not his nature to be so.
+He invited me occasionally to go with him in his carriage to places away
+from the post, say to Paraja some twelve miles away, or perhaps just for
+a ride, a courtesy he never extended to other officers of the post. On
+these little excursions I found that the general was an interesting
+talker, mostly with reference to his experiences on the frontier before
+the war. The war itself and the army since the war was never mentioned
+that I remember. He had been a major general during the war and was now
+a colonel and it was thought by most of the officers that he felt
+humiliated by being assigned to a negro regiment, the twenty-fourth
+infantry. I was invited to their quarters one morning for breakfast and
+maybe one or two other meals during the summer but as I remember them
+now they were rather formal and uninteresting.</p>
+
+<p>Fort Craig was a walled fort, made so in early days as a protection
+against Indians. It was typical of most of the posts at which I served
+in being built in the form of a square. The parade ground being a square
+plot varying in size at different posts, around which are located the
+buildings. The officers occupying one side of the square; the barracks
+being directly opposite and the commissary and quarter master department
+generally occupying one side and the commanding officer's quarters and
+post headquarters and adjutant's office occupying the other side. At
+Fort Craig just outside of these buildings was an adobe wall<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span> about ten
+feet high. Next to the guardhouse was an opening large enough for wagons
+to enter the parade ground with heavy gates to close at night, and there
+were some small openings in the wall for other purposes, one being near
+the hospital. The walls of the buildings were of adobe with heavy
+timbers across to support the roof of dirt. The floors were what the
+Mexicans called "Jaspa" (pronounced Haspa), a kind of cement made of
+gypsum or lime sulphate which is found in great beds through a great
+portion of New Mexico. It is quarried or blasted out, heated to drive
+out the water or crystalization, then ground into a powder and when
+mixed with sand and water makes a pretty fair quality of cement. It was
+used altogether in the floors for the military posts along the Rio Grande.</p>
+
+<p>The water supply at Fort Craig was obtained from the Rio Grande river
+and there were times about June when the snows melted in the mountains
+that it answered very well to a description I once read of the Missouri
+river water, "Too thick to drink and too thin to cultivate." This was a
+great bother to us during the summer rise for it was persistent for more
+than a month. I conceived the idea of making a filter by making a good
+sized ball of jaspa and charcoal which I held together by mixing a
+little cotton batting carefully in the mortar and kneading it into a
+very stiff paste. After it hardened I bored a hole in the ball and
+inserted a rubber tube and then put the ball in a "Tanaja," a large
+ungalvanized earthen jar holding eight or ten gallons of the muddy
+water. This jar was put in an army blanket and was swung in the hallway.
+The jar being porous would let enough water through to keep the blanket
+damp, which cooled the water. By swinging another tanaja just below the
+first and having it blanketed in the same way, and having a rubber tube
+connecting the two, I had a filter that furnished clear, sparkling, cool
+water. I put one in the hospital and they became quite the vogue at the post.</p>
+
+<p>The wood supply was brought from the mountains some thirty miles away.
+Trains comprising several wagons would be sent out in charge of a
+wagonmaster with men enough to load them promptly and by starting early
+and returning late they<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span> sometimes made the round trip in two days, but
+generally they were three days out.</p>
+
+<p>For a month or more I was in the officers' mess, consisting only of
+single men or those whose families were away. The meals were rather
+stately affairs and to me seemed a little tinged with the ridiculous in
+that far-away place. There was a colored man standing behind each
+officer's chair dressed in the proper toggery to do his duty and to give
+him every attention. I never saw any more perfect service at any hotel
+and the table was the best the commissary department and the surrounding
+country would provide.</p>
+
+<p>Prices outside the commissary were much higher than we had then in Iowa.
+Eggs were fifty cents a dozen; butter a dollar and a quarter a pound. I
+paid these prices regularly when I started my own mess. I had what was
+called a student's lamp in those days and paid five dollars a gallon for
+coal oil, as it was then called. Of course that was before oil tanks
+were known and it was carried across the plains in barrels, maybe in hot
+weather, and on slow moving ox trains, being months on the way. The
+evaporation would necessarily be very great, and by the time the
+sutler's store got its percent of profit (probably one hundred percent
+or more) one could easily see that fifty cent oil in Iowa could easily
+be five dollars in New Mexico. Some years later at Fort McRae, further
+down the river, we got it for two dollars and a half per gallon by
+sending a five gallon can to Santa Fe to be filled.</p>
+
+<p>Thinking that I was a fixture at Fort Craig for some time I wrote my
+wife and asked her to join me after her visit in the East was over. In
+view of her coming I started a mess of my own and had a little colored
+drummer boy detailed as servant and cook. He was as black as night and I
+called him Sandy. To start with I laid in a pretty good supply of
+commissaries, among them ten pounds of cut loaf sugar. I had my first
+dinner on Saturday and the following Monday morning I asked Sandy if
+anything was needed. "Yas sah, Doctor, we needs some moah sugar." Why
+Sandy, I said, we got ten pounds of each kind on Saturday, which kind do
+you want? "We needs some moah cut loaf sugar, sah,"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span> he said. What, cut
+loaf sugar? "Yas sah, Doctor, it takes a powerful sight 'o sugar for
+deserts." Well all right Sandy, I said, I'll see about it. I thought it
+was going pretty fast for only two dinners so I stopped on my way back
+from the hospital at Major Sweet's quarters and asked Mrs. Sweet how
+much cut loaf sugar they used. She was bright and quick as a flash, and
+wished to know, while trying to look serious, why I asked such a
+question. Finally she broke out into a jolly rippling laugh and said, "I
+know what's the matter, Sandy has been carrying your sugar off to the
+laundresses." I told Sandy when I returned to my quarters that I did not
+mind his having all the sugar he wanted himself but I did not want to
+feed all the laundresses at the post on cut loaf sugar. He did better
+afterwards but I still think the laundresses got some sugar.</p>
+
+<p>There is no other part of the country so far as I know where skunks were
+so plentiful as in New Mexico. They were a nuisance at all the posts at
+which I served in that territory, but if possible were worse at Fort
+Craig than elsewhere. One evening I had gone to the post trader's to get
+my mail and upon my return I found the odor in my quarters so pronounced
+that I investigated and found that Sandy had killed a skunk in the
+kitchen. He explained by saying that he had tried to drive it out and
+could not do so and that he had killed it. I told him to open up all the
+windows and doors and scrub the kitchen floor and I went back to the
+sutler's store in self protection. I did not return until late when I
+found the odor worse than ever and Sandy explained the matter this time
+by saying another skunk came in and had made its way into my bed-room
+and got under the wardrobe and he could not get it out and was compelled
+to kill it. This he did by punching it to death. The result can be
+imagined, but not very well described. I slept on a cot in the front
+room for some time afterwards and found hunting and out-door exercise
+more interesting than remaining in my quarters.</p>
+
+<p>The sand storms at Fort Craig were something to remember, or rather I
+should say impossible to forget. They are simply a straight wind blowing
+with terrific force and loaded with fine sand and dust and very fine
+gravel. I remember particularly one<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span> that came up one day when the
+steward and I were making out the monthly reports at the hospital. The
+windows and doors were closed and everything made as snug as possible,
+yet when the storm was over one made tracks when walking across the
+floor as visible as he would have made walking along a sandy highway. It
+was a serious matter to be out in one of them, for unless the face was
+covered one would suffer severely from the stinging sand and fine
+gravel, and everything a short distance away was shut out from sight.
+There are also some pleasant things to remember of my experience at this
+post. The hunting, particularly of wild fowl, was very good, the ducks
+remaining late in the spring and returning early in the fall. The
+sunsets were beautiful beyond my power of description. It was my first
+summer in a rarified atmosphere and I imagined at times I could see
+objects moving along the mountain range some thirty miles away. I
+remember one evening when Doctor Seguin was visiting a few days with me
+on his return from Fort Selden to New York, having left the service, we
+were out for a walk together and were up on a little mound just west of
+the post as the sun went down and his attention was called to the
+beautiful cloud effects. He remarked that he had never seen anything
+more beautiful in Italy. The doctor was a Frenchman by birth; his father
+was a medical man of distinction, and while most of his life had been
+spent in this country he had traveled extensively abroad and his
+education, particularly in medicine, had been acquired in Europe. He was
+now returning to New York to take up his work as a lecturer on nervous
+diseases in the College of Physicians and Surgeons.</p>
+
+<p>While the doctor was visiting with me we went up to San Marcial to
+witness the games on St. John's day, June 24th. San Marcial was at that
+time a small straggling Mexican village of one street with adobe houses
+on each side and all told maybe had one hundred inhabitants. We did not
+go into any of the houses and only witnessed one game of any interest,
+it was a rough-and-tumble affair and excited great interest among the
+Mexicans. A rooster with its legs tied would be buried in a little mound
+of sand in the middle of the street, leaving only its head and neck
+sticking above the mound. The game was for the horsemen to form in line<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span>
+some distance up the street and come at full speed swooping down from
+the saddle, grab the chicken by the head, and then the battle was on for
+the chicken. The possessor of the unfortunate chicken would strike out
+over adobe walls and across irrigating ditches, anywhere to get out of
+the way of his pursuers and when at last he would be cornered, or
+surrounded, a battle royal would follow. I could not determine how the
+matter was decided but when the game was over they would come back and
+repeat the performance. There were many misses in their efforts to pick
+up the rooster, but a few of the contestants were more expert than the
+others and several succeeded in swinging down and retrieving the rooster
+from the mound of sand. We left while the game was still in progress. In
+all the games I witnessed among the Mexicans there appeared the element
+of cruelty in some form or other.</p>
+
+<p>During the summer of 1869 while stationed at this post I went to Paraja
+to see the Penitentes parade. I don't know why it was called a parade
+for it was an exhibition of cruelty that I have never at any other time
+in my life seen equaled. It was supposed to be a religious ceremony but
+consisted of a procession in single file of those who had committed
+great crimes or sins. The one in front carried a great wooden cross, the
+cross-bar of which rested on his neck and shoulders, he carrying it in a
+somewhat stooped position. It was of an enormous size, the cross-bar
+extending as I estimated it, at least eight feet in length and the stem
+in proportion. It had been made of dry cotton-wood logs and hewn out to
+probably eight or ten inches square and was a crude looking affair, but
+was probably not as heavy as it looked. The one bearing this cross took
+the lead and was naked to the waist and from there down wore only a
+single cotton garment, pants-like in shape, but very full, something
+like a skirt, and all those following were dressed in a similar way. All
+were bare-footed and there were probably twenty or more of them. Each
+carried thongs with which he struck the man in front of him on the bare
+back, all acting in something like uniformity as to time and repeating
+in unison and in a drone like voice something in Spanish that I could
+not understand. Before the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span>procession ended the backs of most of the
+participants were notably bloody and some of them very much so. Paraja
+is located literally in a bed of sand and I wondered how they could
+stand it that hot August day in their bare feet and the bloody work of
+the thongs left the impression on my mind of being a most brutal
+performance. But they were sincere and no doubt believed they were
+atoning for sins committed. What kind of a God is it who would accept
+such an atonment or approve of its offering? The faces of the
+participants were mostly of a brutal type and they looked as though they
+were capable of committing almost any crime. This exhibition did not
+impress me as in any way religious but on the contrary as exceedingly
+barbarious and superstitious.</p>
+
+<p>By act of Congress during the winter of 1868 and 1869 the army was
+ordered reduced, which to me was a serious matter as it rendered
+improbable any convening of a medical board for examination of medical
+officers for promotion, at least for some years to come. As I remember
+such line officers as wished to resign could do so with the privilege of
+a year's additional pay, and enough others would be dropped from the
+service to bring the number down to the required standard, also with a
+year's additional pay. The only difference being that of resigning or
+being dropped from the service. Quite a number of line officers
+preferred resigning. Among those who did so was Lieutenant Page of the
+twenty-fourth infantry at Fort Craig. He proposed selling me his cow and
+I proposed trading him my pistol for it. He thought the matter over and
+said that he proposed locating on a farm in Missouri and the pistol
+might come very handy, so we made the exchange. He came to visit me at
+Girard, Kansas, after I had quit the service and gave me a farther
+history of the pistol. He had missed a good deal of corn from his fields
+and watched for the thieves and shot one of them quite seriously. The
+matter got into the courts and being so soon after the War the factional
+feeling had not died out, and the long litigation that followed almost
+bankrupted Mr. Page, rather a disreputable record for a pistol to make,
+but I imagine that there have been comparatively few occasions where
+pistols were used in personal encounters,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span> that it would not have been
+better if they had never been made.</p>
+
+<p>I expected my wife in September. In the meantime Captain Lawson had
+returned from a leave of absence and joined my mess until his wife
+should come. Just before I expected my wife to start on her trip to join
+me, a command came up from Texas, an exchange of regiments had been
+ordered. The fifteenth infantry went to the Department of the Missouri,
+and the twenty-fourth infantry to the Department of Texas, and I was
+ordered to accompany a part of the fifteenth infantry from Fort Craig to
+Fort Wingate, New Mex. I at once wrote my wife to await developments.
+She had already started and got as far as Fort Wallace, Kans., near the
+terminus of the railroad when word reached her from Fort Wingate that I
+was to go with one company of the fifteenth infantry to Fort Dodge,
+Kans., and she could meet me at Fort Lyon, Colo., which would be on my
+way to Fort Dodge.</p>
+
+<div class="center"><img src="images/i004.jpg" width='700' height='419' alt="" /></div>
+
+<p class="tbrk bold">THE OLD GOVERNOR'S PALACE<br />Santa Fe, New Mexico, as it appeared in 1869. Army Headquarters for the<br />District
+of New Mexico was located at the far end of this building.</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><span>CHAPTER III.</span></h2>
+
+<p>Fort Wingate is a post about one hundred and fifty miles west and a
+little north of Albuquerque and in the mountains in what was then called
+the Navajo country. While there I saw one of the squaws making a Navajo
+blanket. I supposed it would be called weaving but was unlike any
+weaving I ever saw, yet when a lad I was quite familiar with the looms
+and spinning wheels of the times, and the making of cloth. The blanket
+making appeared to be a very tedious process, the warp being held taut
+by stakes in the ground and the filling or woof worked in under and over
+the threads forming the warp and pressed in place by a little flat piece
+of wood passing between the threads of the warp. I could more readily
+understand why the blankets were so expensive.</p>
+
+<p>We remained at Wingate probably two weeks. I was a guest of Doctor
+Vickery, the post surgeon. He was a most charming host and all-around
+good fellow. He gave me a little handful of garnets the Indians had
+brought him from the little ant hills so abundant in the country. I sent
+a few of the choicest stones to Tiffany &amp; Company of New York and had
+two rings made; one for my wife and one for a friend, the post surgeon's
+wife at Fort Wallace, who had been most kind to her while she was
+waiting for an opportunity to join me.</p>
+
+<p>The company from Fort Wingate to Fort Dodge together with the
+headquarters' paraphernalia was under the command of Mr. Krause, a
+lieutenant of the fifteenth infantry. Instead of coming around by
+Albuquerque we came part way and then cut across country to the
+northeast. When within a few miles of the Rio Grande the wagon road bore
+down to the southeast. The infantry cut across in the direction of
+Barnalillo (double L has the sound of E in Spanish) and the
+transportation followed the wagon road. Mr. Krause and I took the
+ambulance and when we reached the river in place of going up stream on
+the west side as the wagons were directed to do we crossed over to the
+old overland stage route and then went north on the east side. It was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span>
+late when we reached the outskirts of the town and we noticed a great
+light as though some building was on fire. We had now left the stage
+road and were trying to find one that would take us to a crossing on the
+river. We were about to enter the town or pueblo, for it was an Indian
+pueblo, when we had a good view of the fire which proved to be an
+immense bonfire in the middle of the street with many people gathered
+around it. An Indian met us and gave us to understand that we could go
+no farther. With what little Spanish we could command, and by signs, we
+got him to understand that we wanted to reach the command on the other
+side of the river. By that time another Indian or two had joined us and
+they at once took the matter in hand. One of them got into the ambulance
+and by signs indicated to the driver which way to go and the first man
+to meet us signalled Mr. Krause and myself to follow him. He would take
+us through the pueblo, but started around the outskirts of the place and
+after what seemed to me an interminable time brought us up at a high
+bluff. It was quite dark and we could see the campfires across the
+river, but how to get there, or whether we would get there, seemed
+questionable to me. However, the Indian knew what he was about, and soon
+found the place he wanted, and disappeared over the side of the bluff on
+what proved to be steps cut out of the rock, leading down to the valley
+below. It was then only a short distance to the ford and our guide
+motioned us to stay there, and we understood he wanted us to wait for
+the ambulance, but he waded across the river. We found him on our
+arrival in camp carrying wood for the campfires and seemingly greatly
+pleased at being able to help us. We gave him a dollar at which he was
+evidently delighted. The transportation arrived soon after we reached
+camp and all was right again.</p>
+
+<p>We reached Santa Fe early in November&mdash;I think the 4th&mdash;and only stayed
+in town a few hours to rest and report to district headquarters where
+arrangements were made to have the paymaster come out to a place agreed
+on some five miles out where we would camp that night and pay off the
+men. This precaution was taken because there are always some men who
+cannot stand prosperity and will blow their money for anything they may<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span>
+fancy, particularly for liquor, and quite a number of them were likely
+to get drunk and be put in the guardhouse and cause delay in getting
+away from the town. It seems however, that some of them had money and
+those disposed to load up on "tangle-foot" had borrowed enough to put
+themselves past good marching condition, for at roll call preparatory to
+being paid off, some were missing and came straggling into camp one at a
+time later on in the afternoon, one without shoes, hat or clothing,
+excepting underwear, and one entirely naked. They had fallen out of
+ranks and taken a nap, and on trying to join the command had been held
+up by Mexicans. Of course their guns and accoutrements had gone with
+their clothing. We were camped where we could see some distance back
+along the road we had come and it was rather an odd sight to see the men
+coming into camp in that condition. It was quite ridiculous to see men
+in such uniforms, or rather lack of them, come into camp, stand at
+attention and salute when reporting to the commanding officer.</p>
+
+<p>We followed the old overland stage route from Santa Fe to Fort Lyon,
+Colo., a distance of nearly three hundred miles. From there it was some
+two hundred miles to our destination at Fort Dodge. There was little of
+interest on the way to Fort Lyon, the usual routine of making and
+breaking camp and marching during the day. By this time the men were
+thoroughly hardened to the march and the roads being good we made good
+time. It is interesting to know that for a distance of one thousand
+miles men will beat horses.</p>
+
+<p>At Cimarron we waked up in the morning to find six inches of snow on the
+ground and at Wooton's just north of the crest of Raton Pass, we stayed
+two or three days to have transportation repaired. I hunted a little but
+as I was afraid to go far from camp found nothing. One evening while
+there, Mr. Krause and I went down to Trinidad, a mining town of some
+importance in those days with the usual equipment of saloons and
+gambling halls. I had some curiosity to see the later, so we visited
+one. It was located in a long room a hundred feet or more in length by
+probably forty feet wide, in which there were many tables, at most of
+which were men engaged in playing games. The<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span> poker players sat at small
+tables, four or five players around each one, with stacks of chips or
+money at their side, or perhaps a buckskin sack containing gold dust,
+(for this was a placer mining camp) which was weighed out as occasion
+demanded in the fluctuations of the game. At other tables dice were
+used, or balls were rolled, and the bets were made as to which little
+pocket they would enter. Everything was quiet and orderly and seriously
+business-like. It was a curious exhibition and to this day I do not
+understand the fascination that seems to be in it.</p>
+
+<p>At Trinidad we were still a hundred miles or more from Fort Lyons where
+I expected to meet my wife, and while we made exceptional progress for
+infantry it seemed all too slow for me. It was on the 25th of November
+when we reached Fort Lyons, and I had the great pleasure of seeing my
+wife and baby boy again. We rested over for two or three days at Fort
+Lyons and then started on the last long lap of nearly two hundred miles
+down the Arkansas river to Fort Dodge, Kans. We did not see a habitation
+or a soul on the way except at one place where a man was standing at the
+roadside as we passed along. He informed us that he and his partner were
+there killing buffalo and poisoning wolves for their hides. We found an
+immense gray wolf lying by the roadside and the men threw it on one of
+the wagons and we left it with the lone hunter by the roadside.</p>
+
+<p>When pretty well down toward Fort Dodge, I had one of the most exciting
+hunting experiences of my life. Buffalo in great numbers were seen
+nearly all the way down and I was anxious to get a fine robe from an
+animal I had killed myself. My opportunity occurred one afternoon after
+we had gone into camp. I saw a good sized herd leave the river and start
+back to the high ground to graze, probably a mile or more away. I did
+not know any better than to go on foot and alone. It never occurred to
+me that there could be any danger. The ground was level as a floor and I
+got up within a hundred yards or less and picked out a large black bull
+that I thought would furnish the prize I was after, and fired. At the
+crack of the rifle he started for me and of course I turned and ran, and
+ran for my very life. I thought how hopeless it looked for me, for the
+camp seemed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span> far away, but I did my best. Finally I could hear him close
+behind me and while I expected every moment to be gored it occurred that
+he was breathing heavily, and I kept the pace as best I could until the
+breathing seemed less distinct and looking over my shoulder I discovered
+that he had stopped running and was walking around and around. However,
+I kept going until I was sure I was at a safe distance and then fell on
+the ground and lay there for a while. My heart was beating like a
+trip-hammer. I had no notion then of giving up the contest and as he
+turned broadside to me I fired and he started, and I started for another
+race. He did not make much headway this time and my courage arose
+accordingly. Pretty soon he stopped again and commenced turning around.
+He did not chase me again, but it took the fourth shot before he fell.
+The rifles of those days were very different from the modern repeating
+rifles. This was a breech loader with only a single shot and it was
+necessary to raise up what was called the breachblock by hand and insert
+the cartridge, then replace the breachblock, cock the gun, and you were
+ready for another shot. Too slow a process when a mad buffalo is chasing you.</p>
+
+<p>I had been aiming for the heart but shot too high and the wound in the
+lungs had caused the blood to choke him so he could not keep up the
+pace. All four of the shots went into a space not larger than my hand
+and one of the bullets lodged under the skin on the opposite side which
+I was careful to keep as a souvenir of the chase. Some of the enlisted
+men who had gone out to the right for a shot came to my assistance and
+skinned the animal for me and carried the hide into camp. They assured
+me that the animal was certainly within ten or fifteen feet of me at one
+time during our race.</p>
+
+<p>Another hunting incident occurred on our trip down the valley in which I
+was only a spectator. Some men had gone off into the hills to get a
+buffalo for the command. They had separated one from the herd and had
+wounded it and got the animal turned in the direction so as to cross the
+road ahead of the command. When it came in sight our cook became
+enthused with the idea of going out and killing it and thus have some of
+the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span> glory of the chase. He asked permission to take my riding mule that
+followed behind the ambulance. I readily gave my consent and watched the
+proceedings with a good deal of interest. He started away at full speed
+with a pistol in one hand swinging it in anticipation of a great
+victory. All went well enough until the mule got close to the game when
+I suppose he got a whiff of an odor that did not please him, for without
+slacking his pace he turned and never stopped until he was back in the
+rear of the ambulance again. All this with the rider making the most
+frantic effort to get him into the fight. He did not even get a shot.
+The buffalo was killed near the road and loaded on one of the wagons and
+taken into camp.</p>
+
+<p>Another little incident occurred on this trip that was quite exciting
+for a few moments: We had camped near the river in some very tall grass,
+blue-stem I think it was called, the company some little distance away
+and to windward of headquarters. Some way in starting their campfire, it
+got beyond their control, and a shout in that direction gave as warning.
+I gathered the baby in my arms and we all ran for the river. Fortunately
+there was a sandbar extending out from the bank and we jumped some four
+or five feet down to that, and huddled up against the bank until the
+danger was past. There was a strong wind blowing and it was all over in
+a few moments. We thought of the ammunition wagon and feared the
+results, but the only harm done was a little scorching of my wife's
+side-saddle which was under the wagon. Only those who have seen a
+prairie fire in tall grass with a stiff wind blowing, can picture the
+scene as it actually happened. The ground was swept clean but was black
+with the ashes and stubble of the burned grass.</p>
+
+<p>On arriving at Fort Dodge we stayed a few days waiting for a surgeon who
+was returning from Fort Larned and who accompanied us from Fort Dodge to
+Fort Hayes, Kans. While at Fort Dodge there was a dust storm that
+continued for three or four days, blowing a steady gale during that
+time. Major Morris was commanding officer at that post and I remember a
+lieutenant, Phil Reed, who was a charming and entertaining talker at the
+table. My recollection is that he was afterwards<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span> married to Minnie
+Reams, an actress of note at that time. The road from Fort Dodge to Fort
+Hayes was a very desolate one. By starting early and urging our team
+along until after dark we came to a stream bordered by timber where we
+camped for the night. It was snowing very hard when we reached camp and
+by morning there were six or eight inches of snow on the ground. The
+road was so obscure in many places that we were doubtful whether we were
+on the right road or on any road at all. Not a house or sign of life in
+all that great white waste and even now I think of it as the most
+desolate day of all my life. We arrived at Fort Hayes after midnight of
+the second day, and were soon comfortably located at Doctor Meacham's
+quarters and sound asleep. My orders read to accompany the command to
+Fort Dodge and then proceed to St. Louis, Mo., and report to the medical
+director of the department which had been changed from Fort Leavenworth
+to that place. We were now at the railroad and the worst of the long
+journey from Fort Craig, N. Mex., to St. Louis was over.</p>
+
+<p>When in the ticket office at Fort Hayes arranging my transportation, I
+was introduced to one of the most noted characters on the frontier. He
+was generally known as "Wild Bill," but his name was Hickok and his
+brother had been our wagon master from Fort Wingate to Fort Dodge. He
+did not look wild at all but was a rather mild mannered and genteel
+looking fellow. He had long hair and wore good clothes and had nothing
+of the appearance of a desperado.</p>
+
+<p>The trip to St. Louis was uneventful.</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><span>CHAPTER IV.</span></h2>
+
+<p>On reporting to the medical director at St. Louis I was ordered to Fort
+Sill, Indian Territory, (now Oklahoma) by way of railroad to Fort Scott,
+Kans., and thence by stage to my destination. We arrived at Fort Scott,
+Kans., late in the evening. This was the end of the Kansas City, Fort
+Scott and Gulf Railroad at that time, and a booming town. The hotels
+were crowded and we had great difficulty in finding a place to sleep,
+but finally were located at what was called the Western Hotel where we
+were fortunate enough to get a room for ourselves. Many were compelled
+to sleep on cots or beds made down on the floor in sitting rooms, dining
+rooms and parlors.</p>
+
+<p>The next morning I waded through deep snow some distance southeast of
+town to a soldiers' camp where Major Roy was in command and reported. He
+informed me that it would be impossible for me to go by stage to Fort
+Sill, that the stages had quit running on account of the deep snow, and
+that he would order me back to St. Louis, which he did. We arrived in
+St. Louis about the 20th of December, and stopped at the Lindell, one of
+the good hotels in those days. The controversy between Doctor Mills, the
+medical director and the department quartermaster was quite amusing. The
+doctor ending up by saying, "You sent him the only road he couldn't go."
+It was decided I should wait for a boat down the Mississippi and up the
+Arkansas to Fort Smith, and stage across country from there to Fort Sill.</p>
+
+<p>On my first arrival at St. Louis from the West I had gone to see a
+furrier about tanning my buffalo hide and he informed me it would
+require several days to put it in prime condition. I went to see him
+again on our return to St. Louis and was told it would probably be ready
+by the time we would start to Fort Sill by boat and that he would make a
+robe I would be proud of. He sent it to the boat the day before we left,
+and as it seemed a little damp, I spread it out on the hurricane deck to
+dry. As it dried it became hard around the edges and I kept trimming
+away the hard parts, particularly those of the neck and legs until I
+had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span> my robe in the shape of a parallelogram. This was disappointing but
+I still praised it as a souvenir of the chase. We found it a very great
+help in keeping us warm while in the stage from Fort Smith to Fort Sill.
+It disappeared one night while hanging outside of our tent at Fort Sill
+which was only a camp at that time. It had cost me a most thrilling
+experience when first getting possession of it and then ten dollars to
+have it tanned, and now after a short service it was gone and I
+concluded it was hardly worth the ammunition.</p>
+
+<p>We were in St. Louis a week or more waiting for the boat to start and
+while there we had the pleasure of seeing Joseph Jefferson in "Rip Van
+Winkle." He was then in his prime and although I have seen and heard him
+since in the same play it did not appeal to me in the same way it did at
+the first performance.</p>
+
+<p>I think it was the last day of December that we went on the boat and
+started on our trip down the river the following evening. It was a light
+craft, stern wheel boat, and I was amazed at the vast quantity of
+freight that it carried. The trip down the Mississippi was without
+incident but we had frequent delays on the Arkansas unloading freight
+and crossing sandbars. From Little Rock to Fort Smith we tied up every
+night. Most of the time up the Arkansas a man stood at the head of the
+boat taking soundings.</p>
+
+<p>We were cordially received and entertained on our arrival at Fort Smith
+by the post surgeon, Doctor Theibaut and his family, where we remained
+two or three days.</p>
+
+<p>We started from Fort Smith very early in the morning, about four o'clock
+if I remember rightly, and it was very cold. In the stage with us, was a
+deputy United States marshal, who told us of the disastrous results
+attending those who brought liquor into the country&mdash;confiscation of
+property, jail sentences, etc. The trouble with us was that we had a
+bottle of brandy with us. By the time we stopped for breakfast my wife
+was thoroughly aroused to the importance of the occasion and whispering
+to me expressed her fears. I tried to assure her that it would be all
+right, and that no one would search an army officer's baggage, but it<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span>
+was of no use, and when the marshal was out of sight I broke the bottle
+over the fence corner and went into breakfast as though nothing had
+happened. We learned afterwards that army officers were permitted to
+bring it in for their own use and while at Fort Sill I had some sent me
+with other medical supplies.</p>
+
+<p>It was very cold for a day or two and we had the stage to ourselves
+after the marshal left us. I think it was the following night when we
+were in some very rough mountainous country that the driver stopped the
+stage and asked if I would get up on the outside with him, explaining
+that his team was hard to manage and that he might need assistance, to
+which I readily consented. The team was spirited enough and we went
+along at a spinning gait. I thought noticeably so for such rough roads
+and I believe my wife thought it was the ride of her life. After two or
+three hours the driver said he believed the team was settling down and
+would probably not give any trouble and if I wished I could go back
+inside the stage where it was warmer. I accepted this suggestion
+promptly and found it much more comfortable. The driver explained to me
+at the end of his division that in the rough country we had passed there
+were frequent hold-ups and he thought someone ought to sit with him to
+create the impression that the stage was loaded and highwaymen would be
+less liable to attack it.</p>
+
+<p>The second day out we had dinner at the house of the chief of the
+Chickasaws, having had breakfast at a freedman's house, both of which
+were worth describing. When we entered the house for breakfast there
+were a few smoldering coals in the fireplace although it was quite cold.
+There was some wood by the chimney and I stirred up the embers and put
+on some wood and soon had a fire started. The table was set in the next
+room, if so called, for it was only partly enclosed, so it was
+practically as cold as out of doors. On the table was some headcheese
+and cornbread, light rolls and sweet potatoes, all frozen so that the
+frost stood out on them, and some black coffee and no cream or milk. I
+managed to cut off a piece of the headcheese and cornbread and took my
+coffee and went back to the fireplace to eat and my wife soon followed,
+making her breakfast on some cookies we had brought<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span> with us. For this
+treat we were charged the modest sum of fifty cents each. At dinner we
+had some fried pork, fried eggs swimming in grease, and coffee similar
+to that we had at breakfast, and cornbread and all at the same price.</p>
+
+<p>The evening of the third day we arrived at Fort Arbuckle and were the
+guests of Doctor Brewer and family for two or three days and were most
+hospitably entertained. From Fort Arbuckle to Fort Sill we went in an
+army ambulance, the distance being eighty to a hundred miles. We camped
+one night along the road and I shot my first wild turkey at this camp.</p>
+
+<p>Fort Sill at that time was only a camp, but there was a sawmill on Cache
+creek a short distance below, where they were getting out material for
+permanent quarters, barracks and storehouses. The plan was for a six
+company post, and at that time there were two companies of infantry and
+six troops of cavalry stationed there. I reported on my arrival as usual
+and after being settled in our tent, was assigned to duty by Doctor
+Forward, the post surgeon.</p>
+
+<p>Doctor Forward was among the oldest assistant surgeons in the service
+and I thought a little peculiar in some ways. He was dignified and
+cordial but after assigning me to duty I thought he showed little
+interest in the service. He would call at my quarters occasionally and
+say that he wished to go over to the hospital and would look carefully
+over everything and would go away simply remarking that everything was
+all right. I remember going to his quarters one day and informing him
+that a man by the name of Fields in the hospital had fistula and I
+thought an operation necessary. He replied: "Can't you stick a knife in
+it?" I told him I thought I could and he came a few days after the
+operation and expressed his satisfaction at the results. He was promoted
+to a full surgency while I was there and assigned to a different post.
+It is proper here to say that the medical officers in the army are never
+addressed by their military title or rank but always as doctor. Although
+their military rank may be that of major (for full surgeon) or captain
+or lieutenant (for assistant surgeon).</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span></p><p>General Grierson of note as a cavalry commander during the Civil War
+was in command of the camp. Our quarters consisted of one hospital tent,
+fourteen by sixteen and two wall tents ten by twelve for bed room and
+dining room, and still back of that was the kitchen which was used for
+servants' quarters. All these tents were framed to hold them in shape
+and as a protection against strong winds.</p>
+
+<p>Our first experience with what was called a "Norther," was at this post.
+These usually occurred in the change of the seasons from cold to hot
+weather or the reverse. They are typical, resembling other storms only
+in their intensity. They are always preceded by delightful weather. My
+first experience was in the early spring of 1870. I was on the roof of
+the new commissary building where the quartermaster's employes were
+putting on shingles and one of them happened to look up and said,
+"Hello; that looks like a Norther coming." The weather was quite warm
+but ideally pleasant and he noticed my light clothing and said, "You had
+better get down off here and hunt some heavier clothes." I followed his
+suggestion at once and by the time I got to our quarters a half mile
+away I noticed the difference in the temperature and in a few minutes it
+came on us in all its fury. It is simply the coldest wind I have ever
+experienced. It blows straight and with a mighty force and is so
+penetrating that one is thoroughly chilled in a few minutes. I have
+since learned that it often kills cattle and other live stock down in
+Texas and occasionally people who are not properly clothed. It comes up
+from the Northwest, a bank of clouds, not clearly outlined but hazy, I
+suppose from dust that gathers on the way. Anyone who has once
+experienced it looks at its coming with dread and apprehension. We had
+two or three experiences with a "Norther" at Fort Sill while still in
+camp. In one of these my wife and I both braced ourselves against the
+tent frame to keep it from blowing down.</p>
+
+<p>There were six companies of colored troops of the Tenth Cavalry of which
+General Grierson was the colonel, stationed at Fort Sill. I did not see
+that they were very different from other enlisted men. If anything they
+seemed to take more interest in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span> their personal appearance than the
+white soldiers but were accused in the army as they are out of it, of
+petit larceny. I had one experience in the hospital that may be worth
+relating: A trooper by the name of Stanley had shot the index finger off
+his right hand, he claimed accidentally, but it was thought by most of
+the officers that it had been done for the purpose of getting a
+discharge from the service. I kept him as nurse in the hospital as he
+was capable and did his work promptly and carefully and we often had him
+come to our quarters to stay with our little boy when we were spending
+the evening with our fellow officers and their wives. I had frequently
+missed small change and little things of no great value but he would
+deny any knowledge of them with such apparent candor and honesty that my
+suspicions were allayed. One morning, however, when attending sick calls
+at the hospital the hospital steward informed me that Stanton was
+discovered taking money from under the pillow of one of the sick men
+during the night. I sent for him and explained the matter to him for I
+was really disposed to let him off as easy as possible. He denied any
+knowledge of it, so I said to him: "Now look here Stanton, the evidence
+is too strong against you, you go and give Fields his money and behave
+yourself hereafter and I will let the matter drop. You are a good man
+and I would like to keep you." He looked me straight in the face and
+said: "Fore God, Doctor, I never did take that money." I sent the
+steward's assistant over to the guardhouse with orders to the sergeant
+of the guard to send a man over to take charge of a prisoner. A corporal
+came and I explained the matter to him and I directed him to take
+Stanton to the guardhouse and to tell the sergeant of the guard that I
+wanted him to get that money and for him to resort to any means
+necessary to get it, even if he had to tie the prisoner up by the
+thumbs. This is of course a very severe punishment, and consisted of
+using a very strong cord, the ends of which are looped over each thumb
+and then thrown over a crossbar a short distance above the prisoner's
+head and drawing him up, if necessary, off the ground. When I got
+through my hospital duties and was on my way to my quarters I heard the
+howling of the prisoner at the guardhouse and stopped where I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span> had a
+good view and watched the results with interest. Stanton was protesting
+his innocence, and the sergeant's orders were "pull him up a little
+higher." It did not take long for Stanton to see his mistake, for he
+said, "Let me down and I will tell you where it is." "No you don't. Tell
+me first where it is, then I will let you down." Stanton said, "It's in
+the lining of my cap." And sure enough there was the ten dollars. The
+result was that a courtmartial gave him six months with "ball and
+chain." I think this occurrence illustrates one of the characteristic
+traits of the colored race, and to me it is remarkable that he would
+have taken such a course when he was offered the chance of taking one
+that in every way would have been so much better for himself.</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><span>CHAPTER V.</span></h2>
+
+<p>Fort Sill was the first post at which I had any experience with Indians.
+It was located on what was then called the Kiowa and Comanche
+reservation near the junction of Cache and Medicine Bluff creeks. Mount
+Scott, the highest point of the Wichita mountains was some nine miles to
+the northwest and both places had been geographically located and were
+used as a base for triangulation in locating other points. These tribes
+of Plains Indians were famous fighters and were finally subdued and
+brought to terms by Custer's great battle on the Washita. They were very
+numerous and there was always a feeling that an outbreak might occur at
+any time. During my service there from January, 1870, to August, 1871,
+there were seventeen men brought in and buried who had been killed and
+scalped by Indians. They would not attack a large party of men in
+soldier's uniform but boot-leggers and stragglers stood a poor show if
+caught out alone. Once while there a woman, one girl sixteen or
+seventeen years old, and one about twelve years old, and two smaller
+ones and two boys, one of whom belonged to another family, were brought
+into the camp on the promise of a hundred dollars apiece ransom. They
+were from Texas and at their homes when attacked by Indians, and the men
+were killed and these people brought away captives. If attempt had been
+made to recover them by force they would have been killed.</p>
+
+<p>I once saw Lone Wolf, a Comanche chief, with a United States mail sack
+of leather on his pony, and the interpreter, Mr. Jones, told me that he
+and some of the other young bucks had been on a raid down in Texas and
+among other depredations they had killed the mail carrier and destroyed
+the mail, only keeping the sack for his own use. I saw him frequently
+with it afterwards. Mr. Jones told me that Lone Wolf had said that his
+heart felt better now, as he had avenged the death of his son who had
+been killed on one of their raids in Texas. These raids were of frequent
+occurrence, and there was generally some evidence of them in the wearing
+apparel or trinkets, or anything the Indians<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span> might fancy, and that had
+evidently belonged to some settlers or travelers who had been so
+unfortunate as to come in their way. But so far as I know, they never
+killed a soldier.</p>
+
+<p>I have witnessed from the bluff near the hospital on Medicine Bluff
+creek their dances in the valley just across the streams at night, many
+times, but never had any desire to make a closer acquaintance. It always
+seemed to me a wild kind of a thing, consisting of jumping and gyrating
+and stooping and gliding and then straightening up suddenly, and
+swinging the arms, and all the time droning in short jerky cough-like
+notes, interspersed with sharp penetrating yells. There might be only
+one performer or maybe a half dozen or more. Where there is a number
+engaged, it is not only exciting but decidedly wild, certainly unlike
+any other dance I have ever seen.</p>
+
+<p>They were great thieves and anything left outside of our tents which
+might strike their fancy was liable to be carried off. One day a squaw
+brought a venison ham to our tent to sell. The regular price was fifty
+cents and I bought it although we had bought one less than an hour
+before, and when taking it back to hang up with the first one I thought
+the squaw looked very much like the one from whom I had made the first
+purchase, and was not much surprised to find the first ham missing. We
+usually hung them out for a while to get the Indian odor off them, and I
+have no doubt that I bought the same ham from the same squaw the second time.</p>
+
+<p>There were fixed days each month on which rations were issued to the
+Indians by the commissary department and I have seen the squaws carry
+sacks of flour a little distance away from the place of issue and empty
+out the flour and carry off the sacks, hundreds of them, so that the
+ground for a considerably distance around would be literally white with flour.</p>
+
+<p>They were permitted to go about the camp any where during the day, but
+at sundown scarcely an Indian was to be seen and none were permitted in
+camp at night.</p>
+
+<p>It was a very comfortable feeling to hear the hours called at night, by
+those on guard if one should happen to wake up and hear the announcement
+that "All's well." For instance, the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span> sergeant of the guard announces in
+a loud enough voice to be heard by the first sentinel, "Two o'clock and
+all's well." On hearing it the sentinel repeats the message, and so on
+around the camp, and when the last sentinel has finished, the sergeant
+of the guard says, "Two o'clock and all's well all around." This is
+repeated each hour during the night.</p>
+
+<div class="center"><img src="images/i005.jpg" width='700' height='569' alt="" /></div>
+
+<p class="tbrk bold">MEDICINE BLUFF<br />The original of this picture is in our possession, and was taken by<br />Soule,
+of Boston, when we were stationed<br />at Fort Sill</p>
+
+<p>A very different announcement is the long roll of the drums which
+happened twice while we were at this camp. It is the alarm to awaken the
+camp, and made by rapid and long continued beating of the drum without
+break or stop until the garrison is fully aroused. The assembly call by
+the bugle of the cavalry, takes the place of the long roll of the drum
+for the infantry, and the two together, and the clanking of arms, and
+the orders to "Fall in," "Fall in," "Fall in," makes an exceedingly
+interesting, not to say exciting experience. If you are quick in getting
+out of your tent you may see the officers scurrying across the parade
+ground to their command, fastening on their clothes as they go and soon
+everything is in order for whatever may happen. The women and children
+in these cases, hurry with all possible speed to a place of safety. At
+this camp it was always at Major Van De Weile's quarters, some of them
+very scantily clothed, generally with some kind of wrap over their night
+clothes, but it was not cold weather, and any way what did it signify in
+such an emergency. The major's quarters were what was called a "hakel"
+building and the only one in camp better than a tent except General
+Grierson's that offered any protection. Such buildings are made by
+standing posts on end in the ground and as close together as possible
+and filling in the cracks with mortar and pieces of boards or anything
+suitable, and the inside is then plastered up along the cracks until it
+makes a fairly smooth wall and is then whitewashed and makes comfortable
+quarters but not a first class protection against rifle bullets. They
+would huddle together and talk in undertones as to what might happen
+until the report came that it was a false alarm. In both these instances
+it proved to be so, but the anxiety and excitement was just as real as
+if the results had been different. Probably some nervous sentinel had
+fired his gun at what he supposed to be an Indian<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span> crawling toward him,
+but that may have been only a dog or some other animal, or it may have
+been purely his imagination. Any one who has not gone through such an
+experience cannot imagine its uncanny quality as the Scotch would
+express it. It is a very vivid impression with me today after more than forty years.</p>
+
+<p>We remained under more or less strain of anxiety until the new quarters
+were finished or enough of it so that we could crowd into them. Officers
+take quarters according to rank, and it not infrequently happens that
+one will have to vacate his quarters and give place to another who
+outranks him, the ranking officer having this right and as a rule he
+does not hesitate to use it although he may be a single man and the man
+displaced be a man of family. This is so well understood and so
+graciously accepted that there is seldom any feeling or resentment about it.</p>
+
+<p>In our own case we had to occupy quarters with another officer and his
+wife, Mr. Spencer of the Tenth cavalry, and this reminds me of an
+experience we had that shows something of the Indian character. We had
+for some time previous to this, a Cherokee Indian woman employed as
+servant. She probably had a little negro blood in her veins as her long
+black hair was slightly wavy, but in every other way she was typically
+Indian. She was exceedingly neat and clean and a thorough housekeeper
+and an exceptionally good cook and a most devoted servant, but she would
+take orders from no one except my wife. Soon after going into our new
+quarters she informed my wife that she was going to leave us, and this
+she did, knowing full well that she could not remain at the post if she
+did so. My wife was surprised and so expressed herself and also her
+sorrow at having her go, but no inducement she could offer had any
+effect on this high-strung woman. She cleaned out the stove and put in
+the kindling and had everything neat and clean as possible before
+leaving. It developed afterwards that she was offended at some orders
+given her by Mrs. Spencer.</p>
+
+<p>Another little incident will show the Indian blood: One of the colored
+sergeants took quite a fancy to her and would often stand in the door
+and talk to her, which was all well enough with Charlotte until she
+wanted him to go. I think on this occasion<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span> he was disposed to nag her
+about something, for I overheard her say in a loud and angry tone, "Now
+you go, I won't talk to you again. Go now!" I hurried to the kitchen and
+opened the door just in time to see the butcherknife sticking in the
+outside door-jam and still vibrating from the force that sent it. The
+sergeant had jumped in time, but Charlotte was furious. When I asked,
+"Why, Charlotte, what is the matter?" she simply replied, "Next time I
+tell that nigger to go I guess he will go." I frequently thought how
+near we came to having another patient in the hospital.</p>
+
+<p>I will relate one or two other instances that occurred while we were
+stationed here that may be interesting: My wife had the only sewing
+machine in the camp and one day Satanta, the war chief of the Kiowas,
+was passing down the line of officers' quarters and heard the hum of the
+sewing machine. It was summer time and the door was open so he stalked
+in and sat down without any ceremony or sign of recognition and watched
+my wife sewing. He was evidently very much interested but gave no
+evidence of it by word or look. He remained for quite a while observing
+the performance intently and then got up and said, "Adios!" and stalked
+out again. He made several calls afterwards and went through the same
+performance each time until I suppose he became satisfied for his visits
+ceased. He was the finest specimen of an Indian I ever saw; very large,
+well proportioned, with a remarkably forceful expression of face and
+walked with a dignity becoming a prince.</p>
+
+<p>Adjacent to the sutler's store was a large corral enclosed by a high
+stockade, inside of which were the necessary buildings for storage,
+stables, etc., and near the front of this corral and on a line with the
+store was the houses for the clerks, a few feet back from the stockade.
+In front of each house was a small gate which was always closed at night
+but often kept open during the day. In the summer the front doors were
+also left open. One day a tall, rather handsome Indian, that I had often
+noticed about the camp, and who was something of a "dandy" in dress,
+happened to be passing and happened to catch his reflection in a large
+mirror on the dresser that stood in line with the door and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span> gate. He
+immediately marched in without looking right or left, made a thorough
+survey of himself in the glass then turned and walked out saying "How"
+to Mrs. Rector, who was sitting in the room during this rather
+unceremonious call.</p>
+
+<p>I had a little experience one day with Stumbling Bear, a subchief of the
+Kiowas that at that time made me a little nervous and I have since
+thought with little reason. I was returning from a duck hunt up Medicine
+Bluff creek and was a short distance above the bluff that gave it its
+name when Stumbling Bear came up behind me, and we talked a little and I
+offered him some ducks which he took, and soon rode ahead. I knew of a
+little canon that broke its way down to the stream a little distance
+ahead and across which the trail must lead. For some reason which I
+cannot explain, I thought it best to wait until he came up on the other
+side of the canon. This canon opened out into the river valley and from
+my position I could see the valley thoroughly. He did not come upon the
+opposite side as I expected, and I felt equally sure that he did not go
+down the canon and come out in the valley. He had his rifle with him and
+of course could have killed me as he came up behind, if he had wished to
+do so, but I was nervous about him not showing up on the opposite side
+of the canon, and so I concluded to make a detour around the head of the
+canon and out of gunshot range, and went on my way to camp. That he
+could have gotten out of there without my seeing him still seems to me
+impossible, and why he should stay in there until I had gone seems
+equally unaccountable. Any way I did not see him again for several days
+when he rode into camp as usual.</p>
+
+<p>The Indian agency was located just outside the military reservation,
+some five or six miles down the creek from the fort. Colonel Boone, a
+nephew of Daniel Boone of frontier fame, was Indian agent when we
+arrived at the camp but was succeeded the following spring by an
+appointee under a new ruling of the Interior Department. Colonel Boone
+was a very large man and his wife was quite below the average sized
+woman. I mention him here only because we were mutual friends, but also
+of at least one commendable trait of Indian character that is
+illustrated<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span> by their journey back to their ranch in Colorado. The
+colonel had decided, much against our protestations of the dangers, to
+go across the country, which to us seemed to be wilfully sacrificing
+their lives; but he insisted that he would send up to the chief of the
+Arapahoes, whose name I have forgotten, and if he thought it fairly safe
+and would send an escort, he certainly would take the chances.</p>
+
+<p>The escort came in a few days and they were certainly a fine looking lot
+of fellows, being extra well mounted and equipped and I felt sure that
+they would give a good account of themselves in case of trouble and the
+colonel assured us that the last one of them would die in defense of
+himself and wife if necessary. So, we said good-bye to them with some
+misgivings, but with a strong hope that they would make the journey
+safely. I got a letter from the colonel some months later announcing
+their safe arrival home, and praising the fidelity and other good
+qualities of his Indian escort. It was refreshing to hear and know
+something good of Indians that had so much that was bad to their credit.</p>
+
+<p>I am quite convinced that any Indian appreciates justice and a square
+deal as much as we do, and recognizes force and submits to it quickly
+enough, if tempered with justice, but he does not understand moral
+suasion as we understand it. I think that his conception of it is
+cowardice. He cannot comprehend why one should return good for evil but
+believes in an eye for an eye and he faithfully carries it out in
+practice. He believes in all kinds of ghosts and spirits, good and bad,
+and his life is largely shaped by this belief.</p>
+
+<p>A story Mr. Jones told me one day will illustrate their practical view
+of things: Mr. Jones had married a squaw and some of the chiefs were at
+his house for dinner that day. He tried to explain to them our Bible
+history of how sin came into the world, and they listened intently, and
+without interruption, until he had finished. Then one old chief spoke up
+and said, "That is just like a white woman. Now if that had been a
+squaw, she would have taken a stick and killed that snake, and saved all
+the trouble." And while it may sound funny it was not intended as<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span>
+levity or anything like a joke, but was said in all seriousness. He
+evidently did not grasp our interpretation of it in any way, but on the
+contrary he looked on the woman's actions as cowardly and inexcusable.</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><span>CHAPTER VI.</span></h2>
+
+<p>During General Grant's first term as President, the Indian agencies were
+put in the hands of the representatives of the following churches,
+namely: Congregational, Presbyterian, Catholic, Dutch Reform, Episcopal,
+Methodist, Baptist, Unitarian, and the two branches of Friends. This was
+brought about by a resolution on January 13th, 1871 at a conference of
+the President, the board of Indian commissioners and the official
+representatives of the religious bodies above mentioned. This was
+considered at the time as the President's policy and was something of a
+surprise to many army officers. But there was no marked criticism, most
+of them believing that if the management of Indian affairs could not be
+in the hands of the war department, it would have as good a chance of
+being honestly managed by representatives of the churches as in any other way.</p>
+
+<p>The Kiowa and Commanche agency was put in the hands of a Mr. Tatum, a
+Quaker and most estimable gentleman, but I afterwards thought he as illy
+understood the Indian character as the Indians did the peace loving
+creed of the Quaker persuasion. He was unfortunate in being found in his
+shirt sleeves and at work, when the first delegation of the Indian
+chiefs went to the agency to see him, and from that time was spoken of
+by the Indians as the squaw agent. They could see nothing elevating or
+even respectable in a man working, that being the squaw's duties, and
+had little respect for the agent afterwards, although he did the best he
+could for them.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Tatum thought it would be better for the Indians to live in houses
+like white people, instead of in tents, and proposed building them
+houses, and some of the chiefs agreed to occupy them. He at once got
+busy and built six or seven neat log houses in the timber a few miles
+north of the camp. The Indians moved in as they had agreed and it was
+reported that some of them put their tepees up inside the houses. Of
+course they did not stay long in such an unnatural place, and when I saw
+the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span> houses some time afterwards, there was no evidence of recent
+occupation.</p>
+
+<p>He also established a school for Indian children at the agency, and I
+think it was patronized by some of the Indians sending their children,
+but up until the time we left the post, the attendance was small. We
+cannot tell what the eventual results of these honest efforts to do good may be.</p>
+
+<p>One of the most interesting places about the camp to me was Mr.
+Orleman's office. He was a West Point graduate, a lieutenant in one of
+the companies at the camp, and was the engineer under Major Rockwell,
+who had charge of the construction of the new post. Maybe my everlasting
+desire to know things interested him, for he was very kind in showing me
+his instruments and explaining their uses. I was a frequent caller at
+his office and he always seemed glad to see me. I mention this more
+particularly from the fact that in the spring of 1871 there was a part
+of the garrison, I think two troops of cavalry sent to establish a camp
+on or near the junction of Cache creek and Red river, and I was ordered
+to make a survey of the route and distance. I had never done such a
+thing and was more than doubtful of my ability to do it properly, so I
+went to see Mr. Orleman about it. He said, "Oh, you can do it as well as
+anybody. I have explained these instruments, and how to use them; of
+course you can do it." And that settled it. It was simple enough after
+all. A meter is fastened to the hub and spoke of one of the rear wheels
+of the ambulance, the hand pointing down and with a weight on the end of
+it to hold it steady over rough ground. A clockwork inside records the
+revolutions of the wheel. In other words, the clock goes around instead
+of the hand, and by knowing the circumference of the wheel it is easy
+then to calculate the distance traveled. The compass and tripods were
+not so easy, but a little practice before starting gave me some
+confidence. The zig-zag course we had to take to get around the head of
+the canons and to avoid rough ground where the ambulance could not go,
+were the principal difficulties, but by recording the degrees of each
+change of direction one gets fairly good results. Mr. Orleman came down
+some time after we<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span> had established that camp, and corrected the survey
+by triangulation, and complimented me on missing the location less than
+one-fourth of a mile in a distance of more than forty-five miles traveled.</p>
+
+<p>From this camp I was ordered to make a topographical survey to the
+junction of the North fork of the Red river with the main stream, a
+distance of about one hundred miles by the route we took along the
+river. Mr. Spencer with a detachment of about thirty troopers was sent
+with me as an escort. This kind of survey did not pretend to be accurate
+but was intended to observe and record the principal features of the
+country, such as canons, high points of land, valleys and table lands,
+and to estimate the altitudes and distance. The compass was the only
+instrument used on this trip. We arrived at our destination about the
+middle of the forenoon of the third day and crossed the North fork and
+went into camp at the junction of the two streams. There was an immense
+cottonwood tree just on the bank where the two streams united and we
+conceived the idea of marking our names and date on it, supposing that
+we might be the first white people in that locality. After the work was
+done I suggested that we have a picket pin heated and burn the letters
+to keep them from healing over so soon, but we discovered there were no
+matches in the command to start a fire, a piece of carelessness that we
+thought inexcusable. It occurred to me that the medical panniers are
+always provided with matches and on investigation I found a little box
+of wax matches and we soon had a fire started. When we had seared the
+letters over thoroughly we were quite pleased with the result and if
+that tree is still standing it will probably show some marks of the
+vandal hands that scarred its magnificent body. I remember the dinner
+that day among other good dinners that I have had on my hunting trips.
+We had buffalo hump and I thought it at that time the best thing I had ever tasted.</p>
+
+<p>The country from our camp at the mouth of Cache creek to the junction of
+North fork and the main stream of Red river is made up mostly of wide
+valleys and high table lands called mesa in Spanish. These vary in
+extent from a mile or less to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span> several miles and near the river the
+country is broken up by frequent canons. It was a beautiful country to
+look at but it was, of course, entirely uninhabited except by prairie
+dogs and wild game and buffalo were plentiful, and I recall one bunch of wild horses.</p>
+
+<p>We came on them unawares, going up from a wide valley to a mesa or table
+land, and they were grazing some three or four hundred yards from the
+edge of the mesa. It was astonishing how quickly they were bunched up,
+the colts in the middle, the mares on the flanks and the stallions in
+the lead, going full speed to get away. When we came to the edge of the
+mesa again they had crossed a wide valley and were going up on another
+mesa several miles away still at full speed. They were a beautiful bunch
+of animals, a reddish roan in color, long tails and manes, and in size
+much larger than the Indian ponies, but were of a pony build and smaller
+than our best roadsters.</p>
+
+<p>Prairie dog villages were numerous. We went through one that must have
+been four or five miles in extent.</p>
+
+<p>We had an early dinner that day, and concluded to start on our return
+march, and about five o'clock in the evening we came to a pretty little
+valley with numerous water holes and some dead timber and went into camp.</p>
+
+<p>I took my shotgun and was having some good sport with the ducks when Mr.
+Spencer's orderly came to me and said, "the lieutenant's compliments and
+he would like some matches to start a fire." I replied, "give the
+lieutenant my compliments and tell him I gave the matches to the trooper
+to start a fire to heat the picket pins, and have not seen them since."
+When I returned to camp and was within hearing distance I saw two men
+riding away and heard Mr. Spencer hallow and say, "Corporal, it will be
+about midnight when you get back, and we will have a bonfire on the hill
+for you as a guide to our camp." When I got close enough I said,
+"Spencer, how are you going to get a fire?" and then it dawned on him
+that we had no matches. "My God," he said, "I never thought of that."
+But the men had gone at full gallop and we let them go. I thought of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span>
+the powder I used in my shotgun and thought I would try an experiment.
+That was when muzzle loaders were still in vogue, the breechloader not
+having come into general use, and I cut a hole in the lining of my coat
+where it was padded about the shoulders and took out some cotton wadding
+which I tamped lightly down on the powder in the gun. At first I had too
+much powder and it would not work but after a few trials the wadding
+caught fire and with some dry sticks for kindling we soon had a fire
+under way and Mr. Spencer had his bonfire on the hill that night. The
+corporal and the careless troopers who had left the matches at our
+midday camp returned before midnight having made the round trip of about
+twenty-eight miles for a little box of matches.</p>
+
+<p>The following day was uneventful until toward night. Some troopers who
+had permission were out hunting. We had heard a shot occasionally but
+attached no importance to it, but late in the afternoon an Indian or two
+were seen off on the hills to the north and in a little while they
+became numerous enough to create some apprehension. It developed that
+one of the fool troopers had taken a shot at one of them, but
+fortunately had missed him and by nightfall there were great numbers of them in sight.</p>
+
+<p>We soon found a little water hole and went into camp and made the best
+preparation we could for trouble if it came. We got everything close
+about the water supply and the horses lariated close around us and
+awaited results. Soon the advance guard of the Indians appeared in
+perfect alignment silhouetted against the western sky and Mr. Spencer
+with two men went out to meet them. Explanations and apologies followed,
+but before the parley was over they informed Mr. Spencer that if they
+had found us to have been soldiers from Texas they intended to make a
+clean sweep of it, but as we were from Fort Sill they wanted to be
+friends. I have often thought it was fortunate for us that we were from
+Fort Sill, as they outnumbered us twenty or more to one. We waited a
+half hour or more after they had gone and then quietly mounted and rode
+away, not a man saying a word until we felt that we were out of danger.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span>
+We camped again about midnight and saw no more of the Indians.</p>
+
+<p>The following morning I had taken my gun and gone ahead a mile or so and
+came down off the mesa and found a pony in the valley below. I rode up
+to it and tried to catch it but it would not allow me to get close
+enough. I then waited until the command came up. The column marching in
+twos separated at the order right and left oblique march and made a V
+shape that surrounded the pony and we took him along with us. We soon
+came to the trail where the Indians had crossed, a very wide one,
+showing that great numbers had passed. There were other evidences of
+their having been on a raid in Texas; some bed ticking and feathers,
+some pieces of clothing, evidently taken from some settler whom they had
+probably murdered and scalped. The pony had a sore back and had
+evidently been abandoned as useless and a hindrance on their march.</p>
+
+<p>Although it was a long day's march we concluded to try and make the camp
+at Cache creek that night, which we did, getting in very late. We had
+come by compass directly across country from the junction of the two
+forks of Red river instead of following the stream as we did going up.</p>
+
+<p>We captured a young antelope, the last day out, and one of the troopers
+carried it on the saddle in front of him into camp. It lived until we
+were back at Fort Sill some time, but that kind of life was too hard for
+it and it gave up the struggle.</p>
+
+<p>There was plenty of game in the country around the camp at Cache creek.
+Turkeys were very abundant and duck shooting was good in season, and the
+fishing was fine. I have always regretted my impulsive disposition when
+thinking of my first shot at turkeys near this camp. When the command
+was nearing the mouth of Cache creek from Fort Sill, I had taken my last
+observation with the compass and directed the ambulance driver to a
+point indicated, and went ahead of the command to select the camp.
+Having decided on a desirable place I went down stream a little distance
+and heard some turkeys making a great ado about something. I got down on
+a sand bar and slipped along the river bank until I thought I was at the
+right place for a shot.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span> On looking over the bank I discovered that
+there was quite a bunch of turkeys standing around in a circle and
+making a great chatter. I fired into them without waiting to see what
+caused such a commotion, and when I was near where two of them lay an
+immense diamond rattler uncoiled and glided away. What would have
+happened if I had waited? Would the turkeys have killed the snake, or
+the snake some of the turkeys, or would the turkeys have gotten tired of
+the game and quit? I have often asked myself these questions. Does
+anybody know? If so I would like to hear their comment. While in that
+camp we killed two diamond rattlers, one six feet and the other six
+feet, four inches in length. It may be that one of them was among my
+first acquaintances in that camp.</p>
+
+<p>There was a turkey roost some three miles above camp where we generally
+got our supply of turkeys. A young son of General Grierson, having
+returned from school for his summer vacation, came down to our camp, and
+was enthusiastic for a visit to the turkey roost, so we arranged to go
+the following evening, and got permission to take a couple of troop
+horses for the purpose, a thing not provided for in the regulations.
+When we had reached the timber we left the trail and hunted for a secure
+place to tie our horses, as dense a thicket as we could find. We found a
+place where we thought they would be secure and from there walked to the
+roost, a short distance away, and sat down and waited for the birds to
+come in. We did not have long to wait until we could hear the sound of
+wings, and they commenced lighting in the tree tops above us. We waited
+until they were well settled before shooting. It had been a warm day and
+by this time was murky and getting quite dark, and we had difficulty in
+marking our birds, but we soon had four handsome ones and gathered them
+up and started to find our horses. I was confident I had observed
+closely the directions and distance we had gone from the trail and also
+from the horses to the roost, but we failed to find them where we
+expected. It was pitch dark by this time and very still and we tramped
+the neighborhood where we thought we had left them, and then sat down
+and waited, hoping they might neigh or make some noise and thus guide
+us<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span> to them. When this failed we went to the trail and by lighting
+matches found where we had left it, and from there we followed the
+course that we thought would take us to the thicket where we had left
+the horses. We found it, or thought we had, and tramped it over
+thoroughly without finding them. We carried our guns and turkeys with
+us, not daring to put them down for fear we would lose them. We finally
+concluded some thieving Indians had watched us and had followed us into
+the timber and stolen our horses, and so we started for the camp on
+foot. It was a hot, sultry night and I soon began to think three turkeys
+and a shotgun a good deal of a load and when I inquired of my companion
+how he was making it he admitted that he was getting a little tired. We
+rested a little bit and started again, I having taken his bird, much
+against his protest, and by frequent rests on the way we got into camp
+between ten and eleven o'clock, a very tired pair of hunters. I sent for
+the sergeant of the guard and told him I wished to be awakened at four
+o'clock in the morning. The young lad insisted that he would go with me
+but I told him no, that he was too tired and had better sleep and that I
+could get the horses if they were there. At four o'clock, however, he
+was up as quick as I was and we were soon on the way afoot to the turkey
+roost. We found the horses just where we had tied them and I felt
+greatly relieved, not only because it saved me the price of two valuable
+horses but because it saved the captain of the company who loaned them,
+as well as myself, a severe reprimand. I came to have a great admiration
+for the pluck and manliness of my young hunter friend, and if he is an
+officer in the service now, as many of the sons of my army acquaintances
+are, and he should ever see this story of army life on the frontier, I
+wish here and now to present him my compliments, and would like to hear from him.</p>
+
+<p>We had an abundance of fish while at this camp. The quartermaster had
+built us a little boat so we could stretch troutlines across the stream
+and we not only had the officers' mess well supplied but often had
+plenty for the men of the command.</p>
+
+<p>A few days after we had returned from the North fork or Red river,
+Captain Norvel's troop of cavalry was ordered out on<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span> a scout down the
+valley on the north side of the river, and I was ordered to accompany
+the command. We started late in the afternoon and by evening it
+commenced a drizzling rain. We went into camp about dark but did not
+unwrap our blankets as expected to be out some days and did not wish
+them to get wet. The blankets in a scout like this are made into a roll
+and wrapped in a poncho or oil cloth covering and fastened up against
+the cantle of the saddle by straps which are always a part of the
+equipment of the army saddle. The captain and I placed our rolls of
+blankets at the foot of a big tree and with our waterproof to protect us
+against the rain, sat down on them until the shower should be over. It
+never let up raining during the whole night, and there we sat dozing and
+talking by spells until morning. Soon after daylight a messenger arrived
+with orders to return to camp.</p>
+
+<p>We found nearly everything ready for the return trip to Fort Sill and
+were soon on the way. We had already heard that General Sherman and
+staff, Colonels Marcey, Audenried and Tourtellotte, were there on an
+inspection trip of the military posts of the west. They had come by way
+of Texas and were fully informed of the doings of the large band of
+Indians with whom we had our little pow-wow and whose horse we had
+captured, and whose trail we had crossed on our return from the north
+fork of Red river to the camp on Cache creek. They had also learned that
+they came very near being in line with the depredations committed. This
+band had not only burned houses and killed settlers but had also
+captured a government wagon train and had tied the teamster to the wagon
+and having looted the train of all they wanted, burned the teamsters
+with the wagons and contents. The young bucks on their return to the
+reservation, and feeling secure at Fort Sill had bragged about it. The
+names of the leaders in the raid were known and the matter could not be
+overlooked by General Grierson, but he was powerless without the
+authority of Mr. Tatum, the Indian agent. This always struck me as a
+ridiculous phase of our Indian policy.</p>
+
+<p>It was a universal feeling in the army that the war department should
+have the exclusive control and management of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span> Indian problems,
+instead of the interior department, but I suppose politics, the bane of
+the country in so many ways, ruled in Washington then as it does now,
+and it was to the interests of the politicians to have it where it was.
+General Grant was at this time President and had served as a young army
+officer on the frontier and knew better. The Republicans were in control
+of congress but it would have been the same with any other political
+party in control, and was probably the worst that could have been done.
+Mr. Tatum was fully informed of the raid and the leaders in it, and
+called for a pow-wow at General Grierson's quarters. A number of Indian
+chiefs came in to talk the matter over, among them being Satanta, the
+war chief of the Kiowas; Big Tree, a young chief of the same tribe, and
+Satank, an old and wizzened up and vicious looking Indian, and council
+chief among the Kiowas; all known to have been in the raid. There was a
+heavy guard standing around the quarters ready for any emergency. Mr.
+Tatum had demanded the surrender of the guilty parties. While the
+pow-wow was in progress Lone Wolf, chief of the Comanches, came among
+them, a rifle in each hand, and a couple of bows and a quiver full of
+arrows swung over his back. I suppose it was a pre-concerted arrangement
+among the Indians for he handed one gun to an Indian near him, and a
+couple of Indians behind him grabbed the bows and arrows and in an
+instant these were pointed at the breast of Mr. Tatum, General Grierson,
+General Sherman, and other officers present. I suppose the click, click,
+click of the rifles as the guard cocked and brought them to shoulder,
+gave Lone Wolf a better understanding of the bloody work at hand, for he
+raised one hand and said "No shoot! No shoot!" and by the interpreter
+explained that it was only a joke and that he did not intend to hurt
+anybody. The interpreter reported afterwards that he had also said when
+presenting these guns to the breasts of those men mentioned, "Now let
+these men go and we can fix things up all right." During the excitement
+Big Tree broke away from the crowd and mounted a horse near by, and
+tried to escape but the garrison was wide awake to the condition of
+things, and after a shot or two he surrendered. He and Satanta and
+Satank were<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span> put in the guard-house, a newly built one at the new post,
+and a strong guard placed about the building, until they were removed to
+Texas to be tried by the civil authorities.</p>
+
+<p>We arrived at Fort Sill from our camp on Cache creek a day or two after
+these occurrences but I got the details of the incident from officers
+present and from my wife who remembers them better than I do. Promptly
+after the depredations had been committed General Mackenzie of the
+Department of Texas with several troops of cavalry got on the trail of
+these Indians and had followed it up into the territory and into the
+Wichita mountains and from there to Fort Sill and arrived at the post
+shortly after our return from camp.</p>
+
+<p>After resting his troops for a few days General Mackenzie was ready for
+the march back to Texas with his prisoners. Quite a number of officers
+were present to witness their departure. I was standing next to Mr.
+Jones, the interpreter, when they were brought out of the guard-house,
+all hand-cuffed, and all in the usual blanket attire of the Indians.
+When old Satank appeared he set up the most weird and doleful sing-song
+wail I ever heard, and his face I thought was not so vicious looking as
+usual, but was more solemn and maybe with a trace of sadness in it. I
+asked Mr. Jones what it meant, and he replied in an undertone, "It means
+he ain't going far."</p>
+
+<p>Satanta and Big Tree were placed in one wagon with guards sitting behind
+them and Satank in another wagon with one of the sergeants sitting
+beside him and guards behind and when the columns were formed troopers
+rode alongside the wagons and in this formation they left the post. When
+in the valley south of the post and probably a couple of miles away we
+heard the report of firearms from that direction. Soon a messenger
+arrived with the compliments of General Mackenzie and requested that an
+ambulance be sent for a trooper who had been wounded. He also gave the
+essential particulars of what occurred. It seems that by some means
+unknown, Satank had a knife hidden about his person somewhere and
+although hand-cuffed had got possession of it and stabbed the sergeant
+sitting next to him and then grabbed the sergeant's gun and shot the
+teamster.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span> The sergeant's wound was only slight and he went forward with
+the command, but the teamster was shot through one side of the neck and
+fell from his saddle and was brought back to the post hospital for
+treatment. It proved to be only a deep flesh wound and he was soon
+discharged from the hospital, and returned to his own command. When the
+guards realized the state of affairs they made short work of it, and
+Satank was laid by the roadside and General Grierson sent a squad of
+soldiers and buried him there in his blankets. It was his death song
+that had so impressed me as they brought him from the guard-house.</p>
+
+<p>Satanta and Big Tree were tried and convicted in Texas and sentenced to
+the penitentiary for life. It was reported in the papers some years
+afterwards that Satanta jumped out of a window at the prison and killed
+himself and it was rumored that Big Tree had hung himself, but so far as
+I know this was not confirmed.</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><span>CHAPTER VII.</span></h2>
+
+<p>The first time I saw General Sherman was at Rome, Georgia, during the
+Civil war. I was in the field hospital there at that time and was in the
+dispensary one day when my attention was called to some military
+procession on the street. It turned out to be only General Sherman and
+his staff, the general riding alone in front, his orderly a few yards
+behind, and a few yards farther back the general staff officers. The
+procession, if it could be so called, impressed me; first the isolated
+position of the commanding officer. I thought of pictures I had seen of
+Napoleon, always alone, and while I could not see the general's face to
+advantage, for he looked neither to the right or left, I thought him a
+stern, unbending, self-centered, iron-hearted military despot, without
+sentiment or generous impulse. I saw him often thereafter, for I was
+with his command from "Atlanta to the Sea" and up through the Carolinas,
+and he was always alone on horse-back and in the order mentioned. I
+never saw him in company with anybody. I had occasion to change my
+impression regarding him somewhat at the battle of Bentonville. We had
+marched all night to reach the battlefield in time to take part in the
+engagement, and arrived on the ground early in the afternoon. As it
+happened, we stopped near the general's headquarters. The battle was in
+progress and as we could not go into the trenches until night, I had a
+good opportunity of observing him during the afternoon. He was walking
+back and forth along a space of ground a hundred feet or more in extent
+and when there was a lull in the firing he would slow up to a very
+moderate walk, but when it became heavy his pace would increase and when
+it became a roar, as it did several times in the afternoon, he would go
+at great strides back and forth, back and forth, until it would again
+quiet down, when he would slow up in harmony with the lull in the
+battle. From this I learned that he was at least impressionable.
+Officers would arrive from different parts of the field and report, and
+instantly receive orders and return at full speed as they came.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span></p><p>From that time I never saw him until at Fort Sill at a "hop" given by
+Colonel Carpenter in his new quarters at the post. Here I had to again
+change my impression of the general. He was one of the most cordial of
+men; he seemed to know everybody, and I was told seldom forgot a name or
+a face. He had the remarkable gift of making everyone feel that he was
+an old acquaintance, and he entered into the amusements of the evening,
+mostly dancing, with zest, and after supper went with the officers to
+the front porch to smoke and talk. He ridiculed the idea of being a
+candidate for the presidency, saying he did not possess the temperament
+or disposition that seemed necessary to qualify one for holding an
+office where there were so many adverse interests to consider, and where
+they were so frequently presented from questionable motives, but as far
+as I remember he admitted no preference for political parties. However,
+he did express a desire to pass his old age in a quiet way, and free
+from political strife. He left the crowd on the porch before all were
+through smoking, and joined the ladies with whom he seemed to enjoy
+himself as much or more than with the men. I though him a rather awkward
+dancer but he took part with apparent enthusiasm.</p>
+
+<p>After General Sherman and his party had left the post the feeling of
+uneasiness increased in the camp, and General Grierson ordered the
+remaining officers into the new post which was being built. It fell to
+our lot to be quartered with Mr. Spencer and wife and except for losing
+a good servant we found it a pleasant change, and were relieved of all
+apprehension regarding Indians.</p>
+
+<p>There was a band-stand in the center of the parade ground and the Tenth
+Cavalry band was an excellent one, and in the summer evenings when
+retreat had been sounded by the buglers and the signal gun fired "just
+as the sun went down," the band struck up and gave us very delightful
+music for an hour or so. At such times the families of the officers
+would be sitting on the front porches of their quarters or visiting with
+others and chatting and listening to the music.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span></p><p>The bugle calls at the army posts were always interesting to me, and
+seemed to convey the idea intended almost as well as words. A number of
+them have words set to the music, if it can be so called, as "Give your
+horses some corn and some hay" for stable call, and "Take your quinine"
+for sick call. Reveille had a rousing, get-up quality about it. Sick
+call was for those who had only slight ailments and were treated at the
+hospital and returned to duty, or if found to be something serious
+enough, were sent to one of the wards in the hospital for treatment.
+Maybe a so-called bilious condition or a scratch on the hand, or if a
+colored soldier a "misery," or he was "powerful weak." There were not
+many maligners, and they were soon detected. In the cavalry drill there
+are many bugle calls for the different evolutions. The bugler rides near
+the commanding officer and receives the orders and transmits them by
+bugle to the command. Of all the bugle calls in the service "Taps" the
+last call at night, affected me most. It has all the quality of our
+good-bye or goodnight, but to me it had much more. To me our good-bye
+conveys only the idea of separation, and I like the Spanish word "Adios"
+much better. It not only conveys the idea of separation but also the
+sentiment "God be with you" and so "Taps" always impressed me
+"Good-night, and God be with you," and as the last prolonged note died
+away the lights went out and everything was still. This did not apply to
+the officers when at the post, and they and their families could enjoy
+themselves in their own way, and could put out their lights early or late.</p>
+
+<p>Toward the latter part of June, 1871 a command came up from the
+Department of Texas on its way to the military posts in Kansas. The
+medical officer accompanying it returned from Fort Sill to his own
+department and post, and I was ordered to accompany the command to
+Kansas. My recollection is that there were three companies. In this
+command were two young officers, lieutenants, not long out of West
+Point, who proved very charming companions. One was a Mr. Reese from
+Kentucky and the other was a Mr. Parker from Connecticut, a son<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span> of the
+maker of the famous Parker shotgun, generally thought to be the best to
+be had in those days.</p>
+
+<p>The first thing of special interest on this march was when we had gone
+into camp about sixty miles north of Fort Sill, which was the second day
+out. This was about four o'clock in the afternoon, to give the horses
+and transportation mules a chance to graze. I happened to look back in
+the direction of our march and saw a small black object far in the
+distance that I could not make out. I borrowed field glasses of one of
+the captains and discovered it to be a horse and buggy. I became quite
+curious about it, as I did not think any sane man would travel through
+that Indian country alone for any consideration. I would not have done
+so for all the money in the mint unless in military dress. He came
+directly to our camp and I walked out to meet him. He proved to be
+Father Poncelona of Osage Mission, now St. Paul, Kansas, who had been
+down to Fort Sill to baptise the children and give what comfort he could
+to the followers of his faith at that post. He was very tired for he had
+started before daylight, and had driven all day hoping to find our camp
+somewhere, but he did not know where. I took him to my tent and insisted
+on him lying down on my cot, which he did under protest, and I brought
+him some brandy which he drank with seeming relish, and by the time
+dinner was ready he was ready to join us. I asked him how he came to
+take such chances alone. He said it was part of his work and that there
+was a higher power (pointing his finger upwards) that would take care of
+those who were doing God's service. He was past middle age and had spent
+most of his life since taking orders as a missionary among the Indians.
+He had a benign faith-abiding expression of face, such as I have never
+seen on any other man, and his voice was low and musical, and his manner
+most winning. I had some difficulty in getting him to take my cot for
+the night, he insisting that he was used to sleeping on the ground and
+did not mind it. I finally told him that I was boss of the ranch, and he
+must do as I told him. To this he smilingly assented, and said that if
+it was orders he would have to obey. We always had breakfast and broke
+camp early in the morning<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span> and aimed if a suitable campground could be
+found to go into camp by four o'clock in the afternoon. The priest had
+expressed a wish for an early start, and I had ordered his horse and
+buggy to be ready for him, and he had breakfast with us and went his way
+across the prairie and was soon out of sight in the direction of Camp
+Supply where he intended going. I have often thought of this and
+wondered at it. Why did he do it? It was not for money for he was poor
+and had spent years at the work. What motive had he? What guardian angel
+accompanied him and kept him from harm? If it is true that there is a
+divinity that shapes our ends, why are they shaped so differently, and
+why is it that some are immune where others fear to tread? Right here I
+think it proper to say that the Catholic priests have always been the
+pioneers in religious matters on the frontier.</p>
+
+<p>During this trip Mr. Reese and Mr. Parker and myself rode ahead one
+afternoon to select camp. We went at good speed and were soon out of
+sight of the command when Mr. Reese discovered he had lost his pocket
+book. He was quartermaster and it contained about fifteen hundred
+dollars of government money. He was sure he had taken it from under his
+pillow in the morning and he became quite nervous about it. He referred
+to his loss several times before the command came up with, "Well, if I
+am mistaken and Andy (his old negro servant whom he had brought from
+Kentucky) got it I am all right, and I will quit talking about it." But
+he was ill at ease and went out to meet the command as it approached and
+we could see the old darky take something from his pocket and give it to
+Mr. Reese who came back smiling and told us Andy said, "Oh yes, Massa, I
+just got it right down here, I done found it under your pillow" and this
+illustrates a phase of negro character quite in contrast with my
+political experience with Stanton.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Reese, Mr. Parker and I generally rode together on this march and
+were seldom out of sight or hearing of prairie dogs. It was suggested
+one day that maybe they would be good to eat. Knowing that they were not
+dogs at all but rather a kind of marmot, and sometimes called so, and
+are strict vegetarians, we<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span> killed a young one and had it for dinner. I
+was quite pleased with the experiment before trying it, and was not
+particularly enthusiastic about it afterwards. It was not very bad but
+was not very good. It tasted something like rabbit but I think mostly
+like prairie dog. At one time in my life I wanted to try almost
+everything that was brought to bag in my hunting experiences and I have
+tested worse things than prairie dogs, and I think that if one were
+hungry enough he might relish it.</p>
+
+<p>We crossed the line into Kansas about the last of July and soon saw a
+new house away to the front, a thing we had not seen since leaving Fort
+Sill. It proved to be a kind of business and residence combination and
+was the first house in what is now known as Caldwell, Kansas, now the
+county seat of one of the famous wheat counties of Kansas, and a
+thriving city. The contrast between the two sides of the land separating
+Kansas and the Indian territory was very pronounced. Small houses of
+settlers and little patches of broken ground and other evidences of an
+inhabited country on the one side, and nothing but absolute vacancy on the other.</p>
+
+<p>At Wichita we remained three or four days, having our transportation
+repaired. As I remember it, we had a long stretch of sand before
+crossing the Arkansas and forded the river below the town and then
+turned to the west. It was a little village of one main street and I
+think they called it Douglas avenue. The houses were small but neat, and
+being the first town I had seen for a year or two it looked very
+attractive. We were there over the Fourth of July and I remember a
+delightfully clean, attractive little place where they sold ice cream.
+We had camped just north of the village and Mr. Reese, Mr. Parker and I
+frequently visited the ice cream parlor. If there were any saloons in
+the place I do not remember them for if there had been it would have
+probably shown on the enlisted men of the command.</p>
+
+<p>I do not remember which one suggested it, but we concluded that it would
+be some fun to visit the real estate offices, of which I think there
+were two in the town, and hear what the agents had to say. They treated
+us most cordially and were<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span> anxious to show us around and told us what a
+wonderful city it was going to be. All the southwest was going to be a
+great wheat country, although we saw no wheat, and would be tributary to
+their town and they were going to vote bonds the following Monday for a
+railroad from Newton, then the terminus of the Santa Fe. If not the
+terminus it was the great cattle shipping point for the immense herds
+that came up the Chisholm trail from Texas, the trail we had followed
+some distance from Fort Sill. Everything would eventually come to
+Wichita and it would be a second Chicago. One agent offered us a corner
+lot centrally located for one hundred dollars, and out farther to the
+west, or north, whichever it might have been, I don't remember, on down
+to fifteen dollars a lot. We approved of the wonderful prospects for the
+town and told them we would consider the the matter of investing, and
+then went back to our tents and laughed about it. We at least had an
+enjoyable hour or so.</p>
+
+<p>I have had occasion to think about it since, not with any particular
+feeling of hilarity, but rather one of regret that I did not grasp the
+wonderful possibilities of the country. Either of the three of us could
+have invested a little money if we had known enough. After we had again
+started on the march I stopped and talked with a man standing by the
+roadside and he told me each alternate section of the land was offered
+by the Santa Fe railroad at two dollars per acre. It was a beautiful
+valley and the land looked rich but the country generally looked very primitive.</p>
+
+<p>One company left our command near here and I think went to Fort Larned
+or Fort Dodge, Kansas, the other two going on to the railroad at Fort
+Harker, where one company remained, and if I remember right, one company
+went on to Fort Hayes. I remained with Captain Kerin's company at Fort
+Harker for a day or two during which time the paymaster came and paid us
+for June. Captain Kerin was a typical Irishman and his company, almost
+without exception were Irish, and they were very much devoted to each
+other. The captain looked on his men very much I thought, as a father
+would look on a bunch of wayward children. The payment was made by the
+middle of the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span>afternoon and by night I think most of the men were
+drunk, the few on guard duty being about the only sober ones, and the
+captain told me they would stay that way until their money was all gone.</p>
+
+<p>A funny thing occurred that evening. The captain and I were sitting in
+his tent talking when there was a scratch at the tent cloth and when the
+captain said, "Come!" the flap was thrown back and one of the sergeants
+saluted and said: "Report for duty, captain." The captain said:
+"Sergeant, have ye got any money?" "Yis, captain, a little." "Go and
+spend it, go and spend it." The sergeant saluted and dropped the tent
+flap and walked away and the captain turned to me and said: "No use
+trying to do anything with them until the money is spent, and the
+whiskey is out of them." Two or three hours afterwards the sergeant
+returned, scratched on the tent, threw the flap back as before and
+saluted, and again said in a rather husky voice: "Report for duty,
+captain." "Sergeant, have you got any money?" "Not a cint, captain."
+"Very well, report to the first sergeant for duty." The captain told me
+this was a fair illustration of his experience on every pay day. It is
+hardly necessary to say that the captain was not a West Point graduate,
+but he was a royal good fellow and a good soldier and I observed while
+in the service that officers promoted from the ranks were the most
+devoted to the interests and comforts of their men. The trip back to my
+post was east by rail to Junction City and thence on the M., K. and T.
+to its terminus in the territory. The railway was then under
+construction and the terminus was changed every month or so. From the
+railroad I went by stage to Fort Sill. Nothing of interest occurred on
+the way until we arrived at the last stage station east of the fort. We
+had breakfast there and were told we had better get in the stage as they
+were about ready to start. We found a bunch of men hitching up a pair of
+mules to a light stage-like vehicle, and were told that they were just
+breaking them in and that it was better to get in the stage first. The
+driver was already up in his seat and Mr. Stearns, a very large man and
+owner of the ranch where we had breakfast, was up beside the driver, and
+was going with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span> us some three or four miles to where they had made a
+cut-off that took us by a large spring of water, the last we could get
+before reaching Cache creek, some eighteen miles away. When all was
+ready and the driver had the lines well in hand the word "Go" was given,
+and away we went at full speed, much like a horse race. The driver's
+efforts being wholly devoted to keeping the team in the road. They ran
+full speed most of the way to the springs but when we arrived there they
+were going in a quiet little trot, seemingly satisfied with the fun they
+had had on the way. Mr. Stearns got down and held their bits and the
+driver got down and we got out of the stage&mdash;another man and myself
+being the only passengers&mdash;and walked toward the springs. I do not know
+how it happened, but when one trace was unfastened the mules broke away
+from Mr. Stearns and struck out over the prairie. My first thought was
+that we would have to walk back and wait for some other means of
+conveyance, but the off mule having one trace unfastened had the
+advantage in the race and out over the prairie they went in a great
+circle, round and round at full speed, scattering luggage from the hind
+boot of the stage until they ran themselves down, the driver and Mr.
+Stearns cutting across and trying to catch them. At last they succeeded
+for the mules were pretty well winded by this time and ready to go slow.
+We found nothing broken and soon had our luggage gathered up and the
+mules watered and were on our way. We got into Fort Sill a little later
+than the usual stage time, nothing the worse for the wear.</p>
+
+<p>I do not remember whether it was before or after my trip to Fort Harker
+that I was called to the Indian agency near Fort Sill to see Black
+Beaver, the chief of the Delawares, who was sick and had come there for
+treatment. I found him suffering from dysentery and was seriously ill,
+and as he was an old man I had serious doubts as to his recovery. He was
+neither able nor disposed to talk although he knew enough English to
+make himself understood, but after a few days he began to feel some
+interest in life and gradually improved until he was convalescent. I
+felt particularly interested in him because of a story I had read about
+him as interpreter in an early day for Colonel Marcey<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span> who was one of
+General Sherman's staff officers when they visited Fort Sill a short
+time before. When the colonel was a young officer in the service and had
+been sent out to make talks to the Indians, the story ran that the young
+officer had a pow-wow day appointed with the Kiowas and Comanches, and
+when they had assembled and gone through the preliminaries of such an
+occasion Captain Marcey told them of the great benefits the great father
+at Washington wished to confer on them, and wound up by saying: "We wish
+to put up poles across the country and string a wire on them and then
+you can talk over that wire to the Great Father in Washington and not
+have to wait until some of your people travel such a great way to see
+him." When he had finished he waited for Black Beaver to get up and tell
+it to the Indians, but Black Beaver did not move but hung his head and
+sat there. "Why don't you tell them," asked the captain. Black Beaver
+shook his head and said: "It's no use to tell them, I don't believe it
+myself." I was anxious to hear Black Beaver's report of that pow-wow, so
+when he was well enough I said to him one day: "General Sherman and
+staff were here a short time ago and Colonel Marcy was among them. I
+understand you knew Colonel Marcy a good many years ago." He brightened
+up and said: "Yes, I heard Captain Marcy was here and I wish I could
+have seen him." By careful questioning I got the story from him
+practically as Colonel Marcy had recorded it in his book. I said to him:
+"Well, do you believe it now?" He replied: "Oh, yes, I know it now, I
+know it can be done, but I don't know how." How much more ignorant was
+he than the most of us?</p>
+
+<p>I find I have not made my sketch of the events at Fort Sill in order of
+their occurrence and must now refer back to the winter of 1870 and '71
+and we were still under canvas in the camp. It was an unusually cold
+winter. The thermometer fell to fourteen degrees below zero and the snow
+was a foot or more deep on the ground. I mention this incident both for
+the purpose of showing some of the hardships that officers and their
+wives underwent and also to show the self-sacrifice and loyalty and
+devotion of the enlisted men in an emergency. Doctor Brown<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span> and his
+young wife were on their way to Fort Sill where he was to become post
+surgeon, a position I had held since Doctor Forward had been transferred
+to another post, and they were at the half-way camp between Fort
+Arbuckle and Fort Sill when the storm broke. The doctor's wife was
+confined there and the escort accompanying them devoted themselves night
+and day to making the camp as comfortable as possible, getting water,
+bringing wood, building fires and cooking, and this they kept up until
+the weather moderated and Mrs. Brown was sufficiently recovered to make
+it safe for her to travel. As the result of such heroism and devotion
+some of them were badly frost bitten, and all suffered more or less. I
+removed all the toes except one from one man's feet&mdash;only one of the
+large toes being left&mdash;and others lost a finger or two or parts of
+fingers and were otherwise frost bitten. In these cases nature sets up
+the line between the healthy and dead tissue and the amputation is made
+in the healthy part and far enough back to get a flap sufficient to
+cover the bone if possible.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Brown and her beautiful baby came with us when we left the post,
+intending to quit the service. She to visit with friends and relatives in the east.</p>
+
+<p>Another interesting occurrence took place when we were still in camp at
+Fort Sill. This was the loss of the quartermaster's mules, which
+occurred the latter part of the winter. The Indians&mdash;supposed to be&mdash;by
+some means got the gate of the corral open and with the leader on
+horseback rushed into the corral and set up the usual yells and shouts
+and soon had the whole bunch of 140 mules under way before the alarm
+could be given and the cavalry mounted for pursuit. They had such a
+start that they could not be followed in the night, it being very dark.
+Different commands of cavalry were sent out in pursuit but returned in a
+few days empty-handed. There was one young officer by the name of
+Harmon, a second lieutenant in the Tenth cavalry, a tall, rather good
+looking young fellow who had said to some officers that if they would
+give him a chance he would like to show what he could do. I think he
+finally went to General Grierson and expressed a wish to try. The
+general promptly<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span> gave him a detachment of cavalry, some thirty or more
+men, and told him to stay as long as he liked, but to bring back the
+mules if possible. Nothing was heard of him for some time but finally
+word came from Fort Arbuckle that Mr. Harmon had reported there with a
+bunch of horsethieves and that most of the mules were then on their way
+back to Fort Sill. I heard Mr. Harmon himself tell some of the details
+of the scout. He had got on the trail of the thieves&mdash;not Indians at
+all&mdash;somewhere south of Red river and found two of them in a house he
+went to at night for information, believing he was close to their camp.
+He took these two prisoners and waited until morning to attack the camp.
+The ranchmen where they had stopped and where they had already captured
+two of the thieves, knew the country well and acted as guides. Mr.
+Harmon and he had exchanged firearms on the way, he taking Mr. Harmon's
+pistol and Mr. Harmon his shotgun. They rode along the bed of a little
+stream until quite near their camp. Most of the thieves were still in
+bed but the negro cook was busy about the fire. Mr. Harmon's horse being
+much superior to anything in the command, he was among the thieves
+practically alone. He shot and wounded one of the men with the second
+barrel of his shotgun, and commanded them all to throw up their hands or
+he would kill the last one of them. He dropped the shotgun and reached
+for his pistols but of course they were gone. However, the thieves stood
+there with their hands up until the command came and they were
+hand-cuffed and were soon ready for the march to Fort Arbuckle, the
+nearest military post. Not more than a half dozen mules had been disposed of.</p>
+
+<p>The sequel to this story was interesting to me for it caused me a trip
+to Fort Arbuckle and back. The guardhouse at Fort Arbuckle was not
+considered safe and it was thought best to send the thieves to the new
+guardhouse at Fort Sill until the law could take its course. They were
+sent under a guard of colored troops commanded by a sergeant with
+instructions to kill them if they tried to escape. The guard claimed
+that one man made a break for the brush, but the prisoners claimed that
+he did nothing of the kind, anyway one of them was badly wounded<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span> and
+was taken back to Fort Arbuckle, and as Doctor Brewer, the post surgeon
+was sick at that time a request for a medical officer come to Fort
+Arbuckle and cut a man's leg off was received at Fort Sill and I was
+ordered on that duty. Before I arrived at Fort Arbuckle, Doctor Brewer
+considered it too urgent a case to be delayed any longer, and although
+hardly able to handle the knife, he had amputated the leg before I got
+there. I remained a few days until the doctor was sufficiently recovered
+to attend to the medical duties of the post, and then returned to Fort Sill.</p>
+
+<p>I now come to the last record I shall make of service at this post and
+have hesitated about mentioning it at all, and do so now in as few words
+as possible, not only because "there are sorrows too sacred to be
+babbled to the world" but also because they pull so hard on the heart
+strings. Our little boy was scalded to death at this camp. The negro
+servant had set a large kettle of boiling water off the stove, and some
+way in his play he fell into it. We laid him away in the cemetery on the
+hillside and had a stone covering placed over his grave, to mark the
+place where his little scalded body lay.</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><span>CHAPTER VIII.</span></h2>
+
+<p>This experience with the little prospect of promotion in the service
+decided us on our desire to return to private life, and I wrote to the
+medical director of the department expressing my wishes in the matter,
+and my reasons for quitting the service, and received orders to report
+at the headquarters of the department, Leavenworth, Kansas.</p>
+
+<p>It may be well here to relate an experience of army life that occurred
+at Fort Sill after we had left the post. The feeling of apprehension
+regarding the Indians had subsided to such an extent that the officers'
+wives would take outings in the ambulance, and it became in time
+considered safe to go to the Washita agency and make purchases and
+return the same day. Two of the officers' wives had made the trip and
+were nearing the head of Cache creek on their return, when they saw the
+Indians coming. The negro driver urged the mules with such good effect
+that they reached the timber and the driver escaped but the women were
+carried away to the mountains, and for two weeks were subjected to all
+the brutal horrors to be expected of savages and then were ransomed. We
+were well acquainted with one of these women but the other had only been
+at the post a short time before we left.</p>
+
+<p>I think few of the people of our country today realize how recently such
+horrors have been committed. For most of them it is a matter of the long
+forgotten past.</p>
+
+<p>We left Fort Sill about the middle of August, 1871 and had for company
+Mrs. Harmon, wife of Lieutenant Harmon, who captured the horse thieves
+and Mrs. Brown, wife of the post surgeon, and their little baby and
+nurse girl. We had an escort of a half dozen men under command of a
+sergeant as far as Fort Gibson, Indian Territory, near the junction of
+the Grand and Arkansas rivers, and from there to the end of the railroad
+two or three men to help about camp. The M., K. and T. railroad was then
+only finished to Pryor's creek and we had to take a freight train from
+there to Chetopa, Kansas, the end of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span> passenger run. We camped at
+Stearn's ranch the first night out of Fort Sill. As we were starting the
+following morning we were informed that a dead man had just been found
+near the road we were to take, and only two or three miles away. We got
+some tools at the ranch and stopped long enough to bury him. He had
+soldier's clothes on and had probably been only recently discharged from
+the service. A little money was found in his pocket which I told the
+sergeant to take and on his return to Fort Sill try and have the man
+identified, if possible, and send the money to his friends. He had not
+been dead long as the wolves had not disturbed the body.</p>
+
+<p>Our night camp on the Washita was something we shall always remember.
+Before it got dark the mosquitoes had made our acquaintance in such
+numbers that we were doubtful of our night's rest, but we had the tent
+put up and supper over without suffering serious loss of blood. They
+kept coming in greater numbers until we realized that the first were
+only installments of the advance guard, and by bedtime they were almost
+unbearable. We smudged the tent to drive them out but only succeeded in
+driving out the little nurse girl who was caring for the baby. I tried
+my usual place in the ambulance for a nap but could not sleep and heard
+the women talking in the tent until toward midnight when I called my
+wife and told her that if she would come out to the ambulance I would
+try and keep the mosquitoes off her until she could get a little rest.
+We tried that for an hour but had to acknowledge our defeat and we still
+heard the other women talking in the tent. I was now ready to surrender,
+so called the sergeant and told him to have the ambulance driver hitch
+up and we would get out of there and he and the escort could come on
+when they liked, as we were then away from danger from the Indians. We
+drove for some time after daylight and found a beautiful camp ground
+with fine running water and went into camp. The escort was not far
+behind us&mdash;they had also met with defeat. We spent that day and the
+following night in that camp and had a good rest. The escort had brought
+a cub bear along and he was a very amusing rascal although a cause of
+some anxiety to the women.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span> This day after we had sat down to dinner
+some trash fell on the table and looking up we discovered him out on a
+limb above us. The women thought best to have the table removed. His
+home while on the road was in the feed box at the rear of the wagon
+where he was chained, and the first thing when released was to hunt the
+water and take a good bath and then he was ready to investigate
+everything around camp. He would roam around at his own sweet will until
+away in the night when he would return to his box where we always found
+him in the morning. We had to keep the commissary supplies well
+protected, for he was a born thief.</p>
+
+<p>We had a good supply of small game on the way particularly turkeys and
+prairie chickens. We found the young turkeys at this season of the year
+to be unusually fine.</p>
+
+<p>When we arrived at Oswego my wife went to visit friends in the country
+and I went on to the department headquarters at Leavenworth to report.
+When I got there the medical director was anxious that I should remain
+in the service and said that he would give me a good post and suggested
+Camp Limestone in Southeast Kansas in what was then known as the
+Cherokee neutral lands, about thirty miles south of Fort Scott. It would
+be close to the railroad and other conveniences and comforts of
+civilization, and he was sure I would like it, and he hoped there would
+be an examining board before long for promotions and I had better
+consider the matter. I asked for two weeks leave of absence to consider
+his proposition which was cheerfully granted, and I went back to Iowa
+and looked up the prospects and in ten days was back to continue in the service.</p>
+
+<p>My wife and I together went to our new station at Camp Limestone and
+arrived there September 9th, 1871. At that time the railroad was
+finished to Baxter Springs but there had been trouble with the settlers
+when crossing the Cherokee neutral lands, an area embracing Cherokee and
+Crawford counties and the southern tier of townships in Bourbon county.
+The land had been sold for the Indians by the government to James F.
+Joy, representing what was then known as the Kansas City, Fort Scott and
+Gulf railroad. The settlers thought they should<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span> have the right to
+homestead the land, and resisted the construction of the railroad,
+caught and whipped the engineers and threatened their lives and burned
+their instruments, the result being that troops were sent to protect the
+purchasers and their employees in the construction of the road.</p>
+
+<p>There were three camps established along the line of the railroad on
+these lands, one at Drywood, one at Limstone creek, and one near
+Columbus, and occupied by one company at each post. Temporary buildings
+were constructed and the troops made as comfortable as possible where
+they were not expected to remain permanently. Fort Scott was the
+headquarters, General Neal being in command, but there was a company
+commander at each camp. We arrived late in the afternoon and went to a
+house close by and remained there until the mail messenger from the camp
+should return and report our arrival. In the course of an hour an
+ambulance came, and we made our way across country to camp and I
+reported to Captain Fenton of the Sixth cavalry in command of the camp,
+and we remained at his quarters over night and had our own quarters
+ready for occupancy the following day. The country was fairly well
+settled immediately around the camp and along the streams, and there was
+a schoolhouse less than a mile away.</p>
+
+<p>Part of the settlers had been there for some years and were getting
+things about them to look quite home-like. Fruit trees growing, peach
+trees bearing, and hedge-fences set out, and while there was always a
+seeming scarcity of money and farm products brought low prices, the
+people seemed contented and hopeful. This was a very comfortable
+contrast with our experiences among the Indians. Small game,
+particularly quail and prairie chickens were plentiful, and wild fowl
+abundant in season. There being very little to do in a professional way
+I had plenty of time to indulge in my favorite sport with dog and gun.
+We had not been at that camp long until Captain Fenton's company was
+replaced by another company of which Captain (Brevet Major) Upham was in
+command and Mr. Gordon, first lieutenant and Mr. Kerr, just recently
+from West Point was second lieutenant, and this company remained at Fort
+Limestone during my service<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span> there, and until the spring of 1873 when
+all the camps on the neutral lands were discontinued, the Supreme Court
+having decided the title of the land in the railroad company.</p>
+
+<p>When General Neal was assigned to another post, Major Upham took his
+place at Fort Scott, leaving Mr. Gordon in command at our camp. The
+officers of the different camps had transportation or yearly passes on
+the railroad from Fort Scott to Baxter Springs and Fort Scott being then
+the principal town in the southeast part of the state we were frequently
+there to make purchases or for any purpose our wishes might suggest. We
+boarded the train at a place called Engleton, since changed to Beulah
+although there was no station or side-track and only one house close by,
+and trains only stopped on signals or to let off passengers. Take it
+altogether it was very much like living on a farm in a new country that
+was fairly well settled, but we had many comforts that farmers could not
+afford and did not have to work as they did to earn a living.</p>
+
+<p>Most of the farmers belonged to what was called the Settlers' League and
+those of them who did not belong from choice did so from fear. I got
+acquainted with a number who felt no way in sympathy with some of their
+doings such as burning bridges and other unlawful acts. They were all
+civil enough to the officers and men of our camp and quite a number were
+disposed to be friendly. Some of them had contracted their land from the
+railroad company considering their investments, which in many cases
+embraced good improvements, too valuable to take chances but kept their
+contracts a secret. I frequently took their payments to the land offices
+in Fort Scott, they preferring to send it rather than go themselves.</p>
+
+<p>Eighteen hundred and seventy-two was a bountiful crop year and we could
+get all the peaches and many other things we needed very cheap. The
+quartermaster contracted his corn that year at 14 cents a bushel and the
+farmers who furnished it were greatly pleased at getting such a good
+price for shelled corn. Early in the spring of the year I received
+orders to take charge of the surgical needs of the camp near Columbus
+and to make a trip three times each week and as much oftener as I though
+it<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span> necessary. This I could do and return to my own camp the same day.
+This was a pleasant duty for it gave me more to do and I was taken to
+and from the railroad in the ambulance each trip.</p>
+
+<p>Captain Bennett of the Fifth infantry was the commanding officer at
+Columbus, a dignified, courteous, soldierly gentleman, to whom I became
+very much attached. In a letter from General Miles he speaks of Captain
+Bennett as follows: "Captain Bennett who was in command of the camp at
+Columbus was a very gallant officer. He had an excellent record during
+the Civil war and went with the regiment to Montana. He was engaged in
+several Indian campaigns and in 1879 was killed in an engagement with
+hostile Bannock Indians at Clark's Fork of the Yellowstone. He was an
+ideal officer and one of the many heroes who gave his life in protecting
+the homes of the defenseless settlers and maintaining the supremacy of
+the government." This duty continued until late the following fall when
+another surgeon, Doctor Gray, was sent to take charge of that camp.</p>
+
+<p>When the open season for chicken shooting began we had frequent visitors
+who were fond of the sport. Major Upham, commanding at Fort Scott, would
+come often and bring friends from Fort Scott, generally Mr. Drake and
+Mr. McDonald and sometimes others, to spend a day with dog and gun.
+Captain Butler from the camp on Drywood would come for a day. Colonel
+Delancey Floyd-Jones of the Third infantry came down from Fort Hayes for
+two or three days, and brought with him an excellent setter dog, that
+could not stand the heat as well as the pointers, but was much more
+easily controlled. I was a bit amused at his experience while there.
+When asked at the dinner table the first day if he would be helped to
+both beef and chicken he replied, "No beef for me while I'm here, I can
+get all the beef I want at Fort Hayes, I came down here to eat prairie
+chicken." The last morning he was there I said, "Well Colonel, how is it
+this morning, prairie chicken or steak, or both?" "Well, he said, I
+believe I will try a little steak this morning." He went away delighted
+with his experience and promised me another visit in the fall, but for
+some reason we did not see him again.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span> He was a fine type of the old
+army officer, dignified, courteous and cordial.</p>
+
+<p>I had done my first chicken shooting on the way in from Fort Sill, and
+was by no means a good shot. Mr. Kerr, the young lieutenant, who was
+stationed here, was the best wing-shot I have ever seen on the sporting
+field. He had his gun made to measure and although he was six feet tall
+and finely proportioned he had ordered his gun to be only 6&frac12; pounds
+in weight. Up to that time I had thought the bigger the gun the more
+deadly the weapon. I found I had a good deal to learn about guns and how
+to shoot them. I must tell you about one of my first experiences in
+chicken-shooting with Mr. Kerr. I happened to see one on the ground and
+could not resist the temptation and I will never forget the disgusted
+expression on his face as he turned to me and said, "For God's sake, are
+you hungry." That one precipitation cured me of shooting birds on the
+ground, unless I was hungry. Time and practice finally made me a fairly
+creditable shot but I was never steady in the field or at the trap. Mr.
+Kerr on the other hand was always steady and reliable. I remember one
+day just before Christmas when the snow was several inches deep he asked
+me to count out one hundred loaded cartridges for him while he attended
+guard mount. The ambulance was at the door and he started promptly when
+guard mount was over. He brought back eighty-four quail and nine loaded
+cartridges. Poor old Dick, his faithful pointer had retrieved them all,
+and was an invalid for two or three days thereafter.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Kerr's quarters and ours were just across the corner of the parade
+ground from each other, his facing north and ours east, and he was at
+our house a great deal, especially in the evenings. The conversation
+generally turned to guns and their different makes and merits; to dogs
+and their different breeds and training; the loads to be used and the
+proper proportion of powder and shot. All these things were discussed
+until we felt we were authorities on the subject but for fear we might
+be wrong about the powder and shot, we experimented to find if any of
+the powder left the gun-barrel unburnt, and with target<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span> we settled at
+least to our own satisfaction, the amount of shot and powder to be used.
+My subsequent hunting experience has not materially modified our
+conclusions. In those days we used black powder and loaded our own
+shells, the smokeless powder and machine loaded shells being then unknown.</p>
+
+<p>One of the interesting things at this camp that year was Mr. Gordon's
+company garden, some four or five acres in extent with everything
+imaginable planted in it. The company did the work of planting and
+cultivating but the rabbits did a large part of the eating. There would
+be days when all the company would be out shooting rabbits and it was
+much like the picket firing I had become familiar with in the volunteer
+service. This was kept up until the rabbits were comparatively few
+around camp, and the garden produced abundantly and was a great help in
+rounding out the men's rations. One of the enlisted men was an expert
+with the rifle and caught many of the rabbits on the run.</p>
+
+<p>While here I had an opportunity of observing for the first time the
+variableness in area of rainfall at different seasons of the year. The
+latter part of winter and early spring I observed that if it was cloudy
+or raining at Fort Scott, it was the same way at Columbus fifty miles
+away and I presume over a much greater area. But as the season advanced,
+I would find it raining at Limestone, while on my arrival at Columbus
+the weather would be clear and dry only twenty miles away. Sometimes a
+heavy shower would fall between the camps and both camps would be dry.
+This was a surprise to me because I had not thought of it before, and I
+think the feeling generally is if it is raining where you happen to be,
+it is raining everywhere else.</p>
+
+<p>Before this camp was abandoned I had some hospital property on hand for
+which I was responsible, and that had ceased to be of service, and I had
+applied for its inspection and condemnation. Soon afterwards Colonel
+Nelson A. Miles of the Fifteenth infantry and inspector general of the
+department came and condemned the property. After dinner we played chess
+until time for him to be taken to the northbound train, and I have often
+wondered since that time if he remembers victory as well<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span> as I do
+defeat. Since then he became a distinguished officer in our Indian
+warfare and finally attained the rank of lieutenant general and
+commander-in-chief of the army.</p>
+
+<p>Most of the officers who served at the different camps on the neutral
+land while I was at Limestone have since died. So far as I know, General
+Kerr&mdash;the Mr. Kerr of our camp life there&mdash;and myself are the only ones
+remaining. Mr. Kerr became a captain in 1885 and was wounded in the
+assault on San Juan ridge July 1, 1898, promoted to major in October,
+1898, was military attache at Berlin in 1900 to 1902, promoted to
+colonel in 1903 and to brigadier general in 1908 and retired from active
+service in 1909 as brigadier general in the United States Army. He saw
+much Indian fighting on the frontier, and received numerous medals and
+honorable mention, in orders from different departments and army
+headquarters. It is a pleasure to mention these promotions and orders
+commending him for meritorious conduct for as a young man good things
+were expected of him by his friends. He is still living and it must be a
+great comfort to him in his old age to reflect on the distinguished and
+valuable services he has rendered his country.</p>
+
+<p>The following winter the Supreme Court rendered its decision in the case
+involving the title to the Cherokee neutral lands in favor of the
+railroads. I think the settlers generally felt that the decision would
+be against them for many of them sold their improvements and moved away,
+and most of those remaining contracted their land from the railroad companies.</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><span>CHAPTER IX.</span></h2>
+
+<p>Orders came the latter part of March to abandon the camp and I was
+ordered to accompany the command to Fort Gibson, Indian Territory, and
+then to report to the commanding officer at Fort Garland, Colorado, for
+assignment to duty. From Fort Gibson I returned to Camp Limestone for my
+wife and little girl baby, who was born the previous November. We were
+furnished tickets by the railroad as far as Kansas City, but when we
+came to use them we found they had been packed with our baggage and of
+course had to pay car-fare. We went over the same railroad from Kansas
+City as the one I had first taken in crossing the plains but in place of
+stopping in Kansas, as it did then, it had been finished to Denver.</p>
+
+<p>There was a narrow gauge road from Denver to Pueblo. Its passenger train
+was at the depot when ours pulled in and our train stopped beside it. It
+was quite a curiosity to me. It looked so very small, I thought of it as
+a toy affair and wondered if we could make any headway on such a thing.
+I was surprised and much gratified to soon know how much I had
+miscalculated its merits. It was a long train and went in and out among
+the canons and around the mountain sides in an amusing way and with
+surprising speed. Maybe we would look out and see an engine coming down
+the track across the canon from us and would discover it to be our own
+engine puttering along as though pleased with its job. We stayed over
+night at Pueblo and in the morning we found there was an ambulance to
+take us and Major Hartz over the mountains to Fort Garland. The major
+had introduced himself the previous night on our arrival from Denver. On
+the route to Garland we spent the night at the different stage stations
+and were made fairly comfortable. As we neared the summit of Sangre De
+Cristo Pass (Blood of Christ) the snow was very deep and soft. We
+thought it too much of a load for the mules and so the major and I
+concluded to walk. It was well we did so, for the mules had all they
+could do to flounder through it. I stood the walking very well but it
+was laborious<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span> work. The major did not fare so well, for as we neared
+the top, which is about eleven thousand, five hundred feet above sea
+level, he was spitting blood and having difficulty in breathing. The
+west side of the range was clear of snow and it was only two or three
+miles from the summit to Stearn's ranch, where we stayed over night, and
+by morning although the major had a restless night the hemorrhage had
+stopped. The following day we drove to Fort Garland only twenty miles away.</p>
+
+<p>Fort Garland is situated at the edge of the foothills just south of old
+Baldy, one of the highest peaks of the Sangre De Cristo range. It was a
+pretty location overlooking the Rio Grande valley to the south and west
+and we were assigned to comfortable quarters.</p>
+
+<p>About the first part of May a troop of cavalry under command of Major
+Carraher was ordered to establish a camp at the junction of the west
+fork with the main stream of the Rio Grande, about one hundred miles
+west and a little north of the post, and I was assigned to duty as
+surgeon of the command. This camp was established as a base of supplies
+for government surveyors who were to survey the San Juan Indian
+reservation. There had been trouble for some years between the Ute
+Indians and prospectors who had gone into their reservation and located
+some valuable mines, and warfare between them had resulted in the
+government buying the land and opening it to settlers, and this survey
+was to fix the boundaries and divide the land into sections and cross
+sections so legal title could be given.</p>
+
+<p>The surveyors arrived a few days after we had established camp. A Mr.
+Prout was in charge of the party and they stayed at camp several days to
+establish the exact latitude and longitude of the camp as a base from
+which to make additional surveys. I became very much interested in this
+work and they explained a good deal of it to me but I was surprised at
+the time it required and the figuring necessary. I had the pleasure of
+watching the chronometer and calling time on signal from the observer.
+The nights were clear and in that rare atmosphere the stars shone with great brilliancy.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span></p><p>An escort accompanied the surveyors in their work, a squad of a half
+dozen men in command of a noncommissioned officer, generally a sergeant,
+and each week these were relieved by others and returned to camp. There
+was practically no need for a surgeon with the camp that summer, the
+only two cases in the hospital being a man who was blinded by a
+premature shot in the mines and my pointer dog which I shot on one of my hunting trips.</p>
+
+<p>The country along the Rio Grande was unsettled, there being but one
+abandoned log-house between Fort Garland and Loma, now called Del Norte,
+a Mexican village with a good sprinkling of American houses, and located
+at the head of what was called the San Luis valley. The log-house was
+dignified by the name of Alamoosa and was our camp-ground and half-way
+place between Fort Garland and our summer camp. The trip was generally
+made in two days although the distance was nearly one hundred miles.
+From Loma to the camp, a distance of some fifteen miles, the mountains
+sloped gradually to the river and there were a few adobe houses occupied
+by Mexicans. As there was very little to do I spent a good deal of time
+hunting and fishing. Rainbow trout are very plentiful in the river for
+here it was a clear rushing mountain stream with deep pools and the
+water was cold throughout the summer from melting snows. We had fish at
+all times and cooked in every imaginable way until we were almost
+sickened at the thought of fish, although they were always pretty to
+look at. To this day my wife does not want to see or eat fish. All kinds
+of game were abundant but I never had much success with the larger
+varieties, I did not understand deer hunting and always managed it the
+wrong way. I did not know anything about their runways, so still hunting
+was not practical and in riding over the mountains they saw me before I
+saw them and that settled the matter. I tried repeatedly to get a shot
+at an elk that I frequently saw on his favorite grazing ground, a small
+park a half mile or more away near the top of one of the high points in
+the mountains, but with all my care, and calculating the direction of
+the wind, and figuring on the best way of approach, he would always
+scent the danger<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span> while I was making my way through the thicket of
+aspens that surrounded the park and I could hear the keen whistle-like
+note and hear him bounding away before I caught sight of him.</p>
+
+<p>On these hunting trips I rode a government mule that General Alexander,
+the post commander at Fort Garland, had given me for the summer's use,
+and who spoke of him with great praise as an exceptionally good saddle
+animal. He was said to be twenty-seven years old, and had formerly been
+used as a messenger mule between Fort Garland and Taos when the mail was
+brought to the post from the latter point. I suppose he had been gray at
+one time but now he was white from age, but had been well cared for and
+although in fine condition, had been retired from actual service. I
+found him all that he was recommended to be, and with an additional
+merit that he was not afraid of a gun. I could fire from the saddle and
+he would not flinch, and because of this exceptional quality, I had a
+great deal of sport shooting jack-rabbits. They would jump up and run
+away fifty or a hundred yards and sit up straight, which is their habit,
+and I would aim in line and a little below the mark and as the mule
+would inhale it would raise the muzzle of the rifle and by pulling the
+trigger at the right moment I was sure to see the rabbit tumble over. I
+never had much chance from the saddle at larger game. The color of the
+mule was against it, and I was not a good shot with the rifle at moving objects.</p>
+
+<p>I became much attached to this mule for his exceptionally easy gait and
+his fine disposition, however, he played me a bad trick one day for
+which I have since forgiven him because of my own culpable ignorance. It
+was getting late and I was out of my usual hunting range when I saw an
+antelope grazing in one of the many beautiful parks to be found in the
+mountains. There was a small ravine down the center of this park near
+which I noticed a clump of willows and figured that if I could approach
+from behind the willows I could get a good shot. My scheme worked all
+right and I got up within range and fired. To my great surprise I saw
+the shot take effect on the hillside beyond and had passed over the
+antelope's shoulders. This was a puzzle to me for I was sure I had taken
+good aim, and equally sure<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span> that I did not have the "buck-ague." The
+antelope ran away and stopped and looked back at me when I estimated him
+to be about two hundred and fifty yards away. I made a careful allowance
+for the distance and fired at the shoulder and at the report of the gun
+he dropped in his tracks apparently without a struggle. I thought a
+little strange of this, for I had aimed just back of the shoulders and
+supposed he would at least make a jump or two and struggle some after
+falling. Imagine my surprise when I found his neck broken just back of
+his ears, a purely accidental shot. I went back to my mule, which by the
+way I had named "Paddy O'Rooney" but always addressed him by his given
+name, and I thought I would put the antelope on him without dressing it
+as it was getting late and I wanted to find a trail down to the valley.
+I found that Paddy had an altogether different view of the matter, for
+he had no desire to get acquainted with the dead antelope. There was no
+timber near where I could tie him to a tree, to force him to accept the
+load and so a bright idea occurred to me. I have done a good many
+foolish things in my life, but I think nothing quite so idiotic as this.
+I decided that I would tie the end of the lariat rope to the antelope's
+hind legs, the other end being fastened around Paddy's neck and I would
+then get on the mule and pull the antelope up. This scheme worked pretty
+well at least part way. I was in the saddle and my gun across in front
+of me and I backed Paddy up toward the antelope, wrapping the lariat
+around the horn of the saddle as he backed. Paddy would look back and
+snort a little, but was quite gentle until I attempted to raise the
+antelope up to me. When Paddy saw it move I believe he thought the thing
+had come to life and was going to swallow him, for the way he went down
+the mountain side would have shamed John Gilpin and his foam covered
+horse. I tried to hold him but I might as well have tried to hold a
+cyclone. I had been raised on a farm and helped break the young horses
+to ride and work, and I thought I could hold anything, but I had never
+been on a scared mule before, and I found I was utterly helpless. My
+first impulse was to throw away my gun and try to get off and let the
+mule and the antelope have it out together but<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span> the lariat was across my
+right thigh and I could not get away from it. I believe the thing
+following him added to his terror, for we went over places I could not
+have forced him over in his sane condition. I went over the track of our
+runaway race a few days later and found a ledge of nearly four feet in
+height that we had gone over, and I really think it would have been the
+same thing to Paddy if it had been forty feet in place of four. The old
+saying "All's well that ends well" proved true in this case. The lariat
+rope slipped around the saddle horn caused by the jerking of the
+antelope as it bounded along and choked Paddy down just as we got to the
+edge of the timber. I hurriedly dismounted and loosened the lariat so
+that he could get his breath and found that he was pretty well tuckered
+out. I tied him to a tree and then went back to examine my antelope. The
+hind and fore-quarters were held together by the backbone and a strip of
+skin along the belly but the ribs and entrails were gone. Fortunately we
+had stopped near a trail which I knew would lead down to the valley,
+although I had never been over it before. When I tried to put what was
+left of the antelope on Paddy's back he again rebelled. I then tied his
+neck up against a small tree and wrapped the lariat around the tree and
+his neck until he could not buck, but in his struggles he lost his
+footing and hung himself. I cut the rope as quickly as I could, and got
+him on his feet again and gave him a little more freedom the next time
+and while he protested most vigorously, I finally got my antelope
+securely fastened in the saddle and led the poor worn-out mule down the
+trail. It was very dark by this time and we made slow progress but
+finally reached the valley and I estimated that we were not more than
+three or four miles from camp. We had only gone a short distance when we
+met a detachment of cavalry that had been ordered out by Major Carraher
+in search of me. The major had been over to my tent two or three times
+and finding I was not there became uneasy, thinking I might have met
+with some accident, or the Indians might have found me. We arrived in
+camp about nine or ten o'clock with what was left of the antelope, a
+very tired hunter and a very tired mule.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span></p><p>The following day I tested my rifle at a mark and found good cause for
+my wild shooting the previous day. I suppose the front sight had been
+slightly moved by striking on a tree or something on my trip before I
+found the antelope. Paddy and I still remained good friends and he took
+me many pleasant rides through the mountains.</p>
+
+<p>With the latter part of August came the wing-shooting of the dusky
+grouse (Canace of the Ornothologist) a large slate-colored bird, some
+larger than our prairie chickens (Cupidonia Cupido). The young birds
+could then fly strong and afforded great sport. My observation is that
+it is a very stupid bird. I have seen them sit on the limb of a tree
+until knocked off after repeated throwing and have seen them sit on the
+bare ground apparently thinking they were hid, until I have walked up to
+within ten or fifteen feet of them, before they would take wing. Until
+well grown I found them most frequently in the open parks where there
+was a ravine with water and willows and other undergrowth, and more or
+less grass for cover, but later in the season they took to the large
+timber. So far as my experience goes they are the best table bird of all
+the grouse family. The flesh is white and delicious. Their range is as
+high as timber line in the summer but they go lower as the season
+advances. There were no quail at this altitude. I think they do not go
+so high and I saw no other game birds.</p>
+
+<p>There was a bird about camp called the "Nut-cracker" and I believe in
+some places known as "lark's Crow" (Nussifrage Columbrana) that for a
+nuisance I believe could not be equalled. In action, in size and
+something in appearance and rasping voice he much resembled our jays.
+They were in great numbers about our camp and were impudent fellows and
+seemed determined to get into everything. Mr. H. W. Henshaw was with us
+that summer collecting natural history specimens for the Smithsonian
+Institute. He was quite anxious to find the nest and eggs of this bird.
+I supposed from their abundance this would be a matter requiring little
+effort, but I found I was mistaken. I made it my special part that
+summer to locate a nest of these birds and was constantly on the
+lookout. I often went out with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span> Mr. Henshaw in the morning when he would
+start on his day's round but generally lost out after the first hour. He
+was an athlete in size and finely proportioned and hardened to the work
+by constant practice, and could walk the legs off me in an hour's
+travel. I would then strike out for myself but was always looking for
+the Nut-cracker and trying to locate his nest. One day I saw him fly
+away from a hole some fifteen feet up in an old tree stump, the limbs
+having fallen away. This looked encouraging so I climbed up and found a
+nest but no eggs. I reported my find to Mr. Henshaw that evening and he
+was pleased with the prospects and said we would go together in about a
+week, and by that time we might find eggs in the nest. I had marked the
+place well and we had no difficulty in finding it. Mr. Henshaw did the
+climbing this time and thrust his hand in the hole but found no eggs.
+"Wait a minute though," he said and thrust his hand down in the hole
+again, but brought it out in a hurry and the blood was dripping from it.
+He suggested I make a forked stick such as every boy knows who has ever
+twisted a rabbit out of a stone wall or hollow log, and he twisted the
+thing out which proved to be a mountain rat, something entirely new to
+me. It was a rat in every way I had known them but had a bushy tail like
+a squirrel. We took it to camp with us and the skin went away with his
+other specimens to the institute. This is commonly called the
+bushy-tailed rat but is designated Neotoma Cinera Orelestes by the zoologist.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Henshaw is now chief of the biological survey in the United States
+Department of Agriculture, to whom I am indebted for many agreeable
+experiences and for most of my knowledge concerning most of the birds
+and animals herein mentioned. His contributions to the National
+Geographical Magazine are particularly interesting and instructive. The
+rat mentioned is also one of the varieties of what is known as
+pack-rats. They construct a nest of sticks and other rubbish found in
+the neighborhood, and if near a house may carry off spoons or knives or
+anything that attracts their attention. There is a smooth tailed rat
+belonging to this genus that is very abundant in New Mexico<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span> and is apt
+to leave something in place of the article he carries away, and on that
+account is often called the swap-rat.</p>
+
+<p>General Alexander and some other officers from the post at Fort Garland
+came to our camp the latter part of July. Complaint had been made by
+cattlemen, really some Englishmen by the name of Hamilton, that some of
+their cattle had been killed and they blamed the escort that accompanies
+the engineers for their death. Mr. Delaney, who came with the general,
+and I were detailed to go to Antelope park, where the ranch was located,
+and investigate the matter. The general and some other officers
+accompanied us as far as Wagon-wheel Gap and with a small escort we
+continued on to the park, the general and other officers returning to
+camp. We found the Hamilton brothers very cordial and hospitable. We
+talked the business over quite thoroughly and remained until near
+midnight before returning to our camp a short distance away. The
+following morning we found a half-inch or more of ice in a cup that had
+been left with some water in it the night before, rather cool weather I
+thought for the 30th of July. It was very chilly riding for the first
+two or three hours in the morning, but the sunshine finally got the
+better of the cold, and we were comfortable for the balance of the day.
+We camped at Wagon-wheel Gap the following night and found it an
+interesting place, although there was but one log building and that
+unoccupied, in the place.</p>
+
+<p>The river here makes a great circular bend around an almost
+perpendicular wall of rock that I judged to be about a half-mile high.
+Across the river from this was a beautiful valley sloping gradually up
+into the mountains and in it were many hot springs varying in
+temperature from barely tepid to boiling hot.</p>
+
+<p>The following day brought us back to our summer camp again. Our camp
+here was beautifully located among the pines and between the camp and
+bluff there was a pretty little lake which had been made by turning a
+little mountain stream into the low ground between the camp and the
+bluff. The officers' tents were in line facing this lake, and at the
+back ground sloped gradually to the river about a half-mile away. A very
+interesting "nature feature" of this camp, was the uniformity<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span> with
+which we got a shower of rain every morning during July and August, and
+we got into the habit of expecting it at eleven o'clock and were seldom
+disappointed. One day, August 17th, the water from the cloud in passing
+over became congealed and formed snow-flakes that for size were really
+astonishing. I was on my way to Loma on my faithful mule Paddy O'Rooney,
+and when it came it shut out practically everything from sight, a few
+yards away, and lasted probably twenty or thirty minutes. About four
+inches of snow fell in that time, then the sun came out bright and warm,
+and it seemed to go away almost as fast as it came. On my way back to
+camp the depressions along the way were flooded and by night only the
+spots protected by ledges of rock or dense foliage were left. With all
+these pleasant surroundings, and nothing to do but fish and hunt, life
+became a little monotonous. I sometimes wonder if people will get tired
+of golden streets and heavenly music.</p>
+
+<p>The survey being ended we broke camp September 9th and started back to
+Fort Garland. Mr. Prout and one other engineer, whose name I cannot now
+recall, accepted commissions in the Egyptian army and a letter received
+some months later assured me it was not a very comfortable service.</p>
+
+<p>While in this camp my wife and I thought one day it would be fine to
+take an outing together, so the ambulance was ordered and she and our
+little baby girl and nurse girl and myself and the driver made up the
+party. We crossed the west fork of the Rio Grande and went up the valley
+for some distance. The west fork is smaller than the main stream, with
+many pools and little rapids and hugs close to the north side of the
+valley as far as we went. The mountains rose abruptly from the waters
+and at a great height divided into peaks and spires, pinnacles and
+domes, in abandoned confusion, that impressed me not only as most
+remarkable but also the most beautiful combination of mountain scenery I
+had ever witnessed. The pools were especially attractive for I had taken
+my tackle with me, so I left the party in charge of the driver and
+started out for some good sport. I did not meet with the ready response
+I expected from the fish, and kept going on up stream trying one pool
+after another until I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span> was quite out of sight of the ambulance but still
+kept going, each pool looking more inviting than the one just passed. I
+finally came to an unusually large pool, deep and wide, and that ran
+close to the perpendicular bluff on the opposite side. I had made a
+number of casts when a voice from somewhere called out "What luck?" It
+might have been from the clouds and I would not have been more
+surprised, and at first I could not locate it, but looked up and down
+stream and back over the valley but saw no one. Finally just across from
+me on a big block of rock that had become detached from the mountainside
+and in plain view sat a man. His clothing was so near the color of the
+rock and he sat so stalk still that I would never have discovered him if
+he had not made the inquiry. Answering I said, "Not very good," but some
+way I was so startled by that inquiry seemingly coming from the unknown
+and then finding a real man where of all places I least expected him,
+that I think I was a little nervous about it, and soon lost interest in
+fishing and returned to the ambulance. He had evidently been watching me
+as I was going up stream but made no other effort for closer
+acquaintance and I left him with that one response, "Not very good."</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><span>CHAPTER X.</span></h2>
+
+<p>A few days after returning to Fort Garland I was ordered to report to
+Major McClave who commanded a troop of cavalry and was camped near the
+top of Sangre De Cristo pass. The nights were cold and the camp was in
+every way an unpleasant one. We only remained there a few days when we
+broke camp and went down the Veta pass. The Sangre De Cristo and Veta
+passes joined just beyond the top of the range on the west side. We
+camped near La Veta, a Mexican village, the first night. In coming down
+La Veta pass we had a good view of the Spanish peaks, a name I
+remembered in connection with my very limited study of geography when a
+lad, and which for some reason I expected to be grand and commanding.
+After spending a summer in the mountains and seeing them in all their
+rugged grandeur, the peaks looked small and their hay-stack tops were
+disappointing. We went by easy marches until we reached a point on the
+Purgatory river some forty miles above its mouth where we remained in
+camp about a month. Our camp here was several thousand feet lower than
+the one near Sangre de Cristo pass and was in a fine grove of large
+cotton-wood trees and by comparison was a very comfortable place. The
+nights were a little cool but the days were delightfully pleasant. The
+Purgatory valley was practically unsettled in those days except near
+Trinidad, where there were a number of small ranches but I only remember
+one ranch between our camp and the mouth of the river. While in this
+camp a wind-storm came up one afternoon and grew in volume as the
+evening advanced but we felt secure on account of the bluff just across
+the river to the windward of us. However, I could hear it among the tree
+tops before dropping to sleep, and I wondered if it could do any harm.
+When I awoke the next morning the ridge pole of my tent was broken, and
+the tent crushed in by some great thing extending obliquely upward, and
+only a few inches above my chest. I hurried outside as quickly as I
+could and found an immense dead <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span>cotton-wood tree lying across my tent
+with the top caught in the forks of another tree a few yards away.</p>
+
+<p>I found both Major McClave and Mr. Williams, his lieutenant, very
+interesting companions. The major had served in the ranks before the
+war, and had been promoted for bravery and efficiency in the service. He
+was a thorough soldier, courteous and considerate to everybody, and like
+all the officers I met from the ranks, was very devoted to his men. Mr.
+Williams was a West Point graduate and an accomplished gentleman, and I
+shall always remember my experience with this command with pleasure. Mr.
+Williams and I had found a fine bathing pool in the river and had
+frequent occasions to enjoy its chilly but invigorating qualities. One
+day when in the midst of our bath the bugle call for "boots and saddles"
+sounded. We hurried from the water, dressed and got to camp in time to
+find everything ready to move. A messenger had arrived in camp bringing
+word of an Indian raid and the killing of cattle at some point down the
+river toward Las Anamis. We kept going until some time after midnight
+when we were within a few miles of Fort Lyon and from there the major
+and I took the ambulance and went on into Fort Lyon to report and get
+such information as we could, and instructions for any further action
+that was considered necessary. We got back to our camp just at good
+daylight and found Mr. Williams and the men almost ready for the march.
+After a hurried breakfast we were soon on the way up the Arkansas
+Valley. We followed this valley to where Wild Horse creek enters the
+river, then turned up that creek and marched until near sundown when
+some cattlemen and rangers met us and reported that the Indians had
+turned east and would probably cross the Arkansas below Fort Lyon. Right
+here it is just as well to say that cavalry stand a poor show to
+overtake a band of Indians if they have a few miles the start. The
+Indian pony does not eat corn; the cavalry horses must have it or at
+least some kind of grain. Stop and unsaddle your Indian pony, lariat him
+out and give him an hour to rest and graze, and he is ready for another
+jaunt of a half day or more. He is a tough, hardy beast and can be
+forced to keep going when the cavalry horse will<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span> simply quit. We
+returned slowly to Fort Lyon and reported to the commanding officer for
+instructions, and were ordered back to Fort Union where Major McClave's
+troop of cavalry belonged.</p>
+
+<p>There was nothing of special interest on this trip although the night we
+camped at Dick Wooton's there was a heavy snow and the major spent a
+good part of the night looking after the comfort of his men and horses.
+After crossing this spur of the mountains the weather was pleasant and
+the country free from snow and we reached Fort Union without further
+incident. I returned by stage to Fort Garland and arrived at that post
+the forepart of December and was there awaiting orders until the 18th.
+The weather was cold, Fort Garland being at an altitude of about seven
+thousand feet above sea level, and it was comfortable to be with my wife
+and little girl, and in good quarters again.</p>
+
+<p>General Kautz had taken General Alexander's place as post commander, but
+Dr. Happersett, the post surgeon, and the other officers were the same
+as when we arrived the preceding April. The social features of the post
+were charming and I hoped it would be my good fortune to remain there
+during the winter, but a few days after my arrival orders came for me to
+report to the commanding officer at Fort Stanton, New Mexico, for duty.
+We started on December 18th and the thermometer registered eighteen
+degrees below zero that morning. We were well equipped for the trip,
+having four mules to the ambulance and a six-mule team and wagon for our
+baggage. The question may occur to some of my readers how could all your
+household goods be carried in one wagon? We did not have much to carry,
+particularly in the way of furniture. The quarters at the different
+military posts were furnished by the quartermaster with stoves, tables,
+bedsteads and all kinds of furniture that would be cumbersome to move.
+We carried folding chairs, carpets, bedding and numerous household
+necessities and comforts with us, but one wagon was sufficient for this
+purpose in addition to carrying grain and hay for the mules from one
+government supply station to another. On most of the routes traveled
+there were <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span>government stations where grain and forage were kept for the
+animals used in government transportation. We started early, having
+forty miles to make that day to reach Conejos (Jackrabbit) the first
+government station on the route. We heated bricks for our feet and by
+drawing the curtains around the ambulance, it was made quite
+comfortable. We crossed the Rio Grande on the ice and reached Conejos in
+the evening and had a very comfortable place for the night. We remained
+one day at Conejos for supplies of grain and hay for the mules. For the
+next three days and two nights we were in deep snow all the way, and of
+course made slow progress, and the escort melted snow for water for
+ourselves and the animals during this time. We hoped to reach San Juan
+on the Rio Grande by the end of the third day, but were apprehensive,
+for we knew we had to cross the Rio Chama, a stream that had acquired an
+unenviable reputation because of its quicksand. We reached this stream
+just at dusk of the third day and for the first time in three days saw
+the friendly lamplights at a Mexican village a short distance above the
+ford. This was my first acquaintance with quicksand, and I would know
+better now. We should have unfastened the mules from the wagon, and
+broken the ice, which was not strong enough to hold them up, and thus
+made the way clear so we could cross without stopping. To stop is fatal.
+In place of doing this, we expected the mules to break the ice as they
+went. About the middle of the stream was a sand-bar only slightly
+covered with ice and water and the water had been shallow over to this
+bar, but when the mules came into the deep water beyond, the leaders
+refused to break the ice, the team stopped, and the wagon gradually
+settled down until the running gear and bed rested on the sand-bar. I
+ordered the team unhitched and the ice broken so we could get around
+with the ambulance, and we made the crossing without difficulty. It was
+then quite dark and I decided to ask for a volunteer to remain with the
+wagon and the balance of us would go on to San Juan.</p>
+
+<p>I called the men together, and asked if any one of them would volunteer
+to stay with the wagon over night. An Irishman stepped out and said,
+"Yis Doctor, I will stay with it." It<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span> seems to me that in a case like
+this, or for that matter in any emergency, one can always depend on the
+Irishman. I knew his habits at the post, for he was in the guardhouse
+occasionally for drunkenness, so I said to him, "Look here, this is not
+an easy job. If those Mexicans up there knew this wagon was in here they
+might give you trouble, and if they found you drunk they would probably
+kill you and loot the wagon. Now I am going to leave a bottle of whiskey
+with you, for it is a very cold night and you will need some before
+morning, so be careful and do not take too much of it. Get out and walk
+when you get too cold to sleep but don't get drunk for your life may be
+in danger if you are not able to take care of yourself." "Yis Sir,
+Doctor, I understand that sir, and I will keep sober, sir, and I will
+take care of the stuff all right, sir." We left him there and the
+balance of the escort with the six mule team, and my wife and baby and I
+in the ambulance, started on to San Juan some six miles away. We got off
+the road as we neared the station, and our ambulance got into an
+irrigation ditch and turned over on one side, but did no harm and we
+soon had it right again, and after some trouble in finding a road,
+finally reaching San Juan about midnight. We had wandered around a good
+deal in trying to find the road again.</p>
+
+<p>The following day the escort returned to the Rio Grande, and found the
+Irishman all right and only about half of the whiskey gone. He had fully
+merited all my confidence. They unloaded the wagon and slid the contents
+across the river on the ice, and by digging and prying with the tools
+they had taken from the station, and hitching all ten mules to the
+wagon, they drew it out the quick-sand and across the river and arrived
+at the station with everything in good shape about dark that evening.
+The morning before Christmas my wife and I concluded to ride to Santa Fe
+about twenty miles away for breakfast. It was a stinging cold morning,
+and we had to go over a little mountain range on the way, but the roads
+were hard and smooth as a pavement, and we made the trip at a clipping
+gait, but were thoroughly chilled by the time we reached Santa Fe. There
+was no fire in our room and I went to the landlord, Alex McDowell<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span> and
+asked him to send us something to warm us up. In a few minutes a man
+came in with a tray and glasses and something he called Tom-and-Jerry
+and hoped we would like it. I think I never tasted anything so
+delicious, and I believe my wife appreciated it as much as I did, and
+the effect was marvelous. We were soon warm and comfortable, and by
+comparison with the experience of the past few days, it seemed a
+paradise indeed. This was my first acquaintance with Tom-and-Jerry, and
+while I became better acquainted with these gentlemen afterwards, we
+were never very cordial friends but I never met them under such
+favorable conditions as on the morning after that cold ride over the
+mountains. We did some shopping on the 24th and remained over Christmas
+at the hotel. The morning after Christmas we again started on our way to Fort Stanton.</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><span>CHAPTER XI.</span></h2>
+
+<p>The trip from Santa Fe to Fort Stanton was not an attractive one. There
+was not much snow and no mountains to cross but the route was
+uninhabited and dreary, consisting of alternate stretches of timber and
+alkali lands, until we neared Fort Stanton when the timber improved in
+quality, and the country generally was more inviting. We reached Fort
+Stanton on the second of January and were at once assigned to
+comfortable quarters which we occupied the following day but stayed with
+a brother officer's family the first night. I found Fort Stanton a very
+desirable post at which to serve. Major Clendenning was in command and
+Doctor Fitch was post surgeon until my arrival. The fort and military
+reservation were beautifully located on what was then the Mescalero
+Apache reservation in the White mountains, El Capitan being the nearest
+peak, and on a little stream called Rio Bonito, (pretty little river)
+and it was an exceptionally pretty stream. Anywhere east it would have
+been called a creek or branch. It was a mountain stream of clear cold
+water and the post was supplied with water through a ditch taken out
+from the river at some distance above the post, and carried to the
+highest point on the parade ground, and from there distributed each way
+around the parade ground and then taken to the corral and the stables
+lower down the valley. In front of each officer's quarters a barrel was
+sunk in the ditch to a depth where the water would almost reach the top
+of the staves and the up and down stream sides were cut away as low as
+the bottom of the ditch, thus allowing the water to pass through freely.
+Small trout were often dipped up in the water taken from these barrels.
+Fort Stanton is located at an altitude of a little over six thousand
+feet and is not only a beautiful location but is a very healthy post. It
+was abandoned long ago as a military post but is still owned by the
+government and used as a sanitarium for tuberculosis. I have visited it
+since it was converted in to a sanitarium, and for cleanliness and
+general <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span>sanitary conditions it did not compare with the post when used
+for military purposes.</p>
+
+<p>In those days game was plentiful in the mountains and the duck shooting
+along the pretty little river was exceptionally good.</p>
+
+<p>What was afterwards known as the Lincoln County War was just then in its
+incipiency. Considerable shooting was done between the cattle and sheep
+men, and the death of a sheepherder&mdash;always a Mexican&mdash;or a cattleman,
+was of frequent occurrence. Word came to the post one evening, that a
+deputy sheriff had been shot while attempting to settle some difficulty
+between the cattle and the sheep men, and a surgeon was requested to go
+to Lincoln, the county seat some ten miles down the valley to see him.
+Major Clendenning sent for me and explained the matter, but said if he
+were in my place he would not go, as those Mexicans would just as leave
+take a shot at me as anybody else. He said, however, that if I decided
+to go I should have the ambulance and any help I needed. I decided no
+help was necessary, but took the ambulance and driver and went to
+Lincoln that night. Mr. Mills, the deputy sheriff who had been shot had
+a half-brother at the post by the name of Stanley and I had heard the
+story of one of their shooting experiences when little fellows. They
+were practising with pistols and had become so expert that one day they
+tried the experiment of holding something out in one hand for the other
+to shoot at, but as this was not exciting enough, one of them extended
+his arm and pointed out his index finger and said to the other: "See if
+you can clip the end of that." He clipped a little too much for I had
+seen Stanley's hand and the finger was off at the first joint from the
+end. "You fool, you, you took too much. Now give me a chance." The other
+being willing to play fair, extended his finger the same way and lost
+the same amount of finger. This was the story, and I was curious to see
+Mr. Mills' hand which I took good care to observe while dressing his
+wound and found it almost exactly like Stanley's. Mr. Mills' wound was
+by a shot that entered near the heart, struck a rib and did<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span> not enter
+the plural cavity, but followed the rib around and came out on the back
+and was not a very serious wound.</p>
+
+<p>The Sutler's store at Fort Stanton was up-stream some distance and just
+around the point of a little canon that led down to the river. A path
+from the corner of the parade ground led up to the store but there was
+only a narrow space between the point of the canon and the ditch that
+supplied the post with water. There was also a bridge across the ditch
+at the Sutler's store, for the convenience of getting in and taking out
+goods. One dark night I had been up to the store and started home, and
+after going a short distance, I concluded I had crossed the ditch on the
+bridge, instead of going along the narrow strip between the ditch and
+canon. To save time and retracing of steps I concluded to jump into the
+ditch. I knew it was wide and required a good jump but I found that
+instead of jumping the ditch, I had jumped off the bluff into the canon.
+Fortunately it had been made a dumping ground for chips and trash from
+the wood-yard, and I landed on this trash and rolled the balance of the
+way to the bottom of the canon among the rocks, probably twenty-five or
+thirty feet. My first thought was that I was seriously hurt, but after
+groaning a while and finding no bones broken, I got up and felt my way
+out at the top of the canon near the Sutler's store. I was very sore for
+a few days but no serious injuries resulted.</p>
+
+<p>In March of this year Captain Fechet (pronounced Fe-sha, accent on the
+last syllable), with his troop of cavalry, was ordered to go over on the
+Jornada del Muerto, and try to find a shorter route across that desert
+from Fort Stanton to Fort Selden, and I was sent along. We took the
+usual route to Fort McRae, where I again met Dr. Lyons, the post
+surgeon, whom I had visited at this point when I was post surgeon at
+Fort Craig in 1869. We found the doctor at dinner when we arrived. The
+cloth was spread at one end of the table and just beyond the cloth, at
+the farther end, was a human skull, with the necessary instruments,
+which the doctor had been dissecting. It struck me as a rather strange
+mixture of diet and scientific investigation. It is hardly necessary to
+say that the doctor was not a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span> married man, for no woman would stand for
+that sort of table decoration, but would probably prefer a bunch of
+flowers as a center-piece for the table. Some unfortunate had been
+fished out of the river, and no relations having been found, the body
+was considered of service for a better knowledge of anatomy.</p>
+
+<p>From Fort McRae we went to the Aleman, or as it was better known, Jack
+Martin's, where we stayed over night, and from there we went to Fort
+Selden and remained several days. While there the captain and I made a
+trip to Las Cruces where we remained over night, and had a very pleasant
+evening with some Catholic priests, where we were cordially received and
+entertained. On our return to Fort Selden we again took up the march to
+Fort Stanton but did not leave the beaten track either going or coming.
+We had taken some half-dozen Mescalero Apache Indians along with us as
+guides and scouts, but I could never see that we accomplished anything
+by the trip, or that we made any effort to do so.</p>
+
+<p>Along about the first of April I received a suit of clothes from Fort
+Leavenworth, Kansas, that I had ordered the previous September upon my
+return from the summer camp on the Rio Grande. It had not occurred to me
+that I might have changed some in physique, but when I got the clothes I
+found that I could only wear the pants by putting a V-shape in the back
+of the waistband and I could only wear the vest by inserting pieces
+below the arm-holes, but the coat was entirely too small to be of any
+practical service. My experience in the mountains had evidently made
+quite a different type of man out of me, and I should have had my
+measure taken again before sending orders to the tailor.</p>
+
+<p>Soon after our return from the trip to find a new route across the
+Jornada, I received a letter from Doctor Lyons asking me to exchange
+stations with him. I wrote back that I would make the change if he would
+make the application, which he did, and orders soon came directing the
+change. We started from Stanton the latter part of April, with the usual
+ambulance, and wagon and baggage, and an escort to care for us on the
+way. Between the White mountains and the lower range to the west<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span> is
+quite a wide valley which is called the Malpais (or bad country) near
+the center of which is a lava flow a few hundred yards wide. The crater,
+or peak from which it came is not in the mountain range as one would
+naturally suppose it to be but stands out near the middle of the valley,
+maybe ten miles above where we crossed. The outlines of the streams are
+quite distinct until some distance below, where it is lost in a great
+white plain of alkali. There had been much work done to make a road
+across this lava flow passable for vehicles, but it was still very rough
+when we crossed it, so much so that my wife preferred to walk, and
+nearly wore her shoe soles out in doing so. When did this lava flow
+occur? I don't know. Maybe ten thousand years ago, but it looked as
+though it might have been last week.</p>
+
+<p>There were quite a number of little cone-shaped mounds in this valley,
+and I examined some of those close to the road. They varied in size, and
+none that I saw were more than ten or twelve feet in height, and they
+all had craters, containing blackish looking water. In some of them the
+water seemed to be higher than the valley in which they were located.</p>
+
+<p>We camped on the second night in the foothills of the San Andres range,
+and the following evening at the Oho De Anija. These springs were
+interesting because of the great amount of painted and broken pottery to
+be found nearby. I think some excavating might bring to light whole
+pieces of value to the archaeologist. The spring is located only a few
+miles from Paraja a on the Rio Grande, and at the extreme northern limit
+of the Jornada del Muerto, and the next day we arrived at Fort McRae.</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><span>CHAPTER XII.</span></h2>
+
+<p>McRae was a one company post, and located on a little bench of land at
+the side of the canon that led down to the Rio Grande from the Frau
+Christobel mountains. There were no square for a parade ground but all
+buildings faced toward the canon, of which at this point was not abrupt
+but sloped gradually to the bottom.</p>
+
+<p>The officers' quarters were very comfortable, being built of heavy adobe
+walls, and covered with dirt, consequently were warm in winter and cool
+in summer. The rooms were large and had the usual jaspa floors common to
+the military posts along the Rio Grande. Government blankets are first
+laid on these floors and over them is laid the carpet and both are
+nailed down with lath or shingle nails, with leather heads, to hold the
+carpet in place. There was a fireplace in both living and dining rooms
+and water was obtained at a spring in the canon, a short distance away.
+While the quarters were comfortable the outlook and surroundings were
+anything but attractive. The view from the front porch was of a bleak
+cactus covered ridge across the canon, and this was limited in extent
+and back of the post the canon rose abruptly to a great height. Up the
+canon was the barracks of the men, and farther up was the Sutler's
+store. Below the officers' quarters, was the quartermaster and
+commissary storehouses and corrals and stables.</p>
+
+<p>For some time we were quite reconciled to the situation. Both the
+commanding officer, Captain Farnsworth and his lieutenant, a Mr.
+Carlton, were bachelors, and were courteous and pleasant gentlemen. They
+did not remain long, however, after our arrival at the post, but were
+superseded by Captain Kauffman and Mr. Fountain, the latter a West
+Pointer, but Captain Kauffman was raised from the ranks, and to me never
+seemed to fit the promoted position he held. Mr. Fountain on the
+contrary, I thought, gave promise of becoming a distinguished officer.
+Until they came, my wife was the only officer's wife at the post, and
+with the addition of Mrs. Kauffman<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span> it could hardly be considered a
+great social center. We made the most of it, however, and were fairly
+well satisfied with our position.</p>
+
+<p>During the early part of the summer we attended an entertainment given
+by the men at the barracks, and our little girl caught cold. At first we
+thought it only a temporary illness and that she would soon be better,
+but in this we were disappointed. She gradually lost appetite and grew
+weaker and I wrote to Dr. Boughter, post surgeon at Fort Craig,
+requesting him to come and see her, which he did. We concluded the water
+at the post was bad for her, as it was strongly impregnated with alkali,
+and we thought it best to take her out to Jack Martin's ranch, where we
+knew the water was good. Captain Kauffman was very considerate about the
+proposed change, and we agreed that I should return to the post three
+times a week to look after any who needed medical attention. This trip
+could be made in one day on horse-back, the distance for the round trip
+being about forty miles. We got out there the latter part of July, but
+within a few days realized more fully the serious nature of our little
+daughter's illness. Dr. Boughter came from Fort Craig to see her but
+could give us no encouragement.</p>
+
+<p>The Scotch are a superstitious folk, and up to the age of fourteen I was
+raised in an atmosphere of superstition. They had signs and omens, and
+attributed a personality to everything, animate and inanimate. While
+they denied a belief in spirits and hob-goblins, I am satisfied these
+things influenced their lives. I remember two old crones at an uncle's,
+wizened up old maids, that I think were no relation, but just lived
+there, who used to tell us little ones spook and ghost stories until I
+was afraid to go to bed in the next room, or out of doors at night. It
+seemed to be in the blood and Walter Scott's books are full of it. This
+may explain in a way my hope that something would happen that would
+bring our little one back to health again. My frequent trips to the post
+and sitting up at night to give my wife a little rest, which she so
+sorely needed, together with my anxiety, had probably made me morbid,
+for one day, August 14th, as I remember, I was on my way to the post. It
+was a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span> very hot day and the atmosphere was shimmering with radiated
+heat, and not a living thing was to be seen over that vast, desolate
+Jornada del Muerto, except maybe a lizard scurrying across the road, and
+I was half-way or more to the head of that canon in which the post was
+located, when a little grayish-brown bird suddenly appeared from
+somewhere, and fluttered over the horses' head just out of reach of my
+hand. I accepted it at once and without question, as a messenger sent to
+me, and my anxiety was to interpret its message. I tried to reach it
+with my hand, but it kept just out of reach, and presently lit in the
+road in front. I immediately got off my horse, and taking the lariat
+rope in my hand, walked up to it, but it kept moving out of the way, but
+only just out of reach. I again got on my horse but had no sooner done
+so, than it came back again and fluttered over the horse's head. From
+there it flew to a cactus bush by the roadside, and I got off my horse
+again and walked up to the bush and took my canteen&mdash;no one travels
+through such a country without a canteen of water&mdash;and holding it up
+over the bush poured out a little stream of water. The bird at once
+gathered from the leaves, such drops as lodged, and seemed greatly
+delighted. I then pressed my left hand, back downward, into the sand,
+and holding the canteen up poured a little stream of water into the palm
+of my hand. The bird at once left its perch, and flew down and lit near
+my hand, and after a little debating with herself, hopped up on my hand
+and drank, and at each swallow would look up at me as if to say, "Oh, I
+am so thankful." I was greatly comforted and got on my horse again
+feeling that my hopes would be realized, and that I would find my little
+child on the road to recovery, upon my return in the evening. I had only
+gone a short distance when the little bird again flew around in front of
+me and again fluttered its wings just out of reach of my hand. I got off
+again and this time did not take the lariat rope down, but merely
+stepped up by the horse's head, stooped down and pressed my hand in the
+sand as before, and the bird did not hesitate, but came at once, and
+stood on my hand and drank the water, and when its thirst was fully
+satisfied it hopped away, and I got on my horse and went<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span> on to the
+post. When I returned that evening I found our little child no better
+and she died that night.</p>
+
+<p>A messenger was sent to the post and the ambulance came the following
+day with a little coffin made at the quartermaster's and the trip back
+to the post was to us indeed the "Journey of Death." Our home was so
+desolate that I became more morbid than ever, and was soon taken down
+with typhoid dysentery, and Dr. Boughter came from the Fort Craig to
+wait on me. My recovery was very slow and I was indifferent to anything
+that might happen. My wife at last became discouraged and she and
+Captain Kauffman talked the situation over, and after consulting Dr.
+Boughter concluded to have me taken to Fort Craig for treatment. I was
+not informed of their conclusion, and when they told me the ambulance
+was at the door, and a bed in it and that I was going to Fort Craig, it
+did not even interest me. If they had told me I was going to the
+cemetery I would have been just as well satisfied with the arrangement,
+although they thought I would be interested because of having been post
+surgeon there some years before. After I was at Fort Craig a few days, I
+began to take some interest in life and thought I would like to see what
+changes had been made, and the more I thought about it, the more
+interest I took until I finally wanted to see for myself. With this
+awakening I began to have some appetite for food, and I soon began to
+gain strength and as I improved I wanted to cross the river and see my
+old hunting grounds. All these things undoubtedly contributed to my
+recovery for I soon made rapid progress toward good health again. The
+doctor had given us his quarters to occupy while there and they were
+handsomely furnished and we were made most comfortable. It was then the
+latter part of September and the nights were cool and the days pleasant.
+We took our meals at the officers' mess and had good things to eat, and
+I shall always remember how delicious the pigeon squabs were to me.
+Before returning to Fort McRae the doctor and I planned to hunt across
+the river. One of the officers had a gun he would loan us, and the
+doctor said the blacksmith had one, and he had no doubt he would loan
+it. I preferred going for it myself, as I wanted to see the shop and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span>
+house close to the bluff where the blacksmith lived. The blacksmith was
+very well pleased to loan his gun, but said one barrel was loaded, and
+he shot it off and handed the gun to me, saying, "Now it is all right."
+It was a muzzle-loader and after wiping it out carefully at the doctor's
+quarters I found one of the tubes were stopped up. I put a cap on the
+tube and in place of taking the gun out of doors, or pointing it in the
+fireplace, I merely turned the muzzle down toward the carpet and pulled
+the trigger. A report followed that astonished the doctor, my wife and
+myself, who were all taking interest in the preparation for the hunt.
+The shot tore through the carpet and into the jaspa floor and sent the
+plaster flying in all directions, and made a hole in the floor big
+enough to bury a small-sized dog. Another instance of where the gun that
+was not loaded, did serious damage, but fortunately no one was hurt.</p>
+
+<p>The post had changed very little since I was there five years before but
+I took great interest in seeing everything. Doctor Boughter was a
+bachelor, a man of ability in his profession, an accomplished gentleman,
+and a friend in our great affliction.</p>
+
+<p>On our return to Fort McRae, while I felt a great repugnance to ever
+seeing the place again, I was more resigned to what I considered the
+inevitable that is, that death comes to everybody, is one of nature's
+laws, and is the culminating process, just as birth is the beginning of
+life. When we reached the head of the canon leading down to the post I
+was able to look upon the incident of my experience with the little
+bird, from a very different point of view.</p>
+
+<p>It was now clear enough to me, that there was nothing miraculous or
+unnatural about it, but that for some cause it had simply become
+separated from the flock to which it belonged, for they are generally
+found in flocks along with cattle. I think it was the female and may
+have gone to some other bird's nest to deposit its egg, as is its habit,
+for I had studied it closely while drinking out of my hand, and
+recognized it as one of the cowbirds or buntings, and I have since been
+able to identify it as belonging among the blackbirds and orioles or the
+icteridae of the ornothologist, its special division being Molothrus
+Aster, a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span>division found in Texas and Southern New Mexico, but I think
+not much farther north. The sexes are difficult to distinguish at a
+distance, differing in this respect from their near relatives farther
+north, where the male is a glossy black with chocolate colored head and
+neck. Whatever the cause may have been this one was evidently lost, and
+was famishing for water, and recognized the horse as a friend, and in no
+way could have considered me in that relation, it came to my hand simply
+and only as a matter of necessity. It was pleasant to relieve the thirst
+of the little lost bird, but I shall never again think of it as in any way supernatural.</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><span>CHAPTER XIII.</span></h2>
+
+<p>Our quarters were just as we had left them but with the added feeling of
+desolation, and from that time we frequently discussed the question of
+leaving the service. It being then well toward winter we deferred it
+until spring, and we spent the time until then performing our duties in
+a perfunctory way, and planning and rejecting plans as we made them,
+being undecided where to locate. I spent a part of the time in hunting
+with more or less success, but more as a recreation than as a matter of
+interest. On one of these trips I killed three antelopes with two shots,
+being the only ones seen that day. I managed to get in good range and
+when the first one fell the other two ran together and stood looking at
+the fallen one. They stood so that a shot through the flank of one would
+hit the other just back of the shoulder. I dressed the first one and got
+it on the horse and found the second some two hundred yards away, but by
+the time I had it on the horse it was too dark to track the third. Next
+morning I went out and found only the bones and some pieces of the hide,
+the wolves having cared for the rest of it. On another occasion I took
+an orderly with me to care for my horse in case I found occasion to
+stalk any game, but when we got into a valley which was the customary
+route for Indians from the White mountains on the east, to the
+Magdalenas west of the river, some horsemen came in at the head of the
+valley, and set up a yell and at that distance we took them for Indians
+and did not wait for a closer acquaintance but made for the post with
+all possible speed.</p>
+
+<p>My wife visited that winter at Fort Selden with Mrs. Conrad, wife of
+Lieutenant Conrad, who was quartermaster at Fort Stanton when we were
+there, and who died at sea on his way back from the Spanish war in Cuba.</p>
+
+<p>We were in the habit at Fort McRae of trading an army ration to which I
+was entitled, in addition to my pay, to Mexicans for vegetables, eggs,
+etc., or paying cash as the occasion offered. One day a Mexican brought
+a grain sack full of onions<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span> and we weighed them and found they weighed
+a little over forty-one pounds. I agreed to pay him four cents a pound,
+but said to him we will call it forty pounds and allow the balance for
+the weight of the sack. He could not speak English but I could talk
+Spanish enough to make him understand and he would nod his head and say
+"Bueno" (Good) but when I counted out the money he did not seem
+satisfied. I went over it repeatedly showing it was one dollar and sixty
+cents and he would nod his head and say "Bueno" but went away and
+brought another Mexican with him who understood and talked English, and
+when he heard the transaction repeated he called his fellow countryman a
+fool and they walked away together. I counted the onions after they had
+gone, and there were just twenty-four of them. I like to tell this story
+to my friends, for while they smile their assent, there is an expression
+on their faces that is at least suggestive. Two or three of the onions
+that I measured were over eighteen inches in circumference. These onions
+were raised in the Rio Grande valley and were as crisp as celery, and
+comparatively free from the characteristic sting of the ordinary onion.
+Eggs were fifty cents per dozen and if one did not need any today, they
+would take them back home, and perhaps bring them tomorrow at the same
+price, but would not take less. We paid one dollar per pound for butter
+to Mrs. Jack Martin who sent it to us by the messenger who went there
+for our mail, and it was very choice butter.</p>
+
+<p>At the Sutler's store one day I was introduced to a Mr. Garcia, a young
+man of fine appearance, and who could talk English well, who had
+returned from the university for his vacation. I found him very
+interesting and intelligent, and while we were talking, Mr. Ayers, the
+post trader, brought us some native wine which we sipped while in
+conversation. He belonged to a wealthy family of Spanish descent and was
+quite a different type from the ordinary Mexican, and would compare
+favorably with our average university student. After he had gone Mr.
+Ayers told me his name in full was "Hasoos Christo Garcia." I spell it
+this way to give the Spanish pronunciation, and not the Spanish
+spelling. In the middle name the accent is on the first<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span> syllable. In
+English the name would be Jesus Christ Garcia, and this is not mentioned
+in this startling way, in any spirit of irreverence, for a name that is
+held sacred over a great part of the world, but is done for the purpose
+of showing the difference in the customs of different countries. Jesus
+Christ is almost as common a given name among the Mexicans as James or
+John is with us.</p>
+
+<p>While at Fort McRae Mr. Fountain had heard of a beautiful place on the
+Rio Polomas, a little stream that enters the Rio Grande from the west a
+few miles below the post, and that he thought might be worth
+investigating. I agreed to join him and we had a few troopers detached
+as an escort, and went to see it. On the way we passed through the
+little Mexican village of Polomas, where a Jew had established a
+business and who had told Mr. Fountain of the proposed place of visit.
+He joined us and acted as guide for the trip. On the way while working
+our way through a thick undergrowth Mr. Fountain and I became separated
+from the men and came out on a pretty open park of a few acres in
+extent, about the middle of which was an immense cinnamon bear,
+apparently waiting to see what caused the disturbance in the brush. On
+our coming into the open he took to his heels and we followed, the men
+having joined us, and firing our pistols and shouting, but when my horse
+caught the scent of the bear, he just stopped and stood there trembling
+with fright, and all my efforts to make him go by spurring and cuffing
+him, were unavailing. I could not move him, but sat there and awaited
+his pleasure. After a bit he began to move cautiously but was much
+frightened, and I did not join the crowd until they had chased the bear
+into the rocks at the foot of the canon, and had returned to the place
+we intended to visit. It was a beautiful place indeed, and a beautiful
+stream of water came out from the side of the bluff some twenty feet
+above the valley, and meandered down to the main stream. The valley was
+not wide but impressed both Mr. Fountain and myself, as a desirable
+place to establish a ranch, which he was desirous of doing for a brother
+he wished to set up in business. I agreed to join him in the enterprise,
+and we sent for a Studebaker wagon and the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span>necessary implements and
+outfit for starting a ranch. I afterwards disposed of my interest to Mr.
+Fountain, and have since learned that he had his brother come out, and
+fitted him up with stock, etc., sufficient for a start, but that the
+Indians took a part in the affair; destroyed his ranch and killed his
+cattle. I have since then, often thought of it as a desirable place for a cattle ranch.</p>
+
+<p>In the spring of 1875, there having been no medical examining board
+ordered, and so far as we knew no prospect of one, we fully decided to
+try our lives in a different way, and made preparations accordingly. I
+ordered a metallic casket for the body of our little daughter, believing
+that the post would soon be abandoned, and we could not bear the idea of
+leaving her in that wretched place, and the first part of May we packed
+such household goods as we thought desirable to take with us, only
+leaving such as I might need after my wife should start, it being my
+intention to go during the summer or early fall. My wife started about
+the middle of May and soon afterwards the casket came, and the captain
+gave me a detail of men to take up the body of our little girl and place
+it in the quartermaster's storehouse until we should decide where to
+have it shipped. This we were to do after I should join my wife and
+decided on a location for a home. My wife had gone to her old friend's
+home west of Oswego, Kansas, where she had stopped on a previous
+occasion when we thought of leaving the service. On application, Doctor
+Lyon returned to his old post at Fort McRae and I went to Stanton in
+July and about the first of September together with Mr. Clark, who was
+going on leave of absence, I proceeded to the end of the railroad at Las
+Animas, Colorado, and thence to Leavenworth, Kansas, where I reported to
+the medical director of the department and left the service October 30th, 1875.</p>
+
+<p>Upon my return to Fort Stanton from Fort McRae I found Mr. Stanley, the
+one who had his finger shot off when a boy, was just able to hobble
+about again from an experience he had with a cinnamon bear. He had gone
+out to some ranch where they were losing some of their stock,
+particularly their pigs, by what they thought to be a bear, and Stanley
+went out to kill it. He<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span> was an excellent shot, was fearless and
+deliberate and found the bear as he expected, but in some unaccountable
+way which he could not explain, he failed to stop it, and the result was
+most disastrous to himself. It had torn one side of his face away, and
+had broken both legs and one arm, before leaving him. They found him the
+next day and brought him to a hospital and he was able to get around on
+crutches when I saw him, but would be a cripple for life. The ranchmen
+went out and finished the bear, but it was found he had nine shots
+through his body before giving up the fight.</p>
+
+<p>The military reservation at Fort Stanton was the largest of any post at
+which I served, and is located as before mentioned on what was then
+known as the Mescalero Apache Indian reservation. These Indians were
+considered friendly, and so far as I know have remained so, and they are
+the only tribe of Indians of which I have acquaintance who cremate their
+dead. I was invited one day to go with the hay contractor, who intended
+making the rounds of his various hay camps, and on the way we passed
+through an Indian camp not far from the post at which there was a sick
+Indian. We stopped to inquire as to his condition. It seems that a day
+or so before they had gone to the post for medicine, and had said the
+patient was suffering great pain, and asked for some physic. The post
+surgeon, a Spaniard by birth, and educated abroad, understood the term
+physic in its generic sense and not as it is so universally used by us,
+and had sent him opiates, when a cathartic was probably indicated. When
+we saw him that day, which we did from our saddles, as we did not
+dismount, he was greatly swollen up, and when we passed the same
+neighborhood a few days afterwards, the Indian had died and his tent and
+all his belongings including a pony to ride, had been burned and the
+band had moved across the river and established a new camp.</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><span>CHAPTER XIV.</span></h2>
+
+<p class="tbrk bold">(Social Life at the Military Posts.)</p>
+
+<p>The social life at the military posts on the frontier, nearly a half
+century ago, was necessarily very limited. Except at Fort Sill, I served
+at no post at which more than two companies of troops comprised the
+garrison, and even in these cases there was not always the full
+complement of officers, some probably being on detached service, or
+maybe on leave of absence. As before remarked, Fort McRae was only a one
+company post, and at no time were there more than three officers, and
+there were only two officers' wives. There were no social relations
+outside of the post, and no effort or disposition to form acquaintances.
+The nearest military post was fifty or more miles away, and the
+exception to the usual dull routine of life in such an isolated place,
+was when some fellow officer happened to come our way, enroute to some
+other post, maybe for assignment to duty or maybe on detached service.
+Another exception was when the paymaster made his appearance to pay off
+the garrison, which he did every two months. These were always enjoyable
+occasions, and we would sit up late and talk about everything of
+interest at the different posts, or of what may have been seen or heard
+on the way. This was the most isolated and desolate of all the posts at
+which I served. It was about twenty miles from the southern overland
+stage line, and we had to send a messenger from the post for our mail
+which we did three times a week. Magazines and such reading matter as
+could be brought by mail helped cheer our lonely lives, so that taken
+altogether, it was a good deal better than being in the penitentiary.</p>
+
+<p>At Fort Garland, though only two companies were stationed there during
+my service at the post, there were about the full complement of
+officers, several of whom were married, and it proved to be an unusually
+pleasant place socially. There was no formality, and so far as I know
+this was true at all the military posts on the frontier, except at Fort
+Craig where my wife<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span> was not with me, but on the contrary there was a
+feeling of mutual interest and sympathy that made it seem like one
+family. We would meet at some officer's quarters for dinner or luncheon,
+and maybe at some other officer's quarters in the evening to play a
+social game of cards, and the officers' wives would make informal visits
+with each other and maybe spend an hour or so, very much as if they were
+sisters.</p>
+
+<p>Fort Sill was one of the largest military posts in the service at that
+time, and there were twenty or more officers there, probably half of
+whom were married and had their families with them. It will be readily
+seen that this made quite a social center.</p>
+
+<p>There were frequent military dances or "hops" as they were called in the
+service. There were also card parties, not always by invitation, but
+maybe a half-dozen would be talking together, and would decide to drop
+into some officer's quarters for a game of cards, others were likely to
+drop in also, so that sometimes there would be quite a crowd of us
+together to spend the evening. I thought the informality of these
+meetings added very much to their charm.</p>
+
+<p>There was a good library at this post which was liberally patronized by
+the officers and their families, and also by the enlisted men.</p>
+
+<p>A jockey club was formed among the officers and a race-course laid out
+on the flat south of the post, and race meetings were held on Saturday
+afternoons, which afforded a great deal of pleasure and amusement. In
+one of these races which was to take place in the course of a month, it
+was agreed that each officer should ride his own horse. The difference
+in the weight of the riders it was thought, would be an important factor
+in determining the results. Major Van de Weyle weighed one hundred and
+ninety pounds while Mr. Lebo weighed only one hundred and fifteen
+pounds. They all had good horses and the race was looked forward to with
+great interest. The major was jollied a good deal about his weight, but
+he insisted that he would be able to train down, and he would show them
+what his horse, which was a fine one, could do. The race-course was a
+mile in length and it was supposed the heavyweights would stand no<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span>
+show, but Captain Walsh, who weighed one hundred and sixty-five pounds,
+won the race and Major Van de Weyle, who had increased six pounds in
+weight, came in fourth, in a bunch of seven, who started in the race.</p>
+
+<p>In addition to the social life at the post, the fishing and hunting were
+good for those of us who cared to indulge in that kind of sport. Both
+Medicine Bluff and Cache creeks were fine fishing streams, and I found
+congenial company in one or two of the officers who enjoyed the fishing
+as much as I did myself. Among those most pleasantly remembered, was a
+Mr. Pratt, a lieutenant in one of the cavalry companies at the post He
+was an expert fisherman and a cordial good fellow and I have always
+thought of our fishing trips with pleasure.</p>
+
+<p>After we left Fort Sill he was detached from his command and put in
+charge of the educational interests of the Indians.</p>
+
+<p>He became a distinguished officer in this work. When still a lieutenant
+he established the Indian school at Carlisle, Pa., a well known
+industrial school, in 1879, and was superintendent until 1904. In 1916,
+when my wife and I were on our golden wedding trip we met him again at
+Nye Beach, Oregon, and were pleased to renew our acquaintance after more
+than forty-five years.</p>
+
+<p>His distinguished services raised him to the rank of brigadier general,
+and he is now on the retired list of the army.</p>
+
+<p>At Camp Limestone there were three officers and two officers' wives. We
+had acquaintances at Fort Scott and Girard, who either visited us or
+made the customary calls. These, with the officers and others who came
+in the shooting season, made up the social features of the camp.</p>
+
+<p>In those days drinking was far more prevalent, both in the army and out
+of it, than it is today. I think none but the old people of today can
+have the correct "view-point" of the difference in which the use of
+alcoholic beverages was considered fifty years ago and now. At that time
+it was not considered harmful, but rather commendable, if not taken to
+excess, as a means of promoting social intercourse, and except at Fort
+Sill it was to be had at all the post trader's stores at the military<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span>
+posts on the frontier, and at most of them it was on the sideboard or on
+the mantle over the fire-place, in the officers' billiard room free to
+those who cared to use it. Of course, even in those days, there were
+those who talked very energetically if not violently against the use of
+it and some preachers would even tell you you would go to hell if you
+drank it. But people don't scare easily, and you would maybe think about
+it and take another drink, concluding that maybe there is no hell, or if
+there is you won't go there, or maybe the preacher didn't know anything
+about it anyway. Since then the scientific medical man has come to the
+front. He does not try to scare you, but he has some scientific facts
+which he has fully proven, and tells you about them, among these are: it
+promotes hardening of the arteries (Arterio Sclerosis); it produces
+fatty degeneration and other diseases of the liver; it impairs
+digestion; it interferes with the assimilation of food; it impairs heart
+action, and has many other injurious effects on the system, such as
+preparing it for fatal results in pneumonia and most of the acute
+inflammatory diseases.</p>
+
+<p>He appeals to your reason in place of to your fears, and you are bound
+to take notice. The result is a vast difference in public opinion
+regarding its use then and now.</p>
+
+<p>In the army it was used almost exclusively in a social way. There were
+occasional excesses, but these were not of frequent occurrence and there
+was one restraining influence; the fear of court-martial.</p>
+
+<p>It will be readily understood that there were so-called "black sheep" in
+the army as well as in the churches, and in the fraternal orders. In the
+army, however, there was no hesitancy in getting rid of them, a thing I
+have seldom known to be done either in the churches or in the fraternal
+orders, and this was by means of court-martial. No matter what the
+specific charges may have been, there is generally, if not always added
+this one: "Conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman." This it will
+be readily seen covers a wide range, and permits thorough investigation
+of character and the very terms of this charge <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span>indicates not only the
+high character that is expected, but that is demanded of an officer in
+the service.</p>
+
+<p>I had been in the army nearly seven years with no chance for promotion,
+and while feeling some doubt as to my success in private life we felt it
+to be the best thing to leave the service. We decided to live at Girard,
+Kansas, and came to this place in November of that year.</p>
+
+<p>Two things have particularly impressed me, in looking back over the
+nearly half century since I entered the service&mdash;one is the amazing
+development of the west, and the other is the wonderful evolution in the
+practice of medicine and surgery. As an example of the first, take
+Kansas&mdash;not because it is Kansas, but because it is typical of the great
+west. Population in 1870, 364,399; in 1914, 1,677,106. Wheat crop in
+1871, 4,614,924 bushels; in 1914, 180,925,885 bushels. And other crops
+in proportion. The western half of the state was then practically
+uninhabited. Today it is the great wheat belt of the country.</p>
+
+<p>When I entered the service people died wholesale from diphtheria,
+typhoid fever and inflammation of the bowels. Bacteriology, the great
+searchlight of medicine, as we have it today, was then practically
+unknown. Today we innoculate against typhoid fever and are immune. Today
+we operate for appendicitis and inflammation of the bowels practically
+disappears from our list of diseases. Today we give antitoxin and the
+child's life is saved. We used to expect pus after a surgical operation
+and were disappointed if we did not get a so-called "healthy pus." Today
+the surgeon would be ashamed of it.</p>
+
+<p>Both before leaving the army and since, I have had people refer to our
+army officers and their families, with some degree of aspersion, saying
+they were too proud and would not speak to common folk; that they were
+aristocrats, and much other nonsense. Possibly their isolated condition
+when I was in the service, gave some color to such accusations, but as
+far as I can estimate them, if they are an aristocracy, it is an
+aristocracy of merit; of intellect; of honor; of integrity; of loyalty;
+of a strong sense of duty and many other worthy qualities that mark them
+as distinguished from any other kind of aristocracy we have in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span> this
+country, and I think particularly from our so-called aristocracy of
+wealth, so often associated with snobbery, and whose daughters so often
+present the nauseating spectacle, of trading themselves off to some
+degenerate and profligate descendant of inherited title and giving a
+million to boot.</p>
+
+<p>Just now, 1918, we hear a great deal about the army and the necessity of
+increasing its numbers, and much about its officers, but do we ever hear
+anything about the officers' wives? They may not be of great importance
+now, but how was it forty or fifty years ago? At that time the great
+western half of our country was practically unsettled. There were few
+railroads, and no transcontinental line until 1869. Denver and Santa Fe
+were considered mere trading posts. There were only two overland stage
+lines and no settlements of consequence. The military posts were
+scattered over this vast region, separated from each other by many miles
+of distance and the ever present danger of attack from Indians. How
+about the wives of the army officers of that day, who shared with their
+husbands the dangers and hardships of frontier life? I wish here to pay
+my tribute to one who shared with me all of the sorrows, and most of the
+hardships herein related, and many others not considered of sufficient
+importance to mention. One who seldom complained; whose courage never
+faltered; whose abiding faith often prompted her to say, "It will all
+come out for the best in the end."</p>
+
+<p>Thus, we have traveled along life's pathway, with its joys and sorrows,
+until now we realize that we have crossed the divide, and are going down
+the western slope. The shadows are growing longer, the valley is not far
+distant, night is coming on, it will soon be taps and the lights will go
+out.</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<hr />
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<div class = "mynote"><p class="center">Transcriber's Note:<br /><br />
+Obvious typographical errors have been corrected.<br />
+A Table of Contents has been added.</p></div>
+
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<hr class="full" />
+<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LITTLE PILLS, AN ARMY STORY***</p>
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+The Project Gutenberg eBook, Little Pills, An Army Story, by Robert
+Henderson McKay
+
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+
+
+
+Title: Little Pills, An Army Story
+       Being Some Experiences of a United States Army Medical Officer on the Frontier Nearly a Half Century Ago
+
+
+Author: Robert Henderson McKay
+
+
+
+Release Date: April 26, 2011  [eBook #35973]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII)
+
+
+***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LITTLE PILLS, AN ARMY STORY***
+
+
+E-text prepared by David Edwards, Martin Pettit, and the Online
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+
+
+LITTLE PILLS
+
+An Army Story
+
+by
+
+R. H. McKAY
+
+Formerly Acting Assistant Surgeon United States Army
+
+Being Some Experiences of a United States Army
+Medical Officer on the Frontier Nearly
+A Half Century Ago
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+1918
+Published by
+Pittsburg Headlight
+Pittsburg, Kansas
+
+
+
+
+FOREWORD
+
+BY R. H. McKAY
+
+
+This little sketch of army life on the frontier was first written,
+merely for the pleasure it might bring to my children in looking it over
+in after years. It remained in the form of a manuscript for that
+purpose, until some of my friends urged its publication. The merit of
+the story itself, if it has any, lies in the fact of actual experience,
+but probably a matter of more importance is to call attention to the
+wonderful changes that have taken place in the fifty years just passed.
+The term frontier today would be a misnomer. There is no frontier. The
+immense areas of wild and waste country that then existed has vanished
+before the tide of civilization and settlement. The present generation
+can never realize the vast changes. Possibly this little book may bring
+to mind, by way of contrast, at least some of the conditions then and
+now.
+
+
+
+
+LITTLE PILLS
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+
+My children have often asked me to write out some of my experience while
+a medical officer in the United States Army on the frontier, and I have
+often resolved to do so. But for many years after leaving the service my
+time was so thoroughly taken up in an effort to make a living and
+educate the children that my good resolutions received scant attention.
+Now in my 78th year the apathy of old age is such a handicap, that great
+effort is required to do things that at one time I could have done
+cheerfully but did not.
+
+I think my experiences during the Civil War gave me something of a taste
+for military duty, for when in the summer or early fall of 1868 I
+noticed that an Army Medical Board was in session at New York, I at once
+made application to appear before it for examination for a position in
+the regular service. I was examined in October, 1868, and as the board
+continued in session for some time afterwards I waited with some anxiety
+and misgivings as to the result of my examination. I had the impression
+that the examination would be severe and was doubtful of my ability to
+pass. In this connection it is proper to say that some had failed in
+these examinations that afterwards became noted medical men. Among them,
+I was informed, was Dr. Austin Flint, Sr., whose work on the practice of
+medicine was standard and considered the best when I was a student. His
+son, Dr. Austin Flint, Jr., also became famous as our great Physiologist
+and his work on that subject is standard today. It was not until the
+following January that I heard from my examination, and was then
+directed to report at St. Louis to be mustered into the service as
+Acting Assistant Surgeon in the United States Army. There was
+necessarily some delay in disposing of the few things we had, some of
+which we sold and some of which we stored. Finally everything being
+disposed of, we left our home in Washington, Iowa, and from there, after
+a day with friends, took a train for Burlington, thence to Keokuk, where
+my wife remained visiting relatives, I going on to St. Louis to report.
+
+I was mustered into the service January 29th, 1869, and ordered to
+report to the Medical Director, Department of the Missouri at
+Leavenworth, Kansas, for assignment to duty. The Department of the
+Missouri at the time comprised the States of Missouri, Kansas, Colorado,
+New Mexico, The Indian Territory, and I think Arkansas.
+
+General Sheridan was the commanding officer of the department at that
+time. He also had a brother who was a captain and who was also stationed
+at Leavenworth. Dr. Miles was the Medical Director of the Department and
+Dr. McGruder was Post Surgeon at Leavenworth. I was on waiting orders at
+Fort Leavenworth for something over a month during which time I got my
+first impression of the rank and file of the Regular Army. The officers
+impressed me as very self important, exceedingly courteous and cordial,
+and charming in their broad-gauge views of current events and their
+unreserved candor in discussing all subjects. I must except one subject,
+however, and that was politics. An army officer is supposed to have no
+politics, or if he has he keeps them in reserve. Seldom during nearly
+seven years of my life in the army did I hear politics mentioned. An
+army officer is supposed to do his duty regardless of who holds
+political authority over him, and this he does most loyally. The
+enlisted men impressed me as a clean, attractive and well disciplined
+body of soldiers. Another thing that impressed me was the absolute
+separation of the officers and enlisted men. It may be different now but
+at that time there seemed to be nothing of even a fraternal interest.
+The officer commanded and the soldier obeyed. In this way they seemed as
+distinct as oil and water, and it was a rather surprising contrast to
+the volunteer service during the war, where enlisted men and officers
+often from the same town and nearly always from the same community
+fraternized and often addressed each other by their given names; while
+in the regular service there was nothing of the kind. An officer when
+passing an enlisted man always received a salute. The men or man
+standing at attention when giving it and the officer was required to
+return the salute. The men may be sitting down, say outside of their
+barracks, and when an officer approaches and gets within a certain
+distance they all rise at once, stand at attention, and give the salute,
+and this is the extent of their relations with each other.
+
+The officers mess at Leavenworth was quite a large one, mostly of
+unmarried men, although there were maybe two or three married couples,
+and was exceedingly cordial and sociable with each other. Those of the
+rank of Captain or higher up in rank were always addressed by their
+military title of Captain or Major, as it might be, but the Lieutenants
+were addressed as Mister, or by their surnames, as Mr. Jones or simply
+Jones.
+
+The first of March came and with it came pay-day, a matter that seemed
+of much interest to the officers. It did not take me long to learn its
+importance for army officers at that time as a rule literally lived up
+their salaries. I finally learned that an officer was considered by many
+other officers as a little off color if he was close-fisted and tried to
+save money out of his pay. To me it was a matter of importance because I
+was poor and needed it. I sent most of my first month's pay, after
+paying mess bill and a few other necessary expenses, to my wife, not
+keeping enough, as I afterward learned, for an emergency that might
+arise. Expecting to be ordered to some frontier post, I took the
+precaution to invest in a pistol, a very ridiculous thing to do, as I
+now think of it. The further history of that pistol will appear later on
+in this story.
+
+While at Leavenworth the officers gave a hop. I never knew why it was
+called a hop instead of a dance, but it was always so designated in the
+army. Officers came from other places, particularly Fort Riley, among
+whom was General Custer of cavalry fame during the Civil War, and a
+noted Indian fighter on the frontier. I watched him with a good deal of
+interest, for at that time he was a distinguished man in the service,
+and I must say that I was rather disappointed in his appearance. He
+seemed to me to be under-sized and slender, and at first blush to be
+effeminate in appearance. Maybe his long hair, almost reaching to his
+shoulders, gave this impression, but the face was something of a study
+and hard to describe. Something of boldness or maybe dash, a quick eye,
+and he was intensely energetic, giving the impression that he would be a
+veritable whirlwind in an engagement. He did not convey the idea of a
+great character. He was a very graceful dancer. His career ended at the
+famous battle in our Indian warfare, that of the Little Big Horn. Not a
+man of his command escaped to tell the story.
+
+I think it was about the 8th or 9th of March that I received orders to
+report to the Chief Medical Officer, District of New Mexico, for
+assignment to duty. The quartermaster furnished transportation, that is
+to say, orders to the transportation companies, railroads, stage-lines,
+etc., to carry the officer to point of destination. This, together with
+the order of assignment to duty, would carry one wherever the assignment
+directed. At this time the so-called Kansas-Pacific railroad was built
+out pretty well towards the west line of the state, but there were no
+transcontinental lines finished until the following summer. The Union
+and Central Pacifics joining that year in Utah in July.
+
+I left Fort Leavenworth in the morning and before night was out on the
+plains. From Leavenworth to Topeka there was some settlement. The towns
+as I remember them were mere railroad stations, except Lawrence, which
+was more pretentious, and the scattering farmhouses were small and
+primitive in style. Topeka seemed to be something of a town, but from
+there west the country was only partially inhabited. Fort Hayes stood
+out prominently to the left of the railroad but the whole country seemed
+one great sea of desolation unlimited in extent. At that time I would
+not have given ten dollars per square league for what has since become
+one of the famous wheat fields of the country. The evening of the second
+day we arrived at a place called Sheridan which was the terminus of the
+railroad. It was a straggling place of tents and wooden shacks, dance
+halls, bawdy houses, gambling houses and saloons. Murders were of
+frequent occurrence and it was considered dangerous to be on the street
+at night. There was only one street in the town. I started out on this
+street about dusk, thinking I had better go to the stage office and
+arrange for my transportation on to Santa Fe. The landlord happened to
+notice me and called for me to wait a minute and when he had joined me
+he inquired where I was going. He said he would go with me as it might
+not be safe for me to be alone, and told me of a killing in front of the
+hotel the night before.
+
+My bed that night was on the second story, merely floored, and not
+plastered or sealed, and the roof slanted down close to the bed. The
+space between the floor and the edge of the roof was open and I could
+look down into the saloon. I watched the patrons of this place for some
+time for it was altogether a new experience. The clinking of glasses;
+the loud talk; the dim lights; and the thorough abandonment of the
+motley crowd remains quite vividly in my memory. It finally occurred to
+me that in the event of a shooting scrape, even there in bed was not a
+very safe place, so I edged over to the far side of the bed and soon
+dropped to sleep, not waking until called in the morning.
+
+We got an early start and I had the stage mostly to myself until we
+crossed the Raton spur of the mountain. The nights were chilly and I was
+not over-warmly clad, but I managed after the first night to get a fair
+amount of sleep. I felt some fear of Indians although it was too early
+in the season for them to go on the war-path. The summer before had been
+a particularly bad one on the plains. Forsythe's command was almost
+annihilated in October, 1868, on the Ariskaree Fork of the Republican
+river, and at every stage station until after we reached Trinidad,
+Colo., the first salutation between the men at the station and our
+conductor was whether either had seen any Indians. The apprehension was
+not that the Indians would go on the war-path at that time of the year,
+because their ponies could not exist until the grass was well started,
+but that some of the venturesome young bucks might take it into their
+heads to attack the stage coach. I peeked out of the coach at night and
+wondered if there was any probability of Indians attacking us and
+thought of my pistol, but was not proud of it, or of my ability to use
+it.
+
+The stage stations were interesting to me. On the plains proper they
+were uniformly built, underground as far up as the sidewalls extended,
+and was located near some water hole and at an elevation that would
+command a view of the surrounding country for some distance. Above the
+dirt walls large logs were laid, upon which the cross timbers were
+placed for supporting the roof. These logs were raised from the ground
+enough, say three or four inches, to give the occupants a good view of
+the surrounding country, and an opportunity of using their carbines
+against attack from the Indians, with comparative safety to themselves.
+The roof was covered with dirt. The stables were built the same way with
+underground passages or open ditches connected with the station proper.
+Both station and stable were connected in the same way with the water
+hole. At these stations on the plains proper, were stationed a small
+squad of soldiers, maybe a half dozen, under the command of a
+noncommissioned officer, generally a sergeant, and you can readily see
+that the Indians would be a little cautious about getting too near such
+a place although during the summer season they often attacked the stage
+between stations. The stations were at variable distances apart,
+depending on the water supply, generally from eight to twenty miles
+apart, and were supplied by government trains on their way to the
+military posts of the West. There was not much to attract attention in
+approaching these stations, no building in sight, no sign of life. The
+first thing you knew some one would hollow "Hello!" and "Hello!" would
+come back. "Have you seen any Indians?" and there you are. The last
+inquiry was natural enough when you consider the near approach of
+spring, when the grass would be green enough to furnish feed for Indian
+ponies. Indians would not appear in large numbers at this time of the
+year, but little roving bands, maybe one or two venturesome bucks might
+be seen almost daily at a safe distance, evidently spying out the
+prospects for more serious work later in the season. Of course we got
+our meals at these stations, consisting generally of bacon, hot
+corn-bread or biscuit, a vegetable or two, and black coffee. This menu
+varied some after we crossed the Raton Mountains and were practically
+out of Indian troubles, when we had a greater variety, and it was
+better prepared.
+
+We got to Trinidad late at night, the first town after crossing the
+plains, and located just at the base on the north side of the Raton
+Range near the Purgatory river. This was a mining town of some
+importance in those days, and had the usual quota of dance halls,
+gambling dens and other equipment of a typical mining town.
+
+We got to Dick Wooton's early the following morning and had a good
+breakfast. His place was located near the top of Raton Pass and
+consisted at that time of a rambling lot of log buildings; one for a
+house proper, which was clean, comfortable, and attractive inside, and
+the others for stables, blacksmith and wagon shops, and in fact anything
+and everything where repairs to transportation could be made. Dick
+himself was an attractive personality, was large, quite above the
+average in size, with a cheery open face giving little evidence of the
+frontier man, and yet he was almost as noted as Kit Carson with whom he
+was associated as pioneer and scout. Both were noted men on the
+frontier. Wooton, however, took a more practical view of life than
+Carson and conceived the idea of building a wagon road over the Raton
+Pass. This road was completed and I think had been for some time before
+I crossed the pass. If I remember correctly we crossed a little stream
+coming down from near the top of the range thirteen times before we came
+to the top of the pass. Wooton had some kind of permit or authority from
+the government for building this road and was authorized to make it a
+toll road. He was reported to have made quite a fortune from the revenue
+derived from it.
+
+A little place called Cimarron, (which in Spanish means mountain of
+sheep) or Maxwell's ranch was the next place of interest to me. This is
+some distance south of the Raton Range, maybe half way from Trinidad to
+Fort Union. It seemed that Maxwell married a high class Spanish woman
+whose family owned an immense estate in what was Mexico before it was
+ceded to the United States. In the division of the estate Maxwell's wife
+got a grant of many thousands of acres on the head waters of the
+Cimarron, a tributary of the Canadian, which I understand was very much
+reduced as a result of extended litigation with the government as to
+title. We traveled for miles on what was then called Maxwell's Ranch,
+where great herds of sheep, cattle and horses were to be seen, with an
+adobe house here and there, where herders lived. It was a great pleasure
+to stop even for one meal at such a place as Maxwell's. The house was
+commodious and handsomely furnished and everything was prosperous and
+home-like. Some years later I had the pleasure of acquaintance of a
+daughter of Mr. Maxwell's who married a lieutenant in the army and we
+were serving at the same post.
+
+We passed Fort Union in the night and I did not get to see much of it,
+but I understand it to be only a military post and base of supplies, for
+the Quarter-Master or Commissary Department of the army for the District
+of New Mexico.
+
+My first view of Las Vegas (The Meadows, in Spanish) was over a
+beautiful wide valley, some three or four miles across, through which a
+pretty little stream of water, the source of the Pecos river, was
+wending its way. The view was beautiful and the town looked to be a
+place of importance, but proved to be disappointing on a closer
+acquaintance.
+
+Not far from Las Vegas we passed what was called the old Pecos church.
+It was only a little distance from the road and said to have been built
+in the seventeenth century. It stood alone in its desolation and had
+partially fallen into decay. The roof was off, the walls partly broken
+down and it looked to be as old as reported.
+
+We arrived in Santa Fe late in the evening and stopped at the hotel or
+fonda, as it is called in Spanish. At first one feels that he is in a
+different country; something foreign and out of the usual, and this
+feeling grows with closer acquaintance. For instance you go direct from
+the street to your room if your wife is with you, or to a kind of a
+lobby or sitting room with a bar at one side if alone.
+
+I was thankful that the stage ride was ended. We had been going night
+and day since leaving the railroad at Sheridan, Kans., a distance of
+nearly four hundred miles, and although I had the stage to myself most
+of the way, one passenger got on at Cimarron that I will feel grateful
+to the balance of my days, and from Fort Union to Santa Fe the coach was
+crowded all the way. The stage lines in those days had a conductor who
+went to the end of the route, much as our railroad conductors do today,
+while the drivers like our engineers, only went to what might be called
+division points, say twelve-hour trips.
+
+The conductor has charge, and is responsible for the United States mail
+and the express packages which are carried in what is called the front
+boot, and where the conductor curls up among the mail sacks and packages
+and sleeps at night. The back boot is devoted to baggage. Inside there
+are generally two seats facing each other and wide enough for three
+persons if not too big, on each seat. The stage coach had a great
+swinging body resting on two immense leather straps for springs, one on
+each side underneath and extending from front to back. These flexible
+springs gave the coach an easy side swing and it was not a particularly
+unpleasant thing to ride in.
+
+Having arrived in Santa Fe late Saturday evening I did not report until
+next morning, and about noon an orderly brought to the hotel my orders
+from the Chief Medical officer directing me to report to the commanding
+officer at Fort Selden, New Mex., for assignment to duty. This was
+startling news, for Fort Selden was the last military post before
+reaching the Mexican border and I had only $2.50 in my pocket and my
+hotel bill to pay. Being new in the service and something of a
+tenderfoot I did not want to go to the other officers for help. I left
+my room and went down to the hotel lobby and among others who were there
+was the gentleman who got on the stage at Cimarron. We had traveled
+together from Cimarron to Santa Fe with hardly the exchange of the usual
+courtesies. I was not a good mixer and he had nothing to say, but my
+case was very desperate. I had to talk to someone so I asked if he was
+acquainted in Santa Fe and he said "some." I told him my troubles and
+that I had a good watch and a good pistol (that pistol was a hoodoo by
+this time) that I would put up as security for a few dollars to pay my
+expenses on the way to Fort Selden. He said: "Well, nobody would give
+you anything for them things. If I had the money I would let you have
+it." This in a rather slow drowning voice. I took this as a matter of
+course. Anybody would talk the same way, I thought, whether they had it
+or not.
+
+Dinner was soon ready. The dining room was away to the rear end of this
+somewhat rambling hotel building. We passed through a billiard hall and
+maybe some store rooms before reaching it. I think, however, there was a
+different route for the ladies. I suppose the dinner was good but do not
+remember much about it. I do remember, however, on the way back through
+the pool hall I stopped to glance around the room which was a very long
+one with many tables and many players. The second table away became very
+interesting to me for near it stood my man of short acquaintance
+apparently talking to one of the players, a large fine looking man who,
+laying his cue across the corner of the table, pulled out such a wad of
+bills as I had never seen before and commenced counting out the money to
+my newly made acquaintance. I passed and went up to my room wondering if
+he would keep his word, now that he had the money. I tried to read but
+made poor headway. Pretty soon there was a light tap on the door and I
+said "come in." The door opened and there was my new found friend who
+took a seat in a rather deliberate way and said nothing. I made some
+remark about the weather which seemed to meet his approval but directly
+he asked me: "About how much money do you think you will need?" I told
+him I thought about twenty dollars would be enough. He brought from his
+pocket a great bunch of bank notes and counted out twenty dollars and
+handed it to me. When I offered my security he politely turned them down
+saying he would take chances. When I asked him if he had never lost
+money that way he replied, "Yes, some." And when I said I would feel
+better myself if he would take something to make himself safe he said,
+"Oh no, I'll take chances." When next I inquired about his knowledge of
+Santa Fe and the west generally he became more communicative and
+informed me that he had spent all his life from a youngster as a
+prospector, sometimes striking it good and selling out and trying it
+again; sometimes having plenty of money, and at other times having
+nothing. Someone else would then furnish him a "grub-stake" as he called
+it with which to try again. He and his partners had just sold out a gold
+mine at Cimarron and I presume the money I saw him receive from the big
+man at the pool table was part of the proceeds of that sale. He finally
+asked me if I cared to walk about the town some. I think I would have
+gone with him anywhere, so I responded very promptly that I would like
+to. The town was utterly strange to me, so different from anything I had
+ever seen: adobe walls, adobe houses, and the people were as strange
+looking as the houses. The women wore some kind of a wrap over their
+head called a mantilla (pronounced man-tee-ya, with the accent on the
+second syllable) leaving a little open space for one eye to peep out at
+people they met, and the men with the wide brimmed, high peaked hats
+that I afterwards learned are the universal costumes of the Mexican
+people. After looking around a bit my companion asked me if I would like
+to see a cock-fight. Sure thing, of course I would, although having been
+raised a strict Scotch Presbyterian I felt some qualms of conscience
+about witnessing such an exhibition on the "Sabbath."
+
+[Illustration: SATANTA War Chief of the Kiowas
+
+Original in our possession, taken by Soule, of Boston, while we were
+stationed at Fort Sill]
+
+The amphitheater in which the exhibition was given was without cover and
+enclosed by a high adobe wall. It was crowded with men and women, mostly
+Mexicans, in gala dress, some very richly dressed women and some whose
+attire attested poverty, but even these wore bright colors. The head
+covering was universal but as varied in colors and quality as the fancy
+and wealth of the wearers suggested. I think some of the hats of the men
+must have cost a small fortune. The exhibition itself was not very
+attractive to me. I could see the chickens sparring around as though for
+a good opening and finally one of the cocks would drive the gaff home
+with deadly effect and the people would shout and clap their hands and
+exchange the money they had wagered on the result. The management would
+then bring in another pair of birds for another contest. The betting
+consisted not only of money but all kinds of trinkets and valuables. I
+saw one woman take off her white slippers handsomely ornamented with
+gold braid and spangles and bet them on the result of the contest. The
+affair was conducted in Spanish-Mexican and I could not understand
+anything that was said, but they all seemed to be delighted with the
+exhibition. To me it was not only cruel but was uninteresting. We did
+not stay until the finish but went out and saw some more of the town,
+then returned to our hotel.
+
+My newly made friend came up to my room after supper, and spent part of
+the evening with me. I found his experiences interesting. The old story
+of ups and downs, money to spare, and grub-stakes furnished by some one
+else, to give him another start. He gave me his address and I was very
+prompt in returning his twenty dollars as soon as I got to Fort Selden,
+which by the way, I borrowed from the post trader until pay-day. In
+answer to my remittance I received a post card without address or date
+saying, "You needn't have been in such a hurry." Thus ended an
+acquaintance and experience that I think could not have happened
+anywhere else than on the American frontier. His name was Robert
+Daugherty and nothing could give me greater pleasure than to meet him
+again and furnish him a "grub-stake" if he needed it.
+
+Santa Fe (Holy Faith, in Spanish) was an old town when the Pilgrims
+landed at Plymouth Rock. About 1606 according to Colonel R. E.
+Twitchell, the best authority on the early history of New Mexico, it was
+made the capital of one of the Spanish provinces, and had been built on
+the site of two small Indian pueblos. I believe if I had been dropped
+down in some town in the interior of China and had found a few Americans
+to talk to it would not have seemed more strange to me. The office of
+the chief medical officer of the district was located in a building on
+the plaza that someone told me was the old palace, but which I thought
+did not look much like a palace, and which I understand is now used as a
+museum in which are to be found the most remarkable collection of
+archaeological specimens in America.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+
+Monday morning I started for Fort Selden on the Rio Grande, nearly three
+hundred miles away. We had a different type of stage coach, a small
+affair, more like a carriage, and drawn by two horses. Some eight or ten
+miles out of Santa Fe we almost literally dropped off into a canon that
+widened out into more of a valley as we continued our journey until we
+reached the Rio Grande some distance above Albuquerque. This town was at
+that time a straggling Mexican village of adobe houses along the east
+bank of the river. It is now a city of considerable size on the east
+side, with modern improvements and is a division point on the Santa Fe
+railway and a town of commercial importance.
+
+The river was disappointing. I expected something bigger, and it wound
+around from one side of the valley to the other as though in doubt as to
+the best way to go. The valley was interesting because of its being
+occupied by an altogether different type of Indians. We had left the
+plains Indian at Trinidad and from there to Santa Fe had seen only
+Mexicans with a fair proportion of Americans whose business interests
+were in the country. The Plains Indian, Cheyennes, Commanches, and
+Kiowas and Arapahoes, were nomadic and warlike. Here was an agricultural
+people who lived in little villages called pueblos, a name also attached
+to the Indians themselves. Their villages were located at convenient
+distances apart and both men and women went to the fields to work. The
+land was divided off into little patches separated by irrigating
+ditches, called asacies, and there were no fences or lines to show
+individual ownership. It was seemingly a community interest, a kind of
+socialism. The Pueblo Isletta was the capital and principal town and was
+the place of meeting for the disposal of important questions of interest
+to the tribe, and for the observance of such religious services as was
+their wont. The hoe was the principal agricultural implement, both for
+making ditches and for cultivating the land. The people seemed to be
+kindly disposed, and in every way a contrast to the Plains Indian whose
+women do the work while the men do the hunting and fighting. They enter
+their houses by way of the roof, climbing a ladder from the ground to
+the roof and pulling the ladder up after them, then descending by way of
+an opening in the room to the room or rooms below. No doors, and only
+little peep-holes for windows, sometimes covered with a thin cloth of
+muslin. I suppose this was done in the first place as a protection
+against the Mountain Indians (Utes and Navajos) who in early times
+raided the valley and carried off anything they could lay their hands
+on. The valley was sparsely wooded except here and there when we would
+come to great groves or boscas as they were called, of immense
+cotton-wood trees which were very beautiful. The valley as described
+above was the same all the way down to Fort Selden.
+
+After leaving the Pueblo settlements we came to a country occupied
+nearly altogether by Mexicans. The commercial interests were conducted
+by so-called foreigners: Americans, Germans and Jews, the latter
+predominating, but the population was principally Mexican. Stock raising
+and farming were the principal industries, the latter in a very
+primitive way. They had no modern farm implements, such as plows,
+harrows, wagons, etc., and only such improved tools as they could
+construct from the scant material at hand. I saw at one place a man
+driving a yoke of cattle attached to what appeared to be the limb of a
+tree with a projecting prong entering the ground, and at the other end,
+which bent up something like a handle, was another man holding it. They
+were going back and forth making little ditches or furrows but not
+turning the ground over as our plows do. It looked primitive indeed and
+reminded me of a picture I saw in an almanac when a kid, representing
+the Egyptian plowing. Stock business was more promising. A good many
+cattle were reported on the range and I was told the sheep numbered many
+thousands scattered all along the mountain range to the west. Soccorro
+was the principal town, typically Mexican, but a place of some business
+importance. There were small villages at frequent intervals all the way
+to Paraja, the last town near the river before crossing the Jornada del
+Muerto (or "Journey of Death" in Spanish) which extends from Paraja
+(pronounced Paraha, j having the sound of h in Spanish) to Fort Selden,
+nearly one hundred miles across, a desert properly named and that has
+some pitiful associations in my memory. It was what was known as the
+Apache Indian country and grewsome stories are related concerning it.
+Death by Indians, famishing for want of water, etc., etc. I must tell a
+legend concerning it and the desert country to the east and north. Near
+Paraja and rising bluff from the river's edge is a high bit of mountain,
+hardly worth the name of range, on the top of which lying in a recumbent
+position is as perfect profile of a face and bust as you could imagine.
+You get a fine view of it from Fort Craig and for a great distance to
+the northwest and northeast. The legend is that a friar, Christobal by
+name, and for whom the mountain or range was named, was traveling
+through the country on his work for the souls of men when he perished
+from thirst. Some supernatural agency brought his body to this mountain
+top where it hardened into stone and remains to this day a monument
+commemorating a tragedy, and a land mark and guide to the weary and
+thirsty traveler pointing the way to where he may find water.
+
+We left Paraja and the river and valley at night after a good supper,
+having supplied ourselves with water enough for the trip, expecting to
+get breakfast at a place about half-way across, called the Alaman
+(Allemand) literally meaning "Dutchman" where it was reported a German
+had been found some years before, killed and scalped by Indians. There
+had been repeated efforts made to find water on this desert. General
+Pope when a young officer of the service had spent a large amount of
+government money digging for water. Finally a man by the name of Martin,
+a Scotchman, who furnished the meat supply at Fort Selden, was so
+persistent with the commanding officer in asserting his ability to find
+water, that he was furnished a body of soldiers as an escort and guard
+and commissary supplies for the undertaking. He had been working
+faithfully and persistently for some months. He had also put some adobe
+rooms and had them furnished, his hauling his water supply from a spring
+in a canon some six or eight miles away and had built an adobe wall
+around his camp. He had also put some adobe rooms and had them
+furnished, his wife being an important assistant in the undertaking, and
+he was still sinking his well deeper and expressing an abiding faith in
+the result. It must be a glorious feeling to be vindicated in such an
+undertaking. It was rumored along the overland route that Jack Martin
+had found water but not enough, and upon our arrival we found that he
+not only had water but had an abundance of it and our stage was the
+first to arrive after he struck it. After eating a late breakfast, which
+was a very good one, we started for Fort Selden still some fifty miles
+away. This part of the trip was uneventful as we only stopped once to
+feed and water the team, having carried the necessary supplies with us.
+We arrived at Fort Selden in the evening. All the way from Santa Fe down
+I frequently noticed little piles of stone by the wayside, sometimes
+with little hand-made wooden crosses standing up in the center marking
+the place where someone had met a violent death, maybe by Indians or
+maybe at the hands of some renegade Mexicans. It is the custom among the
+Mexican people in passing to toss another stone on the pile and in this
+way some of them became of considerable size, the size of the pile
+indicating in a way the time that had elapsed since the murder had been
+committed.
+
+I reported to the commanding officer at the post and the following day
+was assigned to duty. By invitation I took dinner with one of the
+officers the evening of my arrival. Among other good things we had a
+choice roast of beef which they informed me was from their very choice
+and only milk cow. It seems the herders were not sufficiently on guard
+and this animal had become separated from the herd but in rounding up
+the herd in the evening it was discovered that this particular cow had
+an Indian arrow in her side and on examination it was thought best to
+kill her. The good woman did not have much appetite for beef but grieved
+over the loss of her favorite cow. There was some small timber and
+underbrush along the streams affording a good hiding place for sneaking
+Apaches who might be disposed to commit depredations. It was the rule at
+this post that when the officers' wives wanted to take an airing to
+send an escort along with the ambulance as a protection against the
+Indians.
+
+It was a two company post and the duties of the medical officer were
+light; so much so as to become a little monotonous, but was sometimes
+varied by a trip to Las Cruces or Messilla, some fifteen or eighteen
+miles distant. These towns were at one time separated by the river but
+some years before an unusual flood had swept down the valley and the
+river had made a new channel leaving the towns close neighbors. Even in
+those days they were places of some importance.
+
+While stationed at this post I made my first acquaintance with gambling.
+It did not take me long to learn that it was the universal custom in the
+country. The Sutler's or Post Trader's store was a favorite resort for
+those who indulged in the various games. I remember an old man camping
+not far from the post who made it his business. He remained there for
+some time and in conversation one day I expressed my surprise at the
+universal custom and he informed me that he had rather bet his money on
+Monte than loan it out at ten per cent interest, and yet his dress and
+camping outfit did not indicate a man of fortune.
+
+One of the most interesting incidents of my experience here was one
+Sunday morning after inspection when a group of officers were standing
+out on the parade grounds talking on various subjects when one of them
+was attracted by something at our feet and called attention to it. Upon
+closer investigation we discovered it to be the outlines of a human
+skull, the top of which had been worn away by the trampling of many feet
+over the parade ground. The post commander ordered the dirt removed from
+around it and thus unearthed a complete human skeleton except where the
+top of the head had been worn away. It was in a sitting position with
+the knees flexed up close to the chin but the bones crumbled upon being
+exposed to the air. There was no evidence of shroud or other covering to
+the body. What race of people buried their dead that way? How long had
+it been in its resting place?
+
+This post at that time was about seven hundred miles from the railroad.
+I doubt if there is a place in the United States today outside of Alaska
+or our insular possession where one could go and be seven hundred miles
+from a railroad.
+
+Along in the first part of May of that year I received orders from the
+chief medical officer of the district to exchange places with Dr.
+Seguin, post surgeon at Fort Craig. General Grover was the commanding
+officer at Fort Craig and was considered a good deal of a Martinet. As
+explained to me by Doctor Seguin, it seems that Mrs. Grover wanted
+something from the hospital which the doctor declined to send her and
+General Grover thereupon ordered it sent. The doctor disobeyed the order
+and the matter was carried to district headquarters and probably higher
+up for it involved the question of military discipline and also the
+rights of medical officers under army regulations. It is well enough
+here to say that the medical corps is a corps to itself, distinct from
+any other branch of the service, and orders come through the medical
+officers from the surgeon general down to the divisions; departments and
+districts, and yet at the military post the commanding officer is
+supposed to be "monarch of all he surveys" as you see there was a chance
+for controversy. Any way it was settled by Doctor Seguin being ordered
+to Fort Selden to take my place and I to his place at Fort Craig.
+
+General Grover was a severe looking man past middle age, and had seen
+service on the frontier before the Civil War. He was a strict
+disciplinarian and held himself aloof from everything around. I have
+seen him walking down the line of officers' quarters straight as an
+arrow, maybe with hands clasped behind his back and an orderly walking
+the proper distance behind. He never entered an officer's quarters but
+if he wanted anything he would send his orderly to the officer with "the
+General's compliments and would like to see you." The officer then
+walked out to where the general was standing and at the proper distance
+stopped, stood at attention and saluted and waited for such
+communications as the general would make. He then saluted again and
+returned to his quarters and the general went on his way.
+
+Mrs. Grover was confined soon after my arrival at the post and gave
+birth to a daughter. When the general was called in to see the new
+arrival he merely looked at it, gave a grunt, or "huh," and then turned
+and walked out. Mrs. Grover was the most queenly looking woman I ever
+saw; a magnificent physique; a commanding presence and a dignified and
+gracious manner. She seemed to possess all the qualities my imagination
+had conjured up as befitting a queen. She was the daughter of Dr. Austin
+Flint, Sr., whom I mentioned in an earlier chapter, and a sister of Dr.
+Austin Flint, Jr., the eminent physiologist. I was frequently called to
+their quarters to see the baby, not I thought, that it needed anything,
+but that the mother wanted someone to talk with. The general was civil
+enough to me but never cordial. I think it was not his nature to be so.
+He invited me occasionally to go with him in his carriage to places away
+from the post, say to Paraja some twelve miles away, or perhaps just for
+a ride, a courtesy he never extended to other officers of the post. On
+these little excursions I found that the general was an interesting
+talker, mostly with reference to his experiences on the frontier before
+the war. The war itself and the army since the war was never mentioned
+that I remember. He had been a major general during the war and was now
+a colonel and it was thought by most of the officers that he felt
+humiliated by being assigned to a negro regiment, the twenty-fourth
+infantry. I was invited to their quarters one morning for breakfast and
+maybe one or two other meals during the summer but as I remember them
+now they were rather formal and uninteresting.
+
+Fort Craig was a walled fort, made so in early days as a protection
+against Indians. It was typical of most of the posts at which I served
+in being built in the form of a square. The parade ground being a square
+plot varying in size at different posts, around which are located the
+buildings. The officers occupying one side of the square; the barracks
+being directly opposite and the commissary and quarter master department
+generally occupying one side and the commanding officer's quarters and
+post headquarters and adjutant's office occupying the other side. At
+Fort Craig just outside of these buildings was an adobe wall about ten
+feet high. Next to the guardhouse was an opening large enough for wagons
+to enter the parade ground with heavy gates to close at night, and there
+were some small openings in the wall for other purposes, one being near
+the hospital. The walls of the buildings were of adobe with heavy
+timbers across to support the roof of dirt. The floors were what the
+Mexicans called "Jaspa" (pronounced Haspa), a kind of cement made of
+gypsum or lime sulphate which is found in great beds through a great
+portion of New Mexico. It is quarried or blasted out, heated to drive
+out the water or crystalization, then ground into a powder and when
+mixed with sand and water makes a pretty fair quality of cement. It was
+used altogether in the floors for the military posts along the Rio
+Grande.
+
+The water supply at Fort Craig was obtained from the Rio Grande river
+and there were times about June when the snows melted in the mountains
+that it answered very well to a description I once read of the Missouri
+river water, "Too thick to drink and too thin to cultivate." This was a
+great bother to us during the summer rise for it was persistent for more
+than a month. I conceived the idea of making a filter by making a good
+sized ball of jaspa and charcoal which I held together by mixing a
+little cotton batting carefully in the mortar and kneading it into a
+very stiff paste. After it hardened I bored a hole in the ball and
+inserted a rubber tube and then put the ball in a "Tanaja," a large
+ungalvanized earthen jar holding eight or ten gallons of the muddy
+water. This jar was put in an army blanket and was swung in the hallway.
+The jar being porous would let enough water through to keep the blanket
+damp, which cooled the water. By swinging another tanaja just below the
+first and having it blanketed in the same way, and having a rubber tube
+connecting the two, I had a filter that furnished clear, sparkling, cool
+water. I put one in the hospital and they became quite the vogue at the
+post.
+
+The wood supply was brought from the mountains some thirty miles away.
+Trains comprising several wagons would be sent out in charge of a
+wagonmaster with men enough to load them promptly and by starting early
+and returning late they sometimes made the round trip in two days, but
+generally they were three days out.
+
+For a month or more I was in the officers' mess, consisting only of
+single men or those whose families were away. The meals were rather
+stately affairs and to me seemed a little tinged with the ridiculous in
+that far-away place. There was a colored man standing behind each
+officer's chair dressed in the proper toggery to do his duty and to give
+him every attention. I never saw any more perfect service at any hotel
+and the table was the best the commissary department and the surrounding
+country would provide.
+
+Prices outside the commissary were much higher than we had then in Iowa.
+Eggs were fifty cents a dozen; butter a dollar and a quarter a pound. I
+paid these prices regularly when I started my own mess. I had what was
+called a student's lamp in those days and paid five dollars a gallon for
+coal oil, as it was then called. Of course that was before oil tanks
+were known and it was carried across the plains in barrels, maybe in hot
+weather, and on slow moving ox trains, being months on the way. The
+evaporation would necessarily be very great, and by the time the
+sutler's store got its percent of profit (probably one hundred percent
+or more) one could easily see that fifty cent oil in Iowa could easily
+be five dollars in New Mexico. Some years later at Fort McRae, further
+down the river, we got it for two dollars and a half per gallon by
+sending a five gallon can to Santa Fe to be filled.
+
+Thinking that I was a fixture at Fort Craig for some time I wrote my
+wife and asked her to join me after her visit in the East was over. In
+view of her coming I started a mess of my own and had a little colored
+drummer boy detailed as servant and cook. He was as black as night and I
+called him Sandy. To start with I laid in a pretty good supply of
+commissaries, among them ten pounds of cut loaf sugar. I had my first
+dinner on Saturday and the following Monday morning I asked Sandy if
+anything was needed. "Yas sah, Doctor, we needs some moah sugar." Why
+Sandy, I said, we got ten pounds of each kind on Saturday, which kind do
+you want? "We needs some moah cut loaf sugar, sah," he said. What, cut
+loaf sugar? "Yas sah, Doctor, it takes a powerful sight 'o sugar for
+deserts." Well all right Sandy, I said, I'll see about it. I thought it
+was going pretty fast for only two dinners so I stopped on my way back
+from the hospital at Major Sweet's quarters and asked Mrs. Sweet how
+much cut loaf sugar they used. She was bright and quick as a flash, and
+wished to know, while trying to look serious, why I asked such a
+question. Finally she broke out into a jolly rippling laugh and said, "I
+know what's the matter, Sandy has been carrying your sugar off to the
+laundresses." I told Sandy when I returned to my quarters that I did not
+mind his having all the sugar he wanted himself but I did not want to
+feed all the laundresses at the post on cut loaf sugar. He did better
+afterwards but I still think the laundresses got some sugar.
+
+There is no other part of the country so far as I know where skunks were
+so plentiful as in New Mexico. They were a nuisance at all the posts at
+which I served in that territory, but if possible were worse at Fort
+Craig than elsewhere. One evening I had gone to the post trader's to get
+my mail and upon my return I found the odor in my quarters so pronounced
+that I investigated and found that Sandy had killed a skunk in the
+kitchen. He explained by saying that he had tried to drive it out and
+could not do so and that he had killed it. I told him to open up all the
+windows and doors and scrub the kitchen floor and I went back to the
+sutler's store in self protection. I did not return until late when I
+found the odor worse than ever and Sandy explained the matter this time
+by saying another skunk came in and had made its way into my bed-room
+and got under the wardrobe and he could not get it out and was compelled
+to kill it. This he did by punching it to death. The result can be
+imagined, but not very well described. I slept on a cot in the front
+room for some time afterwards and found hunting and out-door exercise
+more interesting than remaining in my quarters.
+
+The sand storms at Fort Craig were something to remember, or rather I
+should say impossible to forget. They are simply a straight wind blowing
+with terrific force and loaded with fine sand and dust and very fine
+gravel. I remember particularly one that came up one day when the
+steward and I were making out the monthly reports at the hospital. The
+windows and doors were closed and everything made as snug as possible,
+yet when the storm was over one made tracks when walking across the
+floor as visible as he would have made walking along a sandy highway. It
+was a serious matter to be out in one of them, for unless the face was
+covered one would suffer severely from the stinging sand and fine
+gravel, and everything a short distance away was shut out from sight.
+There are also some pleasant things to remember of my experience at this
+post. The hunting, particularly of wild fowl, was very good, the ducks
+remaining late in the spring and returning early in the fall. The
+sunsets were beautiful beyond my power of description. It was my first
+summer in a rarified atmosphere and I imagined at times I could see
+objects moving along the mountain range some thirty miles away. I
+remember one evening when Doctor Seguin was visiting a few days with me
+on his return from Fort Selden to New York, having left the service, we
+were out for a walk together and were up on a little mound just west of
+the post as the sun went down and his attention was called to the
+beautiful cloud effects. He remarked that he had never seen anything
+more beautiful in Italy. The doctor was a Frenchman by birth; his father
+was a medical man of distinction, and while most of his life had been
+spent in this country he had traveled extensively abroad and his
+education, particularly in medicine, had been acquired in Europe. He was
+now returning to New York to take up his work as a lecturer on nervous
+diseases in the College of Physicians and Surgeons.
+
+While the doctor was visiting with me we went up to San Marcial to
+witness the games on St. John's day, June 24th. San Marcial was at that
+time a small straggling Mexican village of one street with adobe houses
+on each side and all told maybe had one hundred inhabitants. We did not
+go into any of the houses and only witnessed one game of any interest,
+it was a rough-and-tumble affair and excited great interest among the
+Mexicans. A rooster with its legs tied would be buried in a little mound
+of sand in the middle of the street, leaving only its head and neck
+sticking above the mound. The game was for the horsemen to form in line
+some distance up the street and come at full speed swooping down from
+the saddle, grab the chicken by the head, and then the battle was on for
+the chicken. The possessor of the unfortunate chicken would strike out
+over adobe walls and across irrigating ditches, anywhere to get out of
+the way of his pursuers and when at last he would be cornered, or
+surrounded, a battle royal would follow. I could not determine how the
+matter was decided but when the game was over they would come back and
+repeat the performance. There were many misses in their efforts to pick
+up the rooster, but a few of the contestants were more expert than the
+others and several succeeded in swinging down and retrieving the rooster
+from the mound of sand. We left while the game was still in progress. In
+all the games I witnessed among the Mexicans there appeared the element
+of cruelty in some form or other.
+
+During the summer of 1869 while stationed at this post I went to Paraja
+to see the Penitentes parade. I don't know why it was called a parade
+for it was an exhibition of cruelty that I have never at any other time
+in my life seen equaled. It was supposed to be a religious ceremony but
+consisted of a procession in single file of those who had committed
+great crimes or sins. The one in front carried a great wooden cross, the
+cross-bar of which rested on his neck and shoulders, he carrying it in a
+somewhat stooped position. It was of an enormous size, the cross-bar
+extending as I estimated it, at least eight feet in length and the stem
+in proportion. It had been made of dry cotton-wood logs and hewn out to
+probably eight or ten inches square and was a crude looking affair, but
+was probably not as heavy as it looked. The one bearing this cross took
+the lead and was naked to the waist and from there down wore only a
+single cotton garment, pants-like in shape, but very full, something
+like a skirt, and all those following were dressed in a similar way. All
+were bare-footed and there were probably twenty or more of them. Each
+carried thongs with which he struck the man in front of him on the bare
+back, all acting in something like uniformity as to time and repeating
+in unison and in a drone like voice something in Spanish that I could
+not understand. Before the procession ended the backs of most of the
+participants were notably bloody and some of them very much so. Paraja
+is located literally in a bed of sand and I wondered how they could
+stand it that hot August day in their bare feet and the bloody work of
+the thongs left the impression on my mind of being a most brutal
+performance. But they were sincere and no doubt believed they were
+atoning for sins committed. What kind of a God is it who would accept
+such an atonment or approve of its offering? The faces of the
+participants were mostly of a brutal type and they looked as though they
+were capable of committing almost any crime. This exhibition did not
+impress me as in any way religious but on the contrary as exceedingly
+barbarious and superstitious.
+
+By act of Congress during the winter of 1868 and 1869 the army was
+ordered reduced, which to me was a serious matter as it rendered
+improbable any convening of a medical board for examination of medical
+officers for promotion, at least for some years to come. As I remember
+such line officers as wished to resign could do so with the privilege of
+a year's additional pay, and enough others would be dropped from the
+service to bring the number down to the required standard, also with a
+year's additional pay. The only difference being that of resigning or
+being dropped from the service. Quite a number of line officers
+preferred resigning. Among those who did so was Lieutenant Page of the
+twenty-fourth infantry at Fort Craig. He proposed selling me his cow and
+I proposed trading him my pistol for it. He thought the matter over and
+said that he proposed locating on a farm in Missouri and the pistol
+might come very handy, so we made the exchange. He came to visit me at
+Girard, Kansas, after I had quit the service and gave me a farther
+history of the pistol. He had missed a good deal of corn from his fields
+and watched for the thieves and shot one of them quite seriously. The
+matter got into the courts and being so soon after the War the factional
+feeling had not died out, and the long litigation that followed almost
+bankrupted Mr. Page, rather a disreputable record for a pistol to make,
+but I imagine that there have been comparatively few occasions where
+pistols were used in personal encounters, that it would not have been
+better if they had never been made.
+
+I expected my wife in September. In the meantime Captain Lawson had
+returned from a leave of absence and joined my mess until his wife
+should come. Just before I expected my wife to start on her trip to join
+me, a command came up from Texas, an exchange of regiments had been
+ordered. The fifteenth infantry went to the Department of the Missouri,
+and the twenty-fourth infantry to the Department of Texas, and I was
+ordered to accompany a part of the fifteenth infantry from Fort Craig to
+Fort Wingate, New Mex. I at once wrote my wife to await developments.
+She had already started and got as far as Fort Wallace, Kans., near the
+terminus of the railroad when word reached her from Fort Wingate that I
+was to go with one company of the fifteenth infantry to Fort Dodge,
+Kans., and she could meet me at Fort Lyon, Colo., which would be on my
+way to Fort Dodge.
+
+[Illustration: THE OLD GOVERNOR'S PALACE
+
+Santa Fe, New Mexico, as it appeared in 1869. Army Headquarters for the
+District of New Mexico was located at the far end of this building.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+
+Fort Wingate is a post about one hundred and fifty miles west and a
+little north of Albuquerque and in the mountains in what was then called
+the Navajo country. While there I saw one of the squaws making a Navajo
+blanket. I supposed it would be called weaving but was unlike any
+weaving I ever saw, yet when a lad I was quite familiar with the looms
+and spinning wheels of the times, and the making of cloth. The blanket
+making appeared to be a very tedious process, the warp being held taut
+by stakes in the ground and the filling or woof worked in under and over
+the threads forming the warp and pressed in place by a little flat piece
+of wood passing between the threads of the warp. I could more readily
+understand why the blankets were so expensive.
+
+We remained at Wingate probably two weeks. I was a guest of Doctor
+Vickery, the post surgeon. He was a most charming host and all-around
+good fellow. He gave me a little handful of garnets the Indians had
+brought him from the little ant hills so abundant in the country. I sent
+a few of the choicest stones to Tiffany & Company of New York and had
+two rings made; one for my wife and one for a friend, the post surgeon's
+wife at Fort Wallace, who had been most kind to her while she was
+waiting for an opportunity to join me.
+
+The company from Fort Wingate to Fort Dodge together with the
+headquarters' paraphernalia was under the command of Mr. Krause, a
+lieutenant of the fifteenth infantry. Instead of coming around by
+Albuquerque we came part way and then cut across country to the
+northeast. When within a few miles of the Rio Grande the wagon road bore
+down to the southeast. The infantry cut across in the direction of
+Barnalillo (double L has the sound of E in Spanish) and the
+transportation followed the wagon road. Mr. Krause and I took the
+ambulance and when we reached the river in place of going up stream on
+the west side as the wagons were directed to do we crossed over to the
+old overland stage route and then went north on the east side. It was
+late when we reached the outskirts of the town and we noticed a great
+light as though some building was on fire. We had now left the stage
+road and were trying to find one that would take us to a crossing on the
+river. We were about to enter the town or pueblo, for it was an Indian
+pueblo, when we had a good view of the fire which proved to be an
+immense bonfire in the middle of the street with many people gathered
+around it. An Indian met us and gave us to understand that we could go
+no farther. With what little Spanish we could command, and by signs, we
+got him to understand that we wanted to reach the command on the other
+side of the river. By that time another Indian or two had joined us and
+they at once took the matter in hand. One of them got into the ambulance
+and by signs indicated to the driver which way to go and the first man
+to meet us signalled Mr. Krause and myself to follow him. He would take
+us through the pueblo, but started around the outskirts of the place and
+after what seemed to me an interminable time brought us up at a high
+bluff. It was quite dark and we could see the campfires across the
+river, but how to get there, or whether we would get there, seemed
+questionable to me. However, the Indian knew what he was about, and soon
+found the place he wanted, and disappeared over the side of the bluff on
+what proved to be steps cut out of the rock, leading down to the valley
+below. It was then only a short distance to the ford and our guide
+motioned us to stay there, and we understood he wanted us to wait for
+the ambulance, but he waded across the river. We found him on our
+arrival in camp carrying wood for the campfires and seemingly greatly
+pleased at being able to help us. We gave him a dollar at which he was
+evidently delighted. The transportation arrived soon after we reached
+camp and all was right again.
+
+We reached Santa Fe early in November--I think the 4th--and only stayed
+in town a few hours to rest and report to district headquarters where
+arrangements were made to have the paymaster come out to a place agreed
+on some five miles out where we would camp that night and pay off the
+men. This precaution was taken because there are always some men who
+cannot stand prosperity and will blow their money for anything they may
+fancy, particularly for liquor, and quite a number of them were likely
+to get drunk and be put in the guardhouse and cause delay in getting
+away from the town. It seems however, that some of them had money and
+those disposed to load up on "tangle-foot" had borrowed enough to put
+themselves past good marching condition, for at roll call preparatory to
+being paid off, some were missing and came straggling into camp one at a
+time later on in the afternoon, one without shoes, hat or clothing,
+excepting underwear, and one entirely naked. They had fallen out of
+ranks and taken a nap, and on trying to join the command had been held
+up by Mexicans. Of course their guns and accoutrements had gone with
+their clothing. We were camped where we could see some distance back
+along the road we had come and it was rather an odd sight to see the men
+coming into camp in that condition. It was quite ridiculous to see men
+in such uniforms, or rather lack of them, come into camp, stand at
+attention and salute when reporting to the commanding officer.
+
+We followed the old overland stage route from Santa Fe to Fort Lyon,
+Colo., a distance of nearly three hundred miles. From there it was some
+two hundred miles to our destination at Fort Dodge. There was little of
+interest on the way to Fort Lyon, the usual routine of making and
+breaking camp and marching during the day. By this time the men were
+thoroughly hardened to the march and the roads being good we made good
+time. It is interesting to know that for a distance of one thousand
+miles men will beat horses.
+
+At Cimarron we waked up in the morning to find six inches of snow on the
+ground and at Wooton's just north of the crest of Raton Pass, we stayed
+two or three days to have transportation repaired. I hunted a little but
+as I was afraid to go far from camp found nothing. One evening while
+there, Mr. Krause and I went down to Trinidad, a mining town of some
+importance in those days with the usual equipment of saloons and
+gambling halls. I had some curiosity to see the later, so we visited
+one. It was located in a long room a hundred feet or more in length by
+probably forty feet wide, in which there were many tables, at most of
+which were men engaged in playing games. The poker players sat at small
+tables, four or five players around each one, with stacks of chips or
+money at their side, or perhaps a buckskin sack containing gold dust,
+(for this was a placer mining camp) which was weighed out as occasion
+demanded in the fluctuations of the game. At other tables dice were
+used, or balls were rolled, and the bets were made as to which little
+pocket they would enter. Everything was quiet and orderly and seriously
+business-like. It was a curious exhibition and to this day I do not
+understand the fascination that seems to be in it.
+
+At Trinidad we were still a hundred miles or more from Fort Lyons where
+I expected to meet my wife, and while we made exceptional progress for
+infantry it seemed all too slow for me. It was on the 25th of November
+when we reached Fort Lyons, and I had the great pleasure of seeing my
+wife and baby boy again. We rested over for two or three days at Fort
+Lyons and then started on the last long lap of nearly two hundred miles
+down the Arkansas river to Fort Dodge, Kans. We did not see a habitation
+or a soul on the way except at one place where a man was standing at the
+roadside as we passed along. He informed us that he and his partner were
+there killing buffalo and poisoning wolves for their hides. We found an
+immense gray wolf lying by the roadside and the men threw it on one of
+the wagons and we left it with the lone hunter by the roadside.
+
+When pretty well down toward Fort Dodge, I had one of the most exciting
+hunting experiences of my life. Buffalo in great numbers were seen
+nearly all the way down and I was anxious to get a fine robe from an
+animal I had killed myself. My opportunity occurred one afternoon after
+we had gone into camp. I saw a good sized herd leave the river and start
+back to the high ground to graze, probably a mile or more away. I did
+not know any better than to go on foot and alone. It never occurred to
+me that there could be any danger. The ground was level as a floor and I
+got up within a hundred yards or less and picked out a large black bull
+that I thought would furnish the prize I was after, and fired. At the
+crack of the rifle he started for me and of course I turned and ran, and
+ran for my very life. I thought how hopeless it looked for me, for the
+camp seemed far away, but I did my best. Finally I could hear him close
+behind me and while I expected every moment to be gored it occurred that
+he was breathing heavily, and I kept the pace as best I could until the
+breathing seemed less distinct and looking over my shoulder I discovered
+that he had stopped running and was walking around and around. However,
+I kept going until I was sure I was at a safe distance and then fell on
+the ground and lay there for a while. My heart was beating like a
+trip-hammer. I had no notion then of giving up the contest and as he
+turned broadside to me I fired and he started, and I started for another
+race. He did not make much headway this time and my courage arose
+accordingly. Pretty soon he stopped again and commenced turning around.
+He did not chase me again, but it took the fourth shot before he fell.
+The rifles of those days were very different from the modern repeating
+rifles. This was a breech loader with only a single shot and it was
+necessary to raise up what was called the breachblock by hand and insert
+the cartridge, then replace the breachblock, cock the gun, and you were
+ready for another shot. Too slow a process when a mad buffalo is chasing
+you.
+
+I had been aiming for the heart but shot too high and the wound in the
+lungs had caused the blood to choke him so he could not keep up the
+pace. All four of the shots went into a space not larger than my hand
+and one of the bullets lodged under the skin on the opposite side which
+I was careful to keep as a souvenir of the chase. Some of the enlisted
+men who had gone out to the right for a shot came to my assistance and
+skinned the animal for me and carried the hide into camp. They assured
+me that the animal was certainly within ten or fifteen feet of me at one
+time during our race.
+
+Another hunting incident occurred on our trip down the valley in which I
+was only a spectator. Some men had gone off into the hills to get a
+buffalo for the command. They had separated one from the herd and had
+wounded it and got the animal turned in the direction so as to cross the
+road ahead of the command. When it came in sight our cook became
+enthused with the idea of going out and killing it and thus have some of
+the glory of the chase. He asked permission to take my riding mule that
+followed behind the ambulance. I readily gave my consent and watched the
+proceedings with a good deal of interest. He started away at full speed
+with a pistol in one hand swinging it in anticipation of a great
+victory. All went well enough until the mule got close to the game when
+I suppose he got a whiff of an odor that did not please him, for without
+slacking his pace he turned and never stopped until he was back in the
+rear of the ambulance again. All this with the rider making the most
+frantic effort to get him into the fight. He did not even get a shot.
+The buffalo was killed near the road and loaded on one of the wagons and
+taken into camp.
+
+Another little incident occurred on this trip that was quite exciting
+for a few moments: We had camped near the river in some very tall grass,
+blue-stem I think it was called, the company some little distance away
+and to windward of headquarters. Some way in starting their campfire, it
+got beyond their control, and a shout in that direction gave as warning.
+I gathered the baby in my arms and we all ran for the river. Fortunately
+there was a sandbar extending out from the bank and we jumped some four
+or five feet down to that, and huddled up against the bank until the
+danger was past. There was a strong wind blowing and it was all over in
+a few moments. We thought of the ammunition wagon and feared the
+results, but the only harm done was a little scorching of my wife's
+side-saddle which was under the wagon. Only those who have seen a
+prairie fire in tall grass with a stiff wind blowing, can picture the
+scene as it actually happened. The ground was swept clean but was black
+with the ashes and stubble of the burned grass.
+
+On arriving at Fort Dodge we stayed a few days waiting for a surgeon who
+was returning from Fort Larned and who accompanied us from Fort Dodge to
+Fort Hayes, Kans. While at Fort Dodge there was a dust storm that
+continued for three or four days, blowing a steady gale during that
+time. Major Morris was commanding officer at that post and I remember a
+lieutenant, Phil Reed, who was a charming and entertaining talker at the
+table. My recollection is that he was afterwards married to Minnie
+Reams, an actress of note at that time. The road from Fort Dodge to Fort
+Hayes was a very desolate one. By starting early and urging our team
+along until after dark we came to a stream bordered by timber where we
+camped for the night. It was snowing very hard when we reached camp and
+by morning there were six or eight inches of snow on the ground. The
+road was so obscure in many places that we were doubtful whether we were
+on the right road or on any road at all. Not a house or sign of life in
+all that great white waste and even now I think of it as the most
+desolate day of all my life. We arrived at Fort Hayes after midnight of
+the second day, and were soon comfortably located at Doctor Meacham's
+quarters and sound asleep. My orders read to accompany the command to
+Fort Dodge and then proceed to St. Louis, Mo., and report to the medical
+director of the department which had been changed from Fort Leavenworth
+to that place. We were now at the railroad and the worst of the long
+journey from Fort Craig, N. Mex., to St. Louis was over.
+
+When in the ticket office at Fort Hayes arranging my transportation, I
+was introduced to one of the most noted characters on the frontier. He
+was generally known as "Wild Bill," but his name was Hickok and his
+brother had been our wagon master from Fort Wingate to Fort Dodge. He
+did not look wild at all but was a rather mild mannered and genteel
+looking fellow. He had long hair and wore good clothes and had nothing
+of the appearance of a desperado.
+
+The trip to St. Louis was uneventful.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+
+On reporting to the medical director at St. Louis I was ordered to Fort
+Sill, Indian Territory, (now Oklahoma) by way of railroad to Fort Scott,
+Kans., and thence by stage to my destination. We arrived at Fort Scott,
+Kans., late in the evening. This was the end of the Kansas City, Fort
+Scott and Gulf Railroad at that time, and a booming town. The hotels
+were crowded and we had great difficulty in finding a place to sleep,
+but finally were located at what was called the Western Hotel where we
+were fortunate enough to get a room for ourselves. Many were compelled
+to sleep on cots or beds made down on the floor in sitting rooms, dining
+rooms and parlors.
+
+The next morning I waded through deep snow some distance southeast of
+town to a soldiers' camp where Major Roy was in command and reported. He
+informed me that it would be impossible for me to go by stage to Fort
+Sill, that the stages had quit running on account of the deep snow, and
+that he would order me back to St. Louis, which he did. We arrived in
+St. Louis about the 20th of December, and stopped at the Lindell, one of
+the good hotels in those days. The controversy between Doctor Mills, the
+medical director and the department quartermaster was quite amusing. The
+doctor ending up by saying, "You sent him the only road he couldn't go."
+It was decided I should wait for a boat down the Mississippi and up the
+Arkansas to Fort Smith, and stage across country from there to Fort
+Sill.
+
+On my first arrival at St. Louis from the West I had gone to see a
+furrier about tanning my buffalo hide and he informed me it would
+require several days to put it in prime condition. I went to see him
+again on our return to St. Louis and was told it would probably be ready
+by the time we would start to Fort Sill by boat and that he would make a
+robe I would be proud of. He sent it to the boat the day before we left,
+and as it seemed a little damp, I spread it out on the hurricane deck to
+dry. As it dried it became hard around the edges and I kept trimming
+away the hard parts, particularly those of the neck and legs until I
+had my robe in the shape of a parallelogram. This was disappointing but
+I still praised it as a souvenir of the chase. We found it a very great
+help in keeping us warm while in the stage from Fort Smith to Fort Sill.
+It disappeared one night while hanging outside of our tent at Fort Sill
+which was only a camp at that time. It had cost me a most thrilling
+experience when first getting possession of it and then ten dollars to
+have it tanned, and now after a short service it was gone and I
+concluded it was hardly worth the ammunition.
+
+We were in St. Louis a week or more waiting for the boat to start and
+while there we had the pleasure of seeing Joseph Jefferson in "Rip Van
+Winkle." He was then in his prime and although I have seen and heard him
+since in the same play it did not appeal to me in the same way it did at
+the first performance.
+
+I think it was the last day of December that we went on the boat and
+started on our trip down the river the following evening. It was a light
+craft, stern wheel boat, and I was amazed at the vast quantity of
+freight that it carried. The trip down the Mississippi was without
+incident but we had frequent delays on the Arkansas unloading freight
+and crossing sandbars. From Little Rock to Fort Smith we tied up every
+night. Most of the time up the Arkansas a man stood at the head of the
+boat taking soundings.
+
+We were cordially received and entertained on our arrival at Fort Smith
+by the post surgeon, Doctor Theibaut and his family, where we remained
+two or three days.
+
+We started from Fort Smith very early in the morning, about four o'clock
+if I remember rightly, and it was very cold. In the stage with us, was a
+deputy United States marshal, who told us of the disastrous results
+attending those who brought liquor into the country--confiscation of
+property, jail sentences, etc. The trouble with us was that we had a
+bottle of brandy with us. By the time we stopped for breakfast my wife
+was thoroughly aroused to the importance of the occasion and whispering
+to me expressed her fears. I tried to assure her that it would be all
+right, and that no one would search an army officer's baggage, but it
+was of no use, and when the marshal was out of sight I broke the bottle
+over the fence corner and went into breakfast as though nothing had
+happened. We learned afterwards that army officers were permitted to
+bring it in for their own use and while at Fort Sill I had some sent me
+with other medical supplies.
+
+It was very cold for a day or two and we had the stage to ourselves
+after the marshal left us. I think it was the following night when we
+were in some very rough mountainous country that the driver stopped the
+stage and asked if I would get up on the outside with him, explaining
+that his team was hard to manage and that he might need assistance, to
+which I readily consented. The team was spirited enough and we went
+along at a spinning gait. I thought noticeably so for such rough roads
+and I believe my wife thought it was the ride of her life. After two or
+three hours the driver said he believed the team was settling down and
+would probably not give any trouble and if I wished I could go back
+inside the stage where it was warmer. I accepted this suggestion
+promptly and found it much more comfortable. The driver explained to me
+at the end of his division that in the rough country we had passed there
+were frequent hold-ups and he thought someone ought to sit with him to
+create the impression that the stage was loaded and highwaymen would be
+less liable to attack it.
+
+The second day out we had dinner at the house of the chief of the
+Chickasaws, having had breakfast at a freedman's house, both of which
+were worth describing. When we entered the house for breakfast there
+were a few smoldering coals in the fireplace although it was quite cold.
+There was some wood by the chimney and I stirred up the embers and put
+on some wood and soon had a fire started. The table was set in the next
+room, if so called, for it was only partly enclosed, so it was
+practically as cold as out of doors. On the table was some headcheese
+and cornbread, light rolls and sweet potatoes, all frozen so that the
+frost stood out on them, and some black coffee and no cream or milk. I
+managed to cut off a piece of the headcheese and cornbread and took my
+coffee and went back to the fireplace to eat and my wife soon followed,
+making her breakfast on some cookies we had brought with us. For this
+treat we were charged the modest sum of fifty cents each. At dinner we
+had some fried pork, fried eggs swimming in grease, and coffee similar
+to that we had at breakfast, and cornbread and all at the same price.
+
+The evening of the third day we arrived at Fort Arbuckle and were the
+guests of Doctor Brewer and family for two or three days and were most
+hospitably entertained. From Fort Arbuckle to Fort Sill we went in an
+army ambulance, the distance being eighty to a hundred miles. We camped
+one night along the road and I shot my first wild turkey at this camp.
+
+Fort Sill at that time was only a camp, but there was a sawmill on Cache
+creek a short distance below, where they were getting out material for
+permanent quarters, barracks and storehouses. The plan was for a six
+company post, and at that time there were two companies of infantry and
+six troops of cavalry stationed there. I reported on my arrival as usual
+and after being settled in our tent, was assigned to duty by Doctor
+Forward, the post surgeon.
+
+Doctor Forward was among the oldest assistant surgeons in the service
+and I thought a little peculiar in some ways. He was dignified and
+cordial but after assigning me to duty I thought he showed little
+interest in the service. He would call at my quarters occasionally and
+say that he wished to go over to the hospital and would look carefully
+over everything and would go away simply remarking that everything was
+all right. I remember going to his quarters one day and informing him
+that a man by the name of Fields in the hospital had fistula and I
+thought an operation necessary. He replied: "Can't you stick a knife in
+it?" I told him I thought I could and he came a few days after the
+operation and expressed his satisfaction at the results. He was promoted
+to a full surgency while I was there and assigned to a different post.
+It is proper here to say that the medical officers in the army are never
+addressed by their military title or rank but always as doctor. Although
+their military rank may be that of major (for full surgeon) or captain
+or lieutenant (for assistant surgeon).
+
+General Grierson of note as a cavalry commander during the Civil War
+was in command of the camp. Our quarters consisted of one hospital tent,
+fourteen by sixteen and two wall tents ten by twelve for bed room and
+dining room, and still back of that was the kitchen which was used for
+servants' quarters. All these tents were framed to hold them in shape
+and as a protection against strong winds.
+
+Our first experience with what was called a "Norther," was at this post.
+These usually occurred in the change of the seasons from cold to hot
+weather or the reverse. They are typical, resembling other storms only
+in their intensity. They are always preceded by delightful weather. My
+first experience was in the early spring of 1870. I was on the roof of
+the new commissary building where the quartermaster's employes were
+putting on shingles and one of them happened to look up and said,
+"Hello; that looks like a Norther coming." The weather was quite warm
+but ideally pleasant and he noticed my light clothing and said, "You had
+better get down off here and hunt some heavier clothes." I followed his
+suggestion at once and by the time I got to our quarters a half mile
+away I noticed the difference in the temperature and in a few minutes it
+came on us in all its fury. It is simply the coldest wind I have ever
+experienced. It blows straight and with a mighty force and is so
+penetrating that one is thoroughly chilled in a few minutes. I have
+since learned that it often kills cattle and other live stock down in
+Texas and occasionally people who are not properly clothed. It comes up
+from the Northwest, a bank of clouds, not clearly outlined but hazy, I
+suppose from dust that gathers on the way. Anyone who has once
+experienced it looks at its coming with dread and apprehension. We had
+two or three experiences with a "Norther" at Fort Sill while still in
+camp. In one of these my wife and I both braced ourselves against the
+tent frame to keep it from blowing down.
+
+There were six companies of colored troops of the Tenth Cavalry of which
+General Grierson was the colonel, stationed at Fort Sill. I did not see
+that they were very different from other enlisted men. If anything they
+seemed to take more interest in their personal appearance than the
+white soldiers but were accused in the army as they are out of it, of
+petit larceny. I had one experience in the hospital that may be worth
+relating: A trooper by the name of Stanley had shot the index finger off
+his right hand, he claimed accidentally, but it was thought by most of
+the officers that it had been done for the purpose of getting a
+discharge from the service. I kept him as nurse in the hospital as he
+was capable and did his work promptly and carefully and we often had him
+come to our quarters to stay with our little boy when we were spending
+the evening with our fellow officers and their wives. I had frequently
+missed small change and little things of no great value but he would
+deny any knowledge of them with such apparent candor and honesty that my
+suspicions were allayed. One morning, however, when attending sick calls
+at the hospital the hospital steward informed me that Stanton was
+discovered taking money from under the pillow of one of the sick men
+during the night. I sent for him and explained the matter to him for I
+was really disposed to let him off as easy as possible. He denied any
+knowledge of it, so I said to him: "Now look here Stanton, the evidence
+is too strong against you, you go and give Fields his money and behave
+yourself hereafter and I will let the matter drop. You are a good man
+and I would like to keep you." He looked me straight in the face and
+said: "Fore God, Doctor, I never did take that money." I sent the
+steward's assistant over to the guardhouse with orders to the sergeant
+of the guard to send a man over to take charge of a prisoner. A corporal
+came and I explained the matter to him and I directed him to take
+Stanton to the guardhouse and to tell the sergeant of the guard that I
+wanted him to get that money and for him to resort to any means
+necessary to get it, even if he had to tie the prisoner up by the
+thumbs. This is of course a very severe punishment, and consisted of
+using a very strong cord, the ends of which are looped over each thumb
+and then thrown over a crossbar a short distance above the prisoner's
+head and drawing him up, if necessary, off the ground. When I got
+through my hospital duties and was on my way to my quarters I heard the
+howling of the prisoner at the guardhouse and stopped where I had a
+good view and watched the results with interest. Stanton was protesting
+his innocence, and the sergeant's orders were "pull him up a little
+higher." It did not take long for Stanton to see his mistake, for he
+said, "Let me down and I will tell you where it is." "No you don't. Tell
+me first where it is, then I will let you down." Stanton said, "It's in
+the lining of my cap." And sure enough there was the ten dollars. The
+result was that a courtmartial gave him six months with "ball and
+chain." I think this occurrence illustrates one of the characteristic
+traits of the colored race, and to me it is remarkable that he would
+have taken such a course when he was offered the chance of taking one
+that in every way would have been so much better for himself.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+
+Fort Sill was the first post at which I had any experience with Indians.
+It was located on what was then called the Kiowa and Comanche
+reservation near the junction of Cache and Medicine Bluff creeks. Mount
+Scott, the highest point of the Wichita mountains was some nine miles to
+the northwest and both places had been geographically located and were
+used as a base for triangulation in locating other points. These tribes
+of Plains Indians were famous fighters and were finally subdued and
+brought to terms by Custer's great battle on the Washita. They were very
+numerous and there was always a feeling that an outbreak might occur at
+any time. During my service there from January, 1870, to August, 1871,
+there were seventeen men brought in and buried who had been killed and
+scalped by Indians. They would not attack a large party of men in
+soldier's uniform but boot-leggers and stragglers stood a poor show if
+caught out alone. Once while there a woman, one girl sixteen or
+seventeen years old, and one about twelve years old, and two smaller
+ones and two boys, one of whom belonged to another family, were brought
+into the camp on the promise of a hundred dollars apiece ransom. They
+were from Texas and at their homes when attacked by Indians, and the men
+were killed and these people brought away captives. If attempt had been
+made to recover them by force they would have been killed.
+
+I once saw Lone Wolf, a Comanche chief, with a United States mail sack
+of leather on his pony, and the interpreter, Mr. Jones, told me that he
+and some of the other young bucks had been on a raid down in Texas and
+among other depredations they had killed the mail carrier and destroyed
+the mail, only keeping the sack for his own use. I saw him frequently
+with it afterwards. Mr. Jones told me that Lone Wolf had said that his
+heart felt better now, as he had avenged the death of his son who had
+been killed on one of their raids in Texas. These raids were of frequent
+occurrence, and there was generally some evidence of them in the wearing
+apparel or trinkets, or anything the Indians might fancy, and that had
+evidently belonged to some settlers or travelers who had been so
+unfortunate as to come in their way. But so far as I know, they never
+killed a soldier.
+
+I have witnessed from the bluff near the hospital on Medicine Bluff
+creek their dances in the valley just across the streams at night, many
+times, but never had any desire to make a closer acquaintance. It always
+seemed to me a wild kind of a thing, consisting of jumping and gyrating
+and stooping and gliding and then straightening up suddenly, and
+swinging the arms, and all the time droning in short jerky cough-like
+notes, interspersed with sharp penetrating yells. There might be only
+one performer or maybe a half dozen or more. Where there is a number
+engaged, it is not only exciting but decidedly wild, certainly unlike
+any other dance I have ever seen.
+
+They were great thieves and anything left outside of our tents which
+might strike their fancy was liable to be carried off. One day a squaw
+brought a venison ham to our tent to sell. The regular price was fifty
+cents and I bought it although we had bought one less than an hour
+before, and when taking it back to hang up with the first one I thought
+the squaw looked very much like the one from whom I had made the first
+purchase, and was not much surprised to find the first ham missing. We
+usually hung them out for a while to get the Indian odor off them, and I
+have no doubt that I bought the same ham from the same squaw the second
+time.
+
+There were fixed days each month on which rations were issued to the
+Indians by the commissary department and I have seen the squaws carry
+sacks of flour a little distance away from the place of issue and empty
+out the flour and carry off the sacks, hundreds of them, so that the
+ground for a considerably distance around would be literally white with
+flour.
+
+They were permitted to go about the camp any where during the day, but
+at sundown scarcely an Indian was to be seen and none were permitted in
+camp at night.
+
+It was a very comfortable feeling to hear the hours called at night, by
+those on guard if one should happen to wake up and hear the announcement
+that "All's well." For instance, the sergeant of the guard announces in
+a loud enough voice to be heard by the first sentinel, "Two o'clock and
+all's well." On hearing it the sentinel repeats the message, and so on
+around the camp, and when the last sentinel has finished, the sergeant
+of the guard says, "Two o'clock and all's well all around." This is
+repeated each hour during the night.
+
+[Illustration: MEDICINE BLUFF
+
+The original of this picture is in our possession, and was taken by
+Soule, of Boston, when we were stationed at Fort Sill]
+
+A very different announcement is the long roll of the drums which
+happened twice while we were at this camp. It is the alarm to awaken the
+camp, and made by rapid and long continued beating of the drum without
+break or stop until the garrison is fully aroused. The assembly call by
+the bugle of the cavalry, takes the place of the long roll of the drum
+for the infantry, and the two together, and the clanking of arms, and
+the orders to "Fall in," "Fall in," "Fall in," makes an exceedingly
+interesting, not to say exciting experience. If you are quick in getting
+out of your tent you may see the officers scurrying across the parade
+ground to their command, fastening on their clothes as they go and soon
+everything is in order for whatever may happen. The women and children
+in these cases, hurry with all possible speed to a place of safety. At
+this camp it was always at Major Van De Weile's quarters, some of them
+very scantily clothed, generally with some kind of wrap over their night
+clothes, but it was not cold weather, and any way what did it signify in
+such an emergency. The major's quarters were what was called a "hakel"
+building and the only one in camp better than a tent except General
+Grierson's that offered any protection. Such buildings are made by
+standing posts on end in the ground and as close together as possible
+and filling in the cracks with mortar and pieces of boards or anything
+suitable, and the inside is then plastered up along the cracks until it
+makes a fairly smooth wall and is then whitewashed and makes comfortable
+quarters but not a first class protection against rifle bullets. They
+would huddle together and talk in undertones as to what might happen
+until the report came that it was a false alarm. In both these instances
+it proved to be so, but the anxiety and excitement was just as real as
+if the results had been different. Probably some nervous sentinel had
+fired his gun at what he supposed to be an Indian crawling toward him,
+but that may have been only a dog or some other animal, or it may have
+been purely his imagination. Any one who has not gone through such an
+experience cannot imagine its uncanny quality as the Scotch would
+express it. It is a very vivid impression with me today after more than
+forty years.
+
+We remained under more or less strain of anxiety until the new quarters
+were finished or enough of it so that we could crowd into them. Officers
+take quarters according to rank, and it not infrequently happens that
+one will have to vacate his quarters and give place to another who
+outranks him, the ranking officer having this right and as a rule he
+does not hesitate to use it although he may be a single man and the man
+displaced be a man of family. This is so well understood and so
+graciously accepted that there is seldom any feeling or resentment about
+it.
+
+In our own case we had to occupy quarters with another officer and his
+wife, Mr. Spencer of the Tenth cavalry, and this reminds me of an
+experience we had that shows something of the Indian character. We had
+for some time previous to this, a Cherokee Indian woman employed as
+servant. She probably had a little negro blood in her veins as her long
+black hair was slightly wavy, but in every other way she was typically
+Indian. She was exceedingly neat and clean and a thorough housekeeper
+and an exceptionally good cook and a most devoted servant, but she would
+take orders from no one except my wife. Soon after going into our new
+quarters she informed my wife that she was going to leave us, and this
+she did, knowing full well that she could not remain at the post if she
+did so. My wife was surprised and so expressed herself and also her
+sorrow at having her go, but no inducement she could offer had any
+effect on this high-strung woman. She cleaned out the stove and put in
+the kindling and had everything neat and clean as possible before
+leaving. It developed afterwards that she was offended at some orders
+given her by Mrs. Spencer.
+
+Another little incident will show the Indian blood: One of the colored
+sergeants took quite a fancy to her and would often stand in the door
+and talk to her, which was all well enough with Charlotte until she
+wanted him to go. I think on this occasion he was disposed to nag her
+about something, for I overheard her say in a loud and angry tone, "Now
+you go, I won't talk to you again. Go now!" I hurried to the kitchen and
+opened the door just in time to see the butcherknife sticking in the
+outside door-jam and still vibrating from the force that sent it. The
+sergeant had jumped in time, but Charlotte was furious. When I asked,
+"Why, Charlotte, what is the matter?" she simply replied, "Next time I
+tell that nigger to go I guess he will go." I frequently thought how
+near we came to having another patient in the hospital.
+
+I will relate one or two other instances that occurred while we were
+stationed here that may be interesting: My wife had the only sewing
+machine in the camp and one day Satanta, the war chief of the Kiowas,
+was passing down the line of officers' quarters and heard the hum of the
+sewing machine. It was summer time and the door was open so he stalked
+in and sat down without any ceremony or sign of recognition and watched
+my wife sewing. He was evidently very much interested but gave no
+evidence of it by word or look. He remained for quite a while observing
+the performance intently and then got up and said, "Adios!" and stalked
+out again. He made several calls afterwards and went through the same
+performance each time until I suppose he became satisfied for his visits
+ceased. He was the finest specimen of an Indian I ever saw; very large,
+well proportioned, with a remarkably forceful expression of face and
+walked with a dignity becoming a prince.
+
+Adjacent to the sutler's store was a large corral enclosed by a high
+stockade, inside of which were the necessary buildings for storage,
+stables, etc., and near the front of this corral and on a line with the
+store was the houses for the clerks, a few feet back from the stockade.
+In front of each house was a small gate which was always closed at night
+but often kept open during the day. In the summer the front doors were
+also left open. One day a tall, rather handsome Indian, that I had often
+noticed about the camp, and who was something of a "dandy" in dress,
+happened to be passing and happened to catch his reflection in a large
+mirror on the dresser that stood in line with the door and gate. He
+immediately marched in without looking right or left, made a thorough
+survey of himself in the glass then turned and walked out saying "How"
+to Mrs. Rector, who was sitting in the room during this rather
+unceremonious call.
+
+I had a little experience one day with Stumbling Bear, a subchief of the
+Kiowas that at that time made me a little nervous and I have since
+thought with little reason. I was returning from a duck hunt up Medicine
+Bluff creek and was a short distance above the bluff that gave it its
+name when Stumbling Bear came up behind me, and we talked a little and I
+offered him some ducks which he took, and soon rode ahead. I knew of a
+little canon that broke its way down to the stream a little distance
+ahead and across which the trail must lead. For some reason which I
+cannot explain, I thought it best to wait until he came up on the other
+side of the canon. This canon opened out into the river valley and from
+my position I could see the valley thoroughly. He did not come upon the
+opposite side as I expected, and I felt equally sure that he did not go
+down the canon and come out in the valley. He had his rifle with him and
+of course could have killed me as he came up behind, if he had wished to
+do so, but I was nervous about him not showing up on the opposite side
+of the canon, and so I concluded to make a detour around the head of the
+canon and out of gunshot range, and went on my way to camp. That he
+could have gotten out of there without my seeing him still seems to me
+impossible, and why he should stay in there until I had gone seems
+equally unaccountable. Any way I did not see him again for several days
+when he rode into camp as usual.
+
+The Indian agency was located just outside the military reservation,
+some five or six miles down the creek from the fort. Colonel Boone, a
+nephew of Daniel Boone of frontier fame, was Indian agent when we
+arrived at the camp but was succeeded the following spring by an
+appointee under a new ruling of the Interior Department. Colonel Boone
+was a very large man and his wife was quite below the average sized
+woman. I mention him here only because we were mutual friends, but also
+of at least one commendable trait of Indian character that is
+illustrated by their journey back to their ranch in Colorado. The
+colonel had decided, much against our protestations of the dangers, to
+go across the country, which to us seemed to be wilfully sacrificing
+their lives; but he insisted that he would send up to the chief of the
+Arapahoes, whose name I have forgotten, and if he thought it fairly safe
+and would send an escort, he certainly would take the chances.
+
+The escort came in a few days and they were certainly a fine looking lot
+of fellows, being extra well mounted and equipped and I felt sure that
+they would give a good account of themselves in case of trouble and the
+colonel assured us that the last one of them would die in defense of
+himself and wife if necessary. So, we said good-bye to them with some
+misgivings, but with a strong hope that they would make the journey
+safely. I got a letter from the colonel some months later announcing
+their safe arrival home, and praising the fidelity and other good
+qualities of his Indian escort. It was refreshing to hear and know
+something good of Indians that had so much that was bad to their credit.
+
+I am quite convinced that any Indian appreciates justice and a square
+deal as much as we do, and recognizes force and submits to it quickly
+enough, if tempered with justice, but he does not understand moral
+suasion as we understand it. I think that his conception of it is
+cowardice. He cannot comprehend why one should return good for evil but
+believes in an eye for an eye and he faithfully carries it out in
+practice. He believes in all kinds of ghosts and spirits, good and bad,
+and his life is largely shaped by this belief.
+
+A story Mr. Jones told me one day will illustrate their practical view
+of things: Mr. Jones had married a squaw and some of the chiefs were at
+his house for dinner that day. He tried to explain to them our Bible
+history of how sin came into the world, and they listened intently, and
+without interruption, until he had finished. Then one old chief spoke up
+and said, "That is just like a white woman. Now if that had been a
+squaw, she would have taken a stick and killed that snake, and saved all
+the trouble." And while it may sound funny it was not intended as
+levity or anything like a joke, but was said in all seriousness. He
+evidently did not grasp our interpretation of it in any way, but on the
+contrary he looked on the woman's actions as cowardly and inexcusable.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+
+During General Grant's first term as President, the Indian agencies were
+put in the hands of the representatives of the following churches,
+namely: Congregational, Presbyterian, Catholic, Dutch Reform, Episcopal,
+Methodist, Baptist, Unitarian, and the two branches of Friends. This was
+brought about by a resolution on January 13th, 1871 at a conference of
+the President, the board of Indian commissioners and the official
+representatives of the religious bodies above mentioned. This was
+considered at the time as the President's policy and was something of a
+surprise to many army officers. But there was no marked criticism, most
+of them believing that if the management of Indian affairs could not be
+in the hands of the war department, it would have as good a chance of
+being honestly managed by representatives of the churches as in any
+other way.
+
+The Kiowa and Commanche agency was put in the hands of a Mr. Tatum, a
+Quaker and most estimable gentleman, but I afterwards thought he as illy
+understood the Indian character as the Indians did the peace loving
+creed of the Quaker persuasion. He was unfortunate in being found in his
+shirt sleeves and at work, when the first delegation of the Indian
+chiefs went to the agency to see him, and from that time was spoken of
+by the Indians as the squaw agent. They could see nothing elevating or
+even respectable in a man working, that being the squaw's duties, and
+had little respect for the agent afterwards, although he did the best he
+could for them.
+
+Mr. Tatum thought it would be better for the Indians to live in houses
+like white people, instead of in tents, and proposed building them
+houses, and some of the chiefs agreed to occupy them. He at once got
+busy and built six or seven neat log houses in the timber a few miles
+north of the camp. The Indians moved in as they had agreed and it was
+reported that some of them put their tepees up inside the houses. Of
+course they did not stay long in such an unnatural place, and when I saw
+the houses some time afterwards, there was no evidence of recent
+occupation.
+
+He also established a school for Indian children at the agency, and I
+think it was patronized by some of the Indians sending their children,
+but up until the time we left the post, the attendance was small. We
+cannot tell what the eventual results of these honest efforts to do good
+may be.
+
+One of the most interesting places about the camp to me was Mr.
+Orleman's office. He was a West Point graduate, a lieutenant in one of
+the companies at the camp, and was the engineer under Major Rockwell,
+who had charge of the construction of the new post. Maybe my everlasting
+desire to know things interested him, for he was very kind in showing me
+his instruments and explaining their uses. I was a frequent caller at
+his office and he always seemed glad to see me. I mention this more
+particularly from the fact that in the spring of 1871 there was a part
+of the garrison, I think two troops of cavalry sent to establish a camp
+on or near the junction of Cache creek and Red river, and I was ordered
+to make a survey of the route and distance. I had never done such a
+thing and was more than doubtful of my ability to do it properly, so I
+went to see Mr. Orleman about it. He said, "Oh, you can do it as well as
+anybody. I have explained these instruments, and how to use them; of
+course you can do it." And that settled it. It was simple enough after
+all. A meter is fastened to the hub and spoke of one of the rear wheels
+of the ambulance, the hand pointing down and with a weight on the end of
+it to hold it steady over rough ground. A clockwork inside records the
+revolutions of the wheel. In other words, the clock goes around instead
+of the hand, and by knowing the circumference of the wheel it is easy
+then to calculate the distance traveled. The compass and tripods were
+not so easy, but a little practice before starting gave me some
+confidence. The zig-zag course we had to take to get around the head of
+the canons and to avoid rough ground where the ambulance could not go,
+were the principal difficulties, but by recording the degrees of each
+change of direction one gets fairly good results. Mr. Orleman came down
+some time after we had established that camp, and corrected the survey
+by triangulation, and complimented me on missing the location less than
+one-fourth of a mile in a distance of more than forty-five miles
+traveled.
+
+From this camp I was ordered to make a topographical survey to the
+junction of the North fork of the Red river with the main stream, a
+distance of about one hundred miles by the route we took along the
+river. Mr. Spencer with a detachment of about thirty troopers was sent
+with me as an escort. This kind of survey did not pretend to be accurate
+but was intended to observe and record the principal features of the
+country, such as canons, high points of land, valleys and table lands,
+and to estimate the altitudes and distance. The compass was the only
+instrument used on this trip. We arrived at our destination about the
+middle of the forenoon of the third day and crossed the North fork and
+went into camp at the junction of the two streams. There was an immense
+cottonwood tree just on the bank where the two streams united and we
+conceived the idea of marking our names and date on it, supposing that
+we might be the first white people in that locality. After the work was
+done I suggested that we have a picket pin heated and burn the letters
+to keep them from healing over so soon, but we discovered there were no
+matches in the command to start a fire, a piece of carelessness that we
+thought inexcusable. It occurred to me that the medical panniers are
+always provided with matches and on investigation I found a little box
+of wax matches and we soon had a fire started. When we had seared the
+letters over thoroughly we were quite pleased with the result and if
+that tree is still standing it will probably show some marks of the
+vandal hands that scarred its magnificent body. I remember the dinner
+that day among other good dinners that I have had on my hunting trips.
+We had buffalo hump and I thought it at that time the best thing I had
+ever tasted.
+
+The country from our camp at the mouth of Cache creek to the junction of
+North fork and the main stream of Red river is made up mostly of wide
+valleys and high table lands called mesa in Spanish. These vary in
+extent from a mile or less to several miles and near the river the
+country is broken up by frequent canons. It was a beautiful country to
+look at but it was, of course, entirely uninhabited except by prairie
+dogs and wild game and buffalo were plentiful, and I recall one bunch of
+wild horses.
+
+We came on them unawares, going up from a wide valley to a mesa or table
+land, and they were grazing some three or four hundred yards from the
+edge of the mesa. It was astonishing how quickly they were bunched up,
+the colts in the middle, the mares on the flanks and the stallions in
+the lead, going full speed to get away. When we came to the edge of the
+mesa again they had crossed a wide valley and were going up on another
+mesa several miles away still at full speed. They were a beautiful bunch
+of animals, a reddish roan in color, long tails and manes, and in size
+much larger than the Indian ponies, but were of a pony build and smaller
+than our best roadsters.
+
+Prairie dog villages were numerous. We went through one that must have
+been four or five miles in extent.
+
+We had an early dinner that day, and concluded to start on our return
+march, and about five o'clock in the evening we came to a pretty little
+valley with numerous water holes and some dead timber and went into
+camp.
+
+I took my shotgun and was having some good sport with the ducks when Mr.
+Spencer's orderly came to me and said, "the lieutenant's compliments and
+he would like some matches to start a fire." I replied, "give the
+lieutenant my compliments and tell him I gave the matches to the trooper
+to start a fire to heat the picket pins, and have not seen them since."
+When I returned to camp and was within hearing distance I saw two men
+riding away and heard Mr. Spencer hallow and say, "Corporal, it will be
+about midnight when you get back, and we will have a bonfire on the hill
+for you as a guide to our camp." When I got close enough I said,
+"Spencer, how are you going to get a fire?" and then it dawned on him
+that we had no matches. "My God," he said, "I never thought of that."
+But the men had gone at full gallop and we let them go. I thought of
+the powder I used in my shotgun and thought I would try an experiment.
+That was when muzzle loaders were still in vogue, the breechloader not
+having come into general use, and I cut a hole in the lining of my coat
+where it was padded about the shoulders and took out some cotton wadding
+which I tamped lightly down on the powder in the gun. At first I had too
+much powder and it would not work but after a few trials the wadding
+caught fire and with some dry sticks for kindling we soon had a fire
+under way and Mr. Spencer had his bonfire on the hill that night. The
+corporal and the careless troopers who had left the matches at our
+midday camp returned before midnight having made the round trip of about
+twenty-eight miles for a little box of matches.
+
+The following day was uneventful until toward night. Some troopers who
+had permission were out hunting. We had heard a shot occasionally but
+attached no importance to it, but late in the afternoon an Indian or two
+were seen off on the hills to the north and in a little while they
+became numerous enough to create some apprehension. It developed that
+one of the fool troopers had taken a shot at one of them, but
+fortunately had missed him and by nightfall there were great numbers of
+them in sight.
+
+We soon found a little water hole and went into camp and made the best
+preparation we could for trouble if it came. We got everything close
+about the water supply and the horses lariated close around us and
+awaited results. Soon the advance guard of the Indians appeared in
+perfect alignment silhouetted against the western sky and Mr. Spencer
+with two men went out to meet them. Explanations and apologies followed,
+but before the parley was over they informed Mr. Spencer that if they
+had found us to have been soldiers from Texas they intended to make a
+clean sweep of it, but as we were from Fort Sill they wanted to be
+friends. I have often thought it was fortunate for us that we were from
+Fort Sill, as they outnumbered us twenty or more to one. We waited a
+half hour or more after they had gone and then quietly mounted and rode
+away, not a man saying a word until we felt that we were out of danger.
+We camped again about midnight and saw no more of the Indians.
+
+The following morning I had taken my gun and gone ahead a mile or so and
+came down off the mesa and found a pony in the valley below. I rode up
+to it and tried to catch it but it would not allow me to get close
+enough. I then waited until the command came up. The column marching in
+twos separated at the order right and left oblique march and made a V
+shape that surrounded the pony and we took him along with us. We soon
+came to the trail where the Indians had crossed, a very wide one,
+showing that great numbers had passed. There were other evidences of
+their having been on a raid in Texas; some bed ticking and feathers,
+some pieces of clothing, evidently taken from some settler whom they had
+probably murdered and scalped. The pony had a sore back and had
+evidently been abandoned as useless and a hindrance on their march.
+
+Although it was a long day's march we concluded to try and make the camp
+at Cache creek that night, which we did, getting in very late. We had
+come by compass directly across country from the junction of the two
+forks of Red river instead of following the stream as we did going up.
+
+We captured a young antelope, the last day out, and one of the troopers
+carried it on the saddle in front of him into camp. It lived until we
+were back at Fort Sill some time, but that kind of life was too hard for
+it and it gave up the struggle.
+
+There was plenty of game in the country around the camp at Cache creek.
+Turkeys were very abundant and duck shooting was good in season, and the
+fishing was fine. I have always regretted my impulsive disposition when
+thinking of my first shot at turkeys near this camp. When the command
+was nearing the mouth of Cache creek from Fort Sill, I had taken my last
+observation with the compass and directed the ambulance driver to a
+point indicated, and went ahead of the command to select the camp.
+Having decided on a desirable place I went down stream a little distance
+and heard some turkeys making a great ado about something. I got down on
+a sand bar and slipped along the river bank until I thought I was at the
+right place for a shot. On looking over the bank I discovered that
+there was quite a bunch of turkeys standing around in a circle and
+making a great chatter. I fired into them without waiting to see what
+caused such a commotion, and when I was near where two of them lay an
+immense diamond rattler uncoiled and glided away. What would have
+happened if I had waited? Would the turkeys have killed the snake, or
+the snake some of the turkeys, or would the turkeys have gotten tired of
+the game and quit? I have often asked myself these questions. Does
+anybody know? If so I would like to hear their comment. While in that
+camp we killed two diamond rattlers, one six feet and the other six
+feet, four inches in length. It may be that one of them was among my
+first acquaintances in that camp.
+
+There was a turkey roost some three miles above camp where we generally
+got our supply of turkeys. A young son of General Grierson, having
+returned from school for his summer vacation, came down to our camp, and
+was enthusiastic for a visit to the turkey roost, so we arranged to go
+the following evening, and got permission to take a couple of troop
+horses for the purpose, a thing not provided for in the regulations.
+When we had reached the timber we left the trail and hunted for a secure
+place to tie our horses, as dense a thicket as we could find. We found a
+place where we thought they would be secure and from there walked to the
+roost, a short distance away, and sat down and waited for the birds to
+come in. We did not have long to wait until we could hear the sound of
+wings, and they commenced lighting in the tree tops above us. We waited
+until they were well settled before shooting. It had been a warm day and
+by this time was murky and getting quite dark, and we had difficulty in
+marking our birds, but we soon had four handsome ones and gathered them
+up and started to find our horses. I was confident I had observed
+closely the directions and distance we had gone from the trail and also
+from the horses to the roost, but we failed to find them where we
+expected. It was pitch dark by this time and very still and we tramped
+the neighborhood where we thought we had left them, and then sat down
+and waited, hoping they might neigh or make some noise and thus guide
+us to them. When this failed we went to the trail and by lighting
+matches found where we had left it, and from there we followed the
+course that we thought would take us to the thicket where we had left
+the horses. We found it, or thought we had, and tramped it over
+thoroughly without finding them. We carried our guns and turkeys with
+us, not daring to put them down for fear we would lose them. We finally
+concluded some thieving Indians had watched us and had followed us into
+the timber and stolen our horses, and so we started for the camp on
+foot. It was a hot, sultry night and I soon began to think three turkeys
+and a shotgun a good deal of a load and when I inquired of my companion
+how he was making it he admitted that he was getting a little tired. We
+rested a little bit and started again, I having taken his bird, much
+against his protest, and by frequent rests on the way we got into camp
+between ten and eleven o'clock, a very tired pair of hunters. I sent for
+the sergeant of the guard and told him I wished to be awakened at four
+o'clock in the morning. The young lad insisted that he would go with me
+but I told him no, that he was too tired and had better sleep and that I
+could get the horses if they were there. At four o'clock, however, he
+was up as quick as I was and we were soon on the way afoot to the turkey
+roost. We found the horses just where we had tied them and I felt
+greatly relieved, not only because it saved me the price of two valuable
+horses but because it saved the captain of the company who loaned them,
+as well as myself, a severe reprimand. I came to have a great admiration
+for the pluck and manliness of my young hunter friend, and if he is an
+officer in the service now, as many of the sons of my army acquaintances
+are, and he should ever see this story of army life on the frontier, I
+wish here and now to present him my compliments, and would like to hear
+from him.
+
+We had an abundance of fish while at this camp. The quartermaster had
+built us a little boat so we could stretch troutlines across the stream
+and we not only had the officers' mess well supplied but often had
+plenty for the men of the command.
+
+A few days after we had returned from the North fork or Red river,
+Captain Norvel's troop of cavalry was ordered out on a scout down the
+valley on the north side of the river, and I was ordered to accompany
+the command. We started late in the afternoon and by evening it
+commenced a drizzling rain. We went into camp about dark but did not
+unwrap our blankets as expected to be out some days and did not wish
+them to get wet. The blankets in a scout like this are made into a roll
+and wrapped in a poncho or oil cloth covering and fastened up against
+the cantle of the saddle by straps which are always a part of the
+equipment of the army saddle. The captain and I placed our rolls of
+blankets at the foot of a big tree and with our waterproof to protect us
+against the rain, sat down on them until the shower should be over. It
+never let up raining during the whole night, and there we sat dozing and
+talking by spells until morning. Soon after daylight a messenger arrived
+with orders to return to camp.
+
+We found nearly everything ready for the return trip to Fort Sill and
+were soon on the way. We had already heard that General Sherman and
+staff, Colonels Marcey, Audenried and Tourtellotte, were there on an
+inspection trip of the military posts of the west. They had come by way
+of Texas and were fully informed of the doings of the large band of
+Indians with whom we had our little pow-wow and whose horse we had
+captured, and whose trail we had crossed on our return from the north
+fork of Red river to the camp on Cache creek. They had also learned that
+they came very near being in line with the depredations committed. This
+band had not only burned houses and killed settlers but had also
+captured a government wagon train and had tied the teamster to the wagon
+and having looted the train of all they wanted, burned the teamsters
+with the wagons and contents. The young bucks on their return to the
+reservation, and feeling secure at Fort Sill had bragged about it. The
+names of the leaders in the raid were known and the matter could not be
+overlooked by General Grierson, but he was powerless without the
+authority of Mr. Tatum, the Indian agent. This always struck me as a
+ridiculous phase of our Indian policy.
+
+It was a universal feeling in the army that the war department should
+have the exclusive control and management of the Indian problems,
+instead of the interior department, but I suppose politics, the bane of
+the country in so many ways, ruled in Washington then as it does now,
+and it was to the interests of the politicians to have it where it was.
+General Grant was at this time President and had served as a young army
+officer on the frontier and knew better. The Republicans were in control
+of congress but it would have been the same with any other political
+party in control, and was probably the worst that could have been done.
+Mr. Tatum was fully informed of the raid and the leaders in it, and
+called for a pow-wow at General Grierson's quarters. A number of Indian
+chiefs came in to talk the matter over, among them being Satanta, the
+war chief of the Kiowas; Big Tree, a young chief of the same tribe, and
+Satank, an old and wizzened up and vicious looking Indian, and council
+chief among the Kiowas; all known to have been in the raid. There was a
+heavy guard standing around the quarters ready for any emergency. Mr.
+Tatum had demanded the surrender of the guilty parties. While the
+pow-wow was in progress Lone Wolf, chief of the Comanches, came among
+them, a rifle in each hand, and a couple of bows and a quiver full of
+arrows swung over his back. I suppose it was a pre-concerted arrangement
+among the Indians for he handed one gun to an Indian near him, and a
+couple of Indians behind him grabbed the bows and arrows and in an
+instant these were pointed at the breast of Mr. Tatum, General Grierson,
+General Sherman, and other officers present. I suppose the click, click,
+click of the rifles as the guard cocked and brought them to shoulder,
+gave Lone Wolf a better understanding of the bloody work at hand, for he
+raised one hand and said "No shoot! No shoot!" and by the interpreter
+explained that it was only a joke and that he did not intend to hurt
+anybody. The interpreter reported afterwards that he had also said when
+presenting these guns to the breasts of those men mentioned, "Now let
+these men go and we can fix things up all right." During the excitement
+Big Tree broke away from the crowd and mounted a horse near by, and
+tried to escape but the garrison was wide awake to the condition of
+things, and after a shot or two he surrendered. He and Satanta and
+Satank were put in the guard-house, a newly built one at the new post,
+and a strong guard placed about the building, until they were removed to
+Texas to be tried by the civil authorities.
+
+We arrived at Fort Sill from our camp on Cache creek a day or two after
+these occurrences but I got the details of the incident from officers
+present and from my wife who remembers them better than I do. Promptly
+after the depredations had been committed General Mackenzie of the
+Department of Texas with several troops of cavalry got on the trail of
+these Indians and had followed it up into the territory and into the
+Wichita mountains and from there to Fort Sill and arrived at the post
+shortly after our return from camp.
+
+After resting his troops for a few days General Mackenzie was ready for
+the march back to Texas with his prisoners. Quite a number of officers
+were present to witness their departure. I was standing next to Mr.
+Jones, the interpreter, when they were brought out of the guard-house,
+all hand-cuffed, and all in the usual blanket attire of the Indians.
+When old Satank appeared he set up the most weird and doleful sing-song
+wail I ever heard, and his face I thought was not so vicious looking as
+usual, but was more solemn and maybe with a trace of sadness in it. I
+asked Mr. Jones what it meant, and he replied in an undertone, "It means
+he ain't going far."
+
+Satanta and Big Tree were placed in one wagon with guards sitting behind
+them and Satank in another wagon with one of the sergeants sitting
+beside him and guards behind and when the columns were formed troopers
+rode alongside the wagons and in this formation they left the post. When
+in the valley south of the post and probably a couple of miles away we
+heard the report of firearms from that direction. Soon a messenger
+arrived with the compliments of General Mackenzie and requested that an
+ambulance be sent for a trooper who had been wounded. He also gave the
+essential particulars of what occurred. It seems that by some means
+unknown, Satank had a knife hidden about his person somewhere and
+although hand-cuffed had got possession of it and stabbed the sergeant
+sitting next to him and then grabbed the sergeant's gun and shot the
+teamster. The sergeant's wound was only slight and he went forward with
+the command, but the teamster was shot through one side of the neck and
+fell from his saddle and was brought back to the post hospital for
+treatment. It proved to be only a deep flesh wound and he was soon
+discharged from the hospital, and returned to his own command. When the
+guards realized the state of affairs they made short work of it, and
+Satank was laid by the roadside and General Grierson sent a squad of
+soldiers and buried him there in his blankets. It was his death song
+that had so impressed me as they brought him from the guard-house.
+
+Satanta and Big Tree were tried and convicted in Texas and sentenced to
+the penitentiary for life. It was reported in the papers some years
+afterwards that Satanta jumped out of a window at the prison and killed
+himself and it was rumored that Big Tree had hung himself, but so far as
+I know this was not confirmed.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+
+The first time I saw General Sherman was at Rome, Georgia, during the
+Civil war. I was in the field hospital there at that time and was in the
+dispensary one day when my attention was called to some military
+procession on the street. It turned out to be only General Sherman and
+his staff, the general riding alone in front, his orderly a few yards
+behind, and a few yards farther back the general staff officers. The
+procession, if it could be so called, impressed me; first the isolated
+position of the commanding officer. I thought of pictures I had seen of
+Napoleon, always alone, and while I could not see the general's face to
+advantage, for he looked neither to the right or left, I thought him a
+stern, unbending, self-centered, iron-hearted military despot, without
+sentiment or generous impulse. I saw him often thereafter, for I was
+with his command from "Atlanta to the Sea" and up through the Carolinas,
+and he was always alone on horse-back and in the order mentioned. I
+never saw him in company with anybody. I had occasion to change my
+impression regarding him somewhat at the battle of Bentonville. We had
+marched all night to reach the battlefield in time to take part in the
+engagement, and arrived on the ground early in the afternoon. As it
+happened, we stopped near the general's headquarters. The battle was in
+progress and as we could not go into the trenches until night, I had a
+good opportunity of observing him during the afternoon. He was walking
+back and forth along a space of ground a hundred feet or more in extent
+and when there was a lull in the firing he would slow up to a very
+moderate walk, but when it became heavy his pace would increase and when
+it became a roar, as it did several times in the afternoon, he would go
+at great strides back and forth, back and forth, until it would again
+quiet down, when he would slow up in harmony with the lull in the
+battle. From this I learned that he was at least impressionable.
+Officers would arrive from different parts of the field and report, and
+instantly receive orders and return at full speed as they came.
+
+From that time I never saw him until at Fort Sill at a "hop" given by
+Colonel Carpenter in his new quarters at the post. Here I had to again
+change my impression of the general. He was one of the most cordial of
+men; he seemed to know everybody, and I was told seldom forgot a name or
+a face. He had the remarkable gift of making everyone feel that he was
+an old acquaintance, and he entered into the amusements of the evening,
+mostly dancing, with zest, and after supper went with the officers to
+the front porch to smoke and talk. He ridiculed the idea of being a
+candidate for the presidency, saying he did not possess the temperament
+or disposition that seemed necessary to qualify one for holding an
+office where there were so many adverse interests to consider, and where
+they were so frequently presented from questionable motives, but as far
+as I remember he admitted no preference for political parties. However,
+he did express a desire to pass his old age in a quiet way, and free
+from political strife. He left the crowd on the porch before all were
+through smoking, and joined the ladies with whom he seemed to enjoy
+himself as much or more than with the men. I though him a rather awkward
+dancer but he took part with apparent enthusiasm.
+
+After General Sherman and his party had left the post the feeling of
+uneasiness increased in the camp, and General Grierson ordered the
+remaining officers into the new post which was being built. It fell to
+our lot to be quartered with Mr. Spencer and wife and except for losing
+a good servant we found it a pleasant change, and were relieved of all
+apprehension regarding Indians.
+
+There was a band-stand in the center of the parade ground and the Tenth
+Cavalry band was an excellent one, and in the summer evenings when
+retreat had been sounded by the buglers and the signal gun fired "just
+as the sun went down," the band struck up and gave us very delightful
+music for an hour or so. At such times the families of the officers
+would be sitting on the front porches of their quarters or visiting with
+others and chatting and listening to the music.
+
+The bugle calls at the army posts were always interesting to me, and
+seemed to convey the idea intended almost as well as words. A number of
+them have words set to the music, if it can be so called, as "Give your
+horses some corn and some hay" for stable call, and "Take your quinine"
+for sick call. Reveille had a rousing, get-up quality about it. Sick
+call was for those who had only slight ailments and were treated at the
+hospital and returned to duty, or if found to be something serious
+enough, were sent to one of the wards in the hospital for treatment.
+Maybe a so-called bilious condition or a scratch on the hand, or if a
+colored soldier a "misery," or he was "powerful weak." There were not
+many maligners, and they were soon detected. In the cavalry drill there
+are many bugle calls for the different evolutions. The bugler rides near
+the commanding officer and receives the orders and transmits them by
+bugle to the command. Of all the bugle calls in the service "Taps" the
+last call at night, affected me most. It has all the quality of our
+good-bye or goodnight, but to me it had much more. To me our good-bye
+conveys only the idea of separation, and I like the Spanish word "Adios"
+much better. It not only conveys the idea of separation but also the
+sentiment "God be with you" and so "Taps" always impressed me
+"Good-night, and God be with you," and as the last prolonged note died
+away the lights went out and everything was still. This did not apply to
+the officers when at the post, and they and their families could enjoy
+themselves in their own way, and could put out their lights early or
+late.
+
+Toward the latter part of June, 1871 a command came up from the
+Department of Texas on its way to the military posts in Kansas. The
+medical officer accompanying it returned from Fort Sill to his own
+department and post, and I was ordered to accompany the command to
+Kansas. My recollection is that there were three companies. In this
+command were two young officers, lieutenants, not long out of West
+Point, who proved very charming companions. One was a Mr. Reese from
+Kentucky and the other was a Mr. Parker from Connecticut, a son of the
+maker of the famous Parker shotgun, generally thought to be the best to
+be had in those days.
+
+The first thing of special interest on this march was when we had gone
+into camp about sixty miles north of Fort Sill, which was the second day
+out. This was about four o'clock in the afternoon, to give the horses
+and transportation mules a chance to graze. I happened to look back in
+the direction of our march and saw a small black object far in the
+distance that I could not make out. I borrowed field glasses of one of
+the captains and discovered it to be a horse and buggy. I became quite
+curious about it, as I did not think any sane man would travel through
+that Indian country alone for any consideration. I would not have done
+so for all the money in the mint unless in military dress. He came
+directly to our camp and I walked out to meet him. He proved to be
+Father Poncelona of Osage Mission, now St. Paul, Kansas, who had been
+down to Fort Sill to baptise the children and give what comfort he could
+to the followers of his faith at that post. He was very tired for he had
+started before daylight, and had driven all day hoping to find our camp
+somewhere, but he did not know where. I took him to my tent and insisted
+on him lying down on my cot, which he did under protest, and I brought
+him some brandy which he drank with seeming relish, and by the time
+dinner was ready he was ready to join us. I asked him how he came to
+take such chances alone. He said it was part of his work and that there
+was a higher power (pointing his finger upwards) that would take care of
+those who were doing God's service. He was past middle age and had spent
+most of his life since taking orders as a missionary among the Indians.
+He had a benign faith-abiding expression of face, such as I have never
+seen on any other man, and his voice was low and musical, and his manner
+most winning. I had some difficulty in getting him to take my cot for
+the night, he insisting that he was used to sleeping on the ground and
+did not mind it. I finally told him that I was boss of the ranch, and he
+must do as I told him. To this he smilingly assented, and said that if
+it was orders he would have to obey. We always had breakfast and broke
+camp early in the morning and aimed if a suitable campground could be
+found to go into camp by four o'clock in the afternoon. The priest had
+expressed a wish for an early start, and I had ordered his horse and
+buggy to be ready for him, and he had breakfast with us and went his way
+across the prairie and was soon out of sight in the direction of Camp
+Supply where he intended going. I have often thought of this and
+wondered at it. Why did he do it? It was not for money for he was poor
+and had spent years at the work. What motive had he? What guardian angel
+accompanied him and kept him from harm? If it is true that there is a
+divinity that shapes our ends, why are they shaped so differently, and
+why is it that some are immune where others fear to tread? Right here I
+think it proper to say that the Catholic priests have always been the
+pioneers in religious matters on the frontier.
+
+During this trip Mr. Reese and Mr. Parker and myself rode ahead one
+afternoon to select camp. We went at good speed and were soon out of
+sight of the command when Mr. Reese discovered he had lost his pocket
+book. He was quartermaster and it contained about fifteen hundred
+dollars of government money. He was sure he had taken it from under his
+pillow in the morning and he became quite nervous about it. He referred
+to his loss several times before the command came up with, "Well, if I
+am mistaken and Andy (his old negro servant whom he had brought from
+Kentucky) got it I am all right, and I will quit talking about it." But
+he was ill at ease and went out to meet the command as it approached and
+we could see the old darky take something from his pocket and give it to
+Mr. Reese who came back smiling and told us Andy said, "Oh yes, Massa, I
+just got it right down here, I done found it under your pillow" and this
+illustrates a phase of negro character quite in contrast with my
+political experience with Stanton.
+
+Mr. Reese, Mr. Parker and I generally rode together on this march and
+were seldom out of sight or hearing of prairie dogs. It was suggested
+one day that maybe they would be good to eat. Knowing that they were not
+dogs at all but rather a kind of marmot, and sometimes called so, and
+are strict vegetarians, we killed a young one and had it for dinner. I
+was quite pleased with the experiment before trying it, and was not
+particularly enthusiastic about it afterwards. It was not very bad but
+was not very good. It tasted something like rabbit but I think mostly
+like prairie dog. At one time in my life I wanted to try almost
+everything that was brought to bag in my hunting experiences and I have
+tested worse things than prairie dogs, and I think that if one were
+hungry enough he might relish it.
+
+We crossed the line into Kansas about the last of July and soon saw a
+new house away to the front, a thing we had not seen since leaving Fort
+Sill. It proved to be a kind of business and residence combination and
+was the first house in what is now known as Caldwell, Kansas, now the
+county seat of one of the famous wheat counties of Kansas, and a
+thriving city. The contrast between the two sides of the land separating
+Kansas and the Indian territory was very pronounced. Small houses of
+settlers and little patches of broken ground and other evidences of an
+inhabited country on the one side, and nothing but absolute vacancy on
+the other.
+
+At Wichita we remained three or four days, having our transportation
+repaired. As I remember it, we had a long stretch of sand before
+crossing the Arkansas and forded the river below the town and then
+turned to the west. It was a little village of one main street and I
+think they called it Douglas avenue. The houses were small but neat, and
+being the first town I had seen for a year or two it looked very
+attractive. We were there over the Fourth of July and I remember a
+delightfully clean, attractive little place where they sold ice cream.
+We had camped just north of the village and Mr. Reese, Mr. Parker and I
+frequently visited the ice cream parlor. If there were any saloons in
+the place I do not remember them for if there had been it would have
+probably shown on the enlisted men of the command.
+
+I do not remember which one suggested it, but we concluded that it would
+be some fun to visit the real estate offices, of which I think there
+were two in the town, and hear what the agents had to say. They treated
+us most cordially and were anxious to show us around and told us what a
+wonderful city it was going to be. All the southwest was going to be a
+great wheat country, although we saw no wheat, and would be tributary to
+their town and they were going to vote bonds the following Monday for a
+railroad from Newton, then the terminus of the Santa Fe. If not the
+terminus it was the great cattle shipping point for the immense herds
+that came up the Chisholm trail from Texas, the trail we had followed
+some distance from Fort Sill. Everything would eventually come to
+Wichita and it would be a second Chicago. One agent offered us a corner
+lot centrally located for one hundred dollars, and out farther to the
+west, or north, whichever it might have been, I don't remember, on down
+to fifteen dollars a lot. We approved of the wonderful prospects for the
+town and told them we would consider the the matter of investing, and
+then went back to our tents and laughed about it. We at least had an
+enjoyable hour or so.
+
+I have had occasion to think about it since, not with any particular
+feeling of hilarity, but rather one of regret that I did not grasp the
+wonderful possibilities of the country. Either of the three of us could
+have invested a little money if we had known enough. After we had again
+started on the march I stopped and talked with a man standing by the
+roadside and he told me each alternate section of the land was offered
+by the Santa Fe railroad at two dollars per acre. It was a beautiful
+valley and the land looked rich but the country generally looked very
+primitive.
+
+One company left our command near here and I think went to Fort Larned
+or Fort Dodge, Kansas, the other two going on to the railroad at Fort
+Harker, where one company remained, and if I remember right, one company
+went on to Fort Hayes. I remained with Captain Kerin's company at Fort
+Harker for a day or two during which time the paymaster came and paid us
+for June. Captain Kerin was a typical Irishman and his company, almost
+without exception were Irish, and they were very much devoted to each
+other. The captain looked on his men very much I thought, as a father
+would look on a bunch of wayward children. The payment was made by the
+middle of the afternoon and by night I think most of the men were
+drunk, the few on guard duty being about the only sober ones, and the
+captain told me they would stay that way until their money was all gone.
+
+A funny thing occurred that evening. The captain and I were sitting in
+his tent talking when there was a scratch at the tent cloth and when the
+captain said, "Come!" the flap was thrown back and one of the sergeants
+saluted and said: "Report for duty, captain." The captain said:
+"Sergeant, have ye got any money?" "Yis, captain, a little." "Go and
+spend it, go and spend it." The sergeant saluted and dropped the tent
+flap and walked away and the captain turned to me and said: "No use
+trying to do anything with them until the money is spent, and the
+whiskey is out of them." Two or three hours afterwards the sergeant
+returned, scratched on the tent, threw the flap back as before and
+saluted, and again said in a rather husky voice: "Report for duty,
+captain." "Sergeant, have you got any money?" "Not a cint, captain."
+"Very well, report to the first sergeant for duty." The captain told me
+this was a fair illustration of his experience on every pay day. It is
+hardly necessary to say that the captain was not a West Point graduate,
+but he was a royal good fellow and a good soldier and I observed while
+in the service that officers promoted from the ranks were the most
+devoted to the interests and comforts of their men. The trip back to my
+post was east by rail to Junction City and thence on the M., K. and T.
+to its terminus in the territory. The railway was then under
+construction and the terminus was changed every month or so. From the
+railroad I went by stage to Fort Sill. Nothing of interest occurred on
+the way until we arrived at the last stage station east of the fort. We
+had breakfast there and were told we had better get in the stage as they
+were about ready to start. We found a bunch of men hitching up a pair of
+mules to a light stage-like vehicle, and were told that they were just
+breaking them in and that it was better to get in the stage first. The
+driver was already up in his seat and Mr. Stearns, a very large man and
+owner of the ranch where we had breakfast, was up beside the driver, and
+was going with us some three or four miles to where they had made a
+cut-off that took us by a large spring of water, the last we could get
+before reaching Cache creek, some eighteen miles away. When all was
+ready and the driver had the lines well in hand the word "Go" was given,
+and away we went at full speed, much like a horse race. The driver's
+efforts being wholly devoted to keeping the team in the road. They ran
+full speed most of the way to the springs but when we arrived there they
+were going in a quiet little trot, seemingly satisfied with the fun they
+had had on the way. Mr. Stearns got down and held their bits and the
+driver got down and we got out of the stage--another man and myself
+being the only passengers--and walked toward the springs. I do not know
+how it happened, but when one trace was unfastened the mules broke away
+from Mr. Stearns and struck out over the prairie. My first thought was
+that we would have to walk back and wait for some other means of
+conveyance, but the off mule having one trace unfastened had the
+advantage in the race and out over the prairie they went in a great
+circle, round and round at full speed, scattering luggage from the hind
+boot of the stage until they ran themselves down, the driver and Mr.
+Stearns cutting across and trying to catch them. At last they succeeded
+for the mules were pretty well winded by this time and ready to go slow.
+We found nothing broken and soon had our luggage gathered up and the
+mules watered and were on our way. We got into Fort Sill a little later
+than the usual stage time, nothing the worse for the wear.
+
+I do not remember whether it was before or after my trip to Fort Harker
+that I was called to the Indian agency near Fort Sill to see Black
+Beaver, the chief of the Delawares, who was sick and had come there for
+treatment. I found him suffering from dysentery and was seriously ill,
+and as he was an old man I had serious doubts as to his recovery. He was
+neither able nor disposed to talk although he knew enough English to
+make himself understood, but after a few days he began to feel some
+interest in life and gradually improved until he was convalescent. I
+felt particularly interested in him because of a story I had read about
+him as interpreter in an early day for Colonel Marcey who was one of
+General Sherman's staff officers when they visited Fort Sill a short
+time before. When the colonel was a young officer in the service and had
+been sent out to make talks to the Indians, the story ran that the young
+officer had a pow-wow day appointed with the Kiowas and Comanches, and
+when they had assembled and gone through the preliminaries of such an
+occasion Captain Marcey told them of the great benefits the great father
+at Washington wished to confer on them, and wound up by saying: "We wish
+to put up poles across the country and string a wire on them and then
+you can talk over that wire to the Great Father in Washington and not
+have to wait until some of your people travel such a great way to see
+him." When he had finished he waited for Black Beaver to get up and tell
+it to the Indians, but Black Beaver did not move but hung his head and
+sat there. "Why don't you tell them," asked the captain. Black Beaver
+shook his head and said: "It's no use to tell them, I don't believe it
+myself." I was anxious to hear Black Beaver's report of that pow-wow, so
+when he was well enough I said to him one day: "General Sherman and
+staff were here a short time ago and Colonel Marcy was among them. I
+understand you knew Colonel Marcy a good many years ago." He brightened
+up and said: "Yes, I heard Captain Marcy was here and I wish I could
+have seen him." By careful questioning I got the story from him
+practically as Colonel Marcy had recorded it in his book. I said to him:
+"Well, do you believe it now?" He replied: "Oh, yes, I know it now, I
+know it can be done, but I don't know how." How much more ignorant was
+he than the most of us?
+
+I find I have not made my sketch of the events at Fort Sill in order of
+their occurrence and must now refer back to the winter of 1870 and '71
+and we were still under canvas in the camp. It was an unusually cold
+winter. The thermometer fell to fourteen degrees below zero and the snow
+was a foot or more deep on the ground. I mention this incident both for
+the purpose of showing some of the hardships that officers and their
+wives underwent and also to show the self-sacrifice and loyalty and
+devotion of the enlisted men in an emergency. Doctor Brown and his
+young wife were on their way to Fort Sill where he was to become post
+surgeon, a position I had held since Doctor Forward had been transferred
+to another post, and they were at the half-way camp between Fort
+Arbuckle and Fort Sill when the storm broke. The doctor's wife was
+confined there and the escort accompanying them devoted themselves night
+and day to making the camp as comfortable as possible, getting water,
+bringing wood, building fires and cooking, and this they kept up until
+the weather moderated and Mrs. Brown was sufficiently recovered to make
+it safe for her to travel. As the result of such heroism and devotion
+some of them were badly frost bitten, and all suffered more or less. I
+removed all the toes except one from one man's feet--only one of the
+large toes being left--and others lost a finger or two or parts of
+fingers and were otherwise frost bitten. In these cases nature sets up
+the line between the healthy and dead tissue and the amputation is made
+in the healthy part and far enough back to get a flap sufficient to
+cover the bone if possible.
+
+Mrs. Brown and her beautiful baby came with us when we left the post,
+intending to quit the service. She to visit with friends and relatives
+in the east.
+
+Another interesting occurrence took place when we were still in camp at
+Fort Sill. This was the loss of the quartermaster's mules, which
+occurred the latter part of the winter. The Indians--supposed to be--by
+some means got the gate of the corral open and with the leader on
+horseback rushed into the corral and set up the usual yells and shouts
+and soon had the whole bunch of 140 mules under way before the alarm
+could be given and the cavalry mounted for pursuit. They had such a
+start that they could not be followed in the night, it being very dark.
+Different commands of cavalry were sent out in pursuit but returned in a
+few days empty-handed. There was one young officer by the name of
+Harmon, a second lieutenant in the Tenth cavalry, a tall, rather good
+looking young fellow who had said to some officers that if they would
+give him a chance he would like to show what he could do. I think he
+finally went to General Grierson and expressed a wish to try. The
+general promptly gave him a detachment of cavalry, some thirty or more
+men, and told him to stay as long as he liked, but to bring back the
+mules if possible. Nothing was heard of him for some time but finally
+word came from Fort Arbuckle that Mr. Harmon had reported there with a
+bunch of horsethieves and that most of the mules were then on their way
+back to Fort Sill. I heard Mr. Harmon himself tell some of the details
+of the scout. He had got on the trail of the thieves--not Indians at
+all--somewhere south of Red river and found two of them in a house he
+went to at night for information, believing he was close to their camp.
+He took these two prisoners and waited until morning to attack the camp.
+The ranchmen where they had stopped and where they had already captured
+two of the thieves, knew the country well and acted as guides. Mr.
+Harmon and he had exchanged firearms on the way, he taking Mr. Harmon's
+pistol and Mr. Harmon his shotgun. They rode along the bed of a little
+stream until quite near their camp. Most of the thieves were still in
+bed but the negro cook was busy about the fire. Mr. Harmon's horse being
+much superior to anything in the command, he was among the thieves
+practically alone. He shot and wounded one of the men with the second
+barrel of his shotgun, and commanded them all to throw up their hands or
+he would kill the last one of them. He dropped the shotgun and reached
+for his pistols but of course they were gone. However, the thieves stood
+there with their hands up until the command came and they were
+hand-cuffed and were soon ready for the march to Fort Arbuckle, the
+nearest military post. Not more than a half dozen mules had been
+disposed of.
+
+The sequel to this story was interesting to me for it caused me a trip
+to Fort Arbuckle and back. The guardhouse at Fort Arbuckle was not
+considered safe and it was thought best to send the thieves to the new
+guardhouse at Fort Sill until the law could take its course. They were
+sent under a guard of colored troops commanded by a sergeant with
+instructions to kill them if they tried to escape. The guard claimed
+that one man made a break for the brush, but the prisoners claimed that
+he did nothing of the kind, anyway one of them was badly wounded and
+was taken back to Fort Arbuckle, and as Doctor Brewer, the post surgeon
+was sick at that time a request for a medical officer come to Fort
+Arbuckle and cut a man's leg off was received at Fort Sill and I was
+ordered on that duty. Before I arrived at Fort Arbuckle, Doctor Brewer
+considered it too urgent a case to be delayed any longer, and although
+hardly able to handle the knife, he had amputated the leg before I got
+there. I remained a few days until the doctor was sufficiently recovered
+to attend to the medical duties of the post, and then returned to Fort
+Sill.
+
+I now come to the last record I shall make of service at this post and
+have hesitated about mentioning it at all, and do so now in as few words
+as possible, not only because "there are sorrows too sacred to be
+babbled to the world" but also because they pull so hard on the heart
+strings. Our little boy was scalded to death at this camp. The negro
+servant had set a large kettle of boiling water off the stove, and some
+way in his play he fell into it. We laid him away in the cemetery on the
+hillside and had a stone covering placed over his grave, to mark the
+place where his little scalded body lay.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+
+This experience with the little prospect of promotion in the service
+decided us on our desire to return to private life, and I wrote to the
+medical director of the department expressing my wishes in the matter,
+and my reasons for quitting the service, and received orders to report
+at the headquarters of the department, Leavenworth, Kansas.
+
+It may be well here to relate an experience of army life that occurred
+at Fort Sill after we had left the post. The feeling of apprehension
+regarding the Indians had subsided to such an extent that the officers'
+wives would take outings in the ambulance, and it became in time
+considered safe to go to the Washita agency and make purchases and
+return the same day. Two of the officers' wives had made the trip and
+were nearing the head of Cache creek on their return, when they saw the
+Indians coming. The negro driver urged the mules with such good effect
+that they reached the timber and the driver escaped but the women were
+carried away to the mountains, and for two weeks were subjected to all
+the brutal horrors to be expected of savages and then were ransomed. We
+were well acquainted with one of these women but the other had only been
+at the post a short time before we left.
+
+I think few of the people of our country today realize how recently such
+horrors have been committed. For most of them it is a matter of the long
+forgotten past.
+
+We left Fort Sill about the middle of August, 1871 and had for company
+Mrs. Harmon, wife of Lieutenant Harmon, who captured the horse thieves
+and Mrs. Brown, wife of the post surgeon, and their little baby and
+nurse girl. We had an escort of a half dozen men under command of a
+sergeant as far as Fort Gibson, Indian Territory, near the junction of
+the Grand and Arkansas rivers, and from there to the end of the railroad
+two or three men to help about camp. The M., K. and T. railroad was then
+only finished to Pryor's creek and we had to take a freight train from
+there to Chetopa, Kansas, the end of the passenger run. We camped at
+Stearn's ranch the first night out of Fort Sill. As we were starting the
+following morning we were informed that a dead man had just been found
+near the road we were to take, and only two or three miles away. We got
+some tools at the ranch and stopped long enough to bury him. He had
+soldier's clothes on and had probably been only recently discharged from
+the service. A little money was found in his pocket which I told the
+sergeant to take and on his return to Fort Sill try and have the man
+identified, if possible, and send the money to his friends. He had not
+been dead long as the wolves had not disturbed the body.
+
+Our night camp on the Washita was something we shall always remember.
+Before it got dark the mosquitoes had made our acquaintance in such
+numbers that we were doubtful of our night's rest, but we had the tent
+put up and supper over without suffering serious loss of blood. They
+kept coming in greater numbers until we realized that the first were
+only installments of the advance guard, and by bedtime they were almost
+unbearable. We smudged the tent to drive them out but only succeeded in
+driving out the little nurse girl who was caring for the baby. I tried
+my usual place in the ambulance for a nap but could not sleep and heard
+the women talking in the tent until toward midnight when I called my
+wife and told her that if she would come out to the ambulance I would
+try and keep the mosquitoes off her until she could get a little rest.
+We tried that for an hour but had to acknowledge our defeat and we still
+heard the other women talking in the tent. I was now ready to surrender,
+so called the sergeant and told him to have the ambulance driver hitch
+up and we would get out of there and he and the escort could come on
+when they liked, as we were then away from danger from the Indians. We
+drove for some time after daylight and found a beautiful camp ground
+with fine running water and went into camp. The escort was not far
+behind us--they had also met with defeat. We spent that day and the
+following night in that camp and had a good rest. The escort had brought
+a cub bear along and he was a very amusing rascal although a cause of
+some anxiety to the women. This day after we had sat down to dinner
+some trash fell on the table and looking up we discovered him out on a
+limb above us. The women thought best to have the table removed. His
+home while on the road was in the feed box at the rear of the wagon
+where he was chained, and the first thing when released was to hunt the
+water and take a good bath and then he was ready to investigate
+everything around camp. He would roam around at his own sweet will until
+away in the night when he would return to his box where we always found
+him in the morning. We had to keep the commissary supplies well
+protected, for he was a born thief.
+
+We had a good supply of small game on the way particularly turkeys and
+prairie chickens. We found the young turkeys at this season of the year
+to be unusually fine.
+
+When we arrived at Oswego my wife went to visit friends in the country
+and I went on to the department headquarters at Leavenworth to report.
+When I got there the medical director was anxious that I should remain
+in the service and said that he would give me a good post and suggested
+Camp Limestone in Southeast Kansas in what was then known as the
+Cherokee neutral lands, about thirty miles south of Fort Scott. It would
+be close to the railroad and other conveniences and comforts of
+civilization, and he was sure I would like it, and he hoped there would
+be an examining board before long for promotions and I had better
+consider the matter. I asked for two weeks leave of absence to consider
+his proposition which was cheerfully granted, and I went back to Iowa
+and looked up the prospects and in ten days was back to continue in the
+service.
+
+My wife and I together went to our new station at Camp Limestone and
+arrived there September 9th, 1871. At that time the railroad was
+finished to Baxter Springs but there had been trouble with the settlers
+when crossing the Cherokee neutral lands, an area embracing Cherokee and
+Crawford counties and the southern tier of townships in Bourbon county.
+The land had been sold for the Indians by the government to James F.
+Joy, representing what was then known as the Kansas City, Fort Scott and
+Gulf railroad. The settlers thought they should have the right to
+homestead the land, and resisted the construction of the railroad,
+caught and whipped the engineers and threatened their lives and burned
+their instruments, the result being that troops were sent to protect the
+purchasers and their employees in the construction of the road.
+
+There were three camps established along the line of the railroad on
+these lands, one at Drywood, one at Limstone creek, and one near
+Columbus, and occupied by one company at each post. Temporary buildings
+were constructed and the troops made as comfortable as possible where
+they were not expected to remain permanently. Fort Scott was the
+headquarters, General Neal being in command, but there was a company
+commander at each camp. We arrived late in the afternoon and went to a
+house close by and remained there until the mail messenger from the camp
+should return and report our arrival. In the course of an hour an
+ambulance came, and we made our way across country to camp and I
+reported to Captain Fenton of the Sixth cavalry in command of the camp,
+and we remained at his quarters over night and had our own quarters
+ready for occupancy the following day. The country was fairly well
+settled immediately around the camp and along the streams, and there was
+a schoolhouse less than a mile away.
+
+Part of the settlers had been there for some years and were getting
+things about them to look quite home-like. Fruit trees growing, peach
+trees bearing, and hedge-fences set out, and while there was always a
+seeming scarcity of money and farm products brought low prices, the
+people seemed contented and hopeful. This was a very comfortable
+contrast with our experiences among the Indians. Small game,
+particularly quail and prairie chickens were plentiful, and wild fowl
+abundant in season. There being very little to do in a professional way
+I had plenty of time to indulge in my favorite sport with dog and gun.
+We had not been at that camp long until Captain Fenton's company was
+replaced by another company of which Captain (Brevet Major) Upham was in
+command and Mr. Gordon, first lieutenant and Mr. Kerr, just recently
+from West Point was second lieutenant, and this company remained at Fort
+Limestone during my service there, and until the spring of 1873 when
+all the camps on the neutral lands were discontinued, the Supreme Court
+having decided the title of the land in the railroad company.
+
+When General Neal was assigned to another post, Major Upham took his
+place at Fort Scott, leaving Mr. Gordon in command at our camp. The
+officers of the different camps had transportation or yearly passes on
+the railroad from Fort Scott to Baxter Springs and Fort Scott being then
+the principal town in the southeast part of the state we were frequently
+there to make purchases or for any purpose our wishes might suggest. We
+boarded the train at a place called Engleton, since changed to Beulah
+although there was no station or side-track and only one house close by,
+and trains only stopped on signals or to let off passengers. Take it
+altogether it was very much like living on a farm in a new country that
+was fairly well settled, but we had many comforts that farmers could not
+afford and did not have to work as they did to earn a living.
+
+Most of the farmers belonged to what was called the Settlers' League and
+those of them who did not belong from choice did so from fear. I got
+acquainted with a number who felt no way in sympathy with some of their
+doings such as burning bridges and other unlawful acts. They were all
+civil enough to the officers and men of our camp and quite a number were
+disposed to be friendly. Some of them had contracted their land from the
+railroad company considering their investments, which in many cases
+embraced good improvements, too valuable to take chances but kept their
+contracts a secret. I frequently took their payments to the land offices
+in Fort Scott, they preferring to send it rather than go themselves.
+
+Eighteen hundred and seventy-two was a bountiful crop year and we could
+get all the peaches and many other things we needed very cheap. The
+quartermaster contracted his corn that year at 14 cents a bushel and the
+farmers who furnished it were greatly pleased at getting such a good
+price for shelled corn. Early in the spring of the year I received
+orders to take charge of the surgical needs of the camp near Columbus
+and to make a trip three times each week and as much oftener as I though
+it necessary. This I could do and return to my own camp the same day.
+This was a pleasant duty for it gave me more to do and I was taken to
+and from the railroad in the ambulance each trip.
+
+Captain Bennett of the Fifth infantry was the commanding officer at
+Columbus, a dignified, courteous, soldierly gentleman, to whom I became
+very much attached. In a letter from General Miles he speaks of Captain
+Bennett as follows: "Captain Bennett who was in command of the camp at
+Columbus was a very gallant officer. He had an excellent record during
+the Civil war and went with the regiment to Montana. He was engaged in
+several Indian campaigns and in 1879 was killed in an engagement with
+hostile Bannock Indians at Clark's Fork of the Yellowstone. He was an
+ideal officer and one of the many heroes who gave his life in protecting
+the homes of the defenseless settlers and maintaining the supremacy of
+the government." This duty continued until late the following fall when
+another surgeon, Doctor Gray, was sent to take charge of that camp.
+
+When the open season for chicken shooting began we had frequent visitors
+who were fond of the sport. Major Upham, commanding at Fort Scott, would
+come often and bring friends from Fort Scott, generally Mr. Drake and
+Mr. McDonald and sometimes others, to spend a day with dog and gun.
+Captain Butler from the camp on Drywood would come for a day. Colonel
+Delancey Floyd-Jones of the Third infantry came down from Fort Hayes for
+two or three days, and brought with him an excellent setter dog, that
+could not stand the heat as well as the pointers, but was much more
+easily controlled. I was a bit amused at his experience while there.
+When asked at the dinner table the first day if he would be helped to
+both beef and chicken he replied, "No beef for me while I'm here, I can
+get all the beef I want at Fort Hayes, I came down here to eat prairie
+chicken." The last morning he was there I said, "Well Colonel, how is it
+this morning, prairie chicken or steak, or both?" "Well, he said, I
+believe I will try a little steak this morning." He went away delighted
+with his experience and promised me another visit in the fall, but for
+some reason we did not see him again. He was a fine type of the old
+army officer, dignified, courteous and cordial.
+
+I had done my first chicken shooting on the way in from Fort Sill, and
+was by no means a good shot. Mr. Kerr, the young lieutenant, who was
+stationed here, was the best wing-shot I have ever seen on the sporting
+field. He had his gun made to measure and although he was six feet tall
+and finely proportioned he had ordered his gun to be only 6-1/2 pounds
+in weight. Up to that time I had thought the bigger the gun the more
+deadly the weapon. I found I had a good deal to learn about guns and
+how to shoot them. I must tell you about one of my first experiences in
+chicken-shooting with Mr. Kerr. I happened to see one on the ground and
+could not resist the temptation and I will never forget the disgusted
+expression on his face as he turned to me and said, "For God's sake, are
+you hungry." That one precipitation cured me of shooting birds on the
+ground, unless I was hungry. Time and practice finally made me a fairly
+creditable shot but I was never steady in the field or at the trap. Mr.
+Kerr on the other hand was always steady and reliable. I remember one
+day just before Christmas when the snow was several inches deep he asked
+me to count out one hundred loaded cartridges for him while he attended
+guard mount. The ambulance was at the door and he started promptly when
+guard mount was over. He brought back eighty-four quail and nine loaded
+cartridges. Poor old Dick, his faithful pointer had retrieved them all,
+and was an invalid for two or three days thereafter.
+
+Mr. Kerr's quarters and ours were just across the corner of the parade
+ground from each other, his facing north and ours east, and he was at
+our house a great deal, especially in the evenings. The conversation
+generally turned to guns and their different makes and merits; to dogs
+and their different breeds and training; the loads to be used and the
+proper proportion of powder and shot. All these things were discussed
+until we felt we were authorities on the subject but for fear we might
+be wrong about the powder and shot, we experimented to find if any of
+the powder left the gun-barrel unburnt, and with target we settled at
+least to our own satisfaction, the amount of shot and powder to be used.
+My subsequent hunting experience has not materially modified our
+conclusions. In those days we used black powder and loaded our own
+shells, the smokeless powder and machine loaded shells being then
+unknown.
+
+One of the interesting things at this camp that year was Mr. Gordon's
+company garden, some four or five acres in extent with everything
+imaginable planted in it. The company did the work of planting and
+cultivating but the rabbits did a large part of the eating. There would
+be days when all the company would be out shooting rabbits and it was
+much like the picket firing I had become familiar with in the volunteer
+service. This was kept up until the rabbits were comparatively few
+around camp, and the garden produced abundantly and was a great help in
+rounding out the men's rations. One of the enlisted men was an expert
+with the rifle and caught many of the rabbits on the run.
+
+While here I had an opportunity of observing for the first time the
+variableness in area of rainfall at different seasons of the year. The
+latter part of winter and early spring I observed that if it was cloudy
+or raining at Fort Scott, it was the same way at Columbus fifty miles
+away and I presume over a much greater area. But as the season advanced,
+I would find it raining at Limestone, while on my arrival at Columbus
+the weather would be clear and dry only twenty miles away. Sometimes a
+heavy shower would fall between the camps and both camps would be dry.
+This was a surprise to me because I had not thought of it before, and I
+think the feeling generally is if it is raining where you happen to be,
+it is raining everywhere else.
+
+Before this camp was abandoned I had some hospital property on hand for
+which I was responsible, and that had ceased to be of service, and I had
+applied for its inspection and condemnation. Soon afterwards Colonel
+Nelson A. Miles of the Fifteenth infantry and inspector general of the
+department came and condemned the property. After dinner we played chess
+until time for him to be taken to the northbound train, and I have often
+wondered since that time if he remembers victory as well as I do
+defeat. Since then he became a distinguished officer in our Indian
+warfare and finally attained the rank of lieutenant general and
+commander-in-chief of the army.
+
+Most of the officers who served at the different camps on the neutral
+land while I was at Limestone have since died. So far as I know, General
+Kerr--the Mr. Kerr of our camp life there--and myself are the only ones
+remaining. Mr. Kerr became a captain in 1885 and was wounded in the
+assault on San Juan ridge July 1, 1898, promoted to major in October,
+1898, was military attache at Berlin in 1900 to 1902, promoted to
+colonel in 1903 and to brigadier general in 1908 and retired from active
+service in 1909 as brigadier general in the United States Army. He saw
+much Indian fighting on the frontier, and received numerous medals and
+honorable mention, in orders from different departments and army
+headquarters. It is a pleasure to mention these promotions and orders
+commending him for meritorious conduct for as a young man good things
+were expected of him by his friends. He is still living and it must be a
+great comfort to him in his old age to reflect on the distinguished and
+valuable services he has rendered his country.
+
+The following winter the Supreme Court rendered its decision in the case
+involving the title to the Cherokee neutral lands in favor of the
+railroads. I think the settlers generally felt that the decision would
+be against them for many of them sold their improvements and moved away,
+and most of those remaining contracted their land from the railroad
+companies.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+
+Orders came the latter part of March to abandon the camp and I was
+ordered to accompany the command to Fort Gibson, Indian Territory, and
+then to report to the commanding officer at Fort Garland, Colorado, for
+assignment to duty. From Fort Gibson I returned to Camp Limestone for my
+wife and little girl baby, who was born the previous November. We were
+furnished tickets by the railroad as far as Kansas City, but when we
+came to use them we found they had been packed with our baggage and of
+course had to pay car-fare. We went over the same railroad from Kansas
+City as the one I had first taken in crossing the plains but in place of
+stopping in Kansas, as it did then, it had been finished to Denver.
+
+There was a narrow gauge road from Denver to Pueblo. Its passenger train
+was at the depot when ours pulled in and our train stopped beside it. It
+was quite a curiosity to me. It looked so very small, I thought of it as
+a toy affair and wondered if we could make any headway on such a thing.
+I was surprised and much gratified to soon know how much I had
+miscalculated its merits. It was a long train and went in and out among
+the canons and around the mountain sides in an amusing way and with
+surprising speed. Maybe we would look out and see an engine coming down
+the track across the canon from us and would discover it to be our own
+engine puttering along as though pleased with its job. We stayed over
+night at Pueblo and in the morning we found there was an ambulance to
+take us and Major Hartz over the mountains to Fort Garland. The major
+had introduced himself the previous night on our arrival from Denver. On
+the route to Garland we spent the night at the different stage stations
+and were made fairly comfortable. As we neared the summit of Sangre De
+Cristo Pass (Blood of Christ) the snow was very deep and soft. We
+thought it too much of a load for the mules and so the major and I
+concluded to walk. It was well we did so, for the mules had all they
+could do to flounder through it. I stood the walking very well but it
+was laborious work. The major did not fare so well, for as we neared
+the top, which is about eleven thousand, five hundred feet above sea
+level, he was spitting blood and having difficulty in breathing. The
+west side of the range was clear of snow and it was only two or three
+miles from the summit to Stearn's ranch, where we stayed over night, and
+by morning although the major had a restless night the hemorrhage had
+stopped. The following day we drove to Fort Garland only twenty miles
+away.
+
+Fort Garland is situated at the edge of the foothills just south of old
+Baldy, one of the highest peaks of the Sangre De Cristo range. It was a
+pretty location overlooking the Rio Grande valley to the south and west
+and we were assigned to comfortable quarters.
+
+About the first part of May a troop of cavalry under command of Major
+Carraher was ordered to establish a camp at the junction of the west
+fork with the main stream of the Rio Grande, about one hundred miles
+west and a little north of the post, and I was assigned to duty as
+surgeon of the command. This camp was established as a base of supplies
+for government surveyors who were to survey the San Juan Indian
+reservation. There had been trouble for some years between the Ute
+Indians and prospectors who had gone into their reservation and located
+some valuable mines, and warfare between them had resulted in the
+government buying the land and opening it to settlers, and this survey
+was to fix the boundaries and divide the land into sections and cross
+sections so legal title could be given.
+
+The surveyors arrived a few days after we had established camp. A Mr.
+Prout was in charge of the party and they stayed at camp several days to
+establish the exact latitude and longitude of the camp as a base from
+which to make additional surveys. I became very much interested in this
+work and they explained a good deal of it to me but I was surprised at
+the time it required and the figuring necessary. I had the pleasure of
+watching the chronometer and calling time on signal from the observer.
+The nights were clear and in that rare atmosphere the stars shone with
+great brilliancy.
+
+An escort accompanied the surveyors in their work, a squad of a half
+dozen men in command of a noncommissioned officer, generally a sergeant,
+and each week these were relieved by others and returned to camp. There
+was practically no need for a surgeon with the camp that summer, the
+only two cases in the hospital being a man who was blinded by a
+premature shot in the mines and my pointer dog which I shot on one of my
+hunting trips.
+
+The country along the Rio Grande was unsettled, there being but one
+abandoned log-house between Fort Garland and Loma, now called Del Norte,
+a Mexican village with a good sprinkling of American houses, and located
+at the head of what was called the San Luis valley. The log-house was
+dignified by the name of Alamoosa and was our camp-ground and half-way
+place between Fort Garland and our summer camp. The trip was generally
+made in two days although the distance was nearly one hundred miles.
+From Loma to the camp, a distance of some fifteen miles, the mountains
+sloped gradually to the river and there were a few adobe houses occupied
+by Mexicans. As there was very little to do I spent a good deal of time
+hunting and fishing. Rainbow trout are very plentiful in the river for
+here it was a clear rushing mountain stream with deep pools and the
+water was cold throughout the summer from melting snows. We had fish at
+all times and cooked in every imaginable way until we were almost
+sickened at the thought of fish, although they were always pretty to
+look at. To this day my wife does not want to see or eat fish. All kinds
+of game were abundant but I never had much success with the larger
+varieties, I did not understand deer hunting and always managed it the
+wrong way. I did not know anything about their runways, so still hunting
+was not practical and in riding over the mountains they saw me before I
+saw them and that settled the matter. I tried repeatedly to get a shot
+at an elk that I frequently saw on his favorite grazing ground, a small
+park a half mile or more away near the top of one of the high points in
+the mountains, but with all my care, and calculating the direction of
+the wind, and figuring on the best way of approach, he would always
+scent the danger while I was making my way through the thicket of
+aspens that surrounded the park and I could hear the keen whistle-like
+note and hear him bounding away before I caught sight of him.
+
+On these hunting trips I rode a government mule that General Alexander,
+the post commander at Fort Garland, had given me for the summer's use,
+and who spoke of him with great praise as an exceptionally good saddle
+animal. He was said to be twenty-seven years old, and had formerly been
+used as a messenger mule between Fort Garland and Taos when the mail was
+brought to the post from the latter point. I suppose he had been gray at
+one time but now he was white from age, but had been well cared for and
+although in fine condition, had been retired from actual service. I
+found him all that he was recommended to be, and with an additional
+merit that he was not afraid of a gun. I could fire from the saddle and
+he would not flinch, and because of this exceptional quality, I had a
+great deal of sport shooting jack-rabbits. They would jump up and run
+away fifty or a hundred yards and sit up straight, which is their habit,
+and I would aim in line and a little below the mark and as the mule
+would inhale it would raise the muzzle of the rifle and by pulling the
+trigger at the right moment I was sure to see the rabbit tumble over. I
+never had much chance from the saddle at larger game. The color of the
+mule was against it, and I was not a good shot with the rifle at moving
+objects.
+
+I became much attached to this mule for his exceptionally easy gait and
+his fine disposition, however, he played me a bad trick one day for
+which I have since forgiven him because of my own culpable ignorance. It
+was getting late and I was out of my usual hunting range when I saw an
+antelope grazing in one of the many beautiful parks to be found in the
+mountains. There was a small ravine down the center of this park near
+which I noticed a clump of willows and figured that if I could approach
+from behind the willows I could get a good shot. My scheme worked all
+right and I got up within range and fired. To my great surprise I saw
+the shot take effect on the hillside beyond and had passed over the
+antelope's shoulders. This was a puzzle to me for I was sure I had taken
+good aim, and equally sure that I did not have the "buck-ague." The
+antelope ran away and stopped and looked back at me when I estimated him
+to be about two hundred and fifty yards away. I made a careful allowance
+for the distance and fired at the shoulder and at the report of the gun
+he dropped in his tracks apparently without a struggle. I thought a
+little strange of this, for I had aimed just back of the shoulders and
+supposed he would at least make a jump or two and struggle some after
+falling. Imagine my surprise when I found his neck broken just back of
+his ears, a purely accidental shot. I went back to my mule, which by the
+way I had named "Paddy O'Rooney" but always addressed him by his given
+name, and I thought I would put the antelope on him without dressing it
+as it was getting late and I wanted to find a trail down to the valley.
+I found that Paddy had an altogether different view of the matter, for
+he had no desire to get acquainted with the dead antelope. There was no
+timber near where I could tie him to a tree, to force him to accept the
+load and so a bright idea occurred to me. I have done a good many
+foolish things in my life, but I think nothing quite so idiotic as this.
+I decided that I would tie the end of the lariat rope to the antelope's
+hind legs, the other end being fastened around Paddy's neck and I would
+then get on the mule and pull the antelope up. This scheme worked pretty
+well at least part way. I was in the saddle and my gun across in front
+of me and I backed Paddy up toward the antelope, wrapping the lariat
+around the horn of the saddle as he backed. Paddy would look back and
+snort a little, but was quite gentle until I attempted to raise the
+antelope up to me. When Paddy saw it move I believe he thought the thing
+had come to life and was going to swallow him, for the way he went down
+the mountain side would have shamed John Gilpin and his foam covered
+horse. I tried to hold him but I might as well have tried to hold a
+cyclone. I had been raised on a farm and helped break the young horses
+to ride and work, and I thought I could hold anything, but I had never
+been on a scared mule before, and I found I was utterly helpless. My
+first impulse was to throw away my gun and try to get off and let the
+mule and the antelope have it out together but the lariat was across my
+right thigh and I could not get away from it. I believe the thing
+following him added to his terror, for we went over places I could not
+have forced him over in his sane condition. I went over the track of our
+runaway race a few days later and found a ledge of nearly four feet in
+height that we had gone over, and I really think it would have been the
+same thing to Paddy if it had been forty feet in place of four. The old
+saying "All's well that ends well" proved true in this case. The lariat
+rope slipped around the saddle horn caused by the jerking of the
+antelope as it bounded along and choked Paddy down just as we got to the
+edge of the timber. I hurriedly dismounted and loosened the lariat so
+that he could get his breath and found that he was pretty well tuckered
+out. I tied him to a tree and then went back to examine my antelope. The
+hind and fore-quarters were held together by the backbone and a strip of
+skin along the belly but the ribs and entrails were gone. Fortunately we
+had stopped near a trail which I knew would lead down to the valley,
+although I had never been over it before. When I tried to put what was
+left of the antelope on Paddy's back he again rebelled. I then tied his
+neck up against a small tree and wrapped the lariat around the tree and
+his neck until he could not buck, but in his struggles he lost his
+footing and hung himself. I cut the rope as quickly as I could, and got
+him on his feet again and gave him a little more freedom the next time
+and while he protested most vigorously, I finally got my antelope
+securely fastened in the saddle and led the poor worn-out mule down the
+trail. It was very dark by this time and we made slow progress but
+finally reached the valley and I estimated that we were not more than
+three or four miles from camp. We had only gone a short distance when we
+met a detachment of cavalry that had been ordered out by Major Carraher
+in search of me. The major had been over to my tent two or three times
+and finding I was not there became uneasy, thinking I might have met
+with some accident, or the Indians might have found me. We arrived in
+camp about nine or ten o'clock with what was left of the antelope, a
+very tired hunter and a very tired mule.
+
+The following day I tested my rifle at a mark and found good cause for
+my wild shooting the previous day. I suppose the front sight had been
+slightly moved by striking on a tree or something on my trip before I
+found the antelope. Paddy and I still remained good friends and he took
+me many pleasant rides through the mountains.
+
+With the latter part of August came the wing-shooting of the dusky
+grouse (Canace of the Ornothologist) a large slate-colored bird, some
+larger than our prairie chickens (Cupidonia Cupido). The young birds
+could then fly strong and afforded great sport. My observation is that
+it is a very stupid bird. I have seen them sit on the limb of a tree
+until knocked off after repeated throwing and have seen them sit on the
+bare ground apparently thinking they were hid, until I have walked up to
+within ten or fifteen feet of them, before they would take wing. Until
+well grown I found them most frequently in the open parks where there
+was a ravine with water and willows and other undergrowth, and more or
+less grass for cover, but later in the season they took to the large
+timber. So far as my experience goes they are the best table bird of all
+the grouse family. The flesh is white and delicious. Their range is as
+high as timber line in the summer but they go lower as the season
+advances. There were no quail at this altitude. I think they do not go
+so high and I saw no other game birds.
+
+There was a bird about camp called the "Nut-cracker" and I believe in
+some places known as "lark's Crow" (Nussifrage Columbrana) that for a
+nuisance I believe could not be equalled. In action, in size and
+something in appearance and rasping voice he much resembled our jays.
+They were in great numbers about our camp and were impudent fellows and
+seemed determined to get into everything. Mr. H. W. Henshaw was with us
+that summer collecting natural history specimens for the Smithsonian
+Institute. He was quite anxious to find the nest and eggs of this bird.
+I supposed from their abundance this would be a matter requiring little
+effort, but I found I was mistaken. I made it my special part that
+summer to locate a nest of these birds and was constantly on the
+lookout. I often went out with Mr. Henshaw in the morning when he would
+start on his day's round but generally lost out after the first hour. He
+was an athlete in size and finely proportioned and hardened to the work
+by constant practice, and could walk the legs off me in an hour's
+travel. I would then strike out for myself but was always looking for
+the Nut-cracker and trying to locate his nest. One day I saw him fly
+away from a hole some fifteen feet up in an old tree stump, the limbs
+having fallen away. This looked encouraging so I climbed up and found a
+nest but no eggs. I reported my find to Mr. Henshaw that evening and he
+was pleased with the prospects and said we would go together in about a
+week, and by that time we might find eggs in the nest. I had marked the
+place well and we had no difficulty in finding it. Mr. Henshaw did the
+climbing this time and thrust his hand in the hole but found no eggs.
+"Wait a minute though," he said and thrust his hand down in the hole
+again, but brought it out in a hurry and the blood was dripping from it.
+He suggested I make a forked stick such as every boy knows who has ever
+twisted a rabbit out of a stone wall or hollow log, and he twisted the
+thing out which proved to be a mountain rat, something entirely new to
+me. It was a rat in every way I had known them but had a bushy tail like
+a squirrel. We took it to camp with us and the skin went away with his
+other specimens to the institute. This is commonly called the
+bushy-tailed rat but is designated Neotoma Cinera Orelestes by the
+zoologist.
+
+Mr. Henshaw is now chief of the biological survey in the United States
+Department of Agriculture, to whom I am indebted for many agreeable
+experiences and for most of my knowledge concerning most of the birds
+and animals herein mentioned. His contributions to the National
+Geographical Magazine are particularly interesting and instructive. The
+rat mentioned is also one of the varieties of what is known as
+pack-rats. They construct a nest of sticks and other rubbish found in
+the neighborhood, and if near a house may carry off spoons or knives or
+anything that attracts their attention. There is a smooth tailed rat
+belonging to this genus that is very abundant in New Mexico and is apt
+to leave something in place of the article he carries away, and on that
+account is often called the swap-rat.
+
+General Alexander and some other officers from the post at Fort Garland
+came to our camp the latter part of July. Complaint had been made by
+cattlemen, really some Englishmen by the name of Hamilton, that some of
+their cattle had been killed and they blamed the escort that accompanies
+the engineers for their death. Mr. Delaney, who came with the general,
+and I were detailed to go to Antelope park, where the ranch was located,
+and investigate the matter. The general and some other officers
+accompanied us as far as Wagon-wheel Gap and with a small escort we
+continued on to the park, the general and other officers returning to
+camp. We found the Hamilton brothers very cordial and hospitable. We
+talked the business over quite thoroughly and remained until near
+midnight before returning to our camp a short distance away. The
+following morning we found a half-inch or more of ice in a cup that had
+been left with some water in it the night before, rather cool weather I
+thought for the 30th of July. It was very chilly riding for the first
+two or three hours in the morning, but the sunshine finally got the
+better of the cold, and we were comfortable for the balance of the day.
+We camped at Wagon-wheel Gap the following night and found it an
+interesting place, although there was but one log building and that
+unoccupied, in the place.
+
+The river here makes a great circular bend around an almost
+perpendicular wall of rock that I judged to be about a half-mile high.
+Across the river from this was a beautiful valley sloping gradually up
+into the mountains and in it were many hot springs varying in
+temperature from barely tepid to boiling hot.
+
+The following day brought us back to our summer camp again. Our camp
+here was beautifully located among the pines and between the camp and
+bluff there was a pretty little lake which had been made by turning a
+little mountain stream into the low ground between the camp and the
+bluff. The officers' tents were in line facing this lake, and at the
+back ground sloped gradually to the river about a half-mile away. A very
+interesting "nature feature" of this camp, was the uniformity with
+which we got a shower of rain every morning during July and August, and
+we got into the habit of expecting it at eleven o'clock and were seldom
+disappointed. One day, August 17th, the water from the cloud in passing
+over became congealed and formed snow-flakes that for size were really
+astonishing. I was on my way to Loma on my faithful mule Paddy O'Rooney,
+and when it came it shut out practically everything from sight, a few
+yards away, and lasted probably twenty or thirty minutes. About four
+inches of snow fell in that time, then the sun came out bright and warm,
+and it seemed to go away almost as fast as it came. On my way back to
+camp the depressions along the way were flooded and by night only the
+spots protected by ledges of rock or dense foliage were left. With all
+these pleasant surroundings, and nothing to do but fish and hunt, life
+became a little monotonous. I sometimes wonder if people will get tired
+of golden streets and heavenly music.
+
+The survey being ended we broke camp September 9th and started back to
+Fort Garland. Mr. Prout and one other engineer, whose name I cannot now
+recall, accepted commissions in the Egyptian army and a letter received
+some months later assured me it was not a very comfortable service.
+
+While in this camp my wife and I thought one day it would be fine to
+take an outing together, so the ambulance was ordered and she and our
+little baby girl and nurse girl and myself and the driver made up the
+party. We crossed the west fork of the Rio Grande and went up the valley
+for some distance. The west fork is smaller than the main stream, with
+many pools and little rapids and hugs close to the north side of the
+valley as far as we went. The mountains rose abruptly from the waters
+and at a great height divided into peaks and spires, pinnacles and
+domes, in abandoned confusion, that impressed me not only as most
+remarkable but also the most beautiful combination of mountain scenery I
+had ever witnessed. The pools were especially attractive for I had taken
+my tackle with me, so I left the party in charge of the driver and
+started out for some good sport. I did not meet with the ready response
+I expected from the fish, and kept going on up stream trying one pool
+after another until I was quite out of sight of the ambulance but still
+kept going, each pool looking more inviting than the one just passed. I
+finally came to an unusually large pool, deep and wide, and that ran
+close to the perpendicular bluff on the opposite side. I had made a
+number of casts when a voice from somewhere called out "What luck?" It
+might have been from the clouds and I would not have been more
+surprised, and at first I could not locate it, but looked up and down
+stream and back over the valley but saw no one. Finally just across from
+me on a big block of rock that had become detached from the mountainside
+and in plain view sat a man. His clothing was so near the color of the
+rock and he sat so stalk still that I would never have discovered him if
+he had not made the inquiry. Answering I said, "Not very good," but some
+way I was so startled by that inquiry seemingly coming from the unknown
+and then finding a real man where of all places I least expected him,
+that I think I was a little nervous about it, and soon lost interest in
+fishing and returned to the ambulance. He had evidently been watching me
+as I was going up stream but made no other effort for closer
+acquaintance and I left him with that one response, "Not very good."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+
+A few days after returning to Fort Garland I was ordered to report to
+Major McClave who commanded a troop of cavalry and was camped near the
+top of Sangre De Cristo pass. The nights were cold and the camp was in
+every way an unpleasant one. We only remained there a few days when we
+broke camp and went down the Veta pass. The Sangre De Cristo and Veta
+passes joined just beyond the top of the range on the west side. We
+camped near La Veta, a Mexican village, the first night. In coming down
+La Veta pass we had a good view of the Spanish peaks, a name I
+remembered in connection with my very limited study of geography when a
+lad, and which for some reason I expected to be grand and commanding.
+After spending a summer in the mountains and seeing them in all their
+rugged grandeur, the peaks looked small and their hay-stack tops were
+disappointing. We went by easy marches until we reached a point on the
+Purgatory river some forty miles above its mouth where we remained in
+camp about a month. Our camp here was several thousand feet lower than
+the one near Sangre de Cristo pass and was in a fine grove of large
+cotton-wood trees and by comparison was a very comfortable place. The
+nights were a little cool but the days were delightfully pleasant. The
+Purgatory valley was practically unsettled in those days except near
+Trinidad, where there were a number of small ranches but I only remember
+one ranch between our camp and the mouth of the river. While in this
+camp a wind-storm came up one afternoon and grew in volume as the
+evening advanced but we felt secure on account of the bluff just across
+the river to the windward of us. However, I could hear it among the tree
+tops before dropping to sleep, and I wondered if it could do any harm.
+When I awoke the next morning the ridge pole of my tent was broken, and
+the tent crushed in by some great thing extending obliquely upward, and
+only a few inches above my chest. I hurried outside as quickly as I
+could and found an immense dead cotton-wood tree lying across my tent
+with the top caught in the forks of another tree a few yards away.
+
+I found both Major McClave and Mr. Williams, his lieutenant, very
+interesting companions. The major had served in the ranks before the
+war, and had been promoted for bravery and efficiency in the service. He
+was a thorough soldier, courteous and considerate to everybody, and like
+all the officers I met from the ranks, was very devoted to his men. Mr.
+Williams was a West Point graduate and an accomplished gentleman, and I
+shall always remember my experience with this command with pleasure. Mr.
+Williams and I had found a fine bathing pool in the river and had
+frequent occasions to enjoy its chilly but invigorating qualities. One
+day when in the midst of our bath the bugle call for "boots and saddles"
+sounded. We hurried from the water, dressed and got to camp in time to
+find everything ready to move. A messenger had arrived in camp bringing
+word of an Indian raid and the killing of cattle at some point down the
+river toward Las Anamis. We kept going until some time after midnight
+when we were within a few miles of Fort Lyon and from there the major
+and I took the ambulance and went on into Fort Lyon to report and get
+such information as we could, and instructions for any further action
+that was considered necessary. We got back to our camp just at good
+daylight and found Mr. Williams and the men almost ready for the march.
+After a hurried breakfast we were soon on the way up the Arkansas
+Valley. We followed this valley to where Wild Horse creek enters the
+river, then turned up that creek and marched until near sundown when
+some cattlemen and rangers met us and reported that the Indians had
+turned east and would probably cross the Arkansas below Fort Lyon. Right
+here it is just as well to say that cavalry stand a poor show to
+overtake a band of Indians if they have a few miles the start. The
+Indian pony does not eat corn; the cavalry horses must have it or at
+least some kind of grain. Stop and unsaddle your Indian pony, lariat him
+out and give him an hour to rest and graze, and he is ready for another
+jaunt of a half day or more. He is a tough, hardy beast and can be
+forced to keep going when the cavalry horse will simply quit. We
+returned slowly to Fort Lyon and reported to the commanding officer for
+instructions, and were ordered back to Fort Union where Major McClave's
+troop of cavalry belonged.
+
+There was nothing of special interest on this trip although the night we
+camped at Dick Wooton's there was a heavy snow and the major spent a
+good part of the night looking after the comfort of his men and horses.
+After crossing this spur of the mountains the weather was pleasant and
+the country free from snow and we reached Fort Union without further
+incident. I returned by stage to Fort Garland and arrived at that post
+the forepart of December and was there awaiting orders until the 18th.
+The weather was cold, Fort Garland being at an altitude of about seven
+thousand feet above sea level, and it was comfortable to be with my wife
+and little girl, and in good quarters again.
+
+General Kautz had taken General Alexander's place as post commander, but
+Dr. Happersett, the post surgeon, and the other officers were the same
+as when we arrived the preceding April. The social features of the post
+were charming and I hoped it would be my good fortune to remain there
+during the winter, but a few days after my arrival orders came for me to
+report to the commanding officer at Fort Stanton, New Mexico, for duty.
+We started on December 18th and the thermometer registered eighteen
+degrees below zero that morning. We were well equipped for the trip,
+having four mules to the ambulance and a six-mule team and wagon for our
+baggage. The question may occur to some of my readers how could all your
+household goods be carried in one wagon? We did not have much to carry,
+particularly in the way of furniture. The quarters at the different
+military posts were furnished by the quartermaster with stoves, tables,
+bedsteads and all kinds of furniture that would be cumbersome to move.
+We carried folding chairs, carpets, bedding and numerous household
+necessities and comforts with us, but one wagon was sufficient for this
+purpose in addition to carrying grain and hay for the mules from one
+government supply station to another. On most of the routes traveled
+there were government stations where grain and forage were kept for the
+animals used in government transportation. We started early, having
+forty miles to make that day to reach Conejos (Jackrabbit) the first
+government station on the route. We heated bricks for our feet and by
+drawing the curtains around the ambulance, it was made quite
+comfortable. We crossed the Rio Grande on the ice and reached Conejos in
+the evening and had a very comfortable place for the night. We remained
+one day at Conejos for supplies of grain and hay for the mules. For the
+next three days and two nights we were in deep snow all the way, and of
+course made slow progress, and the escort melted snow for water for
+ourselves and the animals during this time. We hoped to reach San Juan
+on the Rio Grande by the end of the third day, but were apprehensive,
+for we knew we had to cross the Rio Chama, a stream that had acquired an
+unenviable reputation because of its quicksand. We reached this stream
+just at dusk of the third day and for the first time in three days saw
+the friendly lamplights at a Mexican village a short distance above the
+ford. This was my first acquaintance with quicksand, and I would know
+better now. We should have unfastened the mules from the wagon, and
+broken the ice, which was not strong enough to hold them up, and thus
+made the way clear so we could cross without stopping. To stop is fatal.
+In place of doing this, we expected the mules to break the ice as they
+went. About the middle of the stream was a sand-bar only slightly
+covered with ice and water and the water had been shallow over to this
+bar, but when the mules came into the deep water beyond, the leaders
+refused to break the ice, the team stopped, and the wagon gradually
+settled down until the running gear and bed rested on the sand-bar. I
+ordered the team unhitched and the ice broken so we could get around
+with the ambulance, and we made the crossing without difficulty. It was
+then quite dark and I decided to ask for a volunteer to remain with the
+wagon and the balance of us would go on to San Juan.
+
+I called the men together, and asked if any one of them would volunteer
+to stay with the wagon over night. An Irishman stepped out and said,
+"Yis Doctor, I will stay with it." It seems to me that in a case like
+this, or for that matter in any emergency, one can always depend on the
+Irishman. I knew his habits at the post, for he was in the guardhouse
+occasionally for drunkenness, so I said to him, "Look here, this is not
+an easy job. If those Mexicans up there knew this wagon was in here they
+might give you trouble, and if they found you drunk they would probably
+kill you and loot the wagon. Now I am going to leave a bottle of whiskey
+with you, for it is a very cold night and you will need some before
+morning, so be careful and do not take too much of it. Get out and walk
+when you get too cold to sleep but don't get drunk for your life may be
+in danger if you are not able to take care of yourself." "Yis Sir,
+Doctor, I understand that sir, and I will keep sober, sir, and I will
+take care of the stuff all right, sir." We left him there and the
+balance of the escort with the six mule team, and my wife and baby and I
+in the ambulance, started on to San Juan some six miles away. We got off
+the road as we neared the station, and our ambulance got into an
+irrigation ditch and turned over on one side, but did no harm and we
+soon had it right again, and after some trouble in finding a road,
+finally reaching San Juan about midnight. We had wandered around a good
+deal in trying to find the road again.
+
+The following day the escort returned to the Rio Grande, and found the
+Irishman all right and only about half of the whiskey gone. He had fully
+merited all my confidence. They unloaded the wagon and slid the contents
+across the river on the ice, and by digging and prying with the tools
+they had taken from the station, and hitching all ten mules to the
+wagon, they drew it out the quick-sand and across the river and arrived
+at the station with everything in good shape about dark that evening.
+The morning before Christmas my wife and I concluded to ride to Santa Fe
+about twenty miles away for breakfast. It was a stinging cold morning,
+and we had to go over a little mountain range on the way, but the roads
+were hard and smooth as a pavement, and we made the trip at a clipping
+gait, but were thoroughly chilled by the time we reached Santa Fe. There
+was no fire in our room and I went to the landlord, Alex McDowell and
+asked him to send us something to warm us up. In a few minutes a man
+came in with a tray and glasses and something he called Tom-and-Jerry
+and hoped we would like it. I think I never tasted anything so
+delicious, and I believe my wife appreciated it as much as I did, and
+the effect was marvelous. We were soon warm and comfortable, and by
+comparison with the experience of the past few days, it seemed a
+paradise indeed. This was my first acquaintance with Tom-and-Jerry, and
+while I became better acquainted with these gentlemen afterwards, we
+were never very cordial friends but I never met them under such
+favorable conditions as on the morning after that cold ride over the
+mountains. We did some shopping on the 24th and remained over Christmas
+at the hotel. The morning after Christmas we again started on our way to
+Fort Stanton.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+
+The trip from Santa Fe to Fort Stanton was not an attractive one. There
+was not much snow and no mountains to cross but the route was
+uninhabited and dreary, consisting of alternate stretches of timber and
+alkali lands, until we neared Fort Stanton when the timber improved in
+quality, and the country generally was more inviting. We reached Fort
+Stanton on the second of January and were at once assigned to
+comfortable quarters which we occupied the following day but stayed with
+a brother officer's family the first night. I found Fort Stanton a very
+desirable post at which to serve. Major Clendenning was in command and
+Doctor Fitch was post surgeon until my arrival. The fort and military
+reservation were beautifully located on what was then the Mescalero
+Apache reservation in the White mountains, El Capitan being the nearest
+peak, and on a little stream called Rio Bonito, (pretty little river)
+and it was an exceptionally pretty stream. Anywhere east it would have
+been called a creek or branch. It was a mountain stream of clear cold
+water and the post was supplied with water through a ditch taken out
+from the river at some distance above the post, and carried to the
+highest point on the parade ground, and from there distributed each way
+around the parade ground and then taken to the corral and the stables
+lower down the valley. In front of each officer's quarters a barrel was
+sunk in the ditch to a depth where the water would almost reach the top
+of the staves and the up and down stream sides were cut away as low as
+the bottom of the ditch, thus allowing the water to pass through freely.
+Small trout were often dipped up in the water taken from these barrels.
+Fort Stanton is located at an altitude of a little over six thousand
+feet and is not only a beautiful location but is a very healthy post. It
+was abandoned long ago as a military post but is still owned by the
+government and used as a sanitarium for tuberculosis. I have visited it
+since it was converted in to a sanitarium, and for cleanliness and
+general sanitary conditions it did not compare with the post when used
+for military purposes.
+
+In those days game was plentiful in the mountains and the duck shooting
+along the pretty little river was exceptionally good.
+
+What was afterwards known as the Lincoln County War was just then in its
+incipiency. Considerable shooting was done between the cattle and sheep
+men, and the death of a sheepherder--always a Mexican--or a cattleman,
+was of frequent occurrence. Word came to the post one evening, that a
+deputy sheriff had been shot while attempting to settle some difficulty
+between the cattle and the sheep men, and a surgeon was requested to go
+to Lincoln, the county seat some ten miles down the valley to see him.
+Major Clendenning sent for me and explained the matter, but said if he
+were in my place he would not go, as those Mexicans would just as leave
+take a shot at me as anybody else. He said, however, that if I decided
+to go I should have the ambulance and any help I needed. I decided no
+help was necessary, but took the ambulance and driver and went to
+Lincoln that night. Mr. Mills, the deputy sheriff who had been shot had
+a half-brother at the post by the name of Stanley and I had heard the
+story of one of their shooting experiences when little fellows. They
+were practising with pistols and had become so expert that one day they
+tried the experiment of holding something out in one hand for the other
+to shoot at, but as this was not exciting enough, one of them extended
+his arm and pointed out his index finger and said to the other: "See if
+you can clip the end of that." He clipped a little too much for I had
+seen Stanley's hand and the finger was off at the first joint from the
+end. "You fool, you, you took too much. Now give me a chance." The other
+being willing to play fair, extended his finger the same way and lost
+the same amount of finger. This was the story, and I was curious to see
+Mr. Mills' hand which I took good care to observe while dressing his
+wound and found it almost exactly like Stanley's. Mr. Mills' wound was
+by a shot that entered near the heart, struck a rib and did not enter
+the plural cavity, but followed the rib around and came out on the back
+and was not a very serious wound.
+
+The Sutler's store at Fort Stanton was up-stream some distance and just
+around the point of a little canon that led down to the river. A path
+from the corner of the parade ground led up to the store but there was
+only a narrow space between the point of the canon and the ditch that
+supplied the post with water. There was also a bridge across the ditch
+at the Sutler's store, for the convenience of getting in and taking out
+goods. One dark night I had been up to the store and started home, and
+after going a short distance, I concluded I had crossed the ditch on the
+bridge, instead of going along the narrow strip between the ditch and
+canon. To save time and retracing of steps I concluded to jump into the
+ditch. I knew it was wide and required a good jump but I found that
+instead of jumping the ditch, I had jumped off the bluff into the canon.
+Fortunately it had been made a dumping ground for chips and trash from
+the wood-yard, and I landed on this trash and rolled the balance of the
+way to the bottom of the canon among the rocks, probably twenty-five or
+thirty feet. My first thought was that I was seriously hurt, but after
+groaning a while and finding no bones broken, I got up and felt my way
+out at the top of the canon near the Sutler's store. I was very sore for
+a few days but no serious injuries resulted.
+
+In March of this year Captain Fechet (pronounced Fe-sha, accent on the
+last syllable), with his troop of cavalry, was ordered to go over on the
+Jornada del Muerto, and try to find a shorter route across that desert
+from Fort Stanton to Fort Selden, and I was sent along. We took the
+usual route to Fort McRae, where I again met Dr. Lyons, the post
+surgeon, whom I had visited at this point when I was post surgeon at
+Fort Craig in 1869. We found the doctor at dinner when we arrived. The
+cloth was spread at one end of the table and just beyond the cloth, at
+the farther end, was a human skull, with the necessary instruments,
+which the doctor had been dissecting. It struck me as a rather strange
+mixture of diet and scientific investigation. It is hardly necessary to
+say that the doctor was not a married man, for no woman would stand for
+that sort of table decoration, but would probably prefer a bunch of
+flowers as a center-piece for the table. Some unfortunate had been
+fished out of the river, and no relations having been found, the body
+was considered of service for a better knowledge of anatomy.
+
+From Fort McRae we went to the Aleman, or as it was better known, Jack
+Martin's, where we stayed over night, and from there we went to Fort
+Selden and remained several days. While there the captain and I made a
+trip to Las Cruces where we remained over night, and had a very pleasant
+evening with some Catholic priests, where we were cordially received and
+entertained. On our return to Fort Selden we again took up the march to
+Fort Stanton but did not leave the beaten track either going or coming.
+We had taken some half-dozen Mescalero Apache Indians along with us as
+guides and scouts, but I could never see that we accomplished anything
+by the trip, or that we made any effort to do so.
+
+Along about the first of April I received a suit of clothes from Fort
+Leavenworth, Kansas, that I had ordered the previous September upon my
+return from the summer camp on the Rio Grande. It had not occurred to me
+that I might have changed some in physique, but when I got the clothes I
+found that I could only wear the pants by putting a V-shape in the back
+of the waistband and I could only wear the vest by inserting pieces
+below the arm-holes, but the coat was entirely too small to be of any
+practical service. My experience in the mountains had evidently made
+quite a different type of man out of me, and I should have had my
+measure taken again before sending orders to the tailor.
+
+Soon after our return from the trip to find a new route across the
+Jornada, I received a letter from Doctor Lyons asking me to exchange
+stations with him. I wrote back that I would make the change if he would
+make the application, which he did, and orders soon came directing the
+change. We started from Stanton the latter part of April, with the usual
+ambulance, and wagon and baggage, and an escort to care for us on the
+way. Between the White mountains and the lower range to the west is
+quite a wide valley which is called the Malpais (or bad country) near
+the center of which is a lava flow a few hundred yards wide. The crater,
+or peak from which it came is not in the mountain range as one would
+naturally suppose it to be but stands out near the middle of the valley,
+maybe ten miles above where we crossed. The outlines of the streams are
+quite distinct until some distance below, where it is lost in a great
+white plain of alkali. There had been much work done to make a road
+across this lava flow passable for vehicles, but it was still very rough
+when we crossed it, so much so that my wife preferred to walk, and
+nearly wore her shoe soles out in doing so. When did this lava flow
+occur? I don't know. Maybe ten thousand years ago, but it looked as
+though it might have been last week.
+
+There were quite a number of little cone-shaped mounds in this valley,
+and I examined some of those close to the road. They varied in size, and
+none that I saw were more than ten or twelve feet in height, and they
+all had craters, containing blackish looking water. In some of them the
+water seemed to be higher than the valley in which they were located.
+
+We camped on the second night in the foothills of the San Andres range,
+and the following evening at the Oho De Anija. These springs were
+interesting because of the great amount of painted and broken pottery to
+be found nearby. I think some excavating might bring to light whole
+pieces of value to the archaeologist. The spring is located only a few
+miles from Paraja a on the Rio Grande, and at the extreme northern limit
+of the Jornada del Muerto, and the next day we arrived at Fort McRae.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+
+McRae was a one company post, and located on a little bench of land at
+the side of the canon that led down to the Rio Grande from the Frau
+Christobel mountains. There were no square for a parade ground but all
+buildings faced toward the canon, of which at this point was not abrupt
+but sloped gradually to the bottom.
+
+The officers' quarters were very comfortable, being built of heavy adobe
+walls, and covered with dirt, consequently were warm in winter and cool
+in summer. The rooms were large and had the usual jaspa floors common to
+the military posts along the Rio Grande. Government blankets are first
+laid on these floors and over them is laid the carpet and both are
+nailed down with lath or shingle nails, with leather heads, to hold the
+carpet in place. There was a fireplace in both living and dining rooms
+and water was obtained at a spring in the canon, a short distance away.
+While the quarters were comfortable the outlook and surroundings were
+anything but attractive. The view from the front porch was of a bleak
+cactus covered ridge across the canon, and this was limited in extent
+and back of the post the canon rose abruptly to a great height. Up the
+canon was the barracks of the men, and farther up was the Sutler's
+store. Below the officers' quarters, was the quartermaster and
+commissary storehouses and corrals and stables.
+
+For some time we were quite reconciled to the situation. Both the
+commanding officer, Captain Farnsworth and his lieutenant, a Mr.
+Carlton, were bachelors, and were courteous and pleasant gentlemen. They
+did not remain long, however, after our arrival at the post, but were
+superseded by Captain Kauffman and Mr. Fountain, the latter a West
+Pointer, but Captain Kauffman was raised from the ranks, and to me never
+seemed to fit the promoted position he held. Mr. Fountain on the
+contrary, I thought, gave promise of becoming a distinguished officer.
+Until they came, my wife was the only officer's wife at the post, and
+with the addition of Mrs. Kauffman it could hardly be considered a
+great social center. We made the most of it, however, and were fairly
+well satisfied with our position.
+
+During the early part of the summer we attended an entertainment given
+by the men at the barracks, and our little girl caught cold. At first we
+thought it only a temporary illness and that she would soon be better,
+but in this we were disappointed. She gradually lost appetite and grew
+weaker and I wrote to Dr. Boughter, post surgeon at Fort Craig,
+requesting him to come and see her, which he did. We concluded the water
+at the post was bad for her, as it was strongly impregnated with alkali,
+and we thought it best to take her out to Jack Martin's ranch, where we
+knew the water was good. Captain Kauffman was very considerate about the
+proposed change, and we agreed that I should return to the post three
+times a week to look after any who needed medical attention. This trip
+could be made in one day on horse-back, the distance for the round trip
+being about forty miles. We got out there the latter part of July, but
+within a few days realized more fully the serious nature of our little
+daughter's illness. Dr. Boughter came from Fort Craig to see her but
+could give us no encouragement.
+
+The Scotch are a superstitious folk, and up to the age of fourteen I was
+raised in an atmosphere of superstition. They had signs and omens, and
+attributed a personality to everything, animate and inanimate. While
+they denied a belief in spirits and hob-goblins, I am satisfied these
+things influenced their lives. I remember two old crones at an uncle's,
+wizened up old maids, that I think were no relation, but just lived
+there, who used to tell us little ones spook and ghost stories until I
+was afraid to go to bed in the next room, or out of doors at night. It
+seemed to be in the blood and Walter Scott's books are full of it. This
+may explain in a way my hope that something would happen that would
+bring our little one back to health again. My frequent trips to the post
+and sitting up at night to give my wife a little rest, which she so
+sorely needed, together with my anxiety, had probably made me morbid,
+for one day, August 14th, as I remember, I was on my way to the post. It
+was a very hot day and the atmosphere was shimmering with radiated
+heat, and not a living thing was to be seen over that vast, desolate
+Jornada del Muerto, except maybe a lizard scurrying across the road, and
+I was half-way or more to the head of that canon in which the post was
+located, when a little grayish-brown bird suddenly appeared from
+somewhere, and fluttered over the horses' head just out of reach of my
+hand. I accepted it at once and without question, as a messenger sent to
+me, and my anxiety was to interpret its message. I tried to reach it
+with my hand, but it kept just out of reach, and presently lit in the
+road in front. I immediately got off my horse, and taking the lariat
+rope in my hand, walked up to it, but it kept moving out of the way, but
+only just out of reach. I again got on my horse but had no sooner done
+so, than it came back again and fluttered over the horse's head. From
+there it flew to a cactus bush by the roadside, and I got off my horse
+again and walked up to the bush and took my canteen--no one travels
+through such a country without a canteen of water--and holding it up
+over the bush poured out a little stream of water. The bird at once
+gathered from the leaves, such drops as lodged, and seemed greatly
+delighted. I then pressed my left hand, back downward, into the sand,
+and holding the canteen up poured a little stream of water into the palm
+of my hand. The bird at once left its perch, and flew down and lit near
+my hand, and after a little debating with herself, hopped up on my hand
+and drank, and at each swallow would look up at me as if to say, "Oh, I
+am so thankful." I was greatly comforted and got on my horse again
+feeling that my hopes would be realized, and that I would find my little
+child on the road to recovery, upon my return in the evening. I had only
+gone a short distance when the little bird again flew around in front of
+me and again fluttered its wings just out of reach of my hand. I got off
+again and this time did not take the lariat rope down, but merely
+stepped up by the horse's head, stooped down and pressed my hand in the
+sand as before, and the bird did not hesitate, but came at once, and
+stood on my hand and drank the water, and when its thirst was fully
+satisfied it hopped away, and I got on my horse and went on to the
+post. When I returned that evening I found our little child no better
+and she died that night.
+
+A messenger was sent to the post and the ambulance came the following
+day with a little coffin made at the quartermaster's and the trip back
+to the post was to us indeed the "Journey of Death." Our home was so
+desolate that I became more morbid than ever, and was soon taken down
+with typhoid dysentery, and Dr. Boughter came from the Fort Craig to
+wait on me. My recovery was very slow and I was indifferent to anything
+that might happen. My wife at last became discouraged and she and
+Captain Kauffman talked the situation over, and after consulting Dr.
+Boughter concluded to have me taken to Fort Craig for treatment. I was
+not informed of their conclusion, and when they told me the ambulance
+was at the door, and a bed in it and that I was going to Fort Craig, it
+did not even interest me. If they had told me I was going to the
+cemetery I would have been just as well satisfied with the arrangement,
+although they thought I would be interested because of having been post
+surgeon there some years before. After I was at Fort Craig a few days, I
+began to take some interest in life and thought I would like to see what
+changes had been made, and the more I thought about it, the more
+interest I took until I finally wanted to see for myself. With this
+awakening I began to have some appetite for food, and I soon began to
+gain strength and as I improved I wanted to cross the river and see my
+old hunting grounds. All these things undoubtedly contributed to my
+recovery for I soon made rapid progress toward good health again. The
+doctor had given us his quarters to occupy while there and they were
+handsomely furnished and we were made most comfortable. It was then the
+latter part of September and the nights were cool and the days pleasant.
+We took our meals at the officers' mess and had good things to eat, and
+I shall always remember how delicious the pigeon squabs were to me.
+Before returning to Fort McRae the doctor and I planned to hunt across
+the river. One of the officers had a gun he would loan us, and the
+doctor said the blacksmith had one, and he had no doubt he would loan
+it. I preferred going for it myself, as I wanted to see the shop and
+house close to the bluff where the blacksmith lived. The blacksmith was
+very well pleased to loan his gun, but said one barrel was loaded, and
+he shot it off and handed the gun to me, saying, "Now it is all right."
+It was a muzzle-loader and after wiping it out carefully at the doctor's
+quarters I found one of the tubes were stopped up. I put a cap on the
+tube and in place of taking the gun out of doors, or pointing it in the
+fireplace, I merely turned the muzzle down toward the carpet and pulled
+the trigger. A report followed that astonished the doctor, my wife and
+myself, who were all taking interest in the preparation for the hunt.
+The shot tore through the carpet and into the jaspa floor and sent the
+plaster flying in all directions, and made a hole in the floor big
+enough to bury a small-sized dog. Another instance of where the gun that
+was not loaded, did serious damage, but fortunately no one was hurt.
+
+The post had changed very little since I was there five years before but
+I took great interest in seeing everything. Doctor Boughter was a
+bachelor, a man of ability in his profession, an accomplished gentleman,
+and a friend in our great affliction.
+
+On our return to Fort McRae, while I felt a great repugnance to ever
+seeing the place again, I was more resigned to what I considered the
+inevitable that is, that death comes to everybody, is one of nature's
+laws, and is the culminating process, just as birth is the beginning of
+life. When we reached the head of the canon leading down to the post I
+was able to look upon the incident of my experience with the little
+bird, from a very different point of view.
+
+It was now clear enough to me, that there was nothing miraculous or
+unnatural about it, but that for some cause it had simply become
+separated from the flock to which it belonged, for they are generally
+found in flocks along with cattle. I think it was the female and may
+have gone to some other bird's nest to deposit its egg, as is its habit,
+for I had studied it closely while drinking out of my hand, and
+recognized it as one of the cowbirds or buntings, and I have since been
+able to identify it as belonging among the blackbirds and orioles or the
+icteridae of the ornothologist, its special division being Molothrus
+Aster, a division found in Texas and Southern New Mexico, but I think
+not much farther north. The sexes are difficult to distinguish at a
+distance, differing in this respect from their near relatives farther
+north, where the male is a glossy black with chocolate colored head and
+neck. Whatever the cause may have been this one was evidently lost, and
+was famishing for water, and recognized the horse as a friend, and in no
+way could have considered me in that relation, it came to my hand simply
+and only as a matter of necessity. It was pleasant to relieve the thirst
+of the little lost bird, but I shall never again think of it as in any
+way supernatural.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+
+Our quarters were just as we had left them but with the added feeling of
+desolation, and from that time we frequently discussed the question of
+leaving the service. It being then well toward winter we deferred it
+until spring, and we spent the time until then performing our duties in
+a perfunctory way, and planning and rejecting plans as we made them,
+being undecided where to locate. I spent a part of the time in hunting
+with more or less success, but more as a recreation than as a matter of
+interest. On one of these trips I killed three antelopes with two shots,
+being the only ones seen that day. I managed to get in good range and
+when the first one fell the other two ran together and stood looking at
+the fallen one. They stood so that a shot through the flank of one would
+hit the other just back of the shoulder. I dressed the first one and got
+it on the horse and found the second some two hundred yards away, but by
+the time I had it on the horse it was too dark to track the third. Next
+morning I went out and found only the bones and some pieces of the hide,
+the wolves having cared for the rest of it. On another occasion I took
+an orderly with me to care for my horse in case I found occasion to
+stalk any game, but when we got into a valley which was the customary
+route for Indians from the White mountains on the east, to the
+Magdalenas west of the river, some horsemen came in at the head of the
+valley, and set up a yell and at that distance we took them for Indians
+and did not wait for a closer acquaintance but made for the post with
+all possible speed.
+
+My wife visited that winter at Fort Selden with Mrs. Conrad, wife of
+Lieutenant Conrad, who was quartermaster at Fort Stanton when we were
+there, and who died at sea on his way back from the Spanish war in Cuba.
+
+We were in the habit at Fort McRae of trading an army ration to which I
+was entitled, in addition to my pay, to Mexicans for vegetables, eggs,
+etc., or paying cash as the occasion offered. One day a Mexican brought
+a grain sack full of onions and we weighed them and found they weighed
+a little over forty-one pounds. I agreed to pay him four cents a pound,
+but said to him we will call it forty pounds and allow the balance for
+the weight of the sack. He could not speak English but I could talk
+Spanish enough to make him understand and he would nod his head and say
+"Bueno" (Good) but when I counted out the money he did not seem
+satisfied. I went over it repeatedly showing it was one dollar and sixty
+cents and he would nod his head and say "Bueno" but went away and
+brought another Mexican with him who understood and talked English, and
+when he heard the transaction repeated he called his fellow countryman a
+fool and they walked away together. I counted the onions after they had
+gone, and there were just twenty-four of them. I like to tell this story
+to my friends, for while they smile their assent, there is an expression
+on their faces that is at least suggestive. Two or three of the onions
+that I measured were over eighteen inches in circumference. These onions
+were raised in the Rio Grande valley and were as crisp as celery, and
+comparatively free from the characteristic sting of the ordinary onion.
+Eggs were fifty cents per dozen and if one did not need any today, they
+would take them back home, and perhaps bring them tomorrow at the same
+price, but would not take less. We paid one dollar per pound for butter
+to Mrs. Jack Martin who sent it to us by the messenger who went there
+for our mail, and it was very choice butter.
+
+At the Sutler's store one day I was introduced to a Mr. Garcia, a young
+man of fine appearance, and who could talk English well, who had
+returned from the university for his vacation. I found him very
+interesting and intelligent, and while we were talking, Mr. Ayers, the
+post trader, brought us some native wine which we sipped while in
+conversation. He belonged to a wealthy family of Spanish descent and was
+quite a different type from the ordinary Mexican, and would compare
+favorably with our average university student. After he had gone Mr.
+Ayers told me his name in full was "Hasoos Christo Garcia." I spell it
+this way to give the Spanish pronunciation, and not the Spanish
+spelling. In the middle name the accent is on the first syllable. In
+English the name would be Jesus Christ Garcia, and this is not mentioned
+in this startling way, in any spirit of irreverence, for a name that is
+held sacred over a great part of the world, but is done for the purpose
+of showing the difference in the customs of different countries. Jesus
+Christ is almost as common a given name among the Mexicans as James or
+John is with us.
+
+While at Fort McRae Mr. Fountain had heard of a beautiful place on the
+Rio Polomas, a little stream that enters the Rio Grande from the west a
+few miles below the post, and that he thought might be worth
+investigating. I agreed to join him and we had a few troopers detached
+as an escort, and went to see it. On the way we passed through the
+little Mexican village of Polomas, where a Jew had established a
+business and who had told Mr. Fountain of the proposed place of visit.
+He joined us and acted as guide for the trip. On the way while working
+our way through a thick undergrowth Mr. Fountain and I became separated
+from the men and came out on a pretty open park of a few acres in
+extent, about the middle of which was an immense cinnamon bear,
+apparently waiting to see what caused the disturbance in the brush. On
+our coming into the open he took to his heels and we followed, the men
+having joined us, and firing our pistols and shouting, but when my horse
+caught the scent of the bear, he just stopped and stood there trembling
+with fright, and all my efforts to make him go by spurring and cuffing
+him, were unavailing. I could not move him, but sat there and awaited
+his pleasure. After a bit he began to move cautiously but was much
+frightened, and I did not join the crowd until they had chased the bear
+into the rocks at the foot of the canon, and had returned to the place
+we intended to visit. It was a beautiful place indeed, and a beautiful
+stream of water came out from the side of the bluff some twenty feet
+above the valley, and meandered down to the main stream. The valley was
+not wide but impressed both Mr. Fountain and myself, as a desirable
+place to establish a ranch, which he was desirous of doing for a brother
+he wished to set up in business. I agreed to join him in the enterprise,
+and we sent for a Studebaker wagon and the necessary implements and
+outfit for starting a ranch. I afterwards disposed of my interest to Mr.
+Fountain, and have since learned that he had his brother come out, and
+fitted him up with stock, etc., sufficient for a start, but that the
+Indians took a part in the affair; destroyed his ranch and killed his
+cattle. I have since then, often thought of it as a desirable place for
+a cattle ranch.
+
+In the spring of 1875, there having been no medical examining board
+ordered, and so far as we knew no prospect of one, we fully decided to
+try our lives in a different way, and made preparations accordingly. I
+ordered a metallic casket for the body of our little daughter, believing
+that the post would soon be abandoned, and we could not bear the idea of
+leaving her in that wretched place, and the first part of May we packed
+such household goods as we thought desirable to take with us, only
+leaving such as I might need after my wife should start, it being my
+intention to go during the summer or early fall. My wife started about
+the middle of May and soon afterwards the casket came, and the captain
+gave me a detail of men to take up the body of our little girl and place
+it in the quartermaster's storehouse until we should decide where to
+have it shipped. This we were to do after I should join my wife and
+decided on a location for a home. My wife had gone to her old friend's
+home west of Oswego, Kansas, where she had stopped on a previous
+occasion when we thought of leaving the service. On application, Doctor
+Lyon returned to his old post at Fort McRae and I went to Stanton in
+July and about the first of September together with Mr. Clark, who was
+going on leave of absence, I proceeded to the end of the railroad at Las
+Animas, Colorado, and thence to Leavenworth, Kansas, where I reported to
+the medical director of the department and left the service October
+30th, 1875.
+
+Upon my return to Fort Stanton from Fort McRae I found Mr. Stanley, the
+one who had his finger shot off when a boy, was just able to hobble
+about again from an experience he had with a cinnamon bear. He had gone
+out to some ranch where they were losing some of their stock,
+particularly their pigs, by what they thought to be a bear, and Stanley
+went out to kill it. He was an excellent shot, was fearless and
+deliberate and found the bear as he expected, but in some unaccountable
+way which he could not explain, he failed to stop it, and the result was
+most disastrous to himself. It had torn one side of his face away, and
+had broken both legs and one arm, before leaving him. They found him the
+next day and brought him to a hospital and he was able to get around on
+crutches when I saw him, but would be a cripple for life. The ranchmen
+went out and finished the bear, but it was found he had nine shots
+through his body before giving up the fight.
+
+The military reservation at Fort Stanton was the largest of any post at
+which I served, and is located as before mentioned on what was then
+known as the Mescalero Apache Indian reservation. These Indians were
+considered friendly, and so far as I know have remained so, and they are
+the only tribe of Indians of which I have acquaintance who cremate their
+dead. I was invited one day to go with the hay contractor, who intended
+making the rounds of his various hay camps, and on the way we passed
+through an Indian camp not far from the post at which there was a sick
+Indian. We stopped to inquire as to his condition. It seems that a day
+or so before they had gone to the post for medicine, and had said the
+patient was suffering great pain, and asked for some physic. The post
+surgeon, a Spaniard by birth, and educated abroad, understood the term
+physic in its generic sense and not as it is so universally used by us,
+and had sent him opiates, when a cathartic was probably indicated. When
+we saw him that day, which we did from our saddles, as we did not
+dismount, he was greatly swollen up, and when we passed the same
+neighborhood a few days afterwards, the Indian had died and his tent and
+all his belongings including a pony to ride, had been burned and the
+band had moved across the river and established a new camp.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+(Social Life at the Military Posts.)
+
+
+The social life at the military posts on the frontier, nearly a half
+century ago, was necessarily very limited. Except at Fort Sill, I served
+at no post at which more than two companies of troops comprised the
+garrison, and even in these cases there was not always the full
+complement of officers, some probably being on detached service, or
+maybe on leave of absence. As before remarked, Fort McRae was only a one
+company post, and at no time were there more than three officers, and
+there were only two officers' wives. There were no social relations
+outside of the post, and no effort or disposition to form acquaintances.
+The nearest military post was fifty or more miles away, and the
+exception to the usual dull routine of life in such an isolated place,
+was when some fellow officer happened to come our way, enroute to some
+other post, maybe for assignment to duty or maybe on detached service.
+Another exception was when the paymaster made his appearance to pay off
+the garrison, which he did every two months. These were always enjoyable
+occasions, and we would sit up late and talk about everything of
+interest at the different posts, or of what may have been seen or heard
+on the way. This was the most isolated and desolate of all the posts at
+which I served. It was about twenty miles from the southern overland
+stage line, and we had to send a messenger from the post for our mail
+which we did three times a week. Magazines and such reading matter as
+could be brought by mail helped cheer our lonely lives, so that taken
+altogether, it was a good deal better than being in the penitentiary.
+
+At Fort Garland, though only two companies were stationed there during
+my service at the post, there were about the full complement of
+officers, several of whom were married, and it proved to be an unusually
+pleasant place socially. There was no formality, and so far as I know
+this was true at all the military posts on the frontier, except at Fort
+Craig where my wife was not with me, but on the contrary there was a
+feeling of mutual interest and sympathy that made it seem like one
+family. We would meet at some officer's quarters for dinner or luncheon,
+and maybe at some other officer's quarters in the evening to play a
+social game of cards, and the officers' wives would make informal visits
+with each other and maybe spend an hour or so, very much as if they were
+sisters.
+
+Fort Sill was one of the largest military posts in the service at that
+time, and there were twenty or more officers there, probably half of
+whom were married and had their families with them. It will be readily
+seen that this made quite a social center.
+
+There were frequent military dances or "hops" as they were called in the
+service. There were also card parties, not always by invitation, but
+maybe a half-dozen would be talking together, and would decide to drop
+into some officer's quarters for a game of cards, others were likely to
+drop in also, so that sometimes there would be quite a crowd of us
+together to spend the evening. I thought the informality of these
+meetings added very much to their charm.
+
+There was a good library at this post which was liberally patronized by
+the officers and their families, and also by the enlisted men.
+
+A jockey club was formed among the officers and a race-course laid out
+on the flat south of the post, and race meetings were held on Saturday
+afternoons, which afforded a great deal of pleasure and amusement. In
+one of these races which was to take place in the course of a month, it
+was agreed that each officer should ride his own horse. The difference
+in the weight of the riders it was thought, would be an important factor
+in determining the results. Major Van de Weyle weighed one hundred and
+ninety pounds while Mr. Lebo weighed only one hundred and fifteen
+pounds. They all had good horses and the race was looked forward to with
+great interest. The major was jollied a good deal about his weight, but
+he insisted that he would be able to train down, and he would show them
+what his horse, which was a fine one, could do. The race-course was a
+mile in length and it was supposed the heavyweights would stand no
+show, but Captain Walsh, who weighed one hundred and sixty-five pounds,
+won the race and Major Van de Weyle, who had increased six pounds in
+weight, came in fourth, in a bunch of seven, who started in the race.
+
+In addition to the social life at the post, the fishing and hunting were
+good for those of us who cared to indulge in that kind of sport. Both
+Medicine Bluff and Cache creeks were fine fishing streams, and I found
+congenial company in one or two of the officers who enjoyed the fishing
+as much as I did myself. Among those most pleasantly remembered, was a
+Mr. Pratt, a lieutenant in one of the cavalry companies at the post He
+was an expert fisherman and a cordial good fellow and I have always
+thought of our fishing trips with pleasure.
+
+After we left Fort Sill he was detached from his command and put in
+charge of the educational interests of the Indians.
+
+He became a distinguished officer in this work. When still a lieutenant
+he established the Indian school at Carlisle, Pa., a well known
+industrial school, in 1879, and was superintendent until 1904. In 1916,
+when my wife and I were on our golden wedding trip we met him again at
+Nye Beach, Oregon, and were pleased to renew our acquaintance after more
+than forty-five years.
+
+His distinguished services raised him to the rank of brigadier general,
+and he is now on the retired list of the army.
+
+At Camp Limestone there were three officers and two officers' wives. We
+had acquaintances at Fort Scott and Girard, who either visited us or
+made the customary calls. These, with the officers and others who came
+in the shooting season, made up the social features of the camp.
+
+In those days drinking was far more prevalent, both in the army and out
+of it, than it is today. I think none but the old people of today can
+have the correct "view-point" of the difference in which the use of
+alcoholic beverages was considered fifty years ago and now. At that time
+it was not considered harmful, but rather commendable, if not taken to
+excess, as a means of promoting social intercourse, and except at Fort
+Sill it was to be had at all the post trader's stores at the military
+posts on the frontier, and at most of them it was on the sideboard or on
+the mantle over the fire-place, in the officers' billiard room free to
+those who cared to use it. Of course, even in those days, there were
+those who talked very energetically if not violently against the use of
+it and some preachers would even tell you you would go to hell if you
+drank it. But people don't scare easily, and you would maybe think about
+it and take another drink, concluding that maybe there is no hell, or if
+there is you won't go there, or maybe the preacher didn't know anything
+about it anyway. Since then the scientific medical man has come to the
+front. He does not try to scare you, but he has some scientific facts
+which he has fully proven, and tells you about them, among these are: it
+promotes hardening of the arteries (Arterio Sclerosis); it produces
+fatty degeneration and other diseases of the liver; it impairs
+digestion; it interferes with the assimilation of food; it impairs heart
+action, and has many other injurious effects on the system, such as
+preparing it for fatal results in pneumonia and most of the acute
+inflammatory diseases.
+
+He appeals to your reason in place of to your fears, and you are bound
+to take notice. The result is a vast difference in public opinion
+regarding its use then and now.
+
+In the army it was used almost exclusively in a social way. There were
+occasional excesses, but these were not of frequent occurrence and there
+was one restraining influence; the fear of court-martial.
+
+It will be readily understood that there were so-called "black sheep" in
+the army as well as in the churches, and in the fraternal orders. In the
+army, however, there was no hesitancy in getting rid of them, a thing I
+have seldom known to be done either in the churches or in the fraternal
+orders, and this was by means of court-martial. No matter what the
+specific charges may have been, there is generally, if not always added
+this one: "Conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman." This it will
+be readily seen covers a wide range, and permits thorough investigation
+of character and the very terms of this charge indicates not only the
+high character that is expected, but that is demanded of an officer in
+the service.
+
+I had been in the army nearly seven years with no chance for promotion,
+and while feeling some doubt as to my success in private life we felt it
+to be the best thing to leave the service. We decided to live at Girard,
+Kansas, and came to this place in November of that year.
+
+Two things have particularly impressed me, in looking back over the
+nearly half century since I entered the service--one is the amazing
+development of the west, and the other is the wonderful evolution in the
+practice of medicine and surgery. As an example of the first, take
+Kansas--not because it is Kansas, but because it is typical of the great
+west. Population in 1870, 364,399; in 1914, 1,677,106. Wheat crop in
+1871, 4,614,924 bushels; in 1914, 180,925,885 bushels. And other crops
+in proportion. The western half of the state was then practically
+uninhabited. Today it is the great wheat belt of the country.
+
+When I entered the service people died wholesale from diphtheria,
+typhoid fever and inflammation of the bowels. Bacteriology, the great
+searchlight of medicine, as we have it today, was then practically
+unknown. Today we innoculate against typhoid fever and are immune. Today
+we operate for appendicitis and inflammation of the bowels practically
+disappears from our list of diseases. Today we give antitoxin and the
+child's life is saved. We used to expect pus after a surgical operation
+and were disappointed if we did not get a so-called "healthy pus." Today
+the surgeon would be ashamed of it.
+
+Both before leaving the army and since, I have had people refer to our
+army officers and their families, with some degree of aspersion, saying
+they were too proud and would not speak to common folk; that they were
+aristocrats, and much other nonsense. Possibly their isolated condition
+when I was in the service, gave some color to such accusations, but as
+far as I can estimate them, if they are an aristocracy, it is an
+aristocracy of merit; of intellect; of honor; of integrity; of loyalty;
+of a strong sense of duty and many other worthy qualities that mark them
+as distinguished from any other kind of aristocracy we have in this
+country, and I think particularly from our so-called aristocracy of
+wealth, so often associated with snobbery, and whose daughters so often
+present the nauseating spectacle, of trading themselves off to some
+degenerate and profligate descendant of inherited title and giving a
+million to boot.
+
+Just now, 1918, we hear a great deal about the army and the necessity of
+increasing its numbers, and much about its officers, but do we ever hear
+anything about the officers' wives? They may not be of great importance
+now, but how was it forty or fifty years ago? At that time the great
+western half of our country was practically unsettled. There were few
+railroads, and no transcontinental line until 1869. Denver and Santa Fe
+were considered mere trading posts. There were only two overland stage
+lines and no settlements of consequence. The military posts were
+scattered over this vast region, separated from each other by many miles
+of distance and the ever present danger of attack from Indians. How
+about the wives of the army officers of that day, who shared with their
+husbands the dangers and hardships of frontier life? I wish here to pay
+my tribute to one who shared with me all of the sorrows, and most of the
+hardships herein related, and many others not considered of sufficient
+importance to mention. One who seldom complained; whose courage never
+faltered; whose abiding faith often prompted her to say, "It will all
+come out for the best in the end."
+
+Thus, we have traveled along life's pathway, with its joys and sorrows,
+until now we realize that we have crossed the divide, and are going down
+the western slope. The shadows are growing longer, the valley is not far
+distant, night is coming on, it will soon be taps and the lights will go
+out.
+
+
+
+
++---------------------------------------------------+
+|Transcriber's note:                                |
+|                                                   |
+|Obvious typographical errors have been corrected.  |
+|                                                   |
++---------------------------------------------------+
+
+
+
+
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