choppers, under proper officers, were sent into the woods, with no other duty than to fell trees. Mule and ox teams, brought . with us for labor, or, in case of emergency, as a reserve commissariat, with the requisite number of teamsters and laborers, were detailed from the train to drag in the logs as they were cut. Another party of troops, under the supervision of officers, was stationed at the fort, to prepare the logs and move them into position in the structure. A strong guard was stationed in the timber and on the adjacent hills, to signal war-parties, or to repel any attack until the working details could be rallied. for defence. The picture presented in our every-day life, in the depths of our wild home, reminded us more of the first steps to the establishment of a pioneer settlement, than the work of the less peaceful pursuit of war. At sun-rise on each day, the bugle called the various details to their labors. The choppers with axes and rifles, were marched into the woods under escort of the guard. The teams followed with drag-chains clanking. From morning until night the strokes of the chopper's axe and the shouts of the teamsters rang through the silent wood Immense fires were built for the comfort of the men. Occasionally, the sharp crack of the hunter's rifle mingled with the hum of industry. At night, after the hours of toil, the troopers returned to camp, generally bringing in with them goodly quantities of buffalo-meat, elk, deer, antelope, wild turkeys, and rabbits, killed by the guard. It was worthy of remark to see the perfect readiness of the troops to engage in pursuits so novel and entirely out of their line of duty. Their interest was certainly heightened at the prospect of more comfortable quarters than the canvass habitations they were then occupying; and a choice supper of game, in the place of salt pork, was all the more ravenously devoured by an appetite sharpened by the day's toil. The failure of the ten companies of volunteers to make their appearance gave the Commanding General some concern. The regiment had left Topeka on the fifth of November. It was now nineteen days since it had been heard from, and was certainly several days overdue. On the afternoon of the twentyfourth the scouts were ordered out on a reconnoisance, but not to extend further than fourteen miles from camp, in hopes of finding some traces of the regiment. The point at which he proposed establishing his camp was laid down by the Commanding General before starting. This was done, too, as we now found, with remarkable accuracy, particularly as it was without any reliable data. By means of the compass, efficient reconnoisances, and guides experienced in the theory of traversing such monotonous regions as the plains, there seemed to be no question of the prompt arrival of the volunteers. It was known, also, that the rations with which they had started were just sufficient to bring them through, and any unusual delay, such as losing the way, would in all probability be attended -with scarcity and suffering. The same evening the scouts returned, having had a fruitless journey, as far as the missing regiment was concerned, but brought in as a sort of compromise twenty-eight wild turkeys, which had been killed at a "roost" in the woods some distance down the North Fork. From all accounts the promiscuous firing which ensued upon the discovery of the turkeys made it as hot" for man and beast as it was for the turkeys. 66 One old scout observed, "I've a bin a fittin Injuns an' other critters all my life, an' I never seed sich a time. I was a shootin of turkies one minit an a doggin bullets the other minit, an yit no blood spilt. All I got to say, it was lucky for the men ef it wasn't for the turkies." A monstrous eagle was also brought in, measuring seven feet between the tips of the wings. Late in the afternoon of the twenty-fifth the lookout gave an alarm. A scouting party was ordered out at once to reconnoitre. The scouts returned at dusk, and with them one of the companies of volunteers that had left Topeka. The captain halted in front of headquarters, and reported having left the remaining nine companies of the regiment on the Cimmaron two days before, snowed up and entirely out of rations, and hunting buffalo and other game for subsistence. He had been sent ahead in search of the camp of supply and to report the condition of the command. He struck the North Fork some distance below, and in following up discovered a trail in the snow, made by shod horses, which he knew could not be Indians, and pursuing the trail came in sight of the camp. The next day the volunteers, together with the scouts and a train of wagons with supplies, set out for the regiment on the Cimmaron, and to guide it to our camp. Had the volunteers arrived when expected two columns instead of one would have been sent out. Custer operating on one line and Crawford upon another, which would have considerably multiplied the chances of striking a demolishing blow at the power of the warlike tribes. This necessary delay, in a portion of the active operations contemplated by the Commanding General, was not allowed to waste itself in inactivity. To economize in the use of stores almost every day hunting parties were made up and traversed the woods in all directions in the vicinity of camp in search of game. The General was the crack shot, and usually brought in more than his share of the spoils of the chase. The usual sport was Jack rabbit hunting with hounds. The General had with him his stag hound Cynch, a powerful animal, and well trained, and Juno, less powerful, but more fleet, belonging to one of the officers of the staff, also joined in the sport. Starting one fine morning with a party of five, we penetrated the low lands and sand hills along the Wolf river. It was here, in the long grass or knotty brush, the rabbit resorted, as much for protection as for food. In the snow innumerable tracks were visible, leading in every direction. As the hounds ran by sight alone our party separated, and advanced over the ground like a line of mounted skirmishers. After proceeding but a short distance a fine animal was started. A shout was raised, which put the hounds on the alert. They quickly scanned the ground. In a moment their eyes rested on the rabbit, and in a flash both set out in pursuit, followed by the party galloping rapidly, so as to keep in sight and secure the game. After a spirited chase of half a mile the hounds overtook the rabbit. Both sides were pretty well exhausted. By a sudden spring old Cynch neatly caught the animal by the back, which finished him almost instantly. As the result of two hours' sport our party succeeded in "bagging" six. The animals were larger than the "Jack Rabbit" proper, and had a close resemblance in size and structure to the English hare. The twenty-sixth of November, being the day set apart for a National Thanksgiving, the occasion was appropriately celebrated at headquarters in a dinner made up entirely of the productions of the country. We were favored with a good cook, a burly Teuton, rather slow, but possessed a compensating amount of good nature, which enabled him to overlook a few impetuous observations at times, particularly when his pans and kettles were not ready to be put in the wagon in the morning, or, perhaps, the camp-stove was too "heavy" to be handled just at that moment. However the dinner was not only a novelty, but was worthy of all praise as an exhibition of the culinary art. I will give the bill of fare as I took it down at the time: Soup-Wild Turkey. Boiled-Wild Turkey, Buffalo Tongue. Roast-Buffalo Hump, Wild Turkey, Saddle of Venison. Red Deer, Common Deer, Antelope, Rabbit. Entrees-Rabbit Pies, Wings of Grouse, breaded, Turkey Giblets. Broiled-Quails, Pinnatted Grouse. Vegetables (imported)-Canned Tomatoes, Lima Beans. Dessicated Potatoes. Bread-"Hard Tack," plain and toasted, Army Biscuits. The flavor of the game of the country was remarkably fine. The turkey particularly had a richness about it derived from the hackberry upon which it feeds. The "thanksgiving tur key," which we were so fortunate as to possess, weighed thirty pounds dressed. With its plumage it was truly a magnificent bird. Indeed the camp was overstocked with game. Turkeys, buffalo meat, deer, and all the other varieties during the three first days after our arrival went begging. In fact every one soon became surfeited, and returned to salt meat with an evident relish. While the work of building the fort was going on those having a surplus of time on their hands were certainly at no loss how to employ it. A good horse and a rifle were the means of a fund of entertainment of which no one grew tired. The temperature had materially moderated, and the snow during midday on the sheltered sides of hills found a potent enemy in the sun's rays. The weather was delightful though cold. Camp life on the Canadian, isolated entirely from the world as we were, was found a happy episode, away from the noise and bustle of human strife, and full of interesting incidents and days of ease and amusement. |