Page images
PDF
EPUB

come and rob them of the hard-earned and ghastly evidences of their prowess

So decisive an achievement as the battle of the Washita, was not without its sacrifices. Like all other deeds in the records of war, victory and defeat alike close up with a melancholy list of dead and suffering. Of the killed, were Elliott and Hamilton, and nineteen enlisted men. Of the wounded, were Barnitz, seriously but not mortally, and thirteen enlisted men.

The loss sustained by the savages, was one hundred and three warriors left on the ground. In property, eight hundred and seventy-five horses, ponies, and mules; two hundred and fortyone saddles, some of very fine and costly workmanship; five hundred and seventy-three buffalo robes; three hundred and ninety buffalo skins for lodges; one hundred and sixty untanned robes; thirty-five revolvers; forty-seven rifles; thirty-five pounds of powder; one thousand and fifty pounds of lead; four thousand arrows and arrow-heads; seventy-five spears; three hundred pounds of bullets; four hundred and seventy blankets; seven hundred pounds of tobacco; besides axes, bullet-moulds, lariats, saddle-bags, &c.

Having no means of transportation, the bulk of these captures were destroyed in the village before leaving. Among the warriors killed, were sixteen chiefs, including Black Kettle and and Little Rock, two of the most influential warriors among the Cheyennes. Three squaws and three children, one boy and two girls, were wounded.·

The banks of the Washita were silent. The charred remains of the village, and the stark corpses of the warriors, were the only vestiges of Black Kettle's band. The wolf, prowling in the midst of the blackened ruins of the Indian lodge, now alone disturbed the solitary haunts of the once proud and fierce warrior.

CHAPTER XIX.

RETURN OF THE TROOPERS FROM BATTLE-A SCALP DANCE-SAFE ARRIVAL OF THE VOLUNTEERS-A GENERAL EXPEDITION.

COURIER having arrived at the camp with the announcement that Custer's column would be in that morning, (Dec. 1,) great preparations were made to give a suitable reception. Every one was anxious to

greet the victors of the Washita, and it was with considerable impatience the appearance of the column was looked for. Shortly after the sun had passed meridian, a cluster of dark objects appearing upon the crest of a hill, about a mile distant, accompanied with shouts and the firing of musketry, announced their approach. The mules and horses, grazing in the valleys near by, hearing these unusual sounds, stampeded in great alarm from all directions towards camp. On the summit of the hill the head of the column halted for a few moments. Meanwhile, Sheridan, accompanied by his staff and a number of officers of the garrison, took position in the valley. All the officers and soldiers, not on duty, assembled in the vicinity of the fort to witness the warlike pageant.

The troopers now resumed their march, and as they descended the hill, the flashing of sabres and carbines, and the shouts of the men, were in wild counterpart of the dreary surroundings of their departure a week before.

The column was now within a short distance of the Commanding General. The Indians whooped, the band reiterated the stirring tones of "Garry Owen," and the troopers cheered. In response, rounds of huzzas from the troops of the fort shouted welcome and congratulation. In the advance were the Osage

Indian trailers. Before leaving camp that morning, they had arrayed and decorated themselves in a manner becoming the importance of the occasion. Their faces were fantastically painted, and about their persons dangled the trophies which they had captured in battle. Spears, upon which were fastened the scalps of their fallen foe, were slung upon their shoulders. From their own plaited scalp-locks were suspended long trains of silver ornaments and feathers. Over their shoulders hung shields, and bows, and quivers full of arrows, while in their hands they held their trusty rifle. Even the animals, which the Osages bestrode, were decorated with scalps and strips of red and blue blankets. At the head of the band rode Little Beaver, the chief, with a countenance as fixed as stone, yet in his bearing showing indications of an inward self-glorification, which was, apparently, kept stirring and swelling higher and higher by discharged fire-arms and wild notes of the war-songs, shouted by his warriors. In a moment of enthusiasm, the chief exclaimed, "they call us Americans; we are Osages," to which sentiment went up a responsive yell of approval.

Conspicuous in this party was the young Osage warrior, Koom-la-Manche, (Trotter). It was he, under the impulse of the highest aspiration of Indian valor, who singled out the great chief, Black Kettle, the terror of all the Osages, as his victim. After a severe conflict he reached the crowning point of his efforts and bore away the ghastly scalp of the terrible chief as the trophy attaching to his success. As a mark of special attention, this scalp was carefully and artistically decorated and hung prominently among the most sacred possessions of the young warrior.

At the head of the troops rode Custer, attended by the officers of his staff. Next followed the living evidences of the victory, over fifty squaws and their children, surrounded by a suitable guard, to prevent their escape. These were mounted on their own ponies, seating themselves astride the animals, their persons wrapped in skins and blankets, even their heads and faces being covered, leaving nothing visible but the eyes,

The mothers had their offspring mounted behind them, the papoose being visible only by its diminutive head peering over the back of its mother. As many as three were mounted on some of the ponies. Without a sigh, without a glance to the right or to the left, these remnants of the band of the once powerful Black Kettle, followed with all the submission of captors. Next came the brave officers and men of the different squadrons. The regiment moved up the Beaver, about half a mile from the fort, and there went into camp. The scene, during the remainder of the day, was that of joyous holiday. Officers and men recounted the perils and hardships of the march and the battle, and exhibited the trophies, which had been saved from the burning village. Custer's Sibley-tent raised its cone-like outlines in the center; on the left, a hundred yards off, were the prisoners, the Osages and scouts, in front the long line of picketed horses, and the wall and shelter tents of officers and

men.

On the night after the return of the troops from the Washita, the Indians proposed to celebrate the victory by giving a scalp dance. Shortly after dark a huge fog fire was built upon the banks of the Beaver. A number of officers, including the Commanding General, resorted to the spot to witness, in all its wild originality, this triumphal celebration. The savages were seated around the fire, uttering not a word, and looking the personification of the denizens of some infernal region. Notwithstanding the wintry winds sweeping through the valley, they had dispossessed themselves of their blankets, and about their persons wore the trophies taken in the battle.

At a given signal from the chief, the warriors sprang to their feet and set up wild shouts, accompanied by a violent pounding upon an Indian drum. The young men jumped and danced, and distorted their bodies in every conceivable shape, some yelled furiously, while others chanted a song of triumph or recounted the deeds of daring they had performed. They renewed their declarations of hostility towards the Cheyennes,

and made vows "to be buried deep under the ground before running from their enemies."

During almost the entire night, long after the officers and men, assembled to witness the occasion, had departed, the Indian drum and the shout of the warriors could be heard, borne upon the still air.

During the first few days after their arrival at the Camp of Supply, the captives, taken at the battle of the Washita, manifested evident anxiety. They all expected to be killed in retaliation for the atrocities committed by their people. At first the wounded rebelled against all offers of humanity, in alleviating their sufferings, and would not allow themselves to be separated from their companions, in order to be taken to the hospital, imagining that they were the first singled out for vengeance. Their own camp, for greater safety, being pitched near that of the seventh cavalry, and surrounded by a chain of sentinels, farther excited their uncertainty. To add to this, the soldiers talking amongst themselves, not in the mildest or the most euphonious tones, was construed by the captives into a controversy as to how and when they were to be disposed of.

In constant dread of their fate the sister and niece of Black Kettle visited the headquarters of the Commanding General to ask him "when they were all to be killed." On the assurance that such was not the custom of the white people toward women and innocent children, the two squaws departed with light hearts, and their report soon changed the sullen and drooping spirits of the captives into a high degree of contentment and satisfaction at their change of life, and particularly the abundance of food they enjoyed. The squaws busied themselves in a variety of ways about the camp, while the children amused themselves along the banks of the Beaver, throwing arrows and pitching stones.

I was most struck with the remarkable fortitude exhibited by several Indian children, not over eight years of age, and in the hospital, from wounds accidently received in the fight.

« PreviousContinue »