EPISODE OF FIFTH U. S. CAVALRY 1879

Editor Webb:

The article in a recent issue of the 5^th U.S. Cavalry read by me before the flickering light of a small wood fire down in the "Piney Woods" of Florida awakened memories of the 5^th at White River, Colorado in 79. And again I sat along side my bunkie, huddled under a dog tent, as we watched a wood fire in a small round of stones in front of our tent and he remarked "this beats our last winters "four left" into a sand bank in the Sand Hills." He had no sooner said this then we heard a picket cry out a challenge and a horse was heard coming down the hill and a few moments later splashed across the shallow ford of White River and was coming up the bank, we heard the rider call out, "Orderly Bugler."

The cry brought Col. Merritt to his tent door immediately and the rider proved to be Lieut. Wm. F. Hall, Regimental Quartermaster, who jumping off his horse, stated his errand.

In a few minutes, "Boots and Saddles" rang out and we raced to our herd, brought in our horses. Saddled up and fell into line and with Lieut. Hall leading began a night ride Indian file, time about 10 p.m. in late October.

Sometime after midnight we came to a halt on finding we had lost contact with the company ahead of us.

It seems the last rider in the Company in front of us discovered he was riding blind with no one in front of him, and on halting, so advised our Capt. Augur. It was therefore decided to stand to horse and wait to day break. At dawn we back tracked and found that the rider who reported himself as lost had crossed a ravine, while the preceding riders had turned at right angles and ridden up the ravine and this we now did also. Coming out on to a hillside we soon saw a long distance away in the valley a Cavalry troop and on their near approach it proved to be Troop B of the 5^th, and on the back of a horse was bound the body of Lieut. Weir, naked but not scalped.

A few days before this ride of ours Col. Merritt ordered Troop B to advance towards Grand River, or Green River, to find a plausible way should it be found necessary for a quick movement of his command in that direction. Accompanying Troop B under his orders were Quartermaster Hall, Lieut. Weir and Ex-Sergeant Major Yuma. Lieut. Weir was an unassigned 2^nd Lieut. Fresh from West Point who came with the consent of Col. Merritt came with us when we left Ft. Russell under orders to effect the rescue of three of our 5^th Cavalry Troops corraled by Ute Indians at Milk River, Colorado.

This rescue was accomplished on October 5^th. Yuma had been discharged in the field and on account of his experience and expert markmanship was employed by Col. Merritt as a Scout. The talk about the Camp was that Lieut. Weir was placed in Lieut. Hall's care and that under no circumstances were they to leave the troop to hunt. Evidently if this was the instructions the death of Lieut. Weir occurred as a result of the disobedience of orders.

Hall, Wier and Yuma while hunting deer, ran into a Ute Indian picket of seven Indians and Wier was killed by the first shot from them.

Yuma let his horse go, and took to the brush fighting on foot. Hall kept to his horse and succeeded in getting away and rode into our Camp for help.

Resuming our march now with Troop B and Wier's body we returned to Headquarters Camp and the officer in command reported to Col. Merritt. Col. Merritt, always a very soft spoken man and soldier, we heard gave his reprimand for not bringing in Yuma in no gentle tones, and in consequence, after a night's rest we started out again this time to find Yuma.

On our second morning out, we saw some Indians at a distance on a hillside and we got ready for trouble. The Indians dismounted and signaled for a parley. Two of them advanced on foot and a Lieut. And Bugler of ours walked out to meet them.

One out them turned out to be a white man, a Commissioner ordered out from Washington to negotiate the surrender of Mrs. Meeker and her daughter who had been captured by the Utes when they sacked the Ute Indian Agency on White River, killing the agent, Meeker, and all other whites except Mrs. Meeker and daughter whom they forced into captivity.

The Commissioner brought the parley to an abrupt end when he tried to place the blame of the deaths of Wier and Yuma on the soldiers.

Shortly after this they showed us the body of Yuma, which as I remember, was buried where it fell. It was reported that Yuma killed three of the Utes before they got him.

We returned again to Headquarters and now began to settle for the winter. Snow had not come as yet. The ground was dry. Weather clear and cold. We cut logs on the hills and made shacks for four men to each, about eight feet square with stone chimneys all of our own architectural design. Our entire furnishings consisted of bunks on each side of the rooms supported by forked willow, covered with small willow branches and snake wood from the hills for a mattress.

The Indians had left plenty of cattle behind them when they fled with which we supplied ourselves with [ ] very generously killed by Chris [ ] whom we especially relied for [game] when in the field. For stable[ ] our horses, we cut and planted [ ] willows in trenches, bringing the tops together for a roof which served very well until the roof gave way under the weight of heavy snows. Our horses like ourselves were hardened to cold and exposure and lived through that winter minus flesh and [pl ] bones and hair.

We lost [one] man from our troop that winter by fever, and had to ride horses over the trail of snow very deep to a neighboring hillside for burial. Lieut. Foster spoke the Episcopal burial service, a distinct compliment to his early religious training as there was not a Bible in the Camp. The ground was frozen too hard to dig a grave so we laid his body on top of the frozen ground and the Infantry which remained after we left for Ft. D.A. Russell said they would bury his bones. The coyotes would do the rest.

We left on March 31^st for Russell and as so many became snow blind the first few days we rode for a time at night at [eight] until we got away from the [snow fields]

[ ] ed to runners under[ ] and with riders on the side of the trail steadying the heavy loads by holding to ropes against their slipping and swaying we got along fairly well.

Occasionally one would tip over and then the mess of lifting and reloading it was done with the use of much polite language common to old time Cavalry men in time of trouble.

Winding up the memory trail, I feel that if this comes to print, that Sergeants Madsen and Hauser can recall this picture of '79 more vividly and accurately than I have portrayed it. And perhaps Sergeant Madsen will hear again the night howling of the big timber wolves easily seen from our Camp on moonlit nights as they darklined the white snow on the foot hills.

And perhaps remember when he went at midnight in his underclothes to the log crossing at the river to try for an engagement with a mountain lion whose appealing cry brought him out from under his blankets.

Sincerely,
Wallace "A" of the Fifth. 79.