ay. In both cases the Indians were so close that the faces
of both men were badly powder burned. A slug struck the wrist and an
arrow pierced the body of Private Shea, hurling him to the bottom of
the ravine.

But the soldiers were not idle. Guns from each side were thrust
through every loophole or crevice and discharged blindly. In this
desperate method of fighting, the Indians, being contracted within the
circle, suffered the more. While some were fighting thus, others were
tearing down the rocky wall with hands and bayonets. A breach was soon
made, and through it the soldiers streamed. The Indians, after one
hasty volley, fled precipitately. The last man to leave the fort was
the chief, Sa-hei-ta. As he leaped over the wall Crook's unerring
Spencer sent a bullet into his spine, and he fell dead at the bottom of
the ravine. The fort had been defended by at least fifty {309}
Indians, and there were fifteen dead bodies in it. Among these was
that of the chief medicine man.

The soldiers ran to the western wall, and through loopholes opened a
fire upon the Indians, who had joined their fellows in the other forts.
The fire was fiercely returned. About nine in the morning one of the
infantrymen, peering through a small crevice in the rock, found his
view obstructed by a small weed. In spite of Parnell's caution, he
uprooted it, leaving quite an opening, in which he was completely
exposed. He was shot through the head instantly and fell
unconscious.[1]

The wounded, of which there were a number, were now taken to the camp
about 11 A. M. The fire of the Indians having slackened, Crook,
leaving a detachment in the fort, withdrew the rest of the men to the
camp for breakfast. The Indians took advantage of this opportunity to
charge the fort. The few defenders were driven out of the
fortification and Sergeant Russler was killed, the third sergeant to
lose his life that day! Rallying on the banquette, upon the return of
the others, they in turn drove the Indians out of the fort. Neither
party could occupy it all day long. The soldiers clung to the platform
covering their dead in the fort on one side, while the Indians from the
forts on the other side prevented the soldiers from re-entering.

It was not until nightfall that the dead could be withdrawn. The
soldiers re-occupied the fort at night, and although the Indians sent
frequent volleys of arrows, which they shot into the air, hoping they
would {310