disappointed. What a sight was here! Four hundred ragged, bare-footed
men, emaciated with fatigue, who had met and worsted the enemy on
three several occasions, marched up in the face of a garrison of 2,000
or more.

I don't know where he got the 2,000 troops, as all the troops when he
reached Fort Connor were two companies of Michigan cavalry, General Connor
then not having reached that post; and when he did, all told there were
not 2,000 troops there. Cole's loss was very light,--nine killed,--while
he claims to have killed from 200 to 500 of the Indians.

It was very evident to me that there was no very severe fighting here; it
was simply a skirmish on a retreat.

Lieutenant-Colonel Walker's column, which started from Fort Laramie on
August 2d, moved up the west base of the Black Hills, and struck Cole's
column on August 20th on what was known as Piney Creek. After striking
Cole's trail he followed it a short distance, and then left it and struck
Powder River, much farther south than Cole had, and on reaching the river
he fell right into the same band of Indians that were gathered along the
Powder River to harass Cole. He, too, was short of provisions, although he
was equipped to travel very rapidly, having all his supplies on
pack-mules. As soon as he got in touch with Cole he joined him and
followed him to Fort Connor. General Connor's idea was to make up a
rapid-moving column of about 1,000 men, using the pack-mules of Walker,
and then combine his and Cole's troops to move on a line farther to the
west and follow these Indians to the British Possessions if necessary. He
had the ammunition, equipment and everything at Fort Connor to fit out
these columns with. As near as they could estimate there were about 6,000
Indians all told.

[Illustration: PUMPKIN BUTTES

Prominent land-mark near where Colonels Cole and Walker fought the Indians
in September, 1865, on Powder River.]

The wagon-road train that started from Sioux City under Colonel Sawyer's
engineering party, with two companies of the Fifth United States Volunteer
Infantry under the command of Captain George N. Williford, that were to
open a wagon-road from Sioux City up the Niobrara River by a short route
to the north end of the Black Hills, intended to cross to Powder River and
then to the south end of the Big Horn Mountains, making a direct emigrant
route into Montana. As soon as I heard of the instructions given this
expedition I go