through an unexplored country northwest for old Fort Benton, on the upper
Missouri. The journey was not without its perils. Our only guide was my
compass; we knew nothing of the natural obstacles that we must encounter;
the Indians were on the warpath, and our course led us through the very
heart of their country. Luckily for us they were gathering their clans
into one great army for a descent upon the posts that we had left behind;
a little later some three thousand of them moved upon Fort Phil Kearney,
lured a force of ninety men and officers outside and slaughtered them to
the last man. This was one of the posts that we had inspected, and the
officers killed had hospitably entertained us.

In that lively and interesting book, "Indian Fights and Fighters," Dr.
Cyrus Townsend Brady says of this "outpost of civilization":

"The most careful watchfulness was necessary at all hours of the day and
night. The wood trains to fetch logs to the sawmills were heavily guarded.
There was fighting all the time. Casualties among the men were by no means
rare. At first it was difficult to keep men within the limits of the camp;
but stragglers who failed to return, and some who had been cut off,
scalped and left for dead, but who had crawled back to die, convinced
every one of the wisdom of the commanding officer's repeated orders and
cautions. To chronicle the constant succession of petty skirmishes would
be wearisome; yet they often resulted in torture and loss of life on the
part of the soldiers, although the Indians in most instances suffered the
more severely."

In a footnote the author relates this characteristic instance of the
Government's inability to understand: "Just when the alarms were most
frequent a messenger came to the headquarters, announcing that a train _en
route_ from Fort Laramie, with special messengers from that post, was
corraled by Indians, and demanded immediate help. An entire company of
infantry in wagons, with a mountain howitzer and several rounds of
grapeshot, was hastened to their relief. It proved to be a train with mail
from the Laramie Commission, announcing the confirmation of a
'satisfactory treaty of peace with all the Indians of the Northwest,' and
assuring the district commander of the fact. The messenger was brought in
in safety, and _peace_ lasted until his message was delivered. So much was
gained--that the messenger did not lose his scalp."

Through this interesting environment our exp