26 The Rough Riders 



named Holderman. He was an excellent soldier, 

 and for a long time acted as cook for the head- 

 quarters mess. He was a half-breed, and came of 

 a soldier stock on both sides and through both races. 

 He explained to me once why he had come to the 

 war; that it was because his people always had 

 fought when there was a war, and he could not 

 feel happy to stay at home when the flag was going 

 into battle. 



Two of the young Cherokee recruits came to me 

 with a most kindly letter from one of the ladies who 

 had been teaching in the academy from which they 

 were about to graduate. She and I had known one 

 another in connection with Governmental and phil- 

 anthropic work on the reservations, and she wrote 

 to commend the two boys to my attention. One 

 was on the Academy football team and the other in 

 the glee-club. Both were fine young fellows. The 

 football player now lies buried with the other dead 

 who fell in the fight at San Juan. The singer was 

 brought to death's door by fever, but recovered and 

 came back to his home. 



There were other Indians of much wilder type, 

 but their wildness was precisely like that of the cow- 

 boys with whom they were associated. One or two 

 of them needed rough discipline; and they got it, 

 too. Like the rest of the regiment, they were splen- 

 did riders. I remember one man, whose character 



