FAST TIME 81 



marched back to Fort Reno, a distance of one hundred 

 and fifteen miles by ordinary marches. All but one horse 

 seemed to be rested when we reached Caldwell. This 

 horse was unserviceable when we reached Fort Reno, the 

 others were apparently as good as ever. The above is 

 a record of the hardest ride I ever undertook. The fa- 

 tigue was very great ; but a good night's rest completely 

 restored all of us. 



" At that time our mounts were purchased in Missouri 

 and Kansas. The horse I rode was twelve years old ; the 

 others were a little younger. I think that the horse that 

 was rendered unserviceable was made so by bad riding. 

 His rider was not a very good horseman, and rode too 

 heavily forward. I tried to correct this, but it is impossi- 

 ble to teach all the niceties of horsemanship on such a 

 trip." 



In 1870 four men of Company H, First Cavalry, bore 

 despatches from Fort Harney to Fort Warner, one hun- 

 dred and forty miles, over a bad road — twenty of it sand 

 — with little and bad water, in twenty-two hours, eighteen 

 and a half of which was actual marching time. The horses 

 were in such good condition at the end of the ride that 

 after one day's rest the men started back, and made the 

 home trip at the rate of sixty miles a day. In 1879 Cap- 

 tain Dodge, with his troop, rode eighty miles in sixteen 

 hours, and Lieutenant "Wood, with his troop, rode seventy 

 miles in twelve hours. In December, 1890, Captain Fechet, 

 with troops F and G, Eighth Cavalry, left Fort Yates at 

 midnight, reached Sitting Bull's camp, forty-five miles dis- 

 tant, at 7.20 A.M., drove off his band, and rescued the sur- 

 vivors of the Indian police who had arrested and in the 

 melee killed Sitting Bull. The two troops then scouted 

 the country for ten miles around and marched back, reach- 

 ing Oak Creek at 2 p.m. — a total distance of eighty-five 



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