A CLOSE CALL FOR GENERAL SHERMAN 



Lieutenant J. H. Sands, U. S. A. 



IT was in the spring of '71, while I 

 was stationed with my company, 

 "F" of the Sixth Cavalry, at 

 Fort Griffin, Texas, that I saw one of 

 the saddest and most harrowing" trage- 

 dies of my army experience. General 

 Sherman, then in command of the 

 army, was on a tour of inspection to 

 the different posts in the southwest, 

 and had been sojourning at Griffin 

 somewhat longer than usual, to pro- 

 cure the necessary rest from a long 

 trip over the plains. 



He contemplated going from Grif- 

 fin to Fort Sill, in the Indian Terri- 

 tory, and I had been detailed, with 

 my company, to act as an escort to 

 that point, starting one day later 

 than he did, to overtake him at Jacks- 

 boro and relieve the escort he had 

 procured previous to reaching our 

 post. We did some excellent march- 

 ing the first day and had hardly be- 

 come settled in camp when a courier 

 arrived from General Sherman, who 

 had preceded us some 50 miles, with 

 the information that a party of Gov- 

 ernment contractors, with supplies, 

 had been massacred by the Indians 

 directly on our route. We were or- 

 dered to make a forced march so as 

 to reach the scene at daybreak. 

 Boots and saddles soon drew us into 

 line and after marching all night we 

 reached the scene of the killing. And 

 such a sight ! Some 12 or 14 wagons 

 had constituted the train. The mules 

 had no doubt been stampeded, with 

 the exception of several that were 

 pierced by arrows and lay as they 

 fell in the harness. Everything was 

 in disorder, burning wagons and pro- 

 visions were scattered over the plain 

 for a radius of a hundred feet, while 

 here and there, in groups, lay the 

 bodies of the men, 14 in all, transfixed 

 by arrows, with evidence that a reek- 

 ing scalp had been torn from each 

 head. I counted on one body nine 

 arrows, probably the result of a des- 

 perate resistance. 



The most sickening sight was of one 

 large man who no doubt had endeav- 

 ored to sell his life dearly. He had 

 been chained to the spokes of a wag- 

 on-wheel, and after being scalped 

 had been roasted alive as his black- 

 ened and charred body showed. 



Our first duty was to bury the bodies, 

 which we did that day. Toward even- 

 ing General McKenzie,with a detach- 

 ment of the Fourth Cavalry, arrived, 

 taking up the trail of the murderers 

 which led on to the Kiowa Reserva- 

 tion near Fort Sill, I. T. 



Investigation proved that old 

 " Satanta," then the head chief of the 

 Kiowas, with a portion of his band, 

 had done the killing. He was .sub- 

 sequently tried, with a sub-chief, and 

 both sentenced to imprisonment for 

 life. The sub-chief, en route to jail, 

 stabbed a corporal who had them in 

 charge, though not seriously, and was 

 in turn shot dead by one of the 

 escort. 



Satanta served several years in 

 close confinement but was released 

 on good behaviour only to resume 

 his old occupation, and another 

 bloody path marked his raids among 

 the settlers. He was again corralled, 

 the "poor Indian" again receiving 

 the unjust (?) sentence of imprison- 

 ment for life ; but finally, in an effort 

 to escape, fell from a window, sustain- 

 ing injuries that resulted in his In- 

 coming a "good Indian," much to 

 the satisfaction of the people of 

 Northern Texas. 



The site of this, one of the many 

 horrible attrocities committed by In- 

 dians in that section, is now called 

 "Bloody Prairie," from this massa 

 and is some 50 miles southwest from 

 Jacksboro. General Sherman often 

 congratulated himself that In- had 

 found such pleasant quarters at Grit- 

 fin, for had he started one day soon< r 

 no doubt he would have suffered the 

 fate of the founders of " Bloody 

 Prairie." 



