Little Pills, An Army Story

e life, and I wrote to the medical director of the department expressing my wishes in the matter, and my reasons

o go to the Washita agency and make purchases and return the same day. Two of the officers' wives had made the trip and were nearing the head of Cache creek on their return, when they saw the Indians coming. The negro driver urged the mules with such good effect that they reached the timber an

e how recently such horrors have been committed. For

ad two or three men to help about camp. The M., K. and T. railroad was then only finished to Pryor's creek and we had to take a freight train from there to Chetopa, Kansas, the end of the passenger run. We camped at Stearn's ranch the first night out of Fort Sill. As we were starting the following morning we were informed that a dead man had just been found near the road we were to take, and only two or three miles

ould come out to the ambulance I would try and keep the mosquitoes off her until she could get a little rest. We tried that for an hour but had to acknowledge our defeat and we still heard the other women talking in the tent. I was now ready to surrender, so called the sergeant and told him to have the ambulance driver hitch up and we would get out of there and he and the escort could come on when they liked, as we were then away from danger from the Indians. We drove for some time after daylight and found a beautiful camp ground with fine running water and went into camp. The escort was not far behind us-they had also met with defeat. We spent that day and the following night in that camp and had a good rest. The escort had

arly turkeys and prairie chickens. We found the young

ed Camp Limestone in Southeast Kansas in what was then known as the Cherokee neutral lands, about thirty miles south of Fort Scott. It would be close to the railroad and other conveniences and comforts of civilization, and he was sure I would like it, and he hoped there would be an

d Crawford counties and the southern tier of townships in Bourbon county. The land had been sold for the Indians by the government to James F. Joy, representing what was then known as the Kansas City, Fort Scott and Gulf railroad. The settlers thought they should have the righ

was the headquarters, General Neal being in command, but there was a company commander at each camp. We arrived late in the afternoon and went to a house close by and remained there until the mail messenger from the camp should return and report our arrival. In the course of an hour an ambulance came, and we made our way across cou

ces among the Indians. Small game, particularly quail and prairie chickens were plentiful, and wild fowl abundant in season. There being very little to do in a professional way I had plenty of time to indulge in my favorite sport with dog and gun. We had not been at that camp long until Captain Fenton's company was replaced by another company of which Captain (Brev

the principal town in the southeast part of the state we were frequently there to make purchases or for any purpose our wishes might suggest. We boarded the train at a place called Engleton, since changed to Beulah although there was no station or side-track and only one house clo

bridges and other unlawful acts. They were all civil enough to the officers and men of our camp and quite a number were disposed to be friendly. Some of them had contracted their land from the railroad company considering their investmen

rnished it were greatly pleased at getting such a good price for shelled corn. Early in the spring of the year I received orders to take charge of the surgical needs of the camp near Columbus and to make a trip three times each

Columbus was a very gallant officer. He had an excellent record during the Civil war and went with the regiment to Montana. He was engaged in several Indian campaigns and in 1879 was killed in an engagement with hostile Bannock Indians at Clark's Fork of the Yellowstone. He was an

t Hayes for two or three days, and brought with him an excellent setter dog, that could not stand the heat as well as the pointers, but was much more easily controlled. I was a bit amused at his experience while there. When asked at the dinner table the first day if he would be helped to both beef and chicken he replied, "No beef for me while I'm here, I can get all the beef I want at Fort Hayes, I came down her

ow to shoot them. I must tell you about one of my first experiences in chicken-shooting with Mr. Kerr. I happened to see one on the ground and could not resist the temptation and I will never forget the disgusted expression on his face as he turned to me and said, "For God's sake, are you hungry." That one precipitation cured me of shooting birds on the ground, unless I was hungry. Time and practice finally made me a fairly creditable shot but I was never steady in the field or at the t

eeds and training; the loads to be used and the proper proportion of powder and shot. All these things were discussed until we felt we were authorities on the subject but for fear we might be wrong about the powder and shot, we experimented to find if any of the powder left the gun-barrel unburnt, and

its did a large part of the eating. There would be days when all the company would be out shooting rabbits and it was much like the picket firing I had become familiar with in the volunteer service. This was kept up until the r

e same way at Columbus fifty miles away and I presume over a much greater area. But as the season advanced, I would find it raining at Limestone, while on my arrival at Columbus the weather would be clear and dry only twenty miles away. Sometimes

n A. Miles of the Fifteenth infantry and inspector general of the department came and condemned the property. After dinner we played chess until time for him to be taken to the northbound train, and I have often wondere

October, 1898, was military attache at Berlin in 1900 to 1902, promoted to colonel in 1903 and to brigadier general in 1908 and retired from active service in 1909 as brigadier general in the United States Army. He saw much Indian fighting on the frontier, and received numerous medals and honorable mention, in orders from different departme

ds in favor of the railroads. I think the settlers generally felt that the decision would be against them for many of th