Show indian scouts to remain in service full pay for life in recognition of heroic services to nation washington alie picture of alie faithful indian scout scanning the mountain peak the country over which a marching column of troops Is to pass riding ahead to warn of the perils of ambush by hostile braves standing at the council fire as interpreter for his white officer and ing the united states army tirelessly and well Is one full of alie fornance nance of the old est whose winning de bonded much on the loyalty of the indians for this reason the last of the in dlan scouts two corporals and nine teen privates are to be retained in service so long as they live accord ing to official word from washington the sentimental considerations con necked with their historical cance have outweighed the fact tint their military importance in an era of tanks tractors airplanes and high power artillery barrages has dwindled to a shadow the band now living much as their ancestors did at fort araz Is the sole surviving regular army unit made up of indians the commanding general of the eighth corps area in which the fort Is local ed recommended that the scouts well disciplined well trained and performing work very efficiently he retained and romance won against suggestions of economy too great a service has been rendered to the coun try by its indian scouts for their list historic band to be dropped from the rolls some of the braves once listed among them have saved thousands of lives by their sagacity in the field and at the council tepee scattered through nil the campaigns that freed the west from the menace of and inife nie records of the indian comrades of the white soldiers and advisers to their leaders A celebrated scout one of the most celebrated govern ment scouts I 1 see 0 or plenty fires died on the reservation at fort sill oua less than a ear ago honored by a special act of congress with the rank of sergeant he was between seventy five and eighty years old and was believed to be the oldest active soldier in the army I 1 see 0 kept the indians of the southwest from themselves into alie fanatical war against the whites that was predel bated lr the ghost dance uprisings of 18 and caused wide bloodshed be fore the revolting warr lois led bv messiah in a concentrated drive to recapture their lands in the middle est met with defeat at the battle of wounded knee A typical representative of the best type of indian scout I 1 see 0 side by side with gen then lieutenant hugh L scott rode into the alowa and comanche territory and by his eloquence persuaded the tribes to remain out of the messiah war scott learned aiom him not only the lan guage and signs of the indians but what was more important obtained a tremendous insight into the character of the red man until 1897 I 1 see 0 ranked as a sergeant in gemeril scotts famous band of scouts when the general heard that his old time ally had fallen on evil days he pre on congress to pass the act ere atlig him a permanent sergeant all regulations of the war department were brushed aside to honor the list soldier of the tribe for vears the old indian sat in his tepee at the fort sill reservation cooking ills meals over an open fire and combing his hilr into long braids the arav gave him a cottage but I 1 0 did not lle in it he used it as a storehouse for the supplies he drew from fhe the white mans nay were not for him in his old age As a boy of sixteen Ix teen at the medicine I 1 odge pow wow he had been appoint ed to the committee which treated over boundaries walli the whites lie had stopped an uprising at the and arke agency and another on the red river he wis the peacemaker al ways seldom the warrior trusted by the red dpn and relied upon by corn manding generals long service in the army there are braves at fort attached to the service troop of the tenth cavalry who have been in gov service tor from ten to forty years who died a year or so ago was more than eighty years old and had served in the pursuit of geronemo Geron it wis a war costing the united states sl in which alie indian scouts were indispensable only indians enrolled in the army could trace the trail of the geronemo Geron and his handful of followers across the deserts of arizona and fur down into the sierra madre range of old mexico where lie was brought to bay close to apaches were sworn into service as scouts and put upon geronemo Geron s track caal camet craw ford in command they followed signs no white man s eye could see and clung like leeches to the heels of the medicine man the govern ment scouts geronemo Geron through new mexico and old mexico until finally they cornered him mex lean troops on the ippie mis took the apache scouts for s hostiles ho stiles and opened fire wounding crawford fatally alie crafty raider fled into the hills on the eve of yielding and the long arduous chase was resumed gen nel son A miles directing the campaign at last it ended with the capture of geronemo Geron and natchez tha hereditary chief of the apaches the manhunt man hunt in which the governments indian scouts biad played so striking and successful a part had lasted for 18 months natchez who was removed to fort sill and classed aj s prisoner of war enlisted in the army as a scout singly and in troops the indian scouts performed a service that can not be overestimated the lives that loyal braves like I 1 see 0 and teaneh jeweh saved through their efforts as peacemakers peace makers the uprisings they prevented the feeling of trust and friend that they inculcated in their fel lows are not to be listed in cut and dried terms of value if the red scouts had not ridden with the troops tn blue if their voices had not been raised in peace parleys and their keen bejes ejes had not been arcs ent to follow trails and spy out am bus cades it might have taken many more ears and many more lives to pacify a west merced periodically by the threat of uprisings the conditions out of which the en grollment roll ment of the gindlin scouts grew may long since have disappeared and military significance kiy have departed but there Is no one who re members the stirring role that hey have played who will not approve of the determination of the war debirt ment to see tint the last of a brave band Is protected to the end |