No one will question the sweeping assertion that the grittiest band of American fighters that history tells us of was that which defended the Alamo. They surpassed by one Leonidas and his Spartans; for the Greeks had a messenger of defeat, the men of the Alamo had none. But close on the heels of the gallant Travis and his dauntless comrades came “Sandy” Forsyth’s original “Rough Riders,” who immortalized themselves by their terrific fight on Beecher’s Island on the Arickaree Fork of the Republican River, in Eastern Colorado, in the fall of 1868. The contagion of the successful Indian attacks on Fort Phil Kearney had spread all over the Central West. The Kansas Pacific was then building to Denver, and its advance was furiously resisted by the Indians. As early as 1866, at a council held at Fort Ellsworth, Roman Nose, head chief of the Cheyennes, made a speech full of insolent defiance. [Illustration] CAPT. LOUIS H. CARPENTER LIEUT. FREDK. H. BEECHER[29] MAJ. GEORGE A. FORSYTH SCOUT JACK STILLWELL BEECHER’S ISLAND FIGHTERS _All contemporary portraits except Stillwell’s_ “This is the first time,” said the gigantic warrior, who was six feet three and magnificently proportioned,[28] “that I have ever shaken the white man’s hand in friendship. If the railway is continued I shall be his enemy forever.” There was no stopping the railway. Its progress was as irresistible as the movement of civilization itself. The Indians went on the war-path. The Cheyennes were led by their two principal chiefs, Black Kettle being the second. We shall see subsequently how Custer accounted for Black Kettle. This story deals with the adventures of Roman Nose.