The Battle of the Big Hole: A History of General Gibbon's Engagement with Nez Percés Indians in the Big Hole Valley, Montana, August 9th, 1877.Shields, G. O. (George O.)
History
The Battle of the Big Hole: A History of General Gibbon's Engagement with Nez Percés Indians in the Big Hole Valley, Montana, August 9th, 1877.
Shields, G. O. (George O.)
Big Hole, Battle of the, Mont., 1877
From the time the last shots were fired, as stated, all was quiet, and
the men got a few hours of much-needed rest, such as it was, for they
had slept but two hours in the past forty-eight. The fight was over;
the enemy was gone. The sun that rose on the morning of the 11th, shone
brightly over as beautiful a valley as the eye of man ever beheld, and
the blackening corpses that lay strewn upon the field were the only
remaining evidences of the bloody tragedy that had so lately been
enacted there.
Acts of personal heroism in the fight were numerous, and it would be a
pleasure to record them all, but at this late date it is impossible to
obtain full particulars of this nature. Among those worthy of special
mention, however, is this same Sergeant Wilson, of Company K, who,
during the fight among the lodges, killed an Indian who was in the act
of aiming at Lieutenant Jacobs, at very short range, and but for the
quickness of Wilson's movements and the accuracy of his aim, Jacobs
would undoubtedly have been killed. Wilson distinguished himself
several times during the day, and is known to have killed several
Indians. Indeed, it is said that his rifle seldom cracked but an Indian
was seen to fall. He was subsequently promoted to regimental
quartermaster sergeant, for gallant and meritorious conduct on that
day.
CHAPTER V.
The Indians claimed after their final surrender that they would have
held Gibbon's command in the timber longer than they did, and would
have killed many more, if not all of them, had they not learned that
Howard was at hand with reinforcements. They admit that they were
warned of impending danger in some form in due time to have avoided a
meeting with Gibbon, but did not heed it. They tell us that on the
evening before the arrival of Gibbon's troops at the Indian camp, a
"medicine man" had cautioned the chiefs that death was on their trail.
"What are we doing here?" he asked. "While I slept, my medicine told me
to move on; that death was approaching us. Chiefs, I only tell you this
for the good of our people. If you take my advice you can avoid death,
and that advice is to speed through this country. If we do not there
will be tears in our eyes."
But the chiefs heeded not his warning. They held a feast and a
war-dance that night, and then lay down to sleep, feeling as safe as
they ever did on their own reservation.
They claim to have received news of Howard's coming in this way:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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