Among the first serious experiences was that of a construction train near Ogallala, Neb. A party of Sioux decided to capture it and compel it to stop; they massed their ponies on the track, with the result that there were some twenty or more dead horses, without damage of any consequence to the train. The trainmen used their guns and pistols to good advantage, resulting in a number of the Indians being killed. Later on, one of the Sioux of the party, on being interviewed, said, "Smoke wagon, big chief, ugh, no good." At another time, the Indians succeeded in capturing a freight train near Plum Creek and held it and its crew in their possession. General Dodge, the Chief Engineer, with a number of men, train crew, discharged men, etc., was running special, returning from the front to Omaha when the news reached them, and to quote the General's own words: "They (the men on his special train) were all strangers to me. The excitement of the capture and the reports coming by telegraph brought all of them to the platform and when I called on them to fall in and go forward and retake the captured train, every man on the special went into line and by his position showed he had been a soldier. We ran down slowly until we came in sight of the train. I gave the order to deploy as skirmishers, and at the command they went forward as steadily and in as good order as we had seen the old soldiers climb the face of the Kennesaw under fire." The train was quickly recaptured. Another incident occurred in the same locality, four miles west of Plum Creek, in July, 1867. A band of Southern Cheyennes, under Chief Turkey Leg, took up the rails and ties over a dry ravine. It so happened that the train was preceded by a hand car with three section men--encountering the break, the car and men fell into the ravine and one of their men was captured and scalped. In his agony, he grabbed his scalp and got away in the darkness as had his two more fortunate companions. The engineer discovered the break by the light of his headlight, but not in time to stop his train, and the engine and two car loads of brick, immediately following it, toppled into the ravine with the balance of the train, box cars loaded with miscellaneous freight, piled up and round about. The engineer and fireman were caught and killed in the wreck. The conductor, discovering the presence of the savages, ran back and flagged the second section following, which was backed up to Plum Creek Station. In the morning the inhabitants of Plum Creek, together with the train crews, sallied out to give battle with the Indians, but found they had departed. From the cars, they had thrown out boxes and bales, taking from them whatever had struck their fancy. Bolts of bright colored flannels and calicoes had been fastened to their ponies, which streamed in the wind, or dragged over the prairies. Major North and his Pawnees were at the front scattered in small detachments between Sidney and