would be much benefited by even that brief rest. Yet we found in this little semblance of civilization a more stealthy, dangerous and deadly enemy than even the savage Indian on the plain. And the name of that enemy can be expressed in one brief word of three small letters, r-u-m. At the cantonment there were two or three traders that had come up the river in the autumn with a stock of goods. They had many things for sale that the soldiers required. Fur caps, woolen underclothing and other useful articles were among their stores, and at the same time they brought up a stock of liquors. I tried to regulate this liquor traffic in different ways, such as confining the soldiers to malted liquors, beer and wine; allowing only a certain number of drinks in a day; and by various other methods, but during the short time we spent in cantonment we always had more or less trouble. The effects upon the commands were injurious and there were disturbances and breaches of discipline. When we were out in the field where liquors were not allowed to be carried, we had the best discipline and not the least trouble. During all that service the regiment was the best disciplined of all the regiments in the army. This is a matter of official record. There were fewer breaches of discipline, fewer courtmartials and fewer desertions, although the men had every opportunity to desert. Still, in spite of its being the best disciplined, most orderly and easiest-controlled regiment in the United States, whenever it got back to a town or village or military post where the soldiers found themselves in the vicinity of a saloon, trouble was sure to follow.

Probably as many men lost their lives by the use of alcoholic liquors as were killed by the Indians. Several of my men dropped dead in going from a saloon to the camp, but I never knew until afterward that one of the traders had brought up several barrels of what was known as "high wines. He manufactured his gin and different drinks in a cellar, and sold them at every opportunity to these unfortunate soldiers under the name of "liquors," though they were rank poison.

This one evil has resulted in more misery, crime, and death than all other causes combined in the military posts of the western frontier, as well as in the refined communities of civilization. There were three traders at the cantonment; one an old frontiersman, another who had been a kind of contractor, and a third who belonged to a good family in the East. This last was the fellow who was selling the concoctions of "high wines" and drugs.

On returning to the cantonment on the Yellowstone I again reorganized the command for a movement against Crazy Horse and the Cheyennes and

Ogalallas, who, I had been informed, were near the headwaters of the Tongue River, some seventy-five or eighty miles from our cantonment. They had committed many depredations in the vicinity of our cantonment, stealing a good part of what few horses we had, and nearly all the beef belonging to the contractor. These, however, were recaptured, and the expedition started immediately against Crazy Horse's camp.

While these operations were being carried on in that section of the country, General Mackenzie with his command moved up from the south and had a sharp engagement with the Cheyennes on a tributary of the Tongue River where he destroyed most of their camp, but lost Lieutenant McKinney and several men in the engagement. A fort has since been constructed near this battle ground and named Fort McKinney after the gallant young officer who lost his life in that affair.

CHAPTER XVIII.

CAMPAIGN AGAINST CHEYENNES AND OGALALLAS.

FIRST ENCOUNTER

PREPARATIONS THE MARCH EXPERIENCES OF WINTER CAMPAIGNING
THE BATTLE-BIG CROW-BATTLE IN A SNOWSTORM-RETREAT OF THE ENEMY-
BRUGHIER THE SCOUT-COMING IN OF THE INDIANS-CONFERENCE-A
SUICIDE-ORATION OF LITTLE CHIEF-HOSTAGES-SITTING
BULL DECAMPS-FIRST EXPERIMENTS IN FARMING.

N moving up the Tongue River the last of December, I realized that I would need a strong command to encounter the warriors of these two tribes, the Northern Cheyennes and the Ogalailas under Crazy Horse, and the command was organized with that requirement in view. It consisted of four hundred and thirtysix men of the Fifth and the Twenty-second Infantry, and two pieces of artillery. These field guns were concealed by placing bows and spreading canvas over them as is usual for wagon covers, and by moving them with the wagon-train in such a way as to prevent them from being noted as field guns by the Indians.

The snow was then a foot deep on a level, and in many places it proved to be much deeper. The wagon-trains and troops marched over the ice in the valley of the Tongue River, and after considerable delay reached the vicinity of the Indian camp, having a few skirmishes on the way, and being somewhat annoyed by the presence of parties of the enemy. We lost two of our men who were surprised and killed by a small band of Indians. The camp was found to be located on the Tongue River, extending along that stream a distance of three miles above Otter Creek, and as the command approached them, the Indians moved farther up the stream toward the Big Horn Mountains to what they supposed to be a safe distance.

On January 7, following, the advance guard captured a small party of Indians, including one young warrior, four women and three children. This event afterward proved of considerable importance, as they were relatives of some of the most prominent men in the hostile camp. That evening an attempt was made by a band of about three hundred warriors