aggressors in the direction of the Beaver, took their horses and rations, destroyed two wagons, and killed five of them, the remainder escaping.

The story told by the squaw is corroborated in the account of an inquiry made by an employee of the government who was in charge of the agency to which the Sioux returned after their summer's campaign through the Republican valley. From an interview with Spotted Tail' it was gathered that the Indians, some time in the month of August, attacked a party of about twelve surveyors near Beaver creek, and succeeded in killing six. The balance of the party retreated and entrenched themselves. Subsequently the Indians attacked them, but were repulsed with a loss of three killed. Spotted Tail reported that he did not know what became of the other whites, but thought they may have been killed by another band of savages. Another Indian told of the killing of eight whites on the Beaver and the escape of three others, of whose subsequent fate he did not know. This party had one wagon, which was run into the creek. Still another account of the affair is that, while Pawnee Killer's band was crossing the hills south of the mouth of Red Willow creek, on their way to the Beaver, they discovered a party of six white men with a team. A charge was made in which three Indians were killed. The whites finally gained the timber on Beaver

'Spotted Tail, or Sentegaleska, was chief of the Brulé Sioux who were settled at an agency on Beaver creek-now in Sheridan county-in 1874. By virtue of a protest by the state of Nebraska that they were trespassers on her soil, they were removed in 1877. (Laws of Nebraska 1875, p. 338; History of Nebraska, v. 3, p. 369.) The location was also called Camp Sheridan, because a detachment of soldiers was kept there to restrain the Indians who were inclined to hostility. Spotted Tail had the reputation of being so loyal to the whites as almost to imply his disloyalty to his own people; but probably he deserves the benefit of the doubt and to be credited with wise and impartial statesmanship. Dr. George L. Miller, editor of the Omaha Herald, in its weekly issue of September 4, 1874, said: "He is the truest friend of the white man and of peace on these borders that ever lived."-ED.

creek, where they made a stand. The Indians, in the meantime, had increased their force to two hundred warriors. Frequent and desperate charges were made on the white men during the entire afternoon, and about sunset the last of the six was killed and scalped. Pawnee Killer, who led the fight in person, said the whites were very brave, and that many of his warriors were wounded. The three Indians killed were buried in trees on the south side of the Republican, just above the mouth of Red Willow creek.

While these accounts, in some respects, seem irreconcilable, there can be little doubt that they are of the same affair. As the Buck party was the only party of white men in this vicinity at that time, and as all of its members disappeared, we are bound to believe-unless we concede that these stories are pure fabrications-that they were the victims of the tragedy recorded. Search for the bodies was made in the fall of 1869, but without avail. Recent investigation leaves no room for question that the last stand of the whites was made at a place on the banks of Beaver creek, in Red Willow county, but where their bones lie now, no one knows.

DAUGHERTY'S BATTLE WITH THE INDIANS

It was probably after the massacre of the Buck party when, on the twenty-first day of August, 1869, W. E. Daugherty, who was in the field with a party of surveyors, had an encounter with the Indians. About six o'clock in the morning a small band of savages dashed into the surveyors' camp, shot one of their horses and stampeded the rest, which, however, were soon recaptured. The whites, realizing that they were in the vicinity of a large body of Indians, decided to go to the nearest place on the Platte river where they could secure arms and ammunition for the purpose of equipping themselves, so as to be prepared to resist an attack. They had not proceeded far until they were sur

rounded by about one hundred and seventy-five Indians. Knowing them to be hostile, and that it would be useless to try to escape, the surveyors concluded to stop and to make the best defense they could. They turned their horses loose, and while the Indians were pursuing the animals the whites sought to entrench themselves. Daugherty himself has left the following description of the battle:

"As soon as they got the stock they surrounded us and fought us in Indian style all day. Fortunately, none of us was seriously hurt, though one of the men was slightly wounded in the forehead by a glancing shot, and my brother was disabled for duty by the explosion of a cartridge in his face, which blinded him so he could not see for nearly the whole day. We disabled several of their horses and know that we shot twelve Indians, three of whom we know were killed-two of them lay in our sight all day, they not venturing to take them away until dark. Although their bullets rained around us all day like hail, not a man flinched, nor do I think one felt the least despondent. About dark they ceased firing and seemed by their actions to be stationing sentinels in squads at different points, sounding as though the main body was stationed at a point about one hundred and fifty rods southwest of us, in a ravine. About dark we commenced digging with more energy to make them believe we intended to stay there; but at half past nine o'clock we left our little fort by crawling on our bodies about a mile, which we thought extremely dangerous, as the moon shone and it was almost as light as day, and we expected to crawl upon the Indians every moment. But we did not, and as soon as we had left a ridge of land between us and the Indians we skedaddled the best we could and arrived safely at the river the next day. I lost the entire outfit, not excepting anything. My brother and two other men are now out with a party of cavalry helping to rescue a part of our outfit."

This fight is believed to have taken place in southern Chase or northern Dundy county; but, as has been said, it is not known exactly where it occurred.

THE ROYAL BUCK EXPEDITION

The incidents that have been recounted have a passing interest, because nothing that has to do with men is without interest; but they left no permanent mark upon the land, and were it not for the fact that we find in the dust-covered volumes of our libraries recital of their occurrence we would not, to-day, know they had happened.

In the fall of 1871 a corporation called the Republican Valley Land Company was organized in Nebraska City for the purpose of exploiting the resources of southwestern Nebraska. Among the incorporators were J. Sterling Morton, whose name is so intimately identified with the early history of eastern Nebraska, and W. W. W. Jones, who afterwards was state superintendent of public instruction. On the ninth day of November, 1871, a party of nine men, including officers and stockholders of the company, started from Nebraska City for the mouth of Red Willow creek. They traveled by railroad as far as Sutton, which was then the terminus of the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad; there they overtook their wagons, which had been sent on ahead to await their coming, and continued the journey in them. At that time the grading for the railroad between Sutton and Fort Kearny was nearly completed, but there were no towns in all that stretch of country. Settlers' cabins were scattered along the way, but beyond the fort few of these, even, were to be seen.

Royal Buck, who was a member of the party and who afterwards settled in the valley, where he resided for a number of years and became an influential citizen, kept a diary10 in which he described the trip. His story is one of fascinating interest. The weather in the early winter of 1871 was unusually severe. One storm after another swept

10 A transcript of this diary is in the library of the Nebraska State Historical Society.-ED.

over the prairies. A tent was the only shelter for the men, while the horses were tied on the lee side of the wagons. A number of hunters were caught in the fearful storms, and the explorers passed many of them eastward bound, loaded with meat. They suffered from the severe cold, as few of them were prepared for it. None had tents, and only a part Mention is made of one party

of them had sufficient food. that had nothing to eat but corn and meat and so substituted parched corn for bread. The Buck party gave them a few quarts of beans and sent a pot of coffee to their camp, receiving in return a stock of buffalo meat. In another party there was a man who had been lost on the prairies in the storm and was badly frozen. He had been found accidentally as he was in his last sleep. Once, when storm-bound, for lack of a stove the men filled a camp kettle with coals, and stood, shivering, over it. Two of them extemporized a checker board on the end of a cracker box, and at that game whiled away the hours.

The almost daily program was to arise about four o'clock in the morning, breakfast, feed their horses and be on their way as soon as it was light enough to see. Sometimes they camped at noon for lunch, and sometimes they pushed on till night. Sometimes the weather compelled them to lie by for a few hours. Game was plentiful, and when they were in the western country not a day passed that they did not see buffaloes, deer, elks, antelopes and wild turkeys. On the twenty-second day of November they reached Red Willow creek, and for several days camped on its banks. They selected a site for a town, and every member of the party chose a claim. To show of what stuff these men were made, I quote from the diary:

I take spade and stakes and go out to plant peach pits and bulbs found in my carpet bag and wend my way to selected homestead, select the ground and shovel off the snow spade up a trench about ten feet long, plant in tulip