(78)AT the meeting called to organize a military company as related in Chapter XIII, the question of the best method of defending the new settlements from Indian raids was taken up and fully discussed. Twice within ten months the Indians had raided the settlements. It was believed that they would come again before spring, especially if the winter should be mild and open, and that they would come in force. It was therefore decided to send some one to Omaha to lay the matter before General Augur, the commander of the Department of the Platte, and ask for arms and ammunition and a company of cavalry to protect the frontier settlements. It was decided to send A. J. Leach upon this mission, for the reason that he had resided in Omaha and was therefore somewhat acquainted with some of the leading citizens whose influence could be had in behalf of the settlers, if needed. He started the next morning and drove to Norfolk, which was at that time the county seat of Madison County. At Norfolk Mr. Samuel Thatch, county clerk of Madison County, drew up a paper setting forth the facts in the case. This paper stated that the settlers were wholly without protection; that they were poorly armed, many not being armed at all; that the settlements were very much scattered, and that they had twice been raided recently by marauding Indians. The paper was signed by Colonel Mathewson and by nearly all the county officials of Madison County. Armed with this document, Mr. Leach drove to Fremont, where he left the team and proceeded to Omaha by railroad. On reaching Omaha he first called upon Brigadier-General O. P. Hurford, who (79) was in command of the state militia. General Hurford strongly recommended that the Elkhorn Guards should join the state militia, saying that he could then arm them with Springfield rifles and furnish them with all the needed ammunition. This proposition did not suit, chiefly because the Springfield rifles were old, muzzle-loading guns, and further because there would be a good deal of delay, as the guns could not be issued until the company was regularly mustered in and a second trip would have to be made to get the guns and ammunition. General Hurford then agreed to go with Mr. Leach to see General Augur.

     At first the meeting with General Augur was not at all satisfactory. He said he had received orders recently to issue no more arms to the settlers, and that he had no soldiers under his command that could possibly be spared through the winter. However, on hearing that the settlers had recently been in a fight with the Indians, and that one or more of the Indians had been killed in the fight, he took a different view of the matter. He said he would do what he could for their protection; that although he could issue no new arms, there were a lot of guns already out that had been issued to the settlers of Merrick County before this order was given, and that he would call these in and ship them to Fremont, with ammunition, at once. He therefore immediately dispatched Colonel Litchfield to Lone Tree to gather up the guns. He directed Mr. Leach to wait at Fremont for them. General Augur, however, blamed the settlers for getting into a fight with the Indians. He said that they should have reported the matter at once to him instead of taking it into their own hands. But since they did follow and overtake the Indians he did not blame the settlers for giving them all the punishment they could. He greatly feared that the Indians would return to Cedar Creek for revenge, and advised that a guard be kept all winter in that neighborhood. He also promised to send up a company of cavalry at any time it should be needed and requested, that the settlers should keep him posted as to how things were going. 

     (80) Only two or three days later fifty stand of needle guns and two thousand rounds of cartridges were shipped to Mr. Leach at Fremont and thence were taken by him to Antelope County by team. These guns were the old-style three-band rifled muskets, caliber 50-70. They had been made over info breech-loading guns and were a very effective arm, but too long to be handily used on horseback. These guns were never recalled by the government, and some of them are still in the possession of members of the old military company and are greatly valued by them as mementoes of the by-gone days. The guns and ammunition were left with Captain Hopkins and by him distributed to the members of the company.

     There was no more trouble with the Indians that winter. In the more exposed settlements some of the settlers moved down the valley for the winter, and others got together, two or three families occupying one house, for mutual protection. In the Cedar Creek settlement there were eight men who remained through the winter, six with families and two single men. These got together and occupied three houses in this settlement. A man was sent out on horseback every day all winter to scour the surrounding country, looking for signs of Indians.

     But everything passed off quietly, excepting on one occasion. John Beeman of Ord township, while out hunting one day, came in greatly agitated, saying that he had been shot at by Indians. He showed where one bullet had passed through his cap, just missing his head, and one or two others had hit his clothing, but luckily he was not wounded. Captain Hopkins called out thirty-two of his men, and, with Beeman as guide, spent about two days in an effort to trail them, but without success. Finally, on going into camp at night, some of the men, suspecting that it was a "put-up job," placed Beeman on the witness-stand and made him own up that he had seen no Indians. He stated that he had taken that course to get one of the government guns. It was intended to go to a near-by pond the next morning, cut a hole in the ice, and put Beeman (81) under a time or two. However, early next morning he eluded them and was nearly half a mile from camp, pointing for home, before he was discovered. They let him go.

     There was no trouble from the Indians from this time on until the spring of 1872, when Richard Moffatt lost three horses and A. H. Brown two, and it was supposed at that time that they were taken by Indians, but there was no positive evidence of it. Sheriff Hopkins summoned a number of men and followed the trail to where they had forded the Niobrara River, when the chase was given up. These horses were not recovered. There was at least as much evidence to indicate that the thieves were white men as that they were Indians. Moffatt lived just north of the present site of Oakdale, while Brown lived in Frenchtown, and the country was pretty well settled for twenty-five miles up the Elkhorn River beyond Moffatt's place. No Indians had been seen anywhere in the country, and there were no signs of them anywhere in the settlements. Besides, Indians would hardly have ventured twenty-five miles into the settlements to steal horses. They would have taken those nearest to the frontier.

     In the spring of 1874 there were six horses taken from the French settlement, three belonging to F. X. Patras, two to Eugene Grenier, and one to A. A. Sloan. They were taken to the Rosebud reservation and the Indian agent, hearing about it, took them from the Indians and turned them over to the military authorities at Fort Randall. They were afterwards turned over to A. A. Sloan, who brought them back and delivered them to the owners. After this there were no more depredations committed by marauding Indians, and all fear of them soon passed away.