The New York Herald Newspaper, July 13, 1876, Page 2

CROOKS CAMP. Realizing the Significance of the Battle on the Rosebud. INEXCUSABLE BLUNDERING. The Sioux Informed of All Crook’s Movements. A Map and Topographical Descrip- tion of the Field. THE FIGHT ON THE LEFT OF THE LINE Exciting Incidents of the Battlh—The Valor of Whites and Reds. A PERILOUS RETREAT. Barbarities by the “Friendly” Indians on the Body of a Sioux Warrior. CROOK'S FORCES HASTILY EQUIPPED Effect of Rumored Peace Movements Upon the Commander. A STRANGE HUNT FOR GOLD. Sioux Spies Watching the Camp on Goose Creek, WAVE THE SIOUX ATTACKED AND CROOK AWAY ? ——-—_—___ Miitany Camp ox Goose Cresk, Wyoming Territory, June 22, 1876. ‘The battle of the Rosebud Hills, on June 17, was of greater importance and significance than at that time Appeared to tho persons engaged in it, not excepting Yhe brigadier goneral commanding, In the haste of Aespatching my telegram ana letter shortly afterward 3 was unable to embody in them all the details, which Sorm either integral or concurrent parts of it and are fssential to its complete comprehension. A brief re- view of the scout, weaving together the odd ends of narrative, will be proper and interest. ing, illustrated by the accompanying maps, carefully prepared with tho assistance of Lieu- tenant Charles Morton, of Colonel W. B. Royall’s stall, whose intrepid presence in the most dangerous portion of the field qualifies him for the tast of sketching its natural features, It was there that Cap- tain Henry’s battalion and Captain Andrews’ company of the Third cavalry bore the brunt of the boldest and ‘most destructive sallies of the Sioux, without the sup- port from the main portion of the command, most of | the time unengaged, which they sorely needed, until too late to prevent the sacrifice of nine soldiers who | ‘Were killed and nineteen who were wounded. All of | the losses were sustained on tho left excepting the dis- ebling of threo ivtantrymen by chance balls on the high blofl in the middle of the fleld. “VLAN OF THE SIOUX ATTACK. The bivouac of June 16 must have been under tho observation of the Sioux spics from evening until morning, A holiow square, marked by the lines of burning piles of cottonwood tagots lit by the solaiers, eXpored the position of each us he ley on his arms in tired slumber, Tickets were stationed on the sur- Founding bills, but their preseuce would not have pre- Vented the enemy trom creeping through the dark | canyons, which intersect the ridges and approaching | within bowshot of the fires. Their forbearance from attack signified a feller purpose. The discovery of a deserted wicky-up, lately occupied, as the halt-burned buffalo meat lying on the ashes showed, reported by the Crows on the previous day, wasasign that they were warned of the approaching force. It is probable, indeed, that they had watched the whole progress of the 16th of June, and that every warrior in the village on the Rosebud cleaned his gun and filled his belt with | cartridges in the evening, expectant of an onslaught upon the white soldiers on the next day. There is no doubt thata deliberme attack was meditated. Tho Indians conceived that by occupying the strongest positions in the region through which the advance would lay, hud it been continued, they would be able to surround the whole command, and perhaps annihi late it betore it could have extricated itself from the natural trap. If any portion of 1 had escaped they could have harassed its retreat until it had reached Fort Fetterman, through a distance of 225 miles. Thet is reason to believe that they had at the commence- ment ot the ight a preposterous confidence in their own strength and superiority as warriors, the result of the precipitate withdrawal of the expedition of last winter from their country. which the battle of the lith occurred doubtless contained nearly all the lodges belonging 10 Bitting Bull's band, although it is believed that a Smaller one exists near the mouth of the Tongue | River, THR SIOUX THERMOPYLA, Long ago a froatier scout named Hank Clifford, who Dad taken a squaw from the Sivux nation, said that be had often heard them declare that it ever the antagon- Jem between them and the whites grow to a final strug- | gle there was s country in the north where | they could take refuge and could never be conquered or dislodged. They would wait there to receive the Tho village near | yim, His platoon was subjected for a few moments toa force sent againss them, and could hope to destroy it | before it could escape. This region they described as extremely rough, where steep ridges, precipices and Geep canyons formed a chaotic surface upon which the force first in possession could fight successfully three _ but at the moment when the order was about to be given times their own number, Clifford believed that it was the Rosebud Mountains to which they referred, as they are nearly impregnabie to an invader, On the morn- ‘wg of the second day atter leaving the supply camp on Goose Creek, the command halted to rest tn the valley of the Rosebud. It was then only in the foot bills of the mountai! Had the Crow scouts performed their duty on the previous night they would have been passed in darkness, for bad General Crook known of the proximity of the Sioux village, the Richmond of his bopes, he would have ordered a forced march in order to effect a surprise. TUR FIRST ALARM. The Sioux having watched the bivowac through their spies until morning dawned, and seeing the preparations for the march, concluded that the \roops would move toward their stronghold during whe day, They massed their warriors on the lofty rests commanding a deep and narrow canyon, two wiles distant frovw the stream; but which is the key of the descent into ite broader valley below, where indoubtedly stood the 800 tepees of Sitting Bull's mud, There were least 2,500 of them, They ¢: great victory, a harvest of whito scalps and ‘heir freedom from dependence on the Great Father The day was bright ond keen, a perfect calm p rvad- og earth and air, and the dark pine bialfs in che north, wt the near extroutity of the Rosebut Mountains, hollow. weemed like smouldering embers, a murky haze en- veloping them. The command bad marched ten tiles, wlen, about cight o'clock, a Crow reported to @everal Crook that he had seen the Sioux herding their Poniee on the hills, and that their village must there fore be near, The scouts were ordered to go again grove and Louissant, performed a spon the uplands and endeavor to espy the topees of Sitting Bull, Meanwhile all the animals were unsaddied pnd allowed to graze, The greatuess of the impending | riding down the side bill, and lying concealed in the | Who beid the last crest. Here the Snakes, led by Cos- NEW YORK HERALD, THURSDAY, , JULY 13, 1876.-WITH SUPPLEMENT. THE BATTLE OF ROSEBUD CREEK. Topographical Sketch of the Scene of General Crook’s Encounter with the Sioux on June 17, 1876. PLATEAU; Ey, yh SE UE <a of, 502 §00 FEY. K +? Seale'~ He Miie ». Ride ) he irae x le. : ey $e ) a ++ aa rj drawh fe ith 4 Su A io si a AN Viet? i SQUADRON cole ? 2, rg iy 2 SS fw Y \ % MG) 1) Zam a re \ THE [Hi NOTE. Sioux INDICATED BY: DOTS FRIENDLY INDIANS BY CROSSES. danger was not surmised, and the intention of the commander was to await, concealed in the valley, more definite information, and then to move forward, Sud- denly rapid shots fired beyond the first rim of hills which confined the view were heard; but it was for the moment supposed that the friendly Indians were chasing buffalo, But soon those who were reconnoi- tring rode back rapidly. The Sioux were THRONGING THE HEIGHTS, represented on the map by the letters S$ S, and at Jeast 500 of them were charging down from the lofty plateau, pursuing the Crows, who were at that moment in imminent danger of being surrounded. Good Heart was chased apart from bis brother warriors by two Sioux braves. He turned about and pulled the fore- most from his pony, killed and scalped him, and then galloped on into the valley. Kane's company of infantry was dismounted, and took the position indi- cated on the map by K, pushing the Indians back to the higher point, S S 2 which they held for twenty minutes, recetving and answering his fire, Captain Mills’ battalion charged, and they again re- treated to another point of vantage,S S 3 By this time Colonel Royall’s line, indicated by R, on the lett, had been discovered by these Sioux as it advanced, and they directed against it an oblique fire which he silenced at {ntervals as long as he held the position reached by bis furthest advance. MILLS? SECOND CHARGE, represented by M, forced them away from 8 2, and meanwhile the cavalry on the left turned its attention to the dislodgement of the enemy in its front,S 8 6. Lieutenant Foster, with eighteen men of Company I of the Third cavalry, bad half an hour before made a brilliant dasb after # party of Sioux who were seen on the lett flank running away with some ponies belong- ing to the Crows, He followed them at a swift gallop in the direction of the line F, drove them from the ation indicated by G, and dismounting at F F gave them several volleys. Sceing himself so far sepa- rated froin bis battahon, he turned to rejorn it, and in- stantly a horde of Sioux seemed to spring up around terrible fire trom two sides, and ay they put spurs to their horses the Sioux charged alter them, close upon their heels. They came at full gallop down the stecp slope at F F F, wnere the men of Captain Andrews’ company, by covering their rear with a hot fire turned back their pursuers. THE DISASTROUS RETREAT. Following Lieutenant Foster the Sioux bad hid be. hind rocks on the left, while at the same time the withdrawal of Mills’ and Noyes’ battalions on the right to march on to the village bad yielded to them the high crest which they had abandoned (5 8 2), and thus from :wo sides they commanded all the knoils in the rear of Colonel Koyall’s line. Skirmish- ers were deployed to the left and dislodged the enemy, 80 as to render a continuation of the advance feasivie; General Crook's command to fall back was roceived. No sooner was the movement begun than the Sioux commencing charging irom the front and right, while jn retiring from the highest point we had gained the imme was exposed more and more at every backward step, They womed.ately regained the crest we bad captured from them and the ledges on the lef. At the same time they could be seen dashing along the palisade (P) tuto the valley of the stream, in the rear. As we reached and held the ridge marked C they not only poured an enGlading fire trom two sides, but, ravines below, C C, they obtained the nearest range they had yet had THE LAST siOUx CHARGE. Meanwhile, as the line still, in obedience to Its or- ders, yielded slowly, exposing to a flank fire the led horses iu the rear, the Sioux made a grandrush trom the head of the hollow, HH, and its foot at the same time, and the bullets showered thick and fast from every point of the compass, save only that of the east end of the ridge. where the main portion of the com- mand was parked out of range, The object of this double charge was to capture the horses of the cavairy; but Colonel Royall, seeing that a precipitate retreat was inevitable, bad = ordered = them to mount and charge back across =the | Anu infantry line bad been tardily advanced | to the small protuberance at 1, to cover the low ground, Dut its volleys did not check the on: until 200 In. dians bad reached the rear of the cavalry and sur- rounded the uniucky skirmishers of Vroom’s company, is feat by cbarging the Sioux and dispersing them. | WHAT MIGHT HAVE BREN, ‘The prolonged exposure of the leit of the command | without assistance was the disaster of the day. The moment it was sheltered the cnemy seemed to recog- nize their repulse, and disappeared, There is no doubt that if Colonel Royall had been permitted to continue his advance, and had been supported on the right, he would have won the abrupt palisades which enclose the hollow on the west, and his line would naturally have gained the other when he reached the ground from which the enemy would then have been driven. ‘The falling back of the Sioux may be partly attrib. uted to the failure of their ammunition. Several of them, after having wounded soldiers in their final charge, omitted to scalp them, but merely stooped over from their ponies and cut loose their belts, which were loaded with cartridges, and rode off. The demoralizing retreat on the le/t was a trial to the stoutest courage, and it is the barest justice to the offi- cers involved in it to say that they displayed fortitude and personal unconcern worthy of exposure to a nobler enemy, AFTER THE BATTLE. Officers who revisited the scene after the firing had ceased say that the distance from the last slope held by the skirmishers to the crest whero were headquarters— (H)—was more than a mile. The point on the bank of the creek where the rest took place in the morning is marked on the map by thelettersBB. On advancing to the entrance to the chaotic low land lying north of the battle field and again retreating to the valley a bivouac was made here forthe night, There was gloom in almost every mind, caused by the loss of ten brave fellows and the incompleteness of the victory. In the evening I gave a courier a despatch which he engaged to carry to Fort Fetterman. About midnight, however, he came hurriedly back into camp, and said that he had been pursued by the Sioux and had wan- dered so near their village that he had heard the squaws mourning over their dead, He was completely scared, and nothing could induce hin to make another start, A soldier told a story of having blundered into the Sioux village while riding with two friendly Indians who were following their captured ponies, It was not, however, credited. ‘The Snakes, notwithstanding the eight scalps which they had won, mourned with direful wailing for the death of one of their tribe, although he lad come to the war in the band of the Crows. They buried him carefully in the bed of the stream, and then drove their ponies over the body, so that the Sioux might Not suspect the grave, seeing the hoof prints in the mud, A SAVAGE SPECTACLE. On the morning following the fight, as the column was moving from the place of bi- vouae, there suddenly arose among the red allies @ eimgular excitement. One of them bad ridden up to a dark object lying beside the stream and sat and gazed at It, and after others had joined him, they ali chattered as wildly together as the South American monkeys when they discover the pro- Ppinquity of asnake. After gestures and yells they dis- mounted and brandished kuives. Approaching them, I beheld lying ou the fresh, dewy grass, under the gentle shadow of a stooping willow, the most horrible object that could meet the eye, A dusky humen form, nude and blood-bosmeared, was writhing under the kmives of the merciiess victors. - This ubject was a Sioux who, in the latter part of the dght, had been wounded by a Snake, scalped and left for dead In Nearing tho tuft of raven hair from his head a portion of the bone, fractured with a stroke of the tomahawk, had clung to the fiesh, and the brain was aid bare. And yet, in the morning the sava, was sul aliv and bearing the tramp of horses. and believing his tribe had beaten the whites, he had crawled out of the gully in which he lay and called, “Minne!” (water) to a Crow who had passed and who he undoubtedly thought was & Sioux, The Crow turned, and his taco kindled with afeartul joy. Six shots were frod* into the prostrate figure. The head and limbs were severed trom the body and the flesh haeked and the bones hewn until there was nothing about {t recognizable as buman, Intamies too shameful and disgusting for record com- pleted the ghastly climax of horror, 1t was an iilus- tration of the fiendish ferocity of all the Plains In- dians toward their foes. The Sioux practise even more refined barbarities, torturing their victims im the most exquisite manner aud making them more Greadful by deferring, by every art in their power, the welcome relief of death. SCRNES OF FORMER INDIAN STRIFE In returning to the quartermaster’s camp the column passed through the southern spur of the Rosebud Mountains and bivouacked in a narrow gorge at the headwaters of the Little Tongue River. Deer, buffalo, bear and elk fled before us, On the same day the horses were allowed to rest at the foot of a lofty copi : ae’ cal butte, which overlooks a magnificent landscape toward every point of the compass, The Crows gath- ered on the summit, and, forming a close circle, per- formed a war dance around thelr bloody trophies, vary- ing their monotcnous music by firing their guns ata scalp suspended aloft on a willow pole, The eminence was the scene many years ago of a long-contested bat- tle between the Crows and the Blackfoot Algonquins. Those of the latter who were engaged were surrounded onthe butte and all of them killed, Through the valley lying northwest of this point a stream, called by the Sioux the Rotting Grass, takes its course, It once ran red with the blood of both Dakotas and Absarakos, when the former were routed by the latter, On the southern side of the Rosebud Mountains the profusion of wild flowers of every hue 1s wonderful and renders beauti- ful the otherwise barren plateaux, Reaching the valley of Goose Creck, the quartermaster’s camp was found to have been unmolested by the Sioux, It was re- inoved from a tributary to the main stream southward, and, subsequently, still nearer.the mountains where the command now rests, FUTURE OF THE CAMPAIGN, Tho supply train departed for Fort Fetterman June 20 to bring back provision and ammunition for another and more important scout. Captain A. H. Nickerson, General Crook’s aide, was sent to secure tho services of a band of Pawnee scouts if possible, and, also, to organizea force of 200 half-breed Sioux, who havo volunteered to fight against their kindred, Louis- Richards has been despatched to the agencies in Ne braska on this mission. Five companies of infantry from their station in Utah and two com- panies of cavalry from the military di trict of the Black Hiils will reinforce the expedition before the next movement. General Crook believes in the efficiency of infantry in operating against the Sioux and intends to put it to the proof, NO NEWS FROM TERRY. Nothing has yet been heard in this column from Gen- eral Terry’s force; but it is probable that it is at no great distance from the Tongue River, if portion of it is not indeed ascending it on a steamer. Smoke has doen seen in that direction like that puffed from coal furnaces, and as a vessel was to be sent up the Yellow- stone with stores it is not improbable that an attempt bas been made to ascend the smaller river, aiso, so as to approach nearer the fleid of operations. ‘The Snakes, with the exception of two braves who care for one of their wounded, left us two days ago, but expect to return stronger in numbers with their old chief Washakee at their head, CROOK'S CAMP AFTER THE RETREAT—WAITING FOR BEINFORCEMENTS—ABSURD PEACE TALK— RUMORS OF CUSTER'S FIGHT—CROOK TO GO GOLD HUNTING—STORIES OF THE ROSEBUD BATTLE. Croup Prax Camp, June 27, 1876. The four days spent in active campaigning, frum the 15th to the 19th, have been succeeded by a dead calm, which the fates are not likely to termmate before Juiy 10, when the supply train of the Big Horn and Yello stone expedition is expected to return from Fort terman with fresh sinews of war, As in their con- trary moods, Lowever, the fates are very evigmutical, there may even then be no advance, Rumors reach us here, at the outskirts of the populous world, of the influences made to work at Washington to force a nego- tiation for peace upon the Sioux. To us the phrase has a ludicrous sounding, as we have certain knowledge that no people ever were more nerved to desperate war or less open to soft seductions of pacific benevolence than they who await the sol fiers of the United States with the bold spirit and prowess which thoy showed on the 17th of Juno in the Rosebud Hills Unloss they were injured by the fire of General Crook's command im the battle of that day mach more se. verely than we conceive it is preposterous to pra of counselling with Sitting Bull or any of his breeeh-clouted minions. Should this campaign be checked at its beginning by a Congress bent upon petty economy it will entail upon its sue cessors within the next few years the nevessity of ap propriating funds for stili more expensive equipments than those now tn the field, while it will merely pro- crastinate the inevitable taming which the Sioux must fo before the froutiersman can be safe from murder and rapine. The coming of despatches from Fort Fetterman will be awaited with peculiar interest, as they will probably indicate whether the next move- ment of the army of the Big Horn will be forward or retrogade, In the latter event you may look for In- solent ou(rages by the Sioux at every ranch west of the fork of the Platte or Nebraska River, Nothing exists to preveat them irom wrecking trains on the Union Pacific Railroad and butchering the passengers, and the fact that their arms have been felt on the Cache le Poudre, in Colorado, and near the Republican River signifies the audacity which puerile measures of retri- bution inspire. ( PROPORTIONS OF THE WAR, Two couriers coming from Fort Fetterman have Teached this camp within three days, The first was | | restless than 13 the Brigadier General commanding this accompanied by Lieutenant schuyler, of the Fitth cav- alry, who acts as one of General Crook’s personal stuff in the field, Captain Azor H. Nickerson having gone with the quartermaster’s train to Fort Fetterman on official business connected with preparations for the next advance against the Sioux. From communica- tions brought by thesa men we have learned of the presence of Lieutenant General Sheridan at Fort Lara- mie, alter returning from a visit to the Indian agen- cies on the White River, by which he doabtless in- tended to obtain personal knowledge of the true tem- Per of those Sioux who still eat of the government Pprovender, and of the real number who have gone to the north to fight the battles of their race under the chieftainsnip of Sitting Bull. The movement of the Fifth cavalry from the military department of the Missouri to share in the Sioux war, of which I gave an anticipatory announce- ment. a month ago, is of great importance. The regiment is justly celebrated for its record of warfare against the Apaches in Arizona, It is now commanded by Major Carr and will move from Camp Robinson northwestward along the Grand Tepee trail leading mto the bunting country lying between the Little Powder and Tongue rivers. Ii a strong blow is struck by any of the three columns expected to op- erate near the Yellowstone River and the Sioux in dis- may try to find refuge at the agencies, fictitiously call- ing themselves peaceablo, they will naturally throng vhis old route, Unless they lay down their arms and sue for peaco in such carnestness as has never yet characterized them they will be obliged to fight Major Carr's force and will suffer a terrible rout, Let the war continue and reach this pags and the office of the Com- missioners of Peace will be of great utility, both to the | red men and the white. Otherwise it will utterly fail of settling the old question and will eud in the Sioux mocking the pretensions of the Great Father to the rights of guardianship over a vanquished people, t THE SIOUX ARE STILL UNCONQUERE differing in this respect trom all other of the aborig- inal tribes, save the Utes, who are now, inaced, much reduced from their ancient pride and strength. Doubt- Jess most of the reports of the number of their war- riors—which must perforce be taken from the e: mates of their wueducated mongrel relatives, the half breeds—are exaggerated; but there are more of thgm now engaged in hostilities than there are soldiers to repress them. If a parley ishadthey will be moro haughty and arrogant than ever, while it is impossible that the government can accede to the demands which they will make as conditions of a treaty, Should the Commissioners go to the Red Cioud and Spotted Tail agencies to negotiate they cannot, before the military have mado further progress, communicate on an amic- able footing with the chiefs who alone represent the bel. ligerency of the nation, And if they venture farther north to carry the olive branch even to Sitting Bull's village they will endanger their lives and may bring the troops who escort them into unknown ambuscades, for which the country is naturally favorable, Tho preparations made by Little Big Man and his choice followers last autumn for a massacre should warn Senator Allison against a negotiation far more impracticable than was then attempted. A TREATY CONSTRUCTED OF RXPEDIENTS will be of no Value unless it be to the “Indian Ring,’ who may hope to gain a shadow of a title to the richest valleys of the Black Hills, without concern for the efficiency of their peace-patching. This suggestion may hint at the motive which is the spring of the present legislative movement, RUMORS OF CUSTER'S FIGHT. Arumor of a battle between the hostile Sioux and the force of cavalry commanded by General Custer, of General Terry's column, has reached ua It came trom the Red Cloud Agency, by way of Forts Laramie and Fetterman, brought thither by the frienaly Sioux, “Hand,’’ who last year served the H&RALD as a courier, He was told the news by a runner from the band of Sitting Bull, who said that many were killed on both sides, and that neither won an advantage, The cavairy before the battle had captured a few tepees which stood detached a few miles from tho main vil lage. Bull, and he advanced with 700 warriors to avenye the Some of the imbabitants escaping alarmed Sitting | aggression, It is probable that if there was a fight its true details are already knowa to the readers of the \ Hersrp through the telegraph line from Fort Abraham Lincoln. THR SAME SIOUX, It ts the opinion of Frank Gruard that the Sioux who fought with Goneral Terry’s cavalry were among those who opposed the progress of General Crook’s colama into the Rosebad Mountains with so mucn valor. INCIDENTS OV THR ROSEMUD FIGHT, Goss!p and comparison of observations regarding the engagement of June 17 are notye: done. It has al ready been fought over a thousand times by the hght of the comp fires, and the lines of advance and retreat marked as often in the ashes with rude gravers of cot tonwood faggots, Nove of the half-breed or Indian scouts who were with us were able with certainty te recognize the chief warriors of the enemy; buta c!rcum.- stance of some tangibility favors the surmise that one of them was Crazy Horse. His dress is well remem" bered by Frank Gruard, as well as the appearance of his tavorite war pony. Im the heat of the action the oux, Who exhibited the greatest daring and seemed to exercise most influence over the other braves, pos. sessed all the peculiar marks of distinction described by Frank. Noticing his prominence and audacity, Major George M, Randall, the daring chief of the scouts, directed several of his Crows to turn their fire against him, ‘This attention he seemed to defy, and rode harmlessly among the bullets. Just before the close of the fight another chief was seen to fall, and there- after there was little more firing, A NARROW ESCAPE, Lieutenant John G. Bourke, aide-de-camp, in a charge made by the friendly Indians, advanced close to 8 crest held by the Sioux. lighting to have the girth of his saddle tightened, while the Crows retired, be wag warned by Major Randall, m riding back, to meunt and follow, A Moment later tho Sioux rusbed around him, and his orderly received wounds ip both ‘his arms at once, The lieutenant was in the saddle in an instant, and his orderly, supporting himself in the stirrups despite the sudden flow of blood from his wounds, dashed back with him through the charging Sioux into our lines, The unconscious rash- ness of this escape would doubtless adorn a romantic tale, but would rather become an aid-de-camp in closely attending the person of his general than in making # useless and foolish exhibition of bravery, the com: monest of manly qualities. DESCRIPTION OF CAMP, This camp is located under the knee of the Big Horr Mountains—that is, under the shadow of the lesser range which forms their eastern rim, So cloge are we to the steep crags, streaked with black belts of timber, that the splendors of the icy pinnacles of the main chain are always hidden. Since returning to Goose Creek the site of the camp ,has been three times changed, at short interval in order to allow the pack and saddle animals new pasture. The samo course will be followed until the supply train brings an instalment of forces, The tents hore are arranged along the verge of two plateaus, north ead south of the stream. Unbroken grassy billows stretch for miles under the eyo, clothed in yellowish grees turf, grateful to the palate of ruminant beast, Tht mountain sides, where the rock has not lost its mellow dress of marl, wear a brighter and richer green, gleam ing through the shade of thinly grouped pines, which at a distance look like mourning ping stuck in a ragged cushion. The aged granite looms gray and gaunt in sharp battlements and solid buttresses. Great canyons gape in the stern wall, and impetuous torrents rash down from the fields of ice and snow beyond with a resound. ing roar, babbling to the clouds of the glory of those heights, wrapt in the sweet serene heavens, where they were born and slept until the gaze of the melting sun stared them into liquid wako- fulness, Cottonwood, thorn, willow, plum and cherry trees group over them after thev enter the plain, and the aeep pools flash with the lam- bent flame {rom the burning gills of the trout that lurk in their shadows. A foaming, snowy cascade is at the mouth of the great canyon from which Goose Creek emerges, around which tower vertical walls of sand stone and carboniferous limestone 2,000 feet, the upper edges of the upturned strata splintered into irregular pinnacles by storm and convulsion. IDLENESS IN CAMP is the most irksome experience in the world, as the cbroniclers of war have olttimes remarked, but it 18 especially so 200 miles trom the tele- graph and 300 from the railroad. Isolation is nearly as complete here as within the walls of a prison, | as complete as it was in St. Helena for the conqueror of Austerlitz, We are girt round by a waste of unten. | anted plain and mountain, which hag no voice; he by the ever talkative sea Never Napoleon was more expedition during the present inaction, It is un- doubtedly due to the too hasty organization before leaving tne rendezvous, caused, I believe, by the reasonable fear that unless the forces were speedily in the field the friends of peace, hypoeritical or other- wiso, at Washington would put a check upon the cam- paign. The movement toward the Sioux village was a venture which could only be successful in the event of surprising the enemy. Provision was not made for a longer absence trom the base of supplies than a week at the utmost, aud the foreknowledge of the Sloux was an eflectual check, a3 1t would have been folly to have pursued them with only the supplies which were packed upon the riding animals. THR NEXT MOVEMENT. The preparations for the next scout will be much more complete, Tho strength of the fighting force will ve much augmented. Five companies of the Four- teenth infantry have been ordered from their stations in Utah to this camp, and their accession will raise the pedestrian arm of the expedition to nearly the dignity of a regiment, Two additional troops of cavalry, com- » pany K of the Second, Captain Teddy Egan, and com- pany K of the Third, Captain Gerry Russell, will prob- ably join us, A company of lawnee scouts, 200 Utes and 200 Shoshones, with as many Sioux half breeds as will volunteer under the leadership of Louis Richards, will form a sirong irregular force efficient m aiding the efforts of the regular troops, protecting their flanks and seizing plunder, Not much confidence is felt in the return of the Crows tothe field. They grow very timid after the battle of the Rosebud Hills, declaring that they had never betore seen so many Sioux at one time as were there in action, There is no doubt that their fear bad respectable grounda In warfare one Crow is so brave and dexterous that bis prowess is equal to that of two Sioux; but now the whole force of the government in tho field is greatly owtnumbered by that ot the enemy, who are excellently armed and mounted, and bave the advantage always possessed by defenders of a country against invasion. If the Crows return tothe conflict with a reinforcement of those who until now have remained at home, the whole body of scouts will comprise about seven bun- dred men. The column will be accompanied by a mule caravan, loaded with rations and ammuni- tion, and it will probably beleaguer the Sioux as long as their fortitude and the supply of these holds oat, Connection will be estubtished with the steamer Josephine, supposed to be at present moored in the Yellowstone or the Tongue River, lagen with munt- tions of war. If the Sioux are drawn into another general engagement in the north the other two col- umns, under Generals Terry and Gibbon, are expected ' toco-operate with General Crook's in dealing a last and crushing biow, after which peaceful negotiations will be tu order, There is much probability, how. ever, in the supposition now entertained by many in this camp, that during the delay to which this colama is subjected General Terry may have advanced south. ward to the country from which it retreated on June 18, and be now dnishing the campaign in a few decisive movements, THE MYSTERY OF THE MOUNTAIxS, To break the monotony of waiting tor supplies, Gen- eral Crook proposes with a party to crogs the eastern ridge of the Big Hora Mountains to explore the deep valleys beyond in search of the rumored indications o1 gold, which scouts and trappers have jong been so fond ot depicting in their tales, Two companies of hardy and experienced Montana minors have been engaged ia examining the bottoms of all the streams on the east- ern slope since April, without finding a flake of the yellow metal, One of them bas been for a month camped on the Crazy Woman's Fork of the Powder River, about which the soldiers who fommorly gar- risoned old Forts Reno and Phil Kearney have nar. rated many marvels, But the result of their researches is simply to confirm the existence on the frontier of @ powerful proclivity for lying If ther any gold in the Big Horn region it can probably be found only in those ravines and valleys which drain the owy or central range, whose core is of azoic or metamorpbio rock, into the Big Horn River, The excursion te be conducted by General Crook will uadoubtedly be ox. citing, as it will penetrate the most sacred haunts of game and afford magnificent views of scevery which has been pronounced by the few daring wandorera =*< a i $ el