I asked Woody how many he himself had killed. He said
he could only be sure of two that he got; one he shot in the head as
he peeped over a bush, and the other he shot through the smoke as
he attempted to rush in. "My, how that Indian did yell," said Woody,
retrospectively, "_he_ was no great of a Stoic." After two or three
hours of this deadly skirmishing, which resulted in nothing more serious
to the whites than in two of them being slightly wounded, the Sioux
became disheartened by the loss they were suffering and withdrew,
confining themselves thereafter to a long range and harmless fusillade.
When it was dark the three men crept out to the river bed, and taking
advantage of the pitchy night broke through the circle of their foes;
they managed to reach the settlements without further molestation,
having lost everything except their rifles.
For many years one of the most important of the wilderness dwellers was
the West Point officer, and no man has played a greater part than he
in the wild warfare which opened the regions beyond the Mississippi to
white settlement.
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