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20 - Army Letters from an Officers Wife, 1871-1888 by Frances M. A. Roe · Army Letters from an Officers Wife, 1871-1888

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Speaker 1: Section twenty of Army Letters from an Officer's Wife eighteen
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Speaker 1: seventy one eighteen eighty eight. This is the LibriVox recording.
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Speaker 1: All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more
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Speaker 1: information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. Recording
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Speaker 1: by Sue Anderson. Army Letters from an Officer's Wife eighteen
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Speaker 1: seventy one, eighteen eighty eight by Francis Rowe, Section twenty
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Speaker 1: Letters from eighteen eighty eight, Part one, Fort Shaw, Montana Territory,
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Speaker 1: May eighteen eighty eight. Such upheaval orders have been coming
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Speaker 1: to the post the past few days. Some of us
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Speaker 1: wonder if there has not been an earthquake, and can
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Speaker 1: only sit around and wait in a numb sort of
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Speaker 1: way for whatever may come next. General Bork, who had
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Speaker 1: been colonel of the regiment you know, has been appointed
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Speaker 1: a brigadier general and is to command the Department of
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Speaker 1: the Platte with headquarters at Omaha, Nebraska. This might have
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Speaker 1: affected Fay under any circumstances, as a new colonel has
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Speaker 1: the privilege of selecting his own staff officers. But General Bork,
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Speaker 1: as soon as he received the telegram telling of his appointment,
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Speaker 1: told Faye that he should ask for him as aide
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Speaker 1: de camp. This will take us to Omaha also, and
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Speaker 1: I am almost heartbroken over it, as it will be
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Speaker 1: a wretched life for me cooped up in a noisy city.
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Speaker 1: At the same time, I am delighted that Faye will
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Speaker 1: have for four years the fine staff position. These appointments
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Speaker 1: are complimentary and considered most desirable. The real stop, however,
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Speaker 1: came with orders for the regiment to go to Fort Snelling, Minnesota.
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Speaker 1: For that effects about every one here. Colonel Munson, who
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Speaker 1: relieves General Bork as colonel of the regiment, is in
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Speaker 1: Saint Paul and is well known as Inspector General of
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Speaker 1: this department, which perhaps is not the most flattering introduction
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Speaker 1: he could have to his new regiment. He telegraphed as
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Speaker 1: soon as promoted that he desired Fate to continue as adjutant.
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Speaker 1: But of course, to be on the staff of a
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Speaker 1: general is far in advance of being on the staff
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Speaker 1: of a colonel. The colonel commands only his own regiment,
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Speaker 1: sometimes not all of that, as when companies are stationed
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Speaker 1: at other posts and headquarters, whereas a brigadier general has
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Speaker 1: command of a department consisting of many army posts and
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Speaker 1: many regiments. The one thing that distresses me most of
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Speaker 1: all is that I have to part from my horse.
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Speaker 1: This is what makes me so rebellious, for aside from
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Speaker 1: my own personal loss, I have great sorrow for the
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Speaker 1: poor dumb animal that will suffer so much with strangers
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Speaker 1: who will not understand him. No one has ridden or
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Speaker 1: driven him for two years but myself, and he has
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Speaker 1: been tractable and lovable. Always during very cold weather, when
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Speaker 1: perhaps he would be too frisky, I have allowed him
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Speaker 1: to play in the yard back of the house until
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Speaker 1: all superfluous spirits have been kicked and snorted off, after
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Speaker 1: which I could have a ride in peace and safety.
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Speaker 1: Faith thinks that he is entirely too nervous ever to
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Speaker 1: take kindly to city sites, and sounds that the fretting
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Speaker 1: and the heat might kill him. So it has been
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Speaker 1: decided that once again we will sell everything, both horses
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Speaker 1: and all things pertaining to them, reserving our saddles. Only
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Speaker 1: every piece of furniture will be sold also, as we
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Speaker 1: do not propose to keep house at all. While in Omaha,
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Speaker 1: how I envy our friends who will go to Fort Snelling.
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Speaker 1: We have always been told that It is such a
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Speaker 1: beautiful post, and the people of Saint Paul and Minneapolis
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Speaker 1: are most charming. It seems so funny that the regiment
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Speaker 1: should be sent to Snelling, just as cur Munson was
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Speaker 1: promoted to it. He will have to move six miles.
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Speaker 1: Only we know that when we leave Fortshaw we will
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Speaker 1: go from the old army life of the West, that
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Speaker 1: if we ever come back, it will be two unfamiliar
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Speaker 1: scenes and a new condition of things. We have seen
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Speaker 1: the passing of the buffalo and other game, and the
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Speaker 1: Indian seems to be passing also. But I must confess
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Speaker 1: that I have no regret for the Indians. There are
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Speaker 1: still too many of them. End of letter, Fort Shaw,
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Speaker 1: Montana Territory, May eighteen eighty eight. There can be only
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Speaker 1: two more days at this dear old post where we
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Speaker 1: have been so happy, and I want those to pass
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Speaker 1: as quickly as possible, and have some of the misery over.
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Speaker 1: Our house is perfectly forlorn, with just a few absolute
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Speaker 1: necessaries in it for our use. While here everything has
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Speaker 1: been sold or given and away, and all that is
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Speaker 1: left to us are our trunks and army chests, some
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Speaker 1: fine china, and a few pieces of cut glass I kept,
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Speaker 1: and even those are packed in small boxes and in
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Speaker 1: the chests. The general selling out business has been funny.
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Speaker 1: No one in the regiment possessed many things that they
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Speaker 1: cared to move east with them, And as we did
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Speaker 1: not desire to turn our houses into second hand shops
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Speaker 1: where people could handle and make remarks about things we
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Speaker 1: had treasured, it was decided that everything to be sold
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Speaker 1: should be moved to the large hall, where enlisted men
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Speaker 1: could attend to the shop business. Our only purchases were
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Speaker 1: people from Sun River Crossing and a few ranches that
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Speaker 1: are at some distance from the post, and it was
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Speaker 1: soon discovered that anything at all nice was passed by them.
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Speaker 1: So we became sharp, bunching the worthless with the good,
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Speaker 1: and that worked beautifully, and things sold fast. These moves
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Speaker 1: are of the greatest importance to army officers, and many
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Speaker 1: times the change of station is a mere nothing in
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Speaker 1: comparison to the refitting of a house, something that is
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Speaker 1: never taken into consideration when the pay of the army
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Speaker 1: is under discussion. The regiment has been on the frontier
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Speaker 1: ten years, and everything that we had that was at
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Speaker 1: all nights had been sent up from Saint Paul at
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Speaker 1: great expense, or purchased in Helena at an exorbitant price.
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Speaker 1: All those things have been disposed of for almost nothing.
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Speaker 1: And when the regiment reaches Fort Snelling, where larger quarters
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Speaker 1: have to be furnished for an almost city life, the
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Speaker 1: officers will be at great expense. Why I am bothering
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Speaker 1: about Fort Snelling, I fail to see, as we are
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Speaker 1: not going there, and I certainly have enough troubles of
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Speaker 1: my own to think about this. Very morning, Missus Eames
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Speaker 1: of Sun River Crossing, who now owns dear Rollo, came
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Speaker 1: up to ask me to show her how to drive him.
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Speaker 1: Just think of that. She talked as though she had
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Speaker 1: been deceived. That it was my duty to show her
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Speaker 1: the trick by which I had managed to control the horse,
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Speaker 1: and naturally it would be a delightful pleasure to me
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Speaker 1: to be allowed to drive him once more, and so on.
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Speaker 1: Missus Ames said that yesterday she started out with him,
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Speaker 1: intending to come to the post to let me see him.
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Speaker 1: Fancied the delicate feeling expressed in that, but the horse
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Speaker 1: went so fast she became frightened, for it seemed as
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Speaker 1: though the telegraph poles were only a foot apart. She
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Speaker 1: finally got the horse turned around and drove back home.
7:40
Speaker 1: When her husband got in and undertook to drive him,
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Speaker 1: but with no better success, But he too started the
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Speaker 1: horse toward his old home. Mister Eames then told her
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Speaker 1: to have Rollo put back in the stable until she
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Speaker 1: could get me to show her how to drive him.
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Speaker 1: I almost cried out from pure pity for the poor
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Speaker 1: dumb beast that I knew was suffering so in his
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Speaker 1: longing for his old home and friends who understood him.
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Speaker 1: But for the horse's sake, I tried not to break down.
8:11
Speaker 1: I told her that first of all, she must teach
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Speaker 1: the horse to love her. That was an awfully hard
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Speaker 1: thing to say, I assure you, and I doubt if
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Speaker 1: the woman understood my meaning. After all, when I told
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Speaker 1: her not to pull on his mouth, she looked amazed
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Speaker 1: and said why he would run away with me if
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Speaker 1: I didn't. But I assured her that he would not,
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Speaker 1: that he had been taught differently, that he was very
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Speaker 1: nervous and spirited, that the harder she pulled, the more
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Speaker 1: excited he would become. That I had simply held him steady.
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Speaker 1: No more, I saw that missus Eames did not believe
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Speaker 1: one word that I had said, but I tried to
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Speaker 1: convince her for the sake of the unhappy animal that
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Speaker 1: had been placed at her mercy. I have often met
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Speaker 1: and passed her out on the road, and the horse drives.
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Speaker 1: Is a large, handsome animal, and we had supposed that
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Speaker 1: she was a good whip. So when mister Eames appeared
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Speaker 1: the other day and said his wife had asked him
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Speaker 1: to come up and buy the sorrel horse for her,
9:13
Speaker 1: we were delighted that such a good home had been
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Speaker 1: found for him, and for Fanny too. Mister Eames bought
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Speaker 1: the entire outfit. Fanny is beautiful, but wholly lacking in affection,
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Speaker 1: and can take care of herself any place. All sorts
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Speaker 1: of people have been here for the horses. Some wanted both,
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Speaker 1: others only one, but Fay would not let them go
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Speaker 1: to any of them, as he was afraid they would
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Speaker 1: not have the best of care. Rollo had been gone
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Speaker 1: only an hour or so when a young man, a
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Speaker 1: typical broncho breaker, came to buy him and seemed really
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Speaker 1: distressed because he had been sold. He said that he
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Speaker 1: had broken him. When a colt at mister Vaughan's it
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Speaker 1: so happened that Faye was at the adjutant's office and
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Speaker 1: the man asked for me. I was very glad, for
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Speaker 1: I had always wanted to meet the person who had
10:03
Speaker 1: slammed the saddle first on Rollo's back. I told him
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Speaker 1: that it was generally considered at the post that I
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Speaker 1: had broken the horse. I said that he had been
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Speaker 1: made cruelly afraid of a saddle, and for a long
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Speaker 1: time after we had bought him, he objected to it
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Speaker 1: and to being mounted. And I did not consider a
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Speaker 1: horse broken that would do those things. I said also
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Speaker 1: that the horse had not been gaited. He interrupted with
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Speaker 1: why is a pacer, just as though that settled everything.
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Speaker 1: But I told him that Rollo had three perfectly trained
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Speaker 1: grades of speed, each one of which I had taught him.
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Speaker 1: The young man's face became very red, and he looked angry.
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Speaker 1: But I had a beautiful time. It was such a
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Speaker 1: relief to express my opinion to the man. Just at
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Speaker 1: that time, too, when I was grieving so for the horse,
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Speaker 1: I saw at once that he was a broncho breaker.
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Speaker 1: From his style of dress. He had on boots of
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Speaker 1: very fine leather with enormously high heels, and Strapped to
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Speaker 1: them were large, sharp pointed Mexican spurs. His trousers were
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Speaker 1: of leather and very broad at the bottom and all
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Speaker 1: down the front and outside, with some kind of gray
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Speaker 1: fur chaps. This article of dresses called and in one
11:19
Speaker 1: hand he held a closely plaited, stinging black quirt. He
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Speaker 1: wore a plaid shirt and cotton handkerchief around his neck.
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Speaker 1: That describes the man who rode Rollo first, and no wonder,
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Speaker 1: the spirited, high strung colt was suspicious of saddles, men
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Speaker 1: and things. I watched the man as he rode away.
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Speaker 1: His horse was going at a furious gallop, with ears
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Speaker 1: turned back, as if expecting whip or spur any instant.
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Speaker 1: And the man sat far over on one side that
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Speaker 1: leg quite straight as though he was standing in the
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Speaker 1: long stirrup, and the other was resting far up on
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Speaker 1: the saddle, which was of the heavy Mexican make, with
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Speaker 1: enormous flaps and high round pommel in front. I am
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Speaker 1: most thankful that Rollo has gone beyond that man's reach,
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Speaker 1: as everything about him told of cruelty to horses. Yet
12:15
Speaker 1: missus Ames seemed such a cold woman, so incapable of
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Speaker 1: understanding or appreciating the affection of a dumb animal. During
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Speaker 1: the years we owned Rollo, he was struck with the
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Speaker 1: whip only once, the time I wanted him to run
12:30
Speaker 1: down a wolf up the river. The Great Northern Railroad
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Speaker 1: runs very near Fort Shaw, now about twenty miles, I think,
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Speaker 1: and that will make it convenient for the moving of
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Speaker 1: the regiment and all of us. In fact, we will
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Speaker 1: go to Saint Paul on the special train with the regiment,
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Speaker 1: for Fey will not be relieved as adjutant until he
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Speaker 1: reaches Fort Snelling, where we will remain for a day
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Speaker 1: or two. It will be a sad trip for me,
12:56
Speaker 1: for I love the West and life at a western
12:59
Speaker 1: post and the vanities of city life do not seem
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Speaker 1: attractive to me. And I shall miss my army friends too.
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Speaker 1: Perhaps it is a small matter to mention, but since
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Speaker 1: I have been with the Army, I have ridden twenty
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Speaker 1: two horses that had never been ridden by a woman before.
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Speaker 1: As I still recollect the gait and disposition of each horse,
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Speaker 1: it seems of some consequence to me, for unbroken as
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Speaker 1: some were, I was never unseated, not once. And of
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Speaker 1: letter the Paxton Hotel, Omaha Nebraska, August eighteen eighty eight.
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Speaker 1: Almost five weeks have passed since we left dear Fort Shaw.
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Speaker 1: During that time we have become more or less accustomed
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Speaker 1: to the restrictions of a small city. But I fancy
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Speaker 1: that I am not the only one of the party
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Speaker 1: from Montana who sometimes sighe for the rocky mountains and
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Speaker 1: the old garrison life. Here we are not of the army,
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Speaker 1: neither are we citizens. General and Missus Bork are still
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Speaker 1: dazzled by the brilliancy of the new silver star on
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Speaker 1: the General's shoulder straps, and can still smile. Fay says
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Speaker 1: very little, but I know that he often frets over
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Speaker 1: his present monotonous duties and yearns for the regiment, his
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Speaker 1: duties as adjutant of the regiment, the parades, drills, and
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Speaker 1: outdoor life generally that make life so pleasant at a
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Speaker 1: frontier post. Department headquarters is in a government building down
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Speaker 1: by the river, and the offices are most cheerless. All
14:37
Speaker 1: the officers wear civilian clothes, and there is not one
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Speaker 1: scrap of uniform to be seen any place, nothing whatever
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Speaker 1: to tell one who is who. From the Department commander
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Speaker 1: down to Delany. The old Irish messenger. Each one sits
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Speaker 1: at his desk and busies himself over the many neatly
14:56
Speaker 1: tied packages of official papers upon it, and to make the
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Speaker 1: world believe that he is happy. But there are confidential
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Speaker 1: talks when it is admitted that life is dreary, the
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Speaker 1: regiment the only place for an energetic officer, and so on.
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Speaker 1: Yet not one of those officers could be induced to
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Speaker 1: give up his detail, for it is always such a
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Speaker 1: compliment to be selected from the many for duty at headquarters.
15:23
Speaker 1: Faye and Lieutenant Travis are on the general's personal staff.
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Speaker 1: The others belong to the department. Just now, Faye is
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Speaker 1: away with the department commander, who is making an official
15:34
Speaker 1: tour of inspection through his new department, which is large
15:38
Speaker 1: and includes some fine posts. It is known as the
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Speaker 1: Department of the Platte. Everyone has been most hospitable, particularly
15:47
Speaker 1: the army people at Fort Omaha, a post just beyond
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Speaker 1: the city limits. Missus Wheeler, wife of the colonel in command,
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Speaker 1: gave a dancing reception very soon after we got here,
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Speaker 1: and an elegant dinner a little later on, both for
16:03
Speaker 1: the new brigadier general and his staff. Missus Foster, the
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Speaker 1: handsome wife of the lieutenant colonel gave a beautiful luncheon,
16:11
Speaker 1: and the officers of the regiment gave a dance that
16:14
Speaker 1: was pleasant, but their orchestra is far from being as
16:17
Speaker 1: fine as ours. In the city, there have been afternoon
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Speaker 1: and evening receptions and several luncheons, the most charming luncheon
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Speaker 1: of all having been the one given by my friend
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Speaker 1: Missus Schuler at the Union Club one afternoon each week.
16:32
Speaker 1: The club rooms are at the disposal of the wives
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Speaker 1: of its members, and so popular is this way of entertaining.
16:38
Speaker 1: The rooms are usually engaged weeks in advance. The service
16:43
Speaker 1: is really perfect, and the rooms airy and delightfully cool.
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Speaker 1: And cool rooms are great treasures in this hot place.
16:52
Speaker 1: The heat has been almost unbearable to us from the mountains,
16:55
Speaker 1: and one morning I nearly collapsed while having things fitted
16:59
Speaker 1: in the stuffy rooms of a dressmaker. Many of these
17:03
Speaker 1: nouvorriche dress elegantly, and their jewels are splendid. All the
17:08
Speaker 1: women here have such white skins, and by comparison, I
17:11
Speaker 1: must look like a Mexican. My face is so brown
17:14
Speaker 1: from years of exposure to dry, burning winds. Of course,
17:19
Speaker 1: there has been much shopping to do, and for a
17:21
Speaker 1: time it was so confusing to have to select things
17:25
Speaker 1: from a counter with a shop girls staring at me
17:28
Speaker 1: or perhaps insisting upon my purchasing articles I did not want.
17:33
Speaker 1: For years, we had shopped from catalogs and it was
17:35
Speaker 1: a nice, quiet way. Too. Parasols have bothered me. I
17:40
Speaker 1: would forget to open them in the street, and would
17:43
Speaker 1: invariably leave them in the stores when shopping, and then
17:47
Speaker 1: have to go about looking them up. But this is
17:50
Speaker 1: the first summer I have been East in nine years,
17:53
Speaker 1: and it is not surprising that parasols and things mix
17:57
Speaker 1: me up at times. Has a beautiful saddle horse, his
18:02
Speaker 1: gait a natural single foot, and I sometimes ride him,
18:06
Speaker 1: But most of my outings are on the electric cars.
18:10
Speaker 1: I might as well be on them, since I have
18:12
Speaker 1: to hear their buzz and clang both day and night
18:15
Speaker 1: from our rooms here in the hotel. The other morning,
18:18
Speaker 1: as I was returning from a ride across the river
18:20
Speaker 1: to Council Bluffs, I heard the shrill notes of a
18:24
Speaker 1: calliope that reminded me that Forepau's circus was to be
18:28
Speaker 1: in town that day, and that I had promised to
18:30
Speaker 1: go to the afternoon performance with a party of friends.
18:34
Speaker 1: But soon there were other sounds and other thoughts. Above
18:38
Speaker 1: the noise of the car, I heard a brass band,
18:41
Speaker 1: and there could be no mistake it was playing strong
18:46
Speaker 1: and full one of Sous's marches, the March passed of
18:51
Speaker 1: the Rifle Regiment, a march that was written for Faye
18:55
Speaker 1: while he was Adjutant of the regiment and dedicated to
18:59
Speaker 1: the officers and enlisted men of the regiment. For almost
19:04
Speaker 1: three years, that one particular march had been the review
19:07
Speaker 1: march of the regiment. That is, it had been played
19:10
Speaker 1: always whenever the regiment had passed in review before the Colonel,
19:15
Speaker 1: inspector General of the Department, or any official of sufficient
19:19
Speaker 1: rank and authority to review the troops. The car seemed
19:23
Speaker 1: to go miles before it came to a place where
19:25
Speaker 1: I could get off. Every second was most precious, and
19:29
Speaker 1: I jumped down while it was still in motion, receiving
19:33
Speaker 1: a scathing rebuke from the conductor for doing so. I
19:37
Speaker 1: almost ran until I got to the walk nearest the band,
19:40
Speaker 1: where I tagged along with boys both big and small.
19:44
Speaker 1: The march was played for some time, and no one
19:47
Speaker 1: could possibly imagine how those familiar strains thrilled me, but
19:52
Speaker 1: there was an ever increasing feeling of indignation that a
19:56
Speaker 1: towdry coated circus band sitting in a a gilded wagon
20:01
Speaker 1: should presume to play that march, which seemed to belong
20:05
Speaker 1: exclusively to the regiment and to be associated only with
20:09
Speaker 1: scenes of ceremony and great dignity. The circus men played
20:14
Speaker 1: the piece remarkably well, however, and when it was stopped,
20:18
Speaker 1: I came back to the hotel to think matters over
20:21
Speaker 1: and have a heart to heart talk with myself. Of course,
20:25
Speaker 1: I am more than proud that Faye is an aide
20:28
Speaker 1: de camp and would not have things different from what
20:31
Speaker 1: they are. But the detail is for four years, and
20:36
Speaker 1: the thought of living in this unattractive place that length
20:39
Speaker 1: of time is crushing. But Faye will undoubtedly have his
20:42
Speaker 1: captaincy by the expiration of the four years, and the
20:46
Speaker 1: anticipation of that is comforting. It is the feeling of
20:50
Speaker 1: loneliness I mind here, of being lost and no one
20:55
Speaker 1: to search for me. I missed the cheery garrison life,
21:00
Speaker 1: the delightful rides, and it may sound funny, but I
21:04
Speaker 1: miss also the little church choir that finally became a
21:08
Speaker 1: joy to me. Sergeant Graves is now leader of the
21:11
Speaker 1: regimental band at Fort Snelling, and Mitichisek is in New
21:15
Speaker 1: York a member of the dam Rosch Orchestra. It is
21:18
Speaker 1: still something to wonder over that I should have been
21:21
Speaker 1: on a street car that carried me to a circus
21:24
Speaker 1: parade at the precise time the Review March was being played.
21:29
Speaker 1: It seems quite as marvelous as my having been seated
21:32
Speaker 1: at a supper table in a far away ranch in
21:35
Speaker 1: Montana the very night. A number of horse breakers were
21:39
Speaker 1: there also at the table, and one of them put
21:43
Speaker 1: up Rollo and me to his friends. I shall never
21:47
Speaker 1: forget how queer I felt when I heard myself discussed
21:50
Speaker 1: by perfect strangers in my very presence, not one of
21:54
Speaker 1: whom knew in the least who I was. It made
21:57
Speaker 1: me think that perhaps I was shabby invisible, although to
22:03
Speaker 1: myself I did not feel at all that way. Fay
22:08
Speaker 1: wrote to Missus Eames about Rollo, thinking that possibly he
22:11
Speaker 1: might buy him back, but mister Eames wrote in reply
22:15
Speaker 1: that Rollo had already been sold because Missus Eames had
22:18
Speaker 1: found it impossible to manage him, also that he was
22:22
Speaker 1: owned by the post trader at Fort mc ginnis, who
22:25
Speaker 1: was making a pet of him. So as the horse
22:28
Speaker 1: had a good home and gentle treatment, it was once
22:31
Speaker 1: more decided to leave him up in his native mountains.
22:35
Speaker 1: It might have been cruel to have brought him here
22:37
Speaker 1: to suffer from the heat and to be frightened and
22:40
Speaker 1: ever fretted by the many strange sights and sounds. But
22:44
Speaker 1: I am not satisfied, for the horse had an awful
22:48
Speaker 1: fear of men when ridden or driven by them. And
22:51
Speaker 1: I know he is so unhappy and wonders why I
22:54
Speaker 1: no longer come to him, and why I do not
22:57
Speaker 1: take him from the strange people who do not understand him.
23:00
Speaker 1: He was a wonderfully playful animal, and sometimes when Miller
23:04
Speaker 1: would be leading the two horses from our yard to
23:06
Speaker 1: the corral, he would turn Rollo loose for a run
23:10
Speaker 1: That always brought out a number of soldiers to see
23:13
Speaker 1: him rear, lunge and snort. His turn so quick his
23:18
Speaker 1: beautiful tawny mane would be tossed from side to side
23:22
Speaker 1: and over his face until he looked like a wild horse.
23:26
Speaker 1: The more the men laughed, the wilder he seemed to get.
23:29
Speaker 1: He never forgot Miller, however, but would be at the
23:32
Speaker 1: corral by the time he got there, and would go
23:35
Speaker 1: to his own stall quietly and without guidance. Poor Rollo.
23:41
Speaker 1: End of letter, end of section twenty