On reporting to the medical director at St. Louis I was ordered to Fort Sill, Indian Territory, (now Oklahoma) by way of railroad to Fort Scott, Kans., and thence by stage to my destination. We arrived at Fort Scott, Kans., late in the evening. This was the end of the Kansas City, Fort Scott and Gulf Railroad at that time, and a booming town. The hotels were crowded and we had great difficulty in finding a place to sleep, but finally were located at what was called the Western Hotel where we were fortunate enough to get a room for ourselves. Many were compelled to sleep on cots or beds made down on the floor in sitting rooms, dining rooms and parlors.

The next morning I waded through deep snow some distance southeast of town to a soldiers' camp where Major Roy was in command and reported. He informed me that it would be impossible for me to go by stage to Fort Sill, that the stages had quit running on account of the deep snow, and that he would order me back to St. Louis, which he did. We arrived in St. Louis about the 20th of December, and stopped at the Lindell, one of the good hotels in those days. The controversy between Doctor Mills, the medical director and the department quartermaster was quite amusing. The doctor ending up by saying, "You sent him the only road he couldn't go." It was decided I should wait for a boat down the Mississippi and up the Arkansas to Fort Smith, and stage across country from there to Fort Sill.

On my first arrival at St. Louis from the West I had gone to see a furrier about tanning my buffalo hide and he informed me it would require several days to put it in prime condition. I went to see him again on our return to St. Louis and was told it would probably be ready by the time we would start to Fort Sill by boat and that he would make a robe I would be proud of. He sent it to the boat the day before we left, and as it seemed a little damp, I spread it out on the hurricane deck to dry. As it dried it became hard around the edges and I kept trimming away the hard parts, particularly those of the neck and legs until I had my robe in the shape of a parallelogram. This was disappointing but I still praised it as a souvenir of the chase. We found it a very great help in keeping us warm while in the stage from Fort Smith to Fort Sill. It disappeared one night while hanging outside of our tent at Fort Sill which was only a camp at that time. It had cost me a most thrilling experience when first getting possession of it and then ten dollars to have it tanned, and now after a short service it was gone and I concluded it was hardly worth the ammunition.

We were in St. Louis a week or more waiting for the boat to start and while there we had the pleasure of seeing Joseph Jefferson in "Rip Van Winkle." He was then in his prime and although I have seen and heard him since in the same play it did not appeal to me in the same way it did at the first performance.

I think it was the last day of December that we went on the boat and started on our trip down the river the following evening. It was a light craft, stern wheel boat, and I was amazed at the vast quantity of freight that it carried. The trip down the Mississippi was without incident but we had frequent delays on the Arkansas unloading freight and crossing sandbars. From Little Rock to Fort Smith we tied up every night. Most of the time up the Arkansas a man stood at the head of the boat taking soundings.

We were cordially received and entertained on our arrival at Fort Smith by the post surgeon, Doctor Theibaut and his family, where we remained two or three days.

We started from Fort Smith very early in the morning, about four o'clock if I remember rightly, and it was very cold. In the stage with us, was a deputy United States marshal, who told us of the disastrous results attending those who brought liquor into the country—confiscation of property, jail sentences, etc. The trouble with us was that we had a bottle of brandy with us. By the time we stopped for breakfast my wife was thoroughly aroused to the importance of the occasion and whispering to me expressed her fears. I tried to assure her that it would be all right, and that no one would search an army officer's baggage, but it was of no use, and when the marshal was out of sight I broke the bottle over the fence corner and went into breakfast as though nothing had happened. We learned afterwards that army officers were permitted to bring it in for their own use and while at Fort Sill I had some sent me with other medical supplies.

It was very cold for a day or two and we had the stage to ourselves after the marshal left us. I think it was the following night when we were in some very rough mountainous country that the driver stopped the stage and asked if I would get up on the outside with him, explaining that his team was hard to manage and that he might need assistance, to which I readily consented. The team was spirited enough and we went along at a spinning gait. I thought noticeably so for such rough roads and I believe my wife thought it was the ride of her life. After two or three hours the driver said he believed the team was settling down and would probably not give any trouble and if I wished I could go back inside the stage where it was warmer. I accepted this suggestion promptly and found it much more comfortable. The driver explained to me at the end of his division that in the rough country we had passed there were frequent hold-ups and he thought someone ought to sit with him to create the impression that the stage was loaded and highwaymen would be less liable to attack it.

The second day out we had dinner at the house of the chief of the Chickasaws, having had breakfast at a freedman's house, both of which were worth describing. When we entered the house for breakfast there were a few smoldering coals in the fireplace although it was quite cold. There was some wood by the chimney and I stirred up the embers and put on some wood and soon had a fire started. The table was set in the next room, if so called, for it was only partly enclosed, so it was practically as cold as out of doors. On the table was some headcheese and cornbread, light rolls and sweet potatoes, all frozen so that the frost stood out on them, and some black coffee and no cream or milk. I managed to cut off a piece of the headcheese and cornbread and took my coffee and went back to the fireplace to eat and my wife soon followed, making her breakfast on some cookies we had brought with us. For this treat we were charged the modest sum of fifty cents each. At dinner we had some fried pork, fried eggs swimming in grease, and coffee similar to that we had at breakfast, and cornbread and all at the same price.

The evening of the third day we arrived at Fort Arbuckle and were the guests of Doctor Brewer and family for two or three days and were most hospitably entertained. From Fort Arbuckle to Fort Sill we went in an army ambulance, the distance being eighty to a hundred miles. We camped one night along the road and I shot my first wild turkey at this camp.

Fort Sill at that time was only a camp, but there was a sawmill on Cache creek a short distance below, where they were getting out material for permanent quarters, barracks and storehouses. The plan was for a six company post, and at that time there were two companies of infantry and six troops of cavalry stationed there. I reported on my arrival as usual and after being settled in our tent, was assigned to duty by Doctor Forward, the post surgeon.

Doctor Forward was among the oldest assistant surgeons in the service and I thought a little peculiar in some ways. He was dignified and cordial but after assigning me to duty I thought he showed little interest in the service. He would call at my quarters occasionally and say that he wished to go over to the hospital and would look carefully over everything and would go away simply remarking that everything was all right. I remember going to his quarters one day and informing him that a man by the name of Fields in the hospital had fistula and I thought an operation necessary. He replied: "Can't you stick a knife in it?" I told him I thought I could and he came a few days after the operation and expressed his satisfaction at the results. He was promoted to a full surgency while I was there and assigned to a different post. It is proper here to say that the medical officers in the army are never addressed by their military title or rank but always as doctor. Although their military rank may be that of major (for full surgeon) or captain or lieutenant (for assistant surgeon).

General Grierson of note as a cavalry commander during the Civil War was in command of the camp. Our quarters consisted of one hospital tent, fourteen by sixteen and two wall tents ten by twelve for bed room and dining room, and still back of that was the kitchen which was used for servants' quarters. All these tents were framed to hold them in shape and as a protection against strong winds.

Our first experience with what was called a "Norther," was at this post. These usually occurred in the change of the seasons from cold to hot weather or the reverse. They are typical, resembling other storms only in their intensity. They are always preceded by delightful weather. My first experience was in the early spring of 1870. I was on the roof of the new commissary building where the quartermaster's employes were putting on shingles and one of them happened to look up and said, "Hello; that looks like a Norther coming." The weather was quite warm but ideally pleasant and he noticed my light clothing and said, "You had better get down off here and hunt some heavier clothes." I followed his suggestion at once and by the time I got to our quarters a half mile away I noticed the difference in the temperature and in a few minutes it came on us in all its fury. It is simply the coldest wind I have ever experienced. It blows straight and with a mighty force and is so penetrating that one is thoroughly chilled in a few minutes. I have since learned that it often kills cattle and other live stock down in Texas and occasionally people who are not properly clothed. It comes up from the Northwest, a bank of clouds, not clearly outlined but hazy, I suppose from dust that gathers on the way. Anyone who has once experienced it looks at its coming with dread and apprehension. We had two or three experiences with a "Norther" at Fort Sill while still in camp. In one of these my wife and I both braced ourselves against the tent frame to keep it from blowing down.

There were six companies of colored troops of the Tenth Cavalry of which General Grierson was the colonel, stationed at Fort Sill. I did not see that they were very different from other enlisted men. If anything they seemed to take more interest in their personal appearance than the white soldiers but were accused in the army as they are out of it, of petit larceny. I had one experience in the hospital that may be worth relating: A trooper by the name of Stanley had shot the index finger off his right hand, he claimed accidentally, but it was thought by most of the officers that it had been done for the purpose of getting a discharge from the service. I kept him as nurse in the hospital as he was capable and did his work promptly and carefully and we often had him come to our quarters to stay with our little boy when we were spending the evening with our fellow officers and their wives. I had frequently missed small change and little things of no great value but he would deny any knowledge of them with such apparent candor and honesty that my suspicions were allayed. One morning, however, when attending sick calls at the hospital the hospital steward informed me that Stanton was discovered taking money from under the pillow of one of the sick men during the night. I sent for him and explained the matter to him for I was really disposed to let him off as easy as possible. He denied any knowledge of it, so I said to him: "Now look here Stanton, the evidence is too strong against you, you go and give Fields his money and behave yourself hereafter and I will let the matter drop. You are a good man and I would like to keep you." He looked me straight in the face and said: "Fore God, Doctor, I never did take that money." I sent the steward's assistant over to the guardhouse with orders to the sergeant of the guard to send a man over to take charge of a prisoner. A corporal came and I explained the matter to him and I directed him to take Stanton to the guardhouse and to tell the sergeant of the guard that I wanted him to get that money and for him to resort to any means necessary to get it, even if he had to tie the prisoner up by the thumbs. This is of course a very severe punishment, and consisted of using a very strong cord, the ends of which are looped over each thumb and then thrown over a crossbar a short distance above the prisoner's head and drawing him up, if necessary, off the ground. When I got through my hospital duties and was on my way to my quarters I heard the howling of the prisoner at the guardhouse and stopped where I had a good view and watched the results with interest. Stanton was protesting his innocence, and the sergeant's orders were "pull him up a little higher." It did not take long for Stanton to see his mistake, for he said, "Let me down and I will tell you where it is." "No you don't. Tell me first where it is, then I will let you down." Stanton said, "It's in the lining of my cap." And sure enough there was the ten dollars. The result was that a courtmartial gave him six months with "ball and chain." I think this occurrence illustrates one of the characteristic traits of the colored race, and to me it is remarkable that he would have taken such a course when he was offered the chance of taking one that in every way would have been so much better for himself.