Descendents of Floyd & Grace Lytle

Ken Thompson's Unofficial Medicine Lodge Website

This page is devoted to stories about things that happened in the Gyp Hills. Some of them may be true and some of them may not be true. You be the judge. Table of Contents Talking with William There ain't no gold in them Gyp Hills The Early Dwellings at the Medicine River Read this story first to understand the story about the Cavalry. The Great Blizzard of '71 Medicine Lodge needs Buffalo Bill! The Day Muck-Muck Got His Wish Deacon Jim How Willie the Cripple Got His Nickname The Chestnut Mare Every chance I get, I'll publish a new Tall Tales of the Gyp Hills story, so check back often. From December, 2004: The Cavalry comes to town

Note from the author: in order to understand the events leading up to this story, be sure to read the story "The Early Dwellings at the Medicine River".

Nort Williams and his son felt proud as they watched the cavalry coming down main street. They looked so proud in their blue uniforms with yellow kerchiefs. Nort could tell some of them were tired and they were certainly dusty. That red dirt of main street in Medicine Lodge made a distinctive cloud of dust that covered all the buildings.

"There must be 30 or more of 'em, daddy!" Nort's son said as they watched the men ride towards the livery stable. "When I grow up I wanna be a officer in the cavalry!" his son said. "Son, now you know I need you to help with the farm," Nort answered as he helped his son into the buggy. They had just got a month's supplies at the general store.

"Hey Nort, you been seein' them indians out in the Gyp Hills?" Dean Stanton yelled out to Nort.

"Yeah, there's a tribe camped out along the river bottom. They been putting up teepees. But they ain't caused no trouble. Not yet! I got 3 cases of rounds for 'em if'n they do come nosin' around," Nort said to his friend Dean.

"Sheriff says don't cause no trouble!" Dean answered back.

"If'n all they're doin' is puttin' up those teepees then it don't bother me none," Nort said as he snapped his buggy whip at his rig.

The door of the general store opened and the mayor came out on the walkway. "How many cavalry officers you reckon there are, Dean?"

"Nort's son said there must be about 30 of 'em." Dean answered.

"Well, I better go give them the official Medicine Lodge welcome," the mayor said as he walked off in the direction of the livery stable. As he walked he took his top hat off and dusted it off with his coat sleeve. The mayor always liked to dress in a gentleman's black suit with a white shirt and red bow tie. He was from back east--Wichita.

As the mayor walked into the livery stable, he noticed right away a tall man with long hair. "Sir, are you the captain of this fine outfit?" he asked.

"That's general, general of the U.S. Cavalry," the tall man answered.

"Well, general, we're mighty proud to have you stopping in Medicine Lodge. I'm the mayor. We got a couple of hotels to put you up for the night and there's another livery stable as you go down Kansas Avenue," the mayor said, holding out his hand for a handshake.

"Where's Kansas Avenue?" the general said as he shook hands with the mayor.

"Go back to the middle of Main street, and you'll see a wide street going west, down the hill."

"Thanks. You're a right hospitable town folk. Much obliged," the general said as he turned to his lieutenants. The mayor overheard the general giving instructions to his lieutenants to take half the horses to the other livery stable.

As the lieutenants and officers rode back towards Kansas Avenue, the mayor turned to the general again. "General, there's been a bunch of indians camping out on the river bottom and putting up a bunch of teepees. They ain't caused no trouble yet, but the townsfolk would appreciate it if you'd go check them out and see what they're up to."

"Sure, indians is my specialty. But first I got to go get some food in my belly, a bath and a good nights' sleep. Every man in my command needs the same. We been traveling 3 days from Ft. Zarah."

"We sure do thank you. But we don't want no drinkin' and fightin' tonight," the mayor said in a squirrelish voice.

"Nah, my men are too tired for that. We'll check out those indians in the morning."

"Mighty obliged, general," the mayor nodded as he turned and left the stable.

The general's room had a glass window to the east and the sun shone through and woke him up. He thought that Medicine Lodge must be a classy place to have glass windows in 1874. Maybe it wasn't as uncivilized as he thought. He got a whiff of coffee and eggs and bacon and jumped out of the bed and started to pull his pants on, but had to first relieve himself in the bed pan. Yeah, Medicine Lodge must be pretty classy to have these nice white fancy bed pans. He finished getting dressed and followed the smell of coffee and eggs and bacon down to the restaurant on the main floor of the hotel. Just about every table looked full with all the cavalry officers, but the general saw a place at the table with the lieutenants.

"Mornin', General. They's been a lot of townsfolk here talking about them indians out along the river bottom so we sent out a couple of scouts," the lieutenant said. "They should be back soon."

"Good thinkin', men. We just need to know what tribe they are. I reckon they're Kansa indians that strayed south, or maybe Pawnee. I don't expect much trouble from 'em," the general said.

While the general and lieutenants waited on their breakfast to be served, they mostly talked about how good those beds felt after that 3 day ride from Ft. Zarah. And that coffee sure tasted good. Pretty soon the waitress brought out their plates, but the men couldn't eat because the scouts came in the door of the hotel.

"General, I think they's Dakota indians," the scout said with a puzzled look on his face. "The markings on their teepees are Dakota indians, but what in tarnation are they doing so far south?"

"Maybe they followed the buffalo herds down here. Maybe they came to the medicine river for some medicine man stuff. Hell, I don't know!" the general answered scratching his head. "Sit down and eat some breakfast. Pass me that butter."

The sun was getting up high in the sky when the general led his men down the dusty red trail going southwest towards the river. He could make out the river because of the tall elm trees that lined its banks. Off in the distance the men could make out the Gyp Hills, standing like red flowerpots turned upside down. They had a purple glow that reminded the general of the Rocky Mountains out west in Denver.

"Hey, general, ole Dean Stanton told me there was a flowerpot mountain out here. Looks like there's a whole bunch of 'em," the sargeant yelled to the general.

"Shut up, sarge! I don't want no noise. Now be quiet so these indians will know we're peaceful. We don't want no uprisings right now," the general told the sarge with a stern look on his face.

One of the scouts rode up beside the general and told him, "Over there at that break in the trees, there's a sandbar. They told us in town that the river's shallow and that's the best place to cross. And there ain't no quicksand neither." The general nodded and led his horse in that direction. He could see smoke rising up from the campfire and could smell the burning embers of the cedar and elm logs.

The water was red. Everything was red except for the tree leaves and the green cedar trees, but even those were covered with red dust. Must have been a dry year. The men crossed the river, and could start making out the teepees on the other side of the trees.

The campground was so quiet, and there were no people around. The men pulled up their horses into their formation. Some horses grazing in the meadow saw the men and trotted off. The general waited a moment, and then the medicine man came out of a teepee, with a huge headdress on. In his hand was a peacepipe, and the general could see the smoke coming up from the tobacco. Behind the medicine man came Son of Moon, carrying a spear. The brothers of the land came out of their teepees, carrying spears and standing proud and tall behind the medicine man.

"We come in peace," the general said. His first lieutenant knew some Dakota words, and repeated the same greeting in the Dakota language. The medicine man approached the general and lieutenant, holding out the peacepipe. And at that time, Skystar looked out of the teepee opening. She came out and stood beside her proud brother Son of Moon, who had killed the buffalo and made the teepee. Her brother had found the gold rocks that made the river become medicine.

Sarge looked at Skystar and thought to himself, "Man, I ain't had me a woman since we left Kansas City, and that's been nigh on a year now. And she's a damn good lookin' woman even if she is a renegade squaw." Sarge just lost all of his control. He jabbed his spurs into the flanks of his horse and rode towards Skystar. He grabbed her by the arm, but just then, the spear from Son of Moon flew straight and true through his heart. Skystar screamed as sarge fell from his horse, dead.

The general and lieutenant yelled "Peace, we come in peace," in English and Dakota, but it was too late. Out from behind the trees came dozens of indians with spears, and a dozen cavalry men took spears through their hearts. Skystar ran inside the teepee, and brought out many more spears and handed them to her brother Son of Moon. The cavalry men took out at least half of the indians with their Colt .45 revolvers, but with the cloud of blue smoke from the revolvers, they couldn't make out their targets.

The general knew he had no choice but to yell retreat. As the men followed his orders, Son of Moon picked up the revolver from sarge's body, and put a bullet straight through the lieutenants' chest. Other indian braves grabbed the revolvers off the dead cavalry bodies, and shot at the retreating cavalry men, but without the good aim that Son of Moon had.

As the cavalry, the general and the survivors crossed the river, the indians stopped shooting. "Must be some tribal thing or territorial thing that they won't cross the medicine river," the general said to the surviving men. "Damn that sarge! How many men did we lose?"

"Fourteen men," a disappointed voice came from the group.

"We'll split up and surround them. But wait for nightfall," the general told his surviving men.

The cavalry men were angry, and ready for a fight. Each one had 2 loaded rifles in his saddle, and a loaded Colt .45 on each hip. They broke up into groups of 4 men, and as the sun sank over the Gyp Hills, each group made its way around the indian camp so as to attack from each direction. They didn't care if they were outnumbered. They just wanted revenge for the deaths of their men.

As the general and his group could make out the embers of the campfire, the realized that the teepees were gone. "I knew those indians were fast, but I didn't realize they were this fast," the general said to the men in his group. All four groups pulled their horses up to the campfire and looked at the embers.

"General," the lieutenant said, and nodded in the direction of the meadow. "You better look at this."

There was a stand of stick and branches that the indians had probably put up to dry buffalo hides, and there, on the stand, were the bodies of the sarge and the lieutenant. Their skulls were bloodied, and the general could see the bone sticking through where the men's hair had been before.

The general's rage grew and grew as his face turned as red as the dirt and water. He yelled out until his lungs almost burst, "I'm General George Armstrong Custer, of the United States Cavalry, and there's going to be revenge!"