During my absence the Indians had made their appearance on the different hills in the vicinity, and the troops from the boat had had several skirmishes with them.

When General Whistler had finished reading the dispatches, he said: "Cody, I want to send information to General Terry concerning the Indians who have been skirmishing around here all day.

I have been trying all the evening long to induce some one to carry my dispatches to him, but no one seems willing to undertake the trip, and I have got to fall back on you.
It is asking a great deal, I know, as you have just ridden eighty miles; but it is a case of necessity, and if you'll go, Cody, I'll see that you are well paid for it." "Never mind about the pay," said I, "but get your dispatches ready, and I'll start at once." In a few minutes he handed me the package, and mounting the same horse which I had ridden from General Terry's camp, I struck out for my destination.

It was two o'clock in the morning when I left the boat, and at eight o'clock I rode into General Terry's camp, just as he was about to march--having made one hundred and twenty miles in twenty-two hours.
General Terry, after reading the dispatches, halted his command, and then rode on and overtook General Crook, with whom he held a council; the result was that Crook's command moved on in the direction which they had been pursuing, while Terry's forces marched back to the Yellowstone and crossed the river on steamboats.

At the urgent request of General Terry I accompanied the command on a scout in the direction of the Dry Fork of the Missouri, where it was expected we would strike some Indians.
The first march out from the Yellowstone was made in the night, as we wished to get into the hills without being discovered by the Sioux scouts.