It was I who lashed the Modocs from their lair
With Wheaton in the Tule Lava Bed;
It was I who drove Chief Joseph to despair
When I streaked the slopes of Bear Paw with his dead.
For I was a proof most impressive—
The Springfield the infantry bore—
To redskins with spirits aggressive
That peace is more healthful than war;
I showed them on Musselshell River
And again, yet more plain, at Slim Butte;