Sound Of Gunfire

OREGON-1864 It sat wedged against the rugged Oregon foothills, a forgotten outpost left behind to protect a wilderness frontier. All around it were the hostile Snake and Cayuse, waiting for the moment to strike, stirred up by white men who traded in death. Its fifty-seven men--raw recruits, traitors, deserters--cared little about fighting, except among themselves. Its commanding officer plotted strategy by retiring to quarters, and building ship models. But it had a sergeant who was also a soldier, Daily he looked to the mountains, saw the sure signs of impending attack. And when it came, he decided, those who had lived like animals would at least die like men.