A SUGGESTIVE REMINISCENCE OF FRONTIER DAYS.
Writing of the inception of this play, Belasco says:
“During the ’Heart of Maryland’ days, when I was in the South, I met Mrs. George Crook, widow of General George Crook, who fought in the Civil War and afterwards gained fame as an Indian fighter. Mrs. Crook delighted in relating her husband’s exploits and I delighted in hearing them. Her tales were exciting, and the general’s uniform, his sword and pistols, his boots and spurs, made the scenes she was describing very convincing and in my mind I dramatized everything she told me.
“‘I always accompanied the general,’ said Mrs. Crook, ’and shared many of his dangers.’ Immediately there came before me the spectacle of a woman within easy reach of the firing-line, facing the anguish and uncertainty of never seeing her husband alive again, and her own terrible fate if the battle went against him. One incident impressed me particularly. ’The general had rounded up a band of Indians whom he had been pursuing for some time,’ said Mrs. Crook, ’and the place where he was to give them battle was so close to our camp that he was in great distress for my safety. He condemned himself bitterly for having permitted me to come with him. If the battle were lost, we in the camp would be at the mercy of the Indians. An orderly was holding the general’s horse, but my husband could not bear to leave our tent. Three times he started and returned. He and I once made an agreement that were I in danger of being captured I was to shoot myself. And now, under the stress of great necessity, he reminded me of the compact, and saw that my revolver was in good order. We read the Bible together, prayed, kissed, and parted. All through the night I sat in the camp, knowing if the battle were lost I must die before the savages could surround us. I heard the sounds of firing, and knew the fighting was desperate. After hours of waiting I heard hurried steps. Some one was running towards my tent. I grasped my pistol, thinking my time had come. “We’ve licked ’em,” I heard a soldier cry. He had been sent by the general to tell me all was well. I sank to the ground, overcome by the relief, after the suspense I had endured. You can imagine my joy when the general came back to me!’