Civilizing the Indian; A Period of Unrest; An Outbreak; Murder of a Freighter.
At this time the Quakers were largely in control of the Indian Department and were indorsed in their views by Pres. U. S. Grant. They believed the Indian could be civilized and kept under control by moral suasion by the erection of school houses for his children, and by imparting a knowledge of the proper system of agriculture. Under their influence, rations were issued and blankets distributed among them. They were also given wagons, plows, and other farm implements which they knew nothing about. They would not ride on a spring seat, nor sit in a wagon box, but for some reason best known to themselves, they would remove the box and place teepee poles on the wagon bolsters and all climb in when they were ready for a trip. The plows and other implements which were sent out among them to encourage them to farm, I have seen suspended from trees. I cannot understand why they did so, unless it was to show contempt for the white man’s way. It is true, some of them raised small patches of corn, which with the rations issued by the Agency and the game they killed, kept the wolf from the door, or rather the flaps of their teepees. Occasionally a small band of them would get a permit from the Fort Commander to go on a hunt, with the understanding that they were to return at a stipulated time and behave themselves during their absence and not commit any depredations. All this they complied with. I have met these hunting parties up in No Man’s Land and other places and never heard of their perpetrating any mischief on persons or stock whilst out under a permit.
The squaws, when not busy in the corn patch or in their little garden, were engaged in making ornaments or other fancy needlework at which they were experts. These articles they afterwards sold to tourists from the East, at the Agency, as souvenirs of their trip among the Indians. Some of this kind of work had a real intrinsic value far above the ornamental part of it. I knew one chief’s daughter who had a blanket ornamented with elk’s teeth and shells, that was valued at $1500. She was taken ill and died, and the blanket which she loved to wear at festivals was used as a shroud. A few days afterwards, some person passing by noticed that the grave had been disturbed. He notified her people and an investigation being made, they found that some white man or men had been there and had stolen the blanket or robe in which she was wrapped. If they were ever captured, I am not aware of it. I said that white men did it, because a negro is too superstitious to do it, and I do not believe there is an Indian in the Territory who would stoop to such a ghoulish act; so I shall give some white animal the credit for the deed.
The government also built large corrals or cowpens where the cattle were issued to the Indians. On the size of the family depended the size of the cow or steer issued. The Agent had the name of each family and the number of persons comprising it. When a steer was selected a cowpuncher rode among the herd and cut out the desired animal and rushed him through the gate of the corral where the Indians were waiting with bows and arrows to kill him. They seldom killed him at the first or second shot. More frequently a dozen shots were required before they struck a vital spot. When the beast fell, the squaws, papooses and dogs came along to do the skinning and oversee the division of the meat. Each one came in for a share. After the killing, the lordly old buck would seek out the shelter of some tree or other shady place to rest his manly form until the animal was dressed and ready for consumption; then he wouldreturn and fill his capacious stomach with wohaw. The Government shortly changed the arrow shooting feat as it considered that such a practice had no civilizing influence on the Indian and, besides, it wanted them to forget their old habits as soon as possible. Thereafter, when on issuing day a beef was selected, a man was there to shoot it in the corral and the Indian entered with his ponies to drag away the carcass to dress it outside.
After some time the Department decided to remove a large number of the Indians at Camp Supply to the Darlington Agency which is located about 140 miles south-east of Supply on the north bank of the North Canadian river, and about two miles from Fort Reno. Here they settled down submissively and appeared to be content with their existing condition. At times there were some small complaints about the agent, which upon investigation proved oftentimes to be correct. On the other hand there was a disturbing element. This thing is not common to the Indian alone, but may be found among civilized folks who are not at peace with themselves or the world at large. Taking everything into consideration, they were doing about as well as could be expected under the circumstances.
The other band of Cheyennes who had located on Pond Creek, were also brought down to the Darlington Agency. This left the Cherokee Strip comparatively deserted, but it did not remain so long as the cowmen entered there and built ranches and stocked them with cattle under leases from the Indians. There were the Turkey Track, the Box T. R-S, Bull Foot and other ranches too numerous to mention, all located in the Cherokee Strip.
Everything moved along smoothly with but little trouble from the Indians until the year 1874, when the spirit of unrest seized them again and extended to all the Indians over the western plains. Some had one grievance and some had another. They began makingmedicine, which to a man acquainted with the Indians meant trouble sooner or later. At that time, supplies to Anadarko, Ft. Reno, and the Darlington Agency were freighted from Wichita, Kansas, and distributed to the different bands at these places. As there were no railroads in this country, it gave employment to hundreds of men and teams on the trails to enable them to keep up the supplies. The freighting business was a great boon to the early settlers of Kansas as the grasshoppers had destroyed everything in the form of vegetation and the settlers who had teams went to Wichita and engaged in freighting for the government. Even the white folks at this time were reduced to a great state of privation and had to depend on the bounty of the outside world. The more fortunate in the older states responded to their appeal and tided them over their distress until prosperity placed them beyond the reach of want.
About this time small bands of discontented Cheyennes began prowling around over the country and occasionally went beyond the limit allowed them by the Agent, and then returned to draw their rations with the other Indians at the Agency. They continued to do this for some time and finally began to make depredations on stock or anything else that came within their reach. The Agent prone to avoid trouble with them, treated them leniently, but the more leniency he showed, the bolder they became until a small band under the leadership of Tall Meat, a petty chief, went north as far as Buffalo Springs on the south line of the Cherokee Strip. There they could see the freight wagons in the distance laden with government supplies heading for Anadarko, and came to the immediate decision of raiding the train. They withdrew into a canyon on the side of the trail so as to be out of sight when the train arrived. They intended to murder the teamsters and plunder their goods of whatever they wanted and then make their escape. A man named Patrick Hennessey was driving the lead wagon of one of the trains. He was trudgingalong on foot beside his team without the slightest suspicion of any danger. As soon as he had passed where they were hiding they shot him in the back. When the shooting took place the team stampeded and dragged Hennessey in his dying condition along the ground. The wagon upset and a bag of grain fell across Hennessey’s lower limbs and there he lay dead. In the meantime the drivers of the other wagons together with a passenger who was working his way down the country, abandoned their teams and wagons and fled. Next day the Indian Agent with an escort happened to pass that way and discovered the work of destruction of the day previous. They found the remnants of the wagon which had been set on fire. Some of the oats which comprised part of the load were still burning, and the sack that had fallen across poor Hennessey’s limbs in burning had charred his legs to a crisp. The agent, John D. Miles, and his escort, Billy Mulally, dug a kind of temporary grave to protect the remains from the coyotes and the buzzards and marked the place with a few rocks. Every freighter that passed that way felt it his duty to see that the grave was kept in as good condition as circumstances would permit. The resting place of Pat Hennessey became a landmark for all travellers in that section until the Rock Island railroad was built, when the remains were removed to their present place of rest. The city of Hennessey, one of the most prosperous little cities in the state is named in his honor. I have since been told that the women of Hennessey have erected a monument with suitable inscription at his grave. The other teamsters who fled when the first shot was fired were overtaken and killed at some distance from where Hennessey fell.
This little band of highwaymen could not expect to be allowed to pursue their murderous way with impunity. They had no following, as such acts would be condemned by the best Indians of their tribe, and again they were surrounded by forts. Supply on the north, Elliot on the west, Sill on the south, and Reno at home.A small band of white men might escape under such conditions as it would be possible for them to avoid detection, but not for Indians of the kind, as their approach would be a signal to begin shooting. It was a very short time until they were captured and brought into the agency. Several others were rounded up at the same time. Then an official investigation was made and after a great deal of red tape ceremonies and other preliminaries, it was thought best for the interests of the Indians, as well as for the safety of the white settlers, to transport them to the Dry Tortugas. I have never visited that locality, but from what I have learned from persons who did, it was not a very desirable place to locate a people who might expect any great degree of personal comfort. I had been told by a man who spent some time there, that if the government sent those folks there to confine and punish them, it had struck the exact spot where everything had a tendency to add to human misery, and he believed it was located so close to the region of the lost that he could hear old Cerberus barking across the dead line.
To show the reader a fine sense of filial affection and brotherly attachment is not a stranger to the savage breast, I must mention a little circumstance that occurred. When all that were to be sent off were standing around and their friends were giving their farewell greetings, one young Indian stepped forward and asked the officer in command if he were going to take his brother away where maybe so he not come back some time. The officer replied that such was the present intention, but modified his remark by saying that at some time in the future they might regain their liberty if they were good Indians. The young Indian hesitated a moment and then said, “Well, me go too. Me not want for stay here and my brother he take away some place I not know and maybe so he not come back at all sometime. Me go, too.” The commanding officer granted his request and gave him transportation along with his brother to theDry Tortugas, situated 175 miles west of Key West in the Gulf of Mexico.
When the Indians were removed, in a short time everything dropped back into peaceful channels and ran along in a comparatively smoother fashion until Chief Dull Knife became uneasy and wanted to return to the Black Hill country. His outbreak will form the subject of another chapter.
Since writing the above I have had occasion to visit one of the public schools of El Reno, where I found a history of Oklahoma written by Joseph B. Thoburn, former secretary of agriculture, and Isaac M. Holcomb, former superintendent of Oklahoma City schools. On page 133 I found a brief history of the tragic death of Pat. Hennessey on July 3rd, 1874, and what a brave defense he made against such odds and when captured was bound to a wagon wheel and burned alive. Also, there was a foot-note stating that it was reported and generally believed that it was the deed of white men disguised as Indians, in order to have it charged up to the Indians. Such was not the case and the above statement is misleading and incorrect, and for the benefit of the school children of the State of Oklahoma, as well as in justice to the Indian I shall set down the correct statement of the case.
My authority for my version of the affair are the following gentlemen: John Murphy of El Reno, and H. A. Todd of Calumet, brother-in-law of Billy Mulally who assisted John D. Miles, Indian agent at Darlington, to bury Pat. Hennessey, while on their way to Wichita, Kansas. Billy Mulally is still living at Calumet and can be consulted in regard to the matter. Their version of the affair is as follows:
Patrick Hennessey in the lead of a wagon train was going from Wichita, Kansas, to Anadarko, I. T. loaded with grain and other supplies for the government. He had been warned at Buffalo Springs ranch, kept by a man named Mosher, that the Cheyenne Indianswere on the war-path, and was advised to go no farther. He persisted in going and in like manner did the two other teams of the train. With them was a passenger who was working his way with them. When not far from where Hennessey, Okla. is now located, a band a Cheyenne Indians, under the leadership of Bear Shield and Tall Meat, came out of a draw and shot Hennessey in the back. The commotion caused by them stampeded the mules Hennessey was driving. He in his dying condition hung on to the lines and was dragged along the ground, as he had been walking alongside the wagon. Presently the wagon upset and a sack of oats fell across Hennessey’s prostrate form and pinned him to the ground. He was dead. The other drivers with their passenger leaped from their wagons and ran north-east in the direction of Skeleton Creek where they were followed by the Chyennes and killed, and were afterwards buried by the cowboys and Mosher. This accounts for their not being buried with Hennessey. The burning of Hennessey cannot be attributed to the Cheyennes as the Osages happened along about this time and the Cheyennes fled. The Osages after plundering the wagons of all they wanted, set fire to what they could not carry away. The following forenoon, John D. Miles, Indian Agent at Darlington, accompanied by Billy Mulally, a cowman on his way to Kansas, came across the wreckage. The grain was still burning and Pat Hennessey’s body lay partly under a sack of grain which was still smouldering, and not tied to the wagon wheel as the history has it. From, there they removed him and buried him in a temporary grave. From this resting place he was afterwards removed to what is now called Hennessey, Okla., where there stands a splendid monument erected to his memory by the women of Oklahoma.
Note—This correction is only one of many that might be made in our present day history which pretendto set forth a correct idea of the early days of our state. For any further reference to such matters, living witnesses are at hand to give a correct version of many erroneous statements that have crept into our text books and other writings.
A Decade of Warfare; Custer’s Massacre; Sheridan, etc.
For several years, I might say the whole decade from 1870 to 1880, the Indians occupied the attention of the public. In the Northwest they were very active. The Utes, Apaches, Cheyennes, and the Sioux were almost continuously on the warpath, and their activities were so widespread and far-reaching that, at times, they almost blocked the progress of the wheels of commerce, and made trade and travel a very dangerous proceeding. The movement on the part of the Indian developed a corresponding activity on the part of the military department. Gen. P. H. Sheridan, Gen. Crook, Gen. Custer, and Gen. Nelson A. Miles and many other men high up in military affairs devoted their time and attention to the pressing condition of affairs and took up their position in localities where they would be able to suppress the movements of the Indians and bring about a peaceable solution of their difficulties.
The various bands of Indians adopted practically the same mode of procedure in their warlike movements. Each spring and summer, when there was plenty of green grass and abundance of water, usually found them opening up a new campaign against the encroachments of the white population. It was very galling for them to stand by and see the source of their supplies, the buffalo, exterminated without making any contrary movement. In fact, they did not propose to do so, but set out to exterminate the hunters who were intent on making a desert of the plains that teemed with millions of their favorite game. Their efforts were sometimes crowned with success, and frequently they encountered disaster. In spite of the reverses they suffered, as at the Chivingtonmassacre on Sand Creek, Colorado, they did not abandon their efforts to retain their rights to the land they had so long retained as their lawful hunting ground. The fact that he had practically no further means of gaining a livelihood, made them all the more determined to fight to the finish with those whom they considered usurpers of their ancestral kingdom.
To add to his difficulties in the way of the encroachments of the whites, an unexpected circumstances arose that made conditions much more difficult to bear. Gold had been discovered in the Black Hills. There was a rush made upon the gold-bearing district, which stirred the Indians to greater excitement. Immigrant trains from Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, and as far east as Ohio and Michigan, began to wind their long sinuous way across the plains in the direction of the new gold fields. They were not entirely unacquainted with the excited condition of the territory through which they were compelled to travel, and consequently made preparations to meet the difficulties and dangers of the way. They were well aware that the Indians were on the warpath and ready to give them a warm reception on their invasion on the Indians’ domain. To meet the perils of such a journey as they were compelled to make, each wagon train consisting of numerous outfits, was under the guidance of some experienced plainsman. He showed them the proper manner of procedure in the method of self-defense in case they were subjected to an attack from the marauding bands of red-men on the way. It was well, as far as their own safety was concerned, that they learned how to corral their wagons and stock in the time of danger, as more than one wagon train was attacked and completely destroyed and the members of the party massacred on their way across the plains. In justice to the Indians, I wish to remark that all the massacres and plunderings of the early days were not wrought by the Indians. It is a well-known fact that the Mormans in Utah played a part in such inhuman affairs, as isevidenced by the actions of John D. Lee and his followers, disguised as Indians, when they perpetrated the Mountain Meadow massacre. To leave the impression that it was the work of the tribesmen they scalped their victims, ran off their stock, and burned their wagons. There are several other instances that might be mentioned, wherein the whiteman in the guise of the Indian, performed deeds of deviltry and endeavored to cast the blame upon the redman. While charging the Indian with his crimes, let us not forget to give him credit for his virtues also, or as Theodore Roosevelt would say, “let us give him a square deal.”
Time passed on, each year bringing its quota of trouble and disaster, without any indication or improvement in the general condition of affairs. All the frontier posts were supplied with soldiers who seemed anxious for something to turn up to relieve the monotony of camp life. They finally had their wishes fulfilled, for in the spring of 1876, Sitting Bull, the Napoleon of the Sioux tribe, succeeded in concentrating his whole force in the valley of the Little Big Horn. No opportunity was more desired by the whites for putting an end to the activity of the Indians. Gen. Custer lost not a moment in taking the field against him. His past successes in fighting the savages seemed to guarantee him victory in his present undertaking. In his impetuosity he set out flushed with the thought of the success that was to perch upon his arms. In his ardour lay his crushing defeat. Custer had about 700 men—only 256 with him in actual fight where he fell, every man killed except Curley the Crow scout who escaped. Reno and Benteen were already held in check on the hill they retreated to when attacked before Custer engaged the Indians. The Indians had 3600 braves or warriors. Sitting Bull was the Bismark of the Sioux and Gall the Von Molkte. Custer and Terry had been informed by Indian agent at Standing Rock that only 800 braves were to be engaged. Sitting Bull had defeated General Crook a fewdays before he encountered Custer. Sitting Bull fearing also General Gibbons and Crook at any minute to reinforce the Seventh Cavalry hastened to make his escape to Canada, otherwise he would have annihilated Reno and the balance of the Seventh Cavalry. These Indians in 1881 returned to the United States and I helped put them on steam boats at Fort Buford and Fort Keogh, or Miles City now, and sent them to Standing Rock agency, Rain in the Face’s band being at Keogh. Sitting Bull, by strategy, succeeded in decoying General Custer, with his entire command, into a position that was suicidal. The wily Indian chief, with about nine thousand warriors, on the 25th of June, 1876, attacked him and annihilated the whole command, carrying off all Custer’s munitions of war as trophies of victory. Acting on the principle that “to the victor belong the spoils,” Siting Bull, by the total annihilation of the enemy was able to replenish his larder at the expense of Uncle Sam. It was a veritable windfall for him, as the supplies of food, guns, ammunition, horses, blankets, and everything that was needed for comfort and safety, were very much in demand about that time, as the Indian’s resources were almost at the vanishing point at the time. It is not my purpose here to offer any explanation of Custer’s failure, but it was commonly reported that General Reno had been expected to take part in the engagement, but did not do so. Others lay the disaster to Custer’s impetuosity, not waiting for his auxiliaries to arrive. I am not prepared to say who was to blame for the calamity.
In the death of General Custer, the country lost one of the bravest men that ever donned the uniform of the soldier. He had his faults but cowardice was not one of them. He was true to his country and his flag and his fall where the fight was thickest, was an indication of his military character.
I thought it proper to write this short sketch in order to show the influence it exercised on succeedingevents. It was several days before the results of the day’s disaster became known to the general public. There were several reasons for the delay. First, those who were to join Custer in his attack on the Indians did not arrive for some time after the battle and as there was not a living soul left to tell the tale of the deeds of heroism performed in that desperate encounter, nor give any inkling as to the whereabouts of the dead bodies of the slain, it was more by chance than design that their location was discovered as soon as it was. Even to those who came upon them where they lay stiff and cold in death, it did not seem possible that there could be such a complete massacre that not a living man was left to relate what happened. Again, the means of communication with the world at large were very meagre. There was the pony express, a very slow method at its best. However, the news was finally forwarded to the country at large, and as usual, the newspapers went into glaring accounts of the disaster, calling upon imagination for what they lacked from authorative sources. The whole country was aroused.
When the other Indian tribes had learned of Sitting Bull’s successful annihilation of the hated pale-face command, their enthusiasm knew no bounds. They began to see at last the extermination of the white man. No more would the buffalo hunter deprive them of their means of subsistence. No more would the freighter and the settler occupy the lands that belonged to the Indian long before the white man had set his foot on American soil. The prophecy of the Messiah was coming true, and they were ready and willing to have a share in hastening the day of their deliverance from the white usurper. Naturally, they began to make their war medicine and prepare themselves to aid in freeing their beloved plains from the objectionable intruder. Herein, they reckoned without Uncle Sam. No sooner had the news of Custer’s defeat and annihilation been brought to him, than he began to make preparations for another expeditionagainst them, determined to wipe out the stain of recent defeat. The purpose of the new expedition was probable more comprehensive than the former efforts of a like nature. The government began to realize that it was face to face with no common danger. The forts were put in proper condition to resist any attack that the Indian might contemplate making upon them. New forts were established at different points of vantage and men enlisted for the purpose of bringing the defense up to a proper footing, as well as to afford protection for the trade and commerce of that disturbed region.
The year of 1877 was but a repetition of the preceding years with very few exceptions. The Indian was becoming accustomed to the ways of the white man, especially in the art of making war. Whenever and wherever possible he discarded his primitive weapons, the bow and arrow, for the more up-to-date and efficient firearms. These they acquired, sometimes by barter and frequently by successful engagements in battle, as in the case of the Custer massacre where they obtained sufficient munitions of war to make them feel rather bold in their dealings with the boys in blue.
One thing noticeable about this time, was the change in the method of conducting warfare by the organized forces of Uncle Sam. The old army method of fighting was improved by adopting the strategy of the enemy while fighting on his native heath. Heretofore they had followed the tactics of civilized warfare acquired by experience in the years of the Great Rebellion, but they were glad to adopt the latter and improved method of bringing the battle to the Indians in the manner that was more conductive to personal safety and at the same time offered opportunities for personal initiative. The change seemed to be more agreeable to the men in the ranks, for they seemed to enjoy mounting a horse and scurrying over the plains in free-lance fashion. One great drawback to their success was their ignorance of the topography of the country in which they were operating. Theywere oftentimes compelled to rely upon the knowledge of scouts who were frequently as ignorant as themselves. Since so much depended on the accurate information given by the guide, one may imagine the plight of a body of men guided by an unreliable scout in an expedition through the mountains or over the plains. Happily, men of such character were the exception and not the rule. The rank and file of the scouts were composed of men whose knowledge of the plains seemed almost uncanny, whose personal courage was on a par with that of the bravest of men, and who could be relied upon to accomplish their undertakings with prudence and despatch. Such men as Ben Clark, Buffalo Bill, Amos Chapman, W. F. Brannan, Jack Stillwell, Billy Dixon, and others too numerous to mention filled all the requirements for a successful scout, and rendered service to the country that can not be properly estimated or fitly described within the limits of a short narrative. Some of them I am acquainted with personally, and I feel myself honored by it. They were the men that guided the U. S. troops through the most difficult and dangerous campaigns, blazing the highways for them, and making civilization possible on the western plains.
The summer of 1877 passed away in very much the same fashion as the preceeding seasons of Indian warfare. The first snow fall was a harbinger of peace, as the tribesmen do not favor the winter time as one fitted for the activities of warfare. They preferred to sit around the camp fire in their winter quarters and wait till the grass was green and the plains free from snow before taking the warpath again. They were never known to break the custom of generations, until General Phil. H. Sheridan arrived at the conclusion that it was not advantageous to allow the Indians to go into winter quarters to wait for another season of warfare. That looked too much like allowing the enemy to say when, where, and how they would fight, and that was contrary to the notions Sheridan had of conducting asuccessful campaign. He it was who ordered the winter campaign against the Kiowas, Comanches, and Cheyennes, which proved successful and paved the way to permanent peace with those tribes. Nelson A. Miles adopted the same plan and drove Sitting Bull through the snowbanks across the boundary into the Dominion of Canada, where he was quite willing to promise to behave himself in the future if permitted to return to the land of his fathers. I know for a certainty that he lived up to his promises, though I do not know how far he would have done so if he had not lost his power as a medicine man with the Sioux. He was shortly after his return shot and killed by the Indian police. His death removed one of the greatest leaders and warriors that ever led the Sioux tribe into battle, and conduced to the establishment of permanent peace with that nation.
CUSTER’S LAST BATTLE.
The 7th U. S. Cavalry, 700 men and 28 officers, 2 companies of the 17th U. S. Infantry, 1 company 6th U. S. Infantry—8 officers and 135 men; One Platoon of Gatling guns, 2 officers and 32 men, of the 20th U. S. Infantry and 40 Ree scouts, the 7th Cavalry being commanded by General Geo. A. Custer, and the expeditionary forces under command of Brigadier General Alfred H. Terry, at the sounding of the “general” at 5 o’clock in the morning of may 17th, 1876 proceeded to march to the camp of Sitting Bull in the Little Big Horn country, by 7 a. m. the 7th Cavalry was marching in column of platoons through the post and around the parade ground, of Fort A. Lincoln, the band mounted on white horses playing “Garry Owen” the Seventh’s battle tune, first used when this gallant regiment charged at the battle of Washita. The column halted just outside of the garrison and dismounted where their wives and members of the families came out and bid their husbands and fathers good bye, many of whom they would see no more, afterthe farewells, the signals “mount” and “forward” were sounded and the command headed by the Gallant Seventh, marched away the band playing “The Girl I Left Behind Me.”
The command proceeded until on the Rosebud, Indian trails were discovered June 19th. The mouth of the Rosebud was reached June 21st, where preparations were made for the battle that followed on the Little Big Horn June 25th and 26th, 1876.
The Indians attacked in this campaign were various Sioux tribes, also Northern Cheyennes and Arapahoes, the leading chiefs being Sitting Bull, Rain in the Face, Crow King, Low Dog, Big Road, Spotted Eagle and Little Horse of the Northern Cheyennes—Gall, Crow King, and Crazy Horse were the three ruling fighting chiefs; the total fighting strength of the combined Indian forces was 3000.
General Custer was ordered by General Terry to engage the Indians, reports from the Indian agencies leading him to believe that there were only about 800 bucks in the field.
General Crook had engaged Sitting Bull’s command before on June 17th and was badly defeated by the Indians, indeed glad to escape without total annihilation. General Gibbons was near, but the three commands operated independently of each other while had they co-operated together, attacking as a whole, the Custer massacre as it is called would never have occured.
On June 25th, 1876, the Indians were attacked by one battalion under Major Reno, consisting of Troop “M”; Captain French, Troop “A”; Captain Moylan, Troop “G”, Lieutenant McIntosh, the Indian scouts under Lieutenants Varnum and Hare and Interpreter Girard, Lieutenant Hodson acting adjutant, Doctors DeWolf and Porter Medical officers, this battalion marched down a valley that developed into a small tributary to the Little Big Horn, now called Sundance or Benteen’s Creek, where they reached the river, and crossing were routed by theIndians in great force and retreated across the river to the bluffs loosing three officers and 29 enlisted men killed, seven enlisted men and one officer wounded, one officer and fourteen enlisted men missing, the Ree scouts ran away and continued their flight until outside of the danger zone. Some Crow scouts remained with the troops.
The battalion commanded by General Custer, consisted of Troop, “I”, Captain Keogh, Lieutenant Porter, Troop “F”, Captain Yates, Lieutenant Relly; Troop “C”, Captain Tom Custer and Lieutenant Harrington; Troop “E”, Lieutenants Smith and Strugis, troop “L”, Lieutenants Calhoun and Crittenden; Lieutenant Cook was adjutant, Dr. G. E. Lord, Medical officer.
The third battalion was under Captain Benteen, the ranking captain of the Seventh Cavalry, consisted of Troop “H”, Benteen, captain, Lieutenant Gibson; Troop “D”, Captain Weir and Lieutenant Edgerly; and Troop “K”, Lieutenant Godfrey. The pack train was in command of Lieutenant Mathey, escorted by Troop “B”, Captain McDougall, this battalion was to proceed to the right and supposed to cut off Indians routed by Reno, but on coming into view of the Little Big Horn Valley succeeded in joining Reno on the hills where he was being engaged by the Indians; while Gall was leading the attack against Reno, Iron Cedar, one of his warriors, announced that more soldiers were coming, which was the battalion under General Custer, the Indians withdrawing from attack on Reno concentrated on Custer, who never forded the river but being attacked by overwhelming forces made his stand on a ridge where he and every one of his command went down to defeat, not one man escaped to tell the tale—212 bodies were buried on the battle field, all stripped and mutilated except General Custer who was shot in the temple and left side. The bodies of Dr. Lord and Lieutenant Porter, Harrington and Sturgis were never found, at least not recognized, the clothing of Lieutenant Porter and Sturgis was foundin the debris, and showed they had been killed. The total killed of the entire command was 265, wounded 52. Little plots of wild sun flowers mark the graves of those resting here who died on that memorable June 25th, 1876, no one will ever know the heroic death they met or the terrible scenes enacted but they attest the services of the Gallant Seventh Cavalry who did more to clear the country in the early days from Mexico to Canada than almost all the other regiments combined. “Garry Owen” can not awake them to glory again, and the girls they left behind will mourn until death shall enable them let us hope, to join their departed dead never seen after that fatal parting, May 17, 1876, at old Fort Abraham Lincoln on the banks of the historical Missouri River.
GENERAL H. M. CREEL.
Trouble With the Northern Cheyennes; Little Chief Conducted to the Agency at Reno, I. T.
The year 1878 found the Northern Cheyennes up in arms and on the warpath, as were the other tribes on the plains and in the mountains. Prominent among the roving bands of warriors was the Little Chief band of Northern Cheyennes. They were very active and indications seemed to point out that they were likely to make things very disagreeable for the troops as well as for the ranch man in that section.
Little Chief and his band were brought to Fort A. Lincoln in December 1877 and remained there until July 24th, 1878, when they left with the 7th cavalry for the Black Hills to locate a fort, named later Meade. The fortunes of war proved very unfavorable for him and he was forced to surrender early in the season. His whole band consisting of 375 warriors, with the Little Chief himself at their head, was taken to fort Abraham Lincoln as prisoners of war and placed in charge of Major Tilford who was in command of the place at that time. They remained there till the latter part of July, when he selected Ben Clark, General Sheridan’s chief of scouts and indian interpreter, to take charge of them and take them under military escort from thence to their destination at Fort Reno reservation, in the Indian Territory. I herewith give Clark’s commission in full.
HEADQUARTERSFort Abraham, Lincoln, Dakota,July 20th, 1878.To Mr. Ben Clark, in charge of the Cheyenne Indians.Sir: I am directed by the commanding officer toinform you that it is his intention to have the Cheyenne Indians, prisoners of war, leave this post for their destination early next week, and that you will make the necessary arrangements for their departure at that time. If you need any assistance or information in this connection, you will report to the commanding officer in person. Very respectfully, Your Obedient Servant,F. M. GIBSON,1st Lieutenant 7th Cavalry, Post Adjutant.
HEADQUARTERS
Fort Abraham, Lincoln, Dakota,July 20th, 1878.
To Mr. Ben Clark, in charge of the Cheyenne Indians.
Sir: I am directed by the commanding officer toinform you that it is his intention to have the Cheyenne Indians, prisoners of war, leave this post for their destination early next week, and that you will make the necessary arrangements for their departure at that time. If you need any assistance or information in this connection, you will report to the commanding officer in person. Very respectfully, Your Obedient Servant,
F. M. GIBSON,1st Lieutenant 7th Cavalry, Post Adjutant.
GENERAL H. M. CREEL
Ben Clark accepted the appointment and at once began to make the preparations necessary for the removal of the indians to their destination at Fort Reno, I. T. It was a perilous undertaking at that season of the year as the plains were alive with hostile Indians. Another incident arose about the time to make the journey more hazardous than usual, viz, the report that Dull Knife had left the reservation at Fort Reno and was on his way northward to his former hunting grounds. In other words, Dull Knife was on the warpath and as explained in a former chapter, was committing all kinds of depredations. It may be easily imagined what would occur if the tribe that had just broken away from Reno reservation were to join forces with the Little Chief band on their way to the place the other had just quitted. Naturally the tensity of the situation exercised its influence on the whole force accompanying the Little Chief band. At this juncture Ben Clark received the following telegram:
HEADQUARTERSFort Abraham Lincoln,July 24th, 1878.Special Order, No. 175.Companies H and L, 7th Cavalry, will move into camp on the hill in the rear of the post at one o’clock, p. m., preparatory to taking the field tomorrow, the 25th of July, 1878, to join troops operating from Bear Buttes, Dakota, Ter. The Cheyenne Indian prisoners will leavethis post with this command enroute to Camp Robinson under the charge of Ben Clark who will draw for these Indians thirty-two days Indian rations, and will attend to the loading, hauling, and issuing of the same during the march. By command, Major Tilford,F. M. GIBSON,1st Lieutenant, 7th Cavalry, Post Adjutant.
HEADQUARTERS
Fort Abraham Lincoln,July 24th, 1878.
Special Order, No. 175.
Companies H and L, 7th Cavalry, will move into camp on the hill in the rear of the post at one o’clock, p. m., preparatory to taking the field tomorrow, the 25th of July, 1878, to join troops operating from Bear Buttes, Dakota, Ter. The Cheyenne Indian prisoners will leavethis post with this command enroute to Camp Robinson under the charge of Ben Clark who will draw for these Indians thirty-two days Indian rations, and will attend to the loading, hauling, and issuing of the same during the march. By command, Major Tilford,
F. M. GIBSON,1st Lieutenant, 7th Cavalry, Post Adjutant.
When everything was in readiness, and there was considerable difficulty in the task just accomplished, the expedition set out for Bear Buttes. General Sam D. Sturgis, Colonel of the Seventh Cavalry, in command. Captain Benteen, in command of the escort. The journey was rather tedious as the distance to be traveled each day was limited by Ben Clark to 15 miles. When they reached Bear Buttes they were met by Second Lieutenant H. M. Creel, of K troop of the 7th Cavalry, and Captain Mathey, who took charge of the escort from that place to Fort Robinson. Everything went along as well as the trying conditions of the march would permit, and through the watchfulness of Ben Clark the Indians had little cause to murmur, as he looked after their interests and comfort in a manner that reflects great credit upon him. When they reached Sidney Barracks farther south, the following telegram was awaiting them.
Omaha, Barracks, Neb.,Sept. 14th, 1878, 12:35 p. m.To Ben Clark, in charge of Cheyenne Indians,In care of Commanding Officer, Sidney Barracks, Neb.As the Northern Cheyenne Indians who were at Fort Reno, I. T., have left there and are trying to make their way back north, the Department Commander desires to know if you think it advisable for the Indians under your charge to continue their journey south at present. Is there any liklihood of their trying to join those who have left Fort Reno? Where do you think those who have left Fort Reno will try to cross the Union PacificRailroad? Telegraph reply to this and any other information or opinion regarding movements of those from Fort Reno which may be useful. By command,(Signed.)GEN. CROOK.R. WILLIAMS,Ass’t Adjut. General.
Omaha, Barracks, Neb.,Sept. 14th, 1878, 12:35 p. m.
To Ben Clark, in charge of Cheyenne Indians,In care of Commanding Officer, Sidney Barracks, Neb.
As the Northern Cheyenne Indians who were at Fort Reno, I. T., have left there and are trying to make their way back north, the Department Commander desires to know if you think it advisable for the Indians under your charge to continue their journey south at present. Is there any liklihood of their trying to join those who have left Fort Reno? Where do you think those who have left Fort Reno will try to cross the Union PacificRailroad? Telegraph reply to this and any other information or opinion regarding movements of those from Fort Reno which may be useful. By command,
Major Mauck took charge of the escort under Ben Clark at Sidney Barracks. Things went along according to the usual routine until they reached the vicinity of the Red Cloud agency. The close proximity of that agency to the present position of the prisoners of war, no doubt, had some influence on the Little Chief band, as they used to belong to that section of the territory. At this place, Iron Shirt and Black Wolf, chiefs of no mean repute, decided that they would go no further. They declared that they preferred to go to the Red Cloud agency and did not want to go any further south. For a time it seemed as if there was going to be some difficulty in getting the expedition under way again as Iron Shirt, in particular, who was looked upon as a military genius by his followers, was quite determined in his attitude against any further advance towards Reno. However, the matter was promptly adjusted by the commanding officer, by the use of a little diplomacy, as he explained matters to them through the interpreter and put the affair in such a light that it seemed satisfactory to all concerned. The Indians had been rather loathe to leave Fort Abraham Lincoln and would in all probably openly resisted were it not for an agreement made between them and General P. H. Sheridan wherein he promised them good locations, plenty of rations, good hunting on the North Canadian, and besides, gave them permission to retain their firearms as there was an abundance of game in the land to which they were going. The reader will discover later on how this agreement was respected by the war department.
The expedition journeyed along from SidneyBarracks under command of Major Mauck, via Fort Wallace, Fort Dodge, and Camp Supply, without any interruption of any importance, though it was a very tickelish situation all the way as they knew not at what time or place they might encounter the Dull Knife band. It took all the wariness of Ben Clark to keep the band out of all possibility of meeting their kinsmen who were then on the warpath. That he did it successfully, is to his credit, and for it he deserves the highest commendation of not only those immediately concerned with the expedition, but of the country at large, for if those two bands of Cheyennes united, there would have ensued another massacre appaling in its execution.
Little Chief and his band escorted by four troops of the fourth cavalry under Major Mauck arrived at Camp Supply, I. T., in December, 1878, after a few days’ rest started for Fort Reno, the first day’s march brought them to the junction of Wolf and Beaver Creek, forming the North Fork Canadian River, where the command camped, the next morning in the midst of a heavy snow storm Major Mauck came to Lieutenant Creel’s tent about five o’clock with a telegraphic order from General Pope commanding department of Missouri directing him to disarm and dismount the Northern Cheyennes in his charge and en route for Fort Reno, as the interior department at the instigation of the Indian office refused to allow the Indians to enter the Territory unless this was done—this was done to prevent a repetition of the Dull Knife raid of that year. General Pope being entirely ignorant of the promises made by General Sheridan to these Indians that they should retain their arms and ammunition and he had called their attention to the excellent hunting in the Indian Territory. Now on this morning the Indians expected to start out on a great hunt and had asked Lieutenant Creel to go with them, but immediately after reveille and breakfast were confronted with the four troops of the Fourth Cavalry mounted and asked to deliver up their arms and ponies. LieutenantCreel told Major Mauck of the promises made the Indians by General Sheridan and pointed to the interpretation that would be placed upon such treatment and asked Major Mauck if he could not defer action until they could get into communication with General Sheridan, Division commander, but due to poor means of communication Major Mauck was afraid to assume the responsibility. Later when General Sheridan learned of this action on request of the Indian office, it is needless to say he was much incensed and it was due to this fact that he in a short time affected the transfer of all Northern Cheyennes in this band who desired, to return to their old hunting grounds in Montana.
On the arrival of the expedition at Camp Supply, they were confronted with a dispatch from the war department through General Pope, demanding the immediate disarmament of the Indians. When the order was made known to Little Chief, he at once objected to its enforcement, and with his band, stood with arms drawn and ready to rebel against such open violation of their treaty with General Sheridan.
The Indians when asked to surrender their arms and ponies refused, and formed in battle line in semicircular formation, the women and children in the center. Iron Shirt exhorting them to die fighting for their rights, telling them that they had been lied to long enough, during this time had one gun gone off, it would have been the commencement of a bloody massacre of women and children. All the women and children that could crowd into Lieutenant Creel’s two tents, thinking that when the firing commenced they would be immune. Until eleven o’clock the Indians maintained a bold and relenting attitude, their guns in hand, they stood immovable not yielding one inch; during this tense interval when any moment one shot would have precipitated a bloody fight, Lieutenant Creel remained with the Indians in their midst, walking quietly up and down their line urging carefulness and pleading for the lives of theirwomen and children until they finally surrendered. The Northern Cheyennes as Little Wolf said at Washington in the winter of 1913, had made him an adopted member of their tribe, and the history of the Cheyenne nation or people would not be complete without his name in it, that no white man, an officer in the gallant Seventh Cavalry had when death was near, stood with the Indians in their midst, and on their side as he had done, every other white man had left the Indian camp including William Roland, a half-breed Cheyenne interpreter for these Indians, saying there was going to be a massacre.
It was certainly a very trying situation. There was not a man of the whole command who did not admit the justice of the Indian Chief’s refusal to turn over the arms which he had been promised to be allowed to keep as he would need them in his new location for the purpose of killing game. The cavalry were ordered to mount and enforce the unjust order. At this point there occured one of those little incidents that oftentimes raises a man above his fellows and marks him for all time as one to whom the regard for justice is paramount above all things, even life itself.
The troops had mounted and were holding themselves in readiness for further orders, when H. M. Creel, second lieutenant of K troop, indignant at the injustice of the order, went to the Indians and urged them to refrain from bringing on an engagement which would prove disasterous to themselves and cause a massacre of their women and children. As the lieutenant could speak the Cheyenne tongue fluently, and was familiar with the customs and habits of the tribe, he received a hearing that was respectful. He succeeded in bringing about a conciliation by becoming personally responsible for their firearms and anything else which they might have that was considered contraband of war. By his course of action in the matter, he at once won the undying gratitude of the Cheyennes, which endures to this day, andwill continue to do so as long as the traditions of the Cheyenne are handed down to posterity.