USA > Colorado > History of Colorado; Volume I > Part 13
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On the morning of the ninth day after the first attack, and after a half-hearted charge, the Indians suddenly withdrew. The reason soon became apparent. In a short time the fluttering pennons of American cavalrymen were seen by the desperate soldiers on the island. A troop of the Tenth United States Cavalry had arrived from Fort Wallace. The mission of the four brave scouts who escaped from the island had been accomplished.
When the casualties were noted, it was found that besides Lieutenant Beecher and Surgeon Mooers, three of the scouts were dead, one was mortally wounded, and seventeen were wounded more or less seriously. Forsyth recovered from his wounds and became a distinguished soldier in the United States Army. A monument was erected on this historic island in September, 1898, and the island itself has always been preserved as one of the most honorable spots upon the western plains. Beecher Island, as it is called, has upon it the graves of the men who there died.
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UTE UPRISING OF 1879
The last Indian uprising upon Colorado soil occurred in September, 1879, at the White River Agency, near the present Town of Meeker, Rio Blanco County, Colorado. What is now Rio Blanco County was at that time a part of the White River Ute reservation.
In the forepart of the year 1878 N. C. Meeker, one of the founders of the Town of Greeley, had been appointed to the position of agent at the White River Agency. There he found that the Utes were not in the best of humor and, in fact, had been sullen and dissatisfied for two years previous. Meeker was not a man of sufficient ability, or personally fitted, to manage Indians. He was sincere in his desire to reform their methods of living, but was too much of an idealist. The Utes had previously made several raids into the Middle and North parks, killing several white men and stealing everything they could carry away. After Meeker took charge of the agency two parties of Utes, led by "George Washington" and Piah, made a foray upon the plains and killed a settler named McLean near the head of the Republican headwater forks. Returning to their home, the Indians came through Denver, then into Middle Park. Here one of the savages was killed by a white man, in revenge for which they murdered a settler named Elliott shortly after.
A posse of men was formed at Hot Sulphur Springs and sent to the White River Agency to apprehend the guilty Indians. The Indians persisted in holding a council, at which time they denied any knowledge of the Elliott murder or other depredations.
Conditions at the agency became worse and Meeker was unable to stem the tide of unrest arising among the Utes. The chieftains assumed the upper hand, while Meeker became really a subordinate to such notorious Indians as Colorow. The visit of the white men after Elliott's death quieted them to some extent until the spring of 1879, when fresh deeds were committed. Bands of the Utes burned houses and stole stock, also maliciously started forest fires. Meeker became alarmed and, although he had repeatedly stated that he would have no troops at the agency, he decided that it had become necessary to have military protection. He reported to Washington to that effect and also requested of Gov- ernor Pitkin of Colorado some sort of military aid. At the same time, the Indians made efforts to have Meeker removed from office, as they strongly resented his efforts to civilize them. A number of them, led by Captain Jack, visited Governor Pitkin at Denver to this effect.
Finally, Gen. John Pope, under instructions from Washington, ordered Capt. Francis S. Dodge, with a company of fifty colored soldiers from the Ninth United States Cavalry, then at Fort Garland in the San Luis Valley, to conduct a small campaign in the Middle and North parks, to protect the settlers and keep the Indians within the bounds of their reservation. Despite the presence of the hated negro troops-"buffalo soldiers" as called by the Indians-the Utes continued to send out marauding parties and create havoc among the settlements.
The settlers themselves attempted to resist and one of them, Maj. J. B. Thomp- son, obtained warrants for the arrest of "Bennett" and "Chinaman," two of the Indian leaders, Sheriff Bessey, of Grand County, with four men, went to the agency to arrest the culprits, but was informed by Douglass, another chief, that
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the two Indians were not there. 'This enraged the Indians more than ever and shortly afterward Meeker himself was attacked by "Johnson," the medicine man of the tribe, and would have lost his life had it not been for timely assistance. Several other attempts to injure the white men occurred, all of which forecasted an approaching crisis at the agency.
Further representations were made to the Indian Bureau, by both Meeker and Governor Pitkin, concerning the situation. Meeker was warned time after time to leave before he was killed, but he took no heed of this advice, believing that the Indians would not go that far.
On September 10th a war dance was begun at the agency and was continued, notwithstanding Meeker ordered the Indians to cease and return to their lodges.
ATTACK ON THORNBURGH
In the meantime, the authorities at Washington moved. General Sheridan was ordered to send a sufficient force to the agency to keep the Utes in abeyance. From Fort Steele, near Rawlins, this expedition set out. It consisted of a com- pany of the Fourth United States Infantry, commanded by Lieut. Butler D. Price, E Troop of the Third United States Cavalry, in command of Captain Lawson, D and F Troops of the Fifth United States Cavalry, commanded by Lieut. J. V. S. Paddock and Capt. J. S. Payne. The whole force was led by Maj. T. T. Thorn- burgh, of the Fourth United States Infantry and accompanied by Acting Assistant Surgeon Grimes, also of the Fourth Infantry. On September 14th the slow jour- ney southward was begun. At a spot known as Old Fortification Camp, on Forti- fication Creek, a branch of the Yampa, the commander left Lieutenant Price with the infantry company to protect the line of communication. Then, with the three companies of cavalry, he moved forward. After going some distance he encoun- tered a party of ten Utes, who raised their hands in friendship. Believing them to be upon a hunting expedition only, Thornburgh permitted them to proceed. Later, the same Indians again met the troops and offered to guide them to the agency, but upon the advice of one of the scouts this offer was refused.
On the morning of September 24th, as the troops were moving along the valley of Milk Creek, they were ambushed by about three hundred Utes, led by Cap- tain Jack. F and E Troops were in the advance and so received the first fire of the Indians. For the space of a few moments the soldiers resisted the sudden attack, then fell back to the wagon train, in charge of D Troop, a half mile in the rear. Major Thornburgh and several of his men had been killed by the first shots and many others were wounded. The cavalrymen, now under Captain Payne, placed the wagons so as to make a fortification, further strengthened by the bodies of dead horses. Here the soldiers were besieged for eleven days, until the morn- ing of the 5th of October. A messenger was sent out on the first night to Raw- lins for reinforcements and also on the night of the second day two more men were slipped through the lines to find Dodge's colored cavalry. All were suc- cessful.
On the morning of the 2d Dodge's troops arrived and galloped into the be- sieged camp, but even then an attempt to attack the Indians would have resulted disastrously.
On October Ist the news of the attack upon Thornburgh reached Fort Russell.
CURLY BEAR
A Crow Indian who was one of Gen. George A. Custer's scouts in 1876. He was the only man of Custer's army who escaped death in the battle with the Sioux Indians on the Little Big Horn on June 25, 1876. The photograph was made soon after the battle occurred.
SITTING BULL
(Tatanka Yotanka, "Sitting Buffalo Bull."') He was a Humkpapa-Teton Sioux, and a man of much ability. The date of the portrait is unknown.
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at Cheyenne, Wyo., and immediately four troops of the Fifth United States Cav- alry were sent to Rawlins by railroad, thence overland to the battleground on Milk Creek. At Rawlins four companies of the Fourth United States Infantry joined the cavalry. On the morning of the 5th of October this force reached the besieged men, passing a short distance back a destroyed wagon train, with the murdered and mutilated bodies of the men who had accompanied it. These bodies had been partly burned, without doubt while the victims were still living.
Under General Merritt, with the infantry and three troops of the cavalry, an advance was made toward the Indians, who had not fired at the newcomers. A few scattering volleys met the troops, but did not stop them, and all the morning a desultory fire was maintained. About noon a white flag was shown by the In- dians and one of them approached General Merritt, stating that word had come from Ouray, chieftain of the whole Ute tribe, that the fighting had to stop. This ended the engagement on both sides. The Americans had lost thirteen killed and forty-seven wounded. After a rest and attention had been given to the wounded, Merritt's men moved on toward the. White River Agency and the troops under Payne and Dodge started on their homeward journey.
THE ATTACK AT THE AGENCY
On the same day that Thornburgh and his men were ambushed on Milk Creek, the agency at White River had been subjected to a brutal attack by a band of twenty or thirty Utes, led by Douglass. This was on the 29th of September. All of the men were killed, most of the buildings burned, and the women carried into captivity. General Merritt arrived at the agency on the 11th of October and dis- covered the bodies of the slain lying near the buildings and along the trail. They were for the most part stripped, obscenely mutilated, and presented a horrible sight.
The men killed here were: N. C. Meeker, agent, William H. Post, assistant agent, Henry Dresser, Frank Dresser, George Eaton, E. W. Eskridge, Carl Gold- stein, E. L. Mansfield, Julius Moore, E. Price, Frederick Sheppard and W. H. Thompson-twelve in all. Eskridge's body was found upon the northern trail leading from the agency and in the pocket of his coat was found the following letter :
"White River, September 29, I o'clock p. m.
"Major Thornburgh :- I will come with Chief Douglas and another chief and meet you tomorrow. Everything is quiet here, and Douglas is flying the United States flag. We have been on guard three nights, and will be tonight-not that we expect any trouble, but because there might be. Did you have any trouble coming through the canyon?
"N. C. MEEKER, United States Indian Agent."
Evidently this was written but an hour or so before the attack and Eskridge despatched northward to meet the troops. Eskridge was accompanied by two Utes, one a chieftain named Antelope, and it is believed that they murdered him when a short distance from the agency buildings.
The white women sought refuge in one of the outbuildings when the Indians began their ghastly work. The Indians fired the building and compelled them to
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give themselves up. Douglass was compelled by Ouray, the head chieftain of the Utes, to surrender his captives in November. During this time they had suffered untold miseries. In the Federal investigation of the massacre, Mrs. Price, Mrs. Meeker and Josie Meeker, the agent's wife and daughter, testified of the cruel treatment accorded them by Douglass, Pahson and other of the Indians. These chiefs repeatedly outraged the white women, confined them to the lodges, and in addition they were made the sport of the squaws and children of the band. No punishment was ever meted out to the offending Indians as individuals, al- though Congress assigned to the rebellious Utes a new reservation in eastern Utah, known as the Uintah Reservation. The Southern Utes, who had taken no part in the trouble, were left upon the reservation in southwestern Colorado, where they yet remain.
The prompt intervention of that splendid chieftain of the Southern Utes- Ouray-undoubtedly ended what would have otherwise been a widespread slaugh- ter of white men. He ended the fighting at Milk Creek by a word and afterward forced Douglass to surrender the white women. By these acts, and many others, Ouray has taken place as one of the greatest characters in Colorado history, a man of attainments and intellect immeasurably superior to his race.
CHAPTER V
TRADERS AND TRAPPERS
THE CHARACTER OF THE TRAPPER-THE FIRST TRADERS-CHOUTEAU AND DE MUNN -THE GLENN-FOWLER EXPEDITION-THE BENTS-THE PUEBLO-THE FIRST POST ON THE SOUTH PLATTE-FORT LANCASTER-FORT ST. VRAIN-ANTOINE ROUBI- DEAU-FORT LARAMIE-THE SANTE FE TRAIL-THE LAST TRADER-DR. F. A. WIS- LIZENUS' JOURNEY
THE CHARACTER OF THE TRAPPER
The period from the latter part of the Eighteenth Century until the middle of the Nineteenth may be termed that of fur trading and trapping. In no way was this period constructive, nor was it a period of notable events; on the contrary, during this time, what is now Colorado was but a part of an immense area over which roamed the traders and trappers and, consequently, no permanent settle- ments were made, except at the trading posts. These were not permanent set- tlements in fact, but supplied the only community life of this vast territory then. The prosaic life of the trapper was occasionally interspersed by days of excite- ment ; the Indians at times become obstreperous; but otherwise few things hap- pened which could be called factors in the life of Colorado.
But what romance and what legend have been written about the frontiers- man, the Indian fighter and the trapper! The lore of these picturesque characters occupies a large place in American literature. Tradition has made of the frontier and its inhabitants a colorful and thrilling story. Never again will such life be duplicated in this country or upon this globe, so it has been the effort of all writers of the Great West to preserve the history of those days and the stories which have been told of the frontiersman.
The history of the great fur companies which occupied the West before per- manent settlements were made is one of great interest. Bitter rivalry existed between these companies-rivalry which assumed the proportions of organized warfare. Trading posts were established at advantageous points and here the hunters and trappers brought their pelts after a season had closed.
Then the trapper himself. He has been immortalized, it is true, but generally he was not a man to invite intimate companionship. In the first place, he was illiterate and uncultured, but generally with "five strong senses, which he knew how to use." Secondly, he was a nomad. He cared not for a home; wherever he found hunting and trapping he called his place of abode. The pinch of civiliza- tion drove him farther along the trail, ever seeking the openness and freedom of the frontier. Long seasons he spent in the solitude of the mountains and forests,
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gathering his furs; then came the return to the post-and Mexican whiskey, a drink venomous to the extreme. A wild, dissipated orgy followed, which was continued so long as the money lasted or the factor would advance additional funds. Many of the fur dealers held the trappers perpetually in their debt in this way, thereby having full rights for their services. It was customary for the trap- per to have an Indian wife, as much of his trading was done with the Indians whom he unmercifully cheated. In general, the trapper and Indian were indis- pensable to each other. From the Indian the white man secured valuable pelts for a pint of whiskey or similar articles of little value and from the white man the Indian obtained flour, cloth and tobacco which he desired.
In another class altogether must be placed the so-called "free" trapper. This type of trapper worked independently of all the fur companies, quoted his own prices for furs and sold to all the posts. They were men of higher character and among them were such as Christopher "Kit" Carson, who have lived through history by their reputations as trappers, guides, Indian fighters and red-blooded adventurers. Much of the credit received by such explorers as Frémont should have been given to the frontier guides who conducted them across the mountains and pointed out trails which they had discovered long before. They were expo- nents of law and order and sturdily fought the encroachments of banditry and crime which overran the West for so many years.
THE FIRST TRADERS
The Missouri, Platte and Arkansas rivers were familiar to many of the early French trappers during the latter part of the Eighteenth Century. Just how many of them reached the land now in Colorado is unknown, but it is to be pre- sumed that some few did. One of the first expeditions of this character of which any record exists was that of Maisonneuve and Preneloupe in 1799. In the spring of the year this expedition, consisting of perhaps a score of men, left St. Louis and proceeded up the Missouri to the mouth of the Platte, taking with them a quantity of goods, which they exchanged with the Indians for furs of all kinds. The two leaders despatched the furs back to St. Louis under guard and then, with a small detachment, continued westward via the Platte and South Fork. By the middle of July they reached what is now the site of Denver, where they found numbers of Indians and a small Spanish scouting party.
In the History of Colorado (1913) Jerome C. Smiley writes: "The great body of the American people believed for many years that the western and northwestern parts of the Louisiana Purchase formed a region that was practically unknown by any of their countrymen before Frémont put forth to explore it. It was the common supposition that all previous knowledge of this vast domain by American citizens was limited to the somewhat meager results of the going and coming of Lewis and Clark through its northern section, and to those of the expeditions of Captain Pike and Major Long across the central plains to the mountains in what is now the State of Colorado; Colonel Dodge's being unknown outside of military circles. From the voluminous and fulsome exploitations of Frémont as 'the Pathfinder of the Far West,' most of the people in the older parts of the United States were given to understand that until he began to search this wide land of plains and mountains its paths were few and hard to find.
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"Some Americans from Illinois had been trading on the Missouri River before Lewis and Clark ascended that tortuous stream upon their way to the Pacific Coast; and prior to Pike's expedition others had been well up on both the Platte and Arkansas. It is known that one American had been in the mountain section of Colorado before Pike saw the Rockies, and some French traders from St. Louis doubtless had built cabins upon soil of our state in advance of Long's summer visit to our eastern foothills. A great merchandizing business, carried on in fortified posts and stations, large and small, scattered between the northern border of New Mexico and the headwaters of the Missouri, and that gave employment directly. and indirectly to hundreds of American citizens and caused the western plains as well as the recesses of the mountains to be seamed by many paths and trails, had reached its prime when Frémont set out upon his first expedition into the Far West. The trans-Mississippi fur trade of that period attained relatively a large development within the bounds of Colorado, the trading-posts upon the up- per Arkansas and the South Platte, together with Fort Laramie, which was located seventy-five miles north of the site of the present City of Cheyenne, Wyo., forming a chain of business establishments that made this part of the West rather a busy region as long as the trade flourished."
History has stated that the first American to tread Colorado soil was James Purcell, a trader among the Indian tribes. Pike mentioned him prominently in his Journal, calling him "Pursley," and strongly recommended his character after their meeting in Santa Fé. Purcell was a native Kentuckian and came to St. Louis to enter the trapping business in 1799. Purcell and some companions, while engaged in trapping along the South Platte in 1803, were attacked by Sioux In- dians and driven into the mountains. It is thought that Purcell reached the South Park by way of the Platte Canon when fleeing from the Indians. Purcell later went to New Mexico and for many years was a citizen there.
Many other traders and trappers, both French and American, came into the West at this period and until the first of the American expeditions. Few of them gained much notoriety or left any record of their work here. Ezekiel Wil- liams, a Missourian, came to this vicinity in the fall of 1811, in company with nineteen other trappers. They experienced much difficulty with the Indians and were plundered several times. Shortly after all but six left this country and went elsewhere, leaving Williams as one of the half dozen who elected to stay. Three of these were killed by the Arapahoes, but Williams and the other two were protected by friendly Indians on the Arkansas. He spent one winter at the camp and then returned to his home in Missouri. In 1812 other adventurers of like character, including Joseph Miller, John Hoback, Jacob Rezner, Edward Rob- inson and a Mr. Cass, came within the boundaries of Colorado. Their hardships were many and in addition they were robbed on several occasions by the Arapa- hoes. One of the party-Cass-was lost in some mysterious fashion, presumably killed by the Indians, while the others were rescued when upon. the verge of starvation.
In 1814, in the forepart of the year, "Phillebert's Company," consisting of Phillebert, a trader of St. Louis, and a score of French hunters and trappers, en- tered the mountains in Colorado upon a fur-gathering expedition. From all ac- counts, this party of men made a large haul during the season. Ezekiel Williams,
DENVER PUBLIC LIBRARY
THE STATE MUSEUM, DENVER
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mentioned before, was a member of the party, having returned to the Colorado country to secure some furs which he had hidden two years previously.
CHOUTEAU AND DE MUNN
The experiences of Chouteau and De Munn in Colorado and their conflict with the Spaniards forms an interesting incident in the history of Colorado. Auguste Pierre Chouteau and Jules de Munn were St. Louis traders and were interested together in a scheme to trap extensively around the headwaters of the Arkansas and Platte rivers. In September, 1815, they started for the mountains, with nearly a half-hundred Frenchmen with them, including Phillebert, who was going back to get a quantity of furs he had cached the year before. Chouteau and De Munn learned that he had left a portion of his men behind with the furs and, desiring to increase their own outfit as much as possible, bargained success- fully with Phillebert for the furs and also for the services of his men. After a grand council with the Indians on the Platte, a few miles north of Denver's site, the party went to the junction of the Arkansas and the Huerfano, where Phille- bert's men were to wait. But in this they were disappointed, learning from the Indians that the men had waited until provisions had become scarce and then gone to Taos.
De Munn was appointed by the others to go to Taos for the men and also to obtain permission from Governor Maynez, of New Mexico, to trap upon Spanish territory south of the upper Arkansas and along the headwaters of the Rio Grande. De Munn was successful in finding Phillebert's men at Taos, but in his other quest he was not so fortunate. The Spaniards were not trustful of the American inten- tions in the Southwest, a suspicion which had been heightened by Pike's expedi- tion. Also the southwest boundary of the Louisiana Purchase was yet in doubt, so the Spanish were alert and watchful of any move from the states. The gov- ernor was evasive with De Munn, so the latter returned to his companions. He then went to St. Louis for supplies and equipment, while Chouteau and the rest were to remain until spring and then take the furs to the mouth of the Kansas, there to be joined by De Munn. By September, 1816, the expedition had again reached the Huerfano, thence proceeded southwest to the base of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, where they encamped. From here De Munn started for Santa Fé, again to request his former favor of the Spanish. Governor De Allande had, in the meantime, succeeded Maynez as the administrative head of the Province and was not so gracious with the American "intruder." He peremptorily ordered him to remove himself and his men from Spanish soil. De Munn returned to the Sangre de Cristo and withdrew his men to the Arkansas, where the winter was spent in hunting and trapping-part of the time on the Spanish side, contrary to the governor's orders.
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