History of the Arkansas Valley, Colorado, Part 111

Author: O.L. Baskin & Co
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Chicago : O.L. Baskin & Co.
Number of Pages: 1080

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Carson's wife was a Baubien; her mother, a Mexican. By her were born six children, named respectively, William, Kit, Charles, Estiphena, Rebecca and Josephita. Upon the death of their parents, Thomas O. Boggs be- came guardian of the Carson children, and administrator of their father's estate. The children remaining unmarried are still in Mr. Boggs' family, in New Mexico, he having re- moved there about the year 1875. The Car- son estate was appraised at about $9,000, and consisted principally of stock.

Carson was reputed one of the best hunters in the West. It is related of him that, on a wager, he once took five balls, and, with a rifle, killed six buffalo on one run, loading his gun while his horse was at full speed-a feat which is the more conspicuous when we remember that rifles were then loaded at the muzzle, and fixed ammunition was not known. Another incident illustrates his daring, as also that of Col. Bent. The Pawnees had come to Bent's Fort and stolen a lot of horses. Carson, Bent and a Mexican started in pursuit at 10 o'clock the next morning, and rode eighty miles be- fore dark. In the evening, snow was falling. After dark, they discovered a light in a log hut, and the stolen horses picketed close about. Waiting till 10 or 11 o'clock, they drew near, picketed their own horses, and crawled up near enough to see, through the crevices in the hut, the Indians lying around a fire. They then crawled quietly around and cut the lariats which held the stolen horses, and, by throw- ing snow in their faces, caused them to stam- pede. Quickly mounting their own, they fol- lowed, and drove the herd into the fort next morning, having ridden over one hundred and fifty miles.

Janus Walts

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HISTORY OF BENT COUNTY.

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CHAPTER V.

LAS ANIMAS GRANT.

- ERAN ST. VRAIN, having become a citizen of the Republic of Mexico, and resident at Don Fernando de Taos, in con- junction with Cornelio Vigil, also of Taos, in 1843 applied to the Governor of the Province of New Mexico for a grant of land. It had been the custom of the Mexican Government, as well as the Spanish rulers before, to make concessions of land in the form of grants to prominent citizens. Usually, this was done for some meritorious act in the public service. St. Vrain and Vigil had been of invaluable service to the Mexican frontier in maintaining peace with the Indians, and now proposed to colonize and cultivate portions of the tract asked for, which would be an additional guar- antee of the safety of the frontier. In their petition, they used the following language (translated from the Spanish):

" That, desiring to encourage the agriculture of the country to such a degree as to establish its flourishing condition, and finding ourselves with but little land to accomplish the object, we have examined and registered, with great care, the land embraced within the Huerfano, Pisipa and Cucharas Rivers, to their junction with the Arkansas and Animas, and, finding sufficient fertile land for cultivation, an abun- dance of pasture and water, and all that is re- quired for a flourishing establishment, and for raising cattle and sheep, being satisfied there- with, and certain that it is public land, we have not hesitated to apply to Your Excellency, praying you to be pleased, by an act of justice, to grant to each one of us a tract of land in the above-mentioned locality."

The grant was made without hesitation, from which it is probable the applicants had consulted with the Governor before making a formal request. The grant was a simple in- dorsement on the back of the petition, as fol- lows:

[Translation. ]

To the Justice of the Peace of the proper juris- diction, who will give the possession referred to by the petitioners, as this Government desires to encour- age agriculture and the arts. ARMIJO.

The petition was accompanied by a map showing the water-courses and the boundaries of the tract desired. In order to a proper comprehension of its extent and magnitude, as also showing its relation to Bent County, the following description, furnished the writer in 1873 by one of the heirs, will prove useful:

Beginning on the north line of the lands of Miranda and Beaubien, at one league east of the Rio de Las Animas, where there was placed a corner, thence following a straight line to the Arkansas River, one league below the confluence of the Animas and Arkansas, made the second corner, on the bank of the said Arkansas River; thence continuing to fol- low up the same Arkansas River to a point one league and a half below its confluence with the San Carlos, made the third corner; thence following a straight line toward the south, to the foot of the first mountain, two leagues west of the river Huerfano, and placed the fourth corner; thence continuing on a straight line to the top of the mountain, where the Huerfano rises, and placed the fifth corner; thence following the top of the said mountain toward the east until it encounters the line of Miranda and Beaubien, and placed the sixth corner, thence following said line to the beginning corner; within the counties of Pueblo, Huerfano, Las Animas and Bent in the Territory of Colorado, and the county of Colfax in the Territory of New Mexice.

By the terms of the treaty with Mexico in 1848, it was provided that private land claims of this description in the territory ceded to the United States should be secured to the owners by this Government the same as under the Mexican authority. Accordingly, in 1860, Congress passed an act confirming, among others, the Las Animas grant, known as Claim No. 17, but providing that said claim should " not be confirmed for more than eleven square leagues to each claimant."

In the interval preceding, the grantees had conveyed away numerous and large tracts of

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HISTORY OF BENT COUNTY.

the land to various persons, and really ex- ceeded, in such transfer, the amount con- firmed to them by Congress. This has more recently led to some conflict between the claimants of the grant and settlers thereon, the latter claiming the right to occupy under the homestea i laws of the United States, while the former say that the decision of Congress is unjust, and that their right to the whole tract will certainly yet be confirmed. To this view, not a few persons are still committed, and steps are now being taken by heirs and assignees of the original holders to procure this confirmation.

As a sample of the conveyances made by Vigil and St. Vrain, the following copy is sub- joined:

[Translation. ]

DEED OF CONVEYANCE TO CHARLES BENT. The undersigned owners and possessors of the lands, included from the waters of the Rio de Las

Animas and of the Huerfano, within the boundaries designated in the act of possession, for the purpose of effecting and procuring means to settle those lands, for which purpose we have solicited and obtained the concession of the Government : and, of our own free will, we cede to M. Charles Bent, and to his successors, the one-sixth part of the land contained in our possession at said place, to which we hereby renounce all of our rights, hereby obligating our- selves not to prescribe him in that which we hereby grant unto him ; it being our voluntary act and deed, it being understood that we are to give to such fam- ilies as may transport themselves to said place, lands free of charge for settlement, subject to the guaran- tees and benefits to each party, as may be agreed upon, in order to protect the settlements to be formed ; and, by this extrajudicial document, which we execute on this common paper (there being none of the corresponding seal), we, thus, as our entire voluntary act, covenant ; and this indenture shall be as valid as if it was duly authenticated ; and, by the same, we may be compelled to observe and comply therewith ; and, in testimony whereof, we sign this, in Taos, on the 11th day of March, 1844.

[Signed] CORNELIO VIGIL. CERAN ST. VRAIN.

CHAPTER VI. THE SAND CREEK MASSACRE.

THE Indian outbreak which originated with 1

the farming experiment in the spring of 1864 was not effectually subdued till the treaty next year at the Little Arkansas. The In- dians were determined not to submit to the sort of life proposed at Point of Rocks. There was more or less killing and stealing all through 1864, if we except a brief armistice secured by Col. Bent, with the Cheyennes and Arapahoes, lasting from some time in the sum- mer of 1864 till the last of November, and it is probable that scattered bands of these had hardly been gathered in before the new incen- tive to war was given by Chivington's deed at Sand Creek.

Col. Bent's effort for peace had been sec- onded by Capt. Wynkoop, in command at Fort Lyon, who assured the Indians, as they visited the fort from time to time, that, if they would discontinue their depredations and go into camp, he would issue rations to them. The visits of the Indians became quite regular, and were of the most friendly character. They

came in parties of twenty to forty, often in- cluding women. They visited the houses of citizens and officers, ate with them, and on every occasion passed around the pipe as an assurance of their friendly feelings. When this condition of affairs had existed probably three months, there were in camp on Big Sandy, on the line of their reservation, 600 men, women and children, including several chiefs, of whom Black Kettle was most con- spicuous. Rations were being issued to them about once every two weeks as they applied.

About the 25th of November, Wynkoop, the Post Commander, had occasion to leave the fort on a trip East, and was succeeded by Capt. Anthony as Post Commander. Capt. Soule, with a company of Colorado volunteers, was a part of the garrison. Wynkoop met the overland coaches not far from the site of Dodge, on which Robert L. Lambert and wife, Walter Stickney, and several military officers with their wives, bound for Fort Union, were passengers. Capt. Wynkoop was especially

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HISTORY OF BENT COUNTY.

particular to inform the passengers that they need have no fears of the Indians. Mr. Lam- bert quotes Wynkoop as saying: "Now, gen- tlemen, the Indians are all friendly. I have just completed a treaty with them, and have a good understanding. If you see any of them, don't fire on them; allow them to come into your camp, for they are perfectly friendly." Mr. Lambert had left, the fort only ten days before, and says no trouble had been antici- pated, and such was the sense of security that the party had in no sense prepared for danger.

Without inquiring into the military condi- tion, the particular rank of officers, or the number or name of regiments stationed in Colorado, it is sufficient to premise that those were war times with the whites. The nation was engaged in a vital internecine struggle, so that it is probable few officers or men of the regular army remained in the country. Fort Lyon was occupied by a company or two of Colorado volunteers and a section of the Ninth Wisconsin Artillery. The white settlers were few and isolated. Col. Boone's, eighty miles west of Fort Lyon; a stage station at Bent's old fort; Moore and Bent, at the mouth of the Purgatoire; Prowers, at the mouth of Caddo; and Fort Lyon, comprised the white settlements on the river. On the 27th of No- vember, these settlers witnessed Col. Chiving- ton, with a regiment of what were known as " 100-day men," including a company of Mex- icans, marching down the Arkansas from the direction of Pueblo, arresting all persons found on the way, and placing guards at the ranches and stations. Reaching Fort Lyon on the 28th, he at once assumed command. That night, with the additional troops available at the fort, he started for the Indian village on Sandy, thirty miles distant, taking Robert Bent as guide. The camp was reached at daylight of the 29th. The Indians were asleep in their lodges, their ponies grazing on the hillsides, the American flag flying. from the tent of the head chief, Black Kettle. No time must now be lost. A rush was made upon the camp, and the Indians, completely surprised, awoke to meet death and resist it as best they could. They were shot down as fast as found. The soldiers at first found

easy work, but the Indians, within a few min- utes, began to defend themselves with their bows and arrows, but, before the superior weapons and overwhelming numbers, they were as nothing. The Mexicans became frantic, threw away their guns and pounced upon the more defenseless with their knives. Women and children were seized by the hair and their throats cut or their bowels ripped open. The Indians began to scatter with in- tent to escape, and, being pursued, many hand-to-hand conflicts ensued. Chief O-kin- nee, it is said, after having escaped beyond danger, deliberately returned to his fate, choosing rather to die with his people than survive them alone. The Indians were pur- sued that day and a part of the next, when the troops went into camp at Pleasant En- campment, not far from the State line. It is worthy of record that Capt. Soule, with his entire company, after having marched to the spot, refused to participate in the attack on the village, but stood by as silent witnesses of what must have impressed them as something akin to crime. The Indian loss, as repeatedly stated by them, was 128, principally women and children. The whites lost from twelve to fifteen, most of them dying from arrow wounds in hospital, at Fort Lyon. Very few were killed outright.

Maj. Colley was the Indian agent at this time, and was assisted in the business of the office by his son. "Old John Smith," repre- senting young Colley, was in the Indian camp at the time of the attack, having gone there to trade. During the engagement, Smith's son, Jack, was shot by a soldier while sitting near his father in their tent. George and Charles Bent were also in the camp. The former received two wounds, but both escaped. Chivington captured from 500 to 1,000 ponies, being the major part of what the Indians had, and there can be no doubt that numbers who made their escape did so on foot; in fact, for several days afterward, half-starved old squaws and children were occasionally picked up on the plains and brought to the fort. At Pleas- ant Encampment, the stage passengers who had previously met Capt. Wynkoop, saw the troops and were first apprised of the fight. Chivington was in command, and had with

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HISTORY OF BENT COUNTY.

him his baggage-wagons, a few tents, and a large band of Indian ponies under herd.

The writer is aware that various and far different accounts of this massacre have ap- peared. Public opinion has nevertheless prop- erly named it a massacre. It is no matter for wonder those engaged under Chivington should have sought to justify themselves in the part they took. The same might be expected of their friends; and, considering numerous outrages and atrocities committed by the In- dians along the lines of travel about this time, it is not strange that the whites should have become incensed against them as a whole. The Indians do not write for the newspapers, hence their cause must wait, like truth, through "the eternal years of God," for vindication. When passion shall have given way to candid reason in the generations to come, the tragedy of Big Sandy, if not classed as a crime against civilization, will at least be denominated a mistake.

In the council of 1865, as appears from Sec- tion 6 of the resulting treaty, the subject of the massacre was fully canvassed, and the con- clusion there reached, by such men as William S. Harney, Kit Carson and William Bent, Commissioners, and embodied in that treaty, is worthy of large acceptance. Said section, as ratified by the Senate of the United States, contains the following striking language:

"The United States, being desirous to ex- press its condemnation of, and, as far as may be, repudiate the gross and wanton outrages perpetrated against certain bands of Cheyenne and Arapahoe Indians on the 29th day of No- vember, A. D. 1864, at Sand Creek, in Colo- rado Territory, while the said Indians were at peace with the United States, and under its flag, whose protection they had, by lawful au-

thority, been promised, and induced to seek, and the Government, being desirous to make some suitable reparation for the injuries then done, will grant 320 acres of land, by patent, to each of the following-named chiefs of said bands, viz .: Make-tah-vey-e-to, or Black Ket- tle; Oh-tah-ha-ne-so-weel, or Seven Bulls; Alik-ke-home-ma, or Little Robe; Moke-tah- vo-ve-hoe, or Black White Man; and will in like manner grant to each person of said bands made a widow, or who lost a parent upon that occasion, 160 acres of land, the names of such persons to be ascertained under the direction of the Secretary of the Interior: Provided, That said grants shall be conditional that all devices, grants, alienations, leases and con- tracts relative to said lands made or entered into during the period of fifty years from the date of such patents, shall be unlawful and void. Said lands shall be selected under the direction of the Secretary of the Interior, within the limits of country hereby set apart as a reservation for the Indians parties to this treaty, and shall be free from assessment and taxation so long as they remain inalienable. The United States will also pay, in United States securities, animals, goods, provisions, or such other useful articles as may, in the discretion of the Secretary of the Interior, be deemed best adapted to the respective wants and conditions of the persons named in the schedule hereto annexed, they being present and members of the bands who suffered at Sand Creek on the occasion aforesaid, the sums set opposite their names, respectively, as a compensation for property belonging to them, and then and there destroyed or taken from them by the United States troops afore- said."

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HISTORY OF BENT COUNTY.

CHAPTER VII.

EVENTS OF 1865-68.

TN 1865, Fort Lyon was garrisoned by Com- pany G, Second United States Cavalry, and two companies of volunteers, distinguished, from the fact of their doubtful loyalty, as "Galvanized Yankees." Capt. David S. Gor- don was Post Commander. In the fall, the cavalry company was relieved by Company I, Third Infantry, when Lieut. I. W. Hamilton became Post Commander. On the 1st of No- vember, Company G, of the Third, arrived at Fort Lyon, and Lieut. E. A. Belger assumed command. The "Galvanized Yankees" left about the middle of November, for Fort Leavenworth, where, with other detachments of the same class of troops, from Garland and Union, they were mustered out.

In the fall of 1866, two companies of the Seventh Cavalry, then lately organized, reached the fort, and Capt. G. Robeson (brother of Secretary Robeson) assumed com- mand. Robeson retained command till March, 1867, when he was relieved by Capt. W. H. Penrose, Company I, Third Infantry, Brevet Brigadier General.

That spring, an unprecedented rain oc- curred, beginning about the 10th of May and continuing daily for a month. No such flood had been known from the earliest times. The Arkansas was out of its banks, and the water two feet deep on the level in Fort Lyon. The troops were consequently obliged to evacuate the fort and take refuge in tents on the ad- joining bluffs. This abandonment proved to be permanent. Capt. Kirk, the Quartermas- ter, proceeded with a force of mechanics twenty five miles westward to the site of the present Fort Lyon, about the 1st of June, and began the improvements which afterward developed into Fort Lyon. Thenceforth, the former post became Old Fort Lyon, which name it still retains. Capt Kirk had among his employes at this time, Holbrook, Chief Clerk; George Hunter and Philip Lander, the McMurtrie brothers, Mark B. Price and Harry Floyd.

On the 11th of June the Post Commander moved his headquarters and command to the site of the new Fort Lyon, where the troops went into camp.

The post traders at Fort Lyon from 1865 were Lyman Fields, till 1867, when he sold out to A. E. Reynolds and B. D. Smith. Rey- nolds & Smith removed with the troops to the new fort, and continued business only a few months. Two stores were next opened, one by J. A. Thatcher & Co., the other by A. E. Rey- nolds. In 1869, one store was discontinued by order of the War Department. A. E. Rey- nolds & Co. remained till 1870, when they were succeeded by S. G. Bridges. Bridges held on till 1877, when he was superseded by George M. Brown, present incumbent.

About the time of the removal from Old Fort Lyon, Company G, of the Thirty-seventh In- fantry, was added to the command. The In- dians continuing hostile, it was necessary to run escorts with all the stage coaches, and maintains guards at the stations. The infantry was accordingly distributed to the various stage stations to the east as far as Dave Keener's, known as the Baltimore ranch. During the month of June, three members of Company G, Thirty-seventh, were surprised and killed at Pleasant Encampment. The stages were fre- quently fired into and robbed, but no passengers - killed. The method of the Indians was to dash up, fire a volley and gallop away. Charles Bent, son of Col. Bent, was head chief of the Southern Cheyennes, and was credited with leading these forays. All trains of immigrants and freight- ers were required by the military commander at Fort Riley to organize in parties of fifty wagons, form a military organization and thoroughly arm and equip before proceeding, the Government providing arms and ammuni- tion.

The year 1868 is memorable to all old set- tlers as the year the Indians were bad. They not only harassed travelers and freighters

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HISTORY OF BENT COUNTY.

along the routes of travel, but killed and drove off the stock of the settlers. E. R. Sizer, J. W. Prowers, William Bent, Thomas Boggs, Kit Carson's estate, all lost stock, and had some herders killed. Sizer's ranch was at- tacked two or three times, and his barn burned. The soldiers were out as often as two or three times a week for the purpose of guarding ranches or rescuing the inhabitants. In cases of extreme peril, the settlers on the Lower Pur- gatoire gathered at Boggsville for defense, and in Nine Mile Bottom, at the ranch of Urial Higbee. On the morning of September 8 (election day), an attack was made all along the creek. Thomas Kinsey, a Judge of Elec- tion, was killed while on his way from Sizer's ranch to the voting-place, Boggsville. Word was conveyed to the fort, and troops at once started out in pursuit of the Indians, Gen. Penrose in command, accompanied by several citizens. The Indians proved to be only a small party. They were pursued and over- taken twenty-five miles south of the fort, and four of them killed, with a loss of two soldiers. The remainder of the Indians escaped, taking with them a lot of stock stolen from Boggs- ville.

A month later, or the next full moon, the Indians, two or three hundred strong, made their appearance near Boggsville. Fortu- nately, the settlers had been expecting them, and were able to make such formidable dem- onstrations, aided by the troops, as caused the foe to withdraw without attacking. Nor did Gen. Penrose dare pursue them, as it seemed evident, from their maneuvers, they desired he should. They contented themselves by killing or driving away what stock they found, and, turning aside from their usual southeasterly course into the valley near Big Sandy, they found and attacked the train of George Pool, and cut out and drove off a wagon containing Mrs. Flynn, a sister of Mrs. J. F. Buttles. From this captivity Mrs. Flynn never escaped, but was killed by the squaws the next winter during an attack on the In- dians by Gen. Custer.

In the autumn of 1868, a mammoth expedi- tion against the Indians was organized at Fort

Lyon, under Gen. Carr. Gen. Penrose moved out in advance, with the Tenth Cavalry and parts of the Third and Fifth Infantry. Gen. Carr followed with the Fifth Cavalry and one company of the Third Infantry, and overtook Penrose on the Palo Duro, where he assumed command of the whole expedition. But it was resultless, the grand army returning without striking a blow. Perhaps something should be credited to its moral effect on the Indians, as there were no more raids on the Purgatoire. Gen. Penrose reached Fort Lyon with his original command February 16, 1869. The return of the troops was the signal for the re- turn of the settlers to their several ranches, and the resumption of travel and freighting.

In 1867 and 1868, an organized band of stock-thieves, under the lead of William Coe, operated between Colorado and New Mexico. Their principal rendezvous was at a stone ranch and corral on the Dry Cimarron. They also had a station at the Hoerner ranch, on the Purgatoire, twelve miles above Boggsville. A number of murders were known to have been committed by them. A detective sent out from Fort Lyon, among others, met death at their hands. In the spring of 1868, a flock of 3,000 sheep, stolen in New Mexico, was found in their possession on Adobe Creek, which led to their arrest. A Sheriff from Trinidad, assisted by troops and citizens, sur- rounded eight of the gang while they were engaged at a game of cards at the Hoerner ranch, and, by shoving the muzzles of nine or ten rifles in at the door, compelled an uncon- ditional surrender. The officer and posse proceeded next to a house above Higbee's and captured Coe. The prisoners were sent to the fort for safe keeping, but, within two weeks, made their escape. Six were re-capt- ured, including the leader, and turned over to the civil authorities at Pueblo. Shortly after this, Coe was taken from the jail at Pueblo and privately hung by a committee of sol- diers-it was believed at the instigation of their superior officer. Certain it is, they were not court martialed, nor was there any pub- lic demonstration of sorrow for the de- ceased.

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History of the Arkansas Valley, Colorado, Part 111

Author: O.L. Baskin & Co Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Chicago : O.L. Baskin & Co. Number of Pages: 1080

Author: O.L. Baskin & Co
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Chicago : O.L. Baskin & Co.
Number of Pages: 1080