History of the Arkansas Valley, Colorado, Part 18

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

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"On the night of September 4, I arrived at Snake River, and on the 5th, went to Bear River, meeting no Indians on the way, but finding the grass and timber destroyed by fire all the way along the route. I remained at Bear River sev- eral days, endeavoring to find parties to carry the mail to the Agency. Many of the settlers were alarmed hy the hostile action of the Utes. Others anticipated no trouble, but all complained of the burning of the grass and the timber. On the

morning of September 10, I started, with two mail-carriers, for the Agency. We rode over the route followed by Maj. Thornburgh's command, and at noon rested at the mouth of the canon where the battle has since taken place. Here, at a tent occupied by an Indian trader, and two miles from the reservation, we met a number of Utes, one of whom asked where I was going. I told him to the Agency. After a short talk with other Indians, he told me we must go back. I made no reply, but, leaving one of the carriers at the tent, I proceeded up the canon in which the Indians laid the ambuscade for Maj. Thornburgh's command, toward the Agency. The Indians fol- lowed us to the Agency. I afterward learned that they belonged to Ute Jack's party.

" We arrived at White River Agency about 6 o'clock P. M., and found a number of Indians there, some of whom seemed greatly excited. I soon learned that the Agent, Mr. Meeker, had, a short time before my arrival, been violently as- saulted by a Ute chief named Johnson, and severely, if not dangerously, injured. The white laborers told me that they had been fired upon while plowing in the field, and driven to the Agency buildings, but that they were not much scared, as they thought the Indians only wanted to prevent the work, and fired to frighten them. Finding Mr. W. H. Post, the Agent's chief clerk and Postmaster at White River, in his office, I proceeded to transact my business with him. While engaged at this, the Indians began to con- gregate in the building. Mr. Post introduced me to chiefs Ute Jack, Washington, Antelope and others.

"Ute Jack seemed to be the leader, and asked me my name and business. I told him. He inquired if I came from Fort Steele, and if the soldiers were coming. I replied that I knew nothing of the soldiers. Jack said, 'No 'fraid of soldiers. Fort Steele soldiers no fight. Utes heap fight.' He again asked my name and when I was going away. I replied, 'In the morning.' Jack said, 'Better go pretty quick.' I offered

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him a cigar, and repeated that I would go in the morning. He then inquired for Mr. Meeker, and said to Post, 'Utes heap talk to me. Utes say Agent plow no more. Utes say Meeker must go way. Mecker say Utes work. Work! work ! Utes no like work. Ute no work. Ute no school. No like school' -- and much more of the same sort. Jack asked Mr. Post when the Indian goods would be issued. Post replied, ' In two moons.' Jack said the goods were issued at the Uncompahgre Agency; that four Indians had come from there and told him. Post replied, 'Guess not.' Mr. Post said to me, 'Every fall there is more or less discontent among the Indi- ans, which finally dies out. This year there is more than usual. Jack's band got mad last week because I would not issue rations to some Uinta Utes who had come here, and all the bucks refused to draw their supplies. The squaws drew for themselves and children.' I asked if the min- ers were not making trouble with the Indians. Post replied he had not heard any complaint from the Indians about miners or settlers; that they were kept off the reservation and made no trouble. The whole complaint of the Indians had been about plowing the land, and being made to work, and requiring the children to go to school, and that very recently they had shown great anxiety to have the Indian goods distributed, and com- plained about that ; that he could not distribute the goods, as they had not all arrived at the Agency.

" Mr. Meeker came in for a short time while we were talking. About 8 o'clock, I went to his quarters and found him propped up in his arm- chair with pillows, evidently suffering severely from injuries received from the assault of Chief Johnson. After a short talk, we discovered that we had formerly been fellow-townsmen, which opened the way for a free conversation about mutual acquaintances. After which, Mr. Meeker said : 'I came to this Agency in the full belief that I could civilize these Utes ; that I could teach them to work and become self-supporting.

I thought that I could establish schools, and in- terest both Indians and their children in learning. I have given my best efforts to this end, always treating them kindly, but firmly. They have eaten at my table, and received continued kind- ness from my wife and daughter and all the em- ployes about the Agency. Their complaints have been heard patiently and all reasonable requests have been granted them; and now, the man for whom I have done the most, for whom I have built the only Indian house on the reservation, and who has frequently eaten at my table, has turned on me without the slightest provocation, and would have killed me but for the white laborers who got me away. No Indian raised his hand to prevent the outrage, and those who had received continued kindness from myself and family stood around and laughed at the brutal assault. They are an unreliable and treacherous race.' Mr. Meeker further said that, previous to this assault on him, he had expected to see the discontent die out as soon as the annuity goods arrived ; but he was now somewhat anxious about the matter. In reply to an inquiry, he said that the whole complaint of the Indians was against plowing the land, against work and the school.

" I told him I thought there was great danger of an outbreak, and I thought that he should abandon the Agency at once. To this he made no reply. Shortly after, Ute Jack came into the room where we were sitting, and proceeded to catechize me nearly as before. He then turned to Mr. Meeker and repeated the talk about work ; then asked the Agent if he had sent for soldiers. Mr. Meeker told him he had not. Jack then said : ' Utes have heap more talk,' and left us.

" During the conversation, Mr. Meeker said that Chief Douglass was head chief at that Agency, but that he had no followers and little influence. That Douglass and his party had remained on the reservation all the summer, and had been friendly to the whites; that Colorow, Ute Jack, Jolinson and their followers, paid no attention to his orders, and had been off the reservation most of the

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summer. That Chief Ouray was head chief, but had lost his influence with and control of the Northern Utes.

" I again urged on him the danger of remaining at the Agency, when he told me he would send .for troops for protection. During this conversa- tion, the Indians had remained around the Agency buildings, making much noise. About 10 o'clock, I went to the quarters assigned for me for the night in the storehouse office. Soon after this, the Indians began shouting and dancing in one of the Agency buildings and around the Agent's quarters. About midnight, Mr. Meeker attempted to quiet them, but was only partially successful, and the red devils made it exceedingly uncomfort- able for me most of the night. I was told in the morning that the Indians had had a war-dance. Those who saw and could have described the scene are all dead now. At daylight, the bucks had all disappeared. After breakfast, I called on Mr. Meeker in his room to bid him good-by. He told me he had written for troops, and requested me to telegraph for relief as soon as I reached Rawlins. After bidding all good-by, I mounted my horse and, not without many misgivings, started for Bear River. This was the last I saw of Father Meeker. A man of the Puritan stamp, an en- thusiast in whatever work he undertook, he had given his whole soul to the work of civilizing the Utes. It is a waste of words to say that he was honest and honorable in all his dealings with them, for his life has been public and his character beyond reproach.

" Mrs. Meeker is one of the gentlest and most motherly women I have ever met; with a heart large enough to embrace all humanity. Her kindly disposition and gentle manner should have protected her from the assault of the veriest brute. Miss Josie seemed to me to have inherited much of the force and enthusiasm of her father. She appeared to have overcome the feeling of disgust which savages must inspire in any lady, and to have entered on her duty of teaching with the highest missionary spirit. Around this family

were gathered, as help, people peculiarly genial and calculated to win by kindness the regard of the Utes. Those who seek palliation for this bloody massacre must look elsewhere than in the family or among the employes of Father Meeker,

" On the return trip to Bear River, I met many Indians going to the Agency for the issue of rations. Several of the bucks hailed me, but I hadn't time to stop. At the trader's in the cañon, I found several Indians purchasing supplies. At the crossing of Howard's Fork, thirty miles from the Agency, I met three Indians, two of whom I saw at the Agency the night before. They stopped me and inquired for ammunition for Win- chester rifles. I replied, 'No sabe. After de- taining me for nearly one-half hour, I persuaded them to let me pass, and reached Rawlins without further incident worthy of mention, and immedi- ately telegraphed and wrote Gen. Sheridan the condition of affairs at White River, and received his reply that aid would be sent at once.

" Eastern papers, the Secretary of the Interior and Brooks, are seeking some provocation for this outbreak. It was not the encroachment of miners, for there are none nearer than Hahn's Peak, 100 miles away.

" It was not settlers, for there are none nearer than Bear River, fifty miles from the Agency ; they were few and scattered, and their only safety for life and property has been in retaining the friendship of the Utes. On the other hand, these Utes have, since early summer, been off their reservation from fifty to two hundred miles, have destroyed all the timber and grass they could, have destroyed the property of miners near Hahn's Peak, and burned the houses and hay of settlers on Bear River; they have killed cattle belonging to settlers on Bear and Snake Rivers, and terror- ized that whole region.

"They complained only that Father Meeker urged on them the benefits of civilization.

" It is about time that our humanitarians recog- nized the fact that these Indians are savages, and,

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instead of needing provocation to massacre, require constant and powerful oversight to prevent it.

" Finally, our army has all the blame cast on it. Called to rescue the Agency from danger brought upon it by an idiotic Indian policy, the command of Maj. Thornburg went to White River seeking a peaceful solution of the difficulties there. I had the pleasure of meeting Maj. Thornburg soon after he had received his orders, and gave him full particulars of the situation at the Agency, 'advising that, if he went with a small force, he might expect to be wiped out. I thought his force sufficient, but am free to confess that I was mistaken.

" I knew that these Indians meant war. Early in the summer, they occupied the territory over which troops must pass to reach them. Slowly they retreated toward the Agency, burning the grass to render it difficult for cavalry to operate against them. They purchased arms and ammu- nition of the most approved pattern and in large quantities. Within six weeks of the outbreak, one trader sold them three cases of Winchesters and a large amount of ammunition, and the last Utes I met inquired of me for more. They gathered disaffected bucks from the Uncompahgre and Uinta Agencies, and got mad because the Agent at White River would not feed them. When everything was ready, they assaulted Agent Meeker and shot at his employes to provoke an attack by the troops, and when the troops ap- proached, with peaceful intent, to adjust the diffi- culty and right the wrongs of all parties, they laid an ambuscade and prepared to annihilate the whole command.

"The attack on Maj. Thornburg was not war ; it was unprovoked murder, and to the last Indian, the Utes engaged in it should answer for it with their lives.

" During the past week, I have been in the valley of the Sappa, in Decatur County, Kan. To this country our Government had invited settlers, offering them homesteads and protection. Driven by the stress of times in the Eastern States, some

twenty-five families had located in these valleys and erected for themselves homes. They had just finished at the forks of the Sappa, at the little village of Oberlin, their first schoolhouse. They were not boors, but the peers of any like number of citizens of the country. One short year ago,. on September 30, 1878, the savage Cheyennes, after receiving from the Government their annui- ties, unannounced and unprovoked, entered these valleys and massacred seventeen of the fathers and brothers of this settlement, and perpetrated on their corpses the most barbarous indignities. They inflicted on the mothers and sisters outrages worse than death. On the evening of the 30th of September, the bodies of thirteen of the victims of this bloody massacre were brought to the little schoolhouse, and there, in that building, erected by the highest inspiration of civilization, lay in death and barbarous mutilation the fruits of unpro- voked and unrestrained savagery.

" Some time next month, some of these mur- derers will be tried, if their case is not continued. Had that crime been promptly and properly pun- ished, the people would not now be mourning for the dead at White River.

" Our denominational humanitarians have had their day. Their Congregational Cheyennes, Methodist Modocs and Unitarian Utes have each baptized their newly-aequired sectarian virtues in the blood of a cruel massacre.

" The Indian policy of the Department of the Interior has been a humiliating failure. Let the Indian be turned over to the War Department, and let the Government, hereafter, use its iron hand to prevent outrage rather than to punish it."

Thus it will be seen that for three months prior to the massacre, Mr. Meeker had been powerless to control his Indians; that they had been roam- ing at will off their reservation, devastating the country and imposing upon the settlers, and that the combined appeals of Agent Meeker and Gov. Pitkin were virtually disregarded by the Indian Bureau. Aid was promised, indeed, but it did not reach the Agency in time to prevent the massacre.

John Burnett

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Finally, however, affairs became so bad that an order was issued for the advance of troops, under Maj. Thornburg, from Fort Fred Steele, to the Agency-not to punish any Indian, but to inquire into the causes of trouble there and to restrain the Indians from further insubordination. Maj.

Thornburg advanced as far as Milk River, near the north line of the reservation, where he was attacked by a force of several hundred Indian warriors, while, at the same time, another . force attacked and murdered Father Meeker and all the male employes at the Agency.

CHAPTER III.

THE NEWS IN DENVER.

THE first intelligence of the outbreak was T received in Denver about noon on Wednes- day, October 1, in the shape of the following dis- patch :

LARAMIE CITY, October 1, 1879. To Gov. Pitkin, Denver :

The White River Utes have met Col. Thornburg's command, sent to quell disturbances at the Agency, killing Thornburg himself and killing and wounding many of his officers, men and horses, whereby the safety of the whole command is imperiled. I shall warn our people in the North Park, and trust that you . will take such prompt action as will protect your peo- .ple, and result in giving the War Department control of the savages, in order to protect the settlers from mas- sacres, provoked by the present temporizing policy of the Government with reference to Indian affairs, in all time to come.

STEPHEN W. DOWNEY.

This telegram was followed within fifteen min- utes by the following:

RAWLINS, October 1. To the Governor of Colorado :

Messengers from Thornburg's command arrived during the night. Utes'attacked the command at Milk Creek, twenty-five miles this side of the Agency. Maj. Thornburg killed, and all of his officers but one wounded. Stock nearly all killed. Settlers in great danger. About one-third of command wounded. Set- tlers should have immediate protection.

J. B. ADAMS.

There was no hesitation in the action of Gov. Pitkin. Aware for weeks that such an outbreak was liable to occur at any moment, his course had, it might be said, been anticipated, and he sent

the following dispatch to the Secretary of War, at Washington :

DENVER, October 1, 1879 Geo. W. McCrary, Secretary of War, Washington, D. C .:

Dispatches just received from Laramie City and Rawlins inform me that White River Utes attacked Col. Thornburg's command twenty-five miles from Agency. Col. Thornburg was killed, and all his offi- cers but one killed or wounded, besides many of his men and most of the horses. Dispatches state that the whole command is imperiled.

The State of Colorado will furnish you, immediately, all the men you require to settle permanently this Indian trouble.

I have sent couriers to warn settlers.

FREDERICK W. PITKIN, Governor of Colorado.

It is a difficult matter to describe the excite- ment which followed the spreading of the tidings over the city. Denver discusses event and calam- ity, ordinarily, with serenity and coolness; but the news of the ambush and the danger which awaited the whites in and about the Agency at White River startled the entire community, and expressions of sadness would be swept from the face by those of anger and determination. The Governor's office was besieged during the after- noon and evening, not by the idly curious, but by strong men-sturdy old pioneers and hot-blooded young men, who offered their services to the State in defense of her people and in exterminating the savage horde. At least fifty volunteers made bold to see the Governor, while everywhere on the streets men gathered together, and pledged themselves to

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join any volunteer movement to protect the frontier and drive the Utes from Colorado soil or into it.

Meanwhile, the Governor had been taking im- mediate steps for the protection of settlers on the Indian frontier, first, by sending out couriers to warn them of their probable danger, and, finally, by calling the militia of the State to hold them- selves in readiness for service at the shortest possi- ble notice. For convenience, the frontier was divided into three military districts-the north- west under command of Gen. W. A. Hamill, of Georgetown; the center in charge of Gen. J. C. Wilson, of Leadville, and the southwest, or San Juan country, to be commanded by Capt. George J. Richards, of Lake City. Dispatches were sent to each of these gentlemen, instructing them to notify all exposed settlements of the outbreak, and to organize companies of minute-men for defense in case of Indian attack.

These instructions were carried out without loss of time, and very effectually. It happened, how- ever, that the Indians made no demonstrations against the settlers, and the only effect of all this " military activity" was to awaken a sense of inse- curity which could not be allayed for some weeks .. There was a frantic demand for arms and ammuni- tion, which Gov. Pitkin was unable to supply, the State being almost destitute of military supplies.

Meanwhile, an almost feverish anxiety prevailed as to the probable course of the Southern or Un- compahgre Utes, under Ouray and Ignacio. Would they join their White River brethren and fight, or would Ouray, the known friend of the whites, succeed in keeping them quiet and peace- ful ? As the telegraph line in that direction was only extended to Del Norte, at that time, it was not until Sunday morning, October 5, that news came from that quarter, and then it was in the shape of the following startling dispatch :

LAKE CITY, October 3, via DEL NORTE, October 5. Gov. F. W. Pitkin, Denver :

Indian Chief Ouray has notified the whites to protect themselves; that he is powerless, and can afford no protection. Capt. Richards, of the Lake City Guards,

has gone to Indian Creek to seize the ammunition destined for the Agency, now en route. George M. Darley has just reached here from Ouray City. He left there this morning. It is reported that Ignacio is on the war-path in the South. The town of Ouray is under arms. The country is all on fire. We will do all we can, but want arms. We must have protection of some kind. Answer. M. B. GERRY, FRED. C. PECK, and others.

Of course, such a statement, signed by the most respectable citizens of Lake City, could not fail to produce a decided sensation, and the Executive office was more thoroughly aroused that morning than when the first news of the outbreak came in. Immediate steps were taken to forward arms and ammunition to Lake City and Ouray, and the regular train for the South having left Denver, a special train was sent out, carrying Gen. D. J. Cook, of the State Militia, and a quantity of arms and ammunition. Other dispatches and personal intelligence received later seemed to confirm the impression that trouble was imminent in the San Juan country. It was stated that Ignacio and his band were on the war-path in La Plata County, and grave fears were entertained for the safety of the exposed settlers on that frontier, though reg- ular troops were being moved in that direction under command ef Gen. Hatch.

All these fears were happily groundless. Gen. Cook reached Lake City in due time, and found the scare already subsiding, Chief Ouray having asserted his control over the tribe, and Ignacio, instead of being on the war-path, was disposed to treat the matter lightly, having no particular love for the White River Utes. Before it was definitely known that no danger need be apprehended from that source, Gov. Pitkin, in answer to a telegram from Silverton, sent the celebrated dispatch which has since caused so much comment and con- troversy in the press of Colorado and the East, and, to the end that the message in question may be fully understood and not misquoted, the entire correspondence is given below. Mr. A. W. Hudson, who signs the first dispatch, is a leading

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lawyer and a most reputable citizen of the town of Silverton :

To Gov. F. W. Pitkin : SILVERTON, October 5.

Your dispatch received at Animas City. Bands of Indians out setting fires on the line between La Plata and San Juan. They say they will burn the entire country over. Chief Ouray, from the Uncompahgre band, has sent out a courier warning settlers that his young men are on the war-path, and that he cannot control them. The Indians setting out these fires, being off their reservation, cannot the people of these two counties drive them hack ? We don't want to wait till they have killed a few families, and if they understand we are prepared, there may be no outbreak.

A. W. HUDSON.

The following answer was returned :

A. W. Hudson, Silverton : DENVER, October 8.

Indians off their reservation, seeking to destroy your settlements by fire, are game to be hunted and des- troyed like wild beasts. Send this word to the settle- ments. Gen. Dave Cook is at Lake City in command of State forces. Gen. Hatch rushing in regulars to San Juan. FREDERICK W. PITKIN, Governor.

Gov. Pitkin's dispatch has been misquoted and misinterpreted as meaning that the Indians should be hunted as wild beasts, under any and all circumstances, and he has been censured for the alleged inhumanity of the executive order. Those who read the whole correspondence will see that the order was entirely proper under the circum- stances, and as it was originally transmitted. In- stead of referring to Indians in general, it related only to marauders off their reservation seeking the destruction of white settlements by fire, and if such Indians ought not to be hunted like wild beasts, they certainly deserve no better fate.

Meanwhile, although Gen. Merritt, with a large force, had been sent promptly to the relief of the remnant of Thornburg's command, no tidings had been received from that direction, either from the Agency or the Indians. It was almost certain that the Agency people were killed, and it seemed natural to expect an incursion of hostile savages upon some portion of the Indian border. Just

where the blow would fall, no one could possibly foresee, and each mining-camp in the mountains felt itself in instant danger of attack. "It was a trying time. Although, in point of fact, the hos- tiles were engaged in watching the movement of the regular soldiers, and made no advance in the direction of the white settlements, it could not be known that such was the case, and the general alarm could not be condemned as causeless. The couriers and scouts did not bring in any news of Indians, but rumors were thick and fast, and no sooner was one scare over than another broke out. Of these successive sensations, however, it is use- less to write in detail at this late day. Suffice it to say that, by prompt action and a judicious dis- tribution of arms and ammunition along the border, Gov. Pitkin was presently enabled to sat- isfy the people that they had little to fear from the Utes, and soon public sentiment perversely set in the opposite direction. Instead of fearing the Indians would come, the miners and prospectors leaned back on their guns and prayed for Indians to come and be shot. When news of the Agency massacre was received, the indignation of the citi- zens of Colorado was so great that it was with much difficulty that Gov. Pitkin prevented the State militia and minute-men from making an advance upon the reservation and the hostile Indians. The Governor foresaw, however, that such an advance would be the death-signal of the captive women and children from the Agency who were in the hands of the hostiles, and humanity prompted an effort to secure their re- lease before any steps were taken toward punishing the assassins and murderers.

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History of the Arkansas Valley, Colorado, Part 18

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