USA > Colorado > History of the State of Colorado, Vol. I > Part 30
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This is important testimony, and conflicts radically unless the surgeons were grossly mistaken as to the age of a part of these scalps, with the theory set up by the opposition that these Indians had been peaceful since they located on Sand Creek. They had been there twelve days before the fight took place. We must perforce assume either that they had been joined there by some one or more of the war parties mentioned by Black Kettle at the Wynkoop conference as being still out on the warpath, and that they brought these scalps with them as trophies, or that some of the Sand Creek Indians had been out on an independent foray while their chiefs were entreating Anthony to make peace with them. One conclusion or the other must be accepted.
It will be remembered that Colonel Chivington's ultimatum to the chiefs, Black Kettle, White Antelope, and the rest was, that in order to be regarded as earnest and sincere in their desire for peace they must submit to the military authority by laying down their arms. There is nothing in all the mass of testimony taken by the several investigating committees to show that Anthony had ever asked for, or taken a single weapon of any kind from Black Kettle's band. All that were surrendered were given up by the Arapahoes, and those were worthless. The hard and desperate fighting done by the Cheyennes at Sand Creek proves by the number of men killed and wounded on our
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side that the Indians had their guns, with plenty of powder and bul- lets, and used them as best they could against overwhelming numbers, seconded by artillery.
Major Presley Talbot of the Third regiment-now a resident of Denver-who was severely wounded in the battle and lay in hospital at Fort Lyon for weeks afterward, testifies that he had " several conver- sations with Colley the Indian agent, and John Smith the interpreter. They had considerable sympathy for me as I was wounded, but they would do anything to damn Chivington or Major Downing ; saying they (Colley and Smith) had lost at least six thousand dollars by the Sand Creek fight ; that they had one hundred and five buffalo robes and two white ponies bought at the time of the attack, independent of the goods they had on the ground which they had never recovered, but would make the government pay for, and damn old Chivington even- tually. Smith and Colley both told me that they were equally inter- ested in the trade with the Indians."
It will never be known how many Indians were killed in this battle. Chivington reported five to six hundred, and the other statements vary between seventy-five and three hundred, the latter being Anthony's esti- mate. One thing is certain, that of the original encampment many escaped to the main body on the Smoky Hill, but all who could be reached with rifle or cannon were killed, warriors, women and children indiscriminately. That many horrible scenes occurred on this battlefield, the work of infuriated soldiers when their enemies were at their mercy, is undeniable. I have personally listened to the tales of some of the perpetrators of deeds which they themselves committed, that caused my blood to run cold, and forced me to blush with shame that any human being could have been so inhuman, and in two instances they related to the slaughter of women and children who fell into their hands. And their warrant for it was that Chivington had commanded that no pris- oners be taken. Whether the battle of Sand Creek was right or wrong, these fiendish acts can never be palliated, nor can there ever be in this world or the next any pardon for the men who were responsible for
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them. It was this more than any other stain attaching to this his- toric tragedy which brought the condemnation of mankind upon the leaders of that terrible day, and which, strive as we may to efface it, will remain as the deliberate judgment of history. It will not do, as some have done, to fall back to the atrocities of the Indians upon our people as a justification. If it was right in this case, then would Abraham Lincoln have been justified in retaliating in kind upon the Confederate prisoners in his hands, the awful sufferings of our men at Andersonville, an act that would have shocked all Christendom.
On the 11th of December, Colonel Chivington reports that having sent his dead and wounded to Fort Lyon, he resumed the pursuit of the hostiles in the direction of Camp Wynkoop on the Arkansas river, marching all night on the 3d and 4th, in hopes of overtaking a large encampment of Arapahoes and Cheyennes under Little Raven, but they had been apprised of his advance, and fled. His stock was exhausted, rendering him unable to pursue them further. Besides, the time of enlistment of the one hundred days' men was nearly expired, therefore he deemed it wise to return to Denver. The regiment was mustered out on the 19th, and returned to this city on the 22d of December, where it was accorded a hearty reception.
Let us now take a glance at Chivington's reasons for going to Sand Creek. To begin with, a regiment of men had been drawn from the industries of the territory for the express purpose of putting an end to Indian depredations upon our commerce and people. Something had to be done with it before the expiration of the term of its enlistment, or the authorities which had made so many representations of its necessity to the War Department would have been placed in a humiliating pre- dicament. The Cheyennes and their confederates were on the warpath. On the 8th of April, 1864, General Curtis, referring to depredations on the Platte route, writes or telegraphs the commander of this district, " Do not let district lines prevent pursuing and punishing them. " Again on May 20th, he telegraphed, "Look out for Cheyennes every- where. Especially instruct troops on the Upper Arkansas." August
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8th, there came a dispatch from Fort Kearney, saying, "Nine men killed to-day about two miles east of Plum Creek ; two women and four children supposed to have been taken prisoners. Indians attacked three trains, destroyed one, and killed all the men in the train." The captives were Mrs. Ewbanks, her children, and Miss Roper. September 28th, while the Third regiment was still waiting and longing for its horses and equipments, Curtis telegraphs, "I shall require bad Indians deliv- ered up ; restoration of equal numbers of stock, also hostages to secure. I want no peace till Indians suffer more. * * * I fear agent of Interior Department will be ready to make presents too soon; it is better to chastise before giving anything but a little tobacco to talk over. No peace must be made without my direction." This order was issued, for it is tantamount to a command, on the day of the council with Black Kettle at Camp Weld, and accounts for the atti- tude assumed by Evans and Chivington.
Having extracted from the record the material facts bearing upon the battle of Sand Creek, by steering our way through the maze of hearsay evidence, the intricate depths of falsehood, personal venom and political entanglements, with the honest purpose of penetrating and dis- closing the truth, we come at last to the question, was the attack itself justifiable under the circumstances? Let us summarize briefly.
The Cheyenne Indians may have rested upon the assurances of Wynkoop, who had no right to give them, that they were to be protected, but they had no such assurance from Evans, Chivington or Anthony. The first had surrendered his authority to the military. Chivington as its representative had laid down his ultimatum. Curtis had forbidden negotiations for peace. The only conditions on which the red men could have been regarded as prisoners of war, and therefore entitled to protection, were by complete surrender and the laying down of their arms. The Arapahoes surrendered only such arms as were of no value to them-the Cheyennes none at all. Anthony told the deputation of Cheyennes who came up from Sand Creek that he could make no peace with them. He had assurances from General Blunt that he would soon
Coc Say Con
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be on the ground with force enough to clean out the Indians and close up the war, and he was awaiting Blunt's reinforcements when Chiv- ington arrived.
Across the "divide" forty miles distant in a direct line, but about one hundred by the traveled route, lay the main body of the hostiles about two thousand strong, watching every phase of development, and doubtless receiving advices regularly from the camp at Sand Creek as to the progress of affairs at the post, and prepared to take any course that would secure greatest advantages to themselves. If Chivington and Anthony had any doubts of the propriety of attacking the Sand Creek band, they should have thrown a strong guard about it to prevent the escape of even a single Indian, and then pushed on to the Smoky Hill with the object of striking and severely chastising the hostiles encamped I have good reason to believe that this plan was seriously at that point.
considered before the troops left Fort Lyon. Exactly why it was aban- doned I have been unable to discover. One of the reasons advanced was that the troops, never under proper discipline, seeing before them in early morning a camp where lay, as they believed, the enemy of whom they were in search, became wholly uncontrollable and plunged in regard- less of orders. But this view of the case is overthrown by the official reports of the battle, which show that the attack was deliberately planned.
There is no doubt that the Indians expected pardon. It is equally clear that Black Kettle, Left Hand and possibly some of the sub-chiefs with them had themselves taken no part in the depredations, endeavored to check and restrain their young men, and made considerable effort to bring their bands under the shelter offered by Governor Evans' circular issued in June. Colonel Bent says they did, and no white man exer- cised greater influence among them than he. The difficulty appeared to be that the young braves, as was so often the case, refused to be guided and so continued their destructive expeditions.
It had been the history of such conflicts, for the Indian to pursue his bloody work until fully satiated, or until he realized that an army
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was approaching to crush him, or that winter was at hand when he had no stomach for war or anything else but to lounge lazily in his tepee. It is under such circumstances that he is impelled to sue for peace, which is rarely or never denied. A council or a treaty signified a feast, a bountiful supply of presents, provisions, blankets, clothing, indeed about everything he might demand as a condition precedent. to the cessation of hostilities. It was fully understood that the gov- ernment would at once forgive all past offences, no matter how many lives had been taken, or how great the damage done to property, if they came in and asked for it. They did not apprehend danger from the troops because they knew the demand for men to suppress the rebellion. Indeed, Left Hand is known to have said at Fort Lyon after his return to that point from the council at Denver, that now the white men were fighting among themselves, it was the Indians' opportunity to expel the trespassers from their lands. I have this from the officer to whom he made the statement.
I cannot discover any difference between a white and a red mur- derer, except that the latter is somewhat more barbarous. It seems to me that when a body of outlaws raid our settlements, kill the set- tlers, carry off their women and children, and rob them of their property ; attack and destroy lines of communication, and make themselves a terror to all the country round about, they should be pursued and punished,-not permitted to come in after their devilish work is done, and by simply saying, "We confess everything, but want peace," have it immediately granted with immeasurable gratitude for the offer. This is just what Wynkoop, Smith, Colley and the rest who declaimed most vehemently against the attack at Sand Creek, demanded of the authorities.
Referring to the damaging testimony given by Smith and Colley before the several committees appointed to investigate the affair, the reader is invited to remember that they were, the one an interpreter, the other an agent, and mutually interested in traffic with the Indians; that they lost heavily by the battle and were therefore loudest in condemning
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it. Indeed, they furnished about all the condemnatory evidence there is on record. Wynkoop obtained most of his direct information from them; all his sympathies were from the outset with the Indians, and he stoutly maintained their side of the case to the end. Talbot tells us that Smith and Colley deliberately planned and persistently worked for Chivington's downfall.
If it be assumed that these Indians were friendly, and should have been warned of the contemplated attack, what would have been the effect of such magnanimity ? Need any one be told that they would have fled to their brethren on the Smoky Hill, where their force, added to the main body, would have made it strong enough to give Chiv- ington an overwhelming disaster, instead of a victory ?
Finally, we discover that these Indians having received no assurance of protection, were necessarily left to be disposed of as the military authority might direct. If they were innocent of the blood of our people, why were so many scalps of white women found in their tepees ? and what were they doing with ladies' toilets, children's apparel and the numberless articles belonging to the settlers they had slain ? How came they by the prisoners surrendered to Wynkoop, every one of whom had suffered beyond the power of words to describe, and all of whom went to untimely graves shortly afterward because of the cruelties practiced upon them ?
Every one familiar with the events of 1864 knows that the most intense bitterness prevailed between the State and Anti-State factions, and that the latter used the Sand Creek affair relentlessly in the prose- cution of its designs against the leaders of the State movement. This state of feeling had much to do with the crimson coloring which incar- nated the news, and has been handed down to the present day. It was not so much the attack itself, as the awful barbarities which attended it, that gave the opposition its greatest advantage, and they were employed at every turn of events with added exaggerations to accom- plish the ruin of Evans and Chivington. It is needless to say that both went down under the load.
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No doubt the gigantic Colonel felt as he surveyed the gory field strewn with dead savages, that he had won a brilliant victory which would cover his name with imperishable renown, and perhaps embellish his uniform with the coveted stars of a Brigadier. He had in mind also, General Harney's famous achievement at Ash Hollow in September, 1855, and felt that he had eclipsed the glory of that historic massacre, but forgot that Harney gave no orders to kill everything in sight, and hence saved himself the disgrace of an indiscriminate slaughter. Ash Hollow was situated on Ash Creek, a tributary of the North Platte in western Nebraska. The troops surrounded the encampment of hostile Sioux, who had been committing all manner of depredations, at three o'clock in the morning.
The attack took place at sunrise. The chiefs finding themselves hemmed in on all sides made overtures for a parley, professing friend- ship and begging for peace, which was denied. The fight began in very much the same manner as at Sand Creek, but leaving the Indians not the smallest outlet for escape. Eighty-six, among them many women and children, were killed. Nevertheless, seventy women and children were taken prisoners and their lives spared, but the camp with all its contents was destroyed. In the lodges, as at Sand Creek, was found a large assortment of mail matter, women and children's clothing, together with several scalps of white women.
To show that it is rarely possible to save the squaws and children when an Indian camp is surprised, I have it from an officer who a few years later charged with Custer's cavalry upon Black Kettle's camp on the Wichita and nearly annihilated the band, that the squaws fought more desperately and fiercely than the bucks, and it was literally impos- sible to avoid or shield them from the storm.
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CHAPTER XXIII.
1865-GEN. P. E. CONNOR-DEATH OF MAJOR JOHN S. FILLMORE-HIS LIFE AND CHARACTER-EFFECTS OF THE SAND CREEK MASSACRE-RENEWAL OF THE WAR -FURTHER APPEALS FOR TROOPS-COLONEL MOONLIGHT DECLARES MARTIAL LAW-MILITIA CALLED OUT-DEVELOPMENT OF THE COUNTRY-BANKS AND BANK- ING-FOUNDING OF THE FIRST NATIONAL
BANK-CHAFFEE AND MOFFAT- ARRIVAL OF SCHUYLER COLFAX-MESSAGE OF PRESIDENT LINCOLN TO THE MINERS OF THE WEST-THE PACIFIC RAILROAD-REVIVAL OF THE STATE MOVE- MENT-CONSTITUTION RATIFIED-SAND CREEK AN ELEMENT IN THE CAMPAIGN- NEGRO SUFFRAGE-ARRIVAL OF GOVERNOR CUMMINGS-A TURBULENT ADMIN- ISTRATION-ROUNDING UP THE TERRITORIAL OFFICERS-HIS ATTACK ON SECRE- TARY ELBERT-SOME RACY CORRESPONDENCE-ALIENATING THE JEWS-A SEA- SON OF BITTER POLITICAL WARFARE-ELBERT RESIGNS, AND THE AUTHOR IS APPOINTED TO SUCCEED HIM-FEARFUL SCENES IN SOUTH PARK-THE BLOODY ESPINOSAS.
During the absence of the Third regiment and the greater part of the First Colorado cavalry, that is to say, all available troops, General P. E. Connor, already noted as an Indian fighter, arrived in Denver to investigate the condition of affairs here, and with the view of discov- ering ways and means for the better protection of the traveled routes between this city and the Missouri river. At a later date, as will appear, he was placed in command of this military district.
The last week in December, 1864, as if to fittingly close this tem- pestuous year in which events crowded so thick and fast upon each other, and which was rendered memorable by a series of political and tragic incidents without parallel in our annals, dark and bloody as were the opening chapters, the town was visited by a succession of gales which threatened death to the inhabitants and the destruction of their
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property. During the greater part of the autumn the weather had been unusually fine up to the 23d of the closing month, with the exception of a severe snow storm in October, mentioned in the preceding chapter. On the date named, high winds rose and blew with increasing fury until the 26th, when they subsided, and were followed by snow. This was one of the severest and most protracted storms of which we have any record.
On the night of the 23d, Major John S. Fillmore met his death. Since 1860 he had been one of the more prominent of our citizens and business men, apart from his official position as paymaster in the army. After he had retired to bed, the gale took off one of the chimney tops, which, falling with a great noise upon the roof above his head, filled him with alarm and nervous excitement, so that he arose and went down stairs. When at the foot he turned and called to his wife, request- ing her to come down. The words had scarcely left his lips when he fell forward and immediately expired from a sudden hemorrhage.
Major Fillmore possessed marvelous energy and great capacity for the successful conduct of public affairs. Though his duties called him frequently to great distances and long absences, he was nevertheless a leading spirit in most of the public enterprises of his time. Imbued with almost inspirational confidence in the future of this city, his plans were laid to meet what he believed to be the coming of a period when it would become a large and wealthy metropolis. The possessions he acquired on the corners of the streets which have since risen to centers of trade, attest his penetration and his faith. To him the merchants who had taken Governor Gilpin's drafts on the United States treasury were mainly indebted for their final adjustment. The buildings he erected were among the best of the time in which he lived. As an officer and citizen he was universally esteemed. His peculiar qual- ities commanded the respect of his fellow men. The vast amount of labor he performed, and the resistless power of his unquenchable energy carried him through every trial, but it told severely upon his slender physique. Traveling in those days was necessarily arduous
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and fatiguing. If a distant point were to be reached he could not select the mode of conveyance, but must proceed with the best that offered. He frequently slept upon the open prairie or in the moun- tains without food or shelter, sometimes exposed to pitiless storms. In one of the last, just before his death, the hardships he endured hastened the culmination of the disease which for some time had been undermining his rather delicate constitution, and he fell as we have seen, and instantly passed away.
The Sand Creek massacre scotched but failed to kill the abo- riginal serpent. The Indians, now thoroughly infuriated, and thirsting for vengeance, again combined and plunged headlong into assaults upon our isolated settlers, and every line of communication, thereby increasing a thousand fold the horrors of the preceding year. Usually quiet in winter, they now abandoned themselves to deadly reprisals upon our people and commerce, for the losses they had sustained. The deluge of the most formidable uprising ever witnessed on the frontier poured out upon it, extending from the Missouri river to Salt Lake, and well over toward the Sierra Nevadas. It seemed as if an army of fiends had been turned loose to work their utmost cruelty upon mankind. So great was the necessity for immediate action, acting Governor Elbert was forced to issue a proclamation calling upon the territory for armed men to meet the emergency. His call was for six companies of independent cavalry, each to consist of sixty men, for three months' service on the plains, assuring them that Col. George L. Shoup, a magic name with soldiers, would be placed in command. The city was threatened with famine. Flour rose to twenty-five dollars per one hundred pounds and all other supplies in proportion. The redskins ravaged all our thoroughfares, cutting off merchandise trains.
But the denunciations heaped upon Sand Creek, and the disgrace pronounced upon that enterprise, together with the disasters of 1864, prevented voluntary responses. The companies were not furnished, nor did there appear to be any disposition among the people to meet
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this new phase of affairs. Owing to the great scarcity of bread- winners, wages mounted to four, five and six dollars per diem, and skilled mechanics were in demand at seven dollars a day.
On the 4th of January, 1865, Col. Thomas Moonlight of Kansas (at this writing governor of Wyoming territory) assumed command of this military district. The legislature being in session, he suggested to that body certain amendments to the existing militia law that would enable men when called into the service to receive pay for the same, and providing also, for bounties and compensation for horses.
After waiting two weeks, there being no prospect of an agreement between the two houses upon certain features of the bill, the urgency being great, Moonlight took the bull by the horns and proclaimed martial law, shutting up all places of business, stopping every depart- ment of industry, including the mines and mills, in brief, suspending every branch of industrial life until the troops called for should be furnished.
Governor Elbert made the following apportionment : Arapahoe county to furnish two companies; Gilpin county, the same; Clear Creek and Jefferson, each one company ; Boulder, Larimer and Weld, one company between them. This order rigidly enforced, speedily brought the volunteers. By February 20th the several quotas were filled and marched to the front down toward Julesburg, but not one of the men got even so much as a glimpse of an Indian during the entire period of their enlistment. Notwithstanding, their judicious distri- bution along the line between Denver and Julesburg afforded pro- tection to the stages and transportation trains.
On the 11th of February General G. M. Dodge took command of the department of Kansas, to which the district of Colorado was attached, and immediately ordered Moonlight to throw all his available force on the line named above. David H. Moffat, Jr., was appointed Adjutant General of the militia, and assuming therewith the duties of Quartermaster, collected and pushed to the front supplies and trans, portation. About the Ist of March the districts of Utah, Colorado
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and Nebraska were merged into one military district, and Brigadier General P. E. Connor appointed to command.
On the 27th of April the militia returned to Denver, and thus ended our part in the war so far as citizen soldiery was concerned. The collapse of the rebellion permitted the transfer of a large force from the East to the plains, and in due time the Indians were tempo- rarily subjugated. A treaty of peace was entered into in October, 1865, which provided that no part of their reservation should be within the state of Kansas. When fully understood by the Arapahoes and Cheyennes, they discovered that by this proviso they had been forever cast out of any permanent abiding place, in other words, that they had neither reservation, lands nor rights except the right to make war, and of this they promptly availed themselves. In the summer of 1867 General W. S. Hancock attacked and destroyed a Cheyenne village of three hundred lodges, for which he was severely handled by the Indian bureau and the peace-at-any-price people.
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