USA > Colorado > Arapahoe County > History of the city of Denver, Arapahoe County, and Colorado > Part 17
USA > Colorado > Denver County > Denver > History of the city of Denver, Arapahoe County, and Colorado > Part 17
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CHAPTER IV.
ADVANCE UPON THE AGENCY.
A FTER the report had gone out that one of the attaches of the Agency, while plowing the land near the new White River Agency, had been shot at by ambushed Indians, on application of the Colorado authorities, Agent Meeker and others, the War Department at Washington ordered Gen. Sheridan to send troops to the Agency, for the protection of the Agency and the vindication of Uncle Sam's rights.
Maj. T. T. Thornburg, commanding officer of the Fourth United States Infantry, and, for the past year, in command of Fort Fred Steele, on the Union Pacific Railroad, in Wyoming, was placed in charge of the expedition, which con- sisted of two companies, D and F, of the Fifth Cavalry, Company E of the Third Cavalry and Company E of the Fourth Infantry, the officers included in his command being Capts. Payne and Lawson, of the Fifth Cavalry, Lieut. Pad- dock, of the Third Cavalry, and Lieuts. Price and Wooley, of the Fourth Infantry, with Dr. Grimes accompanying the command as Surgeon, and a supply train of thirty-three wagons. The com- mand left Rawlins on the 14th ult.
When the command reached the place known as Old Fortification Camp, Company E, of the the Fourth Infantry, with Lieut. Price in com- mand, was dropped from the command, the design of this step being to afford protection to passing supply-trains, and to act as a reserve in case there was demand for it.
Maj. Thornburg turned his force toward the Indian country in deep earnest with the balance of his command, consisting of the three cavalry companies, numbering about one hundred and sixty men.
Having been directed to use all dispatch in reaching the Agency, the Major marched forward with as great rapidity as possible. The roads are not well traveled and are mountainous, and, of course, they did not proceed so rapidly as they might have done on more familiar high- ways.
Nothing was seen or heard from the Indians until Bear River, which runs north of the reser- vation and almost parallel with the northern line, was reached. At the crossing of this stream, about sixty-five miles from White River Agency, ten Indians made their appearance. They were closely questioned, but professed great friendliness for the whites and would betray none of the secrets of their tribe. They declared that they were merely out on a hunt, and repeated that they were friends of the white man and of the Great Father's Government, and especially of the Great Father's soldiers. ·
After this, nothing more was seen of the Indi- ans, though a close watch by keen-cyed scouts was kept up for them, until William's Fork, a small tributary of Bear River, was reached, when the same ten Indians again quite suddenly and very mysteriously re-appeared. They again
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RESIDENCE OF J. S. BROWN. DENVER.
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renewed their protestations of friendship, while they carefully eyed the proportions of the command. They made a proposition to the commander that he take an escort of five soldiers and accompany them to the Agency. A halt was called, and Maj. Thornburg summoned his staff to consulta- tion. After carefully discussing the matter with a due regard for the importance, the advantage and disadvantage of the step, they came to the conclusion that it was not wise to accept this proffer on the' part of the Indians, as it might lead to another Modoc trap, and to Thornburgh's becoming another Canby. His scout, Mr. Joseph Rankin, was especially strong in opposition to the request of the Indians.
Maj. Thornburg then concluded to march his column within hailing distance of the Agency, where he would accept the proposition of the Indians. But he was never allowed to carry out his designs. Here it became apparent how thin the disguise of friendship had been, and Thorn- burgh was soon convinced how fatal would have been the attempt for him, accompanied by only five men, to treat with them.
The command had reached the point where the road crosses Milk Creek, another tributary of the Bear, inside the reservation and in the limits of Summit County, Colorado, about twenty-five miles north of the Agency, when they were attacked by the hostiles, numbering, it is believed, between two hundred and fifty and three hundred warriors, who had been lying in ambush.
But the command under the guidance of Scout Rankin, left the road just above where the Indi- ans were in ambush, and thus avoided another event which would have been, in all respects, equal to the Custer massacre. The command took a trail after leaving the road, and unexpectedly met the foe.
Maj. Thornburg at once threw his command into position, and the Indians came up in line of battle to within about three hundred yards and halted, putting a bold face on the matter and showing a decided determination to fight.
Maj. Thornburg's orders were not to make the first fire on the Indians, but to await an attack from them. After two lines had thus faced each other for about ten minutes, Mr. Rankin, the scout, who is an old Indian fighter, seeing the danger in which the command was placed, hurried direct to Maj. Thornburg's side and requested him to open fire on the enemy, saying at the same time that that was their only hope.
Maj. Thornburg replied : "My God! I dare not ; my orders are positive, and if I violate them and survive, a court-martial and ignominious dis- missal may follow. I feel as though myself and men were to be murdered."
By this time, the Indians had flanked the sold- iers, and giving the war-whoop, opened fire. The wagon-train was corraled about three-fourths of a mile to the rear of the command, and the Indians got between the wagon-train and the command. The cavalry was dismounted and fighting on foot and slowly retreating.
Maj. Thornburg, seeing the danger which threatened his command from the position of the Indians, at once mounted about twenty men, and at the head of them he dashed forward with a valor unsurpassed by Napoleon at the Bridge of of Lodi, made a charge on the savages between the command and the train.
Maj. Thornburg and thirteen men were killed in this charge.
The balance of the command, then in retreat, succeeded in reaching the corraled train, which was by this time surrounded by Indians. The command then, with much haste, made breast- works with wagons and held their position. In the engagement there were twelve killed and forty- two wounded. Every officer in the command was shot with the exception of Lieut. Cherry, of the Fifth Cavalry. The Indians also killed from one hundred and fifty to two hundred head of mules belonging to the Government.
The scene of the attack was peculiarly fitted for the Indian method of warfare, and showed plainly that it had been chosen by the chiefs in command
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7 for the identical purpose to which it was devoted. When Thornburg's command entered the cañon, they found themselves hetween two rocky bluffs, about thirteen hundred yards apart and from one to two hundred feet high. These bluffs were held by the Indians in force, and some broken ground, reaching down nearly to the creek, was also occupied by the savages, so that an advance through the cañon was impossible, and, by cutting off retreat, the Indians could effectually "bottle up" the com- mand in the cañon. In effect, that was accom- plished, though the bravery of the troops in entrenching themselves defeated the undoubted purpose of the Indians to annihilate them.
Capt. Payne, then in command, at once set about having the wounded' horses shot for breast- works, dismantling the wagons of boxes, bundles of the bedding, corn and flour sacks, which were quickly piled up for fortifications. The picks and shovels were used vigorously for digging entrench- ments. Meanwhile, a galling fire was concen- trated upon the command from all the surrounding bluffs which commanded the position. Not an Indian could be seen, but the incessant crack of their Sharp's and Winchester rifles dealt fearful destruction among the horses and men. The groans of the dying and agonizing cries of the wounded told what fearful havoc was being made among the determined and desperate command. Every man was bound to sell his life as dearly as possible.
Ahout this time, a great danger was approach- ing at a frightfully rapid pace. The red devils, at the beginning of the fight, had set fire to the dry grass and sage brush to the windward, and it now came sweeping down toward the troops, the flames leaping high into the air, and dense volumes of smoke rolling on to engulf them. It was a sight to make the stoutest heart quail, and the fiends were waiting ready to give a volley as soon as the soldiers were driven from their shelter. It soon reached the flanks, and blankets, blouses and empty sacks were freely used to extinguish the flames. Some of the wagons were set on fire,
which required all the force possible to smother it. No water could be obtained, and the smoke was suffocating; but the fire passed, finally, away.
About sundown, the savages charged the works, but were repulsed, and retired to their positions on the bluffs, whence firing was resumed early on the following morning. The men in the trenches were pretty well protected by that time, but the horses and mules were constantly falling at the craek of the sharp-shooters' rifles.
During the early part of the first night of the siege, the scout, Rankin, who had warned Thorn- burg of his great danger on the previous day, made his way out of the beleaguered camp and, mounted on a strange horse, his own having been shot in the fight, started to carry the bloody news over the 160 miles that stretched between him and Rawlins. Rankin's ride bids fair to pass into history with that of Sheridan, immortalized by Buchanan's famous poem. It was a daring venture at best, and its danger was not the only feature which marked it as extraordinary. The way was rough, as well as wild and lonely, and, ordinarily, the the distance would hardly be cov- ered in two days; yet Rankin rode it in twenty- eight hours, leaving the battle-field at 10 o'clock Monday night and reaching Rawlins Wednesday morning about 3 o'clock.
Other couriers were sent out from the camp on succeeding evenings, through one of whom word was sent to Capt. Dodge's company of colored cav- alry, then approaching from the direction of Mid- dle Park, informing them of the outbreak and cautioning them to be on their guard. Capt. Dodge's command only mustered about forty men, aud was encumbered with a wagon train; but, with almost unexampled bravery, they determined to advance and succor the beleaguered garrison of the rifle-pits on Milk River. At the Rawlins Crossing of the Bear, the wagon train was de- tached and sent north to Fortification Creek, while Capt. Dodge and his intrepid followers galloped into the Indian country, not knowing whether one of them would ever return alive. All honor to
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the "colored troops" who rode and fought so nobly for the defense of their white brethren.
Luck went with them. They escaped, for a wonder, the watchful eyes of the Indians en route, and even when they approached the cañon where Payne's command was entrenched. The history of the whole war, thus far, furnishes no fact more curious than the escape of the colored troops from destruction, for it is well known that the Indians hate them tenfold more intensely than they do white soldiers, and if Dodge's approach had been discovered, the whole fighting force of the Utes, if necessary, would have been detached to annihilate his command. As it was, he ap- proached within hailing distance of the rifle-pits without detection; but then arose a new difficulty and a new danger. Payne's sentinels would cer- tainly discover them if they approached nearer, and how could they escape being fired upon as enemies in the guise of friends ?
In fact, an alarm was sounded in the trenches at their approach, aud the men sprang to arms to defend themselves, as they supposed, from a new attack by the Indians. Dodge halted his command and sent out his two guides, Gordon and Mellon, to communicate with Payne. They called out to the piekets that it was a company of cavalry, come to the rescue, but the statement was regarded as a ruse of the Indians. Finally, Gor- don's voice was recognized by some one in the trenches, and all doubts were at once dispelled. Capt. Dodge then headed his men for the final dash necessary in order to reach the shelter of the trenches.
The distance was 600 yards, and the ride was made in a rain of riffe-balls from the surrounding bluffs, the Indians having been made aware at the last moment of Dodge's approach. His luck did not desert him, however, and not a man was hit. They were not much scared, apparently, for hardly had they reached the pits and dismounted than they announced their readiness to storm the bluffs. As this would have been certain death they were not allowed to attempt it. Hardly had
they dismounted when the Indians began to pick off their horses, or, rather, one Indian, evidently a dead shot, began the work of destruction. With every crack of his Winchester a horse fell dead or mortally wounded, and in a short time forty fine cavalry horses, worth in the aggregate at least $4,000, lay dead or dying, The paternal Government which cares so kindly for the Indi- an is apparently blind to the fact that he is hor- ridly expensive in peace and much more so in war. This red devil who cost the Government $4,000 in half an hour has probably been clothed and fed out of the public crib ever since he was born, and will continue to draw his rations regu- larly hereafter, when the cruel war is over.
Dodge reached Payne on the third day of the siege. His coming was the occasion of much joy, but he brought no actual relief. The siege continued, and the Indians only seemed more alert and watchful. Nothing escaped their obser- vation. A hat raised on a stick out of the trenches was sure to have a bullet-hole in it in a moment. The spring from which water was ob- tained was at some distance from the trenches, and the men were forced to sally out occasionally for water, usually at night. They seldom escaped without being fired at, and several were wounded. Morever the stench of dead animals became almost intolerable toward the last, and they were compelled to work at night hauling off the dead horses or covering them up where they lay. Happily, the Indians were too careful or too cowardly to come out much at night, and the siege was thus robbed of some of its terrors, although enough remained to make them pray most fervently for the coming of Gen. Merritt, who was hastening to their relief.
It was their great confidence in Gen. Merritt which inspired them with a strong determination to " hold the fort " at all hazards. The soldiers said that "Old Wesley"-Merritt's army sobri- quet-would " come with a whirl," and so he did come. He marched continuously Saturday night, not halting for a single moment, making seventy miles in twenty-four hours. The command left
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Rawlins at 10:30 A. M. on Thursday, October 2. They marched forty miles that day. The second day they marched fifty miles. The men en- dured the march splendidly. They realized that a few of their comrades in arms were surrounded and that their safety depended upon the quick movement of this command. Consequently, there were no complaints. Several horses were so worn out that they had to be abandoned, and died on the roadside.
The command arrived at the scene of action at 5:30 A. M., Sunday, October 5, after marching seventy miles the day previous. When Merritt's advance guard reached Payne's pickets, they were commanded by the guards to halt, and Gen. Merritt then ordered the guards to inform Capt. Payne that it was the relief column that was approaching. He caused his trumpeter to sound the officer's call, which is the night-signal of the Fifth Cavalry, and seldom, if ever, did that signal fall more pleasantly upon listening ears than it did upon those of the rescued garrison.
The following account of the arrival of Merritt and the situation of affairs he found awaiting him is from the pen of one of his staff :
" We arrived with Gen. Merritt's command Sunday morning, the 5th inst., at 5:30, after a march of seventy-five miles yesterday, stopping to rest only half an hour. Oh! What a happy crowd Payne's command was when Merritt rcached them in relief. They had been en- trenched for six days. Capt. Payne still com- mands. Lieut. Paddock is wounded in the side. Capt. Payne is wounded in the arm. Lieut. Wolf, of the Fourth Infantry, is here. Lieut. Cherry, the salvator of the command, is unhurt. Capt. Dodge, with Company F, of the Ninth Cav- alry, arrived here on Thursday. He fought his way in. Licut. Hughes is with him. There is a horrible stench all around. The wounded men arc hobbling in every direction. One hundred and fifty dead horses lying thirty feet from the entrenchments present a horrible spectacle. Poor Paddock is bright, and will be out in a day or
two. I found him, with three others, lying in a deep hole. The middle of the entrenchment was used as a hospital. They have been fired on every day since Monday, particularly last night. No more fear is had, as A and M, companies of the Fifth Cavalry, have reached here. The battle commenced by the troops charging one dreaded and commanding point on our right, and I and M, companies of the Fifth Cavalry, immediately took charge of a prominence on the left. The appear- ance of the Fifth Cavalry entering under Gen. Merritt and Col. Compton was a grand sight.
"The poor fellows in the entrenchment at first probably thought we were Indians. We were challenged by a sentinel, and, in reply, answered that we were friends. Gen. Merritt caused the trumpeter to sound the officer's call, and at its end three big cheers rent the air. They were relieved at last. The sight was one of the most affecting I have ever seen, and brave men shed tears. The hospital wagon has just arrived, and Drs. Grimes and Kimmel are hard at work, doing good service. Our march from Rawlins under Merritt was a grand military effort."
Gen. Merritt was moved to tears at the sight of so much suffering and the peril from which the garrison had been rescued. Capt. Payne em- braced his superior officer as a child would em- brace its father. These brave soldiers, who are familiar with Indian character, knew that it was almost a miracle that every man of Thornburg's command was not massacred; but the Interior Department has already forgiven the savages en- gaged in the Thornburg fight, on the ground that it was an accidental engagement, and the poor Indians were " not to blame." Every brave man should resent this insult to the memory of Thorn- burg and the brave soldiers who died with him on that bloody field.
The Indians soon disappeared from the scene after Merritt's arrival, and, after a short stop to arrange matters on the battle-field and to send the wounded under guard to Rawlins, the march was continued toward the Agency. Maj. Thornburg's
Herman.
Beckunta
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body was found by Lieut. Hughes, still lying on the battle-field, stripped, and mutilated by wounds and scalping. The remains were forwarded to Rawlins, and thence to Omaha for interment.
Maj. Thomas T. Thornburg, whose tragic death at the hands of the Utes is above noted, was born in Tennessee, and first saw military duty during the late civil war. In September, 1861, he enlisted as a private in the Sixth Tennessee Regiment of Volunteers. He was in the service from that time until August, 1863. During this term, he served for the first five months as a private, for two months as Sergeant Major, and for the remainder of his term in the service as Lieutenant and Adju- tant. He took part in the battle of Mill Spring, was with our army when Gen. Morgan made his celebrated retreat from Cumberland Gap to the Ohio River, and participated in the battle of Stone River, September 1. He was entered at the United States Military Academy of West Point, and was one of the Class of '66, graduates from there June 17, 1867. He was promoted to be Second Lieu- tenant in the Second Artillery, going then upon leave of absence till January 1, 1868. He was first stationed at Presidio, San Francisco, remain- ing there until February 26, 1868; from there, he went to Fortress Monroe for artillery practice, being stationed there from April 13, 1868, to
May, 1869; then, at Alcatraz, from June to No- vember 10, 1871, excepting a short while when he was detached and sent to Sitka, Alaska-August 23 to November 17, 1869. From December 6, 1869, till April, 1870, he was Professor of Mili- tary Science at San Diego, Cal. From April 21, 1870, until he became a Second Lieutenant of Artillery, he was stationed in his native State, at the East Tennessee University, as Professor of Military Tactics. From November 27, 1871, till June '20, 1873 (for two years), he was in the garrison at Fort Foote, Md. Being ordered away from there on April 27, 1875, he was then promoted to be Major of Staff, and July 12, of the same year, became Paymaster at San Antonio, Texas, being transferred from there on the 13th of August following to Fort Brown, in that State, and ordered away from there January 26, 1870. He next was stationed at the barracks at Omaha for fifteen months, being ordered to the frontier from that post on May 23, 1878. He became Major of the Fourth Infantry at Fort Steele, Wyoming, holding this commission to June 29, of last year. Since that time, he has done scouting duty, his knowl- edge of the country, which he has scouted and hunted over, making him especially fitted for this duty. He was a brother of ex-Congressman Thorn- burg, of Tennessee.
CHAPTER V.
ARRIVAL AT AGENCY-THE MASSACRE.
D URING all this time, the fate of Father Meeker and the Agency employes was unknown to the public. It was almost certain that he had been murdered, as it seemed incredible that the Indians would fight Thornburg and spare Meeker, who was blamed by them for bringing in the soldiers ; still, nothing had been heard to con- firm the strong suspicions of all frontiersmen as to the fate of the people at the Agency. Even when Merritt relieved Payne and marched on the Agency,
he could learn nothing definite touching the trans- actions there.
On the 9th, however, news reached Denver via the Uncompahgre Agency, through the medium of Chief Ouray, that Father Meeker and the male employes of the Agency had been killed on the day of the Thornburg fight (Monday, September 29), but that the women and children were safe and were being cared for by Douglass at his house. This latter statement turned out to be false, but as
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Douglass had not then been proved to be the dirty liar that he is, credence was given to the story, and Douglass was lauded as a "good Indian," along with Ouray, Capt. Billy, etc. A few doubting Thomases did remark that it seemed strange that Douglass should be such a good Indian while his wicked partners were so bad; also, that if he was the big chief of the tribe, his devotion to the whites might have been emphasized by protecting them from murder and assassination. In fact, he had led the Agency massacre, and the women and children were the prisoners of himself and his gang of cowardly cut-throats, instead of being under his protection.
On Monday, October 13, just two weeks after the first battle, two couriers arrived at Rawlins from what had been the White River Agency, and reported that Gen. Merritt had reached the Agency on the 11th. On his way, he found many dead bodies. Among others, he found the body of Carl Goldstein, an Israelite, who left Rawlins with Government supplies for the Utes at White River Agency. He was found in a gulch six miles north of the Agency. He was shot twice through the shoulder, and was about two miles from his wagons. A teamster named Julius Moore, formerly from Bainbridge, Mass., who was with him when he left Rawlins, was found about one hundred yards from Goldstein with two bullet- holes iu his breast, and his body hacked and muti- lated with a knife or hatchet.
As the command advanced through the cañon, they came to an old coal-mine, and in it was found the dead body of an Agency employe named Frank Dresser. He had evidently been wounded, and crawled in the mine to die. His coat was folded up and placed under his head for a pillow. Beside him lay a Winchester rifle containing eight cart- tridges, and marked "J. Max Clark." Young Dresser had succeeded in escaping from the Agency massacre badly wounded, but could not reach the troops.
E. W. Eskridge was found about two miles north of the Agency. He was stripped to an
entire state of nudity, and had his head mashed as though he had been struck with some heavy ap- pliance. He was formerly in the banking business at Marshalltown, Iowa. He was a lawyer by pro- fession, and had only been at the Agency a short time, having been sent there by Hon. William N. Byers, of Denver, in response to a request from Father Meeker for a clerk.
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