History of Washington, Idaho, and Montana : 1845-1889, Part 76

Author: Bancroft, Hubert Howe, 1832-1918; Victor, Frances Fuller, 1826-1902
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: San Francisco : History Co.
Number of Pages: 880

USA > Idaho > History of Washington, Idaho, and Montana : 1845-1889 > Part 76
USA > Montana > History of Washington, Idaho, and Montana : 1845-1889 > Part 76
USA > Washington > History of Washington, Idaho, and Montana : 1845-1889 > Part 76

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

38 Samuel T. Hauser was born at Falmouth, Pendleton co., Ky, Jan. 10, 1833, and was reared and educated in his native state. In 1854 he removed to Mo. and engaged in civil engineering, serving on the Missouri Pacific and N. P. R. R. In 1862 he came up the Missouri to Fort Benton, and pros- pected over onto the upper Columbia waters, returning in the autumn to the Bannack mines, and exploring the Lewis and Clarke route down the Yellow- stone, in 1863. In 1865, in company with W. F. Sanders, he opened a bank at Virginia City, and erected the first furnaces in the territory. In 1866 Mr Hauser organized the Ist National bank of Helena; also, the St Louis Mining Co., at Phillipsburg, now known as the Hope Mining Co., which erected the first silver mill in Mont. The Ist National banks of Missoula, Butte, and Benton were each organized by Mr Hauser. He is largely in- terested in stock and mining, organized the Utah & Northern railroad in Mont., and is president of a branch of the N. P. R. R., besides being engaged in many other enterprises.

HIST. WASH .- 44

CHAPTER V.

INDIAN WARS.

1855-1882.

THE BLACKFOOT NATION-CROWS AND SIOUX-THEIR LANDS AND THEIR CHARACTERS-THE OLD, OLD ISSUE-TREATY-MAKING, TREATY-BREAK- ING, FIGHTINO, AND FINISHING-MOVEMENTS OF TROOPS-MONTANA MILITIA COMPANIES- ESTABLISHING FORTS-EXPEDITIONS FOR PROS- PECTINO AND DISCOVERY-RESERVATIONS-LONG-CONTINUED HOSTILI- TIES-DECISIVE MEASURES.

WITH the resident Indian tribes of Montana the government had treaties of amity previous to the period of gold discovery and settlement. The Blackfoot nation, consisting of four divisions-the Gros Ven- tre,1 Piegan, Blood, and Blackfoot proper-occupied the country beginning in the British possessions, bounded on the west by the Rocky Mountains, on the south by a line drawn from Hellgate pass in an east- erly direction to the sources of the Musselshell River, and down that stream and the Missouri to the mouth of Milk River, where it was bounded on the east by that stream. To this country, although claimed as their home, they by no means restricted them- selves, but wandered, as far as their prowess could defend them, into the territory of the neighboring nations, with which, before the treaty made with I. I.

1 This tribe claim to have come from the far north, and to have travelled over a large body of ice, which broke up and prevented their return. They then journeyed in a south-east course as far as the Arapahoe country, and remained with that people one year, after which they travelled eastward to the Sioux country, met and fought the Sioux, who drove them back until they fell in with the Piegans, and joined them in a war on the Bloods, after which they remained in the country between the Milk and Missouri rivers. E. A. C. Hatch, in Ind. Aff. Rept, 1856, 75; Dunn's Hist. Or., 156, 322-3. ( 690 }

691

THE FOUR NATIONS.

Stevens in 1855, they were always at war. Between themselves they preserved no impassable lines, al- though the Gros Ventres lived farthest east, and the Piegans along the Missouri River, while the Black- foot tribe and Bloods domiciled farther north.

Of the four tribes, the Gros Ventres, hitherto the most predatory in their habits, at first appeared the most faithful to their agreement with the United States. Likewise the Piegans, though of the most warlike character, seemed to feel bound by their treaty obligations to refrain from war; while the Blackfoot still occasionally stole the horses of the Flathead; and the Bloods, within ten days after sign- ing the treaty at the mouth of Judith River, set out on a war expedition against the Crows. This nation, which occupied the Gallatin and Yellowstone valleys, with the tributaries of the latter and a portion of the Missouri, was known among other tribes and among fur-hunters and traders as the most mendacious of them all. To outlie a Crow, and thereby gain an ad- vantage over him, was the serious study of the moun- tain men. He was not so good a fighter as the Blackfoot-if he had been, probably he would have had a straighter tongue-but the nation being large, and able to conquer by force of numbers as well as strategy, made him a foe to be dreaded. Of the Blackfoot nation there were 10,000 in 1858, and of the Crows nearly 4,000. The latter, divided into two bands of river and mountain Crows, had entered into obligations at the treaty of Laramie of 1851, to- gether with other tribes of the plains, to preserve friendly relations with the people of the United States, and were promised annuities from the government in return. These annuities were distributed by Alfred J. Vaughn in the summer of 1854, who made a journey of three hundred miles from Fort Union on the Missouri up the Yellowstone to Fort Sarpy, the trading post of P. Choteau Jr & Co., with the goods stored in a keel- boat along with the goods of the trading firm. The

692

INDIAN WARS.

party was attacked by seventy-five Blackfoot war- riors, who killed two out of six Crows accompanying the expedition, and from whom the party escaped only by great exertions. At this distribution the Crows professed adherence to the terms of the Lara- mie treaty. Vaughn was continued in the office of agent to the Crows for several years.

In 1856, the year following the Stevens treaty with the Blackfoot nation, E. A. C. Hatch was ap- pointed agent to these tribes, but was succeeded by Vaughn in 1867, who, in distributing goods to the Crows the previous year, seemed to have dissemi- nated small-pox; for the disease broke out at this time and carried off 2,000 of them, 1,200 of the Assinaboines, and many of the Arickarees, Gros Ventres, and Mandans.2 A. H. Redfield was ap- pointed agent for the Crows in 1857, but the moun- tain Crows avoided assembling at Fort William, at the mouth of the Yellowstone, as directed, and their goods were stored at the fort, which they made a cause of complaint, saying their goods should be delivered to them in their own country, on the south- ern tributaries of the Yellowstone. As they refused the following year to come to Fort William, their agent was compelled to transport two years' annu- ities to Fort Sarpy in 1858, as the only apparent means of preserving amicable relations. In the same manner the Bloods refused to come to Fort Ben- ton for their annuities in 1857, and their chief was fain to confess that his young men had been at war with the neighboring tribes and with parties of white men.

Although the territory of Montana was divided between the Blackfoot and Crow nations, it was sub- ject to invasion from the west by the Shoshones, now no longer dreaded as an enemy, and from the east by the Sioux, those Arabs of the plains, who roamed from

" The Indians, like all the dark-skinned races, have a great susceptibility to contagion. In 1838 small-pox carried off 10,000 of the Crow, Blackfoot, Mandan, and Minatarco nations. De Smet's Western Missions, 197.

693

HOSTILITIES OF THE SIOUX.

the British possessions to New Mexico, and from Minnesota to the Rocky Mountains. Belonging to the same agency with the Crows were the Assina- boines, of whom there were several bands, in their character resembling the Sioux, yet inferior to them in strength. But of all the tribes, the Sioux were most dreaded and formidable, alike from their num- bers, being 13,000 strong, and their warlike character. Their hand was against every man.

No threatening attitude was assumed by the Ind- ians of Montana until the gold discoveries in north- ern Idaho began to attract immigration by the Mis- souri River route. Dissatisfaction was first shown by the Sioux, of whom there were seven different tribes,3 who attacked Fort Union, in 1850, 400 strong, burn- ing the out-buildings, killing and wounding seven inen who were cutting hay, destroying thirty head of cat- tle and horses, and firing the fort, from which they were with difficulty driven. In 1861 they attempted to burn their agency, but were interrupted by the arrival of troops from Fort Randall, and retired.

In 1864 General Sully pursued the Sioux as far as Montana, and fought them on the Yellowstone, but without the force to achieve an important victory, or even to impress the Indians with awe of his govern- ment. In 1865 General Connor met them on Pow- der River, and punished them more severely for killing immigrants on the Bozeman route just opened. The Blackfoot tribes, agitated by the breath of war, were unsettled and sullen, wishing to fight on one side or the other; and to add to the danger of an outbreak, the Indian country was being filled, not only with licensed traders, but unlicensed whiskey-sellers, whose intercourse with the savages brutalized them, and led to quarrels resulting in murders. Such was the condition of the Indian affairs of Montana when it was organized under a territorial government.

$ The Brulés, Blackfoot Sioux, Sans Arc, Minnecongies, Uncpapas, Two- kettles, and Yanctonais.

694

INDIAN WARS.

It happened that the Stevens treaty expired in 1865, and it was thought a fortunate opportunity to renew it, in a different form, and to purchase that part of their country lying south of the Missouri and Teton rivers. In the mean time, such was the temper of these Indians that Governor Edgerton issued a proclamation calling for five hundred volunteers to chastise them, and protect the immigration after its arrival at Fort Benton by steamer, and while en route to the mines.

On November 17th a treaty was made with the Blackfoot tribes, by which they relinquished to the United States all their lands except those lying north of latitude 48° and the Teton, Maria, and Missouri rivers. But the treaty was hardly concluded be- fore these bands, who were not sincere in their promises, resumed depredations, roaming about the country and killing men, horses, and cattle. On the arrival of Secretary Meagher, and upon assuming the executive office in the autumn of 1865, he applied to Major-general Wheaton, commanding at Fort Lara- mie, for such cavalry as he could spare; but it was pronounced impracticable to march troops into Mon- tana in the winter, and they were promised for the spring. Considerable alarm existing, the acting gov- ernor issued a proclamation February 10th, calling for 500 mounted volunteers; but not being able to arm, equip, or support in the field such a force, noth- ing was done beyond pursuing the predatory parties with such means and men as were within reach. An engagement took place March Ist between a band of Bloods and a party of road-viewers at Sun River Bridge, in which James Malone was severely wounded, one Indian killed, and three were captured and hanged. About the middle of the summer Colonel Reeves, commandant of the upper Missouri, arrived from Fort Rice with 800 well-equipped soldiers, under Major William Clinton, and established Camp Cook at the mouth of Judith River.

695

A NEW TREATY.

On the 30th of June, 1865, another treaty was ar- ranged. Two thousand Brulés and Ogalallahs were in attendance when the council opened, and after two weeks of sending despatches by couriers, the majority of these two tribes came in and signed a treaty, giving their consent to the opening of roads through the territory claimed by them, and were presented with the usual gifts of food, clothing, and ammunition. Red

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Military companies had been stationed on the Pow- der River division of the Bozeman route in 1865 to keep the Indians away; and in May 1866 Colonel H. B. Carrington, who had been made commander of the district of the Mountains, left Fort Kearny with the 18th United States infantry to erect forts on the line

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696

INDIAN WARS.

of the road, beginning with the abandonment of Fort Reno, erected by General Connor the previous year, and the substitution of a new Fort Reno forty miles farther north-west. The force amounted to 700 men, only 220 of whom were trained soldiers.4

On the 12th of July Carrington arrived at Crazy Woman's fork of Powder River, where the new Fort Reno was to be located, and where he selected a site, proceeding on his march the next day with two companies, leaving Major Haymond in the rear with the other four. Not far beyond was the proposed site of a fort to be called Philip Kearny, on Piney fork of Clear fork of Powder River, at the eastern base of Bighorn Mountains, where headquarters arrived on the evening of July 13, 1866. On the following day three notable events occurred-the selection of a site for the fort, the desertion of a party of soldiers who had started for the mines, and the arrival of a messenger from the chief Red Cloud de- claring war should the commander of the expedition persist in his intention of erecting a fort in the coun- try. Nevertheless, on the 15th the work was begun of constructing the finest military post in the moun- tains, upon a plan directed by General Crook, which would enable a few men to guard it, leaving the greater part of the garrison to occupy themselves with the protection of the roads, telegraphs, and ınails.5

On the 16th of July Major Haymond arrived and went into camp near headquarters. It was a con- tinued struggle with the command to keep possession

' Abraraka is the title of a narrative by the wife of one of the officers of the Carrington expedition.

" Fort Philip Kearny occupied a natural plateau 600 or 800 feet bigh, with sloping sides or glacis. The stockade was of pine, hewn to a touching surface, pointed, and loop-holed. At diagonally opposite corners were block-houses of 18-inch pine logs. The parade-ground was 400 feet square, with a street 20 feet wide bordering it. East of the fort, taking in Little Piney, was a corral for stock, hay, wood, etc., with a palisade 10 feet high, and quarters for tcamsters and citizen employés-12 double cabins, wagon-shop, blacksmith-shop, and stables. Room was allowed for 4 companies of infantry. Army and Navy Journal, Nov. 24, 1866.

697

FORTS PHILIP KEARNY AND C. F. SMITH.

of the horses, mules, and cattle, and one in which they were very often beaten. In sorties to recover stock, a number of the men were killed, and nearly all the stock was thus lost.

About the last of August Inspector-general Hazen visited Fort Philip Kearny, and inspired fresh cour- age by assurances that two companies of regular cavalry had been ordered to reënforce this post.

The Yellowstone post having been given up, Ken- ney and Burrows with the two companies intended for

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that service were ordered to construct Fort C.F. Smith, a hundred miles from Fort Philip Kearny, on the Big- horn. In November a part of one of the cavalry companies promised arrived, under Lieutenant Bing- ham, who proceeded to Fort C. F. Smith, and re- turned about the 1st of December to Fort Philip Kearny.

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698

INDIAN WARS.

Communication had now entirely ceased with C. F. Smith post, for it was no longer safe to travel with an escort of less than fifty men, who could not be spared. Snow was on the ground. A few more trains of logs from the woods were needed to complete quarters which were being built for a fifth company at Fort Philip Kearny. The train, when it set out, with its teamsters, choppers, and escort, all armed, numbered about ninety men. When two miles from the fort, it was attacked, and signalled for relief. Si- multaneously a small party of Indians appeared in sight at the crossing of Big Piney Creek, but were dispersed by shells from the fort. A detail was made at once of fifty men and two officers from the in- fantry companies, and twenty-six men under Lieuten- ant Gummond from the 2d cavalry. Colonel Fetter- man, at his own request, was given the command of the party, and with him went Captain Brown, also at his own desire, and three citizens experienced in Indian fighting. The orders given by Colonel Car- rington were to relieve the wood train, but on no account to pursue the Indians over Lodge Trail Ridge.

Had Fetterman obeyed instructions, the history of Fort Philip Kearny and the Powder River route to Montana would have been vastly different, in all prob- ability. But with a contempt of the danger which the summer's experience did not justify, he took upon himself a responsibility which cost him his life and the lives of every man and officer who marched with him out of the fort that morning. In less than two hours not a person of the whole eighty-one soldiers and citizens was alive. No report of the engagement was ever made by the living lips of white men, and only the terrible story of the field of death gave any information of what befel the victims.

In January there arrived General H. W. Wessels with two cavalry and four infantry companies, and orders to Carrington to remove headquarters to Fort

699

PREPARATIONS FOR DEFENCE.

Casper on the North Platte, and the 18th infantry regiment took its leave of Fort Philip Kearny on the 23d, its connection with the Bozeman route ceas- ing from that time.

Meanwhile Fort C. F. Smith was invested by hos- tile Indians to nearly the same extent that its sister fort had been, and even with less opportunities of relief. The only troops in Montana, except the be- leaguered ones at that post, being the regiment under Major Clinton at Camp Cook, Governor Meagher addressed that officer, requesting troops to be sent to the Gallatin Valley, to which Clinton replied that he had not the power to assign troops to any station beyond his immediate control. The citizens of Vir- ginia City, however, had not waited for this de- cision. Mass-meetings were held, and the governor visited Gallatin Valley to procure information.6

On the 24th of April he issued a proclamation calling for 600 mounted men for three months' ser- vice, during which time it was hoped the government would come to the relief of the territory. Thomas Thoroughman, William Deascey, John S. Slater, John A. Nelson, L. W. Jackson, George W. Hynson, Isaac Evans, and Cornelius Campbell were commis- sioned to organize companies to serve as Montana militia. Martin Beem7 was appointed adjutant and inspector-general, with the rank of colonel, Hamilton Cummings® quartermaster and commissary-general, with the same rank, and Walter W. De Lacy engi- neer-in-chief, with the same rank. On the comple-

6 The call for the first mass-meeting was signed by John P. Bruce, W. L. MeMath, E. T. Yager, Charles Ohle, P. A. Largy, Marx & Heidenheimer, F. R. Merk, William Deascey, H. L. Hirschfield, John M. Clarkson, J. Feldberg, D. C. Farwell, George Cohn, Henry N. Blake, A. Lecch, F. C. Dimling, T. C. Everts, Hcz. L. Hosmer, James Gibson, A. M. S. Carpenter, J. J. Hull, William Y. Lovell, E. S. Calhoun, John S. Rockfellow, William H. Chiles, S. E. Vawter, Alphonso Lambrecht, P. S. Pfouts, G. Crow, L. Daems, H. W. Stafford, Martin Beem, N. J. Davis.

7 Beem was from Alton, Illinois. He entered the army as a private, and was promoted to captain.

8 John A. Creighton succeeded him, but resigned, and J. J. Hull was ap- pointed, who was succeeded by Henry N. Blake. John Kingley was major of the regiment.

700

INDIAN WARS.

tion of each company, it was required to march immediately to Bozeman, which had been selected as the rendezvous. The people of Gallatin Valley pledged the subsistence of the troops in the field, and the arming and equipping of the companies was also de- pendent upon private contribution.

On the organization of companies, Meagher ap- pointed Thomas Thoroughman brigadier-general, with the command of all the troops in the field. Neil Howie9 was directed to take, with the rank of colonel, the general direction of the troops raised in Lewis and Clarke county. F. X. Beidler,1º John Fether- stun, James L. Fisk, and Charles Curtis were ap- pointed recruiting officers in the same county, with the rank of captain; and Granville Stuart, Walter B. Dance, and William L. Irwin, recruiting officers, with the rank of captain, iu Deer Lodge county. Isaac Evans was appointed captain and assistant quarter- master, Francis C. Deimling was appointed chief of staff, and John D. Hearn Ist aide-de-camp.11

It was not easy to put 600 troops in the field without a treasury to draw on, but the merchants of Bannack, Helena, and Virginia contributed gener- ously. Wild Indian horses were broken with much labor, and too slowly for the demands of the service, the Helena companies, though first organized, failing to be first in the field for lack of mounts. Captain Hynson's company left Camp Cummings, at Virginia City, for the Gallatin Valley,12 about the 1st of May, followed by Captain Lewis and Captain Reuben Fos- ter's company of scouts, and on the 4th by General Thoroughman. They found the town of Bozeman, which was situated near the entrance of Bridger's and Jacobs' passes, at the eastern end of the valley, being enclosed with a stockade. These passes, and one leading out of the valley toward the Blackfoot coun-

9 Howie was advanced to the rank of brigadier-general.

10 Beidler was commissioned lieutenant-colonel.

11 Frank Davis was afterward appointed aide-de-camp.

12 Hynson was promoted to be colonel of tho Ist regiment.

701

MILITARY ARRANGEMENTS.

try, called the Flathead pass, it became the duty of scouts to guard.

On the 7th of May Thoroughman assumed com- mand of the militia, and with Colonel De Lacy set about selecting a suitable site for a fort, with the com- mand of the pass over the Belt or Yellowstone range into the Crow country. The spot selected was eight miles from Bozeman, at the mouth of Rock Cañon, where was begun a fortification named Fort Elizabeth Meagher.13 A picket fort was also established at the Bridger pass. But with the exception of two or three companies, none others appeared upon the ground, the Helena troops disbanding about the last of May be- cause horses could not be procured to mount them.

Just when failure seemed imminent, the energy and acquaintance of Governor Meagher with military affairs prevailed. General Sherman, to whom fre- quent communications had been sent, at length ordered Colonel William H. Lewis, late commander of Camp Douglas at Salt Lake, to Montana to inquire into the Indian situation, and to ascertain the measure of defence required. The result of the inquiry was that Sherman provided the means of equipping the militia by sending forward the territory's quota of 2,500 stand of arms, and a twelve-pound battery, with ammunition, and also by telegraphing authority to raise and equip 800 troops to drive out the Indians, until regular soldiers could be sent to take their places.

Shortly afterward there arrived at Bozeman, by unfrequented paths, five refugees, members of an ex- ploring expedition which had wintered at Fort C. F. Smith, who brought intelligence of the deplorable condition of the garrison, which news was confirmed by three deserters who followed. J. M. Bozeman and Thomas Cover started out to learn the true state of affairs, but were attacked, and the former killed.14

13 This appears to have been only a temporary stockade, though dignified by the name of fort.

14 Bozeman is described as 'a tall, good-natured, good-looking Georgian, with easy habits and a benign countenance.'

702

INDIAN WARS.

A second attempt was made by forty men under De Lacy, which met with better success. In order to keep watch upon the movements of the Crows and Sioux, the militia was moved forward to the fortified camp, Ida Thoroughman,15 on Shields River, thirty- five miles beyond Fort Meagher, whence reconnoi- tring parties were kept pretty constantly in motion.16 The new post was made large enough to hold a regi- ment of cavalry with their horses, and strong enough to resist a siege, with a well, citadel, and every con- venience for withstanding one. Thus passed the sum- mer, with no more serious encounters than occasional skirmishes, in which two of the Blackfoot tribe were killed and one Crow hanged.

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History of Washington, Idaho, and Montana : 1845-1889, Part 76

Author: Bancroft, Hubert Howe, 1832-1918; Victor, Frances Fuller, 1826-1902 Publication date: 1890 Publisher: San Francisco : History Co. Number of Pages: 880

Author: Bancroft, Hubert Howe, 1832-1918; Victor, Frances Fuller, 1826-1902
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: San Francisco : History Co.
Number of Pages: 880