USA > Louisiana > The province and the states, a history of the province of Louisiana under France and Spain, and of the territories and states of the United States formed therefrom, Vol. IV > Part 38
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cago. Eight years later he took a prominent part in the founding of the Northwestern university, and selected the site for the institution in a suburb of Chicago. The name of Evanston was afterward given to the place, in honor of the man who had done so much for the university. While governor of Colorado he made an important treaty with the Ute Indians which restored peace among them. He was removed by President Johnson in 1865. After his removal he continued to reside in Denver, and was influential in securing the passage of the Denver Pacific railroad land grant, by means of which the road from Denver to Cheyenne was constructed. In 1805 the Colorado legislature, in recognition of his valuable services to the state, named Mount Evans in his honor.
The adjourned session of the general assembly met at Colorado City, July 7, but after four days there adjourned to Denver where more comfortable quarters could be obtained. A number of min- ing and ditch companies were incorporated during the term, and an act was passed providing "That hereafter when any new min- eral lode, of either gold bearing quartz, silver, or other valuable metal, shall be discovered in this territory, one claim of one hun- dred feet in length on such lode shall be set apart and held in perpetuity for the use and benefit of the schools of this territory, subject to the control of the legislative assembly."
The time of holding general elections for members of the legis- lature, delegate to congress, etc., was fixed for the first Tuesday in September, but owing to the fact that the appropriation for election expenses was exhausted the election of a new legislature was postponed until 1863. Memorials to congress were adopted asking that the jurisdiction of the probate courts be increased, and that the acts of the territorial legislature be printed in Span- ish, for the accommodation of that part of the population. The postmaster-general was requested to establish tri-weekly mail routes from the East and between Denver and Boulder.
Three candidates for delegate to congress were nominated. The Douglas Democrats presented II. P. Bennett for re-election, the Republicans nominated ex-Governor Gilpin, and the Brecken - ridge Democrats put forward J. M. Francisco. At the election on the first Tuesday in September, Bennett received 3,655 votes ; Gilpin, 2,312; and Francisco, 2,75.1.
About two o'clock in the morning of April 19, 1863, the people of Denver were startled from their peaceful slumbers by the cry of fire. The fire had broken out in the business portion of the city and was well under way when discovered. Nearly one half
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of the business district was burned over and the property loss amounted to a quarter of a million dollars. As soon as the ruins were cold the work of rebuilding commenced and, phoenix like, Denver arose from the flames to become "The queen city of the plains."
In the summer of 1863 two Mexican guerrillas invaded Colo- rado and caused a reign of terror in the South Park. They acquired the name of the bloody Espinosas. Within three weeks they killed nine men. Jolin MeCannon raised a company at Cali- fornia gulch and started in pursuit. He came up with them at their camp near the head of Oil creek, in El Paso county, where one of them was killed. The other made his escape to New Mexico. Some months later he returned and was killed by a scout named Tom Toben.
October 10, 1863, the first telegraph message was received at Denver. Communication with the East was soon afterward established, the rates for ten words to St. Louis being $5.25, Bos- ton $10.25, New York $9.10, Chicago $6.50.
'The third session of the legislature met at Golden, February 1, 1864. Charles W. Mather was elected president of the council and Jerome B. Chaffee speaker of the house. On the 4th an adjournment was taken to Denver. The territory was redistricted for judicial purposes, and a general revision of the laws relating to corporations was made.
An effort was made during the session of congress in 1862-63 to have an act passed enabling the people of Colorado to adopt a constitution and form a state government. Nothing was accom- plished at that time, but at the next session an act was passed and approved by the president, March 21, 1864, authorizing the elec- tion of delegates to meet on the first Monday in July and form a constitution which was to be submitted to the people on the second Tuesday in October. The provisions of the act were carried out, and the convention consisted of sixty-two delegates, viz. : W. A. II. Loveland, Samuel E. Browne, John Q. Charles, J. B. Smith, J. A. Cavanaugh, Richard Sopris, J. M. Brown, George T. Clark, John A. Koontz, D. H. Goodwin, A. C. Hunt, Charles A. Cook, G. W. Miller, David II. Nichols, P. M. Hinman, D. Pound, A. Iamury, W. E. Sisty, J. T. Herrick, Robert White, C. B. Pat- terson, John Locke, D. P. Wilson, E. S. Perrin, W. E. Darby, B. C. Waterman, Rodney French, A. J. Van Deren, H. F. Powell, F. 11. Jude, & W. Mather, B. F. Lake, G. E. Randolph, W. S. Rockwell, @ J. Hollister, W. R. Gorsline, T. Whitcomb, G. B. Backus, T. C. Bergen, T. P. Boyd, H. H. DeMary, N. F. Cheese-
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man, C. Nachtrieb, HI. Anderson, John McCannon, Thomas Keys, WV. J. Curtice, Alexander Hatch, A. DuBois, II. Henson, J. D. Parmelee, G. W. Lechner, II. B. Haskell, John T. Lynch, G. W. Coffin, J. E. Washburn, F. Merrill, J. L. Pritchard, G. W. Haw- kins, C. C. Hawley, B. F. Pine, W. G. Reid.
W. A. H. Loveland was elected to preside over the delibera- tions of the convention, and a constitution embodying many good points was framed. Then began a campaign to secure its ratifi- cation by the people. As usual in such cases the press and the public divided on the question, but owing to the fact that the ter- ritorial treasury was empty the inauguration of a state govern- ment under the circumstances meant a heavier rate of taxation, and this gave the opponents of the constitution an advantage that they were not slow to use. Then certain prominent advocates of statehood had succeeded in making themselves unpopular, and the personality of these men lost votes for their cause. The result of these influences was the defeat of the constitution by a decisive vote.
Many of the Indians had been dissatisfied ever since the treaty of Fort Wise, ceding their lands to the United States. Some of the chiefs who signed that treaty said in 1863 that they were com- pelled to repudiate it or lose their lives at the hands of their war- riors. In the summer of 1863 Governor Evans, in company with two Indian agents, Major Lorey and Major Whitely, went out to hold a council with some of the dissatisfied factions, and see if good feeling could not be restored. When they reached the place where it had been agreed to hold the council they found that the Indians had gone a day's march farther out upon the plains. 'The governor and his party went on to meet them, but upon arriv- ing at their camp found it deserted and the Indians still farther away. 'Tired of following a will-o'-the-wisp the party returned to Denver. Minor depredations were common all through the fall of 1863, and during the winter an alliance of several tribes was formed to break the treaty and drive the whites from the country in the spring.
Hostilities began with the approach of warm weather in 1864. It was not an open warfare but, true to their traditions, the savages attacked those whose destruction was certain with little risk to themselves. The Sioux, some of whom were fresh from the out- rages in Minnesota, the Kiowas, the Comanches, the Arapahoes and the Cheyennes all engaged in committing depredations on the helpless Stages were waylaid and robbed; mail bags were cut open and their contents scattered over the plains; wagon trains
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were assailed, the drivers killed and the vehicles plundered. All along the route down the Platte valley there was a reign of terror and communication was ahnost entirely suspended. About the middle of June a war party stampeded the stock in the settlements on Box Elder creek within a few miles of Denver. The Hungate family, consisting of the husband, wife, and two children, was brutally murdered. The raid caused great excitement in Denver. The armory was opened, arms and ammunition distributed to the citizens and guards organized for the protection of the city.
One of the hostile parties was led by a chief nained Spotted Horse, and the depredations of this band were particularly annoy- ing. For a time he had the communication with Denver cut off and the city practically in a state of siege. Appeals to the com- manding officer at Fort Kearney were made in vain and it began to look like either the pioneers or Spotted Horse must go. At this juncture the First Colorado returned from New Mexico. Major Downing, with sixty-five men, was sent to open up the road. He proceeded down the Platte without adventure until he reached the American ranch, one hundred and forty-five miles from Denver. Through his glass he saw an Indian, dressed as a white man, standing on an eminence some distance away, watch- ing the movements of the troops. Scouts were sent out to cap- ture the Indian. They succeeded and the prisoner proved to be none other than the redoubtable Spotted Horse himself. Major Downing ordered him to surrender his band, but the proposition was contemptnously refused. Without more ado the major ordered some of his men to drive a stout stake in the ground and collect the materials for a five. Spotted Horse looked at the pre- parations as if utterly unconcerned. When everything was ready Major Downing said to the Indian : "You have seen many a white man die this horrible death, now we propose to let you know how it is yourself." This was too much for Spotted Horse. His bravado gave way and he offered to lead the soldiers to his camp, which he said was in Cedar canon a few miles away. Major Downing broke camp a little while before midnight and with the captive chief tied on a horse set out for the Indian camp. They arrived at the canon just at daylight and opened fire on the Indi- ans who promptly returned the volley. The fight lasted but a short time when the Indians, seeing their leader in the hands of the whites, surrendered. This was the first battle with the Indians in Colorado. In it the red men lost 40 killed, 100 wounded, and the chief Spotted Horse was a prisoner. He was sent to Wash-
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ington, and while there made an engagement with a showman to go to Europe. Downing lost one man.
June 14 Governor Evans asked the war department for per- mission to call out the militia, and at the same time called upon Major-General Curtis, commanding the department, Brigadier- General Mitchell, of Nebraska, and Brigadier-General Carleton, of New Mexico, for troops to aid in suppressing the insurrection. No troops were sent to his assistance and the department refused to allow him to call out the territorial militia. The department did consent however to his issuing an order for the friendly Indi- ans to go to certain designated places of safety. Governor Evans accordingly ordered the Arapahoes and Cheyennes on the Arkan- sas to go to Fort Lyon, the Sions to Fort Laramie, the Kiowas and Comanches to Fort Larned. and the Cheyennes and Arapalioes on the Upper Platte to Camp Collins.
When it became known that the war department had refused to allow the governor to call out the troops, or to send assistance to the territory, the settlements from the Cache la Poudre to the Purgatory river were deserted. Those living near Denver went there and the others banded together and built block houses for protection. August 8 a general attack was made on all the stage lines and travel became more dangerous than before. Another effort was made by the governor to get the consent of the war department to his calling out the territorial troops but again he failed. The militia was then organized as home-guards and placed under the command of Henry M. Teller. August 11 the governor issued a proclamation to the people of Colorado, calling on them to organize for self-protection, and "to go in pursuit of all hostile Indians on the plains, scrupulously avoiding those who llave responded to my call to rendezvous at the points indicated; also to kill and destroy as enemies of the country, wherever they may be found, all such hostile Indians; and further, as the only reward I am authorized to offer for such services, I hereby empower such citizens, or parties of citizens, to take captive and hold to their own private use and benefit, all the property of said hostile Indians that they may capture, and to receive for all stolen property recovered from said Indians such reward as may be deemed proper and just therefor."
Ile further offered arms and ammunition to all who would regularly organize as militia, and promised to recommend that accounts for pay as regular soldiers be paid. Pursuant to this proclamation several companies were organized but the force was still inadequate to the demand. On the 18th Governor Evans
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sent the following telegram to Secretary Stanton: "Extensive Indian depredations, with murder of families, occurred yesterday thirty miles south of Denver. Our lines of communication are cut, and our crops, our sole dependence, are all in exposed local- ities, and can not be gathered by our scattered population. Large bodies of Indians are undoubtedly near Denver, and we are in danger of destruction both from attack of Indians and starvation. I earnestly request Colonel Ford's regiment of Second Colorado volunteers be immediately sent to our relief. It is impossible to exaggerate our danger. We are doing all we can for our defence."
No troops were sent in reply to this appeal, but the department reluctantly consented to the recruiting of a regiment for a term of one hundred days. The next day after the above message was sent to the war department two friendly Cheyennes gave notice to the trading post of Elbridge Gerry, about fifty miles below Denver, that a raid of the Platte valley was intended, and to remove to some place of safety. A messenger was sent to Denver. with the information. The intention of the Indians was to divide into small parties and strike at various points along the Platte simultaneously. When the messenger from Gerry's place arrived at Denver the governor lost no time in disposing such troops as he had at his command in a way to protect, as well as possible, the threatened settlements. An attempt was made to carry out the raid as planned but when the Indians found the places they had marked for destruction guarded they retired.
Still nothing was done by the war department for the protec- tion of the citizens of Colorado, and on September 7 Governor Evans made another appeal. In this communication he said : "Flour is forty-five dollars a barrel, and the supply is growing scarce, with none on the way. Pray give the order for our troops to come as requested, at once, or it will be too late for trains to come this season."
About this time the the organization of the one hundred days regiment was completed,* but the war department was again seized with a fit of inactivity, and it was fully a month before the men received their arms and equipments. Early in September some Cheyennes in the Smoky Hills sent word to Maj. E. W. Wynkoop, in command of Fort Lyon, that they desired to hold a council with a view to making peace. The messengers also informed Major Wynkoop that the Indians had a number of white
*The old Third Colorado having been consolidated with the Second regiment the preceding autumn the one hundred days regiment was called the Third Colo- rado cavalry.
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captives in the village. Wynkoop, with about 150 men marched to the Cheyenne village to demand the release of the prisoners. After some opposition and several days delay the Indians gave up the captives and some of the chiefs agreed to go to Denver for the purpose of holding a council. But Governor Evans refused to treat with them. He told them of the way they had ran away from him the year before, and of their refusal to avail themselves of his order to place themselves under the protection of certain designated agents, and advised them to surrender to the military authorities. Then a council could be held with some satisfaction. For this course the governor was criticised by the commissioner of Indian affairs, who believed in the adoption of a conciliatory policy. On the other hand Major-General Curtis, commanding the department, and who was thoroughly familiar with every phase of the existing situation, took a different view. In a dispatch to Colonel Chivington he said : "I want no peace until the Indians have suffered more. I fear the agent of the 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 directions." It was the old story of the conflict between the civil and the military authorities with regard to the Indian question. The Indians were not slow to learn that they had nothing to fear from the depart- ment at Washington, and had General Curtis been given full control of the whole business much of the trouble with the Indians at this time might have been averted.
Under the order of Governor Evans, issued in June, several hundred Arapahoes, under the chief Little Raven, repaired to Fort Lyon where they were subsisted for some time at government expense. They claimed to be friendly, but it is an open question that Little Raven had been hostile. November 2 Maj. Scott J. Anthony succeeded Major Wynkoop in command at Fort Lyon. Not long after taking charge of the post lie concluded to quit maintaining the Indians in idleness. Giving them the arms that had been taken from them he ordered them to go and hunt for themselves. There is some difference of opinion as to whether they strictly obeyed orders, or whether, offended at having their rations ent off, they offered aid and encouragement to the hostiles.
November 6, in a letter to headquarters, Major Anthony said : "Nine Cheyenne Indians today sent in, wishing to see me. They state that six hundred of that tribe are now thirty-five miles north of here, oming toward the post, and two thousand about seventy- five mile away, waiting for better weather to enable them to come
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in. I shall not permit them to come in, even as prisoners, for the reason that if I do I shall have to subsist them upon a prisoner's rations. I shall, however, demand their arms, all stolen stock, and the perpetrators of all depredations. I am of the opinion that they will not accept this proposition, but that they will return to the Smoky Hills. They pretend that they want peace, and I think they do now, as they can not fight during the winter, except where a small band can find an unprotected train or a frontier settle- ment. I do not think it is policy to make peace with them now, until all perpetrators of depredations are surrendered up, to be dealt with as we may propose."
The six hundred Cheyennes came on to Fort Lyon to claim the protection offered by Governor Evans's order of five months before. Rather tardy in accepting the friendly overtures of the governor, but they probably proceeded on the theory that it was better late than never. They were not allowed to camp near the fort, but were told to go over on Sand creek, forty miles away, and find a camping place, and if the commandant of the fort received any orders to treat with them he would send a messenger to the camp. About sunrise on the morning of November 29 this camp was attacked by a force of some seven hundred and fifty men under the command of Col. John M. Chivington, who it is presumed was carrying out the idea of General Curtis that the Indians ought to be punished more. The Indians were alarmed by a squaw who, hearing the tread of the horses' hoofs, raised the cry that a herd of buffalo was coming. The Indians sprang to their arms and as soon as the forms of the white men became visible began firing. One Cheyenne chief hurriedly ran up the stars and stripes over his tepee, with a flag of truce above it. But it was too late. . A herd of about eleven hundred ponies was on the farther side of the camp, and a detachment was sent to cut them off to prevent the escape of the Indians. The ponies grew frightened and ran toward the camp so that the move was only a partial success. The ponies that reached the camp were caught by some of the now thoroughly panic stricken savages who mounted and rode away. Meantime the white men pushed forward, pour- ing a galling fire into the ranks of the enemy. Above the din of the fight could be heard the voice of the stalwart commander as he rode along the line calling out "Remember our wives and chil- dren murdered on the Platte and the Arkansas !" The main body of the Indians retreated up the bed of the creek firing as they went. In a little while the fighting became desultory. Part of the troops pursued the Indians who were going up the creck, and IV -- 26
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the remainder divided into little squads, riding here and there, looking after the stragglers. No prisoners were taken, and men, women and children were shot down indiscriminately. After retreating for about a mile the Indians made a stand at a point where the banks of the creek were high enough to afford some protection from the terrific fire that was rapidly decimating their ranks. All efforts of the cavalry to dislodge them proving futile the two howitzers were ordered up and in a short time they drove the Indians from cover. The conflict now became a running fight which lasted until late in the afternoon, when the whites gave up the pursuit and returned to the site of the Indian camp. In this engagement the Indians lost 300 killed, about one half of whom were women and children. The loss of the whites was 7 killed and 47 wounded. Seven of the wounded afterward died .* The affair has been called both the "Sand Creek Massacre," and the "Battle of the Big Sandy ;" it all depends on the point of view.
Colonel Chivington was charged with unwonted cruelty and brutality, and congress ordered an investigation. The manner in which that investigation was conducted would make it appear to the impartial observer that the object was to sustain the charges rather than to get at the facts. Chivington was not allowed to testify nor to introduce witnesses to show that the Indians at Sand creek were hostile, and that a number of fresh white scalps were found in the camp. In the report of the committee Gover- nor Evans came in for a share of the opprobrium. In order that the public might hear both sides of the question the governor issued a pamphlet calling attention to a number of palpable errors in the report. Extravagant statements were made by some to the effect that the Sand creek massacre had aggravated the con- ditions and made the Indians worse. General Curtis does not say so. When ordered, in January. 1865, to investigate Colonel Chiv- ington's action he replied : "Although the colonel may have transgressed my field orders concerning Indian warfare, and otherwise acted very much against my views of propriety in his assault at Sand Creek, still it is not true, as Indian agents and traders are representing, that such extra severity is increasing the Indian war. On the contrary, it tends to reduce their numbers and bring them to terms."
A few weeks later, in a letter to Governor Evans, he said : "Let me say, too, that I see nothing new in all this Indian move-
*Varions stot ments have been made regarding the lossos at Sand creek, some placing the number of Indians killed as high as 600 nud others as low as 70. The Indians ac- knowledged a loss of 10. Some place the loss of the whites equal to that of the Indians but the above figures are probably not far from correct.
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ment since the Chivington affair, except that Indians are more frightened and keep farther away." The military investigation was conducted by a commission of which Colonel Tappan was chairman. It will be remembered that Chivington was promoted to be colone! of the First Colorado over Colonel Tappan. If they were not avowed enemies there was at least no friendship between them. Fancy a fair and impartial investigation under such cir- cumstances.
Colonel Chivington, who was a Methodist minister, returned to his former home in Ohio, and in 1883 was nominated for the legislature. In the campaign the Sand creek massacre was used to defeat him. In the midst of the canvass he received an invita- tion to address an old settlers meeting in Colorado, on the occasion of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the settlement of the state, and withdrew from the political race to accept the invitation. In introducing him to the old settlers meeting the chairman said : "We all remember the Indian wars of 1864 and '65, and with what joy we received the news that some of them at least had met the reward due to their treachery and cruelty. The man who can tell you all about those wars, who can tell you all you want to know of the Indians, and who can give you the true story of Sand Creek is here. I have the honor, ladies and gentlemen, to introduce Colonel Chivington, one of Colorado's 'Pet Lambs.'"
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