USA > Montana > Yellowstone County > An illustrated history of the Yellowstone Valley : embracing the counties of Park, Sweet Grass, Carbon, Yellowstone, Rosebud, Custer and Dawson, state of Montana > Part 43
USA > Montana > Park County > An illustrated history of the Yellowstone Valley : embracing the counties of Park, Sweet Grass, Carbon, Yellowstone, Rosebud, Custer and Dawson, state of Montana > Part 43
USA > Montana > Dawson County > An illustrated history of the Yellowstone Valley : embracing the counties of Park, Sweet Grass, Carbon, Yellowstone, Rosebud, Custer and Dawson, state of Montana > Part 43
USA > Montana > Rosebud County > An illustrated history of the Yellowstone Valley : embracing the counties of Park, Sweet Grass, Carbon, Yellowstone, Rosebud, Custer and Dawson, state of Montana > Part 43
USA > Montana > Custer County > An illustrated history of the Yellowstone Valley : embracing the counties of Park, Sweet Grass, Carbon, Yellowstone, Rosebud, Custer and Dawson, state of Montana > Part 43
USA > Montana > Sweet Grass County > An illustrated history of the Yellowstone Valley : embracing the counties of Park, Sweet Grass, Carbon, Yellowstone, Rosebud, Custer and Dawson, state of Montana > Part 43
USA > Montana > Carbon County > An illustrated history of the Yellowstone Valley : embracing the counties of Park, Sweet Grass, Carbon, Yellowstone, Rosebud, Custer and Dawson, state of Montana > Part 43
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).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102
About three o'clock in the morning of Au- gust 14. the officer of the guard made the round of his sentinels and found all quiet, the animals having ceased to graze and having lain down in the space between the guard tents and the timber growing along the slough. Only a little while after this tour of inspection the Indians made their attack. We give the account of the battle which followed in the words of Lieutenant Bradley. He wrote :
"From the timber at different points along
259
HISTORY OF YELLOWSTONE COUNTY.
the landward side of the slough the Indians opened fire and advanced upon the Island to attempt the capture of the herd. In a moment the boldest of them were mingled with the animals, but the few men posted over the herd stood their ground manfully, opening a rapid fire upon their assailants at close range, and at the same time endeavoring to put the herd in motion toward the corral. The guard was instantly under arms, and by judicious management the animals were driven gently to the rear, the Sioux who had sought to stampede them being forced by the fire of the guard to fall back. A few moments sufficed to enable Lieutenant Logan to throw the entire guard between the Sioux and the herd, where, deployed as skirmishers and lying down in the long grass, the men opened fire upon the moy- ing forms dimly seen before them through the gloom. After the first volley the Sioux maintained a scattering fire, but the unexpect- edly hot reception given them by the guard soon caused them to retire from the timber to the open ground beyond, and, within a few moments after the attack began, the ground was cleared of them and their fire had sub- sided into a few straggling shots.
"Meantime the herders conducted the ani- mals to the rear, where without confusion they were driven into the corral and rendered secure none having been lost except fifteen head of beef cattle which stubbornly refused to move with the herd and fell into the hands of the Sioux. When the firing began the citizen prospectors, some twenty in number, seized their guns and took an advanced position on the left of the guard, where, with Lieutenant Jacobs at their head, they took cover and opened battle on their individual account. The Sioux speedily recovered from their first re- pulse and returned to the attack reoccupying the timber and appearing in considerable num- bers on the open ground in front of the guard. But the citizens with Lieutenant Jacobs poured
in a rapid fire upon their flank while the guard received them firmly in front, handling their breech loaders with such effect that again the Indians speedily withdrew.
"At the first alarm the troops had promptly formed in their company streets, and awaited the orders of the officer in command. As soon as the infantry batallion was under arms Cap- tain Rawn, its commander, reported to Major Baker for orders and found him still in bed. stupified with drink, skeptical as to the pres- ence of an enemy, and inclined to treat the whole alarm as a groundless fright upon the part of the guard. It was difficult to get any order from him, but at last he directed Captain Rawn to hold his men in camp; and, disgusted and angry, that officer returned to his com- mand and upon his own responsibility deployed companies E (Lieutenant Reed) and G (Cap- tain Browning) in line on the lower side of the camp, facing the thicket in which the ambus- cade had been formed. Lieutenant Reed oc- cupied the right, with his right flank resting on the stream, and thus posted the men of both companies lay down in the tall grass. As bul- lets were flying freely through the camp, the remainder of the command was ordered to lie down in their company streets.
"Captain Thompson, officer of the day, had gone to the front to ascertain the cause of alarm, and nearly lost his life by advancing recklessly too far beyond the guard. Finding the attack real, he so reported to the command- ing officer, and a reinforcement of about thirty cavalrymen under Lieutenant Hamilton was sent forward to Logan's support. Captain Rawn at last received tardy orders to deploy his command, and Thompson placed company C (Lieutenant Quinton) in position on the left of the line already formed and his own com- pany, I, on the left of C, and then by extending intervals to the left caused the four infantry companies to cover about one-half the front, the citizens and cavalry continuing the line to
260
HISTORY OF YELLOWSTONE COUNTY.
the left till it enveloped the camp. This deploy- ment was affected within on-half an hour after the beginning of the attack.
"As yet the Indians ambushed on the lower side of the camp had not betrayed their pres- ence by a sound. It was now growing light, and seeing the movements of the troops to- wards the point of attack, but ignorant that while it was yet dark two whole companies had taken position directly in their front, they im- agined that their stratagem had succeeded, and that the way was open to the picket lines where the horses were tied. They began. therefore, to make their way cautiously for- ward, but ere they emerged into view Lieuten- ant Reed discovered the movement in the sud- den rustling and swaying of the willows in his front, and promptly swept the covert with his fire, pouring three volleys by company into the timber with the regularity and precision of the drill ground. This sudden and unlooked- for storm of bullets full in their faces filled the Indians with astonishment and dismay, Without waiting to return a shot, they swarmed from the timber like bees and spurred their horses away from the bluffs in headlong flight. As they passed the remainder of the line, Companies C, G, and I also opened fire and completed their utter discomfiture. True to their Indian custom, they carried with them their killed and wounded slung across their horses in their front, and Lieutenant Quinton. who occupied a favorable position for observ- ing their movements, counted eighteen thus borne from the field.
"The slough with its timber belt was now in possession of the troops and afforded them excellent cover from the desultory fire which the Indians maintained for the next three or four hours from the bluffs. After the repulse of the latter from the ambuscade, they at- tempted no movement of consequence, but re- mained for the most part gathered in crowds upon the distant bluffs. Occasionally some of the bolder warriors careened on horseback at
full speed along the line, a few of whom were wounded for their pains .* About 8 o'clock a. m. they suddenly disappeared, and a recon- noisance by Captain Ball's company of cavalry showed them in full retreat."
The soldiers were eager to pursue the Sioux, and it seems probable that a decisive victory could have been secured over the In- dians, had the advantage been followed up. The savages were generally demoralized, and afterwards admitted to having lost over forty killed and a large number wounded, all but three of the dead warriors being carried from the field. They fled in great precipitation and marked their line of retreat with abandoned effects that would have impeded their flight. Major Baker's first intention seems to have been to pursue the Indians, as he ordered two companies of infantry and two of cavalry to be put in readiness for the chase; but he later forgot the order or changed his mind, as nothing of the kind was attempted. In the engagement only one man was killed, Sergeant McLaren, of Company C, 7th infantry. One of the citizens, Francis, was severely wounded and died three days after the engagement. There were three soldiers se- verely wounded-Privates O'Mally, Company E, 7th infantry ; Ward, Company L; and Cox, Company F, 2nd cavalry.
After the battle the troops and surveyors continued on their course slowly down the north bank of the Yellowstone. On August 20, just four days after the battle, when at a point about six miles above Pompey's Pillar the whole command turned off toward the
*Once in a while a young warrior would make a brave ride from one point to another. These were tar- gets for many rifles, and during the morning two of them were killed while indulging in this pastime. But one young warrior rode slowly back and forth for probably twenty times. all the time taunting the soldiers with language and gesture. A thousand shots must have been fired at him. but he went through un- scratched .- Topping's "Chronicles of the Yellowstone."
26:
HISTORY OF YELLOWSTONE COUNTY
Musselshell. The survey was carried across the future Yellowstone county to the Mussel- shell and up its south fork. The expedition was disbanded on September 25, the troops returning to the posts from which they were taken. Why the original plans were aban- doned will probably never be satisfactorily set- tled. The soldiers laid the responsibility on the surveyors and vice versa.
When the survey of the Yellowstone valley was taken up about the middle of July, 1873. Red Cloud, chief of the Sioux, who had said that the railroad should not be laid across his country, was on hand to oppose the progress of the surveyors. With the surveyors was a force of 1,500 men and an abundance of am- munition and supplies, with Gen. D. S. Stan- ley in command. The troops of the 7th cav- alry, which formed a part of the force, were in command of General Custer, and to this brave commander was assigned the duty of preceding the main body on its march up the Yellowstone, looking out a practical road for for the supply trains and artillery. Near the mouth of Tongue river on the 4th of August Custer was attacked and an attempt made to draw him into an ambuscade, which failed. he being rescued from a perilous position by the main body. The Sioux then moved on up the Yellowstone, Custer, with 450 cavalrymen, following. On the night of August 9, his command was attacked by 800 warriors. After a fight lasting some time the redskins were defeated and driven back, with a loss of forty killed and wounded. The troops lost one man killed and one severely wounded.
After this second attempt to arrest the ad- vance of the expedition, the Indians did no more than hang upon the trail of the troops to annoy them. The survey was carried to the point near Pompey's Pillar where it had been left off the year before, and on September 15 the expedition turned north and went to Fort Peck, and from thence returned home.
There was another expedition made
through the Yellowstone valley in the year 1873, which should be recorded in the history of Yellowstone county. The party which made this trip was composed of 149 mountain- eers, under command of Col. Brown. A com- plete outfit was carried, including seventeen wagons, and the object of the expedition seems to have been to prospect for mineral and fight Sioux. The expedition started from Bozeman, and has been labeled "the best managed expe- dition of the west." It descended the Yellow- stone as far as the Big Horn river, having a skirmish with the Sioux a short distance be- low, and crossing the country to the Rosebud river, had several days' and nights' terrific fighting with many Sioux and Cheyennes, and thoroughly defeated them. A gun accompan- ied the expedition which had been used on a march from the Platte to Bozeman in 1870. It was loaded with horse-shoes cut in fragments for the purpose, and performed deadly work among the Indians, who followed and fought the expedition from the Little Horn (later called Custer River) back by Fort Smith and the Bozeman road to the Yellowstone. This piece of ordnance was known as the "Big Horn Gun," and was held in reverence by all the early explorers of the Yellowstone valley. Only one man was killed on this trip.
The year 1873 was also a memorable one because of the first efforts to navigate the Yel- lowstone. When the surveying party and es- cort, above referred to, made the trip up the river, the supplies were brought up the Yel- lowstone as far as the mouth of Glendive Creek. One boat, the Key West, ascended the stream as high as Wolf rapids, some distance below the present site of Miles City. A move- ment was made by the people of Bozeman to open a wagon road from that frontier village to the head of navigation and to build a steamer to run to the mouth of the Yellow- stone from that point. It was also determined to make an effort to get aid from the govern- ment in improving the river. The movement
262
HISTORY OF YELLOWSTONE COUNTY.
that year resulted in nothing but plans, and no expedition was sent out to bring about the accomplishment of the project.
But the scheme of the Bozeman people was not abandoned, and again, early in 1874, the opening of a road through the Yellowstone valley became a "live issue." The fact that steamers had ascended the Yellowstone to a considerable distance in 1873 determined them to make a strenuous effort to bring about the accomplishment of their designs.
It was about the first of January, 1874, that active preparations were begun. It was determined to send a large expedition down the river for the purpose of opening a wagon road to the head of navigation (and the expe- dition was to determine where that point was), where connection would be made with a line of steamers which would navigate the Yellow- stone and Missouri rivers to the then terminus of the Northern Pacific railroad; the expedi- tion was also to build a stockade and form a settlement for the purpose of holding the coun- try and proposed road against the hostile In- dians.
The expedition was well armed and pro- visioned, there being over two hundred horses and mules, twenty-eight yoke of oxen and twenty-two wagons, with supplies of provi- sions for four months. Two pieces of artillery were carried, with about 150 pounds of shell and canister. All the men were armed with the best breech-loading rifles, and were sup- plied with over forty thousand rounds of metallic cartridges.
The objective point was the mouth of Tongue river, near which place was supposed to be rich mines of gold; here also was sup- posed to be the head of navigation of the Yel- lowstone.
The expedition was absent from Bozeman three montlis, and had traveled 600 miles. It had taken part in four battles with the Indians none of which was in the present county of Yel- lowstone-but had escaped with only one man
killed and two men wounded, owing to their su- periority as fighters. Besides the loss in men, the party lost 17 horses killed and 20 wounded. The Indians fared much worse, according to the account of those who took part in the ex- pedition, about fifty being killed and nearly 100 wounded.
The expedition failed of its purpose, though its reports were of some use to the country.
It seems scarcely possible that anyone would attempt to build a permanent home in that part of the Yellowstone valley which later became Yellowstone county during this time when hostile Indians held the country in full control. But such is the case, and we find that in the year 1875 several men had taken up a perman- ent residence here.
The first of these came as a result of the removal of the Crow agency. It was in Feb- ruary, 1875,that orders came from the Interior department to remove the agency from its lo- cation on Mission creek, in the present Park county, to a point some eighteen or twenty miles up the Stillwater, near the present town of Absarokee, in Carbon county. Agent Clapp at once set about the removal, and by April the old quarters on Mission creek were deserted, and the agency buildings on the Stillwater were built.
Horace Countryman, who since 1873 had kept a trading post for the Crows on the north bank of the Yellowstone, opposite the mouth of Mission creek, found that his trade would be lost with the removal of the agency, so he packed his stock of goods and moved down the river to a point on the north bank, about three miles west of the present town of Columbus and a little above the mouth of Stillwater. Here Mr. Countryman built a spacious log house, put in quite a stock of goods, and was soon enjoy- ing a flourishing trade with both the Crow Indians and the trappers and hunters. This was the first house built between the old Crow agency on Mission creek and Fort Buford,
263
HISTORY OF YELLOWSTONE COUNTY.
near the mouth of the Yellowstone, a stretch of nearly 500 miles.
With Horace Countryman came his son, C. H. Countryman, and William H. Norton, who were interested in a trading post, either in partnership with Horace Countryman or in a separate venture. In 1877 C. H. Country- man located the ranch where the town of Co- lumbus is now situated.
Scarcely had the Countrymans and Norton settled at this point than Hugo Hoppe, who had been engaged in the saloon and hotel busi- ness at Benson's Landing (near the present city of Livingston), removed his stock and fix- tures to the new settlement opposite the mouth of the Stillwater, and there reopened his busi- ness.
While these traders were establishing them- selves as the first permanent residents of the future county, a government expedition was on the way up the river for the purpose of making a complete exploration of the Yellow- stone river with reference to its navigability. and also for the selection of sites for forts in eastern Montana. The expedition was started under orders from General Phil Sheridan, and General Forsyth was the commander.
The start was made from Bismarck, Dakota, in the steamer Josephine on May 23, 1875, and the mouth of the Yellowstone was reached two days later. Up to this point the command had consisted of one company of infantry, but at Fort Buford two additional companies were taken on. The mouth of the Big Horn was reached June 2 without difficulty, and then be- gan the more difficult task of navigating the river above that point, the steamer going to a point ten miles from the present site of Bil- lings, reaching there June 17.
The trip proved the feasibility of steam- boat navigation for a distance of 400 miles up the Yellowstone. No Indians were encount- ered except a large party of Crows, which was going on its summer hunt. The Crows had a three days' fight with the Sioux in the Big
Horn country in July. Sites for military posts were selected at the mouth of Tongue river, where a little later Fort Keogh was estab- lished, and at the mouth of the Big Horn, which, however, never became the site of a government post.
The Josephine, in charge of that veteran of northern river navigation, Captain Grant Marslı, passed to a point just opposite the pres- ent city of Billings, and tied up to a large cot- tonwood tree on which was carved the steam- er's name and date of arrival. This landmark remained several years and then was swept away by high water.
The year 1875 was a prolific one in the matters of historical interest for the Yellow- stone valley and the future county of the same name. The most interesting event of the whole year was the expedition under F. D. Pease, which came down the Yellowstone river, founded a fort and colony at the mouth of the Big Horn, and then abandoned it. The scheme of leading a party of settlers down the river and establishing a permanent settlement at the Big Horn was conceived by F. D. Pease, until a short time before agent of the Crow Indians.
The account of the resources of the Big Horn country brought back to Bozeman by the members of the expedition of the preceding year determined Mr. Pease and others to es- tablish themselves in that country and to lend their aid to all persons following their example. It was believed that steam-boating would soon become a regular feature of the Yellowstone and that the mouth of the Big Horn would be- come an important point. as it was near the, if not the, head of navigation.
In the spring of the year a party of nearly fifty men from Bozeman and other points in the vicinity, under the command of Mr. Pease, gathered at Benson's Landing, which at that time was an important point on the upper river. Four mackinaw boats were built and loaded with artillery, arms, tools, and supplies
·
264
HISTORY OF YELLOWSTONE COUNTY.
for the founding and maintaining of a settle- ment in the new country. Misfortunes at- tended the expedition. Two boats were swamped by overloading in the rapid stream, and a large portion of the supplies, tools and ammunition was lost.
But the spirit of the promoter was not daunted by these misfortunes, and the party finally landed at the mouth of the Big Horn. On the east side of the river, where in 1863 the Jas. Stuart party had laid out the town of Big Horn City, Fort Pease was erected, a rude but strong fort. It was built close to the bank of the Yellowstone on a high bottom about ten to fifteen feet above the water of the river. It was constructed like the majority of frontier posts of the time, being a combina- tion of log buildings and palisades, enclosing a space about 200 feet square. The log cabins formed three sides of the enclosure, while the fourth was guarded by poles set in the ground. Loop-holes were made in both the buildings and palisades, commanding the interior as well as the exterior of the port. The famous Big Horn gun, which had done such valiant duty in former campaigns, was mounted at Fort Pease, and the place was put in as good a con- dition of defense as was possible. The goods which had been brought down the river to meet the demands of the expected trade were stored within the stockade : there were no buy- ers. It has been said that several of the more enthusiastic located farms and laid out a town- site, in anticipation of the coming greatness of the place.
For a short time the affairs progressed favorably for the little band of frontiersmen. But the times were not propitious for such an enterprise, and Fort Pease was doomed to a troubled life and, finally, abandonment. The contemplated establishment of a military post here did not materialize; no steamers came to ply the waters of the Yellowstone, bringing new recruits for the settlement : the Sioux war broke out, and swarms of hostile redskins
came to make life miserable for the little band. On the night of the Ioth of July Fort Pease was attacked by the Sioux, and thereafter for several months those Indians declared unre- lenting war upon the fort and its little band of 40 men, and night and day beleagured the place, seeking occasion to ply their murderous work. The life of the garrison became a series of skirmishes, the crack of rifles handled with (leadly intent became a familiar sound, and now and then the heavy boom of the Big Horn gun roared over the valley, startling the echoes in the neighboring cliffs.
This life of incessant warfare told severely on the little garrison. Many an Indian was made to bite the dust, but six of their own minber laid down their lives in the defense, while nine more were suffering from wounds; and as the Indians hung about them in accumu. lating swarms, the dread apprehension fell on the survivors that they might all perish. Their numbers were now reduced to twenty-eight men, and it was resolved to appeal to the con- manding officer of Fort Ellis to send down a force to relieve them and enable them to get out of the country.
Soon after the founding of the fort Mr. Pease, with a few companions, had gone east to interest capital in the venture. The com- mand was then invested in Captain Paul Mc- Cormick. When it was decided to send to Bozeman for relief Captain McCormick asked for volunteers to carry a mail through to that town, apprising their friends of their danger, and asking for relief from Fort Ellis. Sam Shively. Nelson Weaver and Pat Hyde vol- unteered their services and set out on the peril- ous journey, but did not succeed in getting the message through.
Soon after this failure to get word to Boze- man Elias Carter offered to go to Bozeman and get assistance, if furnished with two horses. They were given him, together with a letter from Captain McCormick, who de- tailed the alarming situation. Carter was bid-
265
HISTORY OF YELLOWSTONE COUNTY.
den farewell by his comrades, who never ex- pected to see him again, but he, nothing daunted by the dangers which threatened, rode up the river on his lonely route, with a deter- mination to reach Bozeman or die in the at- tempt. Adopting the plan that had been put in force by Major Pease's party, he traveled by night and rested by day. After six days and nights that were doubtless fraught with dread and apprehension, he reached Bozeman and acquainted its citizens with the situation at Fort Pease.
The necessary orders for the relief of Fort Pease were issued by General Terry, and, on the 22nd of February, 1876, Major Brisbin, at the head of four companies of the 2nd cav- alry, left Fort Ellis for their release. Prior to his arrival at the fort the Indians, tiring at the stubborn defense, retired from the viein- ity, applauding the courage of the garrison and asserting that they were done with them and that they might stay as long as they pleased. But the few men left in the fort were glad to accept the opportunity to take safe leave of the scene of so much strife and anxie- ty, and the fort was abandoned on March 4. The colors of the fort were left flying where they had so often waved defiance to encircling Sioux, and it was also the design to leave the walls and buildings entire, but a discontented member of the party secretly set one of them on fire, which was burned without injury to the rest.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.