USA > Oklahoma > A standard history of Oklahoma; an authentic narrative of its development from the date of the first European exploration down to the present time, including accounts of the Indian tribes, both civilized and wild, of the cattle range, of the land openings and the achievements of the most recent period, Vol. I > Part 24
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8 Both of these officers became generals in the Union Army dur- ing the Civil war, General McClellan being the organizer and first commander of the Army of the Potomae.
9 Senate Executive Document No. 54, Thirty-second Congress. 2d Session.
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did not cause the celebrated Greer County dispute between Texas and the Federal Government.
Among the Delaware Indians, several of whom usually accom- panied each expedition which was commanded by Captain Marcy, was Black Beaver. One day the expedition met a large body of wild Indians of the Plains. The commander was very anxious to impress them with a proper understanding of the great superiority of the white people. In his interview with them, Black Beaver acted as his interpreter. He told them of the railroads and of the great rapidity with which people might travel by such means. Black Beaver, who had never seen a railroad, interpreted Captain Marcy's statements with evident hesitation. The latter then told of the electric telegraph, which was, at that time, a comparatively recent inven- tion. He said that he might be ready to take a seat at his dinner table and send word over the wires to his friend, twenty days' journey away, what he had for dinner and, before he had time to eat it, his friend would receive the message and send back word what he had for his own dinner. He then waited for the state- ment to interpreted but, to his surprise, Black Beaver remained silent. "Black Beaver," he exclaimed, "why don't you interpret that to these Indians?" "Captain, I am a civilized Indian," re- plied Black Beaver, "but I don't believe that myself and I can't make these wild Indians believe it." Black Beaver was dis- tinguished for his unwavering regard for the truth and was there- fore unwilling to interpret to the other Indians what he regarded as an untruth, even though he had confidence in Captain Marcy. In after years, when he had come to know more of the progress of the white people, he often laughed about his distrust of Captain Marcy's story of the telegraph.
The return march of Marcy's Red River expedition was made through the Wichita Mountains, past the site of Fort Sill, to Fort Arbuckle.
PACIFIC RAILROAD SURVEY
The Mexican cession of California, followed soon afterward by the discovery of gold in that region, had had the effect of causing a heavy immigration to the Pacific Coast, not only by the several overland routes but also by way of the Isthmus of Panama and around Cape Horn. The agitation for the exploration and survey of suitable wagon roads was followed almost immediately by the then seemingly chimerical suggestion of a transcontinental railroad.
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As early as 1849 the building of a railroad from Memphis, Ten- nessee, to the Pacific Coast was proposed. Continued agitation eventually brought the matter to the attention of Congress and, finally, by a clause contained in the Army Appropriation Act of March 3, 1853, it was provided that a systematic survey of the several proposed routes for the construction of railway lines be- tween the valley of the Mississippi River and the coast of the Pacific Ocean should be made under Government auspices. The work of organizing and equipping surveying parties under the direction of army engineers was promptly taken up and the surveys were mostly made during the course of the ensuing two years.
Of the five Pacific railway routes which were surveyed by the Government in 1853-4, one, beginning at Fort Smith and following a generally westward course to the vicinity of Albuquerque, New Mexico, crossed Oklahoma from east to west for a distance of about 400 miles. Lieut. Amiel W. Whipple, of the Corps of Topographical Engineers, was in command and the scientific staff of the expedi- tion, including engineers, surveyors, astronomers, topographers. biologists, physician, surgeon, ctc., numbered a dozen men. Besides these and the civilian employes, there were Lieuts. Joseph C. Ives, of the Topographical Engineers, and David S. Stanley, of the Dragoons, and a military escort from Fort Gibson, under the com- mand of Lieut. John M. Jones, of the Seventh Infantry.
Lieutenant Whipple's expedition left Fort Smith, July 14, 1853, and was nearly eight weeks in crossing the State of Okla- homa, leaving its bounds west of the Antelope Hills, September 6. The narrative of this journey, published in Volume III, of the Pacific Railway Survey Reports (Executive Document No. 78, Senate, Thirty-third Congress, Second Session), pp. 1-29, makes interesting reading sixty years after it was printed. There are also a number of pages of supplemental matter, mostly pertaining to Indians, civilized, semi-civilized and savage, who lived in Okla- honia at that time. Lieutenant Whipple met Black Beaver, the Delaware leader, whose people were then living at old Camp Arbuckle, in the eastern part of MeLain County, Jesse Chisholm, who had a trading post in the southern part of Cleveland County, and John Bushman, a noted Delaware guide and scout. He en- deavered to persuade one or all of these men to accompany him as a guide but did not succeed. In relating his interview with Chisholm, Lieutenant Whipple wrote as follows :
"He is a man of considerable wealth, and extensively engaged in trade. In the prosecution of his regular business, he could
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realize twice the amount the Government would be willing to pay for his serviees. His determination (not to accompany the expe- dition) is to be regretted the more, from the influence he possesses with the wild tribes westward. He is a man of excellent judgment, and has travelled much among the western savages. At the great Indian couneil, held about six weeks since, he was selected as the general interpreter for all: Comanches, Kioways, Kichais, Creeks, Delawares, Shawnees, Chickasaws and Choetaws. He has traded with, and been mueh among the Comanches, and understands not only their language, but their manners, customs and ceremonies, probably better than any one not belonging to their tribe."'10.
The route surveyed by Lieutenant Whipple's party passed west- ward from Fort Smith, proceeding up the valley Sans Bois Creek, keeping to the south of the Shawnee Hills and around the head- waters of the Boggy ; it elosely parallelled the valley of the Canadian aeross part of the present MeLain County, whence it kept on the divide between the Canadian and Washita rivers to a point in what is now Washita County, where it entered the valley of the Washita, which it followed for a distance of sixty miles to a point in Roger Mills County, where it diverged and recrossed the divide to the valley of the Canadian, a few miles below the Antelope Hills. In general, its course across Oklahoma was practically the same as that of the emigrant road which had been surveyed by Lieutenant Simpson, four years before.
BEALE'S ROAD SURVEY
In the autumn and early winter of 1858, a wagon road was surveyed westward across the Indian Territory from Fort Smith by Edward F. Beale, a former offieer of the navy, who had been appointed superintendent of Indian affairs for California and Arizona and who was directed to survey a road from Fort Smith to the Colorado River. The expedition left Fort Smith, October
10 Although Chisholm could not accompany the Whipple survey himself, he permitted a Mexiean lad named Vincente, whom he had ransomed from captivity among the Comanches four or five years before, to go with the expedition as a seout, hunter and interpreter. This boy, whom Chisholm adopted as a son, was also called George Chisholm (and also as Caboon). He remained in Chisholm's house- hold as long as the latter lived. During the late '60s and early '70s he was a most trustworthy seout and interpreter in the Government serviee in Western Oklahoma. At last aecounts (1914) he was still living among the Creek Indians in Hughes County.
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28, 1858. The Canadian River was crossed at North Fork Town (Eufaula), from whence the route followed the course of that river, on the north side, to the old California Crossing, near Chou- teau's Trading Post, in the southern part of Cleveland County. Hc had endeavored to secure the services of either or both Jesse Chis- holm and Black Beaver as guides and interpreters but both re- fused. Chisholm finally joined him and accompanied the expedi- tion part of the way. The military escort, consisting of a dragoon company and a detachment of artillery, was under the command of Lieutenant Steen. The route followed from the Canadian cross- ing westward was substantially the same as those which had been previously surveyed by Licutenants Simpson and Whipple. The narrative of the expedition is given in interesting detail, even to the number of deer and wild turkeys killed each day by Delaware Dick and Little Ax, the Delaware and Shawnee hunters. The western boundary line was passed December 10.11
There were several boundary line surveys made during this period, including (1) the north line of the Creek and Seminole reservation, which had been previously surveyed by John C. McCoy, was resurveyed in 1850 and 1851 by Capt. L. Sitgraves and Lieut. I. C. Woodruff;12 (2) the Kansas-Oklahoma boundary line, sur- veyed by party under the command of Lieut. Col. Joseph E. Johnston, in 1857:13 (3) the Oklahoma-Texas boundary (one hun- dredth meridian) from the Red River northward, by Daniel Major, in 1859; and (4) the Oklahoma-Texas boundary, on the line of 36° 30', north latitude.14
During the closing years of this period, two railroads were projected and chartered to be built into or through the Indian Territory. One of these, called the Southern Pacific Rail Road, was to extend from St. Louis, Missouri, to the vicinity of Albuquer- que, New Mexico. Its line, as marked on the military maps of the Civil war period,15 was substantially the same as that of the St. Louis and San Francisco Railway from the northeastern part of the state to the central part of the state near the town of Chandler.
11 House Document No. 42, Thirty-sixth Congress, 1st Session.
12 House Executive Document No. 104, Thirty-fifth Congress, 1st Session. Captain Sitgraves surveyed about seventy-nine miles in 1850; Lieutenant Woodruff surveyed 120 miles in 1851. This survey did not extend west of the 99th Meridian.
13 Senate Executive Document No. 78, Vol. XI, p. 86.
14 House Miscellaneous Documents, Vol. XL, Part II, Plate 119.
15 Ibid., Plate 160.
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The other projected railway line was that of the Little Rock & Fort Smith Rail Road, which entered the state at Fort Smith, where it crossed the Arkansas River and followed a generally north- westerly course to a point above the mouth of the Canadian, where the Arkansas was to be recrossed; thence it turned to the southwest and west, crossing the North Canadian above North Fork Town (Eufaula) and following the divide between the two Canadians.16
THE BUTTERFIELD STAGE LINE
The Thirty-fourth Congress made an appropriation for a stage line to carry the mails between the Mississippi River and the Pacific Coast. The contract called for the transportation of letter mail to San Francisco. The service was to be performed in four- horse stages or spring wagons, suitable for the conveyance of passengers, the schedule not to exceed twenty-five days. The appro- priating act authorized the payment, annually, of not to exceed $300,000 if the service was semi-monthly; $450,000 if weekly service were furnished, and $600,000 if the service was semi-weekly.
When it came time to award the contract, there were two bidders in the field ; namely, (1) James Birch, as president of the California Stage Company, which was then carrying, under contract, the mail between Los Angeles and San Francisco, and (2) the other and suc- cessful bidder, the Southern Overland Mail Company. The contract was let, September 16, 1857, and called for semi-weekly service. The president of the company was John Butterfield, of New York. The company soon became known as "the Butterfield," and the route as "the Butterfield Route." Memphis and St. Louis were chosen as the eastern termini of the line.
The Southern Overland Mail line went into operation about the middle of September, 1858. Stations were established at intervals of twenty miles and eating houses at suitable intervals. A depot, with blacksmith shop, stables, and tavern for the accommodation of passengers, was established at Los Angeles. Troy and Concord coaches were used, accommodating, in addition to the driver and guard, nine passengers inside and five on top. The guard rode on top in the rear where, in a boot, the mail was carried. In passing through hostile Indian country, the coaches were accompanied by a number of armed guards.
The regulation team consisted of four horses, but where the road was sandy or the grade was heavy, others would be added up
16 Ibid., Plates 159 and 160.
.
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to as many as twelve on one stage. The heaviest stretch on the route was between Springfield, Missouri, and Fort Smith, Arkansas, through the Ozark and Boston Mountains.
The first stage left St. Louis, September 19, 1858, though the eastern starting point thereafter was at Tipton, Missouri, which was the end of the railroad. The first stage was followed by a second the next day, the latter being necessary to handle the ac- cumulation of mail. Both arrived in San Francisco October 10, twenty-five days out in the one case and twenty-four in the other. During the eighteen months that the line was in operation, the stage arrived in San Francisco' behind schedule time but three times. The best time mnade from one terminus to the other was twenty-one days and twenty-three hours.
From Fort Smith to Colbert's Ferry across the Red River, a distance of 192 miles, this stage line was on Oklahoma soil. Hostile. Indians and white outlaws occasioned considerable loss of life and property. The line was changed by act of Congress, March 2, 1861, to a more northern route, by way of South Pass and Salt Lake, occasioning heavy loss to the contracting company. It was later sold to Ben Holliday and the Wells-Fargo Express Company.
CHAPTER XXX
MILITARY POSTS AND MOVEMENTS
At the beginning of this period there were three military posts in Oklahoma, namely, Forts Gibson, Towson and Wayne. Fort Wayne was a small post which had been established in the eastern part of the Cherokee Nation, in Delaware County, on Spavinaw Creek, in 1838, about the same time that Fort Coffee was abandoned. It was garrisoned until 1842, when it was abandoned. Capt. Nathan Boone, youngest son of the noted Kentucky pioneer, Daniel Boone, was post commander at Fort Wayne during part of the time it was a garrisoned post.1
The same year that Fort Wayne was abandoned (1842) saw two new posts established in the adjacent regions, namely, Fort Scott, Kansas, and Fort Washita, which was located in the southern part of the Indian Territory, on the Washita River, about fifteen miles above its mouth. Fort Washita became an important post and con- tinued to be regarded as such until the outbreak of the Civil war, nearly twenty years later.2
In May, 1850, orders were received at Fort Smith (where Gen- eral Arbuckle was in command) for Capt. Randolph B. Marcy, of the Fifth United States Infantry, to proceed with one company and establish a military post at a point on the Canadian River Road where it was intersected by the one hundredth Meridian. For reasons of his own (and they were good reasons, too) Captain Marcy did not deem it wise to place the post so far west and he therefore selected a site on the south side of the Canadian, in what is now the eastern part of McLain County. Temporary buildings were erected and the post was occupied until the following year, when a new location was selected on Wild Horse Creek, a few
1 Fort Wayne was destined to figure in the history of the Indian Territory again twenty years later, when it was the scene of a battle between the Union and Confederate forces. The last vestiges of its log-walled buildings have disappeared.
2 The buildings at Fort Washita were substantial structures, the heavy walls being built of the shell rock that was quarried nearby.
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miles from the Washita River, in the southern part of what is now Garvin County. This post was called Fort Arbuckle.
Captain Marcy had commanded the escort which accompanied a large party of gold seekers who were on their way to California from the southern states by way of the Canadian River and Santa Fe. On his return, instead of retracing the line followed on the way up the Canadian, Captain Marcy followed the Rio Grande down to Doña Ana, from whence he came back by a more direct route which was 300 miles shorter than by way of Santa Fe, as well as being otherwise more practicable. When he was ordered to select a site for a post at a point near the intersection of the Canadianl River Road and the one hundredth meridian, therefore, he knew that the order had been issued under a misapprehension, and he accordingly selected a site near the point where the Doña Ana Road rejoined the Canadian River Road. When the matter was more thoroughly understood by his superiors, orders were issued to select a new site, farther out on the Doña Ana Road. The people of Fort Smith petitioned the selection of the name of Fort Arbuckle in honor of the old veteran, Gen. Matthew Arbuckle, whose death occurred during an epidemic of cholera just about the time the new post was established. Fort Arbuckle was continuously garrisoned until the outbreak of the Civil war and was occupied much of the time by Confederate forces during the course of that struggle. After the war it was reoccupied by Federal troops for several years, and until the establishment of Fort Sill made its further occupa- tion unnecessary. The adjacent mountain group received its name for the military post.
Fort Towson was abandoned May 30, 1854, its garrison mareh- ing to Fort Arbuckle. Two days before the date set for its abandon- ment a violent wind storm swept over it, completely wrecking several of the buildings. Fort Gibson was abandoned in 1857.3
3 Although they were bound by treaty to permit the maintenance of a military post in their midst, there was a feeling among some of the Cherokees that they would be better off if the post at Fort Gib- son were abandoned. Many other Cherokees and most of the Creeks and neighboring tribes wanted it retained. After it was aban- doned, the tribal authorities laid out a townsite and sold lots to the value of $20,000. The town was called Ca-too-wah. During the session of the tribal legislative council, in 1858, a bill was intro- duced and passed both houses by the terms of which the capital of the Cherokee Nation should be moved from Tahlequah to the new town, but, as it did not pass until near the end of the session, Chief Ross treated it to a pocket veto. (Report of Agent George Butler, Vol. I-15
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Late in the summer of 1858 four companies of the Second United States Cavalry, under the command of Brevet Major Earl Van Dorn, established a cantonment at the foot of the Otter Creek Canyon, in the southern part of Kiowa County. It was called Camp Radziminski and was occupied until December, 1859. In the autumn of 1859 a new post known as Fort Cobb, was established on the north side of the Washita, near the United States Indian agency for the tribes which had recently been removed to that sec- tion from Texas. The site was selected and the post established by Lieut. Col. William H. Emory, of the First United States Cavalry.
THE COMANCHES AT WAR IN TEXAS
The Comanche Indians, who ranged over Western Oklahoma and Northwestern Texas, were at war with the settlements in Texas most of the time. Early in 1840 some of them indicated a willing- ness to make peace with the people of Texas. In February of that year a delegation visited San Antonio for the purpose of holding a peace council. They had been told by the Texas commissioners that they would have to bring in the thirteen white captives, whom they were known to be holding, before peace terms could be con- sidered. When the delegation went to San Antonio it carried but one prisoner, a little girl. When asked where the other prisoners were, the Comanches answered: "We brought the only one we had; the others are with other tribes." The little girl whom they had brought in and surrendered declared this to be false, as she
Annual Report of Commissioner of Indian Affairs for 1858, p. 141.) Those Cherokees who had been opposed to the garrisoned post asserted that it tended to breed disorder among the Cherokees. March 11, 1845, there was a riot just outside of the post, in which soldiers were implicated. A year before, when a court of inquiry was convened to investigate the conduct of the post commander, Lieut .- Col. R. B. Mason, he had protested against the admission of any testimony from Indians. Hence, when the riot occurred, a mass meeting of Cherokees at Tahlequah demanded the abandonment of the post. Its abandonment, however, resulted in "the growing up of a vicious little town there," and was regarded as having "given unusual activity to the whisky trade in that region of the Cherokee country and in the Creek country adjoining." (Report of Super- intendent Elias Rector, Ibid., 1859, p. 159.) The establishment of a new post at some point near by was urged. During the Civil war, Fort Gibson was reoccupied, first by Confederates and then by Fed- erals. It was renamed Fort Blunt, but, in the end, the old name prevailed. It was not finally abandoned until 1891.
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had seen others in the Indian camp only a few days before. She added that it was the intention of the Comanches to surrender only one or two of the captives at a time in order to extort a greater ransom for them. There was a pause, whereupon the chief who had made the reply asked how the commissioners liked it. The commissioners did not answer him but sent for a company of troops. When the latter filed into the council room and took their positions, the Comanches were informed that their entire delegation, consist- ing of sixty-five men, women and children, would be held prisoners unless they sent to their camps and had the rest of the white cap- tives brought in and surrendered.
Seeing that their own plans were foiled, the Comanche. chiefs and warriors became desperate, drew their knives, bows and arrows and attacked the troops. In the bloody fight which followed, all of them-thirty-two in number-together with three women and two children, were killed and twenty-seven women and children were made prisoners. One of the women was sent to inform the Comanches that these prisoners would be exchanged. A few days later she returned, bringing two white captives and four or five Mexican captives, all of whom she proposed to exchange for her own people and to pay the difference in horses. Colonel Fisher, the officer in command, replied that all of the white captives must be brought in before her own people could be released. Small parties of Comanches hung about in the vicinity of San Antonio for a time in the hope of being able to rescue their kindred, but finally they went away to their own ranges where' they rallied hundreds of other warriors to wreak a terrible vengeance upon the Texas settlements.
A force, estimated to consist of 400 warriors, made its way quietly and quickly to the southern part of Texas, where the Town of Victoria was attacked on the evening of August 6, 1840. Al- though the attack was an entire surprise, the men of the community rallied and repelled the attack, which however was renewed the next morning, though with no better success. The Comanches then crossed the Guadalupe River and attacked the little Hamlet of Linnville on the morning of the following day. The inhabitants fled and found refuge on a boat in La Vaca Bay. The Indians looted and burned every house, destroying all contents that they could not carry away. They also took cattle and horses wherever they could be found. They were thus able to secure fresh mounts for themselves and hundreds of horses were loaded with plunder when they began their retreat. Several prisoners were also carried
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away. In the meantime, many companies of Texans were being formed to prevent their escape. These were concentrated under the command of Gen. Felix Huston and Col. Edward Burleson, a number of well known Indian fighters being in command of com- panies.
General Huston's force intercepted the Comanches on a small creek called Plum Creek, a tributary of the St. Mark. The Comanches made a show of resistance when attacked but were soon defeated and driven in a running fight for fifteen miles. Mrs. Watts, one of the captives, escaped at that time. Mrs. Crosby (a granddaughter of Col. Daniel Boone), who had been captured with her child, was killed to prevent her recapture. The Comanches were forced to abandon 3,000 head of captured horses, several hun- dred of which were laden with plunder, and also to release all of the captive women and children except the few who were killed. They fled northward toward the Wichita Mountains, utterly crushed and their expedition a failure. It was believed that the foray was planned by the Mexicans at Matamoras.
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