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 41
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3 Letter of Special Agent A. G. Boone, Ibid., pp. 64-5; and letter of Agent E. W. Wynkoop, pp. 65-6.
+ "Personal Memoirs of Philip H. Sheridan,"' pp. 294-5.
5 "Custer's Wild Life on the Plains," pp. 151-4.
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camp within a few yards of the rear of the troops, succeeded in cutting off a few led horses and two of the cavalrymen who, as is often the case, had lingered behind the column. General Sully and staff were at that moment near the head of the column, a mile or more from camp. The general, as was his custom on the march, being comfortably stowed away in his ambulance, of course it was impossible that he or his staff, from their great distance from the scene of the actual attack, could give the necessary orders in the case.
"Fortunately the acting adjutant of the cavalry, Brevet-Capt. A. E. Smith, was riding at the rear of the column and witnessed the attack of the Indians. Captain Hamilton, of the cavalry, was also present in command of the rear guard. Wheeling his guard to the right about, he at once prepared to charge the Indians and to attempt the rescue of the two troopers who were being carried off as prisoners before his very eyes. At the same time, Captain Smith, as representative of the commanding officer of the cavalry, promptly took the responsibility of directing a squadron of cavalry to wheel out of column and advance in support of Captain Hamil- ton's guard. With this hastily formed detachment, the Indians (still within pistol range but moving off with their prisoners) were gallantly charged and so closely pressed that they were forced to relinquish one of their prisoners, but not before shooting him through the body and leaving him, as they supposed, mortally wounded. The troops continued to charge the retreating Indians, upon whom they were gaining, determined if possible to effect the rescue of their remaining comrade. They were advancing down one slope, while the Indians, just across a ravine, were endeavor- ing to escape with their prisoner up the opposite ascent, when a preemptory order reached the officers commanding to withdraw their men and reform the column at once. Delaying long enough for an ambulance to arrive from the train in which to transport their wounded comrade, the order was obeyed. Upon rejoining the column, the two officers named were summoned before the officer commanding their regiment and, after a second-hand repri- mand, were ordered in arrest and their sabres taken from them, for leaving the column without orders- the attempted and half- successful rescue of their comrades and the repulse of the Indians to the contrary notwithstanding. Fortunately, wiser and better- natured counsels prevailed in a few hours and their regimental commander was authorized to release these two officers from their durance, their sabres were restored to them and they became, as
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they deserved, the recipients of numerous complimentary expres- sions from their brother officers. The terrible fate awaiting the unfortunate trooper carried off by the Indians spread a deep gloom throughout the command. All were too familiar with the horrid customs of the savages to hope for a moment that the captive would be reserved for aught but a lingering death, from torture the most horrible and painful which savage, blood-thirsty minds could sug- gest. Such was in truth his sad fate, as we learned afterward when peace ( ?) was established with the tribes then engaged in war. Never shall I forget the consummate coolness and particular- ity of detail with which some of the Indians engaged in the affair related to myself and party the exact process by which the cap- tured trooper was tortured to death; how he was tied to a stake, strips of flesh cut from his body, arms and legs, burning brands thrust into the bleeding wounds, the nose, lips and ears cut off, and, finally, when from loss of blood, excessive pain and anguish, the poor, bleeding and almost senseless mortal fell to the ground exhausted, the younger Indians were permitted to rush in and dis- patch him with their knives.
"The expedition proceeded on down the valley of Beaver Creek, the Indians contesting every step of the way.6 In the afternoon about three o'clock, the troops arrived at a ridge of sand-hills, a few miles southeast of the site of Camp Supply, where quite a determined engagement took place with the savages, the three tribes, Cheyennes, Arapahoes and Kiowas, being the assailants. The Indians seemed to have reserved their strongest efforts until the troops and train had advanced well into the sand-hills, when an obstinate and well-conducted resistance was offered to the further advance of the troops. It was evident to many of the offi- cers, and no doubt to the men, that the troops were no doubt near- ing the location of the Indian villages and that this last display of opposition to their further advance was to save the villages. The character of the country immediately about the troops was not favorable to the operations of cavalry; the surface of the rolling plain was cut up by irregular and closely located sand-hills, too steep and sandy to allow cavalry to move with freedom, yet capable
6 Sully's Expedition apparently reached the valley of the Cimar- ron in the northern part of Beaver County, and entered that of Beaver Creek somewhere near the eastern line of the same county. Thence the route followed was southeastward through Harper County and into Woodward County, where the retrograde move- inent began.
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of being easily cleared of savages by troops fighting on foot. The Indians took post on the hilltops and began a harassing fire on the troops and train. Had the infantry been unloaded from the wagons promptly, instead of adding to the great weight, sinking the wheels sometimes almost to the axles, and had they, with the assist- ance of a few of the dismounted cavalry, been deployed on both sides of the train, the latter could have been safely conducted through what was then decided to be impassable sand-hills, but which were a short time afterward proved to be perfectly practicable. And once beyond the range of sand-hills but a short distance, the villages of the attacking warriors would have been found exposed to an easy and important capture, probably terminating the cam- paign by compelling a satisfactory peace. Captain Yates, with his single troop of cavalry, was ordered to drive the Indians away. This was a proceeding which did not seem to meet with favor from the savages. Captain Yates could drive them wherever he encountered them, but it was only to cause the redskins to appear in increased numbers at some other point. After contending in this non-effective manner for a couple of hours, the impression arose in the minds of some that the train could not be conducted through the sand-hills in the face of the strong opposition offered by the Indians. The order was issued to turn about and withdraw. This order was executed and the troops and train, followed by the ex- ultant Indians, retired a few miles to the Beaver and encamped for the night on the ground now known as Camp Supply.
"Captain Yates had caused to be brought off the field, when his troop was ordered to retire, the body of one of his men who had been slain in the fight with the Indians. As the troops were to continue their backward movement next day, and it was impos- sible to transport the dead body further, Captain Yates ordered preparations made for interring it in camp that night; but know- ing that the Indians would thoroughly search the deserted camp- ground almost before the troops should get out of sight, and would be quick, with their watchful eyes, to detect a grave, and, if success- ful in discovering it, would unearth the body in order to obtain the scalp, directions were given to prepare the grave after nightfall, and the spot selected would have baffled the eye of any but that of an Indian. The grave was dug under the picket-line, to which the seventy or eighty horses of the troop would be tethered during the night, so that their constant tramping and pawing should com- pletely cover up and obliterate all traces of the grave containing the body of the dead trooper. The following morning even those
0
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who had performed the sad rites of burial to their fallen comrade could scarcely have been able to indicate the exact location of the grave. Yet, when we returned to that point a few weeks afterward, it was discovered that the wily savages had found the grave, un- carthed the body and removed the scalp of their victim on the day following the interment.
"Early on the morning of the day succeeding the fight in the sand-hills, General Sully resumed his march toward Fort Dodge, the Indians following and harassing the movements of the troops until about two o'clock in the afternoon, when, apparently satisfied with their success in forcing the expedition back, thius relieving their villages and themselves from the danger which had threatened them, fired their parting shots and rode off in triumph. That night the troops camped on Bluff Creek, from which point General Sully proceeded to Fort Dodge, on the Arkansas, leaving the main por- tion of the command in camp on Bluff Creek."
THE WASHITA CAMPAIGN
In those days if a small band of Indians was involved in such an affair as that of the Saline and Solomon valleys, the whole tribe was held to blame for it. Indeed, the Indians themselves were not more ready to blame the whole white race for the misdeeds of one scoundrelly Caucasian than were the whites to hold all Indians accountable for atrocities committed by a few red men. There- fore, if a part of the tribe had done wrong, virtually the whole tribe might be driven to war in self defense on account of it. Moreover, if one tribe became hostile, all of the neighboring tribes, and espe- cially those which might be affiliated or federated therewith, were also under suspicion. Hence, when an Indian war was once fairly under way on the Plains, most if not all of the tribes of that region were soon more or less involved. And so it was in the late summer and early autumn of 1868-war-cruel, relentless and pitiless- raged once more on the Great Plains throughout the region between the Platte and Red rivers. When autumn was waning into winter, the Indians would fain have made peace again, but this time no peace commission was sent to meet them. Instead, Gen. Philip H. Sheridan, who was in command of the department of the Missouri, announced that there would be a winter campaign against the Indians.
The Indians who had been living on or near the Arkansas River in Central and Western Kansas-Cheyenne, Arapahoe, Kiowa and
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Comanche-all went south as the end of the autumn season ap- proached, and it was believed that they had taken refuge in the Canadian River country, or south of it. Preparations for the pro- posed winter campaign were energetically pushed forward. The active force in the field was to consist of two regiments-the Seventh United States Cavalry, commanded by its lieutenant colonel, George A. Custer,7 and a regiment of volunteers to be re- cruited in Kansas and to be organized and equipped as cavalry. The Kansas Regiment was quickly recruited and mustered into the service (Governor Crawford, of that state, resigning his office to
LAST OF ORIGINAL STOCKADE BUILDINGS AT FORT SUPPLY
accept the colonelcy ), and it was designated as the Nineteenth Kan- sas Cavalry. The Seventh Cavalry was concentrated at Fort Dodge, Kansas, where it was fitted out for the expedition. A military sup- ply depot, to be established at the junction of Beaver and Wolf creeks, in the western part of the Cherokee Outlet, was a part of the campaign. The wagon train which accompanied the expedition south from Fort Dodge, and which was loaded with commissary and quartermaster's supplies, forage and building material, was
7 Custer had reached the grade of major general in the volunteer service, had also received the brevet ranks of colonel, brigadier general and major general in the regular army. In the reorganiza- tion of the regular military establishment at the end of the Civil war, he had received a commission as lieutenant colonel of the Seventh Cavalry.
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said to have been probably the largest ever seen on the Great Plains.8 Five companies of the Third United States Infantry, under the command of Capt. John HI. Page, brevet major, also accompanied the expedition to act as guard or garrison of the supply depot. The Nineteenthi Kansas Cavalry was to march from Topeka, where it was organized and mustered into the service (two companies of the Nineteenth were sent by rail to Fort Hays to act as escort for General Sheridan), direct to the rendezvous at the confluence of Beaver and Wolf creeks. Gen. Alfred Sully, the district commander, selected the site of the supply depot and named it Camp Supply. General Sheridan, the department commander, accompanied the expedition, though he did not personally assume command of the troops. Six troops of the Third United States Cavalry, stationed at Fort Bascom, New Mexico, under the com- inand of Col. A. W. Evans, and the entire twelve troops of the Fifth United States Cavalry from Fort Lyon, Colorado, under the com- mand of Gen. Eugene A. Carr were to co-operate with the expedi- tion from Fort Dodge by driving any scattered bands of Indians down from the upper valleys of the Cimarron and Canadian rivers toward the region which was its military objective.
Two days after the arrival of General Sheridan at Camp Sup- ply the rest of the Kansas Regiment having failed to arrive, General Custer was directed to take the eleven troops of his regiment which were present for duty and march south in search of the camps of the hostile Indians. Leaving Camp Supply in a blinding snow storm on the morning of November 23d, his command went into camp for the night in the valley of Wolf Creek, fifteen miles from that post. Thence the command marched southward the next morn- ing (the weather being clear but very cold) to the Canadian River, which was crossed with considerable difficulty. Following a dim trail on the wind-swept snow of the prairie, the Osage guides re- ported that there were signs of the proximity of the camps of the hostile Indians on the evening of the fourth day. As quietly as possible, and with every possible precaution to prevent detection, the march was continued into the night by the light of the moon. The wagons were left behind with a strong guard. Arriving at the valley of the Washita, its course was followed down stream for several miles until the horse herd of the Indian village was dis- covered. General Custer, accompanied by several of his officers, dis-
8 There were 450 wagons in the train which moved southward from Fort Dodge to Camp Supply, in November, 1868.
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.
mounted and advanced to reconnoitre. After locating the position of the Indian village, he carefully made his plans for an attack to be made simultaneously upon it from four different directions at the hour of day-break.
The regiment having been divided into four detachments and each of these assigned to a position, the sleeping village was sur- rounded. Some of the detachments had to make detours of several miles in order to reach the positions assigned to them without being detected. Then there was a long wait in the stinging cold air of the early morning until the hour appointed for the attack. Just as the first faint streaks of dawn were lighting up the snow-clad landscape, the regimental band struck up the notes of "Garry Owen," which had been agreed upon as the signal for the advance of all four detachments. The charging squadrons swept through the village. The Indians were surprised, as they had not dreamed that the troops would dare to follow them so far in the dead of win- ter. After the first confusion, however, the warriors of the village rallied and fought with the courage of desperation. Most of the cavalry troopers dismounted and fought on foot. The Indian war- riors fought from behind such cover as they could find-logs, trees and creek banks. Many of them were killed. Most of the women and children, together with a few warriors and boys, managed to escape, some making their way down the valley to other Indian villages-Cheyenne, Arapaho, Kiowa and Comanche-which were not far distant.9
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From these lower villages the warriors soon came swarming around the position occupied by the troops at the captured village. Eight hundred Indian ponies had also been captured. To keep these was impossible and, likewise, it was regarded as impolitic to abandon them to the Indians. General Custer therefore ordered them to be shot. Meanwhile the warriors from the various villages below kept increasing in numbers, so that the troops which up to this time had acted on the offensive were forced to act on the defen-
2
9 General Custer reported that he had killed 100 warriors in the village and fifty women and children captured-"Personal Memoirs of Philip H. Sheridan," p. 316. In an interview with Vincent Col- yer, a member of the board of Indian commissioners appointed by the President, who visited the Cheyennes and Arapahoes in the spring of 1869, Little Robe and other chiefs told him that the loss of their people in the fight with Custer on the Washita had been thirteen men, sixteen women and nine children killed-Report of the Board of Indian Commissioners for 1869, p. 43.
1
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sive. Then their ammunition began to run low and there was grave danger that what had been a spectacular victory might end in a dis- astrous defeat. Just at this critical juncture, however, the regi- mental quartermaster, Lieut. James M. Bell, brevet major, galloped onto the field of action from the distant wagon train with an escort of twenty-five men and an ambulance loaded with fixed ammuni- tion. For some reason that was never explained, the cordon of sur- rounding warriors opened and permitted this welcome reinforce- ment to pass through and thus the day was saved, at least for the time being.10
The position in which Custer's command was now situated was plainly a perilous one, for it was surrounded by a superior force of well armed and very hostile warriors and their numbers were being constantly augmented by fresh arrivals from more distant villages. To attempt to withdraw under such circumstances would have been to invite destruction. In order to rid himself of such a serious menace, Custer resorted to a very bold ruse. After burn- ing the lodges of the captured village and killing all of the ponies except such as were needed for the transportation of the prisoners, he placed his wounded and dead in ambulances, formed his column and gave orders to take up the line of march down the valley toward the other Indian villages. The effect of this movement was instantly visible in that most of the warriors who had been harassing him immediately drew off and rode away toward the vil- lages by taking a short cut over the hills. Their anxiety was to have their villages moved and their women and children out of the way before the troops could arrive. The command continued its march down the valley until nightfall, when it went into camp, apparently as if to remain for the night. Several hours later, how- ever, orders were given to remount and the line of march was taken up, back past the battle field and on to the place where the wagons had been left, and thence back to Camp Supply, where it made a spectacular entrance, with the regimental band playing "Garry Owen," and the captives gracing the triumphal proces- sion.
10 Lieutenant Bell, who had been left with the guard at the wagons, judged by the amount of firing that he heard at a distance that more ammunition was needed or soon would be, and acted ac- cordingly. For some years past he has been a brigadier general on the retired list. He should have had a medal of honor for the part he had in saving the day at the Battle of the Washita but no one else has pressed the matter upon the attention of Congress and he is too modest to do it himself.
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There was great rejoicing at Camp Supply. General Sheridan issued a congratulatory order and couriers were sent dashing off with the news that the outside world might know that the winter campaign was not a failure. Preparations were also made for its continuance, for General Sheridan did not intend to let the hostile Indians rest until they had sued for peace. Custer's command had not escaped from the conflict unscathed. Major Joel H. Elliott, with four noncommissioned officers and ten private soldiers, had become separated from the main body of the command and were killed to a man. Sergt-Maj. Walter Kennedy was the last man to fall and the little creek which flows near by it is still called Sergeant-Major Creek. In addition to these the loss of Custer's command was one officer (Capt. Louis McLane Hamilton) 11 and five enlisted men killed and three officers (Capt. Albert Barnitz,12 Capt. Thomas W.
11 Louis McLane Hamilton was a grandson of Alexander Hamil- ton and he was descended from stock equally distinguished on the maternal side, his mother's father, Louis McLane (a son of Col. Allen McLane of the Continental army) having been a member of the House of Representatives and later of the Senate, minister to the Court of St. James, Secretary of the Treasury and, later, Secre- tary of State in the cabinet of President Jackson. He entered the volunteer military service during the Civil war before he was eigh- teen years old and, a few months later, was commissioned a lieu- tenant in the regular army. He was in command of a company on the battle line before he was nineteen. He was commissioned cap- tain of the Seventh Cavalry at the organization of that famous corps in 1866, and was the youngest officer of his rank in the army at the time of his death. Maj. Joel H. Elliott served in the volun- teer army during the war, having entered the service from Indiana, and was commissioned major of the Seventh Cavalry at its or- ganization.
12 Capt. Albert Barnitz, brevet lieutenant colonel, had entered the volunteer military service in the First Ohio Cavalry at the out- break of the war and had won successive promotions through sheer. merit and bravery. He was badly, and it was believed at first, fatally, wounded at the Battle of the Washita and was placed on the retired list in 1870 because of the disability due to that wound. Colonel Barnitz, who made his home in Washington, lived until the summer of 1912. The writer had frequent correspondence with him during the later years of his life. Barnitz Creek, a tributary of the Washita River, in Dewey and Custer counties, was named for him during the course of the march of the expedition down the valley of the Washita, while he was convalescing from his wound in the hospital at Camp Supply. Colonel Barnitz was gifted with more than ordinary taste and talent in a literary way and was the author of a volume of poems. Capt. T. W. Custer was a younger brother of General Custer and, like the general, lost his life at the Battle of the Little Big Horn, in June, 1876.
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Custer and Lieut. T. J. March) and eleven enlisted men wounded. On the side of the Indians the loss was a severe one in that they lost the principal chief of the entire Southern Cheyenne Tribe. Not only was Black Kettle killed but also Little Rock, who was the
GROUP OF CHEYENNE AND ARAPAHO CHIEFS, BLACK KETTLE HOLDING THE PIPE
second chief of Black Kettle's Band. Both men were said to have been peaceably disposed and neither of them had been at war dur- ing the preceding season.13 The attack on the Black Kettle Village,
13 There was a dispute as to whether or not Black Kettle was friendly or hostile. In General Sheridan's "Memoirs" (Vol. II, p. 318) the following statement appears: "Black Kettle, the chief, was an old man and did not himself go with the raiders to the Saline and Solomon and, on this account, his fate was regretted by some. But it was old age only that kept him back, for, before the demons set out from Walnut Creek, he had freely encouraged them by `mak- ing medicine,' and by other devilish incantations that are gone through with at war and scalp dances. When the horrible work was over he undertook to shield himself by professions of friendship,
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in which they were killed, occurred within two days of the fourth anniversary of the Chivington massacre on Sand Creek, Colorado. Indeed, the fate which seemed to follow Black Kettle seemed to typify the history of the American Indian and the probabilities are that he was deserving of a kindlier one than that which befell him in his camp on the Washita.
The Nineteenth Kansas Cavalry started out with guides who were unacquainted with the country through which they had to travel. As a consequence, they became bewildered and lost when they reached the Cimarron, fifty or sixty miles from Camp Supply,
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