History of Dakota Territory, volume I, Part 87

Author: Kingsbury, George Washington, 1837-; Smith, George Martin, 1847-1920
Publication date: 1915
Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : S.J. Clarke Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 1198

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DR. W. A. BURLEIGH BECOMES A CANDIDATE

On the 23d of September, Hon. Walter A. Burleigh, who had gone to Lara- mie County on a political mission, presumably in the interest of Judge Kidder, published a card in the Cheyenne Argus from which the following is copied : Vol. 1-32

HISTORY OF DAKOTA TERRITORY

To My Fellow Citizens: I shall have been your representative in Congress for two terms with the termination of the fortieth session. So far as I know I have performed faith- fully all the duties an honorable agent or attorney could perform. At the request of citizens in various parts of our territory I advocated, worked for and finally obtained the passage of the organic act of Wyoming. I did this with the assistance of General Casement, who drew up the bill, aided by Doctor Latham, of Cheyenne, who was in Washington at the request of the people, whilst General Casement was compelled to remain at home to prove to the world that the Rocky Mountains could be crossed by the iron horse of civilization. With this premise ] wish to state that I am now an independent candidate for reelection, at the urgent request of many of my friends, and against my own inclinations. If reelected, 1 shall certainly advocate appropriations for the necessary surveys that will make known the richest mining country in the world, and be the means of its development. I am, ever have been, and will continue to be, in favor of a double track of the Union Pacific Railroad, because I believe that while it binds together, with strong iron hands that none can sever, a great nation and a continent, it also changes and will perfect the national channel of com- merce between our own and distant lands. In regard to Indians, if they do not immediately return to their reservations and live up to their treaties between the Government and them- selves, I am in favor of war. I would ask Congress to arm and equip my fellow citizens of the great West and permit them to prosecute the war, as being best acquainted with the haunts and habits of the savage foe. I shall also point out the advantages to the Government and the people of Wyoming of having our own citizens appointed to the federal offices within the territory, for the reason that they best know her wants and ought to be rewarded for their exertions in developing her resources. I will do all I can for Dakota and Wyoming, and ask your votes on the ground only that I will try to do what I think I have heretofore done. act for you as I believe you desire, and in accordance with your best interests. Vote as you think best and I will be satisfied; but I would like every citizien to vote so that the whole may be represented through a deliberate choice.

Respectfully, your servant,

W. A. BURLEIGHI.

GEN. DENNIS TOOHEY ENTERS THE LIST

Within a week of the election which occurred on Tuesday, the 13th of Octo- her, a fifth candidate in the person of Gen. Dennis Toohey, of Wyoming, sprang suddenly into the arena and went energetically to work among the voters of Laramie and Carter counties, now Wyoming. He was a democrat; a man of ability and quite popular in that section, where they claimed to have over two thousand legal voters.

LIST OF CANDIDATES COMPLETE

With the announcement of Mr. Toohey, the list of candidates was completed there being Spink for the republicans; Kidder, people's: Todd, democrat ; Butr- leigh, independent ; and Toohey, independent democrat. The political campaign in Dakota, which had been in progress all summer was stimulated to a much higher temperature by the unexpected announcements of Burleigh and Toohey. The campaign was to be the most strenuous "free for all" political struggle that had yet engaged the attention of Dakotans. While the Johnson republicans were generally supporting Grant and Colfax, and while there had not been any or- ganized opposition among republicans to Mr. Spink, Kidder had a large republi- can following, and there were influential and experienced republican politicians openly supporting him on the people's ticket. This course, they knew, would not affect their standing in Washington with the President or with Congress, for political affairs in the territory were known to be largely a matter of person- alities, and the territories having no vote for President or in Congress, their influence amounted to little and the personal relations of a delegate were of more valute than his political connections at home. Burleigh was Kidder's strongest ally at the opening of the campaign and his defection may have cost the judge a victory. The new Territory of Wyoming bill passed at the late session of Con- gress, but it contained a provision that it should not go into effect until its federal officials should be appointed and confirmed by the Senate which plainly meant that President Johnson would not be permitted to make the appointments of governor, judges and others. This left that section still in Dakota for another

499

HISTORY OF DAKOTA TERRITORY

winter at least, and its two thousand votes or more in the counties of Laramie and Carter, if united, would control the territorial election. It was this condi- tion and the large vote of those western counties that gave the political leaders a problem to study, and an opportunity for scheming and manipulation. There is a saying among politicians, when an exciting and doubtful campaign is near- ing its close, that politics are "red hot." This term expresses, as well as any words could the condition of the political atmosphere everywhere in the terri- tory as soon as it became known that Burleigh and Toohey had entered the field in Laramie County. Public meetings at every hamlet and town were of daily and nightly occurrence, and politics certainly engrossed the attention of people generally. The Red River vote of one hundred and fifty to three hun- dred and the Wyoming vote of 2,000 were uncertain factors to those who were thought to have more than the ordinary insight into the outcome of a political campaign. The election in the territory was held on Tuesday, October 13th, and resulted in the choice of Mr. Spink for delegate, and the remainder of the republican nominees, and also in the election of a republican House of Repre- sentatives for the territory. The councilmen held over from 1867. The popular vote for delegate gave Spink 1,443; Toohey, 952: Todd. 828; Kidder, 553; Bur- leigh, 814. Total vote, 4,579, of which total the Wyoming country cast about 2,325. Spink carried Union, Clay, Yankton, Lincoln, Minnehaha, Bon Homme, Laramie, Carter and Pembina counties. Todd carried Charles Mix County. Todd County gave Burleigh eight and Kidder eight and the Crow Creek Indian Agency gave Kidder thirty-one and Todd one.

THE NATIONAL AND TERRITORIAL ELECTION

The presidential election was held on the 3d of November, and resulted in the election of the republican candidate, Grant and Colfax, by a large majority- the electoral vote standing 219 for Grant and Colfax, and eighty-five for Scy- mour and Blair. The states of Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Vermont, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Indiana, Ohio, Illi- nois, Michigan, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Iowa, California. Kansas, Nevada, Mis- souri, Minnesota, Tennessee, Arkansas, Florida, South Carolina, and North Carolina went republican. New York, New Jersey. Georgia, Maryland, Ken- tucky, Alabama and Louisiana went democratic. Virginia, Mississippi and Texas did not vote, not having at this time accomplished their work of reeon- struction.

At this territorial election votes were cast in the following counties and pre- cincts, showing the extent of the Territory of Dakota at that date, 1868:

Name of Counties or Precincts

Spink Toohey Burleigh Kidder Todd

Total

Union County

225

182

450

Lincoln County

. .

Minnehaha County

. .

Clay County

1.36

108

. .

202

Yankton County

337

Bon Homme County

6.4

Todd County

. .

Fort Sully

Fort Rice

. .

Laramie and Carter Counties.

Cheyenne City

318

285

225

900

Laramie

278

. .

544

Pine Bluffs

. .

Summit

. .

177

Green River

267

171

. .

507

Point of Rock

. .

Charles Mix County

101

Fort Thompson

. .

Cooper Lake

. .

Rawling Springs

. .

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HISTORY OF DAKOTA TERRITORY

Name of Counties or Precincts

Spink Toohey Burleigh Kidder Todd

Total

Fort Laramie

. .

Sherman

. .

110

Benton

150

241

Fort Fetterman

. .

Bitter Creek

Fort Halleck

. .

122

Red River.

. .

Totals

1.443

952

827

552

822

4,597

TIIE TERRITORIAL OFFICIAL CANVASS

The territorial board of canvassers mnet on the 4th of December, 1868, and canvassed the vote for delegate to Congress and territorial officers. Under the law the board was composed of the governor, chief justice and secretary of the territory : but Mr. Spink having been a candidate was disqualified; Chief Justice Bartlett was absent holding court in Cheyenne so that Governor Faulk, the only other member, canvassed the vote alone, there being no contest with the follow- ing result : S. L. Spink, for delegate, 1,379 votes ; J. P. Kidder, for delegate, 581 votes : J. B. S. Todd, for delegate, 644 votes ; W. A. Burleigh, for delegate, 658 votes : D. J. Toohey, for delegate, 603 votes; Jeff. Davis had two votes; U. S. Grant, one, and Geo. M. McCarthy, two.

A large number of the votes cast in Carter County were not canvassed by the board, having been cast in unauthorized precincts. This will account for the dis- crepancy between the county returns and the official canvass, but disregarding this unauthorized vote made no difference with the general result. For terri- torial auditor, John Morris received 1,573 votes; E. B. Wixson, 557; M. Ryan, 384. For territorial treasurer, T. K. Hovey, 1,443 votes; M. K. Armstrong, 600; J. W. Turner, 374; and P. S. Wilson, 114. For superintendent of public instruc- tion, T. McKendrie Stewart received 1,498 votes; A. Gore, 552; and James Keegan, 879.

Proclamation was made by the governor of the election of the successful can- didates, and the election incident of 1868 was finally closed.

THIE BUFFALO DIMINISHING

Mr. George Brown, of Yankton, has over forty years to his credit as a Dakotan, having settled here and engaged in business in the early 'zos, though prior to that he had been employed on the steamboats traversing the upper river for a number of years. His parents were natives of France and Germany-Alsace and Lor- raine-his father from the French province and his mother from the German. They came to America in 1847, and the following year George was born in Boone County, Kentucky, where the family had settled. His father shortly after re- moved to Covington, Kentucky, where George grew to be a lad fifteen years of age, when his parents removed again just across the Ohio River to the famous old City of Cincinnati, and there Mrs. Brown, his mother, is yet living, surrounded by at least a score of children and grand-children.

George began his industrial life in the kitchen of one of the Ohio River steamboats during the Civil war, and was so employed on the steamer Tycoon in 1803. at the time of the great battles of Pittsburgh Landing and Shiloh, where Grant, after a two days' battle won national fame for the final victory. The Tycoon was the first boat to get to Pittsburgh Landing before the battle was over, and took aboard a large number of the Union wounded, which she carried to the hospitals at Cincinnati.

In the spring of 1868 Mr. Brown engaged as steward on the Nellie Peck, a steamboat owned by Durfee and Peck, who at that time bought all the fur trad-

Pembina

St. Joseph

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HISTORY OF DAKOTA TERRITORY

ing posts on the Missouri. The boat made one trip to Benton and returned to Sioux City, took on a cargo for a post or Indian agency at Grand River, and though the season was late, made the run and delivered the freight, then started down stream. The weather turned suddenly cold, and at Pocahontas Island, about seventy-five miles above Fort Randall, the Nellie Peck was frozen fast in the ice and the passengers, officers and crew were obliged to walk to Fort Ran- dall before they could secure conveyances to take them to their destination. The boat was placed in charge of Mr. Brown; he engaged to stay with her during the winter. His only companion was a young negro boy. The boat was moored to the island some distance from either shore, and right in the vicinity of large bands of Santee Indians, who had a reservation at Crow Creek, some distance above. Brown and his assistant fixed themselves as comfortably as they knew how, and patiently waited the advent of spring. The Santees furnished the only social entertainment during the winter, when occasionally a limited number were permitted to come aboard. The winter passed without exciting event, and in the spring a crew came up and assisted in releasing the boat without damage when the break up came.

Mr. Brown tells of an appalling destruction of buffalo from drowning in the spring. He believes there must have been hundreds of thousands of the animals lost from this cause. A vast herd attempted to cross to the south side of the river on the soft ice in early spring, some distance above Fort Buford, when the ice broke, and there was the most fearful and thrilling scrambling and bellowing, leaping and plunging that ever awoke the echoes of the Upper Mis- souri. The plains north and east of the Missouri had been covered with the animals during the winter, and when the herd started to cross in the spring, which was an annual occurrence with those that had wintered north of the stream, the column kept moving as buffalo invariably do when on the march, crowding those in front into the death-trap of broken ice until nearly the whole herd was de- stroyed; and the river for a long distance below was literally covered with their dead bodies. For weeks along the shores, for the distance of a hundred miles, the bodies of the drowned were washed up and piled in heaps where they decayed. Brown believes that it was one of the largest herds then in existence, and the diminution of the animal in such overwhelming numbers was remarked from that year. It will be recalled by the Dakotans of that day that the bison herds dwindled away abruptly and unexpectedly, which was attributed to Indians largely and to the white emigrants who were then pouring into the Idaho and Montana gold fiekls. No doubt there were large mimbers killed by those parties, but the sudden and permanent disappearance of such a vast herd of old and young can not be accounted for by attributing it to emigrants or to Indians. The number thus taken would hardly have been observed at the time had not this catastrophe swept off such a multitude. This wholesale slaughter caused the breeding of myriads of mosquitoes, which for some years prior had been quite an annoyance to travel, no doubt due to a similar cause on a less extensive scale. The atmos- phere was literally filled with them, and their buzzing was almost deafening. It was customary to station one or two attendants in the pilot house, who pro- tected the person of the pilot, while he was engaged in his duty of guiding the vessel. Crew, passengers and officers all wore a guard over their persons when awake to protect them from the poisonous bite of the insect. Without such pro- tection and vigilant defense, human life would have been endangered. The in- sects would have covered a body in such numbers, and poisoned it with their bites, that fatal injury woukl probably have resulted.

It was customary for these vast herds to cross the Missouri in the spring and fall. Several days might be occupied in their getting over at their usual leisurely pace. Steamboats occasionally ran into a herd thus engaged, and would be an entire day slowly picking its way through the swimming struggling mass. On such occasions the crew would be engaged in roping the calves within reach, and they would be hoisted aboard with a derrick and stabled. Mr. Brown relates one

502

HISTORY OF DAKOTA TERRITORY

occasion when from twenty to twenty-five calves were thus secured which were taken down to Leavenworth and sold, and kept by the Kansas purchasers for breeding purposes.

It was in the years 1870-71 that men conversant with the matter gave out an apprehension that the bison or buffalo herds of the western plains were not increasing. but appeared to be diminishing. The animal as a rule herded in im- mense numbers on the most fertile portions of the plains. Dakota was a favorite pasture ground, extending south through Nebraska, Kansas and Texas. Buf- falo were migratory, traversing the western plains from south to north and from north to south again, feeding as they journeyed. They did not appear to have been always governed by the season in their migrations for they were known to be traveling south in the spring and fall, and in other years traveling north during the same seasons. They may have been governed by an instinct in select- ing the region which would afford the best pasturage. They were usually found in herds of many thousands, and occasionally in smaller numbers escorted by a patriarch bull of invincible courage. The location of the large herds was well known to scouts and Indian hunters, but inexperienced white men, even after diligent search, would fail to find their feeding ground.

In 1859, during the first rush to the newly discovered Colorado gold fields. Horace Greeley, the founder of the New York Tribune, visited Colorado and Pike's Peak which at that time, by the way, were a part of the Territory of Kansas. He went out by way of the Kansas River to Fort Riley and Junction City, where he took the overland coach for Denver, following a new route on the divide between the Smoky Hill and Republican rivers. The second day out the coach bearing the distinguished traveler found itself confronted by a vast herd of buffalo, slowly wending its way north. As far as the eye could see, above and below, the sluggish moving animals filled the prairie so completely that it appeared dangerous to attempt to drive through them. The driver waited patiently for twenty-four hours, and Mr. Greeley's impatience was more intense than the man in charge. Finally it was resolved to attempt to pass through the herd, which showed no diminution in numbers though constantly moving north ; and amid great danger from being crushed, which would have followed had the herd stampeded, the coach was driven through in six hours-at an estimated average of one mile an hour, for frequent stops were made. The herd was therefore estimated to be six miles in breadth, without any data for measuring how far it extended either north or south ; but an estimate of from twelve to fifteen miles was subsequently made by a party of hunters who had encountered the same herd.

Military officers stationed at many of the frontier forts severely criticised the wanton slaughter of the animals by emigrants who in large numbers were crossing the plains to Utah, Montana, Idaho, and Colorado, who it was claimed shot them just for sport, or for their tongues only. The danger element was very slight in hunting buffalo. The bulls would frequently turn on the hunters and show fight, but as a rule the animals were not inclined to combat. Experienced hunters claimed that there was no more danger encountered in riding into a herd of buffalo and shooting them, than would be met with in a like herd of domestic cattle, particularly Texas cattle.

The buffalo and catfish furnished subsistence to many thousands of Indians for many generations in the land of the Dakotas, while trappers, traders, emigrants and the parties composing Government expeditions in exploring the country in early days drew upon these sources of supply almost altogether while prosecut- ing their employment. They were an important, almost an all important, factor in the early settlement of the great West.

A CLOUDBURST

A very severe storm visited the settled portions of Dakota on the night of May 30, 1868. It was accompanied by a heavy rain, with what the settlers called

503

HISTORY OF DAKOTA TERRITORY

cloudbursts, in spots, with some hail and a gale of wind that did a vast amount of damage. The storm covered the settled portion of Dakota from Fort Randall to Sioux City, and visited all the settlements along the Missouri Valley, continu- ing about seventeen hours. A number of buildings in Yankton were injured and the frame barn of the International Hotel, in which were a dozen horses was blown down but the animals escaped without injury. The gale lifted a heavy log from Colonel Moody's stable and drove it completely through the wall of his dwelling into the family sleeping room, but no one was injured. The dwelling was a frame building and the walls were filled in with chalk rock; was situated in the valley in the extreme northwest part of town. Mcintyre and Allison lost 40,000 brick which had not been removed from their kilns. McIntyre also lost 35,000 feet of saw logs which had been rafted down the Missouri and were left over night in the river. The most remarkable result of the storm occurred on Choteau Creek, the western border of Bon Homme County.

A party of emigrants and freighters, having nine canvas-covered wagons, were ettcamped on the bank of the creek, asleep. One of the men was awakened by a loud roaring noise. He lifted the canvas and was amazed to behold a great wall of water coming down the creek, which he estimated was fifteen feet in height. The frequent flashes of lightning revealed this to him, and arousing his com- panions, they all fled to the near-by highland, but were overtaken by about three feet of water before they reached a secure retreat. Their wagons were all swept away and washed into the Missouri River, some three miles distant. Two trunks, containing each $1,000 in greenbacks, were taken with the wagons, but one trunk was recovered near the mouth of the creek, having been thrown ashore. This phenomenal storm deluge of water was probably the effect of a cloudburst, and it must have extended and covered over a wide area for seven miles away, east, was the valley of Emanuel Creek on the bank of which Mr. McDaniels, a pioneer settler, had recently built a substantial log dwelling and was occupying it with his family. A loud roaring sound, similar to that which awakened the party on Choteau Creek, and at the same hour, awakened the McDaniels family. One of the boys ran to the door, and by the lightning flashes, which were almost inces- sant, saw a great wall of water plunging down the creek valley. Ite instantly ran out, after arousing the family, closed the door, climbed to the roof of the cabin, the water having already crossed the cabin threshold and was rising "a foot a minute." ile then climbed to the roof of the cabin, through which he tore an opening large enough to permit the members of the family to escape to the roof. The cabin was half filled with water before all had been rescued. There were three sons, two daughters, and Mr. and Mrs. MeDaniels on the roof, and there they remained, pelted by the storm, until daylight, when the gale and rain diminished, but they were unable to get back into their dwelling until near even- ing. Their sufferings were indescribable, for they were cold, thinly clad. drenched with rain, hungry almost to famishing, and the mother and daughters nearly perished. Their nearest neighbor was miles away, and nearly everything in the house had been soaked with water. Fortunately the family had some ex- perience in pioneering. A peculiar and novel feature of the storm in that locality was the discovery of a large number of dead pickerel along the banks of the creeks, a species of fish that had never been found in these waters, nor in any of the streams of the neighboring counties. From this circumstance and from the immense volume of water that poured down the creeks and deluged a large area of land it was conjectured that they had been visited by a water spout, an unusual storm upon the land, that had taken these fish from rivers or lakes farther cast and deposited them on the Dakota frontiers.

A PROSPEROUS YEAR

Immigration to Dakota improved in 1868 and Union, Lincoln, Minnehaha. Clay and Yankton counties received a large number of new settlers who took up

50-

HISTORY OF DAKOTA TERRITORY

land. Bon Homme's rural population was also augmented-in fact Bon Homme had nothing but rural population, but being on the border of the Yankton Indian reserve, that had a tendency to deter the immigration of families. The estimates carefully made placed the population of the territory at 10,000, and it was claimed that the population had doubled during the preceding year of 1867 and 1868. Quite a large number of the discharged soldiers from the Union army came in. Lin- coln and Minnehaha counties had also been attracting settlers, and when the census of 1870 was taken it was conceded that the estimate above referred to was made on a sound basis. Wyoming, or that portion of the territory then included in Laramie and Carter counties, was not included in the estimates of Dakota pop- ulation, it being well understood that Wyoming's organization as a territory, which Congress had already provided for, would be completed in 1869.

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History of Dakota Territory, volume I, Part 87

Author: Kingsbury, George Washington, 1837-; Smith, George Martin, 1847-1920 Publication date: 1915 Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : S.J. Clarke Publishing Company Number of Pages: 1198

Author: Kingsbury, George Washington, 1837-; Smith, George Martin, 1847-1920
Publication date: 1915
Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : S.J. Clarke Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 1198