USA > Wyoming > History of Wyoming, Volume I > Part 31
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Deaf, dumb and blind pupils of Wyoming are now educated at Colorado Springs, Colorado; Ogden, Utah; Boulder, Montana; Omaha, Nebraska; and Nebraska City, Nebraska. The last report of the Board of Charities and Reform gives a total of twenty-four pupils in these various locations.
THE STATE CAPITOL
On March 4, 1886, Governor Warren approved an act providing that "a capitol building, for the use of the territory, shall be erected in the City of Cheyenne, the capital of the territory, at a cost not exceeding the sum of $150,000." By the provisions of this act the governor was authorized to appoint a building commission of five members, which should acquire a site by donation or other- wise, approve plans and award the contract for the construction of the building. Six per cent bonds to the amount of $150,000 were authorized also, not more than $25,000 of which should be issued at any one time, payable twenty-five years after date of issue, although the territory was given the option of redeeming one-tenth of the bonds at the end of fifteen years and one-tenth annually until all were paid.
Governor Warren appointed a capitol commission consisting of Erasmus Nagle, Charles N. Potter, Nathaniel R. Davis, Morton E. Post and Nicholas J. O'Brien. This commission erected the central portion of the capitol according to plans supplied by D. W. Gibbs & Company, A. Feick & Company being awarded the contract.
Then came the additional appropriation for the capitol, amounting to $125,000, which was a part of the bill which the Legislature passed over Governor Moon- light's veto. The governor claimed that the additions contemplated would cost more than the appropriation and that the building as it stood was sufficient for territorial needs until the people could bear the cost of construction without assuming undue burdens of taxation. The bill was passed over the governor's objections, however, and Mr. Moonlight appointed as capitol commissioners
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Lawrence J. Bresnahan, George W. Baxter, Jolin C. Baird, Arthur Poole and Andrew Gilchrist. The Council refused for a time to confirm the appointment of Mr. Bresnahan and rejected Mr. Baxter outright. The governor then named Thomas A. Kent to take the place of Baxter. Mr. Bresnahan was elected chair- man of the commission and Mr. Baird was chosen secretary. D. W. Gibbs & Company were again employed as architects and the contract was awarded to Moses P. Keefe. The additions were completed in 1890.
On February 19, 1915, Governor John B. Kendrick approved the act authoriz- ing the construction of additional wings at the east and west ends of the capitol building. The act provided for the levying of a tax of "three-eighths of a mill on each and every dollar of the assessed valuation * * to constitute a * fund in the state treasury to be used under the authority and direction of the state capitol commission in the erection and completion of suitable additions to the state capitol building."
The state capitol commission was then composed of Robert B. Forsyth, Herman B. Gates and James B. True. They employed William R. Dubois as architect, and the contract for the erection of the wings was awarded to John W. Howard. The additions were completed late in the year 1917. The total cost of the capitol building has been $413.779.13 to May 15, 1918, though these figures do not include the improvement of the grounds.
The architectural style of the Wyoming capitol is classic, the general outline resembling the national capitol at Washington, D. C. The building occupies a commanding site, bounded by Twenty-fourth and Twenty-fifth streets, Carey and Central avenues, the main entrance facing Capitol Avenue, the most beautiful street in the city, extending southward from the capitol to the Union Pacific Rail- road station.
Vol. 1-18
CHAPTER XVIII
EARLY MILITARY HISTORY
FIRST UNITED STATES TROOPS IN WYOMING-FIRST MILITARY POSTS-THE OREGON BATTALION-EARLY INDIAN TROUBLES-PROTECTING THE OVERLAND-RAIDS ALONG THE PLATTE-POWDER RIVER EXPEDITION-AFFAIR AT PLATTE BRIDGE- THE BOZEMAN ROAD-THE FETTERMAN MASSACRE-RED CLOUD'S DEFEAT-THE TROOPS WITHDRAWN-SIOUX RAIDS ON WIND RIVER-CAMPAIGN OF 1876-CUS- TER'S LAST FIGHT-PEACE AT LAST.
Wyoming was settled and organized at a date too late to participate in any of the nation's early wars, but the state has nevertheless been the scene of military expeditions, conflicts with the Indians, etc., and the site of military posts of more or less historic importance. The first United States soldiers in what is now Wyoming were those forming the little detachment of twenty men who accompanied Fremont on his first exploring expedition in 1842. A few years later came the tide of emigration from the older states to the Pacific Coast, and with it came a demand for military protection along the line of the Oregon Trail. After a long and tiresome discussion, Congress passed an act providing for certain military stations along the route. This act, which was approved by President Polk on May 19, 1846, appropriated $5,000 for each post established- $2,000 to pay for the ground purchased of the Indians and $3,000 for the erection of buildings. The line of posts began at the Missouri River and were garrisoned by the "Oregon Battalion" of five companies. The battalion was raised in Missouri and was commanded by Col. Stephen W. Kearney. Posts were established in Nebraska in 1847 and 1848. The next year Lieut. Daniel P. Woodbury, of the engineer corps, was authorized to purchase Fort Laramie of the American Fur Company and the post was bought for $4,000. This was the first military station established in Wyoming by the United States authorities.
EARLY INDIAN TROUBLES
During the two years following the purchase of Fort Laramie the Indians gave very little trouble, and in 1852 the garrison there was reduced to twenty- five men, under Lieutenant Fleming. That summer an Indian fired upon the sergeant in charge of the ferry over the Laramie River. Lieutenant Fleming took twenty-three men (leaving only the ferry sergeant and two others at the fort) and went to the Indian village to arrest the offender, who had been recognized. The chief happened to be absent and the young braves declared in favor of war when Fleming made known through an interpreter the object of his visit. The
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lieutenant advanced with five of his men, shots were exchanged, four Indians were killed and two captured without loss on the part of the whites. Later the chief surrendered the man who had fired upon the sergeant and the captive Indians were released. The incident had the effect, however, of a slight addition being made to the garrison.
The following year a Mormon emigrant reported to Fleming that a Sioux Indian, one of Chief Bear's band and a man noted for his evil disposition, had killed one of his cattle. Fleming sent Lieutenant Grattan, with twenty-eight men and two howitzers, to bring in the Indian. Grattan was just from West Point and knew very little of the Indian character and tactics on such occasions. His selection to lead the party was a mistake, as Fleming afterward learned to his sorrow. U'pon arriving at the Sioux camp, Grattan allowed himself to be drawn into a parley, which was prolonged until he discovered that his party was about to be surrounded by the savages. He ordered a volley to be fired. Chief Bear fell mortally wounded and one Indian was killed. The Indians returned the fire and the howitzers were then brought into play, but were aimed so high that no damage was done by their discharge. The Indians then rushed upon the little detachment from all sides, and though the troops fought valiantly, only one man escaped to carry the news to the fort. The Indians, incensed by the loss of their chief, and realizing that the annihilation of Grattan's company had so weakened the garrison at the fort as to render it practically useless, turned their attention to the trading posts, several of which were attacked and robbed, after which they moved off toward the Black Hills. Three companies of infantry were then sent to Fort Laramie, under Maj. William Hoffman, and the garrison was further strengthened in 1855.
Gen. William S. Harney, with 1,500 men, marched against the Sioux Indians in the summer of 1855. On the 3d of September he attacked the camp of Little Thunder at Ash Hollow, about one hundred miles southeast of Fort Laramie, and killed quite a number of women and children and a few warriors. He then moved northward to Dakota and in the spring of 1856 held a "peace council" at Fort Pierre, but the Sioux apparently soon forgot the conditions of the agree- ment and continued their depredations. General Harney also established Fort Randall, in what is now South Dakota, while on this expedition.
In 1857 an expedition against the Cheyenne Indians was organized at Fort Laramie and Fort Leavenworth. It was commanded by Col. E. V. Sumner, of the First United States Dragoons, and operated chiefly in Kansas and Colorado, but it wielded an influence upon the tribes farther north and for the next two or three years emigrant trains were permitted to pass through Wyoming without molestation.
PROTECTING THE OVERLAND
During the winter of 1862-63 the tribes inhabiting Wyoming, relying upon the fact that the Government was engaged in prosecuting the Civil war, and encouraged by the Sioux outbreak in Minnesota the preceding summer, renewed their hostile activities along the Overland Route. Several miners were killed and emigrant trains were attacked. These demonstrations were made by the Bannock and Shoshone Indians under Chief Bear Hunter and some minor chiefs.
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Col. P. E. Connor was ordered to protect the Overland from Fort Kearney, Nebraska, to Salt Lake, and early in the year 1863 came into Wyoming. Soon after his arrival he began to make inquiries and learned that some of the Indians associated with Bear Hunter belonged to Washakie's band, who were supposed to be on friendly terms with the whites. The chief explained that he had remon- strated with his young men, who argued that the emigrants would be robbed any- how, and that they might as well have a share of the plunder. Between Connor and the chief, most of these young warriors were induced to abandon Bear Hunter's standard, leaving him only about three hundred men with which to continue his depredations. Connor also learned that certain Mormons were in league with Bear Hunter and furnished him with information concerning every movement of the troops, whereupon the new commander hit upon a plan to break up Bear Hunter's band before his Mormon friends could learn what was going on.
He knew that Bear Hunter was encamped on the Bear River, near the western border of Wyoming. On January 22, 1863, he ordered Captain Hoyt to take Company K, Third California Infantry, twelve men of the Second California Cavalry, two howitzers under command of Lieutenant Honeyman, and fifteen wagons loaded with supplies and reconnoiter the Indian camp. Encumbered with a train of fifteen wagons, Captain Hoyt's progress was necessarily slow enough to permit the Mormons to get word to the Indians that a comparatively small detachment of troops was on the way to the camp. This was precisely what Colonel Connor intended. Late on the evening of the 24th he left camp with four companies of the Second California Cavalry, and by daylight he was nearly seventy miles away. The next day he overtook Captain Hoyt and at daybreak on the 29th the entire command was close to the Indian camp. Connor sent Major McGarry, with part of the cavalry, to get in the rear of the Indians to prevent their escape, but the ground was such that the camp could not be surrounded and his movement was discovered. The Indians, thinking this was the small force mentioned by the Mormons, rushed upon McGarry, who dis- mounted his men and poured a withering fire into the ranks of the approaching redskins. Hearing the firing, Connor brought up the main body of the cavalry and the howitzers also began their deadly work. The Indians retreated into a ravine, but Major McGarry succeeded in turning their flank and driving them out. As they emerged from the ravine they were ruthlessly shot down by the cavalrymen. The fight lasted about four hours, the Indians suffering a loss of 224 killed, and the guards stationed along the river before the engagement com- menced reported that twenty-five others were killed while trying to cross the stream. Connor's loss was fourteen killed and fifty-three wounded. Upon Gen- eral Halleck's recommendation, Colonel Connor was promoted to brigadier-general, his commission dating from March 29, 1863. Bear Hunter's band was com- pletely broken up.
About the first of April, 1863, a band of Ute Indians, that had been annoying the stage line beyond Salt Lake, came into Wyoming. On the 3d the station at Sweetwater, guarded by twenty-six men of the Sixth Ohio Cavalry, was attacked, but the Indians were driven off. One trooper was slightly wounded. Ten days after this attack General Connor sent the following telegram to General Hal- leck: "Unless immediately reinforced with cavalry, the Indians, urged on by
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the Mormons, will break up the Overland Mail and make the emigrant road impassable."
Halleck referred the matter to General Schofield, commanding the Depart- ment of the Missouri, who ordered Maj. E. W. Wyncoop to reinforce Connor with four companies of the First Colorado Cavalry. Two troops under Major Wyncoop's command were neither mounted nor equipped and this caused a delay in carrying out the order. General Connor grew somewhat impatient and on the 28th wrote to the commander of the Department of the Pacific that the Indians were congregating in the vicinity of the Mormon settlement south of Fort Laramie, that they were encouraged by Brigham Young, who was supplying them with arms and ammunition, and that there was no doubt that Young's object was to force the Overland into a contract with him to protect the line for a certain sum, etc. He asked for reinforcements, and closed his letter by saying: "Send me the men ; I will do the rest."
Reinforcements were sent and Fort Halleck, a short distance west of the Medicine Bow Mountains, was established. Early in June Connor made a peace agreement with one of the leading Shoshone bands, and it was not long until other bands begged for peace. Late in July the Ute disturbers also sued for peace and for the time the Overland was safe. Connor had fulfilled his promise.
RAIDS ALONG THE PLATTE
Just at daylight on the morning of November 29, 1864, Col. John M. Chiving- ton, commanding the District of Colorado, made an attack upon a Cheyenne vil- lage of 130 lodges and about one thousand warriors on Sand Creek, Colorado. Chiefs Black Kettle, Little Robe and White Antelope and about four hundred and fifty warriors were killed, and over four hundred mules and ponies were captured.
Fugitives from Sand Creek reached the Cheyenne camp near the head of the Smoky Hill River, where a council was held and it was decided to "send a pipe" to the Northern Arapaho and Sioux and invite them to join the Cheyenne in a war upon the whites. The chiefs of the Arapaho and Sioux "smoked the pipe," which was equivalent to accepting the invitation. This was early in December, 1864. The chiefs waited until all the small war parties came into the camp on Cherry Creek, where a force of about one thousand warriors were gathered, and it was then determined to begin the war by an attack on Julesburg, where the Overland stages formerly forded the South Platte. Julesburg at that time con- sisted of the station building, of cedar logs, the stables, corrals, store and a large warehouse filled with the stage company's supplies, an express and telegraph office, and a few dwellings.
A short distance west of Julesburg, at the mouth of Lodge Pole Creek, was Fort Sedgwick, which had been established in August, 1864, and was garrisoned by a part of the Seventh Iowa Cavalry, under the command of Capt. N. J. O'Brien. Captain O'Brien was afterward chief of artillery with General Connor's Powder River expedition. He established Camp Connor (later Fort Reno) and was one of the first city officials of Julesburg. Subsequently he removed to Cheyenne, where he served in the city council, was sheriff of Laramie County, a member of the Legislature and United States marshal. The Indians knew his reputation
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as a fighter and adopted the plan, so often worked successfully, of drawing the troops at the fort into an ambush before the attack was made on Julesburg.
Accordingly, about daylight on January 7, 1865, Big Crow, the Cheyenne chief, selected seven of his fleetest footed warriors to show themselves in front of the fort, with the hope that the soldiers would pursue them into the sand hills, where the main body of the Indians was secreted. At first the plan promised success. When the seven Indians appeared a small detachment of troops sallied ont and began the pursuit, but some of the younger warriors, in their enthusiasm, acted too quickly, the soldiers saw the situation and returned to the fort.
A few hours later a large body of Indians appeared at Julesburg. The few white men there fled to the fort, leaving the savages to plunder the warehouse. They also drove off a herd of cattle on the opposite side of the river from the town. During the remainder of the month they wrecked about seventy-five miles of the road, burning stations, cutting the telegraph wires, etc. On February 2, 1865, some of the Indians started for the North Platte, Julesburg was again plundered and this time the stage company's buildings were burned. During the day about fifty miles of telegraph line were destroyed and that night the party encamped on the ridge between Lodge Pole Creek and the South Platte, where they celebrated their victory by feasting and dancing until a late hour.
On the morning of the 4th an attack was made on the Mud Springs Ranch, where the Town of Simla, Nebraska, is now located, and ran off a large herd of cattle. Mud Springs Ranch was at that time the only station or settlement of consequence between the North and South Platte. The telegraph operator at the station called Camp Mitchell and Fort Laramie and advised the military authorities of what was taking place at the ranch. Lieutenant Ellsworth, with thirty-six men of the Eleventh Ohio Cavalry, and Lieutenant-Colonel Collins, with twenty-five picked men, made a forced march from Fort Laramie and arrived at the station late on the 5th. That night 100 more men joined Lieutenant- Colonel Collins' command and the Indians moved off to the northward. On the 7th a severe fight occurred at the mouth of Brown's Creek. The result was a drawn battle, but the Indians evidently did not care for any more just then, as they retreated to the Powder River, where they joined the Ogallala Sioux and Northern Arapaho.
Collins, with his little force of 140 men, followed the Indians for some dis- tance, and on the night of the 12th encamped near the mouth of Rush Creek, about eighty-five miles north of Julesburg. Here he was attacked by about twenty-five hundred Indians on the morning of the 13th, but with the aid of a brass twenty-four pounder he held them at bay for twenty-four hours, with a loss of three men killed and eight wounded. Just before daylight on the 14th the Indians withdrew. In April another attack was made on Collins, who was then at Mud Springs with 125 men. The Indian force on this occasion was esti- mated at fifteen hundred. Again Collins held the Indians in check for a whole day, when reinforcements arrived with artillery and they were completely routed. The loss of the whites in this action was two killed and eleven wounded.
POWDER RIVER EXPEDITION
Minor raids upon the Overland stations along the Platte continued until spring, which led Gen. Grenville M. Dodge, commanding the Department of Mis-
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souri, to plan two expeditions into the Indian country. One of these expeditions, under Gen. Alfred Sully, was to ascend the Missouri and approach the Black Hills from the east. The other, commanded by Gen. P. E. Connor, was to attack the Indians on Powder River. Sully failed to carry out his part of the arrange- ment, but about the middle of May Connor marched from Julesburg and soon reached Fort Laramie. There he found a number of volunteer soldiers who were very much dissatisfied. They claimed that the three years for which they had enlisted were expired, that the war with the South was over, and that they were entitled to their discharge. When Connor's order for them to join the expedition was read they refused to join the expedition. Connor ordered a battery of artil- lery to be trained upon the mutineers, which caused them to reconsider their refusal, and on July 5, 1865, they left Fort Laramie, under command of Colonel Walker of the Sixteenth Kansas Cavalry. About the same time Colonel Cole marched from Columbus, Nebraska, under orders to effect a junction with Colonel Walker.
General Connor left Fort Laramie on the 2d of August with the greater part of the Seventh Iowa Cavalry, the Second California Cavalry, ninety-five Pawnee scouts, commanded by Maj. Frank North, and about the same number of Omaha and Winnebago scouts-about seven hundred men in all. Crossing the Platte River near the La Bonte crossing, Connor moved up the river to a point near where Fort Fetterman was afterward built. There he turned toward the north- west and struck Powder River about half way between the mouth of Nine Mile Creek and the mouth of Crazy Woman Fork, where Camp Connor (afterward Fort Reno) was established. A few days later some of the Pawnee scouts found an Indian trail and followed it until the next morning, when they came upon a party of Cheyennes just in the act of breaking camp. The scouts attacked the camp, recovered a lot of plunder that had been taken from the Overland stations earlier in the year, captured twenty-nine horses and reported to Connor that all the Cheyennes were killed. Four of the captured horses bore the Government brand and one bore the brand of the Overland Stage Company. Not one of the scouts was killed or wounded, but they lost four horses.
Early in September Connor moved over to the Tongue River. On the 8th, having heard nothing from Cole and Walker, he sent Major North, with twenty of his scouts, back to Powder River to look for their trail. On the 11th North rejoined the command and reported that he had found over five hundred dead cavalry horses and in the ashes of fires the remains of saddles, from which it was supposed that Cole's command had been annihilated by the Indians. North was instructed to make a further search, and on the 19th found the men in a starving condition, with only about six hundred horses, and those unfit for service. Cole reported that while passing through the bad lands they were afraid to allow the horses to graze, for fear they would stray away or be captured by the Indians, and that the horses actually died of starvation. He was then forced to burn his saddles and wagons to prevent their falling into the hands of the enemy.
Cole and Walker formed a junction north of the Black Hills and east of the Little Missouri River. The two commanders quarreled regarding the course to be pursued. On September 8, 1865. near the mouth of the Little Powder River, they were attacked by about three thousand Sioux. Cole had managed to retain his artillery, which was the only thing that held the Indians in check. They reached Camp Connor, guided by Major North, on the 24th.
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About the time Connor left the Powder River, the Pawnee scouts came upon a plain trail and followed it for twenty miles, when they discovered a strong village of nearly three hundred lodges. A messenger was sent back to Connor, who hurried forward with some four hundred men and two pieces of artillery. The village proved to be Black Bear's band of Cheyenne and Arapaho Indians. Fire was opened with the artillery and a large number of Indians were killed, the rest seeking safety in flight. Some women and children and nearly seven hundred horses were captured.
When General Dodge received the first news of Cole and Walker's move- ments, he believed their march into the Indian country was a victorious advance, but when General Connor sent in his report relating to that part of the expedi- tion, it showed a humiliating retreat. It was impossible for Connor to foresee the disagreement between Cole and Walker, which resulted in the failure of their part of the campaign. Nevertheless, he was criticized for his general conduct of the expedition and was withdrawn from Wyoming, much to his personal regret and the regret of many of the officers and men who served under him.
AFFAIR AT PLATTE BRIDGE
After the Southern Cheyenne came north in the spring of 1865 to raid the Overland stage stations, they encamped on Powder River, near the Northern Cheyenne, and for some time the two bands joined in daily feasts. Then they moved over to the Little Powder River to hunt buffalo, and in the latter part of May passed over to the Tongue River, which they ascended to the Big Horn Mountains. There the chiefs held a war council, at which it was decided to continue the raids upon the emigrant roads along the Platte. On May 20, 1865, a party of Northern Cheyenne raided the Deer Creek station, which had been abandoned by the stage company and was then occupied by a small detachment of the Eleventh Kansas Cavalry. In the fight which ensued one soldier was killed and the Indians succeeded in running off about twenty horses.
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