USA > Wyoming > The history of Wyoming from the earliest known discoveries > Part 29
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In 1851 the government entered into a treaty with the Arapahoes, Cheyennes and the Ogalalla Brule Sioux, which combined tribes numbered about 6,000, in which the Indians were to have annuities to the value of $50,000, to be paid in
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goods. They were also to have a reservation between the 100th and 107th meridians of longitude and the 39th and 44th parallels of latitude. This reservation embraced more than one-third of what is now Wyoming, in the eastern part, nearly half of the western part of Nebraska, a portion of South Dakota, a considerable part of western Kansas and nearly one-half of Colorado. The Indians on their part agreed, in consideration of the annuities and the setting apart of nearly 123,000 square miles of territory as a reser- vation, to refrain from killing emigrants or fighting troops stationed along the Overland trail. This treaty was the commencement of a series of misunderstandings on both sides. For a time the annuities were paid, but when the government reduced the garrison at Fort Laramie the Indi- ans became insolent. The first trouble occurred in the spring of 1852, at the ferry near the fort. An Indian shot at the sergeant in charge of the ferry-boat. The commander detailed twenty-three men under command of Lieutenant Fleming to arrest the would-be murderer. The soldiers went to the village and demanded the guilty Indian. Un- fortunately the chief of the band was absent. The interpre- ter who accompanied the soldiers talked to the warriors, and when he informed them that they must give up the bad Indian they declared that rather than do this they would fight. Lieutenant Fleming with five men now advanced, when the savages opened fire. The soldiers quickly returned it with telling effect, killing four of the red men. Two In- dians were captured and taken as prisoners to the fort, where they were held for some months. None of the soldiers were injured. This punishment had the desired effect, as it made the Indians respect the small garrison at the fort, and from this on peace reigned for more than a year around Fort Laramie, but not so beyond its influence. Stock was stolen and white people occasionally scalped along the emi- grant road. White hunters were also killed by the Indians when opportunity offered. There were emissaries who went from one tribe to another stirring up bad feelings, pointing out to the more peaceably disposed that the Indian had been
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wronged by the government and that there was a disposi- tion on the part of white men to take their hunting grounds. They also complained that they were not allowed to pass in and out of the garrison after "retreat" was sounded. In short, nothing pleased these lords of the soil, unless it was to rob trains and to kill and scalp white men, and they were constantly trying to find justification for these acts. The half-breeds and squaw men* were constantly telling the Indians that the government would treat them fairly and even generously, but the white traders stole all the presents sent by the Great Father to his Indian children, and thus the bad blood increased.
*Men who married squaws and who lived with the tribes were called squaw men. Their children were known as half-breeds.
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CHAPTER XXV.
HISTORY OF FORT LARAMIE-[CONTINUED. ]
UNPLEASANT SIDE OF THE SERVICE AT FORT LARAMIE-SHUT UP IN THE WILDERNESS-GLOOM AND DESPONDENCY-INSOLENT SAVAGES-IN- DIANS SEVERELY PUNISHED-LIEUTENANT GRATTAN AND THIRTY SOL- DIERS MASSACRED-SIOUX TRIBES ON THE WARPATH-FORT LARAMIE REINFORCED-MAJOR HOFFMAN TAKES COMMAND-THE SIOUX MAKE WAR ON EMIGRANT TRAINS-SIR GEORGE GORE'S HUNTING EXPEDI- TION-BRIDGER BECOMES GUIDE-TERRIBLE CONDITIONS ALONG THE OVERLAND TRAIL-GOVERNMENT URGED TO PROTECT EMIGRANTS- WAR DEPARTMENT AROUSED AT LAST.
A post in the wilderness was hardly a place suited to the tastes of either officers or men connected with the United States army during the fifties. The stirring events of the previous decade, which included the Mexican War period, were quite in contrast with the service at Fort Lara- mie. It was simply the process of adding one day to an- other and doing routine duty. At the best it was banish- ment from civilization, and it is no wonder that these men complained of a service that doomed them to loneliness and despair. They longed for a more active life, something that would keep them employed in mind as well as body. The summer came only to remind them how pleasant would be a change of location, and the winters settled down upon them with the awful stillness of the mountain and desert. To these men the service they were doing seemed for the most part useless, and like all human beings, they despised a useless task. We are told that drinking and gambling were the great evils that prevailed at Fort Laramie at that time, and it seems not at all strange that this kind of de- pravity should exist. It certainly was to a certain extent excusable in such a place. They were shut up in this wilder- ness without being able to get a letter or a newspaper for six or seven months, and no shipwrecked mariners cast on a des-
Fort Laramie in 1889.
MYLZ
FORT FETTERMAN From C.GCOUTANT'S. HISTORY OF WYOMING.
(Page 594.)
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olate island ever looked more longingly for a sail than these soldiers for the white canvas tops expected in early spring.
For a year or two, no events of any importance hap. pened at Fort Laramie. During the summer months emi- grant trains were very numerous, but they passed through without having any great difficulty with Indians. Occa- sionally escorts were furnished to outgoing trains, but only when a commander possessed information that Indians west were troublesome. Sometimes small trains were held until others came up, so as to provide protection for each other. In the main, the Indians were fairly peaceable on account of the presence of troops. In those days there were some mot- ley collections around the old fort. Numerous hunting par- ties composed of men in search of adventure and big game passed through. In the spring of 1852 a surveying expedi- tion for Oregon visited the post. Among the members of this party was W. N. Byers, who later, April 22, 1859, found- ed the Rocky Mountain News, the first newspaper issued in Colorado. Mr. Byers is still living and is an honored citizen of the commonwealth of Colorado.
That year an expedition composed of three hundred peo- ple arrived at Fort Laramie in charge of Captain Douglas of Michigan. They remained some days at the fort and then pushed on to their destination, California. Before leaving Laramie, thirty of the members decided to go on an explor- ing and prospecting trip to the north, agreeing to join the company at a point farther west. A month later eight of these men rejoined the party, but twenty-two were never heard from, though diligent inquiries were made for years. It was supposed that they were all killed by Indians.
During the winter of 1853-4 the usual dull routine of garrison duty took place at Fort Laramie, and the spring season opened with promise of equally uneventful times. The War Department having need elsewhere of the services of Commander Garnett of Fort Laramie, that officer retired from the post on May 18, which left Second Lieutenant Hugh B. Fleming of the Sixth Infantry in command. Com- pany G of Fleming's regiment was at the post, but how
-(21)
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many men and officers is not clear. The command suffered principally with having nothing to do except consume com- missary whisky. It was truly distressingly peaceable around the fort during the spring and early summer, and nothing occurred until the 19th of August, when the leader of a Mormon train which was camped ten miles below on the Platte reported to the fort early in the morning of that day that a large number of Indians were camped below on the river, and they had a day or two before killed a cow or ox belonging to the Mormons. The Indians were under a chief named Mat-to-i-o-way, who had himself made known at the fort this occurrence, saying that an unsuccessful hunter of his band returning to the village had killed the animal be- longing to the Mormons, and that he had reprimanded him for the act. He further stated that he had permitted his band to eat the animal, inasmuch as it had been killed. The commander at Fort Laramie, making a mountain out of a molehill, sent Lieutenant Grattan with thirty men and two howitzers to bring in the guilty Indian and also such others as had taken the carcass. Eight miles below the fort the Indians were met by this detail, and Lieutenant Grattan made known to a sub-chief named Bear his errand. The chief told the officers that he did not regard the offense as of any great importance, and that the head chief of the band had reported the affair to the commanding officer at the fort. He said nearly the entire village had eaten of the slaughtered animal and were therefore all included under the orders of the officer. He refused to submit his people to arrest. When told that the soldiers would fire upon his tribe, he reiterated his explanation and said he could do nothing more. The lieutenant now advanced with his men to make the arrest, but the whole party were at once sur- rounded by the savages, when the soldiers were ordered to fire upon them, killing one Indian and mortally wounding the chief. The lieutenant now ordered that the howitzers be discharged, but the guns not being well sighted, the grape and canister went over the heads of the now infuri- ated warriors, who quickly closed in on the soldiers and
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with tomahawks and war-clubs killed the officer and all of his command except one, who though badly wounded es- caped by the aid of a friendly Indian to the fort. This af- fair resulted in the almost total annihilation of the garrison at Fort Laramie. Lieutenant Grattan was a young officer recently from West Point, and this was his first and last experience as an Indian fighter. Commander Fleming has always been severely condemned for this affair. It was commonly stated at the time that there had been a too free use of whisky on that fatal morning before the detachment left the fort. Fleming's explanation was that the whole business was mismanaged by Lieutenant Grattan, but in the judgment of those around the fort at the time, the com- mander did an unwise thing when he placed so delicate a mission in the hands of an inexperienced young officer.
The Grattan affair was the starting point of a bloody, long and costly war with the Sioux tribes. Commencing in the very hour of their victory over the soldiers, they at- tacked the trading post of Chouteau & Company and also that of James Bordeaux. These posts were both robbed of all their goods and the people connected with them barely escaped massacre. Commander Fleming marshalled the balance of his garrison, including stable men and employes, and made every preparation for defense, feeling certain that the Indians would attack the post. Fortunately, the hostiles went to the hills and then hurried on east to confer with other tribes belonging to the Sioux nation, and soon several thousand were on the war-path with the avowed de- termination that they would kill not only every white man in the country, but every emigrant passing through on the Overland trail. A detailed account of the disaster was hurried off to Fort Kearney and reinforcements asked for from that garrison. A part of a company was at once sent up the river to help hold the unfortunate post which came so near destruction.
Two days after the Grattan disaster a burial party was sent from Fort Laramie to inter the remains of the ill-fated lieutenant and his men. A large hole was dug and the muti-
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lated bodies hastily thrown in, covered with dirt, and on top of all was placed a pile of stones, and thus reposed the victims of the first military tragedy in Wyoming. This was a small blunder when compared with others which followed in later years. The War Department seemed awakened out of a sound sleep by this horrible affair; but little came of it for a year and a half except the sending of Companies B and D of the Sixth Infantry, numbering 111 men, under the command of Major and Brevet Lieutenant Colonel William Hoffman. These reinforcements arrived on November 12, 1854, and Lieutenant-Colonel Hoffman assumed command of the fort on that date. Hoffman was a good soldier, experi- enced in handling troops, and afterwards was conspicuous in the military affairs of the west. From the time of the Grattan massacre up to the arrival of the two companies of the Sixth Infantry, the inmates of Fort Laramie were kept upon a nervous strain, and the little garrison lived from day to day expecting the return of the Sioux in over- whelming force. Every man in the garrison, citizens as well as soldiers, did duty. Sentries walked their beat, and every- thing was kept ready so as to prevent a surprise or to repel an attack, and thus remained the military situation that year.
In June, 1854, Fort Laramie was enlivened by the ar- rival of Sir George Gore with a hunting outfit which sur- passed anything that had ever before been seen in the Rocky Mountains. This gentleman was from Sligo, Ireland, and belonged to the Peerage, and with a rent roll which ena- bled him to spend $200,000 annually for his personal pleas- ures. He came to Fort Laramie with an outfit of six wag- ons, twenty-one carts, twelve yoke of cattle, one hundred and twelve horses, fourteen dogs and forty servants. In St. Louis he had secured the services of Henry Chatillon and his brother as guides. Gore created a sensation at Fort Laramie and made it his base of supplies for some months. Trappers and hunters of that day were astonished at the improved firearms with which he was provided. These embraced everything then known of a new pattern in Eng-
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land or America. His first expedition was through the Black Hills south, crossing the Laramie Plains into North Park and penetrating the mountains and valleys of Colo- rado. At a point described as seventy-five miles southwest of Fort Laramie, one of his men washed out quite a quantity of placer gold, and not knowing for certain what it was took it to Sir George Gore and asked if it was not gold. The no- bleman examined it with great care and then replied, "Yes, this is gold; but under no circumstances mention the finding of it to anyone else." He then sent for his guide and di- rected him to take the expedition out of that place, saying that he did not care in what direction, as long as they got away, and made the further explanation that one of his men had found a quantity of gold and that he had forbidden him to speak of it to anyone. He said if his people knew there was gold in the country they would all leave him; that he was not there to get gold, as he had plenty of it. The guide then led the way into North Park. The place where the gold was found must have been in what is now Albany County. The expedition wintered at Fort Laramie and Sir George made a study of the motley collection of trappers, hunters and guides who gathered around the fort during that time. He also became acquainted with a number of noted Indian chiefs, who told him of their hunting grounds to the north and of the magnificent game in that region. Jim Bridger chanced to be at Fort Laramie that winter and Gore made his acquaintance. Both men were a revelation to each other. The like of Jim Bridger had never been en- countered by the lordly Englishman. Here was a man of the forest who had no reverence for royalty and could not be obsequious if he tried. His answers were direct and to the point and he called things by their right names as far as his limited knowledge of the English language would per- mit. The nobleman admired Bridger's honesty and sim- plicity and resolved to make use of his knowledge of the country and his experience as a hunter. He wanted big game, and here was the man who could lead him to the best hunting grounds. Then commenced diplomacy on the part
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of Gore. He wanted to hire Bridger for the following sum- mer and winter and attempted to secure his services at a good round figure, salary to commence from the time the expedition should leave Fort Laramie in the spring. Bridg- er cut the diplomacy short by accepting the proposition, providing he was placed on the payroll from the moment of that conversation, explaining that he had a number of op- portunities for employment, one of which he should accept unless his services were engaged by the English lord. He did not care to continue negotiations further, and the result was that he was placed on the payroll at once, and he be- came the guide of the Gore expedition from that time until it left the country in 1856. In the spring, hunting was re- sumed, the route being up the North Platte through what is now Natrona County, and north into Johnson County to the headwaters of Powder River, to the old Portugese fort. From there Gore made hunting trips in various directions, the main route being down Powder River. Arriving at the mouth of that stream, he turned up the Yellowstone to Tongue River, in the vicinity of which he made a winter camp, building a fort on the Tongue eight miles above its confluence with the Yellowstone, on what afterwards be- came the Fort Keogh military reservation. This aristocrat did not have happy times among the free and easy Ameri- cans who were in the country at that time and his last win- ter was a stormy one in more than one particular, and by the time spring opened he was ready to leave the Rocky Mountains and return to civilization. The only man he met in this country whom he cared for as a companion was Jim Bridger. All others were distasteful to him.
In his "Old Santa Fe Trail," Colonel Inman describes the companionship of the two men-one, a rich, educated, whole-souled Irish nobleman; the other, a man who from boyhood had lived on the plains, depending on his tact and rifle for food and life.
Sir George would lie in bed until ten o'clock in the morning, then he took a bath, ate his breakfast, and set out generally alone for the day's hunt. It was not unusual for
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him to remain out until ten at night, and he seldom returned without "meat." His dinner was then served, to which he extended an invitation to Bridger.
After the meal was over, Sir George was in the habit of reading some book, and drawing out from Bridger his ideas about the author.
The Irishman usually read from Shakespeare, which Bridger "reckin'd was too highfalutin" for him. "That thar big Dutchman, Mr. Full-stuff," he commented, "was a leetle too fond of lager beer."
Sir George read the "Adventures of Baron Munchau- sen" to Bridger, who remarked that "he be dog-goned ef he swallowed everything that thar baron said." He thought he was "a liar," yet acknowledged that some of his own adventures among the Blackfeet would be equally wonder- ful "if writ down in a book."
Bridger thought Sir George a successful hunter; an opinion justified by the records of the two years' hunt; forty grizzly bears, twenty-five hundred buffalo, numerous ante- lope and other small game.
When Sir George Gore came to Wyoming, he was ac- companied by a distinguished astronomer and scientist, Lord Fitz Williams of England, who visited the Rocky Mountain country for the purpose of making some impor- tant astronomical observations. His work was carefully done during the summer, from chosen points in the Black Hills. He was a warm personal friend of Sir George and the two spent the few months together pleasantly. Their friendship was not disturbed by the fact that their objects and aims in life were so different. The one was of the earth and gained amusement in the pursuit of the wild beasts of the forest, while the other sought pleasure in the study of the heavenly bodies. Lord Fitz Williams remained in Wyo- ming during the summer and in the fall went with the party to Fort Laramie, and from that point back to the states, and finally to England.
The year 1855 was rather uneventful at Fort Laramie. The garrison suffered greatly for the want of vegetables.
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Arrangements had been made as early as 1851 to cultivate a garden. It was planted and cared for until the dry weather came on, which produced a total failure of crop. This gar- dening experiment was undertaken regularly each year, but the result was only a partial success. In 1855 irrigation to a limited extent was introduced by Mexicans who were in the habit of hanging around the fort. This success in growing vegetables reduced the number of cases of scurvy. During this year, the guarding of government trains and the regular monthly mail was about the only act of service performed by the troops at the fort. A number of mail car. riers had been killed between Fort Kearney and Fort Lara- mie during the summer, and the road between the posts be- came dangerous for small parties to travel. The Sioux had things pretty much their own way along the Platte River that season and were making good their declaration of the year before that they would kill every white man who came into the country. Emigrants on the North Platte were robbed regularly both east and west of the fort. The con- ditions were simply disgraceful to the government. Before the troops came there were murders and robberies every few days, but since the troops had come into the country things were worse. For every Indian killed by the troops, a dozen white men would be killed by the Indians. Officers at Fort Laramie that season complained bitterly of the dis- comforts. They did not like to be cooped up in the fort, and to go out on expeditions along the North Platte and up to Independence Rock was a disagreeable duty to perform, and great danger attended this sort of service. Finally it was recommended that a post be established at the crossing on the Platte about two miles above where Caspar now stands, but for a time nothing came of the recommenda- tion. The year closed at Fort Laramie in a manner that was very discouraging to the officers and soldiers at that post, and there were loud complaints sent to Washington regarding the defenseless condition of the country. The consolidated Sioux tribes were well satisfied with their sea- son's work. They had robbed emigrant trains and secured
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a large number of the white men's scalps. The War De- partment at Washington was severely criticised by the newspapers at the time for bringing on a war with the Sioux tribes, which was resulting in the death of many emigrants along the Overland trail. It was urged that the government was directly responsible for the deaths caused by Indians, and the pillage that was going on, of the emigrant trains. Under public pressure the War Department sent a force west in the spring of 1856, and some few troops were sent to Fort Laramie, but the force at that place was practically. helpless, as it consisted entirely of infantry. These were thrown out at two or three points on the trail, yet little good was accomplished. In the early summer of that year the Sioux sent a force into the Black Hills and succeeded in capturing all the mules and horses at the fort belonging to the quartermaster's department. A force was promptly sent out to recapture the stock, but the Indians only laughed at these foot soldiers and not one of the stolen animals was recovered. The murdering of emigrants and the robbing of trains continued during the summer. The government at last became aroused and resolved to punish the combined Sioux tribes, and Fort Laramie is destined to become soon a military depot of importance and the center of warlike operations of great magnitude; but from this on the history of Fort Laramie will be included in the history of the Indian wars of Wyoming, which come in their proper place and under their appropriate headings.
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CHAPTER XXVI.
THE OREGON EMIGRATION.
DR. ELIJAH WHITE'S TRAIN OF 1842-TRIALS AND TRIBULATIONS BY THE WAY-FITZPATRICK THE GUIDE-EMIGRANTS OF 1844-EXTRAVAGANT PRICES AT FORT LARAMIE THAT YEAR-1475 PEOPLE GO TO OREGON IN 1844-SENATOR BENTON'S PROPHECY-THE BUSINESS OF THE TRAIL IN 1845-THE RUSH IN 1846-INDIANS SAY WHITE MEN ARE AS NUMEROUS AS THE LEAVES OF THE FOREST-SCENES AT FORT LARA- MIE-INCREASING EMIGRATION OF 1847-8-THE "DAYS OF FORTY- NINE."
Dr. Elijah White, who went to Oregon by sea in 1837, as a missionary doctor, returned east in the summer of 1840, having had a misunderstanding with Rev. Jason Lee, who was at the head of the Methodist missionary work in Ore- gon. On White's return, he was appointed Indian agent for Oregon and in 1842 we find him at the head of a colony, which is to proceed overland to Oregon. There were 112 persons in the company, fifty-two being over 18 years of age. The start was made from Independence, Missouri, on May 16. Before reaching the Wyoming country, Dr. White had made himself unpopular and the colonists deposed him and elected in his place Lansford W. Hastings. On the 23rd of June the company reached Fort Laramie, where they re- mained a week, repairing and refitting. At this point they were joined by F. X. Matthieu and half a dozen Canadians. They were informed by Mr. Bissonette, who was in charge of the fort, that it would be impossible for them to take their oxen and wagons through to Oregon, so they sold part of them to him. The price received was to be what they paid in the east, and they were to take in exchange coffee and sugar at a dollar a pound. It had been arranged that this company should be escorted through Wyoming by Fre- mont, but the explorer did not reach Fort Laramie until the 15th of July and the emigrants resolved not to wait.
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