USA > Wyoming > The history of Wyoming from the earliest known discoveries > Part 32
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355
History of Fort Bridger.
the return journey was not undertaken until June, and they came back by way of South Pass. In the meantime, the troops at Fort Bridger, which had been placed on half ra- tions, were reduced to half of that. The snow was exceed- ingly deep that winter and little or no game was to be found and consequently horses and mules became the only article of diet. The wood for the camp had to be hauled a distance of five or six miles and the time finally came when there were no horses for this purpose. The men cheerfully har- nessed themselves to the number of thirty before each wagon to go to the woods and secure fuel. At last spring came and supplies reached them from Fort Laramie. As soon as the snow was off, General Johnston made a recon- noissance of the neighborhood and finally decided to estab- lish a post at Fort Bridger, as it was the most accessible point for concentrating troops to operate against the Mor- mons and Indians, and finally on the 10th of June, Troop K, First Cavalry, and Company E and H, Sixth Infantry, under the command of Major William Hoffman, who had just ar- rived with reinforcements and an ample supply train, were detailed to remain at the fort while General Johnston with the balance of the command pushed forward to Salt Lake. At about this time Brigham Young, on the part of the Mormons, consented without further resistance to the trans- fer of his office to Governor Cumming, and to the occupancy of the territory by United States troops. General Johnston then proceeded to establish old Camp Floyd, which was located forty miles south of Salt Lake City. Major Hoffman in the meanwhile was not idle at Fort Bridger. The build- ing of barracks and quarters, etc., was at once begun, the labor being performed by the troops. The old boulder-stone Mormon fort (hitherto referred to) had meanwhile been taken possession of and converted into storehouses.
On the 17th of August of this year, Brevet Lieutenant Colonel E. A. S. Canby, Major Tenth Infantry, relieved Major Hoffman in command, the latter joining the compa- nies of the Sixth Infantry, which shortly left the post en- route for California. During the administration of Colonel
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Canby, and in the same year, the building of the post was, for the most part, completed. Subsequently no important changes in the command of the fort occurred until May 29, 1861, when Captain Jesse A. Gore, Tenth Infantry, became commanding officer and so continued until the withdrawal of troops from Utah to aid in suppressing the rebellion.
About this period, Camp Floyd, already referred to, was abandoned, and the troops, under the command of Colo- nel Cooke, Second Cavalry, ordered to Fort Bridger. On his arrival he directed that the greatest portion of the subsist- ence stores then at the post, and such of the quartermas- ter's stores as were not needed elsewhere, should be sold at auction. Captain Gore, with the bulk of the garrison, joined Colonel Cooke's command, which early in August, 1861, left the post for Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Captain J. C. Clarke, Fourth Artillery, with a few soldiers whose terms of service had nearly expired, being left in charge of the post. In December of the same year, Captain Clarke was ordered east, leaving Ordnance Sergeant Boyer and a few privates at the post.
For about a year from this date, Fort Bridger was with- out a garrison or a commissioned officer, during which peri- od the property was under charge of Sergeant Boyer. This was a somewhat critical period in the history of the post. The Shoshone Indians were at that time hostile, and the Mormons, since the withdrawal of the troops, were regarded as still more dangerous enemies.
Fearing trouble, and for the protection of property at the post as well as for personal security, Judge W. A. Car- ter, the post trader, organized a volunteer company of mountaineers from the surrounding country. In December, 1862, Captain M. G. Lewis, with Company I, Third Califor- nia Volunteers, arrived and assumed command. During several succeeding years, Fort Bridger was garrisoned by companies of California and Nevada Volunteers; and vari- ous changes occurred from time to time. Major Noyes Bald- win, who afterwards located in Lander, was at one time in command.
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History of Fort Bridger.
In July, 1866, the volunteer troops were mustered out of service; and on the 13th of that month Brevet Major A. S. Burt, Captain Eighteenth Infantry, with Companies F and H, First Battalion of that regiment, arrived and as- sumed command. When the Territory of Wyoming was formed in 1868, the post and vicinity were included in that territory.
Many old trappers remained at the post or near there, becoming permanent settlers in the country, and these often visited the fort and station in the Overland days. Albert D. Richardson, who crossed the plains in 1865 with Vice President Schuyler Colfax, stopped over at Fort Bridger and there met and talked with Uncle Jack Robinson. He describes him as a good story-teller, droll and interesting. While waiting for dinner, Uncle Jack related that he had once, single-handed and alone, made 150 Blackfeet run. "How was that?" queried Richardson. "Well, you see," re- plied Uncle Jack, "it was one year when the red devils were very hostile and lifted the hair of every white man they could catch. While riding a swift horse one day, I came suddenly upon a party numbering fully 150. I turned quick- ly and ran, and they all ran after me." Then he added, "but they didn't catch Old Jack."
In 1866-7, the project of a railroad across the continent was in contemplation, and during these years portions of the garrison were, from time to time, engaged in escorting engi- neers of the Union Pacific Railway; also detachments were employed in guarding the Overland stage route 200 miles east of Green River. The troops were also employed in erecting additional storehouses and repairing old ones, un- der Brevet Major J. H. Belcher, Post Quartermaster.
The post was abandoned May 23, 1878, pursuant to General Orders No. 4, Headquarters Department of the Platte, series of 1878, and remained without a garrison until June 28, 1880, when in view of the location of the Northern Utes on the Uintah reservation, it was reoccupied by Com- panies F and H, Fourth Infantry, under the command of
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History of Wyoming.
Captain William H. Bisbee, in compliance with Special Or- ders No. 57, June, 1880, from same headquarters.
In the summer of 1883, the work of building additional barracks and quarters was commenced, with a view of in- creasing the garrison. In June of this year, two companies from the post and two from Fort Fred Steele, under com- mand of Major I. D. De Russy, Fourth Infantry, were en- gaged for about two months in repairing and improving the road to Fort Thornburg. From November 19 to Decem- ber 4, 1885, Company H, Twenty-first Infantry, under the command of Lieutenant F. E. Eltonhead, of same regiment, was at work on the telegraph line between the post and Car- ter Station, being engaged in replacing the old wooden tele- graph poles by iron ones, in accordance with instructions from Department Headquarters.
After the necessity for which the post was established had ceased, its garrison was useful in protecting the Over- land stage route, on which it was located, and in keeping in subjection the Ute and Shoshone tribes of Indians, who roamed in the vicinity. The utility of the post consisted in its being a base of supplies for troops serving at the Wind River Agency and Sweetwater mining district, and a win- tering place for the cavalry operating in that country dur- ing the summer.
The post was discontinued and troops withdrawn No- vember 6, 1890.
This closes the military history of Fort Bridger. The civil history of that locality and the record made by honored pioneers in that section will be given in connection with the history of Uintah County, which will appear in the second volume of my work.
359
Events on the Overland.
CHAPTER XXIX.
EVENTS ON THE OVERLAND.
WHAT CAME OF FREMONT'S EXPLORATIONS-HOCKADAY AND LIGGETT'S MONTHLY STAGE FROM THE MISSOURI TO SALT LAKE-FORT KEAR- NEY, SOUTH PASS AND HONEY LAKE WAGON ROAD-WINTER CAMP IN THE WIND RIVER VALLEY-COLONEL F. W. LANDER AND THE SHOSHONE INDIANS-RUSSELL, MAJORS AND WADDELL, THE FREIGHT- ERS-DAILY STAGE LINE-THE PONY EXPRESS-FIGHT BETWEEN THE SHOSHONES AND SIOUX-DEATH OF THE WAR CHIEF WASHAKIE'S ELDEST SON-CONSTRUCTION OF THE TELEGRAPH LINE.
The Overland trail through Wyoming became the great continental highway over which passed the army of settlers who located in Oregon, California and Utah. Its geographi- cil position was such as to make it the most direct route to tle territories named, and it had another important ad- vintage. It was the one easy route from the Missouri to the Columbia. There was water, feed and fuel in abundance, tree absolute necessities on a road to be used for emigra- ton purposes. I have already told of Robert Stuart and his companions discovering this short-cut to the Pacific; ve have seen General Ashley, Captain Sublette, Captain Bonneville, Rev. Parker, the missionary, Marcus Whitman, Father De Smet, John C. Fremont and other men of renown Dass over this trail.
During the year 1840, Congress had under considera- ton the establishing of a line of posts through the Indian country, and the Secretary of War was asked to report to the Senate, giving his opinion as to the necessity of estab- lishing these posts from the Missouri River to the South Pass. That officer, in reply to the Senate resolution asking for information, said that he could not satisfactorily answer until the completion of certain explorations undertaken by the War Department, which he expected would be finished during the year. He, however, considered that three posts
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History of Wyoming.
would be sufficient, one at the junction of the North and South Forks of the Platte, one at the mouth of the Lara- mie, and the third might be at the mouth of the Popo Agie on Wind River or at the junction of Horse Creek and Green River. The report and recommendations were of such a nature as to prevent the subject being further considered by Congress until the explorations spoken of were made. The evident object of the Secretary of War was to prevent action by Congress. No explorations were made into this section of country, and it was not until the spring of 1842 that an expedition was fitted out to explore the North Platte, the Sweetwater and South Pass. This was Fre- mont's exploring party, but he did not go to the mouth of the Popo Agie. Nor did he get nearer Horse Creek than the main Newfork, and yet that was near enough to answer all practical purposes. He reported in favor of a post at the mouth of the Laramie, but made no recommendation &t that time for any other post in Wyoming.
The settling up of the territories west brought about the necessity of military protection for the people, and col- sequently the founding of military posts throughout the ir- terior. The army post created a demand for transportation and the government found it advantageous to employ con tractors to handle its freight, consisting of military stores ammunition, etc. Such contracts were let as early as 184. for transporting the supplies to Fort Kearney, Fort Lara mie and Fort Hall. The founding of cities increased this demand for transportation, as merchants found it cheaper to employ freighters than to own and operate freighting outfits. The outgrowth of this demand for freight trans- portation was the organization of transportation compa- nies. The supplies for General Albert Sidney Johnston's army in 1857 were transported by contract, and the freight- ers were Russell, Majors and Waddell, who had for a num- ber of years been engaged in the freighting business be- tween the Missouri River and Santa Fe. Following John- ston's army were three large trains belonging to the firm I have mentioned, loaded with five hundred thousand
PONY EXPRESS STATION.
DEER CREEK OVERLAND STAGE STATION. (Now Glenrock.)
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Events on the Overland.
pounds of supplies. The train was in the rear of the army and without a military escort. The head train had passed Green River and the two following it were still on the Sandy, when a Mormon force under Colonel George A. Smith came up and captured the three trains. No violence was offered to the freighters, but orders were given to wagon masters to surrender the property to the Mormons; at the same time each was told to select a wagon and a yoke of oxen and take supplies sufficient to last the men until they should reach Fort Leavenworth. As soon as this was done, the trains were set on fire and the stores, together with the wagons, consumed. This high-handed outrage was a full declaration of war on the part of the Mormons against the general government, and besides, it placed Johnston's army on very slender subsistence for the winter. This is more fully explained in the history of Fort Bridger. The men belonging to the freighting outfits arrived safely at the Missouri River and were the first to report the loss of the supplies to the government, which they made known to the commander at Fort Laramie as they passed through. The cattle captured by the Mormons were returned to the United States authorities at Salt Lake the following year.
Early in the spring of 1858, the War Department hur- ried forward an immense amount of supplies for troops at Fort Laramie, Fort Bridger, Fort Hall and Salt Lake. Rus- sell, Majors and Waddell had on the plains that year 3,500 wagons, 40,000 oxen and 4,000 employes, but some of these were on the Santa Fe trail. The road across Wyoming in 1858 was a grand thoroughfare, filled with government freighters, army ambulances and emigrant outfits. The most of the wagons and oxen were left in the west and never returned to the Missouri River country. Remarkable to relate, the Indians seldom annoyed these freighters. The road over which this freight was carried was comparatively level as far west as South Pass. There was an abundance of grass and water nearly every mile of the way, yet I find General Johnston forwarding a report to the quartermas- ter's department at Washington saying that it would be
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History of Wyoming.
impossible to find subsistence along the road for the number of animals it would require to transport the freight neces- sary for the army. This was only the ordinary blunder of an eastern officer who knew nothing of the nutritious qual- ity of the grasses on the plains and in the mountains.
'The conditions, circumstances and developments of the west brought about new demands, such as mail, express and passenger facilities, and these had to be supplied. In the early days of the occupation of Fort Laramie by United States troops, the great difficulty was to secure mail. Let- ters intended for the western posts went to Fort Leaven- worth and then were forwarded as opportunity offered to Fort Kearney, Fort Laramie, Fort Hall and Salt Lake. In 1851, John M. Hockaday and William Liggett established a stage line to carry the mail and express packages to the western posts. The stage also carried passengers. The mail contract with the United States government called for making the journey from St. Joseph, Missouri, to Salt Lake in twenty-one days, and the same number of days for the return, making forty-two days for the round trip. The horses were changed at Fort Kearney, Fort Laramie, Fort Hall and Salt Lake. When the stage reached a watering place, the driver watered his horses, and when they needed feed, turned them out on the prairie. In this way the mail and passengers were carried. This continued until 1858, when Russell, Majors and Waddell, the government freight- ers, became the purchasers of the Hockaday and Liggett line, which had grown from a monthly to a semi-monthly. The new proprietors ran the line from Atchison, Kansas, and built stables and stations every ten or fifteen miles, and horses were strung out along the line. When all was in readiness, stages left Atchison and Salt Lake every day, changing horses at each station, and made the 1,200 miles in ten days. The line was supplied with Concord coaches and the animals used were Kentucky mules. It took a large number of freight teams to supply hay, grain and provisions for the relay posts. From Salt Lake, Ben Holliday ran a line to San Francisco, the government paying each of these
363
Events on the Overland.
Overland mail lines $400,000 for carrying the mail from the Missouri to San Francisco. The daily line was put in opera- tion in the spring of 1859.
In order to give a correct history of the great Overland trail, it will be necessary to show the interest which the general government was commencing to take in this high- way.
In the winter of 1856-7, Congress made an appropria- tion for the building of what was called the Fort Kearney, South Pass and Honey Lake wagon road. This was sub- stantially a government road from the Missouri through to California. The object was to open a highway which would permit emigrants to reach the Pacific coast without passing through Salt Lake or the territory occupied by the Mor- mons. A massacre of a whole train of people at Mountain Meadow, Utah, who were on their way to California, by Mormons, had prompted Congress to open a new route, and William M. McGraw secured the contract, with the under- standing that the road builders should be accompanied by a sufficiently large military escort to give protection while the work was going on. The soldiers were accompanied by C. Drexler, taxidermist, and J. G. Cooper, surgeon. The expedition left Fort Leavenworth in the spring of 1857 and at once started for Fort Kearney, where the work of con- struction was to commence. The route was west by the Overland trail and for the most of the way little work had to be done. There were some new crossings made, and at such places the banks on either side of the river were graded down. The expedition went to Ash Hollow, Chim- ney Rock, Fort Laramie, Independence Rock, Devil's Gate, and late in the fall reached Rocky Ridge, near South Pass. The country at that season of the year presented a mid- winter appearance, and to attempt going into camp at such a place was out of the question. The government guide recommended the Wind River Valley as a desirable win- tering place, so the soldiers and road builders turned north and wading through deep snow finally reached the valley, and winter quarters were selcted on the Popo Agie River at
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History of Wyoming.
a point two miles northeast of where Lander now stands. The encampment was surrounded with abundant feed for horses and mules and game of all kinds was plentiful. Here in one of the most beautiful spots for a winter camp the sol- diers and artisans remained until the spring opened, when Colonel F. W. Lander arrived and took command of the ex- pedition. It was the first visit of Colonel Lander to this beautiful valley and it is said that he was much pleased with it. Hon. B. F. Lowe became acquainted with the colo- nel a year later. Lander liking the location of the valley, and Lowe being favorably impressed with the many good qualities of the colonel, nothing was more natural than that he should name the town, which he was afterwards to locate, in honor of Colonel Lander. On the 1st of June, 1858, the command moved south to Rocky Ridge and took up the work of building the road on across Wyoming. Before leav- ing, Colonel Lander negotiated a treaty with the Shoshone tribe for a right of way through the country claimed by them, extending westward from the Sweetwater to Fort Hall. The Indians were paid on the spot in horses, fire- arms, ammunition, blankets, and many other articles of value, highly prized by Washakie and the chief men of the nation. The Shoshones remembered Colonel Lander kindly ever after and they mourned his death when they heard of it. He made several railroad surveys through the Rocky Mountains, and in one of these expeditions he was the sole survivor. In 1861 he entered the war for the preservation of the Union and in May of that year he was appointed a brigadier general and distinguished himself in several cam- paigns in Virginia. He died in 1862. His wife was an ac- tress of note, Jean Margaret Davenport. At the breaking out of the war she volunteered as an army nurse and re- mained in the service until 1865, when she again returned to the stage.
It is proper here to mention two very important enter- prises which relate to the Overland trail; in fact they are a part of the trail itself, and these are the conveniences for crossing the various streams. The one great obstacle in the
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Events on the Overland.
way of the early emigrants was the swollen rivers which crossed their path. The hardy trappers, traders and explor- ers cared little for rivers, but when it came to the women and children connected with the Overland travel it was a serious business, and ways and means were finally found to overcome the difficulty. The history of the ferries and bridges of the Overland through Wyoming is not as clear as could be wished. It certainly extends beyond the memory of any man now living. It is safe to say that the bridge across the Platte at Fort Laramie is the first structure of that kind built within the present limits of our state. This bridge has been mentioned in the history of Fort Laramie. In those early days it was hard to find men who would fur- nish the capital for these great conveniences along the Over- land trail, for the reason that the season when a bridge was necessary was very short, being only two or three months in the year. After the month of August the rivers could be crossed at almost any point, and consequently the emigrants would not pay for going over a bridge.
Early in the fifties Louis Ganard built a toll bridge on the Sweetwater, a short distance below Independence Rock, and during the seasons of high water he did a paying busi- ness. He had a sort of sliding scale of prices, intended to be adjusted to the flood in the river. If the stream was run- ning very high he charged ten dollars for a wagon and its teams. If the water was lower the charge was five dollars, and he had also a three dollar rate. Ganard was a French Canadian and had a squaw for a wife, with whom he lived until the time of his death. He had two nephews, half- breeds, who lived with him. As has been related, the Mor- mons, in 1847, established a ferry for their own convenience on the North Platte, where Fort Caspar was afterwards built. This ferry was kept up for a number of years, but there was always difficulty in keeping track of the boat. Mormon emigrants were instructed before leaving the east to build a raft at this ferry in the event of their being unable to find the regular boat. About the time the bridge on the Sweetwater was built, John Reshaw, or Richaud, bridged
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History of Wyoming.
the North Platte at a point seven miles below the Mormon ferry. He did a good business there but was much annoyed because people refused to pay his prices and went up to the ferry and crossed somehow, either in a boat or on a raft. In those days the horses were driven across the ford, but the wagons were carried over on the improvised ferry boat, also the people and their effects. At last some one put in a good boat and stretched a rope across the stream, establish- ing a regular ferry. This was too much for Reshaw. He stormed, roared, and finally gave the parties running the ferry $300 to stop business. He did not, however, purchase the ferry boat and rope, but he thought he had secured the traffic for his bridge. W. H. Carmichael, who now resides at Wheatland, passed over the Overland trail in 1859, being one of a company going to California. The train was a large one, and when it reached Reshaw's bridge, the leader entered into negotiations with Reshaw for crossing. The price was fixed at $2.50 per wagon and the emigrants made up their minds they could do better by going to the ferry. Reshaw informed them that the ferry was a thing of the past and no longer existed, but the leader of the train did not choose to believe a statement that was made so clearly in the interest of the toll-bridge keeper and consequently he proposed to go on up to the ferry. Reshaw then notified him that if he persisted in going on, he would be obliged to come back and cross the bridge at last, and if he did return, double price would be charged, that is, $5.00 a wagon. On went the train toward the ferry and on arriving there they found the rope down and the ferry boat moored on the opposite side. The water was high, but a man was placed on a horse and took a rope across. After considerable delay and no little hard work, the ferry was re-established and the fami- lies, teams and goods were rapidly transferred to the north bank of the river. All but four teams had been taken over when Reshaw, accompanied by three men, all heavily armed, put in an appearance, and seeing the situation, his indigna- tion knew no bounds. He abused and threatened those on shore, remarking that he had influence with the Indians
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