USA > Wyoming > The history of Wyoming from the earliest known discoveries > Part 41
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mounted men was obliged to walk back to Fort Laramie, a distance of 120 miles. Moonlight had a heavy burden to bear in this transaction; not only was be obliged to walk back to Fort Laramie, but he was forced to listen to remarks that were not at all complimentary from the troopers, who held him responsible for the toilsome journey they were obliged to make on foot. The colonel of the Eleventh Kan- sas closed his career as a soldier with that eventful tramp from Dead Man's Fork to the mouth of the Laramie.
The misfortunes of Colonel Moonlight were fast bring- ing his affairs in Wyoming to a climax. The horses lost by him, as stated above, were serviceable animals, belonging to General Connor's old regiment. In consequence of this loss, the men had been obliged to walk back to Fort Laramie. Their indignation at what they styled the stupidity of Colo- nel Moonlight reached the boiling point and continued so until they met their old friend and comrade, General Connor, who had led them through dangers seen and unseen from California to Salt Lake. Connor was attached to these men by ties such as band men together who have shared the same dangers on many a battlefield. An investigation proved that these horses had been put on herd regardless of the protest of nearly every trooper who rode them. They had clearly pointed out the great danger to be expected from Indians, but Moonlight, as usual, was obstinate. He had given the order to have the horses turned out, and so out they must go. They were lost, and in the identical way pointed out to him by the California troopers. Moonlight had committed many blunders and indiscretions, but this last affair was too much for Connor to bear and he promptly suspended him from command and sent him in disgrace to Fort Kearney to be mustered out. He reported his action to General Dodge and said in explanation: "His adminis- tration here was a series of blunders."
The ravages and murders committed by the Indians along the Overland route aroused feelings of horror through- out the east, and yet when General Connor's expedition was nearly organized these same people declared that the Indi-
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ans wanted to make peace, but the army officers out west refused them this boon, preferring to kill them off. Unsuc- cessful contractors in Wyoming and Colorado confirmed these reports which had appeared in eastern newspapers. Congress discussed the subject and as usual in such cases there were plenty of people who wasted their sympathy on the hostiles. Major General Dodge became annoyed over these reports and telegraphed General Connor as follows: "Could you make peace with those Indians? Representa- tions are sent to Washington that they desire peace, and that we will not make it. Have they made any overtures to you, or shown any disposition to make peace?"
General Connor did not manifest any surprise at this question from his superior officer, nor did he, seemingly, regard it as very important. Having long had to do with Indians and white men in such affairs, he did not even take the trouble to more than just refer to the matter incidentaly in a dispatch to General Dodge from Julesburg. This is his manner of answering the question: "I have just returned from up the road. Indians attacked stage line west of North Platte; killed several persons. Send me four regi- ments of cavalry and two of infantry and necessary sup- plies. The cavalry should come by forced marches. I will move my headquarters to Laramie in four days, and will move against the Indians as soon as cavalry arrives. In- dians have made no overtures for peace; on the contrary, they are getting bolder every day."
General Pope, discussing this subject at the time, gave proof of his knowledge of the character of these Indians when he said: "The Indians seem to be hostile and active all over the plains and keep up these hostilities from day to day in the constant expectation of having a treaty made with them which will exempt them from punishment for what they have already done, and at the same time furnish them with blankets, powder and ball and such other sup- plies as they need. This has hitherto been the practice of our Indian Department, and the Indians naturally expect from day to day the same thing will happen now. It has
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long been a saying of the Sioux Indians along the Platte that whenever they are poor they have only to go down on the Overland route and kill a few white men, and there will be a treaty of peace which will supply all they need. Under such a system we cannot expect peace on the frontier except for short periods."
General Connor now devoted most of his time getting ready his Powder River expedition. General Pope suddenly became deeply interested in punishing the Indians on the Powder River. He telegraphed to General Dodge, who was then at Leavenworth, that the Indians in the Black Hills must be routed immediately, as their presence there would interfere with the construction of the wagon road from Sioux City to Montana. This message brought one from General Dodge to General Connor, urging him to push for- ward his expedition, first against the Cheyennes in the Black Hills, so as to protect Colonel Sawyer, who was building the wagon road, later into the Powder River country. Major General Pope at last became anxious to have the expedition start north from Fort Laramie and asked General Dodge very pointedly the question, why Connor was not on the march. To this, the latter replied that he found it very diffi- cult to get the troops intended for Connor from the Missouri River to Fort Laramie. The mud was very deep and the roads well-nigh impassable. Supplies had been sent for- ward, but they were fast in the mud all along the road. Dodge telegraphed Connor to get started as soon as possi- ble, even if he had to leave Fort Laramie before all his trains arrived. It was found that supplies were not the only thing that prevented Connor from moving. Some of the cavalry were still on the road, and then came another difficulty. Part of the troops under Connor were enlisted to serve against the rebels in the south, and the war being over, they were clamorous for their discharge; some of them going so far as to mutiny. Connor reasoned with the men and suc- ceeded in persuading them to remain loyal to the service. They went back to duty, but were far from being satisfied, as it was generally understood among them that they en-
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listed for a certain period or the war. Other troops had been mustered out, while they were retained in the service and required to fight an enemy quite different than the one for which they had volunteered.
On the 15th of July, General Connor returned to Fort Laramie. He had been able to accomplish very little for the protection of the stage line across Laramie Plains, ex- cept to send the mail through regularly by wagon under a heavy guard of soldiers. Passengers had accumulated at Denver and were awaiting an opportunity to get west. Oth- ers were at Forts Halleck and Bridger, desiring to go east. Among these were some women who were anxious to pro- ceed on their journey. These were all taken across the gap between Big Laramie Station and Fort Halleck under es- cort of troops. Nothing could be done about running the regular stages until Stagg's brigade should arrive, which was intended for escort service. After returning to Fort Laramie, Connor succeeded in convincing himself that he could see the end of his present trouble. He had been look- ing up the whereabouts of his supply train and troops that were on the road. He telegraphed General Dodge: "Com- missary stores ordered from Kearney and Cottonwood will be here in ten days; contractors' train in about fifteen. Will start left column in six days with what supplies I have. Stagg's brigade will not reach Halleck in less than two weeks; will arrive at Julesburg tomorrow. The Indians on the mail route are Cheyennes, Sioux and Arapahoes. Have five companies of Eleventh Kansas on that road, but they are insubordinate and disobedient, caused by Colonel Moon- light telling them that they were entitled to muster out and that I intended to muster them out of service here. Moon- light is at Kearney and refuses to give the commissary of musters the proper data to muster him out. I have ordered commissary to muster him out without it. I can hear noth- ing of the Indians north; they have the best of it at present. I wish they had Contractor Buckley under their scalping knives."
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General Sully was at this date operating on the Mis- souri, spending most of his time having peace talks with Blackfeet and Yanktonnais. He reported 1,000 lodges of hostile Sioux seventy miles south of Berthold and a large number of Cheyennes and Arapahoes still south of that. He was very anxious to secure reinforcements and promised as soon as additional troops should arrive at his camp to march against the Sioux and whip them badly and drive them south, where they would fall into the hands of troops marching from Laramie. His hesitation to push out into the Indian country greatly displeased General Grant, who grew impatient and made an order removing Sully, but tele- graphed Pope the following explanation: "I meant Sully in my dispatch to Sherman. The order for a change is not imperative, but the complaints against Sully and the man- agement of the quartermaster's department in the North- west are such that whilst we have so many generals of known ability, I think a change can do no harm and may do great good."
The following dispatch from General Connor to General Dodge gives the situation on the 21st: "Part of the First Nebraska Cavalry, stationed at Kearney, claim, as the war is over, that they are entitled to discharge, and have muti- nied. I have ordered Colonel Heath to suppress it with grape and cannister, and bring the leaders to trial. I will have subsistence sufficient from Kearney and Cottonwood in four days to move the column. There is only one con- tractor's train this side of Julesburg; it is loaded with bacon only, and was diverted from Denver. The Indians are still very troublesome, and are scattered in small bands along the mail and telegraph line; their families are north. I hear of a large body of Indians on Heart River. I shall make my arrangements to continue the campaign during the winter, if necessary. I can hear nothing of the mowing machines ordered for Powder River. I hope the troops from Leaven- worth will move as rapidly as possible. I have not troops enough and should have some more whose time does not expire this fall. I have great confidence in being able to
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close this war before midwinter. I am losing much pre- cious time now; cause, contractors."
The reply to the above bears date of the same day and shows that General Dodge was very anxious to conquer a peace with the savage tribes. "Get your columns off as soon as possible. We have got these Indian matters now in our hands, and must settle them. I will come to Laramie during August or September, and I hope you will catch them before that. All the troops are giving me great trouble. Infantry at Fort Leavenworth mutinied; cavalry (some of it) the same; but are now on the march under new reorganization of commands. All territories west of Missouri River and east of Rocky Mountains are in may command. Utah goes to Department of Pacific, so that Dakota and Montana are added to us. Would not send any troops to Utah only those necessary to protect Overland route. If they will not take stores to Powder River you will have to force them to do it. There are plenty of stores on the road, but when they will arrive it is impossible for me to even predict. I have done all in my power to forward them. They started in time to reach their destination long ago. Mowing machines are enroute. All troops going to plains have one and two years yet to serve. Seventh Kansas Cavalry are enroute by boat to Omaha. Tibbit's brigade of cavalry is between Fort Leavenworth and Kearney. Stagg's must be on the ground before this."
General Connor was very glad to learn that Major Gen- eral Dodge would visit Fort Laramie that he might see for himself the conditions on the Overland and the necessity of employing troops recruited for this particular service. He well understood that General Dodge did not underestimate the hard work that was to be encountered in the Powder River country, and he likewise realized that General Dodge was rendering him every assistance in his power. The com- pleted plans for the Powder River campaign were now ready to be sent to the various commanders interested in the move- ment against the hostiles. While we await the arrival of
H. B. KELLY.
GEN. F. W. LANDER.
JOHN PHILLIPS.
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troops and supplies, it will be well to explain the wagon road expedition which has been previously mentioned.
The opening of the government wagon road from Nio- brara, Nebraska, to Virginia City, Montana, was an under- taking accompanied by both danger and hardship. Con- gress made an appropriation of $50,000 during the winter of 1864-5 for the purpose of constructing this road and Colonel James A. Sawyers of Sloux City, Iowa, was given command of the expedition. The Secretary of War assigned two com- panies of infantry and twenty-six mounted cavalry as es- cort. The working train consisted of fifty-two wagons drawn by oxen. The expedition left Niobrara in the early summer of 1865 and proceeded west 266 miles, at which point they forded the Niobrara River and crossed over to the South Cheyenne and followed up that stream until they came in full view of the Big Horn Mountains. At this point the guide for the expedition led them across toward Powder River and they were soon entangled among deep ravines, when it was discovered they had reached a country where not a drop of water was to be found for the stock or men. They floundered on, but were finally obliged to return to the North Cheyenn, which stream they followed until they reached Rawhide Butte. They had now arrived in the vicin- ity of the place where Lieutenant G. K. Warren of the Topographical Engineers had encountered the Sioux on his exploring expedition in September, 1857. That explorer was the first scientific man to go into that country and his report speaks of rich valleys, covered with fine grass, plenty of fuel and good timber for lumber and many useful miner- als. He gave the opinion at the time that gold was plen- tiful in that section. The savages did not take kindly to white men examining the country and they ordered Warren and his party to leave, and the Sioux being numerous and the white men few in numbers, they returned to Fort Lara- mie, the point from whence they came. After Warren left, that part of Wyoming slept on in the silence of former years, when it was again awakened by the arrival of Colo- nel Sawyer and his train of road-makers in the summer of
-(30)
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1865. Warren's expedition was a failure, because of the whim of the savage Sioux, but the red men had a different sort of man to deal with now.
Sawyers' party on the way back to the North Chey- enne, found a small pool of water in a ravine, where they proceeded to allow their animals to drink. Here they were attacked by Indians (Sioux and Cheyennes) and had it not been for the brave conduct of Colonel Sawyers the savages would have captured the train and scalped the escort and working force. As soon as the cry of "Indians" was heard, the Colonel formed a corral of the wagons and hurried the stock inside, and the men placed in a secure position for defense. The Indians, seeing that they had been outwitted, contented themselves with stampeding some of the horses belonging to the escort, and then retired. Only one man connected with the expedition was killed-that was Nat Hedges. The next morning the train pushed forward and before noon they were again attacked, but Colonel Sawyer was an experienced Indian fighter and quickly placed his command in position and opened on the savages with two six-pound mountain howitzers and kept them at bay for twenty-four hours, when they signified a desire for a talk. Colonel Sawyers, taking Captain Hilford with him, met a couple of the chiefs and after a time a treaty was entered into permitting the expedition to go forward upon turning over to the Indians thirteen boxes of hardtack, a wagon load of bacon, a sack of coffee and a sack of sugar. In this en- gagement, Colonel Sawyers had another man killed. A few days after this affair, and while the expedition was still on the North Cheyenne, the escort mutinied and refused to proceed farther west. This was a severe blow to the under- taking, but at this point Colonel John Godfrey, who was an assistant in the expedition, volunteered to accompany the Indian guide and look out a road for the train to pass over Powder River. Godfrey was an experienced soldier, having served in the Civil War and won his way from the ranks to the position of Colonel of a regiment. Godfrey and his Indian guide started at midnight from the camp on the
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North Cheyenne and at the end of three days they returned, bringing the intelligence that the command was within thirty-five miles of the Bozeman road, and that they had dis- covered a practical route across the country to this road. The mutineers were now quite willing to escort the train, as it was their plan to go to Fort Laramie. Colonel Sawyers pushed forward with his expedition and in due time reached the Bozeman road. They were now only fourteen miles from Fort Connor, which was at that time garrisoned by a por- tion of the Sixth Michigan Cavalry. Colonel Sawyers at once applied to the commander at the fort for an escort for his train to take the place of the two companies of in- fantry which had mutinied. General Connor at once or- dered one company of the Sixth Michigan Cavalry to per- form the escort duty and assigned the mutineers to the fort to act as garrison, where they remained through the follow- ing winter. The road-builders now pushed forward and passing along the base of the Big Horn Mountains they reached the vicinity of Little Tongue River. They were attacked by Indians, when Captain Cole of the Sixth Michi- gan Cavalry, who had accompanied the expedition from Fort Connor for recreation, was killed. The next day Colo- nel Sawyers pushed his command as far as the western branch of Tongue River, where he was again attacked by a band of Arapahoes, who were driven off by the use of ar- tillery. He had two men wounded. Sawyers now sent back to General Connor for assistance and after fourteen days a company of the Second California, in command of Captain Brown, arrived and escorted the train to the Big Horn, and after many experiences the road builders finally reached Virginia City. The men were paid off at that point and most of them returned to their homes by the way of Salt Lake, thence by stage to Fort Bridger, South Pass and Fort Laramie.
The following year Colonel Sawyers was again sent out with a working force to complete the opening of the road. He left the mouth of the Niobrara River on the 1st of May with sixty-nine men and two brass field-pieces. He was
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joined by two trappers just before starting, so that the en- tire force amounted to seventy-two men, including himself. There was no trouble until they reached the South Chey- enne River in Wyoming, when they were attacked by In- dians, but the savages were driven off without loss on the part of the white men, one Indian being killed. On reach- ing the North Fork of the Cheyenne, they followed up that stream and crossed over to the Dry Fork of Powder River, where they were again attacked by a party of Cheyennes, but suffered no loss. They finally reached Fort Reno. The following day after leaving the fort there was another at- tack, but the savages were again driven off. They next ar- rived at Fort Philip Kearney, which was under construc- tion by the Eighteenth United States Infantry, Colonel H. B. Carrington in command. Colonel Carrington had agreed to furnish an escort for the balance of the journey, but when the train was ready to pull out Colonel Sawyers was in- formed that the post commander had come to the conclusion that he would not be doing justice to his command to divide them in a country where lurked so many dangers, and con- sequently the road makers moved forward without the es- cort. From that time on they fought Indians every day and sometimes twice a day, but fortunately none of the party was killed. The work on the road was completed and the men discharged and paid off at Virginia City. Those were stirring times in Wyoming, and it has been admitted that there were few men who could have accomplished this work with so little loss.
Colonel James A. Sawyers was a typical western man, having served in the Mexican War, at the close of which he settled in southern Iowa, where he remained until 1857, when he moved to Sioux City, when in 1861 he joined a regi- ment of U. S. cavalry and did service against the Indians, who at that time infested northern Iowa. He entered the service as lieutenant, but was soon after promoted to lieu- tenant-colonel of the regiment. He was born in Tennessee, December 16, 1824, and died March 27, 1898. He was hon-
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ored and respected by all who knew him. His portrait will be found in this volume.
CHAPTER XXXV.
THE BLOODY YEAR ON THE PLAINS-[CONTINUED].
THE MASSACRE AT PLATTE BRIDGE-LIEUTENANT CASPAR W. COLLINS GOES OUT TO INSURE THE SAFETY OF A WAGON TRAIN AND IS KILLED TOGETHER WITH EIGHT OF HIS MEN AND SEVEN MORE ยท WOUNDED-TWENTY-ONE MEN BELONGING TO A WAGON TRAIN ARE ALL KILLED BUT THREE-3,000 INDIANS THREATEN PLATTE BRIDGE -How FORT CASPAR RECEIVED ITS NAME-ABLE LETTER ON THE INDIAN QUESTION BY MAJOR GENERAL JOHN POPE-INDIAN AFFAIRS DISCUSSED BY THE AUTHOR. - MISTAKES MADE BY THE GOVERNMENT IN THE MANAGEMENT OF INDIANS-GENERAL CONNOR IS GIVEN A NEW COMMAND-GENERAL WHEATON ASSUMES COMMAND OF THE DISTRICT OF NEBRASKA WITH HEADQUARTERS AT FORT LARAMIE- REDUCTION OF THE ARMY ON THE PLAINS-ITS EFFECT ON THE SAVAGES-THE MUCH TALKED OF PEACE CONFERENCE TO BE HELD AT FORT LARAMIE, MAY, 1866.
During the month of July the hostiles attacked the two lines of travel across Wyoming, simultaneously. Almost every station from Virginia Dale west as far as Bitter Creek was raided, and about the same time a heavy force of Indi- ans congregated along the telegraph line from Bridger's ferry west as far as Rocky Ridge. There were but few troops on the line and these scattered in small detachments with a view of protecting the telegraph. About July 20th it was noticed that Indians were moving to the west from points near Fort Laramie and to the east from the Sweetwater Valley. On the 24th hostiles appeared in large numbers on the hills on the north side of the Platte, opposite Platte Bridge Station.
On the afternoon of the 25th, Lieutenant Collins ar- rived from Fort Laramie to which place he had been ordered to be mustered as First Lieutenant, having been promoted
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from Second. That same afternoon a body of Indians had crossed the river where Caspar now stands and had at- tempted to run off some stock connected with the fort. There were three or four hundred Indians on this foray. Major Howard of the Eleventh Kansas Cavalry, com- mander of the post, sent out a detachment composed of about twenty men, infantry and cavalry, and attacked the savages. The squad of cavalry rode ahead of the infantry, and when they arrived at Garden Creek, the Indians see- ing the small force, attacked them in front and at the same time attempted to cut them off by a flanking move- ment. The soldiers opened fire and succeeded in killing one Indian. One of the troopers rushed forward and scalped the fallen brave and carried back the ghastly trophy to his comrades. The Indians now charged down on the caval- rymen and forced a retreat, the enraged savages following closely, charging past the infantrymen, who had remained half a mile back. One of the formost of the red warriors, riding at a furious pace, threw his spear at a retreating soldier and the weapon striking him in the back pierced his body so as to enter the heart. The trooper clung to his saddle and did not fall to the ground until he was within twenty feet of the stockade; when picked up he was dead. The infantry soldiers who were in the rear now cut off the Indians and forced them toward the mountains. There was more or less fighting all day. When night ar- rived a greater part of the Indians had retired across the river. That night, or rather at 2 o'clock in the morning, Lieutenant Bretney of Company G, Eleventh Ohio Cav- alry with ten men arrived at the fort. They were accom- panied by Captain A. Smyth Lybe, Sixth U. S. Infantry. These two officers were on their way to Fort Laramie to meet the paymaster who had sent for them to receive the pay for their respective commands. When the company was coming down the river road toward the bridge they noticed a considerable number of horses feeding not far off, and there was some speculation as to whom they be-
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