USA > Wyoming > The history of Wyoming from the earliest known discoveries > Part 45
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"Our command left Fort Laramie on the 30th day of July, 1865, enroute for the Powder River. The column was known as the "Powder River Indian Expedition," and was composed of eighty-eight men belonging to company F, Sev- enth Iowa Cavalry, under command of Captain N. J. O'Brien, with First Lieutenant John S. Brewer, Second
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Lieutenant Eugene F. Ware; sixty men of company E, Eleventh Ohio Volunteer Cavalry, under Captain Marshall; seventy men of company K, Eleventh Ohio Volunteer Caval- ry, Captain J. L. Humphreyville; fifty-seven men of company E, Eleventh Ohio Volunteer Cavalry; sixty-one men of company M, Second California Cavalry, commanded by Captain Albert Brown; forty-four men of company L, Sec- ond California Cavalry, commanded by Captain George Conrad; fourteen men, a detachment of the Second Mis souri Artillery; fifteen men, a detachment of the signal corps of the United States Army, under command of Lieu- tenant J. Willard Brown, assisted by Second Lieutenant A. V. Richards; fifteen men on detached service from the Eleventh Ohio Cavalry, serving in the Quartermaster's de- partment; seventy-five Pawnee scouts under command of Captain Frank North, and seventy Winnebago and Omaha Indians under command of Captain E. W. Nash, together with six companies of the Sixth Michigan Cavalry, num- bering about two hundred and fifty men, under command of Colonel Kidd. The Michigan troops were intended as a garrison for the first military post established, to be loca- ted on the Powder River, and were not properly a part of the left column on the Powder River Indian Expedition. Not including the Michigan troops, we had, all told, four hundred and four soldiers and one hundred and forty-five Indians, together with about one hundred and ninety-five teamsters and wagon-masters in the train, which was in the direct charge of Robert Wheeling, Chief Train Master. The General's staff was limited to five officers: Captain C. J. Laurant, A. A. G .; Captain Sam. Robbins, First Colo- rado Cavalry, Chief Engineer; myself as Quartermaster; Captain W. H. Tubbs, A. C. S .; and Oscar Jewett, A. D. C. "We arrived at the south bank of the Platte, August 1st, expecting to cross at the old La Bonta crossing. The General, with his guides and advance guards, had arrived the night before, expecting from information furnished by the guides that he would find a good crossing here. Our guides, chief among whom were Major James Bridger, Nick Janisse, Jim. Daugherty, Mich. Bouyer, John Resha, Ant- wine LaDue and Bordeaux, were supposed to be thoroughly posted on this country, especially with the region so near Fort Laramie, where they had been hundreds of times. But the treacherous Platte was too much for them. The spring flood that had just passed had washed away the crossing, and after ten hours' diligent searching, not one of the cav-
Sake Q. Freeze being one
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alry escort could find a place to cross the river without swimming his horse and endangering his life. Coming up with the train, which had been delayed and did not reach camp until afternoon, I found the General thoroughly dis- couraged and more than disgusted with his guides. The river had been examined for four miles each way from La Bonta crossing, and not a place could be found where it would be possible to cross a train. The alternative was presented to march to Platte Bridge, one hundred and thirty miles out of our regular course. Soon after parking the train 1 rode off by myself, on my government mule, up the river, searching for an antelope. Without noticing the distance traveled I was soon nearly five miles from camp and out of sight of same over a sharp bluff near the river. Just beyond this bluff I discovered a fresh buffalo trail leading down into the water, and across the river on the opposite bank could distinguish tracks that the buffalo had made coming out of the stream. Curious to know how they could cross so straight without swimming in the rapid current, I rode my mule into the river and crossed on a good solid bottom. Returning by the same route, I marked the location in my mind, rode back to camp in time for supper. Soon after feasting on antelope steak that I had captured on my expe- dition, and having lit my pipe, I strolled up to General Con- nor and asked if he proposed crossing the Platte at this point, or if he intended to go around by the bridge. The General seemed put out by my question, which, under the circumstances, he considered aggravating, and answered me rather roughly that we would have to go around by the bridge. I told him that if it was the train that bothered him about crossing, I would guarantee to have it on the opposite bank of the river by daybreak the next morning. The General's reply was: 'Very well, sir; have it there.' After 9 p. m., when all was still in camp, I detailed a gang of teamsters, about forty men, with picks and shovels, and marched them up the river to the buffalo trail and set them to work making a road. It being a moonlight night the work was easily prosecuted, and by break of day on the morrow the lead team of the one hundred and eighty-five wagons stood, leaders in the river, waiting the command to march. As soon as it was light enough to distinguish the opposite shore I rode in ahead of the leaders and gave the command "forward." There was no break or halt until the train was parked opposite the General's camp, all before sunrise. In fact the entire train was parked, the mules
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turned loose to graze and the men preparing their breakfast, when the sentinels on the opposite bank of the river discov. ered the train beyond the Platte and gave the alarm to the General, who rushed out of his tent in his stocking feet to see what he did not believe was true. He immediately ordered "boots and saddles" to be sounded, and in a short time the entire command was with us. After breakfast our column moved on, passing over a country perfectly destitute of grass or timber, and scarcely any water. On the 2nd and 3rd, made thirty-three miles, following up the north bank of the Platte, nothing of interest transpiring worthy of record. "4th. Opened with a cold, drizzling rain. Broke camp at 6 a. m. Weather soon cleared off. Found roads hilly; in fact no roads at all-an absolutely untracked country. No wagon had ever been near our line of march. Captain Brown, with two California companies, were ordered to push on, following the Platte, while we struck off to the right. They were to come by way of Platte Bridge to the south slope of the Big Horn Mountains into the Wind River Valley, and thoroughly reconnoitre that region of the coun- try, and to rejoin us within twenty or twenty-five days near the Crazy Woman's Fork of the Powder River, which stream they were to follow down until they intercepted our com- mand. The Omaha or Winnebago scouts under command of Captain Nash, seventy men, accompanied them. Flanking parties were reinforced on our line of march today, the Pawnee scouts composing same; also a party of scouts two or three miles ahead of the command. Every precaution was taken to guard against surprises. Parties were sent ahead for Indian signs, the guides reporting several strong indications of war parties having traveled the country ahead of us. Our course after leaving the Platte was in a northwesterly direction. Our guides advise us that in the future our camps will be at springs, and that we will un- doubtedly suffer from thirst before we reach the Powder River. Our camp today was in some hills, where we found some stagnant pools; grass very poor; roads very rough; almost impossible to get the trains through, having trav- eled, as before stated, in a country where no wagons ever passed before. We only traversed ten miles of country, and reached camp at half past one p. m. Teams were doubled up nearly every hill; no wood at this camp.
"5th. Moved from camp at sunrise, traveled over sev- eral little ranges of mountains and made camp at Brown's Springs at 10 o'clock a. m. Grass and water excellent.
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Stock looking well so far, no accidents having happened since we started, of a serious nature. General very vigilant and careful about being surprised; he superintends every movement himself, and is very sanguine that our expedition will be successful. Distance traveled today, eight and one- half miles.
"6th. Left Brown's Springs at 6 o'clock a. m., Sunday; everything moves off in the usual manner; course today is nearly north. Saw Pumpkin Buttes at 1 o'clock p. m., which the guides say is thirty miles from Powder River. Some careless soldiers fired the grass near our camp last night. The fire getting beyond our control, serves as a beacon light to the hostiles and gives great uneasiness to our guides, who fear that the Indians will be signalled thereby and may congregate in large numbers-too large for our little command. At the starting of this fire the flames ran across the camp toward two powder wagons. Volunteers from the General's headquarters camp, together with some soldiers, rushed through the fire to the powder wagons and dragged them to a place of safety; in doing so, had to pass over burning grass. Today, Sunday, our left flankers killed three buffalo. Made camp on the Dry Fork of the Cheyenne at 10 o'clock a. m. Grass and water plenty. No water vis- ible, but any quantity of it within a few feet of the surface in the sandy bed of the river. Empty cracker boxes were sunk in the sand, sand scooped out, and soon water could be dipped up by the bucketful, enough to water all the stock and to supply the camp. The last of the train did not reach camp until dark; distance marched only twelve miles.
"7th. Broke camp at the usual hour; roads very heavy today; distance traveled eighteen miles. The trains did not arrive in camp until after midnight. Our camp was at some springs in a cozy little valley, where we found plenty of grass and enough wood to cook our buffalo meat. Five buffalo killed and brought in today; any quantity of buf- falo and antelope in sight on both flanks. Teams gave out today, many of the mules refusing to pull. The 8th was spent in recuperating the stock; not a wheel was turned today. [I refer to my diary, from this date on, for only im- portant events of the expedition. Will not try to record the incidents of each day's march.]
"9th. We obtained our first view of the Big Horn Mountains at a distance of eighty-five miles northwest, and it was indeed magnificent. The sun so shone as to fall with
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full blaze upon the southern and southeastern sides as they rose toward Cloud's Peak, which is about ten thousand feet above sea level, and the whole snow-covered range so clearly blended with the sky as to leave it in doubt whether all was not a mass of bright cloud. Although the day was exceedingly warm, as soon as we struck this ridge we felt the cooling breezes from the snow-clad mountains which were most gratefully appreciated by both man and beast. In front and a little to the northwest could be seen four col- umns of the Pumpkin Buttes, and, fifty miles further east, Bear Butte, and beyond a faint outline of the Black Hills. The atmosphere was so wonderfully clear and bright that one could imagine that he could see the eagles on the crags of Pumpkin Buttes, full forty miles away.
"11th. Broke camp at the usual hour; traveled down Dry Creek; passed two or three mud-holes where the stock were watered. After eight miles marching got to spot where we could see the long-looked-for Powder River. Saw columns of smoke down the river, indicating an Indian vil- lage a few miles away. It proved to be a fire which the hos- tile Indians had made a day or two before. The Powder River is, at this point, a very rapid stream, water muddy like the Missouri; timber very plentiful, ranging back from the river from one-half to one mile; grass not very good, no chance to cut any hay anywhere on the river. Train reached camp at 2 o'clock and camped in the timber on the river bank. In the evening the General, some members of his staff and the guides, with an escort, went down the river to see if there were any signs of Indians. Found a "good Indian" very lately sewed up in a buffalo skin and hung up in a tree. Many such sights along Powder River. The country traversed by the General was similar to the camp ground.
"12th. Train remained in camp. An exploring expedi- tion was sent up the river under the command of Lieuten- ant Jewett, with orders to proceed twenty miles to look for a better location for a military post. Twenty-five of the Sixth Michigan Cavalry went up the river with Lieutenant Jewett to the crossing of the old traders' road from the Platte Bridge to the Big Horn Mountains, and past the same, known as the Bozeman Trail, made in 1864 by J. M. Bozeman, of Montana. Lieutenant Jewett found bottoms on both sides of the river banks heavily timbered, flanked by high, bold bluffs, with Indian signs all along the stream -scarcely a mile where there had not been Indian villages,
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some within a few weeks, some that were probably made years and years ago. Some camps gave evidence that the Indians had very large droves of horses, as the trees were badly girdled. Numerous Indian burial trees were found with lots of 'good Indians' tied up in them. Several bands of buffalo were seen during the day. Lieutenant Jewett returned to camp the same day, having made a fifty mile march.
"14th The first timber was cut today for building a stockade, the General having decided to erect a fort on the opposite bank of the river at this point, on a large mesa rising about one hundred feet above the level of the river and extending back, as level as a floor, about five miles to the bluffs. A very fine location for a fort, the only disad- vantage being scarcity of hay land. Our stockade timber was cut twelve feet long and was from eight to ten inches in thickness. These posts were set four feet deep in the ground in a trench. Every soldier and all the teamsters who could be urged to work, were supplied with axes, and the men seemed to enjoy the exercise, chopping trees and cutting stockade timber.
"16th. Command still in camp waiting for a train of supplies from Fort Laramie before we proceed. Indian scouts discovered a war party today, and the soldiers gave them a running fight, Captain North's Pawnees in the ad- vance, with only a few staff officers who were smart enough to get to the front with the Pawnees. Captain North fol- lowed the Indians about twelve miles without their being aware of our pursuit; then the fun began in earnest. Our war party outnumbered the enemy, and the Pawnees, thirsty for blood and desirous of getting even with their old enemy, the Sioux, rode like mad devils, dropping their blankets behind them, and all useless paraphernalia, rushed into the fight half naked, whooping and yelling, shooting, howling-such a sight I never saw before. Some twenty- four scalps were taken, twenty-four horses captured, and quite an amount of other plunder, such as saddles, fancy horse-trappings and Indian fixtures generally. The Pawnees were on horseback twenty-four hours, and did not leave the trail until they overtook the enemy. There was a squaw with the party; she was killed and scalped with the rest. On their return to camp they exhibited the most savage signs of delight, and if they felt fatigued did not show it; rode with the bloody scalps tied to the end of sticks, whoop- ing and yelling like so many devils. In the evening they
CAPT. N. J. O'BRIEN
CAPT.H.E.PALMER.
MAJ.GEN. P.E.CONNOR
LIEUT. FUGENE.F.WARE
LIEUT.A.V.RICHARDS
GENERAL CONNOR AND HIS STAFF.
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had a war dance instead of retiring to rest, although they had been up more than thirty hours. The war dance was the most savage scene I had ever witnessed. They formed a circle and danced around a fire, holding up the bloody scalps, brandishing their hatchets and exhibiting the spoils of the fight. They were perfectly frantic with this, their first grand victory over their hereditary foe. During the war dance they kept howling, 'hoo yah, hoo yah, hoo yah, hoo you,' accompanying their voices with music (if such it could be called) made by beating upon an instrument some- what resembling a drum. No one who has never witnessed a genuine Indian war dance could form any conception as to its hideousness-the infernal 'hoo yah' and din-din of the tom-tom. These howling devils kept up the dance, first, much to our amusement, until long after midnight, when finally the General, becoming thoroughly disgusted, in- sisted upon the officer of the day stopping the noise. After considerable talk Captain North, their commander, suc- ceeded in quieting them, and the camp laid down to rest; but this war dance was kept up every night until the next fight, limited, however, to 10 o'clock p. m.
"19th. Several of the staff officers, myself included, went on a buffalo hunt in the afternoon. We killed several buffalo. One of the scouts reported having seen a large body of Siuox Indians. Captain North started with his company in pursuit; killed one Indian chief and captured six head of horses. Colonel Kidd went out in another di- rection with twenty-five men and reported from tive hun- dred to one thousand Indians. Captain O'Brien and Lieu- tenant Jewett, with fifteen men, went ten or twelve miles down the river and camped until 3 o'clock on the morning of the twentieth, then struck across the country toward camp, but saw no Indians. Captain Marshall, with forty men of the Eleventh Ohio, went in pursuit of another band, killed two Indians and captured eleven head of stock. All of these scouting parties returned to camp; some on the 19th, some not until the 20th.
"22d. Broke camp at sunrise; started from Powder River going north, leaving part of the train at the fort, also all the Sixth Michigan Cavalry. Traveled twenty-three and one half miles and made camp on Crazy Woman's Fork of the Powder River, so named because of the fact that some fifteen years before, a poor, demented squaw lived near the bank of the river in a 'wickiup' and finally died there. The water of this stream is not as good as that of
-(33)
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the Powder River, more strongly impregnated with alkali; grass not very good, sage brush abundant, some timber on the stream. Saw some signs of Indians, but none very recent.
"23d. Left Crazy Woman's Fork at 6 o'clock a. m .; traveled north five miles; came to a dry creek; passed sev- eral of the same kind during the day; did not find any run- ning water; stock suffered some for want of same. The country is rolling, still seems more compact and gives us a much better road than we had on the south side of the Powder River. The Big Horn Mountains lying right to our front, seem to be within rifle range, so very near that we could see the buffalo feeding on the foot hills; the pine trees, rocks and crags appear very distinct, though several miles away. Fourteen miles from Crazy Woman's Fork we struck the Bozeman wagon trail, made in 1864 .. Made camp at 3 o'clock; grass splendid; plenty of water, clear and pure as crystal and almost as cold as ice. The stream was full of trout, and the boys had a glorious time in the after- noon bathing in the ice water and fishing for trout with hooks made of willows. Several bands of buffalo had been feeding close to camp, and about 5 o'clock p. m., about twen- ty-five cavalrymen rode out and surrounded a band and drove them into a corral formed of our wagons, and there fifteen were slaughtered and turned over to the commissary department. The General and a few of his staff officers, myself included, went up the stream to a high mesa some three miles above camp, and got a beautiful view of the country and the surrounding hills,, when we ran upon a monstrous grizzly, who took shelter in a little plum patch covering about an acre of ground. One of our party, Train- Master Wheeling, with more daring than the rest of us cared to exhibit, rode up within a few rods of the patch, the bear would rush out after him, when he would turn with his mule so quickly that the bear could not catch him, the bear close to his heels snapping and growling, at the same time receiving the fire of our Sharpe's rifles. After receiving same, Mr. Grizzly would retire, and again Wheel- ยป ing would draw him out of the plum patch, and again we would pour cold lead into his carcass. The fight was in- tensely interesting. When we downed grizzly we found we had perforated his hide with twenty-three balls. The animal was one of the largest of its species; we agreed that it weighed about eighteen hundred pounds. From this point on to Montana, in fact along the whole base of the
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Rocky Mountains to the British Possessions, the country is perfectly charming, the hills all covered with a fine growth of grass, and in every valley there is either a rushing stream or some quiet, babbling brook of pure, clear snow water, filled with trout, the banks lined with trees, wild cherries, quaking asp, some birch, willow and cottonwood. No country in America is more picturesque than the eastern slope of the Big Horn Mountains.
"25th. Broke camp at the usual hour; pushed on north, passing along the base of the above named mountains. Crossed several streams, one of which we named Coal Creek, because of the fact that near the center of the stream lay a block of coal about twenty-four feet long, eight feet thick and about twelve feet wide, the water having washed through a vein of coal that cropped out at this point. We found coal here enough to supply our forges and to enable the blacksmith to do some needed repairs. Seven miles from Clear Fork, we came to a very pretty lake about two miles long and about three-fourths of a mile wide, which Major Bridger told us was De Smet Lake, named after Father De Smet. The Lake is strongly impregnated with alkali, in fact, so strong that an egg or potato will not sink if thrown into the water. Large, red bluffs are to be seen on both sides, and underneath the lake is an immense coal vein. Not many miles from this lake is a flowing oil well. A scheme might be inaugurated to tunnel under this lake, pump the oil into the lake, set the tunnel on fire and boil the whole body of alkali water and oil into soap. Made our camp on the Piney Fork of the Powder River about two miles below the present site of Fort Mckinney, where there is now a flourishing city known as Buffalo, county seat of Johnson county Wyoming. Just after we had gone into camp, a large band of buffalo that had been aroused by our flankers, came charging down the hill directly into the camp. Many of them turned aside, but several passed through among the wagons, much to the dismay of our animals, most of which were tied to the same, taking their meal of grain. One monstrous bull got tangled in the ropes of one of our tents, and was killed while trampling it in the dust.
"26th. Left Piney Fork at 6 o'clock a. m. Traveled north over a beautiful country until about 8 a. m., when our advance reached the top of the ridge dividing the waters of the Powder from that of the Tongue River. I was riding in the extreme advance in company with Major Bridger. We were two thousand yards at least, ahead of the General
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and his staff; our Pawnee scouts were on each flank, and a little in advance; at that time there was no advance guard immediately in front. As the Major and myself reached the top of the hill, we involuntarily halted our steeds. I raised my field glass to my eyes and took in the grandest view that I had ever seen. I could see the north end of the Big Horn Range, and away beyond, the faint outline of the mountains beyond the Yellowstone. Away to the northeast the Wolf River Range was distinctly visible. Immediately before us lay the valley of Peno Creek, now called Prairie Dog Creek, and beyond, the Tongue River Valley and many other tributary streams. It was clear and bright, not a breath of air stirring. The old Major, sitting upon his horse with his eyes shaded with his hands, had been telling me for an hour about his Indian life-his forty years experience on the plains-telling me how to trail Indians and distin. guish their tracks from those of different tribes-a subject that I had discussed with him nearly every day. In fact, the Major and myself were close friends. His family lived at Westport, Missouri. His daughter, Miss Jennie, had married a personal friend of mine, Lieutenant Wiseman, and during the winter of 1863 I had contributed to help Mrs. Bridger and the rest of the family, all of which the Major had been acquainted with, which induced him to treat me as an old-time friend. As I lowered my glass the Major said: 'Do you see those ere columns of smoke over yonder?' I replied: 'Where Major?' to which he answered: 'Over there by that saddle;" meaning a depression in the hills not unlike the shape of a saddle, pointing at the same time to a point fully fifty miles away. I again raised my glass to my eyes and took a long, earnest look, and for the life of me could not see any columns of smoke even with a strong field glass. The major was looking without any artificial help. The atmosphere appeared to be slightly hazy in the long distance, like smoke, but there was no distinct columns of smoke in sight. Yet, knowing the peculiarities of my frontier friend, I agreed with him that there were columns of smoke, and suggested that we had better get off our ani- mals and let them feed until the General came up. This we did, and as soon as the General with his staff arrived, I called his attention to Major Bridger's discovery. The Gen- eral raised his field glass and scanned the horizon closely. After a long look he remarked that there were no columns of smoke to be seen. The Major quietly mounted his horse and rode on. I asked the General to look again, that the Ma-
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