USA > Wyoming > The history of Wyoming from the earliest known discoveries > Part 52
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his headquarters near Fort Phil. Kearney and it was there he intended to fight it out with the soldiers.
Peace negotiations had been pushed by the Govern- ment during the spring and early summer and some pro- gress had been made in this direction but nothing really satisfactory was accomplished. When a tribe, through its head men, declared for peace, there were always some dis- affected warriors who refused to submit and they with- drew from their tribe and joined Red Cloud and thus it was that this chieftain recruited a strong fighting force along the Bozeman road in the early summer of 1867. There was trouble enough that season both at Fort Reno and at Fort C. F. Smith but Fort Phil. Kearney was the theater of war. Red Cloud, who had kept a close watch on the fort during 1866, had cut off haying and wood parties, run off stock, killed nearly one-half of the garrison at a single blow and yet this was nothing as compared with his intentions for 1867. He redoubled his vigilance and in July prepared to storm the fort and put to death every white man of the gar- rison. It was absolutely necessary to have trains on the road to bring in supplies and these were invariably attacked and received great damage. Wood parties had to be strong- ly protected but, even with the greatest care, disaster fol- lowed closely the doomed garrison. At last the time was ripe for the intended assault. Red Cloud confidently ex- pected a victory and promised his warriors an abundant supply of ammunition and stores from the fort and the war- riors, taking the great chief at his word, took with them their squaws to assist in carrying off the plunder. Fortun- ately among the supplies received that year was a quantity of breech-loading, long range rifle muskets, a new thing in the infantry service. These had been placed in the hands of the Eighteenth Infantry and were used in the defense of wood and hay parties. This wonderful firearm was a new thing in the western service and its possession proved of great importance to the soldiers who had been marked for destruction. During July Red Cloud concentrated fully
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3,000 fighting men near the fort and was awaiting a suitable time to storm the garrison.
On the last day of July, Captain and Brevet Major James Powell of the Eighteenth Infantry received orders to pro- ceed to the Piney, about five miles from the fort, to escort the working party of contractor J. R. Porter. The company consisted of fifty-one enlisted men, Lieutenant Jenness and Major Powell. Quoting from Major Powell's official report we find the situation thus: "Upon my arrival at the above named place I found the train divided, one part encamped on a plateau, and with one exception the position was well selected for defense, and the best security that the country afforded for the stock. The other part was encamped about one mile distant in a southwesterly direction on a command- ing point across the Little Piney Creek, at the foot of the mountains. My details consisted in sending twelve men to protect the working parties of both trains and thirteen as escort to the trains when coming into the post."
Another fact should here be mentioned. The post had been supplied with a new kind of wagon beds, either made of iron or covered with plate sufficiently thick to resist an or- dinary bullet. These wagon beds were loop-holed and in- tended for defense against Indians. The two camps were all well enough as far as the contractor was concerned but Major Powell found it difficult to give each the proper pro- tection and he consequently selected the encampment on the plateau and proceeded to place it in a state of defense. There were sixteen wagon beds in his camp and four- teen of these he had lifted from the wheels and arranged them in a circle as close together as possible. The space be- tween each wagon bed was filled with anything that would stop a bullet. The two wagons upon which the beds still remained, were placed in front to keep off horsemen. These, while permitting the soldiers to fire under them at an ad- vancing foe, prevented horsemen from riding close to the wagon beds which were on the ground. Major Powell had brought with him an abundant supply of ammunition and
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this was placed in position ready for instant use. Not only the soldiers but the citizens apprehended an attack. It was understood that on the approach of Indians the workmen were to seek shelter in the improvised fort. All went on peaceably until nine o'clock on the morning of August 2nd, when there was a preconcerted attack on the herders and at the same time on the wood camp at the foot of the mountain a mile away. Two hundred well armed Indians dashed down on the herders and 500 attacked the distant wood camp. Most of the men were cut off from Powell's command and driven into the mountains but they in part made their way to the fort, except three of the soldiers and three or four citizens, who were killed. The Indians set fire to the camp and destroyed everything there and turning quickly they concentrated a large force and proceeded to attack Major Powell's camp, but that officer was thoroughly prepared to receive them. At the first alarm he understood just what would happen and quickly placing his men in the circle of wagonbeds each one lying prone on the bottom awaiting the attack. They did not have long to wait for within fifteen minutes 800 mounted warriors, confident of victory, dashed down on the position. The soldiers waited until the Indians were within easy range when a sheet of flame burst forth from the loopholes and many of the foremost riders fell from their horses. An instant later the breech-loaders were again ready and a second volley did terrible execution. There were but thirty-two men in all in the wagonbeds and four of these were citizens, but small as the number was, they were nerved to the point of doing deadly work. Some of the soldiers were known not to be good shots and these kept extra guns loaded and passed them to the hands of the expert marksmen. The four citi- zens,it chanced,were dead shots and were kept supplied with loaded rifles so that they were enabled to average more than a shot every minute. The men in the wagonbeds un- derstood that the contest depended not only upon their bravery but their steady nerve. They had made up their
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minds to save themselves by determined coolness and ac- curacy of aim. The Indians charged the position again and again but each time a murderous fire mowed them down. Red Cloud watched the combat from a low hill a few hun- dred yards away and seeing his warriors stricken dead every time they advanced he called his principal chiefs together and after a hurried cousultation decided to make an ad- vance with his entire force on foot. The warriors, who were armed with Winchester carbines and muskets secured at the Fetterman massacre, were sent in advance as skirmish- ers and sharpshooters. These Indians crawled along the ravines and sheltered themselves until they secured posi- tions from which they could deliver a fire from nearly all directions on the wagonbeds, but, thanks to the heavy iron, the white men were shielded from harm. Lieutenant Jen- ness and one man had been killed before this but the others kept up that same withering fire which told with terrible effect on those who attempted to approach. If a warrior showed himself it was certain death. The skirmishers and sharpshooters sought shelter and were content to await the charge of the main body. For a time the firing died away and the men in the circle of wagon boxes had an opportun- ity to see what was going on in their immediate front. It was noticed that the savages swarmed from the hills and arranged themselves in a semi-circle and then moved stead- ily forward. When a distance of 500 yards from the wagon- beds was reached, the order to charge was given and the whole body dashed forward but the deadly aim of the white men thinned their ranks, staggered the line and brought it to a halt and then it turned and fled. The war chiefs resolved to make another trial, when the warriors were again formed and sent back to charge, but as often as this was repeated they were hurled back by a storm of bul- lets aimed by men who had determined that every shot should tell. These assaults were kept up for three mortal hours, Red Cloud feeling certain that the handful of men in the wagon boxes could not hold out against such overwhelm-
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ing numbers, but the last charge was as gallantly met as the others had been and the Indians finally made up their minds that the white men were armed with "medicine guns" which would shoot all the time. The ground on three sides of the wagonbeds was covered with the dead and wounded. The remaining Indians were completely demoralized and terror stricken and fled to the hills. Red Cloud now gave up the fight and devoted his attention to the recovery of the bodies of those killed. For this purpose skirmishers were sent out to keep up a continuous fire under cover of which those who fell nearest the hills were brought in and for those who were lying nearest the wagonbeds, warriors would crawl up protected by large shields, and fasten long ropes to the dead or wounded while other warriors farther back would pull them in. While the Indians were in the midst of this occupation Major Smith in command of a relief party from the fort arrived on the ground with a strong force and relieved the little garrison. Major Powell's loss was one officer and two privates killed and two soldiers wounded. The loss of the Indians will never be known but it was very heavy. General R. I. Dodge says that a wounded Sioux chief told him that same year that the Indians' total loss in killed and wounded was 1,137. If this be true it is the most wonderful fight on record. In corroboration of the story of the Indian chief General Dodge says:
"One of the citizens who fought with Powell was a grizzled old trapper, who had spent his life on the frontier, and been in Indian fights without number. Some months after the battle, the Department Commander met and ques- tioned him.
"'How many Indians were in the attack?' asked the General.
"'Wall, Gin'r'l, I can't say for sartin, but I think thar wus nigh onto three thousand uv 'em.'
" 'How many were killed and wounded?'
"'Wall, Gin'r'1, I can't say for sartin, but I think thar war nigh onto a thousand ov 'em hit.'
" 'How many did you kill?'
" 'Wall, Gin'r'], I can't say ; but gi' me a dead rest, I kin
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hit a dollar at fifty yards every time, and I fired with a dead rest at more'n fifty of them varmints inside of fifty yards.' " 'For Heaven's sake, how many times did you fire?' exclaimed the astonished General.
" 'Wall, Gin'r'l, I can't say, but I kept eight guns pretty well het up for more'n three hours.' "
Major Powell's fight with the Indians on the Piney came with crushing effect to Red Cloud. There was a disposition among the remnants of tribes which made up the force en- gaged in this battle to regard the affair with superstitious dread, and Red Cloud himself could only explain it by at- tributing the failure to overcome the whites to the direct action of the "bad god." Red Cloud, after this disaster, found it necessary to recruit his forces, and to do this he was obliged to send runners among the tribes who had signed a treaty with the government. These runners were forced to be very discreet, as Indian laws or usages do not recognize the right of warriors to separate themselves from the tribe for the purpose of joining another which is at war with a nation with whom the parent tribe is at peace. Spotted Tail's band of Brule Sioux had signed a treaty with the government to remain at peace. This treaty was not popu- lar with a portion of the tribe and the malcontents were an easy prey to the runners from Red Cloud's camp, who chanced to be Cheyenne warriors. Spotted Tail kept a close watch on the visitors, but nothing transpired to indicate the real purpose of these men in visiting his band, and yet he suspected the truth. One morning he learned that twen- ty lodges had stolen away during the night and that it was their purpose to join the hostiles. He at once mounted a party of his most trusted warriors and sent them after the deserters, who were overtaken and brought back to Spot- ted Tail's camp, and they met the fate of Indian deserters: each warrior being severely whipped, and some of the squaws, who were believed to be indirectly responsible for the desertion, met the same fate. All the arms belonging to the braves were broken or confiscated, their horses killed, their lodges, robes and property of every kind burned, and
CHIEF RED CLOUD. (At the age of 72.)
Arrival of John Phillips at Horse Shoe Station with his message of the massacre of Fetterman's command.
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the disloyal warriors were left little better than naked beg- gars. Spotted Tail had the satisfaction of knowing, when he got through with them, that they were powerless for evil and that he had treated their disloyalty according to the proud traditions of the numerous and powerful Sioux bands.
The Indian war after the defeat of Red Cloud seemed to languish. Hostilities were still kept up all along the Boze- man road, but there were no more open attacks except against such whites as happened to come into the country and who were comparatively helpless. The troops connect- ed with the posts on this road were harassed on all occa- sions, but the Indians avoided a pitched battle. The official record of operations in that section for the balance of the season, when condensed, reads as follows:
October 1st .- A dash at the mules with the hay party; fourteen mules and seven horses run off.
October 12th .- Indians attempted to capture mules be- longing to the pinery, four and a half miles from the post.
October 13th .- Forty-one mules run off by Indians at Fort Reno.
October 17th .- One man killed and scalped by Indians at the pinery.
October 20th .- Detachment of Second Cavalry attacked at Crazy Woman's Fork.
October 25th .- Indians twice attempted to run off the stock of three trains enroute from Fort Reno.
Along the line of railway construction, hostilities were continued, but the attacks were against unarmed men as a rule. Emigrants suffered the loss of their stock and occa- sionally a scalp was taken. Over the line in Nebraska, ma- rauding bands kept up the fight, and yet the hostilities were of a mild nature compared with those of other years. The peace commissioner was abroad with his trinkets and the government was constantly sending additional force into the country, and so the weeks and months passed until the Union Pacific was finally completed as far as Cheyenne and trains running.
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FORT FETTERMAN.
Notwithstanding the fact that the government was de- sirous of making peace with the Indians and was putting forth every effort to consumate a treaty, preparations for war were constantly going forward. It was decided to lo- cate a post on the North Platte at the point where La Prele Creek empties into that stream. This was at the angle where the Bozeman Road turns to the north. Accordingly Major William McE. Dye, with Companies A, C, H and I, Fourth Infantry, was sent to construct the fort. These troops arrived on the ground on July 19, 1867, and at once commenced the erection of the necessary buildings. The fort was located on a beautiful plateau, 800 yards from the river and about 130 feet above it, and on the south bank of the stream. The military reservation which was laid off is described as follows: Beginning at a point five miles due east of the flagstaff; thence running due south one mile; thence due west ten miles; thence due south six miles; thence due east ten miles; thence due north five miles to the place of beginning. (General Orders No. 34, Series 1867, Headquarters Department of the Platte.) In addition to this, there were reservations for hay, and also for wood. The former comprised the bottom lands adjacent to Deer Creek from its mouth to the first high range of hills. The latter, "that part of the north range of the Black Hills run- ning almost parallel to and about fourteen miles south of the North Platte River, and that part of the same range which lies between Box Elder Creek and little Box Elder." The logs for the fort were cut by enlisted men, and these were converted into lumber at the two saw-mills located at the post. This fort played a conspicuous part in the Indian wars for the next few years. It was a substantial structure, with all the appointments to make of it a first-class post, and when Fort Caspar was abandoned and the three forts north of it, Reno, Phil. Kearney and C. F. Smith, it became of ne- cessity an important supply point for the army operating against the Indians in the Northwest. The post received its
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name in honor of Brevet Lieutenant Colonel W. J. Fetter- man, captain in the Twenty-seventh Infantry, who, with his whole command, was killed in the Indian massacre near Fort Phil. Kearney, December 21, 1866. With the first troops who came to Fort Fetterman was Captain John D. O'Brien, who, after serving his time in the army, became a permanent resident of Wyoming and a prominent citizen of Converse county. On the breaking out of the war with Spain, he was elected Captain of Company F, First Regi- ment of Wyoming Volunteers, and went with his command to Manila. His name will appear in connection with the first settlement of his county, also in connection with the history of Wyoming troops in our war with Spain. In this volume will be found a carefully drawn sketch of Fort Fet- terman. The history of this post is largely made up of events which occurred subsequent to the period which this volume covers. Military operations connected with Fort Fetterman will be detailed in the second volme of this work
FORT D. A. RUSSELL.
The building of Fort D. A. Russell occurred at about the same time as that of Fort Fetterman. The official rec- ord in the War Department relating to this post is as fol- lows:
"Located on the north bank of Crow Creek, a branch of the South Platte River, and distant three miles west of the town of Cheyenne, in Laramie County, Wyoming.
"In July, 1867, Brevet Brigadier General John D. Ste- venson, Colonel Thirteenth Infantry, then in camp on Lar- ren's Fork, a branch of the North Platte River, in western Nebraska, about eighty miles northwest of old Fort Sedg- wick, having under his command five companies of his regi- ment, received instructions to proceed to a point where the Union Pacific railroad would cross Crow Creek, with a view of locating a military post thereat.
"On July 15th he left Larren's Fork and on the 21st, with Companies B, G and K, reached the creek about half a mile above the present site of the town of Cheyenne, which he selected as his first camp. Here he found Brevet Major
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General Christopher C. Augur, Colonel Twelfth Infantry, then commanding the Department of the Platte, with his staff, a detachment of Troop H, Second Cavalry, and a camp of railroad engineers. As yet no houses had been erected, though the railway was then running to Julesburg.
"On August 16th the camp was moved to the present site and a post established thereon, pursuant to General Or- ders No. 33, Headquarters Department of the Platte, July 31, 1867, and designated Fort D. A. Russell, in honor of the memory of Brevet Major General David A. Russell, Major Eighth Infantry, who was killed at the battle of Opequan, Virginia, September 19, 1864.
"The object in establishing the post was to protect the railway in the vicinity, and the lines of travel south to Den- ver, Colorado, and northward to Fort Laramie, Wyoming, and the posts beyond. Temporary log huts were erected for the accommodation of the enlisted men in September, the officers remaining in tents. Permanent company barracks were constructed in October and November, 1867, and by the end of the year the troops were in barracks with the ex- ception of the officers, whose quarters were commenced later and were not occupied until February, 1868.
"The site of the post was located a little to the left of the center of the reservation, its southernmost angle reach- ing the edge of the bluff, there about 50 feet above the water which flows directly beneath. The buildings at first were entirely of wood and arranged around a parade of diamond form 1,040 feet in its long, by 800 feet in its short axis. The post was designed to accommodate twelve companies, six each of cavalry and infantry. Subsequently it was extended to the east; the addition forming a parallelogram, 800 feet by 420 feet, and buildings of brick, frame and adobe con- structed.
"In the spring of 1870, cottonwood and pine trees were planted around the parade ground and other parts of the post. The cottonwood trees appear to have thrived fairly and many of them are standing at the present time, while the pines have entirely disappeared. A fire broke out at the post on January 4, 1875, destroying several sets of offi- cers' quarters, and on December 13, 1882, one set of company barracks was destroyed by the same element.
"From the appropriation of Congress of $2,000,000, Act approved July 7, 1884, for the construction of buildings and enlargement of military posts, the Secretary of War, on Au-
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gust 7, 1884, authorized $100,000 for the rebuilding of Fort D. A. Russell, Wyoming. In the civil bill, approved August 4, 1886, Congress appropriated a further sum of $225,000 for military posts, and out of this sum the Secretary allotted $20,000 for the post.
"By Act of Congress approved January 29, 1887, the Secretary of War was authorized and directed to complete the barracks and quarters at the post, at an expense of not exceeding $30,000. This sum, with the $20,000 above re- ferred to for Fort D. A. Russell, were combined by the Sec- retary, who approved plans and estimates for work aggre- gating $50,000. The repairs and construction of barracks and quarters under the above act, were commenced in 1888, and completed the following year.
"The region in the vicinity of the post was originally held by the Arapahoe Indians, but under the treaty ratified August 25, 1868, their removal was gradually effected to the permanent reservation in the Indian Territory, set apart for the Southern Cheyennes and Arapahoes by the treaty of 1867, or to the Missouri River reservations set apart for the Brule and other bands of Sioux by the treaty of April 29, 1868.
"The post has been, since its establishment, a rendez- vous or depot for the distribution of troops. A large quarter- master and commissary depot was established in August, 1867, located about one and a half miles east of the post, which during its existence was an important base of sup- plies for the military stations to the northward and for troops operating in the field; the old road from Fort Sedg- wick to Fort Laramie having been abandoned for the new and shorter one from Fort D. A. Russell.
"The Cheyenne depot of the Quartermaster's Depart- ment was abandoned March 31, 1890, and the stores trans- ferred to Fort Robinson, Nebraska.
"During 1890, the guard house was removed and renova- ted and the sewerage and water systems completed. The sewerage connects with that of the town of Cheyenne. Fort D. A. Russell has been continuously occupied from its establishment to date."
The military events connected with Fort Russell, like those of Fort Fetterman, belong to a period which will be covered by the second volume of this history. From 1869 forward this post was the most important one in the Rocky
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Mountain country, and it had much to do with the Indian wars up to and including the Thornburg massacre of 1879. Its proximity to the railroad enabled the troops to reach points of disturbance in the west, south and east very promptly, which made it an important depot for both troops and supplies.
CHAPTER XLI.
MISTAKEN POLICY OF THE GOVERNMENT. I868.
INDIANS CONTINUE HOSTILITIES-RECORD FOR THE MONTH OF MARCH- PEACE COMMISSIONERS ASSEMBLE AT FORT LARAMIE-RED CLOUD AGREES TO TERMS BUT DOES NOT SIGN-SIX HUNDRED OF HIS WAR- RIORS DISSATISFIED AND WITHDRAW-THE MARAUDING BANDS CON- TINUE THE WAR-FORTS RENO, PHIL. KEARNEY AND C. F. SMITH , ABANDONED-SEVERAL REGIMENTS WITHDRAWN FROM THE PLAINS- GENERAL SHERIDAN POINTS OUT THE MISTAKES OF THE PEACE POL- ICY OF THE GOVERNMENT-INDIAN TROUBLES RENEWED-SCHUYLER COLFAX'S MESSAGE TO THE WAR DEPARTMENT-GOVERNOR HUNT OF COLORADO ASKS FOR ARMS-GENERAL SHERMAN'S REPLY-GENERALS SHERIDAN AND CUSTER TAKE THE FIELD-TEXT OF THE SIOUX TREATY -BUILDING OF FORT FRED. STEELE.
Early in the year 1868, the Indians showed a determi- nation to keep up hostilities. The desire of the government to hold a big peace conference at Fort Laramie in April had been communicated to all the Indian tribes during the win- ter. The hostile bands had signified their willingness to come to the conference, but, Indian-like, they were in no hurry to do so, and events proved that they were not acting in good faith. A condensation of the records of the War De-
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