USA > Wyoming > The history of Wyoming from the earliest known discoveries > Part 54
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farm, for a period of three years more, he shall be entitled to receive seeds and implements as aforesaid, not exceeding in value twenty-five dollars.
And it is further stipulated that such persons as com- mence farming shall receive instructions from the farmer herein provided for, and whenever more than one hundred persons shall enter upon the cultivation of the soil, a second blacksmith shall be provided, with such iron, steel and other material as may be needed.
Art. IX. At any time after ten years from the making of this treaty, the United States shall have the privilege of withdrawing the physician, farmer, blacksmith, carpenter, engineer, and miller herein provided for, but in case of such withdrawal, an additional sum thereafter of ten thousand dollars per annum shall be devoted to the education of said Indians, and the Commissioner of Indian Affairs shall, upon careful inquiry into their condition, make such rules and regulations for the expenditure of said sum as will best pro- mote the educational and moral improvement of said tribes.
Art X. In lieu of all sums of money or other annuities provided to be paid to the Indians herein named, under any treaty or treaties heretofore made, the United States agrees to deliver at the agency house on the reservation herein named, the first day of August of each year, for thirty years, the following articles, to-wit:
For each male person over fourteen years of age, a suit of good substantial woolen clothing, consisting of coat, pan- taloons, flannel shirt, hat, and a pair of home-made socks.
For each female over twelve years of age, a flannel skirt, or the goods necessary to make it, a pair of woolen hose, twelve yards of calico, and twelve yards of cotton do- mestics.
For the boys and girls under the ages named, such flan- nel and cotton goods as may be needed to make each a suit as aforesaid, together with a pair of woolen hose for each.
And in order that the Commissioner of Indian Affairs may be able to estimate properly the articles herein named, it shall be the duty of the agent each year to forward to him a full and exact census of the Indians, on which the estimate from year to year can be based.
And in addition to the clothing herein named, the sum of ten dollars for each person entitled to the beneficial ef- fects of this treaty shall be annually appropriated for a pe- riod of thirty years, while such persons roam and hunt, and
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twenty dollars for each person who engages in farming, to be used by the Secretary of the Interior in the purchase of such articles as from time to time the condition and neces- sities of the Indians may indicate to be proper. And if with- in the thirty years, at any time, it shall appear that the amount of money needed for clothing under this article can be appropriated to better uses for the Indians named herein, Congress may, by law, change the appropriation to other purposes; but in no event shall the amount of this appropri- ation be withdrawn or discontinued for the period named. And the President shall annually detail an officer of the army to be present and attest the delivery of all the goods herein named to the Indians, and he shall inspect and report on the quality and quantity of the goods and the manner of their delivery. And it is hereby expressly stipulated that each Indian over the age of four years, who shall have re- moved to, and settled permanently upon, said reservation; and complied with the stipulations of this treaty, shall be entitled to receive from the United States, for the period of four years after he shall have settled upon said reservation, one pound of meat and one pound of flour per day, provided the Indians cannot furnish their own subsistence at an ear- lier date. And it is further stipulated that the United States will furnish and deliver to each lodge of Indians or family of persons legally incorporated with them, who shall remove to the reservation herein described and commence farming, one good American cow. and one good well-broken pair of American oxen within sixty days after such lodge or family shall have so settled upon said reservation.
Art. XI. In consideration of the advantages and bene- fits conferred by this treaty and the many pledges of friend- ship by the United States, the tribes who are parties to this agreement hereby stipulate that they will relinquish all right to occupy permanently the territory outside their res- ervation as herein defined, but yet reserve the right to hunt on any lands north of North Platte, and on the Republican Fork of Smoky Hill River, so long as the buffalo may range thereon in such manner as to justify the chase. And they, the said Indians, further expressly agree:
First-That they will withdraw all opposition to the construction of the railroads now being built on the plains;
Second-That they will permit the peaceful construc- tion of any railroad not passing over their reservation as herein defined;
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Third-That they will not attack any persons at home, cor traveling, nor molest or disturb any wagon trains, coach- es, mules, or cattle belonging to the people of the United States, or to persons friendly therewith;
Fourth-They will never capture, or carry off from the settlements, white women or children;
Fifth-They will never kill or scalp white men, nor at- tempt to do them harm;
Sixth-They withdraw all pretense of opposition to the construction of the railroad now being built along the Platte River and westward to the Pacific Ocean, and they will not in future object to the construction of railroads, wagon roads, mail stations, or other works of utility or ne- cessity, which may be ordered or permitted by the laws of the United States. But should such roads or other works be constructed on the lands of their reservation, the govern- ment will pay the tribe whatever amount of damage may be assessed by three disinterested commissioners to be appoint- ed by the President for that purpose, one of said commis- sioners to be a chief or headman of the tribe;
Seventh-They agree to withdraw all opposition to the military posts or roads now established south of the North Platte River, or that may be established, not in violation of treaties heretofore made or hereafter to be made with any of the Indian tribes.
Art. XII. No treaty for the cession of any portion or part of the reservation herein described which may be held in common shall be of any validity or force as against the said Indians, unless executed and signed by at least three- fourths of all the adult male Indians occupying or interested in the same; and no cession by the tribe shall be understood or construed in such manner as to deprive, without his con- sent, any individual member of the tribe of his rights to any tract of land selected by him, as provided in Article VI of this treaty.
Art. XIII. The United States hereby agrees to furnish annually to the Indians, the physician, teachers, carpenter, miller, engineer, farmer, and blacksmiths, as herein con- templated, and that such appropriations shall be made from time to time, on the estimates of the Secretary of the Interi- or, as will be sufficient to employ such persons.
Art. XIV. It is agreed that the sum of five hundred dollars annually, for three years from date, shall be ex- pended in presents to the ten persons of said tribe, who, in
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the judgment of the agent, may grow the most valuable crops for the respective year.
Art. XV. The Indians herein named agree that, when the agency house and other buildings shall be constructed on the reservation named, they will regard said reservation their permanent home, and they will make no permanent settlement elsewhere; but they shall have the right, subject to the conditions and modifications of this treaty, to hunt, as stipulated in Article XI hereof.
Art. XVI. The United States hereby agrees and stip- ulates that the country north of the North Platte River and east of the summits of the Big Horn Mountains shall be held and conceded to be unceded Indian territory, and also stipu- lates and agrees that no white person or persons shall be permitted to settle upon or occupy any portion of the same; or without the consent of the Indians, first had and ob- tained, to pass through the same; and it is further agreed by the United States, that within ninety days after the con- clusion of peace with all the bands of the Sioux nation, the military posts now established in the territory, in this arti- cle named, shall be abandoned, and that the road leading to them and by them to the settlements in the Territory of Montana shall be closed.
Art. XVII. It is hereby expressly understood and agreed, by and between the respective parties to this treaty, that the execution of this treaty and its ratification by the United States Senate shall have the effect, and shall be con- strued as abrogating and annulling all treaties and agree- ments heretofore entered into between the respective par- ties hereto, so far as such treaties and agreements obligate the United States to furnish and provide money, clothing. or other articles of property to such Indians and bands of Indians as become parties to this treaty, but no further.
BUILDING OF FORT STEELE.
The continued Indian hostilities along the line of rail- road construction in Wyoming induced the government, in April of that year, to locate a new post, and the place se- lected was at the railroad crossing of the North Platte. Colonel Richard I. Dodge was ordered to proceed to the lo- cality, lay off the grounds and commence the construction. The troops chosen were G troop of the Second Cavalry, Lieu-
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tenant Robinson in command, and Company B of the Thirti- eth Infantry, with Captain Bartlett, First Lieutenant James H Spencer, and Second Lieutenant R. H. Young. Lieuten- ant Spencer was Acting Quartermaster. These companies were drawn from Fort Sanders. The command marched west along the line of railway and arriving at the North Platte made a temporary camp on the east side of the river and about a month later moved to the west side, where the grounds had been laid off for the permanent post. The In- dians about this time made a raid on the camp and suc- ceeded in running off, in broad daylight, about a dozen head of horses, but most of these belonged to private individuals. The government herd was on the opposite side of the river and under a strong guard and were consequently safe. The troops were followed by a concourse of rough element drawn from about Fort Sanders, Dale City and Chey- enne. These camp followers were composed of a class of people who either lacked opportunity to pursue their calling at Cheyenne and the other places mentioned or were of those who had been told by the constituted authorities to "move on." Not a few were of that class who possessed a whole- some fear of the vigilantes, which organization had been active during the winter and spring at Cheyenne and Dale City. The camp followers on arriving at the Platte selected a townsite about half a mile up the river, which they called Brownsville, and in an incredibly short time opened stores, eating houses, saloons, boarding houses, gambling and sporting places. Within forty-eight hours everything was in full blast, with a population numbering five hundred or more. It was a typical city of the wild west and was what was known as an "all-night town." Brownsville was short- lived, being supplanted by Benton, a railroad town three miles farther west. Benton, like Brownsville, had for its population a large number of disreputable characters and at once took high rank as a saloon, gambling and sporting town. In two or three days it had from 1,000 to 1,500 inhabi- tants, and there being no such thing as law and order the
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rough element ran things to suit themselves. Murder was an every day occurrence and peaceably disposed people soon learned that protesting against violence was something that would not be tolerated by those in control of affairs. Ben- ton in its day was certainly the one bad town along the line of the Union Pacific. In other places the better element attempted to make life and property secure and after a time succeeded, but in Benton no such effort was put forth and the result was that crime was popular and good conduct undesirable with the rough element, and this continued as long as the town lasted. Prize fighting and all that goes with it was patronized, and the place became the rendezvous of outlaws of every description. It was a city of portable houses and tents stretched over wood frames.
The new post was named Fort Fred. Steele in honor of Major General Frederick Steele, a hero of the Civil War. The conditions about this new post were such as to demand scouting parties constantly in the field, and, the force being small, little could be accomplished at once toward the construction of permanent buildings. Two saw mills were put up and during the season a large number of logs were hauled from Elk Mountain and these were cut into lumber, as opportunity offered, preparatory for building.
The garrison at Fort Fred. Steele was actively engaged during the summer in giving protection to tie choppers and to the force employed in railway construction. Scouting parties went as far north as Sweetwater and west to the mines of Atlantic and South Pass. Indians were constantly seen in every direction but the activity of the troops held them in check. It was soon seen that there was a class of white men in the country quite as dangerous as the Indians. These ran off stock when opportunity afforded and the gov- ernment came in for its full share of losses at the hands of these desperadoes. There was great temptation in those days to steal government horses and mules, as these animals could be readily sold at remunerative prices. A pair of mules brought from $350 to $700 and no questions asked.
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There being little or no attention paid to brands, stealing was an easy way to make money by those who considered that the world owed them a living. Bands of robbers form- ed camps in out of the way places in the mountains from which they sallied forth to capture government property enroute to Fort Fred. Steele and points beyond. One of these gangs was in charge of a man named Musgrove and his operations gave the army officers much annoyance and finally a reward was offered for his apprehension. It some- times became a nice question to determine whether a rob- bery had been committed by Indians or white outlaws, as their methods in most cases were alike. During the month of September the beef herd at Fort Fred. Steele, numbering fifty head, was run off and while an effort was made to re- capture them, not a hoof was recovered. A little later In- dians attacked the timber train of Hance and Hall, railroad contractors, who were hauling logs to the railroad. Three or four of the teamsters were killed and a part of the mules taken .* In October, Wagon-master Wallace went to Elk Mountain to deliver instructions, from the quartermaster, to the timber contractors working at that point. He rode out alone and on the way was attacked by Indians. Little was known of what happened, except that he had a running fight and was killed. His body was searched for but not found until three days after. During the fall timber haulers. from the mountains were scarcely ever out of sight of In- dians, but these teams were accompanied by an escort and were thus saved from molestation. During October all the horses belonging to the Cavalry Company were run off in the night. These were supposed to have been taken by
*The Hance spoken of was the well known Captain M. A. Hance, who resided in Lara- mie for nearly thirty years, after the completion of the Union Pacific Railroad. He was a na- tive of Illinois and born in 1835. During the Civil War he enlisted in the First Nebraska Infantry, which regiment did service in the southwest. From the ranks he was for meritorius service promoted to a captaincy. He came west to engage in the construction of the Union Pacific road. He entered into partnership with James Hall and the firm took a contract for furnishing a large number of ties. The firm had a tie camp at Elk Mountain and while there suffered severely from Indian raids. Captain Hance had a claim against the government for stock run off by Indians. The amount claimed was $4,000, and, while the evidence was com- plete and he had every reason to believe that the money would soon be paid, the claim lingered for years without action and the Captain died without receiving the money. His death occurred January 22nd, 1898.
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Musgrove's gang. It was strongly suspected that the sol- diers on guard in that particular locality were connected with the affair, as they had disappeared with the horses and there was no evidence that they had been killed. As soon as the loss was discovered men were mounted on such animals as were in the corral and sent in pursuit of the thieves, but they came back empty handed. A number of other raids were made soon after and in each case small bunches of horses or mules were taken.
Colonel Dodge did not remain long in charge of the fort, he being relieved by Colonel John D. Stevenson. Late in the fall, Lieutenant James H. Spencer, who had been acting quartermaster and commissary was relieved by Lieu- tenant John Scott. The quartermaster's office was in a tent and among other things with which this office was sup- plied was a safe. Thieves cut open the tent with a knife and removed the safe, carrying it to a gulch some distance away where it was blown open and the money it contained, $1,800, secured by the thieves. The robbery was the subject of an investigation and while Scott was not directly blamed for the burglary, the $1,800 was held against him and he was expected to make the amount good to the government,. but the matter was not pushed and the money has never been paid. The stealing of the safe could not, of course, be charged to the Indians and an effort was now made to break up the organized gangs of outlaws who infested the country. Musgrove, who was supposed to be the leader of the bri- gands, came in for his full share of attention. A description of the man was published, together with the amount of the reward which was to be paid for his apprehension, and this was scattered broadcast. One day he rode down from Elk Mountain to a station on the railroad called Percy, which was located a short distance east of what is now known as Dana. It chanced that a Scotchman, a tie chopper, was at Percy on the morning of Musgrove's arrival and visited a restaurant for his breakfast. On entering, he noticed a man at one of the tables whom he believed to be the outlaw. He
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studied his face carefully and finally convincing himself that he was not mistaken, walked over and covering the stranger with a pistol, commanded him to throw up his hands. The resolute bearing of the Scotchman convinced the desperado that it was best to obey. It turned out that the chopper had not made a mistake as to the identity of the man. He took his prisoner to Fort Steele where he was ironed by the blacksmith at the post and a day or two after- wards he was sent to Denver, where he was placed in jail. He arrived in that city at rather an unfortunate period for himself, as the people had lately been devoting their atten- tion to the cleaning out of outlaw gangs. Sam. Dugan, another outlaw who was well known in Cheyenne and Lar- amie City, from which places he had been driven, had just committed a robbery in Denver and had been hanged by the citizens. The day after this execution a vigilance commit- tee formed on Blake Street and proceeded to the Larimer Street Prison where Musgrove was confined and demanded entrance and was admitted to the prison. They took Mus- grove in a wagon up Cherry Creek to the Larimer Street Bridge where a noose was placed around his neck and the rope fastened to the bridge timber and the order given to drive the wagon from under him. To insure a quick death, Musgrove sprang into the air and when he fell his neck was dislocated.
"Musgrove was an outlaw," says the "News" of that date, "who had made society his prey for several years, success- fully defying by boldness, when he could not outwit by cun- ning, the officers of justice. He was driven as a bandit from California, Nevada and Utah, and first appeared in Colorado in the role of a murderer at Fort Halleck in 1863. For this he was arrested and sent to Denver, where he was discharg- ed by the United States commissioner for want of juris- diction. Taking up his residence on Clear Creek at Baker's Bridge, he soon became the recognized chief of a band of land pirates who lived by running off government stock, effacing the brands and then disposing of it."
The capture of Musgrove did not entirely discourage his followers as we find that on the night of January 31st,
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1869, a party of these same outlaws stole twenty-five horses and mules from Fort Steele. A mounted detail in charge of Brevet. Captain J. H. Hays was sent in pursuit of the gang and the stock. By order of the commander of the Fort, Wagon Master J. M. Ingersoll accompanied the party. The robbers were with difficulty traced as they took care to pass over ground from which the snow had been blown off, con- sequently no trail was left, the ground being frozen hard. Ingersoll proved himself of service in following the difficult trail. Night came on and the party was obliged to go into camp but they went forward again at dawn the following day, keeping in a northwesterly direction. About 4 o'clock in the afternoon they came upon the robbers, who concealed themselves in a gulch, surrounded by tall sage brush and from this advantageous position they opened fire on the advancing military force. There were five of the robbers, all desperate characters, and they fought with the deter- mination not to be taken. The enlisted men were Infantry- men and unaccustomed to the saddle and consequently some of them were unable to keep up and this reduced the force to eight men including the officer and wagon master, Inger- sol. The robbers, it was soon discovered, were doing some close shooting as a shower of bullets reached the vicinity where the party had halted and Wagon Master Ingersoll had his horse shot from under him. The soldiers now dis- mounted and kept up a continuous fire on the robbers whose position was indicated by the smoke of their guns. The fir- ing was kept up until nightfall when the outlaws stole away on foot, leaving their blankets and other property. The little command returned to the fort with the recaptured stock and on the following afternoon the same force went in search of the dismounted robbers. They found them on Sand Creek near Seminoe Mountain and they were captured with- out difficulty, as they were in a bad plight, being destitute of everything except their firearms. Wagon Master Inger- soll is still a resident of this State and a prominent citizen. He entered the government employ at Fort Sanders in the
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fall of 1867 and was detailed as assistant master of trans- portation to go with the party who located Fort Steele and was soon after this placed in charge of transportation and forage and remained until the fall of 1871. His name is mentioned in connection with other events in this volume. The capture of the robbers mentioned gave great satisfac- tion in army circles and General C. C. Augur, the command- er of the department, in general orders No. 8, dated, Omaha, February 10, 1869, complimented those engaged as follows-
"The Commanding General announces the successful result of an expedition of eight men under command of Bre- vet Captain J. H. Hays, First Lieutenant 30 Infantry, sent in pursuit of thieves and a herd of government mules, stolen from Fort Fred. Steele on the night of the 31st of January, 1869, and, discovering the trail three miles from the post, followed it next day twenty-five miles, leaving two strag- glers and one man whose animal had given out. The pursuit was continued next morning in a drifting snow storm, under discouraging circumstances, with the trail at times obliter- ated. The trail becoming fresher the pursuit was pressed, and after a march of thirty-five miles, the thieves made a desperate fight and after being wounded made good their escape into a ravine, on foot, leaving their blankets, bed- ding and animals behind. The men of the party were on short rations, and with no water except melted snow. On the return, the expedition captured two thieves with two animals stolen from the post on the night of February 1, 1869.
"Captain Hays especially commends the conduct of Wagon Master Ingersoll, and Private Charles Moore, Com- pany 'A'; Perry Case, Campany 'F', and Michael Owens, Company 'K', 30th Infantry.
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