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THE GREAT PLAINS

THE GREAT PLAINS

THE ROMANCE OF WESTERN AMERICAN
EXPLORATION, WARFARE, AND
SETTLEMENT, 1S27-1870

RANDALL PARRISH
AUTHOR OF " When Wilderness was King," " My Lady of the
North," " Historic Illinois," etc., etc.

WITH MORE THAN FIFTY ILLUSTRATIONS

THIRD EDITION

CHICAGO
A. C. McCLURG & CO.
191S

COPYJIIGIJT
A. C. McCupBG ft Co.
1907
Published September 14. 1907
Second Edition, November 25, 1907
Tbird Edition. June 15. 1915

W. F. HAU. PniNTINQ COMPANY, CHICAa,.

Ql^ia vnluttiF I0 bfitUatcb
TO THOSE

WHO, BY REASON OF THEIR COURAGE, PRIVATIONS, AND SACRIFICES
RENDERED POSSIBLE THE WRITING OF THIS STORY
OF AMERICAN ACHIEVfeMBNT,
THE MEN AND WOMEN WHO WON THE
GREAT PLAINS FROM SAVAGERY TO CIVILIZATION

I hear the tread of Pioneers,
Of Nations yet to be ;
The first low wash of waves, where soon
Shall roll a human sea. — Whittier.

PREFACE
HERETOFORE the romantic history of the
Plains has never been condensed within the
limits of a single volume. The facts herein nar
rated have been scattered throughout a multitude
of books, some of which are named in the Note of
Acknowledgment. In addition to these, it has been
found necessary to consult files of newspapers, old
magazines, and not a few unpublished manuscripts
in the possession of various State Historical Socie
ties. The labor of collating and arranging material
has been no small part of the task, and was supple
mented by extensive travel throughout the regions
described. In treating of the Great Plains I have , purposely
omitted Texas. The story of the Lone Star State
is so distinctly separated from that of the more cen
tral and northern Plains country, both as regards
settlement and warfare, as to require greater space
than could be afforded within a single volume.
It would be presumptuous to suppose that a
book covering so wide a field could be entirely de
void of errors; but I am confident that the work
may be relied on for historical accuracy.
There are two perfectly legitimate ways of
writing history. One is to make a simple statement
[vii]

PREFACE
of facts; the other, to clothe the statement in lan
guage fitted to appeal to the reader's imagination.
It is perhaps unnecessary to say which method I
prefer, the book itself being sufficiently illustrative.
It is written largely for those to whom history has
been heretofore dry and unpalatable, and my sole
desire is that it may awaken within their hearts a
fresh interest in those who were the pioneers in the
redemption of the Great Plains.
R. P.
Chicago, May i, igoj.

[viii]

NOTE OF ACKNOWLEDGMENT
THE following authorities have been used in the prepara
tion of this volume: Parkman's "A Half Century of
Conflict " ; Hitchcock's " The Louisiana Purchase " ;
Bancroft's " United States History " ; Herbert Bancroft's " Colo
rado and Wyoming" ; Chittenden's " History of the American Fur
Trade " ; Marcy's " Army Life on the Border," and " Overland
Expeditions " ; Winship's Edition, " The Journey of Coronado " ;
Inman's " Old Santa Fe Trail ", and " Old Salt Lake Trail";
Grinnell's " Story of the Indian "; Hough's " Story of the Cow-
boy " ; Laut's " Story of the Trapper " ; Forsyth's " Story of the
Soldier " ; Gregg's " Commerce of the Prairies " ; Dodge's " Our
Wild Indians"; Belden's "The White Chief"; Brady's "In
dian Fights and Fighters '' ; Spring's " Kansas " ; Holloway's
"History of Kansas " ; Bovi^les's "Across the Continent " ; Rich
ardson's " Beyond the Mississippi " ; Sanborn's " Life and Letters
of John Brow^n " ; Transactions Kansas Historical Society ; Lum-
mis's " Spanish Pioneers," and " Pioneer Transportation in
America"; Reports of Lewis and Clark, Pike, and Long;
American State Papers; Nebraska Historical Transactions;
Custer's " Boots and Saddles " ; and others referred to in the
text. R. P.

[ix]

CONTENTS

PART I.— EXPLORATION
CHAPTER PAGE
I. Nature of the Great Plains; Flora and
Fauna . . . . .17
II. The Indians of the Great Plains . . 29
III. The First Spaniards . . . -41
IV. The French Explorers . . -53
V. The Expedition of Lewis and Clark . .61
VI. The Explorations of Pike and Long . 71
VII. The Fur-Traders . . . .80
VIII. Incidents during the Fur Trade . . 97
IX. Beginnings of the Santa Fe Trade . . io8
X. Incidents of the Santa Fe Trail . .121
XI. Early Transportation on the Plains . 130

PART II.— THE STRUGGLE FOR POSSESSION
I. The First Emigrants . . . .140
II. Early Army Service . . . .152
III. During the War with Mexico . . 164
IV. The Reign of the Prairie Schooner . -173
V. The Overland Route . . . .182
VI. The Overland Stage Lines . . . 192
VII. Adventures and Tragedies on the Overland 204
VIII. The Pony Express . . . .215
IX. The Army on the Plains — The First En
counters ..... 225
X. The Army on the Plains — During the Civil
War . . . . .233
[xi]

CONTENTS
chapter page
XI. The Army on the Plains — Massacre at Fort
Philip Kearney .... 242
XII. The Army on the Plains — Thirty-two
against Three Thousand . . . 252
XIII. The Army on the Plains — The Fight on
THE ArICKAREE .... 260
XIV. The Army on the Plains — The Surprise of
Black Kettle .... 273
XV. The Army on the Plains — Incidents of In
dian War ..... 282

PART III.— OCCUPATION
I. The Beginning of Settlement
II. The Struggle in Eastern Kansas
III. Days of the Cattle Kings
IV. Building the First Railroad
V. Border Towns .
VI. Outlaws and Desperadoes
VII. Frontier Scouts and Guides
VIII. Mushroom Towns
IX. In 1870 .

289 300
314
326335
344
355366
376

[xii]

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGE
Frontispiece 20

The Great Plains
An Indian Encampment in the Bad Lands
The Buffalo Hunt
Types of Indian Chiefs
Cabaca de Vaca and his Companions
Scenes during the Indians' Supremacy on the
Plains: The Prairie — An Indian Buffalo
Hunt ....
Portrait of Lieutenant Zebulon Pike
Pike's Peak ....
Fort Clark, on the Missouri River .
Fort Union, on the Missouri River .
Incidents jn the Experience of Emigrants: A
Mirage — A Wagon Train — A Ford over the
River ......
A Caravan arriving at Sante Fe .
Early Indian Migration ....
Primitive Modes of Traffic across the Plains: The
Carreta of the South — A Mule Path and
Pack Train — One of the Earliest American
Pack Trains .....
Mormon Hand-cart Emigrants en route to Utah .
Scenes picturing the Settlement of Utah by the
Mormons: Early Street Scene in Salt Lake
City — The Cabin Home of a Mormon Family .
An Early Scene at Kansas City, Missouri .
Frontier Forts: Fort Laramie — Fort Bridger
[xiii]

2638
46

64 72
7888
92

102118132

136 148

158174190

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS page
The United States Army in Service on the Plains :
In Conflict with Winter Storms — The Last
Stand — On the March . . . .212
Scenes incident to Travel across the Plains: A
Mule Train at the Ford — The Southern
Overland Mail Stage .... 220
Scenes Characteristic of Indian Attack and the
Defence of the Settlers: The Last Stand —
Emigrants repelling an Attack — Defending
the Wagon Train ..... 228
Indian Life on the Great Plains: Indians execut
ing A War Dance — An Indian Encampment . 238
Red Cloud, Chief of the Ogalla Sioux . 254
Scenes Characteristic of Indian Attacks: A Night
Attack upon the Camp — An Emigrant Train
preparing for Defence .... 264
Scenes of Indian Warfare on the Great Plains:
An Attack on the Overland Stage — Custer's
Charge on Black Kettle's Camp — The Scout's
Last Shot ...... 278
Emigrants on the Trail .... 292
Missourians going to Kansas to " Vote " . . 302
Border Ruffians " going over to wipe out Law
rence " . . . . . .308
Scenes along the Line of the First Railroad:
Railroad-building across the Plains — An
Attack on the Construction Gang — Type of
Towns which sprung up along the New Line . 330
Transportation and Communication across the
Plains . . . . . .338
Portrait of Kit Carson .... 356
Portrait of James P. Beckwourth . . , 363
[xiv]

THE GREAT PLAINS

THE GREAT PLAINS

PART I.— EXPLORATION

CHAPTER I
NATURE OF THE GREAT PLAINS; FLORA
AND FAUNA
Situation and Extent of the Great Plains
FROM a purely technical viewpoint the Plains
properly form only a comparatively small por
tion of that extensive area of prairie country
the story of which is to be told in these pages. Yet,
by common consent as well as historical precedent,
the term has become quite generally applied as de
scriptive of all that vast region of grass land and
arid desert which extended like an uncharted sea
of green and brown desolation between the valley
of the Missouri upon the north and east, and the
foothills of the Rockies.
This truly immense territory, extending from
about the centre of the Dakotas southward to the
Rio Grande, possessed an average width of five
hundred miles. It embraced Texas, Indian Terri
tory, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, and the larger
[17]

THE GREAT PLAINS
part of the two Dakotas, together with a considera
ble portion of New Mexico, Colorado, and Wyo
ming. While largely similar in topography, it was
nevertheless varied by numerous river courses, by
the outcropping of low mountains, by shifting
sandhills, by occasional strips of woodland, and by
the gradual divergence from rolling, luxuriant
prairie to level, sterile plain. Over all, however,
there remained a peculiar sameness from which
there was no escape. Mile after mile revealed the
same vast picture of solitude, haunting in its lone
liness, baffling in its similarity of outline.
Description of the Surface
Along the rivers — usually shallow streams, the
water often red with matter in suspension, the bot
toms treacherous with quicksand — there were
commonly miles of rough, broken land, frequently
terminating in high bluffs, and these occasionally
traversed by ravines of considerable depth and ab
ruptness. Trees, growing sparsely, and deformed by
wind, clung precariously to these steep hillsides,
while cottonwoods and willows fringed the banks
of smaller streams, usually visible for long distances.
There were considerable areas of sand, constantly
shifting before the violence of storms, the mounds
assuming grotesque shapes; such trackless wastes
were usually destitute of water and vegetation.
Patches of alkali, white and poisonous, stared forth
from the surrounding green, rendering the streams
[i8]

NATURE OF THE GREAT PLAINS
brackish, and impossible for man or beast. To
north and south the Black Hills, the Wichita Buttes,
and the Washita Range rose from out the very
heart of the surrounding desolation, tree-covered
and rocky. Here and there " bad lands," ugly and
drear, gave unpleasant variety. In widely remote
regions odd growths of black-jack extended for
leagues, sometimes nearly impenetrable, so closely
interlaced were the trees; while toward the more
western mountain boundary vast canyons formed al
most impassable barriers, and isolated buttes arose
like ghosts from out the enveloping plain, assuming
fantastic shapes under the relentless chisel of the
elements. A remarkable region was found in the sand hills
of wfhat is now Nebraska. These, rounded and pos
sessing a thin covering of turf, often of considera
ble height, are so exactly like each other that it is
almost impossible to distinguish between them.
They afford absolutely no guidance, but rather pro
duce the confusing and baffling effect of a maze;
and once off the trail, the unfortunate traveller be
comes completely lost. Farther north, between the
Black Hills and the Missouri, lie the Mauvaises
Terres of the French. Here Nature seems to have
exerted herself in a search after the repulsive. The
whole country is a series of gullies, with hills rising
above them carved by the elements into the most
fantastic forms, unlike anything to be found else
where. The soil appears oily, becoming so slippery
[19]

THE GREAT PLAINS
when wet as to make the climbing of the steep
slopes almost impossible. On these barren, ash-
colored hills scarcely the slightest vegetation
thrives. Little animal life, other than the snake
and the lizard, is to be found, and all about ex
tends a scene of complete desolation.
Yet, considered as a whole, and as the earlier
travellers certainly perceived it, this area was com
posed of irregular, rolling prairie, bearing the ap
pearance of innumerable petrified waves ever ex
tending toward the western horizon, until, growing
continually less and less pronounced, they finally
settled down into vast level stretches, forming the
Plains proper bordering the Rockies. Throughout
this entire distance, although usually imperceptible
to the eye, the earth's surface had a steady upward
trend. The land became more arid, the rainfall
perceptibly less, the waters of the rivers diminished
in volume, the atmosphere grew lighter, and the
luxuriant herbage of the Eastern prairies changed
into the short, nutritious buffalo grass of the West
ern plateaus. All tree growth completely disap
peared, nothing remaining to break the drear
desolation except the ghostly cactus, or the diminu
tive Spanish bayonet, with here and there a naked
sage bush, grim flower of the desert.
Three Distinct Belts to be Crossed
To the traveller advancing due west from the
Missouri there were three distinct belts, averaging
[20]

NATURE OF THE GREAT PLAINS
about one hundred and fifty miles each, through
which his slow-moving caravan passed before at
taining to the mountains. The first was agricultur
ally rich, a magnificent prairie land, possessing
abundant rain, fertile soil, sufficient timber along
the numerous water-courses, and in every direction
delighting the eye. The next hundred and fifty
miles, stretching from about the 98th meridian to
the loist, brought a notable change. The rolling,
verdure-decked hills, began to sink away into mo
notonous plains ; the soil became less rich, and was
streaked with alkali ; the waters of the streams di
minished and grew unfit to drink ; while vegetation
became dwarfed and scanty. The cactus, the sage
brush, and the prairie dog were much in evidence.
A suffocating dust rose from the trail under the
horses' feet. The third division of the journey, ex
tending to the 104th meridian, was that hilly region
which led on to those great mountain ranges already
plainly in sight Here the traveller was in the midst
of rocky, barren desolation, at first a drear, grim
expanse of desert, but gradually improving in veg
etation and water as he approached closer to the
mountains.
Perils of the Journey
But not only in its surface configuration was this
a peculiar country. Its fierce storms, its mirages,
its perilous prairie fires, the swiftness of attack by
its mounted Indians, rendered it distinct from all
other frontiers. Except in the spring of the year
[21J

THE GREAT PLAINS
the prairie trails were easily followed. In time of
rain the fords across the streams became dangerous,
the prairie roads were transformed into quagmires,
and no shelter was obtainable. The storms, at what
ever season they occurred, were fierce and terrific.
Those of summer were cyclonic, often working
great damage, while in winter the awful blizzard
was almost certain death to any unfortunate caught
unprotected upon the open plain. During the sum
mer season, after the prairie grass had become long
and dry, destructive fires raging over immense dis
tricts threatened terrible disaster to all in their
course. When driven by a strong wind such a fire
became a veritable travelling furnace, bringing
death to everything in its passage. The fleetest
horse could not outrun its leaping flames, and the
only probability of escape lay in prompt back-firing.
At night the glare of miles of flame made a mag
nificent spectacle if the observer could view the
scene from some point of safety.
Perhaps the most distressing phenomena of the
plains were the mirages. These were more no
ticeable in the south, being particularly vivid in the
neighborhood of the Cimarron Desert. In the midst
of the gray desolation would suddenly appear a
sparkling river, or a gleaming lake. Everything
would seem perfect, a breeze rippling the water,
the shores distinctly outlined, yet it all faded away
upon approach. Occasionally the mirage would as
sume other forms, — a large caravan, or a splendid
[22]

NATURE OF THE GREAT PLAINS
city, — but ever it was a dissolving picture, which
tantalized many a wearied traveller.
The Flora
The flora and fauna of this vast region during
the years of its invasion by the white man may be
briefly summarized. The most important and prac
tically the only tree was the cottonwood. The best
known species was the broad-leaved, found along
the lower water-courses, where the trunk occasion
ally attained to five feet in diameter, with a height
of seventy. Higher up in the foot-hills the leaf be
came narrower. Cottonwood groves were favorite
camping-places on the Long Trail, furnishing fuel,
as well as logs for huts, and even food for horses.
The bark was nutritious, and the animals not only
liked it, but throve upon it as well as upon oats. In
some of the valleys the quaking ash was found, usu
ally growing in small compact copses. It was a
good wood for fuel. Toward the mountains pine,
spruce, balsam, and fir abounded, while cedars were
very numerous, but generally distorted and mis
shapen by the never-ceasing winds. Along most of
the prairie streams there were willow growths,
often forming extensive thickets, almost impenetra
ble, and closely crowding the bank.
Although the plains and most of the foot-hills
and bad lands were absolutely destitute of trees,
there were occasional extensive forests which be
came celebrated. The country about the Black Hills
[23]

THE GREAT PLAINS
was heavily wooded. On the head-waters of the
Neosho was the famous forest of Council Grove, a
great camping-spot for caravans bound for Santa
Fe. The Big Timbers of the Arkansas consisted of
a large grove of cottonwoods extending for several
miles along the northern bank of that stream, a lit
tle distance below the site of Bent's Fort. The Cross
Timbers, composed mostly of dwarfish, stunted
trees, was farther south, extending from the Brazos
River in Texas, northwest to the Canadian. A
branch ran westward across the Canadian North
Fork. On the more open plains of the north the
only growth was sage-brush and grease-wood, while
to the southward the cactus and the Spanish bayonet
reigned supreme. In Colorado the prickly pear
was common, and on the drear plains of New Mex
ico the giant cactus took weird, fantastic forms.
But the most important vegetable productions
of the entire region were the grasses. There were
extensive barren spots, drear desolate deserts, but,
speaking generally, no region in the world ever ex
celled the Plains as a grazing country. On the low
er prairies and in the stream bottoms the growth
was luxuriant, yet even upon the high plains, the
table-lands and hills, were found grasses of value.
One peculiarity of these grasses is that they retain
their nutritive power after the season of growth is
over, even under the snow of winter. The three
chief ones were the gramma grass, the buffalo grass,
[24J

NATURE OF THE GREAT PLAINS
and the bunch grass. Of these the last was most
widespread and valuable. The Fauna
In this extensive region the most important ani
mals were the buffalo, not only because of their
number but also owing to their value to the Indian.
The buffalo furnished sustenance for all the tribes
of the Plains. Almost everything the Indian re
quired was furnished by the buffalo — his food, his
bed, his clothes, his weapons of war and chase, his
boats, his saddles, and most of the articles required
for domestic use. The story of the buffalo can nev
er be written in its entirety. Beyond doubt the
range of these strange shaggy beasts, called by
the first Spanish explorers "deformed cattle," at
one time extended from the Rocky Mountains to the
Alleghanies. But steadily they were forced west
ward. It is impossible to contend that this retreat
was caused by the advance of the white man, for it
largely antedated white occupancy. As early as
1807 the range of the buffalo had receded as far as
the 97th meridian. When first known to early ex
plorers of the Plains the great herds roamed from
the Missouri to the Rockies, and from near the Gulf
to 60 degrees north latitude. The multitude of these
animals, within the memory of men yet living,
was almost beyond belief. No enumeration was
ever satisfactory, but it is incontrovertible that they
[25]

THE GREAT PLAINS
numbered millions upon millions. Railroad trains
and steamboats have been held up for hours to per-.
mit vast herds to pass. Innumerable trails worn by
their hoofs are yet visible. The slight statistics re
lating to their slaughter in later years are evidence
of the vastness of their original numbers. The
American Fur Company in 1840 sent to St. Louis
sixty-seven thousand robes, and in 1848, one hun
dred and ten thousand. Twenty-five thousand buf
falo tongues were brought to that city the same year.
As early as i860 it was estimated by competent
authority that at least 250,000 buffalo were being
killed yearly. As late as 1871 Colonel Dodge
writes of riding for twenty-five miles in western
Kansas through an immense herd, the whole coun
try about him appearing a solid mass of moving
buffalo. In that year the animals moved northward
on their annual migration in a column from twenty-
five to fifty miles wide and of unknown depth from
front to rear. In the later migrations, as observed
by whites, the buffalo columns usually crossed the
Arkansas River somewhere between Great Bend
and Big Sand Creek. Colonel Dodge estimates that
in the three years 1872-74 at least five million buf
falo were slaughtered for their hides.
Other animals having habitat on the Great
Plains may be considered briefly. Along nearly all
the streams was to be found the beaver, while out
upon the prairies, far from his mountain lair, wan
dered the ferocious grizzly bear in search of food.
[26]

NATURE OF THE GREAT PLAINS
The black bear seldom left the foot-hills. Elk, vari
ous species of deer, and antelope were numerous.
The wolf was the most ignoble of the inhabitants of
the Plains. The gray wolf was largest and most
troublesome, although the coyote made night hide
ous with its unending yowls. Panthers and wild
cats were frequently encountered, while the prairie
dog was almost always in evidence in the more des
olate regions.
Next to the buffalo, however, the most impor
tant animal of the Plains was the wild horse. The
horse was a comparatively recent arrival, not native
to America, but introduced by the Spaniards into
Mexico. It multiplied with great rapidity, over
spreading all the southern Plains, where it was cap
tured by the Indians, and gradually taken north.
As early as 1700 it was in quite general use. The
wild horses ran in droves often of considerable size,
under the leadership of a stallion. They were taken
usually by the lasso, although occasionally "creas
ing" was the method employed. This consisted of
shooting a rifle ball through the top of the neck so
as to cut a nerve, and render the animal for a short
time insensible. Thousands were caught for the mar
ket in the early days of white occupancy, and as
late as 1894 a few bands were still running free in
the Texas Pan-Handle.
Transformation Wrought by Civilized Man
We have now before us a fairly accurate pen-
picture of the Great Plains as they appeared when
[27]

THE GREAT PLAINS
first viewed by the eyes of white explorers. To
those of this present generation, who view plain and
prairie from the windows of express trains, the orig
inal desolation of the broad expanse can scarcely be
conceivable. To-day farmhouses, growing cities,
and prosperous towns dot the miles, railways anni
hilate distance, while foreign trees, transplanted and
cultivated with care, beautify the changed land
scape. The labor and skill of civilized man, the
gradual increase of rainfall, the development of
irrigation, have all combined to work a modern mir
acle, redeeming the arid waste. The desert has
become transformed into a garden. Only occasion
ally may the searching eye discern evidences of what
once was, and that so few years since, a sterile, sav
age-haunted desolation, in midst of which adven
turous souls toiled and died, or struggled and
achieved. The American frontier has ever proven
a developer of character, and a scene of constantly
recuxring~ContEsr^gainst the perils of the wilder
ness and against savagery. But the Plains produced
a peculiar type of pioneer. — brother, indeed, to him
of the Eastern woods and mountains, yet changad-
and marked by the -environment amid which he
wrought his destiny and lived his life. The story
of his struggle and triumph is unsurpassed in the
annals of white endeavor.

[28]

CHAPTER II
THE INDIANS OF THE GREAT PLAINS
The Prehistoric Period
THE history of this vast prairie land, from that
far-off age when immense ice masses left
their marks on its surface to the time of the
coming of the first adventurous Spaniard, is an un
written, untraceable story. We may believe much,
yet can know but little. Tradition here and there
slightly lifts an edge of the curtain, but merely to
afford glimpses of savagery. No doubt centuries
of conflict had been waged ; tribes had arisen to pow
er, only to be annihilated; others had been driven
from place to place; yet all those ages had wit
nessed no more than a slight uplifting from the
lowest form of savagery to a rude barbarism. Any
serious effort to reveal the secrets of this period
would be but wasted energy.
But from the earliest ages the Plains must have
been marvellous hunting-grounds, the natural habi
tat of a great variety of animal life, and consequent
ly overrun by aborigines in the chase. From this
cause alone the struggle for possession must have
been unending, fierce, and relentless. From the
Missouri to the Rockies, during unknown centuries,
was a trail of blood, a continuous scene of tribal ha
tred, of unbridled ferocity. Undoubtedly there
[29]

THE GREAT PLAINS
were spaces of comparative neutrality, yet safety
was never assured when wandering parties of hun
ters met by chance in the wilderness. Hatred, jeal
ousy, revenge held supreme sway; the war-club and
the tomahawk were the rulers of the wide domain.
While he was of the same race, and in nature
similar, the environment of the Plains Indian made
him in many respects different from the red man of
the Eastern forests and mountains. Equally savage,
relentless, and courageous, the wide open space of
his home had marked him with certain characteris
tics which made him a yet more dreaded antagonist.
Above all, he possessed the horse, which afforded a
vast advantage in a military sense, the celerity of
movement being advantageous both for attack and
escape. It was the mounted Indian with whom the
pioneers of the prairies were obliged to contend in
their struggle for possession.
Condition of the Indians at the Arrival of the Spaniards
While it remains true that an Indian is always
an Indian, yet each tribe has its own peculiarities.
In North America, north of Mexico, there were
nearly sixty distinct languages spoken, which ap
parently had no relation to one another, not even a
common origin. Almost as widely different were
various tribes in culture. The Northern Indians,
were, at the coming of the whites, practically in
the Stone Age of development. The use of metals
was unknown. Native copper was indeed utilized
[30]

THE INDIANS OF THE GREAT PLAINS
to some extent, but it was merely hammered into
usefulness. The Indian's weapons were of stone,
his clothing of skin, his pottery of the simplest kind,
his subsistence derived almost entirely from hunting
and fishing. Some slight agriculture was practised,
such as the raising of corn, beans, and squashes, but
the chase was the main means of support.
Locations and Characteristics of the Tribes
The greater number of the Plains tribes were
wandering and predatory, although a few along the
Missouri, and in the Southwest dwelt in permanent
villages. Even the predatory tribes had some par
ticular section to which they always returned, yet
they were essentially a nomadic people, taking long
journeys for purposes of the chase or war. Those
tribes with which we have most directly to do in this
narrative belonged to several great linguistic stocks
— the Algonquin, the Siouan, the Shoshonean, the
Caddoan, and the Kiowan. Of the first, those re
siding within the district to be considered were the
Arapahoes, the Cheyennes, and the Grosventres of
the prairie. The tribes of the Siouan stock occupied
nearly the whole of the valley of the Missouri with
a wide extent of territory on either side. Those of
special interest in the story of the Plains were the
Mandans, Sioux, Poncas, Omahas, lowas, Otoes,
Kansas, and Osages. Of the great Shoshone fam
ily only the Comanches roamed over the prairie
country, their region being south of the Arkansas.
[31]

THE GREAT PLAINS
The Caddoans were represented by two tribes, the
Pawnees and the Aricaras. The Kiowas were a dis
tinct stock.
We will endeavor to take up these tribes and
locate them as they were first known to the whites.
The Grosventres of the prairie were a part of the
great Blackfeet nation, having their home in the
mountains to the northwest. They were a relent
lessly warlike tribe, yet always maintained a spe
cially friendly relation with the Arapahoes, who
held the country about the South Fork of the Platte.
It was the custom of the Grosventres to visit the
Arapahoes every two or three years. The result of
their visits was invariably war with other tribes
through whose boundaries they were obliged to
pass, and incidentally with any unfortunate white
men encountered on the way. Trappers and fur-
traders suffered greatly at their hands. The Ara
pahoes of the South Platte were somewhat inferior
in stature to the Grosventres, but resembled them in
face and dress. Their distinctive tribal feature was
the tattooed breast. They also permitted their hair
to grow to great length, even occasionally using
false hair. They were a wandering tribe, living in
tents of skin. During the early days of exploration
they numbered about two thousand five hundred
souls. They had little trouble with neighboring In
dians, excepting the Pawnees and Utes, but were
hostile to the whites, until they became interested
in the fur trade about 1832, when Captain Gant
[32]

THE INDIANS OF THE GREAT PLAINS
established a trading-post in their country, and won
their confidence. They were natural traders, and
were considered more honest than most Indians.
Tribes Met by the Earliest Explorers
The earliest explorers in the fur trade came
more directly in contact with those tribes, mostly of
the Siouan stock, inhabiting the valley of the Mis
souri. Of these the Mandans were particularly in
teresting. Early writers had much to say of this
people because their country was for many years
the farthest point achieved in the fur trade. Up
to 1830 very few travellers got beyond the villages
of the Mandans. Before the arrival of the whites
they were a great nation, numbering at least six
thousand souls, and occupying nine villages. But
war and smallpox ravaged these towns until, at the
visit of Lewis and Clark, they numbered scarcely
two thousand. In 1837 the smallpox again visited
them, and only about thirty of the tribe survived.
They were a stationary people, living in permanent
villages, and relying largely upon agriculture for
subsistence, although great hunters of the buffalo.
Of fine appearance, robust and broad-shouldered,
they were a peaceably disposed tribe, and remained
on friendly terms with the whites.
What is now the State of South Dakota was in
early days the home of the Sioux, or, in their own
language, the Dakotas. Their numbers, when first
brought into relationship with the fur-traders, was
[33]

THE GREAT PLAINS
probably fifteen thousand. In physical appearance
they were typical Plains Indians, of stalwart
physique and great endurance. They were a no
madic race, their wanderings taking them far in
every direction, and were exceedingly warlike, be
ing constantly in battle against their neighbors.
They were divided into three tribes — the Yanktons,
the Yanktonais or Yanktons of the Plains, and the
Tetons. The first of these dwelt along the Missouri
River, in the valleys of the James, the Vermilion,
and the Big Sioux, extending even as far east as
the Des Moines. They numbered about a thousand,
and gave the whites but little trouble. The Yank
tonais, numbering about two thousand five hundred,
were the most dreaded among the Sioux. They oc
cupied the upper valleys of the James and the Big
Sioux, ranging eastward to the Red River of the
North, and west a long distance up the Missouri.
A favorite pastime was to ambuscade the traders'
boats on the river. The Tetons was the largest
tribe, containing five thousand souls. They dwelt
mostly west of the Missouri, overspreading the
country to the Black Hills and the North Platte;
the Ogallalas composed the more southern branch,
dwelling near the head-waters of the White and
Niobrara Rivers.
The most dangerous Indians encountered by the
Missouri River fur-traders were the Aricaras, or
Rees, a tribe of the Caddoan stock. This people
held their place in the very heart of the great
[34]

THE INDIANS OF THE GREAT PLAINS
Sioux nation, and the remains of their ancient vil
lages, used in the day of their power, could be
traced all the way from the Niobrara to the Cannon
Ball along the Missouri. When Lewis and Clark
visited them they numbered three thousand six hun
dred. Previous to 1830 these Indians lived in clay
huts similar to those of the Mandans. Physically
they were tall and well formed, and their women
were considered the handsomest on the Missouri.
So far as the whites were concerned the Aricaras
were always treacherous and warlike. It was im
possible to trust them in any way ; they were friends
to-day, and bitter enemies to-morrow.
The Cheyennes and Pawnees
Leaving the valley of the Missouri and moving
westward to the eastern and southern base of the
Black Hills, the traveller entered the country of the
Cheyennes, who were of Algonquin stock. How
long this people occupied that district, or from
whence they came, is uncertain. That they were
kindred to the Arapahoes seems probable, and as
early as 1820 many of the tribe seceded and joined
the other. By 1840 all the remainder had moved
south, where they also became affiliated with their
kindred. Misfortune had made of them wanderers,
but they were always a virile race, magnificent
horsemen and superb warriors. While ever at war
with surrounding tribes, with the whites they were
usually at peace, although when they took the war-
[35]

THE GREAT PLAINS
path they proved dangerous enemies. Their prin
cipal traffic was in horses, and this trade led them
to become great travellers across the prairies.
South and east, within the present limits of the
State of Nebraska, their centre of power the Loup
Fork of the Platte, was the great nation of the
Pawnees. They possessed four distinct villages, or
divisions, the Grand Pawnees, the Republican
Pawnees, the Noisy Pawnees, and the Pawnee
Loups. The latter were probably a conquered peo
ple at one time associated with the Aricaras. The
Tapage, or Noisy Pawnees, were the least impor
tant ; they were not mentioned at all by Pike, who
visited this country in 1806. Fourteen years later
Long found the Pawnees living about sixty miles
above the mouth of the Loup. The Grand Pawnees
were farthest down stream and numbered about
three thousand five hundred. Three miles above
were the Republican Pawnees with a population of
one thousand, while the Loups, four miles beyond,
had two thousand. They were village tribes, being
agriculturists as well as hunters, and dwelt in
lodges, some of which were fully sixty feet in diam
eter, circular in form, having conical roofs of easy
slope. The Pawnees were tall, slender, but well
muscled. They excelled in horsemanship, having
no superiors on the Plains. Though they possessed
permanent villages, they were great wanderers, but
generally travelled to the south or southwest, being
frequently encountered along the Arkansas and on
the old Santa Fe Trail. They fought with all sur-
[36]

THE INDIANS OF THE GREAT PLAINS
rounding tribes, and made no steadfast alliances.
During many years they were the terror of those
traders who were obliged to traverse their country
or to skirt its borders. In earlier years of explora
tion they held friendly relations with the Spaniards,
and exhibited great hostility to American advance.
The fur-traders never built a permanent post in
their country, but met and traded with them at
Council Bluffs. The Indians of the Missouri Valley
Along the lower valley of the Missouri were
found the Poncas, the Omahas, the Kansas, and the
Osages. These were at one time a single nation
dwelling in the Ohio Valley near the mouth of the
Wabash. The cause of separation is unknown, but
on coming West the Osages and Kansas settled in
the valleys of the streams now bearing their names,
while the others pressed on, the Omahas halting
on the west bank of the Missouri above the mouth
of the Platte, and the Poncas near the mouth of the
Niobrara. At the coming of the first white traders
the latter had been reduced by smallpox and war
to barely two hundred souls, and the Omahas
scarcely numbered four hundred. The Kansas tribe
numbered one thousand five hundred. All these
people were friendly to the whites, and figure little
in the romantic history of the Plains. The Osages
were the most important of the four divisions, being
the first Indians of the prairies to open a regular
trade with the whites. For many years previous to
[37]

THE GREAT PLAINS
1800 (exact dates unknown), Pierre Chouteau had
business relations in their villages, and at that time
Manuel Lisa obtained Spanish permission to estab
lish a permanent trading-post in their country. The
struggle between these two traders divided the tribe.
While generally friendly, the Osages were inclined
to organize marauding parties, which did much
injury to small companies passing through their
neighborhood. As previously mentioned, the country bordering
the South Platte was the home of the Arapahoes,
whose headquarters were near the present site of the
city of Denver. Here these Indians conducted a
sort of fair, exchanging articles procured from the
Spanish on the south for the more northern furs.
The word Arapahoe is said to mean " he who buys,
or trades." Closely associated with them in the
earliest days of white exploration were the Kiowas.
Later, during the struggle for possession, a yet
stronger alliance was made by this latter tribe with
the Comanches. For many years the Kiowa war
riors roamed freely over the entire Arapahoe and
Comanche country, extending from the South Platte
to the Brazos. Their favorite rendezvous seems to
have been the valley of the Arkansas near the mouth
of the Purgatory River. The Kiowas were little
known by name in the early fur trade, but prob
ably many an atrocity charged to the Comanches
or the Arapahoes was really committed by these
wanderers. A late authority refers to them as being
"the most predatory and bloodthirsty" of the
[38]

TYJ-'hS OF INDIAN CHIEFS

PAWXKE TRIBK
OMAHA TR[I-;K

nSAGK TRIBE
MANDAN TRIBE

THE INDIANS OF THE GREAT PLAINS
prairie tribes; and adds, "They have probably
killed more white men in proportion to their num
ber than any of the others."
The Comanches resided to the south of the Ar
kansas River, occupying portions of what is now
Oklahoma, Texas, and New Mexico. They were
the only tribe of the great Shoshone family dwell
ing exclusively upon the Plains. In the fullest
sense they were a wandering people, perhaps the
most restless of all American tribes. In the wide
region they controlled, it is impossible to name any
particular spot which they held as a favorite resi
dence. They moved north and south according to
the season, but otherwise merely as fortune dictated.
The wealth of the Comanche, and the centre of his
interest, was the horse. The tribe were probably
the most expert riders of the Western Plains, being
trained from infancy. Their remarkable skill in
the handling of horses was the wonder of all who
witnessed it. They marked their animals with a
peculiar slit in the ear, and neither love nor money
could induce them to part with a favorite mount.
In personal characteristics they resembled their
neighbors to the north, the Arapahoes, but, owing
to the southern climate, they wore less clothing.
One peculiarity was that they did not greatly care
for liquor. From the first they were a dangerous
tribe, always at war with both red and white. For
years they were the terror of the Plains, dreaded
from the Arkansas to the Rio Grande del Norte.
Every inch of white advance through their country
[39]

THE GREAT PLAINS
had to be fought for, and they made the Santa Fe
Trail a trail of blood.
Such were the inhabitants of the Great Plains
when the pioneers of the conquering white race first
ventured to set foot on that broad domain — widely
differing tribes of Indians, many at war with each
other, a few in alliances of peace. A small section
was held as neutral ground, possibly the southern
portion of what is now Kansas; but over that
roamed hunting parties of Pawnees, Arapahoes,
Kiowas, and Comanches, the fighting tribes, and
wherever they met there was battle to the death.
Magnificent warriors all of them, superb horsemen,
loving to struggle with all the ferocity of wild ani
mals. Jealous of their hunting-grounds, they were
as one in their desire to keep back white invasion,
and in the clash of arms they turned the prairies
red. To plainsmen and soldiers, Spaniards and
Americans, they proved foemen worthy of their
steel.

r4o]

CHAPTER III
THE FIRST SPANIARDS
Early Spanish Explorations
THE earliest exploration of the New World,
after the discovery by Columbus, took place
to the south, and was performed by soldiers and
adventurers of Spain. It was most natural that the
shores bordering the Gulf of Mexico should be first
invaded from the West Indies, and the wealth of
Mexico was a magnet to attract the invaders. As a
result, that country was in Spanish hands long be
fore the vast region now known as the United States
had even been penetrated by explorers. Expeditions
bound westward had here and there touched its
shores, much of the coast-line of Florida had been
traced, and De Pineda had discovered by accident
the mouth of the Mississippi ; but the vast continent
within remained unknown and mysterious.
Cabeza de Vaca's Travels from Florida to Mexico
Eight years after De Pineda's brief pause on the
Louisiana coast, and in the year 1527, only thirty-
five years after Columbus placed foot on Cat Island,
the first Spaniard penetrated that interior. This
man was Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca, the treas
urer of an expedition sent from Spain for the ex
ploration of Florida. The commander of his com
pany was Panfilo de Narvaez. The experience of
[41 J

THE GREAT PLAINS
these explorers was frightful. They struggled
across Florida from the Atlantic coast to the Gulf.
Here they built rude boats, and killed their horses
for food. The manes and tails were utilized for
ropes ; stirrups and spurs were made into tools and
nails, and the shirts of the men were pieced together
for sails. Thus equipped, the miserable company
put to sea. Ignorant of their position, they hoped
to reach Mexico and the Spanish settlements.
Skirting the shore, they had just passed the mouth
of the Mississippi when a severe storm wrecked
their five boats, and only fifteen men survived.
These were cast upon an island.
Of this remnant all but four were slain by the
Indians. The survivors were made prisoners, and
separated, not meeting again for six years. Cabeza
de Vaca, the only one of the party who has left a
record of these events, was held by his savage mas
ters in what is now eastern Texas and western Louis
iana. His treatment was that of a slave, although
finally he was permitted to act as a medicine man,
and even trusted t9 conduct trade. On one of these
trading journeys he travelled as far north as the
Red River, thus penetrating for a considerable dis
tance into the land of the Great Plains, and becom
ing the first white man to behold the " hunchbacked
cows," as the early Spanish writers termed the buf
faloes. At some point, now unknown, but certainly
west of the Sabine River, he became reunited with
his three surviving companions. These were Do-
rantes, Castillo Maldonado, and a negro called
[42]

THE FIRST SPANIARDS
Stephen. The four succeeded in escaping together
from their savage captors, and made their way
slowly westward through the regions of various
tribes, finding safety by pretending to be medicine
men. Their hope was to reach the Spanish settle
ment in Mexico; but historians differ widely as to
the route followed in their long wanderings. Some
contend that the four strayed as far north as the
Arkansas, but it seems far more probable that their
journey was over the southern Plains, crossing the
Rio Pecos not far above its junction with the Rio
Grande. De Vaca wrote an account of his expe
riences, and, without doubt, his little party were the
first whites to traverse the Great Plains and gaze
upon the towering Rockies. His description of the
buffalo is quaintly interesting.
De Vaca's Description of the Bu£Falo
"Cattle come as far as this. I have seen them three times
and eaten of their meat. I think they are about the size of
those of Spain. They have small horns, like the cows of Moroc
co, and the hair very long and flocky, like that of the Merino;
some are light brown, others black. To my judgment the flesh
is finer and fatter than that of this country. The Indians make
blankets of the hides of those not full grown. They range over
a district of more than four hundred leagues, and in the whole
extent of plain over which they run the people that inhabit near
there descend and live on them, and scatter a vast many skins
throughout the country,"
Turning southward, De Vaca and his compan
ions finally reached Culiacan in Sinaloa, the more
northern Spanish outpost, in May, 1536. Their
[43J

THE GREAT PLAINS
wanderings through the wilderness had taken them
over two thousand miles.
De Soto's Expedition and Death
De Vaca, who was a small man, possessed a
large imagination and a garrulous tongue. His de
scription of the wondrous region traversed, and the
marvellous stories told him by Indians during cap
tivity, aroused the adventurous spirits of two worlds.
Both Spain and Mexico organized expeditions for
exploration and conquest. These were so nearly of
a date, and came so close to overlapping each other
in the wilderness, that it is difficult to choose which
should be first described. To most readers that
commanded by Fernando de Soto will appeal as the
more important. De Soto sailed from Spain, April
6, 1538, with an armament of ten vessels, and a
splendidly equipped army of nine hundred men.
Landing in Florida, they fought a bloody passage
across Georgia and Alabama, and westward to the
Mississippi River. This stream, now first seen
above its mouth by white men, was crossed at Chick
asaw Bluff. From here the little army, now sadly
decimated and in desperate plight, marched north
ward to Little Prairie, always encouraged to per
severe by vague tales of gold, ever the object of the
Spaniard. From this point the commander de
spatched numerous expeditions, one of which attained
to the open prairies. Another must have nearly
reached the Missouri River, although De Soto
learned nothing as to its whereabouts. At this time,
[44]

THE, FIRST SPANIARDS
during the Summer of 1541, some of De Soto's fol
lowers may have been very close to that other force
of Spanish adventures which, under Coronado,
was then advancing from the west. Indeed, the lat
ter learned of the presence of mysterious white men
in his front, and despatched a messenger seeking
them, but the man failed in his effort. " Thus," as
Ripley Hitchcock says, " in the first half of the six
teenth century two Spaniards, one starting from
Tampa Bay in Florida, and the other from the
Gulf of California, practically completed a journey
across the continent."
Disappointed, and constantly harassed by In
dians, De Soto turned southward, and passed a
bitter winter on the Washita. In May, 1542, the in
trepid leader died near the mouth of Red River, and
his body was buried secretly, beneath the night
shades, under the waters of the vast stream he had
discovered cleaving the wilderness.
Wanderings of the Survivors
Luis de Moscoco became the commander of the
miserable remnant. Hoping thus to reach their
countrymen in New Spain, and possibly having
some vague knowledge of Coronado's presence in
the neighborhood, the survivors started westward.
Where they went is not altogether clear, but it is
believed they penetrated the country of the Plains to
so great a distance as to perceive the western moun
tains. The historian of that journey says :
"The entire route became a trail of fire and blood. The
[45]

THE GREAT PLAINS
savages of the Plains were of gigantic stature, and fought with
heavy, strong clubs, with the desperation of demons, buch was
their tremendous strength that one of these warriors was a match
for a Spanish soldier, though mounted on a horse, armed with
a sword, and cased in armor."
De Moscoco and his men passed six months of
terrible hardship in this region, but, if his object
was the finding of Coronado's party, he failed. The
probability is his course was too far to the south,
for Coronado at this time was in camp near the pres
ent location of Wichita, Kansas, or, according to his
chronicler, "at the junction of the St. Peter and St.
Paul," now the Big and Little Arkansas. Finally
discouraged, the little band retraced their steps to
the Mississippi, where they built boats, and floated
down to the Gulf. In September, 1543, the miser
able remnant reached safety at Tampico.
Coronado's Search for the Seven Golden Cities
At almost the identical time that De Soto began
his struggles westward from Florida, another Span
ish officer, Coronado, Governor of New Galicia,
was leading his soldiers eastward from the coast of
the Pacific. The story of De Vaca about the fabu
lous seven golden cities of Cibola, filled with treas
ure, had aroused a spirit of adventure among the
Spaniards of Mexico. As early as 1539 Fray Mar
cos de Nizza left Sinaloa, taking with him as guide
the negro Stephen who had been De Vaca's com
panion. The negro lost his life on the trip, but his
white comrade returned, and his report served only
[46]

¦ ^^ v:^"^ J'^?''¦¦^"•-

CAbEC.V I)K \'ACA AM) HIS COMPANIONS

THE FIRST SPANIARDS
to increase the excitement. Determined to discover
the truth and unearth the mysterious treasure, Men-
doza. Viceroy of Mexico, organized an expedition,
and gave the command to Francisco Vasquez Coro
nado. It was a well equipped and ably officered
body of men. This company started north from the
shores of the Gulf of California in 1540, and, after
much hardship and some fighting, captured the
Zuni villages where the negro Stephen had been
killed, and finally wintered in New Mexico. While
encamped here, Coronado heard a legend of Qui-
vira, a wonderful city of gold situated somewhere to
the northeast. Lured by this mirage, as soon as the
spring permitted, he pressed forward into the Great
Plains of Texas, travelling in a wide arc to the
north. Of this journey one of his soldiers, Pedro
Castaneda, has written a detailed report. Some of
his pictures of those strange scenes through which
they passed are extremely vivid.
Castaneda's Description of the Buffalo
"From Cieuye they went to Quivira, which, after their ac
count, is almost three hundred leagues distant, through mighty
plains and sandy heaths so smooth and wearisome and bare of
wood, that they made heaps of ox-dung, for want of stones and
trees, that they might not lose themselves on their return; for
three horses were lost on that plain, and one Spaniard which
went from his company on hunting. . . . All that way of
plains are as full of crooked-back oxen as the mountain Serrena
in Spain is of sheep, but there is no such people as keep those
cattle. . . . They were a great succour for the hunger and
the want of bread, which our party stood in need of. . . .
One day it rained in that plain, a great shower of hail as big
[47]

THE GREAT PLAINS
as oranges, which caused many tears, weakness, and bowes. . . .
These oxen are of the bigness and color of our bulls, but their
bones are not so great. They have a great bunch upon their
foreshoulder and more hair on their fore-part than on their
hinder-part and it is like wool. They have as it were a horse-
mane upon their backbone and much hair and very long from
their knees downward. They have great tufts of hair hanging
down on their foreheads and it seemeth they have beards be
cause of the great store of hair hanging down at their chins and
throats. The males have very long tails and a great knob or
flock at the end, so that in some respects they resemble the lion,
and in some other the camel. They push with their horns, they
run, they overtake and kill a horse when they are in their rage
and anger. Finally it is a foul and fierce beast, of countenance
and form of body. The horses fled from them, either because
of their deformed shape, or else because they had never seen
them before. . . . The number was incredible. . . .
The soldiers chasing them, they rushed together in such masses
that hundreds were crushed to death."
At one place there was a great ravine, into
which the animals plunged in terror, and the de
pression was completely filled up with their bodies,
so that the living crossed upon the bridge thus
formed of the dead.
The exact route followed by Coronado and his
men can never be known, for, in spite of Castaneda's
detailed description, there is such a sameness in the
Plains country that prominent landmarks are diffi
cult to find. Undoubtedly, however, the little band
of adventurers found their way across the desert of
the Staked Plains from about where Albuquerque,
New Mexico, now stands, then the Indian village
Of Tiguex, to the upper waters of the Colorado.
They were at this time in the country of the wild-
US]

THE FIRST SPANIARDS
riding Comanches, to whom they gave the name
Querechos. This advance also brought them into
the heart of the buffalo region, and they saw huge
herds covering the Plains as far as the eye would
carry. From here they turned their course north
and slightly east, crossing the Brazos, the Red, and
Canadian Rivers, until they attained the banks of
the Arkansas, probably near the present site of
Wichita. The company camped here for several
months, a considerable contingent returning south;
but finally Coronado, with the small party left him,
pressed resolutely forward into northeastern Kansas.
His highest mark north is generally believed to be
the line separating that State from Nebraska. Here
he discovered a tribe of Indians called the Quiviras,
but they had no gold, and knew of none. Dis
couraged, the Spaniards, after a halt of twenty-five
days, were forced to turn back empty-handed. On
this return march a more direct route was followed,
southwest through the Cimarron Desert, until the
weary wanderers arrived once more at the welcome
village of Tiguex. Here, under date of October 20,
1 54 1, Coronado wrote his report of the expedition.
Padilla's Mission to the Quiviras
A journey into the Plains far longer and more
perilous immediately followed his return. With
Coronado was a brave priest. Fray Juan de Padilla.
Impressed by the needs of the savages of the Quivi
ras tribe he voluntarily returned to minister unto
them. He was accompanied by one soldier, Andres
[49]

THE GREAT PLAINS
Docampo, and two boys, Lucas and Sebastian. An
other priest. Fray Juan de la Cruz, was in some
way also associated with this mission. They reached
in safety the region sought, and later went even
farther north, seeking the country of the Grand
Quivira. After travelling several days they came
to a large settlement. This was probably in the
valley of the Platte, and not far from the present
situation of Columbus, Nebraska. The Indians
coming out prepared for battle, the priest De
Padilla bade his attendants withdraw while he went
forward to meet them alone. From the bluffs they
witnessed all that happened to the friar. Await
ing the coming of the savages upon his knees in
prayer, the priest was instantly put to death. Fray
de la Cruz was also killed later, but Docampo and
the boys succeeded in escaping, wandering over the
Plains through nine terrible years of suffering, be
fore finally reaching the Spanish settlements in
Mexico. Their journeying as prisoners and fugi
tives must have covered thousands of miles all over
the Plains country, but no records relating to it have
been preserved.
Spanish Attempt to Settle on the Upper Mississippi
Beyond doubt in the lapse of time intervening
between this adventure of Coronado and the next
expedition of record across the Plains, individual
Spaniards — hunters, priests, or soldiers — must have
penetrated into this region of mystery. But if so,
no writing remains to tell us what befell them. So
[50]

THE FIRST SPANIARDS
far as history is concerned, the Great Plains re
mained hidden in their savagery from 1541 until
1 716, when the Spaniards, then permanently estab
lished at Santa Fe, despatched an expedition east
ward "for the purpose of establishing a military
post in the upper Mississippi Valley as a barrier to
the further encroachments of the French in that di
rection." This party was composed of about fifteen
hundred people, soldiers, with settlers male and fe
male, and a Jacobin for a chaplain. They had with
them a great number of horses and cattle, and ad
vanced slowly, their route being nearly that of the
later famous Santa Fe Trail. So far as can be un
derstood, one purpose of the expedition was to de
stroy an Indian tribe called the Missouris, and to
seize upon their country. In this they counted upon
another tribe, the Osages, as allies. Through some
mistake the Spanish commander, believing himself
in council with the latter, unfortunately revealed
his plans to the very Indians he had come to de
stroy. The result was a trap into which the Span
iards walked unsuspectingly. Even w^hile both par
ties were celebrating this new alliance two thousand
armed warriors fell upon the whites, and in less
than fifteen minutes had killed them all. No one
escaped excepting the chaplain, whose peculiar cos
tume attracted the Indians' curiosity. Fortunate
for him, also, was the fact that to the Missouris
the horse was then comparatively unknown. Igno
rant of how to ride they compelled the priest to
mount, and instruct them in horsemanship. He
[51]

THE GREAT PLAINS
was kept at this for several months, yet none of his
captors developed sufficient courage to emulate his
example. Finally the Jacobin determined to escape.
Waiting until he was mounted on the swiftest
horse, he suddenly rode away and disappeared,
making his way back to Mexico safe. This oc
curred not far from the present site of Leaven
worth.

T52]

CHAPTER IV
THE FRENCH EXPLORERS
Spanish Missions Established
IN THE closing years of the seventeenth and the
opening years of the eighteenth century Spain
did little toward exercising control over this vast
region which had been explored by her daring ad
venturers. Established in some power at Santa Fe .
since about 1609, her pioneers were so harassed by
the surrounding Indians that they had small oppor
tunity or inclination for any further advance. How
ever, the missionaries of the Church circulated
widely among the tribes of the Plains, and exercised
considerable influence. Permanent missions were
established in various localities, and along the east
ern slope of the Rockies some of these were sup
ported by military garrisons; and Spanish traders
are known to have penetrated as far north as the
Arapahoe and Pawnee villages.
The French Explorers
Meanwhile the French, now firmly established
about the Great Lakes and along the Mississippi,
were reaching out westward in undisciplined ex
ploration. Three purposes may be said to have
controlled their efforts, — a desire to possess this land
in advance of Spain; the insistent demands of the
widening fur trade; and an ambition to discover
[53]

THE GREAT PLAINS
some practicable route to the Pacific. As early as
1704, Bienville reported that over one hundred
Canadians were already scattered along the Missis
sippi and Missouri Rivers. In 1705 one of these,
named Laurain, claimed to have ascended the lat
ter stream for a considerable distance; in 1719 Du
Tisuc was certainly above Grand River, and a little
later reached the village of the Osage Indians.
Here he found difficulty in proceeding, but finally
pushed on across the prairies to the encampment of
the Pawnees. Their hostility compelled him to re
tire. The earlier and more persistent advance of the
French was from the garrisons of Louisiana on to
the prairies of Texas. In 1714 Saint-Denis was
sent by La Mothe Cadillac up Red River, and suc
ceeded in reaching a point about sixty-eight leagues
above Natchitoches. The following year he struck
across the Plains toward the Spanish settlements,
but was captured near the Rio Grande, and taken
as a prisoner to Mexico. He was well treated,
married a Spanish girl, and, after his release, at
tempted a second trip into the same country. This
proved even more disastrous than his first, and the
adventurer barely escaped with his life.
The Expedition of De la Harpe
In March, 1719, IBenard de la Harpe led a
more important exploring expedition from the fron
tier post at Natchitoches westward into the prairie
country. He had with him a sergeant and six
[54]

THE FRENCH EXPLORERS
privates. Their advance was up the Red River in
canoes, but was soon brought to a halt by encounter
ing that entanglement of driftwood, since known as
the Red River raft, which completely choked the
stream and forced them to take to the jungle. Nev
ertheless they pushed resolutely forward, dragging
their canoes, until they again attained navigable
water. At the end of a month of incessant labor
they reached an Indian village about one hundred
and eight leagues from the French post. After
halting here for some time to rest and to build a
trading-post. La Harpe, accompanied by ten men,
white, red, and black, started forward again on foot
to explore the country. He advanced to the north
west across hills, through forests, and over prairies,
forded two branches of the Wichita, and, early in
September, found himself on the banks of the Ar
kansas. Here he encountered a large number of
Indians, probably Comanches, who were in direct
trade with the Spaniards, and who informed him he
could reach their country by ascending the river.
Not being equipped for so long a journey La Harpe
reluctantly returned to the fort on Red River. Two
years later he attempted to explore the Arkansas
by means of canoes, but accomplished little.
The Spanish expedition to the Missouri in 1721,
already described, resulted in a corresponding ad
vance of the French from the Illinois country.
Bourgmont was the commander of the party which
was despatched westward, his main object being
trade with both Indians and Spaniards, and the
[55]

THE GREAT PLAINS
establishment of peace with the Comanches. On the
Missouri River, not far above the mouth of the
Grand, he erected a trading-post of logs which was
named Fort Orleans, and then started forth to
march overland to the Comanche villages. He had
with him Ensign Saint- Ange and a number of sol
diers and Canadians, about twenty altogether, with
a hundred and nine Missouri and sixty-eight Osage
Indians. The party advanced slowly over a region
which Bourgmont described as " a fine prairie coun
try, with hills and dales, and clumps of trees to
right and left." At the end of the sixth day of
marching they reached the Kansas River, but here
the leader was taken so severely ill that the expedi
tion had to be abandoned. However, a soldier
named Gaillard, volunteering for the service, was
sent forward to the Comanche villages with a
French message. It was an exceedingly perilous
mission, but proved successful. The following Sep
tember Bourgmont again departed westward on his
mission of peace. This time he was accompanied
by his young son, a surgeon, and nine soldiers.
Reaching the village of the Kansas Indians he
found there several Comanche warriors whom Gail
lard had persuaded to meet him on the way. Here
a great council was held, in which the Kansas, Mis
souris, lowas, and Otoes were all represented. Oc
tober eighth all these, together with some Omahas,
joined in the march of the white men westward.
Gaillard and a companion named Quesnel were
despatched in advance on swift horses, while Bourg-
[56]

THE FRENCH EXPLORERS
mont an4^ his cavalcade of savage followers moved
more slovHy up the north bank of the Kansas River.
It must have been an imposing spectacle. On the
eleventh they forded the river about twenty leagues
from its moutlVvand struck out toward the south-
west; in ParkmarfSi^ords, —
"sometimes threading thet^grassy valleys of little streams, some
times crossing the dry uplihd prairie, covered with the short,
tufted, dull-green herbage since known as ' buffalo grass.' Wild
turkeys clamored along every water-course, deer were seen on
all sides, buffalo were without number, sometimes in grazing
droves, and sometimes dotting the endless plain as far as the eye
could reach. Ruffian Wolves, white and gray, eyed the travellers
askance, keeping a safe distance by day, and howling about the
camp all night."
Not until the eighteenth did they meet the
Comanches, when the two couriers dashed suddenly
into camp at the head of eighty warriors. Then all
advanced together to the Comanche village, which
was situated about three leagues distant. This spot
was probably a little north of the Arkansas in the
neighborhood of the Great Bend. Several days
were spent here in feasting and making presents,
after which, a satisfactory treaty of peace having
been agreed upon, the whites took up their return
journey to Fort Orleans.
No further explorations, or advance into the
Great Plains were made by the French for fifteen
years. In the meantime, however, their traders had
pushed up the Missouri as far as the Mandan vil
lages, but halted there under the impression that the
river beyond swerved to the south into the Spanish
[57]

THE GREAT PLAINS
possessions of New Mexico. Two brothers named
Mallet, with six companions, finally penetrated the
wide stretch of country lying between. These men
pressed up the Platte to its South Fork; then, after
following the latter stream for some distance, turned
directly south across the plains of Colorado. Here
they found no wood, but were compelled to build
their camp-fires from the dried dung of the buffalo.
They crossed the upper Arkansas, forded the Cim-
maron, and, without special adventure, reached the
Spanish town of Santa Fe in July, 1739. The next
Spring they started on their return, three of the
party crossing the Plains to the Pawnee villages, the
others descending the Arkansas. This adventure led
to others, but, so far as known, none of them met
with success.
Explorations by De la Verendrye, and by His Two Sons
Meanwhile other efforts were being made far to
the north to unveil the mystery of this region ; and
while much of exploration takes place beyond the
Plains, it is intimately connected with our present
study, and cannot be ignored, particularly as it ex
tended far to the south and west of the Missouri.
From the year 1700 the French had made strenuous
efforts to press their explorations westward through
the country of the Sioux Indians in Minnesota and
the Dakotas. Owing to the never ceasing hostility
of these savages they had met with small success.
In 1728 Pierre Gaultier de Varennes de la Veren
drye, commanding a small post north of Lake Supe-
[58]

THE FRENCH EXPLORERS
rior, determined on an endeavor to penetrate west
ward farther to the north, through the country of
the Assiniboines, in search of the Western Sea. He
found aid for his scheme in the Governor, Beau-
harnais, who took great interest in it ; but the King
would advance no money. All he would consent to
do was to authorize De la Verendrye to proceed, at
his own expense, pledging him as reward for his
effort a future monopoly of the fur trade in the re
gions thus discovered. This, necessitating the
building of a chain of forts throughout that north
ern wilderness, greatly delayed the exploration, and
it was not until 1738 that the French leader made
any definite advance. Accompanied by twenty men
he pushed up the Assiniboine River until the shal
lows halted his canoes. Then, with some Indian
guides, the little party struck out directly across the
open prairies, until they reached the villages of the
Mandans on the Missouri, about where Bismarck
now stands. Hampered by the loss of the bag con
taining presents for the savages, and the desertion
of his interpreter, De la Verendrye accomplished
little of value. The Mandans knew of the Span
iards to the southward, but none of that race had
ever visited them. At this time the tribe possessed
six large villages, the smallest containing one hun
dred and thirty houses. Between this date and the
visit by Lewis and Clark in 1804, smallpox had re
duced them to two villages and three hundred and
fifty warriors. Himself very ill, De la Verendrye
left two of his men with the Mandans, to learn their
[59]

THE GREAT PLAINS
language, and returned with the others to Fort La
Reine, where he arrived February 1 1, 1739.
The effort at further exploration was taken up
by the two sons of De la Verendrye in 1742. Mak
ing their way to the Mandans and taking some of
those Indians for guides, they advanced west and
south, over the prairies and across the "bad lands."
In irregular course, owing to the peculiarity of the
country traversed, the bold explorers journeyed be
yond the Black Hills, and westward into Montana
until they arrived amid the foot-hills of the Big
Horn Range of the Rockies in Wyoming. It was
in January, 1743, that white men first gazed upon
these northern peaks. Both going and returning the
De la Verendryes met various wandering tribes of
Indians, mostly of the great Sioux family, yet they
experienced no serious opposition. It was in July
when the party returned to Fort La Reine, with
much of interest to report ; but a way to the Pacific
was yet undiscovered. This effort, the last seriously
attempted, marks the farthest west achieved by
French adventure.

[60]

CHAPTER V
THE EXPEDITION OF LEWIS AND CLARK
The Two-Fold Object of the Expedition
IN THE interim between the return of the De la
Verendryes and the transfer of all this great
Western country to the United States, no organized
effort at exploration is matter of record. Individual
fur-traders, both French and American, certainly
continued to penetrate the country as far as the
Mandan villages, and possibly even to the moun
tains, while many of the prairie streams were fol
lowed by adventurous trappers in their search after
beaver. Yet practically the country remained 'un-
known, a vast untracked wilderness, scarcely pressed
by adventurous white feet.
On the thirtieth of November, 1803, Louisiana
was formally transferred by the French commis
sioners to the United States. The cost approximated
$15,000,000, and the full extent of territory involved
was still a matter of doubt. One of the first acts of
President Jefferson, following this consummation,
was the organization of a Government expedition
to determine the nature of the purchase and discover
a route through the wilderness to the far-off Pa
cific. Up to that time little was known excepting
[61]

THE GREAT PLAINS
the vague tales of Indians and illiterate trappers.
As a preliminary during the winter following this
acquisition of territory, brief explorations were
made along the Red and Washita Rivers, and May
14, 1804, ^ carefully organized expedition started
overland for the Pacific. Two men were associated
as joint leaders, and, so far as known, worked in
complete harmony. These were Captains Meri
wether Lewis and William Clark. Both were men
of proved courage, ability, and long frontier train
ing. Their instructions allowed them great lati
tude, and involved careful study of the Indian tribes
and the nature of the country traversed.
Preparations and Outset
The Winter of 1803- 1804 was passed in the
neighborhood of St. Louis in preparation for the
advance in the Spring. Particular attention was
paid to the personnel of the little party, the men
being carefully chosen for the task to be accom
plished. Fourteen soldiers, nine frontiersmen, two
French voyageurs, and a negro servant made up the
list. In addition to these a corporal, together with
six soldiers and nine boatmen, was detailed to ac
company the party as far as the Mandan villages,
then near the present site of Bismarck, North Da
kota. Their means of transportation by water con
sisted of a keel boat fifty-five feet long, drawing
three feet of water. Decked over at bow and stern,
it contained forecastle and cabin, the space between
being provided with lockers that could be raised to
[62]

EXPEDITION OF LEWIS AND CLARK
form breastworks in case of attack. This boat had
a sail and twenty-two oars. The two other boats
were smaller and undecked, the one having seven,
the other six oars.
While this expedition of Lewis and Clark mere
ly skirted the Great Plains, its direct influence was
of such importance that the story merits careful
telling. Leaving their winter camp at the mouth of
the Du Bois River on May 14, 1804, the boats be
gan their slow and toilsome advance against the
strong, yellow current of the Missouri. Before them
was a journey of unknown peril, involving some
eight thousand miles of travel upon strange waters,
and across untracked mountains and plains. The
early part of the voyage was uneventful, as it was
along a watery highway long utilized in the fur
trade. The only noteworthy incidents were the con
stant meetings with canoes bound for St. Louis,
laden with furs. It was June 26 when, having left
the State of Missouri, they made camp at the mouth
of the Kansas River. Here thev saw their first buf-
falo, and looked off across the great prairies. At
this point the river-course changed to the northwest.
As they pressed forward, skirting the Kansas shore,
they made such careful description that even to-day
nearly every camping-spot can be identified. By
the middle of July they were between what are now
Iowa and Nebraska, ever toiling ceaselessly against
the sweep of the current, and meeting with numer
ous adventures. One fierce prairie storm was en
countered, in which a boat narrowly escaped wreck,
[63]

THE GREAT PLAINS
and there was much sickness among the men, caused
probably by drinking the muddy river water.
Councils with the Pawnees and the Sioux
July 21, they passed the wide shallow mouth of
the Platte, meeting difficulties of navigation amid
the sand bars, and being greatly disturbed in their
night camp by the ceaseless howling of wolves. Ten
miles above they went ashore, and despatched mes
sengers to the villages of the Pawnees. It was not un
til August 3, however, that these Indians were met
with. A council was held on the west side of the
river several miles above the present site of Omaha,
the gathered savages expressing a desire for peace.
Other councils were held as the boats advanced, and
while encamped near the site of the present Sioux
City the only member of the expedition to lose his
life died of colic. This was Sergeant Charles
Floyd. By late August the explorers entered what
is now South Dakota. They were then in the land
of the Sioux, and knowing full well the fierce char
acter of these savage rovers of the plain, they made
every effort to hold council with them. This was
successfully accomplished on the thirtieth of Au
gust, when the pipe of peace was smoked, and the
Indians gave a weird dance in their honor.
Above Yankton the travellers found much to in
terest them, although they were not yet beyond the
boundaries of the fur trade ; frequently they met
hardy voyageurs floating down on the muddy cur-
[64J

THE PRAIRIE

AN INDIAN BUFFALO HUNT

SCENES DURING THE INDIANS' SUPREMACY ON THE PLAINS

EXPEDITION OF LEWIS AND CLARK
rent. Here sand ridges were seen so regular in for
mation as to be mistaken for the work of man.
Among other things noted and described were an
telope, prairie dogs, and the curious remains of one
of the extinct giant reptiles of the Cretaceous pe
riod, which was described as the " backbone of a
fish forty-five feet long, in a perfect state of petri
faction." In the country of the Teton Sioux, with
in the limits of the present Presho County, the
explorers experienced their first serious difficulty
with savages. Guns were drawn, but, after some
hostile demonstration, a reconciliation was reached,
and a peace council held. This was concluded by
a scalp dance in which the noise was deafening.
The Coiuitry of the Aricaras and that of the Mandans
In Spite of their professions of friendship these
same Sioux proved troublesome, constantly dogging
the travellers along the river banks, and they were
glad to escape and enter into the country of
the Aricaras. These Indians proved friendly, and
were noted as remarkable in that they refused a gift
of whiskey, saying it would make them fools. Along
here the travellers for the first time saw the grizzly
bear, and the bighorn. Fur-traders were met, and
proved of much assistance. It was now October,
the weather growing cold, and on the twenty-first
of that month the wearied travellers reached the
mouth of Heart River, where the Northern Pacific
Railroad now crosses the Missouri. Here they
found the villages of the Ma;ndans, and made prep-
[65]

THE GREAT PLAINS
arations to spend the winter. On the north bank,
about where the town of Stanton is now situated, the
explorers erected some log huts, protected by a
stockade. Much of interest occurred during the
months passed here, the habits of the Mandans be
ing intelligently studied. The Sioux were quite
troublesome, but the deep snow prevented any cam
paign against them. Buffalo-hunting was indulged
in, and, although the mercury sank to thirty-two
degrees below zero, out-of-door sports were kept
up. Several visits from fur-traders were received,
but the most impotant happening was the engage
ment of an Indian interpreter named Chaboneau.
His wife, Sacajawea (Bird Woman), a captive
from the Snake Indians, proved a most valuable
ally. From Stanton, North Dakota, into the Wilderness
April 7, 1805, the escort of soldiers started back
down the river, and on the same day the expedition
proper began its journey into what was from now
on a truly unexplored wilderness. The thirty-two
members embarked in two large boats and six ca
noes, and slowly propelled their way upstream. As
they advanced they beheld wild geese and gophers,
and soon came into the region of the sage-brush and
alkali. As they now passed beyond the Plains into
the mountains, our review of their experiences must
be brief. On the twenty-fifth Captain Lewis and
four men, travelling on foot, discovered the Yel
lowstone River, which was already known to French
[66]

EXPEDITION OF LEWIS AND CLARK
trappers as La Roche Jaune. They saw great num
bers of wild animals, and had several serious en
counters with grizzly bears. They were now within
the limits of the present Montana, passing in turn
the mouths of Poplar and Milk Rivers, and the bed
of a stream without water, which they named "Big
Dry." The Watershed between Atlantic and Pacific
During this advance numerous adventures oc
curred, including the upsetting of canoes, and the
falling of trees. At times they were obliged to tow
their boats by a line from the shore. May 20 they
were at the mouth of the Mussel-shell, twenty-two
hundred and seventy miles from St. Louis, and six
days later, from the summit of a high hill. Captain
Lewis caught his first distant view of the Rocky
Mountains. Coming to a division of the waters,
much time was lost in determining which was the
main stream, but they finally determined on the
branch leading toward the southwest. Some dis
tance farther on they were compelled to make a
toilsome portage of eighteen miles, which caused a
delay until June 27. This was at Great Falls, where
a prosperous city now stands. Sacajawea was now
in her own native land, and proved of much value
as a guide; but the explorers themselves had to
search for a pass through the mountains. At last,
about the middle of August, the struggling company
arrived at the source of the Missouri. They were
now on foot, following an old Indian trail. This
[67]

THE GREAT PLAINS
trail brought them to the dividing line between
the waters of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Be
low ran a creek which emptied into the Columbia.
On the Columbia
Pressing on through obstacles seemingly impos
sible, skirting the shores of wild mountain streams,
suffering from lack of food, deceived by Indians,
the undismayed explorers finally found a passage
across the Bitter Root Range, and, September 20,
came forth upon a great plain, and into the care of
the Nez Perces, whose village stood near the pres
ent site of Pierce City, Idaho. Here they rested
several days, finally advancing to the Kooskooskee
River, where, in spite of much sickness, they built
five canoes, and, October 8, started down the stream.
Adventure followed adventure with startling fre
quency, but, in spite of smashed boats and Indian
interruption, the men persevered and conquered;
and, on the sixteenth of October, their battered ca
noes swept out upon the waters of the mighty Co
lumbia, then known as the Oregon, or " River of the
West." This great stream was henceforth to be
their pathway to the sea.
The remainder of their westward journey, while
prolific enough of hardships and perils, was but the
drifting down with the current to the river's mouth.
On the way they passed numerous Indian villages,
but experienced little trouble with the savages ; they
ran falls and shot rapids, met with their first Flat-
[68]

EXPEDITION OF LEWIS AND CLARK
heads, looked upon the wonders of Mount Hood,
and at last discovered evidences that sea traders had
penetrated even thus far into the interior. So, on
November 7 they came forth into a view of the
broad Pacific. That winter was passed in a com
fortable camp of seven log cabins about three miles
up the Netul River. The time was occupied in
studying the country, observing the natives, and
hunting. One hundred and thirty-one elk were
killed, and over twenty deer.
The Return Journey ^..
The last of March the long return journey east
ward was begun. It proved a laborious trip, as full
of hardship and adventure as had been their ad
vance. Several times they had serious encounters
with hostile Indians. On April 24, having procured
a few horses to transport their supplies, the entire
party moved forward on foot across the mountains
to the head-waters of the Missouri. Here they again
constructed canoes and embarked on that stream.
On August 12, near the mouth of Little Knife
Creek, they met two fur-traders from Illinois. A
few days later the entire company were safe in the
village of the Mandans. September 23 they reached
St. Louis, and were accorded a rousing welcome.
As Ripley Hitchock well observes, " The journey
which they made is one of the world's greatest ex
plorations, and its story has become a classic among
the travel tales of history." While the discoveries
thus made failed immediately to draw immigration
[69]

THE GREAT PLAINS
to the far West, yet its influence was strong, and, in
later years, when the time was ripe, the observa
tions of Lewis and Clark were of the utmost value.
In the interim the great wilderness remained com
paratively unknown, roamed over by Indian and
fur-trader; the tawny Missouri was the natural
highway of those few adventurous spirits who dared
to penetrate that region of savagery.

[70]

CHAPTER VI
THE EXPLORATIONS OF PIKE AND LONG
The Objects of Pike's Expedition
AT ABOUT the same time that Lewis and
Clark, with their heroic companions, were
struggling across the mountains in search of the Pa
cific, the Government was preparing to send ex
plorers endeavoring to open up the Southwest. This
second expedition was commanded by Lieutenant
Zebulon M. Pike, who a few years later lost his
life in battle against the English in Canada. At
the time of his assignment to this duty he had just
returned from a successful exploration of the Mis
sissippi to its head-waters. April 30, 1806, he re
turned to St. Louis from this trip, and in July
departed westward on his long journey across the
prairies. His party consisted of twenty-three sol
diers, and he was required to escort to their homes
a number of Osage and Pawnee chiefs who had
been visiting in Washington. The special avowed
object of his trip was to reach the sources of the
Arkansas River, and explore the mountains of what
is now Colorado. From St. Louis to Kansas and Nebraska
Pike travelled by boat up the Missouri and
Osage Rivers until the village of the Osage
Indians was reached. At this point the boats
[71J

THE GREAT PLAINS
were abandoned, and the party moved forward
across the prairies of Kansas and Nebraska to the
home of the Pawnees. Here evidence was discov
ered that the Spaniards at Santa Fe had in some
way learned of the Americans' projected explora
tion westward, and had already taken steps to block
the path. How really serious this opposition was
to prove was not fully revealed until later, but at
this time Pike learned that an armed body of Span
iards had just visited the Pawnees, held council with
them, and left behind a present of flags. Just what
alliance had been entered into it was impossible to
learn, yet the Pawnee chief made every effort in his
power, short of actual force, to keep the Americans
from proceeding, claiming that he had promised
the Spaniards to intercept them. Pike, however,
promptly lowered the flag of Spain, hoisted his own
in its placCj and marched resolutely forward.
Discovery of Pike's Peak
The advance of the little body of intrepid ex
plorers was directly across the open prairie, and
they occasionally passed the deserted camping-spots
of the Spanish troops. The notable sights men
tioned day by day were buffalo, wild horses, and
prairie dogs. Changing their direction more to
ward the south, yet finding little to guide them in
the unvaried landscape, they finally attained the
northern bank of the Arkansas River, not far from
the present town of Great Bend. Here the party
was divided, a number of the men being despatched
[72]

LIEUTENANT ZEBULON FIKE
THE FAMOUS EXPLORKR OF THE Si")UTH\VEST

EXPLORATIONS OF PIKE AND LONG
down the river for exploration. Pike, with fifteen
followers pushed up the stream to the plains of Col
orado, and finally made camp near the site of
Pueblo. A little before this, November 15, while
near the mouth of the Purgatory River, the leader
discovered the peak to which has been given his
name and which has become his monument. Of
this first view he wrote :
"I thought I could distinguish a mountain to our right
which appeared like a small blue cloud; viewed it with the spy-:
glass and was still more confirmed in my conjecture; . . .
in half an hour they [the mountains] appeared in full view be
fore us. When our small party arrived on the hill they with
one accord gave three cheers to the Mexican Mountains."
His " blue cloud " has ever since been known as
Pike's Peak.
Pike Mistakes the Arkansas for the Ked River
On November 24 Pike took a few men with him,
and set forth from camp with the intention of climb
ing the Peak. He made the mistake, very common
in that atmosphere, of believing it only a short dis
tance away. In reality the distance to its base was
a hundred miles. After travelling far, and climb
ing lower ridges, the great peak still towered before
them in the far distance. They pushed on, how
ever, for three days, when deepening snpw, together
with thin clothing and a scarcity of food, compelled
a retreat. A little later the entire company began
an ascent of the Arkansas, reaching probably the
present site of Canon City. Here they turned aside,
C73]

THE GREAT PLAINS
following the course of Oil Creek to South Park,
and passed along the South Platte until they again
found themselves upon the banks of the Arkansas.
Believing this to be Red River, the source of which
he had been particularly ordered to discover. Pike
defied the bitter cold of a mountain winter and ad
vanced up the stream until he reached its begin
nings near Leadville. Returning, and arriving at
his former camp at Canon City, he was disappoint
ed to discover that instead of the Red River he was
still upon the Arkansas. Caught on Spanish Territory
Determined that he would yet succeed, he start
ed again January 14, 1807, braving a bitter winter
storm. With much difficulty and suffering the lit
tle party toiled forward up Grape Creek and along
Wet Mountain Valley. All his men were frost
bitten, and several crippled for life. Yet they
pressed resolutely on, clambering across the Sangre
de Cristo Range, and finally descending into the San
Luis Valley. This brought them to the Rio Grande,
well within Mexican territory, but Pike, believing
the stream to be the Red River, began its descent
along the west bank. Reaching the entrance of the
Rio Conejos on January 31, he made camp, and be
gan the erection of a stockade. Although doubt
less ignorant of the fact, he was now scarcely eighty
miles from the more northern Mexican settlement,
and could not hope to remain for long undiscovered
by Spanish scouting parties. [74J

EXPLORATIONS OF PIKE AND LONG
Much speculation has been indulged in by his
torical writers regarding this movement into Mexi
can territory — the question being whether or not it
was the result of deliberate purpose, or merely ac
cident. General Wilkinson was at that time deeply
implicated in the plot engineered by Aaron Burr to
found a new empire in the Southwest. Pike had
been despatched on this exploring expedition by
Wilkinson ; he was carrying out the latter's orders,
but we do not know just what those orders were.
McMaster is inclined to think that this invasion by
American soldiers was a deliberate part of the Wil
kinson plot; but Pike himself emphatically denied
any such motive, and it would seem far more prob
able that by losing his way he became an innocent
participant in a political game regarding which he
knew nothing.
Be that as it may, the result was inevitable. He
had been at this camping-place less than a month
when a considerable Spanish force appeared. No
attempt at resistance was made, owing probably to
the exceedingly polite manner in which the com
mandant extended an invitation to the lost Ameri
cans to visit the Governor at Santa Fe. However
pleasantly the truth was thus concealed under the
guise of fair words, the Ijttle party of explorers
were no less prisoners, as they discovered upon ar
rival at the capital. They were deprived of their
arms, and after severe questioning the Governor de
spatched the confiding Captain under guard to the
commandant-general at Chihuahua, where his pa-
[75]

THE GREAT PLAINS
pers were taken from him. Finally, after many
journeys here and there, the entire party were
escorted northward across Texas, and safely de
livered to their countrymen at Natchitoches,
Louisiana, on July i, 1807.
The Object of Long's Journey
Twelve years later the Government despatched
another expedition into these Western wilds. The
object was an exploration of the Yellowstone ; but,
through various causes, this was abandoned, and
the party contented itself with an almost aimless
wandering across the Great Plains. While little
was discovered, the publicity given to the report
made had considerable effect upon Western settle
ment. The organization was at first both military
and scientific, the troops being under command of
Colonel Henry Atkinson, and the other department
controlled by Major Stephen H. Long. The jour
ney up the Missouri was performed on the " West
ern Engineer," probably the first stern-wheel
steamboat ever built, and which had just been
launched at Pittsburg. This marine wonder was
seventy-five feet long, thirteen feet beam, and drew
nineteen inches of water, and, although very slow,
proved quite successful. Leaving St. Louis June 9,
1 8 19, the "Western Engineer" succeeded in arriv
ing at what is now Council Bluffs the seventeenth
of September. Here winter camp was made, and
the troops suffered severely from scurvy. Over
three hundred were attacked, of whom a third died.
[76]

EXPLORATIONS OF PIKE AND LONG
The scientists in camp a short distance away did
not suffer; they passed a pleasant winter, visiting
much at the adjacent fort of the Missouri Fur Com
pany, where were two women, probably the first to
ascend the Missouri so far. One was the wife of
the Commandant, Manuel Lisa; the name of the
other is unknown. When Spring came, for reasons
not even yet clearly understood the military portion
of the proposed expedition was abandoned; the
troops were ordered East, but Major Long and his
scientists were despatched westward into the Plains,
his orders being to go " to the source of the River
Platte, and thence by way of the Arkansas and Red
Rivers to the Mississippi." The party thus sent into
the very heart of the Indian country was small and
poorly equipped. Besides Major Long it consisted
of Captain John R. Bell, Lieutenant W. H. Swift,
Thomas Say, Edwin James, T. R. Peale, Samuel
Seymour, H. Dougherty, D. Adams, three engages,
one corporal, and six privates. So thoroughly was
this band despised by the savages that on several
occasions their chiefs contemptuously refused to
meet them in council.
The Canadian River Mistaken for the Red River.
Leaving camp on the Missouri June 6, the little
company proceeded, by way of the Pawnee villages
on the Loup, up the sandy shores of the Platte as
far as the present site of Grand Island. Here they
crossed the stream, and without incident continued
on to the Forks, and ascended the South Fork. The
i77'\

THE GREAT PLAINS
thirtieth of June they came in sight of the moun
tains, the peak first seen since bearing the name of
Long. Very little effort was made to follow the
stream to its source, mountain-climbing being ex
ceedingly hard work, and the camp established on
the present site of Denver proving a pleasant place
of rest. July 9, however, this camp was deserted,
and the party moved southward, and halted on
the banks of Fountain Creek. Starting from here.
Dr. James, with two men, succeeded in ascending
Pike's Peak to its summit, and ascertained its alti
tude. Resuming their march on the sixteenth, they
arrived at the Arkansas near the mouth of Turkey
Creek. Here, after a few short exploring ex
peditions had been attempted, resulting in no
discoveries of importance, the company separated,
one section under Captain Bell descending the Ar
kansas, while the other sought the Red River. This
separation occurred July 24, 1820.
The travels of both parties proved uneventful,
that down the Arkansas terminating at Fort Smith,
September 9. Major Long's party took a course
slightly east of south, crossing Purgatory Creek
and several of the sources of the Cimarron, until
they arrived at what they believed to be a tributary
of the Red River. This they followed to the main
stream, which was descended to its mouth, when
the discovery was made that instead of the Red they
had been upon the Canadian River. The party
suffered greatly from excessive heat and lack of
food, but had no adventures, and learned little of
[78]

3 2

WM>

EXPLORATIONS OF PIKE AND LONG
the country which could not have been discovered
by interviewing those traders and trappers who al
ready ranged the region. They arrived at Fort
Smith only four days later than Captain Bell. This
expedition practically completed all Government
effort at exploration for several years.

[79]

CHAPTER VII
THE FUR-TRADERS
Trappers and Traders the True Pathfinders
WHILE the Government was virtually neg
lecting this Western country of the Plains,
private enterprise had been slowly prying open its
secrets, and individuals were finding their uncer
tain way along its water-courses, or across its sun-
browned prairie. The fur trade was the powerful
magnet which thus early drew westward hardy ad
venturers by the score. Very few of the names of
those who thus first trod the Plains have been pre
served even upon the records of the great fur com
panies. They were generally obscure, illiterate men,
possessing little except their rifles and traps, living
for long years in the depths of the wilderness, only
occasionally appearing amid the haunts of pioneer
civilization with their packs of furs. Sometimes
they travelled in independent parties for protection
against Indian treachery; some were free trappers,
others were enrolled upon the lists of the organized
fur companies and worked under orders. In either
case they necessarily led hard, wild lives, continu
ally filled with adventure and personal peril. These
men, roughly clothed, living on wild game, their
safety constantly menaced, were the true Western
pathfinders, digging continually deeper year by year
into the vast wilderness, and from their ranks came
[80]

THE FUR-TRADERS
those competent guides who were later to lead or
ganized expeditions to the Western Ocean. During
the forty years following the purchase of Louisiana
by the United States the people of the East pos
sessed hardly the slightest conception of its immense
value. The one considerable commercial attraction
it offered during this period was its wealth of furs,
and during nearly half a century this was its sole
business of importance.
In the language of Chittenden, introducing his
history of the American fur trade :
"The nature of this business determined the character of
the early white population. It was the roving trader and the
solitary white trapper who first sought out these inhospitable
wilds, traced the streams to their sources, scaled the mountain
passes, and explored a boundless expanse of territory where the
foot of the white man had never trodden before. The far West
became a field of romantic adventure, and developed a class of
men who loved the wandering career of the native inhabitant
rather than the toilsome lot of the industrious colonist. The
type of life thus developed, though essentially evanescent, and
not representing any profound national movement, was a distinct
and necessary phase in the growth of this new country. Abound
ing in incidents picturesque and heroic, its annals inspire an
interest akin to that which belongs to the age of knight-errantry.
For the free hunter of the far West was, in his rough way,
a good deal of a knight-errant. Caparisoned in the wild
attire of the Indian, and armed cap-a-pie for instant combat, he
roamed far and wide over deserts and mountains, gathering the
scattered wealth of those regions, slaying ferocious beasts and
savage men, and leading a life in which every footstep was be
set with enemies, and every movement pregnant of peril. The
great proportion of those intrepid spirits who laid down their
lives in that far country is impressive' proof of the jeopardy
of their existence. All in all, the period of this adventurous
[8i]

THE GREAT PLAINS
business may justly be considered the romantic era of the history
of the West."
So valuable was this preliminary work in ex
ploration that the able historian of the movement
seems fully justified in his statement, that these often
unknown men were the true pathfinders, and not
those official explorers who came later, yet have
been accorded the proud title. Nothing in West
ern geography was ever discovered by Government
expeditions after 1840. It was every mile of it
known previously to trader and trapper. Brigham
Young was led to the valley of Great Salt Lake by
information furnished by these men; in the war
with Mexico the military forces were guided by
those who knew every trail and mountain pass ; they
were veterans of the fur trade who pointed Fremont
to the Pacific; and when the rush of emigration
finally set in toward Oregon and California, the
very earliest of those travellers found already made
for them a highway across the continent.
Some Noteworthy Free Trappers
At how early a date adventurous free trappers
had invaded the Great Plains it is impossible to
state. French-Canadians undoubtedly drifted down
from the north, through the country of the Sioux,
well back in the eighteenth century, possibly even
penetrating as far as the Arkansas, where they
came in contact with the Spanish outposts. As early
as 1800 American hunters had advanced up the Mis
souri as far as the villages of the Mandans, and had
[82]

THE FUR-TRADERS
trapped upon the waters of the Platte. In 1804 we
know that two Illinois men, Hancock and Dickson,
were trapping beaver on the Yellowstone, and there
must have been scattered here and there others
whose names have not been preserved. In 1807
John Colter, a member of Lewis and Clark's party,
discharged on the Missouri, immediately turned
back into the wilderness, where he remained for
years, making important discoveries, including that
region now known as Yellowstone Park. Potts, an
other Lewis and Clark man, accompanied him until
killed by Indians. The full story of these individ
ual wanderers over plain and mountain can never
be written. Very few of the names, or the adven
tures met with, have been perserved, and the most
of the men perished alone in the wilderness.
Organized Fur-Traders Opposed by the Indians
Among organized fur-traders the earliest name
of any prominence is that of Manuel Lisa, of St.
Louis. With him were associated Pierre Menard
and William Morrison, of Kaskaskia. As early
as 1807 these men began operations on the Plains,
gradually advancing into the mountains, establish
ing trading-posts along the Missouri, and as far
away as the mouth of the Big Horn. These men
were compelled to fight the Indians as well as con
duct trade with them, and their yearly reports were
as full of adventure as of business. Of all the
Plains tribes the Aricaras of South Dakota caused
the most trouble, although the Sioux were also fre-
[83]

THE GREAT PLAINS
quently found hostile. In the mountains the Black-
feet were almost continually upon the war-path.
Adventures of Ezekiel Williams
The adventures of a party under Ezekiel Wil
liams occurred also as early as 1807. He was a
well-known frontiersman, who had been employed
by the Government to restore to his own people
a Mandan chief who had accompanied Lewis and
Clark to Washington after a military expedition
had failed. Twenty men started with him. Hav
ing safely performed this assigned duty, Williams
and his party started west into the mountains on
a trapping trip, dividing into two detachments on
arriving at the mouth of the Yellowstone. The
Indians becoming troublesome, Williams with
eight or ten of the men moved south along the
base of the mountains until they reached the Ar
kansas. Here another separation took place, four
going to Santa Fe, while Williams with five men,
two of them Frenchmen, struck out into the moun
tains. Here, while trapping, three were killed,
and Williams, with Chaplain and Parteau, sought
protection among the Arapahoes on the South
Platte. They passed a miserable winter, but in
the spring Williams got away, and floated down
the Arkansas in a canoe for over four hundred
miles. He was captured by Kansas Indians, and
robbed of his furs, but finally reached safety in
Missouri in September. The next May he con
ducted a party back to the Arapahoe village in
[84]

THE FUR-TRADERS
search of his companions, only to learn they had
probably been killed.
Explorations by Employees of the Fur Companies
The great fur companies had but little to do
with the Plains except to traverse them in their
journeys back and forth between the market at St.
Louis and the mountains. In the earlier days there
was some trapping of beaver along the prairie
streams, but this was usually done independently.
In this work nearly every water-course between
the Missouri and the Rockies had been explored
by daring adventurers, oftentimes traversing the
wilderness alone. Yet the main supply of furs
was sought in the mountains, and it was to these
the great fur companies despatched their men,
generally by boats up the Missouri, although
occasionally parties struck directly across the inter
vening Plain, usually following the valley of the
Platte. Of the two methods it would almost seem
as though that by water was the more difficult.
Against a swift current heavily laden keel-boats
were slowly hauled, or " cordelled, " twenty men
along the shore pulling the clumsy barge by means
of a line fastened high enough to be out of the
way of brushwood. Where the water was shal
low the voyageurs poled single file, facing the stern,
and pushing with all their power. In deeper water
oars were utilized, but in any case it was slow, hard
work, involving months of unremitting labor.
The same year in which Lisa first organized
[85]

THE GREAT PLAINS
the Missouri Fur Company, Mr. Astor commenced
operations on the Pacific Coast, and at once there
began open war between these two companies for
the control of the fur trade. The Northwestern
Fur Company also became involved in the hos
tilities. Regarding the occurrences in the far
Northwest we have now nothing to do, except that
they were more or less connected with the move
ment of expeditions across the Plains. One of the
most important of these was that led by William
P. Hunt for the Pacific Fur Company, which left
St. Louis in the Spring of 1812. He had over
sixty men in his company, and much toil and suf
fering were encountered. Some of the way it be
came a race between his party and representatives
of the Missouri Fur Company. Hunt's party as
cended the Missouri as far as the mouth of the
Big Cheyenne. Here they left their boats and fol
lowed the general course of that stream to the base
of the Black Hills; then they travelled westward
to the valley of the North Platte. They were al
most a year in reaching the Pacific, their circuitous
route measuring nearly thirty-five hundred miles.
A year later a party consisting of Robert Stu
art, McLellan, Crooks, and two Frenchmen, trav
elled east from Astoria. On the way, probably in
southern Wyoming, they met a trapper named Mil
ler, who had just escaped from the Arapahoes.
These same Indians succeeded in running off their
horses, and they were compelled to perform the re
mainder of their journey to the Missouri on foot.
[86]

THE FUR-TRADERS
Their sufferings in the mountains had been in
tense, but after reaching the Plains they had little
trouble. They followed the Platte through its en
tire course, being the first party on record to do so.
The Ashley Expedition
In 1822 William H. Ashley comes into promi
nence, being connected with the North American
Fur Company. In that year he helped Alexander
Henry to erect a trading-fort on the Yellowstone,
and a year later he started up the Missouri with
twenty-eight men, bound for that post. On the
way they were attacked by Aricaras and driven
back, having fourteen killed and ten wounded.
Undaunted by this, Ashley enlisted three hundred
followers, and in 1824 struck out across the Plains,
following the Platte to the South Pass, and ex
ploring the Sweetwater. He pushed through the
mountains to Utah Lake, built a fort there, and
two years later sold out his interest to several of
his men, Jedediah S. Smith, William L. Sublette,
and David E. Jackson. These were well-known
names among early trappers and traders. Smith
having reached California, by the way of Utah and
Nevada, as early as 1826. In the service of both
Ashley and this newly formed company, was James
P. Beckwourth, long famous throughout the West.
He claimed to have been in the mountains since
1 8 17, and to have been the first to explore the
South Platte. To Smith, Sublette, and Jackson
belongs the distinction of taking the first wagons
[87]

THE GREAT PLAINS
across the Plains and into the mountains. Ten
wagons, each drawn by five mules, were driven the
entire distance from St. Louis to Wind River.
Each wagon carried eighteen hundred pounds, and
they travelled from fifteen to twenty-five miles a
day. A year later the same company brought out
fourteen wagons, and others soon discovered this
to be the easier method of crossing the Great Plains
with supplies. The favorite route was northwest to
Grand Island, and then the valley of the Platte.
A few years later this became the well-travelled
route to Oregon.
The revived Missouri Fur Company was at
about this date, under the leadership of Lisa, Pil-
cher, Hempstead, and Perkins, operating in the
country around the South Pass, although the prin
cipal territory covered by its trappers was among
the Sioux, Aricaras, and other Missouri River
tribes. By 1830 the various organized companies
must have had a regiment off men on the Plains and
in the mountains. Of these as individuals very little
is known. As Herbert Bancroft writes : " It would
be gratifying to be able to give a list of all the hunt
ers and trappers previous to the period of emigra
tion; but these men had no individual importance
in the eyes of their leaders, who recruited their
rapidly thinning ranks yearly, with little attention
to the personality of the victims of hardship, acci
dent, vice, or Indian hostility."
Those hunters were regarded by the fur com
panies as mere tools by which they could acquire
[88]

FORT CLARK, ON THE MISSOURI RIVER

THE FUR-TRADERS
the peltry to be found in unsettled districts; and
when by disease or death they became no longer
serviceable, they were cast aside. In many cases
their bodies were left unburied on the prairie. The
names of a few of the more prominent have been
preserved. Among them are Blackwell, La Jeunesse,
Robert Campbell, Kit Carson, Newell, Meek, Eb-
berts, Gervais, Craig, Vanderberg, Gale, Ward,
Wade, Parmalee, Robinson, Larison, Guthrie, Clay
more, Legarde, Maloney, Harris, Matthieu, Bou-
deau, Bissonette, Adams, Sabille, Galpin."
Captain Bonneville's Expedition up the Platte
It was in 1832 that Captain E. L. Bonneville, an
army officer on leave, led a party of one hundred
and ten frontiersmen across the Plains to the Rock
ies. His purpose was profit and adventure, and his
officers Walker and Serre. They followed the route
up the Platte Valley with a caravan of twenty
wagons, the journey being particularly notable
because oxen were used, these being the first " bull-
teams" on the northern Plains. The company
remained in the mountain country for over three
years. Nathaniel J. Wyeth led a party of adven
turers over about the same route in 1832.
The requirements of the fur trade, carried on
as it was in the midst of hostile savages, and at a
great distance from civilization, led to the early es
tablishment at convenient points for transportation,
of posts or forts. These were usually controlled by
the great fur companies, yet were occasionally
[89]

THE GREAT PLAINS
erected by individuals. In appearance they dif
fered little, except in size, and the material used in
construction. Where possible forest trees were uti
lized for buildings and stockade, although on the
open prairie earth was occasionally made to serve
these purposes, and. in the far south adobe prevailed.
In the later days of the trade the majority of these
forts were in the mountains ; yet near enough to the
western edge of the Plains to deal with the Plains
Indians, but earlier one can trace the slow advance
of the trapper into the wilderness by the posts thus
built along his way. Between 1807 and 1843 over
one hundred and forty of these posts were erected
throughout the Western country.
French Forts in the Valley of the Missouri
Fort Orleans, built by the French under M.
Bourgemont, was the first of the Missouri River
posts, dating back to 1772, and stood upon an is
land five miles below' the mouth of the Grand
River. There is a tradition that it was once at
tacked by savages, and all the inmates massacred.
At least three posts were a little later established
in the Osage Valley, but acquired no special im
portance. Fort Osage, or Fort Clark, stood near
the site of Sibley, Missouri, below the mouth of
the Kansas. It later became a Government fort,
and was garrisoned until 1827. Francis G. Chou
teau, a famous trader, built two posts in the coun
try of the Kansas Indians. The first was destroyed
by flood in 1826, but the second, about ten miles
[90]

THE FUR-TRADERS
up the Kansas River, was maintained for many
years. An old French fort, the history of which
is unknown, stood on the Kansas shore opposite
the upper end of Kickapoo Island, well back
among the bluffs. It was in ruins as early as 1819.
A post, erected by Joseph Robidoux, and known
as Blacksnake Hills, stood on the present site of
St. Joseph, Missouri. At Council Bluffs a number
of posts were built, but their names have been for
gotten. This was a famous trading-point; but the
Council Bluffs of those earlier years was twenty-
five miles above the modern city of that name, and
on the opposite side of the river, being about where
the little town of Calhoun now stands. In the
fifty years following the Lewis and Clark Expedi
tion not less than twenty trading-forts were erected
between this point and the mouth of the Platte.
Probably the oldest of these was Bellevue, which
is believed to have been established in 1805. The
most important, however, was Fort Lisa, founded
in 18 1 2, and situated six miles below old Council
Bluffs. Similar posts were found opposite the modern
town of Onawa, Iowa; near the mouth of the Big
Sioux, and just below the mouth of the Vermilion.
Halfway between the Vermilion and the James
stood another, while Ponca Post was beside the
mouth of the Niobrara. Trudeau's House, some
times called Pawnee House, was occupied for trade
as early as 1796. It was on the left bank, above
and nearly opposite old Fort Randall. In the
[91]

THE GREAT PLAINS
neighborhood of Chamberlain, South Dakota,
were a number of forts, operated by different fur
companies as early as 1810. Among them were
Recovery, Brasseaux, Lookout, Kiowa, and Defi
ance. Of these Kiowa, established in 1822, was
the largest and commercially the most important.
It was built of logs, and inclosed with a stOckade
of cottonwood twenty feet high. Lozzell's Post,
about thirty-five miles below Fort Pierre, was
probably the first American trading-fort built in
the Sioux country, and was occupied as early as
1803. It was of logs, and was seventy feet square,
with bastions. The Early Trading-tosts
The mouth of what is now called Bad River,
formerly the Little Missouri, was prolific of trad
ing-posts. This was the nearest point on the Mis
souri River to the Black Hills and the upper Platte
Valley. When the first fort was established is un
known, but the more famous in the early days were
Forts Tecumseh and Pierre. The latter was quite
extensive, containing about two and a half acres of
land. Scattered throughout the Sioux country nu
merous small posts were built. There were three in
the valley of the James, besides one at the forks and
one at the mouth of the Cheyenne, one at the Ari-
cara villages, and others on Cherry, White, and Ni
obrara Rivers. These, however, were not important
or permanent structures. Near the Mandans were
several forts, the earliest of which was built by
Lewis and Clark in 1804, while but little later
[92]

FORT UNION, ON THF MISSOURI RIVER

THE FUR-TRADERS
Manuel Lisa occupied the ground. His post later
became known as Fort Vanderburgh. Beyond this
point we need not go up the Missouri except to
mention the largest and most important of all the
trading-forts. Fort Union^ at the mouth of the Yel
lowstone. Probably this was first built in October,
1828. In size it was two hundred and forty by two
hundred and twenty feet, surrounded by a palisade
a foot thick and twenty feet high. The bastions
were of stone, surmounted by pyramidal roofs, the
walls pierced for defence. A very large number of
men were employed here, and Indians journeyed
from great distances to trade.
Forts along the Eastern Base of the Rockies.
Leaving this northern mountain country and
passing southward, we will note briefly those trad
ing posts established along the eastern base of the
Rockies, whose dealings were principally with the
Indians of the Plains. The Portuguese Houses,
near the junction of the North and South Forks of
the Powder River, were occupied at a very early
date, and were in ruins in 1859. They were erected
by a trader named Antonio Mateo. Bridger averred
that at one time this post successfully resisted a
siege of forty days by the Sioux. Fort William,
named for William L. Sublette, stood at the junc
tion of the North Platte and Laramie Rivers. It
was built in 1834, and, after an interesting history

1 "Audubon and His Journals," Vol. II, p. 180, gives a de
tailed description of this remarkable wilderness fortification.
[93]

THE GREAT PLAINS
as a trading-post, was sold to the Government, and
rechristened Fort Laramie. Fort Platte was an un
important post, erected about 1840, on the right
bank of that stream. La Bonti was a temporary
trading-house, occupied in 1841, at the mouth of
La Bonti Creek. In the valley of the South Platte,
about thirty miles below the present site of Denver,
were a number of trading establishments whose
names and histories have not been preserved. Fort
Lupton, also known as Lancaster, stood on the right
bank of the South Platte, two miles above the mouth
of the Saint Vrain. It was built of adobe. Fort
, Saint Vrain was at the mouth of that tributary, and
was prominent about 1841, when in charge of Mar-
cellus Saint Vrain. Two other posts were in this
neighborhood, but their names are not of record.
Trading-Posts in the Valley of the Arkansas
The valley of the Arkansas was long occupied
by the fur-traders ; but as these were largely inde
pendent operators, their posts were mostly of a tem
porary character. The earliest of them dates back
to 1763, and was situated close up to the foot of the
mountains, but the name of the daring adventurer
is unknown. In 1806 Lieutenant Pike built a re
doubt just above the mouth of Fountain Creek, and
it is believed that Chouteau and De Munn occupied
a house in the same neighborhood in 1815-1817. In
1 82 1 Jacob Fowler erected a log structure on the
present site of Pueblo, but his stay there was brief.
Gant and Blackwell, who were successful traders
[94]

THE FUR-TRADERS
with the Arapahoes, had a post six miles above
Fountain Creek in 1832, and ten years later, at the
mouth of that same stream, either James Beck
wourth or George Simpson built a fort which be
came known as the Pueblo. In 1843 there were two
posts, names unknown, about five miles above
Bent's Fort, inhabited by French and Mexicans.
Their principal business seems to have been smug
gling across the Mexican-American line. The
lower Arkansas had no post of importance, and was
not greatly frequented by trappers. That known
as Glenn's is alone worthy of mention, and stood
about a mile above the mouth of the Verdigris, not
far from the later site of Fort Gibson. It was prob
ably abandoned as early as 1821.
The one important trading-post of the southern
Plains was Bent's Fort, or Fort Williams. This
stood on the north bank of the Arkansas about half
way between the present towns of La Junta and
Las Animas, Colorado. It was erected by three
Bent brothers, all famous as Western frontiersmen,
in 1829. It became noted in both the fur and Santa
Fe trades, a great rendezvous for trappers, and a
stopping-place for all the wanderers of the Plains.
At times hundreds of men, women, and children
were gathered in and about its walls, and many were
the stirring incidents of its romantic history. It
was one hundred and fifty by one hundred feet in
size, the longer sides running north and south. The
walls were of adobe, six feet thick at the base, and
seventeen high. The single entrance was upon the
[9SJ

THE GREAT PLAINS
east. In 1839 this fort had in its employ nearly a
hundred men. Its trade was with the Arapahoes,
Cheyennes, Kiowas, and Comanches. Rather than
sell to the Government at a price less than he be
lieved it worth. Colonel William Bent deliberately
destroyed the buildings in 1852. To-day the ruins
are yet visible.

[96]

CHAPTER VIII
INCIDENTS DURING THE FUR TRADE
Sufferings of the Trappers
THE history of the fur trade is filled with
stories of adventure, daring, and savage war
fare. What the hardy trappers suffered, isolated
in the wilderness, battling constantly against wild
beasts and wild men, can never be known. The
majority died in the silence of remote regions, their
very names long since forgotten, the heroism pf
their last fight untold. The records of the great
fur companies alone contain brief mention of such
incidents as appeared to them worthy of being writ
ten down. These generally occurred among the
fastnesses of the great mountains, where the trap
pers made rendezvous and spent the larger part of
their lives. The disastrous battle at Pierre's Hole,
the heroic exploration of Utah, and the first ad
vance to California, are all full of dramatic inci
dent; but the occurrences took place too far to the
westward for the scope of this present work. After
the first years of exploration, and some beaver trap
ping along the streams, the Great Plains were used
merely as a crossing from the region of civilization
to the far more profitable mountain region beyond.
Up the Missouri by boat, or along the valley of the
Platte on foot, the hunters passed, alone or in
[97]

THE GREAT PLAINS
companies, their destination those great ranges be
yond. No doubt much of hardship, of adventure,
of Indian-fighting, marked those long prairie miles,
but not of sufficient interest to be recorded in the
prosaic journals of the fur companies.
The Escape of Hugh Glass
The miraculous escape of Hugh Glass well pic
tures the endurance and suffering of these men.
Glass was connected with Andrew Henry's party in
the expedition to the Yellowstone. While he was
out hunting somewhere along the Grand River, a
grizzly bear dashed out of a thicket, threw him to
the earth, tore out a mouthful of his flesh, and turn
ing, gave it to her cubs. Glass sought to escape,
but instantly she was again upon him. Seizing him
by the shoulder she inflicted dangerous wounds on
hands and arms. At this moment some of his com
panions arrived and killed the bear. Although
still alive, Glass was so terribly mangled that it was
not believed he could possibly survive. They were
in hostile Indian country, and it was necessary the
party should proceed without delay. Finally,
Major Henry, by offering a reward, induced two of
the men to remain with Glass, while the others
pressed forward. One of the two was named Fitz
gerald, and the other, a mere boy, may have been
James Bridger, later a famous borderer. They
remained with the wounded hunter five days. Then,
despairing of his recovery, yet seeing no prospect
of immediate death, they left him to his fate, taking
[98]

INCIDENTS DURING THE FUR TRADE
with them his rifle and all accoutrements. Reach
ing the main party they reported him dead.
But Glass was not dead. Reviving, he crawled
to a spring. Close beside it he found wild cherries
and buffalo berries on which he lived, slowly re
covering his strength, until at last he ventured to
strike out on his long and lonely journey. His ob
jective point was Fort Kiowa, on the Missouri
River, a hundred miles away. He started with
hardly strength enough to drag one limb after the
other, with no provisions or means of securing any,
and in a hostile country where he would be the help
less victim of any straying savage. But love of life,
and a growing desire for revenge on those who had
deserted him, urged him to the effort. Fortune
seemed with him. He came to where wolves were
harrying a buffalo calf. He let them kill it, and
then, frightening them away, appropriated the
meat, eating as best he could without either knife
or fire. Bearing all he could with him, he pushed
resolutely forward, and, after great distress and
hardship, attained Fort Kiowa.
Before his wounds healed. Glass was again in
the field, starting east with a party of trappers
bound down the Missouri. When nearing the
Mandan villages he decided to walk across where
the river made a bend. Here luck was with him, as
the boats were attacked by Aricara Indians, and all
those on board killed. Glass, too feeble to fight,
had a narrow escape, and was taken by friendly
Mandans to Tilton's Fort. His one purpose at this
[99]

THE GREAT PLAINS
time was vengeance on those two who had deserted
him in the mountains. Thus inspired, he left Til
ton's the same night, plunged into the wilderness,
travelled alone for thirty-eight days through hostile
Indian country, and at last reached Henry's Fort,
at the mouth of the Big Horn. Here he discovered
that the men he sought had gone east. Still seeking
them, he at once accepted an opportunity to carry
a despatch to Fort Atkinson.
Adventures of Four Trappers
Four men started with him, and they left the
Big Horn, February 28, 1824. They went on foot,
first into the valley of the Powder, and then across
the divide into the valley of the Platte. Here they
made skin boats, and floated down the stream until
they got beyond the foot-hills onto the open prairie.
Suddenly they ran into a band of Aricaras, with
whom they attempted to hold council. The sav
ages made a treacherous attack, and killed two of
the men ; but, almost by a miracle. Glass managed
to get away, although he lost all his equipment ex
cepting a knife and a flint. He struck out again
alone for the nearest post, Fort Kiowa. It was at a
season when buffalo calves were young, so he had
plenty of meat, and his flint gave him fire. In fif
teen days' travel he made the fort, and, at the very
first opportunity went down the river again. This
time he reached Fort Atkinson in safety, arriving
there in June, 1824. Apparently his desire for re
venge had ceased, as he made no further effort to
[100]

INCIDENTS DURING THE FUR TRADE
discover those who had deserted him. Glass was
finally killed by Indians on the Yellowstone in
1832. Another pathetic incident of the wilderness is
illustrative of the life led by these men. Six hun
dred and sixteen miles from Independence, Mis
souri, on what was later the Old Oregon Trail, was
a landmark known as Scott's Bluffs. The name
arose from one of the most melancholy happenings
in the history of the fur trade. A party of trappers
were descending the Platte in canoes, when their
boats were upset in some rapids, and all their sup
plies and powder lost. Their plight was desperate,
and rendered more so by the serious illness of one
of their number, named Scott. While scarcely
knowing what to do they came upon a fresh trail of
a party of white men, leading down the river.
Anxious to overtake this party, and Scott not being
able to move, they deliberately deserted him to his
fate, reporting later that he had died. A year after,
the man's skeleton was discovered beside these
bluffs, proving that the wretched sufferer had actu
ally crawled more than forty miles before he finally
surrendered to the inevitable, and sank down in
merciful death.
The death of Jedediah S. Smith, whose remark
able adventures while exploring a route to Cali
fornia have already been mentioned, was one of the
tragedies of the Plains. Smith was in many respects
a remarkable man, deeply religious, of undaunted
courage, and untiring energy. He enlisted in the fur
[loi]

THE GREAT PLAINS
trade when a mere boy, and, at seventeen, won dis
tinction among these hardy men in battle with the
Aricaras. After Ashley's retreat Smith carried
despatches to Henry's Fort on the Yellowstone, a
mission of great peril. The remainder of his life
was passed in the wilderness, where he became a
recognized leader. In 1831 Smith, in connection
with his old fur partners, Jackson and Sublette, de
cided to engage in the Santa Fe trade. In Missouri
they secured an outfit with twenty wagons and
eighty men, and started out through Kansas. Be
ing veterans of the Plains they felt no doubt of get
ting through safely, and everything went well as
far as the ford of the Arkansas. Hefe they entered
upon the desert waste lying between that river and
the Cimarron. No one in the party had been over
the route before, and they found no trail, no guid
ing landmark. Mirages deceived them and led
them astray, and the caravan wandered for two
days without water, their condition becoming des
perate. Smith determined to ride ahead and find a
way for the others. Following a buffalo trail he
came upon the Cimarron, but found the bed of the
stream dry. Knowing the nature of such rivers, he
scooped out a hole in the bottom, which slowly
filled with water. Stooping down to drink, never
dreaming of danger, he was mortally wounded by
arrows shot by skulking Comanches. He staggered
to his feet, and killed two of his assailants before
death ended the fight. His companions, after much
[102]

INCIDENTS IN THE EXPERIENCE OF EMIGRANTS
A MIRAGE— A WAGON TRAIN — -A FORD OVER A RIVER

INCIDENTS DURING THE FUR TRADE
suffering, reached Santa Fe, but their leader had
paid the toll of the wilderness.
The Trapper's Characteristics
It is difficult in these later days to comprehend
the nature and life of those sturdy wanderers of
mountain and plain, the early trappers. They were
soon marked by their environment, and developed
a peculiar character. The nature of their service
had its effect upon physiognomy, language, habits,
and dress. The hard life of the trapper impressed
itself on all his features. In Chittenden's words :
"He was ordinarily gaunt and spare, browned with ex
posure, his hair long and unkempt, which, with his dress, often
made it difficult to distinguish him from the Indian. The con
stant peril of his life, and the necessity of unremitting vigilance,
gave him a kind of piercing look, his head slightly bent forward
and his deep eyes peering from under a slouch hat, or whatever
head-gear he might possess, as if studying the face of the stranger
to learn whether friend or foe. On the whole he impressed one
as taciturn and gloomy, and his life did to some extent suppress
gayety and tenderness. He became accustomed to scenes of vio
lence and death; and the problem of self-preservation was of
such paramount importance that he had but little time to waste
upon ineffectual reflections."
Among these men habits of thrift were practi
cally unknown. They were utterly improvident,
and apparently so by deliberate choice. They
scorned all effort at economy, and were always
poor, spending every cent as soon as it was received.
The earliest of the trappers to push out beyond
the Missouri were probably French, of the class
[103]

THE GREAT PLAINS
known as " free," that is, unconnected with any of
the big companies, working one or two together
independently, and selling wherever they could get
the best prices for their furs. But the French trap
per preferred the open Plains, and only occasionally
could be induced to follow his trade among the
gloomy mountain defiles. With few exceptions the
mountain trapper was of American blood and train
ing. Before the War of 1812 trapping in the fast
nesses of the Rockies was a venture in which only
hostile Indians and the rough nature of the country
were to be considered. After that time it became
largely a struggle for supremacy between the or
ganized fur companies of New York, St. Louis,
and Mackinaw. Lisa, Henry, Ashley, the Sub-
lettes, Campbell, Fitzpatrick, Bridger, each in
turn, crept up the Missouri, or struggled across the
Plains; each had from one hundred to three hun
dred men behind him, and each one was eager to
outwit the others, jealous and suspicious of every
stranger. The silent mountain wilderness hid many
a deed of violence and treachery. But this was in
variably the work of the company men. From the
beginning to the end of the fur trade the " free
trappers" formed a class by themselves. Their
story is in every way honorable. Agnes C. Laut epi
tomizes it well in her " Story of the Trapper " :
"The crime of corrupting natives can never be laid to the
free trapper. He carried neither poison nor what was worse
than poison to the Indian — whiskey — among the native tribes.
The free trapper lived on good terms with the Indian, because
[104]

INCIDENTS DURING THE FUR TRADE
his safety depended on the Indian. Regenades like Bird, the
deserter from the Hudson Bay Company, or Rose, who aban
doned the Astorians, or Beckwourth of apocryphal fame, might
cast off civilization and become Indian chiefs, but, after all,
these men were not guilty of half so hideous crimes as the great
fur companies of boasted respectability. Wyeth of Boston, and
Captain Bonneville of the army, whose underlings caused such
murderous slaughter among the Root Diggers, were not free
trappers in the true sense of the term. Wyeth was an enthusi
ast who caught the fever of the wilds; and Captain Bonneville
a gay adventurer, whose men shot down more Indians in one
trip than all the free trappers of America shot in a century. As
for the desperado Harvey, his crimes were committed under the
walls of the American Fur Company's fort. McLellan and
Crooks and John Day — before they joined the Astorians — and
Boone and Carson and Colter, are names that stand for the
true type of free trapper."
Fights between Whites and Indians.
During these years of exploration and trading,
while the land yet remained a wilderness wandered
over only by little parties of free or employed trap
pers, the Great Plains and the waters bordering
them were the scene of certain events of sufficient
historic importance to warrant brief mention. The
first recorded fight between Americans and Indians
in this region took place in September, 1807, at the
Aricara villages on the Missouri. Here Ensign
Pryor of the Army, with fifty men, endeavoring to
escort a Mandan chief back to his tribe, was at
tacked by Aricaras on shore, and compelled to re
treat after fifteen minutes of hot fighting. The loss
of the whites was three killed and ten wounded, one
mortally. This point on the river was later the
[105]

THE GREAT PLAINS
scene of various conflicts, the most serious being the
attack on Ashley's men in June, 1823. This battle
was fought partly on land and partly on water, and
was practically a defeat for the whites, who lost
fourteen killed and about as many wounded. It
resulted in an army expedition under Colonel Leav
enworth being despatched up the river. A three
days' battle was waged in which neither side could
claim victory. A treaty of peace was patched up,
but the Aricaras continued troublesome all through
the years- of the fur trade.
Earliest Steamboats on the Upper Missouri
In 1826, Ashley, going West with a party by
way of the Platte, took with him a six-pounder
wheeled cannon all the way to Utah Lake. This is
believed to be the first wheeled vehicle to cross the
Plains north of the Santa Fe Trail. In 1831 the
first steamboat to navigate the upper Missouri left
St. Louis. This was the "Yellowstone," Captain
Young. It proceeded as far as Fort Tecumseh.
The following year this boat succeeded in reaching
Fort Union at the mouth of the Yellowstone, and
by 1859 steamers had pushed up as far as Fort Ben
ton, near where the Teton joins the Missouri.
Introduction of Smallpox
In 1837 the Indian tribes of the northern Plains
were visited by the plague of smallpox. It raged
with fearful effect among the Aricaras, Mandans,
and Assiniboines, spreading westward to the Crows
[106]

INCIDENTS DURING THE FUR TARDE
and Blackfeet. The scourge is said to have been in
troduced by the passage of the annual steamboat
of the American Fur Company, the "St. Peters,"
which had several cases on board. The Mandans
suffered most severely, only about thirty remaining
alive, and they mostly boys and old men. Chitten
den estimates the total loss in the several tribes at
tacked at more than fifteen thousand, which, con
sidering the probable original population, makes a
mortality almost without parellel in the history of
plagues. A writer of the time said : " The de
stroying angel has visited the unfortunate sons of
the wilderness with terrors never before known, and
has converted the extensive hunting grounds, as
well as the peaceful settlements of these tribes, into
desolate and boundless cemeteries."

[107]

CHAPTER IX
BEGINNINGS OF THE SANTA FE TRADE
Early Adventurers in the Santa Fe Trade
SOME time between 1609 and 1617 the Span
iards of Mexico came northward and estab
lished the town of Santa Fe. For two hundred
years it was the centre of Indian strife, being aban
doned and reoccupied, yet ever advancing slowly
in importance. Spanish traders spread out over the
wide Plains to the north and east, making their in
fluence felt as far as the Platte, and penetrating
deeply into the canyons of the Rockies. By the time
Americans began to show an interest in Santa Fe
the settlement had grown to a population of about
three thousand, and had become the centre of Span
ish political, military, and commercial power on
the Mexican frontier.
The Mallet brothers, travelling overland from
the Aricara villages, were probably the first ad
venturers to invade Santa Fe from the East. They
arrived there in July, 1739, and returned the next
spring by various routes; but their venturesome
journey was without direct results. The earliest
expedition organized for purposes of trade into
Spanish territory was under French auspices, prob
ably some time previous to 1763. The traders trans
ported a variety of merchandise up the Arkansas to
about the neighborhood of Pueblo, where they
[108]

BEGINNINGS OF THE SANTA FE TRADE
opened a temporary store, trading with both In
dians and Spaniards. The Spanish authorities,
however, soon drove them out. It is believed that
other similar expeditions crossed the Texas Plains,
but there is no historical record of them.
The Morrison Expedition
The next commercial expedition originated in
St. Louis almost immediately after the transfer of
Louisiana to the United States. It was organized
by William Morrison, of Kaskaskia, Illinois, his
agent being a French Creole named Baptiste La
Lande. The Frenchman made a success of the
venture, but the profit was not for Morrison, who
waited long but in vain for his return. La Lande,
carrying his goods on pack animals, took a long
way around, ascending the Platte River to the
mountains, and then skirting their eastern base to
the Spanish settlements. He reached Santa Fe in
the Summer of 1804, sold his goods, married a
sehorita, and remained. Lieutenant Pike met him
there three years later, apparently contented, thor
oughly at home among the Spaniards, his conscience
untroubled. Less than a year after La Lande's entry into
Santa Fe another adventurer drifted down there
from across the Plains. This was James Purcell, a
wandering hunter, originally from Kentucky. Pur
cell had been west of the Missouri for three years,
engaged in a variety of occupations, and in the
Spring of 1805 found himself near the source of the
[109]

THE GREAT PLAINS
South Platte with some Indian traders. He was
sent by them to the Spanish settlements to seek per
mission for the party to come there and trade. On
his way south, when on the upper waters of the
Arkansas, he discovered gold, but was later com
pelled to throw away the small amount gathered.
Purcell reached Santa Fe in June, and apparently
liked the place, as he remained there, making
money rapidly by working as a carpenter. A year
later Pike conducted his exploring expedition into
the New Mexican country, the details of which
have been given in a previous chapter.
Troubles with the Spanish Authorities
The animosity engendered by Pike stopped the
development of the Santa Fe trade for several
years. It was too risky to appeal even to the bold
adventurers of the border. In November, 1809,
three men. Smith, McClanahan, and Patterson, left
St. Louis for the Spanish settlements. They had a
Mexican guide, but were never again heard of. Not
until 1 81 2 did an organized American trading ex
pedition succeed in reaching Santa Fe, find its re
ception was most discouraging. It was composed
of twelve members, the leaders being McKnight,
Baird, and Chambers. Their journey over the
prairies was comparatively uneventful until the
party forded the Arkansas and entered the sacred
territory of New Spain. Here they were immedi
ately seized by the authorities, and their goods con
fiscated. It was nine years before the unfortunate
[no]

BEGINNINGS OF THE SANTA FE TRADE
adventurers were released from the rigors of a
Mexican prison.
The next American to reach Santa Fe appears
to have been Julius de Munn of St. Louis, a part
ner of A. P. Chouteau in the Indian trade on the
upper Arkansas. These two left St. Louis in Sep
tember, 1 815, and on the way they made a trade
with a hunter named Phillebert for his entire out
fit of furs cached in the mountains, and the time of
his men. When they arrived at the appointed
rendezvous the engages were absent, and Indians
reported that they had gone south into Spanish
territory. De Munn started after them, and found
them very comfortably situated at Taos; but he
pressed on to the capital, with the intention of ask
ing the Governor for permission to hunt on the
headwaters of the Rio Grande. He found the Gov
ernor courteous, but unwilling to grant such a
privilege without consulting those higher in author
ity. Unable to wait for a final decision, De Munn
collected his men and returned across the Arkansas
to Chouteau's camp. With two companions he went
east to St. Louis the last of February, after a new
outfit, making the distance in forty-six days. The
next year these same two traders, with a company of
forty-five men, were hunting in the Sangre de
Cristo Range, and De Munn went again to Santa
Fe, only to find a new Governor, and a very chilly
reception. From that time they were in constant
trouble with the authorities, and on May 24, 18 17,
they were arrested by Spanish troops, taken to Santa
[in]

THE GREAT PLAINS
Fe, fettered, and thrown into prison. Finally, with
all their property confiscated, except one horse
each, the unfortunate party were released, with
strict orders to leave Spanish territory. They ar
rived at St. Louis in September.
This treatment, coupled with the misfortunes
of three years before, pretty thoroughly halted all
immediate efforts at trading with Santa Fe. There
is some reason to believe that adventurers visited
the settlements of New Mexico during this period,
but they did not leave any historical records.
A trader named Meriwether was captured by
Spanish troops in 1819, and held prisoner for some
time. Thirty years later he became Governor of
New Mexico. But practically all commercial com
munication was severed between the two countries
until 1821, when the Mexicans threw off the Span
ish yoke and seized the reins of government.
Increase of Trade after Mexico Became Independent.
This change resulted in the release of all Ameri
can prisoners, and opened a door for northern trad
ers. They were not slow in seizing the opportunity.
William Becknell, of Missouri, was the first to con
duct a successful trading expedition to Santa Fe;
he is also known as the father of the famous Santa
Fe Trail. With a company of seventy men, he
crossed the Missouri at Arrow Rock September i,
1822, and in rapid march reached the upper Ar
kansas the last of the month. The party must have
halted here some time, as it was the middle of
[112]

BEGINNINGS OF THE SANTA FE TRADE
November before they arrived at Santa Fe. Here
their goods were sold at a handsome profit. Beck
nell, with a single companion named McLaughlin,
reached St. Louis the next January, but his men
probably remained hunting in the mountains.
The same year one Jacob Fowler of Kentucky
led an independent exploring expedition, starting
from Forth Smith. At Glenn's trading-post at the
mouth of the Verdigris, he was joined by the pro
prietor, who acted as guide. The entire party of
twenty proceeded up the north bank of the Ar
kansas. Glenn, with four men, went ahead as far
as Santa Fe, where he was well received, and the
others soon followed. It was the middle of July
before they again reached the American settle
ments, bringing back with them a number of
prisoners released by the Spaniards, including the
members of McKnight's party.
The success of these expeditions led to consider
able activity along the border. Braxton Cooper
and Becknell were the earliest of the traders to get
away, and both made successful trips in 1822. The
trip of the latter is particularly important, because
he went by way of the Cimarron instead of follow
ing the Arkansas to the mountains, as had formerly
been done. This took him across a grim desert, and
was a notable achievement. On this journey the
first wagons were taken across the Plains. It was
reported that, costing one hundred and fifty dollars
each in Missouri, these wagons brought seven hun
dred dollars apiece in Santa Fe. This achievement
[113]

THE GREAT PLAINS
was accomplished four years oefore Ashley dragged
his cannon to Salt Lake, and eight years before the
first wagons crossed the more northern Plains.
For some cause, possibly Indian hostility, little
seems to have been accomplished in 1823, although
a party of thirty under Colonel Cooper made the
round trip successfully. But in 1824 the commerce
of the prairies began to assume important propor
tions. From that date, with the exception of
certain periods when the Indians were especially
dangerous, the Santa Fe trade constantly increased,
and each summer saw the laden caravans moving
slowly westward along the broad Trail. The best
equipped and organized expedition up to that date
crossed the Missouri at Franklyn May 15, 1824.
Le Grande, an experienced frontiersman, was in
command, and in his party were eighty-one men,
one hundred and fifty-six horses and mules, twenty-
five wagons, and thirty thousand dollars' worth of
merchandise. They made the round trip to Santa
Fe in four months and ten days, bringing back one
hundred and eighty thousand dollars in gold and
silver, and ten thousand dollars' worth of furs.
Unfortunately, from now on we are enabled to
gain merely glimpses of events occurring along the
Trail. Many, encouraged by such success, rushed
into this trade, poorly equipped for the dangers of
the route, and unacquainted with either Indian or
Spanish customs. The result was often disastrous,
leading to suffering, loss, and death. Small parties
became the prey of savages, and there were many
[114J

BEGINNINGS OF THE SANTA FE TRADE
instances of ill-guided parties wandering from the
trail in search of a shorter route, and perishing
miserably in the desert. Even the larger and ably
commanded companies did not always escape scot-
free. In 1824 Braxton Cooper, on his third trip,
lost two men by Indian attack; and "The Missouri
Intelligencer " contained numerous reports of lives
sacrificed along the Trail.
Summary of the Caravans from 1825 to 1834
The following is Chittenden's careful summary
of the caravans from 1825 ^ ^834, as gathered from
the columns of various papers published at the time.
While incomplete, it yet vividly pictures the im
portance of the trade, the number engaged, and the
perils of the route. It contains many names long
identified with border history:
" 1825. — Becknell returned from Santa Fe June i. Marma-
duke left Santa Fe May 31; date of arrival in Franklin not
known. — ^Another party left Santa Fe in June, arriving in
Franklin August i, with 500 mules and horses; pursued usual
route; went from San Miguel to Canadian; down this stream
300 miles; thence N. E. to Arkansas at mouth of Little Arkan
sas; thence through Osage country home; were roughly han
dled by Osages. — May 16, large party, 105 men, 34 wagons,
240 mules and horses, Augustus Storrs, newly appointed consul
to Santa Fe, Captain, left Fort Osage for Santa Fe; party re
turned by detachments at various times and by different routes
during fall ; a number, among them Storrs, remained. — Another
caravan left in May with 81 men, 200 horses and $30,000
worth of goods; no further record. — A party of Tennesseeans
left Jackson, Tenn., for Santa Fe in April; returned as far as
Arkansas River with some of the above parties and then con
tinued down that stream. [115]

THE GREAT PLAINS
" 1826. — Early in April a party arrived in Franklin from
Santa Fe. About same time party of lOO left for Santa Fe. —
About June i, another party of between 80 and 100 persons,
with wagons and carriages of every description left Franklin
for Santa Fe. — June 9, six or seven new and substantial wagons
laden with goods arrived in Franklin en route for Santa Fe;
owned by Mexican, Mr. Escudero, who was in charge of them.
This was about the beginning of Mexican proprietorship in
trade, which monopolized more than half the business in 1843.
— It appears that in September of this year a party under Ceran
St. Vrain (if we may trust Inman) set out for Santa Fe, ar
riving there in November ; in this party was a runaway boy. Kit
Carson, then 17 years old.
" 1827. — Spring caravan from Franklin had 52 wagons and
105 men; Ezekiel Williams, captain; August Storrs and David
Workman along; the largest party yet; the only outgoing ex
pedition mentioned, but of course there were others; about 60
of the party returned about Sept. 30, with 800 head of stock,
valued at $28,000; absent four months; cleared 40 per cent. —
May 31, . party returned from Santa Fe successful. — July 19,
a party of twenty arrived two days before from Santa Fe with
several hundred mules and $30,000 specie.
" 1828. — About 1st of May caravan left Franklin for Santa
Fe with $150,000 worth of merchandise and 150 persons. —
May 18, a party was at Blue Springs en route to Santa Fe, with
37 wagons, and $41,000 worth of goods. — September 12, 70 to
80 persons arrived in Franklin from Santa Fe; venture profita
ble, but lost two men, Munroe and McNees. — Oct. 28, party
of 25 arrived in Franklin from Santa Fe; had been attacked
by Indians, who stole all their animals, killed John Means of
Franklin, and compelled them to cache their specie. — Bent's
Fort erected this year; according to some authorities, the fol
lowing year.
" 1829. — Spring caravan consisted of about 70 persons and
35 wagons; Charles Bent captain; military escort under Major
Riley; Samuel C. Lamme killed en route; return cargo valued
at $34,000; reached Franklin early in November. — There seems
to have been no other caravan this year.
[116]

BEGINNINGS OF THE SANTA FE TRADE
" 1830.— About May 22, party of 120 with 60 wagons left
Franklin for Santa Fe, returning in October with fair profits.
" 1831. — May 15, large party, of which Josiah Gregg was
a member, numbering nearly 200 and including some ladies, 100
wagons, two small cannon, and $200,000 worth of goods, left
Independence, Mo., and having organized at Council Grove, left
that place May 27; crossed the Arkansas June 13, and arrived
at San Miguel in due course. — May 21, there was preparing
at Franklin a large party for Santa Fe with about $200,000
worth of goods. — Some of the members had put their entire
property in the venture. — One of the above parties returned in
October, after a successful trip. — October 20, a party of twenty-
five or thirty persons passed Columbia, Mo., for Santa Fe, most
ly from Eastern States. It was this year that Smith, Jackson,
and Sublette made their unfortunate journey across the plains,
in which Smith lost his life.
" 1832. — Principal caravan under Charles Bent; date of de
parture not given; returned about November i, with $100,000
specie and $90,000 other property. — A party returning in the
Fall and Winter of this year attacked by Indians on Canadian,
January i, and lost all their property and one man.
" 1833. — June 20, Spring caravan at Diamond Grove, 184
men, 93 wagons, under Charles Bent; November 9, 100 of
above party returned with $100,000 specie and large amount of
other property. — Gregg returned this Fall.
"1834. — May 24, caravan of about 125 wagons; Gregg
probably with it; part of caravan under Captain Kerr left Santa
Fe September 10, arrived home in October, 140 men and 40
wagons, with returns amounting to over $200,000.
" The record of the caravans during the following years is
very obscure, although it is certain that they continued as here
tofore. Various causes contributed to the deficiency of record."
Government Survey for a Road to New Mexico
Even as early as 1825 this trade had assumed
proportions to arouse Congressional action, ten
thousand dollars being appropriated for marking
[117]

THE GREAT PLAINS
the line of a road from the Missouri River to New
Mexico, and twenty thousand dollars for securing
concessions from the Indians. A peace commis
sion was appointed, and J. C. Brown selected as
surveyor. Brown duly surveyed and marked the
road by raised mounds from Fort Osage to the
Arkansas, following the course of the old Trail.
Instead of cutting across the Cimarron Desert, in
accordance with the short Trail already used by the
traders, this Government road was run up the Ar
kansas to Chouteau Island, and then headed di
rectly south to Taos. This route being so much
longer, the traders naturally refused to use it. Con
sequently the survey was of but little practical
value. Opposition of Indians to the Traders
From the very beginning there was trouble with
Indians. In a certain sense what is now Kansas
was neutral ground to the surrounding tribes,
hunted over by Pawnees, Comanches, Cheyennes,
Arapahoes, and Kiowas, but these were all bitterly
opposed to the white invasion, and their raids on
the slow-moving caravans were incessant. Few
small outfits ever got through without a fight, and
many of the larger were robbed, and their stock
stampeded. Any straggling from the column was
almost certain to result in the sudden dash down
ward of Indian horsemen. All the surrounding
tribes were involved in these attacks, but the Co
manches were most feared, and most frequently
named as the guilty marauders.
[n8]

A CARAVAN ARRIVING AT SANTA FE

BEGINNINGS OF THE SANTA FE TRADE
The passage became so dangerous that in 1829
Government troops were ordered to escort the
spring caravan as far as the Mexican frontier. Four
companies of the Sixth Infantry, under Major Ben-
net Riley, were assigned to this duty; leaving Round
Grove early in June, they were more than a month
on the march before reaching Chouteau Island,
where they encamped to await the return of the
traders. Evidently the Comanches had been on
watch all the way, for scarcely had the now un
guarded caravan disappeared over the sand hills
into Mexican territory, when it was fiercely at
tacked. A hard fight ensued, but Riley crossed the
river with his men, drove off the Indians, and es
corted the wagons for another day's march. Not
daring to take an armed force any farther into
Mexico, he returned to the Arkansas, and went into
camp, agreeing to wait there until October 10 for
the return of the traders.
The troops passed a summer full of excitement,
being constantly annoyed by Indians who durst not
attack openly. The tenth of October came, but no
returning caravan. Waiting one more day in vain
for its appearance Riley mustered his men, and the
column began the long march eastward across the
now brown prairie. Scarcely had they started when
the caravan appeared. It was escorted by Mexican
troops under command of Colonel Viscara, and a
few days before had had a sharp fight with Co
manches, which caused delay. The soldiers of the
two countries met cordially, and a review was held
[119]

THE GREAT PLAINS
out on the Plain, the rough frontiersmen of the
caravan watching the military evolutions with
great interest. "Never," says Chittenden, "since
the days when Coronado's soldiers penetrated to the
Kansas Plains, had the barren and treeless prairie
witnessed a more interesting spectacle." Three days
were passed thus in fraternal intercourse, and then
the Americans moved eastward on their weary
march. This policy of furnishing escorts did not greatly
commend itself to the Government, and was not
continued. The large caravans were able to pro
tect themselves, and to furnish troops for every
little band making the venture was impossible.
Morever, the greatest peril of attack was after
crossing the Mexican frontier. Occasionally, how
ever, troops were sent, one such detachment consist
ing of sixty dragoons under Captain Wharton in
1834; but this is said to have been the last military
escort until 1843.

[120]

V

CHAPTER X
INCIDENTS OF THE SANTA FE TRAIL
Value of the Santa Fe Wagon Traffic
ERY few realize to-day the value of the trade

which during those years was carried on by
means of wagon and pack mules across the prairies
to far-off Santa Fe. At one time it rose to above
$450,000 per annum, and for twenty-two years,
from 1822 to 1843 inclusive, averaged over $130,000
annually, a total of nearly three million dollars.
When one considers the disadvantages under which
it was carried on, the never-ceasing perils of the
way, the long and weary distance travelled, the un
certainty as to the kind of reception that would be
granted by the Mexican officials, and the limited
capital of the traders, the result is little short of
amazing. For this was a business carried on by
small dealers. No great company ever operated on
the Santa Fe Trail. Not until the last years of the
trade did the investments average as high as one
thousand dollars to each proprietor. In many cases
it was carried on entirely upon credit.
Picture of a Caravan
The long journey across the Plains was gener
ally full of interest, and occasionally of excitement
and danger. The Trail, as followed by nearly all
[121]

THE GREAT PLAINS
caravans after the first year of experiment, ex
tended from Independence, Missouri, to Santa Fe,
New Mexico, a distance of seven hundred and sev
enty-five miles. For the first one hundred and fifty
miles, as far as Council Grove, the traders usually
travelled independently, as the route led through a
well-watered prairie country, very seldom invaded
by hostile Indians. Here they halted and organ
ized into a caravan, electing various officers to serve
during the trip. In the large trains these were
quite numerous, including captain, two lieutenants,
marshal, clerk, pilot, commander of guards, and
occasionally a chaplain. The authority of these of
ficers was, however, small, and much of the loss of
life occurred from lack of discipline. The draught
animals were horses, mules, and oxen, and, as it
was necessary for all to keep together, progress was
slow, rarely averaging more than fifteen miles a
day. The location of water generally determined
the extent of a day's march. As to the personnel,
every kind and degree of man was usually present,
— sober representatives of business, rough frontiers
men, profane "bull-whackers" and "mule-skin
ners," reckless adventurers, travellers seeking new
experience, Indians, and Mexicans. All were for
the time upon a common level. "The wild and
motley aspect of the caravan," observes Gregg, in
his " Commerce of the Prairies," " would have
formed an excellent subject for an artist's pencil."

[122 J

INCIDENTS OF THE SANTA FE TRAIL
The Route
Fully organized and equipped, the wagons
stretching out in long line and well guarded by
men on foot and horseback, the caravan started
forth from the pleasant camp at Council Grove
upon the second stage of its advance. This took
them to the ford of the Arkansas, known then as the
Cimarron Crossing, about where Fort Dodge was
subsequently located. As they slowly moved for
ward, the nature of the country began to change,
and they emerged from the beautiful prairies onto
the arid plains, while with every step they were
exposed to the peril of Comanche and Pawnee
raiders. The points of interest on the way, usually
marking camping-places, were Diamond Springs,
Lost Spring, Cottonwood and Turkey Creeks^ the
Little Arkansas, and Cow Creek. The main stream
of the Arkansas was struck about the site of the
present town of Ellinwood, the trail running up
the left bank of that stream. On the way it passed
Walnut Creek, and came to Pawnee Rock, long
considered the most dangerous point on the route.
This landmark was of sandstone, about twenty feet
high, and stood to the right of the trail, two miles
from the river. This was the scene of much des
perate Indian-fighting throughout the history of
the caravans. Beyond Pawnee Rock the travellers
passed Ash Creeky Pawnee Fork, Coon Creek, and
" The Caches," so named because two early traders.
Chambers and Biard, were obliged to hide their
[123]

THE GREAT PLAINS
goods there in 1822. Just beyond this they came
to the ford across the Arkansas twenty miles above
the present Dodge City, and three hundred and
qinety-two miles from Independence, their journey
half done.
The crossing was dangerous because of quick
sand, the river bottom very treacherous. Teams
were doubled, and the wagons taken across on a
run. From now on the trail ran over Mexican soil
and led across a barren, desolate desert of con
stantly shifting sand. After leaving Lower Spring,
some sixty miles south from the Arkansas, the cara
van entered upon the most dreaded section of their
route. For fifty-eight miles, requiring from two
to three days to traverse, there was no water. Chit
tenden says :
"In the earlier years the route was very uncertain, for the
wagons made no impression oii the hard, dry soil, and no trail
was developed. This fact, and a total absence of landmarks,
made the danger of getting lost a very serious one, for in that
waterless country a day or two of lost time might prove disas
trous. This difficulty was removed in 1834 by a fortunate cir
cumstance. It happened that year, quite unusually, that there
were continuous and heavy rains while the caravan was pass
ing this part of the route. The wagons cut a distinct furrow
on the softened turf, which was followed by subsequent cara
vans until it developed into a permanent road. It is visible in
many places to the present day."
The "Old" Trail
This portion of the old Trail was mostly in what
is now southwestern Kansas, passing near localities
now known as Ivanhoe, Conductor, Example, and
[124]

INCIDENTS OF THE SANTA FE TRAIL
Zionville. Beyond this the route followed the val
ley of the Cimarron for eighty-five miles, to Mc
Nees' Creek, so named in memory of McNees,
who, with Monroe, was killed here in 1828. From
this point the trail again became clear and easily
followed, although still running through a desert
country. Indeed, so little has the region changed
between the Cimarron and Santa Clara Spring, a
distance of one hundred and seventeen miles, that
over much of the way the old trail can still be easily
followed. It was at the latter point that the moun
tain branch from Bent's Fort on the Upper Ar
kansas united with the main trail. The remainder
of the distance to Santa Fe, one hundred and thir
teen miles, is almost exactly covered by the rails of
the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad. In
the old days the first abode of white men encoun
tered after leaving Council Grove was at Rio Gal-
linas, seventy miles from Santa Fe, the first
settlement being San Miguel.
Tragical Incidents
Almost every mile of this route became during
those years of travel a scene of tragedy and suffer
ing. Few of these incidents have become matter of
record, and the years have blotted out the memory
of names, the deed of sacrifice or daring. From
the pages of Chittenden, Gregg, and Inman we
may cull a few from among the many. While the
1826 caravan was slowly toiling up the Arkansas
a man named Broadus accidentally discharged a
[125]

THE GREAT PLAINS
rifle into his arm. It was a dangerous wound, but
the man delayed attending to it, until no other hope
for saving his life wais left than amputation. One
of his companions, believed to be Kit Carson, per
formed the operation with the only instruments at
hand, a handsaw, a butcher knife, and an iron bolt.
This rude surgery proved effective, and in a few
weeks the patient, constantly travelling with the
caravan, was sound and well.
Reference has already been made to a tragedy
on the Cimarron in which McNees and Monroe
lost their lives. No one ever knew the exact
circumstances, but it is believed that the men having
fallen asleep, the Indians crept up and shot them
with their own guns. McNees was discovered
dead, but Monroe lived while the wagon train ad
vanced forty miles. While they were burying
him, somewhere in the lonely valley of the Cimar
ron, a party of Indians appeared across the river.
They were apparently friendly and sought a parley,
but the white men, aroused by the death of two of
their number, fired, and killed all but one.
This same year, 1828, chronicles another death
by violence upon the trail. A small caravan, con
sisting of twenty-one men, one hundred and five
mules, and five wagons, was bound East. At the
upper Cimarron Springs they suddenly found them
selves completely surrounded by Comanches, who
insolently ordered them to camp for the night. Be
lieving obedience would mean destruction, the little
body began pushing resolutely forward. The In-
[126]

INCIDENTS OF THE SANTA FE TRIAL
dians at once attacked, charging fiercely upon the
rear guard, composed of Captain John Means and
two men named Ellison and Bryant. These two
escaped, but Captain Means was shot down, and
scalped while yet alive. Unable to aid him, the
caravan pressed on, constantly pursued by the sav
ages and fighting for every mile. Finally they were
forced to abandon their wagons, and, taking ten
thousand dollars in specie with them, travelled all
night and day, and well into the next night, when
they reached the Arkansas. Here they cached the
specie, and pressed on to Walnut Creek so exhausted
they could hardly travel. Five managed to reach
Independence, where a rescue party was organized.
The sufferers were found scattered along the trail
all nearly dead from exhaustion and starvation.
In 1833, according to "The Missouri Republi
can," a party of twelve traders were attacked on
the Canadian River by a large force of Comanches.
The fight lasted thirty-two hours, the whites in
trenching themselves. Two men, Mitchell and
Pratte, were killed. The subsequent escape of the
others to the settlements was the occasion of much
suffering and hardship, the season being winter,
and many of them wounded. It seems to be a fact,
if one may judge from the paucity of reports pub
lished, that during the earlier years of the Trail,
the various tribes of savages through whose coun
try it ran were not particularly hostile to the whites.
The attacks on the traders were comparatively few,
and can generally be traced to some previous atroc-
[127]

THE GREAT PLAINS
ity perpetrated upon the Indians. Later, it is true,
war raged along the border, and the Santa Fe Trail
drank deep of blood, as will be described in some
of the following pages, but during the passage of
the trading caravans back and forth, from 1825 to
1840, more men died on the journey from disease
than from Indian attack. Again and again the
wagons rolled over the long route without any ad
venture occurring to break the dull monotony of
travel, and, except for the constant possibility of
peril, the march became a business routine.
Hostility of Texans to Mexican Caravans
One occurrence, happening just outside the date
limit quoted above, needs to be mentioned here.
This was the expedition of Texans to the Trail for
the purpose of robbing Mexican traders. Texas
was then a Republic, and its people's hatred of the
Mexicans waxed strong. In 1843 a certain Colonel
Snively led some two hundred men across the des
erts to the Arkansas for the purpose of attacking
Mexican caravans. Here he was joined by another
party of Texans under a man named Warfield, who
had just had an unpleasant experience in his attack
on the Mexican village of Mora. His men had
reached the Arkansas on foot, and pretty thor
oughly demoralized. These two worthies advanced
their combined forces into the sand hills south of
the river, where they ambuscaded some of General
Armizo's soldiers, and killed eighteen, without suf
fering any loss themselves. One Mexican got away,
[128]

INCIDENTS OF THE SANTA FE TRAIL
and rode south with his news, the receipt of which
caused Kit Carson to be sent back up the Trail to
warn an approaching caravan. After a desperate
ride he arrived in time to checkmate the Texans.
All the Mexican caravans were not so fortunate.
Don Antonio Jose Chavez left Santa Fe for Inde
pendence in February, 1843, with a large outfit,
including a private carriage and a retinue of serv
ants. His known wealth had made him a marked
man, and a plot was concocted for robbing him,
the leader being a Texan named McDaniel. It
was at Cow Creek, near the present town of Hutch
inson, Kansas, that they lay in wait for their victims.
The tragedy was soon over, the employees shot
down in cold blood, while the Don was tortured
until he revealed his treasure, and then deliberately
murdered. But unknown to the murderers one
Mexican teamster escaped, rode furiously across the
prairie to Leavenworth, where the Government
then had a military post, and immediately returned
guiding a detachment of United States troops. On
the way an old scout and plainsman named Hobbs
was met with and pressed into service, and, inside
of four days the avengers had overtaken the gang,
who were unconscious of pursuit. They killed one,
and made the others prisoners. After trial in St.
Louis, some were hanged and others imprisoned.

[129]

CHAPTER XI
EARLY TRANSPORTATION ON THE PLAINS
Indian Methods of Transportation
THE earliest method of transporting goods
across the Plains must have been upon the
shoulders of men, yet long before Cabega de Vaca
wandered through his ten thousand miles of wilder
ness in search of Mexico, the Indians of the Plains
had taken a step upward, and learned to shift their
burdens onto the backs of patient dogs. Castaneda,
the historian of Coronado's expedition to the buf
falo plains in 1541, writes: "They go like Arabs
with their tents, and their droves of dogs harnessed
with saddle-cloths, and pack-saddles, and a cinch.
When their load shifts, the dogs howl for someone
to straighten it for them." One hundred years later
another Spanish wanderer, Benavides, writes:
"I cannot refrain from mentioning something rather in
credible and ridiculous, which is that when these Indians go off
to trade the whole rancherias go, with their women and chil
dren. They live in tents made of buffalo hide, very thin and
tanned; and these tents they carry on pack-trains of dogs, har
nessed with their pack-saddles. The dogs are medium sized, and
it is customary to have five hundred dogs in one pack train, one
in front of another; and thus the people carry their merchan
dise laden, which they barter for cotton cloth, and other things
they need."
By the time the first American adventurers had
penetrated beyond the Missouri, the horse had come
[130]

EARLY TRANSPORTATION
to the Indian, and been broken to the duties of a
burden-bearer. The horse came from the South,
gradually overrunning the Plains in wild bands,
until the savage tribes as far north as the Missouri
were well supplied with them. These wild horses
were the descendants of those Arabian steeds
brought to the New World by the Spanish con
querors of Mexico. As we think of their probable
number ranging the Great Plains as long ago as
1750, it is interesting to take note of their small be
ginnings, when Cortez, in 1519,- brought the first
horses to the mainland of North America. Accord
ing to the historian, Bernal Diaz, there were six
teen horses of the captains, and five mares ; and he
names and describes the latter with care, mention
ing the colt born on their voyage from Cuba. And
horses had a price in those days in this new land,
when for many a year the market held firm at a
thousand pieces of eight. But the increase of the
stock the Spaniards imported was marvellous, and
the prices fell accordingly until, by 1728, horses
were down to six dollars each, and mules to ten. It
was the wild horse, straying from its old-time Mex
ican owner into the freedom of the wilderness, cap
tured again by the roaming savage and reduced to
slavery, which, almost in a day, lifted the Indian
into a new age of racial development. The tribes
of the Plains knew and used the horse for trans
portation long before men of English blood came
wandering into their villages. Yet their accepted
method was extremely crude, being merely the
[131J

THE GREAT PLAINS
utilization of two sticks attached to the sides of a
horse, the ends dragging on the ground. It was the
same plan by which they had loaded their dogs.
The French called it the travois, and its use was
universal from the Great Lakes to Texas.
Spanish Methods
The next step in the advance of Plains trans
portation was the pack-train of the early Spaniards.
The idea was merely an importation from Europe,
but its value in the development of the West is be
yond computation. The work of the muleteer be
came almost an art, and there were few regions so
isolated, either in mountain or plain, as to remain
long unvisited by the pack-train. The distance
travelled, and the value of merchandise and specie
transported in this manner, are beyond estimate. In
the early history of the Southwest there were ordi
nary commercial routes, regularly travelled over,
more than fifteen hundred miles long. In 1774
Captain Anza took such a train from Sonora to San
Francisco, and Coronado wandered the Plains
nearly two years, a pack-train bearing his supplies.
On the old Vera Cruz Trail it is said that seventy
thousand mules were employed each year, the com
merce carried on their backs reaching yearly a total
of sixty-four million dollars. In those days every
thing went mule-back, the only concession made to
travellers unable to ride in this way being a rude
litter on shafts swung to the saddles of two mules
walking in single file. Regular commercial routes,
[132]

>
s
>z

o H
o z

EARLY TRANSPORTATION
over which the pack-mules travelled in long col
umns, were early established between Mexico and
the border Spanish settlements along the Rockies,
and thus was the pack-train introduced upon the
Plains. As early, possibly, as the beginning of the sev
enteenth century the first wheeled vehicle made its
appearance in this neighborhood, but was probably
never used on the Plains outside New Mexico. This
was the carreta, built without nails or a scrap of
iron, being a rude ox-cart, so heavy that no other
motive power could pull it. It had two wheels,
made from three sections of cottonwood logs, fast
ened to a wooden axle, and without tires. Some
carretas were still in use within the memory of liv
ing men; their creaking and groaning while in
motion imparted to the traveller a sensation never
to be forgotten. The first wheeled vehicles ever
used within the limits of what is now the United
States were those Zacatecas wagons with which
Juan de Onate travelled in 1596 in his expedition
to colonize New Mexico. We only know they were
hauled by oxen, and that for two centuries follow
ing, a fairly regular communication was kept up
over the same route. The Mexican Pack-Train
The first overland commerce established by
Americans was that along the Santa Fe Trail, and
until 1827 it was carried on entirely by pack-trains.
After that date wagons were introduced, yet the
[133]

THE GREAT PLAINS
other method was never wholly abandoned. The
Mexican pack-train, or ata'jo, adopted by the Amer
icans almost in its entirety, was an institution
worthy of description. Inman tells the story as
follows :
"A pack-mule was termed a mula de carga, and his equip
ment consisted of several parts; first the saddle, or aparejo, a
nearly square pad of leather stuffed with hay, which covered
the animal's back on both sides equally. The best idea of its
shape will be formed by opening a book in the middle and
placing it saddle fashion on the back of a chair. Each half then
forms a half of the contrivance. Before the aparejo wps ad
justed to the mule, a zalea, or raw sheep-skin, made soft by
rubbing, was put on the animal's back to prevent chafing, and
over it the saddle-cloth, or xerga. On top of both was placed
the aparejo, which was cinched by a wide grass bandage. This
band was drawn as tightly as possible, to such an extent that
tlie poor brute grunted and groaned under the apparently pain
ful operation, and when fastened he seemed to be cut in two.
This always appeared to be the very acme of cruelty to the un
initiated, but it is the secret of successful packing; the firmer
the saddle, the more comfortably the mule can travel, with less
risk of being chafed or bruised. The aparejo is furnished with
a huge crupper, and this appendage is really the most cruel of
all, for it is almost sure to lacerate the tail. Hardly a Mexican
mule in the old days of the trade could be found which did not
bear the scar of this rude supplement to the immense saddle."
The load carried by each mule thus equipped
averaged three hundred pounds, and was hoisted
onto the saddle by two packers, sometimes in a
single package, sometimes in two, so prepared as
to balance themselves. This load, or carga^ was
secured by a stout rope, drawn as tight as possible
under the mule's belly, and laced round the packs.
[134J

EARLY TRANSPORTATION
The operation seldom required more than five min
utes. To quote Inman again :
"An old time atajo, or caravan of pack-mules, generally
numbered from fifty to two hundred, and it travelled a Jornada,
or day's march of about twelve or fifteen miles. This day's
journey was made without any stopping at noon, because if a
pack-mule is allowed to rest he generally tries to lie down, and,
with his heavy load, it is difficult for him to get on his feet again.
Sometimes he is badly strained in so doing, perhaps ruined for
ever. When the train starts out on the trail the mules are so
tightly bound with the ropes that they move with great diffi
culty; but the saddle soon settles itself, and the ropes become
loosened so that they have frequently to be tightened. On the
march the muleteer is kept busy nearly all the time; the packs
are constantly changing their position, frequently losing their
balance and falling off; sometimes saddle, pack, and all swing
under the animal's belly, and he must be unloaded, and repacked
again." The cost of such transportation was so low that
competition, even by wagons in level country, was
nearly impossible. Mules were almost a drug on
the market, and the muleteer received only five
dollars a month with rations, the latter merely corn
and beans. If he desired meat he had to hunt for
it. On the trail every employee had his place and
duty. Each separate band of mules was led by a
bell-mare, having a bell strapped about her neck.
It was part of the work of the cook of the party to
lead this bell-mare on the march, and the humble
pack-animals never failed to follow.
The Prairie Schooner
After 1824 wagons came into general use for
the transportation of this prairie commerce, those
[135]

THE GREAT PLAINS
commonly used being manufactured in Pittsburg,
and capable of carrying about a ton and a half.
They were usually drawn by eight mules or an
equal number of oxen. Later in the history of the
trail much larger wagons were employed, often
hauled by as many as twelve animals. The name
"prairie schooner" was applied to them. The first
caravan of wagons to cross the Plains — that experi
mental trip of 1824 — was drawn by horses, and ac
companied by a long pack-train of mules. Oxen
were first used in 1829, and ever after were com
mon on the Plains, the large Missouri-bred mules
necessary for the service being quite expensive. The
cost of outfitting for the long, dangerous journey
was considerable. During the height of the trade
the wagons cost two hundred dollars each; mules
one hundred dollars each ; harness one hundred dol
lars per wagon; water-kegs and extras twenty-five
dollars per wagon. As at least ten mules were re
quired for each wagon the initial cost per wagon
was about one thousand three hundred dollars, or
for a train of twenty wagons, — as small a number
as it was safe to travel with through the Indian
country,— twenty-six thousand dollars. Besides
this, extra mules had to be taken for use in case of
accident. The wagon-master was paid one hundred
dollars per month, each driver twenty-five dollars,
while there were herders, cooks, and roustabouts
to be considered. Altogether it was a venture
of importance, and the ambitious Santa Fe
trader had to invest heavily. In the last years of
[136]

Copyright. Bi/ courtesy S. ^. McCtitre Co.

PRIMITIVE MODES OF TRAFFIC ACROSS THE PLAINS
THE CARRETA OF THE SOUTH — A MULE PATH AND PACK TRAIN — ONE OF THE
EARLIEST AMERICAN PACK TRAINS

EARLY TRANSPORTATION
the trade fully two hundred wagons were upon the
Trail. Hostility of the Mexican Government to the Traders
For a large part of the time during which this
trade flourished, the Mexican Government was
openly hostile to the traders. For several years
westward-bound caravans would halt on the Cimar
ron, and send scouts forward to ascertain the feel
ing of the authorities. From the continual changes
in administration no one knew what would be the
nature of their reception in Santa Fe. Under the
governorship of Armijo a duty of five hundred dol
lars per wagon, whether large or small, and re
gardless of what it contained, was charged against
the helpless trader. To offset this robbery the
freight of three wagons was often transferred to one
when within a few miles of Santa Fe, and the empty
vehicles burned. To avoid paying the export duty
charged on specie, false axle-trees were attached to
the wagons, in which the money was concealed.
Stampedes
During these prairie journeys the perils of a
stampede were dreaded almost more than Indian
attack, and, indeed, probably resulted in greater
loss. Night or day this was a never-absent danger.
The mule, patient and good worker as he is, is yet
as easily frightened as a Texas steer. A prairie dog
barking at the entrance of his burrow, a strange
figure in the distance, even the shadow of a pass-
[137]

THE GREAT PLAINS
ing cloud, has been known to start every animal in
the train into a wild run. They seemingly go mad,
rushing into one another, and becoming so entan
gled that frequently drivers and mules are crushed
to death. They have dashed over precipices and
been killed, or strayed so far away as to be lost. in
the desert. Inman quotes an incident illustrating
this, which occurred during a winter military cam
paign in 1868. The mules of three wagons stam
peded, dashed out of sight, and were never found.
Ten years later a farmer who had taken up a claim
in what is now Rush County, Kansas, discovered in
a ravine on his place the bones of some animals, de
cayed parts of harness, and the remains of three
army wagons. These were undoubtedly the lost
stampeders.
The Starting of a Caravan
The Starting of one of these great caravans of
the Plains on its day's journey was a scene long to
be remembered, the wild and motley aspect of the
men fitting accurately into the barren surroundings
of the desert, and making a vivid picture. " Catch
up I Catch up ! " is the order of the captain, and in
stantly all is uproar and apparent confusion.
Gregg's description is complete:
"The uproarious bustle which follows, the hallooing of those
in pursuit of animals, the exclamations which the unruly brutes
call forth from their wrathful drivers, together with the clatter
of bells, the rattle of yokes and harness, the jingle of chains,
all conspire to produce an uproarious confusion. It is some
times amusing to observe the athletic wagoner hurrying an ani
mal to its post — to see him heave upon the halter of a stubborn
[138]

EARLY TRANSPORTATION
mule, while the brute as obstinately sets back, determined not to
move a peg till his own good pleasure thinks it proper to do so.
I have more than once seen a driver hitch a harnessed animal
to the halter, and by that process haul his mulishness forward,
while each of his four projected feet would leave a furrow be
hind. 'All 's set ! ' is finally heard from some teamster — 'All 's
set!' is directly responded from every quarter. 'Stretch out!'
immediately vociferates the captain. Then the ' heps,' to the
drivers, the cracking of whips, the trampling of feet, the occa
sional creak of wheels, the rumbling of the wagons, while ' Fall
in ! ' is heard from headquarters, and the train is strung out, and
in a few moments has started on its long journey,"

[139]

PART II.— THE STRUGGLE FOR POSSES
SION

CHAPTER I
THE FIRST EMIGRANTS
Aspect of the Plains about 1840.
THE Great Plains as they appeared about 1840
now lie outspread before us. To the mass of
American citizens living in the Eastern States that
territory was then a forbidding desert never to be
occupied by man. Only to the adventurers of the
border, the hardy trappers, the traders travelling to
Santa Fe, and those few army officers who had thus
early penetrated the miles of prairie, were its great
possibilities vaguely apparent. It was yet barren,
desolate, and deserted save for its roaming Indian
inhabitants. Much of it remained unknown except
to wandering and illiterate hunters. The long
stretch of the Missouri River had been navigated;
parties of mountain men had made a passable trail
up the valley of the Platte; the traders' caravans
had gouged out a road to Santa Fe across prairie
and desert; some shanties of logs, and a few stock
aded forts, for purposes of Indian trading, were
scattered here and there along the larger stfeams
between the Missouri and the Rockies, mere pin
pricks in that wide expanse. In eastern Kansas
and Nebraska a few hardy settlers were already be-
[140]

THE FIRST EMIGRANTS
ginning to establish habitations, but these, as yet,
scarcely ventured to advance beyond sight of the
Missouri. In Texas there were settlements, made
possible by a militant advance against Mexico ; yet
these exercised little if any direct influence over the
destinies of the more northern Plains. The Gov
ernment, because of the need of protecting the San
ta Fe trade, had established a military post at Fort
Leavenworth, but beyond this, and the above men
tioned narrow roads of passage, the Great Plains
remained an abode of savagery, yet to be conquered
and reclaimed. Already those men and women to
whom this gigantic task fell were turning their ad
venturous eyes westward.
The Turning toward the Northwest and the Southwest
The contest may be said to have fairly begun
with the first faint trickle of emigration toward the
Pacific coast, and to have become stimulated into
earnest activity by the results of the struggle with
Mexico. The first turn'ed the thoughts of the peo
ple toward the permanent settlement of the North
west; the second brought to men generally a new
conception of the possibilities of the Southwest.
Thus was the curtain slightly lifted, and the period
of exploration verged into that of the struggle for
possession which prefaced permanent habitation.
The beginnings of this new movement, although
distinct, were slow and uncertain, yet in a compara
tively brief space of time — as time is reckoned in a
nation's history — the first little wave had swollen
[141],

THE GREAT PLAINS
into a torrent; the trapper, the trader, the soldier,
the emigrant, each in turn, passed along the dim
wilderness trails, leaving the blackened embers of
camp-fires, the deep ruts of wheels, the ghastly rel
ics of battle, yet ever making way for massing set
tlers behind, constantly broadening out the vista,
and making known the truth. It is this period of
Indian war and pioneer emigration that consti
tutes the second advance in the story of the Great
Plains. Missionaries Bound for the West
To tell it rightly one must hark back slightly
farther than the date set, for as early as 1834 trav
ellers other than traders or trappers passed over
the then barely traceable trail leading to distant
Oregon. These pioneers of a great movement were
missionaries, and they travelled in small separate
parties from that year until 1839. The Lee brothers,
Jason and Daniel, passed this way first. The fol
lowing year Samuel Parker and Marcus Whitman
travelled over the long trail. In 1836, Whitman,
who had returned East, came back accompanied by
his wife, Mr. and Mrs. Spalding, and W. G. Gray,
It is said that at the trappers' rendezvous on the
Sweetwater these pioneer white women received a
royal welcome at the hands of the gathered moun
tain men, and were escorted by them some distance
on their journey. The remainder of the way they
travelled under the armed protection of the Ameri
can Fur Company. The 1838 party was composed
of Mr. and Mrs. Walker, Mr. and Mrs. Eells, and
[142]

THE FIRST EMIGRANTS
Mr. and Mrs. Smith. In 1839 Mr. and Mrs. Grif
fin, with Mr. and Mrs. Munger, made the journey.
These devoted missionaries labored long in the
Oregon country, several of them yielding up their
lives for the faith. Dr. Whitman, a few years later,
made a heroic ride across the mountains and Plains
in midwinter, suffering incredible hardships, to
bear to Washington the news of the British
encroachments on the American settlements on the
Columbia. To his self-sacrifice and patriotism the
Northwest is greatly indebted.
Not far behind these earliest forerunners of
Protestantism came the Catholic devotee. This was
P. J. de Smet, a Jesuit, who, under orders of his
Superior, came to the upper Missouri in 1840 to
minister to the Indian tribes, and whose life hence
forth was devoted to their service. The early his
tory of Catholic missions in the northern Rockies
is little more than the record of this one devoted
missionary. Father de Smet travelled extensively
over the Plains and mountains, and wrote his expe
riences most interestingly. He was loved by the
Indians and never molested, the visits of the " Black
Robe " always being welcome in the wigwams. His
principal labors were among the Flatheads.
The First Band of Settlers
It was in 1841 that the first band of settlers be
gan crossing the Plains and mountains to Oregon
and California. All who had passed that way be
fore were but wanderers, with no settled purpose
[143]

THE GREAT PLAINS
of peopling this new land. But these were settlers,
men, women, children, and their slow passage west
ward marked decisively the beginning of a new era.
They toiled slowly up the valley of the Platte, find
ing their only halting-place in all those thousands
of miles the rude fur-trader's fort on Laramie Riv
er. These were truly the pioneers, and they were
so few, only fifteen; Joel P. Walker, wife, sister,
three sons, and two daughters ; Mr. Burrows, wife,
and child ; Mr. Warfield, wife, and child, and a man
named Nichols. The loneliness, the terrors, the
wonders of that journey to the women and children
peering out from under the wagon covers as they
moved on through those weary months, can scarcely
be imagined. Close behind them toiled over the
same dim trail Bidwell's company bound for Cali
fornia; but at Fort Bridger this party turned more
directly west following the route later made famous
by the gold-hunters. A Mrs. Kelsey was the only
woman in the Bidwell company. So in the same
year the first emigrants passed over the long trails
to both Oregon and California.
Succeeding Bands
From this date the stream constantly increased
in volume. In 1842 a company of one hundred and
twelve men, women, and children, under command
of Elijah White, went through to the Columbia.
They had a train of eighteen great Pennsylvania
wagons, with cattle, pack-mules, and horses. The
next year an army passed that way, consisting of a
[144]

THE FIRST EMIGRANTS
thousand men, women, and children, bringing with
them draft cattle, herds of cows and horses, farming
implements, and household goods. This marked the
beginning of the end of the old regime. Never
again were things the same either on plains or amid
the mountains. The period of permanent occu
pancy had begun. The Mormon Hegira
Close upon the heels of these earlier emigrants
came the great Mormon hegira of 1847. Words
can scarcely picture this movement of thousands, in
all conditions of life — men, women, and children, —
bearing with them all their worldly possessions, and
for months travelling across the wide Plains, seek
ing that home which they finally discovered amid
the deserts of Utah. Driven from Illinois by en
raged citizens, leaving behind a deserted city, this
body of religious enthusiasts, under the leadership
of Brigham Young, struggled through Iowa, suf
fering torments from the bitter cold of winter, and
the floods of spring, until their second winter's
camp was established on the banks of the Elkhorn
in Nebraska. But this halt was only temporary. April 9,
1847, the advance guard departed westward, and
all others were expected to follow as soon as possi
ble. The party was furnished with a wagon, two
oxen, two milch cows, and a tent, for every ten per
sons. Each wagon was supplied with a thousand
pounds of flour, fifty pounds of rice, sugar, and
[145]

THE GREAT PLAINS
bacon; thirty of beans, twenty of dried apples or
peaches, twenty-five of salt, five of tea, a gallon of
vinegar, and ten bars of soap. Every able-bodied
man was compelled to carry some kind of firearm,
and do his share of guard duty. The wagons were
beds, kitchens, and occasionally boats. The average
day's journey was thirteen miles. This advance
company were three months in reaching the valley
of Great Salt Lake, which was chosen by their
leader as the situation for their new home.
Behind them, in great trains, reaching in almost
solid procession from the distant banks of the Mis
souri, toiled the faithful followers of the prophet.
This passing of the disciples of the Church of Lat
ter Day Saints across the wilderness was one of the
most wonderful sights witnessed upon the Great
Plains, equalled, it is true, and possibly surpassed,
in mere point of numbers a few years later by the
rush of gold-seekers to California; yet, when one
considers the difference in organization and pur
pose, this vast exodus remains almost without paral
lel in history. Nor did this strange migration cease
with the passing of these pioneers. Earnest mis
sionaries of the faith toiled with unremitting fervor
in the Eastern States and Europe, their numerous
converts, usually poor in all but religious enthusi
asm, pressing westward in continuous stream across
the prairies up to the time of the coming of the rail
roads. There was no total cessation of the tide.
Thousands crossed the Great Plains dragging hand
carts containing their baggage, although the Church
[146]

THE FIRST EMIGRANTS
authorities provided wagons for the women, chil
dren, and sick. These hand-carts were primitive
but strong, the shafts five f^et long, of hickory or
oak, with cross pieces. Under the bed of the cart
was a wooden axle-tree, the wheels being also made
of wood, with a light iron band. The entire weight
averaged about sixty pounds. To each hundred
persons the Church furnished twenty of these hand
carts, five tents, three or four milch cows, and a
wagon to be drawn by three yoke of oxen. The
quantity of clothing and bedding taken was limited
to seventeen pounds per capita, and the freight of
each hand-cart was expected to be about one hun
dred pounds. Route of the Mormons
The large rtiajority of this Church army trav
elled westward from Council Bluffs up the valley
of the Platte, following a trail now cut deep into
the soil of the prairie. Yet there were side streams
from points farther south, the one most used lead
ing from Independence, Missouri, northwest across
the Plains until it united with the main current of
travel at Grand Island. This, a little later, became
an important route for emigrant trains bound for
California and Oregon, and still later was raced
over by overland coaches and the pony express.
Others of the Mormons, although usually travel
ling in much smaller parties, advanced up the val
ley of the Arkansas, and skirted the eastern base
of the Rockies on their long journey to the " Prom
ised Land." Such a company brought the first
[147]

THE GREAT PLAINS
American families within the present limits of Col
orado, residing on the site of Pueblo throughout
the Winter of 1846-47. Houses were erected by
them, a number of children were born, numerous
deaths occurred, and there is a record of one wed
ding. Sufferings on the Journey
During the course of this passage across the
wilderness much suffering and hardship occurred,
but there is no record of Indian attack. Exposure
and death left many along the trails. One large
company, having yet a thousand miles to travel, de
cided to press on as late as the last of November,
thus braving a winter on the Plains and in the
mountains. At first they travelled fifteen miles a
day, but were soon delayed by breaiking axles, and
other accidents. At Wood River their cattle stam
peded, and thirty head were lost. The beef cattle,
milch cows, and heifers were yoked up, but did lit
tle service, and the allowance of food was reduced
to one meal a day. On reaching Laramie, where
they hoped to procure provisions, they found none.
Again the ration was reduced, men able to work
each receiving twelve ounces of flour daily; women
and old men, nine ounces; children, four to eight.
The weather grew severe, and they suffered greatly
from cold. Before them loomed the grim moun
tains already white with snow. The old and infirm
began to die, and each camp was a burying-ground.
Then the able-bodied commenced falling out, some
dying in the shafts of their carts. While yet six-
[148]

s
o o >2D
n >

Ofa>zHt/i Wzfa
o CHMHOd >

THE FIRST EMIGRANTS
teen miles from the nearest possible camp on the
Sweetwater, it began to snow, and their last ration
of flour was issued. At this moment of despair
messengers reached them, saying a train of supplies
was only two or three days ahead. Encouraged by
this news, the survivors managed to drag forward,
but during the night five died of cold and exhaus
tion. The next morning the snow was a foot deep, and
they had left only two barrels of biscuits, a few
pounds of sugar and dried apples, with a quarter
of a sack of rice. They determined to remain in
camp, sending forward the captain and one of the
elders in search of the supply train. During those
three days of waiting the sufferings of the party
were intense. Many sickened and died. One
writer says:
"Some expired in the arms of those who were themselves
almost at the point of death. Mothers wrapped with their dying
hands the remnant of their tattered clothing around the wan
forms of their perishing infants. The most pitiful sight of all
was to see strong men begging for the morsel of food that had
been set aside for the sick and helpless."
Late in the night of the third day the help so
long waited for reached them. Yet it came almost
too late to save. In Inman's words:
"Some were already beyond all human aid, some had lost
their reason, and around others the blackness of despair had
settled, all efforts to arouse them from their stupor being un
availing. Each day the weather grew colder, and many were
frost-bitten, losing fingers, toes, or ears, one sick man, who held
on to the wagon bars to avoid jolting, having all his fingers
[149]

THE GREAT PLAINS
frozen. At a camping ground at Willow Creek, fifteen people
were buried, thirteen of them frozen to death."
Beyond this point the weather moderated, and,
when the struggling remnant arrived at Salt Lake,
they had a death roll of sixty-seven out of four hun
dred and twenty. Martin's party, six hundred
strong, journeying a few miles behind, also suffered
severely upon the North Platte, but got through
with less serious loss of life.
The number passing westward in this Mormon
movement has never been estimated, but certain fig
ures can be given as evidence of its importance.
The first scouting party, led in person by Brigham
Young, numbered 143 men and convoyed a train of
73 wagons. Next behind these followed 1,200 men,
women, and children with 397 wagons; then the
Kimball company of 662 persons and 226 wagons ;
then those under charge of Richards, 526 people
with 169 wagons. Increased Migration to Oregon
At the same time the migration to Oregon was
steadily increasing. In 1849 fourteen hundred Mor
mons passed Fort Bridger. A peculiar fact of these
early migrations is that few, if any, paused en route.
Not even rumors of gold deposits in the Black Hills,
or the Big Horn Range, sufficed to halt the current
flowing steadily toward Salt Lake and the Pacific.
Occasionally a few adventurers were thus turned
aside, yet their discoveries, if any, made no per
ceptible mark on history. An illustration is af-
[150]

THE FIRST EMIGRANTS
forded by the story of thirty men deserting from
Captain Douglas's party in 1852. They started out
to prospect in the Black Hills, but were never again
heard of. Bancroft reports that in 1876 evidence
of their work was discovered on Battle Creek, to
gether with fragments of skeletons, and numerous
mining tools. They were probably killed by In
dians.

[151]

CHAPTER II
EARLY ARMY SERVICE
The Search for Passes across the Rockies
IN BOTH exploration and exploitation of this
Western country the Government was extremely
slow to act. After the return of Lewis and Clark
from the Northwest, and Pike from the Southwest,
nothing beyond the futile expedition of Long to the
Rocky Mountains was attempted until 1842. It is
true that in the meantime Captain Bonneville had
traversed the Plains and made numerous discoveries
in the mountains beyond, which had added to the
world's knowledge ; but his journeyings were with
out Government sanction, and undertaken merely
from a spirit of adventure. During his prolonged
absence from duty his name was even stricken from
the army roll, to be replaced, in recognition of his
achievements, some years later.
In 1842, however, the increasing migration west
ward induced the authorities to fit out an army ex
pedition for the discovery of the best possible routes
through the mountains to the Pacific. The fact
that such trails had already been discovered, and
long followed, by the mountain men in their trap
ping and trading journeys, was seemingly ignored
as being unworthy of credence. In this connection
an anecdote of old Jim Bridger, although occurring
much later, is characteristic of this official blind-
[152]

EARLY ARMY SERVICE
ness to knowledge already possessed by many.
While seeking a low pass for the Union Pacific
Railroad, the chief engineer sent a hurried message
to this famous trapper, then living in Missouri, to
meet him at the base of the Rockies for important
consultation. Bridger made the trip by stage, and
his disgust was deep indeed when he arrived and
learned the cause of his long, hard journey. Swiftly
he described and sketched the exact pass required,
and through which the railroad now runs. He
added angrily that he could have sent them all they
desired from his own home, if they had only in
formed him first what was wanted. His expres
sions of contempt for such unnecessary disturbance
of his peaceful old age were profanely eloquent.
Fremont's Fitness for the Work
The officer selected by the War Department for
this purpose of unlocking the secrets of the West,
was Lieutenant John C. Fremont, who had already
travelled the Plains in company with Nicollet. He
was connected with the Corps of Topographical
Engineers, and in many ways was well fitted for the
task. Upon his mountain adventures it is unneces
sary to dwell, although most of his discoveries were
rather to be credited to those well selected scouts
who guided him, old mountain men, of whom the
most celebrated were Kit Carson, Jim Baker, and a
Frenchman named Godey. In prosecuting his work
Fremont made four trips across the Plains, three
under orders of the Government, and one on his
[153J

THE GREAT PLAINS
own individual account. The information thus
gathered was of great value to subsequent migra
tion, and gave the Lieutenant wide fame as explorer
and pathfinder. Being in California at the out
break of the war against Mexico, he acted promptly
with the small force under his command, and held
that territory for the United States after several
skirmishes. These various expeditions were ex
ceedingly picturesque, and filled with wilderness
adventures. Published in all details, they quickly
appealed to the imagination of the people and made
Fremont a popular hero, nearly landing him in the
presidential chair.
The Sources of the Missouri and the Columbia
On his first journey, in 1842, his party, number
ing twenty-eight, was composed largely of French
voyageurs, with Kit Carson as guide. This famous
borderman had run away from home at fifteen to
join one of the early caravans to Santa Fe, and
passed all the remainder of his life on the plains
and in the mountains. His adventures among In
dians and wild beasts would fill volumes, and his
experience well fitted him for the position he now
assumed. The party, excellently equipped, pro
ceeded up the Missouri as far as Chouteau's trading-
house, four hundred miles above St. Louis. Here,
on June 10 they started out across the prairies. The
journey was enlivened by numerous buffalo hunts,
and several councils with Indian tribes. After thirty
days' travel the company reached Saint Vrain's
[154I

EARLY ARMY SERVICE
Fort on the South Fork of the Platte. Four days
later they were on the Laramie River. The two
months passed by the party in the neighborhood of
South Pass included an ascent of that high ridge
since known as Fremont's Peak, and a brief explora
tion of the sources of the Missouri and Columbia
Rivers. The explorers then returned homeward,
arriving at St. Louis in October.
Fremont's Journey to Oregon by the South Pass
Fremont's second expedition occurred in the
years 1843-44, taking him to Oregon and Califor
nia; in results it was by far the most important of
all his journeys. It was also filled with adventure
and hardship. He took with him thirty-nine men,
leaving the little town of Kansas, on the Missouri,
May 29. The route lay up the valley of the Kan
sas to the head-waters of the Arkansas, where Fre
mont hoped to discover some practicable opening
through the range. Not successful in this quest, the
party journeyed northward along the foot-hills, and
finally crossed the mountains by way of South Pass.
While on the Plains they saw many large emigrant
trains slowly toiling toward Oregon.
The third expedition, undertaken in the Fall of
1845, had for its object the discovery of a new route
toward the Columbia country. But upon his
arrival at the Pacific coast the war with Mexico
suddenly disarranged his further plans of explora
tion, and he at once undertook the conquest of
California. [155]

THE GREAT PLAINS
His fourth and last trip was made as an individ
ual, and after he had resigned from the army. It
was a disastrous adventure, and occurred in the
Winter of 1848-49. His party left the upper waters
of the Arkansas under the guidance of old Bill Wil
liams, a famous mountaineer. Williams either
never knew, or through age had forgotten, the coun
try to be traversed, and almost from the beginning,
became lost, the company wandering aimlessly
about in deep snow a;id winter storms. Their suf
ferings were intense, their situation desperate. Ten
of his men, one-third of the entire company, died
from exposure and starvation, before the remnant
staggered into the safety of the Mexican settlements.
Other Explorations
After Fremont's expeditions the people of the
Eastern States became vitally interested in the open
ing up of the West, and the Government at Wash
ington was stimulated to undertake new explora
tions. These were carried on largely by the War
Department; but while of very real importance in
adding to the stock of geographical knowledge re
garding this region, they were not extensive, or par
ticularly interesting in either incident or adventure.
The most important of them were under command
of Captain R. B. Marcy, who thoroughly explored
the Red and Wichita Rivers, and the country of
the Comanches, including the Staked Plains. A
trail westward from Fort Smith was also marked
by this officer, and was largely used by emigrants.
[156]

EARLY ARMY SERVICE
Mormon Atrocities
While the Plains were yet uninhabited and un
sought by white settlers, the army was twice called
upon to march across them in considerable force, to
enforce law and wage war. The first occasion was
in the struggle against Mexico ; the second was the
Mormon campaign, beginning in 1857. Already,
and for years, the well-beaten trails leading toward
the Rockies and the far-off Pacific were black with
the wagons of emigrants and gold-seekers. It is
impossible to estimate their number, or to say how
many adherents of the Mormon Church were by this
time gathered in and about Salt Lake, We only
know that the Mormon population had increased so
rapidly in ten years that their strength had made
the Church officials arrogant, and, probably under
their orders, the ignorant followers had been guilty
of many atrocities. Emigrant trains were attacked
and robbed; even murder had been committed by
adherents of the Church, disguised as Indians, with
seemingly no fear of punishment, the Utah authori
ties openly defying the Government at Washington
to attempt arrests. To punish these people and
bring them to a realization of the necessity of obe
dience to law, an army expedition was organized
at Fort Leavenworth in the Summer of 1857. It
was splendidly equipped, and started overland with
immense trains of supplies. The troops taking part
in the march were the Fifth and Tenth Infantry,
with two batteries of Light Artillery. Owing to
[157]

THE GREAT PLAINS
the Free-soil troubles then raging in Kansas, the
Second Dragoons, detailed for the march, were
halted in that Territory, and the expedition went
forward without cavalry. Colonel Alexander was
in command, and conducted the march across the
Plains, but was later superseded by Colonel Albert
Sidney Johnston, who joined the column with a de
tachment of horsemen on November 3, thirty-five
miles from Fort Bridger.
Campaign against the Mormons
The main incidents of this campaign, and its
sufferings, occurred in the mountainous country,
but may be briefly summarized. Annoyed in ev
ery possible way by Mormon militia. Colonel Alex
ander's small command of infantrymen were in a
desperate plight, when Colonel Johnston came up
and assumed control. It was now so late in the sea
son, the ground covered with snow and the animals
starving, the officers determined to go into winter
camp at Fort Bridger. Short as the distance was,
they were fifteen days marching those thirty-five
miles. The weather was bitter, many of the men
being badly frost-bitten. In one regiment of cav
alry fifty-seven head of horses and mules perished
of cold in one encampment on the Sweetwater. In
the camp at Black Fork five hundred animals were
frozen to death in one night. A day's march barely
achieved two miles. At Bridger they found noth
ing but smoke-blackened walls, the Mormons
having burned the buildings. Nevertheless the
[158]

EARLY STREET SCENE IN SALT LAKE CITY

THE CABIN HOME OF A MORMON FAMILY
SCENES PICTURING THE SETTLEMENT OF UTAH BY
THE MORMONS

EARLY ARMY SERVICE
troops camped there, making every possible use of
the ruins, and living at first on slaughtered oxen.
It was a winter of great suffering ; but men and offi
cers toiled incessantly, and when spring opened, the
command was in good condition to take the field.
Two expeditions in search of supplies travelled to
Oregon and New Mexico. They were desperate
ventures, and the soldiers composing them suffered
greatly, but were successful in their quest. Captain
Marcy, in command of the New Mexican expedi
tion, returned by way of the Plains, skirting the
eastern base of the mountains. As spring ap
proached, Brigham Young, realizing the useless-
ness of prolonging resistance, permitted the troops
to advance to Salt Lake without subjecting them to
further molestation. Here the newly appointed
Governor, Cummings, at once took charge, and the
military campaign ended without bloodshed. Noth
ing was done in punishment of Mormon atrocities,
but henceforward Utah came under the direct con
trol of the United States.
Forts Built to Control the Indians
From 1848 to i860 the Indians of the Great
Plains were more or less hostile and troublesome,
although not openly upon the warpath. For their
better control, and hoping thus to safeguard the
constantly passing emigrant trains, army posts were
established at various points in the prairie wilder
ness. These were at first very primitive, designed
for merely temporary purposes, and seldom garri-
[159]

THE GREAT PLAINS
soned by more than a company of infantry or a troop
of horse. Those particularly worthy of mention
were Forts Pierre and Berthold, on the Missouri, in
what is now the Dakotas ; Fort Kearney, at Grand
Island on the Platte ; Fort Laramie, on the North
Fork of the same stream; Fort Atkinson, near the
great bend of the Arkansas ; Fort Union, in eastern
New Mexico; Fort Washita, near the confluence
of the Washita with the Red in northern Texas;
Fort Belknap, on the upper Brazos; Fort Chad-
bourne, near the eastern limits of the Staked Plains ;
and Fort Lancaster, on the lower Pecos. The serv
ice at these isolated posts, at times severed from
all communication, and surrounded by hostile sav
ages, was most severe and trying. All the posts
had their tales of soldier heroism and sacrifice, for
the region round about each was a scene of almost
constant skirmishing. During the later years of this
occupancy the wide Plains were almost continually
scouted over by small detachments of troops, pass
ing from post to post, ever seeking to keep control
over the wandering tribes, and protect the onflowing
army of emigrants. Escorts for Emigrant Trains
Perhaps the most tiresome, yet necessary service
given those regulars serving on the Plains during
this period was that of guarding emigrant or
trading caravans. This was almost incessantly kept
up for many years, even to the time of building the
Pacific Railroad. Its story would reveal many a
[i6o]

EARLY ARMY SERVICE
forgotten fight, many a heroic adventure. This es
cort duty was always distasteful, but that with a
"bull" or ox-train was the worst. Colonel For
syth writes thus of it from the bitterness of his own
experience :
"Oh, the tedium of it all! The starting twice a day in the
small hours of both meridians: the dismal journey of from seven
to twelve miles in a trip of one or two hundred miles and re
turn. The train, numbering from twenty to fifty wagons, rolled
out in the matutinal twilight to an accompaniment of cracking
whips, of yells and teamsters' oaths, the officer commanding the
escort, bored and sleepy, riding a few yards ahead of the leading
wagon, the escort scattered about where it could do the most
good in the event of sudden need. At the end of the first mile
up gallops a wagon master. 'Lef tenant,' he says, 'Hunk Hansen
has shed a tire, and we'll have to put it back.' Everything stops,
for it will not do to separate the train. The tire is put on and
a fresh start made. Half an hour later a wagon master is at the
escort commander's side again. 'That idiot Doby Dave,' he ex
claims, 'never told me he had a split yoke before we left camp,
and now it 's come apart, blast him! and I've got to go through
the wagons or band the yoke.' 'Which can you do more quick
ly?' asks the lieutenant patiently. 'Band her.' 'Do it, then.'
Another halt, another half hour or hour lost, and so it goes
through the day, day after day, in rain and shine, always in heat,
for freighting is possible only when the grass is green. And
there is ever a steady strain of responsibility on the officer. He
well knows that he is followed and watched, and should he be
caught napping he will surely have to pay the penalty, for the
stock is a prize that the Indians will risk much to secure. They
know his route, the length of time he will be on the road, and
his destination, and he must act accordingly. The men, nat
urally enough, become weary of the slow progress, the short
halts, and the nightly hard guard duty. They do not care to
affiliate with the teamsters, and get tired of each other, and, in
fact, it is a dreary business all around. As the train is groan
ing and creaking its slow way over a bit of rolling country, a
[i6ij

THE GREAT PLAINS
cry of ' Indians, Indians ! ' suddenly comes from the flankers, and
a band of Indians dash rapidly forward out of a hollow toward
the wagons, yelling and firing as they advance. The soldiers
spring quickly to their stations and promptly return the fire, and
the drivers instantly begin to form a park by turning their
teams. So the Indians, seeing that the attempted stampede is a
failure, fire a parting volley and disappear. They had hoped to
surprise the train and run off some of the cattle. A day or two
later an attempt will be made to wile away the herd, and the
guard,- expecting such an effort, will frustrate it. However, the
Indians were not always unsuccessful; wagon trains were be
reft by them of every animal they possessed, and the mortified
losers compelled to wait ingloriously for relief to arrive from
some adjacent post or else go after it on foot."
A March of Troops Across the Plains
This same interesting writer on frontier army
life thus graphically describes a scene most com
mon during all this period, the day's march of a
column of troops across the Plains:
"During the first hour, or until the sun is well up, the
command plods along slowly, the men's legs are not limbered up,
and sleep still hovers about their eyelids ; but gradually a hum of
talk and laughter rises, and in time every one strikes his regular
pace, the company officers get together at the head of their or
ganizations, and the distance between the column and the wagon
train which followed it out of camp increases. During the ten-
minute halts in each hour, the men skylark and everything is
cheerful and merry. Later, as the total of miles travelled grows
large, the hum and buzz dies down; during the halts the men
lie on their backs instead of skylarking; and when the march is
resumed it takes a minute or two to fall into the regular gait,
and the head of the wagon train, out of sight a little while ago,
is seen to draw steadily nearer. The battalion slowly drags itself
to the top of a rise as the head of the column gains it, and the
music boys see on the plain far ahead a dark line, which they
know to be bushes or trees, and it shows the next camp ground,
[162]

EARLY ARMY SERVICE
for they mark the location of water. A thrill runs through the
command. The talk begins again, the feet grow lighter, and the
last two or three miles are dashed off at a rattling pace. Camp
is reached, and it is about twelve o'clock. The cavalry, which
left the last camp half an hour after the infantry, has, by passing
it on the way, arrived an hour earlier, and is already comfortably
settled for the night.
"Sometimes at night, when the weather was clear and not
overcold, the men would lie wide awake upon their backs for
hours at a stretch, looking straight up at the wonderful beauty
of the heavens, talking to each other in low tones, and enjoying
to their hearts' content the awe-inspiring sight of a starlight
night far out on the plains, where the air is so pure that the
stars seem to shine with a lustre unknown to those of mountains
and cities, and to swing lower in the blue vault of heaven than
anywhere else. It is such hours as these that help to lend the
nameless fascination to a soldier's life on the Plains, that never
entirely leaves him, and often stirs his blood even years after he
has left the service and is a gray-haired man with a growing
family around him; that safely anchors him to a civil life."

[163]

CHAPTER III
DURING THE WAR WITH MEXICO
General Kearney Invades Mexico
IN APRIL, 1846, Mexico declared war against
the United States, and a month later the Presi
dent called into the field 50,000 volunteers. General
Kearney was given command of the army intended
for action in the West, and this force was di
vided into three separate commands. The first,
led by himself, was destined to the Pacific coast ; a
thousand volunteers, under Colonel Doniphan were
to descend upon Chihuahua; while the third divi
sion, commanded by Sterling Price, was expected to
garrison Santa Fe, and retain control of New
Mexico. In this connection, Inman records an interesting
story of the Plains, as follows :
"Early in the Spring of 1846, before it was known, or even
conjectured, that a state of war would be declared, a caravan
of twenty-nine traders, on their way from Independence to Santa
Fe, beheld, just after a storm, and a little before sunset, a per
fect, distinct image of the Bird of Liberty, the American eagle,
on the disc of the sun. When they saw it, they simultaneously
and almost involuntarily exclaimed that in less than twelve
months the Eagle of Liberty would spread his broad plumes over
the Plains of the West, and that the flag of our country would
wave over the cities of New Mexico and Chihuahua."
The value of this vision, and the truth of its ful
filment, can be left to the judgment of the reader.
L164]

DURING THE WAR WITH MEXICO
General Kearney's army moved out onto the
prairie from Fort Leavenworth, in detached col
umns, during the Summer of 1846, and took up its
long march through the wilderness. It consisted of
two batteries of Artillery, three squadrons First U.
S. Dragoons, the First Regiment of Missouri Cav
alry, two companies of Infantry, and a detachment
of Topographical Engineers. By August this force
was concentrated in camp on the old Santa Fe
Trail, about nine miles below Bent's Fort on the
Arkansas. The incidents and adventures of this
march over the Plains have been recorded in detail
by the commandant of the Engineers, Lieutenant
W. H. Emory, and John T. Hughes of the Mis
souri Cavalry. I use their report freely as quoted
by Inman. At the first planning of this expedition it was
gravely questioned by officials whether so large a
body of troops could be marched such a distance
over an uninhabited waste, having no base of sup
plies, and totally severed from all possibility of re
inforcement. It was considered an experiment, and
a dangerous one, yet an immense amount of pro
visions was carried in huge wagons, carefully
guarded, and beef cattle were driven the entire dis
tance. These subsisted entirely by grazing on the
nutritious buffalo grass bordering the trail. At
night it was the custom to confine them in a corral
formed by the wagons, although occasionally they
were tethered to an iron picket-pin driven fifteen
inches into the hard ground. At the outset of the
[165]

THE GREAT PLAINS
march the horses made considerable trouble. Many
of them being only half broken and unused to mili
tary display, the fluttering flags, the rumbling of
caissons, the pealing trumpets, and the rattling
sabres proved too much for their nerves, and there
were numerous wild stampedes, the frightened ani
mals scampering pell-mell across the prairie. Rider
and arms left behind, the excited troop horse en
joyed to the full his liberty. No fatal accidents oc
curred, however, and the straying horses were all
eventually recovered.
The troops marched in separate bodies. We
have record of such a detachment going into camp
on the 9th of July, in what is now McPherson
County, Kansas, where the trail crossed the Little
Arkansas. The mosquitoes, gnats, and black flies
were so fierce as to drive men and horses frantic.
Lieutenant-colonel Ruff of the Missouri volunteers
was in command, and his men were very short of
provisions. Knowing a loaded train was ahead
near Pawnee Fork, he had sent a scout forward to
halt it until he could come up. While he waited
for this scout to return, word reached him that Don
iphan's and Kearney's men, just behind him, were
also in a starving condition. To make sure of early
relief he sent other couriers hastily forward to over
haul the wagon train, and one of them, attempting
to ford the fork of the Pawnee, was drowned. His
body was recovered and given a military burial.
This was the first loss that occurred to the expedi
tion on the Plains. Hughes writes thus of the scene
[166]

DURING THE WAR WITH MEXICO
presenting itself as the soldiers approached the
river. Comparing its appearance then with its
appearance now, the great change wrought by
settlement can be clearly realized.
"In approaching the Arkansas, a landscape of the most im
posing and picturesque nature makes its appearance. While the
green, glossy undulations of the prairie to the right seem to
spread out in infinite succession, like waves subsiding after a
storm, and covered with herds of gambolling buffalo, on the
left, towering to a height of seventy-five to a hundred feet, rise
the sun-gilt summits of the sand hills, along the base of which
winds the broad, majestic river, bespecked with verdant isles,
thickly beset with cottonwood timber, the sand hills resembling
heaps of driven snow." Crossing the Pawnee
It was on July 15 that these separate detach
ments formed junction at Pawnee Fork, within the
limits of what is now the city of Earned, Kansas.
The waters of the stream were so high that fording
was impossible, and the soldiers were immediately
employed in cutting down cottonwoods and build
ing a rude bridge. Over the tree trunks the army
passed safe to the other shore, bearing in their arms
the sick, and all the equipments of the camp. The
horses were compelled to swim, while the empty
wagons were floated across, and hauled up the slip
pery bank by tugging soldiers. This required the
incessant labor of two days ; and then the litrie col
umn pressed resolutely forward, the infantry plod
ding along beside the cavalry, although the march
ing feet became terribly blistered, marking their
passage with blood. Two days later, somewhere
[167]

THE GREAT PLAINS
along the Arkansas, Major Howard, an officer who
had been sent forward to Santa Fe to learn the situ
ation, rejoined them. His report was that the com
mon people of New Mexico favored the conditions
of peace proposed by Kearney, but that the officials
were hostile and making active preparations to re
sist invasion. Two thousand three hundred men,
he said, were already under arms in Santa Fe, while
another large force was being rapidly organized at
Taos. The little army of Americans received this
startling news with gallant cheers, and pushed for
ward with new vigor, eagerly hoping for a fight.
On Mexican Soil
The Cimarron crossing of the Arkansas was
reached on the twentieth. It was a day of adven
ture. During the last thirty miles the column had
been in the midst of great herds of buffalo. Sud
denly a bunch of about four hundred swept up from
out the valley, and charged headlong through the
marching ranks. Instantly all was turmoil and con
fusion, but the troops rallied, made a counter
charge, using guns, pistols, even drawn sabres, kill
ing many of the animals, and driving the remainder
helter-skelter over the Plains. On the way up the
river a few Mexican prisoners were taken, but sub
sequently released, and, on the twenty-ninth, the
soldiers finally crossed the Arkansas and made
their first camp on Mexican soil about eight miles
below Bent's Fort. Here they established strong
guard lines in protection against both Mexicans
[i68]

DURING THE WAR WITH MEXICO
and Comanches. But they had an unexpected en
emy to cope with. During the night prowling
wolves stampeded the animals, and more than a
thousand horses broke away from their guards and
dashed madly over the prairie, frightened yet more
by dangling lariats and pounding picket-pins. Many
were followed for thirty to fifty miles before they
were recaptured, and nearly a hundred were never
recovered. While at this camp several chiefs of
the Arapahoes appeared, and were hospitably en
tertained. They were especially impressed by the
cannon. In preparation for a general advance, twenty
men, under Lieutenant de Courcy, were sent for
ward to scout in the direction of Taos. While on
this trip the little party had an unusual experience
with the obstinacy of the army mule, since related
by the commander. He says :
"We took three pack-mules laden with provisions, and, as
we did not expect to be long absent, the men took no extra
clothing. Three days after we left the column our mules fell
down, and neither gentle means, nor the points of our sabres had
the least effect in inducing them to rise. Their term of service
with Uncle Sam was out. ' What 's to be done? ' said the ser
geant. ' Dismount,' said I. ' Off with your shirts and drawers,
men! tie up the sleeves and legs, and each man bag one twenti
eth part of the flour.' Having done this, the bacon was distrib
uted to the men also, and tied to the cruppers of their saddles.
Thus loaded we pushed on, without the slightest fear of our
provision train being cut off."
A Bloodless Victory at Las Vegas
The little army, with flags flying and everything
in military array, began its bold advance into the
[169]

THE GREAT PLAINS
enemy's country on the second of August. While it
was passing Bent's Fort, the occupants ran up a
large American flag, and the flat tops of the
houses were densely crowded with interested spec
tators. Among them were many Mexican girls and
Indian squaws. The troops advanced steadily with
out alarm until they approached the Mexican town
of Las Vegas. Here scouts reported the enemy as
being strongly entrenched in a mountain pass a few
miles beyond the village, where they proposed giv
ing battle. The soldiers were at once thrown into
battle line and hurried forward, the dragoons and
St. Louis mounted volunteers in the lead. Cart
ridges were distributed, the cannon swabbed and
rigged, the port fires set burning, and every rifle
loaded. The men were eager for the clash of arms.
Yet all these preparations were in vain. Las
Vegas was entered without the firing of a shot, and
the officials of the village took oath of allegiance to
the United States, swearing upon the Cross instead
of the Bible. Hardly delaying long enough for this
simple ceremony the eager soldiery swept straight
on toward that canyon where they yet hoped for the
grapple of arms. August i6, on the Pecos River,
near the village of San Jose, three Mexican spies
were captured. The most important of these, a son
of General Salezar, was held prisoner, but the others
were released. It was learned later that these thor
oughly frightened Mexicans had reported to their
own people that the invading force was five thou
sand strong, with an immense number of cannon.
[170]

DURING THE WAR WITH MEXICO
Flight of the Mexicans from Apache Canyon
Armijo, in command of the Mexican defenders,
had by this time assembled seven thousand troops,
most of them well armed, and occupied a strong po
sition in Apache Canyon. But this news of the num
bers of the invaders was too much for him and his
men, although the day previous he had written a
defiant note to General Kearney offering battle. It
was about noon when the Americans reached the
mouth of the canyon, every man in the ranks eager
to try the mettle of the Mexicans. Emory thus de
scribes the scene:
"The sun shone with dazzling brightness; the guidons and
colors of each squadron, regiment, and battalion were for the
first time unfurled. The drooping horses seemed to take cour
age from the gay array. The trumpeters sounded 'to horse' with
spirit, and the hills multiplied and reechoed the call. All wore
the aspect of a gala day. About the middle of the day's march
the two Pueblo Indians, previously sent to sound the chief men
of that formidable tribe, were seen in the distance at full speed,
with arms and legs both thumping the sides of their mules at
every stride. Something was now surely in the wind. The
smaller and foremost of the two dashed up to the general, his
face radiant with joy, and exclaimed: 'They are in the canyon,
my brave ; pluck up your courage and push them out.' "
But they were not there; already the boasting
Mexican army had faded away; rent by quarrels
and fear, and bearing their commander with them,
all had fled to the mountains for safety. Forbes
adds: "As we approached the ancient town of Pecos, a large fat
fellow, mounted on a mule, came toward us at full speed, and,
extending his hand to the general, congratulated him on the ar-
[171]

THE GREAT PLAINS
rival of himself and army. He said, with a roar of laughter,
'Armijo and his troops have gone to hell, and the canyon is all
clear.' "
Thus easily was New Mexico won without
bloodshed, and the centuries-long Spanish influence
on the Great Plains swept away forever. The waves
of war passed on to the south and west beyond the
limits of this region whose story is being now con
sidered. With Doniplan's hardships and sufferings
in the mountains, and Kearney's wonderful march
across Arizona to California, we have nothing to
do. When Armijo fled from the country it became
the undisputed property of the United States, and
the conquest of New Mexico was practically ended.

[172]

CHAPTER IV
THE REIGN OF THE PRAIRIE SCHOONER
Increase of Santa Fe Trade
THE close of the Mexican war brought with it
a new era to the Plains. The reign of the
prairie schooner then began in earnest. Almost im
mediately the freight business between Missouri
River points and Santa Fe increased to a wonderful
degree. Where before a yearly caravan was deemed
sufficient for the trade, from now on, during the
season of safe travel, the trail was seldom vacant of
slow-toiling wagons. Wages for teamsters rose
steadily, although prices for transportation had a
marked tendency downward because of increasing
competition. However, profits were sufficient, even
taking into account the growing hostility of the In
dian tribes, and the consequent danger of the pas
sage. The usual price charged for thus hauling
freight to Santa Fe was ten dollars a hundred
pounds, each wagon earning from five hundred to
six hundred dollars every trip, the average time con
sumed being eighty or ninety days. About this time
the eastern terminus of the trade shifted to a con
siderable degree from Independence to Westport,
and Kansas City began her steady advance toward
supremacy. [173]

THE GREAT PLAINS
The Rush of Gold-Seekers over the Oregon Trail
During this period the Oregon Trail was not
neglected, but was being constantly traversed by
emigrant trains bound for the Columbia River
country of California. But by the Spring of 1849,
when the gold rush began, this slender current be
came suddenly transformed into a mighty torrent.
In all the chronicles of men there is nothing to com
pare with the stream of humanity which then began
flowing across an unconquered wilderness. No one
may even guess at the numbers involved. There
are no statistics to turn to. It has been roughly es
timated that in that first year alone forty-two thou
sand people crossed the Plains. Lummis, in a
remarkable article on Pioneer Transportation, in
McClure's Magazine, from whom I quote freely in
this chapter, pictures this exodus in these powerful
words :
" In its pathless distance, its inevitable hardships, and its fre
quent savage perils, reckoned with the character of the men,
women, and children concerned, it stands alone. The era was
one of national hard times ; and not only the professional failures,
but ministers, doctors, lawyers, merchants, and farmers, with
their families, caught the new yellow fever, and betook them
selves to a journey fifty times as long and hard as the average
of them had ever taken before. Powder, -lead, food-stuffs, house
hold goods, wives, sisters, mothers, and babies rode in the Osna-
burg-sheeted prairie schooners, or whatsoever wheeled convey
ance the emigrant could secure, up from ancient toprbuggies
to new Conestogas; while the men rode their horses or mules,
or trudged beside the caravans. A historic party of five French
men pushed a hand-wagon from the Missouri to the Coast; and
one man trundled his possessions in a wheelbarrow. At its best,
it was an itinerary untranslatable to the present generation; at
[174I

AN EARLY SCENE AT KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI

REIGN OF THE PRAIRIE SCHOONER
its worst, with Indian massacres, thirst, snows, tenderfootedness,
and disease, it was one of the ghastliest highways in history.
The worst chapter of cannibalism in our national record was
that of the Donner Party, snowed in from November to March,
1849-50 in the Sierra Nevada. In the fifties the Asiatic cholera
crawled in upon the Plains, and like a gray wolf followed the
wagon-trains from the River to the Rockies. In the height of
the migration, from four thousand to five thousand immigrants
died of this pestilence; and if there was a half-mile which the
Indians had failed to punctuate with a grave, the cholera took
care to remedy the omission. The two-thousand-mile trip was
a matter of four months when least, and of six with bad luck.
Children were born, and people died; worried greenhorns quar
relled and killed one another — and the train straggled on. Up
on the head-waters of the Platte one probably could find, even
now, the crumbling remnants of a little cottonwood scaffold,
and of her rocking chair, which was left upon it to mark the
grave of a mother who gave up her life there to the birth of a
child later not unknown in the history of California. On the
southern route — through New Mexico and Arizona — Commis
sioner Bartlett took cognizance of one hundred deserted wagons.
Already in the summer of 1849, 1,500 wagons, bound for ' Cali-
forny,' crossed the Missouri at St. Joe alone in six weeks. In
.1850, Kirkpatrick counted 459 west-bound teams in nine miles."
Freight Traffic to the Pacific in the Sixties
In the rear of this immense emigrant traffic
there immediately sprang up a vast freighting in
terest, which at this day seems almost incredible.
We can but roughly estimate its importance. We
know this, that during the sixties five hundred heav
ily laden wagons frequently passed Fort Kearney
in a single day. In 1865, within six weeks, six thou
sand wagons filled with freight rolled past that iso
lated post on the Overland Trail. Frank A. Root,
about that time an express messenger, who later
[175]

THE GREAT PLAINS
published an interesting volume, "The Overland
Stage to California," records that in a single day's
ride between Fort Kearney and old Julesburg, he
counted 888 west-bound wagons, drawn by 10,650
oxen, horses, and mules. In illustrating the slow
ness of this mode of travel. Root, starting one day
from Atchison on his stage, spoke to a bull-whacker
who was just pulling out. Root went through to
Denver, and doubled back, meeting his friend on
the road. This experience was repeated again and
again, the express messenger seeing the bull-
whacker for the last time as he rolled into Denver.
Root had accomplished five single trips, having cov
ered 3,265 miles, with eighteen days' lay over, while
the freighter had wheeled slowly 653 miles.
Freighting across the Plains attained to its
greatest magnitude during and for a short time
after the Civil War, from 1863 to 1866, but during
the entire decade from 1859 to 1869 it was of im
mense proportions. The major portion of it was
carried on along the mainly used trails to Santa Fe
and California, but the minor trails, soon estab
lished, and leading from post to post scattered
throughout the Indian country, were often trav
ersed by freighters in Government employ. In such
cases small detachments of troops, commonly riding
in an ambulance drawn by mules, accompanied the
lumbering wagons as escort. These found many a
bit of strenuous service to perform in bringing their
charges safely through. On the long trails, how
ever, the hardy wagoners had to rely upon their
[176]

REIGN OF THE PRAIRIE SCHOONER
own ready rifles to assure their passage, and usually
travelled in long trains, under a rude yet effective
discipline. It was sure to be a long, tedious trip,
but usually contained sufficient incident to relieve
the dull routine. During all the later years the
Indian tribes were restless and dangerous, seldom
venturing on open attack, but always seeking oppor
tunity to run off stock, or dash down upon a
loitering wagon, or a straying hunter. This hostility
of the savages can be traced back to the reckless bar
barism of the teamsters themselves. The Santa Fe
Trail became a trail of blood, yet it was peaceful
enough until wanton shooting of Indians by whites
compelled the tribes to retaliate. In the earliest
days an unarmed man could have walked in safety
the entire distance. In the height of the freighting
enterprise oxen were more commonly used than any
other animals. They made from twelve to fifteen
miles a day with loaded wagons, and averaged
twenty miles when returning light. With good care
oxen covered two thousand miles during the usual
season of Plains travel, extending from April to
November.
The Teamster and the Indian
As well illustrating the constant danger hover
ing over careless stragglers, a reminiscence related
by General Forsyth of an incident that occurred
during the construction of the Kansas Pacific Rail
road, is apropos. It is thus related in "The Story
of the Soldier":
"On one occasion, near the Smoky Hill River in Colorado,
[177]

THE GREAT PLAINS
five or six of the teamsters during nooning hour on a hot mid
summer day, despite positive orders to the contrary, strayed over
toward the river bank, a good quarter of a mile away, and
dropped down in the shade of a solitary cottonwood tree that
grew there. In a few moments a well-mounted war party of
eight or ten Cheyennes, who were lying concealed in the river
bottom just under a cut bank on this side of the river, suddenly
dashed out and made for them. But one of the party had any
arms, and he had only a revolver. In a moment the Indians
were upon them, and the men, running for their lives, started
toward the railroad, while the soldiers, grasping their rifles, ran
to their rescue, opening fire on the Indians as they, ran. Two
of the teamsters were shot down and scalped, but the man with
the revolver kept his head, and by threatening the nearest war
riors caused them to sheer off as they closed on him, and the
soldiers getting within range soon made it so hot for them that
they fled. One of the men, however, a long-legged Missourian
teamster, had been headed off on his way to the track by an en
terprising warrior, who sought to run him down and transfix
him with a spear after he had failed to hit him with a rifle shot.
This teamster happened to have had a new leather-thonged bull
whip issued to him that day, and having some misgivings as to
whether he would find it in his wagon on his return from his
dinner, had, fortunately for himself, taken it with him when
he and his companions sought their noon siesta under the cotton
wood tree. Running for dear life, he unconsciously held the
whip in his hand, and just as the Indian was upon him, and
about to transfix him by hurling his spear, he glanced over his
shoulder and almost instinctively made a backward cut with his
whip at the Indian's pony, the lash striking the animal full Tn
the face. The horse swerved so suddenly as to divert the war
rior's aim, and, though he hurled the missile, the spear missed
its mark, and as the pony dashed close by him our teamster saw
his only chance.
"Grasping the tail of the now frightened and fleeing ani
mal, he began a hail of strokes on the bare back of the Indian
that only one who has seen the way in which a Western bull-
whacker can handle a blacksnake whip can fully appreciate.
Every stroke drew blood, and the teamster rained down the
blows unsparingly and savagely. [178]

REIGN OF THE PRAIRIE SCHOONER
"In vain did the Indian cower to his pony's back, and dig
his heels into his sides, and lash the animal desperately vi^ith his
quirt, for the teamster held on like grim death as he ran, and
plied his strokes swiftly and unerringly, and it was not until he
was exhausted with running and stumbled over a hillock that
the Indian's pony broke loose, and, with a parting cut of the
teamster's whip across his hind legs, tore madly away toward
the other warriors, who, fearing the aim of the soldiers, and not
daring to come to his rider's rescue, were galloping wildly
around just out of rifle range, whooping, laughing, and yelling
with delight at the absurd plight of the discomfited brave, who,
it is safe to say, from henceforth, until he had managed to re
habilitate himself by some daring deed of blood, would be dubbed
and held only as a squaw in the Indians' camp. As for our
long-legged Missouri teamster he was the hero of the hour, and
deserved to be."
Immense Traffic at the Outfitting Points
It has been estimated that while the reign of the
prairie schooner was at its zenith, the floating pop
ulation on the Great Plains amounted to fully 250,
000. In 1865 more than twenty-one million pounds
of freight was thus conveyed westward from Atchi
son alone, and to transport it 4,917 wagons were re
quired, with 6,164 mules, 27,685 oxen, and 1,256
men. Yet this was but a drop in the bucket as com
pared with the traffic at the numerous other outfit
ting points along the border. The firms engaged
in this business were many, and their employees an
army. From Fort Smith, Independence, Kansas
City, St. Joseph, Atchison, Council Bluffs, and
other less known points of departure, the great
wagon streams swept forth into the Plains, their
aggregate number beyond any possible estimate of
to-day. The greatest firm in the trade, that of
[179]

THE GREAT PLAINS
Russell, Majors, and Waddell, at one time employed^
6,250 huge wagons, and 75,000 oxen. As Lummis
says:
"Probably there are not to-day so many oxen working in
the United States as this one firm used half a century ago.
This may give some faint idea of the mighty traffic whose wheels
wrinkled the face of the Far West, and the smoke of whose
dusty torments 'ascended up forever,' and reddened the prairie
sunsets for a generation."
The Organization of a Freight Caravan
For a moment consider the organization of such
a train end its cost. Usually not less than twenty-
five wagons travelled together for better protection.
They were huge, long-geared prairie schooners,
flaring from the bottom upward, sometimes seven
teen feet long, with six feet depth of hold, and a
capacity of anywhere from five thousand to sixteen
thousand pounds each. Over all, upheld by stout
hickory bows was the canvas cover. From six to
twelve yoke of oxen furnished the propelling
power, under the inspiration of one or more " bull-
whackers." The men travelling with such a
caravan numbered thirty-one — a captain, or wag-
onmaster, his assistant, a night herder, and the
"cavayard driver," or in Spanish caballada, who
had charge of the spare horses, with, at least a
driver to each wagon. Of the latter those handling
oxen, or " bull teams " were known as " bull-
whackers," while the others, devoting their energy
and profanity to the steering of long-eared "crit
ters," were denominated " mule-skinners," and each
class well deserved its name. The trail was never
[180]

REIGN OF THE PRAIRIE SCHOONER
noted for sentimentality, or mercy to dumb beasts.
In the last years of prairie freighting, after 1859,
" trailers " were quite commonly used. The trailer
was a second, and generally a smaller wagon, chained
to the one in the lead. The amount of money in
vested in such a wagon-train reached a surprising
figure. The huge Conestoga, Pittsburg, or Penn
sylvania wagons cost from eight hundred dollars
to one thousand five hundred dollars each; first-
class mules (and no others could do the work) five
hundred dollars to one thousand dollars a pair;
harness for the ten-mule team three hundred dollars
to six hundred dollars, making a total running from
$2,600 to $7,100 for each wagon. To this must be
added salaries, provisions, and incidentals.
Regular freight caravans as thus constituted,
and running west from the Missouri River, not
only greatly stimulated emigration, but did much
to lower the cost of transportation. In the days of
the pack-train it was no uncommon thing to pay
one dollar a pound per one hundred miles, or $20
a ton per mile. The tariff of the overland
freighters between Atchison and Denver (620
miles) is thus given by Lummis:
Flour  9c per lb. Whiskey  i8c per lb.
Sugar  I3j^c per lb. Glass  I9^c per lb.
Bacon and dry Trunks  25c per lb.
goods  15c per lb. Furniture  31c per lb.
Everything went by the pound, and the trip re
quired twenty-one days for horses or mules, and
five weeks for oxen. [181J

CHAPTER y
THE OVERLAND ROUTE
The Oregon Trail Used by Trappers and Mormons
LONG before the first coming of the white man
ito this magnificent domain of the West, the
beautiful valley of the Platte had been used as a
natural pathway leading to the mountains. The
pioneer trappers and traders soon discovered its
feasibility and were travelling this route in the ear
liest years of the nineteenth century. Pushing on
still farther toward the setting sun in their eager
search after furs, these hardy wanderers conquered
the secrets of the grim ranges beyond, connecting
the more easily accessible crossings of the moun
tains and deserts, until by 1843, there was a well-
defined, and continuous route of travel, passable even
for wagons, stretching in unbroken line from the
Missouri River to the Pacific Ocean at the mouth
of the Columbia. This later became known widely
as the Oregon Trail.
At first its eastern terminus was the mouth of
the Platte; before serious emigration or settlement
began, this terminus had shifted southward, but the
entire Platte Valley was always utilized to a consid
erable extent. In 1842 Lieutenant Fremont, on his
first exploring expedition, travelled up the valley
of the Blue, thus opening a practical and easy trail
from the outfitting stations of western Missouri to
[182]

THE OVERLAND ROUTE
Grand Island. The Mormon exodus of 1847 jour
neyed the full length of the Platte Valley, but the
later emigrants to Oregon, as well as the California
gold-seekers, preferred the shorter route across the
prairies of Kansas and Nebraska. The Platte Valley
is wide and beautiful, once covered with luxuriant
grass and dotted with wild flowers. About it in
those old days stretched a desert of plain and prairie
awful in its loneliness, and roamed over by treacher
ous savages. The river itself was broad but shal
low, at some seasons almost disappearing in the
sand. Three-quarters of a century ago Washington
Irving spoke of it as —
"the most magnificent and most useless of streams. Abstraction
made of its defects, nothing can be more pleasing than the per
spective which it presents to the eye. Its islands have the ap
pearance of a labyrinth of groves floating on the waters. Their
extraordinary position gives an air of youth and loveliness to the
whole scene. If to this be added the undulations of the river,
the waving of the verdure, the alternations of light and shade,
the succession of these islands varying in form and beauty, and
the purity of the atmosphere, some idea may be formed of the
pleasing sensations which the traveller experiences on beholding
a scene that seems to have started fresh from the hands of the
Creator." Difficulty of Tracing the Road Now
Any tracing of the old Oregon, or Overland
Trail, can be only approximate, owing to the many
changes wrought by settlement. Most of the old
road has long since been ploughed up, and, although
many names of places famous in the olden days yet
survive, they are rarely located in the original spots.
Yet once it was all plain enough, for as the inflow
[183]

THE GREAT PLAINS
of emigration rapidly increased, the road became
so deeply worn that frequently new ones were found
necessary, and thus, from one cause and another,
there were often parallel lines for considerable dis
tances. Sometimes only a few feet separated the
trails, and again they swerved away from each other
for several miles. It was a wonderful highway,
perhaps the most remarkable in history. Every mile
of it had been a scene of hardship and suffering, of
battle and sudden death, of high purpose and stern
determination. Nowhere else in the world — not
even in Siberia — was there ever so long a highway
across which population and traffic moved in con
tinuous journey from one end to the other. In all
that immense distance the earlier travellers beheld
no evidence of civilized habitation between Inde
pendence and Fort Vancouver, excepting four small
trading-posts. For two thousand miles it stretched
away through an utter wilderness; as Chittenden
says, " No transit ever located a foot of it, no level
established its grades, no engineer sought out the
fords, built any bridges, or surveyed the mountain
passes." Yet Father De Smet, who had seen all
Europe, pronounced it one of the finest highways
in the world.
Nevertheless it was not always so. It was not
when heavy rains transformed it into a quagmire,
or when the prairies became dry and parched, —
"the road filled with stifling dust, the stream beds mere dry ra
vines, or carrying only alkaline water which could not be used,
the game all gone to more hospitable sections, and the summer
[184J

THE OVERLAND ROUTE
sun pouring down its heat with torrid intensity. It was then
that the trail became a highway of desolation, strewn with
abandoned property, the skeletons of horses, mules, and oxen,
and, alas! too often with freshly made mounds and head-boards
that told the pitiful tale of sufferings too great to be endured.
If the trail was the scene of romance, adventure, pleasure, and
excitement, so it was marked in every mile of its course by hu
man misery, tragedy, and death." ^
To be caught upon the trail during the winter
months, when blizzards were common, was a most
desperate and dangerous situation for both man and
beast. The Trail, in many places a hundred feet or
more wide, running directly across the open Plains,
presented a most astonishing sight when first
viewed. The Indians called it the " Great Medicine
Road of the Whites," and were profoundly im
pressed with the vast multitude swarming along it.
Captain Raynolds, of the Corps of Engineers, U. S.
Army, came south from the Yellowstone in 1859,
and struck the Trail near the first ford of the North
Platte. Never having seen the great road he inno
cently asked his guide, Jim Bridger, if there was
any danger of their crossing the Trail without see
ing it. Bridger's only answer was a look of con
temptuous amazement. Prominent Points on the Route
The majority of the Rocky Mountain, Colum
bia, and California expeditions started from Inde
pendence, Missouri. Leaving that border town the
* Chittenden. [185]'

THE GREAT PLAINS
route followed the old Santa Fe Trail for about two
days' journey, the last camping-ground being at
Round or Caravan Grove, thirty-three miles from
Independence. Eight miles beyond this a rough
signboard stood pointing to the right; on it were
the words " Road to Oregon." Never before or
since has so simple an announcement pointed the
way to so long and hard a journey. It was at this
point the two great historic trails of the Plains di
verged, and this important junction was a little
northwest of the present town of Gardner, Kansas.
Mention need be made only briefly of the more
prominent points beyond this, usually camping
spots, which were utilized, a little later, as stations
for the Overland stages or the Pony Express. The
first of these was Wakarusa Creek. The ford was
near where the railroad running south from Law
rence now crosses the stream. From this point the
trail followed the divide between the Wakarusa
and the Kansas, until it swerved down to the latter
river at what was then known as Papin's Ferry, be
ing about the present location of the city of Topeka.
The next stop was on Turkey Creek, near the town
now known as Rossville, the traveller being by this
time ninety-five miles from Independence. The
Little Vermilion was attained close to the site of
the modern Louisville ; and the Big, or Black Ver
milion, about where the present Bigelow stands.
One hundred and seventy-four miles from Inde
pendence the caravan arrived at the Big Blue. The
stream was forded near the mouth of the Little
[i86]

THE OVERLAND ROUTE
iBlue, and, eight miles beyond, close to the present
location of Ballard Falls, a junction was made with
a trail leading from St. Joseph, about one hundred
miles distant. From Wythe's Creek, some twenty
miles farther on, the road ran along the Little Blue,
finally crossing the Big Sandy near its mouth. This
is now Nebraska; the trail cut across a bend in the
Little Blue, and came down close to the banks of
that stream once more a few miles northwest of
Hebron, Nebraska. At the head of the Little Blue,
close to the present village of Leroy, and two hun
dred and ninety-six miles from Independence, the
trail passed into the valley of the Platte. Ap
proaching this river the traveller came upon a range
"•Of low hills built up by the winds from the drifting
sands. They were known on the Trail as the " Coasts
of the Platte." Here the river was a wide, muddy
stream, with low banks, flat sand-bars, and pygmy
islands, straggling through the prairie, and, Inman
says, "only saved from being impossible to find with
the naked eye by its sentinel trees standing at long
distances from each other on either side." The val
ley at this point was about seven miles wide, and the
bed of the river between one and two miles from
bank to bank. The Story of Brady Island
It was twenty miles below the head of Grand
Island that the old Trail swept down into the val
ley. In early days this island was densely wooded,
and extended for over sixty miles. From here the
Trail followed the stream up to the junction of the
[187]

THE GREAT PLAINS
North and South Forks. On the way only two
points of special interest need be referred to — Wood
and Brady Islands. The first of these was a noted
landmark and camping spot, and is now a station on
the Union Pacific. The story of how Brady Island
became so named is thus told by Rufus Sage, and
quoted by Chittenden :
"In 1863 a party of trappers was descending the Platte in
a boat heavily laden with furs. Brady and a companion had
quarrelled a good deal en route, and remained very bitter to
ward each other. While in camp on the island the other mem
bers of the party went out to hunt, leaving Brady and his enemy
to guard the boat. Upon their return they found Brady dead,
having been killed, according to his companion's statement, by
the accidental discharge of his own gun. The party doubted
the truth of the story, but could not disprove it. They re
sumed their journey after burying Brady, but were soon com
pelled by the shallow water to take to the shore. Becoming
destitute of provisions, they separated, and started for the set
tlements, each man by himself. The night after the separation
the suspected murderer was trying to light a fire by the dis
charge of his pistol, in order to drive off mosquitoes, when in
some way he discharged it into his own thigh, inflicting a dan
gerous wound. He lay there in agony for six days, when he
was found by some Pawnee Indians and taken to the lodge of a
chief. Here he lingered for a few days and died. Before he
died he confessed to the murder of Brady."
Points on the Forks of the Platte
The Lower Ford of the South Platte was 117
miles from where the Trail first entered the valley
at Grand Island, and 433 miles from Independence.
A few of the emigrants and freighters crossed here,
moving out into a slender tongue of land lying be
tween the two Forks, but the majority preferred to
[188]

THE OVERLAND ROUTE
keep on along the main Trail for sixty-three miles
farther until they came to the Upper Ford of the
South Platte. Here one trail turned off to the
southwest, following the stream, and led to Bent's
Fort on the Arkansas, and thence to Taos and Santa
Fe. But the main route forded the river and struck
across to Ash Hollow, where it came out upon the
banks of the North Fork. The Trail soon began
passing through a section where huge rocks were
numerous, formed into fantastic shapes, which re
ceived appropriate names from the earlier ex
plorers. Among these were Court House Rock,
555 miles from Independence, and Chimney Rock,
sixteen miles beyond. This last was in the form
of a cylindrical tower rising from the top of a coni
cal hill. Rufus Sage, in 1841, estimated that the
hill was 300 feet high and the tower 200. Accord
ing to recent observations this estimate is excessive.
Forty-five miles beyond this point the travellers
came to another famous landmark known as Scott's
Bluffs. The origin of the name has been told in the
chapter upon the early fur-traders. About half-way
between Chimney Rock and Scott's Bluffs the road
bore away from the river, but at this point returned
to it again. From the Plains into the Mountains
Horse Creek, 630 miles from Independence, was
the next camping place ; and, thirty-seven miles be
yond, the wagons rolled up to the banks of Laramie
River, and the wearied emigrants took a resting
[189]

THE GREAT PLAINS
spell at Fort John, or later. Fort Laramie, one of
the old time trading-posts, the first human habita
tion to be reached in all that long journey. This
river received its name from a French-Canadian
trapper, Joseph Laramie, who lost his life on its
banks in 1821. Here it was customary for the emi
grant trains to go into camp and refit for the harder
mountain travelling ahead, as the next place where
they could buy material and find workmen was at
Fort Bridger, 394 miles distant. Leaving Laramie,
the emigrants finally departed from the Plains and
entered upon the mountains, and consequently there
is no necessity of our following the Trail further.
But wearisome as the slow journey has already been,
the pioneers have not as yet half-way completed
their route to the Pacific at the mouth of the Colum
bia. Ahead of them the old Trail stretched across
mountain and desert for 1,353 miles.
Sufferings of the Early Emigrants
And oh, the men, the women, the childr'en who
completed it! Who starved, suffered, and agonized,
yet marched ever forward in misery; who faced the
burning heat, the stifling dust, the dead monotony of
the Plains, the snows and perils of the mountains, the
awful desolation of the deserts, yet with undaunted
hearts pressed sternly on! The long miles, the skulk
ing savages, the rude fare, the nights beneath desert
stars, the days under the burning sun, the never ceas
ing toil, the constant sense of danger, only served
to develop the manhood and womanhood of these
[190]

FORT LARAMIE

FORT BRIDGER

FRONTIER FORTS

THE OVERLAND ROUTE
representatives of an iron age. Before them ever
was the Star of Hope, and in their heroic hearts
faith never faltered. They crossed a continent,
threading a barren wilderness, to win for civiliza
tion a region mighty enough for an empire. They
did their work, and they did it well. And those
others who died upon the way, who sank beneath
privation and despair, who fell beneath the Indian
tomahawk or the grim clutch of disease — their
lonely graves, unmarked, unknown, strew the route
of the old Trail from end to end. They were the
martyrs of progress. As soldiers they fell in the
front rank.

[191]

CHAPTER VI
THE OVERLAND STAGE LINES
Monthly Stages to Santa Fe
FOLLOWING the slow-moving prairie schooner
there soon came the far swifter stage-coach,
conveying passengers, express matter, and mail. As
early as 1849 the first experiment was made in this
effort to achieve a more rapid passage across the
Plains, a line of monthly stages being placed be
tween Independence and Santa Fe. "The Mis
souri Commonwealth," of a few months later, has
this description:
"We briefly alluded some days since to the Santa Fe line
of mail stages which left this city on its first monthly journey
on the first instant. The stages are got up in elegant style, and
are each arranged to convey eight passengers. The bodies are
beautifully painted, and made water-tight, with a view of using
them as boats in ferrying streams. The team consists of six
mules to each coach. The mail is guarded by eight men, armed
as follows: Each man has at his side, fastened in the stage,
one of Colt's revolving rifles; in a holster below, one of Colt's
long revolvers; and in his belt a small Colt's revolver, besides a
hunfing knife; so that these eight men are ready in case of at
tack to discharge one hundred and thirty-six shots without hav
ing to reload. This is equal to a small army, armed as in the
ancient times; and from the looks of this escort, ready as they
are either for offensive or defensive warfare with the savages,
we have no fears for the safety of the mails."
These monthly stages to Santa Fe started from
each end of the route at the same time ; as the de
mand for transportation increased it grew to a
[192]

THE OVERLAND STAGE LINES
weekly service, then to three times each week, and
in the early sixties, daily stages were estab
lished, and continued until the completion of the
railroad. Those were indeed times of romance and
adventure, and every mile of the way had its story
worth the telling. In the days of its greatness each
coach was capable of transporting eleven passen
gers, nine closely stowed inside, three on a seat, and
two on the outside with the driver. The fare to
Santa Fe was two hundred and fifty dollars, bag
gage allowance being limited to forty pounds.
Board en route was, of course, included, but that
was of the simplest, being usually bacon, hardtack,
and coffee, with beans occasionally as a luxury.
Every trip was certain to result in some interesting
incident; sometimes, and not infrequently, an In
dian raid, or perhaps a stampede of the mules, or a
serious breakdown. When such happenings failed
to materialize there was often the playfulness of
drunken drivers to be reckoned with, and the pos
sibility of an upset while travelling at full speed.
When everything went well, the trip required
about two weeks of constant travel. The first night
and day in a crowded coach were most fatiguing,
but after that the intense weariness appeared to wear
away, and the journey was continued in compara
tive comfort. Whatever sleep was had could be
enjoyed only while sitting bolt upright, and hang
ing to the straps. At first the teams were changed
every twenty miles; later, when faster time was
sought, every ten miles. Small stations were erected
[193]

THE GREAT PLAINS
along the route, and the men on duty there had
many a brush with Indians ; in such cases the arriv
ing stages frequently found only ashes and dead
bodies waiting to greet them. The conductor, or
messenger as he was called, went through with the
coach to Santa Fe, but the drivers were changed
eight times in that distance. Occasionally an escort
of soldiers, under a non-commissioned officer, rid
ing in a six-mule army wagon, would accompany
the stage through a specially hostile region, but
generally the travellers were compelled to rely upon
their own resources for safety.
The First Transcontinental Stage Line
Shortly after this opening of a stage line to
Santa Fe, a monthly service was inaugurated be
tween Independence and Salt Lake, a distance of
twelve hundred miles. It was not successful but
continued to transport mails and an occasional pas
senger, for four years. In 1854 ^^^ Government
felt the necessity of a direct mail line to the Pacific
Coast, and voted the sum of $80,000 per annum for
that purpose. The contractors ran monthly stages
from Missouri, via Albuquerque, to Stockton, Cali
fornia. This effort never paid: during the nine
months of experiment, the receipts were only $1,255.
Yet, because it was south of the greatest danger
from snow, this was the route selected for the oper
ating of the first great transcontinental stage line,
that known as Butterfield's " Southern Overland
Mail." It ran 2,759 miles, from St. Louis, via El
[194]

THE OVERLAND STAGE LINES
Paso, Yuma, and Los Angeles, to San Francisco,
and was probably the longest continuous run ever
operated. For this tremendous distance, over plains,
deserts, and mountains, its accomplished schedule
time was at first twenty-five days; later it was re
duced to twenty-three. Its record run was twenty-
one days. The coaches of this pioneer Overland
started at the same time, September 15, 1858, from
St. Louis and San Francisco. At their safe arrival
at those distant terminals on schedule time, they re
ceived a mighty ovation. The rate of fare for the
full distance was a hundred dollars gold, and let
ters cost ten cents per half ounce.
The establishment of such a line was a business
enterprise of much magnitude and risk. It involved
peril with every mile of the distance, and the pos
sibility of loss with each turn of the wheels. The
complete equipment consisted of more than one hun
dred Concord coaches, 1,000 horses, 500 mules, and
750 men, of whom 150 were drivers. The monthly
schedule soon became semi-weekly, and finally six
times a week the laden stages rolled out on their
long trips. Lummis writes :
"The deadly deserts through which nearly half its route
lay, the sand-storm, the mirage, the hell of thirst, the dangerous
Indian tribes, and its vast length — forty per cent greater than
that of any other stage line in our national story — made it a
monumental undertaking; and the name of John Butterfield de
serves to be remembered along with those Americans who helped
to win the West."
This " Southern Overland " was operated with
scarcely a break in regularity until the commence-
[195]

THE GREAT PLAINS
ment of the Civil War. That conflict rendered im
possible the longer carrying of the mail so far south,
and necessitated the Overland being transferred to
a more northern and shorter route, where drivers
and passengers must brave the peril of the mountain
snow. The " Central" line was selected for the new
route ; the first stages to travel its two thousand miles
left St. Joseph and Placerville simultaneously, on
July I, 1861, and each completed the journey on
the eighteenth. Abe Majors, Stage Line Operator
This new adventure in travel brought into prom
inence other leaders in Western transportation. Rus
sell, Majors, and Waddell, and Ben Holladay were
the most famous, and among them all Holladay and
Majors are worthy of special mention. Abe Majors
vv ould have been a remarkable character anywhere ;
on the Plains he was unique. A Kentucky Christian
who never drank, never swore, and who compelled
his drivers to sign an iron-clad contract to be
equally abstemious under penalty of being " fired "
without pay, he was for years one of the truly pic
turesque figures of the frontier. He was, besides, a
wonderful operator, and organized a business of
vast proportions. His Merchants' Express was,
in that age, the largest commercial transportation
enterprise ever organized under one administration,
and his "bull teams" were on every trail between
the Missouri and the Rockies. When he was a
young man himself, and a " bull-whacker," he made
[196]

THE OVERLAND STAGE LINES
the "Broadhorn" record on the Santa Fe Trail,
completing the round trip with oxen in ninety-two
days. Later in life, when he took up Government
contracts, he ran over 3,500 wagons in that service
alone, employing 4,000 men, 1,000 mules, and more
than 40,000 oxen. In addition to this Majors be
came also one of the two stage-line kings of the
Plains. As Lummis puts it, " For debt, folly of his
partners, or other reasons alien to his choice, in his
own despite he became responsible head of more
miles and harder miles, more animals and less
'gentled' ones, more Concord coaches and more
' kingwhips,' than any man before or since, save only
Ben Holladay." Between Leavenworth and Den
ver he controlled a thousand mules and fifty coaches.
The first of these to reach the Colorado town ar
rived May 17, 1859, making the 665-mile trip in six
days. Among the passengers on this pioneer " Hoss-
power Pullman" were Horace Greeley, Henry Vil-
lard, and Albert D. Richardson. On the overland
route between St. Joe and Salt Lake a stage line
had been operated, after a fashion, by the firm of
Hockaday and Liggett. In 1858 their semi-monthly
trips averaged twenty- two days. When Majors got
hold he cut the twelve-hundred-mile run to ten
days, and operated a daily coach. The difficulty and
peril of such achievements is made manifest when
we remember that from Denver to Salt Lake there
was not a single town, hamlet, or house for six hun
dred miles. [197]

THE GREAT PLAINS

Ben Holladay

In 1859, counting the Panama Steamer, there
were six established mail routes to California. But
Ben Holladay was King. A historian of this era
says: "No other one man anywhere has owned and managed a
transportation system at once so vast and so difficult. He had
sixteen first-class passenger steamers plying the Pacific from San
Francisco to Oregon, Panama, Japan, and China. At the height
of his overland business he operated nearly 5,000 miles of daily
mail-stages, with about 500 coaches and express wagons, 500
freight wagons, 5,000 horses and mules, and a host of oxen."
The figures connected with this far-reaching en
terprise are almost beyond present comprehension.
On the main line between St. Joe and San Francisco
there were used 100 Concord coaches, drawn by
2,750 horses and mules. The sum of $55,000 was
expended for harness alone, while the feed bill ap
proximated a million dollars yearly. It has been
officially stated that $2,425,000 was expended the
first twelve months in equipment and operating ex
penses. The Government paid Holladay at this
time a million a year in mail contracts ; but the cost
of provisions for animals was immense, grain going
to twenty-five cents a pound, and hay selling as high
as $125 a ton. The greatness of the demand is evi
denced by the fact that in one day an agent in St.
Louis contracted for seven Missouri River steamers
to load with corn for the army of mules and horses
employed. [198]

THE OVERLAND STAGE LINES
Wells, Fargo & Co.
HoUaday's reign as King lasted for five years,
beginning in December, 1861. It was brought to
a close by the disastrous raids of the Plains Indians
during the time of trouble 1864-66, when his stage-
line was crippled, nearly all his stations for four
hundred miles being burned, his stock stolen and
his employees killed. The actual loss inflicted was
above half a million. This disaster forced him into
selling in November, 1866, to Wells, Fargo & Co.
The main operations of this latter firm, long known
throughout the West, and to the present day, as
" Wells, Fargo," occurred later than the limits cov
ered by this work, yet was of such importance as
to justify the quoting of Lummis's words regarding
its history: "It not only covers more ground than any other carrier;
it is the inventor of the shotgun messenger, and the only express
company by which wives and babies were ever way-billed two
thousand miles through a country of hostile Indians. No other
company has transported so much treasure; and its reports are
as indispensable to the student of mining statistics as those of
the Director of the Mint."
Achievements in Passenger Transportation
But to resume Ben HoUaday's wonderful rec
ord. Some of the driving done on his line probably
surpassed any other recorded in the history of
staging, and the most rapid trips were always ac
complished while he rode in the coach. The ordi
nary schedule from Salt Lake to Atchison, twelve
[199]

THE GREAT PLAINS
hundred miles, was eleven 'days, but on one occa
sion it was covered in eight days and six hours.
From Placerville, California, to Atchison, which
in the regular run required seventeen days, the dis
tance being 1,913 miles, a trip was made by Holla
day in twelve days and two hours. This achieve
ment aroused the enthusiasm of the entire country,
and was a big advertisement for his line, although
it is believed to have cost over twenty thousand
dollars in wear and tear of animals and rolling
stock. When one considers the lonely, dangerous coun
try through which this long road ran, the isolated
stations, the expense of equipment, the difficulty of
transporting supplies, the rates charged for over
land travel were comparatively low. The old But
terfield fare of one hundred dollars for 2,759 rniles
almost, if not quite, equals present railroad rates;
and the Holladay tariff cannot be considered ex
cessive. Up to 1863 fhs f^re charged from the
Missouri River to Placerville, including meals, was
$225. Toward the close of the Civil War, partly
on account of heavy losses from Indian raids, the
cost began to soar, and the 620 miles to Denver
necessitated an expenditure of $175. Lummis states
that it once reached $350, oe fifty-four cents a mile,
with meals extra. The tariff for express over this
route at that time was one dollar a pound. During
this reign of high prices $600 was paid for coach
passage through to Placerville, the baggage allow
ance being limited to twenty-five pounds.
[200]

THE OVERLAND STAGE LINES
The era of the overland stage from the Missouri
to the Pacific covered about eight years, beginning
with the Fall of 1858. It was filled with wonder
ful achievements, with desperate encounters, with
strange adventures in the wilderness. In difficulties
overcome and dangers conquered, this struggle
against hardships and savagery is without parallel
in the history of transportation. It is to be hoped
that sometime, and that soon, some delver among
the records may give to the world the detailed
story of those days and nights upon plains, deserts,
and mountains. It is an Iliad worthy of its Homer.
As one has already written:
"It took Men to 'run,' and Men to journey in, the stages
of that generation. The messengers in charge of express and
mail on the main line of the Overland had a steady run of six
days and nights without taking off their clothes. As for the
drivers, there is no question that they were, as a class, the best
whips in history. Hank Monk Qwhom Horace Greeley made
famous), Keno Armstrong, Jack Gilmer, Billy Opdike, Enoch
Cummings, and others — those were the mightiest jehus that ever
' pushed on the reins,' or ' sent 'em ' down the Rockies or the
Sierra Nevada. They were generic heroes of the song not yet
forgotten when I was young, 'The High Salaried Driver of the
Denver City Line.' So far as I am aware, the record single run
was that made by Keno Armstrong, who drove 6iO miles in i lO
hours without sleep, straight-away."
In considering such achievements in passenger
transportation it must be remembered that these re
sults were accomplished over roads seldom, if ever,
touched by either the spade or the plough. The
old coaches pounded straight ahead over unbroken
prairie, and across the dead level of the Plain ; they
[201]

THE GREAT PLAINS
forded rivers, they climbed mountains, they pitched
headlong down the opposite slope, they skirted prec
ipices, and swept over trackless deserts of shifting
sand, more by the grace of God than any help of
man. As one recalls all this, and reflects upon those
leagues of desolation, the more the wonder grows,
the deeper the respect for those who worked the
miracle. The Concord Coach
Nor can we now dismiss this story out of the
past without paying due honor to the vehicle which
made such journey a possibility — that most famous
of all coaches, the Concord. It was almost univer
sally employed throughout the era of the stage
coach, and, for the purpose for which it was de
signed, it has never been surpassed. It was built in
Concord, New Hampshire, by the Abbott-Downing
Company, first established in 1.8 13. They were
mechanics, reliable and thorough, who built these
coaches for plain and mountain, and their work was
ever well done. The distinguishing characteristic
of the Concord coach was that, instead of steel
springs, the coach-body was swung on thorough
braces of simple device enough, yet which resulted
in the easiest riding carriage for all kinds of roads
ever invented. This thorough brace was of stout
leather, the strap ends firmly attached to C springs
front and rear. The ordinary coach used upon the
Overland would carry nine passengers inside, and
one or two with the driver. The messenger hung
on as best he could. Oftentimes both messenger and
I202]

THE OVERLAND STAGE LINES
driver would be asleep while the six mules went
spinning along eight or ten miles an hour. The
former usually covered a distance of two hundred
and fifty miles, while the latter had a shorter route,
going constantly back and forth over the same
stretch until, in the darkest night, he could unhesi
tatingly find his way.
The stage management was rigid in discipline.
A special agent had absolute control over each di
vision of about two hundred and fifty miles. He
purchased horses, mules, harness, and food for men
and animals, and his word was law. In fact he
engaged and discharged men at pleasure, and ruled
his section like an autocrat. The drivers were the
most highly paid employees, receiving from $150 to
$250 per month with board. Their wages were
gauged according to difficulty of route and length
of service. All classes of men were to be found in
the drivers' seats, from college graduates to border
desperadoes. The vast amount of money invested
in this enterprise is shown by HoUaday's sale to
Wells, Fargo & Co. in 1866. The main line and
branches brought one million five hundred thous
and dollars in cash, and three hundred thousand
dollars in Express Company stock. Yet this vast
sum merely covered animals, rolling stock, stations,
etc., and, in addition, the purchasers were to pay
full value for hay, grain, and provisions on hand.
These totalled nearly six hundred thousand dollars
more. [203]

CHAPTER VII
ADVENTURES AND TRAGEDIES ON THE
OVERLAND
Sufferings from the Elements
THE Santa Fe Trail being the first used for stag
ing purposes, was also the first to be reddened
with blood, and to witness the hardships of prairie
travel. From the earliest attempts accidents were
frequent, and suffering from exposure to the ele
ments was common. The terrible summer storms
sweeping the level Plains, or driving desert sand
in clouds, would delay the weary travellers for days
in the utmost discomfort. Occasionally the eight
frisky mules would prove too much for their driver,
and there would be a runaway, and a broken coach,
to be repaired with whatever tools might be at hand.
In wet weather for mile after mile the passengers
might be compelled to plod beside the wheels, la
boriously prying them out of the clinging mud, and
burdening the air with profanity. But in the moun
tain district to be traversed before reaching Santa
Fe, the most serious disasters usually occurred dur
ing the winter. To be caught there by a raging
snow-storm was certain to be a terrible experience.
All that could be done, with the trail blotted com
pletely from sight, was to wait the cessation of the
storm. Passengers and employees had to crowd into
the coach and use every effort to keep from f reez-
[204]

ADVENTURES AND TRAGEDIES
ing, and at the end often found themselves minus
mules with which to complete the journey. Yet
even more a summer hail-storm was to be dreaded,
for nowhere else do such ice-chunks descend from
the sky. Invariably such a storm meant a stampede
of the mules, nor would a man dare to desert his
shelter to seek them. A Massacre by Apaches
The first notable tragedy on the Santa Fe Trail
in connection with stage coaching occurred almost
with the first effort at establishing the line. It was
a west-bound Concord, containing a full comple
ment of passengers, including a Mr. White, his
wife, child, and colored nurse. The journey was
not an unpleasant one across the wide expanse of
Plains. The Raton Range had been safely sur
mounted, and, just about dawn one morning, the
heavy coach entered the canyon of the Canadian,
it occupants unsuspicious of any danger. Instantly
they were fiercely attacked by an ambushed party
of Apaches under White Wolf. With scarcely any
opportunity for defence, the unfortunate whites
were shot down, scalped, and their mutilated bodies
left upon the ground. Mrs. White, her child, and
nurse were borne away prisoners. At Taos were
several troops of the Second Dragoons under Major
Greer. The story of this outrage did not reach them
for nearly two weeks, but upon its receipt the Major
at once started out on a hard winter campaign in
hope of rescuing the captives. The soldiers had
[205]

THE GREAT PLAINS
with them as guides several famous frontiersmen,
Kit Carson, "Uncle Dick" Wooton, Joaquin Le-
roux, and Tom Tobin. The heavy snow made trail
ing almost impossible, yet the scouts discovered
" signs," and, amid much suffering, followed the
Indian trail for nearly four hundred miles, and
finally located the village. Everything was made
ready for a charge, when Major Greer suddenly de
cided to have a parley with the savages before com
mencing to fight. This decision not only greatly en
raged the eager troopers, but gave the Indians
ample time in which to prepare for action. They
took full advantage of the opportunity, and poured
in the first volley, Greer being struck in the breast,
his life saved by a suspender buckle. This occur
rence took from him all desire for further peace
talk, and the fight was on. The troopers charged
twice, killing and wounding more than a hundred
Indians, but the chief escaped, and, when the sol
diers finally captured the village, they found there
the body of Mrs. White, yet warm, with three ar
rows in her breast. No trace of either the child or
the colored nurse was ever found.
White Wolf was killed later by Lieutenant
David Bell, Second Dragoons, in a most dramatic
manner, and almost on the same spot where the
murders had been perpetrated. While on a scout
with his troop from Fort Union, New Mexico, Bell
came upon White Wolf and an equal number of
Apaches. A parley ensued, the controversy grow
ing so heated that suddenly the two leaders ex-
[206]

ADVENTURES AND TRAGEDIES
changed shots, the chief sinking on one knee to aim,
and Bell throwing his body forward, and causing
his horse to rear. Inman describes what followed:
"Both lines by command fired, following the example of
their superiors, the troopers, however, spurring forward over
their enemies. The warriors, or nearly all of them, threw them
selves on the ground, and several vertical wounds were received
by horse and rider. The dragoons turned short about, and again
charged through and over their enemies, the fire being continu
ous. As they turned for a third charge, the surviving Indians
were seen escaping to a deep ravine, which, although only one
or two hundred paces off, had not previously been noticed. A
number of the savages thus escaped, the troopers having to pull
up at the brink, but sending a volley after the descending fugi
tives. In less than fifteen minutes twenty-one of the forty-six
actors in this strange combat were slain or disabled. Bell was
not hit, but four or five of his men were killed or wounded. He
had shot White Wolf several times."
Some Indian Leaders
In those early days of stage-coaching along the
Santa Fe Trail the two most noted leaders of In
dian raids were Santana (White Bear) , a chief of
the Kiowa nation, and Charles Bent, a half-breed
desperado. In later years Kicking Bird, also a
Kiowa, became the terror of the Plains. The latter
was finally poisoned by a Mexican woman in 1876.
Santana had his headquarters in what is now known
as the Cheyenne Bottoms, eight miles from the
Great Bend of the Arkansas, and about the same
distance from old Fort Zarah. He was as cruel and
heartless a savage as ever ambushed a stage-coach
or murdered helpless women. For fifteen years he
[207]

THE GREAT PLAINS
was the terror of the Trail, and his acts of atrocity
were incessant. Charles Bent had for father the
famous Colonel Bent, of Bent's Fort, but his mother
was a Cheyenne squaw. Well educated in St. Louis,
he no sooner returned to the Plains than he devel
oped into a blood-thirsty desperado, organizing a
body of young warriors, later known as " dog sol
diers," and beginning a series of depredations
against the whites. With over a hundred men un
der him he robbed ranches, and attacked wagon
trains, coaches, and army caravans. The history of
his bloody deeds will never be told, for dead men
tell no tales, and seldom did Bent leave any alive
after a raid. From Walnut Creek to the mountains
no traveller was safe from attack by the " dog
soldiers"; and oftentimes a caravan started forth
having the disguised Bent as guide, for his plans us
ually involved treachery. The Government offered
five thousand dollars for his capture, dead or alive,
but death finally came to him in the form of malar
ial fever. Robbers, White and Red
Indian peril on the northern overland
route, while never wholly absent, grew most
serious during the period of the Civil War,
when the Plains tribes became largely hos
tile. Road agents also became very much in
evidence, and the robbery of stages was not
uncommon* In July, 1865, a stage carrying seven
passengers, and containing a considerable amount
of gold bullion, was the object of such an attack.
[208]

ADVENTURES AND TRAGEDIES
The passengers were all old frontiersmen, and, an
ticipating a possible attempt at robbery, were pre
pared for a desperate defence. But treachery
worked their ruin. Beside the driver, named Frank
Williams, sat one of the robbers, thoroughly dis
guised. At a lonely spot this man suddenly shouted
an alarm that the robbers were upon them. A shot
was fired from beside the trail, and the men inside
the coach instantly discharged their guns toward
the supposed ambush. Immediately a regular vol
ley was poured in from the opposite side; four of
the passengers fell dead, another was severely
wounded. Two men saved their lives ; one feigning
death in the bottom of the coach, the other escaping
into the brush. The robbers secured over $70,000,
and it was later discovered that the driver, Wil
liams, was an accomplice, and received his share.
He was tracked to Denver, and hanged with very
little ceremony.
In 1862 the Indian raids on the coaches and sta
tions between Fort Laramie and South Pass were
almost continuous. In April of that year occurred
a terrible fight between the mail-stage and savages,
on the Sweetwater. There were two coaches loaded
with mail, and nine men, the leaders being Lem
Flowers, a division agent, and the conductor named
Brown. The Indians attacked at dawn, as was
their custom, and the whites were compelled to run
their coaches alongside each other, pile mail-sacks
between the wheels, and throw sand over them for
breastworks. Here they fought their assailants all
[209]

THE GREAT PLAINS
day, six of the men being wounded, and all their
stock driven off. A number of Indians were killed,
and at night they withdrew, leaving the defenders
to harness themselves to the running-gear, and thus
draw their wounded comrades to safety. Another
memorable raid was made all along the two hun
dred miles between Julesburg and Liberty Farm, at
the head of the Little Blue, in August, 1864. Mail
coaches, freight caravans, ranches, and parties put
ting up hay were attacked simultaneously. More
than forty whites were killed, and the destruction
of property was very large.
Buffalo Bill as a Stage-Driver
The route lying along the North Platte became
so dangerous that it was almost impossible to secure
drivers even at the highest wages. W. F- Cody
(Buffalo Bill) was at this time a driver between
Split Rock and Three Crossings, one of the most
perilous sections. He had his full share of narrow
escapes. Once he was set upon by a band of several
hundred Sioux. A Division Agent named Flowers
was on the box with him, and inside were half a
dozen well-armed passengers. As soon as Cody got
glimpse of the Indians, he handed the reins to Flow
ers, and began applying the whip. There followed
a hot running fight, the passengers firing from the
coach windows, and the Indian arrows flying
thickly, wounding the horses, badly injuring Flow
ers, and killing two of the passengers. The others
escaped after a hard run. In the Spring of 1865
[210]

ADVENTURES AND TRAGEDIES
the Plains tribes again became very troublesome,
and raided the stage line almost from end to end.
Soldiers were used to guard the coaches, yet at
tacks were frequent, and the loss in property and
lives was large. Passengers took their lives in their
hands, and only the most daring and reckless men
volunteered for the desperate service of driver or
messenger.
Military Guards for Coaches
This custom of guarding coaches by soldiers
along the Overland was inaugurated during the
Sioux uprising of 1863. George P. Belden, well
known in those days as "The White Chief," thus
describes the disagreeable duties :
"Troops were stationed in small squads at every station,
about ten miles apart, and they rode from station to station on
the top of all coaches, holding their guns ever ready for action.
It was not pleasant, this sitting perched up on top of a coach,
riding through dark ravines and tall grass, in which savages
were ever lurking. Generally the first fire from the Indians
killed one or two horses, and tumbled a soldier or two off the
top of the coach. This setting oneself as a sort of target was a
disagreeable and dangerous duty, but the soldiers performed it
without murmuring. My squad had to ride up to Cottonwood,
and down to the station below, where they waited for the next
coach going the other way, and returned by it to their post at
Gilman's. All the other stations were guarded in like manner,
so it happened that every coach carried some soldiers."
Military Posts to Protect Settlements
A brief review of the operations of military
scouting parties in the region about Julesburg,
Colorado, which was the centre of hostilities on the
[211]

THE GREAT PLAINS
Plains, and occasionally entirely cut off from com
munication, well illustrates the desperate nature of
their duties. During 1863-4-5 the Sioux, Arapahoes,
and Cheyennes were all upon the warpath, and not
a mile of prairie between the upper Missouri and
the Arkansas was safe for a white traveller. As
early as i860 trouble began, after the beginning of
emigration to Colorado and the discovery of gold
in the Rocky Mountains. Bent's Fort was occupied
by troops, and, in anticipation of coming events,
several new posts were established throughout the
Indian country, and occupied by small garrisons.
The breaking out of the Civil War required the
withdrawal of many of the regulars from the Plains,
and the Indians, quick to perceive their opportunity,
began wholesale depredations. In 1862 the Sioux
made savage onslaught far east into Minnesota, and
the general uprising among the tribes which fol
lowed extended to the Rocky Mountains, and even
to the banks of the Columbia. In numbers engaged
it attained to the magnitude of war, but was carried
on in guerilla fashion.
The greater portion of the Plains country was
then without permanent inhabitants, scarcely any
thing breaking the desolation excepting the isolated
stations along the Overland and Santa Fe Trails,
with a few scattered settlements extending into the
prairies of Kansas and Nebraska. Though they
occasionally attacked small bodies of troops, the sav
ages directed their main efforts against the trains
of freight wagons, and the comparatively defence-
[212]

f>^r

THE UNITED STATES ARMY IN SERVICE ON THE PLAINS
IN CONFLICT WITH WINTER STORMS— THE LAST STAND — ON THE MARCH

ADVENTURES AND TRAGEDIES
less stage stations. The most important of these,
situated in the very heart of this blood-stained ter
ritory, was Julesburg. This point was then the
junction between the Overland main line and the
newly established branch leading to Denver. It
was also the headquarters of the telegraph on the
Plains, which had been inaugurated in 1861. Jules
burg must have contained at this period something
over a hundred civilian inhabitants, most of them
employees of the stage company. As protection for
both lines the Government later erected Fort Sedg
wick on the South Fork of the Platte. Julesburg
was attacked on several occasions, and in February,
1864, was burned to the ground. About fifty- five
miles of the telegraph line was entirely destroyed,
and stage stations razed, and employees killed, for
long distances east and west. About the same time,
a force of over two thousand Indians made a de
termined attack upon a detachment of troops, under
Lieutenant-colonel Collins at Rush Creek, eighty-
five miles north of Julesburg. There followed a
twenty-four-hour fight, from which the whites
emerged with a loss of but three men killed, and
eight wounded. Two months later Collins was
again in battle at Mud Springs, but succeeded in
driving off his assailants.
As soon as the Spring of 1865 began to freshen
the grass, the Indian tribes were again upon the
warpath. In four weeks they had killed and cap
tured forty-five whites betwen Sage Creek and Vir
ginia Dale, but a combination of military forces
[213]

THE GREAT PLAINS
compelled the allied tribes to make professions of
peace, and for a few months relieved the Trail of its
horror. The full story of these years of soldierly
endeavor and Indian treachery must be told in those
chapters devoted to the work of the army, but it is
easy to conceive the danger which night and day
pursued those men who were then employed upon
the Overland. Never for a moment could they feel
secure; every trip promised to be their last, and
many a time the coach dashed up to a station only
to find it in ruins and surrounded by dead. The
tales of suffering, of desperate fighting, of marvel
lous endurance, cling yet to every mile from the
Little Blue to Laramie. The dead of those awful
years lie numberless and nameless in their unknown,
scattered graves.

[214]

CHAPTER VIII
THE PONY EXPRESS
Need of Better Mail Service for California
IF ANY one single achievement of the Plains
should be chosen with which to stir the heart to
admiration of adventure and picturesque environ
ment, it would certainly be the work done by those
riders, who, through night and day, amid solitude
and constant peril, swept at full speed, with their
precious messages, from the Missouri to the Coast.
It was a service absolutely unique in the history of
men, and holds the world's record for organized and
"scheduled" riding. Never before or since has
mail been carried so fast and so far by horse power,
never through such continuous danger, through
such leagues of utter desolation, and never were
mounts so steadily spurred to highest speed in any
regular service.
The gold discovery of 1848 in California led to
a wonderful exodus to the Pacific Coast. In vast
streams the huge trains of American gold-seekers
swept across the Plains and the mountains, by the
Overland, the Oregon, and the Santa Fe Trails. As
many more found passage to the far West by way
of Panama and Nicaragua, or by means of the
long voyage around stormy Cape Horn. Within
ten years the population of California had so greatly
increased that the desire for more rapid communi-
[215]

THE GREAT PLAINS
cation with the East became imperative. The in
sistent demand of these isolated California miners
was taken to Washington by their representative.
Senator Gwinn, and in the Winter of 1859 he suc
ceeded in inducing the firm of Russell, Majors &
Waddell to undertake the gigantic enterprise of
the Pony Express. This firm already had a daily
stage-coach in operation between the Missouri
River and Salt Lake, with stations located every ten
or twelve miles along the route. These could be
easily utilized for this new service, but beyond Salt
Lake other similar stations had to be established,
and the best possible route selected for rapid travel.
However, in less than two months after Russell gave
his promise to Gwinn, everything was in readiness,
and the gallant riders were off on their long race
half across a continent.
The Men and the Ponies Required for the Work
We may scarcely comprehend the magnitude of
the preparations necessary for such an enterprise.
To carry this fast mail over the route selected be
tween St. Joseph, Missouri, and San Francisco, a
distance of nineteen hundred and fifty miles, over
barren plains and through dangerous mountains,
there were required five hundred horses, one hun
dred and ninety stations, two hundred men to take
charge of them, and eighty carefully selected riders,
who must each day make an average ride at full
speed of thirty-three and one-third miles. The sta
tions were sometimes from sixty-five to even a hun-
[216]

THE PONY EXPRESS
dred miles apart, according to the location of water.
The fastest time ever made on the Butterfield
Route between New York and San Francisco was
twenty-one days; the Pony Express cut it to less
than eight. Its scheduled time from the Missouri
River was ten days; its reckless riders never re
quired more, while on one occasion they lowered
this remarkable record to seven days and seventeen
hours, and more than once to a little over eight
days. The men employed were chosen with great
care; they were men noted for bravery, coolness,
and lithe, wiry physiques. In Inman's appreciative
words :
" It was no easy duty ; horse and human flesh were strained
to the limits of physical tension. Day or night, in sunshine
or in storm, under the darkest skies, in the pale moonlight, and
with only the stars at times to guide him, the brave rider must
speed on. Rain, hail, snow, or sleet, there was no delay; his
precious burden of letters demanded his best efforts under the
stern necessities of the hazardous service; it brooked no deten
tion; on he must ride. Sometimes his pathway led across level
prairies, straight as the flight of an arrow. It was oftener a
zig-zag trail hugging the brink of awful precipices, and dark,
narrow caiions infested with watchful savages eager for the
scalp of the daring man who had the temerity to enter their
mountain fastness."
These riders had to be always ready at their
stations — not only for their regular trip, but for
any emergency which might arise, as they were fre
quently called upon for double duty; at any mo
ment they must be prepared to spring into saddle
and be off like a shot. The ponies employed were
[217]

THE GREAT PLAINS
magnificent specimens, selected for speed and en
durance. Most carefully fed and housed, on the
road they were pushed to their utmost ; spurred ten
miles at the very limit of pace, the animal came
dashing in to the next station flecked with foam,
nostrils dilated, and every hair wet with perspira
tion. Nearly two thousand miles must be covered
in nine days or less — neither pony nor man could
idle. The rider was allowed but two minutes at a
station in which to exchange mounts, yet it scarcely
required more than two seconds. Almost before he
touched the ground the man was off again, a dim
speck down the trail. Two hundred and fifty miles
a day was the distance travelled, and the rider could
carry no surplus weight. His sole arms were a re
volver and a knife; his case of precious letters made
into a bundle no larger than an ordinary writing
tablet. The mail-bags were two pouches of leather,
impervious to rain, sealed, and strapped securely to
the saddle both before and behind. They never
contained over twenty pounds in weight, and in
side, for better protection from possible exposure,
the letters and despatches were wrapped in oil silk,
and separately sealed. The pouches were not
opened between River and Coast.
These riders were paid from one hundred dol
lars to one hundred and twenty-five dollars a
month, and " found." The postage charged during
the earlier months of the service was five dollars
per half-ounce, but was later reduced to one dollar,
at which sum it remained until the completion of
[218]

THE PONY EXPRESS
the Overland telegraph in October, 1861. Letters
thus carried were written on the thinnest tissue pa
per; papers destined for the Coast were printed on
the same thin paper, and had to be sent in letter
envelopes at letter postage. A messenger has re
corded that he remembered handling one letter
which had on it twenty- five Pony Express stamps
of one dollar each, and twenty-five United States
ten-cent stamps. It is safe to say no mail was thus
sent unless considered of the greatest value. And
the Pony Express had a proud record for safety,
as well as efficiency. In all its career it lost but one
mail. Another came very near doubling the list,
as the rider was waylaid by Indians and scalped.
But the pony broke away, and came clattering into
the next station, severely wounded, with the saddle
bags intact, leaving his rider dead in the desert.
All the riding was not the same, as the distance
to be covered, and the length between stations, was
largely determined by the character of the country.
Along some parts of the route the trail had to be
covered at the astounding pace of twenty-five miles
an hour. The First Run of the Pony Express
The first day of the start was the third of April,
i860, the time noon. At exactly the same hour the
riders, the one facing east, the other west, left Sac
ramento and St. Joseph. The first starter from Cal
ifornia was Harry Roff, on a half-breed bronco.
He covered the first twenty miles, with one change,
in fifty-nine minutes. He rode on at top speed
[219]

THE GREAT PLAINS
fifty-five miles farther to Placerville at the foot of
the Sierra Nevadas. Here a rider known as Bos
ton grasped the mail-bag, crossed the eastern sum
mit of the Sierras, and ended his run at Friday's
Station. Sam Hamilton came next, spurring his
pony through Genoa, Carson City, Dayton, and
Reed's Station to Fort Churchill, a seventh-five
mile run. The mail by now was one hundred and
eighty-five miles out, including the crossing of the
Sierra Nevadas through thirty feet of snow; the
time consumed fifteen hours and twenty minutes.
From Churchill Bob Haslam ("Pony Bob") fol
lowed the trail one hundred and twenty miles,
through a hostile Indian country, to Smith's Creek,
where Jay G. Kelly swung the precious bag to his
saddle, and spurred away to Ruby Valley, Utah, a
lieart-breaking ride of one hundred and sixteen
miles of desert. Richardson came next, one hun
dred and five miles to Deep Creek. The last part
of the western division, the fifty miles between
Camp Floyd and Salt Lake City, was covered by
George Thacher. From St. Joseph Johnny Frey
started the run westward, his pony bursting away
from the midst of a crowd of enthusiastic specta
tors. That first run was made in less than ten days.
Experiences of Buffalo Bill as an Express Rider
The adventures of these Pony Express riders,
the stories of their hardihood and marvellous horse
manship, are numberless. Perhaps the best-known
name among them is that of William F. Cody
[220]

Copyright, By courtesy S. S. McClure Co.

A MULE TR.A,1N .^T THE FORD

Copyright. By courtesy S. S. McClure Cu.

THE SOUTHERN OVERLAND MAIL STAGE

SCENES INCIDENT TO TRAVEL ACROSS THE PLAINS

THE PONY EXPRESS
(" Buffalo Bill ") , who first began riding in the serv
ice when only a boy of fourteen, yet " made good "
in a work, the ceaseless hardship of which was cal
culated to try the nerve and endurance of the most
daring men. Afraid that Cody would break down
under the strain, "Old Jules," then owner of the
Julesburg Ranch, and Division Agent for the Pony
Express line, started the boy with an easy run of
forty-five miles, with three changes of horses. He
rode there two months, and then applied for an
other position under Slade, afterwards a notorious
desperado, who had the division west of Laramie.
He got it, being assigned to ride from Red Buttes
on the North Platte to the Three Crossings of the
Sweetwater, a distance of one hundred and sixteen
miles. Again the boy "made good"; more than
that — on one occasion he broke the record for the
longest Pony Express ride. One day galloping into
Three Crossings he found the rider who was to go
on had been killed the night before in a drunken
row. The distance to the next station. Rocky Ridge,
was eighty-five miles over a bad and dangerous
trail. Without a moment's delay Cody went for
ward, and he made the 384 miles of his round trip,
without stops, except to change horses and swallow
one hasty meal — and the mail went through on
time. A week later this same youthful messenger was
chased by Sioux Indians near Horse Creek, but
succeeded in outracing them to the station at Sweet
water. Here he found the stock all driven off and
[221]

THE GREAT PLAINS
the station-keeper killed, and was compelled to con
tinue his ride with the same tired pony. The In
dian raids became so continuous that the operation
of the Pony Express was discontinued for six weeks.
In Inman's " Salt Lake Trail " are a number of an
ecdotes of Cody's experiences at this time, well illus
trating the danger of the Pony Express riders, and
the constant necessity for coolness and nerve. And
just such men rode the trail, day and night, from
River to Coast. Other Express Riders
"Pony Bob" (Robert H. Haslam) had a most
remarkable record, and probably rode Express
longer than any other messenger. He was in the
first relay, and remained in the service to the end.
His regular run was from Buckland's to Friday's
Station, crossing the Sierra Nevada, one of the
hardest rides on the entire route. On one occasion
he covered 380 miles without pause, through a
region swarming with Indians on the warpath,
who had already killed the next rider. On this trip
he passed the smoking ruins of three stations, and
the dead bodies of their keepers, yet he brought the
mail barely three hours behind schedule time. After
the telegraph had ended Pony Express riding, Has
lam became a Wells, Fargo messenger, making a
hundred-mile round trip every twenty-four hours.
For six months he ran between Reno and Virginia
City every day, doing twenty-three miles in one
hourj and using fifteen horses. On one of his rides
[222]

THE PONY EXPRESS
he passed the remains of ninety Chinamen killed
by Indians. Their bodies were scattered over ten
miles. When he finally left the service the man who
took his place, Macaulus, was killed by Indians on
his first trip.
Charles Cliff was a rider well known on the
Plains division, having a run from St. Joseph to
Seneca. He was once attacked by Indians, but
escaped, receiving three balls in his body, and
twenty-seven in his clothing. James Moore has
credit for a remarkable ride. At Midway Station,
western Nebraska, he received an important Govern
ment despatch to carry west. He spurred his ponies
at top speed to Julesburg, one hundred and forty
miles away. Here he found another important de
spatch for Washington, and that the rider who
should carry it had been killed by Indians. With
out eating, and with a loss of only seven minutes,
Moore immediately started back for Midway, and
he made the round trip (280 miles) in fourteen
hours and forty-six minutes.
High Average Speed of the Pony Express
As already stated, the schedule time between the
Missouri and Sacramento was established at ten
days. Never once did the Pony Express fail to
make it, and on many occasions the daring riders
came in far ahead. Buchanan's last message was
whisked across the two thousand miles in eight days
and a few hours; the news of Lincoln's election
covered the 665 miles to Denver in two days and
[223]

THE GREAT PLAINS
twenty-one hours. But the record for such long
distance riding was completely shattered when Lin
coln's inaugural was borne from rider to rider to the
Coast in the marvellous space of but seven days and
seventeen hours. It was a Pony Express rider who
made the most wonderful straight-away ride ever
made by man, but it was not performed in the
course of duty. The rider was a Canadian, Francis
Xavier Aubrey, and he rode on a bet that he could
cover the distance between Santa Fe and Indepen
dence (800 miles) in eight days. One thousand dol
lars was involved. In the whole distance he did not
stop to rest, changing horses only every hundred
miles, and he made it in five days and thirteen
hours. Aubrey has been described as of stocky
build, light-hearted, genial, adventurous, and abso
lutely fearless. He was later killed in Santa Fe.

[224]

CHAPTER IX
THE ARMY ON THE PLAINS— THE FIRST
ENCOUNTERS
Guerilla Warfare on the Plains
ARMY operations on the Great Plains, both be
fore and during the Civil War, whether con
ducted by regulars or volunteers, were of a nature
requiring but brief mention. While the various
Indian tribes became more and more hostile in their
relations with the whites, and were guilty of many
atrocities, there was no concerted action in retalia
tion on the part of those in authority at Washing
ton. Numerous petty fights have been recorded,
but there was no well organized campaign, no bat
tle of supreme importance, and no particular result
achieved. For years guerilla warfare swept the
border from end to end, doing an immense amount
of damage to property, and costing an unknown
number of lives. Treaties were repeatedly made
and broken, settlements were raided and burned,
wagon trains were attacked, the teamsters left dead
on the trail, the mules captured, and the route of
the Overland made into a dreary waste. The rea
son for all these things it is hard to discover, and,
at this late day, equally futile the endeavor to fix
the blame. In some cases it was undoubtedly the
fault of the savages ; in many others the whites were
the aggressors; while in not a few the awful pun-
[225]

THE GREAT PLAINS
ishment inflicted, whether by Indian or white, fell
upon the innocent. In the years between 1840 and
i860 no warlike alliance between the various Plains
tribes appears to have existed. There was a
vindictive feeling among all the Indians because of
the steady white invasion of their country, but it
had not yet crystallized into open rebellion under
any competent leaders. The Comanches in the
Southwest were always in a state of hostility, yet
their war-parties were small, and they seldom ap
peared in any considerable force outside of New
Mexico and western Texas, their usual method
being that of surprise and swift attack. To the
north the Sioux were never entirely safe, and their
young men were restless and great wanderers. But
in the middle Plains the major portion of the nu
merous outrages committed were doubtless done by
semi-outlaw bands, under control of sub-chiefs eager
for reputation, or half-breeds, like Brent, with no
other purpose than plunder and a lust for crime.
Disagreeable Nature of the Soldiers' Work
This very fact rendered the services of the army
on that wide frontier more disagreeable, hazardous,
and difficult. If successful, they were devoid of
honor; if otherwise, all the soldier might hope for
was a forgotten grave. Isolated in rude forts, dur
ing the summer in temporary camps, a company of
infantry here, a troop of horse yonder, with the
nearest station hundreds of miles distant, and all
around them dissatisfied and threatening savages
[226]

THE ARMY ON THE PLAINS
outnumbering them fifty to one, it was a service
far from attractive to either officers or men. In de
tached parties they scouted the Plains from end to
end; they lived on half-rations, or no rations at all;
they marched and counter-marched ; they burned
and thirsted under the tropical summer sun of the
Staked Plains, and faced the stinging blasts of Da
kota blizzards; they held peace councils with the
tribes, halting many a projected raid by the sud
denness of their appearance where least expected;
and, when all other means were exhausted, they
fought battles never dignified by names, or noticed
in history, and fought them gallantly and well.
Numerous Indian Raids
Little of this is to be found on record; it was
the mere routine of service, totally obscured by the
far greater events of the Civil War. Only here and
there do certain happenings upon the broad Plains,
and the bordering mountains, throw light upon this
heroic work of the army. Almost immediately after
the close of the Mexican War two or three tribes
of the Plains entered into loose alliance to prey on
the growing traffic of the Santa Fe Trail. So thor
oughly was this agreement carried out that the
United States troops in New Mexico were for a
time completely cut off from all supplies from the
East. There was considerable fighting in eastern
and northern New Mexico, before communication
could be resumed. In 1854 ^^^ the inhabitants of
the Pueblo, on the Arkansas, some twenty in num-
[227]

THE GREAT PLAINS
her, were massacred by Ute Indians in a drunken
revel. The following year troops from Fort Mas
sachusetts had a hard campaign in southern Colo
rado, punishing the Utes for numerous raids in
New Mexico. The same year fifteen hundred
lodges of Kiowas, Comanches, Osages, Arapahoes,
and Cheyennes marched eastward across the Plains,
determined to wipe out those more peaceful Indian
tribes bordering the Missouri. They met their
match, however, and were driven back after a three
hours' battle on the banks of the Kansas River. In
the Comanche country it was always war, and this
tribe quarrelled openly with all others who entered
into peace treaties with the whites.
A War with the Sioux
Farther north, for the purpose of protecting em
igration along the Oregon Trail, a small military
force, composed of a single company reduced to
twenty-five effective men, was stationed at Fort Lar
amie. About them were Sioux, Arapahoes, and
Cheyennes, all far from friendly, numbering 5,500
souls, of whom at least half were warriors. Thor
oughly despising so small an armed force of whites,
these Indians, visiting the fort, became insolent,
and had to be forcibly expelled beyond the limits
of the post. This resulted in an encounter, in which
shots were exchanged and four of the savages killed.
The following spring Lieutenant Grattan, a young
officer lately from West Point, accompanied by
twenty-eight men, was sent to the camp of a band of
[228]

.- ^^^ Z^" ''^*"' .-."-^ *^k« I^

SCENES CHARACTERISTIC OF INDIAN ATTACK AND THE DE
FENCE OF THE SETTLERS
THE LAST STAND — EMIGRANTS REPELLING AN ATTACK — DEFENDING THE
WAGON TRAIN

THE ARMY ON THE PLAINS
Sioux with orders to make an arrest. Meeting with
some resistance, the squad fired a volley, and imme
diately the Indians were upon them. Only one sol
dier escaped, in dying condition, and regained the
fort. This was the beginning of a long and costly war
with the Sioux nation. Measures were at once taken
by the War Department to punish fitly the murder
ers of Grattan and his men, but owing to the late
ness of the season little was accomplished that year
except the strengthening of the garrison at Laramie
by three companies of the Sixth Infantry, under
Major Hoffman, who assumed command. In the
Spring of 1856 other troops arrived, but, there be
ing no cavalry, little could be accomplished, other
than defensive guard. The Sioux captured all the
mules belonging to the Quartermaster's Depart
ment, and escaped with them, meanwhile carrying
out their threats, and constantly raiding the stage
line, killing drivers and burning stations. General
Harney, with a force of 1,500 soldiers marched up
the valley of the Platte. His scouting parties had
several small skirmishes on the way, but no blow of
any severity was struck until September, when the
entire force came upon a village of Brule Sioux,
under Little Thunder, at Ash Hollow, a hundred
miles southeast of Laramie. Here there was a few
moments of rather hot fighting, in which many
women and children, and a few warriors were
killed. The action resulted in a temporary truce.
[229]

THE GREAT PLAINS
This same year Fort Randall was established in the
Yankton country.
Sumner's Expedition against the Cheyennes
While this rather bloodless campaign was being
conducted in the north, the Cheyennes were making
things interesting along the middle Plains, and
keeping busy the small garrisons of the only two
posts between the Missouri and the Rockies. The
trouble apparently first arose over the shooting of
certain Indian horse-thieves by an army patrol sta
tioned at the Upper Platte Bridge. The result was
an onslaught upon all the travelled routes across
the Plains, and the reduction of Fort Laramie to a
condition only less rigorous than an actual siege.
In the Summer of 1857 ^^ expedition, formed of
troops from Leavenworth and Laramie, under Colo
nel Sumner, First Dragoons, was organized to op
erate against these raiding Cheyennes. Camp was
made near Fort Saint Vrain, on the South Platte,
In July, everything being in readiness, the little col
umn marched to the Smoky Hill branch of the
Kansas River. Here the Cheyennes were met,
gathered beside a small lake, which they believed
enchanted, so that if they dipped their hands in the
water they became invulnerable. Under this im
pression they attacked the troops with firrnness,
chanting their war-songs as they advanced. But the
dragoons charged with sabres, killing and wounding
a large number, and putting the remainder to flight.
From this point Sumner made a hasty march to
[230]

THE ARMY ON THE PLAINS
the relief of Bent's Fort, on the Arkansas; he ar
rived just in time to prevent the scheming Arapa
hoes from killing all the whites there and taking
possession of the property. Sumner's expedition
completely intimidated the Cheyennes, and for the
time being checked the outrages along the border.
Further Efforts to Pacify the Indians
In September, Major Lynde with two compa
nies of the Seventh Infantry arrived at Fort Lara
mie, and wintered there. Major Hoffman, with his
command of the Sixth, departing on the long march
for Leavenworth. The next summer, 1858, Major
Sedgwick, with four more companies of the Sev
enth, and headquarters, staff, and band, came across
the Plains bound for Utah. Learning at Pacific
Springs that the Mormon difficulty had been set
tled, the column was turned back eastward, and a
military post established at the junction of the two
forks of the Kansas River. First called Camp Cen
tre, it became later the famous Fort Riley.
In 1859 W. W. Bent, an old-time plainsman,
favorably known to all the tribes, was appointed
Indian Agent for the Upper Arkansas. It was
largely his influence that kept the surrounding re
gions comparatively peaceable for the next two
years. The Kiowas and Comanches had by this
time been driven from Texas, and now permanently
occupied the country lying between the Arkan
sas and the Canadian. They numbered about 2,500
warriors, and assumed so threatening an attitude
[231]

THE GREAT PLAINS
that posts were established at the mouth of Pawnee
Fork, and near the site of Bent's Fort, for their bet
ter control. The first was named Fort Earned, and
the second Fort Wise; the latter afterward became
Fort Lyon.

[232]

CHAPTER X
THE ARMY ON THE PLAINS— DURING THE
CIVIL WAR
An Alliance of Indian Tribes
THE necessities arising from the outbreaking
of war between the North and the South
caused the almost total withdrawal of regular troops
from the Plains, leaving at some posts barely a cor
poral's guard as protection to Government proper
ty. The Indian tribes, uneasy before, were quick to
discover their opportunity for outbreak, and a vast
offensive alliance, involving nearly all the fighting
tribes of the Great Plains, was rapidly effected.
Scarcely had the great struggle for the preservation
of the nation begun before the savages burst forth
in terrible ferocity along the Western trails, confi
dent they could now murder and rob without danger
of immediate punishment. Unable to spare regular
troops with which to combat this sudden Indian
uprising, the Government despatched to the Plains
certain hastily organized, regiments of volunteers
which had been destined for the main army, while
the authorities of Kansas, Nebraska, and Colorado
mustered local organizations for the defence of
their own borders. By this time the two former
communities had attained to a considerable popula
tion, but grouped in the more eastern counties and
along the principal water-courses; the Plains
[233]

THE GREAT PLAINS
proper, being considered totally unfit for agricul
ture, remained in original desolation. In Colorado
a comparatively large population had suddenly
sprung up as a result of valuable gold discoveries
made in 1858. It was of the restless, adventurous
frontier type, admirably adapted to the exigencies
of Indian campaigning. The volunteer organiza
tions thus utilized for the protection of the border
found ample work confronting them, and saw much
of hardship and fighting.
Some Small Successes of the Soldiers
In 1862 the Second Colorado, under Colonel
Leavenworth, was the only force operating along
the Arkansas. It had headquarters at Fort Lyon,
formerly Fort Wise, and was kept exceedingly
busy by the constant depredations of raiding par
ties of Comanches and Kiowas. In January, 1863,
the First Colorado Cavalry, Colonel Chivington,
arrived at this post, and the Second Colorado
marched east to Forts Earned and Leavenworth for
the better protection of the Santa Fe Trail. In July
this force met an invasion of Texans at Cabin Creek,
and, after a sharp fight, in which the enemy lost
forty killed and wounded, drove the invaders back
across the Kansas border. The First Cavalry now
became the only armed force in the country north
of Fort Garland, and found plenty to do. Actual
field work, however, did not begin until 1864, when
the Indians made a raid on a herd of commissary
[234]

THE ARMY ON THE PLAINS
cattle, running off one hundred and seventy-five
head from a point forty miles southeast of Denver.
Lieutenant Ayre with a detachment followed,
and recovered twenty; one of his men was wounded.
Returning to the post for subsistence, the Lieuten
ant, with one hundred troopers and two Howitzers,
started again on the trail, and proceeded east al
most to Fort Earned. Near the head of the Re
publican and Smoky Hill Forks he ran into a band
of four hundred Cheyennes, and a desperate fight
ensued. The Indians charged the howitzers, rush
ing to the belching muzzles, and falling dead with
in reach of the gunners. About thirty were killed,
including the chief, the whites retiring victorious.
The same month, at Kiowa Creek, a similar inci
dent occurred, the Indian horse-thieves being this
time pursued vigorously by Lieutenant Clark Dunn,
with twenty troopers. His force attacked fifty
Cheyennes, but being armed only with revolvers
and sabres, it inflicted but little damage. Near the
junction of the South Platte, Major Downing, pur
suing a third raiding party, surprised a fortified
Indian camp, killed twenty-five, destroyed the vil
lage, and captured a hundred horses. Only one sol
dier was killed in this affair.
But in spite of these small successes, repeated
and horrible outrages increased. In June came the
murder of the Hungate family, and the stampede of
stock from the settlements along Box Elder Creek,
within a few miles of Denver. The Indians escaped.
[235]

THE GREAT PLAINS
In July a general Indian council was held at Paw
nee Fork, participated in by Cheyennes, Arapahoes,
Comanches, Apaches, and Kiowas. Promises
made at this time to the Indian agent were almost
immediately broken. Even while returning from
the peace council a band of Kiowas stampeded all
the stock at Fort Earned, and a few days later the
Arapahoes made a raid on the settlers along the
river. The situation was becoming most critical;
not more than six weeks' supply of food was left
in the Territory; mail communication with the
East was entirely suspended, messengers having
been killed, and the letters scattered to the winds.
Only one station was left standing for a distance
of one hundred and twenty miles, and for four
hundred miles the freighting wagons durst not brave
the trail. Outrages by Indians and by Colonel Chivington
In spite of the danger hovering over every mile
of the way, this year witnessed an immense emigra
tion to the Pacific. Nineteen thousand en route are
reported to have passed Fort Laramie. That a great
many were killed on the way is beyond question,
although no records were preserved. Many trains
reported having been attacked, and some of the emi
grants were obliged to desert their goods and cattle.
Of settlers residing within the limits of Colorado
more than two hundred were made victims. So
bold became the Indian raiders that they organ
ized for simultaneous attack on exposed settlements
[236]

THE ARMY ON THE PLAINS
miles apart. For thirty days no mails reached Den
ver, and no stages, or freighting trains moved in
Colorado. Then newly organized militia, under
General Teller, took the field and patrolled the
road between Denver and Julesburg, leaving the
First Cavalry to operate along the Arkansas. Be
yond thus opening up communication with the East
comparatively little was accomplished by either
force, time being frittered away in councils with
various small bands, some of whom surrendered.
One of these, composed of 400 Arapahoes and Chey
ennes, was sent to Sand Creek by the Indian agent,
practically as prisoners. Here, without any known
provocation, on November 27, Colonel Chiving
ton, with nine hundred men of the First Cavalry,
made a ferocious attack, killing 131 men, women,
and children, with a loss to the soldiers of fifty
killed and wounded. No justification of this act
of treachery has ever been advanced. The number
of troops now in the field held eastern Colorado
peaceful until the close of the Civil War.
Engagements with Sioux, Cheyennes, and Arapahoes
Farther to the north the Sioux broke into re
bellion as soon as the regular troops were with
drawn from their territory, and were assisted in
their raids by Cheyennes and Pawnees. Fort Lara
mie and the Black Hills became the more promi
nent storm centres. The first volunteer forces at
Laramie were two troops Fourth Iowa Cavalry,
one Sixth Ohio Cavalry, and one company Eighth
[237]

THE GREAT PLAINS
Kansas Infantry. There were constant changes,
however, the First and Eleventh Ohio Cavalry, the
Seventh Iowa and the Sixth Michigan all seeing
service at this exposed post. The first outbreak of
the Sioux swept the border settlements of Minne
sota in 1862, and was immediately followed by a
general uprising throughout the country of the
northern and central Plains. With the exception of
those few inhabitants gathered about the Overland
stage stations, there were not many permanent set
tlements at this date beyond the eastern Platte or
along the valley of the Missouri. But the stage
lines and freighting caravans suffered greatly, and
murder and robbery marked every mile of the
Trail. The year 1864 was the bloodiest of the pe
riod. General Sully, with 3,000 men, led an expe
dition directly into the Sioux country, and, at Deer
Stand, closed in battle with 15,000 warriors. The
Indians were defeated, losing 585 braves. Farther
west, in the Bad Lands, Sully fought them again,
and defeated them, but was unable to discover and
destroy their villages.
While this force was still operating in Dakota,
the Arapahoes were engaged in deadly work to the
south and west of Laramie, attacking emigrant
trains, and on several occasions burning alive pris
oners bound to their wagon wheels. Finally the
Sioux, breaking away before Sully's determined
advance, swept down through the Black Hills to
the Powder River, and united with their allies,
the Cheyennes. Several fierce but small engage-
[238]

INDIANS EXECUTING A WAR DANCE
( Stockaded Fori: in the Background )

<^,

AN INDIAN ENCAMPMENl

INDIAN LIFE ON THE GREAT PLAINS

THE ARMY ON THE PLAINS
ments occurred between their raiding parties and
detachments of troops from the Seventh Iowa
Cavalry, in the neighborhood of Julesburg. Men
of the Eleventh Ohio were also engaged, and gave
a good account of themselves, but these minor
fights did not serve to check the continued depreda
tions of the savages. Indians Sue for Peace
Several expeditions were organized, the most
important being that under command of General
Connor, for the purpose of clearing the road to
Montana, via the Powder and Big Horn Rivers. He
had with him a considerable force, consisting of
detachments from the Sixth and Seventh Michigan
Cavalry, two hundred Pawnee and Omaha scouts,
and a battery of the Second Missouri Artillery. The
column advanced to the head of the Tongue River
without encountering any hostiles, and the expedi
tion finally degenerated into a mere hunt after wild
game, in which the officers found much pleasure.
Yet this, with other movements and the concentra
tion of troops, now made possible by the ending of
the Civil War, told the chiefs of the Sioux nation,
the impossibility of longer safely continuing upon
the warpath. In October Swift Bear's band came
in to Laramie suing for peace, and reported that
others were ready to follow him. Peace Commis
sioners were appointed, and met in council with the
representatives of the various Sioux tribes. Satis
factory terms were agreed upon, and the Cheyennes
[239]

THE GREAT PLAINS
and Arapahoes joined with the majority of the
Sioux in a treaty of peace. Red Cloud, chief of the
Ogallala Sioux, refused to present himself at this
conference, and continued to express his dissat-
is faction and hostility. In the next few months his
following greatly increased, and he became suffi
ciently powerful to inaugurate another serious
outbreak. Praise for the Fighters of the Indians
The close of the war between the States caused
the mustering out of the volunteer troops, and the
despatching once more of regulars to the frontier
for the purpose of garrisoning the scattered posts.
No words can fitly honor the services rendered to
the West by the volunteer organizations then dis
banded. Inspired by patriotism, the men had of
fered themselves to the Government to help to save
the nation from dismemberment. They burned
with eagerness to be despatched to the front to bat
tle against those forces arrayed in arms against their
country. Instead, they were sent to the Indian-
raided frontier, and assigned to work of the most
disagreeable character. They were called upon to
suffer hardships, wounds, and death in profitless In
dian campaigning; to garrison isolated posts, and
to guard long lines of stage routes through barren
Plains. Without hope of honor, and without the
inspiration which arises from opportunities for
great achievements, their colors undecorated with
the names of noble battlefields, their service ob-
[240]

THE ARMY ON THE PLAINS
scure and known only to a few, these cornmands
performed the duty given them with patience and
fidelity. They marched and fought, they suffered
and died, they braved the fiery sun of midsummer
on arid Plains, the bitter storms of winter amid the
mountains. To their great sacrifice the West owes
much gratitude, and the nation may well be proud
of such worthy sons.

[241 T

CHAPTER XI
THE ARMY ON THE PLAINS— MASSACRE AT
FORT PHILIP KEARNEY
The Sioux Dissatisfied with the Treaty of Peace
THE mass of the Sioux warriors were never
satisfied with that treaty which a few minor
chiefs had signed at Fort Laramie. Under thfe-
leadership of Red Cloud, one of the greatest Indians
the Plains have produced, this opposition grew war
like and threatening. A mistake of the Gov
ernment at about this time tended to give these
malcontents courage and to swell their ranks. This
was the abandoning and dismantling of the military
posts of Fort Reno, Fort Philip Kearney, and Fort
C. F. Smith on the east side of the Big Horn Moun
tains. The Sioux were quick to construe this re
treat as exhibiting fear of their prowess, and the
result was a long, distressing struggle which did not
reach its conclusion until 1870.
Colonel Carrington Builds Fort Philip Kearney
The Story of Fort Philip Kearney during the
two years it remained garrisoned is one of the most
tragic in American history. Colonel Henry B.
Carrington was the officer selected to build this fort
in the far wilderness. With a little army of seven
hundred men, five hundred of whom were raw re
cruits, four pieces of artillery, and two hundred and
[242]

THE ARMY ON THE PLAINS
twenty-six wagons, he left Fort Kearney, Nebraska,
May 19, 1866. Trouble with the Indians was not
anticipated, as the peace treaty had already been
duly signed. Wives and children of several of the
officers accompanied the column, riding in ambu
lances, so satisfied were those in authority that they
were going upon a peaceful mission. The march
was slow, the distance great — more than six hun
dred miles to Fort Reno, at the crossing of the Pow
der River. Nearly all this distance the column
passed through the Sioux country, yet saw no hos
tile Indian, although it is probable their every step
was spied upon. On the twenty-eighth of June they
arrived at Fort Reno.
By this time the Indians, no longer having any
doubt as to their purpose, began annoying the
troops, obstructing their progress, and endeavoring
to stampede their stock. Thus discovering the
Sioux in warlike mood, Carrington, unwilling to
abandon Fort Reno, restockaded the fort, and gar
risoned it from his command. Then, accompanied
by a force now numbering barely five hundred, he
pushed forward into the farther wilderness. He se
lected as a site for the new fort a spot on the banks
of Big Piney Creek, an affluent of Powder River,
about four miles from the Big Horn Range, with
Cloud Peak towering above it nine thousand feet
into the air. This was on July 13, 1866. The men
fell promptly to work, cutting trees, preparing the
ground, and placing timbers in position, all anxious
to have the labor completed before the winter shut
' [243]

THE GREAT PLAINS
down upon them. This labor was carried forward
under the utmost difficulty, and in an atmosphere of
constant danger. Apparently they were from the
very first surrounded by hostile savages ; the wood-
choppers, the wood trains, the cattle, had to be pro
tected constantly by armed guards. Scarcely a day
passed without a death by violence. During the
first six months of occupancy the Indians killed one
hundred and fifty-four persons — soldiers and civil
ians, — wounded twenty more, and captured nearly
seven hundred animals. Early in October two con
tract surgeons, together with Lieutenant Grum-
mond and his young bride and an escort of eight
men arrived. As they reached the main gate they
had to wait the passage of a wagon bearing the
scalped and mutilated body of a soldier just killed.
It was a strange welcome to the young wife, almost
prophetic of another tragedy only two months
away. Siege of the Fort
By the thirty-first of October the troops were
fairly under cover, although the post was never
fully completed. The last log, however, was placed
in the stockade, and the garrison flag floated at the
apex of the staff. From that moment the troops
within the shelter of those log walls were in a state
of siege. The Indians fairly swarmed about, mak
ing several actual attacks in force, while every sup
ply train from the east had to fight its way through.
Twice the savages captured the post herd, grazing
under guard almost within rifle-shot of the stockade.
[244]

THE ARMY ON THE PLAINS
The wood train was still sent out seven miles to
Piney Island, but seldom returned without an at
tack. A lookout was kept stationed on Pilot Hill,
where he could signal the garrison for help on such
occasions. In this way a relief column was in
stantly despatched to assist the wagons to get in.
On the sixth of December such an attack was
made on the wood train when only two miles from
the fort, and Captain W. J. Fetterman was de
spatched with forty mounted men to its relief, while
Colonel Carrington, with another small command,
sought to outflank the savages. Fetterman drove
the Indians from the train, and pursued them four
miles, when, being reinforced, they suddenl} turned
and charged down upon him. Taken by surprise, a
part of the command gave way, leaving Fetterman,
Captain Brown, and Lieutenant Wands, with only
fourteen men, to face the advancing warriors. This
was done, however, until Carrington came up, but
cost the lives of Lieutenant Bingham and Sergeant
Bowers. By this time Red Cloud himself was in
command of the allied Sioux, and the little garrison
was permitted no rest.
Captain Fetterman Goes to Rescue a Wood Train
Only two weeks later, December 21, a similar
alarm was signalled in from Pilot Hill. A train
numbering ninety men, all armed, had been sent out
after more lumber. Suddenly the watchers of the
fort read the signalled message, " Many Indians on
wood road ; train corralled and fighting." This was
[245]

THE GREAT PLAINS
at eleven o'clock. Without delay eighty men were
despatched to the rescue, and, at his own request.
Captain Fetterman was put in command. Two
other officers. Captain Brown and Lieutenant
Grummond, accompanied the detachment as volun
teers, and two frontiersmen, Fisher and Wheatley,
who were armed with the recently invented Henry
repeating rifle, requested permission to go along.
About fifty of the soldiers carried Spencer repeat
ing carbines, the remainder being armed with
Springfield muzzle-loading rifles.
There has been much controversy over Carring-
ton's orders to Fetterman on his leaving the fort,
the contention being that the ardor of the latter of
ficer caused him to advance much farther than his
instructions warranted. Fetterman's scorn of the
Indians was well known, he having boasted that
with eighty men he could ride through the whole
Sioux nation. He now had his eighty men, and
the chance had come. On this occasion it would
seem that his orders were explicit, "on no account
to pursue the Indians beyond Lodge Tree Ridge."
With these words of caution yet ringing in his ears
Captain Fetterman led his little command forward
upon the Montana Road, crossed Big Piney Creek,
and passed to the southwest of Lodge Tree Ridge.
His purpose was evidently to cut off the Indians
who were still attacking the corralled wagon train.
But as he approached the foot-hills other Indians
suddenly appeared on his front and flank, and he
promptly swung his men forward up the hill to the
[246]

THE ARMY ON THE PLAINS
ridge. Just before twelve o'clock his skirmishers
occupied the crest.
All this could be plainly seen from the fort.
Shortly after, the Indians withdrew from their at
tack on the wood train, and at about the same time
Fetterman's men, advancing as skirmishers, swept
over the apex of the ridge and disappeared from
view. Some scattered firing was heard, which
shortly developed into a steady, continuous roar of
rifles. Every listening man realized that desperate,
savage fighting was going on out yonder in Peno
Creek Valley. Colonel Carrington despatched As
sistant Surgeon Hines with one man to the wood
train, which was already starting to move in toward
the fort. If his professional services were not needed
there, Hines was instructed to endeavor to reach
Fetterman. The two rode at full speed, passed the
train, and headed their horses straight for Peno
Creek. But Lodge Trail Ridge was black with In
dians, and, finding it impossible to get through, the
two dashed back to the fort with the report of what
they had seen. Fetterman and his Band Slain
Carrington did not hesitate. Leaving barely
soldiers enough to defend the post, he sent Captain
Ten Eyck forward to the rescue with seventy-
six men, mounted on every horse or mule to be
found. Hines went with Ten Eyck, and the little
command dashed straight for the ridge. Still
afraid he had not sent out a sufficient force. Colonel
[247]

THE GREAT PLAINS
Carrington hastily mustered forty more men, and
sent them forward after Ten Eyck on the run. Only
one hundred and nineteen were now left to man the
walls of the fort and defend it in case of attack.
As Ten Eyck pushed on, the sound of shots in the
valley beyond the ridge died entirely away; and,
when, at about one o'clock, his line of battle finally
reached the summit, no sound reached them but the
yelling of the savages. There was an inch or two of
snow on the hills, and footprints were plainly visi
ble showing where Fetterman's men had gone down
into the valley. But nothing could be seen of them
now. The entire valley seemed filled with warriors,
crazed with victory, brandishing their weapons, and
yelling defiance. Taunting and cursing, they dared
the little band to come down. But Ten Eyck durst
not move, and finally the Indian mass in his front
began to move away, possibly fearing a flank at
tack from the train guard.
Cautiously, and realizing that two thousand In
dians were still somewhere in his front. Ten Eyck
swung his little command forward in line of battle
down the slope. Half a mile in advance they
mounted a small ridge which had obstructed their
view, and near which the greater number of Indians
had lately been massed. As they cleared its summit
they came upon a sickening sight. Lying in a
space less than fifty feet square, were the bodies of
Captains Fetterman and Brown, with sixty-five en
listed men. They presented all the nameless horrors
of Indian mutilation. But to these gallant com-
[248]

THE ARMY ON THE PLAINS
rades of the relief force gazing down helplessly
upon the awful scene of carnage, the horror was in
tensified by the evidence that this had been mas
sacre, not battle. Nothing told of struggle, there
were no signs of protracted defence; on the ground
lay only five or six empty cartridge shells. What
had really happened came home to those men of the
relief column instantly, — Fetterman had started
forth with insufficient ammunition, and with empty
guns and empty cartridge belts, his men had been
ridden down by the frenzied warriors, shot, speared
and clubbed to death. Officers and men went down
together struggling hopelessly to the last.
Although Lieutenant Grummond, several of the
enlisted men, and the two civilians were not among
those found lying in this ring of death. Captain
Ten Eyck did not think it advisable to push his
small force any farther forward. The short De
cember day was already beginning to wane, and a
courier was hastily despatched to the fort with the
news, and a request for wagons in which to bring in
the dead bodies. Two were sent, and forty-nine of
the dead, all they would accommodate, placed upon
them, and after dark the relief column, with their
ghastly charge, reached the safety of the stockade.
The next morning they found the others. A quar
ter of a mile in advance of where Fetterman had
died were the bodies of Lieutenant Grummond and
the missing soldiers. But they had evidently fallen
after fighting desperately. All about them were
dead ponies and patches of blood crimsoning the
[249]

THE GREAT PLAINS
snow, while the ground was strewn with empty
cartridge shells. Fisher and Wheatley were dis
covered together, a short distance away from the
others, where they had taken shelter behind a pile
of rocks. The frontiersmen had sold their lives
dearly, for there were sixty goiits of blood, and ten
dead Indian ponies within rifle shot of their posi
tion, while about them lay more than fifty emptied
cartridge shells.
Little by little the facts of this terrible event
came out by examination of the field and the bodies
of the dead. Of all those men who fell in mass to
gether only four, beside the two officers, had been
struck by bullets. Helpless to defend themselves
against the multitude of their enemies they had been
killed by arrows, tomahawks, or spears, their last
moments spent in torture. Brown and Fetterman
were lying side by side, each with a bullet wound
in the left temple. These had been fired so closely
that the faces were burned and blackened with pow
der. Time and again both had sworn to die rather
than be taken alive, and it is probable that in that
moment of extremity they had kept their vows. It
was made clear that the men had fought until their
ammunition was exhausted, and then had either
been ordered to retreat, or had started toward the
fort without orders. All the dead cavalry horses
lay with heads toward the fort. A retreat under
such conditions meant annihilation. Grummond
and his men probably fell in a heroic effort to cover
1250]

THE ARMY ON THE PLAINS
the retreat. This, at least, seems to be the story of
the field. Colonel Carrington's March in a Blizzard
It was now midwinter, and the depleted garri
son were shut up tightly within the stockade. Yet
even under such conditions the War Department
ordered Colonel Carrington to proceed to Fort Cas
par. He was to be relieved of the command at
Kearney by his Lieutenant-colonel, with four com
panies of the Eighteenth Infantry. The weather
was severe, the snow banked almost to the top of
the stockade, but, in the face of a blizzard, the
march began. With Colonel Carrington were his
wife and children, while Mrs. Grummond bore
with iier the remains of her husband. It was a jour
ney of horror, during which the entire party nar
rowly escaped freezing to death. More than half
the sixty- five composing the company were severely
frost-bitten; three amputations and one death re
sulted from this unnecessary and cruel order. Thus
ended this awful tragedy; less than a year later, al
most on the same spot, came the opportunity for re
venge.

[251]

CHAPTER XII
THE ARMY ON THE PLAINS— THIRTY-TWO
AGAINST THREE THOUSAND
Captain Powell Escorts a Squad of Wood-Cutters
THE killing of Fetterman's command gave
great prestige to Red Cloud, and thousands
of braves hastened to join him. More closely than
ever did the rejoicing warriors invest Fort Kearney.
Even through the bitter winter they continued to
harass the garrison, and with the coming of spring
every line of communication was sundered. When
summer arrived. Red Cloud determined on open
war and the razing of the fort to the ground. For
this purpose he gathered together no less than three
thousand warriors, the pick of all the Sioux fight
ing men. His plan was to make a direct attack
August I, 1867; in the meantime his skirmishing
parties kept the soldiers so closely invested that they
could learn little regarding his movements. Cir
cumstances, however, compelled the wily old Chief
to act earlier, and in the open. On the thirty-first
of July a party of civilian wood-cutters were sent
out from the fort to Piney Island, seven miles dis
tant. They had with them fourteen wagons, and
were guarded by Company C, Twenty-Seventh In
fantry, numbering fifty-one men, the officers being
[252]

THE ARMY ON THE PLAINS
Captain James Powell, and Lieutenant John C.
Jenness. The trip out was made without incident,
but upon arriving there the civilian contractor di
vided his squad of wood-cutters, so that Powell, in
order to protect them while at work, was compelled
to send a portion of his small guarding force with
each party. A non-commissioned officer, with
twelve men, was selected to care for those in
the woods; thirteen men, under another non-com
missioned officer, were detailed to escort the
wagons. With the remaining twenty-six men and
his lieutenant, Powell established headquarters near
the centre of a level plain, perhaps a thousand
yards across, and surrounded by low hills.
In hauling cord-wood only the running-gear of
the wagons was used, and now, as the cutters fell
promptly to work, the wagon boxes were removed.
Powell at once had them arranged in the form of
a wide oval in the very centre of this open Plain.
They were deep, sufficiently so to conceal anyone
lying in them. Loop-holes for rifle firing were
made, and at the two ends of the oval two complete
wagons were posted, so arranged as to break the
force of a charge of horsemen. The space between
these wagon boxes was packed with logs and sacks
of grain, thus making a strong defence. Company
C had just had issued to them the new Allen model
of the Springfield breech-loading rifle, and their
stock of ammunition was ample for all purposes.
Red Cloud, his plans nearly completed for an
attack on the fort, determined that he would now
[253]

THE GREAT PLAINS
begin by wiping out this detachment guarding the
wood-cutters. He had no reason to suppose this
would be a difficult operation. Powell's men were
on the ground two days, however, before the In
dians were prepared to commence their attack upon
him. On the second of August, about nine in the
morning, full two hundred braves dashed suddenly
down upon the mule herd. The herders fought
with determination, but finally lost their animals.
At the same time five hundred other Indians made
a fierce attack upon the wood train. The wood
cutters and their guard were driven back, abandon
ing their loads, four of the choppers being killed.
Powell made a sortie from his improvised fort and
drew the Indian fire, thus giving the men of the
wood train, as well as the herders, an opportunity
for escape; but he was driven back to the shelter
of the corral. Finding the others were beyond
reach, the savages now turned all their attention
upon Powell. Rout of Red Cloud's Warriors
Before the scattered bands could be concen
trated, Powell was ready. For the defence of the
corral he had with him his lieutenant, twenty-six
enlisted men, and four civilians, thirty-two in all.
The few moments permitted for preparation were
utilized to their fullest extent. The day previous
they had received a wagonload of clothing and
blankets. Not yet unbaled, this clothing was used
to strengthen weak places in the corral, while the
[254]

^N 'S»

RED CLOUD
CHIEF OF THE OGALLA SIOUX

THE ARMY ON THE PLAINS
blankets were spread over the wagon boxes the bet
ter to conceal the riflemen. Boxes of extra ammuni^
tion were opened and placed in easy reach ; revol
vers, axes, hatchets were scattered wherever they
might prove most convenient, and pails filled with
water for instant use in case of fire. Then, expect
ing to die, but determined to fight to the very last
shot, the men took their places in the wagon boxes,
their anxious eyes peering forth through the loop
holes. They had not long to wait Suddenly the hill
sides and valleys rang with the exultant war-whoops
of more than two thousand warriors, and five hun
dred mounted Cheyennes and Arapahoes, their ri
fles in hand, swept out of the concealing woods,
less than half a mile distant, and charged straight
at that silent corral. No chief or brave dreamed
such onslaught could fail. In utter contempt of the
few whites lying behind those weak defences in the
open Plain, they dashed recklessly forward, yelling
their war cries. Half the distance was covered, and
the corral remained grimly silent, exhibiting no
sign of life. Fifty yards farther the quirt-lashed
ponies leaped, and then, thirty rifles were flaming
in their faces. Forsyth writes:
" On dash the warriors, though death shrieks now mingle
with their war cries, and warriors and horses go down together;
still the onrushing mass never hesitates or halts in its mad
whirl, and recklessly sweeps over the fallen warriors as it
dashes onward in a vain endeavor to hurl its weight on the
little fire-vomiting corral, but so rapid and destructive is its fire
that, before they are within ten yards of it, the horses recoil.
[255]

THE GREAT PLAINS
In vain do the warriors sweep out and surround it. From every
segment of the circle rifles send forth death-dealing bullets, and
not for an instant does the fire slacken or cease."
In desperate effort the savages pour in a galling
fire, but to no effect. The roar of the defending
rifles ceases not, and with cries of rage the Indians
break and turn. Even as they flee wildly for the
woods the rifles of the corral bring them down, dot
ting the open with men and horses.
The result of this charge left the Indians puz
zled and exasperated, and the little garrison confi
dent and full of hope. Three men, including
Lieutenant Jenness, had been killed, but the hand
ful left hastily repaired their defences, reloaded
their spare guns, and lay down to wait. To Red
Cloud and his warriors that corral hid a mystery —
how could those few white men pour in such an
endless fire? They knew nothing then of the pow
ers of the breech-loading Springfield, or of those
extra rifles lying beside each soldier, ready to be
snatched up in an instant. But they were not yet
defeated; more determined than ever to wipe this
white detachment from the earth, eager to revenge
their dead, the whole force prepared to advance on
foot, confident still of crushing the defenders of the
corral by sheer force of numbers. Having stripped
themselves of everything but arms and ammunition,
seven hundred warriors stole forward under cover
until they were within long range distance of the
corral. Spreading out so as completely to surround
[256]

THE ARMY ON THE PLAINS
this primitive fort, they opened a terrific fire from
all sides. Crouching low in the shelter of the wagon
boxes, the soldiers refused to reply, the corral re
maining grimly silent.
Suddenly, all the Indians left alive, nearly three
thousand in number, led in person by a nephew of
Red Cloud, sprang to their feet, and with wild
yells, dashed headlong forward. No sooner were
they within short rifle range than the corral blazed
again, the hidden men actually pouring bullets into
the massed hordes, the steady fire never slackening
for an instant. Flesh and blood could not stand
such awful strain. Again and again the enraged
braves swarmed forward, and once only, their des
perate advance reached within a few feet of the
corral ; but the deadly fire withered them, and they
were actually blown back from the flaming muzzles
of the guns. Utterly demoralized and panic-stricken,
the great mass broke, and fled beyond range.
In the safety of the woods the chiefs rallied their
braves, and led them forth again and again to the
attack. ' Six times in three hours those warriors
dashed forward, and were hurled back before the
ceaseless rifles. The ground about the corral was
ringed with Indians slain. Close beside the wagon
boxes they were piled in heaps, and farther away
they were scattered over the Plain. Unknown to
those gallant defenders, whose ammunition was by
now running low, the end had come, their fierce
assailants had had enough of slaughter.
[257]

THE GREAT PLAINS
A Rescue Party from the Fort
Convinced that further attack was useless, be
lieving that some horrible magic, some " bad medi
cine," protected those hidden white men. Red
Cloud's sole remaining object was the removal of
the Indian dead. To accomplish this his skirmish
ers went forward again, pouring a heavy fire into
the corral. Under this cover, and protected by
stout shields of buffalo-hide, warriors crept for
ward, attaching lariats to the bodies, and thus
drawing them away. In this manner they suc
ceeded in recovering the larger number, but had
not completed the task, when suddenly a shell burst
in their midst, and a rescuing party from the fort
appeared in the open. The Indians at once retired.
Estimate of the Slaughter
This defence of thirty-two men, poorly pro
tected by entrenchments, against a well-armed force
of three thousand is almost without parallel in his
tory. Within the corral only three men were killed
and two wounded. Not until a year after the fight
was the Indian loss definitely ascertained, and then
they acknowledged their killed and wounded to
have been one thousand, one .hundred and thirty-
seven. This means that each man in the corral had
stricken down at least thirty-six Indians. One of
the frontiersmen told Colonel Dodge that he had
kept eight guns hot to the hand for three hours.
Almost all the water placed in the wagon boxes
for emergencies of fire, was used to cool the heated
[258]

THE ARMY ON THE PLAINS
guns. The tops of the wagon boxes were literally
torn to pieces by the Indian bullets, but the men,
lying low, were protected by gunny-sacks of corn
placed on edge two deep on the inside of every box.
At the point where the four sacks met was a two-
inch auger hole through which the rifles were
sighted. Two men defended each wagon box.
The next fall a new treaty was entered into with
the Indians, and the post at Fort Kearney, which
had witnessed such a stormy life, was abandoned,
the troops being withdrawn. The savages at once
burned it to the ground, and it was never reoccu
pied. But even this concession — almost open sur
render — on the part of the Government failed to
end the hostility of the Cheyennes and Sioux.

[259]

CHAPTER XIII
THE ARMY ON THE PLAINS— THE FIGHT ON
THE ARICKAREE
The Tribes Oppose the Building of the Railroad
THE abandonment of forts, and the signing of
treaties, brought no real end to hostilities on
the Plains. Wider and wider the trouble seemed
to spread, and it soon became evident that a de
fensive alliance existed between the fighting tribes
east of the Rocky Mountains, which could be dis
solved only by actual war. The necessity of strik
ing hard blows and the campaigning over a broad
section of territory became imperative. The build
ing of the Union Pacific Railroad, now well under
way, was the deep underlying cause for this fierce
fighting spirit which had taken possession of the
warriors of the Plains. They were making their last
stand before the advance of civilization, and it was
a desperate and bloody one.
Outrages
Immediately after the withdrawal of troops
from the abandoned northern forts, bands
of Sioux began raiding the line of railroad under
construction, and overran the country southward
into Colorado. They stirred the Arapahoes and
[260]

THE ARMY ON THE PLAINS
Southern Cheyennes into uniting with them, and
thus spread destruction and death over a wide ex
panse. A few of the more atrocious deeds commit
ted at this time will prove the justification of the
army campaign which followed. August 4, two
hundred Cheyennes, four Arapahoes, and twenty
Sioux started out from Pawnee Fork. A few days
later they were at a small settlement on the Saline,
being kindly received; and they repaid that kind
ness with a treacherous attack. Two white men
were killed, and several women captured and in
humanly treated. From here they crossed to the
Solomon, destroyed the houses, killed thirteen men,
and ravished all the women. The same horrors
were continued along the sparse settlements of the
Republican; but before news could be carried to
Fort Harker, the nearest post, the band broke up
and disappeared. The pursuing troops had a fight
with the rear guard and rescued a few captive
children. Meanwhile the Governors of both Colorado and
Kansas were reporting other outrages to the Wash
ington authorities. Both threatened to call out
State troops to defend their people. The Indians
attacked settlements within twelve miles of Den
ver; they captured and burned a train at Pawnee
Fork, killing, scalping, and torturing sixteen men ;
they attacked another train at the Cimarron Cross
ing, and compelled its abandonment. In one
month, they killed or captured eighty-four settlers.
Scarcely a day passed without a fresh story of out-
[261]'

THE GREAT PLAINS
rage. After laboring in vain for peace, and making
earnest efforts to induce the tribes to return quietly
to their reservations. General Sheridan, then com
manding the Department of the Missouri, reluct
antly decided that nothing excepting war would
ever end the depredations and massacres. With
characteristic energy he at once took the field in
person. His first efforts were to subdue the
Cheyennes, who were already in open rebellion
under their two great war-chiefs Roman Nose, and
Black Kettle. As it chanced, the first grapple came
with Roman Nose.
Colonel Forsyth and his Scouts
One of General Sheridan's earliest acts was to
detail Colonel George A. ("Sandy") Forsyth, of
his staff to the command of a band of scouts, to be
organized for this special campaign from the ranks
of well-known frontiersmen. As second in com
mand he had Lieutenant Frederick H. Beecher.
Within five days the fifty volunteers desired were
enrolled. It was a remarkable body of men, nearly
all veterans of the Civil War on one side or the
other, and seasoned Plainsmen. J. H. Mooers was
the surgeon ; the first sergeant, W. H. H. McCall,
had commanded a volunteer regiment; and the
guide was Sharpe Grover, one of the most skilful
on the Plains. Their equipment was simple but
sufficient, — a blanket apiece, saddle and bridle, a
lariat and picket-pin, a canteen, a haversack, a
butcher knife, a Spencer repeating rifle (seven
[262]

THE ARMY ON THE PLAINS
shots), a Colt's revolver (army size), and a hundred
and forty rounds of rifle ammunition, and thirty
rounds of revolver ammunition, per man. The pack
train was limited to four mules bearing camp ket
tles, picks, and shovels, four thousand extra rounds
of ammunition, some medicine, and extra rations
of salt and coffee. Each officer and man carried
seven days' cooked rations in his haversack.
They Follow a Band of Raiders to the Arickaree
August 29, 1868, this body of scouts were sent
forward, with orders to " move across the head
waters of Solomon [River] to Beaver Creek, thence
down that Creek to Fort Wallace." They com
pleted this trip without adventure, but on arriving
at Fort Wallace they heard of an attack made the
evening before, on a freighter's train thirteen miles
away, in which two teamsters were killed. Leav
ing two of his men sick in the post hospital, Forsyth
pressed forward swiftly, hoping to strike the trail
of the Indians. This was picked up, followed all
one day and part of the next, when it suddenly dis
appeared, the savages having scattered. For five
days the men scouted in a wide circle, hoping to
discover where the members of the band became
united once more. In this effort they were finally
successful, striking the trail again on the north bank
of the Republican River. From here on it was like
a beaten road, plainly bearing evidence of the pass
age of large numbers. But, in spite of expressed ap
prehension on the part of some of the men, Forsyth
[263]

THE GREAT PLAINS
and the veterans with him determined to press
grimly on, anxious for a fight.
September 15, just before sunset, the little troop
rode down through a ravine into a valley about
two miles wide, through which ran a little river
called the Arickaree. They made camp on the
south bank. No Indians had been seen, but every
man in the party believed them close at hand, and
no precautions were neglected. The bed of the
river was about one hundred and forty yards wide,
the banks covered with wild plums, willows, and
alders. The greater part of this river bed, owing
to lack of rain at that season, was dry and hard, but
for four or five yards about an island in the middle
the water ran slowly with depth not exceeding a
foot. This island, which must have been entirely
submerged in time of high water, was now about
twenty yards wide and sixty yards long, and its
upper end arose perhaps two feet above the
water level, being covered with a thick growth of
stunted bushes; the lower end sloped to the edge
of the water, and held one single cottonwood tree.
They are Besieged on an Island
The night passed quietly, the guards were on the
alert, and Forsyth made regular rounds to each
post. In the early dawn, a band, creeping toward
them through the grass, endeavored to stampede the
horses, but the men were instantly on their feet, and
drove back the invaders with a sharp fire. A few
moments later, the command now drawn up in line
[264]

A NIGHT ATTACK UPON THE CAMP

AN EMIGRANT TRAIN PREPARING FOR DEFENCE
SCENES CHARACTERISTIC OF INDIAN ATTACKS

THE ARMY ON THE PLAINS
ready for mounting, Grover suddenly gave a cry
of surprise and pointed down the valley. It was
such a sight as few white men have ever witnessed
and lived to tell of it. In front, on right, and in
rear the surrounding hills and valleys seemed fairly
thronged with Indians. They appeared as if by
magic. To the left alone did there seem oppor
tunity for escape, but the very fact that an opening
was left appeared to Forsyth like a cunning invi
tation to ambush. They wanted him to go in that
direction, and therefore he instantly decided other
wise. He saw no place where his little handful
might hope to stand against that encircling host,
except upon the island. It was not much of a place
for defence, but it was the one strategic spot within
their reach. They must save their ammunition ; all
else could be abandoned, — medical stores, rations,
everything, but not that. Pouring a heavy fire into
the Indians, Forsyth ordered the retreat to the
island under cover of the smoke. It was accom
plished without loss. Protected by a squad of ex
pert riflemen, the others crossed the river bed, tied
their horses to the bushes about the edge of the
island, and, dividing into squads, while some kept
up a galling fire, under protection of which the
rear-guard joined them, the remainder hastily set
to work digging rifle-pits in the sand. They had
nothing to do this with but tin cups, tin plates and
bowie knives, yet they managed to scoop out one
pit for each man, so placed as to defend the upper,
higher end of the island. The pit Surgeon Mooers
[265]

THE GREAT PLAINS
had dug was a little wider than the others, and,
after walking about until certain that all his men
were under cover, Forsyth took refuge there.
Finding their first effort at surprise had failed,
the Indians exhibited considerable military skill in
planning for attack on the entrenched whites.
Roman Nose, who was in command, had with him
about a thousand warriors. Their squaws and chil
dren were sent back to the bluffs, whence they could
view the fight without danger; then dismounted
braves were sent forward to the banks of the river
bed, and ordered to sweep the exposed island with
rifle fire. As these banks were higher than the
island, the Indian riflemen had great advantage,
pouring in a plunging fire, compelling the whites
to dig deeper and throw up hasty entrenchments
to rear as well as front. At first the horses suffered
most, but as these were shot down the bullets began
to reach the men. Several of the scouts were killed,
others wounded, some mortally. Dr. Mooers was
hit in the forehead, and although he remained alive
three days, was blind and speechless, Forsyth was
struck three times, once in the right thigh, once
in the forehead, and a bullet smashed the bone of
his leg between knee and ankle. His pain was ex
cruciating, but was borne without a murmur, and
not for an instant did he fail to retain command.
They Drive Back the Indians
Realizing the deadliness of this rifle fire, Roman
Nose determined to charge with his horsemen.
Forming them, five hundred strong, behind the
[266]

THE ARMY ON THE PLAINS
cover of a bend in the stream, he led them forward
in person, mounted upon a magnificent chestnut
horse. The warriors behind him trotted up the
river bed in open order, forming eight ranks and
extending from bank to bank. Naked, except for
cartridge belt and box, riding saddleless, yelling
fiercely, their rifles flung forward, the frenzied
riders dashed on recklessly, being determined to
sweep that island with one headlong charge. But
Forsyth and his men were ready. The withdrawal
of the horsemen around the bend had been sufficient
warning to these border fighters of what was com
ing. Now they waited grimly on their knees, every
deadly rifle poised, for the single word of command.
Forsyth, barely able to move, pulled himself to a
sitting posture, so that he could see over the ridge
of sand. The thunder of hoofs was almost on them
when he shouted "Now!" In one awful volley the
levelled rifles blazed ; again and again, almost with
out cessation, the storm of lead swept into the head
of that advance. Down went horses and men, but
they came on in a seemingly resistless torrent. Not
until the sixth volley tore through those bleeding,
staggering, blinded ranks, did they break and turn
aside. It was then Roman Nose and his horse went
crashing down, shot to pieces at the very edge of
the island. Scarcely three feet behind were his
horsemen, but the frontiersmen poured in their
seventh volley, and all who lived scurried away,
hugging their horses' sides as they swept down the
stream out of the zone of fire.
[267]

THE GREAT PLAINS

Lieutenant Beecher Slain

But though driven back, their great chief killed,
the river bed strewn with slain, the Indians were
not yet defeated. Again their riflemen lined the
bank and concentrated their fire on the island.
Lieutenant Beecher was struck, but succeeded in
dragging himself over to Forsyth and said quietly,
"I have my death wound. General; I am shot in
the side, and dying."
" Oh, no, Beecher, no. It can't be as bad as that."
"Yes, good-night," and he sank into uncon
sciousness. At two o'clock the warriors tried another charge
of horsemen, but this time their rush broke a hun
dred yards from the island. At six o'clock they
made a third and more desperate attempt, some
actually reaching the pits, but were hurled back
with fearful loss. Sufferings of the Besieged
When nightfall came the scattered white defend
ers were able to count up their fatalities and clearly
comprehend the situation. The scene was one of
surpassing horror. Out of fifty-one officers and
men twenty-three had been hurt, six dead or dying,
and eight critically wounded. The suffering of the
injured was pitiful, and, with no medical supplies,
and the surgeon dying, the men were unable to
aid them. Water could be had by digging down
through the sand, but there were no rations. The
[268]

THE ARMY ON THE PLAINS
men sustained life by cutting strips of flesh from the
bodies of the dead horses. With night came a
heavy rain, and the scouts dug deeper in stern prep
aration for the morrow.
Under the cover of darkness two men were se
lected to try to get through the Indian lines to Fort
Wallace, one hundred miles away. Every man able
to travel volunteered for this desperate service, but
the two chosen were Trudeau, a veteran plainsman,
and Jack Stillwell, a lad of nineteen. Taking off
their boots, and walking backwards down the bed
of the river, they began their fearful trip, and, not
until long days after did those comrades left behind
know their fate, and the story of successful achieve
ment. With the early morning came a renewed
attack by the Indians, who had expected Forsyth
and his men to attempt a retreat during the night.
This was easily repulsed, and the savages settled
down for a siege, closely investing the island, and
keeping up a constant rifle fire from the protection
of the higher banks.
The men were now facing starvation. The
weather was extremely hot, and the sufferings of the
wounded were frightful. They still had horse-flesh,
but it was rapidly becoming unfit for use. Not for
an instant did they dare relax their vigilance. All
day long they lay under heavy rifle fire. That night
two other scouts were sent out with a message for
help, but were unable to get through the Indian
lines, and came creeping back just before daybreak.
The third day dragged along under the same
[269]

THE GREAT PLAINS
conditions, the slightest exposure of a white man
the signal for an Indian volley. That night the two
message-bearers sent forth succeeded in getting
away safe. The dawn of the fourth day disclosed the
departure of all the squaws and children from the
distant hills, but the warriors still remained watch
ful and eager to kill. Forsyth's wound in the leg
was so painful that he cut the bullet out himself
with a razor, and found great relief. Men, crawl
ing cautiously about, their slightest exposure en
dangering their lives, ministered to the injured as
best they could. Arrival of a Relief Column
The fifth day brought them nearly to the verge
of despair, for the horse-flesh was by now putrid
and unfit to eat. An unlucky coyote wandered onto
the island and was killed. During the day the
Indian fire died down ; but when Forsyth was lifted
up on a blanket, believing the savages had re
treated, a sudden fusilade from the bank caused
one of the men to drop his corner of the blanket,
and the commander fell upon his wounded leg, in
juring it severely. When the sixth day came, it was
evident the Indians had finally withdrawn, al
though there was still some likelihood that they
hoped thus to lure forth the little garrison and am
buscade them in the hills. Forsyth, however, be
lieved their disappearance was final, and he called
his men about him. Then he bade all those able
to travel to start for Fort Wallace, as it was
[270]

THE ARMY ON THE PLAINS
uncertain whether any of their messengers had got
through. As for himself and the other wounded,
they would have to stay there and take their
chances, until help arrived. This proposition was
at first received in surprised silence, then with in
dignant refusal from the lips of every man. Not
one left the island. For two days longer, with
nothing to eat but wild plums, they held their rifle-
pits, knowing from an Indian vedette on the bluffs,
that they were under constant observation. On the
morning of the ninth day the relief column came,
consisting of Colonel Carpenter and a troop of the
Tenth Cavalry. Forsyth's scouts had fought the
greatest fight in the history of the West.

[271]

CHAPTER XI\^
THE ARMY ON THE PLAINS— THE SURPRISE
OF BLACK KETTLE
General Sheridan Determines on a Winter Campaign
THE decisive defeat administered to Roman
Nose's band, and the death of their leader,
ended their raids as an armed body. But Black
Kettle still remained in the field with a much larger
force, now recruited by those warriors who had
survived the fight on the Arickaree. Moving south
ward, this force became the source of much trouble
along the Arkansas, and the Santa Fe Trail. Hop
ing to strike these savages a severe and unexpected
blow. General Sheridan decided to organize a win
ter campaign against their villages. Campaigning
on the Great Plains in winter was so filled with
danger that heretofore it had never been attempted
by troops operating in any considerable number.
The terrible storms which swept over the level
country, as well as the difficulty of finding subsist
ence for animals at that season, rendered such an
experiment perilous in the extreme. Yet it pos
sessed advantages also. The Indians felt so abso
lutely safe at this season as to take little precaution
against surprise. Firmly convinced that no troops
could operate under such conditions as a Western
winter presented, the savages sought some secluded
valley, pitched their tepees, and then rested in
[272]

THE ARMY ON THE PLAINS
security, awaiting the coming of spring. It was
knowledge of this Indian confidence that deter
mined Sheridan's resolve, even against the advice
of others. Here was opportunity for surprise, for
the striking of a crushing blow when least expected.
Need for Speedy Action to Stop Outrages
That there was abundant need for such action
is evidenced by the incomplete statistics relating
to Indian outrages in this department of the Mis
souri during the latter half of 1868. While during
this period only eleven Indians were reported as
having been killed, and one wounded, one hundred
and fifty-seven whites were left dead on the Plain;
fifty-seven wounded, of whom forty-one were
scalped; fourteen women outraged and later mur
dered; one man, four women, and twenty-four chil
dren made prisoners; one thousand, six hundred
and twenty-seven horses, mules, and cattle stolen;
twenty-four ranches or settlements destroyed ; eleven
stagecoaches attacked; and four wagon trains an
nihilated. And this record is of settlers, not
soldiers. That the latter did not escape unscathed
was shown by the killing of Lieutenant Kidder and
thirteen men of the Second Cavalry, while scouting
south of the Platte.
As winter came on reports reached Sheridan that
Black Kettle's band had gone south and established
a permanent winter camp somewhere along the
Washita. The General at once prepared for action.
Establishing supply depots at Monument Creek in
[273]

THE GREAT PLAINS
southern Kansas, near the headwaters of the North
Canadian, each well garrisoned by troops who were
ordered to scout thoroughly all the surrounding
country, the main force destined to active opera
tion in the field were rendezvoused at the junction
of Beaver Creek and the North Canadian River, in
Indian Territory. This point was about one hun
dred miles south of Fort Dodge, and became known
as Camp Supply. Here were consolidated eleven
troops of the Seventh United States Cavalry, four
companies of infantry, and a newly recruited vol
unteer organization, the Eleventh Kansas Cavalry.
George A. Custer, Lieutenant-colonel of the
Seventh, was assigned to the command.
Custer Begins his March
Custer started on his dangerous march at four
o'clock the morning of November 23. The ther
mometer was below zero, a foot of snow on
the ground, and snow still falling furiously. To
Sheridan's question as to what he thought of it,
the gallant cavalry leader replied instantly, "It's
all right; we can move, the Indians can't." The
storm as they advanced increased to a blizzard, and
the Indian guides lost their way, but the officers
led the band by resorting to their pocket com
passes, and finally the patient, suffering column
made camp on Wolf Creek, after a march of fif
teen miles. The heavily laden wagon train also
succeeded in getting through the storm, and
reached camp soon after the arrival of the troops.
[274]

THE ARMY ON THE PLAINS
The next morning the blizzard had somewhat
abated, but the thermometer stood seven degrees be
low zero, with eighteen inches of snow covering the
prairie. All that day and the next the troopers
struggled on up the valley of Wolf Creek. By
the twenty-seventh they were upon the Canadian,
and here Major Elliott, with three troops, was sent
on a scout up the valley seeking some Indian trail
as a guide. The others put in several hours' hard
labor in getting their wagon train across the river
through the floating ice; but by eleven o'clock all
were once more out upon the level Plains. Here
one of Elliott's men joined them with news that
he had discovered the fresh track of an Indian war
party, fully one hundred and fifty strong, and had
already followed it south across the river.
He Reaches the Indian Camp
Promptly leaving the slower-moving wagon
train under heavy guard to follow as rapidly as pos
sible, Custer pushed out with his remaining cavalry
men to overtake Elliott. Each trooper carried one
hundred rounds of ammunition, besides coffee, hard
bread, and a small amount of forage. The weather
had moderated somewhat, and the little column
took a direct line across the open Plain, the lead
ing troop being constantly relieved from the ex
haustive labor of breaking a passage through the
deep snow. At nine o'clock that evening they made
connection with Elliott, and the weary troopers and
their mounts enjoyed an hour's rest under the steep
[275]

THE GREAT PLAINS
banks of a creek. Then they were at it again, fol
lowing the trail by moonlight, the Osages in ad
vance under California Joe and a scout named Cor-
bin. There was a feeling throughout the entire
force that the hostiles could not be far distant, and
every movement was made with the utmost caution.
Not a loud word was spoken, and strict orders were
given the men against lighting a match or smoking
a pipe. Suddenly one of the Indian scouts reported
that he smelt fire, and the column instantly halted
while the Osages crept stealthily forward to inves
tigate. Half a mile ahead a small camp-fire,
recently deserted, yet smouldered in a bunch of
timber. There was reason to believe it had been
kindled by Indian boys herding ponies, and if so
the village could not be very far away. Again the
troopers moved silently forward on the trail, more
cautious than ever. The Plan of Attack
It was past midnight when, unseen and unchal
lenged, the half frozen men were suddenly halted
by the excited scouts. Out of the darkness just
ahead of where they sat their horses, sounded
the noise of a barking dog, and the tinkling of a
bell evidently upon the neck of some leader of a
grazing pony herd. Instantly it was realized that,
as yet undiscovered, they had stolen upon the winter
camp of the hostiles. Custer silently led his officers
to a ridge whence they could look down upon the
unsuspecting camp below, now dimly revealed in
[276]

THE ARMY ON THE PLAINS
the moonlight. Stealthily creeping back to the
waiting troopers, who were sitting half frozen in
their saddles, the cavalry leader made rapid prep
arations for an attack before daylight. The entire
command of eight hundred men was divided into
four nearly equal detachments. Two of these moved
out at once to make a circuitous march of several
miles until they should find station on the opposite
side of the village. They moved to the left, and suc
ceeded admirably, creeping within a short half-mile
of the sleeping camp undiscovered. One of
the other detachments turned to the right and
found concealment behind a small clump of timber,
while Custer with the small number of remaining
troopers held to the original position on the main
trail. The signal which was to send all these sep
arate bodies crashing to the centre was to be the
charge blown by the regimental trumpeter with
Custer's detachment. Waiting for the Signal to Charge
For four long, miserable hours the men on the
main trail waited silently to give their comrades
time in which to get ready. It was very cold, but
the half-frozen troopers were not allowed to make
the slightest movement, not even to swing their
arms, or stamp their feet. They stood like statues,
each man at his horse's head, the capes of their
overcoats drawn down over their faces to protect
them from the wind. At the first gray tinge of
dawn every trooper was alert and ready. Over-
[277]

THE GREAT PLAINS
coats were taken off and strapped to the saddles,
carbines loaded and slung, revolvers examined, and
saddles carefully recinched. Then the whispered
command to mount passed down the thin line, and
each trooper gathered his reins taut and waited. As
Custer rode forward to the top of the concealing
crest he saw before him, in the dim light of early
dawn, not five hundred yards away, a great Indian
village stretching for a quarter of a mile along the
north bank of the Washita. Already wreaths of
smoke were floating out of the tops of some of the
tepees. As he gazed a rifle shot suddenly rang out
from the other end of the camp, and instantly he
gave the order, " Sound the Charge,"
Black Kettle Slain
As the piercing blare burst forth, the marvellous
regimental band, which accompanied them, swung
into the Seventh's fighting-tune of " Garry-Owen,"
and the troopers broke forth into mad gallop, cheer
ing wildly as they spurred straight at the startled
village. Three other trumpets echoed the first, and
column after column dashed from out their coverts,
riding gallantly for the tepees. Surprised as they
were, the Indians rallied to swift, hard, desperate
battle. Almost with the first volley Black Kettle
went down to death, but his warriors fought on,
those who escaped from the village taking refuge
behind rocks, trees, and under the river bank, while
the others, hidden within the tepees, fired at the
charging troops. Little Rock was the Chief now in
[278]

SCENES OF INDIAN WARFARE ON THE GREAT PLAINS

AN ATTACK ON THE OVERLAND STAGE — CUSTER's CHARGE ON BLACK
KETTLE'S CAMP — THE SCOUT'S LAST SHOT

THE ARMY ON THE PLAINS
command, and Custer soon realized that he had
serious work ahead with his small force. The num
ber of Indians seemed constantly to increase, and it
was soon learned that this village of Black Kettle's
was merely one of many, the others being located
down the stream, yet all within a distance of ten
miles. All the hostile tribes of the southern Plains
— Cheyennes, Arapahoes, Kiowas, Comanches, and
even some Apaches — were gathered there battling
those few daring troopers of the Seventh.
Custer's Victory
This overwhelming force soon compelled Cus
ter to assume the defensive. At least two thousand
warriors fronted him. After an hour's hard fight
ing, during which the Seventh lost a number of of
ficers and men, and the Indians had one hundred
and three killed, Custer dismounted his men, and
prepared to resist a threatened charge. It came
promptly, the advancing warriors being led by Lit
tle Raven, an Arapahoe, Satanta, a Kiowa, and Lit
tle Rock, a Cheyenne. The troops made desperate
resistance, but already their ammunition ran low.
Suddenly a four-mule wagon came dashing reck
lessly through the Indian lines. The quartermaster.
Major Bell, was driving, and he had with him a
small escort. Before the startled warriors could
rally to stop him, the fiercely galloping mules had
attained the thin line of soldiers, and a fresh sup
ply of ammunition was passed from man to man.
Inspired by this deed of heroism, with their cart-
l[279l

THE GREAT PLAINS
ridge belts again filled, the troopers sprang forward
with an impetuosity which drove their assailants
headlong down the valley. Little Rock being killed
in the flight.
Nothing remained now for Custer's command
but to get away in as good order as possible. About
them was an overwhelming mass of savages capable
of crushing them to death when they again rallied
and consolidated. Burning Black Kettle's village,
taking their captives along, but turning loose the
pony herd, the troopers executed a bold movement.
With flankers out and skirmishers in advance, they
rode directly down the river toward the congregat
ing body of hostiles. Seeking to make these believe
that the Seventh was only the advance of a much
larger force, every flag was unfurled and the band
ordered to play. The audacity of this strange move
ment struck terror into the hearts of the warriors,
and they broke and fled. As darkness descended
the little column of horsemen turned suddenly aside,
and, striking the old trail, marched rapidly for
Camp Supply.
Major Elliott and his Band Surrounded and Slain
During the heat of the fight near the village
Major Elliott, with Sergeant-Major Kennedy and
thirteen men was seen in close pursuit of a party of
Indians. When roll-call came after the battle they
were still missing, and, although searching parties
were sent out in every direction as far as it was
safe to proceed, not the slightest trace could be
[280]

THE ARMY ON THE PLAINS
found. Not until the tenth of the following De
cember was the mystery of their fate revealed.
Then another campaigning column, again under
Custer's command, moved along the valley of the
Washita, and found their remains. Custer's report
reads :
"The bodies of Elliott and his little band, with but a single
exception, were found lying within a circle not exceeding twenty
yards in diameter. We found them exactly as they fell, except
that their barbarous foe had stripped and mutilated the bodies
in the most savage manner. No words were needed to tell how
desperate had been the struggle before they were finally over
whelmed." The Story as Told by Indians
Later from the lips of Indians the story of that
tragedy was given fully. Surrounded and cut off
from all possibility of rescue, the little band stood
back to back, and died fighting to the last. The
one who lived longest was Sergeant-Major Ken
nedy, Wounded, his ammunition exhausted, the
Indians sought to capture him for torture, Ken
nedy, being an officer, wore a sword, and as a chief
came forward pretending peace, hoping thus to
cause the helpless soldier to surrender, the desper
ate man suddenly ran him through. In the quick
rage of the warriors Kennedy received twenty bul
lets in his body, and thus there came to him a mer
ciful death.

[281]

CHAPTER XV
THE ARMY ON THE PLAINS— THE INCIDENTS
OF INDIAN WAR
Colonel Carpenter in Bivouac at Beaver Creek
WHILE the fierce engagements on the Aricka
ree and the Washita took much of the war
like spirit out of the Plains Indians, there was little
rest to the army on the frontier during 1868-69. It
was a continuous campaign winter and summer, en
livened by numerous minor but spirited engage
ments, and individual adventures well worth the
telling. Three weeks after the rescue of Forsyth
and his scouts. Colonel Carpenter, who led the res
cuing party on that occasion, had a severe battle
on the banks of Beaver Creek. The Fifth Cavalry
were in the field following a trail discovered near
the South Fork of the Republican, A day or two
after the Fifth had disappeared. Colonel Carr, who
was in command of that regiment but had been on
detached service, reached Fort Wallace, and Car
penter, with troops H and I, Tenth Cavalry (col
ored) was ordered to escort him, until they made
connection with the Fifth, They left Fort Wallace
on the morning of October 14, and the next after
noon went into bivouac on Beaver Creek, Seeing
plenty of fresh Indian signs as they advanced, the
little squad of cavalrymen kept on down the stream
for thirty miles without striking the trail of those
[282]

THE ARMY ON THE PLAINS
white troopers they were seeking. There being no
pack outfits at Wallace, they were obliged to carry
their supplies in wagons, of which they had eleven,
and these greatly delayed the march.
He Repels an Indian Raid
It was early on the morning of the fifteenth
when a scouting party under Captain Graham was
suddenly attacked by Indians who dashed over a
hill in their rear. A hot fight ensued, during which
the Captain was wounded and unhorsed; but Car
penter came forward so swiftly with reinforce
ments, that the assailants were driven off. Then the
entire body of troops consolidated about the wagons.
The surrounding Indians increasing in number,
these wagons were arranged in double column, and
started forward across the open Plain, where the
savages could find no cover. The advance, however,
was slow, and the fire almost continuous until early
in the afternoon. Then fully six hundred warriors
massed themselves for a charge. Realizing what
was coming Carpenter hurried his teams to the sum
mit of a small knoll, where he hastily formed a
wagon corral, and, under that cover, made effective
defence. The Indians were driven back with con
siderable loss, and finally withdrew without at
tempting another attack.
Colonel Carr Raids an Indian Village
Colonel Eugene A. Carr, who during this fight
at Beaver Creek gallantly wielded a rifle beside the
[283]

THE GREAT PLAINS
black soldiers of Carpenter's command, later led
the way in a brilliant attack on the camp of Tall
Bull at Summit Springs. Carr had with him on this
occasion five troops of his own regiment, the Fifth
Cavalry, and was guided by W. F. Cody (Buffalo
Bill), Tall Bull was, after Black Kettle, the most
ruthless raider of the Plains, Learning the loca
tion of his camp, Carr marched his men one hun
dred and fifty miles in four days, and succeeded
in drawing his troopers up into battle-line, hidden
within a ravine, not more than twelve hundred
yards from the unsuspecting village. With the sound
of the charge the impetuous cavalrymen swept for
ward resistlessly, and in a few moments the fight
was over. Fifty-two Indians, including Tall Bull,
were killed, and many horses and mules captured.
Two captured white women in the camp were
killed before the troopers could rescue them.
Two Officers Chased by a Great Band
In the Summer of 1864 Captain Henry Booth,
inspecting officer, and Lieutenant Hallowell, Ninth
Wisconsin Battery, had an adventure along the
Santa Fe Trail which neither was likely soon to for
get. They were inspecting posts, and travelled in a
light wagon drawn by a team of mules. Their es
cort was Company L, Eleventh Kansas. Reaching
Walnut Creek without sight of any Indians, the two
officers despatched their escort in advance the next
morning, but were not able themselves to get away
until three hours later. They had driven five or
[284]

THE ARMY ON THE PLAINS
six miles from the Walnut, and were within a few
hundred yards of what is now the Court House
Square in the present city of Great Bend, when a
large number of Indians suddenly appeared. In
stantly the mules were wheeled about and started
on a run for Walnut Creek, Hallowell held the
reins and wielded the whip, while Booth crawled to
the back of the wagon, and began shooting through
a hole in the cover at their pursuers. It was a wild,
mad race over the prairie; both men were wounded,
and the mules strucic repeatedly with arrows. The lat
ter, thoroughly frightened, ran away, yet Hallowell
managed to guide them in the right direction. Time
and again the red devils charged up to the jump
ing wheels, but Booth's revolver was always there
blazing in their faces. Once they got so close that
Hallowell slashed them across the faces with his
whip. It was a neck to neck race clear to the Wal
nut, but the officers won it, although both were se
verely wounded. Hallowell was compelled to have
several arrows extracted from his body.
Skirmishes during the Building of the Railroads
These are but a few from the many exciting in
cidents occurring at this time throughout the length
and breadth of the Great Plains. There were al
most constant attacks on wagon trains, and the
smaller bodies of scouting troops. The advance of
the builders of the Union Pacific and Kansas Pacific
Railroads witnessed a continued series of skirmishes.
The graders durst not leave their camps except
[285]

THE GREAT PLAINS
under armed protection, and any straggler was al
most certain of death, even in sight of his helpless
comrades. On more than one occasion unfortunate
captives were inhumanly tortured within easy view,
although beyond rifle range. So widely scattered,
yet so numerous were these outrages, that the com
plete Story can never be told, nor is there satisfac
tory record of even the part played in this Great
Plains tragedy by the army. Few of their fights
reached the dignity of battle; it was a campaign of
hard marches, of ceaseless vigilance, of unending
peril, of small detachments riding swiftly and strik
ing fiercely at an ever scattering foe.
Sheridan's Report of the Second Expedition to Washita
How the final result, a brief, unsatisfactory
peace, was attained can be best learned from an ex
tract from General Sheridan's report made in No
vember, 1869. It relates particularly to the second
expedition to the Washita, and reads :
"The snow was still on the ground and the weather very
cold, but the officers and men were cheerful, although the men
had only shelter tents. We moved due south until we struck
the Washita, near Custer's fight of November 27th, having
crossed the rnain Canadian with the thermometer about eigh
teen degrees below zero.
After reaching the Washita, my intention was to take up
the trail of the Indians and follow it. We rested one day and
made an examination of the ground ; found the bodies of Major
Elliott and his small party, and examined the Indian camps or
villages which had been abandoned when General Custer struck
Black Kettle's band. They extended about twelve or thirteen
miles down the river, and from the appearance of things they
[286]

THE ARMY ON THE PLAINS
had fled in the greatest haste, abandoning provision, robes, cook
ing utensils, and every species of property, and it appeared to me
they must have at least begun to realize that winter was not
going to give them security.
"On the next day we started down the Washita, following
the Indian trail; but finding so many deep ravines and canons,
I thought we would move out on the divide; but a blinding
snowstorm coming on, and fearing to get lost with a large com
mand and trains of wagons on a treeless prairie without water,
we were forced back to the banks of the Washita, where we at
least could get wood and water. Next day we continued down
the river, following the trail of the Indians, and crossed numer
ous ravines by digging and bridging with pioneer parties. This
was continued until the evening of the sixteenth [December],
when we came to the vicinity of the Indians — principally Kiowas.
They did not dream that any soldiers could operate in such cold
and inclement weather, and we marched down on them before
they knew of our presence in the country; after night they saw
our fires, and by means of relays communicated with General
Hazen, and obtained a letter from him saying that the Kiowas
were friendly. I had just followed their trail from Custer's
battlefield, and a portion of this band had just come from Texas,
virhere they had murdered and plundered in the most barbarous
manner ; while in the previous spring their outrages on the Texas
border are too horrible to relate, one item of which is that, in
returning to their villages, fourteen of the poor little captive
children were frozen to death.

"The Cheyennes broke their promise and did not come iti,
so I ordered General Custer to move against them; this he did,
and came on the Cheyennes on the head waters of Red River,
apparently moving north. It is possible they were on their way
to Camp Supply, as in some of the conversations I had with
Little Robe I had declared that if they did not get into the
Fort Cobb reservation within a certain time they would not be
received there, but would be received at Camp Supply; this was
because I expected to stay only for a limited time at Fort Cobb,
intending to return to Camp Supply.
[287]

THE GREAT PLAINS
Custer found them in a very forlorn condition, arid could
have destroyed, I think, most of the tribe, certainly their villages,
but contented himself with taking their renewed promise to come
into Camp Supply, and obtained from them two white women
whom they held as captives. The most of the tribe fulfilled
this latter promise so far as coming into the vicinity of Camp
Supply and communicating with the commanding officer; but
Tall Bull's band again violated the promise made, and went
north to the Republican, where he joined a party of Sioux, who,
on the thirteenth of May, 1869, were attacked and defeated with
heavy loss, whereupon the whole tribe moved into Camp Supply.
" Meantime, while the Arapahoes and Cheyennes were
negotiating with me to surrender, the Quahrada or Staked Plains
Comanches sent a delegation over to Bascom, offering to sur
render themselves, under the expectation, perhaps, that they could
get better terms there than with me ; but General Getty arrested
the delegation, which was ordered to Fort Leavenworth, and
finally returned to their people on condition that they would
deliver themselves up on the reservation at Medicine Bluff or
Fort Sill. This was complied with, and I am now able to report
that there has been a fulfilment of all the conditions which we
had in view when we commenced our winter's campaign last
November — namely, punishment was inflicted; property
destroyed; the Indians disabused of the idea that winter would
bring security; and all the tribes south of the Platte forced on
to the reservations set apart for them by the Government, where
they are in a tangible shape for the good work of civilization,
education, and religious instruction.
"I can not speak too highly of the patient and cheerful
conduct of the troops under my command; they were many
times pinched by hunger and numbed by cold, sometimes living
in holes below the surface of the prairie — dug to keep them
from freezing; at other times pursuing the savages, and living
on the flesh of mules. In all these trying conditions the troops
were always cheerful and willing, and the officers full of esprit."

[288]

PART III.— OCCUPATION

CHAPTER I
THE BEGINNING OF SETTLEMENT
Trading-Posts Built on the Missouri
PERMANENT occupancy of this country of the
Great Plains can be dated from the early days
of the fur-traders. While individual traders and
free trappers were probably first in the field, and
carried their small packs down the rivers to St.
Louis, where they sold them to Eastern dealers, yet
close upon their heels came partnerships and organ
ized companies. The latter soon discovered that it
was far more profitable to maintain established
posts, to which the surrounding Indians might easily
travel and exchange their season's catch of furs for
other articles of value. Such posts were built all
along the west side of the Missouri, and for some
miles up those tributary streams cleaving the
prairies of Kansas, Nebraska, and the Dakotas. Dif
fering somewhat in size, and in importance of equip
ment, all these earlier fur-trading establishments
had much in common. A few, those which were
largest and erected in the midst of hostile tribes, or
as centres for the supply of minor posts, were well
fortified, surrounded with strong palisades, heavily
manned by organized fighting men, and, in one or
two instances in the warlike Sioux country, even
[289]

THE GREAT PLAINS
surmounted by small cannon. But the great majority
consisted only of a simple trading-store, with a few
necessary buildings in which the employees lived.
Isolated for years from all contact with civilization,
and without even a visit to the East, surrounded by a
savage and oftentimes hostile population, their en
vironment the vast Plains, their business merely bar
ter, the existence of these lonely men became a dull,
colorless routine, relieved only by such adventures
as arose frOm daily contact with wild life.
Their Development into Settlements
But this was the beginning of permanent settle
ment, for each trading-post required employees, the
number varying with the importance of the post.
There were the trader and his clerk, wood-cutters
and hay-makers, who were also boatmen upon occa
sion, probably a few white trappers under contract,
with a worker or two in wood and iron. Sometimes,
as at Fort Lisa, opposite Council Bluffs, and some
others of those larger posts up the river, women
braved the wilderness to be with the men they loved.
Certain posts became favorite resting-places for
free trappers, while others had a large number of
paid hunters in their employ. Proper care for such
demanded the building of houses, usually of logs,
sometimes of earth, or even stone, and the gradual
development of the Indian trading-house into a gen
eral store, where white as well as red could find
their necessities. The requirements of the frontier
always included an abundance of " red liquor," and
[290]

THE BEGINNING OF SETTLEMENT
the hardy dispenser thereof was not long delayed in
coming to the rescue of the thirsty. So, little by
little, most of these earlier trading-posts changed
into ugly, straggling settlements, their inhabitants
at first mere wanderers, the faces changing with
each season; as one disappeared into the unknown,
another came drifting out of it to fill the vacancy.
Roustabouts from the river boats, tired or dissatis
fied voyageurs, hunters from off the Plains, ad
venturers, vagabonds, the scum of the frontier, came
and went, yet always a few lingered on in stolid
content, until out from the great East began to
arrive those first daring settlers of a new country,
with wives and children, horses and ploughs, seek
ing a permanent home where land was cheap, and
where manhood counted for more than dollars.
The Settlements Become Towns
This was, in brief, the story of the beginning,
the tale of a hundred towns now dotting the western
banks of the Missouri, or looking down in peaceful
content upon the waters of the Kansas, the Platte,
the Niobrara, and many another stream between —
the Indian trader, the wanderer, the settler;' the
gradual change from lonely post to prosperous vil
lage. The later advance westward was fairly rapid
for the first one hundred and fifty miles. For that
distance the prairies were inviting, the growth of
grasses and timber along the bottoms gave abundant
promise of other crops, the rainfall seemed suffi
cient, and the Indian tribes remained peaceful.
[291]

THE GREAT PLAINS
Everything in nature urged the settlers onward to
possess this goodly land. Yet they came in no
crowds, for there was still much vacant country in
the East. Only a few, the more adventurous and
those loving the wild frontier life, pressed across
the wooded hills of Missouri, or the rolling pastures
of Iowa, to make settlement on the untried prairies.
They were bold hearts who first found passage over
the yellow flood, and established their homes in the
heart of the wilderness.
Early Settlers in Kansas and Nebraska
These first comers clung close to the stream val
leys and the productive bottom lands. Led by
prejudices engendered in the experiences of the
East, they shunned the open prairie, holding it as of
little value. In the timber by the river's edge,, or
in the midst of those small groves common to the
country, they built their log huts, and led lives of
privation, hardship, and occasional peril. Yet con
stantly was this thin skirmish line advancing still
farther into the unknown, and gaining new recruits
from the East. Travellers' published letters, the
reports of explorers, private messages to friends, all
served to increase steadily the inflowing tide. Sol
diers whose terms of service had made them familiar
with the country settled there; hunters, charmed
with the rare beauty of this prairie land, became
permanent residents ; and the trader was ever close
at hand with his stock of goods.
[292]

PI
51 g
2 O
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=5 >
3 H
5 O

1^>

THE BEGINNING OF SETTLEMENT
Organization into Territories
There was, however, very little permanent white
settlement in either Nebraska or Kansas until after
1854, at which date these Territories were legally
organized. Previous to this the entire region had
been designated merely as the "Indian country,"
and its population consisted of little more tlian
wandering trappers and hunters, scattered fur-
traders with their few employees, and those men
interested in the Santa Fe trade. Yet as soon as
these Territories were formally thrown open to set
tlement, the rush across the border began. The
local census in 1855 credits Kansas with a popula
tion of 8,501, which increased in five years to 107,-
206. In Nebraska the growth was less remarkable,
its population in 1855 being 4,494, and in i860, 28,-
441. In both cases the settlements were almost to
tally confined to the river bottoms, and within a
comparatively short distance of the Missouri.
Influence of the Santa Fe Trade and the Mormon Hegira
The Santa Fe trade had much influence on the
early settlement of Kansas ; and the Mormon hegira,
together with the opening of the Oregon Trail, on
that of Nebraska. The more rapid development of
the southern Territory can also be traced to the strug
gle against slavery bringing to Kansas soil ardent
sympathizers with the North and the South, respec
tively, in the fiercely raging controversy. While
the main outfitting of the caravans bound for Santa
[293J

THE GREAT PLAINS
Fe occurred at Independence, Missouri, the necessi
ties of the trade early developed a considerable set
tlement at Council Grove, This point was nearly
one hundred and fifty miles west of the starting
place, and, being on the edge of the hostile and
perilous Indian country, became utilized for re
fitting in final preparation for the more serious ad
vance. Here was a thickly wooded bottom, half a
mile to a mile in width, of indefinite length, and af
fording a great variety of excellent timber. Settlers
found their way here at a very early date, some amopg
them being skilled workmen. Round Grove, thirty-
five miles from Independence, was also a rendez-
vous of caravans, and resulted in a small settlement,
Where these first trails were compelled to cross con
siderable streams enterprising ferrymen quickly es
tablished themselves, and in a few years a store
appeared, with the rude beginnings of a village,
Topeka was thus begun from Papin's Ferry.
Squatters along the Trails
The opening of the Oregon Trail left scattered
squatters along its way beside the Vermilion, the
Blue, and the Platte, but so far apart as to be
scarcely noticeable. These men, except the operators
of ferries, lived principally by hunting, and became
much like their red neighbors in both customs and
appearance. Not a few cooperated with the latter
in raids upon the passing emigrant trains. The
exodus of the Mormons along the Platte Valley
likewise left a slight population in favorable
[294]

THE BEGINNING OF SETTLEMENT
locations along their route, but in neither case were
those settlers propagators of civilization. They
were the mere scum of the frontier, living from
hand to mouth, little better than the vagrants of the
Plains, with whom they associated on terms of fra
ternity. In nearly every Indian village were to be
met renegade white men.
Degraded Character of the Early Settlements
The establishment of stage lines, and later of the
Pony Express, compelled the building of stations at
certain distances apart in a line extending from the
Missouri River to the mountains. These stations,
usually mere shacks, sheltered the station-keeper,
the drivers or express riders, a few hostlers, and men
employed in various capacities by the company.
The result was commonly the growth of a small set
tlement, generally with its low groggery, and a
gambler or two to separate the boys from their
hard-earned wages. Some of these stations on the
Overland, notably that of Julesburg, where the
Denver division began, grew into considerable im
portance, attracting a heterogeneous population of
frontier characters, and composing a veritable hell.
Drinking, carousing, and promiscuous shooting
were the principal occupations both day and night,
and very few women of respectability were to be
found there.
That mere ability as bar-room fighters did not
necessarily mean the possession of true courage was
more than once proven in the history of Julesburg.
[295]

THE GREAT PLAINS
On one occasion when the town was harassed by In
dians, an old soldier managed to gather together a
hundred of these desperate frontiersmen in an effort
to drive back the marauding warriors. They started
forth full of whiskey and bloodthirsty threats, and
b'y some miracle were even brought within sight of
the Indian encampment. But by that time they
were out of both whiskey and courage. Their
leader gave the word to charge, and spurred for
ward. Hearing no sound of hoofs behind, he
glanced back, only to discover his gallant band
scurrying away in every direction. There being no
other course possible, the disgusted soldier turned
and followed them.
During the earlier years, previous to the Ter
ritorial act, not a few Missourians crossed the
border and took squatter's possession of land in east
ern Kansas, occasionally arriving in organized com
panies. Numerous churches of the east despatched
missionaries to this far frontier, but their efforts
were principally directed to the Indian tribes close
to the Missouri. The Government established sev
eral garrisoned posts along that river, the most im
portant being old Fort Kearney, on the present site
of Nebraska City. Other posts. Forts Leaven
worth, Scott, and Riley were erected farther out in
what was yet known as the " Great American Des
ert," which was believed to be utterly useless from
an agricultural standpoint.

[296]

THE BEGINNING OF SETTLEMENT
Discovery of Gold in Colorado
In 1858 the discovery of gold in the Rocky
Mountains led to some slight settlement on the west
ern edge of the Plains bordering the foot-hills.
While the miners flocked to the gulches of the great
range, some there were who found profitable occu
pation in the cultivation of supplies for the camps,
along the valleys of the streams flowing eastward.
These farmers were to be found at Pueblo on the
Arkansas, along the banks of Cherry Creek, and on
the present site of Colorado City. About this time
the city of Denver was begun ; one William McGaa
building the first stockade, and William Larimer
erecting the first house. This was a log cabin, 16
by 20 feet, having an earthen floor. It stood near
the corner of what is now Larimer and Fifteenth
Streets, There were in 1858 five women in Denver.
In the Spring of 1859 ^ number of farmers began
operations in the rich Arkansas bottoms. Corn was
then worth from five to fifteen cents a pound, and a
successful crop was as valuable as a gold mine.
Uniting together, these farmers constructed an irri
gating ditch from the Fontaine-qui-Bouille over
their fields, and planted corn. When this had
reached a good size, already waving temptingly in
the wind and sun, a company of disgusted Missouri
prospectors on their way back East, made camp
near Fontaine City, and foraged their lean and hun
gry cattle on the green blades and juicy stalks. The
farmers remonstrated, but the Missourians outnum-
[297]

THE GREAT PLAINS
bered them, and only laughed. There followed a
fight, in which some of the Missourians were killed,
and several on both sides wounded. The victory,
however, was with the farmers.
Developing of Freighting in Colorado
This rapid populating of Colorado resulted in
a continuous stream of freighting across the Plains,
but, outside of these narrow lines of communica
tion, it led to no settlement in all that wide expanse
of level desolation. The freight trains of Russell
and Majors dragged their winding length along the
Arkansas, or Smoky Hill route day after day, bring
ing cargoes of goods, which were stored at their
depots and sold to retail merchants. Thousands of
wagons stretched also in continuous line along the
valley of the Platte, mail facilities were introduced,
and, as early as 1859, stage-coaches were running
on regular schedules to Leavenworth. A branch of
the Pony Express operated from Julesburg.
Settlers Restrained by the Hostility of the Sioux
Farther north, in the Dakotas and Wyoming,
few signs of permanent settlement were to be per
ceived so early. The continued and almost con
stant hostility of the various tribes of the Sioux
nation, together with the unattractive appearance
of the country, conspired to restrain settlers. The
fact that no great highway traversed the Plains of
Dakota also made its advantages less known. The
fur-traders still held to their forts along the Mis-
[298]

THE BEGINNING OF SETTLEMENT
souri and tributary streams, and some prospecting
had been undertaken in the Black Hills with indif
ferent success. The first permanent settlement was
made at Sioux Falls in 1856, and a year later a few
farmers came in along the valley of the Missouri.
Travelled over by thousands on their journey to
Oregon or California, Wyoming remained a primi
tive wilderness, its sole signs of settlement a few
fur-trading posts. Nothing served to halt the multi
tude, and while a few may have idled along the
way, there was no permanent population worthy of
notice. This, then, was the condition of the Great Plains
when, in 1854, Kansas and Nebraska were made
Territories, and legally thrown open to settlement.
Across the broad expanse stretched well used trails,
along which freighting wagons toiled westward to
the mountains, or emigrant trains crawled on their
long journey to the Pacific. The vast interior was yet
scarcely known, touched here and there by solitary
trappers, or scouted over by squads of hard-
riding troopers, it yet remained an unexplored wil
derness, the domain of wild animals and wild men.
A slight fringe of early white settlements began to
show along the eastern river courses; a little later
adventurous miners swarmed through the gulches
of the Rockies, but all between stretched the lonely
desolation which the geographers yet called the
" Great American Desert."

[299]

w

CHAPTER II
THE STRUGGLE IN EASTERN KANSAS
Pro-Slavery Men from Missouri Settle in Kansas
ITH the opening of the Kansas-Nebraska

country to settlement came border war. The
question whether slavery should be admitted or
abolished within the limits of these newly created
Territories being left to a vote of the citizens, the
advocates of North and South began at once to pre
pare for the inevitable struggle. The close proximity
of Missouri, a slave-holding State, gave to that
party in the controversy a decided advantage. They
were nearest to the field of action. Even before the
country had been formally opened, thousands had
crossed the line and taken up squatter residence in
the rich bottom lands of the prairie. Others im
mediately followed, and by June, 1854, these trans
planted Missourians were already meeting in con
vention to adopt resolutions looking to the forming
of Kansas into a slave State.
But their opponents were not idle. All through
the Northeastern States the feeling against a fur
ther spreading of slavery was intense. Emigrant
Aid Associations were organized, and large num
bers of emigrants were sent forth under their aus
pices, to settle in Kansas, for the express purpose of
keeping that Territory free. Then men went west
ward with rifles and ammunition, expecting to fight,
[300]

STRUGGLE IN EASTERN KANSAS
but believing firmly in the justice of their cause.
They went as settlers, taking with them their wives
and children, yet animated by the feeling that they
were soldiers volunteering in a righteous cause.
Their wagons were piled high with household goods,
and driven by stern-faced men, who came to fight
the battle of freedom. It was the beginning of the
end — the first clash in a great war between right
and wrong, destined to terminate years later at
Appomattox. The Founding of Leavenworth, Atchison, and Lawrence
The first attempt at founding a town was made
at Leavenworth, about the middle of June, 1854,
Of the thirty-two persons interested some were pro-
slavery, and some were free-State men, and the po
litical character of the place has ever since been
greatly mixed. In July, Atchison was laid out, and
for several years was violently pro-slavery, and the
centre of operations for all dwellers in the Terri
tory holding those sentiments. The same month
anti-slavery men established a settlement on Back
Bone Ridge, which later became Lawrence. It was
born under difficulty, the first meeting being dis
persed by an invasion of border ruffians, as the Mis
souri invaders were called. But the first company
of free-Staters, thirty in number, was soon rein
forced by sixty or seventy more. The infant city
constantly grew, being known at different times as
Waukarusa, New Boston, and to the Missourians as
Yankee Town, until the name of Lawrence was
[301]

THE GREAT PLAINS
finally adopted. The earlier colonists dwelt in
tents, but as winter approached they built rude
houses, either log or pole or thatch.
The tide of emigration from the free States con
stantly increased, being continually instigated by
agitation. They spread back over the prairies for
considerable distances, making homes in choice
neighborhoods. They were there to stay. While
some of the Missourians became permanent resi
dents, the majority came into the country merely
to create trouble, passing back and forth across the
line, making little effort at permanent settlement,
Topeka was started by a small party in December,
but did not exceed twenty-five inhabitants during
the year. The fourth company from New England
' chose the present site of Manhattan, Grasshopper
Falls was also an early settlement of free-State men.
Societies Organized to make Kansas a Slave State
By the Autumn of 1854 all eastern Kansas was
practically in a state of guerilla war. Throughout
the Missouri border counties secret societies were
organized with the avowed object of extending slav
ery into Kansas, The members wore a bit of ribbon
in the buttonhole to make them known to their fel
lows, and used passwords. These various organiza
tions operated under different names, — Blue Lodge,
Social Band, Friends' Society, Sons of the South, —
but were all closely affiliated for the one purpose.
Their general plan was to run out all free-State men
from the country; to keep an armed force always
[302]

o

o
o z
o H
o

oH

STRUGGLE IN EASTERN KANSAS
ready for invasion, and to furnish enough voters at
every Kansas election to overcome the actual set
tlers. But, in spite of all such efforts, the free-State
emigration into Kansas constantly increased, and the
men coming were of the kind to fight fiercely for
their rights either with ballots or rifles.
The struggle opened with the cowardly seizure
of several settlers, including Thos. A. Minnard and
the Rev. Frederick Starr, by bands of border ruf
fians, on the sole charge that they were abolitionists.
Some of these were openly whipped, and others
driven forcibly out of the country. With threats,
and a display of armed force, the first settlers at
Lawrence were ordered not to stop there, but the
free-State men retaliated, and the Missourians re
tired without firing a shot. For a time the contest
for supremacy shifted to the polls, and, with the
approach of election day, hordes of Missourians
overran the country, intimidating the widely scat
tered free-State settlers, and in many places actually
driving their opponents from the polls, themselves
voting as often as was deemed necessary. In this way
the pro-slavery cause won what was then held to be
a great victory, the whole border ringing with ac
clamations, and with denunciation of the defeated
abolitionists. Success at the polls gave to the pro-slavery party
new courage and confidence. This led almost im
mediately to acts of violence. The first of these
mob outrages occurred in Parkville, where a free-
State printing press was seized and thrown into the
[303]

THE GREAT PLAINS
Missouri River. Several of the Missouri secret
societies adopted resolutions against allowing any
ministers from the free States to preach in Kansas,
and threatening dire results if they dared persist.
Prominent free-State men were ordered to leave
the country, and when they refused to be intimidated
they were visited by a mob and treated brutally.
Throughout all the eastern counties of Kansas the
people lived over a volcano which might burst forth
at any moment.
Holloway, in his " History of Kansas," thus pic
tures the two different elements in the community:
"The pro-slavery men, impetuous, aggressive, and overbear
ing sought by all possible means to embroil the opposite party
into difficulties. The free-State men, cool, prudent, and saga
cious, as harmless as doves and as wise as serpents, acted entirely
upon the defensive, and avoided, as much as possible, all troubles.
The former were blustering and mercenary, the latter quiet and
unobtrusive. The former claimed as their right the very thing
which had been referred to the decision of the ballot-box; the
latter only claimed the right which their Government guaran
teed them, of assisting to give shape to that decision. The one
was wild with excitement, blinded by prejudice, rough and pro
fane, supported by the adjoining State, strong in numbers and
wealth ; the other quiet, intelligent, refined, and devotional, were
far removed from friends, liable to be crushed at any moment
by the furious and threatening ruffians of the border. The
press of one sent forth slang, vituperation, misrepresentation,
and inflammatory appeals, fit fuel for civil war; that of the
other denounced all acts of violence, and appealed to men's
better natures to abstain from engendering strife."
Triumph of the Pro-Slavery Men
Finally, through the forced resignation of Gov
ernor Reeder, and the carrying of elections by the
[304]

STRUGGLE IN EASTERN KANSAS
importation of illegal voters from Missouri, the
pro-slavery advocates obtained complete control of
the Territorial Government. Not a single free-
State man was left in the Legislature, which pro
ceeded to enact laws most repulsive and obnoxious
to the vast majority of the real settlers. Arrogant
and domineering, the victors, through fraud and in
timidation and violence, proceeded to add insult to
injury. " Never in the history of the world " says a
writers of those times, "even in days when might
made right, were there such barefaced and audaci
ous acts of civil oppression inflicted upon a com
munity." The Legislature was all-powerful ; it ap
pointed State and county officers, levied taxes, and
gagged the free men and the free press.
Revolt of the Anti-Slavery Men
In this emergency the free-State men seem to
have acted with deliberation and dignity. They held
a number of mass meetings, in which some violent
speeches were made, although the general spirit ap
peared conciliatory. The second Governor of the
Territory, Wilson Shannon, of Ohio, finding upon
arrival that all legislative power was already in the
hands of the pro-slavery party, and being himself
a Democrat of the old school, very naturally came
under the influence of the Missourians. The
acknowledged leader of this side during the greater
part of these border difficulties was a man of real
strength and conviction, David R. Atchison, for
merly United States Senator from Missouri. In
[305]

THE GREAT PLAINS
political manipulation, the handling of men, the
inflaming of passion, and the daring intimidation
of opponents, he was a past master.
Finding the ordinary road to reform blocked
by fraud and violence, the ballot boxes and all law
making power in the hands of their enemies, the
free-State settlers resorted to the expedient of openly
ignoring all acts of legislation passed by the pro-
slavery House of Representatives. They utterly
discarded all courts, justices, probate judges, and
registers. Meeting at Topeka they drew up an
amateur Constitution, and began to live independ
ently under its provisions.
This open revolt must, of necessity, lead to an
early clash between the partisans. Hatred grew,
and particularly were the passions of pro-slavery
men directed toward that offensive hotbed of abo
litionism, the town of Lawrence. The story of the
bloodshed, the skirmishes, the battles, and the mid
night assassinations in those months which followed
cannot be related here in detail. From the historical
standpoint many of these scenes of violence and
hatred have little value, even though logically con
nected with the solution of a great question to be
finally decided by the mightiest war of modern
times. Here was the preliminary struggle fought
out amid the loneliness of the Kansas prairies, while
personal hatred and party animosity ofttimes hid
the real issue, and turned war into assassination, and
changed battle to massacre. Neither side can be
absolved of wrong; the spirit of mercy seldom
[306]

STRUGGLE IN EASTERN KANSAS
hovered over the contending camps of pro-slavery
and free-soil advocates ; it was a contest of gueril
las, merciless, revengeful, fought out in the brush by
the light of burning homes, and amid the agony of
the innocent. On whichever side our sympathies
may be, in horror we must turn away ashamed of
the atrocities wrought by the rifle and the torch un
der the cloak of virtue. Scarcely a foot of eastern
Kansas but was soaked with blood, and the names
of obscure fields of strife are legion.
John Brown's Voice is for War
The resort to arms may be said to have begun in
a claim dispute at Hickory Ridge, ten miles south
of Lawrence, November 21, 1855, where a pro-
slavery squatter named Coleman assassinated a
young free-soiler, Charles M. Dow. As a result of
this affair the entire country seemed to gather into
hostile camps. There were several skirmishes, and
finally the pro-slavery men besieged Lawrence,
within which some six hundred free-soilers had en
trenched themselves. Finally, through the efforts
of Governor Shannon, the invading horde of Mis
sourians, who composed the major part of the pro-
slavery forces, were induced to withdraw. By the
majority of the free-State party this was hailed as
a notable victory, but among their orators there was
one who protested vigorously. Spring writes :
"A single voice was raised in solemn and public protest
against the peace. After the treaty and its stipulations had
become known; after speeches of felicitation on the happy sub-
[307]

THE GREAT PLAINS
sidence of perils that threatened to engulf the settlement in ruin
had been made, an unknown man — tall, slender, angular ; his
face clean shaven, sombre, strongly lined, of Puritan tone and
configuration; his blue-gray eyes honest, inexorable; strange,
unworldly intensities enveloping him like an atmosphere —
mounted a dry-goods box, and began to denounce the treaty
as an attempt to gain by foolish, uncomprehending makeshift
what could be compassed only by the shedding of blood. Since
that day the name of this unknown man, plucked down from
the dry-goods box with his speech mostly unspoken, has filled
the post-horns of the world — old John Brown."
The Winter of 1855-56 was a most severe one,
and the consequence was a temporary peace between
the warring factions. But rumors of an expected
invasion by the Missourians in the spring were scat
tered broadcast, and they intensified the prevailing
bitterness. A sheriff named Jones, who had been a
moving spirit in the last affair, started the spring
outbreak, by an endeavor to arrest several leading
free-soilers at Lawrence. Jones was promptly shot,
but not killed, and once again Lawrence became the
centre of turmoil, the town being attacked by a mob
of avenging pro-slavery men, thoroughly sacked,
and many of the prominent citizens arrested and
driven out of the country. Atchison, who was in
command, urged moderation, and his counsel pre
vented bloodshed, although the destruction of prop
erty was great. Brown takes a Mean Revenge
The burning and sacking of Lawrence instantly
aroused in the scattered free-State men a fierce de-
[308]

BORDER RUFFIANS "GOING OVER TO WIPE OUT LAWRENCE"

STRUGGLE IN EASTERN KANSAS
sire for retaliation. Everywhere they rallied under
arms. The first act of revenge was utterly without
justification; it remains a blot on the free-State
cause and on the name of old John Brown, who was
concerned in it. This was a foray from the free-soil
settlement of Ossawatomie to a place known as
Dutch Henry's Crossing, where a company of pro-
slavery raiders had been in camp. Only seven or
eight men, besides Brown, were in the expedition.
The raiders having already departed, these men de
cided to put out of the way certain pro-slavery squat
ters in the neighborhood. It was cowardly night
work, but when day dawned, the assassins rode back
to Ossawatomie, leaving behind them, hacked and
slashed with cutlasses, the corpses of five men. No
justification for this act, worthy of consideration,
has ever been advanced even by Brown's mdst
ardent admirers, while his own statements were so
evasive as to deceive his most intimate friends. Yet
there may have been a reason satisfying his con
science which the world will never know. The
result was a fresh invasion of Missourians, and a
concentration of pro-slavery forces in the neighbor
hood of Ossawatomie, which led to armed fighting.
Palmyra and Prairie City were raided by a band in
camp at Black Jack, but this body was fiercely at
tacked by a party of free-soilers under Brown, and
the leader. Pate, and most of his followers were cap
tured, A pro-slavery trader at St, Bernard was also
made prisoner, and his stock of goods confiscated,
[309]

THE GREAT PLAINS
Guerilla Warfare
Parties favoring both sides now took the field,
and guerrilla fighting swept the full length of the
border. United States troops endeavoring vainly to
interfere between the belligerents. The pro-slavery
men were forced sullenly back, and for a time de
voted all their energies in an effort to stop further
immigration from the free States. Finding their
efforts at obstruction useless, the thoroughly mad
dened Missourians once again took up their rifles
for the invasion of Kansas. But in the meantime
new settlers had been pouring in, animated by the
principle of free-soil, and ready to defend it with
their lives. Yet Missouri was the natural gateway
to the country, and the bitterness along the border
resulted in a considerable cutting off of supplies, so
that many of the free-State towns were practically
blockaded. Robbery and pilfering were daily oc
currences, and murder was not infrequent, Tecum
seh and Lawrence were the greatest sufferers.
Franklin was the scene of a fierce battle; and the
free-State men, being victorious, pushed on toward
Lecompton, where they had a hot skirmish and cap
tured Fort Titus. For the time being the fortunes
of war seemed with the free-State party, but the
pendulum swung about evenly; attack and defence,
advance and retreat, became the regular order, each
adventure costing new lives and adding to the bitter
ness between factions.
As though in actual war, there was an exchange
of prisoners, Governor Shannon conducting nego-
[310]

STRUGGLE IN EASTERN KANSAS
tiations on one side, and a committee from the To
peka convention on the other. The adaed contro
versy growing out of this act resulted in Shannon's
resignation. In after years he thus forcefully
summed up the situation : " Govern the Kansas of
1855 and '56? You might as well have attempted
to govern the devil in hell." For it was now the
pro-slavery turn of the wheel, and Ossawatomie the
point of attack. Here old John Brown was driven
out, but not without a fight, in which six free-State
men were killed, including two of his own sons, and
the buildings burned to the ground. In retaliation
the free-soilers rallied and invested Lecompton, but
were dispersed without battle.
Governor Geary Attempts to End the War
John W. Geary, of Pennsylvania, became the
new Governor. In the words of Spring, he —
"stepped into the border tumult with the assertive bearing of
a Titan. Superb, and not wholly misplaced, was his self-
confidence. That he did not idealize the situation is clear, as he
took pains to say that it could not be worse. Not only did he
fully anticipate success, but the very desperation of affairs fas
cinated him. After ten weeks in the Territory he wrote, *I am
perfectly enthusiastic in my mission.' "
And it is fair to say that he started well ; but he was
dealing with antagonistic elements which probably
no man could have controlled without almost un
limited military power. Anarchy, revolt, and chaos
were everjrwhere; every man carried arms, neigh
bors distrusted each other, and many bands roamed
[311]

THE GREAT PLAINS
the country with no higher purpose than plunder.
Missourians in armed bodies kept pouring across
the border, and neither inaugurals, proclamations,
nor military orders were able to halt them. There
was fierce fighting* all along the line, but generally
centring in and about Lawrence ; and every raid by
pro-slavery men found its echo in some outrage per
petrated by the advocates of free-soil. It becomes
wearisome to attempt even to name the multitude of
skirmishes, the midnight assassinations, the repeated
advances and retreats, of the scattered bodies of par
tisans. After six months of desperate effort to stem
the tide Geary fled in defeat to Washington.
The Contestants Becoming Tired, Order is Established
His successor was Robert J. Walker, also a
Pennsylvanian, an experienced, smooth-tongued
politician. Convention followed convention, with
plenty of rifle practice between, and finally an elec
tion in which the free-State party were victorious.
In the turmoil which followed. Walker fled the
country, and General John W. Denver, a Virginian,
was sent forth as the next victim. Politics continued
hot, but the contestants being somewhat tired out by
continuous war, the operations in the field had by
this time degenerated into " jay-hawking," — a local
term for the shooting of neighbors who belonged to
the other side of the controversy. This custom died
out slowly, but by the Summer of 1859 it became less
frequent, and a crude, rudimental order was estab
lished throughout the Territory. During the period
[312]

STRUGGLE IN EASTERN KANSAS
of the Civil War the border towns suffered severely,
Lawrence, as usual, being the special object of at
tack.
Summary of the Struggle
Spring ably sums up the entire period of dis
order in these satisfactory words :
"The struggle for the possession of Kansas, the loss of which
to the South made secession a certainty, was essentially political
and constitutional — not military. The few skirmishes that took
place have a secondary if not tertiary importance. In the field
of diplomacy and finesse the pro-slavery leaders were outgen-
eralled. Reckoning too confidently and disdainfully on num
bers, on nearness to the theatre of operations and federal sup
port, they also blundered in adopting consequently a policy of
noise and bluff. They came thundering into the Territory on
the thirtieth of March, 1855, when quieter measures would have
served their purposes far better. In the sack of Lawrence, and
the dispersion of the Topeka Legislature, victories were won
which returned to plague the victors. The career of the free-
State party under the lead of Governor Robinson, who pro
jected and inspired the whole tactical plan of its operations, has
no parallel in American history. Composed of heterogeneous,
clashing, feverish elements; repudiating the Territorial Legis
lature, and subsisting without legislation — an intermediate con
dition of virtual outlawry — from the settlement of Lawrence
until 1858, the party was not only successfully held together
during this chaotic period, but, by a series of extraordinary
expedients, by adroitly turning pro-slavery mistakes to account,
and by rousing Northern sympathy through successful advertise
ment of its calamities, rescued Kansas from the clutch of Mis
souri, and then disbanded."

[313T

CHAPTER III
DAYS OF THE CATTLE KINGS
Dawn of the American Cattle Trade
THESE days, whose true beginnings cannot be
stated with positiveness, extend somewhat be
yond the date with which the record of this volume
is supposed to conclude, yet, being an important
part of the story of the Great Plains, the review of
them cannot well be avoided. No more picturesque
state of life in the open — strenuous, perilous, heroic
— has ever been penned. The cowboy of the Plains
was a unique figure, to whom full justice has never
yet been accorded. To the many he remains a riot
ous character, whose principal occupation was the
shooting up of border towns. Yet this was a mere
incident in a hard, laborious life, lived almost con
tinuously in the saddle, on remote ranges or upon
the Long Trail. His was emphatically the spirit of
the West, the boundless sweep of prairie his natural
environment, the saddle his home.
Far away in point of time, the wild-cattle indus
try of America had its birth in far-off Mexico. Rap
idly the herds increased, those hordes of long-
horned, wild cattle, ever seeking a wider range to
the northward, following close to the retreating
buffalo, and herded by reckless Mexican cowboys,
swarthy of face and picturesque in costume. Thus
in time the advance guard of this vast army of cattle
[314J

DAYS OF THE CATTLE KINGS
drifted across the Rio Grande, and out upon the
Texas Plains. Soon it was discovered that the short
gray grass of northern Texas, upon which the roam
ing buffalo had thrived so long, would rear cattle
to a much greater size than the herbage along the
coast. A cow weighing five or six hundred pounds
in the low country, would increase one-third on this
higher range. And there the cowboys drove the
herds, sometimes with Indian consent, sometimes
holding their range with rifles.
The Mexican Cowboy Succeeded by the American
It was here a change began, not only in the na
ture of the cattle, but also in the personnel of those
men who herded them. One by one the swarthy-
faced Mexican riders dropped aside, and adventur
ous young Americans leaped into the vacated sad
dles and rode the trails. They were not bad men,
as the border reckoned, although out of their ranks
came desperado and outlaw, but the majority were
young, adventurous, the stuff of whom good sol
diers are made, ever welcoming danger, defying
privation, resolutely overcoming difficulty, and in
sistent upon their rights. This was practically the
dawn of the American cattle trade. The Long
Trail began pushing its sinuous length northward,
as the owners of the fast-increasing herds sought
more profitable markets. At first the drive was back
into old Mexico ; but the way was long, the prices
were low. Then it turned northward, and remained
there to the end. As early as 1857 Texas cattle
[315]

THE GREAT PLAINS
were driven to Illinois; in 1862, to various points
on the Mississippi River. In 1867 a drover started
with his bunch for California, only to be halted by
hostile Indians; but two years later herds were
driven from Texas to Nevada.
Texas Cattle on the Long Trail
But these were mere side trails. The one of
real importance aimed for the markets of the
North. The close of the Civil War found the
Texas Plains fairly covered with millions of wild
cattle having no actual or determinate value. Un
less an outlet could be found they would remain
utterly worthless. But railroads were by that time
pushing out across the Plains of Kansas. With
every mile of advance the steel rails brought nearer
the markets of the world. Instinctively the Texas
cattlemen moved forward to meet them. The vast
array of tossing broad-horns were headed northward,
and the cowboys rode behind urging them on in
solid phalanx. It was a wondrous sight, this ever
increasing stream of cattle sweeping out of the dim
Plains, over hundreds of miles of grim desolation
to the markets of the North. Across the Canadian,
the Cimarron, and the Red River, over the .Plains
of Texas, the diversified lands of the Indian nations,
the rolling prairies of Kansas, the slowly advancing
droves found passage, the trail ever cutting deeper
into the soil. In the year 1866 alone, it was pounded
down by the hoofs of more than a quarter-million
[316]

DAYS OF THE CATTLE KINGS
cattle. Five years later over six hundred thousand
long-horns crossed the Red River north-bound.
The Rise of Mushroom Towns on the Trail
What days those were along the border, when
money was plentiful, and human life the mere sport
of a moment! Town after town, becoming in turn
the terminus of the Long Trail, rose into sudden
prominence, only to sink again into as sudden ob
livion as the iron rails advanced. Abilene, Newton,
Wichita, Ellsworth, Hays City, Great Bend, Dodge
City all had their day, their feverish activity, their
flaming up into good and evil repute. Within the
limits of each in turn vice held high carnival. Here
it was that, weary with the Long Trail and the
months of solitude passed on lonely ranges, the
reckless nature of the cowboy found invitation to
excess. Here, at the end of his journey, weary with
labor and peril, like the sailor ashore after a long
voyage, the herder squandered his hard-earned
wages, and sank his real manhood in riotous dissi
pation and passionate indulgence. Here he be
came the desperado, the "gun-fighter," and the
" bad man." He was encouraged to no higher life.
Gambling-houses and brothels filled the streets
from end to end; the saloon welcomed him as he
swung down from the saddle ; the very air was elec
tric with the pleasures of sin. When under the in
fluence of vile liquor and riotous associates, the
mild-mannered, generous, manly fellow, who rode

THE GREAT PLAINS
so confidently the vast wilderness of the Plains, be
came a terror, whose only recognized law was the
"45" dangling at the hip.
Cattle-Raising on the Northern Plains
Gradually the nature of the Long Trail changed.
The more northern Plains also began to raise cattle,
but of a different breed, and prejudice grew against
the longhorns. There came a scourge of fever
among the Texas cattle, and settlers of Kansas rose
in revolt against the contagion being spread among
their own herds. With rifles they barred the Trail,
and grimly turned back the thousands pressing
north. There were fights along the border, in
which both sides had to take account of their dead.
By 1868 the more northern Plains, between the Mis
souri and the Rockies, had been sufficiently cleared
of their wild inhabitants to admit of slight settle
ment. Cattlemen were prompt to take advantage
of these broad pastures. The buffalo grass and the
pure water of the streams were conducive to the
rapid growth of stock. True, the loss through the
severity of winter storms proved very large, yet the
increase remained sufficient to yield satisfactory
profit. The range was yearly extended northward,
the vast herds gradually forcing back the inferior
cattle of Texas. The Long Trail swung slowly
westward with these changes governing the mar
ket. The old time famous — or infamous — cattle
towns sank into commonplace villages, and the dar
ing range-riders drove their herds of long-horns
[318]

DAYS OF THE CATTLE KINGS
through every open park, mesa, and valley of Colo
rado, and across the high plateaus of Wyoming into
distant Montana. Somewhere on the way they be
came merged into the northern droves, losing their
old wild identity, their progeny floating southward
again to market, minus the longhorns, the typical
cattle of the later trade.
Strenuous Life of the Cowboy
For many a long year the western portion of the
Great Plains was held utterly unfit for agriculture.
It remained in its primitive barrenness, almost un
touched by settlement. To the teeming thousands
of the East it was still looked upon as a vast forbid
ding desert. Across it stretched those narrow trails
where travellers passed on their journey westward,
anxious only to reach its end. The plodding freight-
wagon, the lumbering stage-coach, the flying express
passed this way, yet saw nothing but the endless
wilderness. But here was the cattle country, ex
tending finally from the Rio Grande to the North
Dakota line, roamed over by vast herds, and
guarded night and day by an army of cowboys. By
magic the cattle industry had spread over all this
neglected region ; and jealous of its rights, it fought
back for many a year all attempts at permanent set
tlement within its chosen domain. The wide,
untrammelled range belonged to the cattlemen by
right of possession, and they held it with the rifle as
long as possible. Hough writes:
"It was a curious, colossal, tremendous movement, this
[319]

THE GREAT PLAINS
migration of the cowmen and their herds, undoubtedly the great
est pastoral movement in the history of the world. It came with
a rush and a surge, and in ten years it had subsided. That
decade was an epoch in the West. The cities of Cibola began.
The strong men of the Plains met and clashed, and warred and
united and pushed on. What a decade that was! What must
have been the men who made it what it was! It was an iron
country, and upon it came men of iron. Dauntless, indomitable,
each time they took a herd North they saw enough of life to fill
in vivid pages far more than a single book. They met the
ruffians and robbers of the Missouri border, and overcame them.
They met the Indians who sought to extort toll from them, and
fought and beat them. Worse than all these, they met the desert
and the flood, and overcame them also. Worse yet than those,
they met the repelling forces of an entire climatic change, the
silent enemies of other latitudes. These, too, they overcame.
The kings of the range divided the kingdom of free grass."
The Cowboy's Daily Work
Life in the great cattle country was a life of
variety, yet of sameness. Hardship, loneliness, peril
were the cowboy's constant companions. No weak
ling long survived, no coward ever endured. The
far north and far south ranges presented different
problems for solution, different dangers to be met,
yet over all was a sameness except as to detail. In
some places the struggle was against drought, against
the pitiless desert, the arid heat of sun-baked desola
tion; in others the battle was as sternly waged
against the deadening sleet, the down-sweep of the
storm across the bare Plains. In either case it re
quired men to ride the lines and hold the cattle.
There are those among us even in this day who look
back and dream; we see again the wide sweep of
[320]

DAYS OF THE CATTLE KINGS
plain and sky; we feel the sense of freedom which
that broad expanse brings, the mastery of the wilds.
This sense of freedom and mastery constituted
the exhilaration which drew and held thousands to
the dull routine work of the range. About the home
ranch the days and nights passed under a discipline
no less severe because it was only half acknowl
edged. The foreman ruled ; the cowboy grumbled
but obeyed, even unto death. He was a good sol
dier, or the camp would have none of him. From
earliest gray of dawn until the flickering twilight,
work never ceased. There were no vacations, no
furloughs from this service of the range. Except for
those brief, infrequent periods passed amid the gar
ish glitter of some frontier hell at the end of the
drive to market, the demands of duty seldom ceased.
Never did men work harder, through longer hours,
or amid more peril and discomforts, for so small a
wage, as these tireless guardians of the herds. Yet
they loved it, and the marvellous joy of the life
crept into the blood. It was the call of the wild.
Night and day, in sunshine and in storm, they rode
the uplands and the valleys ; they slept in the saddle,
or on the open Plains under the stars of the Great
Desert; they conquered the wild horses of the prai
ries into obedience to quirt and spur; they dashed
forward into a melee of frightened cattle, while the
thunder roared and the lightning flashed, with death
on every hand. They were the minute men, never
knowing when the call for sacrifice might come,
yet never failing to answer when it did. Under his
[321]

THE GREAT PLAINS
picturesque garb, every article a necessity of his
calling, — the hairy "chaps," the broad sombrero,
the clanking spurs, the glistening "slicker," — beat
the undaunted heart of a man loyal to his employer,
faithful to his duty, and a Westerner from head to
foot. His Character as Affected by his Environment
Except for the round-ups in spring and fall, and
the drive to market, the social life of the cowboy
was confined to the companionship offered by the
home ranch, or an occasional meeting on the wide
range. Month after month he was alone, or with
the single comrade who rode the lines with him.
Inevitably he grew silent, chary of speech, but quick
and effective in action. Scarcely knowing why, or
how, the environment marked him, as the sea the
sailor. He became a part of those Great Plains he
ruled and loved. Always he was at war — the war
of man with brute, of man with the elements; he
must conquer or go down. Riding about the sleep
ing herd at night, singing lustily to calm their fears ;
loping in seeming carelessness beside the advanc
ing column, amid the dust of thousands of hoofs ;
sweeping across the sun-browned ridges, a mere
speck in the vast landscape; spurring desperately
with his fellows to bring in the last stray for the
branding; or rolled in his blanket under the stars.
the cowboy must be always ready, resourceful, pre
pared for any emergency. Nothing must count but
duty; human life was a bagatelle in those days on
[322]

DAYS OF THE CATTLE KINGS
the Plains: in the mad stampede of the blackest
night; in the crazy drifting before a northern bliz
zard, in the fierce down-rush of water through the
canyons, with every impetus of quirt and spur the
daring rider must head the rush of terrified animals,
or lie himself a shapeless pulp under their pounding
hoofs. There is no choice then ! " Ride, Jim I Ride,
Springtime! and Tex., and Curley, and Kid, and
Cherokee, and all the rest of you! Now, if ever,
you must be men of proof! Into the rattle of it, up
to the head of it, press, spur, crowd! Shoot into
their faces, frighten them back, turn them aside,
ride into them, over them, but ride fast and thought
less of yourself! There is no possibility of taking
care. The pony must do it all. The pony knows
what a stumble means. The herd will roll over
horse and man, and crush them as if they were but
prairie flowers. The ground is rough, but there
must be no blunder. Ah, but there was! Some
thing happened there ! There was a stumble ! There
was a cry, smothered; but all that was half a mile
back. The herd sweeps on,"
His Battles with Savages and Others
And those range days are full of other stories.
It was not cattle and storms alone the cowboy con
tended against. He was soldier and scout, as well as
herder. Again and again, sometimes singly, some
times in company, he met the savage in contest of
blood, Comanche, Apache, Kiowa, Arapahoe,
Cheyenne, and Sioux, all had a try at the nerve of
[323]

THE GREAT PLAINS
those lone white riders, and they paid the cost. And
there was war everywhere. Many a cattle-king held
his kingdom of free grass and free water by grace of
the rifle and the reckless daring of Kis men. There
were battles — unknown, unnamed — fought out
fiercely in the nooks and corners of the cow-country
— struggles against rivals, against "rustlers,"
against "nesters," against sheep-men, against the
gradual advance of civilization and settlement. And
the cowboy was loyal to the " old man " — his life as
freely offered here, in some quarrel regarding the
merits of which he knew nothing, as when he rode
recklessly to round up a stampeding herd.
The Last of the Cowboy
But the end came — came with the steady ad
vance of iron rails across the open Plain, and the
consequent influx of emigrants. In spite of their
struggles the cattlemen were driven back, their vast
ranges transformed into farms, their free grass check
ered by wire fences. It was inevitable. The Western
farmer, though often discouraged and beaten, came
to stay, and he stayed. The railroads crossed the
continent in many a line, ever narrowing the cow-
country! They began to build spurs and side-lines ;
they bent north and south ; they wiped out forever
free grass and free water. The occupation of the
cowboy was gone; the herds vanished, the wide
sweep of the Plains became only a memory. The
centre of what was left of the cattle industry shifted
to more remote regions, to Wyoming and Montana
[324J

DAYS OF THE CATTLE KINGS
in the North, to New Mexico and Arizona in the
South. With the change in environment much that
had served to make the cowboy unique and pic
turesque disappeared. Yet to the end he remained
a typical figure of the West, while the routine of
his duties only slightly varied. He who has best
written his story, Emerson Hough, thus sums up its
closing chapter:
" The cowboy was simply a part of the Great West, Never
was any character more misunderstood than he ; and so thorough
was his misrepresentation that part of the public even to-day will
have no other way of looking at him. They see the wide hat,
and not the honest face beneath it. They remember the wild,
momentary freaks of the man, but forget his lifetime of hard
work and patient faithfulness. The way in which we should
look at the cowboy of the passing West is not as a curiosity, but
as a product; not as an eccentric driver of horned cattle, but
as a man suited to his times, . . , He was a part of the
warp of an interwoven web of humanity, still leaving a dash of
color upon the growing monotone."

[325]

CHAPTER IV
BUILDING THE FIRST RAILROAD
Resistance of Indians to the Advance of Civilization
THE building of the Union Pacific marked the
commencement of a new epoch on the Great
Plains. Over a large extent of hitherto desolate
country it was the harbinger of advancing civiliza
tion and settlement. To none was this more quickly
apparent than to the aboriginal inhabitants of that
vast waste. Whether or not the Indian mind fully
comprehended the significance of those parallel
iron rails pressing relentlessly forward up the
Platte Valley, this advance of the white man to
supremacy was instantly met with fierce and pro
longed resistance. Never before, or since, in the
history of the Plains tribes, was there so close an
alliance for war against a common enemy. Every
wild tribe, nation, and band were in the field, and
from end to end of the border sounded the war-cry,
and arose the flames of destruction. This began
with the earliest efforts at surveying a route, and
continued until after the driving of the last spike.
Surveyors, graders, trackmen, even trainmen, fought
desperately for every mile they attained westward.
The end of the track was almost inevitably a battle
ground. The workmen labored, with their guns
[326]

BUILDING THE FIRST RAILROAD
within easy reach, and under the vigilant guard of
detachments of troops. Night and day peril lurked
on every side, and savage spying eyes watched for
opportunity over adjacent ridges. The strain, the
imminent danger, was incessant, the skulking foe
ever close at hand.
Surveys for a Pacific Railroad
The possibility of building a rail communica
tion across the continent had been a dream of cer
tain army officers and venturesome civilians, for
many years. As early as 1849 Lieutenant Warner
made certain surveys in the farther West of the
mountains, which may be held as preliminary to
this great project. From the terminus on the Mis
souri exploring surveys, with this purpose clearly
in mind, began as early as 1853, and continued each
year until 1861, when the coming on of the Civil
War put a temporary stop to contemplated plans.
These surveys were conducted by General G. M.
Dodge, and in picturing them I shall largely quote
his own language. He says :
"The first private survey and exploration of the Pacific
Railroad was caused by the failure of the Mississippi and Mis
souri — now the Chicago, Rock Island, and Pacific — to complete
its project. The men who put their money into that enterprise
conceived the idea of working up a scheme, west of Iowa, that
would be an inducement to capital to invest in carrying their
project across Iowa to the Missouri River. They also wished
to determine at what point on the Missouri the Pacific Rail
road would start, so as to terminate their road at that point.
The explorers adopted Council Bluffs, Iowa, as that point,"
[327]

THE GREAT PLAINS
Lincoln's Share in Founding the Union Pacific
The Union Pacific Company was finally organ
ized at Chicago, September 2, 1862, but the war
then being on in earnest, the effort to engage capital
in the project proved a failure. Little was immedi
ately accomplished, except some further prelimin
ary surveys carried on by Reed, Dey, and Brayton.
But previous to this an accidental meeting between
General Dodge and Abraham Lincoln had oc
curred, by which Mr. Lincoln's interest had been
aroused regarding the projected movement. This
resulted later in governmental assistance toward the
furthering of the scheme. Dodge writes of this
early conference :
"During these explorations, in 1856 or 1857, I happened to
return to Council Bluffs, where Mr. Lincoln chanced to be on
business. It was then quite an event for an exploring party to
reach the States. After dinner, while I was sitting on the stoop
of the Pacific House, Mr. Lincoln came and sat down beside
me and, in his kindly way and manner, was soon drawing from
me all I knew of the country west, and the result of my surveys.
The secrets that vvere to go to my employers he got, and, in
fact, as the saying there was, he completely 'shelled my woods.' "
As a direct result of that interview, in the Spring of
1863 President Lincoln sent for Dodge, then with
Grant's army at Corinth, to come to him for further
conference at Washington,
Under the action of a law passed by Congress
in 1862, it had become the duty of the President to
fix the eastern terminus of the projected Pacific
Railroad. Lincoln was deeply interested in the
whole matter, and very desirous of having the ad-
[328]

BUILDING THE FIRST RAILROAD
vance made promptly. Council Bluffs was selected
for the eastern terminus, but the strain on the Gov
ernment at that time made it necessary to rely upon
private enterprise for the furnishing of means to its
building. Nothing further of importance was accom
plished until, in 1864, Congress enacted further leg
islation ; but after the close of the war exploration
of the territory involved was renewed with vigor,
and several satisfactory routes for crossing the
mountains were discovered and surveyed. These
various exploring parties were under Government
control, largely being commanded by officers of the
army; but the route adopted by the Union Pacific
was laid out mainly through private enterprise.
Commercially, although not from an engineering
viewpoint, it constituted a true line from the Atlan
tic to the Pacific.
It and the Central Pacific Built for Commercial Purposes
But the Union Pacific and the Central Pacific
(the latter the section west of Ogden, built under
separate organization of capital, yet in unison) were
projected for commercial purposes, and with the
one object — to obtain a quick, short line from river
to coast. With the rather serious engineering ob
stacles encountered, particularly in the mountainous
regions, v/e are not now especially concerned. That
they were most formidable must be apparent to all
travellers of these later days, but our particular
interest now centres on the great country of the
Plains where the work was comparatively easy, and
[329]

THE GREAT PLAINS
the grades light. In 1863 ^"^ ^^^^ ^^^ ^^^^ ^"^"
veys were systematically begun, and by 1866 the
entire selected route was being carefully considered.
In Dodge's graphic language :
" Day and night, summer and winter, the explorations were
pushed forward through dangers and hardships that very few
at this day appreciate; as every mile had to be in range of the
musket, there was not a moment's security. In making the
surveys numbers of our men, some of them the ablest and most
promising, were killed; and during the construction our stock
was run off by the hundred, I might say by the thousand. As
one difficulty after another arose and was overcome, both in the
engineering and construction departments, a new era in railroad
building was inaugurated," The Construction an Arduous Work
This simple statement is well within the limits
of modesty. From every standpoint it was a mar
vellous enterprise, carried successfully forward with
great skill and courage in midst of constant peril
and almost insurmountable discouragements. In
1865 forty miles of track was laid; in 1866, two
hundred and sixty; in 1867, two hundred and forty,
including the ascent to the summit of the Rocky
Mountains, at an elevation of over eight thousand
feet; in 1868, and up to May 10, 1869, five hun
dred and fifty-five miles more was added, besides
which over one hundred and eighty miles of tem
porary and side tracks was constructed. The mar
vel of it grows as the conditions are considered.
This was through a new, unsettled country; over
desert, plain, and rugged mountain, with hostile
[330]

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SCENES ALONG THE LINE OF THE FIRST RAILROAD
RAILROAD-BUILDING ACROSS THE PLAINS — AN ATTACK ON THE CONSTRUCTION
GANG — TYPE OF THE TOWNS WHICH SPRANG UP ALONG THE NEW LINE
BUILDING THE FIRST RAILROAD
Indians swarming over the route, and every la
borer and every pound of equipment hauled hun
dreds of miles to the front.
The first grading was commenced in the Autumn
of 1864, and the first rail placed in position in July
the following year. At this time there was no rail
communication between Council Bluffs and the
East, while the country to be traversed could furnish
little, if any, of the materials necessary. Timber,
fuel, steel — everything required, including mules
and men, had to be transported for hundreds, and
oftentimes thousands of miles, by steamboats up the
dangerous Missouri, and then in wagons along the
prairie trails. It required a most efficient organiza
tion, an able corps of officers, an army of men, a
multitude of mules. Probably the experiences de
rived from the great war just concluded alone made
so stupendous an undertaking possible. The lead
ers of construction had been trained in the field to
overcome natural obstacles, to meet emergencies in
the quickest practicable manner. They were not the
orists, but builders. Many of the employees were
discharged volunteers, disciplined by three years in
the ranks, habituated to danger and hardship. Back
of this efficient field force stood the Government as
sponsor; already burdened with billions of debt,
fifty million dollars more was floated to help to
finance this project which promised so much for the
development of the West. This act created a credit
which enabled the railroad management to float an
equal amount with ease. Handled by men of means,
[33 1 J

THE GREAT PLAINS
courage, and unbounded faith, — men who threw
their own private fortunes into the scale, — the gi
gantic task was begun and finished. The men at
the front always knew they had behind them a re
serve force that would never fail.
Military Protection for the Workmen
In the actual field work the regular army be
came conspicuous. The commissary department
was freely utilized. Troops in considerable num
bers were detained to guard the various working
parties; the pioneers explored, surveyed, located,
and built inside picket lines, while scouting parties
of cavalrymen patrolled the more distant bluffs, or
vigorously pursued Indian raiders. The workmen
marched to their labor to the tap of the drum, every
man armed for instant battle. They stacked their
guns on the dump, as they stripped for the day's
work. Writes Dodge :
"General Casement's track-train could arm a thousand men
at a word; and from him, as a head, 'down to his chief spiker,
it could be commanded by experienced officers of every rank
from general to captain. They had served five years at the
front, and over half of the men had shouldered a musket in
many battles. An illustration of this came to me after our track
had passed Plum Creek, two hundred miles west of the Mis
souri River. The Indians had captured a freight train, and
were in possession of it and its crew. It so happened that I
was coming down from the front with my car, which was a
travelling arsenal. At Plum Creek station word came of this
capture and stopped us. On my train were perhaps twenty men,
some a portion of the crew, some who had been discharged and
sought passage to the rear. Nearly all were strangers to me.
[332]

BUILDING THE FIRST RAILROAD
The excitement of the capture, and the reports coming by tele
graph of the burning train, brought all the men to the platform,
and, when I called upon them to fall in, to go forward and
retake the train, every man went into line, and by his position
showed that he was a soldier. We ran down slowly until we
came in sight of the train. I gave the order to deploy as
skirmishers, and at the command they went forward as steadily,
and in as good order, as we had seen the old soldiers climb the
face of Kenesaw under fire."
Effects of Increased Settlement on Soil and Climate
In those days the one thought of the promoters
of this great transcontinental line was the through
traffic. Probably not one among them dreamed of
the swift development of the country traversed by
their lines of rail, or that those deserts would ever
be thickly populated. Even as late as the date of
the completion few there were who believed those
barren, treeless wastes could ever be made agricul
turally profitable. But the tide of population, seek
ing cheaper land on which to build homes, surged
resistlessly westward. They were pushed from the
fertile valleys onto the barren Plain, and, by the help
of nature, conquered the wilderness. The very cli
mate changed before the mystery of this advance of
civilization. The iron rails, which soon spread in
every direction, the upturning of the prairie sod,
the planting of trees, worked a miracle of regenera
tion. Especially was this notable in the rain-fall.
Observers have testified that, with the beginning of
civilization, the rain-belt steadily advanced west
ward from the Missouri at the rate of eight miles a
year. In the earlier days on the Plains none of the
[333]

THE GREAT PLAINS
main crops could be raised except by irrigation.
From April to September no rain fell over a vast
region. The snows of the mountains alone fur
nished the streams with water, and gave the short
bunch grass sufficient dampness to sustain its life
until July. To those who knew that country then,
and can behold it to-day, the difference is mar
vellous. The truth is, the Great Plains were never
a desert, in the proper application of the term. They
were a misunderstood region, where fertility only
awaited opportunity. That opportunity arrived
with the coming of a railroad, and the thousands of
hardy settlers who flocked to the promised land.
Dodge sums it all up in these words ;
" It is not too much to say that the opening of the Pacific
Road, viewed simply in its relation to the spread of population,
development of resources, and actual advance of civilization, was
an event to be ranked in far-reaching results with the landing
of the Pilgrims, or perhaps the voyage of Columbus."
And Inman adds :
"The Great Salt Lake Trail is now crossed and recrossed
by the iron highway of commerce. The wilderness is no longer
silent; the spell of its enchantment is broken. The lonely
trapper has vanished from the stern mountain scene. The Indian
himself has nearly disappeared, and in another generation the
wild landmarks of the old trail will be almost the only tangible
memorials of the men who led the way."

[334]

T

CHAPTER V
BORDER TOWNS
Cow-Towns the Nuclei of Permanent Settlements
HIS pushing forward of railways into the
wilds of the Plains caused a rapid advance of
settlement where formerly the sustenance of life
had been impossible. At the end of the unfinished
line, as it progressed westward, there was always a
mushroom town built of shacks and tents, among
which saloons and brothels were prominent, the
streets generally littered with discarded tin cans,
and, at night, swarming with a heterogeneous popu
lation. Here lived the surveyors, the graders, the
track-layers, and the train men, and about them clus
tered swarms of parasites desirous of living off their
wages through the glittering allurements of sin.
Some of these temporary halting-places became
towns and cities of importance in later years, and
one or two held the honor of forming the end of
the Long Trail in the closing era of the cattle trade ;
but more often they passed into absolute oblivion
as the road advanced, their very names forgotten.
Yet every eight or ten miles along the gleaming
rails there was left the nucleus of settlement, some
times a mere water-tank, with its attendant section
house, planted like a guard in the grim desert;
again, some such desolate spot would arrive at the
dignity of a cow-town, a shipping place for the
[335]

THE GREAT PLAINS
cattle of neighboring ranges. Under the stimulus
of this passing trade the place would flourish and
expand, shacks would spread out over the prairie
into the semblance of a straggling village ; general
stores would appear along the main street, usually
facing the track, rude, barnlike structures ; saloons,
gambling-dens, and dance halls would be strewn
thickly in between the few legitimate business
houses, while cattle pens straggled along the road
in evidence of the town's real mission. During the
height of the cattle trade, after the moving west
ward of the Long Trail, these places became cen
tres for a wide extent of trade, and led a wild,
riotous, and prosperous life.
The Cowboys' Idea of Enjoyment
To thousands of cowboys, riding the sun-browned
plains of Nebraska, Kansas, Colorado, and Indian
Territory, isolated for weary months of incessant
toil in the saddle and at the home ranch, such
squalid settlements, when finally reached once or
twice a year, afforded their sole glimpse of the
wider world. Here, to their minds, was life ; and,
no sooner was their bunch of cattle safely penned
for shipment, than they turned themselves loose,
seeking all the enjoyment to be found. They were
like children attracted by tinsel and tawdry glit
ter, and all that was offered them was of the lowest.
The vices of the border were few and coarse, but
these the cowboy off duty was eager enough to
sample. He found plenty of teachers ready to as-
[336]

BORDER TOWNS
sist, so long as he parted freely with his coin. Every
man stood for himself alone in those days and in
that land; he was what he proved himself to be
by the rude code of the border. There were no
artificial distinctions, no social barriers; it was a
world governed by physical force, dominated by
passions unrestrained. The West asked no questions
of any man; all that had been, in other days, east
of the Missouri, was blotted out. Here he stood
eye to eye with his fellows, and no voice challenged
him. Character of the Frontier People
Emerson Hough writes :
"Virtue was almost unknown in the cow-town of the 'front'
in the early days. Vice of the flaunting sort was the neighbor
of every man. The church might be tolerated; the saloon and
dance-hall were regarded as necessities. Never in the wildest
days of the wildest mining camps has there been a more dissolute
or more desperate class of population than that which at times
hung upon the edge of the cattle trail or of the catle range and
battened upon its earnings. The chapters of the tale of riotous
crime which might be told would fill many books, and would
make vivid reading enough, though hardly of a sort to the pur
pose here. . , . It is strange that the records of those days
are the ones that should be chosen by the public to be held as the
measure of the American cowboy. Those days were brief, and
they are long since gone. The American cowboy has atoned
for them by a quarter of a century of faithful labor, and it is
time the atonement were written for him in the minds of the
people by the side of the record of his sins."
Picturesqueness of the Cow-Towns
These little cow-towns, while they lasted, were
full of color, excitement, and picturesqueness,
[337]

THE GREAT PLAINS
Never again can their like be seen. The environ
ment was dull, desolate, forlorn ; all that was worthy
of the eye, the thought, was the pulsing human ele
ment. All about was the barrenness of great Plains,
stretching unrelieved to the horizon, while here in
the middle of the grim picture clustered the rude,
unpainted houses, the shacks, the grimy tents flap
ping in the never ceasing wind, the ugly red station,
the rough cow-pens filled with lowing cattle, the
huge, ungainly stores, with false fronts decorated
by amateur wielders of the paint-brush, and the
more ornate dens of vice. The pendulum of life
was ever swinging here: if the day was dull, the
night made up for it in clamor; if a week passed
listlessly, the next was crowded full with riot and
spending. It all hung on the coming and going of
those reckless riders of the range. When the dust
rose high above the trail, the sleeping parasites
awoke in eager anticipation, and set their traps for
the victims riding in so gayly to their fate.
Mixed Society of the Cow-Towns
How the vivid memory of it all comes back, in
tensified rather than faded by the years. Society
was mixed, no man cared who his neighbor was,
no man ventured to question. Of women worthy
of the name there were few, — the station-keeper's
wife, perhaps, with one or two Others, — yet the
night saw flitting female forms in plenty, and the
lights of the saloons displayed powdered cheeks
and painted eyebrows. It was a strange, restless,
[338]

TRANSPORTATION AND COMMUNICATION ACROSS THE PLAINS
THE TELEGRAPH, THE OVERLAND STAGE, THE EMIGRANT TRAIN. AND THE PONY EXPRESS RIDER

BORDER TOWNS
f
commingled population enough — cowboys, half-
breeds, desperadoes, gamblers, saloon-keepers, mer
chants (generally Jewish), petty officials, and
drunkards by profession. The town was an eddy
which caught odd bits of driftwood, such as only
the frontier ever knew. Queer characters were
everywhere, wrecks of dissipation, derelicts of the
East, seeking nothing save oblivion. Life was
cheap in the midst of such chaos, and all the dig
nity of the law vested itself in the town marshal
or the sheriff. He ruled not through any terror of
courts behind him, but by sheer force of personality,
and an acknowledged ability to " drop " his man.
The position was no sinecure, and he who held it
successfully needed to be a man of nerve. Early
and often was he put to the test, and any failure
to " make good " was his official death-knell. Those
who "won out" through such trials of endurance
were, with hardly an exception, of the same stripe
— cool, quiet, courageous fellows, just, patient, and
fair in their treatment of offenders, but quick as a
steel trap, and as unyielding in fight as a bulldog.
The first requisite for any man who would pros
per in a cow-town was undoubtedly "sand," Any
one permitting himself to be " run over," was from
that moment an object of contempt, and sooner or
later every new arrival was put to the test, and la
belled accordingly. If he " made good," his future
career in that conimunity was a much easier road to
travel. Every border town in those days was cer
tain to contain its bully, or "bad man," He was
[339]

THE GREAT PLAINS
generally a surly desperado, possibly a coward at
heart, but malicious and quarrelsome when in li
quor. Not infrequently two, or more, of this
inteiesting class partnered together in search for
trouble. Their special game was " tenderfeet," or
new arrivals, for the old hands were not so easily
dealt with. Yet the man who minded his own busi
ness, and kept his mouth shut, was seldom interfered
with. The majority of the gun-fights so prevalent
in those days, occurred between men who were
hunting for trouble, and only occasionally was
there a killing in which the victim was any loss to
the community. The Druggist and the Cow-Puncher
A Stranger soon learned that every man who
sported a "gun," and swaggered about with pro
fane oaths on his lips, was not necessarily coura
geous, and the first feeling of awe often changed to
one of contempt. The average " bad man " always
sought an advantage; "quick on the draw," un
scrupulous, generally provoking the quarrel, he took
few chances of injury. Yet it was not always easy
to distinguish the true from the false. In a cow-
town every citizen sported his gun, and there was
only one recognized method of settling a difl[iculty.
The individual must defend his own rights, and
the man who won respect was the fellow who demon
strated himself as being "square," who was never
out hunting trouble, but who always met it prompt
ly when it came. Anecdotes of those strenuous
[340]

BORDER TOWNS
days are numerous; the pages of writers upon
Western history and romance teem with them, and
facile pens have thus made commonplace bar-room
roughs into frontier heroes.
The Larger Cattle-Towns
The larger cattle-towns, those chosen from time
to time during its western migration as a terminus
for the Long Trail, were merely greater and more
cosmopolitan representatives of this same life.
While the small cow-town attracted the reckless
riders of the neighboring ranges, the more exten
sive one drew to itself from out the wide distance
the entire floating population of the border. Here
met the cattle-men of the West and their legions of
riders, the long drive ended, and their pockets
bulging with money they were eager to spend.
From Nebraska and Texas, the Territory, and even
New Mexico and Colorado, they came in, driving
before them vast herds of dusty, tired cattle, and
already intoxicated with dreams of joys awaiting
them. And the joys were there, the dispensers
ready for the carnival. From dawn to dawn the
tireless search after pleasure continued. The bag
nios apd dance halls were ablaze; the bar-rooms
crowded with hilarious or quarrelsome humanity;
the gaming-tables alive with excitement. Men
swaggered along the streets looking for trouble,
and finding it; cowboys rode into open saloon doors,
and drank in the saddle ; troops frenzied with liquor
spurred recklessly along the streets firing into the
[341 J

THE GREAT PLAINS
air, or into the crowd, as their whim led them ; bands
played popular airs on balconies, and "barkers"
added their honeyed invitations to the din. It was
a saturnalia of vice, a babel of sound, a glimpse of
inferno. Every man was his own law, and the gun
the arbiter of destiny. The town marshal, or the
sheriff, with a few cool-headed deputies, moved
here and there amid the chaos, patient, tireless, un
daunted, seeking merely to exercise some slight re
straint. Never again can such sights be beheld;
even now there may be those who will doubt the
truth of the picture. Their Riotousness
Yet town after town passed through this experi
ence, before the Long Trail finally disappeared
from history, Abilene, Newton, Wichita, Ells
worth, Great Bend, and Dodge, each in turn, wel
comed and entertained the riotous crew. Out of
the mystery of the Great Plains they came, ripe for
mischief, in search after excitement, and the thou
sands of providers flocked to give them greeting.
Those were the great days of the range, days when
money was as water, and the cowman reigned as
king; no wonder the towns that entertained him were
lively, and everything "went" at the end of the
drive. He paid for his fun ; let him shoot out the sa
loon lights, and demolish the bar — double the value
would be given when he sobered up and remem
bered. When men would order a hundred dollars'
worth of ham and eggs, or bathe in champagne, the
[342]

BORDER TOWNS
ordinary methods of the effete East were not to be
considered. The cattle country had its own stand
ard, as it had its own vices. The men who made it
were a race unto themselves, and those of another
generation are not fitted to judge them. They were
good and bad ; nobility was no stranger along the
border, and a friend there was a friend to death.
Good manhood was always assured of respect, and
true womanhood revered. Ours the failure if out
of the chaos, the brutality of this primitive society,
we fail to discern the real character of those who
dominated it.
Hough's Pen-Picture of the Cow-Town
I like to dwell on Hough's appreciative picture
of his last glimpse of the typical cow-town :
"It is high and glaring noon in the little town, but it still
sleeps. In their cabins some of the men have not yet thrown
off their blankets. Along the one long, straggling street there
are few persons moving, and those not hastily. Far out on the
plain is a trail of dust winding along, where a big ranch wagon
is coming in. Upon the opposite side of the town a second and
more rapid trail tells where a buckboard is coming, drawn by
a pair of trotting ponies. At the end of the street, just com
ing up from the arroyo, is the figure of a horseman — a tall,
slim young man — who sits straight up on his trotting pony,
his gloved hand held high and daintily, his bright kerchief just
lopping up and down a bit at his neck as he sits the jogging
horse, his big hat pushed back a little over his forehead. All
these low buildings, not one of them above a single story, are
the color of the earth. They hold to the earth therefore as
though they belonged there. This rider is also in his garb the
color of the earth, and he fits into this scene with perfect right.
He also belongs there, this strong, erect, and self-sufficient figure.
The environment has produced its man."
[343]

CHAPTER VI
OUTLAWS AND DESPERADOES
Varieties of the Desperado
THE wide extent of the Plains, the free un
trammelled life, and lack of law-enforcement,
led inevitably to the development of the outlaw.
The typical " bad man " of the cattle-towns was not
necessarily in this class, although his kind was very
frequently represented. The men of note on the
border, who took up robbery as a trade, were seldom
brawlers, and almost never swaggered through the
streets posing as desperadoes. They were of a far
more dangerous species, with whom action spoke
louder than words. In the " good old times " there
was a class of men along the frontier sufficiently
large to be seriously reckoned with ; these were fugi
tives from justice, and escaped criminals. They
preferred living on the extreme border, were always
suspicious of strangers, and generally ready enough
to be recruited for any crime, under competent lead
ership. Such leadership was seldom lacking.
The desperado was always in evidence in the
cow-towns. Often he was only a blustering,
intoxicated coward; but some of his class were
natural fighters, and became savages in their desire
for notoriety and slaughter. Usually choosing
" tenderfeet " as being easy victims, they sometimes
sought after harder game. Such a border ruffian
[344]

OUTLAWS AND DESPERADOES
has been known to travel hundreds of miles for the
purpose of having a fight with another whose fame
as a dead shot rivalled his own. At one time a dep
uty United States marshal of southern Kansas, a
wonderful two-handed shooter (that is, one who
could use a revolver equally well with either hand) ,
was ordered to arrest a notorious bully. In the fusil
lade which naturally resulted both were shot
through the body. Some hours later the dying des
perado asked how the marshal was, and being told
he could not live until morning, expressed himself
as satisfied. " I 'm willing to die," he said, " when
I can take along with me the best pistol-shot on this
frontier." The marshal recovered,
Julesburg a Notorious Haunt of Desperadoes
Through all the years of its earlier existence
Julesburg was celebrated for its desperate charac
ters. Twenty-four hours seldom passed without
contributing another silent occupant to Boots Hill,
the famous cemetery where every sleeper was laid
away with his boots on. Homicide was performed
in the most genial manner, shooter and shootee smil
ing pleasantly into each other's face. Jack Slade,
who had charge of that division of the Overland
stage route, was probably the most succeissful as
sassin of them all. Competent authority affirms that
he was guilty of having murdered in cold blood over
fifty men, sometimes tying them to a stake, as he
did Old Jules, and deliberately practising at them
with a pistol. Yet when his own time came to pay
[345]

THE GREAT PLAINS
the cost, when he was in the remorseless hands of
Montana vigilantes, he begged on his knees, crying
and whining like a whipped cur.
Cattle-Stealing
Next to homicide, the most popular crime of
the border was probably cattle-stealing. There
were, at different times, well organized bands for
the robbery of mail-coaches; outlaws, frequently
disguised as Indians, openly attacked emigrant
trains on the trail; but "rustling" cattle on the
Plains apparently had the greatest attraction for the
largest number of the reckless and depraved. To
a cowboy out of work, or chafing under authority,
it was the natural outlet. In some ways, and to an
accommodating conscience, it scarcely seemed a
crime to pick up an unmarked calf, or a stray cow
wandering along in some sequestered coulee, and
apply a branding iron in claim of ownership. This
step once taken, the next naturally followed, and a
deft touch of the hot iron easily changed one brand
into another. The " lO " brand became " lOI," or
even "ilOB"; the " )— ( " mark was transformed
into "O— O"; or the "V" was altered into "-0-."
It was all extremely simple, the tools necessary were
very few, and the changes infinite. At the end of a
season, with the final spring round-up, the enter
prising "rustler" had a nice bunch of cattle to his
credit on the range, and, whatever suspicion might
be afloat, there was no direct evidence forthcoming.
All this was plain sailing at the start, and many
a great fortune in the cattle business was begun in
[346]

OUTLAWS AND DESPERADOES
just this way. Nor were those early " rustlers " very-
much ashamed of their trade. If they stole, it was
from men who, strictly speaking, possessed little
property except what they had likewise stolen, and
held by force of arms. The great companies pros
pered on free grass and free water, which they
seized and guarded. But the time came when these
large owners combined for the purpose of crushing
out the little fellows. This was done with the inten
tion of stopping rustling, but it increased it a thou
sand fold. Opposition stirred up the spirit of open
rebellion in the cow-puncher; to him it was an
invasion of rights to be promptly resented.
Cattle Thieves become the Majority
From a very small industry cattle-stealing be
came a recognized trade, the few scattered rustlers
of the earlier years consolidating into organized
bands, with assistants everywhere. More than once
they met the riders of the big ranges in open battle,
and again there was war on the Great Plains.
Hough writes :
"The rustler was a cow-puncher, and one of the best. He
understood the wild trade of the range to its last detail. Among
cow-punchers there were men naturally dishonest, and these
turned to illegal rustling as matter of course. They were joined
by the loose men of the upper country, who 'were not there
for their health,' and who found the possibilities of the cattle
system very gratifying. These took in with them, sometimes
almost perforce and against their will, often at least against
their convictions, some cow-punchers who were naturally as
honest and loyal men as ever lived. To understand their actions
one must endeavor to comprehend clearly what was really the
[347]

THE GREAT PLAINS
moral code of that time and that country. This code was utterly
different from that of the old communities. Under it the man
who branded a few calves for himself as an act of 'getting
even' with the unjust rules of the large cow oijtfits and the big
Eastern syndicates was not lowered in the least in the
esteem of his fellow-men, but, to the contrary, was regarded as
a man of spirit, and therefore entitled to the rough Western
respect which had no eye for him who submitted to be 'imposed
upon.' " The Vigilantes
To this class, struggling for what they deemed
their rights, there drifted naturally all sorts of hard
and dissolute characters from out the chaotic popu
lation. All that were lawless along the frontier
discovered there an opportunity for crime, and
embraced it with ardor. The more recklessly des
perate rose to leadership, and soon attracted a
following easily turned toward unrestrained out
lawry. Murder and open robbery were committed ;
stock was run off in droves, regardless of brand;
horses changed owners in a night ; and no man hav
ing property was safe from attack. Such a state of
affairs could not last. The vigilantes came to life, for
there were no courts to deal with such a condition.
The work was thoroughly accomplished. In the
first campaign between sixty and eighty rustlers
were lynched. On one morning a single rail
road bridge had thirteen corpses swinging from it.
The struggle for supremacy turned northward; it
extended through years far beyond the limits of our
story, and did not end until the reign of the rustler
was done. " In the ten years from 1876 to 1886 the
[348]

OUTLAWS AND DESPERADOES
vigilantes of the cattle country," according to
Hough, " executed as many men in Nebraska, Da
kota, and Montana as have been legally executed by
the law in any dozen States in all the time since
then." General Lawlessness on the Plains
Throughout the entire history of the Plains the
bullying desperado of the town, and the crime-
stained outlaw of the open, were made unduly con
spicuous. From the times when the half-breed
Charles Bent and his band of " dog soldiers " har
assed the Santa Fe Trail, until those later days
when Sheriff Pat Garrett killed " Billy the Kid " at
Fort Sumner, New Mexico, and the Dalton boys
were met by rifles at CofFeeville, Kansas, the
border beheld scenes of lawless, fiendish atrocity
which have caused the many to forget that it was
really peopled and won by law-abiding men. To
enter into detail would result merely in a sickening
record of robbed and wrecked stages, of burned
caravans, of emigrants left utterly destitute in the
wilderness, of mutilated dead bodies beside the
trail, of savage, revengeful gun-fighting in bar
rooms or midnight streets, and the mention of names
utterly without merit and better forgotten. Such
brawls were but incidents of wild life, and the gath
ering together of such a heterogeneous society. Yet
their record was a record of terror scarcely conceiv
able. " Billy the Kid," a mere boy of twenty-two
when he fell, had killed in cold blood more than
one man for each year of his miserable life. Others
[349]

THE GREAT PLAINS
there were well worthy to rank beside him in in
famy. Not a cow-town, or a border settlement from
the Rio Grande to the Missouri but contained its
"bad men," its stories of desperate encounters, its
graveyards where the short-lived heroes rested in
their boots. Some had turned to open outlawry, and
their hideous careers were ended by the rope of the
vigilantes or the rifles of some sheriff's posse ; others
died before the quick fire of cool-eyed city marshals,
or by the lead of opponents in their own class. Let
them lie and moulder into forgetfulness — "Bad
Eye" Connelly, "Pistol" Hicks, Jim McCabe,
" Three-fingered Pete," and all the rest of the riot
ous, blaspheming murderers. Dust they were, to
dust they have returned, and to each in turn there
came the moment and the man. The wages of sin
is death. The Sheriffs and Marshals
But there were other gun-fighters in those days :
men enlisted on the side of right and order; men
who met these boasting desperadoes on their own
chosen ground and whipped them to a standstill;
cool-eyed, resourceful, nervy men, making no blus
ter, but shooting straight — the sheriffs and marshals
of the West. Among these were to be found scoun
drels and cowards, who were outlaws in disguise
and sympathizers with criminals, but not many.
Night after night, day after day, in the mad riot of
the cow-towns, where every man was a walking
arsenal ; or out on the wide Plains amid the loneli
ness and silence, these selected representatives of
[350]

OUTLAWS AND DESPERADOES
law and order upheld their authority by their own
strength of character, and their quickness on the
trigger. They were the law, and their sole authority
was the ready " gun " swinging on the hip. Angels
were not chosen for such a post; in some cases they
had stepped forth from the very ranks of the vicious,
but they generally " made good," and proved worthy
of the trust imposed.
William Hickock, a Typical Upholder of the Law
The names of such men are many, — not a few
of them died in discharge of their duty, — but the
most famous along the border was William Hic
kock (Wild Bill), who for years ruled the destiny
of several of the hardest of the Kansas towns. The
story of his life on the Plains, while more remark
able in some respects than that of others of his class,
yet is sufficiently typical to bring before the reader
a vivid pen-picture of the deeds and the men who
then upheld law along the border. William Hic
kock was born in Illinois, but ran away from home
when little more than a boy, and found his way out
to the Plains. For fifteen years he lived among the
trappers and hunters, sharing in their wild, free
life ; later he became teamster and scout ; and when
the Civil War broke out he promptly enlisted-in the
Union army. As a soldier he was almost constantly
detailed as scout, and saw hard service both with the
army of the Frontier, and the forces operating along
the Mississippi. During this period his adventures
between the lines, and hairbreadth escapes from
[351]

THE GREAT PLAINS
death, verged upon the marvellous, and he won the
commendation of his superiors. At the close of the
war Bill drifted again to the frontier, his nature
craving the excitement of that kind of life. Here he
accepted such work as came his way, but proved
himself specially useful as a Government scout.
Fame came to him, however, while officiating as
marshal in such cow-towns as Abilene, Hays City,
and Dodge. Cool, quiet in manner, never quarrel
some or under the influence of liquor, absolutely
without fear, and a dead shot, he never failed to
arrest or else to kill his man, and his name became
a terror to the desperadoes of the entire border.
How many fell before his unerring aim is not
known, but he fought fair, and he stood for law and
order. He was a necessity of his time and environ
ment. His Physique and Prowess
In his prime Wild Bill was a magnificent speci
men of a man — a warm-hearted, loyal friend, but
a persistent, tireless enemy. He stood six feet and
an inch in his moccasins, perfectly proportioned,
graceful and quick in movement, with remarkable
depth and breadth of chest. His eyes were dark
gray, their expression generally soft and pleasing but
capable of hardening; his lips were thin and sensi
tive, the jaw not too square, the cheek bones slightly
prominent. He wore his dark hair long, flowing to
the shoulders. The border never produced a finer
pistol-shooter, he being equally quick and accurate
with either hand, firing apparently without aim, his
[352]

OUTLAWS AND DESPERADOES
movements like lightning. But he shot to kill. For
years he walked in the shadow of death, facing again
and again the most dangerous men of the border,
with hundreds eager to kill him on sight, ruling the
hardest towns the world ever knew by his nerve and
his quickness on the trigger. His two most famous
affairs were his duel with Dave Tutt, and his single-
handed fight with a desperado named M'Kandlas
and nine of his gang.
His Two Most Famous Fights
The first affair occurred at Webb City, Mis
souri. Tutt, a discharged Confederate soldier and
" bad man," deliberately picked a quarrel with
Hickock on account of an old score. Bill tried to
stave off trouble, but Tutt's friends kept daring him
to fight, and finally the two men met in the public
square. Both drew and fired at the same instant,
but Bill, without waiting to see the result of his
shot, wheeled, and, with smoking revolver covered
Tutt's friends, Tutt fell, the bullet lodging in his
brain. The fight with M'Kandlas was one of the most
desperate encounters in the annals of the border. It
ocurred in southern Nebraska, near the Kansas line.
Bill being attacked by the ten armed men in a set
tler's cabin. The lone man killed five of them with
gun and pistol before they succeeded in breaking in
and getting hands upon him. Then it was fists and
knives. His own description runs :
" Two of them fired their bird guns at me, and then I felt
[353]

THE GREAT PLAINS
a sting run all over me. The room was full of smoke. Two
got in close to me, their eyes glaring out of the clouds. One I
knocked down with my fist. The second I shot dead. The
other three clutched me, and crowded me onto the bed. I
fought hard. I broke with my hand one man's arm. He had
his fingers round my throat. Before I could get to my feet I
was struck across the breast with the stock of a rifle, and I
felt the blood rushing out of my nose and mouth. Then I got
ugly, and remember that I got hold of a knife, and then it was
all cloudy like, and I was wild, and I struck savage blows,
following the devils up from one side to the other of the room
and into the corners, striking and slashing until I knew that
every one was dead. All of a sudden it seemed as if my heart
was on fire, I was bleeding everjrwhere, I rushed out to the
well and drank from the bucket, and then tumbled down in a
faint," He had eleven buckshot in him, and was cut in
thirteen places, but had wiped out the M'Kandlas
gang. It was years later, and far up in the Black
Hills, that Wild Bill was treacherously shot to
death, the ball being fired into the back of his head
as he sat at a card table.

1:354]

CHAPTER VII
FRONTIER SCOUTS AND GUIDES
Some Famous Scouts
THE West owes much to those hardy men who,
usually from mere love of adventure, wan
dered alone or in small companies across the wilder
ness, ever in advance of the settlements and the
troops, exploring the unknown, tracing nameless
rivers, uncovering hidden water holes in the grim
desert, penetrating to every nook and corner of the
Great Plains and the mountains beyond, discover
ing the haunts of Indians, the routes which the
wheels of caravans could follow with greatest safety,
the best camping spots, the scattered places where
wood and water were certain to be found. To such
as these — the scouts and guides of the frontier —
every prairie traveller, every incoming settler, every
officer riding at the head of his troop and seeking
the savage foe owed gratitude.
The names of many of these men became re
nowned upon the Plains, and deserve remembrance
by this generation. Such were Uncle John Smith,
Kit Carson, Jim Bridger, James P. Beckwourth,
Uncle Dick Wooton, Jim Baker, Lucian B. Max
well, Old Bill Williams, Tom Tobin, and James
Hobbs, among the old-timers; and W. F. Cody,
Wm. Hickock, California Joe, Dick Cherry, and
Amos Chapman, of a later generation. By daring,
l3B5^

THE GREAT PLAINS
endurance, resourcefulness, and constant devotion
to duty these men have won fame that will endure in
the history of the Plains. Tireless as the Indian,
knowing their traits, characteristics, habits ; reading
the secrets of the Plains like an open book, careless
of personal danger, and inured to loneliness, they
remained on the skirmish line of civilization, and of
many of them the fate is unknown,
A Few Whose Fame will Endure
The scouts of the frontier were numerous, yet in
actual service only a few proved really valuable.
Those who rose out of the ruck did so through sheer
ability, and have been honored in the reports of the
army officers they guided in arduous campaigns of
war or exploration. They became famous through
out the length and breadth of the frontier. It was
the reports of Fremont that lifted Kit Carson from
obscurity; Custer made the fame of California Joe;
Merritt and Carr gave wide spread to the reputa
tions of Wild Bill and Buffalo Bill. The names
of these few Plains celebrities now belong to the
history of their country, John Smith
There were few plainsmen who 'did not know
one or all of these great pathfinders, and deem the
knowledge worthy of a boast. Uncle John Smith
ranged from the Yellowstone to the Gila, and from
the upper Missouri to the Rio Grande ; not an In
dian tribe but had held him guest, scarcely a stream
[356]

^'A

a^-'Z.S-^f-'^^ -

THE FAMOUS SCOUT, TRAPPER, AND PLAINSMAN

FRONTIER SCOUTS AND GUIDES
along whose waters he had not trapped. In 1826,
when a mere boy, he ran away from home and
joined a party of Santa Fe traders, and ever after
wards the wilderness held him captive. He mar
ried a Cheyenne squaw, spoke four Indian dialects,
besides French and Spanish, and ruled like an auto
crat the Indian trade of the Western Plains. As
late as 1869, when he was an old man, he was one
of Sheridan's most trusted guides, competent, tire
less, unerring as a bloodhound on the trail. His life
had been one constant adventure ; and when in con
genial company he would recount for hours the
stirring events of his career. His facial resem
blance to President Andrew Johnson was remark
able, and led to some amusing incidents.
Kit Carson
Kit Carson was on the Plains and in the moun
tains for forty-two years, and his name will always
stand forth preeminent among famous frontiersmen.
In turn a trader, a hunter, a free trapper, a scout
for the army, a guide to explorers and to travelling
caravans, and finally a Colonel of Volunteer Cav
alry, he had a wider experience than any of his
contemporaries. His was a life of hairbreadth es
capes, of endless adventure, marvellous activity and
usefulness. For eight years he was the hunter at
Bent's Fort, and all the Plains Indians, as well as
the Utes of the mountains, knew him well, and
feared and respected him. Many a time did he
avert war by his influence in the lodges ; but when it
[357]

THE GREAT PLAINS
came, no man ever met it more promptly. As a!
sign-talker he had few if any superiors, and as a
trailer he very seldom lost track of those pursued.
Inman, who knew him well, thus sums up his char
acteristics :
" Carson's nature was madeup of some very noble attributes.
He was brave but not reckless; a veritable exponent of Chris
tian altruism, and as true to his friends as the needle to the pole.
Under the average stature, and rather delicate-looking in his
physical proportions, he was, nevertheless, a quick, wiry man,
with nerves of steel, and possessing an indomitable will. He
was full of caution, but showed a coolness in the moment of
supreme danger that was good to witness."
While he was visiting at Fort Lyon, Colorado,
in 1868, an artery in his neck was ruptured, causing
his death. Thus passed away the most famous
frontiersman of the Great Plains. His burial place
was at Taos, New Mexico, where he had long made
his home. Jim Bridger
Jim Bridger began his experience on the Plains
with Ashley's great trapping expedition. During
his years of frontier life he became the peer of the
best among mountaineers and plainsmen. Unedu
cated by the schools, ignorant of all social conven
tionalities, he yet possessed a heart overflowing with
the milk of human kindness, was generous, honest,
and loyal to his friends. His most important serv
ices were rendered as scout and guide during the
early surveys for the first transcontinental railroad,
and for a number of years he was in Government
employ guiding army detachments in Indian cam-
[358]

FRONTIER SCOUTS AND GUIDES
paigns. No man of his time knew the northern
Plains, or the mountains beyond so thoroughly as
he, and it was his eyes that first looked out upon
Great Salt Lake the Winter of 1824-25. Bridger,
after a life of wild adventure, transcending fiction,
died and was buried at Westport, Missouri.
The resemblance of John Smith to President
Andrew Johnson has been mentioned above, Inman
relates that once, when the President in his " swing
around the circle " had arrived at St, Louis and was
riding through the streets of that city in an open
barouche, he was pointed out to Bridger, who hap
pened to be in the city. But the venerable guide
and scout, with supreme disgust depicted on his
countenance at the idea of any one attempting to de
ceive him, only exclaimed: " Hell! Bill, you can't
fool me! That 's Old John Smith," On another
occasion, discovered by a friend sitting on a dry-
goods box in one of St, Louis's narrow streets, the
old frontiersman thus relieved his feelings: "I've
been settin' in this infernal canyon ever sence
mornin', waitin' fer some one to come along an'
invite me to take a drink. Hundreds 0' fellers has
passed both ways, but none of 'em has opened his
head, I never seen sich a onsociable crowd,"
Bridger acted as guide for Sir George Gore on
his famous hunting trip in 1855-57, during
which the party killed over forty grizzly bears,
twenty-five hundred buffalo, and an unknown quan
tity of smaller game. Gore had with him fifty
helpers, including secretaries, steward, cooks, fly-
[359]

THE GREAT PLAINS
makers, dog-tenders, and personal servants. His
was one of the strangest outfits ever seen on the
Plains. During their trip the baronet gave Bridger
a copy of the adventures of Baron Munchausen to
read. After painfully deciphering the text the
frontiersman confessed that he 'd be " dog'oned ef he
swallowed everything that thar Baron Munchausen
said," and thought he was a " darned liar " ; yet he
acknowledged that some of his own adventures
would be equally marvellous "if writ down in a
book." Jim Baker
Jim Baker ranked well up with these others as
plainsman and mountaineer. Next to Carson he
was Fremont's most valued scout. An Illinoisan,
he was eighteen years old before he appeared on the
Plains as an employee of the American Fur Com
pany. So far as known, he was never again east of
the Missouri. Having married a Snake Indian, and
passed much of his life in the company of savages,
he imbibed many of their superstitions and habits.
When off duty he drank heavily, and wasted the
money won by his successful trapping. Bent's Fort
on the Arkansas became his chosen outfitting point,
but for months at a time he would disappear in the
wilderness. So successful was he in snaring wild
game that in a single season he sold nine thousand
dollars' worth of fur. The stories told of his prowess
in fight are numberless, and his friend General
Marcy, of the United States Army, made the old
[360]

FRONTIER SCOUTS AND GUIDES
fellow famous in the pages of his books on border
life. Jim Beckwourth and Others
Jim Beckwourth was one of the odd characters
of the wild West. He was a mulatto of niedium
height but great muscular power, and no man in
mountains or on Plains ever led a more adventurous
life. He was hunter, trapper, trader, scout, and In
dian-fighter, and, being a born leader of men, he
became head-chief of a great tribe of savages, the
Crows. Historians have, seen him from vastly dif
ferent viewpoints. Parkman wrote : " He is a
ruffian of the worst class; bloody and treacherous,
without honor or honesty; such, at least, is the char
acter he bears on the Great Plains. Yet in his case
the standard rules of character fail ; for though he
will stab a man in his slumber, he will also do the
most desperate and daring acts." This statement is
not upheld by those who knew him intimately —
Carson, Maxwell, and the Bents. To them he ap
peared the most honest of all Indian traders, and a
man to be trusted in any emergency. He first went
to the mountains with Ashley in 1825. I* is true
that his fame largely rests on his published biog
raphy, some of it no doubt true, but much going to
prove him a " charming liar."
Uncle Dick Wooton passed his life on the Plains
in the neighborhood of the Santa Fe Trail, along
which he first passed at nineteen as teamster in a
trading caravan. He became noted as an Indian-
[361]

THE GREAT PLAINS
fighter, and from his intimate knowledge of the
entire Southwest. Bent's Fort was his rendezvous
for several years, where he was a great favorite, not
only because of his prowess in the field, but because
of his fund of anecdote about the camp-fire. His
earliest encounter with Indians occurred at the cross
ing of Pawnee Fork, and later he had another se
vere fight on the same spot. In 1866 Wooton built
a log house in the Raton Pass, and remained there
until his death, collecting toll from those travellers
who used the road he had made across the moun
tains. Frequently he was obliged to extract pay at
the muzzle of his rifle, but very few ever got by him
scot-free. He died at the age of ninety, and many
of his adventures have found record in the pages of
Inman. Old Bill Williams, the guide who led Fremont
astray on his last expedition, was a unique char
acter. He had been a Methodist preacher in the
East, but was on the Plains long before Kit Carson
left the Missouri. No man knew the mountains
better, unless it was Jim Bridger. A man of educa
tion, he easily mastered the different languages of
the tribes,' but to both Indians and Mexicans he re
mained an unsolvable riddle and a terror. As a
trader he was a total failure, and many of his com
panions considered him partially insane, although
a brave, warm-hearted, and generous man. He was
finally killed by Indians.
James Hobbs had a remarkable career during
his long life on the frontier. He was for years a
[362]

JAMES P. BECKWOURTH

AN EARLY CALIFORNIAN FAMOUS AS TRAPPER AND SCOUT

FRONTIER SCOUTS AND GUIDES
prisoner among the Indians, a soldier in the war
with Mexico, an officer in the revolt against Maxi
milian, an Indian-fighter, miner, trapper, trader,
and Government scout.
Tom Tobin was the last of these famous trappers
and hunters of the old regime to pass away. He
was a quick-tempered Irishman, under the average
stature and red-faced, always ready for fight or
frolic. He was present at most of the famous In
dian battles of the early explorers ; but his greatest
achievement was killing the notorious Mexican
bandit Espinosa in a desperate hand-to-hand con
flict in 1864. William F. Cody and Amos Chapman
William F. Cody (Buffalo Bill) and Amos
Chapman were the best-known bordermen of later
days, and were worthy to rank with those mentioned
above. Cody began his career on the Plains as a
mere boy on a caravan trip to Santa Fe, became
teamster on a " bull " train, driver on the Overland,
and Pony Express rider before he was of age. As
early as 1863 he was employed as guide and scout
for an expedition against the Kiowas and Co
manches, and later carried despatches straight
through the hostile Indian country between Forts
Lyon and Earned. A great many of his adventures,
including his desperate duel with Yellow Hand, a
Cheyenne chief, have been told in the books in
which he collaborated with Colonel Inman. His
famous appellation was won during employment as
[363J

THE GREAT PLAINS
a hunter for the Kansas Pacific Construction Com
pany in 1867-68. In less than eighteen months he
killed nearly five thousand buffalo, which were
eaten by the twelve hundred workmen employed in
track-laying. Amos Chapman was fifteen years in Govern
ment employ as scout on the Plains. During this
life of constant peril and exposure one of his most
heroic acts occurred while he was bearing de
spatches for General Miles from his camp on
McClellan Creek to Camp Supply, I. T. The de
spatch party consisted of six men. Early in the
morning, after a hard night's ride, they were sud
denly attacked near the Washita River by a band of
over a hundred Kiowa and Comanche warriors.
Colonel Dodge thus describes what followed :
" The first intimation of the presence of Indians was a
volley which wounded every man of the party. In an instant
the Indians appeared on all sides. Dismounting and abandoning
their horses, the brave band moved together for a hundred yards
to a buffalo wallow, a shallow natural depression in the prairie.
Chapman and Dixon, being but slightly wounded, worked hard
and fast to deepen this depression, and as soon as it was suffi
ciently deep to afford some cover it was occupied and the work
continued from within. Smith had fallen from his horse at the
first fire and was supposed to be dead, . . .
" Chapman said, ' Now, boys, keep those infernal redskins off
me, and I will run down and pick up Smith, and bring him back
before they can get at me.' Laying down his rifle, he sprang out
of the buffalo wallow, ran with all speed to Smith, seized and
attempted to shoulder him. . . . ' I laid down,' said Chap
man, 'and got his chest across my back, and his arms around my
neck and then got up with him. It was as much as I could do
to stagger under him, for he could n't help himself a bit. By the
[364]

FRONTIER SCOUTS AND GUIDES
time I had got twenty or thirty yards, about fifteen Indians came
for me at full speed of their ponies.' "
The boys in the buffalo wallow opened on the Indians and
Amos ran for it.
" ' When I was in about twenty yards of the wallow,' he
continued, 'a little old scoundrel that I had fed fifty times rode
almost on to me and fired. I fell with Smith on top of me, but
as I did n't feel pain, I thought I had stepped in a hole. The
Indians could n't stay around there a minute, the boys kept it
red-hot, so I jumped up, picked up Smith, and got safe in the
wallow. 'Amos,' said Dixon, ' you are badly hurt.' ' No, I am
not,' said I. ' Why, look at your leg,' and sure enough, the leg
was shot off just above the ankle-joint, and I had been walking
on the bone dragging the foot behind me, and in the excitement
I never knew it, nor have I ever had any pain in my leg to this
day.' "

[365I

A

CHAPTER VIII
MUSHROOM TOWNS
General Description
N INTERESTING phenomenon of Plains
settlement, perhaps without parallel else
where, were those strange towns which sprang up
in a night wherever the advancing railway paused,
and which passed away as suddenly with the further
extension of the rails, leaving scarcely a trace be
hind. The peculiarity of the conditions under
which these earliest overland roads were constructed
made such mushroom towns inevitable, and the na
ture of their population served to render them suf
ficiently picturesque. Stretching boldly forth into
an uninhabited and barren waste, to which every
pound of material required and every man em
ployed had to be transported, the end of the track,
both on the Union Pacific and the Kansas Pacific,
became Of necessity a great temporary distributing
point, full of unceasing activity and a feverish,
throbbing life. Money was plentiful, and no re
straints of home kept the restless inhabitants within
bounds. Rough characters of all descriptions
eagerly flocked to each such temporary terminus,
certain of reaping a quick harvest. Shacks and
tents, rude structures of board, or even sod, sprang
up like magic on the bare prairie, and scarcely had
the decree gone forth that here the railroad would
[366]

MUSHROOM TOWNS
pause for a while, ere the spot teemed with human
ity, and a new " city " appeared in the twinkling of
an eye. Few of such cities survived ; scarcely half
a dozen of them yet remain. They all flourished a
month, some of them six, revelling in sin and law
lessness, only to pass away utterly from the face of
the earth.
Historians have never considered this chapter
of frontier life worthy their pens, yet it deserves
picturing as illustrative of how civilization first
penetrated the wilds. A writer in Harper's Maga
zine, who had been connected with the building of
the Kansas Pacific, embodied his remembrance of
those days in an article from which I extract much
material. Coyote
To the railroad belonged the task of rescuing
from oblivion towns which were, but are not.
Coyote was such a town, the temporary terminus
in 1868. Nothing could be more dreary than its
environment, on every side the monotonous roll^
ing Plains meeting the cloudless sky. The town it
self was a crazy street of shanties; its inhabitants a
mob of uncouth men flung down among the buffa
loes. Where they originally came from was a prob
lem, but the majority had drifted into Coyote from
some other mushroom town a hundred miles to the
east. They brought with them their dwellings, their
stores, the few necessaries of life. The new home
was made in a day, and was old in a night. Canvas
saloons, sheet-iron hotels, sod dwellings, discarded
[367]

THE GREAT PLAINS
tin cans, and scattered playing-cards littered the
ground. The cards were apparently numberless and
always in evidence. Says the writer in Harper's
Magazine:
"Before the breath of the north wind they would rise into
air, the queens dancing like so many witches in eflSgy, as close
over the smooth surface they fled south. A few moments, and
the barren earth would be swept clean, while the pasteboards,
accompanied by stray newspapers and old hats, were flutter
ing, like a flight of white birds, out of sight. Three days, the
usual life of a full-grown prairie gale, might pass, and then,
as the north wind met the forces of the south, the tenantless
air became alive again. Far off on the heel of the vanquished
and the crest of the victor wind, came the white-winged coveys
of cards, like the curses of the proverb, on their way home to
roost. At nightfall they had collected beside the track and
among the houses, and were again as thick as leaves in autumn.
Had it been possible for conscience to prick through a Coyote
gambler's skin, how it might have gratified him to see the marked
Jack that had fleeced the last stranger rise up like a grasshopper
and fly south, beyond the possibility of becoming State's evi
dence! And how annoying to wake up, and find the knave
again under his window!"
Coyote lived its brief eventful life in the midst of
the buffalo country. For a hundred miles in any di
rection skeletons whitened on the plain ; the meat,
cut into strips or lying on sheds, "jerked" and mer
chantable, was every wh ere. It could be had almost
for a song. Occasionally a wild herd, stampeded
by careless hunters, would dash directly through
thetown, bowling over tents in their terror, and cre
ating pandemonium among the surprised occu
pants. To many of the citizens such an occurrence
was only second in interest to a dog-fight, and bets
[368]

MUSHROOM TOWNS
were quite in form. The sporting proclivities of
the place were especially aroused on one occasion
when a veteran buffalo bull tried in vain to fish out
a frightened citizen from behind a log, where he
had hurriedly taken refuge after a poor shot at the
beast. Try as he would, the infuriated animal could
only succeed in tearing the man's clothing into rags,
but with every thrust there came a yell which would
have done credit to an Apache. Instead of inter
fering in the fun the manhood of Coyote placed bets
on the result, cheering in turn for the bull or Sandy,
with strict impartiality. Sheridan
Coyote had a brief but merry life. The terminus
moved forward to Sheridan. The change was eas
ily accomplished. In less than a week not a shack
remained, only thousands of oyster and fruit cans
marking the deserted spot. Sheridan, where the
terminus remained longer, became a larger Coyote.
It was named after the famous General, then sta
tioned at Fort Hays not far distant, and when that
hero was finally introduced to his lusty namesake,
he is said to have remarked that, as a seat of war, it
strongly resembled the Shenandoah Valley, while
the yelling and firing of the mob of employees
on pay-day reminded him of Stonewall Jackson's
ragged battalions. Sheridan graced the side of a
desolate ravine, with the yet more desolate Plains on
every side. It was built complete in a month, but
before the single street had even been surveyed the
[369]

THE GREAT PLAINS
necessity arose for a graveyard, and one was
promptly located on a ridge overlooking the town.
When any angry citzen threatened to give another
a "high lot" he meant six feet of soil on that
hillside. During the first week three moved in
"with their boots on," and during the winter the
list was swelled to twenty-six. Odd Characters
Odd characters were attracted to such a com
munity as this, as flies to a sugar barrel. The cor
respondent of Harper's Magazine thus pictures two
who deserve to be embalmed in history:
"There was 'Neb, the devil's own.' Neb was an abbrevia
tion of Nebuchadnezzar, which title he won from taking so
naturally to grass, or, more correctly, to the prairie, when it
was necessary to hide on account of misdeeds. Had any one
been interested enough to make weekly inquiries about Neb's
whereabouts, the answer would generally have been, 'Out at
grass.' On two occasions he assisted men to eternity without
previously using a boot-jack. Once, when an Irish mob was
celebrating pay-day. Neb ran out of a hotel opposite, and emptied
sixteen shots from a Henry rifle among them. No one was
killed, but the 'devil's own' found it necessary to go into exile
on the back of a stray mule, followed for hundreds of yards by
a howling mob and shower of bullets."
Neb ended his glorious career finally at the
hands of vigilantes.
Another individual of prominence in Sheridan
was "Ascension Stephen." According to our re
porter,; —
"This worthy was a half-witted Millerite, who climbed the
two buttes once or twice every month, with a saloon tablecloth
[370]

MUSHROOM TOWNS
in his pocket that might answer for wrapper when the great
trumpet should sound. Fine evenings were often spent by him in
this weary and lonely waiting, and on one occasion he frightened
the wits out of some drunken Irishmen by rushing down the
hill toward them as they were returning from a wild debauch.
So well did the tablecloth do duty on this occasion that, for the
first time in months, the Irishmen reached their homes sober. A
more effective temperance banner never fluttered in the breeze."
Lynching
Judge Lynch was well known in Sheridan, and
the railroad trestle was a most convenient gallows
tree. It was sure to bear monthly, and sometimes
daily fruit. On more than one occasion passengers
on the cars have drawn back in affright as they
beheld staring up at them the face of some Texas
Jack, or California Joe who had perished in his
sins. Not that Sheridan was, either outwardly or
inwardly, moral or law-abiding, but it was gener
ally recognized that there was a limit not to be
passed without physical protest. As a rule morals
were rather looked upon as articles of commerce.
No one endeavored to possess any, unless money was
to be made in that way. If any citizen abjured
cards, revelry, and wine, he was pretty certain to
have some other game under way which would cost
h^s confiding fellows heavily. But it would be well
for him to be far out on the prairie before his vic
tims awoke to the result. Vengeance was quick and
sure, and vigilance juries brought in some queer
verdicts in Judge Lynch's Sheridan court. The
chronicler gives one instance where a man, arrested
on suspicion, but without evidence enough against
[371]

THE GREAT PLAINS
him to convict, was indiscreet enough to call the
court names. He promptly incurred the following
unique sentence : " This yere court feels herself in
sulted without due cause, and orders the prisoner
strung up for contempt." And strung up he was.
Sham "Bad Men"
The town fairly blossomed with " bad men," and
the crop of " Bill " heroes was without apparent
end. To be named by doting parents William was
to assure any ambitious frontiersman future fame:
he became Wild Bill, Apache Bill, or some other
Bill by some magic in the atmosphere, a terror to
tenderfeet, and generally a blasphemous, swagger
ing bully and coward. Our friend in Harper's
Magazine thus pictures one such he knew in Sheri
dan. He was a teamster, named William Hobbs.
"He could not have placed a bullet from his carbine in a
barn door at a hundred paces. And yet, without any provoca
tion whatever, he seized upon the word California and wore it,
although that wonderful State had never, to my certain knowl
edge, been favored by his presence. This man had not been cut
out for a hero. His becoming one was in direct violation of
nature's laws. He was fat, short of wind, red-faced and timid
as a hare. As the frontiersman expressed it, having never lost
any Indians he could not be induced by any consideration to find
one. However, by lying in wait for tourists and correspond
ents, he often managed to get business as a guide. He had
donned a suit of buckskins made in St. Louis, and would state
to the gaping stranger, ' My name 's California Bill yere ; over
thar it 's 'Pache, on account o' my fightin' the tribe.' He could
not have told one of the latter from a Digger, yet soon the
Eastern papers came back with thrilling descriptions of this
noted scout and Indian-slayer, But I have known this dead
[372]

MUSHROOM TOWNS
shot, to miss, four times in succession, a bison at fifty yards;
and one occasion, having mistaken a Mexican herder for an
Indian he fled so fast and far that he lost hat and pistol, and
ruined his horse." Real "Bad Men"
But do not let this incline you to believe there
were not real " bad men " in Sheridan. The genu
ine article was there, and woe to the tenderfoot who
thought otherwise. Both Cody and Hickock, the
real Buffalo Bill and Wild Bill, walked those
streets, cool, quiet fellows enough, but not the kind
of men to play with, unless you wanted to die. And
there was another kind as well, the typical frontier
desperado, always in liquor and always quarrelsome.
Tragedy was in the air, yet it scarcely affected the
orderly citizen who was content to attend strictly to
his own business. The roughs usually fought it out
among themselves. Writes this observer justly:
"In all my residence upon the frontier, during which time
sixty-two graves were filled by violence, in no case was the
murder otherwise than a benefit to society. The dangerous
class killed within its own circle, but never courted justice by
shedding better blood. Orderly people looked on with something
like satisfaction, as at wolves rending each other. The snarl
was the click of a revolver, and the bite followed the bark.
These were the men who gloried in snuffing out a candle, or a
life, at thirty paces."
An illustration occurred in the ending of two no
torious bullies of Sheridan, known locally as Gun
shot Frank and Sour Bill. From some cause
unknown these worthies quarrelled, and decided to
fight it out in spectacular fashion, to the delight of
['373]

THE GREAT PLAINS
the crowd. Each armed himself with a revolver,
shouldered a spade, and started off for the ridge.
The plan was for each man to dig a grave for the
other, then exchange places, and see which would
have to be filled. However, before the work was
half done, "Gunshot" made an impudent remark,
and Bill promptly shot him through the body.
Balked of a good part of their anticipated enjoy
ment, the crowd attacked "Soiir," and in the
struggle which ensued he was killed. That night
two men slept in the graves dug by their own hands.
The Hotel at Sheridan
Oh, those were great towns, gone forever from
the face of the earth, yet lingering in memory 1 Who,
that ever sought sleep in Sheridan's one hotel, could
ever forget the experiment? Hastily constructed,
so as to be moved at a moment's notice, every creak
of a bed echoed from wall to wall. The partitions
failed to reach the ceilings by a foot or two, and the
slightest sound aroused the whole floor. A pistol
shot in No. 47 was quite likely to disturb the peace
ful slumbers of the occupant of No, 15, and every
" damn " in the thronged bar-room below caused the
lodger to curl up in expectation of a stray bullet
coming toward him through the floor. Under the
window a mob howled, and a man in some distant
apartment was struggling vainly to draw off his
tight boot, skipping about on one foot amid much
profanity. That the boot conquered was evident
when the fellow crawled into the creaking bed. " If
[374]

MUSHROOM TOWNS
the landlord wants them boots off, let him come an'
pull 'em." You could lie there and hear every
thing that occurred. Every creak and stamp and
snore was faithfully reported. Inside was purga
tory; outside was Sheridan.
But it has all passed away; it was a part of the
life that was, but is no more forever. The " Bills "
have gone the way of all flesh, and so has Sheridan.
The train pauses an instant even now at the station
bearing the name, but there is nothing visible ex
cept the solitary house of the railroad section hands.
The hotel, the saloons, the shacks have all disap
peared, and about stretch the dull, dead Plains.
Only up there on the hill, still in their boots, lie
those whom the migrating Sheridan left behind in
memory of those days that were.

^375^

CHAPTER IX
IN 1870
Changes Effected by the Railways
BY THE end of the sixties the Great Plains pre
sented a new aspect. Over a large part of that
vast area civilization had already come, and the
war henceforth was to be with the forces of nature
instead of unrestrained savagery. The lines of rail
way in operation the full length of Kansas and
Nebraska, bringing in new settlers, and making pos
sible a swift consolidation of troops, had completely
changed the aspect of the Indian country. Hostile
alliance of the fighting tribes was no longer pos
sible, and one by one they were induced to go upon
their reservations under guard. Indian war was not
ended entirely, and trouble occurred with these
wards of the nation for many years. The fierce
fighting at Robinson, on the Rosebud, at Slim
Buttes, and Wounded Knee were yet in the future,
and the world was yet to shudder over the awful
tragedy when the men of the Seventh Cavalry went
down to death on the Little Big Horn. Yet the end
was already in sight — tribal outbreaks might occur,
but never again was a great Indian war possible.
Men of the white race had won to themselves the
Great Plains; their feet were securely planted on
[376]

IN 1870
the prairies, and there was no turning back the on
coming tide.
From battle against savage enemies the settlers
turned now to conquering the pitiless forces of na
ture which sought to bar their progress. Foot by foot
they won their way; by the plough and by tree-
planting steadily pushing westward the reluctant
rain-belt; utilizing the streams in projects of irriga
tion, and through the wondrous magic of labor,
converting the barren desolation into countless
farms and productive ranches. Villages sprang up
along the lines of steel, and upon the banks of ne
glected water-courses; new names appeared upon
the maps, and hardy settlers, eager for cheap land
and glad of the opportunity for independent labor,
spread out farther and farther amid the bluffs until
they even dared their fortunes on the open prairie.
It was the birthtime of States, of great common
wealths, rich in manhood and womanhood, soon to
be rich in all those material things which intelligent
labor wrests from Mother Earth.
The Advance of Kansas and Nebraska
The tale of one section is the tale of all, except
that emigrants naturally poured in more rapidly
under the stimulus of railroads already constructed.
Kansas and Nebraska advanced by leaps and
bounds. In spite of droughts, the plague of grass
hoppers, the occasional Indian raids along the ex
posed borders, there was no marked cessation of the
tide of immigration. Settlers became discouraged,
^377^

THE GREAT PLAINS
burned out, eaten out, driven out, but others as in
stantly took the vacant places, and ever the skirmish
line advanced. The Platte and the Arkansas be
came lined with cities and towns, farms and pros
perous settlements. The Solomon, the Vermilions,
the Republican, the Big and Little Blue, the Elk-
horn, and the Niobrara, no longer flowed through
desolate prairie, the haunts of wild beasts and primi
tive men, but watered tilled farms, and gave back in
crease to the husbandman. Dakota and Colorado
In far Dakota the progress was slower, yet no
less distinct. Settlements fringed the streams, and
eager miners flocked to the unveiling mystery of the
Black Hills. Little by little even the great fighting
nation of the Sioux were compelled to yield up their
chosen land to the resistless white invaders. The
doom of the Indian was already plainly writ, the
new chapter of development well under way. In
Colorado the tide was beginning to sweep back
from the golden mountains out upon the bordering
Plains. The character of the population was chang
ing, and the steady plodding farmer was rising to
an importance equal to that of the prospector and
the delver after minerals. Life everjrwhere from
river to mountain had assumed a new aspect; the
old feverish border days had gone. Courts and law
had become paramount; Judge Lynch and the vig
ilantes were superseded ; sweet-faced women smiled
from the doorways, and little children played about
[378]

IN 1870
the doorsteps. Civilization had laid its hand of
power on all the hitherto wild scene, and content
ment and prosperity were coming to the prairies. It
was a wonderful story, that of the marvellous years
between 1865 and 1875 ; a story of growth, of hard
ship, of suffering manhood and womanhood; and
it ended in a victory never to be forgotten, never
to be lightly thought of. It is not easy to conquer
a wilderness ; it is not accomplished by gloved hands
and sweatless brow. It means days and nights of
toil, sacrifice, privation, suffering, and peril. It
means isolation and loneliness, hours of despair, and
the gazing often into the stony eyes of defeat before
natural obstacles yield to man's indomitable will.
Here man is on the firing line, and must hold it at
all cost. The right men were there ; from the upper
Missouri to the Rio Grande they moved steadily
forward, a thin but dauntless line, their ragged
clothes as much a badge of honor as the red-coats
that held the French horsemen at Waterloo, while,
mile by mile, they transformed the barren desert
into a garden of fertility, and won the world an
empire. Disappearance of the Cattle Ranges and the Indian Trails
It was not all done then ; it is not all done even
now. For many a year the wide expanse of the
Plains proper, lying between the utmost western
advance of Kansas and Nebraska, and the backward
sweep of the Colorado settlements, remained a
waste. This high and almost level plateau defied
[379]

THE GREAT PLAINS
the farmer by its lack of sufficient rain-fall, and the
seeming impossibility of irrigation. Only through
long experiments of science did it begin to yield to
the demands of men. Here the cattle ranged in
vast herds, guarded by the remnant of that great
army of cowboys who had once, and so short a time
before, ruled the whole West as their own land.
Already their glory had departed, and they were
beholding the last glimpse of " free water and free
grass," Here, also, were the Indian trails, no longer
worn deep through the prairie sod, but growing
ever more dim and indistinct. Now and then some
tribe would break its bounds, and follow the old
trail in a sudden mad foray; there would be burn
ing cabins along the uttermost frontier, a breaking
of the thin white line, a cowboy dead and scalped
in some lonely coulee, a short trail of destruction.
But it was soon over with. A swift gathering of
troops, a rally of settlers, a sharp fight, and the help
less red men were guarded back to the reservation
from whence they came.
The tide took new strength and rolled on, oblit
erating the old trails of savage feet, effacing the
great ruts worn by the wheels of the speeding over
land or the slow-moving caravans, ploughing up
the buffalo wallows, leaving us to guess where the
express riders spurred their reeking ponies, or gal
lant troopers rode forward to their death. The end
was inevitable, and by 1870 it could already be per
ceived. From then on it was but a question of time
— and how short a time! Much that was pic-
[380]

IN 1870
turesque, bizarre, and romantic vanished,^but~onfy
to make room for the more important and lasting,
" Home I " was the watchword of the new invading
force, as, spreading out over rolling prairie and
level Plain, fertile valley and arid desert, the toilers
of the crowded East came pouring in to take pos
session of their own. Peace hath its victories no
less renowned than those of war.
Conquest of the Great American Desert
It was a long, toilsome, and perilous journey
from that far off time when Cabega de Vaca made
his solitary pilgrimage amid the "hump-backed
oxen," to the time of the invasion by Anglo-Saxon
civilization. For three hundred and forty-three
years those vast grim Plains had been the scenes
of struggle ; the sun of midday and the stars of mid
night had watched the slow transformation. The
marching of troops under three banners ; the desper
ate battles amid the dreary buttes ; the slow, sullen
retreat of savagery; the stern advance of silent, per
sistent frontiersmen; the slow-rolling caravans
piercing the wilderness ; the daring riders spurring
their horses across the wide Plain ; the victim sob
bing in torture; the lost traveller praying in
famine ; the white, dead faces upturned to the piti
less sky — all that had been and gone. And then,
out of the East they came to take possession ; over
the long miles, across the rivers and the prairies,
came the conquering Anglo-Saxons — men, women,
children — armed with the plough and the spade,
[381]

THE GREAT PLAINS
animated by the dogged resolution which is the
inheritance of their race, thrilling to the thought of
home, and to the passion for possession. The hour
and the man had come ; the Great American Desert
was a thing of the past. Le Roi est mort: vive le Roi!
The End.

INDEX

ABB
Abbott-Downing Co., builders of
the Concord coaches, 202
Abilene, Kan., 317, 342, 352
Adams, D., 77
Adams,  , fur-trader, 89
Albuquerque, N. M., 48, 194
Alexander, Col., 158
Algonquin Indian linguistic stock,
31,35
American Fur Company, 26, 105,
107, 142, 360
Anza, Capt., 132
Apache Canyon, 171
Apache Indians, 205, 206, 236, 279,
323
Arapahoe tribe, 31, 32, 35, 38-40,
53, 84, 86, 95, 96, 118, 169, 212,
228, 231, 236-238, 240, 255, 260,
261, 279, 288, 323
Aricara tribe, 34-36, 65, 83, 87, 88,
92, 99, 100, 102, 105, 106, 108
Arickaree Rjver, 260, 264, 272, 282
Arizona, 172, 175, 325
Arkansas River, 24, 26, 31, 36, 38,
39, 43, 49, 55, 57, 58, 71-74, 77,
78, 82, 84, 94, 95, 102, 108, lio
ns, IIS, 117-119, 123-125, 127,
128, 147, 15s, 156, 160, 165, 167,
168, 189, 212, 227, 231, 234, 237,
272, 297, 298, 360, 378
Armijo, Gov., of Santa Fe, 128, 137,
171, 172,
Armstrong, Keno, stage driver, 201
Arrow Rock, Mo., 112
"Ascension Stephen," border char
acter, 370
Ash Creek, 123
Ash Hollow, Neb., 189, 229
Ashley, William H., 87, 102, 104,
106, 114, 358, 361

BEN
Assiniboine Indians, 59, 106
Assiniboine River, 59
Astor, John Jacob, 86
Astoria, Oregon, 86, 105
Atajo, or pack-train, 134
Atchison, Kan., 176, 179, 181, 199,
200, 301, 308
Atchison, David R., 305
Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe
Railroad, 125
Atkinson, Col. Henry, 76
Aubrey, Francis Xavier, Pony Ex
press rider, 224
"Audubon and His Journals," 93
Ayre, Lieut., 235
Back Bone Ridge, Kan., 301
Bad lands, 19, 60, 238
Bad River, 92
Baird,  , trader, no, 123
Baker, Jim, guide, 153, 355, 360
Ballard Falls, 187
Bancroft, H., quoted, 88, 151
Bartlett, Commissioner, 175
Bascom,  , 288
Battle Creek, Black Hills country,
151
Beauharnais, Governor, 59
Beaver Creek, 263, 274, 282, 283
Becknell, William, 112, 113, 115
Beckwourth, James P., 87, 95, 105,
355, 361
Beecher, Lieut. Frederick H., 262,
268
Belden, George P., 211
Bell, Lieut. David, 206, 207
Bell, Capt. John R. 77-79
Bell, Maj., Seventh Cavalry, 279
Bellevue (trading-post), 91
Benavides, Spanish historian, 130

[385]

INDEX

BEN
Bent brothers, 95
Bent, Charles, 116, 117, 207, 208,
226, 349, 360
Bent, Col. William, 96, 208, 361
Bent, W. W., 231
Bent's Fort, 24, 95, 96, 116, 125,
165, 168, 170, 189, 208, 212, 231,
.232, 357, 360, 362
Bidwell's company of California set
tlers, 144
Bienville, French explorer, 54
Big Arkansas River, 46
Big Blue River, 186, 378
Big Cheyenne River, 86
"Big Dry," 67
Big Horn Range, 60, 150, 242, 243
Big Horn River, 83, 100, 239
Big Piney Creek, 243, 246
Big Sand Creek, 26
Big Sandy River, 187
Big Sioux River, 34, 91
Big Timbers of the Arkansas, 24
Big Vermilion River, 186
Bigelow, Kan., 186
"Billy the Kid," desperado, 349
Bingham, Lieut., 245
Bird,  , of the Hudson Bay
Company, 105
Bismarck, N. Dak., 59, 62
Bissonette,  , fur-trader, 89
Bitter Root Range, 68
Black Fork, 158
Black Hills, 19, 23, 34, 35, 60, 86,
92, 150, 151, 237, 238, 299, 354,
378
Black Jack, Kan., 309
Black Kettle, 262, 272, 273, 278-280,
284, 286
Black Vermilion River, 186
Blackfeet nation, 32, 84, 107
Blacksnake Hills (St. Joseph, Mo.),
91
Blackwell,  , fur-trader, 89,
94
Blue Lodge, Kansas secret society,
302
Blue River, 182, 294

[386]

CAL
, Blue Springs, 116
Bonneville, Capt. E. L., 89, 105, 152
Boone,  , fur-trapper, 105
Booth, Capt. Henry, 284, 285
Boots Hill, Julesburg cemetery, 345
"Boston," Pony Express rider, 220
Boudeau,  , fur-trader, 89
Bourgmont, French explorer, 55,
56,90
Bowers, Sergeant, 245
Box Elder Creek, Colo., 235
Brady,  , of Brady Island,
188
Brady Island, 187, 188
Brayton,  , of Union Pacific
Company, 328
Brazos River, 24, 38, 49, 160
Bridger, James, 93, 98, 104, 152,
153, 185, 355, 358-360, 362
"Broadhorn" record, Santa Fe
Trail, 197
Broadus, —  , trader, 125 <
Brown, Capt., 245, 246, 248, 250
Brown, John, 307-309, 311
Brown, J. C, 118
Brown,  , conductor on mail
coach line, 209
Brule Sioux Indians, 229
Bryant,  , trader, 127
Buchanan's last message carried by
Pony Express riders, 223
Buckland's, 222
Buffalo Bill, see Cody, W. F.
Buffaloes, 25, 26, 42, 43, 47-49, 168,
381
"Bull-teams" on the Plains, 89
Burr, Aaron, 75
Burrows,  , and family, 144
Butterfield,  , of the "South
ern Overland Stage" line, 194,
200, 217
Cabin Creek, 234
" Caches, The," 123
Caddoan Indian linguistic stock,
31, 32, 34
Calhoun, Neb., 91

INDEX

CAL
California, 82, 87, 97, 101, 143, 144,
146, 147, 154, iss, 172, 174-176,
183, 185, 215, 216, 219, 299, 316
Calitornia Joe, scout and guide,
276, 355, 356
Camp Centre, at the forks of the
Kansas River, 231
Camp Floyd, 220
Camp Supply, 274, 280, 287, 288,
364
Campbell, Robert, fur-trader, 89,
104
Canadian River, 24, 49, 78, 115,
117, 127, 205, 231, 275, 286, 316
Cannon on the Plains, 106, 114, 169
Cannon Ball River, 35
Canon City, Colo., 73, 74
Caravan Grove, 186
Carpenter, Col., 271, 282-284
Carr, Col. Eugene A., 282-284, 356
Carreta, 133
Carrington, Col. Henry B., 242, 243,
245-248, 251
Carson City, Nev., 220
Carson, Kit, 89, 116, 126, 129, 153,
154, 206, 355-358, 361, 362
Carson,  , fur-trapper, 105
Casement, Gen., 332
Castaneda, Pedro, 47, 48, 130
Catholic missionaries to Oregon,
'143
Cattle brands, 346
Cattle-stealing, 346, 347
Cattle trade, 314-325, 335-344, 346
Central Pacific Railroad, 329
Chaboneau, interpreter with Lewis
and Clark Expedition, 66
Chamberlain, S. Dak., 92
Chambers,  , trader, no, 123
Chaplain,  , trapper, 84

Chapman, Amos, 355, 363-365
Chavez, Don Antonio Jose, 129
Cherry Creek, 297
Cherry, Dick, 355
Cherry River, 92
Cheyenne Bottoms, 207
Cheyenne River, 92

COL
Cheyenne tribe, 31, 35, 96, 118, 178,
212, 228, 230, 231, 235-239, 255,
259, 261, 262, 279, 287, 288, 323
Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific
Railroad, 327
Chicago, Union Pacific Company
organized at, 328
Chickasaw Bluff, on the Mississippi,
44
Chihuahua, Mexico, 75, 164
Chimney Rock, 189
Chittenden, Hiram M., 81, 103, 107,
115-117, 120, 124, 125, 184, 185,
188
Chivington, Col., 234, 236, 237
Chouteau, A. P., 94, in
Chouteau, Francis G., 90
Chouteau Island, 118, 119
Chouteau, Pierre, 38
Chouteau's trading house, 154
Cimarron Crossing, 123, 168, 261
Cimarron Desert, 22, 49, 113, 118
Cimarron River, 58, 78, 102, 113,
125,126,137,316
Cimarron Springs, 126
Civil War, its bearing on the devel
opment of the Plains, 176, 196,
200, 208, 212, 225, 227, 233, 237,
239, 240, 262, 313, 316, 327
Clark, Capt. William, 62, 70, 84
Claymore,  , fur-trader, 89
Cliff, Charles, Pony Express rider,

223
Cloud Peak, Big Horn Range, 243
"Coasts of the Platte," 187
Cody, W. F. (Buffalo Bill), 210, 220-
222, 284, 355, 356, 363, 373
Coffeeville, Kan., 349
Coleman,  , Kansas squatter,
3°7
Collins, Lieut.-Col., 213
Colorado, 18, 24, 58, 71, 73, 148, 212,
228, 233, 234, 236, 237, 260, 261,
297, 298, 319, 336, 341, 378, 379
Colorado City, 297
Colorado River, 48
Colter, John, 83^ 105
[387]

INDEX

COL
Columbia, Mo., 117
Columbia River, 68, 144, 155, 174,
182, 185, 190, 212
Columbus, Christopher, 41
Columbus, Neb., 50
Comanche tribe, 31, 38-40, 49, 55-
57, 96, 102, 118, 119, 123, 126,
127, 156, 169, 226, 228, 231, 234,
236, 279, 288, 323, 363, 364
"Commerce of the Prairies," 122
Concord coach, 202
Conductor, Kan., 124
Conestoga wagons, 181
Connelly, "Bad Eye," desperado,
350
Connor, Gen., 239
Coon Creek, 123
Cooper, Col. Braxton, 113-115
Corbin,  , scout and guide, 276
Coronado, Francisco Vasquez, 45-
50, 120, 130, 132
Cortez's introduction of the horse,
131
Cottonwood, 211
Cottonwood Creek, 123
Council Bluffs, 37, 76, 91, 147, 179,
290, 327-329, 331
Council Grove, 117, 122, 123, 125,
294
Council Grove, forest of, on the
Neosho River, 24
Court House Rock, 189
Cow Creek, 123, 129
Cowboys, 314-325, 336-343
Coyote, railroad construction town,
367-369
Craig,  , fur-trader, 89
Crooks,  , fur-trader, 86, 105
Cross Timbers, 24
Crow Indians, 106, 361
Cummings, Enoch, stage driver, 201
Cummings, Gov., 159
Custer, Lieut.-Col. George A., 274-
281, 286-288, 356
Dakota tribe, 33
Dalton boys, desperadoes, 349

C388]

DOR
Day, John, fur-trader, 105
Dayton, Nev., 220
De Coursy, Lieut., i6g
Deep Creek, 220
Deer Stand, 238
De la Harpe, Benard, 54, 55
De la Verendrye, Pierre Gaultier de
Varennes, and his sons, 58-61
De Moscoco, Luis 45, 46
De Munn, Julius, 94, in
De Nizza, Fray Marcos, 46
Denver, Colo., 38, 78, 94, 176, iSli,
197, 200, 209, 213, 23s, 237, 261,
295, 297
Denver, Gen. John W., 312
De Onate, Juan, 133
De Padilla, Fray Juan, 49, 50
De Pineda, Spanish explorer, 41
"Desert, The Great American,"
296, 299, 321, 381, 382
De Smet, Father P. J., 143, 184
Des Moines River, 34
De Soto, Fernando, 44-46
Desperadoes, 344-347
De Vaca, Alvar Nunez Cabefa, 41-
44, 46, 130, 381
Dey,  , of Union Pacfic Com
pany, 328
Diamond Grove, 117
Diamond Springs, 123
Diaz, Bernal, 131
Dickson,  , trapper from
Illinois, 83
Digger Indians, 105
Divide, The Great, 68
Dixon,  , 364, 365
Docampo, Andres, 49, 50
Dodge City, Kan., 124, 317, 342,
352
Dodge, Col., 26, 258, 364
Dodge, Gen. G. M., 327, 328, 330,
332, 334
"Dog soldiers," 208, 349
Dogs as pack animals, 130
Doniphan, Col., 164, 166, 172
Donner party, 175
Dorantes, Spanish explorer, 42

INDEX

DOU
Dougherty, H., 77
Douglas's, Capt, party, 151
Dow, Charles M., 307
Downing, Maj., 235
Du Bois River, 63
Dunn, Lieut. Clark, 235
Dutch Henry's Crossing, Kan., 309
Du Tisuc, French explorer, 54

-, fur-trader, 89

FOR

Ebberts, -
Eells, Mr. and Mrs., 142
Eighteenth Infantry, 251
Eighth Kansas Infantry, 237
Eleventh Kansas Cavalry, 274
Eleventh Kansas Regiment, Com
pany L, 284
Eleventh Ohio Cavalry, 238, 239
Elkhorn River, 145, 378
Ellinwood, 123
Elliott, Maj., 275, 280, 281, 286
Ellison,  , trader, 127
Ellsworth, Kan., 317, 342
El Paso, Tex., 194
Emigrant Aid Associations, 300
Emory, Lieut. W. H., 165, 171
Escudero,  , Mexican trader,
116
Espinosa, Mexican bandit, 363
Example, Kan., 124
Fetterman, Capt. W, J., 245-250,
252
Fifth Cavalry, 237, 282, 284
Fifth Infantry, 157
First Colorado Cavalry, 234, 237
First Dragoons, 165, 230
First Missouri Cavalry, 165
First Ohio Cavalry, 238
Fisher,  , frontiersman, 246,
250
Fitzgerald,  , with Maj. Hen
ry's expedition, 98
Fitzpatrick,  , fur-trader, 104
Flathead Indians, 68, 143
Flowers, Lem, division agent on mail
coach line, 209, 210
Floyd, Sergt. Charles, 64
[3

Fontaine City, 297
Fontaine-qui-Bouille River, 297
Forbes,  , 171
Forks of the Platte River, 77, 188
Forsyth, Col. George A. ("Sandy"),
161-163, 177, 255, 262-271, 282
Fort Atkinson, loo, 160
Fort Belknap, 160
Fort Benton, 106
Fort Berthold, 160
Fort Brasseaux, 92
Fort Bridger, 144, 150, 158, 190
Fort Caspar, 251
Fort C. F. Smith, 242
Fort Chadbourne, 160
Fort Churchill, 220
Fort Clark, 90
Fort Cobb, 287
Fort Defiance, 92
Fort Dodge, 123, 274
Fort Garland, 234
Fort Gibson, 95
Fort Harker, 261
Fort Hays, 369
Fort John, 190
Fort Kearney, 160, 175, 176, 243,
251, 252, 259, 296
Fort Kiowa, 92, 99, 100
Fort Lancaster, 160
Fort Laramie, 94, 160, 190, 209,
228, 230, 231, 236, 237, 239, 242
Fort La Reine, 60
Fort Lamed, 232-236, 363
Fort Leavenworth, 141, 157, 165,
234, 288, 296
Fort Lisa, 91, 290
Fort Lookout, 92
Fort Lupton, 94
Fort Lyon, 232, 234, 358, 363
Fort Massachusetts, 228
Fort Orleans, 56, 57, 90
Fort Osage, 90, 115, 118
Fort Philip Kearney, 242
Fort Pierre, 92, 160
Fort Platte, 94
Fort Randall, 91, 230
Fort Recovery, 92
89]

INDEX

FOR
Fort Reno, 242, 243
Fort Riley, 231, 296
Fort Saint Vrain, 94, 154, 230
Fort Scott, 296
Fort Sedgwick, 213
Fort Sill, 288
Fort Smith, 78, 79, 113, 156, 179
Fort Sumner, 349
Fort Tecumseh, 92, 106
Fort Titus, 310
Fort Union, 93, 106, 160, 206
Fort Vancouver, 184
Fort Vanderburgh, 93
Fort Wallace, 263, 269, 270, 282,
283
Fort Washita, 160
Fort William, 93
Fort Williams, 95
Fort Wise, 232, 234
Fort Zarah, 207
Fountain Creek, Colo., 78, 94, 95
Fourth Iowa Cavalry, 237
Fowler, Jacob, 94, 113
Franklin, Kan., 310
Franklyn (Franklin), Mo., 114-117
"Free" trappers, 80-82, 104, 105
Fremont, Lieut. John C, 82, 153-
156, 182, 356, 360, 362
Fremont's Peak, 155
French explorers, 51, 53-60
Frey, Johnny, Pony Express rider,
220
Friday's Station, 220, 222
Friends' Society, Kansas secret
society, 302
Fur trade, 32, 33, 53, 61, 63, 64, 80-
107
Gaillard, soldier with Bourgmont,
56 ^
Gale,  , fur-trader, 89
Galpin,  , fur-trader, 89
Gant, Capt., 32, 94
Gardner, Kan., 186
Garrett, Pat, sheriff, 349
Geary, John W., 311, 312
Genoa, Nev., 220

Gervais, -

-, fur-trader, 89

GWI

[390]

Getty, Gen,, 288
Gila River, 356
Gilman's, 211
Gikner, Jack, stage driver, 201
Glass, Hugh, 98-101
Glenn,  , of Glenn's trading-
post, 113
Glenn's trading-post, 95, 113
Godey, •  , with Fremont, 153
Gold, discovery of, and gold-seekers,
44, no, 144, 146, 150, 157, 174,
183, 212, 215, 234, 297
Gore, Sir George, 359
Government aid and development
of the Plains, 61-83, 117-120, 141,
152, 153, 156, 176, 194, 198, 215,
216, 225, 233, 328, 329, 331
Graham, Capt., 283
Grand Islaud, Neb., 77, 88, 147,
160, 183, 187, 188
Grand Pawnees, 36
Grand River, 54, 56, 90, 98
Grape Creek, Colo., 74
Grasses peculiar to the Plains, 24
Grasshopper Falls, Kan., 302
Grattan, Lieut., 228, 229
Gray, W. G., 142
Great Bend, on the Arkansas River,
26,57,72,207,285,317,342
Great Falls, Montana, 67
Great Salt Lake Trail, 334
Great Salt Lake Valley, 82, 146,
150, 157, 159, 194, 197, 199, 216,
359
Greeley, Horace, 197, 201
Greer, Major, 205, 206
Gregg, Josiah, 117, 122, 125, 138
Griffin, Mr. and Mrs., 143
Grosventre tribe, 31, 32
Grover, Sharpe, 262, 264, 265
Grummond, Lieut, and Mrs., 244,
246, 249-251
"Gunshot Frank," border char
acter, 373, 374
Guthrie,  , fur-trader, 89
Gwinn, Senator, 216

INDEX

HAL
Hallowell, Lieut., 284, 285
Hamilton, Sam, Pony Express rider,
220
Hancock,  , trapper from Ill
inois, 83
Hand-cart company of Mormons,
146, 147
Harney, Gen., 229
"Harper's Magazine," quoted, 367,
368, 370, 372, 373
Harris,  , fur-trader, 89
Harvey,  , 105
Haslam, Robert H., Pony Express
rider, 220, 222
Hays City, 317, 352
Hazen, Gen., 287
Heart River, 65
Hebron, Neb., 187
Hempstead,  , fur-trader, 88
Henry, Alexander, 87, 104
Henry, Maj. Andrew, 98
Henry's Fort, 100, 102
Hickock, William, 351-356, 373
Hickory Ridge, Kan., 307
Hicks, "Pistol," desperado, 350
"High Salaried Driver of the Denver
City Line, The," popular song,
201
Hines, Asst. Surgeon, 247
"History of Kansas," Holloway,
304
Hitchcock, Ripley, quoted, 45, 69
Hobbs, James, 355, 362
Hobbs, William, 372
Hobbs,  , plainsman, 129
Hockaday,  , stage line owner,
197
Hoffman, Maj., 229, 231
Holladay, Ben, 196-200, 203
Holloway, J. N., quoted, 304
Horse Creek, 189, 221
Horses, wild 27, 131; domesticated,
130, 131, 136, 181
Hough, Emerson, quoted, 319, 325,
337, 343, 347, 349
Howard, Maj., 168
Hudson Bay Company, 105

b9

KAN
Hughes, John T., 165, 166
Hungate family, miu:dered by Ind
ians, 235
Hunt, William P., 86
Hutchinson, Kan., 129
Illinois, fur-traders, 69, 83; in
cattle trade, 316
Independence, Mo., loi, 117, 122,
124, 127, 129, 147, 164, 173, 179,
184-189, 192, 194, 224, 294
"Indian Country, The," 293
Indian Territory, 17, 274, 336, 341
Inman, Col. Henry, 116, 125, 134,
135, 138, 149, 164, 165, 207, 217,
222, 334, 358, 363
Iowa, 63, 145, 292, 327
Iowa tribe, 31, 56
Irving, Washington, quoted, 183
Ivanhoe, Kan., 124
Jackson, David E., 87, 102, 117
Jackson, Tenn., 115
James, Edwin, 77, 78
James River, 34, 91, 92
"Jay-hawking," origin of term, 312
Jefferson, Thomas, 61
Jenness, Lieut. John C, 253, 256
Johnson, President Andrew, 357, 359
Johnston, Col. Albert Sidney, 158
Jones,  , Kansas sheriff, 308
Juan de la Cruz, Fray, 50
Julesburg, Colo., 176, 210, 211, 213,
223, 237, 239, 295, 298, 345
Julesburg Ranch, 221
Kansas, 17, 26, 40, 49, 63, 72, 102,
118, 120, 124, 140, 158, 183, 212,
233, 234, 261, 274, 289, 292, 293,
¦296, 299-313, 316, 318, 336, 345,
351, 353, 376, 377, 379
Kansas, on the Missouri River, 155
Kansas City, Mo., 173, 179
Kansas-Pacific Construction Com
pany, 364
Kansas Pacific Railroad, 177, 285,
366, 367
I]

INDEX

KAN
Kansas River, 37, 56, 57, 63, 90, 91,
155, 186, 228, 231, 291
Kansas tribe, 31, 37, 56, 84, 90, 230
Kearney, Gen., 164-166, 168, 171,
172
Kelly, Jay G., 220
Kelsey, Mrs., with the Bidwell
company, 144
Kennedy, Sergeant-Major, 280, 281
Kerr, Capt., 117
Kickapoo Island, 91
Kicking Bird, Kiowa Indian, 207
Kidder, Lieut., 273
Kimball party of Mormon emi
grants, 150
Kiowa Creek, 235
Kiowa tribe, 32, 38, 40, 96, 118, 207,
228, 231, 234, 236, 279, 287, 323,
363,364
Kiowan Indian linguistic stock, 31
Kirkpatrick,  , 175
Koo^ooskee River, 68
La Bonti, trading-post, 94
La Bonti Creek, 94
La Jeunesse,  , fur-trader, 89
La Junta, Colo., 95
La Lande, Baptiste, 109
Lamme, Samuel C, 116
Lancaster, 94
Laramie, Joseph, 190
Laramie River, 93, 144, 155, 189
Laramie, Wyoming, 148, 214, 221,
229, 238
Larimer, William, 297
Larison,  , fur-trader, 89
Lamed, Kan., 167
La Roche Jaune (Yellowstone)
River, 67
Las Animas, Colo., 95
Las Vegas, victory of, 169, 170
Laurain, Canadian on Missouri
River, 54
Laut, Agnes C, quoted, 104
Lawrence, Kan., 186, 301, 303, 306-
308, 310, 312, 313
Xieadville, Colo., 74

Iss^"]

LOS
Leavenworth, Col., 106, 234
Leavenworth, Kan., 52, 129, 197,
230, 231, 298, 301
Lecompton, Kan., 310, 311
Lee, Jason and Daniel, 142
Legarde,  , fur-trader, 89
Le Grande,  ^ — , frontiersman, 114
Leroux, Joaquin, 206
Leroy, Neb., 187
Lewis and Clark Expedition, 3s> 35>
59, 61-71, 83, 91, 92, 152
Lewis, Capt. Meriwether, 62, 66, 67,
70, 84
Liberty Farm, 210
Liggett,  , stage line owner,
197
Lincoln, Abraham, and Western
railroads, 328
Lincoln, news of his election and
inaugural carried by Pony Ex
press, 223, 224
Liquor among the Indians, 39, 65,
104, 290
Lisa, Manuel, 38, 77, 83, 85, 88, 93,
104
Little Arkansas River, 46, 115, 123,
166
Little Big Horn River^ 376
Little Blue River, 186, 187, 210, 214,
378
Little Knife Creek, 69
Little Missouri River, 92
Little Prairie, 44
Little Raven, Arapahoe chief, 279
Little Robe, 287
Little Rock, Cheyenne chief, 278-
280
Little Thunder, Bmle Sioux chief,
229
Little Vermilion River, 18S
Lodge Tree Ridge, 246, 247
Long, Major Stephen H., 36, 76, 77,
152
Long Mt., 78
Long Trail, The, 314-318, 335, 33^
341, 342
Los Angeles, Cal., 195

INDEX

LOS
Lost Spring, 123
Liouisiana, 42
Louisiana Purchase, 61, 81
Louisville, Kan., 186
Loup River, 36, 77
Lower Ford of the South Platte, 188
Lower Spring, 124
Lozzell's Post, 92
Lummis, Charles, quoted, 174, ;8o,
181, 19s, 197, 199, 200
Lynching on the border, 371, 378
Lynde, Maj., 231

Macaot-tts, -
rider, 223

-, Pony Express

Mackinaw fur companies, 104
Majors, Abe, 180, 196, 197, 216, 298
Maldonado, Castillo, 42
Mallet brothers, 58, 108
Maloney,  , fur-trader, 89
Mandan Indians, 31, 33, 35, 57, 59-
62, 65, 66, 69, 82, 84, 92, 99, 105-
107
Manhattan, Kan., 302
Marcy, Capt. R. B., 156, 159
Marcy, Gen., 360
Marmaduke,  , trader, 115
Martin's party of Mormon emi
grants, 150
Mateo, Antonio, 93
Matthieu,  , fur-trader, 89
Mauvaises Terres, 19
Maxwell, Lucian B., 355, 361
McCabe, Jim, desperado, 350
McCall, W. H. H., 262
McClanahan,  , trader, lio
McClellan Creek, 364
"McClure's Magazine;" quoted,
174
McDaniel,  , of Texas, 129
McGaa, William, 297
McKnight,  , trader, no, 113
McLaughlin,  , trader, 113
McLellan,  , fur-trader, 86,
loS
McMaster, John B., quoted, 75
McNees Creek, 125

MIS

McNees, the, ti6, 125, 126
McPherson Co., Kan., 166
Means, Capt. John, 116, 127
Meek,  , fur-trader, 89
Medicine Bluff Reservation, 288
Menard, Pierre, 83
"Merchants' Express," HoUaday's,
196
Meriwether,  , trader, 112
Merritt, Gen. Wesley, 356
Mexico and Mexican War, 27, 41-44,
46, 50, 74, 82, 108, 119, 133, 137,
141, 154, ISS, 157, 164, 168-173,
227, 314, 315
Midway Station, Neb., 223
Miles, Gen., 364
Milk River, 67
Miller,  , trapper, 86
Minnard, Thomas A., 303
Minnesota, 58, 212, 238
Mirages, 22, 102
Missionaries, Spanish, 53; to Ore
gon, 142, 143; to Kansas', 296
Mississippi and Missouri Raihroad,
327
Mississippi River, 41, 42, 44, 46,
54, 71, 77, 316, 351
Missouri, 63, 84, 102, 113^ 153, 182,
194, 292, 297, 300-313, 320
"Missouri Commonwealth, The,"
quoted, 192
Missouri Fur Company, 77, 86, 88
"Missouri Intelligencer, The,"
quoted, 115
"Missouri Republican, The,"
quoted, 127
Missouri River, 17, 19, 20, 25, 29,
31, 33-35, 37, 44, 54-57, 59, 63, 65,
67, 69-71, 76, 77, 82, 83, 85-88,
90, 92, 93, 97. 99, 103-106, 109,
114, 118, 130, 131, 140, 141, 143,
146, 154, 15s, 160, 173-175, 181,
182, 198, 200, 201, 212, 215-217,
223, 228, 230, 238, 289, 291, 293,
295, 296, 298, 299, 318, 327, 331-
333, 337, 350, 356, 360, 362, 379
Missouri tribe, 51, 56

[293'\

INDEX

MIT
Mitchell, ¦

-, trader, 127

/

M'Kandlas and his gang, despera
does, 353, 354
Monk, Hank, stage driver, 201
Monroe,  , trader, 125, 126
Montana, 60, 67, 239, 319, 324, 349
Montana Road, 246
Monument Creek, 273
Mooers, J. H., 262, 265, 266
Moore, James, Pony Express rider,
223
Mora, Mexico, 128
Mormons, 145-151, iS7-i59, 182,
183, 231, 293, 294
Morrison Expedition, 109
Morrison, William, 83, 109
Mount Hood, 69
Mud Springs, 213
Mules as pack animals, 132, 134-137,
179, 181
Muleteers, 132
Munger, Mr. and Mrs., 143
Munroe, see Monroe,  .
Mussel-shell River, 67
Narvaez, Pantilo de, 41
Natchitoches, Louisiana, 54, 76
"Neb," border character, 370
Nebraska, 17, 19, 36, 49, 63, 72, 140,
145, 183, 187, 212, 233, 289, 292,
293, 299, 300, 336, 341, 349, 353,
376, 377, 379
Nebraska City, 296
Neosho River, 24
Netul River, 69
Nevada, 87, 316
New Boston, Kan., 301
New Mexico, 18, 24, 39, 47, 58, no,
112, 118, 122, 133, 159, 160, 164,
168, 172, 175, 226-228, 325, 341
New York fur companies, 104
New York, time from, by coach, 217
Newell,  , fur-trader, 89
Newton, Kan., 317, 342
Nez Perc6 Indians, 68
Nichols,  , settler, 144
Nicollet,  , 153

PAC
Ninth Wisconsin Battery, 284
Niobrara River, 34, 35, 37, 91, 92,
291, 378
Noisy Pawnees, 36
North American Fur Company, 87
North Dakota, 17, 18, 58, 160, 238,
289,298,319,349,378
North Fork of Canadian River, 24,
274
North Platte River, 34, 86, 93, 150,
160, 185, 189, 210, 221
Northern Pacific Railroad, 65
Northwestern Fur Company, 86
Ogallala Sioux Indians, 34, 240
Ogden, Utah, 329
Ohio Valley, 37
Oil Creek, Colo., 74
Oklahoma, 17, 39
"Old Jules," division agent of Pony
Express, 221, 345
Omaha, Neb., 64
Omaha tribe, 31, 37, 56,, 239
Onawa, Iowa, 91
Opdike, Billy, stage driver, 201
Oregon, 82, 142-144, 147, 150, 155,
159, 183, 299
Oregon (Columbia) River, 68
Oregon Trail, 88, 101, 142-144, 174,
182-187, 189-191, 215, 228, 293,
294
Osage River, 37, 71, 90
Osage tribe, 31, 37, 38, 51, 54, 56,
71, 115, 228, 276
Ossawatomie, Kan., 309, 311, 312
Otoe tribe, 31, 56
"Overland Stage to California,
The," 176
Overland Trail, 175, 183, 212-215,
238, 29s, 363
Oxen, use of, on the Plains, 89, 133,
136, 177, 179, 181

Pacific Fur Company, 86
Pacific House, ,Council Bluffs, Iowa,
328
Pacific Railroad, 327, 328, 334
[394]

INDEX

PAC
Pacific Springs, 231
Pack-trains, 130, 132-136
Palmyra, Kan., 309
Papin's Ferry, 186, 294
Parker, Samuel, 142
Parkman, Francis, quoted, 57, 361
Parkville, Kan., 303
Parmalee,  , fur-trader, 89
Parteau,  , trapper, 84
Pate,  , Kansas pro-slavery
leader, 309
Patterson,

, trader, no

Pawnee Fork, 123, 166, 167, 232,
236, 261, 362
Pawnee House, 91
Pawnee Loups, 36
Pawnee Rock, 123
Pawnee tribe, 32, 36, 40, 53, 54,
58, 64, 71, 72, 77, 118, 123, 237,
239
Peale, T. R., 77
Pecos, Mexico, 171
Pecos River, 43, 160, 170
Pennsylvania wagons, 181
Peno Creek Valley, 247
Perkins,  , fur-trader, 88
Phillebert,  , hunter, in
Pierce City, Idaho, 68
Pierre's Hole, 97
Pike, Zebulon M., 36, 71-75, 94,
109, no, 152
Pike's Peak, 73, 78
Pilcher,  , fur-trader, 88
Pilot Hill, 245
Piney Island, 245, 252
Pittsburg wagons, 136, 181
Placerville, Cal., 196, 200, 220
Platte River, 37, 50, 58, 64, 77, 83,
85, 87-89, 91, 92, 97, 100, lOI,
106, 108, 109, 140, 144, 147, 160,
182, 183, 187, 188, 229, 238, 273,
288, 291, 294, 298, 326, 378
Plum Creek, 332
Ponca Post, 91
Ponca tribe, 31, 37
Pony Bob (Robert H. Haslam), 220,

REE
Pony Express riders and service,
147, 186, 216-224, 295, 298, 363
Poplar River, 67
Portuguese Houses, 93
Posts for fur-traders and travellers,
89-96, 289
Potts,  , of the Lewis and
Clark Expedition, 83
Powder River, 93, 100, 238, 239, 243
Powell, Capt. James, 253, 254
Prairie City, Kan., 309
Prairie schooners, 135, 136, 173, 179
Pratte,  , trader, 127
Presho County, S. Dak., 65
Price, Sterling, 164
Pryor, Ensign, 105
Pueblo, Colo., 73, 94, 108, 148, 297
Pueblo, the, 95, 227
Purcell, James, 109, no
Purgatory Creek, Colo., 78
Purgatory River, 38, 73
Quahrada, or Staked Plains, 288
Querechos, 49
Quesnel, soldier with Bourgmont,
56
Quivira tribe, 49
Railroad construction, 153, 160,
260, 316, 324, 326-335, 376, 377
Raton Range, 205
Raton Pass, 362
Raynolds, Capt., 185
Red Buttes, on North Platte River,
221
Red Cloud, 240, 242, 245, 252-254,
256-258
Red River, 42, 45, 49, 54, 55, 62, 74,
77, 78, 156, 160, 287, 316, 317
Red River of the North, 34
Red River raft, 55
Reed,  , of Union Pacific Com
pany, 328
Reed's Station, 220
Reeder, Gov., of Kansas Territory,
304
Rees tribe, 34

13951

INDEX

REN
Reno, Nev., 222
Republican Pawnees, 36
Republican River, 235, 261, 263,
282, 288, 378
Review, joint, of Mexican and U. S.
troops, 119
Richards party of Mormon emi
grants, 150
Richardson, Albert D., 197
Richardson,  , Pony Express
rider, 220
Riley, Maj. Bennet, 119
Rio Conejos, 74
Rio Gallinas, 125
Rio Grande, 17, 43, 54, 74, in, 315,
319, 350, 356, 379
Rio Grande del Norte, 39
River of the West (Columbia), 68
Robidoux, Joseph, 91
Robinson, Gov., of Kansas Terri
tory, 313
Robinson, on the Rosebud, 376
Robinson,  , fur-trader, 89
Rocky Ridge, 221
Roff, Harry, Pony Express rider,
219
Roman Nose, 262, 266, 267, 272
Root, Frank A., 175, 176
Rose,  , of Astoria, 105
Rosebud Creek, 376
Rossville, 186
Round Grove, 119, 186, 294
Ruby Valley, Utah, 220
Ruff, Lieut.-Col., 166
Rush Co., Kan., 138
Rush Creek, 213
Russell,  , owner of coach
line, 179, 216, 298
"Rustlers," 346, 347

Sabille,

-, fur-trader, 89

Sabine River, 42
Sacajawea (Bird Woman), guide
and interpreter, 66, 67
Sacramento, Cal., 219, 223
Sage Creek, 213
Sage, Rufus, 188, 189

[396]

SEB
Saint-Ange, Ensign, 56
St. Bernard, Kan., 309
Saint-Denis, French explorer, 54
St. Joseph, Mo., 91, 175, 179, 187,
196-198, 216, 219, 220, 223
St. Louis, 26, 62, 63, 67, 69, 71, 76,
85, 86, 88, 104, 106, 110-113, 129,
154, 170, 194, 195, 198, 208, 289,
359
"St. Peters," American Fur Com
pany's steamboat, 107
Saint Vrain, Ceran, 116
Saint Vrain, Marcellus, 94
Saint Vrain River, 94
Salezar, Gen., son of, 170
Saline River, 261
Salt Lake City, Utah, 220
"Salt Lake Trail," Inman, 222
Sand Creek, 237
San Francisco, Cal., 132, 195, 198,
216, 217
Sangre de Cristo Range, 74, in
San Jose, Mexico, 170
San Luis Valley, 74
San Miguel, N. M., 115, 117, 125
Santa Clara Spring, 125
Santa Fe, 51, 53, 58, 72, 75, 84, 103,
108-117, 121, 140, 164, 168, 192-
194, 204, 224, 293, 363
Santa Fe Trail and trade carried
on over it, 36, 40, 51, 95, 102, 106,
108-129, 133, 140, 141, 154, 165,
173, 176, 177, 186, 197, 204, 205,
207, 208, 212, 215, 227, 234, 272,
284, 293, 349, 361
Santana (White Bear), 207, 279
Say, Thomas, 77
Scott,  , trapper, 101
Scott's Bluffs, 101, 189 ^
Second Cavalry, 273
Second Colorado Cavalry, 234
Second Dragoons, 158, 205, 206
Second Missouri Artillery, 239
Sedgwick, Maj., 231
Seneca, 223
Serre,  , with Bonneville's
expedition, 89

INDEX

SEV
Seventh Cavalry, 274, 278-280, 376
Seventh Infantry, 231
Seventh Iowa Cavalry, 238, 239
Seventh Michigan Cavalry, 239
Seymour, Samuel, 77
Shannon, Wilson, Governor of Kan
sas Territory, 305, 307, 310
Sheridan, Gen., 262, 272-274, 286-
288, 357, 369
Sheridan, railroad construction
town, 369-375
Sheriffs and marshals, 350
Shoshonean Indian linguistic stock,
31,39
Sibley, Mo., 90
Simpson, George, 95
Siouan Indian linguistic stock, 31,
33
Sioux City, Iowa, 64
Sioux Falls, S. Dak., 299
Sioux tribe, 31, 33-35, 58, 60, 64-
66, 82, 83, 88, 92, 93, 210-212,
221, 226, 228, 229, 237-240, 242,
243, 245, 246, 252, 259-261, 289,
298, 323, 378
Sixth Infantry, 119, 229, 231
Sixth Michigan Calvary, 238, 239
Sixth Ohio Cavalry, 237
Slade, Jack, desperado, 221, 345
Slim Buttes, 376
Smallpox, 33, 37, 59, 106, 107
Smith, Jedediah S., 87, 101, 102,
117
Smith, Mr. and Mrs., 143
Smith, "Uncle" John, 355, 356,
359
Smith,  , trader, no
Smith,  , 364, 365
Smith's Creek, 220
Smoky Hill River, Colo., 177, 230,
235, 298
Smugghng, 95
Snake Indians, 66
Snively, Col., 128
Social Band, Kansas secret society,
302
Solomon River, 261, 263, 378

TAO
Sonora, Mexico, 132
Sons of the South, Kansas secret
society, 302
"Sour Bill," border character, 373,
374
South Dakota, 17, 18, 33, 58, 64,
83, 160, 238, 289, 298, 349, 378
South Fork of the Republican River,
282
South Pass, 74, 87, 88, 155, 209
South Platte River, 32, 38, 58, 74,
77, 84, 87, 94, no, 155, 188, 189,
213, 230, 235
"Southern Overland Mail," 194-
204, 217, 225, 238
Spalding, Mr. and Mrs., 142
Spanish explorers, 25, 41-53
Split Rock, Wyoming, 210
Spring,  , quoted, 307, 311,
313
Stage lines, 192-215
Staked Plains, 48, 156, 160, 227, 288
Stampedes, 137, 138, 169, 323
Stanton, N. Dak., 66
Starr, Rev. Frederick, 303
Stephen, a negro with De Vaca, 42,
46, 47
Stillwell, Jack, 269
Stockton, Cal., 194
Storrs, Augustus, 115, 116
"Story of the Soldier, The," 177
"Story of the Trapper," 104
Stuart, Robert, fur-trader, 86
Sublette, William L., 87, 93, 102,
104, 117
Sully, Gen., 238
Summit Springs, 284
Sumner, Col., 230, 231
Sweetwater, 221
Sweetwater River, 87, 142, 149, 158,
209, 221
Swift Bear, 239
Swift, Lieut. W. H., 77
Tall Bull, 284, 288
Taos, N. M., in, 118, 168, 169,
189, 205, 358

[397]

INDEX

TAP
Tapacre, or Noisy Pawnees, 36
Tecumseh, Kan., 310
Telegraph installed across the
Plains, 213, 219
Teller, Gen., 237
Ten Eyck, Capt., 247-249
Tenth Cavalry, Troops H and I,
271, 282
Tenth Infantry, 157
Teton River, 106
Teton tribe, 34, 65
Texans' attacks on Santa Fe cara
vans, 128, 129
Texas, 17, 24, 27, 39, 42, 47, 76, 109,
128, 141, 160, 226, 231, 287, 315,
316, 318, 341
Thacher, George, Pony Express
rider, 220
Three Crossings of the Sweetwater,
210, 221
"Three-fingered Pete," desperado,
350
Tiguex (Albuquerque), N. M., 48, 49
Tilton's Fort, 99, 100
Tobin, Tom, 206, 355, 363
Tongue River, 239
Topeka, Kan., 186, 294, 302, 306,
3", 313
Trappers, see Fur Trade
Travois, 132
Trudeau,  , plainsman, 269
Trudeau's House, 91
Turkey Creek, Colo., 78, 123, 186
Tutt, Dave, desperado, 353
Twenty-seventh Infantry, Company
C, 252, 253
Union Pacific Railroad, 153, 188,
260, 285, 326, 328, 329, 366
Upper Ford of the South Pktte, 189
Upper Platte Bridge, 230
Utah, 87, 97, 145, 159, 231
Utah Lake, 87, 106
Ute Indians, 32, 228, 357

AVHI
Verdigris River, 95, 113
Vermilion River, 34, 91, 294, 378
Villard, Henry, 197
Vigilantes, 348, 378
Virginia City, 222
Virginia Dale, Colo., 213
Viscara, Col., 119

Wabash River, 37

Waddell,

owner of coach

Vanderberg, -
Vera Cmz Trail, 132

line, 180, 196, 216
Wade,  , fur-trader, 89
Wagons on the Plains and in the
mountains, 87, 113, 133, 135, 136,
144, 179, 181
Wakarusa Creek, 186
Walker, Joel P., and family, 144
Walker, Mr. and Mrs., 142
Walker, Robert J., 312
Walker,  , with Bonneville's
expedition, 89
Walnut Creek, 123, 127, 208, 284,
285
Wands, Lieut., 245
Ward,  , fur-trader, 89
Warfield,  , and family, 144
Warfield,  , of Texas, 128
Warner, Lieut., 327
Washita Range, 19
Washita River, 45, 62, 160, 273,
278, 281, 282, 286, 287, 364
Waukarusa, Kan., 301
Webb City, Mo., 353
Wells, Fargo & Co., 199, 203, 222
"Western Engineer," river steam
boat, 76
Westport, Mo., 173, 359
Wet Mountain Valley, 74
Wharton, Capt., 120
Wheatley,  , frontiersman,
246, 250
"White Chief, The" (George P.
Belden), 211
White, Elijah, 144
White family, captured by Indians,
-, fur-trader, 89 205, 206
I White River, 34, 92
b98]

INDEX

WHI
White Wolf, Apache chief, 205-207
Whitman, Marcus, and wife, 142, 143
Wichita Buttes, 19
Wichita, Kan., 46, 49, 342
Wichita River, 55, 156
Wild Bill (William Hickock), 351-
356, 373
Wilkinson, Gen., 75
Williams, Bill, mountaineer, 156,
355, 362
Williams, Ezekiel, 84, 116
Williams, Frank, 209
Willow Creek, 150
Wind River, 88
Wolf Creek, 274, 275
Women on the Plains, 77, 142, 290
Wood Island, 188
Wood River, 148
Wooton, "Uncle Dick," 206, 355,
361, 362
Workman, David, 116
Wounded EJiee, 376

ZIO
Wyeth, Nathaniel J., 89, 105
Wyoming, 18, 60, 86, 298, 299, 319,
324
Wythe's Creek, 187
Yankee Town, Kan., 301
Yankton, S. Dak., 64
Yankton tribe, 34, 230
Yanktonais Indians, 34
Yellow Hand, Cheyenne chief, 363
"Yellowstone," first steamboat on
upper Missouri, 106
Yellowstone Park, 83
Yellowstone River, 66, 76, 83, 84,
87, 93, 98, 101, 102, 106, 185, 356
Young, Brigham, 82, 145, 150, 159
Young, Capt., of the "Yellowstone,"
106
Yuma, Arizona, 195
Zacatecas wagons, 133
Zionville, Kan., 125

[399]

YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY

3 9002 02802 9776

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