FORT SILL.
[Fort Sill was built in 1868 by General Grierson,
of the Tenth United States Cavalry.]
Excerpt from lengthy letter...
Emporia News, September
10, 1869.
LETTER FROM FRIEND STANLEY.
KIOWA AND COMANCHE AGENCY, NEAR FORT SILL, 8th Mo., 23rd, 1869.
RESPECTED FRIEND, JACOB STOTLER:
I arrived here eight days ago, after a rather tedious
journey. Just after getting into the northern part of this Territory, we
crossed Salt Fork, which is quite a wide stream, with a very sandy bottom;
but when we crossed it, the water was low. The water is said to be quite
salty. After traveling ten miles we crossed a small creek called Shawnee,
and sixteen miles further on we came to Shelton [Skeleton]
Creek, where a number of Shawnees had died with the cholera two years
ago. From there to Read Fork we crossed some small streams and passed about
twenty-three hundred head of Texas cattle. While we were stopping near the
drovers, they caught a grey wolf with a lasso and brought it into camp.
It is about sixty miles from Salt Fork to Read Fork. We tasted the water
of Read Fork and found it to be quite salty. The Texas cattle trail comes
in on the north side of Read Fork, and from here to Washita the Texas cattle
have been driven along the road that is traveled by the trains hauling goods
and provisions to this place and Fort Arbuckle. Some of them have been heavy
losers by the Texas fever getting among their oxen. In one case, nearly
all the oxen in the train, about one hundred and fifty head, died, and the
teamsters had to get the mule teams from the Fort to haul their goods the
rest of the way. From Read Fork to North Canadian, it is thirty-two miles.
The latter stream is about four rods wide. The country from the south line
of Kansas to the North Canadian, I think, is rather poor; but from this
point south, through the Canadian bottoms, and also the Washita, the land
is pretty good. I think, notwithstanding, we might let the Indians have
the country if we can get them to settle down here and be contented.
A new post has lately been established here, which
is called Fort Sill, about thirty miles from Texas, near the Wichita Mountains,
and ten miles east of a point called Mt. Scott. There are several sutler
stores at Fort Sill. General Grierson has a pretty good house, but most
of the buildings are poles about ten feet in length, set in the ground and
covered with dirt. There are also many living in tents. There is said to
be about four hundred colored soldiers here. The tents make quite a show
on the banks of Medicine Bluff Creek. They are on a raise of about sixty
feet above the creek bottom on nicely rolling ground. Most of the Comanche
Indians—nearly 2,500—have come in, and appear inclined to settle
down and be peaceable with the whites. Their principal chiefs, Asahava,
and Tosa, say that they are going to travel the white man’s road. Asahava
has been a great war chief and has fought the whites; but he has changed
his course, appears well inclined, and tells the Kiowas, who appear not
so well inclined, that he will take sides with the whites against them if
they should be hostile. They all know he is a brave man and warrior. We
feel hopeful that by judicious management and care, there will not be much
more hostility towards the whites. It is, however, a very critical time,
and we much desire wisdom from above to enable us to act in such a way as
to promote glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace and good will
to all men. I have often felt a desire to use my little influence in obliterating
all hostile feelings both among whites and Indians, and encouraging a feeling
of charity amongst all. I hope we will all bear in mind that like begets
like, and therefore if we act harshly toward the Indians, they will in like
manner act harshly towards us. On the contrary, if we act kindly and respectfully
towards them, it will encourage the same feeling and action towards us.
The Kiowas, numbering nearly 2,000, are somewhat
inclined to commit depredations in Texas, as there have existed, for several
years, hostile feelings between them and the settlers. But we are hopeful
of getting these troubles settled.
The agent at this place is our friend Lowry Tatum,
of Iowa, who superseded Col. A. G. Brown, late of Colorado, who has exerted
great influence amongst the Indians of the Plains. He still remains here
as a clerk in one of the stores.
Agent Tatum has gained the respect and esteem of
all whom I hear speak of him. The General in charge of this post has great
confidence in the agent’s ability, and Gen. Grierson is equally appreciated.
I have mingled with them both and think they are just the men for their
respective posts.
The President’s Commission has lately been
here, and also our friends, John Butler and Achilles Pugh. They all had
a satisfactory council with the Indians. The agent accompanied our friends,
who expected to go directly to Emporia, and from there to Topeka and Lawrence.
The agent is going directly to Iowa Yearly Meeting, where he will meet with
many of his friends, from whom he is desirous of selecting suitable persons
to come with him to this place to instruct the Indians in farming, school
learning, etc. I am expected to remain here during his absence.
THOMAS H. STANLEY.
[Note:
“Read Fork” might have been correct at this time. Later, it was
“Red Fork.”]
Walnut Valley Times, April 22, 1870. Front Page.
A Quartermaster’s train en route from Fort
Sill, Indian Territory, to Fort Harker, Kansas, while encamped on Bluff
creek, on the night of March 6th, was attacked and 139 animals stamped­ed.
The attacking party were dressed like Indians, but it is believed by military
authorities they were disguised whites. Measures have been taken to recover
the animals and captured stampeders.
Walnut Valley Times, May 27, 1870. Front Page.
FROM THE SOUTHWEST.
A dispatch from the Chicago Republican’s correspondent
in the Indian Territory, dated April 29th, states that a few days previously,
127 government mules, captured by horse thieves from a train camped at Bluff
creek, Kansas, were retaken in Texas by an officer from Fort Arbuckle, Indian
Territory. The officer and two citizens, by remarkable coolness and daring,
captured nine of the thieves and killed one. The event created much excitement.
The mules were taken to Fort Arbuckle. The commanding officer there at once
started the horse thieves for Kansas, in charge of a detachment from the
Tenth (colored) Cavalry. The thieves attempted to escape, and five of the
nine were shot without unnecessary ceremony. They received christian burial
at Fort Arbuckle.
Another dispatch, from the same source, dated May
4th, says that the Comanches and Kiowas are very much angered at the alleged
unequal distribution of rations and annuity goods by the Quaker agent, Friend
Tatum, and have left the neighborhood of Fort Sill in high dudgeon. They
were warned not to go beyond the limits of their reservation, and were told
that if they did, the militia would pursue and force them back. They laughed
the threat to scorn and have gone, the last one of them. War is anticipated.
Old Col. Boone, for fifty years a frontiersman, says they mean fight, and
declared he would not go the direct overland route to Fort Harker, Kansas,
for the sum of $50,000, unless protected by a large military escort.
Excerpts...
[INDIANS: CORRESPONDENCE FROM J. H. SCRIBNER -
FORT SILL.]
Walnut Valley Times, September 9, 1870. Front Page.
[Correspondence of the Times.]
INDIANS! INDIANS!
INDIANS!
FORT SILL, Indian Territory, Aug. 8, 1870.
MR. EDITOR: Having lived on the northwestern frontier
of Texas for upwards of four years, and having had considerable experience
of Indian depredations, also being fully satisfied that the majority of
the northern people do not receive true reports of the Indian raids into
Texas, their depredations in stealing horses, killing people, and capturing
women and chil­dren, I will attempt to give you a short sketch of
the last raid of the savages into Texas.
After waiting several days for the excitement to
abate, on the morning of the 25th of July, myself, Perry Cook, Samuel Kilgore
(father of the boy captured at the Peak), Edward Koozer—a boy of fourteen
years, who made his escape by hiding in the brush on the morning of the
murder of his father—left for Fort Sill, riding the distance of 90
miles in the night, as we deemed it more safe from Indians than daylight,
hoping we might get back the women and children, or at least hearing something
from them.
On arriving at Fort Sill, we called on our friend,
L. Tatum, Quaker, U. S. Indian Agent, who received us very kindly, and seemed
to feel much sympathy. We next called on Gen. Grierson, Commander at Fort
Sill, who received us very cordially, and said he would do all in his power
to help us in this sad affair, giving us permits to remain ten days longer
if we wished, fur­nishing us rations, and voluntarily offering us
an escort on our return. Gen. Grierson told us that the Indians about two
months ago stole seventy-three head of Government mules out of his corral,
and had killed five men in the immediate vicinity—one at the Indian
agency, one at Shirley’s mill, one at the Gov. Slaugh­ter house,
one cattle herder, and two men camped within two miles of the Fort—then
all left on the warpath except a few old men and squaws. Said he had heard
from them lately, and they wanted to come in and make peace. He stated that
he sent them word they could do so, but did not tell them on what terms.
He told us he expected some in daily, when no doubt we would get news of
the captives. The next day there was a party of 40 or 50, who pretended
they had not been on the warpath, who came in and said that the warriors
were in camp about fifty miles from Fort Sill, and they had the Kilgore
boy and the Koozer family. Agent Tatum issued them some rations. General
Grierson told them to tell the others to come in and bring the mules that
were stolen, and the women and children they held as captives, and make
peace, and all would be right.
We waited patiently, hearing nothing more definite
until Saturday evening, August 6, when nearly 200 of the leading chiefs
and representatives of the Kiowa, Comanche, Cheyennes, and Apache tribes
arrived, saying they had come to make peace; consequently a council was
arranged for Sunday morning between the Indian Agent Tatum and General Grierson.
The hour having arrived, our little Texas party
repaired to the Indian Commissary, where we found the Council in session,
Gen. Grierson and Agent Tatum occupying chairs on the north side of the
building, the Indians sitting in front on the floor.
The Indians said they would hear from the war chief
first. Gen. Grierson, in quite a lengthy speech, welcomed the savages back
to Sill, and hoped they had come with their hearts full of peace. He was
glad to see them, etc. Agent Tatum followed in a short, pointed speech,
to which the Indians responded with a long grunt. Then the chiefs by turns
made speeches, telling how good they were going to be (at any rate until
they got their grub), and that it was not the old ones, but the young warriors
who had been depredating, and they could not control them, but had now promised
to be peaceable. They wished to know on what terms Gen. Grierson would receive
them. The General, in somewhat of a spirited speech, told them they must
bring in the balance of the mules (they only bringing in 25 head) and also
the captives, seven in all, before he would receive them or issue them rations.
About half the Indians left the house, and all
seemed more or less angry. This broke up the council, but a few of the chiefs
agreed to give an answer in the morning.
The next day we went to the council, found plenty
of Indians there, but no General or council. But we did find Agent Tatum
there, issuing ten days’ rations to all the tribes left behind. At
the sight of this our hearts leaped for joy, as we supposed the Indians
had agreed to bring in the captives. But alas! We were sadly disappointed,
for we were told the Indians would not give them up without pay, and General
Grierson refused on the ground that there were no appropriations made for
that purpose. We proposed to pay for them ourselves, but were told by General
Grierson that we must not do it. Agent Tatum told us that as soon as he
issued rations, General Grierson would arrest seven of the leading men,
and hold them as hostages for the captives. . . .
Excerpt...
The Commonwealth, Sunday, May 21, 1871.
COWLEY COUNTY.
A New Trail.
H. B. N. [Communication from Prof. H. B. Norton.]
ARKANSAS CITY, May 16.
The new “Johnson Trail” to Fort Sill
and the Arapaho and Cheyenne agency is fully open for all teams coming from
Cottonwood Falls and points further east. This route saves at least fifty
miles over the old one down the Chisholm trail through Wichita. There is
an excellent ferry here, and the route is an air line over level plains,
abounding in grass, water, and timber. Numerous trains have already passed
over, and all travelers are delighted with the trail.
Emporia News, January
20, 1871.
Enoch Hoag, superintendent of Indian affairs, advertises
in this paper for proposals for the transportation of government stores
from Emporia and Fort Harker, Kansas, to Fort Sill, Indian Territory. Upwards
of three hundred tons are to be delivered in each of the five succeeding
months. See advertisement.
PROPOSALS
WILL be received at the office of the Superintendent
of Indian Affairs, Lawrence, for the transportation of Government stores
from Emporia and Fort Harker, Kansas, to the Cheyenne, Wichita, and Kiowa
Indian Agencies, over the most direct road from the town of Wichita, Kansas,
to Fort Sill, Indian Territory. Amount of freight, three hundred tons and
upwards, to be delivered in good condition, at said Agencies, in nearly
equal amounts, each, for the five succeeding months. Proposals to state
amount per hundred pounds per hundred miles. ENOCH HOAG, Sup’t Indian
Affairs.
Emporia News, February
24, 1871.
FORT SILL. Mr. H. Simpson, who brought a load of
hides, furs, etc., through from Fort Sill, Indian Territory, for M. G. Mead,
called at the office, last Friday, and reports that the Comanches and Kiowas
have buried the tomahawk, and are desirous to remove to a new reservation,
and that these tribes have borne the blame for many outrages that were committed
by other tribes. He says that Indian Agent Tatum is one of the most reliable
and efficient employees in the Indian Department, that Wm. Mathison is doing
a good business down there, etc. He is going to take a load of goods back
with him for Mr. Mathison.
Emporia News, April
21, 1871.
INDIAN SUPPLIES. Our old friend, Moses Neal, of
Humboldt, has been spending most of his time here for some weeks. He has
the contract for delivering Indian supplies for the Government at Fort Sill,
and is having them brought here over the A. T. & S. F. railroad. He
has already sent down 100,000 lbs. of freight, and will load another 100,000
lbs. tomorrow; 150,000 more will be loaded about the first of next month.
Mr. Neal is one of the old settlers of Kansas, and we hope he will make
a good thing on this contract. He has had much trouble in getting teams
to haul the goods to Fort Sill.
Emporia News, April
28, 1871.
A LARGE GOVERNMENT CONTRACT.
The government, through its officers at Fort Leavenworth,
has just completed a contract with the Missouri, Kansas & Texas railway
company for the transportation of a very large amount of supplies and stores
to the forts in the Indian Territory and to Forts Richardson and Griffin
in Texas, the supplies to be taken from Fort Leavenworth and St. Louis,
Mo. The supplies for Fort Sill, Indian Territory, will consist of Indian
goods and stores for troops stationed at that post. At this post there will
be shipped between three and four thousand tons, and to the other forts
probably an equal supply. The contract was made with the M., K. & T.
company in consequence of the superior advantages afforded by them for the
shipment of supplies to posts. The goods will be transported by this road
to the end of the track, and will thence be conveyed in wagons to the fort
named, requiring an overland transportation to Forts Richardson and Griffin
of about 400 miles, and of only about 250 miles to Fort Sill. Messrs. Maurice
& Graham, of St. Louis, have charge of the overland transportation,
and their high character as reliable businessmen and excellent reputation
for promptness and efficiency in the transaction of this kind give every
assurance that the work will be done in a manner creditable to themselves
and satisfactory to all parties.
The M. K. & T. company have information that
large quantities of cotton in northern Texas are awaiting shipment over
their line. The rapid construction of the road through the Indian Territory
and its substantial equipment, give promise of a large business in this
line at an early day. We congratulate our Texas friends and the shippers
of that great State upon having at an early day such excellent facilities
for shipment by rail to northern and eastern cities. The completion of the
road cannot fail to open up a very large trade between Texas and our own
state.
The road will be completed across the Arkansas
by July 1st, and by September 1st will be on the south of the Canadian.
This will enable the M., K. & T. company to afford extra inducements
for the shipment of Texas cattle. Texas cattle drovers estimate the losses
arising from the difficulties in crossing the Arkansas River, one of the
most treacherous of our western rivers, at from one to three percent. At
this rate the loss in each drove of from three to five thousand, the usual
size of the droves, would be from $600 to $1,000. It is estimated that there
will be not less than half a million steers driven from Texas to Kansas
this season. Upon this estimate the loss of from one to three percent, in
crossing the Arkansas foots up, it will be seen, to no inconsiderable sum.
Provided as the road is with ample equipments, for shipment, the M., K.
& T. company cannot fail to do a very large business this season in
the Texas cattle trade. Lawrence Tribune.
Emporia News, May
5, 1871.
FREIGHTING. A train of wagons and oxen arrived
here Friday morning to be loaded for Fort Sill, Washita, and other points,
with goods for the Indians. The train consisted of some twenty-five wagons
and three hundred and fifty cattle. They belong to Bernard, Irwin &
Co., of Westport, and are under the charge of Mr. Irwin. This firm have
a contract to take to the Indian country, from this place, 500,000 lbs.
of freight. Over 1,000,000 lbs. of Indian goods have already been delivered
here destined for the Indian country. the purchase of outfits here
will be quite a little item for our businessmen.
Emporia News, May
12, 1871.
Arkansas City, May 1, 1871.
EDITOR NEWS: About one week since, a strong working
force stated from this point for Fort Sill, accompanying a train sent out
by Neal & Co., of Humboldt, to the Cheyenne and Wichita Agencies. Col.
O. P. Johnson commands the party.
The object is to completely open a road to a point
near the crossing of Red Fork, just above where the “Jackson Trail”
diverges. This will give us an air line to Fort Sill, through a most magnificent
country, and over a road made as perfect as a strong working force can make
it in one season.
We have an excellent ferry at this point. Only
50 cents ferryage across the Arkansas, and freighters from Emporia will
save 50 to 75 miles by taking this instead of the Wichita route.
Very respectively, H. B. NORTON.
Emporia News, May
19, 1871.
RAILROAD EXCURSION. A party of thirty-eight persons,
railroad men and others, passed through here last Friday to the Southwest.
The leading persons were the directors of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa
Fe Railroad, who are going Southwest to look at the route of the road. They
assembled at Atchison several days ago, and came down the line of the road.
Among the party were Hon. G. Twitchell, the president of the road; Thos.
Shirlock, of Cincinnati; Aldin Spear, Thos. Nickerson, and J. T. Burr, of
Boston, Directors; D. L. Lakin, of Topeka, Land Commissioner; W. B. Peabody
& Brother, and Mr. Hart, of Cincinnati, and T. C. Hill, of Cambridge
City, Indiana. The party was accompanied by Col. L. N. Robinson, of the
Robinson house, in this city, who furnished the outfit and provisions for
the trip. We know the party will fare well in Col. Robinson’s hands.
They will go to the Arkansas River, and from thence to Fort Dodge, and if
the weather is favorable will also visit Fort Sill. The visit of these distinguished
railroad men and capitalists to the Southwest will result in the favorable
development of railroad interests for that country. The party expects to
return in about two weeks.
Emporia News, May
19, 1871.
We met Friend Mahlon Stubbs, Agent of the Kaws,
yesterday. He was returning home from a four weeks trip to Fort Sill. He
was present at the grand Indian council near Fort Sill, and had conferred
with delegations of all tribes of the Plains Indians nearby. He reports
all peaceful in that direction. Having been absent so long he of course
had not received any official information in relation to the sale of the
Kaw lands, and knew nothing concerning such sale save what he had gathered
from the newspapers. His interpretation of that is, that the Trust Land
only is to be sold. The allotments spoken of in the published dispatches,
he says, will consume nearly all of the diminished reserve.
Walnut Valley Times, June 9, 1871.
The people of Arkansas City are putting a pontoon
bridge across the Arkansas River at this place. They propose making their
town the initial point for the Fort Sill mail and stage route.
Emporia News, July
28, 1871.
TELEGRAPH NEWS.
WASHINGTON, July 2. A letter from Fort Sill says
that Kiowa Indians have made efforts to induce the Cheyennes and Sioux to
join them in a war against the whites, but thus far they have failed.
Emporia News, August
18, 1871.
BIG THINGS. Arkansas City, says the Traveler,
is to become the headquarters of the southwestern transportation. All
goods for Fort Sill and the agencies will henceforth be carried in two-horse
wagons hither from Thayer, and stored in a warehouse; and will thence be
re-shipped on “bull-trains.” All the hands will be paid off here.
As we predicted, Arkansas City is to be the big
town of the border. Immense quantities of freight for the Territory are
now passing through, and still greater quantities are yet to come.
Emporia News, September
15, 1871.
The contract for the transportation of government
stores to posts in the Indian Territory was let at Fort Leavenworth on the
18th, to Graham & Co., of the M. K. & T. road, at the following
figures: Leavenworth to Fort Sill, $4.10 per hundred; St. Louis to Fort
Sill, $4.15 per hundred.
The Commonwealth, December 29, 1872.
Service will be put upon the new mail route between
Wichita and Fort Sill about the middle of January.
THE INDIANS AND SETTLERS.
The Commonwealth, Wednesday Morning, July 8, 1874.
Major H. T. Beman returned from Sedgwick and Wichita
yesterday, whither he had gone to make inquiry as to the extent and character
of the reported Indian depredations, and to distribute arms to settlers
at Sedgwick and Medicine Lodge. From him we gather the following, which
may be accepted as reflecting the true condition of affairs up to the latest
returns. At Sedgwick City, which is between Newton and Wichita, Major Beman
saw several men directly from the scene of the reported Indian outrages.
Mr. Spooner, from the Wichita agency, reports the Indians as apparently
restless and uneasy, though not as yet making any open demonstrations of
hostility to the whites. There are a number of Quaker families settled around
Wichita Agency and a few have been so influenced by their fears that they
have removed. Mr. Ford from the Cheyenne and Arapaho Agency, whence the
Indians guilty of the recent murders and scalpings are believed to have
come, says the young Cheyenne braves are seemingly affected by an irrepressible
impulse of deviltry. They have most of them left the agency, ostensibly
on hunting expeditions, and are roaming along the Kansas border in small
parties. Mr. Ford has no idea that a united and preconcerted raid is contemplated
or will be attempted in which the Indians will mass themselves and throw
their force on the unprotected settlements to scalp and rob indiscriminately.
What killing has been done is, according to his notion, in the way of casual
and wanton cruelty, rather than that they are seeking opportunities to kill.
Major Beman talked also with Mr. James Fay, an
express messenger on the Southwestern stage company’s line, running
from Wichita to Fort Sill. Mr. Fay says that the settlers about the agencies
are apprehensive of a general massacre. They are few in number, and unless
under the very eye of the agency, are without protection. The Indians have
killed four of the horses of the Southwestern stage company within the last
few days, and Mr. Fay has witnessed one murder and scalping committed by
them. The facts of the latest occurrence were as follows: Last Thursday
on the way in from Fort Sill, when the stage was a short distance from Red
Fork station in the Seminole nation, he saw from his stage a party of Indians
ride up on to a defenseless man, murder him, and sweep on out of sight.
Hastening to the spot he found the man killed and scalped lying in the road.
His name was William Watkins, and he was brought to Red Fork station and
buried. The feeling through the country which his stage traverses is, that
the Indians are liable at any moment to break out into a general war. Mr.
Cole, from Medicine Lodge, a man of cool judgment and reliable, told Major
Beman that the rumor as to the burning of towns and murder of settlers at
Medicine Lodge was unfounded and purely sensational. It is true that the
settlers have been thoroughly frightened, and apprehensive of an Indian
massacre, have abandoned their farms, and come in to Medicine Lodge, where
they have built themselves a stockade, and are waiting for a supply of arms
wherewith to protect themselves. They are afraid to venture out of their
retreat until they have the means of defense, which will be forwarded to
them in abundance tomorrow.
Mr. Beman talked with a score or more of Texas
cattle owners and herders about the Indian excitement. They affect to despise
the whole business, and express their disbelief of any general Indian outbreak.
They do not think that it is any more than the usual outrages, common enough
on the frontier, done by small hunting parties on whatever defenseless white
men they meet on their path.
What causes special alarm just now is that they
have extended their bloodthirsty enterprise over the confines of civilization.
Greater outrages are committed in Texas every month of the year, without
attracting particular attention. The Texans think that the Indian is one
of the contingencies to calculate on like the Spanish fever or the green-headed
fly, but nothing to be unusually frightened about. Where they have been
encamped, there have not lately been any signs of disturbance, and they
do not think any need be apprehended. Finally, Major Beman is of the opinion
that more injury is to be feared from the settlers becoming frightened and
abandoning their homes than from Indians. It is with a view, therefore,
to bring about a restoration of confidence and sense of safety that the
governor is transmitting arms to the frontiersmen. He will provide them
with guns and ammunition sufficient to equip companies from amongst themselves,
when he hopes and believes they will find no opposing force to try their
mettle on. The bad feeling towards the whites expressed in these recent
murders and scalpings originates, beyond question, in the gradual extinction
of the buffalo herds through the deadly enterprise of white hunters.
[Note: Mike Meagher is mentioned in the following article.]
FROM THE BORDER.
The Kansas Militia March Into the Indian Territory.
An Indian Pow-Wow on Pond Creek.
Organizing Companies For the Protection of the Border.
The Commonwealth, July 23, 1874.
Editorial Correspondence of the Commonwealth.
With a view to completing the military history
of Kansas to the latest date we continue our recital of the marches and
adventures of the mounted militia along the southern border with the notes
of a short scout into the interior of the Indian Territory with all other
happenings of interest in the brief but important campaign. My last letter
left the militia in camp at Caldwell, and contained some account of the
origin and scope of the Indian troubles, and made cursory mention of a grand
council of all the nomadic tribes of the Territory in the region of the
Red Hills, which supposedly resulted in decisions on the part of the Indians
of the highest importance to the white settlers on the border and to the
government. It is my purpose in this letter to continue the relation of
the occurrences of the campaign up to the return of the militia to Wichita
and the stacking of arms at that place, for a time at least. I may then
conclude the series by a brief general consideration of the Indian question,
as I had opportunity to study and learn it during my sojourn in the southwest.
On Tuesday, the 14th, Agent Miles, of
the Cheyenne and Arapahos, the gentleman who has since become famous as
the martyr to the Quaker policy of concealing the truth concerning the Indians,
came into Major Upham’s cavalry camp, on Bluff creek, to inquire as
to the intentions of the military department respecting escorts for Laflin’s
and other transportation trains containing Indian supplies going down the
Fort Sill cattle trail. Major Upham informed Mr. Miles that he had ordered
Capt. Carter with a company of infantry to march to Sewell’s ranch,
where the train was then lying waiting for safe conduct, and to escort it
to the agencies where the goods were destined. In that connection, the Major
said that he was going to take a scout into the Territory the next day and
would visit Sewell’s Ranch and consult with Mr. Laflin and find out
what apprehensions caused his delay. As to other trains Mr. Miles was informed
that if he would mass them into large trains, he would furnish escorts,
but could not spare the men to take two or three wagon loads at a time.
Mr. Miles promised to bring his wagons all together at Caldwell for a large
quantity of supplies that were then being shipped from Kansas City, and
then took his leave, returning to Lawrence to attend the yearly meeting
of the Society of Friends. From our brief conversation with him, we judged
him to be a man of superior intelligence, of practical notions and sound
judgment, and by far the most creditable representative of the Quaker policy
in the Territory.
Learning of Major Upham’s intention to scout
down the trail, Adjutant General Morris expressed a desire to accompany
him, which was readily acceded to, and the militia were ordered to improvise
pack-saddles and prepare three days’ rations to be packed on mules.
Rising early the cavalry column, supplemented and fortified by the mounted
militia, who barring the uniform, looked and bore themselves like old soldiers,
was got under motion and marched into the Territory just as the sun was
rising. The only accident that happened to enliven and diversify the day’s
march was the breaking away of one of the mules belonging to the militia.
His hind foot caught in a prairie dog’s hole, and in recovering himself,
he started full speed across the prairie, kicking at imaginary dash boards
and barn doors every ten feet. He finally succeeded in relieving himself
of his pack, in doing which his heels came in contact with a box of hard
tack, which he turned into kindling in the shortest possible order, scattering
the bread over an area of an acre or more.
We marched about eight miles west of the cattle
trail in a southerly direction, expecting that we might encounter a rendezvous
of horse thieves supposed to be in that direction. Maj. Upham sent out two
flankers to reconnoiter on the right, and Capt. Tucker, of the militia,
sent out two to prospect the left horizon for moving and suspicious objects.
In this order we marched all day over a dry, arid prairie, covered with
short brown grass, seeing antelope now and then in the distance, and buffalo
once or twice, but apart from these no moving object or sign of habitation.
We rested at noon on Osage creek, whose banks were of red clay, and whose
tepid water was tinged with the same hue. Hard by were a few old poles and
the debris of a tepee, where Osage Indians had been jerking buffalo meat.
We passed the mouth of the Pole Cat about two miles and a half, to our left,
crossed another branch of the Osage, and reached camp at the confluence
of Osage and Pond creek, about a mile from Sewell’s Ranch, at half-past
four in the afternoon, having marched about thirty-five miles. Shortly after
our arrival in camp, we heard that the flankers to the right sent out by
Major Upham from his troop, Sergeant Marshall and Corporal Desch by name,
had captured an Indian riding alone over the prairie and were bringing him
into camp. Shortly afterwards they arrived, bringing in a large, square-built,
stolid specimen of the Osage, tricked out in red blanket and ear-rings,
carrying an old muzzle-loading rifle and wearing a military hat. He answered
to the name of Buffalo John, spoke English with tolerable fluency, and no
doubt understood it much better than he spoke it. While Major Upham was
endeavoring to get some talk out of him, a small man with thin face covered
with a thick beard, coatless but otherwise habited as to color in drab even
to his hat, and wearing a standing collar of said cut, stepped officiously
forward, and took up the thread of aboriginal conversation. When Buffalo
John betrayed an intention of saying something, this newcomer would take
the words out of his mouth and pervert what he had said or prevent him from
saying anything at all. We found out that this personage was a Quaker by
the name of Witherill, who held the office of trail agent of the Osages,
a well paid sinecure. His duties as far as we could learn about them were
for the most part to act as quasi arbitrator with the Osages in all cases
where petitions for damages are filed against the tribe, in such a matter,
for instance, as the “cutting out” of twenty head of Texas cattle
and the killing of a cowboy in performing the maneuver. In all cases, Mr.
Witherill finds it not only to his pecuniary interest but largely subservient
to his personal safety to stand in with the Indians, which he is universally
charged with doing by people on the trail. He was sent out some days before
to call in the Osages, who were off their reservation killing buffalo, but
knowing them as well as he did and setting high store by his fine head of
hair, got no farther than Sewell’s Ranche, fearing that even his valuable
services as special attorney might not be proof against the temptation offered
by his scalp.
Before this colloquy had gone far, it was interrupted
by an announcement that a number of Indians were coming from the direction
of the ranch towards the camp. A detail of cavalry was sent out to bring
them in, and presently there rode towards the officers’ camp “Sassy
(Saucy) Chief,” a chieftain of the Osages, followed by a number of
his band. Alighting from their ponies, they passed around the circle, offering
their hands to shake to each in turn. Major Upham refused to perform this
ceremony after he had shaken hands with three, and the savages seated themselves
cross-legged, a la grand seigneur, on the grass. Major Upham looked
around for an interpreter, when Mr. Witherill stepped forward with the air
of one who proposed to boss the job. Major Upham firmly and plainly intimated
to the trail agent that he proposed talking with these Indians himself,
and in his own way, and invited Mr. Witherill to adorn the remote background
with his person and hold his tongue. Buffalo John was then brought into
requisition as an interpreter, and something like the following big talk
ensued in due and ample form. “Tell Sassy Chief,” said Upham,
“that the white man has grown tired shaking hands.”
This was conveyed to Sassy Chief, and produced
a slight glimmer of sensation on the stolid countenances of the Osages.
“Tell him that the great chief at Washington is angry because the Indians
have killed his white children on the frontier, and that the great chief
of Kansas is very angry and has sent his second chief down here with warriors
to find out who killed his white friends and punish them.” This was
duly translated by Buffalo John into the halting gutturals of the Osage
tongue. In reply to a question why he was off his reservation, Sassy Chief
said that they had been out hunting and jerking buffalo, but had been called
in, and they were on their way to their agency. Forty lodges of Osages were
encamped on the Salt Fork a few miles away.
Major Upham in a few well chosen words adapted
to the aboriginal vocabulary and understanding, told them that the young
men of the Osages had been out on the war parties with the Kiowas and Comanches
and other wild Indians; that the murder of the four teamsters near Baker’s
Ranche was committed in part by Osages; and that a mourning party of nineteen
Osages had murdered three white settlers at Medicine Lodge. Of all this
Sassy Chief avowed his ignorance. Major Upham asked Sassy Chief if he did
not know that a council of all the wild tribes had been held in the Red
Hills? (No answer.) Major Upham asked if Sassy Chief was not aware that
Chetopah’s band, Black Dog’s band, and Big Hill’s band of
Little Osages were represented in this council? (No answer.) Major Upham
asked Sassy Chief if he did not know that young braves of the Osages had
gone in with these other Indians to raid transportation trains bound for
the lower agencies for sugar and coffee? (No answer.) All these question
were duly interpreted to Sassy Chief, who made no response. “If I were
to ask the Kiowa, the Cheyenne, or the Comanche the same questions,”
said Major Upham, “I would receive the same reply.” Sassy Chief
was offended; he threw himself on the grass with an air of inexpressible
hauteur and said nothing, but looked the picture of wounded dignity. Major
Upham continued: “Tell Sassy Chief that the white man is on the warpath,
and that when he goes out, he won’t know an Osage from a Cheyenne if
he finds him off his reservation. The Indians have had plenty of time to
jerk their buffalo and dry their plums; and if they do not at once go on
their reservations, the white man will deem them hostile Indians and treat
them as such.” This he emphasized, telling the Osages present that
the white men were not hunting for friendly Indians and the only way they
could tell an unfriendly one was to find him off his reservation. He turned
to Witherill, who listened skeptically, and told him he meant it, and impressed
upon that worthy the necessity of making it plain, and pointed to the Indians.
Witherill began his excuses for the Osages, which were cut short, and he
promised to see that they all moved without delay. The next day a large
band of Indians, with squaws, ponies, and other impediments, moved across
the prairie on their way to their sanctuary, showing that the big talk was
as Sassy Chief said at its conclusion, “Good,” and had taken early
and active effect. At the conclusion of the pow-wow, an Indian advanced
with a present of choice jerked buffalo for Adjutant General Morris, to
whom the Osages paid the greatest deference. The compliment was returned
in the shape of a small quantity of coffee, sugar, and cigars; which were
received with all dignity, and duly bestowed in that omnium gatherum of
all aboriginal portable property, the blanket. After a brief interchange
of courtesies with Delany, Upham’s Italian chef de cuisine, they
mounted their ponies with a farewell, “How,” and rode out of camp.
Laflin came into camp towards evening and announced his train ready to move
whenever an escort should be furnished him. He said that “four long-haired”
Indians, supposed to be Cheyennes, had been seen lurking in the vicinity
the day before, evidently employed in reconnoitering the movements of the
train. Major Upham told him of the coming of the infantry company and told
him to be ready to start as soon as arrived on Sunday morning.
The cavalry and militia slept on their arms that
night in readiness for an attack. About 3 o’clock in the morning the
camp was aroused by a brisk fall of rain. Everyone crawled out of his moist
blanket, shook himself into his clothing, prepared a hasty cup of coffee,
and began the return march up the cattle trail. On the way up, and about
six miles out, we met Capt. Carter’s company marching towards Sewell’s
Ranch.
Major Upham had devised an ambuscade, which he
gave Capt. Carter verbal orders to carry out. He was to conceal his men
in the wagons, which could be easily done, and to keep them as much concealed
as possible. The Cheyennes, Kiowas, and the rest may catch a tartar if they
should attempt to molest this train. Camp was reached at nightfall, and
the next day was given to rest. The militia were ordered to break camp at
about 4 o’clock and marched ten miles out towards Arkansas City, and
encamped. In the morning we bid farewell to Major Upham and his associate
officers of Company E, Lieutenants J. B. Kerr and Sebree Smith. They placed
us under infinite obligations by their generous hospitality and courtesy.
In this connection we cannot refrain a few words more in reference to the
admirable system of signal stations devised by Major Upham, and which the
topography of the country marvelously favors. By this means he has perfect
reconnaissance of twenty miles on either side of the cattle trail along
the border, covering in point of fact all settlements that are in any sort
of danger of molestation. The country west in Harper County is utterly uninhabited,
the nearest settlements westward being on Medicine Lodge in Barbour County,
a district which will soon be well protected by military, as it is by militia
organizations. Major Upham proposes to extend his pickets further out shortly,
placing at the outposts gatling guns, which will enable a handful of men
to protect the signal station against a legion of savages. Two of these
gatling guns passed through Wichita on the day of our return. On Monday
last Major Upham went on a scout up through Harper County to Medicine Lodge.
In this connection we would strongly suggest that another company of cavalry
is necessary on this line to scout up through the Medicine Lodge in connection
with Major Upham’s company, which has enough to do to police the cattle
trail and scout through the Territory.
I forgot to mention that before leaving Caldwell,
Adjutant General Morris organized a picked company of men, enrolled and
armed them with Sharp’s improved carbines.
We arrived at South Haven at 10 o’clock on
Saturday, where we were met by Mr. J. R. Musgrove and Col. Hunter, who had
organized a company of seventy-five men. These were enrolled by Capt. Morris,
and they were promised arms at the earliest moment. At Arkansas City, where
we camped that evening, we were met by Prof. H. B. Norton and Captain Norton,
his brother, the latter a thorough frontiersman. Here another company of
picked men was organized and enrolled. Everywhere on our march we saw the
signs of the panic and conversed with scores of settlers. We informed them
all of the preparations for defense that had been made, and left confidence
restored in great measure behind us. The next day we marched by way of the
towns of Belle Plaine and Oxford to Bitter Creek, where we encamped, twenty-three
miles from Wichita, and a brisk march the next day brought us into Wichita,
none the worse “even in the estimation of a hair.” The expedition
was in the largest sense an important one. It had the most salutary effect
on the settlers of the border, impressing them with the comforting assurance
that the state of their adoption was concerned for their well-being and
safety, and would use every means at its command to protect their lives
and property. It resulted in saving at least one thousand settlers to the
state of Kansas who, disturbed by constant rumors all the more alarming
by reason of their vagueness, were impelled to seek safety in removal. It
was by no means a causeless scare, nor has the danger of a general Indian
outbreak at all subsided. The Quaker agents of the Territory and their associates
are sleeping on a volcano. We will, in a subsequent letter, tell what we
learned from old frontiersmen, residents on the cattle trail, and from Major
Upham, who, though used to Indian fighting, shares their apprehensions for
good reasons of his own. Suffice it in this to say that Capt. Tucker’s
company of militia, as good a body of men as ever sat astride a horse, may
yet be called upon to make forced marches to the border to find the fight
they missed on this trip. Capt. Morris issued a special order at Wichita
highly complimenting Capt. Tucker and Lieutenants Mike Meagher and Cash
Henderson and the men under them for their services to the state. We were
out ten days from Wichita during which time we marched 249 miles, an average
of over twenty-four miles per day, which is much better than the regular
cavalry are accustomed to do. W. H. R.
Excerpt...
The Commonwealth, Thursday, September 18, 1873.
QUAPAW AGENCY, INDIAN TERRITORY, September 13th, 1873.
To the Editor of the Commonwealth.
The commissioner of Indian affairs, E. P. Smith,
will be in Kansas about the 25th of the present month, on his
way to Fort Sill, to be present at the release of Satanta and Big Tree.
It is to be regretted that these men were not released at the time the government
promised to release them. The Kiowas had performed their part of the contract
in perfect good faith; but it seems that the Modoc outrage, thousands of
miles away, was made the pretext of holding these chiefs in custody for
nearly six months after the time agreed upon for their release. The government
ought to set a better example.
Excerpt...
The Commonwealth, Friday, September 19, 1873.
Satanta and Big Tree, under guard, arrived at Fort
Sill on the 4th, and were turned over to Gen. Davidson’s
command. Their relatives were permitted to see them. The captives were informed
that they would be kept in confinement till the end of the month, when Governor
Davis and the Indian commissioner would treat with the tribe for their release.
They were warned that any attempt to escape would meet with summary punishment.
Satanta replied he was used to being in jail. Both are looking well, but
reduced in flesh since their confinement. The night after their arrival,
signal fires were seen blazing at various points on the Wichita mountains,
indicating to the various camps that the great chiefs had arrived.
Winfield Courier, Thursday, November 20, 1873.
Kickapoos.
Mr. A. C. Williams, of Leavenworth County, Kansas,
has been appointed special agent for the Mexican Kickapoo Indians, to be
located at the junction of Bitter Creek and the Sha-kas-ka River, twenty-five
miles southwest of this place. A portion of the tribe, consisting of one
man, fourteen women, and twenty-two children, passed through here last Monday,
accompanied by the agent, teamsters, and O. P. Johnson—the guide. The
people were all looking hearty and in good spirits, although they really
are prisoners of the United States, having been captured by Gen. Mackenzie
last spring, while raiding into Mexico, and held as prisoners at Fort Gibson,
until the 6th of this month, when they were placed under charge of the agent
and started for their reserve. One hundred Kickapoo warriors are on the
road to their reserve, and will arrive in about three weeks. Mr. Williams
leaves for Fort Sill today, to meet them. They are mounted, and own a number
of ponies, although they are poorly clad. The balance of the tribe, numbering
some six or seven hundred, will come up in the spring. Their supplies will
be purchased at this place, as far as possible. O. P. Johnson has the contract
for building two log houses—a commissary store and a dwelling house.
The remainder of the buildings will not be commenced until next summer.
Arkansas City Traveler.
Excerpt...
The Commonwealth, January 9, 1874.
Lawrence, Kan., Jan. 2. “A surveyor arrived
in this city on yesterday from the vicinity of Fort Sill. He says that surveying
parties have been called back by order of the authorities on account of
the hostile demonstrations by the Indians.”
Walnut Valley Times, February 20, 1874.
On Tuesday last, Senator Ingalls introduced a bill
of great importance to this State. It directs the Secretary of the Interior
to appoint commissioners to locate and open a road for military, postal,
and commercial purposes, across the Indian Territory, from the mouth of
the main Cache River, in Texas, via Fort Cobb, Fort Sill, and the Wichita
Agency, to the mouth of the Walnut River, in Kansas, the said road including
a belt of country one and a half miles in breadth; to be kept open to driving
and transit of merchandise free from any charge forever. The bill was referred
to the appropriate committee.
Winfield Courier, February 20, 1874.
Mr. Ingalls introduced a bill directing the Secretary
of the Interior to appoint commissioners to locate and open a road for military,
postal, and commercial purposes across the Indian Territory from the mouth
of the main Cache River, in Texas, via Fort Cobb, Fort Sill, and the Wichita
Agency to the mouth of Walnut River in Kansas, the said road including the
belt of country one and a half miles in breadth, to be kept open to driving
stock and the transit of merchandise free from any charge forever.
This has long been a pet project with our people
and Mr. Ingalls deserves our thanks for his attention to this matter. The
bill however should be amended so as to make the right of way five miles
instead of one and a half. By all means let us have this route, it is just
what our people want, and just what drovers want.
Winfield Courier, February 20, 1874.
Every farmer in Cowley County should take the COURIER.
Many times one copy will pay, and more than pay, the price of sub­scription.
For instance, the following item will pay any man who has corn to sell.
The Government has contracted for two million pounds
of corn to be delivered at Fort Dodge and as much more at Fort Sill, and
other places in the Indian Territory, and Colorado. This is bound to make
corn higher. No doubt it will be 75 cents per bushel before midsummer. Those
who have corn to sell, or buy either (for it affects both alike only in
opposite pockets) should know this and govern themselves accordingly.
Winfield Courier, July 31, 1874.
Item from the Traveler.
A very sad accident occurred Tuesday, July 21,
on the Chisholm Trail, near Big Wild Horse Creek, some forty miles from
Caldwell. It would appear that the unfortunate man, whose name was Alic
Adams, was riding on a sulky, and carrying a carbine, which he very carelessly
kept full cocked. By some means he let the weapon fall and the hammer, striking
some part of the vehicle, the carbine was discharged, the bullet from which
entered his thigh and ranged upward, coming out near the heart, killing
him almost instantly. He had been at work for some time at Fort Sill and
was on his way to commence work for the new stage line when he so suddenly
met his death. He was about 22 years of age.
Excerpts...
Winfield Courier, September 4, 1874.
The Indians attacked Col. Davidson, U. S. Commander
at Ft. Sill, but at last accounts were repulsed.
Winfield Courier, September 18, 1874.
De Bois’ surveying party left Wichita yesterday
en route for the Indian Territory. Their work lies southwest of Ft. Sill.
Several citizens of this county go with them, among whom is Tell Walton,
taking the chances on losing their scalps for forty dollars per month.
Winfield Courier, October 22, 1874.
Three coaches and six span of horses belonging
to the stage line of Vale [Vaile] & Co. passed through this city last
Friday, en route for Caldwell, to be put on the line between that place
and Ft. Sill.
Winfield Courier, October 29, 1874.
FT. SILL, INDIAN TERRITORY, Oct. 21st, 1874.
DEAR BECKETT: After a long and tedious trip our
party arrived here last night.
We saw plenty of Indians at a distance but lost
no scalps however, and in consequence the Cowley boys are in good spirits.
Part of our outfit leave for the “field” today. Gen. Sheridan
arrived here last Saturday and took command of the forces and immediately
dispatched nine companies to reinforce Gen. Miles on the Staked Plains.
A lively time may now be anticipated.
Satanta, Big Tree, Lone Wolf, and ten or twelve
other chiefs are here in the guard house, all heavily ironed. Kicking Bird,
chief of the Kiowas, also wears the same kind of “jewels.”
This is a beautiful country, well timbered, plenty
of water, and an abundance of stone. The Wichita Mountain range, fifteen
miles wide by fifty in length, a very rough broken plateau, treads in a
northwesterly direction from here. From the U. S. Signal station on their
summit, a distance of sixty miles can be seen in any direction.
We are all well armed with Remington rifles, but
since Sheridan’s appearance at the front, we apprehend no immediate
danger from the Indians.
When we reach the field of work, I may write to
you again; till then, I am
Very Respectfully, TELL W. WALTON.
Winfield Courier, November 19, 1874.
Correspondence.
SURVEYOR’S CAMP, CACHE CREEK,
25 Miles Northwest of Ft. Sill.
November 5th, 1874.
ED. COURIER: Thinking a few words from this post
might be of some interest to your readers, I thought I would write a little
in regard to matters in general on this part of the frontier. The health
of the party is good. There are twenty-six men of us in all. We are running
west on latitude 35 north, and expect to run west to the Pan Handle if we
are not molested by the Indians. We have had no trouble with them yet and
see but few. The Kiowas and Comanches are all out on the warpath, with the
exception of a part of Kicking Bird’s band (Kiowas) which are at their
agency and continue to draw rations.
General Davidson has about 170 of the “noble
red men” under heavy guard at the post, Big Tree, Satanta, and White
Horse among them, with about 1,400 ponies; the ponies are being shot according
to orders at the rate of one hundred per day. General Davidson is out with
an expedition against the Indians and on the 29th of October captured about
75 warriors, 100 squaws, and papooses, and 500 ponies.
I saw a scout on the 30th ult., just from the command.
He said the expedition was within two day’s ride of 1,800 warriors,
which they expected to take or kill at all hazards. Sheridan left this post
on the 25th of last month for Camp Supply. He says the government has fooled
with the Indians long enough, that he will make the white man and his property
safe in this country, if he is let alone.
Nearly every stage ranche between this post and
the Kansas line has been burned, and the occupants killed or run off. A
greater part of the stock taken from the Indians rightfully belongs to Texans,
as the Indians have been in the habit of raiding into Texas, and stealing
stock for years, and the owners dare not follow them further than Red River,
the boundary line between Texas and the Comanche and Kiowa reserva­tions;
if they did, the Peace Policy interfered, smoothed it over for poor Lo,
and say they don’t believe the Indians will steal, and the same Indians
drawing rations of the government twice a month.
How do the taxpayers that are a little tender-footed
on the Indian question, like such proceedings. The two tribes above named
have one of the best and largest reservations in the Indian Territory; plenty
of good land for farming purposes; good water; plenty of timber; a much
better chance to make a living than the average Southern Kansas settler;
no taxes to pay; a good school at the Post for all that choose to go.
It is high time that they be compelled to come
in on their reservations and stay there. Some will say that they don’t
know how to farm it. The trouble is they don’t want to know. Their
agent at this post has time and again built houses, fenced, and broke up
small farms, furnished them with seed, instructed them in planting, furnished
them with rations, and today they are all going to ruin, use the fence for
firewood, stick up their lodges near the house, and let the ponies use the
house for shade. Yours truly, CHARLIE MANN.
Excerpt...
The Commonwealth, July 31, 1874.
In the COMMONWEALTH correspondence from the Indian Territory during the late Indian excitement, mention was made of the cattle train of nineteen wagons lying at Sewell’s Ranch, on the Fort Sill cattle trail; waiting for an escort to conduct it to the Cheyenne and Arapaho Indian agency. It will be remembered that Major Upham ordered Captain Carter’s company of the fifth infantry to conceal themselves in the wagons and thus proceed with the train to its destination. From a private letter received yesterday from the headquarters of the battalion, near Caldwell, we learn that the train had been heard from within ten miles of the agency, where it no doubt arrived safely. They report that they were watched by and saw Indians from the time they crossed Salt Fork till they reached Kingfisher’s. The Indians sent up signals with smokes constantly and were plainly waiting for a favorable opportunity to attack. They doubtless discovered the presence of the escort and scented the ambuscade. Major Upham left Caldwell on Wednesday, 29th, with his company of cavalry, to scout down through the Territory to the Cheyenne and Arapaho agency, and may enc