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| author | nfenwick <nfenwick@pglaf.org> | 2025-03-01 10:49:25 -0800 |
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| committer | nfenwick <nfenwick@pglaf.org> | 2025-03-01 10:49:25 -0800 |
| commit | a7b70ec6e589b51dff1c39db23534d8d12cac59c (patch) | |
| tree | 43a691f42f56bed5c32d24a969dafbd86382566b /45699-h | |
| parent | 4d96b2a6cbad2420def3613f297a92b8a0a511ba (diff) | |
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(Frederic Logan) Paxson</title> + <link rel="coverpage" href="images/cover.jpg" /> + <style type="text/css"> + +body { + margin-left: 40px; + margin-right: 40px; +} + +h1,h2 { + text-align: center; + clear: both; + margin-top: 2.5em; + margin-bottom: 1em; +} + +h1 {line-height: 1;} + +h2.chap {margin-bottom: 0;} +h2+p {margin-top: 1.5em;} +h2 .subhead {display: block; margin-top: .5em; margin-bottom: 1em;} + +.transnote h2 { + margin-top: .5em; + margin-bottom: 1em; +} + +.subhead { + text-indent: 0; + text-align: center; + font-size: smaller; +} + +p { + text-indent: 1.75em; + margin-top: .51em; + margin-bottom: .24em; + text-align: justify; +} +.caption p {text-align: center; text-indent: 0;} +p.center {text-indent: 0;} + +.p0 {margin-top: 0em;} +.p1 {margin-top: 1em;} +.p2 {margin-top: 2em;} +.p4 {margin-top: 4em;} +.vspace {line-height: 1.5;} + +.in0 {text-indent: 0;} + +.small {font-size: 70%;} +.smaller {font-size: 85%;} +.larger {font-size: 125%;} +.large {font-size: 150%;} +.xlarge {font-size: 175%;} + +.center {text-align: center;} + +.smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} +.smcap.smaller {font-size: 75%;} + +.bold {font-weight: bold;} + +hr { + width: 33%; 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+} + +.poem { + display: inline-block; + text-align: left; + margin-left: 0; +} + +.poem .stanza{ + padding: 0.5em 0; +} + +.poem span.iq {display: block; margin-left: -.5em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} +.poem span.i0 {display: block; margin-left: 0em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} +.poem span.i2 {display: block; margin-left: 1em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + +.transnote { + background-color: #EEE; + border: thin dotted; + font-family: sans-serif, serif; + color: #000; + margin-left: 5%; + margin-right: 5%; + margin-top: 4em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + padding: 1em; +} + +.sigright { + margin-right: 5%; + text-align: right;} + +span.locked {white-space:nowrap;} + +#sources {font-size: 97%; line-height: 1.2;} + +@media print, handheld +{ + h1, h2, .newpage {page-break-before: always;} + h1.nobreak, h2.nobreak, .nobreak {page-break-before: avoid; padding-top: 0;} + .newpage+.p4 {margin-top: 0;} + + p { + margin-top: .5em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .25em; + } + + table {width: 100%; max-width: 100%;} + + .tdl { + padding-left: .5em; + text-indent: -.5em; + } +} + +@media handheld +{ + body {margin: 0;} + + hr { + margin-top: .1em; + margin-bottom: .1em; + visibility: hidden; + color: white; + width: .01em; + display: none; + } + + .poem-container {text-align: left; margin-left: 5%;} + .poem {display: block;} + + .transnote { + page-break-inside: avoid; + margin-left: 2%; + margin-right: 2%; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; + padding: .5em; + } + +} + + h1.pg { margin-top: 0em; } + hr.full { width: 100%; + margin-top: 3em; + margin-bottom: 0em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + height: 4px; + border-width: 4px 0 0 0; /* remove all borders except the top one */ + border-style: solid; + border-color: #000000; + clear: both; } + </style> +</head> +<body> +<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 45699 ***</div> +<h1 class="pg">The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Last American Frontier, by Frederic L. +(Frederic Logan) Paxson</h1> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<table border="0" style="background-color: #ccccff;margin: 0 auto;" cellpadding="10"> + <tr> + <td valign="top"> + Note: + </td> + <td> + Images of the original pages are available through + Internet Archive. See + <a href="https://archive.org/details/fronlastamerican00paxsrich"> + https://archive.org/details/fronlastamerican00paxsrich</a> + </td> + </tr> +</table> +<p> </p> +<hr class="full" /> +<p> </p> + +<div id="i_cover" class="figcenter" style="width: 542px;"><img class="nobdr" src="images/cover.jpg" width="542" height="800" alt="cover" /></div> + +<h1>STORIES FROM AMERICAN HISTORY</h1> + +<hr /> + +<div id="if_i-002" class="figcenter" style="width: 108px;"><img class="newpage p4 nobdr" src="images/i-002.jpg" width="108" height="34" alt="" /></div> + +<p class="center"> +THE MACMILLAN COMPANY<br /> +<span class="small">NEW YORK · BOSTON · CHICAGO<br /> +ATLANTA · SAN FRANCISCO</span></p> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">MACMILLAN & CO., Limited</span><br /> +<span class="small">LONDON · BOMBAY · CALCUTTA<br /> +MELBOURNE</span></p> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, Ltd.</span><br /> +<span class="small">TORONTO</span></p> + +<div id="i_frontis" class="figcenter" style="width: 521px;"><img class="newpage p4" src="images/i-004.jpg" width="521" height="357" alt="" /></div> + +<p class="newpage p4 center vspace xlarge bold"> +THE<br /> +LAST AMERICAN FRONTIER</p> + +<p class="p2 center vspace">BY<br /> +<span class="large">FREDERIC LOGAN PAXSON</span><br /> +<span class="smaller">JUNIOR PROFESSOR OF AMERICAN HISTORY<br /> +IN THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN</span></p> + +<p class="p2 center"><i>ILLUSTRATED</i></p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> + +<p class="p2 center vspace">New York<br /> +<span class="larger">THE MACMILLAN COMPANY</span><br /> +1910<br /> +<span class="smaller"><i>All rights reserved</i></span></p> + +<hr /> + +<p class="newpage p4 center small vspace"> +<span class="smcap">Copyright, 1910,<br /> +By THE MACMILLAN COMPANY.</span><br /> +<span class="smaller">Set up and electrotyped. Published February, 1910.</span></p> + +<p class="p2 center small">Norwood Press<br /> +J. S. Cushing Co.—Berwick & Smith Co.<br /> +Norwood, Mass., U.S.A.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_v" id="Page_v">v</a></span></p> + +<h2><a name="PREFACE" id="PREFACE">PREFACE</a></h2> + +<p>I have told here the story of the last frontier +within the United States, trying at once to preserve +the picturesque atmosphere which has given to the +"Far West" a definite and well-understood meaning, +and to indicate those forces which have shaped +the history of the country beyond the Mississippi. +In doing it I have had to rely largely upon my own +investigations among sources little used and relatively +inaccessible. The exact citations of authority, +with which I might have crowded my pages, would +have been out of place in a book not primarily intended +for the use of scholars. But I hope, before +many years, to exploit in a larger and more elaborate +form the mass of detailed information upon +which this sketch is based.</p> + +<p>My greatest debts are to the owners of the originals +from which the illustrations for this book have +been made; to Claude H. Van Tyne, who has repeatedly +aided me with his friendly criticism; and +to my wife, whose careful readings have saved me +from many blunders in my text.</p> + +<p class="sigright">FREDERIC L. PAXSON.</p> + +<p class="smaller"><span class="smcap">Ann Arbor</span>, August 7, 1909.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_vii" id="Page_vii">vii</a></span></p> + +<h2><a name="CONTENTS" id="CONTENTS">CONTENTS</a></h2> + +<div class="center"> +<table summary="Contents"> + <tr> + <td class="tdc chap" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I</a></td></tr> + <tr class="small"> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdr">PAGE</td></tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Westward Movement</span></td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_1">1</a></td></tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc chap" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II</a></td></tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Indian Frontier</span></td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_14">14</a></td></tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc chap" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III</a></td></tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Iowa and the New Northwest</span></td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_33">33</a></td></tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc chap" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV</a></td></tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Santa Fé Trail</span></td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_53">53</a></td></tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc chap" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V</a></td></tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Oregon Trail</span></td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_70">70</a></td></tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc chap" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI</a></td></tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Overland with the Mormons</span></td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_86">86</a></td></tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc chap" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII</a></td></tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">California and the Forty-niners</span></td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_104">104</a></td></tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc chap" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">CHAPTER VIII</a></td></tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Kansas and the Indian Frontier</span></td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_119">119</a></td></tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc chap" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_IX">CHAPTER IX</a></td></tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">"<span class="smcap">Pike's Peak or Bust!</span>"</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_138">138</a></td></tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc chap" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_X">CHAPTER X</a><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_viii" id="Page_viii">viii</a></span></td></tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">From Arizona to Montana</span></td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_156">156</a></td></tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc chap" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_XI">CHAPTER XI</a></td></tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Overland Mail</span></td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_174">174</a></td></tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc chap" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_XII">CHAPTER XII</a></td></tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Engineers' Frontier</span></td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_192">192</a></td></tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc chap" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIII">CHAPTER XIII</a></td></tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Union Pacific Railroad</span></td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_211">211</a></td></tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc chap" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIV">CHAPTER XIV</a></td></tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Plains in the Civil War</span></td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_225">225</a></td></tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc chap" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_XV">CHAPTER XV</a></td></tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Cheyenne War</span></td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_243">243</a></td></tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc chap" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVI">CHAPTER XVI</a></td></tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Sioux War</span></td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_264">264</a></td></tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc chap" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVII">CHAPTER XVII</a></td></tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Peace Commission and the Open Way</span></td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_284">284</a></td></tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc chap" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVIII">CHAPTER XVIII</a></td></tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Black Kettle's Last Raid</span></td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_304">304</a></td></tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc chap" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIX">CHAPTER XIX</a></td></tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The First of the Railways</span></td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_324">324</a></td></tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc chap" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_XX">CHAPTER XX</a></td></tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The New Indian Policy</span></td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_340">340</a></td></tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc chap" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXI">CHAPTER XXI</a><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ix" id="Page_ix">ix</a></span></td></tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Last Stand: Chief Joseph and Sitting Bull</span></td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_358">358</a></td></tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc chap" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXII">CHAPTER XXII</a></td></tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Letting in the Population</span></td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_372">372</a></td></tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc chap" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIII">CHAPTER XXIII</a></td></tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Bibliographical Note</span></td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_387">387</a></td></tr> +</table></div> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xi" id="Page_xi">xi</a></span></p> + +<h2><a name="LIST_OF_ILLUSTRATIONS" id="LIST_OF_ILLUSTRATIONS">LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS</a></h2> + +<div class="center"> +<table summary="List of Illustrations"> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Prairie Schooner</span></td> + <td class="tdr" colspan="2"><a href="#i_frontis"><i>Frontispiece</i></a></td></tr> + <tr class="small"> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdc"> </td> + <td class="tdr">PAGE</td></tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Map: Indian Country and Agricultural Frontier, 1840–1841</span></td> + <td class="tdc"> </td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#ip_22">22</a></td></tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Chief Keokuk</span></td> + <td class="tdc"><i>facing</i></td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#ip_30">30</a></td></tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Iowa Sod Plow.</span> (From a Cut belonging to the Historical Department of Iowa.)</td> + <td class="tdc"> </td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#ip_46">46</a></td></tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Map: Overland Trails</span></td> + <td class="tdc"> </td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#ip_56">57</a></td></tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Fort Laramie, 1842</span></td> + <td class="tdc"><i>facing</i></td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#ip_78">78</a></td></tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Map: The West in 1849</span></td> + <td class="tdc"> </td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#ip_120">120</a></td></tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Map: The West in 1854</span></td> + <td class="tdc"> </td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#ip_140">140</a></td></tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">"<span class="smcap">Ho for the Yellow Stone</span>"</td> + <td class="tdc"><i>facing</i></td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#ip_144">144</a></td></tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Mining Camp</span></td> + <td class="tdc">"</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#ip_158">158</a></td></tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Fort Snelling</span></td> + <td class="tdc">"</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#ip_204">204</a></td></tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Red Cloud and Professor Marsh</span></td> + <td class="tdc">"</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#ip_274">274</a></td></tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Map: The West in 1863</span></td> + <td class="tdc"> </td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#ip_300">300</a></td></tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Position of Reno on the Little Big Horn</span></td> + <td class="tdc"><i>facing</i></td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#ip_360">360</a></td></tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Map: The Pacific Railroads, 1884</span></td> + <td class="tdc"> </td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#ip_379">380</a></td></tr> +</table></div> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">1</a></span></p> + +<h2><a name="THE_LAST_AMERICAN_FRONTIER" id="THE_LAST_AMERICAN_FRONTIER">THE LAST AMERICAN FRONTIER</a></h2> + +<hr /> +<h2 class="vspace"><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I</a><br /> + +<span class="subhead">THE WESTWARD MOVEMENT</span></h2> + +<p>The story of the United States is that of a series +of frontiers which the hand of man has reclaimed +from nature and the savage, and which courage and +foresight have gradually transformed from desert +waste to virile commonwealth. It is the story of +one long struggle, fought over different lands and by +different generations, yet ever repeating the conditions +and episodes of the last period in the next. +The winning of the first frontier established in +America its first white settlements. Later struggles +added the frontiers of the Alleghanies and the Ohio, +of the Mississippi and the Missouri. The winning +of the last frontier completed the conquest of the +continent.</p> + +<p>The greatest of American problems has been the +problem of the West. For four centuries after the +discovery there existed here vast areas of fertile +lands which beckoned to the colonist and invited +him to migration. On the boundary between the +settlements and the wilderness stretched an indefinite +line that advanced westward from year to year.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">2</a></span> +Hardy pioneers were ever to be found ahead of it, +blazing the trails and clearing in the valleys. The +advance line of the farmsteads was never far behind +it. And out of this shifting frontier between man +and nature have come the problems that have occupied +and directed American governments since their +beginning, as well as the men who have solved them. +The portion of the population residing in the frontier +has always been insignificant in number, yet it has +well-nigh controlled the nation. The dominant problems +in politics and morals, in economic development +and social organization, have in most instances +originated near the frontier or been precipitated by +some shifting of the frontier interest.</p> + +<p>The controlling influence of the frontier in shaping +American problems has been possible because of the +construction of civilized governments in a new area, +unhampered by institutions of the past or conservative +prejudices of the present. Each commonwealth +has built from the foundation. An institution, +to exist, has had to justify itself again and again. +No force of tradition has kept the outlawed fact +alive. The settled lands behind have in each generation +been forced to remodel their older selves upon +the newer growths beyond.</p> + +<p>Individuals as well as problems have emerged +from the line of the frontier as it has advanced across +a continent. In the conflict with the wilderness, +birth, education, wealth, and social standing have +counted for little in comparison with strength, vigor,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">3</a></span> +and aggressive courage. The life there has always +been hard, killing off the weaklings or driving them +back to the settlements, and leaving as a result a +picked population not noteworthy for its culture or +its refinements, but eminent in qualities of positive +force for good or bad. The bad man has been quite +as typical of the frontier as the hero, but both have +possessed its dominant virtues of self-confidence, +vigor, and initiative. Thus it has been that the +men of the frontiers have exerted an influence upon +national affairs far out of proportion to their strength +in numbers.</p> + +<p>The influence of the frontier has been the strongest +single factor in American history, exerting its power +from the first days of the earliest settlements down +to the last years of the nineteenth century, when the +frontier left the map. No other force has been continuous +in its influence throughout four centuries. +Men still live whose characters have developed under +its pressure. The colonists of New England were +not too early for its shaping.</p> + +<p>The earliest American frontier was in fact a +European frontier, separated by an ocean from the +life at home and meeting a wilderness in every extension. +English commercial interests, stimulated by +the successes of Spain and Portugal, began the organization +of corporations and the planting of trading +depots before the sixteenth century ended. The +accident that the Atlantic seaboard had no exploitable +products at once made the American commercial<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">4</a></span> +trading company of little profit and translated its +depots into resident colonies. The first instalments +of colonists had little intention to turn pioneer, but +when religious and political quarrels in the mother +country made merry England a melancholy place +for Puritans, a motive was born which produced a +generation of voluntary frontiersmen. Their scattered +outposts made a line of contact between England +and the American wilderness which by 1700 +extended along the Atlantic from Maine to Carolina. +Until the middle of the eighteenth century the +frontier kept within striking distance of the sea. +Its course of advance was then, as always, determined +by nature and geographic fact. Pioneers +followed the line of least resistance. The river +valley was the natural communicating link, since +along its waters the vessel could be advanced, while +along its banks rough trails could most easily develop +into highways. The extent and distribution +of this colonial frontier was determined by the +contour of the seaboard along which it lay.</p> + +<p>Running into the sea, with courses nearly parallel, +the Atlantic rivers kept the colonies separated. +Each colony met its own problems in its own way. +England was quite as accessible as some of the +neighboring colonies. No natural routes invited +communication among the settlements, and an +English policy deliberately discouraged attempts +on the part of man to bring the colonies together. +Hence it was that the various settlements developed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">5</a></span> +as island frontiers, touching the river mouths, not +advancing much along the shore line, but penetrating +into the country as far as the rivers themselves +offered easy access.</p> + +<p>For varying distances, all the important rivers +of the seaboard are navigable; but all are broken by +falls at the points where they emerge upon the level +plains of the coast from the hilly courses of the foothills +of the Appalachians. Connecting these various +waterfalls a line can be drawn roughly parallel to +the coast and marking at once the western limit of +the earliest colonies and the line of the second +frontier. The first frontier was the seacoast itself. +The second was reached at the falls line shortly +after 1700.</p> + +<p>Within these island colonies of the first frontier +American life began. English institutions were +transplanted in the new soil and shaped in growth +by the quality of their nourishment. They came +to meet the needs of their dependent populations, +but they ceased to be English in the process. The +facts of similarity among the institutions of Massachusetts +and Pennsylvania, or Virginia, or Georgia, +point clearly to the similar stocks of ideas imported +with the colonists, and the similar problems attending +upon the winning of the first frontier. Already, +before the next frontier at the falls line had been +reached, the older settlements had begun to develop +a spirit of conservatism plainly different from the +attitude of the old frontier.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">6</a></span> +The falls line was passed long before the colonial +period came to an end, and pioneers were working +their way from clearing to clearing, up into the +mountains, by the early eighteenth century. As +they approached the summit of the eastern divide, +leaving the falls behind, the essential isolation of +the provinces began to weaken under the combined +forces of geographic influence and common need. +The valley routes of communication which determined +the lines of advance run parallel, across +the first frontier, but have a tendency to converge +among the mountains and to stand on common +ground at the summit. Every reader of Francis +Parkman knows how in the years from 1745 to 1756 +the pioneers of the more aggressive colonies crossed +the Alleghanies and meeting on the summit found +that there they must make common cause against the +French, or recede. The gateways of the West converge +where the headwaters of the Tennessee and +Cumberland and Ohio approach the Potomac and +its neighbors. There the colonists first came to +have common associations and common problems. +Thus it was that the years in which the frontier +line reached the forks of the Ohio were filled with +talk of colonial union along the seaboard. The +frontier problem was already influencing the life of +the East and impelling a closer union than had been +known before.</p> + +<p>The line of the frontier was generally parallel to +the coast in 1700. By 1800 it had assumed the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">7</a></span> +form of a wedge, with its apex advancing down the +rivers of the Mississippi Valley and its sides sloping +backward to north and south. The French war of +1756–1763 saw the apex at the forks of the Ohio. +In the seventies it started down the Cumberland as +pioneers filled up the valleys of eastern Kentucky +and Tennessee. North and south the advance was +slower. No other river valleys could aid as did the +Ohio, Cumberland, and Tennessee, and population +must always follow the line of least resistance. On +both sides of the main advance, powerful Indian +confederacies contested the ground, opposing the +entry of the whites. The centres of Indian strength +were along the Lakes and north of the Gulf. Intermediate +was the strip of "dark and bloody ground," +fought over and hunted over by all, but occupied by +none; and inviting white approach through the three +valleys that opened it to the Atlantic.</p> + +<p>The war for independence occurred just as the +extreme frontier started down the western rivers. +Campaigns inspired by the West and directed by +its leaders saw to it that when the independence was +achieved the boundary of the United States should +not be where England had placed it in 1763, on the +summit of the Alleghanies, but at the Mississippi +itself, at which the lines of settlement were shortly +to arrive. The new nation felt the influence of this +frontier in the very negotiations which made it free. +The development of its policies and its parties felt +the frontier pressure from the start.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">8</a></span> +Steadily after 1789 the wedge-shaped frontier +advanced. New states appeared in Kentucky and +Tennessee as concrete evidences of its advance, while +before the century ended, the campaign of Mad +Anthony Wayne at the Fallen Timbers had allowed +the northern flank of the wedge to cross Ohio and +include Detroit. At the turn of the century Ohio +entered the Union in 1803, filled with a population +tempted to meet the trying experiences of the frontier +by the call of lands easier to till than those in New +England, from which it came. The old eastern communities +still retained the traditions of colonial isolation; +but across the mountains there was none of this. +Here state lines were artificial and convenient, not +representing facts of barrier or interest. The emigrants +from varying sources passed over single routes, +through single gateways, into a valley which knew +little of itself as state but was deeply impressed with +its national bearings. A second war with England +gave voice to this newer nationality of the newer +states.</p> + +<p>The war with England in its immediate consequences +was a bad investment. It ended with the +government nearly bankrupt, its military reputation +redeemed only by a victory fought after the peace +was signed, its naval strength crushed after heroic +resistance. The eastern population, whose war had +been forced upon it by the West, was bankrupt too. +And by 1814 began the Hegira. For five years the +immediate result of the struggle was a suffering<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">9</a></span> +East. A new state for every year was the western +accompaniment.</p> + +<p>The westward movement has been continuous in +America since the beginning. Bad roads, dense +forests, and Indian obstructers have never succeeded +in stifling the call of the West. A steady +procession of pioneers has marched up the slopes +of the Appalachians, across the trails of the summits, +and down the various approaches to the Mississippi +Valley. When times have been hard in the East, +the stream has swollen to flood proportions. In +the five years which followed the English war the +accelerated current moved more rapidly than ever +before; while never since has its speed been equalled +save in the years following similar catastrophes, as +the panics of 1837 and 1857, or in the years under +the direct inspiration of the gold fields.</p> + +<p>Five new states between 1815 and 1821 carried +the area of settlement down the Ohio to the Mississippi, +and even up the Missouri to its junction with +the Kansas. The whole eastern side was filled with +states, well populated along the rivers, but sparsely +settled to north and south. The frontier wedge, +noticeable by 1776, was even more apparent, now +that the apex had crossed the Mississippi and ascended +the Missouri to its bend, while the wings +dragged back, just including New Orleans at the +south, and hardly touching Detroit at the north. +The river valleys controlled the distribution of population, +and as yet it was easier and simpler to follow<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">10</a></span> +the valleys farther west than to strike out across +country for lands nearer home but lacking the convenience +of the natural route.</p> + +<p>For the pioneer advancing westward the route lay +direct from the summit of the Alleghanies to the bend +of the Missouri. The course of the Ohio facilitated his +advance, while the Missouri River, for two hundred +and fifty miles above its mouth, runs so nearly east +and west as to afford a natural continuation of the +route. But at the mouth of the Kansas the Missouri +bends. Its course changes to north and south +and it ceases to be a highway for the western traveller. +Beyond the bend an overland journey must +commence. The Platte and Kansas and Arkansas +all continue the general direction, but none is easily +navigable. The emigrant must leave the boat near +the bend of the Missouri and proceed by foot or +wagon if he desire to continue westward. With the +admission of Missouri in 1821 the apex of the frontier +had touched the great bend of the river, beyond +which it could not advance with continued ease. +Population followed still the line of easiest access, +but now it was simpler to condense the settlements +farther east, or to broaden out to north or south, +than to go farther west. The flanks of the wedge +began to move. The southwest cotton states received +their influx of population. The country +around the northern lakes began to fill up. The +opening of the Erie Canal in 1825 made easier the +advancing of the northern frontier line, with Michigan,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">11</a></span> +Wisconsin, and even Iowa and Minnesota to +be colonized. And while these flanks were filling +out, the apex remained at the bend of the Missouri, +whither it had arrived in 1821.</p> + +<p>There was more to hold the frontier line at the +bend of the Missouri than the ending of the water +route. In those very months when pioneers were +clearing plots near the mouth of the Kaw, or Kansas, +a major of the United States army was collecting +data upon which to build a tradition of a great +American desert; while the Indian difficulty, steadily +increasing as the line of contact between the races +grew longer, acted as a vigorous deterrent.</p> + +<p>Schoolboys of the thirties, forties, and fifties were +told that from the bend of the Missouri to the Stony +Mountains stretched an American desert. The +makers of their geography books drew the desert +upon their maps, coloring its brown with the +speckled aspect that connotes Sahara or Arabia, with +camels, oases, and sand dunes. The legend was +founded upon the fact that rainfall becomes more +scanty as the slopes approach the Rockies, and upon +the observation of Major Stephen H. Long, who +traversed the country in 1819–1820. Long reported +that it could never support an agricultural +population. The standard weekly journal of the +day thought of it as "covered with sand, gravel, +pebbles, etc." A writer in the forties told of its +"utter destitution of timber, the sterility of its +sandy soil," and believed that at "this point the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">12</a></span> +Creator seems to have said to the tribes of emigration +that are annually rolling toward the west, +'Thus far shalt thou go, and no farther.'" Thus +it came about that the frontier remained fixed for +many years near the bend of the Missouri. Difficulty +of route, danger from Indians, and a great +and erroneous belief in the existence of a sandy +desert, all served to barricade the way. The flanks +advanced across the states of the old Northwest, and +into Louisiana and Arkansas, but the western outpost +remained for half a century at the point which +it had reached in the days of Stephen Long and the +admission of Missouri.</p> + +<p>By 1821 many frontiers had been created and +crossed in the westward march; the seaboard, the +falls line, the crest of the Alleghanies, the Ohio +Valley, the Mississippi and the Missouri, had been +passed in turn. Until this last frontier at the +bend of the Missouri had been reached nothing had +ever checked the steady progress. But at this point +the nature of the advance changed. The obstacles +of the American desert and the Rockies refused to +yield to the "heel-and-toe" methods which had been +successful in the past. The slavery quarrel, the +Mexican War, even the Civil War, came and passed +with the area beyond this frontier scarcely changed. +It had been crossed and recrossed; new centres of +life had grown up beyond it on the Pacific coast; +Texas had acquired an identity and a population; +but the so-called desert with its doubtful soils, its<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">13</a></span> +lack of easy highways and its Indian inhabitants, +threatened to become a constant quantity.</p> + +<p>From 1821 to 1885 extends, in one form or another, +the struggle for the last frontier. The imperative +demands from the frontier are heard continually +throughout the period, its leaders in long +succession are filling the high places in national +affairs, but the problem remains in its same territorial +location. Connected with its phases appear +the questions of the middle of the century. The +destiny of the Indian tribes is suggested by the long +line of contact and the impossibility of maintaining +a savage and a civilized life together and at once. +A call from the farther West leads to more thorough +exploration of the lands beyond the great frontier, +bringing into existence the continental trails, producing +problems of long-distance government, and +intensifying the troubles of the Indians. The final +struggle for the control of the desert and the elimination +of the frontier draws out the tracks of the +Pacific railways, changes and reshapes the Indian +policies again, and brings into existence, at the end +of the period, the great West. But the struggle is +one of half a century, repeating the events of all the +earlier struggles, and ever more bitter as it is larger +and more difficult. It summons the aid of the +nation, as such, before it is concluded, but when it is +ended the first era in American history has been +closed.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">14</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="vspace"><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II</a><br /> + +<span class="subhead">THE INDIAN FRONTIER</span></h2> + +<p>A lengthening frontier made more difficult the +maintenance of friendly relations between the two +races involved in the struggle for the continent. It +increased the area of danger by its extension, while its +advance inland pushed the Indian tribes away from +their old home lands, concentrating their numbers +along its margin and thereby aggravating their +situation. Colonial negotiations for lands as they +were needed had been relatively easy, since the +Indians and whites were nearly enough equal in +strength to have a mutual respect for their agreements +and a fear of violation. But the white population +doubled itself every twenty-five years, while +the Indians close enough to resist were never more +than 300,000, and have remained near that figure or +under it until to-day. The stronger race could afford +to indulge the contempt that its superior civilization +engendered, while its individual members along the +line of contact became less orderly and governable as +the years advanced. An increasing willingness to +override on the part of the white governments and an +increasing personal hatred and contempt on the part +of individual pioneers, account easily for the danger<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">15</a></span> +to life along the frontier. The savage, at his best, +was not responsive to the motives of civilization; at +his worst, his injuries, real or imaginary,—and too +often they were real,—made him the most dangerous +of all the wild beasts that harassed the advancing +frontier. The problem of his treatment vexed all the +colonial governments and endured after the Revolution +and the Constitution. It first approached a +systematic policy in the years of Monroe and Adams +and Jackson, but never attained form and shape +until the ideal which it represented had been outlawed +by the march of civilization into the West.</p> + +<p>The conflict between the Indian tribes and the +whites could not have ended in any other way than +that which has come to pass. A handful of savages, +knowing little of agriculture or manufacture or +trade among themselves, having no conception of +private ownership of land, possessing social ideals +and standards of life based upon the chase, could +not and should not have remained unaltered at the +expense of a higher form of life. The farmer must +always have right of way against the hunter, and +the trader against the pilferer, and law against self-help +and private war. In the end, by whatever +route, the Indian must have given up his hunting +grounds and contented himself with progress into +civilized life. The route was not one which he +could ever have determined for himself. The +stronger race had to determine it for him. Under +ideal conditions it might have been determined<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">16</a></span> +without loss of life and health, without promoting +a bitter race hostility that invited extinction for the +inferior race, without prostituting national honor +or corrupting individual moral standards. The +Indians needed maintenance, education, discipline, +and guardianship until the older ones should have +died and the younger accepted the new order, and +all these might conceivably have been provided. +But democratic government has never developed a +powerful and centralized authority competent to +administer a task such as this, with its incidents of +checking trade, punishing citizens, and maintaining +rigorously a standard of conduct not acceptable to +those upon whom it is to be enforced.</p> + +<p>The acts by which the United States formulated +and carried out its responsibilities towards the +Indian tribes were far from the ideal. In theory +the disposition of the government was generally +benevolent, but the scheme was badly conceived, +while human frailty among officers of the law and +citizens as well rendered execution short of such ideal +as there was.</p> + +<p>For thirty years the government under the Constitution +had no Indian policy. In these years it +acquired the habit of dealing with the tribes as +independent—"domestic dependent nations," Justice +Marshall later called them—by means of +formal treaties. Europe thought of chiefs as kings +and tribes as nations. The practice of making +treaties was based on this delusion. After a century<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">17</a></span> +of practice it was finally learned that nomadic +savages have no idea of sovereign government or +legal obligation, and that the assumption of the existence +of such knowledge can lead only to misconception +and disappointment.</p> + +<p>As the frontier moved down the Ohio, individual +wars were fought and individual treaties were made +as occasion offered. At times the tribes yielded +readily to white occupation; occasionally they +struggled bitterly to save their lands; but the result +was always the same. The right bank of the river, +long known as the Indian Shore, was contested in a +series of wars lasting nearly until 1800, and became +available for white colonization only after John Jay +had, through his treaty of 1794, removed the British +encouragement to the Indians, and General Wayne +had administered to them a decisive defeat. Isolated +attacks were frequent, but Tecumseh's war +of 1811 was the next serious conflict, while, after +General Harrison brought this war to an end at +Tippecanoe, there was comparative peace along the +northwest frontier until the time of Black Hawk and +his uprising of 1832.</p> + +<p>The left bank of the river was opened with less +formal resistance, admitting Kentucky and Tennessee +before the Indian Shore was a safe habitation +for whites. South of Tennessee lay the great southern +confederacies, somewhat out of the line of early +western progress, and hence not plunged into struggles +until the War of 1812 was over. But as Wayne<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">18</a></span> +and Harrison had opened the Northwest, so Jackson +cleared the way for white advance into Alabama +and Mississippi. By 1821 new states touched the +Mississippi River along its whole course between +New Orleans and the lead mines of upper Illinois.</p> + +<p>In the advance of the frontier to the bend of the +Missouri some of the tribes were pushed back, while +others were passed and swallowed up by the invading +population. Experience showed that the two +races could not well live in adjacent lands. The +conditions which made for Indian welfare could not +be kept up in the neighborhood of white settlements, +for the more lawless of the whites were ever ready, +through illicit trade, deceit, and worse, to provoke +the most dangerous excesses of the savage. The +Indian was demoralized, the white became steadily +more intolerant.</p> + +<p>Although the ingenious Jefferson had anticipated +him in the idea, the first positive policy which +looked toward giving to the Indian a permanent +home and the sort of guardianship which he needed +until he could become reconciled to civilized life was +the suggestion of President Monroe. At the end of +his presidency, Georgia was angrily demanding the +removal of the Cherokee from her limits, and was +ready to violate law and the Constitution in her +desire to accomplish her end. Monroe was prepared +to meet the demand. He submitted to Congress, +on January 27, 1825, a report from Calhoun, +then Secretary of War, upon the numbers of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">19</a></span> +tribes, the area of their lands, and the area of +available destinations for them. He recommended +that as rapidly as agreements could be made with +them they be removed to country lying westward +and northwestward,—to the further limits of the +Louisiana Purchase, which lay beyond the line of +the western frontier.</p> + +<p>Already, when this message was sent to Congress, +individual steps had been taken in the direction +which it pointed out. A few tribes had agreed to +cross the Mississippi, and had been allotted lands +in Missouri and Arkansas. But Missouri, just admitted, +and Arkansas, now opening up, were no +more hospitable to Indian wards than Georgia and +Ohio had been. The Indian frontier must be at +some point still farther west, towards the vast plains +overrun by the <span class="locked">Osage<a name="FNanchor_1" id="FNanchor_1" href="#Footnote_1" class="fnanchor">1</a></span> and Kansa tribes, the Pawnee +and the Sioux. There had been few dealings with +the Indians beyond the Mississippi before Monroe +advanced his policy. Lieutenant Pike had visited +the head of the Mississippi in 1805 and had treated +with the Sioux for a reserve at St. Paul. Subsequent +agreements farther south brought the Osage +tribes within the treaty arrangements. The year +1825 saw the notable treaties which prepared the +way for peace among the western tribes, and the +reception by these tribes of the eastern nations.</p> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a name="Footnote_1" id="Footnote_1" href="#FNanchor_1" class="fnanchor">1</a> My usage in spelling tribal names follows the list agreed upon +by the bureaus of Indian Affairs and American Ethnology, and +printed in C. J. Kappler, Indian Affairs, Laws and Treaties, 57th +Cong., 1st Sess., Sen. Doc. 452, Serial 4253, p. 1021.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">20</a></span></p></div> + +<p>Five weeks after the special message Congress +authorized a negotiation with the Kansa and Osage +nations. These tribes roamed over a vast country +extending from the Platte River to the Red, and +west as far as the lower slopes of the Rocky Mountains. +Their limits had never been definitely stated, +although the Osage had already surrendered claim +to lands fronting on the Mississippi between the +mouths of the Missouri and the Arkansas. Not +only was it now desirable to limit them more closely +in order to make room for Indian immigrants, but +these tribes had already begun to worry traders +going overland to the Southwest. As soon as the +frontier reached the bend of the Missouri, the profits +of the Santa Fé trade had begun to tempt caravans +up the Arkansas valley and across the plains. To +preserve peace along the Santa Fé trail was now as +important as to acquire grounds. Governor Clark +negotiated the treaties at St. Louis. On June 2, +1825, he persuaded the Osage chiefs to surrender all +their lands except a strip fifty miles wide, beginning +at White Hair's village on the Neosho, and running +indefinitely west. The Kaw or Kansa tribe was a +day later in its agreement, and reserved a thirty-mile +strip running west along the Kansas River. The +two treaties at once secured rights of transit and +pledges of peace for traders to Santa Fé, and gave +the United States title to ample lands west of the +frontier on which to plant new Indian colonies.</p> + +<p>The autumn of 1825 witnessed at Prairie du Chien<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">21</a></span> +the first step towards peace and condensation along +the northern frontier. The Erie Canal, not yet +opened, had not begun to drain the population of +the East into the Northwest, and Indians were in +peaceful possession of the lake shores nearly to Fort +Wayne. West of Lake Michigan were constant +tribal wars. The Potawatomi, Menominee, and +Chippewa, first, then Winnebago, and Sauk and +Foxes, and finally the various bands of Sioux around +the Mississippi and upper Missouri, enjoyed still +their traditional hostility and the chase. Governor +Clark again, and Lewis Cass, met the tribes at the +old trading post on the Mississippi to persuade +them to bury the tomahawk among themselves. +The treaty, signed August 19, 1825, defined the +boundaries of the different nations by lines of which +the most important was between the Sioux and +Sauk and Foxes, which was later to be known as the +Neutral Line, across northern Iowa. The basis of +this treaty of Prairie du Chien was temporary at +best. Before it was much more than ratified the +white influx began, Fort Dearborn at the head of +Lake Michigan blossomed out into Chicago, and +squatters penetrating to Rock Island in the Mississippi +had provoked the war of 1832, in which Black +Hawk made the last stand of the Indians in the old +Northwest. In the thirties the policy of removal +completed the opening of Illinois and Wisconsin to +the whites.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">22</a></span></p> + +<div id="ip_22" class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> + <img class="nobdr" src="images/i-036.jpg" width="353" height="600" alt="" /> + <div class="caption"><p><span class="smcap">Indian Country and Agricultural Frontier, 1840–1841</span></p></div> + <div class="captionl"> +<p>Showing the solid line of reservation lands extending from the Red River +to Green Bay, and the agricultural frontier of more than six inhabitants per +square mile.</p> +</div></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">23</a></span> +The policy of removal and colonization urged by +Monroe and Calhoun was supported by Congress +and succeeding Presidents, and carried out during the +next fifteen years. It required two transactions, +the acquisition by the United States of western titles, +and the persuasion of eastern tribes to accept the +new lands thus available. It was based upon an +assumption that the frontier had reached its final +resting place. Beyond Missouri, which had been +admitted in 1821, lay a narrow strip of good lands, +merging soon into the American desert. Few sane +Americans thought of converting this land into +states as had been the process farther east. At the +bend of the Missouri the frontier had arrived; there +it was to stay, and along the lines of its receding +flanks the Indians could be settled with pledges of +permanent security and growth. Here they could +never again impede the western movement in its +creation of new communities and states. Here it +would be possible, in the words of Lewis Cass, to +"leave their fate to the common God of the white +man and the Indian."</p> + +<p>The five years following the treaty of Prairie du +Chien were filled with active negotiation and migration +in the lands beyond the Missouri. First +came the Shawnee to what was promised as a final +residence. From Pennsylvania, into Ohio, and on +into Missouri, this tribe had already been pushed +by the advancing frontier. Now its ever shrinking +lands were cut down to a strip with a twenty-five-mile +frontage on the Missouri line and an extension<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">24</a></span> +west for one hundred and twenty-five miles along +the south bank of the Kansas River and the south +line of the Kaw reserve. Its old neighbors, the Delawares, +became its new neighbors in 1829, accepting +the north bank of the Kansas, with a Missouri +River frontage as far north as the new Fort Leavenworth, +and a ten-mile outlet to the buffalo country, +along the northern line of the Kaw reserve. Later +the Kickapoo and other minor tribes were colonized +yet farther to the north. The chase was still to be +the chief reliance of the Indian population. Unlimited +supplies of game along the plains were to +supply his larder, with only occasional aid from +presents of other food supplies. In the long run +agriculture was to be encouraged. Farmers and +blacksmiths and teachers were to be provided in +various ways, but until the longed-for civilization +should arrive, the red man must hunt to live. The +new Indian frontier was thus started by the colonization +of the Shawnee and Delawares just beyond +the bend of the Missouri on the old possessions of +the Kaw.</p> + +<p>The northern flank of the Indian frontier, as it +came to be established, ran along the line of the +frontier of white settlements, from the bend of the +Missouri, northeasterly towards the upper lakes. +Before the final line of the reservations could be +determined the Erie Canal had begun to shape the +Northwest. Its stream of population was filling the +northern halves of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">25</a></span> +working up into Michigan and Wisconsin. Black +Hawk's War marked the last struggle for the fertile +plains of upper Illinois, and made possible an Indian +line which should leave most of Wisconsin and part +of Iowa open to the whites.</p> + +<p>Before Black Hawk's War occurred, the great +peace treaty of Prairie du Chien had been followed, +in 1830, by a second treaty at the same place, at +which Governor Clark and Colonel Morgan reënforced +the guarantees of peace. The Omaha +tribe now agreed to stay west of the Missouri, its +neighbors being the Yankton Sioux above, and the +Oto and Missouri below; a half-breed tract was +reserved between the Great and Little Nemahas, +while the neutral line across Iowa became a neutral +strip forty miles wide from the Mississippi River to +the Des Moines. Chronic warfare between the +Sioux and Sauk and Foxes had threatened the extinction +of the latter as well as the peace of the +frontier, so now each tribe surrendered twenty miles +of its land along the neutral line. Had the latter +tribes been willing to stay beyond the Mississippi, +where they had agreed to remain, and where they +had clear and recognized title to their lands, the war +of 1832 might have been avoided. But they continued +to occupy a part of Illinois, and when squatters +jumped their cornfields near Rock Island, the +pacific counsels of old Keokuk were less acceptable +than the warlike promises of the able brave Black +Hawk. The resulting war, fought over the country<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">26</a></span> +between the Rock and Wisconsin rivers, threw the +frontier into a state of panic out of all proportion to +the danger threatening. Volunteers of Illinois and +Michigan, and regulars from eastern posts under +General Winfield Scott, produced a peace after a +campaign of doubtful triumph. Near Fort Armstrong, +on Rock Island, a new territorial arrangement +was agreed upon. As the price of their resistance, +the Sauk and Foxes, who were already located +west of the Mississippi, between Missouri and the +Neutral Strip, surrendered to the United States a +belt of land some forty miles wide along the west +bank of the Mississippi, thus putting a buffer between +themselves and Illinois and making way for +Iowa. The Winnebago consented, about this time, +to move west of the Mississippi and occupy a portion +of the Neutral Strip.</p> + +<p>The completion of the Indian frontier to the upper +lakes was the work of the early thirties. The purchase +at Fort Armstrong had made the line follow +the north boundary of Missouri and run along the +west line of this Black Hawk purchase to the Neutral +Strip. A second Black Hawk purchase in 1837 +reduced their lands by a million and a quarter acres +just west of the purchase of 1832. Other agreements +with the Potawatomi, the Sioux, the Menominee, +and the Chippewa established a final line. Of +these four nations, one was removed and the others +forced back within their former territories. The +Potawatomi, more correctly known as the Chippewa,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">27</a></span> +Ottawa, and Potawatomi, since the tribe consisted +of Indians related by marriage but representing +these three stocks, had occupied the west shore of +Lake Michigan from Chicago to Milwaukee. After +a great council at Chicago in 1833 they agreed to +cross the Mississippi and take up lands west of the +Sauk and Foxes and east of the Missouri, in present +Iowa. The Menominee, their neighbors to the +north, with a shore line from Milwaukee to the +Menominee River, gave up their lake front during +these years, agreeing in 1836 to live on diminished +lands west of Green Bay and including the left bank +of the Wisconsin River.</p> + +<p>The Sioux and Chippewa receded to the north. +Always hereditary enemies, they had accepted a +common but ineffectual demarcation line at the old +treaty of Prairie du Chien in 1825. In 1837 both +tribes made further cessions, introducing between +themselves the greater portion of Wisconsin. The +Sioux acknowledged the Mississippi as their future +eastern boundary, while the Chippewa accepted a +new line which left the Mississippi at its junction +with the Crow Wing, ran north of Lake St. Croix, +and extended thence to the north side of the Menominee +country. With trifling exceptions, the north +flank of the Indian frontier had been completed by +1837. It lay beyond the farthest line of white occupation, +and extended unbroken from the bend of +the Missouri to Green Bay.</p> + +<p>While the north flank of the Indian frontier was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">28</a></span> +being established beyond the probable limits of +white advance, its south flank was extended in an +unbroken series of reservations from the bend of the +Missouri to the Texas line. The old Spanish boundary +of the Sabine River and the hundredth meridian +remained in 1840 the western limit of the United +States. Farther west the Comanche and the plains +Indians roamed indiscriminately over Texas and the +United States. The Caddo, in 1835, were persuaded +to leave Louisiana and cross the Sabine into +Texas; while the quieting of the Osage title in 1825 +had freed the country north of the Red River from +native occupants and opened the way for the +colonizing policy.</p> + +<p>The southern part of the Indian Country was early +set aside as the new home of the eastern confederacies +lying near the Gulf of Mexico. The Creeks, +Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, and Seminole had +in the twenties begun to feel the pressure of the +southern states. Jackson's campaigns had weakened +them even before the cession of Florida to +the United States removed their place of refuge. +Georgia was demanding their removal when Monroe +announced his policy.</p> + +<p>A new home for the Choctaw was provided in the +extreme Southwest in 1830. Ten years before, this +nation had been given a home in Arkansas territory, +but now, at Dancing Rabbit Creek, it received a new +eastern limit in a line drawn from Fort Smith on the +Arkansas due south to the Red River. Arkansas<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">29</a></span> +had originally reached from the Mississippi to the +hundredth meridian, but it was, after this Choctaw +cession, cut down to the new Choctaw line, which +remains its boundary to-day. From Fort Smith +the new boundary was run northerly to the southwest +corner of Missouri.</p> + +<p>The Creeks and Cherokee promised in 1833 to go +into the Indian Country, west of Arkansas and +north of the Choctaw. The Creeks became the +neighbors of the Choctaw, separated from them by +the Canadian River, while the Cherokee adjoined +the Creeks on the north and east. With small exceptions +the whole of the present state of Oklahoma +was thus assigned to these three nations. The +migrations from their old homes came deliberately +in the thirties and forties. The Chickasaw in 1837 +purchased from the Choctaw the right to occupy the +western end of their strip between the Red and +Canadian. The Seminole had acquired similar +rights among the Creeks, but were so reluctant to +keep the pledge to emigrate that their removal +taxed the ability of the United States army for +several years.</p> + +<p>Between the southern portion of the Indian +Country and the Missouri bend minor tribes were +colonized in profusion. The Quapaw and United +Seneca and Shawnee nations were put into the +triangle between the Neosho and Missouri. The +Cherokee received an extra grant in the "Cherokee +Neutral Strip," between the Osage line of 1825 and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">30</a></span> +the Missouri line. Next to the north was made a +reserve for the New York Indians, which they refused +to occupy. The new Miami home came +next, along the Missouri line; while north of this +were little reserves for individual bands of Ottawa +and Chippewa, for the Piankashaw and Wea, the +Kaskaskia and Peoria, the last of which adjoined +the Shawnee line of 1825 upon the south.</p> + +<p>The Indian frontier, determined upon in 1825, +had by 1840 been carried into fact, and existed unbroken +from the Red River and Texas to the Lakes. +The exodus from the old homes to the new had in +many instances been nearly completed. The tribes +were more easily persuaded to promise than to act, +and the wrench was often hard enough to produce +sullenness or even war when the moment of departure +arrived. A few isolated bands had not even +agreed to go. But the figures of the migrations, +published from year to year during the thirties, +show that all of the more important nations east of +the new frontier had ceded their lands, and that by +1840 the migration was substantially over.</p> + +<div id="ip_30" class="figcenter" style="width: 356px;"> + <img src="images/i-045.jpg" width="356" height="542" alt="" /> + <div class="caption"><p><span class="smcap">Chief Keokuk</span></p></div> + +<div class="captionl"><p>From a photograph of a contemporary oil painting owned by Judge C. F. Davis. Reproduced +by permission of the Historical Department of Iowa.</p></div></div> + +<p>President Monroe had urged as an essential part +of the removal policy that when the Indians had +been transferred and colonized they should be carefully +educated into civilization, and guarded from +contamination by the whites. Congress, in various +laws, tried to do these things. The policy of removal, +which had been only administrative at the +start, was confirmed by law in 1830. A formal<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">31</a></span> +Bureau of Indian Affairs was created in 1832, under +the supervision of a commissioner. In 1834 was +passed the Indian Intercourse Act, which remained +the fundamental law for half a century.</p> + +<p>The various treaties of migration had contained +the pledge that never again should the Indians be +removed without their consent, that whites should +be excluded from the Indian Country, and that their +lands should never be included within the limits of +any organized territory or state. To these guarantees +the Intercourse Act attempted to give force. +The Indian Country was divided into superintendencies, +agencies, and sub-agencies, into which white +entry, without license, was prohibited by law. As +the tribes were colonized, agents and schools and +blacksmiths were furnished to them in what was a +real attempt to fulfil the terms of the pledge. The +tribes had gone beyond the limits of probable extension +of the United States, and there they were to +settle down and stay. By 1835 it was possible for +President Jackson to announce to Congress that +the plan approached its consummation: "All preceding +experiments for the improvement of the +Indians" had failed; but now "no one can doubt +the moral duty of the Government of the United +States to protect and if possible to preserve and +perpetuate the scattered remnants of this race which +are left within our borders.... The pledge of the +United States," he continued, "has been given by +Congress that the country destined for the residence<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">32</a></span> +of this people shall be forever 'secured and guaranteed +to them.' ... No political communities can +be formed in that extensive region.... A barrier +has thus been raised for their protection against the +encroachment of our citizens." And now, he concluded, +"they ought to be left to the progress of +events."</p> + +<p>The policy of the United States towards the wards +was generally benevolent. Here, it was sincere, +whether wise or not. As it turned out, however, +the new Indian frontier had to contend with movements +of population, resistless and unforeseen. No +Joshua, no Canute, could hold it back. The result +was inevitable. The Indian, wrote one of the +frontiersmen in a later day, speaking in the language +of the West, "is a savage, noxious animal, and his +actions are those of a ferocious beast of prey, unsoftened +by any touch of pity or mercy. For them +he is to be blamed exactly as the wolf or tiger is +blamed." But by 1840 an Indian frontier had been +erected, coterminous with the agricultural frontier, +and beyond what was believed to be the limit of +expansion. The American desert and the Indian +frontier, beyond the bend of the Missouri, were +forever to be the western boundary of the United +States.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">33</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="vspace"><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III</a><br /> + +<span class="subhead">IOWA AND THE NEW NORTHWEST</span></h2> + +<p>In the end of the thirties the "right wing" of the +frontier, as a colonel of dragoons described it, extended +northeasterly from the bend of the Missouri +to Green Bay. It was an irregular line beyond +which lay the Indian tribes, and behind which was a +population constantly becoming more restless and +aggressive. That it should have been a permanent +boundary is not conceivable; yet Congress professed +to regard it as such, and had in 1836 ordered +the survey and construction of a military road from +the mouth of the St. Peter's to the Red River. The +maintenance of the southern half of the frontier +was perhaps practicable, since the tradition of the +American desert was long to block migration beyond +the limits of Missouri and Arkansas, but north and +east of Fort Leavenworth were lands too alluring +to be safe in the control of the new Indian Bureau. +And already before the thirties were over the upper +Mississippi country had become a factor in the westward +movement.</p> + +<p>A few years after the English war the United +States had erected a fort at the junction of the St. +Peter's and the Mississippi, near the present city of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">34</a></span> +St. Paul. In 1805, Zebulon Montgomery Pike had +treated with the Sioux tribes at this point, and by +1824 the new post had received the name Fort +Snelling, which it was to retain until after the admission +of Minnesota as a state. Pike and his +followers had worked their way up the Mississippi +from St. Louis or Prairie du Chien in skiffs or +keelboats, and had found little of consequence in +the way of white occupation save a few fur-trading +posts and the lead mines of Du Buque. Until after +the English war, indeed, and the admission of Illinois, +there had been little interest in the country +up the river; but during the early twenties the lead +deposits around Du Buque's old claim became the +centre of a business that soon made new treaty +negotiations with the northern Indians necessary.</p> + +<p>On both sides of the Mississippi, between the +mouths of the Wisconsin and the Rock, lie the extensive +lead fields which attracted Du Buque in +the days of the Spanish rule, and which now in the +twenties induced an American immigration. The +ease with which these diggings could be worked and +the demand of a growing frontier population for +lead, brought miners into the borderland of Illinois, +Wisconsin, and Iowa long before either of the last +states had acquired name or boundary or the Indian +possessors of the soil had been satisfied and removed. +The nations of Winnebago, Sauk and +Foxes, and Potawatomi were most interested in +this new white invasion, while all were reluctant to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">35</a></span> +yield the lands to the incoming pioneers. The +Sauk and Foxes had given up their claim to nearly +all the lead country in 1804; the Potawatomi ceded +portions of it in 1829; and the Winnebago in the +same year made agreements covering the mines +within the present state of Wisconsin.</p> + +<p>Gradually in the later twenties the pioneer miners +came in, one by one. From St. Louis they came up +the great river, or from Lake Michigan they crossed +the old portage of the Fox and Wisconsin. The +southern reënforcements looked much to Fort Armstrong +on Rock Island for protection. The northern, +after they had left Fort Howard at Green Bay, +were out of touch until they arrived near the +old trading post at Prairie du Chien. War with +the Winnebago in 1827 was followed in 1828 by +the erection of another United States fort,—at the +portage, and known as Fort Winnebago. Thus the +United States built forts to defend a colonization +which it prohibited by law and treaty.</p> + +<p>The individual pioneers differed much in their +morals and their cultural antecedents, but were uniform +in their determination to enjoy the profits for +which they had risked the dangers of the wilderness. +Notable among them, and typical of their highest +virtues, was Henry Dodge, later governor of Wisconsin, +and representative and senator for his state +in Congress, but now merely one of the first in the +frontier movement. It is related of him that in +1806 he had been interested in the filibustering expedition<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">36</a></span> +of Aaron Burr, and had gone as far as New +Madrid, to join the party, before he learned that +it was called treason. He turned back in disgust. +"On reaching St. Genevieve," his chronicler continues, +"they found themselves indicted for treason +by the grand jury then in session. Dodge surrendered +himself, and gave bail for his appearance; +but feeling outraged by the action of the grand jury +he pulled off his coat, rolled up his sleeves, and whipt +nine of the jurors; and would have whipt the rest, +if they had not run away." With such men to deal +with, it was always difficult to enforce unpopular +laws upon the frontier. Dodge had no hesitation +in settling upon his lead diggings in the mineral +country and in defying the Indian agents, who did +their best to persuade him to leave the forbidden +country. On the west bank of the Mississippi +federal authority was successful in holding off the +miners, but the east bank was settled between +Galena and Mineral Point before either the Indian +title had been fully quieted, or the lands had been +surveyed and opened to purchase by the United +States.</p> + +<p>The Indian war of 1827, the erection of Fort Winnebago +in 1828, the cession of their mineral lands by +the Winnebago Indians in 1829, are the events most +important in the development of the first settlements +in the new Northwest. In 1829 and 1830 pioneers +came up the Mississippi to the diggings in increasing +numbers, while farmers began to cast covetous eyes<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">37</a></span> +upon the prairies lying between Lake Michigan and +the Mississippi. These were the lands which the +Sauk and Fox tribes had surrendered in 1804, but +over which they still retained rights of occupation +and the chase until Congress should sell them. The +entry of every American farmer was a violation of +good faith and law, and so the Indians regarded it. +Their largest city and the graves of their ancestors +were in the peninsula between the Rock and the +Mississippi, and as the invaders seized the lands, +their resentment passed beyond control. The Black +Hawk War was the forlorn attempt to save the lands. +When it ended in crushing defeat, the United States +exercised its rights of conquest to compel a revision +of the treaty limits.</p> + +<p>The great treaties of 1832 and 1833 not only +removed all Indian obstruction from Illinois, but +prepared the way for further settlement in both +Wisconsin and Iowa. The Winnebago agreed to +migrate to the Neutral Strip in Iowa, the Potawatomi +accepted a reserve near the Missouri River, +while the Black Hawk purchase from the offending +Sauk and Foxes opened a strip some forty +miles wide along the west bank of the Mississippi. +These Indian movements were a part of the general +concentrating policy made in the belief that a permanent +Indian frontier could be established. After +the Black Hawk War came the creation of the Indian +Bureau, the ordering of the great western road, and +the erection of a frontier police. Henry Dodge was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">38</a></span> +one of the few individuals to emerge from the war with +real glory. His reward came when Congress formed +a regiment of dragoons for frontier police, and made +him its colonel. In his regiment he operated up and +down the long frontier for three years, making expeditions +beyond the line to hold Pawnee conferences +and meetings with the tribes of the great +plains, and resigning his command only in time +to be the first governor of the new territory of Wisconsin, +in 1836. He knew how little dependence +could be placed on the permanency of the right +wing of the frontier. "Nor let gentlemen forget," +he reminded his colleagues in Congress a few years +later, "that we are to have continually the same +course of settlements going on upon our border. +They are perpetually advancing westward. They +will reach, they will cross, the Rocky Mountains, +and never stop till they have reached the shores of +the Pacific. Distance is nothing to our people.... +[They will] turn the whole region into the happy +dwellings of a free and enlightened people."</p> + +<p>The Black Hawk War and its resulting treaties at +once quieted the Indian title and gave ample advertisement +to the new Northwest. As yet there had +been no large migration to the West beyond Lake +Michigan. The pioneers who had provoked the +war had been few in number and far from their base +upon the frontier. Mere access to the country had +been difficult until after the opening of the Erie +Canal, and even then steamships did not run regularly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">39</a></span> +on Lake Michigan until after 1832. But notoriety +now tempted an increasing wave of settlers. +Congress woke up to the need of some territorial +adjustment for the new country.</p> + +<p>Ever since Illinois had been admitted in 1818, +Michigan had been the one remaining territory of +the old Northwest, including the whole area north +of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, and extending from +Lake Huron to the Mississippi River. Her huge +size was admittedly temporary, but as no large +centre of population existed outside of Detroit, it was +convenient to simplify the federal jurisdiction in +this fashion. The lead mines on the Mississippi +produced a secondary centre of population in the +late twenties and pointed to an early division of +Michigan. But before this could be accomplished +the Black Hawk purchase had carried the Mississippi +centre of population to the right bank of the river. +The American possessions on this bank, west of the +river, had been cast adrift without political organization +on the admission of Missouri in 1821. Now +the appearance of a vigorous population in an unorganized +region compelled Congress to take some +action, and thus, for temporary purposes, Michigan +was enlarged in 1834. Her new boundary extended +west to the Missouri River, between the state of +Missouri and Canada. The new Northwest, which +may be held to include Iowa, Wisconsin, and Minnesota, +started its political history as a remote settlement +in a vast territory of Michigan, with its seat of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">40</a></span> +government at Detroit. Before it was cut off as the +territory of Wisconsin in 1836 much had been done +in the way of populating it.</p> + +<p>The boom of the thirties brought Arkansas and +Michigan into the Union as states, and started the +growth of the new Northwest. The industrial activity +of the period was based on speculation in public +lands and routes of transportation. America was +transportation mad. New railways were building +in the East and being projected West. Canals were +turning the western portage paths into water highways. +The speculative excitement touched the field +of religion as well as economics, producing new sects +by the dozen, and bringing schisms into the old. +And population moving already in its inherent restlessness +was made more active in migration by the +hard times of the East in 1833 and 1834.</p> + +<p>The immigrants brought to the Black Hawk +purchase and its vicinity, in the boom of the thirties, +came chiefly by the river route. The lake route +was just beginning to be used; not until the Civil +War did the traffic of the upper Mississippi naturally +and generally seek its outlet by Lake Michigan. +The Mississippi now carried more than its share of +the home seekers.</p> + +<p>Steamboats had been plying on western waters in +increasing numbers since 1811. By 1823, one had +gone as far north on the Mississippi as Fort Snelling, +while by 1832 the Missouri had been ascended to +Fort Union. In the thirties an extensive packet<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">41</a></span> +service gathered its passengers and freight at Pittsburg +and other points on the Ohio, carrying them +by a devious voyage of 1400 miles to Keokuk, +near the southeast corner of the new Black +Hawk lands. Wagons and cattle, children and +furniture, crowded the decks of the boats. The +aristocrats of emigration rode in the cabins provided +for them, but the great majority of home seekers +lived on deck and braved the elements upon the +voyage. Explosions, groundings, and collisions enlivened +the reckless river traffic. But in 1836 +Governor Dodge found more than 22,000 inhabitants +in his new territory of Wisconsin, most of whom had +reached the promised land by way of the river.</p> + +<p>For those whom the long river journey did not +please, or who lived inland in Ohio or Indiana, the +national road was a help. In 1825 the continuation +of the Cumberland Road through Ohio had been +begun. By 1836 enough of it was done to direct the +overland course of migration through Indianapolis +towards central Illinois. The Conestoga wagon, +which had already done its share in crossing the +Alleghanies, now carried a second generation to the +Mississippi. At Dubuque and Buffalo and Burlington +ferries were established before 1836 to take the +immigrants across the Mississippi into the new West.</p> + +<p>By the terms of its treaty, the Black Hawk purchase +was to be vacated by the Indians in the summer +of 1833. Before that year closed, its settlement had +begun, despite the fact that the government surveys<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">42</a></span> +had not yet been made. Here, as elsewhere, the +frontier farmer paid little regard to the legal basis of +his life. He settled upon unoccupied lands as he +needed them, trusting to the public opinion of the +future to secure his title.</p> + +<p>The legislature of Michigan watched the migration +of 1833 and 1834, and in the latter year created the +two counties of Dubuque and Demoine, beyond +the Mississippi, embracing these settlements. At the +old claim a town of miners appeared by magic, +able shortly to boast "that the first white man hung +in Iowa in a Christian-like manner was Patrick +O'Conner, at Dubuque, in June, 1834." Dubuque +was a mining camp, differing from the other villages +in possessing a larger proportion of the lawless element. +Generally, however, this Iowa frontier was +peaceful in comparison with other frontiers. Life +and property were safe, and except for its dealings +with the Indians and the United States government, +in which frontiers have rarely recognized a law, +the community was law-abiding. It stands in some +contrast with another frontier building at the same +time up the valley of the Arkansas. "Fent Noland +of Batesville," wrote a contemporary of one of the +heroes of this frontier, "is in every way one of the +most remarkable men of the West; for such is +the versatility of his genius that he seems equally +adapted to every species of effort, intellectual or +physical. With a like unerring aim he shoots a +bullet or a <i xml:lang="fr" lang="fr">bon mot</i>; and wields the pen or the Bowie<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">43</a></span> +knife with the same thought, swift rapidity of +motion, and energetic fury of manner. Sunday he +will write an eloquent dissertation on religion; +Monday he rawhides a rogue; Tuesday he composes +a sonnet, set in silver stars and breathing the +perfume of roses to some fair maid's eyebrows; +Wednesday he fights a duel; Thursday he does up +brown the personal character of Senators Sevier +and Ashley; Friday he goes to the ball dressed in +the most finical superfluity of fashion and shines +the soul of wit and the sun of merry badinage among +all the gay gentlemen; and to close the triumphs of +the week, on Saturday night he is off thirty miles +to a country dance in the Ozark Mountains, where +they trip it on the light fantastic toe in the famous +jig of the double-shuffle around a roaring log heap +fire in the woods all night long, while between the +dances Fent Noland sings some beautiful wild song, +as 'Lucy Neal' or 'Juliana Johnson.' Thus Fent +is a myriad-minded Proteus of contradictory characters, +many-hued as the chameleon fed on the dews +and suckled at the breast of the rainbow." Much +of this luxuriant imagery was lacking farther north.</p> + +<p>The first phase of this development of the new +Northwest was ended in 1837, when the general panic +brought confusion to speculation throughout the +United States. For four years the sanguine hopes +of the frontier had led to large purchases of public +lands, to banking schemes of wildest extravagance, +and to railroad promotion without reason or demand.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">44</a></span> +The specie circular of 1836 so deranged the +currency of the whole United States that the effort +to distribute the surplus in 1837 was fatal to the +speculative boom. The new communities suffered +for their hopeful attempts. When the panic broke, +the line of agricultural settlement had been pushed +considerably beyond the northern and western +limits of Illinois. The new line ran near to the Fox +and Wisconsin portage route and the west line of +the Black Hawk purchase. Milwaukee and Southport +had been founded on the lake shore, hopeful +of a great commerce that might rival the possessions +of Chicago. Madison and its vicinity had been +developed. The lead country in Wisconsin had +grown in population. Across the river, Dubuque, +Davenport, and Burlington gave evidence of a +growing community in the country still farther west. +Nearly the whole area intended for white occupation +by the Indian policy had been settled, so that any +further extension must be at the expense of the +Indians' guaranteed lands.</p> + +<p>On the eve of the panic, which depopulated many +of the villages of the new strip, Michigan had been +admitted. Her possessions west of Lake Michigan +had been reorganized as a new territory of Wisconsin, +with a capital temporarily at Belmont, where Henry +Dodge, first governor, took possession in the fall of +1836. A territorial census showed that Wisconsin +had a population of 22,214 in 1836, divided nearly +equally by the Mississippi. Most of the population<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">45</a></span> +was on the banks of the great river, near the lead +mines and the Black Hawk purchase, while only a +fourth could be found near the new cities along the +lake. The outlying settlements were already pressing +against the Indian neighbors, so that the new +governor soon was obliged to conduct negotiations +for further cessions. The Chippewa, Menominee, +and Sioux all came into council within two years, +the Sioux agreeing to retire west of the Mississippi, +while the others receded far into the north, leaving +most of the present Wisconsin open to development. +These treaties completed the line of the Indian frontier +as it was established in the thirties.</p> + +<p>The Mississippi divided the population of Wisconsin +nearly equally in 1836, but subsequent years +witnessed greater growth upon her western bank. +Never in the westward movement had more attractive +farms been made available than those on the +right bank now reached by the river steamers and +the ferries from northern Illinois. Two years after +the erection of Wisconsin the western towns received +their independent establishment, when in +1838 Iowa Territory was organized by Congress, +including everything between the Mississippi and +Missouri rivers, and north of the state of Missouri. +Burlington, a village of log houses with perhaps five +hundred inhabitants, became the seat of government +of the new territory, while Wisconsin retired +east of the river to a new capital at Madison. At +Burlington a first legislature met in the autumn, to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">46</a></span> +choose for a capital Iowa City, and to do what it +could for a community still suffering from the results +of the panic.</p> + +<p>The only Iowa lands open to lawful settlement +were those of the Black Hawk purchase, many of +which were themselves not surveyed and on the +market. But the pioneers paid little heed to this. +Leaving titles to the future, they cleared their +farms, broke the sod, and built their houses.</p> + +<div id="ip_46" class="figcenter" style="width: 360px;"><img class="nobdr" src="images/i-062.jpg" width="360" height="153" alt="" /><div class="caption"><span class="smcap">Iowa Sod Plow</span></div></div> + +<p>The heavy sod of the Iowa prairies was beyond +the strength of the individual settler. In the years +of first development the professional sod breaker +was on hand, a most important member of his community, +with his great plough, and large teams of +from six to twelve oxen, making the ground ready +for the first crop. In the frontier mind the land +belonged to him who broke it, regardless of mere +title. The quarrel between the squatter and the +speculator was perennial. Congress in its laws<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">47</a></span> +sought to dispose of lands by auction to the highest +bidder,—a scheme through which the sturdy impecunious +farmer saw his clearing in danger of being +bought over his modest bid by an undeserving +speculator. Accordingly the history of Iowa and +Wisconsin is full of the claims associations by which +the squatters endeavored to protect their rights +and succeeded well. By voluntary association they +agreed upon their claims and bounds. Transfers +and sales were recorded on their books. When at +last the advertised day came for the formal sale of +the township by the federal land officer the population +attended the auction in a body, while their +chosen delegate bid off the whole area for them at +the minimum price, and without competition. At +times it happened that the speculator or the casual +purchaser tried to bid, but the squatters present +with their cudgels and air of anticipation were +usually able to prevent what they believed to be +unfair interference with their rights. The claims +associations were entirely illegal; yet they reveal, +as few American institutions do, the orderly tendencies +of an American community even when its +organization is in defiance of existing law.</p> + +<p>The development of the new territories of Iowa +and Wisconsin in the decade after their erection +carried both far towards statehood. Burlington, +the earliest capital of Iowa, was in 1840 "the largest, +wealthiest, most business-doing and most +fashionable city, on or in the neighborhood of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">48</a></span> +Upper Mississippi.... We have three or four +churches," said one of its papers, "a theatre, and a +dancing school in full blast." As early as 1843 the +Black Hawk purchase was overrun. The Sauk and +Foxes had ceded provisionally all their Iowa lands +and the Potawatomi were in danger. "Although +it is but ten years to-day," said their agent, speaking +of their Chicago treaty of 1833, "the tide of emigration +has rolled onwards to the far West, until the +whites are now crowded closely along the southern +side of these lands, and will soon swarm along the +eastern side, to exhibit the very worst traits of the +white man's character, and destroy, by fraud and +illicit intercourse, the remnant of a powerful people, +now exposed to their influence." Iowa was admitted +to the Union in 1846, after bickering over +her northern boundary; Wisconsin followed in 1848; +the remnant of both, now known as Minnesota, was +erected as a territory in its own right in the next year.</p> + +<p>Fort Snelling was nearly twenty years old before +it came to be more than a distant military outpost. +Until the treaties of 1837 it was in the midst +of the Sioux with no white neighbors save the +agents of the fur companies, a few refugees from the +Red River country, and a group of more or less +disreputable hangers-on. An enlargement of the +military reserve in 1837 led to the eviction by the +troops of its near-by squatters, with the result that +one of these took up his grog shop, left the peninsula +between the Mississippi and St. Peter's, and erected<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">49</a></span> +the first permanent settlement across the former, +where St. Paul now stands. Iowa had desired a +northern boundary which should touch the St. +Peter's River, but when she was admitted without +it and Wisconsin followed with the St. Croix as her +western limit, Minnesota was temporarily without +a government.</p> + +<p>The Minnesota territorial act of 1849 preceded +the active colonization of the country around St. +Paul. Mendota, Fort Snelling, St. Anthony's, and +Stillwater all came into active being, while the most +enterprising settlers began to push up the Minnesota +River, as the St. Peter's now came to be called. +As usual the Indians were in the way. As usual +the claims associations were resorted to. And +finally, as usual the Indians yielded. At Mendota +and Traverse des Sioux, in the autumn of 1851, +the magnates of the young territory witnessed great +treaties by which the Sioux, surrendering their +portion of the permanent Indian frontier, gave up +most of their vast hunting grounds to accept valley +reserves along the Minnesota. And still more +rapidly population came in after the cession.</p> + +<p>The new Northwest was settled after the great +day of the keelboat on western waters. Iowa and +the lead country had been reached by the steamboats +of the Mississippi. The Milwaukee district was +reached by the steamboats from the lakes. The +upper Mississippi frontier was now even more +thoroughly dependent on the river navigation than<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">50</a></span> +its neighbors had been, while its first period was over +before any railroad played an immediate part in its +development.</p> + +<p>The boom period between the panics of 1837 +and 1857 thus added another concentric band +along the northwest border, disregarding the Indian +frontier and introducing a large population where +the prophet of the early thirties had declared that +civilization could never go. The Potawatomi of +Iowa had yielded in 1846, the Sioux in 1851. The +future of the other tribes in their so-called permanent +homes was in grave question by the middle of +the decade. The new frontier by 1857 touched the +tip of Lake Superior, included St. Paul and the +lower Minnesota valley, passed around Spirit Lake +in northwest Iowa, and reached the Missouri near +Sioux City. In a few more years the right wing of +the frontier would run due north from the bend of +the Missouri.</p> + +<p>The hopeful life of the fifties surpassed that of the +thirties in its speculative zeal. The home seeker +had to struggle against the occasional Indian and +the unscrupulous land agent as well as his own too +sanguine disposition. Fictitious town sites had to +be distinguished from the real. Fraudulent dealers +more than once sold imaginary lots and farms from +beautifully lithographed maps to eastern investors. +Occasionally whole colonies of migrants would appear +on the steamboat wharves bound for non-existent +towns. And when the settler had escaped fraud,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">51</a></span> +and avoided or survived the racking torments of fever +or cholera, the Indian danger was sometimes real.</p> + +<p>Iowa had advanced her northwest frontier up the +Des Moines River, past the old frontier fort, until in +1856 a couple of trading houses and a few families had +reached the vicinity of Spirit Lake. Here, in March, +1857, one of the settlers quarrelled with a wandering +Indian over a dog. The Indian belonged to Inkpaduta's +band of Sioux, one not included in the +treaty of 1851. Forty-seven dead settlers slaughtered +by the band were found a few days later by a +visitor to the village. A hard winter campaign by +regulars from Fort Ridgely resulted in the rescue +of some of the captives, but the indignant demand +of the frontier for retaliation was never granted.</p> + +<p>In spite of fraud and danger the population grew. +For the first time the railroad played a material +part in its advance. The great eastern trunk lines +had crossed the Alleghanies into the Ohio valley. +Chicago had received connection with the East in +1852. The Mississippi had been reached by 1854. +In the spring of 1856 all Iowa celebrated the opening +of a railway bridge at Davenport.</p> + +<p>The new Northwest escaped its dangers only to +fall a victim to its own ambition. An earlier decade +of expansion had produced panic in 1837. Now +greater expansion and prosperity stimulated an +over-development that chartered railways and +even built them between points that scarcely existed +and through country rank in its prairie growth,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">52</a></span> +wild with game, and without inhabitants. Over-speculation +on borrowed money finally brought retribution +in the panic of 1857, with Minnesota about +to frame a constitution and enter the Union. The +panic destroyed the railways and bankrupted the +inhabitants. At Duluth, a canny pioneer, who +lived in the present, refused to swap a pair of boots +for a town lot in the future city. At the other end +of the line a floating population was prepared to +hurry west on the first news of Pike's Peak gold.</p> + +<p>But a new Northwest had come into life in spite +of the vicissitudes of 1837 and 1857. Wisconsin, Minnesota, +and Iowa had in 1860 ten times the population +of Illinois at the opening of the Black Hawk +War. More than a million and a half of pioneers had +settled within these three new states, building their +towns and churches and schools, pushing back the +right flank of the Indian frontier, and reiterating +their perennial demand that the Indian must go. +This was the first departure from the policy laid +down by Monroe and carried out by Adams and +Jackson. Before this movement had ended, that +policy had been attacked from another side, and was +once more shown to be impracticable. The Indian +had too little strength to compel adherence to the +contract, and hence suffered from this encroachment +by the new Northwest. His final destruction came +from the overland traffic, which already by 1857 had +destroyed the fiction of the American desert, and +introduced into his domain thousands of pioneers +lured by the call of the West and the lust for gold.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">53</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="vspace"><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV</a><br /> + +<span class="subhead">THE SANTA FÉ TRAIL</span></h2> + +<p>England had had no colonies so remote and inaccessible +as the interior provinces of Spain, which +stretched up into the country between the Rio +Grande and the Pacific for more than fifteen hundred +miles above Vera Cruz. Before the English +seaboard had received its earliest colonists, the +hand of Spain was already strong in the upper waters +of the Rio Grande, where her outposts had been +planted around the little adobe village of Santa Fé. +For more than two hundred years this life had gone +on, unchanged by invention or discovery, unenlightened +by contact with the world or admixture of +foreign blood. Accepting, with a docility characteristic +of the colonists of Spain, the hard conditions +and restrictions of the law, communication with +these villages of Chihuahua and New Mexico had +been kept in the narrow rut worn through the hills +by the pack-trains of the king.</p> + +<p>It was no stately procession that wound up into +the hills yearly to supply the Mexican frontier. +From Vera Cruz the port of entry, through Mexico +City, and thence north along the highlands through +San Luis Potosi and Zacatecas to Durango, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">54</a></span> +thence to Chihuahua, and up the valley of the +Rio Grande to Santa Fé climbed the long pack-trains +and the clumsy ox-carts that carried into the +provinces their whole supply from outside. The +civilization of the provincial life might fairly be +measured by the length, breadth, and capacity of +this transportation route. Nearly two thousand +miles, as the road meandered, of river, mountain +gorge, and arid desert had to be overcome by the +mule-drivers of the caravans. What their pack-animals +could not carry, could not go. What had +large bulk in proportion to its value must stay +behind. The ancient commerce of the Orient, +carried on camels across the Arabian desert, could +afford to deal in gold and silver, silks, spices, and +precious drugs; in like manner, though in less degree, +the world's contribution to these remote towns was +confined largely to textiles, drugs, and trinkets of +adornment. Yet the Creole and Mestizo population +of New Mexico bore with these meagre supplies for +more than two centuries without an effort to improve +upon them. Their resignation gives some credit to +the rigors of the Spanish colonial system which +restricted their importation to the defined route and +the single port. It is due as much, however, to the +hard geographic fact which made Vera Cruz and +Mexico, distant as they were, their nearest neighbors, +until in the nineteenth century another civilization +came within hailing distance, at its frontier in the +bend of the Missouri.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">55</a></span> +The Spanish provincials were at once willing to +endure the rigors of the commercial system and to +smuggle when they had a chance. So long as it +was cheaper to buy the product of the annual caravan +than to develop other sources of supply the caravans +flourished without competition. It was not until +after the expulsion of Spain and the independence of +Mexico that a rival supply became important, but +there are enough isolated events before this time to +show what had to occur just so soon as the United +States frontier came within range.</p> + +<p>The narrative of Pike after his return from Spanish +captivity did something to reveal the existence of a +possible market in Santa Fé. He had been engaged +in exploring the western limits of the Louisiana +purchase, and had wandered into the valley of the +Rio Grande while searching for the head waters of +the Red River. Here he was arrested, in 1807, by +Spanish troops, and taken to Chihuahua for examination. +After a short detention he was escorted to +the limits of the United States, where he was released. +He carried home the news of high prices and profitable +markets existing among the Mexicans.</p> + +<p>In 1811 an organized expedition set out to verify +the statements of Pike. Rumor had come to the +States of an insurrection in upper Mexico, which +might easily abolish the trade restriction. But the +revolt had been suppressed before the dozen or so of +reckless Americans who crossed the plains had arrived +at their destination. The Spanish authorities,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">56</a></span> +restored to power and renewed vigor, received them +with open prisons. In jail they were kept at Chihuahua, +some for ten years, while the traffic which they +had hoped to inaugurate remained still in the future. +Their release came only with the independence of +Mexico, which quickly broke down the barrier against +importation and the foreigner.</p> + +<p>The Santa Fé trade commenced when the news of +the Mexican revolution reached the border. Late +in the fall of 1821 one William Becknell, chancing +a favorable reception from Iturbide's officials, took +a small train from the Missouri to New Mexico, in +what proved to be a profitable speculation. He +returned to the States in time to lead out a large +party in the following summer. So long as the +United States frontier lay east of the Missouri River +there could have been no western traffic, but now +that settlement had reached the Indian Country, +and river steamers had made easy freighting from +Pittsburg to Franklin or Independence, Santa Fé +was nearer to the United States seaboard markets +than to Vera Cruz. Hence the breach in the +American desert and the Indian frontier made by +this earliest of the overland trails.</p> + +<div id="ip_56" class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> + <img class="nobdr" src="images/i-073.jpg" width="600" height="446" alt="" /> + <div class="caption"><p><span class="smcap">Overland Trails</span></p></div> + +<div class="captionc"><p>The main trail to Oregon was opened before 1840; that to California appeared +about 1845; the Santa Fé trail had been used since 1821. The overland +mail of 1858 followed the southern route.</p></div></div> + +<p>The year 1822 was not only the earliest in the +Santa Fé trade, but it saw the first wagons taken +across the plains. The freight capacity of the mule-train +placed a narrow limit upon the profits and +extent of trade. Whether a wagon could be hauled +over the rough trails was a matter of considerable<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">57</a></span> +doubt when Becknell and Colonel Cooper attempted +it in this year. The experiment was so successful +that within two years the pack-train was generally +abandoned for the wagons by the Santa Fé traders. +The wagons carried a miscellaneous freight. "Cotton +goods, consisting of coarse and fine cambrics, +calicoes, domestic, shawls, handkerchiefs, steam-loom +shirtings, and cotton hose," were in high +demand. There were also "a few woollen goods, +consisting of super blues, stroudings, pelisse cloths, +and shawls, crapes, bombazettes, some light articles<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">58</a></span> +of cutlery, silk shawls, and looking-glasses." Backward +bound their freights were lighter. Many of the +wagons, indeed, were sold as part of the cargo. The +returning merchants brought some beaver skins and +mules, but their Spanish-milled dollars and gold and +silver bullion made up the bulk of the return freight.</p> + +<p>Such a commerce, even in its modest beginnings, +could not escape the public eye. The patron of the +West came early to its aid. Senator Thomas Hart +Benton had taken his seat from the new state of +Missouri just in time to notice and report upon the +traffic. No public man was more confirmed in his +friendship for the frontier trade than Senator +Benton. The fur companies found him always on +hand to get them favors or to "turn aside the whip of +calamity." Because of his influence his son-in-law, +Frémont, twenty years later, explored the wilderness. +Now, in 1824, he was prompt to demand encouragement. +A large policy in the building of public +roads had been accepted by Congress in this year. +In the following winter Senator Benton's bill provided +$30,000 to mark and build a wagon road +from Missouri to the United States border on the +Arkansas. The earliest travellers over the road +reported some annoyance from the Indians, whose +hungry, curious, greedy bands would hang around +their camps to beg and steal. In the Osage and +Kansa treaties of 1825 these tribes agreed to let the +traders traverse the country in peace.</p> + +<p>Indian treaties were not sufficient to protect the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">59</a></span> +Santa Fé trade. The long journey from the fringe +of settlement to the Spanish towns eight hundred +miles southwest traversed both American and Mexican +soil, crossing the international boundary on the +Arkansas near the hundredth meridian. The Indians +of the route knew no national lines, and found +a convenient refuge against pursuers from either +nation in crossing the border. There was no military +protection to the frontier at the American end of the +trail until in 1827 the war department erected a new +post on the Missouri, above the Kansas, calling it +Fort Leavenworth. Here a few regular troops were +stationed to guard the border and protect the traders. +The post was due as much to the new Indian concentration +policy as to the Santa Fé trade. Its +significance was double. Yet no one seems to have +foreseen that the development of the trade through +the Indian Country might prevent the accomplishment +of Monroe's ideal of an Indian frontier.</p> + +<p>From Fort Leavenworth occasional escorts of +regulars convoyed the caravans to the Southwest. +In 1829 four companies of the sixth infantry, under +Major Riley, were on duty. They joined the caravan +at the usual place of organization, Council Grove, +a few days west of the Missouri line, and marched +with it to the confines of the United States. Along +the march there had been some worry from the Indians. +After the caravan and escort had separated +at the Arkansas the former, going on alone into +Mexico, was scarcely out of sight of its guard before<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">60</a></span> +it was dangerously attacked. Major Riley rose +promptly to the occasion. He immediately crossed +the Arkansas into Mexico, risking the consequences +of an invasion of friendly territory, and chastised the +Indians. As the caravan returned, the Mexican +authorities furnished an escort of troops which +marched to the crossing. Here Major Riley, who +had been waiting for them at Chouteau's Island all +summer, met them. He entertained the Mexican +officers with drill while they responded with a parade, +chocolate, and "other refreshments," as his report +declares, and then he brought the traders back to the +States by the beginning of November.</p> + +<p>There was some criticism in the United States of +this costly use of troops to protect a private trade. +Hezekiah Niles, who was always pleading for high +protection to manufactures and receiving less than +he wanted, complained that the use of four companies +during a whole season was extravagant protection +for a trade whose annual profits were not +over $120,000. The special convoy was rarely +repeated after 1829. Fort Leavenworth and the +troops gave moral rather than direct support. Colonel +Dodge, with his dragoons,—for infantry were +soon seen to be ridiculous in Indian campaigning,—made +long expeditions and demonstrations in the +thirties, reaching even to the slopes of the Rockies. +And the Santa Fé caravans continued until the forties +in relative safety.</p> + +<p>Two years after Major Riley's escort occurred an<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">61</a></span> +event of great consequence in the history of the +Santa Fé trail. Josiah Gregg, impelled by ill health +to seek a change of climate, made his first trip to +Santa Fé in 1831. As an individual trader Gregg +would call for no more comment than would any one +who crossed the plains eight times in a single decade. +But Gregg was no mere frontier merchant. He was +watching and thinking during his entire career, +examining into the details of Mexican life and history +and tabulating the figures of the traffic. When he +finally retired from the plains life which he had come +to love so well, he produced, in two small volumes, +the great classic of the trade: "The Commerce of +the Prairies, or the Journal of a Santa Fé Trader." +It is still possible to check up details and add small +bits of fact to supplement the history and description +of this commerce given by Gregg, but his book +remains, and is likely to remain, the fullest and best +source of information. Gregg had power of scientific +observation and historical imagination, which, +added to unusual literary ability, produced a masterpiece.</p> + +<p>The Santa Fé trade, begun in 1822, continued with +moderate growth until 1843. This was its period of +pioneer development. After the Mexican War the +commerce grew to a vastly larger size, reaching its +greatest volume in the sixties, just before the construction +of the Pacific railways. But in its later +years it was a matter of greater routine and less +general interest than in those years of commencement<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">62</a></span> +during which it was educating the United States +to a more complete knowledge of the southern portion +of the American desert. Gregg gives a table +in which he shows the approximate value of the trade +for its first twenty-two years. To-day it seems +strange that so trifling a commerce should have been +national in its character and influence. In only one +year, 1843, does he find that the eastern value of the +goods sent to Santa Fé was above a quarter of a +million dollars; in that year it reached $450,000, +but in only two other years did it rise to the quarter +million mark. In nine years it was under $100,000. +The men involved were a mere handful. At the +start nearly every one of the seventy men in the +caravan was himself a proprietor. The total number +increased more rapidly than the number of independent +owners. Three hundred and fifty were the +most employed in any one year. The twenty-six +wagons of 1824 became two hundred and thirty +in 1843, but only four times in the interval were +there so many as a hundred.</p> + +<p>Yet the Santa Fé trade was national in its importance. +Its romance contained a constant appeal +to a public that was reading the Indian tales of James +Fenimore Cooper, and that loved stories of hardship +and adventure. New Mexico was a foreign country +with quaint people and strange habitations. The +American desert, not much more than a chartless +sea, framed and emphasized the traffic. If one must +have confirmation of the truth that frontier causes<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">63</a></span> +have produced results far beyond their normal +measure, such confirmation may be found here.</p> + +<p>The traders to Santa Fé commonly travelled together +in a single caravan for safety. In the earlier +years they started overland from some Missouri +town—Franklin most often—to a rendezvous at +Council Grove. The erection of Fort Leavenworth +and an increasing navigation of the Missouri River +made possible a starting-point further west than +Franklin; hence when this town was washed into the +Missouri in 1828 its place was taken by the new settlement +of Independence, further up the river and only +twelve miles from the Missouri border. Here at +Independence was done most of the general outfitting +in the thirties. For the greater part of the year +the town was dead, but for a few weeks in the spring +it throbbed with the rough-and-ready life of the frontier. +Landing of traders and cargoes, bartering for +mules and oxen, building and repairing wagons and +ox-yokes, and in the evening drinking and gambling +among the hard men soon to leave port for the +Southwest,—all these gave to Independence its name +and place. From Independence to Council Grove, +some one hundred and fifty miles, across the border, +the wagons went singly or in groups. At the Grove +they halted, waiting for an escort, or to organize in a +general company for self-defence. Here in ordinary +years the assembled traders elected a captain whose +responsibility was complete, and whose authority +was as great as he could make it by his own force.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">64</a></span> +Under him were lieutenants, and under the command +of these the whole company was organized in guards +and watches, for once beyond the Grove the company +was in dangerous Indian Country in which eternal +vigilance was the price of safety.</p> + +<p>The unit of the caravan was the wagon,—the +same Pittsburg or Conestoga wagon that moved +frontiersmen whenever and wherever they had to +travel on land. It was drawn by from eight to twelve +mules or oxen, and carried from three to five thousand +pounds of cargo. Over the wagon were large +arches covered with Osnaburg sheetings to turn +water and protect the contents. The careful freighter +used two thicknesses of sheetings, while the canny +one slipped in between them a pair of blankets, +which might thus increase his comfort outward +bound, and be in an inconspicuous place to elude +the vigilance of the customs officials at Santa Fé. +Arms, mounts, and general equipment were innumerable +in variation, but the prairie schooner, as +its white canopy soon named it, survived through +its own superiority.</p> + +<p>At Council Grove the desert trip began. The journey +now became one across a treeless prairie, with +water all too rare, and habitations entirely lacking. +The first stage of the trail crossed the country, nearly +west, to the great bend of the Arkansas River, two +hundred and seventy miles from Independence. Up +the Arkansas it ran on, past Chouteau's Island, to +Bent's Fort, near La Junta, Colorado, where fur<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">65</a></span> +traders had established a post. Water was most +scarce. Whether the caravan crossed the river at +the Cimarron crossing or left it at Bent's Fort to +follow up the Purgatoire, the pull was hard on trader +and on stock. His oxen often reached Santa Fé +with scarcely enough strength left to stand alone. +But with reasonable success and skilful guidance the +caravan might hope to surmount all these difficulties +and at last enter Santa Fé, seven hundred and eighty +miles away, in from six to seven weeks from Independence.</p> + +<p>When the Mexican War came in 1846, the Missouri +frontier was familiar with all of the long trail to Santa +Fé. Even in the East there had come to be some real +interest in and some accurate knowledge of the desert +and its thoroughfares. One of the earliest steps in the +strategy of the war was the organization of an Army +of the West at Fort Leavenworth, with orders to +march overland against Mexico and Upper California.</p> + +<p>Colonel Stephen W. Kearny was given command +of the invading army, which he recruited largely +from the frontier and into which he incorporated a +battalion of the Mormon emigrants who were, in the +summer of 1846, near Council Bluffs, on their way to +the Rocky Mountains and the country beyond. +Kearny himself knew the frontier, duty having taken +him in 1845 all the way to the mountains and back +in the interest of policing the trails. By the end of +June he was ready to begin the march towards +Bent's Fort on the upper Arkansas, where there was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">66</a></span> +to be a common rendezvous. To this point the +army marched in separate columns, far enough apart +to secure for all the force sufficient water and fodder +from the plains. Up to Bent's Fort the march was +little more than a pleasure jaunt. The trail was well +known, and Indians, never likely to run heedlessly +into danger, were well behaved. Beyond Bent's +Fort the advance assumed more of a military aspect, +for the enemy's country had been entered and +resistance by the Mexicans was anticipated in the +mountain passes north of Santa Fé. But the resistance +came to naught, while the army, footsore and +hot, marched easily into Santa Fé on August 18, 1846. +In the palace of the governor the conquering officers +were entertained as lavishly as the resources of the +provinces would permit. "We were too thirsty to +judge of its merits," wrote one of them of the native +wines and brandy which circulated freely; "anything +liquid and cool was palatable." With little more +than the formality of taking possession New Mexico +thus fell into the hands of the United States, while +the war of conquest advanced further to the West. +In the end of September Kearny started out from +Santa Fé for California, where he arrived early in +the following January.</p> + +<p>The conquest of the Southwest extended the boundary +of the United States to the Gila and the Pacific, +broadening the area of the desert within the United +States and raising new problems of long-distance +government in connection with the populations of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">67</a></span> +New Mexico and California. The Santa Fé trail, +with its continuance west of the Rio Grande, became +the attenuated bond between the East and the West. +From the Missouri frontier to California the way was +through the desert and the Indian Country, with +regular settlements in only one region along the route. +The reluctance of foreign customs officers to permit +trade disappeared with the conquest, so that the +traffic with the Southwest and California boomed +during the fifties.</p> + +<p>The volume of the traffic expanded to proportions +which had never been dreamed of before the conquest. +Kearny's baggage-trains started a new era in plains +freighting. The armies had continuously to be +supplied. Regular communication had to be maintained +for the new Southwest. But the freighting +was no longer the adventurous pioneering of the +Santa Fé traders. It became a matter of business, +running smoothly along familiar channels. It ceased +to have to do with the extension of geographic knowledge +and came to have significance chiefly in connection +with the organization of overland commerce. +Between the Mexican and Civil wars was its new +period of life. Finally, in the seventies, it gradually +receded into history as the tentacles of the continental +railway system advanced into the desert.</p> + +<p>The Santa Fé trail was the first beaten path thrust +in advance of the western frontier. Even to-day its +course may be followed by the wheel ruts for much of +the distance from the bend of the Missouri to Santa<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">68</a></span> +Fé. Crossing the desert, it left civilized life behind +it at the start, not touching it again until the end +was reached. For nearly fifty years after the trade +began, this character of the desert remained substantially +unchanged. Agricultural settlement, which +had rushed west along the Ohio and Missouri, stopped +at the bend, and though the trail continued, settlement +would not follow it. The Indian country and +the American desert remained intact, while the Santa +Fé trail, in advance of settlement, pointed the way of +manifest destiny, as no one of the eastern trails had +ever done. When the new states grew up on the Pacific, +the desert became as an ocean traversed only +by the prairie schooners in their beaten paths. +Islands of settlement served but to accentuate the +unpopulated condition of the Rocky Mountain +West.</p> + +<p>The bend of the Missouri had been foreseen by the +statesmen of the twenties as the limit of American +advance. It might have continued thus had there +really been nothing beyond it. But the profits of +the trade to Santa Fé created a new interest and a +connecting road. In nearly the same years the call +of the fur trade led to the tracing of another path in +the wilderness, running to a new goal. Oregon and +the fur trade had stirred up so much interest beyond +the Rockies that before Kearny marched his army +into Santa Fé another trail of importance equal to +his had been run to Oregon.</p> + +<p>The maintenance of the Indian frontier depended<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">69</a></span> +upon the ability of the United States to keep whites +out of the Indian Country. But with Oregon and +Santa Fé beyond, this could never be. The trails +had already shown the fallacy of the frontier policy +before it had become a fact in 1840.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">70</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="vspace"><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V</a><br /> + +<span class="subhead">THE OREGON TRAIL</span></h2> + +<p>The Santa Fé trade had just been started upon +its long career when trappers discovered in the Rocky +Mountains, not far from where the forty-second +parallel intersects the continental divide, an easy +crossing by which access might be had from the waters +of the upper Platte to those of the Pacific Slope. +South Pass, as this passage through the hills soon +came to be called, was the gateway to Oregon. As +yet the United States had not an inch of uncontested +soil upon the Pacific, but in years to come a whole +civilization was to pour over the upper trail to people +the valley of the Columbia and claim it for new states. +The Santa Fé trail was chiefly the route of commerce. +The Oregon trail became the pathway of a people +westward bound.</p> + +<p>In its earliest years the Oregon trail knew only the +fur traders, those nameless pioneers who possessed +an accurate rule-of-thumb knowledge of every hill +and valley of the mountains nearly a generation before +the surveyor and his transit brought them within +the circle of recorded facts. The historian of the +fur trade, Major Hiram Martin Chittenden, has +tracked out many of them with the same laborious<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">71</a></span> +industry that carried them after the beaver and the +other marketable furs. When they first appeared is +lost in tradition. That they were everywhere in +the period between the journey of Lewis and Clark, +in 1805, and the rise of Independence as an outfitting +post, in 1832, is clearly manifest. That they discovered +every important geographic fact of the West +is quite as certain as it is that their discoveries were +often barren, were generally unrecorded in a formal +way, and exercised little influence upon subsequent +settlement and discovery. Their place in history is +similar to that of those equally nameless ship captains +of the thirteenth century who knew and charted the +shore of the Mediterranean at a time when scientific +geographers were yet living on a flat earth and shaping +cosmographies from the Old Testament. Although +the fur-traders, with their great companies +behind them, did less to direct the future than their +knowledge of geography might have warranted, they +managed to secure a foothold upon the Pacific coast +early in the century. Astoria, in 1811, was only a +pawn in the game between the British and American +organizations, whose control over Oregon was so +confusing that Great Britain and the United States, +in 1818, gave up the task of drawing a boundary +when they reached the Rockies, and allowed the country +beyond to remain under joint occupation.</p> + +<p>In the thirties, religious enthusiasm was added to +the profits of the fur trade as an inducement to visit +Oregon. By 1832 the trading prospects had incited<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">72</a></span> +migration outside the regular companies. Nathaniel +J. Wyeth took out his first party in this year. He +repeated the journey with a second party in 1834. +The Methodist church sent a body of missionaries +to convert the western Indians in this latter year. +The American Board of Foreign Missions sent out +the redoubtable Marcus Whitman in 1835. Before +the thirties were over Oregon had become a household +word through the combined reports of traders +and missionaries. Its fertility and climate were +common themes in the lyceums and on the lecture +platform; while the fact that this garden might +through prompt migration be wrested from the +British gave an added inducement. Joint occupation +was yet the rule, but the time was approaching +when the treaty of 1818 might be denounced, a time +when Oregon ought to become the admitted property +of the United States. The thirties ended with no +large migration begun. But the financial crisis of +1837, which unsettled the frontier around the Great +Lakes, provided an impoverished and restless population +ready to try the chance in the farthest West.</p> + +<p>A growing public interest in Oregon roused the +United States government to action in the early +forties. The Indians of the Northwest were in need +of an agent and sound advice. The exact location +of the trail, though the trail itself was fairly well +known, had not been ascertained. Into the hands +of the senators from Missouri fell the task of inspiring +the action and directing the result. Senator<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">73</a></span> +Linn was the father of bills and resolutions looking +towards a territory west of the mountains; while +Benton, patron of the fur trade, received for his new +son-in-law, John C. Frémont, a detail in command +of an exploring party to the South Pass.</p> + +<p>The career of Frémont, the Pathfinder, covers +twenty years of great publicity, beginning with his +first command in 1842. On June 10, of this year, +with some twenty-one guides and men, he departed +from Cyprian Chouteau's place on the Kansas, ten +miles above its mouth. He shortly left the Kansas, +crossed country to Grand Island in the Platte, and +followed the Platte and its south branch to St. Vrain's +Fort in northern Colorado, where he arrived in thirty +days. From St. Vrain's he skirted the foothills north +to Fort Laramie. Thence, ascending the Sweetwater, +he reached his destination at South Pass on +August 8, just one day previous to the signing of the +great English treaty at Washington. At South Pass +his journey of observation was substantially over. +He continued, however, for a few days along the +Wind River Range, climbing a mountain peak and +naming it for himself. By October he was back in +St. Louis with his party.</p> + +<p>In the spring of 1843, Frémont started upon a +second and more extended governmental exploration +to the Rockies. This time he followed a trail along +the Kansas River and its Republican branch to St. +Vrain's, whence he made a detour south to Boiling +Spring and Bent's trading-post on the Arkansas River.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">74</a></span> +Mules were scarce, and Colonel Bent was relied upon +for a supply. Returning to the Platte, he divided +his company, sending part of it over his course of +1842 to Laramie and South Pass, while he led his +own detachment directly from St. Vrain's into the +Medicine Bow Range, and across North Park, where +rises the North Platte. Before reaching Fort Hall, +where he was to reunite his party, he made another +detour to Great Salt Lake, that he might feel like +Balboa as he looked upon the inland sea. From Fort +Hall, which he reached on September 18, he followed +the emigrant route by the valley of the Snake to the +Dalles of the Columbia.</p> + +<p>Whether the ocean could be reached by any river +between the Columbia and Colorado was a matter of +much interest to persons concerned with the control +of the Pacific. The facts, well enough known to the +trappers, had not yet received scientific record when +Frémont started south from the Dalles in November, +1843, to ascertain them. His march across the Nevada +desert was made in the dead of winter under +difficulties that would have brought a less resolute +explorer to a stop. It ended in March, 1844, at +Sutter's ranch in the Sacramento Valley, with half +his horses left upon the road. His homeward march +carried him into southern California and around the +sources of the Colorado, proving by recorded observation +the difficult character of the country between +the mountains and the Pacific.</p> + +<p>In following years the Pathfinder revisited the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">75</a></span> +scenes of these two expeditions upon which his reputation +is chiefly based. A man of resolution and moderate +ability, the glory attendant upon his work turned +his head. His later failures in the face of military +problems far beyond his comprehension tended to +belittle the significance of his earlier career, but history +may well agree with the eminent English traveller, +Burton, who admits that: "Every foot of ground +passed over by Colonel Frémont was perfectly well +known to the old trappers and traders, as the interior +of Africa to the Arab and Portuguese pombeiros. +But this fact takes nothing away from the +honors of the man who first surveyed and scientifically +observed the country." Through these two +journeys the Pacific West rose in clear definition +above the American intellectual horizon. "The +American Eagle," quoth the <i>Platte (Missouri) Eagle</i> +in 1843, "is flapping his wings, the precurser [<i xml:lang="la" lang="la">sic</i>] +of the end of the British lion, on the shores of the +Pacific. Destiny has willed it."</p> + +<p>The year in which Frémont made his first expedition +to the mountains was also the year of the first +formal, conducted emigration to Oregon. Missionaries +beyond the mountains had urged upon Congress +the appointment of an American representative and +magistrate for the country, with such effect that +Dr. Elijah White, who had some acquaintance with +Oregon, was sent out as sub-Indian agent in the +spring of 1842. With him began the regular migration +of homeseekers that peopled Oregon during<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">76</a></span> +the next ten years. His emigration was not large, +perhaps eighteen Pennsylvania wagons and 130 persons; +but it seems to have been larger than he expected, +and large enough to raise doubt as to the +practicability of taking so many persons across the +plains at once. In the decade following, every May, +when pasturage was fresh and green, saw pioneers +gathering, with or without premeditation, at the +bend of the Missouri, bound for Oregon. Independence +and its neighbor villages continued to be the +posts of outfit. How many in the aggregate crossed +the plains can never be determined, in spite of the +efforts of the pioneer societies of Oregon to record +their names. The distinguishing feature of the +emigration was its spontaneous individualistic character. +Small parties, too late for the caravan, frequently +set forth alone. Single families tried it +often enough to have their wanderings recorded in +the border papers. In the spring following the crossing +of Elijah White emigrants gathered by hundreds +at the Missouri ferries, until an estimate of a thousand +in all is probably not too high. In 1844 the +tide subsided a little, but in 1845 it established a +new mark in the vicinity of three thousand, and in +1847 ran between four and five thousand. These +were the highest figures, yet throughout the decade +the current flowed unceasingly.</p> + +<p>The migration of 1843, the earliest of the fat years, +may be taken as typical of the Oregon movement. +Early in the year faces turned toward the Missouri<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">77</a></span> +rendezvous. Men, women, and children, old and +young, with wagons and cattle, household equipment, +primitive sawmills, and all the impedimenta of civilization +were to be found in the hopeful crowd. For +some days after departure the unwieldy party, a +thousand strong, with twice as many cattle and +beasts of burden, held together under Burnett, their +chosen captain. But dissension beyond his control +soon split the company. In addition to the general +fear that the number was dangerously high, the poorer +emigrants were jealous of the rich. Some of the latter +had in their equipment cattle and horses by the score, +and as the poor man guarded these from the Indian +thieves during his long night watches he felt the +injustice which compelled him to protect the property +of another. Hence the party broke early in +June. A "cow column" was formed of those who +had many cattle and heavy belongings; the lighter +body went on ahead, though keeping within supporting +distance; and under two captains the procession +moved on. The way was tedious rather than difficult, +but habit soon developed in the trains a life +that was full and complete. Oregon, one of the +migrants of 1842 had written, was a "great country +for unmarried gals." Courtship and marriage began +almost before the States were out of sight. +Death and burial, crime and punishment, filled out +the round of human experience, while Dr. Whitman +was more than once called upon in his professional +capacity to aid in the enlargement of the band.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">78</a></span></p> + +<div id="ip_78" class="figcenter" style="width: 519px;"> + <img src="images/i-095.jpg" width="519" height="288" alt="" /> + <div class="caption"><p><span class="smcap">Fort Laramie in 1842</span></p></div> + +<div class="captionc"><p>From a sketch made to illustrate Frémont's report.</p></div></div> + +<p>The trail to Oregon was the longest road yet developed +in the United States. It started from the +Missouri River anywhere between Independence and +Council Bluffs. In the beginning, Independence +was the common rendezvous, but as the agricultural +frontier advanced through Iowa in the forties numerous +new crossings and ferries were made further +up the stream. From the various ferries the start +began, as did the Santa Fé trade, sometime in May. +By many roads the wagons moved westward towards +the point from which the single trail extended to the +mountains. East of Grand Island, where the Platte +River reaches its most southerly point, these routes +from the border were nearly as numerous as the caravans, +but here began the single highway along the +river valley, on its southern side. At this point, +in the years immediately after the Mexican War, the +United States founded a military post to protect +the emigrants, naming it for General Stephen W. +Kearny, commander of the Army of the West. From +Fort Kearney (custom soon changed the spelling +of the name) to the fur-trading post at Laramie +Creek the trail followed the river and its north fork. +Fort Laramie itself was bought from the fur company +and converted into a military post which became +a second great stopping-place for the emigrants. +Shortly west of Laramie, the Sweetwater guided the +trail to South Pass, where, through a gap twenty +miles in width, the main commerce between the +Mississippi Valley and the Pacific was forced to go.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">79</a></span> +Beyond South Pass, Wyeth's old Fort Hall was the +next post of importance on the road. From Fort +Hall to Fort Boisé the trail continued down the +Snake, cutting across the great bend of the river to +meet the Columbia near Walla Walla.</p> + +<p>The journey to Oregon took about five months. +Its deliberate, domesticated progress was as different +as might be from the commercial rush to Santa +Fé. Starting too late, the emigrant might easily +get caught in the early mountain winter, but with +a prompt start and a wise guide, or pilot, winter +always found the homeseeker in his promised land. +"This is the right manner to settle the Oregon +question," wrote Niles, after he had counted over +the emigrants of 1844.</p> + +<p>Before the great migration of 1843 reached Oregon +the pioneers already there had taken the law to +themselves and organized a provisional government +in the Willamette Valley. The situation here, under +the terms of the joint occupation treaty, was +one of considerable uncertainty. National interests +prompted settlers to hope and work for future control +by one country or the other, while advantage +seemed to incline to the side of Dr. McLoughlin, the +generous factor of the British fur companies. But +the aggressive Americans of the early migrations were +restive under British leadership. They were fearful +also lest future American emigration might carry +political control out of their hands into the management +of newcomers. Death and inheritance among<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">80</a></span> +their number had pointed to a need for civil institutions. +In May, 1843, with all the ease invariably +shown by men of Anglo-Saxon blood when isolated +together in the wilderness, they formed a voluntary +association for government and adopted a code of +laws.</p> + +<p>Self-confidence, the common asset of the West, +was not absent in this newest American community. +"A few months since," wrote Elijah White, "at our +Oregon lyceum, it was unanimously voted that the +colony of Wallamette held out the most flattering +encouragement to immigrants of any colony on the +globe." In his same report to the Commissioner of +Indian Affairs, the sub-Indian agent described the +course of events. "During my up-country excursion, +the whites of the colony convened, and formed a code +of laws to regulate intercourse between themselves +during the absence of law from our mother country, +adopting in almost all respects the Iowa code. In this +I was consulted, and encouraged the measure, as it +was so manifestly necessary for the collection of +debts, securing rights in claims, and the regulation of +general intercourse among the whites."</p> + +<p>A messenger was immediately sent east to beg Congress +for the extension of United States laws and jurisdiction +over the territory. His journey was six +months later than the winter ride of Marcus Whitman, +who went to Boston to save the missions of the +American Board from abandonment, and might with +better justice than Whitman's be called the ride to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">81</a></span> +save Oregon. But Oregon was in no danger of being +lost, however dilatory Congress might be. The little +illegitimate government settled down to work, its +legislative committee enacted whatever laws were +needed for local regulation, and a high degree of law +and order prevailed.</p> + +<p>Sometimes the action of the Americans must have +been meddlesome and annoying to the English and +Canadian trappers. In the free manners of the first +half of the nineteenth century the use of strong +drink was common throughout the country and universal +along the frontier. "A family could get along +very well without butter, wheat bread, sugar, or tea, +but whiskey was as indispensable to housekeeping +as corn-meal, bacon, coffee, tobacco, and molasses. +It was always present at the house raising, harvesting, +road working, shooting matches, corn husking, +weddings, and dances. It was never out of order +'where two or three were gathered together.'" Yet +along with this frequent intemperance, a violent +abstinence movement was gaining way. Many of +the Oregon pioneers came from Iowa and the new +Northwest, full of the new crusade and ready to +support it. Despite the lack of legal right, though +with every moral justification, attempts were made to +crush the liquor traffic with the Indians. White tells +of a mass meeting authorizing him to take action on +his own responsibility; of his enlisting a band of +coadjutors; and, finally, of finding "the distillery in +a deep, dense thicket, 11 miles from town, at 3 o'clock<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">82</a></span> +<span class="smcap smaller">P.M.</span> The boiler was a large size potash kettle, and +all the apparatus well accorded. Two hogsheads and +eight barrels of slush or beer were standing ready for +distillation, with part of one barrel of molasses. No +liquor was to be found, nor as yet had much been distilled. +Having resolved on my course, I left no time +for reflection, but at once upset the nearest cask, +when my noble volunteers immediately seconded +my measures, making a river of beer in a moment; +nor did we stop till the kettle was raised, and elevated +in triumph at the prow of our boat, and every +cask, with all the distilling apparatus, was broken to +pieces and utterly destroyed. We then returned, +in high cheer, to the town, where our presence and +report gave general joy."</p> + +<p>The provisional government lasted for several +years, with a fair degree of respect shown to it by its +citizens. Like other provisional governments, it +was weakest when revenue was in question, but its +courts of justice met and satisfied a real need of the +settlers. It was long after regular settlement began +before Congress acquired sure title to the country +and could pass laws for it.</p> + +<p>The Oregon question, muttering in the thirties, +thus broke out loudly in the forties. Emigrants then +rushed west in the great migrations with deliberate +purpose to have and to hold. Once there, they demanded, +with absolute confidence, that Congress +protect them in their new homes. The stories of the +election of 1844, the Oregon treaty of 1846, and the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">83</a></span> +erection of a territorial government in 1848 would all +belong to an intimate study of the Oregon trail.</p> + +<p>In the election of 1844 Oregon became an important +question in practical politics. Well-informed +historians no longer believe that the annexation of +Texas was the result of nothing but a deep-laid plot of +slaveholders to acquire more lands for slave states +and more southern senators. All along the frontier, +whether in Illinois, Wisconsin, and Iowa, or in Arkansas, +Alabama, and Mississippi, population was +restive under hard times and its own congenital instinct +to move west to cheaper lands. Speculation +of the thirties had loaded up the eastern states with +debts and taxes, from which the states could not escape +with honor, but from under which their individual +citizens could emigrate. Wherever farm +lands were known, there went the home-seekers, and +it needs no conspiracy explanation to account for the +presence, in the platform, of a party that appealed to +the great plain people, of planks for the reannexation +of Texas and the whole of Oregon. With a Democratic +party strongest in the South, the former extension +was closer to the heart, but the whole West +could subscribe to both.</p> + +<p>Oregon included the whole domain west of the +Rockies, between Spanish Mexico at 42° and Russian +America, later known as Alaska, at 54° 40´. Its +northern and southern boundaries were clearly established +in British and Spanish treaties. Its eastern +limit by the old treaty of 1818 was the continental<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">84</a></span> +divide, since the United States and Great +Britain were unable either to allot or apportion it. +Title which should justify a claim to it was so equally +divided between the contesting countries that it would +be difficult to make out a positive claim for either, +while in fact a compromise based upon equal division +was entirely fair. But the West wanted all of Oregon +with an eagerness that saw no flaw in the United +States title. That the democratic party was sincere +in asking for all of it in its platform is clearer with +respect to the rank and file of the organization than +with the leaders of the party. Certain it is that just +so soon as the execution of the Texas pledge provoked +a war with Mexico, President Polk, himself both a +westerner and a frontiersman, was ready to eat his +words and agree with his British adversary quickly.</p> + +<p>Congress desired, after Polk's election in 1844, to +serve a year's notice on Great Britain and bring joint +occupation to an end. But more pacific advices +prevailed in the mouth of James Buchanan, Secretary +of State, so that the United States agreed to accept +an equitable division instead of the whole or none. +The Senate, consulted in advance upon the change of +policy, gave its approval both before and after to the +treaty which, signed June 15, 1846, extended the +boundary line of 49° from the Rockies to the Pacific. +The settled half of Oregon and the greater part of +the Columbia River thus became American territory, +subject to such legislation as Congress should +prescribe.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">85</a></span> +A territory of Oregon, by law of 1848, was the result +of the establishment of the first clear American +title on the Pacific. All that the United States had +secured in the division was given the popular name. +Missionary activity and the fur trade, and, above all, +popular agricultural conquest, had established the +first detached American colony, with the desert +separating it from the mother country. The trail +was already well known to thousands, and so clearly +defined by wheel ruts and débris along the sides +that even the blind could scarce wander from the +beaten path. A temporary government, sufficient +for the immediate needs of the inhabitants, had at +once paved the way for the legitimate territory and +revealed the high degree of law and morality prevailing +in the population. Already the older settlers +were prosperous, and the first chapter in the history +of Oregon was over. A second great trail had still +further weakened the hold of the American desert +over the American mind, endangering, too, the +Indian policy that was dependent upon the desert +for its continuance.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">86</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="vspace"><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI</a><br /> + +<span class="subhead">OVERLAND WITH THE MORMONS</span></h2> + +<p>The story of the settlement and winning of Oregon +is but a small portion of the whole history of the +Oregon trail. The trail was not only the road to +Oregon, but it was the chief road across the continent. +Santa Fé dominated a southern route that was important +in commerce and conquest, and that could +be extended west to the Pacific. But the deep ravine +of the Colorado River splits the United States +into sections with little chance of intercourse below +the fortieth parallel. To-day, in only two places +south of Colorado do railroads bridge it; only +one stage route of importance ever crossed it. The +southern trail could not be compared in its traffic or +significance with the great middle highway by South +Pass which led by easy grades from the Missouri +River and the Platte, not only to Oregon but to +California and Great Salt Lake.</p> + +<p>Of the waves of influence that drew population +along the trail, the Oregon fever came first; but while +it was still raging, there came the Mormon trek that +is without any parallel in American history. Throughout +the lifetime of the trails the American desert +extended almost unbroken from the bend of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">87</a></span> +Missouri to California and Oregon. The Mormon +settlement in Utah became at once the most considerable +colony within this area, and by its own +fertility emphasized the barren nature of the rest.</p> + +<p>Of the Mormons, Joseph Smith was the prophet, +but it would be fair to ascribe the parentage of the +sect to that emotional upheaval of the twenties and +thirties which broke down barriers of caste and +politics, ruptured many of the ordinary Christian +churches, and produced new revelations and new +prophets by the score. Joseph Smith was merely +one of these, more astute perhaps than the others, +having much of the wisdom of leadership, as Mohammed +had had before him, and able to direct and +hold together the enthusiasm that any prophet +might have been able to arouse. History teaches +that it is easy to provoke religious enthusiasm, +however improbable or fraudulent the guides or +revelations may be; but that the founding of a +church upon it is a task for greatest statesmanship.</p> + +<p>The discovery of the golden plates and the magic +spectacles, and the building upon them of a militant +church has little part in the conquest of the +frontier save as a motive force. It is difficult for +the gentile mind to treat the Book of Mormon other +than as a joke, and its perpetrator as a successful +charlatan. Mormon apologists and their enemies +have gone over the details of its production without +establishing much sure evidence on either side. The +theological teaching of the church seems to put less<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">88</a></span> +stress upon it than its supposed miraculous origin +would dictate. It is, wrote Mark Twain, with his +light-hearted penetration, "rather stupid and tiresome +to read, but there is nothing vicious in its +teachings. Its code of morals is unobjectionable—it +is 'smouched' from the New Testament and no +credit given." Converts came slowly to the new +prophet at the start, for he was but one of many +teachers crying in the wilderness, and those who had +known him best in his youth were least ready to see +in him a custodian of divinity. Yet by the spring +of 1830 it was possible to organize, in western New +York, the body which Rigdon was later to christen +the "Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints." +By the spring of 1831 headquarters had moved to +Kirtland, Ohio, where proselyting had proved to be +successful in both religion and finance.</p> + +<p>Kirtland was but a temporary abode for the new +sect. Revelations came in upon the prophet rapidly, +pointing out the details of organization and administration, +the duty of missionary activity among the +Indians and gentiles, and the future home further +to the west. Scouts were sent to the Indian Country +at an early date, leaving behind at Kirtland the +leaders to build their temple and gather in the converts +who, by 1833 and 1834, had begun to appear in +hopeful numbers. The frontier of this decade was +equally willing to speculate in religion, agriculture, +banking, or railways, while Smith and his intimates +possessed the germ of leadership to take advantage<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">89</a></span> +of every chance. Until the panic of 1837 they flourished, +apparently not always beyond reproach in +financial affairs, but with few neighbors who had +the right to throw the stone. Antagonism, already +appearing against the church, was due partly to an +essential intolerance among their frontier neighbors +and partly to the whole-souled union between church +and life which distinguished the Mormons from the +other sects. Their political complexion was identical +with their religion,—a combination which +always has aroused resentment in America.</p> + +<p>For a western home, the leaders fell upon a tract +in Missouri, not far from Independence, close to +the Indians whose conversion was a part of the Mormon +duty. In the years when Oregon and Santa +Fé were by-words along the Missouri, the Mormons +were getting a precarious foothold near the commencement +of the trails. The population around Independence +was distinctly inhospitable, with the result +that petty violence appeared, in which it is hard to +place the blame. There was a calm assurance among +the Saints that they and they alone were to inherit +the earth. Their neighbors maintained that poultry +and stock were unsafe in their vicinity because of +this belief. The Mormons retaliated with charges +of well-spoiling, incendiarism, and violence. In all +the bickerings the sources of information are partisan +and cloudy with prejudice, so that it is easier to see +the disgraceful scuffle than to find the culprit. From +the south side of the Missouri around Independence<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">90</a></span> +the Saints were finally driven across the river by +armed mobs; a transaction in which the Missourians +spoke of a sheriff's posse and maintaining the peace. +North of the river the unsettled frontier was reached +in a few miles, and there at Far West, in Caldwell +County, they settled down at last, to build their +tabernacle and found their Zion. In the summer of +1838 their corner-stone was laid.</p> + +<p>Far West remained their goal in belief longer than +in fact. Before 1838 ended they had been forced to +agree to leave Missouri; yet they returned in secret +to relay the corner-stone of the tabernacle and continued +to dream of this as their future home. Up to +the time of their expulsion from Missouri in 1838 +they are not proved to have been guilty of any crime +that could extenuate the gross intolerance which +turned them out. As individuals they could live +among Gentiles in peace. It seems to have been the +collective soul of the church that was unbearable to +the frontiersmen. The same intolerance which had +facilitated their departure from Ohio and compelled +it from Missouri, in a few more years drove them +again on their migrations. The cohesion of the +church in politics, economics, and religion explains +the opposition which it cannot well excuse.</p> + +<p>In Hancock County, Illinois, not far from the old +Fort Madison ferry which led into the half-breed +country of Iowa, the Mormons discovered a village +of Commerce, once founded by a communistic settlement +from which the business genius of Smith<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">91</a></span> +now purchased it on easy terms. It was occupied in +1839, renamed Nauvoo in 1840, and in it a new tabernacle +was begun in 1841. From the poverty-stricken +young clairvoyant of fifteen years before, the prophet +had now developed into a successful man of affairs, +with ambitions that reached even to the presidency +at Washington. With a strong sect behind him, +money at his disposal, and supernatural powers in +which all faithful saints believed, Joseph could go +far. Nauvoo had a population of about fifteen +thousand by the end of 1840.</p> + +<p>Coming into Illinois upon the eve of a closely +contested presidential election, at a time when the +state feared to lose its population in an emigration +to avoid taxation, and with a vote that was certain to +be cast for one candidate or another as a unit, the +Mormons insured for themselves a hearty welcome +from both Democrats and Whigs. A complaisant +legislature gave to the new Zion a charter full of +privilege in the making and enforcing of laws, so +that the ideal of the Mormons of a state within the +state was fully realized. The town council was +emancipated from state control, its courts were independent, +and its militia was substantially at the beck +of Smith. Proselyting and good management built +up the town rapidly. To an importunate creditor +Smith described it as a "deathly sickly hole," but +to the possible convert it was advertised as a land of +milk and honey. Here it began to be noticed that +desertions from the church were not uncommon; that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">92</a></span> +conversion alone kept full and swelled its ranks. +It was noised about that the wealthy convert had +the warmest reception, but was led on to let his +religious passion work his impoverishment for the +good of the cause.</p> + +<p>Here in Nauvoo it was that the leaders of the +church took the decisive step that carried Mormonism +beyond the pale of the ordinary, tolerable, religious +sects. Rumors of immorality circulated +among the Gentile neighbors. It was bad enough, +they thought, to have the Mormons chronic petty +thieves, but the license that was believed to prevail +among the leaders was more than could be endured +by a community that did not count this form of iniquity +among its own excesses. The Mormons were +in general of the same stamp as their fellow frontiersmen +until they took to this. At the time, all immorality +was denounced and denied by the prophet +and his friends, but in later years the church made +public a revelation concerning celestial or plural +marriage, with the admission that Joseph Smith had +received it in the summer of 1843. Never does +Mormon polygamy seem to have been as prevalent +as its enemies have charged. But no church countenancing +the practice could hope to be endured by +an American community. The odium of practising it +was increased by the hypocrisy which denied it. It +was only a matter of time until the Mormons should +resume their march.</p> + +<p>The end of Mormon rule at Nauvoo was precipitated<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">93</a></span> +by the murder of Joseph Smith, and Hyrum +his brother, by a mob at Carthage jail in the summer +of 1844. Growing intolerance had provoked an +attack upon the Saints similar to that in Missouri. +Under promise of protection the Smiths had surrendered +themselves. Their martyrdom at once +disgraced the state in which it could be possible, and +gave to Mormonism in a murdered prophet a mighty +bond of union. The reins of government fell into +hands not unworthy of them when Brigham Young +succeeded Joseph Smith.</p> + +<p>Not until December, 1847, did Brigham become in a +formal way president of the church, but his authority +was complete in fact after the death of Joseph. +A hard-headed Missouri River steamboat captain +knew him, and has left an estimate of him which +must be close to truth. He was "a man of great +ability. Apparently deficient in education and +refinement, he was fair and honest in his dealings, +and seemed extremely liberal in conversation upon +religious subjects. He impressed La Barge," so +Chittenden, the biographer of the latter relates, +"as anything but a religious fanatic or even enthusiast; +but he knew how to make use of the fanaticism +of others and direct it to great ends." Shortly +after the murder of Joseph it became clear that +Nauvoo must be abandoned, and Brigham began to +consider an exodus across the plains so familiar +by hearsay to every one by 1845, to the Rocky +Mountains beyond the limits of the United States.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">94</a></span> +Persecution, for the persecuted can never see two +sides, had soured the Mormons. The threatened +eviction came in the autumn of 1845. In 1846 the +last great trek began.</p> + +<p>The van of the army crossed the Mississippi at +Nauvoo as early as February, 1846. By the hundred, +in the spring of the year, the wagons of the persecuted +sect were ferried across the river. Five +hundred and thirty-nine teams within a single +week in May is the report of one observer. Property +which could be commuted into the outfit for the +march was carefully preserved and used. The +rest, the tidy houses, the simple furniture, the careful +farms (for the backbone of the church was its well-to-do +middle class), were abandoned or sold at forced +sale to the speculative purchaser. Nauvoo was full +of real estate vultures hoping to thrive upon the +Mormon wreckage. Sixteen thousand or more +abandoned the city and its nearly finished temple +within the year.</p> + +<p>Across southern Iowa the "Camp of Israel," as +Brigham Young liked to call his headquarters, +advanced by easy stages, as spring and summer allowed. +To-day, the Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy +railway follows the Mormon road for many miles, but +in 1846 the western half of Iowa territory was Indian +Country, the land of the Chippewa, Ottawa, and +Potawatomi, who sold out before the year was over, +but who were in possession at this time. Along the +line of march camps were built by advance parties<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">95</a></span> +to be used in succession by the following thousands. +The extreme advance hurried on to the Missouri +River, near Council Bluffs, where as yet no city stood, +to plant a crop of grain, since manna could not be +relied upon in this migration. By autumn much of +the population of Nauvoo had settled down in winter +quarters not far above the present site of Omaha, +preserving the orderly life of the society, and enduring +hardships which the leaders sought to mitigate +by gaiety and social gatherings. In the Potawatomi +country of Iowa, opposite their winter +quarters, Kanesville sprang into existence; while all +the way from Kanesville to Grand Island in the +Platte Mormon detachments were scattered along the +roads. The destination was yet in doubt. Westward +it surely was, but it is improbable that even +Brigham knew just where.</p> + +<p>The Indians received the Mormons, persecuted +and driven westward like themselves, kindly at +first, but discontent came as the winter residence +was prolonged. From the country of the Omaha, +west of the Missouri, it was necessary soon to prohibit +Mormon settlement, but east, in the abandoned +Potawatomi lands, they were allowed to maintain +Kanesville and other outfitting stations for several +years. A permanent residence here was not desired +even by the Mormons themselves. Spring in 1847 +found them preparing to resume the march.</p> + +<p>In April, 1847, an advance party under the guidance +of no less a person than Brigham Young started out<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">96</a></span> +the Platte trail in search of Zion. One hundred and +forty-three men, seventy-two wagons, one hundred +and seventy-five horses, and six months' rations, they +took along, if the figures of one of their historians +may be accepted. Under strict military order, +the detachment proceeded to the mountains. It is +one of the ironies of fate that the Mormons had no +sooner selected their abode beyond the line of the +United States in their flight from persecution than +conquest from Mexico extended the United States +beyond them to the Pacific. They themselves aided +in this defeat of their plan, since from among them +Kearny had recruited in 1846 a battalion for his army +of invasion.</p> + +<p>Up the Platte, by Fort Laramie, to South Pass and +beyond, the prospectors followed the well-beaten +trail. Oregon homeseekers had been cutting it deep +in the prairie sod for five years. West of South +Pass they bore southwest to Fort Bridger, and on +the 24th of July, 1847, Brigham gazed upon the +waters of the Great Salt Lake. Without serious +premeditation, so far as is known, and against the +advice of one of the most experienced of mountain +guides, this valley by a later-day Dead Sea was chosen +for the future capital. Fields were staked out, ground +was broken by initial furrows, irrigation ditches were +commenced at once, and within a month the town site +was baptized the City of the Great Salt Lake.</p> + +<p>Behind the advance guard the main body remained +in winter quarters, making ready for their difficult<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">97</a></span> +search for the promised land; moving at last in the +late spring in full confidence that a Zion somewhere +would be prepared for them. The successor of Joseph +relied but little upon supernatural aid in keeping his +flock under control. Commonly he depended upon +human wisdom and executive direction. But upon +the eve of his own departure from winter quarters +he had made public, for the direction of the main +body, a written revelation: "The Word and Will of +the Lord concerning the Camp of Israel in their +Journeyings to the West." Such revelations as this, +had they been repeated, might well have created +or renewed popular confidence in the real inspiration +of the leader. The order given was such as a wise +source of inspiration might have formed after constant +intercourse with emigrants and traders upon +the difficulties of overland migration and the dangers +of the way.</p> + +<p>"Let all the people of the Church of Jesus Christ of +Latter-day Saints, and those who journey with them," +read the revelation, "be organized into companies, +with a covenant and a promise to keep all the +commandments and statutes of the Lord our God. +Let the companies be organized with captains of +hundreds, and captains of fifties, and captains of tens, +with a president and counsellor at their head, under +direction of the Twelve Apostles: and this shall be +our covenant, that we will walk in all the ordinances +of the Lord.</p> + +<p>"Let each company provide itself with all the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">98</a></span> +teams, wagons, provisions, and all other necessaries +for the journey that they can. When the companies +are organized, let them go with all their might, to +prepare for those who are to tarry. Let each company, +with their captains and presidents, decide +how many can go next spring; then choose out a sufficient +number of able-bodied and expert men to take +teams, seed, and farming utensils to go as pioneers +to prepare for putting in the spring crops. Let each +company bear an equal proportion, according to the +dividend of their property, in taking the poor, the +widows, and the fatherless, and the families of those +who have gone with the army, that the cries of the +widow and the fatherless come not up into the ears +of the Lord against his people.</p> + +<p>"Let each company prepare houses and fields +for raising grain for those who are to remain behind +this season; and this is the will of the Lord concerning +this people.</p> + +<p>"Let every man use all his influence and property +to remove this people to the place where the Lord +shall locate a stake of Zion: and if ye do this with +a pure heart, with all faithfulness, ye shall be blessed +in your flocks, and in your herds, and in your fields, +and in your houses, and in your families...."</p> + +<p>The rendezvous for the main party was the Elk +Horn River, whence the head of the procession +moved late in June and early in July. In careful organization, +with camps under guard and wagons +always in corral at night, detachments moved on in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">99</a></span> +quick succession. Kanesville and a large body +remained behind for another year or longer, but +before Brigham had laid out his city and started +east the emigration of 1847 was well upon its way. +The foremost began to come into the city by September. +By October the new city in the desert had +nearly four thousand inhabitants. The march had +been made with little suffering and slight mortality. +No better pioneer leadership had been seen upon the +trail.</p> + +<p>The valley of the Great Salt Lake, destined to +become an oasis in the American desert, supporting +the only agricultural community existing therein during +nearly twenty years, discouraged many of the +Mormons at the start. In Illinois and Missouri +they were used to wood and water; here they found +neither. In a treeless valley they were forced to +carry their water to their crops in a way in which +their leader had more confidence than themselves. +The urgency of Brigham in setting his first detachment +to work on fields and crops was not unwise, +since for two years there was a real question of food +to keep the colony alive. Inexperience in irrigating +agriculture and plagues of crickets kept down the +early crops. By 1850 the colony was safe, but its +maintenance does still more credit to its skilful +leadership. Its people, apart from foreign converts +who came in later years, were of the stuff that had +colonized the middle West and won a foothold in +Oregon; but nowhere did an emigration so nearly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">100</a></span> +create a land which it enjoyed as here. A paternal +government dictated every effort, outlined the +streets and farms, detailed parties to explore the +vicinity and start new centres of life. Little was +left to chance or unguided enthusiasm. Practical +success and a high state of general welfare rewarded +the Saints for their implicit obedience to authority.</p> + +<p>Mormon emigration along the Platte trail became +as common as that to Oregon in the years following +1847, but, except in the disastrous hand-cart episode +of 1856, contains less of novelty than of substantial +increase to the colony. Even to-day men are living +in the West, who, walking all the way, with their own +hands pushed and pulled two-wheeled carts from +the Missouri to the mountains in the fifties. To bad +management in handling proselytes the hand-cart +catastrophe was chiefly due. From the beginning +missionary activity had been pressed throughout +the United States and even in Europe. In England +and Scandinavia the lower classes took kindly to the +promises, too often impracticable, it must be believed, +of enthusiasts whose standing at home depended upon +success abroad. The convert with property could +pay his way to the Missouri border and join the ordinary +annual procession. But the poor, whose wealth +was not equal to the moderately costly emigration, +were a problem until the emigration society +determined to cut expenses by reducing equipment +and substituting pushcarts and human power for the +prairie schooner with its long train of oxen.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">101</a></span> +In 1856 well over one thousand poor emigrants +left Liverpool, at contract rates, for Iowa City, +where the parties were to be organized and ample +equipment in handcarts and provisions were promised +to be ready. On arrival in Iowa City it was found +that slovenly management had not built enough of +the carts. Delayed by the necessary construction +of these carts, some of the bands could not get on the +trail until late in the summer,—too late for a successful +trip, as a few of their more cautious advisers +had said. The earliest company got through to +Salt Lake City in September with considerable success. +It was hard and toilsome to push the carts; +women and children suffered badly, but the task +was possible. Snow and starvation in the mountains +broke down the last company. A friendly historian +speaks of a loss of sixty-seven out of a party of four +hundred and twenty. Throughout the United States +the picture of these poor deluded immigrants, toiling +against their carts through mountain pass and river-bottom, +with clothing going and food quite gone, increased +the conviction that the Mormon hierarchy +was misleading and abusing the confidence of thousands.</p> + +<p>That the hierarchy was endangering the peace of +the whole United States came to be believed as well. +In 1850, with the Salt Lake settlement three years old, +Congress had organized a territory of Utah, extending +from the Rockies to California, between 37° and 42°, +and the President had made Brigham Young its<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">102</a></span> +governor. The close association of the Mormon +church and politics had prevented peaceful relations +from existing between its people and the federal +officers of the territory, while Washington prejudiced +a situation already difficult by sending to Utah +officers and judges, some of whom could not have +commanded respect even where the sway of United +States authority was complete. The vicious influence +of politics in territorial appointments, which the +territories always resented, was specially dangerous +in the case of a territory already feeling itself persecuted +for conscience' sake. Yet it was not impossible +for a tactful and respectable federal officer to do +business in Utah. For several years relations increased +in bad temper, both sides appealing constantly +to President and Congress, until it appeared, +as was the fact, that the United States authority +had become as nothing in Utah and with the church. +Among the earliest of President Buchanan's acts +was the preparation of an army which should reëstablish +United States prestige among the Mormons. +Large wagon trains were sent out from Fort Leavenworth +in the summer of 1857, with an army under +Albert Sidney Johnston following close behind, and +again the old Platte trail came before the public eye.</p> + +<p>The Utah war was inglorious. Far from its base, +and operating in a desert against plainsmen of remarkable +skill, the army was helpless. At will, the +Mormon cavalry cut out and burned the supply +trains, confining their attacks to property rather<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">103</a></span> +than to armed forces. When the army reached +Fort Bridger, it found Brigham still defiant, his +people bitter against conquest, and the fort burned. +With difficulty could the army of invasion have +lived through the winter without aid. In the spring +of 1858 a truce was patched up, and the Mormons, +being invulnerable, were forgiven. The army +marched down the trail again.</p> + +<p>The Mormon hegira planted the first of the island +settlements in the heart of the desert. The very +isolation of Utah gave it prominence. What religious +enthusiasm lacked in aiding organization, +shrewd leadership and resulting prosperity supplied. +The first impulse moving population across the plains +had been chiefly conquest, with Oregon as the result. +Religion was the next, producing Utah. The +lust for gold followed close upon the second, calling +into life California, and then in a later decade sprinkling +little camps over all the mountain West. The +Mormons would have fared much worse had their +leader not located his stake of Zion near the point +where the trail to the Southwest deviated from the +Oregon road, and where the forty-niners might pay +tribute to his commercial skill as they passed through +his oasis on their way to California.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">104</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="vspace"><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII</a><br /> + +<span class="subhead">CALIFORNIA AND THE FORTY-NINERS</span></h2> + +<p>On his second exploring trip, John C. Frémont +had worked his way south over the Nevada desert +until at last he crossed the mountains and found +himself in the valley of the Sacramento. Here in +1844 a small group of Americans had already been +established for several years. Mexican California +was scantily inhabited and was so far from the inefficient +central government that the province had +almost fallen away of its own weight. John A. +Sutter, a Swiss of American proclivities, was the +magnate of the Sacramento region, whence he dispensed +a liberal hospitality to the Pathfinder's +party.</p> + +<p>In 1845, Frémont started on his third trip, this +time entering California by a southern route and +finding himself at Sutter's early in 1846. In some +respects his detachment of engineers had the appearance +of a filibustering party from the start. +When it crossed the Rockies, it began to trespass +upon the territory belonging to Mexico, with whom +the United States was yet at peace. Whether the +explorer was actually instructed to detach California<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">105</a></span> +from Mexico, or whether he only imagined that such +action would be approved at home, is likely never +to be explained. Naval officers on the Pacific were +already under orders in the event of war to seize +California at once; and Polk was from the start ambitious +to round out the American territory on the +Southwest. The Americans in the Sacramento were +at variance with their Mexican neighbors, who resented +the steady influx of foreign blood. Between +1842 and 1846 their numbers had rapidly increased. +And in June, 1846, certain of them, professing to +believe that they were to be attacked, seized the +Mexican village of Sonoma and broke out the colors +of what they called their Bear Flag Republic. +Frémont, near at hand, countenanced and supported +their act, if he did not suggest it.</p> + +<p>The news of actual war reached the Pacific shortly +after the American population in California had begun +its little revolution. Frémont was in his glory +for a time as the responsible head of American +power in the province. Naval commanders under +their own orders coöperated along the coast so +effectively that Kearny, with his army of the West, +learned that the conquest was substantially complete, +soon after he left Santa Fé, and was able to +send most of his own force back. California fell +into American hands almost without a struggle, +leaving the invaders in possession early in 1847. +In January of that year the little village of Yerba +Buena was rebaptized San Francisco, while the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">106</a></span> +American occupants began the sale of lots along the +water front and the construction of a great seaport.</p> + +<p>The relations of Oregon and California to the +occupation of the West were much the same in 1847. +Both had been coveted by the United States. Both +had now been acquired in fact. Oregon had come +first because it was most easily reached by the great +trail, and because it had no considerable body of +foreign inhabitants to resist invasion. It was, under +the old agreement for joint occupation, a free field +for colonization. But California had been the +territory of Mexico and was occupied by a strange +population. In the early forties there were from +4000 to 6000 Mexicans and Spaniards in the province, +living the easy agricultural life of the Spanish +colonist. The missions and the Indians had decayed +during the past generation. The population +was light hearted and generous. It quarrelled +loudly, but had the Latin-American knack for +bloodless revolutions. It was partly Americanized +by long association with those trappers who had +visited it since the twenties, and the settlers who had +begun in the late thirties. But as an occupied +foreign territory it had not invited American colonization +as Oregon had done. Hence the Oregon +movement had been going on three or four years before +any considerable bodies of emigrants broke +away from the trail, near Salt Lake, and sought out +homes in California. If war had not come, American +immigration into California would have progressed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">107</a></span> +after 1846 quite as rapidly as the Mexican authorities +would have allowed. As it was, the actual conquest +removed the barrier, so that California migration +in 1846 and 1847 rivalled that to Oregon +under the ordinary stimulus of the westward movement. +The settlement of the Mormons at Salt +Lake developed a much-needed outfitting post at +the head of the most perilous section of the California +trail. Both Mormons and Californians profited +by its traffic.</p> + +<p>With respect to California, the treaty which closed +the Mexican War merely recognized an accomplished +fact. By right of conquest California had changed +hands. None can doubt that Mexico here paid +the penalty under that organic law of politics which +forbids a nation to sit still when others are moving. +In no conceivable way could the occupation of California +have been prevented, and if the war over +Texas had not come in 1846, a war over California +must shortly have occurred. By the treaty of +Guadalupe-Hidalgo Mexico relinquished the territory +which she had never been able to develop, and made +way for the erection of the new America on the Pacific.</p> + +<p>Most notable among the ante-bellum pioneers in +California was John A. Sutter, whose establishment +on the Sacramento had been a centre of the new +life. Upon a large grant from the Mexican government +he had erected his adobe buildings in the usual +semi-fortified style that distinguished the isolated +ranch. He was ready for trade, or agriculture, or<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">108</a></span> +war if need be, possessing within his own domain +equipment for the ordinary simple manufactures and +supplies. As his ranch prospered, and as Americans +increased in San Francisco and on the Sacramento, +the prospects of Sutter steadily improved. +In 1847 he made ready to reap an additional share +of profit from the boom by building a sawmill on his +estate. Among his men there had been for some +months a shiftless jack-of-all-trades, James W. +Marshall, who had been chiefly carpenter while in +Sutter's employ. In the summer of 1847 Marshall +was sent out to find a place where timber and water-power +should be near enough together to make a +profitable mill site. He found his spot on the south +bank of the American, which is a tributary of the +Sacramento, some forty-five miles northeast of +Sacramento.</p> + +<p>In the autumn of the year Sutter and Marshall +came to their agreement by which the former was to +furnish all supplies and the latter was to build the +mill and operate it on shares. Construction was +begun before the year ended, and was substantially +completed in January, 1848. Experience showed +the amateur constructor that his mill-race was too +shallow. To remedy this he started the practice of +turning the river into it by night to wash out earth +and deepen the channel. Here it was that after one +of these flushings, toward the end of January, he +picked up glittering flakes which looked to him like +gold.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">109</a></span> +With his first find, Marshall hurried off to Sutter, +at the ranch. Together they tested the flakes in +the apothecary's shop, proving the reality of the +discovery before returning to the mill to prospect +more fully.</p> + +<p>For Sutter the discovery was a calamity. None +could tell how large the field might be, but he saw +clearly that once the news of the find got abroad, the +whole population would rush madly to the diggings. +His ranch, the mill, and a new mill which was under +way, all needed labor. But none would work for +hire with free gold to be had for the taking. The +discoverers agreed to keep their secret for six weeks, +but the news leaked out, carried off all Sutter's hands +in a few days, and reached even to San Francisco in +the form of rumor before February was over. A +new force had appeared to change the balance of +the West and to excite the whole United States.</p> + +<p>The rush to the gold fields falls naturally into two +parts: the earlier including the population of California, +near enough to hear of the find and get to +the diggings in 1848. The later came from all the +world, but could not start until the news had percolated +by devious and tedious courses to centres +of population thousands of miles away. The movement +within California started in March and April.</p> + +<p>Further prospecting showed that over large areas +around the American and Sacramento rivers free +gold could be obtained by the simple processes of +placer mining. A wooden cradle operated by six<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">110</a></span> +or eight men was the most profitable tool, but a +tin dishpan would do in an emergency. San Francisco +was sceptical when the rumor reached it, and +was not excited even by the first of April, but as +nuggets and bags of dust appeared in quantity, the +doubters turned to enthusiasts. Farms were abandoned, +town houses were deserted, stores were closed, +while every able-bodied man tramped off to the +north to try his luck. The city which had flourished +and expanded since the beginning of 1847 became +an empty shell before May was over. Its newspaper +is mute witness of the desertion, lapsing into +silence for a month after May 29th because its hands +had disappeared. Farther south in California the +news spread as spring advanced, turning by June +nearly every face toward Sacramento.</p> + +<p>The public authorities took cognizance of the find +during the summer. It was forced upon them by +the wholesale desertions of troops who could not +stand the strain. Both Consul Larkin and Governor +Mason, who represented the sovereignty of +the United States, visited the scenes in person and +described the situation in their official letters home. +The former got his news off to the Secretary of State +by the 1st of June; the latter wrote on August 17; +together they became the authoritative messengers +that confirmed the rumors to the world, when Polk +published some of their documents in his message to +Congress in December, 1848. The rumors had +reached the East as early as September, but now,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">111</a></span> +writes Bancroft, "delirium seized upon the community."</p> + +<p>How to get to California became a great popular +question in the winter of 1848–1849. The public +mind was well prepared for long migrations through +the news of Pacific pioneers which had filled the +journals for at least six years. Route, time, method, +and cost were all to be considered. Migration, of +a sort, began at once.</p> + +<p>Land and water offered a choice of ways to California. +The former route was now closed for the +winter and could not be used until spring should +produce her crop of necessary pasturage. But the +impetuous and the well-to-do could start immediately +by sea. All along the seaboard enterprising +ship-owners announced sailings for California, by +the Horn or by the shorter Isthmian route. Retired +hulks were called again into commission for +the purpose. Fares were extortionate, but many +were willing to pay for speed. Before the discovery, +Congress had arranged for a postal service, <i xml:lang="la" lang="la">via</i> +Panama, and the Pacific Mail Steamship Company +had been organized to work the contracts. The +<i>California</i> had left New York in the fall of 1848 +to run on the western end of the route. It had +sailed without passengers, but, meeting the news +of gold on the South American coast, had begun to +load up at Latin ports. When it reached Panama, +a crowd of clamorous emigrants, many times beyond +its capacity, awaited its coming and quarrelled<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">112</a></span> +over its accommodations. On February 28, 1849, +it reached San Francisco at last, starting the influx +from the world at large.</p> + +<p>The water route was too costly for most of the +gold-seekers, who were forced to wait for spring, +when the trails would be open. Various routes then +guided them, through Mexico and Texas, but most +of all they crowded once more the great Platte trail. +Oregon migration and the Mormon flight had +familiarized this route to all the world. For its first +stages it was "already broad and well beaten as any +turnpike in our country."</p> + +<p>The usual crowd, which every May for several +years had brought to the Missouri River crossings +around Fort Leavenworth, was reënforced in 1849 +and swollen almost beyond recognition. A rifle +regiment of regulars was there, bound for Forts +Laramie and Hall to erect new frontier posts. Lieutenant +Stansbury was there, gathering his surveying +party which was to prospect for a railway route to +Salt Lake. By thousands and tens of thousands +others came, tempted by the call of gold. This +was the cheap and popular route. Every western +farmer was ready to start, with his own wagons and +his own stock. The townsman could easily buy the +simple equipment of the plains. The poor could +work their way, driving cattle for the better-off. +Through inexperience and congestion the journey +was likely to be hard, but any one might undertake +it. Niles reported in June that up to May 18, 2850<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">113</a></span> +wagons had crossed the river at St. Joseph, and +1500 more at the other ferries.</p> + +<p>Familiarity had done much to divest the overland +journey of its terrors. We hear in this, and even in +earlier years, of a sort of plains travel de luxe, of +wagons "fitted up so as to be secure from the weather +and ... the women knitting and sewing, for all the +world as if in their ordinary farm-houses." Stansbury, +hurrying out in June and overtaking the trains, +was impressed with the picturesque character of the +emigrants and their equipment. "We have been in +company with multitudes of emigrants the whole +day," he wrote on June 12. "The road has been lined +to a long extent with their wagons, whose white +covers, glittering in the sunlight, resembled, at a +distance, ships upon the ocean.... We passed +also an old Dutchman, with an immense wagon, +drawn by six yoke of cattle, and loaded with household +furniture. Behind followed a covered cart +containing the wife, driving herself, and a host of +babies—the whole bound to the land of promise, +of the distance to which, however, they seemed to +have not the most remote idea. To the tail of the +cart was attached a large chicken-coop, full of fowls; +two milch-cows followed, and next came an old mare, +upon the back of which was perched a little, brown-faced, +barefooted girl, not more than seven years old, +while a small sucking colt brought up the rear." +Travellers eastward bound, meeting the procession, +reported the hundreds and thousands whom they met.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">114</a></span> +The organization of the trains was not unlike that +of the Oregonians and the Mormons, though generally +less formal than either of these. The wagons +were commonly grouped in companies for protection, +little needed, since the Indians were at peace during +most of 1849. At nightfall the long columns came +to rest and worked their wagons into the corral which +was the typical plains encampment. To form this +the wagons were ranged in a large circle, each with +its tongue overlapping the vehicle ahead, and each +fastened to the next with the brake or yoke chains. +An opening at one end allowed for driving in the +stock, which could here be protected from stampede +or Indian theft. In emergency the circle of wagons +formed a fortress strong enough to turn aside ordinary +Indian attacks. When the companies had been +on the road for a few weeks the forming of the corral +became an easy military manœuvre. The itinerant +circus is to-day the thing most like the fleet of +prairie schooners.</p> + +<p>The emigration of the forty-niners was attended by +worse sufferings than the trail had yet known. Cholera +broke out among the trains at the start. It +stayed by them, lining the road with nearly five +thousand graves, until they reached the hills beyond +Fort Laramie. The price of inexperience, too, had +to be paid. Wagons broke down and stock died. +The wreckage along the trail bore witness to this. +On July 27, Stansbury observed: "To-day we find +additional and melancholy evidence of the difficulties<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">115</a></span> +encountered by those who are ahead of us. Before +halting at noon, we passed eleven wagons that had +been broken up, the spokes of the wheels taken to +make pack-saddles, and the rest burned or otherwise +destroyed. The road has been literally strewn with +articles that have been thrown away. Bar-iron and +steel, large blacksmiths' anvils and bellows, crowbars, +drills, augers, gold-washers, chisels, axes, lead, +trunks, spades, ploughs, large grindstones, baking-ovens, +cooking-stoves without number, kegs, barrels, +harness, clothing, bacon, and beans, were found along +the road in pretty much the order in which they have +been here enumerated. The carcasses of eight oxen, +lying in one heap by the roadside, this morning, explained +a part of the trouble." In twenty-four miles +he passed seventeen abandoned wagons and twenty-seven +dead oxen.</p> + +<p>Beyond Fort Hall, with the journey half done, +came the worst perils. In the dust and heat of the +Humboldt Valley, stock literally faded away, so that +thousands had to turn back to refuge at Salt Lake, +or were forced on foot to struggle with thirst and +starvation.</p> + +<p>The number of the overland emigrants can never +be told with accuracy. Perhaps the truest estimate +is that of the great California historian who counts +it that, in 1849, 42,000 crossed the continent and +reached the gold fields.</p> + +<p>It was a mixed multitude that found itself in California +after July, 1849, when the overland folk began<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">116</a></span> +to arrive. All countries and all stations in society +had contributed to fill the ranks of the 100,000 or +more whites who were there in the end of the year. +The farmer, the amateur prospector, and the professional +gambler mingled in the crowd. Loose +women plied their trade without rebuke. Those who +had come by sea contained an over-share of the undesirable +element that proposed to live upon the recklessness +and vices of the miners. The overland emigrants +were largely of farmer stock; whether they +had possessed frontier experience or not before the +start, the 3000-mile journey toughened and seasoned +all who reached California. Nearly all possessed +the essential virtues of strength, boldness, and initiative.</p> + +<p>The experience of Oregon might point to the future +of California when its strenuous population +arrived upon the unprepared community. The +Mexican government had been ejected by war. A +military government erected by the United States +still held its temporary sway, but felt out of place as +the controlling power over a civilian American population. +The new inhabitants were much in need of +law, and had the American dislike for military authority. +Immediately Congress was petitioned to +form a territorial government for the new El Dorado. +But Congress was preoccupied with the relations of +slavery and freedom in the Southwest during its +session of 1848–1849. It adjourned with nothing +done for California. The mining population was irritated<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">117</a></span> +but not deeply troubled by this neglect. It +had already organized its miners' courts and begun +to execute summary justice in emergencies. It was +quite able and willing to act upon the suggestion of +its administrative officers and erect its state government +without the consent of Congress. The military +governor called the popular convention; the +constitution framed during September, 1849, was ratified +by popular vote on November 13; a few days +later Governor Riley surrendered his authority into +the hands of the elected governor, Burnett, and the +officials of the new state. All this was done spontaneously +and easily. There was no sanction in law +for California until Congress admitted it in September, +1850, receiving as one of its first senators, John +C. Frémont.</p> + +<p>The year 1850 saw the great compromise upon +slavery in the Southwest, a compromise made necessary +by the appearance on the Pacific of a new America. +The "call of the West and the lust for gold" +had done their work in creating a new centre of life +beyond the quondam desert.</p> + +<p>The census of 1850 revealed something of the +nature of this population. Probably 125,000 whites, +though it was difficult to count them and impossible +to secure absolute accuracy, were found in Oregon +and California. Nine-tenths of these were in the +latter colony. More than 11,000 were found in the +settlements around Great Salt Lake. Not many +more than 3000 Americans were scattered among<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">118</a></span> +the Mexican population along the Rio Grande. +The great trails had seen most of these home-seekers +marching westward over the desert and across the +Indian frontier which in the blindness of statecraft +had been completed for all time in 1840.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">119</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="vspace"><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII">CHAPTER VIII</a><br /> + +<span class="subhead">KANSAS AND THE INDIAN FRONTIER</span></h2> + +<p>The long line separating the Indian and agricultural +frontiers was in 1850 but little farther west +than the point which it had reached by 1820. Then +it had arrived at the bend of the Missouri, where it +remained for thirty years. Its flanks had swung +out during this generation, including Arkansas on the +south and Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin on the +north, so that now at the close of the Mexican War +the line was nearly a true meridian crossing the Missouri +at its bend. West of this spot it had been kept +from going by the tradition of the desert and the +pressure of the Indian tribes. The country behind +had filled up with population, Oregon and California +had appeared across the desert, but the barrier had +not been pushed away.</p> + +<p>Through the great trails which penetrated the +desert accurate knowledge of the Far West had begun +to come. By 1850 the tradition which Pike and Long +had helped to found had well-nigh disappeared, and +covetous eyes had been cast upon the Indian +lands across the border,—lands from which the +tribes were never to be removed without their consent,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">120</a></span> +and which were never to be included in any +organized territory or state. Most of the traffic +over the trails and through this country had been in +defiance of treaty obligations. Some of the tribes +had granted rights of transit, but such privileges as +were needed and used by the Oregon, and California, +and Utah hordes were far in excess of these. Most +of the emigrants were technically trespassers upon +Indian lands as well as violators of treaty provisions. +Trouble with the Indians had begun early in the migrations.</p> + +<div id="ip_120" class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> + <img class="nobdr" src="images/i-138.jpg" width="600" height="441" alt="" /> + <div class="caption"><p><span class="smcap">The West in 1849</span></p></div> + +<div class="captionc"><p>Texas still claimed the Rio Grande as her western boundary. The Southwest +acquired in 1848 was yet unorganized.</p></div></div> + +<p>At the very beginning of the Oregon movement the +Indian office had foreseen trouble: "Frequent difficulties<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">121</a></span> +have occurred during the spring of the last +and present year [1845] from the passing of emigrants +for Oregon at various points into the Indian Country. +Large companies have frequently rendezvoused on +the Indian lands for months previous to the period +of their starting. The emigrants have two advantages +in crossing into the Indian Country at an early +period of the spring; one, the facility of grazing their +stock on the rushes with which the lands abound; +and the other, that they cross the Missouri River at +their leisure. In one instance a large party had to be +forced by the military to put back. This passing +of the emigrants through the Indian Country without +their permission must, I fear, result in an unpleasant +collision, if not bloodshed. The Indians say that the +whites have no right to be in their country without +their consent; and the upper tribes, who subsist on +game, complain that the buffalo are wantonly killed +and scared off, which renders their only means of +subsistence every year more precarious." Frémont +had seen, in 1842, that this invasion of the Indian +Country could not be kept up safely without a show +of military force, and had recommended a post at the +point where Fort Laramie was finally placed.</p> + +<p>The years of the great migrations steadily aggravated +the relations with the tribes, while the Indian +agents continually called upon Congress to redress +or stop the wrongs being done as often by panic-stricken +emigrants as by vicious ones. "By alternate +persuasion and force," wrote the Commissioner in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">122</a></span> +1854, "some of these tribes have been removed, step +by step, from mountain to valley, and from river to +plain, until they have been pushed halfway across +the continent. They can go no further; on the +ground they now occupy the crisis must be met, and +their future determined.... [There] they are, and +as they are, with outstanding obligations in their +behalf of the most solemn and imperative character, +voluntarily assumed by the government." But a +relentless westward movement that had no regard +for rights of Mexico in either Texas or California +could not be expected to notice the rights of savages +even less powerful. It demanded for its own citizens +rights not inferior to those conceded by the government +"to wandering nations of savages." A shrewd +and experienced Indian agent, Fitzpatrick, who had +the confidence of both races, voiced this demand in +1853. "But one course remains," he wrote, "which +promises any permanent relief to them, or any lasting +benefit to the country in which they dwell. That +is simply to make such modifications in the 'intercourse +laws' as will invite the residence of traders +amongst them, and <i>open the whole Indian territory +to settlement</i>. In this manner will be introduced +amongst them those who will set the example of +developing the resources of the soil, of which the +Indians have not now the most distant idea; who +will afford to them employment in pursuits congenial +to their nature; and who will accustom them, imperceptibly, +to those modes of life which can alone<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">123</a></span> +secure them from the miseries of penury. Trade is +the only civilizer of the Indian. It has been the precursor +of all civilization heretofore, and it will be of +all hereafter.... The present 'intercourse laws' +too, so far as they are calculated to protect the +Indians from the evils of civilized life—from the +sale of ardent spirits and the prostitution of morals—are +nothing more than a dead letter; while, so far +as they contribute to exclude the benefits of civilization +from amongst them, they can be, and are, strictly +enforced."</p> + +<p>In 1849 the Indian Office was transferred by Congress +from the War Department to the Interior, with +the idea that the Indians would be better off under +civilian than military control, and shortly after this +negotiations were begun looking towards new settlements +with the tribes. The Sioux were persuaded +in the summer of 1851 to make way for increasing +population in Minnesota, while in the autumn of the +same year the tribes of the western plains were induced +to make concessions.</p> + +<p>The great treaties signed at the Upper Platte +agency at Fort Laramie in 1851 were in the interest +of the migrating thousands. Fitzpatrick had spent +the summer of 1850 in summoning the bands of Cheyenne +and Arapaho to the conference. Shoshoni +were brought in from the West. From the north of +the Platte came Sioux and Assiniboin, Arickara, +Grosventres, and Crows. The treaties here concluded +were never ratified in full, but for fifteen years<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">124</a></span> +Congress paid various annuities provided by them, +and in general the tribes adhered to them. The right +of the United States to make roads across the plains +and to fortify them with military posts was fully +agreed to, while the Indians pledged themselves to +commit no depredations upon emigrants. Two +years later, at Fort Atkinson, Fitzpatrick had a +conference with the plains Indians of the south, +Comanche and Apache, making "a renewal of +faith, which the Indians did not have in the Government, +nor the Government in them."</p> + +<p>Overland traffic was made more safe for several +years by these treaties. Such friction and fighting +as occurred in the fifties were due chiefly to the excesses +and the fears of the emigrants themselves. +But in these treaties there was nothing for the eastern +tribes along the Iowa and Missouri border, who were +in constant danger of dispossession by the advance of +the frontier itself.</p> + +<p>The settlement of Kansas, becoming probable in +the early fifties, was the impending danger threatening +the peace of the border. There was not as yet +any special need to extend colonization across the +Missouri, since Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, and Minnesota +were but sparsely inhabited. Settlers for +years might be accommodated farther to the east. +But the slavery debate of 1850 had revealed and +aroused passions in both North and South. Motives +were so thoroughly mixed that participants +were rarely able to give satisfactory accounts of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">125</a></span> +themselves. Love of struggle, desire for revenge, +political ambition, all mingled with pure philanthropy +and a reasonable fear of outside interference with +domestic institutions. The compromise had settled +the future of the new lands, but between Missouri +and the mountains lay the residue of the Louisiana +purchase, divided truly by the Missouri compromise +line of 36° 30', but not yet settled. Ambition to +possess it, to convert it to slavery, or to retain it for +freedom was stimulated by the debate and the fears +of outside interference. The nearest part of the +unorganized West was adjacent to Missouri. Hence +it was that Kansas came within the public vision first.</p> + +<p>It is possible to trace a movement for territorial +organization in the Indian Country back to 1850 or +even earlier. Certain of the more intelligent of the +Indian colonists had been able to read the signs of +the times, with the result that organized effort for a +territory of Nebraska had emanated from the Wyandot +country and had besieged Congress between +1851 and 1853. The obstacles in the road of fulfilment +were the Indians and the laws. Experience +had long demonstrated the unwisdom of permitting +Indians and emigrants to live in the same districts. +The removal and intercourse acts, and the treaties +based upon them, had guaranteed in particular that +no territory or state should ever be organized in this +country. Good faith and the physical presence of +the tribes had to be overcome before a new territory +could appear.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">126</a></span> +The guarantee of permanency was based upon +treaty, and in the eye of Congress was not so sacred +that it could not be modified by treaty. As it became +clear that the demand for the opening of these +lands would soon have to be granted, Congress prepared +for the inevitable by ordering, in March, 1853, +a series of negotiations with the tribes west of Missouri +with a view to the cession of more country. +The Commissioner of Indian Affairs, George W. +Manypenny, who later wrote a book on "Our Indian +Wards," spent the next summer in breaking to +the Indians the hard news that they were expected +once more to vacate. He found the tribes uneasy +and sullen. Occasional prospectors, wandering over +their lands, had set them thinking. There had been +no actual white settlement up to October, 1853, so +Manypenny declared, but the chiefs feared that he +was contemplating a seizure of their lands. The +Indian mind had some difficulty in comprehending +the difference between ceding their land by treaty +and losing it by force.</p> + +<p>At a long series of council fires the Commissioner +soothed away some of the apprehensions, but found +a stubborn resistance when he came to talk of ceding +all the reserves and moving to new homes. The +tribes, under pressure, were ready to part with some +of their lands, but wanted to retain enough to live +on. When he talked to them of the Great Father +in Washington, Manypenny himself felt the irony +of the situation; the guarantee of permanency had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">127</a></span> +been simple and explicit. Yet he arranged for a +series of treaties in the following year.</p> + +<p>In the spring of 1854 treaties were concluded with +most of the tribes fronting on Missouri between 37° +and 42° 40'. Some of these had been persuaded to +move into the Missouri Valley in the negotiations of +the thirties. Others, always resident there, had +accepted curtailed reserves. The Omaha faced the +Missouri, north of the Platte. South of the Platte +were the Oto and Missouri, the Sauk and Foxes +of Missouri, the Iowa, and the Kickapoo. The +Delaware reserve, north of the Kansas, and around +Fort Leavenworth, was the seat of Indian civilization +of a high order. The Shawnee, immediately +south of the Kansas, were also well advanced in agriculture +in the permanent home they had accepted. +The confederated Kaskaskia and Peoria, and Wea +and Piankashaw, and the Miami were further south. +From those tribes more than thirteen million acres of +land were bought in the treaties of 1854. In scattered +and reduced reserves the Indians retained for +themselves about one-tenth of what they ceded. +Generally, when the final signing came, under the +persuasion of the Indian Office, and often amid the +strange surroundings of Washington, the chiefs +surrendered the lands outright and with no condition.</p> + +<p>Certain of the tribes resisted all importunities to +give title at once and held out for conditions of sale. +The Iowa, the confederated minor tribes, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">128</a></span> +notably the Delawares, ceded their lands in trust +to the United States, with the treaty pledge that the +lands so yielded should be sold at public auction to +the highest bidder, the remainders should then be +offered privately for three years at $1.25 per acre, +and the final remnants should be disposed of by the +United States, the accruing funds being held in trust +by the United States for the Indians. By the end +of May the treaties were nearly all concluded. In +July, 1854, Congress provided a land office for the +territory of Kansas.</p> + +<p>While the Indian negotiations were in progress, +Senator Douglas was forcing his Kansas-Nebraska +bill at Washington. The bill had failed in 1853, +partly because the Senate had felt the sanctity of +the Indian agreement; but in 1854 the leader of the +Democratic party carried it along relentlessly. With +words of highest patriotism upon his lips, as Rhodes +has told it, he secured the passage of a bill not needed +by the westward movement, subversive of the national +pledge, and, blind as he was, destructive as +well of his party and his own political future. The +support of President Pierce and the coöperation of +Jefferson Davis were his in the struggle. It was not +his intent, he declared, to legislate slavery into or +out of the territories; he proposed to leave that to +the people themselves. To this principle he gave the +name of "popular sovereignty," "and the name was +a far greater invention than the doctrine." With +rising opposition all about him, he repealed the Missouri<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">129</a></span> +compromise which in 1820 had divided the +Indian Country by the line of 36° 30' into free and +slave areas, and created within these limits the new +territories of Kansas and Nebraska. His bill was +signed by the President on May 30, 1854. In later +years this day has been observed as a memorial to +those who lost their lives in fighting the battle which +he provoked.</p> + +<p>With public sentiment excited, and the Missouri +compromise repealed, eager partisans prepared in +the spring of 1854 to colonize the new territories +in the interests of slavery and freedom. On the +slavery side, Senator Atchison, of Missouri, was +to be reckoned as one of the leaders. Young men +of the South were urged to move, with their slaves +and their possessions, into the new territories, +and thus secure these for their cherished institution. +If votes should fail them in the future, the +Missouri border was not far removed, and colonization +of voters might be counted upon. Missouri, +directly adjacent to Kansas, and a slave state, +naturally took the lead in this matter of preventing +the erection of a free state on her western boundary. +The northern states had been stirred by the act as +deeply as the South. In New England the bill was +not yet passed when leaders of the abolition movement +prepared to act under it. One Eli Thayer, +of Worcester, urged during the spring that friends of +freedom could do no better work than aid in the +colonization of Kansas. He secured from his own<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">130</a></span> +state, in April, a charter for a Massachusetts Emigrant +Aid Society, through which he proposed to aid +suitable men to move into the debatable land. +Churches and schools were to be provided for them. +A stern New England abolition spirit was to be fostered +by them. And they were not to be left without +the usual border means of defence. Amos A. Lawrence, +of Boston, a wealthy philanthropist, made +Thayer's scheme financially possible. Dr. Charles +Robinson was their choice for leader of emigration +and local representative in Kansas.</p> + +<p>The resulting settlement of Kansas was stimulated +little by the ordinary westward impulse but greatly +by political ambition and sectional rivalry. As +late as October, 1853, there had been almost no +whites in the Indian Country. Early in 1854 they +began to come in, in increasing numbers. The +Emigrant Aid Society sent its parties at once, before +the ink was dry on the treaties of cession and before +land offices had been opened. The approach was +by the Missouri River steamers to Kansas City and +Westport, near the bend of the river, where was the +gateway into Kansas. The Delaware cession, north +of the Kansas River, was not yet open to legal occupation, +but the Shawnee lands had been ceded completely +and would soon be ready. So the New England +companies worked their way on foot, or in hired +wagons, up the right bank of the Kansas, hunting +for eligible sites. About thirty miles west of the +Missouri line and the old Shawnee mission they<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">131</a></span> +picked their spot late in July. The town of Lawrence +grew out of their cluster of tents and cabins.</p> + +<p>It was more than two months after the arrival of +the squatters at Lawrence before the first governor +of the new territory, Andrew H. Reeder, made his +appearance at Fort Leavenworth and established +civil government in Kansas. One of his first experiences +was with the attempt of United States officers +at the post to secure for themselves pieces of the Delaware +lands which surrounded it. "While lying at +the fort," wrote a surveyor who left early in September +to run the Nebraska boundary line, "we +heard a great deal about those d—d squatters who +were trying to steal the Leavenworth site." None +of the Delaware lands were open to settlement, since +the United States had pledged itself to sell them all +at public auction for the Indians' benefit. But +certain speculators, including officers of the regular +army, organized a town company to preëmpt a site +near the fort, where they thought they foresaw the +great city of the West. They relied on the immunity +which usually saved pilferers on the Indian lands, +and seem even to have used United States soldiers +to build their shanties. They had begun to dispose +of their building lots "in this discreditable business" +four weeks before the first of the Delaware trust +lands were put on sale.</p> + +<p>However bitter toward each other, the settlers +were agreed in their attitude toward the Indians, and +squatted regardless of Indian rights or United States<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">132</a></span> +laws. Governor Reeder himself convened his legislature, +first at Pawnee, whence troops from Fort +Riley ejected it; then at the Shawnee mission, close +to Kansas City, where his presence and its were +equally without authority of law. He established +election precincts in unceded lands, and voting places +at spots where no white man could go without violating +the law. The legal snarl into which the +settlers plunged reveals the inconsistencies in the +Indian policy. It is even intimated that Governor +Reeder was interested in a land scheme at Pawnee +similar to that at Fort Leavenworth.</p> + +<p>The fight for Kansas began immediately after the +arrival of Governor Reeder and the earliest immigrants. +The settlers actually in residence at the +commencement of 1855 seem to have been about +8500. Propinquity gave Missouri an advantage at +the start, when the North was not yet fully aroused. +At an election for territorial legislature held on +March 30, 1855, the threat of Senator Atchison was +revealed in all its fulness when more than 6000 +votes were counted among a population which +had under 3000 qualified voters. Missouri men +had ridden over in organized bands to colonize +the precincts and carry the election. The whole +area of settlement was within an easy two days' ride +of the Missouri border. The fraud was so crude that +Governor Reeder disavowed certain of the results, +yet the resulting legislature, meeting in July, 1855, +was able to expel some of its anti-slavery members,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">133</a></span> +while the rest resigned. It adopted the Missouri +code of law, thus laying the foundations for a slave +state.</p> + +<p>The political struggle over Kansas became more +intense on the border and more absorbing in the +nation in the next four years. The free-state men, +as the settlers around Lawrence came to be known, +disavowed the first legislature on the ground of its +fraudulent election, while President Pierce steadily +supported it from Washington. Governor Reeder +was removed during its session, seemingly because +he had thrown doubts upon its validity. Protesting +against it, the northerners held a series of meetings +in the autumn, around Lawrence, and Topeka, some +twenty-five miles further up the Kansas River, and +crystallized their opposition under Dr. Robinson. +Their efforts culminated at Topeka in October in a +spontaneous, but in this instance revolutionary, convention +which framed a free-state constitution for +Kansas and provided for erecting a rival administration. +Dr. Robinson became its governor.</p> + +<p>Before the first legislature under the Topeka +constitution assembled, Kansas had still further +trouble. Private violence and mob attacks began +during the fall of 1855. What is known as the +Wakarusa War occurred in November, when Sheriff +Jones of Douglas County tried to arrest some free-state +men at Lecompton, and met with strong resistance +reënforced with Sharpe rifles from New +England. Governor Wilson Shannon, who had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">134</a></span> +succeeded Reeder, patched up peace, but hostility +continued through the winter. Lawrence was increasingly +the centre of northern settlement and the +object of pro-slave aggression. A Missouri mob +visited it on May 21, 1856, and in the approving +presence, it is said, of Sheriff Jones, sacked its hotel +and printing shop, and burned the residence of Dr. +Robinson.</p> + +<p>In the fall a free-state crowd marched up the river +and attacked Lecompton, but within a week of the +sacking of Lawrence retribution was visited upon the +pro-slave settlers. In cold blood, five men were +murdered at a settlement on Potawatomi Creek, by +a group of fanatical free-state men. Just what +provocation John Brown and his family had received +which may excuse his revenge is not certain. In +many instances individual anti-slavery men retaliated +lawlessly upon their enemies. But the leaders +of the Lawrence party have led also in censuring +Brown and in disclaiming responsibility for his acts. +It is certain that in this struggle the free-state party, +in general, wanted peaceful settlement of the country, +and were staking their fortunes and families upon it. +They were ready for defence, but criminal aggression +was no part of their platform.</p> + +<p>The course of Governor Shannon reached its end +in the summer of 1856. He was disliked by the free-state +faction, while his personal habits gave no respectability +to the pro-slave cause. At the end of +his régime the extra-legal legislature under the Topeka<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">135</a></span> +constitution was prevented by federal troops +from convening in session at Topeka. A few weeks +later Governor John W. Geary superseded him and +established his seat of government in Lecompton, +by this time a village of some twenty houses. It +took Geary, an honest, well-meaning man, only +six weeks to fall out with the pro-slave element and +the federal land officers. He resigned in March, 1857.</p> + +<p>Under Governor Robert J. Walker, who followed +Geary, the first official attempt at a constitution was +entered upon. The legislature had already summoned +a convention which sat at Lecompton during +September and October. Its constitution, which +was essentially pro-slavery, however it was read, was +ratified before the end of the year and submitted to +Congress. But meanwhile the legislature which +called the convention had fallen into free-state hands, +disavowed the constitution, and summoned another +convention. At Leavenworth this convention +framed a free-state constitution in March, which was +ratified by popular vote in May, 1858. Governor +Walker had already resigned in December, 1857. +Through holding an honest election and purging the +returns of slave-state frauds he had enabled the free-state +party to secure the legislature. Southerner +though he was, he choked at the political dishonesty +of the administration in Kansas. He had yielded +to the evidence of his eyes, that the population of +Kansas possessed a large free-state majority. But +so yielding he had lost the confidence of Washington.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">136</a></span> +Even Senator Douglas, the patron of the popular +sovereignty doctrine, had now broken with President +Buchanan, recognizing the right of the people to +form their own institutions. No attention was ever +paid by Congress to this Leavenworth constitution, +but when the Lecompton constitution was finally +submitted to the people by Congress, in August, +1858, it was defeated by more than 11,000 votes in a +total of 13,000. Kansas was henceforth in the hands +of the actual settlers. A year later, at Wyandotte, +it made a fourth constitution, under which it at last +entered the union on January 29, 1861. "In the +Wyandotte Convention," says one of the local historians, +"there were a few Democrats and one or +two cranks, and probably both were of some use in +their way."</p> + +<p>There had been no white population in Kansas in +1853, and no special desire to create one. But the +political struggle had advertised the territory on a +large scale, while the whole West was under the influence +of the agricultural boom that was extending +settlement into Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Iowa. +Governor Reeder's census in 1855 found that about +8500 had come in since the erection of the territory. +The rioting and fighting, the rumors of Sharpe rifles +and the stories of Lawrence and Potawatomi, +instead of frightening settlers away, drew them there +in increasing thousands. Some few came from the +South, but the northern majority was overwhelming +before the panic of 1857 laid its heavy hand<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">137</a></span> +upon expansion. There was a white population of +106,390 in 1860.</p> + +<p>The westward movement, under its normal influences, +had extended the range of prosperous agricultural +settlement into the Northwest in this past +decade. It had coöperated in the extension into that +part of the old desert now known as Kansas. But +chiefly politics, and secondly the call of the West, +is the order of causes which must explain the first +westward advance of the agricultural frontier since +1820. Even in 1860 the population of Kansas was +almost exclusively within a three days' journey of +the Missouri bend.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">138</a></span></p> + +<h2 title="CHAPTER IX PIKE'S PEAK OR BUST" class="vspace"><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX">CHAPTER IX</a><br /> + +<span class="subhead">"PIKE'S PEAK OR BUST"<a name="FNanchor_2" id="FNanchor_2" href="#Footnote_2" class="fnanchor">2</a></span></h2> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a name="Footnote_2" id="Footnote_2" href="#FNanchor_2" class="fnanchor">2</a> This chapter is in part based upon my article on "The Territory +of Colorado" which was published in <i>The American Historical +Review</i> in October, 1906.</p></div> + +<p class="p2">The territory of Kansas completed the political +organization of the prairies. Before 1854 there had +been a great stretch of land beyond Missouri and +the Indian frontier without any semblance of organization +or law. Indeed within the area whites had +been forbidden to enter, since here was the final +abode of the Indians. But with the Kansas-Nebraska +act all this was changed. In five years a +series of amorphous territories had been provided for +by law.</p> + +<p>Along the line of the frontier were now three distinct +divisions. From the Canadian border to the +fortieth parallel, Nebraska extended. Kansas lay +between 40° and 37°. Lying west of Arkansas, the +old Indian Country, now much reduced by partition, +embraced the rest. The whole plains country, +east of the mountains, was covered by these territorial +projects. Indian Territory was without the +government which its name implied, but popular +parlance regarded it as the others and refused to +see any difference among them.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">139</a></span></p> +<p>Beyond the mountain wall which formed the +western boundary of Kansas and Nebraska lay four +other territories equally without particular reason +for their shape and bounds. Oregon, acquired in +1846, had been divided in 1853 by a line starting +at the mouth of the Columbia and running east to the +Rockies, cutting off Washington territory on its +northern side. The Utah territory which figured in +the compromise of 1850, and which Mormon migration +had made necessary, extended between California +and the Rockies, from Oregon at 42° to New +Mexico at 37°. New Mexico, also of the compromise +year, reached from Texas to California, south +of 37°, and possessed at its northeast corner a panhandle +which carried it north to 38° in order to leave +in it certain old Mexican settlements.</p> + +<p>These divisions of the West embraced in 1854 +the whole of the country between California and the +states. As yet their boundaries were arbitrary and +temporary, but they presaged movements of population +which during the next quarter century should +break them up still further and provide real colonies +in place of the desert and the Indian Country. +Congress had no formative part in the work. Population +broke down barriers and showed the way, +while laws followed and legalized what had been +done. The map of 1854 reveals an intent to let the +mountain summit remain a boundary, and contains +no prophecy of the four states which were shortly to +appear.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">140</a></span></p> + +<div id="ip_140" class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> + <img class="nobdr" src="images/i-158.jpg" width="600" height="448" alt="" /> + <div class="caption"><p><span class="smcap">The West in 1854</span></p></div> + +<div class="captionc"><p>Great amorphous territories now covered all the plains, and the Rocky +Mountains were recognized only as a dividing line.</p></div></div> + +<p>For several decades the area of Kansas territory, +and the southern part of Nebraska, had been well +known as the range of the plains Indians,—Pawnee +and Sioux, Arapaho and Cheyenne, Kiowa, Comanche +and Apache. Through this range the caravans +had gone. Here had been constant military +expeditions as well. It was a common summer's +campaign for a dragoon regiment to go out from Fort +Leavenworth to the mountains by either the Arkansas +or Platte route, to skirt the eastern slopes along +the southern fork of the Platte, and return home +by the other trail. Those military demonstrations,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">141</a></span> +which were believed to be needed to impress the +tribes, had made this march a regular performance. +Colonel Dodge had done it in the thirties, Sumner +and Sedgwick did it in 1857, and there had been numerous +others in between. A well-known trail had +been worn in this wise from Fort Laramie, on the +north, through St. Vrain's, crossing the South Platte +at Cherry Creek, past the Fontaine qui Bouille, and +on to Bent's Fort and the New Mexican towns. +Yet Kansas had slight interest in its western end. +Along the Missouri the sections were quarrelling +over slavery, but they had scarcely scratched the +soil for one-fourth of the length of the territory.</p> + +<p>The crest of the continent, lying at the extreme +west of Kansas, lay between the great trails, so that +it was off the course of the chief migrations, and +none visited it for its own sake. The deviating +trails, which commenced at the Missouri bend, were +some 250 miles apart at the one hundred and third +meridian. Here was the land which Kansas baptized +in 1855 as the county of Arapahoe, and whence arose +the hills around Pike's Peak, which rumor came in +three years more to tip with gold.</p> + +<p>The discovery of gold in California prepared the +public for similar finds in other parts of the West. +With many of the emigrants prospecting had become +a habit that sent small bands into the mountain +valleys from Washington to New Mexico. Stories +of success in various regions arose repeatedly during +the fifties and are so reasonable that it is not possible<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">142</a></span> +to determine with certainty the first finds in many +localities. Any mountain stream in the whole +system might be expected to contain some gold, but +deposits large enough to justify a boom were slow +in coming.</p> + +<p>In January, 1859, six quills of gold, brought in to +Omaha from the mountains, confirmed the rumors +of a new discovery that had been persistent for several +months. The previous summer had seen organized +attempts to locate in the Pike's Peak region +the deposits whose existence had been believed in, +more or less, since 1850. Parties from the gold +fields of Georgia, from Lawrence, and from Lecompton +are known to have been in the field and to have +started various mushroom settlements. El Paso, +near the present site of Colorado Springs, appeared, +as well as a group of villages at the confluence of the +South Platte and the half-dry bottom of Cherry +Creek,—Montana, Auraria, Highland, and St. +Charles. Most of the gold-seekers returned to the +States before winter set in, but a few, encouraged by +trifling finds, remained to occupy their flimsy cabins +or to jump the claims of the absentees. In the +sands of Cherry Creek enough gold was found to hold +the finders and to start a small migration thither +in the autumn. In the early winter the groups on +Cherry Creek coalesced and assumed the name of +Denver City.</p> + +<p>The news of Pike's Peak gold reached the Missouri +Valley at the strategic moment when the newness of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">143</a></span> +Kansas had worn off, and the depression of 1857 had +brought bankruptcy to much of the frontier. The +adventurous pioneers, who were always ready to +move, had been reënforced by individuals down on +their luck and reduced to any sort of extremity. +The way had been prepared for a heavy emigration +to the new diggings which started in the fall of 1858 +and assumed great volume in the spring of 1859.</p> + +<p>The edge of the border for these emigrants was not +much farther west than it had been for emigrants of +the preceding decade. A few miles from the Missouri +River all traces of Kansas or Nebraska disappeared, +whether one advanced by the Platte or the Arkansas, +or by the intermediate routes of the Smoky Hill and +Republican. The destination was less than half as +far away as California had been. No mountains and +no terrible deserts were to be crossed. The costs and +hardships of the journey were less than any that had +heretofore separated the frontier from a western goal. +There is a glimpse of the bustling life around the head +of the trails in a letter which General W. T. Sherman +wrote to his brother John from Leavenworth City, +on April 30, 1859: "At this moment we are in +the midst of a rush to Pike's Peak. Steamboats +arrive in twos and threes each day, loaded with +people for the new gold region. The streets are full +of people buying flour, bacon, and groceries, with +wagons and outfits, and all around the town are +little camps preparing to go west. A daily stage +goes west to Fort Riley, 135 miles, and every morning<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">144</a></span> +two spring wagons, drawn by four mules and capable +of carrying six passengers, start for the Peak, distance +six hundred miles, the journey to be made in +twelve days. As yet the stages all go out and don't +return, according to the plan for distributing the +carriages; but as soon as they are distributed, there +will be two going and two returning, making a good +line of stages to Pike's Peak. Strange to say, even +yet, although probably 25,000 people have actually +gone, we are without authentic advices of gold. Accounts +are generally favorable as to words and descriptions, +but no positive physical evidence comes +in the shape of gold, and I will be incredulous until I +know some considerable quantity comes in in way +of trade."</p> + +<div id="ip_144" class="figcenter" style="width: 438px;"> + <img class="nobdr" src="images/i-163.jpg" width="438" height="600" alt="" /> + <div class="caption"><p>"<span class="smcap">Ho for the Yellow Stone</span>"</p></div> + +<div class="captionc"><p>Reproduced by permission of the Montana Historical Society, from the original handbill in +its possession.</p></div></div> + +<p>Throughout the United States newspapers gave full +notice to the new boom, while a "Pike's Peak Guide," +based on a journal kept by one of the early parties, +found a ready sale. No single movement had ever +carried so heavy a migration upon the plains as this, +which in one year must have taken nearly 100,000 +pioneers to the mountains. "Pike's Peak or Bust!" +was a common motto blazoned on their wagon +covers. The sawmill, the press, and the stage-coach +were all early on the field. Byers, long a great +editor in Denver, arrived in April to distribute an +edition of his <i>Rocky Mountain News</i>, which he had +printed on one side before leaving Omaha. Thenceforth +the diggings were consistently advertised by a +resident enthusiast. Early in May the first coach of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">145</a></span> +the Leavenworth and Pike's Peak Express Company +brought Henry Villard into Denver. In June came +no less a personage than Horace Greeley to see for +himself the new wonder. "Mine eyes have never yet +been blessed with the sight of any floor whatever +in either Denver or Auraria," he could write of the +village of huts which he inspected. The seal of +approval which his letters set upon the enterprise +did much to encourage it.</p> + +<p>With the rush of prospectors to the hills, numerous +new camps quickly appeared. Thirty +miles north along the foothills and mesas Boulder +marked the exit of a mountain creek upon the +plains. Behind Denver, in Clear Creek Valley, +were Golden, at the mouth, and Black Hawk and +Central City upon the north fork of the stream. +Idaho Springs and Georgetown were on its south +fork. Here in the Gregory district was the active +life of the diggings. The great extent of the gold +belt to the southwest was not yet fully known. +Farther south was Pueblo, on the Arkansas, and a +line of little settlements working up the valley, by +Canyon City to Oro, where Leadville now stands.</p> + +<p>Reaction followed close upon the heels of the +boom, beginning its work before the last of the outward +bound had reached the diggings. Gold was +to be found in trifling quantities in many places, +but the mob of inexperienced miners had little +chance for fortune. The great deposits, which were +some months in being discovered, were in refractory<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">146</a></span> +quartz lodes, calling for heavy stamp mills, chemical +processes, and, above all, great capital for their +working. Even for laborers there was no demand +commensurate with the number of the fifty-niners. +Hence, more than half of these found their way +back to the border before the year was over, bitter, +disgusted, and poor, scrawling on deserted wagons, in +answer to the outward motto, "Busted! By Gosh!"</p> + +<p>The problem of government was born when the +first squatters ran the lines of Denver City. Here +was a new settlement far away from the seat of territorial +government, while the government itself was +impotent. Kansas had no legislature competent to +administer law at home—far less in outlying colonies. +But spontaneous self-government came easily to the +new town. "Just to think," wrote one of the pioneers +in his diary, "that within two weeks of the +arrival of a few dozen Americans in a wilderness, they +set to work to elect a Delegate to the United States +Congress, and ask to be set apart as a new Territory! +But we are of a fast race and in a fast age and must +prod along." An early snow in November, 1858, +had confined the miners to their cabins and started +politics. The result had been the election of two +delegates, one to Congress and one to Kansas legislature, +both to ask for governmental direction. Kansas +responded in a few weeks, creating five new +counties west of 104°, and chartering a city of St. +Charles, long after St. Charles had been merged into +Denver. Congress did nothing.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">147</a></span> +The prospective immigration of 1859 inspired +further and more comprehensive attempts at local +government. It was well understood that the news +of gold would send in upon Denver a wave of population +and perhaps a reign of lawlessness. The +adjournment of Congress without action in their +behalf made it certain that there could be no aid from +this quarter for at least a year, and became the +occasion for a caucus in Denver over which William +Larimer presided on April 11, 1859. As a result of +this caucus, a call was issued for a convention of +representatives of the neighboring mining camps to +meet in the same place four days later. On April +15, six camps met through their delegates, "being +fully impressed with the belief, from early and recent +precedents, of the power and benefits and duty of +self-government," and feeling an imperative necessity +"for an immediate and adequate government, +for the large population now here and soon to be +among us ... and also believing that a territorial +government is not such as our large and peculiarly +situated population demands."</p> + +<p>The deliberations thus informally started ended in +a formal call for a constitutional convention to meet +in Denver on the first Monday in June, for the purpose, +as an address to the people stated, of framing a +constitution for a new "state of Jefferson." "Shall +it be," the address demanded, "the government of +the knife and the revolver, or shall we unite in forming +here in our golden country, among the ravines and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">148</a></span> +gulches of the Rocky Mountains, and the fertile +valleys of the Arkansas and the Platte, a new +and independent State?" The boundaries of the +prospective state were named in the call as the one +hundred and second and one hundred and tenth +meridians of longitude, and the thirty-seventh +and forty-third parallels of north latitude—including +with true frontier amplitude large portions of +Utah and Nebraska and nearly half of Wyoming, +in addition to the present state of Colorado.</p> + +<p>When the statehood convention met in Denver on +June 6, the time was inopportune for concluding +the movement, since the reaction had set in. The +height of the gold boom was over, and the return +migration left it somewhat doubtful whether any +permanent population would remain in the country +to need a state. So the convention met on the 6th, +appointed some eight drafting committees, and adjourned, +to await developments, until August 1. +By this later date, the line had been drawn between +the confident and the discouraged elements in the +population, and for six days the convention worked +upon the question of statehood. As to permanency +there was now no doubt; but the body divided into +two nearly equal groups, one advocating immediate +statehood, the other shrinking from the heavy taxation +incident to a state establishment and so preferring +a territorial government with a federal treasury +behind it. The body, too badly split to reach a conclusion +itself, compromised by preparing the way<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">149</a></span> +for either development and leaving the choice to a +public vote. A state constitution was drawn up +on one hand; on the other, was prepared a memorial +to Congress praying for a territorial government, and +both documents were submitted to a vote on September +5. Pursuant to the memorial, which was +adopted, another election was held on October 3, +at which the local agent of the new Leavenworth +and Pike's Peak Express Company, Beverly D. +Williams, was chosen as delegate to Congress.</p> + +<p>The adoption of the territorial memorial failed to +meet the need for immediate government or to +prevent the advocates of such government from +working out a provisional arrangement pending the +action of Congress. On the day that Williams was +elected, these advocates chose delegates for a preliminary +territorial constitutional convention which +met a week later. "Here we go," commented +Byers, "a regular triple-headed government machine; +south of 40 deg. we hang on to the skirts of Kansas; +north of 40 deg. to those of Nebraska; straddling the +line, we have just elected a Delegate to the United +States Congress from the 'Territory of Jefferson,' +and ere long we will have in full blast a provisional +government of Rocky Mountain growth and manufacture." +In this convention of October 10, 1859, +the name of Jefferson was retained for the new +territory; the boundaries of April 15 were retained, +and a government similar to the highest type of +territorial establishment was provided for. If the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">150</a></span> +convention had met on the authority of an enabling +act, its career could not have been more dignified. +Its constitution was readily adopted, while officers +under it were chosen in an orderly election on October +24. Robert W. Steele, of Ohio, became its governor. +On November 7 he met his legislature and delivered +his first inaugural address.</p> + +<p>The territory of Jefferson which thus came into +existence in the Pike's Peak region illustrates well +the spirit of the American frontier. The fundamental +principle of American government which Byers expressed +in connection with it is applicable at all +times in similar situations. "We claim," he wrote +in his <i>Rocky Mountain News</i>, "that any body, or +community of American citizens, which from any +cause or under any circumstance is cut off from, or +from isolation is so situated as not to be under, any +active and protecting branch of the central government, +have a right, if on American soil, to frame a +government, and enact such laws and regulations as +may be necessary for their own safety, protection, +and happiness, always with the condition precedent, +that they shall, at the earliest moment when the central +government shall extend an <i>effective</i> organization +and laws over them, give it their unqualified support +and obedience." The life of the spontaneous commonwealth +thus called into existence is a creditable +witness to the American instinct for orderly government.</p> + +<p>When Congress met in December, 1859, the provisional<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">151</a></span> +territory of Jefferson was in operation, while +its delegates in Washington were urging the need for +governmental action. To their influence, President +Buchanan added, on February 20, 1860, a message +transmitting the petition from the Pike's Peak country. +The Senate, upon April 3, received a report +from the Committee on Territories introducing Senate +Bill No. 366, for the erection of Colorado territory, +while Grow of Pennsylvania reported to the +House on May 10 a bill to erect in the same region a +territory of Idaho. The name of Jefferson disappeared +from the project in the spring of 1860, its +place being taken by sundry other names for the same +mountain area. Several weeks were given, in part, +to debate over this Colorado-Idaho scheme, though +as usual the debate turned less upon the need for +this territorial government than upon the attitude +which the bill should take toward the slavery issue. +The slavery controversy prevented territorial legislation +in this session, but the reasonableness of the +Colorado demand was well established.</p> + +<p>The territory of Jefferson, as organized in November, +1859, had been from the first recognized as +merely a temporary expedient. The movement +for it had gained weight in the summer of that year +from the probability that it need not be maintained +for many months. When Congress, however, failed +in the ensuing session of 1859–1860 to grant the +relief for which the pioneers had prayed, the wisdom +of continuing for a second year the life of a government<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">152</a></span> +admitted to be illegal came into question. +The first session of its legislature had lasted from +November 7, 1859, to January 25, 1860. It +had passed comprehensive laws for the regulation of +titles in lands, water, and mines, and had adopted +civil and criminal codes. Its courts had been established +and had operated with some show of +authority. But the service and obedience to the +government had been voluntary, no funds being on +hand for the payment of salaries and expenses. One +of the pioneers from Vermont wrote home, "There is +no hopes [<i xml:lang="la" lang="la">sic</i>] of perfect quiet in our governmental +matters until we are securely under the wing of our +National Eagle." In his proclamation calling the +second election Governor Steele announced that +"all persons who expect to be elected to any of the +above offices should bear in mind that there will be +no salaries or per diem allowed from this territory, +but that the General Government will be memorialized +to aid us in our adversity."</p> + +<p>Upon this question of revenue the territory of +Jefferson was wrecked. Taxes could not be collected, +since citizens had only to plead grave doubts +as to the legality in order to evade payment. "We +have tried a Provisional Government, and how has +it worked," asked William Larimer in announcing +his candidacy for the office of territorial delegate. +"It did well enough until an attempt was made to +tax the people to support it." More than this, the +real need for the government became less apparent<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">153</a></span> +as 1860 advanced, for the scattered communities +learned how to obtain a reasonable peace without +it. American mining camps are peculiarly free from +the need for superimposed government. The new +camp at once organizes itself on a democratic basis, +and in mass meeting registers claims, hears and +decides suits, and administers summary justice. +Since the Pike's Peak country was only a group of +mining camps, there proved to be little immediate +need for a central government, for in the local mining-district +organizations all of the most pressing +needs of the communities could be satisfied. So +loyalty to the territory of Jefferson, in the districts +outside of Denver, waned during 1860, and in the +summer of that year had virtually disappeared. Its +administration, however, held together. Governor +Steele made efforts to rehabilitate its authority, +was himself reëlected, and met another legislature +in November.</p> + +<p>When the thirty-sixth Congress met for its second +session in December, 1860, the Jefferson organization +was in the second year of its life, yet in Congress +there was no better prospect of quick action than +there had been since 1857. Indeed the election of +Lincoln brought out the eloquence of the slavery +question with a renewed vigor that monopolized the +time and strength of Congress until the end of January. +Had not the departure of the southern members +to their states cleared the way for action, it +is highly improbable that even this session would +have produced results of importance.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">154</a></span> +Grow had announced in the beginning of the session +a territorial platform similar to that which had +been under debate for three years. Until the close +of January the southern valedictories held the floor, +but at last the admission of Kansas, on January 29, +1861, revealed the fact that pro-slavery opposition +had departed and that the long-deferred territorial +scheme could have a fair chance. On the very day +that Kansas was admitted, with its western boundary +at the twenty-fifth meridian from Washington, the +Senate revived its bill No. 366 of the last session +and took up its deliberation upon a territory for +Pike's Peak. Only by chance did the name Colorado +remain attached to the bill. Idaho was at one +time adopted, but was amended out in favor of the +original name when the bill at last passed the Senate. +The boundaries were cut down from those which the +territory had provided for itself. Two degrees were +taken from the north of the territory, and three +from the west. In this shape, between 37° and +41° north latitude, and 25° and 32° of longitude +west of Washington, the bill received the signature +of President Buchanan on February 28. The +absence of serious debate in the passage of this +Colorado act is excellent evidence of the merit of +the scheme and the reasons for its being so long +deferred.</p> + +<p>President Buchanan, content with approving the +bill, left the appointment of the first officials for +Colorado to his successor. In the multitude of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">155</a></span> +greater problems facing President Lincoln, this was +neglected for several weeks, but he finally commissioned +General William Gilpin as the first +governor of the territory. Gilpin had long known +the mountain frontier; he had commanded a detachment +on the Santa Fé trail in the forties, and he had +written prophetic books upon the future of the +country to which he was now sent. His loyalty +was unquestioned and his readiness to assume responsibility +went so far as perhaps to cease to be a +virtue. He arrived in Denver on May 29, 1861, +and within a few days was ready to take charge of +the government and to receive from the hands of +Governor Steele such authority as remained in the +provisional territory of Jefferson.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">156</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="vspace"><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X">CHAPTER X</a><br /> + +<span class="subhead">FROM ARIZONA TO MONTANA</span></h2> + +<p>The Pike's Peak boom was only one in a series of +mining episodes which, within fifteen years of the +discoveries in California, let in the light of exploration +and settlement upon hundreds of valleys +scattered over the whole of the Rocky Mountain +West. The men who exploited California had +generally been amateur miners, acquiring skill by +bitter experience; but the next decade developed a +professional class, mobile as quicksilver, restless +and adventurous as all the West, which permeated +into the most remote recesses of the mountains and +produced before the Civil War was over, as the direct +result of their search for gold, not only Colorado, +but Nevada and Arizona, Idaho and Montana. +Activity was constant during these years all along +the continental divide. New camps were being +born overnight, old ones were abandoned by magic. +Here and there cities rose and remained to mark +success in the search. Abandoned huts and half-worked +diggings were scars covering a fourth of the +continent.</p> + +<p>Colorado, in the summer of 1859, attracted the +largest of migrations, but while Denver was being<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">157</a></span> +settled there began, farther west, a boom which for +the present outdid it in significance. The old +California trail from Salt Lake crossed the Nevada +desert and entered California by various passes +through the Sierra Nevadas. Several trading posts +had been planted along this trail by Mormons and +others during the fifties, until in 1854 the legislature +of Utah had created a Carson County in the west +end of the territory for the benefit of the settlements +along the river of the same name. Small discoveries +of gold were enough to draw to this district a floating +population which founded a Carson City as early as +1858. But there were no indications of a great excitement +until after the finding of a marvellously +rich vein of silver near Gold Hill in the spring of 1859. +Here, not far from Mt. Davidson and but a few +miles east of Lake Tahoe and the Sierras, was the +famous Comstock lode, upon which it was possible +within five years to build a state.</p> + +<p>The California population, already rushing about +from one boom to another in perpetual prospecting, +seized eagerly upon this new district in western +Utah. The stage route by way of Sacramento and +Placerville was crowded beyond capacity, while +hundreds marched over the mountains on foot. +"There was no difficulty in reaching the newly +discovered region of boundless wealth," asserted a +journalistic visitor. "It lay on the public highway +to California, on the borders of the state. From +Missouri, from Kansas and Nebraska, from Pike's<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">158</a></span> +Peak and Salt Lake, the tide of emigration poured +in. Transportation from San Francisco was easy. +I made the trip myself on foot almost in the dead +of winter, when the mountains were covered with +snow." Carson City had existed before the great +discovery. Virginia City, named for a renegade +southerner, nicknamed "Virginia," soon followed +it, while the typical population of the mining camps +piled in around the two.</p> + +<p>In 1860 miners came in from a larger area. The +new pony express ran through the heart of the +fields and aided in advertising them east and west. +Colorado was only one year ahead in the public eye. +Both camps obtained their territorial acts within the +same week, that of Nevada receiving Buchanan's +signature on March 2, 1861. All of Utah west +of the thirty-ninth meridian from Washington became +the new territory which, through the need of +the union for loyal votes, gained its admission as +a state in three more years.</p> + +<div id="ip_158" class="figcenter" style="width: 541px;"> + <img src="images/i-179.jpg" width="541" height="353" alt="" /> + <div class="caption"><p><span class="smcap">The Mining Camp</span></p></div> + +<div class="captionc"><p>From a photograph of Bannack, Montana, in the sixties. Loaned by the Montana Historical Society.</p></div></div> + +<p>The rush to Carson valley drew attention away +from another mining enterprise further south. In +the western half of New Mexico, between the Rio +Grande and the Colorado, there had been successful +mining ever since the acquisition of the territory. +The southwest boundary of the United States after +the Mexican War was defined in words that could not +possibly be applied to the face of the earth. This +fact, together with knowledge that an easy railway +grade ran south of the Gila River, had led in 1853<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">159</a></span> +to the purchase of additional land from Mexico +and the definition of a better boundary in the +Gadsden treaty. In these lands of the Gadsden +purchase old mines came to light in the years immediately +following. Sylvester Mowry and Charles +D. Poston were most active in promoting the mining +companies which revived abandoned claims and developed +new ones near the old Spanish towns of +Tubac and Tucson. The region was too remote +and life too hard for the individual miner to have +much chance. Organized mining companies here +took the place of the detached prospector of Colorado +and Nevada. Disappointed miners from California +came in, and perhaps "the Vigilance Committee +of San Francisco did more to populate the +new Territory than the silver mines. Tucson became +the headquarters of vice, dissipation, and +crime.... It was literally a paradise of devils." +Excessive dryness, long distances, and Apache depredation +discouraged rapid growth, yet the surveys +of the early fifties and the passage of the overland +mail through the camps in 1858 advertised the +Arizona settlement and enabled it to live.</p> + +<p>The outbreak of the Civil War extinguished for the +time the Mowry mines and others in the Santa Cruz +Valley, holding them in check till a second mineral +area in western New Mexico should be found. +United States army posts were abandoned, confederate +agents moved in, and Indians became bold. +The federal authority was not reëstablished until<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">160</a></span> +Colonel J. H. Carleton led his California column +across the Colorado and through New Mexico to +Tucson early in 1862. During the next two years +he maintained his headquarters at Santa Fé, carried +on punitive campaigns against the Navaho and the +Apache, and encouraged mining.</p> + +<p>The Indian campaigns of Carleton and his aides +in New Mexico have aroused much controversy. +There were no treaty rights by which the United +States had privileges of colonization and development. +It was forcible entry and retention, maintained +in the face of bitter opposition. Carleton, +with Kit Carson's assistance, waged a war of scarcely +concealed extermination. They understood, he reported +to Washington, "the direct application of +force as a law. If its application be removed, that +moment they become lawless. This has been tried +over and over and over again, and at great expense. +The purpose now is never to relax the application +of force with a people that can no more be trusted +than you can trust the wolves that run through +their mountains; to gather them together little by +little, on to a reservation, away from the haunts, +and hills, and hiding-places of their country, and +then to be kind to them; there teach their children +how to read and write, teach them the arts of peace; +teach them the truths of Christianity. Soon they +will acquire new habits, new ideas, new modes of +life; the old Indians will die off, and carry with them +all the latent longings for murdering and robbing;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">161</a></span> +the young ones will take their places without these +longings; and thus, little by little, they will become +a happy and contented people."</p> + +<p>Mowry's mines had been seized by Carleton at +the start, as tainted with treason. The whole +Tucson district was believed to be so thoroughly in +sympathy with the confederacy that the commanding +officer was much relieved when rumors came of a +new placer gold field along the left bank of the Colorado +River, around Bill Williams Creek. Thither +the population of the territory moved as fast as it +could. Teamsters and other army employees deserted +freely. Carleton deliberately encouraged +surveying and prospecting, and wrote personally +to General Halleck and Postmaster-general Blair, +congratulating them because his California column +had found the gold with which to suppress the confederacy. +"One of the richest gold countries in +the world," he described it to be, destined to be the +centre of a new territorial life, and to throw into the +shade "the insignificant village of Tucson."</p> + +<p>The population of the silver camp had begun +to urge Congress to provide a territory independent +of New Mexico, immediately after the development +of the Mowry mines. Delegates and petitions had +been sent to Washington in the usual style. But +congressional indifference to new territories had +blocked progress. The new discoveries reopened +the case in 1862 and 1863. Forgetful of his Indian +wards and their rights, the Superintendent of Indian<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">162</a></span> +Affairs had told of the sad peril of the "unprotected +miners" who had invaded Indian territory of clear +title. They would offer to the "numerous and +warlike tribes" an irresistible opportunity. The +territorial act was finally passed on February 24, +1863, while the new capital was fixed in the heart +of the new gold field, at Fort Whipple, near which +the city of Prescott soon appeared.</p> + +<p>The Indian danger in Arizona was not ended by +the erection of a territorial government. There never +came in a population large enough to intimidate +the tribes, while bad management from the start +provoked needless wars. Most serious were the +Apache troubles which began in 1861 and ceased +only after Crook's campaigns in the early seventies. +In this struggle occurred the massacre at Camp +Grant in 1871, when citizens of Tucson, with careful +premeditation, murdered in cold blood more +than eighty Apache, men, women, and children. +The degree of provocation is uncertain, but the +disposition of Tucson, as Mowry has phrased it, +was not such as to strengthen belief in the justice of +the attack: "There is only one way to wage war +against the Apache. A steady, persistent campaign +must be made, following them to their haunts—hunting +them to the 'fastnesses of the mountains.' +They must be surrounded, starved into coming in, +surprised or inveigled—by white flags, or any other +method, human or divine—and then put to death. +If these ideas shock any weak-minded individual<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">163</a></span> +who thinks himself a philanthropist, I can only say +that I pity without respecting his mistaken sympathy. +A man might as well have sympathy for +a rattlesnake or a tiger."</p> + +<p>The mines of Arizona, though handicapped by +climate and inaccessibility, brought life into the +extreme Southwest. Those of Nevada worked the +partition of Utah. Farther to the north the old +Oregon country gave out its gold in these same +years as miners opened up the valleys of the Snake +and the head waters of the Missouri River. Right +on the crest of the continental divide appeared the +northern group of mining camps.</p> + +<p>The territory of Washington had been cut away +from Oregon at its own request and with Oregon's +consent in 1853. It had no great population and +was the subject of no agricultural boom as Oregon +had been, but the small settlements on Puget Sound +and around Olympia were too far from the Willamette +country for convenient government. When +Oregon was admitted in 1859, Washington was +made to include all the Oregon country outside the +state, embracing the present Washington and Idaho, +portions of Montana and Wyoming, and extending +to the continental divide. Through it ran the overland +trail from Fort Hall almost to Walla Walla. +Because of its urging Congress built a new wagon +road that was passable by 1860 from Fort Benton, +on the upper Missouri, to the junction of the Columbia +and Snake. Farther east the active business<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">164</a></span> +of the American Fur Company had by 1859 established +steamboat communication from St. Louis +to Fort Benton, so that an overland route to rival +the old Platte trail was now available.</p> + +<p>In eastern Washington the most important of the +Indians were the Nez Percés, whose peaceful habits +and friendly disposition had been noted since the +days of Lewis and Clark, and who had permitted +their valley of the Snake to become a main route to +Oregon. Treaties with these had been made in 1855 +by Governor Stevens, in accordance with which +most of the tribe were in 1860 living on their reserve +at the junction of the Clearwater and Snake, and +were fairly prosperous. Here as elsewhere was the +specific agreement that no whites save government +employees should be allowed in the Indian Country; +but in the summer of 1861 the news that gold had +been found along the Clearwater brought the agreement +to naught. Gold had actually been discovered +the summer before. In the spring of 1861 pack +trains from Walla Walla brought a horde of miners +east over the range, while steamboats soon found +their way up the Snake. In the fork between the +Clearwater and Snake was a good landing where, in +the autumn of 1861, sprang up the new Lewiston, +named in honor of the great explorer, acting as +centre of life for five thousand miners in the district, +and showing by its very existence on the Indian reserve +the futility of treaty restrictions in the face +of the gold fever. The troubles of the Indian<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">165</a></span> +department were great. "To attempt to restrain +miners would be, to my mind, like attempting to +restrain the whirlwind," reported Superintendent +Kendall. "The history of California, Australia, +Frazer river, and even of the country of which I am +now writing, furnishes abundant evidence of the +attractive power of even only reported gold discoveries.</p> + +<p>"The mines on Salmon river have become a fixed +fact, and are equalled in richness by few recorded +discoveries. Seeing the utter impossibility of preventing +miners from going to the mines, I have refrained +from taking any steps which, by certain +want of success, would tend to weaken the force of +the law. At the same time I as carefully avoided +giving any consent to unauthorized statements, +and verbally instructed the agent in charge that, +while he might not be able to enforce the laws for +want of means, he must give no consent to any attempt +to lay out a town at the juncture of the Snake +and Clearwater rivers, as he had expressed a desire +of doing."</p> + +<p>Continued developments proved that Lewiston +was in the centre of a region of unusual mineral +wealth. The Clearwater finds were followed closely +by discoveries on the Salmon River, another tributary +of the Snake, a little farther south. The Boisé +mines came on the heels of this boom, being followed +by a rush to the Owyhee district, south of the great +bend of the Snake. Into these various camps poured<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">166</a></span> +the usual flood of miners from the whole West. Before +1862 was over eastern Washington had outgrown +the bounds of the territorial government on Puget +Sound. Like the Pike's Peak diggings, and the +placers of the Colorado Valley, and the Carson and +Virginia City camps, these called for and received +a new territorial establishment.</p> + +<p>In 1860 the territories of Washington and Nebraska +had met along a common boundary at the +top of the Rocky Mountains. Before Washington +was divided in 1863, Nebraska had changed its shape +under the pressure of a small but active population +north of its seat of government. The centres of +population in Nebraska north of the Platte River +represented chiefly overflows from Iowa and Minnesota. +Emigrating from these states farmers had by +1860 opened the country on the left bank of the Missouri, +in the region of the Yankton Sioux. The Missouri +traffic had developed both shores of the river +past Fort Pierre and Fort Union to Fort Benton, by +1859. To meet the needs of the scattered people +here Nebraska had been partitioned in 1861 along +the line of the Missouri and the forty-third parallel. +Dakota had been created out of the country thus cut +loose and in two years more shared in the fate +of eastern Washington. Idaho was established in +1863 to provide home rule for the miners of the +new mineral region. It included a great rectangle, +on both sides of the Rockies, reaching south to Utah +and Nebraska, west to its present western boundary<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">167</a></span> +at Oregon and 117°, east to 104°, the present +eastern line of Montana and Wyoming. Dakota +and Washington were cut down for its sake.</p> + +<p>It seemed, in 1862 and 1863, as though every little +rivulet in the whole mountain country possessed its +treasures to be given up to the first prospector with +the hardihood to tickle its soil. Four important +districts along the upper course of the Snake, not to +mention hundreds of minor ones, lent substance to +this appearance. Almost before Idaho could be organized +its area of settlement had broadened enough +to make its own division in the near future a certainty. +East of the Bitter Root Mountains, in the +head waters of the Missouri tributaries, came a long +series of new booms.</p> + +<p>When the American Fur Company pushed its +little steamer <i>Chippewa</i> up to the vicinity of Fort +Benton in 1859, none realized that a new era for +the upper Missouri had nearly arrived. For half +a century the fur trade had been followed in this +region and had dotted the country with tiny forts +and palisades, but there had been no immigration, +and no reason for any. The Mullan road, which +Congress had authorized in 1855, was in course of +construction from Fort Benton to Walla Walla, but +as yet there were few immigrants to follow the new +route. Considerably before the territory of Idaho +was created, however, the active prospectors of the +Snake Valley had crossed the range and inspected +most of the Blackfoot country in the direction of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">168</a></span> +Fort Benton. They had organized for themselves +a Missoula County, Washington territory, in July, +1862, an act which may be taken as the beginning +of an entirely new movement.</p> + +<p>Two brothers, James and Granville Stuart, were +the leaders in developing new mineral areas east of +the main range. After experience in California and +several years of life along the trails, they settled +down in the Deer Lodge Valley, and began to open +up their mines in 1861. They accomplished little +this year since the steamboat to Fort Benton, carrying +supplies, was burned, and their trip to Walla +Walla for shovels and picks took up the rest of the +season. But early in 1862 they were hard and successfully +at work. Reënforcements, destined for the +Salmon River mines farther west, came to them in +June; one party from Fort Benton, the other from +the Colorado diggings, and both were easily persuaded +to stay and join in organizing Missoula +County. Bannack City became the centre of their +operations.</p> + +<p>Alder Gulch and Virginia City were, in 1863, a +second focus for the mines of eastern Idaho. Their +deposits had been found by accident by a prospecting +party which was returning to Bannack City after +an unsuccessful trip. The party, which had been +investigating the Big Horn Mountains, discovered +Alder Gulch between the Beaver Head and Madison +rivers, early in June. With an accurate knowledge +of the mining population, the discoverers organized<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">169</a></span> +the mining district and registered their own +claims before revealing the location of the new diggings. +Then came a stampede from Bannack City +which gave to Virginia City a population of 10,000 +by 1864.</p> + +<p>Another mining district, in Last Chance Gulch, +gave rise in 1864 to Helena, the last of the great boom +towns of this period. Its situation as well as its +resources aided in the growth of Helena, which lay a +little west of the Madison fork of the Missouri, and +in the direct line from Bannack and Virginia City to +Fort Benton. Only 142 miles of easy staging above +the head of Missouri River navigation, it was a +natural post on the main line of travel to the northwest +fields.</p> + +<p>The excitement over Bannack and Virginia and +Helena overlapped in years the period of similar +boom in Idaho. It had begun even before Idaho +had been created. When this was once organized, +the same inconveniences which had justified it, +justified as well its division to provide home rule for +the miners east of the Bitter Root range. An act of +1864 created Montana territory with the boundaries +which the state possesses to-day, while that part of +Idaho south of Montana, now Wyoming, was temporarily +reattached to Dakota. Idaho assumed its +present form. The simultaneous development in all +portions of the great West of rich mining camps did +much to attract public attention as well as population.</p> + +<p>In 1863 nearly all of the camps were flourishing.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">170</a></span> +The mountains were occupied for the whole distance +from Mexico to Canada, while the trails were +crowded with emigrants hunting for fortune. The +old trails bore much of the burden of migration as +usual, but new spurs were opened to meet new needs. +In the north, the Mullan road had made easy travel +from Fort Benton to Walla Walla, and had been completed +since 1862. Congress authorized in 1864 a new +road from eastern Nebraska, which should run north +of the Platte trail, and the war department had sent +out personally conducted parties of emigrants from +the vicinity of St. Paul. The Idaho and Montana +mines were accessible from Fort Hall, the former by +the old emigrant road, the latter by a new northeast +road to Virginia City. The Carson mines were on +the main line of the California road. The Arizona +fields were commonly reached from California, by +way of Fort Yuma.</p> + +<p>The shifting population which inhabited the new +territories invites and at the same time defies description. +It was made up chiefly of young men. +Respectable women were not unknown, but were so +few in number as to have little measurable influence +upon social life. In many towns they were in the +minority, even among their sex, since the easily won +wealth of the camps attracted dissolute women who +cannot be numbered but who must be imagined. +The social tone of the various camps was determined +by the preponderance of men, the absence of regular +labor, and the speculative fever which was the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">171</a></span> +justification of their existence. The political tone +was determined by the nature of the population, the +character of the industry, and the remoteness from +a seat of government. Combined, these factors produced +a type of life the like of which America had +never known, and whose picturesque qualities have +blinded the thoughtless into believing that it was romantic. +It was at best a hard bitter struggle with +the dark places only accentuated by the tinsel of +gambling and adventure.</p> + +<p>A single street meandering along a valley, with one-story +huts flanking it in irregular rows, was the typical +mining camp. The saloon and the general store, +sometimes combined, were its representative institutions. +Deep ruts along the street bore witness to +the heavy wheels of the freighters, while horses +loosely tied to all available posts at once revealed the +regular means of locomotion, and by the careless +way they were left about showed that this sort of +property was not likely to be stolen. The mining +population centring here lived a life of contrasts. +The desolation and loneliness of prospecting and +working claims alternated with the excitement of +coming to town. Few decent beings habitually +lived in the towns. The resident population expected +to live off the miners, either in way of trade, +or worse. The bar, the gambling-house, the dance-hall +have been made too common in description to +need further account. In the reaction against loneliness, +the extremes of drunkenness, debauchery, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">172</a></span> +murder were only too frequent in these places of +amusement.</p> + +<p>That the camps did not destroy themselves in their +own frenzy is a tribute to the solid qualities which +underlay the recklessness and shiftlessness of much +of the population. In most of the camps there came +a time when decency finally asserted itself in the +only possible way to repress lawlessness. The rapidity +with which these camps had drawn their hundreds +and their thousands into the fastnesses of the +territories carried them beyond the limits of ordinary +law and regular institutions. Law and the +politician followed fast enough, but there was generally +an interval after the discovery during which such +peace prevailed as the community itself demanded. +In absence of sheriff and constable, and jail in which +to incarcerate offenders, the vigilance committee was +the only protection of the new camp. Such summary +justice as these committees commonly executed is +evidence of innate tendency toward law and order, +not of their defiance. The typical camp passed +through a period of peaceful exploitation at the start, +then came an era of invasion by hordes of miners +and disreputable hangers-on, with accompanying violence +and crime. Following this, the vigilance committee, +in its stern repression of a few of the crudest +sins, marks the beginning of a reign of law.</p> + +<p>The mining camps of the early sixties familiarized +the United States with the whole area of the +nation, and dispelled most of the remaining tradition<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">173</a></span> +of desert which hung over the mountain West. +They attracted a large floating population, they +secured the completion of the political map through +the erection of new territories, and they emphasized +loudly the need for national transportation on a +larger scale than the trail and the stage coach could +permit. But they did not directly secure the presence +of permanent population in the new territories. +Arizona and Nevada lost most of their inhabitants +as soon as the first flush of discovery was over. +Montana, Idaho, and Colorado declined rapidly to a +fraction of their largest size. None of them was successful +in securing a large permanent population until +agriculture had gained firm foothold. Many indeed +who came to mine remained to plough, but the permanent +populating of the Far West was the work of +railways and irrigation two decades later. Yet the +mining camps had served their purpose in revealing +the nature of the whole of the national domain.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">174</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="vspace"><a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI">CHAPTER XI</a><br /> + +<span class="subhead">THE OVERLAND MAIL</span></h2> + +<p>Close upon the heels of the overland migrations +came an organized traffic to supply their needs. +Oregon, Salt Lake, California, and all the later gold +fields, drew population away from the old Missouri +border, scattered it in little groups over the face of +the desert, and left it there crying for sustenance. +Many of the new colonies were not self-supporting +for a decade or more; few of them were independent +within a year or two. In all there was a strong demand +for necessities and luxuries which must be +hauled from the states to the new market by the +routes which the pioneers themselves had travelled. +Greater than their need for material supplies was that +for intellectual stimulus. Letters, newspapers, and +the regular carriage of the mails were constantly demanded +of the express companies and the post-office +department. To meet this pressure there was organized +in the fifties a great system of wagon traffic. +In the years from 1858 to 1869 it reached its mighty +culmination; while its possibilities of speed, order, +and convenience had only just come to be realized +when the continental railways brought this agency +of transportation to an end.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">175</a></span> +The individual emigrant who had gathered together +his family, his flocks, and his household +goods, who had cut away from the life at home and +staked everything on his new venture, was the unit +in the great migrations. There was no regular provision +for going unless one could form his own self-contained +and self-supporting party. Various bands +grouped easily into larger bodies for common defence, +but the characteristic feature of the emigration was +private initiative. The home-seekers had no power +in themselves to maintain communication with +the old country, yet they had no disposition to be +forgotten or to forget. Professional freighting companies +and carriers of mails appeared just as soon as +the traffic promised a profit.</p> + +<p>A water mail to California had been arranged even +before the gold discovery lent a new interest to the +Pacific Coast. From New York to the Isthmus, +and thence to San Francisco, the mails were to be +carried by boats of the Pacific Mail Steamship Company, +which sent the nucleus of its fleet around +Cape Horn to Pacific waters in 1848. The arrival +of the first mail in San Francisco in February, +1849, commenced the regular public communication +between the United States and the new colonies. +For the places lying away from the coast, mails were +hauled under contract as early as 1849. Oregon, +Utah, New Mexico, and California were given a +measure of irregular and unsatisfactory service.</p> + +<p>There is little interest in the earlier phases of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">176</a></span> +overland mail service save in that they foreshadowed +greater things. A stage line was started from Independence +to Santa Fé in the summer of 1849; +another contract was let to a man named Woodson +for a monthly carriage to Salt Lake City. Neither +of the carriers made a serious attempt to stock his +route or open stations. Their stages advanced under +the same conditions, and with little more rapidity +than the ordinary emigrant or freighter. Mormon +interests organized a Great Salt Lake Valley Carrying +Company at about this time. For four or five years +both government and private industry were experimenting +with the problems of long-distance wagon +traffic,—the roads, the vehicles, the stock, the stations, +the supplies. Most picturesque was the effort +made in 1856, by the War Department, to acclimate +the Saharan camel on the American desert as a beast +of burden. Congress had appropriated $30,000 for +the experiment, in execution of which Secretary +Davis sent Lieutenant H. C. Wayne to the Levant to +purchase the animals. Some seventy-five camels +were imported into Texas and tested near San Antonio. +There is a long congressional document filled +with the correspondence of this attempt and embellished +with cuts of types of camels and equipment.</p> + +<p>While the camels were yet browsing on the Texas +plains, Congress made a more definite movement +towards supplying the Pacific Slope with adequate +service. It authorized the Postmaster-general in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">177</a></span> +1857 to call for bids for an overland mail which, in +a single organization, should join the Missouri to +Sacramento, and which should be subsidized to run +at a high scheduled speed. The service which the +Postmaster-general invited in his advertisement +was to be semi-weekly, weekly, or semi-monthly at +his discretion; it was to be for a term of six years; +it was to carry through the mails in four-horse +wagons in not more than twenty-five days. A long +list of bidders, including most of the firms engaged in +plains freighting, responded with their bids and +itineraries; from them the department selected the +offer of a company headed by one John Butterfield, +and explained to the public in 1857 the reasons for its +choice. The route to which the Butterfield contract +was assigned began at St. Louis and Memphis, made +a junction near the western border of Arkansas, +and proceeded thence through Preston, Texas, El +Paso, and Fort Yuma. For semi-weekly mails +the company was to receive $600,000 a year. The +choice of the most southern of routes required considerable +explanation, since the best-known road ran +by the Platte and South Pass. In criticising this +latter route the Postmaster-general pointed out the +cold and snow of winter, and claimed that the experience +of the department during seven years proved +the impossibility of maintaining a regular service +here. A second available road had been revealed +by the thirty-fifth parallel survey, across northern +Texas and through Albuquerque, New Mexico; but<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">178</a></span> +this was likewise too long and too severe. The best +route, in his mind—the one open all the year, +through a temperate climate, suitable for migration +as well as traffic—was this southern route, via El +Paso. It is well to remember that the administration +which made this choice was democratic and of +strong southern sympathies, and that the Pacific +railway was expected to follow the course of the +overland mail.</p> + +<p>The first overland coaches left the opposite ends +of the line on September 15, 1858. The east-bound +stage carried an agent of the Post-office Department, +whose report states that the through trip to Tipton, +Missouri, and thence by rail to St. Louis, was made +in 20 days, 18 hours, 26 minutes, actual time. "I +cordially congratulate you upon the result," wired +President Buchanan to Butterfield. "It is a glorious +triumph for civilization and the Union. Settlements +will soon follow the course of the road, and +the East and West will be bound together by a chain +of living Americans which can never be broken." +The route was 2795 miles long. For nearly all the +way there was no settlement upon which the stages +could rely. The company built such stations as it +needed.</p> + +<p>The vehicle of the overland mail, the most interesting +vehicle of the plains, was the coach manufactured +by the Abbott-Downing Company of Concord, +New Hampshire. No better wagon for the purpose +has been devised. Its heavy wheels, with wide, thick<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">179</a></span> +tires, were set far apart to prevent capsizing. Its +body, braced with iron bands, and built of stout white +oak, was slung on leather thoroughbraces which took +the strain better and were more nearly unbreakable +than any other springs. Inside were generally three +seats, for three passengers each, though at times +as many as fourteen besides the driver and messenger +were carried. Adjustable curtains kept out +part of the rain and cold. High up in front sat the +driver, with a passenger or two on the box and a large +assortment of packages tucked away beneath his +seat. Behind the body was the triangular "boot" +in which were stowed the passengers' boxes and the +mail sacks. The overflow of mail went inside under +the seats. Mr. Clemens tells of filling the whole +body three feet deep with mail, and of the passengers +being forced to sprawl out on the irregular bed thus +made for them. Complaining letter-writers tell of +sacks carried between the axles and the body, under +the coach, and of the disasters to letters and contents +resulting from fording streams. Drawn by four galloping +mules and painted a gaudy red or green, the +coach was a visible emblem of spectacular western +advance. Horace Greeley's coach, bright red, was +once charged by a herd of enraged buffaloes and +overturned, to the discomfort and injury of the venerable +editor.</p> + +<p>It was no comfortable or luxurious trip that the +overland passenger had, with all the sumptuous +equipment of the new route. The time limit was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">180</a></span> +twenty-five days, reduced in practice to twenty-two +or twenty-three, at the price of constant travel day +and night, regardless of weather or convenience. +One passenger who declined to follow this route has +left his reason why. The "Southern, known as the +Butterfield or American Express, offered to start me +in an ambulance from St. Louis, and to pass me +through Arkansas, El Paso, Fort Yuma on the Gila +River, in fact through the vilest and most desolate +portion of the West. Twenty-four mortal days and +nights—twenty-five being schedule time—must be +spent in that ambulance; passengers becoming crazy +by whiskey, mixed with want of sleep, are often +obliged to be strapped to their seats; their meals, +despatched during the ten-minute halts, are simply +abominable, the heats are excessive, the climate +malarious; lamps may not be used at night for fear of +non-existent Indians: briefly there is no end to this +Via Mala's miseries." But the alternative which +confronted this traveller in 1860 was scarcely more +pleasant. "You may start by stage to the gold regions +about Denver City or Pike's Peak, and thence, +if not accidentally or purposely shot, you may proceed +by an uncertain ox train to Great Salt Lake City, +which latter part cannot take less than thirty-five +days."</p> + +<p>Once upon the road, the passenger might nearly as +well have been at sea. There was no turning back. +His discomforts and dangers became inevitable. +The stations erected along the trail were chiefly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">181</a></span> +for the benefit of the live stock. Horses and mules +must be kept in good shape, whatever happened to +passengers. Some of the depots, "home stations," +had a family in residence, a dwelling of logs, adobe, +or sod, and offered bacon, potatoes, bread, and coffee +of a sort, to those who were not too squeamish. The +others, or "swing" stations, had little but a corral +and a haystack, with a few stock tenders. The +drivers were often drunk and commonly profane. +The overseers and division superintendents differed +from them only in being a little more resolute and +dangerous. Freighting and coaching were not child's +play for either passengers or employees.</p> + +<p>The Butterfield Overland Express began to work +its six year contract in September, 1858. Other +coach and mail services increased the number of +continental routes to three by 1860. From New +Orleans, by way of San Antonio and El Paso, a +weekly service had been organized, but its importance +was far less than that of the great route, and +not equal to that by way of the Great Salt Lake.</p> + +<p>Staging over the Platte trail began on a large scale +with the discovery of gold near Pike's Peak in 1858. +The Mormon mails, interrupted by the Mormon +War, had been revived; but a new concern had sprung +up under the name of the Leavenworth and Pike's +Peak Express Company. The firm of Jones and +Russell, soon to give way to Russell, Majors, and +Waddell, had seen the possibilities of the new boom +camps, and had inaugurated regular stage service in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">182</a></span> +May, 1859. Henry Villard rode out in the first +coach. Horace Greeley followed in June. After +some experimenting in routes, the line accepted +a considerable part of the Platte trail, leaving the +road at the forks of the river. Here Julesburg +came into existence as the most picturesque home +station on the plains. It was at this station that +Jack Slade, whom Mark Twain found to be a mild, +hospitable, coffee-sharing man, cut off the ears of +old Jules, after the latter had emptied two barrels of +bird-shot into him. It was "celebrated for its desperadoes," +wrote General Dodge. "No twenty-four +hours passed without its contribution to Boots Hill +(the cemetery whose every occupant was buried in +his boots), and homicide was performed in the most +genial and whole-souled way."</p> + +<p>Before the Denver coach had been running for a +year another enterprise had brought the central +route into greater prominence. Butterfield had given +California news in less than twenty-five days from +the Missouri, but California wanted more even than +this, until the electric telegraph should come. Senator +Gwin urged upon the great freight concern the +starting of a faster service for light mails only. It +was William H. Russell who, to meet this supposed +demand, organized a pony express, which he announced +to a startled public in the end of March. +Across the continent from Placerville to St. Joseph +he built his stations from nine to fifteen miles apart, +nearly two hundred in all. He supplied these with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">183</a></span> +tenders and riders, stocked them with fodder and +fleet American horses, and started his first riders at +both ends on the 3d of April, 1860.</p> + +<p>Only letters of great commercial importance could +be carried by the new express. They were written +on tissue paper, packed into a small, light saddlebag, +and passed from rider to rider along the route. +The time announced in the schedule was ten days,—two +weeks better than Butterfield's best. To make +it called for constant motion at top speed, with +horses trained to the work and changed every few +miles. The carriers were slight men of 135 pounds +or under, whose nerve and endurance could stand +the strain. Often mere boys were employed in the +dangerous service. Rain or snow or death made +no difference to the express. Dangers of falling at +night, of missing precipitous mountain roads where +advance at a walk was perilous, had to be faced. +When Indians were hostile, this new risk had to be +run. But for eighteen months the service was continued +as announced. It ceased only when the overland +telegraph, in October, 1861, declared its readiness +to handle through business.</p> + +<p>In the pony express was the spectacular perfection +of overland service. Its best record was some +hours under eight days. It was conducted along +the well-known trail from St. Joseph to Forts Kearney, +Laramie, and Bridger; thence to Great Salt +Lake City, and by way of Carson City to Placerville +and Sacramento. It carried the news in a time when<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">184</a></span> +every day brought new rumors of war and disunion, +in the pregnant campaign of 1860 and through the +opening of the Civil War. The records of its riders +at times approached the marvellous. One lad, +William F. Cody, who has since lived to become the +personal embodiment of the Far West as Buffalo +Bill, rode more than 320 consecutive miles on a single +tour. The literature of the plains is full of instances +of courage and endurance shown in carrying through +the despatches.</p> + +<p>The Butterfield mail was transferred to the central +route of the pony express in the summer of 1861. +For two and a half years it had run steadily along +its southern route, proving the entire practicability +of carrying on such a service. But its expense had +been out of all proportion to its revenue. In 1859 +the Postmaster-general reported that its total receipts +from mails had been $27,229.94, as against a +cost of $600,000. It is not unlikely that the fast +service would have been dropped had not the new +military necessity of 1861 forbidden any act which +might loosen the bonds between the Pacific and the +Atlantic states. Congress contemplated the approach +of war and authorized early in 1861 the abandonment +of the southern route through the confederate +territory, and the transfer of the service to +the line of the pony express. To secure additional +safety the mails were sent by way of Davenport, +Iowa, and Omaha, to Fort Kearney a few times, but +Atchison became the starting-point at last, while<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">185</a></span> +military force was used to keep the route free from +interference. The transfer worked a shortening of +from five to seven days over the southern route.</p> + +<p>In the autumn of 1861, when the overland mail +and the pony express were both running at top speed +along the Platte trail, the overland service reached +its highest point. In October the telegraph brought +an end to the express. "The Pacific to the Atlantic +sends greeting," ran the first message over the new +wire, "and may both oceans be dry before a foot of all +the land that lies between them shall belong to any +other than one united country." Probably the pony +express had done its share in keeping touch between +California and the Union. Certainly only its national +purpose justified its existence, since it was run +at a loss that brought ruin to Russell, its backer, and +to Majors and Waddell, his partners.</p> + +<p>Russell, Majors, and Waddell, with the biggest +freighting business of the plains, had gone heavily +into passenger and express service in 1859–1860. +Russell had forced through the pony express against +the wishes of his partners, carried away from practical +considerations by the magnitude of the idea. +The transfer of the southern overland to their route +increased their business and responsibility. The +future of the route steadily looked larger. "Every +day," wrote the Postmaster-general, "brings intelligence +of the discovery of new mines of gold and +silver in the region traversed by this mail route, +which gives assurance that it will not be many years<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">186</a></span> +before it will be protected and supported throughout +the greater part of the route by a civilized population." +Under the name of the Central Overland, +California, and Pike's Peak Express the firm tried to +keep up a struggle too great for them. "Clean out +of Cash and Poor Pay" is said to have been an irreverent +nickname coined by one of their drivers. As +their embarrassments steadily increased, their notes +were given to a rival contractor who was already beginning +local routes to reach the mining camps of +eastern Washington. Ben Holladay had been the +power behind the company for several months before +the courts gave him control of their overland stage +line in 1862. The greatest names in this overland +business are first Butterfield, then Russell, Majors, +and Waddell, and then Ben Holladay, whose power +lasted until he sold out to Wells, Fargo, and Company +in 1866. Ben Holladay was the magnate of the +plains during the early sixties. A hostile critic, +Henry Villard, has written that he was "a genuine +specimen of the successful Western pioneer of former +days, illiterate, coarse, pretentious, boastful, false, and +cunning." In later days he carried his speculation +into railways and navigation, but already his was the +name most often heard in the West. Mark Twain, +who has left in "Roughing It" the best picture of +life in the Far West in this decade, speaks lightly of +him when he tells of a youth travelling in the Holy +Land with a reverend preceptor who was impressing +upon him the greatness of Moses, "'the great guide,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">187</a></span> +soldier, poet, lawgiver of ancient Israel! Jack, +from this spot where we stand, to Egypt, stretches a +fearful desert three hundred miles in extent—and +across that desert that wonderful man brought the +children of Israel!—guiding them with unfailing +sagacity for forty years over the sandy desolation +and among the obstructing rocks and hills, and +landed them at last, safe and sound, within sight of +this very spot. It was a wonderful, wonderful thing +to do, Jack. Think of it!"</p> + +<p>"'Forty years? Only three hundred miles?'" +replied Jack. "'Humph! Ben Holladay would have +fetched them through in thirty-six hours!'"</p> + +<p>Under Holladay's control the passenger and express +service were developed into what was probably +the greatest one-man institution in America. He +directed not only the central overland, but spur lines +with government contracts to upper California, +Oregon, Idaho, and Montana. He travelled up and +down the line constantly himself, attending in person +to business in Washington and on the Pacific. The +greatest difficulties in his service were the Indians +and progress as stated in the railway. Man and +nature could be fought off and overcome, but the life +of the stage-coach was limited before it was begun.</p> + +<p>The Indian danger along the trails had steadily +increased since the commencement of the migrations. +For many years it had not been large, since there +was room for all and the emigrants held well to the +beaten track. But the gold camps had introduced<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">188</a></span> +settlers into new sections, and had sent prospectors +into all the Indian Country. The opening of new +roads to the Pacific increased the pressure, until the +Indians began to believe that the end was at hand +unless they should bestir themselves. The last years +of the overland service, between 1862 and 1868, +were hence filled with Indian attacks. Often for +weeks no coach could go through. Once, by premeditation, +every station for nearly two hundred +miles was destroyed overnight, Julesburg, the greatest +of them all, being in the list. The presence of +troops to defend seemed only to increase the zeal of +the red men to destroy.</p> + +<p>Besides these losses, which lessened his profits and +threatened ruin, Holladay had to meet competition +in his own trade, and detraction as well. Captain +James L. Fiske, who had broken a new road through +from Minnesota to Montana, came east in 1863, "by +the 'overland stage,' travelling over the saline plains +of Laramie and Colorado Territory and the sand +deserts of Nebraska and Kansas. The country was +strewed with the skeletons and carcases of cattle, +and the graves of the early Mormon and California +pilgrims lined the roadside. This is the worst emigrant +route that I have ever travelled; much of the +road is through deep sand, feed is very scanty, a +great deal of the water is alkaline, and the snows in +winter render it impassable for trains. The stage +line is wretchedly managed. The company undertake +to furnish travellers with meals, (at a dollar a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">189</a></span> +meal,) but very frequently on arriving at a station +there was nothing to eat, the supplies had not been +sent on. On one occasion we fasted for thirty-six +hours. The stages were sometimes in a miserable +condition. We were put into a coach one night with +only two boards left in the bottom. On remonstrating +with the driver, we were told to hold on by the +sides."</p> + +<p>At the close of the Civil War, however, Holladay +controlled a monopoly in stage service between the +Missouri River and Great Salt Lake. The express +companies and railways met him at the ends of his +link, but had to accept his terms for intermediate +traffic. In the summer of 1865 a competing firm +started a Butterfield's Overland Despatch to run on +the Smoky Hill route to Denver. It soon found that +Indian dangers here were greater than along the +Platte, and it learned how near it was to bankruptcy +when Holladay offered to buy it out in 1866. He had +sent his agents over the rival line, and had in his hand +a more detailed statement of resources and conditions +than the Overland Despatch itself possessed. +He purchased easily at his own price and so ended +this danger of competition.</p> + +<p>Such was the character of the overland traffic that +any day might bring a successful rival, or loss by +accident. Holladay seems to have realized that the +advantages secured by priority were over, and that +the trade had seen its best day. In the end of 1866 +he sold out his lines to the greatest of his competitors,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">190</a></span> +Wells, Fargo, and Company. He sold out wisely. +The new concern lost on its purchase through the +rapid shortening of the route. During 1866 the +Pacific railway had advanced so far that the end of +the mail route was moved to Fort Kearney in November. +By May, 1869, some years earlier than +Wells, Fargo had estimated, the road was done. And +on the completion of the Union and Central Pacific +railways the great period of the overland mail was +ended.</p> + +<p>Parallel to the overland mail rolled an overland +freight that lacked the seeming romance of the +former, but possessed quite as much of real significance. +No one has numbered the trains of wagons +that supplied the Far West. Santa Fé wagons they +were now; Pennsylvania or Pittsburg wagons they +had been called in the early days of the Santa Fé +trade; Conestoga wagons they had been in the +remoter time of the trans-Alleghany migrations. +But whatever their name, they retained the characteristics +of the wagons and caravans of the earlier +period. Holladay bought over 150 such wagons, +organized in trains of twenty-six, from the Butterfield +Overland Despatch in 1866. Six thousand +were counted passing Fort Kearney in six weeks in +1865. One of the drivers on the overland mail, +Frank Root, relates that Russell, Majors, and Waddell +owned 6250 wagons and 75,000 oxen at the height +of their business. The long trains, crawling along +half hidden in their clouds of dust, with the noises<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">191</a></span> +of the animals and the profanity of the drivers, were +the physical bond between the sections. The mail +and express served politics and intellect; the freighters +provided the comforts and decencies of life.</p> + +<p>The overland traffic had begun on the heels of the +first migrations. Its growth during the fifties and +its triumphant period in the sixties were great arguments +in favor of the construction of railways to +take its place. It came to an end when the first +continental railroad was completed in 1869. For +decades after this time the stages still found useful +service on branch lines and to new camps, and occasional +exhibition in the "Wild West Shows," but the +railways were following them closely, for a new period +of American history had begun.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">192</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="vspace"><a name="CHAPTER_XII" id="CHAPTER_XII">CHAPTER XII</a><br /> + +<span class="subhead">THE ENGINEERS' FRONTIER</span></h2> + +<p>In a national way, the South struggling against +the North prevented the early location of a Pacific +railway. Locally, every village on the Mississippi +from the Lakes to the Gulf hoped to become the terminus +and had advocates throughout its section of +the country. The list of claimants is a catalogue +of Mississippi Valley towns. New Orleans, Vicksburg, +Memphis, Cairo, St. Louis, Chicago, and +Duluth were all entered in the competition. By +1860 the idea had received general acceptance; no +one in the future need urge its adoption, but the +greatest part of the work remained to be done.</p> + +<p>Born during the thirties, the idea of a Pacific railway +was of uncertain origin and parentage. Just +so soon as there was a railroad anywhere, it was +inevitable that some enterprising visionary should +project one in imagination to the extremity of the +continent. The railway speculation, with which the +East was seething during the administrations of +Andrew Jackson, was boiling over in the young West, +so that the group of men advocating a railway to +connect the oceans were but the product of their +time.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">193</a></span> +Greatest among these enthusiasts was Asa Whitney, +a New York merchant interested in the China +trade and eager to win the commerce of the Orient +for the United States. Others had declared such a +road to be possible before he presented his memorial +to Congress in 1845, but none had staked so much +upon the idea. He abandoned the business, conducted +a private survey in Wisconsin and Iowa, and +was at last convinced that "the time is not far distant +when Oregon will become ... a separate +nation" unless communication should "unite them +to us." He petitioned Congress in January, 1845, +for a franchise and a grant of land, that the national +road might be accomplished; and for many years he +agitated persistently for his project.</p> + +<p>The annexation of Oregon and the Southwest, +coming in the years immediately after the commencement +of Whitney's advocacy, gave new point to +arguments for the railway and introduced the sectional +element. So long as Oregon constituted the +whole American frontage on the Pacific it was idle +to debate railway routes south of South Pass. This +was the only known, practicable route, and it was +the course recommended by all the projectors, down +to Whitney. But with California won, the other +trails by El Paso and Santa Fé came into consideration +and at once tempted the South to make the +railway tributary to its own interests.</p> + +<p>Chief among the politicians who fell in with the +growing railway movement was Senator Benton, who<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">194</a></span> +tried to place himself at its head. "The man is +alive, full grown, and is listening to what I say +(without believing it perhaps)," he declared in October, +1844, "who will yet see the Asiatic commerce +traversing the North Pacific Ocean—entering the +Oregon River—climbing the western slopes of the +Rocky Mountains—issuing from its gorges—and +spreading its fertilizing streams over our wide-extended +Union!" After this date there was no subject +closer to his interest than the railway, and his advocacy +was constant. His last word in the Senate was +concerning it. In 1849 he carried off its feet the +St. Louis railroad convention with his eloquent +appeal for a central route: "Let us make the iron +road, and make it from sea to sea—States and +individuals making it east of the Mississippi, the +nation making it west. Let us ... rise above +everything sectional, personal, local. Let us ... +build the great road ... which shall be adorned +with ... the colossal statue of the great Columbus—whose +design it accomplishes, hewn from a +granite mass of a peak of the Rocky Mountains, +overlooking the road ... pointing with outstretched +arm to the western horizon and saying to the flying +passengers, 'There is the East, there is India.'"</p> + +<p>By 1850 it was common knowledge that a railroad +could be built along the Platte route, and it was +believed that the mountains could be penetrated in +several other places, but the process of surveying with +reference to a particular railway had not yet been<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">195</a></span> +begun. It is possible and perhaps instructive to make +a rough grouping, in two classes divided by the year +1842, of the explorations before 1853. So late as +Frémont's day it was not generally known whether a +great river entered the Pacific between the Columbia +and the Colorado. Prior to 1842 the explorations +are to be regarded as "incidents" and "adventures" +in more or less unknown countries. The narratives +were popular rather than scientific, representing the +experiences of parties surveying boundary lines or +locating wagon roads, of troops marching to remote +posts or chastising Indians, of missionaries and casual +explorers. In the aggregate they had contributed +a large mass of detailed but unorganized information +concerning the country where the continental railway +must run. But Lieutenant Frémont, in 1842, +commenced the effort by the United States to acquire +accurate and comprehensive knowledge of the West. +In 1842, 1843, and 1845 Frémont conducted the three +Rocky Mountain expeditions which established him +for life as a popular hero. The map, drawn by +Charles Preuss for his second expedition, confined +itself in strict scientific fashion to the facts actually +observed, and in skill of execution was perhaps the +best map made before 1853. The individual expeditions +which in the later forties filled in the details +of portions of the Frémont map are too numerous +for mention. At least twenty-five occurred before +1853, all serving to extend both general and particular +knowledge of the West. To these was added a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">196</a></span> +great mass of popular books, prepared by emigrants +and travellers. By 1853 there was good, unscientific +knowledge of nearly all the West, and accurate +information concerning some portions of it. The +railroad enthusiasts could tell the general direction +in which the roads must run, but no road could well +be located without a more comprehensive survey +than had yet been made.</p> + +<p>The agitation of the Pacific railway idea was +founded almost exclusively upon general and inaccurate +knowledge of the West. The exact location +of the line was naturally left for the professional +civil engineer, its popular advocate contented himself +with general principles. Frequently these were +sufficient, yet, as in the case of Benton, misinformation +led to the waste of strength upon routes unquestionably +bad. But there was slight danger of +the United States being led into an unwise route, +since in the diversity of routes suggested there was +deadlock. Until after 1850, in proportion as the idea +was received with unanimity, the routes were fought +with increasing bitterness. Whitney was shelved +in 1852 when the choice of routes had become more +important than the method of construction.</p> + +<p>In 1852–1853 Congress worked upon one of the +many bills to construct the much-desired railway to +the Pacific. It was discovered that an absolute +majority in favor of the work existed, but the enemies +of the measure, virulent in proportion as they were +in the minority, were able to sow well-fertilized<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">197</a></span> +dissent. They admitted and gloried in the intrigue +which enabled them to command through the time-honored +method of division. They defeated the road +in this Congress. But when the army appropriation +bill came along in February, 1853, Senator +Gwin asked for an amendment for a survey. He +doubted the wisdom of a survey, since, "if any route +is reported to this body as the best, those that may +be rejected will always go against the one selected." +But he admitted himself to be as a drowning man +who "will catch at straws," and begged that $150,000 +be allowed to the President for a survey of the best +routes from the Mississippi to the Pacific, the survey +to be conducted by the Corps of Topographical Engineers +of the regular army. To a non-committal +measure like this the opposition could make slight +resistance. The Senate, by a vote of 31 to 16, added +this amendment to the army appropriation bill, +while the House concurred in nearly the same proportion. +The first positive official act towards the +construction of the road was here taken.</p> + +<p>Under the orders of Jefferson Davis, Secretary of +War, well-organized exploring parties took to the +field in the spring of 1853. Farthest north, Isaac +I. Stevens, bound for his post as first governor of +Washington territory, conducted a line of survey to +the Pacific between the parallels of 47° and 49°, +north latitude. South of the Stevens survey, four +other lines were worked out. Near the parallels of +41° and 42°, the old South Pass route was again<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">198</a></span> +examined. Frémont's favorite line, between 38° +and 39°, received consideration. A thirty-fifth parallel +route was examined in great detail, while on this +and another along the thirty-second parallel the +most friendly attentions of the War Department +were lavished. The second and third routes had +few important friends. Governor Stevens, because +he was a first-rate fighter, secured full space for the +survey in his charge. But the thirty-second and +thirty-fifth parallel routes were those which were +expected to make good.</p> + +<p>Governor Stevens left Washington on May 9, +1853, for St. Louis, where he made arrangements with +the American Fur Company to transport a large part +of his supplies by river to Fort Union. From St. +Louis he ascended the Mississippi by steamer to +St. Paul, near which city Camp Pierce, his first +organized camp, had been established. Here he +issued his instructions and worked into shape his +party,—to say nothing of his 172 half-broken mules. +"Not a single full team of broken animals could be +selected, and well broken riding animals were essential, +for most of the gentlemen of the scientific corps +were unaccustomed to riding." One of the engineers +dislocated a shoulder before he conquered his steed.</p> + +<p>The party assigned to Governor Stevens's command +was recruited with reference to the varied demands +of a general exploring and scientific reconnaissance. +Besides enlisted men and laborers, it included engineers, +a topographer, an artist, a surgeon and naturalist,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">199</a></span> +an astronomer, a meteorologist, and a geologist. +Its two large volumes of report include elaborate +illustrations and appendices on botany and seven +different varieties of zoölogy in addition to the geographical +details required for the railway.</p> + +<p>The expedition, in its various branches, attacked +the northernmost route simultaneously in several +places. Governor Stevens led the eastern division +from St. Paul. A small body of his men, with much +of the supplies, were sent up the Missouri in the +American Fur Company's boat to Fort Union, there +to make local observations and await the arrival of +the governor. United there the party continued +overland to Fort Benton and the mountains. Six +years later than this it would have been possible to +ascend by boat all the way to Fort Benton, but as +yet no steamer had gone much above Fort Union. +From the Pacific end the second main division operated. +Governor Stevens secured the recall of Captain +George B. McClellan from duty in Texas, and +his detail in command of a corps which was to proceed +to the mouth of the Columbia River and start +an eastward survey. In advance of McClellan, +Lieutenant Saxton was to hurry on to erect a +supply depot in the Bitter Root Valley, and then +to cross the divide and make a junction with the +main party.</p> + +<p>From Governor Stevens's reports it would seem +that his survey was a triumphal progress. To his +threefold capacities as commander, governor, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">200</a></span> +Indian superintendent, nature had added a magnifying +eye and an unrestrained enthusiasm. No +formal expedition had traversed his route since the +day of Lewis and Clark. The Indians could still be +impressed by the physical appearance of the whites. +His vanity led him at each success or escape from +accident to congratulate himself on the antecedent +wisdom which had warded off the danger. But +withal, his report was thorough and his party was +loyal. The <i xml:lang="fr" lang="fr">voyageurs</i> whom he had engaged received +his special praise. "They are thorough woodsmen +and just the men for prairie life also, going into the +water as pleasantly as a spaniel, and remaining +there as long as needed."</p> + +<p>Across the undulating fertile plains the party +advanced from St. Paul with little difficulty. Its +draught animals steadily improved in health and +strength. The Indians were friendly and honest. +"My father," said Old Crane of the Assiniboin, +"our hearts are good; we are poor and have not +much.... Our good father has told us about this +road. I do not see how it will benefit us, and I fear +my people will be driven from these plains before +the white men." In fifty-five days Fort Union was +reached. Here the American Fur Company maintained +an extensive post in a stockade 250 feet square, +and carried on a large trade with "the Assiniboines, +the Gros Ventres, the Crows, and other migratory +bands of Indians." At Fort Union, Alexander +Culbertson, the agent, became the guide of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">201</a></span> +party, which proceeded west on August 10. From +Fort Union it was nearly 400 miles to Fort Benton, +which then stood on the left bank of the Missouri, +some eighteen miles below the falls. The country, +though less friendly than that east of the Missouri, +offered little difficulty to the party, which covered the +distance in three weeks. A week later, September 8, +a party sent on from Fort Benton met Lieutenant +Saxton coming east.</p> + +<p>The chief problems of the Stevens survey lay west +of Fort Benton, in the passes of the continental divide. +Lieutenant Saxton had left Vancouver early +in July, crossed the Cascades with difficulty, and +started up the Columbia from the Dalles on July 18. +He reached Fort Walla Walla on the 27th, and proceeded +thence with a half-breed guide through the +country of the Spokan and the Cœur d'Alene. +Crossing the Snake, he broke his only mercurial +barometer and was forced thereafter to rely on his +aneroid. Deviating to the north, he crossed Lake +Pend d'Oreille on August 10, and reached St. Mary's +village, in the Bitter Root Valley, on August 28. St. +Mary's village, among the Flatheads, had been established +by the Jesuit fathers, and had advanced +considerably, as Indian civilization went. Here +Saxton erected his supply depot, from which he advanced +with a smaller escort to join the main party. +Always, even in the heart of the mountains, the country +exceeded his expectations. "Nature seemed to +have intended it for the great highway across the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">202</a></span> +continent, and it appeared to offer but little obstruction +to the passage of a railroad."</p> + +<p>Acting on Saxton's advice, Governor Stevens reduced +his party at Fort Benton, stored much of his +government property there, and started west with a +pack train, for the sake of greater speed. He moved +on September 22, anxious lest snow should catch +him in the mountains. At Fort Benton he left a +detachment to make meteorological observations +during the winter. Among the Flatheads he left +another under Lieutenant Mullan. On October 7 +he hurried on again from the Bitter Root Valley for +Walla Walla. On the 19th he met McClellan's +party, which had been spending a difficult season in +the passes of the Cascade range. Because of overcautious +advice which McClellan here gave him, +and since his animals were tired out with the summer's +hardships, he practically ended his survey for +1853 at this point. He pushed on down the Columbia +to Olympia and his new territory.</p> + +<p>The energy of Governor Stevens enabled him to +make one of the first of the Pacific railway reports. +His was the only survey from the Mississippi to the +ocean under a single commander. Dated June 30, +1854, it occupies 651 pages of Volume I of the compiled +reports. In 1859 he submitted his "narrative +and final report" which the Senate ordered Secretary +of War, John B. Floyd, to communicate to it in February +of that year. This document is printed as supplement +to Volume I, but really consists of two large<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">203</a></span> +volumes which are commonly bound together as +Volume XII of the series. Like the other volumes +of the reports, his are filled with lithographs and engravings +of fauna, flora, and topography.</p> + +<p>The forty-second parallel route was surveyed by +Lieutenant E. G. Beckwith, of the third artillery, in +the summer of 1854. East of Fort Bridger, the War +Department felt it unnecessary to make a special +survey, since Frémont had traversed and described +the country several times and Stansbury had surveyed +it carefully as recently as 1849–1850. At +the beginning of his campaign Beckwith was at Salt +Lake. During April he visited the Green River +Valley and Fort Bridger, proving by his surveys the +entire practicability of railway construction here. +In May he skirted the south end of Great Salt Lake +and passed along the Humboldt to the Sacramento +Valley. He had no important adventures and was +impressed most by the squalor of the digger Indians, +whose grass-covered, beehive-shaped "wick-ey-ups" +were frequently seen. As his band approached the +Indians would fearfully cache their belongings in +the undergrowth. In the morning "it was indeed +a novel and ludicrous sight of wretchedness to see +them approach their bush and attempt, slyly (for +they still tried to conceal from me what they were +about), to repossess themselves of their treasures, +one bringing out a piece of old buckskin, a couple of +feet square, smoked, greasy, and torn; another a +half dozen rabbit-skins in an equally filthy condition,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">204</a></span> +sewed together, which he would swing over his +shoulders by a string—his only blanket or clothing; +while a third brought out a blue string, which he +girded about him and walked away in full dress—one +of the lords of the soil." It needed no special +emphasis in Beckwith's report to prove that a railway +could follow this middle route, since thousands +of emigrants had a personal knowledge of its conditions.</p> + +<div id="ip_204" class="figcenter" style="width: 541px;"> + <img src="images/i-227.jpg" width="541" height="355" alt="" /> + <div class="caption"><p><span class="smcap">Fort Snelling</span></p></div> + +<div class="captionc"><p>From an old photograph, loaned by Horace B. Hudson, of Minneapolis.</p></div></div> + +<p>Beckwith, who started his forty-second parallel +survey from Salt Lake City, had reached that point +as one of the officers in Gunnison's unfortunate +party. Captain J. W. Gunnison had followed +Governor Stevens into St. Louis in 1853. His field +of exploration, the route of 38°-39°, was by no means +new to him since he had been to Utah with Stansbury +in 1849 and 1850, and had already written one of +the best books upon the Mormon settlement. He +carried his party up the Missouri to a fitting-out +camp just below the mouth of the Kansas River, +five miles from Westport. Like other commanders +he spent much time at the start in "breaking in wild +mules," with which he advanced in rain and mud +on June 23. For more than two weeks his party +moved in parallel columns along the Santa Fé road +and the Smoky Hill fork of the Kansas. Near +Walnut creek on the Santa Fé road they united, and +soon were following the Arkansas River towards the +mountains. At Fort Atkinson they found a horde +of the plains Indians waiting for Major Fitzpatrick<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">205</a></span> +to make a treaty with them. Always their observations +were taken with regularity. One day Captain +Gunnison spent in vain efforts to secure specimens +of the elusive prairie dog. On August 1, when they +were ready to leave the Arkansas and plunge southwest +into the Sangre de Cristo range, they were +gratified "by a clear and beautiful view of the Spanish +Peaks."</p> + +<p>This thirty-ninth parallel route, which had been a +favorite with Frémont, crossed the divide near the +head of the Rio Grande. Its grades, which were +difficult and steep at best, followed the Huerfano +Valley and Cochetopa Pass. Across the pass, +Gunnison began his descent of the arid alkali valley +of the Uncompahgre,—a valley to-day about to +blossom as the rose because of the irrigation canal +and tunnel bringing to it the waters of the neighboring +Gunnison River. With heavy labor, intense heat, +and weakening teams, Gunnison struggled on through +September and October towards Salt Lake in Utah +territory. Near Sevier Lake he lost his life. Before +daybreak, on October 26, he and a small detachment +of men were surprised by a band of young Paiute. +When the rest of his party hurried up to the +rescue, they found his body "pierced with fifteen +arrows," and seven of his men lying dead around +him. Beckwith, who succeeded to the command, +led the remainder of the party to Salt Lake City, +where public opinion was ready to charge the Mormons +with the murder. Beckwith believed this to be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">206</a></span> +entirely false, and made use of the friendly assistance +of Brigham Young, who persuaded the chiefs of the +tribe to return the instruments and records which +had been stolen from the party.</p> + +<p>The route surveyed by Captain Gunnison passed +around the northern end of the ravine of the Colorado +River, which almost completely separates the Southwest +from the United States. Farther south, within +the United States, were only two available points +at which railways could cross the cañon, at Fort +Yuma and near the Mojave River. Towards these +crossings the thirty-fifth and thirty-second parallel +surveys were directed.</p> + +<p>Second only to Governor Stevens's in its extent +was the exploration conducted by Lieutenant A. W. +Whipple from Fort Smith on the Arkansas to Los +Angeles along the thirty-fifth parallel. Like that +of Governor Stevens this route was not the channel +of any regular traffic, although later it was to have +some share in the organized overland commerce. +Here also was found a line that contained only two +or three serious obstacles to be overcome. Whipple's +instructions planned for him to begin his observations +at the Mississippi, but he believed that the +navigable Arkansas River and the railways already +projected in that state made it needless to commence +farther east than Fort Smith, on the edge of the +Indian Country. He began his survey on July +14, 1853. His westward march was for two months +up the right bank of the Canadian River, as it traversed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">207</a></span> +the Choctaw and Chickasaw reserves, to the +hundredth meridian, where it emerged from the panhandle +of Texas, and across the panhandle into New +Mexico. After crossing the upper waters of the +Rio Pecos he reached the Rio Grande at Albuquerque, +where his party tarried for a month or more, working +over their observations, making local explorations, +and sending back to Washington an account of their +proceedings thus far. Towards the middle of November +they started on toward the Colorado Chiquita +and the Bill Williams Fork, through "a region over +which no white man is supposed to have passed." +The severest difficulties of the trip were found near +the valley of the Colorado River, which was entered +at the junction of the Bill Williams Fork and followed +north for several days. A crossing here was made +near the supposed mouth of the Mojave River at a +place where porphyritic and trap dykes, outcropping, +gave rise to the name of the Needles. The river +was crossed February 27, 1854, three weeks before +the party reached Los Angeles.</p> + +<p>South of the route of Lieutenant Whipple, the +thirty-second parallel survey was run to the Fort +Yuma crossing of the Colorado River. No attempt +was made in this case at a comprehensive survey +under a single leader. Instead, the section from the +Rio Grande at El Paso to the Red River at Preston, +Texas, was run by John Pope, brevet captain in the +topographical engineers, in the spring of 1854. +Lieutenant J. G. Parke carried the line at the same<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">208</a></span> +time from the Pimas villages on the Gila to the Rio +Grande. West of the Pimas villages to the Colorado, +a reconnoissance made by Lieutenant-colonel Emory +in 1847 was drawn upon. The lines in California +were surveyed by yet a different party. Here again +an easy route was discovered to exist. Within the +states of California and Oregon various connecting +lines were surveyed by parties under Lieutenant +R. S. Williamson in 1855.</p> + +<p>The evidence accumulated by the Pacific railway +surveys began to pour in upon the War Department +in the spring of 1854. Partial reports at first, elaborate +and minute scientific articles following later, made +up a series which by the close of the decade filled the +twelve enormous volumes of the published papers. +Rarely have efforts so great accomplished so little +in the way of actual contribution to knowledge. The +chief importance of the surveys was in proving by +scientific observation what was already a commonplace +among laymen—that the continent was +traversable in many places, and that the incidental +problems of railway construction were in finance +rather than in engineering. The engineers stood +ready to build the road any time and almost anywhere.</p> + +<p>The Secretary of War submitted to Congress the +first instalment of his report under the resolution +of March 3, 1853, on February 27, 1855. As yet the +labors of compilation and examination of the field +manuscripts were by no means completed, but he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">209</a></span> +was able to make general statements about the +probability of success. At five points the continental +divide had been crossed; over four of these railways +were entirely practicable, although the shortest +of the routes to San Francisco ran by the one pass, +Cochetopa, where it would be unreasonable to construct +a road.</p> + +<p>From the routes surveyed, Secretary Davis recommended +one as "the most practicable and economical +route for a railroad from the Mississippi River to the +Pacific Ocean." In all cases cost, speed of construction, +and ease in operation needed to be ascertained +and compared. The estimates guessed at by +the parties in the field, and revised by the War Department, +pointed to the southernmost as the most +desirable route. To reach this conclusion it was +necessary to accuse Governor Stevens of underestimating +the cost of labor along his northern line; +but the figures as taken were conclusive. On this +thirty-second parallel route, declared the Secretary +of War, "the progress of the work will be regulated +chiefly by the speed with which cross-ties and rails +can be delivered and laid.... The few difficult +points ... would delay the work but an inconsiderable +period.... The climate on this route is such +as to cause less interruption to the work than on any +other route. Not only is this the shortest and least +costly route to the Pacific, but it is the shortest and +cheapest route to San Francisco, the greatest commercial +city on our western coast; while the aggregate<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">210</a></span> +length of railroad lines connecting it at its eastern +terminus with the Atlantic and Gulf seaports is less +than the aggregate connection with any other route."</p> + +<p>The Pacific railway surveys had been ordered as +the only step which Congress in its situation of deadlock +could take. Senator Gwin had long ago told +his fears that the advocates of the disappointed routes +would unite to hinder the fortunate one. To the +South, as to Jefferson Davis, Secretary of War, the +thirty-second parallel route was satisfactory; but +there was as little chance of building a railway as +there had been in 1850. In days to come, discussion +of railways might be founded upon facts rather than +hopes and fears, but either unanimity or compromise +was in a fairly remote future. The overland traffic, +which was assuming great volume as the surveys +progressed, had yet nearly fifteen years before the +railway should drive it out of existence. And no +railway could even be started before war had +removed one of the contesting sections from the floor +of Congress.</p> + +<p>Yet in the years since Asa Whitney had begun his +agitation the railways of the East had constantly +expanded. The first bridge to cross the Mississippi +was under construction when Davis reported in 1855. +The Illinois Central was opened in 1856. When the +Civil War began, the railway frontier had become +coterminous with the agricultural frontier, and both +were ready to span the gap which separated them +from the Pacific.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">211</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="vspace"><a name="CHAPTER_XIII" id="CHAPTER_XIII">CHAPTER XIII</a><br /> + +<span class="subhead">THE UNION PACIFIC RAILROAD</span></h2> + +<p>It has been pointed out by Davis in his history of +the Union Pacific Railroad that the period of agitation +was approaching probable success when the latter +was deferred because of the rivalry of sections and +localities into which the scheme was thrown. From +about 1850 until 1853 it indeed seemed likely that +the road would be built just so soon as the terminus +could be agreed upon. To be sure, there was keen +rivalry over this; yet the rivalry did not go beyond +local jealousies and might readily be compromised. +After the reports of the surveys were completed and +presented to Congress the problem took on a new aspect +which promised postponement until a far greater +question could be solved. Slavery and the Pacific +railroad are concrete illustrations of the two horns +of the national dilemma.</p> + +<p>As a national project, the railway raised the problem +of its construction under national auspices. +Was the United States, or should it become, a nation +competent to undertake the work? With no hesitation, +many of the advocates of the measure answered +yes. Yet even among the friends of the +road the query frequently evoked the other answer.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">212</a></span> +Slavery had already taken its place as an institution +peculiar to a single section. Its defence and perpetuation +depended largely upon proving the contrary +of the proposition that the Pacific railroad +demanded. For the purposes of slavery defence the +United States must remain a mere federation, limited +in powers and lacking in the attributes of sovereignty +and nationality. Looking back upon this struggle, +with half a century gone by, it becomes clear that the +final answer upon both questions, slavery and railway, +had to be postponed until the more fundamental +question of federal character had been worked out. +The antitheses were clear, even as Lincoln saw them +in 1858. Slavery and localism on the one hand, +railway and nationalism on the other, were engaged +in a vital struggle for recognition. Together they +were incompatible. One or the other must survive +alone. Lincoln saw a portion of the problem, +and he sketched the answer: "I do not expect the +Union to be dissolved,—I do not expect the house +to fall, but I do expect it will cease to be divided."</p> + +<p>The stages of the Pacific railroad movement are +clearly marked through all these squabbles. Agitation +came first, until conviction and acceptance +were general. This was the era of Asa Whitney. +Reconnoissance and survey followed, in a decade +covering approximately 1847–1857. Organization +came last, beginning in tentative schemes which +counted for little, passing through a long series of +intricate debates in Congress, and being merged in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">213</a></span> +the larger question of nationality, but culminating +finally in the first Pacific railroad bills of 1862 and +1864.</p> + +<p>When Congress began its session of 1853–1854, +most of the surveying parties contemplated by the +act of the previous March were still in the field. The +reports ordered were not yet available, and Congress +recognized the inexpediency of proceeding farther +without the facts. It is notable, however, that both +houses at this time created select committees to +consider propositions for a railway. Both of these +committees reported bills, but neither received +sanction even in the house of its friends. The next +session, 1854–1855, saw the great struggle between +Douglas and Benton.</p> + +<p>Stephen A. Douglas, who had triumphantly carried +through his Kansas-Nebraska bill in the preceding +May, started a railway bill in the Senate in 1855. +As finally considered and passed by the Senate, his +bill provided for three railroads: a Northern Pacific, +from the western border of Wisconsin to Puget Sound; +a Southern Pacific, from the western border of Texas +to the Pacific; and a Central Pacific, from Missouri +or Iowa to San Francisco. They were to be constructed +by private parties under contracts to be let +jointly by the Secretaries of War and Interior and +the Postmaster-general. Ultimately they were to +become the property of the United States and the +states through which they passed. The House of +Representatives, led by Benton in the interests of a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">214</a></span> +central road, declined to pass the Douglas measure. +Before its final rejection, it was amended to please +Benton and his allies by the restriction to a single +trunk line from San Francisco, with eastern branches +diverging to Lake Superior, Missouri or Iowa, and +Memphis.</p> + +<p>During the two years following the rejection of the +Douglas scheme by the allied malcontents, the select +committees on the Pacific railways had few propositions +to consider, while Congress paid little attention +to the general matter. Absorbing interest in politics, +the new Republican party, and the campaign of 1856 +were responsible for part of the neglect. The conviction +of the dominant Democrats that the nation +had no power to perform the task was responsible +for more. The transition from a question of +selfish localism to one of national policy which +should require the whole strength of the nation for +its solution was under way. The northern friends of +the railway were disheartened by the southern tendencies +of the Democratic administration which +lasted till 1861. Jefferson Davis, as Secretary of +War, was followed by Floyd, of Virginia, who believed +with his predecessor that the southern was the most +eligible route. At the same time, Aaron V. Brown, +of Tennessee, Postmaster-general, was awarding the +postal contract for an overland mail to Butterfield's +southern route in spite of the fact that Congress +had probably intended the central route to be +employed.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">215</a></span> +Between 1857 and 1861 the debates of Congress +show the difficulties under which the railroad labored. +Many bills were started, but few could get +through the committees. In 1859 the Senate passed +a bill. In 1860 the House passed one which the +Senate amended to death. In the session of 1860–1861 +its serious consideration was crowded out by +the incipiency of war.</p> + +<p>Through the long years of debate over the organization +of the road, the nature of its management +and the nature of its governmental aid were much +in evidence. Save only the Cumberland road the +United States had undertaken no such scheme, +while the Cumberland road, vastly less in magnitude +than this, had raised enough constitutional difficulties +to last a generation. That there must be some +connection between the road and the public lands +had been seen even before Whitney commenced +his advocacy. The nature of that connection was +worked out incidentally to other movements while +the Whitney scheme was under fire.</p> + +<p>The policy of granting lands in aid of improvements +in transportation had been hinted at as far back as +the admission of Ohio, but it had not received its full +development until the railroad period began. To +some extent, in the thirties and forties, public lands +had been allotted to the states to aid in canal +building, but when the railroad promoters started +their campaign in the latter decade, a new era in the +history of the public domain was commenced. The<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">216</a></span> +definitive fight over the issue of land grants for railways +took place in connection with the Illinois +Central and Mobile and Ohio scheme in the years +from 1847 to 1850.</p> + +<p>The demand for a central railroad in Illinois made +its appearance before the panic of 1837. The northwest +states were now building their own railroads, +and this enterprise was designed to connect the +Galena lead country with the junction of the Ohio +and Mississippi by a road running parallel to the +Mississippi through the whole length of the state of +Illinois. Private railways in the Northwest ran +naturally from east to west, seeking termini on the +Mississippi and at the Alleghany crossings. This +one was to intersect all the horizontal roads, making +useful connections everywhere. But it traversed a +country where yet the prairie hen held uncontested +sway. There was little population or freight to justify +it, and hence the project, though it guised itself in at +least three different corporate garments before 1845, +failed of success. No one of the multitude of transverse +railways, on whose junctions it had counted, +crossed its right-of-way before 1850. La Salle, +Galena, and Jonesboro were the only villages on its +line worth marking on a large-scale map, while +Chicago was yet under forty thousand in population.</p> + +<p>Men who in the following decade led the Pacific +railway agitation promoted the Illinois Central idea +in the years immediately preceding 1850. Both +Breese and Douglas of Illinois claimed the parentage<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">217</a></span> +of the bill which eventually passed Congress in 1850, +and by opening the way to public aid for railway +transportation commenced the period of the land-grant +railroads. Already in some of the canal grants +the method of aid had been outlined, alternate sections +of land along the line of the canal being conveyed +to the company to aid it in its work. The +theory underlying the granting of alternate sections +in the familiar checker-board fashion was that the +public lands, while inaccessible, had slight value, but +once reached by communication the alternate sections +reserved by the United States would bring a +higher price than the whole would have done without +the canal, while the construction company would be +aided without expense to any one. The application +of this principle to railroads came rather slowly in a +Congress somewhat disturbed by a doubt as to its +power to devote the public resources to internal improvements. +The sectional character of the Illinois +Central railway was against it until its promoters enlarged +the scheme into a Lake-to-Gulf railway by +including plans for a continuation to Mobile from +the Ohio. With southern aid thus enticed to its +support, the bill became a law in 1850. By its terms, +the alternate sections of land in a strip ten miles +wide were given to the interested states to be used +for the construction of the Illinois Central and the +Mobile and Ohio. The grants were made directly +to the states because of constitutional objections to +construction within a state without its consent and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">218</a></span> +approval. It was twelve years before Congress was +ready to give the lands directly to the railroad company.</p> + +<p>The decade following the Illinois Central grant +was crowded with applications from other states for +grants upon the same terms. In this period of speculative +construction before the panic of 1857, every +western state wanted all the aid it could get. In a +single session seven states asked for nearly fourteen +million acres of land, while before 1857 some five +thousand miles of railway had been aided by land +grants.</p> + +<p>When Asa Whitney began his agitation for the +Pacific railway, he asked for a huge land grant, but +the machinery and methods of the grants had not +yet become familiar to Congress. During the subsequent +fifteen years of agitation and survey the +method was worked out, so that when political conditions +made it possible to build the road, there had +ceased to be great difficulty in connection with its +subsidy.</p> + +<p>The sectional problem, which had reached its full +development in Congress by 1857, prevented any +action in the interest of a Pacific railway so long as it +should remain unchanged. As the bickerings widened +into war, the railway still remained a practical +impossibility. But after war had removed from +Congress the representatives of the southern states +the way was cleared for action. When Congress +met in its war session of July, 1861, all agitation in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">219</a></span> +favor of southern routes was silenced by disunion. +It remained only to choose among the routes lying +north of the thirty-fifth parallel, and to authorize +the construction along one of them of the railway +which all admitted to be possible of construction, +and to which military need in preservation of the +union had now added an imperative quality.</p> + +<p>The summer session of 1861 revived the bills for a +Pacific railway, and handed them over to the regular +session of 1861–1862 as unfinished business. In the +lobby at this later session was Theodore D. Judah, +a young graduate of the Troy Polytechnic, who gave +powerful aid to the final settlement of route and +means. Judah had come east in the autumn in +company with one of the newly elected California +representatives. During the long sea voyage he +had drilled into his companion, who happily was later +appointed to the Pacific Railroad Committee, all of +the elaborate knowledge of the railway problem +which he had acquired in his advocacy of the railway +on the Pacific Coast. California had begun the construction +of local railways several years before the +war broke out; a Pacific railway was her constant +need and prayer. Her own corporations were +planned with reference to the time when tracks from +the East should cross her border and find her local +creations waiting for connections with them.</p> + +<p>When the advent of war promised an early maturity +for the scheme, a few Californians organized +the most significant of the California railways, the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">220</a></span> +Central Pacific. On June 28, 1861, this company +was incorporated, having for its leading spirits Judah, +its chief engineer, and Collis Potter Huntington, +Mark Hopkins, Charles Crocker, and Leland Stanford, +soon to be governor of the state. Its founders +were all men of moderate means, but they had the best +of that foresight and initiative in which the frontier +was rich. Diligently through the summer of 1861 +Judah prospected for routes across the mountains +into Utah territory, where the new silver fields +around Carson indicated the probable course of a +route. With his plans and profiles, he hurried on +to Washington in the fall to aid in the quick settlement +of the long-debated question.</p> + +<p>Judah's interest in a special California road coincided +well with the needs and desires of Congress. +Already various bills were in the hands of the select +committees of both houses. The southern interest +was gone. The only remaining rivalries were +among St. Louis, Chicago, and the new Minnesota; +while the first of these was tainted by the doubtful +loyalty of Missouri, and the last was embarrassed +by the newness of its territory and its lack of population. +The Sioux were yet in control of much +of the country beyond St. Paul. Out of this rivalry +Chicago and a central route could emerge triumphant.</p> + +<p>The spring of 1862 witnessed a long debate over a +Union Pacific railroad to meet the new military needs +of the United States as well as to satisfy the old economic<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">221</a></span> +necessities. Why it was called "Union" is +somewhat in doubt. Bancroft thinks its name was +descriptive of the various local roads which were +bound together in the single continental scheme. +Davis, on the contrary, is inclined to believe that the +name was in contrast to the "Disunion" route of the +thirty-second parallel, since the route chosen was +to run entirely through loyal territory. Whatever +the reason, however, the Union Pacific Railroad Company +was incorporated on the 1st of July, 1862.</p> + +<p>Under the act of incorporation a continental railway +was to be constructed by several companies. +Within the limits of California, the Central Pacific +of California, already organized and well managed, +was to have the privilege. Between the boundary +line of California and Nevada and the hundredth +meridian, the new Union Pacific was to be the constructing +company. On the hundredth meridian, at +some point between the Republican River in Kansas +and the Platte River in Nebraska, radiating lines +were to advance to various eastern frontier points, +somewhat after the fashion of Benton's bill of 1855. +Thus the Leavenworth, Pawnee, and Western of +Kansas was authorized to connect this point with +the Missouri River, south of the mouth of the Kansas, +with a branch to Atchison and St. Joseph in connection +with the Hannibal and St. Joseph of Missouri. +The Union Pacific itself was required to build two +more connections; one to run from the hundredth +meridian to some point on the west boundary of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">222</a></span> +Iowa, to be fixed by the President of the United +States, and another to Sioux City, Iowa, whenever +a line from the east should reach that place.</p> + +<p>The aid offered for the construction of these lines +was more generous than any previously provided by +Congress. In the first place, the roads were entitled +to a right-of-way four hundred feet wide, with permission +to take material for construction from adjacent +parts of the public domain. Secondly, the +roads were to receive ten sections of land for each mile +of track on the familiar alternate section principle. +Finally, the United States was to lend to the roads +bonds to the amount of $16,000 per mile, on the +level, $32,000 in the foothills, and $48,000 in +the mountains, to facilitate construction. If not +completed and open by 1876, the whole line was to be +forfeited to the United States. If completed, the +loan of bonds was to be repaid out of subsequent +earnings.</p> + +<p>The Central Pacific of California was prompt in its +acceptance of the terms of the act of July 1, 1862. +It proceeded with its organization, broke ground at +Sacramento on February 22, 1863, and had a few +miles of track in operation before the next year closed. +But the Union Pacific was slow. "While fighting +to retain eleven refractory states," wrote one irritated +critic of the act, "the nation permitted itself +to be cozened out of territory sufficient to form +twelve new republics." Yet great as were the offered +grants, eastern capital was reluctant to put life<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">223</a></span> +into the new route across the plains. That it could +ever pay, was seriously doubted. Chances for more +certain and profitable investment in the East were +frequent in the years of war-time prosperity. +Although the railroad organized according to the +terms of the law, subscribers to the stock of the Union +Pacific were hard to find, and the road lay dormant +for two more years until Congress revised its offer +and increased its terms.</p> + +<p>In the session of 1863–1864 the general subject +was again approached. Writes Davis, "The opinion +was almost universal that additional legislation +was needed to make the Act of 1862 effective, but the +point where the limit of aid to patriotic capitalists +should be set was difficult to determine." It was, +and remained, the belief of the opponents of the bill +now passed that "lobbyists, male and female, ... +shysters and adventurers" had much to do with the +success of the measure. In its most essential parts, +the new bill of 1864 increased the degree of government +aid to the companies. The land grant was +doubled from ten sections per mile of track to +twenty, and the road was allowed to borrow of the +general public, on first mortgage bonds, money to the +amount of the United States loan, which was reduced +by a self-denying ordinance to the status of a +second mortgage. With these added inducements, +the Union Pacific was finally begun.</p> + +<p>The project at last under way in 1864–1865, as +Davis graphically pictures it, "was thoroughly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">224</a></span> +saturated and fairly dripping with the elements of +adventure and romance." But he overstates his +case when he goes on to remark that, "Before the +building of the Pacific railway most of the wide +expanse of territory west of the Missouri was <i xml:lang="la" lang="la">terra +incognita</i> to the mass of Americans." For twenty +years the railway had been under agitation; during +the whole period population had crossed the great +desert in increasing thousands; new states had +banked up around its circumference, east, west, and +south, while Kansas had been thrust into its middle; +new camps had dotted its interior. The great West +was by no means unknown, but with the construction +of the railway the American frontier entered upon +its final phase.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">225</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="vspace"><a name="CHAPTER_XIV" id="CHAPTER_XIV">CHAPTER XIV</a><br /> + +<span class="subhead">THE PLAINS IN THE CIVIL WAR</span></h2> + +<p>That the fate of the outlying colonies of the +United States should have aroused grave concerns +at the beginning of the Civil War is not surprising. +California and Oregon, Carson City, Denver, and +the other mining camps were indeed on the same continent +with the contending factions, but the degree +of their isolation was so great that they might as well +have been separated by an ocean. Their inhabitants +were more mixed than those of any portion of +the older states, while in several of the communities +the parties were so evenly divided as to raise doubts +of the loyalty of the whole. "The malignant secession +element of this Territory," wrote Governor Gilpin +of Colorado, in October, 1861, "has numbered +7,500. It has been ably and secretly organized from +November last, and requires extreme and extraordinary +measures to meet and control its onslaught." +At best, the western population was scanty and scattered +over a frontier that still possessed its virgin +character in most respects, though hovering at the +edge of a period of transition. An English observer, +hopeful for the worst, announced in the middle of the +war that "When that 'late lamented institution,'<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">226</a></span> +the once United States, shall have passed away, and +when, after this detestable and fratricidal war—the +most disgraceful to human nature that civilization +ever witnessed—the New World shall be restored +to order and tranquility, our shikaris will not +forget, that a single fortnight of comfortable travel +suffices to transport them from fallow deer and +pheasant shooting to the haunts of the bison and the +grizzly bear. There is little chance of these animals +being 'improved off' the Prairies, or even of their +becoming rare during the lifetime of the present +generation." The factors of most consequence in +shaping the course of the great plains during the Civil +War were those of mixed population, of ever present +Indian danger, and of isolation. Though the plains +had no effect upon the outcome of the war, the war +furthered the work already under way of making +known the West, clearing off the Indians, and preparing +for future settlement.</p> + +<p>Like the rest of the United States the West was +organized into military divisions for whose good order +commanding officers were made responsible. At +times the burden of military control fell chiefly +upon the shoulders of territorial governors; again, +special divisions were organized to meet particular +needs, and generals of experience were detached from +the main armies to direct movements in the West.</p> + +<p>Among the earliest of the episodes which drew +attention to the western departments was the resignation +of Albert Sidney Johnston, commanding the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">227</a></span> +Department of the Pacific, and his rather spectacular +flight across New Mexico, to join the confederate +forces. From various directions, federal troops were +sent to head him off, but he succeeded in evading all +these and reaching safety at the Rio Grande by +August 1. Here he could take an overland stage +for the rest of his journey. The department which +he abandoned included the whole West beyond +the Rockies except Utah and present New Mexico. +The country between the mountains and Missouri +constituted the Department of the West. As the +war advanced, new departments were created and +boundaries were shifted at convenience. The Department +of the Pacific remained an almost constant +quantity throughout. A Department of the Northwest, +covering the territory of the Sioux Indians, +was created in September, 1862, for the better defence +of Minnesota and Wisconsin. To this command +Pope was assigned after his removal from the +command of the Army of Virginia. Until the close +of the war, when the great leaders were distributed +and Sheridan received the Department of the Southwest, +no detail of equal importance was made to a +western department.</p> + +<p>The fighting on the plains was rarely important +enough to receive the dignified name of battle. +There were plenty of marching and reconnoitring, +much police duty along the trails, occasional skirmishes +with organized troops or guerrillas, aggressive +campaigns against the Indians, and campaigns in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">228</a></span> +defence of the agricultural frontier. But the armies +so occupied were small and inexperienced. Commonly +regiments of local volunteers were used in +these movements, or returned captives who were on +parole to serve no more against the confederacy. +Disciplined veterans were rarely to be found. As a +consequence of the spasmodic character of the plains +warfare and the inferior quality of the troops available, +western movements were often hampered and +occasionally made useless.</p> + +<p>The struggle for the Rio Grande was as important +as any of the military operations on the plains. At +the beginning of the war the confederate forces +seized the river around El Paso in time to make clear +the way for Johnston as he hurried east. The +Tucson country was occupied about the same time, +so that in the fall of 1861 the confederate outposts +were somewhat beyond the line of Texas and the +Rio Grande, with New Mexico, Utah, and Colorado +threatened. In December General Henry Hopkins +Sibley assumed command of the confederate troops +in the upper Rio Grande, while Colonel E. R. S. +Canby, from Fort Craig, organized the resistance +against further extension of the confederate power.</p> + +<p>Sibley's manifest intentions against the upper Rio +Grande country, around Santa Fé and Albuquerque, +aroused federal apprehensions in the winter of 1862. +Governor Gilpin, at Denver, was already frightened +at the danger within his own territory, and scarcely +needed the order which came from Fort Leavenworth<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">229</a></span> +through General Hunter to reënforce Canby and +look after the Colorado forts. He took responsibility +easily, drew upon the federal treasury for funds +which had not been allowed him, and shortly had +the first Colorado, and a part of the second Colorado +volunteers marching south to join the defensive +columns. It is difficult to define this march in terms +applicable to movements of war. At least one soldier +in the second Colorado took with him two children +and a wife, the last becoming the historian of the +regiment and praising the chivalry of the soldiers, +apparently oblivious of the fact that it is not a +soldier's duty to be child's nurse to his comrade's +family. But with wife and children, and the degree +of individualism and insubordination which these +imply, the Pike's Peak frontiersmen marched south +to save the territory. Their patriotism at least was +sure.</p> + +<p>As Sibley pushed up the river, passing Fort Craig +and brushing aside a small force at Valverde, the +Colorado forces reached Fort Union. Between +Fort Union and Albuquerque, which Sibley entered +easily, was the turning-point in the campaign. On +March 26, 1862, Major J. M. Chivington had a successful +skirmish at Johnson's ranch in Apache Cañon, +about twenty miles southeast of Santa Fé. Two +days later, at Pigeon's ranch, a more decisive check +was given to the confederates, but Colonel John P. +Slough, senior volunteer in command, fell back upon +Fort Union after the engagement, while the confederates<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">230</a></span> +were left free to occupy Santa Fé. A few days +later Slough was deposed in the Colorado regiment, +Chivington made colonel, and the advance on Santa +Fé begun again. Sibley, now caught between Canby +advancing from Fort Craig and Chivington coming +through Apache Cañon from Fort Union, evacuated +Santa Fé on April 7, falling back to Albuquerque. +The union troops, taking Santa Fé on April 12, hurried +down the Rio Grande after Sibley in his final +retreat. New Mexico was saved, and its security +brought tranquillity to Colorado. The Colorado +volunteers were back in Denver for the winter of +1862–1863, but Gilpin, whose vigorous and independent +support had made possible their campaign, had +been dismissed from his post as governor.</p> + +<p>Along the frontier of struggle campaigns of this +sort occurred from time to time, receiving little attention +from the authorities who were directing +weightier movements at the centre. Less formal +than these, and more provocative of bitter feeling, +were the attacks of guerrillas along the central frontier,—chiefly +the Missouri border and eastern +Kansas. Here the passions of the struggle for Kansas +had not entirely cooled down, southern sympathizers +were easily found, and communities divided +among themselves were the more intense in their +animosities.</p> + +<p>The Department of Kansas, where the most aggravated +of these guerrilla conflicts occurred, was +organized in November, 1861, under Major-general<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">231</a></span> +Hunter. From his headquarters at Leavenworth +the commanding officer directed the affairs of Kansas, +Nebraska, Dakota, Colorado, and "the Indian Territory +west of Arkansas." The department was often +shifted and reshaped to meet the needs of the frontier. +A year later the Department of the Northwest +was cut away from it, after the Sioux outbreak, its +own name was changed to Missouri, and the states +of Missouri and Arkansas were added to it. Still +later it was modified again. But here throughout +the war continued the troubles produced by the +mixture of frontier and farm-lands, partisan whites +and Indians.</p> + +<p>Bushwhacking, a composite of private murder +and public attack, troubled the Kansas frontier from +an early period of the war. It was easily aroused +because of public animosities, and difficult to suppress +because its participating parties retired quickly +into the body of peace-professing citizens. In it, +asserted General Order No. 13, of June 26, 1862, +"rebel fiends lay in wait for their prey to assassinate +Union soldiers and citizens; it is therefore ... especially +directed that whenever any of this class of +offenders shall be captured, they shall not be treated +as prisoners of war but be summarily tried by drumhead +court-martial, and if proved guilty, be executed +... on the spot."</p> + +<p>In August, 1863, occurred Quantrill's notable raid +into Kansas to terrify the border which was already +harassed enough. The old border hatred between<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">232</a></span> +Kansas and Missouri had been intensified by the +"murders, robberies, and arson" which had characterized +the irregular warfare carried on by both +sides. In western Missouri, loyal unionists were +not safe outside the federal lines; here the guerrillas +came and went at pleasure; and here, about August +18, Quantrill assembled a band of some three hundred +men for a foray into Kansas. On the 20th he +entered Kansas, heading at once for Lawrence, +which he surprised on the 21st. Although the city +arsenal contained plenty of arms and the town +could have mustered 500 men on "half an hour's +notice," the guerrilla band met no resistance. It +"robbed most of the stores and banks, and burned +one hundred and eighty-five buildings, including one-fourth +of the private residences and nearly all of the +business houses of the town, and, with circumstances +of the most fiendish atrocity, murdered 140 unarmed +men." The retreat of Quantrill was followed by a +vigorous federal pursuit and a partial devastation of +the adjacent Missouri counties. Kansas, indignant, +was in arms at once, protesting directly to President +Lincoln of the "imbecility and incapacity" of Major-general +John M. Schofield, commanding the Department +of the Missouri, "whose policy has opened +Kansas to invasion and butchery." Instead of carrying +out an unimpeded pursuit of the guerrillas, +Schofield had to devote his strength to keeping the +state of Kansas from declaring war against and +wreaking indiscriminate vengeance upon the state<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">233</a></span> +of Missouri. A year after Quantrill's raid came +Price's Missouri expedition, with its pitched battles +near Kansas City and Westport, and its pursuit +through southern Missouri, where confederate sympathizers +and the partisan politics of this presidential +year made punitive campaigns anything but +easy.</p> + +<p>Carleton's march into New Mexico has already +been described in connection with the mining boom +of Arizona. The silver mines of the Santa Cruz +Valley had drawn American population to Tubac and +Tucson several years before the war; while the confederate +successes in the upper Rio Grande in the +summer of 1861 had compelled federal evacuation of +the district. Colonel E. R. S. Canby devoted the +small force at his command to regaining the country +around Albuquerque and Santa Fé, while the relief +of the forts between the Rio Grande and the Colorado +was intrusted to Carleton's California Column. +After May, 1862, Carleton was firmly established in +Tucson, and later he was given command of the whole +Department of New Mexico. Of fighting with the +confederates there was almost none. He prosecuted, +instead, Apache and Navaho wars, and exploited the +new gold fields which were now found. In much of +the West, as in his New Mexico, occasional ebullitions +of confederate sympathizers occurred, but the +military task of the commanders was easy.</p> + +<p>The military problem of the plains was one of +police, with the extinction of guerrilla warfare and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">234</a></span> +the pacification of Indians as its chief elements. +The careers of Canby, Carleton, and Gilpin indicate +the nature of the western strategic warfare, Schofield's +illustrates that of guerrilla fighting, the Minnesota +outbreak that of the Indian relations.</p> + +<p>In the Northwest, where the agricultural expansion +of the fifties had worked so great changes, the +pressure on the tribes had steadily increased. In +1851 the Sioux bands had ceded most of their territory +in Minnesota, and had agreed upon a reduced +reserve in the St. Peter's, or Minnesota, Valley. But +the terms of this treaty had been delayed in enforcement, +while bad management on the part of the +United States and the habitual frontier disregard of +Indian rights created tense feelings, which might +break loose at any time. No single grievance of the +Indians caused more trouble than that over traders' +claims. The improvident savages bought largely +of the traders, on credit, at extortionate prices. The +traders could afford the risk because when treaties +of cession were made, their influence was generally +able to get inserted in the treaty a clause for satisfying +claims against individuals out of the tribal funds +before these were handed over to the savages. The +memory of the savage was short, and when he found +that his allowance, the price for his lands, had gone +into the traders' pockets, he could not realize that it +had gone to pay his debts, but felt, somehow, defrauded. +The answer would have been to prevent +trade with the Indians on credit. But the traders'<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">235</a></span> +influence at Washington was great. It would be an +interesting study to investigate the connection between +traders' bills and agitation for new cessions, +since the latter generally meant satisfaction of the +former.</p> + +<p>Among the Sioux there were factional feelings that +had aroused the apprehensions of their agents before +the war broke out. The "blanket" Indians continually +mocked at the "farmers" who took kindly +to the efforts of the United States for their agricultural +civilization. There was civil strife among the +progressives and irreconcilables which made it +difficult to say what was the disposition of the whole +nation. The condition was so unstable that an accidental +row, culminating in the murder of five whites +at Acton, in Meeker County, brought down the most +serious Indian massacre the frontier had yet seen.</p> + +<p>There was no more occasion for a general uprising +in 1862 than there had been for several years. The +wiser Indians realized the futility of such a course. +Yet Little Crow, inclined though he was to peace, +fell in with the radicals as the tribe discussed their +policy; and he determined that since a massacre +had been commenced they had best make it as thorough +as possible. Retribution was certain whether +they continued war or not, and the farmer Indians +were unlikely to be distinguished from the blankets +by angry frontiersmen. The attack fell first upon the +stores at the lower agency, twenty miles above Fort +Ridgely, whence refugee whites fled to Fort Ridgely<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">236</a></span> +with news of the outbreak. All day, on the 18th of +August, massacres occurred along the St. Peter's, +from near New Ulm to the Yellow Medicine River. +The incidents of Indian war were all there, in surprise, +slaughter of women and children, mutilation +and torture.</p> + +<p>The next day, Tuesday the 19th, the increasing +bands fell upon the rambling village of New Ulm, +twenty-eight miles above Mankato, where fugitives +had gathered and where Judge Charles E. Flandrau +hastily organized a garrison for defence. He had +been at St. Peter's when the news arrived, and had +led a relief band through the drenching rain, reaching +New Ulm in the evening. On Wednesday afternoon +Little Crow, his band still growing—the Sioux +could muster some 1300 warriors—surprised Fort +Ridgely, though with no success. On Thursday he +renewed the attack with a force now dwindling because +of individual plundering expeditions which drew +his men to various parts of the neighboring country. +On Friday he attacked once more.</p> + +<p>On Saturday the 23d Little Crow came down the +river again to renew his fight upon New Ulm, which, +unmolested since Tuesday, had been increasing its +defences. Here Judge Flandrau led out the whites +in a pitched battle. A few of his men were old frontiersmen, +cool and determined, of unerring aim; +but most were German settlers, recently arrived, and +often terrified by their new experiences. During +the week of horrors the depredations covered the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">237</a></span> +Minnesota frontier and lapped over into Iowa and +Dakota. Isolated families, murdered and violated, +or led captive into the wilderness, were common. +Stories of those who survived these dangers form a +large part of the local literature of this section of the +Northwest. At New Ulm the situation had become +so desperate that on the 25th Flandrau evacuated the +town and led its whole remaining population to safety +at Mankato.</p> + +<p>Long before the week of suffering was over, aid +had been started to the harassed frontier. Governor +Ramsey, of Minnesota, hurried to Mendota, and there +organized a relief column to move up the Minnesota +Valley. Henry Hastings Sibley, quite different from +him of Rio Grande fame, commanded the column +and reached St. Peter's with his advance on Friday. +By Sunday he had 1400 men with whom to quiet the +panic and restore peace and repopulate the deserted +country. He was now joined by Ignatius Donnelly, +Lieutenant-governor, sent to urge greater speed. +The advance was resumed. By Friday, the 29th, +they had reached Fort Ridgely, passing through country +"abandoned by the inhabitants; the houses, in +many cases, left with the doors open, the furniture +undisturbed, while the cattle ranged about the doors +or through the cultivated fields." The country had +been settled up to the very edge of the Fort Ridgely +reserve. It was entirely deserted, though only partially +devastated. Donnelly commented in his report +upon the prayer-books and old German trunks of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">238</a></span> +"Johann Schwartz," strewn upon the ground in one +place; and upon bodies found, "bloated, discolored, +and far gone in decomposition." The Indian agent, +Thomas J. Galbraith, who was at Fort Ridgely during +the trouble, reported in 1863, that 737 whites +were known to have been massacred.</p> + +<p>Sibley, having reached Fort Ridgely, proceeded at +first to reconnoitre and bury the dead, then to follow +the Indians and rescue the captives. More than once +the tribes had found that it was wise to carry off +prisoners, who by serving as hostages might mollify +or prevent punishment for the original outbreak. +Early in September there were pitched battles at +Birch Coolie and Fort Abercrombie and Wood Lake. +At this last engagement, on September 23, Sibley was +able not only to defeat the tribes and take nearly +2000 prisoners, but to release 227 women and children, +who had been the "prime object," from whose +"pursuit nothing could drive or divert him." The +Indians were handed over under arrest to Agent +Galbraith to be conveyed first to the Lower Agency, +and then, in November, to Fort Snelling.</p> + +<p>The punishment of the Sioux was heavy. Inkpaduta's +massacre at Spirit Lake was still remembered +and unavenged. Sibley now cut them down in +battle in 1862, though Little Crow and other leaders +escaped. In 1863, Pope, who had been called to +command a new department in the Northwest, organized +a general campaign against the tribes, sending +Sibley up the Minnesota River to drive them west,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">239</a></span> +and Sully up the Missouri to head them off, planning +to catch and crush them between the two columns. +The manœuvre was badly timed and failed, while +punishment drifted gradually into a prolonged war.</p> + +<p>Civil retribution was more severe, and fell, with +judicial irony, on the farmer Sioux who had been +drawn reluctantly into the struggle. At the Lower +Agency, at Redwood, the captives were held, while +more than four hundred of their men were singled +out for trial for murder. Nothing is more significant +of the anomalous nature of the Indian relation than +this trial for murder of prisoners of war. The United +States held the tribes nationally to account, yet felt +free to punish individuals as though they were citizens +of the United States. The military commission +sat at Redwood for several weeks with the missionary +and linguist, Rev. S. R. Riggs, "in effect, the Grand +Jury of the court." Three hundred and three were +condemned to death by the court for murder, rape, +and arson, their condemnation starting a wave of +protest over the country, headed by the Indian Commissioner, +W. P. Dole. To the indignation of the +frontier, naturally revengeful and never impartial, +President Lincoln yielded to the protests in the case +of most of the condemned. Yet thirty-eight of +them were hanged on a single scaffold at Mankato +on December 26, 1862. The innocent and uncondemned +were punished also, when Congress confiscated +all their Minnesota reserve in 1863, and +transferred the tribe to Fort Thompson on the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">240</a></span> +Missouri, where less desirable quarters were found +for them.</p> + +<p>All along the edge of the frontier, from Minnesota +to the Rio Grande, were problems that drew the West +into the movement of the Civil War. The situation +was trying for both whites and Indians, but nowhere +did the Indians suffer between the millstones as they +did in the Indian Territory, where the Cherokee and +Creeks, Choctaw and Chickasaw and Seminole, +had been colonized in the years of creation of the +Indian frontier. For a generation these nations +had resided in comparative peace and advancing +civilization, but they were undone by causes which +they could not control.</p> + +<p>The confederacy was no sooner organized than its +commissioners demanded of the tribes colonized west +of Arkansas their allegiance and support, professing +to have inherited all the rights and obligations of the +United States. To the Indian leaders, half civilized +and better, this demand raised difficulties which +would have been a strain on any diplomacy. If +they remained loyal to the United States, the confederate +forces, adjacent in Arkansas and Texas, and +already coveting their lands, would cut them to pieces. +If they adhered to the confederacy and the latter +lost, they might anticipate the resentment of the +United States. Yet they were too weak to stand +alone and were forced to go one way or other. The +resulting policy was temporizing and brought to +them a large measure of punishment from both<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">241</a></span> +sides, and the heavy subsequent wrath of the +United States.</p> + +<p>John Ross, principal chief in the Cherokee nation, +tried to maintain his neutrality at the commencement +of the conflict, but the fiction of Indian nationality +was too slight for his effort to be successful. During +the spring and summer of 1861 he struggled against +the confederate control to which he succumbed by +August, when confederate troops had overrun most +of Indian Territory, and disloyal Indian agents had +surrendered United States property to the enemy. +The war which followed resembled the guerrilla conflicts +of Kansas, with the addition of the Indian element.</p> + +<p>By no means all the Indians accepted the confederate +control. When the Indian Territory forts—Gibson, +Arbuckle, Washita, and Cobb—fell +into the hands of the South, loyal Indians left their +homes and sought protection within the United +States lines. Almost the only way to fight a war in +which a population is generally divided, is by means +of depopulation and concentration. Along the +Verdigris River, in southeast Kansas, these Indian +refugees settled in 1861 and 1862, to the number of +6000. Here the Indian Commissioner fed them as +best he could, and organized them to fight when that +was possible. With the return of federal success in +the occupation of Fort Smith and western Arkansas +during the next two years, the natives began to +return to their homes. But the relation of their<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">242</a></span> +tribes to the United States was tainted. The compulsory +cession of their western lands which came at +the close of the conflict belongs to a later chapter and +the beginnings of Oklahoma. Here, as elsewhere, +the condition of the tribes was permanently changed.</p> + +<p>The great plains and the Far West were only the +outskirts of the Civil War. At no time did they shape +its course, for the Civil War was, from their point of +view, only an incidental sectional contest in the East, +and merely an episode in the grander development +of the United States. The way is opening ever +wider for the historian who shall see in this material +development and progress of civilization the central +thread of American history, and in accordance with +it, retail the story. But during the years of sectional +strife the West was occasionally connected with the +struggle, while toward their close it passed rapidly +into a period in which it came to be the admitted +centre of interest. The last stand of the Indians +against the onrush of settlement is a warfare with an +identity of its own.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">243</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="vspace"><a name="CHAPTER_XV" id="CHAPTER_XV">CHAPTER XV</a><br /> + +<span class="subhead">THE CHEYENNE WAR</span></h2> + +<p>It has long been the custom to attribute the dangerous +restlessness of the Indians during and after the +Civil War to the evil machinations of the Confederacy. +It has been plausible to charge that agents of the +South passed among the tribes, inciting them to +outbreak by pointing out the preoccupation of the +United States and the defencelessness of the frontier. +Popular narratives often repeat this charge when +dealing with the wars and depredations, whether +among the Sioux of Minnesota, or the Northwest +tribes, or the Apache and Navaho, or the Indians +of the plains. Indeed, had the South been able thus +to harass the enemy it is not improbable that it +would have done it. It is not impossible that it +actually did it. But at least the charge has not been +proved. No one has produced direct evidence to +show the existence of agents or their connection with +the Confederacy, though many have uttered a general +belief in their reality. Investigators of single affairs +have admitted, regretfully, their inability to add +incitement of Indians to the charges against the +South. If such a cause were needed to explain the +increasing turbulence of the tribes, it might be worth<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">244</a></span> +while to search further in the hope of establishing it, +but nothing occurred in these wars which cannot be +accounted for, fully, in facts easily obtained and +well authenticated.</p> + +<p>Before 1861 the Indians of the West were commonly +on friendly terms with the United States. +Occasional wars broke this friendship, and frequent +massacres aroused the fears of one frontier or another, +for the Indian was an irresponsible child, and the +frontiersman was reckless and inconsiderate. But +the outbreaks were exceptional, they were easily +put down, and peace was rarely hard to obtain. By +1865 this condition had changed over most of the +West. Warfare had become systematic and widely +spread. The frequency and similarity of outbreaks +in remote districts suggested a harmonious plan, or +at least similar reactions from similar provocations. +From 1865, for nearly five years, these wars continued +with only intervals of truce, or professed peace; +while during a long period after 1870, when most of +the tribes were suppressed and well policed, upheavals +occurred which were clearly to be connected with +the Indian wars. The reality of this transition from +peace to war has caused many to charge it to the +South. It is, however, connected with the culmination +of the westward movement, which more than explains +it.</p> + +<p>For a setting of the Indian wars some restatement +of the events before 1861 is needed. By 1840 the +agricultural frontier of the United States had reached<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">245</a></span> +the bend of the Missouri, while the Indian tribes, +with plenty of room, had been pushed upon the plains. +In the generation following appeared the heavy +traffic along the overland trails, the advance of the +frontier into the new Northwest, and the Pacific +railway surveys. Each of these served to compress +the Indians and restrict their range. Accompanying +these came curtailing of reserves, shifting of residences +to less desirable grounds, and individual +maltreatment to a degree which makes marvellous +the incapacity, weakness, and patience of the Indians. +Occasionally they struggled, but always they +lost. The scalped and mutilated pioneer, with +his haystacks burning and his stock run off, is a +vivid picture in the period, but is less characteristic +than the long-suffering Indian, accepting the inevitable, +and moving to let the white man in.</p> + +<p>The necessary results of white encroachment were +destruction of game and education of the Indian to +the luxuries and vices of the white man. At a time +when starvation was threatening because of the +disappearance of the buffalo and other food animals, +he became aware of the superior diet of the whites +and the ease with which robbery could be accomplished. +In the fifties the pressure continued, heavier +than ever. The railway surveys reached nearly +every corner of the Indian Country. In the next +few years came the prospectors who started hundreds +of mining camps beyond the line of settlements, +while the engineers began to stick the advancing<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">246</a></span> +heads of railways out from the Missouri frontier and +into the buffalo range.</p> + +<p>Even the Indian could see the approaching end. +It needed no confederate envoy to assure him that +the United States could be attacked. His own +hunger and the white peril were persuading him to +defend his hunting-ground. Yet even now, in the +widespread Indian wars of the later sixties, uniformity +of action came without much previous +coöperation. A general Indian league against the +whites was never raised. The general war, upon +dissection and analysis, breaks up into a multitude +of little wars, each having its own particular causes, +which, in many instances, if the word of the most +expert frontiersmen is to be believed, ran back into +cases of white aggression and Indian revenge.</p> + +<p>The Sioux uprising of 1862 came a little ahead of +the general wars, with causes rising from the treaties +of Mendota and Traverse des Sioux in 1851. The +plains situation had been clearly seen and succinctly +stated in this year. "We are constrained to say," +wrote the men who made these treaties, "that in our +opinion <i>the time has come</i> when the extinguishment +of the Indian title to this region should no longer be +delayed, if government would not have the mortification, +on the one hand, of confessing its inability to +protect the Indian from encroachment; or be subject +to the painful necessity, upon the other, of +ejecting by force thousands of its citizens from a +land which they desire to make their homes, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">247</a></span> +which, without their occupancy and labor, will be +comparatively useless and waste." The other treaties +concluded in this same year at Fort Laramie +were equally the fountains of discontent which +boiled over in the early sixties and gave rise at +last to one of the most horrible incidents of the +plains war.</p> + +<p>In the Laramie treaties the first serious attempt +to partition the plains among the tribes was made. +The lines agreed upon recognized existing conditions +to a large extent, while annuities were pledged in consideration +of which the savages agreed to stay at +peace, to allow free migration along the trails, and +to keep within their boundaries. The Sioux here +agreed that they belonged north of the Platte. The +Arapaho and Cheyenne recognized their area as +lying between the Platte and the Arkansas, the mountains +and, roughly, the hundred and first meridian. +For ten years after these treaties the last-named +tribes kept the faith to the exclusion of attacks upon +settlers or emigrants. They even allowed the Senate +in its ratification of the treaty to reduce the term of +the annuities from fifty years to fifteen.</p> + +<p>In a way, the Arapaho and Cheyenne Indians +lay off the beaten tracks and apart from contact with +the whites. Their home was in the triangle between +the great trails, with a mountain wall behind them +that offered almost insuperable obstacles to those +who would cross the continent through their domain. +The Gunnison railroad survey, which was run along<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">248</a></span> +the thirty-ninth parallel and through the Cochetopa +Pass, revealed the difficulty of penetrating the range +at this point. Accordingly, a decade which built up +Oregon and California made little impression on this +section until in 1858 gold was discovered in Cherry +Creek. Then came the deluge.</p> + +<p>Nearly one hundred thousand miners and hangers-on +crossed the plains to the Pike's Peak country in +1859 and settled unblushingly in the midst of the +Indian lands. They "possessed nothing more than +the right of transit over these lands," admitted the +Peace Commissioners in 1868. Yet they "took +possession of them for the purpose of mining, and, +against the protest of the Indians, founded cities, +established farms, and opened roads. Before 1861 +the Cheyenne and Arapaho had been driven from +the mountain regions down upon the waters of +the Arkansas, and were becoming sullen and discontented +because of this violation of their rights." +The treaty of 1851 had guaranteed the Indians in +their possession, pledging the United States to prevent +depredations by the whites, but here, as in most +similar cases, the guarantees had no weight in the +face of a population under way. The Indians were +brushed aside, the United States agents made no +real attempts to enforce the treaty, and within a few +months the settlers were demanding protection +against the surrounding tribes. "The Indians saw +their former homes and hunting grounds overrun by a +greedy population, thirsting for gold," continued the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">249</a></span> +Commissioners. "They saw their game driven east +to the plains, and soon found themselves the objects +of jealousy and hatred. They too must go. The +presence of the injured is too often painful to the +wrong-doer, and innocence offensive to the eyes of +guilt. It now became apparent that what had been +taken by force must be retained by the ravisher, +and nothing was left for the Indian but to ratify a +treaty consecrating the act."</p> + +<p>Instead of a war of revenge in which the Arapaho +and Cheyenne strove to defend their lands and to +drive out the intruders, a war in which the United +States ought to have coöperated with the Indians, +a treaty of cession followed. On February 18, 1861, +at Fort Wise, which was the new name for Bent's +old fort on the Arkansas, an agreement was signed +by which these tribes gave up much of the great range +reserved for them in 1851, and accepted in its place, +with what were believed to be greater guarantees, a +triangular tract bounded, east and northeast, by +Sand Creek, in eastern Colorado; on the south by +the Arkansas and Purgatory rivers; and extending +west some ninety miles from the junction of Sand +Creek and the Arkansas. The cessions made by the +Ute on the other side of the range, not long after +this, are another part of the same story of mining +aggression. The new Sand Creek reserve was designed +to remove the Arapaho and Cheyenne from +under the feet of the restless prospectors. For years +they had kept the peace in the face of great provocation.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">250</a></span> +For three years more they put up with white +encroachment before their war began.</p> + +<p>The Colorado miners, like those of the other boom +camps, had been loud in their demand for transportation. +To satisfy this, overland traffic had been +organized on a large scale, while during 1862 the +stage and freight service of the plains fell under the +control of Ben Holladay. Early in August, 1864, +Holladay was nearly driven out of business. About +the 10th of the month, simultaneous attacks were +made along his mail line from the Little Blue River +to within eighty miles of Denver. In the forays, +stations were sacked and burned, isolated farms were +wiped out, small parties on the trails were destroyed. +At Ewbank Station, a family of ten "was massacred +and scalped, and one of the females, besides having +suffered the latter inhuman barbarity, was pinned to +the earth by a stake thrust through her person, in a +most revolting manner; ... at Plum Creek ... +nine persons were murdered, their train, consisting +of ten wagons, burnt, and two women and two children +captured.... The old Indian traders ... +and the settlers ... abandoned their habitations." +For a distance of 370 miles, Holladay's general superintendent +declared, every ranch but one was "deserted +and the property abandoned to the Indians."</p> + +<p>Fifteen years after the destruction of his stations, +Holladay was still claiming damages from the United +States and presenting affidavits from his men which +revealed the character of the attacks. George H.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">251</a></span> +Carlyle told how his stage was chased by Indians for +twenty miles, how he had helped to bury the mutilated +bodies of the Plum Creek victims, and how +within a week the route had to be abandoned, and +every ranch from Fort Kearney to Julesburg was +deserted. The division agent told how property +had been lost in the hurried flight. To save some of +the stock, fodder and supplies had to be sacrificed,—hundreds +of sacks of corn, scores of tons of hay, +besides the buildings and their equipment. Nowhere +were the Indians overbold in their attacks. In small +bands they waited their time to take the stations by +surprise. Well-armed coaches might expect to get +through with little more than a few random shots, +but along the hilltops they could often see the savages +waiting in safety for them to pass. Indian warfare +was not one of organized bodies and formal manœuvres. +Only when cornered did the Indian +stand to fight. But in wild, unexpected descents +the tribes fell upon the lines of communication, +reducing the frontier to an abject terror overnight.</p> + +<p>The destruction of the stage route was not the first, +though it was the most general hostility which +marked the commencement of a new Indian war. +Since the spring of 1864 events had occurred which +in the absence of a more rigorous control than the +Indian Department possessed, were likely to lead to +trouble. The Cheyenne had been dissatisfied with +the Fort Wise treaty ever since its conclusion. The +Sioux were carrying on a prolonged war. The<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">252</a></span> +Arapaho, Comanche, and Kiowa were ready to be +started on the war-path. It was the old story of +too much compression and isolated attacks going +unpunished. Whatever the merits of an original +controversy, the only way to keep the savages under +control was to make fair retribution follow close upon +the commission of an outrage. But the punishment +needed to be fair.</p> + +<p>In April, 1864, a ranchman named Ripley came +into one of the camps on the South Platte and declared +that some Indians had stolen his stock. Perhaps +his statement was true; but it must be remembered +that the ranchman whose stock strayed away +was prone to charge theft against the Indians, and +that there is only Ripley's own word that he ever +had any stock. Captain Sanborn, commanding, sent +out a troop of cavalry to recover the animals. They +came upon some Indians with horses which Ripley +claimed as his, and in an attempt to disarm them, a +fight occurred in which the troop was driven off. +Their lieutenant thought the Indians were Cheyenne.</p> + +<p>A few weeks after this, Major Jacob Downing, +who had been in Camp Sanborn inspecting troops, +came into Denver and got from Colonel Chivington +about forty men, with whom "to go against the +Indians." Downing later swore that he found the +Cheyenne village at Cedar Bluffs. "We commenced +shooting; I ordered the men to commence killing +them.... They lost ... some twenty-six killed +and thirty wounded.... I burnt up their lodges and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">253</a></span> +everything I could get hold of.... We captured +about one hundred head of stock, which was distributed +among the boys."</p> + +<p>On the 12th of June, a family living on Box Elder +Creek, twenty miles east of Denver, was murdered +by the Indians. Hungate, his wife, and two children +were killed, the house burned, and fifty or sixty head +of stock run off. When the "scalped and horribly +mangled bodies" were brought into Denver, the +population, already uneasy, was thrown into panic by +this appearance of danger so close to the city. Governor +Evans began at once to organize the militia for +home defence and to appeal to Washington for help.</p> + +<p>By the time of the attack upon the stage line it +was clear that an Indian war existed, involving in +varying degrees parts of the Arapaho, Cheyenne, +Comanche, and Kiowa tribes. The merits of the +causes which provoked it were considerably in doubt. +On the frontier there was no hesitation in charging +it all to the innate savagery of the tribes. Governor +Evans was entirely satisfied that "while some of the +Indians might yet be friendly, there was no hope of a +general peace on the plains, until after a severe +chastisement of the Indians for these depredations."</p> + +<p>In restoring tranquillity the frontier had to rely +largely upon its own resources. Its own Second +Colorado was away doing duty in the Missouri campaign, +while the eastern military situation presented +no probability of troops being available to help out +the West. Colonel Chivington and Governor John<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">254</a></span> +Evans, with the long-distance aid of General Curtis, +were forced to make their own plans and execute +them.</p> + +<p>As early as June, Governor Evans began his corrective +measures, appealing first to Washington for +permission to raise extra troops, and then endeavoring +to separate the friendly and warlike Indians in +order that the former "should not fall victims to the +impossibility of soldiers discriminating between them +and the hostile, upon whom they must, to do any +good, inflict the most severe chastisement." To +this end, and with the consent of the Indian Department, +he sent out a proclamation, addressed to "the +friendly Indians of the Plains," directing them to +keep away from those who were at war, and as evidence +of friendship to congregate around the agencies +for safety. Forts Lyons, Laramie, Larned, and +Camp Collins were designated as concentration +points for the several tribes. "None but those who +intend to be friendly with the whites must come to +these places. The families of those who have gone +to war with the whites must be kept away from +among the friendly Indians. The war on hostile +Indians will be continued until they are all effectually +subdued." The Indians, frankly at war, paid no +attention to this invitation. Two small bands only +sought the cover of the agencies, and with their +exception, so Governor Evans reported on October +15, the proclamation "met no response from any of +the Indians of the plains."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">255</a></span> +The war parties became larger and more general +as the summer advanced, driving whites off the plains +between the two trails for several hundred miles. But +as fall approached, the tribes as usual sought peace. +The Indians' time for war was summer. Without +supplies, they were unable to fight through the winter, +so that autumn brought them into a mood well +disposed to peace, reservations, and government +rations. Major Colley, the agent on the Sand Creek +reserve at Fort Lyon, received an overture early in +September. In a letter written for them on August +29, by a trader, Black Kettle, of the Cheyenne, and +other chiefs declared their readiness to make a peace +if all the tribes were included in it. As an olive +branch, they offered to give up seven white prisoners. +They admitted that five war parties, three Cheyenne +and two Arapaho, were yet in the field.</p> + +<p>Upon receipt of Black Kettle's letter, Major E. +W. Wynkoop, military commander at Fort Lyon, +marched with 130 men to the Cheyenne camp at +Bend of Timbers, some eighty miles northeast of +Fort Lyons. Here he found "from six to eight +hundred Indian warriors drawn up in line of battle +and prepared to fight." He avoided fighting, demanded +and received the prisoners, and held a council +with the chiefs. Here he told them that he had +no authority to conclude a peace, but offered to conduct +a group of chiefs to Denver, for a conference +with Governor Evans.</p> + +<p>On September 28, Governor Evans held a council<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">256</a></span> +with the Cheyenne and Arapaho chiefs brought in +by Major Wynkoop; Black Kettle and White Antelope +being the most important. Black Kettle +opened the conference with an appeal to the governor +in which he alluded to his delivery of the prisoners +and Wynkoop's invitation to visit Denver. "We +have come with our eyes shut, following his handful +of men, like coming through the fire," Black Kettle +went on. "All we ask is that we may have peace +with the whites. We want to hold you by the hand. +You are our father. We have been travelling +through a cloud. The sky has been dark ever since +the war began. These braves who are with me are +all willing to do what I say. We want to take good +tidings home to our people, that they may sleep in +peace. I want you to give all these chiefs of the soldiers +here to understand that we are for peace, and +that we have made peace, that we may not be mistaken +by them for enemies." To him Governor +Evans responded that this submission was a long time +coming, and that the nation had gone to war, refusing +to listen to overtures of peace. This Black Kettle +admitted.</p> + +<p>"So far as making a treaty now is concerned," +continued Governor Evans, "we are in no condition +to do it.... You, so far, have had the advantage; but +the time is near at hand when the plains will swarm +with United States soldiers. I have learned that +you understand that as the whites are at war among +themselves, you think you can now drive the whites<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">257</a></span> +from this country; but this reliance is false. The +Great Father at Washington has men enough to drive +all the Indians off the plains, and whip the rebels +at the same time. Now the war with the whites is +nearly through, and the Great Father will not +know what to do with all his soldiers, except to send +them after the Indians on the plains. My proposition +to the friendly Indians has gone out; [I] shall be +glad to have them all come in under it. I have no +new proposition to make. Another reason that I am +not in a condition to make a treaty is that war is +begun, and the power to make a treaty of peace has +passed to the great war chief." He further counselled +them to make terms with the military authorities +before they could hope to talk of peace. No prospect +of an immediate treaty was given to the chiefs. +Evans disclaimed further powers, and Colonel Chivington +closed the council, saying: "I am not a big +war chief, but all the soldiers in this country are at my +command. My rule of fighting white men or Indians +is to fight them until they lay down their arms +and submit." The same evening came a despatch +from Major-general Curtis, at Fort Leavenworth, +confirming the non-committal attitude of Evans and +Chivington: "I want no peace till the Indians +suffer more.... I fear Agent of the Interior Department +will be ready to make presents too soon.... +No peace must be made without my directions."</p> + +<p>The chiefs were escorted home without their peace +or any promise of it, Governor Evans believing that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">258</a></span> +the great body of the tribes was still hostile, and that +a decisive winter campaign was needed to destroy +their lingering notion that the whites might be driven +from the plains. Black Kettle had been advised at +the council to surrender to the soldiers, Major Wynkoop +at Fort Lyon being mentioned as most available. +Many of his tribe acted on the suggestion, so +that on October 20 Agent Colley, their constant +friend, reported that "nearly all the Arapahoes are +now encamped near this place and desire to remain +friendly, and make reparation for the damages +committed by them."</p> + +<p>The Indians unquestionably were ready to make +peace after their fashion and according to their +ability. There is no evidence that they were reconciled +to their defeat, but long experience had accustomed +them to fighting in the summer and drawing +rations as peaceful in the winter. The young +men, in part, were still upon the war-path, but the +tribes and the head chiefs were anxious to go upon a +winter basis. Their interpreter who had attended +the conference swore that they left Denver, "perfectly +contented, deeming that the matter was settled," +that upon their return to Fort Lyon, Major +Wynkoop gave them permission to bring their families +in under the fort where he could watch them +better; and that "accordingly the chiefs went after +their families and villages and brought them in, +... satisfied that they were in perfect security and +safety."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">259</a></span> +While the Indians gathered around the fort, +Major Wynkoop sent to General Curtis for advice +and orders respecting them. Before the orders arrived, +however, he was relieved from command and +Major Scott J. Anthony, of the First Colorado Cavalry, +was detailed in his place. After holding a conference +with the Indians and Anthony, in which +the latter renewed the permission for the bands to +camp near the fort, he left Fort Lyons on November +26. Anthony meanwhile had become convinced that +he was exceeding his authority. First he disarmed +the savages, receiving only a few old and worn-out +weapons. Then he returned these and ordered the +Indians away from Fort Lyons. They moved forty +miles away and encamped on Sand Creek.</p> + +<p>The Colorado authorities had no idea of calling it +a peace. Governor Evans had scolded Wynkoop +for bringing the chiefs in to Denver. He had received +special permission and had raised a hundred-day +regiment for an Indian campaign. If he should +now make peace, Washington would think he had +misrepresented the situation and put the government +to needless expense. "What shall I do with +the third regiment, if I make peace?" he demanded +of Wynkoop. They were "raised to kill Indians, +and they must kill Indians."</p> + +<p>Acting on the supposition that the war was still on, +Colonel Chivington led the Third Colorado, and a +part of the First Colorado Cavalry, from 900 to 1000 +strong, to Fort Lyons in November, arriving two<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">260</a></span> +days after Wynkoop departed. He picketed the +fort, to prevent the news of his arrival from getting +out, and conferred on the situation with Major +Anthony, who, swore Major Downing, wished he +would attack the Sand Creek camp and would have +done so himself had he possessed troops enough. +Three days before, Anthony had given a present to +Black Kettle out of his own pocket. As the result of +the council of war, Chivington started from Fort +Lyon at nine o'clock, on the night of the 28th.</p> + +<p>About daybreak on November 29 Chivington's +force reached the Cheyenne village on Sand Creek, +where Black Kettle, White Antelope, and some +500 of their band, mostly women and children, +were encamped in the belief that they had made +their peace. They had received no pledge of this, +but past practice explained their confidence. The +village was surrounded by troops who began to fire +as soon as it was light. "We killed as many as we +could; the village was destroyed and burned," declared +Downing, who further professed, "I think +and earnestly believe the Indians to be an obstacle to +civilization, and should be exterminated." White +Antelope was killed at the first attack, refusing to +leave the field, stating that it was the fault of Black +Kettle, others, and himself that occasioned the massacre, +and that he would die. Black Kettle, refusing +to leave the field, was carried off by his young men. +The latter had raised an American flag and a white +flag in his effort to stop the fight.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">261</a></span> +The firing began, swore interpreter Smith, on +the northeast side of Sand Creek, near Black Kettle's +lodge. Driven thence, the disorderly horde of +savages retreated to War Bonnet's lodge at the upper +end of the village, some few of them armed but most +making no resistance. Up the dry bottom of Sand +Creek they ran, with the troops in wild charge close +behind. In the hollows of the banks they sought +refuge, but the soldiers dragged them out, killing +seventy or eighty with the worst barbarities Smith +had seen: "All manner of depredations were inflicted +on their persons; they were scalped, their +brains knocked out; the men used their knives, +ripped open women, clubbed little children, knocked +them in the head with their guns, beat their brains +out, mutilated their bodies in every sense of the +word." The affidavits of soldiers engaged in the +attack are printed in the government documents. +They are too disgusting to be more than referred to +elsewhere.</p> + +<p>Here at last was the culmination of the plains war +of 1864 in the "Chivington massacre," which has been +the centre of bitter controversy ever since its heroes +marched into Denver with their bloody trophies. It +was without question Indian fighting at its worst, yet +it was successful in that the Indian hostilities stopped +and a new treaty was easily obtained by the whites +in 1865. The East denounced Chivington, and the +Indian Commissioner described the event in 1865 as +a butchery "in cold blood by troops in the service of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">262</a></span> +the United States." "Comment cannot magnify +the horror," said the <i>Nation</i>. The heart of the question +had to do with the matter of good faith. At no +time did the military or Colorado authorities admit +or even appear to admit that the war was over. +They regarded the campaign as punitive and necessary +for the foundation of a secure peace. The Indians, +on the other hand, believed that they had surrendered +and were anxious to be let alone. Too often +their wish in similar cases had been gratified, to the +prolongation of destructive wars. What here occurred +was horrible from any standard of civilized +criticism. But even among civilized nations war is +an unpleasant thing, and war with savages is most +merciful, in the long run, when it speaks the savages' +own tongue with no uncertain accent. That such +extreme measures could occur was the result of the +impossible situation on the plains. "My opinion," +said Agent Colley, "is that white men and wild +Indians cannot live in the same country in peace." +With several different and diverging authorities over +them, with a white population wanting their reserves +and anxious for a provocation that might justify retaliation +upon them, little difficulties were certain to +lead to big results. It was true that the tribes were +being dispossessed of lands which they believed to belong +to them. It was equally true that an Indian war +could terrify a whole frontier and that stern repression +was its best cure. The blame which was accorded +to Chivington left out of account the terror in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">263</a></span> +Colorado, which was no less real because the whites +were the aggressors. The slaughter and mutilation +of Indian women and children did much to embitter +Eastern critics, who did not realize that the only way +to crush an Indian war is to destroy the base of supplies,—the +camp where the women are busy helping +to keep the men in the field; and who overlooked +also the fact that in the mêlée the squaws were quite +as dangerous as the bucks. Indiscriminate blame +and equally indiscriminate praise have been accorded +because of the Sand Creek affair. The terrible +event was the result of the orderly working of causes +over which individuals had little control.</p> + +<p>In October, 1865, a peace conference was held on +the Little Arkansas at which terms were agreed +upon with Apache, Kiowa and Comanche, Arapaho +and Cheyenne, while the last named surrendered +their reserve at Sand Creek. For four years after +this, owing to delays in the Senate and ambiguity +in the agreements, they had no fixed abode. Later +they were given room in the Indian Territory in lands +taken from the civilized tribes.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">264</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="vspace"><a name="CHAPTER_XVI" id="CHAPTER_XVI">CHAPTER XVI</a><br /> + +<span class="subhead">THE SIOUX WAR</span></h2> + +<p>The struggle for the possession of the plains worked +the displacement of the Indian tribes. At the beginning, +the invasion of Kansas had undone the work +accomplished in erecting the Indian frontier. The +occupation of Minnesota led surely to the downfall +and transportation of the Sioux of the Mississippi. +Gold in Colorado attracted multitudes who made +peace impossible for the Indians of the southern +plains. The Sioux of the northern plains came within +the influence of the overland march in the same years +with similar results.</p> + +<p>The northern Sioux, commonly known as the Sioux +of the plains, and distinguished from their relatives +the Sioux of the Mississippi, had participated in the +treaty of Fort Laramie in 1851, had granted rights +of transit to the whites, and had been recognized +themselves as nomadic bands occupying the plains +north of the Platte River. Heretofore they had had +no treaty relations with the United States, being far +beyond the frontier. Their people, 16,000 perhaps, +were grouped roughly in various bands: Brulé, +Yankton, Yanktonai, Blackfoot, Hunkpapa, Sans<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">265</a></span> +Arcs, and Miniconjou. Their dependence on the +chase made them more dependent on the annuities +provided them at Laramie. As the game diminished +the annuity increased in relative importance, and +scarcely made a fair equivalent for what they lost. +Yet on the whole, they imitated their neighbors, the +Cheyenne and Arapaho, and kept the peace.</p> + +<p>Almost the only time that the pledge was broken +was in the autumn of 1854. Continual trains of +immigrants passing through the Sioux country made +it nearly impossible to prevent friction between the +races in which the blame was quite likely to fall upon +the timorous homeseekers. On August 17, 1854, a +cow strayed away from a band of Mormons encamped +a few miles from Fort Laramie. Some have it that +the cow was lame, and therefore abandoned; but +whatever the cause, the cow was found, killed, and +eaten by a small band of hungry Miniconjou Sioux. +The charge of theft was brought into camp at Laramie, +not by the Mormons, but by The Bear, chief of +the Brulé, and Lieutenant Grattan with an escort of +twenty-nine men, a twelve-pounder and a mountain +howitzer, was sent out the next day to arrest the +Indian who had slaughtered the animal. At the +Indian village the culprit was not forthcoming, +Grattan's drunken interpreter roughened a diplomacy +which at best was none too tactful, and at last +the troops fired into the lodge which was said to contain +the offender. No one of the troops got away +from the enraged Sioux, who, after their anger had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">266</a></span> +led them to retaliate, followed it up by plundering the +near-by post of the fur company. Commissioner +Manypenny believed that this action by the troops +was illegal and unnecessary from the start, since the +Mormons could legally have been reimbursed from +the Indian funds by the agent.</p> + +<p>No general war followed this outbreak. A few +braves went on the war-path and rumors of great +things reached the East, but General Harney, sent +out with three regiments to end the Sioux war in +1855, found little opposition and fought only one +important battle. On the Little Blue Water, in +September, 1855, he fell upon Little Thunder's +band of Brulé Sioux and killed or wounded nearly +a hundred of them. There is some doubt whether +this band had anything to do with the Grattan episode, +or whether it was even at war, but the defeat +was, as Agent Twiss described it, "a thunderclap +to them." For the first time they learned the +mighty power of the United States, and General +Harney made good use of this object lesson in the +peace council which he held with them in March, +1856. The treaty here agreed upon was never +legalized, and remained only a sort of <i xml:lang="la" lang="la">modus vivendi</i> +for the following years. The Sioux tribes were so +loosely organized that the authority of the chiefs +had little weight; young braves did as they pleased +regardless of engagements supposed to bind the +tribes. But the lesson of the defeat lasted long in +the memory of the plains tribes, so that they gave<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">267</a></span> +little trouble until the wars of 1864 broke out. +Meanwhile Chouteau's old Fort Pierre on the Missouri +was bought by the United States and made +a military post for the control of these upper tribes.</p> + +<p>Before the plains Sioux broke out again, the Minnesota +uprising had led the Mississippi Sioux to their +defeat. Some were executed in the fall of 1862, +others were transported to the Missouri Valley; still +others got away to the Northwest, there to continue +a profitless war that kept up fighting for several +years. Meanwhile came the plains war of 1864 in +which the tribes south of the Platte were chiefly +concerned, and in which men at the centre of the +line thought there were evidences of an alliance between +northern and southern tribes. Thus Governor +Evans wrote of "information furnished me, +through various sources, of an alliance of the Cheyenne +and a part of the Arapahoe tribes with the +Comanche, Kiowa, and Apache Indians of the south, +and the great family of the Sioux Indians of the north +upon the plains," and the Indian Commissioner accepted +the notion. But, like the question of intrigue, +this was a matter of belief rather than of +proof; while local causes to account for the disorder +are easily found. Yet it is true that during 1864 +and 1865 the northern Sioux became uneasy.</p> + +<p>During 1865, though the causes likely to lead to +hostilities were in no wise changed, efforts were made +to reach agreements with the plains tribes. The +Cheyenne, humbled at Sand Creek, were readily<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">268</a></span> +handled at the Little Arkansas treaty in October. +They there surrendered to the United States all their +reserve in Colorado and accepted a new one, which +they never actually received, south of the Arkansas, +and bound themselves not to camp within ten miles +of the route to Santa Fé. On the other side, "to +heal the wounds caused by the Chivington affair," +special appropriations were made by the United +States to the widows and orphans of those who had +been killed. The Apache, Kiowa, and Comanche +joined in similar treaties. During the same week, in +1865, a special commission made treaties of peace with +nine of the Sioux tribes, including the remnants of +the Mississippi bands. "These treaties were made," +commented the Commissioner, "and the Indians, in +spite of the great suffering from cold and want of +food endured during the very severe winter of 1865–66, +and consequent temptation to plunder to procure +the absolute necessaries of life, faithfully kept +the peace."</p> + +<p>In September, 1865, the steamer <i>Calypso</i> struggled +up the shallow Missouri River, carrying a party of +commissioners to Fort Sully, there to make these +treaties with the Sioux. Congress had provided +$20,000 for a special negotiation before adjourning +in March, 1865, and General Sully, who was yet conducting +the prolonged Sioux War, had pointed out +the place most suitable for the conference. The first +council was held on October 6.</p> + +<p>The military authorities were far from eager to hold<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">269</a></span> +this council. Already the breach between the military +power responsible for policing the plains and +the civilian department which managed the tribes +was wide. Thus General Pope, commanding the +Department of the Missouri, grumbled to Grant in +June that whenever Indian hostilities occurred, the +Indian Department, which was really responsible, +blamed the soldiers for causing them. He complained +of the divided jurisdiction and of the policy +of buying treaties from the tribes by presents made +at the councils. In reference to this special treaty +he had "only to say that the Sioux Indians have +been attacking everybody in their region of country; +and only lately ... attacked in heavy force Fort +Rice, on the upper Missouri, well fortified and garrisoned +by four companies of infantry with artillery. +If these things show any desire for peace, I confess +I am not able to perceive it."</p> + +<p>In future years this breach was to become wider +yet. At Sand Creek the military authorities had +justified the attack against the criticism of the local +Indian agents and Eastern philanthropists. There +was indeed plenty of evidence of misconduct on both +sides. If the troops were guilty on the charge of being +over-ready to fight—and here the words of Governor +Evans were prophetic, "Now the war ... is +nearly through, and the Great Father will not know +what to do with all his soldiers, except to send them +after the Indians on the plains,"—the Indian agents +often succumbed to the opportunity for petty thieving.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">270</a></span> +The case of one of the agents of the Yankton +Sioux illustrates this. It was his custom each +year to have the chiefs of his tribe sign general receipts +for everything sent to the agency. Thus at +the end of the year he could turn in Indians' vouchers +and report nothing on hand. But the receipt did not +mean that the Indian had got the goods; although +signed for, these were left in the hands of the agent +to be given out as needed. The inference is strong +that many of the supplies intended for and signed +for by the Indians went into the pocket of the agent. +During the third quarter of 1863 this agent claimed +to have issued to his charges: "One pair of bay horses, +7 years old; ... 1 dozen 17-inch mill files; ... 6 +dozen Seidlitz powders; 6 pounds compound syrup +of squills; 6 dozen Ayer's pills; ... 3 bottles of +rose water; ... 1 pound of wax; ... 1 ream of +vouchers; ... ½ M 6434 8½-inch official envelopes; +... 4 bottles 8-ounce mucilage." So great was +this particular agent's power that it was nearly impossible +to get evidence against him. "If I do, he +will fix it so I'll never get anything in the world and +he will drive me out of the country," was typical of +the attitude of his neighbors.</p> + +<p>With jurisdiction divided, and with claimants for +it quarrelling, it is no wonder that the charges suffered. +But the ill results came more from the impossible +situation than from abuse on either side. It +needs often to be reiterated that the heart of the +Indian question was in the infiltration of greedy,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">271</a></span> +timorous, enterprising, land-hungry whites who could +not be restrained by any process known to American +government. In the conflict between two civilizations, +the lower must succumb. Neither the +War Department nor the Indian Office was responsible +for most of the troubles; yet of the two, the +former, through readiness to fight and to hold the +savage to a standard of warfare which he could not +understand, was the greater offender. It was not +so great an offender, however, as the selfish interests +of those engaged in trading with the Indians would +make it out to be.</p> + +<p>The Fort Sully conference, terminating in a treaty +signed on October 10, 1865, was distinctly unsatisfactory. +Many of the western Sioux did not +come at all. Even the eastern were only partially +represented. And among tribes in which the central +authority of the chiefs was weak, full representation +was necessary to secure a binding peace. The commissioners, +after most pacific efforts, were "unable +to ascertain the existence of any really amicable +feeling among these people towards the government." +The chiefs were sullen and complaining, and the +treaty which resulted did little more than repeat +the terms of the treaty of 1851, binding the Indians +to permit roads to be opened through their country +and to keep away from the trails.</p> + +<p>It is difficult to show that the northern Sioux were +bound by the treaty of Fort Sully. The Laramie +treaty of 1851 had never had full force of law because<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">272</a></span> +the Senate had added amendments to it, which +all the signatory Indians had not accepted. Although +Congress had appropriated the annuities +specified in the treaty the binding force of the document +was not great on savages. The Fort Sully +treaty was deficient in that it did not represent all of +the interested tribes. In making Indian treaties at +all, the United States acted upon a convenient fiction +that the Indians had authorities with power to bind; +whereas the leaders had little control over their followers +and after nearly every treaty there were +many bands that could claim to have been left out +altogether. Yet such as they were, the treaties existed, +and the United States proceeded in 1865 +and 1866 to use its specified rights in opening roads +through the hunting-grounds of the Sioux.</p> + +<p>The mines of Montana and Idaho, which had attracted +notice and emigration in the early sixties, +were still the objective points of a large traffic. They +were somewhat off the beaten routes, being accessible +by the Missouri River and Fort Benton, or by +the Platte trail and a northern branch from near +Fort Hall to Virginia City. To bring them into +more direct connection with the East an available +route from Fort Laramie was undertaken in 1865. +The new trail left the main road near Fort Laramie, +crossed to the north side of the Platte, and ran off +to the northwest. Shortly after leaving the Platte +the road got into the charming foothill country +where the slopes "are all covered with a fine growth<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">273</a></span> +of grass, and in every valley there is either a rushing +stream or some quiet babbling brook of pure, clear +snow-water filled with trout, the banks lined with +trees—wild cherry, quaking asp, some birch, +willow, and cottonwood." To the left, and not far +distant, were the Big Horn Mountains. To the +right could sometimes be seen in the distance the +shadowy billows of the Black Hills. Running to +the north and draining the valley were the Powder +and Tongue rivers, both tributaries of the Yellowstone. +Here were water, timber, and forage, coal +and oil and game. It was the garden spot of the +Indians, "the very heart of their hunting-grounds." +In a single day's ride were seen "bear, buffalo, elk, +deer, antelope, rabbits, and sage-hens." With +little exaggeration it was described as a "natural +source of recuperation and supply to moving, hunting, +and roving bands of all tribes, and their lodge +trails cross it in great numbers from north to south." +Through this land, keeping east of the Big Horn +Mountains and running around their northern end +into the Yellowstone Valley, was to run the new Powder +River road to Montana. The Sioux treaties +were to have their severest testing in the selection +of choice hunting-grounds for an emigrant road, for +it was one of the certainties in the opening of new +roads that game vanished in the face of emigration.</p> + +<p>While the commissioners were negotiating their +treaty at Fort Sully, the first Powder River expedition, +in its attempt to open this new road by the short<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">274</a></span> +and direct route from Fort Laramie to Bozeman and +the Montana mines, was undoing their work. In the +summer of 1865 General Patrick E. Connor, with a +miscellaneous force of 1600, including a detachment +of ex-Confederate troops who had enlisted in the +United States army to fight Indians, started from +Fort Laramie for the mouth of the Rosebuds on the +Yellowstone, by way of the Powder River. Old Jim +Bridger, the incarnation of this country, led them, +swearing mightily at "these damn paper-collar +soldiers," who knew so little of the Indians. There +was plenty of fighting as Connor pushed into the +Yellowstone, but he was relieved from command in +September and the troops were drawn back, so that +there were no definitive results of the expedition of +1865.</p> + +<p>In 1866, in spite of the fact that the Sioux of this +region, through their leader Red Cloud, had refused +to yield the ground or even to treat concerning it, +Colonel Henry B. Carrington was ordered by General +Pope to command the Mountain District, Department +of the Platte, and to erect and garrison posts +for the control of the Powder River road. On December +21 of this year, Captain W. J. Fetterman, +of his command, and seventy-eight officers and men +were killed near Fort Philip Kearney in a fight whose +merits aroused nearly as much acrimonious discussion +as the Sand Creek massacre.</p> + +<div id="ip_274" class="figcenter" style="width: 356px;"> + <img src="images/i-299.jpg" width="356" height="542" alt="" /> + <div class="caption"><p><span class="smcap">Red Cloud and Professor Marsh</span></p></div> + +<div class="captionc"><p>From a cut lent by Professor Warren K. Moorehead, of Andover, Mass.</p></div></div> + +<p>The events leading up to the catastrophe at Fort +Philip Kearney, a catastrophe so complete that none<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">275</a></span> +of its white participants escaped to tell what happened, +were connected with Carrington's work in +building forts. He had been detailed for the work +in the spring, and after a conference at Fort Kearney, +Nebraska, with General Sherman, had marched his +men in nineteen days to Fort Laramie. He reached +Fort Reno, which became his headquarters, on June +28. On the march, if his orders were obeyed, his +soldiers were scrupulous in their regard for the Indians. +His orders issued for the control of emigrants +passing along the Powder River route were equally +careful. Thirty men were to constitute the minimum +single party; these were to travel with a military +pass, which was to be scrutinized by the commanding +officer of each post. The trains were +ordered to hold together and were warned that +"nearly all danger from Indians lies in the recklessness +of travellers. A small party, when separated, +either sell whiskey to or fire upon scattering Indians, +or get into disputes with them, and somebody is hurt. +An insult to an Indian is resented by the Indians +against the first white men they meet, and innocent +travellers suffer."</p> + +<p>Carrington's orders were to garrison Fort Reno +and build new forts on the Powder, Big Horn, and +Yellowstone rivers, and cover the road. The last-named +fort was later cut away because of his insufficient +force, but Fort Philip Kearney and Fort C. F. +Smith were located during July and August. The +former stood on a little plateau formed between the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">276</a></span> +two Pineys as they emerge from the Big Horn Mountains. +Its site was surveyed and occupied on July 15. +Already Carrington was complaining that he had too +few men for his work. With eight companies of +eighty men each, and most of these new recruits, he +had to garrison his long line, all the while building +and protecting his stockades and fortifications. "I +am my own engineer, draughtsman, and visit my +pickets and guards nightly, with scarcely a day or +night without attempts to steal stock." Worse than +this, his military equipment was inadequate. Only +his band, specially armed for the expedition, had +Spencer carbines and enough ammunition. His +main force, still armed with Springfield rifles, had +under fifty rounds to the man.</p> + +<p>The Indians, Cheyenne and Sioux, were, all through +the summer, showing no sign of accepting the invasion +of the hunting-grounds without a fight. Yet +Carrington reported on August 29 that he was holding +them off; that Fort C. F. Smith on the Big Horn +had been occupied; that parties of fifty well-armed +men could get through safely if they were careful. +The Indians, he said, "are bent on robbery; they only +fight when assured of personal security and remunerative +stealings; they are divided among themselves."</p> + +<p>With the sites for forts C. F. Smith and Philip +Kearney selected, the work of construction proceeded +during the autumn. A sawmill, sent out from the +states, was kept hard at work. Wood was cut on +the adjacent hills and speedily converted into cabins<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">277</a></span> +and palisades which approached completion before +winter set in. It was construction during a state of +siege, however. Instead of pacifying the valley the +construction of the forts aggravated the Sioux hostility +so that constant watchfulness was needed. +That the trains sent out to gather wood were not +seriously injured was due to rigorous discipline. The +wagons moved twenty or more at a time, with guards, +and in two parallel columns. At first sight of Indians +they drove into corral and signalled back to +the lookouts at the fort for help. Occasionally men +were indeed cut out by the Indians, who in turn +suffered considerable loss; but Carrington reduced +his own losses to a minimum. Friendly Indians were +rarely seen. They were allowed to come to the fort, +by the main road and with a white flag, but few +availed themselves of the privilege. The Sioux +were up in arms, and in large numbers hung about the +Tongue and Powder river valleys waiting for their +chance.</p> + +<p>Early in December occurred an incident revealing +the danger of annihilation which threatened Carrington's +command. At one o'clock on the afternoon of +the sixth a messenger reported to the garrison at +Fort Philip Kearney that the wood train was attacked +by Indians four miles away. Carrington immediately +had every horse at the post mounted. For +the main relief he sent out a column under Brevet +Lieutenant-colonel Fetterman, who had just arrived +at the fort, while he led in person a flanking party to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">278</a></span> +cut off the Indians' retreat. The mercury was below +zero. Carrington was thrown into the water of +Peno Creek when his horse stumbled through breaking +ice. Fetterman's party found the wood train +in corral and standing off the attack with success. +The savages retreated as the relief approached and +were pursued for five miles, when they turned and +offered battle. Just as the fighting began, most of +the cavalry broke away from Fetterman, leaving +him and some fourteen others surrounded by Indians +and attacked on three sides. He held them off, +however, until Carrington came in sight and the Indians +fled. Why Lieutenant Bingham retreated with +his cavalry and left Fetterman in such danger was +never explained, for the Indians killed him and one +of his non-commissioned officers, while several other +privates were wounded. The Indians, once the +fight was over, disappeared among the hills, and +Carrington had no force with which to follow them. +In reporting the battle that night he renewed his +requests for men and officers. He had but six officers +for the six companies at Fort Philip Kearney. He +was totally unable to take the aggressive because +of the defences which had constantly to be maintained.</p> + +<p>In this fashion the fall advanced in the Powder +River Valley. The forts were finished. The Indian +hostilities increased. The little, overworked force +of Carrington, chopping, building, guarding, and +fighting, struggled to fulfil its orders. If one should<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">279</a></span> +criticise Carrington, the attack would be chiefly that +he looked to defensive measures in the Indian war. +He did indeed ask for troops, officers, and equipment, +but his despatches and his own vindication show little +evidence that he realized the need for large reënforcements +for the specific purpose of a punitive +campaign. More skilful Indian fighters knew that +the Indians could and would keep up indefinitely +this sort of filibustering against the forts, and that a +vigorous move against their own villages was the +surest means to secure peace. In Indian warfare, +even more perhaps than in civilized, it is advantageous +to destroy the enemy's base of supplies.</p> + +<p>The wood train was again attacked on December +21. About eleven o'clock that morning the pickets +reported the train "corralled and threatened by +Indians on Sullivant Hills, a mile and a half from the +fort." The usual relief party was at once organized +and sent out under Fetterman, who claimed the right +to command it by seniority, and who was not highest +in the confidence of Colonel Carrington. He had +but recently joined the command, was full of enthusiasm +and desire to hunt Indians, and needed the +admonition with which he left the fort: that he +was "fighting brave and desperate enemies who +sought to make up by cunning and deceit all the +advantage which the white man gains by intelligence +and better arms." He was ordered to support and +bring in the wood train, this being all Carrington +believed himself strong enough to do and keep on<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">280</a></span> +doing. Any one could have had a fight at any time, +and Carrington was wise to issue the "peremptory +and explicit" orders to avoid pursuit beyond the +summit of Lodge Trail Ridge, as needless and unduly +dangerous. Three times this order was given to +Fetterman; and after that, "fearing still that the +spirit of ambition might override prudence," says +Carrington, "I crossed the parade and from a sentry +platform halted the cavalry and again repeated my +precise orders."</p> + +<p>With these admonitions, Fetterman started for +the relief, leading a party of eighty-one officers and +men, picked and all well armed. He crossed the +Lodge Trail Ridge as soon as he was out of sight of +the fort and disappeared. No one of his command +came back alive. The wood train, before twelve +o'clock, broke corral and moved on in safety, while +shots were heard beyond the ridge. For half an +hour there was a constant volleying; then all was +still. Meanwhile Carrington, nervous at the lack of +news from Fetterman, had sent a second column, and +two wagons to relieve him, under Captain Ten Eyck. +The latter, moving along cautiously, with large bands +of Sioux retreating before him, came finally upon +forty-nine bodies, including that of Fetterman. The +evidence of arrows, spears, and the position of bodies +was that they had been surrounded, surprised, and +overwhelmed in their defeat. The next day the rest +of the bodies were reached and brought back. Naked, +dismembered, slashed, visited with indescribable<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">281</a></span> +indignities, they were buried in two great graves; +seventy-nine soldiers and two civilians.</p> + +<p>The Fetterman massacre raised a storm in the East +similar in volume to that following Sand Creek, two +years before. Who was at fault, and why, were the +questions indignantly asked. Judicious persons were +well aware, wrote the <i>Nation</i>, that "our whole Indian +policy is a system of mismanagement, and in many +parts one of gigantic abuse." The military authorities +tried to place the blame on Carrington, as plausible, +energetic, and industrious, but unable to maintain +discipline or inspire his officers with confidence. +Unquestionably a part of this was true, yet the letter +which made the charge admitted that often the Indians +were better armed than the troops, and the +critic himself, General Cooke, had ordered Carrington: +"You can only defend yourself and trains, +and emigrants, the best you can." The Indian Commissioner +charged it on the bad disposition of the +troops, always anxious to fight.</p> + +<p>The issue broke over the number of Indians involved. +Current reports from Fort Philip Kearney +indicated from 3000 to 5000 hostile warriors, chiefly +Sioux and led by Red Cloud of the Oglala tribe. +The Commissioner pointed out that such a force +must imply from 21,000 to 35,000 Indians in all—a +number that could not possibly have been in the +Powder River country. It is reasonable to believe +that Fetterman was not overwhelmed by any multitude +like this, but that his own rash disobedience led<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">282</a></span> +to ambush and defeat by a force well below 3000. +Upon him fell the immediate responsibility; above +him, the War Department was negligent in detailing +so few men for so large a task; and ultimately +there was the impossibility of expecting savage Sioux +to give up their best hunting-grounds as a result of +a treaty signed by others than themselves.</p> + +<p>The fight at Fort Philip Kearney marked a point of +transition in Indian warfare. Even here the Indians +were mostly armed with bows and arrows, and were +relying upon their superior numbers for victory. +Yet a change in Indian armament was under way, +which in a few years was to convert the Indian from +a savage warrior into the "finest natural soldier in +the world." He was being armed with rifles. As +the game diminished the tribes found that the old +methods of hunting were inadequate and began the +pressure upon the Indian Department for better +weapons. The department justified itself in issuing +rifles and ammunition, on the ground that the laws +of the United States expected the Indians to live +chiefly upon game, which they could not now procure +by the older means. Hence came the anomalous +situation in which one department of the +United States armed and equipped the tribes for +warfare against another. If arms were cut down, +the tribes were in danger of extinction; if they +were issued, hostilities often resulted. After the +Fetterman massacre the Indian Office asserted that +the hostile Sioux were merely hungry, because the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">283</a></span> +War Department had caused the issuing of guns to +be stopped. It was all an unsolvable problem, with +bad temper and suspicion on both sides.</p> + +<p>A few months after the Fetterman affair Red Cloud +tried again to wreck a wood train near Fort Philip +Kearney. But this time the escort erected a barricade +with the iron, bullet-proof bodies of a new variety +of army wagon, and though deserted by most of +his men, Major James Powell, with one other officer, +twenty-six privates, and four citizens, lay behind +their fortification and repelled charge after charge +from some 800 Sioux and Cheyenne. With little +loss to himself he inflicted upon the savages a lesson +that lasted many years.</p> + +<p>The Sioux and Cheyenne wars were links in the +chain of Indian outbreaks that stretched across the +path of the westward movement, the overland traffic +and the continental railways. The Pacific railways +had been chartered just as the overland telegraph +had been opened to the Pacific coast. With this last, +perhaps from reverence for the nearly supernatural, +the Indians rarely meddled. But as the railway +advanced, increasing compression and repression +stirred the tribes to a series of hostilities. The first +treaties which granted transit—meaning chiefly +wagon transit—broke down. A new series of conferences +and a new policy were the direct result of +these wars.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">284</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="vspace"><a name="CHAPTER_XVII" id="CHAPTER_XVII">CHAPTER XVII</a><br /> + +<span class="subhead">THE PEACE COMMISSION AND THE OPEN WAY</span></h2> + +<p>The crisis in the struggle for the control of the great +plains may fairly be said to have been reached about +the time of the slaughter of Fetterman and his men +at Fort Philip Kearney. During the previous fifteen +years the causes had been shaping through the development +of the use of the trails, the opening of the +mining territories, and the agitation for a continental +railway. Now the railway was not only authorized +and begun, but Congress had put a premium upon +its completion by an act of July, 1866, which permitted +the Union Pacific to build west and the +Central Pacific to build east until the two lines should +meet. In the ensuing race for the land grants the +roads were pushed with new vigor, so that the crisis +of the Indian problem was speedily reached. In the +fall of 1866 Ben Holladay saw the end of the overland +freighting and sold out. In November the +terminus of the overland mail route was moved west +to Fort Kearney, Nebraska, whither the Union Pacific +had now arrived in its course of construction. No +wonder the tribes realized their danger and broke +out in protest.</p> + +<p>As the crisis drew near radical differences of opinion<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">285</a></span> +among those who must handle the tribes became +apparent. The question of the management by the +War Department or the Interior was in the air, and +was raised again and again in Congress. More +fundamental was the question of policy, upon which +the view of Senator John Sherman was as clear as any. +"I agree with you," he wrote to his brother William, +in 1867, "that Indian wars will not cease until all the +Indian tribes are absorbed in our population, and +can be controlled by constables instead of soldiers." +Upon another phase of management Francis A. +Walker wrote a little later: "There can be no question +of national dignity involved in the treatment of +savages by a civilized power. The proudest Anglo-Saxon +will climb a tree with a bear behind him.... +With wild men, as with wild beasts, the question +whether to fight, coax, or run is a question merely +of what is safest or easiest in the situation given." +That responsibility for some decided action lay +heavily upon the whites may be implied from the +admission of Colonel Henry Inman, who knew the +frontier well—"that, during more than a third of a +century passed on the plains and in the mountains, he +has never known of a war with the hostile tribes that +was not caused by broken faith on the part of the +United States or its agents." A professional Indian +fighter, like Kit Carson, declared on oath that "as +a general thing, the difficulties arise from aggressions +on the part of the whites."</p> + +<p>In Congress all the interests involved in the Indian<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">286</a></span> +problem found spokesmen. The War and Interior +departments had ample representation; the Western +members commonly voiced the extreme opinion of +the frontier; Eastern men often spoke for the humanitarian +sentiment that saw much good in the Indian +and much evil in his treatment. But withal, when it +came to special action upon any situation, Congress +felt its lack of information. The departments best +informed were partisan and antagonistic. Even +to-day it is a matter of high critical scholarship to +determine, with the passions cooled off, truth and +responsibility in such affairs as the Minnesota outbreak, +and the Chivington or the Fetterman massacre. +To lighten in part its feeling of helplessness in the midst +of interested parties Congress raised a committee +of seven, three of the Senate and four of the House, +in March, 1865, to investigate and report on the +condition of the Indian tribes. The joint committee +was resolved upon during a bitter and ill-informed +debate on Chivington; while it sat, the Cheyenne +war ended and the Sioux broke out; the committee +reported in January, 1867. To facilitate its investigation +it divided itself into three groups to visit the +Pacific Slope, the southern plains, and the northern +plains. Its report, with the accompanying testimony, +fills over five hundred pages. In all the storm centres +of the Indian West the committee sat, listened, and +questioned.</p> + +<p>The <i>Report on the Condition of the Indian Tribes</i> +gave a doleful view of the future from the Indians'<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">287</a></span> +standpoint. General Pope was quoted to the effect +that the savages were rapidly dying off from wars, +cruel treatment, unwise policy, and dishonest administration, +"and by steady and resistless encroachments +of the white emigration towards the west, which +is every day confining the Indians to narrower limits, +and driving off or killing the game, their only means +of subsistence." To this catalogue of causes General +Carleton, who must have believed his war of Apache +and Navaho extermination a potent handmaid of +providence, added: "The causes which the Almighty +originates, when in their appointed time He wills +that one race of man—as in races of lower animals—shall +disappear off the face of the earth and give place +to another race, and so on, in the great cycle traced +out by Himself, which may be seen, but has reasons +too deep to be fathomed by us. The races of mammoths +and mastodons, and the great sloths, came +and passed away; the red man of America is passing +away!"</p> + +<p>The committee believed that the wars with their +incidents of slaughter and extermination by both sides, +as occasion offered, were generally the result of white +encroachments. It did not fall in with the growing +opinion that the control of the tribes should be passed +over to the War Department, but recommended instead +a system of visiting boards, each including a +civilian, a soldier, and an Assistant Indian Commissioner, +for the regular inspection of the tribes. The +recommendation of the committee came to naught<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">288</a></span> +in Congress, but the information it gathered, supplementing +the annual reports of the Commissioner +of Indian Affairs and the special investigations of +single wars, gave much additional weight to the +belief that a crisis was at hand.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, through 1866 and 1867, the Cheyenne +and Sioux wars dragged on. The Powder River +country continued to be a field of battle, with +Powell's fight coming in the summer of 1867. +In the spring of 1867 General Hancock destroyed +a Cheyenne village at Pawnee Fork. Eastern +opinion came to demand more forcefully that this +fighting should stop. Western opinion was equally +insistent that the Indian must go, while General +Sherman believed that a part of its bellicose demand +was due to a desire for "the profit resulting +from military occupation." Certain it was that war +had lasted for several years with no definite results, +save to rouse the passions of the West, the revenge of +the Indians, and the philanthropy of the East. The +army had had its chance. Now the time had come +for general, real attempts at peace.</p> + +<p>The fortieth Congress, beginning its life on March +4, 1867, actually began its session at that time. Ordinarily +it would have waited until December, but +the prevailing distrust of President Johnson and his +reconstruction ideas induced it to convene as early +as the law allowed. Among the most significant of its +measures in this extra session was "Mr. Henderson's +bill for establishing peace with certain Indian tribes<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">289</a></span> +now at war with the United States," which, in the view +of the <i>Nation</i>, was a "practical measure for the security +of travel through the territories and for the selection +of a new area sufficient to contain all the unsettled +tribes east of the Rocky Mountains." Senator +Sherman had informed his brother of the prospect +of this law, and the General had replied: "The fact +is, this contact of the two races has caused universal +hostility, and the Indians operate in small, scattered +bands, avoiding the posts and well-guarded trains and +hitting little parties who are off their guard. I have +a much heavier force on the plains, but they are so +large that it is impossible to guard at all points, and +the clamor for protection everywhere has prevented +our being able to collect a large force to go into the +country where we believe the Indians have hid their +families; viz. up on the Yellowstone and down on the +Red River." Sherman believed more in fighting than +in treating at this time, yet he went on the commission +erected by the act of July 20, 1867. By this law +four civilians, including the Indian Commissioner, and +three generals of the army, were appointed to collect +and deal with the hostile tribes, with three chief objects +in view: to remove the existing causes of complaint, +to secure the safety of the various continental +railways and the overland routes, and to work out +some means for promoting Indian civilization without +impeding the advance of the United States. To +this last end they were to hunt for permanent homes +for the tribes, which were to be off the lines of all<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">290</a></span> +the railways then chartered,—the Union Pacific, +the Northern Pacific, and the Atlantic and Pacific.</p> + +<p>The Peace Commission, thus organized, sat for +fifteen months. When it rose at last, it had opened +the way for the railways, so far as treaties could avail. +It had persuaded many tribes to accept new and more +remote reserves, but in its debates and negotiations +the breach between military and civil control had +widened, so that the Commission was at the end +divided against itself.</p> + +<p>On August 6, 1867, the Commission organized at +St. Louis and discussed plans for getting into touch +with the tribes with whom it had to treat. "The +first difficulty presenting itself was to secure an interview +with the chiefs and leading warriors of these +hostile tribes. They were roaming over an immense +country, thousands of miles in extent, and much of it +unknown even to hunters and trappers of the white +race. Small war parties constantly emerging from +this vast extent of unexplored country would suddenly +strike the border settlements, killing the men +and carrying off into captivity the women and children. +Companies of workmen on the railroads, at +points hundreds of miles from each other, would be +attacked on the same day, perhaps in the same hour. +Overland mail coaches could not be run without +military escort, and railroad and mail stations unguarded +by soldiery were in perpetual danger. All +safe transit across the plains had ceased. To go without +soldiers was hazardous in the extreme; to go with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">291</a></span> +them forbade reasonable hope of securing peaceful +interviews with the enemy." Fortunately the Peace +Commission contained within itself the most useful +of assistants. General Sherman and Commissioner +Taylor sent out word to the Indians through the +military posts and Indian agencies, notifying the +tribes that the Commissioners desired to confer with +them near Fort Laramie in September and Fort +Larned in October.</p> + +<p>The Fort Laramie conference bore no fruit during +the summer of 1867. After inspecting conditions on +the upper Missouri the Commissioners proceeded to +Omaha in September and thence to North Platte +station on the Union Pacific Railroad. Here they +met Swift Bear of the Brulé Sioux and learned +that the Sioux would not be ready to meet them +until November. The Powder River War was still +being fought by chiefs who could not be reached +easily and whose delegations must be delayed. +When the Commissioners returned to Fort Laramie +in November, they found matters little better. Red +Cloud, who was the recognized leader of the Oglala +and Brulé Sioux and the hostile northern Cheyenne, +refused even to see the envoys, and sent them word: +"that his war against the whites was to save the valley +of the Powder River, the only hunting ground left +to his nation, from our intrusion. He assured us +that whenever the military garrisons at Fort Philip +Kearney and Fort C. F. Smith were withdrawn, the +war on his part would cease." Regretfully, the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">292</a></span> +Commissioners left Fort Laramie, having seen no +savages except a few non-hostile Crows, and having +summoned Red Cloud to meet them during the following +summer, after asking "a truce or cessation of +hostilities until the council could be held."</p> + +<p>The southern plains tribes were met at Medicine +Lodge Creek some eighty miles south of the Arkansas +River. Before the Commissioners arrived here +General Sherman was summoned to Washington, his +place being taken by General C. C. Augur, whose +name makes the eighth signature to the published +report. For some time after the Commissioners +arrived the Cheyenne, sullen and suspicious, remained +in their camp forty miles away from Medicine +Lodge. But the Kiowa, Comanche, and +Apache came to an agreement, while the others +held off. On the 21st of October these ceded all +their rights to occupy their great claims in the +Southwest, the whole of the two panhandles of +Texas and Oklahoma, and agreed to confine themselves +to a new reserve in the southwestern part of +Indian Territory, between the Red River and the +Washita, on lands taken from the Choctaw and +Chickasaw in 1866.</p> + +<p>The Commissioners could not greatly blame the +Arapaho and Cheyenne for their reluctance to +treat. These had accepted in 1861 the triangular +Sand Creek reserve in Colorado, where they had been +massacred by Chivington in 1864. Whether rightly +or not, they believed themselves betrayed, and the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">293</a></span> +Indian Office sided with them. In 1865, after Sand +Creek, they exchanged this tract for a new one in +Kansas and Indian Territory, which was amended +to nothingness when the Senate added to the treaty +the words, "no part of the reservation shall be within +the state of Kansas." They had left the former reserve; +the new one had not been given them; yet +for two years after 1865 they had generally kept the +peace. Sherman travelled through this country in +the autumn of 1866 and "met no trouble whatever," +although he heard rumors of Indian wars. In 1867, +General Hancock had destroyed one of their villages +on the Pawnee Fork of the Arkansas, without provocation, +the Indians believed. After this there had +been admitted war. The Indians had been on the +war-path all the time, plundering the frontier and +dodging the military parties, and were unable for +some weeks to realize that the Peace Commissioners +offered a change of policy. Yet finally these yielded +to blandishment and overture, and signed, on October +28, a treaty at Medicine Lodge. The new reserve +was a bit of barren land nearly destitute of +wood and water, and containing many streams that +were either brackish or dry during most of the year. +It was in the Cherokee Outlet, between the Arkansas +and Cimarron rivers.</p> + +<p>The Medicine Lodge treaties were the chief result of +the summer's negotiations. The Peace Commission +returned to Fort Laramie in the following spring to +meet the reluctant northern tribes. The Sioux, the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">294</a></span> +Crows, and the Arapaho and Cheyenne who were +allied with them, made peace after the Commissioners +had assented to the terms laid down by Red Cloud in +1867. They had convinced themselves that the +occupation of the Powder River Valley was both +illegal and unjust, and accordingly the garrisons had +been drawn out of the new forts. Much to the anger +of Montana was this yielding. "With characteristic +pusillanimity," wrote one of the pioneers, years +later, denouncing the act, "the government ordered +all the forts abandoned and the road closed to travel." +In the new Fort Laramie treaty of April 29, 1868, +it was specifically agreed that the country east of the +Big Horn Mountains was to be considered as unceded +Indian territory; while the Sioux bound themselves +to occupy as their permanent home the lands west of +the Missouri, between the parallels of 43° and 46°, and +east of the 104th meridian—an area coinciding to-day +with the western end of South Dakota. Thus +was begun the actual compression of the Sioux of +the plains.</p> + +<p>The treaties made by the Peace Commissioners +were the most important, but were not the only +treaties of 1867 and 1868, looking towards the relinquishment +by the Indians of lands along the railroad's +right of way. It had been found that rights +of transit through the Indian Country, such as those +secured at Laramie in 1851, were insufficient. The +Indian must leave even the vicinity of the route of +travel, for peace and his own good.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">295</a></span> +Most important of the other tribes shoved away +from the route were the Ute, Shoshoni, and Bannock, +whose country lay across the great trail just +west of the Rockies. The Ute, having given their +name to the territory of Utah, were to be found +south of the trail, between it and the lower waters +of the Colorado. Their western bands were earliest +in negotiation and were settled on reserves, the most +important being on the Uintah River in northeast +Utah, after 1861. The Colorado Ute began to treat +in 1863, but did not make definite cessions until 1868, +when the southwestern third of Colorado was set +apart for them. Active life in Colorado territory +was at the start confined to the mountains in the +vicinity of Denver City, while the Indians were +pushed down the slopes of the range on both sides. +But as the eastern Sand Creek reserve soon had to be +abolished, so Colorado began to growl at the western +Ute reserve and to complain that indolent savages +were given better treatment than white citizens. +The Shoshoni and Bannock ranged from Fort Hall +to the north and were visited by General Augur +at Fort Bridger in the summer of 1868. As the results +of his gifts and diplomacy the former were +pushed up to the Wind River reserve in Wyoming +territory, while the latter were granted a home +around Fort Hall.</p> + +<p>The friction with the Indians was heaviest near +the line of the old Indian frontier and tended to be +lighter towards the west. It was natural enough<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">296</a></span> +that on the eastern edge of the plains, where the +tribes had been colonized and where Indian population +was most dense, the difficulties should be +greatest. Indeed the only wars which were sufficiently +important to count as resistance to the westward +movement were those of the plains tribes and +were fought east of the continental divide. The +mountain and western wars were episodes, isolated +from the main movements. Yet these great plains +that now had to be abandoned had been set aside +as a permanent home for the race in pursuance of +Monroe's policy. In the report of the Peace Commissioners +all agreed that the time had come to +change it.</p> + +<p>The influence of the humanitarians dominated +the report of the Commissioners, which was signed in +January, 1868. Wherever possible, the side of the +Indian was taken. The Chivington massacre was +an "indiscriminate slaughter," scarcely paralleled +in the "records of the Indian barbarity"; General +Hancock had ruthlessly destroyed the Cheyenne +at Pawnee Fork, though himself in doubt as to +the existence of a war: Fetterman had been killed +because "the civil and military departments of our +government cannot, or will not, understand each +other." Apologies were made for Indian hostility, +and the "revolting" history of the removal policy +was described. It had been the result of this policy +to promote barbarism rather than civilization. +"But one thing then remains to be done with honor<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">297</a></span> +to the nation, and that is to select a district, or districts +of country, as indicated by Congress, on which +all the tribes east of the Rocky mountains may be +gathered. For each district let a territorial government +be established, with powers adapted to the +ends designed. The governor should be a man of +unquestioned integrity and purity of character; +he should be paid such salary as to place him +above temptation." He should be given adequate +powers to keep the peace and enforce a policy of +progressive civilization. The belief that under +American conditions the Indian problem was insoluble +was confirmed by this report of the Peace +Commissioners, well informed and philanthropic as +they were. After their condemnation of an existing +removal policy, the only remedy which they could +offer was another policy of concentration and +removal.</p> + +<p>The Commissioners recommended that the Indians +should be colonized on two reserves, north and +south of the railway lines respectively. The southern +reserve was to be the old territory of the civilized +tribes, known as Indian Territory, where the Commissioners +thought a total of 86,000 could be settled +within a few years. A northern district might be +located north of Nebraska, within the area which +they later allotted to the Sioux; 54,000 could be +colonized here. Individual savages might be allowed +to own land and be incorporated among the citizens +of the Western states, but most of the tribes ought<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">298</a></span> +to be settled in the two Indian territories, while this +removal policy should be the last.</p> + +<p>Upon the vexed question of civilian or military +control the Commissioners were divided. They +believed that both War and Interior departments +were too busy to give proper attention to the wards, +and recommended an independent department for +the Indians. In October, 1868, they reversed this +report and, under military influence, spoke strongly +for the incorporation of the Indian Office in the War +Department. "We have now selected and provided +reservations for all, off the great roads," wrote +General Sherman to his brother in September, 1868. +"All who cling to their old hunting-grounds are +hostile and will remain so till killed off. We will +have a sort of predatory war for years, every now +and then be shocked by the indiscriminate murder +of travellers and settlers, but the country is so large, +and the advantage of the Indians so great, that +we cannot make a single war and end it. From +the nature of things we must take chances and clean +out Indians as we encounter them." Although it +was the tendency of military control to provoke Indian +wars, the army was near the truth in its notion +that Indians and whites could not live together.</p> + +<p>The way across the continent was opened by these +treaties of 1867 and 1868, and the Union Pacific +hurried to take advantage of it. The other Pacific +railways, Northern Pacific and Atlantic and Pacific, +were so slow in using their charters that hope in their<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">299</a></span> +construction was nearly abandoned, but the chief +enterprise neared completion before the inauguration +of President Grant. The new territory of Wyoming, +rather than the statue of Columbus which Benton +had foreseen, was perched upon the summit of the +Rockies as its monument.</p> + +<p>Intelligent easterners had difficulty in keeping +pace with western development during the decade +of the Civil War. The United States itself had made +no codification of Indian treaties since 1837, and +allowed the law of tribal relations to remain scattered +through a thousand volumes of government documents. +Even Indian agents and army officers were +often as ignorant of the facts as was the general +public. "All Americans have some knowledge of +the country west of the Mississippi," lamented the +<i>Nation</i> in 1868, but "there is no book of travel relating +to those regions which does more than add to a +mass of very desultory information. Few men have +more than the most unconnected and unmethodical +knowledge of the vast expanse of territory which +lies beyond Kansas.... [By] this time Leavenworth +must have ceased to be in the West; probably, +as we write, Denver has become an Eastern city, +and day by day the Pacific Railroad is abolishing the +marks that distinguish Western from Eastern life.... +A man talks to us of the country west of the Rocky +Mountains, and while he is talking, the Territory +of Wyoming is established, of which neither he nor +his auditors have before heard."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">300</a></span></p> + +<div id="ip_300" class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> + <img class="nobdr" src="images/i-326.jpg" width="600" height="448" alt="" /> + <div class="caption"><p><span class="smcap">The West in 1863</span></p></div> + +<div class="captionc"><p>The mining booms had completed the territorial divisions of the Southwest. +In 1864 Idaho was reduced and Montana created. Wyoming followed in 1868.</p></div></div> + +<p>In that division of the plains which was sketched +out in the fifties, the great amorphous eastern territories +of Kansas and Nebraska met on the summit +of the Rockies the great western territories of +Washington, Utah, and New Mexico. The gold +booms had broken up all of these. Arizona, Nevada, +Idaho, Montana, Dakota, Colorado, had found +their excuses for existence, while Kansas and Nevada +entered the Union, with Nebraska following +in 1867. Between the thirty-seventh and forty-first +parallels Colorado fairly straddled the divide.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">301</a></span> +To the north, in the region of the great river valleys,—Green, +Big Horn, Powder, Platte, and Sweetwater,—the +precious metals were not found in +quantities which justified exploitation earlier than +1867. But in that year moderate discoveries on +the Sweetwater and the arrival of the terminal +camps of the Union Pacific gave plausibility to a +scheme for a new territory.</p> + +<p>The Sweetwater mines, without causing any +great excitement, brought a few hundred men to the +vicinity of South Pass. A handful of towns was +established, a county was organized, a newspaper +was brought into life at Fort Bridger. If the railway +had not appeared at the same time, the foundation +for a territory would probably have been too slight. +But the Union Pacific, which had ended at Julesburg +early in 1867, extended its terminus to a new town, +Cheyenne, in the summer, and to Laramie City in +the spring of 1868.</p> + +<p>Cheyenne was laid out a few weeks before the +Union Pacific advanced to its site. It had a better +prospect of life than had most of the mushroom +cities that accompanied the westward course of the +railroad, because it was the natural junction point +for Denver trade. Colorado had been much disappointed +at its own failure to induce the Union Pacific +managers to put Denver City on the main line of +the road, and felt injured when compelled to do its +business through Cheyenne. But just because of +this, Cheyenne grew in the autumn of 1867 with a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302">302</a></span> +rapidity unusual even in the West. It was not an +orderly or reputable population that it had during +the first months of its existence, but, to its good +fortune, the advance of the road to Laramie drew off +the worst of the floating inhabitants early in 1868. +Cheyenne was left with an overlarge town site, +but with some real excuse for existence. Most of +the terminal towns vanished completely when the +railroad moved on.</p> + +<p>A new territory for the country north of Colorado +had been talked about as early as 1861. Since the creation +of Montana territory in 1864, this area had been +attached, obviously only temporarily, to Dakota. +Now, with the mining and railway influences at work, +the population made appeal to the Dakota legislature +and to Congress for independence. "Without opposition +or prolonged discussion," as Bancroft puts it, +the new territory was created by Congress in July, +1868. It was called Wyoming, just escaping the +names of Lincoln and Cheyenne, and received as +bounds the parallels of 41° and 45°, and the meridians +of 27° and 34°, west of Washington.</p> + +<p>For several years after the Sioux treaties of 1868 +and the erection of Wyoming territory, the Indians +of the northern plains kept the peace. The routes of +travel had been opened, the white claim to the +Powder River Valley had been surrendered, and a +great northern reserve had been created in the +Black Hills country of southern Dakota. All +these, by lessening contact, removed the danger of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303">303</a></span> +Indian friction. But the southern tribes were +still uneasy,—treacherous or ill-treated, according +as the sources vary,—and one more war was needed +before they could be compelled to settle down.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304">304</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="vspace"><a name="CHAPTER_XVIII" id="CHAPTER_XVIII">CHAPTER XVIII</a><br /> + +<span class="subhead">BLACK KETTLE'S LAST RAID</span></h2> + +<p>Of the four classes of persons whose interrelations +determined the condition of the frontier, none +admitted that it desired to provoke Indian wars. +The tribes themselves consistently professed a wish +to be allowed to remain at peace. The Indian +agents lost their authority and many of their perquisites +during war time. The army and the frontiersmen +denied that they were belligerent. "I assert," +wrote Custer, "and all candid persons familiar +with the subject will sustain the assertion, that of all +classes of our population the army and the people +living on the frontier entertain the greatest dread of +an Indian war, and are willing to make the greatest +sacrifices to avoid its horrors." To fix the responsibility +for the wars which repeatedly occurred, despite +the protestations of amiability on all sides, calls for +the examination of individual episodes in large number. +It is easier to acquit the first two classes than +the last two. There are enough instances in which +the tribes were persuaded to promise and keep the +peace to establish the belief that a policy combining +benevolence, equity, and relentless firmness in punishing +wrong-doers, white or red, could have maintained<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305">305</a></span> +friendly relations with ease. The Indian +agents were hampered most by their inability to +enforce the laws intrusted to them for execution, +and by the slowness of the Senate in ratifying agreements +and of Congress in voting supplies. The +frontiersmen, with their isolated homesteads lying +open to surprise and destruction, would seem to be +sincere in their protestations; yet repeatedly they +thrust themselves as squatters upon lands of unquieted +Indian title, while their personal relations +with the red men were commonly marked by fear +and hatred. The army, with greater honesty and +better administration than the Indian Bureau, +overdid its work, being unable to think of the Indians +as anything but public enemies and treating +them with an arbitrary curtness that would have +been dangerous even among intelligent whites. The +history of the southwest Indians, after the Sand +Creek massacre, illustrates well how tribes, not specially +ill-disposed, became the victims of circumstances +which led to their destruction.</p> + +<p>After the battle at Sand Creek, the southwest +tribes agreed to a series of treaties in 1865 by which +new reserves were promised them on the borderland +of Kansas and Indian Territory. These treaties +were so amended by the Senate that for a time +the tribes had no admitted homes or rights save the +guaranteed hunting privileges on the plains south of +the Platte. They seem generally to have been peaceful +during 1866, in spite of the rather shabby treatment<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306">306</a></span> +which the neglect of Congress procured for +them. In 1867 uneasiness became apparent. Agent +E. W. Wynkoop, of Sand Creek fame, was now in +charge of the Arapaho, Cheyenne, and Apache tribes +in the vicinity of Fort Larned, on the Santa Fé trail +in Kansas. In 1866 they had "complained of the +government not having fulfilled its promises to them, +and of numerous impositions practised upon them +by the whites." Some of their younger braves had +gone on the war-path. But Wynkoop claimed to +have quieted them, and by March, 1867, thought +that they were "well satisfied and quiet, and anxious +to retain the peaceful relations now existing."</p> + +<p>The military authorities at Fort Dodge, farther +up the Arkansas and near the old Santa Fé crossing, +were less certain than Wynkoop that the Indians +meant well. Little Raven, of the Arapaho, and +Satanta, "principal chief" of the Kiowa, were reported +as sending in insulting messages to the troops, +ordering them to cut no more wood, to leave the +country, to keep wagons off the Santa Fé trail. +Occasional thefts of stock and forays were reported +along the trail. Custer thought that there was +"positive evidence from the agents themselves" +that the Indians were guilty, the trouble only being +that Wynkoop charged the guilt on the Kiowa +and Comanche, while J. H. Leavenworth, agent +for these tribes, asserted their innocence and accused +the wards of Wynkoop.</p> + +<p>The Department of the Missouri, in which these<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_307" id="Page_307">307</a></span> +tribes resided, was under the command of Major-general +Winfield Scott Hancock in the spring of 1867. +With a desire to promote the tranquillity of his command, +Hancock prepared for an expedition on the +plains as early as the roads would permit. He wrote +of this intention to both of the agents, asking them +to accompany him, "to show that the officers of the +government are acting in harmony." His object +was not necessarily war, but to impress upon the +Indians his ability "to chastise any tribes who may +molest people who are travelling across the plains." +In each of the letters he listed the complaints against +the respective tribes—failure to deliver murderers, +outrages on the Smoky Hill route in 1866, alliances +with the Sioux, hostile incursions into Texas, and +the specially barbarous Box murder. In this last +affair one James Box had been murdered by the +Kiowas, and his wife and five daughters carried off. +The youngest of these, a baby, died in a few days, the +mother stated, and they "took her from me and +threw her into a ravine." Ultimately the mother +and three of the children were ransomed from the +Kiowas after Mrs. Box and her eldest daughter, +Margaret, had been passed around from chief to chief +for more than two months. Custer wrote up this +outrage with much exaggeration, but the facts were +bad enough.</p> + +<p>With both agents present, Hancock advanced to +Fort Larned. "It is uncertain whether war will +be the result of the expedition or not," he declared<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_308" id="Page_308">308</a></span> +in general orders of March 26, 1867, thus admitting +that a state of war did not at that time exist. "It +will depend upon the temper and behavior of the +Indians with whom we may come in contact. We go +prepared for war and will make it if a proper occasion +presents." The tribes which he proposed to visit +were roaming indiscriminately over the country +traversed by the Santa Fé trail, in accordance with +the treaties of 1865, which permitted them, until they +should be settled upon their reserves, to hunt at +will over the plains south of the Platte, subject only +to the restriction that they must not camp within ten +miles of the main roads and trails. It was Hancock's +intention to enforce this last provision, and more, +to insist "upon their keeping off the main lines of +travel, where their presence is calculated to bring +about collisions with the whites."</p> + +<p>The first conference with the Indians was held at +Fort Larned, where the "principal chiefs of the Dog +Soldiers of the Cheyennes" had been assembled by +Agent Wynkoop. Leavenworth thought that the +chiefs here had been very friendly, but Wynkoop +criticised the council as being held after sunset, +which was contrary to Indian custom and calculated +"to make them feel suspicious." At this council +General Hancock reprimanded the chiefs and told +them that he would visit their village, occupied by +themselves and an almost equal number of Sioux; +which village, said Wynkoop, "was 35 miles from +any travelled road." "Why don't he confine the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_309" id="Page_309">309</a></span> +troops to the great line of travel?" demanded Leavenworth, +whose wards had the same privilege of hunting +south of the Arkansas that those of Wynkoop +had between the Arkansas and the Platte. So long +as they camped ten miles from the roads, this was +their right.</p> + +<p>Contrary to Wynkoop's urgings, Hancock led his +command from Fort Larned on April 13, 1867, +moving for the main Arapaho, Cheyenne, and Sioux +village on Pawnee Fork, thirty-five miles west of the +post. With cavalry, infantry, artillery, and a pontoon +train, it was hard for him to assume any +other appearance than that of war. Even the +General's particular assurance, as Custer puts it, +"that he was not there to make war, but to promote +peace," failed to convince the chiefs who had attended +the night council. It was not a pleasant +march. The snow was nearly a foot deep, fodder was +scarce, and the Indian disposition was uncertain. +Only a few had come in to the Fort Larned conference, +and none appeared at camp after the first day's +march. After this refusal to meet him, Hancock +marched on to the village, in front of which he +found some three hundred Indians drawn up in +battle array. Fighting seemed imminent, but at +last Roman Nose, Bull Bear, and other chiefs met +Hancock between the lines and agreed upon an evening +conference. It developed that the men alone +were left at the Indian camp. Women and children, +with all the movables they could handle, had fled out<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_310" id="Page_310">310</a></span> +upon the snowy plains at the approach of the troops. +Fear of another Sand Creek had caused it, said +Wynkoop. But Hancock chose to regard this as +evidence of a treacherous disposition, demanded that +the fugitives return at once, and insisted upon encamping +near the village against the protest of the +chiefs. Instead of bringing back their people, the +men themselves abandoned the village that evening, +while Hancock, learning of the flight, surrounded +and took possession of it. The next morning, +April 15, Custer was sent with cavalry in pursuit +of the flying bands. Depredations occurring to the +north of Pawnee Fork within a day or two, Hancock +burned the village in retaliation and proceeded to +Fort Dodge. Wynkoop insisted that the Cheyenne +and Arapaho had been entirely innocent and that +these injuries had been committed by the Sioux. "I +have no doubt," he wrote, "but that they think that +war has been forced upon them."</p> + +<p>When Hancock started upon the plains, there was +no war, but there was no doubt about its existence +as the spring advanced. When the Peace Commissioners +of this year came with their protestations +of benevolence for the Great Father, it was small +wonder that the Cheyenne and Arapaho had to be +coaxed into the camp on the Medicine Lodge Creek. +And when the treaties there made failed of prompt +execution by the United States, the war naturally +dragged on in a desultory way during 1868 and 1869.</p> + +<p>In the spring of 1868 General Sheridan, who<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_311" id="Page_311">311</a></span> +had succeeded Hancock in command of the Department +of the Missouri, visited the posts at Fort Larned +and Fort Dodge. Here on Pawnee and Walnut +creeks most of the southwest Indians were congregated. +Wynkoop, in February and April, reported +them as happy and quiet. They were destitute, +to be sure, and complained that the Commissioners +at Medicine Lodge had promised them arms and +ammunition which had not been delivered. Indeed, +the treaty framed there had not yet been ratified. +But he believed it possible to keep them contented +and wean them from their old habits. To Sheridan +the situation seemed less happy. He declined to +hold a council with the complaining chiefs on the +ground that the whole matter was yet in the hands +of the Peace Commission, but he saw that the young +men were chafing and turbulent and that frontier +hostilities would accompany the summer buffalo hunt.</p> + +<p>There is little doubt of the destitution which prevailed +among the plains tribes at this time. The +rapid diminution of game was everywhere observable. +The annuities at best afforded only partial +relief, while Congress was irregular in providing +funds. Three times during the spring the Commissioner +prodded the Secretary of the Interior, who +in turn prodded Congress, with the result that +instead of the $1,000,000 asked for $500,000 were, +in July, 1868, granted to be spent not by the Indian +Office, but by the War Department. Three weeks +later General Sherman created an organization for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_312" id="Page_312">312</a></span> +distributing this charity, placing the district south +of Kansas in command of General Hazen. Meanwhile, +the time for making the spring issues of +annuity goods had come. It was ordered in June +that no arms or ammunition should be given to the +Cheyenne and Arapaho because of their recent +bad conduct; but in July the Commissioner, influenced +by the great dissatisfaction on the part of the +tribes, and fearing "that these Indians, by reason of +such non-delivery of arms, ammunition, and goods, +will commence hostilities against the whites in their +vicinity, modified the order and telegraphed Agent +Wynkoop that he might use his own discretion in the +matter: "If you are satisfied that the issue of the +arms and ammunition is necessary to preserve the +peace, and that no evil will result from their delivery, +let the Indians have them." A few days previously +on July 20, Wynkoop had issued the ordinary supplies +to his Arapaho and Apache, his Cheyenne +refusing to take anything until they could have the +guns as well. "They felt much disappointed, but +gave no evidence of being angry ... and would +wait with patience for the Great Father to take pity +upon them." The permission from the Commissioner +was welcomed by the agent, and approved +by Thomas Murphy, his superintendent. Murphy +had been ordered to Fort Larned to reënforce Wynkoop's +judgment. He held a council on August 1 +with Little Raven and the Arapaho and Apache, +and issued them their arms. "Raven and the other<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_313" id="Page_313">313</a></span> +chiefs then promised that these arms should never +be used against the whites, and Agent Wynkoop +then delivered to the Arapahoes 160 pistols, 80 +Lancaster rifles, 12 kegs of powder, 1½ keg of lead, +and 15,000 caps; and to the Apaches he gave 40 +pistols, 20 Lancaster rifles, 3 kegs of powder, +½ keg of lead, and 5000 caps." The Cheyenne +came in a few days later for their share, which +Wynkoop handed over on the 9th. "They were +delighted at receiving the goods," he reported, +"particularly the arms and ammunition, and +never before have I known them to be better +satisfied and express themselves as being so well +contented." The fact that within three days murders +were committed by the Cheyenne on the Solomon +and Saline forks throws doubt upon the sincerity +of their protestations.</p> + +<p>The war party which commenced the active hostilities +of 1868 at a time so well calculated to throw +discredit upon the wisdom of the Indian Office, +had left the Cheyenne village early in August, +"smarting under their <i>supposed</i> wrongs," as Wynkoop +puts it. They were mostly Cheyenne, with +a small number of Arapaho and a few visiting +Sioux, about 200 in all. Little Raven's son and +a brother of White Antelope, who died at Sand +Creek, were with them; Black Kettle is said to have +been their leader. On August 7 some of them +spent the evening at Fort Hays, where they held a +powwow at the post. "Black Kettle loves his white<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_314" id="Page_314">314</a></span> +soldier brothers, and his heart feels glad when he +meets them and shakes their hands in friendship," +is the way the post-trader, Hill P. Wilson, reported +his speech. "The white soldiers ought to be glad +all the time, because their ponies are so big and so +strong, and because they have so many guns and +so much to eat.... All other Indians may take +the war trail, but Black Kettle will forever keep +friendship with his white brothers." Three nights +later they began to kill on Saline River, and on the +11th they crossed to the Solomon. Some fifteen +settlers were killed, and five women were carried off. +Here this particular raid stopped, for the news +had got abroad, and the frontier was instantly in +arms. Various isolated forays occurred, so that +Sheridan was sure he had a general war upon his +hands. He believed nearly all the young men of +the Cheyenne, Kiowa, Arapaho, and Comanche to +be in the war parties, the old women, men, and +children remaining around the posts and professing +solicitous friendship. There were 6000 potential +warriors in all, and that he might better devote +himself to suppressing them, Sheridan followed the +Kansas Pacific to its terminus at Fort Hays and there +established his headquarters in the field.</p> + +<p>The war of 1868 ranged over the whole frontier +south of the Platte trail. It influenced the Peace +Commission, at its final meeting in October, 1868, +to repudiate many of the pacific theories of January +and recommend that the Indians be handed over<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_315" id="Page_315">315</a></span> +to the War Department. Sheridan, who had led +the Commission to this conclusion, was in the field +directing the movement. His policy embraced a +concentration of the peaceful bands south of the +Arkansas, and a relentless war against the rest. It +is fairly clear that the war need not have come, had +it not been for the cross-purposes ever apparent between +the Indian Office and the War Department, +and even within the War Department itself.</p> + +<p>At Fort Hays, Sheridan prepared for war. He had, +at the start, about 2600 men, nearly equally divided +among cavalry and infantry. Believing his force +too small to cover the whole plains between Fort +Hays and Denver, he called for reënforcements, +receiving a part of the Fifth Cavalry and a regiment +of Kansas volunteers. With enthusiasm this last +addition was raised among the frontiersmen, where +Indian fighting was popular; the governor of the +state resigned his office to become its colonel. +September and October were occupied in getting the +troops together, keeping the trails open for traffic, +and establishing, about a hundred miles south of +Fort Dodge, a rendezvous which was known as +Camp Supply. It was the intention to protect +the frontier during the autumn, and to follow up +the Indian villages after winter had fallen, catching +the tribes when they would be concentrated and at a +disadvantage.</p> + +<p>On October 15, 1868, Sherman, just from the +Chicago meeting of the Peace Commissioners<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_316" id="Page_316">316</a></span> +and angry because he had there been told that the +army wanted war, gave Sheridan a free hand for the +winter campaign. "As to 'extermination,' it is +for the Indians themselves to determine. We don't +want to exterminate or even to fight them.... +The present war ... was begun and carried on by +the Indians in spite of our entreaties and in spite +of our warnings, and the only question to us is, +whether we shall allow the progress of our western +settlements to be checked, and leave the Indians +free to pursue their bloody career, or accept their +war and fight them.... We ... accept the war +... and hereby resolve to make its end final.... +I will say nothing and do nothing to restrain our +troops from doing what they deem proper on the +spot, and will allow no mere vague general charges +of cruelty and inhumanity to tie their hands, but +will use all the powers confided to me to the end +that these Indians, the enemies of our race and of our +civilization, shall not again be able to begin and +carry on their barbarous warfare on any kind of pretext +that they may choose to allege."</p> + +<p>The plan of campaign provided that the main +column, Custer in immediate command, should +march from Fort Hays directly against the Indians, +by way of Camp Supply; two smaller columns +were to supplement this, one marching in on Indian +Territory from New Mexico, and the other from +Fort Lyon on the old Sand Creek reserve. Detachments +of the chief column began to move in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_317" id="Page_317">317</a></span> +middle of November, Custer reaching the depot at +Camp Supply ahead of the rest, while the Kansas +volunteers lost themselves in heavy snow-storms. +On November 23 Custer was ordered out of Camp +Supply, on the north fork of the Canadian, to follow +a fresh trail which led southwest towards the Washita +River, near the eastern line of Texas. He pushed on +as rapidly as twelve inches of snow would allow, +discovering in the early morning of November 27 a +large camp in the valley of the Washita.</p> + +<p>It was Black Kettle's camp of Cheyenne and +Arapaho that they had found in a strip of heavy +timber along the river. After reconnoitring Custer +divided his force into four columns for simultaneous +attacks upon the sleeping village. At daybreak +"my men charged the village and reached the lodges +before the Indians were aware of our presence. The +moment the charge was ordered the band struck +up 'Garry Owen,' and with cheers that strongly +reminded me of scenes during the war, every trooper, +led by his officer, rushed towards the village." For +several hours a promiscuous fight raged up and down +the ravine, with Indians everywhere taking to cover, +only to be prodded out again. Fifty-one lodges in all +fell into Custer's hands; 103 dead Indians, including +Black Kettle himself, were found later. "We +captured in good condition 875 horses, ponies, and +mules; 241 saddles, some of very fine and costly +workmanship; 573 buffalo robes, 390 buffalo skins +for lodges, 160 untanned robes, 210 axes, 140<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_318" id="Page_318">318</a></span> +hatchets, 35 revolvers, 47 rifles, 535 pounds of +powder, 1050 pounds of lead, 4000 arrows and arrowheads, +75 spears, 90 bullet moulds, 35 bows and +quivers, 12 shields, 300 pounds of bullets, 775 +lariats, 940 buckskin saddle-bags, 470 blankets, +93 coats, 700 pounds of tobacco."</p> + +<p>As the day advanced, Custer's triumph seemed +likely to turn into defeat. The Cheyenne village +proved to be only the last of a long string of villages +that extended down the Washita for fifteen miles or +more, and whose braves rode up by hundreds to see +the fight. A general engagement was avoided, however, +and with better luck and more discretion than +he was one day to have, Custer marched back to +Camp Supply on December 3, his band playing +gayly the tune of battle, "Garry Owen." The +commander in his triumphal procession was followed +by his scouts and trailers, and the captives of his +prowess—a long train of Indian widows and orphans.</p> + +<p>The decisive blow which broke the power of the +southwest tribes had been struck, and Black Kettle +had carried on his last raid,—if indeed he had carried +on this one at all—but as the reports came in it +became evident that the merits of the triumph were +in doubt. The Eastern humanitarians were shocked +at the cold-blooded attack upon a camp of sleeping +men, women, and children, forgetting that if Indians +were to be fought this was the most successful way to +do it, and was no shock to the Indians' own ideals +of warfare and attack. The deeper question was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_319" id="Page_319">319</a></span> +whether this camp was actually hostile, whether the +tribes had not abandoned the war-path in good faith, +whether it was fair to crush a tribe that with apparent +earnestness begged peace because it could not control +the excesses of some of its own braves. It became +certain, at least, that the War Department itself +had fallen victim to that vice with which it had so +often reproached the Indian Office—failure to +produce a harmony of action among several branches +of the service.</p> + +<p>The Indian Office had no responsibility for the +battle of the Washita. It had indeed issued arms +to the Cheyenne in August, but only with the approval +of the military officer commanding Forts +Larned and Dodge, General Alfred Sully, "an +officer of long experience in Indian affairs." In the +early summer all the tribes had been near these forts +and along the Santa Fé trail. After Congress had +voted its half million to feed the hungry, Sherman +had ordered that the peaceful hungry among the +southern tribes should be moved from this locality +to the vicinity of old Fort Cobb, in the west end of +Indian Territory on the Washita River.</p> + +<p>During September, while Sheridan was gathering +his armament at Fort Hays, Sherman was ordering +the agents to take their peaceful charges to Fort +Cobb. With the major portion of the tribes at war +it would be impossible for the troops to make any +discrimination unless there should be an absolute +separation between the well-disposed and the warlike.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_320" id="Page_320">320</a></span> +He proposed to allow the former a reasonable +time to get to their new abode and then beg the +President for an order "declaring all Indians who +remain outside of their lawful reservations" to be +outlaws. He believed that by going to war these +tribes had violated their hunting rights. Superintendent +Murphy thought he saw another Sand +Creek in these preparations. Here were the tribes +ordered to Fort Cobb; their fall annuity goods were +on the way thither for distribution; and now the +military column was marching in the same direction.</p> + +<p>In the meantime General W. B. Hazen had arrived +at Fort Cobb on November 7 and had immediately +voiced his fear that "General Sheridan, acting under +the impression of hostiles, may attack bands of Comanche +and Kiowa before they reach this point." +He found, however, most of these tribes, who had not +gone to war this season, encamped within reach on +the Canadian and Washita rivers,—5000 of the Comanche +and 1500 of the Kiowa. Within a few days +Cheyenne and Arapaho began to join the settlements +in the district, Black Kettle bringing in his +band to the Washita, forty miles east of Antelope +Hills, and coming in person to Fort Cobb for an +interview with General Hazen on November 20.</p> + +<p>"I have always done my best," he protested, "to +keep my young men quiet, but some will not listen, +and since the fighting began I have not been able to +keep them all at home. But we all want peace." +To which added Big Mouth, of the Arapaho: "I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_321" id="Page_321">321</a></span> +came to you because I wish to do right.... I do not +want war, and my people do not, but although we +have come back south of the Arkansas, the soldiers +follow us and continue fighting, and we want you to +send out and stop these soldiers from coming against +us."</p> + +<p>To these, General Hazen, fearful as he was of an +unjust attack, responded with caution. Sherman +had spoken of Fort Cobb in his orders to Sheridan, as +"aimed to hold out the olive branch with one hand +and the sword in the other. But it is not thereby +intended that any hostile Indians shall make use +of that establishment as a refuge from just punishment +for acts already done. Your military control +over that reservation is as perfect as over Kansas, and +if hostile Indians retreat within that reservation, ... +they may be followed even to Fort Cobb, captured, +and punished." It is difficult to see what could +constitute the fact of peaceful intent if coming in +to Fort Cobb did not. But Hazen gave to Black +Kettle cold comfort: "I am sent here as a peace +chief; all here is to be peace; but north of the +Arkansas is General Sheridan, the great war chief, and +I do not control him; and he has all the soldiers who +are fighting the Arapahoes and Cheyennes.... If +the soldiers come to fight, you must remember they +are not from me, but from that great war chief, and +with him you must make peace.... I cannot stop +the war.... You must not come in again unless I +send for you, and you must keep well out beyond<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_322" id="Page_322">322</a></span> +the friendly Kiowas and Comanches." So he sent +the suitors away and wrote, on November 22, to +Sherman for more specific instructions covering these +cases. He believed that Black Kettle and Big Mouth +were themselves sincere, but doubted their control +over their bands. These were the bands which +Custer destroyed before the week was out, and it is +probable that during the fight they were reënforced +by braves from the friendly lodges of Satanta's +Kiowa and Little Raven's Arapaho.</p> + +<p>Whatever might have been a wise policy in treating +semi-hostile Indian tribes, this one was certainly unsatisfactory. +It is doubtful whether the war was ever +so great as Sherman imagined it. The injured tribes +were unquestionably drawn to Fort Cobb by a desire +for safety; the army was in the position of seeming +to use the olive branch to assemble the Indians in order +that the sword might the better disperse them. +There is reasonable doubt whether Black Kettle +had anything to do with the forays. Murphy believed +in him and cited many evidences of his friendly +disposition, while Wynkoop asserted positively that +he had been encamped on Pawnee Fork all through +the time when he was alleged to have been committing +depredations on the Saline. The army alone had +been no more successful in producing obvious justice +than the army and Indian Office together had been. +Yet whatever the merits of the case, the power of the +Cheyenne and their neighbors was permanently gone.</p> + +<p>During the winter of 1868–1869 Sheridan's army<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_323" id="Page_323">323</a></span> +remained in the vicinity of Fort Cobb, gathering the +remnants of the shattered tribes in upon their reservation. +The Kiowa and Comanche were placed at +last on the lands awarded them at the Medicine Lodge +treaties, while the Arapaho and Cheyenne once +more had their abiding-place changed in August, 1869, +and were settled down along the upper waters of the +Washita, around the valley of their late defeat.</p> + +<p>The long controversy between the War and Interior +departments over the management of the tribes entered +upon a new stage with the inauguration of +Grant in 1869. One of the earliest measures of his +administration was a bill erecting a board of civilian +Indian commissioners to advise the Indian Department +and promote the civilization of the tribes. +A generous grant of two millions accompanied the +act. More care was used in the appointment of +agents than had hitherto been taken, and the immediate +results seemed good when the Commissioner +wrote his annual report in December, 1869. But the +worst of the troubles with the Indians of the plains +was over, so that without special effort peace could +now have been the result.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_324" id="Page_324">324</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="vspace"><a name="CHAPTER_XIX" id="CHAPTER_XIX">CHAPTER XIX</a><br /> + +<span class="subhead">THE FIRST OF THE RAILWAYS</span></h2> + +<p>Twenty years before the great tribes of the plains +made their last stand in front of the invading white +man overland travel had begun; ten years before, +Congress, under the inspiration of the prophetic +Whitney and the leadership of more practical men, +had provided for a survey of railroad routes along +the trails; on the eve of the struggle the earliest continental +railway had received its charter; and the +struggle had temporarily ceased while Congress, in +1867, sent out its Peace Commission to prepare an +open way. That the tribes must yield was as inevitable +as it was that their yielding must be ungracious +and destructive to them. Too weak to compel their +enemy to respect their rights, and uncertain what their +rights were, they were too low in intelligence to realize +that the more they struggled, the worse would be their +suffering. So they struggled on, during the years in +which the iron band was put across the continent. +Its completion and their subjection came in 1869.</p> + +<p>After years of tedious debate the earliest of the +Pacific railways was chartered in 1862. The withdrawal +of southern claims had made possible an +agreement upon a route, while the spirit of nationality<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_325" id="Page_325">325</a></span> +engendered by the Civil War gave to the project its +final impetus. Under the management of the Central +Pacific of California, the Union Pacific, and two +or three border railways, provision was made for a +road from the Iowa border to California. Land grants +and bond subsidies were for two years dangled +before the capitalists of America in the vain attempt +to entice them to construct it. Only after these +were increased in 1864 did active organization begin, +while at the end of 1865 but forty miles of the Union +Pacific had been built.</p> + +<p>Building a railroad from the Missouri River to the +Pacific Ocean was easily the greatest engineering feat +that America had undertaken. In their day the +Cumberland Road, and the Erie Canal, and the Pennsylvania +Portage Railway had ranked among the +American wonders, but none of these had been accompanied +by the difficult problems that bristled +along the eighteen hundred miles of track that must +be laid across plain and desert, through hostile Indian +country and over mountains. Worse yet, the road +could hope for little aid from the country through +which it ran. Except for the small colonies at Carson, +Salt Lake, and Denver, the last of which it missed by +a hundred miles, its course lay through unsettled +wilderness for nearly the whole distance. Like the +trusses of a cantilever, its advancing ends projected +themselves across the continent, relying, up to the +moment of joining, upon the firm anchorage of the +termini in the settled lands of Iowa and California.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_326" id="Page_326">326</a></span> +Equally trying, though different in variety, were the +difficulties attendant upon construction at either end.</p> + +<p>The impetus which Judah had given to the Central +Pacific had started the western end of the system +two years ahead of the eastern, but had not produced +great results at first. It was hard work building east +into the Sierra Nevadas, climbing the gullies, bridging, +tunnelling, filling, inch by inch, to keep the grade +down and the curvature out. Twenty miles a year +only were completed in 1863, 1864, and 1865, thirty +in 1866, and forty-six in 1867—one hundred and +thirty-six miles during the first five years of work. +Nature had done her best to impede the progress of +the road by thrusting mountains and valleys across +its route. But she had covered the mountains with +timber and filled them with stone, so that materials of +construction were easily accessible along all of the +costliest part of the line. Bridges and trestles could +be built anywhere with local material. The labor +problem vexed the Central Pacific managers at the +start. It was a scanty and inefficient supply of +workmen that existed in California when construction +began. Like all new countries, California possessed +more work than workmen. Economic independence +was to be had almost for the asking. Free land and +fertile soil made it unnecessary for men to work for +hire. The slight results of the first five years were +due as much to lack of labor as to refractory roadway +or political opposition. But by 1865 the employment +of Chinese laborers began. Coolies imported by<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_327" id="Page_327">327</a></span> +the thousand and ably directed by Charles Crocker, +who was the most active constructor, brought +a new rapidity into construction. "I used to go +up and down that road in my car like a mad +bull," Crocker dictated to Bancroft's stenographer, +"stopping along wherever there was anything amiss, +and raising Old Nick with the boys that were not up +to time." With roadbed once graded new troubles +began. California could manufacture no iron. Rolling +stock and rails had to be imported from Europe +or the East, and came to San Francisco after the +costly sea voyage, <i xml:lang="la" lang="la">via</i> Panama or the Horn. But +the men directing the Central Pacific—Stanford, +Crocker, Huntington, and the rest—rose to the difficulties, +and once they had passed the mountains, fairly +romped across the Nevada desert in the race for subsidies.</p> + +<p>The eastern end started nearer to a base of supplies +than did the California terminus, yet until 1867 no +railroad from the East reached Council Bluffs, where +the President had determined that the Union Pacific +should begin. There had been railway connection +to the Missouri River at St. Joseph since 1859, and +various lines were hurrying across Iowa in the sixties, +but for more than two years of construction the Union +Pacific had to get rolling stock and iron from the +Missouri steamers or the laborious prairie schooners. +Until its railway connection was established its +difficulty in this respect was only less great than that +of the Central Pacific. The compensation of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_328" id="Page_328">328</a></span> +Union Pacific came, however, in its roadbed. Following +the old Platte trail, flat and smooth as the +best highways, its construction gangs could do the light +grading as rapidly as the finished single track could +deliver the rails at its growing end. But for the needful +culverts and trestles there was little material at +hand. The willows and Cottonwood lining the river +would not do. The Central Pacific could cut its +wood as it needed it, often within sight of its track. +The Union Pacific had to haul much of its wood and +stone, like its iron, from its eastern terminus.</p> + +<p>The labor problem of the Union Pacific was intimately +connected with the solution of its Indian +problem. The Central Pacific had almost no trouble +with the decadent tribes through whom it ran, but +the Union Pacific was built during the very years +when the great plains were most disturbed and hostile +forays were most frequent. Its employees contained +large elements of the newly arrived Irish and +of the recently discharged veterans of the Civil War. +General Dodge, who was its chief engineer, has described +not only the military guards who "stacked +their arms on the dump and were ready at a moment's +warning to fall in and fight," but the military capacity +of the construction gangs themselves. The "track +train could arm a thousand men at a word," and +from chief constructor down to chief spiker "could +be commanded by experienced officers of every rank, +from general to a captain. They had served five +years at the front, and over half of the men had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_329" id="Page_329">329</a></span> +shouldered a musket in many battles. An illustration +of this came to me after our track had passed +Plum Creek, 200 miles west of the Missouri River. +The Indians had captured a freight train and were +in possession of it and its crews." Dodge came to +the rescue in his car, "a travelling arsenal," with +twenty-odd men, most of whom were strangers to +him; yet "when I called upon them to fall in, to go +forward and retake the train, every man on the train +went into line, and by his position showed that he +was a soldier.... 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."</p> + +<p>By an act passed in July, 1866, Congress did much +to accelerate the construction of the road. Heretofore +the junction point had been in the Nevada Desert, +a hundred and fifty miles east of the California line. +It was now provided that each road might build until +it met the other. Since the mountain section, with +the highest accompanying subsidies, was at hand, +each of the companies was spurred on by its desire +to get as much land and as many bonds as possible. +The race which began in the autumn of 1866 ended +only with the completion of the track in 1869. A +mile a day had seemed like quick work at the start; +seven or eight a day were laid before the end.</p> + +<p>The English traveller, Bell, who published his +<i>New Tracks in North America</i> in 1869, found somewhere +an enthusiastic quotation admirably descriptive<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_330" id="Page_330">330</a></span> +of the process. "Track-laying on the Union +Pacific is a science," it read, "and we pundits of the +Far East stood upon that embankment, only about +a thousand miles this side of sunset, and backed +westward before that hurrying corps of sturdy operatives +with mingled feelings of amusement, curiosity, +and profound respect. On they came. A light car, +drawn by a single horse, gallops up to the front with +its load of rails. Two men seize the end of a rail and +start forward, the rest of the gang taking hold by twos +until it is clear of the car. They come forward at a +run. At the word of command, the rail is dropped in +its place, right side up, with care, while the same +process goes on at the other side of the car. Less +than thirty seconds to a rail for each gang, and so four +rails go down to the minute! Quick work, you say, +but the fellows on the U. P. are tremendously in +earnest. The moment the car is empty it is tipped +over on the side of the track to let the next loaded car +pass it, and then it is tipped back again; and it is a +sight to see it go flying back for another load, propelled +by a horse at full gallop at the end of 60 +or 80 feet of rope, ridden by a young Jehu, who +drives furiously. Close behind the first gang come +the gaugers, spikers, and bolters, and a lively time +they make of it. It is a grand Anvil Chorus that +these sturdy sledges are playing across the plains. +It is in a triple time, three strokes to a spike. +There are ten spikes to a rail, four hundred rails to +a mile, eighteen hundred miles to San Francisco.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_331" id="Page_331">331</a></span> +That's the sum, what is the quotient? Twenty-one +million times are those sledges to be swung—twenty-one +million times are they to come down +with their sharp punctuation, before the great work +of modern America is complete!"</p> + +<p>Handling, housing, and feeding the thousands of +laborers who built the road was no mean problem. +Ten years earlier the builders of the Illinois Central +had complained because their road from Galena and +Chicago to Cairo ran generally through an uninhabited +country upon which they could not live as +they went along. Much more the continental railways, +building rapidly away from the settlements, +were forced to carry their dwellings with them. +Their commissariat was as important as their general +offices.</p> + +<p>An acquaintance of Bell told of standing where +Cheyenne now is and seeing a long freight train +arrive "laden with frame houses, boards, furniture, +palings, old tents, and all the rubbish" of a mushroom +city. "The guard jumped off his van, and seeing +some friends on the platform, called out with a +flourish, 'Gentlemen, here's Julesburg.'" The head +of the serpentine track, sometimes indeed "crookeder +than the horn that was blown around the walls of +Jericho," was the terminal town; its tongue was the +stretch of track thrust a few miles in advance of the +head; repeatedly as the tongue darted out the head +followed, leaving across the plains a series of scars, +marking the spots where it had rested for a time.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_332" id="Page_332">332</a></span> +Every few weeks the town was packed upon a freight +train and moved fifty or sixty miles to the new end +of the track. Its vagrant population followed it. It +was at Julesburg early in 1867; at Cheyenne in the +end of the year; at Laramie City the following spring. +Always it was the most disreputably picturesque +spot on the anatomy of the railroad.</p> + +<p>In the fall of 1868 "Hell on Wheels," as Samuel +Bowles, editor of the <i>Springfield Republican</i>, appropriately +designated the terminal town, was at Benton, +Wyoming, six hundred and ninety-eight miles +from Omaha and near the military reservation +at Fort Steele. In the very midst of the gray desert, +with sand ankle-deep in its streets, the town +stood dusty white—"a new arrival with black +clothes looked like nothing so much as a cockroach +struggling through a flour barrel." A less promising +location could hardly have been found, yet within +two weeks there had sprung up a city of three thousand +people with ordinances and government suited +to its size, and facilities for vice ample for all. The +needs of the road accounted for it: to the east the +road was operating for passengers and freight; to +the west it was yet constructing track. Here was +the end of rail travel and the beginning of the stage +routes to the coast and the mines. Two years +earlier the similar point had been at Fort Kearney, +Nebraska.</p> + +<p>The city of tents and shacks contained, according +to the count of John H. Beadle, a peripatetic journalist,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_333" id="Page_333">333</a></span> +twenty-three saloons and five dance houses. It +had all the worst details of the mining camp. Gambling +and rowdyism were the order of day and night. +Its great institution was the "'Big Tent,' sometimes, +with equal truth but less politeness, called +the 'Gamblers' Tent.'" This resort was a hundred +feet long by forty wide, well floored, and given over +to drinking, dancing, and gambling. The sumptuous +bar provided refreshment much desired in a dry +alkali country; all the games known to the professional +gambler were in full blast; women, often fair +and well-dressed, were there to gather in what the +bartender and faro-dealer missed. Whence came +these people, and how they learned their trade, was +a mystery to Bowles. "Hell would appear to have +been raked to furnish them," he said, "and to it they +must have naturally returned after graduating here, +fitted for its highest seats and most diabolical service."</p> + +<p>Behind the terminal town real estate disappointments, +like beads, were strung along the cord of +rails. In advance of the construction gangs land +companies would commonly survey town sites in +preparation for a boom. Brisk speculation in corner +lots was a form of gambling in which real money was +often lost and honest hopes were regularly shattered. +Each town had its advocates who believed it was to +be the great emporium of the West. Yet generally, +as the railroad moved on, the town relapsed into a +condition of deserted prairie, with only the street<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_334" id="Page_334">334</a></span> +lines and débris to remind it of its past. Omaha, +though Beadle thought in 1868 that no other "place +in America had been so well lied about," and Council +Bluffs retained a share of greatness because of their +strategic position at the commencement of the main +line. Tied together in 1872 by the great iron bridge +of the Union Pacific, their relations were as harmonious +as those of the cats of Kilkenny, as they +quarrelled over the claims of each to be the real +terminus. But the future of both was assured when +the eastern roads began to run in to get connections +with the West. Cheyenne, too, remained a city +of some consequence because the Denver Pacific +branched off at this point to serve the Pike's Peak +region. But the names of most of the other one-time +terminal towns were writ in sand.</p> + +<p>The progress of construction of the road after +1866 was rapid enough. At the end of 1865, though +the Central Pacific had started two years before the +Union Pacific, it had completed only sixty miles of +track, to the latter's forty. During 1866 the Central +Pacific built thirty laborious miles over the mountains, +and in 1867, forty-six miles, while in the same +two years the Union Pacific built five hundred. In +1868, the western road, now past its worst troubles, +added more than 360 to its mileage; the Union +Pacific, unchecked by the continental divide, making +a new record of 425. By May 10, 1869, the line +was done, 1776 miles from Omaha to Sacramento. +For the last sixteen months of the continental race<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_335" id="Page_335">335</a></span> +the two roads together had built more than two and +a half miles for every working day. Never before +had construction been systematized so highly or the +rewards for speed been so great.</p> + +<p>Whether regarded as an economic achievement or +a national work, the building of the road deserved +the attention it received; yet it was scarcely finished +before the scandal-monger was at work. Beadle had +written a chapter full of "floridly complimentary +notices" of the men who had made possible the feat, +but before he went to press their reputations were +blasted, and he thought it safest "to mention no +names." "Never praise a man," he declared in +disgust, "or name your children after him, till he +is dead." Before the end of Grant's first administration +the <i xml:lang="fr" lang="fr">Crédit Mobilier</i> scandal proved that men, +high in the national government, had speculated in +the project whose success depended on their votes. +That many of them had been guilty of indiscretion, +was perfectly clear, but they had done only what +many of their greatest predecessors had done. Their +real fault was made more prominent by their misfortune +in being caught by an aroused national conscience +which suddenly awoke to heed a call that it +had ever disregarded in the past.</p> + +<p>The junction point for the Union Pacific and +Central Pacific had been variously fixed by the +acts of 1862 and 1864. In 1866 it was left open to +fortune or enterprise, and had not Congress intervened +in 1869 it might never have existed. In<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_336" id="Page_336">336</a></span> +their rush for the land grants the two rivals hurried +on their surveys to the vicinity of Great Salt Lake, +where their advancing ends began to overlap, and +continued parallel for scores of miles. Congress, +noticing their indisposition to agree upon a junction, +intervened in the spring of 1869, ordering the two to +bring their race to an end at Promontory Point, a +few miles northwest of Ogden on the shore of the +lake. Here in May, 1869, the junction was celebrated +in due form.</p> + +<p>Since the "Seneca Chief" carried DeWitt Clinton +from Buffalo to the Atlantic in 1825, it has been the +custom to make the completion of a new road an +occasion for formal celebration. On the 10th of +May, 1869, the whole United States stood still to +signalize the junction of the tracks. The date had +been agreed upon by the railways on short notice, +and small parties of their officials, Governor Stanford +for the Central Pacific and President Dillon for the +Union Pacific, had come to the scene of activities. +The latter wrote up the "Driving the Last Spike" +for one of the magazines twenty years later, telling +how General Dodge worked all night of the 9th, laying +his final section, and how at noon on the appointed +day the last two rails were spiked to a tie of California +laurel. The immediate audience was small, including +few beyond the railway officials, but within hearing +of the telegraphic taps that told of the last blows +of the sledge-hammer was much of the United States. +President Dillon told the story as it was given in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_337" id="Page_337">337</a></span> +leading paragraph of the <i>Nation</i> of the Thursday +after. "So far as we have seen them," wrote Godkin's +censor of American morals, "the speeches, +prayers, and congratulatory telegrams ... all broke +down under the weight of the occasion, and it is a +relief to turn from them to the telegrams which passed +between the various operators, and to get their +flavor of business and the West. 'Keep quiet,' the +Omaha man says, when the operators all over the +Union begin to pester him with questions. 'When +the last spike is driven at Promontory Point, we +will say "Done."' By-and-by he sends the word, +'Hats off! Prayer is being offered.' Then at the +end of thirteen minutes he says, apparently with a +sense of having at last come to business: 'We have +got done praying. The spike is about to be presented.' ... +Before sunset the event was celebrated, not +very noisily but very heartily, throughout the +country. Chicago made a procession seven miles +long; New York hung out bunting, fired a hundred +guns, and held thanksgiving services in Trinity; +Philadelphia rang the old Liberty Bell; Buffalo +sang the 'Star-spangled Banner'; and many towns +burnt powder in honor of the consummation of a +work which, as all good Americans believe, gives us a +road to the Indies, a means of making the United +States a halfway house between the East and West, +and last, but not least, a new guarantee of the perpetuity +of the Union as it is."</p> + +<p>No single event in the struggle for the last frontier<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_338" id="Page_338">338</a></span> +had a greater significance for the immediate audience, +or for posterity, than this act of completion. Bret +Harte, poet of the occasion, asked the question that +all were <span class="locked">framing:—</span></p> + +<div class="poem-container"> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="iq">"What was it the Engines said,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Pilots touching, head to head<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Facing on the single track,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Half a world behind each back?"<br /></span> +</div></div> +</div> + +<p class="in0">But he was able to answer only a part of it. His +western engine retorted to the <span class="locked">eastern:—</span></p> + +<div class="poem-container"> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="iq">"'You brag of the East! <i>You</i> do?<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Why, <i>I</i> bring the East to <i>you</i>!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">All the Orient, all Cathay,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Find through me the shortest way;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And the sun you follow here<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Rises in my hemisphere.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Really,—if one must be rude,—<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Length, my friend, ain't longitude.'"<br /></span> +</div></div> +</div> + +<p>The oriental trade of Whitney and Benton yet +dazzled the eyes of the men who built the road, blinding +them to the prosaic millions lying beneath their +feet. The East and West were indeed united; but, +more important, the intervening frontier was ceasing +to divide. When the road was undertaken, men +thought naturally of the East and the Pacific Coast, +unhappily separated by the waste of the mountains +and the desert and the Indian Country. The mining +flurries of the early sixties raised a hope that this<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_339" id="Page_339">339</a></span> +intervening land might not all be waste. As the +railway had advanced, settlement had marched with +it, the two treading upon the heels of the Peace +Commissioners sent out to lure away the Indians. +With the opening of the road the new period of +national assimilation of the continent had begun. +In fifteen years more, as other roads followed, there +had ceased to be any unbridgeable gap between the +East and West, and the frontier had disappeared.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_340" id="Page_340">340</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="vspace"><a name="CHAPTER_XX" id="CHAPTER_XX">CHAPTER XX</a><br /> + +<span class="subhead">THE NEW INDIAN POLICY</span></h2> + +<p>Through the negotiations of the Peace Commissioners +of 1867 and 1868, and the opening of the +Pacific railway in 1869, the Indians of the plains +had been cleanly split into two main groups which +had their centres in the Sioux reserve in southwest +Dakota and the old Indian Territory. The advance +of a new wave of population had followed along the +road thus opened, pushing settlements into central +Nebraska and Kansas. Through the latter state the +Union Pacific, Eastern Division, better known as the +Kansas Pacific, had been thrust west to Denver, +where it arrived before 1870 was over. With this +advance of civilized life upon the plains it became +clear that the old Indian policy was gone for good, +and that the idea of a permanent country, where the +tribes, free from white contact, could continue their +nomadic existence, had broken down. The old Indian +policy had been based upon the permanence +of this condition, but with the white advance troops +for police had been added, while the loud bickerings +between the military authorities, thus superimposed, +and the Indian Office, which regarded itself as the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_341" id="Page_341">341</a></span> +rightful custodian of the problem, proved to be the +overture to a new policy. Said Grant, in his first +annual message in 1869: "No matter what ought to +be the relations between such [civilized] settlements +and the aborigines, the fact is they do not harmonize +well, and one or the other has to give way in the end. +A situation which looks to the extinction of a race is +too horrible for a nation to adopt without entailing +upon itself the wrath of all Christendom and engendering +in the citizen a disregard for human life +and the rights of others, dangerous to society. +I see no substitute for such a system, except in placing +all the Indians on large reservations, as rapidly +as it can be done, and giving them absolute protection +there."</p> + +<p>The vexed question of civilian or military control +had reached the bitterest stage of its discussion when +Grant became President. For five years there had +been general wars in which both departments seemed +to be badly involved and for which responsibility +was hard to place. There were many things to be +said in favor of either method of control. Beginning +with the establishment of the Bureau of Indian +Affairs in 1832, the office had been run by the War +Department for seventeen years. In this period +the idea of a permanent Indian Country had been +carried out; the frontier had been established in an +unbroken line of reserves from Texas to Green Bay; +and the migration across the plains had begun. +But with the creation of the Interior Department<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_342" id="Page_342">342</a></span> +in 1849 the Indian Bureau had been transferred +to civilian hands. As yet the Indian war was so +exceptional that it was easy to see the arguments +in favor of a peace policy. It was desired, and honestly +too, though the results make this conviction +hard to hold, to treat the Indian well, to keep the +peace, and to elevate the savages as rapidly as they +would permit it. However the government failed +in practice and in controlling the men of the frontier, +there is no doubt about the sincerity of its general +intent. Had there been no Oregon and no California, +no mines and no railways, and no mixture of slavery +and politics, the hope might not have failed of realization. +Even as it was, the civilian bureau had little +trouble with its charges for nearly fifteen years +after its organization. In general the military +power was called upon when disorder passed beyond +the control of the agent; short of that time the agent +remained in authority.</p> + +<p>As a means of introducing civilization among the +tribes the agents were more effective than army +officers could be. They were, indeed, underpaid, appointed +for political reasons, and often too weak to +resist the allurements of immorality or dishonesty; +but they were civilians. Their ideals were those of +industry and peace. Their terms of service were +often too short for them to learn the business, but +they were not subject to the rapid shifting and +transfer which made up a large part of army life. +Army officers were better picked and trained than<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_343" id="Page_343">343</a></span> +the agents, but their ambitions were military, and +they were frequently unable to understand why +breaches of formal discipline were not always matters +of importance.</p> + +<p>The strong arguments in favor of military control +were founded largely on the permanency of tenure in +the army. Political appointments were fewer, the +average of personal character and devotion was +higher. Army administration had fewer scandals +than had that of the Indian Bureau. The partisan +on either side in the sixties was prone to believe +that his favorite branch of the service was honest +and wise, while the other was inefficient, foolish, +and corrupt. He failed to see that in the earliest +phase of the policy, when there was no friction, +and consequently little fighting, the problem was +essentially civilian; that in the next period, when +constant friction was provoking wars, it had become +military; and that finally, when emigration and +transportation had changed friction into overwhelming +pressure, the wars would again cease. A large +share of the disputes were due to the misunderstandings +as to whether, in particular cases, the tribes +should be under the bureau or the army. On the +whole, even when the tribes were hostile, army +control tended to increase the cost of management +and the chance of injustice. There never was a time +when a few thousand Indian police, with the ideals +of police rather than those of soldiers, could not have +done better than the army did. But the student,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_344" id="Page_344">344</a></span> +attacking the problem from afar, is as unable to solve +it fully and justly as were its immediate custodians. +He can at most steer in between the badly biassed +"Century of Dishonor" of Mrs. Jackson, and the +outrageous cry of the radical army and the frontier, +that the Indian must go.</p> + +<p>The demand of the army for the control of the +Indians was never gratified. Around 1870 its friends +were insistent that since the army had to bear the +knocks of the Indian policy,—knocks, they claimed, +generally due to mistakes of the bureau,—it ought to +have the whole responsibility and the whole credit. +The inertia which attaches to federal reforms held +this one back, while the Indian problem itself +changed in the seventies so as to make it unnecessary. +Once the great wars of the sixties were done +the tribes subsided into general peace. Their vigorous +resistance was confined to the years when the +last great wave of the white advance was surging +over them. Then, confined to their reservations, +they resumed the march to civilization.</p> + +<p>From the commencement of his term, Grant was +willing to aid in at once reducing the abuses of the +Indian Bureau and maintaining a peace policy on the +plains. The Peace Commission of 1867 had done +good work, which would have been more effective +had coöperation between the army and the bureau +been possible. Congress now, in April, 1869, voted +two millions to be used in maintaining peace on the +plains, "among and with the several tribes ...<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_345" id="Page_345">345</a></span> +to promote civilization among said Indians, bring +them, where practicable, upon reservations, relieve +their necessities, and encourage their efforts at self-support." +The President was authorized at the same +time to erect a board of not more than ten men, +"eminent for their intelligence and philanthropy," +who should, with the Secretary of the Interior, +and without salary, exercise joint control over the +expenditures of this or any money voted for the use +of the Indian Department.</p> + +<p>The Board of Indian Commissioners was designed +to give greater wisdom to the administration of the +Indian policy and to minimize peculation in the +bureau. It represented, in substance, a triumph of +the peace party over the army. "The gentlemen +who wrote the reports of the Commissioners revelled +in riotous imaginations and discarded facts," sneered +a friend of military control; but there was, more or +less, a distinct improvement in the management of +the reservation tribes after 1869; although, as the +exposures of the Indian ring showed, corruption was +by no means stopped. One way in which the Commissioners +and Grant sought to elevate the tone of +agency control was through the religious, charitable, +and missionary societies. These organizations, +many of which had long maintained missionary +schools among the more civilized tribes, were invited +to nominate agents, teachers, and physicians +for appointment by the bureau. On the whole +these appointments were an improvement over the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_346" id="Page_346">346</a></span> +men whom political influence had heretofore brought +to power. Fifteen years later the Commissioner +and the board were again complaining of the character +of the agents; but there was an increasing standard +of criticism.</p> + +<p>In its annual reports made to the Secretary of the +Interior in 1869, and since, the board gave much +credit to the new peace policy. In 1869 it looked +forward with confidence "to success in the effort to +civilize the nomadic tribes." In 1871 it described +"the remarkable spectacle seen this fall, on the plains +of western Nebraska and Kansas and eastern Colorado, +of the warlike tribes of the Sioux of Dakota, +Montana, and Wyoming, hunting peacefully for buffalo +without occasioning any serious alarm among +the thousands of white settlers whose cabins skirt +the borders of both sides of these plains." In 1872, +"the advance of some of the tribes in civilization and +Christianity has been rapid, the temper and inclination +of all of them has greatly improved.... They +show a more positive intention to comply with their +own obligations, and to accept the advice of those +in authority over them, and are in many cases disproving +the assertion, that adult Indians cannot +be induced to work." In 1906, in its <i>38th Annual +Report</i>, there was still most marked improvement, +"and for the last thirty years the legislation of +Congress concerning Indians, their education, their +allotment and settlement on lands of their own, +their admission to citizenship, and the protection of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_347" id="Page_347">347</a></span> +their rights makes, upon the whole, a chapter of +political history of which Americans may justly be +proud."</p> + +<p>The board of Indian Commissioners believed that +most of the obvious improvement in the Indian condition +was due to the substitution of a peace policy for +a policy of something else. It made a mistake in +assuming that there had ever been a policy of war. +So far as the United States government had been concerned +the aim had always been peace and humanity, +and only when over-eager citizens had pushed into the +Indian Country to stir up trouble had a war policy +been administered. Even then it was distinctly +temporary. The events of the sixties had involved +such continuous friction and necessitated such severe +repression that contemporaries might be pardoned +for thinking that war was the policy rather than the +cure. But the resistance of the tribes would generally +have ceased by 1870, even without the new +peace policy. Every mile of western railway lessened +the Indians' capacity for resistance by increasing +the government's ability to repress it. The Union +Pacific, Northern Pacific, Atlantic and Pacific, +Texas Pacific, and Southern Pacific, to say nothing +of a multitude of private roads like the Chicago, +Burlington, and Quincy, the Denver and Rio +Grande, the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fé, and +the Missouri, Kansas, and Texas, were the real +forces which brought peace upon the plains. Yet +the board was right in that its influence in bringing<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_348" id="Page_348">348</a></span> +closer harmony between public opinion and the Indian +Bureau, and in improving the tone of the bureau, had +made the transformation of the savage into the citizen +farmer more rapid.</p> + +<p>Two years after the erection of the Board of Indian +Commissioners Congress took another long step +towards a better condition by ordering that no more +treaties with the Indian tribes should be made by +President and Senate. For more than two years before +1871 no treaty had been made and ratified, and +now the policy was definitely changed. For ninety +years the Indians had been treated as independent +nations. Three hundred and seventy treaties had +been concluded with various tribes, the United States +only once repudiating any of them. In 1863, after +the Sioux revolt, it abrogated all treaties with the +tribes in insurrection; but with this exception, it had +not applied to Indian relations the rule of international +law that war terminates all existing treaties. The +relation implied by the treaty had been anomalous. +The tribes were at once independent and dependent. +No foreign nation could treat with them; hence +they were not free. No state could treat with them, +and the Indian could not sue in United States courts; +hence they were not Americans. The Supreme +Court in the Cherokee cases had tried to define +their unique status, but without great success. It +was unfortunate for the Indians that the United +States took their tribal existence seriously. The +agreements had always a greater sanctity in appearance<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_349" id="Page_349">349</a></span> +than in fact. Indians honestly unable to +comprehend the meaning of the agreement, and +often denying that they were in any wise bound +by it, were held to fulfilment by the power +of the United States. The United States often +believed that treaty violation represented deliberate +hostility of the tribes, when it signified only the +unintelligence of the savage and his inclination to +follow the laws of his own existence. Attempts to enforce +treaties thus violated led constantly to wars +whose justification the Indian could not see.</p> + +<p>The act of March 3, 1871, prohibited the making +of any Indian treaty in the future. Hereafter when +agreements became necessary, they were to be made, +much as they had been in the past, but Congress +was the ratifying power and not the Senate. The +fiction of an independence which had held the Indians +to a standard which they could not understand was +here abandoned; and quite as much to the point, +perhaps, the predominance of the Senate in Indian +affairs was superseded by control by Congress as a +whole. In no other branch of internal administration +would the Senate have been permitted to make +binding agreements, but here the fiction had given +it a dominance ever since the organization of the +government.</p> + +<p>In the thirty-five years following the abandonment +of the Indian treaties the problems of management +changed with the ascending civilization of the national +wards. General Francis A. Walker, Indian Commissioner<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_350" id="Page_350">350</a></span> +in 1872, had seen the dawn of the "the day +of deliverance from the fear of Indian hostilities," +while his successors in office saw his prophecy fulfilled. +Five years later Carl Schurz, as Secretary of the +Interior, gave his voice and his aid to the improvement +of management and the drafting of a positive policy. +His application of the merit system to Indian +appointments, which was a startling innovation in +national politics, worked a great change after the +petty thievery which had flourished in the presidency +of General Grant. Grant had indeed desired to do +well, and conditions had appreciably bettered, +yet his guileless trust had enabled practical politicians +to continue their peculations in instances which +ranged from humble agents up to the Cabinet itself. +Schurz not only corrected much of this, but the +first report of his Commissioner, E. A. Hayt, outlined +the preliminaries to a well-founded civilization. Besides +the continuance of concentration and education +there were four policies which stood out in this report—economy +in the administration of rations, that the +Indians might not be pauperized; a special code +of law for the Indian reserves; a well-organized +Indian police to enforce the laws; and a division of +reserve lands into farms which should be assigned +to individual Indians in severalty. The administration +of Secretary Schurz gave substance to all these +policies.</p> + +<p>The progress of Indian education and civilization +began to be a real thing during Hayes's presidency.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_351" id="Page_351">351</a></span> +Most of the wars were over, permanency in residence +could be relied on to a considerable degree, the Indians +could better be counted, tabulated, and handled. In +1880, the last year of Schurz in the Interior Department, +the Indian Office reported an Indian population +of 256,127 for the United States, excluding +Alaska. Of these, 138,642 were described as wearing +citizen's dress, while 46,330 were able to read. +Among them had been erected both boarding and day +schools, 72 of the former and 321 of the latter. +"Reports from the reservations" were "full of encouragement, +showing an increased and more regular +attendance of pupils and a growing interest in education +on the part of parents." Interest in the +problem of Indian education had been aroused in +the East as well as among the tribes during the preceding +year or two, because of the experiment with +which the name of R. H. Pratt was closely connected. +The non-resident boarding school, where the children +could be taken away from the tribe and educated +among whites, had become a factor in Carlisle, +Hampton, and Forest Grove. Lieutenant Pratt +had opened the first of these with 147 students in +November, 1879. His design had been to give to +the boys and girls the rudiments of education and +training in farming and mechanic arts. His experience +had already, in 1880, shown this to be entirely +practicable. The boys, uniformed and drilled as +soldiers, under their own sergeants and corporals, +marched to the music of their own band. Both sexes<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_352" id="Page_352">352</a></span> +had exhibited at the Cumberland County Agricultural +Fair, where prizes were awarded to many +of them for quilts, shirts, pantaloons, bread, harness, +tinware, and penmanship. Many of the students +had increased their knowledge of white customs +by going out in the summers to work in the fields or +kitchens of farmers in the East. Here, too, they +had shown the capacity for education and development +which their bitterest frontier enemies had +denied. In 1906 there were twenty-five of these +schools with more than 9000 students in attendance.</p> + +<p>It was one thing, however, to take the brighter +Indian children away from home and teach them +the ways of white men, and quite another to persuade +the main tribe to support itself by regular +labor. The ration system was a pauperizing influence +that removed the incentive to work. Trained +mechanics, coming home from Carlisle, or Hampton, +or Haskell, found no work ready for them, no customers +for their trade, and no occupation but to sit around +with their relatives and wait for rations. Too much +can be made of the success of Indian education, but +the progress was real, if not rapid or great. The Montana +Crows, for instance, were, in 1904, encouraged +into agricultural rivalry by a county fair. Their +congenital love for gambling was converted into competition +over pumpkins and live stock. In 1906 +they had not been drawing rations for nearly two +years. While their settling down was but a single +incident in tribal education and not a general reform,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_353" id="Page_353">353</a></span> +it indicated at least a change in emphasis in Indian +conditions since the warlike sixties. The brilliant +green placard which announced their county fair for +1906 bears witness to <span class="locked">this:—</span></p> + +<div class="poem-container"><div class="poem"> +<p class="p1 center"> +"CROWS, WAKE UP!</p> + +<p class="p1 center smaller"> +"Your Big Fair Will Take Place Early in October.<br /> +"Begin Planting for it Now.<br /> +"Plant a Good Garden.<br /> +"Put in Wheat and Oats.<br /> +Get Your Horses, Cattle, Pigs, and Chickens in Shape to Bring to the Fair.<br /> +Cash Prizes and Badges will be awarded to Indians Making Best Exhibits.<br /> +"Get Busy. Tell Your Neighbor to Go Home and Get Busy, too.</p> + +<p class="p0 in0 sigright">"<i>Committee.</i>"</p> +</div></div> + +<p class="p1">A great practical obstruction in the road of economic +independence for the Indians was the absence of a +legal system governing their relations, and more +particularly securing to them individual ownership +of land. Treated as independent nations by the +United States, no attempt had been made to pass +civil or even criminal laws for them, while the tribal +organizations had been too primitive to do much +of this on their own account. Individual attempts +at progress were often checked by the fact that crime +went unpunished in the Indian Country. An Indian +police, embracing 815 officers and men, had existed in +1880, but the law respecting trespassers on Indian +lands was inadequate, and Congress was slow in +providing codes and courts for the reservations. +The Secretary of the Interior erected agency courts +on his own authority in 1883; Congress extended +certain laws over the tribes in 1885; and a little<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_354" id="Page_354">354</a></span> +later provided salaries for the officials of the agency +courts.</p> + +<p>An act passed in 1887 for the ownership of lands in +severalty by Indians marked a great step towards +solidifying Indian civilization. There had been no +greater obstacle to this civilization than communal +ownership of land. The tribal standard was one of +hunting, with agriculture as an incidental and rather +degrading feature. Few of the tribes had any recognition +of individual ownership. The educated Indian +and the savage alike were forced into economic +stagnation by the system. Education could accomplish +little in face of it. The changes of the seventies +brought a growing recognition of the evil and repeated +requests that Congress begin the breaking down of +the tribal system through the substitution of Indian +ownership.</p> + +<p>In isolated cases and by special treaty provisions +a few of the Indians had been permitted to acquire +lands and be blended in the body of American citizens. +But no general statute existed until the passage +of the Dawes bill in February, 1887. In this year +the Commissioner estimated that there were 243,299 +Indians in the United States, occupying a total of +213,117 square miles of land, nearly a section apiece. +By the Dawes bill the President was given authority +to divide the reserves among the Indians located on +them, distributing the lands on the basis of a quarter +section or 160 acres to each head of a family, an eighth +section to single adults and orphans, and a sixteenth<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_355" id="Page_355">355</a></span> +to each dependent child. It was provided also that +when the allotments had been made, tribal ownership +should cease, and the title to each farm should +rest in the individual Indian or his heirs. But to +forestall the improvident sale of this land the owner +was to be denied the power to mortgage or dispose +of it for at least twenty-five years. The United +States was to hold it in trust for him for this time.</p> + +<p>Besides allowing the Indian to own his farm and +thus take his step toward economic independence, the +Dawes bill admitted him to citizenship. Once the +lands had been allotted, the owners came within the +full jurisdiction of the states or territories where +they lived, and became amenable to and protected +by the law as citizens of the United States.</p> + +<p>The policy which had been recommended since +the time of Schurz became the accepted policy of the +United States in 1887. "I fail to comprehend the +full import of the allotment act if it was not the purpose +of the Congress which passed it and the Executive +whose signature made it a law ultimately to +dissolve all tribal relations and to place each adult +Indian on the broad platform of American citizenship," +wrote the Commissioner in 1887. For the +next twenty years the reports of the office were filled +with details of subdivision of reserves and the adjustment +of the legal problems arising from the process. +And in the twenty-first year the old Indian Country +ceased to exist as such, coming into the Union as the +state of Oklahoma.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_356" id="Page_356">356</a></span> +The progress of allotment under the Dawes bill +steadily broke down the reserves of the so-called +Indian Territory. Except the five civilized tribes, +Cherokees, Creeks, Choctaws, Chickasaws, and Seminoles, +the inhabitants who had been colonized there +since the Civil War wanted to take advantage of the +act. The civilized tribes preferred a different and +more independent system for themselves, and retained +their tribal identity until 1906. In the transition +it was found that granting citizenship to the +Indian in a way increased his danger by opening him +to the attack of the liquor dealer and depriving him +of some of the special protection of the Indian Office. +To meet this danger, as the period of tribal extinction +drew near, the Burke act of 1906 modified and continued +the provisions of the Dawes bill. The new +statute postponed citizenship until the expiration +of the twenty-five-year period of trust, while giving +complete jurisdiction over the allottee to the United +States in the interim. In special cases the Secretary +of the Interior was allowed to release from the period +of guardianship and trusteeship individual Indians +who were competent to manage their own affairs, but +for the generality the period of twenty-five years +was considered "not too long a time for most Indians +to serve their apprenticeship in civic responsibilities."</p> + +<p>Already the opening up to legal white settlement +had begun. In the Dawes bill it was provided that +after the lands had been allotted in severalty the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_357" id="Page_357">357</a></span> +undivided surplus might be bought by the United +States and turned into the public domain for entry +and settlement. Following this, large areas were +purchased in 1888 and 1889, to be settled in 1890. +The territory of Oklahoma, created in this year in +the western end of Indian Territory, and "No Man's +Land," north of Texas, marked the political beginning +of the end of Indian Territory. It took nearly +twenty years to complete it, through delays in the +process of allotment and sale; but in these two decades +the work was done thoroughly, the five civilized +tribes divided their own lands and abandoned tribal +government, and in November, 1908, the state of +Oklahoma was admitted by President Roosevelt.</p> + +<p>The Indian relations, which were most belligerent +in the sixties, had changed completely in the ensuing +forty years. In part the change was due to a greater +and more definite desire at Washington for peace, +but chiefly it was environmental, due to the progress +of settlement and transportation which overwhelmed +the tribes, destroying their capacity to resist and +embedding them firmly in the white population. +Oklahoma marked the total abandonment of Monroe's +policy of an Indian Country.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_358" id="Page_358">358</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="vspace"><a name="CHAPTER_XXI" id="CHAPTER_XXI">CHAPTER XXI</a><br /> + +<span class="subhead">THE LAST STAND OF CHIEF JOSEPH AND +SITTING BULL</span></h2> + +<p>The main defence of the last frontier by the Indians +ceased with the termination of the Indian wars of +the sixties. Here the resistance had most closely +resembled a general war with the tribes in close +alliance against the invader. With this obstacle overcome, +the work left to be done in the conquest of the +continent fell into two main classes: terminating +Indian resistance by the suppression of sporadic +outbreaks in remote byways and letting in the +population. The new course of the Indian problem +after 1869 led it speedily away from the part it had +played in frontier advance until it became merely +one of many social or race problems in the United +States. It lost its special place as the great illustration +of the difficulties of frontier life. But although +the new course tended toward chronic peace, there +were frequent relapses, here and there, which produced +a series of Indian flurries after 1869. Never +again do these episodes resemble, however remotely, +a general Indian war.</p> + +<p>Human nature did not change with the adoption +of the so-called peace policy. The government had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_359" id="Page_359">359</a></span> +constantly to be on guard against the dishonest agent, +while improved facilities in communication increased +the squatters' ability to intrude upon valuable lands. +The Sioux treaty of 1868, whereby the United States +abandoned the Powder River route and erected the +great reserve in Dakota, west of the Missouri River, +was scarcely dry before rumors of the discovery of +gold in the Black Hills turned the eyes of prospectors +thither.</p> + +<p>Early in 1870 citizens of Cheyenne and the territory +of Wyoming organized a mining and prospecting +company that professed an intention to explore the +Big Horn country in northern Wyoming, but was +believed by the Sioux to contemplate a visit to the +Black Hills within their reserve. The local Sioux +agent remonstrated against this, and General C. C. +Augur was sent to Cheyenne to confer with the leaders +of the expedition. He found Wyoming in a state of +irritation against the Sioux treaty, which left the +Indians in control of their Powder River country—the +best third of the territory. He sympathized with +the frontiersmen, but finally was forced by orders +from Washington to prevent the expedition from +starting into the field. Four years later this deferred +reconnoissance took place as an official expedition +under General Custer, with "great excitement among +the whole Sioux." The approach from the northeast +of the Northern Pacific, which had reached a +landing at Bismarck on the Missouri before the panic +of 1873, still further increased the apprehension of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_360" id="Page_360">360</a></span> +the tribes that they were to be dispossessed. The +Indian Commissioner, in the end of 1874, believed +that no harm would come of the expedition since no +great gold finds had been made, but the Montana +historian was nearer the truth when he wrote: +"The whole Sioux nation was successfully defied." +It was a clear violation of the tribal right, and necessarily +emboldened the frontiersmen to prospect on +their own account.</p> + +<div id="ip_360" class="figcenter" style="width: 541px;"> + <img src="images/i-387.jpg" width="541" height="353" alt="" /> + <div class="caption"><p><span class="smcap">Position of Reno on the Little Big Horn</span></p></div> + +<div class="captionc"><p>From a photograph made by Mr. W. R. Bowlin, of Chicago, and reproduced by his permission</p></div></div> + +<p>Still further to disquiet the Sioux, and to give +countenance to the disgruntled warrior bands that +resented the treaties already made, came the mismanagement +of the Red Cloud agency. Professor +O. C. Marsh, of Yale College, was stopped by Red +Cloud, while on a geological visit to the Black Hills, +in November, 1874, and was refused admission to the +Indian lands until he agreed to convey to Washington +samples of decayed flour and inferior rations which +the Indian agent was issuing to the Oglala Sioux. +With some time at his disposal, Professor Marsh proceeded +to study the new problem thus brought to his +notice, and accumulated a mass of evidence which +seemed to him to prove the existence of big plots to +defraud the government, and mismanagement extending +even to the Secretary of the Interior. He +published his charges in pamphlet form, and wrote +letters of protest to the President, in which he +maintained that the Indian officials were trying +harder to suppress his evidence than to correct the +grievances of the Sioux. He managed to stir up so<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_361" id="Page_361">361</a></span> +much interest in the East that the Board of Indian +Commissioners finally appointed a committee to investigate +the affairs of the Red Cloud agency. The +report of the committee in October, 1875, whitewashed +many of the individuals attacked by Professor +Marsh, and exonerated others of guilt at the expense +of their intelligence, but revealed abuses in the +Indian Office which might fully justify uneasiness +among the Sioux.</p> + +<p>To these tribes, already discontented because of +their compression and sullen because of mismanagement, +the entry of miners into the Black Hills country +was the last straw. Probably a thousand miners were +there prospecting in the summer of 1875, creating +disturbances and exaggerating in the Indian mind +the value of the reserve, so that an attempt by the +Indian Bureau to negotiate a cession in the autumn +came to nothing. The natural tendency of these +forces was to drive the younger braves off the +reserve, to seek comfort with the non-treaty bands +that roamed at will and were scornful of those that +lived in peace. Most important of the leaders +of these bands was Sitting Bull.</p> + +<p>In December the Indian Commissioner, despite +the Sioux privilege to pursue the chase, ordered all +the Sioux to return to their reserves before February +1, 1876, under penalty of being considered hostile. +As yet the mutterings had not broken out in war, +and the evidence does not show that conflict was +inevitable. The tribes could not have got back on<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_362" id="Page_362">362</a></span> +time had they wanted to; but their failure to return +led the Indian Office to turn the Sioux over to the +War Department. The army began by destroying +a friendly village on the 17th of March, a fact attested +not by an enemy of the army, but by General +H. H. Sibley, of Minnesota, who himself had fought +the Sioux with marked success in 1862.</p> + +<p>With war now actually begun, three columns were +sent into the field to arrest and restrain the hostile +Sioux. Of the three commanders, Cook, Gibbon, +and Custer, the last-named was the most romantic +of fighters. He was already well known for his +Cheyenne campaigns and his frontier book. Sherman +had described him in 1867 as "young, <i>very</i> +brave, even to rashness, a good trait for a cavalry +officer," and as "ready and willing now to fight the +Indians." La Barge, who had carried some of +Custer's regiment on his steamer <i>De Smet</i>, in +1873, saw him as "an officer ... clad in buckskin +trousers from the seams of which a large fringe was +fluttering, red-topped boots, broad sombrero, large +gauntlets, flowing hair, and mounted on a spirited +animal." His showy vanity and his admitted courage +had already got him into more than one difficulty; +now on June 25, 1876, his whole column +of five companies, excepting only his battle horse, +Comanche, and a half-breed scout, was destroyed in a +battle on the Little Big Horn. If Custer had +lived, he might perhaps have been cleared of the +charge of disobedience, as Fetterman might ten years<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_363" id="Page_363">363</a></span> +before, but, as it turned out, there were many to +lay his death to his own rashness. The war ended +before 1876 was over, though Sitting Bull with a +small band escaped to Canada, where he worried +the Dominion Government for several years. "I +know of no instance in history," wrote Bishop +Whipple of Minnesota, "where a great nation has so +shamelessly violated its solemn oath." The Sioux +were crushed, their Black Hills were ceded, and the +disappointed tribes settled down to another decade +of quiescence.</p> + +<p>In 1877 the interest which had made Sitting Bull +a hero in the Centennial year was transferred to +Chief Joseph, leader of the non-treaty Nez Percés, in +the valley of the Snake. This tribe had been a +friendly neighbor of the overland migrations since +the expedition of Lewis and Clark. Living in the +valleys of the Snake and its tributaries, it could +easily have hindered the course of travel along the +Oregon trail, but the disposition of its chiefs was +always good. In 1855 it had begun to treat with +the United States and had ceded considerable territory +at the conference held by Governor Stevens +with Chief Lawyer and Chief Joseph.</p> + +<p>The exigencies of the Civil War, failure of Congress +to fulfil treaty stipulations, and the discovery of +gold along the Snake served to change the character +of the Nez Percés. Lawyer's annuity of five hundred +dollars, as Principal Chief, was at best not royal, +and when its vouchers had to be cashed in greenbacks<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_364" id="Page_364">364</a></span> +at from forty-five to fifty cents on the dollar, +he complained of hardship. It was difficult to persuade +the savage that a depreciated greenback was +as good as money. Congress was slow with the annuities +promised in 1855. In 1861, only one Indian +in six could have a blanket, while the 4393 yards of +calico issued allowed under two yards to each Indian. +The Commissioner commented mildly upon this, to +the effect that "Giving a blanket to one Indian works +no satisfaction to the other five, who receive none." +The gold boom, with the resulting rise of Lewiston, in +the heart of the reserve, brought in so many lawless +miners that the treaty of 1855 was soon out of date.</p> + +<p>In 1863 a new treaty was held with Chief Lawyer +and fifty other headmen, by which certain valleys +were surrendered and the bounds of the Lapwai +reserve agreed upon. Most of the Nez Percés accepted +this, but Chief Joseph refused to sign and +gathered about him a band of unreconciled, non-treaty +braves who continued to hunt at will over the +Wallowa Valley, which Lawyer and his followers had +professed to cede. It was an interesting legal point +as to the right of a non-treaty chief to claim to own +lands ceded by the rest of his tribe. But Joseph, +though discontented, was not dangerous, and there +was little friction until settlers began to penetrate +into his hunting-grounds. In 1873, President Grant +created a Wallowa reserve for Joseph's Nez Percés, +since they claimed this chiefly as their home. But +when they showed no disposition to confine themselves<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_365" id="Page_365">365</a></span> +to its limits, he revoked the order in 1875. The +next year a commission, headed by the Secretary of +the Interior, Zachary Chandler, was sent to persuade +Joseph to settle down, but returned without success. +Joseph stood upon his right to continue to occupy +at pleasure the lands which had always belonged +to the Nez Percés, and which he and his followers +had never ceded. The commission recommended +the segregation of the medicine-men and dreamers, +especially Smohalla, who seemed to provide the +inspiration for Joseph, and the military occupation +of the Wallowa Valley in anticipation of an outbreak +by the tribe against the incoming white settlers. +These things were done in part, but in the spring of +1877, "it becoming evident to Agent Monteith that +all negotiations for the peaceful removal of Joseph +and his band, with other non-treaty Nez Percé +Indians, to the Lapwai Indian reservation in Idaho +must fail of a satisfactory adjustment," the Indian +Office gave it up, and turned the affair over to +General O. O. Howard and the War Department.</p> + +<p>The conferences held by Howard with the leaders, +in May, made it clear to them that their alternatives +were to emigrate to Lapwai or to fight. At first +Howard thought they would yield. Looking Glass +and White Bird picked out a site on the Clearwater +to which the tribe agreed to remove at once; but +just before the day fixed for the removal, the murder +of one of the Indians near Mt. Idaho led to revenge +directed against the whites and the massacre of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_366" id="Page_366">366</a></span> +several. War immediately followed, for the next +two months covering the borderland of Idaho and +Montana with confusion. A whole volume by +General Howard has been devoted to its details. +Chief Joseph himself discussed it in the <i>North +American Review</i> in 1879. Dunn has treated it critically +in his <i>Massacres of the Mountains</i>, and the +Montana Historical Society has published many +articles concerning it. Considerably less is known of +the more important wars which preceded it than of +this struggle of the Nez Percés. In August the fighting +turned to flight, Chief Joseph abandoning the +Salmon River country and crossing into the Yellowstone +Valley. In seventy-five days Howard chased +him 1321 miles, across the Yellowstone Park toward +the Big Horn country and the Sioux reserve. Along +the swift flight there were running battles from time +to time, while the fugitives replenished their stores +and stock from the country through which they +passed. Behind them Howard pressed; in their front +Colonel Nelson A. Miles was ordered to head them +off. Miles caught their trail in the end of September +after they had crossed the Missouri River and +had headed for the refuge in Canada which Sitting +Bull had found. On October 3, 1877, he surprised +the Nez Percé camp on Snake Creek, capturing six +hundred head of stock and inflicting upon Joseph's +band the heaviest blow of the war. Two days later +the stubborn chief surrendered to Colonel Miles.</p> + +<p>"What shall be done with them?" Commissioner<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_367" id="Page_367">367</a></span> +Hayt asked at the end of 1877. For once an +Indian band had conducted a war on white principles, +obeying the rules of war and refraining from mutilation +and torture. Joseph had by his sheer military +skill won the admiration and respect of his military +opponents. But the murders which had inaugurated +the war prevented a return of the tribe to Idaho. +To exile they were sent, and Joseph's uprising ended +as all such resistances must. The forcible invasion +of the territory by the whites was maintained; the +tribe was sent in punishment to malarial lands in +Indian Territory, where they rapidly dwindled in +number. There has been no adequate defence of the +policy of the United States from first to last.</p> + +<p>The Modoc of northern California, and the +Apache of Arizona and New Mexico fought against +the inevitable, as did the Sioux and the Nez Percés. +The former broke out in resistance in the winter of +1872–1873, after they had long been proscribed by +California opinion. In March of 1873 they made +their fate sure by the treacherous murder of General +E. R. S. Canby and other peace commissioners sent +to confer with them. In the war which resulted the +Modoc, under Modoc Jack and Scar-Faced Charley, +were pursued from cave to ravine among the lava +beds of the Modoc country until regular soldiers +finally corralled them all. Jack was hanged for +murder at Fort Klamath in October, but Charley +lived to settle down and reform with a portion of the +tribe in Indian Territory.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_368" id="Page_368">368</a></span> +The Apache had always been a thorn in the +flesh of the trifling population of Arizona and New +Mexico, and a nuisance to both army and Indian +Office. The Navaho, their neighbors, after a hard +decade with Carleton and the Bosque Redondo, had +quieted down during the seventies and advanced +towards economic independence. But the Apache +were long in learning the virtues of non-resistance. +Bell had found in Arizona a young girl whose adventures +as a fifteen-year-old child served to explain the +attitude of the whites. She had been carried off by +Indians who, when pressed by pursuers, had stripped +her naked, knocked her senseless with a tomahawk, +pierced her arms with three arrows and a leg with +one, and then rolled her down a ravine, there to abandon +her. The child had come to, and without food, +clothes, or water, had found her way home over +thirty miles of mountain paths. Such episodes necessarily +inspired the white population with fear and +hatred, while the continued residence of the sufferers +in the Indians' vicinity illustrates the persistence of +the pressure which was sure to overwhelm the tribes +in the end. Tucson had retaliated against such +excesses of the red men by equal excesses of the +whites. Without any immediate provocation, fourscore +Arivapa Apache, who had been concentrated +under military supervision at Camp Grant, were +massacred in cold blood.</p> + +<p>General George Crook alone was able to bring +order into the Arizona frontier. From 1871 to 1875<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_369" id="Page_369">369</a></span> +he was there in command,—"the beau-ideal Indian +fighter," Dunn calls him. For two years he engaged +in constant campaigns against the "incorrigibly +hostile," but before 1873 was over he had most +of his Apache pacified, checked off, and under police +supervision. He enrolled them and gave to each a +brass identification check, so that it might be easier +for his police to watch them. The tribes were passed +back to the Indian Office in 1874, and Crook was +transferred to another command in 1875. Immediately +the Indian Commissioner commenced to concentrate +the scattered tribes, but was hindered by +hostilities among the Indians themselves quite as +bitter as their hatred for the whites. First Victorio, +and then Geronimo was the centre of the resistance +to the concentration which placed hereditary enemies +side by side. They protested against the sites assigned +them, and successfully defied the Commissioner +to carry out his orders. Crook was brought +back to the department in 1882, and after another +long war gradually established peace.</p> + +<p>Sitting Bull, who had fled to Canada in 1876, +returned to Dakota in the early eighties in time to +witness the rapid settlement of the northern plains +and the growth of the territories towards statehood. +After his revolt the Black Hills had been taken away +from the tribe, as had been the vague hunting rights +over northern Wyoming. Now as statehood advanced +in the later eighties, and as population piled +up around the edges of the reserve, the time was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_370" id="Page_370">370</a></span> +ripe for the medicine-men to preach the coming +of a Messiah, and for Sitting Bull to increase his +personal following. Bad crops which in these years +produced populism in Kansas and Nebraska, had even +greater menace for the half-civilized Indians. Agents +and army officers became aware of the undercurrent +of danger some months before trouble broke out.</p> + +<p>The state of South Dakota was admitted in November, +1889. Just a year later the Bureau turned the +Sioux country over to the army, and General Nelson +A. Miles proceeded to restore peace, especially in +the vicinity of the Rosebud and Pine Ridge agencies. +The arrest of Sitting Bull, who claimed miraculous +powers for himself, and whose "ghost shirts" were +supposed to give invulnerability to his followers, +was attempted in December. The troops sent out +were resisted, however, and in the mêlée the prophet +was killed. The war which followed was much +noticed, but of little consequence. General Miles +had plenty of troops and Hotchkiss guns. Heliograph +stations conveyed news easily and safely. +But when orders were issued two weeks after the +death of Sitting Bull to disarm the camp at Wounded +Knee, the savages resisted. The troops within +reach, far outnumbered, blazed away with their +rapid-fire guns, regardless of age or sex, with such +effect that more than two hundred Indian bodies, +mostly women and children, were found dead upon +the field.</p> + +<p>With the death of Sitting Bull, turbulence among<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_371" id="Page_371">371</a></span> +the Indians, important enough to be called resistance, +came to an end. There had been many other isolated +cases of outbreak since the adoption of the +peace policy in 1869. There were petty riots and +individual murders long after 1890. But there were, +and could be, no more Indian wars. Many of the +tribes had been educated to half-civilization, while +lands in severalty had changed the point of view of +many tribesmen. The relative strength of the two +races was overwhelmingly in favor of the whites.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_372" id="Page_372">372</a></span></p> + +<div> +<h2 title="CHAPTER XXII LETTING IN THE POPULATION" class="vspace"><a name="CHAPTER_XXII" id="CHAPTER_XXII">CHAPTER XXII</a><br /> + +<span class="subhead">LETTING IN THE POPULATION<a name="FNanchor_3" id="FNanchor_3" href="#Footnote_3" class="fnanchor">3</a></span></h2> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a name="Footnote_3" id="Footnote_3" href="#FNanchor_3" class="fnanchor">3</a> This chapter follows, in part, F. L. Paxson, "The Pacific Railroads +and the Disappearance of the Frontier in America," in Ann. +Rep. of the Am. Hist. Assn., 1907, Vol. I, pp. 105–118.</p></div> + +<div class="poem-container"> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="iq">"Veil them, cover them, wall them round—<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Blossom, and creeper, and weed—<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Let us forget the sight and the sound,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">The smell and the touch of the breed!"<br /></span> +</div></div> +</div> +</div> + +<p class="p1">Thus Kipling wrote of "Letting in the Jungle," +upon the Indian village. The forces of nature were +turned loose upon it. The gentle deer nibbled at the +growing crops, the elephant trampled them down, and +the wild pig rooted them up. The mud walls of the +thatched huts dissolved in the torrents, and "by the +end of the Rains there was roaring Jungle in full blast +on the spot that had been under plough not six months +before." The white man worked the opposite of this +on what remained of the American desert in the last +fifteen years of the history of the old frontier. In a +decade and a half a greater change came over it than +the previous fifty years had seen, and before 1890, +it is fair to say that the frontier was no more.</p> + +<p>The American frontier, the irregular, imaginary +line separating the farm lands and the unused West, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_373" id="Page_373">373</a></span>had become nearly a circle before the compromise +of 1850. In the form of a wedge with receding flanks +it had come down the Ohio and up the Missouri in the +last generation. The flanks had widened out in the +thirties as Arkansas, and Missouri, and Iowa had +received their population. In the next ten years +Texas and the Pacific settlements had carried the +line further west until the circular shape of the +frontier was clearly apparent by the middle of the +century. And thus it stood, with changes only in +detail, for a generation more. In whatever sense +the word "frontier" is used, the fact is the same. If +it be taken as the dividing line, as the area enclosed, +or as the domain of the trapper and the rancher, the +frontier of 1880 was in most of its aspects the frontier +of 1850.</p> + +<p>The pressure on the frontier line had increased +steadily during these thirty years. Population +moved easily and rapidly after the Civil War. The +agricultural states abutting on the line had grown in +size and wealth, with a recognition of the barrier that +became clearer as more citizens settled along it. +East and south, it was close to the rainfall line which +divides easy farming country from the semi-arid +plains; west, it was a mountain range. In either +case the country enclosed was too refractory to yield +to the piecemeal process which had conquered the +wilderness along other frontiers, while its check to +expansion and hindrance to communication became +of increasing consequence as population grew.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_374" id="Page_374">374</a></span> +Yet the barrier held. By 1850 the agricultural +frontier was pressing against it. By 1860 the railway +frontier had reached it. The former could not +cross it because of the slight temptation to agriculture +offered by the lands beyond; the latter was +restrained by the prohibitive cost of building railways +through an entirely unsettled district. Private +initiative had done all it could in reclaiming the continent; +the one remaining task called for direct national +aid.</p> + +<p>The influences operating upon this frontier of the +Far West, though not making it less of a barrier, made +it better known than any of the earlier frontiers. In +the first place, the trails crossed it, with the result +that its geography became well known throughout +the country. No other frontier had been the site +of a thoroughfare for many years before its actual +settlement. Again, the mining discoveries of the +later fifties and sixties increased general knowledge +of the West, and scattered groups of inhabitants here +and there, without populating it in any sense. Finally +the Indian friction produced the series of Indian +wars which again called the wild West to the centre +of the stage for many years.</p> + +<p>All of these forces served to advertise the existence +of this frontier and its barrier character. They +had coöperated to enlarge the railway movement, +as it respected the Pacific roads, until the Union +Pacific was authorized to meet the new demand; +and while the Union Pacific was under construction,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_375" id="Page_375">375</a></span> +other roads to meet the same demands were chartered +and promoted. These roads bridged and then dispelled +the final barrier.</p> + +<p>Congress provided the legal equipment for the annihilation +of the entire frontier between 1862 and 1871. +The charter acts of the Northern Pacific, the Atlantic +and Pacific, the Texas Pacific, and the Southern +Pacific at once opened the way for some five new +continental lines and closed the period of direct federal +aid to railway construction. The Northern Pacific +received its charter on the same day that the +Union Pacific was given its double subsidy in 1864. +It was authorized to join the waters of Lake Superior +and Puget Sound, and was to receive a land grant of +twenty sections per mile in the states and forty in +the territories through which it should run. In the +summer of 1866 a third continental route was provided +for in the South along the line of the thirty-fifth +parallel survey. This, the Atlantic and Pacific, +was to build from Springfield, Missouri, by way of Albuquerque, +New Mexico, to the Pacific, and to connect, +near the eastern line of California, with the Southern +Pacific, of California. It likewise was promised +twenty sections of land in the states and forty in the +territories. The Texas Pacific was chartered March +3, 1871, as the last of the land grant railways. It +received the usual grant, which was applicable only +west of Texas; within that state, between Texarkana +and El Paso, it could receive no federal aid since in +Texas there were no public lands. Its charter called<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_376" id="Page_376">376</a></span> +for construction to San Diego, but the Southern +Pacific, building across Arizona and New Mexico, +headed it off at El Paso, and it got no farther.</p> + +<p>To these deliberate acts in aid of the Pacific railways, +Congress added others in the form of local +or state grants in the same years, so that by 1871 all +that the companies could ask for the future was +lenient interpretation of their contracts. For the +first time the federal government had taken an active +initiative in providing for the destruction of a +frontier. Its resolution, in 1871, to treat no longer +with the Indian tribes as independent nations is evidence +of a realization of the approaching frontier +change.</p> + +<p>The new Pacific railways began to build just as the +Union Pacific was completed and opened to traffic. +In the cases of all, the development was slow, since +the investing public had little confidence in the existence +of a business large enough to maintain four +systems, or in the fertility of the semi-arid desert. +The first period of construction of all these roads terminated +in 1873, when panic brought transportation +projects to an end, and forbade revival for a period of +five years.</p> + +<p>Jay Cooke, whose Philadelphia house had done +much to establish public credit during the war and +had created a market of small buyers for investment +securities on the strength of United States +bonds, popularized the Northern Pacific in 1869 +and 1870. Within two years he is said to have<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_377" id="Page_377">377</a></span> +raised thirty millions for the construction of the road, +making its building a financial possibility. And +although he may have distorted the isotherm several +degrees in order to picture his farm lands as semi-tropical +in their luxuriance, as General Hazen charged, +he established Duluth and Tacoma, gave St. Paul +her opportunity, and had run the main line of track +through Fargo, on the Red, to Bismarck, on the +Missouri, more than three hundred and fifty miles +from Lake Superior, before his failure in 1873 brought +expansion to an end.</p> + +<p>For the Northwest, the construction of the Northern +Pacific was of fundamental importance. The +railway frontier of 1869 left Minnesota, Dakota, and +much of Wisconsin beyond its reach. The potential +grain fields of the Red River region were virgin forest, +and on the main line of the new road, for two thousand +miles, hardly a trace of settled habitation existed. +The panic of 1873 caught the Union Pacific +at Bismarck, with nearly three hundred miles of unprofitable +track extending in advance of the railroad +frontier. The Atlantic and Pacific and Texas Pacific +were less seriously overbuilt, but not less effectively +checked. The former, starting from Springfield, had +constructed across southwestern Missouri to Vinita, +in Indian Territory, where it arrived in the fall of +1871. It had meanwhile acquired some of the old +Missouri state-aided roads, so as to get track into +St. Louis. The panic forced it to default, Vinita +remained its terminus for several years, and when it<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_378" id="Page_378">378</a></span> +emerged from the receiver's hands, it bore the new +name of St. Louis and San Francisco.</p> + +<p>The Texas Pacific represented a consolidation of +local lines which expected, through federal incorporation, +to reach the dignity of a continental railroad. +It began its construction towards El Paso from +Shreveport, Louisiana, and Texarkana, on the state +line, and reached the vicinity of Dallas and Fort +Worth before the panic. It planned to get into St. +Louis over the St. Louis, Iron Mountain, and +Southern, and into New Orleans over the New +Orleans Pacific. The borderland of Texas, Arkansas, +and Missouri became through these lines a +centre of railway development, while in the near-by +grazing country the meat-packing industries shortly +found their sources of supply.</p> + +<p>The panic which the failure of Jay Cooke precipitated +in 1873 could scarcely have been deferred for +many years. The waste of the Civil War period, and +the enthusiasm for economic development which +followed it, invited the retribution that usually +follows continued and widespread inflation. Already +the completion of a national railway system was +foreshadowed. Heretofore the western demand had +been for railways at any cost, but the Granger +activities following the panic gave warning of an +approaching period when this should be changed +into a demand for regulation of railroads. But +as yet the frontier remained substantially intact, +and until its railway system should be completed the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_379" id="Page_379">379</a></span> +Granger demand could not be translated into an +effective movement for federal control. It was not +until 1879 that the United States recovered from the +depression following the crisis. In that year resumption +marked the readjustment of national currency, +reconstruction was over, and the railways entered +upon the last five years of the culminating period in +the history of the frontier. When the five years were +over, five new continental routes were available +for transportation.</p> + +<p>The Texas and Pacific had hardly started its progress +across Texas when checked by the panic in the +vicinity of Fort Worth. When it revived, it pushed +its track towards Sierra Blanca and El Paso, aided by +a land grant from the state. Beyond Texas it never +built. Corporations of California, Arizona, and +New Mexico, all bearing the name of Southern Pacific, +constructed the line across the Colorado River +and along the Gila, through lands acquired by the +Gadsden Purchase of 1853. Trains were running over +its tracks to St. Louis by January, 1882, and to New +Orleans by the following October. In the course of +this Southern Pacific construction, connection had +been made with the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fé +at Deming, New Mexico, in March, 1881, but through +lack of harmony between the roads their junction +was of little consequence.</p> + +<div id="ip_379" class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> + <img class="nobdr" src="images/i-408.jpg" width="600" height="374" alt="" /> + <div class="caption"><p><span class="smcap">The Pacific Railroads, 1884</span></p></div> + +<div class="captionl"><p>This map shows only the main lines of the continental railroads in 1884, and omits the branch lines and local roads +which existed everywhere and were specially thick in the Mississippi and lower Missouri valleys.</p></div></div> + +<p>The owners of the Southern Pacific opened an +additional line through southern Texas in the beginning +of 1883. Around the Galveston, Harrisburg,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_381" id="Page_381">381</a></span> +and San Antonio, of Texas, they had grouped other +lines and begun double construction from San +Antonio west, and from El Paso, or more accurately +Sierra Blanca, east. Between El Paso and Sierra +Blanca, a distance of about ninety miles, this new +line and the Texas and Pacific used the same track. +In later years the line through San Antonio and +Houston became the main line of the Southern +Pacific.</p> + +<p>A third connection of the Southern Pacific across +Texas was operated before the end of 1883 over its +Mojave extension in California and the Atlantic and +Pacific from the Needles to Albuquerque. The old Atlantic +and Pacific had built to Vinita, gone into receivership, +and come out as St. Louis and San Francisco. +But its land grant had remained unused, while the +Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fé had reached Albuquerque +and had exhausted its own land grant, +received through the state of Kansas and ceasing +at the Colorado line. Entering Colorado, the latter +had passed by Las Animas and thrown a branch +along the old Santa Fé trail to Santa Fé and Albuquerque. +Here it came to an agreement with the St. +Louis and San Francisco, by which the two roads were +to build jointly under the Atlantic and Pacific franchise, +from Albuquerque into California. They +built rapidly; but the Southern Pacific, not relishing +a rival in its state, had made use of its charter privilege +to meet the new road on the eastern boundary +of California. Hence its Mojave branch was waiting<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_382" id="Page_382">382</a></span> +at the Needles when the Atlantic and Pacific arrived +there; and the latter built no farther. Upon the +completion of bridges over the Colorado and Rio +Grande this third eastern connection of the Southern +Pacific was completed so that Pullman cars were +running through into St. Louis on October 21, 1883.</p> + +<p>The names of Billings and Villard are most closely +connected with the renascence of the Northern +Pacific. The panic had stopped this line at the +Missouri River, although it had built a few miles +in Washington territory, around its new terminal +city of Tacoma. The illumination of crisis times +had served to discredit the route as effectively as Jay +Cooke had served to boom it with advertisements in +his palmy days. The existence of various land grant +railways in Washington and Oregon made the revival +difficult to finance since its various rivals could offer +competition by both water and rail along the Columbia +River, below Walla Walla. Under the presidency +of Frederick Billings construction revived about +1879, from Mandan, opposite Bismarck on the Missouri, +and from Wallula, at the junction of the +Columbia and Snake. From these points lines +were pushed over the Pend d'Oreille and Missouri +divisions towards the continental divide. Below +Wallula, the Columbia Valley traffic was shared by +agreement with the Oregon Railway and Navigation +Company, which, under the presidency of Henry +Villard, owned the steamship and railway lines of +Oregon. As the time for opening the through lines<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_383" id="Page_383">383</a></span> +approached, the question of Columbia River competition +increased in serious aspect. Villard solved +the problem through the agency of his famous +blind pool, which still stands remarkable in railway +finance. With the proceeds of the pool he +organized the Oregon and Transcontinental as a +holding company, and purchased a controlling interest +in the rival roads. With harmony of plan +thus insured, he assumed the presidency of the +Northern Pacific in 1881, in time to complete and +celebrate the opening of its main line in 1883. His +celebration was elaborate, yet the <i>Nation</i> remarked +that the "mere achievement of laying a continuous +rail across the continent has long since been taken +out of the realm of marvels, and the country can +never feel again the thrill which the joining of the +Central and Union Pacific lines gave it."</p> + +<p>The land grant railways completed these four +eastern connections across the frontier in the period +of culmination. Private capital added a fifth in the +new route through Denver and Ogden, controlled +by the Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy and the +Denver and Rio Grande. The Burlington, built +along the old Republican River trail to Denver, had +competed with the Union Pacific for the traffic of +that point since June, 1882. West of Denver the +narrow gauge of the Denver and Rio Grande had +been advancing since 1870.</p> + +<p>General William J. Palmer and a group of Philadelphia +capitalists had, in 1870, secured a Colorado<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_384" id="Page_384">384</a></span> +charter for their Denver and Rio Grande. Started +in 1871, it had reached the new settlement at +Colorado Springs that autumn, and had continued +south in later years. Like other roads it had progressed +slowly in the panic years. In 1876 it had +been met at Pueblo by the Atchison, Topeka, and +Santa Fé. From Pueblo it contested successfully +with this rival for the grand cañon of the Arkansas, +and built up that valley through the Gunnison +country and across the old Ute reserve, to Grand +Junction. From the Utah line it had been continued +to Ogden by an allied corporation. A +through service to Ogden, inaugurated in the summer +of 1883, brought competition to the Union Pacific +throughout its whole extent.</p> + +<p>The continental frontier, whose isolation the Union +Pacific had threatened in 1869, was easily accessible +by 1884. Along six different lines between New +Orleans and St. Paul it had been made possible to +cross the sometime American desert to the Pacific +states. No longer could any portion of the republic +be considered as beyond the reach of civilization. +Instead of a waste that forbade national unity in its +presence, a thousand plains stations beckoned for +colonists, and through lines of railway iron bound +the nation into an economic and political unit. "As +the railroads overtook the successive lines of isolated +frontier posts, and settlements spread out over +country no longer requiring military protection," +wrote General P. H. Sheridan in 1882, "the army<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_385" id="Page_385">385</a></span> +vacated its temporary shelters and marched on into +remote regions beyond, there to repeat and continue +its pioneer work. In rear of the advancing line +of troops the primitive 'dug-outs' and cabins of the +frontiersmen, were steadily replaced by the tasteful +houses, thrifty farms, neat villages, and busy +towns of a people who knew how best to employ the +vast resources of the great West. The civilization +from the Atlantic is now reaching out toward that +rapidly approaching it from the direction of the +Pacific, the long intervening strip of territory, extending +from the British possessions to Old Mexico, +yearly growing narrower; finally the dividing lines +will entirely disappear and the mingling settlements +absorb the remnants of the once powerful Indian +nations who, fifteen years ago, vainly attempted to +forbid the destined progress of the age." The +deluge of population realized by Sheridan, and let in +by the railways, had, by 1890, blotted the uninhabited +frontier off the map. Local spots yet remained unpeopled, +but the census of 1890 revealed no clear +division between the unsettled West and the rest of +the United States.</p> + +<p>New states in plains and mountains marked the +abolition of the last frontier as they had the earlier. +In less than ten years the gap between Minnesota +and Oregon was filled in: North Dakota and +South Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, and +Washington. In 1890, for the first time, a solid band +of states connected the Atlantic and Pacific. Farther<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_386" id="Page_386">386</a></span> +south, the Indian Country succumbed to the new +pressure. The Dawes bill released a fertile acreage +to be distributed to the land hungry who had banked +up around the borders of Kansas, Arkansas, and +Texas. Oklahoma, as a territory, appeared in 1890, +while in eighteen more years, swallowing up the +whole Indian Country, it had taken its place as a +member of the Union. Between the northern tier +of states and Oklahoma, the middle West had grown +as well. Kansas, Nebraska, and Colorado, the +last creating eleven new counties in its eastern +third in 1889, had seen their population densify under +the stimulus of easy transportation. Much of the +settlement had been premature, inviting failure, +as populism later showed, but it left no area in the +United States unreclaimed, inaccessible, and large +enough to be regarded as a national frontier. The +last frontier, the same that Long had described as +the American Desert in 1820, had been won.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_387" id="Page_387">387</a></span></p> + +<div id="sources"> +<h2 class="vspace"><a name="CHAPTER_XXIII" id="CHAPTER_XXIII">NOTE ON THE SOURCES</a></h2> + +<p>The fundamental ideas upon which all recent careful work in +western history has been based were first stated by Frederick J. +Turner, in his paper on <i>The Significance of the Frontier in American +History</i>, in the <i>Annual Report of the Am. Hist. Assn.</i>, 1893. +No comprehensive history of the trans-Mississippi West has yet +appeared; Randall Parrish, <i>The Great Plains</i> (2d ed., Chicago, +1907), is at best only a brief and superficial sketch; the histories +of the several far western states by Hubert Howe Bancroft remain +the most useful collection of secondary materials upon the +subject. R. G. Thwaites, <i>Rocky Mountain Exploration</i> (N.Y., +1904); O. P. Austin, <i>Steps in the Expansion of our Territory</i> +(N.Y., 1903); H. Gannett, <i>Boundaries of the United States and +of the Several States and Territories</i> (<i>Bulletin of the U.S. Geological +Survey</i>, No. 226, 1904); and <i>Organic Acts for the Territories of the +United States with Notes thereon</i> (56th Cong., 1st sess., Sen. Doc. +148), are also of use.</p> + +<p>The local history of the West must yet be collected from many +varieties of sources. The state historical societies have been +active for many years, their more important collections comprising: +<i>Publications of the Arkansas Hist. Assn.</i>, <i>Annals of Iowa</i>, +<i>Iowa Hist. Record</i>, <i>Iowa Journal of Hist. and Politics</i>, <i>Collections +of the Minnesota Hist. Soc.</i>, <i>Trans. of the Kansas State Hist. +Soc.</i>, <i>Trans. and Rep. of the Nebraska Hist. Soc.</i>, <i>Proceedings of +the Missouri Hist. Soc.</i>, <i>Contrib. to the Hist. Soc. of Montana</i>, +<i>Quart. of the Oregon Hist. Soc.</i>, <i>Quart. of the Texas State Hist. +Assn.</i>, <i>Collections of the Wisconsin State Hist. Soc.</i> The scattered +but valuable fragments to be found in these files are to be supplemented +by the narratives contained in the histories of the +single states or sections, the more important of these being:<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_388" id="Page_388">388</a></span> +T. H. Hittell, <i>California</i>; F. Hall, <i>Colorado</i>; J. C. Smiley, <i>Denver</i> +(an unusually accurate and full piece of local history); W. Upham, +<i>Minnesota in Three Centuries</i>; G. P. Garrison, <i>Texas</i>; E. H. Meany, +<i>Washington</i>; J. Schafer, <i>Hist. of the Pacific Northwest</i>; R. G. +Thwaites, <i>Wisconsin</i>, and the <i>Works</i> of H. H. Bancroft.</p> + +<p>The comprehensive collection of geographic data for the West +is the <i>Reports of Explorations and Surveys for a Railroad from the +Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean</i>, made by the War Department +and published by Congress in twelve huge volumes, 1855–. +The most important official predecessors of this survey left the +following reports: E. James, <i>Account of an Expedition from +Pittsburg to the Rocky Mountains, performed in the Years 1819, +1820, ... under the Command of Maj. S. H. Long</i> (Phila., +1823); J. C. Frémont, <i>Report of the Exploring Expeditions to the +Rocky Mountains in the Year 1842, and to Oregon and North +California in the Years 1843–'44</i> (28th Cong., 2d sess., Sen. Doc. +174); W. H. Emory, <i>Notes of a Military Reconnoissance from Ft. +Leavenworth ... to San Diego ...</i> (30th Cong., 1st sess., Ex. +Doc. 41); H. Stansbury, <i>Exploration and Survey of the Valley of +the Great Salt Lake of Utah ...</i> (32d Cong., 1st sess., Sen. Ex. +Doc. 3). From the great number of personal narratives of +western trips, those of James O. Pattie, John B. Wyeth, John K. +Townsend, and Joel Palmer may be selected as typical and +useful. All of these, as well as the James narrative of the Long +expedition, are reprinted in the monumental R. G. Thwaites, +<i>Early Western Travels</i>, which does not, however, give any aid for +the period after 1850. Later travels of importance are J. I. +Thornton, <i>Oregon and California in 1848 ...</i> (N.Y., 1849); +Horace Greeley, <i>An Overland Journey from New York to San +Francisco in the Summer of 1859</i> (N.Y., 1860); R. F. Burton, +<i>The City of the Saints, and across the Rocky Mountains to California</i> +(N.Y., 1862); R. B. Marcy, <i>The Prairie Traveller, a Handbook +for Overland Expeditions</i> (edited by R. F. Burton, London, +1863); F. C. Young, <i>Across the Plains in '65</i> (Denver, 1905); +Samuel Bowles, <i>Across the Continent</i> (Springfield, 1861); Samuel<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_389" id="Page_389">389</a></span> +Bowles, <i>Our New West, Records of Travels between the Mississippi +River and the Pacific Ocean</i> (Hartford, 1869); W. A. Bell, <i>New +Tracks in North America</i> (2d ed., London, 1870); J. H. Beadle, +<i>The Undeveloped West, or Five Years in the Territories</i> (Phila., +1873).</p> + +<p>The classic account of traffic on the plains is Josiah Gregg, +<i>Commerce of the Prairies, or the Journal of a Santa Fé Trader</i> +(many editions, and reprinted in Thwaites); H. M. Chittenden, +<i>History of Steamboat Navigation on the Missouri River</i> (N.Y., +1903), and <i>The American Fur Trade of the Far West</i> (N.Y., +1902), are the best modern accounts. A brilliant sketch is C. F. +Lummis, <i>Pioneer Transportation in America, Its Curiosities and +Romance</i> (<i>McClure's Magazine</i>, 1905). Other works of use are +Henry Inman, <i>The Old Santa Fé Trail</i> (N.Y., 1898); Henry +Inman and William F. Cody, <i>The Great Salt Lake Trail</i> (N.Y., +1898); F. A. Root and W. E. Connelley, <i>The Overland Stage to +California</i> (Topeka, 1901); F. G. Young, <i>The Oregon Trail</i>, in +<i>Oregon Hist. Soc. Quarterly</i>, Vol. I; F. Parkman, <i>The Oregon +Trail</i>.</p> + +<p>Railway transportation in the Far West yet awaits its historian. +Some useful antiquarian data are to be found in C. F. Carter, +<i>When Railroads were New</i> (N.Y., 1909), and there are a few +histories of single roads, the most valuable being J. P. Davis, +<i>The Union Pacific Railway</i> (Chicago, 1894), and E. V. Smalley, +<i>History of the Northern Pacific Railroad</i> (N.Y., 1883). L. H. +Haney, <i>A Congressional History of Railways in the United States +to 1850</i>; J. B. Sanborn, <i>Congressional Grants of Lands in Aid of +Railways</i>, and B. H. Meyer, <i>The Northern Securities Case</i>, all in +the <i>Bulletins</i> of the University of Wisconsin, contain much information +and useful bibliographies. The local historical societies +have published many brief articles on single lines. There +is a bibliography of the continental railways in F. L. Paxson, +<i>The Pacific Railroads and the Disappearance of the Frontier in +America</i>, in <i>Ann. Rep. of the Am. Hist. Assn.</i>, 1907. Their social +and political aspects may be traced in J. B. Crawford, <i>The<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_390" id="Page_390">390</a></span> +Crédit Mobilier of America</i> (Boston, 1880) and E. W. Martin, +<i>History of the Granger Movement</i> (1874). The sources, which +are as yet uncollected, are largely in the government documents +and the files of the economic and railroad periodicals.</p> + +<p>For half a century, during which the Indian problem reached +and passed its most difficult places, the United States was negligent +in publishing compilations of Indian laws and treaties. +In 1837 the Commissioner of Indian Affairs published in Washington, +<i>Treaties between the United States of America and the Several +Indian Tribes, from 1778 to 1837: with a copious Table of Contents</i>. +After this date, documents and correspondence were to +be found only in the intricate sessional papers and the <i>Annual +Reports of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs</i>, which accompanied +the reports of the Secretary of War, 1832–1849, and those +of the Secretary of the Interior after 1849. In 1902 Congress +published C. J. Kappler, <i>Indian Affairs, Laws, and Treaties</i> +(57th Cong., 1st sess., Sen. Doc. 452). Few historians have made +serious use of these compilations or reports. Two other government +documents of great value in the history of Indian negotiations +are, Thomas Donaldson, <i>The Public Domain</i> (47th Cong., 2d +sess., H. Misc. Doc. 45, Pt. 4), and C. C. Royce, <i>Indian Land +Cessions in the United States</i> (with many charts, in 18th <i>Ann. +Rep. of the Bureau of Am. Ethnology</i>, Pt. 2, 1896–1897). Most +special works on the Indians are partisan, spectacular, or ill +informed; occasionally they have all these qualities. A few of +the most accessible are: A. H. Abel, <i>History of the Events +resulting in Indian Consolidation West of the Mississippi</i> (in <i>Ann. +Rep. of the Am. Hist. Assn.</i>, 1906, an elaborate and scholarly +work); J. P. Dunn, <i>Massacres of the Mountains, a History of the +Indian Wars of the Far West</i> (N.Y., 1886; a relatively critical +work, with some bibliography); R. I. Dodge, <i>Our Wild Indians ...</i> +(Hartford, 1883); G. E. Edwards, <i>The Red Man and the White +Man in North America from its Discovery to the Present Time</i> +(Boston, 1882; a series of Lowell Institute lectures, by no means +so valuable as the pretentious title would indicate); I. V. D.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_391" id="Page_391">391</a></span> +Heard, <i>History of the Sioux War and Massacres of 1862 and 1863</i> +(N.Y., 1863; a contemporary and useful narrative); O. O. Howard, +<i>Nez Perce Joseph, an Account of his Ancestors, his Lands, his +Confederates, his Enemies, his Murders, his War, his Pursuit and +Capture</i> (Boston, 1881; this is General Howard's personal vindication); +Mrs. Helen Hunt Jackson, <i>A Century of Dishonor, a +Sketch of the United States Government's Dealings with Some of +the Indian Tribes</i> (N.Y., 1881; highly colored and partisan); +G. W. Manypenny, <i>Our Indian Wards</i> (Cincinnati, 1880; by a +former Indian Commissioner); L. E. Textor, <i>Official Relations +between the United States and the Sioux Indians</i> (Palo Alto, 1896; +one of the few scholarly and dispassionate works on the Indians); +F. A. Walker, <i>The Indian Question</i> (Boston, 1874; three essays by +a former Indian Commissioner); C. T. Brady, <i>Indian Fights and +Fighters</i> and <i>Northwestern Fights and Fighters</i> (N.Y., 1907; two +volumes in his series of <i>American Fights and Fighters</i>, prepared +for consumers of popular sensational literature, but containing +much valuable detail, and some critical judgments).</p> + +<p>Nearly every incident in the history of Indian relations has +been made the subject of investigations by the War and Interior +departments. The resulting collections of papers are to be found +in the congressional documents, through the indexes. They are +too numerous to be listed here. The searcher should look for reports +from the Secretary of War, the Secretary of the Interior, +or the Postmaster-general, for court-martial proceedings, and +for reports of special committees of Congress. Dunn gives some +classified lists in his <i>Massacres of the Mountains</i>.</p> + +<p>There is a rapidly increasing mass of individual biography and +reminiscence for the West during this period. Some works of +this class which have been found useful here are: W. M. Meigs, +<i>Thomas Hart Benton</i> (Phila., 1904); C. W. Upham, <i>Life, Explorations, +and Public Services of John Charles Frémont</i> (40th thousand, +Boston, 1856); S. B. Harding, <i>Life of George B. Smith, Founder of +Sedalia, Missouri</i> (Sedalia, 1907); P. H. Burnett, <i>Recollections and +Opinions of an Old Pioneer</i> (N.Y., 1880; by one who had followed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_392" id="Page_392">392</a></span> +the Oregon trail and had later become governor of California); +A. Johnson, <i>S. A. Douglas</i> (N.Y., 1908; one of the most significant +biographies of recent years); H. Stevens, <i>Life of Isaac +Ingalls Stevens</i> (Boston, 1900); R. S. Thorndike, <i>The Sherman +Letters</i> (N.Y., 1894; full of references to frontier conditions in the +sixties); P. H. Sheridan, <i>Personal Memoirs</i> (London, 1888; with +a good map of the Indian war of 1867–1868, which the later +edition has dropped); E. P. Oberholtzer, <i>Jay Cooke, Financier +of the Civil War</i> (Phila., 1907; with details of Northern Pacific +railway finance); H. Villard, <i>Memoirs</i> (Boston, 1904; the life of +an active railway financier); Alexander Majors, <i>Seventy Years on +the Frontier</i> (N.Y., 1893; the reminiscences of one who had belonged +to the great firm of Russell, Majors, and Waddell); G. R. +Brown, <i>Reminiscences of William M. Stewart of Nevada</i> (1908).</p> + +<p>Miscellaneous works indicating various types of materials +which have been drawn upon are: O. J. Hollister, <i>The Mines of +Colorado</i> (Springfield, 1867; a miners' handbook); S. Mowry, +<i>Arizona and Sonora</i> (3d ed., 1864; written in the spirit of a mining +prospectus); T. B. H. Stenhouse, <i>The Rocky Mountain Saints</i> +(London, 1874; a credible account from a Mormon missionary +who had recanted without bitterness); W. A. Linn, <i>The Story +of the Mormons</i> (N.Y., 1902; the only critical history of the +Mormons, but having a strong Gentile bias); T. J. Dimsdale, <i>The +Vigilantes of Montana, or Popular Justice in the Rocky Mountains</i> +(2d ed., Virginia City, 1882; a good description of the +social order of the mining camp).</p> +</div> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_393" id="Page_393">393</a></span></p> + +<div class="newpage p4 index"> +<h2 class="nobreak"><a name="INDEX" id="INDEX">INDEX</a></h2> + +<ul> +<li>Acton, Minnesota, Sioux massacre at, <a href="#Page_235">235</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Alder Gulch mines, Idaho, <a href="#Page_168">168</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Anthony, Major Scott J., <a href="#Page_259">259</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Apache Indians, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>, <a href="#Page_268">268</a>, <a href="#Page_292">292</a>, <a href="#Page_312">312</a>;<br /> + <ul> + <li>treaty of 1853 with, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>;</li> + <li>troubles with, in Arizona, <a href="#Page_162">162–163</a>;</li> + <li>last struggles of, against whites, <a href="#Page_368">368–369</a>.</li> + </ul></li> +<li>Arapaho Indians, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>, <a href="#Page_248">248</a>, <a href="#Page_252">252</a>, <a href="#Page_256">256</a> ff., <a href="#Page_263">263</a>, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>, <a href="#Page_292">292</a>;<br /> + <ul> + <li>Medicine Lodge treaty with, <a href="#Page_292">292–293</a>;</li> + <li>issue of arms to, <a href="#Page_312">312–313</a>;</li> + <li>join in war of 1868, <a href="#Page_313">313–318</a>;</li> + <li>Custer's defeat of, <a href="#Page_317">317–318</a>.</li> + </ul></li> +<li>Arapahoe, county of, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Arickara Indians, treaties of 1851 with, <a href="#Page_123">123–124</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Arizona, beginnings of, <a href="#Page_158">158</a> ff.;<br /> + <ul> + <li>erection of territory of, <a href="#Page_162">162</a>.</li> + </ul></li> +<li>Arkansas, boundaries of, <a href="#Page_28">28–29</a>;<br /> + <ul> + <li>admission as a state, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>.</li> + </ul></li> +<li>Army, question of control of Indian affairs by, <a href="#Page_324">324–344</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Assiniboin Indians, treaties of 1851 with, <a href="#Page_123">123–124</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Atchison, Senator, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fé Railway, <a href="#Page_347">347</a>, <a href="#Page_384">384</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Atlantic and Pacific Railway, <a href="#Page_375">375</a>, <a href="#Page_376">376</a>, <a href="#Page_377">377</a>;<br /> + <ul> + <li>becomes the St. Louis and San Francisco, <a href="#Page_378">378</a>.</li> + </ul></li> +<li>Augur, General C. C., <a href="#Page_292">292</a>, <a href="#Page_295">295</a>, <a href="#Page_359">359</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Auraria settlement, Colorado, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>.<br /></li> + +<li class="p1">Bannack City, mining centre, <a href="#Page_168">168</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Bannock Indians, <a href="#Page_295">295</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Beadle, John H., on western railways and their builders, <a href="#Page_332">332–333</a>, <a href="#Page_335">335</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Bear Flag Republic, the, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Becknell, William, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Beckwith, Lieut. E. G., Pacific railway survey by, <a href="#Page_203">203–206</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Bell, English traveller, on railway building in the West, <a href="#Page_329">329–331</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Benton, Thomas Hart, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>;<br /> + <ul> + <li>interest of, in railways, <a href="#Page_193">193–194</a>.</li> + </ul></li> +<li>Bent's Fort, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Billings, Frederick, <a href="#Page_382">382</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Blackfoot Indians, <a href="#Page_264">264</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Black Hawk, Colorado, village of, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Black Hawk, Indian chief, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Black Hawk War, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_25">25–26</a>, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Black Hills, discovery of gold in, <a href="#Page_359">359</a>;<br /> + <ul> + <li>troubles with Indians resulting from discovery, <a href="#Page_361">361</a> ff.</li> + </ul></li> +<li>Black Kettle, Indian chief, <a href="#Page_255">255–261</a>;<br /> + <ul> + <li>leads war party in 1868, <a href="#Page_313">313</a>;</li> + <li>death of, <a href="#Page_317">317</a>.</li> + </ul></li> +<li>Blind pool, Villard's, <a href="#Page_383">383</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Boisé mines, <a href="#Page_165">165</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Boulder, Colorado, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Bowles, Samuel, on railway terminal towns, <a href="#Page_332">332</a>, <a href="#Page_333">333</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Box family outrage, <a href="#Page_307">307</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Bridge across the Mississippi, the first, <a href="#Page_210">210</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Bridger, "Jim," <a href="#Page_274">274</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Brown, John, murder of Kansans by, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Brulé Sioux Indians, <a href="#Page_264">264</a>, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Bull Bear, Indian chief, <a href="#Page_309">309</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Bureau of Indian Affairs, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>, <a href="#Page_341">341</a> ff.<br /></li> +<li>Burlington, capital of Iowa territory, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>;<br /> + <ul> + <li>description of, in 1840, <a href="#Page_47">47–48</a>.</li> + </ul></li> +<li>Burnett, governor of California, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Bushwhacking in Kansas during Civil War, <a href="#Page_231">231</a>.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_394" id="Page_394">394</a></span><br /></li> +<li>Butterfield, John, mail and express route of, <a href="#Page_177">177</a> ff.<br /></li> +<li>Byers, Denver editor, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>;<br /> + <ul> + <li>quoted, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>.</li> + </ul></li> + +<li class="p1">Caddo Indians, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>.<br /></li> +<li>California, early American designs on, <a href="#Page_104">104–105</a>;<br /> + <ul> + <li>becomes American possession, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>;</li> + <li>discovery of gold in, and results, <a href="#Page_108">108–113</a>;</li> + <li>population in 1850, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>;</li> + <li>local railways constructed in, <a href="#Page_219">219</a>;</li> + <li>Central Pacific Railway in, <a href="#Page_220">220</a>, <a href="#Page_222">222</a>.</li> + </ul></li> +<li>Camels, experiment with, in Texas, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Camp Grant massacre, <a href="#Page_162">162</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Canals, land grants in aid of, <a href="#Page_215">215</a>, <a href="#Page_217">217</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Canby, E. R. S., <a href="#Page_228">228</a>, <a href="#Page_233">233</a>;<br /> + <ul> + <li>murder of, <a href="#Page_367">367</a>.</li> + </ul></li> +<li>Carleton, Colonel J. H., <a href="#Page_160">160</a>, <a href="#Page_233">233</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Carlyle, George H., <a href="#Page_250">250–251</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Carrington, Colonel Henry B., <a href="#Page_274">274–275</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Carson, Kit, <a href="#Page_285">285</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Carson City, <a href="#Page_157">157–158</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Carson County, <a href="#Page_157">157</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Cass, Lewis, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Census of Indians, in 1880, <a href="#Page_351">351</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Central City, Colorado, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Central Overland, California, and Pike's Peak Express, <a href="#Page_186">186</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Central Pacific of California Railway, <a href="#Page_220">220</a>, <a href="#Page_222">222</a>;<br /> + <ul> + <li>description of construction of, <a href="#Page_325">325–335</a>.</li> + </ul></li> +<li>Cherokee Indians, <a href="#Page_28">28–29</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Cherokee Neutral Strip, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Cheyenne, founding of, <a href="#Page_301">301</a>;<br /> + <ul> + <li>consequence of, as a railway junction, <a href="#Page_334">334</a>.</li> + </ul></li> +<li>Cheyenne Indians, massacre of, at Sand Creek, <a href="#Page_260">260–261</a>;<br /> + <ul> + <li>assigned lands in Indian Territory, <a href="#Page_263">263</a>;</li> + <li>Medicine Lodge treaty with, <a href="#Page_292">292–293</a>;</li> + <li>issue of arms to, <a href="#Page_312">312–313</a>;</li> + <li>begin war against whites in 1868, <a href="#Page_313">313</a>;</li> + <li>Custer's defeat of, <a href="#Page_317">317–318</a>.</li> + </ul></li> +<li>Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy Railway, <a href="#Page_383">383</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Chickasaw Indians, <a href="#Page_28">28–29</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Chief Joseph, leader of Nez Percé Indians, <a href="#Page_363">363–365</a>;<br /> + <ul> + <li>military skill shown by, in retreat of Nez Percés, <a href="#Page_366">366–367</a>.</li> + </ul></li> +<li>Chief Lawyer, <a href="#Page_363">363–364</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Chinese labor for railway building, <a href="#Page_326">326–327</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Chippewa Indians, <a href="#Page_26">26–27</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Chittenden, Hiram Martin, <a href="#Page_70">70–71</a>, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Chivington, J. M., <a href="#Page_229">229–230</a>, <a href="#Page_257">257</a>;<br /> + <ul> + <li>massacre of Indians at Sand Creek by, <a href="#Page_260">260–261</a>.</li> + </ul></li> +<li>Civil War, the West during the, <a href="#Page_225">225</a> ff.<br /></li> +<li>Claims associations, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Clark, Governor, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Clemens, S. L., quoted, <a href="#Page_186">186–187</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Cody, William F., <a href="#Page_184">184</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Colley, Major, Indian agent, <a href="#Page_255">255</a>, <a href="#Page_258">258</a>, <a href="#Page_262">262</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Colorado, first settlements in, <a href="#Page_142">142–145</a>;<br /> + <ul> + <li>movement for separate government for, <a href="#Page_146">146</a> ff.;</li> + <li>Senate bill for erection of territory of, <a href="#Page_151">151</a>, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>;</li> + <li>boundaries of, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>;</li> + <li>admission of, and first governor, <a href="#Page_154">154–155</a>;</li> + <li>during the Civil War, <a href="#Page_228">228–230</a>.</li> + </ul></li> +<li>Colorado-Idaho plan, <a href="#Page_151">151</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Comanche Indians, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>, <a href="#Page_252">252</a>, <a href="#Page_253">253</a>, <a href="#Page_263">263</a>, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>, <a href="#Page_268">268</a>, <a href="#Page_292">292</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Comstock lode, the, <a href="#Page_157">157</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Conestoga wagons, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Connor, General Patrick E., <a href="#Page_274">274</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Cooke, Jay, railway promotion and later failure of, <a href="#Page_376">376–377</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Cooper, Colonel, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Council Bluffs, importance of, as a railway terminus, <a href="#Page_334">334</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Council Grove, rendezvous of Santa Fé traders, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>, <a href="#Page_63">63–64</a>.<br /></li> +<li><i xml:lang="fr" lang="fr">Crédit Mobilier</i>, the, <a href="#Page_335">335</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Creek Indians, <a href="#Page_28">28–29</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Crocker, Charles, <a href="#Page_220">220</a>;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_395" id="Page_395">395</a></span><br /> + <ul> + <li>activity of, as a railway builder, <a href="#Page_327">327</a>.</li> + </ul></li> +<li>Crook, General George, <a href="#Page_368">368–369</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Crow Indians, treaties of 1851 with, <a href="#Page_123">123–124</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Culbertson, Alexander, <a href="#Page_200">200</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Cumberland Road, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>, <a href="#Page_215">215</a>, <a href="#Page_325">325</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Custer, General, <a href="#Page_304">304</a>, <a href="#Page_306">306</a>, <a href="#Page_307">307</a> ff., <a href="#Page_310">310</a>, <a href="#Page_316">316</a>, <a href="#Page_359">359</a>;<br /> + <ul> + <li>commands in attack on Cheyenne, <a href="#Page_316">316–318</a>;</li> + <li>romantic character of, and death in Sioux war, <a href="#Page_362">362</a>.</li> + </ul></li> + +<li class="p1">Dakota, erection and growth of territory of, <a href="#Page_166">166–167</a>;<br /> + <ul> + <li>Idaho created from a part of, <a href="#Page_167">167</a>.</li> + </ul></li> +<li>Dawes bill of 1887, for division of lands among Indians, <a href="#Page_354">354–355</a>;<br /> + <ul> + <li>effect of, on Indian reserves, <a href="#Page_356">356</a>.</li> + </ul></li> +<li>Delaware Indians, settlement of, in the West, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Demoine County created, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Denver, settlement of, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>;<br /> + <ul> + <li>early caucuses and conventions at, <a href="#Page_147">147–149</a>.</li> + </ul></li> +<li>Denver and Rio Grande Railway, <a href="#Page_383">383–384</a>.<br /></li> +<li><a id="Desert"></a>Desert, tradition of a great American, <a href="#Page_11">11–13</a>;<br /> + <ul> + <li>disappearance of tradition, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>;</li> + <li>Kansas formed out of a portion of, <a href="#Page_137">137</a>;</li> + <li>final conquest by railways of region known as, <a href="#Page_384">384–386</a>.</li> + </ul></li> +<li>Digger Indians, <a href="#Page_203">203–204</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Dillon, President, <a href="#Page_336">336</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Dodge, Henry, <a href="#Page_35">35–36</a>, <a href="#Page_37">37–38</a>, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>, <a href="#Page_328">328–329</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Dole, W. P., Indian Commissioner, <a href="#Page_239">239</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Donnelly, Ignatius, <a href="#Page_237">237</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Douglas, Stephen A., <a href="#Page_128">128</a>, <a href="#Page_213">213–214</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Downing, Major Jacob, <a href="#Page_252">252</a>, <a href="#Page_260">260</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Dubuque, lead mines at, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>;<br /> + <ul> + <li>as a mining camp, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>.</li> + </ul></li> +<li>Dubuque County created, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>.<br /></li> + +<li class="p1">Education of Indians, <a href="#Page_351">351–352</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Emigrant Aid Society, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Emory, Lieut.-Col., survey by, <a href="#Page_208">208</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Erie Canal, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>, <a href="#Page_325">325</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Evans, Governor, war against Indians conducted by, <a href="#Page_253">253</a> ff.;<br /> + <ul> + <li>quoted, <a href="#Page_269">269</a>.</li> + </ul></li> +<li>Ewbank Station massacre, <a href="#Page_250">250</a>.<br /></li> + +<li class="p1">Fairs, agricultural, for Indians, <a href="#Page_352">352–353</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Falls line, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Far West, Mormon headquarters at, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Fetterman, Captain W. J., <a href="#Page_274">274</a>, <a href="#Page_277">277–278</a>, <a href="#Page_279">279</a>;<br /> + <ul> + <li>slaughter of, by Indians, <a href="#Page_280">280–281</a>.</li> + </ul></li> +<li>Fiske, Captain James L., <a href="#Page_188">188</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Fitzpatrick, Indian agent, <a href="#Page_122">122–124</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Fort Armstrong, purchase at, of Indian lands, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Fort Benton, <a href="#Page_163">163</a>, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Fort Bridger, <a href="#Page_301">301</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Fort C. F. Smith, <a href="#Page_275">275–277</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Fort Hall, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Fort Kearney, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Fort Laramie, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>;<br /> + <ul> + <li>treaties with Indians signed at, in 1851, <a href="#Page_123">123–124</a>;</li> + <li>conference of Peace Commission with Indians held at (1867), <a href="#Page_291">291</a>.</li> + </ul></li> +<li>Fort Larned, conference with Indians at, <a href="#Page_308">308</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Fort Leavenworth, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Fort Philip Kearney, Indian fight at (1866), <a href="#Page_274">274–275</a>;<br /> + <ul> + <li>extermination of Fetterman's party at, <a href="#Page_280">280–282</a>.</li> + </ul></li> +<li>Fort Pierre, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Fort Ridgely, Sioux attack on, <a href="#Page_235">235–236</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Fort Snelling, <a href="#Page_33">33–34</a>, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Fort Sully conference, <a href="#Page_271">271–272</a>, <a href="#Page_273">273</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Fort Whipple, <a href="#Page_162">162</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Fort Winnebago, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Fort Wise, treaty with Indians signed at, <a href="#Page_249">249</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Forty-niners, <a href="#Page_109">109–118</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Fox Indians, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Flandrau, Judge Charles E., <a href="#Page_236">236–237</a>.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_396" id="Page_396">396</a></span><br /></li> +<li>Franklin, town of, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Freighting on the plains, <a href="#Page_174">174</a> ff.<br /></li> +<li>Frémont, John C., <a href="#Page_58">58</a>;<br /> + <ul> + <li>explorations of, beyond the Rockies, <a href="#Page_73">73–75</a>, <a href="#Page_195">195</a>;</li> + <li>senator from California, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>.</li> + </ul></li> +<li>Fur traders, pioneer western, <a href="#Page_70">70–71</a>.<br /></li> + +<li class="p1">Galbraith, Thomas J., Indian agent, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Geary, John W., <a href="#Page_135">135</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Georgetown, Colorado, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Geronimo, Indian chief, <a href="#Page_369">369</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Gilpin, William, first governor of Colorado Territory, <a href="#Page_155">155</a>;<br /> + <ul> + <li>quoted, <a href="#Page_225">225</a>;</li> + <li>responsibility assumed by, during the Civil War, <a href="#Page_228">228–229</a>.</li> + </ul></li> +<li>Gold, discovery of, in California, <a href="#Page_108">108–113</a>;<br /> + <ul> + <li>in Pike's Peak region, <a href="#Page_141">141–142</a>;</li> + <li>in the Black Hills, <a href="#Page_359">359–361</a>.</li> + </ul></li> +<li>Grattan, Lieutenant, <a href="#Page_265">265</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Great American desert. <i>See</i> <a href="#Desert">Desert</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Great Salt Lake. <i>See</i> <a href="#Salt_Lake">Salt Lake</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Great Salt Lake Valley Carrying Company, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Greeley, Horace, western adventures of, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>, <a href="#Page_179">179</a>, <a href="#Page_182">182</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Gregg, Josiah, <a href="#Page_61">61–62</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Grosventre Indians, treaties of 1851 with, <a href="#Page_123">123–124</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Guerrilla conflicts during the Civil War, <a href="#Page_230">230–233</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Gunnison, Captain J. W., <a href="#Page_204">204–205</a>.<br /></li> + +<li class="p1">Hancock, General W. S., <a href="#Page_306">306–311</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Hand-cart incident in Mormon emigration, <a href="#Page_100">100–101</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Harney, General, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Harte, Bret, verses by, <a href="#Page_338">338</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Hayt, E. A., Indian Commissioner, <a href="#Page_350">350</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Hazen, General W. B., <a href="#Page_320">320–321</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Helena, growth of city of, <a href="#Page_169">169</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Highland settlement, Colorado, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Holladay, Ben, <a href="#Page_186">186–190</a>, <a href="#Page_284">284</a>;<br /> + <ul> + <li>losses from Indians by, <a href="#Page_250">250</a>.</li> + </ul></li> +<li>Hopkins, Mark, <a href="#Page_220">220</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Howard, General O. O., <a href="#Page_365">365–366</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Hungate family, murder of, by Indians, <a href="#Page_253">253</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Hunkpapa Indians, <a href="#Page_264">264</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Hunter, General, in charge of Department of Kansas during Civil War, <a href="#Page_230">230–231</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Huntington, Collis P., <a href="#Page_220">220</a>.<br /></li> + +<li class="p1">Idaho, proposed name for Colorado, <a href="#Page_151">151</a>, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>;<br /> + <ul> + <li>establishment of territory of, <a href="#Page_166">166–167</a>.</li> + </ul></li> +<li>Idaho Springs, settlement of, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Illinois, opening of, to whites, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Illinois Central Railroad, <a href="#Page_210">210</a>, <a href="#Page_216">216–218</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Independence, town of, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>;<br /> + <ul> + <li>outfitting post of traders, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>;</li> + <li>Mormons at, <a href="#Page_89">89–90</a>.</li> + </ul></li> +<li>Indian agents, position of, in regard to Indian affairs, <a href="#Page_304">304–305</a>;<br /> + <ul> + <li>question regarding, as opposed to military control of Indians, <a href="#Page_342">342–343</a>.</li> + </ul></li> +<li>Indian Bureau, creation of, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>;<br /> + <ul> + <li>transference from War Department to the Interior, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>;</li> + <li>history of the, <a href="#Page_341">341</a> ff.</li> + </ul></li> +<li>Indian Commissioners, Board of, created in 1869, <a href="#Page_345">345</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Indian Intercourse Act, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Indian Territory, position of Indians in, during the Civil War, <a href="#Page_240">240–241</a>;<br /> + <ul> + <li>breaking up of, following allotment of lands to individual Indians, <a href="#Page_357">357</a>.</li> + </ul></li> +<li><a id="Indians"></a>Indians, numbers of, in United States, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>;<br /> + <ul> + <li>governmental policy regarding, <a href="#Page_16">16</a> ff.;</li> + <li>Monroe's policy of removal of, to western lands, <a href="#Page_18">18–19</a>;</li> + <li>treaties of 1825 with, <a href="#Page_19">19–20</a>;</li> + <li>allotment of territory among, on western frontier, <a href="#Page_20">20–30</a>;</li> + <li>troubles with, resulting from Oregon, California, and Mormon emigrations, <a href="#Page_119">119–123</a>;</li> + <li>fresh treaties with at Upper Platte agency in 1851, <a href="#Page_123">123–124</a>;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_397" id="Page_397">397</a></span></li> + <li>further cession of lands in Indian Country by, in 1854, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>;</li> + <li>treatment of, by Arizona settlers, <a href="#Page_162">162–163</a>;</li> + <li>danger to overland mail and express business from, <a href="#Page_187">187–188</a>, <a href="#Page_250">250</a>;</li> + <li>Digger Indians, <a href="#Page_203">203–204</a>;</li> + <li>the Sioux war in Minnesota, <a href="#Page_234">234</a> ff.;</li> + <li>effect of the Civil War on, <a href="#Page_240">240–242</a>;</li> + <li>causes of restlessness of, during Civil War, <a href="#Page_234">234</a> ff.;</li> + <li>antagonism of, aroused by advance westward of whites, <a href="#Page_244">244–252</a>;</li> + <li>conditions leading to Sioux war, <a href="#Page_264">264</a> ff.;</li> + <li>war with plains Sioux (1866), <a href="#Page_273">273–283</a>;</li> + <li>the discussion as to proper treatment of, <a href="#Page_284">284–288</a>;</li> + <li>appointment of Peace Commissioner of 1867 to end Cheyenne and Sioux troubles, <a href="#Page_289">289–290</a>;</li> + <li>Medicine Lodge treaties concluded with, <a href="#Page_292">292–293</a>;</li> + <li>report and recommendations of Peace Commission, <a href="#Page_296">296–298</a>;</li> + <li>interval of peace with, <a href="#Page_302">302–303</a>;</li> + <li>continued troubles with, and causes, <a href="#Page_304">304</a> ff.;</li> + <li>war begun by Arapahoes and Cheyenne in 1868, <a href="#Page_313">313</a>;</li> + <li>war of 1868, <a href="#Page_313">313–318</a>;</li> + <li>President Grant appoints board of civilian Indian commissioners, <a href="#Page_323">323</a>, <a href="#Page_341">341</a> ff.;</li> + <li>railway builders' troubles with, <a href="#Page_328">328–329</a>;</li> + <li>question of civilian or military control of, <a href="#Page_342">342–344</a>;</li> + <li>Board of Commissioners, appointed for (1869), <a href="#Page_345">345</a>;</li> + <li>Congress decides to make no more treaties with, <a href="#Page_348">348</a>;</li> + <li>mistaken policy of treaties, <a href="#Page_348">348–349</a>;</li> + <li>census of, in 1880, <a href="#Page_351">351</a>;</li> + <li>agricultural fairs for, <a href="#Page_352">352–353</a>;</li> + <li>individual ownership of land by, <a href="#Page_354">354–357</a>;</li> + <li>effect of allotment of lands among, on Indian reserves, <a href="#Page_356">356–357</a>;</li> + <li>end of Monroe's policy, <a href="#Page_357">357</a>;</li> + <li>last struggles of the Sioux, Nez Percés, and Apaches, <a href="#Page_361">361–371</a>.</li> + </ul></li> +<li>Inkpaduta's massacre, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Inman, Colonel Henry, quoted, <a href="#Page_285">285</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Iowa, Indian lands out of which formed, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>;<br /> + <ul> + <li>territory of, organized, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>.</li> + </ul></li> +<li>Iowa Indians, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>.<br /></li> + +<li class="p1">Jackson, Helen Hunt, work by, <a href="#Page_344">344</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Jefferson, early name of state of Colorado, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>, <a href="#Page_151">151</a>, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>, <a href="#Page_155">155</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Johnston, Albert Sidney, commands army against Mormons, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>;<br /> + <ul> + <li>escapes to the South, on opening of the Civil War, <a href="#Page_226">226–227</a>.</li> + </ul></li> +<li>Jones and Russell, firm of, <a href="#Page_181">181</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Judah, Theodore D., <a href="#Page_219">219</a>, <a href="#Page_220">220</a>, <a href="#Page_326">326</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Julesburg, station on overland mail route, <a href="#Page_182">182</a>, <a href="#Page_331">331</a>.<br /></li> + +<li class="p1">Kanesville, Iowa, founding of, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>.<br /></li> +<li><a id="Kansa_Indians"></a>Kansa Indians, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Kansas, reasons for settlement of, <a href="#Page_124">124–125</a>;<br /> + <ul> + <li>creation of territory of, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>;</li> + <li>the slavery struggle in, <a href="#Page_129">129–131</a>;</li> + <li>squatters on Indian lands in, <a href="#Page_131">131–132</a>;</li> + <li>further contests between abolition and pro-slave parties, <a href="#Page_132">132–136</a>;</li> + <li>admission to the union in 1861, <a href="#Page_136">136</a>;</li> + <li>boundaries of, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>;</li> + <li>during the Civil War, <a href="#Page_230">230–233</a>.</li> + </ul></li> +<li>Kansas-Nebraska bill, <a href="#Page_128">128–129</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Kansas Pacific Railway, <a href="#Page_340">340</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Kaskaskia Indians, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Kaw Indians. <i>See</i> <a href="#Kansa_Indians">Kansa Indians</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Kearny, Stephen W., <a href="#Page_65">65–66</a>, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Kendall, Superintendent of Indian department, quoted, <a href="#Page_165">165</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Keokuk, Indian chief, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Kickapoo Indians, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Kiowa Indians, <a href="#Page_252">252</a>, <a href="#Page_253">253</a>, <a href="#Page_263">263</a>, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>, <a href="#Page_268">268</a>, <a href="#Page_292">292</a>, <a href="#Page_306">306</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Kirtland, Ohio, temporary headquarters of Mormons, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Labor question in railway construction, <a href="#Page_326">326–327</a>.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_398" id="Page_398">398</a></span><br /></li> +<li>Lake-to-Gulf railway scheme, <a href="#Page_217">217</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Land, allotment of, to Indians as individuals, <a href="#Page_354">354–357</a>.<br /></li> +<li><a id="Land_grants"></a>Land grants in aid of railways, <a href="#Page_215">215–218</a>, <a href="#Page_222">222</a>, <a href="#Page_325">325</a>, <a href="#Page_329">329</a>, <a href="#Page_336">336</a>, <a href="#Page_375">375</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Land titles, pioneers' difficulties over, <a href="#Page_46">46–47</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Larimer, William, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Last Chance Gulch, Idaho, mining district, <a href="#Page_169">169</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Lawrence, Amos A., <a href="#Page_130">130</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Lawrence, Kansas, settlement of, <a href="#Page_130">130–131</a>;<br /> + <ul> + <li>visit of Missouri mob to, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>;</li> + <li>Quantrill's raid on, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>.</li> + </ul></li> +<li>Lead mines about Dubuque, <a href="#Page_34">34–35</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Leavenworth, J. H., Indian agent, <a href="#Page_306">306</a>, <a href="#Page_308">308–309</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Leavenworth and Pike's Peak Express Company, <a href="#Page_181">181</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Leavenworth constitution, <a href="#Page_135">135–136</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Lecompton constitution, <a href="#Page_135">135–136</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Lewiston, Washington, founding of, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Linn, Senator, <a href="#Page_72">72–73</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Liquor question in Oregon, <a href="#Page_81">81–82</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Little Big Horn, battle of the, <a href="#Page_362">362</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Little Blue Water, defeat of Brulé Sioux at, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Little Crow, Sioux chief, <a href="#Page_235">235–239</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Little Raven, Indian chief, <a href="#Page_306">306</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Long, Major Stephen H., <a href="#Page_11">11</a>.<br /></li> + +<li class="p1">McClellan, George B., survey for Pacific railway by, <a href="#Page_199">199</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Madison, Wisconsin, development of, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Mails, carriage of, to frontier points, <a href="#Page_174">174</a> ff.<br /></li> +<li>Manypenny, George W., <a href="#Page_126">126</a>, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Marsh, O. C., bad treatment of Indians revealed by, <a href="#Page_360">360–361</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Marshall, James W., <a href="#Page_108">108–109</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Massachusetts Emigrant Aid Society, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Medicine Lodge Creek, conference with Indians at, <a href="#Page_292">292–293</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Menominee Indians, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Methodist missionaries to western Indians, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Mexican War, Army of the West in the, <a href="#Page_65">65–66</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Miami Indians, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Michigan, territory and state of, <a href="#Page_39">39–40</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Miles, General Nelson A., as an Indian fighter, <a href="#Page_366">366</a>, <a href="#Page_370">370</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Milwaukee, founding of, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Mines, trails leading to, <a href="#Page_169">169–170</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Miniconjou Indians, <a href="#Page_265">265</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Mining, lead, <a href="#Page_34">34–35</a>, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>;<br /> + <ul> + <li>gold, <a href="#Page_108">108–113</a>, <a href="#Page_141">141–142</a>, <a href="#Page_156">156–157</a>, <a href="#Page_359">359–361</a>;</li> + <li>silver, <a href="#Page_157">157</a> ff.</li> + </ul></li> +<li>Mining camps, description of, <a href="#Page_170">170–173</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Minnesota, organization of, as a territory, <a href="#Page_48">48–49</a>;<br /> + <ul> + <li>Sioux war in, in 1862, <a href="#Page_234">234</a> ff.</li> + </ul></li> +<li>Missionaries, pioneer, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>;<br /> + <ul> + <li>civilization and education of Indians by, <a href="#Page_345">345–346</a>.</li> + </ul></li> +<li>Missoula County, Washington Territory, <a href="#Page_168">168</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Missouri Indians, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Modoc Indians, last war of the, <a href="#Page_367">367</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Modoc Jack, <a href="#Page_367">367</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Mojave branch of Southern Pacific Railway, <a href="#Page_381">381–382</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Monroe's policy toward Indians, <a href="#Page_18">18–19</a>;<br /> + <ul> + <li>end of, <a href="#Page_357">357</a>.</li> + </ul></li> +<li>Montana, creation of territory of, <a href="#Page_169">169</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Montana settlement, Colorado, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Monteith, Indian Agent, <a href="#Page_365">365</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Mormons, the, <a href="#Page_86">86</a> ff., <a href="#Page_102">102</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Mowry, Sylvester, <a href="#Page_159">159</a>, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Mullan Road, the, <a href="#Page_167">167</a>, <a href="#Page_170">170</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Murphy, Thomas, Indian superintendent, <a href="#Page_312">312</a>.<br /></li> + +<li class="p1">Nauvoo, Mormon settlement of, <a href="#Page_91">91–94</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Navaho Indians, <a href="#Page_243">243</a>, <a href="#Page_368">368</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Nebraska, movement for a territory of, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_399" id="Page_399">399</a></span><br /> + <ul> + <li>creation of territory of, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>;</li> + <li>boundaries of, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>.</li> + </ul></li> +<li>Neutral Line, the, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Nevada, beginnings of, <a href="#Page_156">156–158</a>;<br /> + <ul> + <li>territory of, organized, <a href="#Page_158">158</a>.</li> + </ul></li> +<li>New Mexico, the early trade to, <a href="#Page_53">53–69</a>;<br /> + <ul> + <li>boundaries of, in 1854, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>;</li> + <li>during the Civil War, <a href="#Page_229">229–230</a>.</li> + </ul></li> +<li>New Ulm, Minnesota, fight with Sioux Indians at, <a href="#Page_236">236–237</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Nez Percé Indians, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>, <a href="#Page_363">363–365</a>;<br /> + <ul> + <li>precipitation of war with, in 1877, <a href="#Page_365">365–366</a>;</li> + <li>defeat and disposal of tribe, <a href="#Page_366">366–367</a>.</li> + </ul></li> +<li>Niles, Hezekiah, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Noland, Fent, <a href="#Page_42">42–43</a>.<br /></li> +<li>No Man's Land, <a href="#Page_357">357</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Northern Pacific Railway, <a href="#Page_375">375</a>, <a href="#Page_376">376</a>, <a href="#Page_377">377</a>, <a href="#Page_382">382–383</a>.<br /></li> + +<li class="p1">Oglala Sioux, <a href="#Page_281">281</a>, <a href="#Page_291">291</a>, <a href="#Page_360">360</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Oklahoma, <a href="#Page_357">357</a>, <a href="#Page_386">386</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Omaha, cause of growth of, <a href="#Page_334">334</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Omaha Indians, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Oregon, fur traders and early pioneers, in, <a href="#Page_70">70–72</a>;<br /> + <ul> + <li>emigration to, in 1844–1847, <a href="#Page_75">75–76</a>;</li> + <li>provisional government organized by settlers in, <a href="#Page_79">79–80</a>;</li> + <li>region included under name, <a href="#Page_83">83–84</a>;</li> + <li>territory of, organized (1848), <a href="#Page_85">85</a>;</li> + <li>population in 1850, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>;</li> + <li>boundaries of, in 1854, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>;</li> + <li>territory of Washington cut from, <a href="#Page_163">163</a>;</li> + <li>railway lines in, <a href="#Page_382">382–383</a>.</li> + </ul></li> +<li>Oregon trail, <a href="#Page_70">70–85</a>;<br /> + <ul> + <li>course of the, <a href="#Page_78">78–79</a>;</li> + <li>the Mormons on the, <a href="#Page_86">86</a> ff.</li> + </ul></li> +<li>Osage Indians, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Oto Indians, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Ottawa Indians, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Overland mail, the, <a href="#Page_174">174</a> ff.<br /></li> +<li>Owyhee mining district, <a href="#Page_165">165</a>.<br /></li> + +<li class="p1">Paiute Indians, murder of Captain Gunnison by, <a href="#Page_205">205</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Palmer, General William J., <a href="#Page_383">383</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Panic, of 1837, <a href="#Page_43">43–44</a>;<br /> + <ul> + <li>of 1857, <a href="#Page_51">51–52</a>;</li> + <li>of 1873, <a href="#Page_377">377–379</a>.</li> + </ul></li> +<li>Parke, Lieut. J. G., survey for Pacific railway by, <a href="#Page_207">207–208</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Peace Commission of 1867, to conclude Cheyenne and Sioux wars, <a href="#Page_289">289–290</a>;<br /> + <ul> + <li>Medicine Lodge treaties concluded by, <a href="#Page_292">292–293</a>;</li> + <li>report of, quoted, <a href="#Page_296">296–298</a>.</li> + </ul></li> +<li>Pennsylvania Portage Railway, <a href="#Page_325">325</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Peoria Indians, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Piankashaw Indians, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Pike, Zebulon M., <a href="#Page_19">19</a>, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Pike's Peak, discovery of gold about, <a href="#Page_141">141–142</a>;<br /> + <ul> + <li>the rush to, <a href="#Page_142">142–145</a>;</li> + <li>reaction from boom, <a href="#Page_145">145–146</a>;</li> + <li>origin of Colorado Territory in the Pike's Peak boom, <a href="#Page_146">146–155</a>.</li> + </ul></li> +<li>"Pike's Peak Guide," the, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Plum Creek massacre, <a href="#Page_250">250</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Pony express, <a href="#Page_158">158</a>, <a href="#Page_182">182–185</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Pope, Captain John, survey by, <a href="#Page_207">207</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Popular sovereignty, doctrine of, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Poston, Charles D., <a href="#Page_159">159</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Potawatomi Indians, <a href="#Page_26">26–27</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Powder River expedition, <a href="#Page_273">273–274</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Powder River war with Indians, <a href="#Page_276">276–283</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Powell, Major James, <a href="#Page_283">283</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Prairie du Chien, treaty made with Indians at, <a href="#Page_20">20–21</a>;<br /> + <ul> + <li>second treaty of (1830), <a href="#Page_25">25</a>.</li> + </ul></li> +<li>Prairie schooners, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Pratt, R. H., education of Indians attempted by, <a href="#Page_351">351</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Price's Missouri expedition, <a href="#Page_233">233</a>.<br /></li> + +<li class="p1">Quantrill's raid into Kansas, <a href="#Page_231">231–232</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Quapaw Indians, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>.<br /></li> + +<li class="p1">Railways, early craze for building, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>;<br /> + <ul> + <li>advance of, in the fifties, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>;</li> + <li>first thoughts about a Pacific road, <a href="#Page_192">192</a> ff.;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_400" id="Page_400">400</a></span></li> + <li>surveys for Pacific, <a href="#Page_192">192</a> ff., <a href="#Page_197">197–203</a>;</li> + <li>bearing of slavery question on transcontinental, <a href="#Page_211">211–214</a>;</li> + <li>Senator Douglas's bill, <a href="#Page_213">213–214</a>;</li> + <li>land grants in aid of, <a href="#Page_215">215–218</a>, <a href="#Page_222">222</a>, <a href="#Page_325">325</a>, <a href="#Page_329">329</a>, <a href="#Page_336">336</a>, <a href="#Page_375">375</a>;</li> + <li>Indian hostilities caused by advance of the, <a href="#Page_283">283</a>;</li> + <li>description of construction of Central Pacific and Union Pacific roads, <a href="#Page_325">325–335</a>;</li> + <li>scandals connected with building of roads, <a href="#Page_335">335</a>;</li> + <li>description of formal junction of Central Pacific and Union Pacific, <a href="#Page_336">336–337</a>;</li> + <li>effect of roads in bringing peace upon the plains, <a href="#Page_347">347</a>;</li> + <li>charter acts of the Northern Pacific, Atlantic and Pacific, Texas Pacific, and Southern Pacific, <a href="#Page_375">375</a>;</li> + <li>slow development of the later Pacific roads, <a href="#Page_376">376</a>;</li> + <li>the five new continental routes and their connections, <a href="#Page_379">379–382</a>;</li> + <li>Northern Pacific, <a href="#Page_382">382–383</a>;</li> + <li>Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy, <a href="#Page_383">383</a>;</li> + <li>Denver and Rio Grande, <a href="#Page_383">383–384</a>;</li> + <li>disappearance of frontier through extension of lines of, and conquest of Great American Desert, <a href="#Page_384">384–386</a>.</li> + </ul></li> +<li>Ration system, pauperization of Indians by, <a href="#Page_352">352</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Real estate speculation along western railways, <a href="#Page_333">333–334</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Red Cloud, Indian chief, <a href="#Page_274">274</a>, <a href="#Page_281">281</a>, <a href="#Page_283">283</a>, <a href="#Page_291">291–292</a>, <a href="#Page_294">294</a>, <a href="#Page_360">360</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Reeder, Andrew H., governor of Kansas Territory, <a href="#Page_131">131–133</a>.<br /></li> +<li><i>Report on the Condition of the Indian Tribes</i>, <a href="#Page_286">286–287</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Rhodes, James Ford, cited, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Riggs, Rev. S. R., <a href="#Page_239">239</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Riley, Major, <a href="#Page_59">59–60</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Rio Grande, struggle for the, in Civil War, <a href="#Page_228">228–230</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Robinson, Dr. Charles, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>;<br /> + <ul> + <li>elected governor of Kansas, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>.</li> + </ul></li> +<li><i>Rocky Mountain News</i>, the, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Roman Nose, Indian chief, <a href="#Page_309">309</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Ross, John, Cherokee chief, <a href="#Page_241">241</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Russell, William H., <a href="#Page_181">181</a>, <a href="#Page_182">182</a>, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Russell, Majors, and Waddell, firm of, <a href="#Page_181">181</a>.<br /></li> + +<li class="p1">St. Charles settlement, Colorado, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>;<br /> + <ul> + <li>merged into Denver, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>.</li> + </ul></li> +<li>St. Paul, Sioux Indian reserve at, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>;<br /> + <ul> + <li>early fort near site of, <a href="#Page_33">33–34</a>;</li> + <li>first settlement at, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>.</li> + </ul></li> +<li>Saline River raid by Indians, <a href="#Page_313">313</a>, <a href="#Page_314">314</a>.<br /></li> +<li><a id="Salt_Lake"></a>Salt Lake, Frémont's visit to, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>;<br /> + <ul> + <li>settlement of Mormons at, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>;</li> + <li>population of, in 1850, <a href="#Page_117">117–118</a>.</li> + </ul></li> +<li>Sand Creek, massacre of Cheyenne Indians at, <a href="#Page_260">260–261</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Sans Arcs Indians, <a href="#Page_264">264</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Santa Fé, trade with, <a href="#Page_53">53–69</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Santa Fé trail, Indians along the, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>;<br /> + <ul> + <li>beginnings of the (1822), <a href="#Page_56">56–58</a>;</li> + <li>course of the, <a href="#Page_64">64–65</a>.</li> + </ul></li> +<li>Satanta, Kiowa Indian chief, <a href="#Page_306">306</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Sauk Indians, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Saxton, Lieutenant, <a href="#Page_199">199</a>, <a href="#Page_201">201</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Scandals, railway-building, <a href="#Page_335">335</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Scar-faced Charley, Modoc Indian leader, <a href="#Page_367">367</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Schofield, General John M., <a href="#Page_232">232</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Schools for Indians, <a href="#Page_351">351–352</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Schurz, Carl, policy of, toward Indians, <a href="#Page_350">350</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Seminole Indians, <a href="#Page_28">28–29</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Seneca Indians, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Shannon, Wilson, governor of Kansas, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Shawnee Indians, <a href="#Page_23">23–24</a>, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Sheridan, General, in command against Indians, <a href="#Page_310">310–323</a>;<br /> + <ul> + <li>quoted, <a href="#Page_384">384–385</a>.</li> + </ul></li> +<li>Sherman, John, quoted on Indian matters, <a href="#Page_285">285</a>, <a href="#Page_289">289</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Sherman, W. T., quoted, <a href="#Page_143">143–144</a>, <a href="#Page_298">298</a>;<br /> + <ul> + <li>instructions issued to Sheridan by, in Indian war of 1868, <a href="#Page_316">316</a>.</li> + </ul></li> +<li>Shoshoni Indians, <a href="#Page_123">123–124</a>, <a href="#Page_295">295</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Sibley, General H. H., <a href="#Page_228">228</a>, <a href="#Page_237">237–238</a>, <a href="#Page_362">362</a>.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_401" id="Page_401">401</a></span><br /></li> +<li>Silver mining, <a href="#Page_157">157</a> ff.<br /></li> +<li>Sioux Indians, treaty of 1825 affecting the, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>;<br /> + <ul> + <li>location of, in 1837, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>;</li> + <li>surrender of lands in Minnesota by, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>;</li> + <li>treaties of 1851 with, <a href="#Page_123">123–124</a>;</li> + <li>war with, in Minnesota, in 1862, <a href="#Page_234">234</a> ff.;</li> + <li>trial and punishment of, for Minnesota outrages, <a href="#Page_239">239–240</a>;</li> + <li>bands composing the plains Sioux, <a href="#Page_264">264–265</a>;</li> + <li>war with the plains Sioux in 1866, <a href="#Page_264">264–283</a>;</li> + <li>lands assigned to, by Fort Laramie treaty of 1868, <a href="#Page_294">294</a>;</li> + <li>sources of irritation between white settlers and, in 1870, <a href="#Page_359">359</a>;</li> + <li>disturbance of, by discovery of gold in the Black Hills, <a href="#Page_359">359</a>, <a href="#Page_361">361</a>;</li> + <li>war with, in 1876, <a href="#Page_362">362–363</a>;</li> + <li>crushing of, by United States forces, <a href="#Page_363">363</a>.</li> + </ul></li> +<li>Sitting Bull, <a href="#Page_361">361</a>;<br /> + <ul> + <li>career of, as leader of insurgent Sioux, <a href="#Page_362">362–363</a>;</li> + <li>settles in Canada, <a href="#Page_363">363</a>;</li> + <li>returns to United States, <a href="#Page_369">369</a>;</li> + <li>death of, <a href="#Page_370">370</a>.</li> + </ul></li> +<li>Slade, Jack, <a href="#Page_182">182</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Slavery question, in territories, <a href="#Page_128">128</a> ff.;<br /> + <ul> + <li>bearing of, on transcontinental railway question, <a href="#Page_211">211–214</a>.</li> + </ul></li> +<li>Slough, Colonel John P., <a href="#Page_229">229–230</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Smith, Joseph, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>, <a href="#Page_90">90–93</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Smohalla, medicine-man, <a href="#Page_365">365</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Sod breaking, Iowa, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Solomon River raid, <a href="#Page_313">313</a>, <a href="#Page_314">314</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Southern Pacific Railway, <a href="#Page_375">375–376</a>, <a href="#Page_379">379</a>, <a href="#Page_381">381</a>.<br /></li> +<li>South Pass, the gateway to Oregon, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Southport, founding of, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Spirit Lake massacre, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Stanford, Leland, <a href="#Page_220">220</a>, <a href="#Page_336">336</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Stansbury, Lieutenant, survey by, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>, <a href="#Page_203">203</a>;<br /> + <ul> + <li>quoted, <a href="#Page_114">114–115</a>.</li> + </ul></li> +<li>Steamboats as factors in emigration, <a href="#Page_40">40–41</a>, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Steele, Robert W., governor of Jefferson Territory (Colorado), <a href="#Page_150">150</a>, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>, <a href="#Page_155">155</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Stevens, Isaac I., <a href="#Page_197">197–203</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Stuart, Granville and James, <a href="#Page_168">168</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Subsidies to railways, <a href="#Page_222">222</a>, <a href="#Page_325">325</a>, <a href="#Page_329">329</a>, <a href="#Page_375">375</a>.<br /> + <ul> + <li><i>See</i> <a href="#Land_grants">Land grants</a>.</li> + </ul></li> +<li>Sully, General Alfred, <a href="#Page_268">268</a>, <a href="#Page_319">319</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Surveys for Pacific railway, <a href="#Page_192">192</a> ff.<br /></li> +<li>Sutter, John A., <a href="#Page_104">104</a>, <a href="#Page_107">107–109</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Sweetwater mines, <a href="#Page_301">301</a>.<br /></li> + +<li class="p1">Telegraph system, inauguration of transcontinental, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>;<br /> + <ul> + <li>freedom of, from Indian interference, <a href="#Page_283">283</a>.</li> + </ul></li> +<li>Ten Eyck, Captain, <a href="#Page_280">280</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Texas, railway building in, <a href="#Page_375">375–376</a>, <a href="#Page_377">377</a> ff.<br /></li> +<li>Texas Pacific Railway, <a href="#Page_375">375–376</a>, <a href="#Page_378">378</a>, <a href="#Page_379">379</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Thayer, Eli, <a href="#Page_129">129–130</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Tippecanoe, battle of, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Topeka constitution, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Traders, wrongs done to Indians by, <a href="#Page_234">234–235</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Treaties with Indians, <a href="#Page_19">19–20</a>, <a href="#Page_123">123–124</a>, <a href="#Page_292">292–293</a>;<br /> + <ul> + <li>fallacy of, <a href="#Page_348">348–349</a>.</li> + <li><i>See</i> <a href="#Indians">Indians</a>.</li> + </ul></li> +<li>Tucson, <a href="#Page_159">159</a>, <a href="#Page_160">160</a>.<br /></li> + +<li class="p1">Union Pacific Railway, the, <a href="#Page_211">211</a> ff.;<br /> + <ul> + <li>reason for name, <a href="#Page_221">221</a>;</li> + <li>incorporation of company, <a href="#Page_221">221</a>;</li> + <li>route of, <a href="#Page_221">221–222</a>;</li> + <li>land grants in aid of, <a href="#Page_222">222</a> (<i>see</i> <a href="#Land_grants">Land grants</a>);</li> + <li>financing of project, <a href="#Page_222">222–223</a>;</li> + <li>progress in construction of, <a href="#Page_298">298–299</a>, <a href="#Page_301">301</a>;</li> + <li>description of construction of, <a href="#Page_325">325–335</a>.</li> + </ul></li> +<li>Utah, territory of, organized, <a href="#Page_101">101–102</a>;<br /> + <ul> + <li>boundaries of, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>;</li> + <li>partition of Nevada from, <a href="#Page_157">157</a> ff.;</li> + <li>derivation of name from Ute Indians, <a href="#Page_295">295</a>.</li> + </ul></li> + +<li class="p1">Victorio, Indian chief, <a href="#Page_369">369</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Vigilance committees in mining camps, <a href="#Page_172">172</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Villard, Henry, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>, <a href="#Page_182">182</a>, <a href="#Page_186">186</a>, <a href="#Page_382">382–383</a>.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_402" id="Page_402">402</a></span><br /></li> +<li>Vinita, terminus of Atlantic and Pacific road, <a href="#Page_377">377</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Virginia City, <a href="#Page_158">158</a>, <a href="#Page_168">168–169</a>.<br /></li> + +<li class="p1">Wagons, Conestoga, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>;<br /> + <ul> + <li>overland mail coaches, <a href="#Page_178">178–179</a>;</li> + <li>numbers employed in overland freight business, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>.</li> + </ul></li> +<li>Wakarusa War, <a href="#Page_133">133–134</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Walker, General Francis A., <a href="#Page_285">285</a>, <a href="#Page_349">349</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Walker, Robert J., <a href="#Page_135">135</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Washington, creation of territory of, <a href="#Page_163">163</a>;<br /> + <ul> + <li>mining in, <a href="#Page_164">164–166</a>;</li> + <li>a part of Idaho formed from, <a href="#Page_166">166–167</a>.</li> + </ul></li> +<li>Washita, battle of the, <a href="#Page_317">317–318</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Wayne, Anthony, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Wea Indians, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Wells, Fargo, and Company, <a href="#Page_186">186</a>, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Whipple, Lieut. A. W., survey for Pacific railway by, <a href="#Page_206">206–207</a>.<br /></li> +<li>White, Dr. Elijah, <a href="#Page_75">75–76</a>.<br /></li> +<li>White Antelope, Indian chief, <a href="#Page_256">256</a>, <a href="#Page_260">260</a>, <a href="#Page_313">313</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Whitman, Marcus, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>, <a href="#Page_80">80–81</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Whitney, Asa, <a href="#Page_193">193</a>, <a href="#Page_212">212</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Willamette provisional government, <a href="#Page_79">79–80</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Williams, Beverly D., <a href="#Page_149">149</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Williamson, Lieut. R. S., survey by, <a href="#Page_208">208</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Wilson, Hill P., Indian trader, <a href="#Page_314">314</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Winnebago Indians, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Wisconsin, opening of, to whites, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>;<br /> + <ul> + <li>territory of, organized, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>.</li> + </ul></li> +<li>Wounded Knee, Indian fight at, <a href="#Page_370">370</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Wyeth, Nathaniel J., <a href="#Page_72">72</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Wynkoop, E. W., <a href="#Page_255">255–259</a>, <a href="#Page_306">306</a>, <a href="#Page_310">310</a>, <a href="#Page_312">312–313</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Wyoming, territory of, <a href="#Page_299">299</a>, <a href="#Page_302">302</a>.<br /></li> + +<li class="p1">Yankton Sioux, the, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_166">166</a>, <a href="#Page_264">264</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Yerba Buena, village of, later San Francisco, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>.<br /></li> +<li>Young, Brigham, <a href="#Page_93">93–94</a>, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>, <a href="#Page_97">97</a> ff., <a href="#Page_206">206</a>;<br /> + <ul> + <li>made governor of Utah Territory, <a href="#Page_101">101–102</a>.</li> + </ul></li> +</ul> +</div> + +<div class="newpage p4 transnote"> +<h2 class="nobreak"><a name="Transcribers_Notes" id="Transcribers_Notes">Transcribers' Note</a></h2> + +<p>Punctuation, hyphenation, and spelling were made consistent when a predominant +preference was found in this book; otherwise they were not changed.</p> + +<p>Simple typographical errors were corrected; occasional unpaired +quotation marks were retained. For example, the paragraph beginning on page +<a href="#Page_311">311</a> with "There is little doubt" and ending on +page <a href="#Page_313">313</a> with "sincerity of their protestations" +contains an unpaired quotation mark.</p> + +<p>Ambiguous hyphens at the ends of lines were retained.</p> + +<p>Index not checked for proper alphabetization or correct page references.</p> + +<p>Text uses both "reconnaissance" and "reconnoissance"; both retained.</p> + +<p>Text mostly uses "Santa Fé", so three occurrences of "Sante Fé" have +been changed.</p> + +</div> + +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 45699 ***</div> +</body> +</html> diff --git a/45699-h/images/cover.jpg b/45699-h/images/cover.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..012426e --- /dev/null +++ b/45699-h/images/cover.jpg diff --git a/45699-h/images/i-002.jpg b/45699-h/images/i-002.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..5885a33 --- /dev/null +++ b/45699-h/images/i-002.jpg diff --git a/45699-h/images/i-004.jpg b/45699-h/images/i-004.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..6e387ca --- /dev/null +++ b/45699-h/images/i-004.jpg diff --git a/45699-h/images/i-036.jpg b/45699-h/images/i-036.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..31d4246 --- /dev/null +++ b/45699-h/images/i-036.jpg diff --git a/45699-h/images/i-045.jpg b/45699-h/images/i-045.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..888da42 --- /dev/null +++ b/45699-h/images/i-045.jpg diff --git a/45699-h/images/i-062.jpg b/45699-h/images/i-062.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..ffb60ff --- /dev/null +++ b/45699-h/images/i-062.jpg diff --git a/45699-h/images/i-073.jpg b/45699-h/images/i-073.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..2b2ed1a --- /dev/null +++ b/45699-h/images/i-073.jpg diff --git a/45699-h/images/i-095.jpg b/45699-h/images/i-095.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..112473f --- /dev/null +++ b/45699-h/images/i-095.jpg diff --git a/45699-h/images/i-138.jpg b/45699-h/images/i-138.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..d86a59e --- /dev/null +++ b/45699-h/images/i-138.jpg diff --git a/45699-h/images/i-158.jpg b/45699-h/images/i-158.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..60d3d1e --- /dev/null +++ b/45699-h/images/i-158.jpg diff --git a/45699-h/images/i-163.jpg b/45699-h/images/i-163.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..eea3733 --- /dev/null +++ b/45699-h/images/i-163.jpg diff --git a/45699-h/images/i-179.jpg b/45699-h/images/i-179.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..4c35a7c --- /dev/null +++ b/45699-h/images/i-179.jpg diff --git a/45699-h/images/i-227.jpg b/45699-h/images/i-227.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..327342c --- /dev/null +++ b/45699-h/images/i-227.jpg diff --git a/45699-h/images/i-299.jpg b/45699-h/images/i-299.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..e5bfa5b --- /dev/null +++ b/45699-h/images/i-299.jpg diff --git a/45699-h/images/i-326.jpg b/45699-h/images/i-326.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..ee57f12 --- /dev/null +++ b/45699-h/images/i-326.jpg diff --git a/45699-h/images/i-387.jpg b/45699-h/images/i-387.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..5817d37 --- /dev/null +++ b/45699-h/images/i-387.jpg diff --git a/45699-h/images/i-408.jpg b/45699-h/images/i-408.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..612c4c0 --- /dev/null +++ b/45699-h/images/i-408.jpg |
