WARRIOR KING
WARRIOR KING
Date: 8 Aug. '01
Board of Directors Kansas State Historical Society
6425 S.W. 6th Ave.
Topeka, KS 66615-1099
RE: Last "Indian Raid" in Kansas
Dear Sirs:
I write concerning Mr. Powers quotes in the Wichita Eagle article concerning the captioned subject matter. The specific quotes I have in mind are:
"`For them, it was an assault on their culture. They resisted and wanted to go north,' added Powers, who has written extensively on the Cheyenne."..."There were reasons the Northern Cheyenne would lash out against the whites, although it is hard to justify," Powers said, `These were settlers not seeking to hurt the Northern Cheyenne in any way.'" ... " `When the Northern Cheyenne went through Kansas, they already had killed settlers. They weren't thinking already in terms of numbers' Powers said. Rather, he said `A broader cultural trauma was the cause. It was an expression of their own rage against white society to control their lives.'" (Emphasis added).
I have read and studied in excess of some 60 books on Indian wars, tribal movements, the history of individual Indian leaders, etc., and believe by that process to have developed some knowledge of the general Indian character and Indian ways.1 Two such books are: "The Fighting Cheyennes", by George Grinnell, first published in 1915, and "Fighting Indian Warriors", by E.A. Brininstool, Copyright @ 1953. Both of these books have sections on the Little Wolf and Dull Knife Northern Cheyenne 1878 flight through Kansas, that is the subject matter of the Eagle Associated Press article.
1. As an aside, until I was five years old, a full blooded son of a Cherokee chief, who was a lead man for my father at Boeing during the war years, lived with our family, and so by that process I have also gained some feel for Indian character and ways. I still remember Dalton telling me that I was driving his car when I was standing in his lap simply holding onto and trying to turn the wheel; and showing me how to fight so that the bigger kids in the government housing district we lived in, would not pick on me.
Of particular interest is Grinnell's Book, the Preface of which states, in part:
"Since the Indians could not write, the history of their wars has been set down by their enemies, and the story has been told always from the hostile point of view."..."Evidently there is another side to this history, and this other side is one which should be recorded; and, since the wars are now distant in time, the Indians' own descriptions of these battles may be read without much prejudice. I have tried to present the accounts by whites and Indians, without comment."..."These accounts are thus in fact narratives by eye- witnesses. Such assistance has been given me by Major-General E.S. Godfrey, by Major-General W.S. Schuyler, by Colonel Homer W. Wheeler, by Colonel D.L. Brainard, by Colonel E.P. Andrus, by Captain L.H. North, by George Bent, and many Cheyenne friends whose names are mentioned in the text."..."What the Indians saw in the battles here described -- and many others -- I have learned during years of intimate acquaintance with those who took part in them." (Emphasis added).
Accordingly, Grinnell's description of the Little Wolf-Dull Knife-Northern Cheyenne flight through Kansas in 1878, comes from folks who were actually there, including apparently, Little Wolf, Wild Hog, Crow, and Edmond Guerrier, a half breed scout who did the interpreting at the talks at Fort Reno just prior to the start of the flight. Also, because of the Cheyenne reputation for honesty, trustworthiness, and bravery, and particularly is that so in matters of war and claiming coup; and given their lack of writing ability; their description of events should be taken to be even more accurate than average white folks. Indians were from their earliest youth trained observers of most everything around them, and everything that moved.
The first factual discrepancy I note in passing is that the article states the Cheyenne left the reservation on the night of Sep. 9, 1878. Grinnell says Little Wolf's camp was about 20 miles above the agency on the Canadian River. Brininstool says the flight started on the night of Sep. 8, 1878, from a camp some little distance from Fort Reno, not as the article reports, the night of Sep.9, 1878. Grinnell states:
"Of the three hundred Indians sixty or seventy were fighting men. The rest were old men, children, women, and boys. (Not 250 as reported by the article). An army officer once told me that thirteen thousand troops were hurrying over the country to capture or kill these few people who had left the fever-stricken south, and in the face of every obstacle were steadily marching northward." (Emphasis added) (Parenthesis added). p.384.
More specifically, Stan Hoig in "Tribal Wars Of The Southern Plains", states there were 350 Northern Cheyenne, of which the Cheyenne fighting force consisted of 92 men and 69 boys. p. 303-304.
Brininstool states:
"On the 12th of September, Pope (General Pope, who commanded the Department of the Missouri) wired Gen. Phil Sheridan as follows: `The following dispositions have been made to intercept the Northern Cheyennes: One hundred mounted infantrymen leave by special train tomorrow for Fort Wallace, to head off the Indians if they cross the railroad east or west of that post. Two companies of infantry leave Fort Hays this evening to take post at two noted crossings of Indians on the Kansas-Pacific railroad, between Hays and Wallace. One infantry company from Dodge is posted on the railroad west of that point. Two cavalry companies from Fort Reno are close on the Indians, and will be joined by the cavalry company from Camp Supply. Colonel Lewis will assume command of them as soon as they reach the vicinity of Dodge. The troops at Fort Lyon are ordered out to watch the country east and west of that post, and are, unless they surrender, in which case they are to be ordered to attack the Indians at once whenever found dismounted and disarmed. Whatever precautions are possible should be taken on the line of the Platte.'" (Emphasis added). p. 132. "The Department of the Platte was not idle, meantime. Troops of the Forth, Ninth and Fourteenth Infantry were rushed to Sidney, Nebraska, over the Union Pacific, at which point a special train kept steam up day and night to rush troops east or west as needed." p. 132.
Can there be any doubt that it was the army spoiling for a fight? Nor were the Indians looking for a fight, they were tired of dying and simply wanted to go home. Says Grinnell:
"Almost as soon as they arrived, when they had been in camp but a very few days, they began to be stricken with fever and ague. Of nine hundred and ninety-nine in the camp nearly two thirds sickened within two months after their arrival. Every lodge held one or more sick people. During that winter forty-one died of sickness." (Emphasis added). p. 385.
This was hardly a flight about some white man's liberal pseudo intellectual 123 years later, "assault on their culture" or "an expression of their own rage against white society to control their lives" rationale, but it was rather without question, about sickness and dying. Says Grinnell:
"Malarial diseases were prevalent among all these Indians....Medical supplies, which that year should have been ready for use in the summer, were not received until the following January. Besides this, the Indians were ill-fed, receiving only about three-quarter rations, food of such a character that it was greatly complained of....It is not strange, then, that before the Northern Cheyenne had been a year in the Indian Territory they became greatly disheartened and discontented. They saw themselves sick, starving and dying and were much alarmed" p. 386.
As Little Wolf told the agent, J.D. Miles:
"`These people were raised far up in the north among the pines and the mountains. In that country we were always healthy. There was no sickness and very few of us died. Now, since we have been in this country, we are dying every day.'" (Emphasis added). p.386.
Little Wolf asked Miles to write Washington to get permission for the Northern Cheyenne to go back north. The agent's answer was:
"`I cannot do this now. Stay here for one more year and then we will see what we can do for you." "`No,' replied Little Wolf, `we cannot stay another year; we want to go now. Before another year has passed we may all be dead and there will be none of us left to travel north.'" (Emphasis added). p. 387.
Soon after this discussion with Miles, the agent sent Indian policemen to Little Wolf's camp to say that three Indians had run away and that he believed they were all going. The Indian policemen were to stop them. Little Wolf advised he would come in to talk to the agent, but before he could, troops were sent to the camp with a howitzer and the Indians were told they must go back to the agency. Subsequently a messenger came to advise Little Wolf to go in to talk to the agent. Little Wolf went with Wild Hog and Crow. Miles advised he had to have 10 Indian hostages as prisoners until the soldiers could bring back the 3 Indians that had gone off, then he would give the 10 back their liberty. Advises Grinnell:
"Little Wolf stood up and after he had shaken hands with the agent, and with some army officers who were there, he said: `I will not do what you ask. If you follow those three men, you cannot find them. Three men who are travelling over the country can hide, so that they cannot be found. You never could get back these three and you never would set my men free. You would keep them always.'" p.387.
The agent then told Little Wolf:
"`If you do not give me these ten men, I will give you no rations. I will give you nothing to eat until I get them. You shall starve until they are given to me. So you must give me those men, and I want them at once.'" (Emphasis added). p.388.
So, now the Northern Cheyenne are going to not only starve on the meager food they were getting from the agent, but they are now going to absolutely starve with no food at all. Do you suspect there was a white man in the country at the time, or even now, that would voluntarily remain at a government agency with nothing to eat? How many meals would be missed before he left? In short, by making unreasoned and absurd demands, the government's agent forced the Northern Cheyenne to leave or starve. Not an intelligent decision by the government's agent, if he were trying to get along. To suggest Miles' actions evidenced motives that were duplicitous, is to say it kindly. Moreover, the agent's acts say more about the governments's attitude towards the Indians, and the Army's spoiling for a fight, than it does even about the substance of the agent's unreasoned demands.2
2. The Commissioner of Indian Affairs at the time to whom Miles reported, was Ezra A. Hayt (1877-1880). Kvasnicka & Viola, in their book: "the Commissioners of Indian Affairs, 1824-1977", report the matter thusly: "Commissioner Hayt could not justly be blamed for the consequences of policy decisions made before he came to office, but two major crises erupted during his administration that were popularly (and perhaps correctly) believed to have been the result of mismanagement on his part and contributed importantly to his ultimate downfall. One of these was the escape of a band of 353 Northern Cheyenne under the leadership of Little Wolf and Dull Knife from the Indian Territory in September 1878...[t]he episode became a cause celebre and the subject of a Senate investigation in which charges of inattention to duty were made against the commissioner by his former chief clerk, William Leeds. Although Hayt defended himself by saying that at the time supplies should have been sent to the Northern Cheyennes Leeds was acting commissioner in Hayt's absence and therefore responsible for any negligence, his argument was not very persuasive." (Emphasis added). p. 159-160.
Said Little Wolf:
"`I cannot give you the ten men you wish, to be held for the three who have gone. I will not give them. I am a friend to the white people, and have been so for a long time. I went to see my Great Father in Washington, (hence the classic picture of Little Wolf and Dull Knife taken in 1873 prior to the Cheyenne flight through Kansas, See: Attachment A) and he told me that he did not wish any more blood spilled; that we ought to be friends and fight no more.'...`You and I have always been friends, but to-day I cannot do for you what you ask. I do not want any trouble, nor do I wish to have blood shed at this agency, but I cannot do what you ask.'....At last Little Wolf stood up and again shook hands with all present and said: `My friends, I am now going to my camp. I do not wish the ground about this agency to be made bloody, but now listen to what I say to you. I am going to leave here; I am going north to my own country. I do not want to see blood spilt about this agency. If you are going to send your soldiers after me, I wish you would first let me get a little distance away from this agency. Then if you want to fight, I will fight you and we can make the ground bloody at that place.'" (Emphasis added)(Parenthesis added). p. 388.
This meeting makes it absolutely clear, with no guess required, who it is that wants to fight and who it is that is just trying to survive.
Miles then advised Little Wolf not to go saying: "If you do you will have trouble.", to which Little Wolf replied:
"`We do not want trouble. We are not looking for anything of that kind. All we want is to get back to where we came from" (Emphasis added). p. 389.
That night they packed and by the next day they were gone.
I do not intend by the following to try to restate the total flight, but I do think a few facts ought to be stated, which give a totally different view of the flight, than that presented by the Associated Press and the Eagle.
Grinnell generally describes the flight thusly:
" The War Department set in operation against them all its resources, (as delineated above) but they kept on. If troops attacked them, they stopped and fought until they had driven off the soldiers, and then started north again. Sometimes they did not even stop, but marched along, fighting as they marched. For the most part they tried -- and with success -- to avoid conflicts and had but four real hard fights, in which they lost half a dozen men killed, and about as many wounded." (Emphasis added)(Parenthesis added). p. 384.
The Cheyenne's first contact with troops occurred the evening of the second night out (Sep. 10th) while they were camped on the Little Medicine Lodge River (perhaps, currently the Salt Fork of the Arkansas). Little Wolf advised his warriors:
"Do not any of you shoot until the troops have fired. Let them shoot first. But do you all get your arms and horses and I will go out and meet the troops, and try to talk with them. If they kill any of us, I will be the first man killed. Then you can fight." (Emphasis added). p.389.
There were some Arapaho scouts and Cheyenne policemen from the agency with the Army, who called out that the names of Dull Knife, Little Wolf, Wild Hog, and Tangle Hair, and said to Little Wolf that the white men want you to go back. Said Little Wolf:
"`Tell them that we do not want to fight; that we will not go back. We are leaving this country. I have no quarrel with anyone. I hold up my right hand that I do wish to fight with the whites; but we are going to our old home to stay there.'" (Emphasis added). p.389,
This statement of having no quarrel with anyone, hardly evidences any: "[e]xpression of their own rage against white society to control their lives." They simply were tired of being sick and of dying, and having even their meager rations taken away, and they were going home, even if they died on the way. After all, they were dying anyway, so it made no difference if they had to fight and perhaps die in their attempt to go home. But this is a far different rationale than rage against white society to control their lives. Says Grinnell:
"Presently the Arapaho went back, and Little Wolf rode toward the soldiers, wishing to talk, a bugle sounded and the soldiers advanced and began to fire at Little Wolf. Then the Cheyennes charged out and met the troops, and for a time they fought there. So it happened that the soldiers did not get near to the Cheyenne camp. It was perhaps four o'clock when the fighting began, and they fought till dark. Then the fire of the soldiers slackened, and Little Wolf called to his young men to stop firing and go to their camp." "The soldiers remained there all night, and the Cheyennes stayed and watched them. They did not fight during the night, but now and then all through the darkness shots were exchanged. Early the next morning they began to fight, and fought until the sun began to go toward the west, when the troops all turned and went back down the river. After they had gone, Little Wolf went over to where the soldiers had been. Lying on the ground there were three dead men -- a sergeant, a private soldier, and the Arapaho messenger. The troops had wounded five Cheyennes badly, but had killed none." (Emphasis added). p. 390.
Please note at this point there had been no mention of any civilians, only soldiers, scouts, and Indian police. And, it was the soldiers who initiated the contact and who fired first. The Cheyennes were forced to fight, and they fought to protect themselves and their women and children in their camp. And, the Cheyenne had every reason to know the Army intentionally killed Indian women and children, not only from the Sand Creek Massacre and Custer's morning star Washita Black Kettle sneak attack, but also from the Sappa Creek Massacre wherein Second Lieutenant Austin Henely from Fort Lyon Colorado intercepted Fort Sill run-a-way Southern Cheyenne on April 23rd, 1875, cut them off from their horses and trapped them in a shallow sink near the creek, and eventually picked off every one of the Cheyenne, 19 braves and eight women and children. (See, "The Buffalo War", by James L. Haley, p. 217-218. Speaking of the reason for this Southern Cheyenne flight, the selection for the policy of Florida imprisonment at Fort Marion, Haley says that an innocent Cheyenne named Black Horse -- selected randomly off the end of a line as one of eighteen to fill a quota, by Colonel Neill who was reportedly visibly drunk during the entire process -- bolted for the Cheyenne camp when being attempted to be shackled, and the troops fired hitting and dropping Black Horse, but with bullets ripping through Cheyenne tipis (tepees) in the process. Says Haley:
"The encamped Cheyennes, after Sand Creek and the Washita, were not strangers to first surrendering and then being slaughtered in their villages by soldiers; the Cheyennes prepared to fight, and in a few horrible seconds Neill realized he had serious trouble on his hands." (Emphasis added). p.216.)
The Army, of course, had no women and children along to protect. It is however consistent with the Army's orders for the troops at Fort Lyon Colorado: "[t]o attack the Indians at once wherever found, unless they surrender, in which case they are to be dismounted and disarmed." (Emphasis added). Brininstool, p. 132.
As to the second encounter, Grinnell says:
"After two nights more travel (Sep. 11th & 12th) other troops overtook them; a body of men mounted on gray horses. By this time they were close to the Cimarron River. The troops had either come from the north or had gone around them. At all events they charged the Indians from the north; perhaps they had come down from the Arkansas River. Of these troops there were not so many as the others. It was in the daytime (Sep. 13th) and the Cheyennes were moving when the troops were discovered. The soldiers formed a line and charged, but the Cheyennes drove them back in the direction of Dodge City, and kept on northward. The fight was a very short one, and the soldiers left them and the Indians camped not far from the scene of the fight." (Emphasis added)(Parenthesis added) p. 390.
Again, please note there is no mention of any encounter with civilians, only the Army. And, it clearly was the Army who intercepted the Indians, formed a line, and charged firing. The Cheyenne were simply on the move with their families, not looking for trouble, but were forced to again fight. The Cheyenne ought to have at least by then considered themselves at war, whether they wanted to or not. Also, please note that the Cimarron River area is the Kansas/Oklahoma boarder area in southwest Kansas. Hoig, in "Tribal Wars Of The Southern Plains", describes the location of this second encounter on the 13th of Sep., as follows:
"On the thirteenth, at a place known as Turkey, Springs, fifty miles northwest of Camp Supply they were engaged by two troops of cavalry under Captain Joseph Rendlebrock. The Cheyenne fighting force of ninety-two men and sixty-nine boys stood off the soldiers, killing three troopers and an Arapaho scout before moving on." (Emphasis added) p.303.
Fifty miles northwest of Camp Supply, scales to approximately 20 miles west and 5 miles north of Englewood, in Meade County Kansas, just north of Crooked Creek and perhaps 10 miles northwest of where Crooked Creek runs into the Cimarron River. This is consistent with Grinnell representation that this encounter occurred near the Cimarron River.3
3. It occurs to me that the reference to Turkey Springs, might now be the same place that is called St. Jacobs Well, which is 11 miles straight north of Englewood, KS, where high way 160 running west from Ashland, KS, turns north. The area, which is a state park with buffalo, and particularly the natural well, was long before the white man, an Indian landmark and watering point. Also, 35 miles straight north of St. Jacobs Well is Dodge city, where they crossed the Arkansas River. And, Grinnell states at this fight theydrove the troops back in the direction of Dodge City, and kept on northward.
Says Powers:
"When the Northern Cheyenne went through Kansas, they already had killed settlers." (Emphasis added).
What authority Mr. Powers has, other than his own, for this alleged fact is not stated. Nor do I find any statement of any civilians or settlers being personally attacked or killed in Oklahoma by the Northern Cheyenne before reaching Kansas, in either Grinnell's book, Brininstool's book, or Hoig's book. Since Mr. Powers holds himself out as having: "[w]ritten extensively on the Cheyenne", I would request that the Board of Directors request Mr. Powers to provide me citations to whatever authority he has that evidences the Cheyenne had killed settlers in Oklahoma prior to entering Kansas.
Grinnell reports the third encounter, in part, as follows:
"The next day (Sep. 14th) they went on, and about the
middle of the day a large body of troops was seen coming toward them from the Arkansas River, and with the soldiers were many citizens. (These "citizens" are Powers settlers who were just minding their own business and: "[n]ot seeking to hurt the Northern Cheyenne in any way.") There were more of these troops than in either of the other forces that had attack them. As soon as the troops came in sight of the marching village, they charged it. There was a short fight, only a few shots and then the bugle began to blow and the troops went away. It seemed as if they did not want to fight. Nevertheless the troops were the first to fire. In this fight they broke a Cheyenne's leg. Up to this time Little Wolf had held his men well in control, and had in most cases waited before fighting until the troops had begun to fire. He also told his young men that he had no wish to fight with the citizens; that their fight was with the soldiers. Up to this time there had been nothing but straight up and down fighting and no depredations of any character, except the killing of some cattle and the taking of some horses, both of which might fairly enough be called military necessities." (Emphasis added)(Parenthesis added). p. 391.
Please note that because of the half day of travel prior to the third encounter, there is even a higher probability that this third encounter happened in Kansas, even if the second did not, although I believe the second encounter did occur in Kansas, as stated above. But even if the third encounter occurred in Oklahoma right at the Kansas border, there were only a few shots, and there is no report of any citizens being killed. Further, the soldiers and citizens came from the north, the Arkansas River, and therefore they came from Kansas, and in high probability were Kansans. More fundamentally, it is Kansas white men, settlers, now hunting the Northern Cheyenne and attacking by charging and firing at the Cheyenne as soon as they see them, not the Cheyenne in rage lashing out at innocent settlers not seeking to hurt the Northern Cheyenne in any way. And, at this point in time, the Cheyenne could legitimately consider themselves attacked, not only by the army, but by the settlers themselves. Any killing of settlers subsequent to this third encounter, must be considered in light of this army/settlers joint attack. The Cheyenne should now be justified in fighting settlers as well as the army. Further, the Cheyenne specifically deny that any settlers were killed or wounded prior to this third encounter in southern Kansas. Only the killing of some cattle, obviously just enough to live on as they were traveling, and taking of some horses, as the grass is brown in Sep. and their horses were weak so they needed replacement horses to pack their goods. And of course, the government owed them their provisions in any case, but agent Miles had cut off all food in his ill-conceived attempt to starve them into submission, or in the alternative, force them into flight so that they could be attacked and killed by the army.
Grinnell continues with the third encounter, thusly:
"After these last troops had gone over the hill out of sight, and the Cheyenne village had got together and begun to move on again, suddenly the troops came back, and it seemed as if there were more of them than there had been before. It was now late in the day, pretty well toward evening, and the Cheyenne went down into the little creek and made camp, and the troops went off in another direction and they too went into camp. There was no fighting. The people slept there all night." p. 391.
With what is now the fourth encounter, but with the same folks at the third encounter, Grinnell continues:
"Very early in the morning (Sep. 15th), someone went out on the high hill to watch the troops. They had broken camp and were moving toward the Cheyenne camp. It could now be seen that they had many wagons, perhaps thirty or forty, and the wagons made the force look like a large body of men. Now the Cheyenne got on their horses and fought there hard all day. It was hard fighting, not playing. They lost no men, for they did not charge ...Close by the wagons the whites dismounted. They were in plain sight and all their movements could be seen. The soldiers began to advance on foot in a skirmish line, firing all the time. There were so many of the white people that the Cheyennes began to get excited. But Little Wolf spoke, saying: "Let no man fire a shot, and do not get excited. They have plenty of ammunition; we have very little. Lie hid and wait." (Emphasis added). p.391.
"When the soldiers had come quite close to the Cheyennes, Little Wolf ordered them to fire. They shot and killed a soldier, and when he fell all the others fell, too. The soldiers remained lying on the ground, but kept firing at the top of the hill constantly; only now and then receiving a shot in return." p. 392. "As they looked over the hill, presently the Cheyennes saw twenty men (settlers) rise to their feet and walk away toward the wagons (The settlers were with the army during the charge and it can be assumed firing also). When they reached the wagons, they mounted their horses and rode away, striking in below the wagons, so as to go around the point of the hill the Cheyennes were on, and get behind them. (The settlers are actively managing their portion of the fight on their own, at the instruction of the army, or at least with tacit army approval). Then Little Wolf took some men around to meet the twenty white men, and when he met them, he charged them and drove them back to the wagons, killing one. (This is the first reported white man (settler) killed, it is in southern Kansas, it is only after being attacked by a joint force of army and settlers, and it is during defense of the settlers' attack and attempt to get behind the Cheyenne to put them in a cross fire). When the soldiers saw them coming back, they all jumped up and rushed for the wagons (The soldiers were in on the plan to get the Cheyenne in a cross fire, and when they saw that their plan had failed and that the Cheyenne were driving the settlers back to the wagons, the soldiers who were holding the Cheyenne on the hill, jumped up and retreated to the safety of the wagons and the additional forces of the settlers). Then Dull Knife ordered the Cheyennes to charge from the top of the hill. The soldiers all mounted and started away, and the wagons started, the mules on a lope. As the Cheyennes were following them, trying to overtake them, Little Wolf called out: "Stop, stop; the grass is not very high and our horses are not strong enough to stand a long run." All stopped and turned back..." (Emphasis added) (Parenthesis added). p. 392. "When the fight began, the women were frightened, but during the day they built their fires, and cooked food, and fed the men while they fought." "That evening (Sep. 15th) Little Wolf said to the men: "My friends, there are too many troops here for us to fight. We must run away. We must move out this night and try to get away from here." Soon after dark, therefore, they moved out." (Emphasis added). p.392.
Please note that it is now the army and the settlers who as soon as they see the Cheyenne with their women and children, charge firing with no attempt to find any solution except war and a military victory. The Cheyenne are now fully justified in defending themselves and fighting the army and the settlers, where ever found, as not only the soldiers, but the settlers have fully demonstrated that their intent is to kill Cheyenne on sight. Moreover, there are so many white settlers along with the army, that the Cheyenne were "excited", which should be understood to mean that they were concerned for their safety and whether or not the Cheyenne men would be able to defend their women and children, as well as their own lives. And, it can not be doubted that the army and the white settlers were well aware of the fact that they had as abundance of ammunition, and that the Cheyenne were bound to have very little. They were spoiling for a fight, and the opportunity to kill some Indians, and attacked on the charge, firing as they went, as soon as they came within sight of the Northern Cheyenne. These were all truly brave folks, soldier and white settler alike, as long as they had superior numbers, superior weapons, abundantly more ammunition than the Cheyenne, wagons of supplies, tactical position, and grain fed horses. But they lost their nerve fast, and ran for the wagons and hightailed it, when it is they ran up against the assiduous fighting Cheyenne, fighting for their and their families very lives. But Little Wolf, reasoned and rational as always, and not looking for a fight, determined to try to break away from the fighting, and so they moved out at night. Continues Grinnell:
"Early the next morning (Sep. 16th), when they were near the Arkansas River, (This is more evidence that at least the fights on the 14th and 15th at the same location, occurred in Kansas) they came upon a company of men who were killing buffalo--hide hunters. They rushed in on them and surrounded them and took eighteen buffalo cows they had killed. Little Wolf had ordered his people not to kill the men if they would give up their guns, and no one was harmed. They took all the ammunition they had, great long cartridges for these heavy guns, kegs of powder, lead, bullet moulds, and everything they had for reloading their cartridges." (Emphasis added)(Parenthesis added). p.392-393
Concerning this same incident, Stan Hoig states: "Moving at night, the Cheyennes reached the Arkansas River, there charging the camp of some buffalo hunters. They took eighteen slaughtered buffalo cows for food, but released the hunters without harm." (Emphasis added) p. 304
In the article, in a statement impliedly attributed to Powers, it is stated:
"In their trek homeward, they moved through Kansas, raided cattle camps south of Dodge City and encountered Army troops near Scott City, but managed to escape capture." (Emphasis added).
In the first instance, the Cheyenne were too busy fighting for their lives against the soldiers and the large number of white Kansas settlers with them on the 14th and 15th of September, to be raiding "cattle camps" south of Dodge City. Secondly, the incident referred to was the fortuitous running into a buffalo camp, not a cattle camp. And, by the way, who's buffalo were they in the first instance. The buffalo hunters were caught stealing the Indians' buffalo. But of course, had the article been intellectually honest, and truthfully advised of buffalo, not cattle, the readership of the Eagle could have made up their own minds as to who was stealing what from whom.
Secondly, the implication of the article is that the first encounter with Army troops in Kansas, occurred near Scott City. Not so! Probably the second, and both the third and forth encounters with Army troops combined with white Kansas settlers, occurred in Kansas, south of the Arkansas River.
Further, the fifth encounter which occurred in Kansas, shortly after they had crossed the Arkansas River, the article also fails to mention. Says Brininstool:
"Two companies of the Fourth Cavalry finally contested his right of way about three miles from Dodge City, Kansas. There was some sharp skirmishing on both sides, and while a number of wounded were reported, Dull Knife was too much for the troops. He succeeded in compelling them to fall back and give him free passage..." (Emphasis added). p.133.
Says Grinnell:
"The point where they had crossed the Arkansas was a short distance above Fort Dodge." (Emphasis added). p.393.
Please note that Fort Dodge is about five miles east of Dodge City, so perhaps they crossed the Arkansas River about two miles west of Fort Dodge. Also note that the Indians preferred Buffalo to cattle, and if they could obtain Buffalo, they did not kill cattle. Says Hoig:
"Soon after crossing the Arkansas above Fort Dodge, the refugees were again attacked by troops, whom they repulsed after a brief fight. From there they moved across western Kansas, dodging the U.S. Army and fighting when necessary." (Emphasis added) p.304.
As to the sixth encounter, Grinnell states:
"After they had crossed the Arkansas River they came to a little creek and camped. Buffalo were plenty, and while the men were chasing buffalo the women were making breastworks on the knolls back from the creek, and when they had finished this they busied themselves cutting out and drying the meat." (Please note that the Indians preferred buffalo to cattle, and if they could obtain buffalo, they did not kill cattle.)
"After a time, some watchers who were out on the hills saw soldiers following their trial. The Cheyennes got together and crossed over to the little creek, camping where the breastworks had been made. The watchers told the camp everything that was happening, and the Cheyennes formed a line on the ridge where the breastworks were." "Close behind the soldiers followed their wagons. With the soldiers were some Indian scouts. When the soldiers had come close to them, the Cheyennes fired and then turned about and went to their breastworks. They saw three soldiers fall. (I believe this encounter was on Famished Woman's Fork, not far from old Fort Wallace, where Colonel W.H. Lewis was killed and three soldiers were wounded, as reported by Brininstool, p. 134) The troops crossed the ridge the Cheyennes were on, passing over to the next creek and there corralled their wagons. They were in plain sight of the Cheyennes. When the soldiers dismounted, they marched toward the breastworks, constantly spreading out and almost encircling the camp. There were many of the troops. On the right an officer was swinging his sabre and leading on his men, and the soldiers followed him. Little Wolf said to his people, `Let them come on; lie quiet; do not fire a shot. Wait until I tell you.'" "The soldiers kept getting closer, walking ahead and firing as they came, but Little Wolf would not allow his men to shoot. While the soldiers were advancing and firing, the bullets were coming so thick that they were constantly knocking up the dirt about the Cheyennes, and covering them with dust. Little Wolf sat there smoking a pipe and calling out to his men, encouraging them. `Do not get excited,' he said; `keep cool, and mind what I say to you.' Tangle Hair, who sat next to him and watched him, said to me: `Little Wolf did not seem like a human being; he seemed like an animal -- a bear. He seemed without fear.'" "At last the soldiers had come quite close, and some of them began to climb the hill. Then Little Wolf said: `Now men, get ready, but let every shot you fire count for a man.' When the Cheyennes fired, some of the soldiers fell, and all moved back some of them running hard. After they had moved away the fight continued until dark. Then the soldiers went back to the wagons." "That night Little Wolf again said to his people: `My friends, we must try to get through here without so much fighting, or we may all be killed. We must go faster.' "That night they packed up and set out north again, moving as fast as they could and travelling two or three days without stopping, until they got to the White Man's Fork (Frenchman's Fork of the Republican in Southern Nebraska). There the troops came on them again, but there was no fight. (Note: The Cheyennes did not attack the troops, and since the troops did not attact them, there was no fight.) The Cheyennes kept travelling. They did not stop at all. They went on from here without seeing any troops, sometimes travelling night and day, and sometimes travelling by night and camping during the day. They kept scouts out far behind and on either side, watching. (Note: They clearly were travelling in a fashion, so as to attempt to avoid the soldiers). At different places as they went along they captured fresh horses. (Note: They must have considered themselves under attack and therefore at war, so they were "capturing" horses, not stealing them). They crossed the South Platte, about four miles west of Ogallala, then a railroad, and the North Platte. After they had crossed the North Platte River, near the mouth of White Clay Creek, they stopped to rest, and that day some soldiers came within sight of the camp, stopped and locked at them and went away." (Again there was no fight, as the army did not attack). "After they had crossed the Platte River they separated, Little Wolf going on to the northern country, and Dull Knife turning west toward Fort Robinson...Little Wolf regretted the separation. He wished them all to keep together, and said to Dull Knife: `You can go that way if you wish, but I intend to work my way up to the Powder River country. I think it will be better for us all if the party is not divided.' Dull Knife, however, felt that they had now got back to their own country, and that nothing bad would happen to them. Later his party surrendered to the troops without a fight." (Emphasis added)(Parenthesis added) p.393-395.
Please note that the article states they wanted to return: "[t]o the Black Hills of South Dakota". In fact Little Wolf evidenced he wanted to go to the Powder River country, in Wyoming and Montana, while Dull Knife wanted to go to the Fort Robinson area of Nebraska, neither of which locations is the Black Hills of South Dakota.
Also as to the sixth encounter, Brininstool states:
"The Kansas-Pacific railroad was crossed without opposition, the expected check at this point failing to materialize, and the undaunted Cheyennes boldly continuing on north, where the troops along the line of the Union Pacific were waiting for them." p.133. "And while Crook was waiting and watching, wondering where lightning would strike next, Dull Knife encountered the Nineteenth Infantry under Colonel W.H. Lewis, on Famished Woman's Fork, not far from old Fort Wallace. Here the chief again demonstrated his wonderful fighting ability and generalship in a battle which lasted two hours, in which Colonel Lewis was killed and three soldiers wounded, while Dull Knife's loss was one man killed and seventeen ponies captured by Lewis's force." (Emphasis added) p.134.
Note that Brininstool states the Army is "Capturing" the Cheyennes' ponies, just as the Cheyennes report to Grinnell that they were capturing the horses of white men. In short, apparently both sides considered it to be a war. Continues Brininstool:
"It is possible that at about this point Dull Knife must have divided his forces, (Note: The Cheyennes denied this location as the point they separated. At this point they were still together.) as two separate engagements were fought a few days after the battle with Lewis's troops. In one of these skirmishes, six soldiers were killed and one officer wounded. The other fight was a desperate one between some ranchmen and the Indians, in which eighteen of the settlers were killed and five badly wounded. The Indian loss was not given." (Emphasis added)(Parenthesis added) p.134.
There are a number of discrepancies between Brininstool's report of these two encounters, the seventh and eighth of the flight, and the articles statements. The article states the seventh encounter happened on Sep. 30th in Decatur County, and the eighth the next day on Oct. 1st in Rawlins County. Says the article:
"On Sept. 30, 1878, the Northern Cheyenne arrived in Decatur County, plundered the countryside and killedThe Next day, they killed some 18 settlers. The next day, they killed about a dozen settlers in Rawlins County and headed over the rolling grassy hills to Nebraska where they eventually surrendered." "There were reasons the Northern Cheyenne would lash out against the whites, although it is hard to justify," Powers said. "These were settlers not seeking to hurt the Northern Cheyenne in any way." (Emphasis added).
I don't believe these encounters are hard to justify at all. In the first instance, Kansas settlers on two occasions in southern Kansas, with massive numbers, had already attack the Cheyennes shoulder to shoulder with the Army. These events by themselves would be sufficient justification for the Cheyennes to attack Kansas settlers in northern Kansas. But I find no evidence of the Cheyennes instigating attacks of settlers other than to kill cattle before they got buffalo meat, and to capture horses they needed to replace tired horses for travelling. Only in the article does it claim that the Cheyenne: "[p]lundered the countryside and killed some 18 settlers." Brininstool says these settlers were: "ranchers". There were 18 ranchers killed and 5 badly wounded. There were therefore at least 23 ranchers in the group, plus however many were not injured. This was not plundering the countryside and killing 18 individual settlers, as Powers would have us believe. Rather, this was one fight with a large group of ranchers. You would not get 23 ranchers in one group, absent a general yearly roundup on open range, other than for a specific call for a purpose. And, that purpose was clearly to find the Cheyennes and kill as many as possible. The Cheyenne had continually tried to avoid fighting both the Army and the white man, Kansas ranchers, and it must be assumed that since they had just hunted buffalo and jerked the meat at the time of the sixth encounter when attacked by Colonel W.H. Lewis, they had no need to kill cattle or to be slowed down killing and butchering cattle, which they had just accomplished with buffalo a few days earlier.
Moreover, with the Army word out all over the country, and Kansas ranchers in southern Kansas fighting shoulder to shoulder with the soldiers, and attacking the Cheyennes on sight, the evidence is that the probability is the 23 rancher casualties plus group in Decatur County on Sept. 30, were out hunting the Cheyennes for a fight, not the other way around as presented by Powers. These ranchers were not settlers in the since of individual farmers, as implied by Powers. Nor were the ranchers: "[n]ot seeking to hurt the Northern Cheyenne in any way." They were clearly out in a large group looking to kill as many Cheyennes as they could find, and they got killed in the process themselves. Since the Cheyenne on the whole trip lost: "half a dozen men killed, and about as many wounded" (See, Grinnell, p.384), it is clear the ranchers bit off more than they could chew, and they paid for their aggression with 18 killed and five badly wounded.
The next discrepancy is that the article says the following day, Oct. 1st, the Cheyenne: "[k]illed about a dozen settlers in Rawlins County." Brininstool says that in this skirmish: "[s]ix soldiers were killed and one officer wounded." Brininstool says nothing about some dozen settlers being killed in Rawlins County. These settlers are probably again ranchers, or maybe Powers is confused and they were just soldiers, not settlers or ranchers at all. Even if there were twelve settlers or ranchers killed, they were fighting shoulder to shoulder with the Army, as six soldiers were killed and one officer wounded, at this eighth encounter.
The next discrepancy, is that they did not all surrender in Nebraska. Only Dull Knife's band surrendered in Nebraska. After separating, Little Wolf's band went down the Running Water (Niobrara) to the Sand Hills, and spent the winter there. It was not until the spring of the following year (March), that they went on north, until they were near the Powder River. There, scouts of Lieutenant W.P. Clark who was camped at the mouth of the powder River, found Little Wolf, who told the scouts to go tell the soldiers where he was. Subsequently, Lieutenant Clark (White Hat), met with Little Wolf at his camp at a point north of the Charcoal Butte, on the west side of the Little Missouri River, at which meeting Little Wolf, because of his friendship with Clark, agreed to go to the camp at the mouth of the Powder River and gave up their arms, subsequently moving up the Yellowstone to Fort Keogh in Montana. (See, Grinnell, p. 395-397). Subsequently, the Northern Cheyenne Reservation was established between the Tongue and Rosebud Rivers, with the Northern Cheyenne Center and School at Lame Deer, Montana, which center I have visited.
In conclusion, Hoig states:
"Most of them were allowed to remain in the north country, but seven of their men were sent to Kansas to stand trial for killings that had occurred during their flight. All were eventually released and returned to the Darlington Agency." (See, Attachment B). "The Cheyenne wars of Indian Territory were over. Now would begin the long and difficult task of adjusting to the new world of the whites. Today no one can justly deny the Plains tribes' right to resist. Homeland, freedom, way of life were just as dear to them as to the American revolutionists of 1776. It would be difficult to argue that the Indians' cause was not as just and worthy as that for which the minutemen at Concord and George Washington's men at Valley Forge once fought." (Although not for Mr. Powers, for whom the Indians' actions are hard to justify)(Emphasis added) p. 304.
It is clear to me that the Kansas Historical Society ought to be dedicated to the preservation of history, as near the truth as possible, unadulterated by any mental gymnastics of any liberal agenda or thought process of current political correctness. History is not about the process of promoting an agenda, nor should it be taken as an opportunity to recreate some contrived feel good story unrelated to the truth. But rather, discussing history ought to be about the process of relating in truth what actually happened, from known studied facts. And clearly is that obligation even more so for an organization holding itself out as the Kansas Historical Society.
Buffalo are not cattle. Soldiers are not settlers. Ranchers out spoiling for a fight, charging Indians on sight and firing shoulder to shoulder with soldiers, are not innocent civilians or settlers who meant no harm to the Cheyenne. And Indians who were sick and dying and simply wanted to go home, were not out to express their rage against white society to control their lives; when they attempted to avoid fights, but assiduously defended themselves and their family's lives, when they could not avoid attacks by the Army and Kansas ranchers. To say it otherwise, is frankly, to simply intentionally falsify history, to say it kindly.
Respectfully submitted,
Fred L. Marrs
CC: The Wichita Eagle;
Tom Bliss Rawlins County Historical Society
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