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troops also failed to render effective
assistance. The rebel forces were then withdrawn toward
Fort Smith and in the direction of the Canadian river,
where, in the latter part of August, General Steele
had concentrated the troops of Cabell, Cooper and
Stand Watie. General Blunt moved in this direction
and at Perryville, in the Choctaw Nation, had a skirmish
with some of Cabell's troops. Perryville was a regular
military post and an important depot of the Confederates,
being the only point between Boggy Depot and North
Fork Town. As nearly every building contained government
stores (according to the report of the Union general),
the entire town was set on fire. The Confederates
were now in general retreat, Cooper and Steele retiring
toward Red river, while Cabell made an effort to hold
Fort Smith. Col. W. F. Cloud, of the Second Kansas
Volunteers, pursued him to Fort Smith, whence Cabell
retired before him, and overtook him at Devil's Back
Bone, a ridge of the Poteau mountains. After three
hours' fighting, the enemy continued their retreat,
and Colonel Cloud returned to Fort Smith, of which
post he then assumed command (in September, 1863).12
[Footnotes]
not discover the location
of their artillery, as it was masked in the brush.
While engaged in this reconnaissance, one of my escort
was shot.
As my men came up, wearied and exhausted,
I directed them halted behind a little ridge, about
one-half mile from the enemy's line, to rest and eat
a lunch from their haversacks. After two hours' rest,
and at about 10 a. m., I formed them in two columns,
one on the right of the road, under Colonel (William
R.) Judson, the other on the left, under Colonel
(William A.) Phillips. The infantry was in
column by companies, the cavalry by platoons and artillery
by sections, and all closed in mass so as to deceive
the enemy in regard to the strength of my force. In
this order I moved up rapidly to within one-fourth
of a mile of their line, when both columns were suddenly
deployed to the right and left, and in less than five
minutes my whole force was in line of battle, covering
the enemy's entire front. Without halting, I moved
them forward in line of battle, throwing out skirmishers
in advance, and soon drew their fire, which revealed
the location of their artillery. The cavalry, which
was on the two flanks, was dismounted, and fought
on foot with their carbines. In a few moments the
entire force was engaged. My men steadily advanced
into the edge of the timber, and the fighting was
unremitting and terrific for two hours, when the center
of the rebel lines, where they had massed their heaviest
force, became broken, and they commenced a retreat.
In their rout I pushed them vigorously, they making
several determined stands, especially at the bridge
over Elk Creek, but were each time repulsed. In their
retreat they set fire to their commissary buildings,
which were 2 miles south of where the battle commenced,
destroying all their supplies. I pursued them about
3 miles to the prairie south of Elk Creek, where my
artillery horses could draw the guns no farther, and
the cavalry horses and infantry were completely exhausted
from fatigue. The enemy's cavalry still hovered in
my front, and about 4 p. m. General Cabell
came in sight with 3,000 reenforcements [reinforcements].
My ammunition was nearly exhausted, yet I determined
to bivouac on the field and risk battle in the morning
if they desired it, but the morning revealed the fact
that during the night they had retreated south on
the Canadian river.
The enemy's loss was as follows: Killed
upon the field and buried by my men, 150; wounded,
400; and 77 prisoners taken, 1 piece of artillery,
1 stand of colors, 200 stands of arms and 15 wagons,
which I burned. My loss is 17 killed, 60 wounded,
most of them slightly. My forces engaged were the
First, Second, and Third Indian; First Kansas (colored),
detachments of the Second Colorado, Sixth Kansas,
and Third Wisconsin Cavalry, Hopkin's battery
of four guns, two sections of Second Kansas Battery,
under Capt. E. A. Smith, and four howitzers
attached to the cavalry.
12From his camp on Little
Boggy in the Choctaw Nation, on August 28, 1863, the
Confederate General Steele made the following
report: "I arrived at this place yesterday, having
been obliged to fall back before superior numbers.
We were closely pursued until we left Perryville,
since which time we have not been molested. On the
26th shots were exchanged frequently between their
advance and my rear, and in the evening it was necessary
to use my whole force to hold them in check until
my train could get away. The advance of General Bankhead's
command is now within a few miles, in consequence
of orders sent direct to the regimental commanders.
I retired on this road to meet the troops that I expected,
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December 11, 1863, General
Steele was relieved, at his own request, of
the command of Indian Territory, and Brig.-Gen. S.
B. Maxey assigned to that command. The position
of the Confederate troops in Indian Territory at the
close of 1863 was even as discouraging as at the time
General Steele took command. GeneralMaxey
reported (December 26, 1863, "War of Rebellion,"
Ser. I, Vol. 22, Part ii) that his men were armed
with guns of almost every variety, and that over a
thousand were without arms. The only forces that could
be counted on for fighting were Cano's brigade,
of a little more than a thousand men, and the Indian
brigade. Stand Watie, the Cherokee chief and
commander of an Indian regiment, in August, 1863,
in communications to the southern commissioner of
Indian affairs and to the governors of the adjoining
Indian nations, described the wretched condition of
the southern Indians and the deplorable effects of
the war. He charged that the Indian troops who had
been true to the south from the very first had been
treated in many instances as though it were immaterial
whether or not they were paid as promptly and equipped
as thoroughly as other soldiers. Many of the Indians
charged the Confederate government with neglect, and
the official reports show that the southern troops
among the Indians were never properly equipped with
arms and supplied with clothing and provisions.
Since the invasion of the Cherokee country
by northern troops in April, 1863, and the seizure
of Fort Gibson, Stand Watie claimed that no
vigorous efforts had been made on the part of the
southern troops to dislodge them. Continuing, he said,
in his letter to the Creek Nation: "They have
desolated the land and robbed the people, until scarcely
a southern family is left east and north of the Arkansas
river. . . . The promised protection of the Confederate
government, owing, I am compelled to say, to the glaring
inefficiency of its subordinate agents, has accomplished
nothing; it has been a useless and expensive pageant;
an object for the success of our enemies and the shame
of our friends. I fear that we can reasonably look
for no change for the better, but that the Indians
will have at last to rely upon themselves alone in
the defense of their country. I believe it is in the
power of the Indians unassisted, but united and determined,
to hold their country. We cannot expect to do this
without serious losses and many trials and privations;
but if we possess the spirit of our fathers, and are
resolved never to be enslaved by an inferior race,
and trodden under the feet of an ignorant and insolent
foe, we, the Creeks, Choctaws, Chickasaws, Seminoles
and Cherokees, never can be conquered by the Kansas
jayhawkers, renegade Indians, and runaway negroes."
In 1863 of the Cherokees remaining about
the agency of Tahlequah, nearly all the able-
[Footnotes]
and to enable me to concentrate.
The Creeks, who were encamped above North Fork Town,
were ordered to join at Perryville, which they had
ample time to do, but failed to do so. I have not
heard from them. A Choctaw regiment joined, but about
half of its numbers were unarmed. Col. Stand Watie,
who was on a scout to Webber's Falls, where the enemy
were reported crossing, has not joined. Many of the
Cherokees have left to look after their families.
Of the two regiments, there are probably not more
than 100 in camp. General Cabell's brigade
has been ordered to the vicinity of Fort Smith to
resist a threatened movement from Cassville, and in
the hope that the movement in that direction would
arrest the desertions of the Arkansas troops. My communications
by way of Fort Smith have been rendered very uncertain
by recent movements. (War of the Rebellion, Official
Records of the Union and Confederate Armies. Series
I Vol. XXII, pp. 599-600.)
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98
bodied men were in the army, and the
labor of planting and cultivating devolved almost
entirely on the women and children.13 It
had been represented that the country was clear of
rebels, and under that assurance a large body of refuges
had returned to their country, relying on the protection
of the regiment at Fort Gibson under Colonel Phillips.
But the rebel forces were still active under the leadership
of Stand Watie. The loyal Indians had barely
succeeded in getting their crops under way, when,
about May 21, Stand Watie and his band entered the
Territory and, according to the report of the United
States agent, robbed the women and children of everything
they could find, and took off horses, cattle, wagons,
farming utensils, etc., drove off the inhabitants.
Robbing, sometimes murdering and burning, continued
without abatement until July. Most of the inhabitants
fled to Fort Gibson, where they had to be subsisted
by government supplies sent down from Fort Scott,
over a road constantly beset by guerrilla bands.
Early in 1864 the Union Forces, under
Col. W. A. Phillips, commanding the Indian
brigade, started on a campaign toward southern Indian
Territory with the purpose of driving the enemy into
Texas. From Little Rivertown, near old Fort Arbuckle,
Colonel Phillips reported on February 16, 1864, that
all the Canadian valley and its tributaries had been
swept clear of the rebels, and that it was his intention
to leave no subsistence for a rebel army, or forage,
so that all the supplies would have to come from Red
river in any movement undertaken against Arkansas.
Later in the same month (February 24), after returning
to Fort Gibson, he reported: "I do not hesitate
to say that the expedition has been more eminently
successful than any ever undertaken in the Indian
country. So far as the rebel Creek, Seminole, and
Chickasaw nations are concerned, the war is over.
They have been destroyed or driven from their country.
Those who are not seeking peace are fleeing to Mexico,
and the Choctaw Nation is in council. The severity
of the blow has stricken terror to the enemy. My command
reached a point near Red river valley, 165 miles south-southwest
of this place. We marched about 400 miles; killed,
as nearly as I can get information, in the different
fights and skirmishes, 250 men, and have only four
wounded, all of whom will recover."14
[Footnotes]
13Exec.
Doc., 1st Sess., 38th Cong.
14During this campaign Colonel
Phillips addressed letters to the governor
of the Choctaws, to the Choctaw council and to the
chief of the Seminoles, declaring that the end of
the rebellion was near and demanding the return of
the southern Indians to their old allegiance. In his
letter to the Choctaw council, he said: "I want
to say to you who are acting for the Choctaw Nation
and people that the president of the United States
has issued a proclamation offering peace and mercy.
The rebellion is coming to an end, its paper money
is worthless, its means destroyed, but little of it
left, and that fast going to destruction. I should
not write to you, but I know you have been grossly
deceived by those rebels, who made this wicked and
unnecessary war to overthrow a good government, a
government under which all had their rights, and which
you know never wronged you. The president does not
wish to destroy you, but everything will be destroyed
that stands in the way of peace to the great republic.
As your friend and the friend of peace in the Indian
Territory, I write to you to think of these things,
and to see whether your people want to be destroyed
in the vain hope of giving aid to a wicked rebellion.
There is no possible reason why you should want to
rebel against the government that fed and protected
you, and under which you had peace. Peace you will
never have again until you come back to its shelter.
Do not deceive your people. God will curse and they
upbraid you if you do. You have to choose between
peace and mercy and destruction. Bad men have deceived
you and bought you with a little money that never
did you any good. It will not be long before destruction
comes. I think you understand I am in earnest. Do
you want peace? If so, let
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In the fall of 1864 occurred
the last important movement of the Confederates into
Missouri and Kansas. The main part of the campaign
was Price's expedition into Missouri. With
a large force he moved up from Arkansas toward the
Missouri river, threatening St. Louis, and then turning
westward advanced along the river to the Kansas line.
His aggressive movement was checked at Independence,
Missouri, and in a series of engagements along the
Kansas line he was forced back into Arkansas, without
having effected any important advantage by his campaign,
nor succeeding in drawing away any portion of the
federal armies from their operations east of the Mississippi.
As a co-operating movement with the Price
expedition, the Confederate forces in Indian Territory
planned and carried out their last effective raid
north of the Arkansas. It was planned to send Stand
Watie up the Neosho valley into Kansas, his forces
acting as a flanking movement in conjunction with
the Missouri expedition. As the first stage of this
scheme, Generals Watie and Gano were
ordered, in September, north of the Arkansas to raid
towards the Kansas line, and perhaps intercept the
federal train coming south from Fort Scott.
The outcome of this excursion was the
capture, by General Gano, of a big train of
supplies at Cabin Creek, which was one of the notable
exploits of the southern troops in Indian Territory
during the war. The value of the train was estimated
at a million dollars, and was specially useful in
furnishing the southern Indians supplies of clothing
and other equipment of which they had been sorely
in need from almost the beginning of the war.
Major Henry Hopkins, of the Second
Kansas Cavalry, who commanded the supply train from
Fort Scott to Fort Gibson, had a force of about 600
whites and Indians. He reached Horse creek on the
night of September 17th, and, here learning of the
approach of the enemy, hastened on to a position on
Cabin creek, where he arrived on the 18th. The enemy
were strongly posted in a hollow on the prairie, according
to his report, and shortly after midnight they attacked.
At the beginning of the fight the teamsters stampeded,
and taking with them one or two mules from each wagon,
it became impossible to move the train. The federal
guard succeeded in holding their position till morning,
when the Confederates charged and drove them from
the train, which thus fell into the possession of
Gano's men. Major Hopkins, failing to
receive reinforcements, made good his retreat in the
direction of Fort Gibson. General R. M. Gano's
interesting report of this raid north of the Arkansas
is given below.15
[Footnotes]
me know before we come
to destroy." (War of Rebellion," Ser. I,
Vol. XXXIV, Pt. I.)
15I left camp on the morning
of the 14th with 1,200 men from my brigade and Howell's
battery. Was accompanied by General Watie,
with a detachment of 800 men from his brigade to make
an expedition north of the Arkansas River. We proceeded
to Prairie Springs and encamped on the night of the
14th.
About noon on the 15th instant we arrived
at the Arkansas River and found it swollen so as to
make it a difficult passage. It required six hours
to cross the river; hard work. All the artillery ammunition
had to be packed over by hand, and many of our brave
boys were plunged beneath the waves in consequence
of quicksands. We encamped in the river bottom, two
miles above Redbank's Ford and thirteen miles northwest
from Fort Gibson.
On the 16th we proceeded on our way,
crossing the Verdigris at Sand Town Ford, about eight
miles from the hay camp at Flat Rock. From this point
I sent Gurley's regiment, accompanied and piloted
by a detachment from General Watie's
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100
Colonel Phillips, from
Fort Gibson, on January 8, 1865, reported the condition
of the Indian country at that time. He says: "The
rebels have still a military organization numerically
much greater than ours. We have about two-thirds of
the people and fighting men of the Cherokee Nation.
The Second and Third Indian Home Guards are Cherokees
(full and half-breed). We have about half of the Creeks.
The First Indian is Creek, except one company of Seminoles
and one of Uchees. The rebels have two Cherokee regiments.
They still have an
[Footnotes]
command, around to the
rear of the enemy's camp, while we proceeded slowly
toward the camp. General Watie and staff, with
my staff, accompanied me to the top of a mountain,
while the command was halted below, and from our elevated
position we could view their camps, and with spy glasses
could see them at work making hay, little dreaming
that the rebels were watching them. From thence we
moved to within one mile of their camp unperceived,
and I sent Lieutenant-Colonel Welch to the
right with a column composed of the Twenty-ninth and
Thirty-first Texas Cavalry (De Morse's and
Hardeman's), while General Watie conducted
the Indian column to the left, while I carried forward
the center, with Howell's battery supported
by Martin's regiment, the Gano Guards, under
Captain Welch, and Head's and Glass'
detachment of companies. I could distinctly see Captain
Strayhorn formed in the enemy's rear. The clouds
looked somber and the V-shaped procession grand as
we moved forward in the work of death. Then commenced
a running fight with the enemy's cavalry, while with
the center I moved down and engaged their infantry.
I sent Major Stackpole with a captured Federal
lieutenant under flag of truce to demand surrender,
but they fired upon my flag and then commenced the
work of death in earnest. The sun witnessed our complete
success, and its last lingering rays rested upon a
field of blood. Seventy-three Federals, mostly negroes,
lay dead upon the field.
We captured 85 prisoners and left 5 badly
wounded. We captured and destroyed their camps and
stores with large quantities of hay. Our loss was
3 wounded.
We slept upon the battle-ground and found
next morning the enemy at sunrise on the 17th advancing
from north and south. I sent Hardeman's battalion,
under Major Looscan, southward to meet the
force from Fort Gibson, while we proceed northward
and drove off the cavalry without a fight. Major Looscan
engaged the enemy, killing one and losing none. We
now proceeded with the whole force northward toward
Fort Scott to meet the expected train. We proceeded
almost to Rock Creek, and hearing nothing of the train
we feared lest they might have taken the road east
of Grand River We encamped on Wolf Creek midway between
the roads; scouted both and learned that the train
had not passed.
On the morning of the 18th, I proceeded
with 400 men and two pieces of artillery toward Cabin
Creek, leaving General Watie in command of
the camp. I found the enemy at Cabin Creek with a
train of 255 wagons and an immense herd of mules grazing
on the prairie. We were as yet undiscovered, and I
despatched [dispatched] a courier to General Watie
to bring up the balance of our force and the other
four guns, which he did without delay. The enemy found
us before dark, but my force was secreted and their
efforts to ascertain our strength was ineffectual.
General Watie arrived about 12 o'clock,
and I immediately moved the whole column forward,
Lieutenant-Colonel Welch's command in front
with the Gano Guards and Head's company
as flankers. When within half a mile of the enemy
I formed in line of battle, Colonel Welch on
the right, second Major Mayrant, third Howell's
battery, supported by the Gano Guards, Head's
and Glass' companies; fourth Major Looscan
and Captain Strayhorn, commanding Gurley's
regiment, on the left. General Watie's command
was formed on the left of my brigade. Having ascertained
that the enemy were about moving their train, I advanced
the entire line to within 500 yards of the enemy's
position. An officer came out in the darkness to hold
converse, and having informed us that they were Federals
and learned that we were rebels, he called on God
to damn us, and invited us forward.
I asked him if he would receive a flag
from us. He said he would answer in five minutes.
I waited fifteen, and hearing some wagons moving I
advanced my line about 3 a.m., and when within 300
yards or less of their fortifications they opened
fire. We replied with small arms and artillery. The
teamsters, demoralized, fled and left their teams
to tangle up in the timber and break off wagon tongues.
Some teams ran over the cliffs and the wagons crushed
the teams to death. Not being able to see the fortifications
and having accomplished my design of stopping the
train, I moved my command back under the brow of the
hill and awaited daybreak. There was a rest for
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organization of two Creek regiments,
a battalion of Chicasaws, one of Seminoles, a company
of Caddos, and the whole Choctaw Nation, except about
100 persons, men, women, and children. They have had,
and are still reported to have, the organization of
three Choctaw regiments. The rebel refugees, or women
and children and non-combatants, are clustered in
camps or colonies they have been making on Kiamichi,
Boggy, Blue and Washita rivers. Their soldiers are
mostly mounted, and the country between is overrun
with hostile forces, and desert, so far as crops are
concerned, but there is still plenty of stock there.
With the rebel Indian soldiers, in the rebel
[Footnotes]
near one hour, when the
wagons began to stir again. I moved forward and gave
them several more volleys and retired again.
Soon day broke and the dawn revealed
to us what appeared to us to be immense earth-works,
but afterward proved to be immense hay ricks, ten
in number, and just in the rear of said ricks, a strong
fortification constructed of logs set up in the earth.
To the left the timber along the bluff of Cabin Creek
was filled with wagons and mules, and from behind
all these the enemy sent missiles of death. I changed
the position of the artillery so as to command the
hay ricks and wagons, and got General Waitie
to send Colonel Vann with the two Cherokee
regiments across to capture all wagons that might
have left before day. I dismounted Colonel Jumper's
command to assist in supporting the battery, and afterward
ordered Gurley's regiment to that post and
Jumper in the timber to flank the enemy's right.
He doubled back their right and drove them full 150
yards, when they came to a stand. Now appeared a crisis,
and I charged them with Gurley's regiment,
leading them in person, and would have carried the
position but for a gully some twenty-five yards in
the rear filled with armed men who had not yet participated.
They were not visible until within twenty-five or
thirty yards of them. We were compelled to fall back,
but not one man of the gallant Thirteenth started
from that murderous fire until I ordered them to do
so. I then ordered Captain Strayhorn, Lieutenant-Colonel
Weleh, and Major Mayrant to take the
timber and drive the right, the Creeks and Seminoles
having exhausted their ammunition, while Howell,
Looscan, and Captain Welch poured their
fire into the original front, now the enemy's flank.
Crash after crash of shell swept Yankees, negroes,
Pins, and mules away from the land of the living,
while every regiment and company poured in volley
after volley, and the brave Indians, having replenished
with ammunition, came again to the work, and all with
a loud shout rushed on to victory, driving the enemy
beyond their fortifications, from where they fled
in wild confusion to the densely timbered bottoms.
At 9 o'clock (six hours after the first
volley was fired) the field was ours, with more than
#1,000,000 worth of Federal property in our hands.
We burned all the broken wagons and killed all the
crippled mules. We brought off 130 wagons and 740
mules. We clothed 2,000 men of the expedition so as
to make them comfortable for the present and have
some commissaries on hand.
The killed of the enemy at Cabin Creek
numbered about 23; the wounded not known; captured
26. The jaded condition of our already weak horses
prevented us from capturing as many as we might have
done. Our loss was 6 killed, 45 wounded, 3 mortally.
(Gano's account—War of the Rebellion,
Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies,
Series I, Vol. XLI, pp. 788-791.)
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102
Indian department, there is a brigade
of Texas and Arkansas troops, under General Gano.
Generals Cooper and Stand Watie are also in command.
Their artillery is at present rather better than ours.
Around Fort Gibson are from 8,000 to 10,000 refugees,
the larger portion of whom are Creeks, or people whose
homes are south of the Arkansas river. Some 7,000
or 8,000 of these later were brought down here by
the superintendent last June, too late to raise a
crop.
"Scattered through the Cherokee
Nation, at their homes, are as many more loyal non-combatants.
In all, upward of 20,000 persons depend for protection
on the military force here. The refugees here were
brought in hired transportation and left here, and
cannot move as they are. An order to move my force
elsewhere would leave them at the mercy of the rebels,
if, indeed, it would be possible at all to move these
soldiers away, to leave their women, children, old
and sick people. Under the orders received it was
necessary, since my return, for the Fifty-fourth U.
S. Colored and the First Arkansas Infantry to march
below. This leaves me simply the Indian command. My
tri-monthly of the 31st ultimo shows that to be an
aggregate of 2,112; 1,463 are present for duty; 382
escorting train. The evacuation of Fort Smith will
leave this place rather weak, but I think I can hold
my own until you determine what is to be the future
of this command. The orders I have received so instruct
me. For the future I make no recommendation, being
ignorant of the policy determined about the Indian
Nation. With the present Indian force, a good infantry
regiment and good battery, and mounting half of the
Indians, I think the country north of the Arkansas
river, in the Indian Nation, could be held by making
a vigorous use of the force. Unless the country north
of the river be held it is doubtful about our holding
any foothold in the Indian Nation, and the probabilities
are that it would be organized against us. Efforts
have been made, and are made by the enemy, to get
these civilized and half-civilized Indians into a
sort of neutrality league, which would, of course,
eventually operate to their benefit."
The raiding armies from both sides that
for four years swept back and forth between Kansas
and the Red river, the disunion of tribes, the losses
of killed and wounded in battle, and the desolation
and suffering caused by actual warfare, were disastrous
to the settled prosperity and to continued advancement
of the Indian Territory. But these were not the only
ills from which the territory suffered in consequence
of the war. To the horrors of war were added the greed
and rapacity of unscrupulous men. Individual and sporadic
crime would have been expected, but during 1864 and
1865, under cover of the distractions of war, an organized
and wholesale system of thievery sprang up that completed
the desolation that the contending armies had partially
wrought. The description of this phase of the war
is not a pleasant one, but has a place with other
records.
In his report for 1864 the commissioner
of Indian affairs says: "There is perhaps no
portion of the country, of equal extent, within our
territorial limits, better adapted to the business
of stock-raising than is the country owned by these
people [referring particularly to the Cherokees].
Prior to the rebellion they had engaged in this business
very extensively and many of them owned herds of cattle
numbered by thousands. When the people were driven
forth their stock was necessarily left behind, and
to
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103
roam at large without ostensible owners.
The rebels have availed themselves of this condition
to furnish themselves with immense supplies of beef
for their armies; and to the disgrace of our own people,
it must be said that many of them have also engaged
in the nefarious business of stealing cattle from
these defenseless, unfortunate and truly loyal people.
Col. W. A. Phillips addressed
the following communication to General Canby,
dated at Fort Gibson, Feb. 16, 1865: "I desire
to notify you of encroachments on the rights of the
people of Indian Nation from the department of Kansas
by citizens thereof and volunteer officers and soldiers
stationed there. I desire that you communicate with
the major-general commanding the Division of Missouri,
to secure his assistance in putting a stop to evils
that have assumed fearful proportions, and for the
protection of interests so justly entitled to. I desire
to state that for nearly a year past there has been
a systematic and wholesale plundering and driving
of stock from the Indian Nation to Kansas. Part of
this is the property of loyal soldiers in our service,
part of loyal citizens, and part of disloyal persons
now in arms against us or aiding those who are. The
devastations of war have depopulated the Creek Nation;
two-thirds of the homes in the Cherokee Nation are
abandoned. The rebel or disloyal Indians are clustered
in colonies on the streams tributary to the Red river.
The loyal Indians, who adhere to our cause, are clustered
around Gibson, or in colonies depending upon it for
protection. The stock, or herds, of all, or what is
left of it, is, of course, scattered or unwatched
on its range. This condition of affairs invited the
somewhat wholesale enterprises by which it has been
driven to Kansas. The Arkansas river for the past
two years may be said to have been the boundary between
the belligerents. Since the siege of Gibson was raised
in July, 1863, by General Cooper, no rebel
army has camped on its southern lands. It is true
considerable mounted parties have crossed it. A train
was captured sixty miles in the rear of this place
in September last by a large mounted force; but north
of the river, or even fifty miles south of it, any
rebel occupancy is only of the character of raids.
I obtain all the beef for the command and for the
many refugees from south of the river, or from the
stock subject to be taken by the enemy. I merely desire
to show that there is no necessity for commands of
troops to enter the nation, 150 miles in my rear,
on the pretext of scouting, which really drive off
cattle. I would inform you that a very considerable
portion of such stock was driven off by troops from
Kansas. I will mention one or two cases in which there
is ample and clear testimony. Captain Vittum,
of the Third Wisconsin Cavalry, last April entered
the nation with a train. On his return he gathered
a her of 500 or 600 and drove it out. The same officer
entered the nation about the last of May or first
of June as escort for two officers coming down to
Fort Smith. He stopped forty miles above Gibson and
went back, driving out a large herd. He is now provost-marshal
at Fort Scott, which will give you an idea of the
police regulations on the northern border of the nation,
on which I have to lean. On application to General
Curtis last summer I was informed that the
matter was merely one for adjudication in the courts.
In the nation there is no federal court in time of
peace—not even the Indian courts exist now. The
necessary protection is dependent to a great extent
on the military power temporarily existing. I think
I can stop it here; if I had
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horses for my men at least, I could,
with co-operation from above, or [sic] respect from
them to orders issued here. The Indian soldiers are
more to be trusted for their own protection than others.
They are amenable to each other as well as to the
government. Most of the white regiments that have
entered the Indian Nation commit more or less depradations.
They treat it as if it were an enemy's country. I,
however, desired to secure through you sufficient
protection from the department above to stop the nefarious
system which appears to have a thorough organization
in the state of Kansas, believing that unless prompt
steps were taken the same nefarious transactions would
be continued this season.
The depradations committed in the Indian
country by unprincipled white men acting or assuming
to act in official capacity were noted by the commissioner
of Indian affairs in his report for 1865, in reviewing
conditions in the territory during the last months
of the rebellion. Referring to that time, he says:
"Serious complaints were being made to the department
that stock owned by the Indians, and necessary for
their subsistence, and the small crops of corn raised
by those who had been able to till the ground, were
being taken from them by unprincipled speculators.
Some of the military officers had laid the blame for
this state of things upon the Indian agents, but an
investigation of these charges showed them to be without
foundation. The most stringent rules and regulations
in regard to the sale of stock from the Indian country
were adopted and issued, but it is apparent that the
practice of running stock out of the country has continued,
the keenness of the speculators enabling them to elude
the vigilance of the officers, and it is believed
that an immense amount of such stolen stock has been
purchased at large prices by the government. The information
given by Superintendent Sells,a s given in his report16
furnishes some idea of the enormous extent as well
as profit of the business, where contractors obtain
ready sale for the plunder at such rates as they have
received from the government."
Many prominent men, merchants, military
officers, Indian agents, traders and others, were
charged with being implicated in this traffic. But,
said the commissioner, such "an obliquity of
conscience had affected the
[Footnotes]
16The
report referred to says: "I was convinced that
there was in successful operation a regularly organized
band of cattle operators, which organization had its
plans so completely systematized, with sentinels and
scouts, together with its numerous employes [employees]
as drivers, that they generally succeeded in driving
off with impunity all the herds of cattle coming within
the range of their operations. . . . It is utterly
impossible to effectually break up this system of
plunder from the Indians as long as the state, civil
and military authorities are in sympathy with the
parties engaged in this species of brokerage. . .
. I think it is not doing violence to the truth to
say that since the commencement of the rebellion three
hundred thousand head of cattle have been driven from
the Indian country without the consent of the owners
and without remuneration, which at an average value
of fifteen dollars per head will amount to the enormous
sum of four million five hundred thousand dollars.
There are two classes of operators connected with
cattle-driving from the Indian country. The first
are those who take the risk of driving from their
original range—the home of the owners—who
are generally men of no character and wholly irresponsible.
They usually drive to the southern borders of Kansas,
where the second class are waiting, through their
agents, to receive the stolen property. These cattle
brokers, claiming to be legitimate dealers, purchase
at nominal prices, taking bills of sale, and from
thence the cattle are driven to market, where enormous
profits are made. These brokers have met with such
unparalleled success that the mania for this profitable
enterprise has become contagious. The number directly
and remotely engaged is so numerous, the social standing
and character of the operators secure so much power,
that it is almost fatal to interpose obstacles in
the way of their success.
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whole community on the border,"
that it seemed scarcely worth while to attempt to
prosecute them before any court in Kansas, because,
as one investigator reported, "they openly make
their boasts that they can buy men enough to swear
to anything they want them to, and I know they speak
the truth from experience."
Agent Harlan of the Cherokees
reported the methods of the cattle raiders as follows:
" A man, wishing to get Indian cattle, went to
some general of the post commander, or to the superintendent
of the Indian affairs, and got a license to buy cattle
in the Indian Territory; he then arrived with his
license, without money, and only a cattle whip, raised
a company of some white men, and mostly Osage and
Wichita Indians. They went on until cattle began to
be plenty; the gentleman of the license came to Fort
Gibson, proclaimed his business was to buy cattle.
He did not come to steal, not he! He intended to buy
and pay a fair price; went to the post commander,
showed his license, proclaimed his intentions not
to be as others were, to steal; he could make by fair
trade as much as he wanted. He had a little money,
and had concluded to turn it into cattle. He wanted
to see the country, and perhaps he could make as much
as would pay his expenses, and a little for his time.
He was not seeking to get rich, only wanted to 'live
and let live,' and any amount of just stuff.
"They were all alike. It looked
as if they had all been educated in the same school;
flattered the commanding officer and got his license
endorsed. They would hang around Fort Gibson ten or
twelve days, still inquiring where there were large
herds for sale, where he could buy at a living price.
One fine morning the man was missing, and nobody knew
when he went or where he was gone. In about ten days
some gentleman coming to Fort Gibson had on his way
down met the licensed gentleman with a drove of cattle,
from five to fifteen hundred head, on his way to Kansas.
Some with license to buy never presented their license,
but at once commenced gathering their cattle, running
what little risk there was of being caught, and then
escaping under their license. Others, more bold, went
at it without any disguise of a license, and stole
all they could find, and sold them to those who were
glad the stealing was done . . . ."
The condition of the Indian country at
the close of the war, in contrast to its comparative
prosperity and advancement in 1860, was described
by the commissioner of Indian affairs in 1865. Most
of the tribes, he declares, "had advanced far
in civilization, and their country was well provided
with good schools and academies. Many of their leading
men are today thoroughly educated men, of statesmanlike
views, fully able to express those views in our language,
in a manner which can be excelled in few of our deliberative
assemblies. Their people were rich in real and personal
property, living in the enjoyment of everything needed
for their comfort; and considerable wealth had accumulated
in the hands of some of them—the slaveholders—so
that they lived in a style of luxury to which our
thriving northern villages are mostly unaccustomed.
Their crops were abundant, but their chief element
of prosperity was stock-raising, and vast herds of
cattle were in their hands as a means of wealth. The
change is pitiful. Their land has been desolated by
the demon of war till it lies bare and scathed, with
only ruins to show that men have ever dwelt there.
A perusal of the reports herewith will satisfy you
that these remarks are no exaggeration, particularly
as to the Cherokee, Quapaw, and part of the Creek
bands; the condition of
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affairs in the Choctaw and Chickasaw
country is not so serious, for the reason that those
tribes went almost unanimously with the rebellion,
and of course had no object in destroying their own
property; though even there the effects of the ware
are distinctly visible. But in the Cherokee country,
where the contending armies have moved to and fro—where
their foraging parties have gone at will, sparing
neither friend nor foe—where the disloyal Cherokees,
in the service of the rebel government were determined
that no trace of the homesteads of their loyal brethren
should remain for their return, and where the swindling
cattle-thieves have made their ill-gotten gains for
two years past, the scene is one of utter desolation.
Of course, the loyal portions of these tribes have
suffered most; for they became refugees from their
homes, leaving them in the hands of the enemies, and
everything that they left was destroyed. A large number
of the loyal Indians of all the tribes entered the
service of the United States, and many of them sealed
their fidelity with their life-blood, while many others
are maimed for life. Now that the war is over, the
survivors of these loyal bands claim the sympathy
and aid of the government. They are anxious to return
to their country, but the have no homes there, and
no subsistence. They are utterly destitute, and entirely
dependent upon the government for food and clothing.
In another season, if timely assistance in the way
of agricultural implements and other aid is afforded
them, they may become self-sustaining by tilling the
ground; but for the present, at least, they must be
dependent upon the government."
"The Seminoles numbered before the
war nearly 2,500, of whom more than half came out
with the loyal Creeks and took refuge in Kansas, their
able-bodied men joining the United States army. There
are about 2,000 of the tribe left. Some 500 of them
were furnished with seed and a few agricultural implements
last spring, and, upon land near Fort Gibson, in the
Cherokee country, labored diligently and with some
degree of success for the means of subsistence, having
raised produce to the value of $2,500. The records
of their old agency have been preserved through the
war, and are safe at Fort Washita. They are anxious
to go to their own country south and west of the Creek
region, but matters there are not sufficiently settled
as yet, and the agent thinks that they should be removed
to some point among the Creeks and subsisted there,
to be near their own lands at the opening of spring.
About 1,000 of them are now drawing rations from government.
They are very poor and destitute, and must be fed
and clothed, or suffer and starve. Agent Reynolds
says that they wish to settle upon individual lands,
where they can own and enjoy the fruit of their own
labors. As they are closely allied to the Creeks,
and speak that language, they might perhaps be consolidated
with them; or, if not, it is thought that they would
be glad to dispose of their lands, to be used for
a home for other Indians, and thus procure the means
for establishing themselves again in a condition to
become self-supporting, and educate their children.
"Agent Reynolds has been especially
active in efforts to stop the plundering of Indian
stock, and thinks that his efforts have been successful.
"Of the Cherokees, all of the nation
at first joined the rebels, including all factions,
of full and mixed blood. Regiments were raised by
the order of the party in power, then and now the
majority, called the Ross party, which regiments fought
against the
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Union forces at Pea Ridge and on other
occasions.
"All seem to have agreed as to their
course of action down to the fall of 1862, when a
portion of the troops, under Colonel Downing,
2d chief, and a majority of the nation, abandoned
the rebel cause and came within our lines. About 6,500
of the more wealthy portion still continued to co-operate
with the south till close of the war; and about 9,000,
early and late, came back to their allegiance.
"Two regiments of these people, numbering
2,200 men, deserted the rebel cause as above stated,
and since that time, to the end of the war, have fought
on the side of the Union. The total population of
the nation is now estimated at about 14,000.
"Bad as is the condition of all
these southern Indians, that of the Cherokees is much
worse than the remainder of the tribes. They have
a domestic feud, of long standing, which prevents
them from coming together for mutual aid and support
in their manifold troubles. In 1863 a portion of them
had gone back to their country, expecting to be protected
by the United States troops in raising a crop for
their support; but the were driven from their fields
by rebel parties; and while their former brothers
were plundering them from one direction, their white
friends from Kansas were stripping the country of
their stock from the other. The account given by Agent
Harlan of the modus operandi of cattle-thieving
business would be amusing, if the thing described
were not outrageously criminal. Some idea of the extent
of this business may be obtained when it is seen that
the agent estimates the losses of the Cherokees in
stock alone at two millions ($2,000,000) while Superintendent
Sells thinks that the losses of all the tribes
have amounted to full four millions.
"About 9,000 Cherokees are now receiving
rations from government, and a large portion of those
lately disloyal are suffering greatly for the necessaries
of life. They need food, clothing, tools, everything
in fact, to begin life again; and their condition
must be that of extreme destitution until they can
again realize the fruits of their labor upon their
own soil. The Cherokees own a tract of 800,000 acres
in the southeast corner of Kansas, which should be
made available for their benefit; and have, besides,
a vast tract of land below the Kansas line, very largely
beyond their possible wants. All beyond those wants
should be purchased by government, and the avails
used for the benefit of the whole people. Superintendent
Sells doubts whether the loyal and disloyal
Cherokees can ever live in friendship together, and
suggests that in case this proves to be impossible,
the latter can easily make terms with the Chickasaws
to join them.
"I have already alluded to the condition
in which this southern portion of the nation is left
by the action of the party in power, and will only
add here, that the sweeping act of confiscation passed
by the council takes from them every acre of land,
and all of their improvements; and that by the hasty
action taken under the law, everything has been sold
for the most trivial consideration, improvements which
were worth thousands selling often as low as five
dollars; and when the repentant rebel party, no more
guilty at first than the Ross party, came back and
proposed to submit and live in peace and harmony with
them again, they were told that they might all return,
except their leaders, and go upon new lands and begin
the world again; but no hope was held out to them
of any restoration of property. They are thus left
entirely dependent,
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being stripped of everything by the
act referred to.
"The Creeks were nearly divided
in sentiment at the opening of the war; about 6,500
having gone with the rebellion, while the remainder,
under the lead of brave old chief Opothleyoholo,
resisted all temptations of the rebel agents and of
leading men, like John Ross, among the Indians,
and fought their way out of the country northward,
in the winter, tracked by their bloody feet upon the
frozen ground. They lost everything—house, homes,
stock, everything that they possessed. Many joined
the United States army. A large number have been constantly
subsisted, often with scanty rations, by government.
A part having gone this year to the Indian country,
have raised some crops under many difficulties, and
about one-half of those who thus went south again
will have enough corn to carry them through the winter;
the others must be subsisted by government, while
5,000 are now receiving rations. A large number of
the southern Creeks are in the same deplorable state.
The aggregate number of the tribe is now stated at
14,396. Agent Dunn says that the buildings
of the old Creek agency are in ruins, but the valuable
mission buildings are standing, though badly injured.
He thinks that a new location should be selected for
the agency, at a point where there is water and timber;
but as there may be other arrangements made as to
the final settlement of the tribe, he suggests that
such temporary shelter for the agency as is necessary
should now be provided.
"The Choctaws and Chickasaws, who
now number respectively about 12,500 and 4,500, or
17,000 in all, are supposed to have had a population
of 25,000 at the beginning of the war, including slaves.
They have regularly organized governments and legislatures,
written laws, and a regular judiciary system.
"They possessed admirable schools,
and education had made great progress among them.
Nearly the whole of these tribes proved disloyal,
under the various influences brought to bear upon
them. Agent Coleman ascribes their disloyalty,
in a great degree, to the influence of the whites
living among them, some of whom have had the assurance
to apply for licenses to remain in the country as
traders; but I am entirely satisfied, as the result
of my inquiries when lately in Indian country, that
the disloyal action of these tribes is mostly, if
not altogether, to be ascribed to the influence of
the then superintendent Mr. Rector, and the
agents appointed by the United States government.
The tribes are educated to respect authority and be
guided by the directions of these representatives
of the government; and when, in the spring of 1861,
these men, appointed under President Buchanan,
came back from Washington and told the Indians that
there was no longer a United States government to
protect them, that its organization was broken up,
and that they must join with the new government (which
by its location and its slave-holding basis would
be in sympathy with them), or be ground to powder,
they readily acceded. They now see their error. No
men were ever more penitent; and since they learned
at the Fort Smith council the wishes of the government,
their own council has met and taken prompt action
upon the proposition submitted to them, and appointed
a delegation to visit Washington to sign a final treaty.
This appears more fully in the despatch [dispatch]
from General Hunt, commanding Fort Smith, dated
October 24, communicating a letter
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from Governor Colbert, of the
Chickasaw nation, which despatch [dispatch] will be
found among the accompanying documents.17
"Only 212 persons belonging to these
tribes are known to have remained loyal to the government.
The disloyal portion need some help to get through
the winter without suffering, but their country having
been held by the rebels all the time during the war,
and not traversed by the contending armies, and rations
having been issued to them till last March, they have
not suffered as much as the other tribes. Two thousand
of both tribes are now receiving government rations.
I have elsewhere referred to the propositions in regard
to accession of a portion of the Choctaw and Chickasaw
lands.
"Agent Snow has in charge
the Neosho agency, comprising the Osages, and the
small bands known as the Quapaws, Senecas, and Senecas
and Shawnees.
"The Osage lands are in Kansas,
and comprise about 4,000,000 acres. In 1859 they had
a population of 3,500; the agent thinks that their
number does not exceed 2,800. About 1,000 of the tribe
joined the rebellion. Some two hundred and forty of
their warriors were at one time in the service of
the United States, but left from some difficulty with
their officers, and cannot understand the propriety
of the rule by which they have forfeited their pay.
The report of Superintendent Sells is very
full in its information as to the habits and mode
of life of this tribe, which is entirely nomadic in
its character, using the bow and arrow in the chase,
and hunting the buffalo in the ranges southwest of
their country. . . . The sad example of the whites,
who steal their stock, leads them to retaliate, and
frequent collisions and difficulties with the settlers
are the consequence. By the recent treaty with this
tribe, their factions have become reconciled; and
by the cession to the United States of a large body
of land, it will be open to settlement, and they obtain
from its avails the means of becoming civilized. In
view of their nomadic habits, however, Agent Snow
suggests their entire removal from Kansas and
the neighborhood of the whites, and settlement upon
lands in the western part of the Indian country, near
the buffalo range; which suggestion I approve, and
trust that within a few months their country will
be so far at the disposal of the government, through
the operation of the treaties now in progress, as
the result of the recent council, that these and all
the other Kansas Indians who do not elect to become
citizens may be removed into the Indian country.
"The Quapaws and other small tribes
of this agency, number only 679 in all, never showed
any sympathy with the rebellion, but came north, abandoning
their homes, and continued as refugees upon the Ottawa
reservation until last spring, when they were removed
to a point eighty miles
[Footnotes]
17The
letter from Governor Colbert, here referred
to, contains an interesting proposition, made by the
Chickasaw legislature, to provide for the freed men
under an "indentured servant' system, similar
to the method adopted by slave-holders in the Mexican
province of Texas to escape the Mexican laws forbidding
slavery. The plan suggested by Governor Colbert
was: to apprentice all free negroes under 21 years
until of age, to their former owners, provide for
the aged over fifty, infirm, and employ the middle-aged
at fair wages. "This system," said the governor,
"is the self-same under which Pennsylvania and
other northern states got rid of slavery, and it is
hoped will meet the approval of the president and
people of the non-slave-holding states. It appears
to cover the requirements of the United States government
that when emancipated, the negroes shall be properly
cared for."
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further south, where they have raised
some small supply of vegetables this year. An exploration
of their former reservation, just below the Kansas
line, exhibited the usual desolation of war; and everything
must be provided anew for them. They had attained
a fair degree of civilization, and were prosperous
and comfortable before the war; and they, like the
other loyal Indians, think that the government for
which they suffered the loss of everything, should
in some degree compensate them for such loss. These
people all receive rations at present from the United
States.
"The Catholic mission school at
the Neosho agency has been continued in operation,
though under great difficulties. On the occasion of
the recent visit of Superintendent Sells to
the agency, the school had in attendance sixty-five
Osage and Quapaw boys, and fifty girls. The Indians
regard this school with much favor.
"The Wichita agency (Agent Gookins
in charge) comprises about 500 Shawnees, absentees
from their tribes in Kansas, and who, it is probable,
will not return to that state to remain permanently,
but who are now in Osage county, Kansas; and the Wichitas
and fragments of the Caddoes, Commanches, and others,
amounting to about 1,800. These last were, before
the war, settled upon lands leased from the Choctaws.
They have never had much attention given them by the
government, and were driven from Texas by the greed
of white men. Thus they have not for years had a settled
home. About 1,000 of them are now near Fort Washita,
having done but little towards subsisting themselves,
a flood having destroyed most of their crops. They
are very poor and miserable, and must have help; and
they ask to be placed somewhere, where they can feel
that they have a permanent home, and go to work in
earnest next spring. Rations are issued to 1,400 of
the Indians belonging to this agency."
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