CAMP SUPPLY.

                                       [Camp Supply was established in 1867.]

Excerpts...

Emporia News, January 8, 1869.

                                            FROM THE 19TH REGIMENT.

FORT DODGE, KANSAS, DECEMBER 15, 1868.

Our company, M, is now on detail guarding a train which came from Camp Supply to this place. We will start on our return trip in a few days. The remainder of the regiment have gone with Gen. Sheridan out south where they expect soon to meet the foe. I presume we will join them on our return.

We did not, as anticipated, return to the regiment after our first trip to this place, but returned to Dodge again, where we have been making our headquarters ever since and doing escort duty from here to Hays, Larned, Camp Supply, and other points in the vicinity of Dodge.

I must not omit to mention our stampede which took place as we were coming from Supply to Dodge. We had some four hundred wagons in the train and about one third of them stampeded. There were some forty or fifty soldiers riding in the wagons at the time, and were thus thrown into a very perilous position. Several of them were seriously hurt, and one man, John Vanwell, of our company, died of his wounds in about two hours from the time he was hurt. The country where the stampede took place was perfectly level and there was but little breakage, so we soon succeeded in getting the mules stopped, the wagons to their places, and proceeded on our journey, resolving to be more cautious in the future.

Sergt. M. A. VICTOR, M. Troop, 19th K. V. C.

Excerpts...

Emporia News, May 7, 1869.

CHICAGO, May 3. The following military dispatch was received at Lieut. Gen. Sheridan’s headquarters today. . . .

The 20th inst. is the time now set for the Arapahos to start for Camp Supply. A band of Cheyennes, numbering 400, will start soon. Food is scarce with the Indians, and these bands will have to be supplied temporarily with subsistence.

Excerpt...

Emporia News, September 10, 1869.

                                          LETTER FROM FRIEND STANLEY.

       KIOWA AND COMANCHE AGENCY, NEAR FORT SILL, 8th Mo., 23rd, 1869.

RESPECTED FRIEND, JACOB STOTLER:

                                                  Cheyennes and Arapahos.

Our dear friend, Brinton Darlington, late of Muscatine, Iowa, has gone to Camp Supply, in order to be amongst the Indians that he is agent for, viz: Cheyennes and Arapahos. These tribes are the most difficult to manage, but we think we have a very suitable Friend for their agent, and believe that he will be able, with Divine help, to control them, and thus get them to abandon their roving and warlike habits and settle on their reservation, which will probably be on the Canadian River, west of the road leading from here to Harker. Our friends and the Commission had a pretty satisfactory visit with the last named tribe. There is one thing that is giving great dissatisfaction amongst the Indians—the stopping of their rations of sugar and coffee—but the Commission thinks some satisfactory change may be made. We feel very desirous of suppressing, as much as possible, all hostile feeling, and thus save life and money. Fighting the Indians is found to be very expensive, and causes much suffering to our soldiers and often to others. Very respectfully, THOMAS H. STANLEY.

Emporia News, March 17, 1871.

General Sherman has news from Camp Supply, in the Indian Territory, which indicate a renewal of the Indian war this spring.

Walnut Valley Times, February 21, 1873.

Superintendent Hoag, of Lawrence, has some specimens of salt from the Little Salt Plains, about 28 miles northeast of Camp Supply, and ten miles south of the Kansas line. The specimens are crystals of rock salt, white as snow, and apparently destitute of any impurity. Agent John D. Miles estimates these great natural salt works as covering sixteen square miles. The ground seems covered as with snow. Where Buffalo and Whirlwind Creeks join, there is a pond of brine, the bottom covered with rock salt that may be dug out in blocks as large as a man can lift.

Walnut Valley Times, December 19, 1873. Front Page.

                                                  [From the St. Louis Globe.]

                                                      INDIAN OUTRAGE.

                         A Boy Scalped and Burned to Death Near Camp Supply.

A most horrible outrage occurred near Camp Supply, about sixty miles from Fort Dodge, one day last week, that for brutality and cruelty, has not been equaled since the days of Crawford and the early Indian troubles. The perpetrators, of the fiendish act, were Kiowas, who, for some time past, have been causing considerable trouble in and around their reservation.

It seems that a party of English tourists arrived at Camp Supply a few days ago for the purpose of engaging in a buffalo hunt. At Camp Supply they purchased a complete outfit necessary to carry on the hunt for several days, and hired a wagon and team, with a boy about seventeen years old as driver. After being out several days, their provisions gave out and they dispatched the boy and team back to town for another supply, expecting he would easily make the trip in three or four days, at the furthest, the distance being about thirty miles. The allotted time passed, and a day longer, when the hunters, becoming uneasy at his extended absence, started back for Camp Supply. Here nothing had been seen or heard of him, since the departure of the party.

A party of hunters and scouts were immediately organized and sent out in search of him, taking the trail towards the hunting grounds. The second day out they suddenly came upon the boy. He had been captured by a band of Kiowas, the wagon taken apart and piled in a heap, the boy tied to a stake, and, probably, burned alive. He had also been scalped by the brutal cowards, and his charred remains left on the ground, with all the proof of how the devilish act had been committed. The horses, of course, were stolen.

The excitement in and around Fort Dodge is intense, and the old hunters and trappers in that vicinity vow that if the Government does not inflict summary punishment upon the incarnate fiends, they will take the matter into their own hands and commence a war of extermination.

Colonel Bristol, in command at the Fort, says he has the Fifth Infantry and two companies of cavalry in readiness and is only awaiting orders from the War Department. The Kiowas have about two thousand warriors on their reservation.

Excerpt...

The Commonwealth, June 24, 1874.

We have obtained additional particulars of the Indian outrages in the southwest, which are confirmatory of the original apprehensions that there is an organized raid over the Kansas border by Indians from the Indian Territory with a view of reinforcing their depleted herds of ponies. The facts of the murder near Fort Dodge are, we learn, as follows: Two men with a team were coming from Camp Supply to Fort Dodge and had camped out. They woke in the morning to find that their team was either strayed or stolen, at least not to be found. While looking around for their missing animals, they encountered signs of Indians, and saw a stray pony grazing on the prairie. One of them mounted this pony to look for the missing animals, and being gone long enough to awaken his companion’s suspicions, the latter started in pursuit of him. About eight miles from Dodge City, he found his dead body, scalped and mutilated.

                                              THE INDIAN SCRIMMAGE.

           Full and Authentic Report of the Brush Between Col. Compton and Escort

                                  And the Indians on the Morning of the 24^th ult.

The Commonwealth, July 3, 1874.

Correspondence of the Commonwealth.

                                                    FORT DODGE, June 26^th.

Having a little leisure time, I will give you a few items of the late Indian fight which took place near Bear Creek, fifty miles south of Fort Dodge and on the Camp Supply road. On the morning of the 18^th of June, the mail party, consisting of one corporal and two privates of the 3^rd U. S. Infantry, was attacked by a party of about thirteen Indians, but succeeded in keeping the Indians off. The corporal was shot through the thigh and is now in the hospital at Fort Dodge, Kansas. On the 19^th, the commanding officer of Fort Dodge, Col. Compton, with the Medical Director, Dr. Perrine, of Leavenworth, left Fort Dodge on an inspecting tour to Camp Supply, Indian Territory, with an escort of about twenty men composed of the 3^rd and 5^th U. S. Infantry. When near Bear Creek, the mail party going to Camp Supply, joined the party of the commanding officer and kept together. On the morning of the 20^th when near the point where the party was previously attacked, a large party of Indians again made an attack on this party, the Indians having the advantage of position and ground. As soon as the first volley was fired by the Indians, the escort promptly returned the fire, and deploying as skirmishers, kept up lively fire, at the same time moving forward with the wagons. The Indians did not care to follow and the party of soldiers arrived at Camp Supply without further molestation. One man of the mail party was slightly wounded in the right arm.

On the morning of the 24^th, whilst returning from Camp Supply, and again near the same point, a large party of Indians, consisting of about thirty or forty, had stationed themselves on an eminence near the road, and when the commanding officer and his party got within about 40 yards of them, they fired a volley right into them, killing a pony belonging to the commanding officer. In less time than it takes to write it, the troops were out of the wagons and headed by Col. Compton, charged and gained the eminence in a minute; then commenced a lively and destructive fire, especially for the Indians. Four of them were shot down at the first fire, and quite a number of them were badly wounded. Eight ponies were captured, but five of them had been badly wounded and had to be killed. Three excellent ones were brought into Fort Dodge. The Indians were terribly demoralized, running in all directions for shelter, while the soldiers were following up and pouring a most destructive fire into them. The Indians divested themselves of everything that would encumber them in their hasty flight: throwing their arms, blankets, spears, bows, arrows, and Indian trumpery away. The soldiers all behaved in a gallant and a most commendable manner, several exceptional instances of bravery occurring.

Private Frederick Klausman, Co. D, 5^th infantry, while in pursuit of the Indians, came on one of them laying down in the grass, apparently wounded, but with his revolver pointed at Klausman. In an instant, Klausman raised his musket and brought it down with such force as to send Mr. “Red” quietly dreaming in the happy hunting grounds.

Private Thomas Gray, of the same company, had a hand to hand fight with a stalwart “Red,” killing his man, and taking possession of sundry articles, such as an excellent Colt’s army revolver, powder horn, blankets, bullet pouch, and several other articles useless to Mr. “Red.” In the bullet pouch was found a baby stocking, belonging probably to some unfortunate white baby.

Pots, Prince, and Herr, of Company A, 3^rd U. S. infantry, also had hand to hand engagements with Mr. “Red,” killing their men, and quietly walking off with their trophies of victory.

No casualties occurred on our side at all except the pony being killed, and the driver of the ambulance containing the commanding officer and medical director getting a bullet through his blouse—lucky escape!

The Indians that could get away got away as fast as possible, and the party were not again molested by them.

The arrival of the party at Fort Dodge created quite an excitement, every wagon, ambulance, and horses and mules being decorated with some Indian trophy of victory. I hardly think the Indians will undertake any more of their little surprise parties. If, however, they do, they will get all they want and deserve, as the country through there is now thoroughly guarded by cavalry.

Should anything more occur, I will give you the particulars. Respectfully, etc.

Excerpt...

                                       Distribution of Troops in the Southwest.

The Commonwealth, Friday Morning, July 10, 1874.

At Camp Supply there are three infantry and two cavalry companies—the latter scouting continually north and northeast of that post as far as Medicine Lodge creek; Colonel Lewis commanding.

Excerpt...

Winfield Courier, May 29, 1874.

                                                     Horse Thieves Caught.

Bill Gilmore is a man of about 26 years of age, over six feet tall, dark hair, intelligent expression, and mild countenance. He was born and raised in Arizona, and has spent most of his time on the border and among the Indians. In 1861 he was with General Custer, and carried dispatches from Camp Supply to Fort Dodge for General Sheridan, during the fight on the Washita. He is deeply prejudiced against Indians, and claims he would not have stolen from the whites. In conversation with Mr. Gilmore, we find him to be a well read and experienced man. Wild life and excitement is as familiar with him as his every day meal.

Winfield Courier, July 10, 1874.               

                                                     Off For the Indian War.

Seven companies of the Nineteenth infantry reached Leavenworth, Thursday night, on a special train from St. Louis. Three companies left Kansas City for Forts Wallace and Lyon, on the Kansas Pacific. The others will go to the seat of the Indian troubles via the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe road, and are detailed as follows: Two companies to Ft. Larned, two to Fort Dodge, and three to Camp Supply  This regiment relieves the Third, and came from Louisiana. Traveler.

Excerpt...

Winfield Courier, September 4, 1874.

Last week between Dodge City and Camp Supply, five farmers who lived in that vicinity, and were out hunting buffalo, were killed by Indians.

Excerpt...

Winfield Courier, November 19, 1874.

                                                          Correspondence.

                                     SURVEYOR’S CAMP, CACHE CREEK,

                                               25 Miles Northwest of Ft. Sill.

                                                       November 5th, 1874.

I saw a scout on the 30th ult., just from the command. He said the expedition was within two day’s ride of 1,800 warriors, which they expected to take or kill at all hazards. Sheridan left this post on the 25th of last month for Camp Supply. He says the government has fooled with the Indians long enough, that he will make the white man and his property safe in this country, if he is let alone.

Excerpted from lengthy article...

                                                      FROM THE FRONT.

                                                     The Indian Expedition.

                        A Full Account of the Army Now Outfitting at Fort Dodge.

                          Its Line of Operations.—Gen. Miles to be in Command.

                                          The Heroic Defense at Adobe Walls.

The Commonwealth, Saturday Morning, August 8, 1874.

                                      DODGE CITY, KANSAS, August 5, 1874.

From our Regular Correspondent.

An expedition is now being fitted out at Fort Dodge to assume offensive operations against the Indians who have been waging war on the frontier settlements. It will start from the post about the 15^th of the present month. The expedition will be composed of eight companies of the Sixth cavalry and five of the Fifth infantry, numbering in all about one thousand effective fighting men. Four of the cavalry companies are now here, and three more are on the way from Fort Lyon, C. T. The other company that is to complete the complement of cavalry is at Camp Supply, and will join the command at that place. Four companies of the infantry are here and the other companies will arrive in a day or two. About one hundred wagons accompany the expedition from here. Ten white scouts and about the same number of Indians will go along. These will be under the charge of Lieut. Baldwin. The troops will not be encumbered with any useless luggage, as they go under light marching orders. Col. Compton will command the cavalry, Capt. Bristol the infantry, and General Miles will command the expedition. All of these officers have seen service. Gen. Miles belonged to the celebrated second army corps, which made itself notorious at the battle of the wilderness, by gobbling up Johnson’s division of rebs. Col. Compton served with honor during the war in an Iowa regiment. Capt. Bristol also stands high as an officer, distinguished alike for bravery and good judgment. There will scarcely be a commissioned officer connected with the expedition who has not seen active service, while a good proportion of the enlisted men are veterans of the war. Jake Callahan, an old frontiersman, and who has been in as close quarters as anybody, accompanies the outfit as wagon master. There will be about one hundred and fifty citizen employees.

Altogether, the composition of the entire expedition is such as to leave no room to doubt that, if the opportunity offers, they will give a good account of themselves, and it is fully to suppose the Indians will surrender without a stubborn resistance. They are well armed, mounted on ponies that will keep fat on grass, unencumbered with supply trains or anything else that would retard their quick motion in a warfare against the troops. A good many of their wild brothers have turned up missing since they commenced the war, and they will be anxious to avenge their deaths. Their vindictiveness and animosity towards the whites know no bounds. The man who falls into their hands suffers a two-fold death and is literally chopped to pieces.

The expedition will go from here to Camp Supply, in the Indian Territory, and from there west to the Antelope mountains, where it will be joined by the Tenth cavalry, colored, from Texas, and from there to wherever the enemy is. The Fourth and Eighth cavalry, which have been operating on the borders of Texas and New Mexico, I am informed, will move in conjunction with the force leaving here, and will close in on the Indians from all sides. It is estimated that the force which will soon be on the move will number between twenty-five hundred and three thousand men, independent of citizen employees. It is not accurately known how many Indians are participating in the present war, but is judged that the number will not fall short of three thousand. They are now said to be uniting in the region of the Staked Plains, the more effectually to resist the troops going out against them. They will fight on ground of their own selection and may inflict serious loss on our forces, but the ultimate result cannot be doubted—they must yield. They are not supposed to be overloaded with ammunition, and when this is gone, there is nothing left for them to do but to surrender.

Companies C and D of the Fifth U. S. infantry, which have been doing guard duty along the A. T. & S. F. road, have been relieved by the Nineteenth, lately arrived from the state of Louisiana. These two companies left a very favorable impression where they became known for their general quiet and civil deportment.

A train loaded with buffalo hides arrived here yesterday evening from the Canadian, the scene of the late siege and heroic defense of a handful of men against two hundred redskins. As the facts become better known, the heroism of these men is without parallel. There were thirty men inside the stockades, and only twelve guns. With these they succeeded in keeping at bay, and finally driving off, over two hundred Indians. So bold were the savages, and so confident of their prey, that they came right up to the entrances to the stockades, and endeavored to break down the doors. One fellow was entertaining the boys inside with a war-dance on a buffalo hide. That was his last war-dance. A piece of lead from a needle gun struck him and brought his performance to an abrupt termination. He gave a yell and a bound, and then went to the earth. Others, to the number of forty, paid the same penalty for their reckless daring. Twelve Indian heads, minus hair, feathers, and other thum mim, [? Hard to read last words] now adorn the gate-posts of the corral. The collection is diversified by the caput of a negro, who was killed among the Indians with a can of yeast powders in his hand. He didn’t “raise” worth a cent after that.

The Indians carried off all their wounded and most of their dead, whom they buried on the adjacent hills. About thirty freshly-made graves were counted. In this remarkable encounter with the savage hosts, only three whites were killed, one inside and two outside of the stockades, namely, William Tyler and Isaac Schiedler and his brother. There were others killed, but not at this place or time. The hunters still hold their ground, and no Indians have been seen since in the vicinity. It was evidently not a healthy place for them to jerk buffalo meat or to dry plums.

Some of the trophies captured from the Indians are now on exhibition at this place, among them the scalp of a woman with long black hair. A number of others were noticed in the belts of the warriors. Some of these ought to be forwarded to the peace commissioners; the sight of them would no doubt confirm their belief in the utter innocence and harmlessness of the Indians.

The merchants and businessmen of Dodge City have survived the anathemas of General Pope, who seems to think they are fit subjects for total extermination. If the general would take the trouble to visit the frontier, and become acquainted with the real facts, he would find that the businessmen of Dodge, or any other town, are in no manner responsible for the present outbreak. They are shrewd, go-ahead businessmen, and the imputations of the general are unwarranted, to say the least.

Excerpt...

The Commonwealth, Saturday Morning, August 15, 1874.

                                              DODGE CITY, August 11, 1874.

To the Editor of the Commonwealth.

A part of Gen. Miles’ expedition, consisting of four companies of the Sixth cavalry, and one of the Fifth infantry, accompanied by scouts and a train of twenty wagons, left here this afternoon to take the field against the hostile Indians. They will reconnoitre the country between here and Camp Supply. Two companies of infantry had previously gone to escort Mexican trains, loaded with forage and commissary stores for Supply. The balance of the command will leave day after tomorrow for the same point, where the expeditionary forces will re-unite and move on the enemy’s works. If existing orders are not countermanded from Washington, this timely movement against the Indians cannot but be productive of good results. When the forces now in motion are consolidated, they will present a very formidable array to the murdering red-skins. It is not believed they will succumb without a determined resistance. The various war parties are reported to be united in anticipation of a movement by the United States troops. They are said to be assembling at the Wichita mountains, and with the defenses afforded by these, it will be no easy matter to dislodge them.

Excerpts...

The Commonwealth, Thursday Morning, August 27, 1874.

                                        CAMP SUPPLY, I. T., August 19, 1874.

From Our Regular Correspondent.

Five companies—four of cavalry and one of infantry—left Fort Dodge on the 11^th inst., under command of Major Compton, of the Sixth cavalry, with instructions to proceed south as far as the Beaver, and scout the country from there to Camp Supply.

The remaining portion of the expedition, commanded by General Miles in person, left Fort Dodge on the 13^th, three days after the departure of Major Compton, taking the military road from Dodge to Camp Supply, in the Indian Territory, distant about eighty-five miles. The two commands reached this post yesterday, having encountered no Indians on either route. The extreme hot weather and the scarcity and poor quality of the water were trying on the infantry for the first day or two, but they are in better condition now for a hard march than before.

With the exception of a little commotion at the Cimarron crossing, caused by a rumor that horse thieves were in camp, the march from Dodge to Supply was without incident worthy of note. This little episode had the effect to increase the sentinels around the camp, and if there had been horse thieves about, it would have been simply impossible for them to get away with any stock.

The country between Fort Dodge and Camp Supply is remarkable for its roughness and everything that tends to attract. I had been dreaming that as soon as we crossed the line which divides the state of Kansas and the Nation, a country flourishing with milk and honey, and rivaling in fertility the fabled gardens of Calypso, would open to our astonished gaze, but instead, we were treated to a succession of ugly-shaped, queer-looking, craggy mountains, and deep, impassable canyons. Unless a better country is seen, our exalted opinion of this paradise will undergo material modification.

An object of passing interest on the march, however, was the Red holes, at Cimarron crossing. These holes take their name from the reddish color of the soil, and are remarkable for their great depth, some of them being upwards of one hundred feet. They are fed by springs, and are filled with many varieties of fish. The water is strongly impregnated with alkali, and is hardly fit for drinking purposes.

Camp Supply, where we have halted for a day to draw rations and forage, is located at the confluence of Beaver and Wolf creeks, in the Indian Territory. It is a fine company post, and commanded at present by Col. Lewis, of the 19^th infantry. It was established in 1867. The commissary and quartermaster buildings are built of frame—one story—and the company quarters are made in the stockade fashion, and resemble a military camp more than a garrison. Several tribes of Indians used to get their rations at this post. T.

Excerpts...

The Commonwealth, Thursday Morning, September 3, 1874.

                              CAMP NEAR ANTELOPE HILLS, August 23, 1873.

From Our Own Correspondent.

The command, with thirty days’s rations and forage, left Camp Supply on the 21^st and marched up Wolf creek about thirty miles, and there took a southerly course towards Antelope hills. The description given of the country between Dodge and Supply will answer for that passed over in the last few days, with the exception that timber is more plentiful on the creeks and the water purer. The prairies were also covered with buffalo, and some deer were seen along the streams. The whole region passed over, which mainly lies in the Indian Territory, is rough, broken, and must remain forever useless for agricultural purposes. The principal inhabitants are lizards, horned toads, wolves, and with the exception of an occasional foray like the present, will doubtless never be disturbed in the enjoyment of their hereditary rights.

Antelope hills, to which point the troops operating in conjunction with Gen. Miles have been converging, are situated about one mile and a half south of the Canadian and on what is called the Howe trail, which starts at Fort Smith, Arkansas, and ends at Fort Union, New Mexico, running via Forts Arbuckle, Cobb, and Bascom. The hills consist of four semi-mountains, rising to an altitude of three or four hundred feet above the surrounding bluffs. They can be readily distinguished for many miles.

There is no surface water in the Canadian at this point. It is always very low at this season of the year. It is about as wide as the Arkansas from Wichita to Pueblo, and the bed is of the same sandy nature. The bottoms are from a half to a mile in width, and covered with a heavy growth of grass, which retains its nutritious quality throughout the year. It is almost destitute of timber. The only use it seems possible the country could be devoted to is stock-raising, but this would be hazardous as long as it is overrun by Indians. The grazing is good and the hills which everywhere abound would afford excellent shelter for stock.

An important acquisition was made to the expedition at Camp Supply, in the persons of two noted guides and scouts, namely, Ben Clarke and Amos Chapman. When it is remembered how indispensable the services of guides and scouts have become, and with what momentous responsibilities they are entrusted, a brief sketch of these two additions will be appreciated.

Ben Clarke is well known all over the plains. He has been in the service of the government for six years as a guide and scout. In the Indian campaign of 1868, he was Gen. Sheridan’s principal guide, and that officer frequently took occasion to compliment him for his valuable services. He is a man of excellent judgment and superior intelligence, and his thorough knowledge of the country makes his services doubly valuable. He is about thirty-five years of age, medium height, has long, light hair, falling below his shoulders. He has none of the bravado common to many frontier characters, but in address is plain, unassuming, and treats everybody with the utmost courtesy. He is perfectly at home in any crowd, always calm, never excited, and is well informed on the current topics of the day. He has a keen sense of honor, and when his rights are infringed, no man will resent the wrong quicker than Ben Clarke.

Amos Chapman is some eight or ten years the junior of Ben. He has gone through the same crucible. Equally intelligent and familiar with the country, his services to the expedition cannot be overestimated. He was also with the Custer expedition in 1868, and has been employed by government as guide and scout ever since. When entrusted with any important duty, he discharges it faithfully and fearlessly.

The expedition is so well supplied with good men, as officers, soldiers, and citizens, that it seems like partiality to mention particular ones, but I will not be trespassing upon your patience by alluding to one other, A. J. Martin. Jack is perhaps the oldest scout with the expedition, having served during the war with Capt. Tough’s command. There are few places on the great American desert that he is not acquainted with.

A train of wagons will return from here to Camp Supply, by which I send this letter. Will send others concerning the movements of this expedition as opportunity offers. We are a long way from railroad communication, and our mail facilities are necessarily very limited. T.

                                                      FROM THE FRONT.

                        Indians Harassing the Rear of General Miles’ Command.

                                            A Teamster Killed by Cheyennes.

                               Scouts Fight Their Way Through Hostile Indians.

         Capture of a White Man Who Has Been Fifteen Years With the Comanches.

The Commonwealth, Tuesday Morning, September 15, 1874.

                                     CAMP SUPPLY, I. T., September 10, 1874.

From Our Own Correspondent.

The Indians have appeared in large numbers on General Miles’ trail between here and Red river. A party of about one hundred showed themselves at the crossing of Commission creek, some fifty miles from here, on the evening of the 7^th, and killed a teamster belonging to Jack Callahan’s train, which was on the way from General Miles’ command to meet a supply train from this post. The name of the teamster killed is Arthur Moore. He is from Wichita, where his parents reside. He was out from camp a few hundred yards when the Indians came upon him. He was scalped and literally riddled with bullets. His brother was within a few hundred yards of him when he was shot, but could render him no assistance.

It is expected that Callahan’s train will experience considerable difficulty in reaching the command, as the Indians are now all along the route. These are thought to be the Indians who lately burned the buildings at the Wichita agency.

Lieut. Baldwin and three of his scouts have just arrived from General Miles’ headquarters. They fought their way through, killing four Indians and capturing one white man. He has been with the Indians for fifteen years and speaks very poor English. He belongs to the Comanches. The Indians are burning the prairie in every direction. It is thought they have got their families out of the way, and have now come back to harass General Miles’ rear. T.

Excerpt...

The Commonwealth, Friday Morning, September 18, 1874.

Special Dispatch to the Commonwealth.

Dodge City, Kan., Sept. 17.—No Indian troubles today to the west of us. R. M. Bright has just arrived from Camp Supply and reports a hard fight between Gen. Miles command and the Indians. Twenty-seven wounded had already been received at Supply. The number of killed is unknown. Gen. Miles has been compelled to fall back one hundred miles to meet supplies.

The Commonwealth, Sunday Morning, September 20, 1874.

                                  DODGE CITY, KANSAS, September 19, 1874.

Special Correspondence of the Commonwealth:

Scouts who have just arrived report the condition of Gen. Miles’ command as deplorable, that his supplies are cut off, and all supply trains either captured or corralled. If the reports which the scouts bring in are true, his command is in a critical situation. Callahan’s train, which left Camp Supply on Sunday with supplies, is stopped, and is in a state of siege. There are no troops here to send to his relief. It is understood that Gen. Pope can furnish no further aid by way of either troops or transportation. Is it not time that Kansas was in this fight herself? What says the legislative fathers?

The Commonwealth, Tuesday Morning, September 22, 1874.

                                               EXPLOSION OF A CANARD.

Chicago, Sept. 21. The special dispatches sent out from Quincy last night, concerning Indian depredations near Camp Supply, Indian Territory, saying that Col. Miles had been compelled to fall back to meet his supplies; that he had telegraphed Gen. Pope for reinforcements; that one large supply train of thirty-six wagons had been captured, the assistant wagon master killed and the men compelled to abandon the train after a desperate resistance, bringing 27 wounded into camp; that 300 stand of arms, together with large ammunition and commissary stores had fallen into the hands of the savages, and that the eighth cavalry had come in from Arizona entirely destitute, having lost all their supply and baggage trains, and joined Col. Miles’ command, are proven, on inquiry at headquarters here, not to be true, or with so little foundation as to be virtually a canard.

From official dispatches, received by Lt. Gen. Sheridan this morning, the real facts are obtained and will be found in the associated press. Colonel Miles, in a dispatch dated the 5^th inst., seventy-five miles south of Red river, advised Gen. Pope that he should fall back for supplies. His dispatch received by Gen. Sheridan today is dated from camp on Washita river, September 14, and came via Fort Dodge, leaving there on the 17^th inst. He says:

“I find that after leaving the Canadian river, Maj. Lyman, commanding the escort to the supply train, was attacked by from 300 to 400 Indians, on the morning of the 9^th inst. The Indians charged the train several times and made every effort to capture it, fighting so determinedly as to detain it for three days. The fight was very close and the train completely surrounded. On the third day the Indians abandoned the attack, retreating southwest.

“From all the information I can get here since my arrival, I believe they formed no part of the body we drove off the Staked Plains. They were believed to have been led by Satanta and Big Tree. During the fight Lieutenant Lewis, of the Fifty infantry, was severely wounded in the knee. Sergeant Deadmond, company I, Fifth infantry, was killed. Sergeant Single, Sixth cavalry, private Buck, Fifth infantry, and wagon master Sanford, were wounded, the latter mortally. Officers estimated the number of Indians killed at fifteen, the wounded at many more. Private Pettijohn, of the Sixth cavalry, was killed near camp, on McClellan creek, on the 11^th.

“Lieutenant Baldwin will have informed you of his successful encounter with the Indians while coming in as bearer of dispatches. Part of the force that attacked Major Lyman, attacked a party of the Sixth cavalry bearing dispatches, who entrenched themselves in the sand, and after a desperate fight lasting all day, in which one courier was killed and four wounded, they compelled the Indians to retire, having killed twelve. Whenever we have fought them, they have been severely punished with comparatively slight loss on our side. The rivers to the south are now so swollen as to be impassable for wagons. I am building a bridge across the Wichita. The cavalry were obliged to swim their horses on returning. The march back was even more difficult than the advance, even with Indians in our front, owing to the terrible continuous rains which flooded the streams and made the roads almost impassable, from which facts as well as because but half the forage was furnished and the Indians having destroyed much of the grass, the animals have come in exhausted and somewhat worn down.

“The command now occupies the valleys of McClellan creek, Sweetwater, and Washita rivers. Maj. Price’s command is camped near acting independently.”

Gen. Pope, in a communication enclosing Col. Miles’ report, says Miles has force enough to beat any Indians that can be met.

The Commonwealth, Tuesday Morning, September 22, 1874.

                                     CAMP SUPPLY, I. T., September 12, 1874.

To the Editor of the Commonwealth.

One of Gen. Miles’ scouts has just come in and reports that Callahan’s train, loaded with supplies for the command, has been corralled about two miles north of Washita. Col. Lewis, commanding this post, has ordered company K, of the Sixth cavalry, and a detachment of infantry to their rescue. Gen. Miles’ command was on Red river, some one hundred and twenty-five miles further south, but as his rations were nearly out, it is very likely that he is moving to meet the supply train. One soldier with Callahan’s train was killed, one officer wounded, and two citizens wounded. Jas. Sandford, Callahan’s assistant, was shot through the abdomen. Several mules had been killed, and a number wounded. The train is entirely cut off from water.

A night-herder of Messrs. Lee & Reynolds was shot by Indians at their hay camp, fifteen miles west of this point, last evening.

The whole country is alive with Indians, and more troops will be needed to squelch them.

                                                                       T.

Excerpt...

The Commonwealth, Tuesday Morning, September 22, 1874.

                              CAMP ON THE WASHITA, TEXAS, September 16.

From Our Own Correspondent.

The company of cavalry sent from Camp Supply to the relief of Callahan’s train reached here at 3 o’clock yesterday morning. The company halted six miles from where the train was corralled and seven citizen scouts ran the blockade, under cover of night, and informed the beleaguered party that had been held here for five days and nights, and three days without a drop of water for man or beast. The Indians kept up a constant fire day and night. One man was killed just as the train was being corralled. The Indians had been watching this train from the time it left the command at Red river, and killed one man belonging to it at Commission creek. It was attacked the second day on the return immediately after crossing the Canadian river. The escort, consisting of forty infantry and twenty cavalry, under command of Capt. Lyman, fought them for ten miles, when the Indians were reinforced and they were forced to corral under a terrific fire from all sides. So confident were the Indians of capturing the entire outfit that they dug rifle pits within fifty yards of the wagons. Over one hundred of these were counted. The whole number is estimated between four and five hundred. Nine head of beef cattle intended for the command were stampeded, and sixteen head of mules were wounded and had to be killed.

In this attack one man was killed and three wounded. The conduct of our men against such fearful odds deserves the highest praise. The Indians kept up a continuous fire for three days and nights, during which time no water or feed could be had, notwithstanding they were within a few hundred yards.

The mules were reduced to skeletons from want of water and grass.

Yesterday morning the train moved out, the Indians having left in the night; but they had only gone a mile or two before Gen. Miles’ command was seen approaching from the south. The men were out of rations and the sight of the supply train had the effect to revive their drooping spirits wonderfully.

The expedition is now encamped on the Washita, about fifteen miles south of the Canadian. The Indians that have been engaging the attention of the troops along General Miles’ trail are thought to be Kiowas and Comanches, reinforced by those lately in his front. They cannot be drawn into an open engagement with the troops, but will pick up isolated parties, make dashes on supply trains, and carry on a general guerrilla warfare, for which the country is admirably adapted.

Major Price, with four companies of the eighth cavalry, joined Gen. Miles’ command on the 7^th. They had been traveling for thirty-five days, having started from Fort Union, New Mexico. They were out of supplies and glad to meet us. They encountered no Indians on their march until they struck Miles’ trail leading to Red river, when they had several lively brushes with them.

The command will probably remain here for awhile to recuperate, as the stock are pretty well played out and need rest. They have been on the go since the 11^th of August. A good many horses have been killed or abandoned on the march.

The progress of this campaign has unfolded qualities of heroism and endurance seldom equaled. As an instance, I will mention the following: On the 9^th inst., Amos Chapman and William Dickson, two of Lieut. Baldwin’s scouts, left the command in company with four soldiers, with dispatches for Camp Supply. They got along all right until the morning of the second day, when they suddenly found themselves surrounded by about one hundred and fifty Indians, and all chances of escape cut off. The only alternative left for the boys was to prepare for the worst, and to sell their lives as dearly as possible. So dismounting they succeeded in keeping the Indians at bay until they dug rifle pits, in which to shelter themselves. The Indians were now closing in upon them and their fate seemed decided. One of the number had been killed and three wounded. The other two had their clothing perforated with bullets. Some of the redskins dismounted and crawled up to within twenty-five yards of the men, and the ground around them was plowed with bullets. In this terrible condition, with one dead comrade whom they could not bury, and three others wounded, our little band remained for two days and nights without food, the horrors of their situation being augmented by a drenching rain. Three companies of the 8^th cavalry happened to run on them in search of their supply train, and gave them relief. Had it not been for this God-send, the fate of the entire party would only have been a question of a little time.

The survivors were brought in yesterday and their wounds properly dressed. They are doing well and will be all right in a short time. Chapman’s leg will probably have to be amputated. The other wounds were not of so serious a nature.

Excerpt...

The Commonwealth, Thursday Morning, October 8, 1874.

                                     HEADQUARTERS INDIAN EXPEDITION.

                                          CAMP ON THE WASHITA, TEXAS.

                                                       September 26^th, 1874.

From Our Regular Correspondent.

The Indians, having been beaten and routed at every point, have disappeared. None have been seen since the attack on Capt. Lyman’s train, although the troops have been moving in every direction in search of them. Those lately operating in Gen. Miles’ rear have gone towards the Staked Plains.

Gen. Davidson, with six companies of the Tenth cavalry and three of the Eleventh infantry, made a junction with Gen. Miles on the 20^th. He marched from Fort Sill up the Washita and North Fork of Red river. They report seeing no Indians on the route. This command is now moving towards the head of North Fork.

Three of the columns operating against the hostile Indians, namely, Gen. Miles, Gen. Davidson, and Col. Price, are within supporting distance of each other. Nothing has been heard from McKenzie, who is advancing from the south. He is supposed to be somewhere on the Staked Plains. Buell is also said to be moving on the enemy from New Mexico.

If the Indians do not scatter and flee to the mountains, some of the columns now in the field must overhaul them.

The number of Indians engaged in the late attack on Capt. Lyman’s train turns out to be much larger than was at first supposed. Experienced trailers place it at from seven to nine hundred. There is no means of ascertain their exact loss in killed and wounded, though from the number of graves since found it must have been considerable. The failure to gobble the supply train, and their signal defeat at the hands of the troops, has dampened their ardor for such undertakings and caused them to make themselves scarce ever since.

The handful of men under Capt. Lyman deserve praise for their heroic conduct under trying circumstances. All day long they fought against five times their number, the savage hosts dashing up to within twenty-five yards, and corralled only when further advance was impossible. The loss of this train would have been a serious disaster, as it contained supplies for the command, who were already out of rations. For five days and nights, the party were kept in durance, within a mile and a half of timber and water, and unable to reach it. On the evening of the third day heaven smiled upon them, and a copious rain saved much suffering and death.

Along with Capt. Lyman was a thin, scrawny, diminutive specimen of humanity, born on the other side of the ocean, but thoroughly Americanized, with no very conspicuous outward marks of either genius or courage. He is a scout, and his name is William F. Schmalsle. The situation was growing more desperate as the hours went by. Someone must go through the enemy’s lines for relief. Schmalsle was selected for the hazardous undertaking. There were ten chances to one that he would not get through. He was allowed his pick of the horses. Leaving the train at eight o’clock, after dark, he started for Camp Supply, distant about ninety miles. He had hardly gone a stone’s throw, however, before he was saluted by a shower of bullets. Putting spurs to his horse, he ran for dear life, the Indians yelling at his heels and firing at every jump. The chase continued for ten miles, when our brave hero succeeded in eluding his pursuers, having lost pistol, gun, and everything but horse and saddle, reaching the post the following morning, securing a fresh horse at a camp on Wolf creek.

As stated in a former letter, a company of the sixth cavalry was at once dispatched to Capt. Lyman’s relief. Schmalsle has been highly commended for his heroic conduct, and will be suitably rewarded.

                                                       FROM THE FIELD.

                                       Latest from General Miles’ Expedition.

                                           The Indian War About Terminated.

                                  The Indians Coming Into Their Reservations.

The Commonwealth, Sunday Morning, October 25, 1874.

                                     HEADQUARTERS INDIAN EXPEDITION,

                                   CAMP ON WOLF CREEK, October 22, 1874.

Correspondence of the Commonwealth.

Thanks to the increasing activity of our commanders in the field, the Indian troubles are drawing to a close. The Cheyennes have received a sound threshing at the hands of Col. McKenzie, and are now fleeing for very life, with that intrepid officer in hot pursuit. These are no doubt the same Indians that were whipped and driven south of Red river by Gen. Miles, and were not looking for any troops from that direction. A large proportion of the hostile tribes have already gone in and surrendered, as your readers know. Ever since it was discovered that the Indians were sneaking into the agencies, Gen. Miles’ troops have been on the alert and in constant motion to intercept them. A party of sixty lodges that passed down Sweetwater on the night of the 13^th were overhauled by Capt. Chaffee about forty miles from Camp Supply, on the Canadian, and five lodges were destroyed and one hundred ponies captured. They continued their retreat in the direction of the Cheyenne agency, with Chaffee at their heels. He will follow them to the door of the agency, if he does not overtake them before. Chaffee is one of our best officers, and will give the reds a drubbing they will not soon forget.

The other troops composing Gen. Miles’ command have not been idle. Lieut. Baldwin with sixty men made a reconnaissance to the headwaters of Red river, capturing a number of ponies and destroying forty or fifty lodges. He also discovered a number of trails, all leading in the direction of the agencies. The Indians are throwing away everything in the shape of camp equipage, cooking utensils, lodge poles, etc., and the evidences of their other demoralization is everywhere apparent. They have not the spirit, if they had the means, to make any further resistance to the troops.

The Cheyennes that were licked by McKenzie went north from Red river, and if they have not succeeded in running the gauntlet and reaching the agency, will no doubt be gobbled entire by Miles’ troops, which are moving in every direction to intercept them. Biddle is guarding the Adobe Walls country to prevent their crossing the Canadian; Price is looking after the inlet between the Canadian and North Fork; and Gen. Miles, with the balance of his command, is moving towards the headwaters of Wolf. If the Indians succeed in eluding all these commands, it will be no fault of Gen. Miles. He has administered a severe castigation to them, and caused them to seek protection of the agencies. He has broken up their thieving and murdering rendezvous on the streams between Red river and Camp Supply, and captured and destroyed property which it will take them years to replace. Never was such interest taken in the suppression of Indian hostilities and such activity manifested as has been done on the plains this year by the officers placed in charge of the different expeditions, and the settlers of Kansas, Texas, Colorado, and New Mexico owe them a debt of gratitude they can never repay. It has been the custom to decry the army as useless and a burden too intolerable to be borne, but any unprejudiced man who has accompanied any of the Indian expeditions through the hardships of their arduous campaigns, and witnessed the zeal and energy with which they have been prosecuted, must see and acknowledge the great injustice done to that branch of the government. T.

            [Note: Camp Supply was mentioned in other articles in Commonwealth.]

Arkansas City Traveler, January 26, 1876. Front Page.

About seven hundred Pawnee Indians left their reservation in the Territory on Thursday to go on a grand buffalo hunt. They will go about 75 miles west of Camp Supply and be absent about four months.

Arkansas City Traveler, February 2, 1876.

                                            POND CREEK, I. T., Jan. 26, 1876.

I thought I would drop you a few lines and give you some of the news from this locality. A number of the Osage Indians have been camped here all winter, and have sent out hunting parties to the plains. The parties met with little success hunting buffalo, having to go 50 miles beyond Camp Supply. On their return, when about twenty miles east of Supply, they commenced killing cattle, thereby getting the soldiers after them. On or about the 22nd, the soldiers struck a camp of the Indians, killed one of the Big Hills, and took one girl, one woman, and a small boy prisoners, with about forty head of stolen ponies and mules. They struck one old woman on the head with a revolver, and left her for dead; but the old lady has come in, and is in a fair way to recover. I will write again. W. J. KEFFER.

Arkansas City Traveler, February 2, 1876.

                                              (Special to Leavenworth Times.)

                                                CAMP SUPPLY, I. T., Jan. 27.

As the settlers on the border between Kansas and Indian Territory are periodically troubled by thieving bands of Osage Indians, it may interest your readers to know that at least one of their raids has ended in disaster to the noble savage.

On the night of the 19th inst., a messenger arrived at this post with news that a party of Osages had stolen about fifty head of cattle from the camp of Lee & Reynolds, about thirty-five miles south of this place. The herders had followed the trail for about fifteen miles, but being unable to overtake the Indians, one of them was sent into this place to procure aid.

Major Gordon, of the Fifth Cavalry, commanding this post, immediately ordered pursuit. Lieut. Bishop, of the Fifth Cavalry, with fifteen men, started the same night at 12 o’clock, with orders “to punish the Indians should the latter be overtaken; if necessary, to pursue them to their agency and demand the surrender of the thieves and stolen stock.”  Scout Amos Chapman accompanied the command as guide.

Lieut. Bishop arrived at the scene of the robbery, and started at once upon the trail.

The detachment returned today, bringing as prisoners, three squaws, one boy, and thirty-five Indian ponies.

I learn that at about noon on the 25th inst., Lieut. Bishop arrived near the Indian camp, located in high grass, their ponies grazing on a neighboring hill. Dismounting his men, and favored by a heavy atmosphere, the Indians were taken by surprise.

The latter, being dismounted, were unable to escape; and rather than surrender, made a determined fight. Three Indians were killed, several wounded, who escaped, and the whole band dispersed.

With one exception, all the lodges were burned. One old squaw declared she would rather be killed than go as a prisoner. She was left, the sole occupant of the camp that a few hours before contained so many thieving Indians. The stolen cattle had been slaughtered before the Indians had been overtaken. The prisoners acknowledged the guilt of their band.

The loss they have received will serve as a check to future raids, and the punishment upon them has been richly deserved, for their depredations for some years in this section.

Lieutenant Bishop is deserving of great praise for the prompt manner in which he executes orders and Osages at the same time. C. M. L.

Winfield Courier, February 3, 1876.

A party of Osages stole some cattle near Camp Supply on the 19th of January last. A detachment of fifteen men from the Fifth Cavalry, under Lieut. Bishop, was sent after them. Upon being overhauled the savages showed fight, and the “soldier boys” killed three, wounded several, and the remaining escaped, except three squaws, one boy, and thirty ponies. The Indians had killed the cattle.

Arkansas City Traveler, March 15, 1876. Front Page.

St. Louis, March 3. The Republican learns from a gentleman just arrived from Fort Sill, Indian Territory, that the developments of yesterday will create no surprise out there, because everybody at the post has for a long time been cognizant of the fact that the traders here were required to send heavy monthly contributions East, and they even urged, in order to enforce monthly collections from their patrons, the necessity for making those remittances, exclaiming that they were required to pay for the privileges they enjoyed. Lee & Reynolds, post traders at Camp Supply, make no secret of the fact that they hold their franchise as a thing purchased at large figures.

Arkansas City Traveler, March 29, 1876.

A Lieutenant, from Camp Supply, was here last week, after a deserter. He probably has him by this time.

Arkansas City Traveler, March 29, 1876.

A Lieutenant from Camp Supply came in last week, looking for a young man going under the name of Jackson, who had deserted, and in order to obtain citizens’ clothes, knocked down and almost killed a man whom he found on the road near the military headquarters. Jackson has been living near Tisdale for some months, and was arrested and taken back last week. His punishment will be severe.

Excerpt...

Arkansas City Traveler, April 5, 1876. Front Page.

      “West of Leavenworth, Fort Sill is the largest and biggest plum at the disposition of the War Department, . . . . There are no white settlements around, and the nearest stations are Camp Richardson, in Texas, about 150 miles, and Camp Supply, 200 miles to the north.”

Excerpt...

Arkansas City Traveler, April 26, 1876.

Washington, April 19. The Committee on Expenditures in the War Department today heard A. E. Reynolds, of the firm of Lee & Reynolds, post-traders at Camp Supply, Indian Territory. Reynolds testified that he secured the appointment through Gen. Hedrick, and paid him $4,500. Witness never paid a dollar to General Babcock or his brother.

Arkansas City Traveler, April 3, 1878.

                                                             Mail Routes.

The following are the names and residences of the mail contractors let March 1st, 1878, as furnished by G. P. Strum, of Washington, D. C., for the TRAVELER.

32020, Camp Supply to Dodge City, John R. Miner, Sandusky, Ohio; $761.

32021, Camp Supply to Ft. Elliott, Texas, John R. Miner, Sandusky, Ohio; $820.

Arkansas City Traveler, May 21, 1879.

                                        Territory Matters—Letter from C. M.

                              [Letter from Scott. See pages 276-277 in The Indians.]

Excerpt...

Arkansas City Traveler, June 4, 1879.

                                                    [Report from C. M. Scott.]

I have just completed another little jog into the Territory, and will relate what I saw.

Gen. McNeil was at Ponca Agency on the 22nd, and may go down to Oklahoma to advise the settlers on the North Fork. Troops from Camp Supply and Fort Sill have already been there, and the result was settlers were strung out all along the road on their way back, cursing the country, the soldiers, and above all, the Kansas City Times, and its “pal”—Carpenter.

Arkansas City Traveler, June 11, 1879.

We had the pleasure of meeting Lieutenants Leeper and Smith of the 4th cavalry last Friday. They are ordered by General Pope to report to the commanding officer at Camp Supply to combat any outbreak on the part of the Cheyennes.

Arkansas City Traveler, June 11, 1879.

Co. I, 4th Cavalry, passed through our city on Friday last. Capt. Himple is the commanding officer of this company. As the men were all mounted on grey horses, their appearance was quite attractive. This company was on the way to Camp Supply, via Ft. Reno.

Winfield Courier, Thursday, May 22, 1879. - FRONT PAGE.

EDITOR COURIER:—Perhaps a word from the great Indian and cattle region would interest the readers of your paper. I will be brief and give as much news in as little space as possible.

The cattle drive from Texas, north, has just begun. The first herd of 300 head passed Cimarron ranche north of Camp Supply, for Dodge City about May 5th. Many others are on the trail and the drive will be good this year. Stock wintered in the northern part of the Territory and in the western counties of Kansas, are a little thin, owing to the hard winter and dry spring.

At Caldwell officers of the Cherokee Nation represented they were there for the purpose of “collecting a tax” of the stock men for pasturage in the Territory, and the matter is creating considerable comment and general dissatisfaction. If it is carried out, stock men will be compelled to drive to the Pan Handle of Texas or Western Kansas. The pasturage that these Indians want pay for, is never used by the Indians and has been burned off every fall for years.

About half way between Ft. Reno and Camp Supply, near the Post, we saw millions of young grasshoppers, but they were confined to a space of a few miles, and but little fears were entertained of their taking the red man’s corn.

The veto of the army appropriation bill caused considerable uneasiness among the military men of the several posts and will be very embarrassing to both officers and soldiers. Some WHITE HORSE THIEVES ran off thirteen head of ponies belonging to the Cheyenne chief, “Stone Calf,” and soldiers were scouring the country to overtake them but failed to find them. All along the line we heard of several cases of horse stealing.

Thousands of Texas ponies will be driven to Kansas this year. Mr. Kincaid, at Caldwell, lately came up with 300 head, followed by James Steen, with 900 head. Brown, Jennings, Malone, and Scott will be here by the middle or latter part of summer, each with from one to five hundred head, and the probability is that ponies will be cheap.

Tom Donnell and Ben Clarke in the U. S. scouts at Ft. Reno, and Amos Chapman and Harry Cooms, a Pawnee, at Camp Supply. These men have made quite a record already in Indian exploits, and will figure extensively this summer if any trouble should arise.

The Comanches and Kiowas near Ft. Sill raided into Texas lately, and the “Rangers” dropped one of them, “Sun Boy” by name, for which the Indians made another raid and killed Joe Clarke. This took place April 12th.

George and Bob Bent, half-breed sons of old Colonel Bent, for whom Bent’s fort was named, are both among the Cheyennes now, raising cattle and farming. The boys have a very interesting history.

There are no buffalo in the Territory at this time, but during June and July they will come east of Camp Supply and into western Kansas, probably within 150 miles of Winfield. Deer are plentiful, and antelope can be found in Harper and Barbour counties. On the Cimarron, near Jones’ ranche affords good hunting and fishing. One of our party killed one panther and a number of turkeys while there, and we fished until we were tired of catching them. Owing to the recent raid to settle in the Territory, hunting will not be permitted near the Interior of the Nation. I will be going in a few days, again, and will notify you of any matters of interest.                                                     Yours, C. M.  [C. M. Scott]

Arkansas City Traveler, Wednesday, December 10, 1879.

Kansas has 78 townships along the Indian Territory, and measures 468 miles long. It has 25 townships east of the 6th principal meridian and 43 west of it. Arkansas City is four miles west of the 97th meridian and 3 ranges or 18 miles east of the 6th principal meridian.

Camp Supply is 150 miles west of Arkansas City and 36 miles south, or 186 miles distant. It is situated between Wolf and Beaver creeks that make the head of the North Canadian.

Fort Cantonment is ten townships south and sixteen townships west, or one hundred and fifty-six miles distant from Arkansas City.

Fort Reno is 130 miles southwest.

Arkansas City is the supply point for 14,342 Indians, besides the U. S. soldiers at different forts, and the cattlemen and cowboys of the Territory. C. M. SCOTT.

Arkansas City Traveler, November 16, 1881.

Thirty-nine head of Polled Angus cattle passed through Larned, recently, en route from Scotland to Lee & Reynold’s ranch near Camp Supply, Indian Territory. They cost $35,000, and are said to be the finest drove of cattle in this western country. Larned Optic.

Arkansas City Traveler, May 31, 1882.

The order abandoning Fort Dodge has been received, and the troops now there will be sent to Camp Supply, Forts Reno and Elliott.

Caldwell Commercial, Thursday, December 28, 1882.

                                                        Missing Stage Driver.

Rumors were current on Tuesday to the effect that a stage driver on the route between Camp Supply and Fort Elliott had been killed, and that H. A. Todd, superintendent of Vaile Miner & Co.’s stage line, had been assaulted and badly beaten by Indians. Upon inquiring at the stage office in this city, we learned from the agent, Mr. Tushams, that about two weeks ago a dispatch came from Supply, stating that Dan Smith had started out for Elliott with the buckboard and mail, and he could not be found. The dispatch was forwarded to Mr. Todd, who was at Fort Reno, and he immediately went to Supply and instituted a search for the missing driver. The buckboard having the mail on it intact, with one mule hitched to it, was found on the prairie. The other mule was afterwards found a short distance off, but nothing could be learned of the fate of Smith, though strict search was made and creeks and water holes dragged for his body.

Mr. Todd proceeded to Elliott, when, so he writes to Mr. Tushams under date of the 22nd inst., that Dan Smith was certainly killed, and that suspicion of the crime had fallen upon certain parties. It appears that Smith had on his person two checks, one for $500 and one for $100 and four ten dollar transportation tickets belonging to the stage company. The fact that the mail was not molested, would seem to show that if he was murdered, it could not have been for the purpose of robbery.

It seems Smith was in the habit of indulging in sprees, and it is stated that when he left Supply for the last trip, he was greatly intoxicated. If that was the case, it is more than likely that he fell off the buckboard, and half crazed by drink, wandered to some out of the way place, where he laid down and died from exposure.

Arkansas City Traveler, Wednesday, May 16, 1883.

                                             Bent’s Buffalo: Last of Its Race.

One of the attractions of the Cheyenne and Arapaho reservation is George Bent’s buffalo, which for the past five years or more has been with his herd of cattle. The animal was captured while a calf some six years ago near Camp Supply by Wm. Frass, who brought it down and presented it to George Bent’s daughter, Ada. It has been ever since a prominent object in the herd, and now is a solitary specimen of its kind, which some years ago covered this country by the tens of thousands. The Indians take great interest in the unwieldy brute, and show it to their children as a specimen of the animal which but a short time ago was their main dependence for subsistence. On account of this association, George would not sell the buffalo cow at any price. The animal is handled the same as the rest of the cattle, and is perfectly familiar with men on horseback—but at times it becomes pugnacious, and will not allow a wheeled vehicle to approach. Transporter.

Excerpt...

[GENERAL CROOK.]

Winfield Courier, June 21, 1883.

As an illustration of Crook’s modesty and total absence of fuss and feathers in his make-up, it may be stated that although the fight and capture occurred on the 17th of last month, he leisurely retraced his steps to Camp Supply at Silver Creek, not even sending a courier ahead to signalize his movements. The first intimation had of Crook’s return was the arrival of a lieutenant at Colonel Biddle’s headquarters at 8 a.m., on Sunday the 10th inst., with dispatches for Camp Bowie, the nearest army telegraph station. Upon making inquiry concerning the general, who was supposed to be 100 miles distant in the Sierra Madres, imagine the surprise that awaited the camp when informed that Crook was only two hours behind with the captured Apaches.

About 10 o’clock the general rode into camp with an escort, and greeted Colonel Biddle with “Nice morning, Colonel,” and straight-way struck out for a wash-basin which he had spied, and was soon engaged in performing his ablutions, after which he threw himself onto a camp stool and engaged himself in conversation about his campaign in an off-hand way, as if hunting the cruelest and fiercest foe on the continent, in the wildest and most inaccessible country to be found, was a matter of every-day occurrence. A lieutenant, whose name is unknown, was the only person wounded in Crook’s command, and he but slightly.

Winfield Courier, June 21, 1883.

                                             NEW RAILROAD ENTERPRISE.

So far in her history, Erie has been unfortunate in having all the railroads in the country to miss her, but it now seems that Neosho’s favorite but much slighted town is at last to have not only the advantage of railroad facilities but of railroad competition also. Since the Girard, Iola & Topeka railroad went into the hands of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe company, it is generally understood that the latter company will extend the line from Walnut to Earlton by that place and there intersect the K. C. L. & S. K. Railroad, also under the management of the A., T. & S. F. Company. Now news reaches us that a consolidation is about to be effected with the Kansas Railway Company, who now own the Memphis & Northwestern grade from Thayer to Fredonia, built in 1871, with other interests, whereby a road can be built from Fort Scott to Winfield by way of Erie to Thayer, and on above mentioned grade to Fredonia and from there to Howard and on to Winfield. It is the intention in a few years to extend this line of road from Winfield to Camp Supply and on Southwestwardly to the coast. The people of Erie are perfectly elated over the prospect of either having access to the Fort Scott, Chicago & St. Louis, or a direct connection in the way of a southwestern branch from Ft. Scott to Winfield. If built, this will be one of the most valuable pieces of railroad property in all the southwest.

Caldwell Journal, August 2, 1883.

                                                           GONE NORTH.

                                                Last of the Northern Cheyennes.

                                                [From Cheyenne Transporter.]

Appropriations have been made by the last Congress for the removal of the remnant of the Northern Cheyennes remaining at this agency. The department issued orders for their removal, the start being made on the 19th inst. The bands desiring removal numbered 405, of which 391 were Cheyennes and Arapahos. The Indians, with their 60 days rations, were turned over to the military by Acting Agent Woodard, and were placed under escort of a company of the 9th cavalry, under command of Lieut. C. J. Stevens. This detail will accompany the Northern Cheyennes as far as Camp Supply, where a new detail will go as far as Fort Hays, and from there the destination is Sidney, Nebraska, where the band will be turned over to the department of the Platte, which will deliver them to their final destination, Pine Ridge Agency, Dakota. It will take several months to travel the entire distance. Dr. Thompson accompanied the party as surgeon, and will go through to Pine Ridge. Sandy Williams is the interpreter for the expedition. The leaders of the Cheyennes are Red Eagle, Ridge Bear, Standing Elk, and Wild Hog. Their band has been discontented ever since their removal to this Territory six years ago, and to their number belonged Dull Knife and his band which went murdering through Kansas three years ago, and were exterminated with the exception of only about 38, who succeeded in getting through and six or seven who were captured and returned to this Agency. Little Chief’s band, who remained peaceably at home, were permitted to go north last year, and those now en route are the last of the Northern Cheyennes remaining, except a few who have intermarried and are bound by family ties.

Caldwell Journal, August 9, 1883.

W. W. Wells, a noted character among the Cheyenne Indians, died at Camp Supply about two weeks ago. No particulars regarding his death could be obtained, save that he had been attacked with dysentery, to which he succumbed.

Caldwell Journal, August 23, 1883.

In addition to purchasing the Creswell cattle and range, for which we learn they paid $40,000, the New York Cattle Company bought 750 yearlings at Dodge, the other day. They will be put on the company’s range on Wolf Creek.

Mr. Jackson, manager of the New York Cattle Company, writes us from Supply that his company has bought the Wm. Creswell cattle, numbering 1,400 head, and the ranch on Wolf Creek, near Camp Supply.

Caldwell Journal, September 6, 1883.

DODGE CITY, KANSAS, September 2. News has just reached this city by telegraph from Camp Supply, Indian Territory, of a murder committed on Wolf Creek, near there, last evening. G. C. Smith, of Oxford, Alabama, boss of the Dominion Cattle Company’s outfit, was shot through the head and instantly killed by Al Thurman, foreman for the Jackson Cattle Company, in a dispute about a stock range. A warrant has been issued. A deputy United States marshal started tonight to arrest Thurman.

Caldwell Journal, November 15, 1883.

The following stockmen registered at the JOURNAL office yesterday: J. H. Windsor, Pink Fouts, Arkansas City; J. F. Lyon, Fort Gibson, I. T.; Walter Treadwell, Prospect Park, Harper County; S. Jackson, Camp Supply; S. W. Phoenix, Winfield; Albert Dean, Earl Spencer, M. J. Lane, Eagle Chief Pool; C. H. Vautier, Kiowa; Nick Schlupp, St. Joe, Mo.; Wm. Hobbs and Arthur Gorham, Kinsley, Kansas; Tom Hutton, Ind. Ter.; D. Donovan, Kiowa; A. O. Evans, St. Louis; C. H. Dye, Wellington; Crate Justus, Harper.

Arkansas City Republican, January 3, 1885.

Rumor reaches us that the Oklahoma boomers and the soldiers came together last week and that the boomers routed the soldiers. A dispatch to the Wichita Eagle from Caldwell Wednesday says: “Gen. Hatch arrived here today and immediately made a requisition upon Quartermaster Agent Lomens for transportation for 500,000 pounds of freight, to accompany the column in the field in Oklahoma. He has detachments of troops en route now to the Oklahoma country from Ft. Riley, Ft. Leavenworth, Camp Supply, Ft. Reno, and Ft. Sill. Part of these troops are at present writing in that country, and inside of the next ten days all of them will be there. His orders in the matter are sweeping and explicit, and with twelve or fifteen hundred men to back him, the boomers are likely to be bounced in style. There will be no child’s play in the matter and the would-be settler in Oklahoma will do well to make himself exceedingly scarce until the storm blows over.”

Excerpt...

Arkansas City Republican, January 31, 1885.

Camp Supply is 150 miles west of Arkansas City and 36 miles south, or 180 miles distant. It is situated between Wolf and Beaver Creeks that make the head of the North Canadian.

Arkansas City Republican, March 14, 1885.

The Caldwell Journal tells the following wild cat story.

“Bud Anderson and a friend roped a mountain lion in the territory eight miles north of Camp Supply about two weeks ago. The ‘critter’ had been killing cattle, stealing the dogs, and chasing the boys; but finally tackled the wrong party. It was eating a calf it had just killed when the boys rode up on it. Their ropes were instantly swung into shape and Anderson’s rope fell fairly around the lion’s neck. A sudden halt of the pony landed the lion on his back. Instantly regaining its feet it bounded through the air straight at the rider’s head. Then began the entertaining part of the show; the lion trying to get its fangs into the pony and the rider trying to keep clear of the ‘varmint.’  Twenty or thirty minutes of this sport gave the other cowboy a chance to get his rope fairly over the lion’s neck, when the fight was ended by stringing the animal out between them at the ends of the ropes. It measured seven feet, six inches from tip to tip.”

Winfield Courier, Thursday, April 9, 1885.

It will be remembered that the great antediluvian legislature reestablished a county named Clark, lying along the Indian Territory and southeast of Dodge City, formerly belonging to Ford and Comanche counties. Near the center of this new county a town was located some six months ago called Ashland, near Bear creek, a beautiful, never-failing stream, skirted with a very scanty supply of cottonwood trees.

Ashland is on the government trail, between Forts Dodge and Supply, which points are connected by a telegraph line passing through the town. Although Ashland is scarcely half a year old, it already boasts two newspapers, a lumberyard, two livery stables, four hotels; and, in fact, every branch of industry is represented. There are some six houses erected, and the song of the hammer and saw may be heard in every direction. A bountiful supply of pure, sparkling water is obtained, at from thirty to forty feet. There are two public wells, and several private ones, none of which are over forty feet deep. Clark is in the Osage Diminished reserve; hence there are no timber claims or homestead land in the county. It is all subject to entry at $1.25 per acre, and although the tide of immigration is unparalleled, numbers of good claims may still be picked up in excellent localities.

Winfield Courier, Thursday, May 21, 1885.

The Harper Graphic says there is to be a government pike built from New Kiowa to Camp Supply, in the Indian Territory. This will be a big card for Kiowa, as it will draw nearly the entire trade of the Territory from Caldwell.

Winfield Courier, Thursday, May 28, 1885.

Three companies of U. S. Colored cavalry are camped east of Black Crook, two miles Southeast of the city, awaiting orders to move to Fort Robinson, Nebraska. Two companies are from Oklahoma and one from Fort Supply, I. T. They will likely be here for several days yet. They move numerously in city and leave many sheckles. Several of the officers attended the Episcopal festival last night.

Arkansas City Republican, Saturday, July 25, 1885.

                                                         The Cattle Troubles.

WASHINGTON, July 18. The secretary of the interior has received a number of telegrams in regard to the cattle trails through the Indian Territory, some from drovers complaining that the trails are still obstructed, and others from stock growers requesting that cattle be not forced through until judicial ascertainment of the rights of the parties to the controversy be had. They also request that a veterinary surgeon be sent to the Indian Territory to examine the condition of the herds. Secretary Lamar today sent the following message to Indian Inspector Armstrong at the Cheyenne and Arapaho Agency in the Indian Territory.

“The trail leading from Fort Supply in a northerly direction, to and into the neutral strip, known as Camp Supply trail, must be opened for the passage of cattle, forcibly stopped, and for other purposes of interstate commerce. You will confer with Gen. Sheridan, who has instructions of every date herewith from the war department as to the adoption of measures best calculated to effectuate this order.”

A telegram was also sent to Towers & Lee, cattlemen at Kansas City, detailing the instructions sent to the inspector and concluding as follows.

“You had a complete remedy. No acts of lawlessness, such as have been resorted to as the forcible and unauthorized detention of cattle, will be tolerated.”

                                           (Signed) L. C. Q. LAMAR, Secretary

Arkansas City Republican, Saturday, August 1, 1885.

                                      A Letter From the Seat of the Indian Trouble.

                                                  CALDWELL, July 21, 1885.

To the Editor of the Eagle. Having returned I will try and fulfill my promise to you. An insight into the Cheyenne and Arapaho trouble as I saw them, including all the time of Sheridan’s presence up to the day I left. During the last year Indian Inspector Gardner spent considerable time, off and on, at the agency and became well posted with the actual feeling among the Cheyennes. In support of Agent Dwyer’s continued calls for military support, Gardner reviewed the situation and recommended that 3,000 troops be sent there to enforce obedience. This is on record at Washington. Every time the Indians were guilty, Dwyer would write up the circumstance and ask respectfully whether the department intended to sustain him, saying it was worse than useless to make any attempt at punishing crime until he was sure of being sustained, as a failure after such a move would only make matters worse.

You have gone over the ground (in your editorial) of how the president ordered them disarmed—how Sheridan pigeon-holed the movement; how Dwyer’s, Rev. Haury’s, Capt. Bennett’s, and all the other old officers’ reports agreed: “Troops, and disarming, or war.” How Sumner, the new commander and Inspector Armstrong said the same thing upon arrival. The situation was dangerous, or all of these men would not have kept calling for more troops. You know how the troops were blockaded by Col. Potter and Gen. Augur until raiding parties actually left the agency and the Kansas scare resulted. Then troops commenced to move until 4,000 were in motion. Then Sheridan was sent, we thought then, to take charge and act. Now, we know better.

It is only too true now that Sheridan was detailed to make the first move of the Indian patronage for his party. Sheridan did this because he was only too glad to get a chance to repay old scores on the Camp Supply cattle herd that the present grass rentals crowded off that reservation.

Sheridan arrived. After he had been there three days, he had had but a short interview with Dwyer, had entirely ignored Sumner, had not allowed either Ben Clark, post Interpreter, and Geo. and Robert Bent, and Ed. Guerrier, leading agency interpreters, to talk for the agency Indians or for themselves. Instead, he went into caucus with Col. Potter and Interpreter Chapman and Col. Mike Sheridan, and during those three days took Stone Calf, Little Robe, and other leading discontented Indians, had Chapman represent to them that they would neither be punished nor disarmed if they would act according to instructions, and went into private council with them, allowing them to talk without allowing anybody to be present to hear or dispute their statements. (Now read your last two dispatches from their agency giving the Indian version of that council.)

You can easily see that the Indians were only speaking their little pieces as instructed by Chapman. None of the cattlemen, who have lost thousands of dollars in cattle killed by these Indians, were allowed to speak. Not an Indian opposed to Stone Calf and Chapman was allowed an audience. Finally when the agent protested against such an  unheard of state of affairs and asked for a hearing of other Indians, Chapman was allowed to select the Indians who denied in toto all that the others said, and finally in despair they gave up the situation and left with their case not stated.

Nothing had been done yet when I left to disarm the Indians—on the other hand, 200 of them had been enlisted as scouts and given government arms and ammunition. (What for, I wonder, to kill Kansas settlers?)

Matters culminated in the attempt to count the Cheyennes. The Indians had been instructed by Agent Dwyer to form their village and take their stations and remain stationary when counted. They did not wish to be counted and in consequence when the time arrived, they rushed wildly about on foot, in wagons, and on horses, all in confusion, and refused to hear orders or instructions. Armstrong, who was present and intoxicated, made a beastly attack upon Agent Dwyer, accusing him of not having control of his Indians and cursing him in a brutal manner. Dwyer replied in a quiet manner, what all creation now knows, that the Cheyennes have been beyond control for years, that he had asked for troops to make them mind, that the troops were here, but that he had not been sustained. Prominent cattlemen and reporters standing near told Armstrong they would sustain Dwyer if he would slap Armstrong in the face. A Kansas City Times reporter present afterward attempted to give the scene to his paper by wire and Gen. Sheridan refused to allow him to use the wire.

Agent Dwyer has taken steps preparatory to resigning, the whole investigation by Sheridan has been a farce, his information has all been obtained from strangers (the Camp Supply outfit); and his recommendations all hatched out before he left Washington. One thing is apparent—the Indians will not be disarmed as long as they are in charge of a civilian agent, but the necessity will be used as a lever to have them turned over from the interior to the war department.

Of course, it is Dwyer’s misfortune that he is a civilian and a republican. If the department would sustain him in this crisis, he would have an after influence with these Indians that would enable him to advance them in one year where it would take a new agent (also unsupported) ten years. On the other hand, if turned over to the military, they will be a tribe of drunkards.

Four thousand troops have been put in motion. Kansas has been the subject of an expensive scare, and immigration has been affected. The general of the army has come all the way from Washington, and what is the result. The Indians are still armed to the teeth, they have ponies that can out travel the cavalry, and they are able to cross the Kansas line in one night and a day from starting. They can then murder and steal and be back home in two days. They are lamblike now, in the face of the military; but unruly and dangerous when they are gone. Instead of their ring leaders being made an example of, they have been elevated above the level of all the whites and other Indians in the country. Is this the way to control Indians? To Sheol with such a policy!

The following article applies to both Fort Reno and Camp Supply...

Arkansas City Traveler, September 16, 1885.

                                       CLEVELAND AND THE CATTLEMEN.

                     How Gen. Sheridan Misled the President Into His Executive Order.

Mr. Joseph Nimmo, Jr., late chief of the bureau of statistics, is now stopping in the city, a guest of the Leland House. He is en route to the states and territories embraced in the range and ranch cattle, horse and sheep growing area of the interior, with a view of writing a book upon that subject. To a reporter he said:

“I’m devoting special attention to the Indian and public land questions. I came to this city direct from the western portions of Kansas and the Indian territory, the scene of the recent troubles regarding the cattlemen and the Cheyenne and Arapaho Indian tribes. As the result of very careful investigations my views have been radically changed in regard to the merits of the whole subject since I left Washington. It appears to me that the whole difficulty has had its origin in the fact that a number of army officers, with their friends, were formerly largely engaged in the herding of cattle on the Cheyenne and Arapaho lands, without paying a cent for the privilege, which was terminated in the leasing of the lands. Hundreds of thousands of other cattle were also grazing on the Cheyenne and Arapaho reservations without any compensation whatever to the Indians. These latter cattle were ostensibly passing through the Indian territory on the two trails extending from Texas to the northern ranges, but, in fact, being held on the Cheyenne and Arapaho lands, where they were fattened, and thence shipped in large numbers to the markets of Kansas City, St. Louis, and Chicago.

“The army officers stationed at Fort Reno, who appear not to have been in the army ring which had its headquarters at Camp Supply, 100 miles away, and twenty-five miles north of the Cheyenne and Arapaho reservations, as well as the Indian agent stationed at Fort Reno, declared that it was utterly impossible for the army to keep these cattle off the Indian lands. To have done so, it would have rendered necessary the erection of a fence around the entire Indian territory, and also have rendered necessary the fencing of the two trails running through it. Fifteen hundred miles of fence would have been required, and then it would have been necessary to have stationed guards all along these lines to keep the cattlemen from cutting them.

“Finally, after mature discussion of the whole subject as between the army officers at Fort Reno, the agent, and the tribes, assembled in council, it was decided to be best to lease the lands to responsible parties, not one-twentieth part of which lands were occupied or needed by the Indians for any purpose. Secretary Teller at first stoutly refused to accede to this proposition, but he was finally prevailed upon to do so on arguments showing that such leasing would be protective of the interests of the Indians and promotive of their welfare. The strongest argument of this sort was made by army officers stationed at Fort Reno. Gen. Pope, commander of the department, wrote a long and very earnest appeal in favor of the plan of leasing, and Gen. Sheridan cordially endorsed all that was said by Gen. Pope, and the secretary of war transmitted the entire correspondence to Secretary Teller, of the interior department. Upon this earnest appeal Secretary Teller relented, allowing the Indians to lease as much of their land as they had no use for to responsible parties.

“I will mention as one of the amusing features of this business the fact that seven eighths of the lessees were democrats, and that they secured the approbation of the secretary of the interior almost entirely through the influence of democratic senators and members of congress; so that the leasing was in fact an army arrangement, backed up and carried out almost entirely by democrats. I am of the opinion that a thorough investigation of the recent difficulties will disclose the fact that they had their origin in the discontent of certain contumacious Indian leaders of bands who kept themselves aloof from the main bodies of their tribes, certain squaw men, and certain army officers and their friends stationed at Camp Supply, outside the Cheyenne and Arapaho reservations. During the last two years the latter have in connection with the bad Indians and the squaw men, been using all their efforts to stir up discontent and to poison the mind of the lieutenant general against the cattlemen. The animus appears to have arisen from the fact already stated that their business of cattle raising was cut off at the time of the leasing of the lands, and that they were compelled to drive their herds—believed to have amounted to about 20,000 head—over into the pan-handle of Texas, where the grazing was neither so rich nor so extensive. Besides this they had previously been paying considerable sums of money to the outlaw Indians who make their abode along the northern line of the reservation, and also for a considerable portion of the time at Camp Supply.

“I believe it was these Indians who made all the trouble, and Gen. Sheridan was grossly deceived in regard to the whole matter, and unintentionally misled the president. I believe further that the leasing of the lands by the Indians had, up to the final denouement, the approbation of nine-tenths of the tribes, and that it proved to be beneficial to them, as it was a very large and valuable source of revenue, the lease money having invariably been paid promptly and in advance.

“I will add that the raising of cattle, horses, and sheep in this country, on wild lands belonging to the United States as well as to the Indians, has been practiced ever since the country has been in existence, and that at the present time millions of cattle are ranging gratuitously on free lands of the United States throughout an area thirty or forty times as large as the Cheyenne and Arapaho reservations; and that for the life of me I can’t see what harm was done in permitting cattle to graze on the unoccupied land in those reservations, especially when such occupancy was a source of revenue to the Indians, and prevented a like occupancy by cattle whose owners paid nothing whatever, an evil which Gen. Sheridan and Gen. Pope both declared could not be cured except by the leasing of the lands to responsible parties.”

Mr. Nimmo will start on Thursday for St. Paul and the Pacific coast over the line of the Northern Pacific railroad, along which route he will study the cattle question. Chicago Mail.

Winfield Courier, Thursday, October 15, 1885.

The following letter from Senator Plumb will be read with much interest by a very large number of people. The letter is in answer to a question as to whether the Southern Kansas had the right of way through the Indian Territory.

                                         EMPORIA, KANSAS, Sept. 19, 1885.

L. A. HOFFMAN, Esq., Attica, Kas.:

DEAR SIR: Replying to yours of the 18^th, I have to say, that the Southern Kansas railroad company, which is, as you know, controlled by the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe railroad company, has the right by authority of act of congress of July 4, 1884, to construct a line of railroad from a point on the northern line of the Indian Territory south, or southerly from Winfield; and thence south in the direction of Denison in Texas, on the most practicable route to a point at or near where the Wichita river enters into the Red river, and also the right to construct a branch from a point at or near the starting point, westerly, along or near the southern line of the Territory, to a point at or near where Medicine Lodge crosses the Territory line, and from that point in a southwesterly direction, via Camp Supply, to the west line of the Indian Territory at or near where Wolf creek crosses the same. The company is obliged to build at least a hundred miles of its railway in the Territory within three years after passage of the act, or the grant will be forfeited as to such portion as is not then built. This, I think, answers your question as to the right.

As to the intention of the company, I have no means of information, but I am bound to suppose that it will at least build the one hundred miles spoken of by or before the first of July, 1887. Yours truly,

                                                             P. B. PLUMB.

Winfield Courier, Thursday, January 21, 1886.

                                              SUFFERING ON THE PLAINS.

KANSAS CITY, MO., January 13. The Times says: Reports have been received which indicate that the recent storm was the worst that was ever experienced on the Kansas plains. Colonel S. S. Prouty, editor of the Dodge City Cowboy, arrived from Dodge City today, and states the death and destruction wrought by the storm is something fearful and positively without a parallel in the history of the State. At Dodge City the velocity of the wind was forty-four miles per hour, and the mercury ten degrees below zero. Business throughout the western half of the State has been paralyzed for two weeks past. Three hundred men during the worst part of the storm were engaged in clearing the track at Spearville, near Dodge City. In many sections on the Santa Fe line the snow plow was ineffective and the snow had to be cleared by the slow process of shoveling. The stage from Fort Supply, which was due at Dodge City Wednesday last, did not arrive until Sunday. The driver encountered the blizzard in Clarke County and took refuge with his horses in an abandoned dugout, where he remained for forty-eight hours without fuel or water. Near the dugout in which the driver was cooped up lived an old lady and her two daughters. In an attempt to reach the house of a son on an adjoining claim, the two daughters perished in the storm. The mother managed to reach her son’s house, but was terribly frostbitten and is in a critical condition. The bodies of the young women have been recovered. Many persons who were out in the storm are missing, and it is thought they have perished. The suffering among the new settlers on the plains is beyond description. Most of them had erected mere wooden habitations. Coal is the only fuel that can be obtained, and in many instances it has to be hauled seventy-five to one hundred miles. In Wichita County a family of seven—father, mother, and five children—were frozen to death. The stock interests in Western Kansas, particularly the range cattle, have received their death blow if the reports of the damage from this storm are true. The irrigating ditch a short distance from Dodge City is filled for miles with cattle frozen to death. They had taken refuge in the ditch from the terrible wind and there died. Many of the small herds of the new settlers haves been entirely destroyed.

    [Note: In item above it shows “Clarke County.” Later, it became “Clark County.”]

Winfield Courier, Thursday, February 4, 1886.

The boys are getting excited about No Man’s Land, and with the breaking up of winter will witness a perfect jam of emigration to that strip. Congress has not yet opened the country to settlement, but it is supposed that it will be at the present session. Then it will have to be surveyed and platted. All this will require time, so there is no necessity of getting excited about the matter. This land is a strip 168 miles long and between 30 and 36 miles wide, lying east of the Pan Handle of Texas and south of Kansas and Colorado. Camp Supply, in the Indian Territory, is located a few miles from the eastern border of this land and Beaver creek heads up its center.

Winfield Courier, Thursday, February 25, 1886.

Tom Butler, the great southern Kansas contractor, has been awarded the contract for building ten miles of the S. K. road from Kiowa south into the Territory. In order to hold their charter, they are compelled to build one hundred miles into the Territory. They are heading for Camp Supply.

Arkansas City Republican, Saturday, January 1, 1887. From Tuesday’s Daily.

Charles King, one of the contractors on the extension of the Southern Kansas railway through the Indian Territory, and who is now in the city, says that there is a scheme on foot among the cattlemen and the leading men of the Indian Territory, to divide that territory and make two territories. The scheme has been considered for some time and meets with general favor, and it would not be at all surprising if it should be brought before congress. The plan is to divide the Territory from north to south about sixty miles east of Camp Supply, and then have Texas to give up the Pan-handle country to the West Territory. This would give the Indians the east part of the Territory, which has the roughest land, and they would be allowed to remain here undisturbed. The Western Territory would have some of the finest grazing land in the country, and would be open to settlement. Topeka Capital.

---

Forts and Courts of Indian Territory

Mary Ann Wortman's Home Page

Bill Bottorff's Home Page