“After leaving Cross and the Ree scouts we met Curley, the Crow Indian scout, who was with Custer at the beginning of the fight. That pock-marked villain and liar, Rain-in-the-Face, says Curley is a liar, that he was not there, but I know for a fact that Rain-in-the-Face had never met Curley, nor to the best of my knowledge has he ever seen him since. I have heard Rain talk and he will never get into the happy hunting grounds if veracity is to be his passport.
“When we met Curley he was so badly scared that I doubt if he would have known himself. He had a Sioux medicine or war pony in full paint and feathers, a Sioux blanket and part of a war bonnet that he wore in his escape, and which he got from a dead Sioux medicine man who was killed near him in the first attack. The blanket had some blood on it. His own horse was killed and he appropriated the medicine man’s property, and instead of trying to run the gauntlet he moved along with the enemy, trusting to his disguise to deceive them. When he saw an opportunity he dropped out of his bad company and escaped. When I last saw him with Custer he had his Crow clothes on and had his own pony, and he had no other chance to get the outfit. Had he been a white man he would not have had any chance of escape even with that rig. He does not claim to have tried to fight, but only to escape, and his first account of the affair is no doubt the correct one, as anyone acquainted with the Indians and their mode of fighting will admit its feasibility.
“I understand that there was an ex-soldier at the World’s Fair in Chicago, who posed as a soldier in the Seventh cavalry, who escaped from the fatal field. He was an impostor, for none but Curley left the ground alive. He may have dreamed it and believes in dreams.
“When the Seventh cavalry rode away from Fort Lincoln with the White Horse company, the band belonging to it played one of Custer’s favorites, ‘The Girl I Left Behind Me.’ Ever after that, when I heard the familiar tune on the plains, my mind was carried back to the parting scene at the fort, and in the foreground of memory’s picture stands, with tear-dimmed eyes, a sad, brave woman. Well might her heart nigh break, for she knew, as no one else did, that her brave husband was going on an expedition fraught with untold, hidden dangers, and not upon a summer outing.
“Crazy Horse and Goose, each with a band of Cheyennes, fought against Custer. In fact, the former was looked upon as the head war chief, Sitting Bull being more of a medicine man and prophet. The prevalent belief is that Sitting Bull was the worst Indian and head war chief. This is a mistake. There were several worse than he and more treacherous, but as most of them are dead and good Indians, I will not take the trouble to name them or to recount their good (?) deeds. Gall was the head man among those who fought Reno and Benteen, and would have got away with them only for the personal bravery of the latter.
“When General Terry left the field and General Miles took command all Terry’s and Custer’s scouts who were alive went to work for the new commander, except George Mulligan and Jimmy-from-Cork. But there were only five of us left—Bob and Bill Jackson, Vick Smith, Cody and myself. However, Miles re-enforced us with several others.
“Scout Billy Jackson was with Custer on the morning of the 25th, but left before the engagement to join Reno, and knew nothing of the terrible conflict until the next day. On the 27th they came to the battlefield, and Jackson, with four other scouts, identified the remains of General Custer and Scout Reynolds. His report of the battlefield may be vouched for, as he was ever known as a brave, cool, clear-headed and truthful scout, whom General Miles said he could always depend upon. He, too, maintains that Custer did not go contrary to orders.”
Custer had divided his force into three parts. Benteen had orders to sweep everything before him to the left, and Reno was to drive right at the enemy. But it seems that neither he nor any other officer who was in this campaign had an idea that the Indian forces were as strong as they proved to be. There were at least eight Indian warriors to one soldier; neither did he know that they were so well supplied with arms and ammunition. Here is where Custer was deceived, or likely he would have kept his men together and won the battle.
On the arrival of General Gibbon the dead were buried and the wounded men of Reno’s and Benteen’s commands were given attention. After Gibbon and his men returned to Fort Shaw, I had an interview with the general and with many of the soldiers who were on the battlefield and assisted in burying the dead. They said that all the men, except Custer, were horribly mutilated and divested of all their clothing.
Again we return to Sitting Bull. Soon after the death of Custer, Sheridan, who was at the head of the war department, called out troops and fought him the balance of the season almost continuously, but the great chief always avoided open battle. In October General Miles drove him across the Missouri river, killing some Indians, capturing two thousand men, women and children, and destroying many of their supplies. The warriors who remained were scattered and discouraged; skulked back into the mountains, while Sitting Bull, with his followers crossed the line into the British possessions. In the meantime Generals Crook and Terry fought and defeated Chief Crazy Horse on the Rosebud towards the close of the year.
To give an idea of the vastness of the country where the hostile Indians had established their camps, I will give the approximate area, which was 125 by 200 miles, or 25,000 square miles. The Yellowstone river is about 350 miles long, 200 of which was included in this area. The length of Powder river is 150 miles; the Tongue river the same, the Rosebud 125, the Big Horn about of similar length. With all of the tributaries of these rivers, and with the hills and mountain passes, the Indians were familiar; in this respect they had the advantage over the military. To go into details of those campaigns, extending over this great territory—the fearful severity—the long marching for months at a time through an untrodden wilderness, and sometimes a scarcity of food, clothing and bedding—the many battles that were fought, to which I have made no reference; burying the dead and taking care of the wounded—to tell all this would make a book in itself. But one thing I will insert here: That monument in Custer county, which marks the graves of those who have given their lives for this mountain land, and are peacefully sleeping at the base of it, will be kept erect by the Montanians as long as those everlasting peaks which overlook this sacred spot from the mountain tops near by shall remain.
Robert Vaughn.
July 24, 1899.
GENERAL SHERMAN’S LETTERS.
The following letters were written by General Sherman, then general of the United States Army, to Secretary McCrary, describing his tour through the valley of the Yellowstone soon after the Sioux war. They were published at the time in some newspaper, the clippings of which I have had in my possession ever since.
Thinking that there are no other records of these interesting letters, I give them place in this book, for they are a valuable addition to the history of Eastern Montana, or what was then termed “the Sioux country,” and of that eventful time when the military had taken possession after Sitting Bull and his followers had been driven across the border into Canada.
LETTER I.
“Cantonment on Tongue River, M. T., July 17, 1877.
“To Hon. Geo. W. McCrary:
“My Dear Sir: Before leaving Washington I promised to write you from time to time of matters of public and private interest.
“As originally appointed, I left St. Louis the evening of July 4, accompanied by my son; reached Chicago on the 5th and St. Paul the 6th. Here I was joined by my aides, Colonels Poe and Bacon; also by Gen. Terry and his aide, Captain Smith, and the quartermaster of his department, General Card. Leaving St. Paul by rail the morning of the 7th, we reached Bismarck the evening of the 8th. There were three steamers there, two of which, the Rosebud and the Ashland, were loading for the Yellowstone, and we selected the former because she was smaller and safer, and better adapted to the strong current of the river. During the day of the 9th we crossed over by ferry to Fort Abraham Lincoln, and inspected the post. It is composed of two distinct posts—a small infantry post, perched on a high hill overlooking the country and valley of the river, and a larger cavalry post on the river bank below, raised about twenty feet above the bottoms, which are usually overflowed by the spring freshets. There is but a small garrison there, because the Seventh Cavalry, its regular garrison, is detached to this point, and is now out on a scout.
“The Rosebud was boarded by 4 p. m. on the 9th, dropped down from Bismarck three miles to Fort Lincoln, to take us on board, and began the ascent of the Missouri, which was full, with a strong current. It was about as large and of the same character as at Sioux City. In three days we reached Fort Buford, on the north bank, just below the mouth of the Yellowstone. We stopped there over the night of the 12th, making as much of an inspection as the mosquitoes would allow, and at daybreak on the 13th resumed the trip, entering the Yellowstone, which for a hundred miles seemed almost as large as the Missouri, with numerous islands and a wide valley. This valley contracted after about a hundred miles, and the river changed its character somewhat, being lined on either side with fantastic hills, known as ‘bad lands,’ making short bends with a powerful current, against which we made slow headway, but in four days we reached this post, on the south bank of the Yellowstone, just above the mouth of Tongue river. The troops, mostly the Fifth Infantry, occupy the huts made last winter, but a new post is in process of construction, about a mile higher, and half a mile back from the Yellowstone, the ground being higher and less in danger of an overflow.
“General Miles is in command here—has about three hundred Indian prisoners—says none of the boats on the river this year have been molested—that all the hostiles which swarmed hereabouts last year are gone, the greater part to the agencies, while Sitting Bull has taken refuge across the border in Canada, about 250 miles north. When the new post is finished, which will be before winter, the troops will be comfortably quartered, and the Indians cannot return. Already a class of frontiersmen are making ranches and settlements hereabouts, and in a few years we can make the route to Montana by way of the Yellowstone as safe as the Platte and Arkansas, thus forcing the hostile Indians to break up into small and harmless parties. For some years hence we will have to keep a pretty strong garrison here, because, besides defending this point, detachments must go out to protect other threatened points, and to follow any small parties engaged in depredations. In other words, the forts along this line will not only have to defend themselves, but be able to send out strong detachments.
“There is a great deal of valuable country along the line of the Northern Pacific railroad. That road, from Duluth to Bismarck, although a financial failure, has been and will continue to be of advantage to the country at large. As far as Bismarck it is done, and well done. The next link, from Bismarck to the mouth of Powder river, is very important. It will be a distance of 250 miles, but will cut off 300 miles of the Missouri river and 150 of the Yellowstone, leaving the Yellowstone from Powder river to the mouth of the Big Horn for navigation.
“The valleys of the upper Yellowstone afford lands capable of cultivation in wheat, corn, oats, barley, and all garden vegetables, with an unlimited range for cattle, horses and sheep, etc. I do not know a single enterprise in which the United States has more interest than in the extension of the Northern Pacific railroad from its present terminus at Bismarck to the mouth of Powder river on the Yellowstone. After that is done we can safely leave to time the extension of the road to the head of navigation on the Columbia river. After a couple of months I can speak with more confidence on that point. I now regard the Sioux Indian problem as a war question as solved by the operation of General Miles last winter, and by the establishment of the two new posts this summer. Boats can come and go now where a year ago none would venture except with strong guards. Woodyards are being established to facilitate navigation, and the great mass of the hostile Indians have been forced to go to the Agencies for food and protection, or have fled across the border into British territory. I have driven all about this post, looked into the barracks, which are as yet mere huts of cottonwood posts, with dirt floors and dirt roofs, but will soon be replaced by good frame barracks and quarters. The stores of all kinds on hand are abundant and good, so that no apprehension is felt on account of the enemy or severity of the winter. Six small companies of infantry are here, two more are on the way, and four are mounted on captured ponies and are out on a scout. The Seventh Cavalry are also near here, scouting to the north, but discover no marks of an enemy.
“As winter approaches, part of the cavalry will doubtless be sent back to Fort Lincoln for economy of maintenance. Tomorrow night we resume our trip up the Yellowstone and Big Horn to the other new post building, at the forks of the Big and Little Horn. There I expect to meet General Sheridan. * * * I beg you not to construe this as official, as I have been constantly interrupted, and must close, as the steamer is ready to go. With great respect, etc.,
“W. T. Sherman, General.”
LETTER II.
“On the Steamer Rosebud, Big Horn River, July 25, 1877.
“My Dear Sir: We left the cantonment at the mouth of the Tongue river on the evening of July 18, and reached the mouth of the Big Horn in three days, then entering the Big Horn, we steamed hard for three days against a powerful current, and reached the new post at the forks of the Little and Big Horn yesterday morning early. Many boats had preceded us, all, or nearly all, discharging part of their freight on the west bank, from which hauling is comparatively easy. Our boat, which was built especially for the navigation of this and similar streams, had to land four miles below the post one-third of her cargo. The difficulty was not the want of water, but by reason of the strong current, which in the bends must be about eight miles an hour.
“We found at the post the United States steamer General Sherman, which has a good hull, a good engine, but too much and too fine cabin for this work. It will be kept in the Big Horn as long as the water lasts, and will be employed in carrying up to the post the freight dropped on the river bank by the contract boats. The post already has a good supply of all essential stores, and there is no doubt that long before the season closes all invoiced for its use will be on hand and stored. The day before we reached the post we met General Sheridan and party, who had come across the country from Fort Stambaugh. We had a long conference and agree that this new post is well located, and that it can be supplied with reasonable economy in the future. The new post will be garrisoned by six companies of the Eleventh Infantry and four companies of the Second Cavalry, under command of Lieutenant Colonel Buell, of the Eleventh Infantry, an officer of great energy, and by profession an engineer. He served under me during the war as colonel of an engineer regiment, and afterwards as a brigade commander. He has been on the ground less than a month, but has a steam sawmill at work and a large mass of cottonwood logs being rapidly sawed up into lumber for the new barracks. He has about 200 civil mechanics at work and six buildings in progress, besides temporary shelters for his stores as received, and he entertains no fear but that he will finish his post substantially before winter.
“The location of this post is in the very heart of the Sioux country. With this one and the one at the mouth of the Tongue river, occupied by strong, enterprising garrisons, these Sioux can never regain this country, and they will be forced to remain at their agencies or take refuge in the British possessions. At present there are no Indians here or hereabouts. I have neither seen nor heard of any. General Sheridan saw none nor any trace of any, so that the principal end aimed at by the construction of these posts is already reached, and it is only to make this end permanent that we should persist in their completion. The one at Tongue river can be supplied by steamboats. This one, at the mouth of the Little Big Horn, cannot depend on this river, the current being too strong to be navigated by ordinary boats with a fair cargo. General Terry and his quartermaster, General Card, are at this moment reconnoitering to select some point near the mouth of the Big Horn whereat to establish a supply depot, at which all freight destined for this post can be landed and hauled up here.
“We have on board a company of infantry to guard this depot, and we are nearly agreed that the best place will be a point on the Yellowstone proper, three miles above the mouth of the Big Horn, where the hauling will be about thirty miles by ox trains. These can be hired here, and will do the work more surely and better than the steamboats, for they have been sometimes two weeks in working up the Big Horn and have left their loads strung along its banks at points hard to reach by wagons. I am convinced that this is the wisest course, and thus we can maintain a strong military post in the very heart of the hostile Sioux country, with only a haul of twenty miles, which is insignificant as compared with most of our posts south of this. The country west of this is a good country and will rapidly fill up with emigrants, who will, within the next few years, build up a community as strong and as capable of self-defense as Colorado.
“I have Company L of the Second Cavalry, Captain Norwood, which belongs at Fort Ellis, M. T., now camped on the west bank of the Yellowstone, opposite the mouth of the Big Horn, to escort me up to Ellis. As soon as we have decided on the merits of the point mentioned as a supply depot for this post, I will land and start for Ellis, leaving Gen. Terry with this boat to return to Bismarck for a new load. I will instruct General Terry to report in full all these matters to the adjutant general, so that this letter is only preliminary.
“Here we have no news from Idaho or Oregon, or the world generally, but I suppose in Montana there will be need of the four companies of the Second Cavalry, temporarily taken to Tongue river, and I instructed General Sheridan to so order when he reached Tongue river. This will leave General Miles the whole of the Seventh Cavalry available if the Indian Bureau wishes to escort Sitting Bull from British America to an agency.
“The weather has been intensely hot—as hot as Texas—but last night we had a thunder-squall, since which the air has become perfect. General good health prevails here, and I am impressed with the value of this country. * * * Truly yours,
“W. T. Sherman, General.”
LETTER III.
“Fort Ellis, M. T., August 3, 1877.
“Dear Sir: I wrote you last from the steamboat Rosebud, coming down the Big Horn in company with General Terry and others on the 25th of July. We had concluded that the current of the Big Horn was too swift to be managed economically, and that the garrison at Post No. 2, at the mouth of the Big Horn, could best be supplied by establishing a depot on the Yellowstone, just above the mouth of the Big Horn, where stores could be hauled thirty miles to the new post. A company of the Eleventh Infantry was left there to establish and guard the depot when the steamer Rosebud dropped down to the point just below the mouth of the Big Horn, where Company L, Second Cavalry, Captain Norwood, was camped with an outfit. This consisted of six Indian horses, two light spring wagons, and one light baggage wagon. The Rosebud landed us at 2 p. m., when she started down the river, leaving us to begin our real journey. In a few minutes the escort saddled up, and we started on horseback up the Yellowstone.
“The valley is strongly marked, about three miles wide, flat, with good grass, the banks of the river and the streams well wooded with cottonwood trees. In this valley, the Yellowstone, a broad, strong stream, meanders back and forth, forming on both sides strong, perpendicular bluffs of rock and clay, forcing the road constantly out of the flat valley over the points, and causing wide deflections in the road to head the ravines or ‘coolies,’ which flow to the river. There is a strongly-marked wagon trail, but no bridge or cuts, a purely natural road, with steep ascents and descents, and frequent gullies, about as much as wagons could pass. We sometimes shifted into our light wagons, to save the fatigue of travel.
“Thus we journeyed for four days, when we sent a courier from Fort Ellis with a copy of General Townsend’s dispatch to me, saying that the President desired my immediate return, unless I had information that the serious riots then in full career had ceased.
“Light wagons can out-travel horses and baggage wagons. Up to that date we averaged twenty-five miles a day. I therefore turned the courier back with a fresh horse, and orders to reach Fort Ellis in two days with answer, to be sent from Bozeman by telegraph, and, with my immediate party, I followed, taking one more day, being time for answers. On reaching Fort Ellis the day before yesterday (August 1), I was delighted to hear that the riots had ceased, and that you and the President had consented that I should go on as originally intended.
“The escort company came in yesterday, so that we are now all here at Fort Ellis. When we arrived there was but one company of the Seventh Infantry here, Captain Benham, thirty men. The arrival of the escort gives an addition of sixty men.
“There is no seeming danger here or hereabouts, but the Nez Perces are reported to have entered Montana, from Idaho, and are now in the valley of the Bitter Root, about 300 miles west of this; they are reported en route to the buffalo range, east and north of this point. It seems that for many years these same Nez Perces, along with some Flatheads from the western part of Montana, have been accustomed to come to the sources of the Musselshell and Yellowstone to gather meat for the winter, traversing the whole of Montana, doing little or no damage. But the buffaloes of the great northern herd, like that of the southern, are being rapidly slaughtered for their skins, so that now they are becoming scarce. We only saw four buffaloes, two of which were killed, in our course, whereas ten years ago we would have encountered a million.
“The time has come when these restless Indians must cease to look to buffaloes as a means of maintenance, and they should not be allowed to traverse the scattered and explored settlements of Montana, where hunger will sooner or later compel them to kill tame cattle and steal horses, thus leading to murder and war.
“Besides these the Nez Perces should be made to answer for the murders they committed in Idaho, and also to be punished as a tribe for going to war without just cause or provocation.
“Hitherto all danger to Montana has come from the north and the Sioux to the east, and the few troops stationed in the territory were posted, as it were, at the eastern doors or passes through the mountains, over Ellis, Baker, Benton and Shaw, but last year a new post was selected at or near Missoula, the door of the western frontier. Two small companies, not over sixty men, of the Seventh Infantry, under Captain Rawn, were sent to Missoula to build a post there, but he had hardly arrived when the Nez Perces war began. When it was reported that General Howard had defeated the hostiles and that they were retreating to Montana by what is known as the Lo-Lo trail, some of the citizens of the neighborhood joined the soldiers for the purpose of stopping the Indians until the troops from Idaho could come up with them. But it seems the Indians passed around Captain Rawn’s fortified point and then entered the Bitter Root valley, but in such force (300 armed warriors) as to claim to be able, if opposed, to force their way through.
“The country is so large and the passes so scattered that concert of action is most difficult, if not impossible.
“Gen. Gibbon, colonel of the Seventh Infantry, has command of this district, and General Terry is the department commander. Gibbon is stationed at Fort Shaw, on Sun river, 200 miles north of this. As soon as he perceived Captain Rawn’s critical position, he collected about 100 men, and has gone rapidly toward Missoula to take command and control them. The governor of the territory, General Potts, has also gone in the same direction—Deer Lodge—and has organized some volunteer companies, and these may be able to get ahead of the Indians somewhere on the Big Hole or Wisdom river, and hold them in check or turn them back toward Idaho, where General Howard must have a pretty respectable force, able to destroy them, unless, as I suspect, they will scatter, when pursuit becomes impossible. I do not propose to interfere, but leave Howard or Gibbon to fight out this fight.
“Too many heads are worse than one.
“I have sent word to Governor Potts that if the citizens in their own interest will join the regular troops and act with and under them, that the commanding officer will loan them arms and ammunition when possible, and may certify to beef or food taken en route, but that congress alone can raise troops for any purpose. I have telegraphed to General McDowell that I expect that his troops now in Idaho will follow up those Indians to the death, go where they may, regardless of boundaries. He answered that such are still, and were General Howard’s orders from the beginning. So I expect soon to hear of the arrival at or near Missoula of the troops from that quarter. The nearest point from which troops may come to Montana from the east is by the route I came. When I parted with General Terry at the Big Horn it was understood he would detach for General Miles’ command at Tongue river the companies of the Second Cavalry which belong here. It will be two weeks before they reach here, but if they arrive in time, and the troops and volunteers now in the Bitter Root country do not succeed in stopping this band of Nez Perces, these three companies and the one I brought will get on their trail, and change their proposed buffalo hunt into a fight. If, however, they escape, I see no alternative but to drive them across the British border to join Sitting Bull.
“Tomorrow I will start for the park, taking only five soldiers with me, so that my presence here will not materially reduce the fighting force, for I have sent word to General Gibbon that my escort company is subject to his orders. I do not suppose we run much risk, for we are all armed, and the hostile Indians rarely resort to the park, a poor region for game, and to their superstitious mind associated with hell by reason of the geysers and the hot springs. We expect to be gone from here about fifteen days, during which we can receive or send no letters. On our return here, say August 18th, I will go rapidly to Helena, when I will learn all about the movements of the troops, and I will be governed somewhat by them. But I still intend in August to visit Forts Shaw and Benton, and to reach Missoula in the first week of September.
“It is all important that a route or trail be opened between Missoula and Walla Walla, but I can better judge of this after I have passed over the road.
“We found ranches established all along down the Yellowstone, and the mail contractors have already put on a line of two-horse spring wagons, so that soon the route we passed over will fill up with passes. The land is susceptible of cultivation on a small scale, but admirably adapted to cattle raising.
“Fort Ellis is a small post, built of pine logs, all the mountains around being covered with pines.
“We are all perfectly well, and enjoy the isolation and freshness of camp life. Truly yours,
“W. T. Sherman, General.”
LETTER IV.
“Fort Ellis, M. T., August 19, 1877.
“The Territory of Montana, though very large, and surrounded on all sides by Indians liable to become hostile on the slightest provocation, has for ten years been a district forming a part of the Department of Dakota, and has usually been garrisoned by a regiment of infantry and a battalion of cavalry—four companies. The danger usually lay to the east, toward the Sioux, and therefore the posts were Fort Benton, at the head of navigation of the Missouri; Fort Shaw, on Sun river; Camp Baker, at the head of the Musselshell, and Fort Ellis, at the head of the Gallatin.
“The infantry regiment should be 1,000 men, but the policy of reduction has gradually reduced it to 300, and early this spring the four companies of the Second Cavalry, by order of the department commander, were dispatched to Tongue river to assist General Miles in his active campaign against the Sioux, and when I passed up the Yellowstone in July three of these companies had been sent by General Miles to the east of Tongue river, and one company (L, Captain Norwood) was held to escort me to this, their proper post.
“On reaching Fort Ellis I found that General Gibbon, colonel of the Seventh Infantry, commanding this district, had, at the request of General Howard, hurriedly called for every man that could be spared, and marched to Missoula to head off the Nez Perces Indians that had been defeated by him (Howard) in Idaho. Gibbon was absolutely without cavalry, and his small infantry companies marched with extraordinary speed, making twenty-six miles a day. * * * General Gibbon got on the trail, followed it with great earnestness, and overhauled the Indians at a place known as Big Hole. He got into their camp and fought them bravely and well a whole day, inflicting heavy loss and sustaining a corresponding loss himself. Of this you have full reports.
“If General Gibbon could have had 100 more men, there would now be few hostile Nez Perces left. But his force was inadequate, and he did all that a man possibly could do.
“The next day Howard got ahead of his command, and he now has taken up the pursuit, and I hope to hear that he has finished up what General Gibbon so well began.
“I believe these Indians are afraid to return to Idaho, and think they will try to escape to the great plains to the east of the Rocky mountains, by way of the head of Wind river, in which case they will fall to the charge of General Crook or General Miles, either of whom is capable of running them down.
“The moment I reached Ellis I caused General Gibbon to be informed that I had reached the territory, and that I did not wish to interfere with his legitimate command, but on the contrary I gave him the company of cavalry which had escorted me up from the Big Horn, and that company is now with General Howard’s command in pursuit of the Nez Perces.
“Our little army is overworked, and I do not believe the officers and soldiers of any army on earth, in peace or war, work as hard or take as many risks of life as this little army of ours. In what we call peace I am proud of them, and I hope you are also, or soon will be.
“Meantime I suppose you want to hear something of the National Park.”
Having been in the National Park for fifteen days, and giving a graphic description of its spouting geysers and their performances, its majestic mountains, lakes and canyons, the extremely beautiful formation of which neither pen, words nor painting can equal, and that “Wonderland” must be seen to be appreciated and felt, the general in closing his sketch, says:
“This is Sunday, a real day of rest, and I have endeavored to give this wide and rapid sketch in hopes to account for the fifteen days’ absence from duty at this period of military activity, but I have faith that there are plenty of good officers on duty at their posts to do all that is demanded of the army. I now propose to go to work to study closer the present condition and future prospects of Montana as bearing on the great military problems, all of which will be duly reported.
“With great respect, etc.,
“William T. Sherman, General.”
THE NEZ PERCES WAR.
It was in Idaho, in the summer of 1877, that Chief Joseph, of the Nez Perces tribe, declared war by butchering his defenseless white neighbors. It may be that the death of Custer and the fame of Sitting Bull awoke the evil spirit in him by birth. The only excuse he tried to give was that the government wanted to move some of his people off a certain tract of land. All of this could have been settled satisfactorily if he had waited but a few weeks, and to this end he agreed. But before the time was up he commenced his murderous deeds. The following is from the Spokesman-Review, Spokane, Wash., in reference to Chief Joseph:
“By nature he was proud, defiant and warlike. His summer home was in the Wallowa valley of eastern Oregon, but when not engaged there at hunting and fishing he roamed at will from the California line to the Canadian boundary, and from the Blue mountains to the summits of the Rocky mountains.
“The invasion of this broad realm by miners and settlers forced upon the government its policy of framing a new treaty with the Indians for the purpose of confining them to two or three reservations. At a conference held at Lapwai in 1873, between the various Indian chiefs and representatives of the government, Joseph refused to go upon either the Nez Perces reservation in Idaho or the Umatilla reservation in Oregon. This being reported to the secretary of the interior, an order was issued that Joseph’s band should be permitted to remain in the Wallowa valley during the summer and autumn, and later the President set aside the Wallowa and Imnaha valleys for Joseph and his non-treaty Indians.
“Thus matters drifted until 1875, when, under pressure from the settlers, the President rescinded his order, and another commission was appointed to negotiate with Joseph and his band. Joseph haughtily replied that he had not come to talk about land; the maker of the earth had not partitioned it off, and man should not; the earth was his mother, sacred to his affections, and too precious to be sold. He did not wish to learn farming, but to live upon such fruits as the earth produced for him without effort. (From these principles Joseph has never departed. To this day (1898) he and his little band on the Colville reservation refuse to take up the arts of peace. They hunt and fish, and dwell in tepees.)
“The government replied that unless in a reasonable time Joseph consented to be removed he should be forcibly taken with his people and given lands on the reservation. He answered this by taking to the warpath. Joseph, Whitebird and Looking Glass gathered their forces on Cottonwood creek, sixty-five miles from Lewiston, ostensibly to comply with the government’s command, but really in preparation for the fierce war that followed.
“Their first victims were four white men, killed on White Bird creek. On June 14, 1877, while playing cards, they were surprised by a band of hostiles.”
Joseph’s fighting force was about five hundred. General O. O. Howard took the field with seven hundred men and officers. Several skirmishes were fought, in which Joseph was badly beaten, although about fifty of Howard’s men were killed. Finally, with his men, followed by many women and children, he crossed into Montana with Howard in pursuit. General Gibbon, then located at Fort Shaw, Montana, was notified of Joseph’s movements, and at once, with about 150 men, crossed the main range of the Rockies, by going over the “Cadott Pass,” making the march in two days. His force was infantry and a few were mounted. About thirty citizens joined him from the Bitter Root valley.
Gibbon attacked Joseph on August 9th in the Big Hole valley in Beaverhead county, and had a hard fought and bloody engagement, lasting several hours. When the battle was nearly ended, stray bullets kept coming and killed several of Gibbon’s men before any one could tell where they came from. Finally one of the soldiers discovered that a redskin had climbed and fortified himself in a fork of a large tree and about thirty feet from the ground. A fatal shot was sent and “he fell like a dead squirrel,” as one of the men said. The Indians retreated, leaving eighty-nine dead. Gibbon lost twenty-nine killed and forty wounded. Bostwick, the interpreter, who was at Gibbon’s office, and of whom I have made mention in my letter, “The Indians Stealing My Horses,” was one of the killed.
Gibbon was burying the dead when Howard came up. Joseph knew that Howard must be near, and perhaps this saved Gibbon from meeting the same fate as Custer, for the Indians outnumbered him more than three to one.
A magnificent monument has been erected on this sacred ground in memory of those who crossed the main range of the Rockies, and, but a few days later, went down “through the valley of the shadow of death” for the sake of generations to come.
After the battle Joseph crossed into Idaho, killing many settlers on the way, for now all the Indians were in a rage. It appears that he hardly knew where to go; finally he took to the mountains and into the National Park. Here he met some tourists, and two of them, Charles Kenk and Richard Detrick, were killed by his warriors, while at the same time an Indian named Charley was doing all in his power to pacify the other Indians; at this juncture Joseph interfered and forbade his men to harm any more of them. But they were all taken as prisoners for several days. The women who were in the party were treated with the greatest respect, for which Joseph received great praise through the Eastern press as well as that of the West. Howard was still on their path, and Joseph knew it, and knew that his only hope was to get to Canada. From the National Park he went due north as near as the lay of the country would permit, killing several settlers and destroying property as he went. This time he came in contact with Colonel Sturgis, but made his escape.
In the latter part of September news came to Fort Benton that the Nez Perces were heading to cross the Missouri river and on to Canada. Knowing that there were but few people at the several trading posts further down the river, Major Elges, who was in command at Fort Benton, sent what men he could spare down the river in a Mackinaw boat, while he and Colonel J. J. Donnelly, with thirty-five mounted citizens, with rifles and belts full of cartridges, crossed the country. Many of them were picked marksmen, “old prairie men,” who would just as soon go into a fight as eat a Christmas dinner. On their way they learned that Joseph was heading for Cow island. On their arrival there they found that the Indians had crossed the river and had a fight with a small party of men that were guarding some goods that had been taken off a steamboat and piled on the levee. Joseph took some of the goods and burned the balance. But this brave little party, who were intrenched, fought like demons, and, although one was killed and three of them wounded, they stood off the enemy and held their fort. Judge Foley, now of the city of Belt, was one of them. About the same time Joseph was having a fight with O. G. Cooper, Frank Farmer and other freighters, who were in camp on Cow creek, a few miles further north, when he had already robbed and was burning their wagons. Without hesitation, the Benton party took a hand in the fight, in which E. B. Richardson (Bradley) was killed. Colonel Donnelly, who had been an officer in the Civil War, borrowed a small boat from Captain McGarry, of the steamer “Benton,” and sent two men with a dispatch to General Miles, who was in camp several miles down and on the south side of the river. Runners were sent by Major Elges on the north side to direct Miles the way the Indians had gone. The balance of the party were watching the course of the Indians, which was to the Bear Paw mountains. Miles immediately crossed to the north side on the steamer that brought his command up the river. Afterwards Miles met Donnelly, thanked him for the dispatch and thanked the citizens for what they had done.
The Montana volunteers who served against the Nez Perces in 1877 numbered 442, who were from different localities and were recognized by the war department as belonging to the Montana militia of that year, and their names are on the rosters of the court of claims, who drew pay for their services. In the list I find “Donnelly’s Company, No. 5,” consisting of the following names:
John J. Donnelly, William Foster, Sol A. Jantis, Charles B. Buckman, Louis Cobell, Joseph Morrison, J. W. Hanna, W. B. Smith, Samuel Neall, J. C. Lilly, Ed L. Smith, John Samples, C. E. Deanville, Ed Tingle, James Dare, G. A. Croff, C. S. Davis, J. H. Evans, Hiram Baker, Crow Davis, Trev Hale, Murray Nicholson, Powder Bull, William Preston, P. H. Estes, Wolf’s Head, George Farmer, Jos. Gauty, Isaac N. Clark, Eph Woolsey, J. W. Tattan, Richard Maloney, Thomas O’Hanlon, John Egan, W. S. Evans, George C. Smythe, John Kavanaugh, E. B. Richardson, George Hammond, Martin Moran, William Rowe, William Murphy, Jeff Talbert and Nicholas Walsh.
I make mention of this little company of citizens because they were my neighbors and because they were the last volunteers that fought in the final battle in the last Indian war in Montana. Colonel Donnelly was then and is now an attorney at law at Fort Benton, and Judge J. W. Tattan, J. H. Evans, William Rowe, J. C. Lilly, Louis Cobell, John Kavanaugh and others are citizens of Fort Benton and vicinity at the present time.
After crossing the river, Miles went right after the Indians. Now, for the first time, Joseph realized that there was a “Rough Rider” on his trail, for Miles then was as daring a rider as there was in the country. After being in the saddle for four days he captured Joseph in the Bear Paw mountains, and but a few miles from Canada. The day before the surrender General Howard came up with an escort of twelve men, remaining with Miles over night, and was present next morning at the surrender of Joseph and his entire force of 400. And when the conquered chief with his men came into camp he first offered his arms to General Howard, who declined to receive them, at the same time waving him to General Miles. This was considered at the time a generous act on Howard’s part, for then he was the ranking officer. Now Howard had come to the end of his long march of nearly two thousand miles, crossing up and down the Rocky mountains in pursuit of the Indian Chief Joseph and his desperate band. It was a feat or achievement of personal heroism, hardihood, persistence and pluck. The extracts below are from a private letter written by Colonel Corbin, of the “Sitting Bull Commission,” to a friend in the East. He says:
“Of course, we are feeling glad at the happy close of the Nez Perces business—it has been the most remarkable of all our Indian wars; and in a stern chase no troops could have caught them as long as they did not want to be caught. They left their former homes with at least three good horses to each warrior and a reserve of at least a thousand head for families and pack animals. So they were on a fresh horse every third day. While after a few days’ march Howard’s horses were worn down, and it required every effort to get them through the most damnable passes you can imagine, in the highest range of the Rocky mountains. Howard’s troops have endured hardships seldom, if ever, known to the American soldier. They have been in the sun and rain so long that any of them would make a first-rate model for a veteran. Howard, himself, is looking like a frontier teamster after a long streak of bad luck.
“When the Nez Perces surrendered to General Miles, they were yet well provided with provisions. They brought to bear all the cunning of their race and had the most improved arms; in fact it would seem that they had taken advantage of all our experience in war. Their camps were like ours when going to Atlanta, marked by rifle pits thrown up every night, and the site of their last stand is wonderful in its hastily constructed fortifications.
“Lieutenant Jerome of our escort was a prisoner two days, and was well, even kindly, cared for, the women digging a trench for his protection from the fire of General Miles’ troops. The men wounded in the first charge of Miles fell into the Indians’ hands. They were disarmed and assured of their safety. The admiration felt for Joseph’s pluck and general conduct is very warm among both officers and men. They fought until nearly three-fourths of their warriors were either killed or wounded in open battle, and when worn out by Howard, Gibbon, Sturgis, Norwood and Miles, they hoisted the white flag and came down from their mountain fastness and each surrendered his rifle to General Miles in person.”
There is no doubt but that Chiefs Joseph and Looking Glass have proven themselves to be the greatest leaders, displayed the best generalship and carried out their plans with more skill than any of the American Indians that ever waged war against our government.
No one can give a better account of the last battle with Chief Joseph and his band of Nez Perces than General Nelson A. Miles, himself. The general says:
“On leaving the Missouri river for the march north, the command was organized to move with pack trains, leaving the wagons with a strong escort to follow as best they could. Every precaution was taken to conceal the command as far as possible, and the march was made with all the celerity and secrecy practicable. Strict orders were given against firing a shot or in any way disturbing the vast numbers of buffalo, deer and elk which we encountered. In this way we moved from early dawn to dark for four days on the grassy plain and foothills which bordered the eastern slope of the Little Rockies, and on the 29th tidings regarding the trail to the left reached us. Captain Maus, commanding the scouts, had used his sleepless vigilance to good purpose and had gained the information desired without disclosing his presence or that of the command.
“Here occurred an excellent illustration of the loyalty of the true soldier. Captain Maus and his small band, while engaged in their scouting duties, suddenly came upon a huge bear sometimes called the ‘grizzly,’ but in that region more properly the ‘silver tip,’ who, evidently conscious of its strength and power, rose upon its hind feet in an attitude of defiance. Captain Maus, with the instincts of a thorough sportsman, quickly brought his rifle to his shoulder and ran his eye along the sight. Just then he remembered the rigid orders against firing and as quickly brought it down to his side, the spirit of the soldier overcoming the strong temptation of the hunter. His small detachment then passed on in search of larger game.
“That night I received dispatches from General Howard stating that he had turned his cavalry back to Idaho and was going to move his infantry down the Missouri river, leaving the battalion of Colonel Sturgis, six troops of the Seventh cavalry, on the Missouri river. This made it clear that whatever encounters we might have with the Nez Perces we were entirely beyond support.
“At daylight on the morning of the 30th the command had its light breakfast and was in the saddle pushing on again in search of the enemy, everyone realizing the probability that a conflict would soon occur.
“Our Cheyenne and Sioux Indian scouts had now assumed a more serious attitude. They were well in front of the command, and began to show more earnestness and activity than they had heretofore. Suddenly one of these advance scouts, a young warrior, was seen bounding at full speed back over the prairie. He said something in Sioux or Cheyenne to the other Indians as he passed them, and it was evident that he brought information of the discovery of the Nez Perces camp. Then an almost instantaneous transformation scene was enacted by these savages. Hats, coats, leggings, shirts, blankets, saddles and bridles were quickly thrown into one great heap in a ravine, or ‘cache,’ as the Indians call it.
“A lariat was placed over the neck of each war pony, and a double knot around his under jaw. The warrior painted for the fray was bedecked with the usual gorgeous long and high headdress of eagle feathers, and wore a buckskin covering about the loins, which was his only clothing except a pair of buckskin moccasins. Springing upon their war ponies, with rifle in hand, they looked like game champions prepared for the fray, or the ideal picturesque warrior arrayed for the fight. They appeared to be perfectly wild with delight, as unlike what they had seemed twenty minutes before as two scenes of a drama.
“A similar spirit was manifested among the entire body of troops. ‘The Nez Perces over the divide’ was the word that was passed quickly in low tones from mouth to mouth along the entire column. The command immediately took a trot, with an occasional canter, where the ground would admit of it, over the rolling prairie and the grass-covered valleys. Rounding the northeast base of the Bear Paw mountains, the distance that was supposed to be a few miles proved to be eight, and the disposition of the troops was made while they were at a trot or rapid walk, and the pace quickened to a gallop and charge as they neared the camp.
“Orders were sent by Lieutenant Baird, of my staff, to Captain Tyler’s command (the Second cavalry) to sweep around to the left and then down the valley and cut off, if possible, the herd of horses from the camp, in order, to use the familiar phrase, to ‘set the Indians afoot,’ the Seventh cavalry was thrown in line of battle while moving at a gallop, the commanding officer, Captain Hale, riding in advance. He presented the ideal picture of the cavalier, splendidly mounted on a spirited gray horse, and he wore a jaunty hat with a light gray cavalry short coat, while his whole uniform and equipment were in perfect order. Inspiring his followers to courage by his own example and splendid heroism, with a smile upon his handsome face he dashed forward to the cruel death awaiting him. The battalion of the Fifth infantry, under Captain Snyder, was deployed in the same manner a little in the rear of the Seventh cavalry at first, and finally extending the line to the left, charging directly upon the camp, while the battalion of the Second cavalry was sweeping the valley of the vast herd of 800 horses, mules and ponies there grazing. This gallop forward preceding the charge was one of the most brilliant and inspiring sights I ever witnessed on any field. It was the crowning glory of our twelve days’ forced marching.
“The Nez Perces were quietly slumbering in their tents evidently without a thought of danger, as they had sent out scouts the day before to see if there were any troops in the vicinity, and the scouts had reported ‘none discovered,’ but that they had seen vast herds of buffaloes, deer, elk and antelope quietly grazing on the prairie undisturbed, and no enemy in sight. When the charge was made the spirited horses of the Seventh cavalry carried that battalion a little more rapidly over the plains than the Indian ponies of the mounted infantry, and it was expected to first strike the enemy with the Seventh cavalry. The tramp of at least 600 horses over the prairie fairly shook the ground, and, although a complete surprise to the Indians in the main, it must have given them a few minutes’ notice, for as the troops charged against the village, the Indians opened a hot fire upon them. This momentarily checked the advance of the Seventh cavalry, which fell back, but only for a short distance, and was quickly rallied again and charged forward at a gallop, driving that portion of the camp of the Indians before them.
“At the same time the battalion of the Fifth Mounted infantry, under Captain Snyder, charged forward up the very edge of the valley in which the Indian camp was located, threw themselves upon the ground, holding the lariats of their ponies in their left hands, and opened a deadly fire with their long-range rifles upon the enemy with telling effect. The tactics were somewhat in the Indian fashion, but most effective, as they presented a small target when kneeling or lying upon the ground, and their ponies were so accustomed to the din and noise of an Indian camp, the buffalo chase, and the Indian habits generally, that they stood quietly behind their riders, many of them putting their heads down to nibble the green grass upon which they were standing. During the desperate fight the horses and ponies were, of course, exposed. The infantrymen had become so attached to their strong and handsome ponies that when one was shot it was a real bereavement to his owner; and in more than one case it was noticed that tears filled the eyes of the soldier as his pony fell dead.
“Sergeant McHugh had galloped forward with his Hotchkiss breech-loading gun, keeping in line with the mounted infantry, and went into action throwing shells into the camp with decided effect. The infantry swept around to the left to inclose that portion of the camp and force the Indians into a deep ravine. The battalion of the Second cavalry had stampeded nearly every animal in the valley and portions of that command were used immediately in circling the camp in order to inclose it entirely.
“As I passed completely around the Indians over the ground occupied by the mounted infantry and Second cavalry, to the line occupied by the Seventh cavalry, I was shocked to see the lifeless body of that accomplished officer and thorough gentleman, Hale, lying upon the crest of a little knoll with his white charger dead beside him. A little further on was the body of the young and spirited Biddle. Captains Moylan and Godfrey were badly wounded, and in fact a great part of the line encircling the camp was dotted with dead and wounded soldiers and horses.
“The loss of the Nez Perces was even more severe. The fight had been sudden, rapid and most desperate on both sides.
“From what was at first a wide circle, the troops gradually closed their lines, forcing the Indians into a narrow ravine, and charging them on all sides until the grip of iron had been completed. In this way the losses on both sides had been serious, considering the number engaged. Captain Carter, in one charge, had 35 per cent of his men placed hors de combat, but I felt positive we had secured the beleaguered Indians in their camp beyond the possibility of escape. I did not, therefore, order a general assault, as I knew it must result in the loss of many valuable lives and possibly might end in a massacre. I, therefore, directed the men to hold their ground, and then from a high point watched the fight going on further down the valley.
“As the cavalry charged the camp a few of the warriors, including White Bird, ran out, secured their horses, and fled to the hills. As the battalion of the Second cavalry swept down the valley the Indian herd became somewhat separated. Captain Tyler captured some 300 of the ponies; Lieutenant Gerome another large band, and Lieutenant McClernand, who had swept on still further, finally secured upwards of 300 more three or four miles down the valley. While driving them back, the small number of Indians who had escaped, undertook to rescue the animals and made several counter attacks, which were all successfully repelled by the judicious and brave action of McClernand and his men. The ponies were all finally gathered up in a secluded valley in rear of the command and proved to be 800 in number.
“That afternoon our train came up under the escort of Captain Brotherton, and this escort, together with the Napoleon gun, was used in strengthening the line then encircling the Indian camp, making the escape of the Indians doubly difficult. As a result of the desperate encounter, I found that the two officers before mentioned and twenty soldiers had been killed. My assistant, Adjutant General George W. Baird, while carrying orders and inspiring the command with his own bravery, was severely wounded, his right arm being broken and part of one ear shot away. Besides Captains Moylan and Godfrey, Lieutenant Romeyn was also injured while leading a charge, together with thirty-eight soldiers.
“The Indians occupied a crescent-shaped ravine, and it was apparent that their position could only be forced by a charge or a siege. The first could not be accomplished without too great sacrifice, while the latter, in my judgment, would be almost sure to result satisfactorily. My one concern then was whether the Sioux Indians, whom I knew to be encamped under Sitting Bull north of the Canadian boundary line, some fifty miles distant, and to whom the few Indians who had been able to escape from the village had fled, might not come to the assistance of the Nez Perces. During the last eight months numbers of disaffected Indians, who had been driven out of the valley of the Yellowstone and its tributaries had sought refuge on Canadian soil and joined the large camp of Sitting Bull, thus greatly increasing his force. I afterwards learned, however, that when the Nez Perces’ messengers reached the camp of Sitting Bull, instead of coming to the assistance of the besieged, the whole camp, numbering between 1,000 and 2,000 Indians, who evidently had not forgotten their experience during the autumn and winter, immediately moved forty miles further back into the interior of the Canadian territory. But as I did not know this fact until several weeks later, I was bound to make provision for this large body of Indians should they advance to the assistance of the Nez Perces.
“I, therefore, desired that the military authorities should have some intimation of my position, and to that end sent word to General Terry, commanding the department, who was then at Fort Benton, nearly 100 miles to the west, apprising him of our movements and success. I also sent orders to General Sturgis to move up and join us without delay. He was then eighty miles to the south and separated from us by the Missouri river. I likewise informed General Howard of our position.
“As we were besieging this camp of Indians and holding their large herds of stock in the valley, with our large number of wounded to be cared for, I did not relish the idea of being besieged in our turn by the hostile Sioux, and, therefore, took every precaution possible to meet such an emergency. We had no interpreters who could talk Nez Perces well enough to be of any use; some of the scouts could speak Chinook and they called out to the Indians to surrender. Joseph came up under the flag of truce, and from him we learned that the principal chief, Looking Glass, and four other chiefs had been killed, besides a large number of others killed and wounded. Joseph was informed that they must surrender by bringing up their arms and laying them on the ground. They pretended to do so and brought up a few, which amounted to nothing, but hesitated greatly about surrendering the balance.
“While this was going on I directed Lieutenant Gerome to ascertain what they were doing in the village, supposing that he would go to the edge of the bluff and look down into the camp. But misunderstanding my instructions, he went down into the ravine, whereupon he was seized and held until he was exchanged for Chief Joseph.
“It continued to snow during the day, but the siege was pressed continuously and a sharp lookout kept for any force that might come to the assistance of the Nez Perces. On the morning of the third day the ground was well covered with snow, and the scouts reported a large body of black objects on the distant hills, moving in our direction. This occasioned much excitement among the troops, and every eye was turned to the north, whence it was feared that Sitting Bull’s hostile Sioux and possibly the Assinaboines and Gros Ventres (both of whom were known to be to the north of us) might be moving to the assistance of the Nez Perces.
“It had been reported that the moving column was a large body of Indians. Every officer’s field-glass was turned in that direction, and as the long, dark column moved through the midst of light snow, slowly developing its strength as it made its way towards us over the distant hills and rolling prairie, I watched it with very great anxiety. Considering our condition, the large herd of captured stock we were holding, and the hostile camp we were besieging, and the number of our wounded, such a formidable reinforcement would, of course, be a very serious matter and the thoughts ran quickly through my mind as to the best dispositions to make in order to hold what we had gained and repel any effort, no matter how strong, to rescue the besieged or overcome our small but very efficient force. We could use our artillery and quite a large portion of our troops against any additional enemy and still keep the fruits of victory already gained. The mysterious and apparently formidable force drew nearer, when some of the scouts on the extreme outposts shouted ‘buffaloes!’ and it was a most gratifying cry. The relief occasioned by this announcement was like that afforded to the marines by the appearance of a beacon light or like sunlight bursting through the dark and angry clouds of a storm.
“The snow and cold caused great suffering to our wounded, although they were made as comfortable as possible, and while the siege continued detachments were sent some five miles distant up into the Bear Paw mountains to get poles with which to make travois and stretchers, knowing that the wounded must soon be transported to the nearest hospital.
“On the evening of the 4th of October Howard came up with an escort of twelve men, remaining in our camp over night, and was present next morning at the surrender of Chief Joseph and the entire Indian camp. As Chief Joseph was about to hand his rifle to me, he raised his eyes to the sun, which then stood about 10 o’clock, and said: ‘From where the sun now stands, I fight no more against the white man.’ From that time to this he has kept his word. Those who surrendered with Chief Joseph and those taken outside the camp numbered 400. There were killed twenty-six in all, and forty-six wounded. The work of securing the arms of the Indians, burying the dead, and preparing the wounded for their long journey occupied the entire day; but on the following morning we commenced our slow and difficult march back to the Missouri river.”
Immediately after the surrender of Chief Joseph, a runner was sent to Fort Benton with a message to be forwarded to the war department, and General Terry, on his return from Northwest Territory, who was at Fort Benton at the time, received the following dispatch:
“Chicago, October 11, 1877.
“To General A. H. Terry, Fort Benton, M. T.:
“The honorable secretary of war expresses to me his congratulations to General Miles and yourself, upon the important success achieved by the capture of Joseph’s band of Nez Perces on October 5th. The general of the army also desires me to offer his congratulations to General Miles and his command, and to assure them that the capture of Joseph’s band is exceedingly important especially on account of the influence on other Indians in Oregon who have been watching the result of Joseph’s movements with intense interest. To these well-merited commendations I again offer my own to General Miles and the officers and men who have brought about this exceedingly desirable result.
“(Signed.)P. H. Sheridan,
“Lieutenant General.”