26                      During Two Indian Campaigns

Appearance of Fort Larned--Sketch of an Officer's Life on the Frontier--Serious Accident--Learned Disquisition on the Indian--­Pow-wow with the Chiefs of the Cheyennes--Speech of General Hancock--Reply of "Tall Bull"--Grand Stampede of Indians--­Horrible Outrage on a White Captive--General Custer in Pursuit--­Post Scriptum--Suspicious Conduct and apparent Hostility of the Indians--They decline a satisfactory Conference--Decisive Steps by General Hancock.

                      The Banks of the Pawnee River                   27

standing the unfavourable circumstances under which we daily labour, we feel in duty bound to do the best we can.
    Standing on the summit of the hill that overlooks the plain of Larned as we approach it from the east­ward, our eyes were gladdened by the sight of the fort, and close to it could be traced the tortuous course of the Pawnee Fork. As we advanced nearer to the fort, we obtained a better view of its surroundings. The banks of the Pawnee, whose waters flow from the slopes of the Rocky Mountains, are adorned with plants, umbrageous shrubbery, and patriarchal trees, whose freshness pleasingly contrasts with the naked tops of the hills in the distance. The spot on which the fort is situated is a green oasis in the Sahara of bleached grass. Beautiful as the plain is at present, it was lovelier by far before the volunteer soldiers came and destroyed more than two-thirds of the trees that lined the Pawnee's banks. From the top of one of the barracks can be seen a wide area, stretching away in all directions, the hills swelling into every variety of form, until the indistinct outline of their summits blends with the sky where it touches the horizon. The course of the Pawnee may be traced by the trees, whose dark foliage indicates the windings of the stream. The whole, to be appreciated, must be seen as we saw it just then, in the approaching twilight, through a bright, clear atmosphere, and amidst the opening foliage and bursting blossoms of early spring.

28                      During Two Indian Campaigns

    Fort Larned is commanded by Major Henry Asbury, a gentleman who served with some distinction in the late war. It is a model of neatness. Everything is carried on according to the strict letter of the military code. Guard mounting, inspection, and dress parade are announced by the familiar sounds of the fife and drum, accompanied by all the pomp and circumstance of military form. The officers are affable with their equals, and gracious towards their subordinates. The quartermaster is a linguist, and takes to all sorts of trades kindly; acts as commissary, superintendent of Government works, and a general referee on all subjects.
    This fort also boasts of its characters. One of them is an old soldier seventy-two years old, who has served forty-three years in the United States army and is still straight as an arrow, and of undiminished vigour. The post surgeon gives him great praise as a nurse, and from what we saw of the tender manner in which he handled the sick, we think he is certainly efficient. Another is a soldier named Klein, who has served sixteen rears, and is now within ninety-three days of the end of his last enlistment. As each day passes he rubs the mark of it off a board which he has hanging in his room and in this way reminds himself of the time he has yet to serve.
    Dave Butterfield, of Butterfield's express notoriety, has a trading camp near this post. He has obtained about three thousand fine buffalo robes. In his camp we met Mr. Charles Tracy, a gentleman of St. Louis,

                   The First Indian Council                    29

who looks hale and hearty, and evidently enjoys himself in the wilderness.
    According to invitation from General Hancock, fifteen chiefs of the Cheyennes, or "Dog soldiers," came to camp last night, that the General might impress on their minds the necessity of keeping to the strict letter of their treaties. The Council which followed their arrival presented a most curious yet somewhat imposing sight by the light of the fires. The military officers were dressed in full uniform--gold epaulettes, tall hats glittering with gold; the artillery especially made a fine show with their red horse­tails.
    On one side of the great camp fire sat Generals Hancock, Smith, Custer, Davidson and Gibbs, and a score of other officers; while on the other sat the Indian chiefs with Major Edward Wynkoop, their agent and interpreter. The Indians were dressed in various styles, many of them with the orthodox army overcoat, some with gorgeous red blankets, while their faces were painted and their bodies bedizened in all the glory of the Indian toilette. To the hideous slits in their ears were hanging large rings of brass; they wore armlets of silver, wrist rings of copper, necklaces of beads of variegated colours, breast ornaments of silver shields, and Johnson silver medals, and their scalplocks were adorned with a long string of thin silver discs.
    Generals Hancock and Smith were introduced to "Tall Bull" and "White Horse," the two principal

30                      During Two Indian Campaigns

chiefs, after which Hancock, taking off his overcoat, and standing in all the bravery of a Major-General's uniform, spoke as follows:­--
    "I told your agents some time ago that I was coming here to see you, and if any of you wanted to speak to me they could do so. I don't find many chiefs here. What is the reason? I have a great deal to say to the Indians, but I want to talk with them all together. To-morrow I am going to their camp. I have an Indian boy with me, whom the Cheyennes claim. We had made a promise to find this boy and a girl, who were somewhere in the United States. We have found the boy--and here he is, ready to be delivered to his nearest relative. I will leave him at Fort Larned with the commander. He will deliver him up to them. The girl is near Denver. We have written for her and she will be sent here, either to your agent or to the commander at Fort Larned, for delivery to her relatives. You see the boy has not been injured; the girl will be delivered by us also uninjured. Look out that any captives in your hands be restored to us equally unharmed. Now I have a great many soldiers--­more than all the tribes put together. The Great Father has heard that some Indians have taken white men and women captives. He has heard also, that a great many Indians are trying to get up war. That is the reason that I came down here. I intend not only to visit you here, but my troops will remain among you, to see that the peace of the plains is pre-

                   Hancock Exposes His Intentions              31

served. I am going also to visit you in your camps. The innocent, and those who are truly our friends, we shall treat as brothers. If we find hereafter that any of you have lied to us, we will strike you. In case of war, we shall punish whoever befriends our enemies. If there are any tribes among you who have captives, white or black, you must give them up, safe and unharmed. I have collected all the evidence of all outrages committed by you, so that your agents may examine into the matter and tell me who are guilty, and who are innocent. When your agent informs me who the guilty are I will punish them; when just demands are made I will enforce them, if they be not attended to. I have heard that a great many Indians want to fight; very well, we are here, and are come prepared for war. If you are for peace, you know the conditions; if you are for war, look out for its consequences. Your agent is your friend, but he knows his friendship will not save you from the anger of your Great Father if we go to war. If we find any good Indians, and they come to us with clean hands, we will treat them as brothers, and we will separate them from the malcontents, and provide for them, if necessary. This we will do that the innocent may escape the war which will be waged against the guilty. The soldiers are going to stay in the country, and they will see that the white man keeps his treaty as well as the red man. We are building railroads and military roads through the country; you must not let your young men stop them,

32                      During Two Indian Campaigns

and you must keep your men off the road. These roads will benefit the Indians as well as the white man in bringing their goods to them cheaply and promptly. The steam-car and waggon-train must run, and it is of importance to the whites and Indians that the mails, goods and passengers carried on them shall be safe. You know very well if you go to war with the white man you would lose. The Great Father has many more warriors. It is true you might kill some soldiers and surprise some small detachments, but you would lose men, and you know that you have not a great many to lose. You cannot replace warriors lost; we can. It is to your interest to have peace with the white man. Every tribe ought to have a great chief, one that will command them. For any depredations committed by any one of his tribe I shall hold the chief and his tribe responsible. Some Indians go down to Texas and kill women and children. I shall strike the tribes that they belong to. If there are any good Indians who don't want to go to war, I shall help them and protect them. If there are any bad chiefs, I will help the good chiefs to put their heels on them. I have a great many chiefs with me that have commanded more men than ever you saw, and they have fought more great battles than you have fought fights. A great many Indians think they are armed better than they were formerly, but they must recollect that we are also. My chiefs cannot derive any distinction from fighting with your small numbers. They are not anxious for wars

                   Tall Bull Rises to Speak                    33

against Indians, but are ready for a just war, and know how to fight, and lead their men. Let the guilty then beware. I say this to you to show you the importance of keeping treaties made with us, and of letting the white man travel unmolested. Your Great Father is your friend, as well as the friend of the white man. If a white man behaves badly, or does a wrong to you, he shall be punished, if the evidence ascertained at the trial proves him guilty. [Great sensation among the Indians.] We can redress your wrongs better than you can. [Groans of "Waugh, waugh."] I have no more to say. I will await the end of this council, to see whether you want war or peace. I will put what I say in black and white, and send it to each post commander in the country I command. You can have it read to you when you please, and you can come back after a while and read it, and you will know whether we have lied to you or not."
    General Hancock sat down, and deep silence prevailed in the council. The grave, taciturn countenances of the red warriors indicated deep consideration of the words they had heard. The officers, on their part, were also silent. Then a chief lit the calumet of peace, inhaled two or three whiffs, and handed it around to his compeers. When that important ceremony was over, the chief, with much dignity in his bearing, sprang to his feet, and folding his red and black robe around him, so that he could have the free use of his right arm, extended his hand towards

34                      During Two Indian Campaigns

General Hancock, and uttered the word "How!" at the same time. To each of Hancock's soldier chiefs he spoke the same word, and gravely shook hands with them. Then moving to the centre of the council, "Tall Bull," a chief of the Cheyennes, addressed it in the following words;:--
    "You sent for us; we came here. We have made a treaty with our agent, Colonel Wynkoop. We never did the white man any harm; we don't intend to. Our agent told us to meet you here. Whenever you want to go on the Smoky Hill you can go. You can go on any road. When we come on the road your young men must not shoot us. We are willing to be friends with the white man. [A pause.]
    "This boy you have here, we have seen him; we don't recognize him; he must belong to some tribe south of the Arkansas. The buffalo are diminishing fast. The antelope that were plenty a few years ago are now few. When they will all die away we shall be hungry. We shall want something to eat, and we shall be compelled to come into the fort. Your young men must not fire on us. Whenever they see us they fire, and we fire on them. [A pause.] The Kiowas, Comanches, Apaches, and Arapahoes, you should send and get them here, and talk with them. [A pause.] You say you are going to our village to-morrow. If you go, I shall have no more to say to you there than here. I have said all I want to say here. [Interrupted by the General--"I am going, however, to your camp to-morrow."] I don't know whether

                   The Indian Atrocities                       35

the Sioux are coming here or not. They did not tell me they were coming. I have spoken."
    We saw a great many noble faces among the Indians around the council fire. One of them somewhat resembled President Jackson, according to the average picture of him. We were formerly under the impression that there were no noble-looking Indians, save in the fervid fancies of a Fenimore Cooper, but we must confess that they do exist, even at the present day, and that we have seen them.
    The Indians lately have horrified the people of the United States by diabolical and cruel massacres. These called for instant retaliation and severe punishment. Detachments from this expedition have been already sent to punish them. Though the Indians south of the Platte were entirely innocent of any participation in the atrocities, it was rumoured that, elated at the success of the tribes in the north, they likewise intended to try the same game in the south. In that case, the southern Indians, upon seeing the extensive preparations the President has made to meet them, will be awed into quietness, and will be rather inclined to keep to the strict letter of their treaties, and on terms with the whites. Any confederations they may have formed will be crushed and annihilated, and for that reason alone the present expedition will have produced beneficial results.
    The Indians, in times bygone, kindled their watch­fires on the Atlantic coast, to the infinite terror of

36                      During Two Indian Campaigns

the Pilgrim Fathers, and on the slopes of the Alleghanies, to the dismay and discontent of the Quakers. Their descendants kindled their signal-fires on the slopes and on the snow-clad peaks of the Rocky Mountains, on the Pacific coast, and in the prairie. The same system of violence that the Indians of yore pursued is followed at the present day by their descendants, to the detriment of agricultural enterprise, and the development of the country. The pertinacity with which they resist the advance of the whites, the hatred with which they bear the yoke of civilisation, their unshrinking hardihood, and their contempt of death, will, for years to come, employ the sober pen of the historian. The expectations of the Indian, cherished now and then as some mad dream flits across his poor brain, concerning the repossession of the entire lands of his fathers, turn out repeatedly ephemeral and illusory. As the buffalo and antelope vanish, so will they, and that before many years have elapsed. Annihilation of the many and absorption of the remainder is clearly their doom. But extermination, which is often urged by vindictive Western men, is alike impolitic as it is barbarous. Let us hope, however, that the awful and heartrending scene of homesteads turned into pyramids of flame, making the dark night lurid with destroying fire, and the morning sun dawning on smouldering masses of embers, bones, and blood, will no more electrify the nation with the horrible details. "Taps." The lights must be out.

Source:

Stanley, Henry M., D.C.L., My Early Travels and Adventures in America and Asia, Vol. 1, New York, Charles Scribner's Sons, 1905, pp. 26-36.