Washita Attack

We have just passed the 140th anniversary of the Washita massacre.

The attack at the Washita was an attack upon a predominantly peaceful village. It may have contained a few warriors who had been involved in the recent depredations, but the majority of the village was innocent.

Black Kettle (who was over seventy years of age when he was killed at the Washita) wanted peace. When talking about Cheyenne raids carried out earlier in 1868, he said "I have always done my best to keep my young men quiet, but some will not listen... But we all want peace... I cannot speak [for] nor control the Cheyennes north of the Arkansas".

His fellow Chief, Little Rock (also killed at the Washita) said that "another small party [of the warriors who had carried out the 1868 attacks - not the whole war party] returned to Black Kettle's village".

Little Rock went on to say "I do not wish to be at war with the whites, and there are many of my nation who feel as I do, and who are in no way guilty, and do not wish to be punished for the bad acts of those who are guilty".

Following on from Little Rock’s comments, it is clear that the majority involved in the depredations actually went unpunished. To that extent, the attack was not only a travesty, but it failed to target those whom Sheridan and Custer allegedly wanted to punish.

Good online resources relating to the Washita include:

http://home.epix.net/~landis/washita.html

‘Lodge Pole (Washita) Massacre (November 1868) The Families' Stories’.

And this one, which has some of the contemporary reports, including Custer's report to Sheridan:

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~wynkoop/webdocs/bwashita.htm

Good balanced accounts of the attack are contained in Stan Hoig’s ‘The Battle of the Washita’, Jerome Greene’s ‘Washita’, Donald Berthrong’s ‘The Southern Cheyennes’ and Richard Hardorff’s ‘Washita Memories’. Also worth tracking down is 'The Eyes of the Sleepers' by Peter Harrison (Published by the English Westerners Society www.english-westerners-society.org.uk)

With regard to casualties, about 12 or 14 warriors were killed at the Washita. The figures vary, but most non-military estimates support these figures. There is evidence that some casualties were counted more than once. Hence the much higher figure of 103 given by Custer.

Custer reported that some women and a few children were killed. Ben Clark (Custer's scout who was married to a Cheyenne woman – see the earlier posts) estimated a total of 75 women and children casualties. Other non-military estimates for women and children killed vary from about 20 to about 40. Most non-military sources agree that more women and children than warriors were killed. A good summary of these figures is contained in Hardorff's 'Washita Memories'.

Custer called the officers together after the attack and asked them for estimates of Cheyenne casualties. It is of course likely that more than one of the officers had seen the same casualties. Their estimates were however totalled to provide a figure of 103 warriors killed. This it is now generally accepted to be an exaggeration

Soldiers were killing women and children. Ben Clark reported this to Custer "and asked him if it was his wish that these people should be killed". It was only then that Custer told Clark to "give his compliments" to the officer in charge and "ask him to stop it".

Twenty-two soldiers were killed at the Washita. A total of eighteen in Elliott's detachment; Elliott, Sergeant Kennedy and sixteen troopers. They were killed chasing a group of mainly women and children who had fled towards the other camps. The warriors who killed Elliott and his men came from the other camps. They were not from Black Kettle's camp. Captain Hamilton was killed at Black Kettle's village, together with two troopers. A third trooper died of his injuries.

Two white captives were killed at the time of the attack upon Black Kettle’s village; Clara Blinn and her young son, Willie. The circumstances of their deaths are however shrouded in contradictions. There is no evidence that Clara and Willie Blinn were killed by the Cheyennes. There is evidence that both were killed by cavalry fire. Indeed, the army went to great pains to deny this at the time, but the military accounts of their deaths are contradictory.

The allegation usually made in relation to the deaths of the Blinns is in fact that they were killed by the Arapahos or Kiowas, not the Cheyennes; they were not in the Cheyenne village. Indeed, the military accounts of the discovery of their bodies and wounds are contradictory. There is a growing body of thought that they were in fact killed by the troops.

Jesse Leavenworth and Albert Boone, agents for the Comanches and Kiowas, reported that their enquiries indicated that the troops had killed the Blinns. Leavenworth and Boone’s involvement resulted from the fact that Custer and Sheridan blamed the Kiowas or the Arapahho, not the Cheyennes, for killing the Blinns.

There was a very good analysis of the the deaths of Clara and Willie Blinn by Joe Haines in the Summer 1999 volume of Chronicles of Oklahoma. After sifting through the evidence, Haines concluded that "[t]he most believable scenario has Clara and Willie Blinn in Black Kettle's village at the time of Custer's attack. As they attempted to flee from the village, they were pursued and killed by one of Custer's men".

It was alleged that four white scalps were found in the village. There is however no evidence to support this. It is based upon an unsubstantiated claim by Sheridan. It was not mentioned in Custer's reports on the attack. Even if the scalps were found, they do not prove that the whole village was hostile. Indeed, they would not even prove that the person in possession of the scalps was responsible for taking them.

As for the question: was it a battle or a massacre? It is interesting to note that Captain Benteen felt the need to use inverted commas when writing to a friend about "our 'battle of the Washita' ". In his ironic account of the aftermath of the battle, he talks of the dead bodies of a [Cheyenne] woman and a child. No mention is made of warrior casualties. Benteen clearly did not think that it was an heroic victory.

There was no excuse for the killing of women and children by the troops. Or the murder of Pilan, the Mexican trader who was in the village at the time of the attack. He surrendered to the troops and was then shot. In fact, he was treated very similarly to Jack Smith, John Simpson Smith's mixed race son, who was murdered at Sand Creek.

Burials At Whirlwind Cemetery

This monument at the Whirlwind cemetery is engraved on three sides with the names of persons buried in the cemetery. Here are the names listed:



Denison Whirlwind: June 4, 1901
Mrs. Standing Twenty: June 24, 1901
Infant Turkey Legs: Sept. 12, 1901
Hookla Turkey Legs: Sept. 20, 1905
Carrie Red Shin: Sept. 4, 1905
Big Belly Woman: Sept. 13, 1905
Chancey Sun Maker: Sept. 14, 1905
White Bird: Sept. 17, 1905
Bessie Pendleton: Sept. 18, 1905
Lizzie Pendleton: Sept. 19, 1905
Little Bear Cook: Sept. 21, 1905
Child of Mack Shortneck: Mar. 4, 1906
Mrs. Mack Shortneck: Sept. 11, 1907
Mother of Turkey Legs: Oct. 31, 1907
Infant of Mrs. Shortneck: Nov. 10, 1907
Mrs. Elk River: Aug. 1899
Child of Moore Van Horn: Aug. 5, 1899
Child of Howling Crane: Aug. 12, 1899
Little Woman Bobtail Wolf: Jan. 27, 1900
Fanny Hill (Crooked Nose Black): Feb. 2, 1900
Child of Mack Shortneck: Mar. 17, 1900
Child of Lewis Blun: Mar. 1900
Blanche Warpath: Apr. 27, 1900
John Shortman: May 18, 1900
Mabel G. Oakerhater: 1 months June 4, 1900
Short Nose: July 29, 1900
Mary Antelope Skin: Aug. 27, 1900
Mrs. Howling Crane: Sept. 18, 1900
Della Black Owl: Mar. 26, 1901
Elizabeth Tall Meat
Harriet Riggs
Burnet Rising Elk
Nistro Herald
Thomas Smith
Harriet Antelope Skin
Red Wolf
Perfumery Blue
Leroy Whiteshield
Killing Before
Sarah Lucy Good Bear
Little Woman Mohea
Charlie Big Nose
Mary Apache
David Herald
Susie and Mary Stanton, twins
Edward Riggs: age 1 Apr. 7, 1898
Ralph Rising Elk: Oct. 1898
Child of Blackowl: Jan. 3, 1899
Mrs. Star: Feb. 9, 1899
James Rouse: May 20, 1899
Mrs. Sun Maker: May 23, 1899

Mrs. Thomas Turkey Legs 1866 – 1922
Infant daughter of S & M Riggs 1908 – 1910

Whirlwind Cemetery

This book "The Peace Chiefs of the Cheyennes" by Stan Hoig is an excellent source of information. Two particular Cheyennes are discussed in detail:

"At the end of October, 1873, a delegation of Southern Cheyenne and Arapaho chiefs from the Cheyenne agency, headed by Little Robe and Whirlwind and escorted by Agent John D. Miles, arrived in Washington, D.C.....Little Robe answered that the Cheyenne and Arapaho chiefs were for peace....."

This web site decribes the Whirlwind Cemetery west of Watonga, Oklahoma: "This is an old cemetery 1/2 mile north of the site of the Whirlwind Mission and school (named for the Cheyenne Chief Old Whirlwind…..)" Here is a photo of the entrance:

In 1885, Chief Whirlwind visited the school at Carlisle, Pennsylvania with a delegation of Cheyennes. He was also part of a delegation visiting Washington D.C. in 1895. Other members of the delegation were Southern Cheyennes Little Wolf, Little Chief, Cloud Chief, White Horse, plus Arapaho chiefs Row of Lodges and Left Hand. Interpreters were Robert Burns and Clever Warden.







This is a photo of the historical marker in the Whirlwind Cemetery. The marker is engraved with "In memory of the people of Whirlwind Episcopal Church and the Rev'd. David Pendleton Oakerhater, Deacon.

Duncan's Crossing

Two different historical markers are located at Duncan's Crossing of the Pawnee Fork River on the military road from Fort Hays to Fort Dodge. A marker (see this web site) was placed in 1929 by a local ladies aid society in honor of George Duncan and John O'Loughlin, who established a trading post at the location beginning in 1869.

A second marker can be seen at this web page. Duncan's Crossing is located in Hodgeman County, which adjoins Ness County.

Nearby in Ness County, the site of the Cheyenne village (described in the previous post) is now the property of the support group called The Fort Larned Old Guard: "One of the most exciting projects the Old Guard has undertaken is that they have purchased the Cheyenne-Sioux Indian village site northwest of Fort Larned in Ness County, the same site when in April of 1867 General Winfield Scott Hancock burned this village to start what was later called "Hancock's War". Living history activities are being held on the site, see this web page.

1867 Cheyenne village, Pawnee River

This 1870 map of Kansas represents the area along the Pawnee Fork river near Fort Larned. Ness County is the green area of the upper left portion of the photo.

In 1867, the 7th Cavalry marched west out of Fort Larned on an expedition "designed to give the central plains Indians a lesson and to provide a response to the Fetterman Massacre that took place the previous year." This web site describes the Hancock Expedition which resulted in the destruction of the Cheyenne village. Here is part of the story:

"On the expedition was a half French, half Cheyenne scout by the name of Edmund Guerrier. He reported to General Hancock on the evening of Sunday, April 14, 1867, that the Indians were leaving the camp on the Pawnee. Hancock gave the order to Colonel George Custer and the 7th to surround the village. Custer's surgeon, Isaac Coates, described the scene..........On April 19, Hancock's order to destroy the "nest of conspirators" was carried out. Three companies of the 37th Infantry gathered the lodges, Buffalo robes, and the camp equipment into great piles and set everything ablaze."

Over 100 years later, two researchers discovered the location of the Cheyenne village: "George and Earl were able to pinpoint the village, along with every stop and feature on the route taken by the Army. In their search, they had worked east along the river to within a mile of the site from the west. From the east end going west, they had just gotten to the place called Duncan's Crossing. With this new information and map in hand, they began exploring the village site and discovered it was rich in artifact material. Most of what the two found was found with metal detectors. George and Earl found iron trade items that were used to trade with the Indians, kettle parts, gun parts, tin cups, and cartridge cases. There were also iron objects altered by Indians for uses such as awls, scrapers, points, and knives. They also excavated non-iron items; stone points, pot shards, rubbing stones, clay pipes, glass, and beads. They noted that material was often in groupings or piles of similar items. There were many burned areas."

The history and location of Duncan's Crossing is described by a web site from Santa Fe Trail Research: "Duncan's crossing was originally founded by John O'Loughlin, a young Irish immigrant who had come west to find his fortune. It was his work as a teamster for the Army Quartermaster Department that probably led him to this spot in the trail that linked Fort Dodge to Fort Hays. After the railroad reached Hays City in 1867, the army shipped their supplies by rail to Hays City and used wagons to transport them on the Fort Dodge. Thus, the trail between the two forts was established by the Army. O'Loughlin chose his location well. It was half way between the forts of Hays and Dodge in Kansas, and located on the Pawnee River. It was difficult to cross, even in the dry season, because of the high banks, so he built a bridge to aid both the Army and civilians as they came this way."

Thus, Guerrier and Hancock and Custer were present at the Cheyenne village on the Pawnee Fork in Ness County near Duncan's Crossing. The location of the village has since been discovered. This is definitely someplace I would love to visit!

Smoky Hill Trail / Butterfield route

The origins of the Smoky Hill Trail, and, the route of the Butterfield Overland Dispatch are described at this Kansas Collection web site: The Notes of Howard Raynesford.

"When the great "Pathfinder", John C. Fremont, reached Bent's Fort, near the site of the present city of Las Animas on the Arkansas, on the return trip of his second great trans-continental exploration, agreably to his instructions he turned northeast to discover the head waters of the Kansas River and explore its course to its mouth. On July 8, 1844, he located the junction of several small sandy creeks which proved to be the beginning of the Smoky Hill River, and from there he followed and explored this stream through to Kansas City, reaching there the last of July. So far as is known, Fremont's little party of 16 men were the first white men to traverse this Smoky Hill route, and, following his report, the Government seems to have recognized the importance of the Smoky Hill as part of a national highway, and topographic surveys were commenced along its course. But there was apparently no attempt to lay out a trail until gold was discovered in the Pikes Peak and Clear Creek regions of Colorado in 1858."

And, "Though the Government was using it some, as were probably many emigrant parties and gold-seekers, the life of the Smoky Hill route really began when David A. Butterfield took hold of it in 1865."

Additional web sites: Tails and Trails of the Smoky Hill River,
Smoky Hill Trail History

Colorado - Kansas Border / Smoky Hill River

George Bent described the 1864 Sand Creek Massacre in "Life of George Bent" (by George E. Hyde). Bent and other survivors ".....could stand the cold no longer, and although it was still pitch-dark and long before dawn, we left that place and started east, toward the headwaters of the Smoky Hill, where we knew Indians were encamped....."

On page 161 is a hand drawn map which shows the location of the Cheyenne camp where the survivors took refuge. The village was on the Smoky Hill river where it crossed the Colorado - Kansas border. This was just west of where Fort Wallace was established a few years later, as shown on the map in the previous post.

And, on page 120 is a map which shows the Western Cattle Trail just to the east of Fort Wallace. An excellent source of information on the Western Cattle Trail is the book "The Western" by Gary and Margaret Kraisinger.