On the Border with Crook: General George Crook, the American Indian Wars, and Life on the American Frontier

514 Pages·2013·3.12 MB·English

by  John Gregory Bourke

GENERAL GEORGE CROOK.

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eISBN: 978-1-62873-902-2
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file.
ISBN: 978-1-62636-543-8
Printed in the United States of America
TO FRANCIS PARKMAN, whose learned and graceful pen has illustrated the
History, Traditions, Wonders and Resources of the Great West, this volume,—
descriptive of the trials and tribulations, hopes and fears of brave officers and
enlisted men of the regular Army, who did so much to conquer and develop the
empire beyond the Missouri,—is affectionately inscribed by his admirer and
friend, JOHN G. BOURKE.
Omaha, Nebraska,
August 12, 1891.
PREFACE.
THERE is an old saying in the army which teaches that you can never know a
man until after having made a scout with him in bad weather. All the good
qualities and bad in the human makeup force their way to the surface under the
stimulus of privation and danger, and it not infrequently happens that the
comrade who at the military post was most popular, by reason of charm of
manner and geniality, returns from this trial sadly lowered in the estimation of
his fellows, and that he who in the garrison was most retiring, self-composed,
and least anxious to make a display of glittering uniform, has swept all before
him by the evidence he has given of fortitude, equanimity, courage, coolness,
and good judgment under circumstances of danger and distress. But, whether the
maxim be true or false, it is hardly too much for me to claim a hearing while I
recall all that I know of a man with whom for more than fifteen years, it was my
fortune to be intimately associated in all the changing vicissitudes which
constituted service on the “border” of yesterday, which has vanished never to
return.
It is not my purpose to write a biography of my late friend and commander
—such a task I leave for others to whom it may be more congenial; speaking for
myself, I am compelled to say that it is always difficult for me to peruse
biography of any kind, especially military, and that which I do not care to read I
do not care to ask others to read. In the present volume, there will be found
collected descriptions of the regions in which the major portion of General
Crook’s Indian work was carried on; the people, both red and white, with whom
he was brought into contact; the difficulties with which he had to contend, and
the manner in which he overcame them; and a short sketch of the principles
guiding him in his justly famous intercourse with the various tribes—from
British America to Mexico, from the Missouri River to the Pacific Ocean—
subjugated by him and afterwards placed under his charge.
A military service of nearly forty consecutive years—all of which, excepting
the portion spent in the civil war, had been face to face with the most difficult
problems of the Indian question, and with the fiercest and most astute of all the
tribes of savages encountered by the Caucasian in his conquering advance across
the continent—made General Crook in every way worthy of the eulogy
pronounced upon him by the grizzled old veteran, General William T. Sherman,
upon hearing of his death, that he was the greatest Indian-fighter and manager
the army of the United States ever had.
In all the campaigns which made the name of George Crook a beacon of
hope to the settler and a terror to the tribes in hostility, as well as in all the
efforts which he so successfully made for the elevation of the red man in the
path of civilization and which showed that Crook was not a brutal soldier with
no instincts save those for slaughter, but possessed of wonderful tenderness and
commiseration for the vanquished as well as a most intelligent appreciation of
the needs and capabilities of the aborigines, I was by his side, a member of his
military staff, and thus obtained an insight into the charms and powers of a
character which equalled that of any of the noble sons of whom our country is so
justly proud.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
OLD CAMP GRANT ON THE RIO SAN PEDRO—DAILY ROUTINE OF LIFE—ARCHITECTURE OF
THE GILA—SOLDIERS AS LABORERS—THE MESCAL AND ITS USES—DRINK AND
GAMBLING—RATTLESNAKE BITES AND THE GOLONDRINA WEED—SODA LAKE AND
THE DEATH VALLEY—FELMER AND HIS RANCH
CHAPTER II.
STRANGE VISITORS—SOME APACHE CUSTOMS—MEXICAN CAPTIVES—SPEEDY AND THE
GHOST—THE ATTACK UPON KENNEDY AND ISRAEL’S TRAIN—FINDING THE BODIES—
THE DEAD APACHE—A FRONTIER BURIAL—HOW LIEUTENANT YEATON RECEIVED
HIS DEATH WOUND—ON THE TRAIL WITH LIEUTENANT CUSHING—REVENGE IS
SWEET
CHAPTER III.
THE RETURN TO CAMP GRANT—LANCED TO DEATH BY APACHES—THE KILLING OF
MILLER AND TAPPAN—COMPANY QUARTERS—APACHE CAPTIVES—THE CLOUD-
BURST—APACHE CORN-FIELDS—MEETING COLONEL SANFORD—ENTRAPPED IN AN
APACHE AMBUSCADE—AN OLD-TIMER’S REMINISCENCES OF TUCSON—FUNERAL
CROSSES ON THE ROADSIDE—PADRE EUSEBIO KINO—FIRST VIEW OF TUCSON—THE
“SHOO FLY” RESTAURANT
CHAPTER IV.
SOME OF THE FRIENDS MET IN OLD TUCSON—JACK LONG—HIS DIVORCE—MARSHAL
DUFFIELD AND “WACO BILL”—“THEM ’ERE’S MEE VISITIN’ KEE-YARD”—JUDGE TITUS
AND CHARLES O. BROWN—HOW DUFFIELD WAS KILLED—UNCLE BILLY N—— AND
HIS THREE GLASS EYES—AL GARRETT—DOCTOR SEMIG AND LIEUTENANT
SHERWOOD—DON ESTEVAN OCHOA—BISHOP SALPOINTE—PETE KITCHEN AND HIS
RANCH
CHAPTER V.
THE DIVERSIONS OF TUCSON—THE GAMBLING SALOONS—BOB CRANDALL AND HIS
DIAMOND—“SLAP-JACK BILLY”—TIGHT-ROPE WALKERS—THE THEATRE—THE
DUEÑAS—BAILES—THE NEWSPAPERS—STAGE-DRIVERS
CHAPTER VI.
TUCSON INCIDENTS—THE “FIESTAS”—THE RUINED MISSION CHURCH OF SAN XAVIER DEL
BAC—GOVERNOR SAFFORD—ARIZONA MINES—APACHE RAIDS—CAMP GRANT
MASSACRE—THE KILLING OF LIEUTENANT CUSHING
CHAPTER VII.
GENERAL CROOK AND THE APACHES—CROOK’S PERSONAL APPEARANCE AND
CHARACTERISTICS—POINTS IN THE HISTORY OF THE APACHES—THEIR SKILL IN WAR
—FOODS AND MODES OF COOKING—MEDICINE MEN—THEIR POWER AND INFLUENCE
CHAPTER VIII.
CROOK’S FIRST MOVEMENTS AGAINST THE APACHES—THE SCOUTS—MIRAGES—THE
FLORAL WEALTH OF ARIZONA—RUNNING IN UPON THE HOSTILE APACHES—AN
ADVENTURE WITH BEARS—CROOK’S TALK WITH THE APACHES—THE GREAT
MOGOLLON PLATEAU—THE TONTO BASIN—MONTEZUMA’S WELL—CLIFF
DWELLINGS—THE PACK TRAINS
CHAPTER IX.
THE PICTURESQUE TOWN OF PRESCOTT—THE APACHES ACTIVE NEAR PRESCOTT
—“TOMMY” BYRNE AND THE HUALPAIS—THIEVING INDIAN AGENTS—THE MOJAVES,
PI-UTES AND AVA-SUPAIS—THE TRAVELS OF FATHERS ESCALANTE AND GARCES—
THE GODS OF THE HUALPAIS—THE LORING MASSACRE—HOW PHIL DWYER DIED
AND WAS BURIED—THE INDIAN MURDERERS AT CAMP DATE CREEK PLAN TO KILL
CROOK—MASON JUMPS THE RENEGADES AT THE “MUCHOS CAÑONES”—DELTCHE
AND CHA-LIPUN GIVE TROUBLE—THE KILLING OF BOB WHITNEY
CHAPTER X.
CROOK BEGINS HIS CAMPAIGN—THE WINTER MARCH ACROSS THE MOGOLLON PLATEAU
—THE GREAT PINE BELT—BOBBY-DOKLINNY, THE MEDICINE MAN—COOLEY AND
HIS APACHE WIFE—THE APACHE CHIEF ESQUINOS-QUIZN—THE APACHE GUIDE
NANAAJE—THE FEAST OF DEAD-MULE MEAT—THE FIGHT IN THE CAVE IN THE SALT
RIVER CANON—THE DEATH-CHANT—THE CHARGE—THE DYING MEDICINE MAN—
THE SCENE IN THE CAVE
CHAPTER XI.
THE CAMPAIGN RESUMED—EFFICIENCY OF APACHE SCOUTS—JACK LONG BREAKS DOWN
—A BAND OF APACHES SURRENDER IN THE MOUNTAINS—THE EPIZOOTIC—THE
TAYLOR MASSACRE AND ITS AVENGING—THE ARIZONA ROLL OF HONOR, OFFICERS,
MEN, SURGEONS, SCOUTS, GUIDES, AND PACKERS—THE STRANGE RUIN IN THE
VERDE VALLEY—DEATH OF PRESILIANO MONJE—THE APACHES SURRENDER
UNCONDITIONALLY TO CROOK AT CAMP VERDE
CHAPTER XII.
THE PROBLEM OF CIVILIZING THE APACHES—THE WORK PERFORMED BY MASON,
SCHUYLER, RANDALL, RICE, AND BABCOCK—TUCSON RING INFLUENCE AT
WASHINGTON—THE WOUNDING OF LIEUTENANT CHARLES KING—THE KILLING OF
LIEUTENANT JACOB ALMY—THE SEVEN APACHE HEADS LAID ON THE SAN CARLOS
PARADE GROUND—CROOK’S CASH MARKET FOR THE FRUITS OF APACHE INDUSTRY
—HIS METHOD OF DEALING WITH INDIANS
CHAPTER XIII.
THE CLOSING DAYS OF CROOK’S FIRST TOUR IN ARIZONA—VISIT TO THE MOQUI
VILLAGES—THE PAINTED DESERT—THE PETRIFIED FORESTS—THE GRAND CANON—
THE CATARACT CANON—BUILDING THE TELEGRAPH LINE—THE APACHES USING
THE TELEGRAPH LINE—MAPPING ARIZONA—AN HONEST INDIAN AGENT—THE
CHIRICAHUA APACHE CHIEF, COCHEIS—THE “HANGING” IN TUCSON—A FRONTIER
DANIEL—CROOK’S DEPARTURE FROM ARIZONA—DEATH VALLEY—THE FAIRY LAND
OF LOS ANGELES—ARRIVAL AT OMAHA CHAPTER XIV.
THE DEPARTMENT OF THE PLATTE—THE BLACK HILLS DIFFICULTY—THE ALLISON
COMMISSION—CRAZY HORSE AND SITTING BULL—THE FIRST WINTER CAMPAIGN—
CLOTHING WORN BY THE TROOPS—THE START FOR THE BIG HORN—FRANK
GRUARD, LOUIS RICHAUD, BIG BAT, LOUIS CHANGRAU, AND OTHER GUIDES
CHAPTER XV.
MOVING INTO THE BIG HORN COUNTRY IN WINTER—THE HERD STAMPEDED—A NIGHT
ATTACK—“JEFF’S” OOZING COURAGE—THE GRAVE-YARD AT OLD FORT RENO—IN A
MONTANA BLIZZARD—THE MERCURY FROZEN IN THE BULB—KILLING BUFFALO—
INDIAN GRAVES—HOW CROOK LOOKED WHILE ON THIS CAMPAIGN—FINDING A
DEAD INDIAN’S ARM—INDIAN PICTURES
CHAPTER XVI.
THE ATTACK UPON CRAZY HORSE’S VILLAGE—THE BLEAK NIGHT MARCH ACROSS THE
MOUNTAINS—EGAN’S CHARGE THROUGH THE VILLAGE—STANTON AND MILLS AND
SIBLEY TO THE RESCUE—THE BURNING LODGES—MEN FROZEN—THE WEALTH OF
THE VILLAGE—RETREATING TO LODGE POLE CREEK—CROOK REJOINS US—CUTTING
THE THROATS OF CAPTURED PONIES
CHAPTER XVII.
THE SUMMER CAMPAIGN OF 1876—THE SIOUX AND CHEYENNES GETTING UGLY—
RAIDING THE SETTLEMENTS—ATTEMPT TO AMBUSCADE CROOK—KILLING THE
MAIL-RIDER—THE STORY OF THE FETTERMAN MASSACRE—LAKE DE SMET—OUR
FIRST THUNDERSTORM—A SOLDIER’S BURIAL—THE SIOUX ATTACK OUR CAMP—
TROUT-FISHING—BEAR-HUNTING—CALAMITY JANE—THE CROW AND SHOSHONE
ALLIES JOIN THE COMMAND—THE WAR DANCE AND MEDICINE SONG