Memories of the Prairie Lecture Series: Lt. Frank Baldwin and the Indian Territory Expedition of 1874

Dan Holt, former director of the Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum, will be the speaker for the next Memories of the Prairie program sponsored by the Dickinson County Historical Society on Saturday July 7 at 7:00pm at the Dickinson County Heritage Center located at 412 S. Campbell Street in Abilene.

Between the years of 1867 and 1875, some of the worst Native American conflicts took place in Kansas.  Most of the raids and attacks were along the new railroad being built along the Smoky Hill Trail.  Dan Holt's program, entitled Lt. Frank Baldwin and the Indian Territory Expedition of 1874, tells the story of an expedition directed by General Nelson Miles, a result of American Indian raids by the Comanche, Kiowa, and Southern Cheyenne in Kansas, Oklahoma, and Northern Texas.  This purpose of this expedition was to put down these raids and return these people to the reservation.  Forts Larned, Wallace, and Dodge in Kansas were all involved.  Baldwin, of the Fifth US Infantry, won his second Medal of Honor during the expedition for rescuing two girls captured by the Cheyenne along the Smoky Hill Trail.

Dan Holt began working on this story at the Kansas Historical Society, where he served as assistant manuscript curator 1963-1964.  The original version of his work was published by the Kansas City Westerners in 1965.  He had access to Frank Baldwin's diary and a wealth of primary sources and became interested in the different aspects of what was known as General Phil Sheridan's Southern Plains campaign.  He will focus on one part of the campaign, the Indian Territory Expedition of 1874, and specifically on the exploits of Lt. Frank D. Baldwin.  Baldwin was awarded two Medals of Honor, one in the Civil War, and one for his rescue of the girls captured by the Cheyenne on the Smoky Hill Trail near Fort Wallace, Kansas.

Contrary to popular stories about Indian campaigns, over half of the troops on this expedition were infantry, not cavalry.  On the other side, these Native American tribes' living conditions were destitute.  Some of the names included in this campaign are well known, including Bat Masterson.

The commentary in Baldwin's diary, Kansas newspapers, and officers on the expedition regarding the Inidan Bureau and Indian Agents, particularly the Quaker Indian agents' policy of "friendly persuasion," clearly reveal the differences of opinions on the causes and possible solutions related to the reasons for the tribes leaving the reservations and how best to convince them to return.

This Memories of the Prairie program is free of charge, however donations are always welcome.  For more information on the program or about how you can become a supporting member of the Dickinson County Historical Society, please call (785) 263-2681, or visit www.heritagecenterdk.com.

Sarah Vowell's Unfamiliar Fishes, and Westward Expansion

I recently finished Sarah Vowell’s book, Unfamiliar Fishes.  If you are not familiar with Vowell’s work, she is the author of a number of books on a variety of historical topics.  She writes in a very conversational tone, and makes references to modern day issues and pop culture.  As she conducts research for her books, she visits many tourist destinations and research libraries.  Often times in her books, she will pause from the historic narrative to tell a story or anecdote about a museum she visited or a person she met.  These asides all tie into the main narratives of her books, and provide a fun way to learn about a historical topic.  In some of her past books, Vowell has written about presidential assassinations and pilgrims.  Even if you are not aware of her work as an author, there is a good chance you have heard her voice.  Vowell has had a career in public radio, formerly working on Public Radio International’s This American Life, and was a voice actor in the Pixar superhero movie The Incredibles.  Unfamiliar Fishes, published in 2011, is her most recent book, focusing on the arrival of New England missionaries in the Hawaiian islands.

What does this book have to do with Dickinson County, Kansas history?  Not much at all.  But while reading it, I was greatly reminded of the hardships of the Kansas Plains Indian tribes in the late nineteenth century.  In her book, Vowell shows how upon their arrival in Hawaii, New England missionaries not only taught natives about the God of the Christian Bible, but also implemented an entirely different way of life for the Hawaiians.  The Hawaiians were introduced to new styles of clothing, home construction, and a plethora of other concepts and ideas.  Native American tribes living on the plains of the Midwest found themselves in a similar situation.  Boarding schools sprang up across the Midwest at the turn of the twentieth century, of which many Native American children were forced to attend.  This is not necessarily a topic I discuss with young schoolchildren as they visit the Heritage Center, but we do talk about how the lives of Plains Native Americans drastically changed as pioneers moved west.  One of the best ways to present this idea to kids is to talk about buffalo, or American Bison.  As kids, most of us are taught that Plains Indians used every part of the buffalo.  This is an idea that is ingrained into our heads at a young age.  As kids visit the museum, we talk about how many tribes were dependent on the buffalo for many aspects of their lives.  I then remind the kids that as explorers and pioneers traveled west, buffalo hides became worth a lot of money.  It has been estimated that over four million buffalo were killed from 1872 to 1874.  Some historians even place this figure upwards of seven million.  Suffice it to say, this greatly changed the way of life for many Native American tribes on the plains.

 

American history is filled with situations such as this.  After all, the United States is a melting pot of different cultures, people, and ideas.  Of course, there were many positives and benefits that westward expansion and growth caused, but we must never forget the people that were hurt by this progress.

To learn more about Sarah Vowell and her work, visit here.

A State of Fighting and Fear: Kansas and the American Indian Wars of the 1860s

Note: This blog post also appeared in the Dickinson County Historical Society's newsletter (the Gazette), and in the Abilene Reflector-Chronicle on 9/14/2011.

During the mid-1800s and especially following the events of the Civil War, a different type of war was being fought on the plains of Kansas and surrounding states and territories.  This war had been long in the making, ever since immigrants came to the New World to settle and claim territory.  Leading up to the mid-1800s, many Native Americans had been affected by pioneers settling on their former land.  The spread of smallpox and other diseases were deadly to many tribes, and in several cases, Native Americans were forced away from their land onto newly formed territory.  However, as emigrants moved west and the western United States population grew, Indian Territory became smaller and smaller in size.  By the mid-1800s, many tribes were infuriated by the treatment dealt to them by the United States.  Plains tribes such as the Cheyenne, Arapaho, Sioux, Kiowa, Comanche, and Pawnee greatly resisted the emigrant invasion of their land.  In many cases, this resistance was violent. 

For new western settlers, frontier defense became a necessity.  Many had seen their families and homes attacked by Native American groups in an effort to drive the settlers away.  Many Kansas Forts were established to offer protection to emigrants from the American Indian resistance.  Forts Hays and Wallace were both established to protect the Smoky Hill Trail, which passed through Kansas Indian hunting land, including portions of Dickinson County.  For many Native American tribes, the railroad was viewed as a great threat.  Since it allowed for ease of travel, the railroad greatly contributed to an influx of people, which in turn led to the further use and destruction of many resources such as the buffalo.  Some plains tribes attacked railroad construction crews or targeted their efforts toward the destruction of the rails themselves.  On August 1, 1867, six men of a railroad work party of seven were killed by Native Americans approximately ten miles east of Fort Hays.

While fighting was common, there was another side to relations between the United States and Native American groups.  Peaceful negotiations did occur, however the success rate for these discussions was generally low.  Early negotiations in 1866 with the Cheyenne and Sioux began poorly when General Winfield Scott Hancock ordered the burning of an abandoned village in the midst of peace talks.  In October 1867 the Medicine Lodge Treaty was signed by several chiefs of different Plains Indian tribes.  According to the treaty, the agreeing tribes would relinquish all land north of the Arkansas River for the promise of federal aid and hunting rights south of the river.  While this may have sounded like a beneficial and easy to manage agreement on paper to both parties, this was not the reality.  The individuals of a nation rarely agree with every decision their leaders make, and this was the case for many tribal nations after the signing of the treaty.  Many individuals within tribes refused to leave their land and agree to the terms.  Additionally, many Native Americans that did agree with the Medicine Lodge Treaty were soon disappointed when the federal aid promised to them came slowly or not at all.  By early 1868, many tribes returned to their former land to hunt and raid.

George Armstrong Custer is likely the most recognizable face of the United States Military during the Indian Wars on the Plains.  Custer led the Seventh Cavalry through several successful campaigns against Plains Indians during this turbulent era.  One of the first substantial victories for the United States during the Indian Wars was the Battle of Washita River.  In this battle, Custer and his men fought and killed several Cheyenne warriors.  As was common during these types of battles, several Cheyenne women and children were killed as well.  The precise number of casualties is unknown.  Custer claimed that his men killed over one hundred warriors, but the actual number may have been significantly lower.  Shortly after this battle, Custer and the Seventh Cavalry met with members of the Nineteenth Kansas Cavalry to pursue a group of Cheyenne.  Among the ranks of the Nineteenth Kansas Cavalry were Andrew and Calvin Freeman, sons of Dickinson County’s first permanent settler, George Freeman.  The reason for the cavalry’s pursuit of this group of Cheyenne was to rescue two women who were held as captives.  The women, Miss Brewster and Miss White, had been captured eight months before.  After the cavalry had made their approach to the Cheyenne camp, three chiefs visited with Custer to make peace.  Custer and his men decided to hold the chiefs captive until the women were released.  According to John McBee, a member of the Nineteenth Kansas Cavalry, Custer threatened the chiefs by showing them a tree and rope, and stating that they would be hanged by sundown if the women were not safely returned.  Soon after this, the women were brought to Custer’s camp.  Custer did not release the three Cheyenne chiefs, but escorted them to Fort Hays, where they found over fifty of their tribe’s women and children already being held.

This mid-1800s era blockhouse features gun ports on either side.

Since peaceful negotiations between both sides were poor or non-existent, and Native American raids on emigrant settlements became a common occurrence in parts of Kansas, many settlers were afraid that they might be attacked next.  The United States Military could not always be counted on to offer defense for settlers in remote areas.  Many armed themselves with weapons to protect their families and property. 

Additionally, many who lived in rural areas built small fortified buildings for use in case of an Indian attack.  The Dickinson County Historical Society in Abilene recently acquired one such building.  Donated by Ron and Sandra Bolliger and Kathaleen Kubik, the building was given to the Historical Society as a memorial to Ervin and Florence Aebi, parents of Sandra and Kathaleen.  Made with native Kansas limestone, the building was originally constructed on the property of Fred Helstab, a Dickinson County pioneer who built his log cabin home in 1867.  The small, fortified blockhouse features two gun ports that could have been used to fire at attackers from the safety of the building.  Helstab also built a large barn and an additional stone building on his property that was used for food storage.  All of these buildings have found many uses over the years at the farmstead, which is located half a mile west of Enterprise.

Battles between the United States and Native Americans continued on the plains in the 1870s, but began to occur frequently less.  Tribes did have incredible victories such as the Battle of Little Bighorn in 1876, in which a united encampment of Arapaho, Cheyenne, and Lakota Native Americans killed Custer and all of his command in Montana Territory.  However, many tribes had been forced onto reservations by this time.

During this remarkable era, both the United States and Native American nations had instances of glory, honor, and triumph.  However, these events were equally paired with instances of despair, fear, and reckless aggression.  Neither side could easily reach an agreement, or understand the other’s ideas and culture.  The average United States cavalry member and the average Native American warrior did not believe they had much in common with one another, while this was far from the truth.  Both sides fought to protect their families, resources, and property.  Both wanted to see their nation prosper.  Additionally, both committed atrocious acts to further their cause.  The slaughter of civilians, women, and children was knowingly carried out by both groups of people.  For every emigrant settlement raided and fort attacked, there were burnings of tribal encampments and attacks on peaceful Native American nations.  No matter whom a person was, life on the plains was met with great difficulty.

To see the Dickinson County Historical Society’s recent addition, a fortified blockhouse with gun ports, come to the Dickinson County Heritage Center and “experience the past.”