Remembering Veterans

On Veteran’s Day, we pause to honor the men and women currently in military service for our country.  And, we gratefully remember those who have served the nation in past times of war and peace. 

This picture of American soldiers during the Spanish American War was taken at First Division Headquarters, Seventh Army Corps, Havanna, Cuba on January 12, 1899.

The men signed the back of the photo in order as they are pictured from left to right:

T.A. Tallman, 177 Crew St., Atlanta, GA
George “Minor” Moore, 308 E. 16th St., Austin, TX
Samuel George Cochron, Nashville, TN (Company G, 9th Illinois Volunteers)
Richard P. Cordill, 1610 St. Charles Ave., New Orleans
W.C. Connally, 93 Houston St., Hot Springs, AR
Richard M. Halley, Austin, TX
Edward M. Tutwiler, Jr., Corner 21st & Park Ave., Birmingham, Alabama
J.E. Michel, Texas
J.W. Shirley, Texas
D.J. Clermmack, Texas

Hazardous Duty 1879

On September 24, 1879, the Office of Indian Affairs approved the appointments of twelve employees at the White River Agency. There was no difference between the annual wage of a laborer, a carpenter, and a blacksmith; everyone received $720.00 per year (plus room and board) regardless of skills. There were two exceptions. The Ute and English-speaking Interpreter received $300.00. Perhaps he worked only part-time. In an unusual twist for the timeperiod, the only female employee received the highest pay–$750.00. Being the Indian Agent’s daughter made no difference on the government’s fixed pay schedule. Josephine Meeker may have received $30 per year more than the male employees because she filled two jobs–Teacher and Physician. 
          The employees, their job titles, and their annual salaries were:
Henry James, Interpreter, $300   
William H. Post, Carpenter, $720
Josephine Meeker, Teacher and Physician, $750
Henry S. Dresser, Engineer, $720
Albert Woodbury, Blacksmith, $720
Edwin L. Mansfield, Herder, $720
Shaduck Price, Farmer, $720
Wilmer Eskridge, Sawyer, $720
Arther L. Thomson, Laborer, $720
Frank G. Dresser, Laborer, $720
Fred E. Shepherd, Laborer, $720
George W. Eaton, Laborer, $720
          The position of Millwright was unfilled because Meeker could not find a qualified person willing to work in a remote and dangerous place for those wages.
          Five days after the official appointment letter was signed in Washington, DC, Agent Meeker and eight employees lay dead. Only Henry James, Albert Woodbury and Edwin Mansfield survived because they were not at the agency on that fatal day. Josephine Meeker also survived after enduring nearly 30 days as a Ute hostage (along with her mother and the wife and two children of Shaduck Price).

Rescued Captives

The women and children taken captive during the September 29, 1879 Meeker Massacre were held in a remote moutain camp.
The 5th Cavalry under Colonel Wesley Merritt arrived at the White River Agency on October 11th. They buried the bodies of Meeker and his employees. Reinforcements arrived bringing the total number of soldiers to 1,000. On October 14th, just as Merritt was ready to set out to find the camp and rescue the hostages, he received orders to halt.
          Secretary of Interior Carl Schurz had arrived in Denver. Two days earlier Chief Ouray and Southern Ute Agent William M. Stanley had assured Schurz that the White River Utes “…will fight no more unless forced to do so.”  Schurz wanted a peaceful resolution. He appointed Charles Adams to negotiate for release of the hostages.  Adams was a former Ute Indian Agent generally trusted by the Utes.  
           Adams arrived at Ouray and Chipeta’s home on October 21, 1879. Ouray sent a message to the Northern Utes that Adams was coming and assigned his most trusted men to lead Adams to the camp. Adams quickly gained release of the captives. The three women and two children arrived at Ouray and Chipeta’s home on October 29th.   
          Adams continued to negotiate with the Utes to surrender the men responsible for the murders at White River Agency.  Finally on November 10th the Utes agreed.
          The Army remained in western Colorado to keep the peace for the next two years.

Colorado Was National News in 1879

The story of murders and hostage taking in Colorado was a media sensation in 1879, particularly because the hostages were women and children. Stories travelled by telegraph to Eastern newspapers. The New York Times carried daily front page reports that kept readers shivering with fear at the thought of being held hostage by savage Indians in the mountain wilderness. Smaller newspapers reprinted the stories for readers across the nation.
          In Colorado, panic set in. As news of the events at White River Agency spread, the stories became more exaggerated with each retelling. Residents feared all Utes in Colorado were off their reservations and murdering any white people they could find.
          Mountain communities raised volunteer militias. Citizens barricaded themselves in their homes ready for a seige. Governor Pitkin sent a special train to Lake City with 150 Springfield rifles and ten thousand rounds of ammunition. He designated the town as the distribution point for arming the Southwestern part of the state. The governor requested extra military protection from Kansas, New Mexico and Texas.
          Colorado became an armed camp ready for war.

Captives

The terrified hostages were held in a remote and primitive camp. They huddled under animal hides to keep warm. Their meager rations were mostly dried meat or stew made from whatever animal was shot that day. They ate with their unwashed fingers.    
          Captives in Iraq or Afghanistan? No, this event took place 130 years ago in Colorado.
Nathan Meeker had received appointment as Indian Agent for the Northern Utes although he had no experience with the Indians. He thought it would be a simple matter to teach nomadic hunters to settle down and become farmers. Failing to change the Utes’ way of life, he threatened that soldiers would come to the White River Agency and take troublemakers off to prison.
          On September 10, 1879, Meeker telegraphed the Indian Bureau in Washington that he had been physically assaulted by a Ute and feared for his life. The War Department ordered troops to the scene. Major Thomas T. Thornburgh left Fort Steel in Wyoming on September 21st with 200 men, 33 supply wagons, and 220 pack mules.
          Ute men spotted a column of soldiers marching toward the reservation on the morning of September 29th. Some of these Utes had experience as scouts for the military and understood army ways. A small group of Utes road out twice to talk with Thornburgh. They asked him to come to the Agency and talk with the chiefs and the Indian Agent. Thornburgh refused.
          The Utes set up an ambush in a narrow pass. By nightfall they had killed 12 soldiers, including Thornburgh, and wounded 43. Shooting from high ground, the Utes managed to kill all the soldiers’ horses and mules. The Army was pinned down with no escape. They remained in this position until the morning of October 5th when they were rescued by the 5th Cavalry.
          When Utes at the Agency received word of the fight, they killed Agent Meeker and the eight white men employed at the Agency. They took Meeker’s wife and daughter, another white woman and her two children as hostages.

A detailed account of the Thornburg Battle is found in The Ute Campaign of 1879: A study in the Use of the Military Instrument by Major Russel D. Santala, Combined Arms Research Library, Command & General Staff College, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.

Government contracting in 1874

The United States government made treaties with American Indian nations to gain their cooperation – and their land. In return, the government agreed to give the Indians basic food and supplies. Indian Agents were responsible for delivering the goods. The Agent made a public notice of the opportunity for private individuals or businesses to sell something to the government.
          On October 1, 1874, the Colorado Weekly Chieftain (Pueblo) ran a notice from Agent Henry F. Bond at the Los Pinos Ute Agency requesting two proposals (bids) to supply: 

       Proposal #1                         Proposal #2

110,000 pounds flour              30 rifles
150,000 pounds beef          2,000 pounds lead
      600 pounds soda            700 pounds powder
     500 pounds soap              50,000 caps
   5,000 pounds bacon        5,000 cartridges
      5,000 pounds salt

          Bond specified flour “of the quality known as XX, subject to inspection, and to be put up in 100 pound sacks of strong material.” The order would be delivered half in November and half the following June. Bond specified beef as “steers between the ages of three and seven years, to be free of disease and to weigh not less than 900 pounds each.” The meat would be delivered on-the-hoof the following June.
          Bond would open the bids at the new Delmonico House in Denver at 10:00 am on October 13, 1874. At that time he would look at samples of goods to be supplied “as far as is practicable.” (No one needed to bring along a steer.)
          Letters from two responsible people “vouching for the ability and good faith” of the bidder were required with each proposal. A successful bidder was required to “post a bond with good sureties in the penal sum of double the amount of the bid.” A bond is a guarantee. Sureties agree to pay the amount of the bond if the bidder fails to deliver as promised. A good suretie might be a banker or other business person.
          A government contracting officer today uses the same basic process.

An Honest Man

Resarch often turns up stories or information that is not related to the search subject but is too good to pass up. Such is the case with this story adapted from Ralph C. Taylor’s book Colorado, South of the Border (Sage Press, 1963).
          In 1868, W.T. “Tom” Sharp built an adobe trading post near the mining town of Malachite in Huerfano County, Colorado Territory. Sharp’s Post became known as Buzzard’s Roost Ranch for the large birds that frequented the cottonwood trees nearby. Ouray and Chipeta, along with their family group, often visited the area in late summer to hunt and to trade with “Sharpy.” The two men and their wives became friends. On one visit, Chipeta gave Mrs. Sharp a gift of beaded moccasins made from fawn skin with elk hide soles.
            Taylor tells about a horse race that took place after a hunt near Buzzard’s Roost. Ouray sent word as far away as Pueblo that there would be a horse race at the Francisco Manzanares Ranch. The Utes would pit one of their horses against the best horse the white men could bring.     
          Manzanares asked Tom Sharp to serve as judge for the race. When Sharp agreed, Manzanares offered him a cow if he would decide the race in favor of the Utes. It was sure to be a popular event with heavy betting. If the Utes won, they would have money to spend in the trading post. Sharp said “no”. Manzanares offered two cows. Sharp was so offended he threatened to whip Manzanares for trying to bribe him.  
            On race day, people came from long distances to bet cash and property. When it was time to choose a judge, the white participants suggested a man called Baldy Scott. Ouray said, “I want my friend Sharpy.” The surprised white crowd happily accepted Ouray’s choice of one of their own. The race was run and the two horses crossed the finish line almost neck and neck. The white crowd called for a “tied” decision. But Sharp had watched carefully and called the race as he saw it. “It is the Indian’s race,” he said.
            Afterward, Sharp learned that Ouray had put Manzanares up to the bribery attempt in order to test Sharp’s honesty.

Lifesaving Lincoln Peace Medal

Here is another a little research story, about a Lincoln Peace Medal, that is too good to pass up.
          In 1918 Mr. J. Sanford Saltus presented a number of coins and medals to the American Numismatic Society, including “a Lincoln Peace Medal showing the mark of a bullet. This medal saved the life of a Ute Indian wearing it.” (Proceedings of the American Numismatic Society for the Sixtieth Annual Meeting, 1918)
          When I came across mention of this medal in 2003, I contacted the American Numismatic Society by email. Robert Wilson Hoge, Curator of American Coins and Currency, replied. He said the particular Lincoln Peace Medal was at that time on exhibition at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. He sent the following description of the piece:

Pierced. Crater from impact of bullet (bullet still intact). Original issue, solid silver (second striking, second rev.) Thickness: 4.3mm. Sold by a Ute Indian in Colorado who, in 1873 was in a skirmish with another tribe when a bullet struck the medal which saved his life. He subsequently sold the medal, calling it “heap bad medicine,” because he felt it should have kept the bullet away from him altogether.

Lincoln Peace Medal

A Lincoln Peace Medal

This Lincoln Peace Medal is like the one presented to Ouray by Lincoln’s secretary, John G. Nicolay, at the conclusion of treaty talks at Conejos, Colorado Territory on October 6, 1863. Ouray had received a silver-tipped cane from President Lincoln during a visit to Washington earlier that same year.

Image courtesy the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian NMAI E-Newservice.

Lincoln’s Secretary in Colorado

John G. Nicolay on left with President Lincoln and John Hay taken November 8, 1863 by Alexander Gardner in his Washington studio. Image from the Library of Congress collection.

President Abraham Lincoln sent his secretary, John G. Nicolay,  as his personal representative to the 1863 treaty council with the Utes at Conejos, Colorado Territory. Nicolay arrived in September and spent a month touring the Territory. He arrived at Conejos on  October 1, 1863 to lead the team of government representatives that included Territorial Governor John L. Evans, Dr. Michael Stech, Superintendent of Indian Affairs for New Mexico, plus Indian Agents Simeon Whiteley and Lafayette Head.
          Fifteen hundred Tabeguache Utes (Ouray’s band) turned out for the treaty council. Only three Mouache chiefs and one Capote chief attended. The Weeminuche and the northern Ute bands did not participate. A treaty was concluded on October 7, 1863. It was primarily an agreement with the estimated 4,000 Tabeguache Utes, who gave up their lands east of the Continental Divide.
          After the agreement was made, Nicolay presented silver peace medals bearing President Lincoln’s image to seven chiefs, including Ouray. These were men Nicolay counted as most cooperative.
          The treaty Nicolay negotiated was ratified, with amendments, by the U.S. Senate on March 25, 1864, and accepted by the Utes on October 8, 1864.

          Arnold Schwarzenegger was the voice of Lincoln’s Bavarian-born secretary, John G. Nicolay, in the 1992 ABC documentary Lincoln (Richard Zoglin, “Trying To Hype History,” TIME, December 28, 1992).
          Helen Nicolay wrote a biography of her father: Lincoln’s Secretary (Longmans, Green and Co. 1949; reprinted Greenwood Press, 1971).