Lesson 3: Massacres, Military Leaders, Indian Retaliations, & More Gold

Fort Phil Kearney, Fetterman, Red Cloud and Crazy Horse

Henry B. Carrington

Colonel Henry Carrington began building Fort Phil Kearney on July 15, 1866. The following day Red Cloud sent him warnings to leave, then the Indians stampeded the army’s horse herd. Two soldiers were killed in the pursuit and three were wounded. Within another ten days five emigrant trains were attacked near the fort. Fifteen men were killed. Within the first six months of the fort’s existence the Indians had made fifty-one hostile demonstrations, killed one hundred and fifty four white men, and stolen eight hundred head of stock.

For a further reading and floor plans of Fort Phil Kearney see:

Old Forts of the Northwest by Herbert M. Hart. Superior Publishing Company, no date given.

The Sioux, Cheyenne, and Arapahos were making Red Cloud’s threat good. The traffic on the Bozeman Trail had dwindled to nearly nothing. Red Cloud waited for the right circumstances to make a big strike. In December of 1866 it came.

Crazy Horse

Sending forth a small party, the Indians planned to lure their enemy into an ambush. They attacked a wood train that was hauling timber to the fort. Another party, led by a young warrior called Crazy Horse, boldly rode toward Fort Phil Kearney to lure the soldiers out.

A rescue force was assembled, originally to be under the command of Captain Powell. Circumstances caused the command to be changed and given to Captain William J. Fetterman who was the least experienced Indian fighter of any officer at the fort. Commanding Officer Carrington gave Fetterman strict instructions: drive the Indians back — but under no circumstances was Fetterman to lead his company of eighty one men beyond Lodge Trail Ridge for fear of them falling into a trap. Twice more these orders were repeated by Carrington to Fetterman.

Captain W.J. Fetterman

After leaving the fort Fetterman advanced, not towards the wood train, but toward the Peno Valley on the north side. Seeing that the military was, indeed, falling into their trap the Indians withdrew from the wood train, which returned to the fort as Fetterman’s troops disappeared down the valley. Despite his orders and the warnings, Fetterman led his men over Lodge Trail Ridge, and to their deaths.

When the slaughter was over, and the men at the fort could retrieve the dead, they found that only four soldiers besides Fetterman and other officers had been killed by bullets. All the other men had been killed by arrows, hatchets, or spears. They had been tortured to death.

Captain Frederick H. Brown

When Fetterman and Captain Frederick H. Brown were found, each had a bullet wound in the left temple. Powder burns covered their heads, indicating that to avoid death by Indian torture, they had each shot the other.

The above photo of Crazy Horse is thought by many to be actual. Many, in past years, who knew him agree it is indeed his likeness. Crazy Horse was known to have a lighter skin tone than other Indians, and to have a slight curl to his, also, lighter hair. To learn more about this famed Indian see:

Crazy Horse By Elizabeth Gibson http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/old_... Crazy Horse, the great Sioux war chief, is mostly known for his contribution in the victory over General George Custer at the Little Big Horn.

Question for this lesson:

Were Fetterman and Brown heros or cowards for taking each other's life to prevent death by torture from the Indians?

Colonel Carrington, as Commanding Officer of Fort Phil Kearney, sent Fetterman, an inexperienced Indian fighter, out to meet the attacking Indians. Should Carrington be held responsible for the death of Fetterman and the men under him?

The sources for this section are:

Brady, Cyrus Townshend. The Sioux Indian Wars, From the Powder River to the Little Big Horn. Indian Head Books, New York, 1992.

Utley, Robert M. The Indian Frontier of the American West, 1846-1890. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque. 1984.

Bibliography:

Brady, Cyrus Townshend. The Sioux Indian Wars, From the Powder River to the Little Big Horn. Indian Head Books, New York, 1992.

Hart, Herbert M. Old Forts of the Northwest. Superior Publishing Company, no date given.

Lavender, David. The Great West. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston and New York, 1965.

Lewis, Thomas A. The Guns of Cedar Creek. Harper & Row, New York, 1988.

Utley, Robert M. The Lance and the Shield: The Life and Times of Sitting Bull. Henry Holt and Company, New York. 1993.

Utley, Robert M. The Indian Frontier of the American West, 1846-1890