The Diaries of John Gregory Bourke Volume 2: July 29, 1876--April 7, 1878

Chapter 8. Forging Indian Alliances

164฀ Chapter฀8฀ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ Forging฀Indian฀Alliances November฀10th ฀and฀11th .฀Officers฀and฀soldiers฀busily฀engaged฀in฀the฀ duties฀preliminary฀to฀our฀contemplated฀operations,฀receiving฀and฀ issuing฀clothing,฀camp฀and฀Garrison฀equipage.฀Ordnance,฀Forage,฀ ammunition,฀fur฀boots,฀and฀Quartermaster’s฀stores:฀drilling฀new฀ recruits,฀and฀other฀incidentals฀of฀a฀campaign. The฀telegraph฀line฀brought฀news฀of฀the฀closeness฀of฀the฀Presidential฀ election฀and฀the฀fierce฀excitement฀generated฀by฀the฀contest,฀which฀ had฀become฀narrowed฀down฀to฀the฀decision฀to฀be฀given฀by฀Louisiana ,฀North฀and฀South฀Carolina,฀and฀Florida.฀The฀friends฀of฀Hayes฀ and฀Wheeler฀claimed฀all฀those฀states,฀the฀adherents฀of฀Tilden฀and฀ Hendricks฀stoutly฀opposed฀this฀assertion฀so฀that฀nothing฀exact฀and฀ definite฀could฀be฀obtained฀until฀the฀official฀count฀should฀be฀rendered .฀In฀Florida฀the฀rival฀political฀factions฀threatened฀bloodshed:฀ to฀repress฀disturbances฀likely฀to฀arise,฀General฀Augur฀had฀been฀sent฀ there฀with฀ten฀companies฀of฀Infantry฀and฀a฀Battery฀of฀artillery.฀Such฀ news฀is฀more฀grave฀than฀would฀be฀an฀intimation฀of฀hostilities฀with฀ foreign฀nations;฀internecine฀wars฀are฀always฀the฀most฀frightful฀and฀ most฀costly,฀excepting฀always฀those฀having฀an฀impassion฀of฀religious฀ fanaticism.฀Severe฀as฀our฀coming฀experiences฀may฀be,฀they฀will฀be฀ more฀welcome฀than฀a฀campaign฀in฀the฀sunny฀lands฀of฀the฀South฀ FORGING฀INDIAN฀ALLIANCES฀ 165 against฀our฀own฀misguided฀people.1 The฀first฀snow฀of฀the฀season฀fell,฀November฀11th ,฀after฀sun-down. From฀the฀official฀description฀of฀Fort฀Fetterman฀may฀be฀found฀that฀ “the฀Post”฀is฀situated฀in฀Lat.฀42°.฀49'฀8".฀Long.฀105°.฀27'฀3":฀at฀junction ฀of฀“La฀Piêle”฀(Rush)฀creek฀and฀North฀Platte฀river.฀(Established฀ July฀19th ฀1867.)฀80฀miles฀to฀the฀nearest฀stations,฀(Rock฀Springs฀and฀ Medicine฀Bow.)฀On฀the฀U.P.R.R.฀The฀฀short฀road฀being฀blocked฀by฀ snow฀during฀winter฀months,฀travel฀then฀follows฀the฀longer฀road฀to฀ Cheyenne,฀135฀miles฀direct฀or฀160฀miles฀viâ฀Fort฀Laramie. [“]Buildings.฀Quarters฀for฀(300)฀men:฀officers’฀Quarters;฀Qrs.฀for฀ Ordnance฀and฀Commissary฀Sergeants;฀Hospital,฀with฀accomodations฀ for฀(15)฀patients;฀guard-house:฀store-houses,฀two;฀stables,฀for฀fifty฀ animals;฀corral,฀with฀capacity฀for฀fifty-six฀mule฀teams;฀offices,฀theatre ฀building,฀root-house,฀ice-house,฀magazine,฀granary,฀bake-house;฀ work-shops,฀saw฀mills,฀laundress’฀quarters,฀employee’s฀quarters,฀ &c.฀The฀buildings฀are฀principally฀constructed฀of฀adobe฀and฀are฀in฀ fair฀condition.” Water฀is฀supplied฀from฀North฀Platte฀River,฀by฀steam฀engine. The฀quarters฀since฀our฀last฀visit฀in฀May,฀have฀been฀put฀in฀excellent฀ shape,฀repaired,฀cleaned฀and฀painted.฀The฀veranda฀posts฀have฀been฀ treated฀to฀a฀preparation,฀composed฀of฀one฀part฀of฀white฀lead฀to฀two฀ of฀hydraulic฀lime,฀mixed฀with฀oil฀and฀laid฀on฀with฀a฀brush.฀It฀looks฀ well,฀is฀preservative฀and฀economical.฀The฀walls฀of฀the฀Barracks฀and฀ Quarters฀have฀been฀washed฀with฀a฀solution฀of฀lime,฀tempered฀with฀ glue฀and฀colored฀with฀indigo฀to฀a฀violet฀or฀purple฀hue.฀The฀trim,฀ exact฀arrangement฀of฀the฀parade฀ground,฀enclosed฀within฀the฀lines฀ of฀officers’฀cottages฀and฀mens’฀quarters,—sentinels฀pacing฀with฀ monotonous฀cadence฀their฀weary฀posts฀of฀duty,—a฀battery฀of฀cannon ,฀covered฀but฀not฀concealed฀by฀paulins,—the฀evening฀parade฀ of฀the฀companies฀with฀their฀well฀dressed฀alignments฀of฀disciplined฀ stolidity;฀here฀and฀there,฀standing฀the฀accoutred฀horses฀of฀officers฀ 1.฀The฀1876฀election฀consisted฀of฀the฀Republican฀ticket฀of฀Rutherford฀B.฀Hayes฀and฀ William฀A.฀Wheeler,฀and฀the฀Democratic฀ticket฀of฀Samuel฀Tilden฀and฀Thomas฀A.฀Hendricks.฀ Initially฀Hayes฀believed฀he฀had฀lost฀but,฀as฀Bourke฀noted,฀the฀results฀in฀the฀Carolinas,฀Louisiana ,฀and฀Florida฀were฀disputed.฀Charges฀and฀countercharges฀ensued,฀and฀the฀government฀ began฀to฀prepare฀for฀a฀possible฀renewed฀outbreak฀of฀civil฀war.฀Four฀months฀into฀the฀crisis,฀ Louisiana฀and฀South฀Carolina฀broke฀the฀deadlock฀by฀throwing฀their฀electoral฀support฀to฀ Hayes฀in฀time฀for฀his฀inauguration฀on฀the฀then-Constitutionally฀mandated฀date฀of฀March฀4฀ (Hayes,฀a฀strict฀Sabbatarian,฀actually฀took฀the฀oath฀the฀preceding฀evening฀because฀March฀4฀ was฀Sunday).฀There฀was,฀however,฀a฀tacit฀understanding฀with฀the฀South฀that฀this฀signaled฀ the฀end฀of฀Congressional฀Reconstruction,฀which฀Hayes฀believed฀was฀a฀failure฀in฀any฀case.฀ See฀Hoogenboom,฀Rutherford฀B.฀Hayes,฀Chapter฀17. 166฀ THE฀GREAT฀SIOUX฀WAR and฀orderlies,฀or฀heavily฀laden฀wagons฀rumbling฀along฀the฀road-way;฀ were฀a฀scene฀of฀more฀animation฀than฀should฀have฀been฀looked฀for฀on฀ the฀treeless,฀ice-locked฀channel฀of฀the฀North฀Platte.฀Far฀away฀to฀the฀ distant฀horizon...