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

Chapter 12. The Hostile Bands Surrender

240฀ Bourke฀made฀no฀entries฀from฀January฀3฀until฀February฀7,฀1877.฀ December฀28฀through฀January฀3฀takes฀up฀the฀first฀twelve฀pages฀ of฀manuscript฀volume฀16.฀The฀remainder฀of฀that฀volume,฀together฀ with฀all฀of฀volumes฀17฀and฀18,฀consists฀of฀pasted-in฀clippings฀and฀ orders.฀He฀begins฀volume฀19฀on฀February฀7,฀with฀a฀recapitulation฀ of฀the฀intervening฀events.฀Even฀portions฀of฀Volume฀19,฀however,฀ show฀signs฀of฀having฀been฀written฀later.฀In฀one฀instance฀he฀writes,฀ “February฀12th .฀Left฀Camp฀Robinson฀and,฀making฀the฀dreary฀trip฀ of฀seventy-five฀miles,฀reached฀Fort฀Laramie,฀April฀13th.”1 ฀He฀obviously ฀means฀February฀13,฀which฀was฀reasonable฀for฀a฀group฀of฀ experienced฀cavalrymen฀on฀a฀seventy-five-mile฀trek.฀The฀passage฀ was฀written฀in฀April,฀and฀he฀mistakenly฀used฀the฀current฀month. [February฀7,฀1877] The฀journal฀of฀the฀operations฀carried฀on฀by฀General฀Crook฀against฀ the฀hostile฀Indians฀in฀the฀Department฀of฀the฀Platte,฀would฀be฀incomplete ฀were฀no฀mention฀made฀of฀the฀embassy฀undertaken฀by฀Spotted฀ Tail,฀head฀chief฀of฀the฀Brulé฀Sioux฀and฀the฀detachment฀of฀his฀people฀ who฀went฀with฀him฀to฀Crazy฀Horse’s฀(Ta-shumca-uitcû)฀village฀and฀ Chapter฀12฀ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ The฀Hostile฀Bands฀Surrender 1.฀Bourke,฀Diary฀19:1835. THE฀HOSTILE฀BANDS฀SURRENDER฀ 241 the฀important฀results฀flowing฀therefrom฀which฀may฀be฀regarded฀as฀ the฀concluding฀acts฀of฀the฀war. It฀should฀be฀premised฀that฀during฀the฀time฀of฀our฀stay฀in฀Cheyenne,฀ Wyoming,฀in฀attendance฀upon฀the฀General฀Court฀Martial฀which฀ tried฀Colonel฀J.฀J.฀Reynolds฀and฀Captain฀Alex.฀Moore,฀3d฀Cavalry฀ .฀.฀.฀Major฀J.฀W.฀Mason,฀3d฀Cavalry,฀commanding฀at฀Camp฀Robinson,฀ had฀sent฀a฀small฀deputation฀to฀visit฀the฀hostile฀camp,฀there฀to฀state฀ the฀ultimatum฀of฀our฀Government,฀so฀that฀the฀Indians฀disposed฀to฀ do฀so,฀might฀avail฀themselves฀of฀it. Altho’฀no฀immediate฀good฀results฀flowed฀from฀this฀message,฀enough฀ was฀ascertained฀to฀assure฀the฀Military฀authorities฀that฀the฀back-bone฀ of฀the฀opposition฀had฀lost฀its฀former฀strength฀and฀that,฀if฀vigorously฀ pushed฀in฀the฀spring,฀the฀enemy฀would฀gladly฀enough฀surrender. General฀Crook,฀for฀this฀reason,฀determined฀to฀visit฀Red฀Cloud฀and฀ Spotted฀Tail฀agencies,฀find฀out฀what฀he฀could฀with฀reference฀to฀the฀ hostiles฀and฀make฀his฀dispositions฀accordingly. He฀started฀from฀Cheyenne฀and฀reached฀Camp฀Robinson,฀viâ฀Fort฀ Laramie,฀January฀26th ฀being,฀as฀usual,฀the฀recipient฀of฀the฀courteous ฀and฀refined฀hospitality฀for฀which฀the฀officers฀of฀that฀post฀are฀ noted. At฀the฀same฀time,฀I฀left฀Omaha,฀(whither฀I฀had฀been฀sent฀on฀public฀ business,)฀January฀28th ฀and฀proceeded฀by฀the฀Union฀Pacific฀Rail฀ Road฀to฀Sidney,฀Neb.,฀413฀miles฀West;฀there฀taking฀breakfast฀on฀the฀ 29th ฀and฀commencing฀a฀ride฀of฀one฀hundred฀and฀Twenty฀Five฀miles฀ by฀stage฀to฀Camp฀Robinson,฀(due฀North.)฀Of฀this฀ride฀not฀much฀can฀ be฀said;฀it฀is฀only฀remarkable฀because฀the฀line฀had฀recently฀been฀ started฀from฀Sidney฀to฀catch฀some฀of฀the฀travel฀for฀the฀Black฀Hills,฀ the฀magnet฀of฀attraction฀to฀thousands฀of฀needy฀and฀destitute฀people฀ in฀the฀East. The฀only฀passenger฀besides฀myself฀was฀an฀adventurer฀from฀Colorado฀ on฀his฀way฀to฀Deadwood฀to฀seek฀his฀fortune.฀We฀had฀plenty฀of฀buffalo ฀robes฀and฀blankets฀and฀managed฀to฀pass฀the฀night฀comfortably฀ enough. The฀road฀was฀even฀and,฀except฀in฀one฀or฀two฀places,฀of฀easy฀grade;฀ with฀plenty฀of฀water฀distributed฀at฀convenient฀distances. (15)฀miles฀out฀from฀Sidney,฀we฀found฀the฀water฀holes;฀30฀miles,฀ Greenwood฀creek;฀42฀miles,฀Cottonwood฀creek,฀which฀we฀followed฀ down฀for฀3฀miles฀to฀its฀junction฀with฀the฀North฀Platte฀river,฀crossing฀ the฀latter฀over฀a฀new฀wooden฀bridge฀erected฀by฀the฀people฀of฀Sidney,฀ 242฀ THE฀GREAT฀SIOUX฀WAR (at฀a฀cost฀of฀$20.000.)฀Then฀came฀a฀spring,฀then฀Snake฀creek,฀then฀ the฀Niobrara฀river,฀then฀White฀Clay฀creek,฀following฀down฀which฀ for฀twelve฀miles฀brought฀us฀to฀the฀White฀Earth฀river฀and฀into฀Red฀ Cloud฀Agency. Coming฀down฀White฀Clay฀cañon,฀the฀grade฀was฀so฀steep฀and฀slippery฀ from฀ice฀that฀our฀stage฀was฀only฀prevented฀from฀overturning,฀by฀the฀ passengers฀holding฀on฀to฀one฀end฀by฀log-chain฀the฀other฀extremity฀ being฀fasted฀to฀the฀top฀of฀the฀coach.฀We฀had฀to฀walk฀alongside฀and฀ do฀some฀good฀pulling฀to฀keep฀the฀lumbering฀old฀vehicle฀from฀toppling ฀over:฀by฀good฀luck,฀we฀met฀coming฀up฀the฀cañon฀a฀wagon฀train฀ whose฀teamsters฀very฀kindly฀joined...