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Supplying Custer
The Powder River Supply Depot, 1876
Gerald R. Clark
18 17 16 15 14 1 2 3 4 5
Cover photos: Portrait of George Custer (upper left), Library of Congress Prints and
Photographs Division, Washington, D.C. Far West (upper right) courtesy Overholser
Historical Research Center, Fort Benton, MT. Column of cavalry, artillery, and wagons
(bottom), U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
v
vi Contents
1.1. View of the east bank of the Yellowstone River, with a portion of
the Powder River supply depot site. 7
1.2. Map of archaeological Features D and F. 9
1.3. View to the northeast of the Feature D profile. 10
1.4. View southeast of the trash pit after it was excavated. 11
1.5. View south of the rectangular-shaped part of Feature F. 12
2.1. Map of the lower Yellowstone and Powder River country. 21
2.2. Map illustrating the route of W. F. Raynolds’s 1859
expedition. 24
2.3. Map illustrating the routes taken during the 1865 Powder River
Expedition. 27
3.1. Map of troop movements, supply depots, and battle sites during
the 1876 Sioux War. 52
4.1. Map of troop movements near the mouth of Powder River,
July 29, 1876. 78
4.2. Map illustrating U.S. Army and Indian positions near the mouth
of Powder River, August 2, 1876. 82
5.1. Composite drawing of ale bottle labels. 97
A1.1. Abbreviated Feature D profile. 130
A1.2. Plan map of Feature D. 131
A1.3. Vertical and horizontal dispersion of conjoined fragments from
a pipe stem and champagne bottle within Feature D. 132
A1.4. Plan map of Feature F. 134
A2.1. Type 1 ale/stout bottle. 137
A2.2. Type 2 ale/stout bottle. 137
A2.3. Ale bottle shard with partial label. 139
vii
viii Figures
ix
Acknowledgments
xi
xii Acknowledgments
London Record Office, London; and the National Archives and Records
Administration, Washington, D.C. My wife, Carole Ann, a librarian,
provided data on sources of information and edited the volume. She was
also a source of encouragement without which the manuscript would
never have been finished. Tim Walker of Laurel, Montana, alerted me to
an important source of information. Lynn Valtinson, Great Falls, Mon-
tana, reviewed the manuscript and provided helpful comments.
Residents of Custer and Prairie counties, coworkers, and members
of my family helped recover data from the archaeological features at the
Powder River depot, including Prairie County Museum Board members
Charlie and Ruth Franks, Wynona Breen, and Mary Haughian. Other
Prairie County volunteers were Marcie Lantis, Jackie Dolatta, and Bruce
and Merry Kalfell and their sons Kevin and Clint. Lester Jens, who leased
state land at the site, shared observations he had made at the depot site.
Miles City residents John Halbert, Don Pering, Dale and Diane Hanson,
and Don Meier contributed their time and energy. My father, Clairmont
Clark of Missoula, Montana, helped excavate, as did my son Scott; Scott
also assisted with the photography.
The archaeology was done under a permit granted by the property
owner, Glacier Park Company, the land-management arm of Burlington
Northern, Inc. Jim Bishop, Glacier Park Company, and Margie Taylor,
Meridian Inc., helped with the permit application process. Montana
Department of Fish, Wildlife, and Parks employees Dan Vincent, Dave
Conklin, Doug Monger, and Beth Riggs helped secure access to state
property, as did Mark Ahner, Department of State Lands, Miles City.
Gary Smith and David Wade, Bureau of Land Management (BLM)
Montana State Office, supervised the final cataloging of cultural materials
from the depot. Thanks to them and BLM summer intern Stephanie
Battle, the collections are properly stored at the Billings Curation Center
federal repository, where they are available to the public for further study.
Thanks also go to University of Utah Press acquisitions editor Re-
becca Rauch. Without her guidance, helpful suggestions, and encourage-
ment at every stage of manuscript review and revision, Supplying Custer
would never have been published. Other press staff did an outstanding
job of preparing the final manuscript.
I am most grateful to all of the individuals and institutions mentioned
above; without their generous help the project could not have been com-
pleted. Any inadvertent errors, misrepresentations, or faulty conclusions
in this volume are attributable to me alone.
Introduction
The Battle of the Little Bighorn is legendary in the history of the Amer-
ican West, and the information available about it is legion. Professional
and avocational historians have written thousands of books and articles
on Lt. Col. George A. Custer’s defeat by Sioux and Cheyenne warriors
in what is today southeastern Montana. Beginning in 1983, archaeolog-
ical investigations of the battlefield also contributed to understanding
this central event of the nation’s centennial year. Here I report the results
of a modest archaeological project conducted not at the battlefield but,
rather, at a supply depot used to support troop movements during the
1876 Sioux Indian War. Custer and one wing of his regiment rested sev-
eral days at this depot on the Yellowstone River before riding west to the
Little Bighorn.
Having been raised in Montana, I heard the popular stories of
Custer’s Last Stand as a child and later became interested in the state’s
history. However, the real passion I discovered as a university student
was the archaeology of Native American cultures on the northern plains.
Learning to recognize the traces of human activity left on the landscape
hundreds or thousands of years ago fascinated me, as did the potential to
understand how ancient peoples coped with their environment and how
their cultures changed over time. Thanks to providence and veterans’
preference in hiring, I became the Bureau of Land Management’s first ar-
chaeologist in southeastern Montana. My job was to advise federal land
managers about the significance of historic properties and recommend
how they should be treated if threatened by activities the agency might
authorize on the public lands.
1
2 I ntroduction
the Sioux War was waged. Documentary sources from earlier military
exploration, punitive campaigns, and army-escorted railroad surveys
provide information regarding the challenges of supplying and moving a
military expedition in the lower Yellowstone and Powder River country.
Where appropriate, I have given special attention to the mouth of
Powder River, including a detailed accounting of 1876 events. This f ocus
on the Powder River–Yellowstone confluence helps identify which his-
toric events might have left an archaeological footprint here. Above
all, the historic context is intended to support a conclusion regarding
whether or not the archaeological features we studied are associated with
Gen. Terry’s supply system.
Chapter 5 describes the archaeological features and materials recov-
ered from them; it also connects the archaeology with the depot his-
tory. There is a surprising amount of information pertaining specifically
to the mouth of Powder River, given that it was not the site of a major
battle. In addition to appearing in official army documents, these events
are captured in military and civilian diaries and letters, newspaper corre
spondents’ reports, and later, memoirs and interviews with those who
participated in the campaign. The documents include a business ledger
kept by a trader authorized to sell goods at the supply depot and a “pro-
vision book” describing the rations supplied by the army. The analysis fo-
cuses on how well the artifacts and other cultural material recovered fit
the historic record. Again, the historical information is sufficient to sup-
port my conclusions, but much more remains to be found and reported.
In the final chapter I summarize what military planners should have
known about the area of operations in 1876 and offer some conclusions
about whether supply and transportation issues contributed significantly
to campaign failure. The effectiveness of the army’s Subsistence and
Quartermaster’s departments is examined, as well as the performance
of traders who sold goods to the troops. I have also summarized in this
chapter some interesting conclusions from the archaeological work and
describe some mysteries that remain unresolved.
Archaeological projects at the Little Bighorn Battlefield were vastly
larger than the modest Powder River depot investigation; methods
used to find and recover artifacts and other cultural material were also
dissimilar. Despite these differences, I compare cultural materials from
both areas to highlight items likely to be found at a field camp as well as
a battlefield. This comparison also strengthens the conclusion that the
depot archaeological materials are indeed associated with 1876 events
4 I ntroduction
Background
Discovery
The Yellowstone River immediately below the mouth of the Powder has
for many years been moderately popular among anglers seeking channel
catfish, burbot, sauger, walleye, shovelnose sturgeon, and the occasional
paddlefish. Boaters also use the area to access the river, and rockhounds
search gravel deposits here for semiprecious Yellowstone agates. While
the area can be reached only on unimproved trails that cross private and
public property, landowners generally allow access to this stretch of the
Yellowstone.1 Responding to the public’s interest in better access to the
river, the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife, and Parks (FWP)
studied the feasibility of constructing a road here in the late 1970s and
asked me to determine if construction and use of the proposed project
would damage or destroy significant archaeological resources.
I first examined the scant archaeological data for the area and learned
that the U.S. Army had established a supply depot someplace in the vi-
cinity of the Powder River confluence in 1876. However, no archaeolo-
gist had been on the ground here, and no specific artifacts or features had
been previously recorded.2 I would have to conduct a field inventory of
the area that would be affected by road construction.
Heading northeast on Interstate 94 from Miles City for the 20-
minute drive to Powder River, I noted that the Yellowstone was high;
it was early June, when snowmelt in mountains to the west and south
typically swells the rivers. The highway runs roughly parallel to the Yel-
lowstone, which is visible to travelers along most of this segment of inter-
state, crossing 15 named intermittent streams and many more ephemeral
coulees too small to warrant appellation. The clear sunny day afforded
5
6 Chapter 1
The trail led north toward the trees visible in the distance. I noted na-
tive grasses adapted to sandy and silty soils as well as silver sagebrush near
the river, but crested wheatgrass, an introduced species, confirmed that
large areas to the east had once been cultivated. Although no buildings
or other structures were visible between the railroad and the rivers, the
old fields suggested that one or more homesteads were once located here.
Near the cottonwoods on the riverbank about 1.25 miles north of the
Powder, I stopped at a small fence that enclosed a military-style grave-
stone. The marker had been placed here three years earlier to commem-
orate Private William George, who was wounded at the Little Bighorn
Battlefield and died before reaching Ft. Abraham Lincoln, the post he
called home on the Missouri River.
A map of the proposed FWP road indicated that I was near the north
end of the project. Survey stakes marking the road route roughly followed
another existing unimproved trail to the south, very close to the east bank
of the Yellowstone, before connecting to the Burlington Northern bridge
trail on which I had just driven. Leaving my truck near the grave marker,
I walked along the proposed road looking for artifacts or other physical
indicators that people had used the area sometime in the past. About a
mile north of the Powder River confluence, I discovered clay smoking
8 Chapter 1
pipe stems, bottle fragments, and bottle tops covered with foil seals man-
ufactured in London that had eroded from the bank of the Yellowstone.
These artifacts were not commonly found in the area and appeared to
date to the nineteenth century. I recorded this small area as an archaeo-
logical site and recommended that it should be further evaluated to de-
termine its historic significance.
Although the FWP did not pursue its fishing-access plans at the
mouth of Powder River and the road was never built, my interest in this
archaeological feature grew as I learned more about area history. Further
analysis of some artifacts indicated that they were manufactured within
a 25-year period that included the 1876 campaign against northern plains
tribes. However, because none of the materials recovered from the sur-
face were obviously items the army would supply its personnel, an associ-
ation between them and General Terry’s depot was uncertain. Were there
other military or civilian activities at the mouth of Powder River between
1860 and 1885 that might account for the archaeological deposit?
As years passed, the riverbank continued to erode, and it became ap-
parent that the archaeological feature would eventually be lost and with
it any hope of answering my question about historic associations. I ac-
quired a permit from the landowner, Burlington Northern,3 and with
help from coworkers, the Prairie County Museum board, family mem-
bers, and other local residents, I excavated the area now designated Fea-
ture D at site 24PE271.4 We also partially excavated and recorded Feature
F, a cluster of sandstone rocks located 300 meters southeast of Feature D
on the same river terrace (Figure 1.2).5
In addition, we completed an unsystematic, low-intensity examina-
tion of the surface, recording a number of artifacts that might be asso-
ciated with the depot. We located several other potential archaeological
features in the vicinity, but none have been evaluated to determine their
content, function, or possible association with past events, including the
1876 Sioux War. Historical sources confirmed that our surface survey
covered only a small fraction of the area occupied by the army in 1876
around the mouth of the Powder.
sharply with the natural strata here, consisting of a soil layer that con-
tained no rocks or cultural material and a lower stratum of solid rock and
gravel. On the surface above the cutbank, the feature was defined by a
slight depression in the soil nearest the bank. Artifacts identical to some
of those in the cutbank were also exposed in the ruts of a trail that passed
just east of the depression.
Estimating the maximum extent of Feature D from surface indica-
tions, we established an excavation grid six meters long by three meters
wide and began digging (see appendix 1 for excavation details). When
the excavation was complete, we had removed about 10 cubic meters of
soil, rock, and cultural material from the feature (Figure 1.4). Analysis of
excavation records revealed that the feature was a pit dug into the river
terrace; soil and rock removed from the hole were piled next to it. This
excavation was subsequently filled with a mix of soil, rock, and cultural
material and abandoned. It was a trash pit, but whether it served any
other purpose is unknown.
We recovered hundreds of items from Feature D; most of them were
broken, crushed, cut, worn, burned, or intended for a single use and
could easily be called “trash” (see appendixes 2 — 10 for details). I cata-
loged these materials and determined what they were, when they were
manufactured, and their probable use. Other archaeologists with specific
Background 11
Figure 1.4. View southeast of the trash pit after it was excavated. Note the
c ontrast between the silty soil and the river gravels composing the bank of
the Yellowstone here.
command. Eight years after the War of the Rebellion, Congress autho-
rized the regular army 27,150 officers and enlisted men. Because recruit-
ment lagged behind desertions, deaths, and discharges, actual strength
was lower than that authorized. The standing army in June 1876 was
25,331 to man 200 military posts and carry out all duties as assigned, in-
cluding the Sioux War.9
The army was organized into 25 infantry, 10 cavalry, and five artillery
regiments, each commanded by a colonel and lieutenant colonel. Because
a tactical situation might require splitting the command, cavalry regi-
ments were authorized three majors to lead as many battalions.10 Each
regiment was made up of companies, 10 for infantry and 12 for cavalry,
led by a captain and two subalterns, a first lieutenant and a second lieu-
tenant. Company commanders appointed noncommissioned officers,
sergeants and corporals, to handle the daily business of the unit. Given
mandated limits on personnel, infantry companies typically had no more
than 41 men, and cavalry companies, 58. However, when the usual num-
ber of men absent for illness, detached service, and other causes was taken
into account, many units were missing a quarter of their men.11
Gen. Sheridan’s Division of the Missouri was divided into three geo-
graphic areas, each commanded by a brigadier general (one star). The two
areas involved in the 1876 Sioux War were the Department of Dakota
under Gen. Alfred Terry and Gen. George Crook’s Department of the
Platte. These generals each commanded a brigade of several regiments
that were spread so thinly over their area of responsibility that the com-
pany or battalion was the de facto operational unit in the department.
Rarely did all of the companies of a regiment assemble at a single post
or other location.12 Battalions of the same regiment might be serving in
different departments.
Officers and enlisted men in regiments of the geographic depart-
ments belonging to the army “line” served in the combat branches: in-
fantry, cavalry, and artillery. From the second lieutenant with the least
seniority to Lt. Gen. Sheridan, line officers were answerable to General
of the Army Sherman. However, more than half of the brigadiers and a
substantial number of other “staff ” officers served in administrative de-
partments, not to be confused with the Department of Dakota and other
geographic departments of the line. Reporting to the civilian secretary of
war, army staff was largely outside of the military chain of command.13
Army staff provided technical and administrative support to the line
regarding issuing orders and keeping records; evaluating the quality of
Background 15
to combat fraud and abuse at western posts. During the Civil War some
acting supply officers colluded with their line commanders in fraudulent
contracts for personal gain, prompting the quartermaster general to re-
place all quartermasters serving on the plains and increase supervision by
staff officers.25
Despite these changes to the army supply system, its organization
remained much the same as during the War of the Rebellion, in which
many of its senior officers had served. Could these staff and line officers
cooperate to do a credible job of supplying the 1876 campaign in the
lower Yellowstone and Powder River country? What did they know
about the environmental and logistical challenges this region presented
to an army pursuing tribes known for their ability to move quickly and
subsist on the land?
chapter 2
The 1876 U.S. military campaign against northern plains tribes was un-
dertaken in a vast area devoid of established transportation routes and
white settlement; it was the domain of the last large herd of buffalo in
America. Within this region, the lower Yellowstone and Powder River
country was home to an unknown number of Native American families,
bands, and tribes for at least 12 millennia. For much of this time, what is
known about these people is captured in the oral traditions of their de-
scendants and the investigations of archaeologists; both lines of evidence
confirm that they were nomadic hunters who knew their environment
exceedingly well. They understood the behaviors of plains animals and
developed communal methods for harvesting many bison or antelope
in a single hunt. For thousands of years their sole beast of burden was
the dog; their primary weapon was a small spear or dart propelled by a
throwing-stick until they adopted the bow and arrow for its superior
qualities. A quantum leap in transportation and technology came to the
region with the horse and gun some 300 years ago, and tribes with famil-
iar names — Kiowa, Crow, Arapaho, Cheyenne, and Sioux — became the
masters of the plains.
The word plains, meaning “flat; level; plane,” conveys a false impres-
sion of the region. Rivers and streams have cut into bedrock formations
of sandstone, silt, shale, and lignite to form a steeply dissected terrain
across much of the area. From mountain headwaters in the nation’s
first national park, the Yellowstone flows north into the foothills of the
Rockies and then east through the Montana plains to the Missouri River.
Named “la Roche Jaune” by an unknown Frenchman, the Yellowstone
19
20 Chapter 2
was Elk River to the Crow, Sioux, and Cheyenne. Primary tributaries of
the river run north from the Absaroka and Bighorn Mountains, joining it
from west to east as the Stillwater River, Clark’s Fork, the Bighorn, Rose-
bud Creek, Tongue River, and Powder River (Figure 2.1).1 Rough breaks
and badlands stretch from floodplains flanking these streams until they
meet the ridges, hills, buttes, and rolling uplands that divide the drain-
ages one from the other. Much of the land is anything but flat.
The priest’s observation that this region would be the last refuge of the
northern plains tribes was prophetic. The Crows struggled to retain their
homeland and respond to Sioux incursions. The Sioux with their Chey-
enne allies pursued their traditional ways of life here until forced from
the area soon after they defeated U.S. troops at the Little Bighorn in 1876.
Figure 2.1. Map of the lower Yellowstone and Powder River country.
22 Chapter 2
Father DeSmet was not the first to record a trip through the lower
Yellowstone and Powder River country. Francois-Antoine Larocque and
two companions traveled with Crow Indians from Big Hidatsa Village
on the Missouri River to the Bighorn Mountains and back in 1805.3 The
party crossed Powder River about 70 miles above its mouth and pro-
ceeded upriver to the Bighorns and then northwest to the Yellowstone
River. Larocque attributed a severe shortage of grass in much of the Pow-
der River valley to recent grazing by large herds of bison. Returning down
the Yellowstone, he passed the mouth of Powder River on September
23, noting that it had no wood on its banks and was as muddy as when
he crossed it in July. The Indians named the river for the fine sand and
silt constantly churned by its flow. Captain William Clark of the Corps
of Discovery passed the mouth of the Powder a year later, naming the
stream Redstone River, but the Indian name prevailed.4
Five years after Fr. DeSmet’s trek, Lt. Gouverneur K. Warren led the
first official exploration of the upper Missouri River since Lewis and
Clark’s visit in 1805–1806.5 Mapping the lower Yellowstone River at this
time appears to have been unplanned and completed on the lieutenant’s
initiative when his progress up the Missouri was delayed at Ft. Union
near the mouth of the Yellowstone.6 While waiting here for a boat to be
built, Warren bought wagons and teams for a detour up the Yellowstone
and proceeded to a point opposite the mouth of Powder River. He was
forced to leave his wagons at the east end of what would later be named
the Terry Badlands, as this area was impassible with wagons. His party
mapped the Yellowstone from Powder River to the Missouri.
Lt. Warren bought wagons for his Yellowstone trip at Ft. Union from
Sir George Gore, an Irish nobleman who was completing an extravagant
hunting trip. Gore began his excursion through the American West in
1854, traveling from St. Louis to Ft. Laramie on the North Platte River
and then hunting west to the Continental Divide and beyond. After
wintering on the North Platte, the baronet and his retinue moved north
to the Indian hunting grounds of the Yellowstone and Powder River
country. Following the Powder to its mouth, the Hibernian hunter
turned west and spent the winter on Tongue River. Gore’s peregrinations
through this region controlled by tribesmen was facilitated by a corps of
competent guides led by Jim Bridger, whose many years in the fur trade
equipped him with an extraordinary understanding of the West.7
Trading companies moved into the upper Missouri and Yellowstone
Operations in the Lower Yellowstone and Powder River Country 23
country soon after Lewis and Clark returned to St. Louis, where they re-
ported that the region contained fortunes in beaver pelts. A few trading
posts were built on the Yellowstone between the Bighorn and Tongue;
most of them were associated with the American Fur Company’s Upper
Missouri Outfit headquartered at Ft. Union. Constructed in 1850,
Ft. Sarpy was the last Yellowstone post used for the Crow Indian trade
in buffalo robes and other furs. The American Fur Company was open
for business here when Captain William F. Raynolds of the U.S. Corps of
Topographical Engineers led the first official cross-country exploration
of the region in 1859–1860.8
mouth of the Bighorn River, a storm and cold north wind that “caused
serious personal discomfort” pelted his party and left the ground impass-
able for wagons for two days.
From the time he entered the middle reaches of Powder River in late
July 1859 until he gained the foothills of the Bighorns in early Septem-
ber, Raynolds worried constantly about “the three great requisites of
camping — wood, water, and grass.”13 At several camps the grass was so
sparse that the party fed their livestock bark from cottonwood trees. Like
Larocque, the captain attributed the scarcity of forage to the recent pres-
ence of large herds of bison. Only scattered groups of these herbivores
were observed until the engineers sighted the Yellowstone for the first
time on August 14, where they marveled at hundreds of thousands of
buffalo covering an estimated 50 square miles. The challenges Raynolds
Operations in the Lower Yellowstone and Powder River Country 25
Although I may not have been successful in carrying out all the
expectations of the government in building posts and entirely fin-
ishing the war — that is bringing the Indians to their knees to beg
for peace — yet we have done everything that was in the power of
man to do with the obstacles before us — want of water, want of
grass and want of everything to eat.20
26 Chapter 2
Figure 2.3. Mapillustrating the routes taken by Connor, Cole, and Walker
during the 1865 Powder River Expedition. Battle sites are noted.
Cole and Walker traveled a short distance from one another to Powder
River along routes roughly parallel but north of Capt. Raynolds’s trail
of 1859.25
With the left column, Connor proceeded north from Ft. Laramie on
July 30 to the Powder River crossing of the Bozeman Trail. While wait-
ing here for a wagon train of supplies, the general began construction of
the new post and sent scouts to search for unsuspecting villages. Three
scouting parties engaged enemy warriors in the vicinity; Connor’s Paw-
nee scouts killed 27 Cheyennes in one engagement. Leaving 200 men un-
der Col. James H. Kidd to complete construction of the fort, Connor
continued northwest on August 22 to the Tongue River. Scouts located
an Arapaho village of 200 to 300 lodges at the head of this stream, where
Conner attacked with part of his force on August 29, inflicting casualties,
capturing horses, and destroying much of the village property. Though
the column was threatened by an effective counterattack, Conner’s artil-
lery prevented serious loss among his detachment. The column proceeded
down Tongue River toward the rendezvous with Cole and Walker.
From their Little Missouri junction, the middle and eastern columns
moved toward the expedition rendezvous on routes determined largely
by the availability of scant water and grass. Cole noted that fresh Indian
trails continued down the Little Missouri, but he was compelled to turn
west to Powder River. Scurvy began to plague many of Cole’s men at this
time but was ameliorated somewhat by foraging for abundant and pun-
gent wild onions. The condition of horses and mules in both columns
was also deteriorating, with some showing stress from lack of forage as
early as August 8. By the end of the month, Walker’s column shot 10
horses that played out in the descent through the breaks of Powder River.
Twenty head of horses and an equal number of mules died during Cole’s
slow trek through the Powder River breaks as well. High daytime tem-
peratures added to the discomfort of all.26
Cole reached the Powder River about 50 miles south of the Yellow-
stone and, like Raynolds six years earlier, found grass only among cot-
tonwood groves along the river. On August 29, with rations now almost
depleted and many men barefoot and in rags, he sent a scouting party
west to find Connor and the much-needed supplies. Three days later the
scouts returned, having failed to find any sign of the left column or the
supply depot because, unknown to them, Connor was still on the upper
Tongue and making his way down the valley. The scouts also reported
Operations in the Lower Yellowstone and Powder River Country 29
that the route they took would be impossible for wagons and was nearly
devoid of grass.27
At this time, the columns were located a few miles north of where
Capt. Raynolds struck Powder River. From here Jim Bridger found a
route west to Tongue River for the captain’s wagons in 1859. Bridger was
also with the Powder River Expedition, but unfortunately for Cole and
Walker, Conner had retained the venerable guide for his own column.
On September 1, warriors stole 20 horses from Cole’s command and
killed five soldiers who were hunting in small parties. Walker, also nearly
out of rations, decided to go north to the Yellowstone, and Cole followed
when he saw smoke believed to be emanating from near the mouth of the
Powder. Within 25 miles of the Yellowstone, the grass disappeared, as did
the Powder River. The valley flanking the muddy riverbed narrowed to
become an even greater challenge for the wagon train. With their men on
half rations and livestock close to starving on cottonwood bark, Cole and
Walker reversed course and headed back up Powder River as the weather
changed for the worse. Having suffered in the heat for weeks, both men
and animals were now exposed to rain and cold wind, which had a dev-
astating effect on the already weakened livestock. As horses and mules
began dying by the hundreds, the command burned wagons and prop-
erty, littering the Powder River valley for miles.28
Indians appeared on the surrounding hills and skirmished with the
troops for several days. An estimated 1,000 to 3,000 warriors gathered
around the columns on September 5 and again the next day. Small parties
of cavalry and tribesmen engaged along the flanks of the columns, but
army artillery and Spencer repeating carbines discouraged warriors from
a direct assault on the trains. Although most tribesmen were armed only
with bow and arrows, the cavalry horses were in no condition to pursue
the attackers for any distance.29
The western Sioux, or Teton Lakota, who attacked Cole and Walker
included many of those Gen. Sully had fought the year before. In the
spring of 1865, these tribes harassed Ft. Rice, the new post Sully built,
and then turned west to encounter the Powder River columns quite by
chance. Other Lakota tribes and Cheyenne bands also joined the attack.
Sitting Bull, a Lakota warrior of the Hunkpapa tribe, captured a couple
of horses in the Powder River valley. He failed to garner significant war
honors during these skirmishes but would distinguish himself in later
conflicts with soldiers. Many other prominent Lakota warriors were
30 Chapter 2
among the combatants, including the Hunkpapa Gall and Oglalas Red
Cloud and Crazy Horse. Cheyenne fighters included Roman Nose, Dull
Knife, and Little Wolf.30
As combat ended for the most part, another storm brought rain, sleet,
and snow into the valley. Reduced to less than quarter rations, the men
began to subsist on horses and mules as the animals dropped from fa-
tigue. Many of Cole’s soldiers and fully one-third of Walker’s men were
barefoot as they proceeded up the Powder, thinking that their nearest
source of supply might be Fort Laramie far to the south. Finally, on Sep-
tember 13, couriers from Gen. Connor reached the desperate columns
with news that supplies were available at his Tongue River location or at
the newly constructed Ft. Connor on the Powder River crossing of the
Bozeman Trail. Pushing as rapidly as possible given the condition of the
commands, Cole and Walker straggled into the fort on September 19 and
20. Casualties among the commands included 13 killed, five wounded,
and two missing. Cole’s estimate of 200–500 warriors killed was grossly
overstated. A best-g uess estimate from a review of available data suggests
Indian casualties in the range of 25–50.31
This first punitive army incursion into the Powder River country
failed to accomplish any U.S. strategic goals other than establishing a
post on the river. Located at the head of the stream, it was positioned
to protect traffic on the Bozeman Trail. Congress would be unwilling to
fund the army’s coveted post at the mouth of Powder River or elsewhere
on the lower Yellowstone until the very expensive Powder River Expedi-
tion faded from memory and an 1876 Lakota victory changed national
priorities.
Cole and Walker’s dismal experience clearly illustrated poor logistics
planning and a failure to take local conditions into account. To be sure,
many of those who planned the expedition were old hands at support-
ing large commands during the Civil War; some, including Gen. Connor,
were very familiar with the challenges of supplying remote areas of the
West. However, details of the expedition supply effort suggest that either
army planners did not fully understand the nature of the Powder River
country or they were simply too optimistic about a plan they knew was
marginal at best.
Connor reported serious trouble getting adequate supplies to launch
his campaign, initially planned to begin in June.32 Plagued with con-
tracting problems, he resolved to leave before the end of July with what-
ever supplies were available, arranging to have the rest of the material
Operations in the Lower Yellowstone and Powder River Country 31
forwarded via a second wagon train when it arrived at Ft. Laramie.33 This
decision allowed the command to reach the Powder River crossing in a
timely fashion, but the general could not proceed toward the rendezvous
with Cole and Walker on Tongue River until the second train arrived.
This 10-day delay was a significant factor in Connor’s failure to establish
the depot on Tongue River.
When the left column finally departed for the Tongue with a full
train, it had rations and other supplies aplenty, including stores needed to
resupply Cole and Walker. However, it did not have enough forage to sus-
tain even Connor’s column during its descent down the Tongue. Indeed,
the general reversed course on September 6 to look for grass, indicating
that the command had used all available grain. When horses and mules
began dying three days later, Connor slowed the column to find grass and
rest the animals; this option was available only because his train was well
stocked with rations and other supplies. When it returned to Ft. Connor,
the column had been separated from the new post only 33 days.
When outfitting at Ft. Laramie, Connor’s acting quartermaster and
commissary of subsistence, Capt. Henry Palmer, calculated that the
column needed 200 wagons to carry equipment, clothing, shelter, ord-
nance, and rations as well as grain for the livestock. With only 70 wagons
available at the fort, Palmer pressed civilian wagons and teams into ser-
vice to build a train of 185 wagons managed by 195 teamsters and wagon
masters.34 Finn Burnett, a civilian with the expedition, recalled that the
teamsters were ordered to load as much grain on their wagons as possible.
When all available wagons were loaded, Burnett estimated that 2,000
sacks of grain were left behind.35
Burnett worked for expedition sutler Alvin C. Leighton, who also
supplied the wagons and teams to Capt. Palmer. Leighton’s 11 four-mule
wagons of goods in Connor’s train were apparently intended for a store
he would establish at the new Powder River fort.36 He might have sold
goods during the column’s march, including the trek from Ft. Connor
to the Tongue River and back, as both Leighton and Burnett were with
the train at that time.37 Other evidence for the sutler’s presence includes
references to problems with alcohol abuse the day after leaving Ft. Con-
nor and on August 27.38 Alcoholic beverages sold by sutlers were often a
source of trouble in the garrison and on a campaign.39
The middle and right columns apparently did not enjoy the luxury
of sutler’s goods. Walker’s command was outfitted at Ft. Laramie, where
all supplies, except forage, were loaded on a pack train. Thirteen wagons
32 Chapter 2
carried a week’s supply of grain. When empty, the wagons were returned
to the fort, and Walker’s horses and pack mules were expected to survive
solely by grazing along the route. His command started the journey with
40 days’ supplies, but rations were lost to damage when the pack mules
crossed Powder River many times in what was described as quicksand.40
This loss would certainly have contributed to the command being on half
rations for almost a third of its journey from Ft. Laramie to Ft. Connor.
Unimpressed with the performance of his pack train, the lieutenant col-
onel concluded that pack mules “are a poor way of transporting supplies
on such a long march” and that light wagons would have been better even
in the rough terrain encountered.41
Ordered to take as much grain as possible for the right column, Col.
Cole also hired “civilian transportation” to augment government wagons
and teams. He left Omaha with 140 six-mule wagons, but it is unclear
how many were contract teams. Early in the journey, Cole purchased
forage and cattle from farms along the Platte River and trailed 50 head
of beef. Although the amount of grain he bought is undocumented, the
colonel noted on September 9 that his stock had been without grain for
about 60 days; this comment suggests that the column began its trek
with no more than 10 to 12 days of grain.
Cole’s train also carried 60 days’ subsistence rations, although an es-
timated 20 percent were lost in stream crossings and during loading and
unloading. Some units in the command hunted extensively, contrary to
Cole’s orders forbidding this activity, until rations ran critically short on
Powder River.42 The colonel noted with apparent envy that Walker’s pack
train was much more mobile than his wagons, pulled by unbroken mules
“utterly unfit for the service required of them” and managed by teamsters
“in the main worthless.”43
Long supply trains were indeed needed to support a large force if it
was separated from a fixed source of supply for any length of time. The
size of the train required depended not only on the number of men and
the length of time they would be in the field but also on the number of
livestock to be fed. While army horses and mules were expected to graze
when possible, horses needed 12 pounds of grain and mules needed 10
pounds each day in field service. Of course, this included the wagon
mules, and as the train got larger, more forage was needed to support
draft animals. Every man in the force required three to five pounds of
supplies per day, also carried on the train. Some simple calculations
demonstrate that this kind of transportation and supply system rapidly
Operations in the Lower Yellowstone and Powder River Country 33
again turned to a strategy of negotiating treaties with the tribes and using
its limited military capability to defend immigrant travel routes.49
the mouth of the Bighorn River but turned back short of their goal at
Pompey’s Pillar. This party too encountered no resistance from the tribes,
but the escort was caught in a fierce winter storm on its return trip. Lack-
ing adequate forage to sustain his horses, the commanding officer sent a
small detachment ahead to Ft. Ellis, where a rescue party was organized.
Of 91 enlisted men and five officers with the escort, 57 suffered serious
frostbite to faces and extremities.58
The following year, Col. David Stanley, with 600 men of his 22nd In-
fantry, escorted the eastern survey party from Ft. Rice to the Yellowstone
and on to the mouth of Powder River. While this party followed the
1871 route some distance up Heart River, it then coursed farther south
toward the headwaters of the Little Missouri and Cabin Creek and then
followed O’Fallon Creek to the Yellowstone River.59 Leaving most of his
command in camp on the Yellowstone, Stanley led a detachment of 200
infantry with a 12-pound Napoleon gun to Powder River, where he ex-
pected to meet the western survey party.60 He moved quickly to finish
the mission because Lakota warriors had fired into his camp on O’Fallon
Creek and scouts sighted a large party of tribesmen the next day.
Stanley’s party included the first military detachment to set foot at
the Powder River confluence since Lt. Warren’s mapping team 16 years
earlier. The colonel’s infantry and the surveyors stayed but part of a day
and left behind little that might signify their presence. While Northern
Pacific engineers constructed a survey mound, some officers uncorked
bottles of wine to commemorate the event. The celebration was inter-
rupted when a young engineer, who wandered off hunting agates, was
seen riding desperately to escape several mounted warriors. Army scouts
rushed to save the reckless rockhound, while the detachment crossed to
the left (west) bank of the Powder, putting the river between them and
their attackers, who positioned themselves among cottonwoods and wil-
lows on the right bank.61
Gall, the Hunkpapa leader Fr. DeSmet met near here in 1868, indi-
cated that he wanted to parley, and Stanley offered to meet on a sand-
bar in the middle of the river. Preferring to keep the river between them,
Gall warned that he was prepared to drive the soldiers from the coun-
try while the colonel attempted to explain his mission. The conference
ended abruptly when it became clear to Gall that the government would
not pay for the privilege of traveling through the region. With both sides
firing simultaneously, a brief skirmish ensued in which two Lakota men
were wounded.
Operations in the Lower Yellowstone and Powder River Country 37
As the tribesmen rode south, Stanley fired the Napoleon gun several
times to alert the western survey party he supposed to be nearby. Un-
known to him, another force of Lakota warriors, led by Sitting Bull and
Crazy Horse, had recently attacked the other party and its escort far up
the Yellowstone; there would be no rendezvous of surveyors at Powder
River.62 Warriors under Sitting Bull returned to the lower Yellowstone
in time to join Gall in harassing Stanley’s party on its journey back to
Ft. Rice.63 The year ended with about 175 miles of railroad survey yet to
be completed between Powder River and Pompey’s Pillar.
Northern Pacific chief engineer William Roberts recommended a
large military escort for the third and final Yellowstone survey to protect
the party from Lakota bands that clearly understood the purpose and
consequences of his work.64 Commanding the Division of the Missouri,
Lt. General Philip Sheridan enthusiastically began mobilizing a survey
escort. He also planned to ship supplies to Ft. Buford for construction
of a new fort on the lower Yellowstone, the post Sully tried and failed to
build in 1864.65
The survey escort was again from the Department of Dakota. Briga-
dier General Alfred Terry had commanded the department since 1866.66
Although he had recently returned from temporary duty in the South,
he was very familiar with the region and issues surrounding Indian oc-
cupation in the unceded hunting grounds; he was a member of the peace
commission that negotiated the Ft. Laramie Treaty of 1868. Busy with
other duties, the general left much of the planning for the final survey
expedition to his field commanders, Col. Stanley and Lt. Col. George A.
Custer, 7th Cavalry.67
Using Gen. Sully’s approach of 1864, military planners developed a
logistics strategy that with a few embellishments would be used again
in the 1876 Sioux War. Army personnel, civilian employees, and Indian
scouts traveled overland from a Missouri River post to a supply depot on
the Yellowstone provisioned by steamboats. A new generation of light-
draft steamers, designed for upper Missouri service, also ferried troops
across the Yellowstone when it was too deep and swift to ford.68
While 28 men and a few wagons constituted the Northern Pacific
survey party, its military escort was larger than Nelson Cole’s ill-fated
heavy column of 1865.69 Col. Stanley’s force consisted of 20 companies
of infantry and 10 companies of Custer’s 7th Cavalry, totaling 1,451
men, 79 officers, seven mixed-blood scouts, and 353 other civilians, in-
cluding teamsters, wagon masters, guides, a veterinarian, a surgeon, and
38 Chapter 2
two sutlers. Also among the civilians was a nine-member scientific corps
of naturalists, geologists, paleontologists, an artist, and a photographer.
Others included Mary Adams, Custer’s African American cook; a sutler’s
African American servant; two young Englishmen touring the West with
a friend from St. Louis; and a Catholic priest — not Fr. DeSmet.70
This force, not counting hangers-on, required 2,321 horses and mules
for cavalry mounts and draft animals pulling 275 wagons of supplies.71
The cavalry provided a formidable offensive capability not available in
1872, but it also substantially increased forage requirements. Stanley was
concerned from the outset about the rate at which the engineers would
travel because this information was critical for calculating supply require-
ments and the size of his wagon train. He concluded that 60 days’ rations
and forage would be needed, with grain reduced to five pounds per day.
When the train was ready to leave, each six-mule wagon carried 4,000
to 5,280 pounds of supplies, depending on the fitness of the teams. With
the wagons already loaded to the limit and just 42 days’ forage aboard,
Stanley knew that he would have to send a train back to the Missouri for
supplies before the expedition reached a depot on the Yellowstone.72
The Northern Pacific surveyors were already on the trail from Ft. Lin-
coln when Stanley’s command departed Ft. Rice on June 20. Early sum-
mer rain and hail storms contributed to everyone’s discomfort and
slowed the escort’s heavy train and trailing herd of 700 beef cattle. After
12 days on the march, Stanley sent a detachment of cavalry east to Ft. Lin-
coln with 40 empty wagons to return with additional forage. Continuing
west, he overtook the survey party on the upper reaches of Heart River
and proceeded across the Little Missouri and Beaver Creek to the head
of Glendive Creek. With cavalry detachments riding ahead to find a suit-
able route for the train, the expedition descended into the Yellowstone
valley, where supplies were delivered by steamboats.
Leaving behind one company of infantry and two of cavalry to con-
struct a stockade and guard the supply depot, the surveyors and escort
were ferried to the left (north) bank of the Yellowstone River and pro-
ceeded west.73 Skirting north of the badlands that Lt. Warren had found
impassible with wagons in 1855, Stanley’s cavalry detachments continued
to locate routes suitable for the rest of the command. When the terrain
permitted, the expedition moved again to the river via a small drainage
the colonel named Custer Creek for his commander of cavalry.74 The
steamboat Josephine was waiting eight miles above the mouth of Powder
River with clothing and more forage.75
Operations in the Lower Yellowstone and Powder River Country 39
loss of 80 or 90 mules not only to hard service and short forage but also
to faulty procurement and contracting practices. Many teamsters hired
had little or no prior experience, and many of the mules purchased were
too young for the difficult terrain and conditions encountered. Accord-
ing to Stanley, “This led to a great deal of trouble and damage, as these
worthless men killed mules by their want of experience and their careless
habits.”80 He repeated Col. Cole’s recommendation of 1865 to procure no
mules younger than six years.
Regarding the army’s seemingly chronic forage-deficiency issue, Stan-
ley noted that grain sent to the Yellowstone depot was more than 20 per-
cent short of the contracted weight. As Custer angrily observed, the grain
allotted each animal was reduced below the five pounds per day planned
for the expedition; only three pounds was available, a quarter of the full
allowance for a horse. The obvious remedy for future field operations was
to stock more forage at supply depots and make more wagons and teams
available to haul grain. Stanley must have assumed that this solution was
self-evident, as he simply recommended that grain sacks should be no
heavier than 100 pounds.81
Stanley labeled the tentage and fatigue hats provided his command
as “worst quality” and “most useless.” New cable-screwed shoes, so im-
portant to infantry, received his praise, as did the quality of wagons re-
cently built in Philadelphia. The colonel reserved his highest praise for
the Commissary Department, which supplied food and water, stating
that the expedition was “rather embarrassed with overabundance” of
food stores. When the Josephine departed Stanley’s Stockade for the last
time in September, she carried infantry companies and 80 tons of sur-
plus flour, hardbread, and bacon east to the Missouri River. Although his
command suffered no shortage of bread, Stanley penned a treatise on the
inadequacies of the current hardbread ration issued to troops in the field.
He also recommended that hardbread boxes and boxes of canned goods
should be reinforced with iron bands and that rice and coffee be double-
sacked to reduce waste. Finally, large cattle should not be used, because
they become footsore on the trail.82
Reporting on the topography and natural resources of the Yellow-
stone valley, Stanley was not impressed with the country between Glen-
dive Creek and Powder River. He heartily recommended the mouth of
Tongue River as the best location in the valley for a new post. His ex-
pedition and the river surveys of 1873 contributed substantially to the
army’s understanding of the lower Yellowstone, including the potential
for supplying a campaign with steamboats.83 Citizens in the territory’s
Operations in the Lower Yellowstone and Powder River Country 41
Gallatin valley also now understood that the river was probably navigable
far above the mouth of Powder River.
The Bozeman business community and would-be entrepreneurs had
eagerly followed the progress of the Northern Pacific surveys and fully
expected that the railroad would soon bring prosperity to an economy
that was sagging by 1873. As rich placer mines in western Montana Ter-
ritory played out, the demand for the Gallatin valley’s services and prod-
ucts diminished substantially. The community’s hopes for economic
revival were dashed when bad publicity from the 1872 railroad survey and
Custer’s report of fights with the tribes in 1873 contributed to the North-
ern Pacific’s mounting financial woes. Unable to sell bonds to spooked
investors, the company declared bankruptcy, which ended railroad con-
struction and precipitated the first nationwide economic depression. The
1871–1873 railroad surveys also exacerbated ill will among Lakota bands
that continued raiding to the west.84
Although the financial panic delayed Northern Pacific plans to lay
track between Bismarck and Bozeman, other white incursions into the
lower Yellowstone and Powder River country fomented trouble. In the
fall of 1873, a man named Vernon who claimed to have been with Stan-
ley’s expedition reported having discovered gold on the lower Yellow-
stone. He found citizens in the Gallatin valley particularly good listeners;
one Bozeman resident later recalled, “He was a smooth talker and con-
vinced many of the truth of his story, and quite a large number agreed
to go with him to the Rosebud in the spring.”85 This party may actually
have consisted of only 10 men, who left the smooth talker to join a more
ambitious undertaking.86
that their stock was closely guarded. These precautions would soon
prove critical for the group’s survival, as tribesmen gathered to battle the
intruders.
Lakota warriors struck the party soon after it entered the Rosebud
valley, and three significant fights occurred as it moved up this stream
and then east to the Little Bighorn and across Lodge Grass Creek to the
abandoned site of Ft. C. F. Smith on the Bozeman Trail. The Lakota were
reinforced with the addition of Sitting Bull’s Hunkpapas and some 350
Cheyenne warriors who joined the battle at Lodge Grass Creek on April
16. Estimates of the number of warriors here vary between 750 and 1,400,
but by all accounts, the Indian force was many times larger than the party
they attacked.90
Indian attacks ceased after this battle, and the expedition was free
to plod through mud and cold temperatures to arrive at the abandoned
Bighorn River fort on April 21. The men had a much-needed two-day
rest, and the livestock were allowed to graze before the party returned to
Bozeman in relative safety; they were now on the part of the Crow res-
ervation, east of the Bighorn River, still controlled by that tribe.91 With
better weather and more plentiful game, the expedition began to disband
at Pryor Creek; most of the men returned to Bozeman on May 11, where
they received a hero’s welcome.92
The expedition was in the field three months, and for two weeks in
April it was constantly pressured by Lakota and Cheyenne warriors. Re-
markably, the party had only one man killed and two wounded during
several engagements against superior numbers. So few casualties, and
even the survival of the group, is generally attributed to competent lead-
ership, good marksmanship, the outstanding firepower of breech-loading
rifles, copious ammunition, and two artillery pieces. The selection of ex-
cellent campsites allowed livestock to be protected and afforded a clear
view of the surrounding terrain. Rifle pits protected their occupants, and
the cannons were ready when needed to stop an attack or drive the tribes-
men beyond the effective range of their weapons.93
The expedition might have ended differently had the tribes not
abandoned their pursuit after the battle on Lodge Grass Creek; the
prospectors’ artillery shells were exhausted, and only a few rounds of
canister remained. Food supplies expected to last four months were
critically low after 10 weeks; the men had been subsisting on short ra-
tions for several days before the Lodge Grass Creek fight, and they used
the last of the canned goods two days later. With Lakota in the area,
44 Chapter 2
game near the party was scarce, and hunting at any distance was all but
impossible.
In addition to supply issues, the party’s transportation challenges in-
creased as well. Lakota herds had recently stripped much of the spring
grass on the Rosebud, and constantly harassed by tribesmen here, the ex-
pedition was forced to confine its stock with little or no time allowed for
grazing. Worsening weather made more work for the teams as they strug-
gled to pull wagons on wet, sticky soil. Considering the poor condition
of the livestock and a discouraging report from a reconnaissance party,
the expedition abandoned an attempt to prospect in the Wolf Mountains
and returned to the Gallatin valley via the Bozeman Trail.94
The Bozeman Avant Courier, whose editor was one of the expedition
planners, issued an extra when the first reports from the Yellowstone
Wagon Road and Prospecting Expedition arrived on May 1. Indian at-
tacks were said to have prevented the party from reaching the Tongue
River and doing any serious prospecting. Regardless, a participant was
quoted as indicating “that rich mines exist in the Big Horn Mountains
south of the Big Horn,” and another noted that “the country is rich.”95
Citizens of the Gallatin valley would soon learn that the expedition did
not venture into the Bighorn Mountains or Wolf Mountains and that
no gold in paying quantities was found at all.96 Some participants eagerly
shared their stories of battles, booby traps, expert marksmanship, and he-
roic deeds, which have become legend surrounding the venture.
The expedition not only failed to accomplish publicized goals but
also came perilously close to annihilation. While its captain managed a
very effective defensive action against Lakota and Cheyenne warriors, he
realized that as supplies and ammunition dwindled, livestock condition
deteriorated, and the weather worsened, the party could be overrun by
the masters of the plains. As the number of warriors grew with each at-
tack, the captain prevailed over a few men who wanted to turn south,
deeper into Lakota territory. With the party moving as efficiently as pos-
sible toward the Bozeman Trail and Crow country, expedition supplies,
ammunition, and livestock lasted long enough to avoid disaster. If the
weather had not improved and the tribes had continued their pursuit, the
expedition could easily have deteriorated into a condition similar to that
of Nelson Cole’s command on Powder River in 1865.97
Most Gallatin valley residents derived a much different lesson from
the 1874 venture. For them, the expedition reinforced an already prev-
alent view that a few well-armed citizens could defeat and eliminate the
Operations in the Lower Yellowstone and Powder River Country 45
Lakota tribes from the lower Yellowstone and Powder River c ountry.98
One participant boldly concluded that “the prowess of the Sioux has
been vastly overestimated and that a small force of frontiersmen can whip
the whole tribe at small cost.”99
Evidence suggests that those who planned and promoted the expe-
dition hoped that it would punish the Lakota for raids into the Gallatin
valley and start a war. Organizers were indeed interested in settlement
of the Yellowstone country and improved transportation routes to Boze-
man’s markets. However, they realized that settlement, steamboat traffic,
and railroad development through the Yellowstone valley were impossi-
ble until the Lakota were forced from the area. Peter Koch, an advocate
for the Bozeman business community, recalled that the valley’s economic
well-being rested on opening eastern Montana Territory to whites. In his
words, the Gallatin men “bravely did their part,” referring to the 1874
expedition and the Fort Pease incident a year later.100 He took pride in
suggesting that Bozeman pioneers were a leading cause of the Sioux War
of 1876.
While the secretary of the interior officially discouraged civilian min-
ers from entering the Crow reservation in the Yellowstone country, the
army was busy prospecting on a much grander scale within the Great
Sioux Reservation in 1874. Ordered to escort a reconnaissance of the
Black Hills, Custer was charged with finding a location for a new post
that would strengthen military control of the region.101 With many La-
kota busy harassing the Crows and chasing prospectors far to the west
in Montana Territory, the Black Hills reconnaissance encountered no
resistance. Unfortunately for the Sioux, the expedition included a lethal
combination of experienced prospectors and journalists. Reports of gold
in the hills preceded Custer’s return to his headquarters at Ft. Abraham
Lincoln.
Much like the tales of fabled gold deposits in the Yellowstone country
coveted by Montana miners, rumors of mineral wealth in the Black Hills
had circulated among white settlements in Dakota Territory for years;
unlike along the Yellowstone, there were indeed rich gold deposits within
the Great Sioux Reservation. Despite the government’s official policy to
keep whites off reservation lands, 1,200 miners were scouring the Black
Hills by July 1875. Given pressure from the settlements to allow mining
and lacking the military resources or will to keep miners at bay, Presi-
dent Grant tried to persuade the Lakota to relinquish part of their res-
ervation. The Allison Commission failed miserably in this task, but its
46 Chapter 2
negotiations clarified the depth of ill will among the Sioux that was cre-
ated by white incursions into the Yellowstone valley and Black Hills.102
The president found himself caught between western interests sup-
porting Indian cession of the Black Hills, by coercion if necessary, and
less vocal easterners who pointed to U.S. obligations under the 1868
Treaty. The former general chose a solution to his dilemma already antic-
ipated by his subordinates — m
ilitary action.
Chapter 3
47
48 Chapter 3
campaign was doomed from the start. Concerned that “unless the Sioux
are caught before spring, they cannot be caught at all,” 11 he sought to re-
peat earlier successes on the southern plains with attacks on winter vil-
lages when Indian ponies were in poor condition and the bands were less
mobile than in summer. As soon as possible, General Terry was to move
a force west from the Department of Dakota, while Crook was to march
north from his department to locate and strike any bands encountered in
the unceded territory. Sheridan would soon regret his failure to fully take
into account the environment in which his forces would be operating.12
Information available to Terry suggested that Sitting Bull’s band
was near the mouth of the Little Missouri, about 150 miles northwest
of Ft. Abraham Lincoln. He proposed a quick strike with cavalry from
this post, emphasizing the need for stealth because his force would not
be able to pursue fleeing Lakotas. He noted, “It would be impracticable
to carry supplies of food and forage for more than a few days.”13 The plan
changed in mid-January 1876 when Terry became aware that Sitting Bull
was actually wintering on the lower Yellowstone between Powder River
and Glendive Creek, far from Ft. Lincoln. He was compelled to assemble
a larger force and additional supplies from diverse locations, and these
tasks could not be accomplished until ice was off the rivers and trains
were again moving on once snowbound rails.
Although Sheridan correctly understood the seasonal mobility of the
tribes, he also knew that supply issues constrained army tactics and the
mobility of troops as well; assembling and keeping heavy columns in the
Powder River country would be a challenge in any season. In a response
to Terry, Sheridan stated:
troops and supplies were more easily assembled at this post on the North
Platte River than at Ft. Lincoln on the Missouri. Cheyenne Depot, lo-
cated near Ft. D. A. Russell and the town of Cheyenne, Wyoming Ter-
ritory, at the Crow Creek crossing of the Union Pacific Railroad, was a
major military supply facility serving the western plains. Troops with
wagon trains of supplies moved north along established roads to Ft. Fet-
terman via Ft. Laramie, where a recently completed iron bridge spanned
the North Platte.15 Supply trains made this journey in four to six days, or
they could save time by using a cutoff, bypassing Ft. Laramie and fording
the river.16
Crook accompanied the expedition of 10 cavalry troops and two in-
fantry companies that left Ft. Fetterman but assigned the aging Col. Jo-
seph J. Reynolds as commander. Supplies were carried on a modest train
of 86 six-mule wagons and 400 mules organized into an impressive
five-unit pack train.17 Managed by experienced civilians, the pack train
was able to keep pace with the full command. From a bivouac near the
abandoned Ft. Reno on the Bozeman Trail, the colonel pushed on with
cavalry (supported only by the mule train) to attack a village of 60 lodges
discovered on the Powder River. Each trooper carried a buffalo robe or
two blankets, one piece of shelter, and 100 rounds of extra ammunition.
Fifteen days’ rations on the pack train included only a half ration of
bacon; one-sixth of the usual forage allotment was carried for the live-
stock. There was no room for a sutler and his goods on this streamlined
expedition.18
Leaving Crook behind with four cavalry companies and the pack
train, Col. Reynolds’s battalion made a night ride from Otter Creek to
Powder River with a single day’s ration. Scouts successfully located the
village of Cheyennes and a few Oglala and Miniconjou Sioux unde-
tected, but inadequate information about the terrain led to faulty tac-
tical orders and more than a little confusion among the officers.19 The
battalion inflicted a few casualties, destroyed much of the camp, and cap-
tured half of the Indian pony herd; warriors later recovered most of their
horses.20
Having ridden 65–75 miles and fought for five hours in subzero tem-
peratures, many soldiers suffered greatly from exposure and frostbite be-
fore Crook and the pack train rendezvoused with the attack battalion
the next day. The reunited command moved up Powder River, meeting
the wagon train on March 21; two days later the command continued the
march south. Forage carried in the wagons and pack train was depleted,
and the livestock found little nourishment on the frozen, snow-covered
Figure 3.1. Map of primary troop movements, supply depots, and major battle
sites during the 1876 Sioux War.
The 1876 Sioux War to the Beginning of White Settlement 53
north toward the Missouri River. The colonel was free to strike any bands
his scouts might find, if the action did not interfere with the primary
objective.
Gibbon’s cavalry under Maj. Brisbin had only recently returned from
a tour of duty “rescuing” the party of Bozeman citizens from Ft. Pease a
short distance below the mouth of the Bighorn River. By exaggerating
the Lakota threat to their trading venture, organizers convinced the mil-
itary to send troops. The army not only provided the traders an escort
back to Bozeman but also hauled their equipment and goods on army
supply wagons emptied on the trek to Ft. Pease.25
The Montana column departed Ft. Ellis in early April with 24 gov-
ernment and 12 contract wagons carrying 60 days’ supplies.26 This was
not enough transportation to also carry the stores previously freighted
to a depot at a new Crow Agency located south of the mouth of Still
water River. On Terry’s orders, Col. Gibbon established a base camp and
temporary depot on the Yellowstone east of the Stillwater where supplies
could be consolidated as wagons became available. The column contin-
ued its march down the left bank of the Yellowstone, arriving at the aban-
doned Ft. Pease on April 21. Supply trains from Ft. Ellis and Bozeman
now had a 100-mile trip to reach the Montana column; each required a
military escort of one company.27
Beef cattle from a herd trailed with the column and, tended by the
troops, supplemented field rations. Officers and enlisted men also had
considerable success hunting buffalo and elk in the Yellowstone valley
and fishing in the river; the men caught 300 pounds of fish on April 7
and another 80 pounds on April 22. Fresh meat and fish were so often a
part of the diet that men complained when circumstances forced them to
subsist on ordinary field rations for a few days.28
Although no sutler accompanied the wagon train, Bozeman traders
floated goods down in mackinaw boats from Benson’s Landing, about
three miles from where the town of Livingston is now located. Chief
among these businessmen was Paul McCormick, one of the partners
in the Ft. Pease enterprise.29 He and another freelance Bozeman trader,
James Chestnut, sold butter, vegetables, eggs, tobacco, beer, and other
goods to the men.30
Apparently, the beer was limited to a single cask shared among offi-
cers. There is little mention of alcohol until June, when the column met
a steamboat carrying the sutler with the Dakota column. However, Gib-
bon’s medical officer, Holmes O. Paulding, discovered seven bottles of
The 1876 Sioux War to the Beginning of White Settlement 55
medicinal whiskey stolen at Ft. Pease and on May 29 reported that some
officers were drinking rum.31
The Montana column relied on Gibbon’s scouts to find a route for the
supply trains. During his first month in the field, the colonel succeeded
in hiring a number of Crows and civilian scouts and guides who were in-
timately familiar with his area of operations. Scouts included some vet-
erans of the Yellowstone Wagon Road and Prospecting Expedition and
the Ft. Pease venture as well as Mitch Boyer, a mixed-blood Sioux who
had lived with the Crows. As a youth, Boyer was among the guides un-
der Jim Bridger’s leadership who shepherded Sir George Gore through
the lower Yellowstone country in 1855–1856.32 At age 72, Bridger was no
longer guiding for the military, but his disciple would render important
service to Gibbon and Terry in 1876.33
The Montana column remained unaware of Lakota warriors in its vi-
cinity until the Crow scouts discovered their horses missing on May 3.
With increasing signs of raiding parties near his position and intelligence
suggesting that they were coming from the southeast, Gibbon marched
his column down the Yellowstone from Ft. Pease on May 10. Six days
later, Lt. James Bradley, Co. A, 7th Infantry, and his scouts found a large
Sioux and Cheyenne camp on Tongue River. The following morning,
Gibbon organized an attack force, but, as Custer experienced during the
1873 railroad survey, cavalry could not cross the rising Yellowstone. The
colonel’s failure to quickly inform Terry of this event, as well as the addi-
tional intelligence from his scouts regarding the location of the Lakota, is
one of the outstanding command issues of the campaign.34
the Ft. Pease fiasco a year later. The next morning, Terry proceeded up
the Yellowstone on the Far West to meet Col. Gibbon and plan the next
phase of the campaign.
After conferring with subordinates, Terry decided to send Maj. Reno
with six companies of 7th Cavalry (right wing) and a Gatling gun to
scout the Powder and Tongue river valleys. Reno was to determine if In-
dian bands observed on the Rosebud had gone east toward Powder River.
Custer’s left wing of cavalry and the rest of the Dakota column were to
move to the mouth of Powder River with the wagon train while Gibbon’s
command marched back to the mouth of Rosebud Creek. The two wings
of the 7th Cavalry were to rendezvous at the mouth of Tongue River,
where further movements would take into account what Reno learned
from his reconnaissance. Major Moore was to complete the transfer of
supplies from Stanley’s Crossing and establish a new depot at the Powder
River confluence.43
Terry’s detachment again failed to identify a suitable wagon route
through the breaks during its return to the Dakota column bivouac. On
his arrival here, the general used the remaining supplies in his wagon
train to outfit Reno’s cavalry wing for its mission. An estimated 90 to
97 pack mules managed by five civilian packers carried 12 days’ rations,
one-sixth the normal forage allotment, and additional ammunition for
the scouting party. The column’s few professional packers had a scant
two days to work with the poorly trained mules and to teach soldiers the
art of throwing a diamond hitch, balancing a load, and caring for a pack
mule; the results were mediocre at best.44
these soldiers were to guard company property, but many simply did not
have suitable mounts. The Dakota column’s wagons, infantry, many civil-
ian employees, and a few Indian scouts also remained at the depot with
Moore’s three-company guard from Ft. Buford.45
While the Wyoming column battled the tribes on the upper Rose-
bud, Terry’s right wing of 7th Cavalry was a mere 40 miles farther down
the steam completing its reconnaissance. Reno arrived at Tongue River
on June 15 but did not descend to the Yellowstone as ordered. He turned
west, found the recently abandoned Lakota campsites, and followed the
Indian trails west for some distance before returning down the Rosebud
valley to the Yellowstone River.
of oats, and two horseshoes. A debate among Custer and his officers en-
sued regarding the total amount of forage required for the command.51
The lieutenant colonel understood that many animals in the pack
train that had supported Reno’s scouting mission were not in good con-
dition. Several officers argued that the forage should be decreased to
lighten the load on the mules, but Custer, who liked using pack mules,
suggested that more grain would improve mule fitness.52 Leaving the final
decision on forage to company commanders, Custer told them to take
extra salt and to be prepared to live on horsemeat.53 He intended to pur-
sue the tribes until he found them, even if it required more than the 15
days for which his command was provisioned. The companies appear to
have taken about one-sixth the usual forage allotment, but they also car-
ried extra salt.
While the cavalry regiment prepared for its departure, sutler John
Smith was doing business from the steamer, and another trader from
Bozeman landed a mackinaw boatload of goods near the bivouac. Pop-
ular items in the traders’ inventory at this time included straw hats and
liquor. Some officers filled flasks and canteens for their journey.54
On the morning of June 22, Custer led his troops a few miles west to
Rosebud Creek, where he was forced to attend to poorly packed mules
in the supply train. After repacking and adjusting loads, the command
marched up the creek to the Indian trail Reno’s scouting party encoun-
tered on June 16 and followed this stream as it coursed south and west.
Instead of continuing to the head of the Rosebud before crossing to the
Little Bighorn as planned, Custer used the discretion afforded by his
orders to pursue the trail as it turned west before he reached the upper
Rosebud valley. Learning the general location of the Indian camp along
the Little Bighorn, he intended to rest his command in a secluded area
until Gibbon was in place at the mouth of the stream. However, fearing
that his position had been discovered, Custer ordered an attack on June
25 with only a general idea about the location and size of the village.
the evening of June 26, the weary, thirsty command watched as the tribes
paraded up the west side of the valley toward the Bighorn Mountains
with all of their horses and most of their possessions.
Although the tribes lost 30 to 40 dead and many wounded, they
had won a stunning victory.60 Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse, Gall, and other
leaders contributed to the victory, but it was the resolve of individual
warriors to protect their families that won the day.61 Indian combatants
had perhaps a three-to-one advantage, and they faced a fragmented force
with overconfident leaders. Sheridan, Custer, and other officers were con-
vinced from the outset that the tribes would not stand and fight under
any circumstances.62
Gibbon’s force arrived on June 27 to discover that the tribes had in-
deed fought. The Montana column and survivors of the 7th Cavalry at-
tended to 60 wounded and buried 263 dead combatants. Terry’s reunited
but significantly reduced force carried the wounded to the mouth of the
Little Bighorn, where they were placed aboard the Far West and taken to
the mouth of the Bighorn. The steamer ferried the command to the left
bank of the Yellowstone, where Terry established a new base camp. He
then sent the Far West toward Ft. Lincoln with the wounded and an ini-
tial report of the action on June 25 and 26. After stopping at the Powder
River depot on the Fourth of July long enough to bury a soldier who died
en route, boat captain Grant Marsh set a speed record to Ft. Lincoln,
traveling 710 miles in 54 hours.63 General Sheridan heard of Custer’s fate
on the eve of the nation’s centennial celebration in Philadelphia.
Shocked by the defeat at Little Bighorn, Sheridan sent reinforcements
and ordered Crook and Terry to continue their pursuit of the tribes. He
suggested that they coordinate their efforts but left much to the discre-
tion of his department commanders. Crook left his Goose Creek base
camp on August 5 with about 2,000 men, including 25 troops of cavalry,
20 companies of infantry, and 200 to 300 Shoshone allies. He carried
rations for 15 days on the pack train but lacking additional mules, was
unable to take forage. To lighten the load on his now inadequate pack
train, he stripped the command to a bare minimum of equipment and
traveled north to the head of the Rosebud and down that stream toward
the Yellowstone.64
On July 17, Terry ordered his men at the Powder River depot to join
the rest of his command at the mouth of the Bighorn. The Josephine and
Far West ferried Moore’s personnel, goods, wagons, and equipment across
the Yellowstone, and he proceeded up the valley to a point 12 miles west
64 Chapter 3
Col. Nelson Miles back to Ft. Beans. Miles was to patrol on the steam-
boat, guard fords along the Yellowstone east of Rosebud Creek, and see
that supplies were moved back to the Powder River depot site. With the
largest force on the northern plains since Sully’s 1864 expedition, Terry
knew that his supplies would be stretched thin. He also understood that
the supply system would collapse when the steamboats could no longer
negotiate the low water levels that are normal for the Yellowstone in late
summer and fall.
The rivers swelled temporarily on August 11 when a cold front and
rainstorm chilled and drenched the commands’ bivouac on Tongue
River. From here the large Indian trail diverged in several directions;
Terry and Crook followed the largest of these down the Tongue and then
east to Powder River.72 Unable to escape cold temperatures and rain for
several days, the commands suffered, as the sick list grew longer. Many
men displayed symptoms of scurvy and dysentery. All were fatigued, and
most needed to replace worn clothing and shoes.
The tribesmen had set fire to much of the country over which the
commands passed, and soldiers were forced to destroy mounts and pack
mules weakened by the lack of grass and grain.73 The generals led their
weary, demoralized armies north to the Powder River depot site for
much-needed rest and supplies. The Indian trail they followed turned
east from Powder River in the vicinity of the Dakota column’s bivouac in
June, about 20 miles south of the mouth of the Yellowstone. The trail was
at least two weeks old.74
Terry and Crook arrived at the mouth of Powder River on August 17,
finding a guard of 5th Infantry that Col. Miles had posted there, but few
supplies had been transferred from the Rosebud base camp. Lacking ad-
equate vessels to ferry wagons across the Yellowstone, Miles’s command
was unable to start its overland trip from Ft. Beans to the Powder until
the day Terry and Crook arrived at the old depot site. Terry was more
concerned about patrolling the Yellowstone to determine if any Lakota
had crossed to the north than hurrying supplies to Powder River. He used
the Far West to send Miles and scout Buffalo Bill Cody on a quick re-
connaissance to Glendive Creek. When they returned two days later to
report having found no Indian crossings, Terry ordered the steamer to
the Rosebud for supplies and closed the depot at Ft. Beans.
Army supplies were scarce when the columns arrived at the mouth
of Powder River, but traders were again ready to do business. Field sut-
ler Smith plus Bozeman traders with an armada of mackinaw boats were
66 Chapter 3
River before the Yellowstone would no longer support river traffic. Water
levels were already perilously low, and no boats could pass above Wolf
Rapids without first unloading cargo. Freight from boats that could
not ascend the rapids was piled on the left bank of the Yellowstone for
transshipment. The Far West continued to operate above these rapids
and would not descend below them until the last possible moment.
Taking these factors into account, Terry sent most of his force to the
mouth of O’Fallon Creek to be ferried to the left bank of the Yellow-
stone. He then proceeded back to the Powder River confluence followed
by Maj. Moore’s infantry and the wagons. Steamers ferried men and
equipment at Powder River to the left bank of the Yellowstone, where
the infantry used wagons and teams to move stockpiled cargo above Wolf
Rapids and loaded it onto the Far West for transport to the mouth of
Tongue River.78
With the shipment of goods to Tongue River under way, Terry took
his main force north from O’Fallon Creek on August 27. Still concerned
that Sitting Bull had moved north toward the upper Missouri, Terry’s col-
umn, supplied by a pack train, marched to the head of Bad Route Creek
and back to the guard post Col. Miles had established at Glendive. This
brief scout to the north failed to yield results when a cavalry detachment
narrowly missed a Hunkpapa camp under Long Dog.79
Terry received a message that the Wyoming column would not resup-
ply at Glendive; Crook would instead continue to follow Indian trails
to the south. On September 5, Terry ended his campaign, ordering the
Montana column back to Forts Ellis and Shaw. Maj. Moore’s command
marched back to Ft. Buford with Reno, who, after another unsuccess-
ful scout for Long Dog’s village, led the 7th Cavalry to its Ft. Lincoln
headquarters. Terry, Buffalo Bill, and several officers who were granted
leave took the Josephine to Ft. Buford, where the officers directed the
supply operation for the cantonment at Tongue River before returning to
St. Paul and other destinations.80
As Sheridan predicted after the 7th Cavalry was defeated at the Little
Bighorn, his two large armies did little damage to the tribes before the
campaign came to its inglorious end. Crook’s command was subsisting
on horse meat en route to the Black Hills when it stumbled on a camp
of 37 Sioux lodges. The Wyoming column inflicted a few casualties and
destroyed the camp, but, like Reynolds’s fight on Powder River, the battle
at Slim Buttes accomplished little.
68 Chapter 3
no longer find enough bison to feed themselves. White hunters had all
but slaughtered the entire herd by 1883.83 The hunters’ success provided
a new opportunity for the open-range livestock industry, and Miles City
became the terminus of the Texas or Northern Trail over which cattle
were driven from various places to the south.
As the Bozeman entrepreneurs had desired for a decade, steamboat
traffic flourished on the lower Yellowstone beginning with the construc-
tion of the cantonment at Tongue River. When water levels permitted,
steamers transported materials to Ft. Keogh and a second post built on
the Bighorn River. From 1877 to 1882, steamboats also facilitated civilian
commerce related to the hide trade, ranching, and settlement.
Although a steamboat port never developed in the Yellowstone valley
to compete successfully with Ft. Benton, the Bozeman business commu-
nity was delighted when railroad construction crews pushed west from
Bismarck. Northern Pacific tracklayers reached Miles City in 1881, and
two years later, the last spike was driven to connect the line with the West
Coast. As freight trains carried the last buffalo hides from the northern
herd to eastern markets, the steamboat business on the Yellowstone be-
gan to collapse.84
The Northern Pacific encouraged settlement in the Yellowstone val-
ley to generate revenue from selling land it received from the government
and then hauling the goods imported to and exported from area settle-
ments. Farming continued to grow in the valleys through the 19th cen-
tury and rapidly spread to upland areas as railroad advertising stimulated
a homesteading boom between 1900 and 1918. The Chicago, Milwaukee,
St. Paul and Pacific built into Montana after 1906 with an advertising
campaign extolling the blessings of cheap land and no-risk dryland farm-
ing methods. In response to the Milwaukee’s enormously successful cam-
paign, settlers filed for homesteads on public land, purchased railroad
property, and bought from private speculators.85
Although located at the confluence of two major streams, the old
Powder River depot site looks much the same as it did in 1876. Home-
steads were built here between 1889 and 1922, but they have been either
consolidated into larger ranches with headquarters elsewhere or acquired
by the federal government and torn down. A few building foundations
with associated trash and fields planted with crested wheatgrass are the
only visible evidence of the homestead era. The first wagon road between
Ft. Keogh and Ft. Buford was north of the Yellowstone and several miles
from the Powder River confluence. A road connecting Ft. Keogh with
70 Chapter 3
Ft. Lincoln and Bismarck in 1878 crossed the Powder River a mile south
of the confluence. The town of Terry was established five miles northeast
of the depot site in 1882 along the Northern Pacific route. Built on the
south side of the Yellowstone, the Northern Pacific line crosses the Pow-
der River about a quarter mile southeast of its mouth. Old Highway 10,
now a local frontage road, lies close to the railroad, and Interstate High-
way 94 is roughly parallel another half mile to the south near the original
Keogh-to-Bismarck Trail. The Milwaukee line, now abandoned, bridged
the Yellowstone a mile below Wolf Rapids and then followed along the
north side of the river. Calypso, one of the Milwaukee stations, was built
about a half mile west of the Yellowstone crossing; like the homesteads, it
now consists of foundations and trash.86
Fr. DeSmet’s 1851 characterization of the lower Yellowstone and Pow-
der River country was essentially correct. Other than along perennial
streams, the land was not suitable for small-scale agriculture, although
abundant grasslands supported grazing herbivores. As the Jesuit noted,
plains tribes found the area a cornucopia of natural resources, where “all
the animals common in the wilderness abound.” It was also one of the
last areas of the plains claimed by thousands of homesteaders seeking
their fortune on small dryland farms. These settlers soon discovered that
the Northern Pacific and Milwaukee advertisements were simply propa-
ganda; the land was not an agricultural Eden on which a farmer with 320
to 640 upland acres could make a living. Most of them left the country
after a few years, and those who persevered built larger, viable ranches
that cover the landscape today.
Chapter 4
From the Dakota column’s bivouac on Powder River, General Terry sent
Reno’s 7th Cavalry wing scouting to the south on June 10 with the com-
mand’s remaining supplies aboard a hastily organized pack train. The fol-
lowing day, Custer led companies making up the left wing of his regiment
and the rest of the column through very difficult terrain to the Powder
River depot (Table 4.1). With the wagon train nearly empty, the cavalry
companies used this 20-mile trek to the Yellowstone River as an opportu-
nity to continue training men and mules in the art of packing; the cavalry
regiment would continue to depend on pack mules for its supply needs
when away from depots on the Yellowstone.
Here was a large tent owned by a white man who was trading.
This white trader was selling liquor to the soldiers. The tent was
black with soldiers buying liquor, it looked like a swarm of flies.
71
Table 4.1. Chronology of Events at the Mouth of Powder River, 1876
Jun 6 Capt. James Powell and Company C, 6th Infantry, arrive at Powder River
with supplies from Stanley’s Crossing.
Jun 8 From the Dakota column bivouac 20 miles south on Powder River, Gen.
Terry arrives with two companies of 7th Cavalry and meets a detachment
from the Montana column.
Jun 11 A second company of the 6th Infantry depot guard arrives with sutler Smith
and his goods. Terry returns to the Powder River depot with the Dakota
column minus Reno’s wing of cavalry sent to scout south along Powder
River and then west to the Tongue.
Jun 13 The last of Major Moore’s 6th Infantry depot guard companies arrive with
the remaining supplies from Stanley’s Crossing.
Jun 15 Custer’s wing of 7th Cavalry departs. The depot guard and several hundred
other men remain at the Powder River depot.
Jun 16 Major Moore reorganizes his depot guard battalion.
Jun 28 Gen. Terry’s Arikara scouts arrive with news of the battle at Little Bighorn.
Jul 4 The steamer Far West stops on its way to Ft. Lincoln with the Little Bighorn
wounded. Depot personnel bury battlefield casualty Private William George,
Co. H, 7th Cavalry, and celebrate the centennial of Independence Day.
Jul 20 Major Moore’s battalion and all other personnel at the depot take the
supplies on the wagon train to Rosebud Creek. The Powder River depot is
abandoned, but some forage is left there.
Jul 29 Three companies of 22nd Infantry are deployed to cover the passage of the
steamer Carroll past the abandoned depot after tribesmen are seen here.
Rifle fire is exchanged at long distance.
Jul 30 Two steamers carrying 5th Infantry reinforcements for Terry’s command
sight warriors in the vicinity of the abandoned depot.
Aug 2 A detachment under Maj. Moore returns to the abandoned depot to recover
forage and skirmishes with warriors. Scout Brockmeyer is mortally wounded,
and a warrior is killed.
Aug 11 Company H, 5th Infantry, is posted at the mouth of Powder River opposite
the abandoned depot site.
Aug 15 Recruits for the 2nd Cavalry and 7th Infantry from Ft. Ellis are posted at
the abandoned depot site.
Aug 16 The combined commands of Gen. Terry and Gen. Crook arrive at the
mouth of Powder River.
Aug 17 Sutler Smith arrives with goods from the Rosebud depot (Ft. Beans).
Aug 21 The supply train arrives from the Rosebud depot.
Aug 23 Court-martial of Sgt. DeLacy, 7th Cavalry.
Aug 24 Gen. Crook’s command departs.
Aug 25 Gen. Terry’s command departs; an infantry guard is left at Powder River.
Aug 26 Terry returns with infantry companies. Several steamers arrive with supplies
for the new Tongue River Cantonment.
Sep 6 Gen. Terry closes the campaign, and the mouth of Powder River is abandoned.
Events of the 1876 Sioux War at the Mouth of Powder River 73
There was no guardhouse at this camp and when the soldiers were
arrested for being drunk they were taken out on the prairie and
guarded there.1
Custer did not use alcohol but noted in a letter to his wife that the
steamer delivered new supplies for the mess including onions, potatoes,
and dried apples.2 Items bought on account from the sutler provide ex-
amples of other food and nonfood items available at the depot.3 Among
the goods were peaches, succotash, corned beef, turkey, lobster, corn,
beans, salmon, oysters, pickles, ketchup, and cheese. Fresh eggs, butter,
and lemons were available too. Other items included boots, boot black-
ing, gloves, hats, goggles, underwear, shirts, pants, overalls, socks, and
handkerchiefs. Smith also offered mirrors, knives, tin pans, plates, cups,
washbasins, pails, brooms, coffeepots, kettles, pins, envelopes, water kegs,
fishhooks, head nets, and toothbrushes. He sold a few products com-
monly used to treat upset stomach such as ginger ale and magnesia. Sec-
ond only to alcohol, the item most sought at the store was tobacco, sold
in plug and as cigarettes and cigars. Pipes and cigarette papers were also
available, as were matches.
Soldiers could purchase a variety of foods and condiments from
commissary stores at much lower prices than similar items carried by the
sutler.4 Canned goods included asparagus, clams, green corn, raspberry
jam, cranberry sauce, currant jelly, lobster, milk, onions, oysters, peaches,
pears, pineapples, plums, two kinds of green peas, salmon, sardines, soup
(two flavors), and tomatoes. Also available were butter, cheese (two
types), Java coffee, crackers, sugar-cured ham, macaroni, mackerel, jars
and bottles of pickles, and lemon extract. Foods could be enhanced with
cinnamon, cloves, ginger, molasses, mustard, red pepper, Worcestershire
sauce, and syrup. The Commissary Department also sold tobacco at cost.
Although enlisted men could purchase these kinds of foods from
the Commissary Department or sutler, few could afford to buy them
in quantity.5 Many subsisted on the basic ration issued to them by the
commissary, consisting of flour or hardbread, salt pork, salt beef, beans
or split peas, and coffee supplemented with cornmeal, rice, hominy,
sugar, vinegar, salt, and pepper. Companies were permitted to sell excess
flour and other surplus rations to civilians and use the cash to purchase
nonissue foods for the rank and file. The nonissue commissary items were
available to all soldiers at cost, but most were purchased by officers, who
were required to buy all of their rations.6
74 Chapter 4
and beef herd also remained here, as did the wagons.13 Animals included
more than 500 mules not selected to support the 7th Cavalry in the field
and an undetermined number of dogs. Before accompanying Terry on
the Far West, sutler Smith detailed clerks to maintain a store at Powder
River for about 300 men.14
The number of men at the depot fluctuated as detachments escorted
steamboats and acted as couriers. Infantry served as pickets, handled
freight, managed the mule herd, and assumed all other chores associ-
ated with a field camp. Pvt. Sanford noted that Moore reorganized his
command on June 16, assigning each company a specific bivouac area.
Half of the companies erected work tents where three to four men slept,
while the rest of the units used two-man dog tents.15 Soldiers constructed
sinks (i.e., latrines) and shades for both officer and enlisted; the shades
required constant maintenance to repair wind damage. Camp chores in-
cluded picket duty, hauling wood and water, cooking, and kitchen police.
To improve their menu, the men of D Company constructed an oven,
allowing them to have fresh bread for much of their stay at the depot. Al-
though no confirmation was found in documentary sources, other com-
panies probably built ovens as well.16
Perhaps typical of soldiers in any age, Pvt. Sanford was always inter-
ested in what was served at meals. In addition to fresh bread, his com-
pany had butter, baked beans, apples, applesauce, bacon, coffee, and pie.
After the Josephine arrived on June 24, Company D enjoyed fresh beef
for much of its stay at Powder River. The steamer brought lettuce, on-
ions, and radishes on July 1, probably from gardens maintained by the
6th Infantry at Ft. Buford.17 The men also supplemented their diet by
fishing and hunting. Although Pvt. Sanford noted that buffalo were seen
by hunting parties, he mentioned only venison and rabbit being served in
his company.18 Of course, the sutler’s store continued to offer a variety of
goods.
Smith’s clerks sold quantities of alcohol in early June while the cavalry
was at Powder River, and sales remained strong until the depot was aban-
doned in July. Sanford noted incidents of drunkenness and related disci-
plinary problems throughout this period, recording many in his company
inebriated on June 14 and 17 and July 4, 5, and 8. Partying officers kept
the entire camp awake the night of June 23, and D Company’s Lt. Thibaut
was drunk on July 5. Several enlisted men of the company served time
in the mill for being drunk on guard duty and a variety of other offenses
including missing reveille or retreat, fighting, forgery, and threatening an
76 Chapter 4
toward the rendezvous with Terry’s command at the mouth of the Rose-
bud. The incident was listed as one of the official actions with Indians
during the 1876 campaign, and the army reported one warrior killed and
a single casualty on the steamer, a slight wound to Pvt. John Donahoe,
Co. G, 22nd Infantry.33
Soon after the action of July 29, Col. Nelson Miles and his 5th In-
fantry regiment passed the mouth of Powder River on the Josephine
and E. H. Durfee. These additional reinforcements for Terry also re-
ported seeing tribesmen in the vicinity of the abandoned depot site, but
the steamers were not fired upon.34 George Miles, the colonel’s civilian
nephew aboard the Durfee, recorded the following in his diary entry of
July 30: “Passed Custer’s old depot near the Powder River, a few dead
mules and old tent poles, etc., one old wagon. This place was smoking
for it had lately been set on fire by the Indians.” The next day, Mr. Miles
noted meeting the Far West on its way to Powder River to recover a large
amount of forage left there and to “look after some Indians who had fired
on the Carroll.”35
with Moore’s command, landing where Indians had taken corn and all
the sacks, leaving only oats on the ground. While soldiers and deckhands
loaded grain onto the steamboat, Brockmeyer and Smith rode three miles
to a high bluff from which they could see, using field glasses, a sizable In-
dian camp about 12 miles up the Powder River valley.46 When returning
to the steamboat landing, Smith saw six Indians on a knoll about 300
yards distant; one of them followed the scouts at a safe distance to within
300 yards of the landing.
When Smith arrived at the landing, Moore refused his request to kill
the brave, who remained a few hundred yards from the troops. The war-
rior made rude gestures toward the troops, whereupon Moore opened
fire with artillery and the tribesman fled uninjured. Smith requested per-
mission to return to the bluffs south of the landing from which he had
seen the village, but Moore again refused.
Smith then retired to his steamboat cabin and slept until he was
awakened by pilot Dave Campbell with a request to borrow Smith’s horse
to ride into the hills with Brockmeyer and a person Smith identified only
as “the herder.” As Smith continued his nap, the three men were attacked
by a half dozen mounted tribesmen about two miles from the landing.
Campbell, Brockmeyer, and the herder made a hasty retreat toward the
Far West with the warriors pursuing them. Moore again ordered the Na-
poleon gun into action, with such accuracy that “two Indians were seen
to fall, and one horse went down to rise no more.”47 Two of the tribesmen
turned back toward the hills, and a single warrior continued his pursuit
of the three men.
Meanwhile back in his cabin, Smith awoke at the sound of artillery.
Quickly assessing the situation, he commandeered Major Moore’s fine
steed from the steamer and rode bareback toward the retreating party,
rifle in hand.48 As he and the men rapidly converged, the pursuing warrior
fired, hitting Brockmeyer’s horse under its backbone. Unable to retrieve
his rifle from beneath the fallen horse, and deserted by his companions,
Brockmeyer ran but was soon overtaken and shot by the warrior. Smith
began firing when about 200 yards from the warrior, who now rode to-
ward Smith. When the two were some 50 yards apart, Smith delivered a
fatal shot from his Winchester, killing the tribesman.49
While Moore fired the Napoleon gun a few more times, Marsh and
the boat crew went looking for Brockmeyer, a task that took about 15
minutes because the prostrate scout was difficult to locate in the tall sage-
brush. Smith noted that someone scalped the warrior without indicating
84 Chapter 4
who did the grisly deed. He retrieved Brockmeyer’s horse, which had re-
gained its feet, and removed the saddle blanket so that it could be used
to carry the wounded scout back to the steamer, presumably by Marsh’s
crew. After Brockmeyer’s death the horse recovered and was sold at
auction.50
These accounts create more questions than they provide answers for
the events of August 2 at the abandoned Powder River depot. A few con-
sistent themes confirm that Brockmeyer, Campbell, and Morgan rode
away from the landing. When attacked, the men retreated, and Brock-
meyer was wounded by a single pursuing warrior. One or more of the
scouts then shot the Indian. Brockmeyer was taken back to the Far West,
where he died; he was buried along the Yellowstone as the command re-
turned to the mouth of the Rosebud.
Most other details of the action vary among the accounts in ways that
cannot be easily reconciled. Maj. Moore reported that 1st Lt. Garretty
promptly hastened his company to help the scouts, with no mention of
Marsh’s rescue party. Marsh recalled that he and his crew rushed to help
the scouts because Moore refused to order troops forward. The New York
Herald reported that Moore threatened to court-martial eight soldiers
who volunteered to accompany Marsh’s rescue party and that the boat
crew called the major a coward for failing to order troops to the scene.51
This newspaper article and an account by Capt. Walter Clifford, Co. E,
7th Infantry, who probably got the information from others, identified
pilot Campbell as turning back to assist Brockmeyer and having a hand
in killing and scalping the warrior.52 The person who killed the warrior
who shot Brockmeyer is elsewhere identified as Morgan or Smith. Brock-
meyer is described as being shot point-blank while pinned under his
horse and as being shot while running away from his downed horse. His
companions are said to have heroically made a stand to help him and kill
his attacker or to have abandoned him to his fate.
Smith recalled that Brockmeyer was buried on August 3 on the
steamboat’s return to Ft. Beans; he says that the burial was on an island
in the Yellowstone “so Indians might not find and mutilate the body.”53
There is, however, no mention in the record that the body of Pvt. Wil-
liam George was reinterred by Moore’s command. Cpl. Meddaugh, who
witnessed George’s burial on July 4, noted in his diary entry for August
2 that Indians had removed the body from its grave at the old depot site.
Meddaugh also noted that the body of the warrior who shot Brockmeyer
was slashed and decapitated by soldiers; the head was “used for a football
Events of the 1876 Sioux War at the Mouth of Powder River 85
in camp for several days.”54 If that is the case, the man’s head would have
had to have been transported back to the Rosebud base camp. Dr. Porter
reportedly sent this man’s scalp to Bismarck to be displayed in public.55
Two Indian accounts document contact with soldiers at the mouth
of Powder River between the depot’s abandonment on July 20 and the
fight of August 2.56 Cheyenne warrior Wooden Leg recalled that after
the battle at Little Bighorn, several tribes returned east and camped on
Powder River, not far from the Yellowstone. They stayed here for several
days before splitting up to find game and better grass for their horses. The
Cheyennes first went from this camp to the mouth of the Powder River,
where they found a large pile of sacked corn by the Yellowstone. The In-
dians ate some of the grain, fed some to their captured cavalry horses, and
left most on the ground after taking the sacks. Wooden Leg noted that
some of the warriors shot at a passing steamboat but those aboard did not
return fire or stop.
Oglala warrior Black Elk also recalled camping on Powder River be-
fore the tribes dispersed, when Lakota scouts reported finding corn on
the Yellowstone. Some young warriors went to investigate and “had a
fight there with the soldiers of the steamboat.”57 A warrior named Yel-
low Shirt was killed in this fight. If Black Elk’s account refers to Moore’s
action on August 2, Yellow Shirt might have been the warrior who shot
Brockmeyer and was then killed by the army scout.58 However, the army
also reported a warrior killed here when Col. Otis’s command engaged
tribesmen on July 29. There is not enough information to identify which
event Black Elk was recalling.
Although details of the fights on July 29 and August 2 are often con-
fused or contradictory, the significance of the events is clear. With the ex-
ception of a few scattered bands, the tribes were camped on Powder River
not far from the Yellowstone during this period. From this big camp,
young warriors gathered at the mouth of Powder River to harass the
steamboats and engage Moore’s forage-recovery operation. As reinforce
ments gathered at his Rosebud Creek base camp, most of the Indians
Gen. Terry sought were a few miles south of his old depot site. Terry’s
pursuit of the tribes would lead him and Crook back to Powder River
long after the tribes had departed.
There was no further military presence at the mouth of Powder River
until troops under Col. Nelson Miles began patrolling the Yellowstone
to ensure that Indians did not escape Terry and Crook’s combined forces
by moving north of the river. With the Far West providing transport on
86 Chapter 4
August 11, Miles posted Co. H, 5th Infantry, on the left bank, opposite
the old depot site. Capt. Samuel Overshine built fieldworks here and de-
ployed a three-inch rifled gun.59
Four days later, 1st Lt. William P. Clark, 2nd Cavalry, landed a small
flotilla of mackinaw boats with recruits from Ft. Ellis for the 7th Infantry
and his regiment. Having met Col. Miles at Ft. Beans on August 11, he
was, perhaps ironically, ordered to transport forage to the mouth of
Powder River. Clark not only took grain back to the old depot site from
which it recently came but also had with him James O’Kelly, the New
York Herald correspondent who had accompanied Otis’s troops when
they tried to burn the forage at Powder River on July 29. Free-lance Boze-
man trader Cy Mounts and his goods were with this party as well.60 In his
August 15 diary entry, Clark states the following:
Clark established this outpost on the right bank of the Yellowstone at the
old depot location, where on August 16 he continued to secure “a large
quantity of grain which had been scattered by the Indians in order to
procure sacks for the corn taken away by them for food.”62 The warriors
could not have known that taking grain sacks from the abandoned depot
would create a minor logistics problem that would hound the soldiers for
weeks.63
I will note that all the tobacco obtainable was eleven pounds. I
know this because that number of orderlies at our Hdqrs. used to-
bacco and I, accordingly, put in a requisition for the allowance of
one pound each. Shortly after it was handed to me the Commis-
sary Sergeant, Bubb came up greatly excited and said that there
was no tobacco at all, that he wanted to keep the eleven pounds
for emergencies, etc, but it was then too late; it had been distrib-
uted among the men of the detachment.76
While it is hard to imagine what emergency would require the last shred
of cut-leaf or plug, tobacco was clearly “the weed that a soldier likes even
better than he does whiskey.”77 The Wyoming column’s Lt. Col. Eugene
Carr noted that lack of tobacco was a “great privation” to his men and
responded to their desperation by allowing some of them to charge on
his account.78
In contrast to trade at the depot in June and July, there was little men-
tion of alcohol sales and only a single incident of drunkenness reported
in August. One account states that beer was available from the Bozeman
traders, and another notes that Montana column transportation manager
Matt Carroll set out a barrel of bottled ale for some officer friends.79 The
reason for this relative sobriety is likely revealed in Pvt. Sanford’s com-
ment of August 21: “No whiskey sold to inlisted men.”80 This prohibi-
tion, however, was not extended to officers.
Events of the 1876 Sioux War at the Mouth of Powder River 89
Most entries in Smith’s ledger at this time were for whiskey and
brandy. Eleven officers charged 23.5 gallons, two demijohns, one quart,
and one canteen of whiskey, and seven officers bought 94 individual
drinks on account. One officer paid $6.00 for two bottles of brandy;
whiskey prices were $6.00 per gallon or 12.5 cents per drink.81
The total amount of liquor Smith sold at Powder River in August
cannot be determined because he might have kept other ledgers and
there is no record of cash sales. If the Bozeman traders sold liquor, no
record has been found. Many men were probably buying in quantity to
share with officers in their unit or others, and the liquor appears to have
been consumed over several days. Regardless, Lt. Ernest Garlington,
Co. H, 7th Cavalry, would recall, “Unfortunately, when we got to the
Powder River camp we found a trader located there who had plenty of
whiskey.” He went on to recount an incident involving an officer in his
regiment.82
On August 23, Garlington was detailed to serve in a regimental court-
martial, the first in which he acted as judge advocate. After an extended
search, he found an infantry officer in Crook’s command who could write
out from memory the oath to be administered to members of the court.
His next challenge was coaxing the reluctant president of the court,
Capt. Thomas Weir, Co. D, 7th Cavalry, to convene the proceedings.
The tenacious lieutenant succeeded after several foiled attempts, and
the court-martial began under a cottonwood tree with members seated
on “roots and stumps.” Presiding with a demijohn of whiskey held be-
tween his knees, Capt. Weir would occasionally adjourn the court, “have
Sergeant DeLacey and the witness step a few paces to one side, when he
would tilt the demijohn, take a drink, and ask the other members of the
court to join him, which none did.” DeLacey, the accused, was charged
with being absent without leave and conduct to the prejudice of military
orders and discipline. His $10.00 fine was suspended by the regimental
commander. Lt. Garlington hounded the president for several days to
sign the proceedings and commented on Weir’s promising early service
and gallant Civil War record.83
Capt. Weir was with Benteen’s battalion at the Little Bighorn and
on joining Reno’s shattered command at its hilltop defensive position,
requested permission to lead a reconnaissance to determine Custer’s
whereabouts. He led Company D to an elevated area now called Weir
Point, a mile north of the defensive position. Benteen followed later with
90 Chapter 4
Cos. H, K, and M, and still others were headed north when all units re-
treated back to Reno Hill as a large force of warriors from Custer’s part of
the battlefield rode in their direction. Weir had a heated exchange with
Reno because the major failed to organize an advance in the direction of
Custer’s apparent position.84
The captain and many others no doubt needed rest and recuperation
at Powder River, and in the frontier army that often included alcohol.
Drinking was a prominent pastime for soldiers in garrison and in the field
when alcohol was available, to deal with stress, boredom, loneliness, and
other conditions of military life. While the incidence of severe alcohol-
ism was high, it does not appear to have been any more prevalent on the
frontier than elsewhere.85 General cultural norms of the day contributed
to this problem because alcohol was commonly used as medicine and was
thought to be particularly good for the heart and lungs. Combat-related
issues, such as post-traumatic stress disorder, were not understood and
probably contributed to alcohol consumption after any battle.86
As recorded in Smith’s ledger, Capt. Weir charged nine drinks, several
ales, two quarts of whiskey, and a bottle of brandy to his account at Ft.
Beans between August 1 and August 7. Two days before DeLacey’s court-
martial at Powder River, the captain bought two gallons of whiskey.87
Tragically, he died less than four months later, probably from complica-
tions of alcoholism.88
Although the traders’ goods contributed to the comfort of the men,
lack of adequate shelter made rest or recuperation impossible for many.
Emulating Crook, General Terry stripped his force to bare essentials
when the commands marched together from Rosebud Creek; each
soldier carried only a blanket and four days’ rations. Troops in neither
command had tenting when a cold front brought rain on August 11 to
the bivouac on Tongue River. Makeshift shelters of brush and driftwood
constructed at the mouth of Powder River proved woefully inadequate as
rain and cool weather gripped the area again on August 21. The next day,
Terry’s men got access to their tenting when the 5th Infantry detachment
arrived on the left bank of the Yellowstone with the wagon train from
Ft. Beans.89
Even tents failed to keep the men dry on August 23 and 24. By most
accounts, the camps were pelted by a deluge that few would forget.
Lt. Godfrey noted that the dog tents did not afford enough protection
for men in these extreme conditions.90 Indeed, Pvt. Sanford reported two
feet of water in his tent at the 6th Infantry camp the morning of August
Events of the 1876 Sioux War at the Mouth of Powder River 91
24, and his unit’s quartermaster was equally flooded.91 Some of Terry’s
officers apparently fared better than most; camped with his uncle’s 5th
Infantry, George Miles stated in his diary entry for August 23:
This evening we had one of the hardest wind and rain storms that
I ever saw, quite a number of the tents came down and the poor
soldiers were just drenched. I slept on the ground but managed
to keep nice and dry, as we had a good ditch around our tent and
canvas on the tent floor.92
Still without tenting, the Wyoming column suffered the most, as re-
vealed in numerous accounts of officers and newspaper correspondents.93
Despite the inclement weather, Crook bade a final farewell to the mouth
of Powder River on the morning of August 24 after acquiring rations and
new shoes for his men. In pursuit of now weeks-old Indian trails to the
east, he again limited the amount of material carried by individual solders
and had only his pack train for supplies.94
Intending to follow Crook, Terry modified his supply system to in-
clude not only pack animals but also a limited number of wagons. He
ordered steamboats to ferry the 40 wagons and four companies of the 5th
Infantry to the right bank of the Yellowstone.95 Leaving Company B, 5th
Infantry, and Capt. Sanger’s 17th Infantry to guard wagons and supplies
transferred from the Rosebud, he started his command up Powder River
on August 25. The next day couriers brought news of recent Lakota activ-
ity on the lower Yellowstone and new orders from Sheridan to expedite
construction of a post at the mouth of Tongue River. Sending most of his
command back to the Yellowstone near O’Fallon Creek, Terry returned
to the mouth of Powder River with his staff and a company of 2nd Cav-
alry; Major Moore and the 6th Infantry companies followed with the
wagons. Here Terry found several steamers with supplies and additional
troops for the new post. After leaving orders for disposition of the sup-
plies for Tongue River, he proceeded down the Yellowstone to join the
rest of his command near O’Fallon Creek.96
Water levels in the Yellowstone continued to fall, forcing steamboats
to off-load cargo below Wolf Rapids. Soldiers were busy using wagons
left at Powder River to transport stores from a landing below the r apids
to an upper landing where supplies were loaded on the Far West, the
only steamer still capable of operating between Powder River and the
Tongue.97
92 Chapter 4
Following Terry back to the old depot site, Maj. Moore’s command
arrived with additional wagons on August 27, and the steamboat ferried
them to the left bank of the Yellowstone. The next day, Moore, with four
companies of 6th Infantry, escorted a wagon train to Ft. Buford, traveling
up the left bank of the Yellowstone for several miles before turning up
Custer Creek and then east around the badlands.98
The Far West carried supplies to Tongue River with Co. B, 5th Infan-
try, 50 cavalry recruits, and young George Miles aboard. Capt. Sanger’s
two companies of 17th Infantry remained at Powder River to move sup-
plies between landings for transshipment to Tongue River. The Far West
was forced to abandon the river above Wolf Rapids on August 30. Receiv-
ing orders to close the depot site on the evening of September 5, Sanger
transported everything left at Powder River to Custer Creek, where sup-
plies were forwarded to the Tongue and some wagons were sent to the
Glendive Cantonment.99
Beginning in the fall of 1876, Col. Miles actively pursued Lakota and
Cheyenne bands from his base at the mouth of Tongue River. The can-
tonment, later Ft. Keogh, was initially supplied via a trail north of the
Yellowstone from Ft. Buford to the Glendive Cantonment and then to
the Tongue. Located north of the Terry Badlands, this trail was several
miles from the Powder River confluence. Steamboats also hauled supplies
during the spring rise when passage above Wolf Rapids was no problem
and there was no need to stop at the Powder River.
Chapter 5
93
94 Chapter 5
he turned the steamer about and returned back “to the landing where the
oats had been stored, some distance below the mouth of the Powder.”4 Fi-
nally, when 1st Lt. William P. Clark landed mackinaw boats of recruits on
August 15, he established a camp about a mile below the mouth of Pow-
der River and noted, “This is the place from which the corn was taken by
the Indians in July and where they were in considerable force in the early
part of the present month.”5
Collectively, these accounts confirm that the depot guard camp
in June and July and Lt. Clark’s August 15 camp were in the same loca-
tion, although the guard camp would have been much larger. The loca-
tion of the forage abandoned in July and retrieved on August 2 is well
documented as about a mile below the mouth of Powder River on the
right bank of the Yellowstone. Field observations confirm that there is
only one “circular ridge” near the riverbank between Powder River and
Wolf Rapids on which Maj. Moore could have deployed his troops. At
0.9 miles north of the Powder, a low ridge meeting the cutbank on the
Yellowstone continues to the north and east for about a quarter of a mile.
Feature D was located about 75 meters north of the point where the cir-
cular ridge begins, placing the trash pit in close proximity to the depot
guard camp, Moore’s forage-recovery effort, and at least one steamboat
landing site.
This area is within a half-mile corridor where the Yellowstone is deep-
est along its right bank. An 1879 map of the river channel indicates that
this is the only river segment deep enough to accommodate a steamboat
landing between the Powder and a big bend in the Yellowstone 1.5 miles
to the north.6 The pile of forage Moore retrieved would almost certainly
have been located where a steamer delivered it to the depot in June or
July, marking the location of at least one landing.
Feature F is 300 meters southeast of Feature D. It is a good candi-
date for the remains of an oven constructed by one of the 6th Infantry
companies composing the depot guard.7 Pvt. Sanford noted that the men
of Co. D made an oven to bake bread and that the next day Sgt. Gayle
was firing it.8 The sergeant made the first batch of bread on June 26 and
baked on eight days between June 27 and July 9. The oven was repaired
on July 10, but there is no documentary confirmation that it was used
again before the guard departed the depot on July 20.9 While the evi-
dence suggests that Feature F might have been the location of a company
oven, more work is needed to confirm its function and association with
the depot and a specific company (see appendix 1).
96 Chapter 5
in 1787, the firm proudly announced in 1870 that its product “could be
found in every country in the globe.”16 Three years later Bass controlled
almost 25 percent of all beer exports. E&J Burke was also an authorized
Bass exporter, but its primary business was with the Guinness brewery in
Dublin. Guinness’s origins date to 1759, and by 1833 it was Ireland’s largest
brewery. Like Bass ale, Guinness stout was distributed globally during the
last half of the 19th century.17
The three bottling companies, Hibbert, Foster, and Burke, exported
both Guinness and Bass products, but they differed in market empha-
sis. By 1873 E&G Hibbert dominated the U.S. market for Bass, although
M. B. Foster and Sons was by far the largest distributor of Bass ale world-
wide.18 From 1849 to 1874, E&J Burke was the sole agent for the U.S.
trade in Guinness and continued to be a significant distributor into the
next century. On a global scale, Burke was the dominate export bottler of
Guinness stout, much as M. B. Foster controlled most of the Bass trade.19
A composite label drawn from Feature D bottle shards confirms
that the RBC bottles contained Bass pale ale (Figure 5.1). The yellow
label with the Royal Bottling Company’s trademark, a representation of
St. George slaying the dragon, appears to have been applied on top of the
98 Chapter 5
lower portion of the Bass label with its trademark, a red triangle. Intro-
duced in 1855, this triangle is still found on Bass products today. Most
bottle shards have no labels adhering to them, and all of the surviving
label fragments appear from their colors to be associated with the RBC.20
From 1868 through 1886 E&J Burke was authorized to use green pa-
per for its Guinness stout labels with the familiar Irish harp.21 This green
label was used only in the U.S. market, where Burke was the sole autho-
rized bottler until 1874. Other than foil-covered bottle tops, no bottle
fragments from Feature D could be positively associated with E&J Burke.
Lacking Burke labels or green label remnants, there is no physical evi-
dence that any of the bottles contained stout. However, there is insuffi-
cient data to conclude that all ale/stout bottles contained only Bass ale.
Bottled ale is a common entry in the Smith and Leighton ledger of
items the sutler sold on account.22 Thirty-three officers and civilians
charged from one to several bottles at 50 cents or 75 cents each, suggest-
ing that ale was sold in two sizes or qualities; at least two and possibly
three sizes of ale bottles were indeed recovered from Feature D. Diamond
R wagon master Matt Carroll charged three barrels, and General Terry’s
chief ordnance officer bought 1¾ barrels of ale, no doubt to be shared.
When Terry met members of the Montana column aboard the Far West
on June 8, Captain Walter Clifford recorded that he enjoyed a bottle of
ale on the steamboat.23 Lt. Charles Roe, also with the Montana column,
noted on August 18 that Carroll shared a barrel of bottled ale with him
and other officers when they arrived at the mouth of Powder River.24 The
reference to barrels comports well with the fact that British and Irish ex-
port bottlers often shipped their products in flour barrels.25
The sutler’s ledger records only two beer sales from a cask rather than
bottles, a half gallon to 7th Cavalry Quartermaster Sgt. Thomas Causby
and a gallon to a civilian employee; both sales occurred on August 3 at
Ft. Beans. Other than a cask, probably from Bozeman traders, shared
among officers of the Montana column in May,26 this is the only indica-
tion that domestic beer was sold to Terry’s command.27 While lager beer
would have been brewed in Montana Territory towns such as Bozeman
and Helena, as well as Bismarck, Chicago, St. Paul, and Sioux City, it
spoiled quickly in the summer heat.28 Larger American breweries began
pasteurizing in 1873 and exporting in quantity when refrigerated railcars
were developed after 1876. Before pasteurization, the U.S. bottled beer
trade was dominated by British, Irish, and other European firms such as
E&J Burke and M. B. Foster and Sons.29
Connecting Archaeology and History at the Powder River Depot 99
Officers charged a much greater volume of liquor than ale at the sut-
ler’s Yellowstone store, although few whiskey and brandy bottles were
found in Feature D.30 When the Dakota column arrived in June Smith’s
clerks sold stock liquor from 45-gallon casks, while finer brands were
in bottles packed in barrels.31 Pvt. Sanford, Arikara scout Red Star, and
others reported many enlisted soldiers and a few officers drunk during
this period. Several campaign participants commented on the rush to
the sutler when Terry and Crook’s combined forces reached the mouth
of Powder River in August. Officers again charged copious amounts of
liquor, but it was not sold to the enlisted ranks at this time.
Although there is no documentary evidence, small, paneled tumblers
recovered from Feature D might also have been used to serve liquor. Any
liquid could have been drunk from a stemmed goblet found in the fea-
ture, but the vessel does suggest wine or champagne. Bottles of the type
usually associated with the fruit of the vine were recovered from Feature
D; however, the British and Irish bottlers sometimes sold ale and stout
in this type of bottle as well (see appendix 2, note 9). A few foil wrap-
pers embossed with bunches of grapes are evidence that at least some of
these bottles contained wine or champagne. The Smith and Leighton
ledger provides the only documentary evidence that wine was available
to T erry’s column. The day before he charged two gallons of whiskey and
three barrels of ale to his account, wagon boss Matt Carroll purchased
wine for $25.00.32
In addition to liquor, wine, champagne, and beers, Smith sold ginger
ale. Terry’s ordnance officer, who also bought bottled ale by the barrel,
charged ginger ale to his account totaling $48.00.33 The sutler’s ledger
documents that several other officers, including the general, purchased
the spicy beverage at 50 cents a bottle. Consistent with this record, shards
of thick-walled, round-bottomed bottles and embossed metal disks in-
dicate that Feature D contained a minimum of 10 bottles designed for
highly carbonated beverages such as soda water, ginger ale, or sarsaparilla.
The disks and some bottle fragments are embossed with “CANTRELL
AND COCHRANE, BELFAST AND DUBLIN.” One of these b ottles
had “MEDICATED AERATED WATERS” in raised lettering, but
others might have held ginger ale, another popular beverage made by this
Irish firm.34
Ginger ale was among many products thought to have medicinal
qualities in the late 19th century. Smith’s ledger also documents sales
of magnesia and Seidlitz powder, patent medicines for stomach and
100 Chapter 5
intestinal problems. Often fed badly prepared food and exposed to poor
sanitation, frontier soldiers suffered from a variety of deficiency and di-
arrheal diseases.35 A 7th Cavalry private left at the Powder River depot
in June was diagnosed with typhoid fever and died of pneumonia at the
Ft. Buford hospital.36 By the end of July 1876, 35 to 40 men of the Mon-
tana column were reporting to sick call every night with symptoms of
“camp fever” and scurvy.37 Twenty sick men were transported via steam-
boat from Ft. Beans at the mouth of the Rosebud on August 2.38 Later
that month, 34 sick and disabled men in General Crook’s command, in-
cluding 14 cases of acute dysentery and diarrhea, were evacuated from the
mouth of Powder River on the Far West.39 Others such as 2nd Lt. Fran-
ces Roe, 2nd Cavalry, suffered temporary bouts of dysentery and “fearful
pains” in the stomach but remained on duty.40 Treatment of diarrheal dis-
eases often involved purging the digestive tract with laxatives, leaving the
patient ever more dehydrated.
One bottle recovered from Feature D is embossed “TARRANT &
CO DRUGGISTS NEW YORK.” Tarrant and Company marketed a
variety of medicinal products from 1859 to 1905.41 One of their products
advertised to “physicians and medical staffs of the Army and Navy” was
Tarrant’s Seltzer Aperient. The ad stated, “As a means of alleviating all
maladies in tropical climates it has been found particularly valuable.”42
Like other purgatives, it probably worked as well on the banks of the Yel-
lowstone as it did along the Amazon or Orinoco.
The sutler’s ledger indicates that he carried fresh and canned goods
that would combat deficiency diseases such as scurvy, including lemons,
canned peaches, succotash, corn, and beans. Smith’s clerk recalled selling
goods at the Powder River depot for several days when the Dakota col-
umn arrived in June, and sales were brisk to those who had been on field
rations for a month.
Army records indicate that the Commissary Department provided
foods for soldiers to purchase when at the depot that offered variety to
their diet and prevented deficiency diseases. Ten varieties of canned fruits
and vegetables were available as well as potatoes, dried apples, and peas.
As an alternative to bacon, salt pork, or salt beef, protein was available
from canned clams, lobster, milk, oysters, salmon, and sardines; bulk
cheeses, cured hams, and mackerel could also be purchased.43
Unlike the Dakota column, which marched from Ft. Lincoln to the
Powder River depot, the 6th Infantry depot guard traveled via steam-
boat from Ft. Buford to the Stanley’s Crossing and Powder River depots,
Connecting Archaeology and History at the Powder River Depot 101
where it had access to commissary and sutler’s goods. Pvt. Sanford’s diary
indicates that the enlisted men from these units were interested primar-
ily in the sutler’s alcohol and had little need for his high-priced canned
goods. They were eating very well in June and July, with frequent issues
of fresh beef, baked beans, and apples supplemented with venison and
rabbit supplied by hunting parties. Individual soldiers contributed fish to
the company mess. When possible, 6th Infantry companies assigned to
escort the steamboats also brought back fresh vegetables, probably from
their gardens at Ft. Buford.44 This fare differed markedly from the usual
bacon, hardtack, coffee, and sugar provided when on the march.
When Terry’s and Crook’s forces arrived at the mouth of Powder
River in August, demand was high for fresh foods and canned fruits and
vegetables, particularly among Crook’s men. They had been on field ra-
tions the longest, without access to commissary stores or sutler’s goods.
Terry’s supplies had not yet arrived from the Ft. Beans depot on the Yel-
lowstone, but many participants noted that they had access to fresh eggs,
potatoes, onions, and canned fruits and vegetables brought by Gallatin
valley traders on mackinaw boats.45 Egg sales by these traders would ac-
count for the presence of the many eggshells in Feature D; there is no
evidence that eggs were available from sutler Smith or commissary stores.
Most of the cans recovered from Feature D probably contained fruit,
vegetables, or preserves, and a few are definitely sardine cans; others were
designed for dry materials such as yeast or lemonade powder. In addition
to canned fruits and vegetables sold by the sutler and commissary, the
latter stocked cans of sardines and yeast powder. All of the can specimens
are consistent with the canned goods available for purchase and with ac-
tivities that occurred at the depot such as baking bread. Private Sanford
noted that his sergeant baked bread in an oven constructed at Powder
River, an observation supported by records indicating that 85 barrels of
flour were among the commissary stores at the end of June. These records
also indicate that most of the bread ration in the coming weeks would
likely consist of hardbread, with 61,530 pounds on hand.46
A stopper from a “Lea and Perrins” sauce bottle and a condiment
bottle, probably ketchup, recovered from Feature D comport with the
documentary record as well. Commissary stores included bottles of
Worcestershire sauce, and sutler Smith sold ketchup.
Beef and fish bones in the archaeological assemblage are certainly
consistent with Pvt. Sanford’s frequent references to fresh beef and fish-
ing at the depot guard camp. Bison bones recovered from Feature D
102 Chapter 5
suggest that buffalo meat was also available, but no documentary evi-
dence for its consumption at the Powder River depot was found. Sanford
notes that bison were observed from the guard camp in June and July, and
it is possible that other companies or the civilian hunter assigned to the
camp provided buffalo meat.47
Among the bones from Feature D are the remains of a dog. Although
there is no evidence to suggest that it was ever intended to be a menu
item, this canine nonetheless met a violent end as a result of three chops
to its neck with a sharp steel implement.48 It was a mature dog, slightly
smaller and more muscular than a coyote but not built for speed like its
wily native cousin.49
Numerous accounts from the 1860s and 1870s document the pres-
ence of dogs in garrison and on the campaign trail. Like Gen. George
Crook, many officers enjoyed hunting for sport, and some, including
Col. Carr, 5th Cavalry, and Lt. Col. Custer, kept hunting dogs for this
purpose. Officers in Col. David Stanley’s 22nd Infantry maintained a reg-
imental pack of dogs.50 Carr had greyhounds with him when campaign-
ing against southern plains tribes in 1867, and Custer was rarely without
his dogs, which, at various times, included foxhounds, staghounds, and
greyhounds.51
Staghounds accompanied Custer from Ft. Lincoln in May 1876 and
were reported to have pursued antelope across the plains of Dakota Terri-
tory with great abandon. When the Montana column was near Ft. Pease
in April, Lt. James Bradley noted a greyhound at the abandoned trad-
ing post and surmised that it had belonged to the post’s former civilian
inhabitants.52 As Crook’s force departed the mouth of Powder River in
August, 1st Lt. John Bourke observed that the Wyoming column had
recently acquired a fine Newfoundland and that solders will sometimes
steal dogs.53
Enlisted men did not have time to hunt or the resources to afford
hunting dogs; most did not own a personal firearm.54 The documen-
tary record indicates, however, that the rank and file had dogs and
other pets. Five days after his company arrived at the Powder River de-
pot, Pvt. Sanford recorded in his diary that he had a dog sleeping with
him and penned, “Plenty of others here.”55 The breed of dog killed and
thrown into Feature D could not be identified, but it was smaller than
any of the hunting breeds known to have been used by officers.56 Perhaps
it was simply a pet, a “non-descript canine of no particular race, breed or
utility.”57
Connecting Archaeology and History at the Powder River Depot 103
beverages, and tobacco at the Powder River confluence are solidly con-
firmed. Likewise, bones from the feature confirm that fresh beef was
available here and that bison may also have been served. The personal
items, packing crates, harness parts, and horseshoe and even the dog
remains are consistent with the record. The following analysis demon-
strates that the artifacts could have been manufactured and transported
to the mouth of Powder River by the summer of 1876.
Dating Feature D
The identified manufacturers and distributors of products represented in
the archaeological assemblage were doing business well before the army’s
centennial campaign, and many are still doing business today. All were
viable companies in 1875 and 1876. The best clues for dating the m aterials
include technologies used in the manufacture of the bottles and cans,
patent dates on other items, and dates derived from similar materials in
other dated archaeological sites. Taking all of these considerations into
account, the latest secure date for the manufacture of any artifact is 1875,
when the Frankford Arsenal began production of the Revolver Ball Car-
tridge, Caliber .45. Feature D would not have existed before this date.
Determining a date beyond which the feature could not have existed us-
ing only data from the artifacts is complicated by the fact that an item
made in 1875 might have been used or lost some months or years later.
Less ambiguous is a terminal date suggested by the presence of bison
bones in the feature.
After the tribes reluctantly moved back to the reservations or sought
refuge in Canada, hide hunters entered eastern Montana Territory, where
much of the last American bison herd was located. Some 5,000 hunters
and skinners were working the northern herd in 1882, and by fall of the
following year, few buffalo were found.79 The only herd surviving in 1883
was well east of the lower Yellowstone in Dakota Territory, and it was
quickly extirpated. From the analysis of its contents, then, Feature D was
constructed between 1875 and 1883. Of the events known to have oc-
curred at or near the Powder River confluence, only the 1876 Sioux War
and the 1880–1883 construction of the Northern Pacific (NP) Railroad
fall within this time frame.
Thousands of bison hides were shipped from Miles City, the town
that grew near Ft. Keogh at the mouth of Tongue River. Completion of
the railroad to this point in 1881 provided transport for the hide business
Connecting Archaeology and History at the Powder River Depot 107
the first...to introduce bottled beer into the United States, and
which, unknown a dozen years ago is now kept in every grocery
store, hotel, liquor house, and nearly every family in the country.
The creation of this trade has practically destroyed the importance
of English and German bottled beer and ales, it has certainly re-
duced it by fully seventy-five percent.82
expensive unpasteurized cask beers from local breweries would also have
been available from Bismarck and other settlements along the NP route
that were eager to profit from railroad development.
Connecting Feature D to the army’s 1876 campaign does not rest on
ale bottles alone. The foregoing analysis demonstrates that no other event
at this location would have produced materials so similar to those iden-
tified in army records and the diaries, memoirs, and ledgers of those who
participated in the campaign. The data support my conclusion that all
of the recovered items would have been available in 1875 and that they
are items discarded by the forces of Terry or Crook. In the next chapter,
comparing Feature D artifacts with items recovered from the Little Big-
horn battlefield provides some interesting details and further affirms the
feature’s association with Sioux War events.
Chapter 6
Conclusions
109
110 Chapter 6
In the next three pages, the lieutenant general twice restated his previous
requests for the Yellowstone posts and asserted that, had they been built,
“there would have been no war.”3
Sheridan’s repeated assertion that building the Yellowstone posts
earlier would have averted war rested on the assumption that the tribes
would not have contested construction of these posts or white settle-
ment in the Black Hills. This seems an overweening supposition, given
the resolve of some bands to remain in the unceded territory and to re-
tain the Black Hills. A statement that his field commanders had “to op-
erate blindly in an almost totally unknown region, comprising an area of
almost ninety thousand square miles” was a partial truth,4 embellished
to support Sheridan’s argument regarding the Yellowstone posts. Al-
though his forces operated in a very large region with difficult terrain,
Sheridan and his subordinates understood a good deal about the geog-
raphy and climate of the lower Yellowstone and Powder River country
by 1876. Some of the scouts and guides with the campaign knew the area
very well.
When the Yellowstone could support steamboat traffic in the spring,
Terry’s mobile supply system was a reasonably good surrogate for depots
at the posts coveted by his commander. Supplies delivered by steamboat
were in place when the Dakota column was to have first arrived at the
Yellowstone River near Glendive Creek. When Terry decided to bypass
this depot at Stanley’s Crossing and push on to Powder River, supplies
were rushed to the mouth of that stream to meet the Dakota column
on June 11. Steamboats continued to move supplies and communica-
tions from Ft. Buford at the mouth of the Yellowstone to Terry’s depots
as needed. After the Little Bighorn disaster, steamers evacuated the
wounded and brought reinforcements and more supplies. Steamers also
remained available for patrol duty on the river and to relocate supplies as
circumstances of the campaign dictated.
There were occasions when commanders wished they had more
steamboat support. Col. Gibbon’s failed attempt to cross the Yellowstone
with an attack force in May might have had a different outcome if the
Montana column had had steamboat support at that time. Gen. Crook
would have been most grateful for an additional steamer to deliver sup-
plies more quickly from Ft. Beans to the mouth of Powder River in mid-
August so that he could leave Terry’s command behind.
A transportation issue for which the Dakota column gets poor marks
is its handling of pack trains. Several military and civilian participants
Conclusions 111
the column of troops, and as fast as they could move. His ranks
were not depleted by drafts to take charge of the packs and ani-
mals, for each mule faithfully followed the sound of the leader’s
bell and needed no other guide, and his pack-mules were neither
worn out nor torn to pieces by bad saddles and worse packing.7
Reno’s wing would remain solely on field rations until it rejoined Terry
and Custer on the Yellowstone River. Col. Gibbon’s Montana column
was on the Yellowstone from March until it joined Terry in June. Sup-
plied by wagon trains from Ft. Ellis during this period, these men might
not have enjoyed the greatest variety of commissary goods, but hunt-
ing and fishing provided fresh meat much of the time. Bozeman traders
also sold goods to this column. From mid-May until reassigned in July,
Maj. Moore’s 6th Infantry depot guard lived in relative luxury. This bat-
talion moved supplies on steamboats from Ft. Buford and established the
depots at Stanley’s Crossing and Powder River. While at the depots, these
companies had regular access to the full suite of commissary and sutler
goods. They also built structures to enhance the quality of the ration,
such as an ice house and baking oven. Fresh beef and fresh bread were
available sporadically for several weeks.
There were a few complaints about commissary stores in the field, but
most of them focused on tobacco shortages rather than inadequate ra-
tions. Most soldiers used tobacco, and many were out when they reached
the mouth of Powder River on August 17. What little tobacco remained
in Terry’s subsistence stores could be purchased at cost, but those supplies
had not yet been brought down from the Rosebud depot at Ft. Beans.
Many were willing to pay the higher prices charged by the sutler and
Bozeman traders, but they too could not meet the demand. Terry’s Com-
missary Department was able to resume tobacco sales in early September,
much to the relief of his men.
Late in the campaign one of Terry’s subalterns groused that the Com-
missary Department failed to have adequate stores available for sale to of-
ficers, “a plain case of neglect on somebody’s part.”10 Crook’s adjutant also
noted that those in charge of supply “have not particularly distinguished
themselves in forwarding stores to the troops on the Yellowstone.”11 His
complaint was directed at the commissary of subsistence rather than the
quartermaster because, although he was not able to get tobacco, Crook’s
command was amply supplied with shoes.
If these complaints ever reached Terry, they did not affect his confi-
dence in field-level Acting Commissary of Subsistence 2nd Lt. R ichard E.
Thompson, Co. K, 6th Infantry. During the first week of August, Subsis-
tence Department staff officer Maj. Beekman DuBarry arrived intending
to usurp the lieutenant’s field assignment by arguing that the command
was now so large as to require the major’s services.12 Terry responded
that Lt. Thompson’s performance was entirely satisfactory, and DuBarry
114 Chapter 6
Powder River with new shoes as well as rations and forage. Terry also sent
a steamboat with stores to Glendive Creek, should Crook chose to re
supply there.
While at the Powder River confluence, both commands had to await
supplies from the Rosebud before resuming their pursuit of the tribes.
Some in the Wyoming column blamed the delay on Terry’s organization.
His decision to use a steamboat to patrol the Yellowstone for Indians
crossing the river slowed transfer of stores from the Rosebud depot to
Powder River. In any case, Crook’s command could not have contin-
ued without resting and feeding its exhausted livestock for several days.
Given that Crook left his stores at a depot far to his rear and Terry was
able to provide supplies for another command as large as his own, it is
hard to argue with the chief commissary’s assessment of his department’s
performance.
ivers. It is hoped that our military forces will drive the Sioux
R
from that country and open it to the anxious miner, who will
reveal its mineral character and bring under contribution to eco-
nomic industry its imprisoned wealth.28
River partitioned with canned goods to separate the officers from the
enlisted ranks.40 A few days later, Private Sanford noted that fatigue de-
tails constructed separate latrines for the officers and enlisted men in his
company.41
Analysis of materials from Feature D suggests that they might have
been used and discarded or lost by men from various economic and so-
cial affiliations including officers, enlisted men, and civilian employees.
However, the data do not yet exist to confirm such a hypothesis. As noted
above, we could not reliably associate beverage bottles from expensive
export beers with officers alone. The trash pit contained the remains of
a stemmed goblet (high status) in addition to a few tumblers (lower sta-
tus), but the sample is too small to draw reliable conclusions. White clay
tobacco pipes in late 19th-century nonmilitary contexts were associated
with the working class and were used by some enlisted troops.42 Although
the rank and file came from a wide range of social and economic back-
grounds, many were from working-class families.43 Clay pipes might have
been used more commonly by enlisted men than by officers, but again,
there is not enough comparative date to reach firm conclusions.
Field sutlers often sold alcoholic beverages, but Terry’s steamboats al-
lowed Smith to transport large quantities of heavy, bulky items such as
bottled soda water, ale, and liquor as well as casks of whiskey. Although
he conducted business only where troops gathered on the banks of the
Yellowstone River, he had no difficulty selling most of this stock by the
end of August. His goods and a wide variety of commissary stores made a
soldier’s life at the Powder River depot in June and July more like being in
garrison, but without the usual boredom.
Custer and one wing of his regiment enjoyed several days of R and
R here after their march from Ft. Lincoln. Private Sanford and his
comrades-in-arms who remained here had access to fresh beef, venison
and other game, vegetables from the company gardens at Ft. Buford,
and fresh bread baked in field ovens. Steamboats brought the mail from
Ft. Buford as well. Pastimes included fishing, some hunting, collecting
agates, playing games, and acquiring pets. The 7th Cavalry band was on
hand for the occasional concert.
Did the soldiers play any games that would account for the marble
in Feature D? Most of us think of these artifacts as children’s toys, but
beginning in the 16th century, there were a number of English marble
games played by adults as well.44 Marbles are often found in Revolution-
ary War campsites of both the British and the American armies, and it is
120 Chapter 6
probable that they belonged to soldiers, not children.45 During the Civil
War General Grant is said to have played marble solitaire, a board game
dating to the 1700s.46 In late 19th-century western mining towns, adults
played with and gambled with marbles.47 The marble, therefore, is not as
mysterious a find in the depot trash as a ceramic doll.
It is hard to imagine why a Frozen Charlotte doll would be found
among ale bottle shards and clay pipe fragments.48 Ceramic dolls are
often recovered from 19th-century army posts, where they too are inter-
preted as children’s toys.49 Small Frozen Charlottes were sometimes used
as favors baked into cakes, and indeed, there was at least one cake eaten
at the mouth of Powder River.50 Lt. Charles Roe with the Montana col-
umn received a care package from his wife on August 17 that contained,
among other things, a birthday cake.51 He shared the cake with fellow
officers, and it was on this occasion that wagon boss Matt Carroll set out
the barrel of bottle ale for all to enjoy. The 2.5-inch-tall Feature D doll is
larger than the Frozen Charlottes sometimes used as cake favors, but the
probability of a doll in the lieutenant’s cake seems remote in any case.
Frozen Charlotte must remain a mystery.
Was Feature F an oven that Sgt. Gayle, Co. D, 6th Infantry, or a baker
from another company at the depot used to make bread for his unit? Pvt.
Sanford noted that the men of Company D constructed an oven, used it
several times, and repaired it once before the depot guard departed on
July 20. Located 300 meters south of the trash pit, the feature is certainly
within the area the guard occupied and used in June and July. The fea-
ture’s semidressed sandstone slabs, carefully placed to form a rectangu-
lar base for some kind of stone construction, clearly bear evidence that
they were exposed to burned wood and high temperatures. These stones
exhibit shades of pink and red typically produced when brown to buff-
colored sandstone is heated sufficiently. The surface of these flat-lying
slabs was also covered with a thin charcoal stain. Additional sandstone
slabs scattered west of the rectangle and heavy charcoal deposits in the
soil here suggest that Feature F might be the remains of a stone oven (see
appendix 1).
Guidance regarding the construction of baking ovens both in garri-
son and during field operations first became available during the War of
the Rebellion, and little new information was published until after the
1876 Indian War. One such source noted the importance of providing
troops soft bread instead of biscuits or hardbread whenever possible to
improve heath, citing incidents from imperial Rome to the Crimean
Conclusions 121
War.52 Indeed, the Union army took this issue seriously and quickly de-
veloped the capacity to provide soft bread to thousands of soldiers. It
built large bakeries to supply troops in winter quarters or extended camps
and encouraged the use of field ovens in other situations.53
While I found no other archaeological examples of field baking ovens
from a U.S. military context, several Civil War–era publications describe
their construction using a variety of materials. These guidelines note that
the type of field oven built depended on how long the camp would be
occupied. Brick construction might be appropriate for a more permanent
camp, while a simple earth-covered trench would suffice for baking bread
at an ephemeral field location.54 The ovens described range from a large
14-square-meter brick model capable of baking 500 rations to trench
models covered with wood or gabions that could produce 100 to 250
rations. The superstructure of most examples consisted of materials that
would support an insulating cover of soil or sod.55 Stone construction
was not among those illustrated in the guides, but it would be among
the “any material available” as suggested.56 An estimated 24 hours was
needed to construct the brick model, while the one-square-meter “rapid
earth” oven could be built in an hour or two.
If Feature F’s rectangular area is the base of an oven, at 1.87 square
meters it would have had a capacity comparable to the smaller field ovens
described in Civil War–era guides. The length, width, and surface area
of the feature base are almost identical to those recommended for a
100-ration field oven in the third edition of the Manual for Army Cooks.
Although its construction preceded the publication of this manual, the
feature might have been constructed to dimensions commonly known by
experienced bakers to accommodate a specific number of bread rations.
It certainly would have been big enough to supply a daily bread ration to
any one of the depot guard companies, as none of them exceeded 50 men
on duty.57
Private Sanford noted that Sgt. Gayle baked 40 loaves in his first
batch, the number of rations needed for the men of Company D assigned
to the depot.58 The sergeant baked bread every day from July 5 to July 9,
indicating that one baking was intended to supply a single day’s ration
for one company.59 If other depot guard companies were baking bread,
they also must have constructed ovens or arranged to use one made by
another unit.
The size, structure, and appearance of Feature F’s rectangular area
as well as its location suggest that it was a field oven. However, the
122 Chapter 6
excavation failed to yield datable artifacts that would strengthen its asso-
ciation with 1876 events. Data do not yet exist to determine if the feature
is associated with a specific company or kitchen activities other than bak-
ing bread.
battlefield and Reno–Benteen defensive site, but none were found at the
equipment dump. None of the battlefield specimens identified thus far
.
Burkman also recalled seeing a small yellow bulldog leave with the
troops the morning of June 25 and seeing it again on the battlefield two
days later when soldiers were burying the dead.78 Another story about
a dog on the battlefield surfaced long after the event. Rusty, “a brindle
non-descript canine of no particular race, breed or utility,” was adopted
by Company I, wounded during the battle, captured by the Sioux, and
reunited with the troop after the tribesmen surrendered to the army.79
Rusty does not appear to have been a bulldog, but these accounts suggest
that there might have been a dog with Custer’s battalion during the bat-
tle. Archaeological evidence from Feature D supports numerous historic
accounts that dogs were indeed with the soldiers at Powder River.
Feature D
Feature D appeared to be a pit that had been dug very close to the Yellowstone River
and then filled with soil, rock, and cultural material. It was located in an alluvial ter-
race and exposed in the river cutbank. The terrace here consists of a layer of silt and
fine sand 1.1 meters thick, resting on coarse gravels and cobbles that extend below to
the river channel. When viewed from the west, the contact between the strata is eas-
ily identified by the absence of any rocks or gravel in the upper layer, while the lower
stratum is devoid of soil. Feature D interrupted the natural profile of the cutbank;
soil, rocks, and cultural material were visible in a five-meter-long segment of the
bank, extending from the surface into the layer of cobbles. On the terrace surface,
the feature was identified by a gradual depression in the soil nearest the cutbank.
There was a slightly raised area of soil and rock along the east edge of the depression.
An unimproved access trail passed just east of Feature D; some artifacts similar to
those seen in the feature profile were also visible in the trail ruts.
We estimated the maximum extent of the feature from surface indicators and
established a rectangular excavation grid six meters long and three meters wide. Be-
fore excavating, a detailed drawing was completed showing the location of cultural
material and distribution of rock and lignite in the feature profile (Figure A1.1). We
then excavated within the grid, recording cultural materials by the square meter and
excavation level in which they were located (Figure A1.2). Level 1 was zero to 10 cen-
timeters below a datum point on the southeast corner of the excavation grid. All
subsequent levels were to a depth of 20 centimeters below the previous level. Excava-
tors used trowels to expose cultural materials, and the resulting loose soil was sifted
through ¼-inch-mesh screens to recover objects that might have been overlooked.1
Care was taken to find the maximum horizontal and vertical extent of the pit as
the excavation proceeded. In the upper levels, this was a relatively straightforward
task of determining when the soil no longer contained artifacts, rocks, or materials
other than silt. The bottom-most level of Feature D intruded into the cobble stratum
of the cutbank, where the feature was easily distinguished by the cultural material
and rocks mixed with soil that defined the feature fill. About 10 cubic meters of soil
and cultural material were excavated from the grid.
129
130 A ppendi x 1
The pit was found to extend only about two meters east of the cutbank, and just
4.5 of the units on the west edge of the grid contained cultural deposits deeper than
30 centimeters. These units extended to about 155 centimeters below datum. The six
excavation units on the east edge of the grid contained soil and artifacts among river
cobbles extending a maximum of 10 centimeters below datum to undisturbed soil.
Many of the artifacts were broken, crushed, or damaged in some way and distrib-
uted throughout the feature fill. Some cultural material was concentrated in specific
strata; most of the bones were in the central part of the feature, as were deposits of
lignite. Charcoal, burned wood, and nails were located primarily at the bottom of
the feature in the south excavation units. The south half of the excavation area gen-
erally yielded more artifacts than the north half; the density of cultural material was
lowest in the north quarter of the feature.
Preservation of cultural materials after they were buried in the feature was good.
Glass and ceramic materials typically preserve very well in the soil, as was the case
here. Some fragments of ale bottle labels were still legible. The cans and nails were
not oxidized so badly as to interfere with their analysis. Bone surfaces were in very
good condition, although some wood objects such as the packing crate were badly
deteriorated. There was a well-preserved layer of organic material composed mostly
of fly pupae lying immediately under the dense layer of bones in the central part of
the feature.
Some fragments of clay pipes, bottles, and a goblet were found to fit perfectly to
other pieces in the assemblage. These fragments were parts of a single broken artifact,
and some of them were found widely separated within the feature. For example, two
pipe stem fragments that joined to form a longer stem were recovered from two ex-
cavation levels, and each fragment was found in a different excavation unit (see Fig-
ure A1.3). One piece was recovered from level 2 of unit 1N2W, and the second was
from level 7 in 3N2W. The latter fragment was one to two meters north of and about
90 centimeters deeper in the deposit than the other piece. Likewise, 12 fragments
Figure A1.2. Plan
map of Feature D illustrating the excavation grid and location of the datum.
The dashed line indicates the east edge of the trash pit.
132 A ppendi x 1
Figure A1.3. Vertical and horizontal dispersion of conjoined fragments from a pipe stem and
champagne bottle within Feature D. The dotted line connects the locations of two pipe
stem fragments (catalog number .245). The solid line connects the locations of 12 shards
from a single champagne bottle (catalog number .403). Each number indicates the total
from a single excavation unit and level.
that the meat remained exposed to the air long enough for flies to lay eggs and their
larvae to pupate; depending on the species, this can take up to five days.3 The dog
remains were also tossed into the pit with the other bones. Lignite was placed in the
pit with some of the bones; it also extended in a layer farther to the south. The lignite
was not burned, and its purpose, other than disposal, is unknown.
While the layer of fly pupae suggests that carcass parts were exposed for several
days, the excellent condition of the bones indicates that they were covered with soil
before weathering of bone surfaces could occur. After the pupae formed, the pit con-
tinued to be filled with a mixture of silt, rocks, and cultural material until it was
almost level with the ground surface. In the south third of the pit another layer of
lignite was deposited, but it was much thinner than the one below. Most of the soil
and rock removed to form the pit was apparently used to fill it as well. A thin mantle
of river cobbles on the surface in the northeast excavation units probably contains
some of the rocks initially dug from the bottom of the pit that were not later thrown
back into the fill.
The horizontal and vertical separation of parts of the same artifact within the
pit fill indicates that the artifacts were broken before they were deposited in the fea-
ture. Most of the glass shards, pipe fragments, and other artifacts were mixed with
soil and rock throughout the pit fill, rather than being deposited in layers as were
the bone deposit in the central part of the pit and the burned materials on the pit
bottom. These data suggest that some of the artifacts were broken or crushed and
then thrown onto the soil and rock removed from and piled next to the pit. Bits and
pieces of artifacts were then indiscriminately tossed back into the pit with shovelfuls
of soil and rock as the pit was gradually filled. In general, it appears that some cul-
tural material was thrown directly into the pit and some was first deposited on the
soil and rock pile. Most of the bottles were broken, and many cans were crushed,
suggesting that the damage was done with purpose.
Sometime after the pit was filled, part of the feature eroded into the Yellowstone,
leaving the rest of it profiled in the cutbank. The feature was probably a pit enclosed
on all sides, otherwise gravity and weathering would have quickly emptied it into the
river. Given this scenario, the cutbank in 1876 extended an unknown distance to the
west and has since eroded eastward, a trend that continues today. Whether or not
the pit served another purpose before it became a trash pit will remain a mystery, as
will its east-to-west dimension.4
Feature F
Feature F is located 300 meters southeast of Feature D (Figure A1.4). After removal
of the upper three centimeters of soil, this feature appeared to be 24 sandstone slabs,
up to a meter long and a half meter wide. Four of the large sandstones were in a verti-
cal position, while the rest were lying horizontally. The stones were unevenly distrib-
uted in an area 7 meters long by 3.5 meters wide on the fine soils common to the river
terrace here. The vertical stones and those near it lay on a grassy flat contiguous to a
wide, shallow depression to the west in which other stones were scattered.
134 A ppendi x 1
Figure A1.4. Plan map of Feature F. Note the rectangular-shaped area in the east (right) half
of the drawing (this is the area shown in Figure 1.5).
Using a trowel to remove one to three centimeters of soil between the vertical
stones, we exposed carefully laid, charcoal-stained slabs in a rectangle 1.7 meters long
and 1.1 meters wide; small sandstones filled spaces between the larger stones. The
vertical stones were placed tightly against the south and east edges of the rectangle.
Stones in the rectangle were shades of pink and red, colors typical of normally buff
to brown sandstone that has been exposed to very high temperatures; they appeared
to be semidressed into rough rectangular or square shapes.
Further excavation simply involved removing soil from partially buried sand-
stones and those found using a metal pin to probe below the surface. We revealed
eight additional stones in the rectangle and 24 more in the depression. In a space
between large stones two meters west of the rectangle, we dug a 30-by-30-centimeter
hole in the soil revealing a very dense, 10-centimeter-thick deposit of charcoal just
below the surface of the depression but did not determine the extent of the deposit.
We terminated excavation where stones would have to be removed to reach
others, therefore the total number and distribution of sandstones in the depression
remain undetermined. After photographing and making a scaled drawing of the fea-
ture, we backfilled to leave the area looking as it did when we began.
Feature F might be the remains of a field oven, and the rectangular area of hor-
izontal, dry-laid sandstones on the east end of the feature may be a largely intact
oven floor or base. If the four vertical stones abutting the south and east edges of
the rectangle are remnants of walls that once surrounded the base, they suggest that
the oven superstructure was also made of stone. Many of the sandstones in the area
surrounding the base, including the depression to the west, might once have been
part of this superstructure. The steeply inclined position of stones nearest the west
edge of the base suggests that much of the superstructure might have fallen or been
pushed over into the depression.
Excavation Details and Formation of Features D and F 135
Charcoal produced when the oven was heated would account for the dense car-
bon deposits in the soil west of the rectangle. While the stones in the rectangle were
thermally altered, soil in which the charcoal was buried generally was not reddened
or discolored like the soil in Feature D where the crates were burned. Differences
in the thermal signature of stones in the rectangular area and in the contiguous soil
might be a clue as to how an oven was constructed and operated. Additional excava-
tion is needed to confirm whether or not the feature is an 1876 oven and get a better
understanding of its form and function. Further investigation of the surrounding
area is also required to determine if evidence of other kitchen activities is also pre-
served here.5
Appendix 2
Artifacts Associated
with Beverages and Drinking
Artifacts related to drinking included bottles, bottle closures, and drinking glasses.
Most bottles in the excavated assemblage were alcoholic beverage containers; a few
were soda/ginger ale/sarsaparilla bottles. Complete and fragmentary remains of bot-
tle closures included corks, wire retainers to secure corks, and foil wrappers or seals
to cover the closures and bottle finishes. A single champagne/wine/ale bottle was
the only complete beverage container in the assemblage. Larger bottle fragments,
including finishes and bases, allowed an assessment of the minimum number of sev-
eral bottle types in the assemblage, as did the aggregate weight of bottle fragments
by type. Foil wrappers associated with ale/stout bottles provided another measure
of the minimum number of these bottles potentially represented in the assemblage.
Remnants of bottle labels as well as relief stamping on foil wrappers yielded the
names of several bottlers and confirm or suggest the brands of ale or stout the bottles
held. There is scant evidence of hard liquor in the assemblage. A single firm appears
to be represented in a small sample of soda/ginger ale bottles; small disks recovered
in the assemblage were likely part of the closures for these bottles.1
Ale/Stout Bottles
Provenience
Slope below Feature D and throughout the excavated area. Bottle fragments for this
type were recovered from all levels and most excavation units.
Description
Type 1
Glass color — dense green; closure — cork with wire retainer and foil wrapper; fin-
ish — broad collar above a narrow ring (two types) and a simple broad collar; body
(two types) — cylindrical; shoulder — rounded; base — conical push-up or more shal-
low, rounded push-up with or without lettering; neck — regular length and slightly
bulbous; mold seam — three-part dip mold with dip mold body (Figure A2.1).
Type 2
Glass color — dark green but more translucent than Type 1; closure and finish —
probably same as Type 1; body — cylindrical tapering slightly from shoulder to base;
136
Artifacts Associated with Beverages and Drinking 137
shoulder — rounded; base — push-up with lettering; neck — appears slightly bulbous,
but length cannot be determined; mold seam — same as Type 1 (Figure A2.2).
Measurements
Type 1 (Smaller)
Height — circa 23–24 centimeters; bore — 1.7 centimeters; body — 6.5 centimeters;
neck — 2.5 to 3.0 centimeters; base — 6.4 to 6.9 centimeters; height of push-up — 1.0
to 3.5 centimeters.
Type 2 (Smaller)
Height — cannot be determined from bottle fragments, but from base to neck it is
slightly shorter than the smaller Type 1 bottle (15.5 centimeters); base of neck — 3.65
centimeters; body — 7 centimeters at upper mold seam, 6.4 centimeters at base.
138 A ppendi x 2
Markings
Some bases of both the smaller and larger bottles with shallow, rounded push-ups
have embossed letters and numbers. Examples from two of the smaller bases are
the following: “C.H./C&S/29” and “C.H/C&S/27.” One of the larger bases is em-
bossed “C.H/C&S/8.” The characters circle the center of the base; the numbers are
somewhat separated from the lettering.2 The remains of a label were found on several
fragments of the Type 1 ale/stout bottle. A composite sketch yielded a partial label
of the Royal Bottling Company (see Figure 5.1, p. 97). The company trademark fea-
tured a representation of St. George and the dragon. The label also indicated that the
bottle contained Bass Pale Ale. Most of the label was a yellow-green color, except for
the Bass trademark, a prominent equilateral red triangle (one inch per side). Out-
lines of labels are visible on some bottles, although no fragments of the labels are
present. These outlines and surviving label fragments confirm that the oval-shaped
Bass Ale label was applied to the bottle first and then the triangular Royal Bottling
Co. label was attached below, covering the lower part of the Bass label (Figure A2.3).
Date of Manufacture
Circa 1865–1880s.
Figure A2.3. Ale bottle shard with partial label. Note the Bass and Company triangular trade-
mark on the upper portion of the label.
the larger bottle were complete enough to yield a reliable weight. The total weight of
ale/stout bottles would account for roughly 17 smaller Type 1 bottles in the assem-
blage. This figure is close to the minimum number of ale/stout bottles calculated
from the number of complete finishes or bases (16).
Description
Royal Bottling Co.
This wrapper has relief stamping with lettering and a picture of St. George and the
dragon on the top (Figure A2.4). The lettering is the following: “THE ROYAL
BOTTLING Co/TRADE MARK/patent trade mark capsule Betts London.”
Smaller lettering is displayed on the side of the wrapper: “BETTS & Co/PATENT/
TRADE/PATENT/MARK/LONDON.” The lettering and figures on top of the
wrapper are black, and much of the rest of the seal is yellow.
Association. While no complete bottle was found with this wrapper covering the
finish, evidence for its association with the Type 1 ale/stout bottle is confirmed by
several bottle fragments bearing parts of a Royal Bottling Co. label from which a
140 A ppendi x 2
Figure A2.4. Top of a Royal Bottling Company foil wrapper illustrating the company trade-
mark featuring Saint George slaying the dragon.
composite was drawn. Several bottle finishes with cork, wire retainer, and this foil
wrapper intact were also recovered.
E&J Burke
Relief stamping on top of this wrapper exhibits a cat and raised letters as follows:
“E&J BURKE/EJB/DUBLIN/TRADE MARK/patent trade mark capsule/
Betts maker/London.” Lettering on the side reads: “E&J BURKE/EJB/DUBLIN/
TRADE MARK/BETTS & Co/PATENT TRADE/PATENT MARK/LON-
DON.” The raised lettering and the cat figure on the top are red surrounded by yel-
low. The side of the wrapper is red.
Association. This wrapper is possibly associated with the Type 2 ale/stout bottle,
but firm evidence is lacking.
Number of Wrappers. Seven complete or nearly complete E&J Burke foil wrappers
were recovered.
Artifacts Associated with Beverages and Drinking 141
Association. This wrapper cannot be associated with a specific bottle type or bottle
color. However, documentary evidence confirms that M. B. Foster and Sons distrib-
uted ale and stout, and this wrapper might be associated with the wine/champagne/
ale bottle described below.
Association. These wrappers cannot be associated with a bottle type or bottle color.
Wine/Champagne/Ale Bottles
Provenience
Slope below Feature D and in the excavated area. Based primarily on glass color, frag-
ments of this type occurred in all levels and most excavation units.
Description
Glass color — light green; closure — cork; finish — wine/the sealing surface is flat or
slightly tapered upward toward the bore; body — cylindrical; shoulder — tapered to
neck; base — deep kick-up (Figure A2.5).
Measurements
Height — 24.8 centimeters; bore — 1.6 to 1.8 centimeters; body — 7.0 centimeters;
neck — 2.7 centimeters; height of kick-up — 4.5 centimeters.
Markings
The outline of an oval-shaped label 8 centimeters high by 6 centimeters wide is visi-
ble on the body of the complete bottle, although the label is no longer present. The
142 A ppendi x 2
outline of a second label is centered on the opposite side of the bottle and oriented
with its longer dimension perpendicular to the height of the bottle, therefore this
outline is 8.7 centimeters wide and 6.5 centimeters high.7
Date of Manufacture
This type is typical of wine and champagne bottles circa 1865–1885. This bottle type
with light green glass and a flat, sheared-looking sealing surface likely predates circa
1880.8
Remarks
It is possible that these bottles contained ale. M. B. Foster and Sons is known to have
exported Bass ale in wine and champagne bottles as well as typical glass ale bottles in
the late 19th century.9
Association. These wrappers cannot be associated with a specific bottle type. How-
ever, the relief stamping of grapes itself suggests wine or champagne.10
Whiskey/Brandy Bottles
Provenience
The type includes a bottle neck with attached finish from Feature D, excavation
unit 3N2W, level 9 (bottom of feature), and a highly fragmented, shattered bottle in
units 4N2W and 5N2W, bottom of the feature.
Description
The finish and neck are amber glass. The neck taper from shoulder to finish, and the
finish is a “brandy” type; a mold seam is not visible. The shattered bottle appeared to
have pieces of a label on small fragments, but reconstruction was not possible.
Date of Manufacture
Circa 1870–1885.
Description
Glass color — light aqua or dark aqua; closure — probably cork and wire retainer (see
remarks below); finish — probably broad collar; body — cylindrical; base — rounded
(Figure A2.6).
Measurements
Height — circa 21+ centimeters; bore — circa 1.8 centimeters; body — 6.0 centimeters;
neck — 2.7 centimeters.
Markings
Type — embossing; lettering on most complete bottle — “CANTRELL &/CO-
CHRANE/BELFAST&/DUBLIN”; lettering on another bottle fragment —
“NTRELL&/OCHRANE/LFAST&BLIN/DICATED/RATED/ATERS”;
place —body.
144 A ppendi x 2
Date of Manufacture
Circa 1860–1900.
Remarks
Numerous fragments of these thick-walled bottles were recovered in the excavation.
Some fragments bore remnants of the same lettering as appeared on the two more
complete items described above.
Description
Thin metal disks 2.5 centimeters in diameter with four raised bumps around the cen-
ter surrounded by raised lettering —“CANTRELL&COCHRANE.”
Artifacts Associated with Beverages and Drinking 145
Figure A2.7. Tumblers: (middle) Type 1 (six facets); (right) Type 2 (eight facets); (left) Type 3.
Association
Although no intact soda water bottle finish was recovered, these disks no doubt cov-
ered the cork stopper on Cantrell and Cochrane bottles. Similar disks were com-
monly used by bottlers to prevent wire retainers from cutting into cork stoppers.11
Number of Disks
Ten of these metal caps were recovered.
Description
With one exception, the tumblers are made of colorless pressed glass; one Type 2
basal fragment is dark amethyst.
Type 1
Glass color — colorless; six facets on body of glass with vertical orientation from base
146 A ppendi x 2
to mid-body; base — push-up; interior — conical; height — 6.5 centimeters; base di-
ameter — 4.8 centimeters; lip — 5.9 centimeters; weight — 159 grams.
Type 2
Glass color — colorless or amethyst; eight facets on body of glass with vertical orien-
tation from base to mid-body; base — push-up; interior — conical; height — 7.5 centi-
meters; base diameter — 5.4 centimeters; lip — 6.7 centimeters; weight — 240 grams.
Type 3
Glass color — colorless; body — c ylindrical tapering from base to lip (no facets);
base — push-up; height — 11 centimeters; base diameter — 5.1 centimeters.
Markings
None.
Date of Manufacture
Circa 1850–1910 but fit well in the 1860–1880 period.12
Goblet
Provenience
Feature D, excavation units 5N2W, levels 2 and 3, and unit 4N2W, level 4.
Description
Basal portion of a stemmed, pressed glass goblet reconstructed from eight frag-
ments; glass color — very light pink; 10 facets on a very short stem and lower body;
no facets on base; height of fragment — 7.1 centimeters; base diameter — 7.0 centime-
ters; stem thickness — 1.2 centimeters (Figure A2.8).
Date of Manufacture
Circa 1850–1910.
Artifacts Associated with Beverages and Drinking 147
Remarks
The specimen from Feature D is too small to determine if it is one of the many
named pressed glass goblet patterns. The very short, faceted stem and plain base are
most similar to a half dozen of 710 goblet patterns described by Millard. He claimed
that these six patterns were for goblets manufactured in the 1860s and 1870s.13
Appendix 3
Artifacts related to food include cans, a condiment bottle fragment, and closures
from both jars and condiment bottles. Eggshells and food bones evidence the use of
chicken eggs, beef, buffalo meat, and fish.
Cans
Of the 31 cans associated with Feature D, 11 were recovered from the slope below
the feature, and 16 complete or nearly complete specimens and four fragments came
from the excavation. The 20 cans recovered during excavation were distributed
among six of nine levels, and most were found in excavation units 2N2W and 3N2W.
A subsample of 14 complete cans from the excavated area was analyzed in detail.
Following are descriptions of can morphology and manufacturing techniques with
comments regarding what the cans most likely contained and the probable range of
dates for their manufacture.1 Each can is identified by the Billings Curation Center
catalog number assigned to the artifact.
Measurements
Specimen .421(b) is 3⅝ inches in diameter and 4⅞ inches tall. All other specimens in
this group are 3⅞ inches in diameter.
Other Observations
The cans were opened by cutting their top with a knife such that triangular pieces
of the top could be folded back away from the center of the top. This technique of
148
Artifacts and Organic Materials Related to Food 149
opening a can with a knife is typical for fruit and vegetable cans and possibly pre-
serve cans.
.536
Description
Same as .770, .671, .421(b), .20, and .29 except that this is the only can with the sealer
cap placed off-center (Figure A3.2).
Measurements
Can diameter is 3⅝ inches, and height is 4⅝ inches.
Other Observations
The can was opened by cutting slits into the top and then folding triangular sections
of the top outward. The can likely held fruits, vegetables, or preserves.
150 A ppendi x 3
.672
Description
In most respects specimen .672 is the same as .770, .671, .421(b), .20, and .29. Like
.20, this specimen was sealed in a manner that allowed solder to get within the can.
Measurements
Can height is four inches, and the filler cap diameter is 1¾ inches.
Other Observations
The specimen was opened by inserting a knife blade repeatedly around the internal
edge of the can top. Once the top was cut around three-quarters of the top edge, it
was folded back to extract the contents. Based on the large size of the filler cap, the
Artifacts and Organic Materials Related to Food 151
can probably held peach halves or something similar. The way the can was opened
would have allowed relatively large pieces of food to be removed intact.
.675
Description
In most respects this can exhibits manufacturing techniques similar to .770, .671,
.421(b), .20, and .29 (Figure A3.3). The solder around the cap appears to be a pre-
pared ring. When the soldering iron was applied, part of this ring broke away and
attached well beyond the cap depression.
Measurements
Can diameter is 3⅜ inches, and height is 4½ inches. The filler cap diameter is 2¼
inches.
Other Observations
The can was opened by cutting slashes in the top and folding back triangular-shaped
sections of the top. It likely held fruit, vegetables, or preserves.
.505(a)
Description
Like .770, .671, .421(b), .20, and .29, this is a hole-in-cap can with a lap side seam.
152 A ppendi x 3
Measurements
Can diameter is 3½ inches, and height is 4⅝ inches. The filler cap diameter is 2¼
inches.
Other Observations
Like several other specimens, the can was opened by cutting triangular sections of
the top and folding them outward and back. It probably held fruit, vegetables, or
preserves.
Measurements
Due to the condition of these cans, only .505(b) was measured. The can is approxi-
mately two inches in diameter and three inches tall.
Other Observations
Several metal friction lids recovered from Feature D were designed to fit on the type
of stamped ridge exhibited on specimens .505(b) and .673. Lid specimens .26 and
.533 are 3¹⁄₁₆ inches in diameter and ⁷⁄₁₆ inch deep. Specimen .476 is a friction lid 2⅜
inches in diameter and ⅜ inch deep. The smaller lid appears to be ⅜ inch larger in
diameter than can .505(b), but the can dimensions are approximate at best. However,
there is no clear association between .505(b) and the smaller friction lid. While the
contents of cans associated with friction lids from Feature D cannot be determined
with the data available, these lids were often used for cans containing dry products
such as baking powder, yeast, and powdered lemonade.2
Measurements
The top and bottom of the can are each about four by three inches. Height of the can
body is one inch.
Other Observations
This can type held sardines.3
Artifacts and Organic Materials Related to Food 153
.420
Description
Most of the specimens in the subsample are hole-in-cap cans. Can .420 exhibits a
different structure and technique for filling (Figure A3.4). While it has a lap side
seam, the body is stamped with a narrow ridge approximately ⅜ inch below an open
end of the body and inside of the can. A stamped end piece has only a vent hole and
a second hole made to test the seal of the can. The entire end piece served as a cap,
which was put in place after the can was filled; it was then soldered to the body after
resting on the internal ridge in the can’s body.
Measurements
The can is too deformed to determine its diameter. The can height is 4½ inches.
Other Observations
This specimen is not described in other published reports. Similar cans have been
identified at Ft. Stambaugh, Wyoming Territory.
Description
Glass color — colorless; neck — eight facets in a vertical arrangement from the shoul-
der to 1.6 centimeters below the finish; finish — simple “extract”; closure — probably
cork; two mold seams terminate at the finish; shoulder— decorated by a checker-
board pattern of facets (Figure A3.5).
Measurements
Bore diameter — 1.9 centimeters; height of specimen — 9.3 centimeters.
Remarks
This is probably a ketchup bottle.
Date of Manufacture
Circa 1875–1885.
Number of Bottles
This is the only specimen of a condiment bottle.
Artifacts and Organic Materials Related to Food 155
Description
Glass color —
light green; finial —
flat, circular, horizontal; shank — tapered;
neck — none.
Measurements
Type 1. Height — 2.9 centimeters; finial diameter — 2.6 centimeters; largest shank
diameter — 1.3 centimeters.
Type 2. Height — 3.3 centimeters; finial diameter — 2.6 centimeters; largest shank di-
ameter — 1.3 centimeters.
Markings
Type 1 is unmarked. Type 2 has embossed lettering on the finial — “LEA &
PERRINS.”
Remarks
These are “club sauce” bottle stoppers, which utilized both glass and cork to form
the closure. Lea and Perrins was a British firm that began exporting Worcestershire
sauce in 1849.6
Date of Manufacture
Lacking the more temporally diagnostic bottles associated with the stoppers, the
range of potential dates of manufacture is very broad: 1850–?
Number of Stoppers
One stopper of each type was recovered.
Jar Closure
Provenience
A fragment of a glass fruit jar lid was recovered from the Feature D excavation (Fig-
ure A3.6). This fragment was identical to two more-complete closures located on the
surface of the site.
Description
The upper surface (top) of this aqua-colored lid is embossed with a series of patent
dates as follows: “PATd. Feb. 12, 56”; “Nov. 4, 62”; “Dec. 6, 64”; “June 9, 68”; “Sep. 8,
68”; “Dec. 22, 68”; “Jan. 19, 69.” Five dates are arranged in a circle around the outer
circumference of the lid, and four dates circle the lid more toward the center of the
closure. What appears to be the number 1 is embossed on a flat, circular raised area
156 A ppendi x 3
at the center of the lid. The outer circumference of the inner (bottom) surface of the
closure is grooved to fit over the lip of a jar.
Measurements
The diameter of the most complete lid is 10.3 centimeters, and it is 1.4 centimeters
thick. The lid fragment recovered from Feature D is a 5.9-centimeter-long segment
of the outer rim embossed “68 Sep 8.”
Remarks
All of the patents on this lid are associated with jars produced by the Hero Glass
Works, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (1856–1882). These jars included Gem, Pearl,
Crystal, and others in addition to Hero. Patent dates sometimes appear on closures
that do not apply to the lid on which they are embossed.7
Date of Manufacture
Based on the patent dates, the closure would not have been produced before 1869.
Organic Materials
Bones
Buffalo and Beef
Small bone fragments from which species could not be determined were recovered
in 50 to 80 percent of the excavation units in all levels of Feature D.8 Levels 4 and
5 in excavation units 2N2W, 3N2W, and 4N2W contained a layer of 241 complete
bones determined to be those of beef (Bos taurus) and buffalo (Bison bison).9 These
bones and those of a dog and horse (see appendixes 9 and 10) were contained in
an area about 150 by 50 centimeters and 25 centimeters deep. Based on the highest
number of any complete right or left appendicular bone, there are a minimum of
three individuals represented in the assemblage, parts of two bison and at least one
beef (Table A3.1). The largest articulated segment of bones is the hind quarters of
a buffalo that includes a lumbar vertebra, sacrum, femurs, tibiae, tali, calcanei, and
fused central and fourth tarsals. Based on epiphyseal closure, these bones are from a
five- or six-year-old animal.10
The surfaces of most bones are in good condition, exhibiting little or no deteri-
oration from weathering. Likewise, there are almost no tooth marks or other indica-
tors that the bones were altered by scavengers. A layer of fly pupae at the base of the
bone concentration in the central part of Feature D suggests that there was enough
meat to support a colony of maggots.
Cut Bone
A single cut bone was recovered from level 6 of excavation unit 1N2W. It is a buffalo
or beef-size lumbar vertebra that had pieces of both the anterior and the posterior
ends of the vertebra body or centrum cut off with a saw. The spinous process, one
transverse process, and a piece of the vertebra body are missing and appear to have
been broken off rather than cut. Part of the other transverse process is also missing,
and the remaining piece exhibits chop marks from a sharp implement. The specimen
resulted from butchering a buffalo or beef to produce a cut of meat from the sirloin
area of the animal, perhaps a thick sirloin steak.
Fish
Three fish bones were recovered from Feature D, excavation units 3N2W and
4N2W, levels 6 and 7. Species is undermined.
Eggshells
Hundreds of eggshells were recovered from Feature D, often in clusters of small
fragments. They occurred in all levels except number 9, the bottom of the feature.
Eggshells were present in seven of eight excavation units in level 2 and in all units of
level 6. They were also recovered in 50 to 75 percent of excavation units in the other
levels. A few larger fragments exhibit a contour that suggests the shells are the size
of ordinary chicken eggs. Color varies from off-white to brown. One tiny fragment
has several reversed letters on it as if the egg lay on newsprint or some other printed
matter and the lettering stuck to the eggshell. No word could be distinguished.
Table A3.1. Feature D Bone Frequencies for Bison and Bos
Feature D yielded a patent medicine bottle and the neck and finish of another.
However, ginger ale, sarsaparilla, soda water, and even alcoholic beverages were also
thought to have medicinal qualities in the 19th century (see appendix 2).1
Description
Glass color — colorless; closure — undetermined; finish — patent lip; body — rectan-
gular; base — flat rectangular with corners cut; neck — short, straight; mold — cup
bottom; shoulder — rounded; remnant of foil on neck below finish and remnant of
paper on both shoulders running up neck to foil remnant (Figure A4.1).
Measurements
Height — 13 centimeters; bore — 2.45 centimeters; base — 6.3 by 4.0 centimeters;
body — 9.4 by 6.0 centimeters; neck — 3.35 centimeters.
Markings
Type — e mbossing; lettering — “ TARRANT & CO/DRUGGISTS/NEW YORK”;
place — body; the number 1 embossed in the center of the base.
Date of Manufacture
1859–1905.2
Remarks
Tarrant and Co. of New York sold Seltzer Aperient, perfume, and other products.3
Number of Bottles
This is the only example of the bottle type in the assemblage.
Medicine/Extract/Toiletry Bottle
Provenience
Feature D, excavation unit 3N2W, level 5.
160
Artifacts Related to Medicines 161
Description
Neck and finish only; color — colorless; ball neck with “extract” finish; mold seam
terminates midway between neck ring and neck finish.
Measurements
Bore — 1.0 centimeter; neck diameter — 1.9 centimeters.
Date of Manufacture
Circa 1860s–1910.
Remarks
The contents of the specimen are unknown; however, this neck and finish type is
most often associated with patent medicine, extract, or toiletry bottles.
Appendix 5
Clay tobacco pipe fragments were among the most commonly occurring artifacts re-
covered from Feature D. No complete pipes were found, and most of the fragments
are small. The 220 specimens were distributed broadly but unevenly among levels
and excavation units. The top three levels yielded over 60 percent of these artifacts,
while the bottom three levels contained 11 percent. More pipe fragments were found
in level 2 than in levels 6 through 9 combined. Although only one of five excavation
units in level 9 yielded fragments, 75 percent or more of excavation units in six other
levels contained pipe fragments.
Type 1
Description2
This type has a ¹⁄₁₆-inch bore diameter, found on 101 stem fragments that are from
0.9 to 6.4 centimeters long. Thirty-seven fragments include the mouthpiece, and 64
specimens are from other parts of the stem; 34 mouthpieces are rounded, and three
are flattened. As with the stems, there are no complete Type 1 bowls in the assem-
blage; there are a minimum of 64 Type 1 bowl fragments. Analysis of bowl and distal
stem fragments confirms that the Type 1 bowl does not slant distally but, rather, is
more perpendicular to the stem.
Measurements
Stem length is estimated to be about 15 centimeters, and total pipe length is about
17.5 centimeters; bowl diameter — 2.09 centimeters; bowl plus spur height— 4.80
centimeters; bowl height — 4.13 centimeters; outside bowl diameter in the same di-
rection as the long axis of the pipe — 2.99 centimeters; stem diameter where it meets
the bowl — 1.09 centimeters.
Markings
The name “MCELROY” occurs on the right side of 12 fragments from the distal end
of the stem; the letters are 0.22 centimeters high. There is a raised “roughead” design
on both sides of the Type 1 bowl.3
162
Artifacts Related to Tobacco Use 163
Figure A5.1. Whiteclay pipe fragments: (top) Type 1 specimen composed of two conjoined
stem fragments, a bowl, and a mouthpiece fragment approximating the length of a com-
plete pipe; (middle) Type 1 specimen made of four conjoined fragments that indicate the
Type 1 bowl was perpendicular to the stem (not tilted distally); (bottom) single Type 2 distal
stem fragment.
Date of Manufacture
1850–? There is no known clay pipe manufacturer with the name McElroy, but the
roughead design has been found on numerous pipes with no maker’s mark. D. Mc-
Dougall and Co. of Glasgow, Scotland, began using the roughead style about 1850,
and it is probably a style used by several manufacturers during the last half of the
19th century.
Type 2
Description
The Type 2 pipe is identified by a ⁵⁄₆₄-inch bore diameter. Fifty-five stem fragments
in the assemblage exhibit this larger bore diameter; length of stem segments ranges
from 1.36 to 7.24 centimeters. Twenty-one of the Type 2 stem pieces are mouthpiece
fragments. No bowl fragments could be positively associated with the ⁵⁄₆₄-inch bore
stem fragments.
Measurements
Stem length is estimated to be about the same as the Type 1 pipe, 15 centimeters.
164 A ppendi x 5
Markings
None of the Type 2 stem segments have markings.
Date of Manufacture
Unknown.
Artifacts and bones recovered from Feature D that are most likely associated with
the transportation of goods and personnel include a horseshoe, horseshoe nails,
horse bones, tack fragments, a packing crate, nails, boards from crates, and metal
banding.
Horseshoe
Provenience
A single horseshoe was recovered from the bottom of Feature D, level 9, excavation
unit 2N2W (Figure A6.1).
Description
The heavily oxidized horseshoe has a fuller with four nail holes on each branch. The
head of a nail remains in one of the holes nearest the toe of the shoe. The configu-
ration of the shoe is rather pointed at the toe, suggesting that it is from a rear hoof.
165
166 A ppendi x 6
Measurements
The horseshoe is 5½ inches long and 4½ inches wide.
Date of Manufacture
Unknown.
Horseshoe Nails
Provenience
Three horseshoe nails were recovered from the Feature D excavation.
Description
The horseshoe nails are three different sizes with two different heads; one is a rose
head, and the other has a very short neck and longer head that tapers slightly to the
crown.1
Measurements
The nails are in three sizes: 1¾, 2, and 2¼ inches.
Date of Manufacture
Unknown.
Horse Bones
Provenience
Three horse bones were recovered from the concentration of bones in Feature D,
levels 4 and 5.
Description
A complete left humerus and a maxilla fragment are from a very young animal or
animals.2 No wear is evident on three premolars in the maxilla, indicating that the
fragment belonged to a late-term fetus or foal. The humerus is 15 centimeters long.
It is possible that the bones are from the same animal, but this association cannot
be confirmed. There are no butcher marks on these bones, and both are in excellent
condition. A distal right radius is also present, and it is from a more mature horse;
the surface of this bone is also cracked and exfoliating, indicating that it was exposed
to the elements for some time before burial.
Harness Fragments
Provenience
Four specimens of leather were recovered from Feature D, levels 6 and 7, and excava-
tion units 1N2W and 2N2W; two of the specimens have metal parts as well.
Description
The largest specimen includes remnants of two leather straps fastened to an iron ring
Artifacts and Bones Related to Transportation 167
Figure A6.2. Fragmentof a quillor, the part of a mule harness for the hindquarters of mules
closest to the wagon being pulled.
(Figure A6.2). The ends of each strap are looped over the ring, sewn together along
the strap edges, and fastened with a single rivet in the center of the strap. A third
piece of leather laps over the ring and portions of the straps to which it also is sewn.
A second specimen is a small remnant of leather strap identical to the narrower of
the two straps fastened to the ring; it has a center rivet and bears small holes where a
piece of leather was sewn to it. The two smallest specimens of leather have been cut
168 A ppendi x 6
on two sides with a sharp implement, while the other two sides retain stitch marks
along their edges, suggesting that they were cut from harness parts.
Measurements
The two straps attached to the ring of the largest specimen have different widths,
2¹¹⁄₁₆ inches and 1¹³⁄₁₆ inches.3 The outside diameter of the ring is four inches. The two
smallest specimens are about 1¼ to 1½ inches on a side.
Date of Manufacture
Unknown.
Remarks
The largest specimen is part of a wheel mule quillor, which is a section of harness that
is put on the hindquarters of the mules closest to the wagon. The leather pieces are
remnants of the breech strap and hip strap.4
Packing Crate
Provenience
Feature D, levels 8 and 9, excavation units 2N2W and 3N2W.
Description
A wooden box or crate rested on the bottom of Feature D (Figure A6.3). It was made
of ½-inch-thick boards nailed at the corners. The box was too badly deteriorated to
determine the width of individual boards forming the sides and bottom or if the
crate had been reinforced with metal strapping; there was no top on the crate.
Artifacts and Bones Related to Transportation 169
Measurements
The crate was 24 inches long by 14 inches wide by 8 inches high.5
Date of Manufacture
Unknown.
Remarks
Fragments of wood were recovered from Feature D, including partially burned
boards associated with concentrations of nails, charcoal, and ash on the bottom of
the south half of the feature. A thin layer of red soil beneath some of these concen-
trations indicates that burning occurred in the feature; the overlying charcoal depos-
its were two to three centimeters thick. These deposits appear to be the remains of
burned crates.
Nails
Provenience
While nails were found in every level of the Feature D excavation area, they were
more numerous and more broadly distributed in the lower levels. Fifty to 63 percent
of excavation units in levels 1 through 5 yielded nails, while 60 to 100 percent of
units in levels 6 through 8 contained nails.
Date of Manufacture
No specific date of manufacture can be determined for the nails. However, the as-
semblage contains cut nails and wire nails in a ratio of 4.3:1 (Table A6.1). The domi-
nance of cut nails is consistent with an assemblage dating to the mid-1870s.6
Cut Nails
Description
The assemblage of cut nails, among the most numerous items recovered from Fea-
ture D, includes 172 complete specimens and 140 fragments.
Measurements
Cut nails represent 12 sizes ranging from ⅝ inch to 4 inches. The most frequently
occurring size is 1½ inches, or 4d (46 specimens); smaller nails, ⅝ inch to 1⅞ inches,
outnumber the larger sizes, 2 to 4 inches, by almost 2:1. The smallest and largest nails
occur infrequently, with only one specimen smaller than an inch and four nails that
are three inches or larger.
Wire Nails
Description
Sixty-six wire nails were recovered from the Feature D excavation, including 44
complete nails and 22 fragments.
Measurements
Wire nails in the assemblage range from ¹¹⁄₁₆ inch to 2⅛ inches in 10 different sizes.
These nails are more evenly distributed among size grades and have a narrower range
of size grades than the cut nails. The most frequently occurring sizes include 1⅜
inches (3d or 4d) and 2 inches (6d), with seven nails in each. Sizes with the fewest
specimens are ¹¹⁄₁₆ inch and 2⅛ inches, with two each; the low numbers in the small-
est and largest size grades mirrors the distribution among cut nail sizes.
Metal Strapping/Banding
Provenience
Four short pieces of iron strapping (1.38 to 4.72 inches) and one longer piece (29
inches) were recovered from levels 3 and 4 of Feature D excavation units 1N2W,
2N2W, and 4N2W (Figure A6.4).
Description
Three specimens of the thin, oxidized metal strapping have nail holes every few
inches along their length. The largest specimen has no nail holes but retains a rivet
Artifacts and Bones Related to Transportation 171
joining two pieces of the banding. The ends of this piece and the others appear to
have been cut with shears or some other implement.
Measurements
The largest specimen and a shorter one are ⅝ inch wide; the others are ¾ inch wide.
Date of Manufacture
Unknown.
Remarks
These artifacts are the remains of metal strapping used to reinforce shipping contain-
ers. While only a few pieces were recovered from Feature D, segments up to two feet
long were found on the site surface, most with nail holes along their entire length.
Shipping crates recovered from the steamboat Bertrand were reinforced with metal
strapping, mostly in ⅝- to ¾-inch widths; this strapping exhibited nail holes along
its length. The Bertrand sank in the Missouri River with cargo bound for Montana
Territory in 1865.7
Appendix 7
A single cartridge and cartridge case were recovered from Feature D (Figure A7.1).
Description
The specimen is a copper-cased, inside-primed .45 cartridge with no headstamp. The
side of the case is cracked, exfoliating, and corroded; the bullet has a heavy white
patina of oxidation.
Measurements
Cartridge length — 1.45 inches; case length — 1.10 inches; base diameter — 0.481
inches; rim diameter — 0.516 inches; neck diameter — 0.478 inches; bullet diame-
ter — 0.459 inches.
Date of Manufacture
1875–1882.
Remarks
This cartridge was designed to fit the Model 1873 Colt revolver and Smith and Wes-
son Schofield.1 These .45-caliber handguns were both in service with cavalry reg-
iments in 1876, although the Colt was the dominant sidearm. By the end of 1874
the 7th Cavalry companies had been issued the Model 1873 Colt.2 Colt also found
a market for this model among civilians in 1874. Smith and Wesson produced the
Schofield for the commercial market late in 1876. Two years earlier, the army’s Frank-
ford Arsenal stopped making the .45 Colt cartridge, which was too long for the
Schofield, and manufactured only the shorter “Revolver Ball Cartridge, Caliber .45”
for both handguns.3
172
Artifacts Associated with Firearms 173
Figure A7.1. (Bottom) Revolver Ball Cartridge, Caliber .45, and (top) a .44 Smith and Wesson
No. 3 cartridge case.
Description
The specimen is a brass cartridge case with Berdan primer and no headstamp. The
rim is slightly distorted.
Measurements
Case length — 0
.886 inches; base diameter — 0
.449 inches; rim diameter — c irca 0.517
inches.
Date of Manufacture
1870–?
Remarks
This cartridge was manufactured for the .44 Smith and Wesson No. 3 (American),
a six-shot revolver. The No. 3 American was being manufactured for the commer-
cial market in 1870 when the army ordered a number for field trials. A few of these
handguns were in seven of 10 cavalry regiments in 1871, and by 1873 four regiments,
including the 7th Cavalry, had a substantial number of them. The army began to dis-
tribute the Colt single-action army revolver in 1873 and the .45 Smith and Wesson
Schofield in 1874. By the summer of 1875, fewer than 100 of the Smith and Wesson
.44s were still being used by cavalry units. The No. 3 American sold well in the com-
mercial market from 1870 until sometime after Smith and Wesson ceased produc-
tion of this model in 1874.4
Appendix 8
Buttons
Several buttons were recovered from Feature D and a two-track road near the exca-
vation grid (Figure A8.1).1
Provenience
Three buttons were recovered from Feature D levels 1, 3, and 5 in excavation units
0N1W, 0N2W, and 3N2W. Four buttons were also collected from the surface on a
two-track road east of and contiguous to the excavation.
Figure A8.1. Buttons: (top) metal button for civilian work clothes (left) and iron buttons typi-
cal of military suspenders (middle) and trouser flies (right); (bottom) typical porcelain (left),
glass (middle), and mother-of-pearl (right) shirt buttons.
174
Artifacts Associated with Clothing 175
Metal Buttons
Three buttons are iron four-hole specimens; one is ⁹⁄₁₆ inch in diameter, and two are
¹¹⁄₁₆ inch in diameter. The larger iron buttons are typical of post-1850 army suspender
buttons, and the smaller one is of a type used on trouser flies.2 One two-piece metal
button with a metal loop shank is ¾ inch in diameter with pressed lettering around
the edge of the button face as follows: “UNION/ROCKFORD.” This is a work
clothes button, probably manufactured sometime in the late 19th century.3
Mother-of-Pearl Button
A single four-hole mother-of-pearl button is ⁵⁄₁₆ inch in diameter. While small, it is
considered shirt-size. This simple disc-type button was manufactured much earlier
than the 19th century and is still made today.5
Appendix 9
Several items recovered from Feature D are single artifacts or a few specimens of a
class of artifacts, including equipment and personal items. A ceramic item cannot
be identified, and a glass container does not appear to be an ordinary tumbler. Two
other specimens, a marble and a doll, seem incongruous in the context of a military
supply depot. Agate, lead, and lignite recovered from the feature are also described
here.
Ratchet Burner
Provenience
Part of a burner for a kerosene lamp was recovered from Feature D, level 5, excava-
tion unit 4N2W (Figure A9.1).
Description
The flat-wick burner consists of a wick wheel (cric) with thumbwheel attached and
wick tube; it is made of brown metal that scratches to a brass color. The outside di-
ameter is three inches.
Markings
The end of the thumbwheel is embossed as follows: “M.L.COLLINS PAT. FEB. 4.
1866.”
Remarks
Various Web sites identify Michael Collins as holding lamp patents dated September
19, 1865, and February 4, 1866. Some attribute these patents to M. H. Collins, and
others, to M. L. Collins. I located several lamp patents by M. H. Collin, who also
patented a paddle wheel design for steamboats and an improved gun turret for Mon-
itor ironclad boats. However, I was unable to find any lamp patents dated February
4, 1866. The firm Holmes, Booth and Haydens of Waterbury, Connecticut, appar-
ently made lamps patented by Michael Henry Collins of Chelsea, Massachusetts. It
remains unclear whether M. L. Collins and M. H. Collins were the same person.1
Watch Key
Provenience
Feature D, level 1, excavation unit 0N2W.
176
Miscellaneous Artifacts and Minerals 177
Description
The specimen is the key for a key-wind watch (Figure A9.2). Scratching the gray sur-
face of the upper two-thirds of the key reveals a brass color. The portion of the key
that is inserted into a watch is heavily oxidized.
Measurements
The key is 3.7 centimeters long, with a maximum width of 1.2 centimeters.
Date of Manufacture
Circa 1850–1880.
Remarks
A number of American firms began manufacturing pocket watches in the 1850s and
later, as technological changes made these timepieces more affordable. From circa
1850 to 1885 most of these companies produced key-wind and key-set watches. Man-
ufacture of pendant wind and set watches began to increase in the 1860s, and by 1885
most companies had ceased making key-wind models. Both types of watches were
sold in the 1870s.2
Marble
Provenience
Feature D, level 2, excavation unit 1N1W.
178 A ppendi x 9
Description
The marble is made of a gray stone with purple tones and very small tan-colored
inclusions.
Measurements
The specimen is 1.8 centimeters in diameter and weighs 9.5 grams.
Date of Manufacture
Seventeenth century to circa 1915.
Remarks
Most stone marbles were produced in Germany during the 18th and 19th centuries.
Production of stone varieties declined in the 1870s as clay, porcelain, and glass mar-
bles came to dominate the market.3
Porcelain Doll
Provenience
A glazed-porcelain doll was recovered from the profile of Feature D before the fea-
ture was excavated (Figure A9.3). There is no question that it was within the feature
fill.
Description
The doll fragment consists of the torso, legs, and feet; the head and arms are missing.
The fragment is 2 inches tall, ¾ inch wide at the shoulder, and ½ inch wide at the
feet. It has a glossy white, glazed finish front and back; some black material adheres
to the bottom of the feet, with a few specks up to 0.1 inch up the sides of the feet.
Unless arms were molded to the sides of these dolls, all or part of the arms were ap-
plied, usually at the shoulder or short of the elbow.4 A mold seam is visible on both
sides of the torso, but none is apparent on the remains of the right arm.
Miscellaneous Artifacts and Minerals 179
Figure A9.3. “Frozen Charlotte” porcelain doll, with black marks on the feet that might be
remnants of paint.
Date of Manufacture
Circa 1850–1914.5
Remarks
The specimen is an example of a “Frozen Charlotte.” These solid porcelain dolls were
produced in sizes ranging from 1 to 18 inches, with most in the 1 to 4 inch range.
Comparison with other Frozen Charlottes is difficult without the head. Some with
similar white torsos and shoulders have painted shoes.6 The black material on the
feet of this specimen could be remnants of paint.
Glass Container
Provenience
Feature D, level 1, excavation unit 1N0W.
Description
This colorless glass container looks like a small tumbler, but the interior body wall
is covered with vertically oriented facets that run from the base to 1.7 centimeters
below the lip. The exterior of the container bears the remains of a paper label with
green, illegible markings.
Measurements
Container height — 7.3 centimeters; base diameter— 5.1 centimeters; lip diameter—
6.6 centimeters. The label is 3 by 5 centimeters.
180 A ppendi x 9
Markings
The base of the container is lightly embossed with the mirror image of the follow-
ing markings circling about half of the circumference of the base: “A. ISC R & Co.”
Horizontally across the center of the base is embossed “CIN.O.”
Remarks
What the specimen contained is unknown.
Ceramic Artifact
Provenience
Four fragments of a ceramic artifact were recovered from Feature D levels 2, 6, and 7
in excavation units 1N2W, 2N2W, and 3N2W. One fragment was also recovered on
the surface of a two-track trail contiguous to the excavation.
Description
The description of this artifact is derived from a fragment that appears to be about
half complete. The body of the artifact is cylindrical, with one closed end that is con-
vex and rounded and another end that is open. The exterior is a reddish brown or
brick color, while the interior is gray; the lip of the open end is finished with the
brick color. There are mold seams on the body.
Measurements
The artifact is 4.0 centimeters long, with a diameter of 2.0 centimeters.
Remarks
The function of this artifact is undetermined. There is more than one specimen rep-
resented in the assemblage.
Lead
Provenience
Feature D, level 7, excavation units 1N2W and 2N2W.
Description
Two small irregularly shaped pieces of lead were recovered from Feature D. One
specimen is 2.4 centimeters long and 1 centimeter wide and weighs 2.5 grams. A
slightly larger piece is 1.5 centimeters long and 0.9 centimeters wide and weighs 3.1
grams.
Remarks
The function of these lead specimens and their association with other artifacts are
unknown; they are not fragments of foil wrappers. The larger piece appears to have
been subjected to heat.
Miscellaneous Artifacts and Minerals 181
Agate
Provenience
Five fragments of agate were recovered from Feature D levels 5, 6, and 7 in excava-
tion units 2N2W and 4N2W.
Description
If these pieces of cryptocrystalline stone were found on a precontact archaeological
site, they would be classified as shatter, a by-product of stone tool manufacture.
Remarks
Gravels of the lower Yellowstone River bed and surrounding terraces are widely
known among lapidaries as a source of gem-quality agate. While a collector can de-
termine if a river cobble is an agate by examining its surface, the quality of the stone
cannot be known until the interior is visible. Novice rock collectors sometimes break
a cobble to see the interior, often diminishing the stone’s value for cutting and pol-
ishing. Smashing an agate cobble can produce small pieces of shatter as well as larger
pieces of the stone. The fragments from Feature D were probably produced by this
kind of cobble testing.
Lignite
Provenience
Lignite was recovered from seven of nine levels and 10 of 18 excavation units. Most
of this material was in the southern half of Feature D between 60 and 90 centimeters
below datum. A lignite deposit in unit 3N2W was mixed with a dense layer of bone.
Description
The lignite is friable and occurs as relatively small pieces. Nothing in the appearance
of the lignite or in the surrounding materials suggests that it was burned; there was
no clinker or ash.
Remarks
Lignite occurs naturally in the region. A small seam of this low-grade coal outcrops
about 100 feet south of Feature D in the bank of the Yellowstone River; it is strati-
graphically below the feature. Lignite from this or any other local source would have
to have been deposited in the feature by someone.
Appendix 10
Dog Remains
The skeletal remains of a domestic dog, Canis familiaris, were recovered from Fea-
ture D.1
Dog Skeleton
Provenience
Feature D levels 3, 4, and 5 in excavation units 2N2W, 3N2W, and 4N2W.
Description
The specimen is a nearly complete skeleton of a mature domestic dog, slightly
smaller than an average-size modern male coyote.2 Bone elements of the specimen
most critical for locomotion are different than those of a coyote, suggesting that it
was not built for speed like a coyote but was more muscular.3 The exterior bone sur-
faces were in good condition, and an examination found no indication of patholo-
gies. However, the second and third cervical vertebrae exhibit breakage by a sharp
steel implement. This damage was caused by a minimum of three chops to the dog’s
neck. There is no evidence that the dog was skinned or butchered after death.4
Remarks
The dog’s skull was represented only by eight fragments, which were refit to com-
pose parts of the frontal, parietal, and occipital bones. Also missing was all but the
ascending ramus of the right mandible.
182
Appendix 11
The records of the Office of the Commissary General of Subsistence include “pro-
vision books” that document supplies on hand at the end of each month and when
stores were transferred among commissary of subsistence officers.1 These books ap-
plied to the entire U.S. Army and cover more than a single year. One such book in-
cludes a number of entries under titles that record subsistence data kept during the
Sioux War of 1876–1877.2 Entries under two of these titles identify stores on hand or
transferred among Department of Dakota assistant commissary of subsistence offi-
cers from May 14, 1876, until General Terry closed his campaign on September 6.
The provision book is in a ledger format; it has preprinted columns with three
rows of headings along the top. The headings begin with “Date” and proceed with
commodities (pork, bacon, fresh beef, beef cattle, flour, etc.) across four separate
pages. Each row of hand-entries made below the headings begins, left to right, with a
date (month) followed by an amount under each commodity (pounds, ounces, num-
ber, weight, barrels, gallons, cans, bottles, jars) depending on the type of commodity.
Nonfood items listed are forage for livestock (hay and corn), candles, oil, wicks, blu-
ing, soap, and tobacco. The end column on the far right of the fourth page is a wide
“Remarks” column.
The book lists commissary stores commonly supplied to troops. Basic rations
provided to the enlisted ranks are included as well as other items that could be pur-
chased at cost. Officers were required to buy all of their food. Enlisted men could
supplement their issue ration with purchases of commissary stores.
183
Table A11.1. “Yellowstone Depot — Stanley’s Crossing” Provision Book Entries
Supplies were again brought to the mouth of Powder River in late August as Terry
and Crook struggled to continue their pursuit of the tribes. After Terry closed his
campaign on September 6, supplies were moved from Powder River to the canton-
ment being built at Tongue River. At this time a cantonment was also constructed
opposite the mouth of Glendive Creek to facilitate continued movement of supplies
from Ft. Buford to the Tongue River post.3
Maj. Moore’s 6th Infantry depot guard had supplies in place and waiting on the
Yellowstone where the Dakota column was expected to arrive early in June. This first
depot was on the right bank of the river and some distance west of the stockade
where Col. Stanley located a depot for the 1873 railroad survey.4 Moore referred to
the new location as “Stanley’s Crossing.”5 The Dakota column bypassed this depot,
and Moore used steamboats to move freight from Stanley’s Crossing to Powder
River between June 5 and June 13. When this transfer was complete, the depot at
Stanley’s Crossing was not needed as long as river conditions allowed the steamers to
reach Powder River.
As the title of this section of the provision book suggests, it documents supplies
at the Stanley’s Crossing depot. In the remarks column for the month of May line of
entries is written, “Lt. B A Byrne 6th Inft Recd of D L Craft 6th Inft May 14th 1876.”
This line details the supplies transferred on May 14 from acting assistant commissary
of subsistence (ACS) 2nd Lt. David Craft at Ft. Buford to 2nd Lt. Bernard Byrne,
Co. C, 6th Infantry, ACS for Moore’s battalion.6
The Commissary Department Provision Book 187
In the remarks column for the month of July line of entries is written, “Tfd to
Lt. R E Thompson 6th Inft July 16th 1876.” The “16th 1876” is crossed out, and what
looks like a pencil entry placed to the right is “31st 1876.” This line then documents
the subsistence stores transferred to 2nd Lt. Richard Thompson, Co. K, 6th Infantry,
ACS with Terry’s headquarters command throughout the 1876 campaign.7
Moore’s battalion left the Powder River depot in mid-July and was joined by the
rest of Terry’s command at the Rosebud confluence at the end of the month. Com-
missary stores for which Lt. Byrne was responsible were transported from Powder
River to the Rosebud depot (Ft. Beans), where they were transferred to Lt. Thomp-
son a few days before Terry’s reorganized command marched up the Rosebud in pur-
suit of the tribes. Moore’s 6th Infantry battalion depot guard was replaced by a single
company of 17th Infantry under Capt. Louis Sanger, although 1st Lt. Frederick Thi-
baut, Co. D, 6th Infantry, assumed ACS duties at Ft. Beans. The rest of Moore’s old
depot guard joined Terry’s command on the march that would lead them back to
Powder River.8
While there is no section of the provision book titled “Powder River Depot,” the
evidence indicates that the Stanley’s Crossing section includes stores transported to
Powder River in June. Moore’s battalion completed the transfer of commissary stores
from Stanley’s Crossing to Powder River on June 13, and this Glendive depot was
abandoned. The Stanley’s Crossing section of the book includes an entry for the end
of June and the transfer to Lt. Thompson at the end of July. Lt. Byrne was ACS for
Moore’s battalion when it arrived at Powder River in June, and there is no indication
of a transfer of stores until after the depot was moved to the Rosebud depot in July.9
Therefore, June entries in the Stanley’s Crossing section must document commissary
stores at the Powder River depot at the end of that month for which Moore’s ACS
was responsible.
Further confusing the issue of associating the provision book with specific de-
pots is the section titled “Depot Glendive Creek. M.T.” Despite the title, this part
documents supplies on hand at the Glendive Cantonment from September 1876
through April 1877. A note under the remarks indicates that Lt. William J. Camp-
bell, 22nd Infantry, received the bulk of these stores from Capt. John F. Weston on
August 30, 1876. Beginning in late August 1876, the Glendive Cantonment was gar-
risoned by four companies of 22nd Infantry and two companies of the 17th Infan-
try.10 The November 1876 “Regimental Returns” for the 22nd Infantry note that 1st
Lt. Campbell was with his company in camp near Glendive, where he was battalion
acting assistant quartermaster and ACS.11 Capt. Weston was a commissary of subsis-
tence staff officer.12 This section of the provision book is not connected to the earlier
depot at Stanley’s Crossing, where stores were managed by Moore’s 6th Infantry.
Table A11.2. (cont’d.) “Yellowstone Depot. M.T.” Provision Book Entries, August
1876
Commodity Amount Commodity Amount
Soap, Toilet 161 cakes Beef, Corned 204 cans; 408
Soup, 1 type? 105 cans pounds
Starch, Corn 37 pounds Beef, Roast 168 cans
Sugar, Cut Loaf 814 pounds Beef Tongue 108 cans
Sugar, Granulated 1,091 pounds Ginger 3 pounds
Syrup 9 gallons; 1 quart Ham, Sugar Cured 204 pounds
Tomatoes 20 cans Jam, Raspberry No entry
Wheat, Cracked 48 pounds Jelly, Currant 1 can
Yeast Powder 62 pounds Lard 1,000 pounds
Lobster 213 cans
above, Lt. Thibaut assumed ACS duties at the Rosebud depot, and this document
notes the stores transferred to him. It also provides some continuity in tracking
stores associated with the Yellowstone depot after Moore’s command was replaced as
depot guard by Capt. Sanger’s company of 17th Infantry.
While there are no entries for any commodities on the September line, “Closed
by transfer to various officers Sept. 6th 1876, being date of last receipt” is written here
in red ink. No individuals are noted as having received the stores. The date is signif-
icant as it is a day after Gen. Terry closed the campaign and the focus of his supply
officers turned to construction and provisioning of the cantonment at Tongue River.
Indeed, one section of the provision book is titled “On Board Steamer — Canton-
ment on Tongue River M.T.”
Conclusion
The “Yellowstone Depot — Stanley’s Crossing” section of the provision book doc-
uments stores managed by Maj. Moore’s depot guard at Stanley’s Crossing and at
Powder River. The June line of entries in the Stanley’s Crossing provision book sec-
tion are probably commissary stores on hand at the end of that month and are those
most clearly associated with the Powder River depot. At a minimum, this section
documents the foods issued to enlisted men and those available for purchase. The
section titled “Yellowstone Depot. M.T.” is most clearly associated with the Rosebud
depot. However, some of these stores might have been taken back to Powder River to
support the forces of Terry and Crook in the latter half of August 1876.
Notes
Chapter 1
1. The state of Montana owns 320 acres at the Powder River confluence, and the
Department of Fish, Wildlife, and Parks held rights-of-way agreements with
adjacent landowners to construct a new access road.
2. An archaeological “feature” is something created by human activity but which
cannot be removed from an archaeological site; examples include house floors,
fire hearths, and postholes. Estimating the rate of riverbank loss was difficult,
and determining the width of the historic feature exposed in the bank would
require test excavations. What was thought to be the grave of an army private
was recorded in the vicinity in 1975.
3. The work was conducted under Glacier Park Company Letter Permit No.
AR178. Glacier Park Company was the land management subsidiary of Burl-
ington Northern, Inc.
4. Burlington Northern owned the parcel of land on which the archaeological
feature was located; the parcel was initially part of the federal land grant given
the Northern Pacific Railroad. “Feature D” is the arbitrary designation given
this feature. The number 24PE271 was assigned by the Department of Anthro-
pology, University of Montana.
5. Also located on Burlington Northern land, Feature F was shown to me by the
lessee, Lester Jens. Much of the feature was covered with a thin layer of fine
soil, but several upright sandstone slabs were clearly visible. Mr. Jens stated
that these stones had been in place since he first moved to the area many years
before and he believed they were grave markers. The stones had characteristics
indicating that they had been exposed to very high temperatures, and lacking
other markings, they seemed unlikely to be grave markers.
6. Douglas D. Scott, “Euro-American Archaeology,” in Archaeology on the Great
Plains, ed. W. Raymond Wood (Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1998),
498.
7. New World Dictionary of the American Language, 2nd ed., s.v. “logistics.”
8. Paul A. Hutton, Phil Sheridan and His Army (Lincoln: University of Ne-
braska Press, 1985), 117.
191
192 Notes to Pages 14–22
9. Robert M. Utley, Frontier Regulars: The United States Army and the Indian,
1866–1891 (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1977), 15–16.
10. Ibid. Infantry regiments had only one major.
11. Ibid., 16–17. Utley gives the company strength figures for 1881 as a typical year.
He notes that the 7th Cavalry fought the battle at Little Bighorn with 15 of its
43 officers absent, including the colonel, two majors, and four captains.
12. Jeremy Agnew, Life of a Soldier on the Western Frontier (Missoula: Mountain
Press, 2008), 85.
13. Utley, Frontier Regulars, 28, 31. Utley notes that almost half of colonels and
lieutenant colonels and more than half of the brigadiers and majors were staff
officers.
14. Agnew, Life of a Solder on the Western Frontier, 83–84; Utley, Frontier Regu
lars, 11–12.
15. U.S. War Department, Adjutant General’s Office, Official Army Register for
January, 1876, http://archive.org/details/officialarmyregi1876unit.
16. Erna Risch, Quartermaster Support of the Army: A History of the Corps 1775–
1939 (Washington, D.C.: Center of Military History, U.S. Army, 1989), 492.
17. Agnew, Life of a Soldier on the Western Frontier, 90; Risch, Quartermaster
Support of the Army, 509, 511. Turnover among acting quartermaster and com-
missary officers was high.
18. Utley, Frontier Regulars, 31.
19. Agnew, Life of a Soldier on the Western Frontier, 124–126; “Report of the
Commissary General of Subsistence,” in U.S. War Department, Report of the
Secretary of War 1877 (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1877),
341.
20. Risch, Quartermaster Support of the Army, 505–506.
21. Ibid.
22. Ibid., 492.
23. David M. Delo, Peddlers and Post Traders: The Army Sutler on the Frontier
(Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1992), 1–4.
24. Ibid., 152–164.
25. Risch, Quartermaster Support of the Army, 468–472.
Chapter 2
1. Mark H. Brown, The Plainsmen of the Yellowstone: A History of the Yellowstone
Basin (New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1961), 16–18.
2. Pierre Jean DeSmet, “From Fort Alexander to Fort Laramie,” in Exploring the
Northern Plains, 1804–1876, ed. Lloyd McFarling (Caldwell: Caxton Printers,
1955), 216.
3. Francois-Antoine Larocque, “Francois-Antoine Larocque’s ‘Yellowstone Jour-
nal,’” in Early Fur Trade on the Northern Plains: Canadian Traders among the
Mandan and Hidatsa Indians, 1738–1818, ed. W. Raymond Wood and Thomas
D. Thiessen (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1985), 156–220.
Notes to Pages 22–23 193
4. Meriwether Lewis, The Lewis and Clark Expedition, 3 vols., 1814 ed., ed. Ar-
chibald Hanna and William H. Goetzmann (Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott,
1961), 3:765.
5. Brown, Plainsmen of the Yellowstone, 111.
6. Fort Union was a trading post of the American Fur Company. Established in
1827, it was the primary American Fur Company post in the upper Missouri
country, including the Yellowstone. Ft. Union was sold to the government,
and its materials were used to construct the army post Ft. Buford in 1866.
7. John S. Gray, Custer’s Last Campaign: Mitch Boyer and the Little Bighorn Re
constructed (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1991), 14–15. Mitch Boyer,
a mixed-blood Sioux who scouted for the army in the 1876 Indian War, was
one of Gore’s guides in 1855.
8. W. F. Raynolds, Report of the Exploration of the Yellowstone River (Washing-
ton, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1868). Raynolds was a captain in the
Corps of Topographic Engineers. His mission was to explore the main tribu-
taries of the Yellowstone and mountain sources of the Gallatin and Madison
forks of the Missouri River. He was to gather information on topographic
features, the navigability of streams, numbers and distribution of Indians, cli-
mate, and agricultural and mineral potential and to evaluate the potential for
road and railroad development for future military or emigration needs.
9. Ibid., 8, 38. Raynolds states that the Powder River was named for the “sulphu-
rous vapors rising from burning beds of lignite in its vicinity,” but most sources
agree with Larocque’s source of the name (see note 3).
10. Robert M. Utley, “The Bozeman Trail before John Bozeman: A Busy Land,”
Montana the Magazine of Western History 53, no. 2 (2003): 20–31. Crow Indi-
ans controlled the land between Powder River and the upper Yellowstone long
before it was recognized as their territory in the Ft. Laramie Treaty of 1851. In
the years following the treaty, Sioux and Cheyenne tribes contested Crow con-
trol of the Powder River and lower Yellowstone country. The 1851 treaty iden-
tified no land in the lower Yellowstone and Powder River country as Sioux or
Cheyenne territory.
11. Ibid., 29–31. With other trappers, Bridger spent the winter of 1829–1830
on the Powder River. He was very familiar with this country and led both
the Gore and Raynolds parties over what later became known as part of the
Bozeman Trail. Raynolds followed this trail from near the mouth of Bighorn
Canyon to Crazy Woman Creek, a tributary of the Upper Powder. Beginning
in 1863, a number of immigrant parties used the route as a short cut from the
Platte River Road (Oregon Trail) to the gold fields of Montana Territory.
12. Raynolds, Exploration of the Yellowstone River, 145. “Left bank” refers to the
left-hand bank of a stream when one is facing downriver or in the direction the
stream is flowing. Most military personnel understood this way of designat-
ing a riverbank, but accounts by civilians indicate that they sometimes got it
backward.
194 Notes to Pages 24–28
planning reports from Northern Pacific officials to plan new army posts, ad-
just troop placement, and request funding for his division. Because military
resources were typically inadequate at this time, support for the Northern
Pacific was accomplished to the detriment of other obligations.
66. Houston, Sinews of War, 253. Army administrative boundaries at this time
followed a pattern that had evolved during the Civil War. Reorganized in 1865,
the United States was divided into 19 departments distributed among five mil-
itary divisions. The boundaries and organization of the Department of Dakota
were specifically arranged to support railroad development.
67. Hutton, Phil Sheridan and His Army, 172. Like General Terry, Lt. Col. Custer
and his regiment had just left reconstruction duty in the South. Custer gained
experience in Indian warfare on the southern plains in 1868–1869 and was
highly regarded by Sheridan, under whom Custer served during the Civil War.
The lieutenant colonel shared the view of his superiors regarding the military
importance of railroads: “No one measure so quickly and effectively frees a
country from the horrors and devastation of Indians Wars and Indian dep-
redations generally, as the building of a railroad through the region overrun”
(Utley, Cavalier in Buckskin, 111).
68. Joseph M. Hanson, The Conquest of the Missouri: Being the Story of the Life
and Exploits of Captain Grant Marsh (New York: Murray Hill, 1946), 150–167.
Expedition planners scheduled a May 1873 reconnaissance of the lower
Yellowstone River. One of Sheridan’s aides, Major George Forsyth, led the
reconnaissance on the Coulson Packet Company’s Key West commanded by
Grant Marsh. The reconnaissance turned about at Wolf Rapids, about two
miles below the mouth of the Powder River. Forsyth reported the Yellowstone
navigable beyond the Powder.
69. Frost, Custer’s 7th Cav and the Campaign of 1873, 26; Hutton, Phil Sheridan
and His Army, 172. The 1873 survey was estimated to have cost the Northern
Pacific less than $5,000, including payroll, rations, and forage. Cost to the
United States for the military escort was estimated at $769,000 (about $13.6
million in 2009 dollars). Hutton argues that this expenditure was a govern-
ment subsidy for the railroad.
70. Brown, Plainsmen of the Yellowstone, 203–204; Hutton, Phil Sheridan and
His Army, 49–55, 171–172. Some of the civilians were along for the adventure.
They hunted with officers and engaged in other amusements such as running
game with dogs; Custer and other officers had dogs specifically for this pur-
pose. Col. Stanley’s 22nd Infantry had a regimental pack of hunting dogs.
71. Hutton, Phil Sheridan and His Army, 172. To meet the overland transporta-
tion needs of the expedition, Sheridan’s division headquarters staff purchased
150 new wagons in Philadelphia and 900 mules in St. Louis. Two steamboats
were contracted to supply river transport.
72. David S. Stanley, Report of the Yellowstone Expedition of 1873 (Washington,
D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1874), 1–2.
200 Notes to Pages 38–41
73. The location of this depot later became known as “Stanley’s Stockade” or
“Stanley’s Crossing.”
74. Ibid., 5. The expedition was north of the Yellowstone opposite the mouth of
Powder River when it passed the confluence of these two streams. At no time
did the command pass directly through or occupy what would become the
Powder River depot in 1876.
75. Frost, Custer’s 7th Cav and the Campaign of 1873, 64. Captain William Lud-
low, Corps of Engineers, delivered supplies to Stanley when conducting yet
another reconnaissance of the Yellowstone River. He completed a map of the
Yellowstone from the Powder River confluence to the Missouri dated Decem-
ber 19, 1873.
76. Ibid., 49, 77. After the skirmish at the mouth of Tongue River, troops found
the bodies of the veterinarian and a sutler who had wandered away from the
command in search of water. The sutler, Augustus Baliran, served in the Con-
federacy and was a trader with the 7th Cavalry after the Civil War. Early in the
expedition, Stanley ordered Baliran’s barrels of whiskey destroyed but later
relented.
77. Marguerite Merrington, The Custer Story: The Life and Intimate Letters of
General George A. Custer and His Wife Elizabeth, Bison Book reprint (Lin-
coln: University of Nebraska Press, 1987), 260.
78. Ibid., 262.
79. Frost, Custer’s 7th Cav and the Campaign of 1873, 98–101.
80. Stanley, Report of the Yellowstone Expedition of 1873, 15.
81. Ibid. Perhaps Stanley was the officer Custer was referring to as having grossly
miscalculated the amount of forage and supplies needed for the expedition.
Without reference to his subordinate, Stanley’s detailed report on problems
with young mules and inadequate forage addressed Custer’s criticisms.
82. Ibid., 8, 16.
83. U.S. War Department, Army Corps of Engineers, Report upon United States
Geographical Surveys West of the One Hundredth Meridian (Washington, D.C.:
Government Printing Office, 1889), 641, http://books.google.com/books
?id=jfIgAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA601&lpg=PA601&dq=corps+of+engineers+
map+of+Yellowstone+River+1873&source=bl&ots=5Smg3bDQMq&sig=
yQzA9VVbD0AsKmx24lTpDZrmWs8&hl=en&sa=X&ei=5FnyUtXeLsHlo
ATOhoG4CA&ved=0CCYQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=corps%20of%20
engineers%20map%20of%20Yellowstone%20River%201873&f=false.
84. Lubetkin, “No Fighting Is to Be Apprehended,” 41.
85. E. S. Topping, The Chronicles of the Yellowstone, reprint, introduction, notes,
and bibliography by Robert A. Murray (Minneapolis: Ross and Haines, 1968),
104.
86. Don L. Weibert, The 1874 Invasion of Montana: A Prelude to the Custer Disaster
(Billings: self-published, Benchmark Printers, 1993), 22. Vernon’s group likely
joined the larger Yellowstone Wagon Road and Prospecting Expedition at
Notes to Pages 41–4 4 201
Canyon Creek a few miles west of where Billings is now located, on the north
side of the Yellowstone. The smooth talker and a companion stole away from
the expedition before Vernon was confirmed to have lied about finding gold.
87. Brown, Plainsmen of the Yellowstone, 129–131. The 1874 expedition was not
the first prospecting company to venture into the lower Yellowstone country.
Eleven years earlier a small party under James Stuart traveled from the south-
western section of what would soon become Montana Territory to the Yellow
stone valley. At the mouth of the Bighorn, they surveyed a townsite and
established claims to some of the surrounding land. Attacked by Crow war-
riors in the Bighorn valley, several prospectors were killed, and the survivors
retreated south to the Oregon Trail.
88. Weibert, 1874 Invasion of Montana, 129–134. Territorial Governor Potts
strongly supported development of the Northern Pacific as well as the removal
of all perceived obstacles to the economic prosperity of the territory. Chief
among these obstacles were the Crow reservation and the unceded hunting
grounds south of the Yellowstone.
89. Ibid., 11, 25, 35, 47.
90. Ibid., 90–98. Sitting Bull and other leaders convinced their warriors to aban-
don the fight with the wagon road expedition.
91. Utley, “Bozeman Trail before John Bozeman,” 23. The expedition entered the
Crow reservation soon after it left the Rosebud valley, but Lakota tribes effec-
tively controlled that part of the Crow reservation east of the Bighorn River.
92. Addison Quivey, “The Yellowstone Expedition of 1874,” Contributions to the
Historical Society of Montana 1 (1876): 281.
93. Weibert, 1874 Invasion of Montana, 173–178. Weibert’s catalog of artifacts
recorded at Yellowstone Wagon Road and Prospecting Expedition sites iden-
tifies both expedition and Indian positions. His catalog suggests that most
expedition men were armed with single-shot breech-loading .50/70-caliber
rifles, while many warriors carried Spencer, Henry, or Winchester repeating
rifles. An expedition participant noted from cartridge cases found in 1874
that many tribesmen had Spencer and Winchester repeaters as well as breech-
loading rifles. Many carried bows and arrows in addition to firearms. The
breechloaders were effective at long range, but the Lakota repeaters offered
considerable close-range firepower. These warriors were much better armed
than those who attacked the Powder River Expedition in 1865 primarily with
bows and arrows.
94. Ibid., 54, 62–63, 85–86, 109–110. The reconnaissance confirmed that the upper
Rosebud terrain was too rugged for the wagons and cannons. Expedition live-
stock did no grazing at all between April 12 and April 15. The party abandoned
a number of sick horses before they arrived at the site of Ft. C. F. Smith on
the Bighorn River, and participants reported 20 to 25 head killed by Indians.
A special correspondent writing from Pryor’s Gap on April 26 reported that
diseased horses were still dying. Both sides in this conflict were well aware that
202 Notes to Pages 4 4–47
the expedition’s survival depended on keeping its horses healthy and protect-
ing them from being stolen or shot by warriors.
95. Ibid., 122.
96. Kim A. Scott, Splendid on a Large Scale — The Writings of Hans Peter Gyllem
bourg Koch Montana Territory 1869–1974 (Helena: Bedrock Editions and
Drumlummon Institute, 2010), 310. Peter Koch noted in a May 1874 letter
from Bozeman to his fiancé, “The Yellowstone Expedition you have read about
in the papers has proved a failure; it is now on its way back, driven in by the
Indians.” While Koch was not with the expedition, he was probably involved
in its planning. As an experienced surveyor, he was to plat the new town estab-
lished at the head of navigation on the Yellowstone River.
97. James H. Bradley, “Yellowstone Expedition of 1874,” Contributions to the
Historical Society of Montana 8 (1917): 116. Lt. Bradley states in his manuscript
of interviews with expedition participants (published posthumously), “Bad
weather and roads and meager grazing combined to weaken their animals and
retard their progress. Several days in consequence of storm or fog, they were
unable to move at all, and many began to entertain apprehension that unless
they return soon their animals would be in such condition that they could not
return at all.”
98. Scott, Splendid on a Large Scale, 148. In an 1871 letter, Peter Koch echoed the
view of many Gallatin valley denizens when he wrote, “You have probably read
in the papers about the recent Indian raid into the Gallatin valley. It shows
how little fitter the soldiers are to protect the settlers and as long as our gov-
ernment continues their present Indian policy, we may look for trouble on our
Eastern frontier. If they could only once learn that it takes citizens, not soldiers
to fight Indians, they might be taught a lesson in one season they would not
forget for years to come.”
99. Brown, Plainsmen of the Yellowstone, 218.
100. Peter Koch, “Historical Sketch: Bozeman, Gallatin Valley and Bozeman Pass,”
Contributions to the Historical Society of Montana 2 (1896): 135–137.
101. Utley, Cavalier in Buckskin, 133. General Terry correctly asserted that conduct-
ing military business on the Great Sioux Reservation was within the scope of
the 1868 Laramie Treaty.
102. Larson, Gall, 93–95, 98–101.
Chapter 3
1. Hutton, Phil Sheridan and His Army, 166–167. Lt. Col. James W. Forsyth,
with the president’s brother Lt. Col. F. D. Grant, completed a reconnaissance
of the Yellowstone on the Coulson steamboat Josephine in May and June 1875.
Boat captain Grant March navigated to the future site of Billings, where low
water and the swift current precluded further progress. This reconnaissance
established the mouth of the Bighorn River as the head of navigation on the
Yellowstone.
Notes to Pages 47–51 203
2. John S. Gray, Centennial Campaign: The Sioux War of 1876 (Fort Collins: Old
Army Press, 1976), 19.
3. Clark C. Spence, Montana: A Bicentennial History (New York: W. W. Norton
and Company, 1978), 61.
4. Gray, Centennial Campaign, 40–41; Gray, Custer’s Last Campaign, 117–118,
125–127.
5. Weibert, 1874 Invasion of Montana, 124, 169. At least 13 men involved in the
Yellowstone Wagon Road and Prospecting Expedition were connected to the
Ft. Pease venture in some way. Of the three men who organized Ft. Pease, only
Paul W. McCormick may have been involved in the 1874 event.
6. Utley, Cavalier in Buckskin, 145.
7. Hutton, Phil Sheridan and His Army, 299.
8. Gray, Centennial Campaign, 28. Watkins had Civil War connections to both
Sheridan and Crook.
9. Utley, Cavalier in Buckskin, 146.
10. Roger Darling, A Sad and Terrible Blunder, Generals Terry and Custer at the
Little Big Horn: New Discoveries (Vienna, Va.: Potomac-Western, 1990), 34.
The version of Raynolds’s map that General Terry would use in the 1876 Sioux
War showed almost all of the major streams in his area of operations but did
not provide much detail about topography.
11. Hutton, Phil Sheridan and His Army, 301.
12. Edgar I. Stewart, Penny-an-Acre Empire in the West (Norman: University of
Oklahoma Press, 1968), 38. General Sheridan’s stated ignorance of the climate
and travel conditions on the northern plains is surprising. As commander of
the Division of the Missouri since 1869, he was familiar with numerous mili-
tary actions here as well as the railroad surveys. He was almost certainly aware
of a debate between Custer and Col. William Hazen, commander at Ft. Bu-
ford, and others regarding the suitability of railroad grant land for homestead-
ing on the northern plains. Hazen claimed that the land was unsuitable for
agriculture and not worth a penny an acre. Custer supported the Northern
Pacific’s view that the land would sustain bumper crops forever. The debate be-
gan in 1874 and was carried by major newspapers as well as the Army and Navy
Journal. Hazen often mentioned climate, including severe winter conditions in
western Dakota Territory.
13. Ronald V. Rockwell, The U.S. Army in Frontier Montana (Helena: Sweetgrass
Books, 2009), 288.
14. Gray, Centennial Campaign, 37.
15. Gerald M. Adams, The Post near Cheyenne: A History of Fort D. A. Russell,
1867–1930 (Boulder: Pruett Publishing, 1989), 57; J. W. Vaughn, The Reynolds
Campaign on Powder River (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1961),
15, 18. The new bridge across the North Platte also facilitated travel for those
seeking their fortune in the Black Hills. The first passenger coach launched by
the Cheyenne and Black Hills Stage line left Cheyenne on February 3, 1876,
204 Notes to Pages 51–54
for the bustling new mining town Custer City. At this time, Cheyenne was so
crowded with people bound for the Black Hills that the army had difficulty
finding enough transportation.
16. Vaughn, Reynolds Campaign on Powder River, 15.
17. Robert A. Murray, The Army Moves West: Supplying the Western Indian Wars
Campaigns (Fort Collins: Old Army Press, 1981), 17.
18. Vaughn, Reynolds Campaign on Powder River, 50. Crook had successfully used
pack trains when pursuing Indians on the Pacific coast and in Arizona. When
transferred to the Department of the Platte, he sent the mules to a facility
near Cheyenne Depot. These professionally trained and managed mules could
carry 250 pounds and cover 25 miles a day. During seasons when grass was
available, the mules could maintain pace without carrying forage.
19. Jerome A. Greene, “A Battle among Skirmishes,” in Legacy: New Perspectives
on the Battle of the Little Bighorn, ed. Charles E. Rankin (Helena: Montana
Historical Society Press, 1996), 85. This was primarily a Northern Cheyenne
village under Old Bear.
20. Utley, Frontier Regulars, 251; Utley, Sitting Bull, 129–130. The Cheyenne and
Lakota village included about 210 fighting men among a total 735 residents.
Indian losses were two warriors killed and several wounded. Reynolds lost four
killed and six wounded; the bodies of two soldiers were left on the battlefield.
21. Vaughn, Reynolds Campaign on Powder River, 157–158.
22. Utley, Frontier Regulars, 251.
23. Hutton, Phil Sheridan and His Army, 303.
24. Utley, Sitting Bull, 129–133.
25. Gray, Custer’s Last Campaign, 125–127.
26. James H. Bradley, “Journal of James H. Bradley: The Sioux Campaign of 1876
under the Command of General John Gibbon,” Contributions to the Historical
Society of Montana 2 (1896): 164.
27. Gray, Custer’s Last Campaign, 145. The column’s initial transportation con-
tractor was replaced in May by an E. G. Maclay and Co. train “consisting of
fourteen teams and twenty-eight wagons, viz; ‘Diamond R’ — twelve teams;
twenty-four wagons, ninety-seven mules and five horses; sub-train — two
teams, four wagons and twenty mules” (Matthew Carroll, “Diary of Matthew
Carroll: Master in Charge of Transportation for Colonel John Gibbon’s Expe-
dition against the Sioux Indians, 1876,” Contributions to the Historical Society
of Montana 2 [1896]: 229).
28. Bradley, “Journal of James H. Bradley,” 157. The soldiers at Ft. Ellis were well
aware of good fishing on the Yellowstone. When working for the post sutler in
the winter of 1871, Peter Koch noted that wagonloads of frozen Yellowstone
trout were brought to the post. Scott, Splendid on a Large Scale, 123.
29. Gray, Custer’s Last Campaign, 148.
30. George A. Schneider, ed., The Freeman Journal: The Infantry Campaign of 1876
(San Rafael: Presidio Press, 1977), 69. McCormick apparently sought and got
Notes to Pages 55–56 205
Gibbon’s approval to act as a freelance trader for the column. He made two,
possibly three, trips with goods in May and one on July 18. In the July instance,
he was accompanied by Mr. W. Cutter, post trader at Ft. Ellis since 1871. In
his diary entry of July 21, Lt. William English noted that he paid a subsis-
tence bill, probably to the commissary, and McCormick’s bill. The fact that
McCormick allowed officers to charge goods on account suggests that he was
indeed authorized to trade with the column. Mr. Cutter’s presence suggests
that McCormick might also have formed a business relationship with the post
trader. McCormick’s entry in Sanders’s history volume indicates that he joined
the campaign as a trader after the Ft. Pease affair. William L. English, “With
Gibbon against the Sioux in 1876: The Field Diary of Lt. William L. English,”
ed. with notes and intro. by Barry C. Johnson, English Westerners’ Brand Book
9, no. 1 (1966): 7; Helen F. Sanders, A History of Montana (Chicago: Lewis
Publishing Company, 1913), 2:986.
31. Holmes O. Paulding, “Dr. Paulding and His Remarkable Diary,” notes and
intro. by Barry C. Johnson, in Sidelights of the Sioux Wars, ed. Francis B.
Taunton, Special Publication 2 (London: English Westerners’ Society, 1967),
53, 56.
32. Gray, Custer’s Last Campaign, 16–18.
33. Weibert, 1874 Invasion of Montana, 135–144. Veterans of the 1874 wagon road
and prospecting expedition and Ft. Pease hired to serve as scouts and couriers
for the Montana column or other parts of Terry’s command included George
Herendeen, Muggins Taylor, Henry Bostwick, Zed Daniels, and John W.
Williamson.
34. Gray, Custer’s Last Campaign, 153–154.
35. Murray, Army Moves West, 5.
36. Lisle G. Brown, “The Yellowstone Supply Depot,” North Dakota History 40,
no. 1 (1973): 24.
37. Ibid., 25–26. Later in the campaign, the army contracted for additional steam-
boats: the Carroll, the E. H. Durfee, the Yellowstone, the Silver Lake, and the
Benton.
38. Gray, Centennial Campaign, 102, 104. Moore’s depot is also often simply
referenced as the “Glendive depot,” not to be confused with the “Glendive
Cantonment” later constructed in this vicinity but on the left bank of the
Yellowstone.
39. Delo, Peddlers and Post Traders, 156–164; John S. Gray, “Sutler on Custer’s
Last Campaign,” North Dakota History: Journal of the Northern Plains 43,
no. 3 (1976): 15–16. As General Sheridan launched the 1876 campaign, Sec-
retary of War William Belknap was under investigation for corruption in the
appointment of post traders. Custer was subpoenaed to testify at the Belknap
proceedings in March and April as Terry was struggling to get his column in
the field. Displeased with the lieutenant colonel’s testimony, the president re-
moved Custer as commander of the Dakota column.
206 Notes to Pages 57–61
40. Gray, “Sutler on Custer’s Last Campaign,” 17; Ben Innis, “Bottoms Up! The
Smith and Leighton Yellowstone Store Ledger of 1876,” North Dakota History:
Journal of the Northern Plains 51, no. 3 (1984): 25–26. Alvin Leighton traded in
the West for many years; he was the sutler with General Patrick Conner’s Pow-
der River Expedition in 1865 and set up shop at Ft. Conner (Reno) and other
Bozeman Trail posts. John Smith was his partner in this trade, and they main-
tained business relationships after the partnership ended. Alvin, his brothers,
and his brother-in-law established the Leighton and Jordan firm, acquiring the
post trader position at Ft. Buford through one of Secretary Belknap’s influence
men. Alvin and his brothers had other interests in the region, including the
Indian trade at Ft. Peck, an upper Missouri trading post.
41. James Willert, Little Big Horn Diary: Chronicle of the 1876 Indian War (La Mi-
rada: James Willert Publisher, 1982), 85.
42. Ibid., 100.
43. Brown, “Yellowstone Supply Depot,” 26; Gray, Centennial Campaign, 104–105.
44. Richard G. Hardorff, “Packs, Packers, and Pack Details: Logistics and Custer’s
Pack Train,” in Custer and His Times: Bk. 3, ed. Gregory J. W. Urwin and Ro-
berta E. Fagan (Conway: University of Central Arkansas Press, 1987), 227. An
estimated 66 mules with Reno’s wing were at least somewhat trained for pack-
ing. The rest of the mules taken from wagon service had no training as pack
animals.
45. Thomas M. Heski, “Camp Powell: The Powder River Supply Depot,” Research
and Review: The Journal of the Little Big Horn Associates 17, no. 1 (2003): 19;
Fredrick C. Wagner III, Participants in the Battle of the Little Big Horn: A Bi
ographical Dictionary of Sioux, Cheyenne and United States Military Personnel
( Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland and Company, 2011), 209.
46. John G. Bourke, On the Border with Crook (Lincoln: University of Nebraska
Press, 1972), 302–303; Utley, Frontier Regulars, 253.
47. Utley, Sitting Bull, 139–142. Crook’s losses totaled nine killed and 23 wounded.
His command expended thousands of rounds of ammunition in the battle, his
wounded needed care, and remaining supplies were limited. These were among
the factors that led Crook to withdraw rather than pursue the tribes.
48. Gray, Centennial Campaign, 321–334.
49. Gray, Custer’s Last Campaign, 200–203.
50. Gray, Centennial Campaign, 140.
51. John S. Gray, “The Pack Train on George A. Custer’s Last Campaign,” Ne
braska History 57, no. 1 (1976): 61–62; Hardorff, “Packs, Packers, and Pack
Details,” 232; Willert, Little Big Horn Diary, 204. The pack train is estimated
to have included 85 regular pack mules and 90 wagon mules. Twelve mules
were assigned to each company to transport rations, mess gear, and company
equipment, while the remaining animals carried equipment and supplies for a
headquarters detachment, medical staff, and civilian employees. The train has
been calculated to have hauled 97 boxes of hardbread, 1,462 pounds of sugar,
Notes to Pages 61–62 207
975 pounds of coffee, and 5,823 pounds of bacon carried in sacks on 93 mules.
Twelve mules were dedicated to carrying the extra ammunition. Douglas D.
Scott, ed., Papers on Little Bighorn Battlefield Archeology: The Equipment
Dump, Marker 7, and the Reno Crossing, Reprints in Anthropology 42 (Lin-
coln: J&L Reprint Co., 1991), 101–102.
52. In spite of his command’s problems with the pack train, Custer noted in a let-
ter to his wife from the mouth of the Rosebud on June 21, “I like campaigning
with pack-mules much better than wagons, leaving out the question of luxu-
ries” (Elizabeth B. Custer, “Boots and Saddles” or Life in Dakota with General
Custer [Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1961], 275).
53. Agnew, Life of a Soldier on the Western Frontier, 149; Custer, “Boots and Sad
dles,” 275. While livestock was sometimes pushed too hard or even eaten to
sustain a field campaign, officers and enlisted men alike understood the impor-
tance of caring for cavalry mounts as well as pack and wagon mules. Individual
troopers were responsible for the health and fitness of their horses. Punish-
ment was swift for anyone who did not feed or water his mount on schedule or
did not properly care for the horse’s hooves and back.
54. Willert, Little Big Horn Diary, 211.
55. Wagner, Participants in the Battle of the Little Big Horn, 5.
56. Gregory F. Michno, Lakota Noon: The Indian Narrative of Custer’s Defeat
(Missoula: Mountain Press, 1997), 9–20. Estimates of the size of the village
and number of warriors at Little Bighorn vary greatly. Several authors have the
number of lodges at about 1,000 and the number of warriors at 2,000. Others
argue that there may have been 1,000 or fewer warriors in the counterattack.
Whatever the true figures, this was a large village but probably smaller than
the one Sully attacked at Killdeer Mountain in 1864.
57. Richard A. Fox Jr., “West River History: The Indian Village on Little Bighorn
River, June 25–26, 1876,” in Legacy: New Perspectives on the Battle of the Little
Bighorn, ed. Charles E. Rankin (Helena: Montana Historical Society Press,
1996), 144–145. Fox uses Indian accounts of the battle to argue effectively that
the village extended north only to the vicinity opposite Medicine Tail Coulee.
This is the point where part of Custer’s command initially descended from the
east ridge, apparently to cross the stream and attack. While the village is often
described as extending three miles along the river, Fox’s evidence strongly sug-
gests that it was one and a half, and certainly no more than two, miles long.
58. Gray, Centennial Campaign, 179.
59. Hardorff, “Packs, Packers, and Pack Details,” 234; Thomas B. Marquis, Wooden
Leg: A Warrior Who Fought Custer, Bison Book reprint (Lincoln: University
of Nebraska Press, n.d.), 262–263. The pack train mules did not fare well
during the siege of Reno Hill. Soldiers killed some animals to bolster make-
shift defensive works. Surviving mules were without water until the evening
of July 26. Ten days after the battle, 50 of the 175 mules were reported fit for
service; the rest were dead or crippled. Marquis notes that the Cheyenne
208 Notes to Pages 63–65
Wooden Leg recalled that some Sioux caught a mule that had wandered away
from the Reno–Benteen defensive site. The tribesmen removed packs of car-
tridges from the animal and turned the stubborn mule loose.
60. Utley, Sitting Bull, 160–161.
61. Ibid., 162.
62. Weibert, 1874 Invasion of Montana, 140. Custer’s scout and courier George
Herendeen had traveled in the area between the Rosebud and Bighorn River
with the Yellowstone Wagon Road and Prospecting Expedition two years ear-
lier. About five miles from the Little Bighorn, Herendeen, Mitch Boyer, and
other scouts reported evidence that suggested the tribes were running from
the valley, reinforcing Custer’s belief that his command had been discovered
and his decision to strike at once.
63. Hanson, Conquest of the Missouri, 53–54, 301–306. Grant Marsh made his first
trip to the upper Missouri as mate on the Marcella, one of the steamboats serv-
ing Sully’s campaign of 1864. Marsh became the best-known boat captain on
the upper Missouri and Yellowstone, where he served for many years.
64. Gray, Centennial Campaign, 212.
65. Ibid., 208–220. Terry planned to consolidate his forces at the mouth of the
Bighorn and move up that stream. Leaving his wagon train at the foot of the
mountains, he would then pursue the tribes with Crook’s command. Fall-
ing water levels precluded navigation to the Bighorn River, leading Terry to
change his base camp location east to the mouth of Rosebud Creek.
66. Gray, “Sutler on Custer’s Last Campaign,” 20.
67. Brown, “Yellowstone Supply Depot,” 29–30.
68. Gray, Centennial Campaign, 214–215; Utley, Frontier Regulars, 269.
69. Schneider, Freeman Journal, 73.
70. Hutton, Phil Sheridan and His Army, 320–321.
71. Michael D. Hill and Ben Innis, “The Fort Buford Diary of Private Sanford,
1876–1877,” North Dakota History: Journal of the Northern Plains 52, no. 3
(1985): 19. Private Wilmot Sanford, Co. D, 6th Infantry, with Terry’s com-
mand noted that there were 16 pack mules for each infantry company. The
men carried only a blanket and four days’ rations, with another 13 days’ rations
on the train. Tents and shelter halves were taken back to Ft. Beans. Lt. Edward
Godfrey, commanding Co. K, 7th Cavalry, stated that his company was “or-
dered to take 15 days rations on 8 pack mules, no cooking utensils, no officers’
baggage except what they carry on their private horses” (Edward S. Godfrey,
The Field Diary of Lt. Edward Settle Godfrey, Commanding Co. K, 7th Cavalry
Regiment under Lt. Colonel George Armstrong Custer in the Sioux Encounter at
the Battle of the Little Big Horn, ed. with notes by Edgar I. Stewart and Jane R.
Stewart [Portland, Ore.: Champoeg, 1957], 34). Each man had one overcoat
and blanket. Godfrey also took a comforter and shelter tent on a horse he
owned in addition to his service mount.
72. Utley, Sitting Bull, 165. After leaving the Little Bighorn battlefield, the tribes
Notes to Pages 65–73 209
moved toward the Bighorn Mountains, then east to the upper Rosebud and
down this stream to Greenleaf Creek, and again east to Tongue River. Here
the tribes split into two groups, one going south and the other going north on
Tongue River searching for game. The groups reunited on Powder River about
20 miles south of the Yellowstone. The reunited village was at this location on
August 1.
73. Carroll, “Diary of Matthew Carroll,” 238.
74. Gray, Centennial Campaign, 219.
75. Carroll, “Diary of Matthew Carroll,” 239.
76. Hutton, Phil Sheridan and His Army, 322.
77. Jerome A. Greene, Yellowstone Command: Colonel Nelson A. Miles and the
Great Sioux War 1876–1877 (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1991),
69–70. Gen. Sheridan wanted 1,500 combined infantry and cavalry at the
Tongue River post, but Col. Miles received only about a third of the planned
troop strength.
78. Ibid., 56–57.
79. Gray, Centennial Campaign, 242.
80. Greene, Yellowstone Command, 61–63.
81. Ibid., 70–73.
82. Jerry Keenan, The Life of Yellowstone Kelly (Albuquerque: University of New
Mexico Press, 2006), 137.
83. Utley, Sitting Bull, 201.
84. John G. MacDonald, “History of Navigation on the Yellowstone River” (M.A.
thesis, Montana State University, 1950), 131–139. The Northern Pacific con-
tracted a number of steamboats in 1882 to carry railroad construction supplies
up the Yellowstone. After completion of the Northern Pacific, steamboat
traffic on the Yellowstone continued between Glendive and the mouth of the
river until 1910.
85. Michael P. Malone and Richard B. Roeder, Montana: A History of Two Centu
ries (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1976), 183–184.
86. While it is possible that railroad construction camps were located at the
Northern Pacific crossing of Powder River, none have yet been recorded.
Chapter 4
1. O. G. Libby, ed., The Arikara Narrative of the Campaign against the Hostile Da
kota June 1876, North Dakota Historical Collections 6, reprint (New York: Sol
Lewis, 1973), 71.
2. Willert, Little Big Horn Diary, 125.
3. Innis, “Bottoms Up!” 27; “The Smith and Leighton Yellowstone Store Ledger
of 1876,” Ben Innis Collection, Fort Union Trading Post National Historic
Site, Williston, N.D. A business ledger attributed to Smith and his partners
is probably one of several kept during the campaign. It documents goods
sold primarily to officers at various places Smith operated on the Yellowstone
210 Notes to Pages 73–74
between June 10 and September 13. The August entries include charges to men
in both Terry’s and Crook’s commands when they resupplied at the mouth of
Powder River. Although it does not include entries for the period when Terry
and Custer’s wing arrived at the Powder River depot in June, it is reasonable to
assume that similar items were sold at that time.
The first page of the ledger contains only the title “Yellowstone Store Led-
ger 1876” and “Club Room.” The following pages are an alphabetical list of
those with an account and the page on which the account is detailed. The sur-
viving ledger might have been used for a store maintained in an area designated
as a “Club Room” on a steamboat. In addition to this mobile store, Smith’s
clerks maintained the Powder River depot store for some period of time. A
number of ledger accounts begin with “To P.R. a/c” or a similar entry, perhaps
indicating that another ledger was kept at the Powder River depot. Other
stores may have been established on the bank of the Yellowstone where men
camped for an extended period, such as the mouth of the Rosebud (Ft. Beans).
Some sales were likely made from a steamer whenever troops were near.
4. U.S. War Department, Records of the Office of the Commissary General of
Subsistence, Provision Books, Entry 36, Record Group 192, National Archives,
Washington, D.C. See appendix 11.
5. Don Rickey Jr., Forty Miles a Day on Beans and Hay (Norman: University of
Oklahoma Press, 1963), 118–119. The Commissary Department was allowed to
sell “small stores” of canned goods and other foods to officers and enlisted men
over the objections of sutlers and post traders. A review of the department’s
performance in providing small stores between 1866 and 1876 concluded that
the Commissary Department was more concerned about supplying goods to
officers than meeting the needs of enlisted men.
6. “Report of the Commissary General of Subsistence,” in U.S. War Department,
Report of the Secretary of War 1877, 342. During the fiscal year ending June 30,
1877, the Commissary Department received $415,586.12 in sales to officers and
$358,309.78 in sales to enlisted men. Purchases by the rank and file would have
been for nonissue rations (small stores). The mean per capita sale can be esti-
mated by dividing the total sales by the number of enlisted men authorized by
Congress (25,000); the actual mean would be somewhat higher because army
personnel numbers were always under authorized strength. The average enlisted
spending for the year was about $14.00, or a little more than $1.00 per month.
7. Mill was the soldiers’ word for “guardhouse.” At this time, the mill at Powder
River depot was probably as described by the scout Red Star, simply a place on
the prairie where offenders were kept under guard.
8. Hill and Innis, “Fort Buford Diary of Private Sanford,” 14.
9. Heski, “Camp Powell,” 18.
10. Gray, “Pack Train on George A. Custer’s Last Campaign,” 60. Slightly differ-
ent than Gray’s estimated 91 mules, Hardorff puts the total number at 97, only
Notes to Pages 74–75 211
18 of them regular pack animals and the rest wagon mules. Hardorff, “Packs,
Packers, and Pack Details,” 228.
11. Heski, “Camp Powell,” 19.
12. Gray, Centennial Campaign, 273–274, 282. Contract surgeons Dr. Isaiah Ash-
ton and Dr. Elbert Clark established the hospital at the Powder River depot.
Several patients were transferred from this hospital to the Josephine and taken
to Ft. Lincoln on July 19, indicating that the hospital was maintained until this
depot was abandoned and supplies were moved to the mouth of the Rosebud.
13. Wagner, Participants in the Battle of the Little Big Horn, 211.
14. Innis, “Bottoms Up!” 27; Hill and Innis, “Fort Buford Diary of Private San-
ford,” 14–17. Smith left James Coleman to sell goods at the Powder River de-
pot when Terry’s command arrived in June. Because the Smith and Leighton
ledger records sales beginning on June 30 at places other than Powder River,
just how long Coleman or other clerks stayed at the Powder River depot is
uncertain. The sutler was using steamboats to get his goods to the 7th Cav-
alry and Montana column whenever they concentrated on the Yellowstone
between the Bighorn River and the Powder. Men at the Powder River depot
were still getting drunk the first week in July, but Sanford does not mention
visiting the sutler until July 19, the day before the depot was abandoned. There
may simply have been sutler goods on the steamer assigned to ferry the person-
nel at the Powder River depot across the Yellowstone for their departure.
15. Douglas C. McChristian, The U.S. Army in the West, 1870–1880: Uniforms,
Weapons and Equipment (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2006),
102–103. The “dog” or “pup” tent was constructed from two shelter halves, an
eight-ounce rectangle of cotton duck 65 by 66 inches. When on the march,
soldiers carried a shelter half that could be paired with another to form a small
two-man tent. The tent provided shade but was not particularly good at keep-
ing the weather at bay.
16. U.S. War Department, Records of the Office of the Commissary General of
Subsistence, Provision Books. See appendix 11, Table A11.1. Commissary stores
at the Powder River depot at the end of June 1876 included 85 barrels of flour
and 480 cans of yeast powder.
17. Risch, Quartermaster Support of the Army, 505–606. The army ration did not
include onions, potatoes, or other fresh vegetables, but they were often grown
in post gardens. Surplus government-issued subsistence items at a post could
be sold, and the proceeds could be used to purchase other items. Post bakeries
often accumulated “surplus” flour to support the purchase of both food and
nonfood items to benefit the troops.
18. Victor G. Smith, The Champion Buffalo Hunter: The Frontier Memoirs of
Yellowstone Vic Smith, ed. Jeanette Prodgers (Guilford, Conn.: Globe Pequot
Press, 1997), 89. Civilian scout and hunter Vic Smith recalled hunting for
Major Moore’s command at the Powder River depot for about a month.
212 Notes to Pages 76–80
19. Hill and Innis, “Fort Buford Diary of Private Sanford,” 14.
20. Samuel L. Meddaugh, Diary of S. L. Meddaugh, 6th U.S. Infantry, Covering
the Indian Campaign along the Yellowstone River, from May to September,
1876, Newberry Library, Chicago, 4.
21. Hill and Innis, “Fort Buford Diary of Private Sanford,” 17.
22. Ibid., 14.
23. Gray, Custer’s Last Campaign, 327–329.
24. Heski, “Camp Powell,” 20.
25. Gray, Centennial Campaign, 282–283. Private William George was a member
of Capt. Benteen’s Company H. He died on July 4 at 4:00 am on the Far West
from a penetrating wound to the chest or abdomen.
26. Heski, “Camp Powell,” 20.
27. Hill and Innis, “Fort Buford Diary of Private Sanford,” 17. A vedette is a
mounted sentinel in advance of an outpost.
28. Meddaugh, Diary of S. L. Meddaugh, 4.
29. Hill and Innis, “Fort Buford Diary of Private Sanford,” 17.
30. Hanson, Conquest of the Missouri, 322. Major Moore had significantly fewer
mules to outfit his wagon train because many were now being used for Terry’s
pack trains. Whether this shortage of teams or some other factor was responsi-
ble for the forage being left at the depot is unknown.
31. Chicago Daily Tribune, August 11, 1876; New York Herald, August 2, 1876.
32. O’Kelly reported seeing some 40 sacks of forage and a large quantity of loose
grain on the ground. He interpreted moccasin tracks in a trail leading to the
river as evidence that Indians had dragged sacks of grain there to be floated
across the Yellowstone. Other interpretations are more plausible because the
only rivercraft available to the tribes were rafts and small bull boats; the latter
were made by fastening a buffalo hide to a willow frame. A Cheyenne and
a Lakota warrior both recalled finding grain at the mouth of Powder River,
where the Indians ate some, fed some to their captured cavalry horses, and left
most on the ground after taking the sacks.
33. U.S. War Department, Chronological List of Actions, &c., with Indians from
January 15, 1837 to January, 1891, comp. and ed. with an introduction by Dale
E. Floyd (Fort Collins: Old Army Press, 1979), 62; Greene, Yellowstone Com
mand, 243, note 21.
34. Gray, Centennial Campaign, 210.
35. George M. Miles, George M. Miles Papers 1876–1878, Small Collection 318,
Montana Historical Society Archives, Helena, 16. George Miles was serving as
a quartermaster clerk with his uncle’s regiment.
36. Several soldiers interpreted what they observed at the depot site to mean that
the Indians tried to burn the grain after removing the sacks. These men were
probably unaware that Lt. Macklin’s detail was ordered to destroy the forage
during the 22nd Infantry’s firefight on July 29. Apparently, the 75 tons of for-
age remained largely intact, but the sacks were indeed taken by the Indians.
Notes to Pages 80–84 213
37. U.S. War Department, Report of the Secretary of War 1876 (Washington, D.C.:
Government Printing Office, 1876), 480–481.
38. U.S. War Department, Quartermaster Report of Persons and Articles Hired,
August 1876, Record Group 92, National Archives and Records Administra-
tion, Washington, D.C. Most accounts, including Major Moore’s official re-
port, spell this name “Brockmeyer.” However, the 6th Infantry Quartermaster
Report of Persons and Articles Hired, August 1876, lists the name as “Wesley
Brockmire.”
39. U.S. War Department, Report of the Secretary of War 1876, 480–481.
40. Ibid.
41. Greene, Yellowstone Command, 35.
42. Meddaugh, Diary of S. L. Meddaugh, 8.
43. Hill and Innis, “Fort Buford Diary of Private Sanford,” 19.
44. Smith, Champion Buffalo Hunter, 89. Twenty-six-year-old Vic Smith was a
hunter who supplied meat for Ft. Buford. He recalled being at Ft. Buford
when the Far West came down the river with wounded from the Little Big-
horn ( July 5). He, Brockmeyer, and Bob Jackson, a mixed-blood Blackfoot
scout, were assigned to Moore’s depot command, where Smith was a hunter
and scout for a month. Smith’s recollection that Brockmeyer was also assigned
to Moore’s command is supported by the fact that Brockmeyer carried a mes-
sage from the depot on July 1 informing Terry that Custer’s Arikara scouts had
reported at the mouth of Powder River. Gray, Centennial Campaign, 201.
45. Smith, Champion Buffalo Hunter, 89–92. Smith’s account has numerous errors
of fact including dates and military units, as well as a fanciful story that he
watched the murder of Wild Bill Hickok in Deadwood before returning to
participate in the fight at Powder River. Both events occurred on August 2,
1876, when he was undoubtedly with Moore’s command. Despite unintended
errors and bold fabrications, some details comport with lesser-known accounts
that contradict Major Moore’s report.
46. Hanson, Conquest of the Missouri, 329. Captain Grant Marsh mentioned field
glasses as one of Brockmeyer’s possessions.
47. Smith, Champion Buffalo Hunter, 90.
48. Ibid., 60. Smith appears to have known Major Moore well, as he tells of giving
him a scalp, probably in the fall of 1875.
49. Wayne Gard, The Great Buffalo Hunt (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1960),
271. That Smith was a world-class marksman with a rifle is well documented.
He became a commercial buffalo hunter and later gained a reputation in the
United States and Europe as an expert guide and hunter.
50. Hanson, Conquest of the Missouri, 329; Smith, Champion Buffalo Hunter, 109.
Smith’s comment about the sale of the horse comports with Captain Marsh’s
account. At Brockmeyer’s request, Marsh sold the scout’s belongings, includ-
ing a horse, and sent the money to Brockmeyer’s sister in West Virginia. Smith
recalled an earlier incident about hunting with Brockmeyer when the latter
214 Notes to Pages 84–87
lost a valuable saddle horse. Smith found and captured the animal in the fall of
1876 and kept it for many years as a memorial to his friend.
51. New York Herald, August 8, 1876.
52. Walter Clifford, Diary of Captain Walter Clifford, Co. E., 7th Infantry, Mar-
shall University Library, Huntington.
53. Smith, Champion Buffalo Hunter, 92.
54. Brown, “Yellowstone Supply Depot,” 30; Meddaugh, Diary of S. L. Meddaugh,
7–8.
55. Gray, Centennial Campaign, 211.
56. Marquis, Wooden Leg, 280–281; Raymond J. DeMallie, The Sixth G randfather:
Black Elk’s Teachings Given to John G. Neihardt (Lincoln: University of Ne-
braska Press, 1984), 199. The accounts of Wooden Leg and Black Elk were
given during extended interviews in the 1920s and 1930s.
57. DeMallie, Sixth Grandfather, 199.
58. Greene, Yellowstone Command, note 24, 244; Hill and Innis, “Fort Buford
Diary of Private Sanford,” 20. Only one warrior’s death at the mouth of Pow-
der River was reported by Black Elk. When Terry’s command returned to the
mouth of Powder River with Crook’s force, Pvt. Sanford noted in his August
20 diary entry that five dead warriors were observed here by the soldiers as
were fragments of artillery shells. Because he reported the dead and the shells
in the same sentence, perhaps he concluded that the warriors were killed
during Moore’s shelling on August 2. Sanford does not indicate if the dead
were interred according to tribal traditions, but it would be unusual for Indian
dead to simply be left on the battlefield.
59. Greene, Yellowstone Command, 45.
60. Gray, Centennial Campaign, 222–225. Matthias “Cy” Mounts came to Mon-
tana Territory via the Bozeman Trail in 1864 and was one of the founding fa-
thers of Bozeman. He was involved in many local business ventures, including
trade with the Crows and contract work for the army. Among his partners
were men who served as guides and scouts for Terry and Crook, including
Mitch Boyer and the Reshaw brothers. Gray, Custer’s Last Campaign, 25;
Topping, Chronicles of the Yellowstone, 25.
61. William P. Clark, William Philo Clark Diary, 1876, Small Collection 538,
Montana Historical Society Archives, Helena, 2.
62. Ibid., 3.
63. Clark’s statement indicates that his recruits were still securing loose grain at
the location of Moore’s August 2 forage-recovery effort.
64. Edward J. McClernand, With the Indian and the Buffalo in Montana 1870–
1878 (Glendale, Calif.: Arthur Clark, 1969), 98.
65. Carroll, “Diary of Matthew Carroll,” 238; Gerhard L. Luhn, “The Big Horn
and Yellowstone Expedition of 1876 as Seen through the Letters of Captain
Gerhard Luke Luhn,” Annals of Wyoming, Spring 1973: 42.
66. Hill and Innis, “Fort Buford Diary of Private Sanford,” 20.
Notes to Pages 87–88 215
67. Schneider, Freeman Journal, 75; Alfred H. Terry, The Field Diary of General
Alfred H. Terry: The Yellowstone Expedition — 1876 (Fort Collins: Old Army
Press, 1978), 33.
68. Charles F. Roe, Letter from 2nd Lt. Charles Francis Roe to his wife dated
August 21, 1876 at Powder River, M.T., Marshall University Library, Hunting-
ton. Companies of the 2nd Cavalry were serving in both Terry’s and Crook’s
commands. Lt. Charles Roe, whose Company F was with Terry, noted on Au-
gust 21 that the 2nd Cavalry companies were camped together. He also noted
that his company was three miles from Lt. Clark and the new recruits from
Ft. Ellis. Roe’s comments suggest that, with the exception of Clark’s recruits,
all of the 2nd Cavalry was camped with Crook’s column west of Powder River.
69. Charles King, Campaigning with Crook (Norman: University of Oklahoma
Press, 1964), 86.
70. Luhn, “Big Horn and Yellowstone Expedition of 1876,” 42. Capt. Luhn noted
that those in the Wyoming column had had nothing but coffee, bacon, and
hardbread since August 5. He had few cooking or eating utensils, and his
clothing was worn out. He refused to buy a much-needed undershirt at the
sutler’s price of $4.00.
71. Thaddeus H. Capron, Marching with General Crook or The Big Horn and
Yellowstone Expedition against Hostile Indians in the Summer of 1876, ed. Ray
Meketa (Douglas, Ala.: Cheechako Press, 1983), 49.
72. John G. Bourke, Bourke’s Diary from Journals of 1st Lt. John Gregory Bourke,
June 27–Sept 15, 1876: Chronicle of the 1876 Indian War, ed. James Willert (La
Mirada: James Willert Publisher, 1986), 132.
73. “Smith and Leighton Yellowstone Store Ledger of 1876.”
74. “Report of the Commissary General of Subsistence,” 341. After the Civil War
the Subsistence Department furnished tobacco at cost. Soldiers could pur-
chase it for cash or have it deducted from their pay. From July 1, 1876, through
June 30, 1877, the army sold more than 250,000 pounds to enlisted men and
officers under various statutes. In the Department of Dakota, 7,586 pounds of
chewing tobacco and 2,525 pounds of smoking tobacco were sold during this
period. These figures provide a rough estimate of the relative frequency of use
for chewing tobacco (75 percent) and smoking tobacco (25 percent). Chewing
tobacco was about 50 cents per pound, while smoking tobacco cost between
70 and 85 cents per pound, much cheaper than tobacco sold by the sutler.
75. Godfrey, Field Diary of Lt. Edward Settle Godfrey, 38, 46. Godfrey reported
that he was able to requisition tobacco from the commissary on September 2,
much to the relief of the many men in his command who were out.
76. Bourke, Bourke’s Diary from Journals of 1st Lt. John Gregory Bourke, 158.
77. Bruce R. Liddic, ed., I Buried Custer: The Diary of Pvt. Thomas W. Coleman,
7th U.S. Cavalry (College Station: Creative Publishing Co., 1979), 13.
78. James T. King, War Eagle: A Life of General Eugene A. Carr (Lincoln: Univer-
sity of Nebraska Press, 1964), 171–172.
216 Notes to Pages 88–95
79. Charles F. Roe, Letter from 2nd Lt. Charles Francis Roe to his wife dated
August 18th, 1876 at Powder River, M.T., Marshall University Library,
Huntington.
80. Carroll, “Diary of Matthew Carroll,” 239; Hill and Innis, “Fort Buford Diary
of Private Sanford,” 20.
81. “Smith and Leighton Yellowstone Store Ledger of 1876,” 24–38.
82. Ernest A. Garlington, The Lieutenant E. A. Garlington Narrative, pt. 1, ed.
John Carroll (Bryan: John Carroll Publisher, 1978), 15.
83. Ibid.
84. Willert, Little Big Horn Diary, 341.
85. Rickey, Forty Miles a Day on Beans and Hay, 160.
86. Agnew, Life of a Soldier in the Frontier Army, 174–176.
87. “Smith and Leighton Yellowstone Store Ledger of 1876,” 63.
88. Wagner, Participants in the Battle of the Little Big Horn, 101–102.
89. Hill and Innis, “Fort Buford Diary of Private Sanford,” 19–20.
90. Godfrey, Field Diary of Lt. Edward Settle Godfrey, 40.
91. Hill and Innis, “Fort Buford Diary of Private Sanford,” 21.
92. Miles, George M. Miles Papers, 43.
93. Bourke, Bourke’s Diary from Journals of 1st Lt. John Gregory Bourke, 163; John
F. Finerty, War-Path and Bivouac or The Conquest of the Sioux, new ed. (Nor-
man: University of Oklahoma Press, 1961), 171–174.
94. Gray, Centennial Campaign, 229–230. Crook departed the mouth of Powder
River with only a portion of the supplies Terry offered his command. The
additional forage, subsistence, and other supplies arrived at Powder River on
August 23.
95. Carroll, “Diary of Matthew Carroll,” 239.
96. Greene, Yellowstone Command, 54–57.
97. Miles, George M. Miles Papers, 47.
98. Gray, Centennial Campaign, 235; Heski, “Camp Powell,” 24.
99. Carroll, “Diary of Matthew Carroll,” 240; Greene, Yellowstone Command,
54–61; U.S. War Department, Report of the Secretary of War 1877, 487.
Chapter 5
1. Ronald R. Switzer, The Bertrand Bottles: A Study of 19th Century Glass and
Ceramic Containers (Washington, D.C.: National Park Service, 1974). Some
archaeological assemblages are found in contexts that leave no question about
their association with a specific time or event. The archaeological recovery of
goods from the steamboat Bertrand is a good example of an assemblage that is
securely dated to April 1, 1865, when the steamer sank in the Missouri River.
2. Hill and Innis, “Fort Buford Diary of Private Sanford,” 14–15.
3. U.S. War Department, Report of the Secretary of War 1876, 480–481.
4. Hanson, Conquest of the Missouri, 325.
5. Clark, William Philo Clark Diary, 2.
6. U.S. War Department, Report of the Secretary of War 1880 (Washington, D.C.:
Notes to Pages 95–96 217
28. Stanley Baron, Brewed in America: The History of Beer and Ale in the United
States (Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1962), 251. Bozeman, population
168 in 1871, had a brewery, while Helena boasted four breweries. U.S. breweries
began to produce German-style lager beers in the 1840s, and by 1870 lager
dominated the American market.
29. Ibid., 245.
30. Innis, “Bottoms Up!” 29; “Smith and Leighton Yellowstone Store Ledger
of 1876.” Both officers and enlisted men were able to buy liquor at this time.
Smith’s ledger indicates that liquor could be bought by the gallon, by the can-
teen, or by the drink. Whiskey was $6.00 per gallon or 12.5 cents per drink.
Brandy was available for $3.00 per bottle.
31. Libby, Arikara Narrative of the Campaign against the Hostile Dakota, 207.
32. “Smith and Leighton Yellowstone Store Ledger of 1876,” 11.
33. Ibid., 84. An online inflation calculator indicates that the $48.00 ginger ale
purchase cost the equivalent of $955.42 today.
34. “C&C Group,” Wikipedia, accessed February 2014, https://en.wikipedia.org
/wiki/C%26C_Group; Lennon Wylie, “Belfast/Ulster Street Directory, 1880,”
accessed April 22, 2012, http://www.lennonwylie.co.uk/BSD1880adverts.htm.
Cantrell and Cochrane dates to 1852. Today, C&C Group is a large beverage
firm owned by BC Partners. A Cantrell and Cochrane advertisement in the
1880 Belfast street directory listed 26 drinks sold by the company, including
ginger ale, sarsaparilla, and supercarbonated mineral waters.
35. Agnew, Life of a Soldier on the Western Frontier, 131–136.
36. Wagner, Participants in the Battle of the Little Big Horn, 74.
37. Paulding, “Dr. Paulding and His Remarkable Diary,” 56.
38. Greene, Yellowstone Command, 36.
39. U.S. War Department, Report of the Medical Department, Big Horn and Yellow
stone Expedition, Montana, 1876, Dr. B. A. Clements, Surgeon, U.S.A., Medical
Directory, Record Group 94, National Archives and Records Administration,
Washington, D.C.
40. Roe, Letter from 2nd Lt. Charles Frances Roe to his wife dated August 18th,
1876.
41. “The Tarrant Explosion. A Million Dollars Damage,” American Druggist and
Pharmaceutical Record: A Semi-monthly Illustrated Journal of Pharmacy 37
(1900): 289, http://books.google.com/books?id=_NAAAAAAYAAJ&prints
ec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false.
Dates for Tarrant and Co. are most often given as 1859 to 1905 or 1906. The ar-
ticle in the journal cited describes an explosion at the Tarrant facilities in 1900
and states that the firm was founded in 1834 and incorporated as Tarrant and
Co. in 1861.
42. Physician and Pharmaceutist 2, no. 7 (1870): 17, http://books.google.com/
books?id=7FECAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA1-PA14&lpg=RA1PA14&dq=The
+Physican+and+Pharmaceutist+August+1870&source=bl&ots=UsIVO4
220 Notes to Pages 100–103
_eU6&sig=ojtg3FyNq J1rmFePpwCawMhmfdY&hl=en&sa=X&ei=HPsjU
fLmPOiyigLjgIG4AQ&ved=0CDMQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=The%20
Physican%20and%20Pharmaceutist%20August%201870&f=false.
43. U.S. War Department, Records of the Office of the Commissary General of
Subsistence, Provision Books.
44. Hill and Innis, “Fort Buford Diary of Private Sanford,” 16. Sanford noted on
July 1 that the steamboat escort returned from Ft. Buford with lettuce, onions,
radishes, and pie. The vegetables were no doubt from the regiment’s gardens at
the fort.
45. Bourke, Bourke’s Diary from Journals of 1st Lt. John Gregory Bourke, 146; God-
frey, Field Diary of Lt. Edward Settle Godfrey, 38–40. Smith’s inventory was
apparently almost depleted at this time, but several of the Bozeman traders
brought goods in mackinaw boats. Additional sutler goods arrived on August
22. Lt. Godfrey commented that no commissary goods were available for sale
to officers until the wagon train arrived from Ft. Beans on August 22.
46. U.S. War Department, Records of the Office of the Commissary General of
Subsistence, Provision Books.
47. Hill and Innis, “Fort Buford Diary of Private Sanford,” 15, 17; Smith, Cham
pion Buffalo Hunter, 89. Expert marksman and acclaimed buffalo hunter Vic
Smith was assigned to provide meat for the depot guard camp.
48. Danny N. Walker, “Canid Remains from the Powder River Supply Depot,
Prairie County, Montana (24PE231),” Archaeology in Montana 36, no. 2
(1995): 67.
49. Ibid., 64.
50. James E. Potter, “The Great Source of Amusement: Hunting in the Frontier
Army,” Montana the Magazine of Western History 55, no. 3 (2005): 34–47.
51. Walker, “Canid Remains from the Powder River Supply Depot,” 68.
52. Bradley, “Journal of James H. Bradley,” 173.
53. Bourke, On the Border with Crook, 362.
54. Potter, “Great Source of Amusement,” 39.
55. Hill and Innis, “Fort Buford Diary of Private Sanford,” 14.
56. Walker, “Canid Remains from the Powder River Supply Depot,” 72.
57. Sturgis Weekly Record, January 27, 1888.
58. Shannon M. Vihlene, “Custer’s Last Drag: An Examination of Tobacco Use
among the Seventh Cavalry during the Nineteenth Century” (M.A. thesis,
University of Montana, 2008), 75–76. Fully 86 percent of Custer’s regiment
used tobacco in some form. Perhaps as many as 75 percent of the rank and file
who used tobacco chewed, while 25 percent smoked a pipe.
59. Capron, Marching with General Crook, 24.
60. Douglas D. Scott, letter to the author, February 9, 1989. The March 6, 1869, is-
sue of Scientific American described the manufacturing of briar smoking pipes,
noting that they sold for $1.00 to $2.00 each.
61. Gerald R. Clark, “White Clay Pipes from General Alfred Terry’s 1876 Pow-
der River Supply Depot, 24PE231, Southeastern Montana” (unpublished
Notes to Pages 103–107 221
manuscript, 1988), 17; J. Byron Sudbury, “White Clay Pipes from the Old
Connellsville Dump, 36 Fa 140,” Historic Clay Tobacco Pipe Studies 1 (1980):
28–30. It is possible that the McElroy name does not refer to the pipe manu-
facturer but, rather, a distributor who ordered pipes with his name stamped
on them. The D. McDougall and Co. price list ca. 1875 states, “Pipes stamped
with name on the bowl or stem, 2d. per gross extra.”
62. Sudbury, “White Clay Pipes from the Old Connellsville Dump,” 28–31.
63. New York Times, September 12, 1876, 5, col. 1.
64. Bourke, Bourke’s Diary from Journals of 1st Lt. John Gregory Bourke, 134.
65. New York Herald, August 7, 1876, 5.
66. Catherine M. Thuro, Oil Lamps, the Kerosene Era in North America (Des
Moines: Wallace-Homestead Book Company, 1976), 15, 22.
67. National Park Service, “These Relics of Barbarism: A History of Furniture in
Barracks and Guardhouses of the United States Army, 1800–1880” (report
prepared for Harpers Ferry Center by David A. Clary and Associates, Harpers
Ferry, W.V., n.d.), 170–172.
68. U.S. War Department, Records of the Office of the Commissary General of
Subsistence, Provision Books.
69. Louis A. Garavaglia and Charles G. Worman, Firearms of the American West,
1866–1894 (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1985), 83–85.
70. F. W. Hackley, W. H. Woodin, and E. L. Scranton, History of Modern U.S. Mil
itary Small Arms Ammunition, vol. 1 (New York: Macmillan, 1967), 10.
71. Ernest L. Reedstrom, Bugles, Banners and War Bonnets (New York: Bonanza
Books, 1986), 282–285. Reedstrom’s book includes Ordnance Department
records indicating that all 12 7th Cavalry companies had been issued .45 Colts
by December 31, 1874. These records do not list any Schofield .45s for the
regiment.
72. McChristian, U.S. Army in the West, 122.
73. Garavaglia and Worman, Firearms of the American West, 278.
74. Ibid., 85.
75. Reedstrom, Bugles, Banners and War Bonnets, 277–285.
76. Ibid.
77. Hill and Innis, “Fort Buford Diary of Private Sanford,” 12, 14. Sanford noted
that the wife and children of Capt. Powell, Co. C, 6th Infantry, visited him
at the Stanley’s Crossing depot in May. On June 15 at the Powder River de-
pot, Sanford also stated, “Lt. Brinan and wife & children stopped here.” It is
remotely possible but unlikely that a brief visit by children would account for
the marble and doll in Feature D.
78. Genevieve Angione, All-Bisque and Half-Bisque Dolls (Camden: Thomas Nel-
son and Sons, 1969), 87.
79. Martin S. Garretson, The American Bison (New York: New York Zoological
Society, 1938), 152–153; Tom McHugh, The Time of the Buffalo (New York:
Alfred Knopf, 1972), 278–279.
80. Brown, Plainsmen of the Yellowstone, 357, 360.
222 Notes to Pages 107–114
81. Paul L. Hedren, After Custer: Loss and Transformation in the Sioux Country
(Norman: University of Oklahoma, 2011), 74–77. Hedren describes the
Northern Pacific’s grading, bridging, and tracklaying operations in some detail.
82. Bill Lockhart, “The Origins of Life and the Export Beer Bottle,” Bottles and
Extras: The Official Publication of the Federation of Historical Bottle Collectors
18, no. 3 (2007): 50.
83. Elliott West, The Saloon on the Rocky Mountain Mining Frontier (Lincoln:
University of Nebraska Press, 1979), 108.
Chapter 6
1. U.S. War Department, Report of the Secretary of War 1876, 447.
2. Ibid., 442.
3. Ibid., 447.
4. Ibid., 442.
5. Ibid., 460. General Terry noted that mule trains had never before been orga-
nized in his department so his marching columns were dependent on supply
wagons. However, his column carried about 250 pack saddles to use with
mules in the train “in an emergency.”
6. Ibid., 475.
7. Ibid.
8. After leaving Terry at the mouth of Powder River, Crook ran out of supplies
before his command reached Deadwood in the Black Hills. Officers were often
willing to sacrifice livestock if it would result in accomplishing their mission or
the survival of their command. Custer was prepared to subsist on mule meat if
his rations were exhausted before he made contact with the tribesmen in 1876.
9. Ibid., 308.
10. Godfrey, Field Diary of Lt. Edward Settle Godfrey, 46.
11. Bourke, Bourke’s Diary from Journals of 1st Lt. John Gregory Bourke, 39, 158.
12. Hanson, Conquest of the Missouri, 321–322; U.S. War Department, Report of
the Secretary of War 1876, 310–311.
13. Terry’s dismissal of Maj. DuBarry may have reflected the long-standing con-
flict in the army’s “staff and line” organization. DuBarry was a Commissary
Department staff officer, while Lt. Thompson was a company-level line officer
acting as commissary of subsistence for Terry’s column. As a line officer on
campaign, Terry might have been inclined to support his subordinates who
were performing satisfactorily as assistant commissary or quartermaster.
14. Wagner, Participants in the Battle of the Little Big Horn, 211–213.
15. Ibid., 211, 217. Fully 80 percent of the regiment’s new recruits with less than six
months’ service were at the Powder River depot. A few of those left here were
also listed as sick.
16. Gray, “Pack Train on George A. Custer’s Last Campaign,” 67.
17. Ibid., 64.
18. Utley, Frontier Regulars, 271. Utley notes that the logistical requirements of
Notes to Pages 114–117 223
heavy columns in the pursuit of plains tribes seldom achieved the desired goals
and often became exercises in self-preservation. While this was true of Crook’s
command late in the campaign, Terry’s Yellowstone depot served him well un-
til the river could no longer support steamboat traffic.
19. U.S. War Department, Report of the Secretary of War 1876, 308.
20. When camped at the mouth of the Bighorn River, 7th Cavalry Private Thomas
Coleman stated in a diary entry, “Sutlers are a curse to the Army and they do
not sell first class goods in the first place then they charge exorbitant prices for
everything” (Liddic, I Buried Custer, 144–145).
21. In a letter to his wife written at the mouth of the Rosebud, DeWolf stated,
“The Post Trader or John Smith has opened his Whiskey, etc. and of course
you all know what will follow for the time we remain here” ( James M. De-
Wolf, “The Diary and Letters of Dr. James M. DeWolf, Acting Assistant
Surgeon, U.S. Army: His Record of the Sioux Expedition of 1876 Kept until
His Death,” reprint, transcribed and editorial notes by Edward S. Luce [State
Historic Society of North Dakotan, n.d.], 52).
22. Carroll, “Diary of Matthew Carroll,” 240.
23. Libby, Arikara Narrative of the Campaign against the Hostile Dakota, 208.
Smith’s clerk, James Coleman, recalled that Smith had a liquor palace in Boz-
eman where a gambler’s murder at a card game ruined him. John Smith died a
pauper in a Billings “Sister’s hospital” in 1904 or 1905.
24. Delo, Peddlers and Post Traders, 179–180; Michael Leeson, ed., History of
Montana (Chicago: Warner, Beers and Company, 1885), 523, 1041.
25. Miles City Daily Yellowstone Journal, November 14, 1882. When I lived in
Miles City in the 1970s and 1980s, many place-names and some businesses
reflected the influence of the early entrepreneurs. Our home was on Jordan
Avenue, not far from Leighton Boulevard. Miles and Ulmer was one of the
local hardware stores.
26. Topping, Chronicles of the Yellowstone, 200.
27. Leeson, History of Montana, 619; Sanders, History of Montana, 986; Topping,
Chronicles of the Yellowstone, 231.
28. William A. Clark, “Centennial Address on the Origin, Growth and Resources
of Montana,” Contributions to the Historical Society of Montana 2 (1896): 50.
The speech was delivered by William Andrews Clark, an entrepreneur with
transportation, merchandising, and mining interests in the western part of
Montana Territory. While ultimately no gold was found in the lower Yellow-
stone and Powder River country, mining dominated Montana’s economy and
politics for the next century. Clark became one of the state’s wealthy “copper
kings” and ranked among its most corrupt politicians.
29. James S. Hutchins, “The Cavalry Campaign Outfit at the Little Big Horn,”
in The Custer Reader, edited by Paul A. Hutton (Lincoln: University of Ne-
braska Press, 1992), 328. Hutchins states that most of the 7th Cavalry carried
butcher knives and presumably other soldiers carried them too. If these were
224 Notes to Pages 117–119
similar to a Green River Works knife with an 1872 patent found on the sur-
face at the Powder River depot, they would have had a five- to 10-inch blade.
These light knives would be fine for cutting but not very efficient for chopping
tasks. Some carried heavier knives; when at the mouth of Powder River in
August, 1st Lt. William P. Clark, 2nd Cavalry, had a hunting knife “as heavy as
a hatchet; two or three blows from it will cut down a stout sapling” (Bourke,
Bourke’s Diary from Journals of 1st Lt. John Gregory Bourke, 163).
30. Kelly J. Dixon, Boomtown Saloons (Reno: University of Nevada Press, 2005),
113–114. White clay pipes are frequently found in archaeological assemblages
of mid-19th-century mining town saloons. Tobacco smoking accompanied
social drinking at these establishments.
31. Ibid., 100–101. Colorless tumblers with faceted bases are among the most fre-
quently occurring drinking vessels at mid-19th-century western mining boom-
towns such as Virginia City, Nevada.
32. Hill and Innis, “Fort Buford Diary of Private Sanford,” 12.
33. Rex L. Wilson, Bottles on the Western Frontier (Tucson: University of Arizona
Press, 1981), 7–8.
34. Herman Ronnenberg, Beer and Brewing in the Inland Northwest 1850–1950
(Moscow: University of Idaho Press, 1993), 90.
35. Hughes, “A Bottle of Guinness Please,” 258. British and Irish ales and stout were
expensive because they required long maturation and the cost of bottling was
considerable. They were a luxury item sold around the world at a relatively
high price.
36. Dixon, Boomtown Saloons, 74–75.
37. Doulas D. Scott, “An Officer’s Latrine at Fort Larned and Inferences on Sta-
tus,” Plains Anthropologist 34, no. 123 (1989): 24.
38. Ibid., 23–31. Archaeological assemblages from Virginia City, Nevada, reflect
a similar pattern. They contained many paneled tumblers, but those from
higher-class establishments had relatively more stemware. Dixon, Boomtown
Saloons, 100–103.
39. Oliver Knight, Life and Manners in the Frontier Army (Norman: University of
Oklahoma Press, 1978), 3, 76.
40. Libby, Arikara Narrative of the Campaign against the Hostile Dakota, 207.
41. Hill and Innis, “Fort Buford Diary of Private Sanford,” 14.
42. Sean M. Rafferty and Rob Mann, eds., Smoking and Culture: The Archaeology
of Tobacco Pipes in Eastern North America (Knoxville: University of Tennes-
see Press, 2004), xiv; Lauren J. Cook, “Tobacco-Related Material and the
Construction of Working-Class Culture,” in Interdisciplinary Investigations
of the Boott Mills, Lowell, Massachusetts, vol. 3: The Boarding House System
as a Way of Life, ed. Mary C. Beaudry and Stephen A. Mrozowski (Boston:
Government Printing Office, North Atlantic Region, National Park Service,
1989), 209–229, accessed February 5, 2014, https://archive.org/details/inter
disciplinar00vol3.
Notes to Pages 119–121 225
Appendix 1
1. After the first two levels had been excavated, a second profile of the feature was
completed before proceeding. The west side of the feature exposed in the river
cutbank was shaved with a shovel to better reveal its stratigraphy and content.
2. Rodents burrowing into an archaeological feature can displace cultural ma-
terials from the position in which they were first deposited. Five old rodent
228 Notes to Pages 133–142
burrows that had subsequently filled were recorded in the Feature D profile.
All of these krotovena were small and confined to the northern 1.5 meters of
the excavation grid. Rodent activity cannot account for the magnitude of ver-
tical and horizontal dispersion of artifacts in Feature D.
3. National Integrated Pest Management Network, “Public-Health Pesticide
Applicator Training Manual, Chapter 6: Flies,” 6-1, accessed January 14, 2013,
http://entomology.ifas.ufl.edu/fasulo/vector/chap06.pdf. The larvae of some
fly species can burrow to the surface from under one to four feet of moderately
packed soil. In Feature D, the pupae level is in contact with the bottom of the
bone level, indicating that the larvae did not have to migrate up through soil
to pupate. The bone level was therefore probably exposed for several days be-
fore it was covered.
4. When we completed the excavation of Feature D, it was of course open on the
west side where it had been profiled in the cutbank. When we shoveled the
soil and rock we had removed back into the pit, gravity took much of it down
to the gravel slope below. With nothing to retain the fill on the west, the mate-
rial we replaced was quickly eroding away, and a vertical west face like the rest
of the cutbank was impossible to maintain.
5. Balicki, “Watch Fires of a Hundred Circling Camps,” 71. Archaeologists have
had some success inferring the function of Civil War–era hearths by examin-
ing differences in how various kinds of features alter the surrounding soil. The
way field ovens were constructed and used might be found to register unique
thermal signatures.
Appendix 2
1. Descriptions follow Dale L. Berge, Simpson Springs Station: Historical Archae
ology in Western Utah, Cultural Resource Series No. 6 (Salt Lake City: Utah
State Office Bureau of Land Management, 1980); and Herskovitz, Fort Bowie
Material Culture. Approximate dates of manufacture for bottles are from
historic archaeologist Richard E. Fike, Montrose, Colorado, letter and attach-
ment to the author, 1986.
2. Fike, letter to the author, 1986. Base marks on bottles are often associated with
specific manufacturers or bottlers. Fike was unable to find any similar base
marks among U.S. firms and concluded that the marks on the Feature D spec-
imens are probably British. Recent online searches failed to reveal any further
information about these base marks.
3. Stephen W. Taylor, Historical Research Consultants and Genealogists, Barton
Under Needwood, Staffordshire, England, letter to the author, September 16,
1991.
4. Hughes, “A Bottle of Guinness Please,” 287.
5. Ibid., 288.
6. Ibid., 125–126.
7. Images of a bottle of “old Bass Ale” posted on the Realbeer.com Beer Com-
munity Web site, August 24, 2008, depict a bottle identical in color, size, and
Notes to Pages 142–148 229
Appendix 3
1. Historic archaeologist James T. Rock analyzed a subsample of cans from Fea-
ture D. His five-page report to the author, “The Powder River Supply Depot,
Southeastern Montana, 24PE231, Cans,” is dated April 1990. Illustrations by
Rick Hill accompanied the report and are included in this appendix.
230 Notes to Pages 152–162
Appendix 4
1. Wilson, Bottles on the Western Frontier, 39–43; Dixon, Boomtown Saloons,
82–28; Herskovitz, Fort Bowie Material Culture, 13.
2. See chapter 5, note 41.
3. Wilson, Bottles on the Western Frontier, 42–43; chapter 5, note 41. An 1873 ad-
vertisement for Tarrant’s Effervescent Seltzer Aperient states that the product
“cures dyspepsia and biliousness, restores the appetite, regulates the disordered
bowels, and tones and invigorates the whole vital system.”
Appendix 5
1. Clark, “White Clay Pipes from General Alfred Terry’s 1876 Powder River
Supply Depot.”
2. Sudbury, “White Clay Pipes from the Old Connellsville Dump.” Descriptive
terms are derived from Sudbury.
Notes to Pages 162–171 231
3. Ibid., 30. The raised design on the Type 1 pipe is identical to the number 2,
“roughead” style in the D. McDougall and Co. price list of ca. 1875.
Appendix 6
1. Berge, Simpson Springs Station, 242–244.
2. Billings Curation Center, 24PE231 collection, catalog number .927; bone sam-
ple identified by Danny N. Walker.
3. These leather items are brittle and somewhat desiccated. When in service, they
might have been slightly wider.
4. U.S. War Department, Quartermaster’s Department, U.S. Army Wagon
Harness (Horse and Mule) (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Of-
fice, 1877), 13, plates Showing Mule Harness, plate 1; U.S. War Department,
Ordnance Memoranda No. 29, Horse Equipments and Cavalry Accoutrements,
reprint, intro. by James S. Hutchins (Tucson: Westernlore Press, 1984), 27, 29.
The quillor is the only piece of mule or horse harness where leather straps of
different widths are attached to a ring. The 1877 quartermaster’s report spec-
ifies a greater difference in the width of the breech strap and hip strap for a
mule harness than for a horse harness. The difference in the width of these two
straps for a horse harness is a half inch, and for a mule harness it is one inch.
This difference in the Feature D specimen is much closer to that specified for
a mule harness, at ⅞ inch. I also consulted Ordnance Memoranda 29 to deter-
mine if the Feature D specimen might be a component of the McClellan sad-
dle as described in 1885. While the saddle quarter straps attach to a metal ring,
these straps are of equal width and the ring is just 2½ inches in diameter. The
straps and ring of the Feature D artifact are too large to be a piece of a saddle.
5. I inquired about shipping crates recovered from the steamboat Bertrand.
Leslie Perry Peterson, DeSoto National Wildlife Refuge, responded in a
letter dated June 9, 1987. Shipping crates were recovered from the wreck of
the steamboat Bertrand, which sank in the Missouri River in 1865 with cargo
bound for Montana Territory. Many of these wooden crates were 22–26 inches
long, 13–18 inches wide, and 5–13 inches deep. They contained many kinds of
items including fruit, vegetables, Worcestershire sauce, boots, matches, and
hardware. The Feature D specimen is within the size range of some shipping
crates, but there is no way to determine specifically what it contained.
6. Berge, Simpson Springs Station, 256; Peter Priess, “Wire Nails in North Amer-
ica,” Bulletin of the Association for Preservation Technology 5, no. 4 (1973): 87.
Machine-cut nails date from ca. 1830 and were the dominate type of nail used
in the United States until ca. 1890. While wire nails were invented in France in
1830, they were not used in the United States until ca. 1850. Wire nails began
to be used in building construction in the United States ca. 1880 and outnum-
bered cut nails by ca. 1890; by 1900 use of wire nails greatly exceeded that of
cut nails.
7. Peterson, letter to the author, June 9, 1987.
232 Notes to Pages 172–182
Appendix 7
1. Garavaglia and Worman, Firearms of the American West, 83–85; Hackley et al.,
History of Modern U.S. Military Small Arms Ammunition, 10.
2. Reedstrom, Bugles, Banners and War Bonnets, 282–285.
3. McChristian, U.S. Army in the West, 122; Scott et al., Archaeological Perspec
tives on the Battle of the Little Bighorn, 105.
4. Garavaglia and Worman, Firearms of the American West, 78–80, 278.
Appendix 8
1. Archaeologist Douglas D. Scott and his colleagues at the National Park Ser-
vice Midwest Archaeological Center commented on photographs and descrip-
tions of some of the Feature D artifacts, including buttons, in a letter to the
author, March 10, 1989.
2. William J. Hunt Jr., “Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site (32WI17)
Material Culture Reports, part V: Buttons as Closures, Buttons as Decoration:
A Nineteenth Century Example from Fort Union” (Lincoln: National Park
Service, Midwest Archaeological Center, 1986), 32.
3. Sally C. Luscomb, The Collector’s Encyclopedia of Buttons (Atglen, Pa.: Schiffer
Publishing, 2006), 224. Quantities of work clothes buttons were being made
in the late 19th century.
4. Hunt, “Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site (32WI17) Material
Culture Reports,” 33; Scott, letter to the author, March 10, 1989.
5. Scott, letter to the author, March 10, 1989.
Appendix 9
1. Thuro, Oil Lamps, 15, 22.
2. Roy Ehrhardt and William Meggers, American Pocket Watches: Identification
and Price Guide Beginning to End 1830–1980 (Kansas City: Heart of America,
1987), 56–196.
3. Mark E. Randall, “Early Marbles,” Historical Archaeology 5 (1971): 102.
4. Angione, All-Bisque and Half-Bisque Dolls, 79.
5. Coleman et al., Collector’s Encyclopedia of Dolls, 240.
6. Angione, All-Bisque and Half-Bisque Dolls, 87.
Appendix 10
1. Ken Deaver, notes taken when analyzing bones from the Powder River depot
excavation, 1986; Walker, “Canid Remains from the Powder River Supply
Depot.” Two archaeologists analyzed the canid remains and concluded in-
dependently that the skeleton is that of a dog rather than a coyote, wolf, or
hybrid.
2. Walker, “Canid Remains from the Powder River Supply Depot,” 64.
3. Deaver, notes, 1986.
4. Walker, “Canid Remains from the Powder River Supply Depot,” 67.
Notes to Pages 183–187 233
Appendix 11
1. U.S. War Department, Records of the Office of the Commissary General of
Subsistence, Provision Books.
2. Ephraim Dickson, National Museum of the U.S. Army being constructed
at Ft. Belvoir, Virginia, personal communication. Mr. Dickson located the
provision books in the National Archives. He explained that each line of
entries documents total commodities on hand at the end of a month. Receipt
of stores from one officer and transfer to another are noted in the remarks
section of the book. Several titles in the book pertain to the Sioux War, but
only two of these document subsistence stores with Terry’s Yellowstone supply
depot.
3. Greene, Yellowstone Command, 71–72. Low water levels in the fall precluded
steamboats from reaching Tongue River. The Glendive Cantonment func-
tioned as a supply depot from which freight could be forwarded to the Tongue
River Cantonment via wagon trains. Infantry units at the Glendive facility
also escorted the wagon trains.
4. Brown, “Yellowstone Supply Depot,” 26.
5. Gray, Centennial Campaign, 103–105. Maj. Moore sent a letter to Gen. Terry
on June 1, 1876, from the Glendive depot he had recently established on the
Yellowstone River. He was forwarding a dispatch received from Col. Gibbon:
Terry was with the Dakota column near Beaver Creek. The general concluded
from this dispatch that there were no Indians in his immediate vicinity and
decided to push on to Powder River, bypassing the Glendive depot. Moore
noted in his letter to Terry that all of the freight except 100 tons of forage
from Ft. Buford was now at the Glendive depot. In his letter heading, Moore
referred to the Glendive depot as “Stanley’s Crossing.” Moore sent a second
dispatch to Terry from Stanley’s Crossing on June 5 affirming his compliance
with the general’s orders to send supplies to the mouth of the Powder. Terry
then had Moore and his 6th Infantry guard transfer all of the supplies from
Stanley’s Crossing to the new Powder River depot.
6. “Post Returns Ft. Buford June, July, August 1876,” in U.S. War Department,
Returns from U.S. Military Posts, 1800–1916, Record Group 94, National
Archives and Records Service, Washington, D.C., Roll 158. The post returns
verify Craft’s and Byrne’s assignments at this time (see note 9 below).
7. Brown, “Yellowstone Supply Depot,” 25.
8. Ibid., 30.
9. Ibid., 25, 27; “Post Returns, Ft. Buford, May and June 1876,” in U.S. War De-
partment, Returns from U.S. Military Posts; “Regimental Returns, 6th Infantry,
June, July, 1876,” in U.S. War Department, Returns from the Regular Army
Infantry Regiments, June 1821–December 1916, Record Group 94, National
Archives and Records Service, Washington, D.C. Citing regimental returns,
Brown states that Maj. Moore assigned assistant commissary of subsistence
duties at the Powder River depot to Lt. Josiah Chance, Co. G, 17th Infantry,
234 Notes to Pages 187
on June 16. Lt. Byrne was apparently acting as Moore’s adjutant at that time in
addition to other duties. This information is at odds with 6th Infantry regi-
mental returns and Ft. Buford post returns for May–July indicating that Byrne
remained depot assistant quartermaster and ACS during this period. Sixth
Infantry regimental returns also record Byrne as ACS for the “Yellowstone
Depot” in June and “Depot Commissary Powder River” in July; in August he
was reported with his company supporting General Terry but was not listed
as ACS. The provision book comports with the returns, as it does not show a
transfer of stores from Lt. Byrne until the end of July. Regardless of who was
Moore’s ACS, the major was responsible for the subsistence stores until they
were transferred to Lt. Thompson at the end of July; soon after the transfer,
Moore’s battalion was relieved as depot guard.
10. Greene, Yellowstone Command, 72.
11. “Regimental Returns, 22nd Infantry, November 1876,” in U.S. War Depart-
ment, Returns from the Regular Army Infantry Regiments, Roll 228.
12. U.S. War Department, Adjutant General’s Office, Official Army Register, 21.
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245
246 I nde x
Bozeman (town), 45, 47–48, 69, 116, Expedition, 43, 44. See also Dull Knife;
219n28 Little Wolf; Old Bear; Roman Nose;
Bozeman Trail, 26, 28, 30, 34, 193n11, Wooden Leg
197n50 children, artifacts associated with at
Bradley, Lt. James, 55, 102, 202n97 Powder River depot site, 105, 119–20,
Bridger, Jim, 22, 23, 29, 55, 193n11, 198n58 221n77. See also dolls; marbles
Brisbin, Maj. James S., 54, 116 “circular ridge,” at Powder River depot
Brockmeyer, Wesley, 80, 81, 83, 84, 213n38, site, 95
213n44, 213–14n50 civilians: role of in Army supply system,
Bronson, Nelson, 74 16–18; as scouts for Army, 57
Brown, Lisle G., 233n9 Civil War: and archaeological investiga-
buffalo: and bones from Powder River de- tions of campsites, 227n80; and field
pot site, 101–2, 157, 158–59; extirpation baking ovens, 121, 228n5; and organi-
of in aftermath of Sioux War, 68–69, zation of Army, 199n66; and Powder
106–7; and railroad surveys of 1871– River expedition of 1865, 26, 30
1873, 35; and Raynolds expedition, 24 Clark, Dr. Elbert, 211n12
Bureau of Land Management, 1, 126 Clark, William, 22, 23
Burke, E&J, 96, 97, 98, 140, 218n17, 218n19 Clark, William Andrews, 116–17, 223n28
Burkman, John, 125, 126, 227n74 Clark, Lt. William P., 86, 95, 214n63
Burlington Northern Railroad, 8, 191n3–4. Clarke, Capt. Francis, 77, 79
See also Northern Pacific Railroad clay pipes, 103, 117, 119, 130, 132, 162–64,
Burnett, Finn, 31 220–21n60–61, 224n30
buttons, 105, 123–24, 174–75 Clifford, Capt. Walter, 84, 98
Byrne, Lt. Bernard, 186, 187, 234n9 climate: and Sioux War of 1876, 49, 51, 65,
90–91; of Yellowstone-Powder River
Calypso (railroad station), 70 region, 23–24, 203n12
Campbell, Dave, 80, 81, 83, 84 closures, for bottles, 136, 155–56
Campbell, Lt. William J., 187 clothing, artifacts related to, 105, 123–24,
candles, 104 174–75
cans and canned foods, 73, 87, 100, 101, 125, coal, 103. See also lignite
148–53, 226–27n71, 230n2–3 Cody, Buffalo Bill, 65, 67
Cantrell & Cochrane (C&C Group), 143, Cole, Col. Nelson, 26–34, 194n24, 195n27,
144, 145, 219n34 195n28, 195n31, 196n42, 197n47
Capron, Lt. Thaddeus, 103 Coleman, James, 211n14
Carr, Lt. Col. Eugene, 88, 102 Coleman, Pvt. Thomas, 223n20, 226n66
Carroll (steamboat), 64, 66, 77, 79, 115 Collins, M. H., 176
Carroll, Matt, 88, 98, 99, 120 Colt firearms, 105, 123, 172, 173
cartridges. See firearms Commissary Department (Army), 15, 73,
cattle. See bones; oxen 100, 113, 183–89, 210n5–6
Causby, Sgt. Thomas, 98 Conner, Gen. Patrick, 26–34, 49, 194–
Chance, Lt. Josiah, 233n9 95n25, 195n28, 195n32, 197n47, 197n49
Chestnut, James, 54 Craft, Lt. David, 186
Cheyenne: and conflicts in Yellowstone- crates, and artifacts, 124, 168–69, 226n67,
Powder River region prior to Sioux 231n5
War, 194n23, 197n50; and Powder River Crazy Horse (Lakota), 30, 37, 59, 63, 68
expedition of 1865, 28, 29; and Sioux Crazy Woman Creek, 193n11
War of 1876, 51, 59–60, 62, 85, 195n31; Crook, Brig. Gen. George, 48, 50–53, 59–
and Yellowstone-Powder River region 60, 63, 64–67, 68, 86–92, 112, 206n47,
at time of contact, 20, 193n10; and Yel- 222n8
lowstone Wagon Road and Prospecting Crow tribe, 20, 22, 43, 45, 55, 59, 60,
index 247
193n10, 194n23, 197n50, 197n53, 201n87, dolls (toy), 105, 120, 178–79, 221n77,
201n91 225n48
cultural materials: from Feature D at Pow- Donahoe, Pvt. John, 80
der River depot site, 96–106; and in- DuBarry, Maj. Beekman, 113–14, 222n13
dicators of social and economic status, Dull Knife (Cheyenne), 30
118–19; from Powder River depot site dysentery, 100
compared to Little Bighorn Battlefield,
3–4, 122–26; preservation of after depo- eggs and eggshells, 101, 157
sition, 130. See also artifacts E. H. Durfee (steamboat), 80
cultural norms, and alcohol consumption, Elk River (Yellowstone River), 20
90 English, Lt. William, 205n30
Custer, Lt. Col. George A.: and Battle of excavation: and analysis of Powder River
Little Bighorn, 61–64, 114, 127, 208n62; depot site, 8–11; details of and forma-
and dogs, 102, 125, 199n70, 227n74; and tion of Features D and F at Powder
post traders, 205n39; and railroad sur- River depot site, 129–35; of Little Big-
veys of 1871–1873, 37–38, 39, 41, 199n67, horn Battlefield, 226n60
203n12; rest and recreation at Powder Export Bottlers Ltd., London, 218n19
River depot, 119; and Sioux War of 1876,
49, 55–56, 58–59, 60–64; and supply Far West (steamboat), 57, 58, 60, 63, 64, 65,
issues, 73, 200n81, 207n52, 222n8; and 66, 67, 71, 74, 80, 85–86, 91, 92, 94–95,
Yellowstone Wagon Road and Prospect- 217n6
ing Expedition, 45 Fike, Richard E., 228n1–2
Custer Creek, 6, 38, 92 firearms: and cartridges from Little Big-
horn Battlefield site, 123; and cartridges
Dakota tribe, 56 from Powder River depot site, 105,
Daniels, Zed, 205n33 172–73; and Yellowstone Wagon Road
dating: of Feature D at Powder River de- and Prospecting Expedition, 201n93
pot site, 106–108; and recovery of goods fish and fishing, 54, 157, 204n28
from steamboat Bertrand, 216n1 fly pupae, and preservation of artifacts,
Deaver, Ken, 230n8 130, 132–33, 157, 228n3
DeLacey, Sergeant, 89 foil wrappers, and bottles, 136, 139–41,
Department of Fish, Wildlife, and Parks 142–43
(FWP, Montana), 5–8, 191n1 foods: Commissary Department and
Department of the Platte (Army), 14 supply of basic, 15, 16; and cultural
DeSmet, Pierre Jean, 20, 34, 70 materials from Powder River depot
DeWolf, Dr. James, 115, 223n21 site, 100–102, 148–59; and post gardens
Dickson, Ephraim, 233n2 and bakeries, 73, 211n17; and supplies
disciplinary problems, at Powder River at Powder River depot, 73, 87. See also
depot, 76 bones; cans and canned foods; fish and
disease. See dysentery; medicines; scurvy; fishing; hunting
typhoid fever Forsyth, Mjr. George, 199n68
Division of Dakota (Army), 14 Forsyth, Lt. Col. James W., 202n1
Division of the Missouri (Army), 13–18 “Fort Beans,” 64, 65
dogs: bones of at Powder River depot site, Fort Buford (North Dakota), 69–70,
102, 117, 133, 157, 182; and Custer, 102, 193n6, 197n52
125, 199n70, 227n74; and Little Bighorn Fort Connor (Colorado), 30
Battlefield site, 125–26; and Sioux War Fort Ellis (Montana), 36, 54, 204n28
of 1876, 75, 117; and Yellowstone Wagon Fort Keogh (Montana), 69–70, 92
Road and Prospecting Expedition, 42 Fort Laramie (Wyoming), 31
248 I nde x
Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868, 34–35, 37, Hazen, Col. William, 203n12
193n10, 202n101 Heart River, 36, 38, 57
Fort Larned (Kansas), 118 Hedren, Paul L., 222n81
Fort Lincoln (North Dakota), 57 Herendeen, George, 57–58, 60, 205n33,
Fort Pease (Montana), 48, 54, 203n5 208n62
Fort Rice (North Dakota), 29 Hero Glass Works (Philadelphia), 155
Fort Sarpy (Montana), 23 Heski, Thomas M., 217n12
Fort Stambaugh (Wyoming Territory), 153 Hibbert, E&G, 96, 97, 141, 218n19
Foster and Sons, M. B., 96, 97, 141, 142, Hill, Rick, 229n1
143, 218n18–19, 229n7 historical archaeology, 12–13
Fourth of July celebration, 76 history: of American west and status of
Fox, Richard A., Jr., 207n57 Battle of Little Bighorn, 1; connecting
French, and early history of Yellowstone- archaeology with at Powder River depot
Powder River region, 20, 22 site, 93–96, 117–22; and context for un-
Frozen Charlotte. See dolls derstanding of events at Powder River
fur trade, 22–23, 193n6 depot site, 12–13; and documentary
evidence for Powder River depot, 2, 3,
Gall (Lakota), 30, 34, 36, 37, 39, 63, 194n16, 93–94; and record on Army manage-
197n52 ment of transportation and supply in
Gallatin valley, 41, 44–45, 202n98 1876, 109–15
Garlington, Lt. Ernest, 89 Holmes, Booth and Haydens (Connecti-
Garretry, Lt. Frank, 81, 84 cut), 176
“Garry Owen” (song), 74, 127 Hooten, Capt. Mott, 79
Gayle, Sgt. William G., 121, 217n9 horses: artifacts and bones at Powder River
geography, of Yellowstone-Powder River depot site, 157, 165–68; and Little Big-
region, 19–20 horn Battlefield site, 122–23; and Pow-
George, Pvt. William, 7, 76, 84, 212n25 der River expedition of 1865, 28, 29, 31,
Gibbon, Col. John, 53–55, 63, 111–12 32, 33; and railroad surveys, 38, 40; and
ginger ale, 99, 143–45 Sioux War of 1876, 51, 52, 87, 195n32,
Glacier Park Company, 191n3 207n53; and Yellowstone Wagon Road
Glendive Creek, 38, 68, 183, 186, 187, and Prospecting Expedition, 42, 201–
205n38 2n93–94. See also harness fragments;
goblets, 146–47 horseshoes and horseshoe nails; trans-
Godfrey, Lt. Edward, 88, 90, 208n71, portation
215n75, 220n45 horseshoes and horseshoe nails, 122,
gold, Yellowstone Wagon Road and 165–66
Prospecting Expedition and reports of, Howard, James, 77, 79
41–46 Hunkpapa (Sioux), 29, 30, 34, 39, 43, 67,
Goose Creek, 59 194n16, 198n64. See also Sioux
Gore, Sir George, 22, 198n58 hunting: Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868 and
Grant, Lt. Col. F. D., 202n1 unceded grounds for, 34, 53, 197n53;
Grant, Ulysses S., 45, 48 and Sioux War of 1876, 54, 101, 196n42.
gravestone, of Pvt. William George, 7 See also buffalo
Great Sioux Reservation, 34–35, 45 Hutchins, James S., 223–24n29
greyhounds, 102 Hutton, Paul A., 199n69
Guiness stout, 97, 98, 218n17
Jackson, Bob, 213n44
Hardoff, Richard G., 210–11n10 Jens, Lester, 191n5
Hare, Lt. Luther, 62 Jesuits, 20
harness fragments, 166–68, 231n4 Jordan, Walter, 115–16
index 249
Josephine (steamboat), 38, 40, 56, 63, 67, McClure, Capt. Charles, 112, 114
75, 77, 80, 202n1 McCormick, Paul, 54, 116, 203n5, 204–
205n30
Keogh, Capt. Myles, 68 McDougall, Capt. Thomas M., 62
kerosene lamps, 104, 176 McDougall and Co. (Scotland), 103, 163,
Key West (steamboat), 199n68 221n61
Kidd, Col. James H., 28, 196n39 McGowan, Pvt. Martin, 74
Killdeer Mountain, 194n17 McKearin, George L. & Helen, 229n12
Koch, Peter, 45, 202n96, 202n98, 204n28 Meddaugh, Cpl. Samuel, 76, 77, 81, 84–85
Medical Department, 15, 16
labels, on bottles, 136 Medicine Line, 68–69
Lakota. See Sioux medicines, and artifacts from Powder
Laroque, Francois-Antoine, 22, 193n9 River depot site, 99–100, 160–61, 230n3
Lea and Perrins Co., 155 metal strapping/banding, 170–71
leather. See harness fragments Miles, George, 80, 91, 116, 212n35
Lee, Ruth W., 229n12 Miles, Col. Nelson, 65, 66, 80, 85, 92,
Leighton, Alvin C., 31, 57, 98, 196n34, 209n77
196n36, 206n40 Miles City, 68, 69, 106, 116, 223n25
Leighton, Joseph, 115–16 Millard, S. T., 147
Lewis, Meriwether, 22, 23 Milwaukee Railroad, 68, 70
lignite, 103, 133, 181. See also coal minerals. See agate; coal; lignite
line officers, 14–16, 17–18 mining. See coal; gold
Little Bighorn, Battle of: archaeologi- Montana, Bureau of Land Management
cal investigations of, 1, 3–4, 226n60, and archaeology in, 1–2. See also De-
226n64–65; company strength figures partment of Fish, Wildlife, and Parks
for, 192n11; cultural materials from Moore, Maj. Orlando, 56, 63–64, 67, 77,
compared to Powder River depot site, 80–86, 91, 92, 94, 95, 186, 187, 212n30,
3–4, 122–26; Custer and Sioux War of 233n5, 233–34n9
1876, 61–64, 127; number of Native Morgan, George, 80, 81, 84
Americans at, 207n56; status of in his- Mounts, Matthias “Cy,” 86, 214n60
tory of American west, 1; and supply or mules: and harness fragments as artifacts,
transportation issues, 111, 114 167, 168; and Powder River expedition
Little Missouri River, 28, 38 of 1865, 29, 31, 32, 33; and railroad sur-
Little Wolf (Cheyenne), 30 veys, 38, 40; and Sioux War of 1876,
Livingston (town), 54 59, 74, 87, 196n45, 206n44, 206n51,
Lodge Grass Creek, battle on, 43 207n59, 212n30; and Yellowstone
Long Dog (Hunkpapa), 67 Wagon Road and Prospecting Expedi-
Lovett, Maurice, 217–18n15 tion, 42. See also transportation
Ludwig, Capt. William, 200n75 Murdock, Capt. Daniel H., 74
Luhn, Capt. Gerhard L., 215n70
nails, as artifacts, 124, 169–70, 231n6. See
Mackenzie, Col. Ranald, 68 also horseshoes and horseshoe nails
Macklin, Lt. James E., 77, 79 Native Americans: and abandonment of
Manual for Army Cooks, 121 Powder River depot by army, 77–80;
marbles (toy), 105, 119–20, 177–78, 221n77, and Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868, 34–35,
225n47 37, 193n10, 202n101; and precontact
Marquis, Thomas B., 207–8n59 groups in Yellowstone-Powder River
Marsh, Grant, 63, 80, 84, 94–95, 202n1, region, 19, 193n10. See also Arapaho;
208n63, 213n50 Arikara; Blackfoot; Cheyenne; Crow;
Maynadier, Lt. Henry, 23–24 Dakota; Pawnee; Shoshone; Sioux
250 I nde x
Sanford, Pvt. Wilmot, 74, 75, 76, 81, 87, 88, and Crook’s forces at Powder River
90–91, 94, 95–96, 99, 101, 103, 118, 119, depot, 86–92; separation of Crook’s
120, 121, 211n14, 214n58, 217n9, 220n44, and Terry’s forces, 66–67; and Terry’s
221n77 consolidation of forces, 60–61. See also
Sanger, Capt. Louis, 91, 92, 187, 189 Little Bighorn, Battle of
sarsaparilla. See ginger ale Sitting Bull (Lakota), 29, 34, 37, 39, 50,
scalping, of Native Americans, 81, 83–84, 53, 59, 63, 68, 194n16, 197n52, 198n64,
85 201n90
scientific corps, and railroad surveys, 38 Slim Buttes, battle of, 67
Scott, Douglas D., 232n1 Smith, Lt. Algernon, 123
scouts, and Sioux War of 1876, 55, 56, 57, Smith, John, 56–57, 61, 64, 65–66, 71,
58–59. See also Red Star 73, 75, 87, 88, 89, 98, 99, 117, 118, 119,
scurvy, 28, 100 206n40, 209–10n3, 211n14, 218n27,
shelters, at Powder River depot, 90, 211n15 219n30, 220n45, 223n23
Sheridan, Lt. Gen. Philip, 13–14, 17, 37, 47, Smith, Vic, 80, 81, 83–85, 211n18, 213n44–
48, 49–50, 63, 66, 67, 68, 91, 109–10, 45, 213–14n48–50, 220n47
198–99n65, 203n12, 209n77 Smith and Wesson firearms, 105, 123,
Sherman, Gen. William T., 35 172–73
Sheridan Butte, 6 socioeconomic status, cultural materials as
Shoshone, 59, 63 indicators of, 118–19
Sioux: and conflicts in Yellowstone- soda water. See ginger ale
Powder River region prior to Sioux War, Spotted Eagle (Lakota), 198n64
194n14, 194n23, 197n50; and Fort Lara- Springer, Lt. Charles, 194n24, 196n36,
mie Treaty of 1868, 34–35; and Powder 196n42
River expedition of 1865, 29; and rail- staff officers, 14–16, 17–18
road surveys of 1871–1873, 35, 36, 37, 39, staghounds, 102, 125
41, 198n64; and Sully campaign of 1864, Stanley, Col. David, 36–41, 49, 102, 124,
25–26; and Yellowstone-Powder River 186, 198n63, 199n70, 200n81
region at time of contact, 20, 193n10; Stanley’s Crossing, 56, 57, 183–87, 200n73,
and Yellowstone Wagon Road and 233n5
Prospecting Expedition, 42–46, 201n91. steamboats: and railroad surveys, 37, 38,
See also Crazy Horse; Gall; Hunkpapa; 209n84; and reconnaissance of Yellow-
Oglalas; Red Cloud; Sioux War of 1876; stone River in 1875, 47; and Sioux War
Sitting Bull; Spotted Eagle; Yellow of 1876, 56, 110, 183; and Sully campaign,
Shirt 25; and sutlers, 119. See also Bertrand;
Sioux War of 1876: and Battle of Little Carroll; Far West; Josephine
Bighorn, 61–64; Bozeman residents Stuart, James, 201n87
as cause of, 45; and Commissary De- Subsistence Department (Army), 15, 16
partment provision books, 183; Crook Sully, Gen. Alfred, 25–26, 29, 194n17,
and beginning of, 50–53; and departure 195n29
of Dakota column, 55–58; events after supply system: Army management of in
campaign, 68–70; historical association 1876, 109–15; and organization of Army
of Powder River depot with, 93–96; La- in 1876, 13–18; and Powder River expe-
kota and Cheyenne attacks on Crook’s dition of 1865, 32–33. See also alcoholic
forces, 59–60; and march of Montana beverages; foods; tobacco
column, 53–55; meeting of Crook’s and sutlers: and army supply system, 17, 115–17;
Terry’s forces, 64–66; Mjr. Reno and and foods available at Powder River
scouting, 58–59; preparations for, 47– depot, 73; and ledger records for sales
50; rest and recreation at Powder river at Powder River depot, 98, 100. See also
depot, 71–76; and resupply of Terry’s Leighton, Alvin; Smith, John
252 I nde x
Tarrant and Co., 100, 160, 219n41 Walker, Lt. Col. Samuel, 26–34, 195n31
Taylor, Muggins, 205n33 Warren, Lt. Gouverneur K., 22, 194–95n25
Taylor, Steven W., 218n15 watches and watch keys, 105, 123, 176–77
tents. See shelters Weibert, Don L., 201n93
Terry, Gen. Alfred: and Commissary De- Weir, Capt. Thomas, 89–90
partment, 113–15, 183, 186, 187, 189; and Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show
conduct of Sioux War, 53–58, 60–61, (New York), 125
64–67, 68, 74, 77, 80, 86–92, 208n65, Weston, Capt. John F., 187
222n5, 222n13; and establishment Williamson, John, 57, 205n33
of Powder River depot, 2; and Fort wine, 99, 117, 118, 141–43, 229n10. See also
Laramie Treaty of 1868, 202n101; and alcoholic beverages
preparations for Sioux War, 49, 50; and Wolf Mountains, 42
railroad surveys of 1871–1873, 37 Wolf Rapids, 66, 67, 77, 81, 91, 92, 94–95,
Terry (town), 4, 70 199n68
Terry Badlands, 4, 22, 23 Wooden Leg (Cheyenne), 85, 123, 208n59,
Texas (Northern) Trail, 69 214n56
Thibaut, Lt. Frederick, 75, 187, 189
Thompson, Lt. Richard E., 113, 187, 234n9 Yellow Shirt (Lakota), 85
tobacco, 75, 88, 113, 123, 162–64, 215n74– Yellowstone Depot M. T. provision book,
75, 220n58. See also clay pipes 187–89
Tongue River, 31, 67, 68, 200n76 Yellowstone Depot-Stanley’s Crossing pro-
trade. See fur trade; post traders; sutlers; vision book, 183–87
trading posts Yellowstone-Powder River region: first
trading posts, and fur trade in Yellow- white visitors to, 20–23, 70; Fort Lara-
stone-Powder River region, 22–23. See mie Treaty of 1868 and continuing
also post traders conflict in, 34–35; geography of, 19–20;
transportation: Army and management map of, 21; and Powder River expedi-
of in 1876, 109–15; and organization of tion of 1865, 26–34; precontact Native
Army in 1876, 13–18; and Powder River Americans groups in, 19, 20, 193n10;
expedition of 1865, 32–33; and Yellow- and Raynalds expedition, 23–25; and
stone Wagon Road and Prospecting Sully campaign of 1864, 25–26. See also
Expedition, 44. See also horses; mules; Yellowstone River; Yellowstone valley
oxen; railroads; roads; steamboats Yellowstone River: and agate, 181; and
treaties. See Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868 discovery of Powder River depot site,
tumblers, 145–46, 224n31, 224n38, 229n12 5–8; map of river channel in 1878–1879,
typhoid fever, 100 95, 217n6; primary tributaries of, 20. See
also steamboats; Wolf Rapids; Yellow-
Utley, Robert M., 192n11, 192n13, 222– stone-Powder River region; Yellowstone
23n18 valley
Yellowstone valley, settlement of after
Virginia City (Nevada), 224n38, 225n47– Sioux War, 68–70
48 Yellowstone Wagon Road and Prospecting
Expedition (1874), 41–46, 48, 200–
Wagner, David E., 195n31 1n86, 201–202n93–98
Walker, Danny N., 230n8