Major T. T. Thornburgh, commanding officer of the Fourth United States Infantry, at Fort Fred Steele on the Union Pacific Railroad in Wyoming, was placed in charge of the expedition which left Rawlins for White River Agency, September 24. The command consisted of two companies, D and F of the Fifth Cavalry, and Company E of the Fourth Infantry, the officers included in the detachment being Captains Payne and Lawson of the Fifth Cavalry, Lieutenant Paddock of the Third Cavalry, and Lieutenants Price and Wooley of the Fourth Infantry, with Dr. Grimes accompanying the command as surgeon. Following the troops was a supply-train of thirty-three wagons.
When the command reached the place known as Old Fortification Camp, Company E of the Fourth Infantry, with Lieutenant Price in command, was dropped from the command, the design of this step being to afford protection to passing supply-trains, and to act as a reserve in case there was demand for it. Major Thornburgh turned his face toward the Indian country in deep earnest, with the balance of his command consisting of the three cavalry companies numbering about one hundred and sixty men.
Having been directed to use all despatch in reaching the agency, the major marched forward with as great rapidity as possible. The route selected is not well travelled, and is mountainous, and of course the troops did not proceed so rapidly as they might have done on more familiar highways.
Nothing was seen of or heard from the Indians until Bear River was reached; this runs north of the reservation and almost parallel with the northern line. At the crossing of this stream, about sixty-five miles from White River Agency, ten Indians, headed by two Ute chiefs, Colorow and Jack, made their appearance. They were closely questioned, but professed great friendliness for the whites and would betray none of the secrets of their tribe. They declared that they were merely out on a hunt, and repeated that they were friends of the white man and of the Great Father's government, and especially of the Great Father's soldiers.
After this parley, which took place September 26, Thornburgh sent his last telegram from camp: “Have met some of the Ute chiefs here. They seem friendly and promise to go with me to the agency. They say the Utes don't understand why we came here. I have tried to explain satisfactorily; don't now anticipate any trouble.” The conclusion is that Thornburgh was one of the most prudent and discreet of officers, but that he was thrown off his guard by the savages.
The march was continued and nothing more was seen of the Indians though a close watch by keen-eyed scouts was kept up for them, until Williams' Fork, a small tributary of Bear River, was reached, when the same ten Indians first seen again quite suddenly and very mysteriously appeared. They renewed their protestations of friendship, while they covertly and critically eyed the proportions of the command. They made a proposition to the commander that he take an escort of five soldiers and accompany them to the agency. A halt was called and Major Thornburgh summoned his staff to a consultation. After carefully discussing the matter with a due regard for the importance, the advantage, and disadvantage of the step, the officers' council came to the conclusion that it was not wise to accept this proffer on the part of the Indians, as it might lead to another Modoc trap, and to Thornburgh's becoming another Canby. Thornburgh's scout, Mr. Joseph Rankin, was especially strong in opposition to the request of the Indians.
Major Thornburgh then concluded to march his column within hailing distance of the agency, where he would accept the proposition of the Indians. But he was never allowed to carry out his designs. Here it became apparent how thin the disguise of friendship had been, and Thornburgh was soon convinced how fatal would have been the attempt for him, accompanied by only five men, to treat with them.
The command had reached the point where the road crosses Milk River, another tributary of the Bear River, inside the reservation and in the limits of Summit County, about twenty-five miles north of the agency, when they were attacked by the hostiles, numbering, it is believed, between two hundred and fifty and three hundred warriors, who had been lying in ambush.
The scene of the attack was peculiarly fitted for the Indian method of warfare. When Thornburgh's command entered the ravine or cañon they found themselves between two bluffs thirteen hundred yards apart. Those on the north were two hundred feet high, those on the south one hundred feet. The road to the agency ran through the ravine in a southeasterly direction, following the bend of the Milk River, at a distance of five hundred yards. Milk River is a narrow, shallow stream, which here flows in a southwesterly direction, passing through a narrow cañon. Through this cañon, after making a detour to avoid some very difficult ground, the wagon-road passes for three or four miles. Along the stream is a growth of cottonwood trees; but its great advantage as an ambuscade lies in the narrowness of the cañon. On the top of the two ranges of bluffs the Indians had intrenched themselves in a series of pits, so that when the troops halted at the first volley, they stood between two fires at a range of only six hundred and fifty yards from either bluff.
The battle took place on the morning of September 29. The locality of the ambush had been known as Bad Cañon, but it will hereafter be described as Thornburgh's Pass. Lieutenant Cherry discovered the ambush, and was ordered by Major Thornburgh to hail the Indians. He took fifteen men of E Company for this work. Major Thornburgh's orders were not to make the first fire on the Indians, but to wait an attack from them. After the Indians and Cherry's hailing party had faced each other for about ten minutes, Mr. Rankin, the scout, who was an old Indian fighter, seeing the danger in which the command was placed, hurried direct to Major Thornburgh's side and requested him to open fire on the enemy, saying at the same time that that was their only hope. Major Thornburgh replied:—