On the Border with Crook

by John Gregory Bourke

Thinking that such particulars may be of interest to a portion of my readers, I will say a few words in regard to the clothing worn by different members of the expedition. For cavalry, great care was demanded to protect feet, knees, wrists, and ears; the foot soldier can stamp his feet or slap his hands and ears, but the mounted man must hold his reins and sit up straight in the saddle. Commencing with the feet, first a pair of close-fitting lamb’s-wool socks was put on, then one of the same size as those worn by women, so as to come over the knees. Indian moccasins of buckskin, reaching well up the leg, were generally preferred to boots, being warmer and lighter; cork soles were used with them, and an overboot of buffalo hide, made with the hairy side inward and extending up nearly the whole length of the leg, and opening down the side and fastened by buckles something after the style of the breeches worn by Mexican “vaqueros.” These overboots were soled, heeled, and boxed with leather, well tanned. Some officers preferred to wear the leggings separate, and to use the overshoe supplied by the Quartermaster’s Department. By this method, one could disrobe more readily after reaching camp and be free to move about in the performance of duty while the sun might be shining; but it was open to the objection that, on account of the clumsy make of the shoes, it was almost impossible to get into the stirrups with them.

All people of experience concurred in denouncing as pernicious the practice of wearing tight shoes, or the use of any article of raiment which would induce too copious a flow of perspiration, the great danger being that there would be more likelihood of having the feet, or any other part of the body in which the circulation might be impeded, frozen during spells of intense cold; or of having the same sad experience where there would be a sudden checking of the perspiration, which would almost certainly result in acute pneumonia. For underwear, individual preferences were consulted, the general idea being to have at least two kinds of material used, principally merino and perforated buckskin; over these was placed a heavy blue flannel shirt, made double-breasted, and then a blouse, made also double-breasted, of Mission or Minnesota blanket, with large buttons, or a coat of Norway kid lined with heavy flannel. When the blizzards blew nothing in the world would keep out the cold but an overcoat of buffalo or bearskin or beaver, although for many the overcoats made in Saint Paul of canvas, lined with the heaviest blanket, and strapped and belted tight about the waist, were pronounced sufficient. The head was protected by a cap of cloth, with fur border to pull down over the ears; a fur collar enclosed the neck and screened the mouth and nose from the keen blasts; and the hands were covered by woollen gloves and over-gauntlets of beaver or musk-rat fur. For rainy or snowy weather most of the command had two india-rubber ponchos sewed together, which covered both rider and horse. This was found very cumbersome and was generally discarded, but at night it was decidedly valuable for the exclusion of dampness from either ground or sky. Our bedding while with the wagon-trains was ample, and there was no complaint from either officers or men. Everybody adhered to the one style; buffalo robes were conceded to be the most suitable covering. First, there would be spread down upon the ground the strip of canvas in which the blankets or robes were to be rolled for the march; then the india-rubber ponchos spoken of; then, for those who had them, a mattress made of chopped cork, of a total thickness of one inch, sewed in transverse layers so as to admit of being rolled more compactly; lastly, the buffalo robes and the blankets or cotton comforters, according to preference. The old wise-heads provided themselves with bags of buffalo robe, in which to insert the feet, and with small canvas cylinders, extending across the bed and not more than eight inches in diameter, which became a safe receptacle for extra underwear, socks, handkerchiefs, and any papers that it might be necessary to carry along. In all cases, where a man has the choice of making a winter campaign or staying at home, I would advise him to remember Punch’s advice to those who were thinking of getting married.

General Crook had had much previous experience in his campaign against the Pi-Utes and Snakes of Idaho and northern Nevada in 1866-7, during which time his pack-trains had been obliged to break their way through snow girth deep, and his whole command had been able to make but thirty-three miles in twelve days—a campaign of which little has been written, but which deserves a glorious page in American history as resulting in the complete subjugation of a fierce and crafty tribe, and in being the means of securing safety to the miners of Nevada while they developed ledges which soon afterwards poured into the national treasury four hundred millions of dollars in dividends and wages.

On the 1st of March, 1876, after a heavy fall of snow the previous night, and in the face of a cold wind, but with the sun shining brightly down upon us, we left Fetterman for the Powder River and Big Horn. Officers and men were in the best of spirits, and horses champed eagerly upon the bit as if pleased with the idea of a journey. We had ten full companies of cavalry, equally divided between the Second and Third Regiments, and two companies of the Fourth Infantry. The troops were under the immediate command of Colonel Joseph J. Reynolds, of the Third Cavalry, Brevet Major-General. His staff officers were Lieutenants Morton and Drew, both of the Third Cavalry, acting as adjutant and quartermaster, respectively.

General Reynolds divided his forces into battalions of two companies each, one pack-train being attached to each of the mounted battalions, the infantry remaining with the wagons.

These battalions were composed as follows: “M” and “E,” Third Cavalry, under Captain Anson Mills; “A” and “D,” Third Cavalry, under Captain William Hawley; “I” and “K,” Second Cavalry, under Major H. E. Noyes; “A” and “B,” Second, under Major T. B. Dewees; “F,” Third Cavalry, and “E,” Second, under Colonel Alex. Moore, of the Third Cavalry; “C” and “I,” Fourth Infantry, under Major E. M. Coates, of the same regiment. Assistant Surgeon C. E. Munn was medical officer, assisted by A. A. Surgeon Ridgeley and by Hospital Steward Bryan. The subordinate officers in command of companies, or attached to them, were Captains Egan and Peale, of the Second Cavalry, and Ferris, of the Fourth Infantry; Lieutenants Robinson, Rawolle, Pearson, Sibley, Hall, of the Second Cavalry, and Paul, J. B. Johnson, Lawson, Robinson, and Reynolds, of the Third Cavalry; Mason, of the Fourth Infantry.

There were eighty-six mule-wagons loaded with forage, and three or four ambulances carrying as much as they safely could of the same. The pack-train, in five divisions of eighty mules each, was under the supervision of Mr. Thomas Moore, Chief of Transportation, and was assigned as follows: MacAuliffe, to the 1st Battalion; Closter, to the 2d; Foster, to the 3d; Young, to the 4th; De Laney, to the 5th.

The advance of the column was led by Colonel Thaddeus H. Stanton and the band of half-breed scouts recruited at the Red Cloud and Spotted Tail agencies. General Crook marched with these nearly all the time, and I was so much interested in learning all that was possible about the northwest country, and the Indians and the half-breeds inhabiting it, that I devoted all the time I could to conversing with them. Frank Gruard, a native of the Sandwich Islands, was for some years a mail-rider in northern Montana, and was there captured by the forces of “Crazy Horse”; his dark skin and general appearance gave his captors the impression that Frank was a native Indian whom they had recaptured from the whites; consequently, they did not kill him, but kept him a prisoner until he could recover what they believed to be his native language—the Sioux. Frank remained several years in the household of the great chief “Crazy Horse,” whom he knew very well, as well as his medicine man—the since renowned “Sitting Bull.” Gruard was one of the most remarkable woodsmen I have ever met; no Indian could surpass him in his intimate acquaintance with all that pertained to the topography, animal life, and other particulars of the great region between the head of the Piney, the first affluent of the Powder on the west, up to and beyond the Yellowstone on the north; no question could be asked him that he could not answer at once and correctly. His bravery and fidelity were never questioned; he never flinched under fire, and never growled at privation. Louis Richaud, Baptiste Pourrier (“Big Bat”), Baptiste Gamier (“Little Bat”), Louis Changrau, Speed Stagner, Ben Clarke, and others were men of excellent record as scouts, and all rendered efficient service during the entire expedition. There was one representative of the public press—Mr. Robert E. Strahorn, of the Rocky Mountain News, who remained throughout the entire campaign, winter and summer, until the last of the hostiles had surrendered.

CHAPTER XV.

MOVING INTO THE BIG HORN COUNTRY IN WINTER—THE HERD STAMPEDED—A NIGHT ATTACK—“JEFF’S” OOZING COURAGE—THE GRAVE-YARD AT OLD FORT RENO—IN A MONTANA BLIZZARD—THE MERCURY FROZEN IN THE BULB—KILLING BUFFALO—INDIAN GRAVES—HOW CROOK LOOKED WHILE ON THIS CAMPAIGN—FINDING A DEAD INDIAN’S ARM—INDIAN PICTURES.