OUR UNITED STATES ARMY OUR UNITED STATES ARMY BY HELEN S. WRIGHT \l AUTHOR OF "THE GREAT WHITE NORTH." "THE VALLEY OF LEBANON." ETC. WITH AN INTRODUCTION By MAJOR-GENERAL LEONARD WOOD 1917 ROBERT J. SHORES NEW YORK Copyrighted, 1917, by Robert J. Shores, Publisher IMPORTANT NEW BOOKS DOLLARS AND CENTS By Albert Pay son Terhune BUCKING THE TIGER By Achmed Abdullah THE MASTER OF BONNE TERRE By William Antony Kennedy HEART MESSAGES FROM THE TRENCHES By Nellie Rosilla Taylor THE DESTINY OF THE UNITED STATES By Snell Smith THE ANCIENT QUEST By Reginald Wright Kauffman THE DRUMS AND OTHER POEMS By Walter Romeyn Benjamin DEDICATION To those, whose heroic work, invaluable to the development of our Great Nation, is performed in silence and obscurity. M194954 INTRODUCTION BY MAJOR-GENERAL LEONARD WOOD HELEN S. WRIGHT has presented briefly and in com- pact form a summary of the Army's work in the devel- opment and building up of our country. Our people understand little of the Army's work aside from its purely military activities. The average citizen looks upon the Army simply as a destructive force, sel- dom appreciating that it is one of the strongest construc- tive forces we have ever had. The author begins with the early work of the Army, follows it through the Indian days, its various activities after the Civil War, and finally ends with briefly touching upon its constructive work in Cuba, Porto Rico, the Phil- ippines and Panama, emphasizing the fact that the foundation of the existing civil governments in Cuba, the Philippines and Panama were laid by soldiers, and that the foundation was so securely laid that the civil governments which followed had a comparatively easy task. In dealing with Panama, the importance of Reed's great discovery in Yellow Fever is brought out, a discov- ery which has made the western tropics a white man's country for all time through ridding it of its most dreaded scourge. A sincere tribute is paid not only to the great engineer who constructed the canal, but to the great sanitary work of Gorgas and his assistants, a work v INTRODUCTION which made the other work possible, for had the old con- ditions of yellow fever and malaria prevailed, it is doubt- ful if the work could have been pushed through without such loss as would have paralyzed the best conceived plans and the most carefully thought out organization. Much might be added to this little volume, if space permitted, of the work of the Army in various minor fields of activity; its work as a life saver and an advance agent of civilization. Enough has been said, however, to bring to the attention of the people the general con- structive work of the Army and the great part it has played in the nation's up-building. PREFACE IT is my purpose to present in the following pages a few examples of the manifold activities of the Army of the United States, the importance and economic signifi- cance of which have been overshadowed by historians in the tragic drama and far-reaching results of our Na- tion's wars. It has only been possible to touch lightly and incom- pletely the high marks of this civil side of the Army's work, a subject which covers a wide range of time and country. At this hour it may be well to pause and consider what the Nation owes to its Army in the past; to remember that the onward march of progress and civilization in the Great West, in the face of Indian hostilities and depre- dations, was made possible only by that little force of armed soldiers that blazed the way and stood guard to protect the lives and property of our adventurous set- tlers, that the soldier's fair and just treatment of Indians has secured their lasting affection and regard, and many of the important ethnological studies of the plains tribes were made by officers of the Army. Since the beginning of our history, the Army has been engaged actively in forwarding the progressive work of administration and government; during and after the Mexican War in occupying and forming governments in the territories acquired from Mexico. The Civil War trained millions of young men of high x PREFACE spirit in aggressive action, not only against men but against the forces of nature, and these men, who had built railroads, bridges and roads in the theatre of active operations, were turned loose into the West at the end, to push forward the transcontinental railways and the fron- tier with a new energy and ability that nothing could hinder nor stop. No mention has been made in this volume of the valu- able explorations in the Arctic, because these records and that of the "Farthest North" made by Brainard and Lockwood in 1882, are to be found in the author's pre- vious book, "The Great White North," and a repetition of these stories of heroic adventure and brilliant scien- tific work seemed inadvisable. There is the proud record of the Army's prompt action in abnormal times of fire, flood, and earthquake, notably in the relief work in San Francisco in 1906. Since the Spanish War made the United States a world power, the Army has led the way in the government of dependencies in Porto Rico, Cuba, and the Philippines. It has spread the means of communication over Alaska, and explored and mapped it. The reading public is familiar with the magnificent work of the Army surgeons in driving yellow fever out of Cuba and Panama ; in waging a successful campaign against uncinariasis in Porto Rico, and being pioneers in anti-typhoid vaccination ; in ridding Cuba and the Phil- ippines of smallpox and controlling cholera. Its per- sistent efforts have made sanitation in Cuba, Panama, and the Philippines one of the most important of govern- mental functions. If I have seemingly slighted the greatest achievement in engineering skill of all history, the building of the Panama Canal, it is because that is a single instance PREFACE xi where the nation has taken an active and appreciative attitude toward the masterly minds that successfully accomplished this stupendous undertaking. The Army of the United States has struggled hard for proper maintenance and development for many years. The innate prejudice of our citizens against a military establishment, commensurate with the size of our nation, has wrought havoc with any form of a military policy in the United States. It is the purpose of this book to awaken a better under- standing of what the Army has accomplished in the past, what it maintains for the present, and the high standard of honest administration and unswerving loyalty which at all times and under all conditions have been its unfail- ing characteristics. For the most part my material has been gathered from the archives of the War Department, from official re- ports, diaries and field journals of offices, from autobi- ographies and memoires. I wish to make acknowledgment to the several publish- ers who graciously permitted me to quote from the fol- lowing books : to G. P. Putnam's Sons for citations from "The Plains of the Great West," by the late Colonel Richard Irving Dodge; to D. Appleton and Company for quotations from General Forsyth's "Story of a Sol- dier," and General Gorgas' "Sanitation in Panama"; to the Editor of the Atlantic Monthly for an account of the Utah Expedition; to the Baker-Taylor Company for a citation from the "Autobiography of General Howard" ; to McClure, Phillips and Company for a paragraph from the "Life of Walter Reed"; to Doubleday, Page and Company for a citation from Frederick Raskins' "Pan- ama Canal"; to the Saalfield Publishing Company for material from "Personal Recollections of General Nel- xii PREFACE son A. Miles," and to Mr. John Barrett for a citation on Panama. I also wish to thank the many friends who made it possible for me to secure the material for which I was in search. HELEN S. WRIGHT. CONTENTS PAGE INTRODUCTION BY MAJOR-GENERAL LEONARD WOOD . . . . vii PREFACE BY HELEN S. WRIGHT ix CHAPTER I LEWIS AND CLARK EXPEDITION . . 1 II EXPLORATIONS OF PIKE, LONG AND BONNEVILLE ... 8 III FREMONT AND His ADVENTURES 18 IV DOMESTIC DISTURBANCES 31 V INDIAN TREATIES AND WARFARE 43 VI LIEUTENANT WHIPPLE'S SURVEYS AND ADVENTURES . 61 VII GOLD AND THE EARLY DAYS OF CALIFORNIA .... 72 VIII TROUBLE IN KANSAS AND THE MORMON PROBLEM . . 77 IX EXPLORATION OF THE COLORADO RIVER 112 X BUILDING OF THE TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILROADS . . 142 XI THE RECONSTRUCTION OF THE SOUTH 165 XII ALASKA 188 XIII CUBA AND THE PHILIPPINES 217 XIV ERADICATION OF DISEASE BY ARMY MEDICAL STAFF . 245 XV THE PANAMA CANAL . 265 OUR UNITED STATES ARMY CHAPTER I LEWIS AND CLARK EXPEDITION THE Continental Army had hardly been disbanded at the close of the American Revolution, before the immedi- ate necessity of a Regular Army to act as guards of peace became a momentous question to the American people. Measures were taken without delay to raise a body of 700 troops, properly officered for "securing and protect- ing the Northwestern frontiers, to defend the settlers on the land belonging to the United States from the depredations of the Indians and to prevent unwarrant- able intrusion thereon, and for guarding the public stores." Hardly had this small body of men been scat- tered along the outlying districts, when what is known as Shay's Rebellion proved to the Federal Government the necessity of enlarging its military force. Under the leadership of Daniel Shay, some two thousand insurgents, whose grievances consisted of a demand for paper as a legal tender, and in a determined resistance to taxation under the State laws, after forcing the adjournment of the Supreme Court then sitting at 1 2 OUR UNITED STATES Worcester, Massachusetts, assailed the Springfield Arsenal, where they were met by a prompt and vigorous resistance by General Shepherd then in command. With no Federal troops available, quiet and order were not restored until some four thousand militia under General Lincoln had been called into service by the Governor of Massachusetts. Under the Act of August 9, 1789, Congress established the War Department and assigned to its control: 1st, All military commissioners ; 2nd, The land Naval forces ; ships and warlike stores of the government; 3rd, All matters, generally pertaining to military and naval affairs ; 4th, The distribution of "bounty lands" to all soldiers and ex-soldiers entitled thereto ; 5th, Indian affairs ; 6th, And all such duties connected with these affairs as might be assigned to the Department by the President as Com- mander in Chief of the Army and Navy. So broad was the scope of its operations that it practically com- bined the three executive departments now under the separate heads of War, Navy and Interior. One of the earliest and important labors of the De- partment and one which had been especially provided for by the Constitution, was the establishment of "an uniform militia throughout the United States." After much dispute in both Houses of Congress, the plans, with some modifications, submitted by Secretary Knox became a law May 8, 1792. Although each state was supposed to assume individual responsibility in the organizing of ' its militia, the War Department was con- stantly called upon and responded to the demand for supply arms, instruction and general guidance. Until March 3, 1799, the Secretary of the Treasury had made "all purchases and contracts for supplying the army with provisions, clothing, supplies in quarter- ARMY 3 master's department, military stores, Indian goods, and all other supplies for the use of the department of war." This division of authority had caused such disastrous complications, especially in the mismanagement by the Treasury Department in the matter of supplying Gen- eral St. Clair in his campaign in the Northwest, to which his failure was indirectly due, that this authority was very properly transferred to the Secretary of War. In the year 1793 the first of our sea coast defenses and harbor fortifications had occupied the energies of skilled engineers appointed for this purpose and who later were organized by Congress into that branch of the Service known as the Corps of Artillerists and Engineers and later the Corps of Engineers. From Maine to the Gulf of Mexico, from Lower California to the Arctic Circle, and in our Insular Possessions, are now estab- lished a chain of important fortifications with their pow- erful armaments, vast extent of public highways, im- provements in navigable rivers, harbors, gulfs and lakes, and the engineering feat of the century, the construction of the Panama Canal ; all of great value to the extension of our commerce throughout the Republic. On the 20th of December, 1803, the complex and pro- longed wrangle over the Louisiana Purchase had resulted in the acquiring by the United States, that vast area of some 883,072 square miles of territory now covered by the States of Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Ne- braska, the Dakotas, portions of the States of Minnesota, Colorado, Kansas, Montana, Oklahoma and Indian Territory. Before it became part of the United States, the jealous disposition of the Spaniards and French had debarred all adventure for discoveries. Immediately upon its acquisition by our Government, President Jefferson took 4 OUR UNITED STATES prompt measures for an expedition of exploration, its chief object being to aid commerce and population. The inception of this remarkable enterprise was of long standing with the president; twice he had promul- gated his cherished scheme and he has recorded the gradual development and eventual fruition of his hopes in an interesting sketch of the life and character of Cap- tain Meriwether Lewis. "In 1792," writes Jefferson, "I proposed to the Amer- ican Philosophical Society that we should set on foot a subscription to engage some competent person to explore that region in the opposite direction; that is, by ascend- ing the Missouri, crossing the Stony mountains, and de- scending the nearest river to the Pacific. "In 1803 the act for establishing trading houses with Indian tribes being about to expire, some modifications of it were recommended to Congress by a confidential mes- sage of January 19, and an extension of its views to the Indians on the Missouri. In order to prepare the way, the message proposed the sending an exploring party to trace the Missouri to its source, to cross the Highlands, and follow the best water communication which offered itself from thence to the Pacific Ocean. Congress ap- proved the proposition, and voted a sum of money for carrying it into execution. Captain Lewis, who had then been nearly two years with me as private secretary, im- mediately renewed his solicitations to have the direction of the party. I had now had opportunities of knowing him intimately. Of courage undaunted; possessing a firmness and perseverance of purpose which nothing but impossibilities could divert from its direction; careful as a father of those committed to his charge, yet steady in the maintenance of order and discipline; intimate with the Indian character, customs, and principles; habituated ARMY 5 to the hunting life ; guarded, by exact observation of the vegetables and animals of his own country, against losing time in the description of objects already possessed; hon- est, disinterested, liberal, of sound understanding, and a fidelity to trust so scrupulous that whatever he should report would be as certain as if seen by ourselves, with all these qualifications, as if selected and implanted by nature in one body for this express purpose, I could have no hesitation in confiding the enterprise to him. . . . Deeming it necessary he should have some person with him of known competence to the direction of the enter- prise, in the event of accident to himself, he proposed William Clarke, brother of General George Rogers Clarke, who was approved and, with that view, received a commission of captain." Their company consisted of about thirty men including soldiers, hunters and guides. They ascended the Mis- souri in the Spring of 1804. They passed the Winter among the Mandans, and pushed on early the next Spring, reaching the sources of the Missouri River. In August, 1805, Lieutenant Clarke makes the follow- ing entry in his journal : "We proceeded on in the boats, as the river was very shallow and rapid, the navigation is extremely difficult, and the men who are almost constantly in the water are getting feeble and sore, and so much worn down by fatigue that they are very anxious to commence travelling by land. We went along the main channel which is on the right side; and, after passing nine bends in that direction, three islands and a number of bayous, reached at the distance of five and a half miles the upper point of a large island. At noon there was a storm of thun- der, which continued about half an hour, after which we proceeded ; but as it was necessary to drag the 6 OUR UNITED STATES canoes over the shoals and rapids, made but little progress. "On leaving the island we passed a number of short bends, several bayous, and one run of water on the right side; and, having gone by four small and two large islands, encamped in a smooth plain to the left near a few cottonwood trees. Our journey by water was just twelve miles, and four in a direct line. The hunters supplied us with three deer and a fawn." After crossing the mountains Lewis and Clarke em- barked on one of the branches of the Columbia and on November 15 reached the Pacific at the mouth of that great river, having travelled over 4,000 miles. They wintered on the shores of the Pacific where they would have starved but for the food a stranded whale afforded them. They were utterly unable to send tidings home by way of either Cape Horn or the Cape of Good Hope. Years after a notice posted at this desperate time and written in the face of imminent starvation found its way by way of Canton, China, back to civilization at last to Philadelphia. It read: "The object of this notice is, that through the medium of some civilized person who may see the same, it may be made known to the informed world that the party con- sisting of the persons whose names are hereunto annexed and who were sent out by the Government of the United States, in May, 1804, to explore the interior of the Conti- nent of North America, did penetrate the same by way of the Missouri and Columbia Rivers to the discharge of the latter into the Pacific Ocean, where they arrived on the 14th of November, 1805, and from whence they departed the (23rd) day of March, 1806, on their return to the United States by the same route they had come out." ARMY 7 They reached St. Louis the following September, after an absence of two years and four months. A most significant incident in the return journey was the meeting of a party of emigrants, the forerunners of our present western civilization, already making their toilsome way along the trail so recently blazed. We have Jefferson's recommendation and testimony of the value of this enterprise. "The expedition of Messrs. Lewis and Clarke for ex- ploring the River Missouri and the best communication from that to the Pacific Ocean has had all the success which could be expected. They have traced the Missouri nearly to its source; descended the Columbia to the Pacific Ocean, ascertained with accuracy the geography of that interesting communication across the continent, learnt the character of the country, its commerce and inhabitants, and it is but justice to say, that Messrs. Lewis and Clarke and their brave companions have by this arduous service deserved well of their country. "TH. JEFFERSON." CHAPTER II EXPLORATIONS OF PIKE, LONG AND BON NEVILLE DURING the absence of Captain Lewis and Lieutenant Clarke a contemporaneous expedition was directed by General Wilkinson, U. S. A., then in command of the Mississippi, for the exploration of the sources of that great river. Lieutenant Zebulon Montgomery Pike, a young and enthusiastic officer was detailed for this special work. He was accompanied by a sergeant, two corporals and a squad of seventeen privates. His general instructions were to make treaties with the Indians living along the great avenue to the northwest, to purchase land at the mouth of the St. Croix River, from the Sioux tribe, for a government military post, and incidentally to gather as much scientific information of a general character as was compatible with his equip- ment and education. Leading this small band into a dangerous and unexplored region, peopled by treacher- ous Indians, unassisted by a subordinate officer who could share the responsibilities of so hazardous an under- taking, Lieutenant Pike "literally performed the duties of astronomer, surveyor, commanding officer, clerk, spy, guide and hunter." Leaving St. Louis, August 9, 1805, with provisions for four months, he ascended the Mississippi in a keel boat, seventy-five feet in length, the first trip of its kind made by any citizen of the United States. His advance, 8 ARMY 9 barring accidents and delays was from twenty-five to thirty miles a day; his greatest embarrassments arose from the numerous channels which are formed by the many islands in the river, and without experienced guides it was a problem to choose the right one. By the 20th of August, Lieutenant Pike had reached the Des Moines Rapids, covering eleven miles of danger- ous and successive shoals extending from shore to shore. The Rock River Rapids were passed a week later and the Dubuque mines by the first of September. Lieutenant Pike's Winter quarters were established about two hundred and thirty-five miles above the Falls of St. Anthony, where his boats and extra baggage were stored under a suitable guard. The rest of the party continued less hampered and in better condition to meet the advancing season. On the 22nd of December, Lieutenant Pike makes entry in his journal: "Never did I undergo more fatigue in performing the duties of hunter, spy, guide, and commanding officer, sometimes in front, sometimes in the rear, frequently in advance of my party ten or fifteen miles." Four days later he "broke four sleds, broke into the river four times, and had four carrying places," advancing three miles. On January 20 Lieutenant Pike reached a Brit- ish trading establishment at Leech Lake, which was then supposed to be the source of the great river, where his footsore and weary soldiers were met by a kindly and hospitable welcome. Here he addressed a letter to M'Gelles, the manager of the North West Company of that section, in which he stated the views of the United States government and the conditions under which trade with the Indians might be properly conducted within the acknowledged boundaries of the United States. He 10 OUR UNITED STATES required that the flag of our government and no other should be hoisted within the same and these conditions were met with a seemingly friendly spirit on the part of the traders. Lieutenant Pike also held counsel with the Indians to similar purpose, although he fully real- ized that the sovereignty of the United States could not be permanently respected without established military outposts, in a section of the country where traders of a foreign nation found it to their advantage in trading to weaken respect for the United States authority. Upon his return Lieutenant Pike recommended to his superiors the adoption of an effectual and permanent guard. Having accomplished his mission with dignity and consummate tact, Lieutenant Pike soon after retraced his steps and after an absence of nearly nine months returned to St. Louis, April 30, 1806. So successfully had Lieutenant Pike performed the duties assigned to him that he was ordered by General Wilkinson upon a second expedition, the primary object of which was to restore certain captives of the Osage tribe, recently recovered from the Pottawatomies to their homes on the Grand Osage. Lieutenant Pike was also instructed to establish permanent peace between the Osage and Kansas Indians, and a third object was, according to General Wilkinson's orders, "to effect an interview and establish a good understanding with the Yanctons, Tetans, or Camanches," in the locality of the Arkansas and Red Rivers, "approximated to the settle- ments of New Mexico," where he was instructed "to move with great circumspection, to keep clear of any hunting or reconnoitering parties from that province, and to prevent alarm or offence." A lieutenant, one sergeant, two corporals, sixteen pri- ARMY 11 vates, and an interpreter composed the military escort. Dr. Robinson, a professional man of great ability, volun- teered his services, and with fifty-one Osage and Pawnee Indians, this party embarked at St. Louis, July 15, 1806, and proceeded up the Missouri in two large boats. Lieutenant Pike travelled through what is now Kansas and Colorado. This approach to the great mountain that bears his name and stands as a monument to his valor and forceful personality is best told by extracts from his field journal : "Saturday, November 15 (1806). Marched early. Passed two deep creeks and many high points of rocks; also large herds of buffaloes. At two o'clock in the afternoon, I thought I could distinguish a mountain to our right, which appeared like a small blue cloud ; viewed it with the spy glass, and was still more confirmed in my conjecture, yet only communicated it to Dr. Robin- son, who was in front with me, but in half an hour it appeared in full view before us. When our small party arrived on the hill they with one accord gave three cheers to the Mexican mountains. Their appearance can easily be imagined by those who have crossed the Alleghany, but their sides were white as if covered with snow or white stone. These proved to be a spur of the grand western chain of mountains which divide the waters of the Pacific from those of the Atlantic Ocean, and divide the waters which empty into the bay of the Holy Spirit from those of the Mississippi, as the Alleghany do those that discharge themselves into the latter river and the Atlantic. They appeared to present a boundary between the province of Louisiana and North Mexico, and would be a fork on the south side S. 25 W., and, as the Span- ish troops appeared to have borne up it, we encamped on its banks, about one mile from its confluence, that we 12 OUR UNITED STATES might make further discoveries on the morrow. Dis- tance advanced twenty-four miles. "Saturday, November 22. March early, and with rather more caution than usual. After having proceeded about five miles on the prairie, and as those in front were descending into the bottom, Baroney cried out, 'Voila un sauvage/ when we observed a number of Indians run- ning from the woods towards us. We advanced towards them, and, on turning my head to the left, I observed several running on the hill, as it were to surround us, one of them bearing a stand of colors. This caused a momentary halt, but perceiving those in front reaching out their hands, and without arms, we again advanced. They met us with open arms, crowding around to touch and embrace us. They appeared so anxious that I dis- mounted from my horse, and in a moment a fellow had mounted him and driven off. I then observed the Doctor and Barony in the same predicament. The Indians were embracing the soldiers. After some time tranquillity was so far restored, they having returned our horses all safe, as to enable us to learn they were a war party from the Grand Pawnees, who had been in search of the Tetans, but, not finding them, were now on their return. An unsuccessful war party on their way home are always ready to embrace an opportunity of gratifying their disappointed vengeance on the first persons they meet. "We made for the woods and unloaded our horses, when the two leaders endeavored to arrange the party; it was with great difficulty they got them tranquil and not until there had been a bow or two bent on the occa- sion. When in some order, we found them to be sixty warriors, half with fire arms, and half with bows, arrows and lances. Our party was in all, sixteen. In a short ARMY 13 time they were arranged in a ring, and I took my seat between the two leaders; our colors were placed oppo- site each other, the utensils for smoking, etc., being pre- pared on a small seat before us. Thus far all was well. I then ordered half a carrot of tobacco, one dozen knives, sixty fire steels, and sixty flints to be presented to them. They demanded corn, ammunition, blankets, kettles, etc., all of which they were refused, notwithstanding the pressing instances of my interpreter to accede to some points. The pipes yet lay unmoved, as if they were undetermined whether to treat us as friends or as ene- mies, but after some time we were presented with a kettle of water, drank, smoked, and ate together., "Monday, November 24. After giving the necessary orders for the government of my men, during my absence, in case of our not returning, we marched at one o'clock with an idea of arriving at the foot of the mountain, but found ourselves obliged to take up our lodging this night under a single cedar, which we found in the prairie, without water, and extremely cold. Our party, beside myself, consisted of Dr. Robinson and Pri- vates Miller and Brown. Distance advanced twelve miles. "Wednesday, November 26. Expecting to return to our camp that evening, we left all our blankets and pro- visions at the foot of the mountain. Killed a deer of a new species, and hung his skin on a tree with some meat. We commenced ascending; found the way very difficult, being obliged to climb up rocks sometimes almost perpen- dicular, and after marching all day we encamped in a cave without blankets, victuals, or water. We had a fine clear sky, whilst it was snowing at the bottom. On the side of the mountain (Cheyenne Mountain) we found only yellow and pitch pine ; some distance up we saw 14 OUR UNITED STATES buffalo and higher still, the new species of deer and pheasants. "Thursday, November 27. Arose hungry, thirsty, and extremely sore from the unevenness of the rocks on which we had lain all night, but we were amply com- pensated for our toil by the sublimity of the prospects below. The unbounded prairie was overhung with clouds, which appeared like the ocean in a storm, were piled wave on wave, and foaming, while the sky over our heads was perfectly clear. Commenced our march up the mountain, and in about one hour arrived at the summit of this chain; here we found the snow middle deep, and discovered no sign of beast or bird inhabiting this region. The thermometer, which stood at 9 above at the foot of the mountain, here fell to 4 below. The summit of the Grand Peak, which was entirely bare of vegetation, and covered with snow, now appeared at the distance of fifteen or sixteen miles from us, and as high again as that we had ascended ; it would have taken a whole day's march to have arrived at its base, when, I be- lieve, no human being could have ascended to its summit. This, with the condition of my soldiers, who had only light overalls on, and no stockings, and were every way ill-provided to endure the inclemency of this region, and bad prospect of killing anything to subsist on, with the further detention of two or three days which it must occasion, determined us to return. The clouds from be- low had now ascended the mountain, and entirely envel- oped the summit on which rest eternal snows. We descended by a long deep ravine with much less difficulty than we had contemplated. Found all our baggage safe, but the provision all destroyed. It began to snow, and we sought shelter under the side of a projecting rock, where we all four made a meal on one partridge and a ARMY 15 pair of deer's ribs, which the ravens had left us, being the first food we had eaten for forty-eight hours. "Friday, November 28. Marched at nine o'clock. Kept straight down the creek to avoid the hills. At half past one o'clock shot two buffaloes, when we made the first full meal we had eaten for three days. Encamped in a valley under a shelving rock. The land here was very rich, and covered with old Tetan camps. "Saturday, November 29. Marched after a short repast, and arrived at our camp before night. Found all well. "Sunday, November 30. We commenced our march at eleven o'clock, it snowing very fast, but my impatience to be moving would not permit me to lie still at our present camp. . . . "Monday, December 1. The storm still continuing with violence, we remained encamped. The snow by night was one foot deep, our horses being obliged to scrape it away to obtain their miserable pittance. To in- crease their misfortunes, the poor animals were attacked by magpies, which, attracted by the scent of their sore backs, alighted on them, and in defiance of the whinny- ing and kicking, picked many places quite raw; the diffi- culty of procuring food rendered these birds so bold as to light on our men's arms and eat meat out of their hands. One of our hunters was out, but killed nothing." The advance of the little party was beset by increasing embarrassments, with the advance of winter, food and game became scarce, and the condition of animals and men more and more deplorable. Lieutenant Pike divided his party, placing himself and the strongest in the lead, in the hope that by caching meat as it was secured, the weaker ones could come up more slowly and still find sustenance. 16 OUR UNITED STATES Several days were consumed in finishing this work when Dr. Robinson, in pursuance of a previously arranged scheme, set out alone for Santa Fe. Thi extraordinary journey, undertaken in such an unpro tected manner, and without any distinct idea of the bear ing and distance of that place from Lieutenant Pike' present encampment, showed a spirit of enterprise am hardihood, that rendered Dr. Robinson a worthy coadju tor of his principal in this perilous expedition. I appears, from a note of explanation by Lieutenant Pik< in his journal, that a claim on some merchant of Sant; Fe had been put into his hands to collect, should a fitting opportunity for doing so occur. It was transferred t< Dr. Robinson, who was to make it a pretext for a visi to the place, and a cover for observing its trade an< resources for the benefit of his countrymen. While Lieutenant Pike was thus engaged, and when 01 a short hunting range, with only one man in company he was unexpectedly encountered by two horsemen, witl whom, as it was too late to avoid them, he, after mucl shyness on their part, opened a parley. They proved t< be a Spanish dragoon and a civilized Indian, from Sant; Fe, who informed him that Dr. Robinson had reachec that place in safety, and had been kindly treated by th< Governor there. They showed a determination to ascer tain where his camp was, and being under an impressioi it was on the Red River, and, of course, within thi acknowledged boundaries of the United States, h< thought it best to conduct them to it without hesitation Passing through San Antonio, crossing the Brazos anc the Trinity, and continuing his route by way of Nacog doches, he reached Natchitoches on the first of July 1807, having been absent on his tour nearly one year Long's expedition in the years 1819-20 was anothe: ARMY 17 of the early explorations redounding to the credit of the Army. This young officer with his company penetrated to the region of the Colorado, and his name is per- petuated to fame in the mountain he discovered. In the year 1832 Captain Bonneville, U. S. A., obtained an indefinite leave of absence for the purpose of study- ing the Indian in his native haunts. In company with one hundred and ten men he journeyed to the remote region of the Rocky Mountains, ostensibly as a fur trader in search of a fortune. There he lived among the Nez Perces, the Flatheads and other native tribes five years. Upon his return east the manifest necessity of estab- lishing military posts and a mounted force to protect traders in the very heart of the western "wilderness" was already occupying the energies of Congress. These early explorations of adventurous Army officers blazed the trail and opened the flood gate for the oncoming tide of civilization. CHAPTER III FREMONT AND His ADVENTURES FREMONT'S career began in 1833, when he obtained a commission as professor of mathematics in the Navy and his first assignment was to the Frigate Independence. An Act of Congress was passed April 30, 1824, author- izing the President to employ two or more skilful civil engineers and such officers of the corps of army engineers as he might think proper, for necessary survey plans and estimates of the routes of such roads and canals as he might deem of material importance in a commercial or military point of view, for the transporting of the public mail. Resigning his commission in the navy, Fremont was appointed to this special work. July 7, 1838, he was com- missioned second lieutenant of the topographical engi- neers in the Army of the United States. The explora- tion and survey of the vast region north of the Missouri and west of the Mississippi was deemed advisable by the Administration and young Fremont was detailed to accompany Mr. Nicholet, a distinguished astronomer and member of the French Academy. The years 1838 and 1839 were spent in the field, and the whole country was explored up to the British line. In the course of these surveys there were seventy thousand meteorologi- cal observations and the topography was minutely de- termined by the calculations at innumerable points. The 18 ARMY 19 map thus constructed has been the source from which all subsequent ones relating to that region have been derived. In the Spring of 1841, Lieutenant Fremont went in command of a small party to survey the Des Moines River. This was but the beginning of his extraordinary career and the expeditions which followed are thrilling narratives of the explorer's adventures. The first expedition of Lieutenant Fremont, in com- mand of an exploring party on a large scale, occupied the Summer of 1842, and embraced the country between the Missouri River and the Rocky Mountains, along the line of the Kansas and the Great Platte, or Nebraska River. Describing the first meeting with the great herds of western buffalo Fremont says: "A few miles brought us into the midst of the buffalo, swarming in immense numbers over the plains, where they had left scarcely a blade of grass standing. . . . In the sight of such a mass of life, the traveller feels a strange emotion of grandeur. We had heard from a distance a dull and confused murmuring, and, when we came in view of their dark masses, there was not one among us who did not feel his heart beat quicker. It was the early part of the day, when the herds are feed- ing, and everywhere they were in motion. Here and there a huge old bull was rolling in the grass, and clouds of dust rose in the air from various parts of the bands, each the scene of some obstinate fight. Indians and buf- falo made the poetry and life of the prairie, and our camp was full of their exhilaration. In place of the quiet monotony of the march, relieved only by the crack- ing of the whip, and an 'avance done! enfant de grace!' shouts and songs resounded from every part of the line 20 OUR UNITED STATES and our evening camp was always the commencement of a feast, which terminated only with our departure on the following morning. At any time of the night might be seen pieces of the most delicate and choicest meat, roast- ing en appolas, on sticks around the fire, and the guard were never without company. . . . Astronomical obser- vations placed us in longitude 100 05' 47", latitude 40 49' 55"." Ascending the South Fork, they reached St. Vrain's Fort, at the foot of the mountains about seventeen miles from Long's Peak, and thence to Fort Laramie. Here Fremont learned that some eight hundred Indian lodges were contemplating hostilities upon the whites. He was warned by the Indians not to proceed and his men, including the daring Kit Carson, advised him of the im- prudence of continuing the journey while the Indians were on the war path. Nevertheless, Fremont deter- mined to do so at all hazards, and addressed the Indian chiefs who had come to warn him in the following words : "We do not believe what you have said, and will not listen to you. Whatever a chief among us tells his sol- diers to do, is done. We are the soldiers of the great chief, your father. He has told us to come here and see this country, and all the Indians, his children. Why should we not go? ... We came among you peaceably, holding out our hands. . . . We have thrown away our bodies, and will not turn back. We are few, and you are many, and may kill us all. ... Do you think that our great chief will let his soldiers die and forget to cover their graves? ... I have pulled down my white houses, and my people are ready; when the sun is ten paces higher, we shall be on the march. If you have anything to tell us, you will say it soon." ARMY 21 At the edge of the foot-hills of the snow-peaked Rockies, Fremont concealed everything that would not be needed on the mountain journey. The party now followed the Platte River, to South Pass, which he crossed and reached the head waters of the Colorado, which empties into the Pacific Ocean. The ascent of Fremont Peak, to a height of 13,570 feet, where the Stars and Stripes were unfurled, was accomplished under no little risk and difficulty. From this point of vantage could be seen to the north the snow- clad mountains that contain the sources of the Columbia and Missouri Rivers to the west the countless lakes and streams that feed the Colorado and the Gulf of California, to the east the springs of the Yellowstone branch of the Missouri, on the south the waters of the Platte, and beyond the mountain reservoirs of the Arkansas. He now undertook the survey of the Platte, concern- ing which strange stories had been told him by the In- dians of the cataracts, rocks, and whirlpools, through which no boat could live. Dividing his men, with in- structions to the main body to cross country and meet him at Goat Island, accompanied by Mr. Preuss and five of his best men, he descended the river. Returning by the Platte and Missouri Rivers to St. Louis, he reported to the Government in Washington in the Fall of that year. The following year, 1843, Fremont was instructed to cross the Rocky Mountains to the mouth of the Columbia, to locate the lost road to the Pacific. In this great journey of some seventeen hundred miles across the plains and over the mountain, he reached Great Salt Lake, of which comparatively little was known at this period. "It was one of the great points of the exploration," he 22 OUR UNITED STATES writes. "It was certainly a magnificent object, and to travellers long shut up among mountain ranges a sudden view over the expanse of waters had in it something sublime." Pursuing his journey north and west through moun- tains and deserts he reached Fort Vancouver, November 4. Fremont had successfully completed the work assigned to him by the government, but he was ambitious to undertake exploration of that little known country between Salt Lake and California, now known as the Great Basin. 'Six days after his arrival at Vancouver he set out with twenty-five persons on this extraordinary undertaking. The season of the year was particularly unpropitious and the perils of this journey across the Sierra Nevadas was deemed by the native Indians pure madness. Days followed of excessive toil over rough and frozen country without proper provisions and in the intense cold. On February 2, Fremont writes: "It had ceased snowing, and the lower air was clear and frosty. Six or seven thousand feet above, the peaks of the Sierra now and then appeared among the rolling clouds." Four days later he was standing on their summit. "Between us, then, and this coast range was the valley of the Sacramento, and no one not with us for the last few months could realize the delight with which we at last looked down upon it. We were at a great height above the valley and between us and these plains extended miles of snowy fields and broken ridges of pine-covered mountains. . . . On February 11 high wind and snow nearly covered our trail ... by February 16 we succeeded in getting our animals safely to the first ARMY 23 grassy hills ... on the 19th the people were occupied in making a road and bringing up the baggage, and on the afternoon of the next day, February 20, 1844, we encamped, with the animals and all the materials of the camp, on the summit of the pass in the dividing ridge, one thousand miles by our travelled road from the Dallas of the Columbia . . . 9,338 feet above the sea. ... We now considered ourselves victorious over the mountain, having only the descent before us, and the valley under our eyes. . . . "February 23," he continues, "was our most difficult day going ahead with Carson to reconnoitre the road, we reached a river . . . Carson sprang over, but the smooth sole of my moccasin glanced from the icy rock, and threw me into the river. Carson, thinking me hurt, jumped in after me, and we both had an icy bath. Fol- lowing the river, which pursued a direct westerly course through a narrow valley. . . . On a bench of the hill nearby was a field of green grass six inches high into which the animals were driven and fed with great delight. Cedars abounded, and we measured one 28j^ feet in circumference. "February 26 we continued to follow the stream, the mountains on either side increasing in height as we descended, and shutting up the river narrowly between precipices, along which we ha'd a great difficulty to get our horses. We had with us a large kettle, and a mule being killed here, his head was boiled in it for several hours and made a pleasant soup for famished people. . . . My favorite horse, Provean, had become very weak and was scarcely able to bring himself to the top. Travelling here was good, except in crossing the ravines, which were narrow, steep and frequent. . . . Near night- fall we descended into the steep ravine of a handsome 24 OUR UNITED STATES creek thirty feet wide, . . . when a shout was heard from Carson. . . . 'Life yet/ he said, 'y et life: I have found a hillside sprinkled with grass enough for the night.' " Mr. Preuss became separated from the party and was lost several days. Having nothing with him but his pocket knife, he subsisted upon the roots of wild onions and frogs, and, discovering a nest of ants, he ate these in his struggle to ward off death from starvation. Fall- ing in with some Indians, he was supplied with roasted acorns and finally found his way back to camp. Other members of the party had lost their reason from expo- sure and lack of sufficient food. At the junction of the Sacramento they came upon a village of Indians and, writes Fremont : "We had the delight of hearing one who could speak Spanish. Among them was one who said he was one of Captain Sutter's herdsmen. He led us down the valley till we were met by Captain Sutter himself, who gave us a most frank and cordial welcome. . . . Out of sixty- seven horses and mules, with which we commenced cross- ing the Sierra, only thirty-three reached the valley of the Sacramento." After a stay of two weeks, during which supplies were collected and preparations made for the return journey, Fremont and his men left March 24 and started south along the valley of the San Joaquin River, for the pur- pose of exploring the desert and mountain region between southern California and the Great Salt Lake. "Our cavalcade made a strange and grotesque appear- ance, and it was impossible to avoid reflections upon our position and composition in this remote solitude. With- in two degrees of the Pacific Ocean, already far south of the latitude of Monterey, and still forced on south by ARMY 25 a desert on one hand, and a mountain range on the other, guided by a civilized Indian, attended by two wild ones from the Sierra, a Chinook from Columbia, and our own mixture of American, French, German, all armed, four or five languages heard at once, above a hundred horses and mules, half wild, American, Spanish, and Indian dresses, and equipments intermingled, such was our composition. Our march was a sort of procession scouts ahead and on the flanks, a front and rear division, the pack animals, baggage, and horned cattle in the cen- tre and the whole stretching a quarter of a mile along our dreary path." "In arriving at the Utah Lake," he writes, "we had completed an immense circuit of twelve degrees diameter north and south, and ten degrees east and west, and found ourselves in May, 1844, on the same sheet of water we had left in September, 1843. . . . The circuit which we had made, and which had cost us eight months of time, and 3,500 miles of travelling, had given us a view of Oregon and North California from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Ocean, and of the two principal streams which form bays or harbors on the coast of that sea. ... In our eight months' circuit we were never out of sight of snow and the Sierra Nevada, where we crossed it, was nearly 2,000 feet higher than the South Pass in the Rocky Mountains." On the 6th of August the travellers reached St. Louis, by way of Arkansas, Kansas and Missouri. On the 29th of January, 1845, President Tyler, with the advice and consent of the Senate of the United States, conferred upon Lieutenant Fremont, a Brevet commis- sion of Captain in the corps of Topographical Engineers. He was brevetted to a First Lieutenancy and a Captaincy, at the same time. For this distinguished compliment he 26 OUR UNITED STATES was indebted, in part, to the instrumentality of the com- manding General of the Army. In the Fall of that year he started on his third expedi- tion. This was his last under the authority of the Gov- ernment. The two next expeditions were at his own cost, and unconnected altogether with the Government. He went out in the third expedition, by the northern head waters of the Arkansas, then the boundary line of the country, to the south side of the Great Salt Lake, and thence directly across the central basin, towards Cali- fornia, in a route of which he was the first explorer. Upon reaching the neighborhood of the Sierra Nevada, he concluded that, in the worn and weakened condition of his men and animals, they would not be able to sur- mount the barrier at that point. ... He therefore divided his party . . . got across the mountains with his light party, proceeded to Sutter's, purchased fifty cattle and drove them down the western side of the Sierra to meet the main body of his people. . . . Unfortunately they mistook the pass. . . . Fremont remained waiting and roaming for them, in the wild and mountainous coun- try, having frequent hard fights with the savage tribes that infested these, until his cattle were wasted by exhaustion and destroyed by injuries among the sharp rocks. Finally, he abandoned the search, and going down to the California settlements, learned that his company, after many sufferings, had come into the country by a different route from that directed by him, quite remote from where he had expected to meet them. . . . Orders were sent to Walker to go with his party to San Jose, and there remain until Fremont should join them. Wishing to avoid all occasion of ill-will, or suspicion, on the part of the Mexi- can authorities in California, he went alone to Monterey, and made himself known to Mr. Larkin, the consul of ARMY 27 the United States in that city, and accompanied by him, waited upon Alvarado, the Alcalde, and Manuel Castro, the commanding general, who constituted the leading authorities of the country. He communicated his object in coming to California, stating that his sole purpose was a scientific exploration of the continent with a view of ascertaining the best mode of establishing a commercial intercourse between the Atlantic and Pacific regions. He requested to winter in the country, recruit his company, and continue his explorations. His request was granted. He then repaired to his party at San Jose, where they remained several weeks. . . . On the 3rd of March, when within about twenty-five miles of Monterey, he was met by an officer who had a detachment of eight dragoons in his rear to enforce his message, ordering him without any explanation peremptorily out of the coun- try. . . . Captain Fremont felt no disposition to pay a hurried obedience to the order. He marched, with his party, directly to a lofty hill, called Hawks Peak, pro- ceeded to fortify his position, and erected a staff on its highest point, forty feet in length, and unfurled from it the flag of his country. His own spirit pervaded his whole party. On the 9th, Consul Larkin succeeded in effecting a communication with Fremont, informing him of the preparations going on to attack him. . . . After several days, as Castro ventured upon no attack, he con- cluded to move from his position at Hawks Peak. . . . He was determined to originate no hostile movement, but confine himself wholly to the resistance of violence. . . . He therefore moved down into the San Joaquin Valley, and by moderate and deliberate marches turned up through North California towards Oregon and the Columbia River. Colonel Benton, in a speech in the Senate characterized 28 OUR UNITED STATES the course of Fremont in well-deserved language: "Such was the reason for raising the flag. It was raised at the approach of danger, it was taken down when danger disappeared. It was well and nobly done, and worthy of our admiration. Sixty of our countrymen, three thousand miles from home, in sight of the Pacific Ocean, appealing to the flag of their country, unfurling it on the mountain top, and determined to die under it, before they would submit to unjust aggression." Mr. Buchanan, Secretary of State, had sent Mr. Gillespie with a small party to overtake Fremont and in- form him of the strained relations between the United States and Mexico. After a most hazardous journey in which he nearly lost his life at the hands of the Indians, Gillespie reached Fremont and communicated the in- formation. "A rupture between the United States and Mexico be- ing not improbable, it was the wish of the Government that Fremont should keep himself in a favorable position to watch the state of things in California, conciliate the feelings of its people, encourage a friendship with the United States, and do what he could to prevent that country falling into the hands of Great Britain. In obedience to this suggestion, he began to retrace his steps into California. . . . When Captain Fremont came into North California, he found the whole country in a state of great alarm. . . . General Castro was military com- mander, and was actively exerting his influence to ag- gravate the jealousy of the native Calif ornians towards foreign residents. He had issued a proclamation aimed at Americans particularly and requiring them to leave the country. It became evident that measures had been for some time secretly concerting among many of the leading Spanish Calif ornians, to transfer the country to the pro- ARMY 29 tection and control of Great Britain, and to drive out or exterminate all American settlers (that is, as the word is universally understood, all settlers from the United States) ; to expel them utterly, with their families, and to take possession of their lands. In order to accomplish this more effectually, the Indian tribes were made to par- ticipate in the conspiracy, and instigated to burn and de- stroy the crops and houses of Americans. . . . When Captain Fremont came down into the Sacramento Valley, men, women and children flocked to him as a country- man. . . . He obtained information of a scheme, the authentic and official records of which he afterwards found in the archives of California, while occupying the governmental house in Los Angeles. "A Catholic priest, named Engenio Macnamara, in the year 1845 and the early part of 1846, was domesticated with the British legation at the city of Mexico. During that time he made application for a grant of land for the purpose of establishing a colony in California. He asked for a square league, containing 4,428 acres . . . the territory to be conveyed to him should be around San Francisco Bay, embrace three thousand square leagues, and include the entire valley of the San Joaquin. He agreed to bring a thousand families at the beginning. His proposal was favorably entertained by the central government. It was referred, for a final decision, to the landholders and local authorities of California. Con- ventions were about being held to perfect the arrange- ment, Macnamara was landed, from the British frigate Juno, one of Sir George Seymour's fleet at Santa Bar- bara, just at this time. Everything was ripe for a final settlement of the whole matter, and by virtue of this grant of land to Macnamara, the whole country would have passed under British protection. 30 OUR UNITED STATES "The point was reached at which it became necessary for Fremont to decide. The Indians had begun to burn the crops of the American settlers, and were assembled in a large force of about six hundred warriors, at or near what is known as Redding's Ranch, about thirty-five or forty miles from his encampment. He must either quit the country, and leave the American settlers, with their wives and children, to utter ruin and a fearful fate, or he must step forward as their defender. ... To head a rebellion in a country with which his own, so far as he knew, was at peace, was assuming a most serious re- sponsibility. . . . He called his men together, laid before them the state of the case, and referred to the destruction impending over those residents of California who were their countrymen. He told them that he had no right, as a United States officer, to resist the authorities or make war upon the subjects of a government with which his country was at peace. ... If they wished to volunteer in defence of the American settlers and their families, they were at liberty to do so. ... They unanimously de- clared their readiness to join him, and appointed him their commander. He instantly marched against the In- dians and dispersed five villages in one day, in such rapid succession that notice of his approach could not be sent forward. . . . He thus utterly annihilated the Indian combination, and rescued the settlers from threatening ruin without loss of a man. ... By rapid and vigorous movements, Castro's forces were all driven from the country north of the bay of San Francisco. ... By the celerity of these bold movements, the power of Mexico over North California was broken down forever, and the whole golden empire secured to the United States." CHAPTER IV DOMESTIC DISTURBANCES WHILE Colonel Fremont was extending his valuable activities in exploration and scientific research, a problem was confronting the government that at repeated intervals has always been a factor in the maintenance of friendly relations with adjacent powers. The infringement of the neutrality laws by zealous and sometimes lawless citizens had been a menace to American peace as early as 1836, when what is known as the Sabine Affair all but pre- cipitated war with Mexico at that date. Texas in her struggle for independence had won the sympathy of our liberty loving, adventurous citizens, who in inconsiderable numbers had crossed the frontier and joined the fighting forces. National aid was sent across the border and other evidences of too great sympathy with those in revolt had caused the Mexican authorities to ap- peal to the American government for the strict enforce- ment of neutrality and to prevent armed bodies from en- tering Texas from this side of the border. To General Gaines, then in command of the Depart- ment of the West, was given the difficult task of enforc- ing the laws. Certain information to the effect that the Mexicans were endeavoring to secure Indian assistance from along our Louisiana border, to suppress the Texan revolutionists, caused General Gaines to march to the frontier about the middle of April, 1836, where he added 31 32 OUR UNITED STATES to his forces by applying to the Governors of Louisiana, Kentucky, Alabama and Mississippi, for a militia force of 10,000 men, and with these he moved across the Sabine and occupied Nacogdoches, in Texas territory. The rumors of a Mexican advance proved to be a ruse by which the Texan authorities had secured the presence of a large armed force, for the purpose of deterring the Mexicans in the furtherance of their designs. When this information reached the President, a prompt return and disbandment of the militia was ordered and General Gaines was severely criticised. In 1837, the unrest in Canada and the desire of a large number of its citizens for a separation from Great Britain won the sympathies and assistance of numbers of Ameri- can citizens along our northern borders. Secret societies similar to those already existing in Canada were formed in Vermont and Northern New York. Public meetings took place in Niagara Falls, Buffalo, Oswego and other cities; the excitement and sympathy with the revolu- tionists extended to the states of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Ohio and large numbers exemplified their sympathies with the "Patriots," as the Canadian insurgents were called, by contributions of money, organizing themselves into military companies, and at last establishing them- selves on Navy Island, two miles below the Falls, in the Niagara River, under the command of Rensselaer Van Rensselaer, of Albany, New York. This entrance on Canadian soil of an armed force of American citizens avowedly in sympathy with Canadian revolutionists in- duced the home government to remonstrate with the authorities of the United States, and upon the American seizure of Navy Island, to order Colonel McNab to re- sort to force in restoring neutrality between the two powers. ARMY 33 His first act was to seize the steamer Caroline lying at Schlosser, on the American side, set it on fire and let it drift over the falls. This tragic incident occurred on the night of December 29, 1837, and created great feeling of resentment and anger when it was learned that in no way was she concerned with the "Patriots" and that her crew were the innocent victims of a brutal murder. Indig- nation ran so high that General Scott, U. S. A., was given authority to call upon the militia from the States of New York and Vermont, if he felt such a measure was neces- sary to preserve order. His instructions of January 5th, embodied the following extract : "It is important that the troops called into the service should be, if possible, exempt from the state of excite- ment which the late violation of our territory has created, and you will therefore impress upon the governors of these border states the propriety of selecting troops from- a portion of the State distant from the theatre of action. The Executive possesses no legal authority to employ the military force to restrain persons within our juris- diction, and who ought to be under our control, from vio- lating the laws, by making incursions into the territory of the neighboring and friendly nations with hostile in- tent. I can give you, therefore, no instructions on that subject, but request that you will use your influence to prevent such excesses and to preserve the character of this Government for good faith and a proper regard for the rights of friendly powers." On his arrival at Buffalo, General Scott called upon the governor of New York for 1,500 militia, but before they could be assembled the Patriot forces on Navy Is- land had determined to evacuate that point as possessing no strategic advantage. Accordingly, on the 13th of January, in the presence of General Scott, Governor 34 OUR UNITED STATES Marcy, and such of the militia as were drawn from Buffalo, the Patriots crossed over in boats to Grand Is- land where they surrendered their arms, and from thence to the mainland, where General Van Rensselaer was ar- rested by the United States Marshal. After this the Patriots established themselves at various points along the border of Lakes Erie and Ontario, arid on the frontiers of Vermont and Michigan, and carried on a guerrilla warfare. Some 800 fortified themselves on Gibralta Island in Detroit River and another considerable body gathered at Clayton. On the 5th of February, about 2,000 of them crossed to the Canada side below Maiden ; but, evidently dismayed at their own temerity, recrossed to the American shore and surrendered to General Brady at Fort Wayne. A few days later the State arsenals at Watertown and Batavia, New York, were broken open and plundered, as was the United States arsenal at Elizabethtown. By the middle of June these outrageous acts had become so annoying that the Government deter- mined to end them. Regular troops were stationed at or near Buffalo and along the Niagara frontier ; at Sackett's Harbor, Fort Covington, Champlain and Plattsburg in New York, and at Swanton, Derby, and Troy in Vermont. The governor of New York recalled his militia which had been mustered out after the surrender of Navy Is- land and every possible avenue between the two coun- tries was carefully guarded; and these precautions were kept up for the following six months. The Patriot War terminated somewhat ignominiously and unexpectedly about the middle of November, when in an attack upon Presscott, where they were many times outnumbered, they were beaten and compelled to sur- render unconditionally. In a proclamation issued by the President dated No- ARMY 35 vember 21, 1838, he warned the people for the second time against the consequences of their folly. The hopeless- ness of the cause had already discouraged many of its adherents and gradually its sympathizers slipped away, the societies disbanded and the Patriots became no longer a cause of international complications. From this time until the acceptance on the part of the Republic of Texas, of the terms of annexation offered by our Government excited the ill will of the Government of Mexico and thus compelled the sending of troops to the Rio Grande, there was with one exception, comparative quiet from domestic disturbances throughout the country. This exception, however, furnished the first occasion for the President to decide whether as a matter of fact an insurrection against the government of a State actually existed, and whether it would be lawful for him to inter- vene between two persons, each claiming to be the execu- tive, and two organized bodies, each claiming to be the legal one. The State of Rhode Island, which was the last of the thirteen colonies to ratify the National Constitution, was also the last to abandon her charter government. For nearly two hundred years the people of that State pos- sessed no fundamental law except the charter granted by Charles II in 1663, and the usage of the legislature under it. This charter, among other features, restricted the right of suffrage to owners of a freehold and to their eldest sons. Framed at the time when Newport was the principal town, it gave her six deputies in the lower house of the legislature, while Providence was given but four. In the meantime Providence had increased its population to nearly three times that of Newport, while in 1840 the landholders numbered scarcely one-eighth of the adult 36 OUR UNITED STATES male population. These restrictions, as their inequalities increased with time, became more and more obnoxious, and finally produced open discontent. Many attempts of the minority in the legislature to secure reform having failed, the people in mass meeting at Providence in July 1841, authorized the assembling of a convention to frame a constitution. This constitution having been submitted to the people in December, 1841, it was claimed that a vote equal to a majority of the adult male citizens of the State was given for its adoption; and it was further asserted that this affirmative vote included as well a clear majority of the freeholders, or those entitled to vote under the charter. In the meantime under the authority of the legislature, the "charter party" so called, had held a convention and framed a constitution which was sub- mitted to the people in March, 1842, and rejected. The opposition, disregarding this, ordered an election for the 8th of April, 1842, and boldly announced their intention to see that the officers chosen at such election should be seated. On the 4th of April the governor made a formal requisition upon the United States. Messrs. Whipple, Francis and Potter were the bearers of a letter from the Governor in which the situation is given in detail. In this letter the governor advances the argument that a proclamation from the President and the presence in the State of an officer of the Army would convince the opposition that a contest with the State government would involve them in a contest with the Federal Government, and hence would operate as a pre- ventive to anticipated violence and deter them from carrying out their intentions. To this the President re- plied on the llth that in his opinion the time had not ar- rived for Federal interference; that "there must be an actual insurrection, manifested by lawless assemblages of ARMY 37 the people or otherwise, to whom a proclamation may be addressed and who may be required to betake themselves to their respective abodes." At the same time he assured the Governor that should the time arrive, "when an in- surrection shall exist against the government of Rhode Island, and a requisition shall be made upon the Execu- tive of the United States to furnish that protection which is guaranteed to each State by the Constitution and the laws, I shall not be found to shrink from the performance of a duty, which, while it would be the most painful, is at the same time the most imperative." On the 18th of April the election ordered under the new constitution was held, and a full board of officers chosen, of whom one Thomas W. Dorr, was the Gov- ernor. The new government organized at Providence on the 3rd of May; both houses of the legislature as- sembled and resolutions were passed requesting the governor (Dorr) to inform the President of the United States that a State government had been duly elected and organized under the constitution. To resolutions introduced the following day by the general assembly in session at Newport the President re- plied on the 7th of May, in a letter to Governor King, that from information in his possession, he is led to be- lieve that the danger is over-estimated ; "that the lawless assemblages have already dispersed and that the danger of domestic violence is hourly diminishing, if it has not already disappeared." He reiterated his assurance that "if resistance be made to the laws of Rhode Island by such force as the civil power shall be unable to overcome, it will be the duty of this .Government to enforce the con- stitutional guaranty." The same day Dorr issued a proclamation appealing to the people from the proposed interference of the President of the United States in the 38 OUR UNITED STATES affairs of Rhode Island, in which occurred the following language : "It has become my duty to say that so soon as a soldier of the United States shall be set in motion, by whatever direction, to act against the people of this State in aid of the charter government I shall call for that aid to oppose all such force, which I am fully authorized to say, will be immediately and most cheerfully tendered to the service of the people of Rhode Island from the city of New York and from other places. The contest will then become national and our State the battle ground of American freedom. * "As requested by the general assembly, I enjoin upon the militia to elect their company officers ; and I call upon volunteers to organize themselves without delay. The military are directed to hold themselves in readiness for immediate action." On the 18th a body of men assembled at Providence and under the leadership of Dorr attempted to seize the State arsenal, but dispersed on the approach of Governor King with a body of militia. Dorr now left the State, but rumors soon came that he was enlisting men and collecting arms in the neighboring States for the pur- pose of moving an armed force upon the existing govern- ment. Acting upon this information Governor King again addressed the President on the 20th of May. After reciting the situation, and expressing his fears that "a civil war of the most destructive and vindictive character" was imminent, he adds: "In this posture of affairs I deem it my duty to call upon Your Excellency for the support guaranteed by the Constitution. . . . You will see by the statement of the secret agent of the government that the time put for this ARMY 39 incursion is very near. The mustering of the insur- gents and their movement upon the city will probably be with the greatest expedition when once commenced in a time too short for a messenger to reach Washington and return with aid. I therefore make this application before any movement of magnitude on their part, in order that we may be prepared at the briefest notice to quell domestic insurrection and repel invasion." The President's reply is dated May 28. He informs the governor that measures are being taken to ascertain the extent of the danger, and that "should the necessity of the case require the interposition of the/ authority of the United States it will be rendered in the manner pre- scribed by the laws." . . . On this date the Secretary of War was instructed to direct Colonel Bankhead at Newport to send a prudent officer to the scene of disturbance to procure all possible information and report to the President with all possible despatch, and at the same time to convey similar instruc- tions to General Wool at New York, and to General Eustace at Boston. For the ensuing month the Dorr party gave little or no sign of their intentions, and it was confidently believed that they had abandoned their proj- ects, when on the 23rd of June, Dorr suddenly appeared at the village of Chepachet, some ten or twelve miles to the northeast of Providence, with a force estimated at 500 to 1,000 men, fully armed and provided with cannon, camp equipage, and stores. On the receipt of this intelli- gence the governor again appealed to Washington, re- citing the situation and reporting that in many parts of the State the civil authority is disregarded and paralyzed. The President now calls the attention of the governor to a fact heretofore overlooked, viz. "that the legislature of the State is now in session, and, as under the law the 40 OUR UNITED STATES State executive has no authority to summon to the aid of the State the military force of the United States, ex- cept in cases when the legislature can not be convened, such summons must come from that body." On the 25th of June, the general assembly declared martial law. On the 27th a militia force of 2,500 to 3,000 men was put in motion and by two or more roads marched upon Chepachet, where Dorr, with about 250 men, some two- thirds of whom were armed, was stationed behind some earth works, with six pieces of cannon. On that date Colonel Bankhead then at Providence reported to the Adjutant General that the insurgents, some 2,500 in number, with 1,500 muskets and ten or twelve cannon, were strongly intrenched at Chepachet; that the militia had assembled at Providence with 2,000 men, and that it seemed impossible to avoid a conflict without the inter- position of a strong regular force. At the same time an urgent appeal for aid came from the Rhode Island dele- gation in Congress, in which they requested an immediate compliance with the governor's requisition, as being "the only measure that can now prevent the effusion of blood and the calamities of intestine violence, if each has not already occurred." Early in the morning of the 28th the State troops moved upon these works at Chepachet and found them deserted, Dorr and his men having dis- persed during the night. On the 29th the President hav- ing decided that the time for action had arrived, in- structed Secretary of War to proceed to Rhode Island, and, in the event of a requisition being made upon the President in conformity with the laws, he should cause the proclamation already prepared and signed to be published; that the Federal troops from Fort Adams should be placed in such position as would enable them to ARMY 41 defend the city of Providence, and that, should circum- stances render it necessary, he should call upon the governors of Massachusetts and Connecticut for such numbers of militia as might be sufficient to terminate the insurrection. "Happily," says President Tyler in his message of April 9, 1844, to Congress, "there was no necessity for either issuing the proclamation or the re- quisition or for removing the troops from Fort Adams, where they had been properly stationed. Chepachet was evacuated, and Mr. Dorr's troops dispersed without the necessity of the interposition of any military force by this Government, thus confirming me in my early im- pressions that nothing more had been designed from the first by those associated with Mr. Dorr than to excite fear and apprehension, and thereby obtain concessions from the constituted authorities which might be claimed as a triumph over the existing government. "With the dispersion of Mr. Dorr's troops ended all difficulties. A convention was shortly afterwards called, by due course of law, to amend the fundamental law, and a new constitution, based on more liberal principles than that abrogated, was proposed, and adopted by the people. Thus the great American experiment of a change of government under the influence of opinion and not of force has been again crowned with success, and the State and people of Rhode Island repose in safety under insti- tutions of their own adoption, unterrified by any future prospect or necessary change and secure against domestic violence and invasion from abroad. I congratulate the country upon so happy a termination of a condition of things which seemed at one time seriously to threaten the public peace. It may justly be regarded as worthy of the age and country in which we live." 42 OUR UNITED STATES Mr. Dorr returned to the State on the 29th of October, was arrested, tried upon a charge of high treason, con- victed and sentenced to imprisonment for life, but was released in 1847, under a general act of amnesty. CHAPTER V INDIAN TREATIES AND WARFARE THE Indian policy of the government of the United States was the outgrowth of the general policy and prac- tice founded by the nations of Europe on the principle of right of discovery, which gave title to the government by whose subjects or by whose authority it was made, against all other European governments, the title for which was consummated by possession. With the independence of the colonies came the natural right of acquiring soil from the natives and establishing settlements upon it. The great discovering Powers, England, France, Spain and Portugal, admitted the Indians to have the "right of oc- cupancy," a right alienable in but two ways, the right of purchase or by conquest. Their right to complete sovereignty as independent nations was not recognized nor was their power to dispose of the soil at their own free will to whomsoever they pleased, as this encroached upon the principles which gave exclusive title to those foreigners who had discovered it. With the growth of the United States it was inevitable that the tide of emi- gration to the frontiers should gradually push the Indian farther westward. In almost all instances the right of occupancy was bought of the native, the bargain being in the nature of a treaty ; nevertheless, the inevitable en- croachments of civilization and the permanent security of the settlers, was not obtained without a long series of 43 44 OUR UNITED STATES encounters with the savages, which lasted for a period of more than a century. "The conception of Indian character," writes Colonel Richard I. Dodge, "is almost impossible to a man who has passed the greater portion of his life surrounded by the influences of a cultivated, refined and moral society. The truth is simply too shocking, and the revolted mind takes refuge in dis-belief as the less painful horn of dilemma. As a first step toward an understanding of his character we must get at his standpoint of morality. As a child he is not brought up. From the dawn of intelli- gence his own wile is his law. There is no right and no wrong to him. No dread of punishment restrains him from any act that boyish fun or fury may prompt. No lessons inculcating the beauty and sure reward of good- ness or the hideousness and certain punishment of vice are ever wasted on him. The men by whom he is sur- rounded, and to whom he looks as models for his future life, are great and renowned just in proportion to their ferocity, to the scalps they have taken, or the thefts they have committed. His earliest boyish memory is probably a dance of rejoicing over the scalps of strangers, all of whom he is taught to regard as enemies. The lessons of his mother awaken only a desire to take his place as soon as possible in fight and foray. The instruction of his father is only such as is calculated to fit him best to act a prominent part in the chase, in theft, and in murder. Virtue, morality, generosity, honor, are words not only absolutely without significance to him, but are not ac- curately translated into any Indian language on the plains." One of the first treaties under the direction of the War Department was negotiated by General St. Clair in January, 1789, with the "Six Nations," consisting of those ARMY 45 warlike tribes, the Mohawks, Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayugas, Senecas, and Tuscaroras, who terrorized a large section of the country from Lake Champlain to the western boundary of Lake Erie. By this treaty the western boundary of the territory was fixed along the line of Pennsylvania and Ohio. At the same period another treaty was negotiated with the Wyandot, Delaware, Ottawa, Chippewa, Pottawa- tamie, and Sac nations defining the boundaries of north- western Ohio, northern Indiana and Michigan, and providing for trade with the Indians. Treaties were ne- gotiated by the Secretary of War, General Knox, in 1790 with the Creek Indians and also with the Cherokees, by which a large portion of Georgia and what is now Ala- bama and Tennessee was secured. Five years later (1795) a second treaty with the Six Nations secured to the United States large tracts of land, by which all the northeastern and much of western New York were opened for white occupation. Through the successful efforts of General Wayne a treaty was negotiated the same year by which a large tract in Ohio and considerable reservations to the west- ward were secured to the United States, extending our frontier to a line running between the present city of Cleveland, Ohio, and Louisville, Kentucky. Again in June, 1803, the tribes inhabiting Indiana and Illinois met General Harrison at Fort Wayne and a suc- cessful treaty was negotiated. One item gave the settlers the right to build in the Indian country. General Harrison again met the Indians the following summer, which resulted in the treaty of Vincennes with the last of the powerful tribe of Kaskaskia, and this was followed the next year by that with the Delaware and Pianka- shaws, whereby General Harrison succeeded in securing 46 OUR UNITED STATES all the southwestern part of the present state of Indiana. The year 1805 saw the consummation of a number of important treaties whereby the United States gained large areas of Indian country. "Thus, by a treaty with various tribes of Indians inhabiting northern Ohio and Indiana and Michigan, the frontier on the Northwest was moved a considerable distance westward; an advantageous treaty with the war-like Chickasaws gave the United States large parts of Kentucky and Tennessee. General Harrison negotiated on the part of the United States several treaties with different tribes of Indians inhabiting the country to considerable distance on either bank of the Wabash River, in all of which valuable cessions of lands were made by the savages ; the Creeks, in a treaty ne- gotiated by Secretary of War Dearborn, made a large cession of their territory between the Oconee and Oc- mulgee Rivers ; the Cherokees also ceded a large area of the northern portion of their territory, and in the follow- ing year gave up to the United States, by a treaty which was also negotiated on the part of the government by the Secretary of War in person, all their lands lying north- ward of the River Tennessee. In the three following years, the government also procured large cessions in Michigan from the Chippewa and other nations, in In- diana and Illinois from the Delawares and associate tribes and in what is now Missouri and Arkansas, from the Great and Little Osages. At the close of the Jefferson administration our frontier had advanced on the Northwest, West and Southwest, and to this newly acquired country came a steady stream of settlers, bringing with them the civilization of the east and establishing new homes and opening this fertile coun- try to agriculture and trade. The long succession of ARMY 47 treaties negotiated through the agency of the War Depart- ment during the first half of the nineteenth century se- cured in safety to the incoming civilization nearly all that extensive territory between the Appalachian range and "the western boundary of the tier of states lying west of the Mississippi River." It was obviously impossible that so vast an extent of territory should be acquired without bloodshed. Nevertheless it devolved upon the Army to negotiate treaties of peace, bargains by which the Indian relinquished his claim, to regulate the trade and inter- course with the Indian tribes, and to preserve peace on the frontiers. By act of Congress citizens or residents of the United States were prohibited from passing within certain Indian limits, and they were forbidden to hunt or destroy game, or to drive cattle or other live stock thither to range on Indian reservations. Persons were forbidden to pass through the lands allotted to the Indians without passports, and crimes against the Indians were severely punished. It was necessary to secure a license to trade with the Indians and this could only be secured from the Indian Office of the War Department. Trading-houses were authorized to be established at as many places in the Indian country as might be designated by the President. Writes L. D. Ingersoll : "These trad- ing-houses authorized by a different series of acts of Con- gress, were in the charge of 'agents* under the direct supervision of the superintendent of Indian trade. They were placed under heavy bonds for the faithful perform- ance of their duties. They were totally distinct from the Indian traders. The traders carried on business on their own account supplying their own capital and goods ; the agents conducted the business of the trading-houses for the United States, which supplied the capital and goods. The furs and peltries thus acquired were sold at public 48 OUR UNITED STATES auction by the government at different places in the country designated by the President." On the system thus described, business with the Indians was conducted and intercourse carried on until 1822, when the trading establishments were abolished by act of Congress, and the proceeds directed to be turned into the public treasury. At about the same time an act was passed amending the law regulating trade and intercourse with the Indian tribes, whereby the granting of licenses to trade was given to superintendents of Indian affairs and Indian agents, these being required to make regular returns of their doings in the premises to the Secretary of War. Stringent provision was made against illicit trade with the Indians, and all traders and officials having to do with Indian affairs were required to report regularly and fully to the War Department. This continued to be substantially the system for the regulation of trade and intercourse with the Indians so long as the management of their affairs remained in the War Department. A general superintendent of Indian affairs to reside at St. Louis was authorized by the act of 1822, which gave to that city for many years, an extensive and profitable Indian trade. The reports of the Department covered the manifold labors growing out of the regulation of trade and inter- course and extended an attempt at their civilization. The natural repugnance of the Indian for all forms of labor was the drawback to achievement in the line of their enlightenment. To the Cherokee nation above all others is due the greatest credit for improvement and progress. In July, 1817, General Jackson, General David Meri- wether, and Governor Joseph McMinn of Tennessee, representing the United States, negotiated a treaty with ARMY 49 the Cherokees by which the Indians ceded large tracts to the government and received large reservations on the Arkansas River. The all engrossing topic before Congress in 1830 was "the removal of the Indians" and petitions and remon- strances were pouring in without number. In the Act of May 28, 1830, what is known as Indian Territory was set apart. The principal migrations did not occur until 1831-1832, when the Chickasaws, Choctaws and Creeks were removed to this reservation. The withdrawal of troops from Camp Armistead, in the Cherokee country in 1838, precipitated unlawful settlement by unauthorized persons upon the lands oc- cupied by the Cherokees within the limits of North Carolina, Georgia, Alabama and Tennessee. March 13, 1838, two companies of artillery were ordered to that section, "to receive and execute any instructions they may receive from the Governor of North Carolina in regard to the removal of the intruders on the Cherokee lands within the limits of that State." Three companies of the Fourth Infantry then stationed at the Augusta Arsenal were ordered to march to Fort Mitchell, Alabama, to re- move intruders within that State and Georgia, under the instructions of the district attorney of Alabama. This protection to the Indians proved ineffectual and the persistence of the settlers in occupying the Indian lands caused great uneasiness throughout the South. It was at last determined to remove the Indians to land west of the Mississippi, and in the spring of 1838 upon a req- uisition by the government for the assistance of militia to serve for a period of three months, the removal of the Indians took place, to be followed by a similar exodus of the Seminoles from Florida a few years later. In 1849 the control of Indian affairs passed from the 50 OUR UNITED STATES War Department to the Interior Department. "During the sixty years conduct of those affairs by the War De- partment, nearly half the territory of the Union had been opened up to settlement and actual development. From the shores of Lake Champlain to the farther boundary of the tier of commonwealths beyond the Mississippi River, and to the Gulf of Mexico on the south, the savages had been removed to a safe distance, or were confined within narrow reservations easily guarded by the militia. In this vast expanse, embracing much of the magnificent valley of the Mississippi from which the Indians were re- moved to make way for our march of empire, nearly a score of States were formed, which, in 1879 contained more than half the population of the republic and the preponderance of its political power." Through a long succession of treaties both before and after the removal of Indian affairs from the War Depart- ment, the Government assumed a position and exerted a policy difficult if not totally impossible to explain. It frequently gave to its officers and agents instructions to parley with the Indians and negotiate for certain terms. The treaty would be ratified and signed and to the dis- couragement of both parties, fail to be carried out upon its implicit terms. That the government, and by that term is meant Congress, the elected representatives of the people, singularly neglected to fulfil its obligations in the matter of Indian treaties, failed to raise appropria- tion for promised indemnity for lands bought from the Indians, failed to supply them with necessary implements and means for earning their livelihood, and justly earned for itself among the tribes and the whites generally, the name of "liar" and "breaker of faith," reflects solely upon the citizens, whose indifference and apathy is pro- verbial so long as their greed for land or its equivalent in ARMY 51 gold may be secured, whatever the cost in loyalty, in- tegrity and honor. It will be remembered that reservation after reserva- tion set aside "now and forever" for the exclusive use of the savage was invaded by the white settler, encroached upon for whatever profit might be secured from it and eventually appropriated by him. The march of civiliza- tion westward was as inevitable, as the course of the set- ting sun, but it is equally obvious that in the course of the migration the free booter and piratical spirit of the emigrant little considered the obligations of the govern- ment to its wards. The settler wanted the land and he took it, the government wanted the land for the settler and it took it, upon terms and with provisions it promptly forgot to fulfil. If bloodshed was the price of these bargains, then there was the Army to shed it, for, argued the citizen, what were they there for except as go be- tweens for the settler, to bring to terms the Indians who were impeding the progress of the nation and rendering unsafe, by cruel and violent remonstrance, the rising generation of citizens bent upon the possession and the pursuit of happiness. The peculiar traits of Indian character made more dif- ficult their control and subjugation. The settler who had suffered the enormities perpetrated by these savages found a life time too short for his revenge. Nor did the Indian confine his atrocities to the unprotected frontiers- man, but committed his dastardly murders within the very limits of the military reservation, where he had been accorded the privilege of passing the sentry ostensibly on an errand of peace. The discovery of gold in California and the construc- tion of the transcontinental railway precipitated an un- precedented rush of emigration across the plains, leaving 52 OUR UNITED STATES in its wake destruction to game and fodder upon which the Indian depended for his own support and that of his horses. Fort Kearney, at Grand Island on the Platte River, Fort Laramie and Fort Bridger in Utah, Fort Hall, in Idaho, were the principal posts in the chain that al- ready stretched half way across the continent and formed the nucleus for that long chain hundreds in number, whose garrisons protected the white settler and dis- puted with the Indians every inch of ground from the Mississippi to the Rockies, from Mexico to the Canadian border. This same problem, that of the Indians, was one of the greatest before Congress between the years 1866 and 1874. Trouble with the savages which had beset each onward stride in the early pioneer days renewed itself with fresh vigor and bloody outrage at the close of the Civil War. Troops which had kept the Indians at bay on the outskirts of the western borders had been called to take their place in the theatre of action of the Great Rebellion ; thereby abandoning some of the army strong- holds in the far West and giving to the Indians the im- pression of Federal weakness. Gradually the advance frontier settlers were driven back for protection into the more settled communities. Meanwhile the Indian had not stood still in the proximity of civilization. He had adopted most of its worst vices as well as its best methods of defense. He had discarded the bow and arrow and procured for him- self firearms and ammunition. When the army was sent back to re-occupy the chain of frontier posts the resentment of the wild tribes knew no bounds and they were soon allied in a determined pur- pose to resist the whites. Roving bands of Sioux. North- ARMY 53 ern and Southern Cheyennes, Assinoboines, Piegans, Arapahoes, Kiowas, Pawnees, Miams, and Comanches, with many lesser tribes, roamed the country beyond the Kansas line on the south and Minnesota on the north, and as far west as the Pacific Slope. In Minnesota and Dakota serious trouble had been experienced in 1862, when scores of unoffending white settlers had been massacred in cold blood, the wives and daughters outraged, then killed or carried into the hor- rors of Indian captivity. No less than six hundred and forty-four people were killed before the Indian uprising was put down by General Sibley aided by Minnesota volunteers. A form of duty particularly trying to the soldier was that of military escort to emigrant trains while passing through dangerous Indian country. The slow progress of the "bull" or "ox train" made a most tedious journey. The distance between camps depended on the finding of sufficient grass for feeding the stock, and usually from seven to twelve miles was all that was covered between trips. Frequent halts for accidents to wagons incident to travel or lack of foresight on the part of the "bull wackers" caused vexatious delay to all, for the train must not be separated but at all times kept close together. At the cry of "Indians, Indians," every soldier would spring quickly to his position and return the brisk fire of the approaching savages, while the drivers to prevent the stampede of their animals would instantly turn their teams to form a park for their protection. Escorting Government and contractors' mule trains was less tedious but more harassing, although the dis- tance covered was from twenty to thirty miles a day; there was constant anxiety to protect the animals against 54 OUR UNITED STATES the subtle wiles of the Indian horse thieves, whose cun- ning and prowess was well known to the commandant and the soldiery. "This method of guarding commercial supply trains and looking after emigrants was quietly kept up for scores of years," writes General Forsyth, "in fact, from almost the foundation of our Government until it finally culminated in guarding the surveyors and builders of the Pacific Railroad from 1865-1870. It had many a hardship and many a forgotten and almost unrecorded hard fight to mark its lapse of years, and even at this late day there is little doubt one could find plenty of material for popular romance should he search carefully and delve deep enough into the older manuscripts filed care- fully away among the records of the War Department." A development of this early duty eventuated in soldiers being used to guard the Santa Fe trail, which is worth at least a passing notice. Overland trade between the United States and northern Mexico was a gradual development which primarily was the outcome of the curiosity of a fur trapper, one James Pursley, who, listening to the stories of some Indians whom he had in his employ about the wealth of certain northern Mexican towns, journeyed on horseback from the Platte River to Santa Fe in 1805, and liked the place and people so well that he took up his residence there. About the same time a merchant of Kaskia, Illinois, named Morrison, sent a man named La Lande with a stock of goods to Santa Fe by pack train as a venture. He (La Lande) also reached Santa Fe, sold his goods, forgot to remit the proceeds to Morrison, and also became a permanent resident of Santa Fe. It was not, however, until the return of Cap- tain Pike from his southern exploring expedition in 1808 with his glowing account of Santa Fe that trade between ARMY 55 the Southwest and northern Mexico began to take on sufficient importance to attract the attention of some of the Southwestern traders and merchants. Several small caravans composed of pack horses and mules were started across the plains and reached Santa Fe and the venture paid very well, but in 1812 a large and most elaborate caravan was seized by the Mexican authorities, all of the goods confiscated, and the owners imprisoned for nearly nine years, or until a revolution gained them their liberty. In 1821, one Glenn, of Ohio, set out with a trading party, and in due time reached Santa Fe in safety. He did so well that on his return his reports fired the am- bition of nearly all the Indian traders on the South- western frontier, and the next Spring saw extensive preparations under way for Santa Fe by many of the most venturesome of the frontier merchants. For the first eighteen years of this trade everything in the shape of goods was, as a matter of course, packed upon horses and mules, and the trail was across the plains over moun- tains and through deep canons by the most direct route to the point of destination. In 1824 a company of traders from Missouri started out with twenty-five stout, well- loaded road wagons, and after many interesting and exciting incidents reached Santa Fe in safety, thus dem- onstrating the fact that an open and practical roadway for wagons existed from the Missouri River to Santa Fe, a thing which up to this time would have been scouted and jeered at by any of the old packers on the Santa Fe trail. "Naturally enough," we read, "as a great part of this new route passed through Indian country, in the course of time trouble developed with the Indians. It probably grew up from faults upon both sides. 56 OUR UNITED STATES "The Indians demanded toll in the shape of presents from the large and well-armed trains, and took what they wished from the weaker ones. Again the records show that the white men on more than one occasion were overbearing and insolent to the squaws and unjust in their dealings with the Indians. At any rate a state of war eventually ensued, and the Santa Fe trail became a dangerous one, and the trains were liable to attack from the Lepans, Comanches, and Arapahoes at almost any point between the Missouri and the Arkansas Rivers. "From this time forward trouble constantly ensued, so that in the Spring of 1829 the United States Govern- ment gave both cavalry and infantry escorts from Inde- pendence, Mo., the point from which these caravans started, to as far as Choteau Island on the Arkansas River that is, through the Comanche country. "This Western overland trade to Mexico reached its climax in 1843, when the caravan consisted of nearly three hundred wagons carrying merchandise valued at half a million dollars. "About that time, however, supplies began to come into northern Mexico from Vera Cruz on the Mexican coast, and heavy duties laid and enforced by the Mexicans left no adequate margin of profit for the overland traders, so that it steadily decreased until after the Mexican War, when it revived again for a few years; but in time the Santa Fe Railway absorbed it all, and to-day the great Santa Fe trail is simply a matter of half forgotten story." It is not within the scope of this volume to enter into details of the numerous Indian campaigns, but more par- ticularly to demonstrate by a few illustrations, the varied calls made upon the United States Army Officer at times when the East considered the great West serenely enjoy- ing security and peace. ARMY 57 The advance of the settlements was universally acknowledged to be a necessity of our national develop- ment ; the western settler fought the battle of civilization under the same circumstances and with the same deter- mination as did our forefathers on the Atlantic shores. The citizen of the East is in the habit of considering the power of the United States invincible, but the wild tribes of western savages who had not felt or seen it, did not so regard it. The white settler looked to the Army for defense. The Indians also learned in time to appeal to the military for the protection of their rights and privi- leges. The Army was called upon to render assistance to friendly tribes when attacked by marauders, whether Indian, White or Mexican. In his report November 1, 1868, Lieutenant General W. T. Sherman, writing from the Headquarters Military Division of Missouri, described the condition of Indian affairs in the country west of the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains, including New Mexico, Utah, and Montana. The military departments of Missouri, Platte, and Dakota were then commanded by Generals Sheri- dan, Angur and Terry. "You will observe," writes Sherman, "that while the country generally has been at peace, the people on the plains and the troops of my command have been con- stantly at war, enduring all its dangers and hardships, with none of its honors or rewards." After describing the conditions in Sheridan's depart- ment, he cites the fearful condition of affairs in the vicinity of Denver, Colorado, telegraphed by Governor Hunt the 4th of September. "Just returned. Fearful condition of things here. Nine persons murdered by Indians yesterday within a radius of sixty miles," etc., and on the 24th of September, Acting Governor Hull 58 OUR UNITED STATES again telegraphed from Denver: "The Indians have again attacked our settlements in strong force, obtaining possession of the country to within twelve miles of Denver. They are more bold, fierce, and desperate in their assaults than ever before. It is impossible to drive them out and protect the families at the same time." Such were the heart-rending appeals for help that poured in upon General Sheridan who at this time was laboring with every soldier of his command to give all possible protection to the scattered people in the wide range of country from Kansas to Colorado and New Mexico. The campaigns of 1868-69 included some of the most daring and courageous feats in American history; instance Colonel Forsyth in command of fifty scouts, who, taking refuge on a small island in mid stream in Delaware creek, was beleagured and outnumbered by Indians for nine days. At first their mules served as a barricade and as these were shot and putrified, they dug holes and then threw up earth works, behind which in hunger, thirst and heat they defended themselves against the enemy. In their desperate plight, two scouts were sent to make their way past the Indian sentries to Fort Wallace distant over one hundred miles for assistance. These men made their flight for life in the face of death and starvation, a desperate journey, from the effects of which one never recovered. The next day two others were sent out with a letter in which Colonel Forsyth says in part: "I have eight badly and ten slightly wounded men to take in, and every animal I had was killed, save seven, which the Indians stampeded. Lieutenant Beecher is dead, Acting Assistant Surgeon Novers probably can not live the night out. He was hit in the head Thursday, ARMY 59 and has spoken but one rational word since. I am wounded in two places in the right thigh, and my left leg broken below the knee. ... I can hold out here for six days longer if absolutely necessary, but please lose no time." He does not even mention a painful scalp wound which gave him intense pain in his head. Of his condition dur- ing those days of danger and anxiety, he writes simply: "I had all I could do to force myself carefully to think out the best course to pursue under existing circum- stances." And in this connection it may be well to illustrate how the American soldier meets death in line of duty, to Gen- eral Forsyth we are endebted for this simple picture. After describing the murderous fire of the Indians he writes : "Just then Lieutenant Beecher rose from his rifle pit, staggering and leaning on his rifle, half dragged himself to where I lay, and then calmly lying down by my side, laid his face downward on his arm and said quietly and simply, 'I have my death wound, General, I am shot in the side and dying.' " 'Oh, no, Beecher, no. It can't be as bad as that/ " 'Yes, Good night/ And he sank into semi-uncon- sciousness almost immediately. I heard him murmur once, 'My poor mother !' but he soon became slightly de- lirious, and at sunset his life went out. " 'Good night, good night/ "On the morning of the ninth day one of the men lying near me suddenly sprang up, and, shading his hand with his eyes, shouted, 'There are some moving objects on the far hills !' Every well man was on his feet in an instant, and then some keen-eyed scout shouted, 'By the God above us, it's an ambulance 1' The strain was over. It 60 OUR UNITED STATES was Colonel Carpenter's with a troop of Tenth Cavalry." The quarter of a century following the Civil War was one continual repetition of similar events. The records of the period narrate in detail the history that went to the forming of that now powerful region which has moved the center of population in gigantic strides with each census. Every inch the army disputed with the Indian, every mile stone should be inscribed as a monu- ment to some forgotten soldier killed in defense of the rights of the settlers. CHAPTER VI LIEUTENANT WHIPPLE'S SURVEYS AND ADVENTURES ONE of the first journeys for the survey of the much disputed boundary between the United States and Mex- ico, was undertaken by a small detachment of regulars under Lieutenant A. W. Whipple in 1849. This was followed a few years later by a second important expedi- tion under Lieutenant Whipple in connection with the surveys for the transcontinental railroad. Lieutenant Whipple's journal reads like a romance and his description of the conditions under which his work was accomplished is graphic and absorbing. His jour- ney to the junction of the Rio Gila and the Colorado was not a lengthy one. It covered only two months, but he nevertheless found it crowded with adventure and full to overflowing with the romance of the open. Hav- ing received his instructions and completed his prelim- inary arrangement, he engaged one Tomaso as guide and Indian interpreter and started September 11, 1849 from the mission of San Diego for the Junction of the Rio Gila with the Colorado. In his journal he writes : "Tomaso is chief of the tribe of Indians called Llegeenos, or Diegeenos. Whether this was their origi- nal appellation, or they were so named by the Franciscans from San Diego, the principal mission among them, I could not learn. According to Tomaso, his tribe num- bers about 8,000 persons, all speaking the same language, 61 62 OUR UNITED STATES and occupying the territory from San Louis Rey to Aqua Caliente. "The mission of San Diego, about five miles from the town and ten from the plaza of San Diego, is a large pile of adobe buildings now deserted and partly in ruins. There remains an old Latin library, and the chapel walls are yet covered with oil paintings, some of which possess considerable merit. In front there is a large vineyard, where not only delicious grapes, but olives, figs and other fruits, are produced abundantly. In the days of their prosperity, for many miles around, the valleys and plains were covered with cattle and horses belonging to this mission; and the padres boasted that their yearly increase was greater than the Indians could possibly steal. But in California the sun of their glory is set forever. Nearby stand the thatched huts of the Indians, formerly serfs or peons now the sole occupants of the mission grounds. They are indolent and filthy, with more of the vices acquired from the whites than of the virtues supposed to belong to their race. Some of them live to a great age, and one old woman, said to be far advanced on her second century, looks like a shrivelled piece of parchment, and is visited as a curiosity. Many of these Indians, men, women, and children, assembled on the bank of the stream, apparently to witness the novelty of a military procession. But a pack of cards was produced, and seating themselves upon the ground to a game of moute, they were so absorbed in the amuse- ment as to seem unconscious of our departure. "Our route leads over steep hills, uncultivated and bar- ren excepting a few fields of wild oats. No trees; no water in sight from the time of leaving the mission until we again strike the valley of the river of San Diego, half a mile from Santa Monica, the rancheria of Don ARMY 63 Miguel de Pederina, now occupied by his father-in-law, the prefect of San Diego, Don Jose Antonio Esedillo. The hill tops are white with a coarse quartzose granite, but as we approached the ranch of Don Miguel the foli- age of the trees that fringe the bank of the Rio San Diego, formed an agreeable relief to the landscape. Here the river contains a little running water, but before reaching the mission it disappears from the surface, and at San Diego is two feet below the bed of shining mica- ceous sand. Maize, wheat, barley, vegetables, melons, grapes, and other fruits, are now produced upon this ranch in abundance. With irrigation the soil and cli- mate are suitable for the cultivation of most of the pro- ductions of the globe. But the mansion houses of such great estates in California are wretched dwellings, with mud walls and thatched roofs. The well trodden earth forms the floor, and although wealth abounds, with many luxuries, few of the conveniences and comforts of life seem known. "Upon entering San Felipe, twenty-six miles from Santa Isabel, we found several parties of emigrants, some of them destitute of provisions. They tell us that upon the desert we shall find many in a condition bor- dering upon starvation. They also confirm the reports of the emigrants at San Diego, concerning the hos- tilities committed by the Indians at the mouth of the Rio Gila. "September 19. Left San Felipe at 8 P. M. Trees and grass gave place to rocks and sand. About two and half leagues from San Felipe we entered the dry bed of an arroyo, which traversed for nearly a league a narrow winding ravine, produced by a fault in the mountains. The width in some places was barely sufficient to admit the passage of our wagons, while the perpendicular 64 OUR UNITED STATES height of the rock, on either side, was at least fifteen feet. Encamped at El Puerto, three and a half leagues from San Felipe, where we found springs of water, a little grass, but no wood. Here we found many emi- grants, who gave the same dreary account of the desert much sand and no grass. One of the men showed me a piece of lead ore, apparently containing silver. "September 21. The day was so warm that we were compelled to lie by at Vallecita until about 5^ P. M., when we pursued our route down the valley, which soon stretched out into a plain. The road followed a bed of sand, in which the feet of our horses, sank below the fet lock at every step. The scenery here, by moonlight was beautiful. The hills in thei background, with angles sharp and sides perpendicular, were singular in the extreme. By the dim light it was hard to believe that they were not ruins of ancient works of art one had been a temple to the gods, another a regularly bastioned fort. Vegetation in the valley remains unchanged ; cacti, maguey, kreosote, dwarf cedar, and the fouquiera spinosa, are abundant. "Arrived at Cariso creek, fifteen miles from Vallecita, eight from Parmetto spring, at midnight. Found the water of the creek quite brackish, mules and horses would scarcely taste it, thirsty as they were. One hun- dred Indians are employed on this ranch in cultivating the soil, doing the menial household service, and attend- ing to the flocks and herds. Their pay is a mere trifle and Sundays are allowed to them for holiday amuse- ments attending mass, riding, gaming, drinking. . . . "Pursuing our journey, we were surprised to find pools of water standing in the road, although there had been no rain, probably, for months. "On the morning of September 18th, we took an early ARMY 65 start, and, as the short cut of sixteen miles to San Felipe is not passable for wagons, we proceeded in a northerly direction towards Warner's ranch. The valleys through which our route leads are really charming for California. The groves of oaks are filled with birds of song, and morning is made joyous with the music of the lark and black bird. "Having traversed the long valley of Warner's ranch, eight miles from Santa Isabel, we struck the much trav- elled emigrant road, leading from the Colorado to El Pueblo de los Angeles. "Of food for them there was none; the emigrants had consumed every blade of grass and every stick of cane, so that our sorrowful animals were tied in groups to the wagons to ponder their fate upon the desert. "Saturday, September 22d. The sun was perhaps half an hour high when our hungry animals were again put in harness. We are now fairly upon the desert; sandy hills behind a dreary, desolate plain before us, far as the eye can reach. Twelve miles from Cariso creek stopped to dig for water, but in vain; thermometer 106 in the shade. "There appeared in the east a cloud, which soon assumed that peculiar appearance which often precedes a violent storm. A dark mass approached, a hurricane was upon us, and we were enveloped in a cloud of sand ; the mules were driven from their path, the canvas covers were torn to shreds, and the wagons themselves in danger of being upset. For fifteen minutes we were blinded, when a torrent of rain quieted the dust. A shower of hail succeeded, and the men, throwing them- selves upon the ground, hid their faces in the sand for protection. There was neither flash nor report of light- 66 OUR UNITED STATES ening for an hour. It came at length as night was clos- ing in, to add sublimity to the scene. Pools and streams of water appeared in every direction, and spots upon the parched desert which two hours before seemed never to have been kissed even by a gentle dew, now afforded bucketfuls of water for the thirsty mules. "It was dark when one of the party returned, saying that the road led into a lake, which he had been unable to find his way across. At this time our parties were greatly scattered some far in advance, others far behind. With us were neither tents or provisions ; to encamp was hence impossible. Thinking that the extent of the inundation could not be great, we entered the water and pushed onward. For a mile, at least, we traversed this lake-like sheet of water, the mules wading to their knees at every step, and still the chains of light- ening that seemed to encircle us showed, far as the eye could reach, nothing but water. Yes, there was one spot of land visible Signal Mountain, about five miles dis- tant; and after a brief consultation, we turned towards it. Wandering about at night in an unheard of lake, not knowing in what gulf the next step might plunge us, would have been sufficiently romantic without the storm which still raged unabated, the lightening which blinded, and the thunder which stunned us. At length the camp fire of the advance party was discovered and served as a beacon to lead us safely into port. The tired mules loudly expressed their gladness at reaching terra firma, and finding twenty-five miles from Cariso creek, a rest- ing place at camp. There is no grass here; but a rank growth of what is called 'careless weed' is very abund- ant. This affords little nutriment; the hungry animals, however, prefer weeds to nothing. At 11 p. M. the stars were shining brightly, and scarcely a cloud was to be ARMY 67 seen. Lieutenant Couts, commander of the escort, thinks that during the storm he felt an earthquake. "September 28. Left 'Lagoon' at 4 A. M. and by the aid of Venus whose light was so strong as to cast a decided shadow, we ascended a bank to the upper desert. "We moved on east over the desert, covered with pebbles of jasper or deep drifting sand, and without shells, with no green thing to relieve the eye save the larrea Mexicana, which covets solitude. Twenty miles brought us again upon the steep sand bank which long had bounded our horizon. We descended eighty to one hundred feet into the mesquite-covered canada, or val- ley, extending from this point, about twenty miles in width, to the Rio Colorado. We pursued a northeast course, parallel to the bank which bounds the desert proper, for seven miles, to the 'Three Wells.' Here we encamped, twenty-seven miles from the 'Lagoon.' The wells are dug ten feet deep, at the bottom of a small natural basin, which seems scooped from the plain. "Until October 1st we remained at the lower crossing of the Colorado, waiting for a road to be cut upon the right bank, five miles to the emigrant crossing. Our Indian neighbors were very sociable, bringing us grass, beans, melons, and squashes, for which they received in return tobacco or money. "The basin of our road along the bank of the Colorado was an Indian foot path, which wound around every tree that time had thrown across its ancient track, doubling the true distance. Passing through a forest of cotton- wood and willow we came to the foot of 'Pilot Knob/ Here we encamped. 'Pilot Knob' is an isolated moun- tain, and rises above us to the height of about fifteen hundred feet. We ascend the highest peak to fire rockets for signals from Sierra, beyond the desert. 68 OUR UNITED STATES "Tuesday, October 2, 1849. Left the foot of 'Pilot Knob' and travelled on through groves of mezquite, upon the bank of the Colorado. Not an Indian had we seen since leaving the village of Santjago; but Tomaso, with some alarm, pointed out fresh foot-prints in the path we followed. "In search of the way I soon found myself separated from the escort and alone, following a well trodden path. Eager to reach my destination, I pushed on for an Indian guide. At length the winding path led me into a village of the Yumas. As I rode to the principal hut, without even an interpreter, I felt myself imprudent in thus throwing myself into the power of these savages. They at once surrounded me. One with an emerald pendant from his nose held the bridle of my mule, some played with my pistols, others handled my sword. Seeming to put perfect confidence in their honesty, I nevertheless watched them narrowly while I endeavoured to explain in Spanish the object of my visit. Him with the jewelled nose I found to be Anton, a petty chief or captain of his village; he understood but little Spanish. Soon there rode up, upon a spirited horse, an Indian, whom I found to be a Comoya from San Felipe, called 'Mai Anton/ and with him I could converse. They having consented to guide me to the mouth of the Rio Gila, I shook off the curious men, women, and children that nearly buried my mule, and rode on. ... "Wednesday, October 3. To-day came Pablo, grand chief of the Yumas, with his scarlet coat trimmed with gold lace, his epaulets of silver wire, and, to crown all, green goggles. His legs and feet were bare, but he did not allow that to detract from the dignity of his man- ner. Tomaso ushered him in and acted as interpreter, translating my Spanish into Indian for him, and his ARMY 69 Indian into Spanish for me. I explained to him that their territory now belonged to the United States, that the government took an interest in the welfare of those Indians who were honest and well-disposed ; that we were inclined to live in amity with him, but were pre- pared to chastise those evilly inclined. He promised that his people should not steal from or otherwise injure Americans, and I gave him those presents that I had prepared. Having taken a glass of aquardiete, his tongue was loosed, his dignity was overcome, and he no longer needed an interpreter; Pablo spoke Spanish bet- ter, by far, than I could. "Friday, October 5, 1849. To-day the Indians of the Yuma tribe held a grand council, in honor of our arrival ; and, as Pablo Coclum, the great chief in epaulets and green goggles, had been chosen under the Mexican reign, they determined to show their adherence to the United States by deposing their old chief, and, in a republican manner, electing a new one. The successful candidate was our old friend Santjago, captain of the band of the Cuchans at the lower crossing. He seems a good, old man, and worthy of his honors. Upon his election, he was escorted to my tent for the customary presents and promised good faith towards all Americans. "October 25. Continued the survey at the junction of the two rivers. . . . Both rivers are rapid, and their junction forms a distinctly marked and nearly straight line, leading from the east bank of the Gila to the chan- nel of the Colorado. They unite, and, singularly enough, contract to one-fifth the width of the Colorado above, in order to leap through a narrow gorge which some convulsion of nature has torn through an isolated hill. Upon this hill, eighty feet perpendicular almost above the water, stands our observatory. 70 OUR UNITED STATES "October 30. This morning, at about 4 o'clock, there was great alarm among the Cuchans (Yumas), who live upon the left bank of the Colorado. Our whole camp was aroused by their shouting and firing. By daylight they were swimming the river in crowds men with their horses and women with their children all crying out lustily, 'Maricopa! Maricopa!' Every hill top was crowded with armed warriors, and others were riding hither and thither why or wherefore, none seemed to know. At length Anton told me that many Maricopas had attacked them, and killed one Yuma. By 10 o'clock, A. M. our camp was deserted by the Indians, and for the rest of the day not one has been seen. The soldiers think the whole story of Maricopas a ruse, and appre- hend an attack to-night. Lieutenant Couts has in- creased the number of sentinels for the night. "Friday, November 23. Having been employed so steadily in observing at night, and computing all day, my health begins to suffer, and last night I was too nervous to sleep; hence the wails of the poor dog that nightly howls the requiem of his drowned master seemed more sad to me than ever. When Captain Thorne was lost in the Colorado, some weeks since, a Mexican boy shared the same fate. He left a faithful dog, which has declined the alluring invitations of emigrants and soldiers, preferring rather to lick the ground his master last trod than accept the daintiest fare from a stranger's hand. "Saturday, December 1, 1849. Having determined, with all the accuracy which two month's time would per- mit, the latitude (32 43' 4" west of Greenwich) of the monument near the junction of the Rio Gila with the Colorado, and from thence measured 85 34' 2" west of south, the azimuth of the straight line of boundary lead- ARMY 71 ing to the Pacific Ocean ; and also having settled with the Mexican commission, which arrived yesterday, all ques- tions relating to the boundary at this point from which any difficulty would be apprehended, we left the Mexican gentlemen in charge of our fixtures, and turned towards San Diego." CHAPTER VII GOLD AND THE EARLY DAYS OF CALIFORNIA THE territory recently gained from Mexico, namely, California and New Mexico, was the centre of military protection following its acquisition and was the chief of domestic disturbance between the years 1842 and 1855. Remote from the seat of government, homoge- neous in population, the discovery of gold in California precipitated a rush of foreign immigration from which arose constant disorder and lawlessness. The conditions in San Francisco at this period were unique and romantic. "The town is built on the south bend of the bay," says a contemporary writer, "near its communication with the sea. Its site is a succession of barren sand-hills, tumbled up into every variety of shape. No leveling process, on a scale of any magnitude has been attempted. The buildings roll up and over these sand ridges like a shoal of porpoises over the swell of a wave, only the fish has much the most order in the dis- posal of his head and tail. More incongruous combina- tions in architecture never danced in the dreams of men brick warehouses, wooden shanties, sheet-iron huts, and shaking-tents, are blended in admirable confusion. But these grotesque habitations have as much uniformity and sobriety as the habits of those who occupy them. Hazards are made in commercial transactions, and projects of speculation that would throw Wall Street 72 ARMY 73 into spasms. I have seen merchants purchase cargoes without having even glanced into the invoice. The con- ditions of the sale were a hundred per cent, profits to the owner and costs. In one cargo, when tumbled out, were found twenty thousand dollars in the single article of red cotton handkerchiefs ! 'I'll get rid of these among the wild Indians/ said the purchaser, with a shrug of the shoulders. 'I've a water lot which I will sell/ cries an- other. 'Which way does it stretch?' inquire half a dozen. 'Right under the craft there/ is the reply. 'And what do you ask for it?' 'Fifteen thousand dollars/ Til take it.' Then down with the dust/ So the water lot, which mortal eyes never beheld, changes its owners, without changing its fish. 'I have two shares in a gold- mine/ cries another. 'Where are they?' inquire the crowd. 'Under the south branch of the Zuba River, which we have almost turned/ is the reply. 'And what will you take?' 'Fifteen thousand dollars.' 'I'll give ten.' 'Take it, stranger.' So the two shares of a pos- sibility of gold, under a branch of the Zuba, where the water still rolls, rapid and deep, are sold for ten thou- sand dollars, paid down. Is there anything in the Ara- bian Nights that surpasses this?" "Three years ago," he continues, "and San Francisco contained three thousand souls; now she has a popula- tion of twenty-seven thousand. Then, a building lot within her limits cost fifteen dollars; now, the same lot cannot be purchased at a less sum than fifteen thousand. Then, her commerce was confined to a few Indian blankets, and Mexican reboses and beads ; now, from two to three hundred merchant-men are unloading their costly cargoes on her quay. Then, the famished whaler could hardly find a temporary relief in her markets; now, she has phrenzied the world with her wealth. 74 OUR UNITED STATES Then, Benicia was a pasture, covered with lowing herds ; now, she is a commercial mart, threatening to rival her sister nearer the sea. Then Stockton and Sacramento City were covered with wild oats, where the elk and deer gamboled at will; now, they are laced with streets and walled with warehouses through which the great tide of commerce rolls off into a hundred mountain glens. Then, the banks of the Sacramento and San Joaquin were cheered only by the curling smoke of the Indians hut; now, they throw on the eye, at every bend, the cheerful aspect of some new hamlet or town. Then, the silence of the Sierra Nevada was broken only by the voice of its streams ; now every cavern and cliff is echo- ing under the blows of the sturdy miner. The wild horse, startled in his glen, leaves on the hill the clatter of his hoofs, while the huge bear, roused from his patri- monial jungle, grimly retires to some new mountain- fastness. "But I must drop this contrast of the past with the present and glance at a few facts which affect the future. The gold deposits, which have hitherto been discovered, are confined, mainly, to the banks and beds of perpetual streams, or the bottoms of ravines, through which roll the waters of the transient freshet. These deposits are the natural results of the law of gravitation; the treas- ures which they contain must have been washed from the slopes of the surrounding hills. The elevations, like spendthrifts, seem to have parted entirely with their golden inheritance, except what may linger still in the quartz. And these gold-containing quartz will be found to have their confined localities; they will crown the insular peaks of a mountain-ridge, or fret the verge of some extinguished volcano; they have never been found in a continuous range, except in the dreams of enchant- ARMY 75 ment; you might as well look for a wall of diamonds or a solid bank of pearls. Nature has played off many a prodigal caprice in California, but a mountain of gold is not one of them. The alluvial gold will at no distant day be measurably exhausted, and the miners be driven into the mountains. Here, the work can be successfully prosecuted only by companies, with heavy capitals. All the uncertainties which are connected with mining opera- tions, will gather around these enterprises. Wealth will reward the labors of the few, whose success was mainly the result of good fortune, while disappointment will attend the efforts of the many, equally skilful and per- severing. These wide inequalities in the proceeds of the miner's labor, have exhibited themselves, wherever a gold deposit has been hunted or found in California. The past is a reliable prophecy of the future. "Not one in ten thousand who have gone, or may go to California to hunt for gold, will return with a fortune ; still the great tide for emigration will set there, till her valleys and mountain-glens teem with a hardy enterpris- ing population. As the gold deposits diminish or become more difficult of access, the quicksilver mines will call forth their unflagging energies. This metal slumbers in her mountain spurs in massive richness ; the process is simple which converts it into that form, through which the mechanic arts subserve the thousand purposes of science and social refinement, while the med- ical profession, through its strange abuse, keep up a Car- nival in the Court of Death ; but for this, they who mine the ore are not responsible they will find their reward in the wealth which will follow their labors. It will be in their power to silence the hammers of those mines which have hitherto monopolized the markets of the world, But the enterprise and wealth of California are 76 OUR UNITED STATES not confined to her mines. Her ample forests of oak, redwood and pine, only wait the requisite machinery to convert them into elegant residences and strong-ribbed ships. Her exhaustive quarries of granite and marble will yet pillar the domes of metropolitan splendor and pride. The hammer and drill will be relinquished by multitudes for the plough and sickle. Her arable land, stretching through her spacious valleys, and along the broad banks of her rivers, will wave the golden harvest ; the rain-cloud may not visit her in the summer months, but the mountain stream will be induced to throw its showers over her thirsty plains. "Such was California a few years since such is she now, and such will she become even before they who now rush to her shores, find their footsteps within the shadows of the pale realm." Vivid as is this picture of the newly acquired domain, real as were the problems confronting the territories described, and grave as were the responsibilities upon the Federal Government to insure protection and order upon boundary and frontier to the settler and home builder, the Army of the United States was cut down by act of Congress August 14, 1848, from a force of 30,865 to 10,317 who continued to guard the frontier and coast and garrison from sixty to seventy-five posts for seven years. By act of Congress March 3, 1855, this inconsiderable number was increased to 12,698, at which figure they remained until the outbreak of the Civil War. CHAPTER VIII TROUBLE IN KANSAS AND THE MORMON PROBLEM THE Territories of Kansas and Nebraska were created by act of Congress, May 31, 1854. The momentous problem whether slavery should be tolerated or not was left for solution to the inhabitants of this vast area of new country. The stream of settlers who flocked to these new fields of enterprise in almost equal numbers from New England and the South were rapidly divided in political principles and prejudice. Mr. A. H. Reeder was appointed the governor of the Territory of Kansas. The first election for the Territorial legislature occurred at Shawnee Mission, near the Missouri line, in March, 1855, and resulted in a pro-slavery majority. Most of the laws enacted by this assembly were vetoed by the Governor and immediately passed over his veto. In August of the next year he was removed from office, his successor being Mr. Wilson Shannon of Ohio. The anti-slavery citizens not deigning to acknowledge the authority of the new executive, assembled in Octo- ber, at Topeka, organized another constitution making Kansas a free labor State and proposed that it should be at once admitted to the Union. Such a pre-emptory measure aroused the bitterest partisan hatred and im- mediately the seriousness of the situation was evidenced by vandalism and personal violence. Men went about armed, women and children were driven out of the terri- 77 78 OUR UNITED STATES tory, secretly organized military companies released pris- oners, burned crops, killed cattle and performed in a most lawless and outrageous manner. In December, 1855, Governor Shannon informed the President of the gravity of the situation and requested military aid from the United States, to which President Pierce promptly responded: "All the power in the Executive will be exerted to preserve order and en- force the laws." The situation grew more grave before the end of Jan- uary, 1856, and President Pierce being informed of a band of armed Missourians about to enter Kansas for the avowed purpose of burning and sacking the homes of the free labor citizens, he issued a proclama- tion in which he commanded "all persons engaged in unlawful combinations against authority of the Territory of Kansas or of the United States to disperse and retire peaceably to their respective abodes, and to warn all such persons that any attempted insurrections in said Terri- tory or aggressive intrusion into the same will be resisted not only by the employment of the local militia, but also by that of any available forces of the United States" and "If, in any part of the Union, the fury of faction or fanaticism, inflamed into disregard of the great principles of popular sovereignty, which, under the Constitution, are fundamental in the whole structure of our institu- tions, is to bring on the country the dire calamity of an arbitrament of arms in that Territory, it shall be between lawless violence on the one side and conservative force on the other, wielded by legal authority of the General Government." Following this statement with instructions through the Secretary of War to Colonel Sumner at Fort Leaven- worth, and to Colonel Cooke at Fort Riley that upon the ARMY 79 requisition of the Governor aid should be promptly ren- dered, the Secretary concluded in these words : "You will exercise much caution to avoid, if possible, collision with even insurgent citizens, and will endeavor to suppress resistance to the law and constituted authori- ties by that moral force which, happily, in our country, is ordinarily sufficient to secure respect to the laws of the land and the regularly constituted authorities of the Government. You will use a sound discretion, as to the moment at which the further employment of the mili- tary force may be discontinued and avail yourself of the first opportunity to return with your command to the more grateful and prouder service of the soldier, that of common defense." A number of Missourians armed and enroled as a posse of the United States Marshal centered in the neighborhood of Lawrence, where on the 21st of April the Marshal and several hundred rioters burned and plundered a large number of houses. At Osawatomie five men were killed, and shortly after another was killed at Black Jack. Not satisfied with the methods pursued by Governor Shannon and convinced of his inability to restore order, the President removed him from office and appointed John W. Geary of Pennsylvania, who arrived at Fort Leavenworth on the 9th of September. He proceeded at once to disband the volunteer militia whose partisan attitude made them more than useless and directed the enrolment of a militia, meanwhile ordering all armed bodies to leave at once. Little heed was given to these orders and the pro-slavery Missourians pro- ceeded to organize themselves into armed bodies and march upon Lawrence. Without further delay, Governor Geary asked for the aid of the Federal troops at Fort Riley who under 80 OUR UNITED STATES Colonel Cooke proceeded at once to Lawrence accom- panied by the Governor. The so-called "Territorial Militia" gathered at this point were in command of Mis- sourians. After considerable parleying they were per- suaded to disband. A number of other calls for Federal assistance were exacted during the following months. Gradually quiet was restored and the peaceful avoca- tions of the citizens of Kansas were resumed until 1857, when great excitement was engendered by the bill in Congress for the admission of the Territory of Kansas into statehood under the Topeka constitution. The dis- turbances were again revived, centering in Lawrence, which became the headquarters of a dangerous rebellion. Governor Robert J. Walker of Michigan, had suc- ceeded Governor Geary under the Buchanan administra- tion; he called upon General Harney "to act as posse comitatus in aid of the civil authorities." Lieutenant Colonel Cooke, with seven companies of First Dragoons was sent to the scene of disturbance. The elections of the autumn passed off without dis- order, but the administration felt it imperative to keep a considerable force of Federal troops prepared to act at any moment should riots or disorders become prevalent. Though partisan feeling was not quieted until January 29, 1861, when Kansas was finally admitted to the Union, the presence of Federal authority, within the limits of the territory, prevented insurrection and bloodshed. In the latter part of July, 1847, Brigham Young with a company of followers, had reached Utah and estab- lished the first "stakes" for the great body of the saints which arrived in the fall of 1848. The following year a convention was held at Great Salt Lake City for the organization of a State to be called "Deseret" meaning "the land of the honey bee." ARMY 81 Congress refused to accept the Deseret constitution, but recognizing the necessity of local government in this far away country, proceeded to organize it into the territory of Utah, and President Filmore appointed Brigham Young its governor. Immediately trouble arose between the prophet and the Federal authorities. Gentile judges appointed to hold office in the new territory were driven from the state. The troubles in Kansas and the prevailing excitement incident to the slavery question had made the Federal government more or less indifferent to the situation in Utah. Nevertheless, outrages of both public and private character became so frequent that in the Spring of 1857, President Buchanan summarily removed Brigham Young and appointed Alfred Cumming, then superin- tendent of Indian Affairs on the Upper Missouri, Gov- ernor of the territory, and Judge Eckles of Indiana, Chief Justice ; other gentlemen were appointed to fill the offices left vacant by those Federal officers who had been obliged to leave, and the President ordered a military force to accompany these officers to Utah and to aid as a posse comitatus. In his first annual message to Congress, December 8, 1857, President Buchanan informed Congress ofl his action ; he said in part : "The people of Utah almost exclusively belong to this (Mormon) church, and, believing with a fanatical spirit that he (Young) is Governor of the Territory by divine appointment, they obey his commands as if they were direct revelations from Heaven. If, therefore, he chooses that his government shall come into collisions with the government of the United States, the members of the Mormon church will yield implicit obedience to his will. Unfortunately, existing facts leave but little 82 OUR UNITED STATES doubt that such is his determination. Without entering upon a minute history of occurrences, it is sufficient to say that all the officers of the United States, judicial and executive, with the single exception of two Indian agents, have found it necessary for their own safety to withdraw from the territory, and there no longer re- mained any government in Utah but the despotism of Brigham Young. This being the condition of affairs in the Territory, I could not mistake the path of duty. As chief magistrate I was bound to restore the suprem- acy of the constitution and laws within its limits. In order to effect this purpose, I appointed a new governor and other Federal officers for Utah, and sent with them a military force for their protection, and to aid as a posse comitatus in case of need in the execution of the laws. "With the religion of the Mormons, as long as it remained mere opinion, however deplorable and revolt- ing to the moral and religious sentiments of all Christen- dom, I have no right to interfere. Actions alone, when in violation of the Constitution of the United States, become the legitimate subjects for the civil magistrate. My instructions to Governor Cumming have, therefore, been framed in strict accordance with these principles." General Scott upon being consulted had advised a delay of the expedition until the following Spring. Gen- eral Harney was assigned to the command. Immediate preparations for the expedition were set in motion at Fort Leavenworth. The military force gathered at Leavenworth numbered about 2,500 officers and men, including the Second Regiment of Dragoons, the Fifth and Tenth regiments of infantry and Phelps's battery of eight artillery. The line of march was the emigrant road across the Plains first broken by the Indians, to be followed by the trappers and voyageurs, and subsequently ARMY 83 explored by Lieutenant Colonel Fremont, the most remarkable natural road in the world. "Throughout this vast line of road, the only white inhabitants are the garrisons of the military posts, the keepers of mail stations, and voyageurs and mountaineers, whose cabins may be found in every locality favourable to Indian trade. These are a singular race of men, fast disappearing, like the Indian and the buffalo, their neigh- bours. Most of them are of French extraction, and some have died without having learned to speak a word of English. Their wealth consists in cattle and horses, and little stocks of goods which they purchase from the set- tlers at the forts or the merchants at Salt Lake City. Some of the more considerable among them have the means of sending to the States for an annual supply of blankets, beads, vermillion, and other stuff for Indian traffic; but the most are thriftless, and all are living in concubinage or marriage with squaws, and surrounded by troops of unwashed, screeching half-breeds. Once in from three to six years, they will make a journey to St. Louis, and gamble away so much of their savings since the last visit as has escaped being wasted over greasy card-tables during the long winter evenings among the mountains. The Indian tribes along the way are numer- ous and formidable, the road passing through country occupied by Pawnees, Cheyennes, Sioux, Arapahoes, Crows, Snakes, and Utahs. With the Cheyennes war had been waged by the United States for more than two years, which interfered seriously with the expedition ; for, during the month of June, a war party from that tribe intercepted and dispersed the herd of beef cattle intended for the use of the army. ''The characteristics of the entire route are as unprom- ising as those of its inhabitants. At the distance of about 84 OUR UNITED STATES two hundred miles from the Missouri frontier the soil becomes so pervaded by sand, that only scientific agricul- ture can render it available. Along the Platte there is no fuel. Not a tree is visible, except the thin fringe of cottonwoods on the margin of the river, all of which, upon the south bank, where the road runs, were hewed down and burned at every convenient camp, during the great California emigration. When the Rocky Moun- tains are entered, the only vegetation found is bunch- grass, so called because it grows in tufts, and the artemisia, or wild sage, an odorous shrub, which some- times attains the magnitude of a tree, with a fibrous trunk as thick as a man's thigh, but is ordinarily a bush about two feet in height. The bunch-grass, grown at such an elevation, possesses extraordinary nutritive prop- erties, even in midwinter. About the middle of January a new growth is developed underneath the snow, forcing off the old dry blade that ripened and shed the seed the previous summer. From Fort Kearny to Fort Laramie, almost the only fuel to be obtained is the dung of buffalo and oxen, called, in the vocabulary of the region, 'chips/ the argal of the Tartar deserts. Among the moun- tains the sage is the chief material of the travellers' fire. It burns with a lively, ruddy flame, and gives out an intense heat. In the settlements of Utah all the wood consumed is hauled from the canons, which are usually lined with pines, firs, and cedars, while the broadsides of the mountains are nothing but terraces of volcanic rock. The price of wood in Salt Lake City is from twelve to twenty dollars a cord. "From this brief review of the natural features of the country, some idea may be formed of the intensity of the religious enthusiasm which has induced fifty thousand Mormon converts to traverse it, many of them on foot ARMY 85 and trundling hand carts, to seek a home among the valleys of Utah, in a region hardly more propitious ; and some idea, also, of the difficulties which were to attend the march of the army." Captain Stewart Van Vliet, of General Harney's staff, had preceded the advance of the troops, having left Fort Leavenworth, July 28, for the purpose of visiting Salt Lake City, to arrange for the purchase of forage and lumber, interview Brigham Young, ascertain the dispo- sition of the Mormon church and the citizens of Utah toward the Government of the United States and assure the Mormons that the approaching Utah expedition would not molest or interfere with them. Captain Van Vliet reached his destination in thirty-three and a half days. When about thirty miles west of Green River he was met by a party of Mormons who escorted him accom- panied only by his servant to Salt Lake City. He was treated with politeness by Brigham Young and other officials who called at his quarters the night of his arrival. Captain Van Vliet informed these gentlemen of his mis- sion and was informed in turn that the Mormon people were determined to resist the advance of the troops. When told that resistance to Federal authority would be useless and that the small army now on its way would certainly be re-enforced by a larger one capable of over- coming such violent opposition, Brigham replied: "We are aware that such will be the case; but when these troops arrive they will find Utah a desert, every house will be burned to the ground, every tree cut down, and every field laid waste. We have three years' provisions on hand, which we will cache, and then take to the moun- tains and bid defiance to all the powers of the govern- ment." At a church service the following Sabbath, at which 86 OUR UNITED STATES Captain Van Vliet was present, the congregation num- bering more than four thousand, when asked how many would willingly apply the torch to their dwellings and lay waste their farms in defiance of the army, every hand was raised. Brigham Young in his sermon on that day voiced the attitude of his followers in the following words : "Before I will suffer, as I have in times gone by, there shall not one building, nor one foot of lumber, nor a fence, nor a tree, nor a particle of grass or hay, that will burn, be left in reach of our enemies. I am sworn, if driven to extremity, to utterly lay waste this land in the name of Israel's God, and our enemies shall find it as barren as when we came here." Upon the departure of Captain Van Vliet, Brigham Young issued to the citizens of Utah a proclamation in open defiance of the Government of the United States, beginning : "We are invaded by a hostile force who are evidently assailing us to accomplish our overthrow and destruc- tion." After stating the supposed wrongs and injustice suf- fered by the Mormons at the hands of the government and the unreasonableness of the government's present position, the proclamation concludes : "The issue which has thus been forced upon us com- pels us to resort to the first law of self-preservation, and stand in our own defence, a right guaranteed to us by the genius of the constitutions of our country, and upon which the government is based. Our duty to ourselves, to our families, requires us not to tamely submit to be driven and slain, without an attempt to preserve our- selves; our duty to our country, our holy religion, our God, to freedom and liberty, requires that we should not ARMY 87 quietly stand still and see those fetters forging around which were calculated to enslave and bring us in subjec- tion to an unlawful military despotism, such as can only emanate, in a country of constitutional law, from usurpa- tion, tyranny, and oppression. "Therefore, I, Brigham Young, Governor and Super- intendent of Indian Affairs for the Territory of Utah, in the name of the people of the United States in the Terri- tory of Utah, forbid: "First: All armed forces of every description from coming into this Territory, under any pretense whatever. "Second : That all forces in said Territory hold them- selves in readiness to march at a moment's notice to repel any and all such invasions. "Third: Martial law is hereby declared to exist in this Territory from and after the publication of this proclamation, and no person shall be allowed to pass or repass into or through or from this Territory without a permit from the proper officer. "Given under my hand and seal, at Great Salt Lake City, Territory of Utah, this 15th day of September, A. D. 1857, and of the independence of the United States of America the eighty-second. BRIGHAM YOUNG." The first intimation of the condition of affairs received by the head of the column which had left Fort Leaven- worth, July 18th, was reported by Captain Van Vliet while passing eastward other battalions were following closely and on the 28th of September arrived at Camp Winfield about 30 miles distant from Salt Lake City. Brigham Young at once despatched his officers bearing his proclamation and a letter directed to Colonel John- ston, ordering him to retrace his steps and leave the terri- 88 OUR UNITED STATES tory by the route he had entered or be permitted to remain within the territory until Spring upon surrender- ing his arms and ammunition to the quartermaster gen- eral of the territory. Colonel Alexander in command of the advance replied briefly stating his troops were there "by the orders of the President of the United States, and their future movements and operations will depend entirely upon orders issued by competent military author- ity." Governor Young replied by sending his henchmen to intercept and destroy the supply trains destined for the United States army. "On the night of October 5th, after the last division had crossed the river, two supply trains, of twenty-five wagons each, were captured and burned just on the bank of the stream, by a party of mounted Mormons led by a man named Lot Smith, and the next morning another party, twenty miles farther east, on the Big Sandy, in Oregon Territory. The teamsters were disarmed and dismissed, and the cattle stolen. No blood was shed; not a shot fired. Immediately upon the news of this attack reaching Ham's Fork, Colonel Alexander, who had then assumed the command-in-chief, despatched Captain Marcy, of the Fifth Infantry, with four hundred men, to afford assistance to the trains, and punish the aggressors, if possible. But when the Captain reached Green River, all that was visible near the little French trading-post was two broad, black rings on the ground, bestrewn with iron chains and bolts, where the wagons had been burned in corral. He was able to do nothing except to send orders to the other trains on the road to halt, concentrate, and await the escort of Brevet Colonel Smith, of the Tenth Infantry, who had started from the frontier in August with the two companies mentioned as having ARMY 89 been left behind in Minnesota, and by rapid marches had already reached the Sweetwater. The condition of affairs at this moment was indeed critical. By the folly of Governor Walker's movements in Kansas the expedi- tion was deprived of its mounted force, and consisted entirely of infantry and artillery. The Mormon maraud- ing parties, on the contrary, which it now became evident were hovering on every side, were all well mounted and tolerably well armed. The loss of three trains more would reduce the troops to the verge of starvation before Spring in case of inability to reach Salt Lake Valley. "In his perplexity, Colonel Alexander called a council of war, and, with its approval, resolved to commence a march towards Soda Springs, leaving Fort Bridger unmo- lested on his left. For more than a fortnight the army toiled along Ham's Fork, cutting a road through thickets of greasewood and wild sage, encumbered by a train of such unwieldy length that often the advance guard reached its camp at night before the rear guard had moved from the camp of the preceding day, and harassed by Mormon marauding parties from the Fort, which hung about the flanks out of reach of rifle shot, awaiting oppor- tunities to descend on unprotected wagons and cattle. The absence of dragoons prevented a dispersion of these banditti. Some companies of infantry were, indeed, mounted on mules, and sent to pursue them, but these only excited their derision. The Mormons nicknamed them 'Jackass cavalry.' Their only exploit was the cap- ture of a Mormon major and his adjutant, on whose person were found orders by D. H. Wells, the command- ing General of the Legion, to the various detachments of marauders, directing them to burn the whole country before the army and on its flanks, to keep it from sleep by night surprises, to stampede its animals 90 OUR UNITED STATES and set fire to its trains, to blockade the road by felling and destroying river-fords, but to take no life. On the 13th of October, eight hundred oxen were cut off from the rear of the army and driven to Salt Lake Valley. Thus the weary column toiled along until it reached the spot where it expected to be joined by Colonel Smith's battalion, about fifty miles up Ham's Fork. The very next day snow fell to the depth of more than a foot." On November 4th, Colonel Albert Sidney Johnston reached the place of rendezvous with reinforcements of cavalry and supply trains in charge of Colonel Smith. The expedition was ordered to Fort Bridger, distant thir- ty-five miles, where Johnston proposed to establish Win- ter quarters. On the 6th of November the advance towards that post was commenced. "The day was memorable in the history of the expedi- tion. Sleet poured down upon the column from morn- ing till night. On the previous evening, five hundred cattle had been stampeded by the Mormons, in conse- quence of which some trains were unable to move at all. After struggling along till nightfall, the regiments camped wherever they could find shelter under bluffs or among willows. That night more than five hundred animals perished from hunger and cold and the next morning the camp was encircled by their carcasses, coated with a film of ice. It was a scene which could be paralleled only in the retreat of the French from Moscow. Had there been any doubt before concerning the practicability of an immediate advance beyond Fort Bridger, none existed any longer. It was the 16th of November when the vanguard reached that post, which the Mormons had abandoned the week before. Nearly a fortnight had been consumed in accomplishing less than thirty miles. "It is time to return to the States and record what had ARMY 91 been transpiring there, in connection with the expedition, while the army was staggering towards its permanent Winter camp. "The only one of the newly appointed civil officials who was present with the troops was Judge Eckels, who had left his home in Indiana immediately after receiving his appointment, and started across the Plains with his own conveyance. Near Fort Laramie he was overtaken by Colonel Smith, whom he accompanied in his progress to the main body. Governor Cummings, in the mean- while, dilly-dallied in the East, travelling from St. Louis to Washington and back again, begging for an increase of salary, for a sum of money to be placed at his disposal for secret service, and for transportation to the Territory, all which requests, except the last, were denied. Towards the close of September, he arrived at Fort Leavenworth. Governor Walker had by this time, released his hold on the Dragoons, and, notwithstanding the advanced period of the season, they were preparing to march to Utah. The Governor and most of the other civil officers delayed until they started, and travelled in their company. The march was attended with the sever- est hardships. When they reached the Rocky Moun- tains, the snow lay from one to three feet deep on the loftier ridges which they were obliged to cross. The struggle with the elements, during the last two hundred miles before gaining Fort Bridger, was desperate. Near- ly a third of the horses died from cold, hunger, and fatigue ; everything that could be spared was thrown out to lighten the wagons, and the road was strewn with military accoutrements from the Rocky Ridge to Green River. On the 20th of November, Colonel Cooke reached the camp with a command entirely incapacitated for active service. 92 OUR UNITED STATES "The place selected by Colonel Johnston for the Win- ter quarters of the army was on the bank of Black's Fork, about two miles above Fort Bridger, on a spot sheltered by high bluffs which rise abruptly from the bot- tom at a distance of five or six hundred yards from the channel of the stream. The banks of the Fork were fringed with willow brush and cottonwood trees, blasted in some places where the Mormons had attempted to deprive the troops of fuel. "The Colonel, anticipating a change of encampment, determined not to construct quarters of logs or sod for the army. A new species of tent, which had just been introduced, was served out for its winter dwellings. An iron tripod supported a pole from the top of which de- pended a slender but strong hoop. Attached to this, the canvas sloped to a regular cone. The openings at the top caused a draught, by means of which a fire could be kept up beneath the tripod without choking the inmates with smoke. An Indian lodge had evidently been the model of the inventor. Most of the civil officers, how- ever, dug square holes in the ground, over which they built log huts, plastering the cracks with mud. Their little town they named Eckelsville, after the Chief Justice. "A depot for all the military stores was established at Fort Bridger, where a strong detachment was encamped. "The work of unloading the trains commenced, and after careful computation the Chief Commissary deter- mined, that, by an abridgment of the ration, diminishing the daily use of flour, and issuing bacon only once a week, his supplies would last until the first of June. All the beef cattle intended for the use of the army having been intercepted by the Cheyennes, it became necessary to kill those draught oxen for beef, which survived the march. ARMY 93 Shambles were erected, to which the poor half -starved animals were driven by hundreds to be butchered. The flesh was jerked and stored carefully in cabins built for the purpose." Upon unloading the trains a scarcity of many needed articles was discovered, only 723 blankets were to supply warmth to 2,500 officers and men in an altitude of 7,000 feet, where the thermometer is liable to fall below zero on Winter nights. Only 600 pairs of stockings and 823 pairs of boots were available for men whose only foot gear consisted of worn and battered moccasins. Caps to the number of 190 with only 938 coats and 676 great- coats were to keep these wretched men warm during the freezing Winter. "One of the first and most important of Colonel John- ston's duties was to provide for the keeping, during the Winter of the mules and horses which survived. On Black's Fork there was no grass for their support. It had either been burned by the Mormons or consumed by their cavalry. He decided to send them all to Henry's Fork, thirty-five miles south of Fort Bridger, where he had at one time designed to encamp with the whole army. The regiment of dragoons was detailed to guard them. A supply of fresh animals for transportation in the Spring was his next care. The settlements in New Mex- ico are less than seven hundred miles distant from Fort Bridger, and to them he resolved to apply. Captain Marcy was the officer selected to lead in the arduous expedition. He had been previously distinguished, in the service by a thorough exploration of the Red River of Louisiana. Accompanied by only thirty-five picked men, all volunteers, and by two guides, he started for Taos, November 27 an undertaking from which, at that season of the year, the most experienced moun- 94 OUR UNITED STATES taineers would have shrunk. A party was despatched at the same time to the Flathead country, in Oregon and Washington Territories, to procure horses to remount the dragoons, and to induce the traders in that region to drive cattle down to Fort Bridger for sale. On the day of Captain Marcy's departure, Governor 'Gumming issued a proclamation, declaring the Territory to be in a state of rebellion, and commanding the traitors to lay down their arms and return to their homes. It announced, also, that proceedings would be instituted against the offenders, in a court to be organized in the country by Judge Eckels, which would supercede the necessity of appointing a military commission for that purpose. This document was sent to Salt Lake City by a Mormon pris- oner who was released for the purpose. The Governor sent also, by the same messenger, a letter to Brigham Young, in which there were expressions that indicated a disposition to temporize. "The whole camp, at this time, was a scene of confu- sion and bustle. Some of the stragglers around the tents were Indians belonging to a band of Pah-Utahs, among whom Dr. Hurt, already mentioned as the only Federal officer who did not abandon the Territory in the Spring of 1857, had established a farm upon the banks of the Spanish Fork, which rises among the snows of Mount Nebo, and flows into Lake Utah from the East. Shortly after the issue of Brigham Young's proclamation of Sep- tember 15th, the Mormons resolved to take the Doctor prisoner. No official was ever more obnoxious to the Church than he, for by his authority over the tribes he had been able to counteract in great measure the influence by which Young had endeavored to alienate both Snakes and Utahs from the control of the United States. On the 27th of September, two bands of mounted men moved ARMY 95 towards the farm from the neighboring towns of Springville and Payson. Warned by the faithful Indians of his danger, the Doctor fled to the mountains, and twenty Pah-Utahs and Uinta-Utahs escorted him to the South Pass, where he joined Colonel Johnston on the 23rd of October. It was an act of devotion which has rarely been excelled in Indian history. The sufferings of his naked escort on the journey were severe. They crossed the Green River Mountains, breaking the crust of the snow and leading their animals, being reduced at the time to tallow and roots for their own sustenance. On the advance of the army towards Fort Bridger, they accompanied its march. "Another class of stragglers, and one most dangerous to the peace of the camp, was composed of the thousand teamsters, who were discharged from employment on the supply trains. Many of these men belonged to the scum of the great Western cities, a class more dangerous, because more intelligent and reckless, than the same class of population in New York. Others had sought to reach California, not anticipating a state of hostilities which would bar their way. Now, thrown out of employment, with slender means, a great number became desperate. Hundreds attempted to return to the States on foot, some of whom died on the way, but the majority hung around the camp. To some of these the Quartermaster was able to furnish work, but he was obviously incapable of afford- ing assistance to all. Thefts and assaults became fre- quent, and promised to multiply as the season advanced. To remedy this trouble, Colonel Johnston assumed the responsibility of organizing a volunteer battalion. The term of service for which the men enlisted was nine months. For their pay they were to depend on the action of Congress. The four companies which the battalion 96 OUR UNITED STATES comprised selected for their commander an officer from the regular army, Captain Bee, of the Tenth Infantry. "The organization of a District Court by Judge Eckels, helped quite essentially to enforce order. Its convicts were received by Colonel Johnston and committed to imprisonment in the guard tents of the army. The grand jury returned bills of indictment against Brigham Young and sixty of his principal associates. "Two messengers came to camp from Salt Lake City at the beginning of December, escorted by a party of Mormon militia, and bringing four pack-mules loaded with salt (the army had been destitute of this necessary article for some time), which a letter from Young offered as a present, with assurances that it was not poisoned. "The Colonel returned no other answer to this epistle than to dismiss its bearers with their salt, informing them that he could accept no favors from traitors and rebels, and that any communication which they might in future hold with the army must be under a flag of truce, although as to the manner in which they might communicate with the Governor it was not within his province to prescribe. A week or two later, a thousand pounds of salt were forced through to the camp from Fort Laramie, thirty out of the forty-six mules on which it was packed per- ishing on the way. "Thus the long and dreary Winter commenced in the camp of the army of Utah. It mattered not that the rations were abridged, that communications with the States were interrupted, and that every species of duty at such a season, in such a region, was uncommonly severe. Confidence and even gayety were restored to the camp, by the consciousness that it was commanded by an officer whose intelligence was adequate to the diffi- culties of his position. Every additional hardship was ARMY 97 cheerfully endured. As the animals failed, all the wood used in camp was obliged to be drawn a distance of from three to six miles by hand, but there were few gayer spectacles than the long strings of soldiers hurrying wagons over the crunching snow. They built great pavilions, decorated them with colors and stacks of arms, and danced as merrily on Christmas and New Year's Eves to the music of the regimental bands, as if they had been in cozy cantonments, instead of in a camp of fluttering canvas, more than seven thousand feet above the level of the sea. In the pavilion of the Fifth Infan- try, there drooped over the company the flags which that regiment had carried, ten years before, up the sunny slopes of Chapultepec, and which were torn in a hundred places by the storm of bullets at Molinos del Rey. "Meanwhile, how hearts were beating in the States with anxious apprehension for the safety of kindred and friends, those who felt that anxiety, and not those who were the objects of it best know. "Perhaps the disposition of the camp would have been more in harmony with the scenery and the season, if the army had dreamed that the administration which had launched it so recklessly into circumstances of such pri- vation and danger, was about to turn its labors and suf- ferings into a farce, and to claim the approval of the country for an act of mistaken clemency, which was in reality a grave political error. "In the meanwhile Congress had assembled. The agi- tation on the subject of Slavery, far from being sup- pressed, or even overshadowed, burned more fiercely than ever. The transient gleam of importance which had attached to the Mormon War was almost extinguished. The people of the States no longer felt a much more vital interest in news from that remote region than in 98 OUR UNITED STATES tidings from the rebellion in India or of the wars in China. Their attention, sympathy, and curiosity were all fastened upon the action of Congress with respect to Kansas for therein, it was believed, were contained the germs of the political combinations for the Presiden- tial election of 1860. The same listlessness with regard to affairs in Utah pervaded the Cabinet. All its prestige was staked on the result of the impending struggle in the House of Representatives over the Lecompton Con- stitution, and its energies were abstracted from every other subject, to be concentrated upon that alone. "Indifferent and inactive as this review shows Con- gress and the President to have been concerning Utah, a similar apathy was impossible in the War Department. Not only the welfare, but the lives even, of the troops at Fort Bridger, depended on its action. Transactions of such magnitude had not been incumbent on its bureau since the Mexican War. The chief anxiety of General Johnston was for the transmissions of supplies from the East as early as possible in the Spring. The contractors for their transportation during the year 1857 had win- tered several trains at Fort Laramie, together with oxen and teamsters. The General entertained a fear that so great a proportion of their stock might perish during the Winter as to cripple their advance until fresh animals could be obtained from the States. Combined with this fear was an apprehension for the safety of Captain Marcy. A prisoner, whom the Mormons had captured in October on Ham's Fork, escaped from Salt Lake City at the close of December, and brought news to Camp Scott that they intended to fit out an expedition to intercept the command and stampede the herds with which that officer would move from New Mexico. The despatches in which these anxieties were communicated to General ARMY 99 Scott, together with suggestions for their relief, were in- trusted in midwinter to a small party for conveyance to the States. The journey taught them what must have been the sufferings of the expedition which Captain Marcy led to Taos. Reduced at one time to buffalo tal- low and coffee for sustenance, there was not a day during the transit across the mountains when any stronger bar- rier than the lives of a few half-starved mules inter- posed between them and death by famine. All along the route lay memorials of the march of the army, and especially of Colonel Cooke's battalion, a trail of skele- tons a thousand miles in length, gnawed bare by the wolves and bleaching in the snow, visible at every undula- tion in the drifts. But before the arrival of these des- patches at New York, the arrangements of the War Department to forward supplies to Utah had been com- pleted. The representations of the contractors' agents with regard to the condition of the cattle at Fort Laramie were received without question, and Brevet Lieutenant Colonel Hoffman, of the Sixth Infantry, was despatched to that post to superintend the advance of the trains. Additional contracts of an unprecedented character, were entered into for furnishing and transporting all the sup- plies which would be needed during the year 1858, both for the troops already in the Territory and for the rein- forcements which were ordered to concentrate at Fort Leavenworth and march to Utah as soon as the roads should be passable. "These reinforcements were about three thousand strong, comprising the First Cavalry, the Sixth and Sev- enth Infantry, and two artillery-batteries. The trains necessary for so large a force, in addition to that at Fort Bridger, it was estimated would comprise at least forty- five hundred wagons, requiring more than fifty thousand 100 OUR UNITED STATES oxen, four thousand mules, and five thousand teamsters, wagon masters and other employes. To the shame of the Administration, these gigantic contracts, involving an amount of more than six million dollars, were dis- tributed with a view to influence votes in the House of Representatives upon the Lecompton Bill. Some of the lesser ones, such as those for furnishing mules, dragoon- horses, and forage, were granted arbitrarily to relatives or friends of members who were wavering upon that question. The principal contract, that for the transpor- tation of all supplies, involving, for the year 1858, the amount of four millions and a half, was granted, with- out advertisement or subdivision, to a firm in Western Missouri, whose members had distinguished themselves in the effort to make Kansas a slave state, and now con- tributed liberally to defray the election expenses of the Democratic party. "At Camp Scott the Winter dragged along wearily. Between November and March only two mails arrived there, and the great monetary crisis in the United States was unknown till months after it had subsided. The Mormons were constantly in possession of later intelli- gence from the States than the army, for, by a strange inconsistency, their mails to and from California, were not interfered with. "A brigade-guard was mounted daily at Camp, larger than that of the whole American army on the eve of the battles before Mexico, and scouting parties were con- tinually despatched to scour the country in a circuit of thirty miles around Fort Bridger; for there was con- stant apprehension of an attempt by the Mormons to stampede the herds on Henry's Fork, if not to attack the regiment which guarded them. No tidings arrived from Captain Marcy, and a most painful apprehension ARMY 101 prevailed as to his fate. At the close of January, Dr. Hurt, the Indian Agent, after consultation with General Johnston, started from the camp, accompanied only by four Pah-Utahs, and crossed the Uinta Mountains, through snow drifted twenty feet deep, to the villages of the tribe of Uinta-Utahs, on the river of the same name. It was his intention, in case of need, to employ these Indians to warn Captain Marcy of danger and afford him relief. It proved to be unnecessary to do so, and Dr. Hurt returned in April; but the hardships he endured in the undertaking resulted in an illness which threatened his life for weeks. On the 13th of March, an express had come in from New Mexico, bringing news of the safe arrival of Captain Marcy at Taos on the 22nd of January. The sufferings of his whole party from cold and hunger had been severe. Their provisions failed them, and they had recourse to mule-meat. Many of the men were badly frost bitten, but only one perished on the way. "Just at this time, Mr. Thomas L. Kane, of Pennsyl- vania, son of the late Judge of the United States Dis- trict Court for that State, and brother of the late Dr. Kane, the Arctic explorer, solicited the Administration for employment as a mediator between the Mormons and the Federal Government. Mr. Kane was one of the few persons of education and social standing who were well acquainted with Mormon history. "Its experience in Kansas had familiarized the Cabinet with the use of secret agents; but, nevertheless, the proposition of Mr. Kane was coldly received. After a brief correspondence, he started for California in no capacity a representative of the government, if he him- self is to be believed, but bearing letters from Mr. Buchanan indorsing his character as a gentleman, and 102 OUR UNITED STATES exhorting Federal officials to render him such courtesies as were within their power. Having arrived at San Francisco, he journeyed southward to the lately aban- doned Mormon settlement of San Bernardino, near Los Angeles, travelling under the assumed name of Osborne, and proclaiming his business to be the collection of speci- mens for an entomological society in Philadelphia." Mr. Kane reached Salt Lake City safely in February, 1858, and immediately held council with the Presidency and the Twelve. Tullidge in his Life of Brigham Young reports that Mr. Kane opened his address by saying: "I come as ambassador from the Chief Executive of our nation, and am prepared and duly authorized to lay before you, most fully and definitely the feelings and views of the citizens of our common country and of the Executive toward you, relative to the present position of this territory, and relative to the army of the United States now upon your borders." He added that he de- sired to "enlist their sympathies for the poor soldiers who are now suffering in the cold and snow of the moun- tains !" After a prolonged and secret interview alone with Brigham Young, Mr. Kane was given shelter in the house of an elder. A few days later he set out to visit Camp Scott. Mr. Kane's leanings to the Mormon faith were well known, his discrepancies in stating the position that he held as an authorized intermediary between the Fed- eral Government and the Mormons, can only be explained by the fact that he was the recipient of secret instructions not in accord with those printed and published. Upon his arrival at Camp Scott, March 10th, he ignored the sentry's challenge and the latter fired upon him, where- upon he broke his own weapon over the sentry's head. With this informal entrance within army lines he asked to ARMY 103 be conducted into the presence of Governor Gumming. Mr. Kane remained at Camp Eckels until April and suc- ceeded in winning that gentleman to his point of view, as well as establishing a strained condition between the Gov- ernor and the Commander of the military forces. Mr. Kane's plan was for the Governor to enter Salt Lake Valley unattended by his posse comitatus, but in the company of a Mormon escort. Governor Cumming announced to General Johnston on April 3rd, that he had decided to adopt this method of inspiring confidence in Federal authority and two days later he left Camp Eckels for Salt Lake City. In a report to army headquarters, dated January 20th, Gen- eral Johnston's own view of the policy pursued toward the Mormons is summed up as follows : "Knowing how repugnant it would be to the policy or interest of the government to do any act that would force these people into unpleasant relations with the fed- eral government, I have, in conformity with the views also of the commanding general, on all proper occasions, manifested in my intercourse with them a spirit of con- ciliation. But I do not believe that such consideration of them would be properly appreciated now, or rather would be wrongly interpreted ; and, in view of the treasonable temper and feeling now pervading the leaders and a greater portion of the Mormons, I think that neither the honor nor the dignity of the government will allow of the slightest concession being made to them." Governor Cumming entered Salt Lake City on the 12th of April; three days later he notified General Johnston of his arrival. One of his first acts was to assure the people of his protection and upon being informed that there were many people desiring to leave the Territory but that they were unable to do so, he proposed that they 104 OUR UNITED STATES register with him their names and addresses. Within the following week about two hundred persons signified their intention of leaving and these were formed into trains with such movable property as they possessed and despatched towards Fort Bridger. "They arrived there in the course of May, as motley, ragged, and destitute a crowd as ever descended from the deck of an Irish emigrant ship at New York or Bos- ton. The only garments Which some possessed were made of the canvas of their wagon covers. Many were on foot. For provisions, they had nothing except flour and some fresh meat. It is a fact creditable to humanity, that private soldiers, by the score, shared their own abridged rations and scanty stock of clothing with these poor wretches, and in less than a day after their arrival they were provided with much to make them comfort- able. "On Sunday, the Governor made a speech to the con- gregation, being introduced by Brigham Young. He reviewed the relations of the Mormons to the Federal government; assumed that General Johnston and the army were under his control; pledged his word they should not be stationed in immediate contact with the set- tlements ; and gave assurances, also, that no military posse should be employed to arrest a Mormon until every other means had been tried and had failed. At the close, he invited any of their number to respond. Various persons immediately addressed the audience in almost frantic speeches, concerning the murder of Joseph and Hiram Smith at Carthage, the persecution of the saints in Missouri and Illinois, the services rendered by the Mormon Battalion to an ungrateful country during the Mexican War; the toils and perils of the migration to Utah, and the character of the Federal officers who ARMY 105 had been sent to rule the Territory. Personal insults were heaped upon the Governor, and a scene of the wildest confusion was the result, which was quieted with great difficulty by Young himself. "All this while, a movement of a most extraordinary character was being carried on, which had commenced before the Governor entered the valley. The people of the northern settlements, along the base of the Wah- satch Mountains, including Salt Lake City, were desert- ing their homes, abandoning houses, crops, and their heavier furniture, and migrating southward. Long wagon-trains were sweeping through the city every day, accompanied by hundreds of families and droves of horses and cattle. "A fair estimate of the entire Mormon population of Utah is about forty-five thousand. Of this number, ten thousand is the proportion of the towns north of Salt Lake City, and upward of fifteen thousand that of the city itself and settlements in its immediate neighbor- hood. Considerably more than half the people of the Territory, therefore, shared in this emigration. What was its object and what its destination are still mys- teries ; at any rate, it was conducted under the direction of the Church, and Young and Kimball were among the first to lead the way. Commencing late in March, it continued until June, and before the beginning of May more than thirty-five thousand people were concentrated on the western shore of Lake Utah, chiefly in the neigh- borhood of Provo, fifty miles south of Salt Lake City. Such a scene of squalid misery, such a spectacle of want and distress, was never before witnessed in America. More than half this multitude could not be accommodated in the towns, and lodged in board shanties, wigwams, mud-huts, log-cabins, bowers of willow branches cov- 106 OUR UNITED STATES ered with wagon sheets, and even in holes dug into the hill-sides. The most common quarters, however, were made by removing a wagon-body from its wheels, plac- ing it upon the ground, and erecting in front of it a bower of cedars. It is needless to dwell on the exasperation which animated all who submitted to these sacrifices. "On the 6th of April, the President had signed a Proclamation, at Washington, rehearsing to the people of Utah Territory, at considerable length, their past offences, and particularly those which immediately pre- ceded and followed the outbreak of the rebellion, and declaring them traitors; but 'in order to save the effu- sion of blood, and to avoid the indiscriminate punishment of a whole people for crimes of which it is not probable that all are equally guilty,' offering 'a free and full par- don to all who will submit themselves to the authority of the Federal Government/ This document was in- trusted to two Commissioners for conveyance to the Ter- ritory; one of them, Mr. L. W. Powell, lately Gover- nor, and at the time Senator-elect, of the State of Ken- tucky; the other Major Ben M'Cullock, of Texas, who had served with distinction in Mexico. "The reinforcements and supply trains for the army were at this time concentrated at Fort Leavenworth. Major General Persifer F. Smith was assigned to the commander-in-chief, and it was intended that the whole force, after concentration in Utah, should be divided into two brigades, one to be commanded by General Harney, the other by General Johnston. Leaving the columns preparing to advance over the Plains, the Commissioners started from the Fort on the 25th of April. On the same day Lieutenant Colonel Hoffman advanced from Fort Laramie with several companies of infantry and cavalry, escorting the supply trains which were parked there ARMY 107 through the Winter, and on the speedy arrival of which at Camp Scott the subsistence of General Johnston's command depended unless it should force its way into the Valley. On the 1st of May, he had reached La Boute, a tributary of the North Platte, fifty miles from the Fort. There he encountered the severest storm that had occurred in that region for many years. Snow fell breast-deep, and was followed by a pelting rain which killed his mules by scores. He was forced to remain stationary more than a week, and when he renewed the march the trains were clogged by mud a foot deep. "The Commissioners reached Camp Scott on the 29th of May. The President's Proclamation had been received the day before. With the exception of a few persons who were prepared for such a document by reflection on Mr. Kane's mission, everybody was aston- ished at its purport. It seemed incredible that lenity should have been extended to the Mormon rebels which was refused to the Free-State men in Kansas, who were once indicted for treason and sedition. There was none of the blood-thirsty excitement in the camp which was reported in the States to have prevailed there, but there was a feeling of infinite chagrin, a consciousness that the expedition was only a pawn on Mr. Buchanan's polit- ical chess-board ; and reproaches against his folly were as frequent as they were vehement." Following their instruction the Commissions proceeded to Salt Lake City and at once gave extensive circulation to the President's Proclamation. Brigham Young being now assured that entire forgiveness for past transgres- sions was established, and no legal or military action would be taken against the Saints, declared in conference that he had done nothing for which he desired the Presi- 108 OUR UNITED STATES dent's forgiveness and followed his surrender to condi- tions of peace with declarations such as these : "I can take a few of the boys here, and, with the help of the Lord, can whip the whole of the United States. Boys, how do you feel? Are you afraid of the United States? (Great demonstration among the brethren.) No. No. We are not afraid of man, nor of what he can do. "The United 'States are going to destruction as fast as they can go. If you do not believe it, gentlemen, you will see it to your sorrow. "Now, let me say to you peace commissioners, we are willing those troops should come into our country, but not to stay in our city. They may pass through it, if needs be, but must not quarter less than forty miles from us." With this declaration the Mormon War was ended. General Johnston was instructed by the commissioners that the Mormons had agreed to obey the laws of the territory and that the military and civil officers would be allowed to perform their duties without interference. Before leaving camp the commissioners had urged General Johnston to advance the army as rapidly as possible. On the 8th of June Captain Marcy arrived with a herd of nearly fifteen hundred mules and horses, and an escort of five companies of infantry and mounted rifle men. Within the next two days Colonel Hoffman reached Fort Bridger with all his supply trains and the next day General Johnston gave orders to break camp and march to Salt Lake City. A strong detachment of infantry artillery was left to garrison Fort Bridger. "On the 13th of June, the long camp was broken up, and the army moved forward in three columns on the route through the canons. Although the season was so far advanced, snow had fallen at the Fort only three ARMY 109 days before. The streams were swollen and turbulent with spring floods, and difficulty was anticipated in cross- ing the Bear and Weber Rivers. Material for bridging had, therefore, been prepared, and accompanied the first column. Southwest of the Fort at the distance of four or five miles, a singular butte, the top of which is as level as the floor of a ball room, rises to the height of eight hundred feet above the valley of Black's Fork, and commands a view of the entire broad plateau between Wind River and the Uinta and \Vasatch Ranges. Lit- tle parties of horsemen could be seen spurring up the gullies on its almost precipitous sides, to witness from its summit the departure of the army. The scene was in the highest degree picturesque. Almost at their feet lay the camp, the few tents which remained un-struck glittering like bright dots on the wing of an insect, the white-washed wall of the Fort reflecting the sunshine, while stacks of turf chimneys, lodge-poles, and rubbish marked the spots where the encampment had been aban- doned. The whole valley was in commotion. Along the strips of road were winding clumsy baggage-trains; the regiment of dragoons was trailing in advance ; the gleam of the musket barrels of the infantry was visible on all sides; and every puff of the breeze that blew over the bluff was freighted with the rumble of artillery-carriages and caisons. Here and there were groups of half-naked Indians galloping to and fro, with fluttering blankets, gazing at the show with the curiosity and delight of children. "On the 14th an express from the commissioners ar- rived at the camp on Bear River, announcing that no resistance would be made by the Mormons, who pledged themselves to submit to Federal authority. "The troops did not emerge from Emigration Canon 110 OUR UNITED STATES into the Salt Lake Valley until the morning of the 29th. In the meanwhile, thirty or forty civilians had reached the city from the camp, and were quartered, like the commissioners, in their own vehicles. The Mormons favored no one, except the Governor and his intimate associates, with any species of accommodation. Their demeanor was in every respect like a conquered people toward foreign invaders. During the week preceding the 26th, two or three hundred of those on Lake Utah received permission to go up to the city, and they alone, of the whole Mormon community, witnessed the ingress of the army. "It was one of the most extraordinary scenes that have occurred in American history. All day long, from dawn till after sunset, the troops and trains poured through the city, the utter silence of the streets being broken only by the music of the military bands, the monotonous tramp of the regiments, and the rattle of the baggage wagons. Early in the morning, the Mormon guard had forced all their fellow religionists into the houses, and ordered them not to make their appearance during the day. The numerous flags, which had been flying from staffs on the public buildings during the pre- vious week, were all struck. The only visible groups of spectators were on the corners near Brigham Young's residence, and consisted almost entirely of Gentile civil- ians. The stillness was so profound, that, during the intervals between the passage of the columns, the monot- onous gurgle of the city creek struck on every ear. The Commissioners rode with the General's staff. The troops crossed the Jordan and encamped two miles from the city on a dusty meadow by the river bank." Cedar Valley was later selected by General Johnston as one of the three posts he was ordered to establish ARMY 111 and on July 6th his camp was pitched there to which was given the name of Camp Ployed. Within a few days the first of the thousands of citizens who had deserted their homes began to return and before long the city of the dead once more showed its accustomed life and activity. "During the march of the army," writes Bancroft, "not a house was disturbed, not a citizen was harmed or molested, and during its sojourn of nearly two years in the territory, instances were rare indeed of gross mis- conduct on the part of the soldiery. The Mormons, who had before been eager to fight the troops, were now thankful for their arrival. Many of the former were very poor; they had a few cattle, and a few implements of husbandry, but little else of this world's goods save their farms and farm dwellings. They were ill clad and fed, their diet consisting chiefly of preparations of corn, flour, and milk, with beet molasses, and the fruits and vegetables of their gardens. Now they had an oppor- tunity to exchange the products of their fields and dairies for clothing, for such luxuries as tea, coffee, sugar, tobacco and for money an article still scarce among them." CHAPTER IX EXPLORATION OF THE COLORADO RIVER THE Colorado Exploring expedition under Lieutenant J. C. Ives was organized by the War Department in 1857, the main object of the work being to ascertain the navigability of the Colorado River as a practical avenue of transportation for supplies to various military posts in New Mexico and Utah. Up to this time little had been known concerning this great river, whose water- shed covered an area of more than 300,000 square miles. The Green and Grand Rivers, flowing through Utah in a southerly direction, were supposed to unite at the southern boundary of the territory and form the Col- orado, but the point of junction had never been ascer- tained. Many hundreds of miles below this point had never been explored by white men, although certain portions of the river had been visited by Spanish mis- sionaries and soldiers less than fifty years after the landing of Columbus, who followed its course for a considerable distance from its mouth, even attaining one of the most distant and inaccessible points in its upper waters. More knowledge of the river was gained at this early period than during the three subsequent centuries. With the exception of occasional exploring expeditions under the direction of the Spanish authority and the visi- tations of Catholic priests the river was scarcely approached except by an occasional trapper or parties 112 ARMY 113 of gold seekers enroute for California. These emigrants suffered molestation at the hands of the Yuma Indians and in 1850 a detachment of United States troops were sent to the mouth of the Gila River to keep order and later the outpost of Fort Yuma was regularly established. "The difficulty of furnishing supplies to the garrisons across the desert was such that, in the Winter of 1850 and 1851, General Smith, commanding the Pacific division, sent a schooner from San Francisco to the head of the Gulf of California, and directed Lieutenant Derby, topo- graphical engineer, to make a reconnaissance, with a view of establishing a route of supply to Fort Yuma, via the Gulf and the Colorado. The result of the reconnais- sance was successful and the route was at once put in operation. The freight, carried in sailing vessels to the mouth of the river, was transported to the fort the dis- tance to which, by the river, is one hundred and fifty miles at first in lighters and afterwards in steamboats." In 1851, Captain ^Litgreaves, topographical engineer, with a party of fifty individuals, made an exploration from Zuni westward. He struck the Colorado at a point about 160 miles above Fort Yuma, and followed the east side of the river to the fort, keeping as near to the bank as possible. He encountered the Mojaves, and found their appearance and customs generally to agree with the descriptions of the early explorers. The descent was accompanied with hardship and danger. Both the Mo- javes and Yumas were hostile, and the difficulty of trav- elling near the river was extreme, owing to the chains of rugged and precipitous mountains that crossed the valley. The summer heats had parched and withered the face of the country; the stream was low, and what was seen of it did not create a favorable opinion regard- ing its navigability. 114 OUR UNITED STATES In the Spring of 1854, Lieutenant Whipple, topograph- ical engineer, in command of an expedition for the ex- ploration and survey of a railroad route near the 35th parallel, reached the Colorado, at the mouth of Bill Williams' Fork, and ascended the river about fifty miles, leaving it at a point not far below where Captain Lit- greaves had first touched it. The expedition was com- posed of nearly a hundred persons, including the escort. The Mojaves were friendly, furnishing provisions to the party, whose supply was nearly exhausted, and sending guides to conduct them by the best route across the desert westward. The river was probably higher than when seen by Captain Litgreaves and it was the opinion of Lieutenant Whipple that it would be navigable for steam- ers of light draught. The course of the Colorado north- ward could be followed with the eye for only a short distance, on account of mountain spurs that crossed the valley and intercepted the view. A high distant range, through which the river apparently broke, was supposed to be at the mouth of the "Big Canon," which the Span- iards in 1540, t had visited at a place far above. The marvellous story of Cardinas, that formed for so long a time the only record concerning this rather myth- ical locality, was rather magnified than detracted from by the accounts of one or two trappers, who professed to have seen the Canon, and propagated among their prairie companions incredible accounts of the stupendous character of the formation, so that it became a matter of interest to have this region explored, and to lay down the positions of the Colorado and its tributaries along the unknown belt of the country north of the 35th parallel. "To ascertain how far the river was navigable for steamboats being the point of primary importance," writes Lieutenant Ives, "it was necessary first to make provision ARMY 115 for this portion of the work. The company employed in carrying freight from the head of the Gulf to Fort Yuma was unable to spare a boat for the use of the expe- dition, excepting for a compensation beyond the limits of the appropriation. A boat of suitable construction, had, therefore, to be built on the Atlantic coast and transported to San Francisco, and thence to the mouth of the river. In order that the survey should be made at the worst and lowest stage of the water, I had been directed to commence operations at the mouth of the Colorado on the 1st of December. This left little time for preparation, considering that it was necessary to build a steamer and carry the parts to so great a distance. In the latter part of June I ordered of Reany, Neafie & Co., of Philadelphia, an iron steamer, fifty feet long, to be built in sections, and the parts to be so arranged that they could be transported by railroad, as the shortness of time required that it should be sent to California, via the Isthmus of Panama. About the middle of August the boat was finished, tried upon the Delaware, and found satisfactory, subject to a few alterations only. It was then taken apart, sent to New York, and shipped on board of the California steamer which sailed on the 20th of August for Aspinwall. "The members of the expedition were assembled in San Francisco in the middle of October. The interest, which I would here gratefully acknowledge, displayed by General Clarke, commanding the department of the Pa- cific, and by officers of his staff, in furthering the neces- sary preparations, enabled these to be soon completed. The party was divided into three detachments. One of them, in charge of Dr. Newberry, started on the 28th of October in the coast steamer at San Diego, at which place some mules were to be procured and taken across 116 OUR UNITED STATES the desert to Fort Yuma. A second detachment, in charge of Mr. Taylor, went by the same steamer to San Pedro, from whence they were to repair to Fort Tejon, collect the remainder of the animals, and cross also to Fort Yuma. Mr. Carroll and myself, with eight men, were to go by sea to the head of the Gulf of California, there put the steamboat together, ascend the Colorado to Fort Yuma, and join the rest of the party. Lieuten- ant Tipton, 3rd artillery, and twenty-five men, to be taken from the companies at Fort Yuma, were detailed by Gen- eral Clarke as an escort to the expedition. It was on the 1st day of November, 1857, that I sailed from San Francisco, for the mouth of the Colorado, in the Mon- terey, a schooner of 120 tons burden, employed to carry supplies to the head of the Gulf, for transmission to the garrison at Fort Yuma." On the 28th of the same month the near approach to the Colorado River was announced and entering its mouth, a search was made for a suitable landing place. Before this was finally chosen, a peculiar phenomenon was witnessed, which occurs in but a few places in the world. "About nine o'clock, while the tide was still running out rapidly, we heard, from the direction of the Gulf, a deep, booming sound, like the noise of a distant water- fall. Every moment it became louder and nearer, and in half an hour a great wave, several feet in height, could be distinctly seen flashing and sparkling in the moon- light, extending from one bank to the other, and advanc- ing swiftly upon us. While it was only a. few hundred yards distant, the ebb tide continued to flow by at a rate of three miles an hour. A point of land and an exposed bar close under our lee broke the wave into several long swells, and as these met the ebb, the broad sheet around ARMY 117 us boiled up and foamed like the surface of a caldron, and then, with scarcely a moment of slack water, the whole went whirling by in the opposite direction. In a few moments the low rollers had passed the island and united again in a single bank of water, which swept up the narrowing channel with the thunder of a cataract. At a turn not far distant it disappeared from view, but for a long time, in the stillness of the night, the roaring of the huge mass could be heard reverberating among the windings of the river, till at last it became faint and lost in the distance. This singular phenomenon is called a 'bore/ it occurs here only at the highest spring tides, and is due to the formation of the banks, the rapid rise of the water and the swiftness of the current. In the course of four or five hours the river falls about thirty feet, and even at the last moment of the ebb runs with considerable velocity. As the torrent suddenly encounters the flood crowding up the narrowing channel, it is banked up and rebounds in a single immense wave that ascends for many miles. In very shallow places, where the rush is suddenly checked, it sometimes rises to a height of ten or twelve feet. When broken by an island it soon reunites. A vessel at anchor, exposed to its full influence, would incur a great risk of being dragged from her moorings and swept along till brought up by bank or shoal. "To-day (Dec. 2nd) Mr. Booker, one of my assistants, came down in a skiff from Fort Yuma, bringing with him our letters and papers. He had left the fort on the 29th and had expected to join us on the ebb of last night, but was caught by the flood before he could reach our posi- tion and came near being swamped by the 'bore,' having been barely able to run his boat ashore in time to escape. He reports the safe arrival at Fort Yuma of the party from San Diego." 118 OUR UNITED STATES By December 21st the final departure of the party from Robinson's landing at the mouth of the Colorado, where the Explorer had been put together with con- siderable difficulty, was heralded with joy and the first camp was made at Cocopa village. The different detachments of the party united at Fort Yuma. This fort is situated on the west side of the river, "on the top of a gravelly spur that extends with a steep bluff to the edge of the stream. A corresponding preci- pice upon the opposite side forms, with the other, a gate through which the united waters of the Gila and the Colorado flow in a comparatively narrow bed. The mouth of the Gila is just above. The southern emigrant route to California crosses the river at this place. For ten or fifteen miles north and south the valley is inhabited by Yuma Indians, a few years ago the most powerful and warlike tribe. Opposite the fort an anticipated town has been located and denominated Colorado City. At pres- ent there are but a few straggling buildings, the princi- pal of which are a store, blacksmith's shop, and tavern. "Fort Yuma is not a place to inspire one with regret at leaving. The barrenness of the surrounding region, the intense heat of its Summer climate, and its loneliness and isolation have caused it to be regarded as the Botany Bay of military stations. Its establishment, however, has brought into entire subjection the Yuma Indians, who had been a scourge to their neighbors and to California emigrants. They are a fierce and cruel tribe but a much finer race, physically than the Cocopas. At present they are in a state of much excitement. There is a settlement of Mormons not far from the Colorado, a few hundred miles above, and it is rumored that some of that people have been among the upper tribes of Indians, telling them of their difficulties with the other whites and endeavour- ARMY 119 ing to secure their alliance. There is an impression among the Indians that the Mormons contemplate, before long, descending the Colorado, which corresponds with a rumor brought from the east by the latest mail of a pro- jected movement into Sonora. The commanding officer of the fort, Lieutenant Winder, a few days ago, sent Lieutenant White, with a detachment of men, up the river, with Captain Johnston, to make a reconnaissance and endeavor to ascertain the truth of these reports. "The fact that my expedition, just at this time, is pre- paring to ascend the Colorado, has much exercised the Indians above, who are jealous of any encroachment into their territory." From Fort Yuma, the party made their way to Mojave Canon, camps being made at Explorer's Pass, Canebrake Canon, Great Colorado valley, Beaver Island and the mouth of Bill Williams' Fork, which was reached February 1st. "The whole appearance of the country," writes Lieutenant Ives, "indicated that we had reached the Chemehuevis valley. . . . Having accompanied in 1853, the expedition of Lieutenant Whipple to explore for a railroad route along the 35th parallel, and having, with that party, descended Bill Williams' Fork to its con- fluence with the Colorado, I was confident of the locality. The mouth of the stream was at that time, which hap- pened to be in the present month, February, about thirty feet wide, and several feet deep. I now looked in vain for the creek. The outline of the bank, though low, ap- peared unbroken, and for a while I was quite confounded. My companions were of opinion that I had made a great topographical blunder, but I asked Captain Robinson to head for the left shore, as we approached the bank I perceived, while closely scanning its outline, a small dent, and after landing repaired to the spot, and found a very 120 OUR UNITED STATES narrow gulley, through which a feeble stream was trick- ling, and this was all that was left of Bill Williams' Fork. The former mouth is now overgrown with thickets and willow. . . . The party of Lieutenant Whipple contained one hundred men, two hundred mules, and four "wagons, but the trail is entirely obliterated. Not a trace, even of the wagons, remain. "We have now been absent from Fort Yuma for four weeks and have but two weeks' rations left. Should the pack train meet with detention we should be on short al- lowance, and unlike a land party, have no mules to fall back upon. I have been anxious for some time to in- crease the stock of provisions by trading with the In- dians, and took advantage of the chief's presence to open negotiation upon the subject. He promised before he left that evening that his people should bring some beans and corn to trade for manta and beads. Last evening about two dozen brought baskets and earthern bowls of corn and beans. I saw that they had come prepared for a long haggling, and I made them place their bur- dens in a row on some boards that were laid out for the purpose ; asking each in turn whether he preferred beads or manta. I placed what I thought a fair amount of the desired article opposite to the proper heap of pro- visions. The whole tribe had crowded around to look on, and their amusement during this performance was extreme. Every sharp face expanded into a grin as I weighed the different piles in succession in my hand, and gravely estimated their contents, and when the appor- tionment being over, I directed two of my men to bag the corn and beans, and coolly walked away, the delight of the bystanders, at the summary method of complet- ing the bargain, reached the climax and they fairly screamed with laughter. A few of the traders seemed ARMY 121 not quite to comprehend why they should have had so little to say in the matter, but having been really well recompensed, according to their ideas of things, the tariff of prices was established, and this morning when fresh supplies were brought, they received the same rate of payment without question. Mr. Mollhausen has en- listed the services of the children to procure zoological specimens, and has obtained, at the cost of a few strings of beads, several varieties of pouched mice and lizards. They think he eats them, and are delighted that his eccen- tric appetite can be gratified with so much ease and profit to themselves." Lieutenant Ives continued the journey through the Mojave Valley, at this season, early February, presenting an appearance so lovely in its Spring verdure as to arouse expressions of admiration and delight. Now and again the Mojave Indians were encountered and the friendly intercourse of trade established, through which the party were able to study the native characteristics and estab- lish a feeling of confidence in behalf of the whites. One of these parleys Lieutenant Ives describes as follows : "A few miles from camp we descried an immense throng of Indians standing upon an open meadow, and Captain informed me that the chief Jose was awaiting, with his warriors, our approach. As there was good wooding the place nearby, 1 determined to stop and have an interview, and, landing, sent him word that I was ready to see him. In a few moments he marched up with dignity, his tribe following in single file, the leader bearing a dish of cooked beans. A kind of crier walked a dozen paces in front to disperse from around the spot where I was standing the women, children and dogs. Jose is advanced in years, and has rather a noble counten- ance, which, in honor to the occasion, was painted per- 122 OUR UNITED STATES fectly black, excepting a red stripe from the top of his forehead, down the bridge of his nose, to his chin. There was, in the first place, a general smoke at my expense, followed by a long conference. I tried to make him comprehend that we were on a peaceful mission, that I had a great esteem for him personally; and that I had certain things to ask him, viz. : that he should have pro- visions brought in to be traded for ; should never permit any of his tribe to come to our camp after sunset; should send guides to conduct Lieutenant Tipton and train up the river by the best route; and should at once detail an Indian to carry a package to Fort Yuma and bring a return package to us. In return, his people should be well paid for their provisions and services, and he him- self for his trouble. "My address, which differed from any speech ever yet made to a band of Indians since the formation of our government inasmuch as it contained nothing about the 'Great Father at Washington' was at last duly com- prehended by Jose and by the crowd that were seated around. It was difficult to satisfy them about the expedi- tion; they could not understand why I should come up the river with a steamboat and go directly back again, nor why it was necessary to keep up a communication with Fort Yuma. I endeavored to explain these suspi- cious circumstances, and apparently succeeded, for Jose said that my wishes should be gratified, and that he would visit camp at evening, and meanwhile make the necessary arrangements to provide a messenger. I invited him to go with me on the steamboat; but he declined, and his friends appeared to think that he had done a prudent thing. "All this occupied some time, and involved a great deal of gesticulation and intricate pantomime, which, even ARMY 123 with interpreters, I find it convenient to have recourse to. Oral communication, under existing circumstances, is a complicated process. I have to deliver my message to Mr. Bielawski, who puts it into indifferent Spanish for the benefit of Mariano, whose knowledge of that language is slight ; when Mariano has caught the idea he imparts it in the Yuma tongue, with which he is not altogether conversant, to Captain, who, in turn, puts it into the Mojave vernacular. What changes my remarks have undergone during these different stages I shall never know, but I observe that they are sometimes received by the Mojaves with an astonishment and bewilderment that the original sense does not at all warrant." By March 8th the Explorer had safely navigated the Colorado River over shoals, rapids and through narrow gorges, to the mouth of the Black Canon. Here rumors were received to the effect that unfriendly Paiutes had threatened the destruction of the party. The arrival of the pack train now became a subject of constant anxiety as the supplies of the party were exceed- ingly low and the diet of corn and beans purchased from the Indians, upon which the party had subsisted for the past two or three weeks, without salt or hot coffee to make it palatable, was beginning to tell severely upon the general health. The exploration of the Black Canon was undertaken by Lieutenant Ives, the Captain, and mate in a small skiff; a bucketful of corn and beans, three pairs of blankets, a compass, and a sextant and chronometer con- stituted the equipment. The danger and difficulty of ascending the rapid called for the constant labor and cool judgment of the party. "We had proceeded a quarter of a mile, and had just rounded the first bend, when one of the sculls snapped, 124 OUR UNITED STATES reducing by half our motive power. In a few minutes, having passed what may be called the outworks of the range, we fairly entered its gigantic precincts, the walls were perpendicular, and more than double the height of the Mojave Mountains, rising in many places, sheer from the water, for over a thousand feet. The naked rocks presented, in lieu of the brilliant tints that had illuminated the sides of the lower passes, a uniform sombre hue, that added much to the solemn and impressive sublimity of the place. The river was narrow and devious, and each turn disclosed new combinations of colo,ssal and fantastic forms, dimly seen in the dizzy heights overhead, or through the sunless depths of the vista beyond. Several rapids followed, at short distances, all of which would be troublesome to pass at the present depth of water. The constant getting out of the boat, and the labor of dragging it through these difficult places, made our prog- ress for some miles exceedingly tedious and fatiguing. As sunset was approaching, we came to a nook in the side of the canon, four miles above the Roaring Rapid, where a patch of gravel and a few pieces of driftwood, lodged upon rocks, offered a tolerable camping place, and we hauled the skiff upon the shingle, and stopped for the night. There was no need of keeping a watch, with two grim lines of sentinels a thousand feet high guarding our camp. Even though we could have been seen from the verge of the cliff above, our position was totally inac- cessible. "Darkness supervened with surprising suddenness. Pall after pall of shade fell, as it were, in clouds, upon the deep recesses about us. The line of light, through the opening above, at last became blurred and indistinct, and, save the dull red glare of the camp fire, all was en- veloped in a murky gloom. Soon the narrow belt again ARMY 125 brightened, as the rays of the moon reached the sum- mits of the mountains. Gazing far upward upon the edges of the overhanging walls, we witnessed the gradual illumination. A few isolated turrets and pinnacles first appeared in strong relief upon the blue band of the heavens. As the silvery light descended, and fell upon the opposite crest of the abyss, strange and uncouth shapes seemed to start out, all sparkling and blinking in the light, and to be peering over at us as we lay watching them from the bottom of the profound chasm. "This morning, as soon as light permitted, we were again upon the way. The canon continued increasing in size and magnificence. Wherever the river makes a turn the entire panorama changes, and one startling novelty after another appears and disappears with bewildering rapidity. Stately facades, august cathedrals, amphithe- atres, rotundas, castellated walls, and rows of time-stained ruins, surmounted by every form of tower, minaret, dome, and spire, have been moulded from the cyclopean masses of rock that form the mighty defile. The solitude, the stillness, the subdued light, and the vastness of every sur- rounding object, produce an impression of awe that ulti- mately becomes almost painful. As hour after hour passed, we began to look anxiously ahead for some sign of an outlet from the range, but the declining day brought only fresh piles of mountains, higher, apparently, than any before seen. "A mile above the canon the river swept the base of a high hill, with salient angles, like the bastions of a fort. At the base was a little ravine, which offered a camping place that would be sheltered from observation, and we drew the skiff out of the water, determining not to pro- ceed any further until to-morrow. Leaving the mate to take charge of the boat, the Captain and myself ascended 126 OUR UNITED STATES the hill, which is over a thousand feet high. A scene of barren and desolate confusion was spread before us. We seemed to have reached the focus or culminating point of the volcanic disturbances that have left their traces over the whole region south. In almost every direction were hills and mountains heaped together without any apparent system or order. A small open area intervened between camp and a range to the north, and we could trace the course of the river as it wound towards the east, form- ing the Great Bend. In the direction of the Mormon road to Utah, which is but twenty miles distant, the coun- try looked less broken, and it was evident that there would be no difficulty in opening a wagon communication between the road and the river. "Not a trace of vegetation could be discovered, but the glaring monotony of the rocks was somewhat relieved by grotesque and fanciful varieties of coloring. The great towers that formed the northern gateway of the canon were striped with crimson and yellow bands; the gravel bluffs bordering the river exhibited brilliant al- ternations of the same hues, and not far to the east, mingled with the gray summits, were two or three hills, altogether of a blood-red color, that imparted a peculiarly ghastly air to the scene. "The approach of darkness stopped further observa- tions, and we descended to camp, having first taken a good look, in every direction, for the smoke of Indian camp fires, but without discovering any. In making the six- teen miles from last night's bivouac, we have had to labor hard for thirteen hours, stemming the strong cur- rent, and crossing the numerous rapids, and being thor- oughly exhausted, depend for security to-night more upon our concealed position than upon any vigilance that is likely to be exhibited." ARMY 127 The following day, March 12th, after pursuing the journey a few miles, Lieutenant Ives determined not to try to ascend the Colorado any further, and the descent of the river was accomplished with greater ease than the journey up. Upon reaching the Explorer, the first question asked was if any news had been received from the long expected pack train, but receiving an unfavor- able reply, Lieutenant Ives decided to return at once, and preparations were accordingly begun in all haste for a descent of the river the following morning. At sunset, one of the Indian runners, who had been despatched to Fort Yuma some time previously, returned to the party with the information that he had passed the pack train somewhere in the mountains below the mouth of Bill Williams' Fork. A note from Lieutenant Tipton, dated March 5th, informed Lieutenant Ives that great difficulty in travel had made the progress of the pack train very slow, but that it was pushing forward as rapidly as possible. This encouraging news, and the re- ceipt of home letters and news, with the prospect of a speedy change of diet, occasioned general hilarity in camp, with the result that the Indian runner was loaded with favors and gifts. The meeting with the pack train occurred near the foot of Pyramid Canon. Although grass had been very scarce and the mules had suffered accordingly, the pack train had not been seriously menaced until within a day or two, when the conduct of the Mojaves had become suspi- cious. These Indians attempted to set fire at night to the grass surrounding the camp. "Lieutenant Tipton had been strongly tempted to at- tack them, but felt reluctant to have any outbreak while ignorant of the conditions of my party," writes Lieu- tenant Ives. "Two Yumas, who had acted as guides, had 128 OUR UNITED STATES a talk with Mojaves, and told Mr. Tipton that the Mor- mons had been endeavoring in every way to excite the hostility of the last-mentioned Indians against the ex- pedition, and had urged them to commence an attack by stampeding the animals. This statement coincides en- tirely with what Ireteba and Mariano have repeatedly told me. I have found these two Indians invariably truthful, and know not what object they could have had in manufacturing a false story. Corroborated as it is by the Yumas and by many circumstances that have oc- curred, I hardly know how to discredit it, though I feel reluctant to believe that any white men could be guilty of such unprovoked rascality. "I now hastened the preparations for departure, being anxious to leave. A rupture with the Mojaves would have seriously interfered with the progress of the ex- pedition. The land explorations would have been de- layed and perhaps altogether disconcerted. With foes on the bank, it would have been impossible for the steam- boat party to descend the river without a detachment on either shore to defend them from attack, and this would have necessitated the return of all the members of the expedition to Fort Yuma. I now made an almost equal division of the force. The officers of the Explorer, with Messrs. Taylor, Bielawski, and Booker, half of the escort, and all but three of my men, were selected to go back with the boat. Dr. Newberry, Messrs. Egloffstein, Mollhausen, and Peacock, three laborers, the Mexican packers, together with twenty soldiers, commanded by Lieutenant Tipton, composed the land party. The notes and collections were placed in charge of Mr. Taylor, to transport to Washington. The preparation of maps, re- ports, and letters, the division of provisions, and selec- tion of the articles to be carried across the plains, oc- ARMY 129 cupied a large portion of the night. By eight this morn- ing the steamboat detachment was ready to leave, and our friends on the Explorer bid us good-bye and were soon out of sight beyond a turn in the river." The land party made their toilsome way by Meadow Creek, Litgreaves' Pass, and Railroad Pass to Peacock's spring, which was reached the last day of March. Leav- ing the Cerbat basin, the course lay toward a low point in the extension of the Agnarius mountains another chain almost parallel to the Black and Cerbat ranges. "After entering it the trail took a sudden turn to the north, in which direction it continued. The sun was very hot, and the mules, not having had plentiful drink of water for four days, showed marks of distress. Ireteba, at my request, again went in search of some Haulapais tractable enough to enlist for a few days in our service. After an absence of several hours he came back and reported that he had discovered two who were willing to go. In a little while, from the top of a neigh- bouring hill, a discordant screaming was heard, pro- ceeding from two Indians who were suspiciously sur- veying camp. It was some time before our Mojaves could persuade them to approach, and when they did they looked like men who had screwed up their courage to face a mortal peril. They were squalid, wretched-look- ing creatures, with splay feet, large joints, and diminutive figures, but had bright eyes and cunning faces, and re- sembled a little the Chemehuevis. Taking them into the tent occupied by Lieutenant Tipton and myself, with many misgivings as to how ma"ny varieties of animal life were being introduced there, I brought out some pipes and tobacco and told Ireteba to proceed with the negotiations. "The conclusion arrived at was that they knew noth- 130 OUR UNITED STATES ing about the country neither a good road nor the lo- calities of grass and water; that they were out hunting and had lost their way, and had no idea of the direc- tion even of their own villages. This very probable state- ment I correctly supposed to be a hint that they were not to be approached empty-handed; for when Ireteba had been authorized to make a distinct offer of beads and blankets, one of them recollected where he was, and also that there were watering places ahead to which he could guide us. "It was thought advisable to again lie over for a day ; and they went away, agreeing to be in camp on the day but one following. "A third Haulapais turned up this morning; he had features like a toad's and the most villainous countenance I ever saw on a human being. Mr. Mullhausen sug- gested that we should take him and preserve him in alcohol as a zoological specimen ; and at last he be- came alarmed at the steadfast gaze he was attracting, and withdrew to the edge of a rock overhanging the cook's fire, where he remained till dark, with his eyes fixed in an unbroken stare upon the victuals. The Haul- apais are but a little removed from the Diggers. They present a remarkable contrast to our tall and athletic Mojaves." "Big Canon of the Colorado, April 3. The two Haul- apais preserved the credit of the Indian employes by be- ing punctual to their engagement, and led off in company with the Mojaves as we ascended the ravine from Pea- cock's spring. At the end of ten miles the ridge of the swell was attained, and a splendid panorama burst sud- denly into view. In the foreground were low hills, intersected by numberless ravines ; beyond these a lofty line of bluffs marked the edge of an immense canon; a ARMY 131 wide gap was directly ahead, and through it were be- held, to the extreme limit of vision, vast plateaus, tower- ing one above the other thousands of feet in the air, the long horizontal bands broken at intervals by wide and profound abysses, and extending, a hundred miles to the north, till the deep azure blue faded into a light cerulean tint that blended with the dome of the heavens. The famous 'Big Canon* was before us; and for a long time we paused in wondering delight, surveying this stu- pendous formation through which the Colorado and its tributaries break their way. "The Haulapais were now of great assistance, for the ravines crossed and forked in intricate confusion; even Ireteba, who had hitherto led the train, became at a loss how to proceed, and had to put the little Haulapais in front. The latter, being perfectly at home, conducted us rapidly down the declivity. The descent was great and the trail blind and circuitous. A few miles of dif- ficult travelling brought us into a narrow valley flanked by steep and high slopes ; a sparkling stream crossed its centre, and gurgling in some tall grass nearby announced the presence of a spring. This morning we left the valley and followed the course of a creek down a ravine, in the bed of which the water at intervals sank and rose for two or three miles, when it altogether disap- peared. The ravine soon attained the proportion of a canon. The place grew wilder and grander. The sides of the tortuous canon became loftier, and before long we were hemmed in by walls two thousand feet high. The increasing magnitude of the collossal piles that blocked the end of the vista, and the corresponding depth and gloom of the gaping chasms into which we were plunging, imparted an unearthly character to a way that might have resembled the portals of the infernal regions. 132 OUR UNITED STATES Harsh screams issuing from aerial recesses in the canon sides, and apparitions of goblin-like figures perched in the rifts and hollows of the impending cliffs, gave an odd reality to this impression. At short distances other ave- nues of equally magnificent proportion came in from one side or the other; and no trail being left on the rocky pathway, the idea suggested itself that were the guides to desert us our experience might further resemble that of the dwellers in the unblest abodes in the difficulty of getting out. "Huts of the rudest construction, visible here and there in some sheltered niche or beneath a projecting rock, and the sight of a hideous old squaw, staggering under a bundle of fuel, showed that we had penetrated into the domestic retreats of the Haulapais nation. Our party being, in all probability, the first company of whites that had ever been seen by them, we had anticipated produc- ing a great effect, and were a little chagrined when the old woman, and two or three others of both sexes that were met, went by without taking the slightest notice of us. If pack trains had been in the habit of passing twenty times a day, they could not have manifested a more complete indifference. "Seventeen miles of this strange travel had now been accomplished. The road was becoming more difficult, and we looked ahead distrustfully into the dark and ap- parently interminable windings, and wondered where we were to find a camping place. At last we struck a wide branch canon coming in from the south, and saw with joyful surprise a beautiful and brilliantly clear stream of water gushing over a pebbly bed in the centre, and shoot- ing from between the rocks in sparkling jets and im- mature cascades. On either side was an oasis of verdure young willows and a thick patch of grass. Camp was ARMY 133 speedily formed, and men and mules have had a wel- come rest after their fatiguing journey. "Camp 69, Cedar Forest, April 5. A short walk down the bed of the Diamond river, on the morning after we had reached it, disclosed the famous Colorado Canon. . . . The day was spent in an examination of the localities. This plateau formation has been undisturbed by volcanic action, and the sides of the canon exhibit all the series that compose the table lands of New Mexico, presenting, perhaps, the most splendid exposure of stratified rocks that there is in the world. "Pine forest, April 10. Four miles from the camp in the Cedar forest, were some large pools of water in a rocky ravine. The supply had been derived from melting snows, and the place would be dry a little later in the season. "The next morning both the Haulapais were missing. They had run away during the night, taking with them a little flour and a pair of blankets. What had frightened the guides off we could not imagine. We had now entered a region of pine. "The next day an early start was made. We had to select our own way through the forest, being for the first time without the guidance of those who were familiar with the country, and what was more important, in this arid region, with the whereabouts of watering places. The pine trees became larger and the forest more dense as we proceeded. A heavy gale roared among the branches overhead, and about noon it commenced snow- ing. "Ascending to the table land, we happened upon an open portion of the forest and encountered the full vio- lence of the storm. Men and mules huddled together under such trees as afforded the best shelter, and waited 134 OUR UNITED STATES as resignedly as possible till the fury of the tempest had somewhat abated. The snow and the gale continued nearly all of the next day. The grass was entirely covered. The animals had to fast for twenty- four hours longer, and I thought that last night would have finished the majority of them, but singularly enough not one had died. "Our altitude is very great, the barometer shows an elevation of nearly seven thousand feet. "April 12. A march of twenty miles having been made, and no sign of water appearing, we had to put up with a dry camp. The grass was miserable, and altogether the mules fared badly. During the night the herders v/ere negligent, and at daybreak nearly a hundred of the animals were missing. They had taken the back trail for the lagoons, but having started late and travelled leisurely were overtaken not many miles from camp. The trip did not render them better fitted for the day's journey, which had to be delayed until they were brought back ten miles, conducted to the head of a ravine down which was a well beaten Indian trail. In the course of a few miles we had gone down into the plateau one or two thousand feet. Still no signs of water. The worn-out and thirsty beasts had begun to flag, when we were brought to a standstill by a fall a hundred feet deep in the bottom of the canon. At the brink of the precipice was an overhanging ledge of rocks, from which we could look down as into a well upon the continuation of the gorge far below. It seemed a marvel that a trail should be found leading to a place where there was nothing to do but return. A closer inspection showed that the trail still continued along the canon, traversing horizontally the face of the right hand bluff. The slight indentation appeared like a thread attached to the rocky wall, but a ARMY 135 trial proved that the path, though narrow and dizzy, had been cut with some care into the surface of the cliff, and afforded a foothold level and broad enough both for men and animals. I rode upon it first, and the rest of the party and the train followed one by one looking very much like a row of insects crawling upon the side of a building. The bottom of the canon meanwhile had been rapidly descending, and there were two or three falls where it dropped a hundred feet at a time, thus greatly increasing the depth of the chasm. The change had taken place so gradually that I was not sensible of it, till glancing down the side of my mule, I found that he was walking within three inches of the brink of a sheer gulf a thousand feet deep ; on the other side, nearly touching my knee, was an almost vertical wall rising to an enormous altitude. The sight made my head swim, and I dismounted and got ahead of the mule, a difficult and delicate operation, which I was thankful to have safely performed. A part of the men became so giddy that they were obliged to creep upon their hands and knees, being unable to walk or stand. In some places there was barely room to walk, and a slight deviation in a step would have precipitated one into the frightful abyss. "After an interval of uncomfortable suspense, the face of the rock made an angle, and just beyond the turn was a projection from the main wall with a surface fifteen or twenty yards square that would afford a foothold. The continuation of the wall was perfectly vertical, so that the trail could no longer follow it, and we found that the path descended the steep face of the cliff to the bottom of the canon. It did not take long to discover that no mule could accomplish this descent, and nothing remained but to turn back. The jaded brutes were collected upon 136 OUR UNITED STATES this little summit where they could be turned around, and then commenced to re-form for the hazardous jour- ney. The sun shone directly into the canon, and the glare reflected from the walls made the heat intolerable. The disappointed beasts, now two days without water, with glassy eyes and protruding tongues, plodded slowly along, uttering the most melancholy cries. The nearest water of which we had knowledge was almost thirty miles distant. "There was but one chance of saving the train, and after reaching an open portion of the ravine, the packs and saddles were removed, and two or three Mexicans started for the lagoons mounted upon the least exhausted animals, and driving the others loose before them. It was somewhat dangerous to detach them thus far from the main party, but there was no help for it. I gave in- structions to the Mexicans not to return for a couple of days. This will give the beasts time to rest, and afford us an opportunity of exploring the trail beyond the preci- pice, where we had to stop. "Camp 73, Colorado plateau, April 14. Lieutenant Tipton, Mr. Egloffstein, Mr. Peacock, and myself with a dozen men, formed the party to explore the canon, which from the summit looked smooth, was covered with hills, thirty or forty feet high. ... At the end of thirteen miles from the precipice an obstacle presented itself that there seemed to be no possibility of overcoming. A stone slab, reaching from one side of the canon to the other, terminated the plane which we were descending. Looking over the edge it appeared that the next level was forty feet below. A spring of water rose from the bed of the canon not far above, and trickled over the ledge, forming a pretty cascade. It was supposed that the Indians must have come to this point merely to pro- ARMY 137 cure water, but this theory was not altogether satisfac- tory and we sat down upon the rocks to discuss the matter. "Mr. Egloffstein lay down by the side of the creek, and projecting his head over the ledge to watch the cas- cade, discovered a solution of the mystery. Below the shelving rock, and hidden by it and the fall, stood a crazy looking ladder, made of rough sticks bound together with thongs of bark. It was almost perpendicular, and rested upon a bed of angular stones. The rounds had become rotten from the incessant flow of water. Mr. Egloffstein, anxious to have the first view of what was below, scrambled over the ledge and got his feet upon the upper round. Being a solid weight, he was too much for the insecure fabric, which commenced giving way. One side fortunately stood firm, and holding on to this with a tight grip, he made a precipitate descent. The other side and all the rounds broke loose and accompanied him to the bottom in a general crash, effectually cutting off the communication. Leaving us to devise means of getting him back he ran to the bend to explore. The canon Mr. Egloffstein saw could not be followed far; there were cascades just below. He perceived, however, that he was very near to its mouth and an Indian pointed out the exact spot where it united with the canon of the Rio Colorado. "It now remained to get Mr. Egloffstein back. The slings upon the soldiers' muskets were taken off and knotted together, and a line thus made which reached the bottom. Whether it would support his weight was a matter of experiment. It was a hard straight lift. The ladder pole was left, and rendered great assistance both to us and the rope, and the ascent was safely ac- complished. 138 OUR UNITED STATES "The examination being finished, it was time to return. On leaving camp we had expected to be back before night, and we had brought neither provisions nor over- coats. . . . Night came before the foot of the precipice where the train had stopped was reached. It was im- possible to distinguish the way in the dark, and we had to halt. After nightfall, as is always the case in these regions, it became black and cold. The canon was as dark as a dungeon. The surface of the ground being covered with rocks, a recumbent position was uncomfortable, and the rocks being interspersed with prickly pear and some other varieties of cactaccae it would have been unwise to walk about. The choice, therefore, lay between sitting down and standing still, which two recreations we essayed alternately for twelve hours, that might have been, from the sensations of the party, twelve days. As soon as it was light enough to see the way we put our stiffened limbs in motion. The summit once attained it was but five miles to camp, but the violent exercise of ascent, coming after a twenty- four hours' abstinence from food and rest, and a walk of more than thirty miles over a difficult road, proved so exhausting that during the last stretch, two or three of the men broke down, and had to have coffee and food sent back to them before they could proceed. "Camp 74, Forest lagoons, April 18. Our ever recon- noitering parties have now been in all directions, and everywhere have been headed off by impassable obstacles. . . . The positions of the main water-courses have been determined with considerable accuracy. . . . The lagoons by the side of which we are encamped furnish, as far as we have been able to discover, the only accessible water- ing place west of the mouth of the Diamond river. Dur- ing the Summer it is probable they are dry, and that no ARMY 139 water exists upon the whole of the Colorado plateau. We start for the south with some anxiety, not knowing how long it may be before water will be again met with. . . . "The mules, ignorant of what was before them, refused, as mules often do, to drink on the morning before leaving camp. A southeast course was followed. As the day advanced the heat became more oppressive, and a tract was entered where, the soil being loose and porous, the animals sank to their fetlocks at every step. "Darkness came on before we had c/iiite accomplished the descent upon the opposite side, and it was necessary to camp, not only without water, but on a very short allow- ance of grass. In spite of all the precautions some of the mules strayed, and while hunting for them a man got lost. By the time all were found the sun was high in the heaven, and shining with even more fervor than on the previous day. ... At the end of ten miles of weary travel a steep ascent brought us to the summit of a table that overlooked the country towards the south for a hundred miles. No place could be descried, far or near, that gave a promise of containing water. A more frightfully arid region probably does not exist upon the face of the earth. The wretched and broken down ani- mals, now forty-eight hours without drinking, and that, too, while making long marches under a burning sun, were brought to a halt. They had to be tightly hobbled, for, in their frantic desire for water, nothing else could have restrained them from rushing back to the only place where they were certain of finding it. Too thirsty to graze, they stood all night about camp, filling the air with distressing cries. This morning the weakened brutes staggered under their packs as though they were drunk, and their dismal moaning portended a speedy solu- 140 OUR UNITED STATES tion of their troubles should water not soon be found. For the third time the sun rose hot and glaring, and as the great globe of fire mounted the heavens its rays seemed to burn the brain. In this hot, dry atmosphere, when exercise is taken, the evaporation from the system is very great, and unless this is compensated for, the body soon becomes intensely parched. The men now suffered as well as the beasts. Mile after mile the dreary ride continued, and the flagging pace of the mules showed that they were on the eve of exhaustion. . . . "Our hopes rose upon seeing surface not composed of loose pebbles or porous earth, and we urged the fainting animals down the hill. Green grass carpeted the bottom of the ravine, a few hundred yards from its mouth a pro- jecting ledge threw a deep cool shadow over an extensive pool of clear, delicious looking water. The crazy beasts crowding and huddling upon one another, plunged into the pond and drank until they were ready to burst. A few yards above smaller basins of rock filled with the delightful beverage furnished an ample supply for the men." In conclusion Lieutenant Ives remarks : "The Navajoes at this time began to exhibit symptoms of disaffection. Our arrival at Fort Defiance was none too soon. Only a fortnight afterwards hostilities broke out between the tribe and the United States troops, which have seriously imperilled our safety had they commenced while we were passing through the Navajo territory. As it was, we reached the settlements upon the Rio Grande without interruption. All of the party, excepting myself, continued on towards the east crossing the plains from Santa Fe to Fort Leavenworth, and repairing thence to the seaboard. It was necessary for me to dis- pose of the steamer and certain property at Fort Yuma, ARMY 141 and to settle the accounts of some members of the ex- pedition who had gone back in the boat, and I accord- ingly took the stage from Santa Fe to El Paso, and from that place followed the southern overland mail route to San Diego. After disposing of the little boat that had done us such good service, to the transportation com- pany at the fort, I bid farewell to Captain Robinson and the Colorado, and proceeding to San Francisco took the first steamer for New York." CHAPTER X BUILDING OF THE TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILROADS To join the great Pacific coast with its rapidly increas- ing interests and population, with the East by railroad transportation became a vital question to the welfare of the Government. As early as 1836, a public meeting had been called by John Plumbe, a civil engineer of Dubuque, Iowa, to consider the project of such a railroad. Fre- mont's valuable explorations had stimulated public inter- est and during the years from 1840 to 1850 the question was repeatedly brought to the attention of the Govern- ment. Shortly before the close of the session in March, 1853, the first practical step was taken. This measure was the passage of the Salmon P. Chase bill appropriating $150,000 for the exploration of various routes along which it was. supposed a railroad might be constructed west of the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean. Under the supervision of the War Department, Captain Humphreys being in charge of the Pacific Railroad Office, six parties were fitted out and placed in the field. They were thoroughly equipped for scientific labors. The Smithsonian Institution had charge of the direction of the natural history apparatus, and furnished the neces- sary instruction as to the objects most important to be collected. The parties organized were as follows: 1. Line of the 47th parallel. This portion of the sur- 142 ARMY 143 vey placed under the command of Governor I. I. Stevens, was extensive in its organization, and first in the field. It was divided into two quite distinct parties, one pro- ceeding across the country to the Pacific, the other start- ing at the Columbia River and moving towards the east. The first division, immediately in charge of Governor Stevens, left St. Paul (where it was principally fitted out) on the 8th of June, 1853, and proceeded directly to Fort Union, at the mouth of the Yellowstone. Here it was joined by Lieutenant Donelson, who had embarked in the Fur Company's boat at St. Louis. From Fort Union the party proceeded along the Missouri to the mouth of Milk River, and up this stream to Fort Benten; thence across the mountains to the Mission of St. Mary's ; thence to Fort Colville, by the way of the Coeur d' Alene ; and finally to Vancouver and Olympia. Collateral lines were also traversed at the same or different times by Lieu- tenant Mullan, Lieutenant Donelson, Lieutenant Saxton, and others. The western division of the line, under command of Captain G. B. McClellan, proceeded from New York to San Francisco; thence to Vancouver, and next explored both sides of the Cascade Mountains for some distance northward. The party met Governor Stevens at Fort Colville, and continued thence to the northern boundary line. The main party, under Gov- ernor Stevens, was accompanied by Dr. George Suckley, United States Army, as surgeon and naturalist, although collections were also made by Lieutenants Donelson and Mullan. 2. Line of the 38th, 39th, and 41st parallels. This party was first organized under command of Captain J. W. Gunnison and Captain E. G. Beckwith. It started from Camp Shawnee Reservation on the 20th of June, and proceeded up the Sandy Hill fork of the Kansas; 144 OUR UNITED STATES thence across to the Arkansas and up to the Apispah. They next passed over to the Trincheres, next to the Huerfano, and over the mountains to Fort Massachusetts, by the El Sangre de Cristo pass. They next went through the Coochetope pass to Grand River of the Colorado, and finally, by way of the Wahsatch pass nearly to Sevier lake. Here a portion of the party, in- cluding Captain Gunnison, Mr. Kern, and Mr. Kreuz- feldt, was surprised by a band of Pah-Utahs and all killed. The command of the expedition then devolved upon Captain Beckwith, who proceeded to Salt Lake City, and thence in the Spring of 1854, by way of Fort Reading, to California, and back to Washington. 3. Line of the 35th parallel, under Captain A. W. Whipple. This party was almost as extensive in its organization and operations as that under Governor Stevens. For a time there were two divisions ; one under Captain Whipple, with Mr. H. B. Mollhausen as artist and zoologist and Doctor Bigelow, surgeon and botanist; the other under Lieutenant J. C. Ives, accompanied by Dr. C. B. Kennedy, as surgeon and naturalist. The party under Captain Whipple went from Fort Smith mainly up the Arkansas River, and across the Llano Estacada, via Anton Chico, to Albuquerque. Here it was met by Lieutenant Ives' division, which had pro- ceeded by way of New Orleans, Indianola, and San An- tonio to El Paso, by the usual mail route, and thence north to Albuquerque. From Albuquerque the united party went to the Little Colorado by way of Zuni ; next, by way of the San Francisco mountains to Bill Williams' Fork; down this stream to the Colorado; then up the Mohave, and across to San Francisco. 4. California line, under Lieutenant R. S. Williamson. This party proceeded to San Francisco by the sea, ARMY 145 where it was fitted out. Passing up the San Joaquin and Tulare valley, they explored the region about Walker's pass, the Tejon and other passes, and portions of the Mohave and Colorado. 5. Line of the 32nd parallel, west. After the com- pletion of Lieutenant Williamson's survey, Lieutenant Parke, who had accompanied him as assistant, proceeded by way of Warner's ranch to Fort Yuma, and up the Gila to the Pimo and Maricopa villages, thence by way of Tucson, the Copper Mines (Fort Webster) and Dona Ana, to El Paso. From this point the party returned to Washington by way of San Antonio. 6. Line of the 32nd parallel, east, under Captain J. Pope. This party started from El Paso, and proceeded in almost a straight line eastward to Preston, on Red River, passing through the Guadaloupe Mountains. The Pecos was crossed at the mouth of Delaware Creek, and the Llano Estacado traversed for a distance of 125 miles. The preceding lines are those organized or detailed for duty in the year 1853. Subsequent parties, however, were from time to time sent out by the War Depart- ment, either to verify old routes, or to determine new ones. The project of a transcontinental railroad developed by private enterprise was regarded by a large number of American citizens as a mad and impracticable undertak- ing. It had received little encouragement in public opinion and practically no financial support, except by those few far seeing promoters who realized that the development of the country west of the Missouri River would depend largely upon the constructive forces of railway communication. The line along the forty-second parallel of latitude known as the Great Platte Valley Route, explored by 146 OUR UNITED STATES General Dodge, Mr. Peter Day and others, was finally chosen. This route was made by the buffalo, next used by the Indians, then by the fur traders, next by the Mor- mons, and then by the overland immigration to California and Oregon. On this trail, or close to it, was built the Union and Central Pacific railroads to California, and the Oregon Short Line branch of the Union Pacific to Oregon. "Up to 1858," writes Major-General G. M. Dodge, Chief Engineer of the Union Pacific Railway, "all the projects for building a railroad across the continent were regarded as the Pacific roads, each route mentioned hav- ing a particular name. "In 1856 both political parties in convention passed resolutions favoring a Pacific railroad, and in 1857 President Buchanan advocated it as a reason for holding the Pacific coast people in the Union, and it was this sentiment that gave to the forty-second parallel line the name of the Union Pacific Railroad. In the Thirty- sixth Congress, General S. R. Curtis, of Iowa, then in Congress, became the champion of the Union Pacific. Curtis's bill passed the House in December, 1860. It failed to become a law, as the question of secession was up then and Lincoln had been elected President. In the extra session of the Thirty-second Congress in July 1861, Curtis reintroduced the bill and he left Congress to enter the army. Lincoln advocated its passage and building, not only as a military necessity, but as a means of hold- ing the Pacific coast to the Union. This bill became a law in 1862. "The Union Pacific Railway was organized on Sep- tember 2, 1862, at Chicago, Major General S. R. Curtis, of Iowa, being chairman of the commissioners appointed by Congress," says General Dodge. "In the Spring of ARMY 147 1863, when in command of the district of Corinth, Miss., I received a despatch from General Grant to proceed to Washington and report to President Lincoln. No ex- planation coming with the despatch, and having a short time before organized and armed some negroes for the purpose of guarding a contraband camp which we had at Corinth, which act had been greatly criticized in the army and by civilians, I was somewhat alarmed, think- ing possibly I was to be called to account. But on ar- riving at Washington I discovered that my summons was clue to an interview between Mr. Lincoln and myself at Council Bluffs in August, 1859. He was there to look after an interest in the Riddle tract he had bought of Mr. N. B. Judd, of Chicago. I had just arrived from an exploring trip to the westward, and after dinner, while I was resting on the stoop of the Pacific House, Mr. Lincoln sat down beside me, and by his kindly ways soon drew from me all I knew of the country west, and the results of my reconnaissances. As the saying is, he completely 'shelled my woods' getting all the secrets that were later to go to my employers. "Under the law of 1862 the President was to fix the eastern terminus of the Union Pacific Railway, and remembering our talk in the fifties, he wished to con- sult me in the matter. "The towns on the Missouri River within a distance of 100 miles of the mouth of the Platte River were using their influence to have the terminus made at each of their places, but it was evident that Mr. Lincoln had deter- mined upon some point north of the mouth of the Platte River, so that great valley could be utilized for the route of the railroad. After his interview with me, in which he showed a perfect knowledge of the question, and satisfying himself as to the engineering questions that 148 OUR UNITED STATES had been raised, I was satisfied he would locate the ter- minus at or near Council Bluffs. "On March 8, 1864, he notified the United States Senate that on the 17th day of November, 1863, he had located the 'eastern terminus of the Union Pacific Rail- way within the limits of the township of Omaha.' 'Since then/ he says, 'the company has represented to me that upon added survey made it has determined upon the precise point of departure of the branch road from the Missouri River, and located same within the limits designated in the order of November last/ "Mr. Lincoln also took up with me the construction of the road. I expressed opinion that no private enter- prise could build it, and that it must be done by the Government. He answered that the government had its hands full in the war, but was willing to support any company to the full extent of its power. After saying good-bye to the President, I went immediately to New York and Messrs. Durant, Cisco and others then con- nected with the company and reported Mr. Lincoln's words. It gave new courage to the company. The law of 1864 was passed, and Mr. Dey let the first contracts and grading was started in the fall of 1864, and the first rail laid in July, 1865. Look back to the beginning at the Missouri River, with no railway communication from the East, and 500 miles of the country in advance with- out timber, fuel, or any material whatever from which to build or maintain a road, except the sand for the bare roadbed itself, with everything to be transported and that by teams, or at best by steamboats, for hundreds and thousands of miles." "The Union Pacific was the pioneer and the first to lead the march of civilization into the wilderness," says Mr. John N. Baldwin, its General Solicitor. "It was not ARMY 149 conceived for private ends nor born of the spirit of com- mercialism, but was created to preserve a republic and projected by the impulse of improvement. "It is the only railroad in the United States that was constructed under federal muskets and protected by fed- eral troops, and of which it was said by the Supreme Court of the United States that the people of this coun- try would have sanctioned the action of Congress in its creation if it had departed from the traditional policy of the country regarding work of internal improvement and charged the Government itself with the direction and execution of the enterprise." In 1865, Mr. Dey, who up to that date had been Chief Engineer of the Union Pacific, resigned his posi- tion and the office was tendered to Major General Grenville M. Dodge. At that time General Dodge was in command of the United States forces on the plains in the Indian campaigns. General Grant was unwilling that he should leave but having finished his work by May, 1866, he was granted leave of absence by General W. T. Sherman, and entered upon the responsibilities of his new position shortly after General Dodge resigned his commission in the army to devote himself exclusively to the new enterprise. "The organization for the construction of the Union Pacific Railway," writes General Dodge, "was upon a military basis, nearly every man upon it had been in the Civil War; the heads of most of the engineering parties and all chiefs of the construction forces were officers in the Civil War; the chief of the track-laying force, Gen- eral Casement, had been a distinguished division com- mander in the Civil War, and at any moment I could call into the field a thousand men, well officered, ready to meet any crisis or any emergency. 150 OUR UNITED STATES "From the beginning to the completion of that road," he continues, "our success depended in a great measure on the cordial and active support of the army, especially its commander in chief, General Grant, and the com- mander of the Military Division of the West, General Sherman. He took a personal interest in the project. He visited the work several times each year during its continuance, and I was in the habit of communicating with him each month, detailing my progress and laying before him my plans. In return I received letters from him almost every month. We also had the cordial sup- port of the district commanders of the country through which we operated General Augur, General Cook, Gen- eral Gibbon, and General Stevenson, and their subordi- nates. General Grant had given full and positive instructions that every support should be given to me, and General Sherman in the detailed instructions prac- tically left it to my own judgment as to what support should be given by the troops on the plains. They were also instructed to furnish my surveying parties with pro- visions from the posts whenever our provisions should give out, and the subordinate officers, following the example of their chiefs, responded to every demand made no matter at what time of day or night, what time of year or in what weather, and took as much interest in the matter as we did. "General Sherman's great interest in the enterprise originated from the fact that he personally, in 1849, took from General Smith, commander on the Pacific Coast, the instructions to Lieutenants Warner and Williamson, of the engineers, who made the first surveys coming east from California, to ascertain, if possible, whether it 'was practicable to cross the Sierra Nevada range of mountains with a railroad. These instructions were ARMY 151 sent at General Sherman's own suggestion, and the orders, and examination preceded the act of Congress making appropriations for explorations and surveys for a railroad route from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean by four years. General Sherman's interest lasted during his life-time, and was signalized in the closing days of his official life by a summary of transcontinental railroad construction, the most exhaustive paper on the subject I have ever seen." The track-laying on the Union Pacific was a science. Mr. W. A. Bell, in an article on the Pacific Railroads, describes, after witnessing it, as follows : "We pundits of the far East, stood upon that embank- ment, only about a thousand miles this side of sunset, and backed westward before that hurrying corps of sturdy operators with a mingled feeling of amusement, curiosity, and profound respect. On they came. A tight car, drawn by a single horse, gallops up to the front with its load of rails. Two men seize the end of a rail and start forward, the rest of the gang taking hold by twos, until it is clear of the car. They came forward at a run. At the word of command the rail is dropped in its place, right side up with care, while the same process goes on at the other side of the car. Less than thirty seconds to a rail for each gang, and so four rails go down to the minute. Quick work, you say, but the fellows on the Union Pacific are tremendously in earnest. The moment the car is empty it is tipped over on the side of the track to let the next loaded car pass it, and then it is tipped back again; and it is a sight to see it go flying back for another load, propelled by a horse at full gallop at the end of 60 or 80 feet of rope, ridden by a young Jehu, who drives furiously. Close behind the first gang come the gangers, spikers, and bolters, and a lively time 152 OUR UNITED STATES they make of it. It is a grand 'anvil chorus/ that those sturdy sledges are playing across the plains. It is in a triple time, three strokes to the spike. There are 10 spikes to a rail, 400 rails to a mile, 1,800 miles to San Francisco 21,000,000 times are those sledges to be swung; 21,000,000 times are they to come down with their sharp punctuation before the great work of modern America is complete." "Each of our surveying parties," says General Dodge, "consisted of a chief, who was an experienced engineer, two assistants, also civil engineers, rodmen, flagmen, and chainmen, besides axmen, teamsters, and herders. When the party was expected to live upon the game of the country a hunter was added. Each party would thus consist of from eighteen to twenty- two men, all armed. When operating in a hostile Indian country they were regularly drilled, though after the Civil War this was unnecessary, as most of them had been in the army. Each party entering a country occupied by hostile Indians was generally furnished with a military escort of from ten men to a company under a competent officer. The duty of this escort was to protect the party when in camp. In the field the escort usually occupied promi- nent hills commanding the territory in which the work was to be done, so as to head off sudden attacks by the Indians. Notwithstanding this protection, the parties were often attacked, their chief or some of their men killed or wounded, and their stock run off. "Our Indian troubles commenced in 1864, and lasted until the tracks joined at Promontory. We lost most of our men and stock while building from Fort Kearney to Bitter Creek. At that time every mile of road had to be surveyed, graded, tied, and bridged under military protection. The order to every surveying corps, grad- ARMY 153 ing, bridging, and tie outfit was never to run when attacked. All were required to be armed ; and I do not know that the order was disobeyed in a single instance, nor did I ever hear that the Indians had driven a party permanently from its work. I remember one occasion when they swooped down on a grading outfit in sight of the temporary fort of the military some five miles away, and right in sight of the end of the track. The government commission to examine that section of the completed road had just arrived, and the commissioners witnessed the fight. The graders had their arms stacked on the cut. The Indians leaped from the ravines, and, springing upon the workmen before they could reach their arms, cut loose the stock and caused a panic. Gen. Frank P. Blair, General Simpson, and Doctor White were the commissioners, and they showed their grit by running to my car for arms to aid in the fight. We did not fail to benefit from this experience, for, on returning to the East the commission dwelt earnestly on the neces- sity of our being protected. "During the building of the road from Sherman, west, many questions arose in relation to the location, con- struction, the grades and curvatures of the work. All through I stood firmly for my line, for what I consid- ered was a commercially economical line for the com- pany, and for what I thought we ought to build under the specifications of the Government. News of the con- test between the company and the contractors reached Washington through the government commissioners. Generals Grant and Sherman were much interested, and in 1868 they came West with a party consisting of Maj. Gen. Philip H. Sheridan, Gen. August Kantz, Gen. Joseph C. Potter, Gen. Frederick Dent, Gen. William S. Harney, Gen. Louis C. Hunt, Gen. Adam Slemmer, Sid- 154 OUR UNITED STATES ney Dillon and F. C. Durant, who wired me to meet them at Fort Sanders, then the headquarters of General Gibbon. The questions in dispute between myself and the contractors was then taken up, and Generals Grant and Sherman took decided grounds in the matter, sup- porting me fully, so that I had no further trouble. "In my examination of the surveys across the plains during 1867, I had with me Gen. John A. Rawlins, Gen- eral Grant's chief of staff. General Rawlins's health was poor ; he was threatened with consumption, of which he afterwards died. General Grant wrote me, suggest- ing that in some one of my trips I take him with me so as to give him the benefit of the high, dry air, which it was a great pleasure to me to do. He came to me with his aide, Major Dunn. We had as escort two companies of cavalry under Colonel Misner and a company of in- fantry to guard the trains. "The Indians were very aggressive during the Summer of 1867. We were progressing remarkably well with the work when the combined attacks of the Indians along our whole line, not only on our surveying parties far west but on our graders, killing our men and stealing our stock, for a time virtually blocked up our work. I was pushing west with this party to overcome these deten- tions and reached the Red Desert. We were then in an unknown country, where we expected to find the divide of the continent. We found the basin that Brown had discovered and while I was preparing to cross this basin I discovered one of my parties, under Mr. Bates, who was running a line from Green River east across the desert. They had been three days without water, and had abandoned the wagons, and were running, by com- pass, due east as fast as they possibly could in the hope of striking a stream. We discovered them several miles ARMY 155 west of us when we reached the rim of the basin, and we first thought they were Indians, but upon watching them closely I discovered they were white men and saw they were in trouble. We made rapidly toward them and found them in a deplorable condition, men nearly exhausted, tongues swollen, and so weakened physically that they could not make much headway. Our oppor- tune finding of them saved some of their lives. "On the western rim of the basin, as I left it^ I ran into the remains of some old wagons and other articles which indicated that some military force had tried to cross there. Afterwards I learned that it had been Colonel Steptoe's expedition to Oregon, and that in crossing the Bridges Pass trying to reach northwest, they struck this country and were obliged to abandon a portion of their outfit. This demonstrated that no knowledge of this de- pression was had by any one until we developed it in our surveys. We had great difficulty in obtaining water for the operation of our road through the basin, being obliged to sink artesian wells to a great depth. "Upon our return trip, after reaching Salt Lake, we followed the Bear River up to its northern bend and on to the Snake River by the Blacksmith Fork to what is known as Grays Lake and undertook to cross the moun- tains from there directly eastward to the South Pass. The country was very rough. "When I reached the west base of the mountains I saw we were going to have trouble in getting our trains over. General Rawlins had become quite fatigued in the jour- ney, and I was in the habit of taking him and going ahead of the party, fixing our camp where he would be comfortable for the day, and then bringing up the rest of our party, escort and trains. This day I went nearly to the top of the first range, and when we raked away 156 OUR UNITED STATES the snow to pitch our tents we found the ground thick with the mountain strawberry. We had seen a good many grizzly bears near Grays Lake, driven from the mountains by the fires, and I left positive instruction for no one to go out and follow a grizzly or attempt to shoot one. The mountains were so steep and rough I went back to bring up the trains, which had to be hauled up the mountains with doubling up our mules and putting the infantry on prolongs ahead of them. In the after- noon, after we had gotten the trains over the roughest of the ground, I returned to camp and found Rawlins and Dunn away. I asked the cook where they were, and he said he thought they had gone to follow a grizzly that had passed by the camp a short time before. I had with me one of our best guides, Sol Gee. Knowing that if they found the bear and shot it there would in all prob- ability, be trouble, I took Gee and we followed their trail as rapidly as possible. It was but a short time until we heard two shots, and in a few minutes afterwards we saw Rawlins and Dunn coming towards us with the greatest speed. I knew then they had shot at the bear and had wounded him, and he was following them. I said to Sol Gee, who was a sure shot, that I would drop below the trail and attract the attention of the bear as he passed ; and if I fired and missed, he must be sure in his shot or the bear would get me. "As Rawlins and Dunn came up I saw the bear was close to them, and I drew the bear's attention, and he turned toward me, giving me a very good shot, but I hit him a little too far back, but did not stop him, and he made for me. Gee waited until he got him face to face and then shot and hit him between the eyes and dropped him. He was one of the largest grizzlies I ever saw. We gave the hide and claws to Rawlins and his friends. ARMY 157 General Rawlins, who was a great stickler in the army for obeying orders and who was sometimes very strong in his language, turned to me and, in his most emphatic language, said we ought to have let the bear get them for their disobeying my orders, but that he was not to blame. It was Major Dunn, who was crazy to kill a grizzly, and he was fool enough to let him try it. "When we reached the South Pass there had been gold discovered just north in what was known as the 'Miner's Delight Mines.' The arrival of such a party with so distinguished a person as General Rawlins drew immedi- ate attention to us and we were given a lunch and a great deal of consideration. Our guide, Sol Gee, when he got to the towns was apt to drink too much, and when we left after our lunch in the afternoon, I could not find him, and I sent Major Dunn to hunt him up. I told Dunn under no circumstances to let us get more than two miles away before he joined us, because I knew the Indians were in the valley of the Sweetwater and had been doing considerable depredation. We moved on, and I thought no more about Dunn or Gee until we had gone eight or ten miles, when I discovered they were not with us. It was nearly night and we went into camp. I had discovered fresh Indian signs, and I .knew they were watching us, and it made me very anxious for the safety of Dunn and Gee. I took half a dozen of the best mounted cavalry with me and went back, supposing they were still at the miner's camp. "I had not gone more than three or four miles when shots came flying at us from the bowlders in the road ahead. I thought it was Indians and told Guide Adams, who was with me, to seek cover and try to communicate with them. When he called, Gee answered, and when we rode up to them we found Dunn and Gee behind the 158 OUR UNITED STATES rocks, thinking that we were Indians. Gee had told Dunn when he heard us coming that their only salvation was to get to cover and fire at us, and that in the night it would probably scare the Indians away. I asked Dunn why he had not obeyed my orders. He said that when he found Gee he was not able to travel, and, of course, like a good soldier, he could not leave him. After he got Gee sobered up they waited until dark, hoping they could make camp without being discovered by the Indians. "In the Winter of 1867-68 the end of our track was at Cheyenne. During that winter there had assembled there a very large number of people ; possibly it was the greatest gambling place ever established on the plains, and it was full of desperate characters. "There had been established there by the government Fort D. A. Russell, some two or three miles north of the railroad track, and there was in command Gen. J. D. Stevenson, who had served with me during the civil war. In my absence these desperate characters got together, held a meeting and jumped the town, refusing to recog- nize the authorities we had put over the town or in any way comply with our orders. They had commenced rob- bing our trainmen and committing other depredations that I knew we must stop or lose all control of the rail- road forces at the end of the track. I immediately wired Gen. Stevenson, calling his attention to the condition of affairs and asking him to use his troops to bring about order and a recognition of our authority, and while he had no legal right in the matter he turned out his troops as skirmishers and drove every citizen in the town to a mile or so south of the track and then held a parley with them. He told them that until they were ready to com- ply with the orders and recognize the authority of the ARMY 159 railroad company they should not go back to their prop- erty; that really the land belonged to the United States and the railway was occupying it under the Government charter. This brought them immediately to terms and they immediately made peace, and were allowed to come back to town and we afterwards had no more trouble with them. I recite this only as showing the great aid the Government always gave us in building the road. "The law of 1862 provided that the Union Pacific and Central Pacific should join their tracks at the California state line. The law of 1864 allowed the Central Pacific to build 150 miles east of the state line, but that was changed by the law of 1866, and the two companies allowed to build, one east and the other west, until they met. The building of 500 miles of road during the Sum- mers of 1866 and 1867, hardly twelve months, had aroused great interest in the country, and much excite- ment in which the Government took a part. We were pressed to as speedy a completion of the road as possible, although ten years had been allowed by Congress. The officers of the Union Pacific had become imbued with this spirit, and they urged me to plan to build as much road as possible in 1868. "The reaching of the summit of the first range of the Rocky Mountains, which I named Sherman, in honor of my old commander, in 1867, placed us comparatively near good timber for ties and bridges, which, after cut- ting, could be floated down the mountain streams at some points to our crossing, and at others to within twenty- five or thirty miles of our work. This afforded great relief to the transportation. "We laid the track over the Wasatch Range in the dead of Winter on top of snow and ice, and I have seen a whole train of cars, track and all slide off the bank and 160 OUR UNITED STATES into the ditch as a result of a thaw and the ice that cov- ered the banks. "The Central Pacific had made wonderful progress coming east, and we abandoned the work from Promon- tory to Humboldt Wells, bending all our efforts to meet them at Promontory. Between Ogden and Promontory each company graded a line, running side by side, and in some places one line was right above the other. The laborers upon the Central Pacific were Chinamen, while ours were Irishmen, and there was much ill feeling be- tween them. Our Irishmen were in the habit of firing their blasts in the cuts without giving warning to the Chinamen on the Central Pacific working right above them. From this cause several Chinamen were severely hurt. Complaint was made to me by the Central Pacific people, and I endeavored to have the contractors bring all hostilities to a close, but, for some reason or other, they failed to do so. One day the Chinamen, appreciat- ing the situation, put in what is called a 'grave' on their work, and when the Irishmen right under them were all at work let go their blast and buried several of our men. This brought about a truce at once. From that time the Irish laborers showed due respect for the Chinamen and there was no further trouble. "On the morning of May 10, 1869, Hon. Leland Stan- ford, governor of California and president of the Cen- tral Pacific, accompanied by Messrs. Huntington, Hop- kins, Crocker, and trainload of California's distinguished citizens, arrived from the west. During the forenoon Vice-President T. C. Durant and Directors John R. Duff and Sidney Dillon and Consulting Engineer Silas A. Sey- mour, of the Union Pacific, with other prominent men, including a delegation of Mormons from Salt Lake City, came in on a train from the East. The National Gov- ARMY 161 ernment was represented by a detachment of 'regulars' from Fort Douglass, Utah, accompanied by a band; and 600 others, including Chinese, Mexicans, Indians, half- breeds, negroes, and laborers, suggesting an air of cos- mopolitanism, all gathered around the open space where the tracks were to be joined. The Chinese laid the rails from the west end and the Irish laborers laid them from the east end, until they met and joined. "Telegraphic wires were so connected that each blow of the descending sledge could be reported instantly to all parts of the United States. Corresponding blows were struck on the bell of the city hall in San Francisco, and with the last blow of the sledge a cannon was fired at Fort Point. General Safford presented a spike of gold, silver and iron as the offering of the Territory of Arizona. Governor Tuttle, of Nevada, presented a spike of silver from his State. The connecting tie was of California laurel, and California presented the last spike of gold in behalf of that State. A silver sledge had also been presented for the occasion. A prayer was offered. Governor Stanford, of California, made a few appropriate remarks on behalf of the Central Pacific and the Chief Engineer responded for the Union Pacific. Then the telegraphic inquiry from the Omaha office, from which the circuit was to be started, was an- swered : ' 'To everybody : Keep quiet. When the last spike is driven at Promontory Point we will say "Done." Don't break the circuit, but watch for the signals of the blows of the hammer. The spike will soon be driven. The signal will be three dots for the commencement of the blows/ "The magnet tapped one two three then paused 'Done/ The spike was given its first blow by Presi- 162 OUR UNITED STATES dent Stanford and Vice-President Durant followed. Neither hit the spike the first time, but hit the rail, and were greeted by the lusty cheers of the onlookers, ac- companied by the screams of the locomotives and the music of the military band. Many other spikes were driven on the last rail by some of the distinguished persons present, but it was seldom that they first hit the spike. The original spike, after being tapped by the officials of the companies, was driven home by the chief engineers of the two roads. Then the two trains were run together, the two locomotives touching at the point of junction, and the engineers of the two locomotives each broke a bottle of champagne on the other's engine. Then it was declared that the connection was made, and the Atlantic and Pacific were joined together, never to be parted. "The wires in every direction were hot with congratu- latory telegrams. President Grant and Vice-President Colfax were the recipients of especially felicitous mes- sages. "On the evening of May 8th, in San Francisco, from the stages of the theatres and other public places, notice was given that the two roads had met and were to be welded on the morrow. The celebration there began at once and practically lasted through the 10th. The boom- ing of cannons and the ringing of bells were united with other species of noise-making in which jubilant hu- manity finds expression for its feelings on such an oc- casion. The buildings in the city were gay with flags and bunting. Business was suspended and the longest procession that San Francisco had ever seen attested the enthusiasm of the people. At night the city was brilliant with illuminations. Free railway trains filled Sacramento with an unwonted crowd, and the din of ARMY 163 cannon, steam whistles, and bells followed the final message. "At the eastern terminus in Omaha the firing of a hun- dred guns on Capitol Hill, more bells and steam whistles, and a grand procession of fire companies, civic societies, citizens and visiting delegations echoed the sentiments of the Californians. In Chicago a procession of four miles in length, a lavish display of decoration in the city and on the vessels in the river, and an address by Vice-presi- dent Colfax in the evening were the evidences of the city's feeling. In New York, by order of the mayor, a salute of a hundred guns announced the culmination of the great undertaking. In Trinity Church the Te Deum was chanted, prayers were offered, and when the services were over the chimes rang out 'Old Hundred/ the 'As- cension Carol' and national airs. The ringing of bells in Independence Hall and the fire stations in Philadel- phia produced an unusual concourse of citizens to cele- brate the national event. In the other large cities of the country, the expressions of public gratification were hardly less hearty and demonstrative. Bret Harte was inspired to write the celebrated poem of 'What the En- gines Said.' The first verse is : "What was it the engines said, Pilots touching head to head, Facing on the single track, Half the world behind each back? This is what the engines said, Unreported and unread. "Not forgetting my old commander, General W. T. Sherman, who had been such an aid in protecting us in the building of the road, in answer to our telegram, sent this dispatch: 164 OUR UNITED STATES "WASHINGTON, D. C, May 11, 1869 "Gen. G. M. Dodge. "In common with millions, I sat yesterday and heard the mystic taps of the telegraphic battery announce the nailing of the last spike in the great Pacific road. In- deed, am I its friend? Yea. Yet, am I to be a part of it, for as early as 1854 I was vice-president of the effort begun in San Francisco under the contract of Robinson, Seymour and Co. As soon as General Thomas makes certain preliminary inspections in his new command on the Pacific, I will go out, and I need not say, will have different facilities from that of 1846, when the only way to California was by sailing around Cape Horn, taking our ships one hundred and ninety-six days. All honor to you, to Durant, to Jack and Dan Casement, to Reed, and the thousands of brave fellows who have wrought out this glorious problem, spite of changes, storms, and even doubts of the incredulous, and all the obstacles you have happily surmounted. "W. T. SHERMAN, General." CHAPTER XI THE RECONSTRUCTION OF THE SOUTH AT the close of the Civil War, there were in round numbers one million thirty- four thousand officers and men to be mustered out of military service. In the Spring of 1865 this gigantic labor was in progress, and was mainly completed by the end of the year. The Union volunteers upon receiving their certificate of dis- charge, returned joyfully to their homes, proud of their victory and hopeful in the prospect of prosperity and peace. The regular army at the close of the war, con- sisted of six regiments of cavalry, of twelve companies each, five regiments of artillery, twelve companies each, ten regiments of infantry each of one battalion of ten companies and nine regiments of infantry, each of three battalions of eight companies, a total including all branches of four hundred and forty-eight companies. In 1866 the regular army numbered thirty-eight thou- sand five hundred and forty men, of which two regi- ments of cavalry and four regiments of infantry were composed of colored men. Very different were the conditions of the soldiers of the Confederacy, a disbanded army of disheartened and impoverished men, who had struggled against federal authority until all hope of a successful resistance had ceased, and utterly exhausted, had laid down their arms only because there was no longer any power to use them. Under the generous parole of General Grant they now 165 166 OUR UNITED STATES returned to their homes, laid waste and desolate by the terrible havoc of war. Their farms were overgrown with weeds, their plantations stripped and barren, their industries destroyed and all business paralyzed by the calamities that followed the wake of fighting armies. Shorn of private wealth, bankrupt in public finances, what had been the Southern Confederacy, now existed as States without commercial connections, without na- tional or international relations, without organized gov- ernment and in a restless, if not dangerous, condition of complete anarchy. In 1863 President Lincoln had pro- claimed that as soon as one-tenth of the voters in any of the seceded States would swear to abide by the Con- stitution and the emancipation laws, they might organize state governments; during the following two years Louisiana, Arkansas, and Tennessee formed state gov- ernments under these conditions. Upon the death of Lincoln, to President Johnson fell the difficult task of enforcing existing national laws and establishing as far as his limited powers permitted a system of government such as might be provided for by existing national statutes. Exercising his powers as commander-in-chief of a victorious army he appointed provisional governors over the revolted States, whose powers were perforce limited to military authority. These officials were regu- larly commissioned and their compensation was paid, as the Secretary of War states, "from the appropriation for army contingencies because the duties performed by these parties were regarded as of a temporary character, ancillary to the withdrawal of military force. The dis- bandment of armies, and the reduction of military ex- penditure, by provisional organizations for the protection of civil rights, the preservation of peace, and to take the place of armed force in the respective States." ARMY 167 Through the medium of these provisional governors President Johnson endeavored to organize state govern- ments. The war hardly closed before the people in these insurrectionary States came forward and haughtily claimed as a right, the privilege of participating at once in that government which they had for four years been righting to overthrow. Allowed and encouraged by the Executive to organize State governments, they at once placed in power leading rebels, unrepentant and un- pardoned. Upon the re-assembling of Congress in December, im- mediate steps were taken to define the legal status of the "states" lately in revolt and this difficult and perplexing problem became the storm centre of national legislation. While the aftermath of political disorganization en- gaged the bitter activities of North and South, a still more grave and seemingly hopeless problem had pre- sented itself from the inception of hostilities and cul- minated at the close of the war in some four million negroes, men, women and children, wandering home- less, flocking to the cities, and for the most part penni- less, in the possession of new found freedom, the use for which they were in no wise prepared. During the suc- cessive operations of the Rebellion the problems of car- ing for the hords of negroes and poor whites who had fled to protection within the Union lines had greatly taxed the energies and resource of the commanding gen- erals. Previous to the Emancipation Proclamation, General B. F. Butler's reply to the request from a southern of- ficer to restore to their owners three escaped slaves, had to a large extent solved a delicate situation. In the in- terview May 23rd, 1861, he said to the agent, "The ques- tion is simply whether they shall be used for or against 168 OUR UNITED STATES the Government of the United States. I shall hold these negroes as contraband of war." Fleeing to the Union lines in increasing numbers, the men, at the discretion of the Union commanders were given employment in the trenches or as teamsters or en- listed as soldiers, and the women earned their subsistence by washing, mending the soldiers' clothes, marketing, etc. Army rations were served to the children and to those too feeble to work, but, nevertheless, extreme desti- tution overtook whole villages of negroes, the problem becoming more and more grave as time elapsed.. Early in the progress of the war, Brigadier General Rufus Saxton, by his authority as local military gover- nor, had put in operation a successful plan in June, 1862, by establishing market houses at Hilton Head and Beau- fort, South Carolina, where the produce of the planta- tions worked by settlements of negroes on several of the Sea Islands was profitably disposed of. General Grant introduced another plan of relief by which large crops of neglected cotton and corn were har- vested, sent north for sale and the proceeds turned over to the government. For this labor the negroes received wages, clothing and food, under the direction of Colonel Eaton who was appointed by General Grant as Chief of Negro Affairs. "Home Colonies" were established on abandoned lands and other expedients for relief were put in operation with more or less success. Charitable Organizations of the north were early in the field to es- tablish schools and otherwise render assistance to the suffering negroes. In January 1863, Congressman Thomas D. Eliot, of Massachusetts, introduced a bill in Congress to establish a Bureau of Emancipation. This bill was to create a commissioner of Freedman's Affairs with powers of gen- ARMY 169 eral superintendence and management of matters and laws connected with the freedmen all military and civil officers having to do with freedmen's affairs were to be governed by him and he was to protect the negroes in their civil rights, allow them to occupy and cultivate abandoned lands, to see that they received compensa- tion for labour in the interest of others, and as far as possible to settle all disputes and controversies. The commissioner was to appoint assistant commissioners who would carry out the operation of the Bureau and the commissioner himself was to act under the super- vision and direction of the Secretary of War. Although this bill occasioned a lively debate in Con- gress and hot opposition, a new draft with slight changes passed both houses the following session ; was signed by President Lincoln, March 3, 1865, and the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands became an established law. General O. O. Howard, a young officer of thirty-four, whose brilliant war record had won him laurels and hosts of friends, was summoned immediately to Washington and tendered the important position of Commissioner of this new-formed Bureau. General Howard asked Mr. Stanton for a few days in which to consider such an important appointment; on the 12th of May he called on the Secretary and pronounced him- self as ready to assume the responsibilities of this newly created office. "He briefly expressed his satisfaction," writes General Howard, "and sent for the papers, chiefly letters from correspondents, widely separated, and reports, official and unofficial, touching upon matters which pertained to refugees and freedmen. The clerk in charge brought in a large, oblong, bushel basket heaped with letters, and documents. Mr. Stanton, with both hands holding 170 OUR UNITED STATES the handles at each end, took the basket and extended it to me and with a smile said : 'Here, general, here's your Bureau !' " The Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands was a temporary expedient designed solely to tide over a crisis in Federal affairs, until such time as the negro should be in a position to assume the responsibili- ties of his own living and betterment. Four million souls were to be directed, protected and materially assisted at the discretion of the commissioner and General Howard lost no time in naming his military assistants. Among those were Colonel Orlando Brown, Eliphalet Whittlesey, T. W. Osborn, Samuel Thomas, General Clinton, B. Fisk, General J. W. Sprague, and Chaplain Conway. These officers were designated to their several districts in the south. Colonel John Eaton was designated for the District of Columbia. At the home office, General W. E. Strong was appointed Inspector General for the whole field, Colonel J. S. Fullerton, Adjutant General, Lieuten- ant Colonel Geo. W. Ballock, Chief Disbursing Officer and head of the Subsistence Distribution. Captain Sam- uel L. Taggart, Assistant Adjutant General, Major William Towler, Assistant Adjutant General, Captain J. M. Brown, Assistant Quartermaster and Surgeon C. W. Horner, Chief Medical Officer. General Howard's personal staff consisted of Major H. M. Stinson, Captain T. W. Gilbreth, Captain A. S. Cole and Lieutenant J. A. Sladen. With this force and subordinate officers amounting to nearly 2,000 officers, agents and other employes, the Bureau inaugurated a remarkable framework of author- ity upon which the supervision and management of all subjects relating to refugees and freedmen were system- atically and conscientiously handled. Northern benevo- ARMY 171 lent societies became the friends and allies of this depart- ment and during the year 1866 more than one hundred and fifty thousand freedmen and their children regularly attended the schools established by the Bureau. Desti- tute persons numbering thousands were helped to procure situations and others put to work on abandoned lands under the control of the Bureau. From its inception, President Johnson was not in har- mony with the Freedmen's Bureau, and the strained rela- tions between the Secretary of War and the President dated from this event. Even more strained were the conditions existing between Congress and the President and the act dated March 2, 1867, for the military gov- ernment of the "rebel States," the subsequent act of March 23, 1867, prescribing the conditions of organiza- tion of State governments, previous to their restoration to the Union, and the supplementary act of July 19, 1867, were all passed over the President's veto. "The terrible oppression of the Southern people em- bodied in those acts of Congress," writes General Scho- field, "has hardly been appreciated by even the most enlightened and conservative people of the North. Only those who actually suffered the baneful effects of the unrestrained working of those laws can ever realize their full enormity. The radical Congress was not content to impose upon the Southern States impartial suffrage to whites and blacks alike. They were not content even to disfranchise the leading rebels, according to the terms of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution. Even those would not be sufficient to put the Southern whites under the domination of their former slaves and of adventurers from the North, and thus secure the radical supremacy in the reconstructed States. Hence another and an enormous stride was taken, with the purpose of 172 OUR UNITED STATES putting those States under what became known as 'car- pet-bag' governments, so offensive as to be nearly intol- erable even to their authors. That stride consisted in imposing the so-called 'iron-clad oath' upon all officers, of whatever grade or character, in all the former Con- federate States. That oath excluded from office not only all who had in any way taken active part in the rebellion, but even the most constant Union men of the South, who had remained at home during the war; for not one of them had escaped 'giving aid or comfort' in some way to those engaged in the rebellion." The Act of March 2, 1867, provided for five military districts which were organized with General Schofield in command of Virginia; General Sickles for North and South Carolina ; General George H. Thomas for Georgia, Florida and Alabama; General Ord for Mississippi and Arkansas; General Sheridan for Louisiana and Texas. Upon these officers, their assistants and successors, de- volved duties of the most delicate and trying nature. Partisan hatred, fanned by the discordance and oppres- sion of Congress, resulted in a wide range of compli- cated and perplexing questions which taxed the executive and judicial authority of the military to the uttermost. Of the five generals appointed to the military districts, Sheridan and Pope were in favor of strong measures in dealing with the South. General Sickles showed a tendency to follow their example Schofield and Ord, on the other hand, were for moderate and less exacting measures, and, though military officers are not supposed to have political opinions, it was nevertheless impossible that the great issues of the day should not direct the conduct and judgment of these commanders. "In order to sustain their honourable reputations a degree of tact and discretion in civil affairs was essential that far ARMY 173 exceeded anything that had been required of them be- fore." It was not within the possibility of human nature that the 19,320 Union soldiers distributed among 134 posts in the ten southern states should meet the favor and approval of the whites. Though submission was a necessity, resentment and indignation were constantly in evidence, and, as the military government was not one of form alone, but reached the commonest concerns of life, the conflict of authority, denunciation and reproach was the prescribed attitude assumed toward the military. One of the first duties of these officers was the modi- fication of arbitrary measures towards the negroes, recently enacted by the states, whipping and maiming, imprisonment for debt were prohibited, and the right of the negro to offer testimony in a court of justice, overturned the established order of things. The most harassing question that had to be dealt with by the generals on assuming their commands was that of their relation to the officers of the existing state gov- ernments. In pursuance of their express power to main- tain order, the generals were, however, obliged to assume that a control over the personnel of the state administra- tion was implied. Removals from office, accordingly, were made from the beginning on grounds of inefficiency. As removals did not abolish the offices, but were fol- lowed by appointments, military headquarters tended to become the centre of a keen struggle for place and patron- age. The mutual recriminations of the parties to such struggles were echoed throughout the land and contrib- uted one more element to the embarrassment of the com- manders. The manner of filling vacancies caused by removal or otherwise also gave rise to serious discussion. Under military law there seemed no doubt that an offi- 174 OUR UNITED STATES cer or soldier could be detailed by the commander to perform the duties of any position. This method was employed in many cases, but the supply of troops was entirely inadequate to the demand for non-military ser- vices and resort had to be made to civilians. "So far as the criminal law was concerned, the fail- ures of justice which had been alleged as justifying the establishment of military government were attributed to the administration rather than the content of the law. The military commissions which were constituted with various degrees of system and permanency by the district commanders served very effectively to supplement the regular judiciary in the application of the ordinary state law. No extensive modifications of the law itself, there- fore, were considered necessary. When policemen or sheriffs failed to arrest suspected or notorious offenders, the troops did the work; when district attorneys failed to prosecute vigorously, or judges to hold or adequately to punish offenders, the latter were taken into mili- tary custody; when juries failed to convict, they were supplemented by the military courts. "There was no room for doubt that the Southern states were all in a condition of economic demoraliza- tion. As usual under such circumstances, the com- plaints of debtors, based generally on real hardship were loud and widespread. Not in the Carolinas alone, but all through the South, the demand for stay laws was heard. It would hardly have been surprising if all the district commanders, in the plentitude of their powers and the benevolence of their hearts, had sought to bring prompt relief by decreeing new tables. General Sickles, after describing the distress due to crop failure and debt, and the 'general disposition shown by creditors to en- force upon an impoverished people the immediate col- ARMY 175 lection of all claims,' declared that 'to suffer all this to go on without restraint or remedy is to sacrifice the general good.' Accordingly, he announced the follow- ing regulations, among others, to remain in force until the reconstructed governments should be established. Imprisonment for debt was prohibited. The institution or continuance of suits, or the execution of judgments, for the payment of money on causes of action arising between December 19, 1860, and May 15, 1865, was for- bidden. The sale of property upon execution for liabili- ties contracted before December 19, 1860, or by foreclo- sure of mortgage was suspended for one year. Advances of capital, required 'for the purpose of aiding the agri- cultural pursuits of the people,' were assured of protec- tion by the most efficient remedies contained in existing law; and wages of agricultural labour were made a lien on the crop. A homestead exemption not to be waived, was established for any defendant having a family de- pendent upon his labour. The currency of the United States was ordered to be recognized as legal tender. Property of an absent debtor was exempted from attach- ment by the usual process; and the demand for bail in suits brought to recover ordinary debts, 'known as actions excontractu,' was forbidden. "These sweeping enactments were followed by others of a similar character. Having prohibited the manu- facture and regulated the sale of whiskey within the dis- trict, General Sickles further decreed that no action should be entertained in any court for the enforcement of contracts made for the manufacture, sale, transpor- tation, storage or insurance of intoxicating liquors. Hav- ing prohibited discrimination in public conveyances be- tween citizens 'because of color or caste,' he gave to any one injured by such discrimination a right of action for 176 OUR UNITED STATES damages. Finally, he abolished distress for rent, and ordered that the crops should be subject to a first lien for labor and second lien for rent of the land." Thus, in conjunction with the commissioners of the Freedmen's Bureau, a wide range of duties was per- formed by the Army assistance rendered to the needy, schools organized, orphan asylums established, medical aid administered, the rights of citizens defended, dis- turbances investigated, besides attention to innumerable lesser duties devolving upon such authority under the trying and almost unsupportable conditions in which the South found itself. Manifold as were these duties of the district com- manders, they were secondary to the main instructions under which they had been appointed, which emphasized the necessity of rendering "adequate protection to life and property" and the establishment of a new political organization according to the methods laid down in the acts of Congress. As a rule the Generals in command of the military districts of the South did not sympathize with the radical measures of Congress and they endeav- ored to execute the trying duties imposed upon them with kindness, firmness and absolute impartiality, there- by occasioning the least possible suffering and incon- venience. In their immediate duties toward the formation of State Governments and the registering of legal voters, they endeavored as far as possible to conciliate rather than antagonize those loyal, well-intentioned men whose intellectual abilities and personal attainments were at every turn outraged by the intolerable conditions of negro and "carpet-bag" rule. Nevertheless, it was neces- sary to ignore partisan consideration, to execute the laws faithfully without reference to persons and to protect ARMY 177 the rights and liberties of all individuals whatever their race or color. During the period of rehabilitation, disorder and insur- rection required the constant presence of troops who were not infrequently called upon for prompt and vigor- ous action. Missouri was the scene of violence and dis- order in 1866 when the repeated outrages committed upon the negroes by lawless idlers, whose repeated acts of brigandage had put the community in a state of terror, required the summary action of the military authorities, who pursued and eventually drove the marauders out of the state. On the 16th of April the same year, Norfolk, Virginia, was the scene of a bloody riot between discharged colored soldiers of the Union Army who had purchased the arms they had carried during the war and certain Confederate soldiers who had kept their organization and held bitter hatred toward the late bondmen. The negroes paraded the streets on that day in honor of the passage of the civil rights bill with the result that they were fired upon by the whites, which continued during the night, a num- ber of men being killed and open threats made by large bodies of men to exterminate the negroes. Captain Stanhope, Twelfth Infantry, kept his men constantly on duty to disperse the rioters and when the outlook be- came more alarming, he sent for reinforcements from Fortress Monroe, which quelled the disturbance and restored order. New Orleans, Mobile, Memphis, Franklin, were also the scene of bitter class hatred resulting in the burning of negro school houses, churches and dwellings, and the shooting, maltreating and killing of all who resisted. At Memphis, General Stoneman assumed military con- trol, suspended the civil power, and stationed United 178 OUR UNITED STATES States troops at various points throughout the city. These men were given strict orders to break up the small- est assemblages of rioters and were kept constantly on duty for forty-eight hours, when they were relieved by re-enforcements from Nashville. In September, 1867, the elections at Nashville and Memphis were the scene of another outburst of popular outrage, which was quieted by the presence of Federal troops. While the States were under military control, it de- volved upon the military officers to preserve peace at all times, with or without the concurrence of civil authori- ties. Upon the passage of the act of Congress, June 25, 1868, which readmitted the Southern States and restored them to the legal status which existed prior to secession, military authority as laid down in the reconstruction acts ceased to exist and commanding officers of posts or de- tachments were forbidden to interfere in civil affairs, unless upon proper application by civil authorities to preserve the peace. However pleasing such a state of affairs might be to the Southern whites in general, eight years of intense partisan feeling had developed a condition of lawlessness that soon developed into serious menace to public safety. Congress, having assumed the formal reconstruction of the Southern States, enfranchised the negro, and thereby temporarily weakened the political power of the whites. Secret organizations of rebellious white men banded themselves together and gradually formed the nucleus of a masked army whose oaths of perpetual secrecy with the penalty of death attached to its viola- tion, the obligation of implicit obedience to the chief or authority of the "inner circle" made these societies for- midable and dangerous. ARMY 179 Major-General Thomas, in command of the Depart- ment of the Cumberland in his report, dated October 1, 1868, makes first official mention of this masked army of desperadoes : "Accounts of it from many sources were received at these headquarters. The newspapers recognized its existence by publishing articles on the subject, either denunciatory or with an attempt to treat its proceedings as harmless jokes, according to the political opinions of their editors. The assistant commissioner of the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands for Tennessee in his reports, copies of which were furnished me, narrated many of the proceedings of the organiza- tion, whose acts were shown to be of a lawless and dia- bolical nature. Organized companies of men, mounted and armed, horses and riders being disguised, patrolled the country, making demonstrations calculated to frighten quiet citizens, and in many instances abused and outraged them, especially that class of colored people who by their energy, industry, and good conduct are most prominent. "I did not think it necessary to take any action on the information furnished until the month of March, when a member of the legislature of Tennessee sent me a writ- ten statement of the doings of this organization, saying it carried terror and dismay throughout the country ; that the civil authorities were powerless and appeared terror struck; that his own life was threatened, and asked if something could not be done by the General Govern- ment to protect the community ; if not, there was danger of a bloody collision." "From the numerous cases of murder and outrage per- petrated upon the negroes and those who befriended them during the days of the reconstruction," writes General Howard, "which were reported to my officers and were 180 OUR UNITED STATES by them recorded with the different circumstances attend- ing them, it is now clear that the main object from first to laSt was somehow to regain and maintain over the negro that ascendency which slavery gave, and which was being lost by emancipation, education, and suffrage. "Our work of establishing schools went steadily on," continues the General. "Early in 1868, however, was the first appearance in my Bureau school reports of an offen- sive secret organization. It was from Charlestown, W. Va. Our workers received a note from the 'Ku-Klux- Klan.' Not a white family there after that could be found willing to board the excellent lady teachers. At Frostburg, a male teacher was threatened with violence. The Klan sent him notes ordering him to depart. Loyal West Virginians, however, stood by him and he did not go. In Maryland, also, one teacher was warned and forced to leave. The Klan signed their rough document which was placed in his hand, 'Ku-Klux-Klan.' The face of the envelope was covered with scrawls; among these were the words: 'Death! Death!' By a similar method a teacher at Hawkinsville, Ga. (a coloured man) was dealt with by menace and afterwards seriously wounded. The Georgia superintendent wrote that for the last three months, April, May and June, 1868, there had been more bitterness exhibited toward all men engaged in the work of education than ever before; and there were few but had received threats, both anonymous and open. Sev- eral freedmen had abandoned their fields from fear. The cry from Alabama was even more alarming. People from a distance could not comprehend the feeling; school houses were burned and those left standing were in danger ; teachers were hated and maltreated, two being driven from their work. 'The truth is,' they cried, 'we are in the midst of a reign of terror.' But Louisiana ex- ARMY 181 ceeded : Miss Jordan's school at Gretna was entered by ruffians ; the walls of her room covered with obscene pictures and language, and threats against the teacher posted ; she was insulted on the ferry and in the streets, and even annoyed in such a small way as to be required to pay twice as much ferriage as the teachers in the white schools. In Markville, the Ku-Klux-Klan made open demonstrations, but always by night. They posted their documents around the town, so terrifying the colored people that they did not dare leave their homes after dark. In Texas, both at Georgetown and Circleville, the schools were similarly closed out; at the latter place the school edifice was burned to the ground." Cruelties were not limited to the teachers of negroes, but included white men in political office. One William Cooper, an agent of the Freedman's Bureau, was shot in his own house. The lifeless bodies of negroes were found dangling from trees in front of their cabin doors. It was estimated by General Forest that no less than 40,000 men were banded together in Tennessee alone. The number of murders, mutilations and outrages perpe- trated by these outlaws is unbelievable. The records of the War Department show that in Alabama alone the total number of proven cases of individual violence was 371, of which 33 were murders in the year 1868-69. In Mississippi 31 murders were committed within the same period. A riot occurring in Unionville, S. C, January 12, 1871, United States troops were sent to quiet the disturbance, prior to which the Ku-Klux-Klan, numbering 400 to 800, stormed the jail, took out and shot some of the prisoners, raided the county treasury and tore up the railway tracks to obstruct the arrival of the troops. The outcome of the persistent outrages to the negroes 182 OUR UNITED STATES and those in sympathy with them and the constant call for Federal aid by the civil authorities resulted in the Force Act passed by Congress in 1871 which empowered the President to employ the army, navy and militia for the suppression of organizations designed to intimidate the negro and deprive him of the right to vote unmo- lested and in security. It declared that such organisa- tions appearing with arms constituted rebellion against the United States, and the President was empowered "when in his judgment the public safety shall require it, to suspend the privilege of habeas corpus, to the end that such rebellion may be overthrown." (Act April 20, 1871, Sec. 4.) United States marshals were authorized to supervise State registrations and elections with the aid of United States military and naval forces. The 3rd of May, 1871, President Grant issued a procla- mation urging all citizens of the land to suppress all such armed combinations and upon their failure to do so the National Government would put forth all its energies for the protection of its citizens of every race and color in order to restore peace throughout the entire country. A second proclamation was issued October 12th, nam- ing numerous counties where combinations were so pow- erful as to be able to defy the local authorities, enjoining upon his people "to retire peaceably to their homes within five days of the date hereof, and to deliver, either to the marshal of the United States for the district of South Carolina, or to any of his deputies, or to any military offi- cer of the United States within said counties, all arms, ammunition, uniforms, disguises, and other means and implements used, kept, possessed, or controlled by them for carrying out the unlawful purposes for which the combinations and conspiracies are organized." This second proclamation having no better results than ARMY 183 the first, Grant proceeded to more drastic measures, suspended the writ of habeas corpus in the counties named in his proclamation, hurried Federal troops to the scene, scattered these in small detachments at the principal points of danger and summarily arrested, tried, and if convicted, fined or imprisoned large numbers of the perpetrators of the insurrectionary movement. The New Orleans riots in the years 1871-72 were the outcome of strong political antagonisms centering on the contest between the supporters and opponents of Gover- nor H. C. Warmouth. The Republican convention was to be held in the custom-house the 9th of August, 1871. On the morning of that date an armed mob of from 3,000 to 5,000 whites and blacks collected about the custom- house and became so threatening in their demonstrations that General Emory, the department commander, ordered three companies of infantry, with two Catling guns to push through the infuriated mob, station themselves at the custom-house and there preserve the peace under all contingencies. The effect of this prompt action of only one hundred and fifty soldiers in the uniform of author- ity resulted in dispersing the mob. Upon the opening of the legislature the following Janu- ary rival factions within and without the capitol building succeeded in precipitating a general condition of disor- derly revolt. They defied the Governor's proclamation in which he declared his intention of taking possession of the Capitol. General Emory was again called upon to prevent bloodshed by the interposition of Federal troops. General Grant's second term was a continuation of the problems which had perplexed the first. The troubles in Louisiana reached their height in 1874 in the disputed election of Governor Kellogg, which culminated in the 184 OUR UNITED STATES outrageous murder of six objectionable officials at Con- shatta, in the Red River Parish. These white men were set upon by a mob, bound together in twos, marched to a field beyond the parish line, killed in cold blood, and their bodies buried where they fell. President Grant immediately took steps to send military assistance to the civil authorities. Meanwhile the defeated candidate for Lieutenant Governor in 1872, Mr. D. B. Penn, issued a proclamation in which he claimed to be the lawful execu- tive and calling upon the militia of the state "to arm and assemble under their respective officers for the pur- pose of driving the usurpers from power." Between 2,000 and 3,000 armed men assembled in response to Penn's order. Barricades were erected in the streets of New Orleans. About 500 Metropolitan police with several pieces of artillery under General James Longstreet, the commander of militia under Gov- ernor Kellogg, met the opposing forces and fire was opened on both sides with the result that 32 men were killed and 48 severely wounded. By nightfall the same day 10,000 men were assembled and took possession of the city. Penn was formally inducted into office. United States troops were speedily despatched to New Orleans. General Emory demanded the immediate surrender of all State property and the disbanding of the insurgents. This was complied with under protest. Lieutenant Col. John R. Brooke was appointed "to command the city of New Orleans until such time as the State and city gov- ernments can be recognized; to take possession of the arms and other State property, and to occupy the State house, arsenal, and other State buildings until further orders." The Kellogg government was reinstated and troops secured quiet at the polls in the November elections. Nevertheless, intense excitement prevailed ARMY 185 throughout the state. The Republicans were again in power in spite of the vehement protest of the Democrats who claimed victory. In anticipation of trouble upon the convening of the legislature in January, 1875, Presi- dent Grant appointed General Sheridan in command of New Orleans. Precautionary measures resulted in the stationing of troops around the State house and the leg- islature assembled on the morning of January 4th. The leaders of the opposition, lawfully or unlawfully pro- ceeded to take control. "One Wiltz jumped on the platform, seized the speak- er's chair and gavel, and declared himself speaker. On motions from the floor, and without ballots, he in the same way declared other gentlemen elected secretary and sergeant-at-arms, and having directed the latter to appoint assistants, a hundred or more men scattered about the hall, suddenly opened their coats, displaying badges on which was inscribed 'assistant sergeant-at-arms,' and the minority were in possession of the legislature. The ex- citement was intense ; knives and pistols were drawn ; several fisticuffs occurred ; the shooting was so deafening that little could be heard." "In all this turmoil," says General Sheridan in his despatch to Secretary Belknap, January 8, 1875, "in which bloodshed was imminent, the military posse behaved with great discretion. When Mr. Wiltz, the usurping speaker of the house, called for troops to prevent bloodshed, they were given him. When the governor of the State called for a posse for the same purpose and to enforce the law, it was furnished also. Had this not been done it is my firm belief that scenes of bloodshed would have ensued." In a telegram to Secretary Belknap, dated New Or- leans, January 4, 1875, General Sheridan says : 186 OUR UNITED STATES "It is with deep regret that I have to announce to you the existence in this State of a spirit of defiance to all lawful authority and an insecurity of life which is hardly realized by the General Government or the country at large. The lives of citizens have become so jeopardized that unless something is done to give protection to the people all security usually afforded by law will be over- ridden. Defiance to the laws and the murder of indi- viduals seems to be looked upon by the community here from a standpoint which gives impunity to all who choose to indulge in either, and the civil government appears powerless to punish or even arrest. I have to- night assumed control over the Department of the Gulf." A second telegram, dated January 5, says in part : "I will preserve the peace, which it is not to do with the naval and military forces in and about the city, and if Congress will declare the White Leagues, and other similar organizations, white or black, banditti, I will relieve it from the necessity of any special legislation for the preservation of peace and equality of rights in the States of Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas and the Executive from much of the trouble had in this section of the country"; to which Secretary Belknap replied: "Your telegrams all received. The President and all of us have full confidence and thoroughly approve your course." General Sheridan's determined attitude to regard all insurgents and disturbers of the peace "as banditti" and to deal with them as such, brought forth threats against his life and he was in imminent danger of assassination and the extermination of the Federal troops was freely discussed ; nevertheless, it suppressed further public dem- onstrations by the rioters. Congress, meanwhile, sent committees to thoroughly investigate the political situ- ARMY 187 ation with the result that Kellogg was recognized as the legal governor of Louisiana. Thus briefly and imperfectly are outlined the varied and manifold duties performed by the army in the South alone, a comparatively small area of the whole United States during the decade subsequent to the Civil War. CHAPTER XII ALASKA THE acquisition of Alaska was consummated June 20, 1867, through the exertions of Baron Stoekl, Russian minister to the United States, and Mr. Seward, Secre- tary of State. An area comprising 577,390 square miles, including the Aleutian archipelago, was thus added to the terri- tory of the United States. The price paid for this vast acquisition was seven million two hundred thousand dol- lars, or about two cents an acre. With the possession of this new domain the United States flag was carried to within three hundred miles of the Siberian coast and to within six hundred miles of the coast of Japan. Brig- adier-General Lovell H. Rousseau, U. S. A., was desig- nated by President Johnson as special commissioner to receive from Captain Alexis Petchouroff, the commis- sioner of the Czar, the formal transfer of sovereignty. The two commissioners met in New York, proceeded by way of Panama to San Francisco and were trans- ported to Sitka on board the U. S. S. Ossipee, Captain Emmons commanding; reaching New Archangel, Octo- ber 18, 1867. At half after three that same afternoon, in the presence of both American and Russian troops, amid the firing of artillery salutes, the Russian flag was lowered and that of the United States raised upon the flagstaff and the formal transfer of the country and 188 ARMY 189 outlying stations was consummated. The principal sta- tions thus acquired were Fort Kenai, on the Kenai Penin- sula, Kadiak, on Kadiak Island; Sitka, on Baranoy Island, and Fort Wrangell, near the mouth of the Stikine River. In the report of the committee on foreign affairs, pub- lished May 18, 1868, are enumerated the motives which made the transfer of the Russian America desirable to the interests of the United States. "They were, first, the laudable desire of citizens of the Pacific coast to share in the prolific fisheries of the oceans, seas, bays, and rivers of the western world; the refusal of Russia to renew the charter of the Russian American Fur Company in 1866; the friendship of Rus- sia for the United States; the necessity of preventing the transfer, by any possible chance, of the northwest coast of America to an unfriendly power; the creation of new industrial interests of our empire on the sea and land ; and, finally, to facilitate and secure the advantages of an unlimited American commerce with the friendly powers of Japan and China." Prior to our possession the Russo-American Fur Com- pany held undisputed sway over Alaska. This company controlled all coastwise trade, had leased certain advan- tageous rights to the Hudson Bay Company and had used every effort to prevent the Russian government from learning the value of their possession. The search for minerals was prevented and only information con- nected with the fur trade was permitted to be published. Upon our coming into possession of the territory, the entire commercial interest of the country consisted of its fisheries along the coast, and the trade in peltries brought in to the various stations, by the natives from the interior. This interior was considered a valueless 190 OUR UNITED STATES wilderness inhabited by lawless tribes of Indians. Few citizens of the United States appreciated the fact that we had acquired one of the great rivers of the world, rising in the interior of the Northwest and flowing a dis- tance of two thousand miles into the sea. The resources of the Yukon and its tributaries, the tribes of Indians inhabiting its banks were neither heeded nor dreamed of. In 1842, Lieutenant Zagoskin, of the Russian Navy, had visited the region of the Yukon and travelled from the mouth of the river to a point above Nulato, "covering a distance of about six hundred miles. The enterprise of the Western Union Telegraph Com- pany in its desire to connect by telegraph and cable the two hemispheres at Behring Strait, had employed a large force of explorers in locating an overland route on both sides of the Pacific and in connection with this enter- prise had acquired much valuable information as to the resources of Alaska. Messrs. Ketchum and Labarge of the telegraph company journeyed from the western coast of Fort Yukon in 1866. The following Winter they made another journey to Fort Yukon, continuing their journey 400 miles to Fort Selkirk. Messrs. William H. Dall, director of the scientific corps of the telegraph company, with Mr. Frederick Whymper, an officer of the company and an artist, win- tered at Nulato in 1866 and in the following Spring pur- sued their journey to Fort Yukon. They journeyed in "bidarras," or skin boats, and travelled almost con- stantly for a period of twenty-nine days. Leaving Fort Yukon at the end of a fortnight they made a rapid jour- ney to St. Michael Island. For more than twenty years Fort Yukon had been the extreme western trading sta- tion of the Hudson Bay Company and the supposed boundary between Russian and British America,, Though ARMY 191 the upper portion of the river as far as Fort Selbrick was known to the traders, few had ventured beyond. The Russians were uncertain of the boundaries of their territory and too indifferent to prove the claim that the establishment of Fort Yukon was in direct violation of the treaty between Russia and England. Secretary Seward's instructions to General Rousseau included the appointment of military commander of the newly acquired territory. General Rousseau was shortly promoted to the command of the Department of Colum- bia, with headquarters at Portland, Oregon, and the com- mand of the military district of Alaska was given to General Jefferson C. Davis, with headquarters at Sitka, and a garrison of one company of artillery and one com- pany of infantry, numbering two hundred and fifty men. A number of business men had accompanied or pre- ceded the commissioners of the two governments, and the American flag was scarcely floating from the top of the flagstaff before new shops were opened, vacant lots cov- ered with framework of shanties and negotiations entered into for the purchase of houses, furs, and other property of the old Russian company, and in less than a week new stores had been erected, and two ten-pin alleys, two drinking saloons and a restaurant were opened. Sitka, the town that for two-thirds of a century had known nothing beyond the dull, unchanging routine of labor, and a scanty supply of necessaries at prices fixed by a corporate body 8,000 or 10,000 miles away, was profoundly startled even by this small ripple of innova- tion. To the new American domain flocked a herd of men of all sorts and conditions, Alaskan pioneers and squatters, and aspirants for political honors and emolu- ments in this new Territory. 192 OUR UNITED STATES Before the first sunset gun was fired pre-emption stakes dotted the ground, and the air was full of rumors of framing a "city charter," creating laws and remunerative offices; and it was not long before an election was held for town officers, at which over 100 votes were polled for nearly as many candidates. The Russian population looked with wonder upon this new activity. The families of the higher officials, as well as those of the farmer and laboring classes, opened their houses to the newcomers with true Russian hospitality ; but unfortunately they did not discriminate, treating officers, merchants and sol- diers alike, and in many instances their kindness was shamefully abused. Robberies and assaults were the order of the day, or, rather, of the night, until the peace- able inhabitants were compelled to lock their doors at nightfall, not daring to move about until the bugles sounded in the morning. A number of representatives of wealthy firms and corporations had started upon a race from San Francisco or the Sandwich Islands to secure the property and good will of the Russian American Company. Mr. H. M. Hutchinson, representative of the firm of Hutchinson, Kohl and Co., was the successful competitor, he having completed his bargain with Prince Maksutof even before the agent of the American-Russian or Ice Company, the previous partners of the Russians, had been able to pre- sent his claims. The Russian-American Company was allowed two years in which to settle its affairs and to transport all the Russian subjects who wished to return. For this purpose all the employes distributed through the territory were collected at Sitka. From the time of the transfer to .1869, nearly 1,000 of them were living there; and to these between $40,000 and $50,000 were paid every month as salaries, which being regularly spent ARMY 193 before the next pay day, made business decidedly brisk. In addition to these Russians there were two companies of soldiers and a few hundred American and other traders, while a man-of-war and a revenue cutter were always in the harbour, yielding a golden harvest to busi- ness men and saloon keepers. At this time high hopes of Alaska's future prospects were entertained. The Western Union Telegraph enterprise, before its abandon- ment, had pushed its wires to Columbia, to Fort Stager, on the Skeena River, in 53 30'. This brought the tele- graph within 350 miles of Sitka. Difficulties with the Indians in southeastern Alaska began at an early day under the new government. The last acts of hostility committed by the Kolosh at that vicinity had occurred in 1864, when an English vessel, called the Royal Charlie, was boarded by the Kekh Indians and the entire crew slaughtered. The Russian authorities took no notice of the affair whatever, because the English craft had no right to trade in those waters, and the offenders remained unpunished. In December, 1867, the first trouble occurred at Sitka. A sentry of the garrison observed some Indians after nightfall with a light in the vicinity of the powder maga- zine, and, hailing them without receiving an answer, he fired, wounding one of the number. The remainder decamped, but the next day a demand was made by the chief for compensation for the injuries sustained by the wounded man. General Davis refused to comply with the request, whereupon the chief returned to the village and hoisted the English flag. Davis sent a messenger to notify the chief that if the foreign flag was not removed by daylight on the following day he would bombard the village; and when day dawned the rays of the sun illuminated the stars and stripes in place of the 194 OUR UNITED STATES cross of St. George, but the Indians were surly for some time after the occurrence, threatening an outbreak occa- sionally. As early as the 1st of March, 1868, a newspaper appeared in San Francisco, under the name of the Alaska Herald. It was published by a runaway monk of the Greek Church, who had never seen Alaska, but who imagined that he was called upon to declare himself a champion of the former Russian possessions. A few columns of this sheet were published in the Russian language, and the most absurd proclamations addressed to the people of Alaska were circulated among its readers, and for some time its publisher succeeded in sowing the seeds of discord and dissatisfaction among the new Rus- sian speaking citizens of the United States by telling them as Americans they were entitled at once to 160 acres of land, and that they must not labor for less compensation than $5 a day in gold, declaring with the greatest effrontery that the Constitution of the United States so provided. In the meantime military garrisons were despatched to other points in the territory and located among peace- able tribes. A battery of artillery was stationed on the island of Kadiak, and another command from the same regiment sailed from Washington Territory in June, 1868, to establish a military post on Cook Inlet. The spot to be selected had not been definitely indicated on the charts, and while attempting to find the proper place a ship was wrecked upon a rock on July 16th, at the mouth of what is now called English Bay or Graham Harbour ; no lives were lost, but nothing else was saved. After suffering much hardship the wrecked soldiers were rescued in the month of August by the steamer Fideliter and taken to Kadiak. For many years following the ARMY 195 natives of the vicinity had ample supplies of military clothing, rifles and other stores cast up by the sea. The first American vessel that visited the seal islands was owned by the firm of William & Haven, of New London. The agent and commander landed on St. Paul Island on the 13th of April, 1868, and on the 2nd of September sailed for the Sandwich Islands with a rich cargo of seal skins. Disputes arose between this party and the agent of the successors of the Russian-American Company, and the Government found it necessary to sta- tion Treasury agents on the island to preserve order and prevent, if possible, an indiscriminate slaughter of seals. In February, 1868, the first detachment of Russians homeward bound left Sitka, numbering 200, on the ship Tsaritza. The Indians on the Upper Yukon River and in the vicinity of Nulato gave indications of hostile spirit at the beginning of the year 1868. The epidemic pneu- monia was prevalent among them, and their shamans declared to the people that the disease had been imported and spread by the white men. The Redonte Nulato had previously been the scene of bloody encounters, as in 1851, when Lieutenant Barnard, royal navy, one of the members of the Franklin Search expedition, was killed. Several murders occurred among these Indians during the first year of the American possession, but the white traders were not attacked, though frequently threatened. In the meantime the military authorities at Sitka con- tinued to have difficulty in the immediate vicinity. It is the time-honored custom of the Thinklet to demand money or goods for the death or injury of a member of the tribe, and failing to receive the desired equivalent they retaliate with violence. On the 29th of April, 1869, the first number of the 196 OUR UNITED STATES Sitka Times was published at Sitka, by T. G. Murphy, who combined the vocations of tailor, lawyer, and editor. The little sheet was the organ of an aspirant for guberna- torial honours, through whose efforts the city government was organized in Sitka, with W. S. Dodge as mayor. The new government labored under difficulties, being confronted at every step with military orders threaten- ing arrest and confinement in the guard-house. A truce between the contending powers was observed during the visit of Secretary Seward, in the month of July, 1869, who came to view the purchase so intimately connected with his name. Congratulatory speeches were exchanged between Mr. Seward, the military commander, and the "mayor and board of aldermen." General Thomas, who was then in command of the military division of the Pacific, made a tour of inspec- tion throughout the territory, and after careful investiga- tion of the state of affairs deemed it wise to abandon all military posts in Alaska with the exception of that at Sitka. The year was not to end, however, without additional difficulties with the Indians of southeastern Alaska. An occurrence took place at Fort Wrangell which delayed the abandonment of that post for some time. Some white miners passing the place had sold liquor to the Indians about the fort, and one of the drunken savages beat his squaw until the blood rushed from her mouth. The post trader, Leon Smith, interfered and had the woman carried into the house of one of the laundresses of the garrison. The brutal husband then feigned regret for the ill-treatment of his wife, and offered to shake the hands of the laundress who had protected her. During this friendly ceremony he suddenly seized one of the woman's fingers in his mouth and bit it off, and ARMY 197 then fled for the Indian village. A detachment of sol- diers was sent to arrest him, but the Indians displayed considerable hostility. The trader Smith then set out for the village, hoping to pacify the savages, but, after advancing a few steps, he was shot down. After con- siderable delay, and bombardment of the Indian village from the garrison, the murderer was delivered, tried by court-martial, and hanged, the chief of the tribe acquiescing in the sentence. During the year 1870 the western military garrisons were withdrawn. In the year 1874 an attempt was made to colonize Alaska with Icelanders, who were then leaving their own country in large numbers, and two of these people were taken to Alaska in a United States man-of-war, and given every opportunity to view the country. They were pleased with what they saw, declaring that the Kadiak Archipelago and the coast of Cook Inlet were far superior in natural resources to their former home, but before their favorable report was in the hands of the Govern- ment their people had found more pleasant homes in the Western States and in the British possessions. The Alaska Commercial Company at that time offered to transport a colony of 500 Icelanders to any portion of Alaska free of charge, but unfortunately the offer was not accepted, and the opportunity of securing additional permanent population for at least some portions of Alaska passed away. During the same year four miners from the Cassias "digging" in British Columbia, made their way to the headwaters of the Yukon and descended that stream. They discovered small "prospects" of gold in a few localities, but found it more profitable to engage in the fur trade. In the beginning of the year 1874 the garrison at 198 OUR UNITED STATES Wrangell was withdrawn, but owing to disorder among the natives it was re-established the following year. During the years following several bills were intro- duced in Congress looking to the establishment of some sort of civil authority of Washington Territory. All the various measures proposed fell through without action on the part of Congress until 1877, when the troops were finally withdrawn. The first serious step taken to ascertain something of the interior of the country was instituted in 1869 by the War Department in ordering a reconnaissance by Captain Raymond of the Engineer Corps, who ascended the Yukon for the purpose of settling a mooted question as to whether Fort Yukon was in the domain of Great Britain or was embraced in the Territory of Alaska. Prior to the transfer of Alaska to the United States this post had been the occasion of great financial loss to the Russian Company. "For upon the opening of the Yukon in the Spring," writes Captain Raymond, "the enterprising and energetic Scotchmen of the station were accustomed to descend the river for some 300 miles to a station called Nuclucayette, where they met the assem- bled Indian tribes and purchased their stores of winter skins before the tardy Russians, delayed by currents and ice, could arrive at the trading ground. The retire- ment of the Russian- American Company, consequent upon the transfer of the territory to the United States, inaugur- ated a new order of things. Immediately, several Amer- ican companies located small establishments upon the river and near the coast, and one company sent up the river a small party, which succeeded after great efforts in reaching a point near Nuclucayette, and wintered oppo- site the mouth of the great Tanana. In the following Spring, when the traders of the Hudson Bay Company ARMY 199 paid their annual visit to Nuclucayette, their right to trade in the 'Indian country' of the United States was fiercely contested, and they were informed by the Amer- icans that any future attempt to purchase skins within our territory would be resisted, if necessary, by force. In the Spring of 1869 a new venture was projected by capitalists in San Francisco. It was proposed to trans- port a small steamer upon the deck of a sailing vessel to some point near the mouth of the river, and, launching it, to ascend, if possible, as far as Fort Yukon, trading along the banks. In connection with this enterprise it was regarded as extremely desirable that the question of English right to trade in this portion of our territory should be definitely settled; and, as the region in the vicinity of Fort Yukon was supposed to be peculiarly rich in furs, it was also desired that the position of this post should be officially determined, and, if it was found to be within the territory of the United States, that measures should be taken to cause its abandonment by the English company." Captain Charles P. Raymond in company with John J. Major and Private Michael Foley, Ninth United States Infantry sailed for Nualaska the 9th of May, 1869, and then for St. Michael Island, the nearest position to the mouth of the Yukon from which point they proceeded in the little steamer Yukon in company with its officers and some traders up the great river. On the 31st of July at 4 P. M. they arrived at Fort Yukon, distant 1,040 miles, thus successfully terminating the first journey by steam ever made on the Yukon River. "At Fort Yukon," writes Captain Raymond, "notwith- standing the unpleasant character of our errand, we were cordially welcomed by Mr. John Wilson, the agent of the Hudson Bay Company, at the station. By General Hal- 200 OUR UNITED STATES leek's permission I had consented temporarily to repre- sent the Treasury Department, and under instructions of that Department, on the 9th of August, at 12 M., I notified the representatives of the Hudson Bay Company that the station was the territory of the United States; that the introduction of trading goods, or any trade by foreigners with the natives was illegal, and must cease, and that the Hudson Bay Company must vacate the buildings as soon as practicable. I then took possession of the buildings and raised the flag of the United States over the fort." Captain Raymond remained at Fort Yukon until late in August, the steamer having returned some time pre- viously. The journey back to civilization was performed by Captain Raymond and his assistants in a small row- boat and by portage. In General O. O. Howard's official report of his visit to Alaska in 1875, he says : "Having been troubled by numerous newspaper charges concerning the present management of affairs at Sitka, I deemed it best to give to those who were called citizens, consisting of Russians, Aluets, half-breeds, American and foreign traders, now residing in the town, the opportunity to see me apart from the officers of the garrison. "In keeping with this purpose I met them by appoint- ment at the house of the United States collector, Mr. Berry. Mr. Berry kindly briefed the complaints, which I subsequently carefully considered and acted upon. The complaints did not prove to be of much importance; cer- tainly not very grievous. To remedy the real ills of the complainants, most of whom were indigent people, I ad- vised Major Campbell to introduce a few police regula- tions, establish a general hospital, and raise a small rev- ARMY 201 enue, just sufficient to meet the necessities, and detail one of his humane officers to act in the capacity of a police judge. I did not order these things, because, as military commander I wished to assume no doubtful powers, but was confident that the law under which Major Campbell was to exercise jurisdiction as Indian agent in an Indian country would warrant his doing everything that human- ity required for the relief of a community suffering from being within the limits of the United States and yet absolutely without law. "The instructions from General Halleck, and trans- mitted from one commanding officer to another, did imply that military government should be extended to the Alaska people till Congress should otherwise provide. But the late decision of the Hon. Judge Deady, United States District Court, limiting military jurisdiction to the execution of the liquor law, made it necessary to be ex- ceedingly cautious. I wish to renew my earnest recom- mendation that, by proper and speedy legislation, Alaska be attached as a county to Washington Territory, or in some other way be furnished with such a government as the treaty with Russia in the transfer plainly con- templated." The unsettled condition of affairs in Alaska continued to cause concern to the Government. Troubles in Sitka reached a critical condition in 1879. Each year after the military forces were withdrawn the number of In- dians increased ; while the whites decreased. Two vil- lages had grown up side by side, one inhabited by several hundred Indians, another by a smaller number of whites, among both were lawless and insubordinate characters. Petty quarrels remained unsettled, and there had grad- ually grown up on the part of the Indian, a contempt for the white race which was badly represented, and on 202 OUR UNITED STATES the part of the whites a fear of an hatred towards the Indians. These quarrels assumed importance when, early in 1879, a miner, who had been involved in some difficulties with the Indians, was killed by them. The murderers were arrested and tried in Portland, Oregon, and one of them was executed. While under arrest at Sitka, an attempt was made to rescue them, which, how- ever, was frustrated by the acts of friendly Indians. The failure of this attempt and the subsequent execution of the criminal would have undoubtedly resulted, sooner or later, in a massacre of the whites but for the pruden- tial and preventive measures adopted. The prompt action of Capt. A. Court, of the British ship Osprey, checked the rising trouble, and the arrival of the United States man-of-war Alaska, and the subsequent arrival of the Jamestown, under command of Commander L. A. Beardslee, convinced the Indians that an attempt to injure the whites would be attended with danger. They consequently refrained from such an attempt; but both parties had, by this time, come to hate each other, and there was evidenced among some of the whites a dispo- sition to take advantage of the presence of a war vessel and treat the Indians unjustly. When, however, these difficulties were overcome a better condition of things was brought about. Commander Beardslee found the society very much agi- tated by fear, and immediately organized such measures of relief as appeared to him to be necessary. He was fortunate in being able to restore quiet, and with the co-operation of the collector of the port and the consent of the citizens, to establish a system of regulations which furnished the only means of preserving peace and quiet. These regulations had not the force of law and would in all probability have become ineffectual if it had not been ARMY 203 that they were enforced by the presence of officers of the Navy, backed by an armed vessel. "Important information in relation to these matters has been heretofore communicated by me to Congress," writes Secretary Thompson in his report 1880, "with the design of showing the embarrassments which the depart- ment has experienced in being required to deal with the affairs of civil government, so foreign from any of the duties required of it by law. It has none of the machin- ery necessary for the purpose under its control, and whatsoever it does in that direction must proceed alone from military power. The substitution of this for civil authority is contrary to the spirit of our institutions, and I cannot refrain from the expression of the earnest hope that Congress will speedily relieve the department from the responsibilities which attach to its present anomalous position." Commander Beardslee and other officers of the James- town made trips to various villages, and, by degrees, the good results of this friendly intercourse became apparent. Captain Beardslee's good work among the natives was promoted by his successor, Captain Glass, who won the respect of the Indians and succeeded in making several treaties of peace between hostile tribes. Commander Lull, in the steamer Wachusett, continued to maintain the protectorate in 1881. In the autumn of the following year Captain Merriman, commanding the Adams, was detailed for Alaska and performed the manifold duties of "umpire, judge, referee, and preserver of the peace," with tact and discretion. "Not infrequently," says Ban- croft, "he was called upon to save the lives of persons doomed to death for witchcraft, and to prevent the slaughter of slaves at funerals and potlatches." Capt. J. B. Coghlan succeeded Captain Merriman, in 204 OUR UNITED STATES command of the Adams, and, the natives being at peace, devoted his energies to accurate surveys of the most fre- quented channels of the inside passage, "marking off with buoys the channel through Wrangell Narrows and Peril Straits and designating unknown rocks in Saginaw Chan- nel and Neva Strait." Lieutenant H. C. Nichols, commanding the U. S. Pinta, succeeded Captain Coghlan and was stationed at Sitka until the middle of September, 1884. Thirty marines were landed for shore duty. Lieutenant Nichols, while in command of the Hassler, had made valuable surveys of the Alexander Archipelago, which formed the basis for several new charts in the Alaska Coast Pilot of 1883. This same year a Military Reconnaissance of the Val- ley of the Yukon was undertaken by First Lieutenant Frederick Schwatka of the Third United States Cav- alry, assisted by George T. Wilson, assistant surgeon U. S. A.; Charles A. Roman, topographical assistant U. S. A.; Sergt. Charles Gloster, Corp. William H. Shircliff, Private John Roth and a citizen, J. B. Mclntosh. Lieutenant Schwatka, with his party, travelled by raft a distance of five hundred miles to Fort Selkirk on the Upper Yukon. Lieutenant W. R. Abercrombie supplemented Lieuten- ant Schwatka's explorations the following year. It was deemed important to ascertain all possible information concerning the interior and the native Indians. The con- flicting interests of the white and the natives threatened to cause serious trouble to the authorities, and for this purpose General Miles then in charge of the department of Columbia ordered several military expeditions. Lieu- tenant Abercrombie made his objective point the district drained by the Copper and Tanana rivers, where he endeavored to ascertain as far as practicable the num- ARMY 205 bers, character and disposition of the Indians living in that section of the country. He made note of the number of tribes and clans, the districts they inhabited, their rela- tions to each other, their disposition toward the Russian government of the past and ascertained their position toward the Government of the United States. Other im- portant items noted in his instructions were to ascertain their means of communication, the amount and kinds of material of war in their possession and from whence obtained. "I was expected," he says, "to inform myself as to the character of the country and the means of sustaining a military force, should one be needed in the Territory. To examine the kind and extent of the native grasses, and ascertain if animals ordinarily used in military operations could be subsisted and made of service there ; to observe the character of the climate; to gather information that would be valuable to the military service; to impress the natives with the friendly disposition of the Govern- ment ; to avoid provoking the hostility of the natives, and to make a full report as far as possible of my journey, and bring back maps, tracings, and field notes, relating to the country over which I had travelled." Lieutenant Henry T. Allen of the Second United States Cavalry with Sergt. Cady Robinson and Private Fred W. Fickett made a reconnaissance of the Copper River and the Tanana River valleys in 1885, covering in their explorations a vast area of little known country. The Autumn of 1896 signalled world-wide interest in the report of the discovery of gold in large quantities in the valley of the Yukon River. The rush of miners who flocked to this locality made necessary the continuous operations of the Army in the work of policing and open- ing up the interior for permanent settlement. The Mili- 206 OUR UNITED STATES tary District, known as the District of the Lynn Canal, in southeastern Alaska was established, February 18, 1898. The unprecedented growth of trade on the Yukon River and the necessity for the protection of life and property required the establishment of a military post at St. Mich- ael's the year previous. The necessity of military protection to citizens on the frontier was again exemplified in the orders issued at the War Department, Washington, August 4, 1897, ad- dressed to Capt. T. H. R., Eighth Infantry, Seattle, Washington. "The President sends you, with Lieutenant Richard- son, to the Alaska gold field, to which so many are flock- ing, to investigate and report, as fully and frequently as you can, the condition of affairs and make such recom- mendations as you may deem best. Make your first headquarters at Circle City and change location as you may find advantageous. The following points especially to be covered in your report: "Are troops necessary there, and if so, for what pur- pose, etc.? "Are the civil authorities affording reasonable protec- tion to life and property? "Are the people disposed to be law-abiding or other- wise? "Where are the people locating and in what num- bers? . . . "Is there food in the country for the population to winter there? "These and all other subjects military, civil, and com- mercial that will be of use and interest will be covered by your investigations, etc., etc. "By order of the President. "R. A. ALGER, Secretary of War" ARMY 207 Rumors of starvation at Dawson City were immedi- ately investigated at the War Department. To estab- lish an All-American route, by which prospective settlers could proceed without undergoing the annoyances inci- dent upon passing through alien country, was the next move of the Secretary of War. One expedition consisting of Captain Bogardus Edri- gal, Second Lieutenants Elmer W. Clark and Robert Field, and twenty men, Captain D. L. Brainard, quarter- master and commissary officer, First Lieutenant Frank- lin M. Kemp, assistant surgeon, acting Hospital Steward John G. Abele, and two privates of the Hospital Corps, with guides, proceeded with reindeer sledges via Dalton trail to Dawson, and established a military camp in the vicinity of Belle Isle. The purpose of this expedition was to discover, explore and mark a trail from the Yukon up Forty Mile Creek to the Tanana River, and other practicable routes southward from the Yukon between Belle Isle and Circle City to the Tanana. A second expedition consisting of Captain W. R. Aber- crombie, First Lieutenant Guy Preston, First Lieutenant P. G. Lowe, Second Lieutenant R. M. Broodfield, with fifteen enlisted men and several members of the Hospital Corps, established a base at Waldes Inlet, and explored to the junction of the Copper River and tributaries to the Tanana River. A third expedition consisting of Captain E. F. Glenn, First Lieutenant Henry G. Learnard, Second Lieutenant J. C. Castner, First Lieutenant John S. Kulp, and mem- bers of the Hospital Corps and nineteen enlisted men were ordered to proceed to Fort Wells, Prince William Sound, Alaska, there to establish a camp and depot and explore northeastward and northwestward for routes 208 OUR UNITED STATES toward Copper and Shushitna Rivers. This expedition was ordered to re-embark about May 1, 1898, for Cook Inlet, thence to explore northward and endeavor to dis- cover the most direct and practicable route from tide water to one or more crossings of the Tanana River, in the direction of the Yukon, between Forty Mile Creek and Circle City. "As much territory as possible will be covered by each expedition," concludes the orders, "especially between the Yukon, Tanana, Copper and Sushitna rivers, and all information will be collected and embodied in the reports that may be valuable to the development of the country, regarding topographical features, available routes of travel, feasible routes for railroad construction, appro- priate and available sites for military posts, mineral resources, timber, fuel, products, capability of sustaining stock or animals of any kind, and the animals best suited for service in that country in Winter and Summer. Maps and, when practicable, photographs will accompany all reports." In accordance with the provisions the opening of a military road from Valdez to Copper Center and by the most direct and practicable route to Eagle City was entrusted to Captain W. R. Abercrombie and his assist- ants in 1899. His mission was to triangulate it, note elevations, depressions and other features definitely located, and properly mark it on either side as far as practicable, in order that it might be known and used as a route of travel for the public. "The scene that followed the arrival of our vessel at Valdez," writes Captain Abercrombie, "was one that I shall not soon forget. Crowding aboard the steamer came the Argonauts of last season's rush into the Copper ARMY 209 River Valley, and who now considered themselves full- fledged miners, although many of them had never handled either pick or shovel since their entry into the country. A more motley looking crowd it would be hard to imagine. They wore mackinaw suits of all varieties and colors, and their clothing was faded and worn by exposure to the elements and their long journey over the Valdez Glacier from the Copper River Valley. They seemed to be badly demoralized, and from a hurried conversation I had with six or seven I had known the year before, I was led to believe that hundreds were dying of starvation and scurvy beyond the Coast Range in the Copper River Valley. Most of those then in the settlement of Valdez had little or no money; but notwithstanding this fact, a wholesale orgy was inaugurated that lasted until mid- night. "In some way these people became possessed of the idea that the Government contemplated furnishing them transportation from Valdez to Seattle, and it was not for some days that I could disabuse their minds of this fact. That they had passed a terrible winter was beyond all question of doubt; that many of their companions had died from scurvy and had been frozen to death was in evidence at the little graveyard that had sprung up since my departure the year before. "One of the first men from whom I could get an intelligent account of the condition of things was Quarter- master Agent Charles Brown, whose salutation to me was, 'My God, Captain, it has been clear Hell! I tell you, the early days of Montana were not a mark to what I have gone through this Winter ! It was awful !' Going ashore with Mr. Brown, I visited the various cabins in which he had housed some eighty or one hundred of 210 OUR UNITED STATES these destitute prospectors, and from what I saw there I was satisfied that, while his remarks might have been forcible, they were not an exaggeration. "Many of the people I had met and known the year before were so changed in their appearance, with their long hair hanging down their shoulders and beards cover- ing their entire faces, that I do not think I recognized one of them. They were crowded together, from fifteen to twenty in log cabins twelve by fifteen, and in the centre of which was a stove. On the floor of the cabin at night they would spread their blankets and lie down, packed like sardines in a box. Facilities for bathing there were none. Most of them were more or less afflicted with scurvy, while not a few of them had frost bitten hands, faces and feet. Their footwear in some cases consisted of the tops of rubber boots that had been cut off by Brown and manufactured into shoes. Around their feet they had wound strips of gunny sacks, which were used in place of socks. Across the cabin, from side to side, were suspended ropes on which were hung various articles of apparel that had become wet in wallowing through the deep snow and had been hung up at night to dry. The odor emanating from these articles of cloth- ing, the sore feet of those who were frozen and the saliva and breath of those afflicted with scurvy, gave forth a stench that was simply poisonous, as well as sickening, to a man in good health, and sure death to one in ill-health. "I at once directed Brown to hire a cabin," continues the Captain, "in which to organize a hospital and another one for a cook house, and to employ a crew to run both places. I noticed in talking to these people that over seventy per cent, of them were more or less mentally de- ranged. My attention was first directed to this fact by ARMY 211 their reference to a 'glacial demon.' One big, raw-boned Swede, in particular, described to me how this demon had strangled his son on the glacier, his story being that he had just started from Twelve Mile Plant (a small col- lection of huts just across the Coast Range of mountains from Valdez) with his son to go to the coast in company with other prospectors. When half way up the summit of the glacier, his son, who was ahead of him hauling a sled, while he was behind pushing, called to him, saying that the demon had attacked him and had his arms around his neck. The father ran to his son's assistance, but, as he described it, his son being very strong, soon drove the demon away, and they passed on their way up toward the summit of Valdez Glacier. The weather was very cold and the wind blowing very hard, so that it made travelling very difficult in passing over the ice be- tween the huge crevasses through which it was neces- sary to pick their way to gain the summit. While in the thickest of these the demon again appeared. He was said to be a small heavy-built man and very active. He again sprung on the son's shoulders, this time with such a grasp that, although the father did all he could to re- lease him, the demon finally strangled the son to death. The old man then put the son on the sled and brought him down to the Twelve Mile Camp, where the other prospectors helped him to bury him. "During the recital of this tale the old man's eyes would blaze and he would go through all the actions to illustrate just how he fought off this imaginary demon. When I heard this story there were some ten or twelve other men in the cabin, and at that time it would not have been safe to dispute the theory of the existence of this demon on the Valdez Glacier, as every man in there firmly believed it to be a reality. 212 OUR UNITED STATES "I was informed by Mr. Brown that this was a common form of mental derangement incident to those whom a fear of scurvy had driven out over the glacier, where so many had perished by freezing to death. "In pursuance of my instructions," says Captain Aber- crombie, "to construct a trans-Alaskan military road from the cantonment at Port Valdez to Port Egbert, Yukon River, I selected for the personnel of this duty, men who had been formerly employed in rail and trail construction through the Big Horn and Rocky Mountains in Colorado and Wyoming. As a result, there was brought together a number of men of large experience in such work. I was authorized to employ a surveyor and an assistant surveyor, two topographers, a foreman of trail crew, four rock workers, two cooks and fifteen axmen. This authority was afterwards increased by the Acting Secre- tary of War so as to provide for all the unemployed in the Copper River district. "During the Summer of 1899 the prospecting of some fifteen or twenty men over an area much larger in ex- tent than covered by all the New England States resulted in a practical demonstration of the existence of heavily mineralized zones of copper, borite, and other ores in the mountainous districts of the Chettyna, Mount Blackburn, Tanana, and White Rivers. It is not uncommon to find nuggets of native copper in the shape of float, varying in size from small bird shot to pieces weighing many pounds." During the year 1900 the United States forces in Alaska continued the explorations and road construction of the Copper River Expedition and the construction of military posts at St. Michael, Cape Nome and Port Valdez, and this year saw the completion of the posts at Forts Egbert and Gibbon, and the construction of tele- ARMY 213 graph lines throughout the Territory for which an ap- propriation of $450,000 had been voted by Congress. "This work," wrote Mr. Root, the Secretary of War, "has been assiduously prosecuted; but the force had had thrust upon it other and unexpected duties. About 18,000 people arrived at Cape Nome during the month of June. Brig. Gen. George M. Randall, the department commander says of them : " 'A great many people came for the purpose of locat- ing permanent business, others to work the beach and tundra, and still another class to "work" their fellowmen. This last class was probably the most numerous and cer- tainly the most industrious of all. Supplies and ma- chinery of all descriptions could be seen upon the beach. Nearly every one seemed to think he had a divine right to take possession of a claim or town lot wherever found. This course resulted in many disturbances and some of a serious character. Many property owners were dis- posed to defend their rights by taking the law in their own hands, and the timely arrival of additional troops averted bloodshed and probable serious disorder. "There was practically no civil government at Cape Nome. The only organization representing the forces of law and order was a chamber of commerce which passed a resolution June 24, 1900, which embodied the request that 'General Randall take such steps as may be necessary to provide for the government of this camp until the arrival of the United States district court in the following particulars, to wit: I. To provide for the policing of this camp. II. To provide for the proper sanitation of this camp. III. To provide and enforce proper quarantine regu- lations. IV. To provide for the general welfare and protec- 214 OUR UNITED STATES tion of life and property, including such measures as may be necessary to prevent and subdue fire or other destruc- tion of property by the elements. "Immediate steps were taken by the commanding officer to establish patrols throughout the town and preserve order and protect life and property. "The chief surgeon took charge of the sanitary condi- tions, which were exceedingly bad, and a simple system of sanitary regulations was enforced. With the efficient co-operation of Lieut. L. H. Jarvis, and Lieut. J. C. Cant- well, of the United States Revenue Cutter Service, an outbreak of smallpox was dealt with and controlled. "Supplies of food and medicine were distributed among sick and needy Eskimos. "With the creation of orderly social conditions at Cape Nome," writes the Secretary of War the following year, "and the establishment of civil control under the opera- tion of the courts, the department has been discontinued and the number of troops has been greatly reduced. The principal duty left for them to perform has been the con- struction of the military telegraph system." The Signal Corps exhibited great activity under cir- cumstances of great difficulty in the construction of tele- graph lines and within a period of twenty-four months established 1,121 miles of land lines and submarine cables. "When the exceedingly difficult conditions within the Territory are considered," writes Mr. Root, "and the labor and hardships which the officers and men of the Corps encountered are appreciated, the construction of this telegraph shows the spirit which characterizes this branch of our service." The year 1903 saw the completion of this work, in- cluding 1,740 miles of telegraph line, of which 1,486 are land and 254 cable, connecting Fort St. Michael, on the ARMY 215 south shore of Norton Sound, with Fort Davis and Nome City on the north shore, and running easterly from St. Michael to the valley of the Yukon, passing up that valley to Fort Gibbon and Rampart, and from Fort Gib- bon passing up the valleys of the Tanana and Goodpas- ture Rivers to Fort Egbert and Eagle City; thence, run- ning southerly across the divide between the Tanana and Copper Rivers, through the Copper River Country to Valdes, on Prince William's Sound. A separate cable of 120 miles connects Skagway, at the head of Lyon Canal, with Hains Mission and Junean. The Chief Signal Officer says of this construction : "It is impossible to adequately set forth the tremen- dous difficulties under which Alaskan military telegraphs have been constructed and maintained. In general it is to be premised that not 20 miles of constructed wagon road exists in the country traversed. As a rule all material has been sledded into the interior in midwinter or carried by pack animals over the roughest imaginable trails. Conditions were so difficult that some coils of wire were carried 145 miles by pack. The magnitude of the work may be inferred by the statement that from Fort Egbert alone, between November 20, 1902 and June 30, 1903, no less than 220 tons of supplies and material were sledded or packed into the interior, it being impossible to move a ton by wagon. The construction parties, consisting almost entirely of enlisted men of the Signal Corps and of the line of the Army, worked steadily the entire Winter, although the conditions under which field work was done were of the most hazardous and ap- palling character. As an illustration may be mentioned the fact that from November 1, to the end of the Winter, by official reports, 60 feet and 11 inches of snow fell at Fort Liscum, adjoining the Copper River Valley. In the 216 OUR UNITED STATES interior, while the snow fall was very much less, being only 4 feet 4 inches at Egbert, yet continued and terrible cold made camp life and construction work almost in- supportable. The mean temperature at Fort Egbert from November to February, inclusive a period of four months was 2 below zero. There were prolonged periods of extreme low temperature when the mercury remained frozen, the minimum of 61 below zero oc- curring in January. While the past Winter is believed to have been the most severe in Alaska for many years, yet such was the resourcefulness and endurance of the American soldier that the work of construction in the valley of the Tanana was carried on the entire Winter without loss of life and with only one serious case of freezing. "It is doubted," he concludes, "whether in the peace- ful annals of the Army there have been met with nobler fortitude by the enlisted men equal conditions of hard- ship and privation." CHAPTER XIII CUBA AND THE PHILIPPINES THE brilliant and sudden termination of the Spanish- American war, a contest which the American people had every reason to believe might be protracted over many months, if not years, unexpectedly thrust upon the Federal Government the protection, care and welfare of many millions of human beings whose existence and traditions had been fostered under the most debased form of monarchical espionage. These unfortunates, who had struggled for centuries under the domination of Spanish rule, were abruptly transferred to the protection of a flag which stands for the broadest principles of democratic government, religious and personal liberty. Vast colonial possessions, with unknown and un- developed resources, laid waste by the ruthless hand of oppression and war, with a swarming population pros- trated commercially, financially and morally, must be at- tuned to new conditions, new institutions, new methods of administration and by a protectorate alien in every re- spect to the Latin American temperament. The withdrawal of the Spanish forces from Cuba and replacing these with the American Army of occupation was not attended without danger and serious apprehen- sion, but no untoward event occurred and by the first of January, 1899, the last of the Spanish military rule de- parted never to return. 217 218 OUR UNITED STATES As the Spanish Army retreated, the Cuban Army had followed and it took charge of the towns and country, performing the necessary police duty of maintaining order and preventing brigandage. In November, 1898, the Cuban Army had been ordered disbanded and the government of the Islands may be said to have been henceforth conducted "through the channels of civil ad- ministration, although under military control," except the Department of Customs which was conducted accord- ing to the system prescribed by the Secretary of War. "The most serious obstacle to be overcome in establish- ing the government through civil channels," writes General John R. Brooke, first Military Governor of the Island of Cuba, "is the natural distrust of the people, which was born and nurtured under the system of the preceding government and was particularly the effect of the wars which these people waged in their effort to improve their condition. Upon the relinquishment of the sovereignty of Spain a large number of the people were found to be actually starving. Efforts were im- mediately made to supply food which the War Depart- ment sent, amounting all told, to 5,493,500 Cuban rations, and these were sent into the country and distributed under the direction of the Commanding Generals of de- partments through such agencies as they established while in the cities, the distribution was generally conducted by an officer of the Army. Medicines were also supplied for the sick, employment given to those who could work and they were paid weekly so that they could buy food. In fact, no effort was spared to relieve the terrible con- dition in which so many thousand people were found. A state of desolation, starvation and anarchy prevailed almost everywhere. In Santa Clara, with the exception of the municipal district of Cienfuegoes, agriculture and ARMY 219 trade had practically disappeared. For this reason, and on account of the number of reconcentrados, mendicants and criminals, the most complete political, economic and social chaos prevailed. The country roads, mail service, public instruction and local governments were in a state of almost complete abandonment. Upon the disbanding of the Cuban Army, a great source of distrust was removed and conditions improved with remarkable rapidity. The matter of financial aid in sanitation, repairs and restoration of public buildings, maintenance of police, aid to municipalities, etc., etc., involved a large expendi- ture of customs revenues, and it became necessary to establish a system of accountability, which was perfected by the Treasurer of the Customs Revenues Major Ladd, and as Treasurer and Auditor the accounting under this system was continued until a system prepared by the War Department was placed in operation. In reorganizing the courts, great difficulties were en- countered, great care was taken to avoid the establish- ment of a system not suited to this people of to the laws to be administered by these courts. The Law of Pro- cedure in criminal cases had all the defects of the ancient system where the rights of men were but little regarded, and it lacked those methods of modern times whereby the humblest citizen, as well as the most power- ful may be protected in the enjoyment of his just rights and personal freedom. Through a system of the pay- ment of the municipal judges and subordinate employes by fees received, particularly in criminal cases, instead of by regular salaries, there were established schemes of collection of additional illegal fees which became a regular part of the system; and so accustomed had these officials become to it that it was impossible to secure 220 OUR UNITED STATES speedy transaction of business or even to obtain justice, without the payment of extra fees demanded, and unjust judgments were often secured through false or partial record of the Escribanos, who wrote up the cases that were to be presented to the courts. These conditions were improved by the abolishment of the "Incomunicado" system, the payment of regular salaries to the judges, and the general re-organization of the personnel of the courts, changes that have brought the judicial system of the Island to a more honest and satisfying basis. The question of finance as related to the restoration of crippled and destroyed agricultural industries was one which occupied much attention in the government of Cuba. Labor-saving devices were slowly introduced. The repair of roads and bridges was not neglected, and surveys were made adjacent to Havana for the purpose of facilitating the transmission of crops ready for market. Under General Chaffee, the Chief of Staff, Colonel Bliss, the Collector and Major Ladd the Treasurer, the collection, care and use of revenues of Cuba were care- fully administered. It may be conceded at this time that the United States flag was an actual "advance agent of prosperity." The quiet severance of the Church and State was effected by the fact of the Government of the United States being in control. The important subject of schools was another subject of absorbing interest to Cuba. "The Military Governor had as civil assistants four secretaries who formed a cabinet or council," writes General Leonard Wood, Military Governor in 1899-1902. "The Secretary of State and Governor was charged with the general supervision of the provincial and municipal ARMY 221 administrations. . . . The Department of Justice and Public Instruction was in charge of an official designated as the Secretary of Justice and Public Instruction, who was in charge of the administration of justice and re- sponsible for the proper supervision of the same. . . . "Public Works, Agriculture, Industry and Commerce were grouped and administered under the charge of an official known as the Secretary of Agri. Com. Indus. & Public Works. "The Department of Hacienda or Finance was under the Secretary of Hacienda, who was charged with the collection of internal revenue, supervision of municipal finances, safe guarding and care of public buildings, en- forcement of the tax laws, payments of the employes of the general government in the various departments and collection of rents for public lands and rented properties of the government of all kinds. These four general departments of the government were each sup- plied with their own personnel, necessarily quite numer- ous, and had throughout the various provinces of the Island their assistants and deputies. "The Customs Service established during the year 1899, had been organized in all parts of the island under the very able and efficient administration of Colonel Tasker H. Bliss. This service was practically under the charge of American officials, most of them officers of the Army. Colonel Bliss, in addition to being the head of the service of the Island, was in direct personal charge of the Custom house of Havana. "The funds of the Island, derived from customs, in- ternal revenue, postal and miscellaneous receipts, were deposited with the North American Trust Company, to the credit of the Treasurer of the Island, Major E. F. Ladd. 222 OUR UNITED STATES "The Quarantine Service had been organized by and was in charge of the Marine Hospital Service. "Postal Service was under the Post Master General and wholly independent of the government of the Island. "The Telegraph and Public Telephone Lines were in charge of the Signal Corps of the Army, under the con- trol of Chief Signal Officer of the Division, Colonel H. H. C. Dunwoody, having as assistant the officers of the Signal Corps stationed throughout the Island. "Lieutenant Commander Lucien Young, U. S. N., was Captain of the Port of Havana and exercised general supervision over all the Captains of Ports of the Island. "Police Supervision was exercised by a rural guard of the various provinces. "Charities and Hospitals were mostly under the com- manding generals of the different departments, each com- mander estimating for and looking after those of his own department. This was also true of prisons in all that pertained to their maintenance and sanitation. Sanitary work in all of the large cities, especially in garrisoned towns, was entirely under the military officers, and throughout the Island it was under their general charge. "The Auditor for the Island was a civilian, the system of accounting and auditing was similar to that of the United States Treasury. "The Island was divided into four military depart- ments. Each was under the command of a general offi- cer. These general officers were charged with the usual military control and administration of the forces under their command, under the Rules and Regulations of the Army governing the United States." When General Wood was appointed, conditions were improving throughout the Island. A large tobacco crop and a small sugar crop were in prospect. ARMY 223 A new school law, somewhat rudimentary in character, but believed sufficiently complete for immediate needs, had been published in order to permit the preliminary establishment of schools, the efficient operation of which would cost several hundred thousand dollars per month. The schools were practically without school furniture, and the amount of supplies and material was very small. "The crowded condition of the jails," he continues, "with untried prisoners, indicated only too clearly an in- efficient administration of justice. Generally speaking, jails and hospitals were all in need of refitting and re- pairs. In the Department of Public Works a systematic and well-defined plan of operation was needed in order that the main lines of communication might be opened with as little delay as possible. The immense amount of work called for in the important departments of Justice and Public Instruction necessitated their separation. This was done and two distinct departments formed. "The Light-house Service was organized and placed under the charge of Senor Mario Menocal, a civil engineer of good standing, and the work of this important depart- ment at once taken up. Senor Menocal was later suc- ceeded by Senor E. J. Balbiu. "The most serious condition which presented itself for immediate action was that of prisons. This was such as to demand a thorough and rigid investigation in order that existing abuses might be corrected and avoided in the future. In order to have this work systematically conducted, an inspector of prisons was appointed and directed to inspect all prisons and all prisoners at least three times a year, at as nearly equal intervals as pos- sible. The purpose of this was to keep the prisoners under rigid supervision, thereby preventing overcrowd- ing and unjust and improper detention. 224 OUR UNITED STATES "The administration and conduct of the prisons was one of the worst features of the former government of Cuba. When the United States assumed control of the Island, the prisons were found without proper sanitary arrange- ments, without proper appliances for cooking, lighting or ventilation ; in fact, they were simply mediaeval prison houses. There seemed to be no system looking towards the reformation of the inmates, the whole purpose being solely to punish, never to correct. Records were im- perfectly kept. Prisoners awaiting trial in many cases had no idea of the charges under which they were held or date of their trial. They had no means of procuring witnesses, and were often held months awaiting trial and finally discharged for lack of evidence, their small plan- tations in the meantime having been ruined and their families scattered. In Havana I found conditions exist- ing," continues General Wood, "of such a character as to warrant prompt action in connection with the Carcel. The sanitation was bad, the prisoners were with- out sufficient hammocks or cots, and in many instances without blankets or other suitable bedding. The cooking arrangements were bad. So far as public interest went, there was absolutely none, in the institution or in their proper conduct. . . . "Immediate steps were taken to install in the Carcel modern cooking arrangement, proper sanitation, sanitary closets, sewers, etc. A steam kitchen, steam laundry and additional sanitary improvements, such as were possible in an old and illy constructed building, were put in. ... "The provincial or Andrencia prisons were formerly conducted with better regard for system or method, the sole object being to retain the prisoners within the walls. Hardened criminals and boys awaiting trial were found in the same general prison rooms. Prisoners were al- ARMY 225 lowed to have food sent in pretty much at will. Their prison rooms were filled with all sorts of articles, reading matter, mess outfits, and special articles of food. Con- victs if they had sufficient means, were allowed to have separate rooms, supplying themselves with whatever luxuries they could purchase. Bathing facilities and sanitary arrangements were of the crudest possible de- scription, and in many places wanting. "General orders have been published requiring that prisoners detained and awaiting trial be kept in rooms apart from those sentenced, and that boys, whether sentenced or awaiting trial, be separated from adult prisoners. ... "During the year 1900 all the prisons were thoroughly cleaned up and nearly all received general repairs, which in some places amounted almost to reconstruction. Wherever possible, bathing facilities were furnished and the condition of ventilation improved and suitable bedding has been supplied. "When we came to the Island," continues General Wood, "no institutions worthy of the name of correctional schools existed. There was only one so-called correc- tional establishment. This amounted to little more than an ill-kept, filthy institution, full of boys of all characters, some of them, thoroughly vicious, others, boys who had fallen into bad habits simply through neglect or loss of parents, and boys confined without any obvious reason. The children made one of the saddest pictures the Is- land presented. They were living without proper sur- roundings and under conditions which induced abnormal habits and immorality. There was nothing whatever in it which was correctional. The influences were de- moralizing and bad. It was situated in Havana and known as the San Jose Correctional School. The condi- 226 OUR UNITED STATES tion of these boys was such that they were transferred to Reina Battery in January 1900, and an effort made to place them under better influences. The battery had been used as a barrack by our troops and furnished with some simple sanitary arrangements. There was plenty of light and air. The boys were retained there for several months, then transferred to Guana jay, where they were established in an almost ideal location, under con- ditions favorable to correction and reformation. "Under the Spanish Government many liberal and wise provisions were made for the care of children and aged and infirm people. Almost every large town has its Beneficencia in which are always found children of both sexes and many cases of old people, cripples, etc. "Nearly all the establishments have very large proper- ties and endowments from private individuals, but owing to the disastrous effects of the war and the suffering and confusion following it, very few of them derive any in- come from their properties, and consequently have re- quired the assistance of the State. "The purpose for which these institutions were founded was an excellent one and the laws and regulations govern- ing them were conceived and drawn up in a broad and liberal spirit, yet years of neglect and bad administration had destroyed in many instances all semblance of efficient administration. . . . "In all these institutions extensive sanitary reforms have been made during the year ( 1900) . They have been thoroughly cleaned up, and in some instances, as at Havana, the State has expended many thousands of dol- lars in modern cooking arrangements, sanitary appliances of aH kinds and improvements to the buildings and grounds." During the summer of 1900, 1,281 Cuban teachers were ARMY 227 collected from different ports of the island by five United States transports which carried them to Boston where they were enabled to attend a summer school at Cam- bridge under the direction of Harvard University. At the expiration of their visit they were again transported on Government vessels to Cuba. Previous to transferring the government of Porto Rico to the civil authorities according to the Act of Congress April 12, 1900, a similar work of military administration had been in progress. Distributions of food, medical and hospital supplies, and clothing was made by a board of charities, of which the chief surgeon of the military de- partment was president and in which the entire organiza- tion of the army in the department was utilized. "To as great an extent as practicable," writes the Secretary of War, "the owners of the coffee plantations were utilised in the distribution of rations, and the able- bodied men receiving them were required, in return for rations, to engage in the work of recovering the planta- tions from the destruction wrought by the hurricane, in order that as soon as possible the production of coffee on the island might be revived. "For the purpose of furnishing further relief by giving employment instead of alms, and at the same time secur- ing much needed means of communication, the Depart- ment authorized, October 25, 1899, the expenditure of $200,000 and February 27 and May 14, 1900, the further expenditure of $750,000 for the construction of military roads, under the direction of the engineer force of the Department, the work being continued by that body after the transfer of government by the request of the civil governor." The telegraph system of the island was constructed by the Signal Corps, at an approximate cost of $60,000 per 228 OUR UNITED STATES year, which was paid out of appropriations for the sup- port of the Army. "After all the disorder, lawlessness, and distress conse- quent upon a state of war," writes Secretary Root, "the withdrawal of accustomed control, the transfer of sover- eignty to a people unfamiliar with the language, the customs, and prejudices of the island, the long delay in the legislation establishing civil and political rights and business relations, the poverty, ruin, and suffering caused by the great hurricane, the military governor was able to say, at the close of his administration : " 'On April 30th, the machinery of civil government was in the charge of experienced public officers, and the organization, with departments, bureaus, and other branches, both insular and municipal, was such that the new government ordered by Congress to be instituted, could the following day be launched and carried forward in an efficient and economic manner. The courts of the island were all in the discharge of their proper functions. The dockets were not crowded as they were a year be- fore. The prisons and jails were well kept and were not overflowing. The public highways were in fine condi- tion and were being rapidly extended. The amount that could be spared from the treasury for education was be- ing applied in such a manner as to give instruction ac- cording to modern methods to over 30,000 children. The laws of taxation had been so changed that very heavy and onerous burdens had been removed from the poor. " 'In office in every municipality were officers who in every instance were the choice of electors, thus granting to municipalities almost complete autonomy. " 'Life and property were everywhere secure, and this without the use of troops for protection. Notwithstand- ARMY 229 ing the most grievous losses suffered by the people from raids of banditti, from arson, from disturbance of trade relations, from losses of Spanish markets without corres- ponding gains elsewhere, from unsettled conditions re- sulting from the use of a currency which suffered a heavy discount when referred to a gold basis, and, finally, from the almost overwhelming disaster of August of last year, when seven-tenths of all maturing crops were blotted out of existence notwithstanding all these obstacles and burdens, the military governor was able to turn over to the civil governor the comfortable balance in the insular treasury of over $300,000. As commander of the Mili- tary Department of Porto Rico and the last military governor, I think I may not inappropriately say that the trust confided to the Army by the President and the people has not been abused, but instead, has been wisely and justly exercised in the interest and for the benefit of the inhabitants of this beautiful island.' "I concur in these statements," says Secretary Root, "and I wish to add to them an expression of grateful ap- preciation of the devotion, judgment, good temper, and ability exhibited by General Davis in the performance of his difficult duties, and of the faithful service of the officers of his command." The destruction of the Spanish fleet in the Harbor of Manila on May 1, 1898 thrust another serious and per- plexing problem upon the government of the United States. At that date all of its troops and military stores were being hastily concentrated on the southern Atlantic coast. Major General Merriam, commanding the De- partment of California took prompt and active measures to enlist volunteers from the Pacific Slope, the as- sembling place being San Francisco. General Otis and General Merritt exerted every faculty in organizing and 230 OUR UNITED STATES equipping the "expeditionary forces," a problem fraught with extreme difficulty. "Suddenly called to meet an unexpected emergency in a distant portion of the world, no preparations had been made to receive them," writes General Otis, first Military Governor of the Philippines. "The supply departments, not anticipating any concentration of forces on the Pacific coast had made no provisions for furnishing arms, am- munition, clothing, subsistence, or other war material with which an army about to operate 7,000 miles from its base must necessarily be supplied. Indeed, at the time these troops arrived at San Francisco, such property, usually kept in moderate quantities on the Pacific coast, had been sent to the East for the army destined to invade Cuba and Porto Rico. The volunteer organizations were supposed to report equipped and uniformed, but a large majority of the arms they presented were worthless and in some instances entire organizations had to be rearmed. Their clothing had evidently been in use for a long time in State service, was worn out, and many of the men were dressed as civilians. In spite of all these embarrass- ments, the celerity with which these troops were equipped and made ready for the field, and with which great quantities of necessary supplies and war materials were placed in San Francisco and loaded on transports, fur- nished very satisfactory evidence of the efficiency of the staff department of the Army. Fortunately San Fran- cisco is a great market, and much that was needed could be obtained there through contract and purchase. The facilities thus offered were taken advantage of, and as- sisted very materially in the work of preparation. The shipping on the Pacific coast was found to be very limited, and vessels in any wise suited (even after they were over- hauled and repaired) to transport troops to the Tropics ARMY 231 were few, and most of them were at the time absent, en- gaged in foreign or domestic trade. This want was the principal cause of delay in despatching troops, but the persistent efforts of the War Department assisted by the Army officers in San Francisco, accomplished the de- sired results very quickly, considering the embarrassments with which it had to contend. The time required for these preparations, however, was most advantageously employed. General officers, as soon as they reported for duty, were placed in charge of brigade organizations and labored assiduously in giving proper instructions to their commands, so that when these troops sailed for the Philippines they could be considered moderately efficient for service. "With the officers of my staff," continued General Otis, "I accompanied the fourth expedition and arrived in the harbor of Manila on August 21, where we first learned of the operations of the 10,000 men who had preceded or accompanied General Merritt, and which had resulted in the surrender of Manila and its occupation by the United States forces on the 13th of that month." At this time the military situation was as follows: Under the articles of capitulation, United States oc- cupation was confined to the harbor, city and bay of Manila. Admiral Dewey, with his fleet, held the bay, also the naval establishment at Cavite which had been captured in May. The insurgent forces, commanded by General Aguinaldo, entered the city with our troops on August 13th, and actively held joint occupation with them over a considerable part of the southern portion of the same, declining to vacate on the plea, first, that they had served as allies with our troops, during the operations which had preceded the taking of the city, and therefore had the right to participate in the victory; and secondly, 232 OUR UNITED STATES that they wished to maintain all advantageous positions secured in order to resist successfully the troops of Spain, should that Government be permitted to resume its former power in the islands. Brigadier Generals Anderson and MacArthur were exercising immediate command of the troops the former at Cavite and vicinity, where a small contingent was stationed and the latter at Manila, where the majority had been judiciously placed in barracks and other available buildings. General MacArthur, also, as provost-marshal-general, had charge of the police of that city and supervision of about 13,000 prisoners Spanish and native who had been surrendered by the Spanish authorities. These had been collected in the walled por- tion of the city and occupied, for the most part, its churches and convents. Outwardly peace reigned, but the insurgents, disappointed because not permitted to en- joy the spoils of war, in accordance with mediaeval cus- toms, and to exercise joint control of municipal affairs, were not friendly disposed and endeavored to obtain their asserted rights and privileges through controversy and negotiations and a stubborn holding of the positions taken by their troops. The difficulties and perplexities which confronted all officers appointed to conduct civil affairs were very great. The prisons were full to overflowing with convicted crim- inals and persons charged with crimes. Immediate at- tempts were made to relieve this congestion, and applica- tions of friends of those incarcerated, for their release, were constant. In the jail-deliveries which followed, al- though conducted after search of records obtainable at the time, a few of the most notorious criminals escaped. Subsequently greater care was exercised and each in- dividual case was made the subject of investigation, and even then when pardon accompanied by release was ARMY 233 granted, this frequently followed for the return of em- bargoed estates, which presented very perplexing ques- tions for determination, involving a study of many Span- ish war measure decrees. The city government which was in operation at the time of surrender and the revenue measures practised for the support were the results of national, colonial and local decrees, orders and approved recommendations, more or less complicated, with amendatory features, un- codified, and running over a period of many years, pre- senting a system so complex that after the study of months it was not yet fully understood and certainly not appreciated. The monthly expenditures for the city have been double the amount of its receipts, but as all collec- tions of whatever nature made in the islands were de- posited with the general fund in the Treasury and money drawn therefrom on warrants as demands arose, no dif- ficulty was experienced. The chiefs of the supply de- partments and staff corps of the Army who had been directed to receive and receipt for the Spanish military stores when the prescribed lists should be presented, were obliged to rely solely upon their own efforts to discover this property, as no assistance was tendered by the officers of Spain. They were, it is believed, fairly successful in their persistent searches, took up and accounted for the property found, considerable of which such as clothing, subsistence, and medicines, were expended in the care of Spanish prisoners of war. The inventories which they made were very advantageous in the final settlement of United .States and Spanish claims in regard to this class of property. General Merritt's orders and those which closely followed were based on the articles of capitula- tion, by which it was transferred to the United States, as information concerning the peace protocol of August 234 OUR UNITED STATES 12th, which held in abeyance all questions of property rights pending the conclusion of a treaty of peace, had not been received. The fifth article of the Paris treaty of December 10th, returned to Spain all these army stores and property, and the inventories which our officers had taken constituted the basis of intelligent settlement with the representatives of that government under treaty stipulations, and in many instances enabled those repre- sentatives to formulate their demands. For three and one-half months Admiral Dewey with his squadron and the insurgents on land had kept Manila tightly bottled. All commerce had been interdicted, in- ternal trade paralyzed, and food supplies were nearly exhausted. Upon the opening of the port, merchants were clamoring for the re-establishment of inter-island commerce. They had advanced large amounts of money on their harvested crops of tobacco, hemp and sugar, which awaited at many points of the various shipment to Manila. No present relief could be furnished by the military authorities. The harbor was filled with Spanish shipping and that of other European countries. The United States was not represented by merchantmen of any character. Spain owned and was entitled to posses- sion of all Philippine territory, except temporary occu- pancy of the bay, harbor and city of Manila, although the insurgents had forcibly seized upon many cities and ports. Oct. 3, Capt. J. T. Evans of the volunteer subsistence department, who had been sent to the Philippines to assist in revenue matters was assigned to duty at the custom-house, his services to be temporarily confined to a careful consideration of trade conditions and an ex- haustive study of the United States customs and tariff ARMY 235 regulations prescribed for application witu a view of sug- gesting amendments and modifications therein, in order to render them practicable as possible to existing circum- stances. The entire labor of revision was imposed upon him and he performed it in a most satisfactory manner. With the entrance of the United States troops into Ma- nila and the opening up of that port, immigration became active. Business men from our own and other countries, studying the situation, were quite numerous. Members of the criminal classes, who always follow the wake of a conquering army, came from the American and Asiatic sea coasts, in large numbers. The native population of the city increased and was augmented by a considerable Chinese influx, most of which presented cedulas or cer- tificates of personal identity issued by the late Spanish Government in order to prove former residence in the islands as the United States Chinese exclusion law was directed to be applied. All these heterogeneous elements, including Aguinaldo's army and 14,000 United States troops quartered here, filled the city to repletion and gave the provost-marshal- general and his guards ample occupation. "Spanish authority had for centuries furnished the only controlling force for the maintenance of order in the Philippine Islands," writes Secretary Root in his report for 1900, "and upon the destruction of the Spanish power the existing administration completely ceased to perform its functions and disappeared, leaving a great body of inhabitants, without training or capacity to or- ganize for self-control, absolutely without government. No substitute for the accustomed control was furnished under the Tagolog rule, which was built up in the first instance by our assistance, and afterwards under our 236 OUR UNITED STATES sufferance, between the battle of Manila Bay, May 1, 1898, and the assertion of our authority by the army which arrived in the islands in the autumn of 1899. "The military authorities, however, promptly com- menced the organization of civil administration, in which, as rapidly as practicable, all the ordinary functions of government were to be vested. "The Spanish criminal procedure in the islands had been exceedingly oppressive and regardless of personal rights, and native representatives in the new courts were very desirous to introduce as speedily as possible the privileges accorded by the laws of the United States to its citizens. "The next step in order of importance was the estab- lishment of municipal governments through which the people of the islands might control their own local affairs by officers of their own selection. "The law relating to marriages was modified, upon the general demand of the people, so as to permit civil mar- riage, and give to persons civilly married all the legal rights of those married by religious ceremony. "The patent and trade mark laws of the United States were in substance adopted in the islands. The coasting trade was regulated ; burdensome taxes imposed by Span- ish law were abolished ; the schools, which were estab- lished immediately upon our occupation of Manila, were extended and improved; a quarantine law was enacted and put in force; the customs and insular revenues were greatly increased and a rigid high license and early clos- ing law was enforced upon the saloons in the city of Manila. "In April of this year," continues Secretary Root, "the second Philippine commission of which Hon. William H. Taft, of Ohio; Prof. Dean C. Worcester, of Michigan; ARMY 237 Hon. Luke I. Wright, of Tennessee ; Hon. Henry C. Ide, of Vermont, and Prof. Bernard Moses, of California, were members, sailed for Manila with the powers of civil government prescribed in the instructions of April 7, 1900. "After devoting several months to familiarizing them- selves with the conditions in the islands, this commission, on the 1st of September, 1900, entered upon the dis- charge of the extensive legislative powers and the specific powers of appointment conferred upon them in the in- structions and continued to exercise all that part of the military power of the President in the Philippines which is legislative in its character, leaving the military gover- nor still the chief executive of the islands, the action of both being duly reported to this Department for the President's consideration and approval." The enormous volume of business passing through the Headquarters of the Military Governor during the year 1900 can only be appreciated by a careful study of the reports of the Department Commanders and those from the office of the Military Secretary. "The complex details arising from the domestic and civil affairs of a population of seven or eight millions of people, all find focus in this office," says General MacArthur, Military Governor, "and when it is recalled that most of the subordinate civil officers reporting thereto are conducted by officers of .the Army, detached for special duty, it impresses the idea of the versatility of that branch of the public service. From the Supreme Court down, Army officers are found everywhere in the civil service, and not only so, but doing the novel and exacting work in an efficient, and, in many instances, in a masterly manner. It would be difficult to express adequate appreciation of the services rendered and it is 238 OUR UNITED STATES therefore a great pleasure to assure the Department of the fidelity and zeal of all concerned." In Major General MacArthur's report for 1901 are outlined the motives which led to the Philippine insur- rection, carried on under the most annoying forms of guerrilla warfare. The uncertainty of our Govern- mental policy as to the permanent retention of these dis- tant islands ; the unrest and apprehension felt by a large population of ignorant and suspicious natives, the dom- ination of native military insurgents combined to produce a state of disorganization and hostility and open defiance of American authority. Several months before the formal disbandment of the insurgent field forces in November, 1899, the Philippine military leaders had been obliged to accept an attitude of inferiority, and as a consequence thereof, they adopted what might be described as a modified Fabian policy, which was based upon the idea of occupying a series of strong defensive positions and therefrom presenting just enough resistance to force the American Army to a never-ending repetition of tactical deployments. This policy was carried out with considerable skill and was for a time partially successful as the native army was thus enabled to hover within easy distance of the American camps, and at the same time avoid close com- bat. When the offensive action of the campaign became rapid, the native army, in order to avoid capture or de- struction, was obliged to disband, but as the dissolution was accomplished in accordance with a deliberate and pre-arranged plan, it was not attended with large loss of life in battle. It has since been ascertained that the expediency of adopting guerrilla warfare from the inception of hostili- ties was seriously discussed by the native leaders, and ad- ARMY 239 vocated with much emphasis as the system best adapted to the peculiar conditions of the struggle. It was finally de- termined, however, that a concentrated field army, con- ducting regular operations, would in the event of suc- cess, attract the favorable attention of the world, and be accepted as a practical demonstration of capacity for or- ganization and self-government. The disbandment of the field army, therefore, having been a subject of con- templation from the start, the actual event, in pursuance of the deliberate action of the council of war, in Bayam- bang about Nov. 12, 1899, was not regarded by Filipinos in the light of a calamity but simply as a transition from one form of action to another, a change which by many was regarded as a positive advantage and was relied upon to accomplish more effectively the end in view. To this end the leaders announced a primal and in- flexible principle to the effect that every native without exception residing within the limits of the Archipelago owed active individual allegiance to the insurgent cause. This jurisdiction was enjoined under severe penalties which were systematically enforced, not only within in- surgent territory but also within the limits of American garrisons. By means of secret committees residing in or sent to the towns, contributions of all kinds were col- lected and sent to the field, and punishments, including capital executions were administered without resistance on the part of the victim, by reason of a strange com- bination of loyalty, apathy, ignorance, and timidity. This policy was generally accepted ; and as a consequence the military leaders enjoyed a very extensive co-operation of the whole mass of Filipino people in support of their movements. This joint action was very effective in re- spect to all matters touching intelligence and supply and also in the innumerable little details connected with the 240 OUR UNITED STATES daily service of troops in campaign, and with regard to which a good understanding with the inhabitants gives such an enormous advantage. The cohesion of Filipino society in behalf of insurgent interests is most emphatically illustrated by the fact that assassination which was extensively enjoyed, was gener- ally accepted as a legitimate expression of insurgent gov- ernmental authority. The individual marked for death, would not appeal to American protection, although con- demned exclusively on account of supposed pro-Ameri- canism, or give information calculated to insure their own safety, even when such procedure could easily be accomplished by means of conferences with American commanders, who in many instances were stationed in the barrios where the victims reside. The amnesty, which expired Sept. 21, 1900 had not produced any useful effect, and by Dec. 1, 1900 it was apparent that expectation based upon the result of the presidential election in the United States would not be realized. Conditions were plainly likely to become chron- ic, unless some remedy could be devised capable of ready application with the means at hand and calculated to pro- duce an immediate effect in amelioration of the situation. An entirely new campaign was therefore determined upon, based upon the central idea of detaching the towns from the immediate support of the guerrillas in the field, and thus also precluding the indirect support which arose from indiscriminate acceptance by the towns of the in- surrection in all its devious ramifications. In prosecuting field operations against the concen- trated forces of the rebellion, the people of the country, especially those living in towns, had rarely been inter- fered with, even when suspected of giving aid and as- ARMY 241 sistance to the army enemy. Prisoners taken in battle were disarmed and immediately released. This policy was adhered to with uniform consistency for nearly two years in the hope that such conciliatory action would in time turn the natives into friendly neighbours, alike to their advantage and to that of the United States. As a consequence of centuries of monarchial colonial administration, the people of these islands are suspicious of, rather than grateful for, any declared or even prac- tised governmental beneficence, and in this particular in- stance they undoubtedly looked upon the lenient attitude of the United States as indicating conscious weakness, which in itself was sufficient to induce grave doubt as to the wisdom of siding with such a power ; especially, so, as the United States had made no formal announcement of an inflexible purpose to hold the Archipelago, and afford protection to pro-Americans by proclaiming a legal and constitutional right, as well as a determined purpose, to act accordingly. As preliminary to more vigorous field operation and in assistance of the same, it was considered expedient to clear up such misleading views referred to above as came clearly and exclusively within the scope of military administration. Fortunately most of the matters de- manding discussion fell directly within the operations of well-known prescriptions of laws of war which touch government of occupied places. Accordingly, these were amplified, formulated and ex- pounded to the Filipino people and all residents of the Archipelago. The proclamation in which this was pro- mulgated was printed in each of the 13 newspapers published in Manila, in English, Spanish and Tagalog languages. "To successfully contend against this condition and to 242 OUR UNITED STATES suppress it," writes the Secretary of War, "to afford pro- tection to the peaceful and unarmed inhabitants, and to re-establish local civil governments had necessitated the distribution of our forces to more than 400 stations. The scattered guerrilla insurgent bands obtained funds and supplies from the towns and country in the vicinity of their operations. The people thus contributing to the support of these guerrillas had been rarely interfered with. Prisoners taken in battle had been disarmed and immediately released. This policy had been adhered to in the hope that it might make friendly neighbours of the natives, but, on the contrary they seemed suspicious of this beneficence and looked upon it as an evidence of weakness. It was therefore decided to apply more rigidly to the residents of the Archipelago the laws of war touching the government of occupied places. No- tice of this intention was given by a proclamation issued by the military governor December 20, 1900, fully ex- plaining the law, supplemented by letters of instruction, and followed by more vigorous field operations. It was followed immediately by the deportation to the island of Guam of about fifty prominent Filipino insurgent army officers, civil officials, insurgent agents, sympathizers and agitators. "There was at one time in the public press and on the floor of Congress," continues Mr. Root in his official re- port for 1902, "much criticism of the conduct of the Army in the Philippines, as being cruel and inhuman. All wars are cruel. This conflict consisted chiefly of guerrilla warfare. It lasted for some three years and a half and extended over thousands of miles of territory. Over 120,000 men were engaged upon our side and a much greater number upon the other, and we were fight- ing against enemies who totally disregarded the law pf ARMY 243 civilized warfare, and who were guilty of the most atrocious treachery and inhuman cruelty. "It was impossible that some individuals should not be found upon our side who were unnecessarily and un- justifiably cruel. Such instances, however, after five months of searching investigation by a committee of the Senate, who took some three thousand printed pages of testimony, appear to have been comparatively few, and they were in violation of strict orders, obedience to which characterized the conduct of the army as a whole. "The two observers who, as the heads of the civil gov- ernment in the Philippines, had the best opportunities for information, and at the same time were naturally free from any military bias, have given what I believe to be a true statement of the character of our military opera- tions." Vice-Governor Luke E. Wright says in a letter writ- ten on the 20th of July, 1902 : "General ChafTee, as a matter of course, had no pa- tience with any acts of oppression or cruelty, and when- ever his attention has been called to them has at once taken proper steps. The howl against the Army has been made mainly for political purposes, and the cruel- ties practiced have been largely exaggerated. Of course, numerous instances of this character have occurred. There never was and never will be a war of which the same may not be said; but taken as a whole, and when the character of the warfare here is considered, I think the officers and men of the American Army have been forbearing and humane in their dealings with the na- tives, and the attempt to create a contrary impression is not only unjust to them, but, it seems, to me, unpatriotic as well." 244 OUR UNITED STATES Governor Taft, in his testimony under oath before the Philippine Committee of the Senate said : "After a good deal of study about the matter (and although I have never been prejudiced in favor of the military branch, for when the civil and military branches are exercising concurrent jurisdiction there is some in- evitable friction), I desire to say that it is my deliberate judgment that there never was a war conducted, whether against inferior races or not, in which there was more compassion and more restraint and more generosity, as- suming that there was war at all, than there have been in the Philippine Islands." CHAPTER XIV ERADICATION OF DISEASE BY ARMY MEDICAL STAFF A FAR reaching result of the cleaning up of Havana by the American Army was the eradication of yellow fever, which for two hundred years had been the curse of the West Indies, of Central and South America. The econ- omical waste both in lives and property by the ravages of the dread disease can hardly be approximated. It has been estimated that 500,000 cases of yellow fever existed in the United States alone between 1793 and 1900. The problem had long occupied the attention of lead- ing medical men of the world, theories had been ad- vanced, investigations carried on, remedies offered and protective inoculations instituted, but for the reason that the organism of yellow fever is invisible to the micro- scope, these investigations had been unsuccessful and the remedies applied alleviated but did not eradicate the disease. Surgeon General Sternberg, U. S. A., had given many years to the conscientious study of yellow fever. Con- sidered a leading authority on the subject he had made under the direction of the President of the United States, laborious investigations as to its cause in Havana, Brazil and Mexico. The claim of Sanarelli, of Buenos Aires, to have discovered the cause of yellow fever in the ba- cillus icteroides, prompted Surgeon-General Sternburg to investigate the claim and to this end he ordered Major 245 246 OUR UNITED STATES Walter Reed, at the time professor of bacteriology in the Army Medical School, to study this organism in connec- tion with an organism discovered by Sternberg and named by him bacillus X. In June, 1900, Major Reed was appointed president of a board to study infectious diseases, but more es- pecially yellow fever. Associated with him were Acting Assistant Surgeons James Carroll, Jesse W. Lazear and A. Agramonte. "At this time the American authorities in Cuba had for a year and a half endeavored to diminish the disease and mortality of the Cuban towns," writes Colonel McCaw, "by general sanitary work, but while the health of the population showed distinct improvement and the mor- tality had greatly diminished, yellow fever apparently had been entirely unaffected by these measures. In fact, owing to the large number of non-immune foreigners, the disease was more frequent than usual in Havana and in Quenados near the camp of American troops, and many valuable lives of American officials and soldiers had been lost. Reed was convinced from the first that general sanitary measures alone would not check the dis- ease but that its transmission was probably due to an insect. "The fact that malarial fever, caused by an animal par- asite in the blood, is transmitted from man to man through the agency of certain mosquitoes had been re- cently accepted by the scientific world ; also several years before, Dr. Carlos Finlay, of Havana, had advanced the theory that a mosquito conveyed the unknown cause of yellow fever, but did not succeed in demonstrating it the truth of his theory. "Dr. H. R. Carter, of the Marine Hospital Service, had written a paper showing that although the period of in- ARMY 247 cubation of yellow fever was only five days, yet a house to which a patient was carried did not become infected for from fifteen to twenty days. To Reed's mind this indicated that the unknown infective agent has to un- dergo a period of incubation of from ten to fifteen days, and probably in the body of a biting insect. "In June, July and August, 1900, the commission gave their entire attention rto the bacteriological study of the blood of yellow fever patients, and the post mortem ex- amination of the organs of those dying with the dis- ease." "Application was made to General Leonard Wood, the Military Governor of Cuba, for permission to conduct experiments on non-immune persons, and a liberal sum of money requested for the purpose of rewarding vol- unteers who would submit themselves to experiment. It was indeed fortunate," continues Colonel McCaw, "that the military governor of Cuba was a man who by his breadth of mind and special scientific training could readily appreciate the arguments of Major Reed as to the value of the proposed work. Money and full au- thority to proceed were promptly granted and to the everlasting glory of the American soldier, volunteers from the army offered themselves for experiment in plenty, and with the utmost fearlessness. "Before the arrangements were entirely completed, Dr. Carroll, a member of the commission, allowed himself to be bitten by a mosquito that twelve days previously had filled itself with the blood of a yellow fever patient. He suffered from a very severe attack, and his was the first experimental case. Dr. Lazear also experimented on himself at the same time, but was not infected. Some days later, while in the yellow fever ward, he was bitten by a mosquito and noted the fact carefully. He acquired 248 OUR UNITED STATES the disease in its most terrible form and died a martyr to science and a true hero. No other fatality occurred among the brave men who, in the course of the experi- ments, willingly exposed themselves to infection of the dread disease. "A camp was especially constructed for the experi- ments about four miles from Havana, christened Camp Lazear in honor of the dead comrade." Kissinger and Moran, privates, were the first to vol- unteer as subjects for experiments. Senate report No. 210 contains a full statement of the services of John Kissinger, who to use his own words volunteered "solely in the interest of humanity and the cause of science" ; one of the bravest soldiers who served in the Spanish American war. For exhibition of moral courage, his submission to inoculation of yellow fever seems unsurpassed. In 1910 he was a helpless paralytic, unable to walk, and totally disabled for any kind of em- ployment, his ailment being a disease of the spine, as the results of experiments made upon him when he volun- teered to become a subject for experimental purposes in the yellow fever hospital in Cuba. On page 139 in the life of Walter Reed, published by McClure, Phillips & Company, is the following paragraph in regard to this soldier: "When it became known among the troops that sub- jects were needed for experimental purposes, Kissinger, in company with another young private named John J. Moran, volunteered their services. Doctor Reed talked the matter over with them, explaining fully the danger and suffering involved in the experiment should it be successful, and then, seeing they were determined, he stated that a definite money compensation would be made them. Both young men declined to accept it, making it, ARMY 249 indeed, their sole stipulation that they should receive no pecuniary reward, whereupon Major Reed touched his cap, saying respectfully, 'Gentlemen, I salute you.' Reed's own words in his published account of the experi- ment on Kissinger are, 'In my opinion this exhibition of moral courage has never been surpassed in the annals of the Army of the United States.' Likewise Mr. Moran's action was dictated by the purest motives of altruism and self-devotion. He disclaimed, before submitting to the experiments, any desire for reward, and has never ac- cepted any since, although he was offered the $200 which the liberality of the military governor enabled the com- mission to give each experimental patient, the members of the board excepted. Such was his modesty that he has made no effort to make known his connection with these experiments and reap the credit which is so justly due him. After leaving Cuba he completed his educa- tion by a course of study at the University of Virginia and in 1908 was living in Panama, in the employ of the Isthmian Canal Commission." The mosquitoes used were specially bred from the eggs and kept in a building screened by wire netting. When an insect was wanted for an experiment it was taken into a yellow fever hospital and allowed to fill itself with the blood of a patient; afterward at varying intervals from the time of this meal of blood it was purposely applied to non-immunes in camp. In December five cases of the disease were developed as the result of such applications ; in January, three, and in February two, making in all ten, exclusive of the cases of Drs. Carroll and Lazear. Immediately upon the ap- pearance of the first recognized symptoms of the dis- ease, in any one of these experimental cases, the patient was taken from Camp Lazear to a yellow fever hospital, 250 OUR UNITED STATES one mile distant. Every person in camp was rigidly pro- tected from accidental mosquito bites, and not in a single instance did yellow fever develop in the camp, except at the will of the experimenters. A completely mosquito-proof building was divided into two compartments by a wire screen partition; in- fected insects were liberated on one side only. A brave non-immune entered and remained long enough to allow himself to be bitten several times. He was attacked by yellow fever, while two susceptible men in the other compartment did not acquire the disease, although sleeping there thirteen nights. This demonstrates in the simplest and most certain manner that the infectious- ness of the building was due only to the presence of insects. Every attempt was made to infect individuals by means of bedding, clothes, and other articles that had been used and soiled by patients suffering with virulent yellow fever. Volunteers slept in the room with and handled the most filthy articles for twenty nights, but not a symptom of yellow fever was noted among them, nor was their health in the slightest degree affected. Nevertheless they were not immune to the disease, for some of them were afterwards purposely infected by mosquito bites. This experiment indicated at once the uselessness of destroying valuable property for fear of infection. Had the people of the United States known this one fact a hundred years ago, an enormous amount of money would have been saved to householders. Suffice to briefly sum up the principal conclusions of this admirable board of investigators of which Reed was the mastermind: 1. The specific agent in the causation of yellow fever exists in the blood of a patient for the first three days ARMY 251 of his attack, after which time he ceases to be a menace to the health of others. 2. A mosquito of a single species, Stegomyia fasciata, investing the blood of a patient during this infective period, is powerless to convey the disease to another per- son by its bite until about twelve days has elapsed, but can do so thereafter for an indefinite period, probably during the remainder of its life. 3. The disease cannot in nature be spread in any other way than by the bite of the previously infected Stegomyia. Articles used and soiled by patients do not carry infection. "In February, 1901, the Chief Sanitary Officer in Ha- vana, Major W. C. Gorgas, Medical Department U. S. Army, instituted measures to eradicate the disease, based entirely on the conclusions of the commission," writes Colonel McCaw. "Cases of yellow fever were required to be reported as promptly as possible, the patient was at first rigidly isolated, and immediately upon the report a force of men from the sanitary department visited the house. All the rooms of the buildings and of the neigh- bouring houses were sealed and fumigated to destroy the mosquitoes present. Window and door screens were put up, and after the death or recovery of the patient, his room was fumigated and every mosquito destroyed. A war of extermination was also waged against mosquitoes in general, and an energetic effort was made to diminish the number bred by draining standing water, screening tanks and vessels, using petroleum on water that could not be drained, and in the most systematic manner de- stroying the breeding places of the insects." As early as 1902 Major Gorgas while stationed at Havana had written to Surgeon General Sternberg con- cerning the discoveries of the Reed Board and the appli- 252 OUR UNITED STATES cation of these discoveries in eradicating yellow fever from Havana, and inviting attention to the fact that they would have a most important bearing upon the con- struction of the Panama Canal. General Sternberg approved the idea and the same year Major Gorgas was ordered back to the United States that he might be in close touch with the prepara- tions for the Canal work. While waiting for the organization to commence he was sent to Egypt as the representative of the Medical Department of the United States Army to the first Egyp- tian Medical Congress, and thus had an opportunity to inform himself of the conditions which had existed dur- ing the building of the Suez Canal. Later he was sent as representative of the United States Army Medical De- partment to the Hygiene Congress which met in Paris, France, in October 1903, where he collected a great deal of valuable data with regard to the sanitary conditions existing at Panama during the French regime. The Isthmian Canal Commission was organized by the President in January, 1904, and in March of the same year Dr. Gorgas was ordered to accompany the Commis- sion to Panama as their sanitary adviser. The formal transference of the Canal Zone from the French to the United States did not take place until May 4, 1904, so that the serious work of sanitation was not inaugurated until June. With $50,000 worth of supplies and the personnel brought down at the same time the tremendous task of cleaning up the isthmus was begun. Yellow fever being the greatest plague on the isthmus, a war was waged against the extermination of the deadly mosquito, at the two great terminals, Colon and Panama City. ARMY 253 The manner of Mosquito Destruction adopted by Dr. Gorgas in his admirable sanitary measures in the Canal Zone was based on the following rules. Houses were fumigated with insect powder and sulphur. The screen- ing of windows and doors with fine netting was insti- tuted to prevent the passage of mosquitoes. The care- ful screening of the beds of fever patients or suspects. As most mosquitoes breed in water usually in arti- ficial collections of fresh water and live in the vicinity in which they breed, coal oil was used on the surface of the water to prevent the wrigglers from coming to the surface to breathe, thereby destroying them. Water from rain barrels, tubs, buckets, cans, flower pots, vases was ordered emptied every forty-eight hours. Pools, ditches, and post holes were filled in to prevent stagnant pools from forming. The water in chicken coops and kennels was ordered changed daily. All standing water which could not be screened or drained was treated with coal oil. Gold fish and min- nows were introduced where it was undesirable to put oil, such as watering troughs for stock, etc. Vacant lots and yards were cleaned of cans, tins, bottles, etc. Weeds, grass and bushes about ditches and ponds were cleared away, and oil was placed in gutters, ditches, cul- verts, manholes and catch basins. In fact after all places that were known to breed mosquitoes had been treated, work was carried on where they might breed. "We carried fumigation in Panama, however, much further than we had ever dreamed of doing at Havana," writes Dr. Gorgas. "Besides carrying out the method which we had developed at Havana of fumigating the house where a case of yellow fever had occurred, to- gether with all the contiguous houses, we adopted the following plan : / 254 OUR UNITED STATES "Panama compared with Havana was a very small town. Havana in 1904 had a population of 250,000; Panama about 20,000. Instead of waiting for the slow process of fumigating the house where a yellow fever case occurred, with the contiguous houses, and thereby killing the infected mosquitoes concerned in that partic- ular case, we ought to be able, we said, in a small town like Panama to fumigate every house in the city within a comparatively short time, and thereby get rid of all the infected mosquitoes at one fell swoop. "This would certainly have been the result if our pre- mises had been correct, namely, that it was the fumigation that had caused the disappearance of yellow fever at Havana. With this object in view, we commenced at one end of the city and fumigated every building. It took us about a month to get over the whole town. Cases of yellow fever still continued to occur after we had finished. We therefore went through the procedure a second time. Still other cases occurred, and we went over the city a third time. We used up in these fumiga- tions in the course of about a year some hundred and twenty tons of insect powder, and some other hundred tons of sulphur. These quantities of material give some idea of the amount of fumigation." The persistence and efficiency of the Sanitary Depart- ment, in spite of outside scepticism and discouragement won the fight against the destructive agencies of disease and by November, 1905, the last case of yellow fever oc- curred in Panama. "This fact," writes Dr. Gorgas, "quieted alarm on the Isthmus, and gave the sanitary officials great prestige, not only among the now large body of Canal employes, but also among the native population living on the Isthmus. "In looking back over our ten years of work," he con- ARMY 255 tinues, "these two years 1905 and 1906 seem the halcyon days for the Sanitary Department. It was really during this period that our work was accomplished. By the fall of 1907 about all of our sanitary work had been com- pleted. Our fight against disease in Panama had been won, and from that time on our attention was given to holding what had been accomplished." In anticipation of at least 50,000 employes on the Canal Zone and estimating that it was likely that fifty per thousand of such employes would be sick Colonel Gorgas ably assisted by Dr. John W. Ross of the United States Navy and Major Louis A. La Garde of the United States Army immediately set about liberal provision for their care in properly equipped hospitals. At Ancon and Colon large hospitals were maintained with smaller hospitals, rest camps and dispensaries along the entire length of the Canal. At laboga a large sanitarium was maintained to assist the recuperation of those who had recovered sufficiently to leave the hospitals. It is a matter of congratulation that during the year 1913 when the maximum force was employed on the Isthmus the constant sick rate was only about twenty- two per thousand. It will be borne in mind that at the same time that yellow fever was being eradicated from the Canal Zone an attack was also being made upon malaria. This work was carried on along exactly the same lines as in the city of Havana. The country along the line of the Canal between the two termini, Colon and Panama, was entirely different and as new conditions and as new problems arose they were met with equal skill and ex- pediency. One of the most vital of sanitary precautions taken on 256 OUR UNITED STATES the Isthmus was the segregation of lepers. "We estab- lished a colony," writes Dr. Gorgas, "on a beautifully lo- cated peninsula running out into the bay of Panama, and almost as much isolated as if it were on an island. Here they could have their gardens, chickens, fruit trees, etc. The location is naturally one of the prettiest on the bay. "We now have there some fifty lepers, who are living contented and happy. We have a white male trained nurse in general charge, a white female trained nurse in charge of the women, and some four or five other em- ployes. We have a teacher for the children, and the lepers are always employed for any work of which they are capable, and are paid for this work so as to encour- age them to seek it. "Dr. Henry R. Garten devoted a great deal of time and attention to the establishment of this colony, and it was due to his painstaking personal care that the matter turned out so successfully." It has been well said that "Not since the Science of Healing opened its doors to the Science of Prevention have physicians scored a greater victory in their fight against diseases and death than on the Isthmus of Pan- ama. Not only did they help to build the Canal; they demonstrated that tropical diseases are capable of human control and thereby opened up a vista of hope undreamed of to all that sweltering and suffering mass of humanity that inhabits the Torrid Zone." Upon the outbreak of the Spanish American war, a young medical officer, Dr. Bailey K. Ashford, a graduate of the Georgetown University, who had recently entered the Army and finished his post-graduate course at the Army Medical School in Washington, was ordered to Porto Rico. ARMY 257 At the time of the American invasion sanitary laws were unknown on the Island. At the close of the war with Spain there was great destitution and suffering among the masses owing to the general poverty and fail- ure of the crops. The ravages of the unprecedented hurricane of August, 1899, in which over 2,500 lives were lost, the destruction of the customary food supplies and the substitution therefor of other articles, resulted in a large per cent, of deaths from anaemia, supposedly pre- cipitated by starvation. Dr. Ash ford was placed in a large field hospital to aid in caring for the sufferers. Abundant food failed to re- store to health those suffering from anaemia and there- fore Dr. Ashford came to the conclusion that some other cause was at the basis of this prevalent condition. His attention was called to the rapid rise in mortality which in 1900 reached 30 per cent, of all deaths and he observed that most cases developed in the "peon" class of the pop- ulation, the fatalities being especially great in the rural districts. These peons comprise about three-fourths of the population, live in miserable hovels and subsist on the poorest quality of food. Having little power of resist- ance they succumb rapidly to disease. Up to this time there seemed to have been no effort made by resident physicians to investigate the cause of so large a mor- tality. In describing the daily life among the working classes, Dr. Ashford writes in his report, 1899: "They rise at from 4 to 6 A. M. Some take a little black coffee, some boiled water and sugar, some nothing. They work till 11, when they breakfast on about 4 ounces of codfish, and a few pieces of plantain. They return to work at one and continue till five P. M. Dinner is com- posed of rice and beans, some have only boiled rice with 258 OUR UNITED STATES lard, and some boiled rice alone. It may be mentioned that they get plenty of bad rum and some bad wine. This seems a slight enough diet, but the hurricane de- prived them of even this, and the sick poor came drifting down on Ponce. I believe it not probable that those de- graded to the level of people whose life is bounded by a tropical plantation, enjoying little beyond the cutting of cane and the picking of coffee, can have a high standard of personal cleanliness, and, as a fact, bathing is not often practiced." Dr. Ash ford made microscopical examinations and dis- covered ankylostoma or hook worm, a parasite known to have caused a similar condition in other tropical coun- tries. At Ponce, in December, 1899, Dr. Ashford made what has proved to be the first announcement of the ex- istence of ankylostoma on the islands. The hook worm disease, due to soil pollution, is caused by small round worms of different species, which attack various animals, man, dogs, cattle, sheep, swine, etc., but the forms which occur in man are peculiar to man and do not reach maturity in our domesticated animals, neither do the forms which occur in the latter develop to ma- turity in man. The New World hook worm is a slender worm about half an inch long and scarcely thicker than a small sized hair pin. In its adult stage the parasite lives in the small intestine, especially in the upper half, occasionally also in the stomach. It attaches itself to the intestinal wall, sucks the blood, eats the epitheleum, and apparently pro- duces a poisonous substance. Dr. Ashford demonstrated that the hook worm entered the body through the cuticle of persons going barefoot on the islands, or may be taken into the body from un- washed fruits or vegetables. The larvae burrow into the ARMY 259 human flesh under the nails or any other accessible part, through the hair folicles or through the pores. The result of Dr. Ashford's researches was the ap- pointment of the Porto Rico Anaemia Commission in February, 1904, by the Legislature of Porto Rico, and an appropriation of $5,000 the first year, $15,000 the sec- ond and $50,000 in 1906 for the purpose of eradicating the disease from the islands. The original members of this commission comprised Captain and Asst. Surg. B. K. Ashford, Dr. Pedro Gutierrez and Past Assistant Surg. W. W. King of the Marine Hospital Service. Under authority from the United States War Department practically all the camp equipment was loaned to the commission by the military authorities in San Juan. The location selected for the first camp was at Baya- mon, P. R., near the local city hospital. The camp con- sisted of ten tents, eight tents of six beds, one dining room tent, and one administration tent. The worst patients were admitted only for three or four days while thymol was being administered. Some few had to be kept for a short time longer. Most pa- tients were given their medicine to take at their homes. During the first two months, March and April, 1904, 937 cases of anaemia were examined and treated. When the commission began its work there was openly expressed scepticism among both physicians and laity. The simple treatment by the administration of thymol had beneficial results and in addition to being cured, the patient was given some instruction as to the means of prevention. A few plain explanations were given as to the cause of the disease, how it was contracted, and how to prevent reinfection. Specimens of the parasite were shown, and a small pamphlet containing these explana- 260 OUR UNITED STATES tions in simple language was given to those who could read or had any one to read to them. Every effort had been made by the commission to in- duce the natives to wear shoes, to take measures for greater personal cleanliness and proper house sanitation. In November, 1910, the total number of persons treated in Porto Rico had reached 287,000, of which 40 to 50 per cent, were completely cured. The importance and far reaching results of Major Ashford's discovery is, in the opinion of Dr. C. W. Stiles, a leading authority on the subject and a member of the Rockefeller Sanitary Commission for the Eradication of Hookworm Disease, one of the most important results of the Spanish American War. The sanitary and economic importance of the work done at the instigation of Major Ashford in Porto Rico is likened to the work of the yellow fever commission in Cuba. It will be recalled that the Rockefeller fund of $1,000,- 000 was given in October, 1909, for the eradication of the disease in the United States and especially in the Southern States where it is very prevalent. At the invitation of the Rockefeller Foundation Dr. Ashford made a journey to Brazil in January, 1916, as a member of the International Health Commission for the purpose of studying the health conditions of Brazil. The result of valuable services was the hearty co-opera- tion of the Brazilian authorities in a movement to eradi- cate uncinariasis and other tropical diseases from that country. The epidemic of Asiatic Cholera which broke out in the Philippines in 1902 was brought to a successful ter- mination in 1904. The devastations of this plague had reached the appalling number of 300,000 deaths, over ARMY 261 one-twentieth of the population of the islands being destroyed in little over a year. The skilful and deter- mined war waged by United States Medical officers not only by those on duty with the Army, but those on duty with the civil government brought the frightful epidemic under control. Recognizing the fact that the disease is introduced into a community only by another case, by water or by certain food products, strict quarantine was established on all incoming shipping. Fumigation and extermination of vermin, especially rats, the insistence upon isolation of cases and proper sanitation of com- munities, though greatly impeded by the ignorance and superstition of the natives, nevertheless the campaign against the disease was finally crowned with success and many thousands of lives were saved. The work accomplished by the Board for the Study of Tropical Diseases as they occur in the Philippine Islands has been of a very high order ; though the nature of their investigations has been such as not to show immediate results in the control of disease, they have been of much scientific importance. Among other things the board has been the first to demonstrate that dengue, which is so prevalent in the Philippine Islands, is carried by the mosquito of a certain species, thus pointing the way to its successful prevention. Following the great earthquake and fire which nearly destroyed the city of San Francisco on April 18, 1906, and the days following, most admirable sanitary and emergency work was done by the officers and men of the Medical Corps under the able direction of Lieut. Colonel Torney, who upon the request of the mayor of the city was placed at the head of a joint committee of the city, state and federal authorities to control the sanitation. As a result of the persistent efforts of the Medical De- 262 OUR UNITED STATES partment in the prevention of disease, there has been a gradual reduction in the death rate which in 1906 was 3.28 per thousand of mean strength for the Army, the lowest attained since the occupation of tropical countries, while in the United States proper the rate was 2.84, the lowest ever attained in the history of the Army. Following closely upon this extraordinary work of the Medical Corps of the Army is the especially important labours of Major Frederick F. Russell of the Medical Corps in regard to the anti-typhoid vaccination. Major Russell is practically a pioneer in this work in this country and has done substantially all of the work which has been so far accomplished along this line in the United States. In his report of the Results of anti-typhoid Vaccina- tion in the Army in 1911, and its suitability for use in civil communities, Major Russell modestly sets forth the results of his experience. "A great part of the work of introducing this form of prophylaxis has fallen on my shoulders," he writes, in his report of 1911, "but, without the active interest and energetic support of the Surgeon General, and the loyal co-operation of every member of the medical corps, little or nothing could have been accomplished. "In the Army, during times of peace," he continues, "our posts are like small communities, with their own water supplies, sewerage systems and organized adminis- tration of community affairs. So long as troops are in garrison they have no more disease than exists in the adjoining communities. We are, however, not content with this condition of safety, but must descend from our fastnesses, and in the absence of real war, engage in mimic battles and campaigns. From the purely military point of view these movements are manoeuvres, not war, ARMY 263 but from the standpoint of health and disease there exists the same real danger as in actual war. As the Medical Corps is charged with the preservation of the health of the Army, we have endeavored to protect it against typhoid, not merely in garrison, but also in the field, in campaign and on the march. "Our knowledge of vaccination against typhoid fever begins with the work of Pfeiffer and Kolle, who in 1896, immunized two men and made complete and comprehen- sive studies of the blood changes following inoculation with killed cultures, showing, as far as laboratory methods permit, the identity of the immunity following an attack of the disease, and the artificial immunity pro- duced by inoculation. "At about the same time Wright, of London, inoculated two men .with killed typhoid bacilli, but his main work was published in the following year, 1897, when he re- ported the successful immunization of seventeen persons. "A second period in the history of anti-typhoid vac- cination begins with the work of Sir William B. Leish- man, in 1904. He took up the subject when Wright left the Army, and has remained in charge up to the present time. "Our own experiences with anti-typhoid vaccination," continues Major Russell, ''began in 1908, and early in 1909 we vaccinated all who volunteered. In 1909 we immunized 1,887 persons, in 1910, 16,073. For 1911 the figures are not yet complete, but are estimated at over 80,000, making the total number of persons immunised approximately 100,000. Over 80 per cent, of these have received the full course of three doses. The vaccine has been prepared in the laboratory of the Army Medical School, and the immunization has been carried on with- out accidents. 264 OUR UNITED STATES "The recent mobilization of troops in Texas has afforded an exceptional opportunity to test the method of individual protection by means of prophylactic vac- cination. Large numbers of troops have been vac- cinated by the English in South Africa and in India, and in the United States during the past two years, but this is the first time in the history of the subject that vaccination against typhoid has been compulsory. "The vaccination of volunteers had been in progress for over two years and a small number of men had already been protected before orders for mobilization were issued. On arrival at the manoeuvre camp all others were vaccinated as rapidly as vaccine could be prepared and shipped to Texas. In about one month from the be- ginning of the movement, the immunization of the entire command was completed. The whole program was car- ried out under the direction of the Chief Surgeon Colonel Birmingham, promptly and systematically and without protest, either, in or out of the service, as the idea was not new to either officers or men, since some one had received the treatment voluntarily at every post in the Army during our preliminary campaign. "The troops remained in their several camps from March 10, 1911, to the middle of July, a period of ap- proximately four months, and during that time there were two cases of typhoid with no deaths." Thus briefly does Major Russell summarize the re- markable results of his unique labors. The problem of successful anti-typhoid vaccination has been adopted by the leading medical men in civil life throughout the world. These instances of effici- ency and original work in fields of usefulness to man- kind are but examples of the varied and important labors of the Army Medical Corps of the United States. CHAPTER XV THE PANAMA CANAL THE desire for a shorter route to the far East was the motive which prompted the journey of Columbus and the discovery of America. His ambition to find a pass- age somewhere in the narrow neck of land connecting the continents of North and South America was the object of a subsequent journey when he skirted the coast of Darien in 1502 and 1503 but was compelled to abandon his search owing to the mutinous conduct of his crew. Vasco Nunez de Balboa, after suffering incredible hardships from the rugged nature of the country and the hostility of the inhabitants, at last reached the Pacific Ocean in 1531. An early Spanish governor of the colony established on the Caribbean side, Pedro Arias de Avila by name, pushed his way across the Isthmus and in 1516 claimed possession in behalf of Spain and named a small fishing village which he had reached on the Pacific side, Panama, the local Indian name for fisherman. Three years later Pedrarias founded the old city of Panama which with rapid strides became a city of first importance in Spanish American control. It was the foremost shipping centre of Latin America, through which flowed the vast wealth of gold, silver and precious stones despoiled from the Inca temples of Peru, and 265 266 OUR UNITED STATES the distributing centre of the north and south of the exports from the mother country of Spain. Across the stone-paved highways, through the tropical jungle, from Porto Bello on the Caribbean side to Panama, the rich pack trains moved in a continuous line and enriched the commerce of the Spanish world for a period of two hundred years. The idea of a canal took birth early in the sixteenth century and a Spanish Engineer of renown named Saa- vedra advocated the plan as early as 1617. In the reign of Charles the V of Spain, surveys were ordered, but the feasibility of such a plan was reported in the negative. Phillip II, successor to Charles V, sent an engineer in 1567 to survey the Nicaragua route, but his report was also unfavourable to the success of the project. In his disappointment at this adverse opinion, Philip consulted the Dominican friars, who, anxious to curry favor with the King, yet unable to report intelligently on such a problem, gravely sought refuge in the Bible, and quoted the following verse, as bearing directly on the project of the Isthmian Canal: "What God hath joined together, let no man put asunder." King Philip meekly bowed before the superior decree, abandoned his cherished ambition and for a period of two hundred years his successors abided in good faith by the justice of the friars' biblical application. In 1814 the waning prestige of Spanish rule gave a rebirth to the commercial benefits to be derived from a canal and Spain entered upon a decree for the construc- tion of such a waterway, but the independence of her Central and South American colonies was soon after declared, and resulted in throwing off the yoke of Spain, ARMY 267 likewise ending Spanish interest in the problem of a canal. In the latter part of the eighteenth century and the decade following, England showed her desire to advance her commercial interests, and had under Lord Nelson and Baron von Humboldt, made researches and reports on the Nicaragua and other routes. A Frenchman, Baron Thierry, secured a franchise from President Bolira of the Republic of New Grenada, in 1825, for the construction of a canal, but for the lack of funds was obliged to forego the undertaking. A Brit- ish engineer, Mr. J. A. Lloyd, was then commissioned by the Republic of Grenada to survey the Isthmus for a road or a canal. The awakening of the United States to the importance of such a project was due primarily to Henry Clay, who, in the year 1835, introduced into the Senate a reso- lution, the result of which prompted President Jackson to commission Mr. Charles Biddle to visit and report on the availability of the different routes. The financial panic of 1837 placed the United States in a position where such a tremendous undertaking could no longer be considered and the matter was dropped. The French meanwhile had become active and a com- pany had secured a grant in 1838 for the construction of highways, railroads or a canal across the Isthmus. Napoleon Garella, a French engineer, was commissioned by the Government to report on the enterprise, and he favored a canal as the only permanent and successful communication across the Isthmus. Lack of financial backing for so gigantic an enterprise caused the abandon- ment of the concession. The United States renewed her interest in the project following the settlement of the Northwest boundary 268 OUR UNITED STATES question, by which we came into possession of Oregon, and by the Mexican War which extended our domain to the Pacific coast, including the territory north of the Rio Grande, and the state of California. Communication overland to the Pacific coast was costly, difficult and beset with dangers, the long sea route via Cape Horn was also tedious and unduly long, there- fore the Isthmus became once more the centre of trans- portation and three enterprising North Americans, Messrs. Aspinwall, Stephens and Chauncey, secured a very advantageous franchise from the government of New Grenada in the year 1848 for the purpose of con- structing a railroad from Aspinwall (now Colon) to Panama. The discovery of gold in California and the rush of the Forty-niners by way of steamer to the Isthmus and from the Isthmus to California and Oregon added im- petus to the construction of the famous Panama Rail- road, which was opened to the traffic of the world in 1855. A first-class fare across the Isthmus in those early days cost $25, over 50 cents a mile for a four-hour jour- ney. The present rate is $2.40 and the time occupied in the journey is two hours and a quarter. "From 1835 to 1895 inclusive," writes Mr. H. H. Rousseau, civil engineer U. S. Navy, member of the Isthmian Canal Commission, "the railroad company paid dividends in stock and cash amounting to $37,800,000 or over 600 per cent, and averaging a little less than 15 per cent, per annum. "Railroad communication across the Isthmus was now finally established," he continues, "and the construction of a canal was relegated to the background, so far as the territory controlled by the Panama Railroad was con- ARMY 269 cerned. Meanwhile other canal routes were explored by a small army of promoters." Altogether nineteen different routes have been sug- gested and received more or less attention. Of these, the Tehuantepec, Nicaragua, Panama, and Darien projects are the most important, and Nicaragua has been Pana- ma's principal rival in the last thirty years. Favorable as were the privileges conceded to the Panama Railroad Company, it was the general public opinion that it failed to satisfy the requirements of inter- oceanic communication. In 1869 President Grant insti- gated an interoceanic canal commission which resulted in a series of surveys by Army and Navy Engineers which were carried on for a period of years. In 1870 a treaty was signed between the United States of Colombia and our government providing that the work would be undertaken if a satisfactory route could be sur- veyed. The commission reported favorably on the Nicaragua route in 1876, but Congress failed to promote the enterprise and the United States temporarily lost its opportunity. Meanwhile representatives of France stepped in, organized the Universal Interoceanic Canal Company with Ferdinand de Lesseps at its head and incorporated in Paris during the year 1878. Concessions from the United States of Colombia were secured by De Lesseps, who advocated the Panama route at the International Congress of Surveys for an Inter- oceanic Canal which met in Paris in 1879. The project now took definite shape and for a period of twenty-eight years until 1904, remained under the direction of the French. The control of the Panama Railroad Company was secured at a high figure. The prestige of De Lesseps, who advocated a sea level 270 OUR UNITED STATES type as the successful engineer of the Suez Canal, caused the stock of the new company to be eagerly seized upon as a mine of treasure. The French middle class, in their idolatrous worship of Le Grand Homme de France, placed their life savings in perfect faith and eagerness in the stupendous scheme, which was to permanently enrich them. Hardly had the work begun when the havoc of malarial and yellow fever on the canal zone reached a tremendous mortality. Work proceeded slowly and steadily in the face of great obstacles, but subscriptions began to dwindle, until in the year 1887 it became evident that to continue the work on its present financial basis would be impossible. Tremendous expense involved in certain engineering changes found necessary as the work advanced caused discredit to fall upon the company and two years later it went into bankruptcy. Over $260,000,000 of French money had been sunk in the great ditch at a cost of excavation of $4 per cubic yard. "The New Panama Canal Company was formed in October, 1894," writes Rousseau, "and resumed oper- ations on the canal, principally in Culebra cut, in accord- ance with plans recommended by a commission of engineers. This company continued to do sufficient work to maintain its franchise until all of its rights and prop- erty were transferred to the United States Government in 1904. It excavated about 11,400,000 cubic yards. During this time, also, very thorough investigations of all engineering matters pertaining to the construction of the canal were made, which have since proved of great value. "Progress having practically ceased at Panama under ARMY 271 the new French Canal Company, to meet the growing sentiment in favor of more satisfactory inter-oceanic communication, on March 3, 1899, the Congress of the United States passed an act authorizing the President to make full and complete investigations of the Isthmus of Panama, with a view to the construction of a canal to connect the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. This marks the opening of the last chapter in the construction of the Panama Canal," continues Rousseau, "the end of which is now, by the early completion of the canal, in sight. The commission (of which Admiral John G. Walker was chairman) appointed in accordance with the above act, was called upon to investigate particularly the Nicaragua and the Panama routes, and to report which was more practicable and feasible and the cost. In November, 1901, it reported in favor of the Nicaragua route, con- sidering the demands of the New Panama Canal Com- pany for its franchise and property more than balanced the other advantages of the Panama route. The price fixed by the Panama Canal Company was $109,000,000. By subsequent negotiations the French company was induced to reduce its price to $40,000,000, and the com- mission in January, 1902, submitted a supplemental report in favour of the Panama route. The plan recom- mended by the commission was for a lock canal, with a sea-level channel from Colon to Bohio. A dam at Bohio, across the Chagres Valley, was to create a summit level 82 to 90 feet above the sea, to be reached by two locks. The lake extended to Pedro Miguel, where two locks lowered the level to 28 feet above sea level. At Mira- flores, sea level was reached through a third lock. The bottom width was to be 150 feet, except in Panama Bay, where it was 200 feet, and in Limon Bay, 500 feet, with 272 OUR UNITED STATES turning basins 800 feet wide. The minimum depth was 35 feet. The locks were to be 740 feet long and 84 feet wide. "In accordance with this report, act of Congress of June 28, 1902, known since as the 'Spooner Act/ author- ized the President of the United States to proceed with the construction of a canal by the Panama route, pro- vided arrangements could be made with the New Pana- ma Canal Company for the purchase of its property and franchise for not exceeding $40,000,000, and provided arrangements could be made with the Republic of Colom- bia for the control of the necessary right of way. In the event of failure of these negotiations, the Nicaragua route was to be adopted. The law provided that the canal should be 'of sufficient capacity and depth as shall afford convenient passage for vessels of the largest ton- nage and greatest draft now in use and such as may be reasonably anticipated.' "Satisfactory arrangements were completed for the purchase of the French company's right, etc., for $40,- 000,000, and negotiations with the Republic of Colombia were carried on to secure other necessary rights and privileges not held by the French company. After a long delay, a satisfactory treaty was formulated, which was rejected by Colombia in 1903. "The province of Panama, an integral part of Colom- bia, thereupon seceded and organized an independent republic with an area of about 31,000 square miles and a population which at present is stated to be 419,000. This resulted in the negotiation of a satisfactory treaty with the new Republic of Panama, including the payment, under certain terms, of $10,000,000 by the United States to the Republic of Panama and an annual payment of $250,000 beginning nine years after the signing of the ARMY 273 treaty. Under this treaty the United States guaranteed the independence of the Republic of Panama and secured absolute control over what is now called the Canal Zone, a strip of land about 10 miles in width, with the canal through the centre, and 45 miles in length from sea to sea, with an area of about 448 square miles. The United States also has jurisdiction over the adjacent water for 3 miles from shore. To all intents and purposes it is a perpetual lease from the Republic of Panama to the United States of all governmental rights and privileges in this territory, and yet, strictly speaking, it is not United States soil, for residents therein acquire no rights of United States citizenship and have no voice in United States elections, while citizens of the Republic of Panama residing in the Canal Zone are protected in their electoral rights and are accustomed to go to Panama and Colon to vote in the Panama elections." "Six days after promulgation of the treaty," writes John Barrett, Director General of the Pan American Union, "President Roosevelt, acting under authority of the Spooner Act, appointed the body known as the Isth- mian Canal Commission to have charge of canal con- struction. The appointment was confirmed by the Sen- ate on the 3rd of March, 1904. Of the seven members of which it was composed, Rear- Admiral John G. Walker (the same who had served on the earlier commission) was made Chairman and Maj.-Gen. George W. Davis, Civil Governor of the Canal Zone. They reached the Isthmus on the 17th of May and two days later, by an appropriate proclamation, took formal possession in the name of the United States. On the 1st of June, 1904, John Findley Wallace, formerly general manager of the Illinois Central Railroad, was appointed Engineer in Chief and repaired at once to the Isthmus. There also 274 OUR UNITED STATES went Col. C. Gorgas, who had been health officer at Ha- vana, Cuba, during the occupation by the United States troops following the Spanish War, and, with the prelim- inary operations on the canal itself, the all-important work of sanitation was begun. "In the fall of 1904," continues Barrett, "I was United States minister to Panama. William H. Taft, then Secretary of War, visited the Isthmus, accompanied by William Nelson Cromwell and Charles E. Magoon for the purpose of adjusting many delicate and important questions which had naturally arisen between the Gov- ernment of Panama and that of the Canal Zone. These three assisted by Governor Davis and myself held numer- ous conferences with President Amador Guerrero of Panama and members of his cabinet until all questions at issue were satisfactorily settled. In these discussions the great tact, amiability and judgment of Mr. Taft were most potent factors for a harmonious agreement. "The commission was reorganized by executive order of April 1, 1905. In the new personnel, Theodore P. Shonts became Chairman of the Commission, and John F. Wallace was appointed Chief Engineer and Charles E. Magoon, Civil Governor. The other members were Ad- miral Mordecai T. Endicott, Gen. Peter C. Haines, Col. Ernst, and Benjamin M. Harrod. On the 28th of June of the same year, Mr. Wallace resigned and was suc- ceeded by John F. Stevens, who entered upon his new duties on the 1st of July, 1905. Later, by order of March 4, 1907, he was made Chairman of the Commis- sion in the place of Mr. Shonts, who had resigned, and Col. George Washington Goethals, of the Army Engin- eer Corps, was appointed to the vacancy. Mr. Stevens, in turn, resigned on the 3rd of March, 1907, whereupon the Government determined to take over the work itself, ARMY 275 and on the 1st of April, 1907, Col. Goethals was appointed Chairman and Chief Engineer. By a further order, dated the next day, he was also made Civil Governor of the Canal Zone. Other appointments to the Commis- sion included Col. H. F. Hodges, Lieut.-Col. D. D. Gail- lard, Lieut.-Col. William L. Sibert, Civil Engineer H. H. Rousseau of the Navy, Col. W. C. Gorgas, Maurice H. Thatcher, and Joseph Buckin Bishop, Secretary." The vexations which had perplexed the President under the civil control of the work of constructing the Panama Canal practically ceased when it was finally turned over to military administration. As a contem- porary writer has remarked, the President had the satis- faction of knowing that the Army Engineers would not resign they were moreover used to Governmental red tape, to the delays incident to Congressional legislation, to the thousand and one slow and ponderous revolutions necessary in the machinery of the Government for the simplest requisitions. Again, the discipline of mind and body so justly a subject of pride in the military estab- lished served to curb dissatisfaction, to stem unrest, and to direct under a logical and well ordered system of operations. The first two years and a half after the transfer of the property of the French Canal Company to the United States had been devoted to the work of preparation "con- sisting of building up a suitable organization ; procuring the necessary plant and equipment; combating insani- tary conditions, eliminating yellow fever, and reducing malaria; reconstructing and double tracking the Panama Railroad ; improving terminal facilities, and making pro- vision for adequate and efficient transportation to the Isthmus from the United States, a large item in itself; the design and building suitable quarters for the army of 276 OUR UNITED STATES nearly 5,000 American employes and over 25,000 labor- ers; introducing a stable form of civil government and administration, including courts, schools, police, fire de- partment, etc. in other words, doing everything neces- sary to transform the jungle, infested with mosquitoes and various low forms of animal and vegetable life, injurious to health, into a comparatively healthful coun- try with all the advantages and conveniences and equiva- lent conditions of life as regards comfort, food, and quarters, as are enjoyed by the average citizen in the United States. All of this took time and a great deal of money, but it has resulted in advancing the condition and developing the territory in question, which was prac- tically in the same state that it was in the sixteenth cen- tury, to the plane of twentieth century civilization and all in two and one-half years. "Attention was early drawn to the unsanitary condition of the cities of Panama and Colon," writes Rousseau, "and it was soon perceived that if a pestilence should obtain a foothold in those cities it would seriously affect canal work. To eliminate this danger, Panama has been provided with substantial brick pavements, has been well- sewered and furnished with a supply of wholesome drink- ing water. The city of Colon has been transformed from a swamp into a town likewise comparable with a city of the same size in the United States, so far as pave- ments, water supply and sewers are concerned. "During the period of preparation, work was not neglected on the canal excavation, and every effort was made to make the 'dirt fly/ At first, the only tools avail- able were some old French excavators, locomotives, dump cars, and drills. Modern American equipment, consisting of dredges, steam shovels, cars, locomotives, ARMY 277 etc., was put into service as fast as it could be pur- chased and hurried down to the Isthmus. "On June 29, 1906, the construction of a lock type of canal was authorized by Congress. The 85- foot lock canal which is being built consists of a sea-level entrance channel 7 miles long and 500 feet wide on the Atlantic side to the foot of Gatun locks. On the Pacific side there is a corresponding sea-level channel to Miraflores nearly 8 miles long. For 15 of the 50 miles the canal will be at sea-level. At Gatun the 85- foot lake level is obtained by a great dam. The lake is confined on the Pacific side by a smaller dam between the hills of Pedro Miguel, 32 miles away. These two dams make a great lake 85 feet above sea level, with an area of 164 square miles. Ships pass from the sea level to the lake level, and vice versa, at Gatun by a series of adjoining locks, 'in flight,' as it is called, three in all, each with lifts varying from 25.2 to 30.3 feet, depending upon the height of water in the lake and the state of the tide. The locks are in duplicate. On the Pacific side Pedro Miguel, instead of dropping down at once to the sea level, there is one lift, with duplicate locks, by which vessels are lowered to a small lake called Miraflores Lake, which is 542/3 feet above the mean level of the Pacific Ocean. One mile from Pedro Miguel, through Miraflores Lake, are the Mira- fiores locks, where by two lifts with locks in duplicate, vessels reach sea level on the Pacific side. "From deep water to deep water the distance is about 50 miles, and it is expected that a vessel can easily make the transit within less than twelve hours." Certain modifications of these general plans have taken place as the work has progressed the size and capacity of the canal has been increased to meet the requirements 278 OUR UNITED STATES of war vessels whose dimensions and displacement have materially increased during the last few years. The Panama Railroad Company was under direct charge of a General Superintendent. All of the work of the Commission and the Panama Railroad Company was under the complete and direct control of the Chairman and * Chief Engineer of the Commission, who was also president of the railroad. "This fact," remarks Rous- seau, "contributed very largely to the efficiency and the smooth, steady progress of the work." The plan of organization of the Engineering Depart- ment divided all construction work into three geographi- cal districts, each under a Division Engineer with full control over and responsibility for all engineering work in his district. These divisions were: (1) The Atlantic Division, extending from deep water to Gatun Lake, including the Gatun locks and dam. (2) The Central Division, extending from Gatun to Pedro Miguel. (3) The Pacific Division, extending from Pedro Miguel to deep water in the Pacific Ocean. In general, the work may be divided into three classes : (1) Wet excavation, viz., excavation performed by dredges. This amounts to about 12 per cent, of the total work. (2) Dry excavation. This includes all material (rock and earth) removed by steam shovels, and other power excavators, or by pick and shovel. This com- prises 49 per cent, of the work. (3) The third class of work covered the construction of locks, dams, and spillways. The dams make the lakes, the locks enable vessels to pass from sea level to lake level, or vice versa, and the spillways take care of ARMY 279 the overflow from the lakes. These comprised 39 per cent, of the canal construction work. A brief description of the different classes according to Mr. H. H. Rousseau (in his report in 1910) follows: (1) Wet or dredging excavation amounts to about 73,000,000 cubic yards. One million yards is contained in a cube 300 feet on each side, 73,000,000 would be equivalent to a cube measuring about a quarter of a mile on one side. It consists of soft silt, earth, clay, coral, and hard rock. From 12 to 14 dredges are kept at work, and their monthly output is not far from 1,300,000 cubic yards. They include two new sea-going suction dredges, the Culebra and Caribbean, of a type common in the United States, that draw the material up into bins in their own hulls by centrifugal pumps. When these bins are full, they steam to the dumping grounds, empty by opening bottom gates, and return for another load. These dredges work night and day, stopping only for fuel and repairs. Owing to their method of operation and the material they handle, they have the largest output at the least unit cost of any of the dredges. Upon the com- pletion of the canal it is expected that these dredges will be kept on the Isthmus for use on any small amounts of dredging that might be required for maintenance work. "To the casual visitor to the Isthmus," comments Rous- seau, "operations in connection with dry excavations are the most spectacular and interesting of any work in progress. The methods are somewhat similar to those in use in the United States, but nowhere else in the world have excavating operations been carried on on such a large scale and in the precise manner followed on the Isthmus." The various excavating operations are successively as follows: Drilling, blasting, loading, transporting, and 280 OUR UNITED STATES dumping. Tripod drills are used for shallow holes; well or churn drills for the deeper holes ; and hand drill- ing only for a few isolated holes. Compressed air fur- nishes the power to the drills at 80 pounds pressure. Each shovel is preceded by a battery of from 4 to 12 drills, covering a field from 30 to 40 feet wide, which keeps well ahead of the shovel. Holes are drilled from 15 to 30 feet deep and from 6 to 16 feet apart depending upon the material and conditions. Each hole is loaded with a charge of from 75 to 200 pounds of dynamite, 45 and 60 per cent, dynamite being used principally. One million pounds of dynamite are being used monthly. After being loaded, the holes are connected up in parallel and discharged by electric current. While the greatest care practicable is taken in all operations connected with the handling of dynamite, a number of accidents have occurred and a number of lives have been lost, mostly alien laborers. In order to be on the safe side no holes are loaded now which cannot be fired the same day. The large blasts break the rock into fragments small enough to be handled by the steam shovels. Any large pieces are broken into smaller fragments after the main blast by what are called 'dobie' blasts, consisting of a small quan- tity of dynamite laid on the surface of the rock, covered with clay and discharged by fuse. Power to run the drills is furnished by one of the largest air plants and longest supply mains in the world. The smaller size steam shovels weigh 70 tons and have 2% yard dippers, and the large size shovels 95 tons and are equipped with 4 and 5 yard dippers. They are self-propelling and are able to make a cut over 20 feet deep. There are 100 in all. The working day for the shovel is eight hours from ARMY 281 7 to 11 and from 1 to 5. At 5 o'clock the various supply and repair trains start out promptly from the different yards for the 'cut/ where they spend the night making repairs, and getting ready for the next day's work. This consists in supplying each shovel with a ton and a half or so of coal, with oil and other supplies. Repair gangs are required to make all the necessary adjustments and repairs so that the shovel can begin digging at 7 o'clock the next morning. The large shops at Empire, where 600 men are em- ployed, are devoted to repairs of steam shovels and steam shovel parts. Repair parts are purchased in the United States unless they can be manufactured more cheaply on the Isthmus. The greater part of the excavated material is loaded into long, flat wooden cars with one high side, called 'Lodgerwood flats/ One thousand eight hundred of these cars have been purchased. Orig- inally there were 16 cars to the train. It has since been found practicable to increase the number to 18 and 19. Each car has a capacity of from 18 to 20 cubic yards, or about 350 cubic yards to the train, making a load of about 500 tons. Each shovel is able on an average to load from three to four trains a day. Locomotives are housed at night in engine houses at various points along the line, where they are coaled and given light running repairs. Every morning they begin to leave the engine houses promptly at 6.30, and in five minutes the 30 or 40 locomotives have departed. One hundred and sixty large American locomotives have been purchased by the commission. In addition the Panama Railroad has 82 locomotives and about 130 old French locomotives have been repaired and put into commission service. The number of cars in use by the commission is nearly 282 OUR UNITED STATES 4,500 and in addition there are a large number of un- loaders, plows, spreaders, track shifters, cranes, pile drivers, and smaller pieces of miscellaneous equipment. Locomotives, cars, and other equipment, except steam shovels, are repaired at the Gorgona shops, where a force of 1,000 men are employed. The French company started these shops, which have since been rebuilt and enlarged. An iron foundry and a brass foundry are also located at the Gorgona shops. The locks and the spillways may be described generally as appurtenances of the dam. The spillway consists of a concrete-lined opening cut through a hill of rock along the line of the dam near the centre, supplied with gates of suitable design to allow the lake level to be regulated. The locks are built in an excavation at the east end of the dam, in rock, and afford means for passing vessels in and out of the lake on the Atlantic side. The dam proper is about 9,000 feet long over all, measured on its crest, including locks and spillway, and for only 500 feet of this length will it be subjected to a pressure of 85 feet of water, as the natural surface on which it is built rises rapidly after passing by the old bed of the Chargres River. For only about half of its length will the head of water on the dam be over 50 feet. Hard rock underlies the dam near the surface of the ground except for about one-fifth of its length, where the rock dips down to a minimum depth below sea level of from 195 feet in the depression east of the spillway to 255 feet in that west of the spillway. These depres- sions or valleys have during past ages filled up, and measured from sea level down, the first 80 feet consists of sand and clay; the next 100 feet or so is of stiff blue clay ; the last 20 to 50 feet is a conglomerate compost of sand, shell, and stone. This material is all impervious ARMY 283 and of sufficient bearing capacity to support the dam, and thus fulfils the essential requirements. The entire area to be covered by the dam and adjacent territory has been probably more carefully examined by borings, test pits, etc., than that for any other similar structure. The Gatun locks are in pairs each having a width of 110 feet and a usable length of 1,000 feet. Each lock consists of a chamber, with walls and bottom of con- crete, and with water-tight gates at the ends. The level of water in the locks is regulated through openings in the bottom, by the operation of valves in the side and centre walls, which permit water to flow into and out of the locks by gravity. These locks are the largest that have ever been designed. The controlling principles which have been followed in the design of the locks have been : First, to make them safe; and, second, to make them adequate in size and arrangements. The gates consist of two leaves and are massive steel structures, each leaf being 7 feet thick and 65 feet long. The leaves for different locks vary in height from 47 to 82 feet. They will weigh from 400 to 750 tons each. Ninety-two leaves will be required for the entire canal, the total weighing 58,000 tons. Electricity will be used not only to tow vessels through the locks, but also to operate all the gates, valves, emer- gency dams, etc., power being generated by water tur- bines from the head created by Gatun Lake. The floor of the locks at Gatun rests upon either the sandstone or conglomerate, and there will be a thickness of not less than 20 feet of concrete, or concrete and hard, impermeable rock between the bottom of the locks and the water-bearing sand stone. Concrete curtain walls 6 feet thick and from 8 to 18 284 OUR UNITED STATES feet below sea level are built around the upper locks, from the sill of the emergency dam to the lower end of the intermediate gate abutments, to act as a water cut-off where the concrete is less than 20 feet in thickness, and old French rails have been embedded in the underlying rock to act as anchors for the concrete, tying it to the portion of the rock which acts as the floor. At Pedro Miguel there is to be a single set of locks with one lift of 30 feet. The locks are similar to the Gatun locks in design. At Miraflores there is to be a flight of locks in pairs, with two lifts of 27y 2 feet each (at mean tide). The dams extend from the upper ends of the locks to the nearest hill on each side. "If one has time," writes Mr. Barrett, "before cross- ing the Isthmus or after he returns from Panama to go about Colon and Cristobal, he should visit the great plant of the Quartermaster and Subsistence Departments imder charge of Col. C. A. Devol, Chief Quartermaster and Lieut.-Col. Eugene T. Wilson, Subsistence Officer, from which each day go out the food and supplies for 45,000 employes and the stores and materials to keep the vast work proceeding without a break." The Quarter Master's Department performs all duties in connection with the recruiting of laborers, the hous- ing of employes, the construction and repair of build- ings, the purchase of material on the Isthmus, the custody and issue of all material from storehouses, and the sup- plying of animal transportation. Under executive order no one not an American citizen can be employed on the gold roll. They are all furnished with suitable quarters. The cost of constructing quarters for bachelors aver- ages from $350 to $500 per man, and for families, $1,200 ARMY 285 up. In addition to quarters, the Commission furnishes employes electric light, certain furniture, coal for kitchen stoves, distilled water and medical service without charge. The number of silver employes on the average in any one month is much greater than the number working on any one day. The average West Indian laborer will not work as long as he has a dollar in his pocket, and it is a common saying that if such a laborer's pay is doubled he will only work half as many days. Silver employes are housed generally in barracks, which, on an average at the present time, contain from 20 to 30 men. There has been a movement among the West Indian laborers to go into the "bush," where they put up a small shack, cultivate a small plot of ground, and feel thoroughly contented and comfortable, housing and feed- ing themselves independently of the Commission. The labor problem is one of the most difficult to solve on any construction work in the Tropics. In the early fifties the construction of the Panama Railroad was greatly handicapped by lack of suitable labor. The French met the same difficulty, and since the American occupation the problem of getting labor, training it, and keeping it at work has been paramount. The greatest success has been attained through importing European labourers to compete with and set the pace for the West Indian laborers. West Indian laborers have been recruited from Guadaloupe, Martinique, Trinidad and St. Kitts. The Department of Examination of Accounts and Dis- bursements, the Mechanical Division, and in the United States the Purchasing Department all form a part of the Department of Construction and Engineering on the Isthmus. 286 OUR UNITED STATES The Disbursing Officer is the pay officer. The Isth- mian pay rolls average about $1,500,000 per month. American employes and European laborers are paid in gold. West Indian laborers are paid in silver. Over 42 tons of silver are paid out monthly. The pay train travels over the Isthmus once a month, from $400,000 to $450,000 of the monthly earnings of employes are used to purchase money orders on the United States and elsewhere. The Examiner of Accounts has charge of the general books of the commission and, with his force of 115 men, classifies all expenditures; handles the accounting for coupon books, and meal tickets; examines claims and accounts presented for payment and prepares the proper vouchers; makes a monthly administrative examination of the Disbursing Officer's accounts and counts the cash in the hands of the Disbursing Officer every six months ; inspects the books and accounts of all employes hand- ling money and coupon books ; checks all pay rolls ; exam- ines and checks daily, time books of all hourly employes ; reports misconduct of employes, misuse of property and violation of rules and regulations in connection with the efficient and economical application of labour and material, handles employes' injury claims, and audits accounts of all revenue officers. The life of Americans on the Isthmus has become established in grooves corresponding very closely to life in the United States. The Y. M. C. A. club houses in the larger settlements afford recreation and there are social and other organizations of the same character as are to be found in the United States. There are over 1,500 American women who are sharing alike the comforts and discomforts of Isthmian life with their husbands, and about the same number of American children, not ARMY 287 including wives and children of Panama Railroad employes. In 1906 a large hotel, the well-known Tivoli Hotel, was constructed at Ancon. This hotel is a rendezvous for all Americans on the Isthmus. It is operated by the Subsistence Department so as to be self-supporting and the charges are in accordance with this requirement. The cold-storage plant in Colon is operated by the Commissary Department, and a trip through this plant gives one a very good idea of the scale of operations on the Isthmus. From 75 to 80 tons of ice are made daily, which is sold at the rate of 40 cents a hundred pounds. The cold-storage supply of meats, vegetables, etc., is kept in this plant, and shipments are made daily along the line amounting to nearly 100 tons per day, including ice. The daily output of the bakery is 13,000 loaves of bread, 2,400 rolls, 290 pies, 625 pounds of roasted coffee, 450 pounds of cake. In the laundry 7,500 pieces are daily washed and ironed. The foregoing represents, generally, the organization of the Department of Construction and Engineering. In addition, there are two other co-ordinate departments, and the office of the Secretary of the Commission and the Panama Railroad and steamship line, all under Col- onel Goethals, Chairman of the Commission, the latter coming under his jurisdiction in his capacity as Presi- dent of the Panama Railroad. The Department of Civil Administration was created to administer civil government within the Canal Zone; that is, it exercises the governmental rights conveyed by Panama to the United States in maintaining and protect- ing the inhabitants of the Zone in the free enjoyment of their liberty, property and religion. The Chairman of 288 OUR UNITED STATES the Commission, in whom is vested, by the President, the authority of the chief executive of the Canal Zone, has delegated that authority to a member of the Commis- sion, who is known as head of the Department of Civil Administration. The work of this department is divided among the divisions of Posts, Customs and Revenues, Police and Prisons, Schools, Fire Protection, and Public Works. The offices of Prosecuting Attorney, Treasurer, and Auditor of the Canal Zone, and the Judiciary. The latter includes the supreme, circuit and district courts of the Zone. The Division of Public Works has supervision over the eight public markets, the two public slaughter houses, and the construction and maintenance of roads and trails. The wonderful organization and administration of the Canal and the Canal Zone which the Great Goethals and his efficient staff developed during the years of military administration are a conclusive evidence of the value of military organization in the handling of public works. The Canal, a source of national pride, is a lasting mem- orial to the efficiency of the Army officers of the United States and a fitting conclusion to the long line of splendid achievements in which the trained soldier has led the Nation an example for honest administration, prosperity and peace. 14 DAY USE RETURN TO DESK FROM WHICH BORROWED LOAN DEPT. This book is due on the last date stamped below, or on the date to which renewed. Renewed books are subject to immediate recall. REC'D LD MAY 12 '1953 LD I General Library LD 21A-50m-8,'57 University of California (C8481slO)476B Berkeley YB 05659 M194954 UA 2 r THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY