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"In Search Of The US Cavalry"

"Long Live The President"

"Fight At Summit Springs"

"IN SEARCH OF THE US CAVALRY"

In the spring of 1988, my hunting partners, John Harmon, Al Nei, and I decided that we had grown weary of hunting coins in the local parks and school yards. We wanted something more exciting, with some definite historic content. The plains Indian Wars was of great interest, and we began our research. So many of the early fort sites were already "National Historic Sites" or "State Historic Sites", that it took us awhile to find Fort Wallace, Kansas.

   "First used in 1865, the Butterfield Overland Despatch (BOD) was touted as the best mail route from Atchison to Denver, Colorado by its owner. You could cross this great expanse of land for just $100. Stations were approximately 15 miles apart and were given different jobs. One station would be a "home" station that would feed the travelers while "cattle" stations provided hay and "swing" stations provided fresh mules and horses. The Smoky Hill Trail and the BOD greatly aided settlers in traveling over hostile Indian country. However, Indian raids became too frequent and there came a time when every wagon train had at least 22 wagons and 30 armed men. Many of the stage stops along the BOD route were connected to a fort for the safety and security that the military provided..

    Wallace County had several BOD Stage Stops of its own. The most prominent, namely the Pond Creek Stage Station, was situated 1 1/2 miles west of present day Wallace. A "home" station renowned for its food, this little stage stop saw so many Indian attacks that Camp Pond Creek, a military encampment, was situated right next to it. When the BOD was sold to another company in 1866 (the Indian raids were so numerous by this time that the business had become unprofitable), Camp Pond Creek moved a few miles east to the Smoky Hill river and was renamed Fort Wallace in honor of W.H.L. Wallace, a general who died at the Battle of Shiloh.

Although Fort Wallace was no longer attached to the Butterfield Overland Despatch, soldiers stationed at Fort Wallace still had their hands full trying to protect those settlers who were moving through on their way west. Many of the most prominent trails that pioneers used cut straight through the best buffalo hunting grounds. Indians, whose livelihood depended on the buffalo, did not treat the trespassers lightly. Instead, as buffalo began to scatter and become scarce, Indians began to view their new neighbors with something less than friendly eyes. This made the presence of Fort Wallace an absolute necessity. Although according to official counts (details of the number of men in each Company and Division were recorded every month, you can see that count here) the number of men stationed at the Fort never exceeded 350, these soldiers saw more encounters with Indians than any other Fort, rightfully earning Fort Wallace the distinction of being the "Fighting's Fort in the West." General George Armstrong Custer was stationed at Fort Wallace and saw his first battle with the Indians not far from the fort. Other great frontier men, such as George Forsyth, Buffalo Bill Cody, and Wild Bill Hickok, were also stationed at Fort Wallace at various times.

    The majority of the buildings at Fort Wallace were made of native stone while the remaining buildings were wood. Eventually 40 buildings were constructed, enough to house and support four hundred men, even though the total number of troops topped 350 only a handful of times. Two Companies were usually enough to man the fort, but in October of 1871 14 Divisions (most of them Infantry) met at Fort Wallace. Despite the fact that Indian raids were constant and expected, for a period of 4 years the total number of troops stationed at Fort Wallace averaged just 75.

    Despite the low population, the comfort level at Fort Wallace was not very high. Everyone had complaints about the food and soldiers spent a considerable portion of their pay to supplement their diets. With Fort Wallace being stationed so far from any major town, problems with the food deteriorating or rotting were rampant. Diseases such as dysentery and diarrhea killed many soldiers as did an outbreak of cholera in 1867.

In June 1867, Lt. Lyman Kidder and ten men from the 7th Calvary of Fort Wallace started from Fort Sedgwick, Colorado with messages for Lt. Col. George Custer who was camped at the forks of the Republican River near where Benkelman, Nebraska is today. Custer had in the meantime left for Ft. Sedgwick, and Kidder (missing Custer's trail) assumed that Custer had headed to Fort Wallace. When the Kidder party reached Beaver Creek in present day Sherman County on July 1, 1867, they were attacked by Indians and no one survived. Custer sent out a search party when he realized what had happened, and on July 11, ten days after the massacre, the search party discovered the murdered bodies of Kidder and his men. None could be readily identified except for the Indian scout.

The morning September 11, 1874 was another sad time in local history. One day's journey east of Fort Wallace, the John German family, consisting of his wife and seven children, prepared to continue on their way west when they were attacked by a band of Cheyenne. Only the four youngest, all girls, were spared. After having just witnessed the brutal murders of their family, the four young children, Sophia, Catherine, Julia, and Adelaide were allowed to live. All four girls were taken captive by the Cheyenne. Due to the hard winter, however, the Cheyenne did not keep all the girls for long, and the two youngest, Julia and Adelaide (aged 7 and 5) were left on the prairie in what is now the Texas panhandle. They survived on their own for 6 weeks until they were finally found by soldiers. They were 7 and 5 years old respectively. Sophia and Catherine continued traveling with the Cheyenne, although they were eventually split up and traveled with different parties. Meanwhile, soldiers at Fort Wallace received word of the massacre and began the search for the remaining members of the German family, as well as negotiations with the Indians. On February 26, 1875, largely due to efforts made by soldiers stationed at Fort Wallace and elsewhere, the Cheyenne released Catherine and Sophia German at an Indian reservation. The two girls then traveled to Fort Leavenworth where they were reunited with their sisters Julia and Adelaide.

Fort Wallace was officially decommissioned on May 31, 1882, although a detachment of soldiers did remain for a time at the fort in order to prevent settlers from using the Fort grounds. By 1886, however, settlers in the region began removing vital building materials, and even entire buildings from the Fort. As there were few trees for lumbar and little time to hew rock into bricks, the ready-made materials that were Fort Wallace were especially desirable to settlers. In 1888, the Fort Wallace Reservation was opened for use to the settlers, but by this time there was little of the Fort remaining. In just 6 years nearly everything except the foundations had been removed. Absolutely no buildings are left standing at the site of Fort Wallace, and very few of the original materials remain."

A fair amount of research found us with the location of the fort grounds, and the owner's name, address and phone number. We wrote her a letter, and followed the letter up with a phone call a week later. After assuring her that we would do no damage to her property, and that we would fill all holes that were dug, the owner granted permission for us to hunt the property, but required that we sign a waiver of liability due to the infestation of rattle snakes there every spring and summer. Each of us went right out and bought snake boots, and by the following weekend, we were on our way to Fort Wallace, and our date with history.

Imagine the excitement once we had parked the truck, suited up with all of our equipment, Tesoro El Dorados in hand, and started across the 100 yards or so of plowed field to get to the virgin, untouched prairie land that was once the center of Fort Wallace. Here under our feet was the very ground on which the soldiers and officers walked, marched, and rode their horses out in search of the troublesome Cheyenne, Sioux, and Arapahoe tribes. The parade ground area, around which the heart of the post was situated. The officer's quarters, post headquarters, sutler's store, and non-commissioned officer's barracks. Sloping away from us and down towards the Smoky Hill river was the location of the enlisted men's barracks, post laundry, mess halls, and corrals and stables.

To the east, we could still make out the tracks of the old Butterfield Despatch stage line, and the Smoky Hill trail, cutting through the prairie on it's way from Kansas City to Denver. To the west we could make out the scene of several skirmishes with the Indians when they would often, harass and attack the fort. Just north of us was the original post cemetery, where laid buried several dozen of the post's soldiers. This was indeed a hard life, but an exciting one. On these hallowed grounds, General Custer and his 7th Cavalry were in camp from time to time. The 7th often used Fort Wallace as a temporary post during their many excursions across Kansas, into Colorado, and up to Fort McPherson in Nebraska. Custer was actually court marshaled for leaving the bulk of his command here while he rode off with a handful of men, back to Fort Riley to visit his beloved and beautiful wife "Libby".

We just knew that there had to be many relics of the time buried here, and we were determined to find our share.

Almost immediately we began to find brass. Eagle Buttons, Company Insignia, Cavalry and Infantry Insignia, Belt Plates, Cavalry Spurs, Mini-Balls, Henry Rifle Cartridges, Sharps and Spencer Cartridges, Belt Plates, Val Todd Sutler Tokens, three Wedding Rings, Coins of the Period, Harmonica Reeds, Eating Utensils, Canteen Parts, Cheyenne Indian Jewelry and body accessories, and just a ton of brass accoutrements, slings, rivets, Guidon Tips, etc., etc., etc. Oh, and the rattle snakes, yes there were many, but not a bite was felt...as we were prepared and constantly on the look out for the critters.

Over the period of three summers on this wonderfully historic ground, between the three of us, over 4,000 artifacts were recovered. Most were framed, and put on display at local museums. A special frame was made for and presented to the museum in the small town of Fort Wallace. The frames now hang proudly on our walls at home. Every time I look at my frames, I can still feel the excitement of my first day of detecting and uncovering the history as we were In Search Of The US Cavalry.

(This article excerpted from the original, which was written for, and published in Western & Eastern Treasures Magazine, 1989)

Some Of Our Finds

John, Jacob, Chuck & Al

"LONG LIVE THE PRESIDENT"

Scanned In Directly From The Original Magazine Article

Some Of Our Finds From This Adventure

THE GEORGE WASHINGTON INAUGURAL BUTTON

Carved Mini-Ball "Horse Shoe"

Flattened & Carved Mini-Ball "Rifle Elevation Site"

U.S. Belt Plate

U.S. Cartridge Box Plate

Framed Artifacts From The Munfordville Battle Site

"FIGHT AT SUMMIT SPRINGS"

In the summer of 1869, the U.S. 5th Cavalry and the Southern Cheyenne Dog Soldiers fought the greatest Indian Wars battle fought on the high plains of Colorado. Summit Springs was possibly the most important engagement on the entire Central Plains, and one of the most notable fights between the white man and the Indian on the American Frontier. Led by General Eugene Carr with William F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody as his chief of scouts, the 5th Cavalry totally surprised the "sleepy" band of Cheyenne and as a result, the Cavalry's victory was overwhelmingly complete.

Earlier that spring and summer Chief Tall Bull's band of marauding Cheyenne terrorized settlements across Kansas. They murdered, looted and burned several towns along Spillman Creek. Killing men and children as they went. Tall Bull's warriors wreaked havoc among these newly settled immigrants. To make matters worse, on Memorial Day, 1869, the Cheyenne took two white women, (one of them pregnant at the time) captive after killing their husbands and children and burning their homes. Maria Weichell, and Susanna Alderdice were about to be subjected to the most hideous treatment a white woman of the western frontier could possibly face, captives to this savage band of Indians. The Cheyenne and their captives disappeared almost as quickly as they appeared, and headed northwest towards the Republican River country.

Once word reached Fort McPherson, Nebraska, the U.S. 5th Cavalry was immediately dispatched to the Republican River valley with orders to find Tall Bull's band, rescue the captives, and once and for all put a stop to the Cheyenne menace. General Carr (the War Eagle) had under his command for this expedition, 8 companies of the 5th Cavalry, and a company of Pawnee Scouts (ferocious fighters and bitter enemies of the Cheyenne) who were under the command of the noted Indian Fighter, Major Frank North. In addition Carr was quite pleased to have as his Chief of Scouts, Buffalo Bill Cody, who would prove to be invaluable in helping Carr to find these illusive Indians, in the roughest of country.

On June 9th, 1869, after a full dress review, General Carr led the 5th Cavalry out of Fort McPherson with flags flying and the Post Band playing. The 300 mile expedition had begun. That night, two terrified women huddled, soaked from a torrential thunderstorm, fearful for their future and unaware that a rescue party was in pursuit.

The terrain was rugged and the going was slow, as the troopers pushed on south through the Republican River valley. Several times they picked up "sign" of the Indians, only to lose the trail again. Finally, Cody told Carr that he thought he knew where the Cheyenne were headed, and with several men, continued on ahead to confirm his thoughts. The trail of a large party of Indians was headed northwest towards the Platte River in Colorado Territory. Cody believed that he would find them at an often used campsite on White Butte Creek, known as Summit Springs.

The average Army horse, of the Morgan breed, were strong and well trained, but much slower than Indian "light Cavalry" ponies. Along with the slow moving wagons, and the unknown rough terrain, and not knowing where their enemy might be kept the Cavalry two to three days behind Tall Bull's Cheyenne. Keenly aware of the distance between the soldiers and themselves, the Dog Soldiers felt quite comfortable with going into camp at Summit Springs, and were in no great hurry to move on past that point for a day or two while they rested, and allowed their ponies to graze on the lush prairie grass that grew on the flat, just to the west of the camp. Posting sentries on the sand hills to the south and east as lookouts for the slow moving Cavalry in pursuit, seemed to be all of the protection they needed. That decision turned out to be a very bad one for the self assured Tall Bull and his lieutenants.

Cody and his men arrived just east of the Summit Springs valley, dismounted, and crept up to the top of one of the sand hills. Peering over, they saw just what Cody believed they would, all 92 lodges of Tall Bulls camp, spread out along White Butte Creek. Delighted with himself, he took count of the numbers and positions of the encampment, and sent two men to the rear to hurry Carr and the 5th Cavalry on their way to him. Upon hearing of Cody's discovery, General Carr mounted-up all able bodied men and horses, and rode ahead of the slower supply wagons towards Cody's position.

Carr made the decision to ride all day and throughout the night, and part of the next day, stopping only to water and feed their horses for an hour or two at a time. At about noon on July 11,1869, General Carr was less than three miles from the village. Cody suggested that, under the cover of the sand hills, the 5th Cavalry should circle to the north, to cut off Tall Bull's pathway to the Platte River. From a position, north of the camp, they could prepare for battle, and totally surprise the Cheyenne who would be expecting them approaching from the south where their lookouts were watching.

Buffalo Bill Cody, General Carr and Two officers Surveying The Scene

Troop C, 5th Cavalry

Carr ordered all metallic items, sabers, canteens, rifles etc. to be secured so as not to make noise, and he led his men around to a point, less than a mile from the camp. They selected a flat area, directly north of the village, which was situated in a valley and thus unable to see the Cavalry forming up. The Pawnee Scouts hurried to strip their uniforms, and get down to their normal battle attire, which was loin cloths and war paint. The army dropped all of their unnecessary items and formed up into three columns in preparation for the attack. In addition Major North and the Pawnee Scouts lined up on the right of the command in anticipation of the order to charge.

Instead, General Carr slowly moved his command closer and closer to the edge of the bluff, trying to get as close as possible to the camp without the Cheyenne becoming aware of their presence. From their position they could see the pony herd about a mile west of the camp, and what appeared to be a young Cheyenne boy in attendance to the animals. The Pony boy finally noticed the approaching troops, and mounted his horse, setting off at a gallop and driving the herd towards the camp in a futile attempt to warn the sleeping village. Upon seeing that surprise could be lost, Carr ordered his bugler to "Sound The Charge."

At approximately 3:00PM, July 11, 1869, a hot, windy and dusty day...over 400 of the U.S. 5th Cavalry, and approximately 80 very ferocious Pawnee Scouts galloped the final 200 yards towards the unsuspecting Cheyenne camp. In four columns they poured over the hills to the north and into the still sleepy village.

Fredrick Remington's "The Cavalry Charge"

Summit Springs Panorama With Village Superimposed (Courtesy Larry Finnell)

The Cheyenne were totally surprised and the village was soon in total chaos. Women and children ran screaming, dogs were barking, and clouds of dust were everywhere. The Cheyenne men of fighting age were at a major disadvantage without their horses which were still too far away to be of any use. Tall Bull and a few of his warriors had staked there best horse near their lodge, so a few Cheyenne braves managed to get mounted, and took on the task of trying to escort the women and children towards the south and away from the on-coming attack. Tall Bull and about a dozen or so of his warriors hurried on foot to a near by canyon eroded by the weather, in the bluff to the south. It was there that they would make their stand...to the death if necessary.

Meanwhile, the Cavalry were hurriedly looking for the captives in an attempt to rescue them before they were hurt. At Tall Bull's lodge, Susanna lay dying after having been tomahawked by Tall Bull before heading for the Canyon. Maria was struggling with one of Tall Bull's jealous wives when the squaw was shot down by one of the troopers. Knife in hand, the squaw fell dead before she could kill Maria. Maria Weichell would be rescued that day, but here fellow captive Susanna and her unborn child wouldn't be so lucky. Susanna, beautiful young blonde widow, would be buried there on the prairie later in the day, with full military honors.

The Pawnee Scouts were having a field day killing their mortal enemies, men women and children. Very little hand to hand combat would take place in that valley, the scene was mostly soldiers and Pawnee alike, shooting the scattering Cheyenne. However, the fight did have several Cheyenne heroes, not the least of which was a Cheyenne warrior named Two Crows. Fighting a defensive skirmish action to the rear, he and several other's placed themselves between their fleeing people and the on coming attackers. Two Crows had his favorite war horse staked outside his lodge and was able to grab his .44cal Army Colt revolver, his tomahawk and his lariat before mounting his pony.

Two Crows saw many of his people being shot down as they ran south, and decided to ride to their aid. An older woman was about to be caught and suffer a terrible death at the hands of a Pawnee, and Two Crows decided that her only chance was to be swooped up in his arms as he galloped towards her. Unable to hold on to everything in his hands, he threw his revolver into the creek as he crossed it, and picked up the woman, galloping away from the blood thirsty Pawnee.

Tall Bull and his braves took refuge in the canyon, cut foot holds into the dry mud walls, and took turns climbing up, raising their rifles over the edge, and firing at the soldiers. One of Tall Bull's shots almost hit Major North, and dismounted, got on a knee and took aim at the spot where he last saw Tall Bull peering over the edge. The very next time Tall Bull raised his head to shoot, North put a well placed bullet through the head of the Indian Chief and he fell dead inside the canyon. Eventually, several of the Pawnee dismounted, and entered the narrow and shallow canyon on foot. After about 5 minutes, only the Pawnee walked out.

The fight lasted about an hour or so, and the Pawnee followed some of the escaping Cheyenne, mostly older men, women and children, as far as four miles south before giving up and returning to the battlefield. When the firing stopped, over two hundred Cheyenne fighters lay dead on the field, and the Dog Soldier terror was over, once and for all. The Cavalry suffered none killed, and only one soldier wounded slightly to his ear. The victory was total and complete, but unfortunately only one of captives was rescued alive. Susanna's body was wrapped in one of the heaviest buffalo robes that could be found in Tall Bull's lodge, and was buried in a deep grave "somewhere on a slope overlooking the battlefield." A full military service and burial was provided, and very few dry eyes were to be found among the mourners. General Carr said the proper words over the grave, and the group of mostly officers went about their business taking stock of the camp.

Carr ordered that every lodge be emptied of it's belongings, gave the soldier's leave to keep and take what they wanted, and the rest was to be destroyed, and then set on fire, next to the lodges which also were set on fire. He was determined that any surviving and returning Cheyenne would find nothing useful at Summit Springs after the army left. According the eyewitness accounts, that night, over 180 fires were burning, the 92 lodges and their accompanying belongings piles.

The 5th Cavalry and the Pawnee Scouts pulled out of the little valley the next morning with fires still smoldering and arrived at Fort Sedgwick, some 30 miles distant late on the evening of July 13, 1869. Maria was nursed back to health at the fort, before returning to Kansas and General Carr took his men back to Fort McPherson after a brief pause to rest and re-supply. The campaign was over, a great success, and the "War Eagle" was able to add another "feather to his cap." The battle was the last to be fought in Colorado or Kansas, and the surviving Southern Cheyenne eventually joined with several Sioux tribes, eventually going on to reservations after several future fights at the Little Big Horn and elsewhere. The Cheyenne Dog Soldiers were no more!

My hunting buddies, John, Al and I after some successful hunting at Fort Wallace, Kansas and other locations out on the prairie were in search of new ground to explore, and more Cavalry/Indian history and the artifacts that go along with metal detecting those sites. After a considerable amount of research, we were able to obtain permission to hunt the Summit Springs battleground from the owner of the private property on which it is located. He told us that several others had received permission the couple of years before us, but that they hadn't found much, and he didn't hold out much hope that we would either. MUSIC to our ears it was, as we had heard those same disclaimers at other locations in the past, including Fort Wallace. WOW...after reading and re-reading the book "Sound The Charge" by Richard Weingardt, and "Dog Soldier Justice" by Jeff Broome, (the latter being a very in depth account of events preceding, during, and after the battle), the most detailed and historically correct accounts of the battle, we were more than excited that first day, as we unloaded the vehicle, and started to swing our detectors.

Almost immediately the Tesoro ElDorados began to signal treasures. Eagle buttons were the first to surface, along with dropped rifle cartridges, fired lead, and empty cartridge cases. The first day, between the three of us, we had uncovered over 150 keepers. The campsite area covers an area over 1,500 yards long and 900 yards wide. We covered less than 1% of the area, and were very tired, just getting up and down digging targets. Very little trash here, so zero discriminate was the order of the day.

Summit Springs is located over 150 miles from Denver, so it's a weekend hunting kind of thing. We hunted both Saturday and Sunday of that first weekend and went home with over 250 (battle) artifacts. I was fortunate enough to uncover some hand made Cheyenne silver jewelry and a couple of iron trade points the second day along with the other brass insignia, bullets and eagle buttons. The drive home was very enjoyable as we talked excitedly about the next weekend and the next and the next.

All in all, Summit Springs produced well over 6,000 artifacts for the three of us over the next 3 years of weekend trips. Not bad for a "hunted out site!" Most of the finds were very good, and a few were spectacular. Clumps of unfinished iron arrowheads, lots of Cheyenne silver jewelry, dropped and unfired Henry rifle cartridges as well as Spencer cartridge drops, Indian tools and implements, eating utensils and knives (destroyed by the soldiers after the fight), coins and several rings, stolen buckles and broaches from the Kansas settlements, and the very best of all: Al Nei, while hunting in the vicinity of Tall Bull's lodge, dug a gold locket with the inscription inside that read "Susanna"! WOW...the deceased captive's locket. John also made a tremendous find...at about 9" deep, in the middle of the now dried up stream bed, while digging a target, I heard John from about 50 yards away yell "GUN", and up came a rusty, but beautiful .44cal Army Colt revolver, still fully loaded. Yes, he found "Two Crow's discarded revolver!"

Photos of many of our finds can be found below. By now, we were quite proficient at making museum quality frames, and in addition to the ones we made to frame our own finds, we made and filled one for the land owner who granted us permission to uncover the history of "The Charge At Summit Springs" that occurred on his land. Thank you Bill!

Rest In Peace Susanna, your gravesite has yet to be discovered, and we pray that it never will be!