The Way West

Sensational accounts of a renewed Indian uprising filtered out of the western reaches of Indian Territory in late June, 1885.

According to newspaper accounts, elements of the Southern Cheyenne were unhappy with lease arrangements that tribal officials had made with cattlemen on the Cheyenne-Arapaho reservation. In addition, Indian agent Col. D. B. Dyer was demanding a census of the tribe which only brought more dissatisfaction.

Dyer believed “the Cheyennes were as warlike as the Apaches, that they were well armed, and could put 1,200 to 1,500 warriors on the war path at any time.”

To meet the threat, he asked for 3,000 cavalrymen “to scare the Indians and show them that the government had sufficient force to clean out the whole territory if necessary.”

The Wichita Daily Eagle added to the excitement with unfounded reports of panic at the Indian agencies in the Territory, adding that 3,000 braves were holding the agencies hostage and that murders had occurred.

“Ft. Reno is under a double row of sentinels and no Indian is allowed inside. Cantonment is 60 miles up the river, and is perfectly helpless if an attack is made ... The Indians are all superbly mounted and armed to the teeth with the best arms manufactured and a full supply of fixed ammunition.”

There appeared to be a general belief that Indians living south of the Kansas border were about to massacre anyone within riding distance.

“The Indians are drilling daily in regular warlike form. Without prompt and efficient action on the part of the government, a bloody raid and massacre will be the result.”

Gen. Augur, at Fort Riley, directed 10 companies of cavalry and six companies of infantry to proceed by railcar to the end of the rail line at Crisfield, Kan. The town of Crisfield, 17 miles west of Anthony, Kan., was but a few months old when troops established Camp Crisfield south of the town. Four companies of cavalry barely halted at the new camp before moving west to establish a camp at the Cimarron River cattle crossing on the Western Trail to Dodge City. John Clark ran a trading post, complete with cattle corrals, known to the drovers as Longhorn Roundup.

Capricious rumors persisted. The Daily Eagle insisted that the Indians were well armed. The fact that most Indians were carrying old weapons was rationalized with a belief that the best weapons were “cached” in the sandhills and they only “appear with their old squirrel rifles.”

Memories of the Northern Cheyenne raid through western Kansas in 1878 brought back old animosity.

“These Indians have been totally unruly ever since the dull knife raid, and the present trouble singly arises from the fact that for many years they have never been punished for crime, and are simply presuming and growing more bold and reckless.”

A return to the old ceremonies may have prompted some of the anxiety that led newspapermen to believe a general uprising was taking place.

“No Indians are seen about the agency, as they still keep closely within their encampment, and such heathenish practices as are now going on have not been known for many years. Old Indian fighters say they have a purpose for renewing at this date their old war customs, and, prompted by superstition, it is difficult to determine just when and how they will move.”

In fact, the “old war customs” were merely dances that inspired a sense of tribal community.

Inflammatory articles seemed to be coming mostly from the Wichita Daily Eagle while government dispatches refuted virtually everything the Daily Eagle printed.

Gen. Augur reported from Fort Reno that about 100 Cheyennes were absent from the reservation, however he insisted that, “… they are not on the war path, but are hiding their arms and ponies for fear that they are to be taken from them.” There was no threat! The cavalry expedition to the Western Cattle Trail found no Indians or any sign of them.

The Daily Eagle turned its attention to the soldiers at Crisfield, noting that the presence of the troops was a boon to the businessmen in town.

“Drug stores, beer and lemonade stands flourish to beat everything, while prohibition is left clear in the shade, with the thermometer at 100.”

On the plains, a half-mile from Camp Crisfield, Col.Henry A. Morrow reviewed 1,300 troops, at 4 p.m. July 24, 1885. The troops wheeled about in a grand spectacle of flawless infantry and cavalry maneuvers to mark the end of the Great Cheyenne War of 1885. The soldiers moved on. Camp Crisfield was deserted. Crisfield, Kan., struggled for existence until it faded into oblivion, but for the memories told on The Way West.

“The Cowboy,” Jim Gray is author of the book Desperate Seed: Ellsworth Kansas on the Violent Frontier, Ellsworth, KS Contact Kansas Cowboy, 220 21st Road, Geneseo, Kan. Phone (785) 531-2058 or kansascowboy@kans.com .