Eleven Years in the Rocky Mountains and Life on the Frontier Also a History of the Sioux War, and a Life of Gen. George A. Custer with Full Account of His Last Battle

Meek as U.S. Marshal--The Captain of the Melvin--The British Smuggler--Returning a Compliment--"Barly Enough for the Officers of the Court"--Misused Confidence--Indian Disturban...

In 1875, the Black Hills country had acquired a white population and an importance which rendered its possession and control by the Government desirable and necessary; and an at...

1832. On the 23d of July, Milton Sublette's brigade and the company of Mr. Wyeth again set out for the southwest, and met no more serious interruptions while they traveled in co...

1830. Sublette's camp commenced moving back to the east side of the Rocky Mountains in October. Its course was up Henry's fork of the Snake River, through the North Pass to Miss...

After the battle in which Lieut. Col. Custer lost his life, the command of the 7th Cavalry regiment devolved on Major Reno. The following is a copy of Reno's official report to...

1832. In the following spring, the Rocky Mountain Fur Company commenced its march, first up Lewis' Fork, then on to Salt River, thence to Gray's River, and thence to Bear River....

As has been stated in the Introduction, Joseph L. Meek was a native of Washington Co., Va. Born in the early part of the present century, and brought up on a plantation where th...

The scene of the campaign against the hostile Indians in 1876, was the rugged, desolate, and partially unexplored region lying between the Big Horn and Powder Rivers, and extend...

1848-9. The long suspense ended, Meek prepared to return to Oregon, if not without some regrets, at the same time not unwillingly. His restless temper, and life-long habits of u...

1844. As has before been mentioned, the Indians of the Wallamet valley were by no means so formidable as those of the upper country: yet considering their numbers and the condit...

1833. In the spring the camp was visited by a party of twenty Blackfeet, who drove off most of the horses; and among the stolen ones, Bridger's favorite race-horse, Grohean, a C...

From the mountains about the head-waters of the Snake River, Meek returned, with Bridger's brigade to the Yellowstone country, where he fell into the hands of the Crows. The sto...

1830. The whole country lying upon the Yellowstone and its tributaries, and about the head-waters of the Missouri, at the time of which we are writing, abounded not only in beav...

1838. From Missouri Lake, Meek started alone for the Gallatin Fork of the Missouri, trapping in a mountain basin called Gardiner's Hole. Beaver were plenty here, but it was gett...

1836. While the resident partners of the consolidated company waited at the rendezvous for the arrival of the supply trains from St. Louis, word came by a messenger sent forward...

The immigration into Oregon of the year 1843, was the first since Newell and Meek, who had brought wagons through to the Columbia River; and in all numbered nearly nine hundred...

1848. When Meek arrived at Coleman's it was the dinner hour, and following the crowd to the dining saloon, he took the first seat he came to, not without being very much stared...

1848. Meek's party now consisted of himself, Ebbarts, Owens, and four men, who being desirous of returning to the States took this opportunity. However, as the snow proved to be...

1837. The fate of Fontenelle should have served as a warning to his associates and fellows. 'Should have done,' however, are often idle words, and as sad as they are idle; they...

1836. The company of men who went north this year under Bridger and Fontenelle, numbered nearly three hundred. Rendezvous with all its varied excitements being over, this import...

After leaving Red Cloud, Gen. Crook marched to Fort Fetterman and organized a new column for a winter expedition against the enemy. Subsequently, with a force of ten companies o...

1842-7. Doubtless the reader remembers the disquiet felt and expressed by the Indians in the upper country in the year 1842. For the time they had been quieted by presents, by t...

1847. When Dr. Whitman reached home on that Sunday night, after parting with Mr. Spalding at the Umatilla, it was already about midnight; yet he visited the sick before retiring...

1847. A full account of the horrors of the Waiilatpu massacre, together with the individual sufferings of the captives whose lives were spared, would fill a volume, and be harro...

1834. The Rocky Mountain Company now confined themselves to the country lying east of the mountains, and upon the head-waters and tributaries of the Missouri, a country very pro...

The author of the following, "poem" was not either a dull or an unobservant writer; and we insert his verses as a comical bit of natural history belonging peculiarly to Oregon.

When it was settled that Newell and Meek were to go to the Wallamet, they lost no time in dallying, but packed the wagons with whatever they possessed in the way of worldly good...

While Meek was in Washington, he had been dubbed with the title of Colonel, which title he still bears, though during the Indian war of 1855-56, it was alternated with that of M...

1837. The decline of the business of hunting furs began to be quite obvious about this time. Besides the American and St. Louis Companies, and the Hudson's Bay Company, there we...

1850-4. The Territorial law of Oregon combined the offices of Governor and Indian Agent. One of the most important acts which marked Lane's administration was that of securing a...

1830. The furs collected by Jackson's company were cached on the Wind River; and the cold still being very severe, and game scarce, the two remaining leaders, Smith and Jackson,...

On the 10th of October, as a train escorted by two companies of the 6th Infantry was carrying supplies from Glendive Creek to the cantonment at the mouth of Tongue River, it was...

After regaining his position at the mouth of the Big Horn River, Gen. Terry called for reinforcements and additional troops were at once put in motion for his camp; but as they...

Major Reno's conduct on the first day of the fighting on the Little Big Horn, has been severely criticised by several of Gen. Custer's personal friends; and one of them, Gen T.L...

As the foregoing biography of Gen. Custer has been confined chiefly to his military career, it may be well in conclusion to give some account of his personal characteristics; an...

George Armstrong Custer, son of Emmanuel H. Custer, a hard-working, enterprising farmer, was born at New Rumley, Harrison County, Ohio, December 5th, 1839. He grew up into an ac...

1835. The rendezvous of the Rocky Mountain Company seldom took place without combining with its many wild elements, some other more civilized and refined. Artists, botanists, tr...

In the spring of 1864, Gen. Grant was placed at the head of all the Union armies; Gen. Sheridan was called to command the cavalry corps in place of Gen. Pleasonton; and Custer w...

In July, 1866, Custer received from Andrew Johnson, a commission as Lieut. Col. of the 7th Cavalry--a new regiment; and after accompanying the President on his famous tour throu...

1840. When Meek arrived at Fort Hall, where Newell was awaiting him, he found that the latter had there the two wagons which Dr. Whitman had left at the points on the journey wh...

1847-8. When the contents of Mr. Douglas' letter to the governor became known to the citizens of the Wallamet settlement, the greatest excitement prevailed. On the reading of th...

The business of the rendezvous occupied about a month. In this period the men, Indian allies, and other Indian parties who usually visited the camp at this time, were all suppli...

The final struggle for the possession of Richmond and Petersburg was now commenced by an extension of the Union lines westward, Grant's object being to attack the right flank of...

When a campaign against the roaming hostile Indians was decided on in 1876, Lieut. Col. Custer was naturally selected as the leader of the Dakota column, which was organized at...

General Crook started from Fort Fetterman, W.T., March 1st, 1876, at the head of an expedition composed of ten companies of the 2d and 3d Cavalry under Col. J.J. Reynolds, and t...

1842. By the opening of another spring, Meek had so far overcome his distaste for farm labor as to put in a field of wheat for himself, with Doughty, and to make some arrangemen...

1835. Owing to the high rate of pay which Meek was now able to command, he began to think of imitating the example of that distinguished order, the free trappers, to which he no...

1834. The gossip at rendezvous was this year of an unusually exciting character. Of the brigades which left for different parts of the country the previous summer, the Monterey...

General Custer's trail, from the place where he left Reno's and turned northward, passed along and in the rear of the crest of hills on the east bank of the stream for nearly th...

"Tell me all about a buffalo hunt," said the writer to Joe Meek, as we sat at a window overlooking the Columbia River, where it has a beautiful stretch of broad waters and curvi...

1841. When spring opened, Meek assisted Newell in breaking the ground for wheat. This done, it became necessary to look out for some immediately paying employment. But paying oc...

The disarming and dismounting of the Sioux Agency Indians being deemed necessary as a precautionary measure, to prevent the hostile Indians from receiving constant supplies of a...

Early in 1846, Meek resigned his office of marshal of the colony, owing to the difficulty of collecting taxes; for in a thinly inhabited country, where wheat was a legal tender,...

This was what the trappers had relied upon. They were cool and determined, while terribly excited and wrought up by their situation. It was agreed that no more than three should...

A vivid account of Custer's last battle has been given by an Indian named Kill Eagle, who was in Sitting Bull's village on the day of the fight as, he claims, a non-combatant. K...

The supply steamer Far West with Gen. Terry and Col. Gibbon on board, which steamed up the Yellowstone on the evening of June 23d, overtook Gibbon's troops near the mouth of the...

General Terry left Fort Abraham Lincoln on the Missouri River, May 17th 1876, with his division, consisting of the 7th Cavalry under Lieut. Col. George A. Custer, three companie...

A treaty having been made with the Indians and peace restored, the 7th Cavalry enjoyed a long season of rest. In the autumn of 1870, it was broken into detachments and distribut...

When the author of this book has been absorbed in the elegant narratives of Washington Irving, reading and musing over _Astoria_ and _Bonneville_, in the cozy quiet of a New Yor...

The forests which clad the mountains and foot-hills in perpetual verdure, and the thickets which skirted the numerous streams flowing into the Wallamet, all abounded in wild ani...

1834. But Joe Meek was not destined to return to the Rocky Mountains without having had an Indian fight. If adventures did not come in his way he was the man to put himself in t...

The reader of the foregoing pages can hardly have failed to observe, that the region east of the Big Horn Mountains, including the valleys of the Yellowstone, Big Horn, Powder,...

Trouble with the Up-Country Indians--Causes of their Disquiet--Their Opinion of the Americans--"Humbugged and Cheated"--Fear of Greater Frauds in the Future--Resolve not to Subm...

The March to the Humboldt--Scarcity of Game--Terrible Sufferings--The Horrors of Thirst and Famine--Eating Ants, Crickets and Mules--Return to Snake River--A lucky Discovery--A...

Meek Appointed U.S. Marshal for Oregon--"Home Sweet Home"--Pay of the Delegates--The Lion's Share--Meek's Interview with Gov. Lane--Buying out a Peddler--The Escort of Riflemen-...

Meek Falls into the Hands of Crows--The Story as He tells It--He Packs Moccasins, and Bears the Jeers of the Fair Sex--Bridger's Camp Discovered and the Lie Found out--A Despera...

Meek Dines at Coleman's--A Sensation--An Amusing Scene--Recognized by Senator Underwood--Visit to the President--Cordial Reception by the Family of Polk--Some Doubts of Himself-...

Lane's Course with the Cayuse Indians--Magnanimity of the Savages--Rebuke to Their Captors--Their Statements to Meek--The Puzzle of Indian Ethics--Incidents of the Trial and Exe...

The Solitary Trapper--A Jest--Among the Nez Perces--Their Eagerness to be Taught--Meek is Called upon to Preach--He modestly Complies--Asks for a Wife--Polygamy Defended--Meek G...

Horrors of the Waiilatpu Massacre--Exemption of the Catholics--Charges of the Protestants--Natural Suspicions--Further Particulars of the Massacre--Cruelty to the Children--Fate...

Annoying Competition--The Chief's Daughter--Sublette Wounded--Forty Days of Isolation--Sublette and Meek captured by Snake Indians--A Solemn Council--Sentence of Death--Hope Def...

A Visit from Blackfeet--The Green River Rendezvous--A "Powerful Drunk"--Mad Wolf--A Friendly Warning--A Trip to the Salt Lake Country--Meek Joins Jo. Walker's California Expedit...

How Beaver are Taken--Beaver Dams--Formation of Meadows--Beaver Lodges--"Bachelors"--Trapping in Winter--"Up to Trap"--Blackfeet on the Trail--On Guard--The Trapper's Ruse--A di...

"The Adventures of a Columbia River Salmon"--History of the Immigration of 1846--Opening of Southern Route to the Wallamet--Tragic Fate of the California Immigrants--Sufferings...

Arrival of the Immigration at the Dalles--Wagons Abandoned--Pitiable Condition of the Women and Children--Aid from the Hudson's Bay Company--Perils of the Columbia--Wreck of the...

The Tragedy at Waiilatpu--Dr. Whitman's Arrival at Home--Monday Morning at the Mission--Commencement of the Massacre--The First Victim--"Oh, the Indians!"--Horrors of the Attack...

Meek's Party--Precautions against Indians--Meeting with Bannacks--White Lies--Fort Hall--Deep Snows--Horses Abandoned--The Mountain Spirit Returning--Meeting with Peg-Leg Smith-...

Excitement about Indians--Dr. White's Flogging Law--Indian Revenge--Raid of the Klamaths--Massacre of Indians--Affray at the Falls--Death of Cockstock--Death of LeBreton and Rog...

Winter Operations--Crook's Expedition--Col. McKenzie on the Trail--A Night's March--A Charge down a Canyon--Destruction of a Cheyenne Village--Life at the Tongue River Cantonmen...

Grizzly Bears--An Adventure with a Grizzly--The Three "Bares"--The Mountain-Man's Manners--Joking the Leaders--The Irishman and the Booshway--How Sublette climbed a Tree and esc...

In the Blackfoot Country--A Visit to Wyeth's Trappers--Sorry Experiences--Condolence and its Effect--The Visitors become Defenders--A Battle with Fire and Sword--Fighting for Li...

A Dissipated Camp--A Crow Carousal--Picked Crows--A Fight with Blackfeet--Manhead Killed--Night Visit to the Blackfoot Village--"Cooning a River"--Stanley the Indian Painter--De...

Visitors at Rendezvous--Advent of Missionaries--What Brought Them--Bonneville's account of the Nez Perces and Flatheads--An Enthusiastic View of Their Characters--Origin of some...

Westward Ho!--Opening Wagon Roads--Republicanism--Fat Pork for Preachers--Mission Work at Waiilatpu--Helen Mar--Off for the Wallamet--Wagons Left at Walla-Walla--The Dalles Miss...

An Express from Fitzpatrick--The Approach of Missionaries Announced--The Caravan Welcomed by a Party of Trappers--Noisy Demonstrations--Curiosity of the Indians--The Missionary...

The Call to Arms--Meetings and Speeches--Ways and Means of Defence--The first Regiment of Oregon Riflemen--Messenger to the Governor of California--Meek Chosen Messenger to the...

Our Centennial War with the Sioux--Scene of the Campaign--General Aspect of the Country--The hostile Indians and their Grievances--The People of the Frontier--The Treaty of 1868...

Decline of the Fur Trade--Wild Scenes at Rendezvous--A Missionary Party--Entertained by a War Dance--Meek in Armor--Deserted by his Indian Spouse--The Pursuit--Meek abuses a Mis...

The Midsummer Campaign--Adventures of a Scouting Party--Running the Gauntlet--Indian Allies--Hazardous Service--Junction of Terry and Crook--Following the Trail--At the Mouth of...

Removal to Powder River--A Trapper's Paradise--The Transformation in the Wilderness--The Encampment by Night--Meek takes to Study--On the Move--Loss of Horses and Traps--Robbed...

A new Start in Life--Mountain-Men for Pioneers--Discovery of the Columbia River--What Capt. Gray Did--What Vancouver Did--The United States' Claim to Oregon--First Missionaries...

Early Life of Meek--He leaves Home--Enlists in a Fur Company--On the March--A Warning Voice--Frontier Sports--Last Vestige of Civilization--On the Plains--A first Adventure--A f...

Autumn on the Yellowstone--Gallant Defence of a Wagon Train--A Letter from Sitting Bull--A Flag of Truce--Col. Miles and Sitting Bull Have a "Talk" between the Lines--An Excitin...

Setting up as a Family Man--First Love--Cut out by the Booshway--Reward of Constancy--Beauty of Umentucken--Her Dress, Her Horse and Equipments--Anecdotes of the Mountain Lamb--...

The Seventh Cavalry--Hancock's Expedition--Tricky Indians--A Scout on the Plains--Camp Attacked by Indians--A Fight for the Wagon Train--The Kidder Massacre--Court Martialed--Su...

Difficulty of Collecting Taxes--A Ponderous Currency--Dr. McLaughlin's Ox--An Exciting Year--The Boundary Question--"Fifty-four-forty or Fight"--War Vessels in the Columbia--Los...

General Crook's First Expedition--The March Northward--Reynolds Follows a Trail--Camp of Crazy Horse Discovered and Attacked--The Battle of Powder River--Return to Fort Fetterma...

Gibbon's Troops Cross the Yellowstone--March up the Big Horn--A Smoke Cloud--An Omen of Victory--Crow Scouts--Indians in Front--A Night's Bivouac on the Little Big Horn--Site of...

Scarcity of Employment--Wilkes' Exploring Expedition--Meek Employed as Pilot--Interchange of Courtesies at Vancouver--"The Peacock"--Unpleasant Reminder--Exploring the Cowelitz-...

In the Camanche Country--A Surprise and a Rapid Movement--The Mule Fort--A Camanche Charge--Sure Aim--Another Charge--More Dead Indians--Woman's Weapon, the Tongue--Fearful Heat...

The Brooding of Events--Arrival of the Chenamus--Meek Celebrates the Fourth of July--Dr. Whitman Goes to Washington--An Alarming Feature--Mission Stations of the Upper Country--...

The Den of Rattlesnakes--The Old Frenchman--How to Keep Snakes out of Bed--The Prairie Dog's Tenants at Will--Fight with Blackfeet--Policy of War--A Duel Averted--A Run-away Bea...

Gossip at Rendezvous--Adventures in the Crow Country--Fitzpatrick Picked by the Crows and Flies from Them--Honor among Thieves--Unfair Treatment of Wyeth--Bonneville Snubbed at...

The Camp in Motion--A Trapping Expedition--Opposition to the Hudson's Bay Company--Beautiful Scenery--The Lost Leader Found--Rejoicings in Camp--The "Luck" of the Trappers--Conf...

Gen. Terry's Expedition--March from Fort Lincoln--Rendezvous on the Yellowstone--The Montana Column--Reno's Scouting Party Discovers a Trail--The Seventh Cavalry Start up the Ro...

Custer's last Battle--Revelations of the Battle-field--Theories as to the Engagement--Custer and His Officers--Capt. Tom Custer--Boston Custer--Armstrong Reed--Burial of the Sla...

Terry and Crook at the Sioux Agencies--The Agency Indians Disarmed and Dismounted--A Gleam of Daylight--What became of the Ponies--Red Cloud Deposed--Spotted Tail Declared Chief...

Reno's Battles--His Charge down the Valley, and Retreat to the Bluffs--Benteen's Battalion--A terrific Assault--Holding the Fort--Volunteer Water Carriers--Removal of Indian Vil...