A Guide to the Microfiche Edition of Research Collections in Native American Studies The Indian Wars of the West and Frontier Army Life, 18621898 Official Histories and Personal Narratives UNIVERSITY PUBLICATIONS OF AMERICA A Guide to the Microfiche Edition of THE INDIAN WARS OF THE WEST AND FRONTIER ARMY LIFE, 1862–1898 Official Histories and Personal Narratives Project Editor and Guide Compiled by: Robert E. Lester A microfiche project of UNIVERSITY PUBLICATIONS OF AMERICA An Imprint of CIS 4520 East-West Highway • Bethesda, MD 20814-3389 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data The Indian wars of the West and frontier army life, 1862–1898 [microform] : official histories and personal narratives / project editor, Robert E. Lester microfiche. Accompanied by a printed guide compiled by Robert E. Lester, entitled: A guide to the microfiche edition of The Indian wars of the West and frontier army life, 1862–1898. ISBN 1-55655-598-9 (alk. paper) 1. Indians of North America--Wars--1862–1865--Sources. 2. Indians of North America--Wars--1866–1895--Sources. 3. United States. Army--Military life--History--19th century--Sources. 4. West (U.S.)--History--19th century--Sources. I. Lester, Robert. II. University Publications of America (Firm) III. Title: Guide to the microfilm edition of The Indian wars of the West and frontier army life, 1862–1898. [E81] 978'.02—dc21 98-12605 CIP Copyright © 1998 by University Publications of America. All rights reserved. ISBN 1-55655-598-9. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Scope and Content Note ................................................................................................. v Arrangement of Material .................................................................................................. ix List of Contributing Institutions ..................................................................................... xi Source Note ...................................................................................................................... xiii Editorial Note .................................................................................................................... xiii Fiche Index Indian Wars of the West General References .................................................................................................. 1 Apache ...................................................................................................................... 3 Apache: Geronimo Campaign (1882–1886) .......................................................... 3 Cheyenne .................................................................................................................. 4 Comanche ................................................................................................................. 4 Kiowa ......................................................................................................................... 5 Modoc ........................................................................................................................ 5 Nez Perce .................................................................................................................. 5 Plains, 1863–1869 ..................................................................................................... 5 Sheepeater ................................................................................................................ 6 Sioux .......................................................................................................................... 6 Sioux: General References ................................................................................... 6 Sioux: Minnesota Uprising, 1862–1863 ................................................................. 7 Sioux: Northern Plains, 1864–1867 ....................................................................... 10 Sioux: Northern Plains—Little Big Horn, 1876....................................................... 10 Sioux: Ghost Dance, 1890–1891........................................................................... 11 Ute .............................................................................................................................11 Frontier Army General References .................................................................................................. 12 Military Posts ............................................................................................................. 17 Rosters ...................................................................................................................... 18 Frontier Army Life/Reminiscences ............................................................................. 19 Author Index ..................................................................................................................... 27 Subject Index .................................................................................................................... 31 iii SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE By 1862, once-great Indian nations had been severely reduced. Fewer Indian warriors stood against the force of the frontier army and the settler, miner, and cowboy. Those warriors who remained, however, were fierce in their resistance. Sioux, Apache, Modoc, Comanche, Kiowa, and Ute all fought for a way of life that demanded freedom, independence, and proof of manhood in battle. Over the next three decades, they would fight to the death. Antebellum federal government policy regarded the tribes as independent and sovereign nations. This policy led to an effort to erect a frontier between white settlement and the Indian areas. But by the 1860s, the harsh realities of Manifest Destiny led to a breakdown in this policy. The administration of Indian matters was divided between the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the frontier army. The bureau was responsible for supervising Indian lands, tribal annuities, and communications between the federal government in Washington and the tribal chiefs. Also controlled by the bureau were the Indian agent trading posts, whose purpose was to distribute needed supplies to the Indians. Infused from top to bottom with the spoils system, the dishonest and incompetent Indian agent became one symbol for rallying the tribes against the federal government. The federal frontier army came into the picture only when trouble developed. When bands would attack a home or stagecoach, or when a tribe went on the warpath, the principal function of the army was to punish. The army of the frontier was an effective fighting force, led by a few able officers. In its wars with the Indians, the army frequently experienced frustration finding itself evenly matched against the mobile Indian cavalry. But eventually the superior technology of the federal military shifted the balance of power in the West. There was almost incessant Indian fighting on the frontier from the 1860s to the 1880s. These conflicts began during the Civil War with the uprising of the Eastern Sioux in Minnesota, and organized tribal resistance ended with the capture of the Apache leader Geronimo in 1886. This fighting was due to several factors including Indian exploitation by corrupt government agents, white encroachment on tribal lands, and inadequate reservations. During the Civil War, the Sioux of Minnesota, led by Little Crow, went on the warpath. The tribe was eventually subdued and exiled to the Dakotas. Also in the early 1860s, bands of Cheyenne and Arapaho attacked stagecoaches and settlements in response to extreme condi- tions on their reservation. They were eventually subdued following the Sand Creek massacre of Indian women, old men, and children by Colorado militia troops under Colonel Chivington. They eventually accepted a reservation in the Indian Territory, but not before a large band was caught bypassing the reservation, by Colonel George A. Custer in 1866, and subdued near the Washita River. Following the Civil War, confrontation with the Indians opened on several fronts. The most serious conflict was in Montana and pertained to the establishment of the Bozeman Trail, extend- ing from Fort Laramie to the mining areas of Montana and Wyoming. The Sioux leader Red Cloud resented this intrusion on tribal lands; he led his braves off their reservation and repeatedly attacked construction parties and their army guards. Following a peace conference in 1867, the Bozeman Trail was discontinued and the Sioux accepted a reservation in southwestern Dakota Territory. During the early 1870s the accelerated construction of forts and settlements in the West provoked skirmishes between the federal army and Indian bands. The explosion of white settle- ment in the West was brought about by the establishment of various westward trails, the relative v tranquility of the West, reports of mining discoveries, and Horace Greeley’s call to “Go West, Young Man.” This westward movement alarmed the Indian tribes on their ever-shrinking reserva- tions. The most well-known white-Indian conflict began with the rallying of the Sioux and their allies under Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull in Montana. The army response was to send three columns to round up the interlopers and return them to the reservation. One of these columns included the colorful George A. Custer and his infamous Seventh Cavalry. At the Battle of the Little Big Horn, the Indians surprised Custer and a portion of his divided regiment and wiped them out. Following this Indian victory, the Sioux army, which had grown to four thousand warriors, wreaked havoc throughout