CHAPTER III.

SETTLEMENT AND GOLD-HUNTING.

1847-1863.

PATHWAY TO THE PACIFIC

COMING OF THE LATTER-DAY SAINTS MILITARY
MEN AN ANGRY ENGLISHMAN BRIDGER AND
PROSPECTING FOR GOLD
HIS FORT MORMON WAR THE LATTER- DAY SAINTS ABANDON WYO
MING MOVEMENTS OF ARMY FORCES GOVERNMENT EXPEDITION-
ROADS ORDERED OPENED PLACER GOLD DISCOVERED THE MORRISITES
INDIAN HOSTILITIES MILITARY MEN AND FRONTIERSMEN LEGENDS
OF THE WIND RIVER MOUNTAINS SWIFT PETRIFACTIONS.

IT remarkable that a section of country more

is

travelled over than any other between the great

plains and the Pacific ocean, should have remained
unsettled for nearly half a century, the only white
men there being traders and military men. The first
who came to spy out the land for settlement were
men professing a new religion, which their neighbors
did not like, who sought to found an empire in the
mountains which, in time, should reach to the shores
of the Pacific. Their pioneers, headed by Brigham
Young and Heber C. Kimball, numbered 143 men,
with a train of seventy-three wagons, which arrived
at Fort Laramie June 1, 1847, while it was yet a
trading post. Passing on to Great Salt lake, they
selected a spot on its border where a city was to be
founded, and on the 23d of July plowed the first
ground ever broken for seed in all the regions west of 1
the Platte and east of the Sierra Nevada.
In 1848 passed Brigham Young again with over
*It is said in the Utah Hand-book of Reference, 65, that
Bridger consid
ered it impossible to bring a large population into the great basin until it
could be ascertained that grain could be raised there. So sanguine was he
that it could not be done that he said he would give $1,000 for a bushel of
corn produced there.
(694)
 WYOMING. 695

1,200 men, women, and children, and 397 wagons ;

H. C. Kimball with 662 persons and 226 wagons, and

W. Richards with 526 persons and 169 wagons.
There was a large migration to Oregon also that year,
and out of these thousands not one cared to tarry on
the North Platte. In 1849 1,400 emigrants for Salt
Lake passed Forts Laramie and Bridger, and an
unknown great number bound to the gold mines in
California.
In this year, also, came Captain H. Stansbury and
Lieutenant J. W. Gunnison, who surveyed the valley
of Salt lake, by order of the government. And every
year thereafter emigration passed beyond, pausing
only to purchase supplies. There are indications that
at some time, probably after the discovery of gold in
California, some persons had turned aside to prospect
in the mountain streams, but of their fate nothing
definite is known. It is remembered that frequent
efforts to discover gold were made by persons passing

along the Sweetwater.

The private expedition, in 1854-6, of Sir George
Gore, of Sligo, Ireland, from the Missouri river at St
Louis to the headwaters of Powder river has been
mentioned in my History of Montana. The baronet
had forty retainers, fourteen dogs, one hundred and
2
Such a party was one of 300 men from Council Bluffs, led by Capt.
Douglas of St Joseph valley, Mich., who in 1852 set out for Cal. At Fort
Laramie 30 men left the main company to prospect in the mountains to the
north, agreeing to overtake and report to the captain at Humboldt river.
Eight of them did overtake the company as promised, reporting that they
had found gold upon two streams, which from the description are believed
to be Rapid and Spring creeks, in the Black hills, and desiring the company
to return to this place. But it was already late in the season, and the Ind
ians along the route were troublesome, which decided the reunited company
to push forward to Cal. The 22 men left were never heard from, and were
supposed to have perished. Strahorn, Wyoming, Black Hills, etc., 220. In
1876 some prospectors on Battle creek, Black hille region, in an old shaft
which they opened, at 20 feet from the surface, under 10 feet of earth, found
a shovel and pick, the handles of which were decayed, and the iron much
rust-eaten. On the same stream were found a skull, under 3 feet of earth,
and near by a pair of silver-bowed spectacles. There were several prospect
holes in the vicinity, in some of which trees six inches in diameter were
growing. On Whitewood creek a hammer and small poll-pick were found,
15 feet from the surface, and a hatchet in another place, all imbedded in
earth and rusting to decay. Whether these were relics of the Council Bluffs
party, or some other, will probably never be known,
696 SETTLEMENT AND GOLD-HUNTING.

twelve horses, six wagons, twenty-one carts, and twelve

yoke of cattle. He spent the first winter at Fort
Laramie, hunting in the vicinity. The following
year, procuring James Bridger for a guide, he trav
elled north, making his headquarters on Powder river
for a season, after which he built a fort near the
mouth of Tongue river, which he occupied until the
autumn of 1856, when he left it to return to St Louis.
His only object in seeking the mighty solitudes of
the heart of the American continent was the gratifi
cation of that savage instinct preserved with so much
care by the landed aristocracy of Great Britain, the
love of the chase, to secure themselves in the enjoy
ment of which the land is kept from the homeless
poor. Whether he grew more savage under this in
dulgence I do not know, but he was furious enough
at what he considered the extortion of the North
American Fur company, with which he had contracted
for boats, to burn all his Indian goods, wagons, and

supplies in front of Fort Union, guarding the flames

from plunder while they were consumed, and even
throwing the irons of the wagons into the Missouri
river, rather than pay the price asked for boats. His
horses and cattle were sold for little to vagabond
white men, or given to the Indians, and having thus
cut himself off from any possible return to civilization
that year, he wintered in the lodge of a Crow chief
at Fort Berthold, purchasing fifty beeves at thirty
dollars a head, rather than pay fifty dollars a head
for six, which was all he needed. That transaction
was purely in accordance with the reasoning of his
race. He returned to St Louis by steamboat in
1857.
Bridger, before engaging as guide with Gore, had
disposed of his post on Green river to the Mormons,
who were the first actual settlers, to the number of
3

fifty-five, in what is now a portion of Wyoming, but

u
According to the Utah Jlaml-ltook of Reference, 73, John Nebeker, Isaac
Bullock, and 53 others were located at Fort Supply, in Green River county,
 WYOMING. 097

was then considered to be in Utah. Fort Supply, as

they had named the former trading -post, was intended
as a station where passing emigrations could be fur
nished with provisions. It was abandoned on the
advent of a command of United States troops in the
vicinity, the occupants retiring to Salt lake. The
army taking possession consisted of the fifth and tenth
regiments of infantry, and Phelps and Reno s batteries
of artillery, under the immediate command of Colonel
E. B. Alexander. It marched by the Platte route,
and passing Laramie arrived at Henry fork of Green
river, thirty miles east of Fort Supply, early in Octo
ber, where it went into camp/ While awaiting orders
from Washington, the Mormon militia destroyed five
supply trains of twenty-five wagons each, leaving men
and animals short of provisions and forage. Soon
afterward General A. S. Johnston arrived, and moved
camp to Black fork, establishing Camp Scott, two
miles south of the present Fort Bridger. In the fol
lowing spring the Mormon settlers of Green river
valley were called in, except a few men
"

in every
settlement to burn everything in case the troops, upon
their arrival in the valley, should prove hostile." The
government retained possession of the valley, Fort
Supply having been as much as possible destroyed,
and when Major William Hoffman arrived, in the
spring of 1858, with reenforcernents and ample sup
plies, the present military post was erected, the former
name restored, and Hoffman placed in command,
in Nov. 1853. These, then, were the first settlers after Bridger, though it is
stated by some that Louis Robinson was the first settler. He is called a
Mormon, though he is said to have come to the country in 1832 from North
Carolina, via Taos, N. M., and had probably never heard of the Latter-day
saints before they appeared at Fort Bridger in 1847. Uncle Jack Robinson,
a warm personal friend of Bridger, and an old resident, has been confounded
with Louis Robinson, who may have been one of the 55 settlers sent by
.

Brigham Young. He kept a ferry on Green river in 1860. Con. Hist. Soc.
Mont., 220, 222.
4
The Utah Hand-book of Reference, p. 75, informs us that on the 8th Sept. ,

Captain Van Vliet, of Gen. Harney s staff, visited Salt Lake City, and had
an interview with President Young, and after a few days spent in that place
proceeded to Washington, where he used his influence in favor of the
saints.
698 SETTLEMENT AND GOLD -HUNTING.

while Johnston inarched the greater portion of the

army from Green river to Salt lake, and established
Camp Floyd in that vicinity. This was the end of
Mormon occupation in Wyoming.
From about this period frequent government
expe
ditions touched at Laramie, and deflected to whatever

Lieut Joseph H. Taylor, 1st cavalry, was the first post-adjutant at Fort
Bridger; Lieut B. F. Smith, 6th inf., the first depot quartermaster. On the
17th of Aug., 1858, Lieut-col E. R. S. Canby, maj. 10th infantry, relieved
Major Hoffman, who rejoined the 6th inf., which soon after marched to Cal.
Canby was relieved March 7, 1860, by Maj. R. C. Gatlin, 7th inf., and went
to N. M. In June Gatlin also was ordered to N. M., and Capt. Alfred
Gumming, 10th inf., took command, who was in turn relieved, Aug. 9th, by
Capt. Frank Gardner, same regiment. When the civil war broke out, Cum-
ming joined the confederate army. In May 1861 Capt. Jesse A. Gore, 10th
inf., was placed in command. When the troops were required at the east
during the rebellion, Col Cooke, 2d cav., in command at Camp Floyd, aban
doned that post, and repaired to Fort Bridger, where the bulk of the sub
sistence and quartermasters stores were sold at auction, and
purchased by
the Mormons. It was estimated that $4,000,000 worth of goods were sold
for $100,000. Utah Hand-book of Reference, 78. After this both garrisons
were marched to Fort Leavenworth, leaving only a few men, whcne terms of
service were nearly expired, at Fort Bridger, under Capt. J. C. Clarke, 4th
art., who in Dec. 1861 was ordered east, leaving orderly sergt Bogee at the
post, with a handful of privates. For about a year, at a critical period,
considering the civil war, and the Mormon and Indian hostilities, Bogee
remained in charge. The Mormons setting up a claim to the land, on the
ground of a conveyance from Bridger, Post-trader W. A. Carter organized a
volunteer company of mountain men for the protection of property at the
fort. In Dec. 1862, Capt. M. G. Lewis, 3d Cal. inf. vols, arrived at the post
and assumed command; and during the war, and until July 1866, it was
garrisoned by Cal. and Nev. vols, who performed the hard service of guard
ing the mails, escorting travellers, and fighting Indians. Bvt maj. A. S.
Burt, capt. 18th inf., took command, when the vols were mustered out, the
garrison consisting of F and H companies 1st battalion, 18th inf. During
the construction of the Union Pacific R. R. a garrison of 5 companies of the
36th inf., under Bvt -col Henry A. Morrow, was stationed at Fort Bridger,
and much of the time employed in guarding the engineers, and the overland
stage route for 200 miles east of Green ,river. Maj. J. H. Belcher, post-
quartermaster, had many improvements made during that period. From
May 1878 to June 1880 the post was abandoned. When reestablished the
garrison consisted of F and H companies, 4th inf. In 1881, post-trader
Carter caused a road to be constructed over the mountains from Fort Thorn-
burg in Utah to a mail station 35 miles south of Fort Bridger, to facilitate
communication. In 1883, additional barracks and quarters were commenced,
and the garrison increased, consisting then of B. C, and I companies of the (

9th inf., under command of Lieut-col T. M. Anderson, same regiment. In

June of the same year a battalion, consisting of two companies from Fort
Bridger, two from Fort Fred Steele, under Maj. I. D. De Russy, 4th infan
try, repaired and improved the road to Fort Thornburg. In Aug. 1884, the
garrison at Fort Bridger was increased by companies I) and H, 21st inf., and
Col Anderson was relieved by Lieut-col Alexander Chambers of that regiment,
to whose H txt. Fort Bridjer, MS., I am indebted for most of the above account

of its services in the history of 17. S.

Wyoming. )i. Circ., 8, 316-24;
Sitr</.-</<

Misc. Doc., 40, pp. 29-30, 41st cong., 3d sess.; &. 8. H. Com. Kept, 520, iii.,
43d cong., 1st sess.; Hayiltn, Rrpt, 1870, p. 55.
 WYOMING. 699

course they had been destined for. Captain E. G.

Beck with, third artillery, who took charge of the
survey of a railroad route near the forty-first parallel,
after the massacre of Captain Gunnison and party in
1853, explored the valley of Green river and the
streams issuing from the Uinta mountains. In 1857,
Johnson s in Green river valley, and
army encamped
by the Mormons, Captain
their supplies being cut off
E,. B. Marcy, with forty men, in the month of No

vember, proceeded from Fort Bridger to the foot of

the mountains between Green and Grand rivers, up>

canon to the top of the range, to Grand river, near

the mouth of the
Uncompahgre, up Eagle-tail river
to Coschetopes pass, and to Fort Massachusetts,
where he obtained what was required, and returned
the following June by way of the route east of the
mountains, and through the South pass. Captain
Marcy s success is a proof both of the courage of the
man, and the excellence of the climate which spared
6
his life on so terrible a journey.
In 1857 came William M. Magraw who had se r
,

cured a contract from the government to open a road

through the South pass, as if that road had not been
in constant use by emigrants for fourteen years. But
being a government expedition, it was accompanied
7

by naturalists, whose reports were of value to science,

and through science to more material objects. In
1858 Captain J. H. Simpson, of the topographical
engineers, explored and opened a road from Fort
Bridger to Camp Floyd,8 and thence the following
year to Carson, Nevada, eking out the survey of
Colonel Steptoe of 1855.
In July 1859 Captain W. F. Keynolds, of the topo-
6
Marcy, Thirty Years of Army Life, 224-49.
7
J. Gr. Cooper, surgeon of the wagon-road expedition, was naturalist to
the previous expedition of I. I. Stevens, via the Missouri river to Puget
sound, 1853. C. Drexler was taxidermist in 1857. Cooper returned to Wash
ington the same season, but Magraw and Drexler wintered on Wind river,
moving to Camp Scott in March, where the latter made a large collection of
birds. Smithsonian Kept, 1 858,
p. 50.
8
Simpfton Explor. Great Basin, 7, 24-5.
700 SETTLEMENT AND GOLD-HUNTING.

graphical engineers, under orders from government,

led an expedition from Fort Pierre, on the Missouri
river, to the Black hills, and having explored the
northeastern and northern portion of this range, moved
on to Powder river and the Bighorn, exploring the
country to the headwaters of the Yellowstone and
Missouri, with Bridger for a guide, Reynolds was
accompanied by a scientific corps under Hayden, who
had previously explored the Platte valley for some

TRAILS IN WYOMING.

distance. They were escorted by a single company

of soldiers, under Maynadier and Lee, and made a
favorable report on the country.

Men were by this time earnestly looking for gold,

and the report went forth that gold had been discov
ered in the Bighorn mountains by this expedition.
But Reynolds, afraid of losing his escort by desertion,
forbade the discoverer to reveal the truth to any but
himself and Hayden, which reticence caused the local -
9
U. S. Jour., 300; 37 coiig., 3 sess. Mullan, Military Road JKept, 27.
 WYOMING. 701

ity to be lost and although there had been before,

;

and have been since, several reputed discoveries in

this range, there has never been any mining, for until
within recent years the Indians made it such desper
ate hazard that few would venture, and those who
ventured seldom returned to reveal any discoveries
they had made, and the country remained practically
10
unexplored.
Colorado was swarming with gold-seekers, and Mon
tana was known to be rich in auriferous deposits: why
not this region lying sandwiched between them (

This was the question asked by thousands who trav

ersed it, few of whom failed to strike a pick here and
there as they passed, or to curiously examine the sands
of every stream crossed in their wanderings.
A party of twelve men who left Missouri for Mon
tana in 1863 travelled the route up the Cheyenne
river to the Black hills, where they prospected, and
took out in three days $180 in placer gold after ;

which, the season being late, they proceeded to their

destination, and finding plenty of the precious stuff in
Montana, did not return. In later years the same
persons failed to rediscover the spot where they
11
washed out their first gold.
I have referred in my History of Montana to an
expedition in Bannack City for the
1863 which left

purpose of exploring the country drained by the Yel

lowstone for gold mines and town-sites. The party
travelled up the Bighorn river, finding no gold, but
losing several of their party by Indian attacks, and
traversing the Wind river country, came to the Sweet-
water at "Pacific
City,"
a trading-house at the foot

10A small party of Canadian Frenchmen in 1862 left the stage station at
the crossing of the Sweetwater to go to the Bighorn mountains, having in
vain endeavored to induce others to join them. They were never heard of
more. They were J. Dubois, J. Patneese, and three brothers. There was
no old trapper or guide in the country who did not have a tale of gold dis
covery to relate, but they could not be induced to reveal them either because
they u-erp untrue or that they feared the Indians.
:;-. T
City, Black hills, was one of the party. Strahorn,
:1
!,rtp of Central

86, 222."
70:2 SETTLEMENT AND GOLD-HUNTING.

of ridge, where they overtook a train guarded

Rocky
by a few soldiers, who were stationed at South pass.
Along the road at intervals of about eighty miles
were found small squads of troops for this service.
They met here a Mormon who had been to Devil s
gate for a cargo of soda, which he was taking to Salt
Lake, this being the first recorded export of any min
eral from Wyoming. At Rock creek 12 they found a
lieutenant and twenty soldiers, a telegraph station,
and a few residents. Walter Cook, the telegraph
operator; Louis Slivers, who had located at this place
with the intention of farming, but had lost all his
stock and goods by the Indians, and every growing
thing by the grasshoppers; a blacksmith, and a trader
constituted the settlement but the place was popu
;

lous during the season of travel, and business was at

its height when the expedition passed. It visited
Fort Bridger, finding on Hani s fork of Green river
several wood and stone houses, a good stone corral and
barn, with plenty of hay; signs of the advance of civ
ilizationwhich had but little chance to live except
under the walls of a fort. At the post the company
were entertained by the California minstrels, a soldier
troupe, which gave a concert, charging fifty cents
admission. They also met there General Conner,
who, on hearing of the sufferings which had befallen
the exploring party by the Indians, did not show them
much sympathy. Conner had at that time many
lodges of the natives in the vicinity of the fort, hav
ing compelled them
to bring in and deliver up
stolen horses. As
a consequence many white men
were there hoping to recover their property, only a
13
moiety of which w as restored.
T
From Fort Bridger
James Stuart, in his journal of the expedition, says that he had found
la

gold on this creek threa miles above the crossing in 1860. Con. Hist. Soc.,
Montana, 218.
13
Stuart mentions meeting on the Sweetwater and Green river, Hardesty
and Alexander, freighters, with a large train for Salt lake; William McAdow
going to Montana: Josh Terry, Peter Myrtle, Granger, Louis Robinson,
Uncle Jack Robinson, Monsieur Boivert, Dick Hamilton, John Sharpe,
and \V. A. Carter, afterward probate judge of Uiuta county, besides many
others nut known tu him.
 WYOMING. 703

the company returned to Bannack by the immigrant

14
road via Soda springs, Red Rock valley, and Horse
prairie, having
made a circuit of 1600 miles without
finding any diggings, yet not convinced that they did
not exist. In the two following years efforts were
made to effect a more satisfactory exploration of the
Bighorn region by Montana companies, none of which
were able to hold their own against the Indians.
The Bighorn country having yielded nothing to the
hasty search which alarmed and distressed prospect
ors had made, rumors were started of rich diggings
on Wind river, a feeder of the Bighorn, coming down
from Wind river mountains, and four several com
panies from Idaho took the field in 1866, determined
to remain in the country long enough to make a
thorough survey of its mineral resources, while 15
another from Montana joined its forces with theirs.
A
14
half mile above Soda springs Stuart found a town laid out by the
Morrisites, seceders from the Mormon church. They had about 20 houses
built, and were erecting others in expectation of a train of their brethren to
arrive in three days. Most of them were Welsh and Danes. They were
poor and miserable, even to the point of beggary. The year before, in June,
a posse from Salt Lake had besieged for three days a camp of Morrisites on
Weber river, and after killing Morris Banks and four others, and having two
of the attacking posse killed, carried the remainder of the camp as prison
ers to the city. Ut ili, Hand- Book of Reference, 79. The presence of a com
pany of Cal. volunteers stationed near the new settlement to protect the
immigration prevented violence toward this camp in 1863, and the organiza
tion of Idaho in that year was another safeguard.
15
The Idaho companies were led as follows: Capt. Bledsoe, 45 men; Capt.
Jeff. Standifer, 49 men; Capt. D. C. Patterson, 95 men; Capt. Bailey, 53
men. In Patterson s company were Henry Hughes, Jerry Fitzgerald, C. F.
Nichols, John Arling, Charlez Merrill, Charles H. Young, George Podgett,
R. C. Coombs, G-eorge Stonerood, Benjamin White, McCraw, Hawthorne,
Thompkins, and others. Idaho World, Aug. 18, 1866. The Montanians
joined Standifer, who had at one time 115 men in his company, and who
kept on in the direction of Wind river, while the former, desiring to go
to the Bighorn, where two forts had been erected that year, 75 of the company
took that direction. This party had the usual experience of intruders in
that region. On the 13th of Sept. Col J. N. Rice of Idaho and J. W. Smith
of Helena, Mont. were killed while absent from camp hunting. Their bodies
,

were not discovered for two days. They were at this time 18 miles from
Fort Philip Kearny, and one of the party being ill, the explorers turned
aside to leave him at this post. Twenty-six of the men engaged at the fort
to help guard hay-cutters, who could not work for fighting Indians, who
shot among them and burned their hay-stacks. This with other desertions
reduced the Bighorn prospecting company to 16, a party too small to safely
get out of the country. But a detachment of 26 soldiers being sent to Fort
C. F. Smith with the mail, they joined this escort, which was glad of re
cruits, When within 45 miles of Fort C. F. Smith they were attacked in
704 SETTLEMENT AND GOLD-HUNTING.

They travelled, as Stuart s company had done, about

1600 miles, prospecting Bighorn, Wind river, Medi
cine lodge, and the streams at the head of the Yellow
stone and Snake rivers, finding nothing worthy of
16
attention by miners except at the head of the Stink
ing water, where some of Standifer s party reported
finding good prospects, and the following spring
17
returned to that region.

Wind and valley were from earli

river mountains
est times much
talked of by white and red men.
Many legends were current concerning the mountains,
among which was one that in some places timber, ani
mals, and even men were petrified in the very sem
blance of life, and these places were shunned by the
natives, who feared being turned to stone. This
legend probably gave rise to the absurd story told by
a Rocky mountain trapper that he had seen a tree
petrified with all its branches and leaves perfect, with
the birds on it turned to stone in the act of singing.
The story was considered tough, even by mountain
men but does not the account of Lot s wife equal it?
;

The valley, about eight miles wide, and between

150 and 200 miles in length, was regarded as one of
the choicest spots on the eastern slope of the Rocky
mountains. The river was rapid and clear, its banks
adorned with stately cottonwood trees, while the
mountain sides were covered with forests of pine.
The soil was dark and rich, the climate mild, and game
abundant. Vast herds of buffaloes, antelopes, deer,
and elk roamed through it. At the upper end was a
camp by a large number of Indians, and compelled to intrench themselves.
The battle lasted for two or three hours, when the Indians were finally
driven off. During the fight a soldier was wounded, and a number of horses
captured. The following day they were again surrounded, attacked, and
forced to fight their way out, which they did with no serious casualties,
though compelled to abandon their mining tools and provisions in order to
mount all the men. They arrived at Fort C. F. Smith, where they were
able to prociire from private individuals a supply of food, and whence they
returned to Virginia City in company with another small party of freighters.
Virginia Montana Post, Oct. 27, 180(5.
16
Ouyhee Avalanche, Oct. 27, 1866.
17 -

Mont. Pod, March 16, 1867.

 WYOMING. 705

18
hot sulphur spring. It was these attractions which
had made it a favorite wintering ground of the natives
and the fur companies, and which now made it desir
able that a reason should be found for making settle
ments in it. The Bighorn was found to
valley also
be an excellent grazing country, which in 1866 was
covered with immense herds of buffalo, pointing to
uses to which it could be devoted by home- building
men. In short, Green river, Sweetwater, Wind river,
and Bighorn valleys were beginning to be regarded
as desirable for mining and grazing, if not for agricul
ture, when the usual check was placed upon settle
ment by the bloody protests of the native population.
18
Sweetwater Miner, Feb. 22, 1868.

HIST. Niv. 45