Battle of Killdeer Mountain

150 years ago today an important battle was fought between the United States and the Sioux Indians. Read about it on Discerning History.

Kit Carson Fights the Navajo

Kit Carson

During the time of the Civil War one of the most famous frontiersmen was Kit Carson. He left his home in Missouri when he was 16, and spent years exploring the west, serving as a guide to “the Pathfinder,” John C. Fremont, who became a Union general, fighting in the Mexican War and serving as an agent to the Indians. At the Battle of Valverde in 1862, Carson fought on the Union side commanding a regiment of New Mexico volunteers. In 1864 the famous Carson was called upon by the United States Army to aid in troubles with the Navajo Indians.

Fort Sumner

There had been trouble with raids from the Navajo for many decades, but they had redoubled during the Civil War after a lull in the 1850s. The New Mexicans demanded help from Brigadier General James Carleton, commander of the United State's District of New Mexico. He enlisted Carson's help, planning to use the turmoil of the Civil War to clean up the Navajo problem and advance his own career.

General James Carleton

Carleton wished to eliminate the Navajo tribe, and gave Carson the message for the Navajo:

You have deceived us too often, and robbed and murdered our people too long, to trust you again at large in your own country. This war shall be pursued against you if it takes years, now that we have begun, until you cease to exist or move. There can be no other talk on the subject.

Carson wanted to pursue a more mild approach. With the threat of resignation Carson got the plans moderated, but they still called for a scored earth policy toward the Navajo. His force was made up of friendly Indians and New Mexico volunteers. The fighting with the Navajo did not involve pitched battles. It was made up of several months of raids. Carson used the Indians' crops and destroyed the rest, and captured all the prisoners he could send to Fort Sumner.

Navajo riding through Canyon de Chelly

The Navajo's stronghold was Canyon de Chelly. In January 1864 Carson decided it was finally time to attack it. He moved out on January 6th, 150 years ago today, riding with almost 400 men of the 1st New Mexico Cavalry. He sent Captain Albert Pfeiffer to close off the east end of the canyon with 100 troopers, while he would tackle the west end with the rest of the force. But in a snowstorm Pfeiffer missed the entrance to the canyon, and when Carson rode through he found it empty.

The Canyon

The Navajo gathered at a place called Fortress Rock, where they had stored their supplies of food. Although it seemed that the Navajo had won in this engagement, the opposite proved to be true. Many of their supplies had been destroyed, and within a few months almost 8,000 of them turned themselves into the government.

Navajo

Carson left the service, his duties done, but the plight of the Navajo was far from over. Over the next few months they would undergo what is called the Long Walk when the US Army moved them from their traditional homeland on the border of Arizona and New Mexico, 450 miles to an area 40 square miles large. The 8,000 to 9,000 people traveled in about 50 groups, and probably 200 died along the way. Their problems did not end when they arrived. More Indians were sent to the reservation than had been planned at the beginning, and the government ended up having to pay $1.5 million a year to feed them. Four years later, in 1868, the United States government deemed the scheme a failure, and sent them to a new much larger reservation, on their traditional homeland.

Bear River Massacre

Patrick Conner

While the United States was engaged in a Civil War they could not neglect border defense. Indians were still a serious force to be reckoned with, and the pre-war army was scattered through frontier forts to defend against Indian attacks. The American settlers moving west into the Cache Valley in what is now northern Utah and southern Idaho settled among the Indians, as the area was rich in furs. But as the numbers of white settlers increased, the natural resources diminished, and the Shoshone Indians, who relied on hunting for food, began to starve.

Abraham Lincoln was worried the new state of California would be cut off from the United States as it was bordered by Utah Territory, and the loyalty of the Mormon militia there was doubtful. Therefore he ordered several regiments of California troops to be raised to defend the area. One of these was the 3rd California Volunteer Infantry, which moved to the Salt Lake City area to keep the peace. The 3rd California was commanded by Patrick Conner, an Irishman who immigrated to America and joined the army, fighting in the Mexican and Indian wars.

There were several incidents of violence between the settlers and the Shoshone Indians in the preceding years. In early December, 1862, Col. Connor sent Major Edward McGarry on an expedition into the Cache Valley to recover some livestock thought to have been stolen by the Shoshone. The Indians fled at the soldiers' approach and all made their escape, except for four warriors. Although they did not seem to be the thieves, McGarry said that if the livestock was not returned by the next day, the Indians were to be executed. It was not, and so the four men were executed by firing squad.

Settlers

Conner heard reports that the Shoshone were determined to avenge the warrior's death, and that they had attacked a party of lost miners, even killing one of them. This was the final straw. Conner prepared to lead the 3rd California on an expedition against the natives. He tried as best he could to keep the attack a secret, so that they would not flee as they had before McGarry's attack the year before. He set out in late January with two columns, one with 80 men of the 3rd California under Captain Samuel Hoyt, the other 220 men of the 2nd California Cavalry under Conner himself.

Conner was in position on January 28th, and he had his men moving for a surprise attack at 3:00 am on the morning of January 29th, 150 years ago today. It was the dead of winter and even colder than usual, the temperature that morning may well have been around -20° F. The first American units arrived at the camp at around 6:00 am. The Indians were unprepared for the attack. They thought that the United States would try to negotiate, instead of resorting to an attack. However, when Conner's men attacked, their advance was halted by the Shoshone fire. Conner sent McGarry around to flank the village, and positioned a line of troops to block any attempt to escape.

Site of the massacre

After the fight had gone on for two hours, the Indian's small supply of ammunition ran out. While trying to quickly make bullets to continue the fight, they had to resort to the traditional bows and tomahawks when the soldiers charged. As the Indian resistance broke down, the fight soon turned into a massacre. Most of the men were killed, even women and children were shot. There are reports of soldiers assaulting the women and beating out their children's brains. Killing any survivors who had not escaped the village, they burnt the houses and most, if not all, of the supplies. The California troops lost 14 men killed, and 49 wounded.

Some Shoshone had escaped. Chief Sagwitch was shot in the hand, and escaped on horseback. His horse was killed, and he survived by floating in a hot spring, hidden under some brush. Estimates of Shoshone casualties vary. Connnor reported killing 224 of 300 braves and capturing 160 women and children. Many years later a settler reported counting 493 Indians killed, and the son of the chief said that half of the Indians escaped, and 156 were killed. Whatever the death toll, the Shoshone tribe was destroyed. Chief Sagwitch and the survivors of the tribe joined the Mormon church.