Yellowstone Expedition of 70's Proved Fruitless Search for Gold Country

(by MRS. M. E. PLASSMANN)

When the Montana contingent of miners left Montana for the Black hills in the '70's, Joseph Cook acted as assistant leader. The Indians were troublesome in the region through which they must pass, and experienced Indian fighters were needed to command the expedition. Cook was eminently qualified to act in this capacity being a pioneer of 1865, and having been in at least one Indian fight.

He told the story of this encounter to the author of "Black Hills Trails," from which I gained my information. A man named Vernon, who came to Montana with General Stanley, who was in charge of the eastern end of the Northern Pacific survey, claimed he found gold on Goose creek in paying quantities. He had marked the place by driving an iron spike into a tree, and said he would lead a party of men there, if they cared to go.

There was no question of their desire to go if there was the least chance of their finding so rich a prospect as hundred and forty-eight men promptly responded to the call, and at once began to make preparations for the undertaking. They had twenty wagons, and one of these, together with the six yoke of oxen that drew it, was the gift of Nelson Story. Most of their provisions were also contributed by citizens.

Vernon and three men started out ahead of the others, who were still laying in a stock of supplies, including arms and ammunition. Fort Ellis gave them a small cannon and suitable ammunition, and John Bozeman, who was of the party, took with him says Cook, "an iron piece of four-inch caliber. We had to make ammunition for this piece. We got some blue flannel and made sacks to fit the muzzle, and about ten inches long to hold the powder, and for shells we went to the tin shop and had cans made to fit the bore of the gun. For projectiles we went to the blacksmith shop and got all the old scraps of iron horseshoes and cut them up to fill the cans. I want to record that when we fired this gun, the cans burst when they left the muzzle of the gun, the pieces of iron not being of the same shape or size, each and every one of them had a tune of its own, as it passed through the air."

Organization was effected on February 13 at the Yellowstone river with Frank Grounds, captain; William Wright Lieutenant, and Eli Way, adjutant. The duty of the latter was to provide the guard night and morning. Time of service for the guard was six hours on and six off. Their route lay on the north side of the Yellowstone until they reached Goose creek. There they prospected from one end to the other of the creek but failed to discover the promised riches.

When they were at Vernon's camp, he excused himself from accompanying them, promising to join them later. This, of course, he did not do, as the consequences might have been serious for him when the men found they were victimized.

Not finding gold on Goose creek, the expedition decided to prospect south of the Yellowstone. On crossing the river they caught sight of 13 indians, who retreated in haste, leaving their blankets and equipment to be confiscated by the white men. In return for this loss, the band followed the expedition, and at every opportunity made life miserable for its members, who never felt safe to leave the protection afforded by their fellows.

A little later an Indian made signs that he wished to talk with a picket. One of these started out to interview him, against the advice of the other pickets. When he reached the spot where the Indian had been he was no longer there, and the man turned back, only to find himself surrounded., or nearly so, by six Indians. Evidently they wished to take him alive, as at first they did not shoot, but rose so close to him that several times he was struck in the face by their quirts. The picket's horse being the faster he managed to reach the camp, but on the way received a shot through the shoulder, and one through the instep that came out at the sole.

The next day the party came upon travois signs showing unmistakably that a large body of Sioux was near at hand. That night they looked for an attack in which expectation they were not disappointed. It came about midnight, when the camp found itself surrounded by hostiles. The camp was on the Rosebud about 400 yards from the stream, and about 60 yards from a hay draw running from the foothills to the river. The draw was about 60 feet wide, and sage brush a foot and a half high grew between the camp and the draw. A trench was dug two feet wide and two feet deep on two sides of the corral to serve as protection for the pickets. Holes were dug out from two to three hundred yards from the camp. Then, continues Cook, "Each man cut a head log from eight to ten inches in diameter and about three feet long. We laid this on the embankment and dug a little post hole under the log, so that the Indians could not shoot us in the head while we were shooting. Our rule was that whenever a picket fired a shot, all the other pickets were to come into camp as soon as they could."

About midnight of April 4, such a shot was fired and the pickets hastened to camp, where all had tumbled out from their blankets in anticipation of an immediate attack. Nothing happened, and the men, shivering in the cold night air, went back to bed and the pickets to their posts.

One of the pickets had not quite reached his post when a dozen or more shots were fired at him, and he promptly retreated to camp. The firing now became constant, all from the direction of the draw, killing several horses and wounding one man. This man had a rotten head log. While trying to adjust it he was shot in the arm.

With the rising of the sun a charge was made on the draw, and ten Indians were killed. Some of the details of this fight are too gruesome for reproduction. They proved that in such engagements men lost the veneer of civilization, and reverted to savagery.

This fight ended, the party stayed in camp a day and then left that place. Four days later the Indians tried to steal the horses of the white men, and while doing so shot Zach Yates. Ten men went out and brought his body into camp, where they buried him to prevent his being scalped. While traveling guards of twenty men each were detailed to go in front and rear, and on either flank, at a distance from the train of from a quarter to a mile distant.

On a stream called Rotten Grass one of these squads came in at 10 o'clock in the morning to report that the timber was full of Indians. The train was moving through the center of the valley when the news arrived. The captain ordered the men to go to the foothills. The Indians, noting this move, tried to cut them off. There were about three hundred Indians. They thought they could drive back the guards on the left. These, however, at the command of Way, dismounted, and on their knees in a devotional attitude, but not for a devotional purpose, received the oncoming host with such lively fire they were soon put to flight. This was the last fight of the expedition, which shortly afterward reached the Forts Smith and Fetterman road, and met no more Sioux. The party was again in Bozeman on May 12, after an eventful trip lasting three months. What became of Vernon is not stated. He would have been granted short shrift if the returned miners had found him.