smacmill
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Post by smacmill on May 23, 2017 16:43:26 GMT -5
It has occurred to me that my second great grandmother might have been one of those 70 women and children taken hostage by the U.S. Army after the massacre at Ash Hollow in 1855. I have an obituary of one of her daughters suggesting that the daughter was born during the trek from Fort Laramie to Fort Pierre that winter. So does anyone know if there was any documentation regarding the identities of those hostages? Thanks
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smacmill
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Post by smacmill on May 24, 2017 13:52:38 GMT -5
To clarify, here is what was written in the obituary of the daughter of my second great grandmother. Granted, this was written by a newspaper man, but someone must have told him this story.
"Her mother was the once famous Sonka (Smoke)." Me speaking now, the family knew her as Smoky. Her grave marker says Ashotia, no doubt the the grave marker was made by Ft. Randall Cemetery caretakers. The Lakota term for smoky is asota.
Again regarding the daughter, "Born in the midst of warlike conditions on the rugged trail across the western plains from the Rocky Mountain wilderness to Fort Pierre, in mid-winter, in a blinding blizzard, and carried as a papoose strapped to the back of her Indian mother for many weary miles, she became the pet of the soldiers and officers of Fort Pierre."
This daughter (Marie Louisa Dezera) is said to have been born in December of 1856, with the newspaper description as above. Her mother "married"(David Edward Dezera), who was said to be an interpreter for General Harney.
I always wondered about this birth description, and what her mother was doing trekking east to Fort Pierre with soldiers. I recently came across an old news clipping about someone who was on that trek with General Harney, after the Massacre at Ash Hollow. So now I suspect that Smoke or Smoky may have been one of those hostages taken.
I would appreciate any comments on this theory, and would really appreciate it if anyone knows if there is a list that exists of those taken hostage. Also, I would appreciate any clue as to why the newspaper referred to Smoky as "the once famous Sonka".
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Post by kingsleybray on May 24, 2017 17:00:37 GMT -5
I've never seen a list of the Lakota prisoners taken by Gen. Harney at the Blue Water in Sept. 1855. Perhaps such a list exists in military records. Some of those prisoners were sent down the Platte river to be detained at Ft Kearney; others accompanied Harney's command to Ft Laramie and thence to Ft Pierre on the Missouri. I don't know what was the principle in dividing them in this way. Your account is a valuable clue to the identity of one of the prisoners taken to Ft Pierre.
Harney ordered the release of the prisoners at Ft Kearney in March 1856, though the release seems to have been delayed until May.
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Post by ephriam on May 25, 2017 5:11:33 GMT -5
I have not seen a list of Blue Water hostages either. However, I think the tradition from the Dezera/Dezaire family suggests that Marie/Maria was not with the hostages, rather, with the Yankton scouts at Fort Pierre. Notice that her father, David Edward Dezaire/Dezera (1829-1875), was an interpreter at Fort Pierre and later Fort Randall. According to the family, he was the interpreter for Harney. He has been discussed previously on this board as the mixed blood son of the black steamboat captain. Three of her uncles were also mentioned -- Long Nose, Left Hand, and Brave Face -- also reported as Indian scouts for Harney. There was a village of Yankton mentioned at Fort Pierre during that winter. I suggest that is the context where you will find this family.
Ephriam
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smacmill
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Post by smacmill on May 25, 2017 18:07:47 GMT -5
Thanks so much for your input and info, you two. Upon relooking at my collection of documentations for Marie Louisa, the definite consensus birth year was 1856, not 1855. Of course the snowy conditions could have been either early 1856 or late 1856. It is helpful for me to know that there were Yankton at Ft. Pierre that winter. The more I read, the more I am horrified that Marie Louisa's father (my 2nd great grandfather) worked for Gen. Harney, but we can't choose the history we find. Now onward with my search to find more about her mother Smoke or Smoky. Just FYI, Marie Louisa was adopted out (from Ft. Randall) at age 4 to a wealthy woman in St. Louis, where she was educated, and married a civil activist mulatto man, and where she lived the remainder of her life. Thanks again!
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Post by gregor on May 26, 2017 6:56:14 GMT -5
Here is a brief outline for those who are not so familiar with the events. The Ash Hollow massacre took place on 3 September 1855. The cause was the so-called Grattan Massacre as well as a subsequent Mail-coach attack by Spotted Tail and others. In the spring of 1855, General Harney was charged with a revenge campaign.
On September 3, Harney hit Little Thunders Camp at Bluewater Creek (btw: the Ash Hollow Massacre actually took place at Bluewater Creek about 10 miles north-west of Ash Hollow). In the course of the slaughter about 100 Brulé Lakota were killed; Harney lost only four men.
Seventy women and children were captured. Harney remained a few days near Ash Hollow, where a camp Grattan was established. There are different accounts on the further treatment of the 70 prisoners. Some sources say they were moved to Fort Kearney (not to be confused with Fort Phil Kearney in Wyoming) on the Platte River. Other sources assume that Harney took them to Fort Laramie. In 1909, the combatant Capt. Nathan Dudley in a letter: "After a parley they (prisoners) surrendered and I took them prisoners to Fort Laramie where they were retained all winter and cared for". However, the fact is that Harney took Little Thunder and his family to Fort Laramie and from there to Fort Pierre. In Pierre, he handed Little Thunder into the care of Iron Horn (Mnikowozu) and Yellow hawk (Sans Arc).
In March, 1856, Harney negotiated a peace treaty with a number of Lakota chiefs. And Little Thunder was officially released from captivity. By letter or telegram from May 23, 1856 to the Secretary of War, Harney encouraged the release of the Lakota captive. The original text, however, is not available to me, so I cannot say where the prisoners actually were.
However, I do not consider it excluded that the prisoners were temporarily taken to Fort Laramie to be placed under the care of Lt. Colonel Hoffman and / or their Loafer / Oglala relatives. Whether lists of Lakota prisoners were already made at this time is at least discussible.
BTW: In October 1855 Spotted Tail, Red Leaf and Long Chin surrendered in Laramie to Colonel Hoffman. These three were then taken to Fort Leavenworth where they were interned. In Sept. 1855 they received a presidential pardon and returned home. Neither Fort Leavenworth nor Fort Kearney on the Platte were stockaded Forts.
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smacmill
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Post by smacmill on May 26, 2017 17:53:57 GMT -5
Thank you so much, gregor. So yesterday, thinking of what ephriam wrote above, I googled "Yankton Scouts" and found a Congressional Record that mentioned two of my 2nd great grandmother's (Smoke) brothers who were also Yankton scouts - Brave Face and Coal of Fire. I hadn't before gotten any documentation of them other than a mention in an obituary. Again, I was horrified that they were scouting for Gen. Sully, but this is apparently my family's native heritage, like it or not. So thanks all, for helping me along.
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Post by ephriam on May 27, 2017 5:02:44 GMT -5
gregor: Here is the text to the letter that you mentioned: Head Quarters, Sioux Expedition Fort Pierre, N.T., May 23, 1856 Sir: I have the honor to report that in obedience to their engagements, stipulated in the Council of the 1st of March last, the following named Bands of Sioux, viz: Oncpapa, Blackfeet Sioux, Minneconjos, Sans Arcs, and Two Kettle Bands, numbering 700 Lodges, delivered up to me on the 20th instant, all the prisoners and stolen animals which had been required of them. The prisoners, twelve in number, were first, “The man who killed the Cow” the originator of the Sioux difficulties; 2nd, “The man who killed Gibson,” both Minneconjos and ten other persons of the Oncpapa and Blackfeet Sioux bands, all of them more or less implicated in the insults offered to Colonel Vaughan Indian Agent, last summer and fall. Most of the animals, forty three in number, have been returned to their proper owners, as far as could be ascertained. The good conduct of the Sioux up to this time, and the strict observance by these Bands of their pledge to appear at this place on the very day appointed (the seventy fifty), with their earnest and evidently sincere professions of good conduct in future and their entreaties for the pardon of the prisoners, induced me to return to their people the ten men from the Oncpapas and Blackfeet Sioux Bands, with strong admonitions as to their behavior hereafter; but “the man who killed the Cow” and “the man who killed Gibson” I caused to be arrested in open council and in the midst of all the bands assembled, and placed in close confinement. From the 20th instant up to this time, the five Head Chiefs of these Bands have, in the name of their people, most respectfully but earnestly, sought to excite my pity and obtain a pardon for these two persons. The Head Chief of the Minneconjos “One Horn,” pledge himself, and sub chiefs and soldiers of his band, to kill these men on the first provocation offered to the whites; the prisoners themselves too had stated, should they be permitted to live, they would prove by their conduct they were worthy of such clemency – calmly considering this state of feeling, in connexion with the fact that in both instances of these two men, there were mitigating circumstances, that the manners, customs and views of this people are so different from our own, and that these men are not imbued with a spirit of hostility towards us, and of the great suffering the Sioux had already experienced I have deemed it most conducive to our own interests and those of the Indians, and as a testimony of my appreciation of their conduct, to grant to them their request. Accordingly this morning in full council, in the presence of Chiefs, sub chiefs and soldiers of the different bands, the two prisoners were brought from the Guard house with the same formality, with which they had entered it, and after stating to them how great had been the intercession in their behalf, and how much indebted they should be to their chiefs, I have them their liberty, they appeared very grateful, and their people embraced them with joy. Several of the Head chiefs and others have informed me, that in obedience to my instructions in council on the 1st of March last, Big Head’s band of Yanctonnais had been broken up, and that Big Head himself was living with eight Lodges of his relations near Apple Creek. I have therefore sent for him to come in to see me, with his eight Lodges. I informed the Sioux I shall not hurt him that my object was to ascertain his views and feelings and at the same time inform him of the conditions which had been communicated to all of them in the council of March last. In this reporting the close of all our difficulties and grievances with the Sioux, I desire to transmit to his Excellency the President of the United States, and to yourself, an expression of my most grateful thanks, for the generous and cordial support and assistance I have at all times received in the prosecuting of the duties to which you were pleased I should be assigned. I am Sir, With great respect Your obedient servant Wm. S. Harney Bvt. Brig. General &c To the Honorable The Secretary of War, Washington City, District of Columbia
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Post by Dietmar on May 27, 2017 6:11:38 GMT -5
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Post by gregor on May 28, 2017 4:56:04 GMT -5
Thanks to all for your contributions!
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smacmill
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This site is such a valuable, serious, and polite resource. Thank you experts!
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Post by smacmill on May 28, 2017 15:59:15 GMT -5
All so fascinating. Thank you both. Historians rock!
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Post by gregor on May 29, 2017 3:48:40 GMT -5
Here some additional Infos on and of Nathan Dudley, who partizipated in the battle.
General Nathan A. M. Dudley (1825 – 1910) was appointed to the US Army as a first lieutenant on March 3, 1855, and saw action immediately on the Sioux Expedition.
A few of Dudley's fellow comrades in arms have mentioned him in their writings with mixed feelings. He was characterized as “a noisy, boisterous fellow … not very popular in his regiment or in this army … coarse and vulgar in his language and only tolerable as an officer…”.
Dudley wrote Robert Harvey (chairman of the Nebraska State Historical Society Committee on Historic Sites) 11 letters, all in the State Archives of Nebraska.
Letter of January 29, 1909 “ ………..The Sioux expedition was organized, filled out and equipped at Old Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, 15 under General Harney, known as one of the most distinguished and successful Indian fighters in our Army …………… On the 1st [2nd] of Sept., 1855, the scouts came in reported that "Little Thunder" with his entire band were encamped on the "Little Blue Water" some six or eight miles nearly north of the mouth of "Ash Hollow." …..… No plans of attack were made to the troops until near midnight the evening of the 2d of Sept. , when the command was roused by the guard waking the officers and men in a low tone of voice with orders to fall in on our company streets. ………. The assault was commenced on three sides of the village. For a time they stood the attack bravely. A considerable number of warriors took shelter in a cave, where they fought desperately, which was attacked by Lt. [Edward McKeever] Hudson, Battery "G," 4th Artillery. Nearly all of this party was killed; the balance of the band broke and ran towards the north. ……………… That many squaws were killed and some children, also, was true. It could not be avoided. They were all huddled together in groups, made no signs of surrender that I saw. All the women were armed with bows and arrows and fought desperately alongside the bucks. In one instance on my returning to camp, after the charge had ended, I discovered a party of two near the trail I was on. I rode out to see them. When within fifteen feet of them they both fired at me, one aimed with a bow and arrow and the other a pistol; both were squaws. After a parley they surrendered and I took them prisoners to Fort Laramie where they were retained all winter and cared for. …………. The next day the march was resumed, enroute for Old Fort Laramie, where we arrived without any special incident, of course taking with us such prisoners as we captured and that surrendered after the fight. A very large number were retained at the post all winter, being well fed from the commissary department. ….”
Letter of August 5, 1909 “ ….. We had near two thousand Sioux Indian prisoners [? including Loafers? ] at old Fort Laramie the winter of' 55 and' 56, off and on. I never heard the charge from a buck or squaw. They were well fed, given blankets and attended by our medical officers as kindly as our own officers and men. As I before said, quite a number of women and children were killed in the battle. The squaws were armed and fought our men alongside of their husbands….”
Letter of March 8, 1 910 Your nice letter ….. at hand, also Warren Plot of region about "Ash Hollow." I have carefully recalled the events of Sept. 3d, 1855, as near as I can at this distant date. Warren has the points all correctly laid down. Old Fort Grattan was built after the fight so Warren does not show it. It was located only a short distance up the Platte, opposite the mouth of Ash Hollow.
BTW: In 1880 Dudley was on the Buell Expedition which tracked down the Apache leader, Victorio, in Mexico. In 1886, nearing retirement, Dudley participated in a 10-year anniversary observance of the Battle of Little Big Horn at Fort Custer, Montana. As post commander, he served as the reunion's host.
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Post by gregor on May 29, 2017 6:54:17 GMT -5
Here the other Version ("prisoners transported to Fort Kearney").
According to Utley, Frontiersmen in Blue, p.117. “A small contingent left for Fort Keamey with the seventy prisoners captured during the assault”.
Utley seems to rely on “REMINISCENCES OF THE INDIAN FIGHT AT ASH HOLLOW, 1855” by General Richard C. Drum. Drum took part as a first lieutenant in Company G, Fourth U. S. artillery; he remained with that company until appointed captain and assistant adjutant general March 16, 1861.
At the request of Mr. Robert Harvey of Lincoln, Nebraska, he also wrote a report on Ash Hollow in 1908.
“General Harney's active force, consisting of the dragoons and artillery and the six regiments of infantry under Lieutenant Colonel Cooke, united at Fort Kearny and moved up the Platte.
We crossed the South Fork, but when we reached Ash Hollow the Indians, apparently, had left a day or two before. We continued the march to the North Fork and went into camp on that stream, a short distance above where the Hollow debouched on it. The light artillery company under the command of Captain Howe was dismounted and engaged the Indians on foot; this advanced with remarkable coolness and steadiness, and after a short struggle drove the Indians from their position; …….. This was the first indication that the women and children were concealed in the caves and under our fire. All the male Indians had, by this time, been killed except two, who, seeing the men bring their pieces to an order, jumped, raced, and thus got away. As it was, we killed twelve bucks and captured all the women and children in the caves, some of them being terribly wounded. …………
…. then later [we] continued to the opposite shore near the mouth of the Blue. Here we remained during the construction of Fort Grattan situated at the mouth of Ash Hollow, …. … When I returned to the scene where I had fought the Indians in their caves in the hills I commenced to remove the women and children and to take such care of them as circumstances permitted. Some of them were dreadfully wounded …. When General Harney concluded to build a temporary defensive work on the North Fork, opposite the mouth of Ash Hollow, he moved the mounted troops to the north side of the river, where they remained in camp until the work was completed, when the whole command moved on to Fort Laramie, sending the Indian prisoners back to Fort Kearny. …”
(Source: COLLECTIONS NEBRASKA STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY, VOLUME XVI, p. 143)
If there ever was a prisoners List, then in the archives of Fort Kearny (or Fort Laramie?)
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Post by gregor on May 29, 2017 8:04:10 GMT -5
One last thought. Fort Kearny was founded in 1848 and Nebraska was established in 1867. The first land patents and marriage records in Nebraska are from 1872 (as far as I know). So, it would be a great surprise to find a list of Sioux prisoners at Kearny of 1855. But who knows...?
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jun 6, 2017 14:55:22 GMT -5
There were eleven lodges of Oglala upstream and forty-one lodges of Brule downstream.
Cokawan, the mother-in-law of Iron Shell spoke of many in her family who were killed.
From the words of Mari Sandoz, it is known that the wife and many of the people of the band of Iron Shell were killed.
It is known that Yellow Woman crawled into the tall grass and survived the massacre only to be killed nine years later at Sand Creek.
It is known that Iron Shell and Spotted Tail fought well and escaped capture.
Brings Her Horses was just six when the soldiers attacked. Her father, Red Leaf, was able to mount a horse, find her, and put her on the back of the horse. Hollow Horn Bear fought beside his father Iron Shell. Long Wings, who was fifteen, helped fight off the soldiers and helped his mother Yellow Woman and her sister escape the carnage.
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