North Cheyenne and at the end of three days they returned, bringing the intelligence that the command was within. thirty-five miles of the Bozeman road, and that they had discovered a practical route across the country to this road. The mutineers were now quite willing to escort the train, as it was their plan to go to Fort Laramie. Colonel Sawyers pushed forward with his expedition and in due time reached the Bozeman road. They were now only fourteen miles from Fort Connor, which was at that time garrisoned by a portion of the Sixth Michigan Cavalry. Colonel Sawyers at once applied to the commander at the fort for an escort for his train to take the place of the two companies of infantry which had mutinied. General Connor at once ordered one company of the Sixth Michigan Cavalry to perform the escort duty and assigned the mutineers to the fort to act as garrison, where they remained through the following winter. The road-builders now pushed forward and passing along the base of the Big Horn Mountains they reached the vicinity of Little Tongue River. They were attacked by Indians, when Captain Cole of the Sixth Michigan Cavalry, who had accompanied the expedition from Fort Connor for recreation, was killed. The next day Colonel Sawyers pushed his command as far as the western branch of Tongue River, where he was again attacked by a band of Arapahoes, who were driven off by the use of artillery. He had two men wounded. Sawyers now sent back to General Connor for assistance and after fourteen days a company of the Second California, in command of Captain Brown, arrived and escorted the train to the Big Horn, and after many experiences the road builders finally reached Virginia City. The men were paid off at that point and most of them returned to their homes by the way of Salt Lake, thence by stage to Fort Bridger, South Pass and Fort Laramie.

The following year Colonel Sawyers was again sent out with a working force to complete the opening of the road. He left the mouth of the Niobrara River on the 1st of May with sixty-nine men and two brass field-pieces. He was

joined by two trappers just before starting, so that the entire force amounted to seventy-two men, including himself. There was no trouble until they reached the South Cheyenne River in Wyoming, when they were attacked by Indians, but the savages were driven off without loss on the part of the white men, one Indian being killed. On reaching the North Fork of the Cheyenne, they followed up that stream and crossed over to the Dry Fork of Powder River, where they were again attacked by a party of Cheyennes, but suffered no loss. They finally reached Fort Reno. The following day after leaving the fort there was another attack, but the savages were again driven off. They next arrived at Fort Philip Kearney, which was under construction by the Eighteenth United States Infantry, Colonel H. B. Carrington in command. Colonel Carrington had agreed to furnish an escort for the balance of the journey, but when the train was ready to pull out Colonel Sawyers was informed that the post commander had come to the conclusion that he would not be doing justice to his command to divide them in a country where lurked so many dangers, and consequently the road makers moved forward without the escort. From that time on they fought Indians every day and sometimes twice a day, but fortunately none of the party was killed. The work on the road was completed and the men discharged and paid off at Virginia City. Those were stirring times in Wyoming, and it has been admitted that there were few men who could have accomplished this work with so little loss.

Colonel James A. Sawyers was a typical western man, having served in the Mexican War, at the close of which he settled in southern Iowa, where he remained until 1857, when he moved to Sioux City, when in 1861 he joined a regiment of U. S. cavalry and did service against the Indians, who at that time infested northern Iowa. He entered the service as lieutenant, but was soon after promoted to lieutenant-colonel of the regiment. He was born in Tennessee, December 16, 1824, and died March 27, 1898. He was hon

ored and respected by all who knew him. His portrait will be found in this volume.

CHAPTER XXXV.

THE BLOODY YEAR ON THE PLAINS-[CONTINUED].

THE MASSACRE AT PLATTE BRIDGE-LIEUTENANT CASPAR W. COLLINS GOES OUT TO INSURE THE SAFETY OF A WAGON TRAIN AND IS KILLED TOGETHER WITH EIGHT OF HIS MEN AND SEVEN MORE WOUNDED TWENTY-ONE MEN BELONGING TO A WAGON TRAIN ARE ALL KILLED BUT THREE-3,000 INDIANS THREATEN PLATTE BRIDGE -HOW FORT CASPAR RECEIVED ITS NAME-ABLE LETTER ON THE INDIAN QUESTION BY MAJOR GENERAL JOHN POPE-INDIAN AFFAIRS DISCUSSED BY THE AUTHOR--MISTAKES MADE BY THE GOVERNMENT IN THE MANAGEMENT OF INDIANS-GENERAL CONNOR IS GIVEN A NEW COMMAND-GENERAL WHEATON ASSUMES COMMAND OF THE DISTRICT OF NEBRASKA WITH HEADQUARTERS AT FORT LARAMIEREDUCTION OF THE ARMY ON THE PLAINS ITS EFFECT ON THE SAVAGES-THE MUCH TALKED OF PEACE CONFERENCE TO BE HELD AT FORT LARAMIE, MAY, 1866.

During the month of July the hostiles attacked the two lines of travel across Wyoming, simultaneously. Almost every station from Virginia Dale west as far as Bitter Creek was raided, and about the same time a heavy force of Indians congregated along the telegraph line from Bridger's ferry west as far as Rocky Ridge. There were but few troops on the line and these scattered in small detachments with a view of protecting the telegraph. About July 20th it was noticed that Indians were moving to the west from points near Fort Laramie and to the east from the Sweetwater Valley. On the 24th hostiles appeared in large numbers on the hills on the north side of the Platte, opposite Platte Bridge Station.

On the afternoon of the 25th, Lieutenant Collins ar rived from Fort Laramie to which place he had been ordered to be mustered as First Lieutenant, having been promoted

from Second. That same afternoon a body of Indians had crossed the river where Caspar now stands and had attempted to run off some stock connected with the fort. There were three or four hundred Indians on this foray. Major Howard of the Eleventh Kansas Cavalry, commander of the post, sent out a detachment composed of about twenty men, infantry and cavalry, and attacked the savages. The squad of cavalry rode ahead of the infantry, and when they arrived at Garden Creek, the Indians seeing the small force, attacked them in front and at the same time attempted to cut them off by a flanking movement. The soldiers opened fire and succeeded in killing one Indian. One of the troopers rushed forward and scalped the fallen brave and carried back the ghastly trophy to his comrades. The Indians now charged down on the caval rymen and forced a retreat, the enraged savages following closely, charging past the infantrymen, who had remained half a mile back. One of the formost of the red warriors, riding at a furious pace, threw his spear at a retreating soldier and the weapon striking him in the back pierced his body so as to enter the heart. The trooper clung to his saddle and did not fall to the ground until he was within twenty feet of the stockade; when picked up he was dead. The infantry soldiers who were in the rear now cut off the Indians and forced them toward the mountains. There was more or less fighting all day. When night arrived a greater part of the Indians had retired across the river. That night, or rather at 2 o'clock in the morning, Lieutenant Bretney of Company G, Eleventh Ohio Cavalry with ten men arrived at the fort. They were accompanied by Captain A. Smyth Lybe, Sixth U. S. Infantry. These two officers were on their way to Fort Laramie to meet the paymaster who had sent for them to receive the pay for their respective commands. When the company was coming down the river road toward the bridge they noticed a considerable number of horses feeding not far off, and there was some speculation as to whom they be

longed and they finally arrived at the conclusion that they were Indian ponies, though in the darkness it was difficult to determine. When they reached the bridge they found a picket stationed there and the gate closed. This picket told them of the conditions which prevailed around the fort and of the fighting that had been going on the day before. One of the soldiers of Lieutenant Bretney's detachment was John C. Friend, who afterward became a well known newspaper man in Wyoming, but of him I shall have occasion to speak more in detail later. On the morning of the 26th, there were stirring events about to transpire at that little post, which was pretty well hemmed in by savages. Lieutenant Bretney reported that there was a train on the road from Sweetwater, composed of ten wagons driven by as many soldiers and escorted by Sergeant Martin Ebberly and ten men all of the Eleventh Kansas Cavalry. The escort was dismounted. It was thought that this train would be in that morning. Major Howard, the post commander, could not help feeling anxious for the safety of the train as the hills in the vicinity of the road over which it was to pass were covered with Indians. A detachment of twenty-five men was made at an early hour to go out and meet those who were escorting the wagons. After the rescue party was in line some question arose as to who should take command. Several officers excused themselves on one plea or another and while this was going on Lieutenant Caspar W. Collins stepped forward and said he would go providing he was furnished with a horse as his own was in bad condition. Finally the leader of the Eleventh Kansas band offered his horse, a powerfully built, spirited grey. Lieutenant Bretney did not approve of Collins taking charge of the party and advised the young officer not to go, telling him that it was not his place, that the men were not of his command and he was only a chance visitor at the fort. Finding that Collins was determined to go Bretney hunted up John C. Friend and told him to use his influence to induce the young Lieutenant not to go with the relief party. Friend and young Collins had been