Cole and Walker
Colonel Cole left Omaha on July 1 with his 1,400 men and 140 wagon-loads of supplies. They followed the Loup River upstream and then went cross country to Bear Butte, near present day Sturgis, South Dakota, arriving there on August 13. Cole, during the 560 mile (900 km) march didn't see a single Indian, but his command suffered from thirst, diminishing supplies, and near mutinies. Colonel Walker and his 600 men left Fort Laramie on August 6 and met up with Cole on August 19 near the Black Hills. He had likewise encountered no Indians and suffered from shortages of water. The two columns marched separately, but remained in contact as they moved westward to the Powder River. By this time the men were barefoot and horses and mules were dying—and they had still not encountered any Indians.
In desperate need of supplies, Cole and Walker decided to follow the Powder River north, to search for Connor and his wagon train. On September 1, on Alkali Creek, near Broadus, Montana, they had their first encounter with Indians. About 300 Hunkpapa, Sans Arc, and Miniconjou Lakota Sioux raided the soldiers' horse herd. The soldiers guarding the horses "dropped their guns and run." Six soldiers were killed. The soldiers continued north to the mouth of the Mizpah River east of Miles City, Montana. There, the two commanders decided to turn around and retrace their steps south along the Powder River to look for Connor. They were attacked again on September 5 near Powderville, Montana by 1,000 Cheyenne and Lakotas, the Indians hoping to lure the soldiers into an ambush. The Cheyenne war leader Roman Nose contributed to his legend of invincibility by racing his horse on several occasions in front of the soldiers' guns and escaping untouched. Crazy Horse was among the Lakota attackers.
The Cheyenne left the Indian army after this battle, but the Lakota continued to harass Cole and Walker as the soldiers retreated southward up the Powder River. They attacked again on September 8 and 9, but were beaten off. A snowstorm caused further problems for the soldiers most of whom were now on foot, in rags, and reduced to eating raw horse meat. On September 13, Connor's Pawnee scouts found Walker and Cole and led them to the newly-established Fort Connor (later Fort Reno) on the Powder River east of Kaycee, Wyoming. Cole and Walker and their soldiers arrived there on September 20. Connor deemed the soldiers unfit for further service and sent them back to Fort Laramie where most of them were mustered out of the army.
Cole reported 12 men killed and two missing. Walker reported one man killed and 4 wounded. Cole claimed that his soldiers had killed 200 Indians. By contrast, Walker said, "I cannot say as we killed one." Indian casualties were likely light. The Cheyenne warrior, George Bent, a participant in the battles, only mentioned one Indian killed and said that the Lakota would have annihilated Cole and Walker had they possessed more good firearms.
Read more about this topic: Powder River Expedition (1865)
Famous quotes containing the words cole and/or walker:
“Nelse McLeod: Faith can move mountains Milt, but it can’t beat a faster draw. There’s only three men I know with his kind of speed—one’s dead, the other’s me, and the third is Cole Thornton.
Cole Thornton: There’s a fourth.
McLeod: Which one are you?
Thornton: I’m Thornton.”
—Leigh Brackett (1915–1978)
“If I could live as a tree, as a river, as the moon, as the sun, as a star, as the earth, as a rock, I would. ...Writing permits me to experience life as any number of strange creations.”
—Alice Walker (b. 1944)