Powder River Expedition (1865) - Connor and Sawyer

Connor and Sawyer

General Connor and Colonel Kidd and their 675 soldiers, Indian scouts, and teamsters left Fort Laramie on August 2 to unite with the commands of Cole and Walker. The proceeded northward and established a fort on the upper Powder River which was named Fort Connor. On August 16, Major Frank North and the Pawnee scouts discovered an Indian trail, followed it, attacked a group of 24 Cheyenne warriors, and killed them all. A few days later North had his horse shot from under him by Cheyennes but was rescued by the Pawnee.

Connor marched north from Fort Connor and on August 28 his Pawnee scouts found an Arapaho village of about 600 people on the Tongue River near present day Ranchester, Wyoming. The next day Connor attacked the village, whose leader was Black Bear, with 250 cavalry and 80 Pawnee. The people in the village were primarily women, children, and old men. Most of the warriors were absent, engaged in a war with the Crow on the Bighorn River. The surprised Indians fled the village, but regrouped and counterattacked and Connor was dissuaded from pursuing them. The soldiers destroyed the village, captured about 500 horses, and 8 women and 13 children who were subsequently released. Conner claimed to have killed 35 Arapaho warriors, a total probably exaggerated, at a cost to himself of 5 dead. (See Battle of the Tongue River) Connor then turned around and returned to Fort Connor, harassed by the Arapaho en route. The Arapaho, who had not been overtly hostile before, now joined the Sioux and Cheyenne.

Meanwhile, a train of 80 wagons, engineers, supplies, and three companies of soldier escorts led by James A. Sawyer was en route to meet Connor on the Powder River with the plan to continue on to Montana. Sawyer's group was to construct a new road for the use of emigrants to the Montana gold fields. At Pumpkin Butte, near present day Wright, Wyoming a band of Cheyenne and Sioux killed several men and surrounded the wagon train. After four days of sniping back and forth, Red Cloud, Dull Knife, and George and his brother Charles Bent negotiated with Sawyer a safe passage for the wagon train in exchange for a wagon load of supplies. George Bent, the soldiers reported, was dressed in a U.S. military uniform. The wagon train moved on but, on August 31, Arapaho, infuriated by the destruction of their village on the Tongue River, attacked the wagon train, killing three men and losing two of their own. Connor rescued Sawyer and the wagon train on September 4.