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Company “A” under Captain Theodore Cree and Lieutenants Charles Cass and Al Soper was mustered in at Denver and ordered to go down the Fountain River and take Jim Reynolds and his gang with them. It has been stated in a previous chapter how the regiment disposed of the prisoners. The Company moved on south, following the old Squirrel Creek road to Colorado City. Here the soldiers were divided into small squads and stationed along the Fountain road from Colorado City to the present site of Pueblo, to protect the settlers and guard the United States mail. During the stop […]

Come, you children of the pioneers, And join me in their praise; et us shout three rousing cheers, To awake the memory of their frays. Our fathers, they came to the land Of redskins and buffalo, And took a firm, steadfast stand, To rid the country of its foe. Some were settlers, others were scouts, All aiming to build up the frontier And run the redskins out, Who were scalping all, far and near. They suffered privations and hardships, These stronghearted men of the wild, As they made their many trips Over the prairie, but not once defiled. Though unseen

A train of wagons was making its way to Montana, in June, 1866, and one night they camped by my place and put two Mexicans on night guard. Late in the night one of the Mexicans mistook the other for an Indian and fired at him. The shot nearly tore his arm off and severely lacerated his chest. The commander of the train asked me to take him and care for him and make him as comfortable as I could and see that he was properly buried, for none of us expected to see him recover. After offering to pay

In June, 1863, just before the call for volunteers to subdue the Indians, Isaac P. Vanwomer had his cattle and horses on the range in the Coal creek country. Hungate, with his family and five hired men, were living at the Vanwomer camp, as Hungate was looking after the cattle and horses. About four o’clock one afternoon, Hungate and his men were on the west side of the creek when the Indians attacked the cabin. Knowing that his wife and children were in the cabin alone, Mr. Hungate hurried across to their aid, but was too late, as the Indians

  Colonel Carrington was in command of four hundred men at Fort Phil Kearney, where they were being tantalized by the Indians. Chief Red Cloud, ranking chief of the war council, sent about sixty warriors down near the fort to tantalize the soldiers into leaving the fort and start to fighting. At last Colonel Carrington ordered Captain Fetterman and his company of ninety-two men to go out and run the Indians back into the hills. The Indians kept backing up toward the canon, about a mile from the fort. A scout, who was in the company, thought the Indians had

On the afternoon of December the tenth, 1864, the day after the fight, the command was ordered out to follow the Indians of Little Raven’s band down on the Arkansas. The soldiers broke camp and started down Sand Creek until reaching the Arkansas, then they followed down it on forced march. Flynn Loogstrum’s horse gave out, so he waited for Captain Cree to come along, “Say, Captain, my horse has played out, got another one?” “No, we haven’t, and can’t get one now; you will have to fall in behind.” “Gosh! Believe I can walk and keep up with this

An under chief, called Little Horse, brought his band in near Jim Moore’s ranch and camped there nearly all winter. They pretended to be on friendly terms with the ranchers, and often went out on hunting trips, but in reality they were communicating with hostile tribes, to let them know the situation and circumstances of the ranchers. In February they moved camp and took along about fifty head of Moore’s horses and mules and started south. Jim Moore went to Fort Sedgwick and got a troop of cavalry of eighty men under Captain Mix and Lieutenant Arms, to follow the

No sooner had the command arrived in Denver than A. A. Neiland and Charles Pearson hurried on through Denver not waiting for their discharge papers, and went down to their homes on Henderson’s Bar, fifteen miles from Denver. Here they left their horses and returned to Denver for their discharge papers. They were immediately arrested as deserters and put in jail. When Alston Shaw got into Denver with the horses, one of Neiland’s friends went to him and told him of Neiland’s and Pearson’s trouble and ending by saying, “They will be tried as deserters and suffer the penalty.” “O,