A Very Different Christmas

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Fay Alexander
6 years ago
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1 A Very Different Christmas Being relatively new to Wyoming I am constantly discovering the unique history and particulars of the region. This past summer while conducting an inventory of the permanent art collection with our intern, Darci Milton, I came face-to face with a graphic reminder of an infamous event that overshadowed the Christmas season back in I had long been aware of a primitive drawing of a horse hanging on one of the art storage racks. It was back in a tight corner, and it hung below knee-level, so I had never really looked at it closely. During the inventory we systematically checked each work, verified its catalog number and location, and if necessary relocated the work to a different location - our goal being to maximize the storage space. The day we got to the horse drawing I was in for quite a shock. It was indeed a rendering of a horse, but oh it was so much more! It turned out that the title is Massacre at Fort Kearny. It is a sequential rendering documenting the aftermath of the Fetterman Fight that occurred on December 21, The small drawing includes six vignettes, the largest revolving around a solitary horse. Each vignette is designated with a corresponding number in red. Unfortunately there is no accompanying key with the drawing to explain the numbers. Massacre at Fort Kearny Property of Wyoming State Museum, A

2 It isn t a pretty picture. In fact it is horrific in its violence and details. It reminds me of a historic Anheuser Busch advertisement, utilizing an 1896 lithograph of the Battle of the Little Big Horn, which terrified me as a child. One corner of that painting was populated with a number of naked, scalped and mortally wounded cavalry soldiers in their final death throes. A similar theme rendered very primitively is included in the Fort Phil Kearny drawing Our former staff historian, Heyward Schrock, provided me with an overview of the massacre but I wanted specifics for what each red number stood for, and where this drawing had come from. Records indicated the drawing entered the museum s collection in 1930, but its corresponding catalog entry was next to useless. It was in fact the description for yet another drawing. Yes, there are two drawings! I located the second non-attributed work similarly titled Fort Phil Kearny Massacre and while it depicts a very different view of the battle site it also includes two distinct features from the first Fort Phil Kearny drawing the lone horse and a victim s body shown separate from the main massacre site. I wanted answers. The Fetterman Fight has been eclipsed in history by the destruction of Custer s command at the Little Big Horn in Montana; but for ten years it held the record as the worse army massacre in United States history. Fort Phil Kearny was one of three forts established along the Bozeman Trail to protect miners and immigrant parties moving west. Construction began on the log stockade during the summer of It was sited near present day Buffalo, Wyoming, though at the time it was designated as Sioux or Dakota Territory. Detail showing Fort Kearney (sic) Property of Wyoming State Museum, A

3 The fort sat on a grassy bluff at the confluence of two branches of the Powder River. A steam-powered sawmill stood just below the stockade. The wood source for construction and heating was about six miles away, near present day Story, Wyoming. A blockhouse had been constructed at the tree harvest site and a wagon train daily made the trip between the fort and the blockhouse ferrying logs. Sioux warriors were in the habit of harassing the wagon train with hit-and-run guerilla attacks, and the fort had suffered a significant loss of both its military and civilian population as a result. Around 10:00 a.m. on the frigid morning of December 21, 1866, with snow and ice on the ground, the wagon train set out for the distant stand of trees. Before long sentries signaled that the wagons were under attack. Under the command of Colonel William J. Fetterman, a detail consisting of 78 horse and foot soldiers and 2 civilian guides set out to reinforce the wagon train. Fetterman moved his troops to engage the Sioux combatants from the rear. As soon as they drew near the corralled wagons the small Indian force broke away. The cavalry soldiers followed in pursuit with the infantry soldiers close behind. All of this occurred within clear sight of the fort, but during the pursuit the troops crossed Lodge Trail Ridge and disappeared from view. What Fetterman and his men did not realize was that the small band of Indians was a diversionary tactic drawing them into a trap. After crossing out of the fort s sightline the troopers encountered a massed force of between 1,500 2,000 Sioux and Cheyenne. 45 minutes later Fetterman and all his men were dead. The inhabitants of the fort could hear the gunfire of the battle, but they could not see what was happening. Reinforcements were sent out and soon discovered the massacre site. It was a scene of bloody carnage. The bodies had been stripped, disemboweled and ceremonially mutilated. Noses and fingers were removed. Eyes were gouged out and skulls crushed. Limbs and heads were severed and slashed, and scalps were removed all in the belief that the actions would render the soldiers spirits unable to enjoy an afterlife. When the bodies were discovered many were already freezing in the cold temperature. Detail from Massacre at Fort Kearny showing army wagon and stacked, scalped corpses

Property of the Wyoming State Museum, A-1930.16.1 A wagon was sent from the fort to retrieve the bodies. About half were removed before a blinding blizzard struck.

4 Property of the Wyoming State Museum, A A wagon was sent from the fort to retrieve the bodies. About half were removed before a blinding blizzard struck. The rest were retrieved the next day. At the fort the bodies were washed and an attempt was made to reunite the various body parts. The remains were placed in wooden boxes and eventually buried in the cemetery across the river from the fort once weather conditions permitted. In the meantime the residents of the fort were on high alert fearing another attack. Snowdrifts from the blizzard topped the stockade walls. A rider was sent to alert the main garrison at Fort Laramie and the residents of Fort Phil Kearny spent Christmas fearing for their lives. Plans were undertaken to move the fort s women and children into the armory and blow everything up should the situation become dire. The attack never came. The blizzard passed. The rider reached Fort Laramie on Christmas Day. Reinforcements soon arrived at Fort Phil Kearny. Life for the survivors continued. There were inquests into the events surrounding the massacre. Fetterman was judged either a gallant hero or an impetuous fool. Fort Phil Kearny was abandoned in 1868 and promptly burned to the ground by the Sioux. Fort Phil Kearny Massacre Property of the Wyoming State Museum, A

5 The Massacre at Fort Kearny drawing is obviously a record of both conjecture and fact. John Guthrie is credited as being the artist, and indeed a Sergeant John Guthrie was a member of the four-man detail dispatched to recover the bodies. They stacked the frozen bodies like cordwood in an army wagon pulled by a team of four mules. The Guthrie drawing clearly shows an army wagon stacked with bodies, four living soldiers and four harnessed mules. Guthrie also filed a report following the recovery detail rather matter-of-factly recording what they encountered. Mentioned in the report is a single, light gray cavalry horse wandering the scene. It was badly wounded, yet the only surviving witness to the carnage. The horse s name is recorded as Dapple Dave. Guthrie also mentions that the mutilated body of guide Lee Bontee was discovered in a stand of bushes separate from the main massacre site. Both drawings clearly show both a solitary horse and a lone figure surrounded by tall grass and bushes. The main inconsistency indicating both drawings were done after-the-fact is that they portray sunny green landscapes with the cottonwoods leafed out and all of the humans in lightweight clothing. There is no indication of snow, or ice, or blizzard conditions. The Guthrie drawing does include several wolves, and his report mentions that wolves were in the vicinity but didn t touch the remains. The second non-attributed drawing includes a rendering of Fort Phil Kearny standing near the massacre site. The drawing is obviously out of scale as the massacre is clearly in view of the fort. The drawing does accurately portray that the fort was built around two courtyards and that there was an oversized garrison flag. Detail of Fort Phil Kearny Massacre, note the lone horse and body near Little Goose Creek. Property of Wyoming State Museum, A

6 The Guthrie drawing may be the closest thing that exists to a contemporary illustration of the massacre or at least its aftermath. The actual battle site was only hastily documented and the bodies quickly retrieved. It was never photo-documented, so the drawing in the Wyoming State Museum s art collection may well be the only eyewitness record even with its inaccuracies and conjectural details. And while it may not be a typical sentimental holiday theme, it represents a significant December event that occurred in this region in the not-so-distant past. Both drawings are treasures of history grisly to be sure but treasures nonetheless. David L. Newell Curator of Art Wyoming State Museum

THE VOLUNTEER VAQUERO

THE VOLUNTEER VAQUERO From the President s Pen Dear Volunteers, Museum Staff and Friends, Hi, Everybody, The Vaquero is back! Hope you like the new edition. Bear with us as we get the delivery system worked