W. H. Ryus Enters Second Contract With Stage Company, Messenger and
Conductor of the U. S. Mail and Express.
The spring of 1864 I left the services of the stage company and came to
Kansas City, Kansas, where my parents lived.
In June of that year I bought a team, mowing machine and wire hay rake
and entered into a contract to furnish hay to the government. I took my
hay-making apparatus out on the prairie, about ten miles from Kansas
City, and cut several hundred tons of hay which I sold to the government
quartermaster at Kansas City.
During the summer of that year Confederate General Price made his famous
raid through Westport, going South with his army, followed by the
Federal soldiers.
There were upwards of 3000 of the Federal militia, and while on the road
from Westport to Kansas City they became frightened and stampeded. They
heard that Price's army was coming toward them from Westport. It was an
exciting scene to see men acting like wild men.
The militia posted at Kansas City, Kansas, consisted of troops from the
counties of Brown, Atchison and Leavenworth and were under a newspaper
man's command, an editor from Hiawatha, Kansas, whose name I do not
recall. The governor of Kansas ordered this major to take his militia
and go to the line and protect Kansas City, Missouri, from Price's
raiders. The soldiers refused to go with their major in command.
However, they agreed to go to Missouri if their major would resign in
favor of Captain James Pope of Schuyler County New York, who was in
command of a militia of Kansas soldiers. This was done and Captain Pope
was made major and took charge of the several different companies
besides his own.
At about ten o'clock in the forenoon in the latter part of July the
militia then started to go over into Missouri after Gen. Price. I went
along with the militia, and as we were approaching Westport we caught
sight of several thousand stampeding soldiers, going as fast as their
legs would carry them.
I rode up alongside of Major Pope and said, "There's a stampede, see
them coming! I will make my horse jump the fence and run up to them and
tell them Price's army is coming the other way." Major Pope' replied,
"Go a-flying." He halted his troops and I rode through the fields toward
the stampeding soldiers, yelling to them and their officers that Price's
army was coming toward them from Kansas City. This checked them and gave
them a chance to collect their wits.
The officers of the stampeded troops then called to the soldiers, "The
rebels are coming this way, right-about-face." By the time the stampeded
troops were brought to a halt they were face to face with Major Pope's
regiment. Major Pope being an old soldier, understanding military
tactics, went to the south end of the stampeded troops, took charge of
them and commanded them to right-about-face and started south for
West-port on a double-quick time.
After the militia had gotten under way I put my horse under the dead run
and caught up with the Union soldiers who were in pursuit of Price's
army at Indian Creek, twenty miles from Westport.
As it was now growing late I thought best to return to Kansas City. On
my way back I again came in contact with Major Pope with the militia and
told him that it was impossible for them to catch up with Price's
raiders or the other Union forces, for they were going on the dead run.
I told him that he might just as well go into camp, which he did,
greatly to the relief of his almost exhausted troopers.
The next day Major Pope was ordered back to Kansas City to guard the
city in case the rebel soldiers should undertake to raid it.
* * * * *
Dear reader, please accept my apologies for having left my original
subject and brought you back to the Civil war. Back to the Santa Fe
Trail for me.
When I got in home at Wyandotte, Kansas, now Kansas City, Kansas, a
messenger from the stage company was awaiting my arrival. He came to get
me to enter into a contract to again enter the services of the stage
company as conductor and messenger of the United States mail and express
from Kansas City across the long route to Santa Fe, New Mexico. I took
the position and started out the next morning.
My first noted passenger after I became conductor of this stage coach
was the son of old Colonel Leavenworth, for whom Leavenworth was named,
and who built the fort about the year of 1827.
After leaving Kansas City and getting settled down to traveling, Col.
Leavenworth Jr.'s first words to me were, "Have you been on the plains
among the Indians long?" I replied that I had been driving the mail
among them for three years. His next question was, "Do you know, or have
you ever heard of Satanta, the great chief of the Kiowas?" I told him
that I had seen him several times and had given him many a cup of coffee
with other provision. Col. Leavenworth Jr. seemed greatly pleased with
my answer and told me that he had a great affection for old Satanta and
that he was one of the nobles of his race, and also one of the best men
he had ever known regardless of race. Young Leavenworth delighted in
telling his exploits among the Indians and I was no poor listener, for
it always entertained me to hear some one give praise to my Indian
friends. Mr. Leavenworth told me that a great many of the different
tribes of Indians came to Fort Leavenworth to see his father and that he
had never had any trouble with them, however remote. At that time young
Leavenworth was a ten-year-old boy and a great favorite of Satanta, the
Kiowa chief. Leavenworth Jr. told me that he had gone on several hunting
trips with Satanta and be gone as long as two weeks away from his
father's fort. He told me that at one time when he had been away from
home two years at school in St. Louis that Satanta and his tribe were
there to welcome him home. The old chief wanted him to go on the prairie
with them to hunt the buffalo and be gone several weeks, so Leavenworth
Jr. told him that he would have to talk to his father about it.
Accordingly Satanta went to old Colonel Leavenworth and told him that he
wanted to take young Leavenworth on an extended hunting trip and might
go over into Colorado and other western states. The old colonel was
reluctant to let the child go with his strange friends and told Satanta
that if his tribe should become involved in trouble with the whites the
boy might be killed. Satanta said "no such ting." Santanta told the
father that no matter what war they got into they would protect the boy
and return him home safe and well. When Satanta's whole tribe came in
off the plains at the specified time they all entered into an agreement
to protect the boy at any sacrifice if he was permitted to accompany
them on the hunt. In their language they took the oath to protect the
boy, each one sworn in separately, and it was agreed that Satanta would
send two of his warriors to the nearest army post every week to tell his
father that the boy was all right. The boy always wrote brilliantly of
his travels in the wild western country. His father considered with much
pride reserved all these boyish letters which are masterpieces of
landscape and scenic description. Copies of these letters are still on
file in the war libraries and are set aside as "things of beauty."
Young Leavenworth in talking to me about his travels with Satanta told
me that they got into the mountains about thirty days after they left
Fort Leavenworth and located in about where Cripple Creek is now
located. He said the Indians found and gathered considerable gold. In
two places in particular the gold in the sands of the creek bed was very
rich. They gathered gold for him and put it in a buckskin sack. What
this gift amounted to in dollars and cents I have forgotten, but it
amounted to several hundred dollars. He was gone three months. That was
the last time he ever saw Satanta. He was sent East after that to a
military school. At the time he was crossing the trail with me he had
only recently become a colonel in the Union army and was ordered to Fort
Union to take charge of some New Mexico troops.
John Flournoy of Independence, Missouri, was one of the drivers on the
Long Route. When we were at Fort Larned, Colorado, Leavenworth inquired
of John if he knew where Satanta or any of his tribe were. John told him
they were on the Arkansas river not far from old Fort Dodge.
We stopped at Big Coon Creek to get our supper, that was twenty-two
miles from where the Indians camped. (We only cooked twice a day, supper
was about four o'clock, then we drove long after nightfall). After
starting on our journey about five o'clock, going over the hills down to
the Arkansas river, we came in sight of the Indian camp which was some
ten miles distant. At this camp there were perhaps thirty thousand
Indians. At about nine o'clock we were within three miles of their camp
and could hear distinctly the drums beating and Indians singing. Col.
Leavenworth said, "That is a war dance, now we must find out the cause
of the excitement." There were no roads into the camp and we couldn't
get the mules to venture any further on account of the scent of green
hides always around an Indian camp, so Col. Leavenworth Jr. and I got
off the coach and walked in as close as we consistently could. Soon we
saw an Indian boy and Col. Leavenworth asked him in Indian language what
was going on at the big camp. The boy told him that the Kiowas and the
Pawnees had been at war with each other and that two of the Kiowas had
been killed and one of the Pawnees. They had secured the scalp of the
Pawnee and had fastened it to a pole, one end of which was securely
planted in the ground, and were mourning around it for their own dead.
An Indian thinks he is shamefully disgraced if one of his tribe gets
scalped. They will go right to the very mouth of a cannon to save their
tribe of such disgrace. Col. Leavenworth says, "I tell you, Billie, I
was afraid that some of the whites had been disturbing the Indians, but
I knew if I could but get word to Satanta we would be safe." When the
boy told us how matters really stood our "hair lowered" and Col.
Leavenworth asked the boy to take us to Satanta's tent.
When we reached Satanta's tent the Indian boy went in and told him that
a white man wanted to see him. The old chief came out--we were about
twenty feet from the tent--he looked at Colonel Leavenworth first, then
at me, whom he recognized. He walked up to within a few feet of Colonel
Leavenworth, eyeing him sharply. Colonel Leavenworth spoke his name in
the Indian language. Satanta looked at him amazedly--he had not seen him
since he had developed into a man and could not realize that this was
the favored idol of his hunting trip through the Rocky mountains of
Colorado so many years ago. After this moment of surprise had subsided
Satanta gave one savage yell and leaped toward Leavenworth Jr. His
blanket fell off and he patted the cheek of the colonel, kissed him,
hugged him, embraced him again and again, then turned and took me by the
hand, grasping it firmly. He gave me a thrilling illustration of his joy
over the return of his old-time boy friend which impressed me with the
sincerity and true instinct of the Indian attachment for his friends.
Satanta called Col. Leavenworth "ma chessel."
[Illustration: "SATANTA."]