FIGHTING THE APACHES AND THE SIOUX
AT last the days at West Point were ended and the class of '86 was to
take its place with others in the wide, wide world. To young Pershing
fell the lot to be assigned to the Sixth Cavalry in the southwest, where
General Miles, the successor of General Crook, was soon to bring the war
against the Apaches to an end. He was then a second lieutenant.
The wily and daring leader of the redmen was commonly known as Geronimo,
a medicine man and prophet of the Chiricahuas. Strictly speaking, the
Indian's true name was Goyathlay, "one who yawns," but the Mexicans had
nicknamed him Geronimo--the Spanish for Jerome.
This Indian was born about 1834, near the headquarters of the Gila
River, in New Mexico. He was the son of Taklishim, "The Gray One."
Neither the father nor the son was a chief, although Geronimo's
grandfather claimed to be a chieftain without having been born to the
purple or elected by the tribe.
In 1876, the Mexican authorities complained bitterly to the United
States of the raids and depredations in the state of Sonora by the
Chiricahua Indians with the result that it was decided by the Government
to remove the tribe from their reservation on the southern border, to
San Carlos, Arizona. But Geronimo, who was a natural leader, soon
gathered a few of the younger chiefs about him and fled into Mexico.
Later, he was arrested and sent with his band to Ojo Caliente, New
Mexico. There, apparently, thoughts of war were abandoned and the redmen
became successful tillers of the soil in the San Carlos Reservation.
[Illustration: The Lieutenant in the Family]
After a time, the tribe once more became restless and discontented
because the Government would not help them to irrigate their lands. Just
how much justice was in the claim it is impossible now to ascertain.
Other nearby lands were being watered and this favoritism, as they
believed, as well as the competition of the neighboring ranches,
doubtless had a strong effect on the Indians. At all events, in 1882,
Geronimo was the leader of a band that was engaged in many raids in
Sonora, but at last his force was surrounded and he surrendered to
General George H. Crook in the Sierra Madre.
In spite of the fact that Geronimo had one of the very best farms in the
entire San Carlos Reservation, the Apache leader soon was again in
trouble with the United States in 1884, when attempts were made to stop
the making and sale of tiswin. This was an Indian drink and highly
intoxicating.
In 1884-5, Geronimo gathered and led a band of Apaches that not only
terrorized the settlers in southern Arizona and New Mexico, but also the
inhabitants of Sonora and Chihuahua in Mexico. General Crook was ordered
to proceed against the raiders and to capture or kill the chief and his
followers. The story of the war is filled with exciting deeds of daring,
but through them all Geronimo looms as the foremost figure. His name
came to inspire terror.
At last in March, 1886, a truce was made and this was followed by a
conference, at which terms of surrender were agreed upon. But the wily
Geronimo was not yet caught. Again with a band of his devoted followers
he fled to the Sierra Madre mountains, beyond the borders of Mexico.
General Miles was now in command of the United States troops and quickly
he began an energetic campaign against the Apache outlaws. This
continued until August, when the war came to an end. The entire band of
340 were made prisoners and the warfare at last was ended. Geronimo and
Nachi (the latter a hereditary chieftain of the tribe, though his
comrade was the real leader), were sent as prisoners of war to Florida.
Later they were removed to Alabama and at last were settled near Fort
Sill, Oklahoma. There, Geronimo evidently concluded (and his conclusion
was the more easily arrived at because he was under the continual
supervision of United States soldiers) that he had had a sufficiency of
war and that henceforth he was to be a man of peace. He became
prosperous, and was a most cautious spender of his money.
The part which Lieutenant Pershing, a young officer fresh from West
Point, had in the round-up of this campaign naturally was not of a
character to bring him into great prominence. That he did his work well
and that he had the full confidence of his men, however, are evidenced
from the following incidents which remain among the reports of the
campaign.
In the autumn maneuver in 1887, he was specially complimented by General
Miles for "marching his troops with a pack train of 140 mules in 46
hours and bringing in every animal in good condition." Doubtless his
early experiences in dealing with mules on a Missouri farm had stood him
in good stead.
Another instance of his courage and his ability to deal with men, even
at this early stage in his career, was shown when word came of the dire
predicament of a score of "bad men"--horse thieves and cow-punchers--who
had been surrounded by the Indians and were threatened with the death
of every one in the band unless they should be speedily rescued. The
young lieutenant with his detachment not only succeeded in penetrating
to their refuge, but also in saving every one of them without the loss
of the life of one man, white or red. The same qualities that had been
displayed in his student days were here again in evidence. His sense of
duty was still strong upon him and quietly, persistently, he worked hard
to do his best.
There still was work for the lieutenant on the border, for the troubles
with the Indian tribes were by no means ended. His service on frontier
duty at Fort Bayard, New Mexico, and in the field from July 30, 1886, to
July 30, 1887, was followed by duty at Fort Stanton, New Mexico.
He went to Fort Wingate, New Mexico, in February, 1889, remaining there
until September 1, 1889. He then returned to Fort Stanton to stay until
September, 1890, when again he was sent to Fort Wingate.
At Fort Wingate, with the exception of a few weeks spent in scout duty,
he remained until December 1, 1890, when he was transferred to take the
field in the campaign against the Sioux Indians at Pine Ridge Agency,
South Dakota. In February, 1891, he was stationed at Fort Niobrara, in
Nebraska, only to return to the Pine Ridge Agency to take command of the
Sioux Indian Scouts until July of the same year. Again he was with his
troops at Fort Niobrara, remaining until August 7, 1891, when he was in
command of a detachment (rifle team) en route to Fort Sheridan,
Illinois. On September 25th he became Professor of Military Science and
Tactics at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln, Nebraska.
This brief record, however, does not cover all that the young officer
was doing. Studying and at the same time working hard at his duties, he
was already laying the foundations for that which later was to come. At
the time, however, his future career seemed vague if not impossible.
Indeed, he himself was almost convinced that war had ceased to be a
threat among the nations. "There won't be a gun fired in a hundred
years," he had declared to a friend when he was about to enter West
Point, and the thoughts of the young officer reverted to the law for
which in his younger days he had almost decided to prepare.
That he was not without suggestions and desires to improve the
conditions in the army is shown by the following letter which he wrote
the _Journal of United States Cavalry_ in 1889:
[Journal of U. S. Cavalry, December, 1889.]
SOME HINTS FOR IMPROVEMENT.
More prominence should be given to the revolver
competitions and some changes might be made in the
manner of conducting them. We should have a
regular revolver competition and teams with
competitors one from each troop held every
morning, best pistol shots in the troop, and not
have pistol competition supplementary to carbine
competition though the two might be held at the
same time and place.
In connection with the army carbine competition
there should be an army revolver, competitors to
be selected from the various revolver teams as
they are held for the army carbine competitions.
Prizes for the revolver teams should be the same
as those awarded to the infantry department and
for the army revolver team the same as those
awarded to the infantry division teams.
No good reason can be seen why dismounted revolver
firing should not be held at the three ranges, 25,
50 and 75 yards, the same as for individual record
in the troop. In the mounted firing, both in
troops and practice competitions, no gait slower
than ten miles and a half should be permitted.
These changes would give a stimulus to revolver
firing in the army which would bring about
surprising results.
J. J. PERSHING,
Second Lieutenant, 6th Cavalry.
In the part which Lieutenant Pershing took against the Sioux, he was
sharing conditions which were by no means slight or insignificant. The
Sioux were notably brave and bold and more than once their chiefs had
outgeneraled the trained white soldiers that fought them.
It is difficult to determine at this time just where to place the blame
for these wars with the Sioux. The stories of the causes of the outbreak
told by the Indians themselves differ radically from those which were
given by certain of the whites, but whatever the true cause may have
been, young Pershing had nothing to do with that. He was simply obeying
orders and doing his best in the war with the redmen who already
confronted him.
Sitting Bull in particular was a strong and successful fighter. Crazy
Horse, a bold and able chief, had, as the Sioux believed, been
treacherously seized and bayoneted by the whites. Indeed, one of their
rallying cries in the campaign was, "Remember our Chief, Crazy Horse."
General George A. Custer and nearly every one of his soldiers had been
killed in a battle on the plains, in which the Indian leaders had
succeeded in first surrounding Custer's force. Pa-he-hors-kah-zee (Long
Yellow Hair), as the redmen had named Custer, was respected and greatly
feared by them and for that reason they did their utmost to shoot him
first of all when he finally took his stand in the center of the hollow
square, into which he formed his troops when he discovered, after the
breaking out of the battle, that he and his men were nearly surrounded.
The death of General Custer greatly angered the whites, and it was
promptly decided that once for all they would put an end to the
uprisings of the strong and wily Sioux. This result, of course, was at
last accomplished and in the final battle Lieutenant Pershing had his
part. This battle, which the whites call Wounded Knee and the Indians
term The Massacre at Wounded Knee Creek, was won when the troops finally
surrounded the tepees of the redmen and then demanded that every gun
should be given over.
This demand the Sioux refused, declaring that their experiences with the
whites did not warrant them in making themselves entirely defenseless.
They also explained that they themselves had bought and paid for every
gun in the possession of the tribe.
This explanation or refusal was declared to be unsatisfactory. The
command to attack quickly was given, the soldiers fired obediently and
the report was made that they shot down every man, woman and child, with
few exceptions, in the Indian village.
Thus the great Indian wars came to an end and whatever may have been
his feelings concerning the justice of the methods employed to subdue
the Sioux, Lieutenant Pershing did not speak. He was a young officer and
his part was not to explain, but to obey.
In September, 1891, he became Professor of Military Science and Tactics
at the University of Nebraska.