savages. This fight occurred near the mouth of Wolf Creek where it empties into Tongue River not far from the place where the Burlington and Missouri Railway crosses that stream. Captain O'Brien's prominence in Wyoming affairs during the last thirty years will bring him before the readers of this history many times, therefore I reserve for a future occasion a biographical sketch of this brave soldier and eminent citizen.

Lieutenant Eugene F. Ware, who was with Connor on the Powder River Expedition, belonged to the Seventh Iowa Cavalry. After the Powder River campaign he was promoted to Captain of Company F, of that regiment. During the Civil war he enlisted in the First Iowa Infantry and after completing his term of service with that regiment, re-enlisted in the Fourth Iowa Cavalry and from that or ganization was in September 1863 commissioned as a lieutenant in the Seventh Iowa Cavalry. After coming to the frontier he was detailed for staff duty by General R. B. Mitchell. Later he was requested by General Connor to serve on his staff and very much desired to do so but General Mitchell objected to his leaving and he therefore was obliged to deny himself the honor of becoming a member of the military family of General Connor. He served in the Sev enth Iowa Cavalry until the summer of 1866 when he was mustered out. Some time afterward he took up his resi dence in the state of Kansas and became prominent in politics, serving in the state senate and holding other important positions. In 1872 he became the editor of the Fort Scott Monitor. In 1874, he commenced the publication of numerous poems under the nom de plume of "Ironquill" and soon won a reputation which placed him in the front rank of poets of the west. His "Washer Woman's Song," published along about 1878 was copied extensively over the entire country and received favorable comment everywhere. Captain Ware has in the last few years issued a couple of volumes of poems which take high rank. In early life he commenced the study of law and soon became a leading member of the Kansas bar and is at the present time actively engaged in the practice at the capital of his state. He was born in Hartford, Conn., May 29th, 1847. He saw hard service in Wyoming but he carried away with him an admiration for our mountain peaks and beautiful valleys. The country over which he campaigned has undergone wonderful transformation. Beautiful cities have been

built along the line of march of the Powder River Expedition and a railroad now passes near the battlefield of Tongue River.

Lieutenant A. V. Richards, who was with General Connor on the Powder River campaign, was a brother of W. A. Richards, the present Governor of Wyoming. He had served with the Army of the Potomac all through the Civil War, having enlisted at the breaking out of the Rebellion in the Seventh Wisconsin Infantry In 1862 he was detailed to serve in the signal corps and in 1864 was promoted to a Lieutenancy. He was in active service in the field until the surrender of Lee at Appomatox, after which he was ordered to report to General Connor for service in the campaign against the Indians that season. He was a gallant soldier, a brave and tried officer and one who passed through many trying scenes in his long and arduous service in the south and in the west. His brother officers with whom he served in Wyoming speak of him in the highest terms not only of his bravery but of his lofty patriotism and stern sense of duty while serving his country. He was born in Illinois May 31, 1841 and died at Freeport in the same state March 10, 1891.

Lieutenant Colonel Samuel Walker, who commanded the middle column of the army that invaded Powder River, was an able, fearless and untiring officer. He had seen service in the free state war of Kansas, having enlisted in 1855 in the Free State Volunteers and was made Captain of a company and was afterwards promoted to Colonel of the Fourth Cavalry serving under Major General Robinson and Brig adier General Lane. He enlisted in the First Regiment of the Kansas Volunteers. He served with that regiment until it was mustered out and then joined the Sixteenth Kansas Cavalry of which he was made Lieutenant Colonel. His march to the Black Hills was an achievement of no ordinary kind and his services on that occasion won for him the promotion to Brevet Brigadier General. He was born Octo ber 19, 1822, in Franklin county, Pennsylvania and was the grandson of Samuel Walker, who served in the Revolu tionary war.

Colonel Nelson Cole who was in command of the right column of the Powder River Expedition won renown as an Indian fighter. He met the hostiles on many occasions and punished them severely but while on this expedition he failed to form a junction with General Connor and in con

sequence his troops suffered severely for the want of supplies. Colonel Cole won distinction in the Civil war and bore the general reputation of a brave and skilful commander. After being mustered out of service he made his home at St. Louis and in 1898 I find him again entering the service of his country in the war between the United States and Spain. He was appointed by President McKinley in May this year Brigadier General of Volunteers and was assigned to service in the West Indies.

Another hero of the Powder River Expedition, though of quite another sort was the Rev. Thomas Johnson Ferril, Chaplain of the Sixteenth Kansas Cavalry. This brave chaplain located at Lawrence, Kansas in 1854 and being opposed to slavery, took an active part in making Kansas a free state. He was a Methodist, an earnest and eloquent preacher, and by his fearless and outspoken words incurred the displeasure of the pro-slavery party. Through what seemed a miracle he escaped again and again. He preached the first Methodist sermon in Lawrence Kansas and during the Civil War was a resident of that town. When Quantrill, the guerilla, made his raid on Lawrence, August 21, 1863, and brutally murdered 143 of the leading citizens of the town and desperately wounded thirty more, Chaplain Ferril was on the list to be killed but it was his fate or luck

to escape as usual. The Ferril family was among the early pioneers to cross the Rocky Mountains and they were also Indian fighters in Ohio, Kentucky and Kansas. John D. Ferril, a brother of Chaplain Ferril was in Wyoming in the summer of 1850, being with a party who were on their way to California. The cholera was bad that season and there was much suffering and many deaths among the emigrants. The brave chaplain is still living and I am told he is fond of recounting the days he spent in the Powder River country. He was born at Independence, Missouri, December 24, 1831. William C. Ferril, Curator of the State Historical and Natural History Society of Colorado, is a son of this patriotic pioneer preacher.

CHAPTER XXXVIII.

THRILLING EVENTS ON THE BOZEMAN ROAD. MOUNTAIN DISTRICT ORganized-COLONEL H. B. CARRINGTON ASSUMES COMMAND-EXPEDITION MOVES FROM FORT KEARNEY-THE PEACE CONFERENCE AT FORT LARAMIE-RED CLOUD'S POSITION AND BRAVE WORDS-THE MARCH TO FORT RENO-THE BUILDING OF THE NEW FORT-SELECTING THE SITE FOR FORT PHIL. KEARNEY-ERECTION OF THE POST COMMENCED-ConferencE WITH THE HOSTILES-FIRST ENCOUNTER WITH THE SAVAGES-ATTACK ON TRAIN AT CLEAR CREEK-LIEUTENANT DANIELS KILLED FORT C. F. SMITH LOCATED -GENERAL HAZEN INSPECTS THE POSTS-FORT PHIL. KEARNEY PRACTICALLY COMPLETED OCTOBER 31ST.

The War Department had plenty of opportunity during the winter and early spring of 1866 to discover that a great mistake had been made in not permitting General Connor to make a winter campaign in the Powder River country. Hunters, trappers and other white men who were more or less among the Indians, reported that the hostiles would under no circumstances make peace. Red Cloud who had made himself very popular in the war against the whites on the two lines of road across Wyoming, was very active during the winter sending out runners among the various tribes urging them not to attend the peace conference at Fort Laramie, fixed for the month of May. Many of the Indians were heartily in favor of peace for they realized that the Government would in the end defeat them at every point. But Red Cloud's agitators worked upon this class until they agreed to continue the war unless the Government at the coming conference should promise to withdraw the troops north of the Platte River and keep white men off their hunting grounds. This was the last thing, Red Cloud felt sure, the Government would agree to do. Spotted Tail openly advocated peace and thereby lost his prestige among

the great leaders of the Sioux tribes. The War Department now aimed to muster out all the volunteer regiments and employ none but regulars, together with a small force of Indians to be used as scouts. General Pope felt much annoyed over the outlook. The opinion prevailed among optimistic people generally that the peace commission was going to settle everything and that there would be no more trouble on the mail line, the telegraph line or the Bozeman road, but General Pope as well as General Dodge knew better. They had carefully estimated Red Cloud's ability to make trouble and had come to the conclusion that the Indians who made their homes in the Powder River country were going to fight, and they had reached another important conclusion, which was, that these hostiles had the pow er and ability to defend their country.

General Pope on March 10, 1866, organized the Mountain District and directed the building of two new forts on the Bozeman road beyond Fort Connor. The name of the latter fort was changed to Fort Reno. Colonel H. B. Carrington of the Eighteenth Infantry was made commander of the new district with orders to take post at Fort Reno. The expedition was organized at Fort Kearney during the winter of 1865-6 and everything was made ready to move as early in the spring as circumstances would permit. The following officers composed the command: District Commander, Colonel H. B. Carrington, Eighteenth U. S. Infantry; Assistant Adjutant General, Brevet Captain Frederick H. Phisterer, Adjutant Eighteenth U. S. Infantry; Chief Quartermaster, Lieutenant Frederick H. Brown, Quartermaster Eighteenth Infantry; Chief Surgeon, Brevet Major S. M. Horton, Assistant Surgeon U. S. A.; Acting Assistant Surgeons, Dr. H. M. Matthews, Dr. B. N. McCleary, and Dr. H. Baalan; Mounted Infantry, Captain T. Ten Eyck, Eighteenth Infantry; Battalion Adjutant, Brevet Captain Wm. H. Bisbee, Second Battalion. The additional officers were Captain and Brevet Lieutenant Colonel N. C. Kinney, Captain J. L. Proctor, Captain T. B.