Pawnee Scouts
Encyclopedia
Pawnee Scouts were part of the United States Army
in the latter half of the 19th century. Like other groups of Indian scouts, Pawnee warrior
s were recruited in large numbers to fight on the Northern Plains in various conflicts against hostile native American
s. Because the Pawnee people were old enemies of the Sioux
, Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes, instead of fighting against Westward expansion, they served with the army for fourteen years between 1864 and 1877, earning a reputation as being a well trained unit, especially in tracking and reconnaissance
.
around the Republican
, Platte
and Loup River
s. They were known for being a warrior culture, skilled in raiding enemy villages for horses. Prior to December 1864, when the scouts were established, Pawnee braves constantly waged war against their neighbors so when General
Samuel Curtis
began recruiting for scouts to help him in an expedition against hostiles, he had no trouble in convincing seventy Pawnees to join in. Shortly thereafter, First Lieutenant
Frank North
was authorized to recruit 100 more Pawnees. North would eventually be put in command of the scouts and promoted to captain and then major
, a position he held until the final disbandment of the unit in 1877. The first Pawnee scouts were posted at Fort Kearny
, Nebraska and later units served at Fort D.A. Russell
, Wyoming
and at Sydney Barracks. The Pawnee scouts were very fond of Major North, due to his bravery in battle and a pair of "miraculous" incidents in 1865. From May to November, the Pawnee scouts were in General Patrick E. Connor's Powder River War and first saw action on August 22. Major North was out tracking some retreating hostiles with about forty-five of his scouts when he discovered an enemy camp. After two days of searching, it was 2:00 am when the camp was found so North had his men dismount and rest, in order to attack at first light. During the following skirmish, all of the twenty-seven hostiles were killed while Major North and his Pawnee's were unhurt. In a second incident, North and his men were chasing some Arapahos on horseback when the major became separated from his unit by about a mile. The retreating hostiles then turned around to engage North and wounded his horse, so he used the animal as a "breastwork" to fight off the attackers.
Both episodes helped create an idea of North among the Pawnee as having supernatural powers and being invulnerable to harm. The scouts served distinctively in the Battle of the Tongue River
on August 29. In the fight, about 400 Americans and Pawnees captured an Arapaho village containing some 500 warriors, led by Medicine Man
. The hostiles counter attacked but were repulsed by musketry and howitzer
fire. About sixty natives were killed and eighteen women and children were captured. Additionally, hundreds of Arapaho horses and ponies were destroyed. Nineteen Americans and Pawnees were killed and twenty-nine others received wounds.
, the Pawnee scouts were disbanded but only temporarily for in March of 1867 Major North was authorized to enlist four fifty-man companies of scouts for protecting the Union Pacific Railroad
, then under construction. During this time, Major North was accompanied by his brother, Luther, who was in command of one of the scout companies. The "Pawnee Battallion", as it was called, was active in the Comanche War
, fighting against Chief
Turkey Leg and his band of Northern Cheyenne. A "severe" engagement took place near Plum Creek Station
, Nebraska, on August 22, in which Major North and forty-two of the scouts engaged 150 Oglala
Sioux and Cheyenne warriors who had destroyed a train on August 6, killing seven settlers and taking a large amount of private property. The Pawnee scouts were victorious again, they killed "many", retrieved the stolen property, and captured Turkey Leg's wife and child. The chief's family was later exchanged for three captured American girls and two boys who were held by Turkey Leg for a long time. In the autumn of 1867 the battalion was mustered out but in the spring of 1868 North reorganized the unit to continue protecting the Union Pacific. In 1869, North and fifty scouts guided Colonel
Eugene Asa Carr
's Republican River Expedition through Colorado
and fought in the Battle of Summit Springs
on July 11. The battle put approximately 300 Americans and Pawnees up against 450 to 900 encamped Arapaho, Sioux and Cheyenne braves under the command of Chief Tall Bull
. Carr positioned his forces so as to attack the camp simultaneously from three sides. The maneuver worked and in the end about thirty-five native men, women and children were killed, including Tall Bull, while only one American was wounded. The scouts were responsible for the deaths of at least seven women and children. Some 800 heads of captured livestock was also retaken.
to travel to Indian Territory
, where the Pawnee now lived, to organize another company for General George Crook
's Little Bighorn Campaign
. North found that the Pawnees living on the reservation
were very poor and all of the males were eager to enlist. North recruited 100 of the Pawnees and headed back north, to Fort Robinson
, Nebraska where the Sioux chiefs Sitting Bull
and Red Cloud
were active in fighting the army. Major North and his men arrived at the fort on October 22 and immediately thereafter began a march to the camp of Chief Red Cloud with a regiment
of cavalry
. On the following morning, North's command advanced on the camp and took it without a shot fired, capturing Red Cloud and over 700 ponies which were later sold by the Pawnee. The chief and his band were then marched to Fort Robinson and imprisoned there until the end of the war in 1877. In November, General McKenzie led seventy Pawnee scouts and 800 cavalrymen into the Big Horn Mountains
to attack a "well concealed" Cheyenne camp. On the day of the battle, the hostiles were exhausted from celebrating the night before so when General McKenzie launched his attack most fled, leaving their provisions and lodges to be piled up and burnt by the soldiers. Some 650 ponies were also captured and over forty natives died from exposure of starvation in the following weeks. The battle left the Cheyenne destitute so they journeyed to the camp of Chief Crazy Horse
who denied them aid because they had been "outwitted and suprised" by the army.
With nowhere to go, the Cheyennes walked to Fort Robinson and surrendered. Due to General Crook's winter campaigning, the remaining hostiles under Sitting Bull were not able to hunt for buffalo
so by the spring of 1877 they surrendered at Fort Robinson as well. Now that the war was over, the Pawnee scouts were disbanded for good on May 1, 1877 and returned to the Indian Territory. Major North retired from his military life the same year, General Crook wrote; "I think it only just and appropriate to thank you for your excellent behavior during the time of your stay in the Military service under my command, and to say that the soldierlike conduct and discipline of the Pawnee Scouts is the most eloquent testimony that could be adduced to prove your fitness for the position you have held as their Commanding Officer."
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
in the latter half of the 19th century. Like other groups of Indian scouts, Pawnee warrior
Warrior
A warrior is a person skilled in combat or warfare, especially within the context of a tribal or clan-based society that recognizes a separate warrior class.-Warrior classes in tribal culture:...
s were recruited in large numbers to fight on the Northern Plains in various conflicts against hostile native American
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
s. Because the Pawnee people were old enemies of the Sioux
Sioux
The Sioux are Native American and First Nations people in North America. The term can refer to any ethnic group within the Great Sioux Nation or any of the nation's many language dialects...
, Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes, instead of fighting against Westward expansion, they served with the army for fourteen years between 1864 and 1877, earning a reputation as being a well trained unit, especially in tracking and reconnaissance
Reconnaissance
Reconnaissance is the military term for exploring beyond the area occupied by friendly forces to gain information about enemy forces or features of the environment....
.
Powder River War
The Pawnee tribe originally came from an area in NebraskaNebraska
Nebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....
around the Republican
Republican River
The Republican River is a river in the central Great Plains of North America, flowing through the U.S. states of Nebraska and Kansas.-Geography:...
, Platte
Platte River
The Platte River is a major river in the state of Nebraska and is about long. Measured to its farthest source via its tributary the North Platte River, it flows for over . The Platte River is a tributary of the Missouri River, which in turn is a tributary of the Mississippi River which flows to...
and Loup River
Loup River
The Loup River is a tributary of the Platte River, approximately long, in central Nebraska in the United States. The river drains a sparsely populated rural agricultural area on the eastern edge of the Great Plains southeast of the Sandhills...
s. They were known for being a warrior culture, skilled in raiding enemy villages for horses. Prior to December 1864, when the scouts were established, Pawnee braves constantly waged war against their neighbors so when General
General
A general officer is an officer of high military rank, usually in the army, and in some nations, the air force. The term is widely used by many nations of the world, and when a country uses a different term, there is an equivalent title given....
Samuel Curtis
Samuel Curtis
Samuel Ryan Curtis was an American military officer, and one of the first Republicans elected to Congress. He was most famous for his role as a Union Army general the Trans-Mississippi Theater of the American Civil War.-Biography:Born near Champlain, New York, Curtis graduated from the United...
began recruiting for scouts to help him in an expedition against hostiles, he had no trouble in convincing seventy Pawnees to join in. Shortly thereafter, First Lieutenant
First Lieutenant
First lieutenant is a military rank and, in some forces, an appointment.The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations , but the majority of cases it is common for it to be sub-divided into a senior and junior rank...
Frank North
Frank North
Frank Joshua North was a clerk and interpreter at the Pawnee Agency trading post in Genoa, Nebraska, he served in the United States Army attaining the rank of major. North was partners with William F...
was authorized to recruit 100 more Pawnees. North would eventually be put in command of the scouts and promoted to captain and then major
Major
Major is a rank of commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in almost every military in the world.When used unhyphenated, in conjunction with no other indicator of rank, the term refers to the rank just senior to that of an Army captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...
, a position he held until the final disbandment of the unit in 1877. The first Pawnee scouts were posted at Fort Kearny
Fort Kearny
Fort Kearny was a historic outpost of the United States Army founded in 1848 in the western U.S. during the middle and late 19th century. The outpost was located along the Oregon Trail near present-day Kearney, Nebraska, which took its name from the fort .-Origins and various missions of the...
, Nebraska and later units served at Fort D.A. Russell
Fort D.A. Russell (Wyoming)
Fort D. A. Russell, also known as Fort Francis E. Warren, Francis E. Warren Air Force Base and Fort David A. Russell, was a post and base of operations for the United States Army, and later the Air Force, located in Cheyenne, Wyoming. The fort had been established in 1867 to protect workers for the...
, Wyoming
Wyoming
Wyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...
and at Sydney Barracks. The Pawnee scouts were very fond of Major North, due to his bravery in battle and a pair of "miraculous" incidents in 1865. From May to November, the Pawnee scouts were in General Patrick E. Connor's Powder River War and first saw action on August 22. Major North was out tracking some retreating hostiles with about forty-five of his scouts when he discovered an enemy camp. After two days of searching, it was 2:00 am when the camp was found so North had his men dismount and rest, in order to attack at first light. During the following skirmish, all of the twenty-seven hostiles were killed while Major North and his Pawnee's were unhurt. In a second incident, North and his men were chasing some Arapahos on horseback when the major became separated from his unit by about a mile. The retreating hostiles then turned around to engage North and wounded his horse, so he used the animal as a "breastwork" to fight off the attackers.
Both episodes helped create an idea of North among the Pawnee as having supernatural powers and being invulnerable to harm. The scouts served distinctively in the Battle of the Tongue River
Battle of the Tongue River
The Battle of the Tongue River, sometimes referred to as the Connor Battle, was the major engagement of the Powder River Expedition of 1865, directed against the Southern Cheyenne, Arapaho and Lakota Sioux. It destroyed for a time the Arapaho capability to raid the Bozeman Trail and overland mail...
on August 29. In the fight, about 400 Americans and Pawnees captured an Arapaho village containing some 500 warriors, led by Medicine Man
Medicine man
"Medicine man" or "Medicine woman" are English terms used to describe traditional healers and spiritual leaders among Native American and other indigenous or aboriginal peoples...
. The hostiles counter attacked but were repulsed by musketry and howitzer
Howitzer
A howitzer is a type of artillery piece characterized by a relatively short barrel and the use of comparatively small propellant charges to propel projectiles at relatively high trajectories, with a steep angle of descent...
fire. About sixty natives were killed and eighteen women and children were captured. Additionally, hundreds of Arapaho horses and ponies were destroyed. Nineteen Americans and Pawnees were killed and twenty-nine others received wounds.
Comanche War
In the spring of 1866, after the expedition into the Powder River CountryPowder River Country
The Powder River Country refers to an area of the Great Plains in northeastern Wyoming in the United States. The area is loosely defined between the Bighorn Mountains and the Black Hills, in the upper drainage areas of the Powder, Tongue, and Little Bighorn rivers.During the late 1860s, the area...
, the Pawnee scouts were disbanded but only temporarily for in March of 1867 Major North was authorized to enlist four fifty-man companies of scouts for protecting the Union Pacific Railroad
Union Pacific Railroad
The Union Pacific Railroad , headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, is the largest railroad network in the United States. James R. Young is president, CEO and Chairman....
, then under construction. During this time, Major North was accompanied by his brother, Luther, who was in command of one of the scout companies. The "Pawnee Battallion", as it was called, was active in the Comanche War
Comanche Campaign
The Comanche Campaign, or the Comanche War, from 1867 to 1875, was a series of conflicts that took place throughout the border regions of Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, and Texas, between the Arapaho, Comanche, Kiowa, Sioux and Cheyenne tribes of native Americans against the United States Army...
, fighting against Chief
Tribal chief
A tribal chief is the leader of a tribal society or chiefdom. Tribal societies with social stratification under a single leader emerged in the Neolithic period out of earlier tribal structures with little stratification, and they remained prevalent throughout the Iron Age.In the case of ...
Turkey Leg and his band of Northern Cheyenne. A "severe" engagement took place near Plum Creek Station
Plum Creek Township, Butler County, Nebraska
Plum Creek Township is one of seventeen townships in Butler County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 194 at the 2000 census. A 2006 estimate placed the township's population at 188.-External links:*...
, Nebraska, on August 22, in which Major North and forty-two of the scouts engaged 150 Oglala
Oglala
Oglala may refer to:* Oglala Lakota, or Oglala Sioux, a Sioux Nation sub-band of the Western division * The Oglala National Grassland of Nebraska* Oglala, South Dakota, a town located in Shannon County, South Dakota...
Sioux and Cheyenne warriors who had destroyed a train on August 6, killing seven settlers and taking a large amount of private property. The Pawnee scouts were victorious again, they killed "many", retrieved the stolen property, and captured Turkey Leg's wife and child. The chief's family was later exchanged for three captured American girls and two boys who were held by Turkey Leg for a long time. In the autumn of 1867 the battalion was mustered out but in the spring of 1868 North reorganized the unit to continue protecting the Union Pacific. In 1869, North and fifty scouts guided Colonel
Colonel
Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
Eugene Asa Carr
Eugene Asa Carr
Eugene Asa Carr was a soldier in the United States Army and a general in the Union Army during the American Civil War.-Early life:...
's Republican River Expedition through Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
and fought in the Battle of Summit Springs
Battle of Summit Springs
The Battle of Summit Springs, on July 11, 1869, was an armed conflict between elements of the United States Army under the command of Colonel Eugene A. Carr and a group of Cheyenne Dog Soldiers led by Tall Bull, who died during the engagement...
on July 11. The battle put approximately 300 Americans and Pawnees up against 450 to 900 encamped Arapaho, Sioux and Cheyenne braves under the command of Chief Tall Bull
Tall Bull
Tall Bull was a chief of the Cheyenne Dog Soldiers. He was shot and killed in the Battle of Summit Springs in Colorado by Major Frank North leader of the Pawnee Scouts....
. Carr positioned his forces so as to attack the camp simultaneously from three sides. The maneuver worked and in the end about thirty-five native men, women and children were killed, including Tall Bull, while only one American was wounded. The scouts were responsible for the deaths of at least seven women and children. Some 800 heads of captured livestock was also retaken.
Great Sioux War
In 1870 the Pawnee scouts were still working to protect the railroad but eventually they were disbanded. However, with the outbreak of the Great Sioux War in 1876, Major North was ordered by General Philip SheridanPhilip Sheridan
Philip Henry Sheridan was a career United States Army officer and a Union general in the American Civil War. His career was noted for his rapid rise to major general and his close association with Lt. Gen. Ulysses S...
to travel to Indian Territory
Indian Territory
The Indian Territory, also known as the Indian Territories and the Indian Country, was land set aside within the United States for the settlement of American Indians...
, where the Pawnee now lived, to organize another company for General George Crook
George Crook
George R. Crook was a career United States Army officer, most noted for his distinguished service during the American Civil War and the Indian Wars.-Early life:...
's Little Bighorn Campaign
Battle of the Little Bighorn
The Battle of the Little Bighorn, also known as Custer's Last Stand and, by the Indians involved, as the Battle of the Greasy Grass, was an armed engagement between combined forces of Lakota, Northern Cheyenne and Arapaho people against the 7th Cavalry Regiment of the United States Army...
. North found that the Pawnees living on the reservation
Indian reservation
An American Indian reservation is an area of land managed by a Native American tribe under the United States Department of the Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs...
were very poor and all of the males were eager to enlist. North recruited 100 of the Pawnees and headed back north, to Fort Robinson
Fort Robinson
Fort Robinson is a former U.S. Army fort and a present-day state park. Located in the Pine Ridge region of northwest Nebraska, it is west of Crawford on U.S. Route 20.- History :...
, Nebraska where the Sioux chiefs Sitting Bull
Sitting Bull
Sitting Bull Sitting Bull Sitting Bull (Lakota: Tȟatȟáŋka Íyotake (in Standard Lakota Orthography), also nicknamed Slon-he or "Slow"; (c. 1831 – December 15, 1890) was a Hunkpapa Lakota Sioux holy man who led his people as a tribal chief during years of resistance to United States government policies...
and Red Cloud
Red Cloud
Red Cloud , was a war leader and the head Chief of the Oglala Lakota . His reign was from 1868 to 1909...
were active in fighting the army. Major North and his men arrived at the fort on October 22 and immediately thereafter began a march to the camp of Chief Red Cloud with a regiment
Regiment
A regiment is a major tactical military unit, composed of variable numbers of batteries, squadrons or battalions, commanded by a colonel or lieutenant colonel...
of cavalry
Cavalry
Cavalry or horsemen were soldiers or warriors who fought mounted on horseback. Cavalry were historically the third oldest and the most mobile of the combat arms...
. On the following morning, North's command advanced on the camp and took it without a shot fired, capturing Red Cloud and over 700 ponies which were later sold by the Pawnee. The chief and his band were then marched to Fort Robinson and imprisoned there until the end of the war in 1877. In November, General McKenzie led seventy Pawnee scouts and 800 cavalrymen into the Big Horn Mountains
Big Horn Mountains
The Big Horn Mountains are a mountain range in northern Wyoming and southern Montana in the United States, forming a northwest-trending spur from the Rocky Mountains extending approximately 200 miles northward on the Great Plains...
to attack a "well concealed" Cheyenne camp. On the day of the battle, the hostiles were exhausted from celebrating the night before so when General McKenzie launched his attack most fled, leaving their provisions and lodges to be piled up and burnt by the soldiers. Some 650 ponies were also captured and over forty natives died from exposure of starvation in the following weeks. The battle left the Cheyenne destitute so they journeyed to the camp of Chief Crazy Horse
Crazy Horse
Crazy Horse was a Native American war leader of the Oglala Lakota. He took up arms against the U.S...
who denied them aid because they had been "outwitted and suprised" by the army.
With nowhere to go, the Cheyennes walked to Fort Robinson and surrendered. Due to General Crook's winter campaigning, the remaining hostiles under Sitting Bull were not able to hunt for buffalo
Buffalo
-Bovine:* African Buffalo or Cape Buffalo * American Buffalo, North American colloquial name for American Bison * Wisent, or Eurasian Buffalo...
so by the spring of 1877 they surrendered at Fort Robinson as well. Now that the war was over, the Pawnee scouts were disbanded for good on May 1, 1877 and returned to the Indian Territory. Major North retired from his military life the same year, General Crook wrote; "I think it only just and appropriate to thank you for your excellent behavior during the time of your stay in the Military service under my command, and to say that the soldierlike conduct and discipline of the Pawnee Scouts is the most eloquent testimony that could be adduced to prove your fitness for the position you have held as their Commanding Officer."