The earliest
travelers set off for the Rocky Mountains even before it was certain there was
gold. Confirmation wouldn't come late in the summer of 1858; anyone setting off after
that point would face the cold winter of the plains and arrive when little gold
could be prospected. So, most, left for the gold fields as soon as possible the
following spring.
Some of the travelers reported meeting Indians, there were Cheyenne, Arapahoe, and Sioux in the area at the time, but in 1859, the whites were more a curiosity than a threat. Edward Dunsha Steele reported passing “a Camp of Shians [Cheyennes] on Bever [Beaver] Creek” on July 23rd and after remaining in camp on the 24th “it being Sunday – were visited by Shian [sic] Indians – also by a distinguished Sioux called Red Plume”.
One of the earliest journals was that of E. A.
Bowen who left La Salle, Illinois on February 22, 1859, arriving in the
Fort Morgan area in April:
April 8: …Here while in camp we first had a view of two peaks of the
Rockey [sic] Mountains, a distance of 150 miles. We could not see these peakes
[sic] in the daytime. We saw them distinctly after the sun went down.
April 9: …Passed Kiowa Creek [Beaver Creek]. 4 oclock P.M. Drove over
Sand Ridges in the afternoon. Roads were heavy. Drove half way between Kiowa
Creek Bijou Creek & turned down to River & camped. Saw one antilope
[sic] early in morning…. Passed one Indian Lodge at the Kiowa Creek, some dz
[dozen] Indians & Squaws – Chinani [Cheyenne] – nation.
April 10: Being Sunday we remained in camp all day. Threatened rain,
but blew over. Wind blew from west toward evening very strong.
April 11: …3 miles from where we camped we crossed Bijou Creek [sic].
Dry at crossing. 3 miles from this creek we found the heaviest sand roads we
had – 10 miles east of this creek sand heavy.
|
| View of the Rocky Mountains on the Platte 50 miles from their Base. Engraving by Samuel Seymour, 1823. |
Close on Bowen’s
heels was E. H. N. Patterson traveling to the gold fields
of the Rocky Mountains in April and May of 1859. Patterson was an experienced
journalist from Illinois who had corresponded with Edgar Allan Poe in his youth
and had first turned his sights on the gold of California before seeking gold
in Colorado. He began his journey in March of 1859 along with William H.
Phelps, Joseph C. McLinn, Eli Chase, James Collins, William Carrll, Joseph S.
Hand, W. W. Rice, J. R. White, P. Murtogh, Thomas Hannegan, Timothy Miskell,
Peter Hart, F. P. Speck, and Edward Speck. Patterson noted their arrival at
Beaver Creek on May 28:
Our day’s travel has been somewhat monotonous and tedious, being over a
broad plain covered with little else than cactus and wild sage of a dwarf
variety. The bottoms on both sides of the river are short and narrow, with a
wide table land, or second bench. About noon we passed a cluster of eleven
trees on the opposite side of the river – a welcome sight, these lonely
cottonwoods! Saw a number of boats – four or five – going down the river today;
they make pretty good time, averaging three men in each, the current being
about five miles an hour, and a channel of two or three feet being easily
found. If they meet a rise in main Platte, they may make a successful voyage
down, otherwise the shoal water in that stream will occasion much vexation and
delay. At twenty miles distant we reach Beaver creek – a running stream very
much resembling the Platte, on a much smaller scale; the banks are steep, but
the crossing is not difficult…. Leaving Beaver creek, we traveled one mile and
camped on the bank of the river, with good grass and green cottonwood for fuel,
which we obtain by wading to an island…. Some of the boys have an idea that
they saw the Rocky mountains this evening – perhaps it was only a cloud….
May 29. Sunrise reveals a peak of the
mountains, covered with snow, standing out in bold relief against the sky, far
off in the West. We only traveled twelve miles, and camped on the bank of
Platte, with an abundance of wood on an island [likely very near the future
site of Fort Morgan]….The patch of grass we are camped on is quite extensive,
being over a half-mile in width, and extending along the river two miles or
more….
May 30. Five miles over hard gravel roads brought us to a handsome
little creek of clear, sparkling water [Bijou], slightly impregnated with
sulpher and alkali; just before we reach it, we pass a saleratus lake, whilst
yet above its mouth we saw a large spring of the same kind of water….
Authorities differ as to what is the name of the stream we just passed, whether
it be Kiowa or Bijou; I will therefore call it Kiowa [Bijou]. After crossing
it, we ascend to the table land again, where we have, for five miles, a hard
gravelly road, very trying on the feel of the cattle…. We strike then five
miles of desert – deep sand – and reach the brow of the hill, whence, by taking
the right hand road, we strike the river in a short distance, at a Cottonwood
grove, known as Carson’s Point…. Two miles further on, still over deep sandy
roads, partly, brought us to Fremont’s Orchard, where we have lots of wood, but
no good grass. There is excellent pasture two miles above, but our cattle were
very much fatigued with their long, hot, dusty trip that we had to traverse
today…. Fremont’s Orchard is a lovely grove of young thrifty cottonwoods and
occupies a nice level area of some eight acres, entirely destitute of undergrowth,
whilst the trees present the appearance of having been set out with almost the
regularity of an orchard…. The lofty range of mountains, covered far down with
snow and far up with dark forests, have loomed up ahead of us, all day, like
some Titan sentinel set to guard this sterile waste, against the kindly
influences of any angel messenger that mercy might send to bless the land and
make it productive.
Patterson did not
note meeting any Indians, but most of the other travelers did. Reverend
William H. Goode, a
Christian missionary in the western territories also spoke of the
Cheyenne in the Fort Morgan area, the following excerpt starting with the
Reverend Goode likely just above Sterling:
We are now among another tribe of
Indians, the Cheyennes. They are passing down in great numbers, as if making
some general removal, with women, children, and effects. Their mode of
traveling was somewhat novel to me. Instead of packing all upon the backs of
their ponies, they use the draft. The tent poles, ten or twenty in number, and
about fifteen feet long, neatly trimmed, are fastened near one end to the back
of a pony, the other ends carefully adjusted and spread out at different
angles, so as to cover considerable space as they rest upon the ground. About
midway of these the baggage is placed, and the pony trails the load along, not
unfrequently displaying considerable freaks in his course, driven without
bridle or halter, by a squaw or boy on another pony. Sometimes, instead of
baggage, a mat bed is placed on the poles, a kind of palanquin is constructed
over it, and a person aged or infirm, I suppose, or a squad of papooses, ride
with all the grace and spring of one of our own ecliptics. They are great
beggars, especially for something to eat. Unable to make themselves understood
by words, they open their mouths and make signs indicative of filling them. The
men, in most instances, we do not encourage, but the women and children, who
stood modest and silent, and only looked their wants, we could not pass by.
Antelopes here are abundant; their
flesh affords a grateful change from the monotony of camp diet. Wolves pay us
an occasional nightly visit, but a shot from the revolver, always at hand,
disperses them.
About one hundred miles from the Crossing brings us to Beaver Creek, a
small, fresh-looking stream. On an island in the river near stands a lone tree,
in the top of which is said to be placed the body of an Indian, distinguished
by this mode of sepulchral honor. I approached as near as I could for the
stream, but the branches intercepted my view. In thirty miles more we reach
Fremont’s Orchard, a beautiful spot, noted as a camping-ground. Its name is
indicative of the size and shape of the trees and the appearance of the grove
from a distance…. For the last two hundred and fifty miles, I suppose all the
timber in sight on the mainland would not cover one section. From this point
the supply upon the river improves, though still scanty.
 |
| Edward Dunsha Steele's map of the South Platte River road from his diary. |
William
W. Salisbury was from
Cleveland and set off on April 4th, 1859 for the gold fields of
Colorado. Salisbury would be one of the unsuccessful “go-backers” and returned
along the South Platte River Road in August, 1859, just five months after
setting out. Many of the prospectors of the time expected gold to be easily
obtained in the Rockies and not many planned for the hard labor involved.
Salisbury described his journey eastwards through the Fort Morgan area, noting
as did Reverend Goode the Indian tree burial at the mouth of Beaver Creek:
FRIDAY 5TH AUGUST. We were on our way early this morning. traveled all
the forenoon on a sandy desert without wood or water. Reached Fremont orchard
about 6 ock [sic] this evening It is a beautiful grove of willow and popular [sic] camped one mile and a half below
on good feed and timber. the mountains are but juts to be seen in the distance
Pikes and Longs two peaks are to be seen.
SATURDAY 6TH This forenoon our road has been very sandy. reached Bijou
crick at noon good grass and water. reached an Indian village of several
thousand inhabitance [sic]
and wandered through the village. camped 3 miles below on the river
SUNDAY 7TH Today is Sund[a]y but it does not
seam [sic] as such to me. we are resting this forenoon. have been down to traid
[sic] with the Indians have been traveling this afternoon have went 12 miles.
no wood here of any consequence crossed Be[a]ver crick.
MONDAY 8TH We camped near the third station [Beaver station] last night
were on our way early this morning. the mountains are lost to view here. the
road is frequently very sandy. no wood scarcely here, but willow. Went over to
an island in the river after flood wood and willow. discovered the remains of a
de[a]d Ingen under a lone Cottonwood he had been hung in the tree after de[a]th
with his robes and clothing all on he had decayed and fell to the ground… last
night we passed some Indians on their way home from battle….
 |
| Photo of Sioux tree burial taken near Fort Laramie. |
Sources:
Smith, Duane A. (ed.), “Pikes Peak Fifty-Niner: The Diary of E. A. Bowen,” Colorado Magazine, 47(4), 1970 , p.
69-311 (p. 279).
Hafen,
Le Roy Reuben, To the Pike's Peak Gold
Fields, 1859 (Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press, 2004), p. 154-155.
Steele, Edward Dunsha, The Diary of
Edward Dunsha Steele Across the Plains to Boulder, Colorado in the Year of 1859
(Boulder, CO: Johnson Publishing Co., 1960), p. ?.
Goode, William H., Outposts of Zion: With Limnings of Mission
Life (Cincinnati,
OH: Poe & Hitchcock, 1864), pp. 417-418.
Lindsey, David (ed.), “The Journal of an 1859 Pike's Peak Gold Seeker,” Kansas Historical Quarterlies, 22(4),
1956, p. 305-320, (p. 336). Retrieved from
http://www.kancoll.org/khq/1956/56_4_lindsey.htm
Photo Credit: Sioux tree burial. Photo at National Archives. www.friendslittlebighorn.com/custerslaststand.htm
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