1856 Emigration

In April, 1856, a distressingly similar series of events that led to the Grattan massacre in 1856, began with the Cheyenne tribe. This time the cause was a stray horse.

A contingent of troops had been stationed at the Platte bridge, evidently on guard duty, when a small band of Cheyenne arrived for purposes of trade. The officer in charge had been informed that the Indians possessed four stray – not stolen- horses belonging to whites. He demanded the animals, promising to reward the Indians for finding and herding them. The natives surrendered three but claimed they had found the fourth animal much earlier and at a different place. The troops were then ordered to arrest three of the Indians. Two tried to escape; one succeeded, the other was killed, and the prisoner ultimately died in captivity. In the course of their precipitate flight the remaining Indian killed an old trapper.

In August there were further incidents. Following a misunderstanding between two Cheyenne warriors and the driver of a mail carriage, Fort Kearney troops attacked the peaceful Cheyenne encampment and killed several Indians. But before the attack the Cheyenne chiefs had already disciplined the two braves, who themselves had been fired upon first by the stage driver. The fleeing Cheyenne attacked several parties of travelers they encountered, killed at least 11 persons, and took 3 captives. One of those killed was Almon Babbitt, Utah Territory’s delegate to Congress.