UTAH HISTORICAL QUATERLY VOL I - VI

American posts

AMERICAN POSTS 59 but for some reason which does not appear the herd became dis­seminated, many owners dropped out until the individual herds amounted to practically nothing. In the fall of 1916 a small herd was brought in and called a tribal herd and kept under control of the agent, it having been purchased on the reimbursable plan. Later on, after the debt was liquidated and the herd reached a point of development where the stock was full-blood Hereford, heifer calves were sold to the Indians for money or labor at a price somewhat below the market value. This plan was devel­oped as a preventative against the squandering by the Indians of something that to them required no effort and advanced a hope of a future issue when the present ones were gone. The project was successful. The Indians at first doubtful became en­thusiastic and even the young boys are getting into the cattle business. The outlook of these Indians is as good as that of their white neighbors and their knowledge of the cattle business gleaned from watching the growth and development of the tribal herd will enable most of them to be self-supporting without the need of searching for labor on the outside as they have been doing, and still do. The health conditions of these Indians has been at par with their white neighbors, in fact, they have been more free from epidemics than the whites. There have been some cases of tuber­culosis but not high in numbers compared with the population. From the so-called social diseases these Indians have been free. Their marital relations have been very good. They have in later years absorbed considerable knowledge of sanitation, disease prevention, and the value of personal cleanliness. One feature is notable and worthy of mention-in the family life the father assumes an equal share of the responsibility and care of the children with the mother. The drudgery is not -shunted upon the women although they take their equal share and many of them are capable of work in the fields and gardens along with the men. AMERICAN POSTS (Continued) By Edgar M. Ledyard Jefferson, Fort. Five miles south of Greenville, in Darke County, on road to Eaton. Built by General St. Clair in 1791. Ohio. Jeffersonville, Q. M. Inter. Dept., Jeffersonville. Indiana. Jennings, Fort. Temporary fort in Florida War, on left bank of the Wakassassa, 12 miles from its mouth. Florida. 60 THE UTAH HISTORICAL QUARTERLY Jennings, Fort. Left bank of Auglaize River, Putnam County, 18 miles north of Fort Amanda. Ohio. Jesup, Camp, three and one-half miles south of Atlanta, near Fort McPherson. Georgia. Jesup, Fort. On the dividing ridge between Red and Sabine Rivers, 25 miles southwest of Natchitoches, Sabine County, Louisiana. John Brown, Fort. Under the name of Isaac Smith, John Brown rented an impoverished farm in Maryland in 1859, about four miles from Harper's Ferry. "Isaac Smith" and his 22 pros­pectors, who had been apparently engaged in examining soils and moving long boxes (containing Sharpe's rifles), crossed the river from Maryland, Harper's Ferry, on October 16th and made an attempt to capture Harper's Ferry. Armed Virginians pressed Brown and his companions and they took refuge in the Armory fire engine house, since known as John Brown's Fort. Marines, under Robert E. Lee, broke down the doors of the engine house and captured the small garrison. At this time Brown revealed his real name. John Brown's fort was taken to the World's Fair at Chicago, for exhibition purposes, later re-erected at a park above Harper's Ferry and again taken down and removed to the grounds of Storer College on Boliver Heights, Harper's Ferry, where it was reconstructed and stands at present as originally built. West Virginia. John, Fort (1834). General John Bidwell, founder of the town of Chico and later candidate for President of the United States on the Prohibition Ticket, in "Echoes of the Past" ("The First Emigrant Train to California"), page 12, makes the follow­ing statement: "till we came to Fort Laramie, a trading post of the American Fur Company, near which was Lupton's Fort, be­longing, as I understand, to some rival company;". "Echoes of the Past" was written from memory "about twenty years ago." We may believe that General Bidwell's memory of the name is good, but the proximity of Fort Laramie to Lupton's Fort (1836 or 1837 to 1847) is not so clear unless his mind compre­hended only long distances. Hebard & Brininstool in "The Bozeman Trail," volume I, pages 101-3, make the following statement: "A combination of realism and romanticism have found their way into literature descriptive of old Fort Laramie. No forti­fication on the Oregon Trail had such a varied and prolonged history as this fur trader's post that ultimately expanded into a fort that served the purpose of a harbor of safety for the emi­grant, a place where the red men exchanged pelts for beads, tobacco, and whisky, where the white man held councils with the AMERICAN POSTS 61 Indian and signed treaties with their chiefs, and where the sol­dier, who was to battle with the hostile savage, made his head­quarters. Fortunately many descriptions of trie old fort from gifted pens have been given to posterity. "In 1834, Nathaniel J. Wyeth, on his way over the Oregon Trail to the Oregon country, recorded in his journal, under date of June 1st: 'William L. Sublette has built such a fort as Fort Clark (at the Mandan villages) on Laramie Fork of the river of the Platte, and can make it a central place for the Sioux and Cheyenne trade.' Thirteen of Sublette's men were working on this fur post on the date indicated. "This fort or post was originally constructed in 1834 and was known as Fort Williams (Fort William?) named for its builder, William Sublette. After this fur post was sold to Fon-tenelle, the name was changed to Fort John, in honor of John B. Sarpy, bearing this name until 1846. Occasionally the fort was called "Fort Laramie on the North Platte," or, at least, ship­ments were made for the fort marked with that address, but it was not known by the name of Laramie until the American Fur Company erected a new building on another nearby site. The original post was on the left bank of the Laramie River about one mile above its junction with the North Platte; the new site selected was still about another mile up the stream. At this last named site the fort was rechristened being called Fcrt Laramie, named for a French Canadian free trapper, Jacques Laramie, or La Rame'e, La Ramie, or de la Rame'-no one seems to know the exact spelling-for whom have been named the Laramie River, Laramie Peak, Laramie Plains, Laramie City, and Laramie County, all in the locality where this fearless fur trader before the year 1820 conducted his lucrative occupation of fur trapping. Fort John was torn down soon after the erection of Fort Laramie, the latter post being sold to the government in 1849 by the American Fur Company, and remained in our gov­ernment's possession until it was sold in 1890 to private parties, the main purchaser being Mr. John Hunton, who, since 1867, has lived in the vicinity of the fort, and who at this present time (1920) lives on this old site of the most noted and famous fort in the West." While the post may have borne the name of Fort John until 1846, Fremont designates one of two which he reached in this vicinity on July 15th, 1842, as "Fort John or Laramie." Accord­ing to Preuss, whose journal is appended to Fremont's, Fort Laramie was reached on July 13, 1842. Fremont gives the loca­tion of Fort Platte at the junction of the Laramie with the Platte, while Preuss dined at Fort Platte on July 13th, "situated at the junction of the Laramie river with the Nebraska." A 0L> THE UTAH HISTORICAL QUARTERLY warning letter written by Bissonette at Fort Platte on July 1st is referred to by Fremont under date of July 16th and by Preuss under date of July 21st. John Boardman, whose journal was published in the Utah Historical Quarterly, October, 1929, "ar­rived at Laramie Fort on July 13th" and the next day "went to Fort Platte to a dance, where some of the party got gay." Clayton in his "Emigrants' Guide," under "Prominent Points and Remarks," makes the following reference: " 'Fort John' or Laramie Ford" and one page 23, (loc. cit.) under note III, writes as follows: "Fort 'John, or Laramie,' lays about one and a half miles from the river, in near a south-west course, and is com­posed of a trading establishment, and about twelve houses, en­closed by a wall eleven feet high. The wall and houses are built of adobes, or Spanish brick. It is situated on the Laramie Fork, and is a pleasant location: the latitude of the Fort is 42°12T3"; longitude 104°11'53"; and altitude above the sea, 4,090 feet." It is also apparent from what Clayton, careful observer, wrote, that the post was known as Fort John as late as 1847. L. V. Loomis in "A Journal of the Birmingham Emigrating Company" reached this locality on June 1, 1850 and writes as follows: "June 1st-This morning got an early start and rooled (rolled) on to the ferry on platte river, opposite Fort Laramie, there being some 30 or 40 teams ahead of us, we were obliged to wait until late in the after noon, for our turn, when we com­menced ferrying, which took us untill a little after dark, we got over however without the least accident, of any kind, and en­camped this evening on the west bank of Platte, ferriage here Si.00 per load, and had to do the work our selves, while waiting for our turn to ferry some of us went up to the Fort, to see what was to be seen,- and found our selves very agreeably, disap­pointed in this place, insted of 6 or 8 little Log huts, we found 30 or 40 Buildings, and some of them of a pretty fine stile, some firstrate fraim buildings two-storys high, and quite large, the fort was enclosed by a wall about 11 feet high, made of Adoby's or Spanish Brick, in the fort were plassed 2 Brass cannon of a pretty good size, about 9 pounders, the parade ground was situated joining the Fort, which was a beautiful level spread over by nature with small gravel, their stabling joined the parade ground, this was a long row of buildings or two long buildings, being some 3 or 4 hundred feet long, everything about these stables were kept in splended order, they were very neat and clean. As luck always turns to our hand, it happened that the day we passed they were Drilling the Soldiers, we saw them all dressed in uniform, and marched on the parade ground and drilled for some time, they looked splended, I tell you, neat as new pins, the Fort is situated about l1^ miles from the ferry,-" AMERICAN POSTS 63 From the account of Loomis, it may be rather safely con­cluded that the "military Fort Laramie, established by the United States in 1849, was a combination of the American Fur Company post and modern frame buildings. The American Fur Company post, described as of adobe, was called "Fort John or Laramie" by Clayton, also by Stansbury who visited this post in 1849- "Fort Laramie, formerly known as Fort John," page 53, "Ex­ploration and Survey." Fremont and Stansbury "picture" the fort in pleasant, hilly surroundings, not a river bottom. Stans­bury recounts the beginnings of improvements noted by Loomis a year later. If there was a Fort John a mile or more distant from the adobe post, it probably was destroyed in the late Forties or the early Fifties. It appears that no sharp distinctions can be drawn regarding the chronological use of "Fort John" or "Fort Laramie" in connection with this post. "While Fort Platte ,complicates the issue, it is apparent from Boardman's journal that his "Fort Platte" and "Fort Laramie" were in the same immediate locality. The United States Government sold the reservation here to private parties in 1890; John Hunton pur­chased part of the holdings. An Omaha man was the sole or principal owner in 1927. One of the tenants at Fort Laramie told the writer (1927) that Fort John was about a mile below the "military" Fort Laramie and in line with that post and Laramie Peak. In 1930 a movement was on foot to preserve part of the site and some of the old buildings. Johnson, Fort, Montgomery County. New York. Johnson, Fort. Northeast point of James Island, Charles­ton Harbor, opposite Fort Sumter. South Carolina. Johnson, Fort, in Iron County, near Parowan. Utah. Johnston, Camp J. E., (Q. M. Training Camp), Jacksonville. Florida. Johnston, Camp, on right bank of the North Concha, a branch of the Colorado. (See Camp Concho.) Texas. Johnston, Fort, on right bank of Cape Fear River, three miles from its mouth at Smithville. North Carolina. Johnston, Fort. Built by Confederates, now Fort Geary, Leesburg. Virginia. Jones, Camp Harry J. Arizona. Jones, Fort, in Scott's Valley, 15 miles southwest of Yreka, Siskiyou County. California. Jones, Fort R. Temporary fort in Florida War, right bank of the Ocilla River, 23 miles from its mouth. Florida. Junction, Camp, Jayess, Lawrence County. Mississippi. 64 THE UTAH HISTORICAL QUARTERLY Junction, Camp, Watha, Pender County. North Carolina. Junction, Camp, Waco, McLennan County. Texas. Jupiter, Fort, on right bank of Lochahatchee River, about three miles from its mouth at Jupiter Inlet. Florida. Kalispel House. (See Kullyspell House.) Kamehameha, Fort. Nine miles from Honolulu on Queen Emma Point, Oahu, Hawaii. Kamiah Mission (1839). This mission and post stood on the left bank of Clearwater river, branch of the Snake. Nearby missions were Whitman's at Waiilatpu (1836) and Spalding's (1836) at Lapwai. According to Rees' "Idaho, Chronology No­menclature Bibliography," Kamiah was named for Kamiakam, chief of the Yakimas and later of the Confederated tribes who participated in the Yakima War of 1855-58. Kamiakam was a son of a noted warrior of the Nez Perce tribe; his mother was a princess of the Yakimas. Kamiakam is a Shoshoni word mean­ing "He does not want to go." Idaho. Kaministiquia, Fort (1679 & 1717). Same as Fort Williams, (1802). Canada. Kansas City Remount Purchasing Headquarters, Kansas City. Missouri. Kaskaskia, or more properly Notre Dame de Cascasquias, is not only the oldest permanent settlement by Europeans in Illi­nois, but also in the entire Mississippi Valley. Kaskaskia was located on the left bank of the Kaskaskia river about six miles above the point where it empties into the Mississippi. Fort'St. Louis, (1682-1702) founded by La Salle on Starved Rock, was in existence some 10 or 15 years before the founding of Kaskas­kia, prior to the year 1700, although the exact date is unknown. Kaskaskia was a frontier stronghold and a gathering place for trappers, traders and Indians. Pictures of the site are shown in Randall Parrish's "Historic Illinois," pages 132 and 138. Ran­dolph County. Illinois. Kearny, Camp. Fifteen miles north of San Diego, near Linda Vista, California. (Continued) Utah-State Historical Society BOARD OF CONTROL (Terms Expiring April 1, 1933) J. CECIL ALTER, Salt Lake City JOEL E. RICKS, Logan WM. R. PALMER, Cedar City PARLEY L. WILLIAMS, Salt Lake City ALBERT F. PHILIPS, Salt Lake City (Terms Expiring April 1, 1931) GEORGE E. FELLOWS, Salt Lake City WILLIAM J. SNOW, Provo HUGH RYAN, Salt Lake City LEVI E: YOUNG, Salt Lake City FRANK K. SEEGMILLER, Salt Lake City EXECUTIVE OFFICERS 1929-1930 ALBERT F. PHILIPS, President J. CECIL ALTER, Secretary-Treasurer Librarian and Curator Editor in Chief WILLIAM J. SNOW, Vice President All Members, Board of Control, Associate Editors MEMBERSHIP Paid memberships at the required fee of $2 a year, will include current subscriptions to the Utah Historical Quarterly. Non-members and insti­tutions may receive the Quarterly at $1 a year or 35 cents per copy; but it is preferred that residents of the State become active members, and thus participate in the deliberations and achievements of the Society. Checks should be made payable to the Utah State Historical Society and mailed to the Secretary-Treasurer, 131 State Capitol, Salt Lake City, Utah. CONTRIBUTIONS The Society was organized essentially to collect, disseminate and pre­serve important material pertaining to the history of the State. To effect this end, contributions of writings are solicited, such as old diaries, journals, letters and other writings of the pioneers; also original manu­scripts by present day writers on any phase of early Utah history. Treasured papers or manuscripts may be printed in faithful detail in the Quarterly, without harm to them, and without permanently removing them from their possessors. Contributions and correspondence should be addressed to" the Editor, Utah Historical Quarterly, 131 State Capitol, Salt Lake City, Utah.