Washington sentinel. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1853-1855, 1854-09-19
From the ST. Louis Republican.
Particulars of the Massacre at Fort Laramie.
SHARps PoNr, NEBRAsKA TER,

SHARP's PoNT, NEBRAsKA Ter,
Eight miles e. Of Fort Laramie, Aug. 81, 1854
SIR: An affair has happened here between
the soldiers and the Indians which ought to be
properly noticed by the United States govern
ment Having been an eye witness to the bat
tie, consider it my duty to furnish strict ac-
count of it and its causes
In the first place, on the 18th August, train
of Mormons passed this place. The Indians,
who were encamped here waiting for their pay
ment from government, had no provisions, and
were, OF course, anxious for something to eat.
AS the Mormons were passing, lame cow, be-.
longing to man in the rear of the Mormon
train, became frightened, and ran into the In
dian camp. The Mormon left the cow behind,
and so one of. the Indians, a Minnechosa, shot
it down, and with his companions ate it up.
The Mormons then went to the fort and re-
ported that the Indians had killed one of their
cows.
On the 10Th, about two o'clock in the after
noon, Lieutenant Grafton, with a command of
twenty-seven soldiers, and Auguste Lucien, in
terpreter, arrived here to arrest the Indian who
had killed the COW. l accordingly sent for the
chiefs to go with the lieutenant and make the
arrest. They accompanied him, but the Indian
was not willing to give himself up, saying that
he would die first. While the Bear Chief of
the Wazazies was standing, with three other
chiefs, the Little Thunder, the Big Partizan,
and the Man who is afraid of his Horses,
among the soldiers, the lieutenant ordered his
men to fire. They did so, and wounded the
Bear Chief and his brother. But one round
was fired, when the Indians in turn charged,
and succeeded in routing the soldiers and kill
ing all of them with the exception of one
nriv ubrs ,nf 49, T
tenant Grattan and two of his men were killed
while standing by their cannon, the lieutenant
receiving twentyfour arrows, one of which
passed through his head. As soon as the SOL
diers saw their commander fall they took to
flight, but were all killed within half mile of
this place.
The Ogalallah camp was about one mile dis
tant, and a white man named LEROY lott was
staying there at the time. Being Sioux in
terpreter, the chiefs requested him to stay be-
tween the camps to prevent the young men
from charging on the soldiers, but be could
not succeed, and barely. escaped with his life.
After the battle the chiefs came in my house,
and said that, as the young men had killed all
the soldiers that had come to fight them, they
would now go and slaughter the rest of the
soldiers at the fort, burn all the houses, and
kill the whites on the river. But i told the
chiefs to stop them from so doing, assuring
them that, since the soldiers had commenced
the quarrel, it would be overlooked by govern
ment. But they then rushed in the house and
demanded of me to give them everything that
they wanted. To save our lives gave them
everything that had in my store, to the amount
of two thousand dollars, The next day they
went to the post of the American Fur Company,
took all the goods that were sent to them by
government and pillaged the store. The sit
uation of the traders and of Fort Laramie is
perilous in the extreme. / was requested by
the commander of the fort to bury the dead
soldiers, since he had not men enough to de-
tach party for that service, and i succeeded
in doing so.
As far as know anything about Indians, /
think that our government ought to send FIVE
hundred mounted men, veteran troops, to keep
the Indians in subsection, and one company of
infantry to guard the fort. The Indians in the
recent battle, after killing all the soldiers, broke
their cannon to pieces and carried off their
muskets and animals. AS for placing the in
fantry on prairie to fight with Indians, it is
just the same as putting them up as targets to
be shot at. There were about one thousand
Indians in the battle.
Yours, truly, JAMES BoRDEAU,
per SAMUEL SMITH.