William came to Nebraska Territory in 1861 and went to work on the Otoe and Missouri Reservation. The Agent at the Reservation at the time was John Baker. As described in the essay, Baker was concerned that the Otoe warriors might not return from their 1862 summer hunt, but rather they would go south and join other tribes that had sided with the Confederates in the Civil War. He therefore asked William to accompany the Tribe on their hunt in the hope that he could prevent such an action. The Otoes returned to their reservation peacefully at the conclusion of their hunt. William wrote the following essay describing this adventure.
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KEEPING INDIANS FROM JOINING THE REBELLION
by William Daily
In the summer of 1862 I was the superintendent of the Otoe and Missouri Indian mills situated on the Big Blue River and near the state line between Kansas and Nebraska. At this time the war of the rebellion was in progress. Some of the southern Indian tribes had joined the forces of the rebellion and had sent emissaries to try to induce the Otoe and Missouri tribes to join them. Some of them, the Otoes headed by the Chief White Water had been down south to confer with those rebel Indians. Soon after his return, the tribe was starting out southwest on their annual summer buffalo hunt in order to supply themselves with pelts and dried meat. Their habit was to make a summer and late fall hunt. Mr. Baker, the agent, had some fears that when the Indians got out on the plains that some of the warriors might go and join the rebellion. Therefore, he sent myself and one other white man, Mr. David Shatto, with the Indians to prevent them from going south or in getting into trouble with any tribe they might fall in company with on their trip.
Our Indians had arranged to meet at a point about 100 miles west of our agency at a place on the head of a stream emptying into the Republican River. Near Lake Sibely, the Pawnee, the Iowas, the Sacs and Fox and the Kickapoo tribes of Indians went for a hunt.
I was in company with the head chief and a party of braves who stayed back with us. The main body of our Indians having preceded us by a day or more. The second day, in the afternoon, a messenger came back to tell us that one of our tribe had been killed by a skulking party of Commanche and Kiowas, who were hovering on our skirts and driving the buffalo in front of us. I mean in front of this confederate tribe of Indians numbering about 500 Indians, with a host of horses and dogs. When this news reached us, the head chief, Arkakikee, just scarred his bare legs until the blood trickled down to the ground. This punishment seemed to be an evidence of his sorrow and a pledge to avenge the death of the young man who was killed.
Late that evening we reached the camp of all the tribes above named, our little party being the last to arrive. We camped with them.
The next morning, a little after sunup, we broke camp and the column moved off in a southwest direction, and indeed it was a grand sight to see so many Indians in their bright colored trappings moving out over the rolling prairies.
We moved on until—say one o’clock, and went into camp as their custom was. We had no special excitement that day. A few of the Commanches and Kiowas were seen skulking on our outskirts or flanks.
The next morning, as before, very early, we were moving up a valley of a small stream about ten o’clock; off to our right there appeared a large mound setting alone in the smooth valley. Three of our young Indians started to go to this mound, say about a mile from the line of march. These boys were on foot and armed only with bows and arrows.
When near the foot of the mound, a party of about ten wild Commanches rushed out from behind this mound, coming from both sides. They surrounded the boys, but with the quick instinct of the Indian, they put their backs together and held their assailants, who were on horseback, at bay, by firing a continual volley of arrows at them. The most exciting race I ever saw was a large party of—say 100 of our Indians who were mounted, make the race to relieve those three boys who were defending themselves so bravely. The boys were hurt but slightly. I ran out on a horse to the mound and up on top of it and watched the race that followed. The effort of our Indians to overtake the Indians who had made this dash on the boys. They followed them until they seemed no larger than wolves.
We moved on until about noon, when it was reported by our scouts that there were buffalo in reach. We at once went into camp and prepared for the chase. I think 400 or 500 Indians went out, I with the party. We soon came in sight of about 70 buffalo grazing in a valley. The Indians in the chase were formed into a single line in a half- moon shape, with a captain at each end with a banner. In this shape we ran for the game, and when the line was close to them, they could drive the buffalo as they pleased by rushing ahead with one end of the circle and falling back with the other end. In this way, the game was kept on smooth ground so that the hunters could close in on them and shoot them with bow and arrow.
I was near the middle of the line and rode a green horse and the excitement of the run made him rather unmanageable and he rushed right into the herd of buffalo. When he mixed in with them and saw their heads, he just bounded from one to meet another one’s head. He did this with such fury, that in trying to stay on top of the horse---I lost my gun or rather dropped it to keep from being thrown off the horse and under the feet of the stampeded buffalo. Finally I got the horse out of the herd and right glad I was that I was alive and that my hair was still on my head and that I had not turned gray. I went back to find the gun and soon did so. By this time every one of those buffalo were either killed outright, or wounded so that they could not run. I shot two or three of these wounded ones, for the Indians having no guns, and buffalo would fight the Indians. They could not get close enough to drive their arrows deep enough to kill them quickly. In a short time all the game was dressed and packed on the ponies and on the road to camp which was about 3 miles off.
The Indians had been out on the plains several days and were out of provisions having been disappointed in not finding game sooner. This was because the wild Indians as we called them had kept between us and the buffalo. When we got to camp the Indians had a great feast, cooking and eating until late at night.
The next day we remained in camp to rest up and allow the squaws to dress the buffalo hides and dry over the fire or jerk the surplus meat.
My tent was situated next to that of the head chief, Arkakee, who had two wives, and they did the cooking for the white men as well as their own household. I then thought and still think that they made as good coffee as I ever drank, and fried wheat dough in grease that that it made good bread.
After I had laid down for the night, it being a little late for the reason that some Otoe and Pawnee Indians had been quarreling over some horses which the Otoes claimed the Pawnees had stolen from them some time before. They were demanding to have them back and this the Pawnees refused to do. All this was causing bad feeling between them. This dispute having been settled for the time being, I was about going to sleep when my attention was called to a conversation being carried on just outside my tent in a low, earnest manner, which caused me to think something was wrong. So I got up and went out to investigate.
I found all—or nearly all, the Otoe chiefs were in council and Big Soldier was telling them that when the chase above described (to the big mound) that he, Big Soldier, was in the lead and got so near to the wild Indians that he made himself known to them, and they to him and they had nothing against the Otoes and Missouri and for them to get away from the Pawnees. That the Kiowas, Commances, and Arapahoes were nearby in large force and then when the Pawnees moved out the next day, they intended to attack and kill all of them. This enmity had been of long standing and they had had many battles, all without any decided advantage to either side. The Pawnees were about the bravest and best fighters on the plains according to their numbers. After this information, I concluded that the Otoes and Missouris had better separate from the Pawnees and the other tribes with them. I so advised our chiefs, left them in council and retired and did not know until the next morning what they would do.
But when we’re fairly started out in the morning, the file lead of my Indians just bore off to the southwest of the line of march and in a short time we were alone and moving southwest and the Pawnees were moving west so that about eleven o’clock, we came upon a smoother plain and in full view of the Pawnees about 1 1/2miles off in battle with the wild Indians. They sent out a runner to ask the Otoes to help them but they all refused to do so obeying their agent’s injunction not to get into any fight while on this trip and I urged them to keep their promise to Mr. Baker their agent.
However, one of our braves was called Cheyenne Cush Connee, meaning Cheyenne Killer. He mounted a large, fine black horse, and with all his paint and trappings on him, it was a great sight to see him fly across that prairie. The battle was on horseback. We could see the movements plainly. Each column would rush at the other until quite near each other; then seemingly by consent, they would turn their horses. They—lying down on the side of the horses, fired their arrows from in under the horses necks, then returned to the line from which they started, reformed and repeated this movement as speedily as possible.
We camped and got lunch and watched the battle for an hour and a half. We then turned east for home. The next morning Cheyenne Cush Connee came into camp and reported.