looking for gold
In These Happy Golden Years (Chapter 13, "Springtime"), Laura Ingalls Wilder's uncle, Thomas Quiner, tells the family about his 1874-1875 Black Hills expedition to look for gold. While most of the story follows other accounts of the trip fairly well (those of David Aken, Annie Tallent, Thomas Russell, etc.), I do wonder why Laura (or Uncle Tom?) changed a couple of things.

Although Wilder wrote that the Gordon Stockade at French Creek "and everything in it" was burned to the ground by the cavalry at they time they evicted and arrested the Gordon party, the stockade was left intact. The oxen weren't killed, either, but they did "disappear," and it was suspected that they ran off. As you can see in the 1876 photograph at left, the stockade was still standing. And if you visit Custer State Park - you know, when you go to Keystone next month to see the Little House on the Prairie television cast reunion - you can see the recently renovated replica stockade.

But what happened to Uncle Tom after he left the Black Hills? Wilder's story abruptly ends with the stockade going up in smoke, and Tom being marched out on foot, a prisoner. The action is compared to the Ingallses being forced to leave Indian Territory in Kansas.

The truth is that the members of the Gordon Party were held only a short time in Wyoming, then paroled. They were met by Charles Collins, one of the group's organizers, and he accompanied the party to Sioux City, Iowa, by way of the Sioux City and Pacific Railroad.

Elaborate preparations were made for the reception of the party in Sioux City. According to the newspapers, at least a thousand men were gathered at the depot "to welcome the original Black Hillers back to Sioux city." As the train rolled into the station, a band played and cannons were fired, while the crowd struggled with each other for a first sight of the heroes." (Sioux City Weekly Journal, May 6, 1875) A hollow square was formed by members of the uniformed fire department (to represent the Gordon Stockade), in which the Black Hillers - with rifles in hand - took position. Was this the source of the photo of the party featured in David Aken's book?

The fire chief spoke. The mayor spoke. The men were compared to Sherman and his march to the sea; they were said to be brave and heroic; they were said to have opened the way up to settlement of the Black Hills. Almost before the party broke up and headed to the hotel for a fine dinner, other larger groups were already organizing to head to the Black Hills to seek their fortunes.

Hadn't the Gordon expedition been illegal? The Black Hills were sacred lands belonging to the Sioux, and there was a treaty in place, denying access to the white man. Of course, this hadn't stopped General Custer from going to the Black Hills in advance of the Gordon Party, and Custer had miners and engineers in his party who did find gold.

Everybody knows "what happened next," but don't you ever wonder what might have been the result had the Gordon Party been made an example of, and treated like the criminals they really were?
- posted by pioneergirl at 10:58 PM