Rare Book Monthly
Book Catalogue Reviews - April - 2005 Issue
Wild Times in the Wild West from Arthur H. Clark
Samuel Bowles, early conservationist, foresaw greatness of the West.
Item 144 is a Letter from the Secretary of War, transmitting information relating to an engagement between the United States troops and the Sioux Indians near Fort Laramie. The Secretary of War was one Jefferson Davis, better remembered for unrelated events a few years later than the 1855 date of this piece. Instead, the topic of this message is the "Grattan Massacre." In 1854, a cow escaped from a Mormon settler traveling the Oregon Trail near Fort Laramie. The cow found its way into a camp of Brule Sioux where one of the Indians killed it. The traveler requested compensation at Fort Laramie. A group of 29 volunteers, under the command of a brash young recent West Point graduate, John Grattan, set out for the Indian camp. Evidently, Grattan was looking to establish a name, as he told other officers he was prepared to take back the offender at all costs in this silly incident. In response to Grattan's demand that the Indians turn over the party responsible for killing the cow, Chief Conquering Bear proposed a reasonable alternative. The Indians would instead give them a few horses, the value being considerably greater than that of a cow. Grattan would have none of it. When Conquering Bear turned and walked away, one of Grattan's men shot him in the back. The enraged Indians, far outnumbering Grattan's company, returned the fire and wiped out Grattan and his men. The incident would lead to punitive measures by the government, most notably the Battle of Bluewater Creek, where 85 Indians, including women and children, were killed. One of those who witnessed this series of events was a young man named Crazy Horse, and they would have a major impact on his thinking later in life. $72.50.
Samuel Bowles published a significant work on the opening of the West in 1869 titled Our New West. This was actually a combination of two travel titles he had previously written. This was an important time for the American West. With the Civil War over, the nation could again turn its attention to expansion. Bowles foresaw that the opening of the transcontinental railroad would open the West to development on an entirely different scale. This Massachusetts newspaper publisher promoted the region both for production, be it through mining or agriculture, and for tourism. He recommended that the Indians consider such pursuits as stock raising as a means of preserving their independence. He visited the Mormon settlements and correctly predicted that the opening of the West to mass migration would doom the practice of polygamy, saying only a "kingdom in the sea" could perpetuate the practice. Bowles is also recognized as an early conservationist. He noted that Yosemite had been set aside for protection, and recommended this be done for other natural wonders he had visited in his travels. Item 231. $65.
