First Dragoon Expedition
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The First Dragoon Expedition of 1834 (also called the Dodge-Leavenworth Expedition) was the first official contact between the American government and the Plains Indians.
The United States Dragoon Regiment left Fort Gibson, Indian territory,on June 20, 1834, under the command of General Henry Leavenworth. The expedition made slow progress at first, slowed by the Cross Timbers, summer heat, sickness, and death—one hundred fifty of the five hundred men would die. The expedition stopped at Camp Leavenworth where Gen. Leavenworth, sick and injured from a buffalo hunt, sent the troops on ahead under the command of Colonel Henry Dodge. Leavenworth would die on July 21. On July 16 the expedition encamped at Camp Commanche leaving 75 sick men, including the artist George Catlin, with Dodge and the rest of his men continuing on.
On July 21, Dodge and the remaining men reached a Toyash Village (Wichita Indians) at Devils Canyon. There, Dodge exchanged prisioners, traded, and secured peace treaties with several of the Plains tribes. The expedition returned to Ft. Gibson August 15, 1834.
- Note: The Second Dragoon Expedition was from Fort Leavenworth to the Rocky Mountains in 1835.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- Shirk, George H. "Peace on the Plains," Chronicles of Oklahoma 28:1 (January 1950) 2-41 (retrieved August 16, 2006).
- Perrine, Fred S. "The Journal of Hugh Evans," Chronicles of Oklahoma 3:3 (September 1925) 2-215 (retrieved August 16, 2006).
- Wheelock, T.B., "Journal of Col. Dodge's Expedition from Ft. Gibson to Pawnee Pict Village." American State Papers, Class V, Military Affairs, (Washington, 1860) , pp. 373-382.
