GAF MINI MUSTER SCORES CORRECTED, PICTURES AND STAGE STORY LINES

[Chantilly]

Stage 4

On August 24, 1868,  Major George A. Forsyth, given the rank of brevet colonel, was directed to employ fifty first class hardy frontiersmen to be used as scouts against the hostile Indians.  This was considered a "new idea" at the time to better battle the Indians.  Lieutenant Frederick H. Beecher, Third Infantry, was Forsyth's subordinate officer.  The men started out a few days after arriving at Fort Wallace on September 5 after it was learned that Indians had attacked a wagon train near the town of Sheridan.  On September 16, on the Indian's trail, the scouts camped near the Arikaree Fork in present eastern Colorado.  The following morning, they were attacked by a large force of Cheyenne and Sioux.  The scouts took refuge on an island in the creek, dug rifle pits , and fought back.  All the scout's horses were soon killed or captured.  Surrounded, the scouts' situation appeared hopeless.  Two pairs of scouts on the first and third night were able to depart for help.  The Scouts at Beecher Island did not know whether the couriers had been killed or were on the way to Fort Wallace.  Indians kept them pinned down for four days and the scouts remained at the site for a total of nine days unable to move the wounded. The scouts ran out of rations and consumed some flesh from their dead horses.   Lieutenant Beecher, a nephew of Henry Ward Beecher, was killed on September 17 and the engagement became known at the Battle of Beecher Island.  Chauncey Whitney, later a lawman in Ellsworth, was one of the participants.  Forsyth's Scouts was considered a disaster.

Stage 5

On June 26, 1869,  Indians raided the town of Sheridan and killed one man.  Settlements in north-central Kansas suffered several attacks in which citizens were killed and a few taken prisoner, including Maria Weichel and Suzanna Alderdice and her baby.  Suzanna was the wife of Thomas Alderdice and sister of Eli Ziegler, both served with Forsyth's Scouts and survived the Battle of Beecher Island.  The public was outraged and the army was directed to end these hostilities.  Major Carr led troops and three Scouts, with Buffalo Bill Cody as chief scout.  After a pursuit that lasted several days, Tall Bull's Cheyenne Dog Soldiers were defeated by Carr's command on July 11, 1869.  The Indians lost 52, including Tall Bull.  The two women captives were rescued.  The baby had died soon after capture. 

Stage 6

The effect of the railroad on Fort Dodge was explained by the post surgeon in 1875:  "the completion of the railroad to this post has given it the importance formerly attached to Fort Hays.  It is now the point from which the Cheyenne, Arapahoe, Kiowa, and Comanche Indians are watched."  Also, when the railroad arrived at Dodge City, originally called Buffalo City, it became the center for buffalo hunters who quickly eliminated the large herds in the Central and Southern Plains.  This slaughter removed the commissary on which Plains Indians had depended for more than a century.  It was encouraged by military leaders and made it impossible for the Indians to sustain their traditional way of life.  General Philip Sheridan testified before the Texas legislature in 1875 that the buffalo hunters "have done more in the last two years ... to settle the vexed Indian question than the entire regular army has done in the last thirty years."  Only a few officers protested. 

[Chantilly]

If you want the entire pages with target set up and directions for shooting the stage, pm your email and I'll send them (hopefully, the target picture set up won't shift - happy to email them on request).  Anyone is welcome to use them or feel free to modify to fit your needs.

If you are interested in more about the Frontier Forts in Kansas, I picked up a nifty set of 8 books on the Frontier Forts -
1  Fort Scott
2  Fort Hays
3  Fort Larned
4  Fort Wallace
5  Fort Dodge
6  Fort Riley
7  Fort Harker
8  Fort Leavenworth

The books are published by the Kansas State Historical Society and I believe they can be ordered from their gift shop via internet - http://www.kshs.org/store/home.php?cat=262  They have a nice selection of books!