Are you ready to step back in time with us to the age of the American frontier? This episode unfurls the tapestry of the life of the renowned Indian scout, Moses Milner, more famously known as California Joe. His tale, as wild and untamed as the frontier he called home, begins with his youthful years of trapping and trading with friendly Indians. We follow his path to the height of his storied career guiding for the US Army. From his service as a trailblazer for the Donovan expedition during the Mexican War, his marriage at the tender age of 21, his explorations to Oregon, and his associations with legendary figures like Kit Carson and Wild Bill Hickok, we delve into the depths of this captivating character.
Our journey through Joe's life marches on through the rugged terrains of Wyoming’s Big Horn Mountain Country where he served under General George Crook, and to the Powder River Expedition against the fierce Cheyenne under General Ronald S McKenzie. His thrilling life, filled with adventure, bravery, and intrigue, drew to a close at Fort Robinson, Nebraska, in a fatal confrontation. His legacy, however, lives on, symbolized by his burial with full military honors at Fort MacPherson National Cemetery in Nebraska. Join us as we weave together the threads of California Joe's life and the richness of the frontier era. This is an episode that will leave you with a profound understanding of the scouts who played a pivotal role in shaping the history of America.
Wild West podcast proudly presents California Joe. By the late 1860s the Army had been involved in the Indian Wars for 20 years and because of the vast, challenging land to the west the Army needed more manpower To offset the vastness of the territory, the Army employed Indian scouts to perform reconnaissance and combat duties. These scouts helped to subdue the last warring tribes. There were several types of scouts those who enlisted as Indian scouts for brief terms and those hired as scouts by the US Army. Sometimes an individual may have served at different times as a hired scout and an enlisted scout, but never at the same time. In addition to enlisted and hired scouts, some scouts not of Native American descent served in regular Army infantry and cavalry regiments and short-lived Indian campaigns in the 1800s. This is the story of Moses Embry Milner, one man's life from the frontier as an Indian scout. Moses Milner was born in a log cabin on his father's plantation near Stanford, kentucky, on May 8, 1829, the oldest of a family of four children, at the age of 14, he quit school, shouldered his Kentucky rifle and headed for the wilderness. The young wanderer reached St Louis where Milner joined a party of trappers on their way to independence, then only a trading post to outfit themselves for a hunting trip on the plat and his tributaries. He was the youngest of a party of twelve. In 1844, milner traveled to Fort Laramie where he entered the service of the American fur company as a trapper. A few days after his arrival at the fort, he joined Jim Bridger in a party of 25 trappers bound for the Yellowstone River and its tributaries. The trappers made their journey to trade with friendly Indians and act as an escort for the trappers from that region who would soon be on their way back to Fort Laramie. During this trip, fifteen-year-old Milner took part in his first Indian battle and killed three Blackfee warriors camped on the Powder River. Milner's stay at Fort Laramie lasted almost three years when he and five other trappers went to Fort Bridger, located on the Blackfork of the Green River, wyoming. At Fort Bridger, young Milner entered the service of Jim Bridger, proprietor. He was employed as a livestock herder. In 1846, during the Mexican War, milner was appointed by Colonel Donovan as a guide for the famous Donovan expedition.
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At the age of twenty-one, on May 8th 1850, moses Milner married thirteen-year-old Nancy Emma Watts. The day following their marriage the couple headed to the California Goldfield. The Milner's joined a wagon train and because of his past experience, moses was elected to captain the slow-moving, cumbersome prairie schooners. The Milner's arrived in the Sacramento Valley in November of 1850. Milner left his young bride and traveled to the gold camps on the American Yuba and Feather rivers.
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Milner heard about the beautiful, fertile land of Oregon and in early spring 1852, he and his young wife set out for Oregon, reaching Corvallis in April of 1852. Milner soon filed a claim on 325 acres. He also purchased 320 acres adjoining his homestead. He built a cabin and bought the best bledded cattle and horses that could be purchased on the west coast in those days. Despite the success of his ranching endeavors, milner soon grew restless and returned to the frontier life. He returned home occasionally and fathered four children.
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In his travels Milner met then Lieutenant Philip, a Sheridan fresh from West Point at Fisher's Landing, a post located a few miles above Fort Vancouver. Lieutenant Sheridan gave Milner the contract for supplying the post with wood and in this way the two became well-acquainted. Milner prospected in Idaho and Montana and traveled through the southern plains. During this time he killed several men, one claim jumper in Bannock, montana, another in Virginia for kicking his dog, and one in Texas, california. Joe's travels took him to Fort Lyon, colorado, where Major E W Wynkoop employed him as a post scout and Indian interpreter. He was present at the Sand Creek Massacre on November 29, 1864. He never saw a more savage or wild band of men than those at Sand Creek that day.
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After leaving Fort Lyon, california, joe traveled to Fort Union, new Mexico, where he met the famous scout and Indian fighter Kit Carson. Carson hired Joe as a civilian scout for an expedition from Fort Union to establish an army post on either Cedar Bluff or Cold Spring on the Semeron route of the Santa Fe Trail. The two became warm friends and Carson is quoted as saying that he never knew a better Indian fighter or a braver man than California Joe. The only battle in which California Joe took part under Carson was the fight at Adobe Walls in the Texas Panhandle In the fall of 1866,. California Joe found his way to Fort Riley, kansas. General Hancock established Fort Harker shortly after Joe arrived in Kansas and he engaged the frontiersman as a scout for the 15th Infantry. Joe served as a civilian scout for troops operating against hostile Indians in Kansas Indian Territory and Texas. The following spring he joined General Alfred Sully at Fort Dodge At Newton, kansas, then a trail in Cowtown, california, joe first met James B Hickock, or better known as Wild Bill.
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At one point Melner hired on as a scout and guide for the US Army. He served briefly as a chief scout for Lieutenant George A Custer on General Winfield S Hancock's expedition of 1867. While on the expedition Melner became good friends of fellow scout James Butler. Wild Bill Hickock, california Joe, was a colorful character. Although he owned a fast horse that he raced, most of his wandering and scouting was conducted on an army mule, which many consider superior to the horse, over rough country. In 1868 and 69, he was scouting for the Sheridan Custer Winter Campaign.
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After the Battle of the Washita, melner and a man named Jack Corbin traveled 100 miles in two days through hostile territory to report the results to General Philip Sheridan at Camp Supply, oklahoma. The overly talkative and friendly scout soon became a favorite of George Custer, who promoted him to chief scout. However, melner had a problem with alcohol and he was quickly demoted after he over-celebrated his promotion. Despite the demotion by Custer, joe and the general remained friends, occasionally exchanging letters. In his book my Life on the Plains, custer recalled the first time Joe saw a train and was intrigued and determined to ride the rails to Leavenworth. Shortly after one of Custer's officers reported that he met Joe one day and was amazed to find him smartly dressed, shaved, and his long curly locks, which had avoided contact with a comb, brush or razor for many years, had undergone a complete metamorphosis, appearing neatly trimmed or combed. But it did not last and within months the unkempt Joe was himself once more. Alcohol was Joe's downfall. Later, in February 1870, while guiding his old friend General Sheridan from Fort Arbuckle to Camp Wichita, he got so drunk that he had to be bundled into a wagon to complete the journey. Sheridan was furious but odd, both by the amount of Joe's liquid intake and by his extraordinary ability to find liquor in the most surprising places. Music In the early 1870s Milner returned to prospecting, ran a cattle ranch near Piazza Nevada, scouted for the Jenny Expedition of 1875, then remained in the Black Hills near Rapid City to prospect.
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In 1876, general George Crook employed Milner as a scout and interpreter for the Big Horn Expedition in Wyoming's Big Horn Mountain Country. Following the Big Horn Expedition, california, joe was engaged as a scout by General Ronald S McKenzie who was in charge of a winter campaign against the Cheyennes under Chief Dolknife. The winter campaign was known as the Powder River Expedition. Music, california Joe's life ended in Fort Robinson, nebraska. When, following a brief confrontation in the Settlers' Store at Fort Robinson on October 29, 1876, tom Newcomb and California Joe pulled their pistols, joe persuaded Newcomb to put up his darn gun and have a drink. Onlookers thought the feud to be over, but later Newcomb appeared with a Winchester rifle and shot Joe in the back as he stood talking to friends. Music, the overly talkative, humorous Milner, a favorite of Custer, who wrote a mule, sported a briar pipe between his tangled red whiskers, and one of the most colorful characters on the frontier, was buried with full military honors at Fort MacPherson National Cemetery. Nebraska. Music, you, you, you.