Wild West Podcast
Welcome to the Wild West podcast, where fact and legend merge. We present the true accounts of individuals who settled in towns built out of hunger for money, regulated by fast guns, who walked on both sides of the law, patrolling, investing in, and regulating the brothels, saloons, and gambling houses. These are stories of the men who made the history of the Old West come alive - bringing with them the birth of legends, brought to order by a six-gun and laid to rest with their boots on. Join us as we take you back in history to the legends of the Wild West. You can support our show by subscribing to Exclusive access to premium content at Wild West Podcast + https://www.buzzsprout.com/64094/subscribe or just buy us a cup of coffee at https://buymeacoffee.com/wildwestpodcast
Wild West Podcast
Grit and Gunfire in the Wild West: Bat Masterson's Daring Exploits and the Red River War's Tense Standoffs
Prepare for a gripping tale from the annals of history, as we transport you back to the time of Bat Masterson and the Red River War. This episode promises to take you on a thrilling journey, making you feel the desperation, the courage, and the heroism that this era was known for. We've pieced together the audacious exploits of Masterson and Dixon, Army scouts and former buffalo hunters, who braved extreme danger and negotiated peace treaties with hostile Indian tribes. Share their adrenaline as they stand their ground amidst a volley of gunfire and arrows along the North Canadian River, and marvel at the leadership of Captain Adnett Chaffee, who led a cavalry charge with mere pistols.
But that's not all. You'll also get a front-row seat to the intense Indian attack on Lyman's wagon train. Feel the chilling tension as Lyman and his men find themselves trapped in a rocky ravine, surrounded by Indians on all sides. Experience the urgency as they dig defensive positions under the looming threat of a Kiowa attack. Be captivated by the daring feat of a young Kiowa named Botea and the timely arrival of a relief column. This rollercoaster of an episode promises to deliver a vivid look into history like never before. So buckle up and get ready for an experience that you're unlikely to forget anytime soon.
A score of battles and running skirmishes raged across the plains and canyon, with some 3,000 soldiers engaging up to 700 Indian warriors. Several pivotal battles took place in the Texas Panhandle during the summer and fall of 1874. Outnumbered and outgunned native warriors and their families spent months running and fighting For decisive army victories. Southern plains Indians gave up their free roaming way of life and by June of 1875 began new lives on the reservation. Wild West podcast proudly presents that Masterson and the Red River War. As a result of Masterson's accomplishments at Adobe Walls, he was now a man of reputation. He stood about 5'9 and was compactly assembled, with broad shoulders, a deep chest and brawny arm. His hair was swarthy and his distinguishing heavy black eyebrows were more inclined to arch upward and laughter than threaded in anger. Following the battle, masterson returned to Dodge City and shortly after he was hired as an army scout. In August of 1874, when his friend Billy Dixon signed on as an army scout, bat decided to do the same. As a scout he served under General Miles, who sought to force the hostile Indian tribes in the area to make peace treaties.
Speaker 1:Organized at Fort Dodge, nelson Miles with his eight cavalry companies and four companies of infantry started the expedition south of the Arkansas River on August 11, 1874. Among his force were 37 scouts and 20 were Delaware Indians. The additional 17 white men, including Bat Masterson and Billy Dixon, were former Buffalo Hunters. The first departure consisted of the battalion commanded by Major Compton and the detachment of scouts led by Lieutenant Baldwin. The hot wind came to whisper across the plains toward the end of the summer when the column moved from Fort Dodge in a southerly direction. After crossing the Cimarron River, the initial columns split into two, with Major Compton continuing down the North Canadian River towards Camp Supply. Lieutenant Baldwin's unit took 53 men on a scouting mission upstream of the North Canadian to Palo Dero Creek and then overland to Adobe Walls.
Speaker 1:The first contact made by the Baldwin expedition with hostile Indians was at Adobe Walls on August 19, 1874. This firefight was one of the ironies of the Red River War. Ironically, three of the men that had fought there six weeks earlier were now engaged in another battle. They were Billy Dixon, amos Chapman and Bat Masterson. The morning after the detachment's arrival at Adobe Walls, a party of 150 Indians attacked a group of nearby hunters and killed one man. Baldwin and his men rode to the scene, drove the Indians off and pursued the war party 12 miles south, before breaking contact. The next day the scouts, along with Bat Masterson, proceeded down the Canadian River. They stumbled upon a small party of hostiles. One brave was killed in a short skirmish and another was wounded. Baldwin's men captured four ponies and some firearms. He sent word to Colonel Miles that his surveillance was going well and that the scouts had found many trails left by the tribes near Adobe Walls and the Canadian River. Judging from the number of hostile red men in the area, baldwin felt that there was plenty of work before reaching the command.
Speaker 1:On August 30, the hard-riding scouts attached to Lieutenant Baldwin's advanced guard for the advancing column found a large force of Indians. More accurately, the Indians found the scouts as Bat and the others were riding on a trail between two lines of bluffs. At least 200 warriors appeared above them and opened fire. These bluffs were like the Indians' castle that arose from the battered earth. First the scouts jerked their carbines out of their saddle holsters, then, with the wind in their hair, jumped on their horses, dodging a barrage of bullets and arrows. The scouts, along with Bat Masterson, returned to fire while laying on the ground under protective cover, behind large rocks, being concealed by brown withered bushes. There was a sense of doing or dying. Moments like opportunities come just once the future lay before Masterson and the scouts, both light and dark. To win meant prosperity and to lose meant decay and rot under an uncouth enemy's thumb. Before the terrible song of the fight began, each man lay their head on the rock and lent a prayer escape from their soul. Each stood upon that hallowed ground, the same defenders and attackers fighting for survival in their own way. Gunfire and arrows all emerged at once until the hostiles fell back to a line of steep, treeless bluffs and deep, dry ravines. There were now about 600 warriors occupying the position and prepared to make a fight of it. It was touch and go until the cavalry arrived to root out the Indians.
Speaker 1:When the cavalry arrived, miles had Major Compton's battalion of the 6th Cavalry moved in on the right and Biddles on the left. The artillery was placed in the center, including two gatling guns, a five-pound field cannon and an infantry company. Captain Lyman and Company I of the 5th Infantry were in reserve. When the artillery opened fire, the troops moved forward on the line. The Indians were astonished by the performance of the gatling gun, which bolted onto a baggage wagon and spewed bullets faster than a dozen men could shoot. Every gunshot ripped through. The Indian resistance silenced their war cry and stopped the advance. Each blast from the big guns was if those sounds had become the sound of death. The rattling of bullets and explosions spurred the brutal shouts from the coldest lungs of the enemy. The hostiles dropped back to successive positions along the arid rocky bluffs. The cavalry and infantry attacking companies drove the Indians back further and further.
Speaker 1:Captain Adnett Chaffee led Company I of the 6th Cavalry at its charge using only pistols, Chaffee told his men as they attacked forward. If any man is killed I will make him a corporal. His frivolity in the face of the enemy bolstered the fighting spirit of his men. Miles in Biddle watched what they later called the prettiest cavalry charge they ever saw. With pistols carried high in their hands, the troopers rode up the side of the bluff in a single line. When they reached the Indians' position, the riders engaged the shocked Redmen in close combat. The startled Indians broke on and ran, abandoning their makeshift fighting positions.
Speaker 1:Soon after, major Compton led his entire battalion in a cavalry charge against a bald crest about 200 feet high and swarming with Indians. To the sound of each explosion came the terrible echo, as if it were the anguished cry of God. The artillery softened the objective before Compton's men swept over it. The Indians were taking a beating, spiritually and physically. The artillery fire was something the Indians could not cope with.
Speaker 1:Going back farther and regrouping, the Redmen occupied a piece of the high ground again. This was their most vital position and the only way to the top was along a trail wide enough for only two men to climb at a time. Tullius Cicero Tupper led Company F of the 6th Cavalry up the trail. In an attack, his bugler repeatedly sounded charge as Captain Tupper's troopers made the ascent. The thoroughly demoralized Indians left the field in confusion and bewilderment. Company F had successfully assaulted the final position.
Speaker 1:Bat Masterson and the Scouts got back on their horses and the chase was on. They and the Army were in hot pursuit for 20 miles too hot, as men suffering from incredible thirst and heat exhaustion fell by the wayside. Still, bat and those with stamina persisted day after day, with the Army soldiers and their exhausted horses trailing behind them. Finally, the chase ended. The soldiers were in an area known as the Staked Plains, so named because of a series of poles or stakes driven into the ground to mark a route for cowboys to direct their herds to water sources.
Speaker 1:Miles ordered that camp be made there. He hadn't scored the decisive victory he sought, but he wouldn't retreat. So Miles bivouacked his command on September 5, 1874. He planned to wait there for supplies. Miles then ordered Captain Willis Lyman and his company to secure the trains coming from Camp Supply. Five days later Willis Lyman, in charge of the returning supply wagon, sent the following message back to Fort Supply In the field near Washita River, 3 o'clock pm, september 10, 1874, commanding officer ordered to secure the train from Camp Supply.
Speaker 1:Sir, I have the honor to report that I am corralled by Comanches two miles north of the Washita on General Miles' trail. We have been engaged since yesterday morning. Having moved since the first firing about 12 miles, I consider it injudicious to attempt to proceed further. I estimate the Indians vaguely at several hundred, whom we have punished somewhat. I have but twelve mounted men. Very respect fully your obedient servant W Lyman, captain Fifth Infantry, commanding train guard one.
Speaker 1:Willis Lyman's predicament began on September 9, after crossing a deep ravine north of the Washita River. Lyman had first spotted some Indians. About 8 o'clock in the morning he had his wagons moving in two parallel columns about twenty yards apart. In a precautionary measure. In case of an attack the wagons could be quickly put in a circle for defense Company. I was dismounted and walked beside the slow-moving wagons. Lieutenant Frank West and a detachment of fourteen soldiers from the Sixth Cavalry were riding ahead of the wagon train.
Speaker 1:The Indians had been preparing for an attack several hours before Lyman sighted them. Scouts had spotted the wagon train about dawn and sent word back to the war chiefs. Unfortunately for Lyman, lone Wolf and Mamanti were the first chiefs notified. The chiefs immediately began preparations for their owl medicine, a sacred Kiowa belief that a member of the Owl Doctor Society could foresee the outcome of a battle or raid. Satanta and Big Tree were also preparing for the attack. Each warrior painted the sacred war-color red on their faces and torsos. Excitement over the pending attack caused a frenzy in the Kiowa camps as they wove strips of red cloth into their horses' mains and tails. Finally, the chiefs sent a small party of braves forward to contact the train and delay it until the main force could be brought into position to attack. These were the Indians that Lyman had spotted.
Speaker 1:At 8 o'clock that morning the total fire from the Kiowas was at long range. Lieutenant Frank West and his detachment of cavalry rode out to drive the small war party away. Driving away the small band became necessary as each time the wagon train approached the crossing site at the Washtaw the Indians would appear. While West was in front keeping the way clear for the train, lyman and his men came into another ravine about two miles north of the river. As the wagon train creaked and rolled slowly through the dry wash, it was suddenly attacked on both flanks and the rear Simultaneously. The wagon circled and foot soldiers deployed to fight off the charging Indians Company.
Speaker 1:I remained calm and professional in front of the charging red horde. They fired their weapons slowly and deliberately when it seemed they would be overrun. The Kiowa was retreated out of range Company. I had one man killed and one of its lieutenants wounded.
Speaker 1:Lyman was not in a tenable position. His train was in a deep, rocky ravine surrounded by Indians that occupied the high ground on all sides. He had a seriously wounded man on his hands. What little water there was in their canteens was going fast and during the terrible drought a resupply from the sky was unlikely. The Kiowa's remounted and circled the wagon train as night approached, carefully keeping the soldiers' rifles out of range. The wild antics of the circling Indians kept the soldiers under what cover they could find until dark. As soon as darkness came, lyman had his men dig defensive positions with whatever available tools. Bags of grain and other supplies were taken from the wagons and used for revetments. The Kiowa's were going to wait for the soldiers to weaken before they attacked in earnest.
Speaker 1:On September 10th the soldiers were pinned down during the day by long-range rifle fire from the elevated gnolls. Water was going fast. Lyman forbade any of his men from dashing outside the perimeter to find water. He thought that Satanta was among the warriors and would have a party of Indians waiting for just such an attempt. Lyman felt the heat and craved cool water as much as his men and knew that after another day it would take more than his leadership and example to keep them from bolting for water. During the evening of September 10th Captain Lyman held a conference with William Schmaltz. The young German was one of Baldwin's civilian scouts that had joined the train in September 8th. Schmaltz felt sure he could slip through the Kiowa lines. Schmaltz was permitted to try and was given a message to carry to Camp Supply's commanders. Schmaltz left about midnight. Lyman waited for sunrise and a fresh attack by the Indians.
Speaker 1:On the third day of the siege, a young Kiowa named Botea performed a feat of courage unsurpassed in Kiowa history. The Mexican half-breed rode through the lines held by Lyman's infantrymen. Even amid the chaos and melting horizon, the brave warrior showed his strength, for his spear bore the finest of steel. Born of such divine flames, this brave warrior rode his horse through the soldiers' lines ever so coolly, with a swagger that spoke of pure confidence. He did this not only once, but on four different occasions. After his first lonely ride, his colleagues urged him to stop, but he would not listen. Finally, the soldiers' bullets came close enough to cut the feathers from his scalp lock. When he returned from his fourth ride, satanta told him I could not have done it myself. No one ever came back from four charges.
Speaker 1:September 12th brought some relief for Lyman's embattled troops. The Kiowas began withdrawing some of their men. The chiefs had begun to worry about the families and had decided to send some of the braves to the villages to protect them. Lyman observed the enemy withdrawing part of his force and decided to send Lieutenant West detachment for water. West successfully drove some waiting Kiowas and Comanches from a nearby waterhole. Schmaltz arrived at Camp Supply at 9 am that same day. A relief column of Company K from the 6th Cavalry was dispatched from Camp Supply that evening toward the battle site of the Washtaw. Lyman did not know that Schmaltz had reached Camp Supply successfully, but Willis began to feel optimistic about his situation.
Speaker 1:Late in the afternoon of September 12th. The drought that had baked the prairies broke. A torrential downpour fell and drenched the battlefield. The rain fell like God's poetry, each drop in a single letter, in a song that takes eons to sing. It was like music, always calling in ways that cannot be explained. When the patter of the drops tumbled from the gray skies, the melody brought serenity, no matter the chaos of life below. When, dying of thirst earlier that day were now waist-deep in water and their rifle pits. The rain lasted all night until the evening of the 13th.
Speaker 1:Discontinuous and intruding gunfire from Kiowa and Comanches continued on the 5th day of the siege. Many hostiles were seen off in the distance, moving north. That night Schmaltz and five other scouts came to the expedient fortress and announced that a relief column was not far behind them. Company K affected the relief at 2.30 am on September 14, 1874. Early the following day Lyman's wagon train crossed the Washtaw and met Captain Adna Chafee in Company I of the 6th Cavalry. The siege had been broken. A few days turned into a few weeks.
Speaker 1:Being concerned about Lyman's return, myles sent scouts to camp supply inside the Cherokee Strip with dispatches on his lack of progress and the return of their supplies. On September 10, 1874, colonel Nelson A Myles, whose command was running short of rations, sent two scouts, billy Dixon and Amos Chapman, and four enlisted men with dispatches concerning the delay of Captain Willis Lyman's supply train. On the morning of September 12, billy Dixon and the five additional men approached the divide between Gage B Creek and the Washtaw River. They suddenly found themselves surrounded by about 125 Comanche and Kaiawa warriors, some of whom had come from the siege of the supply wagons for which the scouting party was looking to find At a site called Buffalo Wallow. The six men were ambushed by the Comanche and Kaiawa retreating warriors. There was no cavalry on the way, so the scouts and soldiers kept firing as fast as possible, keeping the Indians at bay until nightfall when they retreated. One soldier was killed and the others were wounded, including Chapman who lost a leg. It was for his bravery and deadly accuracy with his rifle during this engagement that Billy Dixon would receive the Medal of Honor.
Speaker 1:That's it for now. Remember to check out our Wild West Podcast shows on iTunes Podcast or at WildWestPodcastBuzzBroutcom. If you like our shows, be sure to share them on your favorite social media platform. You can also catch us on Facebook, at Facebookcom, or on our YouTube channel at Whiskey and Westerns on Wednesday. Thank you for listening to our podcast. Join us next time as we take you back to the life and times of Bat Masterson, part 3, the German Family Ambush. You can learn more about the Legends of Dodge City by visiting our website at worldfamousgunfightersweeblycom. If you'd like to purchase one of our books, you can go to worldfamousgunfightersweeblycom. Slash bookshtml. We'll see you next time.
