California Joe

This is the story of Moses Embree Milner, one man's life on the frontier as an Indian Scout. By the late 1860s the Army had been involved in the Indians 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 performed 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 U.S. 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 in short-lived Indian campaigns in the 1800s. To read more about early frontier history you can purchase the book Trail, Forts, Treaties and Indian Wars at Amazon.