Next time you watch a classic western movie where there is a wagon train and the “Calvary” comes to the rescue…. insert JOHN THOMPSON as one of the Corporals in the movie. John was a soldier in the 30th WIS who was tasked along with 850 other soldiers in helping rescue a wagon train led by Capt. James Fisk (Photo of man with the hat pointing). John was helping build Fort Rice when they were sent out from Fort Rice, led by Col. Dill. If you are checking a map its over 180 miles. One way. On foot.
The below is pulled from many sources including the from the website about Fort Dilts. I also included post returns from Fort Rice that show what companies were at the fort. I went to Fort Dilts and it was awesome but is absolutely in the middle of no where.
On Sept 11th, 1864 (or around this time as there are two accounts I have read) General Sully dispatched Col. Dill (Picture of the man with the beard) and the four 30th Wisconsin Companies (H was John’s company) and the reserve troops including the injured soldiers to rescue a train of emigrant/miners near the Montana Dakota boarder. Here are the details on the expedition.
In the summer of 1864, while the United States was still in the throes of civil war, emigrant wagon trains crossed the northern Great Plains to the mountains of western Montana and Idaho. Gold had been discovered in sizable quantities in those mountains, and a considerable interest in going to the gold fields had arisen in residents of the northern states and particularly in Minnesota Territory, then the westward limit of organized frontier settlement. Two routes to the gold fields were available: boat travel down the Mississippi and then up the Missouri River to Fort Benton, or overland wagon train from St. Paul to Montana. River travel was time-consuming, at times dangerous, and could be quite expensive if whole families and their belongings were to be transported.
The overland route posed problems of supply, protection, and navigation because the wagon trains would necessarily travel a distance of more than a thousand miles through territory that was virtually unmapped and unoccupied except for large numbers of Indians. The best information available on the overland route of the beginning of the 1860’s were maps and notes of an 1853 exploring expedition led by Isaac Stevens, who was seeking an acceptable northern route for a transcontinental railroad. Steven’s route generally ran from St. Paul northwestward across what is now central Minnesota and North Dakota to Fort Union, a fur trading post on the Missouri River, then westward along the Missouri and Milk Rivers to Fort Benton. Wagon trains successfully followed this route, and one more northerly, in 1862 and 1863 without major incident with the Indians of the region.
In the autumn of 1862, however, the Indian menace to the wagon trains and the white occupants of Minnesota increased when members of several bands of Sioux conducted wide-spread acts of hostility in what became known as the Minnesota Massacre. In the following three years major military campaigns against the Sioux were conducted by Colonel H. H. Sibley and General Alfred Sully in areas through which the wagon trains would pass. Indians in what are now central and western North Dakota who had not taken part in depredations were provoked to hostility by indiscriminate attacks by the military units.
Amid this climate of hostility and gold fever, Captain James Liberty Fisk led a wagon train out of Minnesota in early July, 1864. Fisk had led trains over the usual Stevens route in 1862 and 1863 after being appointed military superintendent of emigration on that route. The 1864 train was very late in making its start westward, and Fisk determined that the train would take a more direct westerly route. The train left Fort Ridgeley and traveled along the Minnesota River and overland to Fort Rice on the Missouri River in what is now south-central North Dakota. Fort Rice was then under construction and was serving as the base camp for the Sully campaign of that year. Fisk discovered that the main Sully force had departed to the northwest toward the Little Missouri River Badlands about three weeks before the Fisk train arrived at Fort Rice.
After obtaining a military escort of fifty men, Fisk departed Fort Rice and followed Sully’s trail along the Cannonball River for about 80 miles. At a point where Sully had turned his troops northward to intercept a band of Indians, Fisk turned the train to the south and west on a course that he hoped would skirt to the south of the dreaded (North Dakota) badlands and shorten the distance to the mouth of the Bighorn River.
On September 2, 1864, ten days after Fisk left Sully’s trail, the train was attacked by a party of Hunkpapa Sioux near Deep Creek in what is now Slope County, North Dakota. This is the Sitting Bull attack. Two trailing wagons were cut off by the Indians and, although the military escort repulsed the attack, nine whites were killed and three more were seriously wounded. After a sleepless night the train broke camp and continued westward, leaving a loaf of strychnine-soaked bread at the campsite. The Sioux, who were on a hunting expedition and who later demanded a ransom of food for release of the train, found and devoured the bread. Some days later a scout for the train reported having found the bodies of several Indians, which had been partially eaten by wolves.
The wagon train continued westward for two days under continuous attack by a growing Indian force until September fourth, when the wagons were formed into a corral on a commanding ridge top. Within the day a six and one-half foot high wall of earth and sod was built around the circled wagons. The Indian attacks continued unabated for several days, and three more men died and were interred under the walls of the fortification. Among the dead was Corporal Jefferson Dilts, a scout for whom the location was named. A contingent of ten men left the fort during the night of September 4-5 to summon aid from Fort Rice.
**Five other soldiers were also killed during the siege; William H. Chase, Co. D, Brackett’s Minn. Cav. Theodore Rosch, Co. K, 8 Minn. Inf. Joseph DeLany, Co. I, 8 Minn. Inf. Augustine Carpenter, Co. G, 8 Minn. Inf. Ernest Hoffinaster, C0. A, Brackett’s Minn. Cav.
The Hunkpapa Sioux, who had skirmished with Sully’s force at least twice in the previous weeks, continued their attacks for several days and then offered to parlay the freedom of the train for food and other goods. The Indians also offered to release a white woman they had captured some weeks earlier, in exchange for a large amount of goods. When Fisk offered a smaller ransom, the Indians refused the offer because they believed a better bargain could be struck at Fort Rice.
** The white women was the famous Fanny Kelly. Fanny Kelly (1845-1904) was a North American pioneer woman captured by the Sioux and freed five months later. She later wrote a book about her experiences called Narrative of My Captivity among the Sioux Indians in 1871.
After sixteen days of confinement in the fortification, the Fisk train was rescued by soldiers of Fort Rice including the 30th WIS and Corporal John Thompson. Although Fisk and some of the emigrants wished to proceed westward, the train was refused further military escort in that direction. The train then returned to Fort Rice without further harassment by Indians and was disbanded.
The fortification area of Fort Dilts has not been disturbed since 1864, except for placement of military headstones for the soldiers buried under the wall. The site retains its unbroken vistas and the feeling of vastness or desolation that greeted the emigrants of the Fisk wagon train. Fort Dilts may be the only site of a classic Indian attack on a wagon train crossing the Great Plains which retains visible evidence of the incident and which remains virtually unaltered since the attack.
A diary of the battle kept by William L. Larned describes the events and setting in vivid detail, and many of the features are still visible, including the sod wall, wagon ruts, graves, and an uncompleted well. Archaeological excavations confirmed the historic integrity of this site. The only modern intrusions are a flagpole, a site marker, a registration box, a barbed wire fence, and an interpretive sign north of the fortification remains.
Here is Col. Dills account of the rescue.
EXPEDITION FROM FORT RICE, DAK. TER. Page 795 (War of the Rebellion, Volume 41-1)
SEPTEMBER 11-30, 1864 – Expedition from Fort Rice, Dakota Territory, to relieve Captain Fisk’s emigrant train under siege while traveling to Idaho Territory. Report of Col. Daniel J. Dill Thirtieth Wisconsin Infantry.
HEADQUARTERS EXPEDITION FOR RELIEF OF CAPTAIN FISK’S EMIGRANT TRAIN FOR IDAHO
Fort Rice, Dak. Ter., October 4, 1864.
CAPTAIN: I have the honor to report for the information of the general commanding that in pursuance to instructions from headquarters Northwestern Indian Expedition, dated September 10, 1864, I left this post on the morning of the 11th of September with a column of 850 men, viz, 550 infantry, 300 cavalry, and one section of artillery, and followed the trail of the Northwestern Indian Expedition for five days. I then bore to the left, going a very little south of west, on the trail of the emigrants, seeing but two or three small parties of Indians until the tenth day out from this post, when we reached the corral of the emigrant train, after marching a distance of 180 miles. They had fortified themselves, and were in a condition to resist any attack made by the Indians. The emigrants stated that the Indians had left some days previous to my arrival at the corral, evidently satisfied that they could not take it, and that no Indians had been seen since they first left. I think there is no doubt but that the Indians moved forward into the Bad Lands (which were quite close by), thinking perhaps the train would commence to move when they disappeared, when they undoubtedly could have captured the whole train, as they could not have doubled the train up short enough to have protected it with the force they had. Captain Fisk told me he had been trying to get the emigrants for some days to break the corral and move forward, but he could not get them to do it. The emigrants told me they never intended to move one mile forward without a strong escort. They appeared to be fully aware of the danger of going forward into the Bad Lands. I think Captain Fisk deserves censure at least for trying to urge the emigrants forward under the circumstances, and knowing as much as he should of the Indian character. I informed Captain Fisk and the emigrants that I had come to relieve them and escort such as wished to go back to Fort Rice to that point. Captain Fisk requested me to send two companies of cavalry to escort him and the train for three or four days, which he claimed would put him beyond danger, when, as he stated, he could go through without an escort. I of course refused to grant any such request, knowing the folly and madness of such a move as that.
I informed the emigrants that my command would march at 9 o’clock the next morning for Fort Rice on its return and that any who wished the protection of the command could have it by being ready at that time. Captain Fisk made another and a last effort to get the emigrants to go forward with him without an escort, calling on them to divide and show by that their decision in the case; at the same time faulting them for what he called backing out. They divided and about twenty decided to go on with Fisk, the rest to go back with me, saying they would never go forward without a heavy escort. Fisk declared his determination to go on with the twenty men and even less, but after sleeping on the matter and finding in the morning that a number of the twenty men had changed their minds amid were going back with my command, he concluded to return with them. I left the corral at 9 o’clock on the 21st of September with the whole train, arriving at this post on the afternoon of the 30th without meeting with any Indians and seeing but one or two small parties. I crossed a number of trails of small parties and one of a large party apparently going south toward the Black Hills. I also saw fresh tracks and evidences of small parties on the Cannon Ball River on my return, but saw but one small party of six or seven Indians on the river. The losses in the command were 1 man, 15 horses, and a few oxen. The [lost] man obtained liquor from some of the emigrants and became intoxicated the morning we left the corral and supposed to have laid down and [been] left behind. He belonged to the Eighth Minnesota Volunteers.
On the sixth morning out from this post at your 50 camp, a small party of Indians charged through the picket-line just at the break of day, and stampeded about thirty horses, and succeeded in getting away with fifteen. We were compelled to leave about fifteen or sixteen oxen, they becoming completely worn out. As before stated I arrived at this place on the afternoon of the 30th and the following day ordered the troops of the command to their several destinations as directed by you, viz: The detachment of the Second Minnesota Cavalry to Minnesota, via Fort Wadsworth, escorting such of the emigrants as went that way; and the detachments of Brackett’s battalion, Sixth Iowa, and section of artillery, to Fort Randall and Sioux City, escorting a Government train of wagons and those of the emigrant’s train going that way, which was the larger majority of the emigrants, but few went across to Minnesota. The detachments of the Eighth Minnesota Volunteers and Seventh Iowa Cavalry I ordered to report to Lieutenant-Colonel Pattee, who took boats and left the evening of the 1st instant for Sioux City.
I am, captain, very respectfully, your obedient servant
DANL. J. DILL,
Colonel Thirtieth Wisconsin Infantry, Commanding Expedition.
Capt. JOHN H. PELL,
Assistant Adjutant- General.
