The United States Dragoon Regiment arrive at Comanche Village, 1834. Painting by George Catlin who accompanied the expedition.

The First Dragoon Expedition of 1834 (also known as the Dodge-Leavenworth Expedition) was an exploratory mission of the United States Army into the southwestern Great Plains of the United States. It was the first official contact between the American government and the Southern Plains Indians.[1]

History

The United States Dragoon Regiment left Fort Gibson, Indian territory, on 20 June 1834, under the command of General Henry Leavenworth. In addition to the troops, there were 30 Cherokee, Delaware, Osage, and Seneca tribesmen who served as guides. The expedition entered the Cross Timbers region on July 10.[2] The difficult terrain of the Cross Timbers region, together with summer heat, sickness, and death slowed the progress of the expedition; one hundred fifty of the five hundred men died on the march. The expedition stopped at Camp Leavenworth, where General Leavenworth, sick and injured from a buffalo hunt, sent the troops onward under the command of Colonel Henry Dodge. On July 16, 1834, the expedition left 75 sick men, including American traveling artist George Catlin, at Camp Comanche; Colonel Dodge and the rest of his men continued onward. General Leavenworth died on July 21, 1834.[2]

On July 21, 1834, Colonel Dodge and the remaining men reached a village of Wichita Indians at Devils Canyon. One of the Wichita men was the father of a woman travelling with the expedition. The reunion resulted in easing Dodge's negotiations with the tribe on the next day, during which Dodge invited the tribe to send representatives to Washington, D. C. He also won the release of a white boy that the Washitas had captured during the previous Spring.[lower-alpha 1]

Dodge also met with some Kiowas, who had arrived with some Comanches. Another woman traveling with the Leavenworth-Dodge group was a Kiowa, who had been kidnapped by Osages in 1833. Dodge returned her to her tribe, winning their friendship. He urged the three tribes to avoid attacking white and Eastern Indian people. A few days later, the main body of the expedition left for Fort Gibson which they reached on August 15, 1834.[2]

General Henry Leavenworth the commander of the United States Regiment of Dragoons
George Catlin sketch of Colonel Henry Dodge, commander of the United States Mounted Rangers, 1833.[3]
Lieutenant Colonel Stephen W. Kearny was second in command of the Dragoons and later died in the Mexican–American War
Nathan Boone the youngest son of Daniel Boone was on the expedition and served with Henry Dodge in the War of 1812
First Lieutenant Jefferson Davis was in command of Dragoon company F who later became the President of the Confederate States of America.

Notable expedition members

In addition to Dodge, Leavenworth and Catlin, notable members of the expedition included:

George Catlin paintings

All of the following are produced from Catlin's paintings and other published images, which originated with sketches that he made on the expedition.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Pelzer 1911.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Agnew, Brad. "Dodge-Leavenworth Expedition". The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture. Oklahoma Historical Society. Retrieved March 21, 2016.
  3. ↑ Jung, Patrick J. (2007). The Black Hawk War of 1832. University of Oklahoma Press, p. 102.

Sources

Notes

  1. ↑ Dodge was unsuccessful in getting another prisoner released, a Ranger private who had been captured during the 1833 expedition.[2]
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