• Military officers including General
Patrick Connor, leader of the Powder River Expedition of 1865; Henry B. Carrington, post
commander at Fort Phil Kearny in 1866; William J. Fetterman, commander of the troops
at the Fetterman Fight near Fort Phil Kearny; Andrew Burt, post commander at Fort C. F.
Smith; James Powell, commander of troops at the Wagon Box Fight; Henry B. Wessells, who
replaced Carrington; General George C. Crook who led his troops in three campaigns using
the Bozeman Trail as a route in the Sioux War of 1876; and in the hierarchy of
command...Phil Sheridan, William Tecumseh Sherman, and Ulysses S. Grant.
• Among the women were Army wives Margaret
Sullivant Carrington, Frances Grummond Carrington, and Elizabeth Burt, who became
chroniclers of events primarily at Phil Kearny and C. F. Smith and points along the
way, providing us with excellent primary sources of information.
There were wives of civilians, such as Elizabeth Wheatly,
laundresses at the Fort, and Indian women in the camps nearby.
• Jim Bridger, famous mountain man, fur
trader, and explorer, was, at over 60 years of age, guide and chief interpreter for Col.
Henry B. Carrington. Bridger, during years on the frontier, had mapped a several-state
area with what historians and engineers later referred to as "remarkable
precision." Many of his early trails are now the routes of our highways and mountain
passes today. He played a major role in Bozeman Trail routes and also opened what is known
as the Bridger Trail, another route from the Oregon Trail to the gold fields of Montana,
traveling west of the Bighorn Mountains through safer country.
• Cattleman Nelson Story brought through,
enroute to Montana in 1866, the first large trail herd from Texas. Nelson and his
descendants have been prominent in the development of Montana.
• Civilian Frontiersman "Finn" Burnett
who served at Phil Kearny and C. F. Smith, then, almost a decade later, at the Rosebud
Battle, returned to live with the Shoshone and teach them how to farm. His
descendants, including Milward, Alan, and Pete Simpson, have distinguished themselves in
state and national government, holding offices as governor of Wyoming (Milward), the U.S.
Senate (Milward and Alan), and the Wyoming State Legislature (Alan and Pete).
• John "Portugee" Phillips, a
civilian contractor, rode 235 miles in four days, riding mostly at night, from Fort Phil
Kearny to Fort Laramie carrying the news of the Fetterman disaster. (See copy on Phillips
in Interesting Facts,
Myths and Quotes)
• Sergeant Max Littman, an immigrant
soldier, distinguished himself with great bravery at the Wagon Box Fight, where he risked
his life to save that of fellow soldier Sam Gibson.
• Emigrants Perry Burgess and Davis Willson
typified the young men who traveled the Trail to the gold fields of Montana and who stayed
in the West the rest of their lives.
• Ridgeway Glover, Smithsonian
photographer, was killed by Indians on the wood road a couple miles from Fort Phil Kearny,
possibly before he had a chance to fix his camera equipment and get photos of Fort Phil
Kearny.
and many others..."French Pete"
Cazeau, a trader; emigrants Perry Burgess and Davis Willson, who traveled the Bozeman
Trail; Lt. Bingham, who lost his life in the battle of Dec. 6, 1866; Susan Fitsgerald, the
black laundress; Blue Feather (grandfather of Bill Tallbull ),who fought at the Fetterman
Battle; officers George Grummond, Frederick Brown, Tenodor Ten Eyck, Edmund Shurly, David
Gordon, George Belden, Jon Smith, George Dandy, and John Jenness, who was killed at the
Wagon Box fight. There were sutlers, miners, army doctors, and a chaplain. And first and
foremost, the brave soldiers and warriors, many of whose names are lost or buried in old
record books.
NOTE: Recommended reading is Dee Brown's THE
FETTERMAN MASSACRE and Civilian, Military, and Native American PORTRAITS OF FORT PHIL
KEARNY, written by members of the Fort Phil Kearny/Bozeman Trail Association.
