Apr 12, 2018 - Sale 2473

Sale 2473 - Lot 234

Price Realized: $ 3,250
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 800 - $ 1,200
(WEST.) Schuyler, Walter Scribner. Lively letters written by a cavalry lieutenant in the Wild West. 6 Autograph Letters to various parties (family members or retained drafts), most signed, 38 pages total; condition generally strong. Vp, 1870-77
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Walter Scribner Schuyler (1850-1932), an 1870 West Point graduate and future Army general, was during this period a lieutenant in the 5th Cavalry under General George Crook. His letters offer a colorful look at cavalry service in the West. The earliest letter in the collection is addressed to his mother from Fort D.A. Russell in the Wyoming Territory on 27 November 1870. It describes a near-disastrous hunting expedition under Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Duncan and Captain Gregory Bourke, in which the party was nearly killed by a prairie wildfire, with antelope being driven into a herd of 1500 by the fire. It is followed by a long letter to his father dated 5 October 1871 describing an expedition with General Crook, threatened by more wildfires and then trapped in a blizzard with no means of building a fire. Both of these early letters are quite long, a combined 26 pages.
The remaining letters are all from 1877. The next two are unsigned retained copies of dispatches which Schuyler sent from Camp Robinson, NE to Albert C. Snyder (1844-1891), then the Western Union telegraph operator in Cheyenne, WY, describing the peace mission which helped end the Great Sioux War. His undated first letter (31 January) describes the demeanor of the Sioux who had already surrendered: "The change in the attitude of the Indians since the time when the disarmament took place is wonderful. One can scarcely believe that the Indians one now sees here submissively obeying the behests of the agent, can be the same as those whom in May last showed such supreme contempt for the government and its desires." He adds that "the Sioux and Arapahoe scouts who took part in the Powder River Expedition and the Mackenzie fight were mustered out and paid off yesterday . . . and are convinced that loyalty pays." This letter appeared uncredited in newspapers across the country, such as the Chicago Tribune of 2 February 1877, which described it as being from "a reliable party at Red Cloud dated the 31st ult." On 10 February 1877, he wrote: "Spotted Tail, chief of the Sioux, with a body guard of 200 chosen warriors, starts today for the north on a self-imposed mission to obtain an interview with the chiefs of the hostiles now reported to be massed near the forks of Tongue River, and counsel them to accept while there is yet time the terms offered by the government, viz the surrender of their arms and ponies." Spotted Tail was a Brulé chief whose mission was instrumental in gaining the surrender of numerous Sioux and Cheyenne bands over the coming weeks.
The collection concludes with two more letters to family. Writing to sister Evelyn Schuyler Schaeffer from Fort Robinson on 22 April 1877, he discusses a visit to Spotted Tail Agency and the imminent surrender of Crazy Horse, who is described as "the redoubtable warrior himself." He adds that "as these Indians are turning in their arms and horses, it is safe to say that they will give us no more trouble for a long time." Finally, a 15 June 1877 letter to his father from Omaha, NE describes visits to Manitou Springs, Colorado Springs and (briefly) Salt Lake City, as well as mining activity near Flagstaff, AZ. with--a group of 5 related newspaper clippings and a receipt issued by Schuyler for mattresses at Camp Robinson, 11 February 1877.