On this date in 1823, Joshua Pilcher's men burned Arikara villages to the ground. This was directly against the express orders of Colonel Leavenworth.
On June 2, Arikaras had ambushed an expedition of fur traders and fur trappers from the Rocky Mountain Fur Company. Twelve dead. Eleven wounded.
In response, Henry Ashley, legendary proprietor of the Rocky Mountain Fur Company, arranged for the assembly of a coalition force consisting of the Sixth Infantry led by Colonel Leavenworth, the Missouri Legion consisting of two fur trader militias under Henry Ashley and his rival Joshua Pilcher, and about 500 Lakota warriors, who were referred to in contemporary press accounts as “friendly Indians.”
They arrived at the lower Arikara village on August 9th. After a day of skirmishing between Lakota and Arikara warriors and a second day of artillery bombardment from the Sixth Infantry, the remaining Arikaras sued for peace.
In seeking this peace, Colonel Leavenworth repeatedly overruled his officers and the fur trade leaders who sought a resumption of hostilities. Once the Arikaras became aware of infighting in American ranks, they evacuated their villages in the middle of the night.
Joshua Pilcher, one of the fur traders, evidently didn't get the massacre he was looking for. Even though Colonel Leavenworth commanded coalition forces to withdraw on August 15th, two of Pilcher's men, Angus McDonald and William Gordon, sneaked into the Arikara villages. It took two hours for them to go lodge by lodge, setting fires. That evening, pickets found them attempting to sneak back into the camp.
This led to mutual recrimination. Pilcher regarded Leavenworth to be timid and incompetent. Leavenworth regarded Pilcher to be treacherous and vindictive.
Joshua Pilcher and his men were dishonorably discharged from the Missouri Legion.
By August 15, the phase of the War of 1823 involving the spilling of blood was over. The next phase, involving a copious spilling of ink, was yet to begin.
Dakota Datebook by Andrew Alexis Varvel
References:
- William R. Nester, “The Arikara War” (Missoula, MT: Mountain Press Publishing Company, 2001), page 180.
- Ibid., pages 140-145.
- Argus of Western America (Frankfort, KY), 3 September 1823, page 2, column 5.
- “Meloncholy Intelligence”, The National Gazette and Literary Register (Philadelphia), 30 July 1823, page 2, column 4.
- “Meloncholy Intelligence”, The Charleston Courier (SC), 7 August 1823, page 3, column 1.
- The Messenger (Fort Hawkins, GA), 8 October 1823, page 3, column 3.
- Nester, pages 169-175.
- Colonel Leavenworth to General Atkinson, 30 August 1823, from “Defeat of the Ricaree Indians”, Lancaster Intelligencer (PA), 21 October 1823, page 2, columns 1-2.
- Nester, pages 174-181.
