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| Camp Lincoln C. 1868 |
“[Camp] Lincoln was not [a] well-kept model of sanitation,” Lockhart continued. “Furnishings for the camp were hauled [in] by mule and oxen from Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas.” Privates dug holes “into the hillside and covered them with split cedar poles and debris.” They were “dark and ill-ventilated. The officers’ quarters were shabby contrivances…ventilated by gaping crevices between [the] boards. The guard house walls were formed by “native posts, and were covered by a canvas roof. The hospital was an old house with an adobe chimney,” which could hold four patients.
Camp Lincoln was a true out-post, about 35 miles east of Ft. Whipple as the crow flies, with a poor mountain pass between the two. Lincoln was poorly supplied, and the men were often left to find their own food. Six miles south of the camp, a vegetable and fruit garden was tended, providing some food in season, but this was hardly sufficient.
Despite these shortcomings, Arizona’s first volunteers went above and beyond what they were called upon to do. Pauline Weaver was the camp scout. ”He knew Indian traits and traditions as well as did the Indians themselves.”
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Their first campaign began February 11, 1866. They travelled only by night, resting during the day. After two days, they found signs of the Natives. After sending scouts, the volunteers moved within sight of their fires, but they remained in secluded positions until 2 AM, when they approached even closer. “The [Natives] were taken by surprise, their dogs not even hearing the approach of the troops,” the Weekly Arizona Miner described. At daybreak they found the Natives in a cave, and demanded they surrender. Many refused, and the killing began. Some 30 were believed to be killed outright. The renegade Tontos and Mohaves of the company brought 13 scalps back to Camp Lincoln. Two women and ten children were taken prisoner and eventually brought to Ft. Whipple. One of the youngsters died.
Seven of the volunteers were wounded, but none dangerously. Several pounds of tobacco were given to the Camp by the acting governor in appreciation.
About a month later, the Native Americans obtained a small amount of reprisal when two of the army volunteers went fishing within sight of the camp. One returned, and the other stayed, costing him his life. His body was found “stiff and cold with three arrow wounds.”
A week later, a group of 26 men set out from the camp, again traveling at night. After covering 28 miles in three nights, scouts were sent out, and they discovered a large rancheria 70 miles away. Forty fires were counted, and the group of 26 decided it was grossly outnumbered, and they sent scouts to find a smaller group of Natives.
Indeed, they found one in Fossil Creek. Four men stayed on the hillside, making themselves visible to the Natives as a decoy while the rest drew within attacking distance at 1 AM. “It was sunrise before a passable way to the rancheria was found,” the Miner reported. They were able to close to within 20 yards before they were discovered. They immediately attacked, and the battle “became general and desperate, lasting 25 minutes. Twenty-two Natives were killed, five were wounded, and two were captured." It was reported that several of the Native women showed “remarkable courage” in the fight.
Another month passed before the Natives achieved a small bit of retribution. John Broderick was warned not to go fishing by himself, but he went anyway. “His body was found pierced by eight arrows, the scalp taken, and the head nearly severed from the body,” the paper wrote.
However, due to a complete lack of provisions, the volunteers went "on strike" on August 3, 1866.
By the end of August, most of the volunteers were paid off, mustered out, and they left for their homes [in southern Arizona].” Anxiety ran high that there would be no soldiers in the Verde Valley, and it was hoped that the first volunteers to fight for Arizona would be replaced as quickly as possible.
Fortunately for the white settlers, the camp was re-garrisoned by a company of the 11th Infantry by the end of September. Two years later, in 1868, Camp Lincoln would be renamed Camp Verde.
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SOURCES:
Prescott Evening Courier; 12/5/1936, Pg. 4, Col. 3.
Weekly Arizona Miner; 2/28/1866, Pg. 3, Col. 3.
Weekly Arizona Miner; 3/14/1866, Pg. 3, Col. 1.
Weekly Arizona Miner; 4/11/1866, Pg. 2, Cols. 2-3.
Weekly Arizona Miner; 5/9/1866, Pg. 3, Col. 2.
Weekly Arizona Miner; 8/22/1866, Pg. 3, Col. 1.
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