Simpson Everett Stilwell (August 18, 1850 – February 24, 1903) was a United States Army Scout, Deputy U.S. Marshal, police judge, and U.S. Commissioner in Oklahoma during the

American Old West The American frontier, also known as the Old West, and popularly known as the Wild West, encompasses the geography, history, folklore, and culture associated with the forward wave of American expansion in mainland North America that bega ...

. He served in Major George A. Forsyth's company of

scouts Scouting or the Scout Movement is a youth social movement, movement which became popularly established in the first decade of the twentieth century. It follows the Scout method of informal education with an emphasis on practical outdoor activi ...

when it was besieged during the

Battle of Beecher Island The Battle of Beecher Island, also known as the Battle of Arikaree Fork, was an armed conflict between several of the Plains Indians, Plains Native American tribes and Forsyth's Scouts, a company of selected civilian frontiersmen, recruited and ...

by Indian

Cheyenne The Cheyenne ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Great Plains. The Cheyenne comprise two Native American tribes, the Só'taeo'o or Só'taétaneo'o (more commonly spelled as Suhtai or Sutaio) and the (also spelled Tsitsistas, The term for th ...

Chief

Roman Nose An aquiline nose is a human nose with a prominent bridge, giving it the appearance of being curved or slightly bent. The word ''aquiline'' comes from the Latin word ' ("eagle-like"), an allusion to the curved beak of an eagle. While some have ...

and was instrumental in bringing relief to the unit.

Early life

Stilwell was raised near Baldwin, Kansas. His parents were William "Henry" Stilwell and Charlotte B. "Sarah" Winfrey. He had a younger brother,

Frank Stilwell Frank C. Stilwell (1856 – March 20, 1882) was an outlaw Cowboy who killed at least two men in Cochise County during 1877–82. Both killings were considered to have been self-defense. For four months he was a deputy sheriff in Tombstone, Ar ...

, who was killed at age 26 by Deputy U.S. Marshal

Wyatt Earp Wyatt Berry Stapp Earp (March 19, 1848 – January 13, 1929) was an American lawman in the American West, including Dodge City, Kansas, Dodge City, Wichita, Kansas, Wichita, and Tombstone, Arizona, Tombstone. Earp was involved in the gunfight ...

. In the mid-1850s the Stilwells moved to Baldwin City or Palmyra Township, Douglas County, Kansas, where they took a land claim. In 1863 William and Charlotte divorced and William left with the three boys, Jack, Millard and Frank. Charlotte took the girls Elizabeth and Mary. William joined Company B, 18th Missouri Infantry for a time during the Civil War. In 1863, at 14 years old, Simpson's parents sent him to fetch water from the family well. He left for Kansas City instead, where he joined a

wagon train ''Wagon Train'' is an American Western television series that aired for eight seasons, first on the NBC television network (1957–1962) and then on ABC (1962–1965). ''Wagon Train'' debuted on September 18, 1957, and reached the top of the ...

bound for Santa Fe,

New Mexico Territory The Territory of New Mexico was an organized incorporated territory of the United States from September 9, 1850, until January 6, 1912. It was created from the U.S. provisional government of New Mexico, as a result of '' Nuevo México'' becomi ...

. He traveled between New Mexico, Kansas City, and Leavenworth several times, spending the winters in New Mexico.

Joins U.S. Army

During the winters he joined others on buffalo hunts on the

Canadian River The Canadian River is the longest tributary of the Arkansas River in the United States. It is about long, starting in Colorado and traveling through New Mexico, the Texas Panhandle, and Oklahoma. The drainage area is about .Wolf River, and the Beaver River. In the spring he worked the wagon trains. In 1867 he joined the U.S. Army and served as post guide for troops at Fort Dodge, Kansas. In 1868, he headed south with General

George Custer George Armstrong Custer (December 5, 1839 – June 25, 1876) was a United States Army officer and cavalry commander in the American Civil War and the American Indian Wars. Custer graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Poin ...

's expedition into

Indian Territory Indian Territory and the Indian Territories are terms that generally described an evolving land area set aside by the Federal government of the United States, United States government for the relocation of Native Americans in the United States, ...

Scouts for General Forsyth

On August 28, 1868, Jack Stilwell joined Major George A. Forsyth's company, one of fifty U.S. Army

from Fort Harker and

Fort Hays Fort Hays, originally named Fort Fletcher, was a United States Army fort near Hays, Kansas. Active from 1865 to 1889 it was an important American Frontier, frontier post during the American Indian Wars of the late 19th century. Reopened as a ...

. Jack was described as "a youth of six feet three or more, short of years but long on frontier lore." On the morning of September 10, Forsyth's troops at Fort Wallace received information that

Indians had attacked a freighter's train east of Ft Wallace. The soldiers set out at dawn to find the hostile Indians. The scouts trailed the Indian raiding party from Sheridan,

into Colorado; signs indicated that the opposing force considerably outnumbered the scouts, but the unit nonetheless pressed on. The detachment went into camp on the Arikaree Fork of the Republican River. General Forsyth anticipated trouble and posted a watch. At dawn the Scouts were attacked by a large party of Cheyennes under the leadership of

. Surrounded, the men took cover and dug in on a sand bar in the dry riverbed. At around midnight on the first day of battle, Forsyth said, "Some one must go to Wallace for assistance." Stilwell volunteered and said he would choose a man to go with him. Forsyth tore the fly leaf out of his daybook, wrote a note to Col. Bankhead at Ft. Wallace, and gave it to Stilwell. Stilwell and Trudeau crawled for before they took cover for the day about of one of the Indian Villages. They took horse meat for food, and when it spoiled they got sick. Trudeau was so weak he could only stand with assistance, but after resting and traveling for four days they reached Fort Wallace. There were some reports written much later that gave Stilwell credit for shooting

, but this could not be proven. The scouts were discharged at Fort Wallace on October 5, 1868. Stilwell remained a scout for the army for a length of time.

Guides Kansas Volunteers

Samuel Johnson Crawford was elected Governor of Kansas and served from 1865 to 1868. He was unable to receive the support he'd hoped for from the federal government, who was still shipping arms to the Indians in keeping with several treaties. After receiving constant appeals for aid, on November 4, 1868, Governor Crawford resigned as governor and was appointed Colonel of a newly recruited regiment, the 1200 strong Nineteenth Kansas Volunteers. General Sheridan gave Crawford instructions to rendezvous with General

George Armstrong Custer George Armstrong Custer (December 5, 1839 – June 25, 1876) was a United States Army officer and cavalry commander in the American Civil War and the American Indian Wars. Custer graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point ...

's 7th Cavalry at Camp Supply, near the point of the Wold and Beaver Rivers. Custer was under orders to proceed to the Washita River, the winter encampment of Indians. General Sheridan had sent two guides to lead Colonel Crawford through. Jack Stilwell and either William "Apache Bill" Seamans or Pierre Trudeau were assigned to the Kansas Volunteers as Scouts. Wichita resident James R. Mead wrote afterward that he talked to Stilwell and Tredeau and learned they had never been over the routes. He then went to Colonel Crawford and told him it was very dangerous to start across there at that time of year with inexperienced guides and offered to furnish a man who knew the country. Colonel Crawford replied, "I have no funds to employ scouts so I must trust the scouts that Sheridan sends." Sure enough, just as Mead predicted, they got lost. A big snow storm overtook them. Forage and rations were exhausted. The men suffered much and many of the horses froze to death on the picket line. The Regiment began their trip Southward to Fort Supply where Custer and the 7th Cavalry was posted. After crossing the nearly frozen Arkansas River they began their tracking of the hostiles. The snow being around 12 inches deep, made it very difficult for the men and their horses, to travel, so their travels were very slow. On the 14th of November, the regiment was hit by a severe winter snowstorm and they had great difficulty finding a way to cross the Arkansas River. Shortly afterward 600 of their horses were somehow stampeded and they lost 100 of the valuable horses. The situation got worse when the men got lost in a blizzard in the Cimarron Canyon and finally began reaching Camp Supply on November 28. Custer had grown impatient waiting for Crawford and left on November 24 for Washita. There they killed from 14Alvord, Henry E. (December 7, 1868). "Summary of Information Regarding Hostile Indians, Semi-Weekly Report No. 5." I
U.S. Senate 1869
, pp. 35-37
U.S. House of Representatives 1870
, pp. 151-153. Excerpted in Hardorff 2006, p. 268. to upwards of 140Clark, Ben. (May 14, 1899). "Custer's Washita Fight" (interview). ''New York Sun''. Reproduced in Hardoff 2006, pp. 204-215; casualty estimate on p. 208. Indians at the

Battle of Washita River The Battle of the Washita River (also called Battle of the Washita or the Washita Massacre) occurred on November 27, 1868, when Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer's 7th U.S. Cavalry attacked Black Kettle's Southern Cheyenne camp on the Washita ...

, capturing 53 women and children,Donovan, James, ''A Terrible Glory''. Little, Brown and Company (2008). p. 64 while losing only one officer in the fight around the Indian village. This was the battle for which the unit had been organized. The Kansas Volunteers remained in active service all winter. They suffered from insufficient and poor rations, severe weather, and walked instead of rode due to the lack of horses, and saw little fighting. In 1871 Stilwell was at Fort Sill as a post guide. He remained in the Indian Territory with the exception of a few travels until about 1887. He also served during the campaign of 1874, where he made a daring ride from the Darlington agency to Fort Sill, seventy-five miles alone through hostile country, to bring news of the outbreak and get help. Later he was scout for General "Black Jack" Davidson. In 1878 he was chief packer and then scout at Fort Davis and then Fort Stockton, Texas.

Brother shot in Tucson

His brother

was an

outlaw An outlaw, in its original and legal meaning, is a person declared as outside the protection of the law. In pre-modern societies, all legal protection was withdrawn from the criminal, so anyone was legally empowered to persecute or kill them. ...

Cowboy A cowboy is an animal herder who tends cattle on ranches in North America, traditionally on horseback, and often performs a multitude of other ranch-related tasks. The historic American cowboy of the late 19th century arose from the ''vaquero'' ...

who was suspected of murdering

Morgan Earp Morgan Seth Earp (April 24, 1851 – March 18, 1882) was an American sheriff and Marshal, lawman. He served as Tombstone, Arizona, Tombstone, Arizona Territory, Arizona's Special Policeman when he helped his brothers Virgil Earp, Virgil and W ...

on March 18, 1882, in an ambush in

Tombstone A gravestone or tombstone is a marker, usually stone, that is placed over a grave. A marker set at the head of the grave may be called a headstone. An especially old or elaborate stone slab may be called a funeral stele, stela, or slab. The us ...

Arizona Territory The Territory of Arizona, commonly known as the Arizona Territory, was a territory of the United States that existed from February 24, 1863, until February 14, 1912, when the remaining extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the ...

. Frank was killed in retaliation by

two days later. Simpson soon learned of his brother's death and went west with hopes of avenging his brother's death. However, he soon returned without doing so. He returned to

where he became a Deputy U.S. Marshal headquartered in

Anadarko, Oklahoma Anadarko is a city in and the county seat of Caddo County, Oklahoma, United States. The city is 50 miles (80.5 km) southwest of Oklahoma City. The population was 5,745 at the 2020 census. History Anadarko got its name when its post offic ...

Becomes U.S. Marshal

In 1887 (actually was commissioned by the Northern District of Texas first in 1885 and then by the District of Kansas about 1887), Stilwell became a Deputy U.S. Marshall in Darlington, Oklahoma during the period when Oklahoma was opened up for

settlement Settlement may refer to: *Human settlement, a community where people live *Settlement (structural), downward movement of a structure's foundation *Settlement (finance), where securities are delivered against payment of money *Settlement (litigatio ...

. He soon became a police judge at

El Reno, Oklahoma El Reno is a city in and the county seat of Canadian County, Oklahoma, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 16,989, marking a change of 1.55% from 16,729, recorded in the 2010 census. The city was begun shortly after ...

about away. In March 1894, Stilwell was a witness in the case ''The United States vs. The State of Texas'' which determined Greer County was within the borders of

Oklahoma Territory The Territory of Oklahoma was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 2, 1890, until November 16, 1907, when it was joined with the Indian Territory under a new constitution and admitted to the Union as ...

. A few years later he returned to Anadarko where he was appointed U.S. Commissioner. He was admitted to the bar and practiced law. On May 2, 1895, in

Braddock, Pennsylvania Braddock is a Borough (Pennsylvania), borough located in the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, upstream from the mouth of the Monongahela River. The population was 1,721 as of the 2020 United States ...

, he married Esther Hannah White. In 1898, Stilwell was invited by longtime friend William F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody to move to his ranch near

Cody, Wyoming Cody is a city in and the county seat of Park County, Wyoming, United States. It is named after Buffalo Bill Cody for his part in the founding of Cody in 1896. The population was 10,028 at the United States Census, 2020, 2020 census, making Cod ...

. Stilwell watched over Cody's interests while he toured with his

Wild West shows Wild West shows were traveling vaudeville performances in the United States and Europe that existed around 1870–1920. The shows began as theatrical stage productions and evolved into open-air shows that depicted romanticized stereotypes of co ...

. Stilwell owned a small ranch on the South Fork of the

Shoshone River The Shoshone River is a long river in northern Wyoming, United States. Its headwaters are in the Absaroka Range in Shoshone National Forest. It ends when it runs into the Big Horn River near Lovell, Wyoming. Cities it runs near or through ...

, where he died of

Bright's disease Bright's disease is a historical classification of kidney diseases that are described in modern medicine as acute or chronic nephritis. It was characterized by swelling and the presence of albumin in the urine. It was frequently accompanied ...

in 1903. He was buried near Cody, Wyoming.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stilwell, Simpson American frontier 1850 births 1903 deaths Law enforcement officials from Kansas Law enforcement officials from Oklahoma Law enforcement officials from Texas People from Douglas County, Kansas United States Marshals Deaths from nephritis People from Baldwin City, Kansas People from Cody, Wyoming