James L. Fisk
Encyclopedia
James Liberty Fisk was an officer in the Union Army
during the American Civil War
who promoted settlement of the western United States. He led four expeditions from Minnesota
to Montana
in the 1860s.
. Four of his five brothers also became newspapermen.
Becoming engrossed with the western frontier, he moved to White Bear Lake, Minnesota
sometime in the 1850s, married Lydia Burson, and started farming. In 1857, he was in the expedition of William H. Nobles which tried unsuccessfully to build a wagon road from Fort Ridgely
to South Pass
. Later, he was the secretary of the Dakota Land Company, which promoted settlement along the road.
quartermaster of volunteers in the quartermaster corps" and "appointed superintendent of emigration ... on a route between Fort Abercrombie
,
Dakota, and Fort Walla Walla
, Washington", a political appointment engineered by influential Minnesotans interested in promoting the settlement of the west. Secretary of War Edwin Stanton instructed him to "organize and outfit a corps for the protection of emigrants 'against all dangers' that might beset their way west." He was authorized to enlist 50 men for this purpose.
He had little supervision in his new responsibilities:
Fisk reached St. Paul, Minnesota on June 4 and placed an advertisement for emigrants in the Pioneer and Democrat. He secured the services of experienced guide Pierre Bottineau, who had guided the earlier Stevens Expedition of 1853. According to Nathaniel P. Langford
, "E. H. Burritt was first assistant, the writer second assistant and commissary, and Samuel R. Bond was secretary. Among the guards were "David E. Folsom, Patrick Doherty (Baptiste), Robert C. Knox, Patrick Bray, Cornelius Bray, Ard Godfrey, and many well known pioneers of Montana."
The party set out from St. Paul on June 16 and followed the same route Stevens had taken. They celebrated the Fourth of July at Fort Abercrombie, where Fisk found more emigrants waiting for him. A total of "117 men, 13 women, 53 wagons, 168 oxen, 17 cows, 13 saddle horses, 14 team horses, and 8 mules" were in Fisk's care when they departed on July 7. They reached what is now Wells County, North Dakota
on July 19, Fort Union
on August 9, and their destination near Fort Benton
in what is now Montana on September 5. Here, Fisk's duty ended, but as he had been instructed to sell his equipment at Walla Walla
, he accompanied the emigrants further unofficially. 82 people split off to prospect for gold at Prickly Pear Creek, while a smaller group continued on to the gold fields of the Salmon River
, leaving only three wagons and 14 men to accompany Fisk to Walla Walla.
Fisk returned to Washington and turned in his official report to the Adjutant General's office on February 17, 1863. After the Secretary of War presented it to Congress, five thousand copies were ordered printed. Minnesota Senators Morton S. Wilkinson
and Henry M. Rice and Representatives Cyrus Aldrich
and William Windom
applauded his success, and Fisk was authorized to lead a second expedition, with a somewhat larger budget.
on June 25. Fisk took a route to the north of his previous path due to widespread drought. The party reached the vicinity of Fort Benton on September 7.
An old prospector gave Fisk some gold nuggets to take back to President Abraham Lincoln
as a present. Fisk put them in an old valise, which fell out unnoticed near Salt Lake City on the stagecoach
ride back, necessitating a search back 90 miles (144.8 km) to find it.
Upon his return to Washington on February 23, 1864, he was promptly arrested for not having a pass. He also got into trouble for not reporting to military headquarters. On February 29, he presented the gold nuggets to Lincoln in the White House. Fisk was further dogged by two separate complaints, one regarding an unpaid draft used to purchase oxen during the second expedition, and the other by the Overland Stage Line over alleged misconduct of Fisk and his men on the trip to Washington.
Despite these troubles, Fisk was once again appointed superintendent of the northern route, though later than the superintendents of other routes. The Secretary of War instructed him to follow a path specified by Congress, despite an attempt by Senator Wilkinson to change it to a shorter route.
on the Missouri River
. There, Fisk asked for and obtained an army escort, 47 soldiers of Company A, Dakota Cavalry, commanded by Lieutenant Smith. The enlarged party, including 200 emigrants and 88 wagons, set out from the fort on August 23.
On September 2, one wagon overturned. Nine soldiers and two other wagons remained at the scene while repairs were made; the rest of the wagon train
proceeded on. The small isolated group was found and attacked by Sitting Bull
and about 100 Hunkpapa Sioux. In the fighting, Sitting Bull was shot in the hip. Hearing the gunfire, Fisk and about 50 men hurried back from the main body. Scout Jefferson Dilts charged forward recklessly and shot as many as six Sioux before being killed by arrows. Fisk and the others held off the Native Americans until sunset, then snuck back to the main group. Ten soldiers, Dilts, and another civilian had been killed, while the Sioux had lost six. The next day, the Sioux attacked again, forcing the expedition to corral their wagons. They constructed sod walls for "Fort Dilts" and defended themselves against 400 attackers without further casualties. They had access to a source of water, and there were ample supplies in their wagons.
After several unsuccessful attacks, the Sioux opened negotiations under a flag of truce via notes written by Fanny Kelly
, a woman they had taken captive in July. They offered her and safe passage in exchange for supplies. Fisk bid "three horses, flour, sugar, and coffee for her, but the Lakotas wanted forty head of cattle and four wagons", and the trade was off. (A few months later, Fanny Kelly was either released by Sitting Bull or, by her account, escaped; she later wrote a popular book of her experiences, Narrative of My Captivity Among the Sioux Indians, in 1871.)
On the night of September 5, Lieutenant Smith and 13 men rode to Fort Rice for reinforcements. An annoyed Brigadier General Alfred Sully
dispatched 900 men on September 18. On September 20, the Fisk party was escorted back to the safety of Fort Rice, whereupon the expedition disbanded.
While Fisk was viewed favorably by civilians, to the military authorities, he had committed "gross military offenses" and was "too reckless and too ignorant to be trusted." Fisk submitted his report to the Adjutant General on January 13, 1865, and returned to Washington in February with his wife and their child.
On May 22, with the war coming to an end and a new administration in office following the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, Fisk tendered his resignation from the army. He was discharged on June 12. When the Fisk family departed the city, they left behind an unpaid $850 hotel bill.
with his last and largest expedition. His brothers, Robert Emmett (1837-1908), Van Hayden (1840-1890), and Andrew Jackson Fisk (January 8, 1849-1910), accompanied him, with Robert serving as his second in command and Van as wagon master. Also in the party was photographer William H. Illingworth
, who shot 30 stereographs along the way, some of which still survive. According to an advertising pamphlet, Fisk wanted to depart on or about May 22 and hopefully no later than May 29 from St. Cloud, Minnesota
to the "Great Gold Fields of Montana", with "Military Protection Guaranteed by the Government". Passage for one man with 50 pounds (22.7 kg) of baggage, and subsistence was set at $100. The expedition consisted of 500 people and 160 wagons. It left Fort Abercrombie on the morning of June 16, reached Fort Berthold on July 19, and made its way to Fort Union on August 2. It arrived in Helena in September.
under Governor B. Platt Carpenter
; Robert edited the Herald for 36 years and was an active Republican supporter; and Van owned and published the Townsend
Tranchant newspaper, and engaged in mining and farming.
In 1902, James Liberty Fisk died in the Minnesota Soldiers Home in Minneapolis.
Union Army
The Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...
during the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
who promoted settlement of the western United States. He led four expeditions from Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
to Montana
Montana
Montana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...
in the 1860s.
Early life
Fisk was born in New York of Irish extraction, the eldest of six sons of John B. and Jerusha T. Fisk. He worked as a "raftsman, farmer, carriage maker, and newspaperman" for the Daily Courier of Lafayette, IndianaLafayette, Indiana
Lafayette is a city in and the county seat of Tippecanoe County, Indiana, United States, northwest of Indianapolis. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 67,140. West Lafayette, on the other side of the Wabash River, is home to Purdue University, which has a large impact on...
. Four of his five brothers also became newspapermen.
Becoming engrossed with the western frontier, he moved to White Bear Lake, Minnesota
White Bear Lake, Minnesota
White Bear Lake is a city in Ramsey and Washington counties in the U.S. state of Minnesota. The population was 23,797 at the 2010 census. The city is located on White Bear Lake, one of the largest lakes in the Minneapolis-St...
sometime in the 1850s, married Lydia Burson, and started farming. In 1857, he was in the expedition of William H. Nobles which tried unsuccessfully to build a wagon road from Fort Ridgely
Fort Ridgely
Fort Ridgely was a United States Army outpost near the Dakota reservation in southwestern Minnesota . Built between 1853–1855, it played an important role in the Dakota War of 1862...
to South Pass
South Pass
South Pass is two mountain passes on the Continental Divide in the Rocky Mountains in southwestern Wyoming. The passes are located in a broad low region, 35 miles broad, between the Wind River Range to the north and the Oregon Buttes and Great Divide Basin to the south, in southwestern Fremont...
. Later, he was the secretary of the Dakota Land Company, which promoted settlement along the road.
Civil War service
In 1861, he enlisted in the Third Minnesota Volunteer Infantry as a private. An undisciplined soldier, on May 19, 1862, he was called to Washington, DC, where he was "commissioned captain and assistantquartermaster of volunteers in the quartermaster corps" and "appointed superintendent of emigration ... on a route between Fort Abercrombie
Fort Abercrombie
Fort Abercrombie, in North Dakota, was an American fort established by authority of an act of Congress, March 3, 1857. The act allocated twenty-five square miles of land on the Red River in Dakota Territory to be used for a military outpost, but the exact location was left to the discretion of...
,
Dakota, and Fort Walla Walla
Fort Walla Walla
Fort Walla Walla is a fort located in Walla Walla, Washington. It was established in 1858. Today, the complex contains a park, a museum, and a hospital.Fort Walla Walla should be distinguished from Fort Nez Percés or Old Fort Walla Walla ....
, Washington", a political appointment engineered by influential Minnesotans interested in promoting the settlement of the west. Secretary of War Edwin Stanton instructed him to "organize and outfit a corps for the protection of emigrants 'against all dangers' that might beset their way west." He was authorized to enlist 50 men for this purpose.
He had little supervision in his new responsibilities:
Fisk was commissioned in the quartermaster corps, yet the quartermaster kept no financial records of his activities; he was on detached duty under assignment from the secretary of war, yet he was a volunteer and owed his appointment to influence from Minnesota; he was ordered to report regularly to the adjutant general, yet he had no immediate superior who was at all concerned with what he was doing. His Western duties were of no great importance to the war department in its preoccupation with the larger concerns of the Civil War.
1862 Expedition
His budget was relatively small; $5000 was deposited to his account and, at the end of his journey, he was expected to auction off his wagons, animals and other equipment. A careless man where money was concerned, Fisk did not clear all of his incurred debts until years afterward.Fisk reached St. Paul, Minnesota on June 4 and placed an advertisement for emigrants in the Pioneer and Democrat. He secured the services of experienced guide Pierre Bottineau, who had guided the earlier Stevens Expedition of 1853. According to Nathaniel P. Langford
Nathaniel P. Langford
Nathaniel Pitt Langford was an explorer, businessman, bureaucrat, vigilante and historian from St. Paul, Minnesota who played an important role in the early years of the Montana gold fields, territorial government and the creation of Yellowstone National Park.-Montana Gold Fields:On June 16, 1862...
, "E. H. Burritt was first assistant, the writer second assistant and commissary, and Samuel R. Bond was secretary. Among the guards were "David E. Folsom, Patrick Doherty (Baptiste), Robert C. Knox, Patrick Bray, Cornelius Bray, Ard Godfrey, and many well known pioneers of Montana."
The party set out from St. Paul on June 16 and followed the same route Stevens had taken. They celebrated the Fourth of July at Fort Abercrombie, where Fisk found more emigrants waiting for him. A total of "117 men, 13 women, 53 wagons, 168 oxen, 17 cows, 13 saddle horses, 14 team horses, and 8 mules" were in Fisk's care when they departed on July 7. They reached what is now Wells County, North Dakota
Wells County, North Dakota
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 5,102 people, 2,215 households, and 1,453 families residing in the county. The population density was 4 people per square mile . There were 2,643 housing units at an average density of 2 per square mile...
on July 19, Fort Union
Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site
Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site is the site of a partially reconstructed trading post on the Missouri River and the North Dakota/Montana border twenty-five miles from Williston. It is one of the earliest declared National Historic Landmarks of the United States...
on August 9, and their destination near Fort Benton
Fort Benton, Montana
Fort Benton is a city in and the county seat of Chouteau County, Montana, United States. A portion of the city was designated as a National Historic Landmark District in 1961. Established a full generation beforethe U.S...
in what is now Montana on September 5. Here, Fisk's duty ended, but as he had been instructed to sell his equipment at Walla Walla
Walla Walla
Walla Walla can refer to:*Walla Walla people, a Native American tribe after which the county and city of Walla Walla, Washington, are named-Places:Washington state, United States*Walla Walla River, the river along which the Walla Walla tribe lived...
, he accompanied the emigrants further unofficially. 82 people split off to prospect for gold at Prickly Pear Creek, while a smaller group continued on to the gold fields of the Salmon River
Salmon River (Idaho)
The Salmon River is located in Idaho in the northwestern United States. The Salmon is also known as The River of No Return. It flows for through central Idaho, draining and dropping more than between its headwaters, near Galena Summit above the Sawtooth Valley in the Sawtooth National...
, leaving only three wagons and 14 men to accompany Fisk to Walla Walla.
Fisk returned to Washington and turned in his official report to the Adjutant General's office on February 17, 1863. After the Secretary of War presented it to Congress, five thousand copies were ordered printed. Minnesota Senators Morton S. Wilkinson
Morton S. Wilkinson
Morton Smith Wilkinson was an American politician.Born in Skaneateles, New York, he moved to Illinois in 1837 and was employed in railroad work for two years. Upon returning to Skaneateles in 1840, he studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1842, and commenced practice in Eaton Rapids, Michigan in...
and Henry M. Rice and Representatives Cyrus Aldrich
Cyrus Aldrich
Cyrus Aldrich was a U.S. Representative from Minnesota.Aldrich was born in Smithfield, Rhode Island, June 18, 1808. He followed the occupations of sailor, boatman, farmer, contractor on public works, and mail contractor, and moved to Illinois and settled in Alton in 1837...
and William Windom
William Windom
This page is about the former United States politician. William Windom was an American politician from Minnesota. He served as U.S. Representative from 1859 to 1869, and as U.S. Senator from 1870 to January 1871, from March 1871 to March 1881, and from November 1881 to 1883...
applauded his success, and Fisk was authorized to lead a second expedition, with a somewhat larger budget.
1863 Expedition
Because of Indian unrest, Fisk's second expedition mustered only 60 or 62 people, and many of them were on his payroll. The group departed from Fort Ripley, MinnesotaFort Ripley, Minnesota
As of the census of 2000, there were 74 people, 34 households, and 24 families residing in the city. The population density was 55.6 people per square mile . There were 35 housing units at an average density of 26.3 per square mile . The racial makeup of the city was 94.59% White, 1.35% Native...
on June 25. Fisk took a route to the north of his previous path due to widespread drought. The party reached the vicinity of Fort Benton on September 7.
An old prospector gave Fisk some gold nuggets to take back to President Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
as a present. Fisk put them in an old valise, which fell out unnoticed near Salt Lake City on the stagecoach
Stagecoach
A stagecoach is a type of covered wagon for passengers and goods, strongly sprung and drawn by four horses, usually four-in-hand. Widely used before the introduction of railway transport, it made regular trips between stages or stations, which were places of rest provided for stagecoach travelers...
ride back, necessitating a search back 90 miles (144.8 km) to find it.
Upon his return to Washington on February 23, 1864, he was promptly arrested for not having a pass. He also got into trouble for not reporting to military headquarters. On February 29, he presented the gold nuggets to Lincoln in the White House. Fisk was further dogged by two separate complaints, one regarding an unpaid draft used to purchase oxen during the second expedition, and the other by the Overland Stage Line over alleged misconduct of Fisk and his men on the trip to Washington.
Despite these troubles, Fisk was once again appointed superintendent of the northern route, though later than the superintendents of other routes. The Secretary of War instructed him to follow a path specified by Congress, despite an attempt by Senator Wilkinson to change it to a shorter route.
1864 Expedition: Attacked by Sitting Bull
Because of his late appointment and start, Fisk returned to Minnesota to find that many of the emigrants had tired of waiting for him and had departed in a separate group. Nonetheless, he set out with the remainder (ignoring the route he had been ordered to take) and reached Fort RiceFort Rice
Fort Rice was a frontier military fort in the 19th century in what was then Dakota Territory and what is now North Dakota....
on the Missouri River
Missouri River
The Missouri River flows through the central United States, and is a tributary of the Mississippi River. It is the longest river in North America and drains the third largest area, though only the thirteenth largest by discharge. The Missouri's watershed encompasses most of the American Great...
. There, Fisk asked for and obtained an army escort, 47 soldiers of Company A, Dakota Cavalry, commanded by Lieutenant Smith. The enlarged party, including 200 emigrants and 88 wagons, set out from the fort on August 23.
On September 2, one wagon overturned. Nine soldiers and two other wagons remained at the scene while repairs were made; the rest of the wagon train
Wagon train
A wagon train is a group of wagons traveling together. In the American West, individuals traveling across the plains in covered wagons banded together for mutual assistance, as is reflected in numerous films and television programs about the region, such as Audie Murphy's Tumbleweed and Ward Bond...
proceeded on. The small isolated group was found and attacked by Sitting Bull
Sitting Bull
Sitting Bull Sitting Bull Sitting Bull (Lakota: Tȟatȟáŋka Íyotake (in Standard Lakota Orthography), also nicknamed Slon-he or "Slow"; (c. 1831 – December 15, 1890) was a Hunkpapa Lakota Sioux holy man who led his people as a tribal chief during years of resistance to United States government policies...
and about 100 Hunkpapa Sioux. In the fighting, Sitting Bull was shot in the hip. Hearing the gunfire, Fisk and about 50 men hurried back from the main body. Scout Jefferson Dilts charged forward recklessly and shot as many as six Sioux before being killed by arrows. Fisk and the others held off the Native Americans until sunset, then snuck back to the main group. Ten soldiers, Dilts, and another civilian had been killed, while the Sioux had lost six. The next day, the Sioux attacked again, forcing the expedition to corral their wagons. They constructed sod walls for "Fort Dilts" and defended themselves against 400 attackers without further casualties. They had access to a source of water, and there were ample supplies in their wagons.
After several unsuccessful attacks, the Sioux opened negotiations under a flag of truce via notes written by Fanny Kelly
Fanny Kelly
Fanny Kelly was a North American pioneer woman captured by the Sioux and freed five months later. She later wrote a book about her experiences called Narrative of My Captivity among the Sioux Indians in 1871.-Early life:...
, a woman they had taken captive in July. They offered her and safe passage in exchange for supplies. Fisk bid "three horses, flour, sugar, and coffee for her, but the Lakotas wanted forty head of cattle and four wagons", and the trade was off. (A few months later, Fanny Kelly was either released by Sitting Bull or, by her account, escaped; she later wrote a popular book of her experiences, Narrative of My Captivity Among the Sioux Indians, in 1871.)
On the night of September 5, Lieutenant Smith and 13 men rode to Fort Rice for reinforcements. An annoyed Brigadier General Alfred Sully
Alfred Sully
Alfred Sully , was a military officer during the American Civil War and during the Indian Wars on the frontier. He was also a noted painter.-Biography:...
dispatched 900 men on September 18. On September 20, the Fisk party was escorted back to the safety of Fort Rice, whereupon the expedition disbanded.
While Fisk was viewed favorably by civilians, to the military authorities, he had committed "gross military offenses" and was "too reckless and too ignorant to be trusted." Fisk submitted his report to the Adjutant General on January 13, 1865, and returned to Washington in February with his wife and their child.
On May 22, with the war coming to an end and a new administration in office following the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, Fisk tendered his resignation from the army. He was discharged on June 12. When the Fisk family departed the city, they left behind an unpaid $850 hotel bill.
1866 Expedition
Fisk was unable to organize a party in 1865, but the following year, he set out for Helena, MontanaHelena, Montana
Helena is the capital city of the U.S. state of Montana and the county seat of Lewis and Clark County. The 2010 census put the population at 28,180. The local daily newspaper is the Independent Record. The Helena Brewers minor league baseball and Helena Bighorns minor league hockey team call the...
with his last and largest expedition. His brothers, Robert Emmett (1837-1908), Van Hayden (1840-1890), and Andrew Jackson Fisk (January 8, 1849-1910), accompanied him, with Robert serving as his second in command and Van as wagon master. Also in the party was photographer William H. Illingworth
William H. Illingworth
William H. Illingworth was an English photographer who accompanied both Captain James L. Fisk's 1866 expedition to the Montana Territory and Lt. Colonel George Custer's 1874 U.S. military expedition into the Black Hills of the Dakota Territory .- Early life :William Henry Illingworth was born in...
, who shot 30 stereographs along the way, some of which still survive. According to an advertising pamphlet, Fisk wanted to depart on or about May 22 and hopefully no later than May 29 from St. Cloud, Minnesota
St. Cloud, Minnesota
St. Cloud is a city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and the largest population center in the state's central region. The population was 65,842 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Stearns County...
to the "Great Gold Fields of Montana", with "Military Protection Guaranteed by the Government". Passage for one man with 50 pounds (22.7 kg) of baggage, and subsistence was set at $100. The expedition consisted of 500 people and 160 wagons. It left Fort Abercrombie on the morning of June 16, reached Fort Berthold on July 19, and made its way to Fort Union on August 2. It arrived in Helena in September.
Later life
The Fisk brothers and their families settled in the Montana region and played a part in its development. Andrew and Robert published the Helena Herald newspaper, starting in 1866, with James as a co-editor from January to July 1867, and Van also employed by the paper. James was also involved with the Montana militia and various other ventures. Andrew served as Adjutant General of the Montana TerritoryMontana Territory
The Territory of Montana was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 28, 1864, until November 8, 1889, when it was admitted to the Union as the State of Montana.-History:...
under Governor B. Platt Carpenter
B. Platt Carpenter
Benjamin Platt Carpenter was an American lawyer and politician from New York and Montana.-Life:...
; Robert edited the Herald for 36 years and was an active Republican supporter; and Van owned and published the Townsend
Townsend, Montana
Townsend is a city in and the county seat of Broadwater County, Montana, United States. The population was 1,867 at the 2000 census.-History:...
Tranchant newspaper, and engaged in mining and farming.
In 1902, James Liberty Fisk died in the Minnesota Soldiers Home in Minneapolis.