First Dragoon Expedition

First Dragoons arrive at Comanche Village, 1834. Painting by George Catlin who accompanied the expedition.

The First Dragoon Expedition of 1834 (also called the Dodge-Leavenworth Expedition) was an exploratory mission of the United States Army into the southwestern Great Plains the United States. It was the first official contact between the American government and the Plains Indians.

The United States Dragoon Regiment left Fort Gibson, Indian territory, on 20 June 1834, under the command of General Henry Leavenworth. The difficult terrain of the Cross Timbers region together with summer heat, sickness, and death slowed the progress of the expedition; one hundred fifty of the five hundred men died on the march. The expedition stopped at Camp Leavenworth, where General Leavenworth, sick and injured from a buffalo hunt, sent the troops onward under the command of Colonel Henry Dodge. On 16 July 1834, the expedition left 75 sick men, including American traveling artist George Catlin, at Camp Comanche; Colonel Dodge and the rest of his men continued onward. General Leavenworth died on 21 July 1834.

On 21 July 1834, Colonel Dodge and the remaining men reached a Toyash Village of Wichita Indians at Devils Canyon. There, Dodge exchanged prisoners, traded, and secured peace treaties with several of the Plains tribes. The expedition returned to Fort Gibson on 15 August 1834.

Notable expedition members

In addition to Dodge, Leavenworth and Catlin, notable members of the expedition included:

• Stephen W. Kearny, lieutenant colonel and second in command of the dragoons. Kearny led the conquest of California in the Mexican-American War, and died from yellow fever he contracted in Veracruz.
• Richard B. Mason, major. Like Kearny, Mason was a one-time military governor of California, and in that capacity reported the gold discovery to president Polk in 1848.
• Edwin Vose "Bull" Sumner, captain of Company B. Sumner later became a civil war commander, retiring with the rank of major general.
• David Hunter, captain company D. Hunter became a civil war general, who promoted the idea of recruiting freed slaves as soldiers. He retired with the rank of major general.
• Nathan Boone, captain company H. Boone was the youngest son of Daniel Boone and served with Dodge in the War of 1812.
• Philip St. George Cooke, first lieutenant company G. Cooke became a civil war general, and wrote the army's first cavalry manual. He retired as a brevet major general.
• Jefferson Davis, first lieutenant company F. Davis became secretary of war, and later was president of the Confederate States of America.
• John Burgwin, second lieutenant company B. He died at the Siege of Pueblo de Taos in 1847.
• Enoch Steen, second lieutenant company D. Steen held a number of posts throughout the United States, mostly in the western parts. He was a lieutenant colonel in the 2nd United States Cavalry during the civil war.
• Jesse Chisholm, guide and interpreter. Chisholm was the namesake of the famous Texas-Kansas cattle trail.

See also

• United States Regiment of Dragoons
• Second Dragoon Expedition

References

• Perrine, Fred S. "The Journal of Hugh Evans," Chronicles of Oklahoma 3:3 (September 1925) 2-215 (retrieved August 16, 2006).
• Shirk, George H. "Peace on the Plains," Chronicles of Oklahoma 28:1 (January 1950) 2-41 (retrieved August 16, 2006).

George Catlin image gallery

All of the following are produced from Catlin's paintings and other published images, which originated with sketches that he made on the expedition.

• 

  Wun-pan-to-mee (the white weasel) and Tunk-aht-oh-ye (the thunderer), Kiowa brother and sister rescued by the expedition. Shortly after this sketch was taken, the boy was killed in a stock yard accident.

• 

  Colonel Henry Dodge first meets a Comanche emissary, July 14, 1834. Note the metal helmets of the soldiers and Dodge's buckskin outfit.

• 

  Residents of the Comanche village, approximately July 16, 1834. Catlin notes in his text, and depicts in the drawing, the fear of the dogs and children.

• 

  Comanches capturing wild horses with lassos, approximately July 16, 1834.

External links

• Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture - Dodge-Leavenworth (Dragoon) Expedition 1834
• Oklahoma Digital Maps: Digital Collections of Oklahoma and Indian Territory