Lots of place names in our region stem from the great efforts of North American western expansion and early exploration. Early Spanish trekkers Dominguez and Escalante may have been the most notable foreign trekkers to make routes and notes of the rugged and unknown West. But the real mapping, especially of the Four Corners area, was done by the Hayden Survey of 1875, a subsequent project to an earlier Hayden survey.
The town of Hayden in west-central Colorado bears the name of Ferdinand V. Hayden, who led the survey. One can think that his efforts were centered there in the lush green meadows and alpine buttresses near Steamboat Springs, Colorado. But that was just one of his numerous stops. Many early explorers on that team, as perhaps a reward for their efforts, had a place named after them.
This is true of the La Sal Mountains, especially its tallest peak, Mt. Peale. Albert C. Peale was one of many scientists who charted this territory, some of the last to be mapped in the lower 48 states. (The Henry Mountains west of us was the last range to be mapped.)
Besides knowing very little about the terrain, white men didnt know much about the Native Americans who peopled the region. There were at times dangerous and deadly conflicts between Natives and newbies, some of which occurred on the eastern side of the La Sals, in the Two-mile area not far from Old La Sal and the route to what is now Buckeye Reservoir.
A fascinating book by Robert S. McPherson and Susan Rhoades Neel titled, Mapping the Four Corners, Narrating the Hayden Survey of 1875, provides a peek at some of our favorite and familiar places, and what might have occurred there when white outsiders showed up.
The book quotes a variety of voices who tell of their experiences.
The survey of 1875 included a team of cartographers, geologists and scientists who thought they would enjoy a summers revisit of the Four Corners following earlier mapping efforts. But, as the book tells, the voyagers found their trip to be more challenging than expected, as the review on the dust cover of the book explains. The travelers describe wrangling half-wild pack mules, trying to sleep in rain-soaked blankets, and making tea from muddy, alkaline water. Along the way, they encountered diverse peoples, evidence of prehistoric civilizations, and spectacular scenery, said the review.
Everyone they met was not glad to see them: In southeastern Utah surveyors fought and escaped a band of Utes and Paiutes, who recognized that the survey meant dispossession from their homeland.
The book is No. 83 in the American Exploration and Travel Series of books, published by University of Oklahoma Press.
Haydens team was accompanied by early photographer William Henry Jackson, who chronicled on film some of the locales.
Haydens trek has been described as an Anglo enterprise a scientific endeavor focused on geology, geographic description, cartographic accuracy, and even ethnography. But the search for economic potential was a significant underlying motive. Said the review, These pragmatic scientists were on the lookout for gold beneath every rock, grazing lands in every valley, and economic opportunity around each bend in the trail.
Some say the Hayden survey shaped the American imagination in contradictory ways, solidifying the idea of progressand government funding of its pursuitwhile also revealing, via Jacksons photographs, a landscape with a beauty hitherto unknown and imagined, wrote the reviewer.
Of the fractious altercations between Natives and the exploration team, there are several descriptions. A report in the New York Times dated Sept. 9, 1875 was called The Hayden Survey: What the Sierra La Sal Indians did for It. A number of voices tell harrowing tales of avoiding gunshots, hiding out in the sagebrush plane east of the south side of the La Sals or somewhat near there.
The scouts animals were tired and thirsty, but the Anglo explorers knew they were easy targets for the natives holding watch from the forested foothills above. Wrote James Gardner in an Aug. 15, 1875 journal, No sooner had the rearguard passed the brow than the Indians commenced firing from behind it. He said two members of the Hayden party came very near being killed, bullets striking the ground close to them. Being in the advance I rode at once to the rear, recalled Gardner. The boys begged to be allowed to charge the Indians, but I considered it unadvisable, considering that they were protected by a hill and mounted on swift horses, and we on tired, slow mules, I therefore ordered the train forward in a trot to get out of range of the hill behind.
An image of the Native Americans who might have been protecting their stand is in the H.S. Poley Collection stored at the Denver Public Librarys Western History Collection. It depicts a number of Ute warriors astride horses, examining their rifles. They were skilled trackers and implacable foes when operating in their homeland, according to the McPherson/Neal book. The image shows the Indians carrying Winchester rifles, which were favorites because of their magazine capacity of 15 rounds, their rapid-fire capability, and their maneuverability on horseback, read the book. Their maximum effective range, however, was only about 200 yards.
Both sides set up round-the-clock guards to hold their spots. Even at 700 or 800 yards, not one of those valiant Indians would come out and shoot openly, wrote Hayden party member Cuthbert Mills in an Aug. 15, 1875 entry that was later published in the New York Times on Sept. 9, 1875. Pickets were placed at points about 50 to 75 yards distant from the barricade, and the reliefs arranged for the night.
A.C. Peale told of the fortifications happening in the trekkers camp: We made a barricade of our cargo and our aparejos [packs saddles and rigging] with the mules on both sides. We then put out three pickets [guards stationed to keep watch]. I kept guard in camp. We had a lunch of bread and cold ham. The Indians kept firing until midnight.
Peale said the guards were able to keep the opponents from advancing, but it wasnt without some chaos. Several times the mules got tangled up, wrote Peale, being in want of both feed and water. Once while we were out a shot struck Polly, the bell [lead] mare, above our heads and we tumbled into the barricade promiscuously. My foot got caught in a rope and I went in head first. None of the balls struck in the barricade, but went whizzing over our heads.
Mills told of similar uncalm: It was certainly not a pleasant night we spent. The unanimous opinion of those who knew most about Indian methods of fighting was that the band was an advanced guard thrown out to delay us till reinforcements should come up, and that at daylight the worst attack might be looked for that dusk being their favorite hour for surprises. They would probably be quiet for the night, preparing for the morning, wrote Mills.
This story will be continued next week, telling of how the explorers made it out with their hides intact or did they?
Continued here:
Hayden Survey of 1875 meant dispossession of homeland to Native peoples - The Times-Independent
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