John H. Monnett - The Battle of Beecher Island and the Indian War of 1867-1869 ~ HTML

Copyright 1992 by the University Press of Colorado

P.O. Box 849

Niwot, Colorado 80544

All rights reserved.

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2

Jacket: Battle of Beecher Island. Oil painting by Robert Lindneux.

Courtesy Colorado Historical Society, Denver, Colorado.

The University Press of Colorado is a cooperative publishing enterprise supported, in part, by Adams State College, Colorado State University, Fort Lewis College, Mesa State College, Metropolitan State College of Denver, University of Colorado, University of Northern Colorado, University of Southern Colorado, and Western State College of Colorado.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Monnett, John H.

The Battle of Beecher Island and the Indian War of 18671869 / John H. Monnett.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references (p.) and index.

ISBN 0-87081-347-1 (alk. paper)

1. Beecher Island, Battle of, 1868. 2. Cheyenne Indians

Wars 18681869. I. Title.

E83.868.M65 1992

973.8'1 dc20

92-29121

CIP

The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Information SciencesPermanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials. ANSI Z39.481984

No book of this nature would be complete without the contributions of others. My father, the late Howard N. Monnett, a longtime resident of Kansas City and a pretty good Civil War historian, instilled in me an appreciation of history, which has since formed the basis of my chosen profession. The late George L. Anderson, former chairman of the Department of History at the University of Kansas and my early mentor, showed me there are many dimensions to the Indian wars that transcend mere troop movements and engagements. Edwin C. Bearss of the National Park Service, with whom my father and I tramped many a battlefield in my youth, first made the nineteenth-century army come alive for me.

I wish to express my gratitude to the State Historical Societies of Kansas, Colorado, Nebraska, and Oklahoma for their assistance. This book could not have been written without them. To all the helpful people at the Western History Department of the Denver Public Library, the Norlin Library of the University of Colorado at Boulder, the Denver Auraria Library, and the National Archives in Washington, D.C., Kansas City, and Denver, a very special thanks. Thanks to my friend Jerry Keenan for reading the manuscript and offering suggestions. Finally, to my wife, Linda, and my son, Darren, who suffered with me through the completion of the project. I love you both in more ways than I can count.