Page 51 - Cooke's Peak - Pasaron Por Aqui

Cloud), physician (Dr. George B. Sanderson), and
staff (Smith’s assistant, Second Lieutenant George
Stoneman, interpreter and guide Dr. Stephen G.
Foster, and Willard Preble Hall) had one mule-
drawn wagon each.59 In addition to the rations, the
wagons contained tents, picks and shovels, ammuni-
tion, packsaddles, and other assorted impedi-
60
menta.
Cooke also allowed two of the Mormon captains
and two sergeants to take their wives with them because they had provided their own wagons, mules,
61
and extra supplies.
several of the Army staff and a few of the Mormon officers were accompanied by personal servants; teamsters and Mexican shepherds were hired, and a Santa Fe trader, identified only as Chacon, went along with a pack train of goods for the anticipated California market.
By October 19, everything was as ready as it was going to be, and Cooke concluded his paperwork, including seeing that the men were paid by checks, which they sent to Council Bluffs by John D. Lee and Howard Egan who had been assigned to accompany the Battalion as far as Santa Fe specifically for this purpose. Lee and Egan were joined by Lieutenant Samuel Gully and Private Roswell Stevens (both of Company E).62 The Battalion marched five or six miles out of town and camped in disorder along a sandy creek bottom (Agua Fria) where there was no grass for the stock, and where they were in potential danger from a flash flood. When Cooke arrived he was quite upset because, in addition to selecting an improper camp site, the men had neglected to draw necessary equipment such as buckets, rope, and picket pins. To make matters worse, they had been talked into handing 10 of their precious mules over to another command.
The Battalion got its first real taste of Cooke’s disciplinary methods that night. He sent men back without their supper to reclaim the mules, showed others how to water the cattle without using buckets, issued a set of regulations, and ordered an early start the next day. Blunders continued the next day and delayedtheBattalionuntilthe19cattleand14mules that had strayed during the night were recovered. To make his point even clearer, Cooke placed the men on three-quarters rations. According to James Van Norstrand Williams (Company E), this equated to twelve ounces of flour, two ounces of sugar, one and one-half of coffee, and one and one-half pounds
of fresh meat per day, but the men did not complain too much because the Colonel also did not approve of long and unnecessary forced marches 63
Cooke’s temperament may have been in part a result of his frustration over leading a band of civilians and blazing the wagon road rather than achieving a notable military position amid the blaz- ing guns of the armies invading Mexico. His service to the nation, however, and the resulting resiliency of his fame were probably far greater than anything he could have achieved elsewhere. It was probably this frustration that caused him to be so harsh- tongued and strict with the Mormons. And although his and their journals note severe dissatisfaction with the other’s attitudes and performance at times, each developed a strong, if grudging, respect for the other.
As the Battalion advanced southward, Cooke as-
signed 10 to 20 men to each wagon. These men,
carrying full knapsacks and muskets, pushed and
pulled the wagons through the sand along the river
banks while the advanced detachment, which Cooke
called his “pioneers,” were sent ahead to clear
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When the men were not pulling on the ropes, Cooke marched them in two single files, spaced just far enough apart so that they packed the earth for the wagon wheels.65
Cooke was extremely fortunate to have several
experienced guides for the expedition. At the out-
set, the chief guide was the “two-gun” part-
Cherokee, Pauline Weaver, sometimes known as
Paolino or Powell Weaver. He was a former trap-
per, hunter, and agent for the Hudson’s Bay Com-
pany. He did not like the cold weather, so by about
1830 he had established himself in the Southwest and
was a noted peacemaker between the Whites and
66
Indians
Another guide was Jean Baptiste “Pomp” Char-
bonneau, the son of Toussaint Charbonneau and Sacajawea, both of the Lewis and Clark expedi- tion. Shortly after the Battalion passed by present- day Albuquerque and crossed the Rio Grande, Weaver became dangerously ill and was replaced as chiefguidebyAntoineLeroux. Thenewguidear- rived from Kearny’s column on November 2 with three Mexican subalterns (Appolonius, Francisco, and Tesson or Tasson) and joined the Battalion near present-day Valverde. Leroux was a “moun-
tain man’s mountain man” and served the venture 68
well.
To complete the assemblage,
Chapter 2
37
obstacles.