Luther Kelly
Luther Sage "Yellowstone" Kelly (July 27, 1849 – December 17, 1928) was an American soldier, hunter, scout, adventurer and administrator. He served briefly in the
Early life
Luther Sage Kelly was born July 27, 1849, in
Military service
In the spring of 1865, with the Civil War winding down, Kelly secured permission from his mother to join the Army. He traveled to Rochester, New York, where he attempted to join the Fourth New York Cavalry but was turned down due his young age (15).[6] Later he joined the 10th Infantry by lying about his age. He was unaware that the 10th Infantry was not a volunteer corps and that he would be obliged to continue serving after the war.[1]
Kelly was sent to
Kelly's unit was stationed in Washington over the summer. In November they were moved by train to
American Western Frontier, 1868–1885
After leaving the army, Kelly embarked on what
Not long after his arrival at Fort Buford, Kelly volunteered to carry dispatches to Fort Stevenson, approximately fifty miles down the Missouri River. He left the fort on February 5, 1869.[12] The route between the forts was considered so dangerous, due to the presence of Sioux warriors, that mail carriers were generally accompanied by a cavalry escort, but Kelly set out alone.[13] He arrived safely at Fort Stevenson then set out on his return journey, spending the night at the camp of Bloody Knife, an Arickaree chieftain. The next morning, Kelly was ambushed by two Sioux warriors. The first wounded Kelly's horse with a rifle, while the second shot Kelly in the knee with an arrow. Kelly managed to shoot and kill the first attacker quickly, but the second took cover behind a tree. Kelly eventually shot and killed his second assailant, then returned to Bloody Knife's camp to tell the story.[14] Kelly spent a few days at Bloody Knife's camp recovering from his wound, then rode back to Fort Buford, becoming "something of a hero and a local celebrity" for defeating his two assailants.[15]
(A lot left out here) By his own admission, in his memoirs Kelly noted that he roamed the Judith Basin of Montana for many years especially during that crucial period between 1870 and 1880 when the Indian Wars were heating up. He became renowned as both a hunter and a scout, hunting elk, buffalo, antelope. In fact, he adopted a baby antelope in the late spring of 1876 and was bringing it back to his ranch in the Basin when news of the Little Big Horn reached him. Leaving the antelope with friends he rejoined the Army - and was a prominent scout under General Crook, assigned to lead Colonel Nelson Miles' 5th Infantry in Crook's pursuit of Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse.
Kelly stayed in the army after the suppression of the Sioux and the surrender of Crazy Horse, and in the following year, scouting once more for Colonel Miles and the army in their pursuit of Chief Joseph and the Nez Perce. He then went back to his ranch, until duty called again with the outbreak of the Spanish-American War.
Alaska expedition, 1898
Although the United States had purchased Alaska from Russia in 1867, Americans were not interested in it until gold was discovered there in 1896.[16] In 1898 the U.S. Army deployed three separate units under the commands of Captains Bogardus Eldridge, William R. Abercrombie, and Edwin F. Glenn to map a route from the Yukon, scout the Copper River Valley, and conduct reconnaissance. They would begin near the Prince William Sound and work toward the interior.[17] Kelly was assigned to Glenn's unit as an interpreter and guide.
Departing
The Army's expedition into Alaska was largely overshadowed by the war in the public eye and in contemporary historians' accounts. It made possible the completion in 1923 of the
Philippine–American War
In August 1899 Kelly received another commission as a captain, this time with the Army's 40th Volunteers, following Congress's authorization of an increase in the Army by 35,000 men to put down the insurgency in the Philippines.[22] This war, unlike the six-month war with Spain with 500 combat deaths, "would drag on for three long years"[23] and cost the lives of over 4,000 U.S. servicemen.
The 40th Regiment departed from
Kelly's company met heavy resistance on the outskirts of the town of LaLud. Insurgents under the command of a Colonel Legaspi
Kelly later served in the administration of the new civilian governor of the Philippines, future President
Post-military life
In 1915, after a few years gold mining in Nevada, Kelly settled permanently in Paradise, California, where he died on December 17, 1928. He was buried on a high bluff along the Yellowstone River just north of Billings, Montana,[27] with the sword he captured from Legaspi at LaLud. "I feel my body will rest better in Montana, the scene of my earlier activities, than it would in the vastness of Arlington, where I purposed having it laid." The bluff, within the boundaries of Swords Rimrock Park (City of Billings Parks & Recreation), is now referred to as Kelly Mountain.
Legacy
The Billings Chamber of Commerce has created the Yellowstone Kelly Interpretive Site in Billings, Montana located on the Rims area at the southern end of the Chief Black Otter trail. This is after numerous acts of vandalism at his grave site throughout the years. In 2018, the Gold Nugget Museum in Paradise, California, dedicated a memorial walking trail as the "Yellowstone Kelly Heritage Trail", honoring Kelly and the founding families of the Town of Paradise.[28]
References
- ^ ISBN 0-87779-063-9.
- ^ Keenan, Jerry (2006). The Life of Yellowstone Kelly. University of New Mexico Press. pp. 7–8.
- ^ Keenan (2006), pp. 11 -12
- ^ Keenan (2006), p. 13
- ^ Kelly, Luther (1973). Quaife, M.M. (ed.). Yellowstone Kelly: The Memoirs of Luther S. Kelly. Bison Books.
- ^ Keenan (2006), p. 14
- ^ Keenan (2006), pp. 15–16
- ^ Keenan (2006), p. 17
- ^ Keenan, Jerry (Summer 1990). "Yellowstone Kelly: From New York to Paradise". Montana: The Magazine of Western History. 40 (3): 17.
- ^ Keenan (2006), p. 21
- ^ "Chief Scout Under Miles". The New York Times. December 18, 1928. p. 31.
- ^ Keenan (2006), p. 34
- ^ Russell, Charles (1922). Back-Trailing on the Old Frontiers. Great Falls, Montana: Cheely-Raban Syndicate. p. 24.
- ^ Russell, p. 25
- ^ Keenan (2006), p. 35
- ^ Keenan p. 168
- ^ Keenan p. 169
- ^ Keenan p. 175
- ^ Keenan p. 176
- ^ Keenan p. 172
- ^ Keenan p. 195
- ^ Keenan p. 198, 216, 202
- ^ Keenan p. 202
- ^ Keenan p. 217
- ^ a b Keenan p. 226
- ^ Keenan p. 242
- ISBN 0-935269-11-8.
- ^ Nugent, Mary (August 20, 2018). "Paradise celebrates its Yellowstone Kelly Heritage Trail". Chico Enterprise-Record. Retrieved September 21, 2018.