Simpson Everett Stilwell (August 18, 1850 – February 24, 1903) was a United States Army Scout, Deputy U.S. Marshal, police judge, and U.S. Commissioner in Oklahoma during the American Old West. He served in Major George A. Forsyth's company of scouts when it was besieged during the Battle of Beecher Island by Indian Cheyenne Chief Roman Nose and was instrumental in bringing relief to the unit.
Early life
Stilwell was raised near Baldwin, Kansas. His parents were William "Henry" Stilwell and Charlotte B. "Sarah" Winfrey. He had a younger brother, Frank Stilwell, who was killed at age 26 by Deputy U.S. Marshal Wyatt Earp.
In the mid-1850s the Stilwells moved to Baldwin City or Palmyra Township, Douglas County, Kansas, where they took a land claim. In 1863 William and Charlotte divorced and William left with the three boys, Jack, Millard and Frank. Charlotte took the girls Elizabeth and Mary. William joined Company B, 18th Missouri Infantry for a time during the Civil War.
In 1863, at 14 years old, Simpson's parents sent him to fetch water from the family well. He left for Kansas City instead, where he joined a wagon train bound for Santa Fe, New Mexico Territory. He traveled between New Mexico, Kansas City, and Leavenworth several times, spending the winters in New Mexico.
Joins U.S. Army
During the winters he joined others on buffalo hunts on the Canadian River, the Wolf River, and the Beaver River. In the spring he worked the wagon trains. In 1867 he joined the U.S. Army and served as post guide for troops at Fort Dodge, Kansas. In 1868, he headed south with General George Custer's expedition into Indian Territory.
Scouts for General Forsyth
On August 28, 1868, Jack Stilwell joined Major George A. Forsyth's company, one of fifty U.S. Army scouts from Fort Harker and Fort Hays. Jack was described as "a youth of six feet three or more, short of years but long on frontier lore."
On the morning of September 10, Forsyth's troops at Fort Wallace received information that Cheyenne Indians had attacked a freighter's train east of Ft Wallace. The soldiers set out at dawn to find the hostile Indians. The scouts trailed the Indian raiding party from Sheridan, Indian Territory into Colorado; signs indicated that the opposing force considerably outnumbered the scouts, but the unit nonetheless pressed on.
The detachment went into camp on the Arikaree Fork of the Republican River. General Forsyth anticipated trouble and posted a watch. At dawn the Scouts were attacked by a large party of Cheyennes under the leadership of Roman Nose. Surrounded, the men took cover and dug in on a sand bar in the dry riverbed.
At around midnight on the first day of battle, Forsyth said, "Some one must go to Wallace for assistance." Stilwell volunteered and said he would choose a man to go with him. Forsyth tore the fly leaf out of his daybook, wrote a note to Col. Bankhead at Ft. Wallace, and gave it to Stilwell. Stilwell and Trudeau crawled for before they took cover for the day about of one of the Indian Villages. They took horse meat for food, and when it spoiled they got sick. Trudeau was so weak he could only stand with assistance, but after resting and traveling for four days they reached Fort Wallace.
There were some reports written much later that gave Stilwell credit for shooting Roman Nose, but this could not be proven. The scouts were discharged at Fort Wallace on October 5, 1868. Stilwell remained a scout for the army for a length of time.
Guides Kansas Volunteers
Samuel Johnson Crawford was elected Governor of Kansas and served from 1865 to 1868. He was unable to receive the support he'd hoped for from the federal government, who was still shipping arms to the Indians in keeping with several treaties.
After receiving constant appeals for aid, on November 4, 1868, Governor Crawford resigned as governor and was appointed Colonel of a newly recruited regiment, the 1200 strong Nineteenth Kansas Volunteers. General Sheridan gave Crawford instructions to rendezvous with General George Armstrong Custer's 7th Cavalry at Camp Supply, near the point of the Wold and Beaver Rivers. Custer was under orders to proceed to the Washita River, the winter encampment of Indians.