Financial struggles between the state and federal government are nothing new as both groups try to shift economic burdens onto the other but these struggles often left citizens in a bind, especially regarding volunteer pay. In the 19th Century, militias were often formed in response to periods of heightened tensions (perceived or real) between American settlers and their American Indian neighbors. States formed these militias and promised payment at the end of the conflict. This haphazard payment agreement often ran into difficulties regarding who owed the soldiers their pay and required meticulous records or militiamen would be given nothing for their service, which can be seen with the Ghost Dance War, or the Messiah War.
Financial struggles between the state and federal government are nothing new as both groups try to shift economic burdens onto the other but these struggles often left citizens in a bind, especially regarding volunteer pay. In the 19th Century, militias were often formed in response to periods of heightened tensions (perceived or real) between American settlers and their American Indian neighbors. States formed these militias and promised payment at the end of the conflict. This haphazard payment agreement often ran into difficulties regarding who owed the soldiers their pay and required meticulous records or militiamen would be given nothing for their service, which can be seen with the Ghost Dance War, or the Messiah War.
The Ghost Dance War sprang from attempts by Americans to assimilate American Indians into their culture by stifling attempts at self-expression, such as traditional dances. In 1882, US Secretary of the Interior Henry M. Teller issued the order to suppress the “heathenish dances.” However, secretly and sometimes openly, dances continued and waxed with the Ghost Dance in 1890. Wodziwob, a Paiute medicine man, started the Ghost Dance movement in 1869 around the communal circle dance before passing away in 1872. The movement became reshaped in 1889 by Wovoka, a Paiute Indian raised by Americans. Wovoka drew from Christian influences in his prophecies and encouraged the movement to spread to the Plains Indians. The Ghost Dancers believed that dead American Indians of the past would be resurrected alongside the restoration of their land and the American Indian’s way of life while the whites would be driven nonviolently from the land. Additionally, the practitioners believed that the dances, in which Indians would form a ring while holding hands and danced around a tree or pole, would hasten these events.[1] However, whites saw native dancing Additionally, the rhetoric of the Ghost Dancers alarmed settlers in the region, who believed that a war would occur. These dances were supervised by holy men, who offered prayers and sacred drinks for the practitioners. Additionally, a Sioux uprising in reaction to food shortages from a bad crop harvest and misappropriations by the government led to famine among the Sioux, bringing tensions to a boiling point. On November 13, 1890, President Harrison ordered the army into the Sioux Reservations to help uphold American orders, which quickly escalated into the “Ghost Dance War” or by the settler term, “Messiah War.” A more well-known occurrence of this war happened on December 28, 1890 at Wounded Knee Creek. There, army personnel opened fire on a village, which became known as the Wounded Knee Massacre.[2]
South Dakota also participated in this war when Colonel M.H. Day and V.T. McGillicuddy, at the request of Governor A.C. Mellette, organized 110 volunteers into Company A of the Spring Creek Volunteers to patrol the Cheyenne River, opposite the Ghost Dancer camp, to keep American Indians away from deserted settler homes. Frank Stanton and J.B McCloud’s ranches served as the headquarters for the militia while a third headquarters was established at Buffalo Gap. Colonel Day assumed overall command with George C. Cosgrove elected captain, P.S. McClelland as 1st Lieutenant, and Roy Coats elected 2nd Lieutenant. These volunteers provided their own equipment and fought engagements at Dan Phinney’s ranch and Daly’s ranch from 1890 to 1891.[3] As U.S. troops arrived, some volunteers joined the army as scouts while Day assisted General Miles by helping to contain the American Indians south of the Cheyenne River. On January 15, 1891, Colonel Day dissolved Company A as the war drew to a close.
In the aftermath of the war, J.B. McCloud and Fank Stanton both filed claims to the state ($2,926.40 and $2,937 respectively) for the company’s maintenance costs. The volunteers also called for their promised repayment, but Gov. Mellette denied the claims under the reasoning that, as the American Indians were wards of the federal government, it was their responsibility to compensate the volunteers.[4] However, the federal government denied the responsibility as Mellette had called the militias on his own accord and had set the promised pay. Only Stanton was able to obtain some reimbursement through the State Legislature.
In 1928, Representative William Willaimson and Senator Peter Norbeck tried to secure compensation for the volunteers as calls were re-raised following efforts to pass the 1924 Bonus Bill for WWI soldiers. Williamson noted in a letter to J.E. Reddick of Belle Fourche that as the claims were 39 years old at the time, it would be difficult to secure payment, but the reality was worse. The Bureau of Pensions noted that there was no record of Company A with the South Dakota State Archives or at the War Department. A muster roll was furnished to the department, but it was a copy on foolscap[5] and had varying enlistment dates. However, the biggest issue centered around M.H. Day, who was never a commissioned colonel but was a civilian with the honorary title of Colonel. Moreover, there was no law calling for the establishment of a militia. Governor Mellette had raised the militias without going through the state legislature and the state had failed to present a bill of compensation to the federal legislature. This may have been due to a disagreement between the state and federal government as the compensation bill asked for $2 a day pay per man and $.40 a day per horse when other states just paid their militiamen $13 a month.[6]
In 1929, Senator J.A. Boland of Pennington County proposed a resolution calling on the federal government to compensate the volunteers for their time, use of their horses, and maintenance while in service. His call was supported with evidence gathered by Peter Norbeck, Doane Robinson, and C.E. Feigel of Rapid City of a volunteer roster and statements made by Governor Mellette and Adjunct-General Carpenter in 1892 and 1893.[7] In his farewell address, Mellette noted that Day had drawn state money for the militia but failed to pay them, while Carpenter had kept a meticulous account of expenditures for the militias in 1890. However, the group ran into the same problems as they did in 1928. They could not locate the original roster of the 110 volunteers, only a copy of the original 51 men sworn in on Stanton’s ranch. The matter ended in 1940, when Senator Francis Case made a final push with Congress, furnishing correspondence between Days and military commanders like U.S. Army Major General Nelson A. Miles, Colonel Eugene Asa Carr, Lieutenant Colonel R.H. Offley and Major Harry C. Egbert, who all addressed M.H. Day as colonel. However, General Frank T. Hines of the Department of Veterans Affairs reluctantly dismissed the case as the volunteers were not on state or on federal payroll.[8]
The difficulties the 1890 volunteers had in obtaining compensation reflect the economic and political difficulties of the time. Both South Dakota and the federal government were unwilling to foot these large expenditures and quickly passed the bill onto the other. The economic difficulties of the Great Depression in the 1930s added additional reasons to dodge the expense. Bad record management also took its toll as politicians had to fight for the repayment but failed to provide adequate proof to the federal government. These conditions led to the failure of any type of compensation for the militiamen as economic turmoil dwarfed any further efforts.
[1] https://blogs.loc.gov/folklife/2017/11/james-mooney-recordings-ghost-dance-songs/
[2] Warren, Louis S. “The Lakota Ghost Dance and the Massacre at Wounded Knee.” PBS, 4/16/2021.
[3] Securing Relief for Messiah War Veterans, 1893 – 1932, William Williamson papers (MS 175), Richardson Collection, Archives and Special Collections, The University of South Dakota.
[4] P.S. McClelland. N.d. William Williamson papers (MS 175), Richardson Collection, Archives and Special Collections, The University of South Dakota.
[5] Foolscap paper started in mid-fifteenth century Europe and was known for its large size (smallest being 16.5” by 13.25” compared to the modern American paper size of 8.5” by 11”). The paper has a reputation of being cheap and of poor quality. https://regencyredingote.wordpress.com/2008/10/31/oh-foolish-foolscap/
[6] Letter from Commissioner of Pensions Winfield Scott to Adjunct-General W. A Hassle, 3/8/1928.
[7] Boland, J.A. Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 1. N.d. William Williamson papers (MS 175), Richardson Collection, Archives and Special Collections, The University of South Dakota.
[8] Securing Relief for Messiah War Veterans, 1893 – 1932, William Williamson papers (MS 175), Richardson Collection, Archives and Special Collections, The University of South Dakota.