Trcccris C. Wright and the Leapenworth ExpediCion
TRAVIS G. WRIGHT AND THE LEAVENWORTH
EXPEDITION IN OKLAHOMA
By James D. Morrison*
Located in the Archives of the University of Texas arc some
papers which add a bit of background to the story of the peace expedition to the Plains Indians of southwest Oklahoma in 1834. Ttic
events of this undertaking are too well known to need lengthy repetition here but a review of the reasons for its dispatch uuder the command of General Henry Leavenworth will be worthwhile.'
A number of tragic incidents had occurred i n which citizens of
both the United States and Texas had been killed or kidnapped by
Comanche, Kiowa, and Wichita Indians. White men coming iuto
the area were treated with increasing hostility, the Five Civilized
Tribes were being moved into Eastern Oklalloma, a ~ l dit was felt
that some sort of peace agreement had to be made with the l J h i m
tribes for the safety of the frontier. General Leavenwortli was
thereupon put in command of the whole southwestern frontier with
instructions to negotiate peace with the warring tribes. The force
organized by him for the carrying out of his instructions comprised
some five hundred men, including nearly all the newly organized
First Regiment of Dragoons as well as detachments of i n f a ~ i t r y . ~
* James D.
Morrison, a member of the faculty in the Department of History,
Southeastern State College, Durant, contributed historical articles to The Chronicles
before World War 11, during which he served as an instructor in the U. S. Army
Air Corps. Mr. Morrison is a son of the late Dr. William Brown Morrison of the
Department of History at Southeastern State College, who was well known as an
Oklahoma author and historian. ("William Brown Morrison" by Robert L. Williams, in The Chronicles, Vol. XXII, No. 4 [Winter, 1944451, pp.. 402-0%)-Ed.
1 For those wishing to review this incident in our history, several accounts by
men who traveled with General Leavenworth and Colonel Dodge have been published,
including: George Catiin, Letters and Notes on the Manners, Customs, and Condition
of the North American Indians (New York: Wiley and Putnarnn, 1842), Vol. 11;
James Hildreth [?I, Dragoon Campaigns to the Rocky Mountains (New York: Wiley
and Long, 1836) ; Fred S. Perrine (ed.), with additional notes by Grant Foreman,
"The Journal of Hugh Evans, Covering the 'Fint and Second Campaigns of the
United States Dragoon Regiment in 1834 and 1835," Chronicles of Oklahoma, Vol.
111, No. 3 (September, 1925), pp. 175-215; official account of Lieutenant T. B.
Wheelock, in U. S. Senate, Ezectltive Documents, 23rd Congress, Second Session,
pp. 73-93; American State Papers, Military Affairs, Vol. V, pp. 373-82
The best modem accounts are those of Grant Foreman, Pioneer Days in the
Ear& Southwest (Cleveland: The Arthur H. Clark Company, 1926), pp. 103-56;
and of Joseph B .Thoburn and Muriel H. Wright, Oklahoma: A History of the State
and Its People (New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Company, Inc., 1929), Vol.
I, pp. 179-86.
eFoffman, Pioneer Days in the Early Southwest, op. cit., pp. 103-56; Thoburn
and Wright,Oklabma: A History,op. cit., Vol. I, pp. 176-86; Dictionmy of American
Biogmphy, Vol. XI, p. 80; The Militory and Natlal Magazine of the United States,
Vol. 11, p. 322.
'
When Leavenworth left Fort Gibson on June 15, 1834, he had
with him a Kiowa boy and girl, brother and sister, as well as a
Wichita girl. These were brought along to serve as exchanges for
white prisoners whom the General hoped to obtain from the Kiowas
and Wichita. The children had been secured from the Osages who
had captured them in preceding years in wars along the frontier.
At least two white hostages, i t was hoped, might be freed from their
Indian captors in return. One was a U. S. Ranger named George B.
Abbay and the other was a young Texas lad, Matthew Wright Martin.
The f i n g e r was not found as he had been killed by the Indians soon
after his capture; but the Martin boy was recovered and it is with
him that we are presently ~oncerned.~
George Catlin, the famous painter who accompanied Leavenworth
on this journey, thus tells of the incident which led to the capture
of Matthew Wright Martin by the Plains Indians:
Judge Martin [Matthew's father] was a very respectable a n d independent man, living on the lower part of Red River, and in the habit of taking
his children and a couple of black men-servants with him, a n d a tent to
live in, every summer, into these wild regions; where he pitched i t upon
the prairie, and spent several months in killing buffaloes and other wild
game, for his own private amusement. The news came to Fort Gibson but
a few weeks before we started, that he had been set upon by a party of
Indians and destroyed. A detachment of troops were speedily sent t o the
spot, where they found his body horribly mangled, and also one of his
negroes; and it is supposed that his son, a fine boy of nine years of age,
had been taken t o their villages by them, where they still retain him, and
where i t is our hope to recover him.
This murder and kidnapping took place on the banks of Glassy
or Glasses Creek in the present Marshall County, Oklahoma. The
father, Gabriel N. Martin, was the county Budge of Miller County,
Arkansas, actually then located in what is now northeast Texas.
Matthew's middle name was Wright, after his mother's family, also
prominent in the history of northeast Texas. The Veterans' Papers
a t the University of Texas include the reminiscences of young Matthew's uncle, Travis G. Wright, concerning his part i n securing
the return of Matthew to his Texas home.4
Claiborne or Clayborn Wright, father of Travis G. Wright, had
brought his family to what is now McCurtain County, Oklahoma,
from Tennessee i n 1816. Travis was ten years old a t the time, having been born in Smith County, Tennessee, in 1806.5 Clayborn
3 Foreman,
Pioneer Days in the Early Southwest, op. cit., pp. 103-56.
North Anrencan Indians, op. cit., Vol. 11, pp. 47, 71; Rex W. Strickland.
"Miller County, Arkansas Territory, the Frontier that Men Forgot," Chronicles oj
Oklahomu, Vol. XVIII, No. 1 (March, 1940), pp. 22, 23, continued in No. 2 (June,
155, 170, and in Vol. XIX, No. 1 (March, 1941), p. 43.
most noted of the early pioneers to locate at Pecan Point, however, was
Claiborne Wright.
March 5, 1816, he, his wife, three sons, two daughters and
a slave girl embarked upon the keelboat, Pioneer, at the mouth of the Clear Fork
of the Cumbedand in Smith County, Tennessee. . . . September 5, after much
4 Catlin,
l*i''fEe .
. ...
.
Tra& G. Wright Q3UE the Leavenworth Expedition
9
Wright served as sheriff of Miller County, Arkansas, and his home
at Shawneetown served as a courthouse for the early frontier settlement. When this area was ceded to the Choctaws and the whites
driven out in the 18209s, the Wrights removed to the south of Red
River. Miller County courtliouse was moved to the home of Gabriel
N. Martin, who had married Henrietta Wright, daughter of Clayborn, sister of Travis, and mother of Matthew Wright Martin. Confusion existed a t this time as to the location of the Texas-United
States boundary and in 1834 the residents of the region still considered themselves' in Arkansas. Evidence of this confusion is shown
by the fact that Travis G. Wright was a member of the constitutioliid
convention of Arkansas in 1836 and a brother, George W. Wright,
founder of Paris, Texas, became a member of the Congress of the
newly spawned Republic of Texas in the same years6
Travis G. Wright finally settled and remained for f if t.y years
on a plantation called Kiomatia on the south bank of Red River just
across from the mouth of the Kiamichi and the Fort Towson boat
landing. He became a noted steamboatman and authority on navigation of the Red River. A Clarksville, Texas, newspaper editor
wrote in his issue for June 3, 1846:
We refer such of our readers a s feel interested in the navigation o f
Red River, to the communication of Capt. T. G. Wright. . . . The captain
sets forth what he considers to be the best plan for removing and preventing the future accumulation of timber at the raft; and his judgment
upon the subject, i s certainly, from long and intimate knowledge of the
raft and the river, entitled to consideration.
.
Wright a t one time had a steamboat operating on the river which
was named after himself, the T~*uvisWright. It was to this man
that news came of his nephew's capture by the Indians in 1834. His
adventures in aiding and securing the return of his nephew are
written by his own hand.l
A letter found with the reminiscences will explain the origin of
the Veterans' Papers, with which Wright's manuscripts are filed :
Kiomatia Texas July 27 1874
Moses Austin Bryan EsqrDear sir I notice in the paper your call of June 14 on the District
Committee to report all persons who served Texas from 1820 up to an-
"'11
toil, sickness and loss of cargo by Indian robbery, he brought the Pioneer to anchor
at the mouth of Pecan Bayou.
In the spring of 1817, he was joined by two
nephews, John H. and Wiley Fowler, who had ridden across Arkansas, accompanied
by Wright's eldest son, Travis."-Strickland,
"Miller County," op. cit., Vol. XVIII,
No. 1, p. 21.
6 Strickland, "Miller Countv," op. cit., Vol. XVIII, pp. 21-3, 157, 165, and VoI.
XIX, up. cit., pp. 40-3, 54; Northern Standard (Clarksville, Texas), August 25, 1882;
Encyclomedia of the New V e s t , Vol. 1, p. 81; Jesse Turner. "The Constitution of
1836." Publicatons of the Arkamas Hhtorical Association, Vol. 111, p. 102.
7 Northern Standard, op. cit., June 3, 1846; Records of the Supreme Court of the
United States, October Term, 1920. Vol. I, p. 351.
....
.
nexation 1846 with proof Such Service that they may be placed on the list
of veterans a s the Services may seem to direct under the Laws of the
association
I know I am a n old pioneer I dont know [whether I am1 a veteran
or not I was long in service a s what I enclose will show but I had no
brains shot out nor legs Shot off. I had the privaleges of the city of
Houston in May last a t the fair and Veterans Meeting So well gotten
up and So Satisfactorily Conducted-I had my Testimony made out before
the Clerk of the Court and Sent it in. I was unknown to the committee
of investigation in fact unknown to all Such a crowd was around them
I could not well get to them without an effort unpleasant to Cmakel I See
yr J ask for facts and events. in our past History I send a copy of some
of them use them if you wish
Respectfully
T G Wright
Filed with this letter are three manuscripts. One of them is
an account of Wright's part in the expedition under General Rusk
in 1838 against Bowles. This manuscript is very brief and is little
more than a statement that Wright was present at the battle where
the famous Cherokee lost his life. The second is an affidavit made
by Wright as to his activities between 1816 and 1845 in order t o
prove himself a Texas veteran. It is here presented in full for it
gives further insight into the character of the man:
I T Wright have been a citizen of Texas Since 1816 or 17 Now live within
30 miles of where I first Stopped fought Indians from 1825 to I might Say
until 1842 was not in the Revolution My Bro was our parents were
Dead the younger ones had to be cared for a s well a s families whoose
husbands were defending the Settlements-in 1834 I Served a Summer and
fall Campaign in Search of M. W. Martin a little Boy whoom the Kioway
Ilndiansl held in plrlison after having murdered Chis1 father in what was
Called [Wash River] District I was for the time breling under the Command ol United States officers Genl Leavenworth & Genl Dodge the trip
was a Success and treaties made General Leavenworth Sickened and Died
I was Detached to rguardl him back to a place Coil safe Interment he was
afterward, Disinterd and a t the request of the US A officers, I carried the
remains to Natchftoches. La then he was Sent to Delhi New Pork I was
in no Regular organized Service until 1838 but had been often Chasing
Indians or [Runningl from them until 1842 In 1838 1 Joined an organised
body under Genl Rusk-*en1
Tarrant Gen Dyer and Coln Johnston his
Slibbordinates lJol Mix Capt-[conditions were such that1 we had [to1
whip the Indians or give rupl our country the Struggle Continued until
1842 o r 3 I was not in Service all the time tSubstitution1 was adopted as
families had to be cared for Irnl the 38 campaigns I furnished five pack
mules with Some Supplies outfited a Negro Hardy to take care of them
In 1836 I Cited out young man named Atkinson placed him in the Army
h e is Dead got Nothing neither have I don't want it in pay. from thirty
T r d G. Wright mrd the Leavenworth Expedition
four to forty two I furnished Many stock clothes and provisions
now recollected perhap3 $1500--or $2000T G Wright
Sworn to and subscribed
William Humphrey
before me this 21st day of
May A.D. 1874
H. Stout
O. W. Wright
M. H. Hagsdale
Witness my hand and
seal at office in
city of Houston
this Zlst day of
May AD. 1874
R.D. Westcott clk
By name [illegible]
11
a m t not
Wright returned from the Houston meeting determined t o write
out his experiences; the result was the third manuscript, which gives
his memories of the Leavenworth-Dodge expedition of 1834 by which
his nephew was recovered from the Wichitas. The date of the ruanuscript is May 26, 1874, the title is "Reminiscences of 39 Years Ago",
and it is written in the form of a letter to the "Editor, North Texan",
a Paris, Texas, new~paper.~It is herewith quoted iu full but must
be read with a critical eye:
Reminiscences of 39 Years Ago
I propose to give your readers a few items in relation to t h e past
which I have never seen in print. We old Texans dont like to talk o r
write much we are scarcely believed though the half has not been told.
We quietly take back seats and think.
In 1834 the Kioway Indians murdered G N Martin and carried into
captivity his little son M W Martin aged eight years. Martin was searched
for found and buried. But determining to recover the boy, I gave up my
business and started in pursuit of his captors. Every body said t h i s was
a wild and dangerous undertaking and so it was; but I had my plans all
arranged, and felt confident that they were good. Two persons volunteered
to go with me-John Ragsdale and Thomas McCuin also a negro Hardyall dead but me and the then little boy. We started encumbered with
nothing on our long and hazardous ride but a very scant store of provisions. We soon entered the wild plains where game and Indians predominated and then struck out for the Wichata Mountains. I felt that
it was bold for four of us; but my plan was this-we were to approach
the mountain and hide, sending the negro who had been raised with the
Indians and could speak their language into their village under t h e pretence of joining them After gaining their full confidence, he was t o steal
the boy and return to us; We were then to make the run and t a k e the
chances for the settlements.
Fortune favored us, for before we got to our hiding place, we overtook
some U S troops under command of Gen. Leavenworth with Gen Dodge
assigned to a cavalry command, who had been sent ahead. The General
would not let us go by him., The cavalry was some days ahead, a n d the
trace was closely watched by the Indians., He said that he had use' for us
as we were woodsmen and gunsmen. He therefore assumed to [secure]
8Ame~icanNewspapers, 1821-1936, lists the North Tern as one of the predecessors of the Paris, Texas, Weekly News, probably beginning publication in 1872.
No copies of the North Texun could be found by the writer.
12
Chronicles of Okhhoma
the boy for us, and put us i n service. He had lost twenty or thirty horses,
and we found nearly all of them the first day. Instead of searching the
prairies we hunted in the creek bottoms, the weather being hot and
water scarce: The march was resumed the next morning, we being ordered
in front to pick the way with two additional men. We moved quietly and
watched very closely, often seeing straggling Indians. I made signs to
them with my handkerchief but could not get their attention, neither
would they approach us, knowing that the command was close in our rear.
We passed on to the east edge of the cross timbers. Weather very
hot and water scarce. Gen Leavenworth here sickened and died. He was
a gallant man. but his great zeal and patriotism overpowered his weak
physical frame. Our party with others were detailed to bring him back
to Fort Washataw for temporary interment. Returning under a forceldJ
march, the command resumed its march under Captain Dean, the next
senior off fcer.
We passed out into and through the Cross Timbers, but could find no
water, and we suffered severely for it. We finally found grapes in
abundance which served to allay thirst, but we were near being tipsy.
Afte: detailing a man to follow our blazes back to advise the command
to make a quick march for the grapes as they would find no water, we
pushed forward and soon found a n abundance of water, and there stopped
to rest and cool. Game was around us in the greatest abundance.
The Government was sending out delegations of Indians to the several
friendly tribes to Join in the treaty to be made and the exchange of
prisoners to be made. (which was not worth paper it was scribbled on.)
While grazing, and resting the young Indians turned out in quest
of buffalo and wild horses, and they were quite successful. One of the
most exciting scenes witnessed on the occasion was a young Caddo Indian
who had chased a fine horse until tired and mad, he was turning from
the chase in disgust, when h e espied a buffalo running near him, which
he instantly roped. The contest between muscle and skill was intensely
interesting for a few minuets [sic] but being near the contestants, I soon
shot the buffalo and our supper that night was such as even Robin Hood
might have been proud of. The march was resumed the next morning
and when near the Wichata mountains we met an express for the infantry to stop. Gen Dodge stated that all had been done that could be
done. The exchange of prisoners completed, and treaties concluded. Some
affecting scences were witnessed when kindred met in the exchange of
prisoners. Parents found children and brothers met sisters who had
been mourned a s dead for many years. I n approaching the mountain no
trace could be found leading to the village. We were satisfied however
that it was there, from the signs around the mountain. After some delay an Indian was [seed crossing the prairie, and two gallant young officers well mounted were sent in pursuit to catch him if possible. The
chase commenced a t full speed; they soon caught up with him, but he dismounted and made ready for fight. Hi; pursuers did likewise and signaled
that he should put down his gun, which he did. He was then brought to
camp, where he met his sister who had been a captive among the Osage
Indians for several years. The object of the expedition was explained to
him, and he a t once piloted the army to the village. The rout was up
a large creek emerging out of the mountain but widening a t the base of
the mountain. The entrance was up the creek in the water for several
hundred yards then rising the bank a plain road led to the village. There
treaties were soon concluded and the exchange of prisoners perfected.
The homeward march was begun the next morning. Gen Leavenworth
was disinterred and brought to this place. I then carried him to Natchitoches. and he was thence to Delhigh N.Y. for interment. I wish I could
give the names of the gallaht officers, but memory fails.
.
Travis G. Vright d the Lcrrwnroorth Expedihbn
13
Martin pet lives among us. He was a volunteer in the U S. Army,
and got nearly to Monterey [sic] before Gen Taylor did. He was in the
Texas service and crossed the Rio Grand. I presume persons have received pensions for similar services but he has received neither pension or
land for services
T G Wright
Respectfuly
Any reader of Wright's account who is acquainted with the
facts of the Leavenworth Expedition is struck by a number of
doubtful statements. It must be borne in mind that here was a
man of sixty-eight years putting into ivords an event of nearly forty
years before; undoubtedly his tale had grown with its re-telliug during the years. A. W. Neville in his History of Lamar County repeats the legend that the story had become by the twentieth century.
Neville's account runs thus :
Travis began efforts to rescue the boy, Matt, and having bought or
traded for some Pawnee Indians who were prisoners of another tribe, he
set out for the village of the Pawnees who had killed Judge Martin. General Leavenworth of the United States army was then in command of the
garrison a t Fort Gibson, and going there Travis Wright secured the assistance of that officer, who detailed Colonel Dodge with 200 men to accompany him. They reached the headwaters of Red river where was the
Pawnee village. Travis Wright traded his 'Indian prisoners to the Pawnees for the boy Matt and a Negro man who had been captured by the
Indians in another raid, and who had been kind to the boy and had tried
to escape with him but had failed.
In this, the traditional story told by members of Wright's family,
Travis becomes the leader of the expedition, Dodge and the Dragoons
a military guard for the Texan. This latter account does not agree
with the "Reminiscences" quoted in full above. Wright by his own
words was never a t any time in direct contact with the Dragoons
under Colonel Dodge. Neither Catlin, Wheelock, nor Hugh Evans,
the three contemporary sources of information on the Leavenworth
Expedition, mention the presence of an uncle of young Matthew with
the Dragoon column. If Travis Wright had actually been with
Dodge, a t least one of the three would have mentioned him.9
What, then, was Wright's connection with the expedition? He
undoubtedly must have proceeded as follows : When news reached
him of the presence in the vicinity of a large military expedition on
its way to treat with the Plains Indians who had abducted his nephew,
he crossed over to Fort Towson from his home on the Texas side a t
Kiomatia. He and his party followed the road cut from Towson to
the mouth of the Washita by Captain Dean, where a semi-permanent
camp had been established. Colonel Dodge had already been sent
ahead and General Leavenworth told Wright that his nephew, if
alive, would be saved by the Dragoons and to remain with the infantry which was slowly advancing with cannon as a supporting
force.
9
A. W. Neville,
The Histow of L-anaar County, p. 236.
That part of the bbReminiscences"which purport to show firsthand knowledge of the "affecting scenes" when Dodge exchanged
prisoners with the Kiowas and WichitEIs is hearsay. Or he later read
the accounts of George Catlin and Lientenant T.B. Wheelock and
incorporated parts of their stories into his memories. Wright nowhere mentions that he saw his nephew during the adventure; this
proves that he was not with Dodge at any time. Dodge, it will be
remembered, went directly back to Fort Gibson with young Matthew,
sending only an express to ~ r d e rthe infantry detachment under
Dean to return to Camp Waahita and Fort Towson. Travis Wright
turned back with Dean, not seeing his nephew, and was occupied for
some time on the trip to Natchitoches with the remains of General
Leavenworth. Since Wright was a competent river boatman, living
across from Fort Towson landing, his statement here is undoubtedly
correct.
Other phases of the story have a familiar ring: the hot weather
and the scarcity of water; the finding of grapes on the ridges of
the Cross Timbers; the meeting of one of the girl captives with a
relative on the plains; the description of the village. The incident
about the roping of the buffalo by a Caddo Indian is not a part of
any other account. Catlin, Wheelock, Hugh Evans were all with
Dodge ; none of them knew firsthand of incidents occurring with the
infantry. It is a fact that thirty-three Caddo Indians accompanied
Dean on his march; as to an Indian's roping a buffalo, that is
another story. Catlin mentions the use of a rawhide lasso by the
Plains Indians for catching wild horses; but Dr. E. E. Dale, of the
University of Oklahoma, says that he has never heard of an Indian's
roping a buffalo and that the story sounds a bit improbable.1°
Other comments might be offered but enough criticisms have
been made to accomplish our purpose. Travis Q. Wright died A u p t
31, 1875, a year after penning his reminiscences of the Leavenworth
Expedition. He passed away at his Kiomatia plantation where he
had lived for half a century. His era, that of the pioneer river man,
was ended, as the first railroads had been built into Texas. The
nephew, Matthew Wright Martin, ended his life in obscurity as a
bachelo, without progeny. Travis Wright, as quoted above, says
Martin was still living in 1874; but A. W. Neville states that he
died in 1868. One report suggests that Martin was living on the
Washita River in the vicinity of P a d s Valley some forty years
after his kidnapping by the Indians. One thing seems sure: at no
other time in his life was Matthew so important as that summer of
1834 when he was the chief object of search by a small army of half
a thousand men and a determined nacle.11
65, 77.
11En&bpBQdi.
,p237; Tboburn rad
the Zkly SOJ&~QCS~,
op. cit, pp. 121, -1
149;
op. d.,VoL I, pp. 160, 285, and Val. II, PP* 46,
the New Itst,Vol. I, p. 80; Neville, Lamar Cmmty, op. tit,
right, Okldomo: A History, op. cit., VoL I, p 183.
4