Photo By Erin Thompson | Map of Indian Territory, 1889, showing Forts Cobb (blue), Arbuckle (yellow), Washita...... read more read more
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by Erin E. Thompson, USAICoE Staff Historian
DELAWARE SCOUT LEADS UNION TROOPS TO SAFETY
On May 31, 1861, Col. William H. Emory, a Union commander in what was known as “Indian Territory” in present-day Oklahoma, arrived at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, after a month of traveling through hostile territory. His guide was a Delaware (Lenape) scout named Se-ket-tu-ma-qua, or Black Beaver, whose service as a scout, guide, and interpreter for the U.S. Army led to the first capture of Confederate prisoners during the American Civil War.
American Indian scouts provided immeasurable support to the U.S. Army from the American Revolution until the last scout retired in 1947. One of these scouts was Delaware guide and interpreter Black Beaver. Born in Illinois in 1806, Black Beaver reportedly spoke English, French, Spanish, and approximately eight indigenous languages, as well as a form of indigenous sign language. While working for the American Fur Company, Black Beaver served as a guide and interpreter for Brig. Gen. Henry Leavenworth during his expedition into Indian Territory in the early 1830s. He further supported U.S. Army operations on the upper Red River of Arkansas and worked as a guide for American settlers traveling west in the 1840s.
During the Mexican American War, Black Beaver volunteered for service with the U.S. Army and established a company of Delaware and Shawnee tribesmen called Black Beaver’s Spy Company. The company acted as scouts for the Texas Mounted Volunteers for six months, but little else is known about their operations during the war. At the end of the war in 1848, Black Beaver remained a scout for the Army, serving as a guide and interpreter in Indian Territory. Throughout the 1850s, he worked with the military and Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) to convince other indigenous tribes to enter into peace agreements with the United States.
By 1861, Black Beaver, in his mid-fifties and living on a large farm on a reservation near Fort Arbuckle, had proven to be a capable and highly respected scout and interpreter. He was employed by the BIA’s Wichita Agency in western Oklahoma when the first engagement of the Civil War began at Fort Sumter on Apr. 12, 1861. Four days later, Colonel Emory, commander of Forts Cobb, Arbuckle, and Washita in Indian Territory, ordered the abandonment of the latter two forts over fears of secessionist attacks from Arkansas and Texas. He moved his troops northwest to Fort Cobb, employing Black Beaver as a scout during the withdrawal. Soon after arriving at Fort Cobb, Black Beaver reported to Colonel Emory that a contingent of the Texas Mounted Rifles was approaching the fort. Adequately forewarned, Colonel Emory launched a surprise attack on the detachment. He credited Black Beaver with providing “the information by which I was enabled to capture the enemy’s advance guard, the first prisoners captured in the war.”
In late April, Capt. Samuel Sturgis evacuated Fort Smith, Arkansas, due to the imminent secession of Arkansas from the Union. Historian Laurence Hauptman noted, when Sturgis’ troops arrived at Fort Cobb, the garrison housed “the largest remaining concentration of federal troops in Indian Territory.” Fearing further attacks, Colonel Emory appointed Black Beaver to lead the combined Union force and their Confederate prisoners to Fort Leavenworth in northeastern Kansas. The group traveled five hundred miles through hostile Native American and Confederate-occupied territory and arrived at the fort on May 31, 1861. Colonel Emory reported the trip was completed “without the loss of a man, horse, or wagon, although two men deserted on the journey.”
Black Beaver’s continued support of the Union Army throughout the war came at great personal cost. His land, cattle, horses, and crops were later seized and destroyed by the Confederates, and a bounty was placed on his head. He was, therefore, unable to return to his home until after the war. For the next fifteen years, Black Beaver petitioned unsuccessfully for compensation for the loss of land and income. He passed away in Oklahoma in 1880.
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| Date Taken: | 05.23.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 05.23.2025 16:17 |
| Story ID: | 498863 |
| Location: | US |
| Web Views: | 24 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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