SEPT 7: Sherman’s ‘Best Indian Fighter,’ George Crook

Perhaps no U.S. Army general had more success in fighting and, eventually, connecting with Indian tribes than George Crook.

General George Crook. (Credit: Library of Congress)

Born near Dayton on Sept. 23, 1829, Crook was “another son of Ohio,” according to author H.W. Brands in his book, “The Last Campaign.” He followed in the steps of fellow Ohioans William T. Sherman and Philip Sheridan, both of whom would play a large role in Crook’s military career.

Crook graduated from the U.S. Military Academy in 1852, 38th out of a class of 43, and was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant in the 4th U.S. Infantry. He was stationed in Northern California until the outbreak of the Civil War. On September 12, 1861, Crook was appointed colonel of the 36th Ohio Infantry and sent to western Virginia.

During the war, Crook attained the rank of Brevet Major General after having fought in battles and leading multiple raids against Confederate forces, including the Battles of South Mountain and Antietam, and the Battle of Chickamauga.

After the war, Crook was returned to the rank of Lt. Colonel and was assigned to the 23rd U.S. Infantry on frontier duty in the Pacific Northwest, where he conducted “rigid campaigns” against the Snake, Paiute and Modoc Indians. In 1871, Sherman sent Crook, “his best Indian fighter,” to Arizona, where he always traveled with either a shotgun or rifle.

According to Brands, Crook summoned every officer in the southern district of Arizona and extracted from each details about “the lines of travel, the trails across the various mountains, the fords where any were required for the streams, the nature of the soil, especially its products, such as grasses, the character of the climate, the condition of pack mules and all pertaining to them, and every other item of interest a commander could possibly want to have determined.”

Crook led by example and was not overbearing. According to one observer, Brand wrote:

“No officer of the same rank, at least in our service, issued so few orders. According to his creed, officers did not need to be deviled with orders and instructions and memoranda. All that they required was to attain insight into what was desired of them. And there was no better way to inculcate this than by personal example.”  

After assuming command in May 1876 of the Wyoming Column, Crook led troops against a large force of Sioux and Cheyenne warriors at the Battle the Rosebud, led by Crazy Horse. Historians considered the battle a victory for the Sioux and Cheyenne. Crook withdrew his troops from southeastern Montana for a time. On June 25, close to the Rosebud, George Armstrong Custer and much of the 7th Cavalry were wiped out by many of the same Sioux and Cheyenne, plus Arapaho warriors, at the Battle of Little Bighorn.

Apache military leader and medicine man Geronimo. (Credit: Library of Congress)

Crook later returned to Arizona and in 1883, according to the National Park Service, led Apache scouts and U.S. troops into Mexico in search of Geronimo and the Chiricahua Apaches who were raiding from their sanctuaries in the Sierra Madre. After a brief skirmish, Crook negotiated the peaceful return of Geronimo and the Chiricahuas to their Arizona reservations. In his later years, “Crook struggled repeatedly with the U.S. government to uphold its promises to the conquered tribes and urged civil rights for Native Americans.”

Crook suffered a heart attack and died on March 21, 1890, in Chicago. He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery.