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{{Infobox person
| name = Simpson Everett Stilwell
| image = Simpson-e-jack-stilwell-2.jpg
| alt = Simpson E. "Jack" Stilwell
| caption = Simpson E. Stilwell
| birth_name = Simpson Edwin Stilwell
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1850|09|18}}
| birth_place = [[Iowa City, Iowa]]
| death_date  = {{Death date and age|1903|02|17|1850|08|18}}
| death_place = [[Cody, Wyoming]]
| parents     = William "Henry" Stilwell, Charlotte B. "Sarah" Winfrey
| nationality = American
| spouse      = Esther Hannah White
| other_names = Jack, Comanche Jack
| known_for   =  Brought relief to besieged U.S. Army [[United States Army Indian Scouts|scout]] unit
| occupation  = U.S. Army Scout, lawman, judge
}}
'''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 Alexander Forsyth|George A. Forsyth]]'s company of [[United States Army Indian Scouts|scouts]] when it was besieged during the [[Battle of Beecher Island]] by [[Native Americans in the United States|Indian]]  [[Cheyenne people|Cheyenne]] [[Tribal chief|Chief]] [[Roman Nose]] and was instrumental in bringing relief to the unit.<ref name=dearment>{{cite book|last=DeArment|first=Robert K.|title=Deadly Dozen: Twelve Forgotten Gunfighters of the Old West, Volume 2|year=2007|publisher=University of Oklahoma Press|location=Norman|isbn=978-0-8061-3863-3}}</ref>{{rp|266}}
==Early life==
Stilwell was raised near [[Baldwin, Kansas]]. His parents were  William "Henry" Stilwell and Charlotte B. "Sarah" Winfrey.<ref name=hamilton>{{cite web|last=Hamilton|first=Tracee|title=Forsyth Scout - Beecher Island|work=Newsletter #5, June 2008|url=http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~lincolncounty/june2008.pdf|publisher=Lincoln County, Kansas|accessdate=14 May 2011}}</ref> 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.<ref name="Depue">{{cite web|last=Depue|first=Monnette|title=Descendants of Joseph E. Stilwell|url=http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/d/e/p/Monnette-Depue/GENE6-0002.html|date=June 10, 2001|accessdate=14 May 2011}}</ref>
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|Santa Fe]], [[New Mexico Territory]]. He traveled between New Mexico, Kansas City, and Leavenworth several times, spending the winters in New Mexico.<ref name=ahlquist/>
==Joins U.S. Army==
During the winters he joined others on buffalo hunts on the [[Canadian River]], the [[Wolf River (Kansas)|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]].<ref name=ahlquist/>
===Scouts for General Forsyth===
{{main|Battle of Beecher Island}}
On August 28, 1868, Jack Stilwell joined Major [[George Alexander Forsyth|George A. Forsyth's]] company, one of fifty U.S. Army [[United States Army Indian Scouts|scouts]] from [[Fort Harker (Kansas)|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."<ref name=oldtrail>{{cite web|title=The Old Trail Town Cemetery|url=http://www.ultimatewyoming.com/sectionpages/sec2/extras/oldtrailtowncemetery.html|publisher=Ultimate Wyoming Historical Site}}</ref>
On the morning of September 10, Forsyth's troops at Fort Wallace received information that [[Cheyenne people|Cheyenne]] Indians had attacked a freighter's train {{convert|13|km}} east of Ft Wallace. The soldiers set out at dawn to find the hostile Indians. The scouts trailed the Indian raiding party from [[Sheridan, Colorado|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.<ref name=lockard/><ref>{{cite web|last=Ross|first=Edith Connelley|title=Chapter XLVIII: Governor Samuel J. Crawford|url=http://skyways.lib.ks.us/genweb/archives/1918ks/v2/ch48p1.html|work=A Standard History of Kansas and Kansans|publisher=William E. Connelley|accessdate=15 May 2011}}</ref>
At around midnight on the first day of battle, Forsyth said, "Some one must go to [[Fort Wallace|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.<ref name=ahlquist/>  Stilwell and Trudeau crawled for {{convert|3|mi}} before they took cover for the day about {{convert|5|mi}} of one of the Indian Villages.<ref name=hamilton/> 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.<ref name=lockard/>
There were some reports written much later that gave Stilwell credit for shooting [[Roman Nose]], but this could not be proven.<ref name=lockard>{{cite journal|last=Lockard|first=F. M.|title=A Version Of A Famous Battle|url=http://digital.library.okstate.edu/chronicles/v005/v005p297.html|publisher=Chronicles of Oklahoma|accessdate=14 May 2011|date=September 1927|volume=5|issue=3}}</ref> 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 J. Crawford|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.<ref name=hatch>{{cite book|last=Hatch|first=Thom|title=The Custer Companion: A Comprehensive Guide to the Life of George Armstrong Custer and the Plains Indian Wars|year=2002|publisher=Stackpole Books|location=Mechanicsburg, PA|isbn=978-0-8117-0477-9|edition=1st}}</ref>
General  [[Philip Sheridan|Sheridan]]  had sent two guides to lead Colonel Crawford through. Jack Stilwell<ref name=lockard/><ref name=segelquist>{{cite web|last=Segelquist|first=Dennis|title=Kansas Famous Frontier Scouts|url=http://kansasoakland.blogspot.com/2009_11_01_archive.html|work=Kansas and its Surnames|accessdate=15 May 2011}}</ref> and either William "Apache Bill" Seamans<ref>{{cite book|last=Hutton|first=Paul Andrew |title=Phil Sheridan and his Army|year=1999|publisher=University of Oklahoma Press|location=Norman, OK|isbn=978-0-8061-3188-7|edition=Oklahoma paperbacks}}</ref> or Pierre Trudeau<ref name=lockard/>  were assigned to the Kansas Volunteers as Scouts. Wichita resident James R. Mead wrote afterward that he talked to Stilwell and Tredeau and learned they had never been over the routes. He then went to Colonel Crawford  and told him it was very dangerous to start across there at that time of year with inexperienced guides and offered to furnish  a man who knew the country. Colonel Crawford replied, "I have no funds to employ scouts so I must trust the scouts that Sheridan  sends." Sure enough, just as Mead predicted, they got lost. A big snow storm overtook them. Forage and rations were exhausted.  The men suffered much and many of the horses froze to death on the picket line.<ref name=lockard/>
The Regiment began their trip Southward to Fort Supply where Custer and the 7th Cavalry was posted. After crossing the nearly frozen Arkansas River they began their tracking of the hostiles. The snow being around 12&nbsp;inches deep, made it very difficult for the men and their horses, to travel, so their travels were very slow. On the 14th of November, the regiment was hit by a severe winter snowstorm and they had great difficulty finding a way to cross the Arkansas River.<ref name=wallace>{{cite web|last=Wallace|first=Ronald R.|title=19th Kansas Cavalery|url=https://www.angelfire.com/ks2/19thkansascavalry/|access-date=15 May 2011}}</ref> Shortly afterward 600 of their horses were somehow stampeded and they lost 100 of the valuable horses. The situation got worse when the men got lost in a blizzard in the Cimarron Canyon and finally began reaching Camp Supply on November 28.<ref name=wallace/>
Custer had grown impatient waiting for Crawford and left on November 24 for Washita. There they killed from 14<ref name="alvord-1868-12-07">Alvord, Henry E. (December 7, 1868). "Summary of Information Regarding Hostile Indians, Semi-Weekly Report No. 5." In [http://www.1st-hand-history.org/Exdocs/Exdoc18/ALBUM2.HTML U.S. Senate 1869] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928014252/http://www.1st-hand-history.org/Exdocs/Exdoc18/ALBUM2.HTML |date=2007-09-28 }}, pp. 35-37; [http://www.1st-hand-history.org/Congress/hd240/ALBUM4.HTML U.S. House of Representatives 1870] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928014229/http://www.1st-hand-history.org/Congress/hd240/ALBUM4.HTML |date=2007-09-28 }}, pp. 151-153. Excerpted in Hardorff 2006, p. 268.</ref> to upwards of 140<ref name="clark-sun">Clark, Ben. (May 14, 1899). "Custer's Washita Fight" (interview). ''New York Sun''. Reproduced in Hardoff 2006, pp. 204-215; casualty estimate on p. 208.</ref> Indians at the [[Battle of Washita River]], capturing 53 women and children,<ref>Donovan, James, ''A Terrible Glory''. Little, Brown and Company (2008).  p. 64</ref> while losing only one officer in the fight around the Indian village.<ref name=hatch/>{{rp|81}} This was the battle for which the unit had been organized.<ref name=lockard/>
The Kansas Volunteers remained in active service all winter.  They suffered from insufficient and poor rations, severe weather, and walked instead of rode due to the lack of horses,<ref name=hatch/> and saw little fighting.<ref name=lockard/>
In 1871 Stilwell was at Fort Sill as a post guide. He remained in the Indian Territory with the exception of a few travels until about 1887.
He also served during the campaign of 1874, where he made a daring ride from the Darlington agency to Fort Sill, seventy-five miles alone through hostile country, to bring news of the outbreak and get help. Later he was scout for General "Black Jack" Davidson.<ref name=segelquist/>
In 1878 he was chief packer and then scout at [[Fort Davis National Historic Site|Fort Davis]] and then [[Fort Stockton, Texas|Fort Stockton]], Texas.<ref name=hamilton/>
==Brother shot in Tombstone==
His brother [[Frank Stilwell]] was an [[outlaw]] [[The Cowboys (Cochise County)|Cowboy]] who was suspected of murdering [[Morgan Earp]] on March 18, 1882, in an ambush in [[Tombstone, Arizona|Tombstone]], [[Arizona Territory]]. Frank was killed in retaliation by [[Wyatt Earp]] two days later.<ref name=dearment/><ref name=ahlquist>{{cite web|last=Ahlquist|first=Diron Lacina|title=Simpson Everett "Jack" Stilwell|url=http://www.usgennet.org/usa/ok/topic/lawmen/outlaws/stilwell.htm|publisher=Lawmen & Outlaws|access-date=12 May 2011|year=2003|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100607121237/http://www.usgennet.org/usa/ok/topic/lawmen/outlaws/stilwell.htm|archive-date=7 June 2010}}</ref> Simpson soon learned of his brother's death and went west with hopes of avenging his brother's death. However, he soon returned without doing so.<ref name=thrapp >{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NCObM3OAPuwC |last=Thrapp|first=Dan L.|title=Encyclopedia of Frontier Biography, Volume 3: P-Z|year=1991|publisher=University of Nebraska Press|location=Lincoln, Nebraska|isbn=978-0-8032-9420-2|edition= Bison Book print}}</ref>{{rp|1371}} He returned to [[Indian Territory]] where he became a Deputy U.S. Marshal headquartered in [[Anadarko, Oklahoma]].
==Becomes U.S. Marshal==
In 1887 (actually was commissioned by the Northern District of Texas first in 1885 and then by the District of Kansas about 1887), Stilwell became a Deputy U.S. Marshall in Darlington, Oklahoma during the period when Oklahoma was opened up for [[Land Run of 1889|settlement]]. He soon became a police judge at [[El Reno, Oklahoma]] about {{convert|6|mi}} away. In March 1894, Stilwell was a witness in the case  ''The United States vs. The State of Texas'' which determined [[Greer County, Oklahoma|Greer County]] was within the borders of [[Oklahoma Territory]]. A few years later he returned to Anadarko where he was appointed U.S. Commissioner. He was admitted to [[Bar (law)|the bar]] and practiced law.
On May 2, 1895, in [[Braddock, Pennsylvania]], he married Esther Hannah White.  In 1898, Stilwell was invited by longtime friend [[Buffalo Bill|William F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody]] to move to his ranch near [[Cody, Wyoming]]. Stilwell watched over Cody's interests while he toured with his [[Wild West shows]].  Stilwell owned a small ranch on the South Fork of the [[Shoshone River]],<ref name=oldtrail/> where he died of [[Bright's disease]] in 1903. He was buried near Cody, Wyoming.<ref name=ahlquist/>
== References ==
{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}
{{Wild West}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stilwell, Simpson}}
[[Category:American frontier]]
[[Category:1850 births]]
[[Category:1903 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Douglas County, Kansas]]
[[Category:United States Marshals]]
[[Category:Deaths from nephritis]]
[[Category:People from Baldwin City, Kansas]]
[[Category:People from Cody, Wyoming]]