Point of Rocks

For seven miles the old divide trail passed through heavy timber before finally breaking into the open at a high country meadow. Here the majestic pines gave way to the grasses of a grand buffalo pasture. A rivulet called West Kiowa Creek watered this pasture, and meandered ever so slowly past a perpendicular hill of pine and rock. This hill was known as La Ceja (The Eyebrow) to the early Spanish traders, as Point of Rocks to the later soldiers and gold seekers.
By the late 1850’s Point of Rocks had become a favorite campsite along the Cherokee Trail. The three essentials of 19th century camping were there in abundance: the pine trees covering Point of Rocks provided the wood, West Kiowa Creek the water, and the high country meadow the luxuriant buffalo grass. For those travelers who had spent the previous night at Jimmy Camp and nooned on Black Squirrel Creek, it was but a short afternoon’s drive to night camp at the foot of Point of Rocks.

Point of Rocks

Colonel W.W. Loring, April 29-May 2, 1858.

Colonel Loring was commandant of Fort Union, an army post situated northeast of Santa Fe. In the early spring of 1858 he had receivd orders to raise reinforcements to help guard Captain Marcy’s supply train from a feared Mormon attack. Loring had left New Mexico with six officers, 130 foot soldiers of the Third Infantry and sixty privates of Company K, Mounted Rifles. On reaching the Arkansas River crossing he had sent ahead an order to Captain Marcy, assuming command, and requesting that the supply train join up with him as he traveled the Cherokee Trail north. Col. Loring and his reinforcements had spent the night of 28 May at Jimmy Camp. The next day they crossed the high prairie, marched through the pinery, and went into camp alongside West Kiowa Creek at the foot of Point of Rocks.

“April 29, 1858 - Point of Rocks - Crossed Squirrel Creek thirteen miles; 6 or 8 mi to camp of to-day; thi,~ camp is on the dividing ridge between the Arkansas and South Fork of the Platte river; a snow storm commenced to-day at 5 ;.M. & continued unremittin¢31y until the 2d of May, when its violence somewhat abated; the cold and violence of the wind was so great that human life was in constant peril; a citizen teamster [Michael Fagan] in the quartermaster's employ was frozen to death & several hundred sheep perished in the storm; a large number of horses & cattle belonging to citizens travelling with the command also perished; a number of mules broke through control & fled before the storm, many as far as 60 mi; the entire number with but few exceptions were recovered. Capt. Marcy whose herds were 7 mi back used every exertion to save them; in the fury of the storm some 300 of his mules fled in the same manner as in our camp; they also with a few exceptions were finally recovered, & I believe only those in both instances which perished in the storm were lost; one of his herders in his efforts to recover them was frozen to death; in both camps a large number were badly frost bitten & otherwise injured; the snow on the level was 2½-3 ft deep, & when drifted 15 or 20 ft; the antelope of the prairie were frozen to death, a number of them in our immediate vicinity, mixing with our sheep for protection & perishing with them; 30th of April 1st 2nd & 3rd of May remained in camp to recover our animals & in consequence of bad roads occaioned by the recent storm ....”

Source: "Colonel Loring's Itinerary," Secretary of War Report, 1858, Senate Doc. @ sess., 35th Congress, Vol.2, 1858-59, Serial No.975 U.S. (Washington: William H. Harris, 1859).

John Dubois, 29 April-2 May 1858.

Second Lieutenant Dubois was in charge of the twenty-five Mounted Rifls detailed to guard Captain Marcy’s supply train to Utah. When the supply train encamped on Black Squirrl Creek on the night of 29 May, Dubois decided to ride ahead the seven miles to Colonel Loring’s camp at Point of Rocks, there to visit some of his old comrades from Fort Union.

“...I rode to Col. Loring's camp after dinner. They were all well & I started to return when a storm suddenfly arose & I could not find my way it was so very blinding. Returning I sat down by McNally's fire but this soon became worse than nothing. We went to bed early. Morning came & still the storm raged with redoubled fury. Our beds were covered with snow to the depth of two feet. It was almost impossible to stand before the fury of the wind. A fire could not be lighted & cold, raw bacon was all we could find to eat. Half the tents were down & the men under them covered with drifts of snow. Col. Loring was sick & had taken his negro boy in his tent as he too was very ill. The Doctor was sleeping on the ground by Col. Loring's cot. During the night the tent came down. As the snow drifted on it, its weight became unsupportable to those under it & after attempting unsuccessfully to obtain relief the doctor was forced to upset Col. Loring's cot & by rolling him off this cot supported the tent high enough for breath.
“Not a soldier was visible. All our stock ]lad stampeded. Nothing was left in camp but McRae's horses. All day it snowed. At night I slept in MacRae's tent. We could not sleep it was so cold. We drank four quarts of liquor during the day when we were in the snow without feeling any effect. During the night we heard cries & opening our tent two Mexicans stumbled in almost dead. Their limbs & faces were completely frozen. One had carried the other for half a mile & being lost in the drifting snow, our light had saved their lives. We rubbed their limbs & gave them blankets & in two hours they were almost comfortable. In the morning a dead man [teamster Michael Fagan] was found within one hundred yards of our tent, frozen to death.
It still snowed on, but by night there seemed to be some prospect of change. The men were turned out from their nests under the snow & some attempts made to cook. The evening brought an express from Capt. Marcy. All his herd had stampeded. This morning it has ceased snowing. We buried the man who had frozen to death & afterwards I returned to my own camp.”

Source:Campaigns in the West 1856-1861, by John Van Deusen Dubois. Edited by George P. Hammond. (Tucson: Arizona Pioneers West Society, 1949).