The Family of August Harder

There is a problem with August’s dating here. Aunt Augusta died July 24, 1864. She was on her deathbed when Aunt Sophie, accompanied by Capt. Söderberg, arrived in Fort Smith. Thus, Capt. Söderberg would have been killed sometime after the spring of 1864; August’s option of 1863 is not tenable. There were two events involving Indians that could have been the occasion for his death. The first is the Battle of Massard Prairie, which occurred on July 27, 1864. The second is the Battle of Fort Smith, which occurred four days later, July 31, 1864. Massard Prairie, as a minor skirmish of the Civil War, at least merits mention; the Battle of Fort Smith is too minor.

General Cooper of the Confederates had received word that the Union cavalry detachments protecting Fort Smith were vulnerable. The Union had placed redoubts around Fort Smith, and Cooper was told that the position just east of the Jenny Lind Road was exposed. He ordered General R.M. Gano of Texas with 500 men of his brigade to move against the Union position. Also tasked was Colonel S.N. Folsom’s men from the Second Indian Brigade; specifically, the 2nd Choctaw Cavalry, a unit composed of Choctaw and Chickasaw warriors, who had been riding for the Confederacy since the beginning of the war.

General Gano’s command came from Cedar Prairie, Oklahoma east of Pocola into Arkansas. They were to begin the attack from the area of Brooks Stephins Mountain, colloquially called Rye Hill, at dawn. They swept across Massard Prairie from the southwest, from the south, and even a detachment from the southeast. The battle was a Confederate success, and they withdrew back, hoping to catch pursuing Federals in an ambush at Backbone Mountain, which did not happen. The point of this is that Capt. Söderberg had been visiting Mrs. Bloomberg on Massard Prairie and was trying to get away when he was overtaken by some of Col. Folsom’s Indians. This explanation puts the Confederates further northwest than writers mention, for the northwest corner of the George Coleman farm begins at the southeast corner of the intersection of Towson Avenue and Fresno Street (NW¼ S28 T8N R32W).

Flush with success, General Cooper ordered General Gano to make venture closer to the main fort, not to assault it but to see if he could draw some troops out and then fight them. On July 31st the main force came up the Texas Road from Cedar Prairie along the route of U.S. 271. There was a redoubt south of Dodson between Towson and Wheeler Avenues that they attacked. The troops included Indian troops of General Stan Watie, specifically Colonel Bell’s First Cherokee Regiment. Here again we have action on Massard Prairie (a mop up action by Gano) and movement at the Coleman Farm by Indians. The artillery of the Federals stopped the Confederates before they got as far as Dodson Avenue.

Either of these two actions could have been the cause of Capt. Söderberg’s death. They provide a reason for some of the civilized tribes of Indians to make a raid and kill a man. The newspapers are concerned with military casualties and do not mention any civilian caught in the action: collateral damage.

After our cows were gone, we were in a bad plight. Uncle could get no work as a miller, there being only one small mill running in town.

I must mention two circumstances which show Uncle Henry’s true character. Being on his way home once, and at Long Prairie, he encountered some of the Confederates who told him that they were going to go and kill Mr. Jerry Hackett who lived on James Fork. As soon as Uncle was out of their sight, he ran his horse a roundabout way, arriving in time to warn Major Hackett (who was a outspoken Union man) of his danger. So, when they arrived at Hackett’s, their man had gone. This made them enemies of uncle’s. The other circumstance was like this. Mr. Charles Bishop, a worthy citizen of Sugarloaf Township, had founded a company to which uncle also belonged, for home protection against all robbers. Some Jayhawkers from the Union side attempted to plunder and were promptly run out of the county. They then went to Ft. Smith, and had Mr. Bishop arrested as a Rebel who had organized a company to help the Confederate cause. Mr. Bishop was put in jail in Ft. Smith, and when his trial before the Provost Marshal came off, Uncle Henry promptly went to them and told them to put him in jail too as he was a also a member of the company. This convinced the officers that Mr. Bishop had only tried to protect himself and neighbors from robbers, and he was released. Mr. Bishop told me this himself.

After we were all away, the robbers burned our houses down, only the horse and sheep stables, and corncrib being left. Uncle Henry and Aunt Augusta were buried in the old Rogers cemetery just east of the present high school building. After resting there until about 1879, they were removed to the present city (Oak) cemetery.

When we were so poor and did not know what to do for a living, Uncle had about 8 dollars left. With this he bought a yearling and killed it and sold the meat to the people. He knew very little about handling meats, and I was too small to help much.