8/4/2023 0 Comments Manpower spokane![]() The natives were disappointed with the lack of military action and the constant drilling and formal parades. By 1893 a mere twelve Spokanes and five Colvilles were enlisted. It was believed that enlisting American Indians as regular soldiers would both ease the chronic manpower shortage of the Army and help "civilize" the native soldiers. They received supplies, a salary, schooling from officers’ wives, and uniforms. Natives that did enlist into the Army at Fort Spokane were appointed to Company I (which stood for "Indian"). Later that year, General John Gibbon decided to professionalize the Indian scouts, who would now be treated as regular soldiers. "They were remarkably neat," he observed, "and the saddle requirements and horses were in very good order." Their tents were pitched in "regular order" and "the grounds around are very well policed." He concluded: "I was impressed with the soldierly appearance of these Indians." In 1891, an army inspector reported that there were ten Indian scouts at Fort Spokane, by then wearing regulation uniform. The scouts wore their traditional attire, as they were not formally enlisted men in the Army. The men would bring their families to live with them in tents just outside the fort. Five to ten scouts were on hand at any given time. From 1884 to 1886, native scouts agreed to serve for six months. Indian scouts interpreted, guided soldiers through the wilderness of eastern Washington, and brought back vital intelligence to the Army.Īt Fort Spokane, being an Indian scout was at first not a permanent military role, but more of an auxiliary unit. Like most Army posts on the western frontier, Fort Spokane relied on native scouts. These native men, however, served for reasons of their own, and often resisted both military discipline and attempts to change their culture. Indian scouts helped the military navigate through unfamiliar terrain and cultures. Native American scouts were widely used by the US Army beginning with the Revolutionary War.
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