Moses Embree Milner (May 8, 1829 – October 29, 1876), also known as "California Joe", was an American miner and frontier scout.

Biography

Moses Embree Milner was born in

Stanford, Kentucky Stanford is a List of cities in Kentucky, home rule-class city in Lincoln County, Kentucky, Lincoln County, Kentucky, United States. It is one of the oldest settlements in Kentucky, having been founded in 1775. Its population was 3,487 at the 2010 ...

on May 8, 1829. At age 14 he moved west to St. Louis, Missouri for a short time and then on to Fort Laramie, Wyoming where he became a fur trapper. In 1846, during the

Mexican–American War The Mexican–American War, also known in the United States as the Mexican War and in Mexico as the (''United States intervention in Mexico''), was an armed conflict between the United States and Mexico from 1846 to 1848. It followed the 1 ...

, Milner began working as a scout for General Stephen W. Kearny and Colonel

Alexander W. Doniphan Alexander William Doniphan (July 9, 1808 – August 8, 1887) was a 19th-century American attorney, soldier and politician from Missouri who is best known today as the man who prevented the summary execution of Joseph Smith, founder of the Church ...

. Following the war he married Nancy Watts and moved to California, where he became a gold prospector and was then known as "California Joe". In 1853, he left California and built a cattle ranch in near Corvallis, Oregon. In 1866, Milner was a scout based in Kansas at

Fort Riley Fort Riley is a United States Army installation located in North Central Kansas, on the Kansas River, also known as the Kaw, between Junction City and Manhattan. The Fort Riley Military Reservation covers 101,733 acres (41,170 ha) in Ge ...

and later out of Fort Harker, where he became acquainted with

Wild Bill Hickok James Butler Hickok (May 27, 1837August 2, 1876), better known as "Wild Bill" Hickok, was a folk hero of the American Old West known for his life on the frontier as a soldier, scout, lawman, gambler, showman, and actor, and for his involvement ...

and Texas Jack Omohundro. Then, in 1868, Milner was named Chief of Scouts for

George Armstrong Custer George Armstrong Custer (December 5, 1839 – June 25, 1876) was a United States Army officer and cavalry commander in the American Civil War and the American Indian Wars. Custer graduated from West Point in 1861 at the bottom of his class, b ...

Fort Hays Fort Hays, originally named Fort Fletcher, was a United States Army fort near Hays, Kansas. Active from 1865 to 1889 it was an important frontier post during the American Indian Wars of the late 19th century. Reopened as a historical park in ...

, but Custer soon found him drunk and immediately demoted him. Milner returned to prospecting and ranching in 1870 near Picoche, Nevada. In 1875, he scouted for the Newton–Jenney geological expedition and remained in the Black Hills to prospect. On an undisclosed winter night in late 1875, Milner and a man named Tom Newcomb stopped by the camp John Richard and his nephew, Alfred Pallardie, near the headwaters of the Running Water. Richard and Pallardie had been trading with the Sioux between Fort Laramie and Fort Robinson. What happened next is unknown, but Newcomb arrived at Fort Robinson the next day claiming that Milner had murdered both Richard and Pallardie at their camp. Milner was soon apprehended at Fort Robinson, but he was eventually released due to a lack of evidence. While in custody, Milner blamed the murders on Newcomb. Eventually, the blame was placed on the Cheyenne Indians. The fact that blame for the murders of Richard and Pallardie had been placed on Natives did not settle the matter. According to a witness named Frank Salaway, Milner continued accusing Newcomb for the killings. In turn, Newcomb declared that he would kill Milner on sight for the perceived slander. Matters came to a head in October 1876 at

Fort Robinson Fort Robinson is a former U.S. Army fort and now a major feature of Fort Robinson State Park, a public recreation and historic preservation area located west of Crawford on U.S. Route 20 in the Pine Ridge region of northwest Nebraska. The fo ...

, Nebraska, when Milner was shot by Newcomb. Milner was buried at Fort Robinson and now is at Fort McPherson National Cemetery.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Milner, California Joe 1829 births 1876 deaths People of the American Old West People from Stanford, Kentucky Burials at Fort McPherson National Cemetery deaths by firearm in Nebraska 1876 murders in the United States