| Depending on the time line, a possible reason was because of pizzed off Indians. They were known to camp in the valley around that fort whenever Gifts were to be delivered. Most shipments of Gifts were almost always late by a month or two.
Perhaps, the safest bet was to ford the river to approach from the south to let them actually see the Valley, with time to retreat if it was occupied with Indians. Approach from the east on the north would give them no chance run for it. At times it was not uncommon for up to 10,000 Indians to be Camped in the area of Fort Mann on the north bank. 10,000 vs 7-14 Dragoons stationed inside the Fort on normal days.
I assume most reports of that volume would be exagerated somewhat. Even a few thousand would look like million to one of the 14 Dragoons that would wake in the morning see they were camped around like ghosts in the night.
Just a guess |