HISTORY NEBRASKA MANUSCRIPT FINDING AID
RG0900.AM: Richard Seymour
Research material: 1874-1886
Hitchcock County, Nebraska; Colorado; Wyoming; Dakota Territory: Scout, frontiersman
Size: Fraction; one folder
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
Little is known about the early life of Richard Seymour. Possibly the son of an aristocratic English family, Seymour appeared on the western frontier in 1874. In that year, he served as a packer for the United States Army alongside scout “Buffalo Bill” Cody. Both Cody and Seymour were employed during the Big Horn Expedition. During the Powder River campaign and at Camp Robinson, Seymour served as “assistant in charge of public train.”
By the winter of 1876-1877, Seymour was working between Fort Sill, Indian Territory and Fort Clark, Texas. Also in 1876, he appeared in Deadwood, Dakota Territory where, along with Charlie Utter and John James Ingalls, Seymour formed a partnership to deliver mail and express between Deadwood and Fort Laramie.
In April 1877, Seymour again was with the army, this time as an assistant wagon master. In September and October 1877, he was employed as a pack animal herder at Fort Sill. He was discharged from the army in December 1877. During his career with the army, Seymour acquired an Indian wife and had fathered at least two children. He also had adopted the nickname of “Bloody Dick,” probably to strike fear into the hearts of potential rivals.
In 1886, Richard Seymour was arrested and charged with conspiracy to defraud the government of land in Nebraska. Apparently, Seymour was released after supplying testimony against others involved in the alleged conspiracy to defraud.
For additional information about Richard Seymour, see the Spring 2021 issue of the Frontier County Historical Society newsletter. It contains the article, “Richard ‘Bloody Dick’ Seymour ~ A Man Who Played Many Parts on the Western Frontier” by D. Jean Smith.
Note: Several of Richard Seymour’s journals are held as part of RG1730.AM: Ballantine Family collection.
SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE
The collection contains research materials compiled from various sources. Included are copies of newspaper clippings, court documents, and secondary source material on Richard “Bloody Dick” Seymour, 1874-1886. Some of this material was copied from original court documents pertaining to a case in which Seymour and sixteen others were accused of conspiring to defraud the government of land in Nebraska.
INVENTORY
Folder
Subject headings:
Fraud — Nebraska
Seymour, Richard
Swindlers and Swindling — Nebraska
Revised TMM 04-13-2007