KEENAN, John 1833-1906

KEENAN

Posted By: County Coordinator
Date: 1/6/2012 at 13:09:03

Private John Keenan

1833 – March 18, 1906

John Keenan was born in Ireland sometime in 1833. He came to America and served with the 38th Ohio Infantry during the Civil War. He went to San Francisco, California, and re-enlisted in the Army during 1866.

John Keenan died on March 18, 1906, and was interred at Saint Patrick's Church Cemetery, McIntire, Iowa.

By August of 1868, Keenan was serving as a Private in Company B of the 8th Cavalry. During the next two months, Pvt. Keenan was engaged in battles against the Hualapai (a.k.a. Pais) in the northwestern section of the Arizona Territory.

Hualapai resented the incursion of American settlers, ranchers, and miners in the Arizona Territory, which was their ancestral land. In response to the flow of American settlers, they struck with quick raids along transportation routes. Pvt. Keenan's cavalry unit, among others, set out to subjugate this feared enemy. The outnumbered and out-armed Indians held out for two years.

Records show that Troop B was one of two "constantly engaged in encounters with the Indians, but the principal work was done and the greatest hardships endured during the months of August, September and October." The persistent efforts of Pvt. Keenan's unit significantly helped in keeping the territory open to white settlement. The description below gives a general idea of the nature of the fighting and the prevailing view as to how Americans regarded their adversary:

"During these months the Indians were murdering men, women and children mercilessly and stealing livestock and other property . . . The Apaches did not give battle to the troops except when cornered by them; their idea being primarily to steal, and then to kill without being killed. Many times . . . not more than fifty or sixty men, attacked from ambush, and before the startled troopers could respond the redskins fled to their mountain strongholds, where if by chance they succeeded in carrying a prisoner they would inhumanly torture him." ~ Deeds of Valor, 1906.

Pvt. Keenan was a member of the scout patrol assigned to securing settlers' property and livestock. He was frequently attacked, ambushed or sniped but remained dedicated to his duties of around-the-clock security for the territory.

For his actions on July 24, 1869, Pvt. Keenan was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.

Pvt. Keenan continued to fight in the Indian Wars until 1871. He was assigned to Fort Stanton in New Mexico to recover from a wound he had received in battle. While there, he worked as a groundskeeper, carrying out various duties around the fort.

Upon leaving the military, Keenan lived in Minnesota and Iowa.

SOURCES:
iowahistory.org/museum/exhibits/medal-of-honor/keenan_iw/index.htm
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Keenan_(Medal_of_Honor_recipient)

[Compilation by Sharon R. Becker, January of 2012]

Famous Iowans Link for Keenan
 

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