97 10 9760 https://caspercollege.cvlcollections.org/files/original/bb424a0fea6d1808d920071be62c7e64.pdf d9ef6eacf57bc756692b7575e3407eb1 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document Physical booklet Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Casper Wyoming Booklet Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NKC/1.0/">http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NKC/1.0/</a> Date Created Date of creation of the resource. 1914 Subject The topic of the resource Casper (inhabited place) Description An account of the resource Booklet on Casper, Wyoming issued by the Casper Industrial Club in 1914 Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Casper Industrial Club Language A language of the resource ENG Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF Provenance A statement of any changes in ownership and custody of the resource since its creation that are significant for its authenticity, integrity, and interpretation. The statement may include a description of any changes successive custodians made to the resource. Robert Blackmore Extent The size or duration of the resource. 19 pages Relation A related resource <a href="https://caspercollege.cvlcollections.org/collections/show/42">Mrs. Robert Blackwell Collection</a> https://caspercollege.cvlcollections.org/files/original/a4928f52a80b399d72c2637b2b60da9d.pdf aa660cf8e1b86c0da65d095ee99acdc9 PDF Text Text ~' lN ....... ~ ~ 3 l- C}_tD J? _j s~ -7 .J"' T cw c3 PennQ£k,~:. and ·· - -., . ·:. .. ,Cpl. lawyer 'Hegt.~w_.- ~. be.a : ma·n·: ' liiii!was ; EDITOR'S NOTE: July 26 is anniversary ~f the death of Lt. Collins. Casper and ' historian ·Thomas A·. ~·' .. holas, in check~ng ~~~ ........ounts of the battle .m whtcll Collins los~ his life, h.as shed some new hght on the story. The first installment appears todciy and the second ; and final installm~nt ~ill appear next Sunday. :-.. . (Copyngllt 19&11 By Thomas A.L. Nicholas, Ca~r, Wyo. The Caspar Collins story has been well told and often by C. G. Co~tanlt ~- .J. Mokler, Agn_es Wraght _spr10g and m~ny others. . In braef, at about 6.30 a.m., on . rode J u1Y26 , 1865· Caspar Co11ms . 1as t ba ttl e. w·th to has I some 20 Kansas soldi~rs. he crossed the former bridge and galloped up the hill north of Old Fort Casper. . · then called · Platte _Bradge. or Upper Platte Bndge. One s· d tho usand to 3'000 - . toux an Cheyenne In.d ians were mane~vering 0~ the ground no~ occupaed by Malls a!ld Moun~10 View su~urb. Collms' mtssa?n was to rade through the hostile forces, and helpSgt. Custard and 24 men of an 11th Kansas wagon train, approaching from the west. :' Kansas troops then garrisoned Platte , Bridge station. Lieut. Collins was only temporarily here, en route under orders from Ft. Laramie to his .own I l . F~Jrfie/d S~ed .. Light on . 1 .Collins~ Story)}.~-~-F~-.J _ _;-· _ :' Caspa~. Gollin~~- ~m .Septembe~ traders helped maintain a fairly alonl'\he Oregon Trail acroSs in:tportance. ~ndianshad seen the becau~:the. n~i!Jed it, _ . · 30, 1844. came wtth his father. orderly (rontier economy. A Wyoming and to'the Pacific was Rtchard Bndge protected by ~Jlse ;W~~UillDds of trnderwoWdmarrythedaugbter important to the They .,ldiers in 11!'0: and again · commissioned -for duty .in the of a chief, or other influential sensed further intrusion into 1858. Thts was, the area of o~~J:jon!)f..ijbo!Jt~mt ' ·west.:_!Jn.~~Sf?f ~-~11th Obi? we~ Indian, and ju~i~iously furnish their. last hunting ~round: confrontation. -~-_ ~P.fitd~r. -lmfli~!J,~IVtR: : , depfoy~d from time to .time at J:nough ammlin~tlon to.take furs somehow connected wtth that The number of engagements ·tS~t.JmWdWVeloporeqfo_ a 1 various · ' station~ _alo. ii~. and _andgame ;~n~ot'quite'enoughfora wire. :.They saw the Overland and at~i~i~s 'increased du~ing ,gl;oupJ ~.scie_~ce . f MajjH 1 patrolled .the Oregon Tratl from war. Now some of the traders Stage, formerly on the Oregon the 1860 s. July 12. 1864 httle Anderson ·And hts. bandful ;of ' Fi>tfwramie to South .Pass~ The had become scouts for the whi~ Trail, now traveling _the .route in Mary Kelfy and several others in troops, ancl$aspar f.;ollins and • Overland Stage route was moved soldiers. The Iitdians·w.e.re under 'sootherii ' 'wyomin~Ri~ than the Josi~h K~lly emigrant party ~is patrol. were fightingf~f their f ' from the Oregon Trail in July, \~-~¢fl;;e<l ~ili~ry pre~_~ur:es ev~r. The Indians·even fi~F~9f were kalled ~nd Mrs. Fan_ny hves: the Indians _w~_reJpt~~led 1862 to the.route across southern from . the east all along .Jlte railroads to come. ,..Tbey -~ Kelly taken prisoner. at a pomt by a comparable gaQ_live. ~~;· Wyoming. The 11th Ohio then frontier. · In common ''defen5e he~n,ted _ in,: ~f!gry. Jrigbtened, in _ Converse ~ounty ab9ut 11 _ ~his ·may __hel~ ,~ e.xplain r the also· patrolled the southern area. against now intolerable white restless, and-belligerent! •.. _mtles east o~ Glenrock_ and a attitude Qf the lndt~son July from such stations as Fort invasion, it is not surprising that JC?.rt Laramie. had becOme· a- ~uple miles .south of today's. 18~5 : Ot~er deJ ~i~s ~ a _ Halleck, (near today's Elk some of the tribes and 'bands somewhat sophisticated military htghway. -.mentaoned m the F.11rfleld.aDd Mountafri i~- arid Fort Collins, Te'anied· "tO ~combine for war into and fur town. It was a good place Doubtless the Noverrfber; 1864· Pennock stories to .- follow. - ~ Colo., named for Colonel Collins. larger groups. to parley, trade, and receive attack by Col. Chivington on the aJtemp~ . is made ~ere .'1io Why did so many Indians The plains Indians who were government supplies at the ~heyennes at Sa~d Creek helped ~arn,to~tze o~ attempt to expl~~ menace a post manned by only . . • bad nearby Indian agency but not to mfluence the lndtans to form the mconsastencaes. -, -~t-..Jl ' 1. .,_ 1865 . Major . young'ed warnors · . a stockade '. · Caspar Collms. · had to · ·' THE WHITES .T >:-:..· •·• some 115 me_n? Why dtd th . 1.10 bo t th fight It had and alliance 11 · worn a etr 1ves a u e · • . . . . Anderson , the Kansan d' A .. W te cannon, neither of which Indians face, and the batterness of the Now, .as to, the attitude o~. commanding, send Lieut. Caspar expan tngt T~engn e~ ~ liked to attack. Officers brought Indian attack. ChivingtOn, ·an troops at:'Old Fort Caspa~ .; Collins, of the 11th Ohio, to lead moveme:.t . ~th regon ratf their wives and families: there Ind~an had said, "Set the prairie The Kansas officers .a ,·: . "ji"·: 1 1 the Kansas men? wa~ w e ~ wagfons ,tho was a school church services· a on fire." The 11th .Ohio hid"' a had seen desperate fighti ~ -· +:., · ema rants movm west rom e · · · · . . . ' For over a hundred years, ~ Th I d'g h't sutler's store, and numerous dozen battles wtth Indians along the South. They were harde , 1 military men have disagreed ld_s. e nrttanfs thsawt W. .e traders Officers brought white the Oregon Trail in 1865 before but homesick; - war wearyl . . . • so ters on pa s o e raa1 10 · . . J ·c . . , and htstortans spec~lated on the th 1830' d 1840' d 1850' women to work 10 thetr homes, that of uly 26, 1865. . ol. men. Thetr enlistments were :l answers to these questions. It is ~ 4 000S a~d· s : Utah~· and soldiers married them. Coutant, publishinghishistoff iil·. expiring. They' thought they hazardous to try to select the ~~8 Th rd. aer~ g~ th ·~ Some soldiers had Indian wives 1899, when many of the sur\livdrs should. be headed home, not into proper facts and state them · e. n ~an~ 0 S the ~rea and children living in teepees of 1865 still lived and aiWfsed · Indian countryi While at Fort, 10 briefly. But for the thousands of war ragiOig e ou rom ne.arby. . him, called it "The Bloody Year Laramie some of the new troops,i new Wyomingites to whom the 1861 wou d stop the western . ' . on the Plains. " . W;.•il ' shOWfd mt\tmy ·rather than I story may be new,let us try. ~ 0 v e ~en t • but were l~deed, Mr_s. Cathenne ..~ march North. A threat was made .J dtsappomt~d. Every . ~ummer. Coll~ns, ~e wafe of Colon~! In 1865 ~o~e tfQOps (from to shoot mutineers. The soldiers l eve_n durmg ~e Ctvll War, Colhns arnved at Ft. Laramte Kansas, Mtcbipn.<~-and ?ther marched, but grumbling. Many .. THE INDIANS emagr~nts ~ntmued to Vj west Nov. 14: 1863 and spent several states~ . '!~,~:;:- ~t. to. Fort aniong the newly arrived troops ; The long stay ( 1862 _651 of the to Californaa and . qregon. Now months m the west~ be near: h~r. Laram~e· ~- as~st..: :m .General resented .those whose service in 11th Ohio along the Oregon Trail, t~y w~re also gomg to the_gold man. Colonel Colims · · ~as ~n- Connors three - pronged push the Civil War was entirely along and of General Connor's Nevada mn:tes 10 Mon~nund Idaho. The comm~nd atFort~~r,~~~until n~rthward. c~~ed th~ Powd~r the Oregon Trail, - dftlgerous and California troops at Salt U~tted. Sta~es had to overl~k July 28 · lSM. · ' ~ . • · . Rtver ~pedttlOn. Tht~ ~as 10 and heartbri!aking _cis· it may Lake Ci~y. gave great_ concer:n to thts Vtolat10n . of the Indt;m . The Platte B~adge statto.ns. prepar~tton fo~ . the ~uildmg of have beeiL . Whe~ men of,;, commanda_tSweetwaterBndg~. the Indtans. The plams Indtans Co~try. It needed the gold. The flr~t at. tod~y s Evansvt_lle the Umon Pactftc railroad. on a di_fferent ,. com!Dands are.i Sergeant Isaac B. Pennock had become horsemen and lnd1ans probably kn~w that (Rachard s Brtdge and tradmg central route, now practa~~ll~ . combined,' :tfiey ·find something rode with Lieut. Collins that day. hunters. The buffalo were their General . ~awyer, w . tth . two post c. 1851 -671: and later _west assured as the result of the Caval .to · a.rg~e abo. ut This frictio. n had.l . Corporal Stephen H. Fairfield principal source of food. The compantes . of for.mer of Casper rGumard's Bndgel War. Now, S?me of these troops expressed itself as recently as ' was on duty at Deer Creek Indians traveled along the confeder~te pn:wners. sagned ( 1~ - 1867 l had been mainly helped }arnson the pos~. ~ow Jwy: , 12'. 1865, in a .cqu&rrej: · (Glenrock I at the time. but eastern plains of the Rockies, over to ftght .Indtans. and a few b r 1 d g e and . trader's called Old F?rt ~aspar, ~d between a Kansas officer, .capf. ; . ·Greer, Co. I, 11th Kansas. and: cametoPlatteBridgewithrelief from Kansas to Canada. as did Dakota soldters, ~as on _the j hea~quarters, not, regularly theyhad~~ow~~er. troops. This article features the buffalo.-- Each needed vast marc~. f~om Stoux ~tty· garnsoned. But ~ey were now But it is not necessary to Lieut. Bretney of the 11th Ohio. -1 observations written by these stretches of country for their escorting a merchant tram to more than occas10~al. Qutposts: psychoanalyze either the Indian Assuming command by virtue of ~ able Kansans. partnership. ' ·In · the · past.; the o~n a new _road and trade up the They commanded the.are~at.the or the white of- 1865 to.•i:incover his rank, . ~pt. ~ ~~r had :; Indians .. Ju~d .expressed Aleir Naobrar'!,-~~~~;? ~zeman. great bend of the Platte R~ver. the irreconcilable nub of . their · authorized · 'Some emigrants to:1 BACKGROUND . # ferocity -in Sltin:nishes· of .tribe Th(}nC:Ita.ns" certainly knew Here westboun4 emagrants . conflict. The buffalo, food supply camp beyond a mile-- ac~ss the ; Col. W. 0. Collins <an Ohio against tribe, and in stealing thai:·,g~,>lct'fiild ~ade Denver a were compelled , ~ -~~pss . the of the Indian, was in"jeopardy, riyer. Lieut · Bretney, aci».rding;l . lawyer in civil life l o~ganized hb~~·"al!~ wi~~.s- .from:' other boomJng white city on the south. Platte: rested ana re - grouped and. ~~ whites and their n_tany to ~gt: Pennock, claim~1191o--~ · and brought the 11th Ohto to the tribes:IU 0fiius '1 trfbes,5 became They suspected that the for the dry march to Willow actavataes were responsible. be 10 command, and wtshed that~ · Oregon Trail, arriving at Fort 'interrelatea:-_ · transcontinental teleg.raph line JCreek and th~. Sweetwater. It Buffalo and Indian alike faced theemigrantsleave . . -· . · .-~j .- · ~~-r~~!e June 1, 1862. The boy,l --~o_r___3 . l~n~- --~-i-~e. French that ran from .:_tali~~ ~station was a stra~~~IC place of ~reat po~s~~le extermination . Not · (TO BE CONTIN':!~~z Casp~r ' \.... Sgt. white~ 1840 iniof,lb!!""iii<Y~Yesmo~_t! w oC! 1-C ~ - w �V) .E 01 u_ I· o ' c.. I V) 0 u ' �:- Lpl. t-airtteld Tells How Lt. Caspar Collins Died EDITOR 'S NOTE1 July :i& is · - . .; . · ·· ; ·. ;: . · · :':1 :,1 . We crossed the bridge and got boys, when they would roll volley ' the anniversary of the death of · .,_·. · about one mile from camp when arter volley into them. It seemed Lt. Caspar Collins. In this, the from theN., E., S., W., and every to us as though the boys were in a s c con d a n d con c I u d in g point of the campus, the savages strong position, 20 in all being the installment of the account of the , came. It appeared as though they number. At about 4 o'clock p.m., ~ sprang up out ofthe ground. They the firing ceased and a smoke, battle in -which-·'Collins lost his lile. Casper lawyer and historian completely surrounded us. There that of the burning wagons. Thomas A. Nicholas turns to was· no other alternative. Death commenced ascending. The . fi r st hand reports from wasapproachingoneverysidein ene~y commenced going_ off participants during the " Bloody its most horrible form, that of the north by twos and threes bll at Year on the Plains. " (Copyright tomahawk and scalping knife of sundown not a living-be~ng was to lt69 by Thomas A. L. Nicholas, the Indian. We turned and be seen. We are certam that aU Casper, Wyo. 1 . , charged into the thickest of them, the, boys were killed but from the Corporal Fairlield was a drawing our pistols and doing· the le~h of time they held out and Massachusetts mall who went to best we could. It was a terrible the . immense. nu_mber.s of the . Kansas in 1856 as one of the ordeal to go through; it was IndJans chargmg m sohd masses really running the gauntlet for upon · them, . they_ m':l5t have northern emigrants in the struggle to make Kansas a free dear life. After a terrible break- suffered tembly m k1lled and state . He was one of the neck race of % of a mile, we wounded . Two Snake scouts arrived at the bridge where the s~rte~ at 'h past 9 o.clock p.m. organizers of the Congregational Church at Wabaunsee, boyshadrunouttooursupport. w1th dispatches to Deer Cr~ek . sometimes called the " Beecher In the charge we lost 5 ~1lled and Would get tllere before day. Bible and Rigle Church. ·• abo~t 12 WOIJ':lded. Lieuten~t On July 27, the Indians were Fairfield enlisted in Company Coll1~s was ~illcd . Everyt~mg still in sight of the beleaguered "K" , 11th Karisa:; Cava~r! in wOvaesrml500fuliinvdJel.awnsofwtehree satar!~o:d troops at the Platte Bridge 186~. He had char~e ~r m1htary ~w . • . · ;' .. . , PI.A1'rE RIVER BRroox.' . ~ • · ,' · .' , : • . .• our little party. The Indians statjon. Six hundred .were seen ma1l at Kansas C1ty_m 1863. In : ; -~~... 'W. ~ ~.,., r..ra='·~·,!.~,!.:i'r~'.;~·ll:,~f.3~,'¥0 "tl:'!::tt"' ''' ~~. i!\;:,.r,j,, """'"' ' "" "'" '"""' ' suffered dreadfully as our pistols ~~~~~~i r:~~~:::;~Y~f=~ 865 ! he r~tumed .to _hi! Company ~From Nebraska State Historical Society were pushed right against their Lieutenant Collins and the other m Wyommg. Falrfteld says the bodies and fired doing great dead. The Indian scouts · had lith Ka~sas was then "stationed execution. We were forced to reached Deer Creek (Glenrock), at.the d1fferent posts for over 100 express. The military forces at bridge, Captain Greer, Company "men whom he had never seen come back. Every horse nearly and soldiers came to reinforce 50 Bridge. Three boys who miles up the North _Platte - the bridge were a hindran:\ to I, seeing the peril threatening before that day, when he (Major. was wounded in one or more Platte Horse Shoe Creek, La ~nta , their predatory raids, and · he the brave boys under Collins, Anderson 1 had a captain, first places, 4 were killed. They now esc~tped from the massacre of Deer Creek, and Platte Br1dge. redskins were determine~ :to charged across the bridge with and second Lieutenants cut the wire (telegraph) both Sgt,;. Custard's train the day All these) posts guarded_ the remove the soldiers out of tReir the balance of his company and belonging _to the company from east and west. Twen,ty men under befor·e were able to fight their Overland Telegraph, furnished path . This made the post a poured a .deadly fire into the which the men sent out- were · Lieutenant Walker went two way back to camp. . escorts, and scouted the country dangerous one for a small body howling savages, driving them selected and also .another line miles east to repaid!. The enemy · for marauding parties of of troops to hold. The Indians back, and thus opening a way of officer of his own regiment, all attacked him killlfig one and On the 28th, the bodies of Sgt. I Indians." were always bold and ugly at retre;Jt for Collins and his men, present, it. Uie post for duty. " wounding two of our company. Custard's men were found. They "Bioody·v earon the Plains" that point. June 26, Lieut. W. Y. If they succeeded in making ''No gQOO reasou is evident why He had to retreat, not getting the were buried July 29th, in a grave Con tin u in g Co r Po r a I D.rew. of Company I. with their way through the hundreds Major,:'i.nderson did not recall wire fixed. At one-half past 11 not<yet discovered in the year Fairfield's story : "On the 20th of twenty-five men, while repairing of savages that surrounded Lieutenant Collins and his party o'clock, "H" and "D" companies · 1969. ; May 200 Indians attacked the the telegraph line, had a hard them. Collins, finding that more _ hen - he was being surrounded detachment (Sgt. A~os ; Deer Creek station, captured scrimmage with some 300 than half of his men were killed "by so vastly superior a force of Custard's men) came in Sight Elements of tne 6th Michigan some thirty horses, and were warriors that pounced down or wounded, gave command· for ·Indians he could not see but who west of us. The savages wived August I to relieve the repulsed by forces under Col. P. upon them. On the 2nd of July the every one to make for the bridge. were plainly visible r~om the surrounded them . .Five of .the Platte Bridge contingent. On B. Plumb. On the 27th Colonel whole of Company I was It was a race for life. Nehring, a garrison." (Major Anderson had boys crossed the n~er 3 miles No\'ember21,1865, General Pope renamed the post "Fort Casper," Moonlight captured Two Face attacked by several hundred private of company I, Eleventh long combat service in the South, above; . two were k1lled, thrt;e to remember Casper Collins. and Black Foot, Sioux chiefs, Indians, some twelve miles from Kansas, not understanding the .but Indian warfare was new to came mt~ camp afoot, thelf There was a little error in the with their bands. They had with the bridge." · order, dismollilted to fight from him. After returning to Kansas, horses bemg k1lled. One, on spelling. These men were better them a Mrs. Eubanks and her "Major Anderson then ordered a deep waShout in the road. he became state treasurer. I horseb~ck, was near . the trained · for fighting, than little daughter. She had been a d~tachment of troops from D, Grimm~ ;-l~king around, yelled Se eant Pennock's Story moun~ams, !rot se~eral ln~Jans spelling. _;. captured by the Cheyennes on Hand K companies to report at to him,;, In German 'To the ~st Sergeant Isaac B. Pen- were m clos~ pursuit. All this .we the Little Blue, and was in a headquarters at the bridge for bri~ge!' That WJJI; the last that nock of Company I 11th Kansas could see p~amly f~fm t~e s~tlon I Data from local tradition of pitiable co~d!tion.l M~nl~ght duty, thus b_ringing up the was seen of roo.r·Nehring. Camp, Cav;lry was in the ~ctlon on July ~~ ..co~~dd ~.;.t ;:ta~~meer:f~ the late Robert B. David, I. E. Bryan and others, authors says that he !led ~e two chiefs number of enlisted men to 120 allll of Comp~ny K. Eleventh 26, 1865. In words upon which no corralled or tried to corral their mentioned, U. S. Archives, 1 up by the neck w1th a trace- and. two ~eepee~ of Snake Kansas, lost _h•s 'horse and _th~n writer of our day could improve, wagons but did not succeed very Annals of Wyo ., Kansas cham. suspended from a beam of !nd1ans. Th!~ for<:~ w.~l ! ~holly ran for dear hie. but when wtthm Jet him describe the events. well. We could see the Indians In Historical collections, files of wood. and left them there madequate to be statfoned m the a few rods .of safety was "July 26. Terrible day for our .c:,., C!hllr do our without'T\ny foothold. ' I heart of the Indian country ~vettafen tlld .. tomaha.wked. commancffnd no knowing how 1~ 1 anDII ua.. wn upo~ . Kansas State Historical Society) . remem~ : seeing the cruel swarming with savages."- '' ·Sergeant Hailkammer's · horse will end .. At daybreak a few Insavages &ariging by the neck on " We arrived at Deer Creek, was wounded, but carried him dians were seen in the hllls north one of the hills north of'the fort. where our company was safely to the , bi'idge and there of the river. Lieutenant Bretney l Seven hundred Indians were fed stationed, on the '24th of July, dropped." and 10 nien arrived from for several weeks at Laramie by Another detail of twelve men Collins dies to help a wounded Sweetwate}' before darbr~,a~; 1 the government. bUt as it was tinder Corp. Henry Grimm soldier Detachmen,t of complll!les H costly to keep th~i'l\'lhere they relieved us and p~ed to "A wounded sbldier fell from· and "D" to be here by,J2 or I were ordered tQ be sent to Platte Bridge witll the mail. his horse and Called out to his o'clock. They ca.mped'l_,t~ree Julesburg. Captah);fouts. of the They arrived ~ere on the 25th : comrades, 'Don't leavM;,Don't miles ~is side of W~low ~mgs. Seventh Iowa, witlt three troops also a small ,lletashment of the leave me!' Collins turned and Captam Greer rece1ved a~,frder of cavalry, left F<!lt Laramie as Eleventh Ohio fnin SweetWater rode back to the man, and thus to send a, d~tachment to escort to these 700 Indians. He bri!lge. Thf! ~'~ans had been lost all possibility or saving his "H" and' D co~es. I too also had in cbarge>185J.pdges of harigblg around tJ:le · bridf!e for won life. The brave lieutenant charg.e o~ it ~:~~ .~ 'fdr ·Sioux, Indians, numbering about seyeral d~ys ~~ ·- we"-bcild'and ~as.~ a magnificent ca~am . ~~ -1M· ft~ .. 2~.'' . ;" ·, saUcy, whJch .fndlCjlted that they llorsQill)d m(ght have escaped An ~rson, "~fe~J.i~ The Indians mutinied. ·near were there In foree. lh the early had lie not gone back on this ~~ms of ~ ·iiJong 6dt1bii10 .was gOOtm It ~J!}d ~I Fort Mitchell o4l the··; North morning of1,July. f5 a small band errand ·of· mercy . . It was a Platte, and Killed Capt. Fauts at.tenipted ; to stampede 'the miracle that any man escaped. ~p:af, , • : or 25··irf all 1 20 5 • : . a ~.......:I and several o1··1his lllidiers. horses that were jrazing just Our friendly Snake Indians ~ Colonel Moonlight pursued the below the bridge bn the south reported that they heard the -· / with California, Ohio, and sif:leof the river, where company order,given by the chiefs of the Kansas troops. h· Early one I, commanded by_.Capt. J . E. wild _Indians, 'Stop firing! You 1 morning, the Indians stampeded Greer, was camped, but the are killing our own men! This, ' his horses, and Col. Moonlight ooldiers finally ' succeeded in added to the fact that the Indians ' and his command.' had to bum getting them into the stockade." were so massed, Wl!S what their saddles and return to Fort " Reenforcements coming from probably saved our ~ys. The Laramie on foot. There General the po~; tJie lndiahs were driven ' ,bridge"facross th~ Platte was of Connor relieved him of duty and back. the "Indians rallied, and 1000 ~t span aDd the stockade o r d e r e d h i m to F o r t in their tum drove our boys back was on the li>Uth bank of the Leavenworth to be mustered out. and recovered the body of their river, near the bridge. Our The pain of Col. Moonlight's dead chief." soldiers hel~ the bridge and humiliaUon was . to be eased. 'l1le Eveats of.Jaly Zl, 1865 stockadi,~though the Indians !Presicleftt Cleveland "ppointed "About nine g'clock .on the eros~ _· river above and him territorial (>ovemor of morning of tlie !6th, a train of below 1 the bridge ani! fought ' Wyoming 1887 to 11189, and later wagons from 1 Sweet Water, desp~ratel~. harassing our U.S. Minister to Bolivia.) escorted by twenty-five men, forces on every side throughout Resuming the Fairfield under command of Sergi. Amos that day apd ~rtof the nft."account : "Platte Bridge was a J . Custard, company H, A military . !nvestiga.t~ was strategic point. It was here that Eleventh Kansas, was seen held later.., It .detem:uned that . the savages from the Powder coming, over the hills some two Lieutenant 1CoUins -"as "not ! Rivtr, country crossed to the or thre,t miles away. The directly under his (Major lineilof travel on the southern howitzers were fired to warn Anderson ' s! command, but overland ~te, .where they them.of danger." casually at the post enroute to reaped a -rich harvest, "A detail of twenty-five men joinhiscompanyatSweetwater intercepting travel, plundering fl'OJlT I and K companies, under Bridge." Major Anderson sent and robbing richly laden trains, Sergeant Hankammer, including Lieutenant CoUins to command j United States mail, and valuable the ,mail party under Corporal -'----- -- · Grimm, was ordered to go to the relief of Sergeant Custard. Lieut. Caspar Collins, Eleventh Ohio, who .laad just , arrived with Grimm's mail party , volunteered to take command of the detachment; They crossed the bridge to tile north side of the I' river, and atO:lfull speed made their way to. ~ani the hills. They · had procee*41a~ut half a.inile (ron\."'iehind the hills and i' •"7 ":- as _[. ..L I S' ()\ rna ?. 8 f I ! \4i STE N OOM �Owners of C:ollins' Boyhqod Home Visitors .to -Fort :Casper. A .. Ohio couple who oWn the ·yard, and the basement under the 1103 years old. Mr. Lafarty told' him in his teeth and car.ries a pis'toll- -- · family home where Lt. Caspar Col- house served as a wine cellar. He that 1m wanted to see the home in each hand as he ricl,es into the , llns spent his boyhood were visitors owned considerable acreage adjoin-~ wnere Caspar Collins had lived, midst of the enemy. ,_i · 0 in Casper last week, having come ing the property but most of this having read a'IX>ut it in a Columbus PLAN CELEBRATION ·ll Q here especially for the purpose of was later sold, and today th~ hold- newspaper. They spent the afterHillsboro will hold its . Susqul· tiewlng the area wh~re the young lngs are limited to two acres. noon together, and--the aged veteran centennial celebration starting ~uly C..vaJry officer gave lils life in ETCHED WINDOW · of the Indian wars told Dr. Rogers 13. Mayor Tom Nicholas some -!time liattle. Evidence of young Caspar's artis- t~at he _ had s~en Caspar Collins ago. wrote J. Fred ~ennett, gd)erall Dr. and ·l.Irs. Roy S. Rog~rs, of tic ability stilllis in possession of I k1lled. chau·man of the Hillsboro susqui· 1 Hillsboro, Ohio, were on their re- Dr. and Mrs. Rogers. Colonel Col-I DESCRIBES TRAGEDY arrang;ements, expressing theVJ10pe ·' t'~1·n "'- pome from SacramentQ, lins brought the first diamond ring He said Caspar had gone to the that )t'" w11t be possible to hav,; Cas- 1 Calif., Where they were called by to Hillsboro _ and presented it to aid of another solc:pr;r and .tiH~. t. t.hP.I pr;r . rep. re~ t_n_t~d . Ma.yor ;· 'i:Nt~. holas the Hln!esS of b si:;to of J.:.r. Rugers. his .son. Caspar used it to etch his lndians had seized him -.and '.'spread also ~invitect .ttillsb01:o to send 1\ repThey modified their itinerary to profile on one of the window panes. eagled" him and that one of them resentative to the · pasper pageant; ! u;\ng north to Casper and spent the The pa~. intact f01~ approximately 1 drove a knife into his chest. Lafarty .which Wil11 be hel~ ,, the fii:st. day .day pere Thursciay. Mrs. Edness a. . century, was broken four years himself escaped because Collins had of thJ! Central Wyoming Fa1r; The sesqui Edition of the Hills· Kimball Wilkins, inember of the ago, but the Roge.r s have retained gi,en him a strong horse to ride. · ' Fort C!iSPa'l Commission, took them the shattered glass. Other windows He said one Indian seized a. stirrup boro News-Herald. ca.rries a ,lltory ~ a tour of the fort and pointed in the house are decorated with and tlle · other grabbed the horse's on the career of' Caspar Collins. ·J!~t places of histor~cal interest in artistic monog. rams of C.aspar C.ol-1 tail but that the animal, with "One of. the early military herQe. s of COnnection with th.e :pattie of Platte lins' · friends, au· the work of the Lafarty aboard, took off on a dead Hillsboro was better known 1n1 anDrt(,ige Station. · , · · · young lieutenant. Dr. and Mrs. Rog- ·run, heading toward the . North other state than he was in htsi own TI~e ~eremonial American flag· ers also ~isclosed that .the ' Colli_ns Platte Rive.r. Th.e Indians still hung community," the n~wspaper states. WJ.(flown .at' Fort Caspar in honor family Bible is in , ~he Memonal o.n after the horse was in the water, ''He wa~ Caspar ColUns, so11. of ot , ~. --~ ·;M1·s. Rogers. This Is Room of the Presbyterian Chu~ch at but Laf!iJ'tY slipped of!, and t~e Catherine Wever and · Wilham a <••« ~vg to the fort by the Vet· Hil~sboro. It · contain~ an inscnption Indians apparently beheving h1m Oliver . Collins. His tame developed I 0ns of ~.t;?~gn Wars and is larger which Colone! Collins wrote con- drowned, took the horse and re- in Wyoming where a town 1 .was 1 than the f"'ag customarily flown. cerning his courageous son. , . turned to their comrades. It was named for him, also a · creek and · Caspar Collins' talent at 'drawing· th~ horse they ~act been af~er a f~rt, a book was ·written about )lis · The Rogers were complhn.e ntary f)f the car~ which ha~ been given was further e~mplified in the fact rather than the nder. Meanwhile, life, andl a monument was er~cted the buildings which are· a. l'eplica that · he drew the detailed designs Lafarty made his way to the op- to his mem01;y. He is buried here." of old Fort Caspar. They . said they for Platte Bridge station, which had posite shore and concealed himself . The News-Herald story goes on tel~ this is a shrine of great his- been plann.ed by his father. • . m some bushes until it was safe to relate' that Caspar's father~ Wil- · tor1cal importance. · Lt. Caspar W. Collins V(a'S killed to leave. ~- \ liam Oliver Collins, was an import-! .TACKED TO SURVIVOR ~,~' July 26, 1865; in a battle '• with In-1 Dr. Rogers said lie had ho~d ant resident of Hillsboro. He was Their trip hei·e was of particular dians w~ile he led a contingent to to get Mr. :Lafarty in ,contact with 1 born in Somers, Conn., in. 1809, a interest to them not only becaose ~scue ~ wagon train. The young Casper at some · time in the ne~r · dir~ct descendant of Edwards Colthey own the former Collins fs,m- otfi~er }Vas not attached to Fort f';lt.ure but th~t 10 days after h1s lins, who had gone to Massachusetts 1ly hom~ but also becau~e some Caspar, then Platte B1:idge Station, v1s1t he read m the newspaper. of from England in 1830; He went to Ohio in 1833 and graduated from years ago Dr. Rogers had an interr but was returning to his ~tation I the latter's death. esting visit with one of the sur:- a. t Sweetwater from Fort Laramie, 1 Although the Lafarty . account of th.e Cincinnati Law School in 1835. vivors of the battle, who .described where be· .had just been commis-1 Lt. Collins' . d~ath does not · coincide ~After· b~ing admitted to the bar, how he himself had escaped and sioned • . f~rst lieutenant. <Mo'kler's in all particulars with other ac- he moved to . Hillsboro where he counts, it is generally agreed that took, a. leading part in civio afhow Lt. Casper Collins had met History 0! Natrona County). -i death at the hands of the Indians. John Warty was one of th~ 'i nen his horse bolted into a ' group of fairs. He, was president ·o{, the Hills.: The Collins home, a 10-roqm, two- who went wit~ Caspar Collins on Indians while he was · trying : to bora and Cincinnati Railroad Co.; story structure of ' Virginia-style this mission. Dr. Rogers recalls rescue a comrade. A histori~al dir~ctor of the Belpre and ,Cinci'\,\architecture, stands at 130 Collins that . in . the middle 30s two high pageant depicting the battle of nati Railroad; · .Collector of Inte!fl)al A venue in Hillsboro. It is 120 years scho~l' . Jil·ls from Dayton, Ohio, Platte Bri~ge Station will be staged Revenue for the Sixth Congresslon- . old, and the Rogers have owned it caqte . to· his dental office in Hills- here July 31. A large company of al District for three years; trustee ' for .., e last 50 years, :having pur-:- · poro '·· ~nd said that their ·. grand- Casper residents is busy rehearsing of the Hillsboro Academy, and ' chas~d it· from ·Miss Josephine Col- father was in a car outside and ,the pageant, andDoonie Brown wi!J Highland County prosecutor; In : lins, t~o sJst~1: ,9! tne li~qt~nant fpr .wa.nted to' see nim. Dr. Rogers went take the role of Caspar Collins..In 1861 h,e was el~cted · to the sta~ f.. wh?m Ca~perwas pam~, Miss ~cotr ,«Jown and met ·Mr. La~arty, who was this port1·ayf!.l, . he takes . the , remr _senate. _While serving as ,a memberJ , lip~; ;~OY,~d l ..,:fOU~hi ~P. UTe ' Wi~ ~" . ,of the tena~e m .1861 he, r~ce~v~d :-I;.!· ·; ,;~1~~. · ~fH~t:;~~lll}l,,~th~~~~e~ ~..~ ~ : c(}mml.ssi~ ~ ..~olopet, . comm~ndtn~ ~\ E~ey~ralc£f:ear• ~ ~I:»!\P;Mb;;~· ~~b . . ine ~he_ . Fir~St ·.l:i~.P.~n~~n~;;•.. Bat~.lipn~:· '·,,:CQlliij4 ·;.J)l's~..t._M~ i.;. ~ . ·i · ~terlln~y.pver . hio\.Volunte_~r - Ce.vatty. ·~ii~~·.f t~i-'·' .~;coPtJU\i~lo~; -~~~ ~, t~ ::,:t~e·,~~'- ~arlt's ·J -rr:ht~ ~f'&fl~~~;;~ ·..t~e-~~·ape: · r;; EP.~:P~l 1 ~;. ~~rcp-.;?i>r ·~;qp.~pe~· .... The ~ coptinll~. ,; ·~w.aa.01;-.eJlt ··1UP':' ~~camJ1: : ~ se~. wa~ ¥1y~n)~~~~Pr,Y~~f ft,~r Qas.. ~ ~Jilni21011: i: li\.:.:~IJ6.2,:: to;~ P.'~.'Jl~lp~ed. :: p~'· Col\Jl1Sr. -·~ ~·~ ~-~ ·. :,:; -;... ~{;;ih:.;·.J .. ;. ~ and mountea, :lt. :WJB .;~h~n,.. ~pered. f:- ,, t;.- ·i-PQI, _WJ*~'tJi·; q~_':p.qlliPI ~ o.r 1t~~ J t.to. ~tf. LouUi~ Mo~Jq·; ~r,o~~~~fti .. e ~plains.; ',, 1~tn 9h~o Q,va~·Y. . b~ilt( ~~e .~ _ h()me 11 ••and_., open ~.UP ., ~lllll\U~i9atl~ns ;r,tbat. I I I I I I I I I I I I I ·. 1 ~t~ .. R~q~ fo.rt~h~ ·:~~r.1 pe~c~!~~. i~e.. ·~·1·x·o·m:.s:.. ..~iiV.the . .i.~...~~in ·. ~f~to~~~:l .; A.$·_.: M~. the rs. ~ j.;.:_ •. I : frOJ~~-,f ~~or ~ ~' ·PP: cu~IY . ~e.ple~~ ancl l ,, _the.:~Mdwol:~'ls'.'ot bt'ltternut. There. t. arec.~ four. large· coluFJ:n•. in :fr.ont,•.in •.· the:; .~anner ~~ Jhe arclJ~t~~t~re of ; -:,Virgtnta,·.· O!' -t~.a~, d~~· .,~e \)uildlng I ! ,is . pa~11t~~l~~h1~ef. ~1th: ,~een . ~hut- 1 '; ters·,..., A~l;~ol~~f~shu:tned....., "b~ee. zew~y ! .· h~ b~n; ~:e~oved . but~·llf.~ anc;l ..M;n. · Ro~e~ ;-~ay~, ~otl 1changed: ~~ct archi.. ,- t.ect,,.e,.' I.,;t-;,., 'Ccila' _ . com~.,.;-, . and. •."t/. his ~ J. Mr i · · , · · , ~ -e · 1':' ' brothe~/[~. .qeslg!le . ·'.~\t~e. ~o-~ . l~.~is ~~brotl)er;'1)>qt.I<ling~~J'!'YSlmHa; )iQ .er11at r}~ Bat~vle.Ji".Jll.•,Tne- rceiling~.~•ttY. .J eet a high;,: ,. ~~.'Y; :jr~:·, ~ li; . . . · . .,~ ·: t ,1:, : eoiemel)'Dollins ·. op.etatei:l . a. .vlne~~ 1 .. 6 r,.pha..h:e)'~~n~~:~nd~~"-~pano~ ~; ·j· h· eel\.~;( QUt:t; ·.0 ff, .by·.· ".~. ~.h....~e....:~.~s.·.~! !o.-,tpc' · .!;j il :wllo ,,,~ wer~;.\terrortzing,,. the~~·~flt ~plains . and ~ mounta~ns.. '~,t ·-t .· .l':,:Ca&i; :par · Collina' . consumtn• ...~~ ~~ ... \ya , · t01,~, ~company 5 his ~f~\~e~}.to;~ar.~: . Before · enlisting in";~tl:ltr. ~~rvi~A'le had ·.ni;atte .Jrle~~~·~~t~:!;the• , ~~C:~· :Iearni·p·; , the Jang\14$e • . H. .e t11as . ;. 1.1 years olct when )le :;. went . west.,,w1th,1 hiS fatpet, to ···f~~ht .th~ In~ns·'· ,: .,. ..::::......_ -· .w. If .,-..* i!IC,~ '~ l·.•-.U.I l I WESTERN ROOM �~ I HILLSBORO RESIDENTS INSPECT FORT CASPAR: Dr. and Mrs. Roy C. Rogers examine old home-made wagon once used by Bert and Ed Gorrell to haul logs from Casper Mountain. The wagon is one of the interesting relics at Fort Caspar. The Rogers toured the fort on Thu,rsday, their interest arising from the fact that they own t~e .home in Hillsboro, Ohio, which was built by Caspor Collins' father, and where the young soldier spent his ~oyhood. Left to right: Dr. and Mrs. Rogers; Mrs. Edness Kimball Wilkins, .member of the Fort Caspar. Commission; Bert Gorrell, caretaker at the fort; Mrs. Helen Mc.Nair, who wrote the pageant to be presented July 31; Kathy Kukura, and Mrs. Edna Kukura, member of the Fort Casp~r Commission---(Tribune-Star Photo). ·· ' 1/ E R J I I �• WHERE CASPAR COLLINS SPENT BOYHOOD: Here is. the home built by Col. William Oliver Collins at Hillsboro, Ohio, .' for his · bride from Virginia. ·. Lt. Caspar Collins, who lost his ·!ife in the .Battle ?f ~latt~ Bridge Station near the present s!te of Casper ~:md whose name rs p~eserved by thrs crty and by Fort Caspar and other landmarks, spent hrs boyhood years in this home. Young Casper come west with his father to engage in the Indian wars ~ The city of Fort Collins, Colo., is named !Q~ Caspar~s ;· father...:.,__(Photo courtesy Hillsboro NewsHerald). . - .· ' . · · ~~ • .. · · -. . ..: · . �a spar T InS .EDITORS NOTE: 'The following - trip that be m~t the eyewitness report of the Batt1~-9f Fort to the Battle of Fort Caspar who C''aspar told/by an eye witness to told him the story as he remem'Martin Smith in 1954. bered it. · Martin Smith, 93 years old and ·The man who told him the tale an early settler in 'this section was a French Canadian living on before there was any thought of a Twin Creeks, about 12 mile~ · city of Casper, came into the southeast of Lander; he is. not newspaper office Friday to tell now able to recall his name, but a story ·about Fort Casper. 'The remembers it as something like celebration of Caspar Collins Day DeMuir. at .old Fort Caspar on Saturday This man was by trade a bridge ·reminded him of the story of the builder. and had built bridges at battle ·of Fort Caspar as told to several places along the Platte him ·by an· eye witness, in about at Fort Fetterman and several 1903. other locations. He was in the pro_ Smith, in the livery stable busicess of building a bridge at Platte ness in Glenrock in the early Crossing (later Fort Caspar) at 1900's, was hired by a salesman the tme of the battle with the to drive him through the country large borde of Arapahoe, Cheyto . on his c u s t 0 m e r s~ enne and Sioux Indians. there being no train service to Smith's story. followed, quoting most towns. Casper was the terthe French Canadian. , mlnus Qf the C. and N. W. in ''He said that the Indians came those ctays. It was while on this is ~· a :g, -::r ::r- d) . ., xpe .f_•,~ · nc~ ~. ~ call cJ > · over..a little hill, shooting~rro.w~ <~" , th;t soon they were. a~l kill~d. ·.· recalls ~any interesting "-~ve _ into the fort •. Th~ commanding' ·He said that when the soldier.s .· · of the early ,.days and was often office~ asked for ·volunteers to . · ·reached the band :0r Indians who ': at F. o r t F ettermafi and Deer drive -~e Indians away. Ninetee~ .. had .ridden toward the fort, arur:- --.. ~Creek .Station · at .Glenrock. He · ·so_ldiers volunteer.ed for: this de-:_;.- who turned and rode .up a littlE(_ - . knew' Irio~t of ~he early settlers ta1l, and .the.. young off1cer, Lt · rise in ground, :hundreds of In... of this section· in that day; also Caspar Collins, mad_e the 2oth .· · dians swept down ·on .them from -::· . he knew. m·a n y who were inman to volunteer~ He ·was a vis- -. both sides, and killed them all. · -valved in the Johnson County Initor at the little frontier outAsked if the man had made \'3.sion. · ·post, having stopped off enroute particular reference to the death He a·nd his brother were the to visit his uncle, .the command-. of Collins, Smith did not rem emfirst settlers in ·Boxelder Park, · ing officer at Fort.Steele~ , >... · "· ber that hehadtoldanythingabout · .. and they had many warnings from "'The commanding officer ad- ': . that, just that ''they were all kil- · the.stockmentoleavethecountry, led." . . but th~y refused to be frightened vised him against his going with the party, saying that it washar.d Some accounts say that this away from their holdings. He to tell what might happen. Lt. ,Coltragedy could be seen from the spoke of the many settlers driv- · lins ·insisted, however, saying · fort; many disagree. This story en· out by the stockmen who were that he had never seen an IndiaJ;I . seems to bear out the fact that determined to keep the range for scrap and would like the experiit could not be seen because it themselves a_n d and their ence. So the commanding officer is logical to believe that the man larg~ her~s. , · allowed him to lead the sortie . telling the story would have men- ..' s.... Smith sa~d he had been allover against the Indians who were tioned that epjsode also, if h~ ·. this ·~ectiori. before the city of . riding toward th·e fort and shoot•"' could have seen it during the time~ - Casper·was .dreamed of. He came • · ing arrows; · ~ · ·he ·watched the Battle of ·F()rt to Casper from Glenrocktoptake · The man who told Smith tbis Caspar. · ····:,,·., ·. · · · his borne, about 1940, living then story,' said that he stood on top : Two brothers came to. Wyoat 'the CY •ran~h, where his son of one of the cabins of the fort ming from Iowa in 1885, Martin was foreman for Carey. He lived and watched the battle, which Smith . and his brother Charles ..,. with his daughter, Mrs. Minnie Smith;.~·who·· v.ras 95· in 1954 and Moffett · of 113 South Lincoln, in' lasted only a little· while( the soldiers· were so outnumbered lives :. in Savage, Mont. Smith 1954. -~- . '::. •. - .:.. : . t ~ ... . ;J> ,_ · -- ' -':~ - •• . - -· •• ..._::_ _ ;__ ..:s.;.·.. - -" - •·· .. --.......·. __-: .,.,_·~--- ~- c:5 ' ' (- \[) d I{'c ' ,..,-: -~J;·';:tQ~~L. ' CJ 0 0 ~-;· . ... lllljt~.t{~'t'~~; l f~t':Nrs.?riii~J: ;:'· ·. :~:,,; ~ill\ . 0 co ~ u ---' - 5 . . ~ _s;: tl ~ -From. the Collection of Frances Seely Webb · THE STORY of the· Battle of Fort Caspar ·w as told .· . by Martin Smith ,as it was told to him by an .ey~~ ·~ · witness. Smth was 93 when he told the s'tory in 1954. He died the followint! vear .. _ . ::...:. .:. . �Co I l'\ns 1 Cas , ;,~ l J~li4-:.Co5 .5 Q. B·~ d·Y·-·i)f'Lt.!Colli-,;s{M.af)!P .. . '"";:'l \· JL~ ~~ .F.. . ~~(~.~.j:(fJ ·J ,, . · . . !} . , , . '<'j .ir ' .•· .. ?·· : -~ :· .-~ - t~~f . . ~KR . . .. ~; ~.P · .: : rna - Y .~ .~ By . .. . . . .· · . , . . .. . . ·.. . . ~ ·.. . ~ · .· ·:. ~turn ·t·r". } , c·_.· : _. I'\~~,,~ -~~{~-,~ f: "~ ,- ~- ·; ,~n· ·i"'"··~· ' . ·. ?~,_.,. . , ·i·· . · "~:.1:·'-rt;.. · ~ . .. .to_ :' a:s p::J;r;:·' · t PII LMeAULEY AW'~:~~a~~~~:.~t!~:/!b ·:tnesses say~~ J~-;~~. · News Editor · Old Ft. Casper. He first came to the fronHis ·riddled and . mutilated body was · The much moved body of Lt. Caspar . tier as a civilian youth with his father who . recovered two days later, Mrs. Wilkins Collins may be shifted once more, this ·, was in command of the 11th Ohio Volunteer . reports, and he was buried at the fort over time back to Casper and an appropriate Cavalry, Mrs. Wilkins said. He then the North Platte J{iver, probably July 28, burial in the city . that bears his · returned to Ohio, was commissioned in the 1865. · name-providing Ohio authOrities a·re ·. 11th Rgt. and returned West to serve under ,. Alfred Mokler, in his History of Fort willing. . his father, ·col. William Collins, for whom Caspar, wrote: "The . remains of- Lt. State Sen. Edness Kimball Wilkins said Ft. Collins, Colo. is named; · .. . · . Collins were found two days later about Wednesday she 'will ask the members·of · J,.t. Caspar Co'lins wa$\killed,on July 26, ·. two mil~~ north of the Fort. He had been the Ft. .Caspar Commission to attempt to 1865' when he was ordered by .Major . stripped of his new uniform, a piece of get Collins' body returned to Casper from Anderson to go to the aid of a ·wagon.train, . ';. telegraph wire had been twist~ around its burial place in Hillsboro, Ohio. · · even though the young officer was not a the body and it had been dragged through "Legal complications may arise," Mrs. · member ofthe detachment beret- · the sage brush and cactus for several Wilkins said, " but receiving the . Eyewitnesses reported that the ·last · hundred yards, evidently before death." permission'of relatives is not one of them. . glimpse they had of yqung Collins was "One hand and one foot had been hacked There are no relatives of any kind left~" . when he charged on his horSe into a group i off, his heart had been cut out, pOwder had she said. , of Indians. He held the rein$ in his teeth, a · been placed in his mouth and ·exploded, Collings was on the frontier from 1862 to blazing pistol in each hand, and-so ~e . .· . and on the .morning of the 28th, two days .,. .• . · ·· ' ·. ·_' ,.. · . . ' ·9 after the attack, the body was found .by ~is ~~~....- ·.•' ~ - "., \.~~-?~:~~:. •>t ·.;•.: · ·. co~rades with two dozen arrows sbckmg ,\ · · · ' ··<·> ' · .~· in 1t." (For some reason he had not been scalped). . Mrs. Wilkins says the body was disinterred on March 19, 1866 and moved to Ft. Laramie, where the 11th Ohio Vol. Rgt. was detailed. The body was moved again when the 11th headed back to Ohio for discharge and the troops took him with them. The body was re-interred in Hi~lsboro, Ohio at solemnceremonies on July 24, 1866. . "Caspar Collins' father had a nice grave monument erected in Hillsboro, which my step-mother, Martha Converse Kimball, saw,'' says ?drs. Wilkins . . The state senator also said that the family Bible, iu .w~ch · Casper Collins' father had inscribed --&bout his .dead son "Pure, brave, hospiU.bl~l genero~s, true," later was presented.to the Grflnd.Army of · the Republic Post. in Rawli~. TIJe Bible, .· which somehow became the prpperty of · the dead cavalryman's comrade in arms, . teleF,apher·John Ffiend,..was ·presented to the Civil War GAR.Post,by Friend but the inscribed page wa~ tom .out, sai~, Mrs: · Wilkins. Slie doe$ not know; wha~ happened :> ~;, f:, . r to the Bible. .' ' . , . I· • .• ' .;'·tt;_ : .., . -, , . , . , l' r grave cArries ea~;!~ ~!::~.:'r!'!':~~~u~:e!: ~~ coi.Lt\d., GRA' ,. eomlis• .moriuJilelit' this inscpptiqn: ''Killed in Battle Lea4ing a Forlorn Hope against Indians return of the body and take whatever, legal at Platte Bnd~e, July 26;,1865., The grave;is in HillsbOro, otPo but a move .~ measures needed, if that d~velops. , . is underw . ay to hav" the bod.Ymoved to Casper~-:-(PhotdJ_ rom··Agn · es Wright Ft. Caspar Commi~iQP. ·membe~, in "' . addition to Mrs. Wilkins, are Mrs,, Edna Spring's "Caspar Collins-The Life and Exp!Qfts ; of ~ ari~ Indian Fighter of . Kukura, . chairman; Ed ·. JJille,;..Tom '' .'. the Sa. ties. , ) . ;c·-·. .. .. t,, · · ____ ,_. ................ ..._ __ ,._~-----~·~ .....' ,,"' Sandison~tndMarkDavisJr ••..... ~ ! . ...: CASPAR t . '· ' i 'X ~ ( ' ·~ ..~~·~ . ',l 11qo. {'()rw-n h ,;;:... A. I \ Ul \..) t . J) \ Q_) t .:. ~ .,;.~;,,::~;c ·.,-, ··: ··. ' Qmrer '5-b. r- Tri b une 1:' · :,: ·., ·: :·i.'U! ;t,;•,: t , •y·.!: t ' : •••.•,' . ~. "~'~~b: · :::.:, +-t j-t~-t,-Lt~.; ·,L¥i , :' ,~tolr;;:\<; j •;', '· ,·r·r1•· ;_ttt.,~:~~~~ERI'I �.. Ji - • ·,. ,. ld.fJ.s per Collilts Day Sur;t.da~~:.-,~-;~ ,;~tHJ~ C:~.:;~~!::~n i;/~ :~~~c~~:~er:fk:'~~~~~~~~~ti~~ Fo~:~Js~!"!;~~~::.7~~:~· military services Sunday evening at 7:30 at Fort Caspar; Members of the Wyoming National Guard and the ~sper Troopers will assist in the ceremorues. City ordinances for many years have directed the Fort Caspar Commission to arrange appropriate services in memory of ·the young lieutenant and his 26 comrades was later re-named Fort Caspar in honor . Davis Jr., Ed Billie, Tom Sandison . and ~ of Caspar Collins, by the War Department. ' Mrs. Edness Kimball Wil~§· . ·~ A 36-star ceremonial flag will be flown . ~:.: 'ia . ~:. · . .,~ . .· throughout the day similar to the flag that Mrs. Kukura will telf the · story of the·: flew over the fort the day of the battle. The death of Collins and his comrades, most oC Troopers' uniforms are copies of those whom were about the &arne age as the worn by Collins and the men of the 11th young Troopers who will answ~r to their · Ohio Volunteer Cavalry 105 years ago. names when the memorial-roll 'b called. ·..~ : ;:!.;· \ ,,i ·' · . . . ~~ ., TEN · TOMB$¥.ONE~ . i 1 but no . bodies, ~nd~r th, , 'Mrs. Bill Judge and Mrs. Edness Kimball ~itkiJs; ··nwrk members of the 11th Ohio Votunteer Cavalt'., The tombstones are the first of some 40 which will ~ Lft Caspar·~~ oollins' old outfit, h~ ve ;,:been erecf d be installed at the fort, said Mrs. Wilkins. The fo rt:~ , at :··a ~ kfl~U·a' ~v.erlooklng ·the •.~~P~t~a ~ ,of. . t~~ ~!d fort. · wlll be the·:.s~~nt; .Q ~ . a ~er~mony\ WY.ff~ ?g .the ~~ 105~~~; i.;;~h~w~ , l~spe~~~~~~ ;.t,~~rubstbri~~'lf(f!\l.$,1 ~~ rl_ll! tL.: aiJn!Vfi)'Ma_ry_qfG()lllns' death this Stltida~. · . / · ··· · ,;l ' ,1 ~.:1-~f..H·;:r )r '.~,. ;·! .~· :3 ,>r,dl' ~ ~ ~ul\1 • t. LY 1 \qlD QQsper ()tor--)r~lline__ W~ E N iOQitl :~: �wv . r·; .. : HIS · BODY · lies in a graveyard in hi~ birthplace pf: Hillsborough, Ohio but this. grave marker for Lt. ~ Caspar Co.llins has been . erected on knoll ~ver-· looking Ft. Ca&par. It's ~>Iie , of 40 erected at the: ' frontier fort replica, -~see~~ of. ceremonies· Sunday ',.ni.gh.L.!farkiruL the 105th ann'i~ersary oL:C!llJi!l~· t~r~.~ t~:. : 4 a 1 ~lA \~ ZD I lCfl () Qcb\)Qx- 5tor--rr~ bLAn~ STE'RN 7 �8 "-- 11 1 am no coward!"" by Bill Judge (Ca spar Collins) Frontier Times, Spring, 1960 pp. 29, 46-48 . j WESTERN ROOM �28 Frontier ·T.1mes �It wasn't the young lieutenant's fight at all. but he'd rather face charging savages than ride away under the general's accusing eyes. ''I Am No Coward!" By BILL JUDGE Illustrated by B. JN WYOMING you will come across such places as Casper, a modern city of 40,000, Casper Mountain, Fort Caspar, and Casper Creek. Somewhere in the long ago, you gather, there must have lived a man named Caspar after whom all these places were named, someone whose deeds of daring became engraved upon the tomes of the times to live eternally; perhaps someone who did something worthy of perpetuity, and you would guess right. He was Caspar Collins, a young army lieutenant, and these places took on his first name to differentiate between he and his father, Colonel Wm. 0. Collins. Because he would not be called a coward, Lieutenant Collins died in one of the most dramatic and heroic actions ever recorded in American history. It was in July, 1865, that Lieutenant Collins was ordered to Fort Laramie for a rest following a strenuous year on the western frontier. There he was to receive his commission as first lieutenant. He was accompanied by ten men of his command who were to drive back remounts for his company at Sweetwater. His commander had given hiin leave to stay at the fort a few days. During that month large numbers of Indians had been seen in the vicinity of the Platte Bridge. Major Martin Anderson of the Eleventh Kansas Cavalry commanded the troops stationed along the Platte to South Pass, with headquarters at the bridge station. The garrison was composed of Company I and detachments from Companies D, H and K, as well as the regimental band. In addition to the 100 Kansas personnel, there were four men of the Eleventh Ohio Cavalry present to man the small howitzer. Also assigned to the post were a dozen Spring, 1960 J. McCausey "galvanized" Yankees (southerners in Yankee uniforms) from the Third U. S. Infantry under the command of Captain Lybe, and five officers from the Eleventh Kansas-Major Anderson, Captain J. E. Greer and Lieutenants Hubbard, Drew and Walker. Early on the morning of July 25, a band of Indians attempted to stampede .the grazing horses of Company I, camped just south of the fort at the bridge station, but the savages were quickly driven off. During the skirmish a Cheyenne named High Backed Wolf had been shot through the stomach. He was a chief and the son of Chief Blind Wolf. To attest that he had been a great warrior, his buckskin jacket was trimmed with thirty-five scalps of red and white men, women and children. Earlier, along in June, William Bonwell had been killed, scalped and mutilated so badly by Cheyennes that he had to be buried on the spot. The garrison swore the same treatment would be accorded the next Indian killed. High Backed Wolf had been that Indian. The soldiers yanked off his scalp and jacket, but before they could mutilate the body in retaliation for the Bonwell killing, they were driven off by · an Indian attack. Around two o'clock in the morning of the twenty-sixth, Captain Henry Bretney and ten men of Company G, Eleventh Ohio Cavalry, arrived at the fort from the Sweetwater station to receive the pay for the men stationed further along the trail. All along the way, Bretney reported, he had seen bands of Indians converging on the Platte River Bridge. A train of three wagon loads of supplies had been sent, with an escort of twenty-three men under Sergeant Cus- tard, to the Sweetwater station. On their return trip to the fort they were camped at Willow Springs Creek, a distance of twenty-five miles from the fort, when Captain Bretney and his men caught up with them. Captain Bretney and his troops had supper with the detail and tried to persuade the sergeant to come into the fort with them under the cover of darkness. Sergeant Custard refused, saying that his mules were too fatigued to make the additional distance. Captain Bretney reported the situation of Sergeant Custard and his men to Major Anderson upon his return to the fort. Major Anderson did not relish being awakened at 2:00 a.m. and, somewhat disgruntled, refused to send an additional escort to Sergeant Custard. NEXT MORNING at dawn, it was T HE discovered that the number of Indians had greatly increased · since the attacks of the day before. Major Anderson, now that it was too late, grew worried over the distant men. He detailed twenty men of the Eleventh Kansas under Sergeant Hankammer and the mail party under Corporal Paul Grim to go to the relief of Sergeant Custard and his men, but he could find not one of their officers willing to go with them. The term of enlistment for the Kansas men was up in only a few days. None of the Kansans cared to take any chances, so were conveniently on sick call or were busy on other duties too pressing to interrupt. Major Anderson sent for Lieutenant Collins and ordered him to command the relief mission. Lieutenant Collins was a member of the Eleventh Ohio and was (Continued on page 46) 29 �Hey, Bookaroos! Have you read: JOE MEEK bJ StanleJ Vestal An excellent biography of one of the most extraordinary and vital characters of frontier history. 348 pgs. Black and white illustrations. $5.00 BILLY KING'S TOMBSTONE bJ C. L. Sonnlchsen An account of Tombstone's hellroaring days and the people who made its life dramatic a n d colorful. Period from 1881 to 1906. 233 pgs. 34 photographs. $3.00 WAR CHIEF JOSEPH bJ Howard & McGrath The definitive biography of the great Nez Perce chief whose military exploits place him among the few eminent Indians. Pioneer days from 1840 · to 1904. 368 pgs. Map a n d 14 illustrations from photos & drawings. Colored frontispiece por· trait from oil painting by Alcorn. $4.50 TRIGGERNOMETRY bJ Eugene Cunningham Portfolio of portraits of Western gunmen by an author widely known for western adventure stories. From 1860.1900. 441 pgs. 21 illustrations from photos. $5.00 These books are publish· ed by The Caxton Print. ers, Ltd. Order yours today! · FRONTIER TIMES BOOK DEPARTMENT P. 0. Box 5801 Austin 31, Texas Please send me the following books for which 1 enclose payment: ) Joe Meek ............................... $5.00 ) Billy King's Tombstone ... . . . ....... ... . $3.00 ) War Chief Joseph ..... ... . ... . .. ... .... $4.50 ) Triggernometry . .. ... . . ...... . . ........ $5.00 Name.____________________________ Addres.__________________~---City_ _ _ _ _' - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - State_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __:__ _ 46 the sign that they must be well cared for and be rested and fat when the Comanches made their next visit. West of the Rocky Mountains and the Comanche range, "the great stealing road of the Apaches" into Sonora was hard-beaten by the hoofs . of livestock captured in Sonora. Like th~ Comanches, the Apaches saw in international lines no barrier to horse-lifting. ' American observers aniQng the Comanches during the first :. half of the nineteenth century reported concentrations of their horses and mules numbering up to 3,000· and even : 5,000 head, Spanish brands always prominent. Successful warriors owned fr9ni fifty to 200 head each. In the 1820's while Thomas James was swapping British strouding, calico, flints, knives, tobacco, looking glasses, and the like for Comanche horses, refusing many inferior ones but getting some worth "at least $100 each in St. 1. Louis," : a chieftain boasted to him that on the· headwaters of the Red River his people had 16,000 head, "better than any he had bought." This may have been more than a boast. In 1867 an Indian agent named Labadi reported 15,000 horses and ; 300 or 400 mules concentrated about ' Comanche camps on the Texas plains.· They were truly Horse Indians. As "the sword outwears its sheath," the vigors of all powers decline and the stimuli of new continents, fresh philosophies, and reyoluntionary acquisitions in material things lose their glandular spur. The Comanches and other Bedouins of the plains did not have the · horse long enough for the nerve it added to their energies to become enervation. They were cut down at their riding best, in their full richness of horse wealth, while the fit of vitality was still hot within them. "I Am No Coward!" (Continued from page !9) not on duty at the fort, nor was it his duty to command members of the Eleventh Kansas. Everyone at the fort knew how dangerous this mission could be, and they also · knew that those in line to command it were shirking their duty. Captain Bretney immediately protested to Major Anderson that there were four officers of the Eleventh Kansas at the fort, all capable of commanding the relief detail. He said the number of men assigned to the relief mission was inadequate, that they didn't stand a chance if attacked. Only a short time before this; General Connor, commanding the Department of the Plains, with headquarters at Fort Laramie, had questioned Collins' motives in remaining a few days at the fort. • "Is it because the Indians are hostile?" the general asked. "Are you a coward?" The general was only half joking, yet his words carried an ugly suggestion. "I am no coward, sir!" Collins replied, white-lipped and gazing at the spot over the general's head. "Then report back to your command without further delay," the general ordered. Officers of the post, however, persuaded him to remain until he could return to his station with the pay ambulance and its escort. Now as Captain Bretney and others arose to his defense, maintaining that an officer from the Eleventh Kansas should command the relief detail instead of panning the job off on the lieutenant, there were whispers from the Kansas men echoing the words of General eonnor--was the lieutenant a coward? John Friend, the telegraph operator, joined Captain Bretney in criticism of Anderson for ordering the relief column to proceed in broad daylight. Wouldn't it have been better to send it at night? "Don't bother to argue with the major," Collins said. "I'm no coward and I've never failed to obey an order given by a superior officer. Captain Bretney, loan me your revolver." Collins then went out and borrowed another revolver, and a horse from the leader of the regimental band. In columns of fours, the small force of twenty-seven men crossed over the bridge. The young lieutenant rode at their head attired in his brand-new uniform, a borrowed pistol in each boot and mounted on a borrowed horse. A miniature charge of the Light Brigade, riding just as surely into the jaws of death. Once they were off the bridge,· the party headed northwest along the Oregon Trail which would be the route of Sergeant Custard and his men. The cautious officers on permanent duty at the fort, now recovered from their fancied ills, watched his progress from the roof of the fort. THE FORCE under Lieutenant WHEN Collins climbed the low bluffs immediately north and west of the bridge, Indians estimated to be in excess of 1,500 came out of concealment behind the sandhills and ravines to his right and left. The Indians could be seen by those at the fort, but not by the men of Collins' detachment. Everyone at the fort knew what was going to happen, but it remained for Captain Bretney and his men of the Eleventh Ohio, a few of the band members, Captain Lybe and his troops to advance across the bridge, . to the assistance of Lieutenant Collins and his relief column. Captain Bretney led his men straight north of the bridge, over the bluffs to flank the Indians making for Lieutenant Collins. Captain Lybe marched his infantry northwest · along the route followed by Lieutenant Collins. Both officers had to fight their advance through Sioux warriors every step of the way. Before dawn that morning, large numbers of Sioux had concealed themselves among the bushes and willows lining the north bank of the Platte. When Bretney and Lybe crossed the bridge, these Sioux attempted to cut all three details off from the bridge. When Lieutenant Collins and his men were a half mile distant from the fort, they saw the Indians for the first time. Lieutenant Collins wheeled his men, left fours into line, and at full . gallop, charged the Indians on his left flank, still trying ·for ·the road to Sergeant Custard. Another group of warriors immediately charged his right flank and rear. In a matter of moments, . half of his command were either wounded or killed. Surrounded by hundreds of crazed savages, only his left flank or the side between him and the bridge, remaine6 partly open. This was the flank on which Captains Bretney and Lybe were directing the fire of their men. Realizing that he had to retreat to save his men, Lieutenant Collins ordered them to fall back to the bridge. Whipping up their horses, the men made for the _bri_dg~, FrontieR~es �. ... while Lieutenant Collins personally tried to cover their retreat. Private Nehring, being German, did not understand the command, and dismounted to fight on foot, until Corporal Grim repeated the command in German, and then it was too late, for dozens of Indians were swarming about him. Private Camp's horse was killed and he was wounded, but he tried to crawl to the fort on his hands and knees. He had proceeded to within 500 yards of the river before being tomahawked. Private Lord shot the Indian that tomahawked Camp. The men under Captain Lybe drove the Indians away and rescued the body of Private Camp. Corporal Grim made it to the covering troops with an arrow through his body. Private . McDonald was another that was killed in the action, Sergeant Hankammer's horse was wounded, but carried him to the north end of the bridge before collapsing. The effective fire of the men under Captains Lybe and Bretney, combined with the fire of the howitzer, manned by the four gunners of the Eleventh Ohio, drove the Sioux away from the lowland and the Cheyennes away from the bluffs. MAJOR ANDERSON called an officers · conference at 9:30. Captain Bretney was grief stricken by the loss of his friend, furious at the needless slaughter of the men, and disgusted by the conduct of the officers at the fort. Always one to call a spade a spade, he braced Major Anderson at the conference. Captain Greer, who had been bested in a previous quarrel with Captain Bretney before Major Anderson assumed command of the post, horned in on the quarrel. He again suffered a trouncing . for his temerity at the wrong time. Captain Bretney was placed under arrest for the beating of Captain Greer, and for his second challenging of Major Anderson. He was confined until 3:00 p.m. before being released. After all, he was one of the few fighting officers left. Captain Bretney offered to lead a force of seventy-five men and the howitzer to the aid of Sergeant Custard and his men, but was refused on the grounds that it would leave the fort defenseless. Major Anderson was universally condemned by all officers and men along the Platte river route for his actions on the twenty-sixth. A short time after Lieutenant Collins disappeared, his gray horse was led by the Indians along the bluffs north of the fort. The horse was demonstrating its independence, for one Indian had to lead him while two others whipped it along. The horse became well-known among the Cheyennes, remaining unmanageable, always running away with those trying to ride him. At the time this was happening, two large groups of Indians were shouting at each other on the elevated land to the northeast of the fort. A half-breed Indian scout, named "I'm leaving Nellie. She's just a nag; Mitchell Lajeunesse, living in a lodge and she treats me like a jackass)" near the fort and often serving as interpreter, slipped close enough to the large group to distinguish what they were saying. He reported back that the Sioux Lieutenant Collins had an arrow and the Cheyennes were on the verge of through his hip but fought to cover the fighting each other. The Cheyennes were retreat of his men to the bridge. When accusing the Sioux of cowardice behe had reached the bottomland at the cause they had not fulfilled their task foot of the bluffs, the way was clear of capturing the bridge and cutting the for him to make for the bridge, but he retreat of all the soldiers that had heard the pleas of Private Adam Culp, crossed over. The Sioux were accusing who was wounded and lying on the the Cheyennes of deliberately shooting ground. Running his horse over to the down many of the Sioux warriors when wounded man, he dismounted, and firing at the soldiers. Before the quarrel placed the man on the horse before him. resulted in an intertribe battle, the event Remounting, the borrowed horse went happened which all at the fort had been loco, throwing Private Culp to the anticipating but dreading. ground and bolting back up over the Sergeant Custard, his three wagons bluff into the ranks of the Indians. Since and their escort, appeared over a saddlethe horse was unmanageable, Collins backed ridge five miles to the west of dropped the reins and fought with a the fort. They had started before dawn revolver in each hand until they were that morning, and had made a forced empty and he was overpowered and march to arrive near to the fort just bekilled. fore noon . The Indians forgot their differences . The troopers returning to the fort were protected by the covering fire of and all swarmed west to meet the twenthe men under Bretney and Lybe. Strange ty-four . men escorting the wagons. indeed was the situation, where the only The men at the fort fired the howitzer help received, was by men not permato warn the approaching men of the Indians. It was an unnecessary warning, nently attached to the fort. Several of the for the men could see the Indians. There men who had been under Lieutenant was no place for them to go. With tired Collins attempted to follow his runaway mules, they were sure to be overtaken, horse to rescue him but were turned no matter which way they turned. They back by the hundreds of Indians between chose to advance toward the fort, no them and Collins. Spring,., 1960 THE WEST'S BLOODIEST PASS! A narrow defile in Arizona's Chiricahua Mountains under eternal Apache vigilance took more emi· ·grant lives than any other obstacle along the entire route West! If you don't pick up this issue of True West, you might as well have ridden through the West blindfolded! It's packed full of-well, why don't you just read this partial list and see why you CAN'T miss the March-April True West. THE LOST GRIZZLY MINE, by Tom Bailey. Most lost mines stay lost-but here is a man who experienced the spine-tingling thrill of finding one. BLOODY TRAIL OF THE ESPINOSAS! A vendetta that took forty Colorado lives before it was stopped by Tom Tobin-a man who delighted in collecting human heads. HE GUARDS THE GHOSTS. Nell Murbarger digs for history in the little cemetery at White Oaks, New Mexico, to discover its last living boom-day settler. MADSTONES AND H Y DR 0 PH 0 B I A SKUNKS, by J. Frank Dobie. If you're bitten by an animal with the rabies and have a madstone handy-go see a doctor! A PAIR OF DRIED EARS. The man who bought drinks with human ears was credited with shooting down twenty-six men, but when it came his time to die he bawled like a baby. I TACKLED· A GRIZZLY WITH A .22 HI· POWER! With four bullets in his massive head, the maddened grizzly kept charging the hunter -who had only one shot left! GHOST TOWN. In Buena Park, California, Walter Knott has created a unique memorial to the pioneers of the Old West-he's bringing back the past. · RAMROD JUSTICE. The accused was held to be guilty until proven innocent-which he almost never was. VALLEY OF DEATH. "On no ·account will you cross lodge Trail Ridge!" the colonel ordered. But in his thirst for action, the ambitious brevet lieutenant colonel disobeyed orders and led eighty men to their death. If we've whetted the appetite of all you ghost town lovers, lost mine followers and history buckaroos, just listen to this list of titles we didn't have room to describe: BUFFALOSLAYING BULLFIGHTERS, GERONIMO-MEDI. CINE MAN, ZIMRI'S ONE-EYED MULE, MILES CITY'S FIRST TOWN MARSHAL, and TEMPERANCE TOWN. Of course, you'll find your old favorites like "Truly Western," The Old Bookaroos, cartoons and ple·n ty of pictures! THIS ISSUE IS A MUST! WESTER N 47Roo �_.., • HISTORICAL PRINTS FORYOURDEN Ready for Framing. Popular 10" x 14" Size. Each is titled and dated, with exciting action-sketched background. Enhances any gun room or den. Four Famed Winchester Models: 1854 186&, 1873 and 1894. In color, 2 tan and 2 prints blue. '" Set of 4 for $1.00 prepaid. - Dealer Inquiries Invited- SAN FRANCISCO GUN EXCHANGE 75 FOURTH STREET SAN FRANCISCO 3, CALIF. ('unslcll'rt-tl '' lornorrmvs c·oUertnr ·~ r•lrt'es. tocla)··· . t~!>e rerrretwes : · · .\nwrh·nn Knhr.s' • .. rnthllsht-t.l In· ~c · r l htlt'r 1 IOO~i handmtulr. IB models. llll IH•I'•: ,.drious lrn.:th; Anti ,.Rrlou• hatullcs. l'lencl 2!i<' for desulptlon~. ttrh·l'•. lnstrueth·p hookiPt :\Of fnr fighting knlfl' hooklc•t. · u••• W. D. RANDALl., JR., Box 1988TW Orlando, Fla. OIL IS WEALTH Oil leases could make you rich ! Own an oil lease, only $10 per mo. Now available in potential boom area. Licensed Oil Broker. Write for free Map. Great Western Petroleum Co. 1623 48 FREMONT ST., LAS VEGAS, NEVADA doubt hoping that if they could hold out, help would be sent. Whipping up their teams, they advanced an additional mile before corralling to fight off the attack. Sergeant Custard had sent four men under Corporal Schroeder as an advance guard. When the savages cut them off from the train, they set out on their own and headed south. Trying to cross the river, one of the five men was killed in the middle of the stream, another south of the river and eventually the other three fought their way to the fort. The brother of the renowned Cheyenne, Roman Nose, was one of the warriors killed south of the river. Sergeant Custard led his men to a small washout which had banks three to four feet high. One of the teamsters drove his wagon into the washout. The reason for this was discovered later, in the t:harred remains of the wagon. In it was found the unrecognizable body of a soldier, who was ill or wounded before the rest gained the shelter of the washout. The two permanent officers at the fort, were again watching the progress of the battle from the top of the fort, through the use of what they termed "spyglasses." Sergeant Custard and his men beat off the direct attacks of the Indians, who then settled down to their old method of creeping forward under cover while they gradually picked off the men at the dry wash. The fight lasted from eleven that morning until three in the afternoon, when smoke was seen rising from the fired wagons. Roman Nose was in charge of the attack on Sergeant Custard and the supply train. During the attack on Sergeant Custard and his men, a group of twenty men were sent under one of the lieutenants to repair the telegraph wire so that help could be summoned. At the cry of "Indians," the lieutenant was the first man back at the fort, letting .his men make their way back the best they could. In this skirmish, one man was killed and another badly wounded. When night fell, the previously mentioned Mitchell Lajeunesse and his brother Noel rode to the Deer Creek station to summon help for the garrison at Platte Bridge. Captain Bretney and others at the fort believed that the casualties sustained need not have happened if .sufficient escort had been sent to Sergeant Custard, when Major Anderson was first informed of his approach. That this opinion would seem correct, fifty men from the station at Deer Creek arrived without incident, the afternoon of the twenty-seventh. When the reinforcements came in, the Indians departed the vicinity of the fort. The body of Lieutenant ··collins was found on the morning of the twentyeighth. The new uniform had been removed, telegraph wire had been wound around the body and it had been dragged through cactus and sagebrush for quite a distance. His heart had been cut out, one hand and one foot cut off and a charge of gunpowder had been exploded in his mouth. He had not been scalped, but there were a couple of dozen arrows through his body. ATtenant THE TIME of his death, LieuCaspar Collins lacked two months of being twenty-one years of age. If this seems young for a first lieutenant, the roster of the Eleventh Ohio serving on the frontier, proved that ninety per cent of the men were under twenty-three, while sixty per cent were under twenty years of age. A total of twenty-seven men were killed and eleven wounded at the battle of the Platte Bridge · station on July 26, 1865 . . . loss of Indians unknown. A military investigation into the conduct of Major Anderson found that he was negligent in not sending a suitable escort when first notified of Sergeant Custard's situation. Further, if it were impossible to send a sufficient escort, a messenger should have been sent, under cover of night, with orders for Custard to remain at Willow Springs. Major Anderson had been out of line when he ordered Lieutenant Collins of the Eleventh Ohio to take charge of the detail of the Eleventh Kansas, when there were officers of the Eleventh Kansas present and able to command their own men. When it was to be seen from the fort that Lieutenant Collins and his small detachment of men were to be attacked by overwhelming numbers of Indians, he should have been recalled to the fort. By the time that these findings were made known, Major Anderson and his fellow officers had been mustered out of the service. Lieutenant Collins was temporarily interred · in the cemetery at the fort. The following year, his body was escorted east by the members of his company to rest permanently in the family plot in Hillsboro, Ohio. Wyoming honored Caspar Collins in several ways but there isn't a single thing to perpetuate the memory of General Connor or the Kansas officers who questioned his bravery. '-. Cowboy Brigade (Continued from page !S) wait until he could be free to give them a special greeting. In the gathering darkness he stepped out on the north portico as the Brigade. rode in at the west gate. Hatless, he · stood waiting. "Here come my cowboy friends," he said to those near him 1 "and they are the best fellows on earth.'' Before Seth Bullock could dismount, Roosevelt waved · to him and shouted, "Seth, old man, you wer.e the hit of the parade!" Then the CowbOys, one at a time, rode forward and were introduced. They did not dismount, simply leaned forward to shake hands with the President, and more than half of them · addressed him ts "Teddy." He had a special word for each one, patted and praised the ponies, examined equipment and at last waved a reluctant farewell from the steps. One thing was espectally noticeable at this time. Careful precautions had undoubtedly been made to safeguard the President from possible attack during that long arid tiresome day. But, though each one of those sixty men wore one or two six-shooters, every . belt full of carttidges, ~bt a man was asked to remove his "artillery" before the President made his appearance. If plain-clothes men were near, they certainly kept in the background and Mr. Roosevelt made the boys feel as thoug each one was an old friend w~ he was "dee-lighted" to welcome tO. ~- �~9 t t 1ns, c_o t~~~--~-~ve..x-_ _. 'His men had nd 'T way of knowing' By PENELOPE PURDY Staff Writer PLATTE BRIDGE STATION, 1865 The troops were probably uneasy at the prospect of fighting Indians again on what might have .been a hot and windy July 26 but they went out anyway, led by a freckled-face, red-headed lieutenant. He was 21-year-~ld Caspar W. Collins, acting commander of a company of 24.men of the 1Ith Kansas Volunteer Cavalry. Willows covered the opposite bank which sloped up to a sandy hill. Someday, the town of Mills would grow there and the top of the hill would be covered by gravel piles owned by Boatrlght-Smlth company. But In 1865, there was only a frontier fort built of weathered logs and a bridge. The sandy hill blocked Collins' view of beyond the river bank. His men had no way of knowing what waited on the other side. Relations with the local tribes had been bad since the Sand Creek Massacre a few weeks earlier. Now the Indians wanted revenge and no white man, especially in a ·,'blue uniform, was safe. · By military standards, Caspar Collins should not have been leading the troops th;.ot day. He belonged to a different 'regiment, the lith Ohio, and was assigned to the Sweetwater Station farther west. But other officers refused to lead tl1e men to assist a small wagon train led by an Inexperienced sergean,t somewhere on the plains beyond the hills. Friends of Caspar Collins pleaded with him not to take the mission. Collins, however, was . still smarting from a reprimand from a superior officer for wasting time to have a new uniform fitted at Fort Laramie while on another assignment . The scolding may have convinced the young officer to accept the assignment to retrieve his honor. From the perspective of history he seems an unlikely young man to have been In sucn rugged, wild country. fle wrote letters home decorated with drawings of animals, birds and scenery from the frontier. Apparently, his health had never been very good and he had come west In part for the climate and partly because his father was commander of the army district In northern Colorado and what would later be Wyoming. But unknown to CoUins, the wagon train had already met several members of the 11th Ohio regiment who had dug rifle pits and were waiting for an expected Indian attack. The 11th Ohio had asked th~ Kansas regiment to stay with them . Rivalry between the two regiments was strong and If one suggested doing one thing, the other was sure to do the opposite. So the wagon train moved on un- . protected. Between the wagons and Caspar Collins ; · were almost 3,000 Sioux, Arapahoe and : Cheyenne warriors. Collins left a few Infantry men at the edge of the bridge as protection. The rest · of his men rode up the hill, their horses kicking up small clouds of dust. In the willows behind the cavalry men . and In front of the infantry, hid Cheyenne braves. Very quietly, Sioux and Arapahoe warriors began to descend out or the surrounding hills. The people at the station saw them · coming but Collins had no warning. Suddenly, the 24 men found themselves . · attacked by nearly 3,000 hostiles. The troopers retreated towards the fort 1 shooting over their shoulders as they went. 1 Five or six troopers died In the sklrmh;h, ', depending on which historian is consulted. ,: ·aut among them was young Collins. Caspar Collins had almost made It back .. to the bridge and safety when he heard'one· of his men, named Adam Culp, calling for. help. The man had been shot through both legs and could not walk. 1•• Collins, himself wounded In the thigh, turned back to rescue Culp. Witnesses said Collins pulled Culp Into Caspar Collins honored CASPER - The annual Caspar Collins Day cel.ebration begins at 7:15p.m. July26. · By city ordinance, according to Fort Caspar Curator Virginia Judge, the fort commemorates the death of the young officer for whom the fort and the city was named. The ceremonies start with a performance by the Casper Municipal Band, appearing through the courtesy of grants provided by the Musician's Trust Fund of the American Federation of Musicians and the Casper Musicians Association. Following the band's concert, t!o': invocation will be given by the R•....' Jim Calhoun, minister of the First United Methodist thurch. Then the Girl Scouts wiU present the 40 flags which Wyoming has served under, with an explanation given by John Mokler. The main speaker will be Vince Folley, director of the. Archives Museum and Historical Society. Indian dancers will follow Folley's presentation. �( Drawing by Mllanda Gregorlan-chater Caspar Collins- volunteered admirably the saddle, then an arrow struck the lieutenant in the forehead. The gray horse they were riding panicked and carried both men into the center or the Indian line. The regiment found Caspar Collins' mutilated body two days later. That same day, the Indians attacked the unprotected wagon train and killed aU but rtve men. The lith Ohio, safe In the trenches, was unharmed. Collins body was rtrst Interred at the Platte Bridge station, then taken to his native HIUsboro, Ohio for rtnal burial In a family cemetery plot. At the request of Caspar CoUin.s father, Col. W.O. Coutns, the army agreed to change the name or the fort in honor or the district commander's only, fallen son. But the station could not be named Collins, because the elder Collins, as district commander, had already given the surname to a military fort.in the southern part of the territory - Camp Collins, now Fort Collins, Colo. So the Platte Bridge Statton was given Caspar's rtrst name instead. Someone, however, was a poor speller. In the order changing the fort's name, an "a" was transformed to an "e." And so the fort, like the town, became known as Casper. The error, according to Fort Caspar Museum Curator Bill Judge, was discovered only after · the old fort was restored as a historical site and correctly called Fort Caspar, after the young officer who never knew he recel.ved the honor. �Cas·. : · ar.~-COIIIns : '{Ed1to~'s · .'"'",J!,vR.<111 V1~ ' ' " ,, nbte: :casper re'o.ers may d1sagree w1th the follow1~g assessment of. th~ young sold1er for whom ~he1r c1ty wa~ na!"ed, ~ut ther wdl no doubt f1.nd 1t an . mterestmg account. Prov1ded as a service of the Wyoming S.tate .Ar- . chives, Museums and H1stor1cal j Department, articles such as i, "Caspar Collins - Hero or Fool?" usually nppear in ~he Casper Journal under the headmg ;or "Buffalo Bones."l by Marion Huseas Curator of History , General Granville M . Dodge. :described Lt. Caspar W. Collins .: Rrl a noble and gallant man. His 'biographer, Agnes Wright Spr· iug, wrote that he was brave and manly. On November 21, 1865, General Orders "l•J.· 49 renamed tiiepost at Piatte Bri(Igi. :'"Fiirt.l Casper (sicl. iri ' honor of ' L t.! Caspar (sicl Collins, 11th Ohir~ Cavalry, who lost his life while; gallantly attacking a supt>rinr force of Indians at that place. "; The city of Casper took its nnm~ Jrom the fort and the man. .. I : i Like Custer and Fetterman.; ·Who several years later led' themselves and their men to theirJ deaths, Collins was a hero. Many ; historians today cons ider such' men to have been foolhard y . Rnth; ,Custer and Fetterman are con ·/· 'troversial men. considered h" . many us glory -seekers who defie;l. 'a uthority l.o bring a t tent ion to; ;themselves. Was Caspar Collin 4 r f the same lhold? ' l\1~n.v... handwri_~~ ng . <Lll:!!~ rt ~claim thaL handwnt.ing is reallyj "mind reading." They hd ie w .J·evcals the true nature of lh<' writer's personality at the timt~ nil 'w riting. A t.horough study of a; person's handwriting allow!! al peek into the depth of the writer's' I itj ,~mbcons,cious. I )0 v .f_ . nrl The analyzed handwri t ing Caspar Wever. Collins, · writen : :when he was 17, reveals he wa~: a :boy who had some emot.irmal pr o. ;blems beginning to tak e hold. lf£:1 :was impulsive and acted without. ,thinking or considering t he conse -: .q uences. · i : Although hls father. William 0., Collins, was a constant compn~ion, Caspar's writing shows he felt dejected and unloved. li e.• wanted atten t ion and would d• • ~hnns t anything to put him.;elf in ~ he limelight. As a youngst et·. 111'cording to Spring. "he W;t<: •• ht•r.. :to all because .he dart•d ! ,, olo' ,nischievious t houl.!h . han ··, 11•ss I hings and to risk punishnwn : ... · r--y.--Hero-or--Fo.ol?~ ~-·t·li o·'"""i."'' umm:'""' '' '" '·'' walking in his fntlwr ·:11 shadnw.j 11 ;,t quit.c all that ht• t ~)''''l!ht hi ,,; father expected him ~" "''· . William Collins' wm·inl{ sho1ws lit erar.v ability; he was .yt•r.v fiU!•n L with words. A diplomat , lw t•ou It l .talk his way out of alm••st am ;o;ituation. Ill' was pa~.v going.1 pleusant most of tlw ~inw ami· could sec tlw light side nl most situatinns. lh! liked allt•nt inn. hut maintained ~n elemetu.nf.n.•st•ryt·~ His son. mi 'the nt her hand . had amanual .great deal of artistic lalent : HJ~' dexterity, close attention to detail anci creative ability were all rnanifl!St ed in his lovt~ of art. Jfis .fa\·orite pa!<tinws Wl•rt• pain' t inJ: and sket ching: his fa• her 's wen• hunting und fishing. · i;. ·. . ' :':~f' . . ~ . f Caspat: c·~.Vf~ttdid _not hm:•• llw sense ;f b~m 1 fi1.,_,Jf Ins tatlll'r. lit• could he l musing hut his n•marks Wl'f·c oft ~W eau·s 1 ic. lit• was an in· 1 deiwndeni perstin whn did whar hl' ·t hou;ihr wn!i t·ight regardless: nf wha t· Rndl! ty dt'Cnwd pr11 per.. When not vet IX. Caspar ·he should go with his fatlwr wh•t had hecn appointed a l'ol111wl and ,charged wil h raising a envitlr.v :r egiment 11 j fighi in i he Civil War. 'Aft h•IUgh Clllll'l'l'lll'd f,H' his s•m's ,snf<'t.V. hispan~nlsgnve in to their :son's pl!!ading.•. nn~ allowed hin't ''I,. • · · !go. · . -i . Caspa r had iitit iut i\'e. and ·leanwd quit:kl~· ami easily . 11~ IJUI'SI iouwd concepts Ill' did n•lf; undPrstand and if necessary~ ·spt•nt · 1 imt~ learning slowly an~! dl'liiH•t·at('lv unl il lw had a: 1 ft, 11 ·, 1 u.rh. l~ 1 . ,w1Pdg-c ,,f what eve~· · intere~ted ·him. This is, why he was ab.,e tO learn the Sioux· Ian~age fluently. "•~dd<'d · Young Collins was: strong willed and stubborn . He resented, authority and could be' outright defiant. He also had domineering tendencies and would · nag or cajole to get hb way. When caught sketdiing instead o .f studying his lessol'H, his teacher told him to go to the blackboarcP and write a sentence. Instead, he drew a pic· ture. · i Even at this early i age Caspar Collins · .shows he was losing ·control. There are also: indications of; ;pessimism and ' ~~lousy, signs 9ften rtnJii~ P irf•rl.£hlf1 l Hlthd·; 'writing of a person: with.· suicidal te~qen· cies. l :b. ·Jins, u : ·ca;p.,·w:··cor: 11th OhiO Cavalry, s.t opped ~~ Platte Bridge .on hi~ way to join hrs corn·. pany stationed near Sweetwater Bridge; He. :had gone to Fort :Laramie to get horses ·and although the ·horses were sent on, he :remained behind for no apparent reuson. ·He; had to be ordered t~ join his company. . l, : Collins, only 20 yearJ old, was ordered to lead 27 men of companies I ' and K, .] lth Kansas Cavalry to relieve a wagon ..train.. whicfi \Val§ in danger oh sttack by Indians. Alt hough Col· .lins was not of this regiment. all other of· ficers had excuses for 'n ot going. It Was a dangerous assignment ·and he ·knew he would 'not return, yet he inJ !sistcd he neve r! an order •he was "t~n coward. /disobeyr,~J ~.nd ! 1 1 As tlw story goes, he, ,l e d I. he command,: rui-f)ssed in a new fuJH dress uniform recently' purchased at Fo~t iLaramie, which was !"conspicuous with the .new bot tons and .s traps, with a I!!stol i~ each boot top... ~ Collins led his me~ a gainst 3000 Cheyenne, Arapahoes and Sioux. 1\e was last: • s~Mh fridirlg ii\t6 ~he In· ,dians with both •revolvers drawn. The m utilated body was. ·r ecovered two day:i 'later. · (Marion Huseas, Curator of History, at the Wyoming State A r_. chives, Museums and Historical Department Jtas spent the past one ~and a half years study· ing handwritin .t: ,analy~is with the International .G raphoanalysis Soci ~:· . ity located in Chicago. Mrs. Huseas combin e ~: known facts abou t historical personalit.ies with what their ha!!d writing reveals to p re· sent a new dimension to history.) �.. . j Caspar Collins - This portrait pai1ited from a photograpfl in i934 !by Ruth Joy Hopkins hangs · in the State Capitol. It is · saifi to be ai Ukeness of the lieutenant killed at Platte River Brid!(e. w/jose firstr ~arne (w.· ith spelling altered) became the name of a fort a~¢ a c..ity.; I' Wyoming State, Archives, Museums and Hi!;torical Difp artment; iJ!hotography). · ·· ·.· · · · ~t~ . ·: ~ i - --- ........ . ... " " '" • • " • - --- · - · ' . ' (~ __'l;. .. .. . ... - .· ' , wtsrt:~ ~ -OOM �. . Cas~rStar-T~ibune 6-A . '· Saturday, August 7, 1971 to \u0s ~ CCD( : Q'( we..vtr NeW-BOok OjfeiS ' VersiOn Of Caspar Collin_s _~~!Je_Uth ~ ·· "The Indian Wan of the. West" by Paul I. Wellman, Curtis Books Seldom has the Indian had a .more sympathetic chronicler than Paul I. Wellman, who has been writing books on the subject since the middle 1930s. In his latest work, "The In~ . dian Wars of the West," the author compares the white man of the frontier to the Nazis for ! atrocities and genocide. . "Perhaps the cruelties of our Indian-killers were pot as coldblooded or scientifically planned as those of the Nazis," 1 he comments. in his preface. : "But they were brptally ef-; fective for all that. We did not' ·(Xlt Indians in gas c~bers ori crematories. But we did shoot down defenseless men, women ,and .children ·in places like ·Camp Grant, Sand Creek .and ·Wounded Knee. ·~ "We did feed strychnine to; red warriors. We did set whole~ village5 of people out naked to' freeze in ·the iron cold of Montana winters. And we did! confine thousands · in what . amounted concentration; camps." , The nearly ' 5()()..page paper-' back covering the wars from, the first massacre of settlers in! Minnesota in 1862 to the last; great battle .during the Messiah ~ a-aze of 1891, bas an interestingf account of events leading to the: death of Lt. Caspar Collins,:for[ whom the . city of Casper is. named. The story of the young: cavalry officer's death July 26, 1865 differs.somewhat from the familiar version found in A. J.' Mokler's History of Natrona, O>unty: ' ·"Lt. Collins saw one of his: men shot from his horse and. went.to pick him up. This action: drew the fire of the Indians·and the attack frightened his horse, so that it shied and ran. When they found the poor boy's body: the next day, it contained 24' arrows. Besides, his mouth had been burned by powder, which was one of the brutalities often inflicted by the noble redskins. upon their. victims." · Wellman's story traced the ! events at Platte Bridge Station: back to the ... . .. . .. _ Sand - - -- , ·· ·---· Creek: - . ... I 1 to I - -"' ' _ :Massacre in northeastern . :O>lorado, which sent the · for- . merly friendly Cheyennes on i the warpath in the $ummer of: 1865. His accoWlt follows: ' "A wagon train with a small :mflitary escort was coming ,down the river to the post and ·: Ueutenant Casper Collins, with a detachment, was dispatched' to meet it. "Not an Indian was in sight.: In fact those at the fort thought they had cleared out of the: country. With no thought of: immediate danger, Collins . led~ his men across the bridge and ; up the flat. As if they had risen i from the ground, the Cheyennes~ . suddenly appeared, cutting the !' soldiers off from the bridge .. Collins was fearless . . He hadi been ordered to go to the wagon train, so ·he continued · his· march. '!ben a second, even larger mass ol warriors rose out of a ravine· on his front. "At first the young otticer · tried to fight his way forward. The number of Indians steadily increased. At last he gave the order to fall back. The <lleyennes still blocked his way to the bridge. Collins tried to cut ; his way through. Right into the mass of yelling savages h~ men rode. An arrow struck the · lieutenant in the forehead and ! hung quivering there, but still : he fought his way forward A few yards farther he was beaten ! .from his horse and killed. Only ! a remnant of his command won : their way through to the bridge. [ .The rest were dead, their scalps It . .in Cheyenne hands.'' . Meanwhile, ·the . Wellman : account continued, the wagon i ·train of 24 men commanded by , Sergeant Custard was over- ; taken by a swann of Indians . and annihilated. The Indian I attack was led by a gianf warrior with a handsome war . bonnet known as Roman Nose, a : famous Cheyenne chief who ; took great risks in battle. He , thought himself m~erable . due to his "sacred war bOnnet." . Before .joining the ~orthern · Oleyennes ,and the Sio~ on the , war on the western plains, the southern · Cheyennes were living peacefullyi in the • villages of . Black Kettle and , White Antelope in northeastern ' O>lorado. But on NQv~ 29, 1864, · _col. __J~ ~: M~..~ .. ~iYD.!g~Q;_~-J~. fan a tical ex-preacher, destroyed the villages. Some of the scenes at the massacre were almost unbelievable, author Wellman recounted Women and children were killed indiscriminately. On the following January, the and Cheyennes, . . Siqux Arapahoes · attacked ·Julesburg twice and bwned it, plundered ranches and .stage coaches, captured and looted . three wagon trains. Southern Oleyennes furnished much of the worst figh9ng for troops in · the Powder River··campaign of 1865 and joined Sitting Bull in · the siege of Ft. Phil Kearny. They also took part in the. famous Battle of the Little B\g Hom in which G~neral Geor,ge Custer and his command were. killed to the last·man. The oook also deals with the . building of Fort Kearny in defiance of treaties with the Sioux and its final aban:'mnmellt. The author ·contends · the Fetterman massacre, which :shocked the nation, was due to ·deliberate violation of orders by Capt. William Fetterman from Col. Carrington, the commander at Fort Kearny (which is the latest frontier post in Wyoming to figure . in restoration). An Indian attack on the fort was feared, leading to the heroic ride of Portugee 'Phillips to Fort Laramie, nonstop for 236 miles, in the winter of 1866. Few books reflect the lndiari viewpoint more vividly than this dramatic epic of the white, man's wars against the red man. The ·Indian could not understand the paleface's land .hunger. To him, the earth and its .creatures beloruzed to all. the ifree gifts of th~ Great Mystery.· l'Ihat one should build a fence 'around a little corner of it and :say, "This . is mine," . was ·repugnant. · · .. .· · ; But it · W~ al!fo the age of ;·empire l>uilding, and the Indi~n ·was no match for the wh1te . iman's greed, the repeating rifle . land the "thunder wagon" '. ( arUijery); and could not surviw after the buffalo hunters pr-ctically wiped out his economic mainstay- the.herds, that provided him· .with . food, ' :_clothing . ~<t slj~lterL~ . ~·-· ___ . . ,·__ Today the Indian· population has ·increased from its low · of .225,000 in 125 to around 400,000, 'and .· . is still growing. :Educational opportunities are !increasing and the new Indian :generation is leaving the .reservation in growing numbers to compete in the white ·man's 1 \yo~ld. , ~ lrying Garbutt. .___ . -~ I I �~ ~ \... ~ ~ ~ \. ~ ~ "" \ - -~-,.A ~ ~ ' V) ~ ~ ···~ ~ "" ~ Oo •· .....:... f. He knew order meant death . . . by Kathy Martinez · Wyoming State Archives, Museums & Historical Dept. On September 30, 1844, at Hillsboro, Highland County Ohio, Catherine Wever Collins gave birth to a son ·in her home on the corner of Beach and High Streets. He was given the name Caspar Wever Collins. Caspar, a red haired and freckled faced boy, inherited from his father a love of hunting, fishing and ·outdoor sports, while .from his mother he received his love of books and pictures which v~_ry early in life taught him to draw and paint. You -could find his true artist's touch, on books, desks and letters. In a pane of glass in the old Collins home you can find his initials and a small likeness of himself that he cut with his diamond ring. Caspar was the first Hillsboro boy to own a diamond ring. In 1861 -caspar's father William, wrote to Washington Caspar Collins, for whom the city of Casper is named, knew his offering to raise a regiment to chances were slim when he was ordered to confront an Indian war · aid them in the Civil War. The party. The above picture is from a painting by Ruth Joy Hopkins, offer was accepted and on which hangs in the State Capitol. (WAMHD photo) . . - February 10, 1862, Colonel Collins went to Washington to offer his battalion. March 13, 1862, the regiment was ordered to report to Major General Halleck at St. Louis for the purpose of · protecthig the westward transportation routes and telegraph li~es. Lieutenant since he had a year of experience when he accompanied his father. On June 30, 1863 he became a member of Company G., 11th Ohio Volunteer Cavalry. February of 1865 -was a most · strenuous month, in the vicinity of Deer Creek, where Caspar not being 18 was ·too . Caspar was stationed. Captain young to enlist in the service, L~M. Rinehart,. Company G. but he was feverish to go with Commander who was under his father. With much arrest awaiting sentence of discussion and a thorough court-martial, was temporarily consideration of the situation, relieved ·from arrest and · William and Catherine Collins returned to his company to finally yielded to their boy's assist in repelling threatened pleading and decided to permit attacks at Deer Creek and him to accompany his father. Platte Bridge. On February 13 Captain Rinehart received Caspar accompanied his word that the Indians were father on an expedition to plundering a camp about Green· River and · on this twenty miles from Deer Creek. expedition, Jim Bridger was Taking ten · men .with him, their guide. Caspar and his Rinehart rode to the area and father r eturned to Fort upon arriving there charged Laramie on August 31, 1862. the Indians, who shot and killed him instantly. In · the summer of 1863, Colonel Collins returned to After Captain Rinehart's Ohio to enlist more soldiers. There Caspar enlisted and he -He(continued on page 8) was commissioned as a Second t'f. ·': . ~9 ~ ~ �-- death, Caspar Collins was placed · ~- in command of Company G, and -:>n May 1 was promoted to the rank of first lieutenant. Because of a delay in sending the orders the records show that he was not promoted to that position. ;..- - -~ - .. , the river bottom and hid above ·the bridge. Believing the Indians would attack a wagon train west of Platte Bridge, the officers of the post evidently held a consultation and decided upon a rescue plan. Of the five Kansas line officers stationed at the post, all were on sick call or had other excuses. Major . Anderson ordered Lieutenant Collins, with Sergeant Hankammer and Corporal Grimm, to proceed in charge of 25 men of Companies I and K, 11th Kansas Cavalry, to relieve and bring in the wagon train. Lieutantent Collins left Fort Laramie · on his way to Sweetwater Station where he had recently been assigned with reluctance on July 21. He believed he would be killed by Indians if he made the ·trip alone. When arriving at Platte Bridge, he learned that a large Lieutenant Collins went to party of Indians had appeared ask Captain Bretney if he could on the afternoon of the 25th and borrow his pistol and also told had driven off a number of him of his orders; The captain horses from the government did everything in his power to herd. A detachment from the dissuade Caspar from going on garrison had pursued the this extra-hazardous Indians and in a skirmish had expedition. John C. Friend, wounded High-backed Wolf, a begged him not to go ·and ·told · chief, who tried to play possum him he would be. foolish for when they reached his body. following the orders. Chief High-backed Wolf begged for his life when the Caspar knew the order meant soldiers started to scalp him, death, but he said · he would but instead they shot him and . never disobey any order under took his firearms and buckskin any circumstances and could jacket which was fringed with not do so then - saying that he different kinds of hair - white was "no coward" and was "not men's, children's, and afraid to go, if · the Kansas women's. Blind Wolf, the officers ·are.'' father of the chief, found his son's .body the next morning Caspar turned to James B. and took it away. · Williamson, a member of his company, and said just before At early dawn of the 26th, he left the post: "Jim, I know the Indians kept riding around that I shall never get back the post screeching war alive. Here is my cap that you whoops and making numerous have admired so much. ·Keep it demonstrations. Half of the to remember me by.'' . Indians, keeping out ·of sight, went down to the river below The Indians surprised the the bridge and hid in the brush · rescue party and pressed them and timber. The · otliei -half .so closely that the fighting was went around the north end of hand-to-hand. According to WESTERN, ROOM one of the survivors, Caspar was shot in the hip as they rode down the hill. The party had reached down the hill when Capsar heard the despairing cry, "Don't leave me! .Don't leave me to be tortured!" It was a trooper Adam Culp, of Company I, pinned beneath his dying mount on the far shore. Caspar -rode to the soldier and lifted the stricken trooper to his horse's withers, when a taut bow-string snapped and almost as if by magic, a heavy iron shod Cheyenne arrow jutted grotesquely from the center of Culp's forehead. C.aspar Collins' horse became half-crazed from the excitement and .turmoil of battle, sensed the . sudden slackening of reins .·and raced directly towards the Indains. On the morning of July 28 a search party found Caspar's . body. It was about three miles from the scene of the fight, · along a creek. Collins' body had been found in telegraph wire and dragged some distance over the ground. One hand and one foot had been cut off, the heart taken out, and the body horribly mutilated. Collins' body·· was buried at the fort with military honors, pending cessation of the Indian hostilities. The body was exhumed on March 19, 1866 and sent to Fort Laramie and interred. On June 14, 1866, the 11th Ohio Volunteer Cavalry left Fort Laramie for home. The remains of Caspar Collins were taken to Hillsboro and placed in the family burial lot in Greenwood Cemetery. �/3 Zit/- 8 t:,s, The station was -~ military Caspar, after . the brave yotmg. post, one of a chain along the soldler. .. ·· . trail westward, established for · When the new town was found- j the protection of emigrants trav.. ed, it was a natural choice to eling along the Oregon Trail, name it after the .nearby site of ! and to keep communications open Fort Caspar. However, someone by guarding and repairing tele- goofed; a number of explanations graph lines. These garrisons have been offered, but the one were manned 'by companies of accepted . as most ·ukely is that volunteers, many including Con- some postal clerk not too familiar federate soldiers captured during with the name, spelled it Casper, the Civil War,andwhoweregiven and by thl& spelling It became a a choice . of engaging In Indian matter of record and continues wars in the west, rather than be- to be so spelled to this day. ing confined in military prisons. They were known as "Galvanized Yankees[' ~d there were several stationed with the 11th Ohio and Kansas Volunteers at Platte Brid~e Station, usually about 100 men.; Following the shooting of a Cheyenne Indian at the station, the Indians vowed ·. vengence, and some 3,000 Cheyennes, Arapahoe and ·. Sioux .gathered in the hills north of the river, and on July 26, attacked a party leaving the post .to rescue a wagon train under attack. They were led by young Caspar Collins, who had stopped over enroute to his new post the Sweetwater. As the small party of soldiers left the post riding toward the wagon train (under Sgt. Custard) -they were attacked by large hum.. bers of Indians. As they · turned to retreat to the post, Lt. Collins stopped to rescue a trooper who had been shot from his horse ,and begged him not to leave him to the Indians. Becoming fright·ened, Collins' horse bolted rlirectly into the Indian ranks, and bls body was found days later, riddled· With arrows and showing signs of torture. Afte-r his vallant effort to aid a beleagured force a.nd his attempt to aid one of his men) ·he was accorded a hero's ,. place · In military records. The 'RANCES SEELY war department changed the name COLLEC T"'' of Platte Bridge Station to Fort 1 CASPFR . By FRANCES SEELY WEBB . ·Somaone took liberties with the ;pelllng of the new frontier town ln the Territory of Wyoming, rounded in'l888 and incorporated rormally in 1889. Located in central Wyoming in irhat is now Natrona County, at :me time part of.Carbon County, :he town was founded as the terminus ·of the raUroad, the Elkborn, Fremont andMissourlValley, built Into the territory to open Up . new country. Located along the NorthPlatteRlver, with mountains to the south, it was .· near the site of an Indian battle i at Platte Bridge Station. 1 on WESf! WESTERN VERTICAL FILE CASPER C0 1 1 r-r:n ' y �Casper Star-Tribune :&.T. COLLINS' OHIO HOME: This stately Colonial home : in Hillsboro, · Ohio, was the birthplace of Lt. Caspar : Collins on Sept. 30, 1844. Collins, who came West as : a young man with his father, Col. Collins, and the · 11th Oh-io Volunteers organized by the colonel, was ! killed in 1865, during on attack by 3,000 Indians at Platte Bridge Station, while attempting to rescue the Custard Wagon Train. An impressive ceremony is planned Sunday, July 25, at Old Fort Cosper, on the 100th anniversary of Lt. Col lins' death. Lt. Collins Came From Ohio By EDNESS KIMBALL WILKINS Caspar Collins was born in this beautiful white colonial home in Hillsboro, Ohio, Sept. 30, 1844. <Red•headed, f reckle-faced, he once etched his name and likeness on one of these windowpanes with a diamond ring.) When the Civil War broke, Caspar's father volunteered for service, was commissioned a colonel, ·and raised a regiment of Ohio volunteers. the lllh Ohio Volunteer Cavalry. Accompanied by Caspar who was too young to .enlist, the regiment started for · the conflict in the South, but was diverted and sent instead to replace members of the regular army in the West, where they . took over the fight to control the Indians on the plains. Trained in Indian fighting and western lora by the great scout, Jim Bridger, who was attached to the 11th Ohio regiment, young Caspar enlisted when he reach~ · eighteen and was commissioned a second lieutenant. He had become one of the most eJCperi~ed · officers in the frontier army, wu · promoted to ftrat lieutenant, and . died July 26, 1865, in an attack : by three thousand Indiana at : Platte Bridge Station while at: tempting to rescue the doomed · Custard Wagon Train. : Fort Collins, Colo., having been : 11amed In Colonel Collins' honor, ; the War Department ordered : Platte Bridge Station re-named : Fort Caspar in honor of tile brave : son. Twenty-four years later the • town, mountain and ereek were : also named for him. (Due to a ~~~=~e~~~~~= I~ LT. CASPAR COLLINS clerical error, they are spelled "Casper" while the spelling of the Fort retains the "a'' in "Cas- par".) On Sunday, July 25th, an lmpressive program is planned at Fort Caspar commemorating the hundreth anniversary of t h 8 tragedy. Open house,. Indian dances by Arapahoes and Shoshones, and demonstrations by Western Union of tbe old telegraph key at the Fort that sent out appeals for help that day, will be among the many interesting events. Memorial services will be conducted by the National Guard, and will include the stirring "roll call of the dead"-all at the Bridge, and showing Cas-~ ory of }:lillsboro people. The par Collins in his attempt to save beautiful Collins house is owned a fallen soldier, reins in his teeth, . by Dr. and Mrs. William Rogers, a pistol in each hand, as his who made a special visit to Fort horse bolts into the horde of In- Caspar a few years ago to learn dians, carrying him to his death. more about the young man who • • • had called it home. Some oldCaspar Collins' mutilated bOdy timers here think it would be was later recovered and buried appropriate to have the body of in the Fort cemetery. The next their hero ultimately returned to spring when the remaining mem- the cemetery at old Fort Oaspar, bers of the 11th Ohio Volunteer where the memory of Caspar Cavalry left for the east for ~s­ Collins has been kept alive from charge, they carried with them the days of the first pioneers of the remains of Lt. Collins to be this area down to the ·present re-buried in the Hillsboro ceme- time. An ordinance passed many tery on July 24, 1866, almost a years ago by the Casper city year to the day from the time council provides for commemorof his death. On his monument ation each year of the death ol Lt. Colllna on Jwy aeth. was cut the inscription : "Lt. Caspar Wever Colla, Born BJIIaboro, Ohio, September SO, 1844. Killed · In battle leading a forlorn hope agatn.t IndiaM at Platte Bridge, July Z6, 1865." The inscription wes also entered in the family bible by beartbroken Colonel CoHins, w h o wrote the additional tribute: . "Pure, b r a v e • hoepltable, renerou.. true." A silver communion cup Ia one of the treasured possessions of St. Marks' Episcopal Church in Casper, given many years ago by Lt. Collins' sister in memory of the youny officer who wu not yet 21 years old when he met his tr~i,c cl~~ :. of the men who lost their Jives No m~mber of the CoJiins famlln action that day near Platte 1 Y is now living, and the brave Bridge Station. A diorama will deeda of father and 1011 have be dedicated depicting the action gradually faded fro~ the mem- ' ----------~-----~------ I CA pr �Picture taken afterCaspar's,death CASPER (AP)- Oops. brary colle-c tion in Chicago. Only.: For some 60 years, the likeness one officer is identified in the group; · of an unknown soldier has been posLt. Col. Adam Jacoby Slemmer, ing as Lt. Caspar Collins, the city of who served as Fort Laramie post . . Casper's namesake, according to au- . commanding officer in 1867 and . thors of a centennial history of the · - 1868. Jn addition, the -s oldier mis-" area. · ·· · · takenfy identified as Collins was_.: A statue at the Casper Events . wearing an Infantry cap instead of a . Center, a portrait and several reproCalvary cap. · . · ·· ductions in history books do not deThat photo appeared in an early ~ pict the image of Collins, who was book on Fort Caspar by historian A.J . Mokler. Ruth Joy Hopkins, the killed in the Platte Bridge Indian bat,~le of 1865. . . · late .Casper artist, used that photo as · C~sper unwtttmgly · ~as been the basis for her·famous portrait of hononng an unknown soldter of the Collins which has been exhibited in · ~estern fron~ier;" said Chuck Mor- ·the Capitol Rotunda. It had als·o ~ nson and lrvmg- Gar~utt, authors of been distributed by the Wyoming t~e Casper Centenmal Book pubState Archives as the likeness of ltshed last week. C 0 lr Steven Fullmer, park ranger at ms. . . Sculptor Pershm¥ _Getger ~f the Fort Laramie National Historic Site, confirmed the mistaken identi- . Casper used the same tmage for hts .. ty when he discovered that the photo .... statue ~t the Casp~r Events ~enter; . used as a model of Collins was actu-~ · Whtle there extst.authenttc photos of Collins' parents, there is no ally taken two years after the Calvary officer's death. known photo ofthe somewhat chub-: . The image was actually taken by, !reck ly-.faced. I ieut~nant.' as fr~m a photo from the Ne~berr)' Li- . Colhns descnbed htmself \n a dtary. ..' ·. : ~/ i~ .. ~unday, August 5,.1990 · · ~ · _..,.~tt' t '..;w:. ..,. ' .t....~.,.: Star-!ribu_ ne, Casp~r. Wyo<•......;_A3 ·. ·:. 'AW.·\.;;~; .•~- ~ !)..•:.,._ VERTICAL fiLE fNESTERN IB ARY "SPER COLLEGE L r · ~ -¥ ...;:, ; ~ 1. �. ' P~tge 2-·c usper Journal, Saturduy, AugusL 4, 1990 MYSTERY PHOTO: The purported image of Caspar Crllins was taken from the second officer from the left, middle row, who wears the yellow bugle of infantry insignia on his cap, rather than the Cavalry crossed sabers. Bearded gent in front, probably post sutler, was mistakenly identified as ·· Father De Smet. -Collins_:. (continued from page 1) unable to track down an authentic picture of the hero of Platte Bridge Station. It was considered unusual t hat· the late Agnes Wright Spring, former Wyoming state historian, offered no photo of Cas pa r Collins in her defi nitive book on t he subj ect. although she printE'l d pict ures of his · fa ther. Col. William Collins and his mother. as · well as numerous sketches of military posts by the young lieutenant. Rick Young, curator of the Fort Caspar Museum. also noted on close scrutiny that the alleged picture of Caspar Collins showed the infantry in· sigma, as well as the ''wrong kind of buttons" on · his uniform. :. STATUE of Caspar Collins at Casper Events Center was created by Pershing Geiger, Casper sculptor, who took likeness of features from photo in Mokler's history of Fort Caspar. �I· 1.· CCISPuf~COIIins phOio·· . was 'unknown soldier' A false image of Lt. Caspar Collins, the hero of the Platte Bridge battle for whom Casper was named, has been floating around for six decades, say the authors of the Casper Centen· nial Book. Collins was used by the late Casper artist, Ruth Joy Hopkins, for her portrait of the young Cavalry lieutenant, whose death was recalled in a reenactment of the battle at the Fort last Saturday . . The photograph of Caspar Collins, so widely shown on television during Casper's centennial, actually is that of an infantry officer taken from a group at old Fort Laramie in 1867, two years after Collins was killed. Pershing Geiger, the Casper sculptor who created the equestrian statue of C~spar Collins at the Events Center, went to great lengths to pro· cure a likeness from the "mystery photo,'' He borrowed a copy of the photo from Edness Mokler, daughter of the historian, and engaged Casper photographer Bob Hede to "blow up" an 8xl0 enlargement for use in design· ing the features on his statue. This was confirmed in a let· ter obtained by the authors, Chuck Morrison and Irving Garbutt, from Steven R. Fullmer, park ranger at the Fort Laramie National Historic Site. Fullmer said the "mystery photo " from which the image of Caspar Collins was taken is from the Auger collection at the Newberry Library in Chicago. Fullmer also noted that the officers in the photo are wearing bugles on their kepis, in· dicating they were infantry of· ficers stationed at Fort Laramie at the close of the CiviJ War. UNKNOWN SOLDIER: This widely shown portrait of Caspar Collins actually is taken from a group of unknown soldiers at old Fort Laramie photographed two years after the death of Collins at Platte Bridge Station in 1865. E TtRN y fCAL ~Ill CASPER COllEGe:- LIBRARY Historians for the p;;tsix decades have taken the image of Caspar Collins (rom the photo reproduced in the late · A.J. Mokler's book, "Fort Caspar,'' The · picture was dated 1864 in the book and also indicates a bearded civilian in the front row could have been Father DeSmet. · Previously Geiger contacted the Wyoming Archives in Cheyenne for a photo of Caspar Collins, but received only a copy of the familiar Hopkins portrait. ''I couldn't use that," he said. Authors of the CasperNatrona Centennial Book were -Collins(continued ("In ru~yt ""n"ll , .._ � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Casper Star-Tribune Vertical Files Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/</a> Date Created Date of creation of the resource. 1967 - 1995 Description An account of the resource The Casper Star-Tribune Vertical File consists of a series of file folders arranged by people, places, and events. These files at times have a corresponding file of photographs and negatives created and used by the Casper Star Tribune from 1967 until the middle of 1995 according to a newspaper article on the donation from February of 2000. In the words of Special Collections Curator at the time, Kevin Anderson, the overall Casper Star-Tribune Collection, of which these vertical files are a part, serves to document "events in our own lives, events in our own history." Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Casper Star-Tribune Access Rights Information about who can access the resource or an indication of its security status. Access Rights may include information regarding access or restrictions based on privacy, security, or other policies. Archivists are happy to assist anyone with accessing the physical or electronic copies of the files. The Casper College Goodstein Foundation Library is glad to grant uses of this material that it actively manages and cares for and will provide its publication policy upon request. Provenance A statement of any changes in ownership and custody of the resource since its creation that are significant for its authenticity, integrity, and interpretation. The statement may include a description of any changes successive custodians made to the resource. The Casper Star-Tribune gifted 20 years of photographic negatives and prints and many of these corresponding files and article scans to Casper College early in the year 2000. The vertical files have been managed by the Casper College Archives and Special Collections housed in its Western History Center. The repository started the process of arranging and describing these files at the series level in January of 2024. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context NCA 01.ii.2000.02-Alt_CasperStar-TribuneVerticalFiles Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Caspar Wever Collins Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/</a> Date Created Date of creation of the resource. 1960-1990 Subject The topic of the resource Collins, Caspar Wever Description An account of the resource Digitized copy of folder of articles and related materials on Caspar Wever Collins as found in the Casper Star-Tribune's Western Vertical Files. Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Language A language of the resource ENG Is Part Of A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included. Casper Star-Tribune Vertical File, NCA 01.ii.2000.01 Vertical WyCaC US. Casper College Archives and Special Collections. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context NCA 01.ii.2000.01_PeV_CasparCollins Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF Extent The size or duration of the resource. 28 pages https://caspercollege.cvlcollections.org/files/original/8dd19ef45f5b13a70a9b2d0086f80ad9.pdf f756f3a6bdd1116c0e05818d74977be8 PDF Text Text New, Look at Richard ' s Upper Platte Bridg e And Trading Post at Evansville, Wyomin g (Editor's Note: Spelling in this article are as 'recorded i n the diaries and have been copied as shown without any corrections) . (c) 1963, Thos . A . Nicholas , Casper, Wyoming . n account appears elsewhere paper of recent findings that sparked a new interest in the old Platte Rive r crossing "near Evansville . This sketch will draw material from some of the hundreds of diaries that were written by Oregon Trai l travelers . Some of their notes shed light u p o n' identities of peopl e whose journey ended at the sit e of the .old crossing . From the 'dawn of human life here, travelers crossed the Platte in this vicinity . One of the diaries , for example, , is that of the first missionaries 'to go West . Rev . Jason and Daniel Lee and Cyrus Shepard crossed in the CasperEvansville vicinity in 1834 . They recorded : "June 4th . — Forded the North Platte also with perfect safety , which is seldom done at this season . " The Wyeth party with which th e Lees traveled included veteran s of the trail. What tales did they tell to cause the above comment ? Travelers going west along th e Oregon Trail usually timed thei r journeys to' : reach .'this '.vicinity about June or July . If going t o the Pacific, they wished to cross the mountains before the snows came . If their missions were t o secure furs' from the Indian and trappers, they wished to retur n east before -winter. BUt June and July were the months in whic h the snows from the Colorado Rockies usually made , high water i n the Plattd. From ape viewpoint, A in this traveler . The hostile Sioux usually roamed north of the Platte . Th e high water was a barrier tha t helped protect the emigrant fro m these Indians . From the time the emigrants crossed the Platte . they were more exposed to Indian at tack . These circumstances made the river crossings of the vicinit y from Deer Creek (Glenrock) to Red Buttes a significant place for every traveler . William A . Empey was a member of the first Mormon trek to Salt Lake in 1847 . He arrived her e June 12, and recorded in his Jour. nal : "came to - were our compan y was ferreying the Emmagrant s a cross the platt . " On June 18, 1847 Brigham Youn g was at "Platt River Uppe r Ferry ." He and his council appointed 9 men (including Mr . Empey) to operate a ferry . Ferrie s were then profitable operated i n the Casper vicinity by Mormons quite regularly each summer until 1852 . The cash income was import ant to them . The first Mormon ferry was apparently about 3% miles abov e Casper. A Mr . Hill had a riva l ferry, at a Casper point . To bette r compete with Mr. Hill the Mormons moved their ferry about 2 miles downstream from him . Thi s placed the permanent Mormon ferry in the vicinity of today' s Evanst ille . That was the prinicpa l ferry in this vicinity during the 1849 Gold Rush, and until the Richard Bridge was constructe d nearby in 1852. (Notes 1 and 2 ) Let James A . Pritchard's Diar y describe an early ferry crossing : "Sunday June 10th (1847) at 9 am . we reached the Ferry . I (t) was Kept by some Mormons from Salt Lake who had come here t o Keep ferry for the season . We & we had to tak our turn . We however joined another compan y or 2 & constructed a raft to cross our wagonc on . After several efforts we succeeded in crossing 2 wagons, but we found the curren t so strong and the Raft so heavy and unwieldy that we abandone d the project and awaited our tur n which came in on Wednesda y morning . We are now getting into the region of mountains . The peak within 8 miles of us to our left (Casper Mountain) is covered wit h snow. I wrote several letters an d left with Ferryman to send back to the states for me . Monday & Tuesday 11 & 12 were spent i n washing our cloths shoeing mule s fixing wagons Etc . Etc . Distance Sunday 10th 10 miles. A youn g man by the name of (J a m e s ) Brown from Howard County, Mo . was drown (ed) in attempting to swim his stock across the river . " (Note 3 ) John R . Dundess, who emigrated from Ohio in 1849, used the Mormon ferry June 24 . He stated : "Daniel Burgett one of our company from Stark Co . Ohio was drowned while trying to swim th e loose stock over the river — Could not find his body several hav e been drowned here in the past . " (Note 11 ) (Continued on Page 13) . tea. . . ... Anthropologist Robert Carpenter (left) closely checks a human bone turned up by eorthmoving equipmen t at the Evansville site . Holding a hot found with th e corpse is reporter Phil McAuley . The photograph by Dovid Foote was made on Nov . 8, the day of the initia l discovery . �r y Activity at Crossing s (Continued from Page 12) The Mounted Riflemen marche d to Vancouver, Washington in 1849. They established and garrisoned posts at Fort Laramie and For t Hall (near Pocatello) Idaho, en route. They were recruited for thi s task in 1846, but were diverted t o the War with Mexico . After that war, they were reorganized and proceeded to Vancouver. Major Cross kept a journal of the march . At Muddy Creek "The river presented a very busy scene . Emigrants were crossing in several places, while others engaged i n constructing rude rafts of dry 'logs." A wagonmaster, Samuel A. Miller . died from cholera . Some of the Mounted Rifleme n crossed at Muddy Creek, som e moved up the river 11 miles t o the Mormon ferry, "where w e might attempt to cross on rafts , or use the ferry." Some used the Mormon ferry beginning July 2, 1849 . (Note 5 ) In 1850, Robert Chalmer s crossed on the Upper Ferry June = . He said the river "is about t5 rods wide (More than a cit y block!) It is deep and runs rapidly . . . Fare is 5.00 per wago n We swim the oxen and ferry the wagons . There has been a number of men drowned this seaso n by fording to save cost ." (Note It ) Richards Build Bridg e The need for a bridge, and th e profit to, be derived, thus becam e apparent. About 1851 the Richard s set about building one . Coun t Leonetto Cipriani used it, in 1353 . The Count, an adventurer , ea t heart . had been an army officer. and later Consul for the Kingdo m of Sardinia, at San Francisco . H e resigned his post in 1352 to under take the venture in livestock to b e related here . `Carly in .1853 he in vested $35 .000 in Live:took and 20 . 000 pounds of other' cargo. He started from Westport, Missouri i n June 3 . 1853 with 500 cows, 60 0 oxen . 60 horses, and 40 mules, an d bought more enroute west. His staff consisted of persona l attendants, it scientists, plus teamsters, and men to drive' th e livestock, some 30 in all . They reached Richard's bridge on July 26, 1853 . Their diary recorded : "At noon we were at the bridge, the property of four Canadia n brothers . Alone, except for some help from the Indians, they ha d been able to erect a bridge of twelve arches, entirely of cedar, with piers formed of huge tree trunks and filled with gravel ' Though the toll could be considered moderate, three dollars per wagon and four for every hunderd head, the bridge assured them a good income ." The livestock reached the Sacramento . vicinity September 25 , 1853, with a moderate profit to the owner. (Note 5 ) Bridge Site Identified in 191 8 A . J . Mokler, pioneer Caspe r Editor, in his hook "History o f Natrona County," recorded that in 1918, one of the daughters of the Reshaws (or Richards) returne d to Casper . He said that Mrs . I ourrier, the daughter , "in company with James H . Bury, made a visit to the spot where the bridge spanned th e river, and pointed out to him, where their little home, the blacksmith shop and a number of other small buildings were located." (Not e 6) (James H . Bury, a confederate veteran , was an assayer in the Sout h Pass gold rush . He lived at Casper in his declining years . ) (Note 7 ) Mr. Mokler states that 'the Reshaw bridge was burned by th e Indians in 1867 . (Note 6) This is a schematic drawing by Albert Singleton o f one of the buttons re moved from the tunic o f one of the old corpse s uncovered at Evansville . The button has bee n identified at the t y p e used on naval officers' uniforms in the period 1840-1,852- „,, Several piers of the old bridge , still existed in 1899, and for some years thereafter, according to I . Bryant and others. The north end of the bridge sat on an outcrop of sandstone. Carving don e by early travelers on the sandstone at the bridge site is still visible . Some of the names eas'> ” legible today are : "Conover, 1859" and "David Jones June 26-454 " and "Macomb. " A coal vein two or three fee t thick outcrops below the sandstone . The teeth pier of the bridge , long obscured by sand and brush , was uncovered in December, 1962 . Other Travelers Mentio n the Bridg e The owners of the bridge ar e variously described as John Richard, (or Richards) and the brothers Richard . A correspondent to the St . Louis Missouri Republican, under date August 22, 1 $ reported : "Our fellow - citizens . Charles Martin and Wm . Renee dear, have just arrived from the Platte Bridge . They made th e trip to this place in seventee n days. Their partner in the b r i d g e. John Richards Esq ., came with them ." (Note 2 ) (Continued ea Page 13 ) �Earl. .. Travelers Wrote of Richard's Bridg e (Continued from Page l3l( J . Robert Brown, an emigran t f 18'i6, wrote : "The brothers Richards own the post and bridge there, and are coining money from il ;'•they have made over $200,000 apiece. but tint demon, gambling, keep s ti~c:t» n .town . They appear to be very clever men . They are from 1" lorisant," (Missouri) . (Note 8 ) Note all the travelers used the bridge. O . Ii . O'Neill, who wa s ith the Magraw - Lander roa d Arty, was there September 10, fi7 . Ife wrote : "About 6 o'clock P .M. we made Platte Bridge which is the usua l crossing place for trains on this road . We however did not cross , but keeping the South bank of the river continued our journe y a mile beyond the bridge wher e we encamped for the night . " (Note 9 ) ('apt . John Wolcott Phelps of th e rtillcry with ' the army bound for tah was at "The Bridge" Sun- day, September 13, 1857 . He re corded : "There is a .trarling estahlehmeet new. the bridge, and also a coal mine . " (Note 10 ) Judge Wm . A . Carter, who be came sutler at Fort Bridger and a permanent resident residen t there, was at the bridge , Novenrher 2, 1857. He said it . "is owned by Mr . Rnshaw wh o has a trading post here ." (Note 11 ) The Richards Bridge thus sa w the Utah Expedition March of 1857. Some 85 officers and men of that army were not to return . They were of the 2nd, 3rd, 4th , 5th, 7th, and 10th Infantry . Also , the 1st and 2nd Dragoons, 1s t Cavalry, first and 4th Artillery , plus ordinance and quartermaster personnel . The deaths recorded . however, were after the units ha d reached South Pass, due mainl y to weather, accidents and illness . (Note 141 .. Hauling the freight for the military were hundreds of civilian teamsters for the contractor . Many civilians also followed th e Army . Many of these wore som e articles of military clothing . Following the westward movement of the Army in 1857, ther e was considerable traffic back an d forth to Fort Laramie in 1858 and 1859 incident to sypply, discharg e of soldiers, the sick, etc . R . T . Ackley of Camden, N . J . , (Across the Plains, 1858), re corded : "Aug . 10 Tues—We ar e now traveling along the Platt e River again . Passed the grav e of Walter Sanders . Died Sept . 1856 . a rude board boar d market the spot, with th e above inscription cut - wit h a pocket knife. We are now at what is known as the Platte Bridge . An enterprisin g Frenchman has here bridged the Platte and only charge s $5 .00 for crossing .—quite moderate —Here we have a trading post and a large number o f Indians lying around . To the lef t of and camp There is an Indian buried on a tree, which is th e custom here with the tribe— " (Note 11 ) The Richard Bridge also saw th e Pony Express . the building of th e first transcontinental telegraph line, . and the Overland Stage, an d numerous other incidents . Burton , traveling by stage in 1860 to Sal t Lake City, says at page 173 of hi s book : " Aug . 16 . 315 pm After abou t 2 hours of hot sun we debouched upon the bank of th e Platte at a spot where once wa s the Lower Ferry . The river be d here is so full of holes and quic k sands, and the stream so col d and swift that many have been drowned when bathing. Mor e when attempting to save time by fording it . A wooden bridg e was built at this point som e years ago, at an expense o f $26,000 by one Reashaw . We halted a few minutes at th e indispensable store, and drank our whiskey with ice . . . Remounting, we passed a deserted camp, where in times gone b y two companies of infantry had been stationed . A few strips o f crumbling walls, broken flooring and depressions in the ground are all that is left. Our station lay near the Uppe r Crossing or second Bridge a , short distance from the town . It was also built of timber a t an expense of $40,000 about a year ago by Louis Cuenot a Quebecquain who passed the last 12 years upon the plains . "Aug . 17 — The morning was bright and clear 6 :30 am hitche d up and crossed the ricketty bridge at a slow pace and proceed up the left bank of the Platte for the first time . . . after 10 miles of ups and downs . . . we halted a few minutes at an old established tradin g post called , Red Buttes ." (Note 11 ) In October 1860, Indian Agen t (Continued on Page 16) �c'bnti from Page 15 ) Thomas .,S . Twiss, then managin g the agency at Deer Creek (Glen rock), reported that "Big Mouth" had killed a white, and surrendered. , He also made a report, that Rev. Monty Beaugsieur had bee n murdered by Indians ; (a Luthera n Missionary,, Rev . ;. Braeuninger , was reported killed -on Powde r River July 21, 1860, Note 12) also a . : white ,man discharged from Camp Floyd (the location of Johnston's Army in Utah), who was re turning to the states, was killed . He wrote that a boy of Louis Guinard's had been murdered a t the Mormon Crossing while herding horses of his father, on October 5. . March 1, 1861, John Richard presented- a claim to the Unite d States' fok;• $500 for horses taken by, Indians .at the bridge on October -4,1.860. In December 1861, a new Indian Agent,1 : assigned reasons for the increasing 'hostility of the Indians . These . .were the fact they ha d agreed to having emigrants along the Platte, but not the telegraph or the expected iron road. ' Agent Cody's census of the In dians in the Upper Platte agency at that time included : 2150 male s Sio • 2350 females _ 300 males 350 females mes . 250 males 300 females 570 0 :Total schools, none 1 Lutheran missionary . A year later (1862) a new agent, John Loree, reported about double that number of . Indians' (Note 9) Agness Wright S p r i n g, in her book "Caspar Collins" (p 27) sums up the deckhe of travel on the Oregon Trail : . "when, on account of Indian hos tilities, the stage iopte was moved (1862) to the southern . part } of Wyoming, Creighton constructed telegraph line to ,rfollow the new route across `the` Laramie Plain `s and through Bridget. ' Pass. This line was not compleL„d until j165In the meanJ4meit 'was nece§sary to keep soldiers, Ationed at the —Star-Tribune Phoi e At this point opposite Evansville, the north approac h to the Reshow Bridge, which was destroyed by Indian s in 1867, immigrants crossed the North Platte . The immigrants ' route varied . Many traveled up the 'north telegraph offices on the norther n route ." (Note 13 ) These troops i n c l u d e d th e Eleventh Ohio Volunteer Cavalry . It was while a member of tha t organization that Lieut . Caspar Collin s, for whom Casper is named, was killed July 26, 1865 . In 1866 state troops who had guarded the trail between Fort Laramie and South Pass were withdrawn : The garrison at For t Laramie was too small and to o far away to continue to protec t the bridges . They were soon de stroyed . In Grateful Acknowledgemen t NOTE 1 . Journal of Williani A. Itmpey, edited by Dale L . Morgan, Vol. 21, Annals of Wyoming, Wyo . St. Hist. Soc ., Cheyenne. NOTE 2. "The Ferries of th e Forty-Niners," by Dale L . Mot., gan, Vol . 31, Annals of Wyoming: NOTE 3 . "The Overland Diary of James A. Pritchard, 1849," ed. by Dale L . Morgan, Old West Publ. Co ., Denver, 1959. (Mr. Morgan adds a time chart of the travels recorded in 132 Oregon Trail diaries of 1949) . NOTE 4 . March of the Mounted Riflemen, 1849, Journal of Os - borne Cross, ed . by R . W. Settle, Arthur H. Clark Co., Glendale, Calif ., 1940. NOTE 5 . California and Overland Diaries of Count Leonetto Cipriani, ed. by Ernest Falbo, Champoeg Press, Portland, 1962 . NOTE 6. History of Natron a County, by A. J. Mokler . NOTE 7. Recollections of L . O. McLean of Casper . NOTE 8 . J. Robert Brown, A Journal of a Trip Across the Plains of the U . S ., Columbus , Ohio, 1860, pp, 51, 52 . NOTE 9 . National Archives. NOTE 10 . The Utah Expedition, LeRoy R . and Ann W. Hafen, Arthur H. Clark Co ., Glendale, 1958. NOTE 11 . Diary Collection of Paul . .Henderson of . Bridgeport, Neb (Mr. Henderson assisted the editor '6f .the Cipriani diary above in rettading the route of Count Cipriani ihrough thin area) . (Mr: Henderson :also read an d made excerpts of many of his diaries in preparation :"for thi s article . Space does not permit use of all the material) .' : NOTE 12. Annals .of Wyoming , Vol. 7. side of the river and crossed to the south . to-avoid the deep, axle-clogging sands on the north side of the river . The deep depression in the sand testifies to the heav y volume of traffic along this section of the Oregon Trail . NOTE 13 . "Caspar Collins," by ' NOTE 14 : 'Researches of Utah Agnes Wright Spring . Columbia State Historical Society, Salt Lak e Univ. Press, .1927 . City. �-Star-Tribune Phote They passed this way and marked their ridssoge . This? ' inscription, scratched into the face of a rock supporting! . the north end of Reshow (Richards, Richeou) Bridge, ;" was rediscovered in the investigation sparked by the i uncovering of seven bodies in the Evansville area . Th e face of the rock bearing the names supported the north ' end of the bridge . Pencilled in for photographic repro ' duction, the inscription reads : DAVID JONES . „ JUNE 26/64 . . . MACOMB . tStar-Tribune Photo By Akse1 Noh r Conover 1ere in 1858 and left his mark . Thomas, A Nicholas, attorney for th e town of Evansville, leans over the stone ledge which supported the north end of th e Old Reshovrpridge and points to the old inscription, the oldest date found . Man y immigrants :—and more recent residents of the Casper-Evansville area — have inscribed their names in the soft stone . �Two maps which show Richard's Bridge are : Map RG 49 Wyoming 1 dated 186 9 Map Rg 77 Wyoming 35 dated 1858 (Fremont-Stansbury ) These maps can be ordered from the National Arcives Trust ; Washington, D .C . 20405 �4 Casper Star-Tribune Sunday, October 9, 1966 Timbers From Old Reshaw Bridg e oun d By TOM NICHOLAS Dredging in the river bed a t Evansville during low water has produced three more hewn timbers that fix the site of the north end of the Reshaw (Richard ) Bridge of 1851 to 1867 . The Platte River was at low ebb for several days recently, i n connection with a long planned program for eliminating roug h fish from the dam at Glendo . Taking advantage of this opportunity to examine the bed of th e river, Mayor Ernest Keiffer and Councilman Ray Jones of Evansville decided to dredge for the north abutments of the Reshaw Bridge . Their efforts were re warded by the unearthing of thre e long buried timbers . All were hand hewn, and had holes for fastening them to othe r timbers . Two measure 6 x 1 1 inches, and about 15 feet i n length ; the other 6 x 10 and about 14 feet long . Several piles of man placed rock were found in the be d of the river marking the several piers which supported the bridge . The south abutment of the Reshaw Bridge was uncovered i n 1963, following the discovery o f the burial site of the militar y camps that existed there in 185556 and 1858-59 . The unearthed skeletons have now been reburie d in a concret tomb . Two bents at the south end of the old bridge have been restored at the original site . Sir Richard Burton, crosse d the Reshaw (Richard) Bridge i n 1860 . He wrote that it was "at a spot where once was the Lowe r Ferry ." A few hundred feet below the Richard Bridge, stone steps have been photograpped during the low water . These stones are STONE STEPS : John P . Scott, of .1312 South Elm, examines stone steps on the south bank of the Platte River. Three steps are visible at this point . men to establish a ferry for the tinue as to their use . Thedlarie s Mormon trains . Groups of men of the emigrants and ferr y came from Salt Lake City each tenders will come in for re summer for several years to reading, to discover who place d operate them. The building of the the stone steps, and how the y Richard Bridge in 1851, followed were used . by the building of the Guinar d Bridge of Old Fort Caspar i n 1858, eliminated the need fo r ferries. TIMBERS FOUND : Tom Nicholas, Evansville town attorney, examines timbe r The fish project at Glendo da m dug up at the north end of the Reshaw Bridge site during low water on th e has now been completed, and th e of many emigrants referred t o Platte River . river again covers the stone ferries operating in the 1840's . steps. But speculation will conabout 6 inches thick, and about some speculation . In 1847 Brigham Young detailed Were they laid to give solid feet . on snrface . They are obviously placed by footing to wagons fording the man, and hauled from some dis - river? Were they perhaps part of the docks or piers used by tance . Their probable use involves one of the ferries? The diaries �WAGON TIRE UNCOVERED : Evansville Mayor Ernest Keiffer (left) and Tom Nicholas, town attorney, hold an old wagon tire found in the bed of the Platt e River . �a::9 : Reshaw Packed His Pnk —And Die d By TIMOTHY J . MAHONEY In a reminiscent mood recentl y I spent several hours visiting with Mrs . John B . Barnes (Alta as she's known to friends) about the old Richard (Reshaw) Bridg e that used to span the Platte River north of Evansville . The bridge and the settlement that flourished in its shadow hav e been in the news of late . I'll relate the story as she told it to me: "As you know, Tim, my step father, Charles K . Bucknum lived in this country long before ther e was a Casper . In fact, he tol d me he had visited Fort Caspar several times before it burned . "He had also at times crosse d the Reshaw Bridge on trips bac k and forth from Fort Fetterman to Fort Benton in Montana . and he had knowledge_ about the bridge, its establishment and the conditions of the place . "He has also at times crossed the Reshaw Bridge on trips bac k and forth from Fort Fetterman to Fort Benton in Montana, and he had knowledge about th e bridge, its establishment and the conditions of the place. "He said that Reshaw was a Canuck who had married into the Sioux Indians and had a considerable family of halfbreed children by this marriage . He seemed to have a great deal of influence with the Indians and his bridge, its establishment and th e near the bridge were of great service to wayfarers on the old Emigrant Trail . "Indeed, his word very nearl y had the effect of law in those parts in the early days and the fate or welfare of wagon train s often hinged on his attitude toward each particular outfit . "Times became very trouble d with the passing years, however , and even Reshaw's hold on th e Indians began to weaken in the Red Cloud days . So, he decided to sell out and finda more peaceful way of life for his declining years . `Reshaw's domestic establishment was becoming very cumber some because of the Indian tradition that all his squaw's relative s were also members of his house hold . The upkeep, consequently , was dragging him down financially . So he sold . "He received $10,000 in gold, from the buyer . That money wa s his undoing. It caused his sudden and untimely death. "Remember how the Platt e used to go on a rampage in th e spring? In those days befor e Pathfinder Dam, rubbish of all kinds used to surge along th e river and acres would be humdnted. "Well, Reshaw sold out in th e spring and stayed around to hel p his successor . One day he wa s standing on the bridge to se e if any debris coming down migh t endanger the pilings . "A big old cottonwood cam e rolling along . Reshaw tried to divert the threatening mass of nranches, roots and trunks fro m the nilincs with a long pole . "The pole gave a sudden jer k as it caught, and Reshaw was catapulted into the middle of the angry stream . "He sank immediately and wa s never seen again, for he wa s weighted down by all that heav y gold, the $10,000 which he wa s carrying. t "My father told me he learne d about this tragic incident several months later when he re turned to Wyoming on duty as a i scout during the Indian trouble i n those days after the Civil War ." Mrs . Barnes told me that he r stepfather had related the story to her several times and tha t the recital had made a deep impression on her . "Truly I feel blessed," she told me, too, "that it has been my privilege to have watched ou r city grow up from the struggling little hamlet of which my fathe r was mayor back in the early nineties, to the wonderful community it is today ." MRS . JOHN B . (ALTA) BARNES �CHARLES K . BUCKNUM PIONEERS ENTOMBED : North of Evansville, near the Reshaw Bridge, is thi s monument to early emigrants on the Oregon Trail . The bodies of the pioneers , some of them soldiers, were unearthed in Evansville during a constructio n project and reburied here—(Photo by John Lumb) . �Cas p er Jo rnIll Thursday December 13, 1979=6 . or Richards It's All the Sam e N "The park by the (signs could not b e river" now has an of- 'i ordered without a name . ficial name, thanks to Evansville citizen input and a town council vot e Dec . 10 . Richards' River Par k was the name chosen i n hono- of trading pos t operator dean "Reshaw " in French an d "Richards" in English . The trading post preced ed Fort Caspar and wa s located by the Platt e Bridge on the Orego n Trail . After Fort Caspar was built the tradin g post was used as an out post and ammunitio n location . In 1963, ol d abutments at the sout h end of the bridge wer e uncovered and tw o bents of the bridge wer e reconstructed . Fund s from a federal grant received in 1977 were used to erect picnic tabl e and plant grass near th e bridge site. The park was officially named Monday after town officials discovered that funds marked tor sign construction • due to run out soon . . ti e �6-Star-Tribune, Casper, Wyo . Tuesday, December 19, 197 2 Indians first cut wir e of `T ~ik -A-Heap' EDITOR'S NOTE : Picking up the narrative o f the West Virginia troopers on the frontier in 1865 66, author Thomas Nicholas tells of men leavin g Washington after the Grand Review and starting the trek to Fort Caspar. By THOMAS NICHOLA S Casper, Wyo . Copy wight,197 2 In 1883, Sgt . Geo . H . Holliday published a book with the title "On the Plains, 1865." Sgt. Hollida y does not tell quite all about the Richard Bridge , materials . After all, what enlisted man was going to put his Commanding Officer on th e spot ? He probably did not know, as we do now, tha ! the War Department handled Richard's claim for pay for the bridge as a routine matter, an d there probably was no official action against . Major Squires . Mary M. Jenkins, librarian of the ' West Virginia Department of Archives an d History, reports : "No picture of Major Squires is here, but there is a medal waiting for him ." . In his book, Sgt . Holliday described th e departure of the West Virginia boys from the cit y of Washington on June 16, 1865 after the Gran d Review, on the Baltimore and Ohio railroad : "with all the horses and equipment of wa r packed into a train of box and hog cars" an d many incidents leading to their arrival at For t Leavenworth . He detailed the "mutiny" in whic h some of the soldiers refused to march . He said , "Adjutant General Pierpoint, nephew of th e Governor of West Virginia, was sent for, and in a few days arrived. He met the boys, and throug h his personal friendship and kind persuasion and advice, the remainder soon consented to cros s the plains . " Some 1,500 Sioux contested their crossing o f the Platte at Alkali Station or old California crossing, (in Nebraska territory) . The 300 Wes t Virginians assumed defensive tactics . Quoting . Sgt . Holliday : Fire and Fall Bac k "For several hours our . Indian scouts, rein- , forced by the famous Bill Purdy and his scouts , kept up a running fight at long range, for it wa s impossible to get within pistol shot of them. For several hours the fight is kept up, and occasionally an Indian would fall . ' ,at he would immediately be thrown upon the back of a pon y and carried off . " "A division of emigrant and transportation . trains have come up and have corraled thei r wagons and secured their stock within the enclosure . We are somewhat reinforced in number by their force, and we feel reassured by their ' presence . "The Indians were armed with bows an d arrows, but occasionally an old musket gleame d in the sunlight and belched forth in tones o f thunder from some far off bluff. They had a larg e . N umber of old guns, but fortunately for us the y .Were out of ammunition . " "Once while a squad of our cavalry were in pursuit of several hundred warriors they were surprised by a band of seventy-five warriors who suddenly filed out from behind a hill and made a sudden dash upon them . Running within fifty yards and lying flat upon their ponies, whic h whizzed past the heads of our boys and fell , harmless on the ground beyond . The cavalry returned the fire with their revolvers, and a chie f of the band fled to the bluffs with his leg danglin g helpless from his side . " Sioux Flee "While we were engaged in this skirmish th e whole band of Sioux crossed the river and wen t pell-mell for the hills, taking with them thei r women and children, and thus they escaped and crossed the great Platte trail, and were saf e again on the lonely desert on the way to Western Kansas on a grant buffalo hunt, where they loa d their ponies with meat for their winter suppl y and then return in the fall . " At Julesberg he mentioned their supply of flou r and grain in sacks piled "in two enormous ricks or piles, and when I say `piles' I mean as large a s a court house or Plymouth church so man y sacks indeed that it is doubtful whether th e quartermaster himself knew just how many he had . " Sgt . Holliday . was thus a part of the great military demonstration of 1865 by which the hold of the Indians on the Great Plains region liras . eventually broken ! He mentioned his first contact with the ; Reshaw family and some pilfering of flour to be I sold to Reshaw (Richard) . �r `Galvanized Soldiers' Sgt. Holliday listed, "The troops on the plains during this summer and the winter followin g numbered about nine_ thousand . They were composecTf-the 11th Ohio Cavalry, 6th Michiga n Cavalry, 6th West Virginia Cavalry, 21st Ne w York Cavalry, 7th Nebraska Cavalry, 1st and 2nd California Cavalries and 22nd Colorado Cavalry , 3d U . S . Infantry, the latter was commanded b y Colonel Manidier. They (the 3d U . S . Infantry ) were recruited from among prisoners at Cam p Chase at the close of the Rebellion. They were dubbed "Galvanized Soldiers," by the othe r troops on the plains ; however, they did good service and suffered many privations and deserve due praise. " "Besides the troops mentioned, about 60 0 Indians were also enlisted, and doing voluntee r service for the Government. With those Indians their white officers always had trouble to prevent them from the barbarous habit of scalping their victims, or the dead hostiles who fell into their hands ." . and knees but had to 'craw out again to turn around. He was a soldier. "All operators on theplains were enlisted men.: No citizens could be' induced to live ther ' voluntarily . When a soldier learned to operate h e was assigned an office with a princely salary , but had to find a substitute before he could leave or be relieved but few men cared to volunteer , but had to be pressed into service . • "One operator of Pl tte Ridge on the Nort h Platte, had been a prisi ner in that office for fiv e years. His term of enlistment had long sinc e expired but he still held — partly by force, an d partly by increased pay, and the many opportunities for making a `million. ' Next : The West Virginians arrive at Scottsbluff, the troopers' weapons are described in detail, and the soldiers push on to Fort Laramie . "The troops mentioned were distributed over a vast area of territory, embracing Kansas , Nebraska, Colorado, Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, and Utah . Each fort, block house, stag e stations, telegraph or mail station, was guarde d by cavalry or infantry troops, as the danger, locality, or place demanded. Our force a t Julesburg was soon divided up into small squad s and sent out to different posts along the routes , and we did not all get together again until w e formed a reunion at Fort Leavenwor .n the spring following. " Sgt . Holliday mentioned the conditions whic h brought the troops : "The little stations along the route had been but poorly guarded, and as a result had bee n subjected to a vast number of attacks by Indian s curing the summer of '65, and a large number of . men had been slain either at or near these stations, or while en route with the Salt Lak e mail . A good many massacres of emigrants also occurred, and a vast number of cattle and othe r stock had fallen into the hands of the ever watchful and vigilant redskin . " Sgt. Holliday also describes the plight of th e operators along the telegraph , line : "At the beginnuig at 'he siege i . : ; .,u :ans cu t the `Talk-a-heap,' as they called the telegrap h wire, and this cut off all communication with t.;z outside world . " `"The first night after leaving Julesburg, , ;ecamped at Pole Creek, a new station jus t established. The logs had not yet arrived fro m the blockhouse . We found about fifty of th e 'Eleventh Ohio Cavalry here in tents expectin g every day to be served up for breakfast for F. hoard of Sioux Indians, who were reported in i ° that section . " . "A telegraph office had been established, . which was located in a small dog tent and the instrument attached to a tailgate of a wagon ' lying flat upon the grass. The operator in order t o attend to official business, crawled in on his hand Richard's Bridge ARTIST'S CONCEPT of Richard's Bridg e approach and Trading Post about 1858, by Bil l M1lorgan. (Original painting in Evansville post office lobby.) The extreme background is Caspe r Mountain, elevation about 8,000 feet. Richard's Bridge was dismantled in the winter of 1865-6 . The materials were used partly to build additional barracks at Fort Caspar, five mile s upstream. The timbers were made into firewoo d for the West Virginia soldiers who wintered a t Fort Caspar from October 1865 to May 1866 . Fate of the buildings has not been learned . A blacksmith's anvil was uncovered in 1963 east o f the bridge approach (left foreground) . �c Rebuilt Reshaw bridge will serve town of Evansville as ,- a park. Grant funds rebuilt Reshaw bridg e By ELLIOTT JONES an d COLEEN MACKI N Staff Writer and Photographer EVANSVILLE — The bridg e the Mormons took across the Vorth Platte River in the mid800's is back in place—well , part of it anyway. To the delight of history buff s and the town of Evansville a portion of the Reshaw Bridg e has been rebuilt and turned into a park. The modern version is locate d at the site of the Reshaw Bridge and Trading Post, which serve d Oregon Trail travelers fro m 1851 to 1868 and was one of th e first private enterprises established in Wyoming. The modern version was constructed in less than thre e months with materials furnished by Evansville and labo r contributed by the Wyomin g Employment Security Comthission. The funds were ad ministered through the Employment Security Commissio n gut originated as a grant issued tinder the federal Corn- . prehensive Employment an d Training Act. The grant was applied for by Evansville. Representatives of the Governor's Advisory Council, . the project's overseer, toure d the park Wednesday an d described it as being "one of th e nicest projects we've seen t o date. " Five people worked on the project at one time, which helped rebuild what the Wes t Virginia Troops took apart i n 1867. The troops dismantled the wooden bridge so they coul d reinforce Ft. Caspar and fuel their pot-bellied stoves . But today's visitors can sit i n the shade of trees ; walk on green grass and have a uniqu e view of the North Platte River. Evansville has receive d approval for two other federa l grants, both of which will start soon . The town will renovate its baseball park and increas e street safety by markin g centerlines and by paintin g crosswalks and the area s around fire hydrants. �Thursday August 24, 1978 Casper Journal— 8 Historical Site s RICHARD BRIDGE SITE . Three miles east of Casper, at the North Platte River at Evansville . In 1853 French-Canadian John Baptiste Richar d (Reshaw) built a bridge across the North Platt e River at present-day Evansville. Richard usually charged fifty cents per person or animal to cros s his bridge, and the charge for a team and wagon was $5.00, although low-water conditions and ferry operations along the river kept the toll fee flexible. Near the south. end of the bridge a trading pos t grew up, and many travelers mention the store in their diaries. One report was that by Sir Richard Burton on August 16, 1860. After about two hours of hot sun, we debouched upon the bank of the Platte, a spot., where once was the Lower Ferry. The river bed here is s o full of holes and quicksands, and the stream is so cold and swift, that many have been drowne d when bathing, more when attempting to save time by fording it. A wooden bridge was built at this point some years ago, at an expense of $26,000, by one Regshaw, who, if report does not belie him, has gained and lost more fortunes tha n a Wall Street professional "lameduck ". We halted for a few minutes at the indispensable store-the tete de pont—and drank our whiskey with ice, which, after so long a disuse, fel t unenjoyable cold ?ichard operated the trading post until the mid1860's with one interruption in 1855-56 when General W.S. Harney compelled all traders on the Upper Platte to gather at Fort Laramie because of an Indian crisis. Meanwhile Richard 's property was protected by army troops stationed near the bridge. The bridge was vital to the army during the Utah Expedition of 1857, and in 1858 a second post was built there called Camp Payne. Richard's was a gathering place for Indians, trappers , troopers and emigrants until 1866. In that year troops from Fort Caspar, six miles up the river , destroyed the bridge in order to obtain construction materials for the expansion of their post In 1918 one of Richard's daughters visited the spot where the bridge and trading post once stood and pointed out for a later generation th e sites of her home, the blacksmith shop, and othe r small buildings. Today the historic site is part of a small riverside park maintained by the town of Evansville . �emetery project near Evansville ould threaten Oregon Trail fo r By ANN FRANSCEL L Star-Tribune staff writer EVANSVILLE — Just north of vansville lies a stretch of th e orth Platte River where many o f 50,000 emigrants crossed durin g e mid-1800s on their journey estward. Their wagons forded relatively ily there because of the har d ock beneath the surface of the 'de, shallow river . Others wh o ould afford it crossed at nearby 'chard's Bridge, now a historica l ite, in the 1850s . But as with many sites along the regon Trail which now lie eath miles of asphalt highway , armland or suburban developents, the history that remains t o found at this fording place may so be threatened . Now the federal governmen t ants to build a veterans cemeter y n the north side of the river , 'nked to Evansville by two road s d a modern bridge across the orth Platte . An Evansville man who deribes himself as an amateu r storian says important historiartifacts might be destroyed or orever lost if a full-scal e cheological survey isn't conucted before the earth-moving egins . John Winsted has spent his spare moments in the last year combing the river's north an d south banks with his metal detector, looking for artifacts of th e Oregon Trail era. As his fascination with the era grew, he pore d over historical accounts about thi s stretch of river . After studying John Fremont 's 1842 diary, Winsted believes Fremont crossed the Platte abou t 500 feet east of what was later t o become Richard's Bridge. And Fremont's maps show him camping in the same area. WINSTED ALSO believes Indians used the same natural ford , probably camping along the river before crossing . Some of Brigha m Young's Mormon follower s crossed the river there on a ferry in 1847 ; others crossed farther up stream at the Platte Bridge Station, later Fort Caspar. "They crossed here for year s and years before Fort Caspar wa s even started," Winsted said . "History actually runs through this area longer than it did at For t Caspar . " A survey might reveal new discoveries, Winsted said . The history-rich area is the old site o f several military camps, now fenced about 150 yards from Richard ' s Randall, vice president of th e Bridge . And some emigrant s local chapter of the Wyoming carved their names in stone alon g Archeological Society . "It a t this stretch, not waiting until the y least ought to be surveyed good, " reached Independence Rock a few member Grover Phelan added . days down the trail . Winsted worries that futur e EVANSVILLE Planner Ted construction might destroy histor- Akers said the town is aware of the ical artifacts . He has contacted area's historical value and hopes local and state officials abou t to preserve it . If an area of studying the area to see wha t historical significance was found, could be preserved . it is possible the roads or bridg e "It won't be long when we l can be moved because it will b e won't be able to know anything, " another three months before a Winsted said . "I think a group of final design is drawn, he said . people who are knowledgeable "I don't think it's anything should go in there and go over the that's unresolveable, " Akers said . area thoroughly . " ' "We don't want the project deBut on the other hand, we, WINSTED SAID he doesn't don't want to go pushing bulldozwant to stop or delay construc- ers through a historical site . " tion, but only wants to preserve If artifacts are discovered ; whatever history might be found' Winsted would like to see the m in that area before the inevitable :; displayed in a museum on the site , :y begins. but that seems a remote possibility "I'm not saying they shouldn ' t tl now because of high costs . go through, but we should go ir. 1 and pick up that stuff it there is, "It's too bad we can't have a . something . Sometimes things are,` museum there with all the things , done and then it's destroyed for that have come off the site," he ever before people get a chance tai said. "I think it would be nice to ; get in and pickup the artifacts," he have it in an area where it actuall y came from . I'm thinking abouti said . Members of the 1 o c a It the tourist aspect of it, too . It's; archeological society agreed . "I g1eat for a lot of people to know,' have a feeling there is early man about history rather than just a involved here, too," said Art few. �Star-Tribune/Bob Kennedy Relies saved John Winsted is convinced history i s waiting to be found near the North Platte . He fears a cemtery project nearby might , endanger what other historical artifact s remain there . In his spare time he has . already found such artifacts as an engrave d trigger guard, a cavalry cap insignia, a rin g and old bullets • �Wednesday, June 15, 1983 Star-Tribune, Casper, Wyo .-A3 Dig uncovers relics of migratio n across the North Platte Rive r By ANNE I+1acKINNO N Star-Tribune staff writer CASPER — Early summer wa s the time of year when most travelers rumbling along the Oregon Trail nearly 130 years ago reache d this part of the high plains . In this wide curve of the Nort h Platte, they had a choice o f crossings on their way west . One such crossing was a bridge that led to the north bank of • the Nort h ;Platte near today's town o f Evansville. At Richard's Bridge — built in 1853 by a smart Frenc h, entrepreneur, Jean Richard, an d often spelled "Reshaw's" to giv e the name its French accent — many of the 350,000 people wh o .followed the Oregon Trail coul d Mind a trading post and army fort s to guard them and the bridge . a Today the site of all that activity is a meadow of tall grass blow n "by the wind, scattered wit h wildflowers . The sweep o f mountains and the north bluffs o f the river protect it just as they did 'when the tired travelers from St . Louis reached it in their wagons in the 1850s . Right now, the meadow is als o the weekend home of some determined amateur archeologists , hard at work in the dirt to find , what the Oregon Trail migratio n left behind . They're poring over the site before a new crossing is buil t there : extensions of Curtis an d Evans Streets in Evansville ' wil l join at the site of the old tradin g post and lead across a new bridg e to a new veteran's cemetery to be built on the north side of th e river . THE AREA has long been re cognized as the site of Richard ' s PIPE BOWL FOUN D Near river crossing site Bridge, and the City of Evansvill e has put up fences to protect som e areas from scavenger "pothunters ." . Much of the location wil l be left undisturbed by the ne w construction, but some portions . will be destroyed . This winter, Evansville amateu r historian John Winsted alerted th e local chapter of the Wyomin g Archaeological Society to th e problem posed by the construction plans . The group set to work , with supervision from the State Archaeologist's office, to stud y the area before constructio n begins ; They have found emigrants' clay pipes, discarded animal bones an d bottles ("we've got bottles coming out our ears," says Art Randall, vice president of the Caspe r archaeology group) ; thousands o f tiny beads kept for trade with th e Indians and since carted off b y ants to neighboring anthills ; soldiers' brass buttons, part of a uniform, and a man's gold wed ding ring left behind at the army camp . SOME OF it is mixed with earlier material — stone arrow heads and bones — that Randal l said must have been lying on th e ground when the emigrant train s came, left by Indians who earlie r used the natural ford . Early white expeditioners, including Fremont, probably crossed the river somewher e nearby, Randall said . After Richard built his bridge, emigrants and the army had th e choice of using the bridge, som e nearby ferries, or fording . Th e bridge was only for those wh o could pay — "it was quit e expensive," Randall said . Some carved their names in th e sandstone outcrops that served as north abutments to the bridge . A temporary army camp built on e year apparently used tents built around stone fireplaces for housing . In 1865 the bridge probabl y burned, and some of its timber s were taken the next year to Fort Caspar, where a new bridge an d new army fort had been started i n 1865 . BUT THE Richard's Bridge are a was larger and probably was used longer than the Fort Caspar location, Randall said . Small rectangular dig sites, u p to 14 inches deep, are now scattered across the 20-30-acre area . Randall and some 6-8 other stead y volunteers have given themselves a fall deadline to finish their work . The artifacts they find will be given to a new museum in Evansville . New volunteers are trained an d supervised, Randall said, and he asked anyone interested to cal l him at 237-0840 or 265-1042 . Star-Tribune/Rick Sorenso n Art Randall at the dig site � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Casper Star-Tribune Vertical Files Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/</a> Date Created Date of creation of the resource. 1967 - 1995 Description An account of the resource The Casper Star-Tribune Vertical File consists of a series of file folders arranged by people, places, and events. These files at times have a corresponding file of photographs and negatives created and used by the Casper Star Tribune from 1967 until the middle of 1995 according to a newspaper article on the donation from February of 2000. In the words of Special Collections Curator at the time, Kevin Anderson, the overall Casper Star-Tribune Collection, of which these vertical files are a part, serves to document "events in our own lives, events in our own history." Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Casper Star-Tribune Access Rights Information about who can access the resource or an indication of its security status. Access Rights may include information regarding access or restrictions based on privacy, security, or other policies. Archivists are happy to assist anyone with accessing the physical or electronic copies of the files. The Casper College Goodstein Foundation Library is glad to grant uses of this material that it actively manages and cares for and will provide its publication policy upon request. Provenance A statement of any changes in ownership and custody of the resource since its creation that are significant for its authenticity, integrity, and interpretation. The statement may include a description of any changes successive custodians made to the resource. The Casper Star-Tribune gifted 20 years of photographic negatives and prints and many of these corresponding files and article scans to Casper College early in the year 2000. The vertical files have been managed by the Casper College Archives and Special Collections housed in its Western History Center. The repository started the process of arranging and describing these files at the series level in January of 2024. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context NCA 01.ii.2000.02-Alt_CasperStar-TribuneVerticalFiles Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Platte Bridge Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/</a> Date Created Date of creation of the resource. 1963-1983 Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Language A language of the resource ENG Is Part Of A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included. Casper Star-Tribune Vertical File, NCA 01.ii.2000.01 Vertical WyCaC US. Casper College Archives and Special Collections. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context NCA 01.ii.2000.01_PlV_PlatteBridge Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF Extent The size or duration of the resource. 18 pages Description An account of the resource Digitized copy of folder of articles and related materials on the Platte River Bridge as found in the Casper Star-Tribune's Western Vertical Files. https://caspercollege.cvlcollections.org/files/original/2a38426a0ce3563f5052d99d7d5418f5.jpg ce0d3d6bcf1c9707eae177b4eefb18fc Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Burtch Family Postcards Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NKC/1.0/">http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NKC/1.0/</a> Provenance A statement of any changes in ownership and custody of the resource since its creation that are significant for its authenticity, integrity, and interpretation. The statement may include a description of any changes successive custodians made to the resource. Alvin Burtch Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Postcard Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Sheep Wagons Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NKC/1.0/">http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NKC/1.0/</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context NCA 01.v.2005.01_Postcard_Sheepwagons Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource JPG https://caspercollege.cvlcollections.org/files/original/b2bd4dc958bac4ee553a54cb8c785faf.jpeg ad0b206d4f56a59b8ac7618b16429c01 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Burtch Family Postcards Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NKC/1.0/">http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NKC/1.0/</a> Provenance A statement of any changes in ownership and custody of the resource since its creation that are significant for its authenticity, integrity, and interpretation. The statement may include a description of any changes successive custodians made to the resource. Alvin Burtch Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Postcard Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Sheep Rancher Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NKC/1.0/">http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NKC/1.0/</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context NCA 01.v.2005.01__Sheeprancher Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource JPEG https://caspercollege.cvlcollections.org/files/original/f27c5f531657078b498c06a59820c94f.jpg 31ec931689fa362b812883653b1497a4 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Frances Seely Webb Collection Access Rights Information about who can access the resource or an indication of its security status. Access Rights may include information regarding access or restrictions based on privacy, security, or other policies. The material in this collection may be reused so long as attribution is provided to its original source. Description An account of the resource The Frances Seely Webb Collection contains over 1,400 photographs, correspondence, handwritten research notes, the proof copy of Webb's book, Casper's First Homes, and a series of scrapbooks. Materials documents Casper buildings, cultural institutions, homes, and society from 1890-1978. Also included are photographs of individuals and groups visually documenting Casper society. In addition are items originally collected by Boney Earnest, a frontiersman and former member of the Natrona County Historical Society. Subjects documented in Webb’s correspondence, notebooks, and scrapbooks include things related to her ongoing research, obituaries, Casper and Natrona County homes, businesses, and cultural institutions. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Frances Seely Webb Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Casper College Archives and Special Collections (Western History Center) Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NKC/1.0/">http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NKC/1.0/</a> Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context NCA 01.v.1985.02 Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Photographic print Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Timothy J. Mahoney Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NKC/1.0/">http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NKC/1.0/</a> Date Created Date of creation of the resource. 1962 Description An account of the resource Timothy J. Mahoney on St. Patrick's Day in 1962 Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Is Part Of A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included. Frances Seely Webb Collection. Goodstein Foundation Library, Archives and Special Collections (Western History Center), Casper College, Casper, WY, 82601. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context NCA 01.v.1985.02_TimothyJMahoney_1962 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource JPG https://caspercollege.cvlcollections.org/files/original/2b8d23d4ae1f1305a526926571aff12a.jpg 42574b2274aedf3d965e733a2a8d300a Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Casper Star-Tribune Vertical Files Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/</a> Date Created Date of creation of the resource. 1967 - 1995 Description An account of the resource The Casper Star-Tribune Vertical File consists of a series of file folders arranged by people, places, and events. These files at times have a corresponding file of photographs and negatives created and used by the Casper Star Tribune from 1967 until the middle of 1995 according to a newspaper article on the donation from February of 2000. In the words of Special Collections Curator at the time, Kevin Anderson, the overall Casper Star-Tribune Collection, of which these vertical files are a part, serves to document "events in our own lives, events in our own history." Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Casper Star-Tribune Access Rights Information about who can access the resource or an indication of its security status. Access Rights may include information regarding access or restrictions based on privacy, security, or other policies. Archivists are happy to assist anyone with accessing the physical or electronic copies of the files. The Casper College Goodstein Foundation Library is glad to grant uses of this material that it actively manages and cares for and will provide its publication policy upon request. Provenance A statement of any changes in ownership and custody of the resource since its creation that are significant for its authenticity, integrity, and interpretation. The statement may include a description of any changes successive custodians made to the resource. The Casper Star-Tribune gifted 20 years of photographic negatives and prints and many of these corresponding files and article scans to Casper College early in the year 2000. The vertical files have been managed by the Casper College Archives and Special Collections housed in its Western History Center. The repository started the process of arranging and describing these files at the series level in January of 2024. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context NCA 01.ii.2000.02-Alt_CasperStar-TribuneVerticalFiles Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document Newspaper article Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Mahoney Ranch Purchase Recalls Sheep History Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/</a> Date Created Date of creation of the resource. 1953-12-16 Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Language A language of the resource ENG Is Part Of A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included. Casper Star-Tribune Vertical File, NCA 01.ii.2000.01 Vertical WyCaC US. Casper College Archives and Special Collections. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context NCA 01.ii.2000.01_MahoneyRanchPurchase Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource JPG https://caspercollege.cvlcollections.org/files/original/82740aa1f61525a548829c8cf1630a0a.jpg 7de1ea0d065ae198730e7fb6afab8f72 Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Burke Family Photograph Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NKC/1.0/">http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NKC/1.0/</a> Description An account of the resource Anna, Mickey, Frank, Joe, and John Burke. Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context NCA 01.v.2024.01_Anna-Mickey-Frank-Joe-and-JohnBurke Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource JPG https://caspercollege.cvlcollections.org/files/original/7347f0b58a2c8252b0561c94017fc46b.jpg dfa227e7f31b9b8fe6f782ddb212ad46 Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Photographic print Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource US Naval Petroleum Reserve #3 looking toward Salt Creek Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Language A language of the resource ENG Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context NCA 01.2024.15_NavalPetroleumReserve Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource JPG https://caspercollege.cvlcollections.org/files/original/a4e9393abdb11253cc8ef84b02bd937c.jpg 9557bcf44c96ac0e32162a94339ecf27 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource C.H. King House Photographs Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Language A language of the resource ENG Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context NCA 01.2024.16 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource JPG Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Photographic print Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource C.H. King House Postcard Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Language A language of the resource ENG Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context NCA 01.2024.16_HousePostcard Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource JPG