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.