Casper Daily Tribune Newspaper, September 13, 1918, Page 3

THE CASPER DAILY TRIBUNE THE BATTLE OF PLATTE BRIDGE Memorable Engagement in Which Lieutenant Caspar Collins Lost His Life Recalled by a Visit of Colonel Denison, Who Participated in Indian Warfare Here SYNOPSIS. A garrison made up of members of the }1th Kansas and 11th Ohic company, and) 12 U. S. Infantrymen, stationed on the north bank of th: Platte river near the end of the. present bridze in use at Casper, wa attacked by 100 Indians on July 25, 1865, and in the first day’s skirmis! several of the Redskins were killed, including a Cheyenne chief. No losse were sustained by the soldiers, who were poorly armed and short of ammu nition, but om the evening of the same day they were reinforced by fivi members of the 11th Ohio cavalry, who reported having left Sweetwate: cn the preceding morning in company with three wagons and 25 men of the 11th Kansas. The train with its escort had halted within 18 or 2( miles of Casper for the night, They had seen no signs of ‘Indians. Th« following morning Major Anderson, officer in charge, ordered Licutenan Collins to ‘command.a detail of 25 men and reinforce the train to preven' a surpris About 90 Indians were scattered about on the bluffs and hill: on both sides of the river as the men made ready for departure. The detail moved out in good spirits but on undertaking to small group of Indians the hills became alive with them to the end tha! the horsemen started to fight their way back to the stochade. Lieutenan Collins was killed as were several others in a fierce engagement with over whelming numbers. On reaching the stockade quiet was again restore: for the time being and reports were brot in by scouts that the Sioux and Cheyennes were having a big quarrel a short distance up the river. While this report was being fussed the news was shouted that the wagon trait was coming over the hill about four miles from the stockade. This rumor proved unfounded, since the Indians perceived the wagor train a moment later and hundreds set off in that direction. The firiny of a howitzer at the stockade failed to do any damage to the redskins bui verved as a warning to the wagon train._ Four of ‘the mounted member: of the latter struck off toward the hills and after a running fight with the Indians and hair-breadth escapes three of them reached the stockade Notwithstanding the predicament of the men defending the train, Major Anderson refused to consent to men from the stockade going to their sup port, since it would have meant the massacre of the entire garrison. By this time 3,000 Indians had gathered to attack the train while the soldier: at the fort were chafing under restraint which kept them from going to the aid of their comrades, charge ¢ FOURTH INSTALLMENT About three o’clock ‘p. m., the Ma-! x ordered a party of twenty mounted men under Lieutenant! ker to-proceed about two miles t of the station to repair the tele- of the station. We knew then that these Indians had noticed the party of soldiers leaving the station and were on the way to intercept them. The signal was given with the flag, and as soon as the signal man was ) wire that was cut at that point, satisfied enough of the Indians had t we could telegraph to Deer passed to make it certain it would be and. other stations below, the/no use to delay any longer, the How- on, and have them-send us re-/itzer was fired as the signal for the reements and ammunition to en-| party to come in. e us to cope withsthe Indians, At} As soon as the report was heard, out, the ten or twelve U. 8. In- command of their officer, were to were thrown out in advance, ordered out about one-half mile from the | them in as fast as possible. station to support the cayalry under tain of the “Galvanized troops’ did) Walker on their return to the station,/not wait until the cavalry came up,) » Indians should develop any/but ordered his men back instanter. | force that would interfere with carry- Some of Co. “I” boys had gone out ing out the_orders from fixing the tel-|on foot nearly to where the “Gal-| egraph. A system of signals had vanized troops” had been stationed. | been arranged by which Lieutenant) As soon as they heard the Howitzer the same time that Walker’s party the men dropped their wires mounted | derson arran their horses, and then Walker, with-| Snake, Indian to go to Deer Creek or Galvanized Troops, under|out waiting for the four men who} t out as Hilty fell forward on his 1orse’s neck, the; Indian moved head. His leg struck McDougal as 1e went by him, but he was so close ie could not stab him until he dr. vs spear ba@k.. McDougal turned his head, and, seeing it was an In- lian, brought his hand around with he révolver in it, pressed the weapon igainst the Indian’s body pulled he trigger. Tho Indian fell off his iorse shot thru the hart. It wus the last shot McDougal had in his re rolver, but jt saved his life. By this time the boys on foot began to reach the Indians with their carbines, and | as the Indians who had got into the ight were comparatively few in num- bers, they did not pre any closer. Hilty clung to his horse until it e#r- cid him into the station, where he was taken care of. The rest of the nen were then ordered back to the station. , Just about the time Lieut. Ws *r’s party had started from the tion, we noticed that the firing had ceased at the train, and very soon a large smoke arose, und we saw that the wagons were burning. We knew then that the fighting was all over, and that the brave men who had ‘so well defended themselves were all jead. ‘They had made a gallant fight for four full hours, but had been verpowered at last. The Indians s yed about the place where the train had been until nearly nightfall, and then a great many of them moved back to the bluff north of the river. We expected that dur- ‘ng the night they would make si demonstrations against the and the guards doubled and ex- tra vigilance enjoined on them so jthat they would+not be taken un- awares. Just after midnight a few of them me prowling’ around, but jthe guards were on the alert and fired on them. They responded with a few arrows, but did not make any further demons About 10 0 . m. Major An- ed with the half-breed and report the situation to the com- manding officer at the post and then The cap-| have it telegraphed down the road, also to carry orders for the garrison at Deer Creek to march to our as- sistance and to bring us a supply of ammunition, uring the fight the day before we had captured quite a number of Indian ponies whose riders Iker was to be notified if the In-| they ran on to where the relief had} from the West were moving|been stationed, and as they passed pay yess to: interfere with! bythe “Galvanized typona” they wing et of his okies" Tae curse! tie Captiin fur w cowarl for the station was to be waved|leaving his post before the cavalry | Indians were moving toward had got up to him. He paid no at-| nd as soon as it was realizedtention, but pushed on to the station, enough of them were on the tho some of his men turned bac y to preclude ail possibility to suc- help the others. The Ca came , the Howitzer was to be fired,|on until they reached the boys on 2 at that Lieutenant Walker was foot and then the most of them to bring his command back to the turned to let the four men behind upports as quick as possible, and come up, tho Lieutenant Walker's) were all to fall back to the sta-|/ horse had got under such headway on. Walker arrived at the break in that it did not stgp until it had car- the telegraph wire and then sent four ried him safely into the station, with- 1, Sergeant McDougal and _ Pri-) out his firing a shot from his revolver. Porter, Hilty and Chappel, all About fifteen of the Indians had cf Company I, Eleventh Kansas out appeared out of a.ravine and charged ' about one-fourth of a mile farther on the four men from the north side east to watch for the Indians. The of the river. The men digcharged rest went to work joining the wire, their carbines amd then commenced ch was broken in several places. to unload their revolvers. They did soon after Walker’s command !not notic# anything on the south. the station it was notified that a Several Indians came out of a ravine number of the ‘Indians, wholon the south close by them, and be- on horseback between the sta-| fore they were observed one of them nd the train had commenced drove a spear thru Porter’s heart and north, and it was not a greatjhe féll dead from his horse. An- fore they were spied cross-|other one gave Hilty a stab with a x» the divide about a mile northeast spear thru the lungs and then drey owe eee anne tena sean tec re atm, J “BARNETT’S OF COURSE” <T WILL BE PLEASANT AND SATISFYING FOR YOU 10 KNOW THAT WH OF OUR KNOX HATS YOU ARB OF > APPAREL OF AU’ NCOME QUALITY THE FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION TH REQUIREME AIN OCC IONS A Di IDENTICAL IN TR WITH TH ST WHICH KNOX HAT SHOP ON FIFTH THOROUGHLY REPRESEN- oF THE APPAR ATURE AND OF THE CHAR. ER OF SERVICE WE AIM TO RED The KN Orient IDEAL FOR EARLY FALL to slip from the Straw Hat to the Felt. Made with traditional KNOX quality—much wear can- not rob, it of its pristine smartness. ° SIX DOLLARS Knox Felt Hats, Five to Fifteen M. D. Barnett Outfitting Co. 121 East Second Street ponies had come men into our line: jamected-n “pony along with Collins’ The half breed ch he. said had Welonized toe Sioux chief, and had been noted for its speed and endur. ance. He started out a little after 10 o’clock p. m., going directly south »,so that the red devils might gl had been shot off them, and then the? he intended to take a trail He knew and work to the east until he reached the Deer Creek station. He ‘w. cessful in his undertaking reached his destination -saf. ud about 50 men of Company®K, 11th Kansas Volunters, with pbott 5,000 rounds of ammunition,. were started for Platte Bridge. The néxt morning everything appeared abopt as it was the preceding night. ‘The <indians were in ht on the bluff, tho their humbers were parties of them sroing off imBa north- east direction all the mormiMg, unt bout noon the last of Ye ‘ and he peared. About 3 o'clock Fm noticed a body of mew coming from toward the Deer Creek ination, and very soon we recognized them as be- ing soldiers. It provefite be Cont puny K from Deer Cri avith the ammunition. We gave ff hearty reception’ and as soom @% they rested a few minutes, they in tom y with a detachment of Company { started on_the trail of the Indians’ It soon ascertained that “the Indians less, and W@ noticed | morning we fellow ent out and buried our the id so nobly yet unavail- ingly fough Mosteof those who had been killed with the train had be- longed to Company H of the 11 <ansas, and it the best company when there was any real fightin be done, yet up to this tmie the pany had escaped with less casus ties than any other comy regiment. It made it so m that after fighting nearly thr. heroes in ground upon always consider in t regime was years against the rebels, then to or- ad out on the plains to fi In ani nd now when the orders were out for our ret home to be mus- tered out, it was sad to have so many of our comrades slau ered We have the consolation of knowing that they died with their face to the foe and that in death as well as thru their three years service they sus. tained the proud reputation, gain by the regiment, of ways doing | their duty, no matter what odds were pitted against them. Pea be to their ashes, In about two days more the Si Michigan C: nd re us at the brid rehed for home without further mo tion WILLIAM Y. DREW, First Lieutenant, Co. I, 11th Kan- sas Caval The following are the names of men belonging to the 11th Kansas wete in full retreat and then the| Volunteer Cavalry who were kilied command was ordered to go to the| by Indians at and near the North place where the fight with the train | Platte bridge, Wyoming (then Daco- had been. rible sight met our gaze. on the ground stripped. naked, and mangled in every imagineable way. | a} his bowels, and | it. ind been heated | with Corporal Shrader. I noticed one poor fellow with wagon tire across from appearance: and laid upon him; while still aliv over the torture they were putting him to, before the breath of life had | entirely left body. From the appearance of the rest, I believe he was the only one tor- tured, and therefore think he was the only one left alive at the time they captured the train. Every one of the men were scalped, but the Indians had left their scalps lying around on the ground, which was ® sure sign that their loss had been so heavy that they did not think they had any cause to exult over their victory. We counted about 40 trails made by poles .fastened co their ponies on whie hthey fix a stretcher, to carry ther wounded on. We heard some time after, thit during ‘the fighting their loss had been over 60 warrio’ killed and about 130 badly wounde: Phe loss on our side was Lieutenant Collins, 27 men wounded, and one m sume that the missi We pr West, was, jilled, br yar not find Wis body, It may be bha® the On arriving there a hor-| tah), July Twenty- | one of our dead soldiers were lying | killed, 11 or 12 26, 1865; Company D William D. Gray, with train. Martin Green, with traih. William H. Miller, with train. Thomas Powell, with train. Edwin Summers, r the river {| Samuel Tull, with train. Jacob Zinn, with train. John R. Zinn, with train. Company H Sergeant Amos J. Custard, with Jesse Antram, with train. James Ballew, near the river with Corporal Shrader. Moses Brown, with train William Brown, with train. George Heil, with train. August Hoppe, with t John Horton, with train. William B. Long, with train. «Ferdinand Schaffer, with train. Samuel Sproul. with train, 5: William West, with train, body not Company K found. f i Thomas W. Young, with train. Ssopee: CAME, « vetle = Eenreiaee Collins, Company Adam Culp, with Lieutenant Col- lins, George W tenant Coll James A, alk, ant Collins, McDonald, with Lieu- i ME ee Tap Port with Li enant est prices paid. Complete line of Ranges and Smaller Cooking The Range that backs up the Government on the conserva- Stoves at money-saving prices. tion of fuel: KEENE KUTTER TOOLS LOWE BROS. PAINTS-VARNISHES HOLMES HARDWARE COMPANY Holmes to Homes—Casper, Wyoming CASPER BUSINESS COLLEGE (Inc.) GOOD POSITIONS FOR GRADUATES Stenography Bookkeeping Civil Service FALL TERM BEGINS SEPT. 16 Second and Durbin Phone 349M. Employment Agency eoesnccocesesscssesssoscecsscesese> > We Trim Hats Free took him away to. torture of their villages Defore to deatli, The command Indian’ him at one putting hi to | towards the mountains and after then ereturned to the station and the next CENTRAL GROCERY & MARKET Don’t Overlook Our FRESH FRUITS AND VEGETABLES Finest the Market Affords Save Your Pennies Here If we want to keep the battle the food line unbroken. Do line unbroken,:we must keep not allow any vegetables or fruit to spoil. Can or dry them. TRY OUR Fancy Guatamala Coffee in bulk, Ib. 23c Fancy Alberta Peaches, per basket, . 35¢c SUNDRIES 5 Ib. can Calumet Bak- ing Powder ____-~ $1.00 2 1-2 Ib. can Calumet Baking Powder -58e Half-pound pkg. Dunham Cocoanut ___~--_- 22¢ Quarter-pound pkg. 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The flash of a ribbon here—the relief of a rosette or a spangle—and here the long, graceful sweep of a feather. And your shape is a creation. It is not a hat any more, it is YOUR HAT, fitted to YOUR } personality. We do it FREE for okie patrons, and we know how POPULAR PRICED MILLINERY Wyatt Hotel, Room Opposite Desk as You Enter DE errr French Sebastian Nehring, with Lieuten- Mail us your Liberty Bonds, high- The Security Loan < Bais | Co., Room 4, Kimball Bldg. 9-11-tf | ot secccvcceccocecs: , ; CASPER, WYO. SSS SSIS SSSI SSS SSS SS SSS Ss Table Cooking With one of these ELECTRIC GRILLS you can cook a small meal right on the table. It BROILS, BOILS, TOASTS and FRIES in a few min- utes. Connects to any lamp socket. Has three-heat control. CALL OR WRITE Natrona Power Co. Phone 69 Me. LIACMALLALALLALALALALALA AAA A AA Ad Po Re FADE pee tae Nad cae =