Fort Caspar
Encyclopedia
Fort Caspar was a military post of the United States Army
in present-day Wyoming
, named after 2nd Lieutenant Caspar Collins, a U.S. Army officer who was killed in the 1865 Battle of the Platte Bridge Station against the Lakota and Cheyenne. Originally founded in 1859 along the banks of the North Platte River
as a trading post and toll bridge on the Oregon Trail
, the post was later taken over by the Army and named Platte Bridge Station to protect emigrants and the telegraph line against raids from Lakota and Cheyenne
in the ongoing wars between those nations and the United States. The site of the fort, near the intersection of 13th Street and Wyoming Boulevard
in Casper, Wyoming
, is listed in the National Register of Historic Places
and is now owned and operated by the City of Casper as the Fort Caspar Museum and Historic Site.
crossed from the south side to the north side of the river. In 1847, during the first Mormon
wagon train to present-day Utah
, Brigham Young
commissioned a ferry
at the site for later emigrants. The ferry consisted of cottonwood dugout canoe
s and planking for a deck, with two oars and a rudder. On June 19, Young named nine men to remain to operate the ferry while the remainder of the party continued the journey westward. A group of Mormons returned to the site each summer between 1847 and 1852 to operate the ferry. The ferry was moved to a different spot on the North Platte in North Casper in 1849. It was eventually replaced with a rope-and-pulley system that could make the crossing in five minutes.
In following years, trader John Baptiste Richard established a trading post several miles downriver of the crossing. The U.S. Army established its first presence in the area in 1855, erecting Fort Clay near Richard's trading post. In 1859, when the site was part of the Nebraska Territory
, Louis Guinard built a competing bridge at the trading post, called the Platte Bridge Station, at the site of the old Mormon Ferry crossing. From 1860–1861, the Pony Express
operated a station at the site.
By the middle 1860s, the increasing presence of emigrants and other white settlers in the region began to cause friction with the Lakota and Cheyenne
. In response, and partly to protect the new telegraph line, the Army began increasing its presence in the region in 1861 by sending a detachment to guard Guinard's bridge. Many of these troops, who created a series of "stations" along the Oregon trail, were from various state units raised during the Civil War. In 1862 the Army purchased the Guinard's Platte Bridge station.
which occurred the previous November as part of the Colorado War
, a party of several thousand Cheyenne and Sioux approached Platte Bridge Station from the north intending to attack the soldiers camped there. They had previously scouted the area and selected it because the soldiers camped there were not in a fort but camped in tents on the south side of the river. Initially only a small party of Indians showed themselves to the troops, the remainder of the Indians remaining concealed. Knowing that an eastern bound Army wagon train was due to come in, the officers of the post discussed attempting to relieve the post and drive off the Cheyenne and Sioux warriors, so that the wagon train could come safely in. Lieutenant Caspar Collins of the 11th Ohio Cavalry volunteered to lead the effort, with the troops involved in it being from the 11th Ohio Cavalry and 11th Kansas Cavalry
. Among those leading the Indian warriors were Red Cloud
and the famed warrior Roman Nose
. George Bent
, the half Cheyenne son of William Bent
who survived the Sand Creek Massacre, participated in the battle as a Cheyenne warrior, and later wrote about it in his letters.
On the first day the Indians were unsuccessful in luring the troops into an ambush. On the second day Collins and his small troop crossed north over the Platte Bridge to attack a party of hostile Indians who had approached the north side of the bridge. The Indians had shown a few warriors in order to lure the soldiers into an ambush while concealing large bands of warriors near the bridge and over the crest of the hills. When Collins followed the small party of visible Indians into the hills he encountered a large force of Indians but when he attempted to flee to the bridge found his retreat cut off by another large party of warriors. Collins, shot in the forehead with an arrow, was killed during the battle, as were many of his troops, their bodies and those of their dead horses laying along the road for the space of a mile. The battle lasted only a few minutes with the Sioux and Cheyenne suffering only a few casualties. However, they were prevented from crossing Platte Bridge into the Army camp due it being guarded on the south side by a mountain howitzer. The battle became known as the Battle of Platte Bridge Station. The Army officially renamed the post Fort Caspar to honor Collins, using his first name of Caspar since an existing post in Colorado
was already called Fort Collins
, after Collins' father. In response to the attacks, the Army established a permanent garrison of 100 troops at the site.
The wagon train itself (Companies D & H, 11th Kansas Cavalry), commanded by Sergeant Amos J. Custard (Company H), was attacked the same day, the soldiers being transported being completely overrun with only a few survivors. The soldiers were in wagons, without horses, being on their way east. According to the Indians the battle lasted about half an hour with one person escaping, a teamster, 22 troopers killed and 8 Indian warriors. Many Indian warriors were wounded. The Indians, as was their custom, took no prisoners. That battle became known as the Battle of Red Buttes.
at Douglas, Wyoming
.
Fort Caspar was partially reconstructed in 1936 using sketches made by Lieutenant Collins in 1863. The fort itself underwent a lot of changes during its occupation, and the current recreation reflects the post in 1863-1865. The City of Casper now operates a museum at the site, which features reconstructed log buildings, including a wooden stockade
. The site also includes a replica of the Mormon ferry that was operated there between 1847 and 1849, as well as a model of part of the bridge that later replaced the ferry. In early December members of a living history group portraying a company of the 3rd US Infantry host a historical reenactment at the site.
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
in present-day Wyoming
Wyoming
Wyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...
, named after 2nd Lieutenant Caspar Collins, a U.S. Army officer who was killed in the 1865 Battle of the Platte Bridge Station against the Lakota and Cheyenne. Originally founded in 1859 along the banks of the North Platte River
North Platte River
The North Platte River is a major tributary of the Platte River and is approximately long counting its many curves, It travels about distance. Its course lies in the U.S...
as a trading post and toll bridge on the Oregon Trail
Oregon Trail
The Oregon Trail is a historic east-west wagon route that connected the Missouri River to valleys in Oregon and locations in between.After 1840 steam-powered riverboats and steamboats traversing up and down the Ohio, Mississippi and Missouri rivers sped settlement and development in the flat...
, the post was later taken over by the Army and named Platte Bridge Station to protect emigrants and the telegraph line against raids from Lakota and Cheyenne
Cheyenne
Cheyenne are a Native American people of the Great Plains, who are of the Algonquian language family. The Cheyenne Nation is composed of two united tribes, the Só'taeo'o and the Tsétsêhéstâhese .The Cheyenne are thought to have branched off other tribes of Algonquian stock inhabiting lands...
in the ongoing wars between those nations and the United States. The site of the fort, near the intersection of 13th Street and Wyoming Boulevard
Wyoming Highway 258
Wyoming Highway 258 is a state highway in Wyoming, known as Wyoming Boulevard or as the Casper Beltline, and acts as a two-lane beltway around the western, southern, and eastern sides of the City of Casper...
in Casper, Wyoming
Casper, Wyoming
Casper is the county seat of Natrona County, Wyoming, United States.. Casper is the second-largest city in Wyoming , according to the 2010 census, with a population of 55,316...
, is listed in the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
and is now owned and operated by the City of Casper as the Fort Caspar Museum and Historic Site.
History
The area where Platte Bridge Station was located had been the site of various temporary Army encampments over a period of years before the establishment of the fort, or "station" itself. The fort was located on the south side of the North Platte, near the western edge of present-day Casper, at one several local points where the Emigrant TrailEmigrant Trail
The Emigrant Trails were the northern networks of overland wagon trails throughout the American West, used by emigrants from the eastern United States to settle lands west of the Interior Plains during the overland migrations of the mid-19th century...
crossed from the south side to the north side of the river. In 1847, during the first Mormon
Mormon
The term Mormon most commonly denotes an adherent, practitioner, follower, or constituent of Mormonism, which is the largest branch of the Latter Day Saint movement in restorationist Christianity...
wagon train to present-day Utah
Utah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
, Brigham Young
Brigham Young
Brigham Young was an American leader in the Latter Day Saint movement and a settler of the Western United States. He was the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1847 until his death in 1877, he founded Salt Lake City, and he served as the first governor of the Utah...
commissioned a ferry
Ferry
A ferry is a form of transportation, usually a boat, but sometimes a ship, used to carry primarily passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo as well, across a body of water. Most ferries operate on regular, frequent, return services...
at the site for later emigrants. The ferry consisted of cottonwood dugout canoe
Canoe
A canoe or Canadian canoe is a small narrow boat, typically human-powered, though it may also be powered by sails or small electric or gas motors. Canoes are usually pointed at both bow and stern and are normally open on top, but can be decked over A canoe (North American English) or Canadian...
s and planking for a deck, with two oars and a rudder. On June 19, Young named nine men to remain to operate the ferry while the remainder of the party continued the journey westward. A group of Mormons returned to the site each summer between 1847 and 1852 to operate the ferry. The ferry was moved to a different spot on the North Platte in North Casper in 1849. It was eventually replaced with a rope-and-pulley system that could make the crossing in five minutes.
In following years, trader John Baptiste Richard established a trading post several miles downriver of the crossing. The U.S. Army established its first presence in the area in 1855, erecting Fort Clay near Richard's trading post. In 1859, when the site was part of the Nebraska Territory
Nebraska Territory
The Territory of Nebraska was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 30, 1854, until March 1, 1867, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Nebraska. The Nebraska Territory was created by the Kansas–Nebraska Act of 1854...
, Louis Guinard built a competing bridge at the trading post, called the Platte Bridge Station, at the site of the old Mormon Ferry crossing. From 1860–1861, the Pony Express
Pony Express
The Pony Express was a fast mail service crossing the Great Plains, the Rocky Mountains, and the High Sierra from St. Joseph, Missouri, to Sacramento, California, from April 3, 1860 to October 1861...
operated a station at the site.
By the middle 1860s, the increasing presence of emigrants and other white settlers in the region began to cause friction with the Lakota and Cheyenne
Cheyenne
Cheyenne are a Native American people of the Great Plains, who are of the Algonquian language family. The Cheyenne Nation is composed of two united tribes, the Só'taeo'o and the Tsétsêhéstâhese .The Cheyenne are thought to have branched off other tribes of Algonquian stock inhabiting lands...
. In response, and partly to protect the new telegraph line, the Army began increasing its presence in the region in 1861 by sending a detachment to guard Guinard's bridge. Many of these troops, who created a series of "stations" along the Oregon trail, were from various state units raised during the Civil War. In 1862 the Army purchased the Guinard's Platte Bridge station.
Battle of the Platte Bridge Station
In July 1865, accompanied by survivors of the Sand Creek MassacreSand Creek Massacre
As conflict between Indians and white settlers and soldiers in Colorado continued, many of the Cheyenne and Arapaho, including bands under Cheyenne chiefs Black Kettle and White Antelope, were resigned to negotiate peace. The chiefs had sought to maintain peace in spite of pressures from whites...
which occurred the previous November as part of the Colorado War
Colorado War
The Colorado War was fought from 1863 to 1865 and was an Indian War between the Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes, against white settlers and militia in the Colorado Territory and adjacent regions...
, a party of several thousand Cheyenne and Sioux approached Platte Bridge Station from the north intending to attack the soldiers camped there. They had previously scouted the area and selected it because the soldiers camped there were not in a fort but camped in tents on the south side of the river. Initially only a small party of Indians showed themselves to the troops, the remainder of the Indians remaining concealed. Knowing that an eastern bound Army wagon train was due to come in, the officers of the post discussed attempting to relieve the post and drive off the Cheyenne and Sioux warriors, so that the wagon train could come safely in. Lieutenant Caspar Collins of the 11th Ohio Cavalry volunteered to lead the effort, with the troops involved in it being from the 11th Ohio Cavalry and 11th Kansas Cavalry
11th Regiment Kansas Volunteer Cavalry
The 11th Kansas Volunteer Cavalry Regiment was a cavalry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War.-Service:The 11th Kansas Cavalry was organized at Kansas City, Kansas in late April 1863 from the 11th Kansas Infantry, which ceased to exist...
. Among those leading the Indian warriors were Red Cloud
Red Cloud
Red Cloud , was a war leader and the head Chief of the Oglala Lakota . His reign was from 1868 to 1909...
and the famed warrior Roman Nose
Roman Nose
Roman Nose, a.k.a. Hook Nose , was a Native American of the Northern Cheyenne, and possibly the greatest and most influential warrior during the Plains Indian War of the 1860s...
. George Bent
George Bent
George Bent was the mixed-race son of the fur trader William Bent, the founder of the trading post named Bent's Fort; and Owl Woman, a Cheyenne. Born near present-day La Junta, Colorado, Bent served as a Confederate soldier during the American Civil War and a Cheyenne warrior...
, the half Cheyenne son of William Bent
William Bent
William Wells Bent was a frontier trapper, trader, and rancher in the American West who mediated among the Cheyenne Nation, other Native American tribes and the expanding United States. With his brothers, Bent established a trade business along the Santa Fe Trail. In the early 1830s Bent built an...
who survived the Sand Creek Massacre, participated in the battle as a Cheyenne warrior, and later wrote about it in his letters.
On the first day the Indians were unsuccessful in luring the troops into an ambush. On the second day Collins and his small troop crossed north over the Platte Bridge to attack a party of hostile Indians who had approached the north side of the bridge. The Indians had shown a few warriors in order to lure the soldiers into an ambush while concealing large bands of warriors near the bridge and over the crest of the hills. When Collins followed the small party of visible Indians into the hills he encountered a large force of Indians but when he attempted to flee to the bridge found his retreat cut off by another large party of warriors. Collins, shot in the forehead with an arrow, was killed during the battle, as were many of his troops, their bodies and those of their dead horses laying along the road for the space of a mile. The battle lasted only a few minutes with the Sioux and Cheyenne suffering only a few casualties. However, they were prevented from crossing Platte Bridge into the Army camp due it being guarded on the south side by a mountain howitzer. The battle became known as the Battle of Platte Bridge Station. The Army officially renamed the post Fort Caspar to honor Collins, using his first name of Caspar since an existing post in Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
was already called Fort Collins
Fort Collins, Colorado
Fort Collins is a Home Rule Municipality situated on the Cache La Poudre River along the Colorado Front Range, and is the county seat and most populous city of Larimer County, Colorado, United States. Fort Collins is located north of the Colorado State Capitol in Denver. With a 2010 census...
, after Collins' father. In response to the attacks, the Army established a permanent garrison of 100 troops at the site.
The wagon train itself (Companies D & H, 11th Kansas Cavalry), commanded by Sergeant Amos J. Custard (Company H), was attacked the same day, the soldiers being transported being completely overrun with only a few survivors. The soldiers were in wagons, without horses, being on their way east. According to the Indians the battle lasted about half an hour with one person escaping, a teamster, 22 troopers killed and 8 Indian warriors. Many Indian warriors were wounded. The Indians, as was their custom, took no prisoners. That battle became known as the Battle of Red Buttes.
Abandonment
The fort was abandoned two years later in August 1867, with the garrison moved to Fort FettermanFort Fetterman
Fort Fetterman was a wooden fort constructed in 1867 by the United States Army on the Great Plains frontier in the Dakota Territory approximately 11 miles northwest of present-day Douglas, Wyoming. It was located high on the bluffs on the south side of the North Platte River...
at Douglas, Wyoming
Douglas, Wyoming
Douglas is a city in Converse County, Wyoming, United States. The population was 5,288 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Converse County...
.
Restoration/Museum
Stockade
A stockade is an enclosure of palisades and tall walls made of logs placed side by side vertically with the tops sharpened to provide security.-Stockade as a security fence:...
. The site also includes a replica of the Mormon ferry that was operated there between 1847 and 1849, as well as a model of part of the bridge that later replaced the ferry. In early December members of a living history group portraying a company of the 3rd US Infantry host a historical reenactment at the site.
External links
- Official site
- Fort Caspar at the Wyoming State Historic Preservation Office