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74-546: 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 Trail crossed from the south side to the north side of the river. In 1847, during

148-544: A brief but furious heyday between 1830 and 1848 as a trade route linking Santa Fe, New Mexico and Los Angeles, California. The Trail left Santa Fe and split into two routes. The South or Main Branch headed northwest past Colorado's San Juan mountains to near Green River, Utah. The North Branch proceeded due north into Colorado's San Luis Valley and crossed west over Cochetepa Pass to follow the Gunnison and Colorado rivers to meet

222-496: A detachment of 14 men of Company I, 3rd U.S. Volunteer Infantry led by Capt. Adam Smith Leib, escorted by 1st Lt. Henry C. Bretney and six (some accounts say 10) troopers of Company G, 11th Ohio Volunteer Cavalry , arrived from Sweetwater Station en route to Fort Laramie for supplies and a long-overdue payroll. They found the station on 50% guard duty and molding bullets. Leib advised the station commander, Major Martin Anderson of

296-521: A drunken trooper during a skirmish, was not on good terms with Anderson. On his arrival at Platte Bridge on July 16, the Kansan had replaced Bretney as post commander and ordered Company G to relocate to Sweetwater Station, escorting the same wagon train now returning from there. In addition, the 11th Kansas Cavalry was due to march to Fort Kearney on or about August 1 to muster out of service. After reveille , all four of Anderson's officers declined to lead

370-403: A hollow where they held out for four hours, using fire from Spencer rifles to repel assaults until a large group closed on foot and overwhelmed the defenders, killing all. The wagons were burned at approximately 3:00 p.m. Corporal James A. Shrader and four troopers, sent as scouts by Custard to investigate the sound of the howitzer firing, were cut off and pursued by a hundred Cheyenne led by

444-542: A result of disease. The history of these trails and the settlers who traveled them have since become deeply embedded in the culture and folklore of the United States as some of the most significant influences to shape the content and character of the nation. The remains of many trail ruts can still be observed in various locations throughout the American West. Travelers may loosely follow various routes of

518-471: A small party of Indians showed themselves to the troops, the remainder of the Indians remaining concealed. By the afternoon of July 25, however, when a large raiding party had driven off a number of horses and forced the pursuing cavalry troopers to expend much ammunition, the station had permanent structures and a mountain howitzer of the 11th Ohio Cavalry covered the approaches to the bridge. Late that night

592-561: A unique part of this migration. Their move to the Valley of the Great Salt Lake was a response to their violent expulsion from Missouri and Illinois. As it was also motivated by a desire to maintain a religious and cultural identity it was necessary to find an isolated area where they could permanently settle and practice their religion in peace. The Southern Emigrant Trail was a major land route for immigration into California from

666-677: A vital role in the expansion of the U.S. into the lands it had acquired. The road route is commemorated today by the National Park Service as the Santa Fe National Historic Trail. A highway route that roughly follows the trail's path through the entire length of Kansas, the southeast corner of Colorado and northern New Mexico has been designated as the Santa Fe Trail National Scenic Byw. The Old Spanish Trail witnessed

740-662: Is now the Great Salt Lake in Utah. The Mormon Trail followed part of the Oregon Trail and then branched off at the fur trading post called Fort Bridger , founded by famed mountain man Jim Bridger . Heading south and following river valleys southwestward to the valley of the Great Salt Lake, Brigham Young led the first Mormons into present-day Utah during 1847. The Mormon Trail is 1,300 miles long and extends from Nauvoo, Illinois to Salt Lake City, Utah. The Mormon Trail

814-693: The 11th Kansas Cavalry , that he had earlier passed a small train of five empty mule-drawn wagons returning from Sweetwater to Laramie, 14 teamsters escorted by 11 enlisted men of the 11th Kansas. Knowing that the train was due to come in the next morning, the officers at the post discussed sending out a relief force to drive off the Cheyenne and Lakota warriors, so that the wagon train could come safely in. Leib and Bretney suggested an immediate march but Anderson decided to wait for daylight. Bretney, who had succeeded to command of Company G on February 13 when its captain, Levi M. Rinehart, had been accidentally killed by

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888-520: The 3rd US Infantry host a historical reenactment at the site. Emigrant Trail In the history of the American frontier , pioneers built overland trails throughout the 19th century, especially between 1840 and 1847 as an alternative to sea and railroad transport. These immigrants began to settle much of North America west of the Great Plains as part of the mass overland migrations of

962-585: The American Civil War . Most settlers traveled in large parties or "trains" of up to several hundred wagons led by a wagon master . In 1859 the government published a guidebook called The Prairie Traveler , in order to help emigrants prepare for the journey. When it was constructed it became a popular form of transportation between the territories. These trains were more comfortable than the long walks and wagon rides. Disadvantages included robberies from outlaws like Jesse James . The Santa Fe Trail

1036-627: The California Gold Rush enticed over 250,000 gold-seekers and farmers to travel overland the gold fields and rich farmlands of California during the 1840s and 1850s. Today, over 1,000 miles of trail ruts and traces can still be seen in the vast undeveloped lands between Casper, Wyoming, and the West Coast. The Mormon Trail was created by members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , called "Mormons," who settled in what

1110-775: The Donation Land Claim Act and significant events like the California Gold Rush further encouraged settlers to travel overland to the west. Two major wagon-based transportation networks, one typically starting in Missouri and the other in the Mexican province of Santa Fe de Nuevo México , served the majority of settlers during the era of westward expansion. Three of the Missouri-based routes—the Oregon, California, and Mormon Trails—were collectively known as

1184-794: The El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro the Southern Emigrant Trail route in 1849 ran westward from the El Camino Real to San Diego Crossing . After 1855, it ran from Mesilla, New Mexico , westward to Tucson, Arizona , then followed the Gila River to ferries on the Colorado River near what became Fort Yuma . It crossed the Colorado Desert to Vallecito , then up to Warner's Ranch . From Warner's

1258-588: The Emigrant Trails . Historians have estimated at least 500,000 emigrants used these three trails between 1843 and 1869, and despite growing competition from transcontinental railroads , some use even continued into the early 20th century. The major southern routes were the Santa Fe , Southern Emigrant , and Old Spanish Trails , as well as its wagon road successor the Mormon Road , a southern spur of

1332-618: The Missouri River , pioneers following any of the three trails typically left from one of three "jumping off" points on the Missouri's steamboat serviced river ports : Independence, Missouri , Saint Joseph, Missouri , or Council Bluffs , Iowa. (Once known as Kanesville, Iowa until 1852; after river dredging in the early 1850s, the latter town at the Missouri-Platte confluence became the most common departure point since it

1406-787: The Oregon Country . The main route of the Oregon Trail stopped at the Hudson's Bay Company Fort Hall , a major resupply route along the trail near present-day Pocatello and where the California Trail split off to the south. Then the Oregon Trail crossed the Snake River Plain of present-day southern Idaho and the Blue Mountains of northeastern Oregon before reaching the Willamette Valley . It

1480-487: The Southern Route , of the California Trail, remained a minor migration route and in the early 1850s a mail route. After some alterations of the route between Cajon Pass and the border of California and in southern Utah, in 1855, it became a significant seasonal trade route between California and Utah, until 1869, when the transcontinental railroad ended Utah's winter isolation. Up to 50,000 people, or one-tenth of

1554-712: The Spanish Empire . From Santa Fe, American traders followed the old El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro southward to Chihuahua by way of El Paso del Norte . The Old Spanish Trail from Santa Fe , in Mexican New Mexico Territory to Los Angeles , in Mexican Alta California , developed in 1829–1830 to support the trade of New Mexican wool products for California horses and mules and carried parties of fur traders and emigrants from New Mexico to Southern California . Following

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1628-560: The Battle of Red Buttes, although that location was ten miles further to the west. Army fatalities in both actions numbered 27 men of the 11th Kansas Cavalry and Lt. Collins, with at least ten seriously wounded. Historian Robert Utley placed combined Indian casualties in all the July forays around Platte Bridge Station as 60 killed and 130 wounded. The Army officially renamed the post Fort Caspar to honor Collins, using his given name to differentiate

1702-469: The California Trail used in the winter that also made use of the western half of the Old Spanish Trail. Regardless of the trail used, the journey was often slow and arduous, fraught with risks from dysentry , infectious diseases , dehydration , malnutrition , cholera , highwaymen , Indian attacks, injury, and harsh weather, with as many as one in ten travelers dying along the way, usually as

1776-539: The Oregon Country between Great Britain and the United States, mostly along the 49th parallel. The Territory of Oregon was established shortly afterward, in 1848, and over 12,000 American settlers made the journey there during the decade. Families usually began their journey at Independence, Missouri, near the Missouri River with the best time to travel is from April to September. The journey to cross

1850-469: The Oregon Trail along the way in 40 years. American settlers began following the trail in 1841, with the first recorded settler wagon traingroup being the 1843 "Great Migration" of about 900 settlers, led in part by Marcus Whitman . The Provisional Government of Oregon was established by such settlers in 1843, generally limited to the Willamette Valley. The Oregon Treaty of 1846 divided

1924-710: The Santa Fe Trail or on the San Antonio-El Paso Road developed in 1849, across West Texas to El Paso where it followed the El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro north to link up to the Cooke's Wagon Road/Southern Emigrant Trail at the cutoff through the San Diego Crossing . In 1856, as part of an improvement of the route as a military road, a cutoff was built to Cooke's Spring from Mesilla , (part of Mexico until 1853). From Cooke's Spring

1998-539: The Southern Branch near Green River. From central Utah the trail trended southwest to an area now shared by Utah, Nevada and Arizona. It crossed southern Nevada and passed through the Mojave Desert to San Gabriel Mission and Los Angeles. The Oregon Trail, the longest of the overland routes used in the westward expansion of the United States, was first traced by settlers and fur traders for traveling to

2072-515: The Utah Territory, and finally the State of Utah. The Mormon settlers shared similar experiences with others traveling west: the drudgery of walking hundreds of miles, suffocating dust, violent thunderstorms, mud, temperature extremes, bad water, poor forage, sickness, attacks from indians, and death. They recorded their experiences in journals, diaries, and letters. The Mormons, however, were

2146-409: The bridge on foot as a support force for Collins, forming a skirmish line when they observed several hundred Cheyenne emerge from the sand hills and gulleys between themselves and Collins. The Indians had concealed large bands of warriors near the bridge and over the crest of the hills, possibly as many as a thousand Lakota, Cheyenne and Arapaho. Collins wheeled his detachment into two lines and charged

2220-431: The brother of Roman Nose, Left Hand, who was killed in the running fight. Eventually Shrader and two men made their way on foot into the station. Two Shoshone scouts were paid to take a message requesting reinforcements to the next telegraph station east, but the attacking force broke up before relief arrived. The battle became known as the Battle of Platte Bridge Station. The battle of the wagon train also became known as

2294-564: The day in order to find a good campsite ahead of the crowd. Others spoke of the need to wear masks for protection against the dust kicked up by the heavy traffic. The main route of the California Trail branched from the Oregon Trail west of Fort Hall, as immigrants went on forward going southwestward into present-day Nevada , then down along the Humboldt River to the Sierra Nevada . The California Trail came into heavy use after

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2368-473: The eastern United States that followed the Santa Fe Trail to New Mexico during the California Gold Rush . Unlike the more northern routes, pioneer wagons could travel this route year-round, as the mountain passes were not blocked by snows. But, the trail had the disadvantage of high summer heat and lack of water in the desert regions of New Mexico Territory and the Colorado Desert of California. It

2442-610: The emigrant trails on modern highways through the use of byway signs across the western states. Pioneers across what became the Western United States in the 19th century had the choice of several routes. Some of the earliest were those of the Mexicans in the southwest. American trade with Northern Mexico created the Santa Fe Trail between St. Louis and Santa Fe following an 18th-century route pioneered by

2516-440: The emigrants who attempted the crossing continent, died during the trip, most from infectious disease such as cholera , spread by poor sanitation: with thousands traveling along or near the same watercourses each summer, downstream travelers were susceptible to ingesting upstream wastewater including bodily waste. Hostile confrontations with Native Americans , although often feared by the settlers, were comparatively rare, prior to

2590-480: The entire Oregon Trail in a covered wagon took from four to six months, following a winding trail 2,000 miles (3,200 km) through prairies, deserts, and across mountains to the Pacific Northwest . The journey was a severe test of strength and endurance so travelers often joined wagon trains traveling about 12–15 miles (19–24 km) per day. Settlers often had to cross flooded rivers. Indians attacked

2664-506: 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

2738-444: 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 canoes 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

2812-458: The first group to emerge, only to find himself heavily outnumbered. He then ordered a retreat to the bridge through the Cheyenne to his rear as yet another force, this of Lakota, attempted to rush the bridge. The skirmish line at the bridge held the Lakota at bay with volley fire until 20 of the 26 troopers, all wounded to some extent, fought their way through. Five were killed, including Collins, who

2886-467: The full widths of Nebraska and Wyoming , and crossed the continental divide south of the Wind River Range through South Pass in southwestern Wyoming. The most common vehicle for Oregon and California-bound pioneers was a covered wagon pulled by a team of oxen or mules (which were greatly preferred for their endurance and strength over horses ) in the dry semi-arid terrain common to

2960-645: The goldfields. With the passes of the Sierras and the Rocky Mountains blocked in winter, another winter route, the Mormon Road between Salt Lake City and Los Angeles was developed by a Mormon expedition from their new settlements at and around Salt Lake City, and by some Mormon Battalion soldiers returning to Utah in 1847–1848. The first significant use of the route was by parties of Forty-Niners late in 1849, and by some Mormon trains, to avoid crossing

3034-403: The high plains in the heat of summer. This heat could cause the wagons to catch on fire. People would form groups of wagons known as wagon trains. In later years, following the advice of Brigham Young, many Mormon emigrants made the crossing to Utah with handcarts . For all pioneers, the scarcity of potable water and fuel for fires was a common brutal challenge on the trip, which was exacerbated by

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3108-530: The mid-19th century. Settlers emigrating from the eastern United States did so with various motives, among them religious persecution and economic incentives, to move from their homes to destinations further west via routes such as the Oregon , California , and Mormon Trails . After the end of the Mexican–American War in 1849, vast new American conquests again encouraged mass immigration. Legislation like

3182-636: 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 used the buildings at Platte Bridge station while building and occupying Ft. Caspar. Guinard, a naturalized U.S. citizen, born in Quebec around 1820 or 1821 had hired his nephew of

3256-645: The northwestern corner of Comancheria, the territory of the Comanche, who demanded compensation for granting passage to the trail, and represented another market for American traders. Comanche raiding farther south in Mexico isolated New Mexico, making it more dependent on the American trade, and provided the Comanche with a steady supply of horses for sale. By the 1840s, trail traffic along the Arkansas Valley

3330-510: The post from an existing fort in Colorado named after Collins' father . The fort was abandoned two years later in August 1867, with the garrison moved to Fort Fetterman 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

3404-452: 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

3478-436: The post's defenses to Leib, who had the garrison throw up an embrasure and dig rifle pits to protect the howitzer at the south end of the bridge. During the morning the attacking force destroyed a thousand feet of telegraph wire on the line to Fort Laramie before Anderson thought to request reinforcements, then drove off the detail sent to repair it, killing another trooper. The wagon train, commanded by Sergeant Amos J. Custard,

3552-487: 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 and destroy the 1,000-foot-long (300 m) bridge. They had previously scouted the area and selected it because the soldiers there were not in the small trading post stockade of 14-foot pine logs but camped in tents. Initially only

3626-479: The relief force and some placed themselves on the sick list to avoid the duty. 20-year-old 2nd Lt. Caspar W. Collins of Company G 11th Ohio Volunteer Cavalry, en route back to his company farther west from a remount detail at Fort Laramie, had arrived the afternoon before with the mail ambulance and was ordered by Anderson to lead the relief. Bretney had no authority to countermand the order but advised Collins to refuse it. Instead Collins borrowed Bretney's pistols and

3700-656: The road ran to the Yuma Crossing into California and on to Los Angeles . This route became the Southern Emigrant Trail . From Los Angeles the goldfields could be reached by land over the two routes north, the old El Camino Viejo or by what became the Stockton – Los Angeles Road . During the Gold Rush era it was these routes by which many herds of sheep and cattle were driven to California and

3774-700: The road split to run either northwest to Los Angeles or west southwest to San Diego . From either of these towns, the traveler could continue north by land to the goldfields on the coast, via the El Camino Real , or over the Tejon Pass into the San Joaquin Valley by what would become the Stockton – Los Angeles Road or El Camino Viejo . Alternatively, they could take ships to San Francisco from San Diego or San Pedro . Galvanized Yankees Too Many Requests If you report this error to

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3848-720: The road west, the Mormon Pioneer Trail. The trail started in Nauvoo, Illinois, traveled across Iowa, connected with the Great Platte River Road at the Missouri River, and ended near the Great Salt Lake in Utah. Generally following pre-existing routes, the trail carried tens of thousands of Mormons to a new home and refuge in the Great Basin. From their labors arose the State of Deseret , later to become

3922-476: The same name - Louis P. Guinard, also born in Quebec in 1840 - to come and help build this bridge. Louis P. came and worked for his uncle about three years, becoming a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1863. He worked on the actual building of the bridge as well as keeping his uncle's financial records. Louis Guinard the uncle, fell from the bridge on June 6, 1865 and drowned, leaving the property to his nephew Louis P. Guinard, who took possession on July 15 of 1865. The will

3996-602: The short amount of time needed to reach the Pacific Coast . Rumors about how the sun always shone there and wheat grew as tall as a man attracted American settlers. The journey to the west was pleasant, but there were dangers and challenges along the route. There were diseases: cholera, measles, smallpox, and dysentery. Children were crushed under the covered wagon wheels, people drowned in rivers, were lost, starved, killed by Native Americans (very few settlers), froze to death, trampled by buffalo, or shot by accident. With these accidents, many settlers died. About 20,000 to 30,000 died on

4070-448: 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 to 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

4144-446: The snow bound Sierra Nevada Mountains by linking up with the Old Spanish Trail in southern Utah and closely following it, with alterations to the route of the mule trails only to allow wagons to traverse it for the first time. Soon afterward it was the route Mormon settlers followed to southwestern Utah, a mission in Las Vegas and a settlement in San Bernardino, California . This wagon route, also called by some of its early travelers

4218-409: The south was the Mormon Trail from Nauvoo , Illinois to Salt Lake City , Utah Territory . During the twenty-five years 1841–1866, 250,000 to 650,000 people "pulled up stakes," and headed west along these trails. About one-third immigrated to Oregon, one-third to California and one-third to Utah, Colorado, and Montana. Although it is often stated that the Northern trails began in certain cities on

4292-448: The station. At 7:00 a.m. a larger force forded the river east of the station and rode just out of rifle range, taunting the garrison. Collins and a small detachment of 25 men of the 11th Kansas crossed the Platte Bridge at a walk, then formed into a column of fours and rode west along the north bank at a trot to drive off any hostile Indians. Behind him, the contingent of the 3rd U.S.V.I. and its 11th Ohio Volunteer Cavalry escort crossed

4366-423: The time to get it probated or secured in a bank. He later filed claim to be compensated for Indian depredations but Major Bullock told him the will was lost or destroyed. Unable to produce the will, the case dragged on in the courts for more than 25 years before it was finally abandoned and Guinard was never compensated for his losses. In July 1865, accompanied by survivors of the Sand Creek Massacre which occurred

4440-496: The trails pioneered by fur traders, the Oregon Trail from Independence , Missouri to the Oregon Territory developed crossing the central Great Plains , Rocky Mountains and northern Great Basin . People followed this trail to take advantage of the fertile land the government gave out. Branching off from that route, some pioneers traveled southwestward on the California Trail from Fort Hall , Oregon Territory to Sutters Fort , in Mexican Alta California. Also branching off to

4514-518: The wagon trains; however, of the 10,000 deaths that occurred from 1835 to 1855, only 4 percent resulted from Indian attacks. Cholera, smallpox, and firearms accidents were the chief causes of death on the trail. Food, water, and wood were always scarce, and the settlers often encountered contaminated water holes. During summer, the trail was crowded with wagon trains, army units, missionaries, hunting parties, traders, and even sightseeing tours. Some settlers complained that they sometimes had to start early in

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4588-413: The wide ranging temperature changes common to the mountain highlands and high plains where a daylight reading in the eighties or nineties can drop precipitously to a frigid seeming nighttime temperature in the low 40s. In many treeless areas, buffalo chips were the most common source of fuel. During the Mexican–American War , the wagon to California road known as Cooke's Wagon Road , or Sonora Road ,

4662-427: Was a 19th-century transportation route through central North America that connected Independence, Missouri with Santa Fe, New Mexico. Pioneered in 1821 by William Becknell, it served as a vital commercial highway until the introduction of the railroad to Santa Fe in 1880. Santa Fe was near the end of the El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro which carried trade from Mexico City. The route skirted the northern edge and crossed

4736-403: Was attacked approximately five miles to the west, within sight of the station, at around 11:00 a.m. According to the Indians the battle lasted about half an hour with one person escaping, a teamster, 22 troopers killed along with 8 Indian warriors. Many Indian warriors were wounded. The Indians, as was their custom, took no prisoners. However Army accounts state that the wagons were forced into

4810-488: Was built across Nuevo Mexico , Sonora and Alta California from Santa Fe, New Mexico to San Diego . It crossed what was then the northernmost part of Mexico. During the California Gold Rush the routes to California used were increased by the Siskiyou Trail from Oregon. In the south, the forty-niners used the Cooke Wagon Road, until some found a short cut, the Tucson Cutoff . This route, not closed to travel in winter, permitted travelers coming to New Mexico Territory on

4884-432: Was close in proximity to the River Platte—along which the eastern trails ascend to South Pass above Fort Laramie. ) The trails from these cities (and several others) converged in the mostly empty flatlands of central Nebraska near present-day Kearney , in the vicinity of Fort Kearney . From their confluence there the combined trails followed in succession the Platte , North Platte , and Sweetwater rivers westward across

4958-443: Was discovered in 1866 and Louis P Guinard stated that he was advised by Major Bullock, sutler at Ft. Laramie, that the will left him as sole owner of the property and that he should remain and hold possession of it. The U.S. troops occupied Guinard's buildings for three years during the Civil War. Louis P. Guinard stated that one of the officers promised him $ 1000 for use of the said buildings but he never received any payment. The bridge

5032-409: Was given a mount from the regimental band. 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. At dawn numerous Indians were observed by sentinels on the surrounding hills observing

5106-444: Was later destroyed by Indians when the troops left in 1865, and with hundreds of Indians appearing on the opposite bank of the river, Guinard felt he had no choice but to leave for the protection of himself and his family. They had gone no more than 4 or 5 miles before he could tell from the smoke columns that the Indians were burning everything. Guinard had left his will in the safekeeping of Major Bullock at Ft. Laramie, having no way at

5180-440: Was so heavy that bison herds could not reach important seasonal grazing land, contributing to their collapse which in turn hastened the decline of Comanche power in the region. The trail was used as the 1846 U.S. invasion route of New Mexico during the Mexican–American War. After the U.S. acquisition of the Southwest ending the Mexican–American War, the trail helped open the region to U.S. economic development and settlement, playing

5254-413: Was the only practical way for settlers in wagons without tools, livestock, or supplies to cross the mountains and usually thought critical to the settlement of the American West. Some of the first to travel the Oregon Trail were Christian missionaries, members of the Methodist Episcopal Church who established the Methodist Mission in 1834. Even though they didn't make many converts, they were impressed by

5328-558: Was used anyway as a route of travel and commerce between the eastern United States and California. In addition, ranchers drove many herds of cattle and sheep along this route to new markets. The San Antonio–San Diego Mail Line , operating in 1857–1858, largely followed this route, as did the Butterfield Overland Mail from 1858–1861. Tied in with the Santa Fe Trail and the San Antonio–El Paso Road , by

5402-576: Was used for more than 20 years after the Mormons used it and has been reserved for sightseeing. The initial movement of the Mormons from Nauvoo, Illinois to the Valley of the Great Salt Lake occurred in two segments: one in 1846 and one in 1847. The first segment, across Iowa to the Missouri River, covered around 265 miles. The second segment, from the Missouri River to the Valley of the Great Salt Lake, covered about 1,032 miles. From 1846 to 1869, more than 4,600 Mormons died traveling along an integral part of

5476-504: Was wounded in the hip and shot in the forehead with an arrow while trying to aid a wounded soldier. The battle lasted only a few minutes, with Bent claiming that the Lakota and Cheyenne suffered only a few casualties. Bretney in a rage returned to the stockade and accused the Kansas officers of cowardice when Anderson refused to allow a larger force and the howitzer to attempt another relief. Anderson placed Bretney under arrest and turned over

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