Leaving Ft. Bridger, I now travel to the site of my grandmother Newcombe's birth in 1883.

 

The California Trail

The main California Trail route from Ft. Bridger would take the traveler northwest to Ft. Hall in Idaho. From there, one would go through City of Rocks to follow the Humboldt River to western Nevada near Pyramid Lake.

I took the Salt Lake Cutoff route. Modern highway I-80 allowed me to join the cutoff north of Salt Lake City and just south of Ogden. I-84 now follows the cutoff path around the northeast part of Great Salt Lake and into Idaho.

1869 - Promontary Point - the Golden Spike

I left I-84 just before entering Idaho to follow a path that was important in 1869, the path of the first transcontinental railroad to Promontary Summit, UT, where the Golden Spike ceremony joined the Central Pacific and Union Pacific Railroads.

 

Today, Utah highway 30 lies just north of the original Central Pacific route to the Nevada border.

Park Valley, UT - City of Rocks, ID, on the California Trail is at the upper left

I stopped for the night near a wide spot in the road called Park Valley where a rancher and his wife rolled out the welcome mat and even treated me to a barbeque party with neighboring ranchers.

How did I know them?

It turns out the rancher's wife is a family history researcher for the area. She had noticed on my family tree website that I had several Rowse and Gross family connections in the area. She contacted me by email, and asked if I could clarify the relationship of a grave marker she had located with the Rowse name on it.

We determined that the party was a cousin of my grandmother, born the same year (1883). He died as an infant. When I told her that my grandmother had been born in Terrace, now a ghost town, she said that she was familiar with the area as they rounded up stray cattle there from time to time. She then said she and her husband could guide me there if I was ever in the area. I showed up on their doorstep in July of 2012.

The Gross and Rowse families

Elizabeth Ann Rosevear Grose is my great-grandmother. Census records indicate that she emigrated from Cornwall, England to Utah with her parents in 1871. She was 10 years old at the time.

But wait, she was later married in Cornwall ???

My records showed that she married Jonathan Rowse in 1880, in Cornwall. It took some digging to find out that her mother had died in Utah in 1878. Thomasine Rosevear Grose was buried in the nearby Kelton, UT graveyard next to her brother John.

 

 After his wife's death, Joseph Gross packed up the family and returned to Cornwall where Elizabeth then met and married Jonathan Rowse. The couple emigrated, Elizabeth for the second time, in 1880. Both had family members already in the area.

Jonathan worked for the railroad in the maintenance shops at Terrace. The couple had two daughters, Charlotte, born in 1881, and Mary (my grandmother) born in 1883.

The trip to Terrace Cemetery

 

My gracious rancher hosts guided me to Terrace, about 36 miles from their ranch. We left at 6:00 AM on a Friday morning and soon I was walking the site. By 8:30 AM we were back at the main road and my hosts left me to go to Salt Lake City for weekend activities. I am forever indebted to them for their hospitality and their help. I never would have found Terrace without them.

Dave and Jeanne Morris at Terrace, UT Cemetery

 Evidence of the railroad's turntable, roundhouse and switch yard at Terrace

We didn't find any evidence of the former town near the cemetery during our visit, but later, as I was viewing satellite images of the area, I found the remains of the railroad maintenance facilities about two miles from the cemetery. I could use GPS to arrive at this spot should I ever want to visit.

Tragedy struck in 1898 when my grandmother was 15

As a young boy I remembered my grandmother's story of her father's death when she was a teenager.

The newspaper clipping the next day read as follows:

TWO MEN FATALLY HURT.

James Rouse, Roundhouse Foreman, and Peter Meaden, Car Repairer, the Victims.
Two men, James Rouse, roundhouse foreman, and Peter Meaden, car repairer, were killed at the Gartney turntable, thirty-seven miles west of Terrace, yesterday. Before the fatality a Southern Pacific engine ran off the turntable and plunged down the embankment, partly burying itself in the sand. The fireman and engineer narrowly escaped by jumping. A wrecking train came out from Terrace, and while to raise the wreck, the cable broke and struck Rouse and Meaden, with terrific force, crushing their skulls. Both men died in a very short time. The bodies were both taken to Ogden. The men were Masons, and the funerals will be conducted under the auspices of that organization.
Deseret Evening News, Salt Lake City, UT, Thursday, August 25, 1898, page 2

As often happens, Jonathan's last name is misspelled, and I guess he was using his middle name James, but I know it's the right guy because grandma told me so. The 1900 census showed Elizabeth and the two girls living in Ogden at the time.

The girls marry

Older sister Charlotte married Charles Gorman in Ogden in 1902.

My grandfather Newcombe emigrated from Nova Scotia in 1901, and was working the railroad from Ogden west. I don't know where he met my grandmother, but the two were married in 1904 in Carlin, NV, at the home of Mr and Mrs Gorman.

I'll continue following my Newcombe grandparents in the next segment.

Jerome completes his 5 year hitch

To Ft. Bridger, Salt Lake, and then his discharge from military service

Returning from my hiatus to visit family, I rejoined the path that the 10th Regiment had trod in 1857-58.

It was about 300 miles from Ft. Laramie to Green River, where the regiment paused after their encounter with the Mormons on September 24th, 1857.

The city of Green River is in the shadow of Castle Rock above the Flaming Gorge, another of the landmarks used by trappers and settlers on their journey west. I paused and took this picture from the busy main route through the city of today.

Castle Rock - from the city streets of Green River, WY

Trappers were in this area within 20 years after the Lewis and Clark expedition. An Englishman, William Ashley, is remembered for his exploits in the area, chronicled in the local museum.

 Also in the Sweetwater County Museum was this board describing the attempts by the Mormons to make life difficult for the army in 1857.

While looking at this map I realized that I had taken the easy way out, traveling I-80 rather than the longer route along the river to the north actually traveled by the wagon trains and the army. The Mormon attack on the Army supply train took place about 30 miles north of my location in Green River.
I did make a point to go to Ham's Fork near Grainger as I continued west. This was the site of the Mountain Man Rendezvous of 1834, and the stop mentioned in the 10th Regiment history where Jerome and Company D rejoined the main force on November 6, 1857. I found a graveyard nearby showing evidence of the losses suffered by settlers.

Ft. Bridger - The last station for Jerome during his army days.

• The regiment arrived at Camp Scott, near Fort Bridger, on the 20th [of November], where a winter camp was formed. The health of the regiment was reported remarkably good, but many cases of frost-bite occurred during the month.

 The regiment finally occupied Ft. Bridger a few months later.

• The regiment moved from Camp Scott to Fort Bridger March 18, 1858, in one of the most terrible snowstorms ever encountered in that valley. It remained at this post until June 15, when it marched to Salt Lake City. arriving June 26, and at the temporary site of Camp Floyd, U. T., July 7.

Wikipedia tells us more about Camp Floyd, which is located about 40 miles south of Salt Lake City, near Utah Lake: 

• Established in July 1858 by a U.S. Army detachment under the command of Brevet Brig. Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston, Camp Floyd was named for then Secretary of War John B. Floyd. The detachment consisted of more than 3,500 military and civilian employees, including cavalry, artillery, infantry and support units. This unit, the largest single troop concentration then in the United States, was sent by President James Buchanan to stop a perceived Mormon rebellion, which came to be known as the Utah War.

Two companies of the 10th returned to Ft. Bridger, and took command of that post in August.

It's not clear to me just where Jerome was stationed during this time. All I know is that he was discharged from Ft. Bridger in February of 1860.

My visit to Ft. Bridger

I toured elements of Ft. Bridger, which was originally a trading post before the army arrived. Here are a couple of the scenes of the reconstructed outpost.

Ft. Bridger Blacksmith's Forge

Trading Post inside Stockade

It was near here that Jerome Mann spent his last days in the U.S. Army, but the rustic trading post shown here was from the years prior to the time the Army occupied the site.

Here is a bachelor officer's quarters building constructed in 1858. There were two officer's apartments in each building.

Bachelor Officers' Quarters

The enlisted men lived in less elegant barracks, of course.

Quarters for the enlisted men

Jerome left the service in February, 1860 - winter time. And here, the documented record of his movements ends. What follows is conjecture.

How, and when, did Jerome get from Ft. Bridger, Utah Territory to Smith Valley, Nevada Territory?

Since it was early February when Jerome was discharged, he might have stayed near the fort, or spent time in Salt Lake City or Camp Floyd to the south. It is estimated that there were nearly 20,000 people in the area by this time. But, an even more intriguing possibility centers around the organizers of the Pony Express.

From Wikipedia:

• William Russell, Alexander Majors and William Waddell were the three founders of the Pony Express and were already in the freighting business in the late 1850s with more than 4,000 men, 3,500 wagons and some 40,000 oxen.
  
  Russell, Majors and Waddell (RM&W) organized and put together the Pony Express in two months in the winter of 1860. The undertaking involved 120 riders, 184 stations, 400 horses and several hundred personnel during January and February 1860.

The Stagecoach Inn, near Camp Floyd, was a stop on the Stagecoach run to California, and the Pony Express stop was nearby. There were certainly employment possibilities for Jerome in the RM&W enterprises.

Or, Jerome might have joined an early wagon train passing Ft. Bridger in the late spring on its way to California via the Humboldt trail in northern Nevada. My next segment will trace this latter route, where I will also explore the birthplace of my paternal Grandmother, Mary Thomasine Rowse, in 1883.

Fort Laramie, and then, a side trip

Leaving Scott's Bluff, my next stop was Fort Laramie, in what is today Wyoming. In 1857, however, Fort Laramie in the southeastern part of the state was in the Nebraska Territory, carved from the original Louisiana Purchase.

Repeating a sentence from the History of the Tenth Regiment of Infantry..

• The regiment took up the march July 18 and reached Fort Kearney August 7 where it remained until the 11th, and on August 31 encamped eight miles below Fort Laramie

The regiment took a month and 20 days to go from Ft. Kearney to Ft. Laramie. I made the trip in about five and a half hours of road time over about a day and a half.

Entrance to Ft. Laramie, WY

 That fact begs the question -

How much time did the travelers in the wagon trains spend on the trail?

From "FORT LARAMIE PARK HISTORY 1834-1977"
             by Merrill J. Mattes

• The emigrant season at Fort Laramie was short, a maximum of 45 days. The timing of one's visit there hinged on two factors, in an equation of survival.
  
  
  One left the Missouri River jumping-off place no sooner than the spring rains could green up the prairies for vital pasture for mules and oxen. This could be any time the last half of April.
  
  
  Near the other end of the journey was the barrier of the Sierra Nevadas; if you got there too late after your exhausting traverse of the arid Great Basin you could die of exposure in October snows. So you aimed to reach Hangtown (later Placerville) in the Mother Lode country no later than mid-September.
  
  
  Averaging 12 to 15 miles per day, including rest stops, over the total distance of near 2,000 miles, this meant a journey of four to five months, depending on the fortunes or misfortunes of the trail. This also meant that in 35 to 40 days from your starting point you should be at Fort Laramie.
  
  

It seems the Army was moving a little slower, so the Regiment's arrival at the end of August, sans companies A and D, was past the peak of the pioneer wagon train visits that occurred in June.

The so-called Utah, or Mormon War of 1857-58

I guess it's time to discuss the reason for the 10th Regiment's move to the west.
--From the Regimental History:

•  Following closely upon the Indian troubles which most of the regiment had been employed, since early spring, in suppressing, came the necessity to send to Utah a large military force to protect the Federal officers there, and to compel obedience to the laws. Brigham Young, who had been running things successfully with a high hand for some years, finally announced himself as follows:
  
  "I am, and will be Governor, and no power can hinder it until the Lord Almighty says,' Brigham, you need not be Governor any longer.'"

This seems to have settled it. The Government ordered an expedition, consisting of two thousand five hundred men under Colonel A. S. Johnston, to Utah Territory for protection of the newly appointed Governor, Alfred Cumming, and other federal officials in the discharge of their duties. Elements of the 10 Regiment of Infantry would be part of that force.

Company D, of which Jerome was a member, would miss the first encounter with the Mormons. From the Regiment History - -

• On the night of September 24th the Mormons made an attempt to stampede the mules of the baggage train, a small party of them dashing through the herd, firing and yelling. Only eleven of the mules were driven off, and they were recovered the next day by a party of teamsters sent in pursuit under Lieutenants Maynadier and Swayne. The regiment reached Green River on the 27th, left there at midnight the same night, and after a march Of 23 miles reached Ham's Fork. Company C formed a part of the command of Captain R. B. Marcy during October. It returned to Ham's Fork October 31. A and D joined the command on the 6th of November.

The 10th was together at last, but the winter was not to be an easy one.

Continuing from the Regimental history - -

• The regiment arrived at Camp Scott, near Fort Bridger, on the 20th, where a winter camp was formed. The health of the regiment was reported remarkably good, but many cases of frost-bite occurred during the month. Theoretical and practical instruction was maintained as regularly as was permitted by inclement weather, and the absence of large details for detached guard and outpost duty, and the necessity of hauling all the fuel by hand four or five miles. These laborious duties were performed too, upon a restricted and indifferent allowance of food. The ration of flour was restricted at one time to ten ounces, and the beef cattle furnished were of the poorest quality, some of them unable to stand up. The regiment moved from Camp Scott to Fort Bridger March 18, 1858, in one of the most terrible snowstorms ever encountered in that valley. It remained at this post until June 15, when it marched to Salt Lake City.

The U.S. Marshals assigned to bring order the the Utah Territory had their hands full.

From The Journal of Arizona History, Spring 2012… Article about Pete Gabriel

• “By 1858, nineteen-year-old Pete struck off on his own. That spring, he was at Ft. Bridger on the Oregon Trail. The Utah War, which pitted Mormons against the U.S. Army, was in full swing. The previous October, Mormons had torched the fort in an unsuccessful effort to keep it from falling into the hands of the army. The soldiers wintered near Fort Bridger and by early spring they and local settlers were almost out of meat."

Meat was in short supply, as noted in both references above. A U.S. Marshal was assigned to help.

• “U.S. Marshal Peter K. Dodson was ordered to lead a supply expedition to a Shoshone Indian encampment on Bear River, thirty miles east. Dotson picked thirteen civilian volunteers, including Peter Gabriel, and started out on April 24. They were soon spotted by Mormon scouts. More troubling, Dotson and his men were able to buy only four head of cattle at the Shoshone camp.  Late on the night of April 26, Dotson, Gabriel, and the rest were wakened by Indians who warned them that a company of ninety-one Mormons had entered Bear River canyon. Dotson later reported that the Mormons had told the Indians that ‘they intended to wipe out this party of Americans who were on Bear River.’ Dotson and his men quietly slipped out of camp at midnight and made their way back to Ft. Bridger."

Back to the present day at Ft. Laramie, WY

It was time to take a break from my great-grandfather's travails to visit some family members in Colorado. Leaving Ft. Laramie, I drove west to I-25 and headed south for 320 miles.

My destination was the home of my wife's cousin Donna and her husband in Pueblo, CO. It was a welcome departure from camping to stay a couple of nights in their comfortable home. I also took the opportunity to visit and have lunch with my cousin Harriet, Jerome's great-granddaughter, who lives with her husband in Monument, CO near Colorado Springs.

In the next segment, after this 300+ mile side trip, I'll return to the Oregon/California trail and explore the rest of Jerome's trek to Ft. Bridger.

Natural features that mark travelers' progress

As part of my preparation for my trip, I re-read my collection of books from the series "Covered Wagon Women", which contain the diaries and letters written by women who traveled in the wagon trains of the mid 1800s. The stories related in these volumes highlight both the triumphs and tragedies that these pioneers endured in their quest for new beginnings in the far west.

Most travelers mentioned the several natural rock outcroppings and features that they passed on their way west. My first stop was mentioned more than once due to the challenges faced as they approached the river.

Ash Hollow State Historical Park

After leaving I-80 at Ogallala to follow the North Platte River on U.S. Hwy 26, I stopped at Ash Hollow. This little valley on the river is notable for several reasons, not the least of which was the method used to move the wagons safely from the bluffs above into the valley on what became known as Windlass Hill, though it is not known if a windlass was actually ever used there. Each wagon was attached to a rope, and carefully lowered from the high bluff to the valley floor. The process is described by many of those who recorded their descent.

You can learn more about the Windlass Hill experience, read accounts of the travelers, on their way to the North Platte River, and see pictures of the wagon wheel ruts which are still visible here.

My guess is that Jerome's Army followed a slightly different route in 1857 - on the north side of the rivers. They would have avoided this crossing in the process.

The Rachel Pattison Grave Marker

It is estimated that 6% of the travelers who began the trek died before they reached their destination. For the California Trail, a conservative estimate suggests that, on average, there was a grave every 500 feet or so. Fresh graves were mentioned daily by many of those who wrote diaries and journals.

Most who died were hastily buried with only a wooden marker. These soon deteriorated and today, little remains to indicate the location of the many lost souls.

At Ash Hollow however, a bereaved husband took the time to chisel a stone to mark the grave of his young wife. The stone has been enshrined in a memorial at the cemetery here.

Rachel E Pattison Headstone

An information panel nearby tells Rachel's story.

The Rachel Pattison Story

 After leaving Ash Hollow, my next stop in the Nebraska panhandle would include a lunch break and a nearby roadside attraction - a free Museum.

Pioneer Trails Museum - Bridgeport, NE

I almost always stop to visit such collections - not because they are free (they ask for donations and I always contribute,) but because I've learned that I can find fascinating stories of how the locals lived, and how they live today.

A pleasant woman volunteer about my age was on duty, and eager to share stories. I asked my standard question for such places, "Where is your barbed wire board?" (Small museums in the west always have a display of the fence wire that was used to tame the open range.)

She proudly led me to the back of the room, where not one, but two boards were on display, with each wire type carefully identified with a tag.

f

Barbed wire, a sewing machine, and a book of art

It was difficult to read the labels and inspect the various wire types because a hand operated Singer sewing machine and a book of Frederick Remington art obscured my view. My hostess apologized, explaining that they were having a problem finding room for all their artifacts. She assured me that they were rearranging their displays and they would be better displayed on my next visit.

Jail, Courthouse, and Chimney Rocks

Features on the limestone bluffs over the river west of Ash Hollow were described by the early settlers with such labels as Froghead's Bluff, from which it was reported, one could see Chimney Rock in the distance.

The first natural monuments usually mentioned along the North Platte river route were Courthouse Rock and Jail Rock near Bridgeport. I had to leave Highway 26 and take a back road out of town to get this shot.

Jail and Courthouse Rocks near Bridgeport, NE

About 20 miles further on, one of the most often mentioned monuments is Chimney Rock. This is a feature that has suffered much from repeated visits. It seems many see no harm in taking away a "piece of the rock." As a result of that plus wind and water erosion, what you see today is much diminished from its original tall chimney form.

Chimney Rock, NE - 1901 vs 2012

One can only wonder how much taller it might have appeared to great-grandfather Jerome in 1857.

The last landmark usually mentioned by the early travelers before they reached Ft. Laramie was Scott's Bluff, NE. I drove around on some back roads south of the city with the same name, peeking between lines of railroad cars and warehouses, to get this shot.

Scott's Bluff, NE

Scott's Bluff today is a National Monument.

From the history of the 10th Infantry Regiment - 1857.

• The regiment took up the march July 18 and reached Fort Kearney August 7 where it remained until the 11th, and on August 31 encamped eight miles below Fort Laramie, on the scene of Lieutenant Grattan's massacre.

 We will leave the main part of the 10th near Ft. Laramie, with companies A and D trailing at Ft. Kearney at this point, and learn more about Jerome Mann's experiences on his trek west in the next segment.

Joining the Oregon Trail

I hitched my trailer and left my farmer friends to resume the trail of my great grandfather. Before I left the area though, I went to Lakefield, MN to get another perspective about the Massacre from the local museum director. Then, I had lunch with the dairy farmer's son Lee, after he showed me the latest in fiber optic communications at the local phone and digital service provider's office where he now works. It's a far cry from what I saw in two major telecom development labs in the early 1990s. The "cutting edge" fiber technology I was shown then seems almost primitive compared to what Lee is working with today.

It was early afternoon when I finally left Minnesota to head southwest. I passed endless cornfields that were burned by the summer drought. Now trained in the ways to read the condition of the crops by my farmer friends, I soon realized that much of the year's production of corn would be lost to causes beyond mans' control.

My route would take me down the Iowa side of the Missouri River to Omaha, where I would then head west, first on the I-680 bypass, and then on I-80 to my next camp stop in Gretna, NE. Before retiring for the night, I again checked the history of the 10th Regiment.

The next notation regarding Company D of the 10th, places Jerome's unit at Ft, Kearney, NE, one of the early stops on the Oregon trail, in August, 1857.

•  [Company] A left Fort Ripley July 8, and D Fort Ridgely July 21, and at the end of August both companies were in camp near Fort Kearney, Neb., en route to Utah.

Friday, July 27 - Next stop - the U.S. Air Force ?????

I left the campground at Gretna the next morning. Imagine my surprise just ten miles down the road when I crossed the Platte River and saw the signs for the Strategic Air and Space Museum

This was an unplanned stop - but one I couldn't pass it up. The 33 aircraft housed in this remarkable facility all played important roles in the military history of our country during my lifetime, from the B-17, B-25, and B-29 of WW II, to the cold war era planes of the Strategic Air Command of the 1950s, to the U-2 and SR-71 reconnaissance planes of the 1960s, one of which is still flying.

My first picture as I entered the museum is of the SR-71 Blackbird. I had photographed one of these as it flew into Paine Field near my home for an air show in the 1980s. This plane, designed and built by Lockheed in the 1960s was way ahead of its time.

The next plane that brought back memories was the B-36 Bomber. This plane had the distinction of being the first capable of reaching a target on another continent and returning home without requiring refueling.

I remember it as the only aircraft I could identify by the unique sound of its six 28-cylinder radial engines purring smoothly as they passed high over the Nevada home of my youth in the late 1940s and early 1950s.

You can judge the size of this behemoth by this view which I took while standing under the tail of the aircraft. You can see the three starboard prop engines and two of the four jet turbines that power the plane from this angle. When you consider that the wingspan of this plane is over 2/3rds the length of a football field, you can also begin to get an idea of the size of this building, which houses all of its 33 aircraft under cover.

One could easily spend an entire day, or even days in this place. My stop here was all too brief. My parting view of the facility includes my truck and trailer in the foreground.

The story of the Mormon Handcarts on the Oregon Trail

When I made a stop at a roadside rest about two hours later, I realized that I had taken the convenient modern route of I-80 out of Lincoln on my way to Ft. Kearney instead of following the Platte River as the pioneers and my great granddaddy did. My inadvertent detour saved me an extra hour of driving.

In the process, I drove the longest straight stretch of highway in the interstate system; the 72 miles of I-80 between Lincoln and Grand Island in Nebraska.

Mormon Island, one of many in the Platte, is today a Nebraska State Recreational Area near Grand Island, NE. It's history is depicted on several signboards that I read as I stretched my legs.

It was here I learned that the settlers using Conestoga Wagons pulled by oxen weren't the only ones moving west. The remarkable story of the Mormon migration using hand drawn carts was revealed to me.
It was explained that each family using a cart was allowed 17 lbs of possessions per adult and 10 lbs per child. Tents and other provisions for the part were carried in wagons that accompanied each group.

• Ten handcart companies formed, made up of approximately 3,000 people pushing and pulling carts 1,300 miles from Iowa City to Salt Lake City in an average of 125 days.

A poem on one of the signboards tells the story.

Thirty minutes after leaving Mormon Island, with I-80 following the Platte and the historic trail, I arrived at Ft. Kearney State Park. It was near here that Jerome's unit camped.

Ft. Kearney was only 9 years old in 1857, having been constructed in 1848 to support the massive migration to California when gold was discovered there. A Wikipedia entry tells us:

• The fort grew rapidly into an important trail stop. By June 1849, Woodbury noted in his journals that 4,000 wagons had passed the fort so far that year, mostly on their way to California. The fort accumulated large stores of goods for travelers, with the directive of selling them at a beneficial cost to the emigrants. Specifically, the commander of the fort was authorized to sell goods at cost to emigrants, and in some cases of hardship, to give goods to them for free. In 1850, the fort acquired regular once-a-month mail service with the arrival of a stagecoach route between Independence, Missouri and Salt Lake City. It was the first regular mail service established along the trail.

To read the complete Wikipedia story of  Ft. Kearney as we know it today, go here.

My picture of the Nebraska Historical Marker sums up the story of this way station to the west.

I concluded my drive on I-80 at Ogallala, NE, having crossed most of the southern part of the state in a one day 310 mile drive. In the morning, I would follow the settlers' trail along the North Platte using US Highway 26, noting the natural landmarks that emigrants used to mark their progress.

Down on the Farm

The next two days would be all about getting to know my friends of twelve years - face to face. Together, we fought a long battle to cure electrical problems that were affecting their cows - all long distance. In the process, I came to know some details about the family, such as the fact that their names were Chuck and Wanda, with a son, Lee.

So, there was my Wanda and me, and then this pair. It was confusing, so we decided early on that they would be referred to as the Udder Chuck and Wanda. That kept everything straight.

Leaving Ft. Ridgely, it was a relatively short (86 mi.) drive to the dairy farm. I arrived early in the day.
My route was roughly that taken by Jerome's company in 1857 in response to the massacre.

As I arrived, a view from the farmhouse was interesting. I'm told there are over 20 cats helping to control the rodents.

Barnyard Cats

Another convenient coincidence, besides our names, is the fact that the Udder Wanda was raised near the site where the massacre that I wanted to investigate took place, near Spirit Lake, IA.

So, while the Udder Chuck minded the farm, Wanda and I took a 17 mile trip to tour the 1857 massacre site and a nearby museum.

Spirit Lake Massacre, and the story of a survivor

The settlers in this region were, as was often the case, on the edge of a frontier, not always under the protection of a nearby army garrison. Such was the case at Spirit Lake. The natives, displaced from their hunting grounds, were often in dire straights when it came to providing for their families. Such was the case as the harsh winter of 1856-57 took its toll. The history of the Iowa National Guard paints a pretty clear picture of what happened at Spirit Lake.

Confrontations were often the result of misunderstandings between the settlers and the natives. In this case, a settler had killed the brother of a Sioux Chief, Inkpaduta, who then took out his revenge on several settlements.

Abbie Gardner was just 13 years old at the time of the massacre. More than 30 settlers were killed, including her family, but she, with 3 other women from nearby settlements, were taken captive. Abbie was ransomed a few months later, and would live out her life in her reconstructed cabin, retelling her story of the massacre.

The Udder Wanda shows me Abbie Gardner's Cabin

 As I learned when I visited the museum in Lakefield, MN, there were two sides to the story of the massacre, one told by Captain Bee, the commander of Company D of the 10th Infantry, and one by those who responded from Ft. Dodge. One can second guess the motives and actions of the various players, but I prefer to let readers examine stories and draw their own conclusions.

We returned to the farm

 

Wanda and I returned to the farm and I was treated to a fine dinner out with a wonderful family. I look forward to more visits with them, both by email and in person.

I'll be bouncing back and forth between the present and the past for the next few posts as I follow the 10th Regiment on their way west during the balance of 1857.

Next stop for Jerome - Ft. Kearney, Nebraska. 


 

On to Fort Ridgely and points beyond

With my disappointment in Minneapolis (finding Fort Snelling closed on Monday) behind me, I called some long time friends - dairy farmers - in the southern part of the state. I told them I would be arriving at their farm on Tuesday evening after an overnight stay in the campground at Fort Ridgely State Park.

Their suggestion that I should try their favorite authentic German restaurant in nearby New Ulm was a good one.

Fort Ridgely was a relatively short 100 miles or so from Minneapolis. I arrived there in mid-afternoon, set up my trailer, and then drove to New Ulm, only about 16 miles away.

It was a little too early for dinner, so I stopped by the local tourist information center and asked what they recommended for a tourist with a free hour or so.

I was directed to the top of the hill on Center Street, where I found the Hermann Monument. Check out this tab for the history of the monument and some interesting background.

I can personally verify that there are 100 steps to the top. Here are a few pictures of my adventure.

Hermann Monument in New Ulm, MN

I climbed, and carefully counted the stairs, until I was standing at the railing just under Hermann's feet. The view from the top will give you some idea of what the local terrain is like - gently rolling hills.

New Ulm, and the Minnesota River Valley from Hermann Monument

So, now it was time for dinner. I went to the authentic German restaurant recommended by my friends and enjoyed a good dinner.

Authentic Bavarian Restaurant

Fort Ridgely - History in a cemetery

It was back to the campground, where I discovered that there was nearby graveyard associated with the Fort of years past.

You can learn a lot about the history of a place by studying the monuments and headstones in a cemetery. Here was a very informative monument at Ft. Ridgely for a pioneer named Hazen Mooers.

Hazen Mooers - First White Settler

 The inscription on the top reads:

• "Hazen Mooers, one of the pioneers of the fur trade with the Sioux, came to the No. West in 1816 conducted a trading post at Big Stone Lake for 15 years. In 1835, established a post at Little Rock, 5 miles below Fort Ridgely. In 1853 secured contract for erecting the first govt. bldgs. at Lower Sioux Agency. This work completed, retired to a small farm home in the valley just below Fort Ridgely. There he died Apr. 3, 1857. Age 68 yrs."

Might Jerome have met Hazen Mooers? He was at the fort for the last year of Hazen's life, so it's possible.

The face of the monument reveals even more about life in the 1800s in Minnesota.

I noted the boat depicted in this scene resembles the dugout canoes that were key to the success of the Lewis and Clark expedition. This blog provides some history of such boats.

More history of the 10th Regiment

Jerome's time at Ft. Ridgely included a call for his Company D to respond to a massacre that occurred during March, 1857. Word reached the fort on March 19th.

Jerome's unit sees action

• "Captain B. E. Bee with "D," numbering forty-eight rank and file, left the post at noon of the same day and proceeded down the valley of the Minnesota River to South Bend."

The history goes on to describe the conditions, which included deep drifts that had thawed so they would not support the men and sleds. The company made slow progress over several days.

• "By marching the command in column of fours and relieving the men at the head of the column, at short intervals, they were able to break a road through the deep and heavy snow. They would then stack arms, and the soldiers would fall back to the assistance of the sleds. In spite of these difficulties the command marched fifteen or eighteen miles a day."

The unit reached the area of the Massacre in March 28th

• "On the afternoon of March 28th, after a weary march of twenty miles, the command arrived in sight of the Indian village, which was situated in a thick grove of timber and apparently consisted of about thirty lodges.

Not surprisingly, the small Sioux band, led by war chief Inkpaduta, had fled. Capt. Bee had the unit continue the pursuit for another three days, but finally:

• "...his men being foot-sore and weary from a march of one hundred and forty miles under difficulties not easily portrayed, Captain Bee was obliged to return disappointed to his main camp.

Back to the present

It was Tuesday morning. Having spent a night near the fort where Jerome had served, I was now ready to trace his path to Spirit Lake, where the massacre took place.

 

On the way, I would finally meet and spend a couple of days with, my friends of twelve years. Until this day, we only knew each other through phone conversations, emails, and letters - mostly discussing electrical problems on their dairy farm. They were gracious hosts, as you will see in my next post.