Orleans independent standard. [volume] (Irasburgh, Vt.) 1856-1871, 1858-07-15
FORT KEARNEY.

| the banks of the Platte river. The fort
consists Of Eve unpaintei wooden houses,
two or three stories high, and abont two
dozen long, low, mud buildings. The
houses are built around large open
square or parade ground, while the mud
buildings extend in any ard every direc-
ton out from the roads that run along the
sides of this square. Trees have been
/ set out along the borders Of the parade
ground, and they are the only bushes thai
can be seen in any direction, except a
few struggling ones on the banks of the
i Platte, several miles distant. Intermix-
ed between these immature trees on the
! sides of the square are sixteen blockhouSe
guns, two field pieces, two mountain how
| itzers and one prairie piece. These con-
stitute the artillery defences d the post
against the Indians. On the west side
of the parade grounds stands the house
. ofthe commanding officer. Ii is large,
i'll shaped, unpainted wooden structure,
; two stories high, with piazzas extending
across its entire front On boil ioors.-
/ within, however, the building is much
more respectable, being commodous, COM
Portable, well finished, and neatly furnish
ed.
Directly opposite the commanding Off
GERS house on the other side of the square,
is the soldiers barracks, seventy feet by
thirty feet, and two stories high. The
] barracks was never finished i is now
, in bad order; it can accommodate eigh-
e ty-four men very we'll; there are now in
it between ninety and one hundred men.
? The other wooden buildings are the Off
0 GERS quarters, the hospital and the SUIT
r ler's store. These deforned structures
:. do not present a very inviting appearance
2 to the eye, but they are charming places
d when compared to the hideous spectacle
of twenty-four long, winding, broken
p backed, falling down mud houses. Such
b infamous buildings are disgrace to any
:. fort. territory, army, government or ma
: ton. They are far 1uIerioT 70 Indian wig
vans. They can only be rivalled by the
IS mud novels of the Irish or dirty Asiat
les. Yet it is in such buildings that the
!, government stores are stored, or rather
are placed to rot and be ruined. The
1t government stores that were condemned
7, in 1867, on account of no protection
IS being furnished them by these mud piles
u amounted to nearly $4,000. But why
r on earth were such buildings put up
'e Because they are cheap? No, for sine
- 1851 the United States government ha
ID paid out $4,000 for their construction
Ore of these abode houses, which wa
ID built some ten years ago by volunteer:
le cost the United States $4,000. Thes
m mud piles are of all sizes, the largest on
I'd being about one hundred and forty fee
IN long, forty feet wide, and twelve feet higf
They are built by piling up sods on tn
r. top of each other, foot or more thicE
lg for the sides g; timbers are then laid acros
w the top, boards placed over the timber
an and sods, probably foot deep, on top
e, that. The first heavy rain makes fin
be work with this worse than clay house.
IT. Their utter uselessness is so apparer
ss that one can hardly imagine why the
of are ever used. Their demoralized al
mt pearance it is impossible to describe; s
he [ will leave them to wash and rot dow
at their leisure. There are now at Il
fort one hundred other persons, men,w'
as men and children, all told.
ne Capt. ]. P. McCown, the commando
'c- of the post, was despatched there la
ith winter; he went up with his compar
lat during very severe weather. On eros
nd ing a stream of water near the fort, Il
aa ice broke, his carriage was overturnt
ith he was thrown out, the wheels ran ov
on his arm, dislocating it, and severely inj
me ring the muscles, so thatit will be mont
Ter before he RECEIVERS the use Of his ARM
nd be arrived at Fort Kearney on the 9th
sst' March, and since that time has had til
'as Der drawn, built saw-mill, sawed lumb
and built fine bakery; also cut, draw
his sawed lumber for and framed a new COZ
md missary store. The cost to the cover
nil ment Of that bakery, not including t
Tho soldiers wages, was about $500. CaI
nd McCown is down on mud houses, and
ap- tends to have good substantial wood
buildings erected in their place.
ady As Fort Kearney is situated sor
ed, thousands of feet above the level Of
nth sea, extremely high winds frequently pl
vail there. The flag staff in the cent
of the parahe ground, like masts in
,ur- ship, Is secured by ropes from being to
its away. There are such severe storms