The Highland weekly news. [volume] (Hillsborough [Hillsboro], Highland County, Ohio) 1853-1886, 1865-07-06
Trtttrs from tbr Atmp


Snow in the Mountsins--Severe
Loss of. the Indians at the Battle
of Mud Springs, in February last.
The follOwig letter from Lieut., Lieut.
Caspar W. Collins, Company g, l1th
Ohio Volunteer Cavalry, contains in.
formation that may be Of interest to
those who have friends in the regiment:
e SWEET WATER BRIDGE,
April Is, 1865.
I received your letter, speaking of
Capt. Rhinehart's death, few days
since. It is too true; he was killed by
the Cheyenne Indians on La Prelle creek
near Deer Greek Station, in February
last. You have no doubt had full par
ticulars before this.
There is now very large number Of
troops on the road coming out here.
The 11th Kansas is between here and
Fort Laramie. We have this Post we'll
defended. l had the men at work for
several weeks aud it is now invulnera,
BILE to the noble aborignes of this Sec
ton, Twenty-six men. are stationed
here. Gen. Connor of California is now
in command of this Department. One
of the men belonging to this Post was
killed about the middle Of March, be.
tween here and Platte Bridge, Philip
Roads, son of Henry s. Roads, of Paint
township, Highland county. He and
another man we're coming up with load
of rations with four. mule team. The
escort that was with them, having pass
cd what the commander of the squad
thought the dangerous part Of the
ground, turned back. Four indians,
who claimed to be Arapahoes, came up
to the wagon, and commenced talking
with them. The Indians ddenly fred
in concert, and killed him Instantly,
and strange to say, the other boy escaped
with nothing but ball or arrow-hole
through his blouse, He seized a gun
and kept the Indians at bay for the bal
auce of the afternoon. AS he had two
Spencer rifles, the Indians kept on the
brow Of the hill and contented them
selves with firing from a safe position,
filling the wagon body with bullet.holes.
At dark he saddled the horse that was
with the team, and struck for this Post,
thirty miles distant, uuder cover of the
night. He arrived here little after
midnight, when we started in pursuit
1t was so intensely cold that we had to
walk much of the way. We arrived at
the scene of action about day light, but
the Indians had hed, after stripping the
dead man aud wagon and loading the
mules with plunder. We followed the
trail until a wind storm came on and
obscured 1t entirely. do not think |
ever suffered so much with the cold in
my life. Two of the men were SO near
ly frozen we had to take them off their
horses, leaving only two of us for duty.
The weather at this Post is excellent
at present. but above here, at South
Pass, which is also under my command,
two men froEs lately, though not very
seriously. l have just returned from
that abominable section Of country.
DR.. Rich aRd l went up together. We
were two days getting twenty five miles,
and then had to leave our horses on ae.
count of the snow and walk in, l
frosted my feet sleeping out but they
we're about we'll when I went hunting
yesterday and blistered the old places
again, so l am little lame to-day.
Tourists need not go the Alps or
Greenland to see snow. Let them come
to South Pass and patrOpiEs home in.
stitutiohs. think could guide them
through that section. There are places
there where the snow is tea feet deep
for miles, the crust hardly bearing a
man. The lowest point In the Pass is
about eight thousand feet above the sea,
and about twenty miles of, but appear
ing as if close at hand, are the Wind
River Mountains, hiding their heads in
the clouds. The Pass has never been
impassable for the same length Of time,
II closed up about the middle of Octo.
Der and no sign Of . thaw yet; all the
snow that has fallen during the winter
being still ON the ground. There are
drifts in the oanons on the SweetWater,
below the station, sixty or seventy feet
deep. The DR.. and had only our sad
die blankets, so we did not sleep extra
comfortable. prepared pictorial his
tory of the trip, but the DR., was so
taken with it that he carried it of with
him. He gotwell paid for bis trip, get,
Ting hundred dollars in gold dust
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