The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1903-02-08
Joseph P. Rankin Hurt in a
Smash.up.
CAREER
THRILLING
SAVED TROOPS AFTER MEEKER
MASSACRE.
Especial TO The Herald.)


from utter humiliation at the hands of
horde of hostile Utes; the uncon-
scious hero of a hundred courageous
exploits in the west. was painfully in
jured today in an accident on the union
depot grounds.
He suffered the fracture Of one Of the
bones of his ankle. and was temporarily
stunned by a severe fall.
Mr.. Rankin has for some time had
charge of the transport of the mails
to and from the Ogden postofice. This
morning while driving to the depot a
heavy team and wagon coming along
Wall avenue collided with his rig and
threw him to the ground from the top
of the mail wagon. He aHghted on
his heel and the ankle bone was
cracked. Mr.. Rankin pitched forward
on his head and was temporarily
stunned. He was picked up and sent
to his home, 1887 washington avenue,
in a cab. Although the injury to the
ankle did not appear serious at the
time, later when DR.. Conroy attended
him he was found to be suffering from
q fractured ankle, which was so
swollen that it will be some days be-
fore the necessary plaster cast can be
placed about the limb.
Had Stirring Career.
The accident, commonplace as # may
appear, has served to call attention to
the modest, unobtrusive ex-marshal of
Wyoming, and to illustrate the strange,
erFatic dofngs of fate. Here was man
who for a quarter of a century braved
all forms Of danger, was time and
again the target for hundreds of
marksmen, both civilized and savage;
a man who had been countless times
under fire and escaped unframed, only
to be laid low in a prosaic, common
place street accident.
Mr.. Rankin went through three years
of the civil war in a Pennsylvania
regiment AT the first days battle, in
the Wilderness, when bullets fell like
nail and men by the hundreds fell all
around him, after six different color
bearers had been shot down, young
Rankin, then a slender youth. picked
up the fallen flag and bore il the rest of
that awful day making himself the
especial target CT every confederate
whose eyes could see the starry folds
above the STRIPPING in blue. He was
made color bearer of his company and
bore the flag through the rest of his
service, with never a wound to remind
him of his many battles.
Again, at Charlottesville, his COM
pany was holding some artillery on a
hill. but, overpowered by numbers, had
to retreat. They were driven, a hand
4ul Oh luEili INTO a Dllle hollow,
then a line of gray-cOated infantrymen
swung around and they were sur
rounded. The command went out
Every man save himself who. can"
The confederates charged toward the
little band of Union soldiers, who were
also being shelled. Rankin's musket
was broken in his hand and a piece of
shell cut away his haversaek and other
accoutrements. He dashed right
through the hostile line. evading a
dubbed musket, and with a companion
reached the shelter of some woods and
got back to his own lines. most of his
companions being captured.
But records Of these, with other sim
liar escapes and adventures. are half
forgotten amongst the archives Of the
war department. being such as may
have happened to other heroes during
the stirring times of the civil war.
His Greatest Exploit.
But the exploit OF Rankin in saving
the Thornburg command from a horde
Of demon Utes is still fresh in the mem
ory of western people, and has been
made the subject of many official re-
ports to more than one government.
The United States cavalrymen claim
credit for Rankin's ride as the greatest
exploit ever performed of like char
acter by any trooper. Strictly speak
ing, Rankin was not a trooper at this
time. He was a great friend of Cap
tain ThOrnburg, who was in charge Of
three companies of troops that left
Rawlins for a march over the Colo
RADIO line toward AIeeker. There was
at that time no thought of trouble with
the Utes, and Rankin, who, with his
brother, was keeping a livery stable at
Rawiins, went out merely for a good
time, fishing and hunting with his cav
airy friends. Events showed his de-
n fol ha
Ute uprising came when the Thornburg
command was camped not far from
Meeker, at Mill creek. The uprising
shocked the world because of its terri
bic ferocity and the outrages perpe-
trated. At MeelIer all the men were
slain and the women served worse.
Thornburg's command was soon the
center OF hundreds of hostile Indians
craZed with fury. Every avenue of es-
cape was guarded. Thornburg was
killed soon after tSe beginning of the
attack one Sunday night OF Septem-
Der in 1879. The little command main
tanned itself until nearly half its num-
bers were killed or wounded. All the
horses were either killed or wounded.
when on Thursday it was decided to
attempt the desperate chance of get
ting courier through to Rawlins.
Through the Enemy's Country.
Rankin, as the only man thoroughly
Knowing the country, was at orce Sc
lected TO attempt the hazard. The best
horse LETT was one wounded in the
neck Mounted on this animal and
bearing dispatches for General Sheri-
dan in Chicago, he babe goodby to his
comrades at midnight Thursday. Every
avenue 10 the north was guarde5, The
bloodthirsty reds holding the country
between the soldiers ard Rawlins.
Rankin rode directly south into the
very heart of the enemys country
managed to escape their vigilance
circled around the outposts-erossed an
almost impossible mountain range and
then urged the bleeding and faithful
horse toward Rawlins. Fortune. or
was it Providence, favored him. Just
as the wounded horse was about 20
expire he came to the camp of some
cayalrymen bringing the race horse of
the Fifth cavalry. In a few minutes
he was on this animal, which carried
him about fifty miles. but 2eyer raced
again.
Some cavalrym N bringing along
some beef cattle supplied him with an
other fresh horse fifty miles fartaer
on just as the other horse was ex-
hausted This third Animal gave ont
after about fifty miles. and Rankin
then carried his saddle a mile or so
to a ranch. 1t so happened that a team
of his own horses from Rawlins had
been driven out there and were stabbed
at the ranch.
These animals had been driven out
in blackboard and Rankin soon as