The Guthrie daily leader. [volume] (Guthrie, Okla.) 1893-1996, 1905-08-01
PAT HENNESSEY'S BODY
HAS A DECENT
BURIAL
INDIAN FIGHTERS RECORD
Remains Reburied Near the
Town Of HeaneSSey.

AFTER resting thlftytWO years IN a
cofinless grave the bones OF Pat Hen
nessey. She Irish hero from whom the
town OK Hennessey. Okla. takes it
name. have been disinterred. placed in
q cssbet and buried in a park in the
edge Of the town The pile of rough
stones. gathered and piled over his
grave by cowboys, still mark his rest
ing place and is now surrounded by an
imposing parking and railing built by
the women Of the Hennessey Relief
corps. For several years the grave of
Pat Hennessey has been IN the edge OF
a wagon road The town council of
Hennessey recently provided for dig
ging up Of the bones of the Indian
fighter aud removal to place where
they would be undisturbed
Pat Hennessey was killed by a tribe
Of Cheyennes and Arapahoes during
the outbreak Of 1874 He was an army
freighter and Travelled back and forth
between Caldwell, Kas, and Fort Reno
in old Oklahoma He well knew of the
dangers Of carrying supplies across
country but he was a typical Irishman
and absolutely fearless
One day Ia the spring of 1874 he an.
naunced he was about to start from
Caldwell with a load Of oats, which
was needed at the fort 1t was well
known the tribes Of the southwest were
o. the war path and people warned
him against suck hazardous trip at
that time
"lt's not me to be a sh rl1in' my duty
now" declared Hennessey and pro.
tests were Of no avail
At Caldwell there was youth from
Boston, out In the west to regain his
health Pat Hennessey was surprised
himsef when The Boston youth an
nounced that he was going to make
the trip with him The army freighter
protested but the Boston lad said he
had not long TO live anyway and that
he wanted to have one fight at least
wth indians during his lifetime.
S xty miles north of Ft. Reno. Hen.
nessey. the Boston youth whose name
has been forgotten. and the other per.
soa with the wagons were warned that
the Indians we're holding the ford at
Turkey creek a few miles north Of
where It empties into the Cmlarron.
but the freighters refused to heed the
w8rning
The details Of the fight are not
known. for all three Of the party were
killed That it was a long and desper.
stc one is certain Travellers the next
day found the body Of Hennessey
where it had been piled with the ruins
of the wagons and partially burned, His
Tife which the Indians had not taken
aud which lay beside him, showed that
bullet had lodged in a heated barrel
Near the place where the front wheel
had stood was pile OF more than 100
cartridges OF different calibre, which
showed all three men had taken part
IN the battle Two days afterward
when the soldiers from Reno had driv
en- the Indians back to the westward
W e Malaley then in the employ ol
the government. found and gave the
body OF Hennessey a burial as best he
could. with an AK and his hands for q
shovel He said that, after Hennes
sey's gun had become useless. he must
have stood and fought them single
handed, for his body had been pierced
by dozen arrows. More than twenty
Of the fndians' horses had been killed
how many Indians is not known, fol
their bodies we're carried away by
tgibesmen.
For years before the strip was open
ed cowboys passing up and down tn,
trial carr "a stones and laid them a
the head OF his grave. and when the
town OF Henuessey was located. ffteel
years after he death Of the Irish arm!
aANthhANAi tue tAOAhAhtAA VI AoNbi
stones stood afteen feet high On on,
side Of the stones was roughly chisele,
the letters "P. H."
That the particular grave over whicl
the monument stood was that OF pa
Hennessey and not that Of the Bostol
boy or his companion, has been dis
Buted. but that ii is traditional, and (
will go down so in history
But a handful Of bones were found 4
ths shallow grave when It was openet
With them were a decayed spoke an
a scrap Of iron. the part OF a WACO
wheel The relics Of one OF IN
blo0diest Indian fights VIII now, viii
out doubt. remain in qaiet as one q
the oldest historic landmarks OF Okl'
homa
Ha