The Detroit times., 1911-07-21
TWILL BUILD SHAFT
At BLOODY FORD
Monument Will Commemorate Stir
ring Events That Occurred in Wy
oming When Indians Ruied.

CASPER. wyo., July ls.-An I'M
posing monument, the gift of the club
women of Wyoming. will soon be dedi-
Gated 10 commemorate the stirring
scenes that were enacted on the old
overland trail. The shaft now stands
where the old trail passed through
Casper, and the railroad station near
at hand shows how closely the build
ers OF the trail of the iron horse fol-
lowed the path marked by the wagons
OF the pioneers.
The dedication OF this monument
will be part Of plan TO mark all the
old trails that abound In wyoming
The shaft at Caper, however, marks
/ the oldest and most historic highway
In the west. When the pioneers
reached the crossing of the North
Platte, where Casper now stands, they
were sin the midst OF alarms" There
| were dangers ahead of them. but II
was equally dangerous to go back.
They were "a the heart OF the Indian
country and must depend upon their
own resolution to carry them safely
| through. On either side OF Casper. the
old overland trail has been soaked In
the blood OF white man and red. After
the first rush OF pioneers had widened
the trail. in the days following the
California gold excitement, the stage
coaches rumbled past The stage
| lines paid a heavy toll In human life
so heavy that finally the route had to
II nAa
route from Fort Bridger across the
Laramie plains to Denver selected.
| There was ford at Casper. where
the North Platte had TO be crossed. IL
was the best ford along the North
Platte, but crossing that shifting and
treacherous stream even at its best
point is no light matter, and many
persons were drowned. The ford was
a favorite place for Indian attacks
also, and the trail near Casper was
lined with unmarked graves.
The first white men TO traverse the
| overland trail were Robert Stuart and
party OF six other Astorians. who
| started from Oregon to deliver a mes
sage to Mr.. Astor in New York In
1913. They ascended the Columbia
II
dered down the continental divide to
South Pass, where they crossed, and
journeyed down the Sweetwater to
the Platte. Their journey consumed
months. and many times they were
near death from starvation or at the
hands of the Indians.
The American fur traders, under the
enterprising Gen. w. II. Ashley OF St
Louis, were the next to be heard OF
on the trail which nature seemed to
have made through the wilderness. In
1922 an adventurous band under Ash
ley pushed past the trading post es-
tablished a few years before by
Jacques La Rance at the Junction or
the Platte and what is now called the
Laramie. Some of the most noted
| trappers and trailmakers In western
history were with Ashley, including
Jim Bridger. that picturesque charac-
ter whose name figures in connection
with western exploration and discov-
cry.
Capt. Sublette, who succeeded Gen.
Ashley In the fur trading business,
was the next commanding figure on
the overland trail. On his first expe-
dition he had 400 trappers and IA
wagons were loaded with supplies and
trinkets for barter with the Indians.
This was the first time wagons were
used on the trail. Succeeding Sublette
came the famous Capt. Bonneville,
who in 1892, journeyed along the trail
| with 100 men and 20 wagons. His was
the first wagon train to cross the
Rockies. as he pushed across the pass
TO Green river.
The missionaries were not long In
following the trappers along the high
way that led TO the wilderness. In
1885 the missionaries. Parker and
Whitman. Journeyed along the trail on
| their way to Oregon. These men
brought their brides, who were the
| first white women TO cross the Rock
les. A year later DIR. Whitman again
journeyed along the trail with the
thousand settlers whese coming saved
| Oregon to the United States, and
shortly after he met his death At the
hands OF Oregon savages he had be