Red Lodge daily news combined with Carbon County news., 1933-08-02

lH. But nearby there Is something which
AN IL unite likely to halt him before he
~ speeds on his way. 1t Is a little cannon,
between the wheels of whose carriage Is a metal
plate which tells him that this is "Old Betsy
Cannon used by Major George Croghan against
the British and Indians In the defense of Fort
Stephenson, August | and 2, 1918" Back of that
brief inscription is the story of one of the most
brilliant feats In American history.
II is the story of Il youthful American military
leader and his seven equally youthful subalterns
who set a high example of courage and daring
for future young Americans to emulate, and IL
In the story of a gun, Insignificant In appear
ance, which vitality affected the course or Amer
lean history. big Bertha" OF World war fame
the greatest piece Of artillery ever devised by
man, failed to break the morale of the French
and lead to a German victory, as its builders had
hoped. But "Old Betsy" a little six-pounder
which would be lost In the cavernous depths of
the World war piece, once turned the tide In a
crucial battle 100 years ago and saved a verit-
able empire for the American flag.
Before beginning that story, however, first a
brief word about the chief actor in it-Maj.
George Croghan. He was a Kentuckian, born
near Louisville, November 15, 1891, and a neph-
ew of George Rogers Clark, 1.-THE Savior Of the
Old Northwest" during the Revolution. Grad
uated from William and Mary college In Vir-
ginia at the age Of eighteen, he served as a
volunteer aid to Colonel Boyd In the expedi-
tion commanded by Gen. William Henry Har-
rison which was sent to break up the conspir-
acy Of Tecumseh, the great Shawnee c~hieftain,
in 1911. Croghan distinguished himself at the
Battle OF Tippecanoe, received an appointment
in the army and at the outbreak of the War of
1872 he was a captain in the Seventeenth In
fantry, from which rank he was promoted to
major In the same regiment for gallantry in a
sortie during the Siege of Fort Meigs by the
British.
Soon afterwards he was sent with d battalion
of his regiment, composed of some 100 officers
and men, to take command OF Fort Stephenson,
a ramshackle old stockade, built around q for
mer Indian traders house at the head of naviga-
ton on the Sandusky river. about 20 miles from
Lake Erie, In Ohio. The modern city of Ere
mont now stands on that site but 1t is known
In frontier history as Lower Sandusky, a rally
ing place for the tribes of the Old Northwest
and the scene of many q dark deed Of torture
Of white captives.
The stockade was made Of posts about 1o
feet high and outside them was a dry ditch
s or o feet wide and 8 or 6 feet deep. 1t en-.
closed about an acre OF ground and was laid
out In the form of a parallelogram with a block
house at the northeast corner and a guardhouse
at the southeast. Midway on the north wall
Croghan built another blockhouse from which
he could enflade the ditch and he also strength.
ened the weak places in the stockade.
Despite its unimposing appearance, Fort
Stephenson was an important post 1t was at the
apex OF a triangle, the base line of which con
nected Erie and Upper Sandusky. At Erie Oliver
Hazard Perry was busily engaged In building
the feet with which he was to win his famous
naval victory later and at Upper Sandusky
come 20 miles up the river from Fort Stephen
son, was the great depot Of supplies for the
American armies in the Northwest so II Fort
Stephenson fell IL would leave the way open for