Show N rat Z 5 hc U f t A rr A ii hc T r jc 0 1 l ay 1 vw v if T y ii A i iii vs f S y by ELMO SCOTT WATSON UT in kansas plans are under way to ao erect a i marker where once s tood stood fort aubrey and to preserve its site as a memorial to a thrilling chapter in the history of the sunflower state F fort ort aubrey was wag named in honor of col F X aubrey who found several springs of fresh water there an and d suggested ug I 1 it t as a good place for a fort although the outpost which once bore his name has long since passed aw away a y the fame of felb xav iw for aubrey french canadian by birth but an Amerl american amerlean ban hunter trapper and trader by occupation has endured be cause he was the hero of one of bf the greatest long distance aldea iq history from santa fe N M to independence encia mo a distance of mode more than miles in five days and sixteen hours early I 1 iq the lie morning of september I 1 12 1848 aubrey rode out oi of santa fe for the start t of this classic of the plains from the mir morning of th the 1 e start until independence was reached he topped stopped neither to eat or sl sleep beep and on at least three occasions lons during hla his ride narrowly escaped capture and death at the hands of I 1 indians ho he ate while riding and after the second morning coming out he tied into the saddle and snatched bits of sleep at at times lafeat late at bigia t on september 17 rye five days and hours after leaving leading santa fe aulcey rode up to 0 the old i noland house in fit inde independence pen dence he had traversed travel sed miles by horseback in that length of time by hours of continuous riding and traveling miles each 24 hours I 1 fort aubrey was established in september 1858 1856 about four miles east of the present city of syracuse i kan during its brief career it was an fin post pos t on the lustor lc santa F fe trall trail tor for it was the only refuge fo for r wagon trains harassed by indian at ai i 4 i tack in the ar 10 mile ile stretch between 1 I alport a fort dodge kan 0 n and port furt hyop colo it mai was garrisoned b by y united states troops for a time and I 1 then the necessity for its being there having apparently passed away it was aban doo boned ed at least ii it passed out but of the army records about 1858 or 1859 i interesting as tort fort A aubrey u brey was as a haven for those who traversed the ohp santa F fe e trail by stage coach cov ered cred wagon or pack train when the savage tribesmen swooped down it Is even more liate interesting resting because it Is iq the scene of a tragedy of the plain which la Is still one of the unsolved mys u of the old west for fo r here herront ow ont day in december a pirty party of 22 Misso missouri firl militiamen froze to death in ID a fierce blizzard which swept over western kansas what their name were were and just h how aw they met theli death no one knows local tradition has baa preserved part of the story and the military records throw some light an on the tragedy but there ls Is still enough left untold to maki make it a true truc mystery of the plains i 1 the local cradit tradition ion part of it has f be been en preserved by a syracuse mer chants chant H helfrich a pioneer ioner home and the socialist candidate for foi governor of X kansas ansas in 1920 eliose e hobby Is la the history of his county he got the story from it T Go goans aris who iwho was a member of the he party parti 4 can caught 9 ht in the blizzard and who as alsted in the burial of the dead mr goans told mr helfrich three companies of cavalry i an escort of governor goodwin of arizon arigona a left fort Leaven leavenworth woi th in the fall of 1803 1863 to accompany the governor to fort union N M X he said they arrived safely at their des destination alna von but were separated on their way back and that tha while camping in the runs of fort aubrey 22 denof men of company I 1 froze to death aerts i records of fort leavenworth and the arizona arizona historical society shoy governor govenor goodwill the ali first st g governor goyer nor of A arizona left fort for leave Septem september bei 25 1803 1863 escorted by companies aad A and H of the regular cavalry and company I 1 of the fourth missouri militia the expedition was in charge of maj james A of kansas with kleut peter ieter F clark cearle capt john H butcher and capt dan lei jet rice in command of the com lantei they arrived at fort un union lon N M november 0 and left november 11 they reached fort lyons colo november 23 in an a snowstorm on this part of the trip they lost several horses ano and some of the men were frostbitten t the party remained at fort lyons eight days and from that time there are no more records record of company L balleres bel leres lelles thit a dis aal aol grec p out neut among the soldiers at fort lyon lyo n caused company ato I 1 to split from ate he krestof rest of the command companies A and ft reported at ai r lort ort fildi on december 23 lost one hv freezing they lehey also reported much suffering froin the heavy terms which they n encountered P entered ered am AJ for the late fate of 60 company mcany 1 I ne ae I 1 x q 4 vl F V belics of a dij ahe last lasi S stand t 0 n d cording to the goa goans ns story these nt nil Itt lamen reached the site of fort fori aubrey about december 1 and camped in the old ld dugouts 0 of the fort while there the blizzard swept down upon them huddling together in an effort io to keep warrn warm and burning their wagons they tried in vain to fight off the deadening dening cold but it nias waa nil no use when morning came 22 of them were dead according dlug to boans loan S i they were all F citizens of the united Sta teaT without relatives ln in this edmunt country ry baili there e ever v existed any record of their names that thai record has abi not yet ileen been discovered from up dakota comes the story of another and similar tragedy what la Is bell believed eved to be the first printed account of if appeared recently in the geaugh geauga republican record decord at chardon ablo ohio written by its editor arthur E towne As a small boy mr to towne ane went to tb the dakotas s with his parents in the eighties and this chis tory Is one of several told to him hy by old timers tn in that country which he has written under the title of highlights from old days in the vest for the republican record his story of the mystery surrounding the leath of a whole platoon of united states cavalry reads as follows in the tall of 82 the first venturesome tur esome settlers penetrated into dickey county in what la Is now north dakota one of the most beautiful pieces of prairie country in the tames James river valley two chance land hunt te rs whose names may leow now tie be lost losi unless they ahey enn can be dug fifiel nut of the old flies of newspapers published fit at that time in aberdeen were prospecting in that region one evening bithey ii aa they were were heading towards the river in search of a good camping place they pass a grass grown buffalo wallow here there burst upon them a sight which they probably never forgot the clcil circumference m ie r ence of the wallow was literal literally ly fined with bones of men and horses other skeletons lay within th the circle Alti lough the bones had been scattered some investigation indicated that the horses hia had been used for de bense fenselon fen seln in place of cl earth works united states arpy buttons t and brass belt buckles were ere found also badly rusted barrels barre tsoi of muzzle loading guns gu n s bif if tile the old army musket type with their idocks rotted away an ay or bur burned ned away by y pr file fires rusted bits iron stirrups canteens and ot other hermeta metal parts of equipment yere were also found here all of which w alch went to show shiow that tills this was a troop of united unite a states cavalry 1 reports made ht at the time stated th that atthe the skeletons of 28 men and a like number of horses were found but nothing was discovered that showed to what ment or company this iro broo op p belonged if tills this was the result of a bf battle ittle it 1 Is a probable that hat the indians indiana carried away avay anything of the sold soldiers lers equipment that shuck k their fancy this would account for nothing remaining that would mould identify I 1 d the troop tile the bones looked aalf as if they had been bleaching in tile the sun forbears for years and years I 1 inquiry y w as made sometime after of various var ioui members mem lers of drift drifting ang Goos gooses qs band of sioux lo 10 located i ede ait oit on the reservation west of the i scurf these j lal nied the t territory in ft hat la now spink coun county ty and vicinity they had ad their in main nin village on fland in 0 river some sixty miles to the bouth of this tragic spot 60 the indians could throw no li light gliton on the subject and it may be that this fight occurred before their advent adient here among the theories advanced to ac count for the wiping out oui of this cavalry troop Is one one ta to the effect that thai these men perished ln in a blizzard what gave rise to this idea was tbt face that no broh broken eh bones bone or per forat 1 ed skulls showing the effects of gun fl fire were or found fiam from this the Jdee was r ai g gathered th red that these men andareh and cheli mounts did not perls perish if in battle the story went around that these men were a part of a cavalry regiment stationed at some post asi along the ills about theotime the time of the outbreak out breal of th the e civil war that they were either recruited from the south or wherewith were with the south in their sym Pa fathies path thies les that they had deserted some time in march of 01 and headed for the james river with the view of working their wai way down into the con federate states by that route the theory was that this was abe safer route as the army trails trails gen gen brally followed the ahe missouri and there would be much greater danger of pursuit and capture if they trav clod cled that way that thai on their way ava to the james were overtaken by bv a blizzard and being losi and beail dered in the driving snow and ln in tm im manent danger of freezing they had on stumbling on this buffalo wallow burled buried themselves in the snow which would he deeper there in the hope of preserving their lives until the storm at anted but because of the in tense cold they perished to a man not so for away was as the river witt with high I 1 which would have affo afforded crded some ome shelter and and there was plenty ot of wood fur for fires so that they might have es escaped had they traveled a lii little tie tar far ther with their abel i backs baca against the storm however old army officers wh had spent ni most il si of their lives on the me plains say ray that they never heard of 0 desertion on on any such a wholesale scale neither had bad they ever sparr bearr of f a cavalry troop riding out into to UK the vastness of the plains arid and vanishing I 1 I 1 so completely and for so long a time that thai even the circumstances of its de d and the mystery of its atte disappearance were were forgotten that tills was a states caa airy troop however Is practically cerl tain from the odd pieces of found the fact that the bones were lying on the prairie just where the troopers troop eis gave up th their eli lives andl indicate calef that tills bils detachment vas never local ed by the command of which abich it lwe was a part since the united states arms arm always buries its dead whether this troop belonged to general sully B army which fought in the i little litile crow war or a scouting party of minnesota troops tromp 19 which participated in the same conflict Is a inetter of conjecture TI this uni unknown cnown battle bf 0 the buffalo v allow rhay may haye have been one of the ninny many fights which occurred d along be awe tween en the lafe la late fe sixties and ouster Inas massacre sacre in 1876 when the plains indians w were e re making their last de desper sper itte te attempt to retain the prairies for themselves rut bul w who ho these men were or whether they perished in conflict lit U with alie ahe red rea warriors odthe of alie cloux na alon or with th the 1 white armies of kins king win winter tei li Is belll 11 66 so fur as lis ive we lin know one or of the unsolved f I 1 i ditc itc bif the td plains atus tj i |