1905 Monument
Battle of Beecher's Island
Original Engraving
(North Side -Lower)
BATTLE OF BEECHER'S ISLAND
FOUGHT SEPT. 17, 18 AND 19, A.D. 1868 BETWEEN COL.
GEO. A FORSYTH'S COMPANY OF CITIZEN SCOUTS,
NUMBERING 51 MEN, AND A LARGE PARTY OF INDIANS
COMPRISING NORTHERN CHEYENNES, OGALLALAH, AND
BRULE SIOUX AND DOG SOLDIERS COMMANDED BY THE NOTED
WAR CHIEF ROMAN NOSE. THE SCOUTS WERE SURROUNDED
AND HELD ON THIS ISLAND FOR NINE DAYS, SUBSISTING
ON HORSE AND MULE MEAT. INDIANS KILLED 75;
WOUNDED, UNKNOWN. HERE ROMAN NOSE AND
MEDICINE MAN FOUGHT THEIR LAST BATTLE.
(South Side -Lower)
THE FIRST NIGHT STILLWELL AND TRUDEAU,
CRAWLING
OUT ON HANDS AND KNEES, STARTED FOR RELIEF; AND
HIDING DAYS AND TRAVELING NIGHTS REACHED FT. WALLACE.
THE THIRD NIGHT, DONOVAN AND PHILEY STARTED.
ARRIVING AT THE FORT, DONOVAN WITH FOUR OTHERS
IMMEDIATELY STARTED BACK; AND COMING UPON COL.
CARPENTER'S COMMAND, ON THE SOUTH FORK OF THE
REPUBLICAN, GUIDED THEM IN A TWENTY MILE DASH,
REACHING THE ISLAND AT 10 A.M. THE NINTH DAY, 26
HOURS IN ADVANCE OF COL. BANKHEAD, WITH SCOUTS
STILLWELL AND TRUDEAU. THE RETURN TO FT. WALLACE
WAS BEGUN SEPT. 27 TH, THE WOUNDED BEING CARRIED
IN GOVERNMENT WAGONS.
(West Side - Upper)
SACRED TO THE MEMORY OF THOSE WHO
FOUGHT
AND DIED HERE
KILLED |
LIEUT. FRED.
H. BEECHER, U.S.A. |
J. H. MOOERS,
SURGEON, U.S.A. |
| G. W. CULVER |
| L. FARLEY |
| W. WILSON |
WOUNDED |
||||
COL. GEO A.
FORSYTH, U.S.A. |
||||
W. ARMSTRONG |
H. L. FARLEY | W. H. McCALL | ||
| G. B. CLARK | R. GANT | T. MORTON |
||
| T. K. DAVIS | J. HALEY | T. O'DONNELL | ||
| H. DAVENPORT | F. HARRINGTON | H. H. TUCKER | ||
| B. DAY | A. McLOUGHLIN | F. VILOTT | ||
(West Side - Lower)
UNINJURED |
||||||
| T. ALDERDICE | J. LYDEN | C.C. PIATT | W. STEWART | |||
| M. BURKE | M.R. LANE | A.G. PLILEY | I. THAYER | |||
| J. DONOVAN | J. LANE | W. REILY | P. TRUDEAU | |||
| A.J. EUTSLER | M.R. MAPES | T. RANAHAN | C.P. WHITNEY | |||
| A. DUPONT | T. MURPHY | C. SMITH | W. WILSON | |||
| J. HURST | H.T. McGRATH | J.S. STILLWELL | E. ZIGLER | |||
| A.T. GROVER | C.B. NICHOLS | S. SHLESINGER | ||||
| G. GREEN | G. OAKES | E. SIMPSON | ||||
(East Side - Upper)
NAMES OF THE COMMITTEE
ERECTED UNDER AUSPICES B.I.B.M.ASSN.
ROBERT LYNAM, PRES.
COMMITTEE
ELI SCHAAF, J. C. McPHERSON
J. J. PEATE, A FORSYTH SCOUT
OUT ON DETAIL, WHO CAME TO
THE RESCUE OF HIS COMRADES.
(East Side - Lower)
TO EVER KEEP GREEN IN MEMORY THOSE WHO FOUGHT HERE.
THIS MONUMENT WAS ERECTED BY THE
STATES OF COLORADO AND KANSAS.
A.D. 1905
The base (above annotated "lower") of the 1905 monument was recovered after the spring 1935 Arikaree flood and was installed on higher ground in front of the Association building. The upper sections were never found and a wooden replica, without engraving, was installed instead. The Association raised funds to install a stone (without engraving) in 2006 to replace the upper section. Today the monument base is turned 180° from the original so the engraved section of the base that is noted as "south side" above faces north at the new location.
Text engraved on 1905 monument quoted from Appendix F of "Fifty Fearless Men", by Orvel A. Criqui, published by Walsworth Publishing, 1993, Lib. of Congress Card Number: 93-72482.
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