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NICKERSON AND PARTY HAD A NARROW ESCAPE FROM BEING KILLEDtk ' I U'lij spot in Fremont county,Mtuth of i.au\ier. where the willows i;re growing uith little to indicate that fifty years ago it w».i a thriving • ■■inniunity | one of the first of Wyoming ‘a gold camps and an important town in the affairs of the new territory of Wyoming. The willows and pin - trees that have sprung up nnd grown tall now are on the site* of former busing*s places, shacks and saloons ami other buHJinga that made up the celebrated gold mining town of the days of half a century ago.linek n tlios-* days t’sptain H. O. Nickers.. -o.. a well known justice of the pea. i here. a.;.l one of the oldest citizen/ of the .‘tatc. was one of t • many slt;s-king fortunes in goM. 11 ■» experiences in those days are in-: resting because he is alive to tell th. m hiins. lt. and the facts contained in this article were gathered from conversations with him. They are ac-cu~ate.It was on October 12. 1872. thnt two miners. Torn Logan aiul Bobby Smith, from Miners' Delight failed to arrive home. Their non-appearauce caused the belief ‘hat they had been killed by Indians during a raid and there was much apprehension in the mining community for fear that the absence ot the men in-dicuted that the Indian* were preparii.g for another raid.Captain Nickerson formed a _ party which he liended to search for the two missing men. The party consisted of John Hartley, George McKay. Edward Blanchard. William Kinnear. Joe Trurkcv. Val Brandt. John Grant. John Robinson. James Knapp and Chris Ranlcy. All these men but t ciptain Nickeraon and Chris Ranley have passed away. Rnnicv is now living in Oregon.This party took to the mountains to look for the missing men whon ; sentinel connected with the soldiers at Camp Ntamhaugh sighted them. The sentinel mistook the searchers for Indians and gavel the alarm.Soon the entire garrison, under the command of Colonel James A. Brisbin, was under arms and they promptly surrounded Captain Nickerson and his party, believing them to bo Indians 4*ent on further depredations. There had been many outrages committed by the Indian * and the desire was great among the soldiers nnd citisens to punish them. The soldiers were certain the Nickerson party were Indians and they took good rare that there should l»e no escape.Cnptain Nickenon at once realized the predicament ho was. in sand commenced to devise means for getting word to the soldiers OP to his identity. Escape seemed impossible. Ono company of infantry under Captain McArthur. afterwards a major general, was deployed to the left of the Nickerson party. A company of cavalry under Lieutenant Norwood, hod made to the rear of the searching party and a battery in charge of the hospital steward had taken a position to the right. Citizens, scouts and employees in charge of Lieutenant F. U. Robinson were pressing hard in front. The searchers were completely surrounded.Realizing that something must be done promptly if their lives were to be saved. Captain Nickerson worked his way out into plain view. He dropped his gun, held both hands high in the air nnd started to walk rapidly towards the nearest of the troops. But the troops thought it was some kind of a ruse on' the part of the treacherous Indians and commenced rapid fire. Cnptain Nickerson was compelled to work back to the party as rapidly as possible.Then it was decided to mnkc a break to the nearest brueh heap which they did. Ther? they remained until the troops came near enough to be conversed with. In this way their identity 4/ccsmc known to the attacking forces and the lives of the aearehera for the lost miner a were saved.This is one of the iateresiting incidents in the history of the pioneer. During those dayj the whites had littlet|»ed was lit tie cllts illconfidence in the Indiana. Their remain peaceful were sooften broki r. and they We*e guilty of so many tricks in the warm, ^.-'itde with the white men thnt it was not safe to honor their flags of truce. Some times mentis of this kind wvre used only to throw the soldiers off guard nnd work an advantage to the Indians. These conditions were well known tlt;» Captain Nickeisou ami his men and for awhile their position was a dangerous one. it looked n.t though they might ail he killed or wounded by their own friends. That they short of a miraeh-.There are many unrecorded the early history of Sweet water uni Fremont counties. During those days men were making history without knowing it nn-1 • many incidents that paiscd off without a thought then a» • important items of history today. Captain Nickerson’s knowledge of these affairs is valuable. While lie is in good physical condition nnd able to recall them readily they slmuM he reduced to history. With this in view the l*ost has been publishing io many of these stories as possible and it is hoped that for the benefit of coming generations they will be preserved nnd-eventua'ly find their place, in the liintcirv of the countv and ‘tatc.GO ON STRIKE|Ry Ainn-lntnl rre»«. DENVER, Nov. IS.—All the Colorado Fuel rnd Iron company a mines in the Fremout county district, lire tied up by a sympathetic strike of the miners, on accoiiut of the thirty per cent reduction put in operation in Huerfano nnd I^isaniinas county district, according to an announcement at the headquarters of the company No coal diggers reported at Coal Creek, ltoc.k-vnle, Fremont or Emerald mines in Femout county today. Yesterday 440 men wire on the job. The company is repotted to have gained IIP men over yesterday in the five mines of the Trinidnd district, nnd the situuton in the Walscuburg districts unchanged.ANOTHER MARY'S LAMBLander High School Boy Comes Across With a New Version.The “chunkieat” boy in Lander Vocational High school has an inspiration almost every day, but one day during the week an exceptional inspiration. ono that would have brought down the house had il been worked on the vaudeville circuit.His inspiration had to do with Mary’s little lamb and this is the way he got rid of it:Mery had a little lamb.But now the lamb is dead,But Marv brings it to school each dayBetween two slices of breed.When this was unloaded, the young gentleman was given no credit,, but was informed that be might stay in school that afternoon for an hour after school wws dismissed. Such ii life.COURT AFFAIRS.Throe Sentenced and Divorce Granted in Grist of Other Business.Yesterday f\ divorce was granted at the Fremont county court house to Charles Bummers from bis wife, Irene Elizabeth Summers.Frank May, John Stoll nnd Henry Walker, three Dubois young men who jentered pleas of guilty, to a chargeI of having misbranded cattle, were sentenced to the reformatory school at Worland for Intermediate terms.
Newspaper Details
Lander Evening Post
Lander, Wyoming, US
Fri, Nov 18, 1921
Page 1
Full Page
Clipped by
Indiana S.
IN, USA 28 May 2024
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