Natrona County High School - Mustang Yearbook (Casper, WY)

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1940 i1Ilf'S7'.AING ANNUAL STAFF ARTHUR IJYSON . Bon Joxics . . . . XV,xi,i.v ICNc:I..xND . lgARllAR.-K jonxsox Lois CL.-xkla . . . Lotus KISTLER lion lJ,xl,i,.-xsox . . . .I la.1xNNia'1 i'r: ST.-XN'l'0N . lmaxia KRL'sM,AxRK l'1l.l:ANOR Lf-xuklcziax S,u.1.Y ROWI..-KNDS . .IOYCIQ Su.-xw . ARLINIQ SWAN . timexx I,. Rlfcklck . Ifrlifor I3 uxin rss fl lflllllgfl' . i4K,VlXfflIIf 1j,Il5ilI!'5 . .'1!l1lvti4'.v IIII 5 AIIIIIIIQPI' . Clubs . Cla. w'.s' H rl i'llilitru'y . . 1J!'1Iff.YlIlIlII . .-If-1 fl rf ,-I rt l'llll'1ll . Tyfwixf . Tyflixl . Typist ty Sfvfnzxor 'l'ht- Annual Stuff tzdcvs Pll'2lSlll'C in vxprcssing their zlppreciution to :ill uhm 1 he-lpvd in any wut to Illlllil' this edition possible. YVC are esp:-cially indchtcd to M1 Xloklvr for thc use of cuts and pictures, and for his :iid in the historical data. VV: 1 o wish to zicknowlcdggv thc use of photographs from the Signal Corps of the U. 5 Aimx Hr. 'l'll0IT'l1lS Czirrigcn, Hr. Hob Patterson, Hr. Chuck Flood, Mr. Charles um lu-rg:-r, Us-ring, Nebraska: Hr. Ja-ss Lombard, Custodian :lt Fort Lzirumic IN itxoni Honuinvnt, und hlr. Jzunes Perry, Custodian at Fort Bridger hfuseum. Souiu hook for tht- historiczll dzltu was Cout:1nt's History of VVyoming.

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I 1940 MUSTANG FORT CASPIAR On the site of what later became Fort Caspar was located the famous Platte Bridge Station on the telegraph line. This bridge had been constructed as a private enterprise by Louis Guinard, who charged a toll of from one dollar to five dollars for a six-mule team to cross, and other rates for other vehicles such as the stagecoaehes and wagons, etc., varying according to the condition of the river. In the spring of 1865 the Indians of the Southern and Northern Cheyenne and the Sioux tribes were gathering together for a mighty drive against the emigrants and guards of the Oregon Trail from South Pass to Fort Laramie. They made elaborate preparations for this great assault, even building corrals and stables for their valuable war ponies, so that their enemies, both white and red, could not steal them at the time of greatest need. The plan of the Indians was to raid the Platte Bridge Station, which was the most strategic point on the Oregon Trail, located at the point Where the Platte River makes a sharp turn from its northern course to an easterly direction. Almost every day the savages made attempts to draw the soldiers out of the fort and across the river where they could be ambushed by a large number of Indians who would torture and mutilate them. According to accounts given in diaries of some of the soldiers present at the fort at that time, they could see the Indians signalling with mirrors and other means in the daytime and large signal fires at night far away in the hills to the north. The savages did not carry out any serious depredations, even with all of these elaborate preparations, until July 26, 1865, when Lieutenant Caspar Wever Collins was killed in an attempt to save the life of one of his fallen comrades. Collins had been ordered by lllajor Anderson, in command at Platte Bridge Station, to lead a detail of cavalry to rescue a wagon train under the command of Sergeant Amos J. Custard, which would be attacked by the Indians as soon as it came into sight. Collins was killed and his body horribly disfigured and mutilated by the savages. That same day occurred the disastrous Custard Wagon Train Fight, in which Sergeant Amos J. Custard and between twenty and thirty men lost their lives and a considerable number were wounded. The name of the Platte Bridge Station was changed to Fort Caspar, in honor of the young lieutenant who had given his life so gallantly. After the Pacific Telegraph and the Emigration Overland route were abandoned, the need for a military post at Fort Caspar became less eminent, as the hostile Indian Tribes had moved farther to the north, where they could carry on their warfare and harrassing of white settlers to a greater advantage for themselves. Fort Caspar has now been restored and is now one of the outstanding historical shrines of the West, being visited each year by hundreds of tourists from all sections of the United States. Picture on previous page courtesy A. J. Mokler from original by W. H. Jackson.

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' , ' 'Q ' YE. W ' , ' ' . ' ., R. . Q.-f,.. . 1 A - fir., so I I wff , ,J I CQNTENTS 1. K 1' 4 Q S ' ADMINISTRATION . ' .4 1 CLASSES SENIORS JUNIORS 9 if soPHoMoREs FRI-:SHMEN ACTIVITIES 1 - NATIONAL HONORARIES ' I CLUBS ' I MUSIC A QL R. o. T. c. I I ' ATHLETICS I 1 I i I 1 1 1 r I CHSCR I belleve ln Natrona County Hngh Sch l and :deals for which it stands loyalty, honest ment, generous comradeshxp and health m bodv I pledge upon my honor to support all undertakmgs and to become a student a credlt to our school wxll be