Powder River Memorial Cemetery Dedicated to Fallen Soldiers

 

August 6, 2020

Cemetery Dedication - Members of the Broadus VFW and reenactor groups salute the fallen during the Powder River Memorial Cemetery Dedication, held last Saturday. The soldiers memorialized at the cemetery died during the Powder River Expedition of 1865, along the Powder River in what was then Montana Territory. The cemetery is located 19 miles south of Broadus, at the base of the Turrett Buttes.

A dedication ceremony for the Powder River Memorial Cemetery took place last Saturday. The cemetery honors fifteen US soldiers who died along the Powder River in early September, 1865, during the Powder River Expedition.

The ceremony drew a crowd of around 40, with locals as well as several reenactor groups, including the Chapman-Compliment Camp #2, Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War, with members from Montana and Wyoming, 1st United States Volunteer Infantry Regiment, Company H, with members from Montana, 5th United States Infantry Regiment, Company B from Miles City, with members from southeast Montana, the 26th Independent Battery B, Pennsylvania Light Artillery from Thompson Falls, MT area and the Frontier Regulars from Buffalo, WY.

Relatives of two of the deceased soldiers were also present for the ceremony, including Brian Smarker and his wife, who traveled 875 miles to attend the event from Missouri, as well as Glennis Bomar and four generation of her family from Colorado. Brian's 5th great uncle was Private Abner Garrison; Glennis' 3rd great uncle was Private William Lucas.

A color guard from Broadus VFW Post 1595 was also on hand to help honor the memory of the veterans at the cemetery; the 15 vets memorialized at the cemetery were also Civil War vets, fighting for the Union.

Jaeger Held, age 19, spoke of each soldier memorialized at the cemetery. The soldiers were members of the 2nd Missouri Volunteer Light Artillery, 12th Missouri Volunteer Cavalry, and 16th Kansas Volunteer Cavalry regiments, and died along the Powder River what was then Montana Territory between September 1-10, 1865.

The soldier's names, age at death, and location of birth were as follows: Pvt. Jesse Easter, age 20, born in Indiana; Pvt. Abner Garrison, age 20, born in Missouri; Sgt. Larkin L. Holt, age 30, born in Missouri; Pvt. George Cooper, age 20, born in Missouri; Pvt. George W. Jackson, age 21, born in Missouri; Pvt. Reuben B. Cavender, age 17, born in Tennessee; Pvt. Henry Grote, age 42, born in Germany; Pvt. George W. McCulley, age 25, born in Missouri; Pvt. James D. Morris, age 26, born in Tennessee; Pvt. Andrew J. Baucom, age 18, born in Missouri; Pvt. Elijah Bradshaw, age 21, born in Missouri; Pvt. William Lucas, age 32, born in Indiana; Pvt. William P. Long, age 21, born in Indiana, Pvt. Henry Duffey, age 41, born in Ireland; and Pvt. Isaac Tracy, age 27, born in Kentucky.

The majority of the group died from wounds inflicted in battle by American Indian warriors, while others perished from chronic dysentery or scurvy. The soldiers were buried by their comrades in unmarked graves along the route of travel as the expedition wound its way up the Powder, fighting not only Indians but disease, starvation, and terrible weather along the way. The force lost over 700 horses and mules, and in total thirty-one soldiers and five civilians died during the expedition. An estimated one hundred men, women, and children from the Sioux, Cheyenne, and Arapaho tribes also perished as a result of the expedition.

Jaeger's tireless work was mentioned at the ceremony by Fred Morganthaler of the Sons of the Union Veterans of the Civil War. Jaeger was the driving force in bringing the cemetery to fruition through long hours spent reading about the expedition, as well as the individual soldiers. When Held first attempted to bring the cemetery to reality, he hit a roadblock in the Department of Veteran's Affairs, which would only issue memorial headstones to those soldiers who had written approval from a living relative. Jaeger used ancestry.com to create family trees and was able to find living relatives for 12 of the 15 soldiers memorialized at the cemetery today.

The ceremony itself consisted of the placement of flags in front of the headstone of each soldier by members of the reenactor groups, Jaeger reading off the service records of each soldier, and the color guard firing off a salute. As a crescendo to the ceremony, a volley of blank rounds was fired from the two artillery pieces in attendance – the mountain howitzer of Kearny's Frontier Regulars, and the 3-inch rifled ordnance cannon of the 26th Independent Battery B, Pennsylvania Light Artillery. As the cannons boomed, the concussion from the shots reverberated off the picturesque landscape, while black powder smoke skewed the view of the American flag which flapped in the breeze at the head of the cemetery – a sight which was very possibly familiar to the veterans memorialized at the cemetery, 155 years after they took their final breaths.

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Members of the 26th Independent Battery B, Pennsylvania Light Artillery reenactor group from Thompson Fall, MT, fire their 3 inch rifled ordnance gun during the Powder River Memorial Cemetery dedication ceremony. In the background, members of Kearny's Frontier Regulars prepare their mountain howitzer to fire a live round, backed by a full pound of black powder. The concussion from the guns was quite tremendous, and the wafting scent of black powder smoke added a pleasant final touch to the day's activities. Note the flames escaping from the touch hole at the rear of the gun.

For those looking to learn more about the expedition, books are available at Henry A Malley Memorial Library in Broadus such as Patrick Connor's War: The 1865 Powder River Indian Expedition, while those looking to learn more about the soldiers memorialized at the cemetery may look at findagrave.com, and search for Powder River Memorial Cemetery.

For those who would like to visit the cemetery, it is located 19 miles south of Broadus on the East River Road South, at the base of the Turrett Buttes.

Currently the cemetery consists of the headstones and a steel fence surrounding the enclosure; Jaeger wanted to thank Floyd Huckins, Evan Traub, and Lyle Huckins for volunteering their time to set the headstones, and David and Gina Vineyard, who volunteered their time to build the permanent fence around the memorial. Jaeger said that numerous other community members contributed to the project, and he wanted to thank one and all for their help. Additionally, Jaeger sends thanks to Billings Monument Company, who donated the inscriptions for three of the soldiers' headstones not provided by the VA.

Jaeger tells us that in the future, if funding becomes available he would be interested in placing an interpretive sign at the memorial describing the expedition, as well as the addition of an approach off the county road and parking area. If an organization or individual is interested in donating to these efforts, Jaeger may be contacted directly by emailing [email protected].

 

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