Happy Easter, 2015.

Camp Humphreys, South Korea, 1987.

Ft. Caspar Cemetery, Casper Wyoming

Tombstone for Lt. Caspar Collins. Collins is not actually buried here, but his men were at one time.

These are photographs of the cemetery at Ft. Caspar, Wyoming. The cemetery was the post cemetery for Platte Bridge Station/Ft. Caspar, the frontier Army post occupied off and up until the 1860s, and then on a permanent basis through most of the 1860s. The post was abandoned as part of the settlement reached during Red Cloud's War.

The cemetery contained the bodies of soldiers lost at the Battle Platte Bridge Station, as well as those who otherwise died on post during the 1860s, but not to the exclusion of other locations. Originally thought to be the exclusive post cemetery, excavations, principally for construction projects, has revealed that there were in fact several other locations within 1/2 mile of the post that were also used. The exact reason for this is unknown, but there is some speculation that the bodies of those who died in the post hospital were buried off post, perhaps due the concern of spreading disease.

In the 20th Century the U.S. Army determined to consolidate military cemeteries and recovered the bodies of many men who were buried at remote posts such as this. This included the bodies of those buried at Ft. Caspar. However, given the presence of several burial grounds around the post, not all of the bodies were actually recovered. As discussed elsewhere on this site, there were also those buried at other local posts which, at least in one instance, were not recovered. This particular cemetery now contains only tombstones, but it is probable that the bodies of soldiers are still buried on or near the post. The bodies of those killed at the Battle of Red Buttes, which occurred on the same day as the Battle of Platte Bridge Station, and which was visible from the post, were buried in a common grave which has been lost.

The Grand Army of the Republic Memorial in Natrona County is located immediately astride this cemetery.

Turkish Soldiers' Memorial, Republic of Korea

This is Turkish Soldiers' Memorial in South Korea. The photo is not a great one, as I took it during a brief stop while participating in the Team Spirit 1987 maneuvers. I didn't actually have the chance to go up to the memorial and closely observe it.

Up close, this is a very impressive memorial. It commemorates the valiant service of Turkish soldiers while part of the United Nations mission to Korea, during the Korean War.

Empty Saddle, Casper Wyoming

This isn't a war memorial, but presumably a memorial of some kind. "Empty Saddle", at the old Natrona County Courthouse in Casper Wyoming.

Pony Express Memorial, Casper Wyoming

This is another that's really outside the scope of this site. This is the Pony Express Memorial at the Three Trails Center in Casper, Wyoming.

Caspar Collins, Casper Wyoming

This is a statute of Caspar Collins, as Casper Wyoming's All Events Center. Casper is named after Collins, who lost his life in the 1865 battle of Platte Bridge Station, which is the subject of other memorials at Fort Caspar and in Mills, Wyoming.

This is a remarkable statute, and fairly accurately depicts Collin's dress on that day. Not expecting to survive the battle, in which the 11th Ohio Cavalry lieutenant volunteered to lead troops of the 11th Kansas Cavalry into a desperate fight to rescue an oncoming Army wagon train (which would be engaged in the Battle of Red Buttes later that day) , he dressed in his best uniform. Collins was not stationed at Platte Bridge Station, and his volunteering was heroic, if doomed.

Little Big Horn Battlefield

This thread at the Society of the Military Horse website features some photos I took a while back at the Little Big Horn Battlefield.

The site also includes a National Cemetery.

115th Cavalry Regiment Armory Monument, Casper Wyoming

This unusual monument commerates the 115th Cavalry Regiment's armory in Casper, Wyoming. The Wyoming Army National Guard armory was built in 1930 and was one of several housing individual units of the National Guard's 115th Cavalry Regiment. After the Korean War the unit later housed the HHB 3d Bn 49th FA until some date in the 1970s. The building then passed into the ownership of Casper College, and it was ultimately torn down in 1987. This monument stands in a park where party of the armory's grounds were located.

Photographs of the armory are also located here. More about the 115th Cavalry Regiment, which was federalized in 1940 and served in World War Two, can be found on the Society of the Military Horse website, a link to which is provided in our link list.

Photographs of the armory coming down are provided below.

Grand Army of the Republic Memorial, Casper Wyoming

This is the Grand Army of the Republic Monument in Casper, Wyoming. This commemorates local men who had served in the Union forces during the Civil War, although obviously they weren't Wyoming residents at the time they entered the service.

These photos were taken in two sets, one in 2011 and the other in 1987.