The Battle at Platte Bridge

Early on the morning of July 26, 1865, Lt. Caspar Collins led a troop of men to reinforce an army supply train coming into Platte Bridge Station. Only a mile west of the post, the group was ambushed by members of the Sioux, Cheyenne and Arapahoe nations. They were anxious to avenge the losses they sustained at the Sand Creek Massacre the previous year and hoped to destroy Platte Bridge Station in this attack. The Indian force heavily outnumbered Collins's group. During the retreat, four men were killed, including the twenty-year-old lieutenant. The Army then renamed Platte Bridge Station in his honor. Because a new post in Colorado had recently been named for Caspar Collins' father, Col. W.O. Collins, the name Fort Caspar was chosen.

Casper, Wyoming · United States