Commemoration at Old Fort Hat Creek
HON. C .E. WINTER TO BE SPEAKER AT UNVEILING ON 4TH
DAUGHTERS OF AMERICAN REVOLUTION TO DEDICATE MARKER AT SITE OF OLD FORT HAT CREEK WITH PROPER CEREMONIES
Congressman Charles E. Winter will be the principal speaker at the unveiling of a memorial tablet to be erected on the site of old Fort Hat Creek, on the old Cheyenne-Deadwood trail, the coming Fourth of July, by the Luke Voorhees chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution of Lusk.
The local post of the American Legion and the Lions Club will also assist the ladies of the D.A. R. chapter at the unveiling and the all-day picnic which is to follow.
The tentative arrangements are to have the unveiling of the marker in the forenoon, between 10 and 11 o'clock with the address by Congressman Winter and a picnic afterward at the C-R ranch nearby, which will be an all-day affair. The Legion and the Lions have both appointed committees to work out plans for the picnic and some kind of sporting events.
The marker will be a beautiful monument, built out of different kinds of native stones, in which will be included a bronze tablet, containing a reproduction of a drawing of one of the old Concord stage coaches in relief.
The inscription of the bronze tablet will be:
"In memory of those who operated the stage line and to the pioneers who traveled the old Cheyenne-Deadwood trail. Erected on the site of old Fort Hat Creek by the Luke Voorhees Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, Lusk, Wyoming."
The marker will be placed on the highway, directly in front of the Hat Creek store, so that it can easily be seen and the inscription read by travelers using the highway.
Old Fort Hat Creek was an outpost of Fort Laramie, and was built by Lieutenant Hart, who was sent from Fort Laramie to build a barricade to protect the Cheyenne-Deadwood stage-line from depredations by by hostile Indian bands. It was intended to build the fort on the banks of Sage Creek, about 19 miles northeast of Lusk. Quite a pretentious fort was built and a tunnel was made leading from the main building to the creek, so the garrison would have access to water in the event the fort was besieged by the Indians. It is to mark the site of the old fort, and to hand down to posterity some recognition of the pioneers who traveled the stage -line in the early days that the ladies of the D.A.R. of Lusk are erecting the marker with appropriated ceremonies .
Congressman Winter, who is interested in all historical matter, is also noted as one of the outstanding authors of the west, "Grandon of Sierra" being the best known of his writings. He and Mrs. Winter will be guests of the ladies of the D.A.R. while in Lusk.