At Last, Proper Respect For A Fallen Soldier

This post is a long read and I haven’t included any bird photos so prepare yourself, or bail out now if western history isn’t your bag. The first part will be old news to veteran blog readers because I covered it five years ago.

But the rest of it is new. I needed to include the entire story to give newer readers the necessary background and to refresh the memories of Feathered Photography veterans.

 

On one of our side journeys near the Montana/Idaho border five years ago we stumbled across this lonely gravesite in beautiful and isolated Pleasant Valley. Buried here is Samuel A. Glass, a soldier in the Second Cavalry who was killed in 1877 during the conflict with Chief Joseph and the Nez Pierce Indians. He had been struck in the bladder by a bullet and was mortally wounded so the soldiers left him behind to be cared for by settlers in the valley.

His soldier buddy Fred Munn said of his wound “The bullet struck his belt of cartridges tearing a hole in his abdomen in which four fingers could be inserted”. He died two days later.

As you can see the gravesite had been neglected and because of its isolated location it had been the target (literally) of imbecilic vandals who…

 

 

used it for target practice. It makes me seethe with anger and disgust when I see something like this.

This grave was especially poignant for me. My great-grandfather Joseph Smith Dudley (if you’re familiar with Mormon history you’ll recognize some significance in that name) was a freighter who hauled mining supplies and dry goods in a huge wagon from Utah to the gold fields in Helena and elsewhere in Montana from 1875 to 1879. Those trips were arduous and extremely dangerous because of what they called “highwaymen” and Indians and each round trip took months.

This area (generally known as Monida Pass) was a chokepoint for virtually all travelers including freighters, stagecoaches and their passengers, miners headed to and from Montana, the U.S. Army, Indians and lots of human riffraff. Joseph and his brothers had several harrowing encounters with Indians, including several of his freighter friends who were scalped.

Perhaps Joseph and Samuel even met each other – a long shot perhaps but it’s very possible.

Ok, all that was review. Let’s get to the new part of this post.

 

 

A few months ago I received an email from a kind gentleman who told me he had been the Project Manager for a complete restoration and upgrade of Samuel’s grave (I can’t remember his name and I don’t have access to his emails while I’m camping). If memory serves the project involved the efforts of many including locals, scouts, the U.S. Army and others.

When I heard the news I vowed to revisit the upgraded gravesite at my first opportunity and that came yesterday afternoon when these final three photos were taken. Sadly, the site was backlit by the time I arrived but I’ve done the best with them I can on this inadequate laptop.

 

 

The replacement for the headstone is simple and respectful and for now at least it hasn’t been desecrated by jackass vandals. After taking a few photos I took my camera to my pickup and returned to the grave to pay my respects in this lonely, beautiful place.

 

 

To this day Pleasant Valley is still isolated and remote. Imagine what it was like 150 years ago.

The Indian Wars in general and the Nez Pierce War in particular were unjust wars but fallen combatants on both sides deserve our respect. Even though I’m nostalgic about the loss of the charm of the original gravesite its neglect and desecration kind of ruined it for me so I was happy to see the beautiful new site.

RIP Samuel A. Glass.

Ron

 

Note: On my original post on this subject five years ago Dale Hobbs made the following comment. But because it was made late very few readers ever saw it so I’m including it below. History is about much more than just names and dates, it’s also about the triumphs and tragedies of individual human beings. I think you’ll get that feeling from Dale’s comment.

dale hobbs

“These are the facts about Private Samuel A. Glass, “L” Company, 2nd Cavalry, casualty of the American Indian War.

After the Battle of the Bighole, troops from Company L, 2nd Cavalry were sent from Fort Ellis, Montana Territory to join General Howard in the pursuit of Chief Joseph’s Nez Perce band. A few days later, the Battle of Camas Meadows occurred. The best version of the battle, as it relates to Samuel Glass was one of his fellow company L troop, Private Fred Munn:

[Fred Munn, Veteran of Frontier Experiences, Remembered the Days He Rode With Miles, Howard and Terry’, by Fred Munn as told to Robert A. Griffen. Montana the magazine of Western History, Spring 1966.]

page 60: “We joined General Howard’s command at Horse Prairie on about the 15th (August), after a killing ride from Virginia City, nearly 150 miles in something 40 hours. This was about six days after the Battle of the Big Hole in which General Gibbon was wounded in the thigh, and a number of officers killed and wounded. There is no doubt that Howard’s close proximity to the scene of the Big Hole fight caused the Nez Perce to withdraw. If they hadn’t, most likely the troops would have suffered a worse defeat.
We followed Joseph’s broad trail to the southeast and finally came up to about fifteen miles of his camp at Camas Prairie, Idaho. He was headed Tacher (Targhee) Pass and down the Yellowstone to buffalo country. Our first night at Camas Prairie the Indians struck our camp before dawn, driving off most of the horses and mules belonging to the volunteers, who were camped across Camas Creek with a small field. They went through the camp of the civilians, scattering them and their field piece, which went into the creek.
Sammy Glass and I slept under one of the freight wagons that night and when the Indians shooting and yelling struck, we jumped out with our guns in our hands, he on one side and me on the other side of the wagon. As Sammy got to his feet, he called, “Fred, they got me.” I got to him in a few minutes, propping blankets under his head. The bullet struck his belt of cartridges tearing a hole in his abdomen in which four fingers could be inserted.”

After the battle:

9/1/1877 Virginia City Madisonian:
“On the following morning, the 21st, arrangements were made for placing Glass, Trevor and Garland, the three who were the most severely wounded in Norwood’s fight of the 20th, under the medical care of Doctor E.T. Yager, and their transportation to Virginia (city) under escort of the volunteers. The company left Camas Meadows about 8 a.m., and arrived at Pleasant Valley without adventure that evening.”
“On arriving a Pleasant Valley station, Glass was found to be in such a condition from the effects of his wound that it was deemed unadviseable to carry him any further, and Dr Yager remained with him there until his death, which took place on the morning of the 23.”
“Glass was a native of New York, a man of considerable intelligence, strictly temperate in his habits, and possessed the high esteem of the officers and men of his company. He was the company blacksmith.”
“When the wagon with the wounded men arrived at Pleasant Valley Station, the proprietor, Mr. L. A. Harkness, immediately set about procuring comfortable beds for them, and assisted by two ladies who were staying there, whose names we did not learn, supplied their every want, attended to them with all possible care during the night, and when the two men , Trevor and Garland were gone, and Dr Yager and Glass remained, bestowed upon them ll the attention that kindness could suggest or the place afford, and upon the death of the latter prepared the coffin and grave, and buried him as decently as the surroundings permitted, firmly and utterly refusing all compensation for anything that had been done.”
“Such an instance of liberality and kindness is worthy of high praise, and shows the whole world kin is not always obliterated by the rugged surroundings of mountain life.”
“The volunteers arrived in Virginia City the evening on 24th.”

His grave was marked with wooden tombstone, until 1937 when it was replaced with a official government stone.

Samuel A. Glass bio info (courtesy of Mary Hocking):

1848 born about 1848 in Uxbridge, Ontario, Canada [1]. (Contrary to his enlistment papers, which say born Erie County, NY)
1858 moved to NY [2]
1860: living with his father, step-mother, and siblings in Elma, Erie County, New York. [3]
1869: enlists in the army for 5 years.
1870: living as a soldier at the US Military Post in Buffalo [4]
1874: discharged from army.
1875: boarding with John W. Mitchell, a railroad conductor, and his family in Buffalo. Glass’s occupation is painter and blacksmith. [5]
1875: re-enlists in the army.
1877: shot in the bladder during fighting with the Nez Pierce.[6]

Notes:
[1] Various census and army records. Assuming he was born in Uxbridge, Ontario, only because that’s where he was living three years later.
[2] His younger brother, George, was born in 1858/59 in New York, which means the family immigrated at some point before then.
[3] 1860 US Census
[4] 1870 US Census
[5] 1875 New York State Census and 1875 Buffalo City Directory
[6] Army records”