Caspar Collins; The Life and Exploits of an Indian Fighter of the Sixties

Agnes Wright Spring

• Publisher: Bonhopai Books
• Year: 2025
• eBook ISBN: 9781779791979
• Edition: 0
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Social Science Biographies
• Index: Social Sciences

 Agnes Wright Spring's Caspar Collins is a gripping biography of a young lieutenant whose brief but dramatic life became legend in the annals of the American West. Killed at just 20 years old in a confrontation with Cheyenne and Lakota warriors near the Platte River in 1865, Collins was transformed into a symbol of youthful heroism and frontier sacrifice. Spring carefully reconstructs Collins's upbringing, military career, and final stand during the Battle of Platte Bridge Station, where he refused to retreat despite overwhelming odds. Drawing on military records, personal letters, eyewitness accounts, and Western lore, Spring offers a well-rounded portrait of both the man and the moment. But beyond hagiography, she also examines the broader historical context: the tensions between Native resistance and U.S. expansionism, the logistical challenges of frontier warfare, and the cultural forces that shaped perceptions of courage and duty. The biography is not only a personal narrative but a microcosm of the era's conflicts—where myth, memory, and violence collided. Caspar Collins remains an important work in the study of frontier military history and serves as a poignant meditation on bravery, loss, and the making of Western heroes. 

Table of contents

• Title page
• TABLE OF CONTENTS
• DEDICATION
• ACKNOWLEDGMENT
• ILLUSTRATIONS
• FOREWORD
• PART ONE—THE LIFE OF CASPAR WEVER COLLINS
• PART II—THE CASPAR COLLINS PAPERS
• APPENDIX