CULVER

A short history of Culver

Culver was laid out circa 1878. It was named after George Washington Culver, who was living in Ottawa County in August 1868 when he was recruited to be a scout for Col. George Forsyth, following the first Spillman-Bacon Creek Indian raid. At daybreak on September 17, 1868, Forsyth's band of 50 civilian scouts was attacked by approximately 1,000 of Roman Nose's dog soldier warriors in northeastern Colorado Territory. This was known as Beecher Island. They took cover on a small sandy island in the middle of the Arickaree fork of the Republican River, about 17 miles south of present-day Wray, Colorado. The next three days were spent fighting and by the time the fighting ended, the scouts were out of rations and living on horse and mule meat. About half of the scouts were wounded at the outbreak of the fighting. Culver was one of five scouts killed or mortally wounded. Culver was buried at the battleground, later moved to Fort Wallace Cemetery and eventually to Fort Leavenworth National Cemetery. Before Beecher Island, during the Civil War he served as 2nd Lt, Co E, Second Colorado Cavalry. Following the Civil War, he worked for a time as a watchmaker in Junction City, Kansas, and shortly before his death was elected to public office in Ottawa County. The town and township of Culver were named in honor of him.

Adapted (trimmed) from the Wikipedia article Culver, Kansas, revision 1376028700 by its contributors, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.