http://www.cooganresearchgroup.com/crg/index.htm

03 October 2011

COOGAN story 

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appearing on a roadside sign (next to original stone marker) [placed 
by Eagle Scout Luke Eisenbraun in 2007]:

IN MEMORY OF WILLIAM COOGAN
Watertown, Wisconsin

Killed by Indians
May 4, 1876

He was enroute to the new gold discoveries in the Black Hills when
surprised and killed by a band of Sioux Warriors as part of their
last stand against encroachment of their sacred land by the white
man.  He was buried on this spot by the citizens of the new village
of Rapid City [Pennington County].

http://www.findagrave.com [Memorial#: 39386802]

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appearing in "Daily Interocean" [IL], 19 MAY 1877 [excerpted from a 
letter sent by pioneers travelling west (from the Chicago area) 
dated 03 MAY 1877]:

"Going to the Hills: More Experiences of the Chicago Party"

PULLING WAGONS THROUGH THE MUD

[...other stories...]

Another murder that was perpetrated on this route last year was that
of a man who left his train at Cheyenne River and walked on foot,
thinking to reach Rapid City in the evening.  He got within two and
a half miles of the city, and the Indians shot him, scalping him,
cutting his ears off, and otherwise mutilating him.

The inscription on his headstone reads nearly like the other.  His
name was William Coogan, from Watertown, Wis., and was killed April
25, 1876 [sic].

[...other stories...]

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