Sword Presentation.

The Planters House, Denver 1862.

Sword Presentation.

Jan. 15, 1863 - A very pleasant little occurrence transpired at the Planters' House, on Wednesday evening last. By invitation some thirty or forty gentlemen were assembled there for what proved to be a surprise. After being ushered into the parlor, by mine host of the occasion, Capt. Shaffer, Major Wynkoop, was introduced, and the Captain proceeded to present to him a beautiful sword, as a mark of esteem from several of his brother officers of the "Glorious First." The presentation speech was very neat and appropriate, and did much honor to the donors.
Major Wynkoop's reply was very feeling, and he seemed at a loss to find words to express his emotions as he desired. He closed with a solemn promise: "never to draw this blade except in a just cause, and never to sheath it in dishonor." His remarks were worthy of the brave soldier he is known to be. Altogether, the affair was one of the most pleasant episodes in which we have ever participated in Denver. After a brief interchange of congratulations, and pleasant civilities, the company disbursed. - The Weekly Rocky Mountain News.

Source:

Happer, Alexandra, "Colorado History From Early Day Newspapers; Edward W. Wynkoop Indian Agent", Colorado Prospector, P. O. Box 6482, Denver, Colorado, Vol. 23, No. 1, (January 1992), p. 4, cols. 2-3

Also:

Unknown, "Sword Presentation," Weekly Rocky Mountain News, Denver, Colorado, Thursday, 15 January, 1863, Page 1.

Note & Acknowledgements:

"Wednesday evening last", would be January 7, 1863, since January 15th was a Thursday.

I'd like to thank my good friend, Charles Hill, the current owner of Ned's presentation sword, for first sending me a copy of this article way back in 1997 or 1998. His copy was black with age and had no date. Evidently it had been copied for him from the Wynkoop Scrapbook in New Mexico. I was able to do a transcription of the article after many hours of hard work, but unfortunately I lost it somewhere down the corridors of time. I'm very pleased to finally present it here, (with the actual date of publication and the name of the newspaper it appeared in.)

I'd also like to thank Georgia Garnsey of Denver for copying the issue of the Colorado Prospector that this article appears in.

Charlie and Georgia, thanks so very much! I'm sorry it's taken so long to put it up. These things get away from me sometimes.

All my best,

Chris

Created February 12, 2002; Revised December 8, 2005
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