Wild, Wild West

A Mystery Identified

A few months ago, I stumbled upon a record for a Henry C. Holzgrafen who fought from 1863-1866 during the civil war in Company C of the 1st Cavalry California Volunteer Regiment. Immediately I thought this must be my third great-grandfather's brother, Henry Holzgrafe, who immigrated to the United States in 1845 and settled in Evansville, Indiana. Many questions arose from this hypothesis including, what was he doing enlisting in a California regiment when he had land and a family in Indiana? Does this period of enlistment even coincide with his timeline? Is there any other more suitable candidate who this veteran may be?

After doing a lot more research and going back and forth in who I believed he was, I finally determined that this individual is unique from the Holzgrafe family. Thus far he does not fit in the family tree and may be related to other Holzgraefe families of Northern Germany (there were at least four).

The spelling of his surname, Holzgrafen, is distinct from any other group which came out of Schweicheln to the United States. Yet having an "n" at the end of the name was not abnormal in the older German records. Sometimes surnames in the region would have the final "n" and others would omit it. I understand it as being much like the pluralizing "s" in English. For instance we have two surnames Wood and Woods. They may have originated from the same family, but after being separated for some time, the spellings diverged. So, Henry could still be related.

Cowboys and Indians

Col. Kit Carson in leading his men in the First Battle of Adobe Walls

He was born around 1833 in Germany and probably came to the states before 1849. He probably was a 49'er who ended up enlisting in the military in San Francisco, CA in 1863. He and the California Column traveled thousands of miles on horseback and ended up being led by Colonel Christopher (Kit) Carson through the First Battle of Adobe Walls on November 25, 1864 in which Henry Holzgrafen was listed as having been wounded. The battle took place in the panhandle of Texas along the Canadian River where Kit Carson and his men attacked a Comanche Indian settlement and was eventually forced to retreat when several Comanche and Kiowa settlements banded together and drove out the white men.

Chef Holzgrafen

Blake Street looking towards 15th street, Denver, CO 1866

In 1866, after finishing out his service with the California Volunteer Cavalry in New Mexico, Henry ended up in Denver, CO as proprietor and cook of Billy's Restaurant on 15th Street between Larimer and Lawrence. Denver was just a brand new western town at the time. In January 1867, Henry left his bills unpaid and joined the 7th US Cavalry Regiment at Fort Lyon, CO. Henry's position in the Regiment was cook, though it was not one he had for long. After seeing the terrible conditions of the food and supplies and the way in which Colonel George A. Custer treated his men, Henry and 80+ other men all deserted one night in April 1867 before Custer eventually led his men into the Battle of the Little Bighorn.

Miner Holzgrafen

Deadwood, SD 1870's

Henry made his escape and ended up in a small silver mining town called Montezuma, CO. He was listed in the 1870 Census as a cook. A newspaper article about the silver mining town mentions a Holzgrafen, H.C. and Company which made a large fortune from the mines. It must not have worked out, however, because in 1880 Henry can be found as a cook again in the mining town of Deadwood, Dakota Territory (South Dakota).

Finally, Henry appeared in the special census of 1890 for veterans. He was correctly identified in a tiny community called Elliston near Deer Lodge, Montana. No further information has been discovered yet about this man. I would love to find out specifically where he came from and if he fits into the family tree. It would be pretty neat to be related to a real Cowboy and man of the Wild, Wild West!