Bradford Ripley Alden - Hornbrook, CA - Citizen Memorials on Waymarking.com

This citizen memorial was previously located on the west side of Interstate-5 (based off a topography map) but was relocated to its current location and resides with two other monuments here. The stone monument contains a bronze plaque that reads:

BRADFORD RIPLEY ALDEN 1811-1870 ON AUG. 8 1853 CAPTAIN ALDEN LED 10 MEN OF THE 4th U.S. INFANTRY FROM FORT JONES AND 80 VOLUNTEERS FROM YREKA OVER THESE MOUNTAINS TO THE ASSISTANCE OF THE ROGUE RIVER VALLEY. THIS FORCE AUGMENTED BY 100 VOLUNTEERS FROM OREGON DEFEATED THE INDIANS ON BATTLE MOUNTAIN WHERE CAPTAIN ALDEN WAS SEVERELY WOUNDED. ERECTED BY HIS GRANDCHILDREN AND THE SISKIYOU COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY 1948

In doing some research online, I could find no pertinent info regarding this battle. I was able to locate an obituary on Captain Alden from FindaGrave.com (link below). It reads:

United States Army Officer. A graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, Class of 1831, he was posted as a 2nd Lieutenant in the 4th United States Infantry.

After serving in the Seminole Wars and as an instructor at West Point, he was detailed as an Aide-de-camp to Major General Winfield Scott. His tenure as a staff officer began on September 3, 1840, and ended on June 14, 1842, when he was promoted to Captain and sent back to his regiment for duty in the field. After service commanding his detachment of the 4th Infantry in Texas for three years, he was assigned back to West Point as the Commandant of Cadets, upon the endorsement of General Scott. He served in that duty from December 14, 1845 to November 1, 1852, during which time 263 cadets were graduated that would go on to become Generals during the Civil War (they include such figures as Union Generals George B. McClellan, John Buford, Gouverneur K. Warren and John Gibbon, and Confederate Generals Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson, Henry Heth, George E. Pickett and Charles W. Field).

Sent to the Pacific Coast in 1853, he was given command of Fort Jones, located in Northern California. When Indians along the Rogue River in southeastern Oregon threatened an uprising, Captain Alden led an expedition of his Regular troops plus an regiment of volunteers the from local populace (who elected him "Colonel" even though that rank was unofficial and honorary). In severe fighting on August 24, 1853 at the Rogue River, his command defeated the Indians, but he received a gunshot wound through the shoulder that permanently disabled him, and forced him to resign on September 24, 1853, a month later.

His post-military career included travels in Europe, and was one of the first men to drill for oil in the fields of western Pennsylvania in the late 1850s.

During the Civil War his great desire to serve was thwarted by his disability, and efforts to raise a regiment of volunteers and to serve as a staff officer both were unsuccessful due to his injuries. He eventually succumbed to his wounds on September 10, 1870 at Newport, Rhode Island.

In addition, I located a nice article from Jefferson Backroads, a historical magazine that highlights Captain Alden's life and it reads:

Under the temporal guidance of Phil Pepperdine, presiding Humbug of the E Clampus Vitus Humbug Chapter at the time, the Chapter relocated this plaque to Hornbrook. Interstate 5 was being expanded and construction activity would ultimately cover the plaque up. CalTrans wanted the plaque moved, or they were going to push it off into the rubble left over from the freeway expansion project. The Chapter took action. Led by members Dan Weimers, Phil, Mac McKellar, and Tim Delany, the plaque was relocated to Hornbrook. Located at the entrance to Henley-Hornbook, this monument shares space with two other Chapter plaques. The plaques are a short drive along Interstate 5 to Exit 789 just off the freeway east along Copco Road. You will get a lot of bang for the historical monument search buck. You will not only see the Bradford Ripley Alden monument, but plaques commemorating Cottonwood and the Daughters of the Confederacy’s Jefferson Davis monument.

A small dedication ceremony was held with about 25 folks in attendance. Dan and Mac did the presentations which were followed by the standard closing ECV salutatory sound of “Satisfactory.”

By 1851, Indian raids on Euro-American settlers became prevalent in southern Oregon. White encroachment on Rogue River Indian land triggered multiple incidents. To better prepare for future engagements, the United States Army began construction of Fort Jones in the Northern California Scott Valley. The fort was occupied in 1852.

General Ethan Hitchcock, commander of the Pacific Division, requested additional aid from the war department. As a result, reinforcements began arriving. Captain Alden and his Company E, 4th U.S. Infantry, reached Fort Vancouver via the Isthmus of Panama in the spring of 1853. From there they traveled 350 miles across Oregon Territory wilderness arriving at Fort Jones where he assumed command.

By the summer of 1853, a formidable uprising by the Rogue River Indians occurred. An Oregon appeal was sent to Fort Jones. Captain Alden, who had fought in the Seminole Indian Wars, immediately responded by leading into battle his regular troops as well as almost 200 volunteers from Oregon and California. Elected with the honorary title of Colonel, and outside his authorized jurisdiction, his command met heavy fighting near Jacksonville, Oregon on August 24, 1853. The Rogues assisted by the Shastas and Klamath bands living on the Applegate and Grave Creeks, engaged Colonel Alden’s troops. The battle lasted five hours. The Indians fled to the mountains, to return in full force for what later became known as the Rogue River Indian Wars of 1855.

Captain Alden paid personally for his valor. While loading a musket, he received a terrible wound through the shoulder, penetrating his spine. This produced partial paralysis and caused his resignation from the Army in September of that year. Ultimately ending his life early after 17 years of suffering, at the age of 59, Captain Alden joined his father on the other side of eternity on Sept. 10, 1870. His father, Major Roger Alden, had served in the Continental Army under General George Washington.

Website with more information on either the memorial or the person(s) it is dedicated to: [Web Link] Location: Not listed

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