William Coogan Gravesite - Rapid City, SD
N 44° 05.914 W 103° 09.246
13T E 647749 N 4884476
William Coogan was traveling through this area with gold on his mind when he had an unfortunate encounter with area Sioux. He is buried here, his final resting place marked by a large stone and plaque which were part of an Eagle Scout project.
Waymark Code: WM12JV5
Location: South Dakota, United States
Date Posted: 06/06/2020
Views: 3
The plaque provides some background:
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.
Boy Scout Eagle Project completed by Luke Eisenbraun - 2007
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Mr. Coogan's name is rendered as "Cogan" on the boulder that marks his final resting place, with a stamp that reads "Grave of Wm Cogan". The boulder has a steel beam as a support, and the grave is protected by a chain link fence, to protect against a different type of encroachment, i.e. "development."
Chuck Cecil's "Bull Trains to Deadwood" has a little bit of background, noting that Coogan was killed just weeks before the Battle of the Little Bighorn. He had been traveling with a small group, but with his goal in sight, he decided to pick up his own pace and break away from the slow-moving travelers he had accompanied. This turned out to be fatal, as the band of Sioux that he met killed him with a tomahawk before scalping him and slicing off his ears. The group that he had left found his body and reported it to local authorities, who gave Coogan a decent burial where he had fallen. So many years later, when I-90 was under construction, his remains were moved away from the highway's path, and Cecil notes that both the plaque and boulder were part of Eisenbraun's project. Eisenbraun's troop information itself is rather elusive, as there are nearly a dozen units in the Rapid City area today, all part of the Black Hills Area Council.