DENVER POST Editorial THESE HONORED DEAD 5/12/02

The U.S. Army Rangers' motto, "Leave no man behind,'" powerfully expresses an ancient military ethos that reflects the deep bond among soldiers: Even the dead aren't willingly abandoned.

In reality, though, there's a huge gap between principle and praxis - thousands of Americans rest in foreign fields where they fell. Still, Uncle Sam goes to extraordinary lengths to give our
war dead proper burial.

Now, even though the Army wants to do the right thing for a dozen cavalry troopers killed in the September 1879 Battle of MilkCreek during the Indian Wars, some complications may thwart the
effort, as Rocky Mountain Ranger Ron Franscell reports in today's Post.

Denver amateur historian Brad Edwards, who claims he's found the battle site near Meeker and recovered artifacts there, told Franscell he also found two human skulls believed to be those of the slain troopers. Edwards says the remains were buried about 30 inches deep.

Thirteen soldiers from Fort Fred Steele in Wyoming, including their commanding officer, Maj. Thomas T. Thornburgh, were killed fighting the Utes after the so-called Meeker Massacre. Thornburgh led about 150 troops to engage the Utes in battle at Milk Creek. The Civil War veteran and West Point graduate was killed almost instantly. As the soldiers fought off the Indians, they covered their comrades' corpses with dirt as a breastworks to provide cover.

After the battle, the dead soldiers were buried in a mass grave. Thornburgh's remains were recovered and reburied later, first in Omaha but finally in Arlington National Cemetery. But the other soldiers killed at Milk Creek lay in their unmarked grave until Edwards made his macabre discovery in October 2000 on the Yellowjacket Ranch, 20 miles northeast of Meeker. Edwards claims the owners, Charles and Tootsie Carroll of Florida, have barred him from the property. The spread's managers had sworn Edwards to secrecy about his excavations, he says, but that was
before he found the remains.

Edwards sought the help of Army Maj. Gen. Kenneth Bowra, a Ranger and a 32-year veteran, who wrote the owners an unanswered letter requesting permission to recover the troopers' remains. "Generals are a dime a dozen (Bowra) is nothing more than chopped liver on this issue," said the Carrolls' lawyer, John Savage of Rifle. He denounced Edwards as a looter. The Army says it wants only to recover the remains of the troopers and rebury them appropriately. That's not an unreasonable request. It would be in everybody's best interests for an amicable solution to be reached so the long-dead troopers can get a proper military burial, possibly in the new veterans cemetery set to open in Grand Junction this summer.

The land may belong to the Carrolls, but not the bones of U.S. soldiers killed at Milk Creek.