Edward Wanshear Wynkoop (June 19, 1836 – September 11, 1891) was an American US Army Colonel during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

. He was a founder of the city of

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

. Wynkoop Street in Denver is named after him.

History

Edward Wanshaer Wynkoop was born on June 19, 1836, in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, the youngest of eight children. His father was John Wanshaer Wynkoop (1794-1837) and his mother was Angelina Catharine Estill (1803-1877). He was the great-grandson of

Continental Congress The Continental Congress was a series of legislative bodies, with some executive function, for thirteen of Britain's colonies in North America, and the newly declared United States just before, during, and after the American Revolutionary War. ...

member, Judge

Henry Wynkoop Henry Wynkoop (March 2, 1737March 25, 1816) was a member of the Continental Congress (from 1779) and later a United States representative for the state of Pennsylvania during the First United States Congress, 1789 to 1791. Life and career Wyn ...

. He had five sons and three daughters with Louise Brown Wakely between 1862 and 1878. His grandson was noted architect Francis W. Wynkoop. Wynkoop was appointed the first Sheriff of Arapahoe County, Kansas Territory (entire NE quarter of present State of Colorado) on September 21, 1858. Wynkoop served as an officer in the First Colorado Volunteer Cavalry during the

, attaining the rank of major of volunteers, and was

brevetted In many of the world's military establishments, a brevet ( or ) was a warrant giving a commissioned officer a higher rank title as a reward for gallantry or meritorious conduct but may not confer the authority, precedence, or pay of real rank. ...

lieutenant colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

in May 1865. During a period as post commander at

Fort Lyon, Colorado Fort Lyon is an unincorporated community and U.S. Post Office in Bent County, Colorado, United States. The Fort Lyon Post Office has the ZIP Code 81054. A post office called Fort Lyon was established in 1862. The community was named after Nat ...

in 1864, Wynkoop encouraged peace efforts with the

Cheyenne The Cheyenne ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Great Plains. Their Cheyenne language belongs to the Algonquian language family. Today, the Cheyenne people are split into two federally recognized nations: the Southern Cheyenne, who are enroll ...

, but was transferred in November 1864 to

Fort Riley Fort Riley is a United States Army installation located in North Central Kansas, on the Kansas River, also known as the Kaw, between Junction City and Manhattan. The Fort Riley Military Reservation covers 101,733 acres (41,170 ha) in Gear ...

, Kansas, where he was posted at the time of the Sand Creek massacre. On behalf of the U.S. Army he investigated Col. John M. Chivington's conduct at Sand Creek, which led to Chivington's condemnation. In 1866, Wynkoop became an Indian agent for the

Southern Cheyenne The Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes are a united, federally recognized tribe of Southern Arapaho and Southern Cheyenne people in western Oklahoma. History The Cheyennes and Arapahos are two distinct tribes with distinct histories. The Cheyenne (Tsi ...

s and

Arapaho The Arapaho (; french: Arapahos, ) are a Native American people historically living on the plains of Colorado and Wyoming. They were close allies of the Cheyenne tribe and loosely aligned with the Lakota and Dakota. By the 1850s, Arapaho band ...

, resigning in December 1868 in protest of the destruction of

Black Kettle Black Kettle (Cheyenne: Mo'ohtavetoo'o) (c. 1803November 27, 1868) was a prominent leader of the Southern Cheyenne during the American Indian Wars. Born to the ''Northern Só'taeo'o / Só'taétaneo'o'' band of the Northern Cheyenne in the Black ...

's village in the

Battle of Washita River The Battle of Washita River (also called Battle of the Washita or the Washita Massacre) occurred on November 27, 1868, when Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer's 7th U.S. Cavalry attacked Black Kettle's Southern Cheyenne camp on the Washita Rive ...

. He later became warden of the

New Mexico penitentiary The Penitentiary of New Mexico (PNM) is a men's maximum-security prison located in unincorporated Santa Fe County, south of central Santa Fe, on New Mexico State Road 14. It is operated by the New Mexico Corrections Department. The complex consi ...

. Edward lived with his wife and eight children in Santa Fe, New Mexico, between about 1885 and 1891, during which time he was Warden of the New Mexico Penitentiary.

Death

Wynkoop died on September 11, 1891 in

Santa Fe, New Mexico Santa Fe ( ; , Spanish for 'Holy Faith'; tew, Oghá P'o'oge, Tewa for 'white shell water place'; tiw, Hulp'ó'ona, label=Tiwa language, Northern Tiwa; nv, Yootó, Navajo for 'bead + water place') is the capital of the U.S. state of New Mexico. ...

, at the age of 55. He was buried there.Hardorff 2006, p. 45 note 1.

References

Notes

* Hardorff, Richard G., compiler & editor (2006). ''Washita Memories: Eyewitness Views of Custer's Attack on Black Kettle's Village''. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press. .

External links

Edward Wynkoop at Find a grave
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wynkoop, Edward Wanshear 1836 births 1868 deaths History of Denver People of Colorado in the American Civil War Military personnel from Philadelphia Union Army officers United States Indian agents American people of Dutch descent People from Denver