Telegraph Wire

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Lore & Background

The Powder River Telegraph Repair Station was established on November 1, 1878 by soldiers of the 9th U.S. Infantry from Camp Devin on the right bank of the Powder River in southeastern Montana Territory, along the Black Hills to Fort Keogh telegraph route. Private Leopold Hohman, of Company E, 5th Infantry was assigned to the station on December 20, 1878, and given command. Privates J. Broderick and L. Smith, also of the 5th Infantry, were transferred to the outpost in early 1879 as repairmen, and the line was opened for communication in April. The opening skirmish of the Mizpah Creek Incidents, in which two U.S. Army telegraph repairmen were shot by Cheyenne warriors, took place nearby on April 5, 1879. By 1881, the outpost was "supplied with a complete set of telegraph instruments and repair tools" and maintained "66 miles of wire" between the sections of the Little Missouri Telegraph Station and that of Fort Keogh. Private Hohman left the station on April 14, 1881, and was honorably discharged that May, but he didn't leave the Powder River without leaving his mark. On a hill now called Soldiers Mount that overlooks the site of the station on the east side of the Powder River, Hohman carved his name, role, company, regiment, and the years he served the station onto a sandstone boulder that can still be read today. Hohman's rock is located about one mile east of the present-day community of Powderville. After Hohman left, Private Shultz of the 2nd Cavalry took over command of the station, and the force was decreased by one man. By the early 1880s, the route of the telegraph line became the Deadwood-Miles City stagecoach road, and in 1885 the civilian community of Powderville was built adjacent to the station. The Powder River telegraph repair station was decommissioned in 1883, although U.S. Army troops from Fort Keogh continued operating in the area into the 1890s.

In Their Own Story

On April 5, 1879, two U.S. Army telegraph repairmen were shot by Cheyenne warriors near the Powder River Telegraph Repair Station. This was the opening skirmish of the Mizpah Creek Incidents. The station had only been open for communication since the previous month. Private Leopold Hohman, who had been given command of the station on December 20, 1878, continued his service until April 14, 1881. Before leaving, he climbed a hill now called Soldiers Mount, overlooking the station site on the east side of the Powder River. There, he carved his name, role, company, regiment, and the years he served onto a sandstone boulder. That rock can still be read today, about one mile east of the present-day community of Powderville.

Reader's Guide

The Powder River Telegraph Repair Station was a U.S. Army outpost that maintained 66 miles of wire between the Little Missouri Telegraph Station and Fort Keogh. It was supplied with a complete set of telegraph instruments and repair tools. The station was established on November 1, 1878 by soldiers of the 9th U.S. Infantry from Camp Devin. Private Leopold Hohman of Company E, 5th Infantry was assigned command on December 20, 1878, with Privates J. Broderick and L. Smith transferred as repairmen in early 1879. The line opened for communication in April 1879. The station was decommissioned in 1883, though Army troops from Fort Keogh operated in the area into the 1890s. The telegraph route later became the Deadwood-Miles City stagecoach road, and in 1885 the civilian community of Powderville was built adjacent to the station.

Did You Know?

• The Powder River Telegraph Repair Station was established on November 1, 1878 by soldiers of the 9th U.S. Infantry from Camp Devin.
• Private Leopold Hohman carved his name, role, company, regiment, and years of service onto a sandstone boulder on Soldiers Mount, about one mile east of present-day Powderville.
• The opening skirmish of the Mizpah Creek Incidents occurred nearby on April 5, 1879, when two U.S. Army telegraph repairmen were shot by Cheyenne warriors.
• By 1881, the station maintained 66 miles of wire between the Little Missouri Telegraph Station and Fort Keogh.
• The station was decommissioned in 1883, but U.S. Army troops from Fort Keogh continued operating in the area into the 1890s.