Created by Brian

Benjamin F. Coplen 

Birth

18 Dec 1842

Fulton County, Indiana, USA

Death

12 May 1914 (aged 71)

Plummer Junction, Benewah County, Idaho, USA

Burial

Latah Cemetery

Latah, Spokane County, Washington, USA

Plot3-5-11

Memorial ID 14423525

Coplen, Benjamin F.,
b. 1842,

UNION COLORADO TERRITORY VOLUNTEERS
3rd Regiment, Colorado Cavalry

Regiment organized at Denver, Colo., for 100 days' service August 20 to September 21, 1864.
Duty at Denver till September 27.
Operations against Arapahoe and Cheyenne Indians in the District of Colorado October to December.
Company "G" at Camp Baxter, Company "A" at Camp Cass, Companies "E," "B," "I," "K," "L," and "M" at Camp Elbert, Company "F," at Junction Station, Company "C" at Latham Station, Company "B" at Old Fort Lupton and Company "D" at Valley Station.

Skirmish near Valley Station October 10.
Engagement with Indians at Sand Creek, Colo., November 29.
Mustered out at Denver December 31, 1864.

Benjamin F. Coplen
The residence was not listed;
Enlisted on 9/1/1864 at Denver, CO as a Private.
On 9/1/1864 he mustered into "G" Co. CO 3rd Cavalry
He was Mustered Out on 12/31/1864 at Denver, CO
(Estimated enlistment date)
Sources used by Historical Data Systems, Inc.:
- Index to Compiled Military Service Records
- Official Army Register of the Volunteer Force 1861-1865
(c) Historical Data Systems, Inc. @ www.civilwardata.com

Benjamin Coplen, along with his brothers, is credited with the 1876 discovery of fossilized bones of the Palouse wooly mammoth in a boggy area of the Coplen homestead at Latah, Washington. The 13-foot tall mount of these mammoth bones, the first full mammoth mount in North America, was exhibited at Chicago's World Columbian Exposition of 1893 and is now on display in the Chicago Field Museum of Natural History. B. F. Coplen became the first mayor of the newly incorporated town of Latah in 1893. He moved to Plummer, Idaho, in 1907, where he passed away in 1914.
The source is "The Visible Bones" by Jack Nisbet, quoted in Historylink.org 12 Oct 2005 (https://www.historylink.org/File/7512) and "The Palouse Mammoths" from The Inlander, 5 Apr 2001 (https://tinyurl.com/4ws28p68).
Contributor: Kathy Hilliard (47133886)

Benjamin F Coplen married his first wife in Iowa. He mined for two years in Colorado City, CO prior to his marriage. After marriage, he returned to Colorado City in 1863 where he continued in the mining business until his wife's death in 1865. In 1837, he went to Wyoming and two years later, to Nevada. In about 1870, he joined his father's family in Walla Walla WA. He founded the town of Latah WA and after it was incorporated in 1892, he was its first mayor. Benjamin traveled to VA and PA researching records of his family and left valuable information for his descendants.
Source: Excerpts from "The Copeland/Coplen and Allied Families Immigrants to Virginia" by Herman L Coplen jr

Buried at Latah Cemetery
Row: Plot3-5-11