Brown Bag Program: Lee Cullimore, Author

Lee M. Cullimore, author of The Boys of Company K: Ohio Cavalry Soldier in the West During the Civil War, will talk about his book at the Niobrara County Library at noon on Tuesday, June 12. Attendees may bring their lunch for this brown-bag program.

The book is told largely through the writings of three soldiers. The men volunteered to fight in the Civil War but instead they were sent to Fort Laramie to guard the trails and telegraph lines and to build remote outposts around southern Wyoming.

Because the story is from the eyes of common soldiers of the Eleventh Ohio Cavalry, rather than officers, it offers a more personal portrayal of life on the western frontier and contains insights on how solders dealt with boredom, violence, extremes in weather, lack of training, and loneliness.

Readers looking for information on early history of Wyoming will find many fascinating details in the text.

Company K soldiers were involved in the Platte Bridge Battle where Caspar Collins was killed, and the Casper Troopers Drum and Bugle Corps wear uniforms based on those of the soldiers of the Eleventh Ohio Cavalry. Company K soldiers also participated in the Powder River Expedition.

Lee Cullimore worked for 35 years as a writer, editor and publisher of special interest magazines, mostly in the outdoor recreation and natural history fields. He also produced a series of radio programs titled “The Great Outdoors” that was broadcast for ten years on more than five hundred radio stations. He was also executive director of the American Water Ski Association.

Lee now combines his training and experience as a researcher and journalist with a lifelong interest in American history, particularly the expansionist period from 1812 to the beginning of the twentieth century. His first book, An Imperfect Odyssey published in 2010, follows an Irish family’s journey across America from 1729 to the present.

For more information about the program contact the library at 334-3490.