Pearce Atkinson was born January 9, 1868 in Cincinnati, Ohio, son of George W. P. and Margaret P. Atkinson. With his family [he had two younger brothers Clarence and Arthur] lived in Racine, Wisconsin, Cleveland, Ohio, Chicago and Evanston, Illinois. In 1885 he entered the School of Mechanical Engineering at Lehigh University, and joined the Delta Upsilon fraternity. He was a keen recorder of Lehigh activities and sports, especially football as reflected in his Scrapbook and had a wry sense of humor. While a sophomore student [1886] he received an appointment to the engineering corps of the Union Pacific Railway on the construction of railroad in Utah, with headquarters in Salt Lake City, but operations later moved to Cheyenne, Wyoming while the Union Pacific was constructing sections of the railroad in the vicinity of Fort David A. Russell where he was frequently invited to participate in the Fort’s social activities. He participated in the Junior Class Oratorical Contest with his speech “The Uses of Heroes.” He graduated in 1889, his senior thesis “Steam heating of railway cars” indicated his immediate career in railroading. He later became a contractor for the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair and between 1895 and 1896 worked for the Atkinson Mining Engineers and Mining Operators in Cripple Creek, Colorado. In 1896 he traveled to Cuba where he reportedly served as aide-de-camp for Cuban General Antonio Maceo Grajales. Atkinson was killed in action August 4, 1896 at Taco Toco in the province of Pinar del Rio, Cuba during a skirmish the Cuban insurrectionists had with the Spanish Army. The official entry of the United States into war with the Spanish in 1898 with the sinking of the USS Maine in Havana harbor came later. In the years prior to the sinking of the Maine, there was a fervent feeling in the United States to protect the American business interests in Cuba. The scrapbook not only includes Lehigh student memorabilia and newspaper articles which record his life on the Western frontier working for the Union Pacific Railroad Company where he met Wyoming’s longtime senator Francis E. Warren, spoke at a rally for President Benjamin Harrison and observed the lawlessness of rustlers on the open range. Although Atkinson’s life was unfortunately short, it was very interesting and intriguing. His affiliation with Fort D(avid) A. Russell in Wyoming is reflected by the many invitations to the U.S.Army social life at the fort even though he was a railroad man. Fort D. A. Russell was at one time the largest cavalry post in the United States. It was established in 1867 to protect the Union Pacific Railway workers, the telegraph lines and stagecoaches traveling between Denver and Julesburg from roaming Indian attacks. In 1884 it became a permanent base due to its strategic location. It was home to three Black regiments: 9th, 10th Cavalry and the 24th Infantry (the famous Buffalo soldiers). Mr. Atkinson was an acquaintance of Senator Francis Emory Warren, a long serving senator for Wyoming to Washington. In 1930 Fort Russell had a name change to Fort F. E. Warren, in 1949 it changed again to the Francis E. Warren Air Force Base and in 1975 was designated a National Historic Landmark for distinctively preserving the many stages of evolution from frontier cavalry base to an Air Force Base. As to Mr. Atkinson’s unfortunate death in Cuba, it was based on American idealism. The Cuban struggle for independence from Spain began in 1895. According to many “yellow journalism” newspapers, the Cuban conflict was injurious to U. S. investment [Bethlehem Steel had coal mines in Cuba for example]. In the Spring of 1896 the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives declared by concurrent resolution that belligerent rights should be accorded to the insurgents (the Cubans) but President Cleveland opposed intervention and ignored the expression of congressional opinion. During the years 1895-1898 the Cuban War of Independence waged without direct involvement of the U.S. The most notable events of U.S. involvement - the sinking of the U.S. ship Maine in Havana harbor and Teddy Roosevelt and his Rough Riders along with the buffalo soldiers from Fort Russell [Cheyenne, Wyo.] made Roosevelt’s fame by charging up San Juan Hill. It took the sinking of the U.S.S. Maine to get the United States to declare war on Spain on behalf of the Cubans. Prior to this declaration of war many idealistic young men went to Cuba to get involved in the idea of “Cuba Libre.” Lehigh’s Brown and White posted Mr. Atkinson’s obituary in March 1902. It describes Mr. Atkinson’s death and temporary burial at the site where he fell in Cuba and the long delay to have his body returned to Cincinnati for burial with his family.