St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1873-02-28
Discovery of the Remains of Lieut..
Kidder.

Life on the PlainS." by Gen. Custer.
in the February number of the Galaxy.
contains the following account of the
discovery of the remains of Lieut.. Kid
der. son of Hon. }. =. Kidder. formerly
of West Randolph. who was killed by
the Indians whilst in the line of duty aS
an army officer:
'Nmle sitting i'll my quarters one
day at Fort LeaVenworth. late in the
fall of 1867, IL gentleman was announc-
ed. whose name recalled sad and
narrowing sight. 1t proved to the ia
ther of Lieut.. kidder, whose massacre.
with that of his entire party of eleven
men. was described in preceding pa
geS. 1t will be remembered that the
>avagcs had hacked. mangled. and
burned the bodies of Kidder and his
men to such an extent that it WAS i'm
possible to recognize the bodies of Il
single one of the party; even the cloth
ing had been removed. so that we
could not distinguish the officer from
his men. or the men from each other,
10y amy fragment of their grade Mr.
kiddcr. after Introducing himself. an
nounced the object of his visit it was
To ascertain the spot where the remains
of his son lay buried. and after procur-
ing suitable military escort to proceed
to the grave and di>inter his sons re
>sprepaliaory to transferring them
to Il resting place in Dakota, of which
Territory he Was ut that time one of
the Judiciary. 1t was IL painful task
had to perform when | communicated
to the father the details of the killing
of his son and followers. And equally
harraS>ing to the feelings was it To have
to inform him that there was no possi-
hlc chance of his being able to recog-
nize his sons remains. WAS there
not the tlinteSt mark or fragment of
his uniform hy which he might be
known :" inquired the anxious parent.
Not one. was the reluctant reply.
And Yet. since now recall the ap-
pearance of the manglcd and di>tigurcd
remains. there was IL mere tritic which
attracted my attention, but it could
not have been Your son who wore it,"
"What was it ," eagerly inquired the
father. at waS simply the collar
band of one of these ordinary check
oVcrShilt> 81 commonly worn on the
plains. the collar being black and
white. tn" remainder of the garment.
a> well as all other articles of dress.
having been torn or burned from the
body. Mr.. kidder then requested me
to repeat the description of the collar
and material of which it was made
happily had some cloth of very Simi-
lar appearance. and upon exhibiting
this to MI. kidder, to show the kind
meant he declared that the body re-
tCIIcd tO could b'. mU other than that of
his murdered son. He went on To tell
how his son had received his appoint
mcnt i'll the army hut Il few weeks he
fore his death. he only having report
ed tor duty with his company few
days before being sent on the scout
which terminated his life: and how.
before leaving his home to engage in
the military service. his mother with
that thoughtful care and tenderness
which onlN y Il mother can feel. prepared F..
some articles of wearing apparel /
among others Il few shirts made from
the checked material already de>clihcd. /.
Mr.. kiddcr had been to Fort Srdu - |
wick on the Platte. from which post he
wore one of the checked shirts and put
an extra one III his saddle pockets I
| pom this triflimg link of evidence Mr. /.
kiddcr proceeded four hundred miles .
west of Fort Wallace. and there being
with military r>coSt visited .
the grave containing the bodies Of the .
twelve ma>>Hcred men. pom di>in-
tering the remains Il body was found .
;r> ! had described it. bearing the sim
pie checked collar band &; the father rr-
cngniZcd the rcmdiu> of his son. and .
thus. as il WAS stated at the close of Il .
preceding chapter. WAS the evidence
of Il mothers love made the means 10y
which her sons body was recognized .
and reclaimed. when all others had fail
I'd