The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1876-07-27
CUSTER'S SCOUTS.

among the list of the killed in the re-
cent battle on the Little Horn. the
names of Charley Reynolds, the scout.
and Bloody Knife, a famous Indian.
who had been with Custer for several
years. in charge of the detachment of
friendly Indians which are kept at the
post as an auxiliary TO the regular
troops. Some of your readers may be
kind enough TO remember a sketch of
Charley Reynolds I reported in one of
my letters from the Black Hills. He
was a remarkable man, in many re-
spects, and had remarkable history
"LoNEsoME CHARLEY REYNOLDS
he was called, because of his seclusive-
ness-an absent, silent way he. had,
that made him a wonder and a mystery
among the loud-tOngued, open-mouthed
boisterous men of his class-and they
called his silence and reserve "lone-
someness." 1t was lonesomeness. 1t
was the feeling Of a man who had no
home, no contidants; no aspirations be-
yond the successful performance of the
duties each day brought. No one in
the north country knew his true name.
Ills companion suspected-I be-
lieve he gave him rea-
son TO suppose-that Charley
Reynolds was only an assumption To
conceal his identity. He appeared AZ
Fort Lincoln about the time the North
eTn Pacific Railroad was completed tn
Bismarck, having come with his "part-
ner' from the Montana Mountains.
where they had been hunting and trap
ping for several years. His "partner''
was rough fellOw-totallyu unlike Rev
nolds-but was Reynolds's warmest
friend and most ardent admirer. To
hear him relate Reynolds's exploits was
like hearing a mother tell of the vir-
tues of favorite son; but YOU never
heard a word of his own adventures
from Reynoids's lips.
lasked him once while we were riding
side by side over the plains behind Gus
ter to tell me something of his expert
ence. He said he didn't remember any
thing worth telling.
g have understood" l said to him.
that your experience has been very
remarkable
g don't think so, said he, laughing,
81 guess you can fill your paper with
out saying any thing about me-"
THE STORY HIS PARTNER TOLD
of Reynolds's life was very romantic. ]
told it in one of my letters 81 1874, but
in connection with hts terrible fate it i
worth repeating, 1t was this.
Reynolds's family lived in Central
Tennessee, and were people of wealth
and position. He was sent North to be
educated, and was in college-what col
iege his partner did not know-when
the war broke out. Having imbibed the
spirit of Northern institutions. Reynolds
found himself at variance with his fam.
lily, who were bitter rebels. His father
entered the Confederate army early in
the war. but the son could not join him
and fight against his principles: nor
could he join the Federal army and fight
against his own blood; neither could he
remain at home and endure the stigma
of cowardice, and tire reproaches of his
mother and sister, who comprised the
rest of the family, so he packed his
trunk and went West to the mines on
the Pacific coast. Here he remained
till 1865, when he returned to Tonnes
see; but war had made his home desc
late; his father had been killed, hi,
mother had died, and the only trace he
could get of his sister was that she had
married a rebel officer and gone further
South. He spent some months search
ing for his sister without finding the
slightest clew, and then returned to the
mines, drifting from one place to an
other, having various adventures as a
miner, hunter and trapper, scout and
guide, till finally he stranded at Fort
Lincoln, when he found an appreciative
companion in Custer, who employed
him to perform duties for which or
dirary men were too cowardly or in
competent. There was a mutual ad-
miration between the men. Custer
came nearer fathOming the depth of
Reynolds's nature than any one ever
did, think, and appreciated him at
something near his value. lean mag
inc them fighting side by side in their
death struggle.
BLOODY KNIFE,
the chief of Clusters scouts, was a re-
markahle Indian. His father was a
Sioux and his mother an Arickaree, or
cree" Indian, as they are commonly
called; and in 1874 he told me be was
AZ summers old. At one time Bloody
Knife was chief of the Unca-papa band
of SiouX-the position which Sitting
Bull now has-but was deposed for
some cause or another, and, leaving the
tribe of his father, Joined his mothers
nation, in which, by his bravery and
superior intelligence, he became one of
the head men. The Arickarees are now
almost extinct, having been nearly ex.
terminated by the Sioux, who have been
their hereditary enemies. The remnant
of them live at the different military
reservations on the Missouri, not being
strong enough to protect themselves
against their old enemies. Bloody
Knife knew every inch of the country
north of the Cheyenne and westward to
the Rocky Mountains, and was very
valuable aid to Custer in the explora-
tions of the Yellowstone and the Black
HIS. lie was very peculiar Indian,
especially in one respect, namely, that
he had a penchant for adopting the
customs of the whites. In appearance
he was slender man, somewhat below
the ordinary height of the Indian, and
would not have weighed more than $50
pounds. His features were nearer the
Cuban or Spanish than the Indian type.
His nose was aquiline; his mouth small
and his lips thin; his cheek-bones did
not protrude in the manner of ordinary
Indian faces, and his eyes were more
like the Caucasian than any l ever no
ticed in an Indian head.
HE WAS A CYNIC,
was Bloody Knife, and never allowed
himself to be caught by the cheap chaff
and tawdry fnery which the white man
generally filings out to win the red mans
favor. He wore none of the traditional
ornaments of his race; there were no
beads in his hair, which he wore I'M
braided and featherless, although it fell
in great Jumps on his shoulders; there
were no bracelets on his arms, or rings
on his fingers. His clothing was such
as the ordinary soldier wearS-the on
ly remnant of the traditional Indian
garments about him being a pair of