The Bozeman weekly chronicle. (Bozeman, Mont.) 1883-1889, 1883-09-12

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the body of man or a horse would
occasionally be found on his trail from
place on. The bulk Of the Sioux must
have been concealed in gulches and be-
hind ridges and retreating Indians have
led him into the trap, for in the rough
country where the very serious work
must have commenced, the bodies of the
dead had bullet holes in front, back and
sides, showing plainly that from every
hilltop and gulch and coulie in front, on
each side and to the rear, there came
deadly fire, from which there was no
escape.
In the writer's individual opinion the
leading spirit, Gen. Custer, must have
been killed in tlih first attack: for his
proverbial presence Of mind and skill in
handling menin critial places would have
guided the command to position from
which an organized resistance could have
been made. Only in one place were there
signs of a military maneuver having been
performed. Almost an entire company
(Keogh) was lying dead near tho crest of
little hill, in skirmish line and regular
order.
IfGen. Custer was not known person
ally by the Indians, he was recognized
by them as the leader, for two soldiers
were laid crosswise, as an X and the
body supposed to be his was placed on
them, partly in sitting and partly re-
clining position. From his person as
from nearly all Of the Others, the outer
clothing had been taken and some were
entirely stripped. A few had been
scalped and mutilated, but not so badly
as those killed in Reno's stampede, who
were cut up 20 as to be unrecognizable.
Every one Of the dead lying on Clusters
battle field had been turned and left
face downward by the savages.
Mich Boyer and the two Crow scouts
who had been with this command, were
never found, and it is supposed, that the
Sioux, finding the Crows their pereditary
enemies, and Boyer, who partly Of their
blood, was altogether their foe, had taken
their bodies to camp and over them held
the scalp dance, that was kept in opera
ton all Of the night Of the 25th. Three
of the Crow scouts that had ran away
from Reno, met Gen. Terry near the
mouth of tee Little Horn, and told him
of the killing of Clusters force, which
story Terry did not believe. From the
meeting of Terry and these fleeing Indi-
ans and the absence of the bodies of the
Crows on the battle field, came the story,
which some yet believe, of Crow survi-
vor of Clusters fight.
When Reno's force had been joined by
Terry's and Gibbons, which had march
ed up the Yellowstone to the mouth of
the Big Horn and up this stream and the
Little Horn to the scene Of the conflict,
their combined forces moved to a better
camp and short ways down the river,
and the survivors Of the 9TH cavalry
spent the remainder of this day, the
9th, in burying their comrades that had
fallen in the Reno fight. The next
morning the same regiment went to the
scene of Clusters struggle and performed
the same ceremony, for the dead of this
place. The corpses had lain in the hot
sun from the afternoon Of the 25th till
the morning of the 2Sth, and were hardly
recognizable.
The officers, as far as known, were
buried in separate shallow graves, in
each of which q stake, having a number
cut on it, was driven out of sight, and in
a book of record. these numbers were
put opposite the respective names. The
soldiers were put in shallow trenches and
hastily covered, and some that laid
away from where the main fight had
taken place, were covered only by sage
brush. All of the dead were not found
at this time, for long afterward the body
of kellogg, the New York Herald cores
pondent, was discovered lying near the
head of a gulch, mile away from the
battlefield, and when in the fall the
soldiers were re-buried and the officers
removed, the detachment that came for
that purpose found the bones of several
soldiers that had not been seen at first,
and many of them that had been covered
had been dug up and their bones scatter
ed by cavotes.
From an eyewitness of part of the in
terment, and all of the resurrection, and
who holds himself responsible for the
statement this is given. That no one on
earth can tell where Clusters bones lie
to-day that the most of the officers
graves had been opened by wolves and
their bones scattered and mixed, and
that even in the first place the recogni.
ton of the bodies was mostly conjecture
But wherever his bones lie, he rests in
peace, and to his memory all must give
the credit due to brave and daring man
who, though he may have made mis-
take of Judgment in this, his last fight
and only defeat, yet bravely died as he
had expressed wish to die, in the heat
of battle and the face of the foe.
There were thirteen officers, 205 rank
and file, three civilians two of these
being relatives of CUSTER and Mich Boy.
er and the two Crows killed with Custer
altogether 224 men. OF these but 2O4
were buried by Reno on the 2Sth.
In Reno's command there were two
officers, 80 rank and file. one white scout
three Indian scouts, and colored inter
prefer killed, with two officers and 81
men wounded, being more than half thu
regiment that were killed and disabled
From some Cheyenne participants ir
these battles, the following particulars o
the Indian forces engaged, were gather
ed. There were Brule, Uncapapa, Ogal