St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1893-09-04

had cOunSeled the Indians that the best
thing TO do was to make p OPPOSITION
to the government and avoid bloOdshed.
Sitting Bail knew that the uprising
must end in disaster to the cause of The
Sioux. but the Indians had tasted until
they were actually insane. You remen
'er, they were
EXPECTING THE MESSIAH,
and Jhey imagined they saw him in
every iieeting cloud. This is easily &C
counted for by any scientist. When
men starve themselves they have sort
of delirium. and this was the condition
of the Sioux. Sitting Bull did not dare
say he would not fight, as then the
Indians with single thought would
turn upon him. Still, had we arrived
there, L have no doubt that we could
and would have placated them, for they
have d sort Of veneration for both Cody
and myself. do not say this upon the
statements of Rain-in-the-Face alone.
Sitting Bull stwo neces are with Codyin
Chicago, and theycorroborated the theory
That am giving We would have made
IA peace offering and it would have been
accepted. But fate decreed differently
zen. Custer, still smarting under the
digrace that he suffered at the hands of
President Grant, had Just been re-
stored to his command. You remember
he was arrested in Minneapolis on a
charge of leaving his command without
leave, and he Was then contaminated
and removed. When the Indians be-
gan their disturbances the government
rave Gen. Custer his old command
again, and, determined to retrieve his
honor as a brave soldier, he rode reck-
leSslv to his death.
HE only had command of about 200,
including his scouts, and he was met
with at least T, 600 Indians. | do not be-
lieve the story that Custer was drawn
into an ambush through the trcachery
of the Crow scouts. He wsnt into the
battle believing that he was Invincible,
and ready TO meet death rather than
stand under the possible stigma of
cowardice. He was always rash SOL
der, and this was the rasheSt act of his
entire career. The thousands of In
dians overwhelmed his command and in
very few minutes the bloody work
was over. Rain-in-the-Face first shot
Gen. Custer with rifle, and then, rush
ing upon him, emptied his pistol. Many
blOodth;rsty reds then ran toward the
PROSTATE form of the dead chieftaln
with the hope of securing his scalp.
Raln-ln-the-Face stood resolute over the
dead form and commanded all to keep
off. He held those
LONG, FLOWING LOCKS
too sacred tor the Scalping knife. This
explains why Gen. Custer alone escaped
that indlgnity. l knew the hero we'll.
l never was such all ardent admirer of
him as some were, but no man could
ever charge him with cowardice.
Whether Gen. Grant was right or not in
removing him at Minneapolis is a ques-
ton that l do not feel like passing upon,
but L can appreciate the depth of the
modification that Gen. Custer felt when
arrested. Some claim Gen. Grant took
this course in revenge for the pungent
and trenchant articles he had contrib
uted to Scrlbner'S Magazine upon Gen.
Mcclellan, in which he undertook to
prove that Gen. Grant, in the final bat
ties of the War of the Rebellion, simply
carried out the plans that had been
mapped out by Little Mac. What |
do believe, however. is as | have said.
Had Cody and i arrived in advance of
Custer, lie might have been living today.
Il knew Curley, the scout who alone
escaped with his life from the terrible
carnage. He is bright fellow, and he
gave me recital of his adventures ana
of the battle. Ii was a touching story,
never made public. The Indians, as
has often been said. were hidden in a
gulch, and when Gen. Custer rode
down upon the village the Indians
poured a volley OF rifle bullets into the
ranks of the dauntless 200 that riddled
the command. Before Gen. Custer
could reorganize. the Indians had done
their work.
THERE WAS NO ESCAPE
from the field The troops were
hemmed in OH all sides, and the only
thing left was to fight for it. This they
did with bravery that has never been
paralleled in indian warfare. Each man
went TO his death veritable hero.
Curiey, by the way, is now living in
California. He now and then comes
out from his seclusion and tells how he
escaped from the massacre He was on
the top of the ridge, and he secreted
himself in the tall grass and willows
until night came OH, and then he stole
forth, and finding pony grazing on the
plain. he mounted the animal and rode
to the nearest settlement"