The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-05-27
THE FIRST SHOT IN
THE CUSTER WAR;
BY ". c. Burkhardt.

incidents previous thereto ana the scenes
at the battle ground few days after the
terrible slaughter, have been told many
times, and various versions of he affairt
are textant. But the facts which will
be narrated here, showing how. when,
where and by whom the first shot in
that awful tragedy was fired, are new
and have never been told in print
Two years ago [ was in camp on the
Sinking Water river, in Wyoming. Ii
was while sitting on the banks Of that
Styx of upper Wyoming that l was told
the story of how the first shot was fired
that ended in the death of Gen. Custer
and his brave S07 soldiers. at the hands Of
Sitting Bull and his horde of sayages.
Looking northward across the border into
Montana. one could lust discern the
tablelands Of the Little Big Horn mount
tains, beyond which occurred the massa-
ere.
g. The cause of the war, which ended in
the extinction of Custer and his followers
was. strangely enough, the result of an
accident, and the cause Of the accident,
like so many other accidents in the west,
was a "tenderfOot.N SUIT he is dead,
killed by the same race whom his IN
lucky shot stirred 10 war.
5000 AN INDIAN TRADING PARTY.
Late in the summer of 1873, at Boze-
man. Mont. MAJ 4. d. PeGse, formerly
indian agent al the old Crow agency on
Mission creek, and Icd Daniels, one time
q post sutler at Fort Ellis, organized a
trading expedition 10 90 among the Sioux
on the lower Yellowstone river. The
Indians al that time were peaceable, and
to a man who understood their ways,
there was a great deal Of money TO be
made in bartering with them for buffalo
robes. There were thirty-twO men in
the party which Pedse ana Daniels
formed. With one exception, every
member of the party was trained front
iersmau, used 10 dangers of an Indian
campaign, and to whom the hardships Of
camp life on the border was as sport
The one exception was a young French
man. He was raw teuderfOOt, but big
and strong as an OK, willing TO WOr6, and
with the courage OF lion. He had only
recently come to Bozemau from the prov
inces OF the northwest, and. while not
used to Indians. was, nevertheless, good
man TO haze along for general utility pur-
loses on an expedition of this Kind. He
was taken along TO act as cook, and, with
the rest Of the party, was TO take share
. and share alike in 10th the profits and
the dangers Of the trip OF the latter
little was appreheEde1 outside of the
usual run Of pcrils incident to life where
the mountains were still overrun with
grizzlies and Cauthers From the Indians
no trouble at all was feared, as they were
friendly at the time and eager to trade
with the whites.
BAND OF NOTED MEN.
There We're noted men in that party of
thirty-two traders. Besides Maj. Pease,
r4l,f @taT
Yellowstone, and who was a member Of
the first constitutional convention Of
Montana, and led Daniels, at present
deputy collector of Park county, Mon
tana, there were the Mccormack boys,
John and Paul, both Of them celebrated
scouts and guides, and both having served
under Gems. Custer and Terry in the
Indian campaigns. Perhaps the most
celebrated man in the party was Mug
gins" Taylor. He was Harvard grad
uate, an ex-newspaper reporter, fare
dealer, Indian scout and the best-hatcd
man in his day in the Mormon commune
ity, at Salt Lake What his real name
was, or where he was from, was mfys7
terry that remains unsolved to this day
though Muggins has long been under the
sod X. Beidler was another Of that
party, and there was hardly a man in all
Montana better known than he He is
also dead, poor fellow.
THE START FROM BozEMAN.
The start was made from Bozemau
early one morning in September. 1875
The party was well armed, all were
mounted, and on pack mules were carried
the camping outfit and articles of barter
with the Indians. The little party went
TO the southeast from Bozeman, crossing
the range and reaching the Yellowstone
at.a point where is now located the city
OF Livingstone. Here a halt was made
for a few days. Batteaus were built ana
huge raft constructed to transport the
outfit down the river TO some point TO be
selected in the future. At the Yellow
stone river Mai. Pease left the party, a
courier having overtaken then with urg-
ent news for the major, requiring
his immediate presence at Boze-
man. where he was wanted In
connection with some mission
Tor the government The major remained
however, until the party had its boats
built and was ready to proceed on its way
down the river. The place where the
party embarked on what proved TO be the
most adventuresome expedition of modern
times, was known as Benson's Landing
and by that title it is known to this day
II is only few miles below Livingstone
Mont. Mai. Pease rode back over tbs
mountains to Bozeman, and the party h,
river, part of them in the batteaus anc
the others either riding or leading thu
horses and mules on the banks.
'PEAsE's BOTTOMS"
The party went down the Yellowston,
until they reached a point about three
miles above where the Little Big Horl
empties into the Yellowstone. 1t was al
admirable place for a camp. Back few
hundred yards from the river rose an alb
rupt bluff, fully fifty feet above the leve
of the surrounding country. A bette
e. place could not have been selected for de
fensIve purposes. 1t was right in tn
heart of the Sioux hunting grounds. anC
parties of them were seen every day il
the vicinity, observing with great dea
of curiosity the white mems movements
They were friendly, however, an,
long before the little fort and stock
ade on the bluff had been com
pleted the party had made several bar
gains, exchanging whisky, tobacco ant
blankets for robes and peltries. Thi
place was christened "Pease's Bottoms,
in respect to Mai Pease. Matters wen
swimmingly with the traders for a coupl
of months. One lot Of peltries ha
already been sent back to Bozeman and
fresh lot Of supplies received On tn
last trip down the river however
the party met with an acciden
TO one of the batteaus tina
almost proved fatal TO them late
on The craft capsiZed and sunk am