The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1895-01-02
WHERE CUSTER DIED
GRAPHIC STORY or VISIT 10 LIT
TIE BIG HORN BATTLEFIELD.
The Number OF Indians Was Larger
than the Regulars Thousht-Thc
Part Played by Major Reno.


had but one great and striking battle
fought upon the soil of the Republic, and
that is known massacre. refer to the
extinction of Gen. George A. Clusters cav
airy command. on the Little Big Horn, in
Montana, June, 1876, by a barbarous mob
OF Sioux and Cheyenne Indians under the
command OF Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse
While this deplorable affair was, in a
sense, a bloody massacre, it was, never
theless, on the part of our cavalry a battle
fought from beginning to end with intelli-
gence and discipline and with a heroism
that has not been excelled since Their
mopylae. 1t was a battle and sacrifice.
The completion of the railway between
Sheridan. Wyo, and Billings, on the North
~fn Pacific railway, has brought the Custer
battlefield into touch with the outer world.
and tourists in the Northwest will flock to
1T hereafter by the thousands. There is a
neat railway station at Fort Custer, the
cavalry depot of the Northwest. and the
battlefield is distant about thirteen miles,
An easier journey can be made from the
Crow agency, which is ON the line Of the
railway and only four miles from the
now historic field.
In November last / had the privilege of
visiting the scene of Clusters glory in the
company of Col. William f. Cody and UNI
Arriving at Fort Custer, we were met. by
delegation of officers of the Tenth Cav
airy, prominent among them Lieutenant
Malvern Hill Barnum, son of the late Gen.
bered as one of the bravest and noblest
soldiers that ever buckled sword belt
coming to Col John Kemp Mlzner, com
mandant of the post, and every courtesy
at the command of himself and his off,
GERS was ours Capt. j. b. Mcdonald, act
ing Qudrt6rmaSter, was especially jealous
Ia his attention. were also Lieutenants
Wright, Johnston and Leutenant-colonel
Perry.
The start for the battlefield was made at
~ O'Clock a. m. We had two ambulances
stocked with rations for the day, and Col.
Miner took charge of the expedition He
sent. with US a detail of troopers which
led horses for our use on the field. Besides
a half dozen young officers of the Tenth
we had with us the post scout, Mr.. James
Campbell. to whom the whole country is
Indebted for the care of the Custer field.
He was in the vicinity of the battle with
Gibbonss command, and was of the
retreat of the foe. He familiar with
the Seventh Cavalry and was able to den-
went carefully over the field, and wherever
the body of soldier lay he placed stake.
From that day he has been stationed at
Fort Custer, and he has watched over the
field as carefully and tenderly as "Old
Mortality guarded the graves of the Gov
enanters in the kirkyards of Scotland.
lucky, who visited the field some years
ago, be. induced the government to fence
lodge for the use of superintendent. Fur
thermore, he obtained an appropriat ton for
marble stones, which he substituted for the
wooden stakes which marked the spots
wherein the troopers of the Seventh fell,
and to-day these white sentinels, dotting
the field. tell the story. of the struggle.
shadow OF mystery which will ever rest
upon these solemn blood-dyed hills Each
Ia oVI,l fiy1aI Toll h hnr tod
member Of the Seventh United States Cav
airy, June 25. 1876 That is all.
RELIC HUNTERS IN EVIDENCE
At the highest point of the field and
within a few feet of where Custer and his
little group of devoted followers rallied and
He'd there stands monument, consisting
" three massive blocks of granite, in pyra-
mid form. On these stones will be found
the names Of the officers and men of the
Seventh who were inundated fere AS I
read them over I was struck by the fact
khat fully two-thirds of them were Amer
Ean names--a simple thing in itself, but it
refuted the common belief that our regular
army in time of peace is and always has
Vandal has been here with his Ratchet, and
great chunks of this commemorative pile
80 heartless were the relic hunters before
the government inclosed the field that it be-
came necessary to take down the stone
which marked the spot where Clusters body
lay and substitute plain board cross.
They Clipped it off until only couple of
But that is all ended now. for thorough
supervision is maintained, and n this field is 2
national nations !, cemetery now; The remains Of
in battle and scout and massacre in that
section are being gathered here and prop
The victims of the Fort Phil Kearney mas
sacre lie here now. and many !. poor, half
defaced stone which told for years at some
spot on the plains of the death of some
faithful bearer of the national arms has
been trasferred with its bones nn to this
ages its story of heroic death and duty per-
Our ride from the fort to the field was
through the pretty valley of the Little Big
Horn. We passed one large Grow village,
sight-to wit, about one hundred Crow In
nians engaged In actual manual labor. Cap
tain Watson, the military officer in charge
an experimental farm, the Indians perform
Ing the bulk Of the work. He had them
engaged In chopping down sage grass on
she bottom as we passed.
THE BATTLEFIELD ITSELF.
AS we came upon the sage brush smiters
the landscape was full of color. The hand
some ponies. with their gay blankets and
rich saddles. were tethered on the PLAIN
and the golden sunshine was gliding their
trappings with autumnal effulgence. The
bucks wore broad white sombreros and
were clad in variegated blanket coats and
trousers, while the squaws could have given
a June rainbow cards and spades, so to
speak, in the matter Of color Though they
really had hoes) and i can truthfully say
that never such formidable, force
full array and so little achievement. The
men were for the most part sitting around,
smoking cigarettes or lounging half asleep,
while the papooseS rolled iii the sun and the
sQllaws alone swung the glittering hoe.
We approached the battlefield from the
rear of the Indian position, and when we
had climbed to the browning point, where
the monument stands the picture spread
out before US complete. had always
supposed that Custer had led his little band
into some scrt of deep, dark ravine, and had
been held in and simply slaughtered. Moth
ing OF the kind. This field is succession
OF brown rolling hills, divided by gulies
and immense dry arayas, trending mainly
to the little river which sweeps around
the bases.
These elephantine hills, 1t may be re-
marked, bold and bleak and destitute Of
shrubbery, arc so convoluted and inter-
twined that en- army such as Alexander led
into Phoenicia sht be hidden behind any
one of them wItnout attracting the atteii-
ton OF scout 100 yards away. No open
picture can adequately describe the forrna-
ton of the field upon which the fighting
took place. But the story is plainly told,
though no living witness he. told it. Poor
Custer was the victim of nnisinformatioll
hut 1t Is unjust to his memory to say that
he was reckless or foolish. He had been q
general of volunteers. with q splendid rec
ord as cavalry fighter. and on this ex-
pediiion he was lieutenant colonel and In
command of the Seventh Cavalry. He vas