The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1895-01-13
CUSTER'S LAST FIGHT
A Visit 10 the Place Where He
Died.
1T WAS NOT A MASSACRE
Every Evidence Given BY the Mem
oriaI stone That the Seventh
Was Guided BY Intel
llRenCe.

Since the close of our civil war we hav,
had but one great and striking battle
fought upon the soil of the republic, and
that is known as tho massacre. l refer
says Col. John A. Cockerll in the New
York Herald, TO the extinction of Gen
George A. Clusters cavalry command, on
the Little Big Horn, in Montana, June
1876, by 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, nevertheless, on the
part of our cavalry a battle fought from
beginning 10 end with intelligence and
discipline and with heroism that has
not been excelled since Thermopylae. 1t
was a battle and n sacrifice.
In November last l had the privilege of
visiting the scene of Clusters glory IN the
company of Col. William +. Cody and
under auspices which were most agree
able.
Arriving at Fort Custer we were met by
n delegation of officers of the Tenth cav
airy. The start for the battlefield was
made at 10 o'clock n. m. We had two
ambulances placed at our disposal, one
of them fairly stocked with rations for
the day, and Colonel Miner took charge
of the expedition. He sent with us a de-
tail of troopers, which led horses for
our use on the field. Besides a
half dozen young officers of the
Tenth we had with us tho post scout,
James Campbell, 10 whom the whole
country is indebted for the care of the
Custer field. He was in the vicinity of the
battle with Gibbons command and was
one of the first white men to reach the
field after the retreat of the foe. lie was
familiar with the Seventh cavalry and
was able to identify a number of the mu-
tilated bodies. He went carefully over
the field, and wherever the body of a SOL
der lay he placed n 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 Covenanters in the kirk
yards of Scotland.
Through the late Senator Beck of Ken
lucky. who visited the field some years
ago, he induced the government to fence
in the battlefield and erect a neat sto,e
lodge for the use of a superintendent.
Furthermore, he obtained an appropria-
ton for marble stones, which he substi-
tuted for the wooden stakes which marked
the spots whereon the troopers of the
tinels dotting the field tell the story of
the struggle and help in a way TO clear up
the awful shadow of mystery which will
ever rest upon these solemn, blood-dyed
hills. Each little marble sentinel tells
that here died a member of the Seventh
United States cavalry, June %, 1876. That
is all.
At the highest point of tho field and
within n few feet of where Custer and his
little group of devoted followers rallied
and died there stands monument, con-
sisting of three massive blocks of granite. |
IN pyramidal form. On these stones will |
be found the names of tho officers and |
men of the Seventh who were inundated |
here. As | read them over | was struck /
by the fact that fully two-thirds of them /
were American names-a simple thing in |
itself, but il refuted the common belief |
that our regular army in time of peace is.
and always has been, largely made up of |
foreigners. The vaudal had been here
with his Ratchet, and great chunks of tins
commemorative pile have been chipped
OIL and carried away. So heartless were
the relic seekers before tho government
inclosed the field that il became necessary
TO take down the stone which marked the
spot where Clusters body lay and substi-
tute plain board cross. They chipped il
oil until only couple of feet remained.
Field of Battle "a National Cemetery.
But oil that Is ended now, tor thorougb
supervision Is maintained, and this field
Is national cemetery now. The remains
OF United States soldiers who had beon
slain in battle and scout and massacre i'm
that section are being gathered here and
properly buried, with tombstone and
monument. The victims of the Fort Phil
hearney massacre lie here now, and many
a poor, half-defaced stone which told for
years at some spot on the plains of tho
death of some faithful bearer of the ma.
tional arms has been transferred with lis
bones 10 this mournful corner, TO 20 ON
telling TO the ages its story of heroic
death and duty performed.
We approached the battlefield from the
rear OF the Indian position. and when we
bad climbed TO the browning point where
Tho monument stands the picture spread
put before Us was complete. | had ALWAYS
that Custer had led his Httle
band INTO some sort of deep, dark rayine.
and had been hemmcd in and simpIy
slaughtered. Nothing of the kind. This
leld Is a succession OF brown. rolling hills.
livided by gullies and immense brown an.
/
which sweeps around the bases. StanIin,,
II tho monument we had a view of tho
bottom lands IN which the Indians, pre-
'ious 10 the battle, had pitched their vii
ages. These were hidden from the view,
If Custer, as he came around the point of
! mighty hog back, until he was actually
These elephantine hills, il may be re-
marked, bold and bleak aud J,s,;,,,.- e /
hrubbery, are SO convoluted and inter-
wined that an army such as Alexander
ed into Phoenicia might be hid behind am,
ne OF them without attracting the atten-
ion OF scout hundred yards away. No
zen picture can adequately describe tho
Of the field upon which the .
ghunG TOOK place. But the story is
laluly told though no living witness has .
Old %. Poor Custer was the victim of
but it Is unjust to his !
memory To- say that Ia yya. ro,I-T--- 80.