The Portland daily press., 1895-01-05
CUsTER,s LAST FIELD.
Rec0llectiOns of One Of the Bl0Odiest
of Indian Massacres.
Colonel John A. Ceekerin Describes a Re-
cent Visit to the Place Where the Hero
Died.


had but one great and striking battle
fought upon the soil of the Republic. and
that is known as massacre. refer to the
extinction of General George A. Clusters
cavalry command, on the Little Big Horn,
in Montana, June 1876, by barbarous mob
CT Sioux and Cheyenne Indians under the
command of shifting Bull and Crazy Horse.
While this deplorable affair was, in sense,
a bloody massacre. it was. nevertheless, on
the part of our cavalry battle fought
from beginning to end with intelligence
and discipline and with heroism that has
not been excelled since TheImopylae. 1t
was battle and sacrifice.
The completion of the railway between
Sheridan, Wyoming, and Billings. on the
Northern Pacific Railway, has brought the
Custer battle field into touch with the outer
world, and tourists in the Northwest will
flock TO it hereafter by the thousands.
There is a neat railway station at Fort Gus
ter. the cavalry depot of the Northwest.
and the battlefield is distant 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 l had the privilege of
-
company of Colonel William F. Cody and
under auspices which were most agreeable.
Arriving at ort Custer. we were met by
a delegation of officers Of the Tenth cayal-
ry, prominent among them Lieutenant NAL
vern Hill Barnum. son OF the lafe General
Henry A. Barnum, of New York-remem-
5ered as one of the bravest and noblest
soldiers that ever buckled on q sword belt.
had cd
coming to Colonel j ohm kemp Miner. COM
mandant of the post. and every courtesy
at the command of himself and his officers
was ours. Captain j. B. Mcdonald, acting
Quartermaster, was especially Jealous in
his attention, as were also Lieutenant
Wright johnson and Lieutenant Colonel
Perry.
START FOR THE BATTLEFIELD.
The start for the battlefield was made at
ten o'clock A. Nj. We had two ambulances
placed at our disposal. one of them fairly
stocked with rations for the day. and Colo
mel Miner took charge of the expedition
He sent with us detail of troopers, with
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 in
debted for the care of the Custer field. He
was in the vicinity of the battle with Gih-
bonss command. and was one OF the first
white men to reach the field after the re-
treat of the foe. He was familiar with the
Seventh cavalry and was able to identity
a number of the mutillated bodies. He 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 his Cove
nanters in the kirkyards Of Scctl and
Through the late Senator Beck, of Ken
tlcky, who visited The field some years ago,
he induced the government to fence in the
battlefield and erect neat stone lodge fof
the use of superintendent Furthermore,
he obtained an appropriation for marble
stones, which he substituted for the wood
en- stakes which marked the spots where
The troopers of the Seventh fell, and to-day
these white sentinels, dotting the field, tell
the story of the struggle, and help IN way
to clear up the awful shadow of mystery
which will ever rest upon these solemn,
blood dyed hills. Each little marble sent1-
nels tells that here died member of the
Seventh United States cavalry, June 70,
1876. That is all.
-At theshighest point of the field asitl with
in a few feet of where Custer and his little
group OF devoted followers rallied and died
there stands monument, consisting OF
three massive blocks of granite. in pyramid
form. On THESE stones will be found the
names Of the officers and men OF the Sew
enth who were inundated here. AS read
them over was struck by the fact that
fully two-thfrds of them were American
names-a simple thing in itself. but it re-
futed the common belief that our regular
army instime of peace is. and always has
been, largely made up of foreigners. The
yandal had been here with his Ratchet, and
great chunks Of this commemorative pile
have been Clipped off and carried away.
So heartless were the relic hunters before
the government inclosed the field that 1t
became necessary to take down the stone
which marked the spot were Clusters body
lay and substitute plain, board cross.
They chipped it off until only a couple of
feet remained.
FIELD OF BATTLE A NATURAL GENE
~ Terry.
But all that is ended now, for thorough
supervision is maintained. and this field is
a national cemetery now. The remains of
United States soldiers who had been slain
in battle and scout and massacre in that
section are being gathered here and proper
" buried with tombstone and monument.
The victims of the Fort Phil Kearney mas
sacre lie here now, and many poor, half de-
faced stone which told for years at some spot
on the plains of the death of some faithful
bearer of the national arms has been trans
ferred with Its bones to this mournful cor
uer. to go ON telling to the ages its story
of heroic death and duty performed
Our ride from the fort to the field was
through the pretty valley of the Little Big
Horn. We passed one large Crow village.
and at one point witnessed a picturesque
sight-to wit, about a hundred Crow In
dams engaged in actual manual labor.
Captain Watson, the military officer in
charge of the Crow Agency, has estab lished
here an experimental farm, the Indians
performing the bulk of the work. He had
them engaged in chopping down sage grass
on the bottom as we passed. These Grow
indians are the richest Migrants in the
world. They own the land composing the
vast reservation. they have free food and