The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1896-09-20


| the spot where Capt. Myles Keogh
and thirty eight men died together
and so this solemn record Of death
| stalks about the field. following the
grim reaper and keeping count of his
gruesome work with these imperishable
tablets of marble. One stone glistens
| alone at the extremity of the field, aa
| II the trooper had almost made his
way beyond the circle of destruction,
only to fall at the last moment while
| hope was reckoning him on. Down one
ravine, facing the river, there Is
| steady drift of these eloquent marbles.
| some in pairs, as IL old comrades had
| fought and fallen together, and others
| In punches, where troopers had stood
| back to back until moved down by the
| savages. There was no order of battle
| in this fight upon the open hillside, no
chance for entertainments or defensive
| work. A handful of soldiers led into
| trap, perhaps, by lying Indian scouts,
| fought desperately against overwhelm-
| ing odds, but when the day was done
not one living thing OF Clusters force
had escaped from that fateful battle
| field, except Capt. Myles Keoghs war
horse, Comanche.
| Overcome by the emotion that must
stir any patriotic soul when standing
on such historic ground as this,
scene overwhelmed with tragic associa
tions, I have neglected some prelimin-
airy and practical details calculated to
fix the location of the battlefield, and
to recall the incidents leading up to
the fight in which Clusters force was
annihilated.
1t was not far from the southeast
ern corner of Montana that Custer
found the enemy. Coming south from
the Yellowstone river along the valley
af fIo AIt11 h +Io Jda
into the valley of the Little Big Horn
twelve miles above it's confluence with
the Big Horn at the point now known
as Fort Custer, and here discovered the
Sioux encamped in overwhelming num-
bers. The Northern Pacific railroad
was not extended far beyond Bismarck
at that time, but today the visitor to
the battle-ground may leave the North
ern Pacific train at Custer station and
go overland by stage up the valley Of
the Big Horn to the Grow agency forty
miles away. This, however, is an ar
duous trip in dry summer weather, as
the dust is Sitting and there is scarce
ly any relief from the suns rays over
the entire route. The completion Of the
Burlington road to a junction with the
Northern Pacific at Billings, Mont,
affords much more comfortable access
to the battlefield, which from this point
is seventy miles distant The train
Gated upon the top Of a lofty butte,
cor mesa, as they would call it in Mex
leo, is the most military appearing
post have seen anywhere in the West.
The rule seems to have been that army
posts in the far West must be located
upon some desolate, sunbaked plain,
away from water, destitute Of all con-
venienceS, and suggesting only the
propriety of suicide for those unfor-
tunate enough to be assigned to such
arid wastes. Ten miles south of Fort
Custer, after running through a fer
tile valley covered with irrigating
bitches and other conveniences for the
Indians, the train stops at Crow agen-
cy, which is the central point upon
this great reservation where $500 Crow
Indians are herded in the hope they
may be taught the arts of peace. The
little station house, broiling under an
August sun, a typical water tank fed
from the Little Big Horn, an agency
building, two or three school houses
for the Indian children, and several
low rambling buildings occupied by
post traders, constitute the physical
features of the Crow agency. A few
patient Indian ponies fight the flies
under the lee of one of the stores,
disheveled freighter's outfit has strand
ed just off the trail and the worn
horses free from the CALLING harness
are attempting to pick up little sus-
tenance from the plain, which to the
uninitiated seems as free from heritage
as a street in the midst of Chicago.
Dusty roads point out in every direc-
ton toward the Indian camps and set
Elements, and the Indians, still be-
decked in semi-savage attire, come and
go in wagons and on horseback, an
occupation they much prefer to the
less entertaining duty of tilling the
soil.
Over in the distance, two miles and