The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1898-01-21
y Miner Who
Saw Custer 10ie.
The Sole Survivor of the Indian Massacre
mt Little Big Eorn-soles of His
Feet Beaten to Jelly.


sion. says Los Angeles dispatch TO
the New York Sun. He claims to have
been with Custer at the massacre of the
Little Big Horn. Although 1t was sup
posed that there was no survivor of the
massacre. Benjamin's story bears
marks of truthfulness, and the fact
that he was held as a prisoner by the
Indians and driven crazy by their tor
lures long prevented his experience
from being made known. Senator Ste
phen Nj. White is taking him to Wash
ington and will try to get pension for
him this winter.
In the spring of 1885, says Benja-
min, i was prospecting in the Black
Hills for gold with two other miners
named Stone and Kelly. In June we
were camped on Clark's creek, and as
we were getting short of supplies Kelly
and / went out to shoot game for sup
per, leaving Stone in camp. When we
returned we found him dead and horri-
bly, mutilated. We knew at once that
the Indians were on the warpath and
that we'd better get out So we started
at once for Fosters ranch, but when we
reached there we found that the Indians
had been ahead of us. Every man, wo-
man and child on the ranch had been
murdered, and all the bodies had been
mutilated. The house had been burned
and all the horses and cattle driven off.
We started for Cheyenne to give warn
ing of the uprising, and on the way we
met body of Clusters men. They asked
US to join in the pursuit. and | con-
scented gladly, but my partner, Kelly,
decided to go on to Cheyenne Not long
afterward we found his body, scalped
and cut to pieces, only a few miles from
where we parted
I'VE broke camp on June Is. and Ma
jor Reno secuted the trail to the Rose
bud and struck fresh trail where the
Indians had crossed. Gibbons was or
/ 10. How
mou n of the Big Horn and meet Gen
| eral Custer at the mouth of the Big
Horn on June IS. On June "a the trail
! of the Indians was secuted % miles up
| the Rosebud. That night a council was
| held and the troops left the Rosebud
and marched up Dirty Womans creek
! toward the Big Horn, 10 miles, and Went
! into camp, as it was too dark to venture
over the divide. The next morning the
i troops We're in the saddle soon after
/ daybreak, and about o'clock the first
Indians We're seen by the scouts from
| the top of the divide.
AT first we met but few Indians, and
/ they quickly gave way before US. But
1 soon they swarmed upon us from every
direction They came upon US from
! front and rear and flank, and every ra-
vine and every bush and tree seemed
alive with them. We soon knew that
we were doomed, and we fought as men
/ ngnt only ulQef SucH circumstances. "a
| perfect storm Of arrows and bullets was
pouring upon us from every side, but
| we fought our way back to our horses,
| mounted, and in our struggle to reach
the bluffs we left the greater portion or
our men dead or wounded en- the field.
| But 10 Indians went down for every
white man who fell. The companies of
| Captain Calhoun and Lieutenant Crit
| tenden We're thrown across our flank to
| protect our retreat
General Custer was everywhere, and
for a time seemed bullet and arrow
proof Captain Keogh's company was
exposed to the tiercest fire, and his men
were soon swept off. 1t seemed as II we
were hours making that last quarter OF
a mile. We made our last stand on a
little knoll, which we reached with only
II men out of our entire command.
There the first thing we did was to
shoot our horses, so as to make a
breastwork behind which we could
fight. General Custer and his brother
Tom and Lieutenant Cook were among
the last to fall. Custer died with his
revolver in his left hand and his saber
in his right hand, With dozen dead
Indians piled around him. And, indeed,
almost every man on that little knoll
went down with just such a heap of red
bodies around him. Charley Reynolds,
a scout, and as brave a man as ever
lived brought down an Indian at every
shot, and as he fell he emptied his re-
yolver with a steady hand. The lndi-
ans were armed. in addition to their
: bows and arrows, with the best guns TIC
J be had
. Before we went into battle Trumpet
| er Martin was sent back with orders &c
Captain McDougal and Captain Benton
to hurry forward with their companies
Had they done so and had Renos meI
come up to reinforce us. the result
might have been very different.
) when | shot my horse bulle
struck me in the head and fell. In it
death struggle the horse rolled over OF
me and protected me during the rest o
, the fight When it was all over and tn,
. Indians swarmed over the knoll they
, CHANGED to see that / was still alive
G They then bound me hand and foot ant
: took me to their camp.
!. There they already had two othe
white men, prospectors, and yount
white woman. They put these thre
through tortures, which | was com
i PEELED to witness. But | was reserved
for the last, because the execution ha
a done in the fight had been noticed, ant
|, they wanted to have revenge for 1t. Il
fact they named me Little Thunuefer
and called me by that name all the tim
| was among them. The two prospect
. ors were made to run the gaunIie
: again and again Each time the arrow
were pulled out by force and fresh one
shot into them. One of the men finail
: resisted and was Drained with toma
hawk When the other became TO
weak to afford any more sport OF tina
sort, he was bound to stake, sioA
8 fire was built on his abdomen and tn
: bucks and squaws danced around hin
: laughing over his death agonies. The
:, the woman was tortured TO death.
!. FINALLY they began on me. The
tied Goals of fire upon my head and lei
~ tG.@,.
came to they put on fresh ones. Whe
| refused 10 open my mouth the
smashed my upper jaw and knocke
out my teeth with Ratchet. Then
squaw grasped my tongue with roug
pair of wooden pincers and dragged "
over the ground in that way, 10 II
great merriment of those who WEI
locking on. They tied my hands TO