The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1899-05-31

with civilization he could survive. He
| rolc memories were behind him and de-
struction before him. What wonder
then that he resented our intrusion and
resolved to maintain possession of the
land of his fathers at whatever cost or
hazard? The great mining regions 10
the west and east, exciting alike the
cupidity and ambition of our country
men, had lured thither a multitude of
people, and cities and villages upon the
slopes of the Rocky mountains and in
the Black Hills had multiplied sudden
~ i'll exceeding numbers. The migra-
ton thither was vast and resistless,
and it paid no attention to the claim
Of these tribes to the land of their
fathers. The game upon which they
had subsisted and which they es-
teemed part OF their legitimate pos
sessions was rapidly disappearing and
so it was that two mighty forces came
into contact. and upon this historic
spot where we are now assembled
fought their most conspicuous and
tragic battle. Some OF us remember
very well that beautiful June day.
Unconscious though we were of what
was here Transporting. in our minds eye
we can annihilate the distance which
lay between us and this spot, and con-
ceive the horrors of this stupendous
tragedy. We know on yonder hill Reno
and Bentien We're fighting for their
lives against overwhelming odds, and
here the brave Custer and as noble a
command as was ever given to the for
tunes of soldier to possess, stood like
rock so long as one survived against
the assault of an overwhelming number
of savage warriors. We seem even now
to hear the sharp crack of the rifles
and the reyolvers, the voices of the
captains and the shoutings, as obedient
to the directions of their naughty chief,
thew resisted w
whelming. 1t is fitting and appropriate
that we should recall these deeds, for
they were not performed under the OBJ
serVation of our countrymen. but far
from the haunts of civilized man. From
remote Fort Abraham Lincoln, upon
the banks of the Missouri. itself an
isolated military station, they had set
out into the wilderness to accomplish
something for their country and
achieve something for mankind. For
weary days and nights they had jour-
neyed over uninhabited prairies and
table lands and mountains, until in the
almost inaccessible Wilds of the Indians
they had finally found the foe. I con-
ceive that battle. under such circum-
stances, so remote from the observation
of men. demanded a heroism beyond
that which is required under other cir
cumstances. No historian was likely
to paint in glowing colors the deeds of
nation itself might not appreciate the
great trophies which it was possible
from this contention to bring. But
having found the enemy of their coun-
try, these gallant warriors did not hest
tate an instant, but proceeded to the
great duty upon which their country
had sent them. We have all listened to
the carping criticisms made upon this
contention. Such things seem INSOFAR
able from human weakness, but moth
ing that has been said dims the valor or
diminishes the homage which the Sew
enth cavalry so richly earned.
The Story of Custer.
The story of the battle of the Big
Horn has been told with a variety of
detail, forbidding superstition that on
this occasion we could add to it new
or useful words We know in particu-
lar the character and the life of each
man who here fought and fell. What
though no one escaped from this por-
ton of the battlefield to tell The story
of this mighty tragedy, the graf aful
nation, with an intensity of interest be-
gotten of its pathos, has gathered from
the victors and from what the battle
field revealed, so many events as TO
give us with reasonable certainty the
story of this pathetic disaster We
might stop and picture the emotions
Gus soldiers as trooping over those
highlands the beautiful valley of the
tranquil Little Horn first burst upon
their excited visions, revealing the
presence of the enemy which they had
journeyed SO far to find. The thought
of each soldier for a moment required
to his home-to the quiet house in some
distant hamlet and he ,bethought him
of the father and mother, the brother
and sister, the wife and child who, with
the wealth of affection, accompanied
him in his hazardous undertaking with
their solicitudes, their apprehensions
and their prayers. But it was no time
for delay, and General Custer, with
sagacity born of wide experience in bat
tie, with his quick eye discerned that
the task in hand was not easy of ac-
complishment. That he underestimate
ed the number of warriors with whom
the Seventh cavalry was to contend
we may we'll believe. He had exhaust
ed every source of information within
the range of possibilities, and with a
large experience of the Indian capacity
for resistance, surveyed the long lines
of his gallant troopers with pardonable
and confident pride.
The officers who accompanied him in
command of the respective troops We're
Of approved devotion and valor and
they were inspired with the courage of
their heroic leader. It is difficult to
realize the then isolation of this bat
tlefield. Around the headWaters of the
Missouri there were small and lonely
settlements. while to the east, beyond
Fort Lincoln, small hamlets OCCASION
ally dotted the prairies; to the north
and south limitless ltablelands stretched
away in wearisome distances, with an
occasional trading post; but all We're
too remote to disturb the solitudes
which our army had here invaded I'm
perious voices commanded it to avenge
massacres and tragedies, some of which
were historic and caused shudder and
multitudes of which We're wrapped in
the eternal silences. A great nation
tried as by fire with a colossal war of
it's own just closed coveted the sereni-
ties of peace which had been denied
them by numerous bands of nomadic
marauders There could be no quetude
until the original inhabitants of this
region occupied the homes which the
nation had prepared for them and to