Waterbury Democrat., 1900-12-07
LAST OF THE CUSTER BAND.

After twrnty-fUUr years word comes
 that the Indians at Fort Yates say they
 have discovered the body of Lieuten-
 ant Harrington. Harrington was d
 first .iieutenan1 ill the Seventh cavalry.
 aIid W;,S one of tEat devoted band who
 rode with Custer to their deaths on
 the Little Big Horn on that sultry June
 morning. il 1876. Of all those gal
 lant troopers who died to a man. b.1t
 two bodies were never identified among
 the slain after the hattle-thOSe of
 Harrington and Jack" Sturgis. When
 their comrades went over the field they
 found Keogh. Calhound and Crittenden where they had fallen along the skir-
 mish line. @
 Smith, rofter and Reilly lay among { their men. So. too. did the surgeons
 Lord and DeWolf. There were also
 found "BCston' Custer and the New York Herald correspondent.
 Farther away on q mound Custer the yelloW-haired chief-with Cook and
 Yates. two as gallant officers as ever
 lived. with Il dozen soldiers. had gath
 cred in the last rally. They had sold
 their lives dearly. brave fellows that
 they were, but they were as a dozen to the leaves of the forest and at the
 end of twenty minutes all was over.
 What became of Harrington is only an Indian tradition told in tie tepeeS
 hy the Ogalallus and the Uncapapas.
 Long after the battle they related how in the midst of that fierce struggle
 some thirty men of the Seventh caval- " had made d rush down a little 'toO-
 lev" for their lives The Sioux had
 simply thrcnged the banks. shooting them as they ran. One trooper - an officer the Sioux said-managed to break through their circle-the only
 white man who did-and galloped mad ly eastward. Five warriors started ln
 pursuit-two Ogalallas. two Uncapapas
 and d Brule. all well mounted. Fear lent the officer wings and his splendid horse gained on &!l but an tncapapa, who clun@ to the chase. At last when even this one was ready to draw rein and let him go. the hunted cav allyman over his shoulder fancied himself nearly oVertaken. and placin% tue muZzle of his revolver at his ear, sent d bullet through his brain.
 Was it Harrington or was it Stur- gis? No one knew. The following year the skeleton was pointed out to the officers of the Fifth cavalry. and so it was discovered for the first time. Some
 were of the opinion that the skeleton was that of Sturgis. whose watch was restored to ms fatEer two years after the battle. having been traded off by some Sio1iN who escaped to the British possessions. No mention was ever made by the h. dians who had followed the officer Of a watch taken. oe.
 In 1887 there came from the baa lands another story of skeleton found still further from the scene ot Clusters last and most spectacular hght- s,hreds of uniform and the heavy gid
 ing of cavalry buttons lying near. as well as the expensive filling of several teeth seemed to indicate that fh'S ',>' may have been an officer. Again the question was asked. was it Sturgis or was it Harrington? To this day no one has been able to answer the queS- tion satisfactorily. The probabilities are that the TWO Ibctlies found. one in 1877 and the ofil- or in 1887. were those of the two miss | ing men. but which was which Wlll never be known. as the skeletons ol fnth were oatherea uD and buried near the splendid shaft which marks the scene of that terrible slangbfer It IS iDractical certainty that both slept years
 ago with their dead comrades and that tie latest skeleton. if one has been
 found. is that of some other unfoftu- nate.