The pioneer press. (Miller, Hand County, S.D.) 1893-190?, 1901-01-03
FEN. CUSTER'S LAST FIGHT.
tory of the Battle as Cleaned From Indians
Who Participated.

tStCT massacre III dCCOTuduCt VIII III
"eps soIutions which passed congress two
by Tt airs ago, and. as singular as 1t may
near, Interesting facts concerning that
rrirle shapter in the Indian wars of the
. aims are now developing. a aus rter of
ted centurN after the battle and, when most
'ashingtp the principles in the lsangainary con-
chool ca IT hafespassed beyond.
river na Is no secret that for many years af-
e way an the wiping out OF Gen. Custer and his
No conf rec companies not am Indian could be
Ills can nnd who would admit having taken part
availah the battle! AS no white man survived
al terrible onslaught 1t was with the
by way latest difficulty that the facts leading
US the ] 10 the battle were learned. OF course,
forty-n,N pm the position OF the bodies strewn
eer is tu er the plains the average plainsrnan
on a pod build read
he accide The bloody Details of the Fight
the eve. ficient to show the desperate resistance
VIII the troopers and show that the SOL
sent. ers, were o~utnumbered probably five
rndred TO one. yet the truth could not
td known except from the tongue OF the
keye ~. dams who participated in the fight. The
fortv.n stness OF the victory they had won
IA r,var tuaIly frightened the Indians and pre-
,er ON hi nted them for years from Boosting of
p,,, III cir part in the awful butchery.
90 hv ~ Now, il begins to look as IL the minute
tails were about to be given to the
rr m orld through Frank Gourard. the vet.
- an scout, indian fighter and pioneer
9 ainsman. Gourard receives his in
rmation absolutely from Indian sources.
lpox - fact, IT is fitting that the public should
X. arm the real story OF the battle through
board Frank Gourard. because. as the
ole mead izzled old plainsman admits, by rights
smaRpa s bones ought to lie among the little
raging bite headstones that gNsteh TO-DAY IN
city, and sunlight on
4 $50 vsI The Custer Battlefield.
1Nrank Gourard was scouting for Custer
Ter trest that time and but for an accident
nade pub puid have been with clusters forces IN
not full ead OF Reno's at the Tune Oh the ngnt'
TEA ca 49, Of course Gourard would have been
,orar d. led, as were all of Clusters men.
ranba,t,l Secretary of War Meiklejohn had a long
ded MI TX with Gourard on the subject of in
, dam. ~ operating his story In the government
ava haI &pry Of the Custer affair, soon TO be is
~ IT. ed. The conversation occurred Y this
ror 49,, fek and Meiklejohn met the yeteran
f out and Indian fighter in Omaha Gou-
1919. rd had just returned from Pine Ridge
'N" Xx ency, where ne had
!, g. Discussed the Custer. Battle
It'll many OF the survivors. The
60 - indians have known Gourard so long that
-, hey trust him. even though they know
: a. unerring aim Of the swarthy scout
,s... responsible for many OF their braves
- hing sent to the happy hunting grounds.
- was a happy accident that resulted in
70 persons who participated in the cam
"e Ign which resulted In the tragic af-
uoo"y lr Of the Little Big Horn meeting Score
Go Try Meiklejohn. The other was Capt.
4 aSYiV&<M IRA smith pnvy nr III, $780, "a. =
wed wenty-second IN Mani. co,rara ans
rrasmith were with Crook through that
honorable campaign. and their meeting
Omaha was the first that had occurred
an, a. nee they met In converging columns
BAR the Custer battlefield a quarter OF
Inued RI century ago. Gourard contributed ma
es In th riaily to the story he had to tell to
d In I'd be representative Of tbs" w&r depart
he cous lent by narrating an experience he had
,anies 4 rev weeks ago on the reservation at
cova,r &ine Ridge.
~ ~unda The Flight I'm Picture.
He met an Indian who had fifty water
and sak hlors Of the famous fighting Indian
BPS froF naracters that could not be duplicated.
to cleg ne Indian who exhibited them to Gou-
ard said they had long been in posses
itions ION or the Pine Ridge Indians, and no
WAS ~ hite man had ever seen them before.
e Cath was a perfect picture story of the ia
EN- wen o0S Waite showing custer through all
This rs desperate charging. concluding with
Va tbolls ne final struggle of a handful of troopers
III ~ ana hnaie' Win the brave
poyJ eneral blowing out his own brains rather
o,ov M nan submit to capture and torture at
re- hn he hands Of his savage enemies.
ch,r. Secretary Mciklejohn has written he
par department suggesting that DR.. sIc-
ch,,, iillicuddy, the ex-Pipe Ridge indian
gent and the most likely person to ap-
ra Pfoach the Indians on such a delicate
~ 1bject, be commissioned to make an
~ Mort to induce the Indians to permit the
CT apartment to copy this remarkable pic
= $50" ure of the fight that It may be incor-
~ Porated in the government history.
story Of the Fight.
Discussing the subject, Frank Gourard
WIN laid:
AS to the story. I can give II 10 you
n brief and tell you many things you
feVer heard before. You know, of course,
= u,ds l the concerted effort made by the half
!. Eas oxen converging columns to hem the In
lans In and cow them out OF their tellig-
MarI4y rent attitude. You know Of how Custer
ding truck the trail one summer morning in
of Lon 70 and how he. according to his usual
crowned actics, divided his forces with Maj. Reno
,r,stms I the crossing of the Rosebud creek,
al frob which, by the way, we old fellows call
oxtreux reno creek. His idea was to hem the
"a now indians in. Custer never considered the
h,t umbers OF his foe. He would have gone
!, couf ut with a single company In just the
rug anne way to combat the whole bowling
~ IN indian nation. dividing his forces and
ghting them from both sides at once.
You know the story of Reno's march
own the creek. his crossing Of the river
A"s nd his sudden appearance before the
as 49, epeee OF the Indians, as much n sur