Fergus County argus. [volume] (Lewistown, Mont.) 1886-1946, 1903-11-25

the-Face and the redoutable Gall were
the leaders OF the Sioux. Gall took
command. Dashing his lei forward
he swept around Clusters right and
took him In the rear. In less time
than II takes to tell II, Custer was
surrounded. The Indians crouched in
the sage brush. In the rayines and
gulleys, and lay fat behind the adj
joining ridges. The white men were
exposed to a rain OF bullets from ey-
cry direction, and made a splendid
mark. We could appreciate that fact
when we stood at the bottom of the
ridge and looked up. Every little
white tablet stood out clear and dis
tinct against the sky line, within pis-
tol-ball distance.
Not a man OF Clusters command es-
capped. One OF his scouts, an Indian
named Curley, claims to have wit
messed the battle from an adjoining
ridge, escaping by wrapping himself
in a Sioux blanket. Whether he left
before or after the fight, he carried
the Jews to Terry.
Respected by the Sioux.
The white soldiers were horribly
mutilated, all but Custer. Only the
two bullets which killed him marred
his body. It was said that the Indians
respected him for his bravery, and
therefore refrained from mutilation.
Reno and Benteen did not know OF
Clusters fate for tw~enty-four hours or
more. although they were within q
few miles. The Indians could have
cleaned up both Reno and Benteen IL
they had gone after them, but they
did not. Hearing of the approach of
Terry and Crook, and knowing that
fearful accounting would be exacted
for Clusters massacre. they separated
and fed. Sitting Bull went over into
the British possessions, where he re-
NAMED until coaxed back by a lenient
government, and the others scattered
in different directions.
This is the account given us as we
stood OF the crest of the battlefield,
surrounded by the little white tablets,
each marking the spot where a brave
man met his death. Captain Grover,
the keeper of the cemetery, had gath.
cred the facts from many sources, and
from them had woven the story.
In the vehicle in which the writer
rode was old Captain Cummins, a
former army officer, who had married
a niece Of Sitting Bull, and is now liv-
ing on the reservation. He said that
Chief Gall was the moving spirit in
the battle, and that Gall had told him
the reason for his savage vindictive-
ness. At the time that the skirmish
between Reno and the Indians occur
red, at the upper end of the village,
Gall went out to secure his horses.
When he returned he found his squaw
and pappoose dead in front of the te-
pee. shot by the soldiers. Gall said
that from that moment he ceased to
be a human being, and determined to
kill every soldier he could.
Cummins exploded the popular
story about Rain-in-the-F Face cutting
out the heart of Tom Custer, the gen.
erals brother and eating II. Cum
Minis wife got the facts from the
squaw of Rain-in-the-face. Accord
ing to this account, Rain-in-the-Fa
was shot through the hips in the fight
with Reno and was rolled in a blank
ct by his squaw and carried off the
field, and did not engage in the Gus
ter fight.
All of this country. from which l
now write. was for years the scene of
repeated Indian outbreaks and fierce
quarrels between the tribes them
selves. The redskins repeatedly whip
ped the whites. The C~heyennes were
among the fiercest of all the western
tribes. They were removed to the In
dian territory. but refused to stay,
and, breaking out, massacred the set
tiers through Kansas and Nebraska
as they marched triumphantly to their
old hunting grounds.
Today the valley above which Gus
ter fought is occupied by peaceful
Crow Indians, tilling their little farms
and grazing their herds. The table
lands over which the Sioux and Chey-
enne roamed and fought will soon be
irrigated and bringing forth rich
crops. But, so long as red man and
white man remain in the western
country. the story of Clusters last
fight will be told and retold.