The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1905-04-14

&OA YIN IttOMAS, tle sole
i v ! survivor of General Gus
u Horn, which was complete
HoR ly annihilated by the In
dians, is a resident OF Minneapolis
he Is ffty-eight years old and lives at
2501 Aldrich avenue
After reading a dispatch in the Tri-
bune stating that William Mckee. of
that city, claimed the honor OF being
the last white survivor OF the massa-
ere. Mr.. Thomas talked interestingly
OF the events leading up 10 the massa-
ere and those which followed.
II know Mckee we'll" said Mr.
Thomas. He was not n member OF
General Clusters expedition, but was
In General Reno's detachment. There
was but one person who escaped alive
and that was an Indian by the name OF
'Curley.' who is now with the Buffalo
Bill show. While was in the expedi-
tion under command OF General Custer
i was not in the massacre. Ii was only
by accident. however. that | was not
When young man Joined the Indian
fighter, under command OF General
Terry.
my duty was that Of a saddler.
cared for all of the harness. saddles,
and sometimes made myself handy as
q shoemaker. With the other warriors
was supplied with a horse. About a
week before the massacre the entire
expedition was camped on Tongue
River. General Terry decided that the
forces were ID be divided. and 6G6
men were placed under command OF
General Reno. General Gibbs, OF Mon
tala. was il command of a much
smaller detachment.
Il was placed under General Custer
and everything was in readiness for
the party to start when General Gus
ter came to Ee and said:
John, who is using this horse|
81 replied that l Intended to use the
tcrsc, 10 which lie said that he wanted
the horse for a Chicago newspaper re-
porter. l insisted on using the horse,
when the General declared that he
would consider his men a poor lot If
they would not know enough to take
care of their own saddles and harness
for five or six days. These were the
last words he spoke TO me. | gave up
the horse to TIE reporter and was sent
I to the boat under one of the captains
of General Gibbs army of scouts.
THE reporter did not return, neither
did any of the men under General Gus
ter All were killed in the massacre,
and with the exception of the news
paper man and General Custer the
men were all scalped. The Indians
had great love for General Custer. and
for that reason it is believed that they
did not scalp him. AS for the reporter
they found the papers on his body, and
were civilized enough to know that he
was not theft enemy, but was a cour-
fer of news.
"The Fall West (the name of the
boat made its way up Big Horn and
then up the Little Big Horn until the
water became so shallow that it was
dangerous to attempt to go further.
! The boat was run onto a sand bar, and
we camped there for several days. We
had nothing TO eat but dry bread and
meat and all of the men were growing
hungry. Before the captain was up
one morning | took down my gun and
started out for a hunt | had just
shot three elk when | heard two re
ports from guns in different directions
1 made my way back to the boat, and
the men were almost panic-stricken.
The news Of the massacre had been
received from some of General Reno'S
men.
Il would have been in the massacre
had ii not been for General Custer TAX
ing my horse and giving it TO the re-
porter. After the massacre ! was un-
der General Gibbs. General Miles
was then assigned TO succeed General
Terry. While l was out hunting one
day | met General Miles en- route to
Terry's camp; he was lost and l di-
rected him. We afterward became
well acquainted. Almost the first
words spoken TO me by General Miles
after we were en- route to Terry's camp
was to request me to fix his boots. He
said. My great toe is sticking out of
my boots. Can you fix it? Sew ii up
with any kind of leather; am not par
ticular' | fixed the Generals boots
with red calf leather.
"There is one remarkable occurrence
which happened that l shall always re-
member. One of the Indians was shot
fifteen times and all Of the bullets re-
mained in his body. Five days after
the massacre he jumped upon the back
of a horse, and with the fifteen bullets
in his hoIv roIa IN bis hama n fis+o moo
OF 200 miles. Tribune.