Kingsbury County independent. (DeSmet, Kingsbury County, S.D.) 1894-1929, 1907-07-12
THE CUSTER MASSACRE

Sacre. Two of the few remaining Sioux
who took part in that tragedy are in
New York performing in mimic war
lance and battles with Buffalo Bill.
They are Rocky Bear and Iron Tail.
Tail, thirty-one SHOWS and grass
Ego you were not showing the dance
for fun. Then you danced and, with
Rocky and the others, were looking Tor
white scalps. With grass ina. year
you fought Custer. Tell me about it"
Looking at a beautiful scalp dangling
from the shoulder Of Rocky Bear. he
was asked: Where ketch 'em?'
Rocky shook his head and muttered:
NJ good Indian, me no fight, me no
scalp. Long time with a sweep OF
his hand backward over his shoulder)
"me bad Indian; me fight white man,
ketch him scalp. Fight no good; me
good"
The smoke rose in silence for several
minutes.
Champion Tribes of Fighting Men.
Both chiefs were reluctant at first to
talk about the fight, but at last they
thawed out and for three hours recited
the story of the troubles that culmi-
mated in the death Of Custer and his
men on June %, 1876, and the Danish
ment of the Sioux from the country.
Stripped of its crude wording, iron
Tails story ran as follows:
MY tribe and the Cheyennes, with
which we are married, ave always
been fighting men. They have fought
n beaten all the ndian of the plains
n have been feared for their Prov
ess. We made raids into the ountry
south Of us, ran off ponies, cattle ana
whatever we wanted. We fought the
ndian and the whites and the soldiers
with success. Finally the Great Fa-
Their wanted us to become reservation
ndian and hold us to the agency. Red
Cloud, a great chief, was a friend or
the whites and wanted the reservation.
Sitting Bull, q big medicine man, he
wanted to be as always-able to go
everywhere in Indian country, hunt,
camp and roam. Red Cloud had his
followers. Sitting Bull had his. With
the latter were such fighting chiefs as
Gaul and Rain-in-the-Face. l was
young, so was Rock Bear-we were
Just chiefs, what you soldiers call coll
onels; they were generals.
Previous TO 1876 Rain-in-the-Face
had been in the guard house at Fort
Abraham Lincoln, where Custer was
the big chief, and Tom Custer had put
iron on him, which made his hear bad.
He told Tom Custer he would eat his
heart some day when he got away.
Later Northumberland escaped to us.
and he was a bad Indian, always want
ing to fight; he kept the young fellows
stirred up and helped Sitting Bull.
Custer Plans a Stampede.
Tn 1876 when grass came the sol-
diers came for us. There were three
big chiefs with three villages, and they
tried TO get around US, but Gaul-he
was our biggest chief-kept moving on
until we were nea the reservations,
and a great many of the young braves
left the agencies and went on the war
path with us. We were trying to get
up near the line (Canada), and had felt
we We're far ava from the soldiers
when we fought Custer. We felt so
safe we had no scouts out for two days
when We made village or the Little Big
Horn river.
w were all in tepees that morning
when Custer and his soldiers came on
us. We ran out and they shot at us.
We made for our ponies and were GO
Ing to escape down the river, when we
found Clusters little chief (Reno)
headed us off. We did not know which
way to go until we saw the little chief
run away. Then Gaul-he big fighter
lead us all at Custer. We find he
only has few men INT we fight him..
The soldiers fight, fight like Sioux;
they brave, they good fighters, but we
kill them all in short time and scalp
them. Then we go for the little chief,
and he and his soldiers in trenches, so
we take the women and children and go
over the line.
1T a big fght"-to go back to Tails
own words-"Sioux brave Indian. whip
soldier, get soldier gun, get clothes, get
blanket, get scalp and one sleep get
where soldier no came. Gaul, he want
fight, maybe six suns more; he no want
fight then. Gaul he fight good when
Custer come. Heap Sioux!
That long SHOWS ago. Me good In
dian now. Fight no more"
Throughout the recital of the story
Rock Bear had sat with legs crossed
under him, his beady eyes peering out
over cheeks as wrinkled as the hide
of an elephant, fiXedly set upon the
speaker. When Tail had finished Rocky
said:
white man think Sitting Bull big
chief. No; Sitting Bull big medicine
man. No fight. Big Chief Gaul and
Rain-in-the-Face, they fight. Rain-in-
the-Face say he eat Tom Clusters
heart. He eat heart that fight. He not
forget wrong
The massacre of General George A..
Custer and 261 men OF the Seventh cav
airy will stand out in the history Of
the world as one of the most horrible
fights Of record.
For several weeks three columns of
troops under General Giggon, General
Crook and General Terry had been clos
ing in on the Sioux, who were on the
warpath. They were approaching from
the west, the south n east. The lat
ter body, In of Terry had
'R ilCill, uSllR tIl6I1
for scouting, because OF the familiarity
of Custer with the country and the
habits of the Indians. Custer persuad-
ed General Terry to let him scout south
toward the Rosebud, and left the main
command on une % under orders to
reJotn in three days on the w
at the junction OF the Big Horn.
On that fateful Sunday morning Gus
ter, who had struck and followed the
main trail of the Indians, saw an IN
dian village over the Little Big Horn.
He sent major with six troops to cross
the river below the village. He LEFT
Captain Benteen with one troop to
guard the pack train and with five
troops started across the country m
strike the village at the upper end. The
attack of the two commands was 70
have been made simultaneously which
Custer expected would stampede the
Sioux. AS
Major Reno crossed the river as AZ
rected. ran into more Indians than he
had eve seen before and at once re-
treated to the other bank, where on q
high hill he entrenched his command
Meanwhile Custer surprised the viii
lage and started the stampede, Tn
ndian did not know which wav to
turn. They fled In terror, but soon
were brought into action by Gaul. who
made them circle the handful of men