The Yale expositor. (Yale, St. Clair County, Mich.) 1894-current, 1907-02-08


Gle Big Horn. on June 20, 1876. when
that brave calvaryman, Gen. George
Armstrong Custer, with four of his
nearest kinsmen and the entire com
mand of nearly three hundred officers
and men were killed In an engage
ment which lasted but three hours, Is
still a vivid picture in the minds OF
all civilized peoples. Nothing can
impress the mind more profoundly
than these intrepid troopers, with
undaunted bravery dashing into the
attack upon a force of the most war
like and brutal bands of savages head
ed by the blood-stained Sioux. out
numbering their own force ten to one.
II was an unequal battle. Ii was an
ambush. and into it rode the immor-
tai three hundred, from which not a
man escaped.
There was absolutely not a white
man left to tell the truth of that aw-
full hour.
The only narratives and descriptions
given of this lamentable affair came
from the surviving Indians. who par
ticipated in it. and from scouts who
have attempted TO explain the awful
NIpiCN It's NNAN
ling scenes. These are conflicting and
often vague, yet the fact remains
that Custer sacrificed his life and the
brave men who were with him fol.
lowed into this sacrifice IN the dis
charge of soldiers duty.
After the lapse of thirty years, the
people of Michigan. recognizing. per
haps tardily, the eminent propriety-
yea an obligation-to perpetuate in a
fitting, permanent form the memory OF
her gallant son. a movement is now
energetically undertaken to carry out
this laudable and patriotic purpose. A
bill has been introduced into the state
legislature appropriatiug $4,000 foI
the erection at Monroe, where General
Custer claimed his home. where he
married, and where his parents lived
a bronze equestrian statue. Every
good patriotic citizen of Michigan will
say God speed the good work."
The First Movement for a Monument
When the slow news came from the
battlefield that practically the whole
Custer family had fallen before the
rifles and war clubs of the Sioux. the
ClllZGHS Oh AlOllOt, AlCll., Wn6lC OuoN
er made his home, met and conceived
the Custer Monument association, Of
which Gen. Phil Sheridan was presi
dent Hon. Thos. w. Ferry, vice-pres
dent, and ]. NJ. Bulkley. still living in
Monroe, secretary. Considerable money
was raised by the slow methods o.
those days, and Gen. Clusters body
was exhumed and prepared for buria
in the east. Vt w. then learned ina
before the general started on his ill
fated campaign against the Indians he
had expressed the wish that when hi
died he wanted to be buried at Yves
Point where other commanders h,
had known and loved in the civil wa
awaited the reveille of the resurrec
ton.
With the burial at West Point, tn,
monument proposition became nation
al and the Monroe sponsors of the
movement yielded to the general de
mand and consented TO the erection
at West Point of the monument. Thu
funds collected were turned over t
August Belmont. treasurer. This &C
counted for the movement undertaken
in this state having no fruition here.
The fact that Monroe, Mich. wa
the scene of George A. Clusters earl.
school days. that there he was bes
known. that here he did his court
ing and married his wife, and that tn,
home more permanent than any hi
rowing life enabled him to have wa
here, makes it peculiarly fitting tina
in Monroe the state should rear it
memorial monument
The Story of His Last Military Expe
dition and Its Result.
Lest some have not heard the stor.
of his life and others forgotten 1t,
Is briefly sketched here.
On Monday, June &c, 1876, there
were 20 widows in Fort Lincoln, Neb
all bereaved in one massacre, an
amongst them was the widow of Gen
Custer-the woman who, as Judge Ba
cons charming daughter, married thu
Custer boy in Monroe.
They did not know. however. tn
bereavement that had befallen them
for the battle was fought Sunday
June %, and it was two days after
wards before the bodies of Custer AM
his officers and 200 men of the Seventh
cavalry were found, for news Travelled
slowly in those days. The newspape
reporter who followed the comman'
was found dead with his pencil ant
paper beside him, and not one whit
man was left to tell the tale
Custer left Fort Lincoln, Neb.. Ma!
Is, of the same year, TO round up ant
punish the obstreperous Sioux. In
conference with other commanders a
the Rosebud Indian agency II wa
agreed that a junction should be mad
with Gen. Terry at the mouth Of tn
Rosebud river. June &C. Custer pushes
on his way to corral the Indians. In
stead of deviating from their trail {,
keep them from returning, as had BEEF
agreed upon, he followed the trai
with his troopers hard and fast Gus
ter was smarting under some harsl