Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1908-08-23

believe. now resides at stil1water),
dusty, dirty, with haggard eyes and
looks, and having the appearance Of
one who was about sall in" I
sprang to the counter, grasped him
by the hand, exclaiming, Country
man, what in Gods name is the mat
tcr?'
"tJack,' was the reply, Custer and
all with him are dead-were massa-
cred on the Little Big Horn by the
Sioux. Muggins Taylor, the scout,
brought the news to Saltwater. He
being exhausted, I volunteered to
bring. the news to Bezeman. Arriving
at Bozeman, I found the government
wire down, SO got a fresh horse
and came on to Helena
'tThe news seemed incredible, and
I inquired if he could give me the
particulars. He said he, could.
Them said I, come in and sit down
and wait for few minutes. will
send out and try to find some printers
and we will soon get out an extra
Our foreman, the late VIM. McClatch-
ey, was located and it was perhaps
an hour before we had a force dis
tributing type and getting ready for
a rush. -.l @.-
tsThen Countryman gave me the
particulars, as conveyed to him by
Muggins Taylor. He spoke rapidly,
t1uently, and it was a difficult mat
ter to keep up with him, for in those
days the typewriter was not known
and stenography little used. To this
day distinctly remember one of his
sentences:
Firing Very Rapidly.
"'Curley, the Indian scout and the
only person who escaped to bring the
news, said the firing was very rapid
1T sounded like the swapping of the
threads in the tearing Of blanket.
cat o'clock in the afternoon the
Herald extra was on the streets of
Helena. 1t was the first account of
the awful event to be given to the
public. The excitement was so great
that I forgot all about sending the
startling news to the Associated Press
until after the extra was issued. Then
I grabbed copy of the extra and
made fast time to the Western Union
Office. At that time the late w. e.
| Frederick was manager and sole OPP
orator, and dropping all private mes
sages, he wired the startling news
to the Associated Press at Chicago.
On the morning Of July all the
newspapers of the country contained
the news of the massacre on the Lit
tie Big Horn.
'There was little rest for me that
night, July 4. Every fifteen minutes
or half an hour there would be a
ring at my door bell, with message
| from some of the great journals OF
the country, some begging, Others
demanding, further news from Gus.
ter. James Gordon Bennett, of the
New York Herald, at midnight, wired
authority to employ scouts and send
them to the front to secure addition,
al news. Finally, at late hour In
the night, sent long telegram to
the Associated Press explaining how
impossible it was for me to get any
thing further from the battlefield
and that probably the next news
4 would come by way of Bismarck
Late in the afternoon OF July 5 the
4 couriers from the front reached Bis,
marck with dispatches, and on the
morning of July 6 the government
at Washington received official news
+ of the disaster.
il These detailed facts have neye,
before, I believe, been published,
disclaim any desire for notoriety her.
q with but in history Helena and Mon
tana scouts and frontiersmen should
: have the credit for furnishing to tn,
world the first news of Clusters fate
and not the couriers who reached Bis
, marek on the afternoon Of July 5.
In my long experience as an AS
] ISOLATED Press reporter, the writing
and sending Of the particulars Of thi
! massacre was the greatest scoop
i ever made"
All Bismarck will hear aThe Dix