The Caldwell tribune. [volume] (Caldwell, Idaho Territory [Idaho]) 1883-1928, 1909-12-04

to glance out of the window at the
proper time will see, off to the east,
a sturdy granite monument crown
ing one of the barren hills mile
away. Many pass without noticing
it; others, who happen to see it, may
perhaps inquire casually what it is;
while a few of the initiated, espec-
tally those who are interested in his
toric battlefelds, leave the train at
the station and pause in their jour
ney for a closer view of the spot.
For this lonely monument marks the
scene of perhaps the greatest tragedy
in our long series of Indian wars-a
death struggle that ended in. such
signal victory for the red men that
the encouraging tidings of it, flying
from tribe to tribe, sent red wave
of lawless violence surging westward
across the Rocky Mountains clearinto
Idaho and Oregon. It stands on the
the scene of what is commonly known
as the "Custer massacre; but what
was in reality no massacre at all, but
a fight to the death.
The passenger who stops of to
visit the field is not overjoyed at the
appearance of Crow Agency. A lit
tie barn-like depot with few long
haired bucks lounging about, a single
dusty road leading past a few brick
school houses which Uncle Sam has
built for his wards, and a small,
wooden hotel make up the picture.
Rather desolate place; but one does
not visit the Custer field for pleasure,
and the dreary aspect here. is quite
in keeping with the melancholy spec
tacle that awaits him on the lonely
hills three miles away.
Contrary to what one would exc
pect, he is not met by any guides
here. There are not even any guide
books for sale, so it is incumbent on
the visitor to show himself around.
Perhaps he is to be congratulated on
this, for if there is an abomination
in the sight of the Lord it is the aver
age battlefield guide-such as those
tEat make living by exuosing their
ignorance at Waterloo and Gettys-
burg. In this little village there is
only one person who pretends to
know anything about the Custer fight,
and he will not talk. He is the trim
looking ex-cavalryman who runs TIE
hotel. He is not in the guide business
and one quickly notices that he is
heartily sick Of being Intercepted
by inquisitiye visitors. However,
when he learned that too had served
a number of years in the cavalry,
he thawed perceptibly and soon was
talking quite freely. 1t developed
that he had been one Of General
Terry's men, the column that was
coming to join forces with Custer,
but which he was too impatient to
wait for, and which reached the field
two days after the fight only to find
Custer and his men lying dead on the
blood-stained hills, with not single
survivor to tell how It happened. II
was this complete humiliation Of
Clusters men that has wrapped the
affair in mystery--a mystery so un-
fathomable that all attempts to de-
scribe his last stand against the, In
dians are founded more or less on
conjecture.
Moreover, every attempt that has
been made to explain his. movements
has called down storm Of criticism.
Cyrus Townsend Brady, who appar-
emily exhausted every means Of in
formation, has been not only criti-
cised but openly ridiculed by men who
served in the Little Big Horn cam
paign. What, tken, is a person to
believe? The reports in the War
Department at Washington, which /
have studied quite thoroughly, throw
very little light on Clusters move
ments. Anyone who has been
through a battle knows how difficult
it is, even the day after, to obtain
two accounts that coincide. For one
thing, men lose all account Of time;
what seems few minutes to one Is
an age to another. And who shall
say that the sun ever stood still on
the plain of Gideon, and the moon on
the vale of Ajalon, save in the i'm
agination of Joshua's excited war
riors. So instead of attempting to
explain the unknown, I will simply
try in this article TO describe the
field as II Is today; at the same time
mentioning the main features of the
great fight. And even in tkis,
realize that ! must proceed with ex-
treme caution. less some critical