Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??, 1909-01-01

lowed close in the timber and a us
In the rear. Lieutenant
] and myself lost our horses ana we
| jumped into the river where we con-
| cealed ourselves in the long grass
| along the bank with only our noses
sticking up most of the time. we
remainded in the water until near
midnight when the splashing OF
frightened bearers gave US an oppor-
tunity to cross the river without de-
lection when we climbed the hill and
Joined Reno, who lost 80 men killed
and wounded in the fatal and cow
ardly retreat"
This is Girard's story Of how Reno
was ambushed according to Mr.. o
inson's truthful Indians. Lieutenant
DeRudio gave me his story of Reno's
action and it was similar In every par
ticular to Girard's. There was no
ambush prepared by the Indians, ana
to furnish additional proof on This
point it is only Necessary TO say that
some members of Calls family, his
suuaw and one child, we're killed In
their tepee owing to the sudden ad-
vance of Reno's men. If Indians call
that an ambush Mr.. Robinson may be
able to prove In time that Reno lick
ed the whole Sioux nation.
Reno was able to build breastworks
and send his men to the river for wa
ter that afternoon when Custer was
fighting his last grand battle. That
don't indicate that Reno was sur
rounded by a bowling horde OF paint
ed warriors. Reno was practically
free from attack until after Custer
was dead, and no amount Of Indian
historical hash can stand the test OF
truth against the gallant men who
fought under Reno and needed but a
leader to relieve Custer or die in the
effort. A good soldier never hesti-
tates to fight when ordered to do so
and a good commander never counts
| the cost when ordered to fight by his
superior. Reno hesitated in the tim
Der, dismounted, got frightened, re-
treated, got demoralized and the fear
of death held him on the only place
of safety he could find in his mad
rush from the enemy. Reno had new
err fought Indians before.
Gall lived IN the upper end OF the
camp and was, we believe, a brave
Indian, but the fact that Reno's at
tack was so sudden, so unexpected,
that part of his family vas killed in
their tepee destroys the story of an
ambush.
1t was also we'll known that when
Reno %retreated to the hill Gall and
all his bucks rushed down the valley
to meet Custer, knowing that Reno
was out of the fight. Girard told US
how the squaws multilated Reno's
men and how they hunted along the
river for wounded men and how they
dreaded detection in the grass under
the river bank, and he listened to
them as they talked and butchered
the dead. There were no warriors on
this part of the battlefield until eve
ming when Gall and his band return
ed.
There was no ambush for Custer
because he fought over open ground
and was attacked by the Indians be-
fore Calhoun's company could reach
the ford at the lower end Of the camp.
The ground over which Custer fought
measured over one mile and a half be-
ginning at a point where Calhoun and
his men were killed, to the hills
| where Keogh went down and on up
to where Custer was killed and
then half a mile down towards the
river where Smiths company died
fighting. There was no ambush
there.
Reno in bis report says that he was
joined by Benteen at 2 o'clock and
was "furiously" attacked by the In
dams at 8 O'Clock. This proves that
Reno with $50 men remained on the
hill for four hours before the Indians
attacked him, and also proves that
Custer and his men had fought the
Indians over four hours, because Reno
retreated about l:20.
There is little use In discussing the
question farther because the Indian
stories on which Mr.. Robinson tried
to make a case have been proven false
and even Reno himself stated that
the Indians did not attack him on
| the hill until 6 p. M. shortly after
Custer gallant troops had gone down
praying for help that never came.
| Custer had 262 men and Reno had $50
The smaller force fought all the In
dams for something like four hours
while the greater force remained on
the hill within sound Of the battle in
active. Reno withstood the united
attack OF the Indians from 6 to 9 p.
m, What would the result have been
had Reno charged through the In
dams and Joined Custer, no man
knows, but it SCENE reasonable to be-
lieve that the united force could have
held the Indians back until Terry
came up. Reno did it alone. Reno
in his three hours fight lost Is inlist-
ed men and had AZ wounded. The
retreat Of Reno threw all the Indians
against Custer and Custer fought
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