El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1916-06-26
BURYING BODIES
ON BATTLEFIELD
Gen. Godfrey Tells of the
Little Big Horn Battle
field After Fight.


oounted today by Cen E. s Godfrey,
ar the fortieth anniversary Of the bat
lie Of the Little Bighorn. Gen God
frey was a member Of Maj Reno's
command sent to the field three days
after the battle. Relating the expe-
Fences Of that band, Cen Godfrey
said: , -
rrerrv's relief column and three days
after the battle which We now com
memorate, the Seventh cavalry, under
Nal Reno, broke camp to march 10
fbis field to bury the dead On reach
in- the yonder hill. the highest point
IN this field, the command was as
mounted to receive instructions With
ne CLINT Of the early morning sun
fhf INEQUALITIES OF the ground were
brought out in striking reheI We saw
in bewildered establishment Rnat ap-
neared TO be white bouldeTS Scallere
IN over the field What are theyE
! Are they rocks? These were almost
universal EXPLANATIONS as me troops
successfully arrived at the top OF me
hill An officer raised his field glasses
in a moment his arms dropped limp
nv his side, and he said with sup
dressed feelings Ny Cod Ihey are
Inc bodies Of the deadF Col Weir,
standing by nv side, exclaimed with
Z emotion: oh. how white they look;
how white they look" II was some
minutes before the silence was orohen-
BuryfnE The Dead
The trumpet signal of attention was
, the stern call to duty and we received
our instructions The hill on which
this monument stands. being the most
prominent landmark on the Held, was
? selected as the guide point on which
the troops Of direction should march
The troops or the right and left were
severauy assigned sectors OF the
ground, within the limits OF which
each was TO bury the dead
{ 1T so happened in the advance that
the first body we came TO was within
my sector, the body Of sergeant But
Ter. he was not altogether stripped:
he had several wounds, was scalped
{ and otherwise mutilated. Sergeant
J Butler had been a soldier IN the Brit
ish army before coming 10 this coun-
g try: he had served in the civil war and
in his ten years service in our regi-
ment we knew him to be a brave ana
good soldier. When We lifted his body
q to place II IN the shallow grave. we
; found underneath il a large number OF
[ empty ca fridge shells
Sent As Messenger; Killed.
This fact and his several wounds
gave evidence that he had sold his life
f dearly; that his body was farthest
. from command and nearest to Reno's
. positions. gave rise 70 the surmise that
: ne had been sent as a messenger to
| Reno with the Ma ,edonian cry, Help
Z tering advance and panic retreat. the
. enemy crossed the ford to cut Reno
off and sergeant Butler ran into them
O and there gave up his life The last
body TO come within my sector TO bury
was that Of Boston Custer, youngest
= brother Of the general.
/ while experimenting this, Mai
I Reno sent for me 10 come TO this hill
to identify the dead thereon All the
. bodies were stripped naked and all
! were scalped and mutilated except one,
! Gen Custer. which made IL difficult to
4 recognize them Cen Custer was shot
/ in the temple and left breast. either
/ Of which wounds I believe would have
/ been fatal There were no powder
marks on either wound, which would
give the lie 10 assertions that death
had been self-inflicted, and because the
Indians have a superstition against
scalping suicide
Custer sitting Up
Fred Girard. our interpreter an5
scout. told me that when he first came
70 Gen Clusters body, IL was in a sitt-
ting posture between the bodies OF two
soldiers, one across the other. with
I the generals right elbow resting upon
D the upper body, his face in the palm
OF his hand as II in a position OF rest
3 When 1 came upon the body II had
been laid out and his countenance had
3 a calm, almost triumphant expression
I asked chief Gall why Gen Custer had
not been scalped- he replied instantly
Because he was the big chief and we
! respected his position The bodies OF
o the other officers killed on this hill.
Yates, Cook. Smith and Reilly were
readily Identified. That Of Capt Tom
Custer would not have been identified
except for the fact that we found his
initials tattooed on his shattered arm.
His whole scalp had been removed. his
skull crushed in. his head and abd0-
Z men shot full OF arrows; his sbd"men
also had been cut open and his bow
I els protruded-
Eats Victims Heart
at has been said that Rain-in-the-
Face. in the excitement Of a war dance.
- - H~~a -
eaten Tom Clusters heart in revenge
! for seizing him and carrying him TO
I Fort Lincoln and putting him in the
guard house. The bodies of keogh,
Calhoun and Crittenden were identified
and buried in the other part Of the
field The bodies Of Porter, Harring-
ton. Dr.. Lord and Sturgis were not
identified. In destroying property IN
the Indian camps I found the under
clothing Of Sturgis, the buckskin blouse
Of Porter and 4 pocket instrument case
OF Dr. Lords The shot holes in the
4 clothing Of Porter and Sturgis left no
doubt as to their fate. In the village
found a number OF beheaded bodies,
perhaps Of those who had fought theiI
! way into the camps. but they were
! so mutilated as 20 be unrecOgniza 81
Burying The Dead.
When burying the dead we had but
| few implements. less than dozen
| spades and picks. but TO show our re-
| spect for our dead comrades, with these
I
| we dug for each body a shallow trench
in the hard, dry ground. poured over
! them the loose soil and the Earth TO
! Earth and Dust to Dust we left them
/ in this then wilderness to the ele-
Z ments and wolves. Capt. Nowlan had
{ taken the precaution TO drive stake
in the grave Of each officer He placed
! the name in an empty cartridge shell
drove IL on the stake and mapped the
location.
Bodies Are Taken Up.
! The following year he was sent with
I a party to exhume the remains. and all
/ except those Of Lieut. Crittenden were
sent east for burial: Gen Custer at
| West Point. Capt KeOugh at Buffalo
y. Y. and the others in the National
| cemetery at Fort Leavenworth- Kan
sas- When they telegraphed Gen Crit
tenden 20 know where he wanted his
son buried. he replied: Bury him on
the field where he died The remains
OF the men were placed in a pile where
this monument stands Several years
| later it was discovered that the orig
! inaI burial places could be identified
| by the greener grass than grew IN
| other parts Of the field; that on some
I OF these sDOts flowers were BLOOMING
/ and in my imagination tried to make
! myself believe these flowers were
! beautiful and with sweet fragrance
| Stakes were driven at these spots