The Powder River County examiner and the Broadus independent. [volume] (Broadus, Mont.) 1919-1935, 1921-12-09

t00&gVeVv WUSvuV uSSUV
4 COVETED MEDAL |
stockman Of the Little Missouri river,
postoffice address Alzada. Carter coun-
ty. was one Of the honor-gues;tMs .s at the
ton and marched in the escort OF the
body Of the unknown American soldier |
whose body was brought back frcm
terry. There were sixty men In the pa
rade holding similar honor medals with
Mr.. Thompson. He was awarded
s. 1873, for brave and heroic conduct
during the Custer battle on the Little
Big Horn, June 1926. 1876.
Mr.. THOMPSON was a member ,s,,, OF &c GO.
ter's command, and but for the lact
| that his horse gave out. would nave
been one of the men to perish IN n,h !nas
| and Indians.
| While Mr.. Thompson mas net re-
ceived as much publicity as some 9th
ers who We're sngassd IN a sse Of the
west those who have studied the MS
| tory of the Seventh cavalry are ia
miiar with his conduct dur1n;g .ne hise
torian of the Seventh cavalry and IN
dian wars writing the Belle Fourche
Bee at the time that paper per was say P"o Of
him:
AT the end of hcmpson's article !
notice there is no TO be continued
the the battle of June 20 but don't let him
end up there. He can tell whole lot
more tina, is highly increasing sso,It y,i ne
900 feet. down through the. bluffs to
the river, and exposed to the ire OF
the Indians for much of that distance:
cnly to find them closely gnarding the
river when he got there. Thompson is
said to have been the first white man
for water.
"He can also tell about the task OF
getting the wounded to the steamer
Far West. at the mouth Of the Little
to Fort Abraham Lincoln on the steam
er. and how an Indian who nag par
ticipated in the battle against oH isan
. tilted him as having been one OF the
| hostiles. This story will also demon
. strate how fast these Indians c"uid
travel across the country.
This man Thompson is a modest lei
low Ask him about the medal OF nohoi
that was awarded to him on octoper ?.
, 1878. It he does not tell you WY Wns tl N
81 was given to him, here 1t Is from the
: records of the war department:
"'After having voluntarily nfn.s NJ NJ
: water to the wounded. IN "liti tltol
he was shot through the head. he mace
Two mere successful trips for the same
: purpose. Notwithstanding the relnon-
4 stlances of his serseant 49, .o.;,,,
1.-THE record shows that the 'artion
,, in which this deed was psrf"fmItu , io ,,a
! ! / place on the LITTLE Big Horn Mon'an ma
Iune IS. ls7s--a day that viii b. re- e.
! long as TIL. rmopylae.
: THE word head il the abnNe Hn,n,ife T., q
sentence is. evidently; n,nsS ,nr, ~
. the affair mentions Thomrson being
| wounded in the hand June -, ~
IN this connection It shoui4 ne ~ = -
! - s' nronerlv 90 together for the fight
5 ING was fast and furious cn both OF
"T.et me- tell YOU another matt..r that
: will illustrate what manner OF MAJ
| this Thompson IS some tihe "tH'
7 Rig corn. Sergeant Knipe, VII" IS ,nt.n-
j tiEnr,4 in Il previous article. told me
: that a set # four had struggled behind
I ,rns1elss command. or in some way IA.
n hc%n laft behind. Custer and Reno had
: ssnaratea. ana that these four men, al
h CT hack to Peno's command hetnr;
s Sis.S liza He Ihin s rnon r4at NJ
$ could tel me all about the matter, a:
e Thompson was one Of the tour.
n I'm the next year or two 1 met
h number of Survivors Of the battle VINO
: in their WI way. c9niirmta VIII
Knipe had told me; and and the 'f,h ,'I nnr,1
Il
e facts that | concluded it was 40 PIP.
t story. / therefore thought ina, th u,
: unpublished incident of the hatt' "'
: the Little Big Horn ought not !" -
/ lost To history and | deternlneL to my
. Thompson if he was III the land al
/ living. ,.,,t, ct, ,a1l,sd
z had seen Thompson or heard OF hllf
= since his discharge from the army, II
1880. until. finally met an G NJ LOU.
t to work in the Black Hi lis. somsWhefe
Q after leaving the army, but he mad no,
9 seen him OF heard Of him since tha'
= lime Accordingly. l addressed letters
I to different postoffices thrcuehout tue
Hills. but they all came back 10 IN.
; with the postNasttfs stamp no.
e Next. soldier here in Chicago at'
v;sed ne TO try some of the old saioci
, men in that part OF the country, On
] where army veterans Were, likely to
; hang OUT and that for this reason
! saloon Keepers and bar tenders usually
! had better knowledge of the wherea-
! bouts of ex-soidiers than any one 81 Sc
So / wrote TO the chiefs of police IN
3 Lead and Deadwood and ether points
in and around TIL Black Hills. and they
:, sent me the names aud addresses OF q
number of men who had dealt out II
quor in that part of IN" country IN
times past / wrote Ia all of these
: making an urgent appeal u get some
9 news of Thompson. but their repl1eS
came back that they knew him not
mad they ever tie't't ~ lI!iiis
+ therefore gave up hunting for Thnrnp-
: son in the Black Hills.
Later on I was in Washington and
J called on General Fred 6. hnSwcrth
the adiutant general of the army tell,
ing him about this man Thompson and
: asking him to kindly let me know
what latest information the records
had about him. After search was made
| was informed that Uncle Sam had
closed accounts with Thompson in
), 1850. and the records Of that We're 81
1nn
lint ne said. the record shows that
he was wounded, and that fact will be
a good clue whereby to find out wheth-
er or not he is living, New You go
over 10 the pension office. and Il he is
still living you will undoubtedly find
his name on the pension list. and in
that way YOU can get his address,
! 80 l went over tc the pension Of
fee. only to be advised that said Peter
Thompson was not drawing a pension.
neither did the records show that he
. had ever applied for one. Returning
TO General Ainswcrtll. l told him the
result of my inquiry at the pension