The circle banner. [volume] (Circle, Mont.) 1914-1939, 1923-07-13


| One thing l can say, Tom Custer cap
tured him at the Standing Rock agency
| the winter of 1874 as / was one OF the
detail on that trip. There were 70 men men
| went down to the agency, ] think under
command of Captain Yates, 80 men from
| Fort A. Lincoln, and the other 80 joined
them at Fort Rice and then proceeded TO
Standing Rock agency.
Had Threatened it
1t was the coolest day that 1 nave ever
| experienced in all my service, the tner-
mometer standing "a degrees below zero:
| There was hardly a man in that detali
who did not have some part of him frozen.
| We travelled down the Missouri river on
| the ice, to the agency, and we renamed
there over night and then made the
arrest the next day at the Post Trader $
store. We then proceeded pretty livery
back to Fort Rice, as we expected Chief
Two Bears band would cut us off at can
non Ball creek, as they were camped on tue
other side of the Missouri river.
We arrived safely at Fort Rice, and
fresh detail of men and horses TOOK the
prisoner to Fort A. Lincoln. From there,
sometime later on, Rain in the-Face made
his escape, and sent word to Custer that
he would cut out his heart if he ever got
a chance.
Rain in the Face was arrested because
he shot and killed the veterinary surgeon,
DIR. Halsinger, of the Seventh cavalry, ana
also Mr.. Ballaran, sutler for the Seventh
cavalry, on Aug. 4, 1873, on the Yellow
stone eXpeulI1On WlUl OeueTdl oldulcJ-
At first we could not identify the body
of Tom Custer. Some thought it to be
him, and knew that he had IT. W z.
marked on his arm in India ink, and as l
belonged to his company for four years
previous to his being appointed captain,
III was more or less familiar with him at
camp The bodies lay there so long that
they had turned black, and it was pretty
hard to distinguish those marks. Finally
after a careful examination, 1T proved
true
In shallow Grave
The detail that buried the Clusters were
First Sergeant John Ryan, Corporal Har-
rison Davis, Corporal Frank Medley, and
Private James H. Seaver better known as
Crazy JIM" of Company NJ, Seventh
At the foot of this knoll we dug a
grave about eight inches deep, and laid the
body of the general in it. We. then
the general. Then we wrapped the two
bodies in canvas and blankets, and laid
them side by side, in this shallow grave,
and then covered them with earth. We
took a blanket from an Indian travels,
turned it upside down, put it over the
grave, and laid a row of stones around
the edge to keep the wolves from digging
them up. This was the best burial Of
any of the bodies on the field.
We next found the body of Lieutenant
Cook, who was adjutant colonel of the
Twenty fourth New York cavalry during
the civil war. He had long, black side
those de-whiskers for a scalp. We
buried him where we found the body.
While / was at the national encampment
of the Grand Army, at Detroit, Mich,
Aug. 4, 1891, I ran across some Grand
Army men of Hamilton, Canada, and found
out from one of the comrades that Lieu
tenant Cooks mother was resident Of
that city and I got in communication with
her. The result was that / got beau
tiful cabinet of the lamented w. w. Cook,
which l have before me at the present
time.
Had Few shoveIs
Some of the troops burying those men
had no shovels. They had a few axes,
and they chopped down some wild sage
brush and put it over the bodies. | also
saw where about IS or 20 men belonging
to Company e. Lieutenant Smiths Gray
Horse company. must have fallen back
from the river, and gotten into a ravine.
a distance, until it got so steep that they
could not get out and we saw the marks
where they tried to get up out Of there,
and where afterwards they were shot by
the Indians and fell back into the ravine.
| did not see the body of Boston Gus
ter, the third brother, or the body of Ottie
Reed Clusters nephew. Boston Custer
held the position of forage master, and
Ottie Reed was acting as herder. served
through the Civil war, and saw many hard
sights on the battle field, but never saw a
sight as / saw there.
The men all wore high topped boots,
going into the engagement, and when
we found the bodies of the men we found
nearly all of the lower parts of their
boots, near the bodies, the legs of the
boots being cut off and carried away by
the Indians. We supposed that this was
for making soles for their moccasins.
/ understood that there was one man,
First Sergeant Warden Of Company I,
Captain Keough's company, who had ST.,
700 .sewed up in the leg of his boot, also
diamond pin worth $1,000, and hand,
some gold watch and chain, which, of
course, the Indians got. Perhaps the
indians thought that they would find
more money sewed up in the bootlegs.
Ryan Had $500
l understood a few days after that ]
Captain Yates, commander of Company F.
lad on his person at the time of his death, |
1t the rate of SIT day for every day
n the year, which the Indians got
If the Indians had captured or killed |
ne they would have got about $500, which !
had concealed upon me at that time.
In regard to the ammunition and the
irms that the Indians used on Reno's /
Command, it appears that when Clusters |
i've companies were wiped out of exist |
nee the Indians got all their Spring |
leld .45-caliber breech-loading carbines
md in addition to getting what cartridges
he men had left in their waist belts
ney probably got the go extra rounds
nat each man carried in his saddle-bag, /
md also the "a rounds of pistol ammuni-
ion, caliber .45. ALI this ammunition
yltn the carbines. were used against
feno's men by the Indians, as number of
,ur men were wounded with the same cal
Der ammunition.
IN the bluffs, after Reno arrived from