The Bozeman courier., 1927-10-14

early Indian cruelty. We made camp
across the Little Horn, where Sitting
Bull and his followers had been gath
ering their forces from all points Of the
compass. Here had been gathered the
greatest aggregation OF Indian warriors
and horses ever marshaled on the plains;
5000 warriors and 10000 head of war
horses. This Little Horn valley was a
supreme location for their purpose as
the battle showed and the wood and
water and grass were all that one could
wish, surrounding hills and beautiful
valley taking in the entire country, so
concluded that our evening camp was
pitched on what had been Sitting Bulls
camp.
The place was Uttered with old camp
kettles, with squaw axes, soldiers can
teens (rendered useless by filling them
with holes), bones, horns, buffalo, deer,
and elk heads, and bakeovens; left after
the excitement had passed and the In
dians realized that there would be aveng-
ing parties.
Custer and his men crossed the divide
near or a little west Of the monument.
The ground was wet when the battle was
fought, and the imprint Of the Burdan
shoes with which the horses were shod
was clearly defined. They rode straight
to the river where they encountered the
main body of the warriors under cover OF
the river bank. Thirty braves were killed
LCIG dllO VIC 4OOAAO bAACAAA sum NS~AA~Ne 49,
trees, in the Indian manner.
Failing to make a crossing here, they
camped down the river, leaving several
dead; but at a lone cottonwood tree,
the Cheyennes turned them back. They
tried to escape up the river and were
repulsed by the Sioux. Turning again
to where they first came on the field
they found themselves completely sur
rounded on a high flat place, with no
shelter at all. We counted the skeletons
Of 40 horses in a circle perhaps % 1eet
across. Here the soldiers made last
had disembOwled his dead horse and
crawled into the cavity, only to be shot
to death.
Doomed From the Start
Surrounded on every side with no pos
sible chance to get a solid breaStwork
Custer and his men were doomed from
the start. One vOlly after another was
poured into their midst, reducing them
slowly, surely. Bill and Bob Jackson, two
half breed scouts, were killed in the
circle.
Sitting Bull told NE that the battle
| lasted about an hour He measured with
his shut fist toward the sky, saying:
"One hand; then Custer and soldiers
all gone'
There is no living chief who has ever
! said he killed Custer, or that he knew
who killed him. Gaul told me that the
! white men went down like melting snow
No one knew whose bullet reached the
general. No one knew who killed the
Indians on the river among the trees.
1t has been stated that after the bat
tie, when the Indians had collected theil
dead, a funeral pyre was built upor
which six Indian chiefs killed by Custer
were burned. AS all the chiefs who took
part in the battle were alive after it,
! could never figure out Just which ones
were burned on the pyre.
Some paintings show the battlefield
surrounded by high buttes or near deer
canyons AS matter of fact, Clusters
battlefield is on a plain, near no hills
or gulches.
Killed by Steady Fire
< To return, not a single Indian pom.
was left on the field. 1t would have beer