Plentywood herald. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1908-current, 1929-08-15

were one of three expeditions in tn
field, comprising the grand offensive
OF 1876 to exterminate the bands O
Crazy Horse, the Sioux, and of Dull
Knife. the northern Cheyenne, chief.
tains. The other contingents were lee
by General Gibbon and Lieut.-Co
George A. Custer.
Custer and Crook were about as diff.
ferent as two men could be and still
be members of the same profession.
shall never forget the first time l saw
General Custer, as they still called him
from the rank he held during the Civil
war, in which he had served with
great distinction. 1t was during a cat
tie drive from Texas to Kansas City
before the advent of the Texas Pacific
railroad, in 1868. He wore a bleached
buckskin suit of fancy cut, and lavish
~ ornamented with fringes. His yell
low hair hung in long ringlets over his
shoulders, and was crowned by a broad
white hat. His hands were encased in
gauntlets and his feet in boots as soft
as a lady's dancing slippers and as
spotleSS. He carried himself with the
air of a lion.
No Beau Brummell
In a populus place General Crook
would have worn the regulation uni
form, but it probably would have
needed pressing. A battered SLOUGH hat
would have been carelessly thrust on
his head and his boots would have
been dusty. In the field, except that
everyone knew him, he might have
been taken for a Montana miner. The
only part OF the uniform he wore was
an old o%vercoat. Except in wet weather
he wore mOccasins, and his light bushy
beard would be gathered in a series
OF braids. He Vas a silent man, but
good natured and philosophically hu-
l have seen him walk up to
a cook where the troops were getting
their coffee, take his turn for a cup.
and then walk away and sit on the
ground and blow it off and drink it
without saying a word.
The forces of Crook, Gibbon and Gus
ter were to converge upon the hOStileS
from different directions. General Ter
ny had come west to supervise the
three forces and direct the campaign.
was in Chicago awaiting the
outcome.
Our command halted at old Fort
Reno at the three forks of the Powder
river in Wyoming. There we expected
to be reinforced by Grow and Shoshone
who were hostile to the Sioux
and Cheyennes. But our Indian allies
not on hand and General Crook
sent his chief of scouts, Frank Gruard,
with Baptiste Fourier on ahead to see
If they could find out what had be-
come Of them.
Hawaiian Turns Indian
Frank Gruard was n of the strang-
est characters l knew in the West. He
was a Sandwich islander, or a Hawai-
nc fhox, oo11 fhnVr NOW Ac n oh,1I
he had been captured by Crazy Horses
band and brought up by them. He
spoke Sioux as we'll, or better, than he
did English. BaptiSte Fourier, or Big
Bait, as we called him, to distinguish
him from Little Bait, who was named
Baptiste GARNER, was a French-Cana-
dian, and an old-time trapper for the
Hudson's Bay company.
These two went ahead to look for
Indians, friend and foe, and the COM
mand followed on. At Clear Creek, q
branch of the Powder, in northern
WI met a party of IS miners,
en- route from the Black Hills in South
Dakota to the Big Horn range in Wyo-
ming. They had seen nc hostiles, but
were glad enough to join us. We con-
tinued westward to the Tongue river
and turned north down that water
course. The march was u%neventful ex-
for a slight attack in which we
had two men wounded. But we were
apprehensive of more serious trouble
and anxious for word from the scouts.
The scouts returned on June IA, with
Of Crows and ShOShOneS. They
brought information concerning Glib
bon, Custer and the enemy. The Sioux,
said, were encamped in force along
the Rosebud river.
To Force The Fighting
We made a base camp and the next
morning we set out with four days
and plenty OF ammunition to
force the fighting. The night OF the
18th we reached the Rosebud and slept
IN our arms. On the morning OF the
we began q rapid, but alert de-
scent along the east bank of the Rose
bud. 1t was hard going. The Rose
oud is as crooked as a corkscrew, and
The country is very rough. Now we
would be hugging the bluffs through
he narrow, winding valley, unable to
zee so feet ahead; now passing through
IN open glade, which, though difficult
lnderfoot, presented fewer perils of sur
Prise.
Shortly before noon scouts re-
ported the valley a few miles ahead
with Sioux and Cheyenne who
we're coming our way on our side OF
he river. Just below this point the
Rosebud enters a canyon. II we could
lrive the hOstiles in there there would
,e q chance of discriminating them.
But if they should prove the superior