The Bismarck Tribune Newspaper, June 20, 1936, Page 13

Custer, in Death, Found Glory He Sought All of His Died Because of Belief He Could Lick All Enemies Deliberate Defiance of His Friend, General Terry, Was Typical of Man Who Rashly Broke Orders in i Pursuit of Fame By ELMO SCOTT WATSON (By Special Permission the Western Newspaper Union) Of him it is written: “He followed Glory all his days. He was her lifelong devotee. She gave him favor withheld from most men, and denied herself when his need of her was sorest. When, desperately pursuing, he died on the heights above the Little Big Horn, Glory, the perverse, relented and gave eternal brilliance to his name.” So begins chapter one of a new “now-it-can-be-told” bio- graphy—Frederic F. Van De Water’s “Glory Hunter,” publish- ed recently by the Bobbs-Merrill company. The “Glory Hunt- er” was “George Armstrong Custer, Lieutenant-Colonel, 7th United States Cavalry, Brevet Major-General, United States Army, the ‘Boy General with the Golden Locks,’ the ‘Murat of ‘the American Army,’ the good sword, the hero, the martyr.” Around his name has raged endless controversy, for he was the kind of man who seems to have been capable of inspir- ing either the bitterest hatred or the blindest loyalty. Chief among the exemplars of the latter was, of course, his wife, “who was to devote the rest of her life to adornment of her husband’s memory.” those who had reason to hate tongues. Long before his tragic death in 1876 there were him but chose to hold their After that event there were whispers of suspicion but little, if any, full-voiced denunciation. “Elizabeth Bacon’s fifty-odd years| of glorification have enshrined her husband in the folk-lore of America. She proclaimed him hero and, since she was his widow, men who thought otherwise held their peace.” In the spring of 1934 she died, as did Gen. E. 8. Godfrey, another staunch de- fender of Custer's name. Therefore & “now-it-can-be-told” biography can appear without giving pain to these Seca ee ee legend. Think Explanation Valid Characterizing Van De Water's book thus does not mean that he is an idle debunker nor a ruthless icono- clast. “Few still endure who saw him in the flesh, but over his memory,| his deeds, his character and particul- arly his death, Custerphobe and Cus- terphile strive with the heat of the man’s actual intimates,” says Van De Water, who is neither Custerphobe nor Custerphile but an impartial his- torlan concerned only with the facts as he finds them in the record. Partisans may disagree with his inter- pretations of those. facts but anyone who reads the evidence in his book cannot help feeling that his explana- tion of Custer as a glory hunter is & valid one. Tf, indeed, as the poet tells us, the child is father to the man, then sev- eral incidents in the childhood of the boy who was born in New Rumley, Harrison county, Ohio, Dec. 5, 1639, are significant of the man he was to become. When war with Mexico threatened, his father, Emanuel Cus- ter, joined the “New Rumley Invin- cibles,” a militia company, and pro- vided his little son, “Autie,” with @ miniature replica of his uniform. One day the youngster amazed his father by lifting his arm in imitation of an older half-brother who had been Dandy There was dash to Gen. George A. Custer. The flowing locks, jaunty cam- paign hat and mustachio marked him apart from the average man. sight, he rarely paused to consider cost.” When he was 4 years old a new brother arrived in the Custer home— Nevin J., who is worthy of mention it | Perior for no other reason than that he was 80 different from the rest. He lived and died in peace, a farmer. Thomas ‘W. Custer appeared on the scene in 1845, Boston Custer in 1848 and Mar- garet Emma Custer in 1852. They, especially Tom Custer, became the first hero worshipers to send their older brother on his pursuit of glory and they were to share in the tragic (end of his quest, as was his half-sis- ter, Lydia, who in 1849 married David Reed of Monroe, Mich. When she went to the little pioneer town on the shores of Lake Michigan, she took “Autie” with her. He lived there off and on for the next six or seven years, Wins Hero Worshiper During that time there occurred an event which marked the beginning of the one wholly admirable factor in Custer’s life. Returning from school one day, he passed the home of Dan- fel 8. Bacon, the leading citizen of Monroe. A little girl was swinging on the garden gate. She gazed at the gangling 15-year-old with interest. “Hello,” she stammered, “Hello, you THE ‘GLORY HUNTER’ POSES Historical Soclety Photo Legendary is the story that, Gen, George, A. Custer at one time kept a pack of 48 photo of Custer shows him stan tent in Kansas before he came to hunting hound in the ‘ort This rare rway of his Lincoln. Jn his hands he holds a hunting rifle. One hound rests at his feet. The blur to the left was another hound doing some hunting of his own, THE BISMARCK TRIBUNE. SATURDAY, JUNE 20, 1936 IN FRONT OF THE CAPITOL, ELECTION DAY, 1865 Custer boy.” Then, overcome by shy- ness, she fled. It was his first meet- ing with Elizabeth Bacon. Ten years later he married her and she joined the ranks of the hero-worshipers whose lives were to be blighted be- cause of their devotion to one flam- figure. go to New Rumley again, Custer took the first step in his glory- seeking career. Despite his father's strong Democratic principles and consequent disapproval of his son's actions, Custer was not averse to ask- ing a Republican congressman to get him an appointment to the United States Military academy at West Point. Unsuccessful at first, Custer was 50 importunate that finally John A. Bingham, the gave it to him and on June 3, 1857, he entered ‘West Point. There he was “a defiant insubordinate cadet, forever in trouble and as constantly on the verge of more. .. . The impartial voice of the academy records portrays George Armstrong Custer as @ slovenly sol- dier and a deplorable student.” The approaching crisis of the Civil war resulted in the academy's five-year course being compressed into four and two classes were graduated in 1861— one in April and another in June. Custer was in the. latter.group, his standing being thirty-fourth in a class of thirty-four. Retained Inherent Defiance “Two year! of campaign would turn ‘West Point's sloven into a soldier,” writes Van De Water. “It would not change his substance. Battle that re- constructed others, sobering and deep- ening their spirits, would only sharp- en George Armstrong Custer. He would become a keen weapon, terrible to the enemy, difficult for a weak su- to wield, yet intrinsically he would remain the raucous and reck- less youngster who had defied his par- ents to clasp the hand of a political foe and had been the Academy's chronic insurgent. His nature was bright and volatile, yet durable past power of war to alter.” ™ ‘was during these two years that the tradition of “Custer’s luck” began. For nothing else but luck could have made him a brigadier-general at the age of twenty-three, the youngest in the army. ... At least, the historians have never been able to find any good reason why in 1862 he should have| troops been advanced from a first leuten- ancy in the Fifth cavalry to the com-/to mand of the Second brigade of the Third division, rocketing past the ranks of captain, major, lieutenant- colonel and colonel. True, he dis- svt sade er at Gettysburg but at i after he narrowly escaped annihila- tion at the hands of that cavalry genius in gray, Jeb Stuart. The appoint as chief of the rg caret? 9070 Custer his chance for fame. “! Sheridan who overlooked insubordi- nations by Custer with unwonted charity... . Here was no strategist but a tireless body and 8 mind as hungry for war as & bent bow. Custer | de was s weapon that Sheridan knew how to use.” He used him in the raids which devastated the Shenandoah valley where Custer seems to have learned willingly enough the lessons of ruthlessness so necessary to those who engage in the dirty business of war. By the spring of 1865 he had be- ead @ major-general and it was “Custer’s luck” again which enab’ a him to be “in at the death.” Fo. it was Custer and his cavalry who swooped down upon Appomattox sta- tion and slammed shut the door to Lee’s only avenue of retreat. After Lee’s surrender, Custer issued the oft- quoted congratulatory general order to his Third division, whose record, he declared, was “unparalleled in the an- Dakota pioneers gather in front of the territorial capital in Yankton for an election in October, 1865. Yankton’s Carnegie library stands on the site of this building today. This was the second capitol building for Dakota Territory. It was constructed in 1862. colonel of the newly organized Sev- enth cavalry and busied himself with molding that outfit into what he be- leved a cavalry regiment should be, the strict discipline which he enforced and his callous disregard for the wel- fare of his men brought him close to disaster. In September, 1867, he was court martialed at Fort Leavenworth on seven charges, the most serious being that he had deliberately disobeyed orders of his superior officer, General Hancock, had deserted his command in the midst of hostile Indian coun try to hurry to Fort Riley where the cholera was raging and from which his beloved wife was writing letters filled with loneliness and terror and| that he had ordered some of his of- ficers to shoot down without mercy deserters from the regiment. Former Custer biographers have either ignored or passed lightly over this court martial, but the fact re- mains that Custer was found guilty on all seven charges, suspended from tank and command for a year and his pay for that time forfeited. Called Back to Fight But before the year had passed Sheridan, who had more than once overlooked Custer insubordination, came to his rescue. A campaign against the hostile Indians under General Sully had been a failure. So to Monroe, Mich., where the Custers were spending their enforced vaca- tion, came a telegram from Sheridan,’ saying that he had asked for Custer’s reinstatement and asking him to re- join his regiment for the campaign which Sheridan was planning against the hostiles. The result was the “battle” of the Washita fought on Nov. 17, 1868, when Custer attacked the sleeping camp of the Cheyenne chief, Black Kettle, killing that chief and slaugh- tering men, women and children in- discriminately. There is every reason to believe that Black Kettle and his people were no more hostile then than they had been when members of this same band were the victims of Col- onel Chivington and his Colorado at the Sand Creek massacre. But Sheridan's orders were, in effect, “kill Indians” and Custer didn’t stop to find out whether the village into which he charged that cold No- vember was occupied by friendly or hostile Indians. Left Elliott to Fate His tactics at the Washita were the command and a headlong attack an “enemy” whose numbers were But he soon found that he up a hornet’s nest, for Kettle’s village was only one of several along the Washita. Threat- ened by warriors from the others, Cus- ter hastily withdrew, even though Maj. Joel Elliott and 19 men in his tachment were still unaccounted for. Lieutenant Godfrey had reported hearing sounds of firing which indi- cated that Elliott was in distress. But Custer disregarded this and marched away, leaving Elliott to his fate. ‘His hasty withdrawal indicates that had lost for the moment, at least, belief that the Seventh could whip Defender Until. she died a few years ago, Elizabeth Bacon Custer (above) was the staunch de- fender of her husband's ill- fated military career. A charming hostess, she was the No. 1 socialite of her day when Fort Abraham Lincoln was the center of social ac- tivities here. Brother Tom Custer (above) was one of the five members of the Custer family who perished on the Little Big Horn. | lost something else at the Washita— the undivided faith and admiration of the regiment and the confidence of some of his officers. From that time on the Seventh cavalry was a regi- ment divided against itself. Nor dur- the next eight years was Custer ble to do anything which restored that shattered faith. During the Yellowstone expedition of 1873 he had one run-in with his su- perior officer, General Stanley, and received a severe rebuke which caused him to be good thereafter—at least, so far as obeying orders was con- cerned. But he did rush into one reckless fight with the Sioux which nearly ended disastrously for him and which gave him a dangerous scorn for the Sioux as foemen, His expedition into the Black Hills in 1874 and his exaggerated reports of the richness of the gold there brought him a fleeting moment of fame, but was soon overshadowed by the "ace which overtook him when he became embroiled in the Belknap scandal. ‘Talked Too Much’ Belknap, President Grant's secre- tary of war, was accused of graft in connection with sutler contracts at the army posts and impeached by con- gress. Custer “talked too much’— claimed knowledge which he did not have. Summoned to Washington to testify, he made a sorry witness. He Naturally Grant resented all this. So Custer was not only deprived of the command of the expedition which was to be sent agaist the hostile Sioux from Fort Abraham Lincoln in North ‘Dakota but was even forbidden to go with it. He made frenzied appeals to Sherman, Courtesy Yankton Press & Dakotan SIX SIOUX WARRIORS WHO FOUGHT CUSTER COMING TO FESTIVAL More Than 50° Other Indians Will Lend Color to Bis- marck’s Jubilee Six Sioux Indians who fought Cus- ter will be in Bismarck to lend color to the Pioneer Days Festival July 3, 4, and 5. With them will be a male quartet ‘of Indians, three of them grandchildren of Sioux chiefs, who will sing during the memorial pro- gram Friday. They may camp near the capitol building. “The fiercest fighter of them all” las Captain Nelson A. Miles described Chief Joseph White Bull, will be here in full dress regalia, as will be the 5 other veterans, Chief Henry Oscar ‘One Bull, Little Moon, Young Eagle, ‘Little Soldier, and Elk Nation. With them for exhibition they will bring pictographs of the Custer battle which they made themselves. In- terpreters will explain the meaning of the pictographs to visitors. Two of One Bull's daughters, Mrs. Brown and Mrs. Cadotte, two of his grandchildren, Margaret Brown and Crowfoot, will also be in the Party. Crowfoot is named after Sit- ting Bull's son, who wa¥ killed in 1890. He is a famous boy ‘dancer, and proved a sensation at the Miles City, Mont., jubilee, two years ago. Members of the quartet, which has sung over many radio stations, are James Whitebull, Percy Tibbet, Wal- lace Eagle Shield, and Ralph Shepard, James Whitebull, grandson of Chief White Bull, is basso and leader of the quartet. His voice is known for its effortless lower range. Percy Tibbet, the baritone, is a Grandson of the late Chief Big Head. ‘The second tenor, Wallace Eagle Shield, is a grandson of the famous Indian woman, Mary Crawler, who died last year. Little known, she was nevertheless one of the most color- ful characters in Indian history. She stood well over six feet, and was the only woman known to have fought Custer. The Crow Indians thought she was @ spirit, and spoke of her in whispers. A fierce fighter, she was known as “The Woman Who Is Neith- er™Man Nor Woman.” Ralph Sheppard, first tenor, is a grandson of Chief Red Dog. He is the possessor of a tenor voice of un- usual beauty and strength. All four young men have attended ‘Santee Normal school in Nebraska. Known as the “all-American quar- tet,” they have appeared for three seasons at the Wisconsin Dells Pageant. Arrangements for bringing the Ii- dians to the celebration were carried out by E. A. Milligan, worker on the WPA project through which the State Historical Society is collecting ;|early Indian data. * ly disol from the first to “swing clear of Terry” and by winning. a smashing SERLOTT over ine BAOUR Se seals tance i iy i ie BE | F cli ad i ki a é | St. Mary's parochial school was founded in 1887. TRIBUNE RECALLS DRAMA OF DAKOTA IN FESTIVAL ISSUE Photos and Stories Serve Only to Re-Emphasize Panor- ama of Progress By GORDON MacGREGOR (Tribune City Editor) North Dakota on July 3, 4 and 5 in the Capital City will forget the trou- bles of the present to once again re- thumb the golden pages of its history that have been turned since Presi- dent James Buchanan on March 2, 1861, set his hand to the act of con- gress creating Dakota Territory, @ vast land of plain and mountain di- vided on Nov. 2, 1889, into the state of North and South Dakota. To publicize the diamond jubilee and to remember that Custer’s last stand on the banks of the Little Big Horn river just 60 years ago marked the high point of Indian resistance on the North American continent to the invasion of white men, The Bis- marck Tribune, North Dakota’s oldest newspaper, today publishes a 24-page Pioneers Days Festival edition. No newspaper can publish the com- plete and accurate history of all the epic events that have contributed to the upbuilding of Dakota. No news- paper can record for posterity the Stories in the lives of all those pion- eers who played leading roles in the drama of Dakota. Does Not Tell All Limited by space, handicapped by fact of a small staff and under pres- sure because of the time necessary to compile facts, The Bismarck Trib- une is not attempting to publish an edition that will include all that might be told. Some information in this edition is Presented for the first time. Much of it is a repetition of stories fam- ilar to everyone, stories, however, which still hold their enchantment. ‘The Tribune has endeavored to re- collect those events that have been of major significance in our history and to publish, for the first time in many instances, photographs ofspersons and places, about which the panorama of progress revolved. Much Material Left Out ‘The Tribune regrets it is unable to publish in this edition much of the material and many of the pictures that it collected. However, they will be published in succeeding issues from now until the celebration and there- after. ‘There are many pioneers who have not been contacted. We ask them to be charitable. There are many stories untold that must be left for future historians to relate. ‘The Tribune is deeply appreciative of the aid it has been extended by persons and firms in the compilation of facts, the collecting of pictures and the presentation of the whole. Reid’s Aid Invaluable Particularly we wish to thank Rus- sell Reid, curator of the North De- kota Historical society, who was of invaluable assistance in obtaining the originals of many pictures in this edition; to Mr. Andreas Risem of the Rembrandt studio who worked long hours to make clear details in photos yellow and dull with age. Cooperation of the finest sort has been fraternally extended by Mr. Fred H. Monfore, publisher of the Yankton Press and Dakotan of Yank- ton, 8. D., mother city of the Dakotas, who kindly loaned The Tribune cuts that had appeared in his newspaper's Diamond Jubilee edition. Many Helped In the collection of stories, the checking of names, dates and other data, we are indebted to Mr. William A. Falconer of Bismarck; to Miss Ethel Schlasinger, director of the North Dakota WPA writer's project; John L. Peterson, proprietor of the Grand Pacific hotel; Mrs. Charles L. Pearce of Bismarck; Miss Aldyth Ward of Bismarck; Mr. W. 8. Gra- ham of Bismarck; Adj. Gen. Frayne Baker of Bismarck; Mr. Jacob Horner of Bismarck; Mr. Jack Lyons of Bis- marck, Newspapers and news services that have extended courtesies are the Mandan Pioneer, the Fargo Forum and the Aberdeen American-News. Finally, The Tribune acknowledges the interest, the enterprise and the cooperation of the various business and professional men, both in Bis- marck and abroad, who have made possible this larger edition. ‘When the Association of Commerce incorporated in 1906, the city hall was over the French and Welch hardware store, ays Poet James W. Foley was a hand- some high school youth when this picture was made of him in 1888, BADLANDS INSPIRED JAMES W. FOLEY T0 WRITE FIRST VERSE North Dakota Claims Poet Who Was Born in St. Louis But Blossomed Here North Dakota's famous poet lau- reate, James W. Foley, coming to Bismarck for the Pioneer Days Fes- tival celebration, is a pioneer of which Bismarck is particularly proud. For it is to’ Bismarck—that—‘‘Jim” as he was known to his early friends here, really belongs. He was born in St. Louis, Mo., Feb. 4, 1874, but came to Dakota territory when he was 4 years old. His father, an army officer, was stationed at Fort Abraham Lincoln south of Mandan. Here young Foley lived for another four years. Then, because his parents wanted to give him and his five brothers and sisters opportunity to go to school, they moved across the river to Bismarck. tales of the plains, went to a in the Badlands near Medora throughout the Northwest. Soon he began selling to national publications. The Tribune published Foley's first collection in a book of about 50 pages. In 1896 Foley married Emily L. Beardsley, who met a tragic death two years later by drowning in Lake Su- Perior. In 1900 he remarried, this time to Edith D. Skeels, of Bismarck. Secretary to Governors Foley was also active in civil life. He was secretary to Governor Sarles and Governor Hanna, secretary of the state senate for three terms, and of the North Dakota railroad commis- sion for one term. In 1912 he wield- ed considerable political influence as secretary and acting chairman of the Republican state central committee. He resigned his secretarial work in 1912, however, to devote his entire energies to writing and lecturing. His simplicity and appeal to boys and girls soon made him a popular fav- orite in Lyceum work. In 1924, Foley was chosen poet lau- reate of North Dakota, At present he is poet and columnist on the Pasa- ene (California) Star-News. Dakota life: It is used in North Da- kota schools in study of the possibil- ities of North Dakota verse. In 1873 there was only one settler between Bismarck and Jamestown, Oscar Ward, who had a shanty five miles east of Bismarck, In 1884, the railroad marck was the Missouri above Postoffice was estab- | by ‘The Bismarck Ushed Feb. 7, 1873. The postmaster’s salary was $12 a year. The next year it was raised to $790. Bismarck was divided into three wards in 1883, AMODERN HOME IN THE WILDERNESS The U. S. government was not niggardly with its Indian fighters. The officers’ quar- ters at Fort Abraham. Lin- &