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General Custer in Nebraska
General George Armstrong Custer, commanding troops A, D, E,
H, K and M of the Seventh Cavalry, camped near here June 22 to
30, 1867, after a march from Fort McPherson, Nebraska. They were
campaigning against the elusive Sioux and Cheyenne Indians.
On June 24 Pawnee Killer led a dawn attack on Custer's camp,
wounding a sentry. There followed a parley between Custer and
his officers and Pawnee Killer, Pole Cat, Fire Lightning and Walks
Underground. Neither side was able to learn the plans of the other,
and an Indian effort to separate the officers from their command
was thwarted. Later Captain Hamilton and forty troopers, pursuing
a decoy war party, rode into an ambush seven miles northwest of
the camp but fought their way out, killing two warriors.
Custer's supply train of sixteen wagons, returning from Fort
Wallace, Kansas, was attacked near Black Butte Creek, Kansas,
and killed several Indians. Lt. Kidder, ten troopers and scout
Red Bead, carrying orders from Fort Sedgwick, Colorado, missed
Custer's camp and were killed near Beaver Creek. Their mutilated
bodies were found and buried by Custer on July 12.
The flamboyant career of General Custer ended on the Little
Big Horn, Montana, June 25, 1876.
Dundy County Historical Society
Historical Land Mark Council
US 34, Benkelman
Dundy County
Marker 22 |
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