Archaeology, History, and Custer’s Last Battle: The Little Big Horn Re-examined

416 Pages·1997·20.29 MB·English

by  Richard Allan Fox Jr.

ARCHAEOLOGY,
HISTORY, AND
CUSTER'S LAST BATTLE

ARCHAEOLOGY,
HISTORY, AND
CUSTER'S LAST BATTLE
The Little Big Horn Reexamined
By Richard Allan Fox, Jr.
Foreword by W. Raymond Wood
UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA PRESS : NORMAN
By Richard Allan Fox, Jr.
Grass, Tipis, and Black Gold (coauthor) (Billings, Mont., 1976)
Archaeological Insights into the Custer Battle: An Assessment of the 1984 Field Season
(coauthor) (Norman, 1987)
Archaeological Perspectives on the Battle of the Little Big Horn (coauthor) (Norman,
1989)
Archaeology, History, and Custer's Last Battle: The Little Big Horn Reexamined (Nor
man, 1993)
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Pubiication Data
Fox, Richard A.
Archaeology, history, and Custer's last battle : the Little Big Horn reexamined / by
Richard Allan Fox, Jr. ; foreword by W. Raymond Wood. — 1st ed.
p. cm.
Revision of thesis (Ph. D.)— University of Calgary, 1988.
Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index.
ISBN 978-0-8061-2998-3 (paper)
1. Little Big Horn, Battle of the, 1876. 2. Little Big Horn Battlefield National Monu
ment (Mont.)—Antiquities. 3. United States. Army. Cavalry, 7th . 4. Indians of
North America— Montana— Antiquities. 5. Montana— Antiquities. I. Title.
E83.876.F6 1993 92-31269
973.87- dc20 CIP
The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and durability of the Commit
tee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the Council on Library Resources,
Inc.©
Published by the University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, Publishing Division of the
University. Copyright © 1993 by Richard Allan Fox, Jr. Manufactured in the U.S.A.
First paperback published 1997.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval
system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photo
copying, recording, or otherwise—except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the
United States Copyright Act—without the prior written permission of the University of
Oklahoma Press.
11 12 13 14 15 16
With respect and admiration, this volume
is dedicated to the memory of
WALTER MASON CAMP

C O N T E N TS
Page
List or Figures IX
Foreword, by W. Raymond Wood xi
Preface XV
Part One. Opening
1. Introduction 3
2. Archaeology and Objectives 7
3. About This Book 14
4. Glances Forward and Back 23
Part Two. Archaeology
5. Models, Methods, and Patterns 39
6. Fieldwork, Burials, and Distributions 63
7. Custer Battlefield Archaeology 94
Part Three. History and Archaeology
8. Prelude 135
9. The Calhoun Episode 143
10. The Keogh Episode 162
11. The Cemetery Ridge Episode 173
12. The Custer Hill Episode 195
13. The South Skirmish Line Episode 203
Part Four. Defeat: Causes and Factors
14. Prefatory and Immediate Causes 225
15. Contributing Factors 260
Part Five. Fate, Blame, and Strategy
16. Fate versus Choice 275
17. Fixing Blame 289
18. Strategy 295
19. The Whereabouts of Custer 319
viii . Contents
Part Six. Closing
20. Conclusions 325
Notes 341
References Cited 381
Index 399
FIGURES
4-1. 7th Regiment movements, June 24-25, 1876, leading to battle 26
4-2. Map of the Custer Battlefield National Monument area 27
5-1. Deployment of cavalry companies as skirmishers
(E. Upton, Cavalry Tactics [1874]) 44
5-2. Comparison of firing-pin signatures on .44-caliber cartridge cases 55
5-3. Comparison of extractor-mechanism signatures on .44-caliber cartridge cases 55
6-1. The Custer battlefield study area 65
6-2. Study-area topography 66
6-3. Custer battlefield sectors and topographic features 69
6-4. Aerial photograph of the Custer battlefield 70
6-5. Grid units resurveyed during inventory evaluation 71
6-6. Custer Hill and the granite obelisk from above 74
6-7. Memorial stones on the western slope of Custer Hill 75
6-8. Distribution of Custer battlefield marble markers,
corrected for pairing errors 76
6-9. Distribution of Indian bullets 81
6-10. Distribution of .45-caliber Springfield carbine bullets 82
6-11. Distribution of .45-caliber Colt bullets 83
6-12. Distribution of Indian cartridge cases (all calibers) 84
6-13. Distribution of .45/55 cartridge cases 85
6-14. Distribution of Colt .45 cartridge cases 86
6-15. Indian positions and pathways represented by .50-caliber cartridge cases 88
6-16. Indian positions and pathways represented by .44-caliber cartridge cases 89
6-17. Indian positions and pathways represented by cartridge cases of
miscellaneous calibers 90
6-18. Individual positions and pathways represented by Springfield
cartridge cases (.45/55) 91
6-19. Locations of the study-area sectors enlarged in the computerized figures 92
6-20. Key to symbols used in computerized figures 93
7-1. Calhoun Coulee: artifact distributions and marker locations 95
7-2. Greasy Grass Ridge: Indian cartridge cases and .45/55 bullets 97
7-3. Greasy Grass Ridge: .45/55 cartridge cases and Indian bullets 98
7-4. Calhoun Ridge: Indian bullets and marker locations 100
7-5. Henryville: .45/55 cartridge cases and Indian bullets 102
7-6. Henryville: Indian cartridge cases and .45/55 bullets 103
7-7. Individual trooper positions and pathways in the Henryville,
Calhoun Hill, and Keogh sectors 105
7-8. Skirmish line A-B and associated bullets at Calhoun Hill 106
7-9. Skirmish line C-D and associated bullets at Calhoun Hill 107
7-10. Calhoun Hill markers and skirmish lines A-B and C-D 108
7-11. Close-up of .45/55 cartridge cases in figure 7-7 109
x . Figures
7-12. Keogh sector: .45/55 cartridge cases, Indian bullets, and
marker locations 112
7-13. Keogh sector: Indian cartridge cases and marker locations 114
7-14. Western slope of Custer Hill: .45/55 cartridge cases, bullets,
and markers 115
7-15. Area east of Custer Hill: Indian cartridge cases, .45/55 cartridge
cases, and .45/55 bullets 117
7-16. Metal arrowpoints in the Custer battlefield study area 118
7-17. The Flats: .45/55 bullets and Indian cartridge cases 121
7-18. South Skirmish Line: Indian bullets and .45/55 cartridge cases 123
7-19. South Skirmish Line: Indian cartridge cases and .45/55 bullets 124
9-1. Indian and white directional reference points on the Custer battlefield 150
9-2. Walter Mason Camp's map of the Custer battlefield 152
10-1. Stanley Vestal's map sketched during an interview with White Bull 165
10-2. Keogh sector looking northward from Calhoun Hill, ca. 1940 168
10-3. Keogh sector looking southward from Custer Hill, ca. 1932 169
11-1. Wing movements and positions between Medicine Tail Coulee and
the point of the left-wing delay on Cemetery Ridge 176
11-2. Lt. William Philo Clark's map of the Custer battle, 1877 178
11-3. Capt. R. E. Johnston's map of the Custer battle, 1876 184
11-4. Wing and company movements and positions after the left-wing
delay on lower Cemetery Ridge 185
11-5. Capt. Henry Freeman's sketch of observations at Custer battlefield 188
12-1. Western slope of Custer Hill, 1909 197
12-2. Custer Ridge from Calhoun Hill, ca. 1932 201
13-1. South Skirmish Line sector from Custer Hill 205
13-2. Middle reach of Deep Ravine 205
13-3. Deep Ravine from near its mouth looking east 206
13-4. Middle reach of Deep Ravine from above 206
13-5. South Skirmish Line: marker distributions and soldier bodies in
Deep Ravine 208
13-6. South Skirmish Line: lower segment, ca. 1932 209
13-7. Upper segment of the South Skirmish Line, ca. 1937 214
13-8. Red Hawk's Custer battle sketch, prepared for Eli Ricker, 1906 217
14-1. Distribution of .44-caliber cartridge cases discarded by Indians
using Winchester and Henry repeating rifles 252
16-1. Custer battalion wing movements from the high bluffs to the Custer
battlefield, before the left-wing delay on Cemetery Ridge 282-83
18-1. George Bird Grinnell 's sketch of the prebattle Indian village in
relation to Medicine Tail Coulee, based on Soldier Wolf's
1908 testimony 300
18-2. Respects Nothing's sketch of the Custer battlefield vicinity,
prepared for Eli Ricker, 1906 301
18-3. Eli Ricker's sketch of the Custer battlefield vicinity,
from his interview with Standing Bear, 1907 302
18-4. Flying Hawk's sketch of the Custer battlefield vicinity
during an interview with Eli Ricker, 1907 303