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Curley
Jun 19, 2008 16:14:10 GMT -6
Post by BrokenSword on Jun 19, 2008 16:14:10 GMT -6
Scout- The reclining dog with its head up in the foreground is 'Tuck' an Irish Wolfhound.
Tuck was killed at the Little Bighorn when she refused to remain behind with Burkman and the kennel, and went with the Custer column.
Libbie mentions Burkman and Tuck as being in this very photo.
M
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Curley
Jun 19, 2008 16:24:38 GMT -6
Post by biggordie on Jun 19, 2008 16:24:38 GMT -6
If the one is Tuck, then the other is probably Blucher [in a second incarnation, I think].
Gordie
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Curley
Jun 19, 2008 16:32:05 GMT -6
Post by BrokenSword on Jun 19, 2008 16:32:05 GMT -6
As good a guess as any, Gordie.
Libbie didn't mention the other dog's name. In one of her books, she wrote about how devoted to Custer that Tuck was, and how Tuck's body 'was found near her master on that terrible battlefield.' [or words close to that]
M
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Curley
Jun 19, 2008 16:56:28 GMT -6
Post by biggordie on Jun 19, 2008 16:56:28 GMT -6
Michael:
Not to start another one of those lengthy "discussions" which result in a whole bunch of nothing, but do you happen to recall any other mention of one of Custer's dogs being found dead near him on Custer Hill? I don't recall running into this story before [it's been a while since I read Burkman, or Libbie's books and letters]. Gordie
PS - I'm sure that I've seen another identification for that bearded trooper - Tuttle or Nunan, I think, although I can't remember where I saw it. The NDN in the tent doorway is definitely not Curley - the hair is all wrong, even were he of the correct age.
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Curley
Jun 19, 2008 17:23:26 GMT -6
Post by BrokenSword on Jun 19, 2008 17:23:26 GMT -6
Gordie- "...Not to start another one of those lengthy "discussions" which result in a whole bunch of nothing,..."
What? Why stop now?
Tuck is the only one of Custer's dogs to have accompanied his column to Last Stand Hill. Myles Keogh's dog was also present at the fight and was killed as well. It is only described as a 'bulldog' and may actually have been the Company I mascot rather than Keogh's personal pet. My pure guess is that it was probably a pitbull.
I will dig out the sources that mention the dog casualties.
M
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Curley
Jun 19, 2008 19:26:45 GMT -6
Post by bc on Jun 19, 2008 19:26:45 GMT -6
Wasn't there one dog that was supposedly sent off with a note attached to it.
Can anyone ID the weapons? Custer's rifle and the 3 NA pistols?
Besides Custer's rifle laying on the tent rope, there is a knife and something that may be a cartridge belt or something but I can't make them out and I can't enlarge it.
Who is Burkman? briefly.
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Curley
Jun 19, 2008 19:58:54 GMT -6
Post by Scout on Jun 19, 2008 19:58:54 GMT -6
That dog with a note attached to his collar story was said to have come from Two Moon. I think he was yankin' somebody's chain on that one. The journalist believed just about everything told to them by the Indians.
Burkman was Custer's orderly for nine years. He is commonly referred to as 'Old Neutriment.' His account, highly embellished by Glendolin Damon Wagner, can be read in the book of the same name.
Sword...now how do we know the dog in the foreground is Tuck? I believe it was Burkman who said he ran off to find Custer. Is that the source?
The fellow standing has been labeled as Noonan but I believe it to be Burkman. Goose is also shown standing on the front porch of the Ft. Lincoln photo which shows all the officers.
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Curley
Jun 19, 2008 20:01:41 GMT -6
Post by biggordie on Jun 19, 2008 20:01:41 GMT -6
bc:
Burkman was Custer's striker and had been for several years. He is the protagonist of Old Neutriment, which presents itself as a biography [or autobiography "as told to"]. He was crude, uneducated, and a real character - jus the sort to appeal to Custer's propensity for drawing the unusual to him. Burkman was, according to him, ordered to stay with the pack train and take care of Dandy, the dogs, and Custer's baggage.
The rifle was likely Custer's Remington sporter. The revolvers are difficult to identify. Bloody Knife's looks as if it might be an 1873 Colt's SAA, but I'm not sure that they were available at that time. The other one seems to be non-blued or to have a nickel finish. It could be one of any number of cap and ball or cartridge revolvers - it's very hard to say.
Gordie
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Curley
Jun 19, 2008 20:36:27 GMT -6
Post by BrokenSword on Jun 19, 2008 20:36:27 GMT -6
Scout-
One of Custer's last letters to Libbie described Tuck wanting attention and forcing her nose under his hand as he wrote. Libbie's comments on that letter mention Tuck being the dog in the foreground of the photo that Diane posted.
Burkman says that four of the hounds got loose from him at the packtrain. He is unclear as to whether it was only Tuck that went after Custer's column or all four. Tuck is the only one he mentions as having done so. Burkman does say he spotted one of the dogs on a hill top in the distance on the 26th, but that none of those other three were ever found.
Michael
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Curley
Jun 20, 2008 9:58:49 GMT -6
Post by crzhrs on Jun 20, 2008 9:58:49 GMT -6
Wasn't it Lassie who was sent with the note? May have been better than Martini understanding English. One bark = yes; Two barks = no; three barks = those soldier fools think they can make a stand against 2,000 Indians. Me, I'm just a dog, but have more brains . . . that's why I went on to become a big TV star!
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Curley
Jun 20, 2008 10:24:58 GMT -6
Post by BrokenSword on Jun 20, 2008 10:24:58 GMT -6
crzhrs -
As I recall, Lassie only ever said one thing, "Timmy's in the well... again this week."
Wooden Leg simply mentions a dog with Custer, and says nothing beyond that. Two Moon's tale of a dog as the 'final messanger' should have earned him the name 'Leg Puller' if not 'Makes Eyes Roll.'
M
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Curley
May 24, 2014 8:42:44 GMT -6
Post by Diane Merkel on May 24, 2014 8:42:44 GMT -6
To take this thread back to Curly/Curley, there's a short article in the White Mountain Independent's Online Edition this week:
When the battle heated up, Curley, on a nearby hill, looking through field glasses, was the last man from the army side to see Custer and his men alive. Curley later made his way to the Yellowstone River, where Custer’s supply ship was waiting. Using sign language, he gave the first news of Custer’s defeat to the outside world.
At first Curley’s reports about what happened were accepted as fact. Then interviewers and reporters, using their bias, misrepresented what he said, and Curley was dismissed as a liar. But, more recently, historians have confirmed the accuracy of what he said. Source: www.wmicentral.com/opinion/editorials/this-week-in-the-old-west---little-bighorn/article_6b675684-dfab-11e3-bf1b-0019bb2963f4.html
Where in the world is BrokenSword these days???
Diane
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Curley
May 25, 2014 3:36:21 GMT -6
Post by Yan Taylor on May 25, 2014 3:36:21 GMT -6
Hello Diane and nice to hear from you. One thing that always jumps out at me when I read Curley's account and that is the mention of field glasses, I think he means Binoculars and I would have thought that an item like this would be above the means of a young scout.
Ian.
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