Felix Vinatieri is a footnote to history — and the progenitor of a noted foot.
He was the leader of what now might be called Custer's Last Band. And he is a link from Old West to New England as great-great grandfather of Super Bowl XXXVI hero Adam Vinatieri.
Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer chose Felix Vinatieri as leader of the band for the 7th Regiment of the U.S. Cavalry in 1873. Three years later, before he and more than 260 of his men met their doom at the Battle of the Little Bighorn, Custer left behind the band.
Military bands were important for morale in those days. Reporter N.R. Knappen of the Bismarck Tribune traveled with Custer's regiment and wrote, "When the band plays, the music dances on the mountain tops, dives into the caves, rushes through the valleys and is returned again by the charming echoes."
Historians differ on why the band stayed back. Some think Custer wanted to take the band to battle but Gen. Alfred Terry would not consent. (If true, Patriots fans ought to thank the general daily.) Others say Custer felt he needed to move more quickly than was possible with the band along.
"It would be interesting to know if I'd even be here," Adam says, "if (Felix) would have been along for the ride." The answer is no. His great grandfather Ehrum was born in 1889, 13 years later.
Felix was born in Turin, Italy, in 1834. In 1859, he emigrated to the USA and enlisted in the military as a musician, serving in the Civil War.
Vinatieri was sent west and was living in Dakota Territory when he was discharged in 1870. He settled in Yankton, where he married Anna Frances Fejfar. In 1873, Custer's 7th Regiment came to Yankton, where a ball was given for Custer and his officers. Vinatieri led the band that night and Custer, surprised at finding such sophisticated sound in the wilderness, offered Vinatieri a job as bandleader for parades, reviews, dances, funerals and expeditions.
According to records at the National Music Museum at the University of South Dakota, which holds the Vinatieri archive, Mrs. Anna Vinatieri often told her grandchildren "of Custer's love for band music." Vinatieri composed dozens of pieces of original music with names such as Black Hills Polka and The Mosquitoes of the Dakotas Waltz.
Last summer, Los Angeles musician Steve Charpie formed the New Custer Brass Band and put out a CD called Custer's Last Band using manuscripts from the Vinatieri archive. Charpie played Vinatieri's own E-flat cornet, borrowed briefly from the Dakota Territories Museum in Yankton, S.D.
"You could say it is a little, big horn," Charpie says. "Or maybe a big, little horn."
