June 25: Mitch Boyer to the Ford

[fred]

While Custer's command moved atop Luce Ridge, the half-breed scout, Mitch Boyer moved along the ridges just east of the Little Big Horn.



From those heights, Boyer was able to get a good view of the village, but he had to move quickly and carefully, for hostiles were all along his way.

As Custer left Luce Ridge and moved toward the ford with CPT Yates' battalion, Boyer neared it as well and stood atop a bluff we now call Boyer's Bluff.



From here he looked down on to Ford B as Yates and the general approached.



The upper picture shows the bluffs along the LBH River. The lower shows the approach from MTC. The small copse of trees in the distance is Ford B.

Best wishes,
Fred.

[conz]

“Custer and his brother went to the right of us and halted on a small hill. His troops were moving forward below him. Custer turned around as he reached the top of the hill and waved his hat, and the soldiers at the bottom of the hill waved their hats and shouted. Custer then proceeded on up the ridge and his men followed. They were moving rapidly, and the scouts were forced to gallop their ponies sometimes to keep up with them. At a certain point on the ridge they turned to the right and rode down a coulee in a northern direction. The scouts took up a position on the high bluffs where we could look down into the Sioux camp. As we followed along on the high ground, Custer had come down Medicine Tail Creek and was moving toward the river. The Indians saw him there, and all began running that way. There were thousands of them. Custer tried to cross the river at the mouth of Medicine Tail Creek, but was unable to do so. This was the last we saw Custer.” – White Man Runs Him, Crow Scout

"As Martin rode away at a gallop, the Crow scouts flushed out five Sioux horsemen hidden near the head of the coulee. Lookouts posted along the bluffs, these hostiles banded together to see what the soldiers would do. Once discovered, they whooped and fired their rifles and waved buffalo robes to frighten the cavalry horses. Then they whirled into the coulee and scurried off down toward the river. Custer shouted the column into rapid pursuit, the gray-horse troops, E Company, leading." – Miller

"I then rode toward my camp, and stopped squaws from carrying off lodges. While I was sitting on my horse I saw flags come up over the hill to the east like that [he raised his finger-tips]. Then the soldiers rose all at once, all on horses, like this [he put his fingers behind each other to indicate that Custer appeared marching in columns of fours]. They formed into three branches [squadrons] with a little ways between. Then a bugle sounded, and they all got off horses, and some soldiers led the horses back over the hill.” – Two Moon

"Most of the immense pony herd was out grazing when the savages took the alarm at the appearance of the troops on the heights. The warriors ran at once for their arms, but by the time they had taken up their guns and ammunition belts, the soldiers had disappeared. The Indians thought they had been frightened off by the evident strength of the village, but again, after what seemed quite a long interval, the head of Custer's column showed itself coming down a dry watercourse, which formed a narrow ravine, toward the river's edge. He made a dash to get across, but was met by such a tremendous fire from the repeating rifles of the savages that the head of his command reeled back toward the bluffs after losing several men who tumbled into the water." –Horned Horse

Withering Fire! <g>

"Yellow Nose and his companions, bathing in the river with Crazy Horse when they heard the first shots, were delayed in rallying to the alarm owing to the absence of their ponies, which had been driven away to graze. By the time they got their mounts they discovered another body of troops eastward across the river. The Cheyennes divided, some going to resist Reno while others, including Yellow Nose, crossed the Little Big Horn where a small stream or gulch debouched from the east."– Yellow Nose

"Climbing a promontory formed by this gulch, the Indians saw troops advancing toward them along the crest of the divide that ran back from the LBH. Yellow Nose was mounted on a fleet, wiry pony in advance of his companions, whom the soldiers evidently thought were few in numbers, as the crossing was difficult at this point. The mistake of the soldiers became quickly apparent when the Indians were seen literally springing from the ground. The galloping cavalrymen pulled down to a trot. The Cheyennes were not so well armed as the Sioux, who carried quantities of ammunition fastened around their waists, chests, and arms…The soldiers fire first from their horses, dismounting only after they saw that the Indians were not intimidated. The regimental band began playing to the astonishment of the Indians, but the musicians threw away their instruments for guns."-- Yellow Nose

"Followed by clouds of dust, the soldiers showed themselves about - miles away. Other Indians who were already downriver saw Custer's dust and crossed the river." – Little Soldier

"Custer's men got to the river above the beaver dam where the water was very deep. The soldiers dismounted and fired. The soldiers' horses got loose and ran to the river. Their packs got loose and floated down the river. The horses wanted water….The soldiers got down to the river at Medicine Tail Creek, but did not cross. Custer did not know where to cross. The Indians crossed below the beaver dam. Long before Custer got to the river Custer began shooting to try to scare the Indians." – Mary Crawler

"I did not get with the Reno Fight, being after my horse, but after it was over bands of Indians had crossed the river and were gathering around on the east side (probably going over to that side) I and another rode up Medicine Tail coulee and started east (parallel with the river) toward Reno Hill and discovered soldiers coming down the ravine…I rode back the way I came and crossed to the village and rode along the river upstream shouting that more soldiers were coming and we would have to have another battle. All along the river there were many dismounted Indians and the banks were steep everywhere except at Medicine Tail coulee. The soldiers came down this coulee toward the river and stopped just a little while, but not long and the Indians crossed over and attacked them. There were a few soldiers ahead of the main body."" – Shave Elk

“Q. Did the Indians cross the river and attack Custer's soldiers immediately, as soon as they appeared, or were the soldiers in sight over there a considerable time, and what did the soldiers appear to be doing?
A. Quite a little talk was indulged in before an attack was made on Custer after he was first seen.
Q. Did it appear that the soldiers were preparing to cross over and attack the village?
A. They did not appear to want to cross after the warriors made their presence felt in such large numbers.
A. Saw gray horses from the first. They kept fairly well together. Some of the soldiers on these horses were in the last of the fight.
Q. At any time during the fight did the soldiers make a charge and where was this, if they did so?
A. Soldiers never made a charge.” – Hollow Horn

"When Custer reached a point about 200 yards from the river, he came under fire from some Sioux on the opposite bank and halted. While some of the leading troopers returned the fire, the head of the column moved to the right and took a position on the southern terminus of the ridge not far north of the ford, now often referred to as Greasy Grass Ridge. Here, according to White Man Runs Him, some of Custer's men dismounted, lay down, and opened fire on the Sioux. The rest of the command stretched back, 'out of sight of the Indians..." – White Man Runs Him

"Woo Woo-here they come" -- shouted the Indians, as Custer with his formidable column appeared on the slope of the ridge. They knew well he could not cross the river at that point. He must go down half a mile. The crossing therefore became at once of first importance.
As Crazy Horse started down to the ford, Custer appeared upon the river bank. Having discovered that it was impossible to cross, he began to fire into the camp, while some of his men dismounted and were apparently examining the banks. Already Crazy Horse and his men had crossed the river, closely followed by Little Horse and White Bull with their Cheyenne Warriors….Two Moon was still loudly urging the young men to meet the soldiers on the other side, and as he led the remaining Cheyennes in the same direction, the Minneconjous and the Brules were coming down at full speed.” – Ohiyesa

"Custer did not try to cross the river. He first made a stand about 800 yards from the river, then fell back as the Indians increased in numbers to where he made his final stand." – White Bull

“…the whole force turned upon Custer and fought him until they destroyed him. Custer did not reach the river, but was met about half a mile up a ravine, now called Reno [sic] creek. They fought the soldiers and beat them back step by step until all were killed." – Gall

“By that time, Custer had got down to the mouth of the dry creek, and was on the level flat of the bottom. They began fighting, and for quite a time, fought in the bottom, neither party giving back. There they killed quite a good many horses, and the ground was covered with the horses of Cheyennes, Sioux, and of white men, and two soldiers were killed and left here. But soon the Indians overpowered the soldiers and they began to give way, retreating slowly, face to the front.” – Soldier Wolf, Cheyenne

“All rushed back on the west side of the camp, down to a small dry run that comes in from the east, and there, down close to the river, were the soldiers. The Indians all crossed and fought there. For quite a long time the troops stood their ground right there; then they began to back off, fighting all the time, for quite a distance, working up the hill, until they got pretty close to where the monument now is, and then the soldiers turned and rushed to the top of the hill. There they killed them all.” – Tall Bull, Cheyenne

“Custer rode down to the river bank and formed a line of battle and charged, and then they stopped and fell back up the hill, but he met Indians coming from above and from all sides, and again formed a line. It was here that they were killed.” – White Bull (Ice), Cheyenne

[bc]

Yellow Nose said the band began playing and threw their instruments away. This is the first I ever heard of this. Does it have any merit? Which company were the band members in? I thought the band was left at FAL but I can not rule out "a la Washita" that there were some/a few band members along that GAC in all his brashness would tell to start playing during their move/foray/recon/charge down to Ford B. Right now I am bewildered by this. The trumpeters were also musicians but is there anything indicating they were grouped together to form some kind of band, however small?

Also Mary Crawler mentions a beaver dam above Ford B at MTC which to me adds a lot of perspective as to what went wrong at the Ford and why it was boggy, etc and very hard to cross. Also beaver dams can wash out with the next flood so there would be no later sign and also beaver dams have a tendency to help change the channel of the river which I think everyone probably believes that the river channel is not the same as it was in 1876.

[erkki]

The "band" playing was probably trumpet calls--orders.

I have a note somewhere that puts the beaver dam a quarter of a mile downstream from Ford B--if only I could find it. Mike Donohue spoke of a Norris map showing a slough at the 2003 symposium. The slough may be represented also on a Maguire map. Traces of a slough can be seen in the area today.

[Horse Thief]

According to Willert, the band was left at the Powder River camp (along with the wagons, beef cattle and the Infantry).

[fred]

I just noticed this thread again and I see that there are some pictures at the top of the page. I thought these had all disappeared-- I never deleted anything from this site-- but it seems only one was. It's a head-scratcher.

If I am not mistaken, the top picture was also taken from Weir Peaks and it shows a better view of the LBH valley, as well as the coulee some refer to as West Coulee. It also shows the bluffs along the river.

Since these original postings, I have changed my opinion of what Mitch Boyer did and I now believe-- very strongly-- that Boyer never traveled along those bluffs and was never on what is today called, "Boyer's Bluff"; the three Crows-- Mairy Moccasin, Goes Ahead, and White Man Runs Him-- were, but Boyer was not.

I also believe-- today, and again, very firmly-- that Custer never went to Weir Peaks or even its "loaf" and therefore never saw the full extent of the Indian exodus, at least from this spot.

Best wishes,
Fred.