North Brothers

[Diane Merkel]

Frank and Luther North were not at the battle, but this article discusses their experiences with the 7th before and after it. Excerpt:

Frank had gotten to know Custer four years before in 1872. General Custer was the official leader of a special January 1872 three-day buffalo hunt staged for Grand Duke Alexis of Russia just south of North Platte. Buffalo Bill Cody and Frank North, however, were probably the ones who really put it all together and actually ran the show. The party hunted successfully then celebrated with a wagonload of champagne. North’s Pawnee and some Sioux did ritual dances, Frank interpreting the meaning. The Indians also demonstrated how they hunted buffalo. The three-day affair was very successful and the famous Indian fighters — Custer, Cody and North — had ample time to share “war stories" for the benefit of the grand duke’s “Wild West” adventure.

Luther had been a member of Custer’s 1874 Black Hills Expedition. Officially the expedition was supposed to find a site for a fort on the north side of the Black Hills to help control the Sioux. Unofficially, the expedition would confirm reports of gold in the hills. Custer and his Seventh Cavalry, some infantry, Indian scouts, scientists, miners, geologists, newspapermen, a photographer, teamsters, packers, and so on, to the tune of over 1,000, formed the expedition and spent July and August 1874 “exploring." Luther went as an assistant to professor and naturalist George Bird Grinnell.

You'll have to answer a one question quiz to read the article, but it's painless.

Article: columbustelegram.com/news/local/steinbrook-custer-and-the-north-brothers/article_47c41464-da25-5f34-8026-a3ff0068517f.html

Diane

[tubman13]

Diane,

I have an original edition of a book published in 1932, by Robert Bruce," The Fighting North's and Pawnee Scouts." It was done with extensive correspondence with Luther North. They were certainly an interesting pair.

Good stuff, Diane, Thanks.

Regards,
Tom