Thomas Stowers Update

[benteen]

Jul 23, 2013 17:25:54 GMT -5 waynew said:

Dan.

The key words: "The story in his family..."

That's correct.  They didn't have wagons.  I discuss it in the article.

(edited to sound less like a jerk)

waynew...Yes I see that now, but the story itself did come from him. We know he was there and in the hilltop fight by both Capt Freds "Participants" and the article itself. The article says he was getting on in years and probably a little forgetful. I can understand soldiers not remembering every detail of a battle, I think that's common, but I don't think you would forget you were in it. I believe Col Montrose may be right, or perhaps he just got tired of talking about it, you know, how many Indians did you shoot, did you fight hand to hand, did you see anyone scalped etc, and perhaps he just said "screw it, I wasn't there I was drunk. now leave me alone" Whatever, it is an interesting story my friend, if you have any more on it I would be glad to read it.

Be Well
Dan

[waynew]

Here's an upload of the Walter Campbell note on McDougall (see my second article).  Here's my transcript:

"Capt. McDougal - Chg of pack train - boozer - day Custer divided Command Mac too drunk to hear bugle of officer call - therefore Mac sent to guard pack train & afterward said he owed his life to whiskey."

The phrase "owed his life to whiskey" is nearly identical to the phrase used by Stowers (according to his family).  That's what makes me think there could be a connection between these stories.  Or maybe "I owed my life to whiskey" was some kind of running gag commonly used in the cavalry.

I don't believe the source of the above information was given (that I could find).  Keep in mind that Campbell did his research in the 1920's & 30's.  He wrote under the pen name Stanley Vestal.

Attachments:

Walter Campbell Note Re McDougall.pdf (591.05 KB)

[waynew]

Dan and montrose,

Your ideas are as good as any.  Keep in mind that I don't believe Stowers ever claimed to be the sole survivor.  He claimed his life was saved by whiskey.  Others pegged him as the sole survivor.

[waynew]

Here's an interview with Stowers' niece in 1974.  I had to split it up to stay under 1 MB. 

She knew him as a child.  She was the real keeper of the family tradition and the closest we can get to Stowers' original story.

Re-reading it I see that she remembers him having a large library, and spending many hours reading and talking to a local historian.  This suggests someone who still had his faculties.

Attachments:

1974 Interview of Stowers' Niece-2.pdf (361.53 KB)

1974 Interview of Stowers' Niece-3.pdf (456.87 KB)

1974 Interview of Stowers' Niece-1.pdf (942.62 KB)

[Diane Merkel]

It should be noted that there were a multitude of men who professed to be the only survivor of Custer’s Last Stand, but there is no record of Thomas Stowers making that claim himself.

Here is a link to another article about Stowers that is quite comprehensive:

www.wilsonpost.com/news/who-was-sole-survivor-of-custer-s-last-stand/article_c6de4146-883f-11eb-bc26-532a6a326206.html.

If you aren't familiar with Michael Nunnally's work on Sole Survivors, please give it a look at littlebighorn.info/Articles/Survivors.htm. He published a booklet that gave more information about each one, and I've tried to keep up with others who have made the claim (or whose families made the claims) at littlebighorn.info/Articles/Survivors2.htm.

Enjoy!

Diane