any Idea of ID of Trooper "Mike" of Company "C"?

[newn]

www.friendslittlebighorn.com/troopermikeandcusterslaststand.htm

[fred]

Newn,

Yes. I believe it was Nathan Short.

Oh-h-h, that will roll some eyes, won't it?

So here goes. First of all, the marker-- 128-- is located at the far end of the C Company area of operations when they moved into Calhoun Coulee. This would indicate to me someone trying to escape toward the river, out of the coulee. The morphology showed the following:

It was a male, between 19 – 22 years old, and approximately 5' 6¾" tall, with a range of 5' 5¾" – 5' 7 7/8"; or, 66.8" ± 1.18". The individual was stocky with well-developed musculature [Scott, et al., Archaeological Perspectives, p. 268]. Right-handed. Because of its presence in this area, the likelihood of the remains belonging to a trooper from C Company is the highest. There were four men in C fitting the description:
o Frederick Meier (Meyer) (C)... 5' 6 ½ "
o Jeremiah Shea (C)... 5' 6 ¼ "
o John Thadus (C)... 5' 6 ¼ "
o Nathan Short (C)... 5' 7 "

Now, notice the comment above: "The individual was stocky with well-developed musculature." Meier was a tailor; Thadus was a farmer; Shea and Short were listed as laborers. Logic would rule out Meier, leaving Thadus, Shea, and Short as the possibilities. Shea's birth date is iffy, falling on the older side of the estimate (they all were), but possibly even four years older than the estimate (either 1854 or as early as 1850). Short-- at 5' 7 "-- was the closest of the three to the estimated height. Therefore, if I had to make a guess-- and that's all it really is-- I would pick Short as the most likely candidate.

Best wishes,
Fred.