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James Cox - My Native Land
part in the excitement, now come forward and throw cakes and rolls of bread from the pueblo terraces.
Everybody rushes after these prizes in a headlong manner, and the confusion becomes still greater.
An adjournment is then taken for dinner, and in the afternoon, six gorgeously painted and hideously
decorated clowns come forward and go through a series of antics calculated to disgust rather than amuse
the spectator. The unfortunate sheep, which is still hanging to the pole, is finally thrown to the ground
after several attempts have been made to climb the pole. The fruits and products are seized by the
clowns, who rush off with them, and every one connected with the tribe seem to be highly satisfied with
the outcome of the day's proceedings, and the culmination of the spectacle.
CHAPTER XI. HOW CUSTER LIVED AND DIED.
"Remember Custer" - An Eye Witness of the Massacre - Custer, Cody and Alexis - A Ride over the
Scenes of the Unequal Conflict - Major Reno's Marked Failure - How "Sitting Bull" Ran Away and
Lived to Fight Another Day - Why a Medicine Man did not Summon Rain.
"Remember Custer" was the watchword and battle-cry of the small army of American soldiers who early
in the present decade advanced against hostile Indians in the Northwest, who after indulging for weeks in
a series of fantastic dances and superstitious rites, were finally called to time by the Government and
punished for their disregard of treaty rights and reasonable orders. Every American child should know
who Custer was and why the troopers called upon each other to remember him on the occasion referred
to. It is less than twenty years since he died. His name should be remembered by civilians as well as
soldiers for almost as many centuries to come.
There are some men who seem to defy and even court death. Custer was one of these. He was so
recklessly brave that he often caused anxiety to his superior officers. Time and again he led a handful of
men apparently into the jaws of death and brought them out safely, after having practically annihilated
the foe. As the pitcher which is carried safely to the well ninety-nine times sometimes gets broken at the
hundredth attempt, so was it with General Custer. In June, 1876, his detachment was outnumbered
twenty to one at a little ford near Crazy Horse Creek, in Dakota, and his entire command was wiped out.
An adopted son of "Sitting Bull," the famous Indian, states that he saw Custer die, adding that he twice
witnessed the hero lying on his back fighting his foes. The third time he saw him a blanket was drawn
over the hero, who was apparently dead.
On another page is given an admirable illustration of the camp and ford, as well as of the monument
erected in Custer's memory, with typical Indian camp scene. This picture is from photographs taken
specially for Mr. Charles S. Fee, General Passenger Agent of the Northern Pacific Railroad, whose tracks
run close by this scene of such sad history.
A volume could be devoted to the life of Custer, the adventures he encountered, and the risks he ran in
the course of his eventful and useful career. His works and his memoirs bristle with information
concerning the actual truths of border life and Indian warfare, bereft of romance and exaggeration. Like
almost all Indian fighters, Custer entertained a supreme contempt for the red man generally, although his
naturally kind disposition led him to give credit to individual red men for bravery, gratitude, and other
characteristics generally believed to be inconsistent with their character and nationality.
Besides being a gallant fighter, Custer was also a great lover of recreation and fun, while a genuine
hunting expedition drew him out from his almost habitual quiet and made him the natural leader of the
party. Among his friends was William Cody, better known to the amusement loving world as Buffalo
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