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2013 The aC se for a Custer Battalion Survivor: Private Gustave Korn's Story Albert Winkler Brigham Young University - Provo, [email protected]

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Original Publication Citation Winkler, A. (2013). The case for a Custer Battalion survivor: Private Gustave Korn’s story. Montana: The aM gazine of Western History, 63(1), 45-55, 94-95.

BYU ScholarsArchive Citation Winkler, Albert, "The asC e for a Custer Battalion Survivor: Private Gustave Korn's Story" (2013). All Faculty Publications. 1854. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/facpub/1854

This Peer-Reviewed Article is brought to you for free and open access by BYU ScholarsArchive. It has been accepted for inclusion in All Faculty Publications by an authorized administrator of BYU ScholarsArchive. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. The Case for a Custer Battalion Survivor

PRIVATE GusTAVE KoRN's STORY by Albert Winkler

While nearly all of the accounts of men who claimed to be survivors from Custer's column at the Battle of the Little Bighorn are fictitious, Gustave Korn's story is supported by contemporary records. Korn was one of the troopers who later cared for Captain Miles Keogh's Comanche, the famous horse found alive after the battle. Korn and Comanche are pictured here at Fort Abraham Lincoln in June 1877.

45 NE OF THE MOST intriguing aspects of the Battle of the Little Bighorn is the mys tery Osurrounding George Armstrong Custer's battalion and the five companies m it. "Custer's Last Stand" has never been fully explained partially because there were no known cavalry survivors. Many men claimed to have escaped the annihilation of Custer's command, but virtually al l of them can be easily dismissed as frauds. As eminent battle scholar E. A. Brininstool stated, "I have read, I dare say, a hundred accounts of the death of 'last survivors of Custer's command.' All such stories are absolutely false , and there were no survivors of Custer's com­ mand- every man was killed." Winners of the West, a popular newspaper on the Indian wars, received so many such claims that the editor commented in 1936: "There have been so many 'last survivors' and 'only survivors' of that famous engagement whose accounts sent to us have found a last resting place in our waste I'I basket." Custer biographer Edgar I. Steward also scoffed at such stories, stating that each man "invari­ Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer had this portrait made in New York City circa March 1876, three ably" had "a very ingenious explanation of how he months before the Battle of the Little Bighorn. In a fatal happened to escape from the field of carnage and an miscalculation on June 25, 1876, Custer divided his equally ingenious reason for having remained silent command to approach the Sioux and Cheyenne camp from different directions. At the start of the battle, so long." In view of such skepticism, an examination Major Marcus Reno, with three companies, was ordered of evidence that indicates one man- Gustave Korn­ to cross the Little Bighorn River and strike the Indian 1 encampment. Custer led a battalion of five companies, survived the engagement is all the more interesting. and his column, including most of the men in Gustave Korn's military records state that he was Company I, was annihilated. born in Sprottau, Silesia, in the German state of Prus­ sia. He immigrated to the United States and joined the U.S. Army on May 17, 1873, in St. Louis, Missouri, was located on the west side of the Little Bighorn at the age of twenty-one. Enlistment records describe River in southern Montana Territory, and the cavalry him as standingjust over 5 feet g inches tall with hazel approached the encampment from the opposite side eyes, light hair, and a light complexion. Korn, also of the stream. The commander of the Seventh Cavalry known by the nickname "Yankee Korn," was assigned apparently believed that the Indians would flee at his to Company I of the Seventh Cavalry at Fort Snelling, approach, and he divided his command to apprehend Minnesota, on June 3, 1873, as a private, serving extra them by striking at the enemy camp from different duty in the quartermaster department from Decem­ directions. Custer sent Captain Frederick Benteen ber 1875 to May 1876. Injune 1876, Korn participated in command of three companies (D, H, and K) in a in the Battle of the Little Bighorn. 2 southwest direction with imprecise orders to "pitch The facts of the battle are well-known. As part in" when the opportunity arose. Major Marcus Reno of the Great Sioux War of 1876- 1877, the Seventh led another three companies (A, G, and M), and he Cavalry was sent to bring potentially hostile Indians was ordered to cross the river and strike the Indian to various government reservations. Onj une 25, 1876, encampment. Company B, along with troopers from in a tragic miscalculation, Custer, whose force con­ each of the other companies, was assigned to protect sisted of about 640 troopers, failed to appreciate the the packtrain following the command to protect the fact that his troops faced between 2,500 and 4 ,000 all-important ammunition supplies. At the same time, Sioux and Cheyenne warriors.3 The Indians' camp Custer took a battalion of five companies (C, E, F, I,

46 M 0 NT AN A TH E MAG AZ I N E 0 F WESTERN HIST 0 RY and L), probably to attack the huge village farther wounded. The battle ended when the Indians with­ down the river. Custer's column of approximately drew later in the clay after they learned that another 210 men was annihilated, and the bulk of Company I, army column under the command of General Alfred to which Gustave Korn was assigned, died with their Ten)' was advancing on them. commander. After the June debacle, the surviving Seventh Reno's companies, numbering about 130 men, Cavalry soldiers spent a fruitless summer campaign­ advanced on the village, but they were ordered to dis­ ing with Terry's column, returning to Fort Abra­ mount and fight as skirmishers before they reached ham Lincoln in Dakota Territory that September. their objective. Threatened by hundreds of warriors, Korn was given the assignment as a blacksmith on the command fell back to some trees near the river, August 4, 1876, and participated in the skirmish with and the troopers then fled across the stream to a bluff the Nez Perce led by Chief Joseph on September top later known as Reno Hill. Benteen's command 13, 1877, at Canyon Creek, Montana Territory. Korn and the packtrain soon joined them there. This com­ continued his army service, reenlisting in 1878, 1883, bined command of approximately 430 soldiers held and 1888. Each time, he was given high praise for his the position for the rest of the clay and throughout "excellent character." In 1883, the assessment was June 26. The men had little water and suffered from more specific: Korn was noted as "a most excellent the heat. Among the most courageous troopers in blacksmith[,] an honest soldier & in every respect a the battl e were the water carriers. While under fire, good thoroughly reliable man." He was killed at the these men went to the river to retrieve water for the Wounded Knee massacre on December 29 , 1890. 4

Most scholars of the Custer battle have maintained that, despite stories to the contrary, there were no survivors from Custer's cohort. In view of such skepticism, an examination of evidence that indicates one man-Gustave Korn­ survived the engagement is all the more interesting. Above, Captain George Sanderson and the Eleventh Infantry returned to the scene in 1879 on the third burial mission to the battlefield and built the first monument to the fallen army soldiers. In his official report dated April 7, 1879, Sanderson wrote: "I accordingly built a mound out of cord wood filled in the center with all the horse bones I could find on the field. In the center of the mound I dug a grave and interred all the human bones that could be found, in all, parts of four or five different bodies. This grave was then built up with wood for four feet above ground. The mound is ten feet square and about eleven feet high; is built on the highest point immediately in rear of where Gen'I Custer's body was found." Sanderson's men buried other soldiers where they were found. The Sanderson detachment is pictured, above, near Medicine Tail ford on the Little Bighorn River.

ALBERT W I NKLER I SPRING 2013 47 special or needed expertise, would be posted with any of Reno's units. Additionally, Korn was the orderly for Company I commander Captain Myles Keogh, according to the trooper George Lisk. 8 If Korn chose to join another company without permission, he could have been severely punished for abandoning his command. The Bismarck Tribune printed the first known newspaper account of Korn's survival. In an article published on May 23, 1884, the reporter, "Catka," stated that he had just heard Korn's story:

It has just leaked out that there is a survivor of the Custer massacre and that he was actually in the fight. His name is Gustave Korn .. . . He was in the first rank of that reckless charge on Sitting Bull's camp; his horse being wounded at the first fire, broke and ran. Gustave suc­ ceeded in getting to Reno's camp before the Gustave Korn, serving as an orderly for Co mpany I 9 commander Captain Myles Keogh (shown above), horse dropped dead from loss of blood. credited his runaway horse with saving his life. In an interview published on July 26, 1885, in the Milwaukee Sentinel, Korn told how he survived In a coincidence, Captain Keogh's horse, Coman­ to an unnamed reporter, who described the trooper che, the only horse from Custer's column known as "an intelligent and pleasant man" who "expresses to have survived, and Gustave Korn became close himself quite freely." The correspondent placed friends, and Comanche followed Korn around like a Korn's account in quotation marks as though it was faithful dog. According to one story, the animal would recorded verbatim, but he perhaps paraphrased what follow Korn when he went to visit his gi rlfriend. The the trooper said: "The battle of that eventful clay animal would then neigh until the man led him back was outlined something like this by Trooper Korn, to his stall at the post. 5 who speaks with a slight German accent," the news­ paperman explainecl. 10 According to the Sentinel story, Korn advanced hile there have been hundreds of books and with Company I of Custer's column until the cavalry W articles written about the campaign, historians first engaged the warriors. The trooper then escaped have given little attention to Gustave Korn's role. In to Reno Hill, where the other cavalry units were estab­ his 1972 compilation of short Seventh Cavalry biog­ lishing a defensive position. Korn gave the details: raphies, historian Kenneth Hammer misrepresented Korn's participation. He asserted that "[Korn was] A rapid ride brought us in sight of the in the valley and hilltop fights. His horse bolted and Indians, who seemed to be retreating. I was was killed near the river. Korn rejoined the command ordered to ride a little ahead, to the Beecorn of Major Marcus Reno on the night of June 25." 6 [Bighorn?], a small stream in our front, to Others copied this statement verbatim or changed ascertain whether it was easily passable, as th e phrasing. 7 my horse was a fine runner. The entrance However, the assertion that Gustave Korn was to the stream was not in good order, but the with Reno's command during its attack on the Indian other shore was excellent, and I was turning village lacks merit. Korn was assigned to Company I, to go back to my comrades and report the and there was no reason why he, as a private with no condition of the stream, when immediately

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ALBERT W I NKLER I SPRING 2013 49 in my front the Indians opened fire from the Korn's death; he could not have known about this tall grass where they had been concealed. I location unless he had been there. was not wounded, but a rifle ball struck my As far as can be verified, the Milwaukee Sentinel horse's neck and rendered him unmanage­ interview was the only formal statement Korn gave, able. I was carried away toward Maj. Reno's but there are other firsthand sources that support his position, and to that accident I am indebted description of events. When Chicago's Daily Inter for my life. 11 Ocean reported Korn's death, "a former member of the old Seventh Regiment" sent a "Special Tele­ Korn was modest in describing his experiences. gram," which the newspaper published on January 7, The printed interview ran roughly ninety-two lines, i8gi. The unnamed fellow trooper told about Korn and Korn talked about his escape in only sixteen. He and his experiences: "Poor fellow [Korn], he was the spent much more time discussing the reasons why sole survivor of the Custer massacre on the Little Big the Seventh Cavalry was defeated, speculating on the Horn River in i876." number of Indians in the engagement, arguing that the warriors were better armed than the troopers, and Korn rode, as is often the case in the service, a relating how "one of our lieutenants" shot an Indian chronic runaway, a horse with an iron mouth marksman. In the end, Korn credited his survival and, besides, he was a cribber or wind-sucker. more to his magnificent horse than to any other fac­ At the last half before the direct movement tor. The badly wounded animal carried the trooper was made on the portion of the Sioux village perhaps four miles. designed by General Custer for his attack, Korn's account is plausible, but it needs to be Korn noticed that his saddle girth was loos­ carefully examined. Korn claimed that he was with ening up, caused by the side of the cribber he Custer's column until the fighting began, and thus rode relaxing as they always do after a couple his successful evasio11 was likely early in the contest, of hours of ride. Korn knowing the temper before the warriors overwhelmed the cavalry. By of the beast he rode, requested permission "Beecorn," Korn was perhaps referring to " Big­ of gallant Keogh, his troop commander, to horn," and his German accent led to confusion when dismount and regirth. It was given and just as the newspaperman transcribed the account. How­ he loosened the girth, the command passed ever, that river was hardly a "small stream." Korn's clown the column to move forward. An old "stream" could have been the Medicine Tail Coulee cavalry horse, as a rule, will raise a fearful near its mouth. At various places, this gully had row if being left by the troop, and the vicious relatively steep slopes opposite a low bank on the brute poor Gus was trying to regirth was other side. no exception to the rule, for he made things One of historians' major theories on the route to lively, but Korn succeeded in swinging into the village taken by some of Custer's units, including the saddle and headed for the column, now a Company I, argues that the companies approached long way off and moving at a rapid trot. Medicine Tail Coulee and attempted to cross the His horse taking the bit in his teeth and Little Bighorn River at the ford at the coulee's mouth his chin on his breast, pulled out on the dead before they were repulsed. 12 This theory is supported run. Korn soon saw that he was powerless by a number of Indian accounts, including those of on the back of the vicious beast. He hoped Sitting Bull and Waterman. 13 In an interview prob­ that the horse would stop on overtaking the ably conducted in i910, William G. Hardy of Com­ column, but he did not. He kept on, and in pany A related that " Bustard of'I' Co had Delacey's a short time was in the center of the Indian [of Company I] horse and this horse was found dead village, and going like a train of cars clown on the village side of the river clown near ford." 14 The hill. The Sioux opened up a fearful fire on the location of the horse's body supports the idea that horse and rider. The horse was struck, but, Company I tried to cross the river at Medicine Tail only maclclenecl by the stinging lead, he fairly Ford. Moreover, the theory was advanced long after flew. A crevice in the dry prairie directly in

5Q M 0 NT AN A THE MAG AZ I N E 0 F WESTER N H I S T 0 RY his path was cleared by the horse in splendid hair stood straight up.' How a horse could make such style, and, dashing on, he ran into Reno's a leap was a mystery to Korn all his life." The corre­ outfit on the other side, the horse falling dead spondent gave a final tribute to his friend : "He was a as Korn pulled up and dismounted. 15 brave man and a good comrade. Goel rest his soul is the wish and the prayer of his old friencls." 16 Relating how Korn retraced the avenue of his While the Daily Inter Ocean account is not identi­ escape to understand better what had happened, the cal to Korn's, the two are not mutually exclusive, and anonymous source said: "Three days after [the battle] they might both be authentic. Korn could have been Korn went back over the road taken by his horse, and ordered to report on the suitability of crossing the on arriving at the crevice, to use his own words, 'my ravine but been delayed when he stopped to tighten

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A L BERT W I NK L ER [ S P R I NG 2013 51 his saddle. In this scenario, his horse then raced ahead of th e command, where Korn encountered the war­ riors. The flight through the Indian village, though it would have placed Korn in a very dangerous position, is credible, as other troopers had such experiences. Early in the battle, when Reno's column advanced on the Indian village, Roman Rutten's horse almost ran away with him. The trooper tried to control the ani­ mal, but it kept running, and " the only thing he could do was to co11ti11ually circle him [the horse] around the 3 troops [Reno's companies]." Finally "the horse lunged ahead of th e command and took him consid­ erabl y nearer to the Indians." Rutten returned only after he had circled " back through the timber." 17 Moreover, for Korn, riding toward the village was a likely avenue of escape. When the warriors first Walter M. Camp (above), a railroad engineer with a attacked Custer's column, Reno Hill had probably fascination for the Indian wars, attempted to interview every Custer battle survivor, both cavalryman and not been firmly established as a defensive position, Indian. During summer vacations from 1905 to 1925, but Korn knew that Reno's companies were attacking he interviewed nearly two hundred participants in the Indian wars, and his correspondence and interview notes the village, meaning that the men should be near the comprise some of the most extensive documentation camp. If his horse fled i11 that direction, Korn had a of these conflicts. chance ofjoining them. There were other men in the Seventh Cavalry who knew about Korn's story of survival, and Walter M. works. He was shot five times. The man did Camp, who interviewed scores of cavalry and Indian not get a scratch .... The horse that Korn had survivors between i905 and i925, asked some of them killed was the first horse that was issued to what they had heard about it.John Burri said he knew me when I came to N. D. [North Dakota], in Korn: "I can tell yo u how he esaped [sic], which he i873. I traded with Korn before starting out told me himself a many times, when the fight started on the trip, for another horse. 19 his horse ran away and Gen. Custer haled to him to kill the horse, to shoot him but he did not, and his horse Caddle wrote to Walter Camp on October 4, igog: by chance carried him back to Renos Command." 18 "I can give you account of one man that was with Michael Caddle was assigned to Company I, and Custer and got away at the time of the fight Gustave he knew Korn well. His account appeared in Joseph Korn. " A month later, he described what he knew: Mills Hanso n's The Conqu es t of the Missouri: Gustave Korn went into the [battle] with There is one thing I forgot to mention about Gen. Custerjune 25th i876 when the th e Custer fight that very few know about. Company . . . was then about 80 Rods from The company blacksmith of! Company, 7th where the Company was he with a Sergt Cavarly [sic], Captain Keogh's company, was [Sergeant] Had to stop to tighten up his Gustave Korn . When . . . [Custer's] com­ Cynch of Sadder [sic] and when he came up mand was about a half mil e from the Indian to the Company the horse would not stop but camp, he [Korn] had to stop to cinch up his Kept on Coning [sic] on ran into Mg [Major] saddle. vVhen he came up to the company Renos Command the Indians were shooting again he could not stop his horse, which ran at him from all sides the horse stoped [sic] right through the Indians to where Colonel about 3 Rods [from] were [where] Maj. Reno [Major] Reno was. His horse dropped dead was with 5 bulits [sfr] in him. Korn acaped just when about two rods from th e breast- [escaped]. 20

52 M 0 NT AN A THE MAG AZ IN E 0 F WESTERN H IS T 0 RY ]. W. Burkett described himself "as a Bunkie vived because he was not with Custer. As a member [bunkmate] of Gustave Korn and with him 1876, 1877, of the same unit, Jones knew Korn well , and Jones's 1879." Burkett explained of Korn: account, related in a May 1911 letter to Walter Camp, lends credibility to Korn's story. Being with his Troop and having a horse that he could not keep his saddle from slipping When the packs were ascending the "Hill" fmward and his horse being what was called we saw Korn coming towards us very much a bolter or a horse with a roman nose he excited his horse foaming at the Mouth. asked permission from his troop Capt Keogh Sergt. Delacy who was in charge ofl Troop to dismount and fix his saddle after getting packs asked him how it was he left the his saddle adjusted his horse took the bit in Troops, he said his horse ran away with his teeth and bolted and went by the comand him .... He was on the " Hill" the 25th and [sic] and turned around and made back 26th and proved himself no Coward, having tracks so that is what saved Korn. 2 1 brought water a great many times. 24

John McCollum was another one of Korn's close In a second letter to Camp, Jones wrote that acquaintances who believed his story. "Com rad Korn "Sergt. DeLacy accused him of deserting the Com­ was my bunkey [bunkmate] in the year[ s] of 1873 and pany (I) telling him that Capt. Keogh would prefer 1874 while on the Northern Boundary Survey, Major 'General Charges' against him. Korn could scarcely Reno's command, and 1875 in Fort Lincoln, then speak when we met him, his voice trembled and North Dakota Territory. He was in the same room seemed to choke when he uttered these words, 'My with me," McCollum stated. "Gustave Korn and I horse ran away with me.' I never heard him say any were good chums and I was well acquainted with the more on the subject." Jones continued, "There was incidents of his escape by his horse bolting and run­ too much excitement and confosion at that time to go ning away, thus saving his scalp, and talked with him into details as to where he left Custer's Battalion and after the fight and can say that this account is correct the way he took to reach our pack-train." "I know he by personal acquaintance with the facts." 22 had a very fractious horse, hard mouthed and very George Lisk, who had served in the U.S. Cavalry stubborn, used a No. 4 bit (largest size) Korn was a from 1877 to 1887, made a similar claim. "I met man of a nervous and excitable tempermeut [sic] aud 'Yankee' Korn at Ft. Riley, Kans." in 1889. Lisk sum­ fortunately his unmanageable horse ... carried him marized Korn's account: to safety."25 Jones added that Korn made a report relating to When Custer went in the fight June 25th, his activities in the battle "to the Court at Fort Lincoln Korn was in Custer's command, and he was shortly after we returned from off the Campaign, also appointed orderly for Capt. Keogh. The those who were seperated [sic] from Reno's Battal­ horse took the bit in his mouth and he was ion made statements (Lieut. De-Rudeo [DeRudio], unable to hold him back. He ran down the Srgt. Thomas 0. Neil [O'Neill] G. co. Interpreter hill and crossed the creek to the Indian vil­ Girard [Gerard] and William Jackson)." Jones did liage [sic] on a big plateau on the west side not know what happened iu the proceedings: "I was of the creek, ran up the creek and got into always anxious to know what their statements were, Reno's command . . .. This is the story that but never could find out any thing official." 2 6 "Yankee" Korn told me himself. The account by Jones was very valuable because he saw Korn precisely when he arrived at Reno Hill. Lisk joined those who were saddened at Korn's Jones's comment that he "never heard him [Korn] say death, saying, "I was sorry to hear that old 'Yankee' any more on the subject" was not surprising because 23 had been killed." Jones was transferred to Company A on October i , Henry P. Jones was in Company I during the 1876, and probably had little contact with Korn after battle, but he was assigned to the packtrain and sur- that time.

A L BER T W I N K L ER I S P RI NG 2 0 13 53 Korn's confusion upon his escape was confirmed was aware of Caddle's The Conquest of the Missouri by James M. Rooney, a trooper with Company F, account, and he was highly skeptical of it. "That out­ who survived the battle because he was assigned to ragous [sic] story abut [sic] Gustave Korn stamps the packtrain. Walter Camp's interview notes para­ him [Caddle] as being eligible for the Ananias [liar's] phrased Rooney's statements: "Says Korn 's story Club."29 Taylor failed to explain why he thought the true. Says Korn came up after he (Rooney) got up account was so unbelievable. with Luther [Hare?] . . .. Asked him [Korn] many Stanislas Roy was also in Company A, and he questions but all he could [say?] was I don't know." was skeptical of Caddle's account as well. " I knowed William G. Hardy was with Company A and heard Blacksmith Korn ... but I do not know anything the fri ghtened trooper tell his story apparently while about him geting [sic] parted from Custer's Com­ the battle still raged. These statements were short­ mand, but I Know he was on Reno's Hill at the time ened by Camp: "Hardy heard Yankee Korn's story of the fight, and don't remember of at any time hear­ Korn claimed to have rode thro village, past skirmish ing that he had acomplished [sic] what Sergt. Saddle ground & up the bluffs. Korn told this to Hardy at [Caddle] says."30 the tim e." 27 August B. Siefert (Company K), J ohn A. Bailey Dennis Lynch of Company F was not in the battle, (Company B), and George Gaffney (Company I) also but he claimed that a man named Frank Hunter told never heard about Korn's escape. However, the fact a survival story that sounded much like Korn's: " His that these men knew nothing about Korn's story nei­ horse ran away from Custer across Ford B [Medi­ ther affirms nor detracts from its validity; it simply cine Tail Ford]." The horse "carried him through demonstrates that not everyone knew about it. 31 the Hunkpapa [Sioux] camp up over Reno's battle­ During his army career, Gustave Korn earned ground an d onto hill and joined Reno about 4:00 P.M. much praise. Henry P. Jones stated that he brought He was unhurt. Thinks ... was nicknamed 'Yankee' water to the wounded at the Battle of the Little Herman or like name."28 Bighorn "many times" on June 26. If so, he might Not everyone believed Korn's story. William have gone after water with smaller groups of men Othniel Tarlor was a private with Company A. H e later in the siege since he was not among the main

Others shared Walter Camp's enthusiasm for the Little Bighorn Battle, regularly reenacting and commemorating it t hroughout t he first decades of the twentieth century. Above, a crowd gathers at the U.S. Army monument to honor the battle's fiftieth anniversary in 1926.

54 M 0 NT AN A THE MAG AZ IN E 0 F WESTERN H IS T 0 RY Many accounts support Korn's tale of survival, and his account is further enhanced by reports of good character made throughout his life. An army assessment made in 1883 observed that Korn was "a most excellent blacksmith[,] an honest soldier & in every respect a good thoroughly reliable man." Above, in dress uniform, Korn poses with Comanche at Fort Lincoln, Dakota Territory.

party of fifteen men who were awarded the Medal of vived. Those comrades who knew Korn personally Honor for retrieving water for the wounded. Korn believed him. Circumstantial eyewitness evidence was also lauded for his good conduct at Canyon supports Korn's claim: Korn could not have left Creek in 1877, and his "excellent character" was Custer's command before the warriors started firing praised at the time of his three reenlistments. The because his horse was critically iruured by gunfire. i883 assessment was more specific: Korn was an It is known that Korn rode to Reno Hill, where he "honest soldier & in every respect a good thoroughly participated in the defense of that position. When reliable man."32 taken as a body, the evidence indicates that Korn was Ultimately, the credibility of Gustave Korn's expe­ with Custer's column and that he did, in fact, survive rience lies with the plausibility of his story and with "Custer's Last Stand." his character. Korn told about his experiences as soon as they happened, and he made no outlandish Albert Winkler is the history librarian at Brigham claims about his escape. He also sought no recogni­ Young University. He earned his PhD in history from tion , adulation, or money for te lling his story, and he BYU and has published numerous awa rd-winning never portrayed himself as being either courageous articles as well as nine books in Germany on the or resourceful. The trooper simply told how he sur- Indians wars of the American West.

ALBERT WI N KL ER I SPRING 2 0 1 3 55 not of ri)iht. but of favor:· the court 111u st with th is case is evi dentiary. The Lanham stories" and " hi s alleged experi ence·' at a)\rcc to it. \ \ "i11sto 11 co111pla i11 ed that hi s Act has been 0 11 the books for many yea rs the battle. See Williams, Milila1y Register cl ie11t· s situation should be .. shocki11)\ to and \\'as in effect in 1967 when the trade­ ofC11 ster's Las/ Co 11mw11d (Norman, OK, the sense of.justice of e'·ery r\111 erica 11 :· marks \\ere registered. By waiti11g so long 2009), t79- 8on. 31, 183- 84. not just because Dietz had been fa lsely to exercise their ri ghts. Defendants make 2. Gustave Korn entry, n.d., U.S. Army, accused but also because the la\\' only it diffi cult for any fact-finder to affirma­ Register of Enlistments, 1798- 1914, www. all o\\'cd funds for \\'itnesses .. \\'ithi11 the tively state that i11 tg67 the trade111arks ancestry.com; Williams, Milita1y Regis­ district where th e case is tri ed:· were disparagi ng." iei; 179 . Will iams mistakenly stated that 80. See ·· [low ·Lone Star· Ea rn ed His go. See the a111icus brief for D ec. Korn was born in Sproll ow. Na111c :· by Charles S. Castner of Readi 11 )\. lO. 2004. at http://sct. 11 arf.org/docu­ 3. After a thorough discussion of the Pe1111s~ · ka11ia. i11 Ewers Papers. n1e11 ts/ ha rj ovp ro-foo tba 11 / d c_c i rc u it/ sources, the histori an Edgar I. Stewart 8 1. /Jtrn/11/' (!!,) R1•1,i1w, J a11. 25. 19:12: 11 ca i_ami cus_bricf. pdf; Del Quentin concluded, "The probability is that there Iowa Cit_,. (IA) Pl'tss, Feb. 7. 1922. Wilber. "A ppea ls Court Rul es again st were not more than four thousand war­ 82. Shtlwrgr111 ( I I"!) Pl'l'ss. Aug. 27. r\ctiYists in Suit C hallenging Redskins riors, and possibly not that many." See 19.'3.'l· :>le\\'spapers made the a1111 ou11 ce- Trademark:· Washi11gln11 Post, May 16, C11ster's L11d1, 309- 12. 111 e11t about the 11a111 e cli.111 )\e by.July 18 . 2009. 4. As cited in Williams,Milita1J' Regis­ 19.').'). gi. C . Ri chard Kin g. http://www. tn; 179- 80. 8:). fro1nunod (Ml ) Dai(\' Clo/it. Feb. 8. po pss pot. co 111 /2o l:J / 02/ rd s ki 11 s-1as t­ 5. See Edward S. Luce, Keogh, Coman­ l~J.'l5· s ta 11d -re fl ecti o 11 s-o n-ra cist- s te rco types­ che, and C11sln; 2nd ed. (Ashland, OR, 8.J. The author was privilc)ied lo par­ i n-a m eri ca n-s po rt/. See also King and 1974), 81- 82, 84- 85; and Elizabeth ticipate i11 the panel .. Ra cist Stereotypes Springwood, 1t'r1111 S/Jil'ils. Atwood Lawrence, His Vet)' Silence a11d C ultural Appropriation i11 An1eri­ 92. Origin all y viewed at "Carlisle Speaks: Co111rwd11•-ThP Horse Who S111'­ can Spon s:· at the sy mposiu111 held at lndia11 School,". Barbara Landis, archi­ vived C11sler's Last Sta11d (Detroit, 1989). the l\ati o 11 al Musrnm of the America11 vist. http://l1 01n e.epix .net/- landis. 6. Kenneth Hammer, Biographies of l11di a11 01 1 Feb. 7. 2013. The webcast !ht Srvenlh Cavail)' ]1111e 25th 1876 (Fort can be vie"'ed at http://n111ai.si.edu/ Collins, CO, 1972), 178;J ohn M. Carroll, 11111lti111 edia/webcasts/ or www. yo u tube. The Case for a Custer ed., Th ey Rode with C11ster: A Biogrnphi­ co11 1/\\'a tel 1':\·=N7.) 8ree Pg Lo. Battalion Survivor cal Dil'ff/01y of ih f Mn1 Thal Rode with 85. The :\ational Congress of A111e ri­ LE. r\. Brininstool, 'froo/H·1·s with Gmrml Gtol'gr A. C11sier (M attituck, NY. ca 11 I 11d ia11s attempted to 111 eet and discuss C11:;/n: Hislol'ic foridr'llis rf ih f Batlle 1993), 141. the issue with the team's former ml'l1er, rf !hr Lil/It Big Hom (Harrisburg. PA. 7. See, for example, Bruce R. Liddie .J ack Cooke Ke11t. Ke11t refu sed a meeting 1952). 66; ·'Who Kn ew Gustave Korn and Paul Harbaugh, eds., Camp 011 but spoke through a reporter and th e U Pl of Troop I, Seventh U.S. Cavalry in the Custer: Tim1saibi11g the Cusfel' My th service 011 .J a 11 . 22, 1988: "'There's not a C uster Fight:'" Wi1111nJ of //11• West, Jan. (Spokane, WA , 1995): "[Korn] was si11 !\ le, solitary j ot, tittle, "·hit cha11ce i11 30. tg36: Edgar I. Stewan, C11 sifl''s L11d1 detached to Majo r Reno's Battalion. the world' that the Red skins will adopt a (Norman. OK. 1955),490. Fora good sum­ However, he did not rejoin Reno's com­ 11 e\\' na1ne:· Suzan Sho\\'n I la1:j o. '" Fight­ mation of1 nany of the clail\ls, see Mi chael mand until that night (j une 25). His horse ing Nan1e Calling ... in Tt•a111 S/Jirils: Tht L. Nunnall y. I S111'viv1•d C11 sler's Las/ bolted and was killed near the river on . \ (i/i1 1t :l1111Tim11 1lfa sco/ Co11/1·owl'. ~I ', ed. Slr111d.1( 11.p .. 2006). This swdy has been the retreat from the bottom, leaving Korn C. Richard King a11d C harles Fruehli11g )\ rea tl r facilitated br Roger L. Williams's afoot and stranded" (p. 74). Sprin)\\\·ood (Li11 coln. NE. 2001): 194. recent research s u111111 ari zi11 g the ·' Korn 8. George Lisk, "Yankee Korn," 86. Suzan Sho\\n H a1:j o. ··Washington Wi1111ers of th e West, May 31, 1936. Lisk C hi cl~ \1 a k ing and the R-Word:· !11d ir11 1 was a member of the Seventh Cav­ C111//l/1;r Tt11la_\', Feb. 2. 2002. Ha1jo is also alry from 1877 to 1887 and knew Korn the president and founder of the Mor11- personally. i11)\star Institute, a National Indian Ri ghts 9 . Bis111arck (ND) Ti·ibu11e, May 23, or!\a 11i za ti on based in Was hi11 )\to 11 . D. C. 1884. 87. Linda \I. Waggoner. '·Reclaiming 10 . "Trooper Korn Retells the Story of Junes One Star:· fodia11 C1111 11ll:l' ?i1da_l', the Fight," Mi/wa11!1er Smtinel, July 26, 5 pt. series . .Juk 2.12. 20. 27. Aug. 8. 2004 . 1885. 88. "\Ir. 1\larshall chose to re na1ne hi s 11. Ibid. franchise the Redskins:· according to the 12. Bruce R. Liddie, Vanishing Victory: fact sheet. ··in honor of the team's head Cnster\ Final Ma rch (El Segundo, CA, coach. \V illiam ·Lo11e Star· Dietz, who 2004), 107- 13. was a ~ati, · c r\merican:· See Pro-Foo//}(///, 13 . See W. A. Graham, ed ., The Custer /u,-. l'. I lr11jo. 284 F.Supp.2d 96 (2003). M)'th: A Sol/.l'Cf Book 011 Cuslel'iana U11ited States. District Court. Di strict of (Harrisburg, PA , 195.3 ), 72, 110. Coln111bi a. Sept. :30, :200.'). 14. William G. H ardy, interview, fldr 89. Ibid. Specifically. th e judge's 10, bx 2, Little Big H orn Battle of, 1876, cighty-t hree- pa)\e report sta tes: ·'There is 11 , Walter Mason Camp Papers, Lilly 110 nidencc in the record that addresses Library, Indiana University, Bloomington \\' hetl1tr the use of the term ·redskin(s)' i11 (hereafter Camp Papers , IU). the co 11tcxl ofa footba ll team and related 15. " Incident of the Custer Massacre," entertainment services \\·ould be viewed Chicago Daily Ju/el' Ocran, J an. 7, 189i. hr a substantial composite of Native The Winners of !h e West published a A111e ri ca11s. in the relen1nt time frame. as 1936 account attributed to Korn that can disparaging .... The problem. however. Sitting Bull , circa 1881 be dismissed as a fak e. The article stated:

94 M 0 NT AN A THE MAG AZ IN E 0 F WESTERN HIST 0 RY "The following account of the Custer 24. Henry Jones to Camp, May 17, 1911. by author, Missoula, Mar. 11 , 1997. Addi­ Battl e was printed on the back of a large fldr 17, bx 1, Camp Coll ecti on, BYU. tional information coni es frorn read in g photograph of the horse, COMANCHE,'' 25. Henry J ones to Camp,June 2, 19u, th e run o f' th e Dail,v Mi ss11 11lian and Mis­ which was ostensibly signed by G ustave fldr 18, ibid. so11/irw, 1949 to t996. Korn. The account had many errors, 26 . Ibid. No record of the investigation 4. See Roy Rosenzweig, Eight Ho11n including incorrect battle dates and times, has been found. for Whal We Will: Wo 1-ltri:s and Lrirnre and was so superficial that anyone with 27.James M. Rooney interview, bx 4, i11 a 11 !tid11 strial Cit)', 1870- 1920 (New even a vague knowledge of the engage­ Camp Collection, BYU; Hardy interview. York, 1983). I.51; Russell Lynes, Tllf' ment could have written it. "Who Knew 28. Dennis Lynch interviews, in I-lam­ Livi'/_\' A11dimce: A Social Hisfo t)' of //If' G ustave Korn." mer, Cuslrr i11 '76, 139- 40. Francis Hunter Virnal and P('lfon11i11g Al'ls i11 A1111'1'irn, 16. " Incident of the Custer Massacre." was in Company F, but he was with the 1890-1950 (New York. 1985): Russel B. 17. Ro man Rutten, interview by packtrain at that time, and sin ce Korn 's Walter Camp, in Custer in '76: Walter nickname was " Yankee," Lynch was likely Camp 's Notes 011 the Custer Fight, ed. referring to him. Kenneth Hammer (Provo, UT, 1976), 29. W. 0. Taylor to Edward Settl e u8.John H. Meier had a similar problem Godfrey, Feb. 20, 1910, Godfrey Papers, during Reno's approach to the vill age. Library of Congress, Washington. DC. His mount, Snopsy, panicked and ran. As "Ananias Club" relates to a biblical refe r­ the eyewitness Daniel Newell described ence in Acts 5:3- 5 that states Ananias fell it: " Meyer's [sfr] horse got away from dead when he li ed to the Apostle Peter. him and bolted through the Indian's 30. Roy to Camp, Nov. IO , 1909, Camp line." His situation was desperate, " but Collecti on, BYU. he got back to us, shooting his way out 31. Liddie and Harbaugh. Cmn /1 011 with his six gun .... How he ever did Custer, 73 , 83, 94. this is a mystery." See Daniel Newell , as 32. As cited in Williams , Militr11y Reg­ cited in Carroll, Th ey Rode with Cnsifr, ister, 179- 80. On the water ca rriers , see 173. Another trooper was in a desper­ Douglas D. Scott, Custer '.5 Hnots: The ate situation among the Indians, and he Little Bigh orn MNlals of Honor (Wake was able to escape being killed by them, Forest, NC, 2007); and Larry Sklenar. meaning that Korn could have cl one so as " Medals for C uster's Men," Mo11/a11a 50 well. Luther Standing Bea r, Turtle Rib, (Winter 2000): 54- 65. and Red Father related that another man escaped from Custer's command late in tl1 e battle, but he panicked and killed him­ A "Temple of Pleasure" se lf. Red Feather said: "The Indians took 1. W. A. Simons's li fe history as told by after him, and shot and shot at him, but Edna Wilma, in "The Wilma Thea tre Sec­ couldn't hit him or catch him. They saw ti on- Advertisement," Dai l,~ Mis.rn 11lia11, Interior detail, Wilma Theatre some smoke and the report of a gun, and Feb. 14 , 1951 , 1. See also Bruce Weide, saw him fall off hi s horse. The Indians " Missoula's Masterpiece Theatres, Old­ we nt over and he had shot himself." Fashi oned Glamour and Oddball Glitz," The trooper was perhaps Corporal J ohn Mo11/a11a Magazinr 79 (Sept.- Oct. 1986): Nye . The U11 e111/Jr11Tasstd Muse: Th r Foley. See " Interview,'' Aug. 19, 1920, in 51- 52; Myrtle Rya n. " Diary, 1900- 1901 ," Po/J11lar Aris i11 A111l'l'irn, Til'o C('ll/11rirs Lakota Recollections of the Cnster Fight: UAA-hmc-0.344-d, Archives and Special ofA111fl'ira11 L1fr (New York. 1970).364. New Sources of lndian-Militr11y History, Coll ecti ons, Consortium Library, Uni­ .5· Lynes, Live/_1• A11dir•11re, 28 1. ed. Richard G. Harclorff (Spokane, WA, versity of Alaska- Anchorage; Charl ene 6. "vVilm a Theatre," Gibson, Kirkemo, 1991), 86; Richard G. Hardorff, Marhrs, Porsild, " Lolo I-lot Springs ," Mo11tana 53 and Bakke Architectural Draw in gs. Seri es Artifacts and Indian Tes timony: Prdimi­ (Winter 2003): 67- 68. Sources refer to th e XXV!l, 114. Toole Archi ves, UM; Rans­ nary Findings on the Custer Batt/,e (Short Wilma (and other th eatres) as both " the­ trom interview: Dail)' 1l1is.rn11lia11 and Hills, NJ , 1985), 29-30. atre" and " th ea ter." I have chosen to use Missoulia11, 1949 to 1996: .. Northwest 18.John Burri to Camp, Nov. 16, 1910, " thea tre" for consistency fo ll owin g the Theatre Company Ledge r, 1922 J an. 1- flclr 14, bx 1, Walter Mason Camp Coll ec­ Library of Congress headin g fo r " Wilma Dec. 30," Toole Archives, UM , http:// ti on, Special Collecti ons, Brigham Young Theatre (Missoula, Mont.)" except when nwd a- db . w sul i b s . ws u .eel u/ fi nda id/ University, Provo , UT (hereafter Camp " theater" has been used in a proper name ark :/80444/xv55905. Coll ection, BYU). or quotation. 7 ... Palace of Bea uty:· Dai/_v Misso11- 19.Joseph Mills Hanson, The Conquest 2. "Edna W. Sharp, Theatre Owner, lia11 , May 12. i921. Toda)", the Wilma·s of the Missow·i: Being th e St01y of the Life Dies," Misso11lia11, July 26. 1954. architecture is recogni zed as nationall y and ExfJ/oits of Captain Grant Marsh 3. S/Jokaue (WA) Dail)' Chro nicle, signifi cant. See J ames R. McDonald. (Chicago, 1909 ), 380- 81. May 17, i946; " Boomer to Manage " Misso ul a Historic Resource Survey," 20. Caddle to Camp, Nov. 8, 1909, fldr Two Idaho Theaters," Spoka11 r (WA) Historical Research Associates report, IO . bx 1, Camp Coll ection, BYU. Dail)• Chronicle, Mar. 22 , t949; " Drive Missoula, i980: and David Naylor, Amer­ 21. Burkett to Camp, Apr. 11, 1912, In Theater Manager Arrives," Spokanr irnu Picture Palarfs: Thr Ard1ilec/11rr of Walter Mason Camp Coll ection, Denver (WA) Spo/1.Psman-Rev iew, Mar. 11. 1953: Fa11/as_)' (New York, 1981). Public Library, Denver, CO. " Wilma Thea ter Honors Sim ons," ibid., 8. " Palace of Bea uty. ., 22 .John McCollum, " He Knew Com­ Mar. 27, 19 47; " Ingrid Bergman Films 9. "Attractions in Misso ul a Thea tre," rade Gustave Korn," Winners of the West, Banned in Sim ons Theatres," Roundu/J Dail_v Missoulirw, May 8, 1921. May 31, 1936. Record-Trib11.11 e and Winn e/I Times, Jan. IO. Stuart Halsey & Co .. ·The l'vlotion 23. Lisk, "Yankee Korn." 5, 1950; Bob " Rat" Ranstro m, interview Pi cture Industry as a Basis fo r Bo nd

NOTES I SPRING 2013 95