THE WAUPACA POST

December 19, 1991

 

WHEN THEN WAS NOW

By Wayne A. Guyant

 

            Col. Theodore W. Goldin, who has been officially recorded as the last white man to see General George Armstrong Custer alive that fateful June 25, 1876, is buried at the Wisconsin Veterans Home Cemetery at King.

            Theodore W. Goldin, then a lieutenant, was with Co. G, 7^th U.S. Cavalry, under General Custer at the Battle of the Little Big Horn.

            He escaped the fate of approximately 225 men, along with General Custer, only because he had been detailed to deliver a message toMajor Marcus A. Reno, who had dug in, in a gully a short distance away.  Goldin had just left when the Indians came swooping down on Custer.

            Theodore W. Goldin was born July 25, 1857, a son of Rufus W. and Elizabeth Lozier Goldin.  He died February 15, 1936 at the Wisconsin Veterans Home at King, and is buried in the Wisconsin Veterans Memorial Cemetery, in Section 52.

            The Wisconisn Veterans Memorial Cemetery also has claim to another man known to General Custer and he was Loren Hollix, who was a lieutenant with Custer for six years.  He died September 3, 1916, aged 86.

            The treaty of 1868, signed at Fort Laramie, WY, had set aside a permanent home for the Sioux and Cheyenne.  This area was called the Great Sioux Reservation.  It extended westward from the Missouri River to Wyoming and Montana, to Nebraska on the south ad to North Dakota on the north.

            In this area was the Black Hills with its hidden gold.  This area was also abundant with game, which was most essential to the livelihood of the Indians.

            In 1874, General Custer and the 7^th Cavalry were sent from Fort Lincoln on an expedition into the Black Hills.  It was said that the nature of this mission was only to gain military information.  Horatio M. Ross, a member of Custer’s 7^th Cavalry, was credited with making the first gold discovery on French Creek, July 4, 1874.

            Immediately upon the world receiving this news of gold in the Black Hills, hordes of prospective miners invaded this Indian land in search of gold.

            The Federal Government was bound to honor the treaty that they had signed in 1868, making this area the Great Sioux Reservation, so they now had to try to prevent this influx of people into their land.  Despite the repeated warnings issued by the Federal Government against their entering this area, and giving no thought as to their well-being or to what consequences that they might face from these Indian nations, they just kept coming.  The word “gold” was just too great a lure.  It was like a disease, so the westward movement was on.

            This invasion by the whites was the main cause for many of the Indians to leave their reservation to plunder and kill, in retaliation against these white intruders.  This retaliation was the immediate cause of the 1876 campaign against the Indians.

            Previously on the Third of December, 1875, the Federal Government had ordered all Sioux and Cheyenne to return to their reservation, or be deemed hostile and would be dealt with accordingly.

            They had until January 31, 1876 to comply to this order.  Due to the extreme winter weather con-ditions it was practically impossible for them to comply in such a short time.

            So the Indians failed to comply, and on February 7, 1876, the Secretary of the Interior and the General of the Army gave General P.H. Sheridan authority to commence operations against he so-called hostile Indians.

            There were several conflicts and encounters which led up to that fateful day, June 25, 1976, when General Custer and the 7^th Cavalry, 225 men strong, were wiped out at the Battle of the Little Big Horn.

            It has been reported that Comanche, a horse from Custer’s command, was the only thing found living after the massacre at the Little Big Horn.

            General Custer had divided his command into three battalions; Companies A, G and M were assigned to the command of Major Marcus A. Reno; Companies H, D and K went under the command of Captain Frederick W. Benteen; Companies C, E, F, I and L stayed under Custer’s command; and Company B was left behind to protect the pack train.

            Each officer had been briefed on his mission and assigned to his position, so they all separated to take up their stand against he Indians.  Major Reno had traveled only a short distance down a gully, when Indian warriors swarmed into full view and the fight was on.  Being so greatly out-numbered, Major Reno ordred his men to retreat to the bluffs for safety; now every man was for himself.  At this maneuver the Indians turned back and attacked Custer’s troops.  Custer was outnumbered 20 to 1.  History tells us that Custer had reliable reports from his scouts that there were several thousand Indians encamped ahead.

            Why did he divide his men?  That question has puzzled historians ever since.

            Captain Benteen had not encountered any hostiles.  There had been many speculations as to what just really did happen at the Little Big Horn, on June 25, 1976.

            Where was Benteen and Reno when Custer needed them?