The Carbon County chronicle. [volume], August 27, 1924, Page Page Two, Image 2

About The Carbon County chronicle. [volume] (Red Lodge, Mont.) 1924-1924

Image provided by: Montana Historical Society; Helena, MT

                
VETERAN OF INDIAN WARS WAS
A MEMBER OF GENERAL
TERRY'S FORCES
Ob the Battle Ground Shortly
After the Terrible Disaster. Bodies
Were
There Were Over 150 Bodies
Was
Buried Just Where Found;
Henry C. Klcnck, Yellowstone
eounty farmer residing four miles
of Billings, is one of the few
east
surviving men who helped to bury
bodies of the victims of the
Mr. Klenck was
the
Custer massacre,
also wounded In the campaign
against the Apache Indians in Ari
zona during one of the times when
I be United States army
>d in chasing Geronlmo and his
Mr. Klenck, who was a vet
of the Indian wars, recently
attended the convention of the sur
fixing veterans of all wars held in
Helena, was made, while there, the
subject of a feature story In the
Great Falls Tribune. Said the Trl
bane:
"Klenck enlisted in the regular
army from New York City In 1870,
the year of the campaign against
Silting Bull and the Sioux nation.
He was first sent to Fort Snelling
and from there to Fort Lincoln,
where he was attached to the com
mand of General Terry. His com
mand had been ordered to the front
and reached the Custer battlefield on
the Little Big Horn a few days after
the massacre and was temporarily
detailed to the interment of the vic
tims ot that light.
First Buried Just As Found
"According to Klenck s version
Captain Benton and Colonel Weir,
with their commands, were already
and had been engaged
was en
gag«
band.
cran
on the spot _ , .
for several uays In burying the dead,
but the men were pretty well tired
out and the task was finished by the
troops with which Klenck was con
nected. .
"Wo burled them Just where they
found,' said Klenck. 'but they
afterwards removed' to the posl
The
were
were
tion there graves now occupy,
body of General Custer had already
been burled before we reached the
battlefield and to my knowledge Cus
ter fell about two rods, southeast of
where the monument now stands.
" 'We burled between 160 and 175
of the bodies, the task, requiring
about 10 days. Some of the soldiers
had been scalped and all the bodies
were terribly mutilated,
the Indians had taken all the clothing
while every weapon and all the val
uables had been removed. Only a
few of the bodies were recognizable.
We burled them singly. In graves
that were about three feet deep, each
grave being marked by a headboard.
" 'For caskets we were compelled
to contrive boxes out of timber cut
along the Little Big Horn, augmented
with material brought up from the
troops steamboat which Terry had
brought up the Big Horn river. He
had quite a lot of material on the
From some
KEEP YOUR SCALP
Clean and Healthy
WITH CUTICURA
It Doesn't Pay
14
to be
A
Pioneer !
HO hasn't heard
this remark at
some time? And
what a fallacy it Is!
w
Consider your own coun
try. Who will deny that
its present greatness is
due to the native genius
for blazing new trails?
In modern store keeping,
it Is pioneering that
counts; the willingness to
move ever FORWARD—
to find, assimilate and
adopt new ideas that con
stantly improve our ser
Ice to you
We've found that it does
pgy to be a pioneer.
When In Butte, visitors
are welcome to one of
Montana's pioneer hard
ware stores.
A. C. M.
HARDWARE
HOUSE
Main at Quartz, Butte, Mont
ooo
By Martha Edgerton Plassmann
FTER the capture of Dull
Knife's village of Northern
Cheyennes in the Big Horn
mountains, following the Custer
Battle, the Indians who managed to
escape, spent the winter with the
Sioux on Powder river. In the
spring of 1877, Dull Knife's band
surrendered to the United States
soldiers. They were then sent
south to Indian Territory.
Here these Indians, lx>rn and
reared in the northern climate of
Montana and North Dakota, were
expected to accustom themselves to
entirely different surroundings, and
they soon fell victims to diseases
they had never before experienced,
such as malaria in its various
forms.
And this was not the worst. In
their old homeland there was
plenty of game. Where they en
dured exile, there was none. The
A
bout, which had become grounded on
the Sorrel Horse bottom, near where
the town of Hardin now stands, and
this had to be hauled a distance of
26 miles to the battlefield. We made
the boxes on the battlefield, the work
being done by four troops of the Sec
ond cavalry.
Guard for Northern Pacific
" 'After all had been buried a gen
eral burial service was conducted
with military honors, a lieutenant of
Troop C officiating as chaplain. I do
not remember his name.
" 'After about three months had
passed we went back to Fort Lincoln
where we remained under the com
mand of Gen. John J. Gibbon, and
later came back Into the Yellowstone
valley as a detail to guard the sur
veyors under Hayden and King, who
were engaged In running lines for
the Northern Pacific railway. Still
later we acted as guard against the
Indians for the Northern Pacific
construction crews. During all of
this time we were stationed either
at Port Meade. Fort Lincoln dr Fort
Ellis.
" 'With the conclusion of the rail
road construction, which culminated
in the driving of the "golden spike"
at the mouth of Gold creek In the
Hellgato valley, Sept. 23, we were
ordered to Fort Ellis where we re
mained a fortnight and were then
transferred to Arizona to report to
Gen, Nelson A. Miles.'
"During the year 1883 Klonck's
detachment was attached to the com
mand under General Miles and later
participated In the campaign against
Geronlmo, the noted Apache chief
tain. and 'The Kid,' another warring
chief. Klenck was then color ser
geant and courier of Troop G. Sec
ond battalion. Second cavalry, and
it was during this campaign that he
engaged in a desperate battle with an
overwhelming party ot Apaches, and
Comanches in which he received five
wounds, the marks of which he still
carries along with a bullet still em
bedded In the calf of one of his legs.
"With the guard ot eight men Ser
geant Klenck was carrying dis
patches from a telegraph station to
General Miles' camp, a distance of
45 miles, when he was ambushed by
a party of 26 Indians at a point
about 22 miles from the camp. For
tunately the Indians were not very
well armed, having but seven guns,
and depending mainly upon their war
clubs and tomahawks.
"In the fight two of the soldiers
were killed and four wounded, and
three of their best horses were slain.
Klenck was wounded In five places
and In a desperate hand to hand en
counter With one brave he received
a tomahawk cut upon hls left wrist,
when he threw up his arm to ward
off a blow aimed at his head. The
scar ot this wound Is still plainly
visible. Before the battle ended all
ot the Indians had been slain.
"With two ot hls party slain, sev
eral wounded and short several hors
es Klenck was in sore straits to ob
tain aid and he resorted to the heli
ograph, with which the Indian fight
ers were then very familiar, to tele
graph word of his predicament to the
camp. Finally he succeeded in get
ting a message through and a detail
of 16 men and an ambulance under
the command ot a lieutenant was sent
to his aid.
How With Lieutenant
"Upon the arrival of the party the
lieutenant, who had but recently
come out from West Point, demand
ed that Klenck deliver hls dispatches
to him, to which request Klenck
refused to accede on the grounds that
his instructions were to deliver them
to General Miles. Klenck's compan
ions stood with him, whereupon the
lieutenant ordered him under arrest,
despite the fact that he was badly
wounded.
"The battered detail was escorted
to the camp of General Miles, who
after ascertaining the details ot the
arrest of Klenck, ordered hls release
and caused the arrest and disciplin
ing of the lieutenant, who subse
quently resigned from the service.
"Later, after the surrender of Ger
onlmo, Sept. 3, 1886, Klenck's com
mald was sent back north and In
1891, following the lajt campaign
against the Sioux, he was discharged
at Fort Custer, on the Little Big
Horn.
"However, he remained at Fort
Custer, as a civilian employe, acting
as chief clerk under the quarter
master until the abandonment of the
fort, in 1897. Two years previously
in 1895, he had filed on a home
stead four miles east of Billings, and
with the conclusion of hls service
with the government he removed to
this farm with hls wife, to whom he
had been married while acting as
quartermaster's clerk, and there he
has since resided."
Government was supposed to feed
them, but failed to issue enough
supplies. Like most Indians, the
Cheyennes were meat eaters. The
meat sent them, according to the
testimony of an Indian agent, was
nothing but skin and bones ; and he
further testified that the rations is
sued for a year would not feed the
Indians for nine months. He said:
'They have lived, and that is about
all.
Be it remembered, the Cheyennes
were fighters, holding it to be far
better to die on the field of battle,
than to linger on until age rendered
them senile and decrepit. They
now questioned: ' Ts it the part of
wisdom to remain here and starve,
or to return to our old home, the
land of plenty 7 We can die but
once. Better then to die fighting,
than stay here and rot."
They felt as did Little Chief, who
expressed his feelings about the
way his people were situated in In
dian Territory, to a congressional
committee. Said he: "A great
many have been sick; some have
died. I have been sick a great deal
of the time since I have been down
here—homesick and heartsick and
sick in every way. I have been
thinking of my native country and
the good home I had up there
where I was never hungry, but
when I wanted anything to eat
could go out and hunt buffalo. It
makes me feel sick when I think
about that, and I cannot help think
ing about that."
Driven to desperation, Little
Wolf, the head of a part of the
tribe, went to the agent and hav
ing pointed out how they were dy
ing from starvation and disease,
and wished to return to their own
country, begged of him if he was
not authorized to permit them to
leave, to let some of the Indians go
io Washington to plead their cause,
or that he should write and explain
how it was with them. The agent
replied. "If you will wait another
year. I will sec what I can do for
you,"
"No," said Little Wolf, "we can
not stay another year ; we want to
go now. Before another year has
passed away we may all be dead
and there will be none of us left
to travel north.'
A little later it was discovered
that three young Indians had left
the agency, and policemen were
sent out to keep others from going.
Little Wolf gave the policemen no
satisfaction, but sent word to the
agent that he was about to move
his camp, and then he would go and
see him.
Little Wolf moved camp, as he
had announced he would do, and
then taking two men with him call
ed on the agent. The latter stated
that three of Little Wolf's men had
disappeared, and he demanded 10
young men should be given to him.
as hostages, to remain until the
missing three were found.
To find those runaways, Little
1
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Martin Kail, well known Butte golf
er who at the recent state golf
tournament at Great Falls, won the
golf championship, defeating Reno
Sale«, who had defeated "Ted"
Baker, champion of the northwest.
Mr. Kali learned the ancient game
as a cuddy on the Butte links.
Wolf pointed out, would be no easy
matter, as there were manj good.
hiding places. No, he would not |
deliver the 10 men, for it would;
mean their perpetual imprisonment.
"Very well," the agent retorted,
"If you do not give me those 10
men, I will give you no rations. I
will give you nothing to cat until
I get them. You shall starve until
they are given to me. So you must
give me those men, and I want
them at once."
Little Wolf again refused to give
them up, but said he did not wish
any blood spilled. Again the agent
demanded the men, and again Little
Wolf refused to turn them over to
him. Seeing it was useless to pro
long the conference, Little Wolf
rose, and after shaking hands with
all present said : "My friends. I am
I do not
now going to my camp,
wish the ground around this agency
to be made bloody, but now listen
to what I say to you, I am going to
leave here ; I am going north to my
own country. I do not want to see
blood spilt about this agency. If
you are going to send soldiers after
me, I wish you would first let me
get a little distance away from this
agency. Then if you want to fight,
I will fight you and we can make
the ground bloody at that place."
He then returned to his camp 20
miles away.
In the camp were about 300 per
sons, of whom only 60 or 70 were
warriors. The chief men were Lit
tle Wolf, who was noted for his
bravery, and Dull Knife, whose rep
utation had been gained as a coun
selor, although in the end. Little
Wolf's judgment proved better.
The next morning the Cheyennes
started north. At the end of the
second day they were appraised by
their scouts that a large number of
soldiers were near at heand. Little
Wolf commanded his young men
not to he the ones to fire the first
shot. He said, "I will go out and
meet the troops and try to talk
with them. If they kill any of us,
I will be the first man killed. Then
you can fight."
On coming in sight of the Indian
camp the troops halted, and an Ar
apaho scout was sent to tell the
fugitives that if they would return
to the agency, they would receive
their rations and he treated well.
To this offer Little Wolf replied ;
"Tell them that we do not want to
fight ; that we will not go back. We
are leaving this country. I have
had no quarrel with anyone,
hold up my right hand that I do
not wish to fight with the whites ;
but we are going to our old home
to stay there."
i
The scout went hack, and Little
Wolf rode forward to talk with the
soldiers, when they opened fire on
him. This led to a general engage
ment lasting from 4:00 P. M. to
dark. The next morning fighting
was resumed and lasted until after
noon. The following morning the
Indians again started north, and
traveled for two days before other
soldiers met them, but were driven
hack, and the Indians continued
their journey.
Two days later the Cheyennes
were again attacked. Little Wolf
told his men not to fire on the ad
vancing troops until he gave the
word, as they had little ammuni
tion When the soldiers were quite
close, he ordered his men to fire,)""
and the soldiers were forced to re
treat, leaving a box and a half of
cartridges behind them, fortunately
for the Cheyennes, who, as has been
stated, were short of ammunition.
That night after dark, Little
Wolf ordered them to break camp,
and move on. This they did. As
they were nearing the Arkansas
river the next morning, they sur
prised some buffalo hunters, and
secured a large amount of ammuni
tion from them, and also guns.
What was of equal importance, the
Indians took from the white men
18 buffalo they had killed.
Camp was made when they cross
ed the Arkansas, and while the
men hunted the buffalo, the women
prepared the meat. They were
then not far from Ft. Dodge. Here
again they were attacked, and Lit
tle Wolf observed the same tactics
as before; building their fire until
the soldiers were very near them.
He said: "Now men, get ready,
hut let every shot you fire count
for a man." Obedience to this
command caused the troops to re
treat. Then Little Wolf said that if ]
they—his people—did not all want
to be killed, they must not do so
much fighting, but travel faster.
After they crossed the Platte riv
er, against the advice of Little
Wolf, Dull Knife and his followers
separated from the others, and went
NT ARROW HEAD IS
FOUND EMBEDDED IN
MOUNTAIN GOAT SKULL
While with his father on a pack
tr *P l"t*> the Hear tooth lake region
recently, Bill Groenough of Deer
Lodge, found a mountain goat
skull with a «ri flint arrow hea<i
lodged In the forehead. The trophy
which was bleached and cracked
with unnumbered years of expos
ure to the sun and snow was taken
to Red IsMlge and placed on dis
play, creating no small amount of
Interest and speculation.
It I» the first time In all my 35
years or more of riding In this part
of Montana," said Ben G reenough,
the boy's father, "that I ever saw
a goat skull bearing an arrow head,
although on numerous occasions I
have seen the remains of buffalo
and other animals bearing that ex
planation of their death. The
goats are so wary that they were
extremely difficult to hunt even
with rifles; It must have been a
clever Indian that drew that bow."
From the smooth, apparently
partially healed condition of the
skull at the arrow's point of entry,
it appears that the hardy animal
was only wounded by the dart and
made his escape. How long ago
this Utile drama was e.-sited can
only be conjectured; the once hard
horns are bleached and
their sharp tip Is weather blunt.
(Mirons,
west, while Little Wolfe's band
kept on their northward course,
without having any more battles.
When in March they were near
Powder river, Lieut. W. P Clarke
was sent out from Ft Keogh to
check their advance. Through the
aid of Indian scouts, Lieut. Clarke
found the camp of the Cheyennes,
and moved into it. He issued ra
tions to the Indians, and after three
days, when he had won their con
fidence, he asked them to surrender
their arms, and go with him to Ft.
Keogh.
On their reaching the Fort, Gen
eral Miles met them, and shaking
hands with Litle Wolf, said to him :
"You and 1 have been fighting for
a long time now, today we meet
and shake hands, and will always
be friends. I want you to give
me all your horses.
Cheyennes did, and were then asked
by Miles to enlist with him to fight
the Sioux.
At first Little Wolf refused this
request, saying that they had come
a long distance and were tired : but
finally consented. He, and all his
warriors enlisting.
George Bird Grinnell says of this
flight of a tribe: "We have heard
much in past years of the Nez
Perces march under Chief Joseph,
but little is remembered of the Dull
Knife outbreak, and the march to
the north led by Little Wolf. This
march was over an open country,
where there was no opportunity to
avoid pursuers or to hide from
them so as to get a little rest or
respite. The story of the journey
has not been told, but in the tra
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were stationeiJ ° u the i ,iams 40
;rÆ , 5'!Â"Çïï£
was such a journey since the
Greeks marched to the sea. An
army officer once told me that 13,
000 troops were hurrying over the j
country to capture or kill these
few people who had left the fever
stricken south, and in the face of
every obstacle were steadily march
ing northward."
Of the generalship of Little
Wolf it is only necessary to say,
that he had but four hard fights,
and in these he was never worsted,
and that he lost but a half dozen
men. Is there a parallel to this
military feat in history? I can re
call none. All honor to the North
ern Cheyennes.
lenuUie
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Send kt on«*« for New Catalogue
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telling all about
FALL TERM OPENS SEPT. 22
Address
LEWIS T. BATON
Director
Polytechnic, Mont*
MO
iNTERES^o exhibits being
I FOR COMMUNITY
TATE SHOWS
NA COUNTY
and District fair
DATB ARRANGED
arran
AN1
Belknap ln&
First Exhl
serration C
Sections ti
is Scheduled to Stage
Jon of Season on Re
tonds; Others In Many
Follow.
A gri c ultn ci munit les ln
ery section on
ing for their a
vest, festivals
of fall wreathe
crops in practlhiy every part of
the state almost
of the various cc
are dependent u
tendance In a l
their patronage,
ev
ontana are prepar
iual fairs and har
jth the first touch
V the air. Good
sure the success
,ty events, which
p the farmer at
V' measure for
pointed ont.
Some unusually Uerestlng exhib
its of farm produA ranging from
small tent shows to\ U g e gatherings
of samples from all \ctlons ot Mon
tana at the state fai
planned.
The first fair date
year announced is thi 0 f the Bel
knap Indians who will\ 0 i 4 a three
day exposition on theLeifenap j n .
dlan reservation Augustao 31 and
September 1 . Other Mitàna fairs
and harvest festivals, thl
w'hich have been announ
follows:
it Helena, are
Montana this
dates for
d, are as
Beaverhead County Ri r
Roundup, Dillon, September
Belltower Community Fa\
ter county), September 6 ,
Carter County Fair. KkalahV Sep
tember 8 , 9, 10. \
Golden Valley County Falr.Vtye
gate, September 12.
Huntley Project Fair,
September 13.
and
, 5 , 6 .
(Car
■
Osbd^ne,
Midland Empire Fair, Billlnrg,
September 15 to 19.
Eighth Annual Boys and Glr%
Club Fair. Great Falls, September 19
Chotean County Community Fair,
Fort Benton, September 19 and 20.
Montana State Fair, Helena, Sep
tember 23 to 27.
Winifred Harvest Festival, Wini
fred, September 27.
Annual Project Fair, Willlanms,
October 4.
Lake Cdunty Fair, Poison, Octo
ber 9, 10, 11.
North Central Montana Corn and
Livestock Show, Great Falls, Octo
ber 28. 29, 30.
North Montana Corn and Seed
Show, Wolf Point, November 12, 13,
14.
Hill County fair, Havre, Oct. », 10
and 11 .
Residents of the southern section
of the state are also considerably In
terested in the Northwestern Wyo
ming which Is being held at Powell,
W'yo., this week.
Montana farmers have received no
tice that the Spokane, Wash., Inter
state Fair and Llvèstock Show will be
held at Spokane, September 1, to 6 .
Dates for the International Hay
and Grain Show, held annually in
Chicago, have been set this
November 29 to December 6 .
Other fairs and festivals In differ
ent sections of Montana are now in
preparation, many of the dates still
pending.
year as
YOUTH ATE TICK;
GETS BLACK FEVER;
AND IS WELL AGAIN
Harold Prenovost, of Hillings,
baa Just returned from the Nor
thern Pacific hospital at Glentllre,
recovered from an attack of spot
ted fever that had it» Inception
when he ate a black lick, cither in
hls lunch or with gooseberries he
was picking near Forsyth a month
ago.
Prenovost, a section employe,
laid hls noon lunch tinder some
bushes while he was working. He
thinks one of the ticks gm Into
a cold beef sandwich and that he
ate It.
Shortly after ho became ill. Tito
symptoms puzzled physicians who
examined him. So Prenovost was
sent to the hospital with ills ali
ment. diagnosed as possible ty
phoid. By the time the sick man
got there, ids symptoms had de
veloped more fully and ho
asked to open hls shirt. Hls body
was covered by a mass of red
spots.
The tick which inoculated Pren
ovost was of the black variety.
The fatalities in black tick fever
cases are about 54 per cent. In
the Bitter Root tick cases the
death rate Is 84 per cent.
Legion Approves Defense Day
A large number of American
Legion members and ex-servlee men
attended the regular feed and smok
er meeting which was held recently
at Havre, In the Elks' hall.
The local boys decided to co-op
erate with the committee In charge
of the affairs for the holding of the
National Defense day program, which
Is September 12, and went on record
as favoring the proper observance
of the day. • The post also promised
to'lend its services In making the day
a success.
was
Membership In the local post Is
growing steadily with each meeting
and a large number of candidates
became members of the Legion at
this session.
New Grade of Wheat Added In Slate
"No. 1 hard spring" Is a grade of
wheat which has been added to the
subclass "dark northern spring," ac
cording to a circular recently Issued
by the Montana grain Inspection la
boratory at Bozeman. This grade
differs from No. 1 dark northern
spring In these two points: No. 1
hard spring has a minimum of 86 per
I cent ot dark hard and vitreous ker
nels. while dark northern spring has
a minimum of 75 per cent. No. 1
hard spring has a minimum test
weight of 60 pounds while the test
weight of No. 1 dark northern spring
Is 68 pounds per bushel. The new
grade became effective on August
15, 1924.