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Show 552 WESTERN WILDS. mile from the scene of Calhoun's death, on the ridge parallel to the stream, Captain Keogh's company made a stand to cover the retreat. Keogh had evidently nerved himself for death. He was an old and able soldier. He was an officer in the Papal service when Garibaldi made war upon the Pope, and had served in the army of the Potomac during the war. Down went he and his company, slaughtered in position, every man maintaining his place and fighting desperately to the last. Ouster, with the remnant of his command, had taken up his posi-tion on the next hill. Curly, the Upsaroka scout, tells us that he ran to Custer when he saw that the command was doomed, and of-fered to show him a way of escape. General Custer dropped his head, as if in thought, for one moment, then suddenly jerking it up again he stamped his foot and waving Curly away with his sword, turned to rejoin his men. In that brief interval of thought he had decided to die with his men rather than attempt to escape. There had been a short lull in the fight, while the Sioux were maneuvering for a better position. The firing now recommenced with more fury than ever. Curly dashed into a ravine, let down his hair so as to resem-ble a Sioux as much as possible, mounted a horse, and joined in the next charge ;' but watched his opportunity to put on a Sioux blanket, and in the heat of the battle slipped away. Custer had now made his last stand. It was on the most com-manding point of the ridge ; and there with Captain Yates, Colonel Cook, Captain Custer, Lieutenant Riley and thirty- two men of Yates' command, he fought desperately to the last. One by one his companions fell around him. Nearer and nearer came the Sioux, like hounds baying a lion, dashing around and firing into the com-mand from all sides. Finally the whites made a sort of barricade of their dead horses, and again for a few minutes held the savages at bay. Then Rain- in- the- Face, bravest Indian in the North- west, gathered his most trusty followers for a hand to hand charge. Custer fought like a tiger. With blood streaming from half a dozen gaping wounds, he killed or disabled three of the enemy with his saber, and when his last support was gone, as he lunged desperately at his nearest enemy, Rain- in- the- Face kept his oath and shot the heroic commander dead. But the battle was not over. Captain Custer and Captain Smith tried to cut their way back to the river, and in the ravine leading that way twenty- six men were found dead. The heroic remnant made their last stand near the river, and there every man was found |
