THE OTHER SIDE
I found your article on Custer’s Last Stand (Battlefield, October 2016 very interesting reading, as I had visited the site of the battle while on holiday in the USA last September. Our guide that day was a lady from the Crowe tribe who, although brought up on the reservation, had left to go to university as she felt humiliated at having to receive handouts from the United States government.
LETTER OF THE MONTH
BLOODBATH Colonel Custer’s massacring of women and children is still mourned among many Native American communities today
Custer had led a surprise dawn attack on a Cheyenne Camp at Washita River, Texas in 1868, defeating the tribe and claiming a ‘famous’ victory. In his report, he never mentioned the sheer number of women and children killed. No doubt he was keen to repeat that at Little Bighorn. His orders were to take no prisoners (which would burden his command), and in his eagerness to achieve another ‘famous’ victory, he made serious mistakes. He not only ignored his scout’s advice, but his actions subsequently made it impossible to be resupplied with ammunition. Had this been possible, he might have survived.
“Custer never mentioned the sheer number of women and children who were killed”
Although the Crowe were at that time enemies of the Sioux, because the latter were trying to take over their lands and actually scouted for the US Army, they have united with them now. This is to prevent the United States government laying the muchprotested Dakota Access Pipeline across the Sioux reservation!
John wins a copy of The Last of the President’s Men by Bob Woodward (£23, Simon & Schuster). The fascinating relationship between Nixon and his aide, Alexander Butterfield, has finally come to light in this thrilling true story of secrets, obsessions and deception at the height of the Watergate scandal.
The lady also mentioned that because the US government was not prepared to assist those on the reservation in arresting those from outside, who entered their lands and committed crimes against the natives, a Crowe Police Force had been raised to deter those would-be criminals.
John Spinks, via email