From: bronco357@webtv.net   
      
   Both Hondo & you have some valid points.   
    Crook did have 5 reporters with him. But   
   he also lost the fight at the Rosebud. He went back into Wyo and then   
   went hunting up on Cloud Peak. he left the rest of his troop to fend for   
   themselves.   
      
   June 24-26 1876 Scout for Custer were Mitch Bouyer, who rode into coulee   
   with Custer . Also Charlie Reynolds, Isaiah Dorman & Girard the   
   interpreter.   
   The Sioux were gathered for the annual Teton council. There were 7   
   divisions of western Sioux tribes there. Along with Cheyenne & others.   
   It was for there religious Sun Dance Ceremony.   
      
   The crow scouts as they were approaching   
   the area, observed the marks made by the  horse drags covered a area 3/4   
   of a mile wide. Once they observed the camp from the crows nest they   
   told Custer who had ridden up there that the camp was to big and not to   
   attack. When he refused   
   Bloody Knife told him that after the fight we will both go home by   
   different paths.   
      
   When Custer split his force and sent Benteen to the left the area he was   
   to go into was at least 3 miles south of the   
   LBH. Benteen had considered those orders as military senseless from the   
   start.   
      
   Once Major Reno was stopped & was   
   pushed back to the hill top His command was stopped and pinned down till   
   Benteen arrived. They both thought that Custer was going to return to   
   help them. As they both stated at the Reno Court Marshal.   
      
   As for Custer it is known from the way he   
   attack the village at the Battle of the Washita Nov 27 1868 and again on   
   Nov 27 1869 when he fought the Southern Cheyenne the he favored   
   attacking from as many sides as he could. So since he used that battle   
   plan twice before to a   
   successful completion it will / should work at the LBH.   WRONG  he did   
   not listen to anyone as to the size or number of fighting force he would   
   encounter.   
      
   As for where he was shot the best guess is at the bottom of Medicine   
   Tail Coulee.   
   In a book by written by David Humphreys Miller in aprox 1900 + or - he   
   was told by   
   Bobtail Horse, White Cow Bull & Roan Bear that they arrived at the   
   crossing just a the troopers were coming down the Coulee. Two of these   
   men had some type   
   of fire arm and one had a bow.   
   Both Half Yellow Face & White Swan told Benteen later about Custer being   
   shot at the Coulee.   
      
   You are correct about the arrow in the penis. However other than the two   
   bullet holes in him and the fact that   
   Monahseetah used a Awl to puncture the ear drums of Custer so he could   
   hear better in the next life. There were no other marks on him. There is   
   some talk that Custer shot himself. This due to a story told by Speckled   
   Cock & Horned Toad.   
   After his death his body was put into a   
   coffin and it was never view again. Not even by his wife upon return to   
   Ft Lincon.   
   Several seasoned frontiersmen felt that was the reason he was never   
   mutuilated.   
      
   Refference books:   
      The Battle of the Little Big Horn   
             by Mari Sandoz   
      Wooden Leg A warrior who fought Custer.  By  Thomas B Marquis   
     Little Big Horn Remembered   
           By  Herman J Viola   
     And the book by David H Miller   
      
   If you want to contact me direct you both can do so.    Bill   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)