One Hundred and Forty Five (145) Years ago today . . .

. . . on the 25th of June, 1876, my great, great, grandfather, Luther R. Hare, a 19th Century hero, revered American Frontiersman and solider, spoke the last words he ever would to General Custer on that fateful day of the Battle of the Little Big Horn.

Luther Hare, West Point. 17 June 1874

He subsequently gave testimony as to what transpired at the Little Big Horn and I have uploaded it for the curious: The Reno Court of Inquiry into the Battle of the Little Big Horn.  At the Inquiry, Luther Hare testified in part:

“My attention had been called to some Indians ahead by our scouts, and I spoke to General Custer about it. He told me to take the Indian scouts and go ahead and he would follow . . .”

***

"I heard a bugle-call or a trumpet-call.  The [Custer] command moved down the valley to within a short distance of the timber and it was there dismounted and a skirmish line was thrown out.  Up to the time the command was dismounted there were probably fifty or more Indians riding up and down in front and firing.  As soon as the skirmish line was dismounted four or five hundred Indians came out of a cooley which was about four hundred yards in front of us."

***

"I saw what was supposed to be General Custer’s trail that went down on the left bank.  The first evidence of the fight was a dead man of “E” Company probably 300 yards from where the final stand was made there were 28 men of “E” Company.  I assisted in burying the men of “E” Company and remembered more about them."

Later on, he participated in the Nez Perce War (1877), Battle of Wounded Knee (1890) and the Spanish-American War (Philippines Theater). While in the 21st Century the activities of Luther Hare would rightfully and universally be deemed repugnant, those activitites were part  of a larger  cultural movement that has begot the United States of America, the highest form of  individual justice and liberty known on the planet.  But the battles are not yet over to  achieve an even higher level of individual justice and liberty for everyone on the planet.

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