In Search of the Earp Family in Jasper County Iowa.

                                          

 Brother of Nicholas Earp.

 Lorenzo Dow  Earp

Find a grave

In the bucolic hills of Central Iowa in Jasper county is found a secluded, but well-maintained graveyard called Mt. Zion cemetery, in the rolling green and golden hills of Iowa rest family members of the Earp clan of Wyatt Earp fame, A son of Walter Earp, Lorenzo Dow, a native of North Carolina, attained manhood in his Kentucky home, whence he immigrated to Warren County, Illinois, in 1846. He made that location his home until 1853, when he removed to Jasper County, Iowa, and engaged in farming until his death, in the fall of 1893, at the age of eighty-four years. Lorenzo served as justice of the peace and post-master of Galesburg, Iowa. In his religious convictions he was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, politically he was a staunch Republican and during the Civil War was active in efforts to raise troops for the Union Army. He was twice married, his first wife being Nancy Storm, a native of Kentucky. Nancy Earp died in Illinois, after which her husband again married. He had eighteen children, nine by the first wife and nine by the second, of whom six sons and five daughters. 

ref (History of the State of California and Biographical Record of the Sacramento Valley, California, 1906, p. 298 - biography of Peter Asbury Earp).

   Read more here

Nicholas Porter Earp

Find a grave

Nicholas Earp The True Story

By G.C. Stevens

                                                  All photos and video were taken by the author

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Visit "How The West Was Wild!"

An Author in the Mid-West by G.C. Stevens

 

As a writer from the Mid-West, I find that there's more than enough to write about locally. I live in Iowa, and I'm sure my readers understand, that I focus on Iowa as a Western State, and I emphasize this as a matter fact, because it's true. Before Wyatt Earp went west, he lived in Pella Iowa, some of his relatives are even buried in my new hometown, Newton Iowa. (I'll be doing an article on this later on), Before Buffalo Bill became a western icon, he lived in Le Claire Iowa, in fact, there's a great museum there dedicated to Buffalo Bill, I'd love to do an article about the museum, I've been there, it has a lot to offer as a historic site, it sits right next to the Mississippi river, it's in a breathtaking location. But I can't and to be honest, I'm a little hurt about it. I tried to set something up with them a few years back. I don't why, but they proactively ghosted me and they won't speak to me about it. But I guess it is what it is... I digress. Adding to Iowa's western lore is Jesse James, an outlaw who was a villain to many and a hero to others. Iowa is where Jesse and his brother Frank pulled off the first train robbery west of the Mississippi river. It was the first of many train robberies for them, they also robbed the bank in Corydon Iowa before that. After they attempted to rob a bank in Northfield Minnesota, they trekked across western Iowa after their gang got shot up there. During their daring escape, which was about a two-week ordeal, the famed bandits stole multiple horses and even kidnapped a doctor that they ran into on the trail. They stole his horse and his clothes.    

--------------------------------   

The Future of the 

Central States Lawman & Outlaws Assn.              

I've personally written over 300 articles and published nine books, eight are in print, and the ninth book is scheduled to come out in the spring of 2027. This blog gets over 20,000 views a month. The invitations to speak and participate keep rolling in. So the CSL&OH.A. is just getting started. Theres a great spark of interest i the American West, as an author, I promise to be here.

Comin soon: More on the Wyatt Earp, Stuart Lake Letters!

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The Stuart N. Lake Letters Pt #3; Lake writes to Wyatt Earp, By G.C. Stevens

The Stuart N. Lakes Letters, Part II

Photos courtesy wikipedia and IMDB

Top left; Wyatt Earp in his later years

Bottom Left; Stuart N. Lake

Right side; Cover of Stuart N. Lake's 

Book; Frontier Marshall

                                                 

                                                                       Foreword;

Dear Wyatt Earp Aficionado, 

There are in this world, men of substance, action and being, who by Gods grace are placed in their time and location to influence the world around them. It's easy to wax philosophical over such men, and to ponder over men like Wyatt Earp. Especially by those who sometimes contemplate history. They pour over texts, letters, diaries, records and old tintype photographs trying to nail down the persons or times in which the lived, these contemplations grow within their minds. But behind the mask, is a desire that takes on many forms of intentions. They range from the most sincere actions of the heart, to the most evil intentions of destruction. But the hind site of time, history, age and health, can temper the hardest of souls. I know this is true of Wyatt Earp, who was a man of substance, action and being. A man who wore a badge of authority, but the badge never made him who he was. He made the badge what it was supposed to be. The evidence of this cannot in the semi fictional, but in the many documents that he left behind. Many of these documents eventually came into possession of Writer and Earp historian Glenn Boyer. Direct evidence in the way of records and letters were donated to the Arizona Historic Society (AHS) from Glenn Boyers collection. The AHS has in their possession hundreds of pages of documents between Wyatt Earp, Josephine Earp, Stuart lake and Houghton Mifflin publishers. Stuart Lake and Wyatt Earp had formed a very tight, cooperative and cordial relationship as Lake had begun his journey to write Wyatt Earps biography, "Frontier Marshall". I have begun the process of purchasing copies of these letters with the intent of showing the public what is in these files, as I believe that the truth should be revealed for all of those who want to know what really happened, rather than examining it through the lens of Hollywood. My original intent was to photograph and publish each letter, however AHS has exercised copyrights over all copies and requires fees for each page that is placed on public display, It is therefore cost prohibitive to display each page. I can however transcribe each page. On one hand this will be very time consuming, but on the other hand, I will indeed gain much knowledge from closely examining and transcribing each page. I will do my best to recreate the look and feel of every letter, so that the reader has a full feel for its contents (which was written by first generation typewriters) and context. I look forward to this endeavor, and I hope the reader will benefit from this article. 

  Letter dated Aug 31, 1928

Stuart Lake attempts to interrogate Wyatt Earp about how many men he had killed? In this letter, Lake cites statements made by Bat (Lawman Bat Masterson), and how many men Bat had claimed that he killed.

         

 --------------------------------------------------------------------

                                 Aug 31, 1928

Dear Mr. Earp:

 Because you were pretty well tired with all the work we had done. I didn't try yesterday to check to check up on one very important thing. So, when you get back to Lod Angeles, as promptly as you can, will you write me an answer to the following questions, which I prefer with a statement of things that make clear exactly what I have to know. 

In the first place, there have been printed about you the same sort of things that were printed about Bat -- for example that Bat had drilled thirty men when the truth is that he did in fear. I want to be absolutely certain about your own career. As I have it now, there are the following:

Hoyt, In Dodge City,

The Two McLowerys and one Clanton in the street fight

One half-breed, Florentine at Pete Spences Ranch,

Frank Stillwell, at Tucson

Curly Bill at Iron Springs

(Note probably made by Stuart lake in the margin) 

"One of these by Doc Holliday, One by Morg" (Morgan Earp). 

Were there ever any others? Either before Tombstone or later, in San  Francisco, Alaska, Neveda or Colorado days? Of course, I have seen various stories printed which I knew are far from the facts, that one of Bob Edgren's for instance. But, in checking over our present record , it seemed to me that I recalled from conversations with Bat that there were more than I have listed above. I may be mistaken, but must be sure for the simple reason that if there were others and I do not include them then there will be many people who do recall them and say that my whole book is in error because I have not told the whole story. They will discredit our whole effort in the same way in the same way that those who know the story of Tombstone are discrediting Burns, and the ones who will do it will be those who will be seeking every loophole in our array of facts.

So, will you sit down and write me about this question? If there no others, well and good, but, if there were, please tell me who and when and why as fully as you care to. Then, we can take up the necessary details later. They will be of small importance, but must be mentioned, however briefly, and I want the information for the first chapter of the book.

And as I said, anything else that occurs to you will be welcome.

Also do yoy recall any killings which were charged                                                 against you for which you were not responsible?                                                                                     (Added note by Stuart Lake)                                         Sincerely

                                                                 Stuart N. Lake

-----------------------------------------------------------

                          Wyatts Response            

                                      4004 West Seventeenth St                                              Los Angeles, California,                                              September 13, 1928.

Mr. Stuart N. Lake

San Diego, California

Dear Mr. Lake:

    This letter should have been written you some days ago; the delay, however, has been due to a search through trunks and other containers which have been in storage. I regret to tell you that, the results have been very disappointing as there were no picture or data of any kind discovered. The photographs, letters etc. which you will find inclosed hererwith are those which were gathered together from around the house here.

 You might be able to obtain other information, from Mr. William J. Eunsacker, Rowen building. Los Angeles; S. Israel, 511 Western Mutual Life Building, Los Angeles; Mr. John P. Clum 1956 West Seventy-Fourth, Los Angeles, these are the addresses that I promised you.

Other information you inquired for; Mr. George Hurst (Father of William Randolph Hurst) was in Tombstone sometime during the fall of 1880, and it was at that time that I accompanied him in making an examination of some mining properties.

I do not remember the name of the Millner who witnessed the street fight in Tombstone. In that affair, Billy Clanton and Frank McLowry had four or five bullet holes in their bodies, and of course it would be impossible to declare who was responsible for the shots. I was responsible for none of the others only those names which I already have given you. 

The Lawrence affair in San Francisco, I do not consider as of sufficient personal contact to be written into the story. You also inquired about Edgegreens account; Of this I have told you all; I have withheld nothing.

So far as the affair at Prescott was concerned, my brother Virgil could not have been responsible personally for the death of any individual as all the members of the posse were firing at the same time. I believe I explained to you that a valuable collection of pictures, newspaper clippings and other data, the property of Virgil's wife, was destroyed in a hotel fire in Oklahoma some years ago, this was confirmed by Virgil's widow, whom Mrs. Earp called several days ago. 

I have written to Tucson for copies of the magazine containing articles under the caption of "Tombstone's Yesterday." These, I will forward to you as soon as received.  

​There is nothing further I know of at the moment to write you. I might suggest that you communicate with Mr. Hunsacker without delay as he called to see me last week and informed me that he is leaving for a trip to New Zealand within a week or so; he will be gone for several months.  

​My eyes are turning in the direction of the desert again and I already am planning on a return. If there is other information you are in doubt about, let me know so that all this may be completed before I leave Los Angeles. The accompanying inclosures, I hope, will fill in the gaps for you.  

​I trust you are well and feeling fine. Mrs. Earp joins me in regards to Mrs. Lake and yourself.  

​Sincerely yours,

Wyatt S. Earp

(Wyatt S. Earp.)

Copyright (c) 2026

Angel & The Badman, & It's Remake By G.C. Stevens Updated 10/10/2026

 

John Wayne (as Quirt Evans) and Gail Russell (as Penelope Worth)

Photo Public Domain

Angel and the Badman. a love story about God, family values, commitment, 

the law and the useless pursuit of violence. 

"Each human being has an integrity that can be hurt only by the act of that same human being and not by the act of another human being."

-Quirt Evans

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On October 09th, Angel Studios will be releasing a remake of the John Wayne's Classic Western "Angel and the Bad Man." It has been quite a few years since I first saw the original version on T.V. but the 1947 version was one of the westerns that created the pattern for many westerns that followed. The original version was filmed in noir, but I chose to watch a colorized version, which turned out to be a great choice because Angel and the Badman was filmed on location in Sedona Arizona, Flagstaff Arizona and Monument Valley Utah. The colorized version really brought out the grandeur of the deserts and rock outcroppings of the region. I look forward to reviewing Angels Studios Version of "Angel and the Badman." when it's released.

Quirt Evans with the Quaker, Mr. Worth Photo public domain

Quirt Evans exhausted, falls into the arms of Penelope (Penny) Worth

The Plot

The story centers around a former Lawman turned outlaw, Quirt Evens, who according to the story, was a deputy with Wyatt Earp in Tombstone Arizona, until he handed his badge in, tried to build a cattle ranch, and then turned to a life of mayhem. The movie opens with Quirt Evans, mounted on a fast horse with a bullet in his back. How the bullet got there is left to the imagination of the movie goer. His horse gallops up to a farm on the edge of a desert road and he falls out of his saddle in-site of the farm's residents. The occupants of the farm are a family of Quakers who migrated into the west with a Quaker sect called "the friends." These adherents were stanch pacificists and humanitarians. The Worth family, Mr. and Mrs. Worth, their son, and most importantly, their young and faithful daughter, Penelope (Penny) Worth, took mercy on the injured cowboy and immediately began to care for him. Quirt is young man in deep trouble in outlaw country, in the wild west, where cattle rustling and gun play was an all-too-common occurrence. After he demands to be taken to the telegraph office, Quirt collapses into the arms of Penny Worth and taken into the Quaker home and placed in bed, Quirt becomes delirious and restless, Mr. Worth realizes what's wrong with him and retrieves Quirts six gun, unloads it, and places it in his hand and Quirt immediately settles down and goes to sleep, the scene emphasizes Quirts addiction and need for the six gun for his personal safety.  The family summons a local doctor to help Quirt, Dr. Mangram, the good doctor is a rather wise man, and he immediately sees the problematic situation for what's it worth, and he tells Penny:  

"But of course if you're determined to watch over him, Penny, perhaps you'd better take a pencil and paper with you. His first conscious words should be recorded. They may be of great interest to history... or more possibly to the United States Marshal! Who knows what violence is involved with his battered frame and his bullet holes." 

Dr. Mangram, tries to warn the whole family that they are courting trouble by looking out for Quirt, and in many ways, the good doctor is right, but Quirt is direct and almost predictable and he has his own ideas about freedom and justice, that only a one time frontier Lawman could understand and Quirt had an ace in his pocket, because he was a well-known and feared former Lawman with a reputation of the six gun. Quirt eventually heals up and as he gets to know the family, he can see their kindness and their struggles and Penny can see that Quirt has led a violent life that centers on his gun and overrides his faith in God, and Penny isn't shy about pointing this out, and Quirt is smart enough to hear her. Quirt also learns that the Worth family has another problem, as their water supply has been cut off by an old and cantankerous rancher and neighbor who has dammed up the nearest stream that supplied water to the Worth farm. Quirt then visits the old man and uses his well-known reputation to convince the rancher to allow the water to flow. When the water spills onto the Worth farm, Penny asks Quirt if he used his gun to convince the rancher, he reassures her that he did not. Like so many westerns, Quirt's problems come home to roost because of an ongoing range war between cattlemen.  The trouble between he and another outlaw by the name of Laredo Stevens becomes the center of the story and it the reasons for Quirts most recent bullet wound come into focus. This is the west, where at this time, cattle and bad men roamed free.

                                     Guardian Angel 

Another character in the story enters into the picture, he is a soft-spoken Lawman, Marshal Wistful McClintock, (Played by Harry Carey) who seems to have a special interest in Quirt. Their first encounter in the movie shows that they have mutual respect, but McClintock has a fatherly view of Quirt and he knows about what happened in Tombstone. He tells Penny some things about Quirt, but though his demeanor is quiet, concerned and knowledgeable, he reminds Quirt of his authority as a Lawman and warns him that hangman's noose could be in his future. McClintock, then clearly states that he is a patient man. He would be keeping a close eye on Quirt. McClintock is true to that word, and he is always in the background like a guardian angel.

The movie progresses through many cliche aspects of westerns. Shootouts and barroom brawls. The story culminates with an ambush on both Quirt and Penny who are on the trail together in a wagon. They are ambushed by Laredo Stevens and his fellow outlaws. A chase ensues, and the wagon carrying Quirt and Penny is driven off of a cliff into a river below. Penny is seriously injured. Quirt recues her and takes her to the Worth farm where Dr. Mangram is called in to assist her. The doctor explains to Quirt that her condition is serious, and it seems she might not survive her injuries. Quirt, then heads to town to find and kill Laredo Stevens and his outlaw gang in revenge for Penny. When he arrives in town, ready to challenge their hand, the outlaw gang is in a local saloon, and the Laredo gang is given bad information telling them the Marshal had left town. They see this as an opportunity to finish Quirt off. It's at this time that the Mr. & Mrs. Worth arrive with Penny in a wagon and she is alive and well. Quirt has a change of heart, and hands her his six gun, signaling that he is ready to change his life. Quirt hears Laredo Stevens taunting him, he quickly turns around and Laredo and one of his men pull their guns to shoot, but another shot rings out from the distance as Quirts guardian angel, Marshal McClintock is seen holding his Winchester rifle to his shoulder. He had not left town after all. The story has a happy ending.

A lobby card showing Marshal McClintock in the background, Quirts guardian angel.

ANGEL AND THE BADMAN (In theaters October 2026)

Thank you to Angel Studios!

Teaser HERE

The reimagining of the John Wayne classic western is directed by Julio Quintana and stars Academy Award winner Tommy Lee Jones, Zachary Levi, and Neal McDonough.

Synopsis: When feared outlaw Quirt Evans staggers onto a rancher's land with a bullet in his back, he expects a quick death, not mercy. But Penny, the rancher's daughter, offers him a chance at something he’s never had: a life beyond violence. However, the past doesn’t forgive. With the marshal closing in and an outlaw gang ready to burn the ranch to the ground, Quirt must decide what kind of man he’ll be when the world demands blood.

Quotes: “I’ve always wanted to produce a Western, and I’m grateful to have assembled such an incredible cast and crew to reimagine this classic,” said Producer Jaime Hernandez. “With themes of redemption and personal growth, combined with action, humor, and a touch of romance, we believe this film has all the elements to connect with a broad audience.”

“One of the most enjoyable experiences my wife and partner Ruvé and I have ever had is helping create Angel and the Badman. To work with Zachary Levi and the legendary Tommy Lee Jones was such a highlight in my career,” said Neal McDonough. “But it was truly the direction of Julio Quintana and the production that was put together by Jaime Hernandez and his team alongside the incredible Angel Studios that makes this film unique. It is a beautiful film that the whole family can see in the amazing world of westerns.”

Angel and the Badman 2026 Review

Angel and The Badman Press Release

The 1947 Version of Angel and the Badman IMDB Page

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PODCAST: The Passing of The Buffalo, By Henry Inman, Edited by: G C. Stevens

                                     

THE PASSING OF THE BUFFALO!

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THE PASSING OF THE BUFFALO

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Tales of the Frontier, Did General Custer Commit Suicide? By G.C. Stevens

General Custer, from Inman's book    

The following compelling story was originally found in the book,   "Tales of the Trails, Short Stories of Western Life, and was written by Colonel Henry Inman who was a well-known figure of the frontier period and Assistant Quartermaster in the United States Army. The story is not an exhaustive scientific analysis, but the opinion of Colonel Henry Inman, who also authored two other books, "The Old Sante Fe Trail and "Salt Lake Trail." Henry Inman was born on July 30, 1837, He was Union soldier, author and was born in New York City, the son of Henry Inman, a painter, and his wife, Jane Riker (O'Brien) Inman. When Henry was a boy his father died and his mother moved to a small farm near Hempstead, Long Island. The youth for a time attended the Athenian Academy at Rahway, N. J., and had further instruction from private tutors. This story was edited by the author of this blog.

From Iman's book,

"These "Tales of the Trail" are based upon actual facts which came under
the personal observation of the author, whose reputation as a writer
of the frontier is national. His other works have met with phenomenal
success, and these sketches, which have appeared from time to time in
the current literature of the United States. Some of the characters around which are woven the thrilling incidents of these "Tales" were men of world-wide reputation; they have long since joined the "choir invisible," but their names as pioneers in the genesis of great States which then formed the theater of their exploits will live as long as the United States exists as a great nation."
-JAMES L. KING, State Librarian TOPEKA, KANSAS, March 1, 1898

    
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A THEORY AS TO GEN. CUSTER'S DEATH.
DID HE COMMIT SUICIDE?
The Theory explained by Colonel Henry Inman

Little is known of the origin of scalp-taking, and that, vague and
indefinite: nearly every tribe has some wild, weird legend to account
for the custom, but these traditions vary widely as to the cause. That
"raising the hair" of an enemy is of great antiquity, there is no
doubt, as in the Bible it is related how the soldiers tore the skin
from the heads of their whipped foes. All, (sic) or at least all Indian
tribes with which I am acquainted, scalp their enemies killed in battle.

With the Indian there appears to be some close affiliation between the
departed spirit and his hair. I have questioned many a blood-begrimed
warrior why he should want a dead man's hair, and invariably there
have been assigned a number of reasons, three of which are most
prominent: First, it is an evidence to his people that he has triumphed
over an enemy; second, the scalps are employed very prominently in the
incantations of the "medicine lodge"--a part of their religious rites;
third, the savage believes there is a wonderfully inherent power in
the scalp of an enemy. All the excellent qualities of the victim go
with his hair the moment it is wrenched from his head. If it be that of
a renowned warrior, so much the more are they anxious to procure his
scalp, for the fortunate possessor then inherits all the bravery and
prowess of its original owner.

I have known of but one instance in all my experience among the
Indians, where a white man taken prisoner in battle escaped death.
It was a great many years ago; the party, a dear friend, still
living, was a grand old mountaineer,--but the homeliest man on earth,
probably. He was red-faced, wrinkled, and pockmarked, with a mouth as
large and full of teeth as a gorilla's, and there was no more hair
on any part of his head than there is on the head of a cane. He was
captured in a prolonged fight and taken to the village of the tribe
where the principal chief resided. The latter gave one look at the
prisoner, shook his head, and said he was "bad medicine"; that if he
was not the "evil spirit" himself, he was closely allied to him. He
then ordered his subordinates to furnish him with a pony, loaded him
with provisions, provided him with a rifle, and told him to go to his
people. This incident, which is a fact, shows that you cannot account
for the occasional vagaries of the North-American savage.


The Indians of the Plains and Rocky Mountains would rather, for the
reason last above stated, take one scalp of a famous scout or army
officer who has successfully chastised them, like Custer, Sully, and
Crook, than a dozen of those of ordinary white men.

Twenty-six years ago next November I was camping on the high "divide"
between the Arkansas river and the Beaver, with a party of Government
Indian scouts, members of three friendly tribes,--Osages, Pawnees,
and Kaws,--employed by order of Gen. Sheridan in his winter campaign
against the hostile Cheyennes, Arapahoes, and Kiowas. It was a terribly
gusty day, one of those so characteristic of our Plains region at
certain times of the year. As with closely wrapped blankets we huddled
around our little fire of buffalo-chips, the dust and ashes would rise
in miniature whirlwinds and go dancing over the prairies until they
exhausted themselves.

I asked a venerable chief of the Osages who was present, "Little
River," nearly eighty years old, what those fitful spirals indicated,
in order to draw from his savage mind his ideas of the forces of
nature. He replied: "They are the spirits of some southern Indians,
killed and scalped up north, going back to the lodges of their people."

I thought that if he had substituted the word "matter" for
"spirit"--for everywhere we tread upon the dust of a lost
civilization--probably he would have been nearer the truth than in the
statement of one of the superstitions of his race.

Sitting Bull from Inman's book

Among the many myths of the American savage, the disposition of the
soul after its separation from the body, and its close connection with
its scalp, vary according to the religion of the tribe. With some,
the "journey to the happy hunting-grounds" begins immediately; with
others, the spirit remains near the grave. Again, if an Indian dies
away from the lodges of his people, the spirit returns at once to them,
where it hovers, as if reluctant to leave. Among the "upper-river
tribes" it is believed that before the spirit finally departs from
those who have died of wounds received in battle, "it floats toward a
great cliff overhanging the Missouri, and carves upon the wall of rock
a picture showing the manner of death." It is believed by most Plains
tribes that the soul attaches itself to the scalp; that the soul of a
person scalped does not suffer from the wounds inflicted on the body,
but that the converse is the case where the scalp is not torn off.

There are many instances on record where men have been scalped and yet
survived the terrible ordeal, but in every case the scalper supposed
his victim dead, the latter taking good care that the foeman should not
be disabused of the supposed fact.

One who kills himself in battle, accidentally or purposely, has
positively no hereafter; he is irrevocably lost. Those who are struck
by lightning, or die by any other apparently direct operation of the
"Manitou" (the Great Spirit), are hurriedly buried where they fall,
without any ceremony, and no mound or other mark is erected over them.
If after a battle there are found corpses not scalped or their bodies
not mutilated, it is certain that those persons came to death by their
own hand, for it is part of the religion of an Indian not to scalp or
mutilate the body of an enemy who commits suicide. His superstition in
regard to persons dying by suicide or by lightning is as religiously
observed as any other of his myths.

Knowing this deep-rooted superstition as well as I do, I have been led
to believe--though the statement may provoke discussion among those who
know nothing of the Indian character--that the death of the lamented.

CUSTERS DEATH
Gen. Custer in that awfully unequal battle of the "Little Big Horn"
was not according to the accepted theory at that time, viz.: that he
was killed by the Indian chief "Rain-in-the-face." The tale (which I
regard as an idle fiction so far as the facts are concerned) as it has
been told a thousand times and copied in the newspapers of the world,
is, that one day the General's brother Tom, at one of the military
posts where the regiment to which he was attached, the famous Seventh
Cavalry (commanded by the General), was stationed, had a dispute with
Rain-in-the-face, and struck him. The savage was furious with rage,
but suppressed it, and mounting his pony rode off sullenly to his lodge.

Years after the death of Gen. Custer, Rain-in-the-face, who
unquestionably participated in the battle of the Rosebud (as the
action is sometimes called), is said to have related that he killed
Gen. Custer, thus avenging himself for the indignity put upon himself
by the General's brother Tom, so long before. In all probability the
story was made out of "whole cloth" by a certain New York newspaper
correspondent, in whose journal it first appeared. I knew him well,
and his reputation for unexaggerated truth was far from being as
orthodox as he of the cherry-tree fame. (The myth relating to George
Washington chopping down the cherry tree) Because it had a plausibility
about it, and was highly sensational, the statement was accepted by
the general public, or those who were not familiar with the methods of
the North-American savage. No doubt Rain-in-the-face did, as would all
Indians, treasure up such a grievance as that of having been insulted
by a blow from a white man; but the circumstances of the battle of the
Little Big Horn in all its horrors, so far as it is possible to know
them, preclude the possibility of Sitting Bull permitting a subordinate
chief, as was Rain-in-the-face, to arrogate to himself the right of
revenge in the case of such a noted "white warrior" as Custer. If by
any probability Rain-in-the-face did kill Custer, he certainly would
have scalped him and mutilated his body. Custer was not scalped, nor
was his person at all abused; and the reason generally given for this
immunity from the common custom of savage warfare is, that the Indians
had such a profound admiration for his wonderful bravery that they
spared the great "white warrior" that humiliation. This is the weakest
point of the whole argument--for the greater the man in the savages'
estimation, the more eager would they be to secure his scalp.

THE THEORY OF CUSTERS DEATH
My own theory is--and the fact that Custer was not scalped or mutilated
is not the only confirmation of it--that the General killed himself
to escape the horrible torture that awaited him should he be captured
alive. His capture was what Sitting Bull had undoubtedly determined
upon, the moment he saw the tide of battle unmistakably turning in his
favor.
Custer was known to all the Plains tribes; he had given them ample
cause to remember him, and these savages would never have allowed an
opportunity to capture him alive to be defeated by permitting some
aggrieved chief to kill him in order to gratify a personal revenge--the
game was too big. The Indians called Custer the "Crawling Panther,"
because he usually fell upon them with his troopers as stealthily as
does that animal upon its prey.

To those unacquainted with the methods of the American savage of the
Great Plains, the statement that suicide would be infinitely preferable
to the chances for life after having been captured by the Indians,
may seem overdrawn, and wicked to be thought of. But if they had
seen, as I have, the remains of men, women and innocent babes horribly
mutilated, burnt, butchered, and hacked to pieces, they too, if they
knew such a fate awaited them beyond the possibility of a doubt if
captured alive, would unhesitatingly court death by their own hands,
suddenly and immediately, rather than wait for the other, a few
hours or days more remote, perhaps, but certain, and horrible in its
prolonged agony.

I know that it was commonly understood, if not actually agreed to
among the officers at frontier posts, that each one should reserve the
last bullet in his revolver for himself in the event of a horrible
contingency. I have known of many officers in the long-ago of my early
service among the Indians, who, whenever they went on an expedition
against the hostile tribes, invariably had concealed about their
persons, easily accessible, a small capsule of prussic acid or some
equally potent and swift messenger of death, to be used in case of a
possible contingency.

Custer, it will be remembered, was shot through the head, and it was a
curious coincidence that two or three of his subordinates whose bodies
were found near his had been shot in precisely the same manner.

In view of all these facts, there can be small doubt that those
officers carried out the plan of death determined upon, the moment they
recognized the hopelessness of their situation.

That the story of Rain-in-the-face, if he ever told it, is not at
all likely to be the truth, may be inferred from the fact that the
average Indian, as I know him, when discoursing of his own prowess is
the most unconscionable liar, and the truth is not in him. Of course
if Rain-in-the-face could prevail upon a newspaper correspondent to
flatter him in regard to the part he took in a battle in which a great
white warrior was defeated, he would rather lie to that correspondent
than not; and that is just what Rain-in-the-face did in this
instance--provided, always, that the correspondent did not invent the
whole tale.

The truth of how Custer came to his death can never absolutely be
known, for out of that awfully unequal conflict there came but one
miserable Crow Indian and Col. Keogh's celebrated horse "Comanche,"
alive. From the fact that the great soldier was not scalped, the theory
I have suggested is certainly more plausible, and will be accepted by
all who are familiar with the customs of the Indians, than that story
which has made the rounds of the newspapers a dozen times.

references & Further Reading:
TALES OF THE TRAILSHORT STORIES OF WESTERN LIFE BY COLONEL HENRY INMAN Late Assistant Quartermaster, United States Army AUTHOR OF "THE OLD SANTA FÉ TRAIL," "SALT LAKE TRAIL"
(Project Gutenberg)

Maj Henry Inman Jr. (1837-1899) - Find a Grave Memorial

New Study Debunks Tales of Mass Suicide at Custer’s Last Stand | HISTORY

News - Skeletal Study of Custer’s Men Questions Suicide Claims - Archaeology Magazine


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