Miles City in Custer County, Montana — The American West (Mountains)
Custer's First Skirmish With The Lakota
The "Battle of Tongue River", was dubbed by the New York Herald at the time, was the first of several engagements between Custer's Seventh and the Lakota in August 1873. At the onset of the skirmish, Custer rode out in front of his two companies to determine the strength of the Indians. When he realized that large numbers of Lakota warriors were waiting in ambush in a grove of cottonwood, he ordered his column to take defensive positions in a dry channel of the river. Indians and troopers exchanged gunfire but casualties in the three-hour standoff were light.
Meanwhile, a few miles downriver, three men, including John Honsinger (some say Holzinger), the cavalry's civilian veterinarian, were caught by Indians away from Colonel Stanley's main body of soldiers and killed.
A little over a year later, a Hunkpapa warrior named Rain-in-the-Face was arrested at the Standing Rock Reservation after boasting about the 1873 killings. He was imprison at Fort Abraham Lincoln by Captain Tom Custer and interrogated by older brother George but escaped after a few months of captivity, supposedly vowing revenge against the Custer brothers.
One of the lurid stories in the aftermath of the Custer disaster named Rain-in-the-Face as the killer of Custer - probably a spurious claim connected to the events of 1873-74. Poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow even wrote a poem, "The Revenge of Rain-in-the Face" about a year after the battle. By this time, Rain-in-the-Face was already in Canada with Sitting Bull's Hunkpapa lodges, not to return until 1880. Rain-in-the-Face, about 70 years old, died at the Standing Rock Reservation in the fall of 1905.
Erected by Custer Circle Project 2017 and Waterworks Art Museum.
Topics. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Wars, US Indian.
Location. 46° 24.353′ N, 105° 52.123′ W. Marker is in Miles City, Montana, in Custer County. Marker is on Water Plant Road near Logan Drive, on the left when traveling north. The marker is located in Pumping Plant Park. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Miles City MT 59301, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. The Tongue River (approx. 0.6 miles away); Riverside Park Steamboats (approx. ¾ mile away); Early Horse History (approx. 0.8 miles away); The Chappel Brothers Corporation (approx. 0.8 miles away); Photography (approx. 0.8 miles away); The Horse Nation and Native People (approx. 0.8 miles away); The Olive Hotel (approx. 0.8 miles away); Commercial Block (approx. 0.8 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Miles City.
Additional keywords. Custer
Credits. This page was last revised on December 29, 2021. It was originally submitted on December 29, 2021, by Barry Swackhamer of Brentwood, California. This page has been viewed 286 times since then and 28 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on December 29, 2021, by Barry Swackhamer of Brentwood, California.