Thursday, May 18
The country of northern Wyoming
The day after the 7th Cavalry departed from Fort Abraham Lincoln General George Crook arrived at Fort Fetterman in Wyoming to oversee final preparations for his column’s departure northbound to engage the hostiles. Moving in spite of mounting criticism of the expense of such a large military operation during a time of severe economic downturn, the final date for the Wyoming Column to set out for the Bighorn Country was set at 29 May¹.
The Custers in camp near the Heart River on a hunting expedition prior to the 1876 campaign. Custer is standing in the center, wearing his trademark buckskins.
Back in the Dakota Territory, the column broke camp along the Heart River, and Libbie Custer was escorted back to Fort Abraham Lincoln. Later, Mrs. Custer would recall a sense of impending doom as she watched her husband and his men disappearing into the rolling hills westward.
The open country near Fort Lincoln
Buglers had called reveille at 0320hrs at the camp, but it would take several hours for the column to make it up the steep bank opposite the ford, with engineers with the column constructing a corduroy road to facilitate smoother movement by the wagon train.² The terrain was unforgiving, with horses and mules struggling on the hills and the soft ground between them as they rode westward. After a march of just short of nine miles camp was made along the Sweetbriar Creek, near modern day Hudson, North Dakota.
1. Dakota Column - CUSTER/TERRY - Heart River
2. Wyoming Column - CROOK - Fort Fetterman
3. Montana Column - GIBBON - Yellowstone River/Rosebud Creek
4. Sioux Encampment - US Intelligence position
5. Sioux Encampment - Actual position
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Robinson, p.120
Terry, letter dated 05/18/1876