147 YEARS AGO
250 SOLDIERS KILLED!
Official Report of General Terry to General Sheridan From Headquarters of the Camp on Little Big Horn
It is my painful duty to report that day before yesterday, the 25th instant, a great disaster overtook Gen. Custer and the troops under his command. At 12 o’clock of the 22d he started with his whole regiment and a strong detachment of scouts and guards from the mouth of the Rosebud.
Proceeding up that river about 20 miles, he struck a very heavy Indian trail which had previously been discovered, and pursuing it found that it led, as it was supposed it would lead, to the Little Big Horn River.
Here he found a village of almost unexampled extent and at once attacked it with that portion of his force which was immediately at hand.
Maj. Reno and three companies – A, G and M – of the regiment was sent into the valley of the stream at the point where the trail struck it. Gen. Custer and four companies – E, F, I and L – attempted to enter it about three miles lower down.
Reno forded the river, charged down its left bank, dismounted and fought on foot until, finally completely overwhelmed by numbers, he was compelled to mount, recross the river and seek a refuge on the high bluffs which overlooked its right bank.
Soon this united force was nearly surrounded by Indians, many of whom, armed with rifles, occupied positions which commanded the ground held by the cavalry, ground from which there was no escape.
Of the movements of Gen. Custer and the five companies under his immediate command scarcely anything is known … for no soldier or officer who accompanied him has yet been found alive.
CRY, HAVOC!
But few persons besides those whose hearts are bleeding over the loss of kindred and friends, can more profoundly regret that the Indian Journal, the state of warfare, existing in the Black Hill, and the terrible fate of Custer and his gallant command.
It regards the whole affair as a great calamity, and for none so serious and fatal as for the Sioux themselves: And yet it feels bound to raise its voice in respectful deprecation of the manifest purpose of certain persons to take advantage of it to “cry havoc and release the dogs of war” against the whole Indian race. Of such a character we regret to regard the communication of ex-Gov. Thos. C. Fletcher, of Missouri, in the Globe-Democrat of the 8th instant in regard to the Sioux treaty in 1868.
It is not only wanting in the dignity and fairness of spirit, which are the high characteristics of the writer, but does unprovoked injustice to the people of the Indian Territory, who have had nothing whatever to do with the affair.
NEWS ITEM
• You can buy a paper collar with a picture of George Washington on each corner. The time is at hand when a man earning $6 a week can have pictures all over his shirt.
• It was only a dog with a bunch of firecrackers in tow, but he made a run through Embargo Street which a presidential candidate might well envy. Rome Sentinel.
• The drowning season has fairly opened.
• Gen. Crook shot his first buffalo last month.
• A judge in sentencing a man to death, observed: “Prisoner at the bar, you will soon have to appear before another and perhaps a better judge.”
120 YEARS AGO
Friday, February 20,1903
Ad for Tully Mercantile Co.
We have the only Hearse in town, the only Embalmer and Coffins that you will not be ashamed to lay your dead to rest in, when the sad duty falls to your lot to bury your dead. Let us serve you and you will not regret it.
Thinks They Will Celebrate
Jimsey Asbury, the Creek legislator, was in the city last Saturday confabing with full blooded friends about the forth coming and self-immigration payment. He said it would be well for the incorporated towns of the Creek nation to enlarge their jails and increase the number of their city marshals, for, he added, such Creek citizens as are lucky enough to participate in the payment will feel like celebrating.
Outraged and Murdered
The body of Liza Thomas, a 17-year-old fullblood Indian girl, was found in Jim Browns field one mile south of town Sunday noon. The body was half naked, frozen stiff and marks made by violent blows on her face and head clearly indicted how the girl had come to her death – outraged and murdered.
100 YEARS AGO
Thursday, November 29,1923
EUFAULA IRONHEADS ARE CHAMPIONS The charging Eufaula Ironheads registered their 10th consecutive eastern conference victory in easy style here today, running through the vaunted Delaware Indians 58 to 0 on a fast sandy field which shed the waters from the melting snow rapidly.
EUFAULA HAS FIRST WHITE TURKEY DAY IN MANY YEARS Thanksgiving Day dawned in Eufaula with a three inch blanket of snow covering the ground, the first white Thanksgiving recorded in 10 years.
80 YEARS AGO
Thursday, November 25,1943
Former Stidham Boy Killed In Action
Mr. and Mrs. Pete H. Haley have received word from government authorities that their son, Pfc. Kenneth M. Haley, age 21, was killed in action on the North African front on Dep. 22.
He was in the medical corps and has been in the armed service for three years.
Mr. Haley attended the Sapulpa high school He was born in Stidham.
ROBERT LEE AYERS TO TRAIN AS BOMBARDIER
Mrs. J.T. Aers has received word from the war department that her son Robert Lee Ayers has been selected for training as a bombardier in the army air forces.
Mrs. Ayers has another son, Cpl. John M. Ayers, stationed in North Africa where he has been for the last seven months. He is doing work in the service regiment of signal corps.
FOSHEE WINS NAVY WINGS
Herman L. Foshee, 21, son of S.L. Foshee of Hitchita, won his navy “Wings of Gold” and was commissioned an ensign in the naval reserve this week following completion of the prescribed flight training course at the Naval Air Training Center.
ZENO STONE HEADS SALVAGE GROUP TO SEEK OLD CLOTHES Zeno R. Stone, chairman of the local salvage committee, has announced that the nationwide drive to collect discarded clothing and rags is now underway. These clothes and rags are needed for both domestic and foreign use and for war purposes.
75 YEARS AGO
Thursday, December 9,1948
City Dads Back 2-Dam Project
Eufaula city dads led off in backing the two-dam Eufaula Reservoir by adopting resolutions favoring the project at the regular meeting Monday night. At the same meeting Harry Parris, city attorney, urged the council members, as individual business and professional men, to write to the U.S. Army Engineer’s office at Tulsa requesting, and urging, the project in the public interest. Parris added that it would be to the interest of the city for every businessman in town to follow the example set by council.
Posthumous Award Made to Parents of Cpl. Alex Sulphur
A citation and Bronze Star medal were awarded posthumously to the late Corporal Alex L. Sulphur, U.S. Marine Corps reserve, Tuesday, Dec. 7.
Lt. Col. G.H. Kissinger, commanding officer of the Marine Barracks, McAlester, Naval Ammunition Depot, made the presentation to the parents of the World War II hero, Mr. and Mrs. Alex L. Sulphur, at their home west of Eufaula.
A member of the Fourth Marine Division, Cpl. Sulphur was killed in the invasion of Saipan, June 4, 1944.
Brightman Is Picked for Tulsa World All-Stars Lehman “Poogie” Brightman, 18-year-old Eufaula High School senior, was picked by Tom Lobaugh for a berth on the Tulsa Daily World all-State football star team for 1948.
The 180-pound, six-foot Ironhead halfback, was one of twelve men selected for the World’s “dream” team backfield.
Boxing Hindered By Shortage of Boys, Says Coach
The need for more boys is the biggest problem confronting Coach Jim Crabtree and the Junior Chamber of Commerce in organization of a boxing team for Eufaula this season.
What boys we have are getting into good shape and we are going to turn in some good performances, said Crabtree, but the trouble is there are not enough of them.
So far only 10 to 12 boys are training for the Jaycee sponsored Eufaula team.
50 YEARS AGO
Thursday, December 20,1973
Lucious Has Unfinished Business
Lucious Selmon’s varsity playing days for Oklahoma University’s team are over but the personable young giant wishes he had one more year of eligibility left with the Sooners, because he feels there is some unfinished business.
“I’d like to have one more year of eligibility for a number of reasons but mainly I’d like to play on a national championship winning team and to play another year with Dewey and LeRoy,” Selmon said.
25 YEARS AGO
Thursday, December 10,1998
Corps holds forum on strategic plan
Dozens of interested residents of the Lake Eufaula area attended a public forum at the Eufaula Senior Citizen Center, Wednesday, Dec. 2, designed to ask for the public’s insight and ideas on the U.S. Army Corp of Engineer’s proposed strategic plan for the lake.
Steve Austin to perform in free concert Dec. 14 A Nashville-based songwriter and musician who calls his craft “The Power of Positive Pickin’,” will demonstrate his talents at the Eufaula Community Center, Monday, Dec. 14, at 6:30 p.m.
Admission is free for the concert, which is sponsored by Eufaula Memorial Library.
City of Eufaula update
Mayor Bill Day reported that the city’s Christmas Parade and the Mayor’s Christmas Tree lighting were a huge success.
“We had over 300 people at the lighting ceremony,” he said, “and those involved with the parade said it was the largest ever – both the crowd and the number of entries.”
Day credited the unseasonable warm weather with helping to get people out for the Saturday activities.
