New Horatio Ross Page

You can put your rosters and military registers away. You won't find Horatio Ross on either one. But he is an important figure in the history of the 7th U.S. Cavalry.

Horatio Ross was born in 1838 in Trumbull County, Ohio. He died in Custer, South Dakota, on May 17, 1904, and is buried in the Custer Cemetery.

Ross was one of the miners who accompanied Custer and the 7th Cavalry to the Black Hills in 1874. He is credited with making the discovery of gold along French Creek that set off a stampede to the Black Hills. There were several ramifications of this gold rush to the Hills, including the Battle of the Little Big Horn in 1876.

Ross himself is quoted by Frank W. Bower in an article in the South Dakota and Western Advocate, October 15, 1901, as saying: "On the morning of July 30th, 1874, my partner McKay and I took our miner's pans and went down to the bank of French Creek and discovered gold in the gravel of the stream."

The following is from the book, PIONEER DAYS IN THE BLACK HILLS by John S. McClintock:

"Mr. Ross returned to Custer in 1875, and made it his home until his death in 1904. A monument has been erected there in his honor, as the "discoverer" of gold in the Black Hills. Custer has its annual 'Gold Discovery' celebration on July 26-27. Apparently the people of that city have settled upon Horatio N. Ross as the discoverer, the date, July 27th, and the place Castle Creek French Creek was not reached until July 30th."

Horatio Ross Page