Daniel Newell at the 50th Anniversary of the Little Big Horn Battle

It's 2024 and we are only two years away from the 150th anniversary of the Battle of the Little Big Horn, on June 25/26, 2026. They are currently working on a new and updated visitor center at the battlefield to be ready for the big anniversary in 2026.

The 50th anniversary was one of the biggest so far. There were still a fair amount of participants, both Indian and white, alive to participate. Battle tactics were discussed and former enemies compared notes on the biggest event of their lives.

Daniel Newell, who is now buried at the Bear Butte Cemetery in Sturgis, attended the 50th anniversary celebration with his wife, Mary. Before returning home, they stopped and visited with friends and former Sturgis residents, Mr. and Mrs. J.W. Bullis at Hardin, MT.

Below is coverage of the anniversary festivities from the Sacramento Bee. General Edward Settle Godfrey was in attendance. He was a first lieutenant during the Little Big Horn battle and was in command of Company K. 

Sacramento Bee; June 25, 1926

Edward Settle Godfrey was a first lieutenant at the Battle of the Little Big Horn.

Daniel Newell, in 1926.

Newell had fought with Reno, and was wounded in the left thigh during the retreat from the valley. He was taken to Fort Lincoln aboard the steamer Far West. His story of the Battle of the Little Bighorn was published in The Sunshine Magazine on September 30, 1930, as “The Story of the Little Bighorn Campaign of 1876.” This was his first time seeing the battlefield in fifty years. Newell was able to locate the former site of the makeshift hospital, where he had been treated for his injuries.

Some of the crowd gathered in 1926 at the battlefield for the anniversary.

Daniel Newell died in Hot Springs, South Dakota, on September 23, 1933.

The Newell grave in Sturgis, South Dakota.

Daniel Newell is buried beside his beloved wife, Mary, in Bear Butte Cemetery, Sturgis, South Dakota.

DANIEL NEWELL PAGE