During the winter of 1888, a fundraiser was held by the Ladies of the Catholic Church in Sturgis. They raised close to $400, which would be equivalent to about $13,994 today (in terms of general purchasing power).* Certainly not too shabby for a church fundraiser in a small town, a mile north of nowhere.
U.S. Seventh Cavalry aficionados will recognize the names Weihe and Hoehn among the prize winners. Hoehn was on detached service from June 15, 1876 at Yellowstone Depot, Montana Territory. Therefore, he didn’t perish at Little Bighorn like his Company L comrades.
Henry Charles Weihe is an altogether different story. Weihe (aka Charles White) was a sergeant in Company M. During the Battle of the Little Bighorn, he was wounded in the right arm. His horse was killed when the retreat from the valley fight began. He was left in the timber and later rejoined Reno and the rest of the troops on the hilltop. He was transported to Fort Lincoln aboard the steamer Far West. Daniel Newell stated, “Sergeant White, though badly wounded in the elbow, stayed on his feet and did everything he could to relieve the sufferers. He had a glassful of jelly in his bags and each wounded man got a small spoonful of that.”
I always liked Newell's anecdote about Weihe/White. What a generous and thoughtful gesture. I'm happy he won a fancy lap robe at the drawing.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please feel free to leave your comments. No sign-in required.