CUSTER'S EXPEDITION. 15 



Lieut. Col. G. A. Custer, in the summer of 1874, was directed by 

 General Sheridan, of the Department of the Missouri, to organize an expe- 

 dition at "Fort Abraham Lincoln, Dakota Territory, for the purpose of 

 reconnoitering a route from that post to Bear Butte in the Black Hills, and 

 exploring the country south, southeast, and southwest of that point," and to 

 "return within sixty days from the time of his departure from it " General 

 Custer left Fort Abraham Lincoln, and striking southwestward to the val- 

 ley of the Little Missouri, crossed the Belle Fourche about 10 miles east 

 of the great northern bend ; thence, through the Red Water Valley and 

 past Sun Dance Hills, he entered the Hills proper near Inyan Kara, and 

 passing along Floral Valley and Castle Creek encamped on French Creek 

 near its lower canon. From this point two scouts were made, one south- 

 westward to the Cheyenne River, via Red Canon Creek, and another 

 down French Creek to the Red Valley. An ascent of Harney Peak 

 was also made. Returning northward the expedition passed over the old 

 trail to Castle Creek, and then out of the Hills by the valley of the 

 Box Elder. Passing near Bear Butte, and crossing the Belle Fourche, 

 they returned to Fort Abraham Lincoln by the valley of the Little 

 Missouri and the headwaters of Cannon Ball and Heart Rivers, being 

 absent just sixty days. This was the first expedition that had ever pene- 

 trated the fastnesses of the Black Hills. In his rapid march General 

 Custer was accompanied by Capt. Wm. Ludlow, United States Engi- 

 neers, under whose direction the route was mapped, by Prof. N. H. 

 Winchell as geologist, and by Mr. G. B. Grinnell as naturalist. The 

 report of General Custer was published in 1875 in compliance with a Sen- 

 ate resolution,* while the reports of Captain Ludlow, Professor Winchell, 

 and Mr. Grinnell form a volume published by the Engineer Department in 

 the same year.f 



General Custer was accompanied by several miners and prospectors, 

 who were engaged on all possible occasions during their rapid march 

 through the Hills in examining the region for the existence of mineral de- 



*Eeport of the Expedition to the Black Hills of Dakota, under command of Bvt. Maj. Gen. G. 

 A. Custer. Ex. Doc. Xo. 32, U. S. Senate. 187."». 



t Eeport of a Reconnaissance of the Black Hills of Dakota, made in the Summer of 1874, by Capt. 

 William Ludlow, United States Engineers. 4co, pp. 121, maps 3 and plate. 



