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Elder Stories
Clarence "Bisco" Spotted Wolf Meets Ken Custer
After the Bighorn Battle...the Rest of the Story
by Renee Sansom Flood
The historic meeting of Chief "Bisco" Spotted Wolf and Kenneth Custer on June 25, 2001. [Photo credit: Kim Custer] |
Six thousand visitors attended the 125th anniversary of the Battle of the Little Bighorn on June 25, 2001. Among the ceremonial particpants on the yucca-covered battlefield 65 miles east of Billings, Kenneth Custer may well have been the most interesting.
Standing 6'1" in his boots, with blond hair and a drooping mustache, the man bore a striking likeness to his famous ancestor, Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer, so much so that people wanted his autograph, that of his wife Kim and even the signature of his little daughter, Kendal! On the other side of the coin, some of the Northern Cheyenne descendants of the warriors who had fought Custer and the Seventh Cavalry (and had a great deal to do with their demise), brushed quickly past Ken, shaking his hand and looking directly into his eyes as though counting coup on Custer blood.
All of this amazed Ken Custer, an open-minded individual who likes to hear and read all sides of the Bighorn story. With that in mind, he left the battlefield after the ceremony and traveled on to the Northern Cheyenne Reservation, where he met Clarence "Bisco" Spotted Wolf, the 75 year-old Chief of the Northern Cheyenne Council of 44 and grandson of Spotted Wolf, the famed warrior, who because of his valor and brave deeds, was made a chief in victory ceremonies the day following the Little Bighorn Battle.
The two men, born of cultures that had fought each other without mercy on the western plains, now faced each other, smiled and shook hands. From the moment they met, Bisco and Ken liked each other. They spent an entire day together, telling stories, hiking and visiting historic sites, including ancient sandstone petroglyphs along the Tongue River, Pawnee Creek tipi rings, and finally, the pristine Battle of the Rosebud site north of Sheridan, Wyoming. At that location, Bisco's grandfather had led over 1,000 Cheyenne warriors against the forces of General George Crook, just one week before the fight on the Bighorn in 1876. With him was Crazy Horse, leading an equal number of Lakota warriors.
After site-seeing all day, Ken Custer and Bisco Spotted Wolf had formed a bond that may well last the rest of their lives. As Ken said later, "Who would have fathomed 125 years ago that the descendants of two warriors who were locked in mortal combat, would find themselves able to spend a relaxing and enjoyable day together." George Armstrong Custer and old Chief Spotted Wolf would have been proud.
But here's the rest of the story: Ken Custer returned to his California home and got on the Internet to read about the Bighorn anniversary celebration he had attended. He was jolted to find that his signature was being auctioned on eBay for $40 a shot!
See Also:
Spotted Wolf, A Legacy of Trust, an article by Renee Sansom Flood, about three generations of chiefs: Spotted Wolf, Patrick Spotted Wolf, and Clarence "Bisco" Spotted Wolf.
