Finerty was a reporter in Chicago for much of his life and published several books including War Path and Bivouac (still in print under the title On the Trail of Crazy Horse) about riding with General George Crook in 1876 during his campaign against several northern plains Indian tribes, including the Hunkpapa and Oglala Lakota tribes led by Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse.
This was at a time when reporters were not only "embedded" but armed and expected to fight with everyone else. It is an exciting, well-written book, and very much of its time with an overt racism--liberal use of the word savage for instance--that would be intolerable today. Right now I am reading a book called The Gray Fox--George Crook and the Indian Wars which describes Finerty as:
...the "gem of the [the reporters on the campaign]" at least according to Captain Charles King of the Fifth Cavalry...Of [Finerty] it was said, "If Davenport is always hungry--for news--Finerty may be said to be always thirsty--for liquids and news and he can hold any quantity of either." He was red-faced and lanky, so tall he was often addressed as "Long John." When seated astride a horse, he was forced to bend his knees to keep his feet from dragging on the ground, a veritable Don Quixote. Despite his awkward appearance, Finerty was no greenhorn. A native of Ireland and the son of a newspaper editor, his youthful involvement in Irish politics led him to flee to America in 1864, where he promptly enlisted to fight in a New York regiment. For eight years following the war he had been a reporter and editor, writing local news for three Chicago papers. Though ultimately, Finerty would become a life-long admirer and personal friend of Crook, he did not sacrifice objectivity for sentiment, or lend himself to manipulation by clever army officers. It was he who had asked Storey of the Chicago Times to be allowed to accompany the Terry/Custer column. Disappointed, he had accepted Storey's refusal and joined Crook.
I guess that means Sophie and I owe Mr. Storey a big thank you, because we would likely not be here if Finerty had ridden with Custer.
Stormy skies on the plains:
The charming town of Buffalo, WY:
Lunch at the Occidental Hotel Saloon where they kindly invited Celeste in:
We visited the site of Fort Phil Kearny and the Fetterman Fight--where Lakota, Cheyenne, and Arapaho Indians under Red Cloud set a trap with decoys (including Crazy Horse) that killed Captain William Fetterman and all 81 men under his command. Fort Phil Kearny was later abandoned and a treaty was signed with Red Cloud.
Massacre Hill, site of the Fetterman debacle:
John Finerty wrote enthusiastically about the beauties of the Big Horn mountains in a chapter called "Across the Snowy Range" in War Path and Bivouac. We were planning to do a short backpacking trip, but the weather was too unsettled. We did get to do a pleasant afternoon hike up the Canyon of the Tongue River.
Sophie's picture of Mommy:
Sophie horsing around on top the the Grand Cherokee:
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