In June of 1879, Commanche, the horse of Captain Myles Keogh of the 7^th Calvary, was brought to Fort Meade in South Dakota, where he would live like a prince for nearly a decade. Commanche would outlive Keogh, who was killed at the Battle of the Little Bighorn. While Commanche would be injured in the fighting, he would survive, and in turn, he would eventually be billed as the lone survivor of Custer’s Last Stand.

The manner in which Commanche was billed after Little Bighorn would change a bit; sometimes being said to be the lone survivor of the battle, and sometimes the claim would be more specific: he was the lone survivor in Custer’s detachment. Either way, the way he was billed though was incorrect. Commanche was not the sole survivor.

Sole Survivor Myth

In the decades that followed the Battle of the Little Bighorn, a mass of individuals would come forward claiming to be the lone survivor of Custer’s Last Stand. While most claims have been easily debunked, a few continue to persist to this day.

So were there any survivors? Yes. But we have to break it down a bit. When speaking of survivors here, we are looking specifically at those under Custer’s direct command. Those who were under the direct command of others, such as those under Major Marcus Reno and Captain Frederick Benteen, faired much better.

For those under Custer, there are a few who did survive. The reason they survived though was because they never participated in the actual battle. One such trooper was Giovanni Martino, who had left the column before the battle began. Two Crow scouts would survive in the same manner.

There is also the story of Curly, another Crow scout. Just days after the Battle, Curly would be hailed as the “sole survivor of the disaster.” It was a claim he never accepted for himself. Curly would make it clear that he was never part of the actual fighting, even though he didn’t leave until after the battle had begun.

And then there are the more than a hundred individuals who have come forward making the claim they survived. Many of these stories followed the same patterns; they hid in either a horse or buffalo that was cleaned out; they disguised themselves as American Indians by donning blankets; or by far my favorite, they were rescued by either the chief’s daughter or the like, because they were found to be so irresistible.

Nearly all of these stories can be dismissed as historical fiction, but out of all of the accounts, two have stuck out as being possible.

Frank Finkle

One case that gained a considerable amount of support is that of Frank Finkle. For most of his life though, it was a story he never told. It was not until 1920 that he began relating his supposed experience.

So why did he wait so long to say anything? Finkle claimed it was only after hearing a discussion about Custer and the battle that he deemed to be incorrect that he decided to set the record straight. By the next year, in 1921, he would give his account in the Walla Walla Bulletin, which was the largest newspaper in the area.

Finkel’s claims have received a good deal of support. The town Dayton, Washington, where he would eventually settle, promotes the story of Finkel within their own history. And Finkel’s story is at least intriguing, as some of the details he mentioned weren’t widely known.

Yet, there is also good reason to doubt Finkel. After all, he never spoke of how he survived Custer’s Last Stand until 40 years after the fact, giving him a good amount of time to study the battle and create a narrative. Possibly the nail in his coffin though is that there is no record of him being in the US Army at the time. Even the suggested aliases that Finkel may have used have been verified to be other people.

Private Gustave Korn

A more likely survivor is Gustave Korn. Unlike Finkel, it’s well established that Korn was a soldier in the US Army, and was present at the Battle of the Little Bighorn. His story is quite well documented and is supported by contemporary records. But Korn never reveled in being a survivor.

So how did Korn survive? It was because his horse was wounded in the initial charge, and broke away. While Korn would participate in the first charge under Custer, after his horse was shot in the neck, he was unable to continue moving forward. He would be carried off to Major Reno’s position, where his horse would die.

Korn would never portray himself as courageous or resourceful for his survival. He recognized that he was saved by a stroke of luck. The horse he had was prone to running away, and after having been shot, took Korn to what ended up being safety.

The story of Korn being a survivor of Custer’s Last Stand has largely been seen as being plausible. While a few would have their doubts, Korn was largely trusted.

Non-Human Survivors

What about Commanche though? Throughout the rest of his life, Commanche would be billed as the sole survivor, even though others would attempt to share the same title. Could Commanche really have any true claim here?

That Commanche was under Custer’s command, having been ridden by Captain Keogh into the fighting, is beyond doubt. It would be from the battlefield that Commanche would later be rescued, having been injured. And Commanche would be nursed back to health, after which he lived until 1891, largely being treated as a prince. Upon passing, Commanche wouldn’t be buried, but instead was preserved, and is on display at the University of Kansas’s Natural History Museum.

Was Commanche unique though? Sort of. Commanche was unique in the manner that he was billed later on, and that he was preserved. But he wasn’t unique in surviving.

Commanche would be one of over a hundred cavalry mounts that survived. Some, like Commanche, had been injured in battle, but unlike Commanche, they would be put down as they were in worse shape. Other horses had faired much better, and those would be taken as spoils of the battle.

It would turn out, Commanche was just the one horse that came back with the US Army. But he wasn’t truly alone in that either. A yellow bulldog would also survive. Whatever happened to that bulldog today remains a mystery.