W.W. Cooke and the Canadian connection to The Little Bighorn

[Sir Charles deMouton-Black]

After a thread on horsemen's knives I recalled a Canadian auction some years back featuring a Remington NMA, ser.#47684, and a farrier's pocket knife engraved with W. W. Cooke's name.  I couldn't find a photo of the item but the sale was in Red Deer Alberta on 5 April, 1999. They were sold to Art Unger of Hicksville NY, for $65,000.

Lt. William Winer Cooke was Custer's adjutant, the one who wrote the "bring packs....." message.  He was born in Hamilton Ontario, moving to the US at age 15, and joining the US Army for the war. There was a Grand Army of the Republic Post in Hamilton, No. 472, and named after him.

In Custer's battalion, and thus fatal casualties, were 7 military and one civilian who were Canadian.  In the remainder of the Regiment 7 more Canadians survived the battle.

So, Canucks can join in and celebrate the exploits of the US Civil war and the following Indian Wars.  In fact we share the history of the wild west to a very real extent.

[bc]

Sitting Bull and his band escaped to Canada and stayed there for 5 years before surrendering.  They had a lot of battlefield artifacts that they ended up selling in Canada for supplies.  That is probably where Cooke's knife came from.