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{{Short description|US Army interpreter (1837-1876)}}
[[Image:Mitch Boyer.jpg|thumb|300px|right|Mitch Boyer (age at time of photo unknown).]]
[[Image:Mitch Boyer.jpg|thumb|300px|right|This c.1895-1899 portrait by Charles A. Nast of A-ca-po-re, a Ute musician, is often misidentified as Mitch Bouyer.]]
'''Mitch Bouyer''' (sometimes spelled 'Bowyer', 'Buoyer', or 'Buazer', or in Creole, 'Boye') (1837–[[June 25]], [[1876]]) was an interpreter and guide in the [[Old West]] following the [[American Civil War]]. General [[John Gibbon]] called him "next to [[Jim Bridger]], the best guide in the country". He was killed at the [[Battle of the Little Bighorn]].
'''Mitch Boyer''' (sometimes spelled 'Bowyer', 'Buoyer', 'Bouyer' or 'Buazer', or in Creole, 'Boye') (c. 1837 – June 25, 1876) was an interpreter and guide in the [[Old West]] following the [[American Civil War]]. General [[John Gibbon]] called him "next to [[Jim Bridger]], the best guide in the country". He was killed at the [[Battle of the Little Bighorn]].


==Family Background==
==Family background==
He was born Michel<ref>the incorrect 'Minton' in early 20th century writings is due to his nickname 'Mitch'</ref> Bouyer in 1837. <ref>according to 1840 baptismal records; Mitch himself, in the only direct information we have from him, testimony about the 1866 [[Fetterman Massacre]], claimed he was 28 in 1867</ref> His father, John Baptiste Bouyer, <ref>Camp gives 'Vital', probably a confusion with [[Vital Beauvais]], whose surname is similarly pronounced in French</ref> was a French Canadian who was employed by the [[American Fur Company]], trading with Sioux in the Wyoming area. Mitch's mother was a Santee [[Sioux]]. His father was killed by Indians while trapping, about 1863. Mitch's Indian name was Kar-pash. He had three full sisters: Marie, Anne, and Therese, who seem to have been [[multiple birth|triplets]] born in 1840. He also had at least two half-brothers: John Bouyer (c. 1845-1871), who was hung at [[Fort Laramie]] for killing an Army scout in the first legal execution in [[Wyoming Territory]], and Antoine Bouyer (born 1852?), whom [[Walter Mason Camp]] interviewed in 1912. John, in an interview just before he was hung, stated that there had been others who had already died.
He was born Michel<ref>the incorrect 'Minton' in early 20th century writings is due to his nickname 'Mitch'</ref> Boyer in c. 1837.<ref>according to 1840 baptismal records; Bouyer himself, in the only direct information we have from him, testimony about the 1866 [[Fetterman Massacre]], claimed he was 28 in 1867</ref> His father, Jean-Baptiste Boyer,<ref>Camp gives 'Vital', probably a confusion with [[Vital Beauvais]], whose surname is similarly pronounced in French</ref> was a French Canadian who was employed by the [[American Fur Company]], trading with Sioux in the area that would later become Wyoming. Mitch's mother was a Santee [[Sioux]]. His father was killed by Native Americans while trapping, about 1863. Mitch's Sioux name was Kar-pash. He had three full sisters: Marie, Anne, and Thérèse, who seem to have been [[multiple birth|triplets]] born in 1840. He also had at least two half-brothers: John Boyer (c. 1845-1871), who was hanged at [[Fort Laramie]] for killing an Army scout in the first legal execution in [[Wyoming Territory]], and Antoine Boyer (born 1852?), whom [[Walter Mason Camp]] interviewed in 1912. John, in an interview just before he was hanged, stated that there had been other siblings who had already died.

⚫
Mitch was an interpreter at [[Fort Phil Kearny]] in 1868. In the fall of 1869, he married a young [[Crow]] woman named Magpie Outside (or Magpie Out-of-Doors), who became known as Mary. Their first child, also named Mary, was born in 1870. Sometime later they also had a son, apparently named Tom, but eventually called James LeForge (see below).


⚫
Boyer was an interpreter at [[Fort Phil Kearny]] in 1868. In the fall of 1869, he married a young [[Crow Nation|Crow]] woman named Magpie Outside (or Magpie Out-of-Doors), who became known as Mary. Their first child, also named Mary, was born in 1870. Sometime later they also had a son, apparently named Tom, but eventually called James LeForge (see below).


==Army scout and death at the Little Big Horn==
==Army scout and death at the Little Big Horn==
Bouyer became a guide for the [[2nd U.S. Cavalry]], working with the [[Northern Pacific Railroad]]'s survey team. From 1872 on he was employed by the Crow Agency and the US Army.
Boyer became a guide for the [[2nd U.S. Cavalry]], working with the [[Northern Pacific Railroad]]'s survey team. From 1872 on he was employed by the Crow Agency and the US Army.
⚫
In 1876 Lt. Col. [[George Armstrong Custer]] requested that Bouyer be transferred to the [[7th U.S. Cavalry]] as an interpreter for the [[Crow]] scouts when Gen. [[Alfred Terry]] ordered the 7th south from the [[Montana Column]] to search for hostile Indians. Custer's regular scouts were Ree ([[Arikara]]). However, for this mission, Terry had assigned six of Lt. [[James Bradley]]'s Crow scouts to the 7th (including [[Curley]]). Bouyer had the additional bonus of knowing the country well.


⚫
In 1876 Lt. Col. [[George Armstrong Custer]] requested that Boyer be transferred to the [[7th U.S. Cavalry]] as an interpreter for the [[Crow Nation|Crow]] scouts when Gen. [[Alfred Terry]] ordered the 7th south from the [[Montana Column]] to search for hostile Indians. Custer's regular scouts were Ree ([[Arikara]]). However, for this mission, Terry had assigned six of Lt. James Bradley's Crow scouts to the 7th (including [[Curly (scout)|Curley]]). Boyer had the additional bonus of knowing the country well.
At the [[Crow's Nest, Montana|Crow's Nest]], Bouyer was one of the scouts who warned Custer about the size of the Indian village, which Custer claimed he couldn't make out. Bouyer told him, "General, I have been with these Indians for 30 years, and this is the largest village I have ever known of." After failing to convince Custer, it is reported {{Fact|date|date=April 2008}}Bouyer gave away his possessions, convinced he would die in the coming battle. There was a report that [[Sitting Bull]] had offered a [[bounty]] of 100 ponies for Bouyer's head. {{Fact|date|date=April 2008}}


When Custer's command was divided into 3 [[battalion]]s, about noon, Bouyer was assigned to accompany Custer, whose battalion would be almost completely wiped out. There were only about a dozen survivors of Custer's battalion, all of whom had left it before the battle began. Soldiers in [[Marcus Reno|Reno's]] fight claimed to have seen Custer on the bluffs watching the retreat, but this was later shown probably to have been Bouyer and Curley, who had ridden ahead of the main force.{{Fact|date|date=April 2008}} Bouyer stayed with Custer and was killed in the [[Battle of the Little Big Horn]].
When Custer's command was divided into 3 [[battalion]]s, about noon, Boyer was assigned to accompany Custer, whose battalion would be almost completely wiped out. There were only about a dozen survivors of Custer's battalion, all of whom had left it before the battle began. Boyer stayed with Custer and was killed in the [[Battle of the Little Big Horn]].
[[Image:2008 0909Battlefield0026.jpg|thumb|right|Mitch Boyer marker on Deep Ravine trail, Deep Ravine is to the right of this picture (s/sw), and about 65 yrds. distant.]]
[[Image:2008 0909Battlefield0026.JPG|thumb|right|Mitch Boyer marker on Deep Ravine trail, Deep Ravine is to the right of this picture (s/sw), and about 65 yards distant.]]


In 1984, a fire burned through much of the Custer Battlefield, enabling archaeological digs to be made. Part of a [[skull]] was found that was identified as Bouyer's by comparison of the facial bones with the only photograph known of him. The skull was found to the west of the monument on Custer Hill, at what is called the 'South Skirmish Line'.
In 1984, a fire burned through much of the Custer Battlefield, enabling archaeological digs to be made. Part of a [[human skull|skull]] was found that was identified as Boyer's by comparison of the facial bones with a misidentified photograph.<ref name="Nast">Nast, Charles A.; '' Ute Indians, "Acapore" ''; glass photonegative c.1895-1899; Denver Public Library Special Collections; call number X-31214; image file ZZR710031214</ref> The skull fragment was found to the west of the monument on Custer Hill, at what is called the 'South Skirmish Line'.


Bouyer seems to have been a [[flaming|flamboyant]] character. In the photograph, he is wearing a fur hat with 2 [[woodpecker]]s one on either side, and he was wearing a [[piebald]] calf's vest the day of the fatal battle.
Boyer seems to have been a flamboyant character. He was wearing a [[piebald]] calf's vest the day of the fatal battle.


After Bouyer's death, his widow Mary was taken in by his close friend, [[Thomas Leforge]]. When his own wife died, Leforge married Mary and adopted her children. This is probably when Mitch's son was renamed, as Leforge had a son of his own named Tom. Mary died in 1916. {{Fact|date|date=April 2008}}
After Boyer's death, his widow Mary was taken in by his close friend, [[Thomas Leforge]]. When his own wife died, Leforge married Mary and adopted her children.


==See also==
== Accusation of duplicity ==
* [[White Swan]]
In 1985, more than a century after the Bouyer's death, Henry Weibert and his son Don published a book called ''Sixty-Six Years in Custer's Shadow'', in which they analyzed the battle in light of their intimate knowledge of the terrain. Amongst their theories was the idea that the Seventh Cavalry had been led by Bouyer into a trap. {{Fact|date|date=April 2008}} Though other writers had speculated the Seventh might have been entrapped,{{Fact|date|date=April 2008}} this was the only book to point a finger at Bouyer. Historians ridiculed the idea{{Fact|date|date=April 2008}}, saying that it was contrary to everything known about Bouyer's character. Furthermore, it would have been a personal betrayal of his family and friends of many years' standing among the Crow.
* [[Half Yellow Face]]


⚫
==Notes==
In a later book, written after his father died, Don Weibert, though repeating many of the earlier conclusions about how the battle was fought, dropped the claim that Bouyer had betrayed Custer.


{{Reflist}}
⚫
== Notes ==


⚫
==References==
<references />


⚫
* Connell, Evan S.; ''[[Son of the Morning Star]]: Custer And The Little Bighorn.'' (1985)
⚫
== References ==
⚫
* Connell, Evan S.; ''[[Son of the Morning Star]]: Custer And The Little Bighorn.'' (1985)
* Gray, John S.; Custer's Last Campaign (1991)
* Gray, John S.; Custer's Last Campaign (1991)
* Hammer, Ken, ed.; ''Custer in '76: Walter Camp's Notes on the Custer Fight.'' Norman: University of Oklahoma, 1976.
* Hammer, Ken, ed.; ''Custer in '76: Walter Camp's Notes on the Custer Fight.'' Norman: University of Oklahoma, 1976.
* Weibert, Henry & Don; ''Sixty-Six Years in Custer's Shadow'' (1985)
* Weibert, Henry & Don; ''Sixty-Six Years in Custer's Shadow'' (1985)


==External links==
==External links==
*[http://www.american-tribes.com/messageboards/dietmar/A-ca-po-re1.jpg A-ca-po-re, Ute musician]
*[http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=5815095 Mitch Bouyer on Find a Grave]
*[http://www.amertribes.proboards.com/thread/753/mitch-bouyer-acapore-ute-indian?page=2 Mitch Bouyer or Acapore?]
*{{Find a Grave|5815095}}

{{Authority control}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Bouyer, Mitch}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Boyer, Mitch}}
[[Category:1837 births]]
[[Category:1830s births]]
[[Category:1876 deaths]]
[[Category:1876 deaths]]
[[Category:People of the Black Hills War]]
[[Category:People from Wyoming Territory]]
[[Category:French Americans]]
[[Category:People of the Great Sioux War of 1876]]
[[Category:Santee Dakota people]]
[[Category:American people of French-Canadian descent]]
[[Category:American military personnel killed in the American Indian Wars]]
[[Category:American military personnel killed in the American Indian Wars]]
[[Category:Battle of the Little Bighorn]]

Latest revision as of 08:25, 13 August 2024

This c.1895-1899 portrait by Charles A. Nast of A-ca-po-re, a Ute musician, is often misidentified as Mitch Bouyer.

Mitch Boyer (sometimes spelled 'Bowyer', 'Buoyer', 'Bouyer' or 'Buazer', or in Creole, 'Boye') (c. 1837 – June 25, 1876) was an interpreter and guide in the Old West following the American Civil War. General John Gibbon called him "next to Jim Bridger, the best guide in the country". He was killed at the Battle of the Little Bighorn.

Family background

[edit]

He was born Michel[1] Boyer in c. 1837.[2] His father, Jean-Baptiste Boyer,[3] was a French Canadian who was employed by the American Fur Company, trading with Sioux in the area that would later become Wyoming. Mitch's mother was a Santee Sioux. His father was killed by Native Americans while trapping, about 1863. Mitch's Sioux name was Kar-pash. He had three full sisters: Marie, Anne, and Thérèse, who seem to have been triplets born in 1840. He also had at least two half-brothers: John Boyer (c. 1845-1871), who was hanged at Fort Laramie for killing an Army scout in the first legal execution in Wyoming Territory, and Antoine Boyer (born 1852?), whom Walter Mason Camp interviewed in 1912. John, in an interview just before he was hanged, stated that there had been other siblings who had already died.

Boyer was an interpreter at Fort Phil Kearny in 1868. In the fall of 1869, he married a young Crow woman named Magpie Outside (or Magpie Out-of-Doors), who became known as Mary. Their first child, also named Mary, was born in 1870. Sometime later they also had a son, apparently named Tom, but eventually called James LeForge (see below).

Army scout and death at the Little Big Horn

[edit]

Boyer became a guide for the 2nd U.S. Cavalry, working with the Northern Pacific Railroad's survey team. From 1872 on he was employed by the Crow Agency and the US Army.

In 1876 Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer requested that Boyer be transferred to the 7th U.S. Cavalry as an interpreter for the Crow scouts when Gen. Alfred Terry ordered the 7th south from the Montana Column to search for hostile Indians. Custer's regular scouts were Ree (Arikara). However, for this mission, Terry had assigned six of Lt. James Bradley's Crow scouts to the 7th (including Curley). Boyer had the additional bonus of knowing the country well.

When Custer's command was divided into 3 battalions, about noon, Boyer was assigned to accompany Custer, whose battalion would be almost completely wiped out. There were only about a dozen survivors of Custer's battalion, all of whom had left it before the battle began. Boyer stayed with Custer and was killed in the Battle of the Little Big Horn.

Mitch Boyer marker on Deep Ravine trail, Deep Ravine is to the right of this picture (s/sw), and about 65 yards distant.

In 1984, a fire burned through much of the Custer Battlefield, enabling archaeological digs to be made. Part of a skull was found that was identified as Boyer's by comparison of the facial bones with a misidentified photograph.[4] The skull fragment was found to the west of the monument on Custer Hill, at what is called the 'South Skirmish Line'.

Boyer seems to have been a flamboyant character. He was wearing a piebald calf's vest the day of the fatal battle.

After Boyer's death, his widow Mary was taken in by his close friend, Thomas Leforge. When his own wife died, Leforge married Mary and adopted her children.

See also

[edit]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ the incorrect 'Minton' in early 20th century writings is due to his nickname 'Mitch'
  2. ^ according to 1840 baptismal records; Bouyer himself, in the only direct information we have from him, testimony about the 1866 Fetterman Massacre, claimed he was 28 in 1867
  3. ^ Camp gives 'Vital', probably a confusion with Vital Beauvais, whose surname is similarly pronounced in French
  4. ^ Nast, Charles A.; Ute Indians, "Acapore" ; glass photonegative c.1895-1899; Denver Public Library Special Collections; call number X-31214; image file ZZR710031214

References

[edit]
  • Connell, Evan S.; Son of the Morning Star: Custer And The Little Bighorn. (1985)
  • Gray, John S.; Custer's Last Campaign (1991)
  • Hammer, Ken, ed.; Custer in '76: Walter Camp's Notes on the Custer Fight. Norman: University of Oklahoma, 1976.
  • Weibert, Henry & Don; Sixty-Six Years in Custer's Shadow (1985)
[edit]
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