Major Forsyth; March to Custer's Battlefield

Pioneers of Outlaw Country: Wyoming History

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Major George “Sandy” Forsyth: His Forgotten Diary

He was a Civil War veteran, Cavalry Officer, Indian Fighter, General Sheridan’s aide de camp, avid fisherman, author, husband and Brigadier General.

This courageous soldier was a true explorer of Hot Springs County, Wyoming.

The Pioneers of Outlaw Country.

Cowboys, Lawmen and Outlaws… to the businessmen and women who all helped shape Thermopolis and Hot Springs County, Wyoming.

Here are their stories.

Major George “Sandy” Forsyth: The Forgotten Diary

In the Hot Springs County Museum in Thermopolis, Wyoming, a nondescript brown journal was displayed without acknowledgement of its historical importance. This journal was on display in the military exhibit with a small photo of its author, Major George “Sandy” Forsyth.

Someone had stamped the cover with the old address of the County Museum before that museum was burned and moved to its present location on 700 Broadway in Thermopolis, Wyoming. Somehow, the journal survived the devasting fire although its outer edges are tinged with old soot.

This journal was on its way to the Smithsonian when instead, the owner chose, through a series of twists and turns, to send the journal to Thermopolis. That is because this journal was written in 1877 about a journey through the future Hot Springs County.

Major George “Sandy” Forsyth was General Sheridan’s aide de camp and, along with many notable officers of the time, was on a journey through the Big Horn Mountains to Camp Custer. It had been one year since General Custer had been killed at the Battle of the Little Big Horn. The company of soldiers, who had all known him and his regiment, were on their way to the new posts being built along the Rose Bud and Tongue River. The Indian Wars were coming to an end and the company was accompanied by Sioux Scouts.

They had left Chicago on the train and arrived in Cheyenne within one day. From there, they took the train and stagecoach to Camp Brown, a fort near the future town of Lander. This trip was unlike any from the previous years when danger lurked on the countryside from hostile Indians. The Indian Wars were over and now the soldiers hunted and fished their way across the beautiful landscape.

Sandy Forsyth was a skilled writer and his words describe a world as beautiful as any park. He describes the bright blue of the larkspur and forget-me-nots, the string of trout they caught and the mosquitoes that plagued them. In 1877, buffalo still roamed Hot Springs County in large herds and the area was still being mapped.

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