The Last Stand Revisited

DAYTON - The following, stuff-of-legends account, which has intrigued history buffs for almost 100 years, ran in a local newspaper in 1920:

Dayton, April 8. - Frank Finkel, a pioneer resident of Columbia county, was the chief speaker at the Thursday luncheon of the Dayton Kiwanis Club this week. He was eye witness to the Custer Massacre and gave to the club the account of his thrilling escape and the circumstances which prevented the knowledge of his survival from reaching the government at the time. Congressman John W. Summers of Walla Walla was a guest at the luncheon and he will make an effort to get government recognition of Mr. Finkel's story.

In giving the account of the battle in which General Custer's command was pocketed by the Indian forces Mr. Finkel said his horse became "kettler" and bolted through the Indian lines, carrying him to a territory beyond the fighting. He had two serious bullet wounds and after many days of wandering he found a cabin in the wilderness where he was months recovering from his injuries."

One newspaper, in March 1921, ran the headline: "Is Frank Finkle of Dayton, the Only Living Survivor of the Custer Massacre in 1876?"

Fin- kel's story particularly intrigued author John Koster, who researched the Dayton man's story and, just last year, published a book titled, "Custer Survivor: The End of a Myth, the Beginning of a Legend."

And Koster's telling of Finkel's story grabbed the interest of producers at The History Channel, which explains why New York director and film writer Ted Schillinger was in town with Dave Marlan of Spokane-based Marlan Digital Media and Consulting on Friday.

The duo was filming interviews for The History Channel's newest documentary on Custer's Last Stand called "Custer's Last Man," and Daytonites will recognize footage shot from the Historic Dayton Depot when they watch the show scheduled to air sometime late in the spring or in early summer, according to Schillinger.

Among others, they interviewed Milton Koch of Seattle, who grew up in Dayton and is Finkel's great grandson.

Reports from the June 25, 1876, massacre stated that along with Lt. Col. George Custer, the entire 7th cavalry perished at the hands of Lakota and Cheyenne warriors in the valley of the Little Big Horn River.

For years following the battle, however, hundreds of men came forward claiming to be survivors of the massacre. Only one was ever taken seriously - Frank Finkel of Dayton.

The History Channel's documentary will "look with fresh eyes at the eternally captivating and tantalizing story of Frank Finkel," said Schillinger, "taking a very close look at everything we really do know and don't know about his story to see if we can establish once and for all whether Frank Finkel was really there."

Signed copies of Koster's book, "Custer Survivor," are available at the depot gift shop. The book features historic photos of Dayton and tells Finkel's story and background in Dayton, his association with the local Rainwater family and his local business dealings in depth.