Have Gun - Will Travel

In 1868, a buckskin gelding was purchased for the Army in St. Louis, and sent to Fort Levenworth, Kansas. There he caught the eye of Captain Myles Keogh, who took him for his personal mount. Legend has it that the horse earned his name when he was wounded in a battle on the Cimarron River, and "screamed like a Commanche". Although wounded, Commanche brought his master through the battle. He was wounded in the leg in 1870, and again in the shoulder in 1871. In 1876, after the Little Bighorn battle, Commanche and the other badly wounded horses and ponies were left to die by the Indians. After soldiers arrived two days later, most of the other horses were too far gone, and put out of their misery. Commanche was still on his feet, however, and approached the men. He was taken by steamboat to Fort Lincoln and officially retired with honors. No one was permitted to ride him, and he roamed at will, turning up for parade drills, begging beer at the local canteen, and exasperating officers' wives by trampling through their gardens looking for sunflowers to eat. He died in 1891, aged 29. His body was preserved and can be seen at the Natural History Museum at the University of Kentucky.