Frank Finkel

Who was Frank Finkel?

Frank Finkel was an American who rose to prominence late in his life and after his death for his claims to being the only survivor of George Armstrong Custer's famed "Last Stand" at the Battle of the Little Bighorn on June 25, 1876. Historians disagree over whether Finkel's claim is accurate; although he provided several details that would only have been known by someone who was at Little Bighorn, there are inconsistencies in his accounts of events.

Finkel was born in Ohio to German immigrant parents in 1854. He and others claimed that he enlisted in the United States Army in the early 1870s and served under George Custer during the Great Sioux War of 1876. During the Battle of the Little Bighorn Finkel claims he was wounded early in the fighting and his horse bolted from the battle. After being nursed back to health he traveled to St. Louis, then settled in Columbia County, Washington. Over the next 40 years he amassed a significant estate as a farmer in the town of Dayton, and came to be regarded as one of Dayton's "pioneers".