Custer's Last Scout - Cast

Custer's Last Scout (1915)
Short | Short, Western

Custer's Last Scout (1915)

Short | Short, Western

The action of "Custer's Last Scout" takes place in 1876 when our Indian wards took it into their hands to exterminate the white soldiers. General Geo. A. Custer is in command at Fort Lincoln. With him as chief scout is Alfred L. Chapman. ...See moreThe action of "Custer's Last Scout" takes place in 1876 when our Indian wards took it into their hands to exterminate the white soldiers. General Geo. A. Custer is in command at Fort Lincoln. With him as chief scout is Alfred L. Chapman. Others in his command are Major Reno, Capt. Bates, Lieut. Woodruff and Lieut. Kane. Marjorie Woodruff, sister to Lieut. Woodruff, is the belle of the post. Every officer is in love with her, but Captain Bates and Chapman are recognized rivals. Marjorie's brother has a decided objection to Chapman's suit, and does not hesitate to acquaint Marjorie with the fact. She, however, possesses a will of her own. Chapman proposes to Marjorie, who tells him that she will give him an answer on the morrow. Chapman leaves her, meets the young lieutenant, and the two are kept from coming to blows only by the intervention of brother officers. Bates then proposes to Marjorie, and is accepted. Whereupon Marjorie writes a note to Chapman, telling him of the fact, and sends the article to Chapman by a passing trooper. Lieut. Woodruff sees the action, holds up the trooper and forces the latter to give up the note. That afternoon Chapman is sent to observe the movements of Chief Rain-in-the-Face, while Lieut. Woodruff and Kane, accompanied by two troopers one of whom figured in the note incident, set out to hunt antelope. The little party is ambushed, and the two officers and one trooper are killed. The survivor is the trooper from whom Woodruff took Marjorie's note. The trooper falls in with another band of Indians who fire upon him. He rolls down a steep embankment and under a growth of bush. Later, he crawls from his concealment and heads for the fort. Custer sends Captain Bates to Fort Rice. En route, Bates and his small escort discover the bodies of the murdered officers. Bates also picks up the note written by Marjorie and dropped by the Indians when they rifled the bodies of their victims. Bates returns to the fort where he accuses Scout Chapman of haying murdered Woodruff, producing the note to prove the accusation. Custer is forced to order the scout arrested. As Chapman is led away, another scout enters with the half-dead trooper who, seeing the predicament of Chapman confesses to them that his superior officer had forced him to give up the note. Chapman is freed and the incident closes. Reynolds the second scout, informs Custer that Rain-in-the-Face is in possession of Lieut. Woodruff's gold watch. Custer decides to arrest the Chief, and sends Bates, Chapman and Tom Custer to Standing Rock Agency. Here the soldiers, after a struggle, succeed in arresting the Chief, and return with him to Fort Lincoln. The Chief's followers, enraged at his arrest, immediately bring warfare against the white settlers. Washington hears of this, and Custer receives orders to pacify the redmen. To this end he takes with him the seventh cavalry and starts after the Indians. Chapman is sent ahead but is unfortunate enough to tall into the hands of the Indians, who submit him to the usual tests for cowardice. After an interval. Chapman escapes his captors and heads back to rejoin his command. Underestimating the force of the Indians, Custer splits his command, sending Captain Bates and a troop up the Little Big Horn. Custer and his troops go down the river, leaving Reno and his men at a fixed post. The plans of attack call for a simultaneous movement from three sides. Reno, however, is drawn into an ambush and loses nearly half of his command. Bates is cut off, and Custer, unaware of these events, advances upon the Indians. His attack proves a failure, for the Indians are massed thousands strong, and he is compelled to fight a hand to hand conflict. Scout Chapman, hearing the firing, hastens forward, but he, too, is cut off. Hoping to circle the Indians, Chapman climbs to the top of a small hill. Here he views the terrible spectacle of Custer's massacre, unable either to advance or retreat. Later he is able to leave his position and picking up the disabled Reno command, tells them of the fate of Custer. Finding Captain Bates sorely wounded, Scout Chapman picks him up and brings him back to the fort. Marjorie weeps as she thanks the faithful scout for bringing back her accepted suitor while Chapman grins and rides away to live down his own disappointment. Written by Moving Picture World synopsis See less

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Cast	+ Add Cast
3 cast members

Name	Known for
William Clifford Captain Bates Captain Bates See fewer	The Hidden Law (1916)
Marie Walcamp Marjorie Woodruff Marjorie Woodruff See fewer	Tongues of Flame (1918)
Sherman Bainbridge Alfred L. Chapman - Custer's Last Scout Alfred L. Chapman - Custer's Last Scout See fewer	The Raid of the Human Tigers (1913)