Mark Kellogg (March 31, 1831 – June 25, 1876) was a

newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports a ...

reporter A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

killed at the

Battle of the Little Bighorn The Battle of the Little Bighorn, known to the Lakota and other Plains Indians as the Battle of the Greasy Grass, and also commonly referred to as Custer's Last Stand, was an armed engagement between combined forces of the Lakota Sioux, Nor ...

. Kellogg rode with

George Armstrong Custer George Armstrong Custer (December 5, 1839 – June 25, 1876) was a United States Army officer and cavalry commander in the American Civil War and the American Indian Wars. Custer graduated from West Point in 1861 at the bottom of his class, b ...

during the battle. His dispatches were the only press coverage of Custer and his men in the days leading up to the battle. As a newspaper

stringer Stringer may refer to: Structural elements * Stringer (aircraft), or longeron, a strip of wood or metal to which the skin of an aircraft is fastened * Stringer (slag), an inclusion, possibly leading to a defect, in cast metal * Stringer (stairs), ...

whose reports were picked up around the country, Kellogg is considered the first

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...

correspondent A correspondent or on-the-scene reporter is usually a journalist or commentator for a magazine, or an agent who contributes reports to a newspaper, or radio or television news, or another type of company, from a remote, often distant, locati ...

to die in the line of duty.Associated Press history archives
, accessed Feb. 10, 2007.

Life

Born Marcus Henry Kellogg on March 31, 1831, in

Brighton, Ontario Brighton is a town in Northumberland County, Ontario, Canada, approximately east of Toronto and west of Kingston. It is traversed by both Highway 401 and the former Highway 2. The west end of the Murray Canal that leads east to the Bay of ...

, Canada, Kellogg was the third of ten children. Kellogg's family moved a number of times in his youth before they eventually settled in

La Crosse, Wisconsin La Crosse is a city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of La Crosse County. Positioned alongside the Mississippi River, La Crosse is the largest city on Wisconsin's western border. La Crosse's population as of the 2020 census w ...

.''The Custer Companion: A Comprehensive Guide to the Life of George Armstrong Custer and the Plains'' by Thom Hatch, Stackpole Books, 2002, pp. 203–204. While there Kellogg learned to operate a

telegraph Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas p ...

and went to work for both the Northwestern Telegraph Company and the Atlantic and Pacific Telegraph Company. He married Martha J. Robinson in 1861 and they had two daughters. During the years of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

, Kellogg became the assistant editor for the ''La Crosse Democrat'' newspaper. He also unsuccessfully ran for the office of city clerk in 1867 and played shortstop on one of the town's

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

teams.''I Go With Custer: The Life & Death of Reporter Mark Kellogg'' by Mark Kellogg, AST Press, 1996, In 1867 Kellogg's wife died. Leaving his daughters to be raised by an aunt, Kellogg began drifting around the upper Midwest, working as a reporter and editorial assistant in places such as

Council Bluffs, Iowa Council Bluffs is a city in and the county seat of Pottawattamie County, Iowa, Pottawattamie County, Iowa, United States. The city is the most populous in Southwest Iowa, and is the third largest and a primary city of the Omaha–Council Bluffs ...

, and

Brainerd, Minnesota Brainerd is a city in Crow Wing County, Minnesota, United States. Its population was 14,395 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Crow Wing County. Brainerd straddles the Mississippi River several miles upstream from its confluence with ...

. While living in Brainerd he ran for election to the

Minnesota Legislature The Minnesota Legislature is the bicameral legislature of the U.S. state of Minnesota consisting of two houses: the Senate and the House of Representatives. Senators are elected from 67 single-member districts. In order to account for decennia ...

, but was defeated. He also worked as a string correspondent for the ''

St. Paul Dispatch The ''Saint Paul Dispatch'' was a daily newspaper in Saint Paul, Minnesota from 1868 until 1985. Founding Harlan Page Hall founded the ''Saint Paul Dispatch'' on February 29, 1868. Hall was born in 1838 in Ravenna, Ohio, where his father publish ...

'', with his articles often published under the

pen name A pen name, also called a ''nom de plume'' or a literary double, is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen na ...

of "Frontier.". In the early 1870s, he moved to

Bismarck, North Dakota Bismarck () is the capital of the U.S. state of North Dakota and the county seat of Burleigh County. It is the state's second-most populous city, after Fargo. The city's population was 73,622 in the 2020 census, while its metropolitan popula ...

, where in 1873 he helped editor Clement A. Lounsberry found ''

The Bismarck Tribune ''The Bismarck Tribune'' is a daily newspaper with a weekly audience of 82,000 unique readers, printed daily in Bismarck, North Dakota. Owned by Lee Enterprises, it is the only daily newspaper for south-central and southwest North Dakota. Histo ...

''. Even though Kellogg was only an editorial assistant for the paper, he substituted for Lounsberry as editor of the ''Tribune'' second, third and fourth issues.

Battle of the Little Bighorn

When Lounsberry learned that a military column (including the

7th U.S. Cavalry Regiment The 7th Cavalry Regiment is a United States Army cavalry regiment formed in 1866. Its official nickname is "Garryowen", after the Ireland, Irish air "Garryowen (air), Garryowen" that was adopted as its march tune. The regiment participated i ...

commanded by Lt. Col.

) would soon leave

Fort Abraham Lincoln Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park is a North Dakota state park located south of Mandan, North Dakota, United States. The park is home to the replica Mandan On-A-Slant Indian Village and reconstructed military buildings including the Custer House. ...

for the

Montana Territory The Territory of Montana was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 26, 1864, until November 8, 1889, when it was admitted as the 41st state in the Union as the state of Montana. Original boundaries T ...

, he agreed to accompany Custer and provide news coverage. However, at the last minute Lounsberry's wife fell ill, so the editor asked Kellogg to take his place. Lounsberry expected Kellogg would cover nothing more than a sensational military victory. Kellogg sent three dispatches back to Lounsberry, the last one four days before the battle when they were near the mouth of the Rosebud River. His last dispatch read, "By the time this reaches you we would have met and fought the red devils, with what result remains to be seen. I go with Custer and will be at the death." Kellogg was not predicting his own death or Custer's defeat; instead, "at the death" is a phrase borrowed from fox hunting meaning "present at the kill" (''viz''., of the pursued). Four days after that dispatch, the

was fought, resulting in the deaths of Custer and the 208 soldiers, scouts, and civilians riding with him, including Kellogg.

Aftermath

Colonel

John Gibbon John Gibbon (April 20, 1827 – February 6, 1896) was a career United States Army officer who fought in the American Civil War and the Indian Wars. Early life Gibbon was born in the Holmesburg section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the fourt ...

, whose men arrived at the battle on Tuesday, June 27, and also helped bury the dead, said he found Kellogg's body in a ravine where a number of men from Company E died. Kellogg's body was

scalped Scalping is the act of cutting or tearing a part of the human scalp, with hair attached, from the head, and generally occurred in warfare with the scalp being a trophy. Scalp-taking is considered part of the broader cultural practice of the tak ...

and missing an ear; he was identified by the boots he wore. When Clement Lounsberry learned of the defeat of Custer's force and Kellogg's death, he "worked tirelessly throughout the night" to produce a special edition of ''The Bismarck Tribune''. Published on July 6, 1876, the article was the battle's first full account. Lounsberry also

ed the news, including Kellogg's correspondence, to a number of eastern newspapers, including the ''

New York Herald The ''New York Herald'' was a large-distribution newspaper based in New York City that existed between 1835 and 1924. At that point it was acquired by its smaller rival the ''New-York Tribune'' to form the '' New York Herald Tribune''. His ...

''. Two letters written by Kellogg were published posthumously by the ''Herald'' on July 11, 1876."Mark Kellogg's Prequil to the Battle: A reporter's account of riding with Custer into the Battle of the Little Bighorn,"
''The New York Herald'', July 11, 1876. Accessed February 10, 2007. As a newspaper

whose reports were picked up around the country, Kellogg is considered the first

correspondent to die in the line of duty. Some of Kellogg's diary and notes survived the battle and these, along with his news accounts, are one of the primary historical sources for information on the days preceding the battle. His notes are now in the possession of the

State Historical Society of North Dakota The State Historical Society of North Dakota is an agency that preserves and presents history through museums and historic sites in the state of North Dakota. The agency operates the North Dakota Heritage Center in Bismarck, which serves as a hist ...

. His satchel, pencil, and eyeglasses are on display in the

Newseum The Newseum was an American museum dedicated to news and journalism that promoted free expression and the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, while tracing the evolution of communication. The purpose of the museum, funded by the ...

in Washington, DC.

Life

Battle of the Little Bighorn

Aftermath

See also

Notes

Further reading