Mark Kellogg (
1833-
1876), US
newspaper reporter
Mark Kellogg was the first of 23
Associated Press reporters to die on the job. He
accompanied George Armstrong Custer’s
regiment on its ill-fated expedition into
Sioux country.
"We leave the Rosebud tomorrow and by the time this reaches you we will have met and fought the red devils, with what results remains to be seen. I go with Custer and will be at the death." - last dispatch,
June 24, 1876
He began reporting in
La Crosse, WI during the
Civil War. He played
shortstop on the town
baseball team and unsuccessfully ran for public office twice. He went on to edit several newspapers in
Iowa and
Minnesota and write stories as a
correspondent, often under the pseudonym "
Frontier".
On
June 25, 1876, Kellogg rode with the 7th US
Cavalry regiment, the only reporter along for the
Battle of the Little Bighorn. Unfortunately, he didn’t survive to write his account of that historic battle, as he was killed along with Custer and his men. His body was found
scalped and missing an ear.
His
diary is at the
North Dakota Heritage Center and the satchel he had with him that day is on display at the
Newseum in
Washington DC, though their stupid website (newseum.org) doesn’t have a search function so I don’t know if they have an online picture of it.