ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times

DATE: Thursday, April 3, 1997                TAG: 9704030016
SECTION: VIRGINIA                 PAGE: C-5  EDITION: METRO 
DATELINE: PETERSBURG
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
   The gift also included a Civil War sword, a .30-caliber pistol, a uniform 
and two bronze spurs.
   
   What may be one of the only remaining arrows shot during the Battle of 
Little Bighorn has surfaced at the Petersburg National Battlefield.

RARE ARROW DONATED TO PETERSBURG BATTLEFIELD GEORGE ARMSTRONG CUSTER MAY HAVE BEEN ITS TARGET

The 27-inch American Indian arrow was among boxes of Civil War items recently donated by a Pennsylvania man to the Petersburg battlefield.

Horace Evans Neff of Lansdale, Pa., said the arrow belonged to his grandfather, 1st Lt. Horace Evans, who fought in the Civil War. A handwritten tag Evans attached to the arrow said it had been picked up on the Little Bighorn Battlefield in Montana.

Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer and the 7th Cavalry were wiped out by Sioux and Cheyenne warriors in the 1876 battle. About 250 U.S. Army soldiers died in the stunning defeat.

The arrow was probably picked up after the fight, when soldiers returned to the battlefield to dig graves for the dead, said Timothy McCleary, chief historian of the Little Bighorn Battlefield in Crow Agency, Mont.

He said he is optimistic about the arrow's authenticity.

The arrow will be delivered to the Montana park next week, where it will be compared with other arrows from the era to verify its date. The type of metal, wood and feathers used can give an indication of what tribe made the arrow, McCleary said.

McCleary said the Park Service has arrows and arrowheads from the time period of Little Bighorn, but none that was used in the battle. If authentic, the arrow will be preserved and possibly displayed in a Montana museum.

Neff said he decided to send the arrow and three boxes of his grandfather's mementos to the Petersburg battlefield after a relative suggested it.

In addition to the arrow, the donation included a Civil War sword, a at Appomattox.

They are on display at the Visitor's Center of the Petersburg National Battlefield located off Virginia 36.

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