Evidence indicates that Tamaqua soldier William Heath was present and on duty at the Battle of Little Bighorn and lived to tell about it.

He made muster with George Armstrong Custer’s 7th Cavalry on the morning of June 25, 1876.

This is significant because government claims and history books state that no soldier survived.

In fact, Heath’s name is listed on the memorial monument as a victim of the slaughter along with the entire regiment.

But that’s not what happened. Heath lived another 15 years back home in Tamaqua.

Heath was farrier

One historian said the circumstances worked in Heath’s favor.

“If anybody could’ve gotten away, it was a member of Company L,” said J. Stuart Richards.

Richards, a Custer scholar from Orwigsburg, spent considerable time researching the battle. Sadly, Richards passed away late last year.

But his research and comments continue to shed light on how Heath survived the Battle of Little Bighorn and defied all odds.

“L Company was positioned at what is now called Calhoun Hill,” Richards said.

He explained that logistics would have given Heath and maybe others an opportunity to escape the bloodbath.

Deb Heath Brumbaugh of Blair County is Heath’s great-granddaughter. She said Richards’ theory is similar to what his descendants have believed all along.

“We, several cousins plus myself, never thought William was on the front line of the battle,” she said. “As a farrier, he wouldn’t have been. He may have been miles away, with horses. Sound horses were at a premium at the time, as many were hurt during travel.”

Strong credibility

Over the past 25 years, research has only continued to strengthen the claim.

Historian Ken Hammer, University of Wisconsin professor and Custer author, penned a letter supporting Heath’s story. That letter is held by Richard Taylor, Heath’s great-grandson.

In 1999 while visiting Heath’s grave in Tamaqua, descendant June Seeds of Camp Hill confirmed the family legacy.

“My grandmother Lavina told me the about the story ever since I was a little girl,” Seeds said.

Heath’s descendants credit Lavina for preserving the details. The late Tamaqua woman, buried with Heath in Odd Fellows Cemetery, knew much about her father’s military service.

“She lived to 93 and talked about it a lot,” said Taylor. “Lavina always said he was proud of his service. She also talked about the Molly Maguires.”

Taylor was referring to a reputed band of Irish immigrant coal miners who allegedly sparked a reign of terror in response to oppressive working conditions and other issues.

It is said that Englishman Heath reportedly received death threats: coffin notices tacked to his front door. That intimidation, some speculate, is what led him to enlist in the Army on Oct. 9, 1875.

Another descendant, Tamaqua native Nancy Everhart, Florida State University professor, visited the battle site with husband Harry, a retired educator. She spoke of the reluctance of tour guides to accept what many experts now say is fact.

“He was my great-grandfather,” she said. “I talked to the park ranger and told him the story about William Heath coming back to Tamaqua. He brushed it off and said they had heard of it but didn’t give it any credence. He said Heath was a common name and it probably wasn’t the same person.”

The tour guide was wrong.

Joined with Custer

Heath was assigned to Fort Abraham Lincoln in the Dakota Territories and sent to join Custer in crushing a Native American rebellion.

However, Heath was found wounded a few miles away and nursed back to health by the Ennis family.

He returned to Schuylkill County the following spring and lived out his life in Tamaqua, information supported by the 1890 U.S. Census.

He died in Tamaqua on May 2, 1891, of a brain tumor and now rests behind Soldiers Circle Monument in Odd Fellows Cemetery.

Finally, another historian, the late Brian Pohanka, one of the most noted authorities on Custer, went on record in support of the Heath story.

Pohanka’s offered illuminating remarks in a published forward of author Vincent Genovese’s book “Billy Heath: The Man Who Survived Custer’s Last Stand.”

“The conflicts and controversies, theory and debate, drama and symbolism of the Battle of Little Bighorn have and will doubtless continue to attract the attention of researchers and buffs, journalists and historians,” Pohanka said. “Did farrier William Heath of Company L, Seventh U. S. Cavalry, survive the Battle of Little Bighorn? Perhaps the only valid answer to that question is, let the evidence speak for itself.”