By Arnie Gilje Independent, November 24, 1982
Central North Dakota has an organization which gives members opportunity to relive history and to meet for training and recreation. Referred to here is Company C., a Seventh Cavalry unit, which has a membership of 29 men and women from an area extending from Steele north to Perth.
Company C was organized under the direction of Cliff Flegel, back in 1968, and has been active ever since. The purpose of the organization is to carry on in the tradition of Company C. of early days of Dakota. It was this company, then of Devils Lake, with Captain Tom Custer as commander, which hit the trail from Devils Lake, up over Hawksnest and to Fort Lincoln, to join General George Custer and his company on the ill-fated trek which ended with the Little Big Horn massacre. That Company C was made up of young farmers eager for patriotic duty.
This unit has no official status in the military, it has no commission from the state governor, and it has no commitment to act in any emergency. It is one of five units in North Dakota, Companies M, I, E, D and C.
The company meets on the second Tuesday of each month at the Eagles Club at New Rockford. At their sessions the members practice drills with their horses and indulge in target practice using 45-70 rifles.
Most of the members, both men and women, have horses of their own, their mounts being used in activities which are upholding the traditions of the Cavalry, which played an important role in the nation's earlier wars and uprisings.
Company C has a buggy for transporting nurse (female members) who don't have horses of their own. There are also two horse-drawn covered wagons for transporting supplies and ammunition.
The unit is very popular when it comes to parade time in the surrounding area.
Source: A History of Foster County 1983 Page 255