Mark Kellogg (1831–1876)

Marcus Henry Kellogg was born in Ontario but his family eventually settled in Wisconsin. He worked for a number of newspapers before founding the Bismark Tribune in North Dakota with Clement Lounsberry. Lounsberry was set to accompany the 7th Cavalry into the Montana Territory, but his wife became ill, so Kellogg substituted for him at the last minute. He filed three dispatches from the field; in the last one he wrote "By the time this reaches you we would have met and fought the red devils". Unfortunately for Kellogg, he was riding with Lieutenant Colonel George Custer straight into the Battle of Little Bighorn, where Custer and most of those riding with him were killed in battle with Sioux Indians. Kellogg died with Company E on June 25, 1876 and was found scalped and missing an ear. Since his dispatches were distributed around the country by the Associated Press, he was the first AP correspondent to die in the line of duty. His satchel, pencil, and eyeglasses are on display in the Newseum in Washington DC.