The Last Days of George Armstrong Custer (44 page)

Custer, however, does not repeat that assertion in his article “Battling with the Sioux on the Yellowstone.” It would seem odd that Custer did not mention Sitting Bull or Crazy Horse, if indeed these by then famous warriors had participated.

Also, another article reprinted in Hutton's
Custer Reader,
“Expedition to the Yellowstone River in 1873: Letters of a Young Cavalry Officer” by Larned, a Seventh Cavalry officer who was a member of the expedition, failed to name any of the Indians who attacked the cavalry.

Custer scholar Frost in his
Custer's 7th Cav and the Campaign of 1873
related the Indian fights without identifying any of the Sioux participants. In his notes, however, Frost quotes Colonel David Stanley as stating that upon the colonel's arrival at Fort Sully he spoke to a man named Antoine Clement who had learned from a Sioux chief named Little White Swan that the leaders in the attacks were Red Ears' son, a Brulé, and Bull Without Hair, a Miniconju.

In the absence of definitive sources, perhaps the romantic view that the eyes of Custer and Crazy Horse had briefly danced together in prelude to their meeting at the Little Bighorn—as Ambrose suggests—adds to the drama and creates a more stirring picture of those two battles on the Yellowstone.

The best account of Bloody Knife's life is
Bloody Knife: Custer's Favorite Scout
, by Innis. Other notable works include: “Bloody Knife,” by Collin, and “Bloody Knife, Ree Scout for Custer,” by Gray, and for Bloody Knife's controversy with Chief Gall see “Bloody Knife and Gall” by Taylor.

The best accounts of the life and death and usefulness of the American bison can be found in
The Buffalo: The Story of American Bison and Their Hunters from Prehistoric Times to the Present,
by Haines; “Bison Ecology and Bison Diplomacy: The Southern Plains from 1800 to 1850,” by Flores;
The Buffalo Hunters,
by Mari Sandoz;
The Buffalo Book,
by Dary; and “Indians as Buffalo Hunters,” by Rister.

The best source in the rather lean bibliography of the Yellowstone Expedition is
Custer's 7th Cav and the Campaign of 1873,
by Frost. Another interesting source, which provides excerpts from fifteen of Custer's letters to his wife, is
The Custer Story,
by Merington. For Libbie's personal account and a reprint of Custer's official report see her
Boots and Saddles.
One other source of note is “The Yellowstone Expedition of 1873.” For the role of steamboats on this expedition, see “Steamboats on the Yellowstone” by Lass.

Chapter Six

Black Hills, Red Spirits

The best account of the Custers' life at Fort Abraham Lincoln can be found in Libbie's
Boots and Saddles or, Life in Dakota with General Custer
. Another interesting source is chapter 24 in
General Custer's Libbie,
by Frost. Also see
Custer's Seventh Cavalry Comes to Dakota,
by Darling.

Excellent sources for the arrival and domination of the Lakota Sioux in the Black Hills area can be found in
Red Cloud's Folk,
by Hyde;
Spotted Tail's Folk,
by Hyde;
The Sioux: Life and Customs of a Warrior Society,
by Hassrick; and “The Intertribal Balance of Power on the Great Plains, 1760–1850,” by Calloway.

The best source for the complete history of the fight over the Black Hills by the Lakota Sioux is
Black Hills/White Justice,
by Lazarus.

Text of the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868 (from
U.S. Statutes at Large,
vol. 15, 635–40) can be found in
Custer's Gold,
by Jackson, and in volume 2 of
Indian Affairs: Laws and Treaties,
compiled by Kappler.

An excellent account of the treaty and its aftermath based on Indian and white sources is
Red Cloud and the Sioux Problem,
by Olson. Also see
Fort Laramie in 1876: Chronicle of a Frontier Post at War,
by Hedren;
Phil Sheridan and His Army,
by Hutton; and
Frontier Regulars,
by Utley.

The best sources for Red Cloud's War include:
Red Cloud's Folk,
by Hyde;
Fort Phil Kearny: An American Saga,
by Brown;
The Bozeman Trail: Historical Accounts of the Blazing of the Overland Route into the Northwest and the Fights with Red Cloud's Warriors,
by Brininstool and Hebard;
The Fetterman Massacre,
by Brown;
Indian Fights and Fighters,
by Brady;
Red Cloud and the Sioux Problem,
by Olson;
Indian Fights,
by Vaughn; and
My Army Life and the Fort Phil Kearny Massacre,
by Carrington.

Sherman's defense of entry into the Black Hills is in Jackson's
Custer's Gold,
24; Barrows' quote is in the same volume, 76; McKay's quote can be found in my
Custer Companion,
146.

Custer's fame as a dead-eyed marksman in large part can be attributed to his own considerable promotion. His articles in
Galaxy
and the sportsman's journal
Turf, Field and Farm
record many memorable hunts and days spent with thoroughbred horses in Kentucky. The
Galaxy
articles were compiled into Custer's book,
My Life on the Plains,
which brought his exploits to the general public. The
Turf, Field and Farm
articles have been reprinted in
Nomad,
edited by Dippie.

For other interesting portrayals of Custer's sporting life, see:
General Custer's Thoroughbreds: Racing, Riding, Hunting, and Fighting,
by Frost; “Buffalo Hunting with Custer,” by Talmadge; and “Big Game Hunting with the Custers,” by Millbrook. Many of Custer's hunts and observations are noted by his wife in her three books:
Boots and Saddles, Tenting on the Plains,
and
Following the Guidon.
John Burkman's recollections about tending Custer's hounds can be found in
Old Neutriment,
by Wagner.

Custer's quote about hunting can be found in Merington's
Custer Story,
274–75. His dispatch to Sheridan about finding gold is in Jackson's
Custer's Gold,
87–88.

Biographical material about Boston Custer comes from the various biographies of his famous brother. His obituary appeared in the January 11, 1878, edition of
The Monroe Commercial.
Boston's letter to his mother has been reprinted in Graham's
Custer Myth.

George Bird Grinnell's descriptive books and articles about the Cheyenne, Pawnee, and Blackfoot remain excellent sources of information. Most notable are
The Cheyenne Indians
and
The Fighting Cheyennes
.

Notable books and articles about Charley Reynolds include: the definitive biography
Charley Reynolds: Soldier, Hunter, Scout and Guide,
by John E. and George J. Remsburg; “Charley Reynolds, Hunter & Scout,” by Brininstool; “On the Trail of Lonesome Charley Reynolds,” by Gray; and Gray's “Last Rites for Lonesome Charley Reynolds.” George Bird Grinnell's account of Reynolds and the pronghorn antelope can be found in Grinnell's “The Return of a War Party: Reminiscences of Charley Reynolds.”

Reynolds' diary, with entries from May 17 to June 22, 1876, is in the archives of the Minnesota State Historical Society, St. Paul. The text of the diary can be found in Koury's
Diaries of the Little Big Horn
.

The best account of the Black Hills Expedition, which provides an excellent overview with interesting anecdotes, is
Custer's Gold: The United States Cavalry Expedition of 1874,
by Jackson. Newspaper coverage, Custer's reports, and journals maintained by Forsyth and Grant can be found in
Prelude to Glory,
by Krause and Olson. For Custer's official report see
Report of the Expedition to the Black Hills Under Command of Brevet Major General G. A. Custer,
43rd Cong., 2nd sess., Sen. Exec. Doc. 32.

Diaries of two military participants—one officer and one enlisted—are:
With Custer in '74: James Calhoun's Diary of the Black Hills Expedition,
edited by Frost, and
Private Theodore Ewert's Diary of the Black Hills Expedition of 1874,
edited by Carroll and Frost.

The journal of Theodore Ewert, who was serving as Custer's orderly trumpeter, is especially notable. His record of events provides interesting and relevant information not available in official reports or articles submitted by correspondents. His descriptions of the daily routine include amusing observations and complaints that have been expressed by enlisted men throughout military history. He also had the freedom to state opinions that may have been contrary to those of his superiors, the public, and the mainstream press. Ewert was discharged from the army on April 10, 1876, and therefore did not march with the Seventh Cavalry to the Little Bighorn. Many excerpts from Ewert's journal can be found in
Custer's Gold,
by Jackson.

Another participant's view is in
The Passing of the Great West: Selected Papers of George Bird Grinnell,
edited by Reiger.

For a modern-day photographic reconstruction of Custer's route, see
Following Custer,
by Progulske and Shideler.

Also valuable are:
Gold in the Black Hills,
by Parker; “The Red Man and the Black Hills,” by Bates; and “The Black Hills Expedition of 1874,” by Gerber.

Chapter Seven

Prelude to War

Plenty of sources where Custer's writing skills can be viewed have been documented in previous chapters. Other works by Custer—personal letters, orders, et cetera—can be found in collections at the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument; University of Michigan; Monroe, Michigan County Library System; Monroe County Historical and Museum Association; New York Public Library; Rochester, New York Public Library; U.S. Army Military History Institute; U.S. Military Academy at West Point; and Yale University.

The Custer-Hazen feud is covered in
Penny-an-Acre Empire in the West,
edited by Stewart;
Great Plains Command: William B. Hazen in the Frontier West,
by Kroeker; “Deceit About the Garden: Hazen, Custer, and the Arid Lands Controversy,” by Kroeker; and “A Short Evaluation of the Custer-Hazen Debates” in
4 On Custer by Carroll.
Excerpts of letters written by Hazen and Custer—as well as others involved—are contained in
Custer's 7th Cav and the Campaign of 1873,
by Frost. Rosser's letter of February 16, 1874, which requests that Custer respond to Hazen, is in the Elizabeth B. Custer Collection, Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument.

Custer's close relationship with the railroads can be found in “Fort Desolation: The Military Establishment, the Railroad, and the Settlement on the Northern Plains,” by Hutton.

Hazen's “Some Corrections of ‘Life on the Plains'” and Custer's opinion of Hazen can be found in
My Life on the Plains
. An attack on Hazen's position,
Major General Hazen on His Post of Duty in the Great American Desert,
was written by former U.S. Surveyor General John O. Sargeant.

The most complete account of Rain-in-the-Face's arrest and escape can be found in
Custer's 7th Cav and the Campaign of 1873,
by Frost. Various versions of the event attributed to Rain-in-the-Face are in “Rain-in-the-Face: The Story of a Sioux Warrior,” by Eastman; “The Personal Story of Rain-in-the-Face,” by Brady; “Custer and Rain in the Face,” by Huggins, and “Captain Yates' Capture of Rain-in-the-Face,” by Brady.

Thomas “Tucker” French is the subject of “A Captain of Chivalric Courage,” by Johnson and articles in two newspapers: “The Man in Buckskin” in
The Bismarck Tribune,
April 11, 1877, and “Tracking a Custer Indian Fighter” in
The Washington Post,
March 27, 1980. A letter he wrote to the wife of Dr. A. H. Cooke has been reprinted in
The Custer Myth,
edited by Graham.

Every book about the Apache Wars in Arizona contains biographical material about George Crook. An entertaining autobiography is
General George Crook: His Autobiography
. His Civil War career is chronicled in Magid's
George Crook: From the Redwoods to Appomattox
. A well-balanced account of his Western adventures can be found in Robinson's
General Crook and the Western Frontier
. Stories from an unabashed admirer who served as Crook's aide for sixteen years yet offers a fair account of the general's service in Arizona, Wyoming, and Montana are in
On the Border with Crook,
by John G. Bourke.

Walter P. Jenny's
Report on the Mineral Wealth, Climate and Rainfall and Natural Resources of the Black Hills of South Dakota,
which covers his 1875 expedition, can be found in 44th Cong., 1st sess., Exec. Doc. 51.

The best sources for the Allison Commission's attempt to purchase the Black Hills and ensuing events leading to hostilities include: Allison's report:
Annual Report to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs,
1875;
Red Cloud's Folk
and
Spotted Tail's Folk,
by Hyde;
A History of the Dakota or Sioux Indians,
by Robinson; and “The Majors and the Miners: The Role of the U.S. Army in the Black Hills Gold Rush,” by Parker.

President Grant's edict of December 6, 1875, to the Lakota Sioux in the unceded territory is contained in
Report of the Secretary of War, 1876
. Instructions to the various Indian agents have been printed in 44th Cong., 1st sess., Sen. Exec. Doc. No. 52, pp. 5–6,
and
44th Cong., 1st sess., House Exec. Doc. No. 184.