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10月31日 CusterologyCusterology: The Enduring Legacy of the Indian Wars and George Armstrong Custer
Sometimes I will read a book from cover to cover and then find myself going back to read it again. This is usually a good sign that I liked the book. It is an ever better sign that the book taught me something. After I finished Elliot's book the first time I found that I needed to read parts of it again. This book is not going to tell the avid historical reader anything new about Custer or the Battle of the Little Bighorn. What this book will give you is a fascinating look at the phenomena of interest that has evolved around Custer and the battle.
In terms of research Elliot has definitely done his leg work. He has visited with Steve Alexander and his wife in Monroe. He has attended the LBHA conference in Rapid City. He has been at the battlefield and the reenactments near the battlefield. Many of the names you find him talking about should be familiar to people involved in some way with historical research, reenactment or simple interest; Chuck & Diane Merkel, Father Vincent Heier, Bill Rini and many others.
What Elliot has created is a wonderful examination of the ongoing interest in this chapter of American history. He manages to look at the many different ways the general and the battle are remembered today. He also looks at how the perception of Custer has changed over the years as he has been immortalized as both villian and hero. Elliot does not try to judge this ongoing fascination. Even during the epilogue, though he does make some interesting historical comparisons, I don't see him trying to assess what he has related. He leaves this to the reader. I would heartily recommend this book to anybody interested in 'Custerology' both as an examination of the historical topic.
You might even see yourself in this book...
'Custerology: The Enduring Legacy of the Indian Wars and George Armstrong Custer', Michael A. Elliot, 2007, The University of Chicago Press, ISBN-13: 978-0-226-20146-7, ISBN-10: 0-226-20146-5 10月28日 Home Sweet Home...Home Sweet Home...
Laurie and I made it home a little before 10pm tonight. I wasn't able to do my usual blog update from the 'Flying J' on I-29; there was something funky going on with their Wi-Fi access. Everything went fine on the way home. We never like to leave Deadwood. Someday, with a little luck and a lot of careful planning, this will be our retirement home. Everytime we leave Deadwood we have a few more friends there and a lot more knowledge about the place. This time we came home with even more of both of these than usual.
It was a good trip. 10月27日 Lead and Spearfish and Dead Weird,,,Lead and Spearfish and Dead Weird...
Today is our last day in the Blackhills for quite awhile so we decided to visit a few places outside of Deadwood. The weather was beautiful with a lot of sunshine and this gave me a chance to shoot a lot of pictures of the mining machinery in Lead. It also gave me a chance to answer a morbid question I have had about the gold mining operations in Lead. You read and hear a lot about now dangerous the hard rock mining operations were but you never find out any numbers for mortality. Simply put; what was the death toll in the operations of Homestake Mining? There is a memorial not very far from the Homestake Mining Visitor's Center. It is a monument to all the miners who died over a 123 year time span. It literally numbered in the hundreds. I shot some pictures of the memorial, I didn't try to count all the names.
Then Laurie and I went to Spearfish. The night before this I had been talking to a fellow in the Casino that told me there was a bookstore in Spearfish that had a lot of books on the frontier era. You would think more bookstores in this area would carry that sort of thing but, first, there are not that many bookstores out here. If you want to find bookstores in any number you need to travel to Rapid City. Now most of the museums and visitor's centers will have a shop with books but usually they are the lower cost paperback editions aimed at the tourist market. Even the Adam's Museum mainly carries paperback editions. Laurie and I prefer hardcover editions for our research material.
The 'Book Trader' in Spearfish had both everything we wanted. They also had new books as well as used. It is always nice to find a new source to feed your addiction.
(605) 722-6952
111 E Hudson St Spearfish, SD Laurie and I decided to wander around Spearfish for awhile. This is a small town with a lot of older buildings in the downtown area. As I understand it, Seth Bullock was a big player in the creation and growth of Spearfish and they credit some of the buildings there to him. Most of these buildings are still in use. We also found a small knick-knack shop there that Laurie had a great time looking through.
10月26日 Exploring Historical ResourcesExploring Historical Resources...
Today has been another very good day in Deadwood for Laurie and me. This morning we went back to the Adam's House for their regular building tour and learned quite a bit more about the history of the home. Right after this Laurie was very much able to complete most of our Christmas shopping at their giftshop.
Then we visited the Deadwood Public Library and learned what we would need in order to access their records remotely. Laurie has already done a lot of valuable hunting through various newspaper records of the gold rush era. It really is amazing some of the materials she has found on various historical figures of the time. The technical problems will be easy to handle and the library staff showed that they would love to help.
The Deadwood Public Library
I'm finding more and more people each day I'm here that are willing to help. Tomorrow - our last full day here for an undetermined time as of yet - we will follow up on a couple more of these leads. Some of the information we are looking for is like some sort of detective story. We are gradually putting the pieces together. The sad thing is that this particular trip will soon come to an end.
I am already planning our next trip to the area. The really good news there is that we have earned at least three free nights in the Bullock Hotel! It sure makes the travel planning easier when one of the most substantial costs is essentially free... Deadwood again...Deadwood again...
Laurie and I woke up to a busy day in Deadwood today! Our first task was to visit the offices of TDS Communications; the publishers of 'Deadwood Magazine'. The staff there was incredibly helpful in getting our hands on several old issues of their fine magazine. They publish at least one excellent article in each issue on various aspects of Deadwood or Blackhills history. They are also willing to focus on historical incidents that most people have not touched on. One of their issues had the best article I have found to date on the federal raids in 1980 that closed the last of the brothels in Deadwood.
After this we stopped at a nearby business supply shop; ABC Business Supply. The owner was helpful and gracious in his attention to our supply needs.
(605) 578-3636
79 Sherman St Deadwood, SD I want to highly recommend them to anybody that visits Deadwood and finds they need business supplies. The service is not only excellent but the prices were very reasonable. Laurie and I have learned to check out suppliers if we are going to be in any area for any amount of time. It is almost inevitable that you will either need something or find you have forgotten something. ABC Business Supply is a small family operation and we are especially happy to provide our business to such places. We then went to the Adams House Museum and used our lifetime membership to visit their new display on the ongoing archaeological studies on Deadwood's Chinese community. We really had no idea of the extent of the old Chinese community in Deadwood during the time of the gold rush. Much of the area that currently belongs to the Hampton Inn - Four Aces casino was once part of old China town. We also spent a bit of money picking up some more historical materials. Yup, even after the buying frenzy at Fort Robinson yesterday we still found even more material to get today! Oh yes, they do sell things online. http://adamsmuseumandhouse.org/ After this we came back to our hotel, The Bullock, and retreated to Bully's Bar to do a little online research and get some food and drink. Laurie was also able to get our reservations in for the 'Spirits Tour' of the Adam's House later that night. The Adam's House is just one of many fine Victorian homes in the area but this one belonged to a family instrumental in the growth of Deadwood. It also seems that the grand old home is allegedly haunted. The perfect sort of tour so close to Halloween! We got a lot of good information and made a lot, and I mean a LOT, of valuable contacts today! The ghost tour of the Adam's House was not only fun but Laurie and I intend on taking one of the regular tours of the house tomorrow. This house is another great example of historical conservation and worth a further visit. Besides, our lifetime membership means we don't have to pay for the tour!
10月24日 Fort RobinsonFort Robinson
Laurie and I made it into Deadwood tonight around 6:00pm. It is safe to say we are pretty exhausted. Before we drove into Deadwood we went to visit the Fort Robinson Nebraska State Park. This place had been recommended to me by Paul Hedren and Bill Henry; both are former National Park Service employees and well known for their knowledge on the Plains Indian War.
Fort Robinson was no disappointment. The condition of many of the buildings was excellent and the ongoing preservation efforts were evident. The museums on the grounds offered a wealth of information and Laurie and I managed to spend $500 in their bookstore before we left. Some of the titles they had are just not easy to find!
Fort Robinson was the springboard of numerous operations during the indian wars. It was also home to both the 9th and 10th cavalry regiments - the Buffalo soldiers. These were black regiments that served with distinction in the segregrated army. Fort Robinson was also the place were Crazy Horse died. There are some people who believe that the Sioux lost their spirit with his death.
Laurie and I are already planning on going back. One of the very unique things about this former army post is that it offers lodging in the old quarters. We even saw that you could rent one of the old barracks for a group of up to twenty! It is my understanding that they hold a symposium there every three years on the frontier army that is second to none. We might have to seriously consider attending. On the road again...On the road again...
Laurie and I are on the road again; we left a little before midnight and at 4:00am we are at the I-29 'Flying J' in Sioux Falls. The next leg of our trip is to Murdo along I-90 and then from there we head south into Nebraska. If everything goes okay we should be at Camp Robinson by about noon.
Then we will head from there to Deadwood... 10月21日 Spam Run!Spam Run!
This weekend Laurie and I made another 'Spam Run' to Austin Minnesota. We made an essential stop at the "World Famous Spam Museum" in order to purchase the latest in Spam technology and momentos. We put down almost $200.00 to gather the items we so greedly want.
The next Deadwood run is within a few days. I always get a bit stoked for these trips. If I had the power Laurie and I would make these trips on a more regular basis. The reality of the matter is that work and budget restrict such desires. We will be going there shortly though and I am looking forward to it in no small way!
Before we head into Deadwood we will make a sidetrip down to Nebraska in order to visit Fort Robinson. This is going to be our chance to pick up a lot of new historical material and also visit a couple of places where some of this history happened. Fort Robinson is the place that Crazy Horse died after being bayonetted by an Indian policeman. It was also the post site for many of the regiments that were instrumental in the settling, or conquest, of the frontier.
The more I study the frontier indian wars the more I see them as a tragedy of epic proportion. I don't see how the cultural clash could have ended any differently. I am not saying that this is the way it should have ended. There was a lot of injustice and, sometime, outright evil done by all sides in the conflict. The terrible irony is that such horrible events make for fascinating reading. The forces that drove the westward expansion had a lot to do with social and economic forces. The gold rush into the Blackhills after Custer's 1874 expedition were driven all that much more by the economic crash of 1873 and the social pressures felt by immigrants in the east. The bit of this history that is ultimately the most interesting is the conflict that resulted. So far I think it was almost inevitable; greed usually outweighs charity. Hatred often conquers friendship.
Shortly Laurie and I will hit the road again. It will probably be our last major roadtrip for this year. This is not all bad though. In November they will run the vacation selection around our office again and we will start planning our next series of trips for 2008. It helps to always have something to look forward to! 10月17日 Deadwood and Fort Robinson - coming soon!Deadwood and Fort Robinson - coming soon to a blog near you!
It won't be long before Laurie and I are on the road again. This time we will be heading first to Fort Robinson State Park in Nebraska and then up to Deadwood again. This will be our first visit to Fort Robinson but we have already heard so many good reports about this place that I feel more than one trip there will be needed. It could rank right along side Fort Laramie and Fort Larned as a destination.
After this we will head north again into the Blackhills and then Deadwood. We have some new contacts in Deadwood that we will need to visit. Each new trip brings with it new opportunities; this time we will be seeing what we can get from the back issues of Deadwood Magazine. It is easy enough to order them online but why not just stop at their office and see what they have. When we contacted them they were not only prompt in their reply but very supportive of our endeavors.
One very nice thing about travelling to Deadwood this time of year is that reservations are not only easier but a lot cheaper. The only sad side to all this is that it will be our last trip there for this year. The travel season is just about at an end for us. As it is I am watching the weather very closely; rain isn't a problem for us but a snowstorm could be a disaster of sorts. So far everything looks good. 10月7日 Miniature WargamingMiniature Wargaming
I confess, I am a miniature wargamer. I find it is often a highly misunderstood hobby; sort of an historical geekdom. The funny thing is I do wish I could devote more time to it but life puts other demands on my time. I did find this nifty video about the hobby though.
And this one too!
10月3日 I never say enough about my wife...I never say enough about my wife...
I never say enough about my wife. Sure, I mention her on here but when do I ever tell anybody what a fantastic person she really is? It goes without saying that she has to have the patience of a saint to be able to put up with an eccentric like me! She seems to understand that no matter what crusade I go running off to join I will be back eventually. She also knows that being supportive doesn't always mean you have to know exactly what I'm doing. Quite frankly there are times when I don't know what I'm doing!
Her unquestioning faith in me is quite astounding. There are times when I'm uncertain what course of action to take but she always reassures me that things will work out. I don't know that she has any idea how much strength I take from this.
She has also been with me through thick and thin; I remember being in an intensive care unit at the University of Minnesota Hospitals and they were asking about my donor's card!
She was right there, never far away, and gently hold my hand. My body got stronger as did my love for her. It was not long after that when I was recovering on a hospital ward that one of the nurses asked me if I was going to marry her. I told the nurse that I wanted too. The nurse told me I damn well better!
So here I am working out further future plans. I am essentially trying to piece together a plan for the rest of our lives. It seems like an act of folly to try to control the future but our society really wants us to do that. Just look at all the money people make on self-help guides and retirement planning. The fact of the matter is that I don't think I would have a future to plan for if it wasn't for Laurie. I had a pretty wild lifestyle before I knew her. She has become the anchor of my life.
Well, I probably don't say enough about her here. Maybe in the future I will have to say a bit more? Maybe tell how lucky I really am to have her in my life... |
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