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Post by custerstillstands on Nov 10, 2005 7:09:19 GMT -6
How many famous people did Custer know ? And what was his feelings with these people ?
I know that Custer knew Lincoln, Grant, Sheridan, Sherman, Buffalo Bill, Wild Bill Hickok, Great Duke of Russia, John Jacob Astor ("Titanic"'s legend)... Who else ?
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Post by ma dawg got et on Nov 10, 2005 7:16:55 GMT -6
P T Barnum
alfuso
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Post by elisabeth on Nov 10, 2005 7:29:36 GMT -6
Lawrence Barrett, the actor ... Clara Kellogg, the opera-singer ...
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Post by Tricia on Nov 10, 2005 12:56:14 GMT -6
I think Libbie got even farther into the societal stratosphere: Alexander III of Russia (I can't recall if she met the Tsarina Maria Fedorovna), the Empress of Austria. Don't remember if she was ever presented to Queen Victoria, however. Didn't she have the occasion to meet TR? I know they exchanged letters.
Did Custer ever meet Calamity Jane, or has that tale been discounted? The Augustus Belmonts are another fancy-schmancy connection. GAC writes about Maggie Mitchell in 1866--and they're quite funny remarks: "Her manners are so pleasing, her conversation so refined you would not suppose she had been on the stage ..." Guess acting was still a semi-scandalous profession.
Regards, Leyton McLean (who knows no celebrities!)
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Post by custerstillstands on Nov 10, 2005 13:09:59 GMT -6
Did Custer ever meet Calamity Jane, or has that tale been discounted? I think Calamity Jane was Custer's scout during the Black Hills expedition... They should have met each other... I remember Louise Barnett talking about Libbie in Britain, who wanted to go in India. TWhen he British officer knew that she was the wife of general Custer, she got the first ticket to India...
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Post by crzhrs on Nov 10, 2005 13:12:49 GMT -6
The Calamity Jane thing was never proven and most think it never happened. Libbie did travel extensively throughout Europe after the death of her husband and her books were very popular there. She met a number of royalty and many others.
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Post by El Crab on Nov 10, 2005 16:12:59 GMT -6
I don't know if Custer ever met her, but I thought she was said to have followed one of the expeditions. Among the enlisted men, she was said to be very unclean and always wanting a drink. I'd dig up the source, but I don't recall where I saw that. I wanna say SOTMS (but since Connell didn't include numbered footnotes...) but I just can't remember.
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Post by Treasuredude on Nov 10, 2005 18:21:11 GMT -6
I don't know if Custer ever met her, but I thought she was said to have followed one of the expeditions. Among the enlisted men, she was said to be very unclean and always wanting a drink. I'd dig up the source, but I don't recall where I saw that. I wanna say SOTMS (but since Connell didn't include numbered footnotes...) but I just can't remember. Calamity jane was well known for spinning tall tales. According to one she was the first one on the battlefield after the fight and witnessed the badly mutilated bodies. According to everything I've heard about her, she had a big heart but you couldn't believe a word she said.
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Post by El Crab on Nov 10, 2005 19:17:25 GMT -6
I don't know if Custer ever met her, but I thought she was said to have followed one of the expeditions. Among the enlisted men, she was said to be very unclean and always wanting a drink. I'd dig up the source, but I don't recall where I saw that. I wanna say SOTMS (but since Connell didn't include numbered footnotes...) but I just can't remember. Calamity jane was well known for spinning tall tales. According to one she was the first one on the battlefield after the fight and witnessed the badly mutilated bodies. According to everything I've heard about her, she had a big heart but you couldn't believe a word she said. Well, as I recall, it came from sources other than her. Besides, would she have mentioned being unclean and begging for the sauce? And tramping around, trailing a regiment rather than scouting for it with invaluable skill?
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Post by Treasuredude on Nov 10, 2005 19:21:54 GMT -6
The Calamity Jane thing was never proven and most think it never happened. Libbie did travel extensively throughout Europe after the death of her husband and her books were very popular there. She met a number of royalty and many others. I seem to remember reading in the LBHA Research Review a few years ago about a friendship between Libbie and Mark Twain.
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Post by Diane Merkel on Nov 11, 2005 0:10:17 GMT -6
I know this started as a thread about GAC, but Libbie has trickled in and she had a fascinating life after GAC!
I would bet that Libbie did know Twain. Without checking sources, I believe they were in New York during the same period while he was publishing and she was hanging out with people in the literary and art circles.
I just went rifling through my files, trying to find one I have labeled "The Fan" but without success. We have a "party fan" signed by Libbie, textile designer Candace Wheeler, Paul Leicester Ford (biographer of Thomas Jefferson), and the woman who wrote Hans Brinker/The Silver Skates, among others. There are probably a dozen autographs from those who frequented an artist colony in the mountains of New York. I started to research the names at one point, but it went the way of so many good intentions.
We also have a book that Libbie received as a memento of her cruise to India. I could post a group photo of Libbie and her fellow cruisers if anyone is interested.
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Post by Tricia on Nov 11, 2005 0:26:31 GMT -6
Diane--
Okay, I'm the party responsible for dragging Libbie--kicking and screaming--into this thread. But you're right; she lived a heck of a life after her husband's demise, that of which I'm sure he would be quite jealous! That boy from the wrong side of the tracks ...
I'd love to see that group photo. Another brush with fame: in her book, "The Summer of the Great-Grandmother," author Madeleine L' Engle talks about her family roots in Kansas. One day her ancestors were throwing a dinner party, and wouldn't you know it, their cook became ill. Guess who supplied her substitute? Yep, Libbie and Armstrong!
Regards, Leyton McLean
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Post by Guest on Nov 11, 2005 6:33:26 GMT -6
Crazy Horse, Sitting Bull, Low Dog, Gall, Two Moons, etal....
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Post by ma dawg got et on Nov 11, 2005 6:42:38 GMT -6
Treasuredude
I seem to remember reading - somwhereitallrunstogether -- that Jane drove a wagon during the BH expedition. Disguised as a man but she couldn't keep her yap shut and her clothes on and was found out. But I don't think Custer even knew about it let alone met her.
alfuso
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Post by Diane Merkel on Nov 11, 2005 9:06:15 GMT -6
In Reply #4, CusterStillStands mentioned Libbie's trip to India. The book we have appears to have a lot of "canned" photos and text of India, but the beginning of it is specific to the cruise that Libbie took. Here are several scans from the book. I've put large scans of the group photo and passenger list on the server so that you can save them on your hard drives and use a photo editor to zoom in on them. Your browser may not display the photos larger, but you should be able to save them at their full size. Can anyone spot Libbie in the photo? I believe the penciled notes on the passenger list are hers. Note that there is a "Miss Godfrey" on the trip. For a 150 pixel/inch image: www.lbha.org/images/IndianCruiseBook/group.jpgFor a 300 pixel/inch image: www.lbha.org/images/IndianCruiseBook/group-300.jpgFor the larger image: www.lbha.org/images/IndianCruiseBook/passengers.jpg
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