My Collection

[El Crab]

Nat'l Geographic, Vol 170, No. 6 December 1986 "Ghosts on the Little Bighorn"

Son of the Morning Star -- Evan S. Connell

Custer Victorious -- Gregory J.W. Irwin

Archaeological Insights into The Custer Battle -- Scott and Fox

The Custer Myth -- W.A. Graham

Warpath: The True Story of the Fighting Sioux -- Stanley Vestal

They Died With Custer -- Scott, Willey and Connor

Custer's Last Campaign -- John S. Gray

Centennial Campaign: The Sioux War of 1876 -- John S. Gray

Custer in '76 -- Kenneth Hammer

Lakota Noon -- Greg Michno

The Mystery of E Troop -- Greg Michno

A Cavalryman with Custer -- J.H. Kidd

Custer's Luck -- Edgar I. Stewart

Archaeology, History, and Custer's Last Battle -- Richard Allan Fox, Jr.

Archaeology, History, and Custer's Last Battle -- Richard Allan Fox, Jr. (signed/personally inscribed)

Hokahey! A Good Day to Die! The Indian Casualties of the Custer Fight -- Richard G. Hardorff

Indian Views of the Custer Fight: A Source Book -- Richard G. Hardorff

Archaeological Perspectives on the Battle of the Little Bighorn -- Scott, Fox, Connor and Harmon

Lakota Recollections of the Custer Fight -- Richard G. Hardorff

Research Review: The Journal of the LBHA, Vol. 8 No. 2, June 1994, pg. 21-31 "The Defense of Custer Hill" -- Bruce A. Trinque

To Hell With Honor -- Larry Sklenar

Touched By Fire - Louise Barnett

Custer's Last Stand -- Quentin Reynolds

Custer's Last Stand -- Frank Humphris

Added 11/06

I Fought With Custer -- Charles Windolph

Cheyenne Memories -- John Stands In Timber

Added 09/08

Custerology -- Michael A. Elliott

Where Custer Fell -- James S. Brust, Brian C. Pohanka and Sandy Barnard

Added 12/08

Little Bighorn & Isandlwana: Kindred Fights, Kindred Follies -- Paul Williams

My Life on the Plains -- George Armstrong Custer

Boots and Saddles (2nd edition? 1913) -- E.B. Custer

Tenting on the Plains -- Elizabeth B. Custer

Prelude to Glory -- Herbert Krause & Gary D. Olson

Added 02/11

Camp, Custer and the Little Bighorn -- Richard Hardorff

A Terrible Glory -- James Donovan

Added 04/11

The Custer Reader -- Paul A. Hutton

Glory-Hunter: A Life of General Custer -- Frederic Van de Water

Custer Battlefield Handbook -- Robert Utley(?)

Added 06/11

With Custer's Cavalry -- Katherine Gibson Fougera

Added 08/11

The Custer Album -- Lawrence Frost

The Court-Martial of George Armstrong Custer -- Douglas Jones

The Last Stand -- Nathaniel Philbrick

Added 09/11

Washita Memories -- Richard Hardorff

Cheyenne Memories of the Custer Fight -- Richard Hardorff

Digging Into Custer's Last Stand -- Sandy Barnard

Custer and The Little Big Horn: A Psychobiographical Inquiry -- Charles Hofling

Added 02/12

G.A. Custer: His Life and Times -- Glenwood Swanson (signed)

Son of the Morning Star -- Evan S. Connell (the same Promontory Press copy I already had, but in fine condition and including the dust jacket, which I discarded previously)

Custer's 7th Cav & the Campaign of '73 -- Lawrence A. Frost (signed, limited edition 66 of 100)

Following the Guidon -- Elizabeth Custer

Participants in the Battle of the Little Big Horn -- Frederic C. Wagner III (signed/personally inscribed)

Custer in Photographs -- Dr. Mark Katz (Limited First Edition, 1 of 1000 copies, previously owned by a Charles Wesley Fitch)

Custer & Company -- Bruce R. Liddic & Paul Harbaugh

Custer's Gold -- Donald Jackson

Cheyenne Memories of the Custer Fight -- Richard C. Hardorff

The Day the World Ended at Little Bighorn -- Joseph M. Marshall III

Black Elk Speaks -- Black Elk & John G. Neihardt

Wooden Leg -- Wooden Leg & Dr. Thomas Marquis

Boots & Saddles at the Little Bighorn -- James S. Hutchins

Men-At-Arms: The American Indian Wars 1860-1890 -- Philip Katcher & G.A. Embleton

"Collecting Custer" Firsts: The Book Collector's Magazine, Sept. 2010 Vol. 20, No. 7

"Custer: The Rise and Fall of the Boy General" The Civil War Monitor, Winter 2011, Vol. 1 No. 2

Last Stand! Famous Battles Against the Odds -- Bryan Perrett

Added 04/12

Custer's Fall: The Native American Side of the Story -- David Humphreys Miller

The Custer Battle Casualties: Burials, Exhumations, and Reinterments -- Richard G. Hardorff

The Custer Battle Casualties, II: The Dead, The Missing, and a Few Survivors -- Richard G. Hardorff

Lakota Noon -- Greg Michno (signed & inscribed)

A Terrible Glory -- Jim Donovan (signed & inscribed)

Ghost West: Reflects Past and Present -- Ann Ronald (signed & inscribed)

Forts of the Northern Plains -- Jeff Barnes (signed & inscribed)


Update:

Thanks to Frank Bodden, I got three new books today, signed and inscribed to me by each author (Barnes, Michno and Donovan). Plus I found a book detailing one event in each western state, including Montana/Little Big Horn. Also signed and inscribed, just not to me.

Plus I ordered Hardorff's Custer Battle Casualties, I & II, from the local used bookstore. And they arrived today. Today was a good day for my Custer collection.

Update:

I did get Fred's book, and he graciously allowed me to ship it to him to be signed and inscribed before sending it to me.

And I've added a ton of books to my collection, and lots more to do with just Indian Wars and the West. My room is overrun with books now, as I've been buying and selling them on eBay. I wanted to get my website up before offering books for sale to you guys again, but I don't know if I can wait that long...

Update:

Once Fred's book is out, I will be picking that up, and I think I'll finally join the LBHA Research Review/Newsletter deal, and start picking up back issues as time goes on as well.

I've branched out, having read things that have sent me in all sorts of directions. Blood Meridian is to blame for this, as it has caused me to look into Kit Carson and the pre Civil War West. Blood and Thunder was a fun read. And while I'm not a hunter, I picked up an awesome book called Hunting the American West. Its a beautifully illustrated book, and is one of my prized possessions. That branched out into books on the man-eating lions of Tsavo, so I picked up 4 or 5 titles on that subject. And Charles C. Mann's 1491, covering the indigenous people before Columbus. European/Native clashes have got a hold on me.

Haven't read Philbrick's LBH book, but In the Heart of the Sea was a great read. Yet another interest I blame on Blood Meridian. Given its prose has been compared to Moby Dick, I decided to read up on the historical event that inspired Melville. Enthralling stuff, that. And William Goldman's two books on his journey in screenwriting in Hollywood. Plus McCarthy's The Road, No Country For Old Men and the single greatest book I've ever read, Blood Meridian.

Having just finished Blood Meridian for a third time, its time to get started on True Grit. And then McCarthy's The Orchard Keeper.

That's it for me right now. I just picked up two of Hardorff's books and read them in one sitting. I briefly thought about the books I had borrowed from the library when I was younger, but I can't rightly recollect which ones I've read.

The National Geographic article started it all for me. I read it in the late 80s. My mother is a huge Titanic buff and it was laying around, and I read the Titanic article. I noticed the word Ghosts in the table of contents, and took a gander at the Custer article. Despite very little actual ghost content, I was hooked. I started reading everything I could get my hands on. The funny thing to me is I remember seeing Fox's books in the library computer system, but they were always at other locations and I lacked the ability to drive and they never seemed to transfer the books to my location, no matter how many times I requested it.

I grew up on Son of the Morning Star, and it remains my most oft-read. Lakota Noon, as I said before, is my favorite for battle theory. And I might add, Michno stole my idea. When I was younger, I found all sorts of articles in magazines and periodicals with Indian accounts. And while confusing by themselves at times, I always figured if the accounts were put together and reconciled, it might be possible to construct a plausible theory. Sure enough, I come to find out it was done.

As for the books on the archaeology, I finally picked those up in a flurry, the months before I finally went to the battlefield. I was lucky enough to have weaseled my way into a small group who had unique access to one Dr. Richard Allan Fox, Jr., and I was able to convince them to let me come along on their trip that August. The silly thing of it, I've owned a car since 1997, and spent all kinds of cash on various things, but the thought never dawned on me to drive over the battlefield. I could have gone many times before that August, but it was worth the wait.

Anyway, there's my list, and I'll probably add to it today, after a quick check of the Powells.com inventory.

[historynut1876]

That's a great Custer collection. I have the National Geographic issue, too, picked it up for .25 at the library many years ago. I have to add that to my list, too. I forgot all about it. Thanks for sharing your collection.

[Jimmy Joe Meeker]

"Custer's Last Stand -- Frank Humphris"


He was a hell of an illustrator. Wonder if he's still alive...?

[El Crab]

Funny you mention that, the last two books on my list, both having the same name, are young readers books my mom picked up. She tends to, when looking for things for her antique/kitsch business, pick up books and what-not on Custer and sharks and the Civil War for me. Those two were ones she found.

Humphris died in 1993.

[crzhrs]

SOMS is an excellent book regarding the events pre-during-post the LBH. It does jump around quite a bit and goes off-topic at times. It does not delve into much of the battle and tactics, however.

Still, the best part of the book is the tid-bits of info on people, places, and things. A good read.

There are many others that I have enjoyed but most seem to try to prove a viewpoint rather than an objective insight.

Some of my favorites:

Son of the Morning Star by Evan S. Connell
Custer's Luck by Edgar Stewart
Custer's Last Campaign by John Gray
Centennial Campaign by John Gray
The Custer Myth by W.A. Graham
Archaeology, History, and Custer's Last Battle -- Richard Allan Fox, Jr.
The Reno Court of Inquiry by W.A. Graham
Custer in '76 by Kenneth Hammer
Lakota Noon by Greg Michno

The above books are the one I refer to for info. The are mostly objective and do not take sides or have an agenda.

[El Crab]

I have the RCOI on PDF somewhere on this computer. And I just picked up two books at Powell's:

I Fought With Custer -- Charles Windolph
Cheyenne Memories -- John Stands In Timber

Picked 'em up for 6.50 each. I was tempted by Wooden Leg and The Fetterman Massacre, plus a book on Custer's soldiers' uniforms from the ACW to LBH. It had a lot of good pictures of lower ranked soldiers who fought at LBH, plus other pix of officers I had not seen. Plus, The Fighting Cheyennes and a paperback copy of SOTMS for 8 bucks. I'm lucky I got out of there as cheaply as I did.

Thankfully, Wooden Leg is on my Christmas list, and the others can wait...

[crzhrs]

If we are talking about non-Custer/LBH books then (and not running to my book shelves):

The Bloody Bozeman
Fort Phil Kearny, (aka, The Fetterman Massacre)
Killing Custer
Red Cloud's Folks
These Were the Sioux
Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee
Indian Fights & Fighters
The Fighting Cheyenne
The Buffalo War
To Kill An Eagle
Crazy Horse: The Strange Man of the Oglala
The Shield & the Lance (Sitting Bull)
Little Big Horn Remembered
The Indian Frontier
Frontier Regulars
Scalp Dance
With Crook on the Rosebud
Month of the Freezing Moon
Sand Creek
Cheyenne Autumn
The Great Father
Indian Raids & Raiders
The Letters of George Bent

I could go on . . . but there are so many good books that are worth reading that I would run out of room for the ones I've read . . . and that doesn't include books taken out from the library!

[El Crab]

I might again be adding to my collection. I made a killing at the poker tables today, so I may pick up another book or two.

[Jimmy Joe Meeker]

Didn't know that, Crab. I used to have that book and another called Plains Indians (or something like that) when I was younger. They were both Ladybird books and were full of excellent illustrations. I think Humphris used to work for the Eagle comic in the UK. I'm sure I've seen his stuff in collected albums.

[elisabeth]

That's right! I knew that name rang a bell. He drew the fabulous Dan Dare series for the Eagle. Brilliant man.

Here's mine, minus a couple of things that haven't arrived yet. Please tell me if you see any glaring gaps!

Lakota Noon -- Michno
Custer's Last Campaign -- Gray
Fort Wallace -- Leo E. Oliva, KSHS
The Plains Wars 1757-1900 -- Charles M. Robinson
Elizabeth Bacon Custer and the Making of a Myth -- Shirley M. Leckie
Cavalry Wife -- Eveline M. Alexander, ed. Myres
Myles Keogh: The Life and Legend of an 'Irish Dragoon' in the 7th Cavalry -- Langellier, Cox, Pohanka
The Honor of Arms -- Charles L. Convis
His Very Silence Speaks -- Elizabeth Atwood Lawrence
The Court-Martial of General George Armstrong Custer -- Lawrence Frost
Sherman's Horsemen -- David Evans
Custer in 76 -- Kenneth Hammer
Where Custer Fell -- Brust/Barnard/Pohanka
Generals in Bronze -- William B. Styple
They Died With Custer -- Scott/Willey/Connor
Death of a Myth -- Bob Snelson
With Custer's Cavalry -- Katharine Gibson Fougera
Forty Miles a Day on Beans and Hay -- Don Rickles
New Tracks in North America -- William A. Bell
The Benteen-Goldin Letters -- ed. John Carroll
The Custer Myth -- Graham
Life in Custer's Cavalry -- Barnitz ed. Utley
Ten Years With Custer -- John Ryan ed. Sandy Barnard
Legend Into History/Did Custer Disobey Orders at the Battle of the Little Big Horn? -- Kuhlman
Custer and Company -- Camp
On the Little Bighorn with Walter Camp -- Hammer
Archaeological Perspectives on the Battle of the Little Big Horn -- Scott/Fox/Connor/Harmon
Troopers with Custer -- Brininstool
Boots and Saddles -- E. B. Custer
Tenting on the Plains -- E. B. Custer
Following the Guidon -- E. B. Custer
The Custer Story -- Marguerite Merington
Cheyenne Memories of the Custer Fight -- Hardorff
The Sioux Indian Wars -- John Conway
I Fought with Custer -- Charles Windolph
Marching to Valhalla -- Michael Blake
No Survivors -- Will Henry
Son of the Morning Star -- Connell
Frontier Regulars -- Utley
Crazy Horse and Custer -- Ambrose
Upton and the Army -- Ambrose
Sitting Bull -- Alexander Adams
My Diary -- Cornelia Adair
Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee -- Dee Brown
Pioneer History of Kansas -- Adolph Roenick
Little Big Horn Remembered -- Viola
Cavalier in Buckskin -- Utley
A Sad and Terrible Blunder -- Darling
The Civil War Memoirs of Elizabeth Bacon Custer -- ed. Reynolds
On the Plains with Hancock and Custer -- Isaac Coates ed. W. J. D. Kennedy
My Early Travels and Adventures in America and Asia -- Henry M. Stanley
The Story of the West -- Utley
500 Nations -- Alvin M. Josephy Jr.
The Soldiers -- Time-Life
The American Civil War -- Brian Holden Reid
The Penguin Book of the American West -- David Lavender
The Log of a Cowboy -- Andy Adams
The Horsecatcher -- Mari Sandoz
Hard Journey -- Herb Greer
Battles of the American Civil War -- Johnson/McLaughlin
Battles of the Civil War -- William C. Davis
The Red Badge of Courage -- Stephen Crane
The Negro's Civil War -- James M. McPherson
A Summer on the Plains with Custer's 7th Cavalry -- Annie Gibson Roberts
Flashman and the Redskins -- George Macdonald Fraser
An Army Wife's Cookbook -- Alice Kirk Grierson
E-books:
My Life on the Plains -- G. A. Custer
A Complete Life of General George A. Custer -- Whittaker
The Army in the Civil War, Vol. III -- Alexander S. Webb
The Army in the Civil War, Vol. V -- Francis Winthrop Palfrey
Reminiscences of Winfield Scott Hancock
Sheridan's Troopers on the Border -- D B. Randolph Keim
War-Path and Bivouac -- Finerty
Campaigning with Crook -- Charles King

Hasten to say that I haven't read them ALL from cover to cover ...!

[custerstillstands]

Wow, nice !

I find Son of the Morning Star sometimes confusing and often PC...

I love Lakota Noon and To Hell with Honor, which I consider the the best analyse of the battle (the two books combined). I like the way Michno uses Indian accounts. Too many people thought that nothing could be done with these very important testimonies.

A book for you for Christmas : Custer Victorious, by Urwinn

[markland]

You people are sadists!!!! Now in self-defense I will either have to inventory my books or buy something new to keep up with the Jones.

My wife thanks you

Billy

[Scout]

The National Geographic reference reminded me of a LIFE magazine issue with an excellent color layout of the LBH....sometime in the 1970's. Loaned it to a friend and never saw it again. need to find a copy one of these days. I have found a lot of things on ebay...God Bless ebay. In the old days if you found an old rare book it had a stiff price on it, but nowdays you can find the same book on ebay along with 10 other copies and the price comes down. There was a great graphic novel put out a couple of years back by a french illustrator/author...saw some pixs from it and looked good...need to locate that one.

The best ones though have to be the first hand accounts; Ryan, Wooden Leg, Black Elk, etc. and any of the stuff by Camp, Brininstool, Marquis. While my books are a great joy I have moved twice in the last year and those suckers are heavy when boxed up and the old knees and back aren't what they used to be. I began weeding them out lately starting with the civil war stuff.

'Generals In Bronze' author William Stype was on CSPAN book tv yesterday and gave a nice little talk on Kelly's book. Should be repeated some time today. Ok, its 7:15 am here and I need that second cup of coffee...starting to babble.

[cathyi8205]

My first book was "Custer's Luck" by Edgar Stewart. But my favorite was "Cavalier in Buckskin" by Utley. El Crab I didn't notice the Utley book on your list. If you haven't read it you should!

[crzhrs]

Cathy:

Ideal choice for first-time LBH fans. Stewart's books is fair, objective, and non-technical. Very easy to understand and get a grasp of the events surrounding the battle.