The Buel saga

[harpskiddie]

Please note that I was being facetious in describing Keogh as a lothario. I thought that might be evident from the tone of the post. I have no idea as to his "dating" habits, or Custer's propensity for "chasing skirts" if he in fact did so. I was really interested in drawing Elisabeth's attention, had it not been drawn, to the lovely Mrs. Buel , vis a vis El Custer the Roue of the Plains [according to the always reliable Captain Final Word Benteen]. I had been following that Tupperware thread with a modicum of interest, since the rest of the boards are growing rather boring. Guys might as well post the books they read, and leave it at that. What ever happened to original sources. Anyway......

BTW, what was Keogh doing with her picture. Did the hubbie know? Did he care? Did McDougall give Keogh the photo? Inquiring minds want to know. Mine too.

The drowning death should be re-investigated. The only way it could be more unbelievable is if it had been the MOTHER-in-law's death that supposedly was the spur.

Gordie,
not a lothario, but still hoping the gods will smile upon him.................................................

[BrokenSword]

Hey Gordie-

I took it as you meant it. The quote marks were a giveaway. I hesitated before even posting, but what I was getting at was how a word applied to some well known subject (that I have never seen applied to it before) can actually cast a new light on that subject.

M - Lothario without portfolio

[elisabeth]

Curiouser and curiouser: the source for the info about Josephine's picture is McDougall himself, in his interview with Camp. He makes no comment, and there's no hint that he finds it at all odd.

The story comes about through the photo being "recovered from the Indians years after the battle with spot of blood on it". Keogh's watch was recovered at the same time, but that in itself wouldn't prove it had been Keogh who was carrying the photograph; so either McDougall knew all along that he had it (likely) or Josephine had inscribed it to Keogh (possible) or both. Either way, McDougall finds it important enough to mention, yet doesn't seem to see it as a particularly big deal. And Camp, I suppose, was too much of a gentleman to enquire further. (Maybe he didn't realise "McDougall's sister" was a married lady -- in which case no alarm bells would go off.)

Keogh's fondness for Josephine must have been well known in the McDougall family, I think. If I'm reading the cryptic references in Custer's April 3rd 1871 letter correctly (from the "Custer Letters at Auction" thread) Keogh stopped off in St. Louis in spring of that year to visit her at Dr. McDougall's home. The previous year, he'd taken a fortnight's leave immediately after the murder; guesswork -- but I think logical guesswork -- says that this would have been to help Josephine pack up and move out of Leavenworth, and to escort her and the kids to her parents' home in St. Louis. I don't know if there were further visits in the years between 1871 and her remarriage in 1875, nor if they corresponded, but the photo strongly suggests a continuing relationship of some kind -- maybe romantic, or maybe just friendship.

From the interest the Custers and Mrs. Hough were taking in the matter in that April 3rd letter, "romantic" seems to be what they suspected. Keogh has to deny this strenuously to Mrs. Hough -- "God knows I think of her only in friendship and pity" -- but as we learn from the May 1871 Custer letter quoted in Merington, it didn't get him anywhere with her ...

It's tempting to think that Josephine's remarriage in 1875 was because she'd finally given up waiting for Keogh to make up his mind. But that really is guesswork.

[harpskiddie]

Loves it.

Gordie,
just keep your love for me, for someday I'll return, and you know you're the only one I'll ever love...

[elisabeth]

Things were never dull chez those Buels. In 1894, Oliver Prince Buel (Josephine's second husband) published a book called The Abraham Lincoln Myth: An Essay in the "Higher Criticism". It purported to have been co-authored with someone of the improbable name of Bocardo Bramantip. Conceivably this could have been George Merriam Hyde under a pseudonym, but it seems far more likely that the "co-author" is a complete invention.

Apparently it was intended as a satire on the "Higher Criticism" approach to theology that was the subject of fierce debate at the time (fun, eh?); however, I see that Amazon have it listed under "science fiction"! Seems like quite a sparky little number. The premise is that it's written from the perspective of the 37th century -- "the eighteenth centennial of the Emancipation Proclamation". The world is dominated by African civilisation of the highest order; indeed, the alleged Bramantip is supposed to be a Professor at the University of the Congo. The culture is rooted in an ancient foundation myth of Lincoln; modern 37th-century scholars and sceptics are deconstructing that myth; "Bramantip" sets out to examine what truth there might or might not be in it. OK, it could be a rather leaden-footed joke, but from the couple of pages they show on Amazon (or was in Google Books? can't remember) it seems to be very well done -- kind of like an academic equivalent of Gulliver's Travels.

What an interesting family altogether.

[harpskiddie]

Does anyone own the book or film rights to the family history? The Magnificent Ambersons and Upstairs Downstairs be damned!! This will make a fabulous mini-series [much too much for a feature film]. Murder [well maybe], assassins, conspiracy, the doomed lovers, the famous Indian-fighter, shots in the night, a mysterious drowning, hie thee to a nunnery and etc. etc. blah blah blah.

It'll be bigger than Hopalong Cassidy!!! or Gene Autry versus the Hidden Empire!! That's it, we'll bring back the movie serial as well as running the mini-series - cliff-hangers galore: See the revenge-hungry soldier lurking in the shadows, see the innocent victim walking along the river, when suddenly...., a cast of thousands, wild Indians, gallant cavalrymen [we can use stock footage].

Picture this scene, and tell me you can keep your tears from welling up and spilling out:

It's a hot and dusty day . There are dead and mangled bodies, lying among sagebrush and greasewood, many either naked or being pillaged of their clothing and equipments. horses can be seen riding along among these bodies, mostly slowly. The view is from a camera panning near ground level, so that only the legs of the horses are visible, except for those in the distance,which seem to be ridden by, MY GOD, wild Indians!!!

There is a stirring from among a small pile of bodies, and a hatless, dark-haired man, his face smeared with blood tries to rise from the cloying refuse of bodies. Acrid [you have to use your imagination here, unless we can get Smell-o-vision] gunsmoke and dust wafts across the scene, tending to obscure details. He cannot struggle to his feet, for we see that his left leg has been smashed below the knee . The man looks as if he were in shock and dumbfounded, which he probably is.

The man struggles to his hands and knees, and tries to look about him. It is not entirely certain that he can see anything through the blood and dust caked on his face. He seems to have a head wound that has bled down over his eyes. He is wearing a buckskin shirt, and light blue trousers, tucked into high-top boots. Everything is bloody and dirty. In his right hand, he holds a Colt's revolver, military issue, and in his left, tightly clenched, something which we cannot quite make out. He collapses onto his left side, mutters "Josephine" in a whisper, and breathes his last.

A few seconds later, we see, still from the low-level vantage point, a pair of moccasined feet moving among the bodies. They stop beside the man's body, and a sweaty, dusty hand reaches down and takes the gun from the lifeless right hand. A gold chain can be seen lying loosely around the dead man's neck, and the same hand reaches down and pulls it out from the buckskin shirt. On the chain is a medallion of some sort, obviously the dead man's powerful medicine, and the dusky hand lets it drop back. The hand reaches down again to unclench the dead man's left hand and removes the rolled/folded item it was holding. It is the photograph of a beautiful woman, and there are a few blood drops on it. The hand is withdrawn and the feet move out of view.

The camera starts to move slowly back and up, and we can finally see the scene of carnage. Hundreds of Indians are moving among dead bodies which seem to be everywhere. In some cases, the Indians are loading bodies onto horses and leading them away. In others, they seem to be removing the clothing and/or............................................[we'll shoot this part from a helicopter, and finally zoom out until the whiole scene below fades into nothingness].

How's that for a start? THE BUEL SAGA, starring...........................

Gordie,
go with the flow. Start at the beginning and go to the end, then stop....................................

[elisabeth]

Beautifully done! Yes, you have to write it.

[Diane Merkel]

Please write a part for me, Gordie. I can play dead really, really well!

[Tricia]

Yes! Yes! And remember, I've already auditioned for the part of Mrs. Gall. It's extremely difficult to act a scene where you get killed in your tipi--out of camera range, of course ...

Diane--love your signature. Whaaaaappp!

[Diane Merkel]

Thanks, Trish! ;D

[BrokenSword]

Gordie... I like it! Excellent. Great opening! I can see it so clearly.

You were describing the last rock concert you attended years ago. Right?

M

[harpskiddie]

Michael, - except for the horses legs. Critics!!!

Diane, you'll have to allow your head to be severed from your trunk - simply in the interests of accuracy, of course. This message comes to you through the courtesy of the BOD.

Trish: You can still play Mrs. Gall/Pizi. We'll devote a later scene to Reno's "attack" in the valley. I'll get the writers to portray you sympathetically, possibly holding one child while attempting to pull another out of danger, when WOWIE, ZOWIE, KERPOWIE!!! comes the fatal bullet. You can have a photo in your hand too, if you want...................

Elisabeth - your part will be really tiny, but important. You get to be the portrait Keogh is holding and obviously the woman of whom he is thinking his last thoughts. I can't make it any bigger than about 4" x 6".........................................

Gordie,
gonna let my violins play the rest of this song, I just can't sing it anymore..............................

[Tricia]

harpskiddie said:

Michael, - except for the horses legs. Critics!!!

Diane, you'll have to allow your head to be severed from your trunk - simply in the interests of accuracy, of course. This message comes to you through the courtesy of the BOD.

Trish: You can still play Mrs. Gall/Pizi. We'll devote a later scene to Reno's "attack" in the valley. I'll get the writers to portray you sympathetically, possibly holding one child while attempting to pull another out of danger, when WOWIE, ZOWIE, KERPOWIE!!! comes the fatal bullet. You can have a photo in your hand too, if you want...................

Elisabeth - your part will be really tiny, but important. You get to be the portrait Keogh is holding and obviously the woman of whom he is thinking his last thoughts. I can't make it any bigger than about 4" x 6".........................................

Gordie,
gonna let my violins play the rest of this song, I just can't sing it anymore..............................

Gordo -- Gordo:

I might just have to resign--or re-read--from/for your briliant project. Someone wants me to play Miss Spotted Tail, 1872. Good lord, this gets weird!

The "black mark upon Custeriana!"
--t.

[BrokenSword]

Gordie-

I was, of course, only guessing about the 'rock concert'. It could just as well have been the infield after a NASCAR race... over in Alabama. Naturally.

Your casting, so far, is inspired .... but you may find it difficult to actaully sign Diane. Dr. Chuck might insist on a final script approval given the circumstanses of her role.

I certainly hope that nothing I've said will cause you to deny me an invitation to view the 'rushes'.

M- The Critic
(I! CURRO!! HAVE SAID SO!!!)

[Diane Merkel]

Dr. Chuck will be OK with it. He just took out another life insurance policy on me. Just please make sure my last close-up is a good one because it doesn't sound like I'll get a "Take Two."