Custer Battlefield Preservation Committee info

[ltreilly]

Could someone possibly pass on contact info for the Custer Battlefield Preservation Committee? I'm not sure of its relation to the CBHMA or other groups, but I sure couldn't find a website for it.

I stumbled across a mailing address, but I don't know if it's up to date.

Thanks

[Scout]

I would go to cbhma.org and ask them...or go to 'Friends' listed on the opening page here and ask Bob.

[fred]

Custer Battlefield Preservation Committee
P. O. Box 7
Hardin, MT 59034

[phone]
fax [phone]

I believe Jim Court is number one honcho.

Best wishes,
Lifetime Member Fred.

[ltreilly]

Just the info I needed. I would think that a group that could benefit from donations would advertise a bit more.

Many thanks

[Diane Merkel]

Here's Jim's website complete with e-mail address:

www.custertours.com/

[fred]

ltreilly said:

Just the info I needed. I would think that a group that could benefit from donations would advertise a bit more.

Are you kidding me? If you think the crap that goes on here between personalities or between the LBHA and us is bizarre, wait until you hear about the CPC and the NPS and then try to figure out why the NPS won't take land that's being donated to them.

I'm tellin' you right now, it's the Indians' fault! If we had treated them better they never would have put this hex on the white man!!! Did you ever see the movie "Moonstruck," the old lady at the airport putting the hex on her sister? That's what you have here. Custer's name and everything associated with him have been damned for eternity.

Best wishes,
Cher

[ltreilly]

I can imagine. Here in VA not only do you have preservationists and the NPS in the mix, but developers are in the battle too.
I don't know the details in this case, but politics and hurt feelings seem to be the norm in battlefield preservation.

[fred]

Yeah, well try this on for size: both Medicine Tail Coulee and Cedar Coulee are for sale.

And we gave this land to the Crow for helping us.

Best wishes,
Fred.

[Diane Merkel]

Fred is right about the politics. I have completely given up on who to believe about what. All of the LBH-related groups have people in high places who I absolutely adore . . . and then I see them in bed (figuratively) with some who are bad to the bone, and I can't for the life of me understand why. I think the old westerns had it right. We should all be required to wear white hats or black hats, no grays or polka dots allowed.

Hold your nose, pay the $50 "Lifetime Membership" which is supposed to give you full access rights to the land CBPC claims to own, and be sure to take your proof of membership with you when you climb up Weir Point.

[ltreilly]

The thing that prevents me from getting too involved with historical/preservation groups so often is the politics, which I just want to avoid!
I will cheerfully aid the group (and get my pass) but I can pass on the controversy.

[fred]

Yeah, well, sometimes that's easier said than done, though I completely agree with you. Look at the crap Diane has had to deal with, yet all she has done is to bring instant credibility to an organization like the LBHA. She was the editor of the almost-monthly "Newsletter," and brought it from the age of the Neanderthal to a very nice, eagerly-awaited, beautifully edited periodical, most of which had great, short articles. If you notice the last couple of "Newsletter,"'s I've seen grammar school summer reports that were done better. And the message boards speak for themselves. Now there's a new guy on here named Dave Hancock who has probably forgotten more about sidearms than I'll ever know. Yet politics drove this all away from the LBHA.

Odd, isn't it?

Best wishes,
Fred.

[clw]

fred said:

I'm tellin' you right now, it's the Indians' fault! If we had treated them better they never would have put this hex on the white man!!! Did you ever see the movie "Moonstruck," the old lady at the airport putting the hex on her sister? That's what you have here. Custer's name and everything associated with him have been damned for eternity.

Heh, heh, heh. I have that on good authority...... if you believe that sort of thing. One does wonder.

[Melani]

Re: NPS and donated land--we have already gone into this on another thread. There are very complicated regulations in the NPS, enough to make me run away screaming on a daily basis (as I've said before, I am a contractor in a national park). Some of the things they do are totally nonsensical. Working with them requires someone of great energy who has the knowledge and persistance to work through all the garbage and keep on hassling until the object is achieved. Don't ever expect the NPS to act normal--ain't gonna happen.

I guess Civil War battlefields are sexier at the moment. I would love to see a detailed account of exactly what the CBPC has done to try to donate the land, and then compare it to the actions of the Civil War Preservation Trust. There must be some way to successfully donate land.

[ltreilly]

I can completely understand that the NPS just doesn't tack on the land. I worked an internship at Manassas National Battlefield and there was a parcel of land that the CWPT had preserved adjacent to the park that had been sitting there several years. There was always vague talk about it being added, but I don't expect it to happen anytime soon. I suppose Congress must authorize the boundary expansion, but I suspect there's a lot more red tape than that.
That being said, a lot of the NPS battlefields in VA have very successfully added parcels over the years, including ones bought by the CWPT. A couple of the units of Richmond National Battlefield are great examples of this. The question becomes, how long were those parcels sitting there before the NPS took them over?
It's all a process I suppose, but my guess would be that it would be necessary for the park to really lobby to have the land added, and they won't do that if they don't feel they have the staff, resources, money, etc etc. It all comes down to money, sadly.

[Melani]

The CWPT does indeed seem to have a fair amount of money. It's very difficult to bring a small organization to that level--the group I work for tried to raise a million bucks over a five-year period--they ended up with about $15,000.