A treasury of sources and supplemental information for readers of the award-winning history The Fights on the Little Horn. This volume collects and lists books, booklets, pamphlets, manuscripts, personal and family papers, newspapers, magazines, periodicals, correspondence, interviews, military and historical journals, military and government reports, and more used by Gordon Harper, author of The Fights on the Little Horn, in his extraordinary years-long research into Custer’s Last Stand. As a companion volume to that book, or a resource for anyone interested in the history of the American West, it is a valuable and comprehensive guide.

This remarkable book synthesizes a lifetime of in-depth research into one of America's most storied disasters, the defeat of Custer's 7th Cavalry at the hands of the Sioux and Cheyenne Indians, as well as the complete annihilation of that part of the cavalry led by Custer himself. The author, Gordon Harper, spent countless hours on the battlefield

Winner of the John Carroll Award and the G. Joseph Sills Jr. Book Award. A deeply researched work on the infamous 1876 battle, filled with new discoveries. This remarkable book synthesizes a lifetime of in-depth research into one of America’s most storied disasters, the defeat of Custer’s 7th Cavalry at the hands of the Sioux and Cheyenne, as well as the complete annihilation of that part of the cavalry led by Custer himself. The author, Gordon Harper, spent countless hours on the battlefield itself, as well as researching every iota of evidence of the fight from both sides, white and Indian. He was thus able to recreate every step of the battle as authoritatively as anyone could, dispelling myths and falsehoods along the way. When he passed away in 2009, he left nearly two million words of original research and writing, and in this book, his work has been condensed for the general public to observe his key findings and the crux of his narrative on the exact course of the battle. One of his first observations is that the fight took place along the Little Horn River—its junction with the Big Horn was several miles away—so the term for the battle, “Little Big Horn” has always been a misnomer. He precisely traces the mysterious activities of Benteen’s battalion on that fateful day, and why it couldn’t come to Custer’s reinforcement. He describes Reno’s desperate fight in unprecedented depth, as well as how that unnerved officer benefited from the unexpected heroism of many of his men. Indian accounts, ever-present throughout this book, come to the fore especially during Custer’s part of the fight, because no white soldier survived it. However, analysis of the forensic evidence—like tracking cartridges and bullets discovered on the battlefield, plus the locations of bodies—assist in drawing an accurate scenario of how the final scene unfolded. It may indeed be clearer now than it was to the doomed 7th Cavalrymen at the time, who, through the dust and smoke and Indians seeming to rise by hundreds from the ground, only gradually realized the extent of the disaster. Of additional interest is the narrative of the battlefield after the fight, when successive burial teams had to be dispatched for the gruesome task because prior ones invariably did a poor job. Though the author is no longer with us, his daughter Tori Harper, along with historians Gordon Richard and Monte Akers, have done yeoman’s work in preserving his valuable research for the public. “Having read and studied several previous books on the Custer Battle, I was hoping that something new would emerge and I was not disappointed . . . certainly a book that one cannot put down.” —Norman Franks, author of Ton-Up Lancs and Under the Guns of the Red Baron

An account of the events leading up to the massacre of the 7th Cavalry at the Little Big Horn as told from the viewpoints of the participants.

This remarkable book synthesizes a lifetime of in-depth research into one of America's most storied disasters, the defeat of Custer's 7th Cavalry at the hands of the Sioux and Cheyenne Indians, as well as the complete annihilation of that part of the cavalry led by Custer himself.

Comanche, first published in 1935 and beautifully illustrated by the book’s author Barron Brown, is an account of the U.S. Army horse “Comanche,” who survived General George Armstrong Custer’s detachment of the United States 7th Cavalry at the Battle of the Little Bighorn in 1876. “Comanche” was bought by the U.S. Army in 1868 in St. Louis, Missouri and sent to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. He was captured in a wild horse roundup on April 3, 1868. Captain Myles Keogh of the 7th Cavalry liked the 15 hands (60 inches, 152 cm) gelding and bought him for his personal mount, to be ridden only in battle. In 1868, while the army was fighting the Comanche in Kansas, the horse was wounded in the hindquarters by an arrow but continued to carry Keogh in the fight. He named the horse “Comanche” to honor his bravery. “Comanche” was wounded many more times but always exhibited the same toughness. It was on June 25, 1876 that Captain Keogh rode “Comanche” at the Battle of the Little Bighorn, led by Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer, in which their entire detachment was killed. U.S. soldiers found “Comanche,” badly wounded, two days after the battle. After being transported to Fort Lincoln, he was slowly nursed back to health. After a lengthy convalescence, “Comanche” was retired. In June 1879, “Comanche” was brought to Fort Meade by the Seventh Regiment, where he was kept like a prince until 1887. He was taken to Fort Riley, Kansas. As an honor, he was made “Second Commanding Officer” of the 7th Cavalry. “Comanche” died of colic on November 7, 1891, believed to be 29 years old at the time. He is one of only three horses in U.S. history to be given a military funeral with full military honors, the others were “Black Jack” and “Sergeant Reckless.” His remains were sent to the University of Kansas and preserved, where the taxidermy mount can still be seen today in the university’s Natural History Museum.

Son of the Morning Star is the nonfiction account of General Custer from the great American novelist Evan S. Connell. Custer's Last Stand is among the most enduring events in American history--more than one hundred years after the fact, books continue to be written and people continue to argue about even the most basic details surrounding the Little Bighorn. Evan S. Connell, whom Joyce Carol Oates has described as "one of our most interesting and intelligent American writers," wrote what continues to be the most reliable--and compulsively readable--account of the subject. Connell makes good use of his meticulous research and novelist's eye for the story and detail to re-create the heroism, foolishness, and savagery of this crucial chapter in the history of the West.

The battle that unfolded at the Little Big Horn River on June 25, 1876, marked a watershed in the history of the Plains Indians. While a stunning victory for the Sioux and Cheyenne peoples, it initiated a new and vigorous effort by the U.S. government to rid the west of marauding tribes and to realize the ideal of "Manifest Destiny." While thousands of books and articles have covered different aspects of the battle, few if any have analyzed the tactics and chronology to arrive at a satisfactory explanation of what befell George Armstrong Custer and the 209 men who died alongside him. This volume seeks to explain the circumstances culminating in the near-destruction of the 7th Cavalry Regiment by a close examination of timing, setting every event to a specific moment based on accounts of the battle's participants.

Johnny D. Boggs turns the battlefield itself into a character in this historical retelling of Custer's Last Stand, when George Custer led most of his command to annihilation at the Battle of the Little Bighorn in southern Montana in 1876. More than forty first-person narratives are used-Indian and white, military and civilian, men and women-to paint a panorama of the battle itself. Boggs brings the events and personalities of the Battle of the Little Bighorn to life in a series of first-hand accounts.

Subtitle from jacket; subtitle on title page repeats the main title.