LITTLE
BIGHORN REMEMBERED
The following is an
excerpt from a press release by Random House, publishers
of a new book on the Battle of the Little Bighorn,
popularly known as "Custer's Last Stand." Random House
supplied a copy of the book as consideration for mention
on this website. Little
Bighorn Remembered: The Untold Indian Story of Custer's
Last Stand
by Herman J. Viola appears to be a high-quality resource
for both the general reader and the student of this
battle and of the Sioux Wars.
LITTLE BIGHORN REMEMBERED
by Herman J. Viola
Times Books, October
1999
ISBN:
0-8129-3256-0
Little
Bighorn Remembered: The Untold Indian Story of Custer's
Last Stand
Lavishly illustrated with
more than two hundred maps, photographs, reproductions,
and drawings, this remarkable book also
includes:
* An account of the
battle, including startling descriptions of Custer's
conduct, collected from the Crow scouts by the famed
photographer Edward S. Curtis in 1908. Curtis never
published this report--President Theodore Roosevelt
advised him not to--and it remained a secret until his
ninety-year-old son recently gave the material to the
Smithsonian.
* New archaeological
evidence from the battlefield that casts fresh light on
the Seventh Cavalry's movements, along with discoveries
from the site of Sitting Bull's village--including the
complete skeleton of a cavalry horse with its rider's
well-preserved saddlebags and personal items.
* A series of
illustrations made soon after the battle by Red Horse, a
remarkable tableau that is reproduced here in its
entirety for the first time.
* Three letters written
by Lieutenant William Van Wyck Reily just days before he
died at Little Bighorn that provide key and potentially
controversial insights into the conduct of the cavalry
under Custer's command.
In
short, this landmark book takes us much closer
to knowing what really happened on that June day
in 1876 when Custer died and a legend was
born.
