February 1st, 2010

I hope to finish writing another 10 pages for on the Libbie Custer biography before heading off to Montana at the end of the week. I need to visit the Little Big Horn again and Elizabeth Custer’s museum in Garryowen Town. The object of the additional research is to acquire more information about their extra-marital relationships. George and Elizabeth were hopelessly devoted to one another, but their marriage had problems. I’d like to explore some of those problems and find out how they rose above them. I’m using two books as templates for writing the book about my brother, one is Forgiving the Deadman Walking by Debbie Morris and the other is Picking Cotton: Our Memoir of Injustice and Redemption by Jennifer Thompson-Cannino and Ronald Cotton. Right now I am focusing on the prosecution’s statements to the press that my brother was hanging out at schools and picking up young girls. They failed to mention to the court and to the reporters that the girls in question were my nieces and that Rick was asked by my other brother to pick his daughters up after school and take them to the dentist. That kind of truth does not make good headlines, but the lie certainly helps a prosecuting attorney paint a misleading picture so the case can successfully be tried in the court of public opinion. And that’s just one of the many misleading statements that was fed to the press. It’s very hard to live the example set by the three people in the books I previously mentioned. I want to however. I am compelled to correct these misconceptions, but this experience has convinced me that God’s peace can’t be separated from his grace and forgiveness. On this day, just a mere 199 years ago, Bob and Grat Dalton were making plans to rob a train in Alila, CA.. The actual robbery took place on Saturday, February 6th. They killed the fireman but could not open the safe and finally rode off empty handed. The Daltons were tougher and meaner than they were smart.