June 28th, 2010

One hundred and thirty four years ago today, Elizabeth Custer and the other wives of the 7th Cavalry, were waiting for news from their husband’s heading off to the Little Big Horn. Elizabeth noted in her memoirs that she sensed things were not going to go well for George the day he rode off to meet the Plains Indians. “With my husband’s departure,” she wrote in 1887, “my last happy days in garrison were ended, as a premonition of disaster that I had never known before weighed me down. I could not shake off the baleful influence of depressing thought. This presentiment and suspense, such as I had never known, made me selfish, and I shut into my heart the most uncontrollable anxiety, and could lighten no one else’s burden.” She was a brave woman and George’s greatest champion. I don’t think Custer would have been Custer without Elizabeth. For all who stop by the site today, check out the new advertisement in the media section. Also, select one of the books from the Go West series for summer reading and I’ll send you a free copy.