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None Wounded, None Missing, All Dead: The Story of Elizabeth Bacon Custer
“My husband used to tell me that he believed he was the happiest man on earth, and I cannot help but thinking he was.”
Elizabeth Custer – 1882
A group of some 40 officers and their wives congregated in the parlor of George and Elizabeth Custer’s home at Fort Abraham Lincoln in North Dakota. A fiddler entertained several men and women at one end of the tastefully decorated room. More guests paraded past a table filled with a variety of food and drinks at the other. Elizabeth manned the door, kindly welcoming latecomers to the party in progress. She touched her finger to her lips indicating that the attendees should enter quietly.
The music stopped. A hush fell over the guests. Elizabeth’s brother-in-law, Tom, sister-in-law, Maggie, and family friend, Agnes, marched into the setting and crossed to the musicians. All three wore costumes. Maggie was dressed as a Sioux Indian Maiden. Agnes and Tom were dressed as Quakers. George and the others in attendance stifled a chuckle as the trio struck a dignified pose for the captive audience. They were acting out a scene from a current event in the region. Known as a tablie ux, the object of the entertaining charade was to guess the event and whom the players represented.
Partygoers enthusiastically shouted out their best guesses. Others issued comical remarks that made everyone erupt in laughter. When the right guess was announced the actors broke character and took a bow. The happy audience applauded their efforts and the music started up again.
To learn more about Elizabeth Bacon Custer and her marriage to George Armstrong Custer read
None Wounded, None Missing, All Dead: The Story of Elizabeth Bacon Custer.
