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Lot 41
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George Custer signed 7th Cavalry Military document fr Fort Abraham Lincoln
George Custer signed 7th Cavalry Military document fr Fort Abraham Lincoln
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Description:

Custer George 1839 - 1876 George Custer Superb signed 7th Cavalry Military document from Fort Abraham Lincoln, likely the finest known of these highly desirable items



Single page document on vellum, 15.5" x 9.5", boldly signed with a large flourish by George Custer as "G.A. Custer", as Lieutenant colonel in the 7th Cavalry; and countersigned by W.W. Cook, "W.W. Cook", as 1st Lieutenant of 7th Cavalry. Expected folds/creases and faint toning. Small pale stain along center fold.

A lovely, scarce DS military appointment, appointing Michael Caddle to the 7th Cavalry Regiment as a Corporal. The document was signed only a few years before the 7th Cavalry, under the command of Custer, would see their end at the Battle of Bighorn. As it would turn out, Michael Caddle, the appointee on this document, was on detached service during infamous battle when Custer and Company were overpowered and killed by a coalition of Native American tribes.

Tension between the U.S. and the Lakota escalated in 1874, when Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer was ordered to make an exploration of the Black Hills inside the boundary of the Great Sioux Reservation. Custer was to map the area, locate a suitable site for a future military post, and to make note of the natural resources. During the expedition, professional geologists discovered deposits of gold. Word of the discovery of mineral wealth caused an invasion of miners and entrepreneurs to the Black Hills in direct violation of the treaty of 1868. The U.S. negotiated with the Lakota to purchase the Black Hills, but the offered price was rejected by the Lakota. The climax came in the winter of 1875, when the Commissioner of Indian Affairs issued an ultimatum requiring all Sioux to report to a reservation by January 31, 1876. The deadline came with virtually no response from the Indians, and matters were handed to the military.

As history unfolds, the resulting battle known as Custer's Last Stand, and The Battle of the Little Bighorn was fought along the ridges, steep bluffs, and ravines of the Little Bighorn River, in south central Montana on June 25-26, 1876. The combatants were warriors of the Lakota Sioux, Northern Cheyenne, and Arapaho tribes, battling men of the 7th Regiment of the U.S. Cavalry. The Battle of the Little Bighorn has come to symbolize the clash of two vastly dissimilar cultures: the buffalo/horse culture of the northern plains tribes, and the highly industrial/agricultural based culture of the U.S., which was advancing primarily from the east coast. This battle was not an isolated soldier versus warrior confrontation, but part of a much larger strategic campaign designed to force the capitulation of the nonreservation Lakota and Cheyenne.

A chilling piece of history in which we are able to see the important names on the document, while knowing their future fate and what lay before them. Custer-signed documents as Lieutenant Colonel of the 7th Cavalry Regiment are extremely rare.

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