Progress on the nation's second transcontinental railroad slowed in
1873. The Northern Pacific's proposed middle--the 250 miles between
present Billings and Glendive, Montana--had yet to be surveyed, and
Sioux and Cheyenne Indians opposed construction through the
Yellowstone Valley, the heart of their hunting grounds. A previous
surveying expedition along the Yellowstone River in 1872 had
resulted in the death of a prominent member of the party, the
near-death of the railroad's chief engineer, the embarrassment of
the U.S. Army, and a public relations and financial disaster for
the Northern Pacific.
Such is the backdrop for" Custer and the 1873 Yellowstone Survey,"
the story of the expedition told through documents selected and
interpreted by historian M. John Lubetkin. The U.S. Army was
determined to punish the Sioux, and the Northern Pacific
desperately needed to complete its engineering work and resume
construction. The expedition mounted in 1873--larger than all
previous surveys combined--included "embedded" newspaper
correspondents and 1,600 infantry and cavalry, the latter led by
George Armstrong Custer.
Lubetkin has gathered firsthand accounts from the correspondents,
diarists, and reporters who accompanied this important expedition,
including that of news correspondent Samuel J. Barrows. Barrows's
narrative--written in a series of dispatches to the "New York
Tribune"--provides a comprehensive, often humorous description of
events, and his proficiency with shorthand enabled him to capture
quotations and dialogue with an authenticity unmatched by other
writers on the survey.
The expedition marched west from the Missouri River in mid-June of
1873 and, in three months, covered nearly 1,000, often grueling
miles. Encompassing the saga of transcontinental railroading,
cultural conflict on the northern plains, and an array of important
Indian and Anglo-American characters, "Custer and the 1873
Yellowstone Survey" will fascinate Custer fans and anyone
interested in the history of the American West.
General
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