From: dmatthews03@sympatico.ca   
      
   "wild bill"  wrote in message   
   news:27971-47811F61-3163@storefull-3352.bay.webtv.net...   
   Is the glass half full or half empty?   
   Its the same thing as with people, whether a person is a novice, or a   
   researcher.   
   I think its how you look at things and what conclusions you want to   
   draw.   
      
   People should question whether Indian oral tradition is reliable. Most   
   anthropologists say it is not. It varies according to what the narrator   
   thinks the listener expects or want to hear, and shifts with time as the   
   narrator ages and turns his recollections into a set piece story. Mr.   
   Richard Fox, who did the archaeology of the battlefield after the fire   
   in the 80's largely discounts it.   
   Also, earlier testimony is more reliable than testimony. What the   
   survivors said immediately after the battle is far more reliable than   
   what they say after politics began, and blame and e×oneration and   
   excuses took over. In other words, what was told to Terry's command   
   immediately after the battle would be far more truthful than what came   
   later. I tend to discount any account that was cooked up by various   
   parties later, in the midst of a national furor. I believe, for example,   
   that Godfrey moved from nutrality to hostility toward Benteen and Reno   
   as the controversy deepened.   
   Conspiracy theories are fun, but simply ignore the chaotic conditions in   
   battles that make plans go awry. In most of the current writings, I   
   feel/think that most material is over analyzed. I do not feel that   
   Benteen was maliciously withholding support from Custer. The reality was   
   probably simpler and more innocent. He was most likely trying to spare   
   his gravely exhausted horses. There could be nothing worse than going   
   into a fight on horses too worn to move. He probably was moving at a   
   fast trot. A gait that spares horses but still eats up miles. That makes   
   sense to a actual cavalryman but is too mundane for the armchair   
   conspiracy theorists. I think one of the silliest results of the Custer   
   battle is that people accumulate evidence to support theories that the   
   battle was won or lost as a result of malice. Most likely, the disaster   
   was the result of chaos, accident or bad communication. Remember, the   
   man that Custer sent to the supply train to bring packs could barely   
   speak english.   
      
   As for the death of Custer, we both agree he was found on Last Stand   
   Hill, with several members of his staff around him.   
   That should be as expected, due to who he was, not just as the   
   commander.   
   His body was taken from the LBH on the steamer Far West, along with all   
   the wounded back to Ft. Lincoln and Libby.   
   I am unable to locate any information that said he was buried at the   
   battlefield and then removed later. If you have the source please advise   
   me.   
   I have stood at the top of Reno Hill and on my first visit, was able to   
   walk over halfway to the river. You are correct in stating that this is   
   rough terrain to the river. However, with the flow of adrenalin and   
   people shooting at you, your progress may be faster than normal. As you   
   said, there was a lull in the fight at this time.   
   However, there were Indians left there to keep them pinned down. After   
   Benteen and the packtrain arrived, there was an attempt to open a path   
   to Custer. But they were pushed back from Weir Point back to their   
   original position.   
      
   As for the book, Little Big Horn Remembered by Herman J. Viola, he is   
   the Curator Emeritus of the Smithsonian   
   Institution and former director of the Smithsonian's National   
   Anthropological Archives. He is also the biographer of Senator Ben   
   Nighthorse Campbell   
   whose Cheyenne grandfather Blackhorse fought at TLB. He is also the   
   adopted brother of Joseph Medicine Crow, whose grandfather was White Man   
   Runs Him.   
      
   LBH facts:   Custer was killed exactly where and when is a moot point.   
   He is still dead.   
   In a way, he got exactly what he wanted,   
   to go down in history. However, I think he wanted to be alive to enjoy   
   it.   
   If Custer had done as he was told and/or   
   taken the gattling guns and/or the infantry   
   all this second guessing would not be necessary.   
   The Indians won the battle, but lost the war.   
      
   Discussing the LBH battle is like discussing religion. No one will ever   
   change another's mind when they feel they are correct in their thoughts.   
      
   Another good book, besides the ones we have discussed is;   
   Archaeology, History and Custer's Last Battle by Richard Allan Fo×,   
   University of Oklahoma Press.   
                              "OLD"  Wild  Bill   
      
      
      
   An excellent summimg up.  The discussions will probably be going on for ever   
   but most will just be pet theories.   
      
   Dave in Toronto   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)