What do you think?
Rate this book
Custer's Prelude to Glory A newspaper accounting of Custer's 1874 Expedition to the Black Hills
279 pages, Hardcover
Published January 1, 1974
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
January 8, 2026
The story of George Armstrong Custer's expedition into the Black Hills of South Dakota in 1874, as told in newspaper reports of the time.
After reading the book I was still not clear what was the purpose of the expedition. Was it a statement to the Sioux nation that none of the West was theirs except with the permission of the U.S. Government? Was it to show that the Army could go wherever it wanted and would contest any opposition by force of arms? Was it simply the curiosity of explorers? Or perhaps it was the hope of finding gold. After the gold rush of California who knew what might be in those hills. There may have been a lingering hope that somewhere in North America there was an equivalent to Aztec Mexico or Inca Peru. Perhaps the Sioux wanted to keep the white men out because the Black Hills was their secret golden empire.
The newspaper reports from the Bismarck Tribune, the St. Paul Pioneer, the St. Paul Daily Press, the Chicago Inter Ocean, the New York World, and the New York Tribune were written by journalists who accompanied Custer and his cavalry, and they form a valuable set of historical first-hand documents. While it is true the journalists were all writing about the same events at the same time, enough of their individuality come through to stop them being repetitive. When one adds to that the interview with Custer that appeared in the Bismarck Tribune and the various reports made by members of the expedition (Custer, Lt. Col. Fred Grant, Major George Forsyth, Capt. William Ludlow, Prof. N. H. Winchell, George Bird Grinnell and William Zahn), the reminiscences of Fred Snow and William R. Wood, and the photographs of William Illingworth, the volume becomes an important collection.
As the contributors were people of their time, expect their opinions to reflect that. Generally there is little sympathy or empathy for or with Native Americans and only grudging acceptance for those who had adopted the white man's ways or employment opportunities, such as the Arikara scouts. The supremacy of the white population is taken for granted. Custer's character is that of a professional soldier who was glad that his incursion into Sioux lands had not resulted in warfare, though it seems that he would not have minded at all if it had. He was confident his army was superior to any band of savages. And so, on to 1876 and two men called Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse.
After reading the book I was still not clear what was the purpose of the expedition. Was it a statement to the Sioux nation that none of the West was theirs except with the permission of the U.S. Government? Was it to show that the Army could go wherever it wanted and would contest any opposition by force of arms? Was it simply the curiosity of explorers? Or perhaps it was the hope of finding gold. After the gold rush of California who knew what might be in those hills. There may have been a lingering hope that somewhere in North America there was an equivalent to Aztec Mexico or Inca Peru. Perhaps the Sioux wanted to keep the white men out because the Black Hills was their secret golden empire.
The newspaper reports from the Bismarck Tribune, the St. Paul Pioneer, the St. Paul Daily Press, the Chicago Inter Ocean, the New York World, and the New York Tribune were written by journalists who accompanied Custer and his cavalry, and they form a valuable set of historical first-hand documents. While it is true the journalists were all writing about the same events at the same time, enough of their individuality come through to stop them being repetitive. When one adds to that the interview with Custer that appeared in the Bismarck Tribune and the various reports made by members of the expedition (Custer, Lt. Col. Fred Grant, Major George Forsyth, Capt. William Ludlow, Prof. N. H. Winchell, George Bird Grinnell and William Zahn), the reminiscences of Fred Snow and William R. Wood, and the photographs of William Illingworth, the volume becomes an important collection.
As the contributors were people of their time, expect their opinions to reflect that. Generally there is little sympathy or empathy for or with Native Americans and only grudging acceptance for those who had adopted the white man's ways or employment opportunities, such as the Arikara scouts. The supremacy of the white population is taken for granted. Custer's character is that of a professional soldier who was glad that his incursion into Sioux lands had not resulted in warfare, though it seems that he would not have minded at all if it had. He was confident his army was superior to any band of savages. And so, on to 1876 and two men called Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse.
Displaying 1 of 1 review