My Life on the Plains: Or, Personal Experiences with Indians

by George Armstrong Custer, Edgar I. Stewart (Introduction)

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Genres: History, Biography, War, Nonfiction, Memoir, American, American History

448 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1872

Reviews

[Joe Krakovsky · Rating 5 out of 5]

Written in a style of nineteenth century eloquence, "My Life on the Plains" by General George Armstrong Custer would not receive a favorable welcome by some of today's critics. George Custer lived amongst, fought with, and was eventually killed by American Plains Indians of the old West.  That famous battle was not covered here, naturally, and can be found elsewhere. What is covered is Custer's opinions about the American Indians as well as the White man. Not worried about being politically correct, he plainly told the truth as he saw it. His opinion of the Indians was, I think, actually kind of fair, or honest, considering the times when many believed the only good Indian was a dead Indian. He did not hate them. He just did not see them as the noble savages as many did who never knew them.
    Some of his animosity to the Indians at times might be explained by their customs and actions as he saw them. The Indian Brave did not farm or work. That was the squall's job, along with raising kids. The Brave went out to hunt or raid. Fun stuff, to them. Custer even made note of a certain individual who was taken in and raised by whites back east, and once he grew up and returned home, one of the first things he proceeded to do was go out on a raid! Now these raids were simply to kill white men and steal their horses, women and children. The horses were prized the most, and it was common to kill any women or children who might slow down a war party that was being tracked. Evidently there was nothing wrong in the Indians' mind about all this. Custer tells how the Indians might attack and try to kill you and then turn around later in the day and act like they were friendly and want to trade, or vice versa. Once the Indians even left a ceremony were they were talking peace and went out a warpath on the way home. At one point Custer lists all the settlers killed, women raped (he doesn't use that word), and captives taken. Another thing that bothered him was the Indians sometimes sought sanctuary back on the reservation when being pursued by soldiers after a raid. Now you can say that the White man did horrible things too, but they weren't raised to think it was ok to just go out and kill someone for their horses. If they did it they were breaking the law.
    There were a couple of facts I found interesting. One was their skill as horsemen. You have to read it to get all the details. Considering the Indian's opinion of the role of women, it was surprising to me to learn how former female captives sometimes wished to return back to the tribe that captured them!  Another fact he stated was that the Indians were given guns by the Indian agents to hunt with. These repeaters were better than what the soldiers carried. According to Custer, the settlers and soldiers did not want war but the arms makers and certain politicians back east did. Bad and dishonest Indian agents were a  source of many of the Indians problems as they cheated and abused them while claiming they were there to help them as they lined their pockets.
    Yes, it is true that Custer blows his own horn a lot, and maybe that has to do with him being a cavalry general, but so has just about every other famous general from Caesar to Schwarzkopf.
    Having grown up during a time when Errol Flynn and the beautiful Olivia de Havilland portrayed the story of Custer as being an all American hero, and then having the myth and others shattered by such things as Wounded Knee revelations towards the end of the Vietnam War, reading this book brings the topic around in a full circle.  There were good and bad out in the old West, just like everywhere else throughout history. This book is worth reading.

[Jim Peplinski · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anytime a history is written by a participant in the content,in close proximity to the event or time period described, you gotta read it.

This is a summary of days gone by, difficult if not impossible to imagine, the conditions, opportunity, depredations on both sides - Indian and Calvary, the courage (ignorance?) of the settlers and the condition of the geography.

As an appreciator of the accurate history, plains, mountains and the explorers way of life, it is a most gratifying read.

[T · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book if you want some real insight into life in the 'old west.' Not at all like what you see depicted on TV or in movies.

[Greg Flakus · Rating 3 out of 5]

"My Life on the Plains" is one helluva good adventure story from one of the most flamboyant, cocky, courageous and victorious US Army officers in the mid-19th century. A controversial figure to this day, George Armstrong Custer is mostly known for having been killed with over 200 men in his command at the Little Big Horn in Montana in June of 1876. Up until the 1960s he was remembered as a brave man who fought to the death against a force that outnumbered him several times over. Then, in the Vietnam era, when military figures were viewed more critically, Custer was portrayed as an egotist, an inept commander, a careless tactician and even as totally insane.

What was not clear to people a hundred years after the Indian wars in the west was why Custer's death was such a shock to the country and why he was viewed in heroic light even before he met his end. He had been one of the most effective cavalry officers in the Union Army, leading a couple of dozen brazen charges into enemy ranks often far ahead of his men. How he managed to get through that bloody war without being killed or even suffering a serious injury is a mystery. Many of his contemporaries called it "Custer's Luck."

This book was originally written as a series of articles for Galaxy magazine and then printed as a book in 1874, when Custer was stationed in the Dakota Territory. Evidently there was a great interest in the east about the boy general and his adventures on the plains with the "savages" whose land it was before the influx of people of European ancestry who were looking for land to farm, pastureland to raise cattle and, in some cases, mineral wealth to exploit.

The period covered in this book is 1866-1869, when Custer was one of the officers leading cavalry units on the plains of Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma (then known as Indian Territory) and parts of Colorado and Texas. The tribes who lived in this vast area were mainly buffalo hunters and they roamed around looking for the constantly moving herds. The government in Washington had assigned the army to protect white settlers who were now moving into Kansas in large numbers and encroaching on native hunting grounds. So Civil War heroes like Custer and his commanders, first General Winfield Scott Hancock and then General Philip Sheridan, went west and tried to figure out how to deal with warriors who fought in a very different style than the Confederates had.

Custer was fascinated by these horseback hunters on the plains and he spent a lot of time visiting Indian villages and conversing through interpreters with some of the chiefs. In his articles he rejects the notion that the army was trying to kill off the native tribes. He said no soldier and no settler ever wanted war. What Custer saw as the real problem was the corruption that infested the government agencies that were set up to provide food and other assistance to the Indians who came into the reservations and remained peaceful. He accused the agents of filling their own pockets with money that the government had provided to buy food for the Indians.

There is a lot of evidence in records of the time to support Custer's accusations and he was not the only one who was critical of the Indian Bureau. Government corruption was a big problem in the years following the Civil War and the Indian Bureau was one of the worst. However there were agents who were honest and who tried to understand the tribal people they assisted. There were also people back east, who would be called Human Rights advocates today, who found legitimate reasons to complain about the military's treatment of the Indians.

Custer's story then should be taken with a large grain of salt. He tends to skip over incidents that tarnished his image and portray himself as the main player in any operation that went well. In his favor, however, he does describe a few incidents in which he was foolish or a little less than a dashing frontiersman. He tells how he rode off away from the main column of soldiers once early on in his career on the plains and chased a buffalo. Unfortunately, he accidentally shot his own horse in the head as he swung his pistol around to take a shot at the bison. He was left out on the desolate plain without a horse and far from the soldiers he was supposed to be leading.

In another case he was in his tent preparing to sleep when some mounted braves rode right through the camp and a melee broke out. He rushed from his tent not fully clothed but with his revolver in hand. When the danger had passed he slipped back into his tent and for some time after that took some kidding from fellow officers who had witnessed the incident.

The most controversial action described in this book was the battle on the Washita river in present day Oklahoma in December, 1868, not far from the border with the Texas panhandle. In Custer's version he was sent to punish the Indians who had raided settlements in Kansas and taken white women captive. He hit the camp of the Cheyenne Chief Black Kettle early in the morning and killed some women and children as well as warriors. The trail of the hostiles led right to this village, but Custer soon found out that there were many more villages farther out along the river and fighters from those camps soon swarmed over the hills around his command. He managed to extract his troops after failing to find Major Joel Elliott and the 19 soldiers who had been with him during the battle. Custer contends that his priority had to be the safety of his main force. Later it was learned that Elliott and his men had been ambushed in the hills beyond the battlefield and wiped out.

Custer never mentions the discord this incident caused. Some 7th Cavalry commanders never forgave him for not taking a more effective action to find and help Elliott, who was very popular with the whole command. Historians who have studied the battle say Custer made the right decision, but
the result was truly painful for his men.

In this book Custer takes pains to justify his attack on the Cheyenne at the Washita. He refutes accusations of "a massacre" and provides a pretty clear description of the situation he faced being a couple of hundred miles out from the nearest army post and outnumbered by the Cheyenne, Kiowa and Arapahoe in the vicinity. He also goes into detail about his efforts to rescue two young women who had been abducted by warriors during a raid on farms in Kansas. The brother of one of the girls accompanies the command a month later and is grateful when Custer manages to convince the Indians to release the captives. Custer makes clear the suffering of the two young women and uses the old 19th century expression for rape- "a fate worse than death"- to describe what they endured in addition to beatings and meager amounts of food.

One can only imagine what a reader in New York or Boston would have thought of this book back in 1874. For many, I am sure, it was an adventure story rivaling the dime novels of the day. But this was an account of real events by a certified hero and some of it, like the Battle of the Washita, had been reported in newspapers and magazines.

Reading it today offers us a glimpse of a time now long past. The empty plains where trees were scarce and there were few landmarks to guide travelers are now crisscrossed by highways. Planes fly overhead and one doesn't have to travel far to find a Walmart, a Dairy Queen or a Best Buy. It is hard for people today to imagine what it must have been like to ride horses through a howling blizzard and then try to rest after eating a piece of hard tack washed down with hot coffee if they were able to build a fire. Reading a primary source like this is something like sitting down with a colorful figure from the past and listening to his story. You may be skeptical of some parts and you should read some other accounts of Custer's exploits to provide balance. But one thing is for sure about reading Custer's book, you will be entertained.

[Ron · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this book in parallel with Red Cloud's Folk: A History of the Oglala Sioux Indians, which provided opposing viewpoints to the same events of the Indian Wars of the 1860s. (Custer's book ends in 1869.)

That George Armstrong Custer viewed himself as a Julius Caesar--and the Plains as his Gaul--is readily apparent. Despite his inflated ego, Custer was a able reporter of the events he participated in (if one allows for his peculiar point of view). The publishers, University of Oklahoma Press, have applied a necessary counterbalance by including General W. B. Hazen's rebuttal in this same volume.

The blame and finger pointing, like contemporary politics, is indecypherable. There's a lot of "he said, she said" conflict. Both sides have adequate material to support their side and reject the other. The seeker after truth must read slower and think more deeply.

Primary sources are always worth reading, even if their writer can be impugned on other counts.

[Kmjahraus · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit long winded in the writing style, perhaps the style of the era. An insight into the mind of Custer in the days of the Plains Indian War era. Impulsive? Daring? Perhaps. Read in preparation for trip to Little Bighorn Battlefield and enriched by reading Custer in his own words describing life as it was then - military culture, and Plains Indian culture, and the mindset of Manifest Destiny of the time.

Also a painting in time of the end of the buffalo culture of the Plains Indian era, and the legend and myth of the 1800's Western era.

If a patient reader, would recommend for insight into the era and Custer's thoughts on the military role in the Plains Indian Wars.

[Deacon Tom (Feeling Better) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting piece of history

Unique facts and insights into the thoughts of an American leader and how the American military viewed Indians – as savages. One has to read this book with a grain of salt as they say because it does mention many negative points
However, showing what it took to try to ascertain a peace treaty with people who do not speak your language or have nowhere near your culture brings about some interesting reading.

[Kaj Samuelsson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting book. I was a bit reluctant to read it as I expected a more self glorifying book, but it is not. It is an account of the winter campaign to find and destroy war parties, then the offer of peace or war. The negotiations, which seemed more like a game of chess on how to outsmart each other.

[Andrew McAuley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting read. The version I read (90's folio society edition) is abridged from the original version, supposedly ponderous material removed. What is left seems to be a rather interesting history of the plains in 1868.

I was expecting a lot of ego, but Custer doesn't write a great deal about himself. He is more concerned with keeping largely to the facts and his observations. He paints a good portrait of some of the characters, mostly his scouts. Captain Benteen supposedly called the book 'My lie on the plains' but untruths were mostly not obvious, except in the instance where custer is covering his ass (as in the Major Elliot business on the Washita). I also think a lot of the praise he heaps on Major Elliot earlier in the book may be due to guilt over the officer's demise.

Custer's relative indifference toward his troops is evidenced where he obtains a buffalo robe for himself on loan while the rest of his command have to sleep without anything to keep them warm. Toward the end I think he gives himself a bit more credit for the peace treaties than he rightly deserved, and gave greater account of the effectiveness of those treaties than is realistic. Overall however, it's an invaluable first-hand account of the plains, the military campaigns, the native americans and relations between them and the whites.

The chap who wrote the foreword and afterword however is a different matter- his account of the Battle of the Little Bighorn is completely untrue, biased and full of blatant lies. It doesn't however detract from the main text.

[Ira Livingston · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been tackling memoirs and first person writings of historical figures. It truly gives you a unique look into the actual mind and dialogue of the individual.

General George Armstrong Custer, whom we all know met his end at the Little Bighorn, was an educated man and very prolific, however you can also read his thoughts towards the natives of our fine country.

A few things that I learned from this memoir, was some of the graphic descriptions of the brutality of the Indian Wars of the Great Plains.

Also that the destruction of the Buffaloes was an order given by General Sherman (Civil War - March to the Sea) who was the Nations Commanding General under President Grant. That he applied the same theory of total destruction of food and supplies, to bring the war to a quicker conclusion.

Another was the double standards of Custer's thoughts regarding the splitting up of captured whites by the Native Americans to limit the drive to escape. He is horrified by this idea of splitting up family members, but doesn't make the connection that Caucasians of the South were doing the same thing within the rules of Slavery.

It also sheds light on his strategies of how he approached attacking the Native American camps, a strategy that he eventually tries to apply on ground that he misreads and ends up costing him and the 7th Cavalry's lives.

From the historical aspect it deserves a read!

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

I often state in these reviews that sometimes there is too much detail. I understand stating something like that may sound somewhat ridiculous in a book, but it is what it is. I can't really explain what I mean by that any better. This book is one of those books. For example, Custer describes thinking of a command to give to a particular scout. He then says that he walked over and told the scout his decision. He then describes that the scout followed the directions. Or some times he over-describes the campfire. It sometimes seems more like a journal entry than a novel. It's also challenging to keep up with the various characters initially. Very little by way of character development occurs.

That said, I enjoyed listening to this book, and Custer was a very good writer. Interesting story and life indeed. Fun to read of a different time and lifestyle and I can't even imagine what it must have been like. This book helps lessen the need to imagine.

[Mike Renz · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have read a number of books on the war criminal George Armstrong Custer, so it was natural to read his account of his experiences on the plains. His peers referred to his book as "Custer's Lies on the Plains". Predictably, its loaded with self-flattery you expect from a sociopathic narcissist.

Custers image was largely manufactured after his death by his wife who spent all of her life on a highly skilled PR campaign. In reality, he was a whore monger who also raped captives and he and his charming wife...kept the daughter of Chief Little Rock as a sex slave.

What I found enjoyable about reading this book had nothing to do with Custer the Child Killer. It was the descriptions of the Great Plains before they were plowed under and chopped into little squares and circles.

There are other books to read.... this one is not worth the time.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bought this book thirty years ago at the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument and it sat on my shelf until last year. I donated it to a library without reading it. Recently found it on Librivox.org and downloaded the podcast. Wish I had kept the volume. A wonderful and enjoyable listen to the writings of George A. Custer and his experiences during his involvement in the "Indian Wars". Intriguing but brief look into the lives of the Plains Indian tribes I heard so much about during my youth. Interesting true life adventures.

[Darius · Rating 3 out of 5]

My Life on the Plains, by General Custer (audio version) describes his campaigns against certain Indian tribes in the southern U.S.

-- his comments on the Indian agents
-- the basic problem of civilization coexisting with hunter-gatherers
-- the savage ways of the Indian



Mentions "Great American Desert", used to describe parts of the Great Plains, during the 1800's.

Says that Fenimore Cooper (of Great Mohicans fame) presented a distorted, "noble-savage" view of the Indian.

[Will Hoover · Rating 5 out of 5]

George A. Custer may not have graduated anywhere near the top of his class at West Point, but beyond greatly distinguishing himself in a number of important battles during the American Civil War (for which he was not only quickly promoted to higher rank but was often recognized for his bravery and cool headed demeanor under fire), he, at the very least, certainly seems to have been an excellent writer.

Case in point; the nowadays often maligned Custer's 'My Life on the Plains' is an all too often overlooked 19th century literary gem that gives an always intriguing and absolutely never dull account of not only daily life for an American soldier on the Western Frontier, but clearly and quite effectively illustrates exactly why "the Indian Wars," as they are now commonly known, were so very necessary - though regrettably so, of course. For are not all human conflicts and rivalries ultimately infinitely regrettable?

Whatever the case may indeed be, I enjoyed this book immensely. Again, as stated above, the prose is surprisingly well executed, but what impressed me most of all about this collected edition of a series of magazine article penned by Custer several years before his untimely death at the infamous Battle of the Little Bighorn was how it so quickly shattered most of the preconceived notions about the man that I had long been misled by Hollywood and the mainstream media to believe about this remarkable individual in our nation's history.

Was he "brash" and "headstrong" - words that biographers, both pro and con, have so frequently attributed to young George Custer? Oh, I'm quite sure he most certainly was. However, I'm also pretty darn sure that being promoted to a high rank at such a tender age during his service in the Civil War would surely go to the head of just about any fledgling soldier then only recently gradated from America's premiere military academy.

But above and far beyond any and all "hubris" so typically attributed to Lieutenant Colonel, and alternately, "General" Custer, the man clearly must have had a whole lot more going for him than sheer force of arrogance. Did he perhaps commit the ultimate series of faux pas by allowing himself and his roughly two hundred ill-fated Federal troops (including, sadly, two of his younger brothers, Thomas and Boston) to be so thoroughly overwhelmed by what unexpectedly turned out to be such a huge number of Native warriors?

Well... yeah! Duh. But the real heart of the matter, as I see it, is that absolutely no one alive today was there when it all went down, and therefore I think it's pretty safe to say that most of us have no real business judging him (or ANYONE involved, really) with such blatantly convenient hindsight. I mean, talk about hubris!

But then, that's just people for you, isn't it? I mean, we all think we know all about all sorts of things that not a single one of us now living was really there to actually witness in the first bloody place. Well... that is, the ones who even bother to actually make a careful study in relative depth about the period - rather than simply (and quite lazily) allowing the often facetious and almost always relentlessly AGENDA-DRIVEN "modern" media to do our so-called "thinking" for us.

So whichever category one may or may not fall into, let me leave you with just a few thoughts that may not necessarily jive with any preconceived notions you may already have about the legendary, and perhaps wrongfully much maligned George Armstrong Custer. Just for starters, although he does often refer to his Indian foes as being "savages," he also appears to have had great admiration and respect for them, writing in one particular instance:

"I have yet to make the acquaintance of that officer of the army who, in time of undisturbed peace, desired a war with the Indians. On the contrary, the army is the Indian’s best friend so long as the latter desires to maintain friendship. Is it pleasant at all times, and always interesting, to have a village of peaceable Indians locate their lodges near our frontier posts or camps. The daily visits of the Indians, from the most venerable chief to the strapped papoose, their rude interchange of civilities, their barterings, races, dances, legends, strange customs, and fantastic ceremonies, all combine to render them far more agreeable as friendly neighbors than as crafty, bloodthirsty enemies."

Gee. That doesn't sound at all "racist" to me. Hmm.

And Custer certainly seems to have had a number of Native American friends and allies, some of whom even served with him in various capacities in the US Cavalry, and were in fact instrumental in leading him and his troops to the location of a number of hostile bands who had braves among them who had indisputably committed numerous, repeated, and quite well documented atrocities against a perhaps untold number of innocent men, women and children. Not all of whom were "white" settlers, by the way, IF... that is... that should somehow aid in negating one's blatant prejudice in regard to Mr. Custer's remarkable life story.

[Randy D. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lt. Colonel George Armstrong Custer was the adjutant commander of the United States Army’s 7th Cavalry from 1867 until his untimely death in 1876. During his tour of frontier duty in “Indian Country,” which consisted of primarily the western half of Oklahoma, and included parts of Kansas, Texas, Nebraska, Missouri, Colorado, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, and Wyoming, he contributed a series of articles to a popular magazine. Those articles were later compiled into a best-selling book published in 1872 titled My Life On The Plains.

My Life On The Plains is an excellent eyewitness account of the current events that were taking place on the American Frontier in the years immediately following the Civil War. It describes a vast region of the United States that became known as the Great Plains and concerns a series of events that were associated with that dynamic part of our country. Custer was present in the early stages of what was known as the Indian Wars, which occurred in that region's history, from 1867 until 1876 when he was killed with one third of his command at the Battle of the Little Bighorn on the Crow Indian Reservation located in the Montana Territory.

As a regimental commander, Custer made two gigantic military blunders; the first was his disregard of the latest reconnaissance from his scouts as to the size of a large Native American village and its inhabitants, who were the objective of the military campaign of which his command was engaged; the second, and the most serious, was his division of his command into three battalions and his decision to conduct a surprise attack on the village without the assistance of his two subordinate commanders, in the hopes of quickly taking captives; he reasoned the Sioux and Cheyenne warriors would capitulate, thereby ending the recent hostilities. Custer's disregard of military protocol cost him his life and those of one-third of his command. He faced upwards of 2,000 Native Americans with roughly 267 of his troopers. Surrounded on three sides, and with the Little Bighorn River to his back, he was forced to ward off the attack on top of a small hill. At the time of his death, his descriptive treatise, My Life On The Plains, was a bestseller. Custer was 36 years old.

Lt. Colonel Custer was a publicity hound throughout his military career, beginning soon after his graduation from West Point in May of 1861. He was a participant in the early campaigns of the Civil War; the ink was hardly dry on his diploma when, in July of 1861, he participated in the First Battle of Bull Run. He was present in several strategic battles and quickly learned that the power of the press could enhance his career. Custer played a key role in the Battle of Gettysburg and was an intricate part of General Philip Sheridan’s Shenandoah Valley Campaign. Nicknamed “The Boy General,” he was promoted to Brevet Major General of the Michigan Volunteers at age 23 and was present at Robert E. Lee's surrender at Appomattox.

After the war, Custer was a contributing author to various popular magazines; some under a pseudonym and some with his byline; he used these articles to no doubt bolster his huge ego. Lt. Colonel Custer obviously loved the written word as he was an avid reader and a prolific writer. He would regularly contribute articles to various magazines on topics ranging from hunting to political commentary while pursuing his career in the United States Army. Custer was a popular writer of his day and his literary efforts were eagerly anticipated by the readers of those monthly periodicals; the part-time author was an exception to the rule as many editors would solicit material from him for their publications. As the adjutant commander of the 7th Cavalry, he would oftentimes stay up until the wee hours of the morning, writing his articles after putting in long hours on his “day job.”

I was surprised at how articulate “General” Custer (he often preferred using his brevetted rank) was, given his standing in his graduating class; he was the “goat,” finishing last in his class of 34, but being a poor student does not necessarily mean that student is, for want of a better word, “dumb.” On the contrary, George Armstrong Custer was highly intelligent; as mentioned, he was an avid reader and a prolific writer, stemming from his school days in Michigan. Part of his and Ms. Custer’s personal effects were the trunks of books that were among his most cherished possessions at his various duty stations.

Custer was a brilliant military tactician, beginning with his service during the Civil War, but “The Boy General” and accomplished author made one fatal error two years after the publication of “My Life On The Plains”; his extreme arrogance and continued quest for fame and glory cost him his life. Had it not been for the efforts of his wife throughout her widow hood to clear his name and preserve his image as that of a fallen hero, Lt. Colonel George Armstrong Custer would have rated only a brief footnote in the annuals of history. If he had followed his first career choice, that of a school teacher, fame, glory, and thus history would have more than likely passed him by. On the other hand, had he not made his fatal mistake that June afternoon of 1876, he probably would have entered politics after completing his military career, thereby rising through the political “ranks,” with his journey possibly culminating at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

Custer was a career Army officer on duty in the American Frontier, assigned to help manage the “Indian problem.” His best seller, My Life On The Plains, serves as an excellent historical record of the events which occurred in this dynamic part of our country. It was written in a time when certain aspects of those times would not be tolerated today ... and rightly so. But, history can not be changed; what is history but yesterday's current events. A noted historian/politician once stated something to the effect that, “if we don't learn from history, we are doomed to repeat it.” By reading Custer's book, we learn from history that we are all Americans, and one member of an ethnic group who is native born or a naturalized citizen has the right to claim the title of “American” the same as another who meets those criteria; we can also enjoy reading his description of a region of our country when it was the American Frontier, thereby seeing this dynamic region of the United States in its natural state of existence, through the eyes of its accomplished author.

Custer began his book with the inaugural chapter excellently describing this vast territorial area of the United States, which was once known as the Great Desert. He subsequently rebuked that misnomer, instead describing this immense area as a huge grassland or a great plain. He then described the hazards and drawbacks of a soldier serving in this unique region of our country. This inaugural chapter is quite interesting, and in my opinion serves as an excellent beginning to his book as it sheds light on the vast area of our country that is as different from the eastern United States as night is from day.

Custer’s down to earth description of Army life in this “frontier,” far removed from the trappings of civilization, puts the reader in an army uniform as a member of the storied 7th Cavalry. It serves us today as an eyewitness account of a time many of us cannot fathom; the closest comparison to this frontier service for a 19th century American soldier of which modern day Americans can relate would be the deployment of those members of our armed forces to Afghanistan ... a country in our 21st century whose frontier could be compared to the American frontier of which Custer and his command served almost 160 years ago.

As mentioned, Custer used a very descriptive tone in his writing. He not only describes this unique region’s “lay of the land” and its inhabitants, including their customs and beliefs in great detail, he offers his opinions of those inhabitants, overtly placed throughout his chapters. And, as mentioned above, many of his opinions would not be acceptable today. But, as modern Americans, we must consider the author's station in life when he penned those words; impartial readers will realize Custer was a product of his times and of his station in life, that of a soldier on duty in the American Frontier; its very name designated that unique region as a harsh environment. He was assigned a difficult mission in this frontier … to aid in the alleviation of a problem with a people who lived a lifestyle they were fighting to keep. As I read this book, I couldn't help but wonder if those Native Americans knew the inevitable would occur and their inherent lifestyle would be “gone with the wind” within a generation.

But, even if they did know, the Native Americans saw their lifestyle as worth fighting for ... and in desperation, they valiantly ... and viciously fought to preserve it. Custer used derogatory language in his descriptions of the Native Americans, but yet, he empathized with them in their endeavors.

By 1890, the fight was over ... the American Frontier was tamed, and most of the Native Americans who called the Great Plains “home” had been placed on reservations. There, they continued their autonomy, separated from an America they rejected, but in their rejection, they would forever be an intriguing part of our country's history.

My Life On The Plains is an excellent historical and descriptive record of this region of our huge and wonderfully dynamic country. It was written by a very articulate eyewitness who no doubt had his faults, but immensely enjoyed his dual careers … leading the 7th Cavalry throughout the Great Plains, in a winter campaign during 1868-69, and submitting lengthy articles to his editors of Galaxy Magazine concerning his adventures while in the service of his country. Today’s reading audience should disregard that author's detrimental comments concerning the Native Americans as a “sign of the times.” With that being said, fortunately, those times have changed. As mentioned earlier in this review, the Native Americans were an indigenous people fighting for a way of life that they cherished. Lt. Colonel George Armstrong Custer recognized the unwavering pride of the Native Americans; he respected them for their beliefs … and didn’t blame them for fighting for those beliefs and their cherished lifestyle. Unfortunately, something much greater was pushing the Native American lifestyle to the sidelines of which Custer and his 7th Cavalry were a small part. 

Lt. Colonel George Armstrong Custer’s My Life On The Plains is an excellent historical record of a dynamic region of our country that is well worth reading. The author's desire was for his readers, as stated in his concluding sentence, “to gain a true insight into a cavalryman's ‘Life on the Plains.’” The commander of the 7th Cavalry was highly successful in his literary effort.

And for that, I’ll award it a five-star rating. *****

[David Welch · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an all-around great read, and one of the better historical narratives I've read. It does much to reveal ho Custer was, something lost on a lot of modern audiences where he's been reduced to almost a cartoon bad-guy. Custer is an interesting and varied individual, who seems to respect much about Indian warriors, while at the same time being appalled by their method of warfare (Which was admitted pretty brutal. Ritual torture, no thanks...). He was often fascinated by their cultures, while at the same time wasn't convinced that they couldn't reconcile with technological civilization. He even ponders on their origins at one point, a question still pertinent to researchers today. Though sometimes contradictory, he was clearly not the blood0thirsty figure he sometimes gets reduced to.

The booked follows his campaigns from 1867 to 1869, and does so in great detail. It's at times overwhelming how much detail he remembered and included in this book, which was originally a series of magazine articles. You'll learn alot about how soldiers, pioneers, and Indians lived at the time, and get into the headspace of both the army commanders and their Indian opponents regarding movements, tactics, and how they read their enemy. The book reads almost like a novel, with a day-by-day approach. There's plenty of buildup to give context to big events, the Battle of Washita being the focal point of the test. Custer even throws in side stories where he discusses other events he wasn't present at (Battle of Beacher Island), and discourses on the messy politics of the day regarding Indians. His views on the Indian agents was particularly enlightening, and show that government corruption is nothing new. He even examines the 'noble savage' myth, which was pervasive then as it is now. Custer clearly falls on the more realist side, expected given he was on the front line of the Indian wars. There are a few omissions. His court-martial is barely mentioned and the Indian woman he may have taken as a lover isn't really mentioned (Thought scholars are still undecided as to whether it actually happened), but I guess some glossing is to be expected in any autobiographical work. Whatever your opinion of Custer himself, it can't be denied that he's left history a great resource in this book. A great read.

[RockyMountain Swede · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have two copies of this book. Both First Editions dated 1875 and 1876.

I love reading them. Beautiful books with illustrations. General Custer was way more than most people know or believe. Everyone hears he was an indian killer but I always ask Who killed Who?

I do enjoy the man. He was very interesting, and well, my great grandfather rode with Custer. He absolutely loved the man. He was with Custer during the Civil War and after the War, he went with Custer to the West.

My great grandfather survived Little Big Horn because he came down with Typhoid and was sent back to Fort Abraham Lincoln. But the stories Great grandfather told the family about General Custer were good and delightful adventures. Custer had his faults, like any of us but he was still a great man for being so young.

This book is General Custers writing for the Newspapers of that time, and Custer added to it to publish his book. It is interesting, his interactions with settlers & indians. Its his own writing, not someone else telling you what to think about Custer.

I do recommend it. And its the only time I have ever paid this much $$ for two First Edition copies of a book.

[Randy J Robertson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good book.

I find this book refreshing as the liberals both then and now portray the "nobel red man" as the good guys and the settlers and soldiers as the bad guys. After reading other accounts of depridations on the early settlers and colonists by the various Indian tribes i find Custer well written accounts enlightening again my opinioin many liberal writers portray Custer as a complete idiot. You do not attend west point and graduate even if you are the lowest in the class and not be intelligent. Too bad Custer did not live beyond the battle of the little big horn. He might have made a good president.

[Erik · Rating 3 out of 5]

Removing any thoughts about the man, it's a pretty well written account of cavalry life on the plains just after the Civil War. Custer really does a great job making the action sequences engaging while also keeping it interesting during his summaries of camp life. He's also more respectful of some of the natives than I expected, although he still comes across as racist as expected, knowing both Custer and the era. Also nice to get additional letters and interpretations at the end to counter some of what he wrote.

[Cordell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very entertaining. Custer is clearly a very good writer. I read many people, detractors, who attack the book as self aggrandizing lies. But setting that aside it is super interesting. Likely one of that last people to write about a time when the planes were completely open who was able to do so with first hand accounts. I do not read things that were clearly false and I’ve read a great deal on Custer. If you approach it not for its historical references but as a view to the past. Or the possible past, I think it’s a great read.

[BarbaraW · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some might not like this account since it is a controversial topic. Even back then!! Wonderfully done as it covers his dealing with the “The Indian Problem.” You see that both sides were treacherous in that they killed unmercifully. He was very young to be in charge but had great drive and organizational skills which the military recognized.

[Jim Redding · Rating 5 out of 5]

Custer’s Life on the Plains

This book was very informative of George A. Custer’s view of the plains Indians during his campaign to get the many tribes to return to their reservations. It was well written and interesting with some quality of humor of the situations encountered! It was a good read!

[NDH · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Arcadia Press edition that I read had no Introduction or other scholarly commentary about the text, so all I can say is that Custer told his tales as he remembered them and as he wanted to present them to his expected audience. I have no problem with that. As primary source material for what it was like with the cavalry in those days, this can’t be beat.

[Ronald E. Hays II · Rating 5 out of 5]

Surprisingly Good

I don't know if Custer actually penned this book but it's good enough by any fair measure of literature. I was intrigued to find no clues that explained Custer's faulty judgement at Little Big Horn. As a retired Marine, Vietnam veteran, there were many heroic actions that were recognized that either resulted in disciplines or awards.

[Kenneth Kawaiwaiaea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kenneth Kawaiwaiae’a

Very insightful, first hand account, of the events, the personalties, and the political climate, during the Indian Wars. Reading this book and relating it to current events reminded me that the more things change, the more they stay the same.

[Ronda Wian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Old history

After a notable soldier as Custer it seemed a can't missed . a historical figure. I .struggled to get through the book.

[Walter Knapp]

Custer was his own best publicist, and he wrote this book as a series of articles while actually campaigning during the Indian Wars. Captain Frederick Benteen called it "My Lies on The Plains."

[Sherri Anderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was the first time I have read this book even though I have read many other books on Custer even his wives. I thought it was informative and interesting and it had some amusing antidotes.

[Drpsychorat · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very personal and somewhat flowery expose on the Hancock and Washita campaigns during the Plains War. Easy to read, but with major parts of Custer’s role- like his Courts martial missing.