Great news.

Paul Horsted is coming to Pierre! Horsted, one of the authors of the new book CROSSING THE PLAINS WITH CUSTER, will be in Pierre to open an exhibit of his photographs at the South Dakota State Library on December 16th. He will also do a presentation and book signing. The program begins at 7:00 PM with a social at 5:30 at the South Dakota State Library, 800 Governors Drive, Pierre, SD.

His book, EXPLORING WITH CUSTER, was fantastic. It covers the 1874 expedition that Custer made into the Black Hills. It features breathtaking before and after photos along with diary entries from the participants and reports from the newspapermen that were along. This new book, CROSSING THE PLAINS WITH CUSTER, covers the trip from Fort Lincoln to the Black Hills and the return voyage. I am originally from North Dakota. I moved "south" in 1987 and South Dakota was as far as I could afford to go (not entirely true). Needless to say, I've been looking forward to this new book. I ordered it a few weeks ago and can attest to its quality. Even if you are not a "Custer nut" you'll enjoy this book. The photos alone are worth the price. Don't miss your chance to experience history - mark your calender for December 16th.

For more appearances by Paul Horsted, click here.

A big thank you to "cefil" from the Little Bighorn History Alliance for alerting me to this event.

Last night I went over to the Cultural Heritage Center here in Pierre to the History & Heritage Book Club's discussion of THE LANCE AND THE SHIELD: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF SITTING BULL. Earl Bullhead was the guest speaker. One of his ancestors. Lt. Henry Bullhead, was killed during the arrest of Sitting Bull on December 15, 1890.

Not much else to report. Unbelievable weather here for November.

If you are a veteran... thank you.

Great new Custer book - Crossing the Plains with Custer.

I'm torn. Did the Vikings deserve the win over the Ravens? Of course I am glad the Vikings won but the Ravens played a hell of a game. What a comeback.

This weekend was the Festival of Books in Deadwood. A few authors were giving presentations that I wanted to see. I was ready to go. I woke up yesterday feeling awful. I decided not to go. I called and canceled my hotel in Deadwood. Shit.

Then about noon I started feeling better. I couldn't make it to Deadwood in time for the main events I wanted to see. It was the first Saturday of the month so the Archives were open. I went over there instead. I dug up some WPA Graves Registration information on Hammon, Lattman, and Mahoney. I'll get that posted up on the website soon.

I also found a great article in the June 25, 1967 issue of the Rapid City Journal about the 91st anniversary of the Battle of the Little Big Horn. I recently read EVIDENCE AND THE CUSTER ENIGMA by Jerome Greene and saw a mention of the Journal article in one of the footnotes. It details the narrative of Lt. Edgerly who was with Company D at the battle. He was with Benteen's column and later in the hilltop fight. Good stuff. The day turned out to be ok.

Take care.

I just added the photo of Abram Brant's memorial marker at the Fort Meade Post Cemetery to the website. This is a memorial marker only. It does not mark the actual grave of Brant which is unknown.

Next weekend (October 2 -4, 2009) is the South Dakota Festival of Books in Deadwood. For a list of presenters, click here. James Donovan, author of the Custer book TERRIBLE GLORY, will be there. I haven't decided whether or not if I am going out to Deadwood for the festival. I have read Jim's book and it is great. Highly recommended. I've also had the pleasure of meeting him on a couple of different occasions. The last time was this past summer during Montana Mayhem II. He shared a few beers with us at the Montana Brewing Company in downtown Billings. I'm just not sure if I feel like driving out to Deadwood after the fiasco of a couple of weeks ago.

Who am I kidding? I'll be there.

Well I just returned from the Black Hills and the Custer site tour. Unfortunately, it rained on the entire drive out there and through most of the tour. As we were heading back into Rapid City, the sun decided to come out. The hikes to the String of Pearls and Turkey Rock sites were canceled. I did however get some great information so the next time I'm out there I can easily find the sites.

The biggest pain in the ass was that I blew out a tire. Luckily this happened just as I pulled into Rapid City. I thought I was going to miss the tour but I got the tire changed in record time, changed clothes in a gas station bathroom, and made the tour with about 3 minutes to spare. When we came back from the tour I stopped up at Sears and had a couple of new rear tires put on.

I spent the night in Rapid City and got up this morning and drove over to Fort Meade Post Cemetery in Sturgis to get a photo of the Abram Brant marker. I will get the new photo added to the website soon.

Below is a photo of Bear Butte from the road going up to the cemetery. The butte is covered in clouds and fog. It was another dreary day in the Black Hills this morning. On the way home, once I was about 10 miles outside of Rapid City, the sun came out.

Go figure. Take care.