I have written about my interest in Custer and the 7th Cavalry before. A quick look at my website will also confirm my fascination. I am still waiting for someone to come forward with information on Joseph Bates/Murphy. If you know anything, no matter how trivial, please email me.

I have also been researching Elijah Strode. Strode served as Lt. Varnum's orderly at the Battle of the Little Bighorn. He was murdered in Sturgis in 1881. I have been at the State Archives in Pierre looking through old newspaper accounts for information on Strode's murder. I am still in the process of getting all the information but the picture is getting clearer.

Trying to research a murder that happened over 127 years ago is not the easiest thing to do. There has been much conflicting information. For instance, I had originally read that Strode was shot at Fort Yates and was brought to Sturgis where he died. For those of you not from this part of the country, there are a lot of miles between Fort Yates in North Dakota and Fort Meade at Sturgis. This didn't make sense to me. Back in 1881 they just didn't transport someone who had been shot hundreds of miles over the prairie. By reading the newspaper accounts, there is no mention of the shooting taking place in Fort Yates. According to the BLACK HILLS DAILY TIMES, Strode was shot and died at Tom Miller's saloon in Sturgis City, Dakota. Check out my website to download a PDF of those newspaper accounts.

While scouring over those newspaper microfiche I have also spotted other interesting information...

*** Al Swearingen, made famous by DEADWOOD , was fined $100 for selling liquor without a license.

*** An ad for Seth Bullock and Sol Star's hardware store

*** A testimonial letter written by a deputy sheriff on how cocaine cured his dandruff.

*** News of the presidency of James Garfield

History is so cool.