Custer’s Last Stand J-A34

Use these insightful documents to discuss the ways in which myths develop around popular heroes of history and the changes that can result from reexamination of historic events and personalities. Hands-on documents bring the flamboyant Custer to life and help authenticate the circumstances surrounding his tragic “Last Stand.” Historian: Brian W. Dippie. The contents of this Jackdaw feature:

Broadsheets

• Treating with the Sioux
• The Road to War
• War with Sioux
• The Battle of the Little Big Hom
• The Aftermath of Battle
• The Custer Myth

Historical Documents

• The changing face of the Boy General: 3 portraits Custer.
• A printed version of the Treaty of Fort Laramie and two pages of original treaty signatures, 1868.
• Six pages from Custer’s “My Life on the Plains,” 1874.
• Two letters from the Secretary of the Interior to the Secretary of War: December 3, 1875, and February 1, 1876, transcripts.
• Custer’s last message to Captain F.W. Benteen, June 25, 1876.
• Official map of the Custer Battlefield, 1876.
• Telegram from General Alfred H. Terry to the Adjutant General of Military Division of the Missouri, June 27, 1876.
• Telegram from R.C. Drum, Assistant Adjutant General, to H.T. Crosby, War Department, July 6, 1876, and a transcript.
• A letter from a survivor, Frederick F. Gerard, to his daughters.
• The Bismark, Dakota Territory, Tribune Extra, July 6, 1876: “First Account of the Custer Massacre.”
• “The Battle on the Little Big Horn River - The Death Struggle of General Custer,” drawing in The Daily Graphic, July 18, 1876.
• A political cartoon by Thomas Nast, Harper’s Weekly, 1876.

Study Guide / Lesson Plan – Reproducible Activities