GENERAL CUSTER, LIBBIE CUSTER AND THEIR DOGS

Ragged Old First

Corporal
Joined
Mar 15, 2019
Here is a little something for our dog lovers.

GENERAL CUSTER, LIBBIE CUSTER AND THEIR DOGS

https://mcfarlandbooks.com/product/general-custer-libbie-custer-and-their-dogs/

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Looks interesting. Thanks for posting.
On his last campaign, Custer took two staghounds- Tuck and Bleuch- with him. When he rode off to battle, he left them with his orderly, John Burkman, who remained with the pack train.
<Nathaniel Philbrick, The Last Stand. (New York: Penguin Group, 2010). p, 152.>
 
I take it spaying wasn't a thing back then?
Leftyhunter


There's a good question! Wonder when it became possible, then a ' thing '?

And what did Custer feed all those dogs? I mean, you could see where regimental mascots could be fed. So many men, guessing everyone contributed scraps or it haunted camp kitchens. ALL those dogs? Goodness.

Here's another thought just occurring to me because I had to play doodle-ball in our yard yesterday. Doodle Ball is a little known game ( ok I made it up 10 years ago, bored by the repetitive task that comes with having dogs around ), one player or more. Official equipment is a cat litter scoop. You fling dog doodle into the woods with it, longest shot wins. Winner gets to not step in doodle and drag it into the house. Anyway, can you imagine what it was like around Custer's camp? Gee whiz. Small tent, doodled boots, long nights... .
 
For any CWT members or friends who might be in Wyoming near Cody, the author will be discussing his book in a free talk at noon on June 19 at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West located there. Here's more information, from a Billings, Montana, newspaper. I was interested to read in the article that the author says the rehoming of Custer's pack of 40 dogs after his death was the first national dog rescue operation.
 
Custer was bold and reckless in combat, but he also must have had a calm and compassionate side to him as well.

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Here's an engaging recent newspaper interview with Brian Patrick Duggan, the author of the book about the Custers and their dogs. He identifies an additional reason--besides the unavailability of spay surgery--for Custer to have had so many dogs. According to Mr. Duggan, Custer was "a big softy" when it came to his dogs. Whenever pups were born, he couldn't bear to give them away, even after he already had dozens of dogs.
 
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