While Tony worked this morning, I went to the Calvary Site here at Ft. Lincoln State Park to tour the Commander’s house that has been re-created. This was Custer’s last home as he marched from here for the Little Big Horn where he met his demise at age 36. He was popular back in the states, and came out (with his wife and other family members) to the Bismarck area fort to protect the railroad workers. River boats were able to come up the Missouri so it was a well-supplied fort even before the railroad reached it. The first home the Custer’s lived in burned to the ground in the winter, so they rebuilt on top of the basement with an expanded floor plan. A couple of artifacts in the home were theirs, but most are antiques found elsewhere or reproductions. Custer loved to eat raw onions and hire his relatives for jobs that they might not have had prior experience for. He also earned lots of demerits at West Point for being immature and maybe never out grew that tendency. He got mad about delays with scouts in searching for gold in the Black Hills and shot at them. The two, who were natives used trees for cover until he cooled off. Then one, Bloody Knife, said if he was a hothead like that, Custer would be dead. They shook hands and became friends again.

I did get to meet a couple from Australia who were on the tour with me. They come over here (20-hour flight from Sidney to LA) and rent a car to drive on the “wrong” side of the road and tour the US. This is their first trip back since COVID. They like to find out-of-the-way places like this park. They are headed to Sturgis because he’s a motorcycle fan.

Fargo, ND was our next destination, so we left after my tour and trip to the museum’s bookstore. I purchased Boots and Saddles, or Life in Dakota with General Custer written by his wife Elizabeth. My tour guide said to read it with a grain of salt as she saw Custer through rose-tinted glasses—a woman in love with her man, I suppose.

We get to use our Harvest Host membership to spend the night at the Fargo Air Museum. We arrive less than an hour before they close, so we will tour in the morning.