Lookout Mountain over Golden, CO.
7 thoughts on “View From Buffalo Bill’s Grave”
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Some Chicago Boyz know each other from student days at the University of Chicago. Others are Chicago boys in spirit. The blog name is also intended as a good-humored gesture of admiration for distinguished Chicago School economists and fellow travelers.
Somebody’s on a trip, or was. Try to get to Custer Battlefield if you can. The view is eerie. You can almost see the Indians coming up the hill. I think they may have screwed it up some since I visited in 1965 but the view must still be there.
Thanks. The trip was a while ago but I’m sure I’ll be back in the area eventually.
So where is BB buried?
A few years ago I had to visit Deadwood SD – what an interesting place. WB (gee, these are all my initials) but Wild Bill is buried next to Calamity Jane. The “legend” is that they were lovers but I have subsequently heard that WB barely tolerated CJ – he was recently married – she was the one who propagated the “legend” saying “when I die bury me next to Wild Bill”
Wonder what Bill thought about that ;-)
Second the view of Michael – the Custer Battlefield was, to me, illuminating. I expected a small area where he was surrounded and it is a long ridge – a mile or more – a good 500′ above the river – and his troops were all along the ridge.
Custer and his company were on one end and when the Indians learned his location they mainly went after him.
I think he was a bit arrogant and in the end it cost him his life.
Interesting aside (I read in the last few years a recent book on him and what archeologists have discovered) but his wife had an eerie premonition when he and his troops left the fort.
When I was at the Custer Battlefield there were makers with names where the bodies of outposts were found. Most of them are buried in a mass grave in the center but the outpost markers gave a pretty good idea of the tactics. Unfortunately, they didn’t work. He should not have been there. I read a lot about that battle a long time ago and don’t remember as much as I used to.
Within the last 5 years Michael archaeologists did an extensive dig and were able to reconstruct a lot the battle from a lot of the artifacts. There was a good article on it in American Heritage I believe.
Before going there I believed that the entire unit was wiped out – but it was mainly Custer and his group at the end of the line along the ridge.
The Sioux and Crow and Cheyenne had a thing about “The Yellow Hair ” ;-)
Actually seeing the site was really an eye opener for me – it is far bigger than my imagination made.
He made several critical errors – not the least was splitting his unit up.
In going there I also, in a sense of adventure, drove though the Crow Indian reservation which is huge.
I got to the site and twilight was coming which added to the aura.
If you ever see the movie The Horse Whisperer they have a scene were they stop at the site during dusk.
As the crow flies.
I think the crow is running out for a six pack of Coors.