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General George Armstrong Custer Ledger, KS - Ft. Riley,

Currency:USD Category:Books Start Price:12,500.00 USD Estimated At:25,000.00 - 35,000.00 USD
General George Armstrong Custer Ledger, KS - Ft. Riley,
IMPORTANT NOTE ON BUYERS PREMIUMS:

Lot 100 to 343 have a premium of 15%.

The rest of the sale is 19.5% as noted in the listing.

Lot Pick Up: Holabird-Kagin Americana,
3555 Airway Drive Ste #309,
Reno NV 89511,
Sunday - December 9, 10am-4pm
1870 - An incredible piece of Western Americana. This is the personal business ledger of General George Armstrong Custer with the date Dec. 8, 1870 written in the General`s own hand. While the 175 page, red leather bound book has entries on only about 7 of its ruled line pages, each were entered by the 28 year old "Boy General" of the Civil War. For two years ( 1870-1872 ) the 7th Cavalry was not around battle but was dispatched to Kentucky to buy horses for the United States Army. He was also supposed to enforce the taxes there.

Custer had a passion for thoroughbred horses and ledger notations list a series of purchases for such mounts including purchase price, seller, location, bloodlines and in some cases, the clocked times at various distances for some of his purchases. Although Custer owned several horses, most, if not all of these purchased animals were for racing purposes. The ledger indicates that he was interested in both distance runners and trotters, and while he also used thoroughbreds for his cavalry mount, he never paid much more than $500 for them.

There are also a few entries of receipt from a Captain Kimbull of a check for $400, written on a Kansas City Bank. The money appears to have been given to the Lyon County Treasurer, which shows that Custer was keeping up on his tax collecting duties during this time.

The ledger measures 4" x 6.75" and is in excellent condition, with no dog-eared pages or bindery issues.

Usually with an item like this, you`ll read a long biography of the subject, but to do that here, would be an insult to any Custer collector. We all know the story of his triumphs and failures, he`s iconic. Now is the chance to own one of Custer`s personal ledgers, kept four years before that fateful June 25, 1876 battle with most of the Sioux Nation. -61491