Auction Date:2011 Aug 10 @ 18:00 (UTC-05:00 : EST/CDT)
Location:5 Rt 101A Suite 5, Amherst, New Hampshire, 03031, United States
ALS - Autograph Letter Signed
ANS - Autograph Note Signed
AQS - Autograph Quotation Signed
AMQS - Autograph Musical Quotation Signed
DS - Document Signed
FDC - First Day Cover
Inscribed - “Personalized”
ISP - Inscribed Signed Photograph
LS - Letter Signed
SP - Signed Photograph
TLS - Typed Letter Signed
ALS signed “G. A. Custer,” four pages, lightly-lined on two adjoining sheets, 8 x 10, September 4, 1871. Letter to his friend Osborn. In full: “Yours of May 30th after following me from place to place overtook me here in Kentucky. I am now on duty here my command which was brought from the plains being distributed over Kentucky Louisiana North & South Carolina. I am located at the Galt House Louisville Ky. In answer to your inquiry I can say nothing which will be satisfactory to you-there is no place or position connected with the government service here which could be made available for you. In fact we have but few unemployed companies with the members kept on the plains. If I was in the West I would be in a position to accommodate you. In regard to the prospects for a young man in the West-I would recommend all young men whether with limited capital or not to locate West of the Missouri since Kansas offers great inducements to the young man possessing energy and determination. Every one there who is so disposed betters their fortunes. Opportunities for investment in land and cattle are constantly offering themselves. I know of several young men who have cast their lot in Kansas on my advice all of whom are prospering in their worldly affairs. Land can be obtained at very low figures while the issuance and constant flood of emigration pouring into the Western position of the State causes a steady advance in the prices and renders successful sales of land pleasant and easy. The Neosho Valley, the Solomon and Republican Valleys and Southwest Kansas genuinely all offers some opportunities for investment. You can scarcely go amiss in any of these localities. I am sorry your letter did not give me more details concerning the other members of your family. I would travel a long distance to see Mollie again My recollection of her is one of the bright spots of my life. I hope she has not forgotten me. I would like to see your mother again. I wonder if she remembers how troubled I was when I thought I was about to lose my situation as school teacher. My experience as a teacher was of special value to me in after life not only in assisting me to control others but It aided me in establishing control over myself. Remember me most kindly to Mollie, your Mother, and to all who remember me.” In very good condition, with intersecting folds, several through portions of signature, toning and soiling to first and last page, and professional silking to both inside pages resulting in a slightly fuzzy appearance. Letter is housed in a custom-made linen portfolio with a light tan morocco spine.
After five years of fighting Indians, Custer and his 7th US Cavalry company were assigned to Elizabethtown, Kentucky in April 1871, with the general making numerous trips to regimental headquarters in Louisville. As the federal government during this period assigned troops to target the Ku Klux Klan and illicit distilleries in the South, Custer was fortunate enough to draw duty in the relatively quiet ‘moonshine’ town of Elizabethtown—a reward of sorts for his service on the frontier. Staying at the Gait House, a Louisville hotel, that September and with little more else to do gave him the opportunity to offer his hearty recommendation for young men to ‘go west.’ “I would recommend all young men...locate West of the Missouri since Kansas offers great inducements...Opportunities for investment in land and cattle are constantly offering themselves,” Custer states, going on to identify specific areas that offer “opportunities for investment. You can scarcely go amiss in any of these localities.” Custer’s endorsement of such ‘white settlement’ would, of course, cause immense tension with the native Plains Indians tribes...leading to the general’s demise at Little Big Horn.
Auction Location:
5 Rt 101A Suite 5, Amherst, New Hampshire, 03031, United States
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