THE CHEYENNES OF MONTANA

Algonac, Michigan: Reference Publications, Inc, 1978. First Edition. Hardcover. Very God / Very Good. Octavo, 9.25 in. x 6 in., pp. 297. Illustrated with black and white photographs. Orange-brown cloth boards with gilt title to spine. Very light rubbing to top/bottom of spine. Endpaper maps. Two inch tape scar to front free endpaper. Light rubbing to coated dustjacket; price stickers to back of dustjacket and front flap of dustjacket. Thomas Bailey Marquis (1869 - 1935) was an American self-taught historian and ethnographer who wrote about the Plains Indians and other subjects of the American frontier. He had a special interest in the destruction of George Armstrong Custer's battalion at the Battle of the Little Bighorn, which became his lifelong obsession. Marquis' body of work is valued by historians for his recording of the life stories of several Plains Indians and his writing on their way of life, particularly those involved in the Custer fight.... Marquis developed his own theories regarding the history of the Cheyenne. One idea in particular, that many of Custer's men committed suicide when the situation became hopeless, proved to be highly controversial. This idea first surfaced in the Wooden Leg narrative, but was most fully developed in ''Keep the Last Bullet for Yourself'', considered by Marquis to be his most important work and the culmination of his Custer research. The latter was not published during Marquis' life; much of his work did not appear in print until the 1970s. The last book to be published, ''The Cheyennes of Montana'' (pub. 1978), is regarded as especially valuable by historians. (from Pasco Libraries).