Boots and Saddles

by Custer, Elizabeth B

General George Custer was ordered to the Dakotas in the spring of 1873 and Elizabeth Custer's Boots and Saddles (the title comes from the bugle call for the cavalry to mount) chronicles their life until the general's death in 1876. A counterpoint to the purely military memoir, her account provides details about everyday garrison life at Fort Abraham Lincoln, including sketches of townspeople, Indians, camp followers, and soldiers, as well as daily routines, and special amusements. The Custers lived in the Dakotas when it was still the "Wild West" and western legends such as Buffalo Bill and Rain in the Face also stride through the pages of this book.Elizabeth Custer arrived at the fort during a blizzard with a seriously ill husband, frostbitten soldiers stumbling into the house, and terrified animals howling outside -- and coped with it all. She also traveled with Custer on scouting expeditions and visited Sioux villages:"The village was a collection of tepees of all sizes, the largest being what is called the Medicine Lodge, where the councils are held. It was formed of tanned buffalo hides, sewed together with buckskin thongs, and stretched over a collection of thirty-six poles...The poles are lashed together at the tops and radiate in a circle below. The smoke was pouring out of the opening above, and the only entrance to the tepee was a round aperture near the ground, sufficiently large to allow a person to crawl in. Around the lodge were poles from which were suspended rags; in these were tied their medicines of roots and herbs, supposed to be a charm to keep off evil spirits. The sound of music came from within; I crept tremblingly in after the general, not entirely quieted by his keeping my hand in his and whispering something to calm my fears as I sat on the buffalo robe beside him..." Compare this to her description of the General's library:"Over his desk, claiming a perch by itself on a pair of deer antlers, was a great white owl. On the floor before the fireplace...was spread the immense skin of a grisly bear. On a wide lounge at one side of the room my husband used to throw himself down on the cover of a Mexican blanket, often with a dog for his pillow. The camp chairs had the skins of beavers and American lions thrown over them. A stand for arms in one corner held a collection of pistols, hunting knives, Winchester and Springfield rifles, shotguns and carbines, and even an old flintlock musket as a variety. From antlers above hung sabers, spurs, riding whips, gloves and caps, field glasses, the map case, and the great compass used on marches. One of the sabers was remarkably large, and when it was given to the general during the war it was accompanied by the remark that there was doubtless no other arm in the service that could wield it. (My husband was next to the strongest man while at West Point, and his life after that had only increased his power.)...Large photographs of the men my husband loved kept him company on the walls; they were of General McClellan, General Sheridan, and Mr. Lawrence Barrett. Over his desk was a picture of his wife in bridal dress..."Courage, grit, compassion, and humor...Elizabeth Custer had them all, and they are evident here. Boots and Saddles is one of the few books of military life in the 1800's from a woman's perspective and invaluable for that reason alone, but it is doubly important for the light it sheds on George Custer. Fun reading as well!

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Boots and Saddles
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Boots and Saddles

by Custer, Elizabeth B.

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1885
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New York: Harper & Brothers, 1885. Early Printing. Near Fine. Early printing "with portrait and map" printed on the title page but lacking date there. Signed by Elizabeth B. Custer the first blank page and dated 1894. Bound in publisher's original brown cloth stamped in black and gilt. 312pp. Near Fine with light rubbing to corners and spine… Read more about this item
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Boots and Saddles; or Life in Dakota with General Custer
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Boots and Saddles; or Life in Dakota with General Custer

by Custer, Elizabeth B.

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1885
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First edition, first issue (portrait and map were added to later printings. Octavo. Original brown pictorial cloth in gilt and black. Brown coated endpapers. No dust jacket. Very good (minor rubbing). 312 pages. Bookplate of Arthur Crane. Howes C980.
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Boots and Saddles; or, Life in Dakota with General Custer
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Boots and Saddles; or, Life in Dakota with General Custer

by Custer, Elizabeth B

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New York: Harper & Brothers, 1885. First Edition. Hard Cover. Good/No Jacket. 0x0x0. First edition, second issue (Howes C-980). Front hinge weakening with first gathering slightly sprung, small circular discoloration on rear board edge, ink owner stamp dated 1899 on front flyleaf, margins of a few pages lightly soiled. 1885 Hard Cover. 312 pp. 8vo. Includes frontispiece portrait… Read more about this item
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Boots and Saddles; or, Life in Dakota with General Custer

Boots and Saddles; or, Life in Dakota with General Custer

by Custer, Elizabeth B

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New York: Harper & Brothers, 1885. First Edition. Hard Cover. Good/No Jacket. 0x0x0. First edition, second state (Howes C-980). Boards a bit rubbed, front free endpaper removed, ink owner stamp on front flyleaf. 1885 Hard Cover. 312 pp. 8vo. Includes frontispiece portrait of George Armstrong Custer, and single-page 'Outline Map of Portions of Montana & Dakota'. The honeymoon… Read more about this item
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Boots and Saddles

by Custer, Elizabeth B

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New York:: Harper & Brothers,, 1913. Portrait; map. SIGNED AND INSCRIBED BY ELIZABETH CUTER "With untold good wishes for Miss Jordan from Elizabeth B. Custer, New York 1913." Also written above the inscription in her hand: "Motto on General Custer's Spanish Sword/ Do not draw me without cause/Do not sheath me without honor." Original blue cloth, pictorial gilt boards. Elizabeth… Read more about this item
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by Custer. Elizabeth B.

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New York: Harper & Brothers, 1913. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1913. First thus with pictorial dust jacket showing charging US Calvary chasing plains Native Americans. Ex-library with expected stampings and marks. Hinges sound. No other internal ownership marks. Dust jacket has internal archival repair at spine and a shadow across part of a word. Trimmed by the library… Read more about this item
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Boots and Saddles: Or Life in Dakota With General Custer (Western Frontier Library)

by Custer, Elizabeth B.

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1968
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0806104872
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Univ of Oklahoma Pr, 1968. Later Printing. Hardcover. Very Good/Good. Western Frontier Library volume 17. A Very Good copy in a Good dustjacket. Book has shelfwear, edgewear, bumped corners, soiling to covers and edges of text block, and a former owner's plate on the front endpaper; DJ has shelfwear, edgwear, bumped corners, creases, mars on the front cover,… Read more about this item
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Boots and Saddles : Or, Life in Dakota with General Custer

by Custer, Elizabeth B

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University of Oklahoma Press. Used - Good. Former library book; may include library markings. Used book that is in clean, average condition without any missing pages.
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Boots and Saddles: Or Life in Dakota with General Custer

by Custer, Elizabeth B.

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1885
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New York: Harper & Brothers, 1885. Biography of General Custer, written by his wife, describing the life of an army family along with important incidents of Custer's life. Cover in blue cloth with embossed decorations in gilt and black ink. In good condition, inside and out, with some minor scuffing and wear around extremities and on spine. Inside perfectly… Read more about this item
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Boots and Saddles: or, Life in Dakota with General Custer

by Custer, Elizabeth B.

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0806111925
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Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press (1974).. Soft cover. Very Good. Reprint. Trade paperback. xxix, 276 pp. Illustrated. Introduction by Jane R. Stewart. A clean, attractive copy. "One of the motives that has actuated me in recalling these simple annals of our daily life has been to give a glimpse to civilians of garrison and camp life -… Read more about this item
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Boots and Saddles; or, Life in Dakota with General Custer

Boots and Saddles; or, Life in Dakota with General Custer

by Custer, Elizabeth B. (Bacon)

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1969
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WIlliamstown, MA: Corner House, 1969. dj w/lite chipping and rubbing,, unclipped price, in mylar; owner's names; 312 clean, unmarked pages; reprinting of Elizabeth Custer's 1885 (with new introduction) autobiography of her experiences with George Armstrong Custer at distant forts in the post-Civil War West in the 1870s. . Hardcover. Very Good/Very Good. Illus. by b/w Illus. 8 Vo.
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Boots and Saddles; or Life in Dakota with General Custer

by Custer, Elizabeth B.

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New York: Harper & Brothers, [1885]. 1st. Hardcover. Very good. This book is a 4th printing of the first edition with a frontidpiece portrait of General Custer, with a tissue guard opposite the title page; and an outline map, following the Table of Contents, showing Dakota, portions of Montana, Wyoming, and Minnesota with major rivers, forts, cities, and… Read more about this item
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Boots and Saddles; Or, Life in Dakota with General Custer

by Custer, Elizabeth B.

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1962
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University of Oklahoma Press, 1962. Hardcover. Like New/Very Good . In 1885, Elizabeth ("Libbie") Custer published her memoir about her marriage to General George Armstrong Custer, the most controversial military officer of the nineteenth century. Set at Fort Lincoln, Dakota Territory, Boots and Saddles offers a singular historical view of the frontier West and the Plains Wars.
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Boots and Saddles

by Custer, Elizabeth B.

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1966
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Norman: Univ. of Oklahoma Pr, 1966. 3rd Edition. VG/Good-. Inscribed by prior owner - free end-paper. Light chipping & scuffing to DJ. 279pp
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Boots and Saddles

Boots and Saddles

by Custer, Elizabeth B.

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2010
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Birmingham, Alabama: Palladium Press, 2010. Full Leather. Fine. 18.5 x 13 cm. 312pp. Bound into full maroon leather with gilt design, lettering, and foredges. 3 raised bands to spine, marble endpapers. Printed for members of "The Frontier Classics Library". Reprints the 1885 Harper edition.
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Boots and Saddles: Or Life in Dakota With General Custer

by Elizabeth B. Custer

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1582181411
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Digital Scanning, 2002-01. Hardcover. Good.
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Boots & Saddles: Life in Dakota with General Custer (History in Words and Pictures)

by Elizabeth B. Custer (Author), John W. Cirignani (Illustrator, Foreword), Nikki D. Cirignani (Illustrator)

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2015
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0996699414
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Cirignani Enterprises Inc., 2015. Soft cover. Very Good. Trade paperback. Clean with no marks noted to text. Light corner wear. 330 pp.
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Boots and Saddles : Or, Life in Dakota with General Custer

by Custer, Elizabeth B

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0806111925
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University of Oklahoma Press. Used - Good. Used book that is in clean, average condition without any missing pages.
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Boots and Saddles

by Custer, Elizabeth B

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1996-06-01
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ISBN 10
1889881058
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Old Books Pub Co, 1996-06-01. Hardcover. Very Good. Facsimile reprint of the Harper & Brothers edition. Boards showing minor wear. Bumps to corners Edges & spine.
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BOOTS AND SADDLES

BOOTS AND SADDLES

by Elizabeth B. Custer

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New Edition; Fourth Printing
Published
1968
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Hardcover
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Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press. 1968. New Edition; Fourth Printing. Hardcover. Fine in a Near Fine dust jacket. .
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