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Digging into Custer's Last Stand
SINCE 1986, Digging into Custer s Last Stand has been our most popular book year-in and year-out among students of the Little Bighorn battle and among tourists who visit the Montana battlefield each year. In 1998, we issued a revised edition which proved equally popular among those who study the Little Bighorn. It updated work of National Park Service archeologists at Little Bighorn Battlefield and scientific inquiries at two other Custer sites. Now we are proud to announce the release of the third edition of Digging into Custer s Last Stand. It includes a new chapter detailing the history and construction of the new Indian Memorial at Little Bighorn as well as the horse cemetery marker. Earlier sections of the book have been re-edited in places and new photos have been added. This book continues to offer a well-written, non-technical summary of all the battlefield digs since the early 1980s that have impacted how historians and buffs interpret action at Little Bighorn.
Paperback
First published September 1, 1986
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June 15, 2025
Very interesting and important book on Custer’s last stand. I enjoyed it and gave it four stars rather than five because while it is a very original type of book, I thought there were several things that were left out.
It kind of told the story of the people that did the excavation at Custer’s last stand, and how it was done more so than what was found.
They did tell you what was found, but it was very sterile to my way of thinking. It was almost like the story of who and how it was found was the story. The items that were found were interesting, but were less a part of a story.
But the overall thing that I wish had been, there was context as to where as a group things were found. For example, it talks about clusters of items that were found near last stand Hill. But I thought the book would’ve benefited from a map of all of the items that were found that is overlaid on abroad map of the battlefield.
There are some very interesting items, but I think people who follow customers last stand want to see, not only what was found, and where a specific item was found, but where everything was found with a map so they can try and understand it.
They talk about thousands of GPS data points that were taken. They talk about an overall catalogue of where the items were found, but there’s no visual reference to it and there’s no interactive way to go and look at any of those things.
I’m sure that somewhere all of those data points exist and they have been mapped and they have been studied and looked at. But you don’t get to see any of that from this book. Nor is there a website that could tell you, for example, where to go see a master list of the geodesic points or that sort of thing. There must be a giant list where this has been overlaid on the map somewhere. So that a battlefield and Custer enthusiast can draw their own conclusions about where things were or why they got there how they got there or would being mashed in a particular spot might look like or mean
But I did enjoy the book a great deal and would recommend it as a very important book. If you are studying Custer’s last stand on any level.
It kind of told the story of the people that did the excavation at Custer’s last stand, and how it was done more so than what was found.
They did tell you what was found, but it was very sterile to my way of thinking. It was almost like the story of who and how it was found was the story. The items that were found were interesting, but were less a part of a story.
But the overall thing that I wish had been, there was context as to where as a group things were found. For example, it talks about clusters of items that were found near last stand Hill. But I thought the book would’ve benefited from a map of all of the items that were found that is overlaid on abroad map of the battlefield.
There are some very interesting items, but I think people who follow customers last stand want to see, not only what was found, and where a specific item was found, but where everything was found with a map so they can try and understand it.
They talk about thousands of GPS data points that were taken. They talk about an overall catalogue of where the items were found, but there’s no visual reference to it and there’s no interactive way to go and look at any of those things.
I’m sure that somewhere all of those data points exist and they have been mapped and they have been studied and looked at. But you don’t get to see any of that from this book. Nor is there a website that could tell you, for example, where to go see a master list of the geodesic points or that sort of thing. There must be a giant list where this has been overlaid on the map somewhere. So that a battlefield and Custer enthusiast can draw their own conclusions about where things were or why they got there how they got there or would being mashed in a particular spot might look like or mean
But I did enjoy the book a great deal and would recommend it as a very important book. If you are studying Custer’s last stand on any level.
Displaying 1 of 1 review