Custer on the Little Bighorn

Thomas Bailey Marquis (1869-1935), was a physician with the Cheyenne Indian Reservation at Lamedeer, Montana. He went there from Missouri in the early 1900's and stayed until his death. He wrote several books based on his interviews of Indians in that territory. One of his most famous was "Wooden Leg: A Warrior Who Fought Custer" which is about the life of a Northern Cheyenne Indian, Wooden Leg, who fought in several historic battles between United States forces and the Plains Indians, including the Battle of the Little Bighorn, where he faced the troops of George Armstrong Custer. The book was dictated to Marquis by Wooden Leg in Indian Sign Language, their only common language. Marquis devoted more than 14 years to gathering information from the only witnesses to the Last Stand, the old-time Indians themselves. In 1931, Marquis wrote six booklets dealing with various phases of Custer's last battle which have been combined in this edition.