The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1934-12-07

e. Glory all his days. He was her
~ NJ lifelong devotee. She gave him IA
MA Mb vor withheld from most men, and
lHnHSTH1 Sh denied herself when his need of her
TRts W. was sorest. When, desperately pur-
hnTHn1JH suing, he died on the heights above
lIIIIIlIlNR the Little Big Horn, Glory, the per-
e1QuUW " verse, reented and gave eternal
brillance to his name" -.s...:
So begins chapter one of a new "now-it-can-
betold" Observation-Disclosures F. Van De Waters
GLORY Hunter" published recently by the Bobbs-
Merrill company. The GLORY Hunter" was
George Armstrong Custer, Lieutenant Colonel,
9TH United States Cavalry, Brevet MajorGeneral,
United States Army, the Boy General with the
Golden Locks the Murat of the American
Army the good sword the hero, the martyr"
Around his name has ragged endless contrO-
verSy, for he was the kind of man who seems
to have been capable of inspiring either the Bit
terest hatred the blindest loyalty. Chief among
the exemplars of the latter was of course, his
wife, who was to devote the rest of her life to
adOrnment of her husbands memory" Long be-
fore his tragic death in 1876 there were those
who had reason to hate him but chose to hold
their tongues. After that event there were whis-
pers of suspicion but little, if any, full-vOiced
denuncation.
Elizabeth Bacon's fifty-odd years Of glorifca-
ton have enshrined her husband in the folklore
of America She proclaimed him hero and, since
she WAS his willow, Heu WHO luOuSut OLucIWlSC
held their peace" Last spring she died, as did
Gen. E. S. Godfrey, another staunch defender of
Clusters name. Therefore "now-itcan-be- told"
biography can appear without giving pain to
these two honored devotees to a partly true
legend. 1898. :.a-. ...
Characterizing Van De Waters book thus does
NOT mean that he is an idle debunker nor a
ruthless iconoclast Few still endure who saw
him in the flesh, but over his memory, his deeds,
his character and particularly his death, Custer
phobe and Custerphile strive with the heat Of the
mans actual intimates," says Van De Water,
who Is neither Custerphobe nor Custerphile but
an impartial historian concerned only with the
facts as he finds them in the record Partisans
may disagree with his interpretations of those
facts but anyone who reads the evidence in his
book cannot help feeling that his explanation Of
Custer as a glory hunter is valid one.
If, indeed, as the poet tells u.s. the child is
father to the man, then several incidents in the
childhood Of the boy who was born in New Rum
ley, Harrison county, Ohio, just 95 years ago
December 5, 1897 are significant Of the man
he was to become. When with Mexico
threatened his father, Emanuel Custer joined the
New Rumley Invincibles,' a militia company,
and provided his little son, "Autie," with min
iature replica of his uniform. One day the young
ster amazed his father by lifting his arm in imi-
tation of an older half-brother who had been
his boyish treble MY voice is for warr' For the
next 80 years 'Autie" Clusters voice to be
raised for war-to be heard in wild shrill
whooping in the forefront Of hundred cavalry
charges"
The Clusters were staunch Jacksonian Demo-
Gratis even though their community was FREEDOM
inantly Wing. One day Emanuel Custer took his
four-year-old son to the doctor to have a tooth
pulled. AS they left the office, the boy gave
bloody grin and, apropos of nothing, exclaimed:
Father, you and me can lick all the Wings
in Ohio" In 1876 he felt the same way about
the Sioux in Montana and he died because Of
that belief.
Once at party q boyhood enemy crept up
outside the window and began making faces and
insulting gestures at young Custer With cat
like leap across the room, the boy drove his fist
through the pane at the grimacing face. 1.-THE
thought of a possibly mutilated hand did not
deter him. Then or later, with foe in sight, he
rarely paused to consider cost" E#a
When he was four years old a new brother
arrived in the Custer home-Nevin J., who is
worthy of mention IL for no other reason than
that he was so different from the rest He lived
and died In peace. farmer. Thomas w. Custer
appeared on the scene in 1916, Boston Custer in
1S4S and Margaret Emma Custer in 1852. They,
especially Tom Custer. became the first hero
worshipers to send their older brother his pur-
suit of glory and they were to share in the
tragic end of his quest, as was his halfsister,
Lydia who in 1S49 married David Reed Of Mon
roe Mich When she went to the little pioneer
town on the shores of Lake Michigan, she took
"Autie" with her. He lived there off and on for
the next six or seven years.
During that time there occurred an event which
marked the beginning Of the one wholly admir-
able factor In Clusters life. Returning from
school one day, he passed the home Of Daniel S.
Bacon, the leading citizen of Monroe. little
girl was swinging on the garden gate. She gazed
at the gangling ifteen-year-old with interest.
Hello" she stammered, 'Hello. you Custer boy
Then, overcome by shyness, she fed 1t was his
first meeting with Elizabeth Bacon. Ten years
later he married her and she Joined the ranks
of the heroworshipers whose lives were to be
blighted because Of their devotion to one fam
ing figure.
Returning to New Rumley again, Custer took
the first step In his glory-seeking career. Despite
his fathers strong Democratic principles and
consequent disapproval of his sons actions. Gus
ter was not averse to asking Republican con-
gresham to get him an appointment to the
United States Military academy at West Point.
Unsuccessful at first Custer was so impOrtunate
that finally John A. Bingham. the congressman,
gave II to him and on June g. 1857, he entered
West Point. There he was "a defiant insubordi-