MS 2000-18 Edward S. Curtis investigation of the Battle of Little Bighorn
odd: label: Local Numbers
content: NAA MS 2000-18
label: Local Note
content: See NAA vertical file under "Curtis, Edward S." for more information.
name: label: Creator
content: Curtis, Edward S., 1868-1952
label: Correspondent
content: Leupp, Francis E. (Francis Ellington), 1849-1918
label: Creator
content: Woodruff, Charles Albert, 1845-1920
label: Names
content: Curley
label: Names
content: Custer, George Armstrong, 1839-1876
label: Names
content: Reno, Marcus A. (Marcus Albert), 1835-1889
label: Names
content: Two Moon, 1847-1917
label: Names
content: White Man Runs Him, approximately 1855-1925
place: label: Place
content: Little Bighorn Battlefield (Mont.)
topic: label: Topic
content: Little Bighorn, Battle of the, Mont., 1876
creator: label: Creator
content: Curtis, Edward S., 1868-1952
label: Correspondent
content: Leupp, Francis E. (Francis Ellington), 1849-1918
label: Creator
content: Woodruff, Charles Albert, 1845-1920
culture: label: Culture
content: Apsáalooke (Crow/Absaroke)
label: Culture
content: Sioux
label: Culture
content: Tsitsistas/Suhtai (Cheyenne)
label: Culture
content: Indians of North America -- Great Plains
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Edward Sheriff Curtis (1868-1952) was a photographer, known for his images of Native Americans and of the American West. In preparation for his volume on the Sioux for his 20 volume publication, The North American Indian, he investigated the details of the Battle of Little Bighorn, also known as Custer's Last Stand (June 25, 1876). He first visited the battleground in 1905 and interviewed many of the Sioux participants. He returned in 1907, and with the help of three Crow scouts who were with George Armstrong Custer that day, Curtis retraced Custer's steps on his final day. Curtis submitted a report to President Theodore Roosevelt and army officials, and upon their request, chose not to publish his findings out of deference to Custer's widow, who was alive at the time. Shortly before his death in 1952, Curtis passed on his manuscript to his son Harold with the request that he find a home for his papers. Thirty-six year later, shortly before his own death, Harold donated his father's manuscript to the National Museum of American History. Curtis' manuscript was later transferred to the National Anthropological Archives.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 25 Items (2.5 inches (1 document box)
unitdate: label: Date
content: bulk 1905, 1907-1908
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: National Anthropological Archives
identifier: label: Identifier
content: NAA.MS2000-18
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Manuscripts
bibliography: label: Bibliography
content: Published in The Papers of Edward S. Curtis by James Hutchins (2000). Little Bighorn Remembered: The Untold Indian Story of Custer's Last Stand by Herman Viola (1999) contains a chapter by Hutchins on Curtis' papers.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Manuscripts
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: This collection contains materials relating to Edward S. Curtis' 1907-1908 investigation into the Battle of Little Bighorn. The collection contains Curtis' notes; transcriptions of eyewitness accounts of Crow scouts Curley (as told to Chas. F. Roe, published in Army & Navy Journal, March 10, 1982) and White Man Runs Him and Cheyenne chief Two Moons; and letters from General Charles A. Woodruff, who was assigned by the U.S. Army to corroborate Curtis's findings in 1908. Also includes a 1905 letter from Francis E. Leupp, Comissioner of Indian Affairs, to Curtis