Selected, Annotated Bibliography For The Battle Of Many Names

The Buffalo Bill Historical Center staff suggests the following references for visitors interested in further investigating The Battle of the Little Bighorn.

Black Elk. Black Elk Speaks: Being the Life Story of a Holy Man of the Ogalala Sioux as told to John G. Niehardt (Flaming Arrow). New York: William Morrow & Co., 1932.
The first widely available account of the Battle of the Little Bighorn from an American Indian participant. This is one of the great books of Plains Indian literature, and has been widely reprinted. (NEB)

Camp, Walter Mason. Custer in '76: Walter Camp's Notes on the Custer Fight. Edited by Kenneth Hammer. Provo: Brigham Young University Press, 1976.
Walter Mason Camp (1867-1925) studied the Little Bighorn battle extensively by interviewing actual participants on both sides. This book is a publication of his field notes held at Brigham Young University Library. (NEB)

Chorlain, Meg, ed., The Battle of Little Bighorn. Cobblestone Series on American History for Kids, vol. 18, no. 8. Peterborough, NH: Cobblestone Publishing Company, 1997.
Grade school level presentation of the events surrounding the Battle of Little Bighorn from the perspective of both sides. Focuses on events leading to conflict, the battle itself, biographies, Indian tradition, puzzles, activities, and book recommendations. (SDS)

Dippie, Brian W. Custer's Last Stand: The Anatomy of an American Myth. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1976.
Explores artistic, cinematographic and literary interpretations of "Custer's Last Stand" from the early 20th century through the 1960s. Includes bibliographies of Custer biography, Custer poems, and Custer fiction. (RSW)

Fox, Richard Allan, Jr. Archaeology, History, and Custer's Last Battle: The Little Big Horn Reexamined. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1993.
A summation of over a decade of archaeological studies of the battlefield. The author's purpose is to integrate primary physical evidence into the debate on the history of the battle. (NEB)

Goble, Paul. Red Hawk's Account of Custer's Last Battle. Lincoln: University of Nebraska, 1992.
Children's Book: Although Red Hawk is not a real person, this story is based on the published accounts of Sioux and Cheyenne participants in the Battle of Little Bighorn. Presents the battle from the Indian point of view, with supplementary explanations in italics. (SDS)

Graham, W.A. Abstract of the Official Record of Proceedings of The Reno Court of Inquiry. Harrisburg: The Stack Pole Company, 1954.
The Reno Court of Inquiry proceedings are one of the primary historical sources of evidence on the history of the Battle of the Little Bighorn. This abstract was written by Lt. Col. Graham in 1921. (NEB)

Greene, Jerome A., ed. Battles and Skirmishes of the Great Sioux War, 1876-1877: The Military View. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1993.
This is a useful compilation of first hand accounts of each of the military engagements that led up to and then followed the Battle of the Little Bighorn. (NEB)

Hatch, Thom. Custer and the Battle of the Little Bighorn: An Encyclopedia of the People, Places, Events, Indian Culture and Customs, Information Sources, Art and Films. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 1997.
Very handy guide to studying the battle and its interpretation by historians, artists, writers and movie makers. (NEB)

Hutton, Paul Andrew, ed. The Custer Reader. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1992.
A unique grouping of narratives, articles and essays relating to Custer, the Battle of the Little Bighorn, and subsequent Custer myths. Each of the four sections is introduced by Hutton. (RSW)

Kammen, Robert, Frederick Lefthand, and Joe Marshall. Soldiers Falling into Camp: The Battle of the Rosebud and the Little Bighorn. Encampment, WY: Affiliated Writers, 1992.
This is a collection of writings that present both Native and military perspectives on the two historical battles. (EIH)

Mardon, Allan. In Search of History: Narrative Paintings by Allan Mardon at the Bradford Brinton Memorial May 15-September 7, 1998. Big Horn, WY: Bradford Brinton Memorial, 1998.
Catalogue of works by artist of monumental painting Battle of the Greasy Grass. (RSW)

Paxson, William Edgar, Jr. E.S. Paxson: Frontier Artist. Boulder: Pruett Publishing Company, 1984. Biography of artist Paxson with chapter 6 devoted to his painting Custer's Last Stand, which is in the collections of the Buffalo Bill Historical Center. Written by artist's great grandson. (SEB)

Rankin, Charles E., ed. Legacy: New Perspectives on the Battle of the Little Bighorn. Helena: Montana Historical Society Press, 1996. A wonderful collection of current essays relating to the interpretation of the battle. Especially note the art history essay by Brian Dippie "`What Valor Is': Artists and the Mythic Moment." (NEB)

Russell, Don. Custer's Last: or, The Battle of the Little Big Horn In Picturesque Perspective Being a pictorial representation of the late and unfortunate Incident in Montana as portrayed by Custer's friends and foes, admirers and iconoclasts of his day and after. Fort Worth: Amon Carter Museum of Western Art, 1968.

Custer's List: A Checklist of Pictures Relating to the Battle of the Little Big Horn. Fort Worth: Amon Carter Museum of Western Art, 1969.

Custer's Last, which served as the catalogue for the first major exhibition of artistic representations of Custer's Last Stand, surveys the significant visual representations of the battle. As a supplement, Russell published Custer's List, an inventory of 967 pictorial versions of the battle that he and other researchers had located by 1969. (SEB)

Taft, Robert. "Custer's Last Stand" in Artists and Illustrators of the Old West: 1850-1900. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1953.
One of the best known pictures of the battle is the lithograph Custer's Last Fight, distributed by Anheuser-Busch. Taft's essay provides information on the artists and history of this work, as well as other early paintings. Another version of this essay can be found in The Custer Reader. (SEB)

Tillett, Leslie, ed. Wind on the Buffalo Grass: Native American Artist-Historians. New York: Crowell, 1976.
An important work, publishing reproductions of American Indian ledger art documenting the battle, with useful interpretations. (NEB)

Welch, James with Paul Stekler. Killing Custer: The Battle of Little Bighorn and the Fate of the Plains Indians. New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 1994.
This book by noted Native writer James Welch resulted from his research for a script for a PBS documentary, Last Stand at Little Bighorn. It analyzes the battle within cultural, political, and historical contexts and offers new perspectives on its contemporary relevance. (EIH)

Publications that are in print can be purchased from Museum Selections gift shop of the Buffalo Bill Historical Center, telephone: 307-587-3243 or 800-533-3838. You can also consult your local library. Books not in the holdings of your local library can often be borrowed through inter-library loan.

NEB: Nathan E. Bender, Housel Curator, McCracken Research Library
SEB: Sarah E. Boehme, The John S. Bugas Curator of the Whitney Gallery of Western Art
EIH: Emma I. Hansen, Curator of the Plains Indian Museum
SDS: Sharon D. Schroeder, Former Director of Education
RSW: Rebecca S. West, Curatorial Assistant, Whitney Gallery of Western Art and Plains Indian Museum