image from theapopkavoice.com
Custer’s Last Picnic
“There are not enough Indians in the world to
defeat the 7th Cavalry.”
--George Armstrong Custer.
When we travel by car, we always carry an
electric icebox, full of drinks, fruit, deli-meats,
fresh bread and condiments. We stop at a
specific sight/site, throw a checkered sheet
over the hood, set up a pair of camping chairs,
and enjoy a picnic lunch.
Most of dozens of road trips took us across the
vastness of the Southwest, on route to and from
Texas, where my in-laws live. One summer found
us crossing through Montana. We stopped at the
Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument.
Custer faced a fierce battle, commanding 210
troopers, many of them green new recruits with
limited training, and on the crest of a grassy knoll
he fought a force of 2,500 Lakota Sioux, Cheyenne
and Arapaho dog soldiers and seasoned warriors,
led by Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse, right there in
front of us at 45 degrees North and 107 degrees
West.
As we gazed out at a bloody piece of history and
Western lore, we ate our Custer Sandwiches.
Mine was rare thick cuts of roast beef on Texas
Toast bread, slathered with Mayo & mustard,
embellished with a thick slice of onion. My wife had
a turkey on rye, covered with shredded cheese and
sprouts. We drank cold lemonade, and then snacked
on slices of chilled ripe cantaloupe for dessert.
Two things I remembered from our tour of the small
museum there. Custer’s famous white buckskin
uniform and plumed hat were displayed, and I could
see that old George A. was not a tall man; more like
5’5” in height, with a modest frame. Among the many
military mistakes made that day, I read where Custer
had been offered a pair of Gatling guns, but he turned
them down, fearing they would slow his momentum.
At Little Bighorn,
Custer’s pride destroyed the men
under his command.
Glenn Buttkus
Haibun
Posted over at dVerse Poets Pub
12 comments:
From slathered mayo to a colorful history lesson, I was enthralled!
You are true to form.
Good observation about pride.
I love your road trip with picnic stops and tasty sandwiches (I am hungry) and a bit of a history at the museum.Too bad Custer's pride stood in the way.
I love the history as you bring us along these road trips. Beautiful post, haibun and haiku.
the food! it always the food that evokes the deepest memory and echoes a moment so vividly. your sandwich sounds delicious but its the lemonade that holds the magic here. i so enjoy your historical additions, i learn so much from them, not just the what but the why.
I thought for sure you were going to say the Custer sandwiches were made from dead crow. A very vivid and entertaining haibun, Glenn. Maybe he had Napolean Disease?
Not the glorious event Hollywood and Errol Flynn have bequeathed.
You took me there! I can see the checkered cloth and savor the sandwiches. I can stand in wonder at the site of tragic history. Thanks for the trip!
We visited that battlefield as well...pride goes before a fall!
The commander's pride is often deadlier than the real enemy... it's happened in other places too... love the details of the sandwiches.
Well I’m right there with you tasting these yummy sandwiches, staring out at history and getting a history lesson too! You always have a knack of putting your readers in to your words!
An American history lesson and a picnic – thanks Glenn! You fill in the gaps in my very holey knowledge – I’m not even sure where Montana is; I only really know the name from a Frank Zappa song: ‘Moving to Montana soon, gonna be a dental floss tycoon’. And I didn’t know that Custer was the same height as me!
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