On the border between Wyoming and South Dakota, the Black Hills were still a mysterious place to the white world long after the West was settled.   Gen. George Armstrong Custer's Black Hills Expedition of 1874 changed everything. It sparked the last great gold rush in the continental U.S., giving birth to Deadwood but also violating the Fort Laramie Treaty with the Sioux. Their rage was unleashed on Custer and his Seventh Cavalry just two years later at the Little Big Horn.   This significant and eventful expedition was also one of the best-documented in the Old West. At least ten of the explorers kept journals or filed reports. Five journalists wrote stories full of picturesque detail. And photographer W.H. Illingworth recorded dozens of fascinating and invaluable images.   “Exploring with Custer” brings all these sources together for the first time in a book that allows you to relive the adventure. All of the Illingworth photos are included, along with modern photographs taken at 48 sites in the Black Hills. The other half of the book weaves together the first-person accounts for an exciting day-by-day chronicle of events in the Black Hills. Maps reveal the precise route of the expedition — including camps, photo sites and other points of interest — with detailed directions (and optional GPS readings) for anyone who wants to follow the trail in person.       ABOUT THE PHOTO: The image at the top of the page combines excerpts from two Illingworth photographs. Custer and his scout Bloody Knife — together with three other scouts and two hunting dogs — were photographed on the Great Plains in front of the general's tent (page xii in the book). The camp you see behind them, however, was the “Permanent Camp” of August 1-5 on French Creek. This was the site of the gold discovery that created all the excitement. THE MAP along the left edge of the frame is a sample of the detailed work done by Col. William Ludlow and his engineering staff. Note that each turn of the trail is recorded, along with the surrounding topography. Here you can see “Elkhorn Prairie,” named for the intriguing pile of elk horns found at the north end. Today the area is known as Reynolds Prairie, and the wide valley to the south — where the expedition camped on July 28 — is now covered by Deerfield Reservoir. Also visible is the camp of August 7, on the return route, where Custer and his men shot a grizzly bear (page 254-257). The authors discovered the true site of this camp and the photo in 2000.     (Return to the HOME PAGE)     •     •     •     •     •     •     © Dakota Photographic LLC