Chapter 3: July 25, 1874 Custer's band played music that echoed eerily as the expedition followed a fresh Indian trail deeper into the Black Hills. (They would surprise a Sioux village the next day.) The General called this place “Floral Valley” for its blanket of wild flowers, which soldiers picked from horseback. This chapter of the trail guide in Exploring with Custer includes first-hand accounts of these activities plus detailed maps of the route and the exact location of the camps.

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Illingworth Photos 811 and 839, then and now    No. 811 reveals wagons waiting to be unloaded on the far side of Castle Creek Valley, almost exactly where the road is today. W.H. Illingworth was photographing the site of that night's camp, near present-day Deerfield.    No. 839 captures one wing of Permanent Camp (August 1-5, 1874), near today's town of Custer. It was here that members of the expedition discovered significant amounts of gold (in a prospect shaft beyond a granite outcrop visible in the picture), and filed claims up and down French Creek. (Return to the HOME PAGE)     •     •     •     •     •     •     © Dakota Photographic LLC