Custer's Arikara Indian Interpreter: Frederick Francis Gerard Book

The winning of the American Northwest was a "cacophony of action and adventure," writes author and historian Marvin Woods. In the early 19th century, President Thomas Jefferson sent Lewis and Clark to explore the extent of the real estate that had been purchased from Napoleon the First. There is now minted coin to honor the memory of the Indian Interpreter Sacajawea. Among those participants less recognized or unknown was a fascinating man named Frederick Francis Gerard, who is best known as Major General George Armstrong Custer's Indian Interpreter at the Battle of the Little Bighorn Expedition. In Mr. Woods' thoroughly researched chronicle, Custer's Arikara Indian Interpreter, Gerard's linguistic skills, as well as his many other contributions, guarantee him "membership in the assembly of adventures who cared to explore beyond the confines of the United States as it existed in the 1850s." Gerard built an impressive reputation as an Indian fighter who experienced many perils, yet was a strong advocate for the Indians friendly to the United States. Gerard's relationship with many of the Indians contributed to a memorable portrait of Gerard's critical role leading up to the Battle of the Little Bighorn, an integral and often misunderstood chapter in military history. Readers will learn about the history of the Battle of the Little Bighorn, the nascent United States, and of early American history from an angle that is altogether different than what they may have read before.Read More