Boots and Saddles


Read by Sue Anderson

(4.5 stars; 57 reviews)

Elizabeth Custer has penned an engaging portrait of 1870’s life on a U.S. cavalry post in the Dakotas, just before her husband and his troops met their tragic deaths in the Battle of the Little Big Horn. “Our life,” she writes, “was often as separate from the rest of the world as if we had been living on an island in the ocean.” Her portrait of her husband, General George Armstrong Custer is laudatory—his intellect, his love of dogs (he kept a hunting pack of 40 at the post); but, Boots and Saddles is more than just a memorial. She observes with keen insight, the varied persons, from Indian scouts, to enlisted men, to officer’s wives, who make up the army “family,” on the post. Her sympathetic story about the regimental laundress and midwife, with its sad ending, should take a place in the army’s history of “don’t ask, don’t tell.” (Summary by Sue Anderson) (8 hr 41 min)

Chapters

Dedication, Preface, Change of Station 16:54 Read by Sue Anderson
A Blizzard 28:40 Read by Sue Anderson
Western Hospitality 12:53 Read by Sue Anderson
Cavalry on the March 25:12 Read by Sue Anderson
Camping Among the Sioux 23:47 Read by Sue Anderson
A Visit to the Village of Two Bears 26:39 Read by Sue Anderson
Adventures During the Last Days of the March 27:16 Read by Sue Anderson
Separation and Reunion 16:49 Read by Sue Anderson
Our New Home at Fort Lincoln 20:35 Read by Sue Anderson
Incidents of Everyday Life 23:25 Read by Sue Anderson
The Burning of Our Quarters; Carrying the Mail 18:40 Read by Sue Anderson
Perplexities and Pleasures of Domestic Life 14:09 Read by Sue Anderson
A "Strong Heart" Dance 14:53 Read by Sue Anderson
Garrison Life 23:30 Read by Sue Anderson
General Custer's Literary Work 10:09 Read by Sue Anderson
Indian Depredations 9:22 Read by Sue Anderson
A Day of Anxiety and Terror 15:59 Read by Sue Anderson
Improvements at the Post, and Gardening 14:19 Read by Sue Anderson
General Custer's Library 14:08 Read by Sue Anderson
The Summer of the Black Hills Expedition 27:17 Read by Sue Anderson
Domestic Trials 18:58 Read by Sue Anderson
Capture and Escape of Rain-in-the-Face 26:04 Read by Sue Anderson
Garrison Amusements 18:10 Read by Sue Anderson
An Indian Council 8:00 Read by Sue Anderson
Breaking Up of the Missouri 23:35 Read by Sue Anderson
Curious Characters and Excursionists Among Us 14:09 Read by Sue Anderson
Religious Services; Leave of Absence 12:31 Read by Sue Anderson
A Winter's Journey Across the Plain 16:35 Read by Sue Anderson
Our Life's Last Chapter 17:21 Read by Sue Anderson

Reviews

Eliz. Custer, wife of the general


(5 stars)

has written a very readable account of life up to just after Little Big Horn. Surprising new POV (for this history buff) of Custer. esp. his humor, and his great love of dogs (40 pets and hunting dogs trraveled with the regiment, with as many sleeping in the tent and on the bed with the Custer's as he could convince her to admit). Getting to know so many of Custer's companions makes the foreknowledge of their fate more sharp and real. A quick rewarding read by Ms.Sue Anderson, whose voice seems perfect for the part.


(5 stars)

Great story and narration. Sue Anderson is a fantastic narrator.

Excellent description of life in frontiers after the civil war.


(4.5 stars)

Fascinating story from the wife of a high ranking US Army officer in the isolated outer reaches of our frontier after the civil war. The reader gave a commendable performance. The book is not about the Battle of the Little Big Horn; rather it is a historical prose of life during the years before that battle.


(2.5 stars)

I very much enjoyed the composition, but could not listen to the end as the narration was so hard to bare. Ms Anderson ended almost every sentence with the same cadence, which led me to distraction.

Too many Lies, in one book!


(2.5 stars)

So very glad modern investigations are proving George Armstrong Custer, the Authoress' supposed spouse, truest was the most ineptness ..., glory hogging, self centered, idiot

Very Enjoyable and felt like reader was Libby Custer


(5 stars)

Very good picture of the life of the old west read wonderfully

Dull at times, but interesting. Very abrupt ending.


(5 stars)