By Nigel
Watt
On 5th December 1839, in the
township of New Rumley, Ohio, a boy was born.
The boy’s father, Emmanuel, was a blacksmith. The boy’s mother was called Maria. The boy was named George Armstrong Custer. George, or Autie as he was nicknamed, was part
of a large family. He had six elder and,
later, four younger siblings. When he
was ten, Autie (who I will refer to as Custer) left his crowded family home and
moved north to Monroe, Michigan, to live with an adoring aunt.
Nearly two years later, in the autumn of 1841, more
than one thousand miles west of Ohio, in the Black Hills, another boy was
born. His father, Crazy Horse, was a
Sioux Indian healer and interpreter of dreams.
We don’t know the boy’s mother’s name and we don’t know if the boy had
any siblings. Nor did the baby receive a
name because the Sioux only named their boys after they had a memorable dream
or accomplished a courageous deed. The infant
was called Curly, or Light Haired Boy.
