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Custer, Cody, and Grand Duke Alexis: Historical Archaeology of the Royal Buffalo Hunt, by Douglas D. Scott, Peter Bleed, & Stephen Damm
Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2013. Pp. xxii, 206. Illus., maps., notes, biblio., index. $24.95 paper. ISBN: 0806143479.
The Great Royal Buffalo Hunt
In January of 1872 some of the most iconic figures of the American West– Phil Sheridan, George Custer, Chief Spotted Tail, “Buffalo Bill” Cody – gathered in southwestern Nebraska to hunt buffalo with 21 year-old Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich (son of Tsar Alexander II), then on a tour of America, an event that has become part of the lore of the frontier.
In this book, the authors, respectively a battlefield archaeologist and two anthropologists,
cover the background to the Grand Dukes tour of America and the events of the “Great Royal Buffalo Hunt” using a mix of
history, legend, archaeology, memoirs, and photo analysis, as well as unique access to Russian archives.
In this way they
not only to tell the story of this unique moment in frontier history, clearing up a number of mythic elements that have become part of the traditional account,
while at but they also
throw fresh light on
many aspects of
frontier life.
Custer, Cody, and Duke Alexis
is an excellent example of interdisciplinary research which should be read by anyone who does history,
and it
will certainly prove amusing and informative for anyone with an interest in the frontier.
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Reviewer: A.A. Nofi, Review Editor
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