The Indian As a Soldier at Fort Custer, Montana: Lieutenant Samuel G. Robertson's First Cavalry Crow Indian Contingent 1890-1895 (Montana and the West Series, 1)

Lieutenant Samuel Churchill Robertson and his Crow Indian Troop at Fort Custer have been largely overshadowed by Lieutenant Edward Casey's Cheyenne Scouts. This book traces the origins of the United States Army's experiment of using Indians as regular enlisted men filling out Troop L in most of the regiments. The history of Fort Custer's Indian contingent and its commander is followed from its initial conception in 1890 to its demise in 1895.

Based on an article, originally called "Our Indian Contingent" published in HARPER'S WEEKLY in 1892, Robertson tells first-hand, of this challenging episode. His struggles to get the unit started and keep it going are recounted in detail.

Originally done in collaboration with frontier photographer Orlando Scott Goff, whose photographs were replaced in HARPER'S WEEKLY by Frederic Remington artwork, this book contains both the recently discovered Goff photos and the Remington drawings.

Interesting appendices and additional writings of this attempt to recruit Indians as regular soldiers round out this important contribution to the military history of the West.