I have seen old photos of what some tribes done to people while they were still alive and I see suicide a very real possibility.

This is the first time I've watched a video from this site & I want to applaud the host for presentation of the story. No hype or showboating or yelling at the camera to draw attention to himself AND distract from the story. Well done indeed!

what a fascinating story. it is amazing how the little details can come together to reveal this story to the world. not only in terms of the article, but that you thought to create a video out of it and that different people chose to view it and take it seriously. If no one watched this video the story could very well have been forgotten.

I'd often thought that Custer had killed himself. The first article you read pretty much summed up my own view. And Custer wasn't the only one to do so. Nice video. Very informative and respectful.

Good video. I really enjoyed listening to your breakdown on it. You stick to relevant topics and sources. Thank you for sharing.

This is one of the best presentations I have seen for a historical topic. I love it. You have a new fan.

Thank you for such a well researched video. Also, what good luck to be mailed those magazines.

I want to thank you for an extremely interesting and informative subject. Keep up the good work

I like your way of thinking to verify, layered and specific, very good unbiased discussion on potentials and possibles, when they all start hitting together the facts and possibles self verify it seems

Thank you very much for making this. It is definitely food for thought.

GENUINELY good historical info, as well as good KZfaq content Subscribed!

Very interesting video; thank you for taking the time to do the research and present it! 👍

This was very credible information. Thanks for sharing.

Great story & show. Also neat to see you have the Time-Life western series on your shelf. I have those as well and re-read them often. All the best.

Very nice gathering of historical information regarding these events. New sub...thx

Your thought process and methods on this are so historically sound. Start with primary sources, assess the credibility of those sources, look for confirmed examples of comparable events, and determine the overall plausibility. Fascinating thesis. You earned a sub.

My Dad owned a Colt Thunderer in 41 Colt. We weren't allowed to shoot it because ammo was no longer made for it and it was a fragile firearm easly broken. My Dad had a lot if old firearms he got me interested in shooting and reloading he was a big fan of the old west. He was born 15 Oct 1903 and a young man in the 1920s when these old guns were still in use.

Nice Job Doc! Very Entertaining, Informative & Educational. Thanks Again. 👍

Very well done! Out takes are GREAT! New sub

This was EXCELLENT ! ! ! I'm so happy I came across your channel today, I always loved the history of the 'old West' and reading about the 'Battle of the Little Bighorn'. I often thought Custer could of taken his life with that last group of his troops. Again this was EXCELLENT ! ! !

This story about Custer sounds very believable, to where it took a lot of courage on your part for you to give it out to all of us!! Thank You for sharing this story with us!!! It was much appreciated, I have seen one of those thunders before, to where I do have two of those lightnings, still.

Very interesting video, very well organized around the main three questions ... thanks 👏👏👏

Thank you so much for this. I'm from the UK but have always been fascinated by Custer and Lifeguardsman Shaw at Waterloo. This was a perfectly researched and presented video.

I've been following this moment in history most of my life and I had read before that some other troopers committed suicide that day. I enjoyed watching your insight and theory. I believe there is a lot of credibility to your thoughts on this

Fascinating story, thanks for sharing. This sparked memories of my grandfather talking about the possibility, when I was a kid growing up in the 50's. He was born around the Moscow, Idaho area in 1889 and had tons of old stories. I don't remember him having the .41 Colt piece of the puzzle. I always thought it was a fabricated story because my grandfather had a huge dislike & distrust for the US Army and white folk in general. This magazine article certainly lends some credit to the story's credibility. Thanks again for covering the topic.

This was brilliant. Many thanks. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Wonderful presentation! I live in Billings-been at the battlefield many. many times. My long-lost cousin 1st Sgt Michael Kenney, of F Troop, died right below Custer on the hill.

Thank You, for a very well investigated story and also a very well thought out report of your findings. I was never to keen on Custer, however I would cast no aspersions on him after reading reports on what happened to captives nor anyone in those circumstances. Thanks again for a very good video.

Committing Suicide was the only good decision he made that day! Great job Todd! As a 1st grader I was fascinated by the famous painting and battle! Still am!

thanks Todd, great story and thanks for sharing. This makes a lot of sense. It is not a new hypothesis that Custer may have taken his own life. Given the enduring interest and fascination pertaining to the Battle of the Little Bighorn it should get wider recognition than it does. One way of gaining more insights into this matter might be by forensically examining Custer's skull. Had he placed the gun snug to his temple and pulled the trigger, the projectile should have caused an exit wound.

Great video I enjoyed it very much so glad I found your site 😁

Thanks for posting. I enjoyed it.

Credible historic inquiry. Thank God, and found it on KZfaq. Thanks for your thoughts.

Very interesting and informative. I tend to believe the good Doctor had no reason to lie or that Custer would have wanted to be taken alive.

Nice bit of detective work Dr. Thank you.

A fascinating account. Thanks for sharing. I love your collection of The Old West books by Time Life books. I only have The Indians one, fabulous book. Full set looks great on the shelves behind you.

Fascinating. I’ve never heard this theory before, although it sounds very plausible.

I have long heard that many of Custer's men took their own lives, rather than be captured by the Sioux or Cheyenne Indians. Firstly, many of the soldiers were very young and likely never faced a foe like the one they saw that day. They were probably aware of the fate that previous prisoners faced, if captured. It's hard to blame any of these guys (including Custer) if they did commit suicide.

Thank you!. I had never heard that about Custer and the Little Big Horn and it seems like there's some good evidence to support it. Appreciate your excellent sleuthing work!

great presentation and great subject matter. Well done Sir.

Excellent research and deduction. Add to this the historical facts of torture and your thesis makes perfect sense. If we could travel back in time and witness how these types of things really happened, we probably couldn't stand to watch another Hollywood production again.

Back in the 1980's I read a long article about the Army sending a detachment out to the Little Big Horn battlefield to retrieve the soldiers bodies and it mentioned that soldiers in the detachment reported that Custer's body had a powder burn on his temple. The articled posed the question as to whether Custer took his own life or one of the other soldiers shot him - not necessarily out of malice, but, because Custer may have been wounded to the point where he couldn't do it himself.

Excellent insight, thank you sir. ❤

Excellent research. Good job.

The first time I heard anyone say that Custer had killed himself was when I was serving in the Marine Corps in 1973 with a young Souix from Canonball, ND. He and I were close friends. His great grandfather had fought at the Little Big Horn. Chuck didn't want to tell me for a long time because he figured no causcasion would believe him because Custer was so romantizied and revered. He told me that his ancestor had witnessed the incident. That there was a small group of soilders still fighting, Custer was standing and looking as if he were in shock and disbelief. He put the pistol to his head and pulled the trigger. He was not the last man to fall, and he did not die fighting. I was stunned by the story when Chuck told me, but I could see it clearly in my mind. I tend to believe it.

Another great video and extremely interesting facts presented. As one familiar with combat, I find no disgrace in this action, especially in light of the probability of torture from such an enemy. No judgement of either side from me.

Thanks for the fantastic video. Educational, very investigative and not trying to force stuff to fit a narrative. A+++

Had to subscribe after watching this video! Nicely done.

Great video; however, there is one point you overlooked. The native American cultures were heavily invested in the torture of captured enemies. For them, if you bravely faced your torture, they would kill you more quickly. If you screamed, cried, or wiggled too much, they would prolong it as long as possible. So did Custer and his men commit suicide when faced with certain defeat? I say yes, as I'm sure any sane man would have.

Everything I’ve ever read, says the wound was through the chest near the heart, not high on the shoulder… The only other wounds were the left temple shot with powder burns, punctured ears and a missing finger… At any rate “Libby” Custer would have never allowed a suicide story to gain any traction while she was alive anyway…

Very interesting video! I have read a lot about Custer and the events leading up to the battle of the Little Bighorn but have never heard or considered a suicide angle. You have presented a very plausible scenario and with what must have been a very daunting situation, several thousand Indian braves against a couple of hundred soldiers, knowing you were facing certain death.

Fascinating information! Thank you!

I always thought that after Custer had been mortally wounded with a bullet near his heart, his brother Tom shot George in the temple to keep him from being tortured. I also read where where their were many empty shell casings around where Toms body was found near George. Toms body was so badly mutilated, the only way he could be recognized was a tattoo on his arm. Toms head was beaten and flattened into a thin, gelatin, pancake. Squaws rammed long knitting awls into Custers two ears so he would hear better in the after life. They did this because he had not listened to the Indians who warned him eight years earlier in 1868, after he murdered woman and children at Washita in Oklahoma. In closing, George had an arrow jammed up into his penis. This detail was kept from his wife Libby. There is speculation that Custer had fathered a chid with a Sioux squaw named Meotzie (SP?). The childs name was Yellowbird. Custer went to Montana to attack and exterminate a race of people who were simply defending their homeland. I believe Custer reaped the consequences of picking a fight with a larger force. Custer had eleven horses shot out from under him during the Civil War. He believed in what he called "Custers Luck." He thought if you attacked a larger force, "fate would favor the bold." The day he died, his scouts warned him "We don't have enough bullets to kill them all." Custers response was "Then make every shot a killer." It is my personal opinion Custer got what he deserved.

I can certainly believe suicide would be a thought when facing certain death. When reading stories written by actual captives and eye witnesses of the torture and mutilation by the Sioux tribes it certainly would be understandable. Great job on the story! Love your channel!

I LOVE these kind of stories, and if you have more, it would be awesome if you made more of this kind of videos. You make a pretty convincing argument that makes sense. However, having written quite a few history research papers in college courses, i know how easily it is to write a paper to make a convincing case for a position, I've often noticed that an argument could easily be made with the available information bringing out the other side. Great video.

A very thought provoking theory and one I wasn't aware of, definitely not beyond the realms of possibility.Very interesting video.

Saving the last round for yourself was not uncommon in situations where the enemy were well known to torture captives to death. And that was not just in North America.

In the book Son of the Morning Star by Evan S. Connell there is a description given by a group of young warriors that as Custer's battlion came down Medicine Trail Coulee that they fired at the lead soldiers and a man they described large and on a sorrel horse was apparently hit, and after that the soldiers stopped their advance, gathered the fallen soldier and altered their march toward Last Stand Hill. As I recall other descriptions of Custer's body described three wounds on in the thigh, one in the left chest, possibly fatal, not the shoulder as claimed by Dr. Porter and the temple wound that could have been fired by one of soldiers around Custer toward the end of the battle or an indian as they overran the battlefield finishing off any remaining soldiers or wounded men. Given that most Senior officers rode at the front of their units and Custer would have been most likely to be in the lead, I believe that Custer is the man described as being hit in the opening stages of the battle and the nearest troopers pulled up to recover their fallen leader and was essentially out of action for the remainder of the battle. Further descriptions by officer that surveyed the battlefield in the days following the engagement describe the chest wound as bloody, indicating Custer was alive when he was hit there and the head wound was not. This would indicate that Custer was dead when it was fired. Finally, when the Army sent a detachment to recover the officers remains and properly bury the enlisted men the "bodies" recovered were little more than skletons and as they had not been properly buried, but rather covered with a few shovels of dirt and brush, etc. it would have been nearly impossible to identify powder burns on the temple at that time. Further most accounts of the recovery effort describe a scene that made fully identifying the remains was very difficult, even in the case of Custer and his brother Thomas. I fully admit that I do not subscribe to the theory that Custer killed himself. However, given all of my reading and research into Custer's life and death, his personality and demonstrated courage under fire throughout the his military career just do not support a supposition that he would have killed himself in battle. In the end, I believe that Custer was incapacitated early in the fight and by the end of the battle he had already died. The temple wound was quite probably fired just to make sure by either one of his soldiers or Indians mopping up the battlefield. As far as the bullet caliber it is likely that if the shot was fired by an Indian they may have picked up the pistol and used it on Custer.

I think that you have a good argument for that. Great discussion!

Thanks for sharing your DETAIL video

Sir, I was in the US Army in 1980 and assigned to 1st Brigade HQs. 101st Airborne Division (AA). My first combat unit assigned was 2nd Bn, 502nd Inf. 101st Abn Div. The Battalion Commander was a former history professor at West Point, his name was LTC Cope, a very well known officer at the time, as all of the junior officers who had attended West Point, who were serving with me, at that time, had Colonel Cope as their history professor. At a cavalry function during this time, the program of the function, had on its last page, a poem, called "Fiddlers Green". I was informed by several officers, that this was the first time since the 1880s, that the Army allowed the poem to be used in an official function by the cavalry. The Army had severely restricted the use of the poem, even though it was very popular among the Cavalry units during the 19th century. Because of the debacle at the Little Bighorn battle. At that time, it was common knowledge that a large number of troopers of the 7th Cavalry had committed suicide, among them LTC Custer. To quell the "rumors" the Army had disallowed the use of the poem. And finally in 1980, they again allowed its use in official functions. Any questions, I am Strikeforce101@msn.com Respectfully, Frank Chisman

@ antles49 I recommend you read "Save the Last Bullet for Yourself." It was written by a U.S. Army doctor stationed on the Indian Res where the battle took place which is next to what I believe was a Cheyenne Res after the battle. He has at least a part of a chapter on soldier and civilian suicide thoughts and even claims that a friend had given Custer a derringer for the express purpose of his being armed in order to commit suicide if he felt the need. Custer kept the derringer reportedly and as you said .41 was the caliber of derringers in that day. He also reports several Indian/Cavalry battles in which the cavalry always won except in one case where it is known that the whole unit committed mass suicide because it was in sight of their fort and was witnessed by those within the fort.

I recall this having been written and talked about years ago, and it remains an interesting (and logical) possibility. Thanks for an interesting post.

This is so interesting! Thank you!

I read an account by a native who was at the battle who mentioned the soldiers shooting themselves and he put it down to the 'medicine' of the Lakota making them do it. In a way he is right, because we could interpret the natives fearful torture methods, instilling terrible fear, as a psychological medicine that the soldiers carried in their minds during a battle. Very interesting video.

Great video. I had read about this quite sometime ago. Along with several other things Custer had done in his life post civil war and all was hidden to protect his legacy.

Great video and I am now a subscriber to your channel. One respectful suggestion--at 8:49, it sounds like you said "Calvary" when you meant "Cavalry." I'm pretty sure this was just a slip of the tongue, but there is a huge difference between the meaning of these two very similar sounding words, as I'm certain you know. Thanks again and please keep up the great work!

Really enjoyed this analysis

I have never heard this. Not only is it fascinating, but I feel it's probably true. The part about Dr. Porter forbidding anyone to tell anyone until after his wife was dead is heartbreaking. I know that he was still speculating according to how the wound was found, but that's how we solve crimes and even distinguish them as or from suicide. Fascinating, ya got a new subscriber❤️

At least one report -by an Indian participant in the battle- stated that Custer had been shot and unhorsed at the very start of the cavalry charge. He was quickly saved, propped up and re-saddled, but the troops under his command were demoralized and rattled, and hastily retreated to a defensive position. This makes sense, as it was always Custer's way to attack, attack, attack. The loss of Custer's leadership, coupled with the catatonic behavior of a panicked Reno, turned the two heavily armed wings of his calvary from a mobile, rapid attack force, to two poorly situated,and separated defensive positions, at the near total mercy of the Indians. This not only saved the Indian village, but guaranteed the annihilation of Custer's direct command, and the humiliating neutralization of Reno's forces.

Sitting Bulls great grandson's video brought me here. This is very interesting. Thank you.

Fantastic video and one that sure makes you think. My question, after the video is, would the bullet still being in his head for the Doctor to be able to retrieve it when shot at such close range or would it have exited the head especially since they say it was pointed. I am not a medical person but it seems to me that if you held a pistol to your temple it would go right through the skull. Just discovered your channel and I am glad I did.👍

This is an excellent presentation. Straight forward, measured, thorough and wonderfully informative. No inaccurate photographs, no irrelevant information.....Excellent work...And on top of that SO informative....I had read somewhere...years ago.... likely in the 1960's... that Custer was using a "Bulldog" Self cocking pistol...which roughly corresponds. Can't wait for more.

I don't believe Custer committed suicide, I think he thought that he and his troops could win the battle right to the very end. I think it's possible that his brother (Thomas) could have shot him. There's a reference to Dr. Porter examining the bullet in Custers head, there was no autopsy and Custers remains were only retrieved a year later and very few (and disputable) remains at that.

I thought that I had heard just about everything regarding Custer at the Little Bighorn, but this was news to me. Although, I had always thought it odd that Custer died from a headshot in the temple. Thank you for the insightful investigation and thank you for sharing!

thank you very much for making this video. it was an eye opener and you wonder what did those men do and why. thank you very much..

Custer was also mutilated but this was kept a secret until the 1920s in order to protect his widow. This info comes the book A Tragic Glory.

Dr. Porter made no mention of powder burns on Custers head wound. Powder burns woulod have been very prevelant at such close range, especially with the use of black powder.

Awesome Content!! Thank You!!!

Wow. I had never considered this for whatever reason, though to be fair my interest in the battle of Little-Big horn has only been mild. Though there was a time when I was a kid and my dad drove us from Washington state out to see the site of the battle, and it affected my young mind greatly seeing those stones. Noticing how they converged in a central location and multiplied. There were many that were in pairs (though I don't remember where I got this information at the time) who had apparently either shot their horses in order to create cover, or perhaps their horses had been dead already. Anyway, what a fantastic look into an intriguing topic that really puts a different perspective on things. I appreciate the time and effort you put in to this, and it has rekindled my interest in the battle. Take care.

There is a book I read a long time ago about the Batlle of Little Bighorn called "Keep the Last Bullet for Yourself". I don't remember if it talked about Custer committing suicide, but it did detail how so many of the soldiers did, from fear of being captured and just plain fear of the circumstances they were in.

I have wondered about this for some time. I've never seen it discussed. I suppose that this theory could offend some Custer enthusiasts. At the risk of seeming gory, wouldn't there be other consequences besides a hole in the temple and powder burns? Wouldn't the projectile have passed through the skull? Perhaps not with a Derringer type of weapon?

convinced me. something i hadn't heard before. thanks.

Great investigation! Thanks

One author claimed that Tom Custer had a smaller caliber pistol and when the end was inevitable, he shot his brother who had previously POSSIBLY been wounded at the Medicine tail crossing and was already dying being unable to order any kind of troop deployment ,which might explain why Benteen , when viewing the battlefield concluded that it was " an utter rout". No reference was made to a .41 caliber pistol. Custer was said to have carried 9-shot twin British Bulldog short barreled revolvers which of course, were never found.

I had always thought of this scenario when i heard custer had a shot to the temple,as well as the story of him being shot at the crossing at medicine tail coulee as chief john grass had reported,and that custer had been dragged to last stand hill,seems more than likely he shot himself.great vid

Food for thought thank you ❤

Great job. You are saluted!

First, regardless of any facts we cannot know, this is a great story well told and referenced. That said, I would tend to believe a simpler story. It is more likely Custer or a relative had a 41 rimfire derringer. I have seen reference to a Custer .41 National Arms derringer that was removed from the battlefield -- no details I saw on whether it was fired or not. Most likely Custer was shot below the heart crossing the Medicine Tail Coulee which broke the 7th's attack. They retrieved Custer from the river and took him away. Dr Porter in this account does not say, I think that Custer was shot in the LEFT side of the head above the temple near the eye. If the bullet came to rest in the back of the skull (a 41 long colt would probably have penetrated the skull easily at such a close range). But the derringer would likely not have penetrated and seems a better possibility. If you imagine a RIGHT-Handed shooter, facing down at Custer prone on the ground, holding a derringer to his head (the left side), it would likely be angled back towards the center of the back of the skull, rather than pointed inward as someone might shoot themself holding the gun against their temple. I would say Custer was mortally wounded in the Coulee, the attack broke and confused, Custer was taken with the troopers and placed in the defensive position probably unable to lead, and someone either as a protective measure, shot and issued Custer a coup de gras, or a wounded trooper or Custer relative administered the blow as the second half of the battle began to close around them. This would jive, I think, with Dr Porter's report and answer the question of why Custer would shoot himself with his left hand. As to Custer falling at the Coulee, that makes the most sense to me of how everything fell apart and Custer mounted no relief or organized withdrawal (or hammered home the attack). The issue of the pre-issued Thunderer is interesting but probably irrelevant, especially since at lest one Custer (Autie himself) had a .41 rimfire on the battlefield. Thanks, great treasure for more thought, debate, and argument. LOL Thanks!

It’s my understanding that the temple wound was on the left. Custer was apparently right handed and his right arm/hand was not incapacitated. Other explanations are that he may have been shot by his brother to prevent him being captured or that he was finished off by warriors or women at the end of the battle. This is a good presentation as there is always more to learn. And he’s right…we’ll no doubt never know the full truth.

Thank you for bringing light to this subject. God what an awful end to a brave and true soldier.

pointy bullets, aka conical bullets were from that era I have owned several black powder rifles and handguns and I have used conical lead bullets for the accuracy of them was very good. Thanks for sharing a bit of history

Reading back on accounts of the campaign after watching this video, I found a quote I remembered reading in a guns and ammo magazine article “Lt. Edward Godfrey, of K Company, 7th Cavalry, noted that during the expedition Custer was carrying "two Bulldog self-cocking, English white handled pistols with a ring in the butt for a lanyard." The same article questions if Custer owned one or two of the RIC Webleys because there is record of only one he owned, I wonder if one was actually a double action Colt?

I recall a native American coming to my school to speak some 60 yrs ago it was quite interesting till he told us near the end of his talk that Custer had committed suicide I was so unsettled by this. Felt like he must be lying but now I'm pretty sure he was sincere. I also, as new evidence is revealed believe that his story most likely is based in fact. The heroic last stand was a terrible end for so many.

Awesome presentation!

This video was conspicuously great!

I have a book called Custer's Fall which was oral history gathered from Sioux, Cheyenne etc who either were there or who had these stories from relatives. I'll have to dig it out. some thought that Custer was shot early on in the fracas and was taken to the site of "the last stand". He may have been killed. Anyone, it was not out of the realm of possiibility that a soldier would commit suicide knowing just what happen as far as mutilation, scalping. Custer even had his hair cut beforehand for fear of scalping

Pvt.William O'Taylor in his account of the battle entitled "With Custer on the Little Bighorn," described the valley fight and his escape across the river to the high ground. He describes how had been careful to save the last bullet in his revolver for himself because his mount was too tired to make it up the hill and he thought he'd be captured. He accidentally dropped his weapon while fleeing for his life. Luckily he made it to the top of the hill and was able to fight with his rifle. Dr. Marquis wrote a book with the title Keep the Last Bullet for Yourself. Is it possible that General Custer made sure he was not taken alive? Yes it is, and it is reminiscent of a Roman general falling on his sword in defeat. We will not however know for sure till the great hearafter. Funny how I just read that very passage yesterday.

This the Best, most honest report of the Most probable. 👌 Well done sir.

Very interesting. Thank you.