Henry Mai begins this letter to his cousin on December 31, 1873 to tell him of his time as a soldier in the western United States. In German he discusses the many territories he has passed through over the past four years. While in North Carolina his regiment received orders to head for the Dakota Territory. For the last leg of the journey, between Yankton and Fort Rice, Mai's regiment was joined by three others for the 540 mile trip by horse. He discusses the makeup of the nearly 3,000 man army which left Fort Rice under the control of Colonel David Stanley and General George Custer. The large group of men entered the Badlands on July 9th and Mai describes the visual beauty and physical brutality of the terrain. Next, Mai writes about the group's journey into the mountains, reaching the Yellowstone River on July 20th. Henry closes the entry by comparing the river and its fertile grounds to that of the Rhine, before making the observation that New York is now "half way between Germany and the Yellowstone River." Note, this is the first section of a multi-part letter written between December 31, 1873 - January 4, 1874. The remaining parts are digitized and can be found in the Frederick J. Putzier Collection.
Collection Description
This letter is a part of the Frederick J. Putzier Collection available at the Center for Western Studies. The collection contains the letters of Henry Mai, written from Fort Abraham Lincoln to his cousin. They are written in German around New Years 1984 and were translated by Elke Putzier. A photograph of Mai is included.
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