Would you believe that Tecumseh has been listed as one of the top 100 small cities in America? Maybe people rush here to see the burial site of General Custer's horse, Don Juan. It's on Russell Road on the property owned by
Brady Sand and Gravel. Actually, we have featured this horse and its rider before,
here. If Lexington, KY can give horse farm tours and show the burial sites of their famous horses, why not Michigan? After Custer's untimely death, the thoroughbred Don Juan was sent back to Tecumseh and used for his stud services.
"After Custer's untimely death, the thoroughbred Don Juan was sent back to Tecumseh and used for his stud services."
ReplyDeleteThis statement puts the figurative cart before the horse (who died before whom) and implies that Don Juan was at Little Bighorn with Custer. In reality, Don Juan died in 1866, ten years before Custer met his fate at Little Bighorn in June of 1876. Don Juan was in the possession of Custer for only one year (April of 1865 - July of 1866) and the horse apparently never went farther west than Michigan.
Was this not the horse that GAC took from the Southern plantation owner at the end of the war?
ReplyDeleteYes. According to TJ Stiles in the book Custers Trials “..Custer took Don Juan to the Michigan State Fair. After the last horse race on June 23, he rode Don Juan “at full speed past the stand”..,,..Judges awarded Don Juan first prize... Custer now felt certain that he could sell him for $10,000.....One month later Don Juan died of a stroke.Custer was left with nothing.”
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