--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Just across from Bismarck stood Fort…" description: "\"“Just across from Bismarck stood Fort Lincoln where friends and relatives of Custer’s dead cavalrymen still lived, and these emigrating Sioux could per..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b49/evan-s-connell-52564_custer_just-across-from-bismarck-stood-fort-lin_496656.png" --- # Just across from Bismarck stood Fort Lincoln where friends… ![“Just across from Bismarck stood Fort Lincoln where friends and relatives of Custer’s dead cavalrymen still lived, and these emigrating Sioux could perceive such bitterness in the air that one Indian on the leading boat displayed a white flag. Yet, in accordance with the laws of human behavior, the…” quote by Evan S. Connell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b49/evan-s-connell-52564_custer_just-across-from-bismarck-stood-fort-lin_496656.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b49/evan-s-connell-52564_custer_just-across-from-bismarck-stood-fort-lin_496656.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b49/evan-s-connell-52564_custer_just-across-from-bismarck-stood-fort-lin_496656.png) > ““Just across from Bismarck stood Fort Lincoln where friends and relatives of Custer’s dead cavalrymen still lived, and these emigrating Sioux could perceive such bitterness in the air that one Indian on the leading boat displayed a white flag. Yet, in accordance with the laws of human behavior, the farther downstream they traveled the less hostility they encountered, and when the tiny armada reached Standing Rock near the present border of South Dakota these Indians were welcomed as celebrities. Men, women and children crowded aboard the General Sherman to shake hands with Sitting Bull. Judson Elliot Walker, who was just then finishing a book on Custer’s campaigns, had to stand on a chair to catch a glimpse of the medicine man and reports that he was wearing “green wire goggles.” No details are provided, so green wire goggles must have been a familiar sight in those days. Sitting Bull mobbed by fans while wearing green wire goggles. It sounds like Hollywood.”” [Evan S. Connell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evan-s-connell/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The passage describes how hostile Native Americans were welcomed as celebrities when they traveled downstream, highlighting the shift from bitterness to fascination with figures like Sitting Bull. **In simple terms:** Hostile Indians became celebrated as they moved downstream, especially Sitting Bull. Key Takeaway Recognize how context changes perception of people. Themes history culture celebrity colonialism media Mood reflective critical nostalgic Type historical observational When to use this quote - tourist travel - historical reenactment - media portrayal - cultural exchange Key Concepts American West public perception spectacle Questions to Reflect On - How does spectacle alter historical memory? - What responsibilities do we have when portraying marginalized groups? A Different Perspective The narrative glosses over the violence and oppression underlying the “celebrity” status. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Custer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/custer/) [Finishing a book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/finishing-a-book/) [Friends And Relatives](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/friends-and-relatives/) [Human behavior](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-behavior/) [South dakota](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/south-dakota/) [White flag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/white-flag/) ## Related quotes > [“By May 1864, the Fort Pillow affair became a matter of Congressional investigations, with many leaders from both Union and Confederate camps anxious to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-river-editors/by-may-1864-the-fort-pillow-affair-became-a-matter-of-congressional/) [Charles River Editors](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-river-editors/) > [“What is it? something you live and breathe in like air? a kind of vacuum filled with wraithlike and indomitable anger and pride and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-faulkner/what-is-it-something-you-live-and-breathe-in-like-air-a-kind-of/) [William Faulkner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-faulkner/) > [“warfare would be waged west of the Mississippi as it had been earlier against the Abenakis, Cherokees, Shawnees, Muskogees, and even Christian Indians. In…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roxanne-dunbar-ortiz/warfare-would-be-waged-west-of-the-mississippi-as-it-had-been-earlier/) [Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roxanne-dunbar-ortiz/) > [“During this time Jefferson Davis made a speech in Macon, Georgia, which was reported in the papers of the South, and soon became known…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ulysses-s-grant/during-this-time-jefferson-davis-made-a-speech-in-macon-georgia-which/) [Ulysses S. Grant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ulysses-s-grant/) > [“We should hang one of those reporter bastards every week. They're more help to the enemy than spies." "They'd make poor spies, They get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/micael-kilian/we-should-hang-one-of-those-reporter-bastards-every-week-they-re-more/) Micael Kilian > [General Sherman looked upon journalists as a nuisance and a danger at headquarters and in the field, and acted toward them accordingly, then as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-villard/general-sherman-looked-upon-journalists-as-a-nuisance-and-a-danger-at/) [Henry Villard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-villard/) > [I never went on TV one time during the campaign. Not once. You know why? Because politics is war. General Sherman would never have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-bannon/i-never-went-on-tv-one-time-during-the-campaign-not-once-you-know-why/) [Steve Bannon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-bannon/) > [“Finishing a book is bittersweet. You spend days getting to know the characters. Learning their nuances, their faults, their loves, their lives. They become…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/whimsical-enlightenment/finishing-a-book-is-bittersweet-you-spend-days-getting-to-know-the/) Whimsical Enlightenment > [Finishing books - and leaving the world you've created - is always a kind of emotionally wrenching experience. I usually cry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-oliver/finishing-books-and-leaving-the-world-you-ve-created-is-always-a-kind/) [Lauren Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-oliver/) > [“A library of mostly unread books is far more inspiring than a library of books already read. There’s nothing more exciting than finishing a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabe-habash/a-library-of-mostly-unread-books-is-far-more-inspiring-than-a-library/) [Gabe Habash](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabe-habash/) > [It is a peculiar thing to believe that you know someone intimately only to find that you really do not. It is like finishing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-paul-evans/it-is-a-peculiar-thing-to-believe-that-you-know-someone-intimately/) [Richard Paul Evans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-paul-evans/) > [“She nodded her head in approval and hesitantly shut the book, breathing a reader’s sigh. That wonderful inhale/exhale reaction one does after finishing a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-arvin/she-nodded-her-head-in-approval-and-hesitantly-shut-the-book/) [Eric Arvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-arvin/) > [“Writing books is a suicidal profession. No other demands as much time, as much work, as much dedication, by comparison with its immediate benefits.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerald-martin/writing-books-is-a-suicidal-profession-no-other-demands-as-much-time/) [Gerald Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerald-martin/) > [I do so hate finishing books. I would like to go on with them for years.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beatrix-potter/i-do-so-hate-finishing-books-i-would-like-to-go-on-with-them-for-years/) [Beatrix Potter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beatrix-potter/) > [“I wish I could get drunk and do useful things without remembering -like finishing a book, or cleaning the tub.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-southgate/i-wish-i-could-get-drunk-and-do-useful-things-without-remembering/) [Edward Southgate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-southgate/) ## More by Evan S. Connell > [“You’re not as cold as you pretend to be,’ she said. ‘I think your doors open in different places, that’s all. Most people just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evan-s-connell/you-re-not-as-cold-as-you-pretend-to-be-she-said-i-think-your-doors/) [Evan S. Connell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evan-s-connell/) > [“Captain Jack, that volatile Modoc, seems to have been handled still more causally. After being hanged and buried, Jack was exhumed, embalmed, and exhibited…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evan-s-connell/captain-jack-that-volatile-modoc-seems-to-have-been-handled-still/) [Evan S. Connell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evan-s-connell/) > [“ She was not certain what she wanted from life, or what to expect from it, for she had seen so little of it,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evan-s-connell/she-was-not-certain-what-she-wanted-from-life-or-what-to-expect-from/) [Evan S. Connell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evan-s-connell/) > [“Her first name was India-she was never able to get used to it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evan-s-connell/her-first-name-was-india-she-was-never-able-to-get-used-to-it/) [Evan S. Connell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evan-s-connell/) > [Thirty, thirty-five, forty, all had come to visit her like admonitory relatives, and all had slipped away without a trace, without a sound, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evan-s-connell/thirty-thirty-five-forty-all-had-come-to-visit-her-like-admonitory/) [Evan S. Connell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evan-s-connell/) > [“He remembered enthusiasm, hope, and a kind of jubilation or exultation. Cheerfulness, yes, and joviality, and the brief gratification of sex. Gladness, too, fullness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evan-s-connell/he-remembered-enthusiasm-hope-and-a-kind-of-jubilation-or-exultation/) [Evan S. Connell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evan-s-connell/) [Explore all 7 Evan S. Connell quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evan-s-connell/) ## More Custer quotes > [“I expect Custer was crazy enough to believe he would win, being the type of man who carries the whole world within his own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-berger/i-expect-custer-was-crazy-enough-to-believe-he-would-win-being-the/) [Thomas Berger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-berger/) > [and then she asks me how many sexual partners I've had and I say one or two depending on your definition of what I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherman-alexie/and-then-she-asks-me-how-many-sexual-partners-i-ve-had-and-i-say-one/) [Sherman Alexie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherman-alexie/) > [“Custer” by Slipknot”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-l-drake/custer-by-slipknot/) [J.L. Drake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-l-drake/) > [We need more Democrats in the Senate -Like Custer needed more arrows.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-reagan/we-need-more-democrats-in-the-senate-like-custer-needed-more-arrows/) [Ronald Reagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-reagan/) > [“What's it mean; are you determined To make modern all mankind? If so, you should be be-sermoned And brought back to healthy mind.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-c-abbott/what-s-it-mean-are-you-determined-to-make-modern-all-mankind-if-so/) Charles C. Abbott > [Custer is said to have boasted that he could ride through the entire Sioux Nation with his Seventh Cavalry, and he was half right.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vine-deloria-jr/custer-is-said-to-have-boasted-that-he-could-ride-through-the-entire/) [Vine Deloria Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vine-deloria-jr/) > [“Grant refused to accept that. In a newspaper interview, he placed blame for the disaster squarely on Custer’s shoulders: I regard Custer’s massacre as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-chernow/grant-refused-to-accept-that-in-a-newspaper-interview-he-placed-blame/) [Ron Chernow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-chernow/) > [“News of the disaster at Little Bighorn reached the Eastern Seaboard shortly after July 4, and not just any ordinary July 4 but the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-vanderhaeghe/news-of-the-disaster-at-little-bighorn-reached-the-eastern-seaboard/) [Guy Vanderhaeghe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-vanderhaeghe/) > [The only difference between this and Custer's last stand was that Custer didn't have to look at the tape afterward.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-crisp/the-only-difference-between-this-and-custer-s-last-stand-was-that/) Terry Crisp > [“Angry white men are on the losing side of history, which is poised to roll over them like a demographic steamroller. Theirs is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-s-kimmel/angry-white-men-are-on-the-losing-side-of-history-which-is-poised-to/) [Michael S. Kimmel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-s-kimmel/) > [General Custer was a close observer and student of personal character.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/buffalo-bill/general-custer-was-a-close-observer-and-student-of-personal-character/) [Buffalo Bill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/buffalo-bill/) > [When I joined Custer I donned the uniform of a soldier. It was a bit awkward at first but I soon got to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/calamity-jane/when-i-joined-custer-i-donned-the-uniform-of-a-soldier-it-was-a-bit/) [Calamity Jane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/calamity-jane/) > [Numerical superiority is of no consequence. In battle, victory will go to the best tactician."- G. A. Custer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/numerical-superiority-is-of-no-consequence-in-battle-victory-will-go/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Custer had dead heroes. Crazy Horse had only live ones.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-ambrose/custer-had-dead-heroes-crazy-horse-had-only-live-ones/) [Stephen Ambrose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-ambrose/) > [I've been reading about Crazy Horse and Custer for a long, long time, and I thought that if I was going to write a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-hobbs/i-ve-been-reading-about-crazy-horse-and-custer-for-a-long-long-time/) [Will Hobbs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-hobbs/) [Browse all 20 Custer quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/custer/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Just across from Bismarck stood Fort Lincoln where friends and relatives of Custer’s dead cavalrymen still lived, and these emigrating Sioux could perceive such bitterness in the air that one Indian on the leading boat displayed a white flag. Yet, in accordance with the laws of human behavior, the farther downstream they traveled the less hostility they encountered, and when the tiny armada reached Standing Rock near the present border of South Dakota these Indians were welcomed as celebrities. Men, women and children crowded aboard the General Sherman to shake hands with Sitting Bull. Judson Elliot Walker, who was just then finishing a book on Custer’s campaigns, had to stand on a chair to catch a glimpse of the medicine man and reports that he was wearing “green wire goggles.” No details are provided, so green wire goggles must have been a familiar sight in those days. Sitting Bull mobbed by fans while wearing green wire goggles. It sounds like Hollywood.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Evan S. Connell" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evan-s-connell/just-across-from-bismarck-stood-fort-lincoln-where-friends-and/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Custer" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evan-s-connell/just-across-from-bismarck-stood-fort-lincoln-where-friends-and/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b49/evan-s-connell-52564_custer_just-across-from-bismarck-stood-fort-lin_496656.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b49/evan-s-connell-52564_custer_just-across-from-bismarck-stood-fort-lin_496656.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b49/evan-s-connell-52564_custer_just-across-from-bismarck-stood-fort-lin_496656.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Just across from Bismarck stood Fort Lincoln where friends and relatives of Custer’s dead cavalrymen still…” — Evan S. Connell", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Evan S. Connell", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evan-s-connell/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Just across from Bismarck stood Fort...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evan-s-connell/just-across-from-bismarck-stood-fort-lincoln-where-friends-and/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evan-s-connell/just-across-from-bismarck-stood-fort-lincoln-where-friends-and/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```