Custer & the 1873 Yellowstone Survey: Progress on the nationÌÎÌ_ÌÎ__ÌÎÌ_ÌÎ__ÌÎÌ_Ì´åÇÌÎÌ_ÌÎå_s second transcontinental railroad slowed in 1873. The Northern PacificÌÎÌ_ÌÎ__ÌÎÌ_ÌÎ__ÌÎÌ_Ì´åÇÌÎÌ_ÌÎå_s line from Glendive to Billings, Montana, had not been surveyed, and the Sioux and Cheyenne Nations opposed construction through the Yellowstone Valley, the heart of their hunting grounds. An 1872 surveying expedition along the Yellowstone River had resulted in the death of a prominent member of the party, the near-death of the NPÌÎÌ_ÌÎ__ÌÎÌ_ÌÎ__ÌÎÌ_Ì´åÇÌÎÌ_ÌÎå_s chief engineer, the embarrassment of the U.S. Army, and a public relations and the collapse of the NPÌÎÌ_ÌÎ__ÌÎÌ_ÌÎ__ÌÎÌ_Ì´åÇÌÎÌ_ÌÎå_s initial fund raise efforts. The next year, the U.S. Army was determined to punish the Sioux and the NP desperately needed to complete its engineering work and resume construction. A formidable expedition was mounted under the command of George Custer with 1,600 cavalry troops, artillery and an embedded news correspondent to provide the narrative of the expedition. The force marched west in June 1873 and covered nearly 1,000 miles in three months while enduring floods, hail and withering heat. They sustained three Sioux ambushes and fought a formal battle, during which a formidable Custer was at his best. This volume was researched from primary sources which were edited by NPRHA member M. John Lubetkin and published as a hard bound book with 335 pages.