April 17, 1871

Dear Jimmi,

It has come to our attention, seeing as you are soon to be joined in holy matrimony to our beloved sister Maggie that you will need to be initiated into Custer family lore. Since Maggie has little to zero interest in this subject, Armstrong and I have taken it upon ourselves to explain certain stories to you. Of course Armstrong, as usual, has taken the General’s prerogative, that is he decided on an action then promptly turned it over to a plebe to carry out. In this case you are lucky, though, because I, too, can spin a yarn, and probably a more interesting one than You-Know-Who. Let’s see if I can’t pen something for posterity. As there’s a card game starting now, this will be continued.

—Tom