Manuscripts
The first section of the collection consists mainly of letters written by Leonard Herbert Swett to his parents, Leonard and Laura R. Swett, while spending part of the summer of 1875 with George Armstrong Custer. The letters include descriptions of encounters with Custer and the members of Custer's entourage, of treaty negotiations with the Arikara and Dakota chiefs, of a hunting excursion, and of life with the 7th Cavalry in general, as well as references to the political situation that decided Custer's orders regarding the Native Americans, including to General Sheridan and the War Department. Also included is a telegram sent to Leonard Swett by Custer, reporting on Leonard Herbert Swett's health; an anonymous description of experiences at Fort Lincoln; a description of Charles Eastman's comments on the Battle of Little Bighorn; and a 1932 letter from a university fraternity in Ithaca, New York. The second section of the collection is made up of letters written by Leonard Herbert Swett to his parents, who lived in Chicago, while on a year-long trip around Europe. In the letters he talks in detail about each city he visits and his daily activities, the costs of things, his frustration at trying to learn French, and his homesickness and desire to return to Chicago. Swett visits the following places: London; Brussels; Paris, Marles, Lyon, and Nice, France; Wiesbaden, and Leipzig, Germany; Lausanne, Switzerland; Milan, and Venice, Italy. Leonard Swett is the author of two letters, written to his wife while he was in Paris with his son.
mssSwett
