Strong's Hotel,
Monroe, Michigan,
July Twenty-sixth.
Received a large forwarded mail from my advance agents and others, which I attended to in the afternoon. I was also favored with Detroit papers referring to my proposed lecture in that city, and the following notice from the Monroe Monitor, which, together with letters from the Fund Association, I kept as souvenirs of my stay at this place:
"The lecture announced to be given for the benefit of the Custer Monument Fund, on Monday evening, at the City Hall, was postponed for various reasons until Thursday evening, at the same place. On Monday evening several members of the association met Captain Willard Glazier, and were most favorably impressed with him. They are convinced that he is thoroughly in earnest, and that his proposition is a most liberal one. He offers to give the entire proceeds of his lecture to the association; and not only in this city, but throughout the State, he generously offers to do the same thing. This is certainly deserving of the warm recognition of our own people, at least, and we hope on Thursday evening to see the City Hall filled. Captain Glazier comes with the strongest endorsements from well-known gentlemen in the East, both as to his character as a gentleman and a soldier, and his ability as a speaker and writer. The Captain served under the late General Custer in the cavalry, and has something to say regarding his personal knowledge of the dead hero."
When I started from Boston in May, I little dreamed that before my journey was finished the troubles in the West with the Sioux would bring such a result as this! It is true, affairs in Montana and Wyoming territories had assumed a threatening aspect, but no one doubted the efficacy of "Custer's luck," and those who followed the campaign looked upon it as a dramatic and striking incident, rather than a tragic one.
News was slow in reaching points east of the Mississippi and was then often unreliable, so that if I may judge from personal observation, the people were wholly unprepared for the final result which was flashed across the country on the fifth of July.
Seventy-seventh Day.
Strong's Hotel,
Monroe, Michigan,