DoghouseCharlie

Larry Verne’s novelty song now hits pretty close to home.

And not because I suggested to my mother that the song was the Hamilton Tiger Cats (CFL) fight song. (Born and raised in Hamilton, my mother’s only regret in life is raising a Toronto Argonaut fan (me), but I digress )

But for an encounter with too much liquor, Custer’s Last Stand may have been MY last stand.

In 1977, my father and my aunt were discussing the family history. In a stroke of sheer genius (he said, modestly), I ran and got my tape recorder (one of those new fangled cassette things) and recorded about 90 minutes of this discussion.

Listening to the tape recently I found out about my near brush with General Custer.

Please, Mr Custer

(That famous day in history the men of the 7th Cavalry went riding on)
(And from the rear a voice was heard)
(A brave young man with a trembling word rang loud and clear)
What am I doin’ here??
It seems my Great Grandfather, Carl Larson, recently arrived from Norway was making his way west to settle in the Dakotas. He and a friend thought they might have a bit of adventure at the same time. They decided to join up with the US Army fighting in the Dakotas. Custer’s 7th Cavalry to be precise.

However…

They stopped in a saloon…and umm had a bit to drink.

Ok lots to drink.

I guess it turned into a multiple day bender. They then slept it off and began to resume their journey westward, during the course of which they found out that Custer had been massacred. Had old Carl caught up with Custer he may have ended up dead at the Little Big Horn.

Instead, Carl straightened up his act, settled in North Dakota, married a woman far younger than him and proceded to do his best to populate the Dakotas. One of his many daughters married my grandfather..and as Paul Harvey would say, “Thats the REST of the story…”

Of course I have no proof of this story, only my dad’s version based on what he heard from Carl, or his dad, or someone. Still, its a pretty neat story, dontcha think?