At Ford D

[yanmacca]

You make a good point there Mac.
If the civvies had spotted him trying to cut them off from going north, then their logical motive would be to go west and looking at some of the maps of this area, you do see various places were they would run to over to the west.
If the lack of any possible civilian targets made ford D as redundant as ford B and this void was rapidly being filled with warriors, then you could see that rather getting involved in a pitched battle in an area far away from the rest of his regiment that Custer decided to pull the plug on the whole thing and move back south.
The problem he now has is to keep his distance from his enemy and pull back.

[mac]

I have been looking at the google image of the Ford D area and I do not think I am being fanciful in suggesting that despite being ploughed flat one can still see residual contours. Some high tech satellite archaeology with other parts of the spectrum is out of the question probably but might be interesting.
I am still taken by the notion that some warriors occupied the old river course west of the ploughed valley flats.
Perhaps some one could put the archaeology we know onto a google image. 
Cheers

[Beth]

No you are not being fanciful. Plowing a field does not remove the traces of the land's past. I expect perhaps in person you especially would even see and tell more because what may look flat in a satellite isn't always that way when you stand at the edge of the field.

I would love it if they would do some high tech satellite of the area because I suspect you would able to see the marks left behind by generations of NA horses and travois. The marks are visible at other sites, I am sure they should be visible in the Rosebud and Little Bighorn valleys.

[dave]

Beth
What a great idea! I am glad that I thought of it! Would it be that much trouble to have the battlefield surveyed by a satellite?
Regards
Dave

[quincannon]

Not if the retirement check of retired college administrators is a hell of a lot more than that of broken down Lieutenant Colonels, it should not be any trouble at all.