This 116 acre "French ribbon farm", purchased by General George Armstrong Custer, his brother, Nevin, and their wives August 22, 1871, ran northerly from the River Raisin. Nevin Custer farmed it until his death. The present Custer Airport, created from part of the farm, is named for it.
General Custer's famous war-horse, Dandy, who accompanied him to the Little Big Horn, lies buried in the old orchard site back of the residence.
Buffalo Bill Cody and Little Annie Oakley would always ride out to the farm to visit Dandy and the General's father, Emmanuel, each time the Wild West Show was near Monroe.
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At the base of the Custer Home Historical Marker is this plaque embedded in the ground that reads: CUSTER
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The Monroe County Historical Society began to collect local historical artifacts in 1938, housing them in a storied homestead, the Sawyer House on East Front Street, before presenting them to the Historical Commission established in 1967 by Monroe County. By 1973, through a generous gift, the Commission could purchase this imposing building, formerly the U.S. Post Office erected in 1913.
It was on this site that Elizabeth Bacon Custer was born, daughter of Judge Daniel S. Bacon. Here Libbie’s romance with the dashing George Armstrong Custer flourished. After the Civil War, whenever his Army duties did not station them elsewhere, she and the General made their home here.
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The "Golden Age" of duck hunting had tarnished beginnings. Demand for wild game after the Civil War years prompted marker hunters to supply wild ducks for big city restaurants. These gunners strove to kill as many ducks as possible in the shortest amount of time. Some early market hunters in the western Lake Eric region adopted huge punt guns, capable of killing dozens of ducks with a single shot, in order to meet this goal.
Michigan outlawed punt guns in 1865, but gunners continued their deadly trade with double-barreled & repeating shotguns. This marker demand for wild ducks also created demand for decoys. Hunters used 200-300 decoys at a time & carvers were called upon to supply them. The Detroit decoy factories were born out of the marker hunting era.
Sport hunters & conservationists pushed for legislation which finally ended all market hunting in 1918 & ushered in the era of responsible hunting regulations.
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Monroe County has a rich heritage of Native American Woodland lore. More historic and prehistoric archaeological sites are registered in Monroe County than in any other county in Michigan.
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