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'''Fred Dustin''' ([[October 12, 1866 - May 15, ]], [[1866]] – [[May 15]], [[1957]]) was a writer focusing on the [[American West]], in particular [[George Armstrong Custer ]] and The [[Battle of the Little Bighorn]].

== Early Life ==
Fred Dustin was born Fred Dust in [[Glen Falls, New York]] on October 12, 1866, His parents were, to James and Jennie E. (Green) O'Donnell. His mother died soon after his birth and he was sent to live with his aunt Sara, who was married to [[Ira Dustin]], which he later changed his name to.⏎
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  When he was 15, he left school and went to work in a lumber yard.  ⏎
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In 1887, he moved to [[Saginaw, Michigan]], and became a carpenter and building contractor. His passion was studying the [[Native Americans in the United States|Indian]] culture and history of his aream, and he was an archaeological surveyor for the [[University of Michigan]] and an amateur archaeologist. In 1919, he published a booklet entitled ''The Saginaw treaty of 1819 between General Lewis Cass and the Chippewa Indians''. He conducted an archeological survey of Isle Royale from 1929 until 1930. Dustin published some of the earliest sketches of the Ogemaw Earthworks and other Saginaw sites associated with the [[Mound builders]] in 1931. 

Dustin corresponded with and interviewed a number of surviving Indians, civilian interpreters, and soldiers starting in the early 1900s for compilation of their personal narratives of the 1876 fight at Little Bighorn. He spent over 30 years researching the battle and its participants. Dustin was known for his disdain for Custer and criticism of his actions, and his support for the controversial Major [[Marcus Reno]]. Ironically, he made his only visit to the [[Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument|Custer Battlefield]] in 1938. The following year, he published his life's research in a work entitled ''The Custer Tragedy: Events Leading Up to and Following the Little Big Horn Campaign on 1876,'' a work considered a classic in Custeriana.

Fred Dustin died at the age of 90 and was buried in Saginaw.

==References==

* [http://www.garryowen.com/dustin.htm Garryowen.com biography of Dustin]
* [http://www.umich.edu/~bhl/bhl/digpubs/anthro/butterdust.htm University of Michigan library collection of Dustin's papers]

[[Category:1866 births|Dustin, Fred]]
[[Category:1957 deaths|Dustin, Fred]]
[[Category:George Armstrong Custer|Dustin, Fred]]
[[Category:People from Michigan|Dustin, Fred]]