Story available at BillingsGazette.com
Published on Saturday, June 22, 2002.
Last modified on 6/22/2002 at 1:50 am
To OrderReproduction prints of "Custer's Last Fight" - at 36-by-27 inches about 6 inches smaller than the original - are selling for $29.99 through the Custer Battlefield Museum. To order, call (406) 638-1876 or visit www.custermuseum.org |
TimelineThe following timeline of the history of "Custer's Last Fight" was prepared by William Vollmar, corporate historian for the Anheuser-Busch Co., with assistance from the Custer Battlefield Museum: 1876 - Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer and 210 of his men are killed at the Battle of the Little Bighorn. That same year, the Anheuser-Busch Brewing Association begins production of Budweiser beer in the United States. 1884 - Cassilly Adams paints the first version of "Custer's Last Fight," measuring 16 feet 5 inches by 9 feet 6 inches on a wagon canvas for a traveling exhibit. 1888 - Adolphus Busch conceives of an advertising campaign based on the Battle of the Little Bighorn. He purchases Adams' Custer painting, but is unsure whether it is right for his planned ad campaign. 1889 - Busch employs the Milwaukee Lithographing Co. to make prints of Adams' painting. F. Otto Becker, an employee of the lithographer, is hired by Busch to make a master painting of "Custer's Last Fight," from the which the famous advertising lithograph would be created. Busch pays for the painting but never takes possession of it; it remains in Becker's hands. 1895 - Anheuser-Busch makes a gift of the Adams painting to the 7th Cavalry during a ceremony at Fort Riley, Kan. The painting is moved to Fort Grant, Ariz., briefly and then put in storage. 1896 - The Milwaukee Lithographing Co. uses the Becker painting to create lithographic plates, but must first cut it into eight sections so that a number of artists can make the intricate color plates at the same time. Shortly thereafter, lithographic reproduction begins. The print contains a border advertisement for the Anheuser-Busch Brewing Association, which would change its name to the Anheuser-Busch Co. in 1919. The extremely popular poster is distributed to saloons, bars and restaurants across the nation. 1934 - The Adams painting is discovered, badly damaged, in storage at Fort Bliss, Texas. 1935 - The Adams painting is sent to the Works Progress Administration in Boston for restoration and returned to Fort Bliss in 1938. 1936 - Becker reassembles the eight pieces of his painting and paints over the seams to restore it to its original state. 1939 - Becker sells his original painting to Anheuser-Busch for $2,000. 1946 - A fire at the Fort Bliss officers mess destroys the Adams painting. 2002 - The Custer Battlefield Museum becomes the first outside entity granted permission by the Anheuser-Busch Co. to reproduce, in a limited edition, the original advertising lithograph of "Custer's Last Fight." |