Historic Fort Hays Summer Programming
Saturday May 2, 2026 @ 2:00 pm – Visitors Center, 1472 Highway 183 Alt, Hays, KS
Marla Matkin presents:
THE WIDOWS: FAITHFUL STANDBYS
None Wounded, None Missing, All Dead! This title speaks to the trauma of The
Battle Little Bighorn. The shock of such an event would not only resonate across
the country, but no one suffered as did the widows created by this tragedy. The
loss of five companies and 280 men of the 7 th Cavalry would have a profound
effect on the lives of their loved ones, comrades and friends for the rest of their
lives. For everyone who wins there are those who lose. Because the widow’s
stories are not often told, I share some of them with you and maybe you will be as
moved by them as I have been.
The wives believed their place was with their husbands wherever they were and
whatever peril might lie ahead. But after June 25, 1876, they would assume the
role of faithful standbys of the brave and gallant soldiers who rode to the sound of
the bugle. As one of the wives later wrote Elizabeth Custer in the aftermath of this
tragic event, “If we mourn together the bitter pangs of loss, we will hopefully make
it to the other side of sorrow.”
Please join us for this insightful, moving, and interesting presentation. We have
heard so much about The Battle of the Little Bighorn, but the widows’ stories have
often been overlooked. You really don’t know the depth of emotion and the human
cost of such a tragedy until you see through their eyes.