Custer, selenium and swainsonine.
The Battle of Little Bighorn was fought over 100 y ago but many controversies remain. Some feel the defeat of Custer could have been avoided if Benteen and Reno had united with Custer. A slow-moving pack train may have hindered the troops of Benteen and Reno from joining up with Custer. One report indicated the horses and mules in the pack train were lame and behaved crazily. It has been previously suggested that the animals had selenium toxicosis. We propose the lameness could have been caused by selenium, but that the behavioral problems may have been caused by the ingestion of plants containing swainsonine.
Department of Animal Science, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA.
H F
HF
Hintz
L J
LJ
Thompson
D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D018397:Equidae; D007887:Fabaceae / Q000737:chemistry / Q000506:poisoning; D049672:History, 19th Century; D006734:Horse Diseases / Q000209:etiology; D006736:Horses; D006801:Humans; D007794:Lameness, Animal / Q000209:etiology; D010939:Plant Poisoning / Q000209:etiology / Q000662:veterinary; D010946:Plants, Medicinal; D012643:Selenium / Q000506:poisoning; D017026:Swainsonine / Q000506:poisoning; D014481:United States; D014857:Warfare
D012643:Selenium; D017026:Swainsonine