Gallery to host debut, signing of latest Matt Vincent book
Research focuses on checkered career of George A. Custer
Celebrating local culture and western history with their words and illustrations, Matt Vincent and Brigitte Shafer have teamed up once more for yet another book project. And to launch their project locally, a book-signing event has been scheduled at The Orphanage on Saturday, Nov. 12, from 2 to 5 p.m.
Their latest book is called “The Chronicles of Custer: First Stand of a Failed Campaign,” an ambitious 354-page book that represents more than four years of research and exploration of the High Plains of Kansas, Nebraska and northeastern Colorado.
The Chronicles follows the trials and tribulations of Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer and the newly formed 7th Cavalry during the ill-fated Hancock Campaign of 1867 and their collective efforts to intimidate and remove the Oglala Sioux, Cheyenne Dog Soldiers and other indigenous tribes from a large part of the central Great Plains.
Like his last command at the Little Bighorn in Montana nine years later, Custer’s first field western command was an unmitigated disaster marked by mass desertions, deadly Indian attacks, the attempted execution of his own men, and Custer’s own desertion.
What should make this new book compelling for local history buffs is that a significant portion of the story unfolds on the once-wild plains of Yuma and Logan counties in northeastern Colorado.
Vincent grew up in Yuma immersed in western history and lore. He graduated from Yuma High School in 1975 and from the University of Colorado School of Journalism in 1980 and spent the next 40 years in the publishing industry, becoming an award-winning newspaper and magazine writer, a photographer, and editor of several national fishing publications. He retired from the outdoor sports business in 2008 to begin freelance writing and photography projects, most of
which focused on the Colorado Plains. Vincent was the first featured artist at The Orphanage.
Opened in 2019 on Main Street in downtown Yuma, The Orphanage quickly became a unique event venue whose mission is to promote local and regional arts and artists. True to that objective, Brigitte Shafer became another featured artist there in 2021 with her month-long show of “Wild West Art.”
Copies of The Chronicles of Custer: First Stand of a Failed Campaign will be available at The Orphan- age while books last.
Vincent and Shafer’s first collaborative effort, “Wild Times & True Tales from the High Plains,” was pub- lished in early 2021 and quickly sold out after sell- ing more than 1,600 copies.
Vincent said they plan to launch a Fourth Printing of Wild Times some- time next year due to pop- ular demand.