Custer dealer seeks return of seized artifacts

A few miles from where George Custer made his infamous Last Stand against thousands of Sioux and Cheyenne Indians, artifacts dealer Christopher Kortlander is waging his own battle with authorities to reclaim a trove of war bonnets, medicine bags and other items seized during government raids on his privately-operated Custer museum.

The raids came during a five-year investigation into Kortlander's alleged dealings in fraudulent artifacts and eagle feathers in violation of federal law. No charges were ever filed. The government dropped its investigation in 2009, and most of the items seized during the raids _ including 7th Cavalry memorabilia, other American Indian artifacts and thousands of pages of documents _ have since been returned.

Yet the dispute between Kortlander and the government rages on. Sealed court filings obtained by The Associated Press show the government still holds 22 items, partly on the word of a convicted felon who claimed Kortlander acquired them illegally. Many contain eagle or migratory bird feathers, which government attorneys said in court documents renders the items "contraband" under the Bald Eagle Protection Act and Migratory Bird Treaty Act.

U.S. District Judge Richard Cebull, who is overseeing the case, has cast doubt on the credibility of the government's witnesses, but also said Kortlander must be cross-examined to prove the war bonnets and other items were lawfully acquired.

Kortlander, 53, is a one-time candidate for local sheriff who presides over a mini-fiefdom in the small community of Garryowen. The "privately-owned town," as he calls it, includes the Custer Battlefield Museum and an attached gas station-post office-convenience store-restaurant that Kortlander operates. Garryowen is on the Crow Indian Reservation, although Kortlander is not a member of the tribe.

He argues the government's efforts to hold onto the seized items stem from a stubborn refusal to admit the raids against him were based on false assumptions and should never have occurred.

"In 1876 the federal government came to Garryowen and lost," Kortlander said, referring to the Battle of Little Bighorn that led to the deaths of Custer and members of his 7th Cavalry. "Now they are in Garryowen again, and they are going to lose."

Kortlander said the investigation and resulting litigation have cost him hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees, ruined many of his friendships and business relationships and derailed plans for a $30 million museum at Garryowen centered on his extensive collection of manuscripts from Custer's wife, Elizabeth.