WILLIAMS & WILLIAMS TO AUCTION THE ENTIRE TOWN OF GARRYOWEN, MONTANA
The Historic and Popular Tourist Stop as well as the Largest Custer Document Collection to be Auctioned on August 15 at 4 p.m. MDT
TULSA, OK – June 28, 2012 – (RealEstateRama) — Williams & Williams, the auction firm that recently sold the “Smallest Town in America”, Buford, Wyoming, today announced it will auction the entire town of Garryowen, Montana on Wednesday, August 15 at 4 p.m. MDT. The Garryowen auction offers a rare opportunity to acquire a privately-owned, historically-significant town that features the “Town Hall,” a 15,400+/- sf three-level building containing an income-producing convenience store, a Subway® sandwich shop, a retail space, U.S. Post Office and penthouse residence. A second building is a two-level 2,900+/- sf structure containing office space and guest suites. The 7.7+/- acre site is located within the perimeter of the Little Bighorn Battlefield where Custer’s 7th Cavalry met defeat by the combined forces of the Lakota and Cheyenne people.
In addition to the town, the Elizabeth Bacon Custer manuscript collection will also be auctioned, an extensive compilation of unpublished and un-catalogued manuscripts, correspondence and documents assembled by General George Armstrong Custer’s widow. Persons interested in purchasing the town or document collection can bid on-site or remotely at auctionnetwork.com.
The town of Garryowen, named after the Irish marching song of Custer’s 7th Cavalry, is a well-trafficked tourist destination located along Interstate 90 approximately 60 miles southeast of Billings, MT. It is considered to be a flagship to Eastern Montana, as it is the first town on I-90 as you enter the state from Wyoming. The town is also midway between Mount Rushmore National Monument and Yellowstone Park, two of the biggest tourist attractions in the United States. Visitors can see virtually all of the locations involved with the Battle of the Little Bighorn (also known as Custer’s Last Stand), including the site where Custer was last seen alive.
“Rich in American history and military lore, the sale of Garryowen is a one-of-a-kind opportunity,” said Rob Bridges, Williams & Williams’ Senior Vice President, Commercial Sales. “It’s a chance to own a piece of history, but also own and operate a business at one of the country’s major tourist destinations.”
The Elizabeth Bacon Custer manuscript collection offers a rare, first-person account of history and consists of thousands of original hand-written pages, yet to be fully discovered, including a 200-page unpublished interview with Buffalo Bill. The collection unveils a rich history of the Western Frontier and the extraordinary personalities that shaped it; the Battle of the Little Bighorn and the American reaction to the catastrophe; the social history of the late nineteenth century; gender studies; veterans’ experiences of multiple wars; and African Americans during the Civil War. The collection also includes amongst its treasures, General Custer’s personal set of stereoviews taken by W.H. Illingworth, the official photographer of the 1874 Black Hills Expedition. The seller, an avid collector of historical documents, believes this to be the largest Custer document collection in existence.
The vision of its current owner is to preserve an important piece of American history for future generations by creating a location where important historical artifacts and documents would be housed for public view and scholarly research. Due to health and personal reasons, he has hired Williams & Williams to sell his real estate and manuscript collection. They can be purchased by separate parties or by one owner. The Custer Battlefield Museum entity, nor any of the property owned thereby, is being auctioned. Only the real estate and associated structures will convey.
For more details about the auction, visit www.williamsauction.com/garryowen. People interested in touring the property can attend one of the public open inspections on August 3 or 10 from 11 – 2 p.m. MDT or two hours prior to the auction. People interested in the manuscript collection can review an archive summary prepared by the owner or request a private viewing by appointment only.
About Williams & Williams:
Williams & Williams® is a worldwide real estate auction leader. The only auction company to combine the proven effectiveness of live, at-the-property auctions with the global reach and convenience of real time, interactive bidding, Williams & Williams’ auction teams sell real estate throughout the United States and abroad. We have a proven performance record for all types of real estate sales including residential, commercial, farms and ranches, and distinctive properties.
