Seeley Swan to Welcome

Nelson Admirer Offers Condolensces

Cliff Nelson

Date: Sat, 05 Oct 96 13:18:56 -0700
From: Brian Pohanka <bpohanka@worldnet.att.net>
MIME-Version: 1.0
To: pathfinder@montana.com
Subject: Cliff Nelson

Nelson admirer
offers condolensces

As a writer and historian with a special interest in the
battle of Little Bighorn, I have been going to that famous
historic site every summer for the past 23 years.

And while there, tramping over the fields of "Custer's Last
Stand, under that great "Big Sky," discussing and debating
that much-written about but little understood battle, I often had
the opportunity of chatting with Cliff Nelson.

I can't say I knew him well, but his own longstanding
interest in the controversial events of 1876 and his obvious
devotion to the subject of history, made whatever he said worth listening to.
His desire to educate, to pass on to others the clear sincerity of his own
interests, well suited him to the role of seasonal Park Ranger.

Cliff was a man of few words, quiet and very reserved.
But though self-effacing and shy, he was very much a fixture
at that famed battleground, and
someone whose presence we all shall miss.

It is my sincere hope that those responsible for this
terrible tragedy will be apprehended and punished for their crime.
And my condolensces go out to your school, your
community, and to Cliff's family.

Sincerely,
Brian Pohanka
Alexandria, VA

(Editor's note: Brian Pohanka learned of Cliff Nelson's murder from a phone call by a Ranger friend. He then read the Pathfinder articles about the tragedy in the Pathfinder web site on the internet and emailed us his thoughts.)