The cable channel National Geographic has a series called "Drain the Oceans". They just aired a really good episode about the Wild West. They had a story about unearthing a sunken river steamboat on the Missouri river. It was amazing how much and what kind of cargo they were hauling. Also, most, if not all, of the passengers survived. One was an energetic young lady who would end of owning and running a thousand acre ranch at the age of 50. Sounds like a character out of a LL novel.
Also had a story about archaeological work done on Custer's Last Stand. Using bullets and bullet casings found at the scene of the battle, they could determine who had what guns and the strategy of the two sides. The Indians appeared to be armed to a large degree with Winchester repeating rifles while the soldiers had single shot carbines. It was a pretty one-sided battle and not just because of the numbers of combatants on each side.
