Apparently Lt. Col. George Custer was a little more confident in himself than his officers were: Custer's life insurance policy was half that of many of his fellow officers.

Now visitors to the Custer House at Fort Abraham Lincoln can see the ironic reminder of the fated officer's ties to the area, because sitting right on his desk is a replica of the $5,000 New York Life Insurance policy taken out on June 4, 1874.

"I think people are going to get a kick out of that,"said Tracy Potter, executive director of Fort Abraham Lincoln Foundation, as he placed the replica of the title page on Custer's desk.

New York Life Insurance Co. presented the replica of the insurance policy to Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park on Thursday afternoon. Earlier in the summer, the company also donated $5,000 to the foundation.

"They paid that Custer policy twice,"Potter said.

Two years and two weeks after Custer signed his life insurance policy, he led his cavalry to the ill-fated battle that would come to be known as "Custer's Last Stand."

His wife, Libbie, was the beneficiary of his policy.

"When General Custer rode out to Little Bighorn, he left his gatling guns behind, but he remembered to check for his life insurance," Potter joked.

Potter said that today, the policy would be worth about $500,000.

Potter and local New York Life Insurance agent Loren Japel got in touch with each other a few years ago about working out some sort of joint marketing based on the Custer connection, Potter said.

Then this summer, the insurance company's president Fred Sievert visited the state park and Custer's house, Potter said.

The area made quite an impression on the executive, said Ron Karkela, managing partner of the North Dakota office of New York Life.

"He was thrilled to death, because he loves the outdoors,"Karkela said.

When Sievert left, he was determined to find the original life insurance policy for Custer, Potter said.

It was found, and now it sits on Custer's desk in the Custer house at Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park, as if the doomed officer were reviewing it before he led the cavalry into its final battle, Potter said.

(Reach reporter Crystal R. Reid at 250-8261 or crystal.reid@;bismarcktribune.com.)