Beginning with a letter to the editor published in the Janesville Daily Gazette in 1886, Goldin began to publish his version of the Battle of Little Big Horn, in which he castigated Major Marcus Reno and praised General George A. Custer. Goldin claimed that Custer gave him a last message to be carried to Reno, shortly before Custer was killed. Goldin also campaigned to be awarded the Medal of Honor for his role in the Battle of Little Big Horn, writing to Captain Frederick Benteen and speaking to Lieutenant Luther Hare in person. In 1896 Joseph Doe, a fellow Wisconsin politician and Mason, and also Assistant Secretary of War, found that there was sufficient evidence for approval of a Medal of Honor for Goldin.

As the years went by, Goldin embellished his role in the battle more and more. The height of embellishment is found in a chapter in the book Northwestern fights and fighters by Cyrus Townsend Brady. In addition to his claims of carrying Custer's last dispatch, Goldin claimed he joined the Seventh Cavalry in 1873, witnessed the death of Lt. Benjamin Hodgson, and was present for a discussion of strategy between Captain Myles Keogh and General Custer. When others challenged his claims, Goldin claimed that Brady had distorted his letter.

Goldin's embellishments did not stop at his role in the Battle of Little Big Horn. He also added to his own personal biography. In a sketch published in a book about Rock County, he claimed to have been born in 1855, studied atTilton University for four years and then, at age twenty, enlisted in the Army, where he served for nearly four years. The book also claims he was wounded twice at the Battle of Little Big Horn and was discharged due to disability.

In 1924, a Missouri congressman helped Goldin obtain a pension as a Medal of Honor recipient through a special act of Congress. In 1927, he was able to change his discharge from "not honorable" (having lied about his age) to "honorable" with the help of prominent friends.

He was buried in King, Wisconsin.

Goldin carried on, for some years between 1891 and 1896, a correspondence with Captain Benteen, and the two became friends. Benteen's letters (but not Goldin's replies, which have not been preserved) were eventually published as the Benteen-Goldin Letters and are one of the few primary sources for Benteen's views on the battle.

Theodore W Goldin