So today we traveled 14 miles south of our RV park in Hardin, near the Crow Agency here in Montana. This is the site of the Little Bighorn Battlefield, commonly referred to as Custer's Last Stand.
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| Crow country is aprrox. 2.5 mil. acres... | |
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This was such a hair-raising experience to walk over the the site where the most well known battlefield in our American History took place.
For those of you who didn't pay attention in your history class back in the day...I will give you a brief synopsis. A treaty was signed in 1868 at Fort Laramie WY, with the Lakota, Cheyenne, and other Tribes of the Great Plains. When the government was unable to restrain western settlers from moving into Treaty territory of the Black Hills in South Dakota, nor control the uproar of the Indian attacks against these white settlers due to this, the U.S. Government refused to remove the white man settlers from the Tribal grounds and instead Ulysses S. Grant and Gen. Sherman dispatched orders to move the hostiles and return them to their reservations. On June 25, 1876 George Armstrong Custer lead the U.S. Army 7th Cavalry into an inevitable massacre against the Lakota, Sioux, Northern Cheyenne and the Arapaho led by Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull. Lt. Col. Custer attacked a sizable encampment of Indians, even after he had been encouraged by his U.S. Crow Scouts to wait for reinforcements the band was considerably more substantial for them to procure. He also disregarded orders to wait for Col. Gibbons and Gen. Terry till the 27th of June, he refused to take a Gatling gun as it would slow him down and when his pack train containing ammunition and supplies got stuck he chose to press on rather than wait. Some would describe Lt. Col. Custer as having Presidential aspirations, he was also said to have been head strong and reckless.
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A total of 263 soldiers and civilians were massacred in less than an hour. Of those, Custer's own family members included 2 of his brothers, his brother in-law, and his nephew.
Within five years after that battle almost all Sioux and Cheyenne Tribes would be confined to the reservation life.
Our Government made treaties with the Native Americans and when it suited us we would negate the Treaty and what it stood for. How sad is that.
We also took a guided bus tour as well as listened to Park Rangers give interpretive talks on the "Battle", there was a great movie in the Museum that also helped tie the sequence of events together. This was nothing less than Amazing, a must see...put it on your "bucket list".
Above, Dwain standing 4ft. to his left of the Custer Battlefield National Monument...is where they found Custer's body, many say that he was killed at the crossing of the Little Big Horn River and carried up to the battleground area.
The photo to the right: This is of Last Stand Hill, and a fenced enclosure where a large potion of the battle took place.
The photo to the Left shows where fallen soldiers were found, the marker that has black on the face is where they originally buried Custer's body. The bodies were found 2 days after the battle and were buried where they were found. Custer's body was exhumed a year later per his wife's request and reinterred in West Point Cemetery. A number of other officers were also removed and buried elsewhere per family members request.
This photo on the Right:
Each soldier when buried was noted with a stake marker, in May 1890 those stakes were replaced with these marble markers.
All of these bodies have been removed and buried below the Custer's Battlefield National Monument as a mass grave site in 1890 when the Monument was erected. The Custer National cemetery was established in 1886 for the interment of those who served honorably in the Armed Forces of the United States. Many from Indian Battles of the Northwest. Many other bodies that were involved in previous battles such as the Fetterman Massacre, Wagon Box Fight, Battle of the Rosebud, and all of the abandoned Fort graveyards on the Bozeman Trail these men were buried in this National Cemetery, along with several Crow Scouts.
Photo on Left:
This is the Indian Memorial just that was placed below Last Stand Hill. It was dedicated on June 25, 2003. It is in memory of all Tribes that were defending their way of life at the battle.
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| Within the Indian Memorial... |
The photo above is one example of the many
Tribes that are recognized on the interior walls
of the Indian Memorial. These are the 6 U.S.
Crow Scouts that Custer became enraged with
when they tried to discourage him from
engaging further. Custer relieved them of their
duty and they left...they lived to see many more
days.
The photo to the Left: On Memorial Day
1999, the first of 5 red granite markers were
placed denoting where warriors had fallen.
Most warriors bodies were removed promptly
after the battle by tribe members, this is why
we don't know exactly how many were killed
Photo to Left: This is a famous tree that stands in the
Battlefield area. It is called the "witness tree"...the
stories it could tell, if only it could.
