Custer's Last Stand: Little Bighorn.June 25, 1876

Historic Traveller.Com ^ | 6/25/2004 | Primedia

[ijcr]

Like the battle at the Alamo, the one fought at the Little Bighorn has entered the realm where history and legend merge. The basic facts are these: on June 25, 1876, seventh U.S. Cavalry troops commanded by Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer came upon history's largest known encampment of Indians beside the Little Bighorn River.

In the battle that followed, Custer and all the men with him—more than 260—were wiped out by the Sioux warriors of Chiefs Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse as well as Cheyenne warriors.

Ironically, the Native Americans' victory hastened their own downfall, as Custer's loss motivated the U.S. government to move even more aggressively against the Indians.

In a sense, Custer never died. Scores of books and movies have been dedicated to his "Last Stand," and even today the battlefield site is the subject of controversy.

Through the 1980s, the National Monument was called the Custer Battlefield, and events were interpreted in favor of Custer and his men.

In 1991 the Park Service changed the name to Little Bighorn Battlefield to introduce a more balanced interpretation of events. A memorial planned to commemorate the Indians who died in the battle promises a neutral interpretation, although its critics charge that it tips the scale too far the other way.

Gravestones mark the last stand of Custer and his men.

[VOA]

cavalry ping

[Fiddlstix]

BTTT

[tet68]

I visited the battle site many years ago,
and have to say it was erie to stand on those hills and hear the wind, you could almost hear gunshots and cries.
Spooky.

[Badeye]

Your response is the internet version of "Na, na, na, na I'm Not Listening!" more at home in a pre school than here.

Please don't bother me again, thanks.

[Badeye]

"Custer's commanding officer, General Terry, offered him the use of two of the deadliest weapons invented in the 19th Century, he refused them, and told Gen. Terry that the 7th Cavalry could do the job alone. So he never took the machine guns he was offered. (Colt's patent Gatling guns). Had he taken them, one wonders what the outcome would have been."

Yep. You know, the delay Custer would have realized, if he had taken the gatlining guns, and the artillery, might have slowed him down enough the battle might never have been fought.

Lot of things to consider beyond the raw fire power on that one.

[WrenchChucker]

Yeah. I'm not a Siouian speaker so I guess I have to take his word for it. But he grew up around the language and over the years has taught me a thing or two about it, along with a bit about interpreting winter counts (similar to pictographs painted on elk, deer, or bison skins, they were used to remember the significant points of the previous year. The Native American typically created them during the winter months [hence winter count], at least here in Dakota). I suppose to trace the etymology of the word one could search for the first recorded traces of it. That'd take the researcher to Jesuit manuscripts — at least that seems a logical place where I'd begin searching.