The Battle of the Little Bighorn

Sitting Bull

The Battle of the Little Bighorn, also known as Custer's Last Stand, occurred on June 25 - 26, 1876 along the Little Bighorn River in Montana Territory. Many of the Plains Indians call it the Battle of Greasy Grass. The Lakota Sioux, Northern Cheyenne, Arapaho, and Dakota Sioux banded together to fight the U. S. 7th Calvary Regiment. Crow and Arikara scouts were also involved. Important Indian leaders included Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse, and Chief Gall.

The fight resulted in an overwhelming victory for the Native Americans against the 7th Calvary, including the 700-men battalion led directly by Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer. Five of the 12 companies were completely annihilated, along with Custer and four of his family members. At the end of the battle, 268 soldiers and scouts lay dead, and 55 were critically wounded, of which six later died.

George A. Custer (1865)

The public initially responded with outcries and sympathy. When the rage and sentiments faded, Custer and the 7th Calvary were first regarded as heroes. This continued until the 1960's when people began to develop a more critical view of the event. Over the decades, Custer and the battle have been widely studied and written about, and it's become an interesting page in American history.

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