On the way from Buffalo WY to Butte MT we passed by the Big Horn Mountain range. We saw a sign for Little Big Horn Monument. When we pulled into the National Park, which we had NO idea it was a National Park, we were shocked. It was huge.
It is a National Cemetery along with monuments for all the fallen soldiers and Indians. This was Custer’s Last Stand! Before I go any further, you need to know that I become enraged when speaking of what we did, and how we did it - to the American Indians. So…if I get off on a tirade, just go with it. I will do my best to be Impartial, but I cannot promise anything….whew….okay, here it goes…
In 1874 Gold was found in the Black Hills of Wy. After the treaties at Ft. Laramie were signed to desiginate a permanent Indian reservation.
June 26 & 27, 1876.
Lt. Col. Custer, (the murdering bastard that he was), ooopppsss that’s not unbiased is it? along with Capt. Frederick W. Benteen, and Major Marcus A. Reno came across the Big Horn mountains and saw an Indian village. They immediately planned an attack..
Custer took the North, Benteen the East, and Reno the South East. The problem with their plan was, simply, they were all a ½ a day apart in the timing of the attack. The approximate amount of US Troops involved in the battle was around 600 men.
Reno went first. He had 140 men. The Lakota, Cheyenne, and Arapaho Indians had approximately 1500 warriors. Reno attacked, but retreated because he was outnumbered. He waited for back up.
Second came Benteen to back up Reno. He, along with his men, held off the Indians, but suffered many casualties. Custer came from the North. Custer, George Armstrong Custer, had an ego that was far bigger than his Calvary, and he charged full force down the hill to attack. He was almost overtaken and also had retreated back up the hill.
When all was said and done, the almighty Custer and 41 of his men were found dead on the crest of the hill - after retreating. Coward!
When Reno and Benteen went to find Custer and saw he was dead they pulled out all remaining troops and reported back to base of their battle. They had to bear the news of Custer’s death. A death that was immortalized to make him an American hero. George Custer’s brother, Boston, who was a civilian also died that day on the battlefield.
There are 220 soldiers, scouts and civilians buried around the base of the memorial. In the pictures where you see the white marble headstones scattered over the battlefield, it denotes where the slain troops fell and were originally buried. The red marble headstones represent the Cheyenne, Lakota, Arapaho, and other Indian tribes that fell in those two horrible, long, bloody days.
In 1881 the white men were reentered into a single grave surrounding the monument. The Indians were taken by their respective tribes and given a traditional Indian burial.
The offices remains’ were removed in 1877 to various cemeteries throughout the country Custer is buried at West Point.
I was sad walking around. Genuinely sad! It was the most heartbreaking thing to walk amongst graves where so many lives - on both sides - were lost. I could go on about how I feel, but I wont put you threw anymore of it. You need to interpret it as you see it. (But on a foot note - please read; Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee. It is one of my all time favorite books and - to me - it tells the way it really, truly was.)
Thanks for reading.
