Little Bighorn

One of the most well known battlefields in U.S. history sits just off I-90 in Montana. For us it was a fitting stop on our journey west because two of our favorite destinations on this trip were named for key leaders from opposing sides of the fight, Crazy Horse and Lt. Colonel George A. Custer. It was time to learn a bit more about them.

Before our arrival at Little Bighorn Battlefield National Memorial, my knowledge of the battle was rather lacking. Unfortunately, since we had the pets locked in a running, air-conditioned car while we were there we didn’t have time to do the visitor’s center justice. But, we did have time to walk around a small part of the battlefield and, piece-by-piece, we began to put together a blurred picture of what transpired there at the end of June 1876. Since our visit we’ve watched a documentary about the battle and have done a bit more research to strengthen our understanding.

Most American kids know this battlefield as the site of Custer’s Last Stand. That should give you all the information you need to figure out how the battled ended for Custer. What it doesn’t give you is exactly how dramatically this battle impacted the future of all Native American tribes, not just the ones directly involved in this one battle.

Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse, and others from the Lakota Sioux, Northern Cheyenne, and Arapaho tribes were fighting to preserve their way of life. They had no desire to go into the reservation system. Lt. Colonel Custer and his men were sent to force the tribes to move to the Great Sioux Reservation. When the battle ended with the loss of Custer and all of his men, the government decided it was time to bring the full might of the military to bear on the Native American tribes until they had no choice but to submit.

All each of us can do is to judge historical events from our own modern perspective. I’m no exception. And, for me, Little Bighorn was one part of an extremely complicated and convoluted situation. I can empathize with both sides.

However, the biggest tragedy was the loss suffered by the Native Americans who were  protecting their way of life. They lost everything  – or as close as is possible without complete annihilation. Ultimately, as European Americans spread across the continent, the Native American tribes lost massive numbers of people, their land, their homes, their traditions, their languages, and their hope.

They lost everything. Everything. And European Americans won the whole dang country.