June 25, 1876.. The battle of the "greasy grass" or Little Big Horn.. An alliance of warriors of the Lakota Sioux, Northern Cheyenne and Arapahoe,
decided to challenge the 7th Cav..led by Lt Col G A Custer, which was on an errand to round up reservation refusing Indians.
Custer, filled with courage and elan, foolishly started his run through a sizeable village on the banks of the Little big horn...but was very surprised
by it's size.
When the indian warriors collected themselves, Custer had to run uphill toward a ridge. There he was forced to take a stand with his 210 soldiers
..where he and his group were wiped out.
Somehow, Custer caught th eencampment by surprise..can't imagine how. No watch set? no outriders?
Some folks think the 7th Cav was wiped out that day.. not so.. THere were *50 men in the 7th Cav and 210 were with Custer, the rest being either
with the supply wagons or with Reno and Benteen..on a somewhat higher elevation, about 4 miles away.
Custer's demise was almost inevitable, since his detatchment of 210 soldiers faced estimates of 2,00 to 5,00 warriors, some armed with repeating
rifles. Poor judgement on his part!
So, the Indians won that battle..but lost the war. Since the Civil War..Custer was a hero to many Americans...on the order of an Audie Murphy,
and with the propagandist's skill describing the mutilated bodies, and anger and wish for reprisal..gave opportunity for the US Army to pursue
the "miscreants"..
So, most renegade groups were soon rounded up and placed on reservations, some of the more in fluential rabble rouser, held at Army posts.
That is the basics, many stories have been woven in, along with the legends, since then.
Just a year later ib Sept 1877, Crazy Horse.starting a ruckus at Fort Robinson..met his demise on a bayonet..
Sitting Bull lasted a bit longer. In 1890, while being obstreperous one morning on the Standing Rock Reservation.. Indian police ended his
life with a bullet.
Photos of the principals below..Crazy Horse did not allow any form of pictures.
