The Battle of Little Bighorn

The Battle of the Little Bighorn, was fought on June 25, 1876, near the Little Bighorn River in Montana Territory. Federal troops led by Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer were against a band of Lakota Sioux and Cheyenne warriors. Tensions between the two groups had been rising since the discovery of gold on Native American lands. When numerous tribes missed a federal deadline to move to reservations, the U.S. Army, including Custer and his 7th Calvary, were dispatched to confront them.

The U.S. Cavalry was attempting to force the Indians back to their reservations and divided into three columns to attack. One of the columns was led by Lt. General George Custer. He spotted a Sioux camp and decided to attack it. Indian forces outnumbered his troops 3 - 1. Custer and his troops were forced to rearrange. While waiting for help from the other Cavalry forces, another group of Indian forces trapped Custer and his troops. In a desperate attempt to hold off the Indian warriors, Custer ordered his men to short their horses and stack their bodies to form a barricade to protect them from the Indians.

It took less than an hour for the arrows and bullets of the Indians to wipe out General Custer and his men. Despite having won this battle, the Indians were not victorious. Outrage over the death of the popular Custer led the U.S. government to redraw the boundaries of the Black Hills so that the land would not be part of reservation property, which left it open for white men to settle.