Where Custer Made a Stand

In a cold rain we stood on the hill where Custer made his final stand against five tribes of American Indians on June 25-26, 1876. He and 210 cavalry officers and troopers fought desperately and died.

Covered with plastic ponchos, Andy and I battled the 40 m.p.h. wind gusts and squinted out from the tied hoods of the flimsy coverings. "Maybe it will let up," said Andy. "Predictions said showers, but I thought it would be intermittent."

I read the historical markers in the car as we waited for the rain to ease.

"Did you notice that every time a cloud lifts a little, you can see the marble markers where soldiers died?" pointed out Andy. Most of them read "U.S. soldier" with no identification.
The Sioux, Crow, Cheyenne, Arapaho and Arikara, angered by demands that they had to live on reservations and dramatically change their nomadic plains lifestyle, held their ground against the U.S. Army. Here on the slopes and ravines near the Little Bighorn River, the confrontation came to a head. Even though the Indians won the battle, they lost the war, as Army regiments under Gibbon and Terry moved into the area.

The Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument is a tribute to both sides, recognizing that death and history do not take sides. Even the 39 cavalry horses killed by Custer and his men to form a protective balustrade were remembered with a marble marker. With a motto of Peace through Unity, the monument preserves the history and honors the memories of the brave on both sides who fought for their ideals.

At night the rain cleared in Billings, Montana, as far West as we had ever driven in 41 years.