Old page wikitext, before the edit (old_wikitext) | '{{short description|1876 battle of the Great Sioux War}}
{{redirect|Custer's Last Stand|the 1936 film serial|Custer's Last Stand (serial)}}
{{Infobox military conflict
| conflict = Battle of the Little Bighorn
| width =
| partof = the [[Great Sioux War of 1876]]
| image = [[File:Charles Marion Russell - The Custer Fight (1903).jpg|border|300px]]
| caption = ''The Custer Fight'' by [[Charles Marion Russell]]
| date = June 25–26, 1876
| place = Near [[Little Bighorn River]], [[Crow Indian Reservation]], [[Big Horn County, Montana]], U.S.
| coordinates = {{Coord|45|33|54|N|107|25|44|W|display=inline,title|name=The Battle of Little BigHorn|region:US-MT_type:event}}
| map_type = Montana
| map_relief =
| map_size =
| map_marksize =
| map_caption = Location within Montana
| map_label = Little Big Horn Battlefield
| territory =
| result = <!-- Do NOT add "decisive". Consensus has repeatedly concluded that it was NOT a decisive victory. -->Lakota, Northern Cheyenne, and Arapaho victory
| status =
| combatants_header =
| combatant1 = {{plainlist|
* [[Lakota people|Lakota]]
* [[Dakota people|Dakota]]
* [[Northern Cheyenne]]
* [[Arapaho people|Arapaho]]}}
| combatant2 = {{plainlist|
* {{flagicon image|Flag of the United States (1867–1877).svg}} [[United States Army]]
* [[Crow scouts]]
* [[Arikara scouts]]}}
| commander1 = {{plainlist|
* [[Sitting Bull]]
* [[Crazy Horse]]
* [[Gall (Native American leader)|Chief Gall]]
* [[Lame White Man]]{{KIA}}
* [[Two Moons|Two Moon]]}}
| commander2 = {{plainlist|
* [[George Armstrong Custer|George A. Custer]]{{KIA}}
* [[Marcus Reno]]
* [[Frederick Benteen]]
* [[Myles Keogh]]{{KIA}}
* [[James Calhoun (soldier)|James Calhoun]]{{KIA}}}}
| units1 = [[Irregular military]]
| units2 = [[7th Cavalry Regiment]]
| strength1 =1,500–2,500 warriors
| strength2 = ~700 cavalrymen and scouts
| casualties1 = {{plainlist|
* 31 (up to 135) killed<br>Up to 160 wounded
* 10 non-combatants killed}}
| casualties2 = {{plainlist|
* 268 killed
* 55 wounded (6 of whom later died of wounds)}}
| campaignbox = {{Campaignbox 1876 North Plains Campaign}}
}}
[[File:The Lakota Wars (1854-1890). The battlefields and the Lakota treaty territory of 1851 (circa.).png|thumb|upright=1.4|Map indicating the battlefields of the Lakota wars (1854–1890) and the Lakota Indian territory as described in the [[Treaty of Fort Laramie (1851)]]. Like the Battle of the Little Bighorn (14 on the map), most battles between the army and the Lakota "were on lands those Indians had taken from other tribes since 1851".<ref>Ewers, John C.: "Intertribal Warfare as a Precursor of Indian-White Warfare on the Northern Great Plains". ''Western Historical Quarterly'', Vol. 6, No. 4 (Oct. 1975), pp. 397–410 [408].</ref><ref>Stands In Timber, John and Margot Liberty (1972): ''Cheyenne Memories''. Lincoln and London. p. 170, note 13.</ref><ref>Calloway, Colin G.: "The Inter-tribal Balance of Power on the Great Plains, 1760–1850", ''Journal of American Studies'', Vol. 16, No. 1 (April 1982), pp. 25–47 [46].</ref><ref>White, Richard: "The Winning of the West: The Expansion of the Western Sioux in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries", ''The Journal of American History'', Vo. 65, No. 2 (Sep. 1987), pp. 319–343 [342].</ref> The steady Lakota invasion into treaty areas belonging to smaller tribes<ref>Medicine Crow, Joseph (1992): ''From the Heart of the Crow Country. The Crow Indians' Own Stories''. New York. pp. 64, 84.</ref> ensured the United States firm Indian allies in the [[Arikara scouts|Arikaras]]<ref>Dunlay, Thomas W. (1982). ''Wolves for the Blue Soldiers. Indian Scouts and Auxiliaries with the United States Army, 1860–90''. Lincoln and London. p. 132.</ref> and the [[Crow scouts|Crows]] during the Lakota Wars.<ref>Calloway, Colin G.: The Inter-tribal Balance of Power on the Great Plains, 1760–1850. ''Journal of American Studies'', Vol. 16, No. 1 (April 1982), pp. 25–47 [46].</ref><ref>Dunlay, Thomas W. (1982). ''Wolves for the Blue Soldiers. Indian Scouts and Auxiliaries with the United States Army, 1860–90''. Lincoln and London. pp. 112–114.</ref><ref>Medicine Crow, Joseph (1992): ''From the Heart of the Crow Country. The Crow Indians' Own Stories''. New York. p. xi.</ref>]]
[[File:Crow Indian Reservation, 1868 (area 619 and 635). Yellow area 517 is 1851 Crow treaty land ceded to the U.S.png|thumb|upright=1.4|Crow Indian Reservation, 1868 (area 619 and 635). Yellow area 517 is 1851 Crow treaty land ceded to the U.S. It was in the red area 635 that the battle stood. The Lakotas were here without consent from the local Crow tribe, which had treaty on the area. Already in 1873, Crow chief Blackfoot had called for U.S. military actions against the Indian intruders.<ref>Hoxie, Frederick E. (1995): ''Parading Through History. The making of the Crow Nation in America, 1805–1935''. Cambridge, p. 106.</ref><ref>Annual Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, 1873. Washington 1874, p. 124.</ref>]]
The '''Battle of the Little Bighorn''', known to the [[Lakota people|Lakota]] and other [[Plains Indians]] as the '''Battle of the Greasy Grass'''<ref>{{cite news|title=The Battle of the Greasy Grass|url=http://www.smithsonianmag.com/videos/category/history/the-battle-of-the-greasy-grass/?no-ist|access-date=7 December 2014|work=[[Smithsonian (magazine)|Smithsonian]] }}</ref> and also commonly referred to as '''Custer's Last Stand''', was an armed engagement between combined forces of the Lakota, [[Northern Cheyenne]], and [[Arapaho]] tribes and the [[7th Cavalry Regiment]] of the [[United States Army]]. The battle, which resulted in the defeat of U.S. forces, was the most significant action of the [[Great Sioux War of 1876]]. It took place on June 25–26, 1876, along the [[Little Bighorn River]] in the [[Crow Indian Reservation]] in southeastern [[Montana Territory]].<ref>Kappler, Charles J (1904): ''Indian Affairs. Laws and Treaties''. Vol. 2. Washington, pp. 1008–1011.</ref>
The fight was an overwhelming victory for the Lakota, Northern Cheyenne, and Arapaho, who were led by several major war leaders, including [[Crazy Horse]] and [[Gall (Native American leader)|Chief Gall]], and had been inspired by the visions of [[Sitting Bull]] (''Tȟatȟáŋka Íyotake''). The U.S. 7th Cavalry, a force of 700 men, suffered a major defeat while commanded by [[Lieutenant colonel (United States)|Lieutenant Colonel]] [[George Armstrong Custer]] (formerly a [[Brevet (military)|brevetted]] [[Major general (United States)|major general]] during the [[American Civil War]]). Five of the 7th Cavalry's twelve companies were annihilated and Custer was killed, as were two of his brothers, a nephew, and a brother-in-law. The total U.S. casualty count included 268 dead and 55 severely wounded (six died later from their wounds),<ref name=Scott-Arch>{{cite book |last1=Scott |first1=Douglas D. |first2=Richard A. |last2=Fox |first3=Melissa A. |last3=Connor |first4=Dick |last4=Harmon |year=2013 |orig-year=1989 |title=Archaeological Perspectives on the Battle of the Little Bighorn |url={{GBurl|id=iSUA23jOi1sC|p=244}} |location=Norman |publisher=University of Oklahoma Press |isbn=978-0-8061-3292-1 }}</ref>{{rp|244}} including four [[Crow Nation|Crow]] Indian scouts and at least two [[Arikara]] Indian scouts.
Public response to the [[Great Sioux War of 1876|Great Sioux War]] varied in the immediate aftermath of the battle. [[Elizabeth Bacon Custer|Libbie Custer]], Custer's widow, soon worked to burnish her husband's memory, and during the following decades Custer and his troops came to be considered iconic, even heroic, figures in American history. The battle, and Custer's actions in particular, have been studied extensively by historians.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Kershaw|first=Robert|title=Red Sabbath: The Battle of Little Bighorn|publisher=Ian Allan Publishing|year=2005|pages=vi–5|isbn=978-0-7110-3325-2}}</ref> [[Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument]] honors those who fought on both sides.
== Background ==
=== Battlefield and surrounding areas ===
In 1805, fur trader François Antoine Larocque reported joining a [[Crow Nation|Crow]] camp in the Yellowstone area. On the way he noted that the Crow hunted buffalo on the "[[Little Bighorn River|Small Horn River]]".<ref>Wood, Raymond W. and Thomas D. Thiessen (1987): ''Early Fur Trade on the Northern Plains. Canadian Traders among the Mandan and Hidatsa Indians, 1738–1818''. Norman and London, p. 184</ref> St. Louis-based fur trader [[Manuel Lisa]] built [[Fort Raymond]] in 1807 for trade with the Crow. It was located near the confluence of the Yellowstone and the Bighorn River, about {{convert|40|miles|0}} north of the future battlefield.<ref>Hoxie, Frederick E. (1995): ''Parading Through History. The Making of the Crow Nation in America, 1805–1935''. Cambridge, p. 66.</ref> The area is first noted in the 1851 [[Treaty of Fort Laramie (1851)|Treaty of Fort Laramie]].<ref>Kappler, Charles J. (1904): ''Indian Affairs. Laws and Treaties.'' Vol. II. Washington, pp. 594-596.</ref>
In the latter half of the 19th century, tensions increased between the Native inhabitants of the [[Great Plains]] of the US and encroaching settlers. This resulted in a series of conflicts known as the [[Sioux Wars]], which took place from 1854 to 1890. While some of the indigenous people eventually agreed to relocate to ever-shrinking [[Indian Reservations|reservations]], a number of them resisted, sometimes fiercely.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=http://jetson.unl.edu/cocoon/encyclopedia/doc/egp.war.044 |title=Sioux Wars |author= Carole A. Barrett |encyclopedia= Encyclopedia of the Great Plains |access-date= May 6, 2013 |url-status = dead|archive-url= https://archive.today/20130626183913/http://jetson.unl.edu/cocoon/encyclopedia/doc/egp.war.044 |archive-date= June 26, 2013 |df=mdy-all}}</ref>
On May 7, 1868, the valley of the Little Bighorn became a tract in the eastern part of the new [[Crow Indian Reservation]] in the center of the old Crow country.<ref>Kappler, Charles J. (1904): ''Indian Affairs. Laws and Treaties.'' Vol. II. Washington, pp. 1008–1011. Treaty with the Crows, 1868.</ref> There were numerous skirmishes between the Sioux and Crow tribes<ref name=White1978>White, Richard: The Winning of the West: The Expansion of the Western Sioux in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries. The Journal of American History. Vol. 65, No. 2 (Sept. 1978), p. 342.</ref> so when the Sioux were in the valley in 1876 without the consent of [[Crow Nation|the Crow tribe]],<ref>Hoxie, Frederick E.: Parading Through History. The Making of the Crow Nation in America, 1805–1935. Cambridge,1995, p. 108.</ref> the Crow supported the US Army to expel them (e.g., Crows enlisted as [[Crow scouts|Army scouts]]<ref name=Bradley1896>Bradley, James H.: Journal of James H. Bradley. The Sioux Campaign of 1876 under the Command of General John Gibbon. ''Contributions to the Historical Society of Montana''. p. 163.</ref> and Crow warriors would fight in the nearby [[Battle of the Rosebud]]<ref>Dunlay, Thomas W.: Wolves for the Blue Soldiers. Indian Scouts and Auxiliaries with the United States Army, 1860–90. Lincoln and London, 1982, pp. 40, 113–114.</ref>).
The battlefield is known as "Greasy Grass" to the Lakota, Dakota, Cheyenne, and most other [[Plains Indians]]; however, in contemporary accounts by participants, it was referred to as the "Valley of Chieftains".<ref>Medicine Crow, Joseph (1992): ''From the Heart of the Crow Country. The Crow Indians' Own Stories''. New York. p. 44.</ref>
=== 1876 Sun Dance ceremony ===
Among the [[Plains Indians|Plains Tribes]], the long-standing ceremonial tradition known as the [[Sun Dance]] was the most important religious event of the year. It is a time for prayer and personal sacrifice for the community, as well as making personal vows. Towards the end of spring in 1876, the Lakota and the Cheyenne held a Sun Dance that was also attended by a number of "Agency Indians" who had slipped away from their reservations.<ref>Hutton, Paul Andrew, ''The Custer Reader'', 1992, University of Nebraska Press</ref> During a Sun Dance around June 5, 1876, on [[Rosebud Creek]] in [[Montana]], [[Sitting Bull]], the spiritual leader of the [[Hunkpapa Lakota]], reportedly had a vision of "soldiers falling into his camp like grasshoppers from the sky."<ref>[http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/546854/Sitting-Bull "Sitting Bull"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100327021927/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/546854/Sitting-Bull |date=March 27, 2010 }}, ''Encyclopædia Britannica''</ref> At the same time US military officials were conducting a summer campaign to force the Lakota and the Cheyenne back to their [[Indian reservation|reservations]], using [[infantry]] and [[cavalry]] in a so-called "three-pronged approach".
{{wide image|Cheyenne dance4.jpg|985px|align-cap=center|A [[Cheyenne]] [[Sun Dance]] gathering, circa 1909}}
=== 1876 U.S. military campaign ===
[[File:Custermovements.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|1876 Army Campaign against the Sioux]]
Col. [[John Gibbon]]'s column of six companies (A, B, E, H, I, and K) of the [[7th Infantry Regiment (United States)|7th Infantry]] and four companies (F, G, H, and L) of the [[2nd ACR|2nd Cavalry]] marched east from [[Fort Ellis]] in western Montana on March 30 to patrol the [[Yellowstone River]]. Brig. Gen. [[George Crook]]'s column of ten companies (A, B, C, D, E, F, G, I, L, and M) of the [[3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment (United States)|3rd Cavalry]], five companies (A, B, D, E, and I) of the [[2nd U.S. Cavalry|2nd Cavalry]], two companies (D and F) of the [[4th Infantry Regiment (United States)|4th Infantry]], and three companies (C, G, and H) of the [[9th Infantry Regiment (United States)|9th Infantry]] moved north from [[Fort Fetterman]] in the [[Wyoming Territory]] on May 29, marching toward the [[Powder River (Montana)|Powder River]] area. Brig. Gen. [[Alfred Terry]]'s column, including twelve companies (A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, K, L, and M) of the 7th Cavalry under Lt. Col. [[George Armstrong Custer]]'s immediate command,<ref name="John Gray">{{cite book |last=Gray |first=John S. |title=Centennial Campaign: The Sioux War of 1876 |year=1988 |location=Norman |publisher=University of Oklahoma Press }}</ref> Companies C and G of the 17th U.S. Infantry, and the [[Gatling gun]] detachment of the 20th Infantry departed westward from [[Fort Abraham Lincoln]] in the [[Dakota Territory]] on May 17. They were accompanied by teamsters and packers with 150 wagons and a large contingent of pack mules that reinforced Custer. Companies C, D, and I of the [[6th U.S. Infantry]] moved along the Yellowstone River from [[Fort Buford]] on the [[Missouri River]] to set up a supply depot and joined Terry on May 29 at the mouth of the Powder River. They were later joined there by the steamboat ''[[Far West (Steamboat)|Far West]]'', which was loaded with 200 tons of supplies from Fort Lincoln.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://steamboats.com/museum/lossingmodels.html |title= Virtual Online Steamboat Museum at |publisher= Steamboats.com |date=1914-01-30 |access-date= 2012-03-15 |url-status = live|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20111212015204/http://steamboats.com/museum/lossingmodels.html |archive-date= December 12, 2011 |df=mdy-all }}</ref>
==== 7th Cavalry organization ====
The 7th Cavalry had been created just after the American Civil War. Many men were veterans of the war, including most of the leading officers. A significant portion of the regiment had previously served 4½ years at [[Fort Riley]], Kansas, during which time it fought one major engagement and numerous skirmishes, experiencing casualties of 36 killed and 27 wounded. Six other troopers had died of drowning and 51 in [[cholera]] epidemics. In November 1868, while stationed in Kansas, the 7th Cavalry under Custer had successfully routed [[Black Kettle]]'s Southern Cheyenne camp on the [[Washita River]] in the [[Battle of Washita River]], an attack which was at the time labeled a "massacre of innocent Indians" by the [[Indian Bureau]].<ref>[https://muse.jhu.edu/article/218456/pdf Washita Memories: Eyewitness Views of Custer's Attack on Black Kettle's Village (review)], ''[[Project Muse]]'', James T. Carroll, July 2007. Retrieved March 28, 2018.</ref>
[[File:S.J. Morrow, Slim Buttes.png|thumb|7th Cavalry Regiment Troop "I" [[Guidon (United States)|guidon]] recovered at the camp of [[American Horse (elder)|American Horse the Elder]]]]
By the time of the Battle of the Little Bighorn, half of the 7th Cavalry's companies had just returned from 18 months of constabulary duty in the [[Deep South]], having been recalled to [[Fort Abraham Lincoln]], [[Dakota Territory]] to reassemble the regiment for the campaign. About 20% of the troopers had been enlisted in the prior seven months (139 of an enlisted roll of 718), were only marginally trained and had no combat or frontier experience. About 60% of these recruits were [[United States|American]], the rest were [[Europe]]an immigrants (Most were [[Irish people|Irish]] and [[Germans|German]])—just as many of the veteran troopers had been before their enlistments. Archaeological evidence suggests that many of these troopers were malnourished and in poor physical condition, despite being the best-equipped and supplied regiment in the Army.<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.astonisher.com/archives/museum/wm_slaper_little_big_horn.html
|title= A 7th Cavalry survivor's account of the Battle of the Little Bighorn
|work= Conversations with Crazy Horse
|access-date= August 19, 2008 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080906155747/http://www.astonisher.com/archives/museum/wm_slaper_little_big_horn.html |archive-date=September 6, 2008 <!--DASHBot--> |url-status = live}}</ref><ref>Barnard, pp. 121–36.</ref>
Of the 45 officers and 718 troopers then assigned to the 7th Cavalry (including a second lieutenant detached from the 20th Infantry and serving in Company L), 14 officers (including the regimental commander) and 152 troopers did not accompany the 7th during the campaign. The regimental commander, Colonel [[Samuel D. Sturgis]], was on detached duty as the Superintendent of Mounted Recruiting Service and commander of the Cavalry Depot in [[St. Louis, Missouri]],<ref>{{cite web |url =https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Places/America/United_States/Army/USMA/Cullums_Register/1303*.html |title= Online version of Cullum's Register of Graduates of the United States Military Academy – Class of 1846 – Samuel D. Sturgis |access-date = 10 December 2018}}</ref> which left Lieutenant Colonel Custer in command of the regiment. The ratio of troops detached for other duty (approximately 22%) was not unusual for an expedition of this size,<ref name="dtch">{{cite web |url = http://www.historynet.com/magazines/wild_west/3035376.html |title= The 7th U.S. Cavalry Regiment Fought in Battle of the Little Bighorn |publisher= HistoryNet.com |access-date = January 18, 2008 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080121092726/http://www.historynet.com/magazines/wild_west/3035376.html |archive-date= January 21, 2008 |url-status = dead|df= mdy-all}}</ref> and part of the officer shortage was chronic, due to the Army's rigid seniority system: three of the regiment's 12 captains were permanently detached, and two had never served a day with the 7th since their appointment in July 1866.<ref group="note">Capt. Sheridan (Company L), the brother of Lt. Gen. [[Philip H. Sheridan]], served only seven months in 1866–67 before becoming permanent aide to his brother but remained on the rolls until 1882. Capt. Ilsley (Company E) was aide to Maj. Gen [[John Pope (military officer)|John Pope]] from 1866 to 1879, when he finally joined his command. Capt. Tourtelotte (Company G) never joined the 7th. A fourth captain, Owen Hale (Company K), was the regiment's recruiting officer in St. Louis and rejoined his company immediately.</ref> Three second lieutenant vacancies (in E, H, and L Companies) were also unfilled.
==== Battle of the Rosebud ====
The Army's coordination and planning began to go awry on June 17, 1876, when Crook's column retreated after the [[Battle of the Rosebud]], just {{convert|30|miles}} to the southeast of the eventual Little Bighorn battlefield. Surprised and according to some accounts astonished by the unusually large numbers of Native Americans, Crook held the field at the end of the battle but felt compelled by his losses to pull back, regroup, and wait for reinforcements. Unaware of Crook's battle, Gibbon and Terry proceeded, joining forces in early June near the mouth of [[Rosebud Creek]]. They reviewed Terry's plan calling for Custer's regiment to proceed south along the Rosebud while Terry and Gibbon's united forces would move in a westerly direction toward the [[Bighorn River|Bighorn]] and [[Little Bighorn River|Little Bighorn]] rivers. As this was the likely location of Native encampments, all army elements had been instructed to converge there around June 26 or 27 in an attempt to engulf the Native Americans. On June 22, Terry ordered the 7th Cavalry, composed of 31 officers and 566 enlisted men under Custer, to begin a reconnaissance in force and pursuit along the Rosebud, with the prerogative to "depart" from orders if Custer saw "sufficient reason". Custer had been offered the use of [[Gatling gun]]s but declined, believing they would slow his rate of march.<ref name="John Gray" />
==== Little Bighorn ====
[[Image:Mitch Boyer.jpg|thumb|Mitch Boyer was one of the scouts who warned Custer about the size of the Indian village (age at time of photo unknown)]]
While the Terry-Gibbon column was marching toward the mouth of the Little Bighorn, on the evening of June 24, Custer's Indian scouts arrived at an overlook known as the Crow's Nest, {{convert|14|mi}} east of the Little Bighorn River. At sunrise on June 25, Custer's scouts reported they could see a massive pony herd and signs of the Native American village{{refn|group="note"|[[Plains Indians]] were semi-nomadic peoples and had no permanent settlements off the [[Indian reservation|reservations]] (aka "Agencies). A "village" was a collection of [[tipis]], housing a group of Indians under the leadership of a chief, including those of tribes other than the chief's. A village would be created wherever a group stopped by simply erecting the tipis and could last from a single night to several weeks. Young warriors without a tipi would generally create [[lean-tos]] or sleep in the open. When the chief decided that it was time to move on the villagers simply struck their tipis, tied the tipi poles to their horses so as to form a [[travois]] for their goods and children, and followed the chief. The term "village", therefore, refers to the group while moving OR encamped.<ref>Philbrick, Nathaniel, ''The Last Stand: Custer, Sitting Bull, and the Battle of the Little Bighorn'', Viking, 2010, pp. 102, 106, e{{ISBN|978-1-101-19011-1}}</ref>}} roughly {{convert|15|mi|km}} in the distance. After a night's march, the tired officer who was sent with the scouts could see neither, and when Custer joined them, he was also unable to make the sighting. Custer's scouts also spotted the regimental cooking fires that could be seen from {{cvt|10|mi|km}} away, disclosing the regiment's position.{{Citation needed|date = January 2013}}
Custer contemplated a surprise attack against the encampment the following morning of June 26, but he then received a report informing him several hostiles had discovered the trail left by his troops.<ref>Andrist, Ralph K., "The Long Death: The Last Days of the Plains Indian". ''Editorial Galaxia''. 2001, p. 272.</ref> Assuming his presence had been exposed, Custer decided to attack the village without further delay. On the morning of June 25, Custer divided his 12 companies into three battalions in anticipation of the forthcoming engagement. Three companies were placed under the command of Major [[Marcus Reno]] (A, G, and M) and three were placed under the command of Captain [[Frederick Benteen]] (H, D, and K). Five companies (C, E, F, I, and L) remained under Custer's immediate command. The 12th, Company B under Captain [[Thomas Mower McDougall|Thomas McDougall]], had been assigned to escort the slower pack train carrying provisions and additional ammunition.<ref name="John Gray" />
Unknown to Custer, the group of Native Americans seen on his trail was actually leaving the encampment and did not alert the rest of the village. Custer's scouts warned him about the size of the village, with [[Mitch Bouyer]] reportedly saying, "General, I have been with these Indians for 30 years, and this is the largest village I have ever heard of."{{refn|group="note"|Villages were usually arrayed in U-shaped semi-circles open to the east; in multi-tribal villages, each tribe would erect their tipis in this manner separately from the other tribes but close to the other tribes. Sitting Bull's village was multi-tribal, consisted of "a thousand tipis [that] were assembled in six horseshoe-shaped semicircles", had a population of approx. 8000 people, and stretched over two miles end-to-end.<ref>Philbrick, Nathaniel, ''The Last Stand: Custer, Sitting Bull, and the Battle of the Little Bighorn'', Viking, 2010, Ch 3, e{{ISBN|978-1-101-19011-1}}</ref>}}<ref>Macnab, David B., ''A Day to Remember: Introducing the Drama, Irony, and Controversies of the Battle of the Little Bighorn'', iUniverse, 2003, p. 45, based on Abstract of the Official Record of Proceedings of the Reno Court of Inquiry, 35.</ref> Custer's overriding concern was that the Native American group would break up and scatter. The command began its approach to the village at noon and prepared to attack in full daylight.<ref>{{Cite book |first=John |last= Gray |author-link= John C. Gray |title= Custer's Last Campaign |publisher= University of Nebraska Press |year= 1991 |page=243 |isbn= 0-8032-7040-2}}</ref>
With an impending sense of doom, the Crow scout [[Half Yellow Face]] prophetically warned Custer (speaking through the interpreter Mitch Bouyer), "You and I are going home today by a road we do not know."<ref name=Viola>{{cite book|last=Viola|first=Herman J.|title=It Is A Good Day to Die, Indian Eyewitnesses Tell the Story of the Battle of the Little Bighorn|year=2001|publisher=Bison Books|location=US|isbn=0-8032-9626-6|page=30}}</ref>
== Prelude ==
=== Military assumptions prior to the battle ===
==== Number of Indian warriors ====
[[File:Little Big Horn.jpg|thumb|left|A Cheyenne artist's depiction of the Battle of the Little Bighorn]]
As the Army moved into the field on its expedition, it was operating with incorrect assumptions as to the number of Indians it would encounter. These assumptions were based on inaccurate information provided by the Indian Agents that no more than 800 "hostiles" were in the area. The Indian Agents based this estimate on the number of Lakota that Sitting Bull and other leaders had reportedly led off the reservation in protest of U.S. government policies. It was in fact a correct estimate until several weeks before the battle when the "reservation Indians" joined Sitting Bull's ranks for the Summer buffalo hunt. The agents did not consider the many thousands of these "reservation Indians" who had unofficially left the reservation to join their "unco-operative non-reservation cousins led by Sitting Bull". Thus, Custer unknowingly faced thousands of Indians, including the 800 non-reservation "hostiles". All Army plans were based on the incorrect numbers. Although Custer was criticized after the battle for not having accepted reinforcements and for dividing his forces, it appears that he had accepted the same official government estimates of hostiles in the area which Terry and Gibbon had also accepted. Historian James Donovan notes, however, that when Custer later asked interpreter [[Fred Gerard]] for his opinion on the size of the opposition, he estimated the force at between 1,500 to 2,500 warriors.<ref>Donovan, loc 3576</ref>
Additionally, Custer was more concerned with preventing the escape of the Lakota and Cheyenne than with fighting them. From his observation, as reported by his [[bugle]]r John Martin ([[Giovanni Martino]]),<ref name="ReferenceA">Charles Windolph, Frazier Hunt, Robert Hunt, Neil Mangum, ''I Fought with Custer: The Story of Sergeant Windolph, Last Survivor of the Battle of the Little Big Horn: with Explanatory Material and Contemporary Sidelights on the Custer Fight'', University of Nebraska Press, 1987, p. 86.</ref> Custer assumed the warriors had been sleeping in on the morning of the battle, to which virtually every native account attested later, giving Custer a false estimate of what he was up against. When he and his scouts first looked down on the village from the Crow's Nest across the Little Bighorn River, they could only see the herd of ponies. Later, looking from a hill {{convert|2+1/2|mi|km|0}} away after parting with Reno's command, Custer could observe only women preparing for the day, and young boys taking thousands of horses out to graze south of the village. Custer's [[Crow scouts]] told him it was the largest native village they had ever seen. When the scouts began changing back into their native dress right before the battle, Custer released them from his command. While the village was enormous, Custer still thought there were far fewer warriors to defend the village.
Finally, Custer may have assumed when he encountered the Native Americans that his subordinate Benteen, who was with the pack train, would provide support. Rifle volleys were a standard way of telling supporting units to come to another unit's aid. In a subsequent official 1879 Army investigation requested by Major Reno, the Reno Board of Inquiry (RCOI), Benteen and Reno's men testified that they heard distinct rifle volleys as late as 4:30 pm during the battle.<ref name="court of inquiry">{{cite journal |first=Marcus A. |last=Reno |title=The official record of a court of inquiry convened at Chicago, Illinois, January 13, 1879, by the President of the United States upon the request of Major Marcus A. Reno, 7th U.S. Cavalry, to investigate his conduct at the Battle of the Little Big Horn, June 25–26, 1876 |url= http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/History.Reno|year=1951 }}</ref>
Custer had initially wanted to take a day to scout the village before attacking; however, when men went back looking for supplies accidentally dropped by the pack train, they discovered that their track had already been discovered by Indians. Reports from his scouts also revealed fresh pony tracks from ridges overlooking his formation. It became apparent that the warriors in the village were either aware of or would soon be aware of his approach.<ref>Donovan, loc 3684</ref> Fearing that the village would break up into small bands that he would have to chase, Custer began to prepare for an immediate attack.<ref name="Donovan, loc 3699">Donovan, loc 3699</ref>
==== Role of Indian noncombatants in Custer's strategy ====
Custer's field strategy was designed to engage non-combatants at the encampments on the Little Bighorn to capture women, children, and the elderly or disabled<ref name="Fox1993">{{cite book |last=Fox |first=Richard A. |year=1993 |url={{GBurl|id=dpaWb9WmbPUC|pg=297}} |title=Archaeology, History and Custer's Last Battle |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160624003916/https://books.google.com/books?id=dpaWb9WmbPUC |archive-date= June 24, 2016 |location=Norman |publisher=University of Oklahoma Press |isbn=0-8061-2998-0 }}</ref>{{rp|297}} to serve as hostages to convince the warriors to surrender and comply with federal orders to relocate. Custer's battalions were poised to "ride into the camp and secure non-combatant hostages",<ref name=Donovan2008>{{cite book |last=Donovan |first=James |title=A Terrible Glory |publisher=Little, Brown and Company |year=2008 |page=253 }}</ref> and "forc[e] the warriors to surrender".<ref name=Robinson1995>{{cite book |last=Robinson |first=Charles M. |title=A Good Year to Die |publisher=Random House |year=1995 |page=257 }}</ref> Author Evan S. Connell observed that if Custer could occupy the village before widespread resistance developed, the Sioux and Cheyenne warriors "would be obliged to surrender, because if they started to fight, they would be endangering their families."<ref name="Fox1993" />{{rp|312}}<ref name=Connell1997>{{cite book |last=Connell |first=Evan S. |title=Son of the Morning Star |publisher=Farrar, Straus and Giroux |year=1997 |page=278 }}</ref>
In Custer's book ''My Life on the Plains'', published two years before the Battle of the Little Bighorn, he asserted:
{{quote|Indians contemplating a battle, either offensive or defensive, are always anxious to have their women and children removed from all danger ... For this reason I decided to locate our [military] camp as close as convenient to [Chief Black Kettle's Cheyenne] village, knowing that the close proximity of their women and children, and their necessary exposure in case of conflict, would operate as a powerful argument in favor of peace, when the question of peace or war came to be discussed.<ref name=Custer1874>{{cite book |last= Custer |first= George Armstrong |title=My Life on the Plains: Or, Personal Experiences with Indians |location=New York |publisher= Sheldon and Company |year=1874 |page=220 |url= http://name.umdl.umich.edu/ACP4940.0001.001}}</ref>}}
On Custer's decision to advance up the bluffs and descend on the village from the east, Lt. [[Edward Settle Godfrey|Edward Godfrey]] of Company K surmised:
{{quote|[Custer] expected to find the squaws and children fleeing to the bluffs on the north, for in no other way do I account for his wide detour. He must have counted upon Reno's success, and fully expected the "scatteration" of the non-combatants with the pony herds. The probable attack upon the families and capture of the herds were in that event counted upon to strike consternation in the hearts of the warriors and were elements for success upon which General Custer fully counted.<ref name="godfrey" />{{rp|379}}}}
The Sioux and Cheyenne fighters were acutely aware of the danger posed by the military engagement of non-combatants and that "even a semblance of an attack on the women and children" would draw the warriors back to the village, according to historian John S. Gray.<ref name="Gray, John S 1991 p. 360">{{cite book |last=Gray |first=John S. |title=Custer's Last Campaign |location=Norman |publisher=University of Nebraska Press |year=1991 |page=360 }}</ref> Such was their concern that an apparent reconnaissance by Capt. Yates' E and F Companies at the mouth of Medicine Tail Coulee (Minneconjou [[Ford (crossing)|Ford]]) caused hundreds of warriors to disengage from the Reno valley fight and return to deal with the threat to the village.<ref name="Gray, John S 1991 p. 360" />
Some authors and historians, based on archaeological evidence and reviews of native testimony, speculate that Custer attempted to cross the river at a point further north they refer to as Ford D. According to Richard A. Fox, James Donovan, and others, Custer proceeded with a wing of his battalion (Yates' E and F companies) north and opposite the Cheyenne circle at that crossing,<ref name="Fox1993" />{{rp|176–77}} which provided "access to the [women and children] fugitives."<ref name="Fox1993" />{{rp|306}} Yates's force "posed an immediate threat to fugitive Indian families..." gathering at the north end of the huge encampment;<ref name="Fox1993" />{{rp|299}} he then persisted in his efforts to "seize women and children" even as hundreds of warriors were massing around Keogh's wing on the bluffs.<ref>Donovan, James, A'' Terrible Glory'', Little, Brown and Company (2008). p. 267.</ref> Yates' wing, descending to the Little Bighorn River at Ford D, encountered "light resistance",<ref name="Fox1993" />{{rp|297}} undetected by the Indian forces ascending the bluffs east of the village.<ref name="Fox1993" />{{rp|298}} Custer was almost within "striking distance of the refugees" before abandoning the ford and returning to Custer Ridge.<ref name=Bray2006>{{cite book |last=Bray |first=Kingsley M. |title=Crazy Horse – A Lakota Life |location=Norman |publisher=University of Oklahoma Press |year=2006 |page=222 }}</ref>
=== Lone Teepee ===
The ''Lone Teepee'' (or ''Tipi'') was a landmark along the 7th Cavalry's march. It was where the Indian encampment had been a week earlier, during the [[Battle of the Rosebud]] on June 17, 1876. The Indians had left a single [[teepee]] standing (some reports mention a second that had been partially dismantled), and in it was the body of a [[Sans Arc]] warrior, Old She-Bear, who had been wounded in the battle. He had died a couple of days after the Rosebud battle, and it was the custom of the Indians to move camp when a warrior died and leave the body with its possessions. The Lone Teepee was an important location during the Battle of the Little Bighorn for several reasons, including:<ref>{{cite web |url= http://pie.midco.net/treasuredude/Peter_Thompson_Narrative.pdf |title= Custer's Last Fight |last= Thompson |first= Peter |publisher= Belle Fource Bee |date= 1914 |access-date= 19 January 2017 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170131184949/http://pie.midco.net/treasuredude/Peter_Thompson_Narrative.pdf |archive-date= January 31, 2017 |url-status= dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-vetscor/1643759/posts |title= George Armstrong Custer and The Battle of the Little of The Little Big Horn (A South African View) |last=Murchison |first=R. |work= S.A. Military History Society Journal |date= November 1973 |access-date=24 January 2017 |url-status = live|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170202071940/http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-vetscor/1643759/posts |archive-date= February 2, 2017 |df=mdy-all }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.hmdb.org/Marker.asp?Marker=45581 |title=Lone Tipi (marker)|access-date=24 January 2017 |url-status = live|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170202031049/http://www.hmdb.org/Marker.asp?Marker=45581 |archive-date= February 2, 2017 |df=mdy-all}}</ref>
* It is where Custer gave Reno his final orders to attack the village ahead. It is also where some Indians who had been following the command were seen and Custer assumed he had been discovered.
* Many of the survivors' accounts use the Lone Teepee as a point of reference for event times or distances.
* Knowing this location helps establish the pattern of the Indians' movements to the encampment on the river where the soldiers found them.
== Battle ==
=== Reno's attack ===
[[File:Custer.gif|thumb|Movements of the 7th Cavalry<br />A: Custer B: Reno C: Benteen D: Yates E: Weir]]
[[File:Www-cgsc.army.mil MAP20 Renos Attack.GIF|thumb|Movement of Major Reno's three companies]]
The first group to attack was Major Reno's second detachment (Companies A, G and M) after receiving orders from Custer written out by Lt. [[William W. Cooke]], as Custer's Crow scouts reported Sioux tribe members were alerting the village. Ordered to charge, Reno began that phase of the battle. The orders, made without accurate knowledge of the village's size, location, or the warriors' propensity to stand and fight, had been to pursue the Native Americans and "bring them to battle." Reno's force crossed the Little Bighorn at the mouth of what is today Reno Creek around 3:00 pm on June 25. They immediately realized that the Lakota and Northern Cheyenne were present "in force and not running away."
Reno advanced rapidly across the open field towards the northwest, his movements masked by the thick bramble of trees that ran along the southern banks of the Little Bighorn River. The same trees on his front right shielded his movements across the wide field over which his men rapidly rode, first with two approximately forty-man companies abreast and eventually with all three charging abreast. The trees also obscured Reno's view of the Native American village until his force had passed that bend on his right front and was suddenly within arrow-shot of the village. The tepees in that area were occupied by the Hunkpapa Sioux. Neither Custer nor Reno had much idea of the length, depth and size of the encampment they were attacking, as the village was hidden by the trees.{{citation needed |date=January 2013}} When Reno came into the open in front of the south end of the village, he sent his Arikara/Ree and Crow Indian scouts forward on his exposed left flank.<ref>{{cite web |author=Running Dog |url= http://www.astonisher.com/archives/museum/little_sioux_big_horn.html |title=Confirmed by one of his surviving Arikara scouts, Little Sioux |publisher=Astonisher.com |access-date= 2012-03-15 |url-status = live|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120118221826/http://www.astonisher.com/archives/museum/little_sioux_big_horn.html |archive-date= January 18, 2012 |df=mdy-all }}</ref> Realizing the full extent of the village's width, Reno quickly suspected what he would later call "a trap" and stopped a few hundred yards short of the encampment.
He ordered his troopers to dismount and deploy in a [[skirmish line]], according to standard army doctrine. In this formation, every fourth trooper held the horses for the troopers in firing position, with {{convert|5|to|10|yard|m|0}} separating each trooper, officers to their rear and troopers with horses behind the officers. This formation reduced Reno's firepower by 25 percent. As Reno's men fired into the village and killed, by some accounts, several wives and children of the Sioux leader, [[Gall (Native American leader)|Chief Gall]] (in Lakota, ''Phizí''), the mounted warriors began streaming out to meet the attack. With Reno's men anchored on their right by the protection of the tree line and bend in the river, the Indians rode against the center and exposed left end of Reno's line. After about 20 minutes of long-distance firing, Reno had taken only one casualty, but the odds against him had risen (Reno estimated five to one), and Custer had not reinforced him. Trooper [[Billy Jackson (soldier)|Billy Jackson]] reported that by then, the Indians had begun massing in the open area shielded by a small hill to the left of Reno's line and to the right of the Indian village.<ref>{{cite web |author= Running Dog |url= http://www.astonisher.com/archives/museum/little_sioux_big_horn.html |title=Little Sioux's Story of the Battle of the Little Bighorn |publisher= Astonisher.com |access-date= 2012-03-15 |url-status = live|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120118221826/http://www.astonisher.com/archives/museum/little_sioux_big_horn.html |archive-date=January 18, 2012 |df=mdy-all }}</ref> From this position the Indians mounted an attack of more than 500 warriors against the left and rear of Reno's line,<ref>Goodrich, Thomas. ''Scalp Dance: Indian Warfare on the High Plains, 1865–1879.'' Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 1997. p. 242.</ref> turning Reno's exposed left flank. This forced a hasty withdrawal into the timber along the bend in the river.<ref>Perrett, Bryan. ''Last Stand: Famous Battles Against the Odds.'' London: Arms & Armour, 1993; p. 8.</ref> Here the Native Americans pinned Reno and his men down and tried to set fire to the brush to try to drive the soldiers out of their position.
Reno's Arikara scout, [[Bloody Knife]], was shot in the head, splattering brains and blood onto Reno's face.{{sfn|Nevin|1973|p=214}} The shaken Reno ordered his men to dismount and mount again.{{sfn|Nevin|1973|p=214}} He then said, "All those who wish to make their escape follow me."{{Citation needed|date=June 2021}} Abandoning the wounded (dooming them to their deaths), he led a disorderly rout for a mile next to the river.{{sfn|Nevin|1973|p=214}} He made no attempt to engage the Indians to prevent them from picking off men in the rear.{{sfn|Nevin|1973|p=214}} The retreat was immediately disrupted by Cheyenne attacks at close quarters. A steep bank, some {{convert|8|ft|m}} high, awaited the mounted men as they crossed the river; some horses fell back onto others below them.{{sfn|Nevin|1973|p=214}} Indians both fired on the soldiers from a distance, and within close quarters, pulled them off their horses and clubbed their heads.{{sfn|Nevin|1973|p=214}} Later, Reno reported that three officers and 29 troopers had been killed during the retreat and subsequent fording of the river. Another officer and 13–18 men were missing. Most of these missing men were left behind in the timber, although many eventually rejoined the detachment.
==== Reno and Benteen on Reno Hill ====
[[File:Bloody Knife, Custer's scout, on Yellowstone Expedition, 1873 - NARA - 524373.jpg|thumb|[[Bloody Knife]]]]
Atop the bluffs, known today as Reno Hill, Reno's depleted and shaken troops were joined about a half-hour later by Captain Benteen's column{{sfn|Nevin|1973|p=216}} (Companies D, H and K), arriving from the south. This force had been returning from a lateral scouting mission when it had been summoned by Custer's messenger, Italian bugler John Martin (Giovanni Martino) with the handwritten message "Benteen. Come on, Big Village, Be quick, Bring packs. P.S. Bring Packs."<ref name="court of inquiry" /> This message made no sense to Benteen, as his men would be needed more in a fight than the packs carried by herd animals.{{sfn|Nevin|1973|p=216}} Though both men inferred that Custer was engaged in battle, Reno refused to move until the packs arrived so his men could resupply.{{sfn|Nevin|1973|p=216}} The detachments were later reinforced by McDougall's Company B and the pack train. The 14 officers and 340 troopers on the bluffs organized an all-around defense and dug rifle pits using whatever implements they had among them, including knives. This practice had become standard during the last year of the [[American Civil War]], with both Union and Confederate troops utilizing knives, eating utensils, mess plates and pans to dig effective battlefield fortifications.<ref>John Keegan, The American Civil War.</ref>
[[File:Www-cgsc.army.mil MAP21 Defense of Reno-Benteen Hill.GIF|thumb|left|Reno–Benteen defensive position]]
Despite hearing heavy gunfire from the north, including distinct volleys at 4:20 pm, Benteen concentrated on reinforcing Reno's badly wounded and hard-pressed detachment rather than continuing on toward Custer's position. Benteen's apparent reluctance to reach Custer prompted later criticism that he had failed to follow orders. Around 5:00 pm, Capt. [[Thomas Weir (American soldier)|Thomas Weir]] and Company D moved out to contact Custer.<ref name="court of inquiry" /> They advanced a mile, to what is today Weir Ridge or Weir Point. Weir could see that the Indian camps comprised some 1,800 lodges.{{sfn|Nevin|1973|p=216}} Behind them he saw through the dust and smoke hills that were oddly red in color; he later learned that this was a massive assemblage of Indian ponies.{{sfn|Nevin|1973|p=216}} By this time, roughly 5:25 pm,{{Citation needed|date=June 2021}} Custer's battle may have concluded. From a distance, Weir witnessed many Indians on horseback and on foot shooting at items on the ground-perhaps killing wounded soldiers and firing at dead bodies on the "Last Stand Hill" at the northern end of the Custer battlefield. Some historians have suggested that what Weir witnessed was a fight on what is now called Calhoun Hill, some minutes earlier.{{Citation needed|date=June 2021}} The destruction of Keogh's battalion may have begun with the collapse of L, I and C Company (half of it) following the combined assaults led by [[Crazy Horse]], [[White Bull (Native American)|White Bull]], Hump, [[Gall (Native American leader)|Chief Gall]] and others.<ref name="michno1997">Michno, Gregory F., ''Lakota Noon, the Indian narrative of Custer's defeat'', Mountain Press, 1997, pp. 284–285. {{ISBN|0-87842-349-4}}.</ref>{{rp|240}} Other native accounts contradict this understanding, however, and the time element remains a subject of debate. The other entrenched companies eventually left Reno Hill and followed Weir by assigned battalions—first Benteen, then Reno, and finally the pack train. The men on Weir Ridge were attacked by natives,{{sfn|Nevin|1973|p=216}} increasingly coming from the apparently concluded Custer engagement, forcing all seven companies to return to the bluff before the pack train had moved even a quarter mile ({{convert|1/4|mi|m|disp=out}}). The companies remained pinned down on the bluff, fending off the Indians for three hours until night fell.{{sfn|Nevin|1973|p=216}} The soldiers dug crude trenches as the Indians performed their war dance.{{sfn|Nevin|1973|p=216}}
Benteen was hit in the heel of his boot by an Indian bullet. At one point, he led a counterattack to push back Indians who had continued to crawl through the grass closer to the soldier's positions.{{citation needed|date=November 2020}}
=== Custer's fight ===
{{external media |width= 210px |float= right |headerimage= [[File:Chief Gall ca1880s.jpg|210px]] [[Gall (Native American leader)|Gall]]
| video1 = [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2UzKRUgzJ0 C-SPAN Cities Tour – Billings: Battle of the Little Bighorn], 38:44, [[C-SPAN]]<ref name="cspan">{{cite web |title= Battle of Little Bighorn |publisher=[[C-SPAN]] |date= September 12, 2013 |url= https://www.c-span.org/video/?315349-1/battle-little-bighorn |access-date= May 24, 2017 |url-status = live|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170612134900/https://www.c-span.org/video/?315349-1%2Fbattle-little-bighorn |archive-date= June 12, 2017 |df =mdy-all}}</ref> Park Ranger Steve Adelson describes the battle on-site }}
The precise details of Custer's fight and his movements before and during the battle are largely conjectural since none of the men who went forward with Custer's battalion (the five companies under his immediate command) survived the battle. Later accounts from surviving Indians are useful but are sometimes conflicting and unclear.
While the gunfire heard on the bluffs by Reno and Benteen's men during the afternoon of June 25 was probably from Custer's fight, the soldiers on Reno Hill were unaware of what had happened to Custer until General Terry's arrival two days later on June 27. They were reportedly stunned by the news. When the army examined the Custer battle site, soldiers could not determine fully what had transpired. Custer's force of roughly 210 men had been engaged by the Lakota and Northern Cheyenne about {{convert|3.5|mi|km}} to the north of Reno and Benteen's defensive position. Evidence of organized resistance included an apparent skirmish line on Calhoun Hill and apparent [[breastworks]] made of dead horses on Custer Hill.<ref name="michno1997" /> By the time troops came to recover the bodies, the Lakota and Cheyenne had already removed most of their own dead from the field. The troops found most of Custer's dead men stripped of their clothing, ritually mutilated, and in a state of decomposition, making identification of many impossible.<ref name="Brininstool, 60–62">Brininstool, 60–62.</ref> The soldiers identified the 7th Cavalry's dead as best as possible and hastily buried them where they fell.
Custer's body was found with two gunshot wounds, one to his left chest and the other to his left temple. Either wound would have been fatal, though he appeared to have bled from only the chest wound; some scholars believe his head wound may have been delivered postmortem. Some Lakota oral histories assert that Custer, having sustained a wound, committed suicide to avoid capture and subsequent torture. This would be inconsistent with his known right-handedness, but that does not rule out assisted suicide (other native accounts note several soldiers committing suicide near the end of the battle).<ref>{{multiref|Wooden Leg, [[Thomas B. Marquis]] (interpreter), ''A Warrior Who Fought Custer'', p. 246|Sun Bear, "A Cheyenne Old Man", in Marquis, ''The Cheyennes of Montana'', p. 86|Kate Big Head, [[Thomas B. Marquis]] (interpreter), ''She Watched Custer's Last Battle''}}</ref> Custer's body was found near the top of Custer Hill, which also came to be known as "Last Stand Hill". There the United States erected a tall memorial obelisk inscribed with the names of the 7th Cavalry's casualties.<ref name="Brininstool, 60–62" />
Several days after the battle, [[Curly (scout)|Curley]], Custer's Crow scout who had left Custer near Medicine Tail Coulee (a drainage which led to the river), recounted the battle, reporting that Custer had attacked the village after attempting to cross the river. He was driven back, retreating toward the hill where his body was found.<ref>Fox, pp. 10–13.</ref> As the scenario seemed compatible with Custer's aggressive style of warfare and with evidence found on the ground, it became the basis of many popular accounts of the battle.
According to [[Pretty Shield]], the wife of Goes-Ahead (another Crow scout for the 7th Cavalry), Custer was killed while crossing the river: "...{{nbsp}}and he died there, died in the water of the Little Bighorn, with Two-bodies, and the blue soldier carrying his flag".<ref name="linderman">Linderman, F. (1932) ''Pretty-shield: Medicine Woman of the Crows''. University of Nebraska Press. {{ISBN|0803280254}}. (Preface © 2003 by Alma Snell and Becky Matthews).</ref>{{rp|136}} In this account, Custer was allegedly killed by a Lakota called Big-nose.<ref name="linderman" />{{rp|141}} However, in Chief Gall's version of events, as recounted to Lt. [[Edward Settle Godfrey]], Custer did not attempt to ford the river and the nearest that he came to the river or village was his final position on the ridge.<ref name="godfrey">Godfrey, E. S. (1892) [http://ebooks.library.cornell.edu/c/cent/cent.1892.html ''Custer's Last Battle''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110811113204/http://ebooks.library.cornell.edu/c/cent/cent.1892.html |date=August 11, 2011 }}. The Century Magazine, Vol. XLIII, No. 3, January. New York: The Century Company.</ref>{{rp|380}} Chief Gall's statements were corroborated by other Indians, notably the wife of Spotted Horn Bull.<ref name="godfrey" />{{rp|379}} Given that no bodies of men or horses were found anywhere near the ford, Godfrey himself concluded "that Custer did not go to the ford with any body of men".<ref name="godfrey" />{{rp|380}}
Cheyenne oral tradition credits [[Buffalo Calf Road Woman]] with striking the blow that knocked Custer off his horse before he died.<ref name="helenair.com">[http://www.helenair.com/news/state-and-regional/article_fcf44c96-cfb6-56f4-9c57-062e944350ce.html Martin J. Kidston, "Northern Cheyenne break vow of silence"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100628050508/http://helenair.com/news/state-and-regional/article_fcf44c96-cfb6-56f4-9c57-062e944350ce.html |date=June 28, 2010 }}, ''Helena Independent Record'', June 28, 2005. RetrievedOctober 23, 2009.</ref>
==== Custer at Minneconjou Ford ====
[[File:William W. Cooke's "Come quick" message to Frederick Benteen, Battle of the Little Bighorn, June 25, 1976.jpg|thumb|left|Lt. Adjutant William W. Cooke's message conveying Custer's orders to Frederick Benteen, June 25, 1876. Benteen's transcription is at upper right.]]
{{quote box|width=23em|''Hurrah boys, we've got them! We'll finish them up and then go home to our station''.|— Reported words of Lieutenant Colonel Custer at the battle's outset.<ref>{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=E6t3ODKOQkkC&q=custer+%22We've+got+them.+We'll+finish+them+up+and+then+go+home+to+our+station%22&pg=PA86 |title=I fought with Custer by Charles Windolph, Frazier Hunt, Robert Hunt |year= 1987 |access-date= 2012-03-15 |isbn= 978-0-8032-9720-3|last1=Windolph |first1=Charles }}</ref>}}
Having isolated Reno's force and driven them away from their encampment, the bulk of the native warriors were free to pursue Custer. The route taken by Custer to his "Last Stand" remains a subject of debate. One possibility is that after ordering Reno to charge, Custer continued down Reno Creek to within about a half-mile (800 m) of the Little Bighorn, but then turned north and climbed up the bluffs, reaching the same spot to which Reno would soon retreat. From this point on the other side of the river, he could see Reno charging the village. Riding north along the bluffs, Custer could have descended into Medicine Tail Coulee. Some historians believe that part of Custer's force descended the coulee, going west to the river and attempting unsuccessfully to cross into the village. According to some accounts, a small contingent of Indian sharpshooters effectively opposed this crossing.
White Cow Bull claimed to have shot a leader wearing a buckskin jacket off his horse in the river. While no other Indian account supports this claim, if White Bull did shoot a buckskin-clad leader off his horse, some historians have argued that Custer may have been seriously wounded by him. Some Indian accounts claim that besides wounding one of the leaders of this advance, a soldier carrying a company [[Guidon (United States)|guidon]] was also hit.<ref>[http://www.astonisher.com/archives/museum/white_cow_bull_little_big_horn.html "White Cow Bull's Story of the Battle of the Little Bighorn #1"] {{webarchive |url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080511210009/http://www.astonisher.com/archives/museum/white_cow_bull_little_big_horn.html |date=May 11, 2008 }}.</ref> Troopers had to dismount to help the wounded men back onto their horses.<ref name="michno1997" />{{rp|117–19}} The fact that either of the non-mutilation wounds to Custer's body (a bullet wound below the heart and a shot to the left temple) would have been instantly fatal casts doubt on his being wounded and remounted.<ref>Wert, 1996, p. 355.</ref>
Reports of an attempted fording of the river at Medicine Tail Coulee might explain Custer's purpose for Reno's attack, that is, a coordinated "hammer-and-anvil" maneuver, with Reno's holding the Indians at bay at the southern end of the camp, while Custer drove them against Reno's line from the north. Other historians have noted that if Custer did attempt to cross the river near Medicine Tail Coulee, he may have believed it was the north end of the Indian camp, only to discover that it was the middle. Some Indian accounts, however, place the Northern Cheyenne encampment and the north end of the overall village to the left (and south) of the opposite side of the crossing.<ref name="michno1997" />{{rp|10–20}} The precise location of the north end of the village remains in dispute, however.
[[File:Custer's route over Little Bighorn battlefield.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|Custer's route over battlefield, as theorized by [[Edward S. Curtis|Curtis]]. (Credit: [[Northwestern University Library]] [http://digital.library.northwestern.edu/curtis/ ''Edward S. Curtis's The North American Indian,'' 2003]). ]]
[[File:Custer Battlefield 1908 (bottom).jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|1:5260 of Custer battlefield – surveyed 1891, detailing U.S. soldiers' body locations]]
In 1908, [[Edward S. Curtis|Edward Curtis]], the famed ethnologist and photographer of the Native American Indians, made a detailed personal study of the battle, interviewing many of those who had fought or taken part in it. First, he went over the ground covered by the troops with the three Crow scouts [[White Man Runs Him]], [[Goes Ahead]], and [[Hairy Moccasin]], and then again with [[Two Moons]] and a party of Cheyenne warriors. He also visited the Lakota country and interviewed [[Red Hawk (chief)|Red Hawk]], "whose recollection of the fight seemed to be particularly clear".<ref name="curtis" />{{rp|44}} Then, he went over the battlefield once more with the three Crow scouts, but also accompanied by General [[Charles Woodruff (general)|Charles Woodruff]] "as I particularly desired that the testimony of these men might be considered by an experienced army officer". Finally, Curtis visited the country of the [[Arikara people|Arikara]] and interviewed the scouts of that tribe who had been with Custer's command.<ref name="curtis" />{{rp|44}} Based on all the information he gathered, Curtis concluded that Custer had indeed ridden down the Medicine Tail Coulee and then towards the river where he probably planned to ford it. However, "the Indians had now discovered him and were gathered closely on the opposite side".<ref name="curtis" />{{rp|48}} They were soon joined by a large force of Sioux who (no longer engaging Reno) rushed down the valley. This was the beginning of their attack on Custer who was forced to turn and head for the hill where he would make his famous "last stand". Thus, wrote Curtis, "Custer made no attack, the whole movement being a retreat".<ref name="curtis" />{{rp|49}}
==== Other views of Custer's actions at Minneconjou Ford ====
{{More citations needed section|date=December 2013}}
Other historians claim that Custer never approached the river, but rather continued north across the coulee and up the other side, where he gradually came under attack. According to this theory, by the time Custer realized he was badly outnumbered, it was too late to retreat to the south where Reno and Benteen could have provided assistance. Two men from the 7th Cavalry, the young Crow scout ''Ashishishe'' (known in English as Curley) and the trooper [[Peter Thompson (soldier)|Peter Thompson]], claimed to have seen Custer engage the Indians. The accuracy of their recollections remains controversial; accounts by battle participants and assessments by historians almost universally discredit Thompson's claim.
Archaeological evidence and reassessment of Indian testimony have led to a new interpretation of the battle. In the 1920s, battlefield investigators discovered hundreds of .45–55 ({{convert|0.45|-|0.55|in|mm|disp=out}}) shell cases along the ridgeline known today as Nye-Cartwright Ridge, between South Medicine Tail Coulee and the next drainage at North Medicine Tail (also known as Deep Coulee). Some historians believe Custer divided his detachment into two (and possibly three) battalions, retaining personal command of one while presumably delegating Captain George W. Yates to command the second.
Evidence from the 1920s supports the theory that at least one of the companies made a feint attack southwest from Nye-Cartwright Ridge straight down the center of the "V" formed by the intersection at the crossing of Medicine Tail Coulee on the right and Calhoun Coulee on the left. The intent may have been to relieve pressure on Reno's detachment (according to the Crow scout Curley, possibly viewed by both Mitch Bouyer and Custer) by withdrawing the skirmish line into the timber near the Little Bighorn River. Had the U.S. troops come straight down Medicine Tail Coulee, their approach to the Minneconjou Crossing and the northern area of the village would have been masked by the high ridges running on the northwest side of the Little Bighorn River.
That they might have come southwest, from the center of Nye-Cartwright Ridge, seems to be supported by Northern Cheyenne accounts of seeing the approach of the distinctly white-colored horses of Company E, known as the Grey Horse Company. Its approach was seen by Indians at that end of the village. Behind them, a second company, further up on the heights, would have provided long-range cover fire. Warriors could have been drawn to the feint attack, forcing the battalion back towards the heights, up the north fork drainage, away from the troops providing cover fire above. The covering company would have moved towards a reunion, delivering heavy [[volley fire]] and leaving the trail of expended cartridges discovered 50 years later.
=== Last stand ===
In the end, the hilltop to which Custer had moved was probably too small to accommodate all of the survivors and wounded. Fire from the southeast made it impossible for Custer's men to secure a defensive position all around Last Stand Hill where the soldiers put up their most dogged defense. According to Lakota accounts, far more of their casualties occurred in the attack on Last Stand Hill than anywhere else. The extent of the soldiers' resistance indicated they had few doubts about their prospects for survival. According to Cheyenne and Sioux testimony, the command structure rapidly broke down, although smaller "last stands" were apparently made by several groups. Custer's remaining companies (E, F, and half of C) were soon killed.
By almost all accounts, the Lakota annihilated Custer's force within an hour of engagement.<ref>Miller, David Humphreys, ''Custer's Fall'', Lincoln, Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press, 1985, p. 158</ref><ref>Graham, Benteen letter to Capt. R.E. Thompson, p. 211.</ref><ref>Graham, ''Gall's Narrative'', p. 88.</ref> [[David Humphreys Miller]], who between 1935 and 1955 interviewed the last Lakota survivors of the battle, wrote that the Custer fight lasted less than one-half hour.<ref>Miller, David Humphreys, ''Custer's Fall, the Indian Side of the Story''. Lincoln, Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press, 1985 (reprint of 1957 edition), p. 158.</ref> Other native accounts said the fighting lasted only "as long as it takes a hungry man to eat a meal." The Lakota asserted that Crazy Horse personally led one of the large groups of warriors who overwhelmed the cavalrymen in a surprise charge from the northeast, causing a breakdown in the command structure and panic among the troops. Many of these men threw down their weapons while Cheyenne and Sioux warriors rode them down, "[[counting coup]]" with lances, coup sticks, and [[quirt]]s. Some Native accounts recalled this segment of the fight as a "buffalo run."<ref>Graham, pp. 45–56.</ref>
Captain [[Frederick William Benteen|Frederick Benteen]], battalion leader of Companies D, H and K, recalled his observations on the Custer battlefield on June 27, 1876
{{quote|I went over the battlefield carefully with a view to determine how the battle was fought. I arrived at the conclusion I [hold] now—that it was a rout, a panic, until the last man was killed ...
There was no line formed on the battlefield. You can take a handful of corn and scatter [the kernels] over the floor, and make just such lines. There were none ... The only approach to a line was where 5 or 6 [dead] horses found at equal distances, like skirmishers [part of Lt. Calhoun's Company L]. That was the only approach to a line on the field. There were more than 20 [troopers] killed [in one group]; there were [more often] four or five at one place, all within a space of 20 to 30 yards [of each other] ... I counted 70 dead [cavalry] horses and 2 Indian ponies.
I think, in all probability, that the men turned their horses loose without any orders to do so. Many orders might have been given, but few obeyed. I think that they were panic stricken; it was a rout, as I said before.<ref>{{cite book|last=Rice|year=1998|title=Benteen testimony at Reno Court of Inquiry, January 13 – February 11, 1879|url=https://www.loc.gov/rr/frd/Military_Law/Reno_court_inquiry.html|work=The Library of Congress|url-status = live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171007141134/http://www.loc.gov/rr/frd/Military_Law/Reno_court_inquiry.html|archive-date=October 7, 2017|df=mdy-all}}</ref>}}
A Brulé Sioux warrior stated: "In fact, Hollow Horn Bear believed that the troops were in good order at the start of the fight, and kept their organization even while moving from point to point."<ref>Gregory Michno, Lakota Noon, Mountain Press, 1997, p. 177</ref> Red Horse, an Oglala Sioux warrior, commented: "Here [Last Stand Hill] the soldiers made a desperate fight."<ref>Gregory Michno, Lakota Noon, Mountain Press, 1997, p. 252</ref> One Hunkpapa Sioux warrior, Moving Robe, noted that "It was a hotly contested battle",<ref>Gregory Michno, Lakota Noon, Mountain Press, 1997, p. 179</ref> while another, Iron Hawk, stated: "The Indians pressed and crowded right in around Custer Hill. But the soldiers weren't ready to die. We stood there a long time."<ref>Gregory Michno, Lakota Noon, Mountain Press, 1997, p. 254</ref> In a letter from February 21, 1910, Private William Taylor, Company M, 7th Cavalry, wrote: "Reno proved incompetent and Benteen showed his indifference—I will not use the uglier words that have often been in my mind. Both failed Custer and he had to fight it out alone."<ref>GSklenar, Larry, To Hell with Honor, p. 260</ref>
<gallery mode="packed" heights="150px" style="text-align:left" class="center">
File:Edgar Samuel Paxson - Custer's Last Stand.jpg|Custer's Last Stand by Edgar Samuel Paxson
File:Custer's Last Stand, 1877.png|Looking in the direction of the Indian village and the deep ravine. Photo by Stanley J. Morrow, spring 1877
File:Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument.JPG|Looking in the direction of the Indian village and the deep ravine. Taken November 2011
File:Keogh Memorial - Little Big Horn Battlefield.jpg|Keogh Battlefield Marker 1879
File:2008 0909Battlefield0026.JPG|[[Mitch Bouyer]] marker on Deep Ravine trail. Deep Ravine is to the right of this picture (south/southwest) and about {{convert|65|yard|m|round=5}} distant.
</gallery>
==== Custer's final resistance ====
Recent archaeological work at the battlefield indicates that officers on Custer Hill restored some tactical control.<ref name="Fox1993"/>{{rp|255–259}} E Company rushed off Custer Hill toward the Little Bighorn River but failed to reach it, which resulted in the destruction of that company. This left about 50-60 men, mostly from F Company and the staff, on Last Stand Hill. The remainder of the battle took on the nature of a running fight. Modern archaeology and historical Indian accounts indicate that Custer's force may have been divided into three groups, with the Indians attempting to prevent them from effectively reuniting. Indian accounts describe warriors (including women) running up from the village to wave blankets in order to scare off the soldiers' horses. One 7th Cavalry trooper claimed to have found several stone ''mallets'' consisting of a round cobble weighing 8–10 pounds (about 4 kg) with a rawhide handle, which he believed had been used by the Indian women to finish off the wounded.<ref name=Scott-TheyDied>{{cite book |title=They Died With Custer: Soldiers' Bones from the Battle of the Little Bighorn |first1=Douglas D. |last1=Scott |first2=P. |last2=Willey |first3=Melissa A. |last3=Connor |location=Norman |publisher=University of Oklahoma Press |year=2013 |orig-year=1998 |url={{GBurl|id=KO-9A4b2t4IC}} |isbn=((978-0-8061-3507-7))}}</ref>{{rp|314}} Fighting dismounted, the soldiers' skirmish lines were overwhelmed. Army doctrine would have called for one man in four to be a horseholder behind the skirmish lines and, in extreme cases, one man in eight. Later, the troops would have bunched together in defensive positions and are alleged to have shot their remaining horses as cover. As individual troopers were wounded or killed, initial defensive positions would have been abandoned as untenable.<ref name="ReferenceB">Gray, John C. "Custer's Last Campaign"</ref>
Under threat of attack, the first U.S. soldiers on the battlefield three days later hurriedly buried the troopers in shallow graves, more or less where they had fallen. A couple of years after the battle, markers were placed where men were believed to have fallen, so the placement of troops has been roughly construed. The troops evidently died in several groups, including on Custer Hill, around Captain [[Myles Keogh]], and strung out towards the Little Bighorn River.<ref name="ReferenceB" />
==== Last break-out attempt ====
[[File:Far West (steamship).jpg|thumb|right|The shallow-draft steamer ''[[Far West (River Steamboat)|Far West]]'' was chartered by the Army to carry supplies for the Custer expedition. After the battle, captain and pilot [[Grant Marsh]] set a speed record bringing wounded men and news of the Custer disaster back to Fort Lincoln.<ref>"Last of the Argonauts: The Life and Services of Capt. Grant Marsh," ''Sioux City Journal,'' p. 10, January 16, 1916, Sioux City, Iowa.</ref><ref>"Grant Marsh Tells of his Part in the Custer Expedition," ''Bismarck Tribune,'' p. 1, January 23, 1906, Bismarck, North Dakota.</ref>]]
According to Indian accounts, about forty men on Custer Hill made a desperate stand around Custer, delivering [[volley fire]].<ref name="michno1997" /> The great majority of the Indian casualties were probably suffered during this closing segment of the battle, as the soldiers and Indians on Calhoun Ridge were more widely separated and traded fire at greater distances for most of their portion of the battle than did the soldiers and Indians on Custer Hill.<ref name="michno1997" />{{rp|282}}
Modern documentaries suggest that there may not have been a "Last Stand", as traditionally portrayed in popular culture. Instead, archaeologists suggest that in the end, Custer's troops were not surrounded but rather overwhelmed by a single charge. This scenario corresponds to several Indian accounts stating Crazy Horse's charge swarmed the resistance, with the surviving soldiers fleeing in panic.<ref name="michno1997" /><ref group="note">Testimony of Yellow Nose.</ref> Many of these troopers may have ended up in a deep ravine {{convert|300|to|400|yard|m}} away from what is known today as Custer Hill. At least 28 bodies (the most common number associated with burial witness testimony), including that of scout [[Mitch Bouyer]], were discovered in or near that gulch, their deaths possibly the battle's final actions.
Although the marker for Mitch Bouyer was found accurate through archaeological and forensic testing of remains, it is some 65 yards away from Deep Ravine.<ref name=Scott-Arch/>{{rp|82}} Historian Douglas Scott theorized that the "Deep Gulch" or "Deep Ravine" might have included not only the steep-sided portion of the coulee, but the entire drainage including its tributaries, in which case the bodies of Bouyer and others were found where eyewitnesses had said they were seen.<ref name=Scott-TheyDied/>
Other archaeological explorations done in Deep Ravine found no human remains associated with the battle.<ref name=Scott-TheyDied/>{{rp|39–48}} Over the years since the battle, skeletal remains that were reportedly recovered from the mouth of the Deep Ravine by various sources have been repatriated to the Little Big Horn National Monument. According to Scott, it is likely that in the 108 years between the battle and Scott's excavation efforts in the ravine, geological processes caused many of the remains to become unrecoverable. For example, near the town of Garryowen, portions of the skeleton of a trooper killed in the Reno Retreat were recovered from an eroding bank of the Little Big Horn, while the rest of the remains had apparently been washed away by the river.<ref name=Scott-TheyDied/>
== Aftermath ==
After the Custer force was soundly defeated, the Lakota and Northern Cheyenne regrouped to attack Reno and Benteen. The fight continued until dark (approximately 9:00 pm) and for much of the next day, with the outcome in doubt. Reno credited Benteen's luck with repulsing a severe attack on the portion of the perimeter held by Companies H and M.<ref group="note">Reno Court of Inquiry.</ref> On June 27, the column under General Terry approached from the north, and the natives drew off in the opposite direction. The Crow scout [[White Man Runs Him]] was the first to tell General Terry's officers that Custer's force had "been wiped out." Reno and Benteen's wounded troops were given what treatment was available at that time; five later died of their wounds. One of the regiment's three surgeons had been with Custer's column, while another, Dr. DeWolf, had been killed during Reno's retreat.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Brust |first1=J.S. |last2=Pohanka |first2=B.C. |last3=Barnard |first3=S. |year=2005 |title=Where Custer Fell: Photographs of the Little Bighorn Battlefield Then and Now |publisher=University of Oklahoma Press |page=57}}</ref> The only remaining doctor was Assistant Surgeon Henry R. Porter.<ref>{{cite book |title=Reno-Benteen Entrenchment Trail |page=6 |publisher=Western Parks Association |year=2004}}</ref>
{{multiple image
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| caption1 = This Helena, Montana newspaper article did not report the battle until July 6, referring to a July 3 story from a Bozeman, Montana newspaper—itself eight days after the event.<ref name=HelenaIndependent_18760706>{{cite news |title=Indian War / Gen. Gibbons Letter Relating to Terrible Massacre |url=https://newspaperarchive.com/helena-independent-jul-06-1876-p-3/ |work=The Helena Independent |date=July 6, 1876 |page=3 }}</ref>
| image2 = 18760706 Massacre of Our Troops - The New York Times.png
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| caption2 = ''The New York Times'' also appears to have first reported the event on July 6. The earliest journalistic communication cited in the ''Times'' article was dated July 2—a full week after the massacre.<ref name=NYTimes_18760706>{{cite news |title=Massacre of Our Troops / Five Companies Killed by Indians |url=https://newspaperarchive.com/new-york-times-jul-09-1876-p-1/ |work=The New York Times |date=July 6, 1876 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190517051100/https://newspaperarchive.com/new-york-times-jul-06-1876-p-1/ |archive-date=May 17, 2019 |page=1 |url-status = live|access-date=May 18, 2019 }}</ref> Full text is [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:18760706_Massacre_of_Our_Troops_-_The_New_York_Times.png here].
}}
The first to hear the news of the Custer disaster were those aboard the steamboat ''[[Far West (steamship)|Far West]],'' which had brought supplies for the expedition. Curley, one of Custer's scouts, rode up to the steamboat and tearfully conveyed the information to [[Grant Marsh]], the boat's captain, and army officers. Marsh converted the ''Far West'' into a floating field hospital to carry the 52 wounded from the battle to Fort Lincoln. Traveling night and day, with a full head of steam, Marsh brought the steamer downriver to Bismarck, Dakota Territory, making the 710 mi (1,140 km) run in the record time of 54 hours and bringing the first news of the military defeat which came to be popularly known as the "Custer Massacre." The editor of the Bismarck paper kept the telegraph operator busy for hours transmitting information to the ''[[New York Herald]]'' (for which he corresponded). News of the defeat arrived in the East as the U.S. was observing its [[Centennial Exposition|centennial]].<ref>"The Little Horn [''sic''] Massacre", ''The New York Times.'', Vol. 25, No. 7742, July 7, 1876, p. 1, recounting "dispatches" published the day before.</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author-link=Lynne Cheney |last=Cheney |first=Lynne V. |url=http://www.americanheritage.com/content/1876-eagle-screams |title=1876: The Eagle Screams. Historical Register of the Centennial Exposition 1876 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140228012212/http://www.americanheritage.com/content/1876-eagle-screams |archive-date=February 28, 2014 |journal=[[American Heritage (magazine)|American Heritage]] |volume=25 |issue=3 |date=April 1974 |access-date=April 12, 2021}}</ref> The Army began to investigate, although its effectiveness was hampered by a concern for survivors, and the reputation of the officers. Custer's wife, [[Elizabeth Bacon Custer]], in particular, guarded and promoted the ideal of him as the gallant hero, attacking any who cast an ill light on his reputation.<ref>{{cite book |first=Dee |last=Brown |author-link=Dee Brown (writer) |title=The Westerners |chapter=15 |publisher=[[Michael Joseph Ltd]] |year=1974}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Hansen |first=Joseph Mills |title=The Conquest of the Missouri: Being the Story of the Life and Exploits of Captain Grant Marsh |pages=277–279, 290–315 |publisher=Murray Hill Books, Inc. |location=New York and Toronto |year=1909, 1937, 1946}}</ref>
The Battle of the Little Bighorn had far-reaching consequences for the Natives. It was the beginning of the end of the "Indian Wars" and has even been referred to as "the Indians' last stand"<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/1991/09/29/the-custer-syndrome.html |title=The Custer Syndrome |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120817010350/http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/1991/09/29/the-custer-syndrome.html |archive-date=August 17, 2012 |journal=[[Newsweek]] |date=September 29, 1991 |access-date=August 30, 2012}}</ref> in the area. Within 48 hours of the battle, the large encampment on the Little Bighorn broke up into smaller groups because there was not enough game and grass to sustain a large congregation of people and horses.<ref name="sonofthesouth.net">{{cite web |url=http://www.sonofthesouth.net/union-generals/custer/custers-last-stand.htm |title=Custer's Last Stand |work=sonofthesouth.net |access-date=October 19, 2016}}</ref>
[[Oglala Sioux]] [[Black Elk]] recounted the exodus this way: "We fled all night, following the Greasy Grass. My two younger brothers and I rode in a pony-drag, and my mother put some young pups in with us. They were always trying to crawl out and I was always putting them back in, so I didn't sleep much."<ref name="Welch and Steckler">{{cite book |last1=Welch |first1=James A |author-link1=James Welch (writer) |last2=Steckler |first2=Paul |year=1994 |title=Killing Custer – The Battle of the Little Bighorn and the Fate of the Plains Indians |location=New York |publisher=[[Penguin Books]]}}</ref>{{Rp|194}}
The scattered Sioux and Cheyenne feasted and celebrated during July with no threat from soldiers. After their celebrations, many of the Natives returned to the reservation. Soon the number of warriors amounted to only about 600.<ref>{{cite book |last=Ambrose |first=Stephen E. |author-link=Stephen E. Ambrose |title=Crazy Horse and Custer |location=New York |publisher=[[Anchor Books]] |year=1996 |pages=451–52}}</ref> Both Crook and Terry remained immobile for seven weeks after the battle, awaiting reinforcements and unwilling to venture out against the Sioux and Cheyenne until they had at least 2,000 men. Crook and Terry finally took the field against the Native forces in August. General [[Nelson A. Miles]] took command of the effort in October 1876. In May 1877, Sitting Bull escaped to Canada. Within days, Crazy Horse surrendered at [[Fort Robinson]], Nebraska. The Great Sioux War ended on May 7 with Miles' defeat of a remaining band of [[Miniconjou]] Sioux.<ref name="sonofthesouth.net" />
{{multiple image
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| caption1 = Plenty Coups Edward Curtis Portrait (c1908).
| image2 = TwoLeggings2.0.jpg
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| caption2 = Crow warrior [[Two Leggings]] joined the U.S. army for a short time after the defeat of Custer. Two Belly had given him and nearly 30 other Crows a lecture and explained how the Sioux had taken the hunting grounds of the Crow. "Two Belly said ... we should help the soldiers drive them back to their own country."<ref>{{cite book |last=Nabokov |first=Peter |year=1982 |title=Two Leggings. The Making of a Crow Warrior |location=Lincoln and London |page=185}}</ref>
}}
Ownership of the [[Black Hills]], which had been a focal point of the 1876 conflict, was determined by an ultimatum issued by the [[Manypenny Agreement|Manypenny Commission]], according to which the Sioux were required to cede the land to the United States if they wanted the government to continue supplying rations to the reservations. Threatened with forced starvation, the Natives ceded ''[[Paha Sapa]]'' to the United States,<ref name="Welch and Steckler"/>{{Rp|196–97}} but the Sioux never accepted the legitimacy of the transaction. They lobbied Congress to create a forum to decide their claim and subsequently litigated for 40 years; the United States Supreme Court in the 1980 decision [[United States v. Sioux Nation of Indians]] acknowledged<ref group="note">According to ''United States v. Sioux Nation of Indians'', 448 U.S. 371 (1980), the US government had to pay just compensation and interest to the Sioux for taking the Black Hills. This case confirmed the court's view that the government can treat Indian reservations like private property and take them by [[eminent domain]] if just compensation is paid.</ref> that the United States had taken the Black Hills without just compensation. The Sioux [[United States v. Sioux Nation of Indians#Response to the decision|refused the money subsequently offered]] and continue to insist on their right to occupy the land.
When the Crows got news from the battlefield, they went into grief. Crow woman Pretty Shield told how they were "crying ... for Son-of-the-morning-star [Custer] and his blue soldiers{{nbsp}}..."<ref>{{cite book |last=Linderman |first=Frank B. |year=1974 |title=Pretty Shield. Medicine Woman of the Crows |location=Lincoln and London |page=243}}</ref> With the defeat of Custer, it was still a real threat that the Lakotas would take over the eastern part of the Crow reservation and keep up the invasion. In the end, the army won the Sioux war. Crow chief Plenty Coups recalled with amazement how his tribe now finally could sleep without fear for Lakota attacks. "...{{nbsp}}this was the first time I had ever known such a condition."<ref>{{cite book |last=Linderman |first=Frank B. |year=1962 |title=Plenty Coups. Chief of the Crows |location=Lincoln/London |page=177}}</ref>
== Participants ==
=== 7th Cavalry officers ===
* Commanding Officer: Lt. Col. [[George Armstrong Custer]] (killed)
* Maj. [[Marcus Reno]]
* Adjutant: 1st Lt. [[William W. Cooke]] (killed)
* Assistant Surgeon [[George Edwin Lord]] (killed)
* Acting Assistant Surgeon [[James Madison DeWolf]] (killed)
* Acting Assistant Surgeon [[Henry Rinaldo Porter]]
* Chief of Scouts: 2nd Lt. [[Charles Varnum]] (detached from A Company, wounded)
* 2nd in command of Scouts: 2nd Lt. [[Luther Hare]] (detached from K Company)
* Pack Train commander: 1st Lt. Edward Gustave Mathey (detached from M Company)
* A Company: Capt. [[Myles Moylan]], 1st Lt. [[Charles DeRudio]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.derudio.co.uk/PAGE%20two.htm |title=Count Carlo Di Rudio at Little Bighorn |publisher=Derudio.co.uk |access-date=2012-03-15 |url-status = dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120425135359/http://www.derudio.co.uk/PAGE%20two.htm |archive-date=April 25, 2012 |df=mdy-all }}</ref>
* B Company: Capt. [[Thomas Mower McDougall|Thomas McDougall]], 2nd Lt. Benjamin Hodgson (killed) as Adjutant to Major Reno
* C Company: Capt. [[Thomas Custer]] (killed), 2nd Lt. [[Henry Moore Harrington]] (killed)
* D Company: Capt. [[Thomas Weir (American soldier)|Thomas Weir]], 2nd Lt. [[Winfield Scott Edgerly|Winfield Edgerly]]
* E Company: 1st Lt. [[Algernon Smith]] (killed), 2nd Lt. James G. Sturgis (killed)
* F Company: Capt. [[George Yates]] (killed), 2nd Lt. William Reily (killed)
* G Company: 1st Lt. [[Donald McIntosh]] (killed), 2nd Lt. George D. Wallace
* H Company: Capt. [[Frederick Benteen]], 1st Lt. Francis Gibson
* I Company: Capt. [[Myles Keogh]] (killed), 1st Lt. [[James Porter (7th Cavalry)|James Porter]] (killed)
* K Company: 1st Lt. [[Edward Settle Godfrey]]
* L Company: 1st Lt. [[James Calhoun (7th Cavalry)|James Calhoun]] (killed), 2nd Lt. [[John Jordan Crittenden III|John J. Crittenden]] (killed)
* M Company: Capt. Thomas French
<gallery mode="packed" heights="150px" style="text-align:left" class="center">
File:Soldier memorial little bighorn 1.jpg|Memorial Marker as seen from the east
File:Soldier memorial little bighorn 3.jpg|Memorial Marker plaque
File:Soldier memorial little bighorn 2.jpg|Memorial Marker as seen from the west
File:Where custer fell little big horn.jpg|Marker indicating where General Custer fell among soldiers – denoted with black-face, in center of photo
</gallery>
=== Native American leaders and "warriors" ===
[[File:Arapaho woman Pretty Nose, 1879, restored.jpg|thumb|[[Pretty Nose]] who, according to her grandson, was a woman war chief who participated in the battle]]
[[File:CheyenneStone.JPG|thumb|Marker stone on the battlefield]]The English term "warriors" is used for convenience; however, the term easily leads to misconceptions and mistranslations (such as the vision of "soldiers falling into his camp"). The Lakota had formed a "Strongheart Society" of caretakers and providers for the camp, consisting of men who had demonstrated compassion, generosity and bravery. As the purpose of the tribes' gathering was to take counsel, they did not constitute an army or warrior class.<ref name="lapointe ">{{Citation|title=Ernie Lapointe Family Oral History of Little Big Horn Battle|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-3NIrXW92s|access-date=2020-05-19}}</ref>
* '''Hunkpapa (Lakota)''': [[Sitting Bull]], Four Horns, [[Crow King]], [[Gall (Native American leader)|Chief Gall]], [[Black Moon (person)|Black Moon]], [[Rain-in-the-Face]], [[Moving Robe Woman]], Spotted Horn Bull, Iron Hawk, [[One Bull]], Bull Head, Chasing Eagle, [[Little Big Man]]
* '''Sihasapa (Blackfoot Lakota)''': Crawler, [[Kill Eagle]]
* '''Minneconjou (Lakota)''': Chief Hump, [[Black Moon (person)|Black Moon]], [[Red Horse (Lakota chief)|Red Horse]], Makes Room, Looks Up, [[Lame Deer]], Dog-with-Horn, Dog Back Bone, [[White Bull (Native American)|White Bull]], Feather Earring, Flying By
* '''Sans Arc (Lakota)''': Spotted Eagle, Red Bear, Long Road, Cloud Man
* '''Oglala (Lakota)''': [[Crazy Horse]], [[He Dog]], [[Kicking Bear]], [[Flying Hawk]], Chief Long Wolf, [[Black Elk]], White Cow Bull, [[Running Eagle]], Black Fox II
* '''Brule (Lakota)''': Two Eagles, [[Hollow Horn Bear]], Brave Bird
* '''Two Kettles (Lakota)''': Runs-the-Enemy
* '''Lower Yanktonai (Dakota)''': Thunder Bear, Medicine Cloud, Iron Bear, Long Tree
* '''Wahpekute (Dakota)''': [[Inkpaduta]], Sounds-the-Ground-as-He-Walks, White Eagle, White Tracking Earth
* '''Black Powder (Sioux Firearms trader)''': Black Powder, Johann Smidt
* '''Northern Cheyenne''': [[Two Moons]], [[Wooden Leg]], Old Bear, [[Lame White Man]], [[American Horse (Cheyenne)|American Horse]], Brave Wolf, Antelope Women, Thunder Bull Big Nose, Yellow Horse, Little Shield, Horse Road, Bob Tail Horse, Yellow Hair, Bear-Walks-on-a-Ridge, Black Hawk, [[Buffalo Calf Road Woman]], Crooked Nose, Noisy Walking
* '''Arapahoes''': Waterman, Sage, Left Hand, Yellow Eagle, Little Bird
=== Arapaho participation ===
Modern-day accounts include [[Arapaho]] warriors in the battle, but the five Arapaho men who were at the encampments were there only by accident. While on a hunting trip they came close to the village by the river and were captured and almost killed by the Lakota who believed the hunters were scouts for the U.S. Army. [[Two Moons]], a Northern Cheyenne leader, interceded to save their lives.<ref>Graham, ''The Custer Myth,'' p. 109.</ref>
=== Notable scouts/interpreters ===
The 7th Cavalry was accompanied by a number of scouts and interpreters:
* [[Bloody Knife]]: Arikara/Lakota scout (killed)
* Bob Tailed Bull: Arikara scout (killed)
* Boy Chief: Arikara scout
* [[Charley Reynolds]]: scout (killed)
* [[Curly (scout)|Curley]]: Crow scout
* Curling Head: Arikara scout
* [[Fred Gerard]]: interpreter
* [[Goes Ahead]]: Crow scout
* Goose: Arikara scout (wounded in the hand by a 7th Cavalry trooper)
* [[Hairy Moccasin]]: Crow scout
* [[Half Yellow Face, Crow Indian|Half Yellow Face]], leader of Crow Scouts, also known as Paints Half His Face Yellow<ref name="curtis">Curtis, E. (1907) [http://curtis.library.northwestern.edu/ ''The North American Indian. Vol.3''. The Sioux] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160223022135/http://curtis.library.northwestern.edu/ |date=February 23, 2016 }}.</ref>{{rp|46}}
* [[Isaiah Dorman]]: interpreter (killed)
* Little Brave: Arikara scout (killed)
* Little Sioux: Arikara scout
* [[Mitch Bouyer]]: scout/interpreter (killed)
* One Feather: Arikara scout
* Owl: Arikara scout
* Peter Jackson: half-Pikuni and half Blackfoot brother of William, scout
* Red Bear: Arikara scout
* Red Star: Arikara scout
* Running Wolf: Arikara scout
* Sitting Bear: Arikara scout
* Soldier: Arikara scout
* Strikes The Lodge: Arikara scout
* Strikes Two: Arikara scout
* [[Two Moons]]: Arikara/Cheyenne scout
* [[White Man Runs Him]]: Crow scout
* [[White Swan]]: Crow Scout (severely wounded)
* William Jackson: half-Pikuni and half Blackfoot scout
* Young Hawk: Arikara scout
<gallery mode="packed" heights="150px" style="text-align:left" class="center">
File:Edward Curtis with Crow Indians 1908.jpg|Three of Custer's scouts accompanying [[Edward S. Curtis|Edward Curtis]] on his investigative tour of the battlefield, circa 1907. Left to right: [[Goes Ahead]], [[Hairy Moccasin]], [[White Man Runs Him]], Curtis and [[Alexander B. Upshaw]] (Curtis's assistant and Crow interpreter)
File:Portrait of Curley, A Crow Indian Scout with the Seventh Cavalry at the Battle of the Little Bighorn - NARA - 533090 NewEdit.tif|Curley, Custer's Crow scout and interpreter through the battle.
File:CurlyPhilKonstantin.jpg|Grave of Curley
File:Crow Scouts 1913.jpg|Former U.S. Army [[Crow Scouts]] visiting the Little Bighorn battlefield, circa 1913
</gallery>
== Order of battle ==
'''Native Americans'''
{| class="wikitable"
! width=25% | Native Americans
! width=25% | Tribe
! Leaders
|-
| rowspan=4 |
[[Native Americans in the United States|Native Americans]]<br />
| [[Lakota people|Lakota Sioux]]
<br />
|
* Hunkpapa: [[Sitting Bull]], Four Horns, [[Crow King]], [[Gall (Native American leader)|Chief Gall]], [[Black Moon (person)|Black Moon]], [[Rain-in-the-Face]], Moving Robe Women, Spotted Horn Bull, Iron Hawk, [[One Bull]], Bull Head, Chasing Eagle
* Sihasapa: Crawler, [[Kill Eagle]]
* Minneconjou: Chief Hump, Black Moon, Red Horse, Makes Room, Looks Up, [[Lame Deer]], Dog-with-Horn, Dog Back Bone, [[White Bull (Native American)|White Bull]], Feather Earring, Flying By
* Sans Arc: Spotted Eagle, Red Bear, Long Road, Cloud Man
* Oglala: [[Crazy Horse]], [[He Dog]], [[Kicking Bear]], [[Flying Hawk]], [[American Horse (elder)|American Horse the Elder]], Chief Long Wolf, [[Black Elk]], White Cow Bull, [[Running Eagle]], Black Fox II
* Brule: Two Eagles, [[Hollow Horn Bear]], Brave Bird
* Two Kettles: Runs-the-Enemy
|-
| [[Dakota people|Dakota Sioux]]
<br />
|
* Lower Yanktonai: Thunder Bear, Medicine Cloud, Iron Bear, Long Tree
* Wahpekute: [[Inkpaduta]], Sounds-the-Ground-as-He-Walks, White Eagle, White Tracking Earth
|-
| [[Northern Cheyenne]]
<br />
|
* Northern Cheyenne: [[Two Moons]], [[Wooden Leg]], [[Old Bear]], [[Lame White Man]] [[Killed in action|†]], [[American Horse (Cheyenne)|American Horse]], Brave Wolf, Antelope Women, Thunder Bull Big Nose, Yellow Horse, Little Shield, Horse Road, Bob Tail Horse, Yellow Hair, Bear-Walks-on-a-Ridge, Black Hawk, [[Buffalo Calf Road Woman]], Crooked Nose, Noisy Walking[[Killed in action|†]]
|-
| [[Arapaho]]
<br />
|
* Arapahoes: Waterman, Sage, Left Hand, Yellow Eagle, Little Bird
|-
|}
'''United States Army''', Lieutenant Colonel [[George A. Custer]], 7th United States Cavalry Regiment, Commanding.
{| class="wikitable"
! width=25% | 7th United States Cavalry Regiment
! width=25% | Battalion
! Companies and Others
|-
| rowspan=5 |
[[Lieutenant colonel (United States)|Lieutenant Colonel]] [[George A. Custer]] [[Killed in action|†]], commanding.<br />
| Custer's Battalion
<br />
Lieutenant Colonel George A. Custer [[Killed in action|†]]
|
* Company C: Captain [[Thomas Custer]] [[Killed in action|†]]
* Company E: First Lieutenant [[Algernon Smith]] [[Killed in action|†]]
* Company F: Captain [[George Yates]] [[Killed in action|†]]
* Company I: Captain [[Myles Keogh]] [[Killed in action|†]]
* Company L: First Lieutenant [[James Calhoun (7th Cavalry)|James Calhoun]] [[Killed in action|†]]
|-
| Reno's Battalion
<br />
[[Major (United States)|Major]] [[Marcus Reno]]
|
* Company A: Captain [[Myles Moylan]]
* Company G: First Lieutenant [[Donald McIntosh]] [[Killed in action|†]]
* Company M: Captain Thomas French
|-
| Benteen's Battalion
<br />
[[Captain (United States O-3)|Captain]] [[Frederick Benteen]]
|
* Company D: Captain [[Thomas Weir (American soldier)|Thomas Weir]]
* Company H: Captain Frederick Benteen
* Company K: First Lieutenant [[Edward Settle Godfrey]]
|-
| Pack Train
<br />
[[First lieutenant#United States|First Lieutenant]] Edward Gustave Mathey
|
* Company B: Captain [[Thomas Mower McDougall|Thomas McDougall]]
|-
| Scouts and Interpreters
<br />
[[Second lieutenant#United States|Second Lieutenant]] [[Charles Varnum]] [[Wounded in action|(wounded)]], Chief of Scouts
|
* [[Bloody Knife]] [[Killed in action|†]], [[Charley Reynolds]] [[Killed in action|†]], [[Isaiah Dorman]] [[Killed in action|†]], [[Mitch Bouyer]] [[Killed in action|†]], Bob Tailed Bull[[Killed in action|†]], Little Brave[[Killed in action|†]], White Swan [[Wounded in action|(severely wounded)]], Goose [[Wounded in action|(wounded)]], Curley, Curling Head, [[Fred Gerard]], Goes Ahead, Boy Chief, Hairy Moccasin, Half Yellow Face (Paints Half His Face Yellow), Little Sioux, One Feather, Owl, Peter Jackson, William Jackson, Red Bear, Red Star, Running Wolf, Sitting Bear, Soldier, Strikes The Lodge, Strikes Two, Two Moons, White Man Runs Him, Young Hawk
|-
|}
== Casualties ==
=== Native American warriors ===
Estimates of Native American casualties have differed widely, from as few as 36 dead (from Native American listings of the dead by name) to as many as 300.<ref>Hardorff, ''Hokayhey!,'' p. 13.</ref> Lakota chief [[Red Horse (Lakota chief)|Red Horse]] told Col. W. H. Wood in 1877 that the Native Americans suffered 136 dead and 160 wounded during the battle.<ref>Graham, Col. W. A. ''The Custer Myth''. NY, Bonanza Books, 1953, p. 60.</ref> In 1881, Red Horse told Dr. C. E. McChesney the same numbers but in a series of drawings done by Red Horse to illustrate the battle, he drew only sixty figures representing Lakota and Cheyenne casualties. Of those sixty figures, only thirty-some are portrayed with a conventional Plains Indian method of indicating death. In the last 140 years, historians have been able to identify multiple Indian names pertaining to the same individual, which has greatly reduced previously inflated numbers. Today a list of positively known casualties exists that lists 99 names, attributed and consolidated to 31 identified warriors.<ref>{{cite web|last=Thomas|first=Rodney G.|title=Indian Casualties of the Little Big Horn Battle|url=http://www.littlebighorn.info/Articles/IndianCasualties.pdf|url-status = live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160403040007/http://www.littlebighorn.info/Articles/IndianCasualties.pdf|archive-date=April 3, 2016|df=mdy-all}}</ref>
{{Gallery
|title=Red Horse pictographic account of Lakota casualties in the Battle of the Little Bighorn, 1881
|align=center
|height=150px |width=150px
|File:Red-Horse-cabinet-card.jpg|Red Horse
|File:Red Horse pictographic account of the Battle of the Little Bighorn, 1881. 0000.png|
|File:Red Horse pictographic account of the Battle of the Little Bighorn, 1881. 0100.png|
|File:Red Horse pictographic account of the Battle of the Little Bighorn, 1881. 0200.png|Plate XLIV
|File:Lakota casualites.jpg|Plate XLV
|File:Annual report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution (1888) (19363409875).jpg|Indians leaving the Battlefield Plate XLVIII
}}
=== Native American noncombatants ===
Six unnamed Native American women and four unnamed children are known to have been killed at the beginning of the battle during Reno's charge. Among them were two wives and three children of the Hunkpapa Leader Pizi (Gall).{{Citation needed|date=July 2019}}
=== 7th Cavalry ===
The 7th Cavalry suffered 52 percent casualties: 16 officers and 242 troopers killed or died of wounds, 1 officer and 51 troopers wounded. Every soldier of the five companies with Custer was killed (except for some [[Crow scouts]] and several troopers that had left that column before the battle or as the battle was starting). Among the dead were Custer's brothers Boston and Thomas, his brother-in-law James Calhoun, and his nephew Henry Reed.
In 1878, the army awarded 24 [[Medal of Honor|Medals of Honor]] to participants in the fight on the bluffs for bravery, most for risking their lives to carry water from the river up the hill to the wounded.<ref>{{cite web
|url = http://www.history.army.mil/html/moh/indianwars.html
|publisher = [[United States Army Center of Military History]]
|title = Medal of Honor Recipients: Indian Wars Period
|url-status = live
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130803232814/http://www.history.army.mil/html/moh/indianwars.html
|archive-date = August 3, 2013
|df = mdy-all
}}</ref> Few on the non-Indian side questioned the conduct of the enlisted men, but many questioned the tactics, strategy and conduct of the officers. Indian accounts spoke of soldiers' panic-driven flight and suicide by those unwilling to fall captive to the Indians. While such stories were gathered by [[Thomas Bailey Marquis]] in a book in the 1930s, it was not published until 1976 because of the unpopularity of such assertions.<ref name="cheyenne">{{cite web |last =Liberty |first =Dr. Margot |url = http://www.friendslittlebighorn.com/cheyenneprimacy.htm |title = Cheyenne Primacy: The Tribes' Perspective As Opposed To That Of The United States Army; A Possible Alternative To "The Great Sioux War Of 1876 |publisher = Friends of the Little Bighorn|access-date =January 13, 2008| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080124135151/http://www.friendslittlebighorn.com/cheyenneprimacy.htm| archive-date= January 24, 2008 <!--DASHBot-->|url-status = live}}</ref> Although soldiers may have believed captives would be tortured, Indians usually killed men outright and took as captive for adoption only young women and children.<ref name="cheyenne" /> Indian accounts also noted the bravery of soldiers who fought to the death.<ref>{{cite web |author=Running Dog |url=http://www.astonisher.com/archives/museum/he_dog2_little_big_horn.html |title=He Dog's Story of the Battle of the Little Bighorn #2 |publisher=Astonisher.com |date=1920-08-19 |access-date=2012-03-15 |url-status = live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120118221821/http://www.astonisher.com/archives/museum/he_dog2_little_big_horn.html |archive-date=January 18, 2012 |df=mdy-all }}</ref>
{{Gallery
|title=Red Horse pictographic account of dead U.S. cavalrymen in the Battle of the Little Bighorn, 1881
|align=center
|height=150px |width=150px
|File:Red Horse pictographic account of the Battle of the Little Bighorn, 1881. 0300.png|
|File:Red Horse pictographic account of the Battle of the Little Bighorn, 1881. 0400.png|Cavalrymen and two Indian Government scouts[?]
|File:Red Horse pictographic account of the Battle of the Little Bighorn, 1881. 0500.png|
|File:Red Horse pictographic account of the Battle of the Little Bighorn, 1881. 0600.png|Cavalrymen and dead cavalry horses
|File:Red Horse pictographic account of the Battle of the Little Bighorn, 1881. 0700.png|<ref>{{cite web|url=http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2016/06/24/battle-greasy-grass-140-years-later-complete-story-18-drawings-164918|title=The Battle of the Greasy Grass 140 Years Later: The Complete Story in 18 Drawings|last=leeanne|date=June 24, 2016|work=indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com|access-date=October 19, 2016|url-status = live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161026182510/http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2016/06/24/battle-greasy-grass-140-years-later-complete-story-18-drawings-164918|archive-date=October 26, 2016|df=mdy-all}}</ref>
}}
=== Civilians killed (armed and embedded within the Army) ===
* [[Boston Custer]]: brother of George and Thomas, forager for the 7th
* [[Mark Kellogg (reporter)|Mark Kellogg]]: reporter
* [[Henry Armstrong Reed]]: Custer's nephew, herder for the 7th
== Legacy ==
=== Reconstitution of the 7th Cavalry ===
Beginning in July, the 7th Cavalry was assigned new officers<ref name="hils">{{Cite book| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=w-VCAAAAIAAJ&q=record+of+living+officers+of+the+united+states+army| title = Records of Living Officers of the United States Army (1884)| access-date =January 17, 2008| year = 1883| isbn = 978-0722293980| last1 = Hamersly| first1 = Lewis Randolph}}</ref><ref group="note">Major Elmer I. Otis of the [[1st Cavalry Regiment (United States)|1st Cavalry]] was promoted to replace Custer effective June 25, 1876, but did not report until February 1877. Two 1876 West Point graduates designated for the 7th Cavalry were advanced to 1st lieutenant effective 10 days after their graduation. Four others appointed to other regiments, along with eight experienced 2nd lieutenants, were transferred and designated one to each company of the 7th. However, five declined the appointment, replaced by 2nd lieutenants of infantry and unappointed new officers in July and August 1876. Only three replacements were able to report while the 7th was still in the field.</ref> and recruiting efforts began to fill the depleted ranks. The regiment, reorganized into eight companies, remained in the field as part of the Terry Expedition, now based on the Yellowstone River at the mouth of the Bighorn and reinforced by Gibbon's column. On August 8, 1876, after Terry was further reinforced with the 5th Infantry, the expedition moved up Rosebud Creek in pursuit of the Lakota. It met with Crook's command, similarly reinforced, and the combined force, almost 4,000 strong, followed the Lakota trail northeast toward the [[Little Missouri River (North Dakota)|Little Missouri River]]. Persistent rain and lack of supplies forced the column to dissolve and return to its varying starting points. The 7th Cavalry returned to Fort Abraham Lincoln to reconstitute. The regimental commander, Colonel [[Samuel D. Sturgis]], returned from his detached duty in St. Louis, Missouri. Sturgis led the 7th Cavalry in the campaign against the [[Nez Perce War|Nez Perce]] in 1877.
=== Expansion of the U.S. Army ===
The [[United States Congress|U.S. Congress]] authorized appropriations to expand the Army by 2,500 men to meet the emergency after the defeat of the 7th Cavalry. For a session, the Democratic Party-controlled House of Representatives abandoned its campaign to reduce the size of the Army. Word of Custer's fate reached the 44th United States Congress as a conference committee was attempting to reconcile opposing appropriations bills approved by the House and the Republican Senate. They approved a measure to increase the size of cavalry companies to 100 enlisted men on July 24. The committee temporarily lifted the ceiling on the size of the Army by 2,500 on August 15.<ref>Utley, Robert M. (1973) ''Frontier Regulars: The United States Army and the Indian 1866–1890'', pp. 64 and 69 note 11.</ref>
=== "Sell or Starve" ===
{{Main|Black Hills land claim}}
As a result of the defeat in June 1876, Congress responded by attaching what the Sioux call the "sell or starve" rider ({{USStat|19|192}}) to the Indian Appropriations Act of 1876 (enacted August 15, 1876), which cut off all rations for the Sioux until they terminated hostilities and ceded the Black Hills to the United States.<ref>House Report 95-375</ref><ref>''[[United States v. Sioux Nation of Indians]]'' (Ct. Cl. 1979), 601 F.2d 1157, 1161</ref> The Agreement of 1877 ({{USStat|19|254}}, enacted February 28, 1877) officially took away Sioux land and permanently established Indian reservations.
== Controversies ==
=== Reno's conduct ===
The Battle of the Little Bighorn was the subject of an 1879 U.S. Army Court of Inquiry in Chicago, held at Reno's request, during which his conduct was scrutinized.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/cgi-bin/History/History-idx?type=goto&id=History.Reno&isize=M&submit=Go+to+page&page=1 |title=A Complete scanned transcript of the Reno Court of Inquiry (RCOI) |publisher=Digicoll.library.wisc.edu |access-date=2012-03-15 |url-status = live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120406080132/http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/cgi-bin/History/History-idx?type=goto&id=History.Reno&isize=M&submit=Go+to+page&page=1 |archive-date=April 6, 2012 |df=mdy-all }}</ref> Some testimony by non-Army officers suggested that he was drunk and a coward. The court found Reno's conduct to be without fault. After the battle, Thomas Rosser, James O'Kelly, and others continued to question the conduct of Reno due to his hastily ordered retreat.<ref>Donovan, James (2008). ''A Terrible Glory: Custer and the Little Bighorn – the Last Great Battle of the American West'' (Kindle Location 5870). Little, Brown and Company. Kindle Edition.</ref> Defenders of Reno at the trial noted that, while the retreat was disorganized, Reno did not withdraw from his position until it became apparent that he was outnumbered and outflanked by the Indians. Contemporary accounts also point to the fact that Reno's scout, Bloody Knife, was shot in the head, spraying him with blood, possibly increasing his panic and distress.<ref name="Fox1993" />
=== Custer's errors ===
General Terry and others claimed that Custer made strategic errors from the start of the campaign. For instance, he refused to use a battery of Gatling guns and turned down General Terry's offer of an additional battalion of the 2nd Cavalry. Custer believed that the Gatling guns would impede his march up the Rosebud and hamper his mobility. His rapid march en route to the Little Bighorn averaged nearly {{convert|30|mi|km}} a day, so his assessment appears to have been accurate. Custer planned "to live and travel like Indians; in this manner the command will be able to go wherever the Indians can", he wrote in his ''Herald'' dispatch.<ref name="Donovan 2008">Donovan (2008). ''A Terrible Glory'', (Kindle Locations 3080–3086)</ref>
[[File:Pawnee bill wild west show c1905.jpg|thumb|''Death of Custer'', scene by Pawnee Bill's Wild West Show performers c. 1905 of Sitting Bull's stabbing Custer, with dead Native Americans lying on ground]]
By contrast, each Gatling gun had to be hauled by four horses, and soldiers often had to drag the heavy guns by hand over obstacles. Each of the heavy, hand-cranked weapons could fire up to 350 rounds a minute, an impressive rate, but they were known to jam frequently. During the [[Black Hills Expedition]] two years earlier, a Gatling gun had turned over, rolled down a mountain, and shattered to pieces. Lieutenant William Low, commander of the artillery detachment, was said to have almost wept when he learned he had been excluded from the strike force.<ref name="Donovan 2008" />
Custer believed that the 7th Cavalry could handle any Indian force and that the addition of the four companies of the 2nd would not alter the outcome. When offered the 2nd Cavalry, he reportedly replied that the 7th "could handle anything."<ref>Connell, Evan S. (1997). ''Son of the Morning Star''. New York: HarperPerennial, p. 257.</ref> There is evidence that Custer suspected that he would be outnumbered by the Indians, although he did not know by how much. By dividing his forces, Custer could have caused the defeat of the entire column, had it not been for Benteen's and Reno's linking up to make a desperate yet successful stand on the bluff above the southern end of the camp.<ref>Donovan (2008). ''A Terrible Glory'' (Kindle Location 5758)</ref>
The historian James Donovan believed that Custer's dividing his force into four smaller detachments (including the pack train) can be attributed to his inadequate reconnaissance; he also ignored the warnings of his Crow scouts and Charley Reynolds.<ref>Donovan (2008). ''A Terrible Glory'' (Kindle Location 3697)</ref> By the time the battle began, Custer had already divided his forces into three battalions of differing sizes, of which he kept the largest. His men were widely scattered and unable to support each other.<ref>Goodrich, Thomas (1984). ''Scalp Dance: Indian Warfare on the High Plains, 1865–1879''. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, p. 233.</ref><ref>Wert, Jeffry D. (1964/1996) ''Custer: The Controversial Life of George Armstrong Custer''. New York: Simon & Schuster, p. 327.</ref> Wanting to prevent any escape by the combined tribes to the south, where they could disperse into different groups,<ref name="Donovan, loc 3699" /> Custer believed that an immediate attack on the south end of the camp was the best course of action.
=== Admiration for Custer ===
Criticism of Custer was not universal. While investigating the battlefield, Lieutenant General [[Nelson A. Miles]] wrote in 1877, "The more I study the moves here [on the Little Big Horn], the more I have admiration for Custer."<ref>Sklenar, p. 341.</ref> Facing major budget cutbacks, the U.S. Army wanted to avoid bad press and found ways to exculpate Custer. They blamed the defeat on the Indians' alleged possession of numerous repeating rifles and the overwhelming numerical superiority of the warriors.<ref group="note">Twenty-three men were called to testify at the inquiry, which met in session daily except Sundays. For the army, far more was at stake than individual reputations, as the future of the service could be affected. On January 2, General Sheridan had quoted Lee's report of agent malfeasance in a supplement to his annual report, which continued the General's running battle with the [[Bureau of Indian Affairs]] and the [[Department of the Interior]]. At the same time, a House committee was busy debating a new appropriations bill that required a major reorganization of the army. "Reduction of expenses" was emphasized. One proposal would lop off entire regiments, including two cavalry regiments. Another would set the line officers (those in the field) from Major down back a few years in the promotion schedule. The total reduction in officers was proposed to be 406, almost 25 percent of the total. The military strongly wanted to avoid confirmation of incompetency or cowardice—rumors of which were circulating around the impending court of inquiry in Chicago. Donovan (2008). ''A Terrible Glory'' (Kindle Locations 6395–6403)</ref>
The widowed [[Elizabeth Bacon Custer]], who never remarried, wrote three popular books in which she fiercely protected her husband's reputation.<ref>{{cite journal|last1= Smith|first1= Gene|year= 1993|journal= American Heritage|volume= 44|issue= 8|url= http://www.americanheritage.com/content/libbie-custer|title= Libbie Custer|access-date= 10 September 2012|url-status = live|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20131220201035/http://www.americanheritage.com/content/libbie-custer|archive-date= December 20, 2013|df= mdy-all}}</ref><ref group="note">Libbie Custer "spent almost sixty years commemorating her marriage—and her memories of it quite literally kept her alive....she was quintessentially the professional widow, forcing it to become a very touchy matter for any military writer or officer to criticize Custer for having insanely launched an attack without taking the most elementary precautions or making even an attempt at reconnaissance. To say or write such put one in the position of standing against bereaved Libbie". Smith, Gene (1993) ''op cit''.</ref> She lived until 1933, hindering much serious research until most of the evidence was long gone.<ref>Smith, Gene (1993) ''op cit''.</ref> In addition, Captain Frederick Whittaker's 1876 book idealizing Custer was hugely successful.<ref>''A Complete Life of General George A. Custer'' (1876), noted in Donovan (2008). ''A Terrible Glory'' (Kindle Locations 6222–6223)</ref> Custer as a heroic officer fighting valiantly against savage forces was an image popularized in ''Wild West'' extravaganzas hosted by showman [[Buffalo Bill|"Buffalo Bill" Cody]], [[Pawnee Bill]], and others. It was not until over half a century later that historians took another look at the battle and Custer's decisions that led to his death and loss of half his command and found much to criticize.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.historynet.com/buffalo-bills-skirmish-at-warbonnet-creek.htm|title= Buffalo Bill's Skirmish At Warbonnet Creek|author= Robert B.Smith|date= June 12, 2006|work= American History Magazine|access-date= August 25, 2012|url-status = live|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20121001171445/http://www.historynet.com/buffalo-bills-skirmish-at-warbonnet-creek.htm|archive-date= October 1, 2012|df= mdy-all}}</ref>
=== Gatling gun controversy ===
General Alfred Terry's Dakota column included a single battery of artillery, comprising two [[Field artillery in the American Civil War#3-inch rifle|3-inch Ordnance rifle]] and two [[Gatling Gun|Gatling guns]].<ref>Sklenar, 2000, p. 68: Terry's column out of Fort Abraham Lincoln included "...artillery (two Rodman and two Gatling guns)..."</ref><ref>Lawson, 2007, p. 48: "[Three] rapid-fire artillery pieces known as Gatling guns" were part of Terry's firepower included in the Dakota column.</ref> (According to historian Evan S. Connell, the precise number of Gatlings has not been established: either two or three.)<ref>Connell, 1984, p. 101: "How many Gatling guns lurched across the prairie is uncertain. Probably three."</ref>
[[File:Mitrailleuse-gatling-p1000591.jpg|left|thumb|The Gatling gun, invented in 1861 by [[Richard Jordan Gatling|Richard Gatling]]. Custer declined an offer of a battery of these weapons, explaining to Terry that they would "hamper our movements". Said Custer: "The 7th can handle anything it meets."<ref>Lawson, 2007, p. 50</ref>]]
Custer's decision to reject Terry's offer of the rapid-fire Gatlings has raised questions among historians as to why he refused them and what advantage their availability might have conferred on his forces at the Battle of the Little Bighorn.
<ref>Donovan, 2008, p. 175: "Custer refused Terry's offer of the Gatling gun battery."</ref><ref>Lawson, 2008, p. 50: "Military historians have speculated whether this decision was a mistake. If Gatling guns had made it to the battlefield, they might have allowed Custer enough firepower to allow Custer's companies to survive on Last Stand Hill."</ref><ref>Philbrick, 2010, p. 73: "Since its invention during the Civil War, the Gatling gun had been used sparingly in actual battle, but there was no denying, potentially at least, an awesome weapon."</ref>
One factor concerned Major Marcus Reno's recent 8-day reconnaissance-in-force of the Powder-Tongue-Rosebud Rivers, June 10 to 18.<ref>Sklenar, 2000, pp. 71, 75</ref><ref>Donovan, 2008, pp. 162–63: Reno's wing "left...on June 10...accompanied by a Gatling gun and its crew..."</ref> This deployment had demonstrated that artillery pieces mounted on gun carriages and hauled by horses no longer fit for cavalry mounts (so-called condemned horses) were cumbersome over mixed terrain and vulnerable to breakdowns.<ref>Donovan, 2008, p. 163: "The [Gatling gun] and its ammunition...was mostly pulled by two 'condemned' cavalry mounts [p. 176: "...drawn by four condemned horses..."] judged not fit to carry troopers, but it needed the occasional hauling by hand through some of the rougher ravines. (The gun would eventually upset and injure three men.)" and p. 175: "...Reno had taken [a Gatling gun] on his [June reconnaissance mission], and it had been nothing but trouble."</ref><ref>Sklenar, 2000, p. 72: On Reno's [June 10 to June 18] reconnaissance "the Gatling guns proved to be an annoying burden...they either fell apart or had to be disassembled and carried in pieces over rough terrain." And p. 79: "During the Reno scout [reconnoitering], the two guns were actually abandoned (and retrieved later) because soldiers got tired of dragging them over rough spots...[I]f Custer did not already have a fully formed negative opinion of the Gatlings on such an expedition, the experience of the Reno [reconnaissance of early June] surely convinced him."</ref><ref>Philbrick, 2010, p. 73: "The biggest problem with the [Gatling] gun was transporting it to where it might be of some use... [in the week preceding the Battle of the Little Bighorn], the Gatling, not the mules, proved to be the biggest hindrance to the expedition."</ref><ref>Donovan, 2008, p. 175: "...Reno had taken one [Gatling gun] along [on his June reconnaissance], and it had been nothing but trouble." And p. 195: Custer, in comments to his officer staff before the Battle of the Little Bighorn, said that "...if hostiles could whip the Seventh [Cavalry]...they could defeat a much larger force."</ref> Custer, valuing the mobility of the 7th Cavalry and recognizing Terry's acknowledgment of the regiment as "the primary strike force" preferred to remain unencumbered by the Gatling guns.<ref>Hatch, 1997, pp. 80–81: The Gatling guns "were cumbersome and would cause delays over the traveled route. The guns were drawn by four condemned horses [and] obstacles in the terrain [would] require their unhitching and assistance of soldier to continue...Terry's own battery [of Gatling guns]—the one he had offered to Custer—[would have] a difficult time keeping up with the march of Colonel John Gibbon's infantry."</ref><ref>Lawson, 2007, p. 50: "[Custer] turned down General Terry's offer to bring the three Gatling guns, because they would slow down his movement."</ref><ref>Philbrick, 2010, p. 99: "Custer knew he had to move quickly to accomplish his objective. That was why he ultimately declined the offer of the Gatling guns that had proven such a bother to Reno."</ref><ref>Sklenar, 2000, p. 79: After the 7th Cavalry's departure up Rosebud Creek, "even Brisbin would acknowledge that everyone in Gibbon's command understood [that]...the Seventh was the primary strike force."</ref> Custer insisted that the artillery was superfluous to his success, in that the 7th Cavalry alone was sufficient to cope with any force they should encounter, informing Terry: "The 7th can handle anything it meets".<ref>Philbrick, 2010, p. 99: "Thinking his regiment powerful enough to handle anything it might encounter, [Custer, in addition to declining the Gatling guns] declined the offer of four additional cavalry companies from [Gibbon's] Montana column." And p. 114: Custer told his officer staff days before the battle that he "opted against the Gatling guns...so as not to 'hamper our movements'"</ref><ref>Sklenar, 2000, p. 92: Custer "on the evening of 22 June...[informed his officer staff]...why he had not accepted the offers...of Gatling guns (he thought they might hamper his movements at a critical moment)."</ref><ref>Lawson, 2007 p. 50: "Custer...refused Major James Brisbin's offer to include his Second Cavalry Regiment [200 troopers], told Terry "the 7th can handle anything it meets."</ref><ref>Donovan, 2008, p. "Explaining his refusal of the Gatling gun detachment and the Second Cavalry battalion, he convolutedly reaffirmed his confidence in the Seventh's ability to defeat any number of Indians they could find."</ref> In addition to these practical concerns, a strained relationship with Major James Brisbin induced Custer's polite refusal to integrate Brisbin's Second Cavalry unit—and the Gatling guns—into his strike force, as it would disrupt any hierarchical arrangements that Custer presided over.<ref>Hatch, 1997, p. 24: "Brisbin argued with Terry that Custer was undermanned, and requested that his troops [which had the] Gatling guns – with Terry in command because Brisbin did not want to serve under Custer—be permitted to accompany [Custer's] column. Custer refused the assistance, and Terry abided by that."</ref><ref>Sklenar, 2000, pp. 78–79: "Apparently, Terry offered [Major James] Brisbin's battalion and Gatling gun battery to accompany the Seventh, but Custer refused these additions for several reasons. First of all, Custer and Brisbin did not get along and Custer thus would not have wanted to place Brisbin in a senior command position. Custer was on the verge of abolishing the wings led by Reno and Benteen, and the inclusion of Brisbin would have complicated the arrangement he had in mind. Also, Custer retained the conviction that the Seventh could handle any force of Indians it might encounter, and he may have reasoned that taking the Second Cavalry would leave [Colonel John] Gibbon's column susceptible to attack and defeat..."</ref><ref>Hatch, 1997, p. 80: "The offer of 3 Gatling Guns...was made to Custer by General Alfred Terry [at the] urging of Major James Brisbin, who also desired his Second Cavalry to become part of Custer's detachment. Custer respectfully declined both offers, state that the Gatlings would impede his march.</ref>
Historians have acknowledged the firepower inherent in the Gatling gun: they were capable of firing 350 .45-70 ({{convert|0.45|-|0.70|in|mm|disp=out}}) caliber rounds per minute. Jamming caused by black powder residue could lower that rate,<ref>Hatch, 1997, p. 80: "The Gatling Guns would have brought formidable firepower into play; this rapid fire artillery could fire up to 350 rounds in 1 minute."</ref><ref>Donovan, 2008, p. 175: "Each of these heavy, hand-cranked weapons could fire up to 350 rounds a minute, an impressive rate, but they were known to jam frequently.</ref> raising questions as to their reliability under combat conditions.<ref>Hatch, 1997, pp. 80–81: "The Gatlings had major drawbacks, such as frequent jamming due to residue from black powder..."</ref><ref>Philbrick, 2010, p. 73: "Military traditionalists like to claim the gun was unreliable, but in actuality the Gatling functioned surprisingly well."</ref> Researchers have further questioned the effectiveness of the guns under the tactics that Custer was likely to face with the Lakota and Cheyenne warriors. The Gatlings, mounted high on carriages, required the battery crew to stand upright during its operation, making them easy targets for Lakota and Cheyenne sharpshooters.<ref>Hatch, 1997, p. 81: "...The [Gatling] guns were mounted on large [diameter] wheels, which meant that in order to operate them the gun crews would [necessarily] be standing upright, making them [extremely vulnerable] to Indian snipers."</ref>
Historian [[Robert M. Utley]], in a section entitled "Would Gatling Guns Have Saved Custer?" presents two judgments from Custer's contemporaries: General [[Henry J. Hunt]], expert in the tactical use of artillery in Civil War, stated that Gatlings "would probably have saved the command", whereas General [[Nelson A. Miles]], participant in the Great Sioux War declared "[Gatlings] were useless for Indian fighting."<ref>Utley, 1987, pp. 80–81</ref>
== Weapons ==
=== Lakota and Cheyenne ===
[[File:Henry Winchester Musket.JPG|thumb|Henry rifle and a Winchester Model 1866 rifle. These [[Repeating rifle|repeater]] rifles were capable of higher rates of fire than the [[Springfield rifle|Springfield]] [[Trapdoor mechanism|trapdoor.]]]]
The Lakota and Cheyenne warriors that opposed Custer's forces possessed a wide array of weaponry, from war clubs and lances to the most advanced firearms of the day.<ref>Gallear, 2001: "The Indians were well equipped with hand-to-hand weapons and these included lances, tomahawks, war clubs, knives and war shields were carried for defense. Such weapons were little different from the shock and hand-to-hand weapons, used by the cavalry of the European armies, such as the sabre and lance...[in addition] the Indians were clearly armed with a number of sophisticated firearms..."<br />Hatch, 1997, p. 184: "Sioux and Cheyenne weapons included...clubs, bows and arrows, lances, and hatchets [as well as] an array of new and old [model] firearms: muzzleloaders, Spenser, Sharps, Henry and Winchester repeating rifles, and...Springfield carbines taken from Reno's dead cavalrymen."<br />Robinson, 1995, p. xxix: "...Indians carried at least forty-one different kinds of firearms in the fight."</ref> The typical firearms carried by the Lakota and Cheyenne combatants were [[muzzleloader]]s, more often a [[Caplock mechanism|cap-lock]] smoothbore, the so-called Indian trade musket or Leman guns<ref>Flaherty, 1993, p. 208: "By 1873, Indians "used the traditional bow and arrows and war club along with firearms such as the muzzle-loading Leman rifle, issued as part of treaty agreements, and rapid-fire Henry and Winchester rifles, obtained through civilian traders."</ref><ref>Gallear, 2001: "Trade guns were made up until the 1880s by such gunsmiths as Henry Leman, J.P. Lower and J. Henry & Son."</ref> distributed to Indians by the US government at treaty conventions.<ref>Gallear, 2001: "These guns were crudely made for Indian trade and were given out as a sweetener for treaties."</ref> Less common were surplus rifled muskets of American Civil War vintage such as the [[Pattern 1853 Enfield]] and [[Springfield Model 1861]].<ref>Gallear, 2001: "Civil War type muzzleloader rifles would have had an effective range of about 500 yards, but with [[volley fire]] were effective to 1000 yards."</ref> Metal cartridge weapons were prized by native combatants, such as the [[Henry rifle|Henry]] and the [[Spencer repeating rifle|Spencer]] lever-action rifles, as well as [[Sharps rifle|Sharps]] breechloaders.<ref>Donovan, 2008, p. 188: "Though most of the men in the village carried the bow and arrow in battle...over the past decade [1866–1876] the sale and trade of arms to the Indians had increased significantly...[t]he latest Winchester magazine rifles were available for the right price...Many men carried older guns—muzzleloaders, for which some molded their own bullets; Henry and Spencer repeaters; Springfield, Enfield [rifled muskets], Sharps breechloaders and many different pistols. All told, between one-third and one-half of the gathering warriors had a gun."</ref> Bows and arrows were utilized by younger braves in lieu of the more potent firearms; effective up to 30 yards (27 meters), the arrows could readily maim or disable an opponent.<ref>Gallear, 2001: "The bows effective range was about 30 yards and was unlikely to kill a man instantly or even knock him off his horse. However, it would incapacitate and few troopers would fight on after an arrow hit them."</ref>
Sitting Bull's forces had no assured means to supply themselves with firearms and ammunition.<ref>Gallear, 2001: "There is also evidence that some Indians were short of ammunition and it is unclear how good a shot they were. They certainly did not have the ammunition to practice, except whilst hunting buffalo, and this would suggest that the Indians generally followed the same technique of holding their fire until they were at very close range,"</ref> Nonetheless, they could usually procure these through post-traders, licensed or unlicensed, and from gunrunners who operated in the Dakota Territory: "...a horse or a mule for a repeater...buffalo hides for ammunition."<ref>Donovan, 2008, p. 188 (fragment of quote)<br />Utley, 1993, p. 39: The Indians had grown to depend on the goods [white traders] supplied, especially firearms and ammunition...they could be obtained only though white men, directly, of through Indian intermediaries."<br />Gallear, 2001: "Indian trade muskets...could be legitimately obtained from traders at Indian agencies...The Sioux [however] were keen to obtain metal cartridge weapons [available].from half-breed Indian traders out of Canada or unsupervised traders at Missouri River posts in Montana...By 1876 almost all [Model 1860 Henry rifles] in civilian use would have disappeared so Indian use must have come from ex-Civil War stocks sold off cheaply and bought by Indian traders, such as the Métis.<br />Flaherty, 1993, p. 208: By 1873, Indians "used the traditional bow and arrows and war club along with firearms such as the muzzle-loading Leman rifle, issued as part of treaty agreements, and rapid-fire Henry and Winchester rifles, obtained through civilian traders."<br />Donovan, 2008, p. 188: "...there were many...ways a warrior could acquire a rifle. Post-traders on some reservations supplied illegal arms to non-treat[y] [Indians]; so did unlicensed traders—primarily the half-breed Canadian Métis gunrunners to the north in the desolate area known as Burning Ground below the Black Hills.<br />Robinson, 1995, p. xxix: "Studies of the cartridge cases recovered in archaeological investigations of the Little Big Horn show the Indians carried at least forty-one different kinds [models] if firearms in that fight, and it estimated that at least 25 to 30 percent [of Lakota and Cheyenne combatants] were armed with modern sixteen-shot Winchester and Henry repeating rifles....they also armed themselves with captured Springfield carbines...[and] carried traditional weapons...bows and arrows, hatchets...and war clubs."</ref> Custer's highly regarded guide, "Lonesome" [[Charley Reynolds]], informed his superior in early 1876 that Sitting Bull's forces were amassing weapons, including numerous Winchester repeating rifles and abundant ammunition.<ref>Donovan, 2008, p. 118: Reynolds "...{{nbsp}}best white scout in Dakota Territory...had earned Custer's respect for his excellent work...report[ed] to Custer that Lakotas under Sitting Bull were 'gathering in force'. They had been preparing for war by collecting Winchester repeating rifles and plenty ammunition."</ref>
Of the guns owned by Lakota and Cheyenne fighters at the Little Bighorn, approximately 200 were repeating rifles<ref name="Hatch 1997, p. 184">Hatch, 1997, p. 184: "It has been estimated that perhaps 200 repeating rifles were possessed by the Indians, nearly one for each [man in Custer's battalion]."</ref> corresponding to about 1 of 10 of the encampment's two thousand able-bodied fighters who participated in the battle.<ref>Sklenar, 2000, p. 163: "...the village contained possibly 1,200 lodges, plus several hundred wikiups housing individual warriors. The total population of men, woman and children probably reached 6,000 to 7,000 at its peak, with 2,000 of these being able-bodied warriors..."</ref>
=== 7th Cavalry ===
[[File:SAA 5773 oN.JPG|thumb|Colt Single Action Army, serial No 5773 7th Cavalry issued]]
[[File:Springfield Trapdoor breech open.JPG|thumb|Springfield trapdoor rifle with breech open. Custer's troopers were equipped with these breech-loading, single-shot rifles.]]
The troops under Custer's command carried two regulation firearms authorized and issued by the U.S. Army in early 1876: the breech-loading, single-shot [[Springfield Model 1873]] carbine, and the 1873 [[Colt Single Action Army|Colt]] single-action revolver.<ref>Lawson, 2007, pp. 52–53: "The troops of the 7th Cavalry were each armed with two standard weapons, a rifle and a pistol. The rifle was a .45/55-caliber Springfield carbine and the pistol was a .45-caliber Colt revolver...both weapons were models [introduced in] 1873 [though] they did not represent the latest in firearm technology."</ref> The regulation [[Model 1860 Light Cavalry Saber|Model 1860 saber]] or "long knives" were not carried by troopers upon Custer's order.<ref>Lawson, 2007, p. 53: "Although each soldier was also issued a sword or saber, Custer ordered these weapons boxed before the strike force departed [up Rosebud Creek]...the lack of swords would prove to be a disadvantage during some of the close fighting that lay ahead. Gunpowder of the day is now known as black powder. It causes substantial fouling within the firearm. After about 25 rounds are fired from the M1873 revolver using black powder, the cylinder binds on the cylinder pin. The cavalry trooper would then have used his saber. However, their inclusion would not have changed the ultimate outcome."</ref><ref>Gallear, 2001: "No bayonet or hand to hand weapon was issued apart from the saber, which under Custer's orders was left behind."</ref>
Except for a number of officers and scouts who opted for personally owned and more expensive rifles and handguns, the 7th Cavalry was uniformly armed.<ref>Lawson, 2008, p. 53: "Many of the officers and most of the civilians brought along their own weapons."</ref><ref>Donovan, 2008, p. 191: "...{{nbsp}}each enlisted man carried the regulation single-action breech-loading, M1873 Springfield carbine...the standard issue sidearm was the reliable [single-action] M1873 Colt .45 cal. pistol."</ref><ref>Gallear, 2001: "Officers purchased their own carbines or rifles for hunting purposes...[however] these guns may have been left with the baggage and is unclear how many officers actually used these weapons in the battle. However, there is evidence that Reno's men did make use of long-range hunting rifles. White Scouts would have been better armed and seemed to favor long-range buffalo hunting type rifles over fast-shooting lever actions... Henrys, Spencers and Winchester M1866s would also have been popular choices... Some Scouts would have been armed with both types of weapons plus a variety of side arms."</ref>
Ammunition allotments provided 100 carbine rounds per trooper, carried on a [[Bandolier|cartridge belt]] and in saddlebags on their mounts. An additional 50 carbine rounds per man were reserved on the pack train that accompanied the regiment to the battlefield. Each trooper had 24 rounds for his Colt handgun.<ref>Donovan, 2008, p. 191: "[Each] trooper carried 100 rounds of carbine ammunition and 24 pistol cartridges with him—as many as 50 on a belt or in a pouch, and the remainder in his saddlebag (the pack train mules carried 26,000 more carbine rounds [approximately 50 extra per trooper])."</ref>
The opposing forces, though not equally matched in the number and type of arms, were comparably outfitted, and neither side held an overwhelming advantage in weaponry.<ref>Hatch, 1997, p. 184: "...{{nbsp}}not a wide disparity{{nbsp}}..." in arms of the opposing forces.</ref>
=== Lever-action repeaters vs. single-shot breechloaders ===
Two hundred or more Lakota and Cheyenne combatants are known to have been armed with Henry, Winchester, or similar lever-action repeating rifles at the battle.<ref name="Hatch 1997, p. 184" /><ref>Gallear, 2001: "the .44 rim-fire round fired from the Henry rifle is the most numerous Indian gun fired with almost as many individual guns identified as the Cavalry Springfield Model 1873 carbine."</ref> Virtually every trooper in the 7th Cavalry fought with the single-shot, breech-loading Springfield carbine and the Colt revolver.<ref>Gallear, 2001: "...by the time of the Little Bighorn the U.S. Army was standardizing on the Springfield rifle and carbine [and] saw breech-loading rifles and carbines as the way forward."</ref>
Historians have asked whether the repeating rifles conferred a distinct advantage on Sitting Bull's villagers that contributed to their victory over Custer's carbine-armed soldiers.<ref>Lawson, 2008, p. 93: "The rapid fire power of the Henry repeaters was intimidating, especially to inexperienced soldiers. Their use was probably a significant cause of the confusion and panic among the soldiers so widely reported by Native American eyewitnesses."</ref>
Historian Michael L. Lawson offers a scenario based on archaeological collections at the "Henryville" site, which yielded plentiful Henry rifle cartridge casings from approximately 20 individual guns. Lawson speculates that though less powerful than the Springfield carbines, the Henry repeaters provided a barrage of fire at a critical point, driving Lieutenant James Calhoun's L Company from Calhoun Hill and Finley Ridge, forcing it to flee in disarray back to Captain Myles Keogh's I Company and leading to the disintegration of that wing of Custer's Battalion.<ref>Lawson, 2007, pp. 91–93: "[Henryville] was named in the mid-1980s by archaeologists after they discovered a large artifact collection there, which included numerous .44-caliber Henry cartridges. The number of cartridges indicated that about 20 warriors at this position were using Henry repeating rifles. These weapons were less powerful than the cavalry's Springfield rifles, especially at long range; however, they had the advantage of providing rapid fire...The rapid fire power...was intimidating, especially to inexperienced soldiers. Their use was probably a significant a confusion and panic among the soldiers so widely reported by Native American eyewitnesses...Survivors of the assaults...fled north to seek safety with Keogh's Company I...they could react quickly enough to prevent the disintegration of their own unit."</ref>
==== Model 1873 / 1884 Springfield carbine and the U.S. Army ====
After exhaustive testing—including comparisons to domestic and foreign single-shot and repeating rifles—the Army Ordnance Board (whose members included officers Marcus Reno and Alfred Terry) authorized the Springfield as the official firearm for the United States Army.<ref>Donovan, 2008, p. 191: "The Springfield had won out over many other American and foreign rifles, some of them repeaters, after extensive testing supervised by an army board that had included Marcus Reno and Alfred Terry."</ref><ref>Gallear, 2001: "In 1872 the Army tested a number of foreign and domestic single-shot breechloaders..."</ref>
The Springfield, manufactured in a .45-70 long rifle version for the infantry and a .45-55 light carbine version for the cavalry, was judged a solid firearm that met the long-term and geostrategic requirements of the United States fighting forces.<ref>Robinson, 1995, p. xxviii: "...the Model 1873 Springfield rifle, in caliber .45-70 for the infantry, and .45-55 light carbine for cavalry."</ref>
[[File:Tomahawk and sabre; or even odds.jpg|thumb|''Tomahawk and sabre; or even odds'', painting by [[Charles Schreyvogel]] (1861–1912). This kind of combat never occurred at the Battle of the Little Bighorn: none of the 7th Cavalry carried sabers on Custer's orders.]]
Historian Mark Gallear claims that U.S. government experts rejected the lever-action repeater designs, deeming them ineffective in a clash with fully equipped European armies, or in case of an outbreak of another civil conflict. Gallear's analysis dismisses the allegation that rapid depletion of ammunition in lever-action models influenced the decision in favor of the single-shot Springfield. The [[American Indian Wars|Indian Wars]] are portrayed by Gallear as a minor theatre of conflict whose contingencies were unlikely to govern the selection of standard weaponry for an emerging industrialized nation.<ref>Gallear, 2001: "The established wisdom is that the U.S. Army did not adopt lever-action multiple shot weapons during the Civil War because of the problems they would create regarding the supply of ammunition. However, I believe that by the time of the Indian Wars the Army viewed the lever-actions weapons as under-powered novelty weapons and that they were equipping their men to fight wars against European equipped enemies or to re-fight the Civil War. The Indian Wars were seen as a minor sideshow in which troops armed to fight on European battlefields would be more than a match for fighting any number of Indians."</ref>
The Springfield carbine is praised for its "superior range and stopping power" by historian James Donovan, and author Charles M. Robinson reports that the rifle could be "loaded and fired much more rapidly than its muzzle-loading predecessors, and had twice the range of repeating rifles such as the Winchester, Henry and Spencer."<ref>Donovan, 2008, p. 191: "...a solid weapon with superior range and stopping power..."</ref><ref>Robinson, 1995, p. xxviii</ref><ref>Gallear, 2001: "The Army saw breech-loading rifles and carbines as the way forward. They could fire a much more powerful round at longer ranges than lever-actions."</ref>
Gallear points out that lever-action rifles, after a burst of rapid discharge, still required a reloading interlude that lowered their overall rate of fire; Springfield breechloaders "in the long run, had a higher rate of fire, which was sustainable throughout a battle."<ref>Gallear, 2001</ref>
The breechloader design patent for the Springfield's Erskine S. Allin [[Single-shot#Trapdoor actions|trapdoor system]] was owned by the US government and the firearm could be easily adapted for production with existing machinery at the [[Springfield Armory]] in Massachusetts.<ref>Gallear, 2001: "The Allin System had been developed at the Government Armories to reduce the cost, but the U.S. Treasury had already been forced to pay $124,000 to inventors whose patents it infringed. The adoption of the Allin breech gave the advantages of being already familiar throughout the Army, involved no more royalties, and existing machinery at the Springfield Armory could easily be adapted to its manufacture.</ref> At time when funding for the post-war Army had been slashed, the prospect for economical production influenced the Ordnance Board member selection of the Springfield option.<ref>Donovan, 2008, p. 191: "Army appropriations were at an all-time low, and a key factor in the Springfield's favor was its low production cost."</ref>
==== Malfunction of the Springfield carbine extractor mechanism ====
Whether the reported malfunction of the Model 1873 Springfield carbine issued to the 7th Cavalry contributed to their defeat has been debated for years.<ref>Gallear, 2001: "...some authorities have blamed the gun's reliability and tendency for rounds to jam in the breech for the defeat at the Little Bighorn.."</ref>
That the weapon experienced jamming of the extractor is not contested, but its contribution to Custer's defeat is considered negligible. This conclusion is supported by evidence from archaeological studies performed at the battlefield, where the recovery of Springfield cartridge casing, bearing tell-tale scratch marks indicating manual extraction, were rare.
The flaw in the ejector mechanism was known to the Army Ordnance Board at the time of the selection of the Model 1873 rifle and carbine, and was not considered a significant shortcoming in the overall worthiness of the shoulder arm.<ref>Hatch, 1997, p. 124: "This defect was noted by the board of officers (which included Major Reno) that selected the weapon in 1872, but was not considered particularly serious at the time."</ref> With the ejector failure in US Army tests as low as 1:300, the Springfield carbine was vastly more reliable than the muzzle-loading Springfields used in the Civil War.<ref>Gallear, 2001: "A study of .45-55 cases found at the battle concludes that extractor failure amounted to less than 0.35% of some 1,751 cases tested...the carbine was in fact more reliable than anything that had preceded it in U.S. Army service. These weapons were vastly more reliable than the muzzle-loading weapons of the Civil War, which would frequently misfire and cause the soldier to uselessly load multiple rounds on top of each other in the heat of battle.</ref><ref>Hatch, 1997, p. 124: 'Scholars have for years debated the issue of whether or not the Model 1873 Springfield carbine carried by cavalrymen, malfunctioned during the battle and [whether this] was one reason for the defeat" and "No definitive conclusion can be drawn [as to] the possible malfunction...as being a significant cause of Custer's defeat. Writers of both pro- and anti-Custer material over the years...have incorporated the theory into their works..."</ref>
Gallear addresses the post-battle testimony concerning the copper .45-55 cartridges supplied to the troops in which an officer is said to have cleared the chambers of spent cartridges for a number of Springfield carbines.<ref>Donovan, 2008, p. 440: footnote, "the carbine extractor problem did exist, though it probably had little impact on the outcome of the battle. DeRudio testified that 'the men had to take their knives to extract cartridges after firing 6 to 10 rounds.'...but 'the men' seems to have been an exaggeration. Private Daniel Newall mentioned the problem..."</ref> This testimony of widespread fusing of the casings offered to the Chief of Ordnance at the Reno Court of Inquiry in 1879 conflicts with the archaeological evidence collected at the battlefield. Field data showed that possible extractor failures occurred at a rate of approximately 1:30 firings at the Custer Battlefield and at a rate of 1:37 at the Reno-Benteen Battlefield.<ref>Hatch, 1997, p. 124: "The controversy results from the known failure of the carbine to [eject] the spent .45-55 caliber cartridge [casings]. The cartridge cases were made of copper, which expands when hot. That—coupled with a faulty extractor mechanism and dirt—could cause the head of the cartridge to be torn away when the block was opened, and the cartridge cylinder would then be left inside the chamber...The casings would have to be removed manually with a pocketknife before [reloading and] firing again. This defect was noted by the board of officers (which included Major Reno) that selected the weapon in 1872, but was not considered particularly serious at the time."</ref><ref>Hatch, 1997, p. 124: "How often did this defect [ejector failure] occur and cause the [Springfield carbines] to malfunction on June 25, 1876? According to Dr. Richard Fox in ''Archeology, History and Custer's Last Battle'' (1993), there were very few .45-55 caliber cartridge casings found during the digs on the battlefield that showed any evidence to pry or scratch marks [indicating manual extraction]. Only 3 of 88 [3.4%] found on the Custer [battalion] portion of the battlefield could possibly have been removed in an extraction jam. On the Reno-Benteen defense site [Reno Hill], 7 of 257 fit this category [2.7%]. If this was a representative number it would appear that malfunction from that source was minimal."</ref><ref>Hatch, 1997, p. 124: "Both sides [troopers and Indians] apparently believed that some weapons malfunctioned. Indian testimony...reported that some soldiers threw down their long guns and fought with their short guns. Could this indicate a malfunctioning [carbine] that was discarded and therefore could not have left its marked [pry scratched] casings on the field? ... No definitive conclusion can be drawn about the possible malfunction...as being a significant cause of Custer's defeat. Writers of both pro- and anti-Custer material over the years...have incorporated the theory into their works..."</ref>
Historian Thom Hatch observes that the Model 1873 Springfield, despite the known ejector flaw, remained the standard issue shoulder arm for US troops until the early 1890s.<ref>Hatch, 1997, p. 124: "On a final note: the Springfield carbine remained the official cavalry firearm until the early 1890s"</ref>
== Survivor claims ==
[[File:Giovanni Martini (militare).jpg|thumb|John Martin wearing the US Army uniform, ca. 1904]]
Soldiers under Custer's direct command were annihilated on the first day of the battle, except for three [[Crow scouts]] and several troopers (including [[Giovanni Martino|John Martin (Giovanni Martino)]]) that had left that column before the battle; one Crow scout, [[Curly (scout)|Curly]], was the only survivor to leave after the battle had begun. Rumors of other survivors persisted for years.<ref group="note">Graham, 146. Lt Edward Godfrey reported finding a dead 7th Cavalry horse (shot in the head), a grain sack, and a carbine at the mouth of the Rosebud River. He conjectured that a soldier had escaped Custer's fight and rafted across the river, abandoning his played-out horse.</ref>
Over 120 men and women would come forward over the course of the next 70 years claiming they were "the lone survivor" of Custer's Last Stand.<ref name="Custer Survivors 101">{{cite book| last=Harris| first=Ethan E.| title=Custer Survivors 101: The Impostor Roster| year=2012| publisher=Warrior's Quill |type=E-book| at=Introduction}}</ref> The phenomenon became so widespread that one historian remarked, "Had Custer had all of those who claimed to be 'the lone survivor' of his two battalions he would have had at least a brigade behind him when he crossed the Wolf Mountains and rode to the attack."<ref>{{cite book| last=Stewart| first=Edgar I.| title=Custer's Luck| year=1980| publisher=University of Oklahoma Press| location=Norman, OK| isbn=978-0-8061-1632-7| page=490}}</ref>
The historian [[Earl Alonzo Brininstool]] suggested he had collected at least 70 "lone survivor" stories.<ref>{{cite book |last=Van de Water |first=Frederic F. |date=1988 |title=Glory-Hunter: A Life of General Custer |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ln5AQjdS9l8C&pg=PA5 |location=Lincoln, NE |publisher=University of Nebraska Press |page=5 |isbn=978-0-8032-9607-7 |access-date=May 16, 2014 |url-status = live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170117221402/https://books.google.com/books?id=Ln5AQjdS9l8C&pg=PA5 |archive-date=January 17, 2017 |df=mdy-all }}</ref><ref>{{cite book| last=Ege| first=Robert J.| title=Curse Not His Curls| year=2008| publisher=Old Army Press| page=121}}</ref> Michael Nunnally, an amateur Custer historian, wrote a booklet describing 30 such accounts.<ref name="Nunnally Survived">{{cite book| last=Nunnally| first=Michael L.| title=I Survived Custer's Last Stand| year=2005| page=38}}</ref> W. A. Graham claimed that even Libby Custer received dozens of letters from men, in shocking detail, about their sole survivor experience.<ref>{{cite book| last=Graham| first=W.A.| title= The Custer Myth: A source book of Custeriana with a new introduction by Brian C. Pohanka| year=1995| publisher=Stackpole Books| location=Mechanicsburg, PA| isbn=0-8117-0347-9|pages=353–57, 413}}</ref> At least 125 alleged "single survivor" tales have been confirmed in the historical record as of July 2012.
[[Frank Finkel]], from [[Dayton, Washington]], had such a convincing story that historian Charles Kuhlman<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.lib.montana.edu/collect/spcoll/findaid/1043.html| title=Charles Kuhlman Papers, 1896–1959| publisher=University of Montana Library| access-date=June 10, 2013|url-status = live| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131221005946/http://www.lib.montana.edu/collect/spcoll/findaid/1043.html| archive-date=December 21, 2013| df=mdy-all}}</ref> believed the alleged survivor, going so far as to write a lengthy defense of Finkel's participation in the battle.<ref name="Kuhlman Finkel">{{cite book| last=Kuhlman| first=Charles| title=The Frank Finkel Story| year=1968| publisher=Citizen Printing Co.| location=Omaha, NE| page=20}}</ref> Douglas Ellison—mayor of [[Medora, North Dakota]], and an amateur historian—also wrote a book in support of the veracity of Finkel's claim,<ref name="Ellison Finkel">{{cite book| last=Ellison| first=Douglas W.| title=Sole Survivor: An Examination of the Frank Finkel Narrative| year=1983| publisher=North Plains Press| page=128}}</ref> but most scholars reject it.<ref name=Boyes>{{cite book| last=Boyes| first=William| title=No Custer Survivors: Or, The Unveiling of Frank Finkel| year=1977| publisher=WJBM Associates| page=16}}</ref><ref name="Nunnally Hoax">{{cite book| last=Nunnally| first=Michael L.| title=The Frank Finkel Hoax: No Survivor of Custer's Last Stand| year=2008| publisher=Old Scout Books| page=32}}</ref>
Some of these survivors held a form of celebrity status in the United States, among them Raymond Hatfield "Arizona Bill" Gardner<ref>{{cite book| title=The Old Wild West: Adventures of Arizona Bill| publisher=Naylor Company| location=San Antonio, TX| author=Raymond Hatfield Gardner| edition=1st| year=1944}}</ref> and Frank Tarbeaux.<ref>{{cite book| title=The Autobiography of Frank Tarbeaux, as Told to Donald Henderson Clarke| url=https://archive.org/details/autobiographyoff00tarb| year=1930| publisher=Vanguard Press| page=[https://archive.org/details/autobiographyoff00tarb/page/n304 287]}}</ref> A few even published autobiographies that detailed their deeds at the Little Bighorn.<ref>{{cite book| last=Ryan| first=Ed| title=Me and The Black Hills| year=1951| publisher=Ed Ryan| location=Custer, South Dakota| page=89}}</ref><ref>{{cite book| last=Gardner| first=Raymond Hatfield| title=The Old Wild West: Adventures of Arizona Bill| year=2009| publisher=Kessinger Publishing| isbn=978-1-104-84859-0| page=326}}</ref><ref>{{cite book| last=Clarke| first=Donald Henderson| title=The Autobiography of Frank Tarbeaux| url=https://archive.org/details/autobiographyoff00tarb| year=1930| publisher=Vanguard Press| location=New York| page=[https://archive.org/details/autobiographyoff00tarb/page/286 286]}}</ref>
A modern historian, Albert Winkler, has asserted that there is some evidence to support the case of Private Gustave Korn being a genuine survivor of the battle: 'While nearly all of the accounts of men who claimed to be survivors from Custer's column at the Battle of the Little Bighorn are fictitious, Gustave Korn's story is supported by contemporary records.' Several contemporary accounts note that Korn's horse bolted in the early stages of the battle, whilst he was serving with Custer's 'I' company, and that he ended up joining Reno's companies making their stand on Reno Hill.<ref>Winkler, A. (2013). 'The case for a Custer Battalion survivor: Private Gustave Korn’s story.' ''The Magazine of Western History'', 63(1). Reprinted in https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2881&context=facpub. Retrieved 17 April 2020.</ref>
Almost as soon as men came forward implying or directly pronouncing their unique role in the battle, there were others who were equally opposed to any such claims. [[Theodore Goldin]], a battle participant who later became a controversial historian on the event, wrote (in regards to Charles Hayward's claim to have been with Custer and taken prisoner):
<blockquote> The Indians always insisted that they took no prisoners. If they did—a thing I firmly believe—they were tortured and killed the night of the 25th. As an evidence of this I recall the three charred and burned heads we picked up in the village near the scene of the big war dance, when we visited the village with Capt. Benteen and Lieut. Wallace on the morning of the 27th... I'm sorely afraid, Tony, that we will have to class Hayward's story, like that of so many others, as pure, unadulterated B. S. As a clerk at headquarters I had occasion to look over the morning reports of at least the six troops at Lincoln almost daily, and never saw his name there, or among the list of scouts employed from time to time ... I am hoping that some day all of these damned fakirs will die and it will be safe for actual participants in the battle to admit and insist that they were there, without being branded and looked upon as a lot of damned liars. Actually, there have been times when I have been tempted to deny that I ever heard of the 7th Cavalry, much less participated with it in that engagement ... My Medal of Honor and its inscription have served me as proof positive that I was at least in the vicinity at the time in question, otherwise I should be tempted to deny all knowledge of the event.<ref name="A Pretended Custer Survivor">{{cite web| title=A Pretended Custer Survivor: Another Attempt to Pose As a Survivor Punctured by the Regiment's Clerk| url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=mdGv78FIKkEC&dat=19260505&printsec=frontpage&hl=en| publisher=The Big Horn Searchlight| access-date=2 August 2012}}</ref></blockquote>
The only documented and verified survivor of Custer's command (having been actually involved in Custer's part of the battle) was Captain Keogh's horse, [[Comanche (horse)|Comanche]]. The wounded horse was discovered on the battlefield by General Terry's troops and, although other cavalry mounts survived, they had been taken by the Indians. Comanche eventually was returned to the fort and became the regimental mascot.<ref group="note">Badly wounded, the horse had been overlooked or left behind by the victors, who had taken the other surviving horses. Comanche was taken back to the steamer ''Far West'' and returned to Fort Abraham Lincoln to be nursed back to health.</ref> Several other badly wounded horses were found and killed at the scene.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://newwest.net/topic/article/comanche_the_horse_that_survived_the_battle_of_the_little_bighorn_part_2/C39/L39 |title=Comanche: The Horse that Survived the Battle of the Little Bighorn, Part 2 |last=Shanks |first=Jenny |date=June 26, 2007 |website=NewWest |access-date=15 January 2017 |url-status = live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121025010617/http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/comanche_the_horse_that_survived_the_battle_of_the_little_bighorn_part_2/C39/L39/ |archive-date=October 25, 2012 |df=mdy-all }}</ref> Writer [[Evan S. Connell]] noted in ''[[Son of the Morning Star]]'':<ref>{{cite book |last= Connell|first= Evan S. |author-link= Evan S. Connell|date=1984 |title= Son of the Morning Star: Custer and the Little Bighorn |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=f7uQZPCvPPcC |publisher= [[Macmillan Publishers (United States)|Macmillan]] |isbn=0-88394-088-4 |access-date=15 January 2017}}</ref>
[[File:ComancheeCuster-GrabillLR.jpg|thumb|[[Comanche (horse)|Comanche]] in 1887]]
<blockquote>Comanche was reputed to be the only survivor of the Little Bighorn, but quite a few Seventh Cavalry mounts survived, probably more than one hundred, and there was even a yellow bulldog. Comanche lived on another fifteen years. When he died, he was stuffed and to this day remains in a glass case at the University of Kansas. So, protected from moths and souvenir hunters by his humidity-controlled glass case, Comanche stands patiently, enduring generation after generation of undergraduate jokes. The other horses are gone, and the mysterious yellow bulldog is gone, which means that in a sense the legend is true. Comanche alone survived.</blockquote>
== Battlefield preservation ==
{{Main|Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument}}
The site of the battle was first preserved as a United States [[U.S. National Cemetery|national cemetery]] in 1879 to protect the graves of the 7th Cavalry troopers. In 1946, it was re-designated as the ''Custer Battlefield [[U.S. National Monument|National Monument]]'', reflecting its association with Custer. In 1967, Major Marcus Reno was re-interred in the cemetery with honors, including an eleven-gun salute. Beginning in the early 1970s, there was concern within the [[National Park Service]] over the name Custer Battlefield National Monument failing to adequately reflect the larger history of the battle between two cultures. Hearings on the name change were held in [[Billings, Montana|Billings]] on June 10, 1991, and during the following months Congress renamed the site the ''Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument''.
United States memorialization of the battlefield began in 1879 with a temporary monument to the U.S. dead. In 1881, the current marble obelisk was erected in their honor. In 1890, marble blocks were added to mark the places where the U.S. cavalry soldiers fell.
Nearly 100 years later, ideas about the meaning of the battle have become more inclusive. The United States government acknowledged that Native American sacrifices also deserved recognition at the site. The 1991 bill changing the name of the national monument also authorized an Indian Memorial to be built near Last Stand Hill in honor of Lakota and Cheyenne warriors. The commissioned work by native artist [[Colleen Cutschall]] is shown in the photograph at right. On Memorial Day 1999, in consultation with tribal representatives, the U.S. added two red granite markers to the battlefield to note where Native American warriors fell. As of December 2006, a total of ten warrior markers have been added (three at the Reno–Benteen Defense Site and seven on the Little Bighorn Battlefield).<ref>National Park Service website for the Little Bighorn Battlefield.</ref>
The Indian Memorial, themed "Peace Through Unity" l is an open circular structure that stands {{convert|75|yd|abbr=off}} from the 7th Cavalry obelisk. Its walls have the names of some Indians who died at the site, as well as native accounts of the battle. The open circle of the structure is symbolic, as for many tribes, the circle is sacred. The "spirit gate" window facing the Cavalry monument is symbolic as well, welcoming the dead cavalrymen into the memorial.<ref>{{Cite web|title = The Indian Memorial Peace Through Unity – Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument (U.S. National Park Service)|url = http://www.nps.gov/libi/the-indian-memorial-peace-through-unity.htm|website = www.nps.gov|access-date = 2015-04-07|url-status = live|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150413060331/http://www.nps.gov/libi/the-indian-memorial-peace-through-unity.htm|archive-date = April 13, 2015|df = mdy-all}}</ref>
<gallery mode="packed" heights="150px" style="text-align:left" class="center">
File:Littlebighorn HR Locke.jpg|Photo taken in 1894 by [[H.R. Locke]] on Battle Ridge looking toward Last Stand Hill (top center). To the right of Custer Hill is Wooden Leg Hill, named for a surviving warrior. He described the death of a Sioux sharpshooter killed after being seen too often by the enemy.<ref>[http://www.friendslittlebighorn.com/martinpate.htm "Martin Pate"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101123193206/http://friendslittlebighorn.com/martinpate.htm |date=November 23, 2010 }}, ''Friends Of The Little Bighorn Battlefield'', retrieved April 24, 2010.</ref><ref>Wooden Leg, ''q.v.'', p. 236.</ref>
File:little bighorn memorial overview with clouds.jpg|The battlefield in 2005
File:Casualty Marker Battle of the Little Bighorn.jpg|US Casualty Marker Battle of the Little Bighorn
file:little-bighorn-memorial-sculpture-2.jpg|''Indian Memorial'' by Colleen Cutschall<ref>{{cite book|last1=Rankin|first1=ed. by Charles E.|title=Legacy: New perspectives on the Battle of the Little Bighorn; [proceedings of the Little Bighorn Legacy Symposium, held in Billings, Montana, August 3–6, 1994|date=1997|publisher=Historical Soc. Press|location=Helena, Mont.|isbn=0-917298-41-1|page=[https://archive.org/details/legacynewperspec0000unse/page/310 310]|edition=Nachdr.|url=https://archive.org/details/legacynewperspec0000unse/page/310}}</ref>
</gallery>
== In popular culture ==
{{See also|Cultural depictions of George Armstrong Custer}}
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* [[John Mulvany]]'s 1881 painting ''Custer's Last Rally'' was the first of the large images of this battle. It was {{convert|11|by|20|ft|m}} and toured the country for over 17 years.<ref>Russell, D. Custer's List: A Checklist of Pictures Relating to the Battle of the Little Big Horn. Fort Worth: Amon Carter Museum of Western Art, 1969</ref>
* In 1896, Anheuser-Busch commissioned from Otto Becker a lithographed, modified version of Cassilly Adams' painting ''Custer's Last Fight'', which was distributed as a print to saloons all over America.<ref>{{cite web
| title= Kansas Historical Quarterly – The Pictorial Record of the Old West, 4
| publisher= Kansas Historical Society
| url= http://www.kshs.org/publicat/khq/1946/46_4_taft.htm
| access-date= 2012-03-15
|url-status = live
| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100729021654/http://www.kshs.org/publicat/khq/1946/46_4_taft.htm
| archive-date= July 29, 2010
| df= mdy-all
}}</ref>
* [[Edgar Samuel Paxson]] completed his painting ''Custer's Last Stand'' in 1899. In 1963 [[Harold McCracken]], the noted historian and Western art authority, deemed Paxson's painting "the best pictoral representation of the battle" and "from a purely artistic standpoint...one of the best if not the finest pictures which have been created to immortalize that dramatic event."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://home1.gte.net/espaxson/custer.htm |title=Custer's Last Stand – Artist E.S. Paxson |publisher=Home1.gte.net |access-date=2012-03-15 |url-status = dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120226201104/http://home1.gte.net/espaxson/custer.htm |archive-date=February 26, 2012 }}</ref>
* In 1927, ''Little Big Horn'' opened in theaters in the U.S., featuring [[Roy Stewart]] with John Beck as Custer.<ref>Evans 2000, p. 180.</ref>
* The 1964 novel, ''[[Little Big Man (novel)|Little Big Man]]'' by American author [[Thomas Berger (novelist)|Thomas Berger]], and 1970 [[Little Big Man (film)|film of the same name]], includes an account of the battle, and portrays a manic and somewhat psychotic Custer ([[Richard Mulligan]]) realizing to his horror that he and his command are "being wiped out."<ref name=HollywoodsIndian>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kvLJQsO3O0oC&q=%22Little+Big+Man%22+film&pg=PP2|title=Hollywood's Indian: The Portrayal of the Native American in Film|date=2011 |publisher=University Press of Kentucky |pages=121–136 |last1=Rollins |first1=Peter |isbn=978-0-8131-3165-8}}</ref>
* In 2007, the [[BBC]] presented a one-hour drama-documentary titled ''Custer's Last Stand''.<ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00795r3 Custer's Last Stand] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161102172600/http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00795r3 |date=November 2, 2016 }}. [[BBC Two]], Friday 23 Feb 2007.</ref>
* The May 2011 episode of the [[BBC Radio 4]] program ''[[In Our Time (radio series)|In Our Time]]'' featured [[Melvyn Bragg]] (and guests) discussing the context, conditions, and consequences of the battle.<ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0112xfd Custer's Last Stand] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111004143828/http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0112xfd |date=October 4, 2011 }}. [[BBC Radio 4]], Thursday 19 May 2011.</ref>
* In 2017, historian [[Daniele Bolelli]] covered the battle and the events leading to it in a three-part series on the "History on Fire" podcast.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://historyonfirepodcast.com/episodes/2017/3/31/episode-18-the-war-for-the-black-hills-part-3-last-stand | title=The War for the Black Hills |url-status = live| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171007021003/http://historyonfirepodcast.com/episodes/2017/3/31/episode-18-the-war-for-the-black-hills-part-3-last-stand | archive-date=October 7, 2017 | df=mdy-all }}</ref>
== See also ==
* [[Battle of the Little Bighorn reenactment]]
* [[List of battles won by Indigenous peoples of the Americas]]
* [[Fetterman fight]]
* [[Battle of the Rosebud]]
* [[St. Clair's Defeat]]
* [[Dade battle]]
* [[Battle of Powder River]]
== Notes ==
{{reflist|30em|group="note"}}
== References ==
{{reflist|30em}}
== Further reading ==
{{Refbegin|30em}}
* {{cite book|last=Barnard|first=Sandy|title=Digging into Custer's Last Stand|location=Huntington Beach, California|publisher=Ventana Graphics|year=1998|isbn=0-9618087-5-6}}
* {{cite book|last=Brininstool|first=E. A.|title=Troopers With Custer|url=https://archive.org/details/trooperswithcust0000brin|url-access=registration|location=Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania|publisher=Stackpole Books|year=1994|isbn=0-8117-1742-9}}
* {{cite book|last=Chamot|first=Jean-Marc|title=La Représentation du Général G. A. Custer dans le Cinéma et la Télévision des Etats-Unis (1909–2004)|location=Paris/Nanterre France|publisher=Université Paris 10 Nanterre – 974 p. (2 volumes)|year=2005}}
* {{cite book|last=Chiaventone|first=Frederick J.|title=A Road We Do Not Know: A Novel of Custer at the Little Bighorn|location=New York|publisher=Simon & Schuster|year=1996|isbn=0-684-83056-6|url=https://archive.org/details/roadwedonotknown00chia}}
* {{cite book|last=Connell|first=Evan S.|title=Son of the Morning Star|location=New York|publisher=North Point Press|year=1984|isbn=0-86547-510-5|title-link=Son of the Morning Star}}
* {{cite book|last=Cornut|first=David|title=Little Big Horn: Autopsie d'une bataille légendaire|location=Parçay-sur-Vienne|publisher=Anovi|year=2012|isbn=978-2-360351-34-3}}
* {{cite journal|last=Dickson|first=Ephriam D. III|url=http://www.american-tribes.com/messageboards/dietmar/KillEagleByEphriamDickson.pdf|title=Prisoners in the Indian Camp: Kill Eagle's Band at the Little Bighorn|journal=Greasy Grass|volume=27|issue=May 2011|pages=3–11|oclc=38114524 }}
* {{cite book|last=Donovan|first=James|title=A Terrible Glory: Custer and the Little Bighorn|publisher=Little, Brown, and Co.|isbn=978-0-316-15578-6|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780316155786|year= 2008}}
* {{cite book|last=Dustin|first=Fred|author-link=Fred Dustin|title=The Custer Tragedy: Events Leading Up to and Following the Little Big Horn Campaign of 1876|location=Ann Arbor, Michigan|publisher=Edwards Brothers|year=1939|oclc=4387990}}
* {{cite book|last=Elliot|first=M.A.|title=Custerology: The Enduring Legacy of the Indian Wars and George Armstrong Custer|publisher=University of Chicago Press|year=2007|isbn=978-0-226-20146-7|url=https://archive.org/details/custerologyendur00elli_0}}
* {{cite book|last=Connell|first=Evan S.|author-link=Evan S. Connell|title=Son of the Morning Star: Custer and The Little Bighorn|location=New York|publisher=North Point Press|year=1984|isbn=0-86547-510-5|title-link=Son of the Morning Star}}
* {{cite book|last=Evans|first=Alun|title=Brassey's Guide to War Films|publisher=Brassey's|year=2000|isbn=1-57488-263-5}}
* {{cite book|editor-last=Flaherty|editor-first=Thomas H.|year=1993|title=The Wild West|publisher=Time-Life Books|location=New York|isbn=0-446-51761-5|url=https://archive.org/details/wildwest00}}
* {{cite book|last=Fox|first=Richard Allan, Jr.|title=Archaeology, History, and Custer's Last Battle
|url=https://archive.org/details/archaeologyhisto00rich|url-access=registration|location=Norman, Oklahoma|publisher=University of Oklahoma Press|year=1993|isbn=0-8061-2496-2}}
* {{cite book|last=Gallear|first=Mark|year=2001|title=Guns at the Little Bighorn|publisher=Custer Association of Great Britain|url=http://www.westernerspublications.ltd.uk/CAGB%20Guns%20at%20the%20LBH.htm|url-status = dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060908225428/http://www.westernerspublications.ltd.uk/CAGB%20Guns%20at%20the%20LBH.htm|archive-date=September 8, 2006|df=mdy-all}}
* {{cite book|last=Goodrich|first=Thomas|title=Scalp Dance: Indian Warfare on the High Plains, 1865–1879|location=Mechanicsburg, PA|publisher=Stackpole Books|year=1997|isbn=0-8117-1523-X|url=https://archive.org/details/scalpdanceindian00good}}
* {{cite book|last=Graham|first=Col. William A.|title=The Custer Myth: A Source Book for Custeriana|location=New York|publisher=Bonanza Books|year=1953|oclc=944258}}
* {{cite book|last=Gray|first=John S.|title=Custer's Last Campaign: Mitch Boyer and the Little Bighorn Reconstructed|location=Lincoln|publisher=University of Nebraska Press|year=1991|isbn=0-8032-7040-2}}
* {{cite book|last=Grinnell|first=George Bird|title=The Fighting Cheyennes|location=Norman|publisher=The University of Oklahoma Press|orig-year=1915|year=1956|edition=Reprint|isbn=0-7394-0373-7}}
* {{cite book|last=Hammer|first=Kenneth|title=Men with Custer: Biographies of the 7th Cavalry: June 25, 1876|editor-first=Ronald H.|editor-last=Nichols|location=Hardin, Montana|publisher=Custer Battlefield Historical and Museum Association|year=2000|isbn=1-892258-05-6}}
* {{cite book|editor-last=Hammer|editor-first=Kenneth|title=Custer in '76: Walter Camp's notes on the Custer Fight|location=Provo|publisher=Brigham Young University|year=1976|isbn=0-8061-2279-X}}
* {{cite book|editor-last=Hardorff|editor-first=R. G.|title=Camp, Custer and the Little Big Horn|location=El Segundo, California|publisher=Upton and Sons|year=1997|isbn=0-912783-25-7}}
* {{cite book|last=Hatch|first=Thom|year=1997|title=Custer and the Little Bighorn: An Encyclopedia|publisher=McFarland & Company, Inc.|location=London|isbn=0-7864-0154-0}}
* {{cite book|last=Hardorff|first=R. G.|title=Hokahey! A Good Day to Die! The Indian Casualties of the Custer Fight|publisher=University of Nebraska Press|year=1993|isbn=0-8032-7322-3}}
* {{cite book|last=Keegan|first=John|author-link=John Keegan|title=Warpaths|location=London|publisher=Pimlico|year=1996|isbn=1-55013-621-6|url=https://archive.org/details/warpathstravelso0000keeg}}
* {{cite book|last=Lawson|first=Michael L.|year=2007|title=Little Bighorn: Winning the Battle, Losing the War|publisher=Chelsea House Publishers|location=New York|isbn=978-0-7910-9347-4}}
* {{cite book |last1=Lehman |first1=Tim |title=Bloodshed at Little Bighorn |date=2010 |publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press |location=Baltimore |isbn=978-0-8018-9501-2 |page=219}}
* {{cite book|last=Mails|first=Thomas E.|title=The Mystic Warriors of the Plains: The Culture, Arts, Crafts and Religion of the Plains Indians|location=New York|publisher=Marlowe & Co.|year=1996|isbn=1-56924-538-X}}
* {{cite book|last=Michno|first=Gregory F.|title=The Mystery of E Troop: Custer's Grey Horse Company at the Little Bighorn|location=Missoula, Montana|publisher=Mountain Press Publishing|year=1994|isbn=0-87842-304-4}}
* {{cite book|last=Miller|first=David, H.|title=Custer's Fall: The Native American Side of the Story|publisher=University of Nebraska Press|year=1985|isbn=0-452-01095-0}}
* {{cite book|editor-last=Neihardt|editor-first=John G.|title=Black Elk Speaks: Being the Life Story of a Holy Man of the Oglala Sioux|publisher=University of Nebraska Press|year=1979|isbn=0-8032-8359-8}}
* {{Cite book|last=Nevin|first=David|url=https://archive.org/details/soldiers00nevi|title=The Old West: Soldiers|publisher=[[Time-Life Books]]|year=1973|location=New York}}
* {{cite book|editor-last=Nichols|editor-first=Ronald H.|title=Reno Court of Inquiry|location=Hardin, Montana|publisher=Custer Battlefield Historical and Museum Association|year=1996|oclc=45499454}}
* {{cite book|last=Panzeri|first=Peter|title=Little Big Horn, 1876: Custer's Last Stand|location=London|publisher=Osprey|year=1995|isbn=1-85532-458-X}}
* {{cite book|last=Perrett|first=Bryan|title=Last Stand!: Famous Battles Against the Odds|location=London|publisher=Arms & Armour|year=1993|isbn=1-85409-188-3}}
* {{cite book|last=Philbrick|first=Nathaniel|author-link=Nathaniel Philbrick|title=The Last Stand: Custer, Sitting Bull, and The Battle of The Little Bighorn|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780670021727|url-access=registration|publisher=Viking Press|year=2010|isbn=978-0-14-242769-9}}
* {{cite book|last=Reno|first=Marcus A.|title=The official record of a court of inquiry convened at Chicago, Illinois, January 13, 1879, by the President of the United States upon the request of Major Marcus A. Reno, 7th U.S. Cavalry, to investigate his conduct at the Battle of the Little Big Horn, June 25–26, 1876|url= http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/History.Reno|series=University of Wisconsin Digital Collections|year=1951}}
* {{cite book|last=Rice|first=Earle Jr.|year=1998|title=The Battle or the Little Bighorn|series=World History Series|publisher=Lucent Books|location=San Diego|isbn=978-1-56006-453-4}}
* {{cite book|last=Sandoz|first=Mari|author-link=Mari Sandoz|title=The Battle of the Little Bighorn|url=https://archive.org/details/battleoflittlebi0000sand|url-access=registration|series=Lippincott Major Battle Series|location=Philadelphia|publisher=Lippincott|year=1966|isbn=0-8032-9100-0}}
* {{cite book|last=Robbins|first=James S.|title=The Real Custer; From Boy General to Tragic Hero|location=Washington D.C.|publisher=Regnery Publishing|year=2014|isbn=978-1-62157-209-1}}
* {{cite book|last=Robinson|first=Charles M. III|year=1995|title=A Good Year to Die: the story of the great Sioux war|publisher=Random House|location=New York|isbn=0-679-43025-3|url=https://archive.org/details/goodyeartodiesto00robi}}
* {{cite book|last=Sarf|first=Wayne Michael|title=The Little Bighorn Campaign: March–September 1876|url=https://archive.org/details/littlebighorncam0000sarf|url-access=registration|location=Conshohocken, Pennsylvania|publisher=Combined Books|year=1993|isbn=1-58097-025-7}}
* {{cite book|last1=Scott|first1=Douglas D.|last2=Connor|first2=Melissa|chapter=Context Delicti: Archaeological Context in Forensic Work|editor-last1=Haglund|editor-first1=W.D.|editor-last2=Sorg|editor-first2=M.H.|title=Forensic Taphonomy: The Postmortem Fate of Human Remains|publisher=CRC Press|pages=[https://archive.org/details/forensictaphonom0000unse/page/27 27–38]|location=Boca Raton|year=1997|isbn=978-0-8493-9434-8|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/forensictaphonom0000unse/page/27}}
* {{cite book|last=Sklenar|first=Larry|title=To Hell with Honor, General Custer and the Little Big Horn|location=Norman|publisher=University of Oklahoma Press|year=2000|isbn=0-8061-3472-0}}
* {{cite book|last=Tucker|first=Phillip Thomas|title=Death at the Little Bighorn: A New Look at Custer, His Tactics, and the Tragic Decisions Made at the Last Stand|publisher=Skyhorse|year=2017|isbn=978-1-63450-800-1}}
* {{cite book|last=Utley|first=Robert M.|year=1993|title=The Lance and the Shield: the life and times of Sitting Bull|publisher=Henry Holt & Company|location=New York|isbn=0-8050-1274-5|url=https://archive.org/details/lanceshieldlifet00utle}}
* {{cite book|last=Utley|first=Robert M.|title=Cavalier in Buckskin: George Armstrong Custer and the Western Military Frontier|location=Norman|publisher=University of Oklahoma Press|edition=Revised|year=2001|isbn=0-8061-2292-7}}
* {{cite book|last=Vestal|first=Stanley|title=Warpath: The True Story of the Fighting Sioux Told in a Biography of Chief White Bull|location=Lincoln|publisher=University of Nebraska Press|year=1934|isbn=0-8032-4653-6|url=https://archive.org/details/warpathtruestory00vest_0}}
* {{cite book|last=Viola|first=Herman J.|title=Little Bighorn Remembered: The Untold Indian Story of Custer's Last Stand|location=Westminster, Maryland|publisher=Times Books|year=1999|isbn=0-8129-3256-0|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/littlebighornrem0000viol}}
* {{cite book|last1=Welch|first1=James|last2=Stekler|first2=Paul|title=Killing Custer: The Battle of the Little Bighorn and the Fate of the Plains Indians|url=https://archive.org/details/killingcusterbat00welc|url-access=registration|location=New York|publisher=Norton|year=1994|isbn=0-393-32939-9}}
* {{cite book|last=Wert|first=Jeffry D.|title=Custer: The Controversial Life of George Armstrong Custer|location=New York|publisher=Simon & Schuster|year=1996|isbn=0-684-81043-3|url=https://archive.org/details/custercontrovers0000wert}}
* {{cite book|last=Winkler|first=Albert.|title=Physical Evidence and the Battle of the Little Bighorn: The Question of Interpretation|location=Custer Battlefield Historical & Museum Association|publisher=The Brian C. Pohanka 30th Annual Symposium, pp. 36-51|year=2017|url=https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2948&context=facpub}}
{{Refend}}
== External links ==
{{Commons category|Battle of the Little Bighorn}}
* [https://findingaid.lib.byu.edu/viewItem/MSS%20SC%20860/ Account of Custer's fight on Little Bighorn, MSS SC 860] at [[L. Tom Perry Special Collections]], [[Harold B. Lee Library]], [[Brigham Young University]]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20180704113147/http://www.custermuseum.org/ Custer Battlefield Museum, Garryowen, Montana]
* [https://www.flickr.com/photos/lakota_sioux_and_comanche_indians/13112519013/sizes/o/in/photostream/ Map of Battle of Little Bighorn, Part III.]
* [https://www.flickr.com/photos/lakota_sioux_and_comanche_indians/13112752414/sizes/o/in/photostream/ Map of Battle of Little Bighorn, Part IV. Indians.]
* [https://www.flickr.com/photos/lakota_sioux_and_comanche_indians/13112632373/sizes/o/in/photostream/ Map of Battle of Little Bighorn, Part V.]
* [https://www.flickr.com/photos/lakota_sioux_and_comanche_indians/13112687093/sizes/o/in/photostream/ Map of Battle of Little Bighorn, Part VI.]
* [https://www.flickr.com/photos/lakota_sioux_and_comanche_indians/13112744393/sizes/o/in/photostream/ Map of Battle of Little Bighorn, Part VII. Custer's Last Stand.]
* [https://www.flickr.com/photos/lakota_sioux_and_comanche_indians/12445642425/sizes/o/in/photostream/ Map of Indian battles and skirmishes after the Battle of Little Bighorn. 1876–1881.]
* Battle field related
** [http://www.nps.gov/libi/ Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument]
** [http://www.friendslittlebighorn.com/ Friends of the Little Bighorn Battlefield]
* Portals
** [http://www.lbha.org/ The Little Big Horn Associates] – includes a bibliography and articles, as well as many general and commercial links
** [http://www.custerwest.org/ custerwest.org] – site for traditional scholarship with sources and videos
* First-person accounts
** [https://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/resources/archives/six/bighorn.htm The Battle of Little Bighorn:] An Eyewitness Account by the Lakota Chief Red Horse
** An [https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1881/05/07/98555099.pdf eyewitness account] by Tantanka Iyotake (Lakota Chief Sitting Bull), ''New York Times'' archive pdf.
** [http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/cgi-bin/History/History-idx?type=goto&id=History.Reno&isize=M&submit=Go+to+page&page=1 Complete transcript] of the Reno Court of Inquiry
** [http://www.astonisher.com/archives/museum/index.html 100 Voices:] Sioux, Cheyenne, Arapaho, Crow, Arikara and American eyewitness accounts of the Battle of the Little Bighorn
* Lists of participants
** [http://www.friendslittlebighorn.com/Soldiers-Warriors.htm Friends Of The Little Bighorn Battlefield] – Battle information, including names of 7th Cavalry soldiers and warriors who fought in the battle.
** [https://web.archive.org/web/20050427062829/http://freepages.folklore.rootsweb.com/~pickensarchive/custer.html Muster Rolls of 7th U.S. Cavalry, June 25, 1876]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080110071723/http://www.cbhma.org/ Custer Battlefield Historical and Museum Association]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20130514172105/http://library.uww.edu/special-collections/special-collections/hammer-collection Kenneth M. Hammer Collection on Custer and the Battle of the Little Bighorn] (Harold G. Andersen Library, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater)
* [https://findingaid.lib.byu.edu/viewItem/MSS%201401 Charles Kuhlman collection on the Battle of the Little Big Horn, MSS 1401] at [https://sites.lib.byu.edu/sc/ L. Tom Perry Special Collections], [[Brigham Young University]]
* [http://video.pbs.org/video/2186572157 "Custer's Last Stand"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130527131734/http://video.pbs.org/video/2186572157 |date=May 27, 2013 }} – An ''[[American Experience]]'' Documentary
* [http://www.amerisurv.com/PDF/TheAmericanSurveyor_Michelsen-VerdictAtLittleBighorn_October2009.pdf Verdict at the Little Bighorn] – ''The American Surveyor'' (October 2009)
<!--The following links appear to be useful as references, but are violations of [[wp:ELNO]] #1. Please remove them after they are no longer needed here.
* [http://www.equinenet.org/heroes/comanche.html Comanche:] A horse billed as the only survivor of the battle of the Little Big Horn -->
*[https://www.google.com/books/edition/Cyclorama_of_Custer_s_Last_Battle_Or_The/9Hh0AAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=Cyclorama%20 Cyclorama of Custers LAst Stand]
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2012}}
{{Montana Indian Battles|state=expanded}}
{{American frontier}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Battle of the Little Bighorn| ]]
[[Category:1876 in the United States]]
[[Category:George Armstrong Custer]]
[[Category:Battles involving the Arapaho|Little Bighorn]]
[[Category:Battles involving the Cheyenne|Little Bighorn]]
[[Category:Battles involving the Sioux|Little Bighorn]]
[[Category:Battles of the Great Sioux War of 1876|Little Bighorn]]
[[Category:Conflicts in 1876|Little Bighorn]]
[[Category:Sitting Bull]]
[[Category:History of Montana]]
[[Category:Indigenous peoples of North America]]
[[Category:History of South Dakota]]
[[Category:American frontier]]
[[Category:1876 in Montana Territory]]
[[Category:Last stands|Little Bighorn]]
[[Category:June 1876 events]]
[[Category:Battles in Montana|Little Bighorn]]' |
New page wikitext, after the edit (new_wikitext) | '{{short description|1876 battle of the Great Sioux War}}
{{redirect|Custer's Last Stand|the 1936 film serial|Custer's Last Stand (serial)}}
{{Infobox military conflict
| conflict = Battle of the Little Bighorn
| width =
| partof = the [[Great Sioux War of 1876]]
| image = [[File:Charles Marion Russell - The Custer Fight (1903).jpg|border|300px]]
| caption = ''The Custer Fight'' by [[Charles Marion Russell]]
| date = June 25–26, 1876
| place = Near [[Little Bighorn River]], [[Crow Indian Reservation]], [[Big Horn County, Montana]], U.S.
| coordinates = {{Coord|45|33|54|N|107|25|44|W|display=inline,title|name=The Battle of Little BigHorn|region:US-MT_type:event}}
| map_type = Montana
| map_relief =
| map_size =
| map_marksize =
| map_caption = Location within Montana
| map_label = Little Big Horn Battlefield
| territory =
| result = <!-- Do NOT add "decisive". Consensus has repeatedly concluded that it was NOT a decisive victory. -->Lakota, Northern Cheyenne, and Arapaho victory
| status =
| combatants_header =
| combatant1 = {{plainlist|
* [[Lakota people|Lakota]]
* [[Dakota people|Dakota]]
* [[Northern Cheyenne]]
* [[Arapaho people|Arapaho]]}}
| combatant2 = {{plainlist|
* {{flagicon image|Flag of the United States (1867–1877).svg}} [[United States Army]]
* [[Crow scouts]]
* [[Arikara scouts]]}}
| commander1 = {{plainlist|
* [[Sitting Bull]]
* [[Crazy Horse]]
* [[Gall (Native American leader)|Chief Gall]]
* [[Lame White Man]]{{KIA}}
* [[Two Moons|Two Moon]]}}
| commander2 = {{plainlist|
* [[George Armstrong Custer|George A. Custer]]{{KIA}}
* [[Marcus Reno]]
* [[Frederick Benteen]]
* [[Myles Keogh]]{{KIA}}
* [[James Calhoun (soldier)|James Calhoun]]{{KIA}}}}
| units1 = [[Irregular military]]
| units2 = [[7th Cavalry Regiment]]
| strength1 =1,500–2,500 warriors
| strength2 = ~700 cavalrymen and scouts
| casualties1 = {{plainlist|
* 31 (up to 135) killed<br>Up to 160 wounded
* 10 non-combatants killed}}
| casualties2 = {{plainlist|
* 268 killed
* 55 wounded (6 of whom later died of wounds)}}
| campaignbox = {{Campaignbox 1876 North Plains Campaign}}
}}
[[File:The Lakota Wars (1854-1890). the battlefields and the Lakota treaty territory of 1851 (circa.).png|thumb|upright=1.4|Map indicating the battlefields of the Lakota wars (1854–1890) and the Lakota Indian territory as described in the [[Treaty of Fort Laramie (1851)]]. Like the Battle of the Little Bighorn (14 on the map), most battles between the army and the Lakota "were on lands those Indians had taken from other tribes since 1851".<ref>Ewers, John C.: "Intertribal Warfare as a Precursor of Indian-White Warfare on the Northern Great Plains". ''Western Historical Quarterly'', Vol. 6, No. 4 (Oct. 1975), pp. 397–410 [408].</ref><ref>Stands In Timber, John and Margot Liberty (1972): ''Cheyenne Memories''. Lincoln and London. p. 170, note 13.</ref><ref>Calloway, Colin G.: "The Inter-tribal Balance of Power on the Great Plains, 1760–1850", ''Journal of American Studies'', Vol. 16, No. 1 (April 1982), pp. 25–47 [46].</ref><ref>White, Richard: "The Winning of the West: The Expansion of the Western Sioux in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries", ''The Journal of American History'', Vo. 65, No. 2 (Sep. 1987), pp. 319–343 [342].</ref> The steady Lakota invasion into treaty areas belonging to smaller tribes<ref>Medicine Crow, Joseph (1992): ''From the Heart of the Crow Country. The Crow Indians' Own Stories''. New York. pp. 64, 84.</ref> ensured the United States firm Indian allies in the [[Arikara scouts|Arikaras]]<ref>Dunlay, Thomas W. (1982). ''Wolves for the Blue Soldiers. Indian Scouts and Auxiliaries with the United States Army, 1860–90''. Lincoln and London. p. 132.</ref> and the [[Crow scouts|Crows]] during the Lakota Wars.<ref>Calloway, Colin G.: The Inter-tribal Balance of Power on the Great Plains, 1760–1850. ''Journal of American Studies'', Vol. 16, No. 1 (April 1982), pp. 25–47 [46].</ref><ref>Dunlay, Thomas W. (1982). ''Wolves for the Blue Soldiers. Indian Scouts and Auxiliaries with the United States Army, 1860–90''. Lincoln and London. pp. 112–114.</ref><ref>Medicine Crow, Joseph (1992): ''From the Heart of the Crow Country. The Crow Indians' Own Stories''. New York. p. xi.</ref>]]
[[File:Crow Indian Reservation, 1868 (area 619 and 635). Yellow area 517 is 1851 Crow treaty land ceded to the U.S.png|thumb|upright=1.4|Crow Indian Reservation, 1868 (area 619 and 635). Yellow area 517 is 1851 Crow treaty land ceded to the U.S. It was in the red area 635 that the battle stood. The Lakotas were here without consent from the local Crow tribe, which had treaty on the area. Already in 1873, Crow chief Blackfoot had called for U.S. military actions against the Indian intruders.<ref>Hoxie, Frederick E. (1995): ''Parading Through History. The making of the Crow Nation in America, 1805–1935''. Cambridge, p. 106.</ref><ref>Annual Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, 1873. Washington 1874, p. 124.</ref>]]
The '''Battle of the Little Bighorn''', known to the [[Lakota people|Lakota]] an other [[Plains Indians]] as the '''Battle of the Greasy Grass'''<ref>{{cite news|title=The Battle of the Greasy Grass|url=http://www.smithsonianmag.com/videos/category/history/the-battle-of-the-greasy-grass/?no-ist|access-date=7 December 2014|work=[[Smithsonian (magazine)|Smithsonian]] }}</ref> and also commonly referred to as '''Custer's Last Stand''', was an armed engagement between combined forces of the Lakota, [[Northern Cheyenne]], and [[Arapaho]] tribes and the [[7th Cavalry Regiment]] of the [[United States Army]]. The battle, which resulted in the defeat of U.S. forces, was the most significant action of the [[Great Sioux War of 1876]]. It took place on June 25–26, 1876, along the [[Little Bighorn River]] in the [[Crow Indian Reservation]] in southeastern [[Montana Territory]].<ref>Kappler, Charles J (1904): ''Indian Affairs. Laws and Treaties''. Vol. 2. Washington, pp. 1008–1011.</ref>
The fight was an overwhelming victory for the Lakota, Northern Cheyenne, and Arapaho, who were led by several major war leaders, including [[Crazy Horse]] and [[Gall (Native American leader)|Chief Gall]], and had been inspired by the visions of [[Sitting Bull]] (''Tȟatȟáŋka Íyotake''). The U.S. 7th Cavalry, a force of 700 men, suffered a major defeat while commanded by [[Lieutenant colonel (United States)|Lieutenant Colonel]] [[George Armstrong Custer]] (formerly a [[Brevet (military)|brevetted]] [[Major general (United States)|major general]] during the [[American Civil War]]). Five of the 7th Cavalry's twelve companies were annihilated and Custer was killed, as were two of his brothers, a nephew, and a brother-in-law. The total U.S. casualty count included 268 dead and 55 severely wounded (six died later from their wounds),<ref name=Scott-Arch>{{cite book |last1=Scott |first1=Douglas D. |first2=Richard A. |last2=Fox |first3=Melissa A. |last3=Connor |first4=Dick |last4=Harmon |year=2013 |orig-year=1989 |title=Archaeological Perspectives on the Battle of the Little Bighorn |url={{GBurl|id=iSUA23jOi1sC|p=244}} |location=Norman |publisher=University of Oklahoma Press |isbn=978-0-8061-3292-1 }}</ref>{{rp|244}} including four [[Crow Nation|Crow]] Indian scouts and at least two [[Arikara]] Indian scouts.
Public response to the [[Great Sioux War of 1876|Great Sioux War]] varied in the immediate aftermath of the battle. [[Elizabeth Bacon Custer|Libbie Custer]], Custer's widow, soon worked to burnish her husband's memory, and during the following decades Custer and his troops came to be considered iconic, even heroic, figures in American history. The battle, and Custer's actions in particular, have been studied extensively by historians.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Kershaw|first=Robert|title=Red Sabbath: The Battle of Little Bighorn|publisher=Ian Allan Publishing|year=2005|pages=vi–5|isbn=978-0-7110-3325-2}}</ref> [[Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument]] honors those who fought on both sides.
== Background ==
=== Battlefield and surrounding areas ===
In 1805, fur trader François Antoine Larocque reported joining a [[Crow Nation|Crow]] camp in the Yellowstone area. On the way he noted that the Crow hunted buffalo on the "[[Little Bighorn River|Small Horn River]]".<ref>Wood, Raymond W. and Thomas D. Thiessen (1987): ''Early Fur Trade on the Northern Plains. Canadian Traders among the Mandan and Hidatsa Indians, 1738–1818''. Norman and London, p. 184</ref> St. Louis-based fur trader [[Manuel Lisa]] built [[Fort Raymond]] in 1807 for trade with the Crow. It was located near the confluence of the Yellowstone and the Bighorn River, about {{convert|40|miles|0}} north of the future battlefield.<ref>Hoxie, Frederick E. (1995): ''Parading Through History. The Making of the Crow Nation in America, 1805–1935''. Cambridge, p. 66.</ref> The area is first noted in the 1851 [[Treaty of Fort Laramie (1851)|Treaty of Fort Laramie]].<ref>Kappler, Charles J. (1904): ''Indian Affairs. Laws and Treaties.'' Vol. II. Washington, pp. 594-596.</ref>
In the latter half of the 19th century, tensions increased between the Native inhabitants of the [[Great Plains]] of the US and encroaching settlers. This resulted in a series of conflicts known as the [[Sioux Wars]], which took place from 1854 to 1890. While some of the indigenous people eventually agreed to relocate to ever-shrinking [[Indian Reservations|reservations]], a number of them resisted, sometimes fiercely.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=http://jetson.unl.edu/cocoon/encyclopedia/doc/egp.war.044 |title=Sioux Wars |author= Carole A. Barrett |encyclopedia= Encyclopedia of the Great Plains |access-date= May 6, 2013 |url-status = dead|archive-url= https://archive.today/20130626183913/http://jetson.unl.edu/cocoon/encyclopedia/doc/egp.war.044 |archive-date= June 26, 2013 |df=mdy-all}}</ref>
On May 7, 1868, the valley of the Little Bighorn became a tract in the eastern part of the new [[Crow Indian Reservation]] in the center of the old Crow country.<ref>Kappler, Charles J. (1904): ''Indian Affairs. Laws and Treaties.'' Vol. II. Washington, pp. 1008–1011. Treaty with the Crows, 1868.</ref> There were numerous skirmishes between the Sioux and Crow tribes<ref name=White1978>White, Richard: The Winning of the West: The Expansion of the Western Sioux in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries. The Journal of American History. Vol. 65, No. 2 (Sept. 1978), p. 342.</ref> so when the Sioux were in the valley in 1876 without the consent of [[Crow Nation|the Crow tribe]],<ref>Hoxie, Frederick E.: Parading Through History. The Making of the Crow Nation in America, 1805–1935. Cambridge,1995, p. 108.</ref> the Crow supported the US Army to expel them (e.g., Crows enlisted as [[Crow scouts|Army scouts]]<ref name=Bradley1896>Bradley, James H.: Journal of James H. Bradley. The Sioux Campaign of 1876 under the Command of General John Gibbon. ''Contributions to the Historical Society of Montana''. p. 163.</ref> and Crow warriors would fight in the nearby [[Battle of the Rosebud]]<ref>Dunlay, Thomas W.: Wolves for the Blue Soldiers. Indian Scouts and Auxiliaries with the United States Army, 1860–90. Lincoln and London, 1982, pp. 40, 113–114.</ref>).
The battlefield is known as "Greasy Grass" to the Lakota, Dakota, Cheyenne, and most other [[Plains Indians]]; however, in contemporary accounts by participants, it was referred to as the "Valley of Chieftains".<ref>Medicine Crow, Joseph (1992): ''From the Heart of the Crow Country. The Crow Indians' Own Stories''. New York. p. 44.</ref>
=== 1876 Sun Dance ceremony ===
Among the [[Plains Indians|Plains Tribes]], the long-standing ceremonial tradition known as the [[Sun Dance]] was the most important religious event of the year. It is a time for prayer and personal sacrifice for the community, as well as making personal vows. Towards the end of spring in 1876, the Lakota and the Cheyenne held a Sun Dance that was also attended by a number of "Agency Indians" who had slipped away from their reservations.<ref>Hutton, Paul Andrew, ''The Custer Reader'', 1992, University of Nebraska Press</ref> During a Sun Dance around June 5, 1876, on [[Rosebud Creek]] in [[Montana]], [[Sitting Bull]], the spiritual leader of the [[Hunkpapa Lakota]], reportedly had a vision of "soldiers falling into his camp like grasshoppers from the sky."<ref>[http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/546854/Sitting-Bull "Sitting Bull"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100327021927/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/546854/Sitting-Bull |date=March 27, 2010 }}, ''Encyclopædia Britannica''</ref> At the same time US military officials were conducting a summer campaign to force the Lakota and the Cheyenne back to their [[Indian reservation|reservations]], using [[infantry]] and [[cavalry]] in a so-called "three-pronged approach".
{{wide image|Cheyenne dance4.jpg|985px|align-cap=center|A [[Cheyenne]] [[Sun Dance]] gathering, circa 1909}}
=== 1876 U.S. military campaign ===
[[File:Custermovements.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|1876 Army Campaign against the Sioux]]
Col. [[John Gibbon]]'s column of six companies (A, B, E, H, I, and K) of the [[7th Infantry Regiment (United States)|7th Infantry]] and four companies (F, G, H, and L) of the [[2nd ACR|2nd Cavalry]] marched east from [[Fort Ellis]] in western Montana on March 30 to patrol the [[Yellowstone River]]. Brig. Gen. [[George Crook]]'s column of ten companies (A, B, C, D, E, F, G, I, L, and M) of the [[3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment (United States)|3rd Cavalry]], five companies (A, B, D, E, and I) of the [[2nd U.S. Cavalry|2nd Cavalry]], two companies (D and F) of the [[4th Infantry Regiment (United States)|4th Infantry]], and three companies (C, G, and H) of the [[9th Infantry Regiment (United States)|9th Infantry]] moved north from [[Fort Fetterman]] in the [[Wyoming Territory]] on May 29, marching toward the [[Powder River (Montana)|Powder River]] area. Brig. Gen. [[Alfred Terry]]'s column, including twelve companies (A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, K, L, and M) of the 7th Cavalry under Lt. Col. [[George Armstrong Custer]]'s immediate command,<ref name="John Gray">{{cite book |last=Gray |first=John S. |title=Centennial Campaign: The Sioux War of 1876 |year=1988 |location=Norman |publisher=University of Oklahoma Press }}</ref> Companies C and G of the 17th U.S. Infantry, and the [[Gatling gun]] detachment of the 20th Infantry departed westward from [[Fort Abraham Lincoln]] in the [[Dakota Territory]] on May 17. They were accompanied by teamsters and packers with 150 wagons and a large contingent of pack mules that reinforced Custer. Companies C, D, and I of the [[6th U.S. Infantry]] moved along the Yellowstone River from [[Fort Buford]] on the [[Missouri River]] to set up a supply depot and joined Terry on May 29 at the mouth of the Powder River. They were later joined there by the steamboat ''[[Far West (Steamboat)|Far West]]'', which was loaded with 200 tons of supplies from Fort Lincoln.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://steamboats.com/museum/lossingmodels.html |title= Virtual Online Steamboat Museum at |publisher= Steamboats.com |date=1914-01-30 |access-date= 2012-03-15 |url-status = live|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20111212015204/http://steamboats.com/museum/lossingmodels.html |archive-date= December 12, 2011 |df=mdy-all }}</ref>
==== 7th Cavalry organization ====
The 7th Cavalry had been created just after the American Civil War. Many men were veterans of the war, including most of the leading officers. A significant portion of the regiment had previously served 4½ years at [[Fort Riley]], Kansas, during which time it fought one major engagement and numerous skirmishes, experiencing casualties of 36 killed and 27 wounded. Six other troopers had died of drowning and 51 in [[cholera]] epidemics. In November 1868, while stationed in Kansas, the 7th Cavalry under Custer had successfully routed [[Black Kettle]]'s Southern Cheyenne camp on the [[Washita River]] in the [[Battle of Washita River]], an attack which was at the time labeled a "massacre of innocent Indians" by the [[Indian Bureau]].<ref>[https://muse.jhu.edu/article/218456/pdf Washita Memories: Eyewitness Views of Custer's Attack on Black Kettle's Village (review)], ''[[Project Muse]]'', James T. Carroll, July 2007. Retrieved March 28, 2018.</ref>
[[File:S.J. Morrow, Slim Buttes.png|thumb|7th Cavalry Regiment Troop "I" [[Guidon (United States)|guidon]] recovered at the camp of [[American Horse (elder)|American Horse the Elder]]]]
By the time of the Battle of the Little Bighorn, half of the 7th Cavalry's companies had just returned from 18 months of constabulary duty in the [[Deep South]], having been recalled to [[Fort Abraham Lincoln]], [[Dakota Territory]] to reassemble the regiment for the campaign. About 20% of the troopers had been enlisted in the prior seven months (139 of an enlisted roll of 718), were only marginally trained and had no combat or frontier experience. About 60% of these recruits were [[United States|American]], the rest were [[Europe]]an immigrants (Most were [[Irish people|Irish]] and [[Germans|German]])—just as many of the veteran troopers had been before their enlistments. Archaeological evidence suggests that many of these troopers were malnourished and in poor physical condition, despite being the best-equipped and supplied regiment in the Army.<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.astonisher.com/archives/museum/wm_slaper_little_big_horn.html
|title= A 7th Cavalry survivor's account of the Battle of the Little Bighorn
|work= Conversations with Crazy Horse
|access-date= August 19, 2008 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080906155747/http://www.astonisher.com/archives/museum/wm_slaper_little_big_horn.html |archive-date=September 6, 2008 <!--DASHBot--> |url-status = live}}</ref><ref>Barnard, pp. 121–36.</ref>
Of the 45 officers and 718 troopers then assigned to the 7th Cavalry (including a second lieutenant detached from the 20th Infantry and serving in Company L), 14 officers (including the regimental commander) and 152 troopers did not accompany the 7th during the campaign. The regimental commander, Colonel [[Samuel D. Sturgis]], was on detached duty as the Superintendent of Mounted Recruiting Service and commander of the Cavalry Depot in [[St. Louis, Missouri]],<ref>{{cite web |url =https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Places/America/United_States/Army/USMA/Cullums_Register/1303*.html |title= Online version of Cullum's Register of Graduates of the United States Military Academy – Class of 1846 – Samuel D. Sturgis |access-date = 10 December 2018}}</ref> which left Lieutenant Colonel Custer in command of the regiment. The ratio of troops detached for other duty (approximately 22%) was not unusual for an expedition of this size,<ref name="dtch">{{cite web |url = http://www.historynet.com/magazines/wild_west/3035376.html |title= The 7th U.S. Cavalry Regiment Fought in Battle of the Little Bighorn |publisher= HistoryNet.com |access-date = January 18, 2008 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080121092726/http://www.historynet.com/magazines/wild_west/3035376.html |archive-date= January 21, 2008 |url-status = dead|df= mdy-all}}</ref> and part of the officer shortage was chronic, due to the Army's rigid seniority system: three of the regiment's 12 captains were permanently detached, and two had never served a day with the 7th since their appointment in July 1866.<ref group="note">Capt. Sheridan (Company L), the brother of Lt. Gen. [[Philip H. Sheridan]], served only seven months in 1866–67 before becoming permanent aide to his brother but remained on the rolls until 1882. Capt. Ilsley (Company E) was aide to Maj. Gen [[John Pope (military officer)|John Pope]] from 1866 to 1879, when he finally joined his command. Capt. Tourtelotte (Company G) never joined the 7th. A fourth captain, Owen Hale (Company K), was the regiment's recruiting officer in St. Louis and rejoined his company immediately.</ref> Three second lieutenant vacancies (in E, H, and L Companies) were also unfilled.
==== Battle of the Rosebud ====
The Army's coordination and planning began to go awry on June 17, 1876, when Crook's column retreated after the [[Battle of the Rosebud]], just {{convert|30|miles}} to the southeast of the eventual Little Bighorn battlefield. Surprised and according to some accounts astonished by the unusually large numbers of Native Americans, Crook held the field at the end of the battle but felt compelled by his losses to pull back, regroup, and wait for reinforcements. Unaware of Crook's battle, Gibbon and Terry proceeded, joining forces in early June near the mouth of [[Rosebud Creek]]. They reviewed Terry's plan calling for Custer's regiment to proceed south along the Rosebud while Terry and Gibbon's united forces would move in a westerly direction toward the [[Bighorn River|Bighorn]] and [[Little Bighorn River|Little Bighorn]] rivers. As this was the likely location of Native encampments, all army elements had been instructed to converge there around June 26 or 27 in an attempt to engulf the Native Americans. On June 22, Terry ordered the 7th Cavalry, composed of 31 officers and 566 enlisted men under Custer, to begin a reconnaissance in force and pursuit along the Rosebud, with the prerogative to "depart" from orders if Custer saw "sufficient reason". Custer had been offered the use of [[Gatling gun]]s but declined, believing they would slow his rate of march.<ref name="John Gray" />
==== Little Bighorn ====
[[Image:Mitch Boyer.jpg|thumb|Mitch Boyer was one of the scouts who warned Custer about the size of the Indian village (age at time of photo unknown)]]
While the Terry-Gibbon column was marching toward the mouth of the Little Bighorn, on the evening of June 24, Custer's Indian scouts arrived at an overlook known as the Crow's Nest, {{convert|14|mi}} east of the Little Bighorn River. At sunrise on June 25, Custer's scouts reported they could see a massive pony herd and signs of the Native American village{{refn|group="note"|[[Plains Indians]] were semi-nomadic peoples and had no permanent settlements off the [[Indian reservation|reservations]] (aka "Agencies). A "village" was a collection of [[tipis]], housing a group of Indians under the leadership of a chief, including those of tribes other than the chief's. A village would be created wherever a group stopped by simply erecting the tipis and could last from a single night to several weeks. Young warriors without a tipi would generally create [[lean-tos]] or sleep in the open. When the chief decided that it was time to move on the villagers simply struck their tipis, tied the tipi poles to their horses so as to form a [[travois]] for their goods and children, and followed the chief. The term "village", therefore, refers to the group while moving OR encamped.<ref>Philbrick, Nathaniel, ''The Last Stand: Custer, Sitting Bull, and the Battle of the Little Bighorn'', Viking, 2010, pp. 102, 106, e{{ISBN|978-1-101-19011-1}}</ref>}} roughly {{convert|15|mi|km}} in the distance. After a night's march, the tired officer who was sent with the scouts could see neither, and when Custer joined them, he was also unable to make the sighting. Custer's scouts also spotted the regimental cooking fires that could be seen from {{cvt|10|mi|km}} away, disclosing the regiment's position.{{Citation needed|date = January 2013}}
Custer contemplated a surprise attack against the encampment the following morning of June 26, but he then received a report informing him several hostiles had discovered the trail left by his troops.<ref>Andrist, Ralph K., "The Long Death: The Last Days of the Plains Indian". ''Editorial Galaxia''. 2001, p. 272.</ref> Assuming his presence had been exposed, Custer decided to attack the village without further delay. On the morning of June 25, Custer divided his 12 companies into three battalions in anticipation of the forthcoming engagement. Three companies were placed under the command of Major [[Marcus Reno]] (A, G, and M) and three were placed under the command of Captain [[Frederick Benteen]] (H, D, and K). Five companies (C, E, F, I, and L) remained under Custer's immediate command. The 12th, Company B under Captain [[Thomas Mower McDougall|Thomas McDougall]], had been assigned to escort the slower pack train carrying provisions and additional ammunition.<ref name="John Gray" />
Unknown to Custer, the group of Native Americans seen on his trail was actually leaving the encampment and did not alert the rest of the village. Custer's scouts warned him about the size of the village, with [[Mitch Bouyer]] reportedly saying, "General, I have been with these Indians for 30 years, and this is the largest village I have ever heard of."{{refn|group="note"|Villages were usually arrayed in U-shaped semi-circles open to the east; in multi-tribal villages, each tribe would erect their tipis in this manner separately from the other tribes but close to the other tribes. Sitting Bull's village was multi-tribal, consisted of "a thousand tipis [that] were assembled in six horseshoe-shaped semicircles", had a population of approx. 8000 people, and stretched over two miles end-to-end.<ref>Philbrick, Nathaniel, ''The Last Stand: Custer, Sitting Bull, and the Battle of the Little Bighorn'', Viking, 2010, Ch 3, e{{ISBN|978-1-101-19011-1}}</ref>}}<ref>Macnab, David B., ''A Day to Remember: Introducing the Drama, Irony, and Controversies of the Battle of the Little Bighorn'', iUniverse, 2003, p. 45, based on Abstract of the Official Record of Proceedings of the Reno Court of Inquiry, 35.</ref> Custer's overriding concern was that the Native American group would break up and scatter. The command began its approach to the village at noon and prepared to attack in full daylight.<ref>{{Cite book |first=John |last= Gray |author-link= John C. Gray |title= Custer's Last Campaign |publisher= University of Nebraska Press |year= 1991 |page=243 |isbn= 0-8032-7040-2}}</ref>
With an impending sense of doom, the Crow scout [[Half Yellow Face]] prophetically warned Custer (speaking through the interpreter Mitch Bouyer), "You and I are going home today by a road we do not know."<ref name=Viola>{{cite book|last=Viola|first=Herman J.|title=It Is A Good Day to Die, Indian Eyewitnesses Tell the Story of the Battle of the Little Bighorn|year=2001|publisher=Bison Books|location=US|isbn=0-8032-9626-6|page=30}}</ref>
== Prelude ==
=== Military assumptions prior to the battle ===
==== Number of Indian warriors ====
[[File:Little Big Horn.jpg|thumb|left|A Cheyenne artist's depiction of the Battle of the Little Bighorn]]
As the Army moved into the field on its expedition, it was operating with incorrect assumptions as to the number of Indians it would encounter. These assumptions were based on inaccurate information provided by the Indian Agents that no more than 800 "hostiles" were in the area. The Indian Agents based this estimate on the number of Lakota that Sitting Bull and other leaders had reportedly led off the reservation in protest of U.S. government policies. It was in fact a correct estimate until several weeks before the battle when the "reservation Indians" joined Sitting Bull's ranks for the Summer buffalo hunt. The agents did not consider the many thousands of these "reservation Indians" who had unofficially left the reservation to join their "unco-operative non-reservation cousins led by Sitting Bull". Thus, Custer unknowingly faced thousands of Indians, including the 800 non-reservation "hostiles". All Army plans were based on the incorrect numbers. Although Custer was criticized after the battle for not having accepted reinforcements and for dividing his forces, it appears that he had accepted the same official government estimates of hostiles in the area which Terry and Gibbon had also accepted. Historian James Donovan notes, however, that when Custer later asked interpreter [[Fred Gerard]] for his opinion on the size of the opposition, he estimated the force at between 1,500 to 2,500 warriors.<ref>Donovan, loc 3576</ref>
Additionally, Custer was more concerned with preventing the escape of the Lakota and Cheyenne than with fighting them. From his observation, as reported by his [[bugle]]r John Martin ([[Giovanni Martino]]),<ref name="ReferenceA">Charles Windolph, Frazier Hunt, Robert Hunt, Neil Mangum, ''I Fought with Custer: The Story of Sergeant Windolph, Last Survivor of the Battle of the Little Big Horn: with Explanatory Material and Contemporary Sidelights on the Custer Fight'', University of Nebraska Press, 1987, p. 86.</ref> Custer assumed the warriors had been sleeping in on the morning of the battle, to which virtually every native account attested later, giving Custer a false estimate of what he was up against. When he and his scouts first looked down on the village from the Crow's Nest across the Little Bighorn River, they could only see the herd of ponies. Later, looking from a hill {{convert|2+1/2|mi|km|0}} away after parting with Reno's command, Custer could observe only women preparing for the day, and young boys taking thousands of horses out to graze south of the village. Custer's [[Crow scouts]] told him it was the largest native village they had ever seen. When the scouts began changing back into their native dress right before the battle, Custer released them from his command. While the village was enormous, Custer still thought there were far fewer warriors to defend the village.
Finally, Custer may have assumed when he encountered the Native Americans that his subordinate Benteen, who was with the pack train, would provide support. Rifle volleys were a standard way of telling supporting units to come to another unit's aid. In a subsequent official 1879 Army investigation requested by Major Reno, the Reno Board of Inquiry (RCOI), Benteen and Reno's men testified that they heard distinct rifle volleys as late as 4:30 pm during the battle.<ref name="court of inquiry">{{cite journal |first=Marcus A. |last=Reno |title=The official record of a court of inquiry convened at Chicago, Illinois, January 13, 1879, by the President of the United States upon the request of Major Marcus A. Reno, 7th U.S. Cavalry, to investigate his conduct at the Battle of the Little Big Horn, June 25–26, 1876 |url= http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/History.Reno|year=1951 }}</ref>
Custer had initially wanted to take a day to scout the village before attacking; however, when men went back looking for supplies accidentally dropped by the pack train, they discovered that their track had already been discovered by Indians. Reports from his scouts also revealed fresh pony tracks from ridges overlooking his formation. It became apparent that the warriors in the village were either aware of or would soon be aware of his approach.<ref>Donovan, loc 3684</ref> Fearing that the village would break up into small bands that he would have to chase, Custer began to prepare for an immediate attack.<ref name="Donovan, loc 3699">Donovan, loc 3699</ref>
==== Role of Indian noncombatants in Custer's strategy ====
Custer's field strategy was designed to engage non-combatants at the encampments on the Little Bighorn to capture women, children, and the elderly or disabled<ref name="Fox1993">{{cite book |last=Fox |first=Richard A. |year=1993 |url={{GBurl|id=dpaWb9WmbPUC|pg=297}} |title=Archaeology, History and Custer's Last Battle |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160624003916/https://books.google.com/books?id=dpaWb9WmbPUC |archive-date= June 24, 2016 |location=Norman |publisher=University of Oklahoma Press |isbn=0-8061-2998-0 }}</ref>{{rp|297}} to serve as hostages to convince the warriors to surrender and comply with federal orders to relocate. Custer's battalions were poised to "ride into the camp and secure non-combatant hostages",<ref name=Donovan2008>{{cite book |last=Donovan |first=James |title=A Terrible Glory |publisher=Little, Brown and Company |year=2008 |page=253 }}</ref> and "forc[e] the warriors to surrender".<ref name=Robinson1995>{{cite book |last=Robinson |first=Charles M. |title=A Good Year to Die |publisher=Random House |year=1995 |page=257 }}</ref> Author Evan S. Connell observed that if Custer could occupy the village before widespread resistance developed, the Sioux and Cheyenne warriors "would be obliged to surrender, because if they started to fight, they would be endangering their families."<ref name="Fox1993" />{{rp|312}}<ref name=Connell1997>{{cite book |last=Connell |first=Evan S. |title=Son of the Morning Star |publisher=Farrar, Straus and Giroux |year=1997 |page=278 }}</ref>
In Custer's book ''My Life on the Plains'', published two years before the Battle of the Little Bighorn, he asserted:
{{quote|Indians contemplating a battle, either offensive or defensive, are always anxious to have their women and children removed from all danger ... For this reason I decided to locate our [military] camp as close as convenient to [Chief Black Kettle's Cheyenne] village, knowing that the close proximity of their women and children, and their necessary exposure in case of conflict, would operate as a powerful argument in favor of peace, when the question of peace or war came to be discussed.<ref name=Custer1874>{{cite book |last= Custer |first= George Armstrong |title=My Life on the Plains: Or, Personal Experiences with Indians |location=New York |publisher= Sheldon and Company |year=1874 |page=220 |url= http://name.umdl.umich.edu/ACP4940.0001.001}}</ref>}}
On Custer's decision to advance up the bluffs and descend on the village from the east, Lt. [[Edward Settle Godfrey|Edward Godfrey]] of Company K surmised:
{{quote|[Custer] expected to find the squaws and children fleeing to the bluffs on the north, for in no other way do I account for his wide detour. He must have counted upon Reno's success, and fully expected the "scatteration" of the non-combatants with the pony herds. The probable attack upon the families and capture of the herds were in that event counted upon to strike consternation in the hearts of the warriors and were elements for success upon which General Custer fully counted.<ref name="godfrey" />{{rp|379}}}}
The Sioux and Cheyenne fighters were acutely aware of the danger posed by the military engagement of non-combatants and that "even a semblance of an attack on the women and children" would draw the warriors back to the village, according to historian John S. Gray.<ref name="Gray, John S 1991 p. 360">{{cite book |last=Gray |first=John S. |title=Custer's Last Campaign |location=Norman |publisher=University of Nebraska Press |year=1991 |page=360 }}</ref> Such was their concern that an apparent reconnaissance by Capt. Yates' E and F Companies at the mouth of Medicine Tail Coulee (Minneconjou [[Ford (crossing)|Ford]]) caused hundreds of warriors to disengage from the Reno valley fight and return to deal with the threat to the village.<ref name="Gray, John S 1991 p. 360" />
Some authors and historians, based on archaeological evidence and reviews of native testimony, speculate that Custer attempted to cross the river at a point further north they refer to as Ford D. According to Richard A. Fox, James Donovan, and others, Custer proceeded with a wing of his battalion (Yates' E and F companies) north and opposite the Cheyenne circle at that crossing,<ref name="Fox1993" />{{rp|176–77}} which provided "access to the [women and children] fugitives."<ref name="Fox1993" />{{rp|306}} Yates's force "posed an immediate threat to fugitive Indian families..." gathering at the north end of the huge encampment;<ref name="Fox1993" />{{rp|299}} he then persisted in his efforts to "seize women and children" even as hundreds of warriors were massing around Keogh's wing on the bluffs.<ref>Donovan, James, A'' Terrible Glory'', Little, Brown and Company (2008). p. 267.</ref> Yates' wing, descending to the Little Bighorn River at Ford D, encountered "light resistance",<ref name="Fox1993" />{{rp|297}} undetected by the Indian forces ascending the bluffs east of the village.<ref name="Fox1993" />{{rp|298}} Custer was almost within "striking distance of the refugees" before abandoning the ford and returning to Custer Ridge.<ref name=Bray2006>{{cite book |last=Bray |first=Kingsley M. |title=Crazy Horse – A Lakota Life |location=Norman |publisher=University of Oklahoma Press |year=2006 |page=222 }}</ref>
=== Lone Teepee ===
The ''Lone Teepee'' (or ''Tipi'') was a landmark along the 7th Cavalry's march. It was where the Indian encampment had been a week earlier, during the [[Battle of the Rosebud]] on June 17, 1876. The Indians had left a single [[teepee]] standing (some reports mention a second that had been partially dismantled), and in it was the body of a [[Sans Arc]] warrior, Old She-Bear, who had been wounded in the battle. He had died a couple of days after the Rosebud battle, and it was the custom of the Indians to move camp when a warrior died and leave the body with its possessions. The Lone Teepee was an important location during the Battle of the Little Bighorn for several reasons, including:<ref>{{cite web |url= http://pie.midco.net/treasuredude/Peter_Thompson_Narrative.pdf |title= Custer's Last Fight |last= Thompson |first= Peter |publisher= Belle Fource Bee |date= 1914 |access-date= 19 January 2017 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170131184949/http://pie.midco.net/treasuredude/Peter_Thompson_Narrative.pdf |archive-date= January 31, 2017 |url-status= dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-vetscor/1643759/posts |title= George Armstrong Custer and The Battle of the Little of The Little Big Horn (A South African View) |last=Murchison |first=R. |work= S.A. Military History Society Journal |date= November 1973 |access-date=24 January 2017 |url-status = live|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170202071940/http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-vetscor/1643759/posts |archive-date= February 2, 2017 |df=mdy-all }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.hmdb.org/Marker.asp?Marker=45581 |title=Lone Tipi (marker)|access-date=24 January 2017 |url-status = live|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170202031049/http://www.hmdb.org/Marker.asp?Marker=45581 |archive-date= February 2, 2017 |df=mdy-all}}</ref>
* It is where Custer gave Reno his final orders to attack the village ahead. It is also where some Indians who had been following the command were seen and Custer assumed he had been discovered.
* Many of the survivors' accounts use the Lone Teepee as a point of reference for event times or distances.
* Knowing this location helps establish the pattern of the Indians' movements to the encampment on the river where the soldiers found them.
== Battle ==
=== Reno's attack ===
[[File:Custer.gif|thumb|Movements of the 7th Cavalry<br />A: Custer B: Reno C: Benteen D: Yates E: Weir]]
[[File:Www-cgsc.army.mil MAP20 Renos Attack.GIF|thumb|Movement of Major Reno's three companies]]
The first group to attack was Major Reno's second detachment (Companies A, G and M) after receiving orders from Custer written out by Lt. [[William W. Cooke]], as Custer's Crow scouts reported Sioux tribe members were alerting the village. Ordered to charge, Reno began that phase of the battle. The orders, made without accurate knowledge of the village's size, location, or the warriors' propensity to stand and fight, had been to pursue the Native Americans and "bring them to battle." Reno's force crossed the Little Bighorn at the mouth of what is today Reno Creek around 3:00 pm on June 25. They immediately realized that the Lakota and Northern Cheyenne were present "in force and not running away."
Reno advanced rapidly across the open field towards the northwest, his movements masked by the thick bramble of trees that ran along the southern banks of the Little Bighorn River. The same trees on his front right shielded his movements across the wide field over which his men rapidly rode, first with two approximately forty-man companies abreast and eventually with all three charging abreast. The trees also obscured Reno's view of the Native American village until his force had passed that bend on his right front and was suddenly within arrow-shot of the village. The tepees in that area were occupied by the Hunkpapa Sioux. Neither Custer nor Reno had much idea of the length, depth and size of the encampment they were attacking, as the village was hidden by the trees.{{citation needed |date=January 2013}} When Reno came into the open in front of the south end of the village, he sent his Arikara/Ree and Crow Indian scouts forward on his exposed left flank.<ref>{{cite web |author=Running Dog |url= http://www.astonisher.com/archives/museum/little_sioux_big_horn.html |title=Confirmed by one of his surviving Arikara scouts, Little Sioux |publisher=Astonisher.com |access-date= 2012-03-15 |url-status = live|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120118221826/http://www.astonisher.com/archives/museum/little_sioux_big_horn.html |archive-date= January 18, 2012 |df=mdy-all }}</ref> Realizing the full extent of the village's width, Reno quickly suspected what he would later call "a trap" and stopped a few hundred yards short of the encampment.
He ordered his troopers to dismount and deploy in a [[skirmish line]], according to standard army doctrine. In this formation, every fourth trooper held the horses for the troopers in firing position, with {{convert|5|to|10|yard|m|0}} separating each trooper, officers to their rear and troopers with horses behind the officers. This formation reduced Reno's firepower by 25 percent. As Reno's men fired into the village and killed, by some accounts, several wives and children of the Sioux leader, [[Gall (Native American leader)|Chief Gall]] (in Lakota, ''Phizí''), the mounted warriors began streaming out to meet the attack. With Reno's men anchored on their right by the protection of the tree line and bend in the river, the Indians rode against the center and exposed left end of Reno's line. After about 20 minutes of long-distance firing, Reno had taken only one casualty, but the odds against him had risen (Reno estimated five to one), and Custer had not reinforced him. Trooper [[Billy Jackson (soldier)|Billy Jackson]] reported that by then, the Indians had begun massing in the open area shielded by a small hill to the left of Reno's line and to the right of the Indian village.<ref>{{cite web |author= Running Dog |url= http://www.astonisher.com/archives/museum/little_sioux_big_horn.html |title=Little Sioux's Story of the Battle of the Little Bighorn |publisher= Astonisher.com |access-date= 2012-03-15 |url-status = live|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120118221826/http://www.astonisher.com/archives/museum/little_sioux_big_horn.html |archive-date=January 18, 2012 |df=mdy-all }}</ref> From this position the Indians mounted an attack of more than 500 warriors against the left and rear of Reno's line,<ref>Goodrich, Thomas. ''Scalp Dance: Indian Warfare on the High Plains, 1865–1879.'' Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 1997. p. 242.</ref> turning Reno's exposed left flank. This forced a hasty withdrawal into the timber along the bend in the river.<ref>Perrett, Bryan. ''Last Stand: Famous Battles Against the Odds.'' London: Arms & Armour, 1993; p. 8.</ref> Here the Native Americans pinned Reno and his men down and tried to set fire to the brush to try to drive the soldiers out of their position.
Reno's Arikara scout, [[Bloody Knife]], was shot in the head, splattering brains and blood onto Reno's face.{{sfn|Nevin|1973|p=214}} The shaken Reno ordered his men to dismount and mount again.{{sfn|Nevin|1973|p=214}} He then said, "All those who wish to make their escape follow me."{{Citation needed|date=June 2021}} Abandoning the wounded (dooming them to their deaths), he led a disorderly rout for a mile next to the river.{{sfn|Nevin|1973|p=214}} He made no attempt to engage the Indians to prevent them from picking off men in the rear.{{sfn|Nevin|1973|p=214}} The retreat was immediately disrupted by Cheyenne attacks at close quarters. A steep bank, some {{convert|8|ft|m}} high, awaited the mounted men as they crossed the river; some horses fell back onto others below them.{{sfn|Nevin|1973|p=214}} Indians both fired on the soldiers from a distance, and within close quarters, pulled them off their horses and clubbed their heads.{{sfn|Nevin|1973|p=214}} Later, Reno reported that three officers and 29 troopers had been killed during the retreat and subsequent fording of the river. Another officer and 13–18 men were missing. Most of these missing men were left behind in the timber, although many eventually rejoined the detachment.
==== Reno and Benteen on Reno Hill ====
[[File:Bloody Knife, Custer's scout, on Yellowstone Expedition, 1873 - NARA - 524373.jpg|thumb|[[Bloody Knife]]]]
Atop the bluffs, known today as Reno Hill, Reno's depleted and shaken troops were joined about a half-hour later by Captain Benteen's column{{sfn|Nevin|1973|p=216}} (Companies D, H and K), arriving from the south. This force had been returning from a lateral scouting mission when it had been summoned by Custer's messenger, Italian bugler John Martin (Giovanni Martino) with the handwritten message "Benteen. Come on, Big Village, Be quick, Bring packs. P.S. Bring Packs."<ref name="court of inquiry" /> This message made no sense to Benteen, as his men would be needed more in a fight than the packs carried by herd animals.{{sfn|Nevin|1973|p=216}} Though both men inferred that Custer was engaged in battle, Reno refused to move until the packs arrived so his men could resupply.{{sfn|Nevin|1973|p=216}} The detachments were later reinforced by McDougall's Company B and the pack train. The 14 officers and 340 troopers on the bluffs organized an all-around defense and dug rifle pits using whatever implements they had among them, including knives. This practice had become standard during the last year of the [[American Civil War]], with both Union and Confederate troops utilizing knives, eating utensils, mess plates and pans to dig effective battlefield fortifications.<ref>John Keegan, The American Civil War.</ref>
[[File:Www-cgsc.army.mil MAP21 Defense of Reno-Benteen Hill.GIF|thumb|left|Reno–Benteen defensive position]]
Despite hearing heavy gunfire from the north, including distinct volleys at 4:20 pm, Benteen concentrated on reinforcing Reno's badly wounded and hard-pressed detachment rather than continuing on toward Custer's position. Benteen's apparent reluctance to reach Custer prompted later criticism that he had failed to follow orders. Around 5:00 pm, Capt. [[Thomas Weir (American soldier)|Thomas Weir]] and Company D moved out to contact Custer.<ref name="court of inquiry" /> They advanced a mile, to what is today Weir Ridge or Weir Point. Weir could see that the Indian camps comprised some 1,800 lodges.{{sfn|Nevin|1973|p=216}} Behind them he saw through the dust and smoke hills that were oddly red in color; he later learned that this was a massive assemblage of Indian ponies.{{sfn|Nevin|1973|p=216}} By this time, roughly 5:25 pm,{{Citation needed|date=June 2021}} Custer's battle may have concluded. From a distance, Weir witnessed many Indians on horseback and on foot shooting at items on the ground-perhaps killing wounded soldiers and firing at dead bodies on the "Last Stand Hill" at the northern end of the Custer battlefield. Some historians have suggested that what Weir witnessed was a fight on what is now called Calhoun Hill, some minutes earlier.{{Citation needed|date=June 2021}} The destruction of Keogh's battalion may have begun with the collapse of L, I and C Company (half of it) following the combined assaults led by [[Crazy Horse]], [[White Bull (Native American)|White Bull]], Hump, [[Gall (Native American leader)|Chief Gall]] and others.<ref name="michno1997">Michno, Gregory F., ''Lakota Noon, the Indian narrative of Custer's defeat'', Mountain Press, 1997, pp. 284–285. {{ISBN|0-87842-349-4}}.</ref>{{rp|240}} Other native accounts contradict this understanding, however, and the time element remains a subject of debate. The other entrenched companies eventually left Reno Hill and followed Weir by assigned battalions—first Benteen, then Reno, and finally the pack train. The men on Weir Ridge were attacked by natives,{{sfn|Nevin|1973|p=216}} increasingly coming from the apparently concluded Custer engagement, forcing all seven companies to return to the bluff before the pack train had moved even a quarter mile ({{convert|1/4|mi|m|disp=out}}). The companies remained pinned down on the bluff, fending off the Indians for three hours until night fell.{{sfn|Nevin|1973|p=216}} The soldiers dug crude trenches as the Indians performed their war dance.{{sfn|Nevin|1973|p=216}}
Benteen was hit in the heel of his boot by an Indian bullet. At one point, he led a counterattack to push back Indians who had continued to crawl through the grass closer to the soldier's positions.{{citation needed|date=November 2020}}
=== Custer's fight ===
{{external media |width= 210px |float= right |headerimage= [[File:Chief Gall ca1880s.jpg|210px]] [[Gall (Native American leader)|Gall]]
| video1 = [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2UzKRUgzJ0 C-SPAN Cities Tour – Billings: Battle of the Little Bighorn], 38:44, [[C-SPAN]]<ref name="cspan">{{cite web |title= Battle of Little Bighorn |publisher=[[C-SPAN]] |date= September 12, 2013 |url= https://www.c-span.org/video/?315349-1/battle-little-bighorn |access-date= May 24, 2017 |url-status = live|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170612134900/https://www.c-span.org/video/?315349-1%2Fbattle-little-bighorn |archive-date= June 12, 2017 |df =mdy-all}}</ref> Park Ranger Steve Adelson describes the battle on-site }}
The precise details of Custer's fight and his movements before and during the battle are largely conjectural since none of the men who went forward with Custer's battalion (the five companies under his immediate command) survived the battle. Later accounts from surviving Indians are useful but are sometimes conflicting and unclear.
While the gunfire heard on the bluffs by Reno and Benteen's men during the afternoon of June 25 was probably from Custer's fight, the soldiers on Reno Hill were unaware of what had happened to Custer until General Terry's arrival two days later on June 27. They were reportedly stunned by the news. When the army examined the Custer battle site, soldiers could not determine fully what had transpired. Custer's force of roughly 210 men had been engaged by the Lakota and Northern Cheyenne about {{convert|3.5|mi|km}} to the north of Reno and Benteen's defensive position. Evidence of organized resistance included an apparent skirmish line on Calhoun Hill and apparent [[breastworks]] made of dead horses on Custer Hill.<ref name="michno1997" /> By the time troops came to recover the bodies, the Lakota and Cheyenne had already removed most of their own dead from the field. The troops found most of Custer's dead men stripped of their clothing, ritually mutilated, and in a state of decomposition, making identification of many impossible.<ref name="Brininstool, 60–62">Brininstool, 60–62.</ref> The soldiers identified the 7th Cavalry's dead as best as possible and hastily buried them where they fell.
Custer's body was found with two gunshot wounds, one to his left chest and the other to his left temple. Either wound would have been fatal, though he appeared to have bled from only the chest wound; some scholars believe his head wound may have been delivered postmortem. Some Lakota oral histories assert that Custer, having sustained a wound, committed suicide to avoid capture and subsequent torture. This would be inconsistent with his known right-handedness, but that does not rule out assisted suicide (other native accounts note several soldiers committing suicide near the end of the battle).<ref>{{multiref|Wooden Leg, [[Thomas B. Marquis]] (interpreter), ''A Warrior Who Fought Custer'', p. 246|Sun Bear, "A Cheyenne Old Man", in Marquis, ''The Cheyennes of Montana'', p. 86|Kate Big Head, [[Thomas B. Marquis]] (interpreter), ''She Watched Custer's Last Battle''}}</ref> Custer's body was found near the top of Custer Hill, which also came to be known as "Last Stand Hill". There the United States erected a tall memorial obelisk inscribed with the names of the 7th Cavalry's casualties.<ref name="Brininstool, 60–62" />
Several days after the battle, [[Curly (scout)|Curley]], Custer's Crow scout who had left Custer near Medicine Tail Coulee (a drainage which led to the river), recounted the battle, reporting that Custer had attacked the village after attempting to cross the river. He was driven back, retreating toward the hill where his body was found.<ref>Fox, pp. 10–13.</ref> As the scenario seemed compatible with Custer's aggressive style of warfare and with evidence found on the ground, it became the basis of many popular accounts of the battle.
According to [[Pretty Shield]], the wife of Goes-Ahead (another Crow scout for the 7th Cavalry), Custer was killed while crossing the river: "...{{nbsp}}and he died there, died in the water of the Little Bighorn, with Two-bodies, and the blue soldier carrying his flag".<ref name="linderman">Linderman, F. (1932) ''Pretty-shield: Medicine Woman of the Crows''. University of Nebraska Press. {{ISBN|0803280254}}. (Preface © 2003 by Alma Snell and Becky Matthews).</ref>{{rp|136}} In this account, Custer was allegedly killed by a Lakota called Big-nose.<ref name="linderman" />{{rp|141}} However, in Chief Gall's version of events, as recounted to Lt. [[Edward Settle Godfrey]], Custer did not attempt to ford the river and the nearest that he came to the river or village was his final position on the ridge.<ref name="godfrey">Godfrey, E. S. (1892) [http://ebooks.library.cornell.edu/c/cent/cent.1892.html ''Custer's Last Battle''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110811113204/http://ebooks.library.cornell.edu/c/cent/cent.1892.html |date=August 11, 2011 }}. The Century Magazine, Vol. XLIII, No. 3, January. New York: The Century Company.</ref>{{rp|380}} Chief Gall's statements were corroborated by other Indians, notably the wife of Spotted Horn Bull.<ref name="godfrey" />{{rp|379}} Given that no bodies of men or horses were found anywhere near the ford, Godfrey himself concluded "that Custer did not go to the ford with any body of men".<ref name="godfrey" />{{rp|380}}
Cheyenne oral tradition credits [[Buffalo Calf Road Woman]] with striking the blow that knocked Custer off his horse before he died.<ref name="helenair.com">[http://www.helenair.com/news/state-and-regional/article_fcf44c96-cfb6-56f4-9c57-062e944350ce.html Martin J. Kidston, "Northern Cheyenne break vow of silence"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100628050508/http://helenair.com/news/state-and-regional/article_fcf44c96-cfb6-56f4-9c57-062e944350ce.html |date=June 28, 2010 }}, ''Helena Independent Record'', June 28, 2005. RetrievedOctober 23, 2009.</ref>
==== Custer at Minneconjou Ford ====
[[File:William W. Cooke's "Come quick" message to Frederick Benteen, Battle of the Little Bighorn, June 25, 1976.jpg|thumb|left|Lt. Adjutant William W. Cooke's message conveying Custer's orders to Frederick Benteen, June 25, 1876. Benteen's transcription is at upper right.]]
{{quote box|width=23em|''Hurrah boys, we've got them! We'll finish them up and then go home to our station''.|— Reported words of Lieutenant Colonel Custer at the battle's outset.<ref>{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=E6t3ODKOQkkC&q=custer+%22We've+got+them.+We'll+finish+them+up+and+then+go+home+to+our+station%22&pg=PA86 |title=I fought with Custer by Charles Windolph, Frazier Hunt, Robert Hunt |year= 1987 |access-date= 2012-03-15 |isbn= 978-0-8032-9720-3|last1=Windolph |first1=Charles }}</ref>}}
Having isolated Reno's force and driven them away from their encampment, the bulk of the native warriors were free to pursue Custer. The route taken by Custer to his "Last Stand" remains a subject of debate. One possibility is that after ordering Reno to charge, Custer continued down Reno Creek to within about a half-mile (800 m) of the Little Bighorn, but then turned north and climbed up the bluffs, reaching the same spot to which Reno would soon retreat. From this point on the other side of the river, he could see Reno charging the village. Riding north along the bluffs, Custer could have descended into Medicine Tail Coulee. Some historians believe that part of Custer's force descended the coulee, going west to the river and attempting unsuccessfully to cross into the village. According to some accounts, a small contingent of Indian sharpshooters effectively opposed this crossing.
White Cow Bull claimed to have shot a leader wearing a buckskin jacket off his horse in the river. While no other Indian account supports this claim, if White Bull did shoot a buckskin-clad leader off his horse, some historians have argued that Custer may have been seriously wounded by him. Some Indian accounts claim that besides wounding one of the leaders of this advance, a soldier carrying a company [[Guidon (United States)|guidon]] was also hit.<ref>[http://www.astonisher.com/archives/museum/white_cow_bull_little_big_horn.html "White Cow Bull's Story of the Battle of the Little Bighorn #1"] {{webarchive |url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080511210009/http://www.astonisher.com/archives/museum/white_cow_bull_little_big_horn.html |date=May 11, 2008 }}.</ref> Troopers had to dismount to help the wounded men back onto their horses.<ref name="michno1997" />{{rp|117–19}} The fact that either of the non-mutilation wounds to Custer's body (a bullet wound below the heart and a shot to the left temple) would have been instantly fatal casts doubt on his being wounded and remounted.<ref>Wert, 1996, p. 355.</ref>
Reports of an attempted fording of the river at Medicine Tail Coulee might explain Custer's purpose for Reno's attack, that is, a coordinated "hammer-and-anvil" maneuver, with Reno's holding the Indians at bay at the southern end of the camp, while Custer drove them against Reno's line from the north. Other historians have noted that if Custer did attempt to cross the river near Medicine Tail Coulee, he may have believed it was the north end of the Indian camp, only to discover that it was the middle. Some Indian accounts, however, place the Northern Cheyenne encampment and the north end of the overall village to the left (and south) of the opposite side of the crossing.<ref name="michno1997" />{{rp|10–20}} The precise location of the north end of the village remains in dispute, however.
[[File:Custer's route over Little Bighorn battlefield.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|Custer's route over battlefield, as theorized by [[Edward S. Curtis|Curtis]]. (Credit: [[Northwestern University Library]] [http://digital.library.northwestern.edu/curtis/ ''Edward S. Curtis's The North American Indian,'' 2003]). ]]
[[File:Custer Battlefield 1908 (bottom).jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|1:5260 of Custer battlefield – surveyed 1891, detailing U.S. soldiers' body locations]]
In 1908, [[Edward S. Curtis|Edward Curtis]], the famed ethnologist and photographer of the Native American Indians, made a detailed personal study of the battle, interviewing many of those who had fought or taken part in it. First, he went over the ground covered by the troops with the three Crow scouts [[White Man Runs Him]], [[Goes Ahead]], and [[Hairy Moccasin]], and then again with [[Two Moons]] and a party of Cheyenne warriors. He also visited the Lakota country and interviewed [[Red Hawk (chief)|Red Hawk]], "whose recollection of the fight seemed to be particularly clear".<ref name="curtis" />{{rp|44}} Then, he went over the battlefield once more with the three Crow scouts, but also accompanied by General [[Charles Woodruff (general)|Charles Woodruff]] "as I particularly desired that the testimony of these men might be considered by an experienced army officer". Finally, Curtis visited the country of the [[Arikara people|Arikara]] and interviewed the scouts of that tribe who had been with Custer's command.<ref name="curtis" />{{rp|44}} Based on all the information he gathered, Curtis concluded that Custer had indeed ridden down the Medicine Tail Coulee and then towards the river where he probably planned to ford it. However, "the Indians had now discovered him and were gathered closely on the opposite side".<ref name="curtis" />{{rp|48}} They were soon joined by a large force of Sioux who (no longer engaging Reno) rushed down the valley. This was the beginning of their attack on Custer who was forced to turn and head for the hill where he would make his famous "last stand". Thus, wrote Curtis, "Custer made no attack, the whole movement being a retreat".<ref name="curtis" />{{rp|49}}
==== Other views of Custer's actions at Minneconjou Ford ====
{{More citations needed section|date=December 2013}}
Other historians claim that Custer never approached the river, but rather continued north across the coulee and up the other side, where he gradually came under attack. According to this theory, by the time Custer realized he was badly outnumbered, it was too late to retreat to the south where Reno and Benteen could have provided assistance. Two men from the 7th Cavalry, the young Crow scout ''Ashishishe'' (known in English as Curley) and the trooper [[Peter Thompson (soldier)|Peter Thompson]], claimed to have seen Custer engage the Indians. The accuracy of their recollections remains controversial; accounts by battle participants and assessments by historians almost universally discredit Thompson's claim.
Archaeological evidence and reassessment of Indian testimony have led to a new interpretation of the battle. In the 1920s, battlefield investigators discovered hundreds of .45–55 ({{convert|0.45|-|0.55|in|mm|disp=out}}) shell cases along the ridgeline known today as Nye-Cartwright Ridge, between South Medicine Tail Coulee and the next drainage at North Medicine Tail (also known as Deep Coulee). Some historians believe Custer divided his detachment into two (and possibly three) battalions, retaining personal command of one while presumably delegating Captain George W. Yates to command the second.
Evidence from the 1920s supports the theory that at least one of the companies made a feint attack southwest from Nye-Cartwright Ridge straight down the center of the "V" formed by the intersection at the crossing of Medicine Tail Coulee on the right and Calhoun Coulee on the left. The intent may have been to relieve pressure on Reno's detachment (according to the Crow scout Curley, possibly viewed by both Mitch Bouyer and Custer) by withdrawing the skirmish line into the timber near the Little Bighorn River. Had the U.S. troops come straight down Medicine Tail Coulee, their approach to the Minneconjou Crossing and the northern area of the village would have been masked by the high ridges running on the northwest side of the Little Bighorn River.
That they might have come southwest, from the center of Nye-Cartwright Ridge, seems to be supported by Northern Cheyenne accounts of seeing the approach of the distinctly white-colored horses of Company E, known as the Grey Horse Company. Its approach was seen by Indians at that end of the village. Behind them, a second company, further up on the heights, would have provided long-range cover fire. Warriors could have been drawn to the feint attack, forcing the battalion back towards the heights, up the north fork drainage, away from the troops providing cover fire above. The covering company would have moved towards a reunion, delivering heavy [[volley fire]] and leaving the trail of expended cartridges discovered 50 years later.
=== Last stand ===
In the end, the hilltop to which Custer had moved was probably too small to accommodate all of the survivors and wounded. Fire from the southeast made it impossible for Custer's men to secure a defensive position all around Last Stand Hill where the soldiers put up their most dogged defense. According to Lakota accounts, far more of their casualties occurred in the attack on Last Stand Hill than anywhere else. The extent of the soldiers' resistance indicated they had few doubts about their prospects for survival. According to Cheyenne and Sioux testimony, the command structure rapidly broke down, although smaller "last stands" were apparently made by several groups. Custer's remaining companies (E, F, and half of C) were soon killed.
By almost all accounts, the Lakota annihilated Custer's force within an hour of engagement.<ref>Miller, David Humphreys, ''Custer's Fall'', Lincoln, Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press, 1985, p. 158</ref><ref>Graham, Benteen letter to Capt. R.E. Thompson, p. 211.</ref><ref>Graham, ''Gall's Narrative'', p. 88.</ref> [[David Humphreys Miller]], who between 1935 and 1955 interviewed the last Lakota survivors of the battle, wrote that the Custer fight lasted less than one-half hour.<ref>Miller, David Humphreys, ''Custer's Fall, the Indian Side of the Story''. Lincoln, Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press, 1985 (reprint of 1957 edition), p. 158.</ref> Other native accounts said the fighting lasted only "as long as it takes a hungry man to eat a meal." The Lakota asserted that Crazy Horse personally led one of the large groups of warriors who overwhelmed the cavalrymen in a surprise charge from the northeast, causing a breakdown in the command structure and panic among the troops. Many of these men threw down their weapons while Cheyenne and Sioux warriors rode them down, "[[counting coup]]" with lances, coup sticks, and [[quirt]]s. Some Native accounts recalled this segment of the fight as a "buffalo run."<ref>Graham, pp. 45–56.</ref>
Captain [[Frederick William Benteen|Frederick Benteen]], battalion leader of Companies D, H and K, recalled his observations on the Custer battlefield on June 27, 1876
{{quote|I went over the battlefield carefully with a view to determine how the battle was fought. I arrived at the conclusion I [hold] now—that it was a rout, a panic, until the last man was killed ...
There was no line formed on the battlefield. You can take a handful of corn and scatter [the kernels] over the floor, and make just such lines. There were none ... The only approach to a line was where 5 or 6 [dead] horses found at equal distances, like skirmishers [part of Lt. Calhoun's Company L]. That was the only approach to a line on the field. There were more than 20 [troopers] killed [in one group]; there were [more often] four or five at one place, all within a space of 20 to 30 yards [of each other] ... I counted 70 dead [cavalry] horses and 2 Indian ponies.
I think, in all probability, that the men turned their horses loose without any orders to do so. Many orders might have been given, but few obeyed. I think that they were panic stricken; it was a rout, as I said before.<ref>{{cite book|last=Rice|year=1998|title=Benteen testimony at Reno Court of Inquiry, January 13 – February 11, 1879|url=https://www.loc.gov/rr/frd/Military_Law/Reno_court_inquiry.html|work=The Library of Congress|url-status = live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171007141134/http://www.loc.gov/rr/frd/Military_Law/Reno_court_inquiry.html|archive-date=October 7, 2017|df=mdy-all}}</ref>}}
A Brulé Sioux warrior stated: "In fact, Hollow Horn Bear believed that the troops were in good order at the start of the fight, and kept their organization even while moving from point to point."<ref>Gregory Michno, Lakota Noon, Mountain Press, 1997, p. 177</ref> Red Horse, an Oglala Sioux warrior, commented: "Here [Last Stand Hill] the soldiers made a desperate fight."<ref>Gregory Michno, Lakota Noon, Mountain Press, 1997, p. 252</ref> One Hunkpapa Sioux warrior, Moving Robe, noted that "It was a hotly contested battle",<ref>Gregory Michno, Lakota Noon, Mountain Press, 1997, p. 179</ref> while another, Iron Hawk, stated: "The Indians pressed and crowded right in around Custer Hill. But the soldiers weren't ready to die. We stood there a long time."<ref>Gregory Michno, Lakota Noon, Mountain Press, 1997, p. 254</ref> In a letter from February 21, 1910, Private William Taylor, Company M, 7th Cavalry, wrote: "Reno proved incompetent and Benteen showed his indifference—I will not use the uglier words that have often been in my mind. Both failed Custer and he had to fight it out alone."<ref>GSklenar, Larry, To Hell with Honor, p. 260</ref>
<gallery mode="packed" heights="150px" style="text-align:left" class="center">
File:Edgar Samuel Paxson - Custer's Last Stand.jpg|Custer's Last Stand by Edgar Samuel Paxson
File:Custer's Last Stand, 1877.png|Looking in the direction of the Indian village and the deep ravine. Photo by Stanley J. Morrow, spring 1877
File:Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument.JPG|Looking in the direction of the Indian village and the deep ravine. Taken November 2011
File:Keogh Memorial - Little Big Horn Battlefield.jpg|Keogh Battlefield Marker 1879
File:2008 0909Battlefield0026.JPG|[[Mitch Bouyer]] marker on Deep Ravine trail. Deep Ravine is to the right of this picture (south/southwest) and about {{convert|65|yard|m|round=5}} distant.
</gallery>
==== Custer's final resistance ====
Recent archaeological work at the battlefield indicates that officers on Custer Hill restored some tactical control.<ref name="Fox1993"/>{{rp|255–259}} E Company rushed off Custer Hill toward the Little Bighorn River but failed to reach it, which resulted in the destruction of that company. This left about 50-60 men, mostly from F Company and the staff, on Last Stand Hill. The remainder of the battle took on the nature of a running fight. Modern archaeology and historical Indian accounts indicate that Custer's force may have been divided into three groups, with the Indians attempting to prevent them from effectively reuniting. Indian accounts describe warriors (including women) running up from the village to wave blankets in order to scare off the soldiers' horses. One 7th Cavalry trooper claimed to have found several stone ''mallets'' consisting of a round cobble weighing 8–10 pounds (about 4 kg) with a rawhide handle, which he believed had been used by the Indian women to finish off the wounded.<ref name=Scott-TheyDied>{{cite book |title=They Died With Custer: Soldiers' Bones from the Battle of the Little Bighorn |first1=Douglas D. |last1=Scott |first2=P. |last2=Willey |first3=Melissa A. |last3=Connor |location=Norman |publisher=University of Oklahoma Press |year=2013 |orig-year=1998 |url={{GBurl|id=KO-9A4b2t4IC}} |isbn=((978-0-8061-3507-7))}}</ref>{{rp|314}} Fighting dismounted, the soldiers' skirmish lines were overwhelmed. Army doctrine would have called for one man in four to be a horseholder behind the skirmish lines and, in extreme cases, one man in eight. Later, the troops would have bunched together in defensive positions and are alleged to have shot their remaining horses as cover. As individual troopers were wounded or killed, initial defensive positions would have been abandoned as untenable.<ref name="ReferenceB">Gray, John C. "Custer's Last Campaign"</ref>
Under threat of attack, the first U.S. soldiers on the battlefield three days later hurriedly buried the troopers in shallow graves, more or less where they had fallen. A couple of years after the battle, markers were placed where men were believed to have fallen, so the placement of troops has been roughly construed. The troops evidently died in several groups, including on Custer Hill, around Captain [[Myles Keogh]], and strung out towards the Little Bighorn River.<ref name="ReferenceB" />
==== Last break-out attempt ====
[[File:Far West (steamship).jpg|thumb|right|The shallow-draft steamer ''[[Far West (River Steamboat)|Far West]]'' was chartered by the Army to carry supplies for the Custer expedition. After the battle, captain and pilot [[Grant Marsh]] set a speed record bringing wounded men and news of the Custer disaster back to Fort Lincoln.<ref>"Last of the Argonauts: The Life and Services of Capt. Grant Marsh," ''Sioux City Journal,'' p. 10, January 16, 1916, Sioux City, Iowa.</ref><ref>"Grant Marsh Tells of his Part in the Custer Expedition," ''Bismarck Tribune,'' p. 1, January 23, 1906, Bismarck, North Dakota.</ref>]]
According to Indian accounts, about forty men on Custer Hill made a desperate stand around Custer, delivering [[volley fire]].<ref name="michno1997" /> The great majority of the Indian casualties were probably suffered during this closing segment of the battle, as the soldiers and Indians on Calhoun Ridge were more widely separated and traded fire at greater distances for most of their portion of the battle than did the soldiers and Indians on Custer Hill.<ref name="michno1997" />{{rp|282}}
Modern documentaries suggest that there may not have been a "Last Stand", as traditionally portrayed in popular culture. Instead, archaeologists suggest that in the end, Custer's troops were not surrounded but rather overwhelmed by a single charge. This scenario corresponds to several Indian accounts stating Crazy Horse's charge swarmed the resistance, with the surviving soldiers fleeing in panic.<ref name="michno1997" /><ref group="note">Testimony of Yellow Nose.</ref> Many of these troopers may have ended up in a deep ravine {{convert|300|to|400|yard|m}} away from what is known today as Custer Hill. At least 28 bodies (the most common number associated with burial witness testimony), including that of scout [[Mitch Bouyer]], were discovered in or near that gulch, their deaths possibly the battle's final actions.
Although the marker for Mitch Bouyer was found accurate through archaeological and forensic testing of remains, it is some 65 yards away from Deep Ravine.<ref name=Scott-Arch/>{{rp|82}} Historian Douglas Scott theorized that the "Deep Gulch" or "Deep Ravine" might have included not only the steep-sided portion of the coulee, but the entire drainage including its tributaries, in which case the bodies of Bouyer and others were found where eyewitnesses had said they were seen.<ref name=Scott-TheyDied/>
Other archaeological explorations done in Deep Ravine found no human remains associated with the battle.<ref name=Scott-TheyDied/>{{rp|39–48}} Over the years since the battle, skeletal remains that were reportedly recovered from the mouth of the Deep Ravine by various sources have been repatriated to the Little Big Horn National Monument. According to Scott, it is likely that in the 108 years between the battle and Scott's excavation efforts in the ravine, geological processes caused many of the remains to become unrecoverable. For example, near the town of Garryowen, portions of the skeleton of a trooper killed in the Reno Retreat were recovered from an eroding bank of the Little Big Horn, while the rest of the remains had apparently been washed away by the river.<ref name=Scott-TheyDied/>
== Aftermath ==
After the Custer force was soundly defeated, the Lakota and Northern Cheyenne regrouped to attack Reno and Benteen. The fight continued until dark (approximately 9:00 pm) and for much of the next day, with the outcome in doubt. Reno credited Benteen's luck with repulsing a severe attack on the portion of the perimeter held by Companies H and M.<ref group="note">Reno Court of Inquiry.</ref> On June 27, the column under General Terry approached from the north, and the natives drew off in the opposite direction. The Crow scout [[White Man Runs Him]] was the first to tell General Terry's officers that Custer's force had "been wiped out." Reno and Benteen's wounded troops were given what treatment was available at that time; five later died of their wounds. One of the regiment's three surgeons had been with Custer's column, while another, Dr. DeWolf, had been killed during Reno's retreat.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Brust |first1=J.S. |last2=Pohanka |first2=B.C. |last3=Barnard |first3=S. |year=2005 |title=Where Custer Fell: Photographs of the Little Bighorn Battlefield Then and Now |publisher=University of Oklahoma Press |page=57}}</ref> The only remaining doctor was Assistant Surgeon Henry R. Porter.<ref>{{cite book |title=Reno-Benteen Entrenchment Trail |page=6 |publisher=Western Parks Association |year=2004}}</ref>
{{multiple image
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| image1 = 18760706 Indian War - The Helena Independent.png
| alt1 =
| width1 =
| caption1 = This Helena, Montana newspaper article did not report the battle until July 6, referring to a July 3 story from a Bozeman, Montana newspaper—itself eight days after the event.<ref name=HelenaIndependent_18760706>{{cite news |title=Indian War / Gen. Gibbons Letter Relating to Terrible Massacre |url=https://newspaperarchive.com/helena-independent-jul-06-1876-p-3/ |work=The Helena Independent |date=July 6, 1876 |page=3 }}</ref>
| image2 = 18760706 Massacre of Our Troops - The New York Times.png
| alt2 =
| width2 =
| caption2 = ''The New York Times'' also appears to have first reported the event on July 6. The earliest journalistic communication cited in the ''Times'' article was dated July 2—a full week after the massacre.<ref name=NYTimes_18760706>{{cite news |title=Massacre of Our Troops / Five Companies Killed by Indians |url=https://newspaperarchive.com/new-york-times-jul-09-1876-p-1/ |work=The New York Times |date=July 6, 1876 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190517051100/https://newspaperarchive.com/new-york-times-jul-06-1876-p-1/ |archive-date=May 17, 2019 |page=1 |url-status = live|access-date=May 18, 2019 }}</ref> Full text is [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:18760706_Massacre_of_Our_Troops_-_The_New_York_Times.png here].
}}
The first to hear the news of the Custer disaster were those aboard the steamboat ''[[Far West (steamship)|Far West]],'' which had brought supplies for the expedition. Curley, one of Custer's scouts, rode up to the steamboat and tearfully conveyed the information to [[Grant Marsh]], the boat's captain, and army officers. Marsh converted the ''Far West'' into a floating field hospital to carry the 52 wounded from the battle to Fort Lincoln. Traveling night and day, with a full head of steam, Marsh brought the steamer downriver to Bismarck, Dakota Territory, making the 710 mi (1,140 km) run in the record time of 54 hours and bringing the first news of the military defeat which came to be popularly known as the "Custer Massacre." The editor of the Bismarck paper kept the telegraph operator busy for hours transmitting information to the ''[[New York Herald]]'' (for which he corresponded). News of the defeat arrived in the East as the U.S. was observing its [[Centennial Exposition|centennial]].<ref>"The Little Horn [''sic''] Massacre", ''The New York Times.'', Vol. 25, No. 7742, July 7, 1876, p. 1, recounting "dispatches" published the day before.</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author-link=Lynne Cheney |last=Cheney |first=Lynne V. |url=http://www.americanheritage.com/content/1876-eagle-screams |title=1876: The Eagle Screams. Historical Register of the Centennial Exposition 1876 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140228012212/http://www.americanheritage.com/content/1876-eagle-screams |archive-date=February 28, 2014 |journal=[[American Heritage (magazine)|American Heritage]] |volume=25 |issue=3 |date=April 1974 |access-date=April 12, 2021}}</ref> The Army began to investigate, although its effectiveness was hampered by a concern for survivors, and the reputation of the officers. Custer's wife, [[Elizabeth Bacon Custer]], in particular, guarded and promoted the ideal of him as the gallant hero, attacking any who cast an ill light on his reputation.<ref>{{cite book |first=Dee |last=Brown |author-link=Dee Brown (writer) |title=The Westerners |chapter=15 |publisher=[[Michael Joseph Ltd]] |year=1974}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Hansen |first=Joseph Mills |title=The Conquest of the Missouri: Being the Story of the Life and Exploits of Captain Grant Marsh |pages=277–279, 290–315 |publisher=Murray Hill Books, Inc. |location=New York and Toronto |year=1909, 1937, 1946}}</ref>
The Battle of the Little Bighorn had far-reaching consequences for the Natives. It was the beginning of the end of the "Indian Wars" and has even been referred to as "the Indians' last stand"<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/1991/09/29/the-custer-syndrome.html |title=The Custer Syndrome |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120817010350/http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/1991/09/29/the-custer-syndrome.html |archive-date=August 17, 2012 |journal=[[Newsweek]] |date=September 29, 1991 |access-date=August 30, 2012}}</ref> in the area. Within 48 hours of the battle, the large encampment on the Little Bighorn broke up into smaller groups because there was not enough game and grass to sustain a large congregation of people and horses.<ref name="sonofthesouth.net">{{cite web |url=http://www.sonofthesouth.net/union-generals/custer/custers-last-stand.htm |title=Custer's Last Stand |work=sonofthesouth.net |access-date=October 19, 2016}}</ref>
[[Oglala Sioux]] [[Black Elk]] recounted the exodus this way: "We fled all night, following the Greasy Grass. My two younger brothers and I rode in a pony-drag, and my mother put some young pups in with us. They were always trying to crawl out and I was always putting them back in, so I didn't sleep much."<ref name="Welch and Steckler">{{cite book |last1=Welch |first1=James A |author-link1=James Welch (writer) |last2=Steckler |first2=Paul |year=1994 |title=Killing Custer – The Battle of the Little Bighorn and the Fate of the Plains Indians |location=New York |publisher=[[Penguin Books]]}}</ref>{{Rp|194}}
The scattered Sioux and Cheyenne feasted and celebrated during July with no threat from soldiers. After their celebrations, many of the Natives returned to the reservation. Soon the number of warriors amounted to only about 600.<ref>{{cite book |last=Ambrose |first=Stephen E. |author-link=Stephen E. Ambrose |title=Crazy Horse and Custer |location=New York |publisher=[[Anchor Books]] |year=1996 |pages=451–52}}</ref> Both Crook and Terry remained immobile for seven weeks after the battle, awaiting reinforcements and unwilling to venture out against the Sioux and Cheyenne until they had at least 2,000 men. Crook and Terry finally took the field against the Native forces in August. General [[Nelson A. Miles]] took command of the effort in October 1876. In May 1877, Sitting Bull escaped to Canada. Within days, Crazy Horse surrendered at [[Fort Robinson]], Nebraska. The Great Sioux War ended on May 7 with Miles' defeat of a remaining band of [[Miniconjou]] Sioux.<ref name="sonofthesouth.net" />
{{multiple image
| align = right
| direction = horizontal
| total_width =350
| image1 = Plenty Coups Edward Curtis Portrait (c1908).jpg
| alt1 =
| width1 =
| caption1 = Plenty Coups Edward Curtis Portrait (c1908).
| image2 = TwoLeggings2.0.jpg
| alt2 =
| width2 =
| caption2 = Crow warrior [[Two Leggings]] joined the U.S. army for a short time after the defeat of Custer. Two Belly had given him and nearly 30 other Crows a lecture and explained how the Sioux had taken the hunting grounds of the Crow. "Two Belly said ... we should help the soldiers drive them back to their own country."<ref>{{cite book |last=Nabokov |first=Peter |year=1982 |title=Two Leggings. The Making of a Crow Warrior |location=Lincoln and London |page=185}}</ref>
}}
Ownership of the [[Black Hills]], which had been a focal point of the 1876 conflict, was determined by an ultimatum issued by the [[Manypenny Agreement|Manypenny Commission]], according to which the Sioux were required to cede the land to the United States if they wanted the government to continue supplying rations to the reservations. Threatened with forced starvation, the Natives ceded ''[[Paha Sapa]]'' to the United States,<ref name="Welch and Steckler"/>{{Rp|196–97}} but the Sioux never accepted the legitimacy of the transaction. They lobbied Congress to create a forum to decide their claim and subsequently litigated for 40 years; the United States Supreme Court in the 1980 decision [[United States v. Sioux Nation of Indians]] acknowledged<ref group="note">According to ''United States v. Sioux Nation of Indians'', 448 U.S. 371 (1980), the US government had to pay just compensation and interest to the Sioux for taking the Black Hills. This case confirmed the court's view that the government can treat Indian reservations like private property and take them by [[eminent domain]] if just compensation is paid.</ref> that the United States had taken the Black Hills without just compensation. The Sioux [[United States v. Sioux Nation of Indians#Response to the decision|refused the money subsequently offered]] and continue to insist on their right to occupy the land.
When the Crows got news from the battlefield, they went into grief. Crow woman Pretty Shield told how they were "crying ... for Son-of-the-morning-star [Custer] and his blue soldiers{{nbsp}}..."<ref>{{cite book |last=Linderman |first=Frank B. |year=1974 |title=Pretty Shield. Medicine Woman of the Crows |location=Lincoln and London |page=243}}</ref> With the defeat of Custer, it was still a real threat that the Lakotas would take over the eastern part of the Crow reservation and keep up the invasion. In the end, the army won the Sioux war. Crow chief Plenty Coups recalled with amazement how his tribe now finally could sleep without fear for Lakota attacks. "...{{nbsp}}this was the first time I had ever known such a condition."<ref>{{cite book |last=Linderman |first=Frank B. |year=1962 |title=Plenty Coups. Chief of the Crows |location=Lincoln/London |page=177}}</ref>
== Participants ==
=== 7th Cavalry officers ===
* Commanding Officer: Lt. Col. [[George Armstrong Custer]] (killed)
* Maj. [[Marcus Reno]]
* Adjutant: 1st Lt. [[William W. Cooke]] (killed)
* Assistant Surgeon [[George Edwin Lord]] (killed)
* Acting Assistant Surgeon [[James Madison DeWolf]] (killed)
* Acting Assistant Surgeon [[Henry Rinaldo Porter]]
* Chief of Scouts: 2nd Lt. [[Charles Varnum]] (detached from A Company, wounded)
* 2nd in command of Scouts: 2nd Lt. [[Luther Hare]] (detached from K Company)
* Pack Train commander: 1st Lt. Edward Gustave Mathey (detached from M Company)
* A Company: Capt. [[Myles Moylan]], 1st Lt. [[Charles DeRudio]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.derudio.co.uk/PAGE%20two.htm |title=Count Carlo Di Rudio at Little Bighorn |publisher=Derudio.co.uk |access-date=2012-03-15 |url-status = dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120425135359/http://www.derudio.co.uk/PAGE%20two.htm |archive-date=April 25, 2012 |df=mdy-all }}</ref>
* B Company: Capt. [[Thomas Mower McDougall|Thomas McDougall]], 2nd Lt. Benjamin Hodgson (killed) as Adjutant to Major Reno
* C Company: Capt. [[Thomas Custer]] (killed), 2nd Lt. [[Henry Moore Harrington]] (killed)
* D Company: Capt. [[Thomas Weir (American soldier)|Thomas Weir]], 2nd Lt. [[Winfield Scott Edgerly|Winfield Edgerly]]
* E Company: 1st Lt. [[Algernon Smith]] (killed), 2nd Lt. James G. Sturgis (killed)
* F Company: Capt. [[George Yates]] (killed), 2nd Lt. William Reily (killed)
* G Company: 1st Lt. [[Donald McIntosh]] (killed), 2nd Lt. George D. Wallace
* H Company: Capt. [[Frederick Benteen]], 1st Lt. Francis Gibson
* I Company: Capt. [[Myles Keogh]] (killed), 1st Lt. [[James Porter (7th Cavalry)|James Porter]] (killed)
* K Company: 1st Lt. [[Edward Settle Godfrey]]
* L Company: 1st Lt. [[James Calhoun (7th Cavalry)|James Calhoun]] (killed), 2nd Lt. [[John Jordan Crittenden III|John J. Crittenden]] (killed)
* M Company: Capt. Thomas French
<gallery mode="packed" heights="150px" style="text-align:left" class="center">
File:Soldier memorial little bighorn 1.jpg|Memorial Marker as seen from the east
File:Soldier memorial little bighorn 3.jpg|Memorial Marker plaque
File:Soldier memorial little bighorn 2.jpg|Memorial Marker as seen from the west
File:Where custer fell little big horn.jpg|Marker indicating where General Custer fell among soldiers – denoted with black-face, in center of photo
</gallery>
=== Native American leaders and "warriors" ===
[[File:Arapaho woman Pretty Nose, 1879, restored.jpg|thumb|[[Pretty Nose]] who, according to her grandson, was a woman war chief who participated in the battle]]
[[File:CheyenneStone.JPG|thumb|Marker stone on the battlefield]]The English term "warriors" is used for convenience; however, the term easily leads to misconceptions and mistranslations (such as the vision of "soldiers falling into his camp"). The Lakota had formed a "Strongheart Society" of caretakers and providers for the camp, consisting of men who had demonstrated compassion, generosity and bravery. As the purpose of the tribes' gathering was to take counsel, they did not constitute an army or warrior class.<ref name="lapointe ">{{Citation|title=Ernie Lapointe Family Oral History of Little Big Horn Battle|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-3NIrXW92s|access-date=2020-05-19}}</ref>
* '''Hunkpapa (Lakota)''': [[Sitting Bull]], Four Horns, [[Crow King]], [[Gall (Native American leader)|Chief Gall]], [[Black Moon (person)|Black Moon]], [[Rain-in-the-Face]], [[Moving Robe Woman]], Spotted Horn Bull, Iron Hawk, [[One Bull]], Bull Head, Chasing Eagle, [[Little Big Man]]
* '''Sihasapa (Blackfoot Lakota)''': Crawler, [[Kill Eagle]]
* '''Minneconjou (Lakota)''': Chief Hump, [[Black Moon (person)|Black Moon]], [[Red Horse (Lakota chief)|Red Horse]], Makes Room, Looks Up, [[Lame Deer]], Dog-with-Horn, Dog Back Bone, [[White Bull (Native American)|White Bull]], Feather Earring, Flying By
* '''Sans Arc (Lakota)''': Spotted Eagle, Red Bear, Long Road, Cloud Man
* '''Oglala (Lakota)''': [[Crazy Horse]], [[He Dog]], [[Kicking Bear]], [[Flying Hawk]], Chief Long Wolf, [[Black Elk]], White Cow Bull, [[Running Eagle]], Black Fox II
* '''Brule (Lakota)''': Two Eagles, [[Hollow Horn Bear]], Brave Bird
* '''Two Kettles (Lakota)''': Runs-the-Enemy
* '''Lower Yanktonai (Dakota)''': Thunder Bear, Medicine Cloud, Iron Bear, Long Tree
* '''Wahpekute (Dakota)''': [[Inkpaduta]], Sounds-the-Ground-as-He-Walks, White Eagle, White Tracking Earth
* '''Black Powder (Sioux Firearms trader)''': Black Powder, Johann Smidt
* '''Northern Cheyenne''': [[Two Moons]], [[Wooden Leg]], Old Bear, [[Lame White Man]], [[American Horse (Cheyenne)|American Horse]], Brave Wolf, Antelope Women, Thunder Bull Big Nose, Yellow Horse, Little Shield, Horse Road, Bob Tail Horse, Yellow Hair, Bear-Walks-on-a-Ridge, Black Hawk, [[Buffalo Calf Road Woman]], Crooked Nose, Noisy Walking
* '''Arapahoes''': Waterman, Sage, Left Hand, Yellow Eagle, Little Bird
=== Arapaho participation ===
Modern-day accounts include [[Arapaho]] warriors in the battle, but the five Arapaho men who were at the encampments were there only by accident. While on a hunting trip they came close to the village by the river and were captured and almost killed by the Lakota who believed the hunters were scouts for the U.S. Army. [[Two Moons]], a Northern Cheyenne leader, interceded to save their lives.<ref>Graham, ''The Custer Myth,'' p. 109.</ref>
=== Notable scouts/interpreters ===
The 7th Cavalry was accompanied by a number of scouts and interpreters:
* [[Bloody Knife]]: Arikara/Lakota scout (killed)
* Bob Tailed Bull: Arikara scout (killed)
* Boy Chief: Arikara scout
* [[Charley Reynolds]]: scout (killed)
* [[Curly (scout)|Curley]]: Crow scout
* Curling Head: Arikara scout
* [[Fred Gerard]]: interpreter
* [[Goes Ahead]]: Crow scout
* Goose: Arikara scout (wounded in the hand by a 7th Cavalry trooper)
* [[Hairy Moccasin]]: Crow scout
* [[Half Yellow Face, Crow Indian|Half Yellow Face]], leader of Crow Scouts, also known as Paints Half His Face Yellow<ref name="curtis">Curtis, E. (1907) [http://curtis.library.northwestern.edu/ ''The North American Indian. Vol.3''. The Sioux] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160223022135/http://curtis.library.northwestern.edu/ |date=February 23, 2016 }}.</ref>{{rp|46}}
* [[Isaiah Dorman]]: interpreter (killed)
* Little Brave: Arikara scout (killed)
* Little Sioux: Arikara scout
* [[Mitch Bouyer]]: scout/interpreter (killed)
* One Feather: Arikara scout
* Owl: Arikara scout
* Peter Jackson: half-Pikuni and half Blackfoot brother of William, scout
* Red Bear: Arikara scout
* Red Star: Arikara scout
* Running Wolf: Arikara scout
* Sitting Bear: Arikara scout
* Soldier: Arikara scout
* Strikes The Lodge: Arikara scout
* Strikes Two: Arikara scout
* [[Two Moons]]: Arikara/Cheyenne scout
* [[White Man Runs Him]]: Crow scout
* [[White Swan]]: Crow Scout (severely wounded)
* William Jackson: half-Pikuni and half Blackfoot scout
* Young Hawk: Arikara scout
<gallery mode="packed" heights="150px" style="text-align:left" class="center">
File:Edward Curtis with Crow Indians 1908.jpg|Three of Custer's scouts accompanying [[Edward S. Curtis|Edward Curtis]] on his investigative tour of the battlefield, circa 1907. Left to right: [[Goes Ahead]], [[Hairy Moccasin]], [[White Man Runs Him]], Curtis and [[Alexander B. Upshaw]] (Curtis's assistant and Crow interpreter)
File:Portrait of Curley, A Crow Indian Scout with the Seventh Cavalry at the Battle of the Little Bighorn - NARA - 533090 NewEdit.tif|Curley, Custer's Crow scout and interpreter through the battle.
File:CurlyPhilKonstantin.jpg|Grave of Curley
File:Crow Scouts 1913.jpg|Former U.S. Army [[Crow Scouts]] visiting the Little Bighorn battlefield, circa 1913
</gallery>
== Order of battle ==
'''Native Americans'''
{| class="wikitable"
! width=25% | Native Americans
! width=25% | Tribe
! Leaders
|-
| rowspan=4 |
[[Native Americans in the United States|Native Americans]]<br />
| [[Lakota people|Lakota Sioux]]
<br />
|
* Hunkpapa: [[Sitting Bull]], Four Horns, [[Crow King]], [[Gall (Native American leader)|Chief Gall]], [[Black Moon (person)|Black Moon]], [[Rain-in-the-Face]], Moving Robe Women, Spotted Horn Bull, Iron Hawk, [[One Bull]], Bull Head, Chasing Eagle
* Sihasapa: Crawler, [[Kill Eagle]]
* Minneconjou: Chief Hump, Black Moon, Red Horse, Makes Room, Looks Up, [[Lame Deer]], Dog-with-Horn, Dog Back Bone, [[White Bull (Native American)|White Bull]], Feather Earring, Flying By
* Sans Arc: Spotted Eagle, Red Bear, Long Road, Cloud Man
* Oglala: [[Crazy Horse]], [[He Dog]], [[Kicking Bear]], [[Flying Hawk]], [[American Horse (elder)|American Horse the Elder]], Chief Long Wolf, [[Black Elk]], White Cow Bull, [[Running Eagle]], Black Fox II
* Brule: Two Eagles, [[Hollow Horn Bear]], Brave Bird
* Two Kettles: Runs-the-Enemy
|-
| [[Dakota people|Dakota Sioux]]
<br />
|
* Lower Yanktonai: Thunder Bear, Medicine Cloud, Iron Bear, Long Tree
* Wahpekute: [[Inkpaduta]], Sounds-the-Ground-as-He-Walks, White Eagle, White Tracking Earth
|-
| [[Northern Cheyenne]]
<br />
|
* Northern Cheyenne: [[Two Moons]], [[Wooden Leg]], [[Old Bear]], [[Lame White Man]] [[Killed in action|†]], [[American Horse (Cheyenne)|American Horse]], Brave Wolf, Antelope Women, Thunder Bull Big Nose, Yellow Horse, Little Shield, Horse Road, Bob Tail Horse, Yellow Hair, Bear-Walks-on-a-Ridge, Black Hawk, [[Buffalo Calf Road Woman]], Crooked Nose, Noisy Walking[[Killed in action|†]]
|-
| [[Arapaho]]
<br />
|
* Arapahoes: Waterman, Sage, Left Hand, Yellow Eagle, Little Bird
|-
|}
'''United States Army''', Lieutenant Colonel [[George A. Custer]], 7th United States Cavalry Regiment, Commanding.
{| class="wikitable"
! width=25% | 7th United States Cavalry Regiment
! width=25% | Battalion
! Companies and Others
|-
| rowspan=5 |
[[Lieutenant colonel (United States)|Lieutenant Colonel]] [[George A. Custer]] [[Killed in action|†]], commanding.<br />
| Custer's Battalion
<br />
Lieutenant Colonel George A. Custer [[Killed in action|†]]
|
* Company C: Captain [[Thomas Custer]] [[Killed in action|†]]
* Company E: First Lieutenant [[Algernon Smith]] [[Killed in action|†]]
* Company F: Captain [[George Yates]] [[Killed in action|†]]
* Company I: Captain [[Myles Keogh]] [[Killed in action|†]]
* Company L: First Lieutenant [[James Calhoun (7th Cavalry)|James Calhoun]] [[Killed in action|†]]
|-
| Reno's Battalion
<br />
[[Major (United States)|Major]] [[Marcus Reno]]
|
* Company A: Captain [[Myles Moylan]]
* Company G: First Lieutenant [[Donald McIntosh]] [[Killed in action|†]]
* Company M: Captain Thomas French
|-
| Benteen's Battalion
<br />
[[Captain (United States O-3)|Captain]] [[Frederick Benteen]]
|
* Company D: Captain [[Thomas Weir (American soldier)|Thomas Weir]]
* Company H: Captain Frederick Benteen
* Company K: First Lieutenant [[Edward Settle Godfrey]]
|-
| Pack Train
<br />
[[First lieutenant#United States|First Lieutenant]] Edward Gustave Mathey
|
* Company B: Captain [[Thomas Mower McDougall|Thomas McDougall]]
|-
| Scouts and Interpreters
<br />
[[Second lieutenant#United States|Second Lieutenant]] [[Charles Varnum]] [[Wounded in action|(wounded)]], Chief of Scouts
|
* [[Bloody Knife]] [[Killed in action|†]], [[Charley Reynolds]] [[Killed in action|†]], [[Isaiah Dorman]] [[Killed in action|†]], [[Mitch Bouyer]] [[Killed in action|†]], Bob Tailed Bull[[Killed in action|†]], Little Brave[[Killed in action|†]], White Swan [[Wounded in action|(severely wounded)]], Goose [[Wounded in action|(wounded)]], Curley, Curling Head, [[Fred Gerard]], Goes Ahead, Boy Chief, Hairy Moccasin, Half Yellow Face (Paints Half His Face Yellow), Little Sioux, One Feather, Owl, Peter Jackson, William Jackson, Red Bear, Red Star, Running Wolf, Sitting Bear, Soldier, Strikes The Lodge, Strikes Two, Two Moons, White Man Runs Him, Young Hawk
|-
|}
== Casualties ==
=== Native American warriors ===
Estimates of Native American casualties have differed widely, from as few as 36 dead (from Native American listings of the dead by name) to as many as 300.<ref>Hardorff, ''Hokayhey!,'' p. 13.</ref> Lakota chief [[Red Horse (Lakota chief)|Red Horse]] told Col. W. H. Wood in 1877 that the Native Americans suffered 136 dead and 160 wounded during the battle.<ref>Graham, Col. W. A. ''The Custer Myth''. NY, Bonanza Books, 1953, p. 60.</ref> In 1881, Red Horse told Dr. C. E. McChesney the same numbers but in a series of drawings done by Red Horse to illustrate the battle, he drew only sixty figures representing Lakota and Cheyenne casualties. Of those sixty figures, only thirty-some are portrayed with a conventional Plains Indian method of indicating death. In the last 140 years, historians have been able to identify multiple Indian names pertaining to the same individual, which has greatly reduced previously inflated numbers. Today a list of positively known casualties exists that lists 99 names, attributed and consolidated to 31 identified warriors.<ref>{{cite web|last=Thomas|first=Rodney G.|title=Indian Casualties of the Little Big Horn Battle|url=http://www.littlebighorn.info/Articles/IndianCasualties.pdf|url-status = live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160403040007/http://www.littlebighorn.info/Articles/IndianCasualties.pdf|archive-date=April 3, 2016|df=mdy-all}}</ref>
{{Gallery
|title=Red Horse pictographic account of Lakota casualties in the Battle of the Little Bighorn, 1881
|align=center
|height=150px |width=150px
|File:Red-Horse-cabinet-card.jpg|Red Horse
|File:Red Horse pictographic account of the Battle of the Little Bighorn, 1881. 0000.png|
|File:Red Horse pictographic account of the Battle of the Little Bighorn, 1881. 0100.png|
|File:Red Horse pictographic account of the Battle of the Little Bighorn, 1881. 0200.png|Plate XLIV
|File:Lakota casualites.jpg|Plate XLV
|File:Annual report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution (1888) (19363409875).jpg|Indians leaving the Battlefield Plate XLVIII
}}
=== Native American noncombatants ===
Six unnamed Native American women and four unnamed children are known to have been killed at the beginning of the battle during Reno's charge. Among them were two wives and three children of the Hunkpapa Leader Pizi (Gall).{{Citation needed|date=July 2019}}
=== 7th Cavalry ===
The 7th Cavalry suffered 52 percent casualties: 16 officers and 242 troopers killed or died of wounds, 1 officer and 51 troopers wounded. Every soldier of the five companies with Custer was killed (except for some [[Crow scouts]] and several troopers that had left that column before the battle or as the battle was starting). Among the dead were Custer's brothers Boston and Thomas, his brother-in-law James Calhoun, and his nephew Henry Reed.
In 1878, the army awarded 24 [[Medal of Honor|Medals of Honor]] to participants in the fight on the bluffs for bravery, most for risking their lives to carry water from the river up the hill to the wounded.<ref>{{cite web
|url = http://www.history.army.mil/html/moh/indianwars.html
|publisher = [[United States Army Center of Military History]]
|title = Medal of Honor Recipients: Indian Wars Period
|url-status = live
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130803232814/http://www.history.army.mil/html/moh/indianwars.html
|archive-date = August 3, 2013
|df = mdy-all
}}</ref> Few on the non-Indian side questioned the conduct of the enlisted men, but many questioned the tactics, strategy and conduct of the officers. Indian accounts spoke of soldiers' panic-driven flight and suicide by those unwilling to fall captive to the Indians. While such stories were gathered by [[Thomas Bailey Marquis]] in a book in the 1930s, it was not published until 1976 because of the unpopularity of such assertions.<ref name="cheyenne">{{cite web |last =Liberty |first =Dr. Margot |url = http://www.friendslittlebighorn.com/cheyenneprimacy.htm |title = Cheyenne Primacy: The Tribes' Perspective As Opposed To That Of The United States Army; A Possible Alternative To "The Great Sioux War Of 1876 |publisher = Friends of the Little Bighorn|access-date =January 13, 2008| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080124135151/http://www.friendslittlebighorn.com/cheyenneprimacy.htm| archive-date= January 24, 2008 <!--DASHBot-->|url-status = live}}</ref> Although soldiers may have believed captives would be tortured, Indians usually killed men outright and took as captive for adoption only young women and children.<ref name="cheyenne" /> Indian accounts also noted the bravery of soldiers who fought to the death.<ref>{{cite web |author=Running Dog |url=http://www.astonisher.com/archives/museum/he_dog2_little_big_horn.html |title=He Dog's Story of the Battle of the Little Bighorn #2 |publisher=Astonisher.com |date=1920-08-19 |access-date=2012-03-15 |url-status = live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120118221821/http://www.astonisher.com/archives/museum/he_dog2_little_big_horn.html |archive-date=January 18, 2012 |df=mdy-all }}</ref>
{{Gallery
|title=Red Horse pictographic account of dead U.S. cavalrymen in the Battle of the Little Bighorn, 1881
|align=center
|height=150px |width=150px
|File:Red Horse pictographic account of the Battle of the Little Bighorn, 1881. 0300.png|
|File:Red Horse pictographic account of the Battle of the Little Bighorn, 1881. 0400.png|Cavalrymen and two Indian Government scouts[?]
|File:Red Horse pictographic account of the Battle of the Little Bighorn, 1881. 0500.png|
|File:Red Horse pictographic account of the Battle of the Little Bighorn, 1881. 0600.png|Cavalrymen and dead cavalry horses
|File:Red Horse pictographic account of the Battle of the Little Bighorn, 1881. 0700.png|<ref>{{cite web|url=http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2016/06/24/battle-greasy-grass-140-years-later-complete-story-18-drawings-164918|title=The Battle of the Greasy Grass 140 Years Later: The Complete Story in 18 Drawings|last=leeanne|date=June 24, 2016|work=indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com|access-date=October 19, 2016|url-status = live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161026182510/http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2016/06/24/battle-greasy-grass-140-years-later-complete-story-18-drawings-164918|archive-date=October 26, 2016|df=mdy-all}}</ref>
}}
=== Civilians killed (armed and embedded within the Army) ===
* [[Boston Custer]]: brother of George and Thomas, forager for the 7th
* [[Mark Kellogg (reporter)|Mark Kellogg]]: reporter
* [[Henry Armstrong Reed]]: Custer's nephew, herder for the 7th
== Legacy ==
=== Reconstitution of the 7th Cavalry ===
Beginning in July, the 7th Cavalry was assigned new officers<ref name="hils">{{Cite book| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=w-VCAAAAIAAJ&q=record+of+living+officers+of+the+united+states+army| title = Records of Living Officers of the United States Army (1884)| access-date =January 17, 2008| year = 1883| isbn = 978-0722293980| last1 = Hamersly| first1 = Lewis Randolph}}</ref><ref group="note">Major Elmer I. Otis of the [[1st Cavalry Regiment (United States)|1st Cavalry]] was promoted to replace Custer effective June 25, 1876, but did not report until February 1877. Two 1876 West Point graduates designated for the 7th Cavalry were advanced to 1st lieutenant effective 10 days after their graduation. Four others appointed to other regiments, along with eight experienced 2nd lieutenants, were transferred and designated one to each company of the 7th. However, five declined the appointment, replaced by 2nd lieutenants of infantry and unappointed new officers in July and August 1876. Only three replacements were able to report while the 7th was still in the field.</ref> and recruiting efforts began to fill the depleted ranks. The regiment, reorganized into eight companies, remained in the field as part of the Terry Expedition, now based on the Yellowstone River at the mouth of the Bighorn and reinforced by Gibbon's column. On August 8, 1876, after Terry was further reinforced with the 5th Infantry, the expedition moved up Rosebud Creek in pursuit of the Lakota. It met with Crook's command, similarly reinforced, and the combined force, almost 4,000 strong, followed the Lakota trail northeast toward the [[Little Missouri River (North Dakota)|Little Missouri River]]. Persistent rain and lack of supplies forced the column to dissolve and return to its varying starting points. The 7th Cavalry returned to Fort Abraham Lincoln to reconstitute. The regimental commander, Colonel [[Samuel D. Sturgis]], returned from his detached duty in St. Louis, Missouri. Sturgis led the 7th Cavalry in the campaign against the [[Nez Perce War|Nez Perce]] in 1877.
=== Expansion of the U.S. Army ===
The [[United States Congress|U.S. Congress]] authorized appropriations to expand the Army by 2,500 men to meet the emergency after the defeat of the 7th Cavalry. For a session, the Democratic Party-controlled House of Representatives abandoned its campaign to reduce the size of the Army. Word of Custer's fate reached the 44th United States Congress as a conference committee was attempting to reconcile opposing appropriations bills approved by the House and the Republican Senate. They approved a measure to increase the size of cavalry companies to 100 enlisted men on July 24. The committee temporarily lifted the ceiling on the size of the Army by 2,500 on August 15.<ref>Utley, Robert M. (1973) ''Frontier Regulars: The United States Army and the Indian 1866–1890'', pp. 64 and 69 note 11.</ref>
=== "Sell or Starve" ===
{{Main|Black Hills land claim}}
As a result of the defeat in June 1876, Congress responded by attaching what the Sioux call the "sell or starve" rider ({{USStat|19|192}}) to the Indian Appropriations Act of 1876 (enacted August 15, 1876), which cut off all rations for the Sioux until they terminated hostilities and ceded the Black Hills to the United States.<ref>House Report 95-375</ref><ref>''[[United States v. Sioux Nation of Indians]]'' (Ct. Cl. 1979), 601 F.2d 1157, 1161</ref> The Agreement of 1877 ({{USStat|19|254}}, enacted February 28, 1877) officially took away Sioux land and permanently established Indian reservations.
== Controversies ==
=== Reno's conduct ===
The Battle of the Little Bighorn was the subject of an 1879 U.S. Army Court of Inquiry in Chicago, held at Reno's request, during which his conduct was scrutinized.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/cgi-bin/History/History-idx?type=goto&id=History.Reno&isize=M&submit=Go+to+page&page=1 |title=A Complete scanned transcript of the Reno Court of Inquiry (RCOI) |publisher=Digicoll.library.wisc.edu |access-date=2012-03-15 |url-status = live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120406080132/http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/cgi-bin/History/History-idx?type=goto&id=History.Reno&isize=M&submit=Go+to+page&page=1 |archive-date=April 6, 2012 |df=mdy-all }}</ref> Some testimony by non-Army officers suggested that he was drunk and a coward. The court found Reno's conduct to be without fault. After the battle, Thomas Rosser, James O'Kelly, and others continued to question the conduct of Reno due to his hastily ordered retreat.<ref>Donovan, James (2008). ''A Terrible Glory: Custer and the Little Bighorn – the Last Great Battle of the American West'' (Kindle Location 5870). Little, Brown and Company. Kindle Edition.</ref> Defenders of Reno at the trial noted that, while the retreat was disorganized, Reno did not withdraw from his position until it became apparent that he was outnumbered and outflanked by the Indians. Contemporary accounts also point to the fact that Reno's scout, Bloody Knife, was shot in the head, spraying him with blood, possibly increasing his panic and distress.<ref name="Fox1993" />
=== Custer's errors ===
General Terry and others claimed that Custer made strategic errors from the start of the campaign. For instance, he refused to use a battery of Gatling guns and turned down General Terry's offer of an additional battalion of the 2nd Cavalry. Custer believed that the Gatling guns would impede his march up the Rosebud and hamper his mobility. His rapid march en route to the Little Bighorn averaged nearly {{convert|30|mi|km}} a day, so his assessment appears to have been accurate. Custer planned "to live and travel like Indians; in this manner the command will be able to go wherever the Indians can", he wrote in his ''Herald'' dispatch.<ref name="Donovan 2008">Donovan (2008). ''A Terrible Glory'', (Kindle Locations 3080–3086)</ref>
[[File:Pawnee bill wild west show c1905.jpg|thumb|''Death of Custer'', scene by Pawnee Bill's Wild West Show performers c. 1905 of Sitting Bull's stabbing Custer, with dead Native Americans lying on ground]]
By contrast, each Gatling gun had to be hauled by four horses, and soldiers often had to drag the heavy guns by hand over obstacles. Each of the heavy, hand-cranked weapons could fire up to 350 rounds a minute, an impressive rate, but they were known to jam frequently. During the [[Black Hills Expedition]] two years earlier, a Gatling gun had turned over, rolled down a mountain, and shattered to pieces. Lieutenant William Low, commander of the artillery detachment, was said to have almost wept when he learned he had been excluded from the strike force.<ref name="Donovan 2008" />
Custer believed that the 7th Cavalry could handle any Indian force and that the addition of the four companies of the 2nd would not alter the outcome. When offered the 2nd Cavalry, he reportedly replied that the 7th "could handle anything."<ref>Connell, Evan S. (1997). ''Son of the Morning Star''. New York: HarperPerennial, p. 257.</ref> There is evidence that Custer suspected that he would be outnumbered by the Indians, although he did not know by how much. By dividing his forces, Custer could have caused the defeat of the entire column, had it not been for Benteen's and Reno's linking up to make a desperate yet successful stand on the bluff above the southern end of the camp.<ref>Donovan (2008). ''A Terrible Glory'' (Kindle Location 5758)</ref>
The historian James Donovan believed that Custer's dividing his force into four smaller detachments (including the pack train) can be attributed to his inadequate reconnaissance; he also ignored the warnings of his Crow scouts and Charley Reynolds.<ref>Donovan (2008). ''A Terrible Glory'' (Kindle Location 3697)</ref> By the time the battle began, Custer had already divided his forces into three battalions of differing sizes, of which he kept the largest. His men were widely scattered and unable to support each other.<ref>Goodrich, Thomas (1984). ''Scalp Dance: Indian Warfare on the High Plains, 1865–1879''. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, p. 233.</ref><ref>Wert, Jeffry D. (1964/1996) ''Custer: The Controversial Life of George Armstrong Custer''. New York: Simon & Schuster, p. 327.</ref> Wanting to prevent any escape by the combined tribes to the south, where they could disperse into different groups,<ref name="Donovan, loc 3699" /> Custer believed that an immediate attack on the south end of the camp was the best course of action.
=== Admiration for Custer ===
Criticism of Custer was not universal. While investigating the battlefield, Lieutenant General [[Nelson A. Miles]] wrote in 1877, "The more I study the moves here [on the Little Big Horn], the more I have admiration for Custer."<ref>Sklenar, p. 341.</ref> Facing major budget cutbacks, the U.S. Army wanted to avoid bad press and found ways to exculpate Custer. They blamed the defeat on the Indians' alleged possession of numerous repeating rifles and the overwhelming numerical superiority of the warriors.<ref group="note">Twenty-three men were called to testify at the inquiry, which met in session daily except Sundays. For the army, far more was at stake than individual reputations, as the future of the service could be affected. On January 2, General Sheridan had quoted Lee's report of agent malfeasance in a supplement to his annual report, which continued the General's running battle with the [[Bureau of Indian Affairs]] and the [[Department of the Interior]]. At the same time, a House committee was busy debating a new appropriations bill that required a major reorganization of the army. "Reduction of expenses" was emphasized. One proposal would lop off entire regiments, including two cavalry regiments. Another would set the line officers (those in the field) from Major down back a few years in the promotion schedule. The total reduction in officers was proposed to be 406, almost 25 percent of the total. The military strongly wanted to avoid confirmation of incompetency or cowardice—rumors of which were circulating around the impending court of inquiry in Chicago. Donovan (2008). ''A Terrible Glory'' (Kindle Locations 6395–6403)</ref>
The widowed [[Elizabeth Bacon Custer]], who never remarried, wrote three popular books in which she fiercely protected her husband's reputation.<ref>{{cite journal|last1= Smith|first1= Gene|year= 1993|journal= American Heritage|volume= 44|issue= 8|url= http://www.americanheritage.com/content/libbie-custer|title= Libbie Custer|access-date= 10 September 2012|url-status = live|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20131220201035/http://www.americanheritage.com/content/libbie-custer|archive-date= December 20, 2013|df= mdy-all}}</ref><ref group="note">Libbie Custer "spent almost sixty years commemorating her marriage—and her memories of it quite literally kept her alive....she was quintessentially the professional widow, forcing it to become a very touchy matter for any military writer or officer to criticize Custer for having insanely launched an attack without taking the most elementary precautions or making even an attempt at reconnaissance. To say or write such put one in the position of standing against bereaved Libbie". Smith, Gene (1993) ''op cit''.</ref> She lived until 1933, hindering much serious research until most of the evidence was long gone.<ref>Smith, Gene (1993) ''op cit''.</ref> In addition, Captain Frederick Whittaker's 1876 book idealizing Custer was hugely successful.<ref>''A Complete Life of General George A. Custer'' (1876), noted in Donovan (2008). ''A Terrible Glory'' (Kindle Locations 6222–6223)</ref> Custer as a heroic officer fighting valiantly against savage forces was an image popularized in ''Wild West'' extravaganzas hosted by showman [[Buffalo Bill|"Buffalo Bill" Cody]], [[Pawnee Bill]], and others. It was not until over half a century later that historians took another look at the battle and Custer's decisions that led to his death and loss of half his command and found much to criticize.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.historynet.com/buffalo-bills-skirmish-at-warbonnet-creek.htm|title= Buffalo Bill's Skirmish At Warbonnet Creek|author= Robert B.Smith|date= June 12, 2006|work= American History Magazine|access-date= August 25, 2012|url-status = live|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20121001171445/http://www.historynet.com/buffalo-bills-skirmish-at-warbonnet-creek.htm|archive-date= October 1, 2012|df= mdy-all}}</ref>
=== Gatling gun controversy ===
General Alfred Terry's Dakota column included a single battery of artillery, comprising two [[Field artillery in the American Civil War#3-inch rifle|3-inch Ordnance rifle]] and two [[Gatling Gun|Gatling guns]].<ref>Sklenar, 2000, p. 68: Terry's column out of Fort Abraham Lincoln included "...artillery (two Rodman and two Gatling guns)..."</ref><ref>Lawson, 2007, p. 48: "[Three] rapid-fire artillery pieces known as Gatling guns" were part of Terry's firepower included in the Dakota column.</ref> (According to historian Evan S. Connell, the precise number of Gatlings has not been established: either two or three.)<ref>Connell, 1984, p. 101: "How many Gatling guns lurched across the prairie is uncertain. Probably three."</ref>
[[File:Mitrailleuse-gatling-p1000591.jpg|left|thumb|The Gatling gun, invented in 1861 by [[Richard Jordan Gatling|Richard Gatling]]. Custer declined an offer of a battery of these weapons, explaining to Terry that they would "hamper our movements". Said Custer: "The 7th can handle anything it meets."<ref>Lawson, 2007, p. 50</ref>]]
Custer's decision to reject Terry's offer of the rapid-fire Gatlings has raised questions among historians as to why he refused them and what advantage their availability might have conferred on his forces at the Battle of the Little Bighorn.
<ref>Donovan, 2008, p. 175: "Custer refused Terry's offer of the Gatling gun battery."</ref><ref>Lawson, 2008, p. 50: "Military historians have speculated whether this decision was a mistake. If Gatling guns had made it to the battlefield, they might have allowed Custer enough firepower to allow Custer's companies to survive on Last Stand Hill."</ref><ref>Philbrick, 2010, p. 73: "Since its invention during the Civil War, the Gatling gun had been used sparingly in actual battle, but there was no denying, potentially at least, an awesome weapon."</ref>
One factor concerned Major Marcus Reno's recent 8-day reconnaissance-in-force of the Powder-Tongue-Rosebud Rivers, June 10 to 18.<ref>Sklenar, 2000, pp. 71, 75</ref><ref>Donovan, 2008, pp. 162–63: Reno's wing "left...on June 10...accompanied by a Gatling gun and its crew..."</ref> This deployment had demonstrated that artillery pieces mounted on gun carriages and hauled by horses no longer fit for cavalry mounts (so-called condemned horses) were cumbersome over mixed terrain and vulnerable to breakdowns.<ref>Donovan, 2008, p. 163: "The [Gatling gun] and its ammunition...was mostly pulled by two 'condemned' cavalry mounts [p. 176: "...drawn by four condemned horses..."] judged not fit to carry troopers, but it needed the occasional hauling by hand through some of the rougher ravines. (The gun would eventually upset and injure three men.)" and p. 175: "...Reno had taken [a Gatling gun] on his [June reconnaissance mission], and it had been nothing but trouble."</ref><ref>Sklenar, 2000, p. 72: On Reno's [June 10 to June 18] reconnaissance "the Gatling guns proved to be an annoying burden...they either fell apart or had to be disassembled and carried in pieces over rough terrain." And p. 79: "During the Reno scout [reconnoitering], the two guns were actually abandoned (and retrieved later) because soldiers got tired of dragging them over rough spots...[I]f Custer did not already have a fully formed negative opinion of the Gatlings on such an expedition, the experience of the Reno [reconnaissance of early June] surely convinced him."</ref><ref>Philbrick, 2010, p. 73: "The biggest problem with the [Gatling] gun was transporting it to where it might be of some use... [in the week preceding the Battle of the Little Bighorn], the Gatling, not the mules, proved to be the biggest hindrance to the expedition."</ref><ref>Donovan, 2008, p. 175: "...Reno had taken one [Gatling gun] along [on his June reconnaissance], and it had been nothing but trouble." And p. 195: Custer, in comments to his officer staff before the Battle of the Little Bighorn, said that "...if hostiles could whip the Seventh [Cavalry]...they could defeat a much larger force."</ref> Custer, valuing the mobility of the 7th Cavalry and recognizing Terry's acknowledgment of the regiment as "the primary strike force" preferred to remain unencumbered by the Gatling guns.<ref>Hatch, 1997, pp. 80–81: The Gatling guns "were cumbersome and would cause delays over the traveled route. The guns were drawn by four condemned horses [and] obstacles in the terrain [would] require their unhitching and assistance of soldier to continue...Terry's own battery [of Gatling guns]—the one he had offered to Custer—[would have] a difficult time keeping up with the march of Colonel John Gibbon's infantry."</ref><ref>Lawson, 2007, p. 50: "[Custer] turned down General Terry's offer to bring the three Gatling guns, because they would slow down his movement."</ref><ref>Philbrick, 2010, p. 99: "Custer knew he had to move quickly to accomplish his objective. That was why he ultimately declined the offer of the Gatling guns that had proven such a bother to Reno."</ref><ref>Sklenar, 2000, p. 79: After the 7th Cavalry's departure up Rosebud Creek, "even Brisbin would acknowledge that everyone in Gibbon's command understood [that]...the Seventh was the primary strike force."</ref> Custer insisted that the artillery was superfluous to his success, in that the 7th Cavalry alone was sufficient to cope with any force they should encounter, informing Terry: "The 7th can handle anything it meets".<ref>Philbrick, 2010, p. 99: "Thinking his regiment powerful enough to handle anything it might encounter, [Custer, in addition to declining the Gatling guns] declined the offer of four additional cavalry companies from [Gibbon's] Montana column." And p. 114: Custer told his officer staff days before the battle that he "opted against the Gatling guns...so as not to 'hamper our movements'"</ref><ref>Sklenar, 2000, p. 92: Custer "on the evening of 22 June...[informed his officer staff]...why he had not accepted the offers...of Gatling guns (he thought they might hamper his movements at a critical moment)."</ref><ref>Lawson, 2007 p. 50: "Custer...refused Major James Brisbin's offer to include his Second Cavalry Regiment [200 troopers], told Terry "the 7th can handle anything it meets."</ref><ref>Donovan, 2008, p. "Explaining his refusal of the Gatling gun detachment and the Second Cavalry battalion, he convolutedly reaffirmed his confidence in the Seventh's ability to defeat any number of Indians they could find."</ref> In addition to these practical concerns, a strained relationship with Major James Brisbin induced Custer's polite refusal to integrate Brisbin's Second Cavalry unit—and the Gatling guns—into his strike force, as it would disrupt any hierarchical arrangements that Custer presided over.<ref>Hatch, 1997, p. 24: "Brisbin argued with Terry that Custer was undermanned, and requested that his troops [which had the] Gatling guns – with Terry in command because Brisbin did not want to serve under Custer—be permitted to accompany [Custer's] column. Custer refused the assistance, and Terry abided by that."</ref><ref>Sklenar, 2000, pp. 78–79: "Apparently, Terry offered [Major James] Brisbin's battalion and Gatling gun battery to accompany the Seventh, but Custer refused these additions for several reasons. First of all, Custer and Brisbin did not get along and Custer thus would not have wanted to place Brisbin in a senior command position. Custer was on the verge of abolishing the wings led by Reno and Benteen, and the inclusion of Brisbin would have complicated the arrangement he had in mind. Also, Custer retained the conviction that the Seventh could handle any force of Indians it might encounter, and he may have reasoned that taking the Second Cavalry would leave [Colonel John] Gibbon's column susceptible to attack and defeat..."</ref><ref>Hatch, 1997, p. 80: "The offer of 3 Gatling Guns...was made to Custer by General Alfred Terry [at the] urging of Major James Brisbin, who also desired his Second Cavalry to become part of Custer's detachment. Custer respectfully declined both offers, state that the Gatlings would impede his march.</ref>
Historians have acknowledged the firepower inherent in the Gatling gun: they were capable of firing 350 .45-70 ({{convert|0.45|-|0.70|in|mm|disp=out}}) caliber rounds per minute. Jamming caused by black powder residue could lower that rate,<ref>Hatch, 1997, p. 80: "The Gatling Guns would have brought formidable firepower into play; this rapid fire artillery could fire up to 350 rounds in 1 minute."</ref><ref>Donovan, 2008, p. 175: "Each of these heavy, hand-cranked weapons could fire up to 350 rounds a minute, an impressive rate, but they were known to jam frequently.</ref> raising questions as to their reliability under combat conditions.<ref>Hatch, 1997, pp. 80–81: "The Gatlings had major drawbacks, such as frequent jamming due to residue from black powder..."</ref><ref>Philbrick, 2010, p. 73: "Military traditionalists like to claim the gun was unreliable, but in actuality the Gatling functioned surprisingly well."</ref> Researchers have further questioned the effectiveness of the guns under the tactics that Custer was likely to face with the Lakota and Cheyenne warriors. The Gatlings, mounted high on carriages, required the battery crew to stand upright during its operation, making them easy targets for Lakota and Cheyenne sharpshooters.<ref>Hatch, 1997, p. 81: "...The [Gatling] guns were mounted on large [diameter] wheels, which meant that in order to operate them the gun crews would [necessarily] be standing upright, making them [extremely vulnerable] to Indian snipers."</ref>
Historian [[Robert M. Utley]], in a section entitled "Would Gatling Guns Have Saved Custer?" presents two judgments from Custer's contemporaries: General [[Henry J. Hunt]], expert in the tactical use of artillery in Civil War, stated that Gatlings "would probably have saved the command", whereas General [[Nelson A. Miles]], participant in the Great Sioux War declared "[Gatlings] were useless for Indian fighting."<ref>Utley, 1987, pp. 80–81</ref>
== Weapons ==
=== Lakota and Cheyenne ===
[[File:Henry Winchester Musket.JPG|thumb|Henry rifle and a Winchester Model 1866 rifle. These [[Repeating rifle|repeater]] rifles were capable of higher rates of fire than the [[Springfield rifle|Springfield]] [[Trapdoor mechanism|trapdoor.]]]]
The Lakota and Cheyenne warriors that opposed Custer's forces possessed a wide array of weaponry, from war clubs and lances to the most advanced firearms of the day.<ref>Gallear, 2001: "The Indians were well equipped with hand-to-hand weapons and these included lances, tomahawks, war clubs, knives and war shields were carried for defense. Such weapons were little different from the shock and hand-to-hand weapons, used by the cavalry of the European armies, such as the sabre and lance...[in addition] the Indians were clearly armed with a number of sophisticated firearms..."<br />Hatch, 1997, p. 184: "Sioux and Cheyenne weapons included...clubs, bows and arrows, lances, and hatchets [as well as] an array of new and old [model] firearms: muzzleloaders, Spenser, Sharps, Henry and Winchester repeating rifles, and...Springfield carbines taken from Reno's dead cavalrymen."<br />Robinson, 1995, p. xxix: "...Indians carried at least forty-one different kinds of firearms in the fight."</ref> The typical firearms carried by the Lakota and Cheyenne combatants were [[muzzleloader]]s, more often a [[Caplock mechanism|cap-lock]] smoothbore, the so-called Indian trade musket or Leman guns<ref>Flaherty, 1993, p. 208: "By 1873, Indians "used the traditional bow and arrows and war club along with firearms such as the muzzle-loading Leman rifle, issued as part of treaty agreements, and rapid-fire Henry and Winchester rifles, obtained through civilian traders."</ref><ref>Gallear, 2001: "Trade guns were made up until the 1880s by such gunsmiths as Henry Leman, J.P. Lower and J. Henry & Son."</ref> distributed to Indians by the US government at treaty conventions.<ref>Gallear, 2001: "These guns were crudely made for Indian trade and were given out as a sweetener for treaties."</ref> Less common were surplus rifled muskets of American Civil War vintage such as the [[Pattern 1853 Enfield]] and [[Springfield Model 1861]].<ref>Gallear, 2001: "Civil War type muzzleloader rifles would have had an effective range of about 500 yards, but with [[volley fire]] were effective to 1000 yards."</ref> Metal cartridge weapons were prized by native combatants, such as the [[Henry rifle|Henry]] and the [[Spencer repeating rifle|Spencer]] lever-action rifles, as well as [[Sharps rifle|Sharps]] breechloaders.<ref>Donovan, 2008, p. 188: "Though most of the men in the village carried the bow and arrow in battle...over the past decade [1866–1876] the sale and trade of arms to the Indians had increased significantly...[t]he latest Winchester magazine rifles were available for the right price...Many men carried older guns—muzzleloaders, for which some molded their own bullets; Henry and Spencer repeaters; Springfield, Enfield [rifled muskets], Sharps breechloaders and many different pistols. All told, between one-third and one-half of the gathering warriors had a gun."</ref> Bows and arrows were utilized by younger braves in lieu of the more potent firearms; effective up to 30 yards (27 meters), the arrows could readily maim or disable an opponent.<ref>Gallear, 2001: "The bows effective range was about 30 yards and was unlikely to kill a man instantly or even knock him off his horse. However, it would incapacitate and few troopers would fight on after an arrow hit them."</ref>
Sitting Bull's forces had no assured means to supply themselves with firearms and ammunition.<ref>Gallear, 2001: "There is also evidence that some Indians were short of ammunition and it is unclear how good a shot they were. They certainly did not have the ammunition to practice, except whilst hunting buffalo, and this would suggest that the Indians generally followed the same technique of holding their fire until they were at very close range,"</ref> Nonetheless, they could usually procure these through post-traders, licensed or unlicensed, and from gunrunners who operated in the Dakota Territory: "...a horse or a mule for a repeater...buffalo hides for ammunition."<ref>Donovan, 2008, p. 188 (fragment of quote)<br />Utley, 1993, p. 39: The Indians had grown to depend on the goods [white traders] supplied, especially firearms and ammunition...they could be obtained only though white men, directly, of through Indian intermediaries."<br />Gallear, 2001: "Indian trade muskets...could be legitimately obtained from traders at Indian agencies...The Sioux [however] were keen to obtain metal cartridge weapons [available].from half-breed Indian traders out of Canada or unsupervised traders at Missouri River posts in Montana...By 1876 almost all [Model 1860 Henry rifles] in civilian use would have disappeared so Indian use must have come from ex-Civil War stocks sold off cheaply and bought by Indian traders, such as the Métis.<br />Flaherty, 1993, p. 208: By 1873, Indians "used the traditional bow and arrows and war club along with firearms such as the muzzle-loading Leman rifle, issued as part of treaty agreements, and rapid-fire Henry and Winchester rifles, obtained through civilian traders."<br />Donovan, 2008, p. 188: "...there were many...ways a warrior could acquire a rifle. Post-traders on some reservations supplied illegal arms to non-treat[y] [Indians]; so did unlicensed traders—primarily the half-breed Canadian Métis gunrunners to the north in the desolate area known as Burning Ground below the Black Hills.<br />Robinson, 1995, p. xxix: "Studies of the cartridge cases recovered in archaeological investigations of the Little Big Horn show the Indians carried at least forty-one different kinds [models] if firearms in that fight, and it estimated that at least 25 to 30 percent [of Lakota and Cheyenne combatants] were armed with modern sixteen-shot Winchester and Henry repeating rifles....they also armed themselves with captured Springfield carbines...[and] carried traditional weapons...bows and arrows, hatchets...and war clubs."</ref> Custer's highly regarded guide, "Lonesome" [[Charley Reynolds]], informed his superior in early 1876 that Sitting Bull's forces were amassing weapons, including numerous Winchester repeating rifles and abundant ammunition.<ref>Donovan, 2008, p. 118: Reynolds "...{{nbsp}}best white scout in Dakota Territory...had earned Custer's respect for his excellent work...report[ed] to Custer that Lakotas under Sitting Bull were 'gathering in force'. They had been preparing for war by collecting Winchester repeating rifles and plenty ammunition."</ref>
Of the guns owned by Lakota and Cheyenne fighters at the Little Bighorn, approximately 200 were repeating rifles<ref name="Hatch 1997, p. 184">Hatch, 1997, p. 184: "It has been estimated that perhaps 200 repeating rifles were possessed by the Indians, nearly one for each [man in Custer's battalion]."</ref> corresponding to about 1 of 10 of the encampment's two thousand able-bodied fighters who participated in the battle.<ref>Sklenar, 2000, p. 163: "...the village contained possibly 1,200 lodges, plus several hundred wikiups housing individual warriors. The total population of men, woman and children probably reached 6,000 to 7,000 at its peak, with 2,000 of these being able-bodied warriors..."</ref>
=== 7th Cavalry ===
[[File:SAA 5773 oN.JPG|thumb|Colt Single Action Army, serial No 5773 7th Cavalry issued]]
[[File:Springfield Trapdoor breech open.JPG|thumb|Springfield trapdoor rifle with breech open. Custer's troopers were equipped with these breech-loading, single-shot rifles.]]
The troops under Custer's command carried two regulation firearms authorized and issued by the U.S. Army in early 1876: the breech-loading, single-shot [[Springfield Model 1873]] carbine, and the 1873 [[Colt Single Action Army|Colt]] single-action revolver.<ref>Lawson, 2007, pp. 52–53: "The troops of the 7th Cavalry were each armed with two standard weapons, a rifle and a pistol. The rifle was a .45/55-caliber Springfield carbine and the pistol was a .45-caliber Colt revolver...both weapons were models [introduced in] 1873 [though] they did not represent the latest in firearm technology."</ref> The regulation [[Model 1860 Light Cavalry Saber|Model 1860 saber]] or "long knives" were not carried by troopers upon Custer's order.<ref>Lawson, 2007, p. 53: "Although each soldier was also issued a sword or saber, Custer ordered these weapons boxed before the strike force departed [up Rosebud Creek]...the lack of swords would prove to be a disadvantage during some of the close fighting that lay ahead. Gunpowder of the day is now known as black powder. It causes substantial fouling within the firearm. After about 25 rounds are fired from the M1873 revolver using black powder, the cylinder binds on the cylinder pin. The cavalry trooper would then have used his saber. However, their inclusion would not have changed the ultimate outcome."</ref><ref>Gallear, 2001: "No bayonet or hand to hand weapon was issued apart from the saber, which under Custer's orders was left behind."</ref>
Except for a number of officers and scouts who opted for personally owned and more expensive rifles and handguns, the 7th Cavalry was uniformly armed.<ref>Lawson, 2008, p. 53: "Many of the officers and most of the civilians brought along their own weapons."</ref><ref>Donovan, 2008, p. 191: "...{{nbsp}}each enlisted man carried the regulation single-action breech-loading, M1873 Springfield carbine...the standard issue sidearm was the reliable [single-action] M1873 Colt .45 cal. pistol."</ref><ref>Gallear, 2001: "Officers purchased their own carbines or rifles for hunting purposes...[however] these guns may have been left with the baggage and is unclear how many officers actually used these weapons in the battle. However, there is evidence that Reno's men did make use of long-range hunting rifles. White Scouts would have been better armed and seemed to favor long-range buffalo hunting type rifles over fast-shooting lever actions... Henrys, Spencers and Winchester M1866s would also have been popular choices... Some Scouts would have been armed with both types of weapons plus a variety of side arms."</ref>
Ammunition allotments provided 100 carbine rounds per trooper, carried on a [[Bandolier|cartridge belt]] and in saddlebags on their mounts. An additional 50 carbine rounds per man were reserved on the pack train that accompanied the regiment to the battlefield. Each trooper had 24 rounds for his Colt handgun.<ref>Donovan, 2008, p. 191: "[Each] trooper carried 100 rounds of carbine ammunition and 24 pistol cartridges with him—as many as 50 on a belt or in a pouch, and the remainder in his saddlebag (the pack train mules carried 26,000 more carbine rounds [approximately 50 extra per trooper])."</ref>
The opposing forces, though not equally matched in the number and type of arms, were comparably outfitted, and neither side held an overwhelming advantage in weaponry.<ref>Hatch, 1997, p. 184: "...{{nbsp}}not a wide disparity{{nbsp}}..." in arms of the opposing forces.</ref>
=== Lever-action repeaters vs. single-shot breechloaders ===
Two hundred or more Lakota and Cheyenne combatants are known to have been armed with Henry, Winchester, or similar lever-action repeating rifles at the battle.<ref name="Hatch 1997, p. 184" /><ref>Gallear, 2001: "the .44 rim-fire round fired from the Henry rifle is the most numerous Indian gun fired with almost as many individual guns identified as the Cavalry Springfield Model 1873 carbine."</ref> Virtually every trooper in the 7th Cavalry fought with the single-shot, breech-loading Springfield carbine and the Colt revolver.<ref>Gallear, 2001: "...by the time of the Little Bighorn the U.S. Army was standardizing on the Springfield rifle and carbine [and] saw breech-loading rifles and carbines as the way forward."</ref>
Historians have asked whether the repeating rifles conferred a distinct advantage on Sitting Bull's villagers that contributed to their victory over Custer's carbine-armed soldiers.<ref>Lawson, 2008, p. 93: "The rapid fire power of the Henry repeaters was intimidating, especially to inexperienced soldiers. Their use was probably a significant cause of the confusion and panic among the soldiers so widely reported by Native American eyewitnesses."</ref>
Historian Michael L. Lawson offers a scenario based on archaeological collections at the "Henryville" site, which yielded plentiful Henry rifle cartridge casings from approximately 20 individual guns. Lawson speculates that though less powerful than the Springfield carbines, the Henry repeaters provided a barrage of fire at a critical point, driving Lieutenant James Calhoun's L Company from Calhoun Hill and Finley Ridge, forcing it to flee in disarray back to Captain Myles Keogh's I Company and leading to the disintegration of that wing of Custer's Battalion.<ref>Lawson, 2007, pp. 91–93: "[Henryville] was named in the mid-1980s by archaeologists after they discovered a large artifact collection there, which included numerous .44-caliber Henry cartridges. The number of cartridges indicated that about 20 warriors at this position were using Henry repeating rifles. These weapons were less powerful than the cavalry's Springfield rifles, especially at long range; however, they had the advantage of providing rapid fire...The rapid fire power...was intimidating, especially to inexperienced soldiers. Their use was probably a significant a confusion and panic among the soldiers so widely reported by Native American eyewitnesses...Survivors of the assaults...fled north to seek safety with Keogh's Company I...they could react quickly enough to prevent the disintegration of their own unit."</ref>
==== Model 1873 / 1884 Springfield carbine and the U.S. Army ====
After exhaustive testing—including comparisons to domestic and foreign single-shot and repeating rifles—the Army Ordnance Board (whose members included officers Marcus Reno and Alfred Terry) authorized the Springfield as the official firearm for the United States Army.<ref>Donovan, 2008, p. 191: "The Springfield had won out over many other American and foreign rifles, some of them repeaters, after extensive testing supervised by an army board that had included Marcus Reno and Alfred Terry."</ref><ref>Gallear, 2001: "In 1872 the Army tested a number of foreign and domestic single-shot breechloaders..."</ref>
The Springfield, manufactured in a .45-70 long rifle version for the infantry and a .45-55 light carbine version for the cavalry, was judged a solid firearm that met the long-term and geostrategic requirements of the United States fighting forces.<ref>Robinson, 1995, p. xxviii: "...the Model 1873 Springfield rifle, in caliber .45-70 for the infantry, and .45-55 light carbine for cavalry."</ref>
[[File:Tomahawk and sabre; or even odds.jpg|thumb|''Tomahawk and sabre; or even odds'', painting by [[Charles Schreyvogel]] (1861–1912). This kind of combat never occurred at the Battle of the Little Bighorn: none of the 7th Cavalry carried sabers on Custer's orders.]]
Historian Mark Gallear claims that U.S. government experts rejected the lever-action repeater designs, deeming them ineffective in a clash with fully equipped European armies, or in case of an outbreak of another civil conflict. Gallear's analysis dismisses the allegation that rapid depletion of ammunition in lever-action models influenced the decision in favor of the single-shot Springfield. The [[American Indian Wars|Indian Wars]] are portrayed by Gallear as a minor theatre of conflict whose contingencies were unlikely to govern the selection of standard weaponry for an emerging industrialized nation.<ref>Gallear, 2001: "The established wisdom is that the U.S. Army did not adopt lever-action multiple shot weapons during the Civil War because of the problems they would create regarding the supply of ammunition. However, I believe that by the time of the Indian Wars the Army viewed the lever-actions weapons as under-powered novelty weapons and that they were equipping their men to fight wars against European equipped enemies or to re-fight the Civil War. The Indian Wars were seen as a minor sideshow in which troops armed to fight on European battlefields would be more than a match for fighting any number of Indians."</ref>
The Springfield carbine is praised for its "superior range and stopping power" by historian James Donovan, and author Charles M. Robinson reports that the rifle could be "loaded and fired much more rapidly than its muzzle-loading predecessors, and had twice the range of repeating rifles such as the Winchester, Henry and Spencer."<ref>Donovan, 2008, p. 191: "...a solid weapon with superior range and stopping power..."</ref><ref>Robinson, 1995, p. xxviii</ref><ref>Gallear, 2001: "The Army saw breech-loading rifles and carbines as the way forward. They could fire a much more powerful round at longer ranges than lever-actions."</ref>
Gallear points out that lever-action rifles, after a burst of rapid discharge, still required a reloading interlude that lowered their overall rate of fire; Springfield breechloaders "in the long run, had a higher rate of fire, which was sustainable throughout a battle."<ref>Gallear, 2001</ref>
The breechloader design patent for the Springfield's Erskine S. Allin [[Single-shot#Trapdoor actions|trapdoor system]] was owned by the US government and the firearm could be easily adapted for production with existing machinery at the [[Springfield Armory]] in Massachusetts.<ref>Gallear, 2001: "The Allin System had been developed at the Government Armories to reduce the cost, but the U.S. Treasury had already been forced to pay $124,000 to inventors whose patents it infringed. The adoption of the Allin breech gave the advantages of being already familiar throughout the Army, involved no more royalties, and existing machinery at the Springfield Armory could easily be adapted to its manufacture.</ref> At time when funding for the post-war Army had been slashed, the prospect for economical production influenced the Ordnance Board member selection of the Springfield option.<ref>Donovan, 2008, p. 191: "Army appropriations were at an all-time low, and a key factor in the Springfield's favor was its low production cost."</ref>
==== Malfunction of the Springfield carbine extractor mechanism ====
Whether the reported malfunction of the Model 1873 Springfield carbine issued to the 7th Cavalry contributed to their defeat has been debated for years.<ref>Gallear, 2001: "...some authorities have blamed the gun's reliability and tendency for rounds to jam in the breech for the defeat at the Little Bighorn.."</ref>
That the weapon experienced jamming of the extractor is not contested, but its contribution to Custer's defeat is considered negligible. This conclusion is supported by evidence from archaeological studies performed at the battlefield, where the recovery of Springfield cartridge casing, bearing tell-tale scratch marks indicating manual extraction, were rare.
The flaw in the ejector mechanism was known to the Army Ordnance Board at the time of the selection of the Model 1873 rifle and carbine, and was not considered a significant shortcoming in the overall worthiness of the shoulder arm.<ref>Hatch, 1997, p. 124: "This defect was noted by the board of officers (which included Major Reno) that selected the weapon in 1872, but was not considered particularly serious at the time."</ref> With the ejector failure in US Army tests as low as 1:300, the Springfield carbine was vastly more reliable than the muzzle-loading Springfields used in the Civil War.<ref>Gallear, 2001: "A study of .45-55 cases found at the battle concludes that extractor failure amounted to less than 0.35% of some 1,751 cases tested...the carbine was in fact more reliable than anything that had preceded it in U.S. Army service. These weapons were vastly more reliable than the muzzle-loading weapons of the Civil War, which would frequently misfire and cause the soldier to uselessly load multiple rounds on top of each other in the heat of battle.</ref><ref>Hatch, 1997, p. 124: 'Scholars have for years debated the issue of whether or not the Model 1873 Springfield carbine carried by cavalrymen, malfunctioned during the battle and [whether this] was one reason for the defeat" and "No definitive conclusion can be drawn [as to] the possible malfunction...as being a significant cause of Custer's defeat. Writers of both pro- and anti-Custer material over the years...have incorporated the theory into their works..."</ref>
Gallear addresses the post-battle testimony concerning the copper .45-55 cartridges supplied to the troops in which an officer is said to have cleared the chambers of spent cartridges for a number of Springfield carbines.<ref>Donovan, 2008, p. 440: footnote, "the carbine extractor problem did exist, though it probably had little impact on the outcome of the battle. DeRudio testified that 'the men had to take their knives to extract cartridges after firing 6 to 10 rounds.'...but 'the men' seems to have been an exaggeration. Private Daniel Newall mentioned the problem..."</ref> This testimony of widespread fusing of the casings offered to the Chief of Ordnance at the Reno Court of Inquiry in 1879 conflicts with the archaeological evidence collected at the battlefield. Field data showed that possible extractor failures occurred at a rate of approximately 1:30 firings at the Custer Battlefield and at a rate of 1:37 at the Reno-Benteen Battlefield.<ref>Hatch, 1997, p. 124: "The controversy results from the known failure of the carbine to [eject] the spent .45-55 caliber cartridge [casings]. The cartridge cases were made of copper, which expands when hot. That—coupled with a faulty extractor mechanism and dirt—could cause the head of the cartridge to be torn away when the block was opened, and the cartridge cylinder would then be left inside the chamber...The casings would have to be removed manually with a pocketknife before [reloading and] firing again. This defect was noted by the board of officers (which included Major Reno) that selected the weapon in 1872, but was not considered particularly serious at the time."</ref><ref>Hatch, 1997, p. 124: "How often did this defect [ejector failure] occur and cause the [Springfield carbines] to malfunction on June 25, 1876? According to Dr. Richard Fox in ''Archeology, History and Custer's Last Battle'' (1993), there were very few .45-55 caliber cartridge casings found during the digs on the battlefield that showed any evidence to pry or scratch marks [indicating manual extraction]. Only 3 of 88 [3.4%] found on the Custer [battalion] portion of the battlefield could possibly have been removed in an extraction jam. On the Reno-Benteen defense site [Reno Hill], 7 of 257 fit this category [2.7%]. If this was a representative number it would appear that malfunction from that source was minimal."</ref><ref>Hatch, 1997, p. 124: "Both sides [troopers and Indians] apparently believed that some weapons malfunctioned. Indian testimony...reported that some soldiers threw down their long guns and fought with their short guns. Could this indicate a malfunctioning [carbine] that was discarded and therefore could not have left its marked [pry scratched] casings on the field? ... No definitive conclusion can be drawn about the possible malfunction...as being a significant cause of Custer's defeat. Writers of both pro- and anti-Custer material over the years...have incorporated the theory into their works..."</ref>
Historian Thom Hatch observes that the Model 1873 Springfield, despite the known ejector flaw, remained the standard issue shoulder arm for US troops until the early 1890s.<ref>Hatch, 1997, p. 124: "On a final note: the Springfield carbine remained the official cavalry firearm until the early 1890s"</ref>
== Survivor claims ==
[[File:Giovanni Martini (militare).jpg|thumb|John Martin wearing the US Army uniform, ca. 1904]]
Soldiers under Custer's direct command were annihilated on the first day of the battle, except for three [[Crow scouts]] and several troopers (including [[Giovanni Martino|John Martin (Giovanni Martino)]]) that had left that column before the battle; one Crow scout, [[Curly (scout)|Curly]], was the only survivor to leave after the battle had begun. Rumors of other survivors persisted for years.<ref group="note">Graham, 146. Lt Edward Godfrey reported finding a dead 7th Cavalry horse (shot in the head), a grain sack, and a carbine at the mouth of the Rosebud River. He conjectured that a soldier had escaped Custer's fight and rafted across the river, abandoning his played-out horse.</ref>
Over 120 men and women would come forward over the course of the next 70 years claiming they were "the lone survivor" of Custer's Last Stand.<ref name="Custer Survivors 101">{{cite book| last=Harris| first=Ethan E.| title=Custer Survivors 101: The Impostor Roster| year=2012| publisher=Warrior's Quill |type=E-book| at=Introduction}}</ref> The phenomenon became so widespread that one historian remarked, "Had Custer had all of those who claimed to be 'the lone survivor' of his two battalions he would have had at least a brigade behind him when he crossed the Wolf Mountains and rode to the attack."<ref>{{cite book| last=Stewart| first=Edgar I.| title=Custer's Luck| year=1980| publisher=University of Oklahoma Press| location=Norman, OK| isbn=978-0-8061-1632-7| page=490}}</ref>
The historian [[Earl Alonzo Brininstool]] suggested he had collected at least 70 "lone survivor" stories.<ref>{{cite book |last=Van de Water |first=Frederic F. |date=1988 |title=Glory-Hunter: A Life of General Custer |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ln5AQjdS9l8C&pg=PA5 |location=Lincoln, NE |publisher=University of Nebraska Press |page=5 |isbn=978-0-8032-9607-7 |access-date=May 16, 2014 |url-status = live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170117221402/https://books.google.com/books?id=Ln5AQjdS9l8C&pg=PA5 |archive-date=January 17, 2017 |df=mdy-all }}</ref><ref>{{cite book| last=Ege| first=Robert J.| title=Curse Not His Curls| year=2008| publisher=Old Army Press| page=121}}</ref> Michael Nunnally, an amateur Custer historian, wrote a booklet describing 30 such accounts.<ref name="Nunnally Survived">{{cite book| last=Nunnally| first=Michael L.| title=I Survived Custer's Last Stand| year=2005| page=38}}</ref> W. A. Graham claimed that even Libby Custer received dozens of letters from men, in shocking detail, about their sole survivor experience.<ref>{{cite book| last=Graham| first=W.A.| title= The Custer Myth: A source book of Custeriana with a new introduction by Brian C. Pohanka| year=1995| publisher=Stackpole Books| location=Mechanicsburg, PA| isbn=0-8117-0347-9|pages=353–57, 413}}</ref> At least 125 alleged "single survivor" tales have been confirmed in the historical record as of July 2012.
[[Frank Finkel]], from [[Dayton, Washington]], had such a convincing story that historian Charles Kuhlman<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.lib.montana.edu/collect/spcoll/findaid/1043.html| title=Charles Kuhlman Papers, 1896–1959| publisher=University of Montana Library| access-date=June 10, 2013|url-status = live| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131221005946/http://www.lib.montana.edu/collect/spcoll/findaid/1043.html| archive-date=December 21, 2013| df=mdy-all}}</ref> believed the alleged survivor, going so far as to write a lengthy defense of Finkel's participation in the battle.<ref name="Kuhlman Finkel">{{cite book| last=Kuhlman| first=Charles| title=The Frank Finkel Story| year=1968| publisher=Citizen Printing Co.| location=Omaha, NE| page=20}}</ref> Douglas Ellison—mayor of [[Medora, North Dakota]], and an amateur historian—also wrote a book in support of the veracity of Finkel's claim,<ref name="Ellison Finkel">{{cite book| last=Ellison| first=Douglas W.| title=Sole Survivor: An Examination of the Frank Finkel Narrative| year=1983| publisher=North Plains Press| page=128}}</ref> but most scholars reject it.<ref name=Boyes>{{cite book| last=Boyes| first=William| title=No Custer Survivors: Or, The Unveiling of Frank Finkel| year=1977| publisher=WJBM Associates| page=16}}</ref><ref name="Nunnally Hoax">{{cite book| last=Nunnally| first=Michael L.| title=The Frank Finkel Hoax: No Survivor of Custer's Last Stand| year=2008| publisher=Old Scout Books| page=32}}</ref>
Some of these survivors held a form of celebrity status in the United States, among them Raymond Hatfield "Arizona Bill" Gardner<ref>{{cite book| title=The Old Wild West: Adventures of Arizona Bill| publisher=Naylor Company| location=San Antonio, TX| author=Raymond Hatfield Gardner| edition=1st| year=1944}}</ref> and Frank Tarbeaux.<ref>{{cite book| title=The Autobiography of Frank Tarbeaux, as Told to Donald Henderson Clarke| url=https://archive.org/details/autobiographyoff00tarb| year=1930| publisher=Vanguard Press| page=[https://archive.org/details/autobiographyoff00tarb/page/n304 287]}}</ref> A few even published autobiographies that detailed their deeds at the Little Bighorn.<ref>{{cite book| last=Ryan| first=Ed| title=Me and The Black Hills| year=1951| publisher=Ed Ryan| location=Custer, South Dakota| page=89}}</ref><ref>{{cite book| last=Gardner| first=Raymond Hatfield| title=The Old Wild West: Adventures of Arizona Bill| year=2009| publisher=Kessinger Publishing| isbn=978-1-104-84859-0| page=326}}</ref><ref>{{cite book| last=Clarke| first=Donald Henderson| title=The Autobiography of Frank Tarbeaux| url=https://archive.org/details/autobiographyoff00tarb| year=1930| publisher=Vanguard Press| location=New York| page=[https://archive.org/details/autobiographyoff00tarb/page/286 286]}}</ref>
A modern historian, Albert Winkler, has asserted that there is some evidence to support the case of Private Gustave Korn being a genuine survivor of the battle: 'While nearly all of the accounts of men who claimed to be survivors from Custer's column at the Battle of the Little Bighorn are fictitious, Gustave Korn's story is supported by contemporary records.' Several contemporary accounts note that Korn's horse bolted in the early stages of the battle, whilst he was serving with Custer's 'I' company, and that he ended up joining Reno's companies making their stand on Reno Hill.<ref>Winkler, A. (2013). 'The case for a Custer Battalion survivor: Private Gustave Korn’s story.' ''The Magazine of Western History'', 63(1). Reprinted in https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2881&context=facpub. Retrieved 17 April 2020.</ref>
Almost as soon as men came forward implying or directly pronouncing their unique role in the battle, there were others who were equally opposed to any such claims. [[Theodore Goldin]], a battle participant who later became a controversial historian on the event, wrote (in regards to Charles Hayward's claim to have been with Custer and taken prisoner):
<blockquote> The Indians always insisted that they took no prisoners. If they did—a thing I firmly believe—they were tortured and killed the night of the 25th. As an evidence of this I recall the three charred and burned heads we picked up in the village near the scene of the big war dance, when we visited the village with Capt. Benteen and Lieut. Wallace on the morning of the 27th... I'm sorely afraid, Tony, that we will have to class Hayward's story, like that of so many others, as pure, unadulterated B. S. As a clerk at headquarters I had occasion to look over the morning reports of at least the six troops at Lincoln almost daily, and never saw his name there, or among the list of scouts employed from time to time ... I am hoping that some day all of these damned fakirs will die and it will be safe for actual participants in the battle to admit and insist that they were there, without being branded and looked upon as a lot of damned liars. Actually, there have been times when I have been tempted to deny that I ever heard of the 7th Cavalry, much less participated with it in that engagement ... My Medal of Honor and its inscription have served me as proof positive that I was at least in the vicinity at the time in question, otherwise I should be tempted to deny all knowledge of the event.<ref name="A Pretended Custer Survivor">{{cite web| title=A Pretended Custer Survivor: Another Attempt to Pose As a Survivor Punctured by the Regiment's Clerk| url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=mdGv78FIKkEC&dat=19260505&printsec=frontpage&hl=en| publisher=The Big Horn Searchlight| access-date=2 August 2012}}</ref></blockquote>
The only documented and verified survivor of Custer's command (having been actually involved in Custer's part of the battle) was Captain Keogh's horse, [[Comanche (horse)|Comanche]]. The wounded horse was discovered on the battlefield by General Terry's troops and, although other cavalry mounts survived, they had been taken by the Indians. Comanche eventually was returned to the fort and became the regimental mascot.<ref group="note">Badly wounded, the horse had been overlooked or left behind by the victors, who had taken the other surviving horses. Comanche was taken back to the steamer ''Far West'' and returned to Fort Abraham Lincoln to be nursed back to health.</ref> Several other badly wounded horses were found and killed at the scene.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://newwest.net/topic/article/comanche_the_horse_that_survived_the_battle_of_the_little_bighorn_part_2/C39/L39 |title=Comanche: The Horse that Survived the Battle of the Little Bighorn, Part 2 |last=Shanks |first=Jenny |date=June 26, 2007 |website=NewWest |access-date=15 January 2017 |url-status = live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121025010617/http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/comanche_the_horse_that_survived_the_battle_of_the_little_bighorn_part_2/C39/L39/ |archive-date=October 25, 2012 |df=mdy-all }}</ref> Writer [[Evan S. Connell]] noted in ''[[Son of the Morning Star]]'':<ref>{{cite book |last= Connell|first= Evan S. |author-link= Evan S. Connell|date=1984 |title= Son of the Morning Star: Custer and the Little Bighorn |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=f7uQZPCvPPcC |publisher= [[Macmillan Publishers (United States)|Macmillan]] |isbn=0-88394-088-4 |access-date=15 January 2017}}</ref>
[[File:ComancheeCuster-GrabillLR.jpg|thumb|[[Comanche (horse)|Comanche]] in 1887]]
<blockquote>Comanche was reputed to be the only survivor of the Little Bighorn, but quite a few Seventh Cavalry mounts survived, probably more than one hundred, and there was even a yellow bulldog. Comanche lived on another fifteen years. When he died, he was stuffed and to this day remains in a glass case at the University of Kansas. So, protected from moths and souvenir hunters by his humidity-controlled glass case, Comanche stands patiently, enduring generation after generation of undergraduate jokes. The other horses are gone, and the mysterious yellow bulldog is gone, which means that in a sense the legend is true. Comanche alone survived.</blockquote>
== Battlefield preservation ==
{{Main|Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument}}
The site of the battle was first preserved as a United States [[U.S. National Cemetery|national cemetery]] in 1879 to protect the graves of the 7th Cavalry troopers. In 1946, it was re-designated as the ''Custer Battlefield [[U.S. National Monument|National Monument]]'', reflecting its association with Custer. In 1967, Major Marcus Reno was re-interred in the cemetery with honors, including an eleven-gun salute. Beginning in the early 1970s, there was concern within the [[National Park Service]] over the name Custer Battlefield National Monument failing to adequately reflect the larger history of the battle between two cultures. Hearings on the name change were held in [[Billings, Montana|Billings]] on June 10, 1991, and during the following months Congress renamed the site the ''Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument''.
United States memorialization of the battlefield began in 1879 with a temporary monument to the U.S. dead. In 1881, the current marble obelisk was erected in their honor. In 1890, marble blocks were added to mark the places where the U.S. cavalry soldiers fell.
Nearly 100 years later, ideas about the meaning of the battle have become more inclusive. The United States government acknowledged that Native American sacrifices also deserved recognition at the site. The 1991 bill changing the name of the national monument also authorized an Indian Memorial to be built near Last Stand Hill in honor of Lakota and Cheyenne warriors. The commissioned work by native artist [[Colleen Cutschall]] is shown in the photograph at right. On Memorial Day 1999, in consultation with tribal representatives, the U.S. added two red granite markers to the battlefield to note where Native American warriors fell. As of December 2006, a total of ten warrior markers have been added (three at the Reno–Benteen Defense Site and seven on the Little Bighorn Battlefield).<ref>National Park Service website for the Little Bighorn Battlefield.</ref>
The Indian Memorial, themed "Peace Through Unity" l is an open circular structure that stands {{convert|75|yd|abbr=off}} from the 7th Cavalry obelisk. Its walls have the names of some Indians who died at the site, as well as native accounts of the battle. The open circle of the structure is symbolic, as for many tribes, the circle is sacred. The "spirit gate" window facing the Cavalry monument is symbolic as well, welcoming the dead cavalrymen into the memorial.<ref>{{Cite web|title = The Indian Memorial Peace Through Unity – Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument (U.S. National Park Service)|url = http://www.nps.gov/libi/the-indian-memorial-peace-through-unity.htm|website = www.nps.gov|access-date = 2015-04-07|url-status = live|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150413060331/http://www.nps.gov/libi/the-indian-memorial-peace-through-unity.htm|archive-date = April 13, 2015|df = mdy-all}}</ref>
<gallery mode="packed" heights="150px" style="text-align:left" class="center">
File:Littlebighorn HR Locke.jpg|Photo taken in 1894 by [[H.R. Locke]] on Battle Ridge looking toward Last Stand Hill (top center). To the right of Custer Hill is Wooden Leg Hill, named for a surviving warrior. He described the death of a Sioux sharpshooter killed after being seen too often by the enemy.<ref>[http://www.friendslittlebighorn.com/martinpate.htm "Martin Pate"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101123193206/http://friendslittlebighorn.com/martinpate.htm |date=November 23, 2010 }}, ''Friends Of The Little Bighorn Battlefield'', retrieved April 24, 2010.</ref><ref>Wooden Leg, ''q.v.'', p. 236.</ref>
File:little bighorn memorial overview with clouds.jpg|The battlefield in 2005
File:Casualty Marker Battle of the Little Bighorn.jpg|US Casualty Marker Battle of the Little Bighorn
file:little-bighorn-memorial-sculpture-2.jpg|''Indian Memorial'' by Colleen Cutschall<ref>{{cite book|last1=Rankin|first1=ed. by Charles E.|title=Legacy: New perspectives on the Battle of the Little Bighorn; [proceedings of the Little Bighorn Legacy Symposium, held in Billings, Montana, August 3–6, 1994|date=1997|publisher=Historical Soc. Press|location=Helena, Mont.|isbn=0-917298-41-1|page=[https://archive.org/details/legacynewperspec0000unse/page/310 310]|edition=Nachdr.|url=https://archive.org/details/legacynewperspec0000unse/page/310}}</ref>
</gallery>
== In popular culture ==
{{See also|Cultural depictions of George Armstrong Custer}}
<!-- ===============(Popular culture)===============
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===============(Popular culture)=============== -->
* [[John Mulvany]]'s 1881 painting ''Custer's Last Rally'' was the first of the large images of this battle. It was {{convert|11|by|20|ft|m}} and toured the country for over 17 years.<ref>Russell, D. Custer's List: A Checklist of Pictures Relating to the Battle of the Little Big Horn. Fort Worth: Amon Carter Museum of Western Art, 1969</ref>
* In 1896, Anheuser-Busch commissioned from Otto Becker a lithographed, modified version of Cassilly Adams' painting ''Custer's Last Fight'', which was distributed as a print to saloons all over America.<ref>{{cite web
| title= Kansas Historical Quarterly – The Pictorial Record of the Old West, 4
| publisher= Kansas Historical Society
| url= http://www.kshs.org/publicat/khq/1946/46_4_taft.htm
| access-date= 2012-03-15
|url-status = live
| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100729021654/http://www.kshs.org/publicat/khq/1946/46_4_taft.htm
| archive-date= July 29, 2010
| df= mdy-all
}}</ref>
* [[Edgar Samuel Paxson]] completed his painting ''Custer's Last Stand'' in 1899. In 1963 [[Harold McCracken]], the noted historian and Western art authority, deemed Paxson's painting "the best pictoral representation of the battle" and "from a purely artistic standpoint...one of the best if not the finest pictures which have been created to immortalize that dramatic event."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://home1.gte.net/espaxson/custer.htm |title=Custer's Last Stand – Artist E.S. Paxson |publisher=Home1.gte.net |access-date=2012-03-15 |url-status = dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120226201104/http://home1.gte.net/espaxson/custer.htm |archive-date=February 26, 2012 }}</ref>
* In 1927, ''Little Big Horn'' opened in theaters in the U.S., featuring [[Roy Stewart]] with John Beck as Custer.<ref>Evans 2000, p. 180.</ref>
* The 1964 novel, ''[[Little Big Man (novel)|Little Big Man]]'' by American author [[Thomas Berger (novelist)|Thomas Berger]], and 1970 [[Little Big Man (film)|film of the same name]], includes an account of the battle, and portrays a manic and somewhat psychotic Custer ([[Richard Mulligan]]) realizing to his horror that he and his command are "being wiped out."<ref name=HollywoodsIndian>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kvLJQsO3O0oC&q=%22Little+Big+Man%22+film&pg=PP2|title=Hollywood's Indian: The Portrayal of the Native American in Film|date=2011 |publisher=University Press of Kentucky |pages=121–136 |last1=Rollins |first1=Peter |isbn=978-0-8131-3165-8}}</ref>
* In 2007, the [[BBC]] presented a one-hour drama-documentary titled ''Custer's Last Stand''.<ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00795r3 Custer's Last Stand] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161102172600/http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00795r3 |date=November 2, 2016 }}. [[BBC Two]], Friday 23 Feb 2007.</ref>
* The May 2011 episode of the [[BBC Radio 4]] program ''[[In Our Time (radio series)|In Our Time]]'' featured [[Melvyn Bragg]] (and guests) discussing the context, conditions, and consequences of the battle.<ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0112xfd Custer's Last Stand] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111004143828/http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0112xfd |date=October 4, 2011 }}. [[BBC Radio 4]], Thursday 19 May 2011.</ref>
* In 2017, historian [[Daniele Bolelli]] covered the battle and the events leading to it in a three-part series on the "History on Fire" podcast.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://historyonfirepodcast.com/episodes/2017/3/31/episode-18-the-war-for-the-black-hills-part-3-last-stand | title=The War for the Black Hills |url-status = live| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171007021003/http://historyonfirepodcast.com/episodes/2017/3/31/episode-18-the-war-for-the-black-hills-part-3-last-stand | archive-date=October 7, 2017 | df=mdy-all }}</ref>
== See also ==
* [[Battle of the Little Bighorn reenactment]]
* [[List of battles won by Indigenous peoples of the Americas]]
* [[Fetterman fight]]
* [[Battle of the Rosebud]]
* [[St. Clair's Defeat]]
* [[Dade battle]]
* [[Battle of Powder River]]
== Notes ==
{{reflist|30em|group="note"}}
== References ==
{{reflist|30em}}
== Further reading ==
{{Refbegin|30em}}
* {{cite book|last=Barnard|first=Sandy|title=Digging into Custer's Last Stand|location=Huntington Beach, California|publisher=Ventana Graphics|year=1998|isbn=0-9618087-5-6}}
* {{cite book|last=Brininstool|first=E. A.|title=Troopers With Custer|url=https://archive.org/details/trooperswithcust0000brin|url-access=registration|location=Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania|publisher=Stackpole Books|year=1994|isbn=0-8117-1742-9}}
* {{cite book|last=Chamot|first=Jean-Marc|title=La Représentation du Général G. A. Custer dans le Cinéma et la Télévision des Etats-Unis (1909–2004)|location=Paris/Nanterre France|publisher=Université Paris 10 Nanterre – 974 p. (2 volumes)|year=2005}}
* {{cite book|last=Chiaventone|first=Frederick J.|title=A Road We Do Not Know: A Novel of Custer at the Little Bighorn|location=New York|publisher=Simon & Schuster|year=1996|isbn=0-684-83056-6|url=https://archive.org/details/roadwedonotknown00chia}}
* {{cite book|last=Connell|first=Evan S.|title=Son of the Morning Star|location=New York|publisher=North Point Press|year=1984|isbn=0-86547-510-5|title-link=Son of the Morning Star}}
* {{cite book|last=Cornut|first=David|title=Little Big Horn: Autopsie d'une bataille légendaire|location=Parçay-sur-Vienne|publisher=Anovi|year=2012|isbn=978-2-360351-34-3}}
* {{cite journal|last=Dickson|first=Ephriam D. III|url=http://www.american-tribes.com/messageboards/dietmar/KillEagleByEphriamDickson.pdf|title=Prisoners in the Indian Camp: Kill Eagle's Band at the Little Bighorn|journal=Greasy Grass|volume=27|issue=May 2011|pages=3–11|oclc=38114524 }}
* {{cite book|last=Donovan|first=James|title=A Terrible Glory: Custer and the Little Bighorn|publisher=Little, Brown, and Co.|isbn=978-0-316-15578-6|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780316155786|year= 2008}}
* {{cite book|last=Dustin|first=Fred|author-link=Fred Dustin|title=The Custer Tragedy: Events Leading Up to and Following the Little Big Horn Campaign of 1876|location=Ann Arbor, Michigan|publisher=Edwards Brothers|year=1939|oclc=4387990}}
* {{cite book|last=Elliot|first=M.A.|title=Custerology: The Enduring Legacy of the Indian Wars and George Armstrong Custer|publisher=University of Chicago Press|year=2007|isbn=978-0-226-20146-7|url=https://archive.org/details/custerologyendur00elli_0}}
* {{cite book|last=Connell|first=Evan S.|author-link=Evan S. Connell|title=Son of the Morning Star: Custer and The Little Bighorn|location=New York|publisher=North Point Press|year=1984|isbn=0-86547-510-5|title-link=Son of the Morning Star}}
* {{cite book|last=Evans|first=Alun|title=Brassey's Guide to War Films|publisher=Brassey's|year=2000|isbn=1-57488-263-5}}
* {{cite book|editor-last=Flaherty|editor-first=Thomas H.|year=1993|title=The Wild West|publisher=Time-Life Books|location=New York|isbn=0-446-51761-5|url=https://archive.org/details/wildwest00}}
* {{cite book|last=Fox|first=Richard Allan, Jr.|title=Archaeology, History, and Custer's Last Battle
|url=https://archive.org/details/archaeologyhisto00rich|url-access=registration|location=Norman, Oklahoma|publisher=University of Oklahoma Press|year=1993|isbn=0-8061-2496-2}}
* {{cite book|last=Gallear|first=Mark|year=2001|title=Guns at the Little Bighorn|publisher=Custer Association of Great Britain|url=http://www.westernerspublications.ltd.uk/CAGB%20Guns%20at%20the%20LBH.htm|url-status = dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060908225428/http://www.westernerspublications.ltd.uk/CAGB%20Guns%20at%20the%20LBH.htm|archive-date=September 8, 2006|df=mdy-all}}
* {{cite book|last=Goodrich|first=Thomas|title=Scalp Dance: Indian Warfare on the High Plains, 1865–1879|location=Mechanicsburg, PA|publisher=Stackpole Books|year=1997|isbn=0-8117-1523-X|url=https://archive.org/details/scalpdanceindian00good}}
* {{cite book|last=Graham|first=Col. William A.|title=The Custer Myth: A Source Book for Custeriana|location=New York|publisher=Bonanza Books|year=1953|oclc=944258}}
* {{cite book|last=Gray|first=John S.|title=Custer's Last Campaign: Mitch Boyer and the Little Bighorn Reconstructed|location=Lincoln|publisher=University of Nebraska Press|year=1991|isbn=0-8032-7040-2}}
* {{cite book|last=Grinnell|first=George Bird|title=The Fighting Cheyennes|location=Norman|publisher=The University of Oklahoma Press|orig-year=1915|year=1956|edition=Reprint|isbn=0-7394-0373-7}}
* {{cite book|last=Hammer|first=Kenneth|title=Men with Custer: Biographies of the 7th Cavalry: June 25, 1876|editor-first=Ronald H.|editor-last=Nichols|location=Hardin, Montana|publisher=Custer Battlefield Historical and Museum Association|year=2000|isbn=1-892258-05-6}}
* {{cite book|editor-last=Hammer|editor-first=Kenneth|title=Custer in '76: Walter Camp's notes on the Custer Fight|location=Provo|publisher=Brigham Young University|year=1976|isbn=0-8061-2279-X}}
* {{cite book|editor-last=Hardorff|editor-first=R. G.|title=Camp, Custer and the Little Big Horn|location=El Segundo, California|publisher=Upton and Sons|year=1997|isbn=0-912783-25-7}}
* {{cite book|last=Hatch|first=Thom|year=1997|title=Custer and the Little Bighorn: An Encyclopedia|publisher=McFarland & Company, Inc.|location=London|isbn=0-7864-0154-0}}
* {{cite book|last=Hardorff|first=R. G.|title=Hokahey! A Good Day to Die! The Indian Casualties of the Custer Fight|publisher=University of Nebraska Press|year=1993|isbn=0-8032-7322-3}}
* {{cite book|last=Keegan|first=John|author-link=John Keegan|title=Warpaths|location=London|publisher=Pimlico|year=1996|isbn=1-55013-621-6|url=https://archive.org/details/warpathstravelso0000keeg}}
* {{cite book|last=Lawson|first=Michael L.|year=2007|title=Little Bighorn: Winning the Battle, Losing the War|publisher=Chelsea House Publishers|location=New York|isbn=978-0-7910-9347-4}}
* {{cite book |last1=Lehman |first1=Tim |title=Bloodshed at Little Bighorn |date=2010 |publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press |location=Baltimore |isbn=978-0-8018-9501-2 |page=219}}
* {{cite book|last=Mails|first=Thomas E.|title=The Mystic Warriors of the Plains: The Culture, Arts, Crafts and Religion of the Plains Indians|location=New York|publisher=Marlowe & Co.|year=1996|isbn=1-56924-538-X}}
* {{cite book|last=Michno|first=Gregory F.|title=The Mystery of E Troop: Custer's Grey Horse Company at the Little Bighorn|location=Missoula, Montana|publisher=Mountain Press Publishing|year=1994|isbn=0-87842-304-4}}
* {{cite book|last=Miller|first=David, H.|title=Custer's Fall: The Native American Side of the Story|publisher=University of Nebraska Press|year=1985|isbn=0-452-01095-0}}
* {{cite book|editor-last=Neihardt|editor-first=John G.|title=Black Elk Speaks: Being the Life Story of a Holy Man of the Oglala Sioux|publisher=University of Nebraska Press|year=1979|isbn=0-8032-8359-8}}
* {{Cite book|last=Nevin|first=David|url=https://archive.org/details/soldiers00nevi|title=The Old West: Soldiers|publisher=[[Time-Life Books]]|year=1973|location=New York}}
* {{cite book|editor-last=Nichols|editor-first=Ronald H.|title=Reno Court of Inquiry|location=Hardin, Montana|publisher=Custer Battlefield Historical and Museum Association|year=1996|oclc=45499454}}
* {{cite book|last=Panzeri|first=Peter|title=Little Big Horn, 1876: Custer's Last Stand|location=London|publisher=Osprey|year=1995|isbn=1-85532-458-X}}
* {{cite book|last=Perrett|first=Bryan|title=Last Stand!: Famous Battles Against the Odds|location=London|publisher=Arms & Armour|year=1993|isbn=1-85409-188-3}}
* {{cite book|last=Philbrick|first=Nathaniel|author-link=Nathaniel Philbrick|title=The Last Stand: Custer, Sitting Bull, and The Battle of The Little Bighorn|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780670021727|url-access=registration|publisher=Viking Press|year=2010|isbn=978-0-14-242769-9}}
* {{cite book|last=Reno|first=Marcus A.|title=The official record of a court of inquiry convened at Chicago, Illinois, January 13, 1879, by the President of the United States upon the request of Major Marcus A. Reno, 7th U.S. Cavalry, to investigate his conduct at the Battle of the Little Big Horn, June 25–26, 1876|url= http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/History.Reno|series=University of Wisconsin Digital Collections|year=1951}}
* {{cite book|last=Rice|first=Earle Jr.|year=1998|title=The Battle or the Little Bighorn|series=World History Series|publisher=Lucent Books|location=San Diego|isbn=978-1-56006-453-4}}
* {{cite book|last=Sandoz|first=Mari|author-link=Mari Sandoz|title=The Battle of the Little Bighorn|url=https://archive.org/details/battleoflittlebi0000sand|url-access=registration|series=Lippincott Major Battle Series|location=Philadelphia|publisher=Lippincott|year=1966|isbn=0-8032-9100-0}}
* {{cite book|last=Robbins|first=James S.|title=The Real Custer; From Boy General to Tragic Hero|location=Washington D.C.|publisher=Regnery Publishing|year=2014|isbn=978-1-62157-209-1}}
* {{cite book|last=Robinson|first=Charles M. III|year=1995|title=A Good Year to Die: the story of the great Sioux war|publisher=Random House|location=New York|isbn=0-679-43025-3|url=https://archive.org/details/goodyeartodiesto00robi}}
* {{cite book|last=Sarf|first=Wayne Michael|title=The Little Bighorn Campaign: March–September 1876|url=https://archive.org/details/littlebighorncam0000sarf|url-access=registration|location=Conshohocken, Pennsylvania|publisher=Combined Books|year=1993|isbn=1-58097-025-7}}
* {{cite book|last1=Scott|first1=Douglas D.|last2=Connor|first2=Melissa|chapter=Context Delicti: Archaeological Context in Forensic Work|editor-last1=Haglund|editor-first1=W.D.|editor-last2=Sorg|editor-first2=M.H.|title=Forensic Taphonomy: The Postmortem Fate of Human Remains|publisher=CRC Press|pages=[https://archive.org/details/forensictaphonom0000unse/page/27 27–38]|location=Boca Raton|year=1997|isbn=978-0-8493-9434-8|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/forensictaphonom0000unse/page/27}}
* {{cite book|last=Sklenar|first=Larry|title=To Hell with Honor, General Custer and the Little Big Horn|location=Norman|publisher=University of Oklahoma Press|year=2000|isbn=0-8061-3472-0}}
* {{cite book|last=Tucker|first=Phillip Thomas|title=Death at the Little Bighorn: A New Look at Custer, His Tactics, and the Tragic Decisions Made at the Last Stand|publisher=Skyhorse|year=2017|isbn=978-1-63450-800-1}}
* {{cite book|last=Utley|first=Robert M.|year=1993|title=The Lance and the Shield: the life and times of Sitting Bull|publisher=Henry Holt & Company|location=New York|isbn=0-8050-1274-5|url=https://archive.org/details/lanceshieldlifet00utle}}
* {{cite book|last=Utley|first=Robert M.|title=Cavalier in Buckskin: George Armstrong Custer and the Western Military Frontier|location=Norman|publisher=University of Oklahoma Press|edition=Revised|year=2001|isbn=0-8061-2292-7}}
* {{cite book|last=Vestal|first=Stanley|title=Warpath: The True Story of the Fighting Sioux Told in a Biography of Chief White Bull|location=Lincoln|publisher=University of Nebraska Press|year=1934|isbn=0-8032-4653-6|url=https://archive.org/details/warpathtruestory00vest_0}}
* {{cite book|last=Viola|first=Herman J.|title=Little Bighorn Remembered: The Untold Indian Story of Custer's Last Stand|location=Westminster, Maryland|publisher=Times Books|year=1999|isbn=0-8129-3256-0|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/littlebighornrem0000viol}}
* {{cite book|last1=Welch|first1=James|last2=Stekler|first2=Paul|title=Killing Custer: The Battle of the Little Bighorn and the Fate of the Plains Indians|url=https://archive.org/details/killingcusterbat00welc|url-access=registration|location=New York|publisher=Norton|year=1994|isbn=0-393-32939-9}}
* {{cite book|last=Wert|first=Jeffry D.|title=Custer: The Controversial Life of George Armstrong Custer|location=New York|publisher=Simon & Schuster|year=1996|isbn=0-684-81043-3|url=https://archive.org/details/custercontrovers0000wert}}
* {{cite book|last=Winkler|first=Albert.|title=Physical Evidence and the Battle of the Little Bighorn: The Question of Interpretation|location=Custer Battlefield Historical & Museum Association|publisher=The Brian C. Pohanka 30th Annual Symposium, pp. 36-51|year=2017|url=https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2948&context=facpub}}
{{Refend}}
== External links ==
{{Commons category|Battle of the Little Bighorn}}
* [https://findingaid.lib.byu.edu/viewItem/MSS%20SC%20860/ Account of Custer's fight on Little Bighorn, MSS SC 860] at [[L. Tom Perry Special Collections]], [[Harold B. Lee Library]], [[Brigham Young University]]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20180704113147/http://www.custermuseum.org/ Custer Battlefield Museum, Garryowen, Montana]
* [https://www.flickr.com/photos/lakota_sioux_and_comanche_indians/13112519013/sizes/o/in/photostream/ Map of Battle of Little Bighorn, Part III.]
* [https://www.flickr.com/photos/lakota_sioux_and_comanche_indians/13112752414/sizes/o/in/photostream/ Map of Battle of Little Bighorn, Part IV. Indians.]
* [https://www.flickr.com/photos/lakota_sioux_and_comanche_indians/13112632373/sizes/o/in/photostream/ Map of Battle of Little Bighorn, Part V.]
* [https://www.flickr.com/photos/lakota_sioux_and_comanche_indians/13112687093/sizes/o/in/photostream/ Map of Battle of Little Bighorn, Part VI.]
* [https://www.flickr.com/photos/lakota_sioux_and_comanche_indians/13112744393/sizes/o/in/photostream/ Map of Battle of Little Bighorn, Part VII. Custer's Last Stand.]
* [https://www.flickr.com/photos/lakota_sioux_and_comanche_indians/12445642425/sizes/o/in/photostream/ Map of Indian battles and skirmishes after the Battle of Little Bighorn. 1876–1881.]
* Battle field related
** [http://www.nps.gov/libi/ Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument]
** [http://www.friendslittlebighorn.com/ Friends of the Little Bighorn Battlefield]
* Portals
** [http://www.lbha.org/ The Little Big Horn Associates] – includes a bibliography and articles, as well as many general and commercial links
** [http://www.custerwest.org/ custerwest.org] – site for traditional scholarship with sources and videos
* First-person accounts
** [https://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/resources/archives/six/bighorn.htm The Battle of Little Bighorn:] An Eyewitness Account by the Lakota Chief Red Horse
** An [https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1881/05/07/98555099.pdf eyewitness account] by Tantanka Iyotake (Lakota Chief Sitting Bull), ''New York Times'' archive pdf.
** [http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/cgi-bin/History/History-idx?type=goto&id=History.Reno&isize=M&submit=Go+to+page&page=1 Complete transcript] of the Reno Court of Inquiry
** [http://www.astonisher.com/archives/museum/index.html 100 Voices:] Sioux, Cheyenne, Arapaho, Crow, Arikara and American eyewitness accounts of the Battle of the Little Bighorn
* Lists of participants
** [http://www.friendslittlebighorn.com/Soldiers-Warriors.htm Friends Of The Little Bighorn Battlefield] – Battle information, including names of 7th Cavalry soldiers and warriors who fought in the battle.
** [https://web.archive.org/web/20050427062829/http://freepages.folklore.rootsweb.com/~pickensarchive/custer.html Muster Rolls of 7th U.S. Cavalry, June 25, 1876]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080110071723/http://www.cbhma.org/ Custer Battlefield Historical and Museum Association]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20130514172105/http://library.uww.edu/special-collections/special-collections/hammer-collection Kenneth M. Hammer Collection on Custer and the Battle of the Little Bighorn] (Harold G. Andersen Library, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater)
* [https://findingaid.lib.byu.edu/viewItem/MSS%201401 Charles Kuhlman collection on the Battle of the Little Big Horn, MSS 1401] at [https://sites.lib.byu.edu/sc/ L. Tom Perry Special Collections], [[Brigham Young University]]
* [http://video.pbs.org/video/2186572157 "Custer's Last Stand"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130527131734/http://video.pbs.org/video/2186572157 |date=May 27, 2013 }} – An ''[[American Experience]]'' Documentary
* [http://www.amerisurv.com/PDF/TheAmericanSurveyor_Michelsen-VerdictAtLittleBighorn_October2009.pdf Verdict at the Little Bighorn] – ''The American Surveyor'' (October 2009)
<!--The following links appear to be useful as references, but are violations of [[wp:ELNO]] #1. Please remove them after they are no longer needed here.
* [http://www.equinenet.org/heroes/comanche.html Comanche:] A horse billed as the only survivor of the battle of the Little Big Horn -->
*[https://www.google.com/books/edition/Cyclorama_of_Custer_s_Last_Battle_Or_The/9Hh0AAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=Cyclorama%20 Cyclorama of Custers LAst Stand]
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2012}}
{{Montana Indian Battles|state=expanded}}
{{American frontier}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Battle of the Little Bighorn| ]]
[[Category:1876 in the United States]]
[[Category:George Armstrong Custer]]
[[Category:Battles involving the Arapaho|Little Bighorn]]
[[Category:Battles involving the Cheyenne|Little Bighorn]]
[[Category:Battles involving the Sioux|Little Bighorn]]
[[Category:Battles of the Great Sioux War of 1876|Little Bighorn]]
[[Category:Conflicts in 1876|Little Bighorn]]
[[Category:Sitting Bull]]
[[Category:History of Montana]]
[[Category:Indigenous peoples of North America]]
[[Category:History of South Dakota]]
[[Category:American frontier]]
[[Category:1876 in Montana Territory]]
[[Category:Last stands|Little Bighorn]]
[[Category:June 1876 events]]
[[Category:Battles in Montana|Little Bighorn]]' |
Parsed HTML source of the new revision (new_html) | '<div class="mw-parser-output"><div class="shortdescription nomobile noexcerpt noprint searchaux" style="display:none">1876 battle of the Great Sioux War</div>
<style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1033289096">.mw-parser-output .hatnote{font-style:italic}.mw-parser-output div.hatnote{padding-left:1.6em;margin-bottom:0.5em}.mw-parser-output .hatnote i{font-style:normal}.mw-parser-output .hatnote+link+.hatnote{margin-top:-0.5em}</style><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">"Custer's Last Stand" redirects here. For the 1936 film serial, see <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Custer%27s_Last_Stand_(serial)" title="Custer's Last Stand (serial)">Custer's Last Stand (serial)</a>.</div>
<style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r963460841">@media all and (min-width:720px){.mw-parser-output .desktop-float-right{box-sizing:border-box;float:right;clear:right}}.mw-parser-output .infobox.vevent .status>p:first-child{margin:0}</style><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1034237262">.mw-parser-output .stack{box-sizing:border-box}.mw-parser-output .stack>div{margin:1px;overflow:hidden}@media all and (min-width:720px){.mw-parser-output .stack-clear-left{float:left;clear:left}.mw-parser-output .stack-clear-right{float:right;clear:right}.mw-parser-output .stack-left{float:left}.mw-parser-output .stack-right{float:right}.mw-parser-output .stack-margin-clear-left{float:left;clear:left;margin-right:1em}.mw-parser-output .stack-margin-clear-right{float:right;clear:right;margin-left:1em}.mw-parser-output .stack-margin-left{float:left;margin-right:1em}.mw-parser-output .stack-margin-right{float:right;margin-left:1em}}</style><div class="mw-stack stack-container stack-clear-right"><div><table class="infobox vevent" style="width:25.5em;border-spacing:2px;"><tbody><tr><th class="summary" colspan="2" style="background-color:#C3D6EF;text-align:center;vertical-align:middle;font-size:110%;">Battle of the Little Bighorn</th></tr><tr><td colspan="2" style="background-color:#DCDCDC;text-align:center;vertical-align:middle;">Part of the <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Great_Sioux_War_of_1876" title="Great Sioux War of 1876">Great Sioux War of 1876</a></td></tr><tr><td colspan="2" style="text-align:center;border-bottom:1px solid #aaa;line-height:1.5em;"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/File:Charles_Marion_Russell_-_The_Custer_Fight_(1903).jpg" class="image"><img alt="Charles Marion Russell - The Custer Fight (1903).jpg" src="/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b2/Charles_Marion_Russell_-_The_Custer_Fight_%281903%29.jpg/300px-Charles_Marion_Russell_-_The_Custer_Fight_%281903%29.jpg" decoding="async" width="300" height="183" class="thumbborder" srcset="/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b2/Charles_Marion_Russell_-_The_Custer_Fight_%281903%29.jpg/450px-Charles_Marion_Russell_-_The_Custer_Fight_%281903%29.jpg 1.5x, /upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b2/Charles_Marion_Russell_-_The_Custer_Fight_%281903%29.jpg/600px-Charles_Marion_Russell_-_The_Custer_Fight_%281903%29.jpg 2x" data-file-width="3891" data-file-height="2374" /></a><br /><i>The Custer Fight</i> by <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Charles_Marion_Russell" title="Charles Marion Russell">Charles Marion Russell</a></td></tr><tr><td colspan="2"><table style="width:100%;margin:0;padding:0;border:0"><tbody><tr><th style="padding-right:1em">Date</th><td>June 25–26, 1876</td></tr><tr><th style="padding-right:1em">Location</th><td><div class="location">Near <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Little_Bighorn_River" title="Little Bighorn River">Little Bighorn River</a>, <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Crow_Indian_Reservation" title="Crow Indian Reservation">Crow Indian Reservation</a>, <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Big_Horn_County,_Montana" title="Big Horn County, Montana">Big Horn County, Montana</a>, U.S.</div><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r994658806">.mw-parser-output .geo-default,.mw-parser-output .geo-dms,.mw-parser-output .geo-dec{display:inline}.mw-parser-output .geo-nondefault,.mw-parser-output .geo-multi-punct{display:none}.mw-parser-output .longitude,.mw-parser-output .latitude{white-space:nowrap}</style><span class="plainlinks nourlexpansion"><a class="external text" href="/enwiki//geohack.toolforge.org/geohack.php?pagename=Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn&params=45_33_54_N_107_25_44_W_region:US-MT_type:event&title=The+Battle+of+Little+BigHorn"><span class="geo-default"><span class="geo-dms" title="Maps, aerial photos, and other data for this location"><span class="latitude">45°33′54″N</span> <span class="longitude">107°25′44″W</span></span></span><span class="geo-multi-punct"> / </span><span class="geo-nondefault"><span class="vcard"><span class="geo-dec" title="Maps, aerial photos, and other data for this location">45.56500°N 107.42889°W</span><span style="display:none"> / <span class="geo">45.56500; -107.42889</span></span><span style="display:none"> (<span class="fn org">The Battle of Little BigHorn</span>)</span></span></span></a></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span id="coordinates"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Geographic_coordinate_system" title="Geographic coordinate system">Coordinates</a>: <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r994658806"/><span class="plainlinks nourlexpansion"><a class="external text" href="/enwiki//geohack.toolforge.org/geohack.php?pagename=Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn&params=45_33_54_N_107_25_44_W_region:US-MT_type:event&title=The+Battle+of+Little+BigHorn"><span class="geo-default"><span class="geo-dms" title="Maps, aerial photos, and other data for this location"><span class="latitude">45°33′54″N</span> <span class="longitude">107°25′44″W</span></span></span><span class="geo-multi-punct"> / </span><span class="geo-nondefault"><span class="vcard"><span class="geo-dec" title="Maps, aerial photos, and other data for this location">45.56500°N 107.42889°W</span><span style="display:none"> / <span class="geo">45.56500; -107.42889</span></span><span style="display:none"> (<span class="fn org">The Battle of Little BigHorn</span>)</span></span></span></a></span></span></span></td></tr><tr><th style="padding-right:1em">Result</th><td class="status">
Lakota, Northern Cheyenne, and Arapaho victory</td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr><tr><th colspan="2" style="background-color:#C3D6EF;text-align:center;vertical-align:middle;font-size:110%;">Belligerents</th></tr><tr><td style="width:50%;border-right:1px dotted #aaa;">
<div class="plainlist">
<ul><li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Lakota_people" title="Lakota people">Lakota</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Dakota_people" title="Dakota people">Dakota</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Northern_Cheyenne" class="mw-redirect" title="Northern Cheyenne">Northern Cheyenne</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Arapaho_people" class="mw-redirect" title="Arapaho people">Arapaho</a></li></ul>
</div></td><td style="width:50%;padding-left:0.25em">
<div class="plainlist">
<ul><li><span class="flagicon"><img alt="" src="/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f3/Flag_of_the_United_States_%281867%E2%80%931877%29.svg/23px-Flag_of_the_United_States_%281867%E2%80%931877%29.svg.png" decoding="async" width="23" height="12" class="thumbborder" srcset="/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f3/Flag_of_the_United_States_%281867%E2%80%931877%29.svg/35px-Flag_of_the_United_States_%281867%E2%80%931877%29.svg.png 1.5x, /upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f3/Flag_of_the_United_States_%281867%E2%80%931877%29.svg/46px-Flag_of_the_United_States_%281867%E2%80%931877%29.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="1781" data-file-height="937" /></span> <a href="/enwiki/wiki/United_States_Army" title="United States Army">United States Army</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Crow_scouts" title="Crow scouts">Crow scouts</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Arikara_scouts" title="Arikara scouts">Arikara scouts</a></li></ul>
</div></td></tr><tr><th colspan="2" style="background-color:#C3D6EF;text-align:center;vertical-align:middle;font-size:110%;">Commanders and leaders</th></tr><tr><td style="width:50%;border-right:1px dotted #aaa;">
<div class="plainlist">
<ul><li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Sitting_Bull" title="Sitting Bull">Sitting Bull</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Crazy_Horse" title="Crazy Horse">Crazy Horse</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Gall_(Native_American_leader)" title="Gall (Native American leader)">Chief Gall</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Lame_White_Man" title="Lame White Man">Lame White Man</a> <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Killed_in_action" title="Killed in action"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman','Old English Text MT',serif"><b>†</b></span></a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Two_Moons" title="Two Moons">Two Moon</a></li></ul>
</div></td><td style="width:50%;padding-left:0.25em">
<div class="plainlist">
<ul><li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/George_Armstrong_Custer" title="George Armstrong Custer">George A. Custer</a> <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Killed_in_action" title="Killed in action"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman','Old English Text MT',serif"><b>†</b></span></a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Marcus_Reno" title="Marcus Reno">Marcus Reno</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Frederick_Benteen" title="Frederick Benteen">Frederick Benteen</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Myles_Keogh" title="Myles Keogh">Myles Keogh</a> <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Killed_in_action" title="Killed in action"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman','Old English Text MT',serif"><b>†</b></span></a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/James_Calhoun_(soldier)" title="James Calhoun (soldier)">James Calhoun</a> <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Killed_in_action" title="Killed in action"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman','Old English Text MT',serif"><b>†</b></span></a></li></ul>
</div></td></tr><tr><th colspan="2" style="background-color:#C3D6EF;text-align:center;vertical-align:middle;font-size:110%;">Units involved</th></tr><tr><td style="width:50%;border-right:1px dotted #aaa;">
<a href="/enwiki/wiki/Irregular_military" title="Irregular military">Irregular military</a></td><td style="width:50%;padding-left:0.25em">
<a href="/enwiki/wiki/7th_Cavalry_Regiment" title="7th Cavalry Regiment">7th Cavalry Regiment</a></td></tr><tr><th colspan="2" style="background-color:#C3D6EF;text-align:center;vertical-align:middle;font-size:110%;">Strength</th></tr><tr><td style="width:50%;border-right:1px dotted #aaa;">
1,500–2,500 warriors</td><td style="width:50%;padding-left:0.25em">
~700 cavalrymen and scouts</td></tr><tr><th colspan="2" style="background-color:#C3D6EF;text-align:center;vertical-align:middle;font-size:110%;">Casualties and losses</th></tr><tr><td style="width:50%;border-right:1px dotted #aaa;">
<div class="plainlist">
<ul><li>31 (up to 135) killed<br />Up to 160 wounded</li>
<li>10 non-combatants killed</li></ul>
</div></td><td style="width:50%;padding-left:0.25em">
<div class="plainlist">
<ul><li>268 killed</li>
<li>55 wounded (6 of whom later died of wounds)</li></ul>
</div></td></tr><tr><td colspan="2" style="border-top:1px dotted #aaa;"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r997900035">.mw-parser-output .locmap .od{position:absolute}.mw-parser-output .locmap .id{position:absolute;line-height:0}.mw-parser-output .locmap .l0{font-size:0;position:absolute}.mw-parser-output .locmap .pv{line-height:110%;position:absolute;text-align:center}.mw-parser-output .locmap .pl{line-height:110%;position:absolute;top:-0.75em;text-align:right}.mw-parser-output .locmap .pr{line-height:110%;position:absolute;top:-0.75em;text-align:left}.mw-parser-output .locmap .pv>div{display:inline;padding:1px}.mw-parser-output .locmap .pl>div{display:inline;padding:1px;float:right}.mw-parser-output .locmap .pr>div{display:inline;padding:1px;float:left}</style><div class="center"><div class="locmap noviewer thumb tnone"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:222px;border:none"><div style="position:relative;width:220px"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/File:USA_Montana_location_map.svg" class="image" title="Little Big Horn Battlefield is located in Montana"><img alt="Little Big Horn Battlefield is located in Montana" src="/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/52/USA_Montana_location_map.svg/220px-USA_Montana_location_map.svg.png" decoding="async" width="220" height="164" srcset="/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/52/USA_Montana_location_map.svg/330px-USA_Montana_location_map.svg.png 1.5x, /upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/52/USA_Montana_location_map.svg/440px-USA_Montana_location_map.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="1201" data-file-height="893" /></a><div class="od" style="top:68.306%;left:70.969%"><div class="id" style="left:-4px;top:-4px"><img alt="Little Big Horn Battlefield" src="/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0c/Red_pog.svg/8px-Red_pog.svg.png" decoding="async" title="Little Big Horn Battlefield" width="8" height="8" srcset="/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0c/Red_pog.svg/12px-Red_pog.svg.png 1.5x, /upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0c/Red_pog.svg/16px-Red_pog.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="64" data-file-height="64" /></div><div class="pl" style="font-size:91%;width:6em;right:5px"><div>Little Big Horn Battlefield</div></div></div></div><div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/File:USA_Montana_location_map.svg" title="File:USA Montana location map.svg"> </a></div>Location within Montana</div></div></div></div></td></tr></tbody></table><div role="navigation" class="navbox" aria-labelledby="Great_Sioux_War_of_1876" style="margin:0;float:right;clear:right;width:25.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;margin-left:1em;;padding:3px"><table class="nowraplinks navbox-vertical mw-collapsible autocollapse navbox-inner" style="border-spacing:0;background:transparent;color:inherit"><tbody><tr><th scope="col" class="navbox-title" colspan="2" style="background-color:#C3D6EF;"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r992953826">.mw-parser-output .navbar{display:inline;font-size:88%;font-weight:normal}.mw-parser-output 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title="Template:Campaignbox 1876 North Plains Campaign"><abbr title="View this template" style=";background-color:#C3D6EF;;background:none transparent;border:none;box-shadow:none;padding:0;;text-decoration:inherit;">v</abbr></a></li><li class="nv-talk"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Template_talk:Campaignbox_1876_North_Plains_Campaign" title="Template talk:Campaignbox 1876 North Plains Campaign"><abbr title="Discuss this template" style=";background-color:#C3D6EF;;background:none transparent;border:none;box-shadow:none;padding:0;;text-decoration:inherit;">t</abbr></a></li><li class="nv-edit"><a class="external text" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Template:Campaignbox_1876_North_Plains_Campaign&action=edit"><abbr title="Edit this template" style=";background-color:#C3D6EF;;background:none transparent;border:none;box-shadow:none;padding:0;;text-decoration:inherit;">e</abbr></a></li></ul></div><div id="Great_Sioux_War_of_1876" style="font-size:114%;margin:0 4em"><span style="line-height:1.6em"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Great_Sioux_War_of_1876" title="Great Sioux War of 1876"><span class="wrap">Great Sioux War of 1876</span></a></span></div></th></tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="navbox-list navbox-odd hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0px"><div style="padding:0em 0.25em">
<ul><li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Big_Horn_Expedition#Cattle_herd_skirmish" title="Big Horn Expedition">Cattle Herd Skirmish</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Fort_Reno_Skirmish" class="mw-redirect" title="Fort Reno Skirmish">Fort Reno Skirmish</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Battle_of_Powder_River" title="Battle of Powder River">Powder River</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Battle_of_Prairie_Dog_Creek_(1876)" title="Battle of Prairie Dog Creek (1876)">Prairie Dog Creek</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Battle_of_the_Rosebud" title="Battle of the Rosebud">Rosebud</a></li>
<li><a class="mw-selflink selflink">Little Bighorn</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Battle_of_Warbonnet_Creek" title="Battle of Warbonnet Creek">Warbonnet Creek</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Battle_of_Slim_Buttes" title="Battle of Slim Buttes">Slim Buttes</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Battle_of_Cedar_Creek_(1876)" title="Battle of Cedar Creek (1876)">Cedar Creek</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Dull_Knife_Fight" title="Dull Knife Fight">Dull Knife Fight</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Battle_of_Wolf_Mountain" title="Battle of Wolf Mountain">Wolf Mountain</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Battle_of_Little_Muddy_Creek" title="Battle of Little Muddy Creek">Little Muddy Creek</a></li></ul>
</div></td></tr></tbody></table></div></div></div>
<div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:132px;"><a href="/enwiki//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Upload?wpDestFile=The_Lakota_Wars_(1854-1890)._the_battlefields_and_the_Lakota_treaty_territory_of_1851_(circa.).png" class="new" title="File:The Lakota Wars (1854-1890). the battlefields and the Lakota treaty territory of 1851 (circa.).png">File:The Lakota Wars (1854-1890). the battlefields and the Lakota treaty territory of 1851 (circa.).png</a> <div class="thumbcaption">Map indicating the battlefields of the Lakota wars (1854–1890) and the Lakota Indian territory as described in the <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Treaty_of_Fort_Laramie_(1851)" title="Treaty of Fort Laramie (1851)">Treaty of Fort Laramie (1851)</a>. Like the Battle of the Little Bighorn (14 on the map), most battles between the army and the Lakota "were on lands those Indians had taken from other tribes since 1851".<sup id="cite_ref-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-1">[1]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-2">[2]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-3">[3]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-4" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-4">[4]</a></sup> The steady Lakota invasion into treaty areas belonging to smaller tribes<sup id="cite_ref-5" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-5">[5]</a></sup> ensured the United States firm Indian allies in the <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Arikara_scouts" title="Arikara scouts">Arikaras</a><sup id="cite_ref-6" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-6">[6]</a></sup> and the <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Crow_scouts" title="Crow scouts">Crows</a> during the Lakota Wars.<sup id="cite_ref-7" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-7">[7]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-8" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-8">[8]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-9" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-9">[9]</a></sup></div></div></div>
<div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:312px;"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/File:Crow_Indian_Reservation,_1868_(area_619_and_635)._Yellow_area_517_is_1851_Crow_treaty_land_ceded_to_the_U.S.png" class="image"><img alt="" src="/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fa/Crow_Indian_Reservation%2C_1868_%28area_619_and_635%29._Yellow_area_517_is_1851_Crow_treaty_land_ceded_to_the_U.S.png/310px-Crow_Indian_Reservation%2C_1868_%28area_619_and_635%29._Yellow_area_517_is_1851_Crow_treaty_land_ceded_to_the_U.S.png" decoding="async" width="310" height="180" class="thumbimage" srcset="/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fa/Crow_Indian_Reservation%2C_1868_%28area_619_and_635%29._Yellow_area_517_is_1851_Crow_treaty_land_ceded_to_the_U.S.png/465px-Crow_Indian_Reservation%2C_1868_%28area_619_and_635%29._Yellow_area_517_is_1851_Crow_treaty_land_ceded_to_the_U.S.png 1.5x, /upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fa/Crow_Indian_Reservation%2C_1868_%28area_619_and_635%29._Yellow_area_517_is_1851_Crow_treaty_land_ceded_to_the_U.S.png/620px-Crow_Indian_Reservation%2C_1868_%28area_619_and_635%29._Yellow_area_517_is_1851_Crow_treaty_land_ceded_to_the_U.S.png 2x" data-file-width="1349" data-file-height="785" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/File:Crow_Indian_Reservation,_1868_(area_619_and_635)._Yellow_area_517_is_1851_Crow_treaty_land_ceded_to_the_U.S.png" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>Crow Indian Reservation, 1868 (area 619 and 635). Yellow area 517 is 1851 Crow treaty land ceded to the U.S. It was in the red area 635 that the battle stood. The Lakotas were here without consent from the local Crow tribe, which had treaty on the area. Already in 1873, Crow chief Blackfoot had called for U.S. military actions against the Indian intruders.<sup id="cite_ref-10" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-10">[10]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-11" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-11">[11]</a></sup></div></div></div>
<p>The <b>Battle of the Little Bighorn</b>, known to the <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Lakota_people" title="Lakota people">Lakota</a> an other <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Plains_Indians" title="Plains Indians">Plains Indians</a> as the <b>Battle of the Greasy Grass</b><sup id="cite_ref-12" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-12">[12]</a></sup> and also commonly referred to as <b>Custer's Last Stand</b>, was an armed engagement between combined forces of the Lakota, <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Northern_Cheyenne" class="mw-redirect" title="Northern Cheyenne">Northern Cheyenne</a>, and <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Arapaho" title="Arapaho">Arapaho</a> tribes and the <a href="/enwiki/wiki/7th_Cavalry_Regiment" title="7th Cavalry Regiment">7th Cavalry Regiment</a> of the <a href="/enwiki/wiki/United_States_Army" title="United States Army">United States Army</a>. The battle, which resulted in the defeat of U.S. forces, was the most significant action of the <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Great_Sioux_War_of_1876" title="Great Sioux War of 1876">Great Sioux War of 1876</a>. It took place on June 25–26, 1876, along the <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Little_Bighorn_River" title="Little Bighorn River">Little Bighorn River</a> in the <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Crow_Indian_Reservation" title="Crow Indian Reservation">Crow Indian Reservation</a> in southeastern <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Montana_Territory" title="Montana Territory">Montana Territory</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-13" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-13">[13]</a></sup>
</p><p>The fight was an overwhelming victory for the Lakota, Northern Cheyenne, and Arapaho, who were led by several major war leaders, including <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Crazy_Horse" title="Crazy Horse">Crazy Horse</a> and <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Gall_(Native_American_leader)" title="Gall (Native American leader)">Chief Gall</a>, and had been inspired by the visions of <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Sitting_Bull" title="Sitting Bull">Sitting Bull</a> (<i>Tȟatȟáŋka Íyotake</i>). The U.S. 7th Cavalry, a force of 700 men, suffered a major defeat while commanded by <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Lieutenant_colonel_(United_States)" title="Lieutenant colonel (United States)">Lieutenant Colonel</a> <a href="/enwiki/wiki/George_Armstrong_Custer" title="George Armstrong Custer">George Armstrong Custer</a> (formerly a <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Brevet_(military)" title="Brevet (military)">brevetted</a> <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Major_general_(United_States)" title="Major general (United States)">major general</a> during the <a href="/enwiki/wiki/American_Civil_War" title="American Civil War">American Civil War</a>). Five of the 7th Cavalry's twelve companies were annihilated and Custer was killed, as were two of his brothers, a nephew, and a brother-in-law. The total U.S. casualty count included 268 dead and 55 severely wounded (six died later from their wounds),<sup id="cite_ref-Scott-Arch_14-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Scott-Arch-14">[14]</a></sup><sup class="reference" style="white-space:nowrap;">:<span title="Page / location: 244">244</span></sup> including four <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Crow_Nation" class="mw-redirect" title="Crow Nation">Crow</a> Indian scouts and at least two <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Arikara" title="Arikara">Arikara</a> Indian scouts.
</p><p>Public response to the <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Great_Sioux_War_of_1876" title="Great Sioux War of 1876">Great Sioux War</a> varied in the immediate aftermath of the battle. <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Elizabeth_Bacon_Custer" title="Elizabeth Bacon Custer">Libbie Custer</a>, Custer's widow, soon worked to burnish her husband's memory, and during the following decades Custer and his troops came to be considered iconic, even heroic, figures in American history. The battle, and Custer's actions in particular, have been studied extensively by historians.<sup id="cite_ref-15" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-15">[15]</a></sup> <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Little_Bighorn_Battlefield_National_Monument" title="Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument">Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument</a> honors those who fought on both sides.
</p>
<div id="toc" class="toc" role="navigation" aria-labelledby="mw-toc-heading"><input type="checkbox" role="button" id="toctogglecheckbox" class="toctogglecheckbox" style="display:none" /><div class="toctitle" lang="en" dir="ltr"><h2 id="mw-toc-heading">Contents</h2><span class="toctogglespan"><label class="toctogglelabel" for="toctogglecheckbox"></label></span></div>
<ul>
<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-1"><a href="#Background"><span class="tocnumber">1</span> <span class="toctext">Background</span></a>
<ul>
<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-2"><a href="#Battlefield_and_surrounding_areas"><span class="tocnumber">1.1</span> <span class="toctext">Battlefield and surrounding areas</span></a></li>
<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-3"><a href="#1876_Sun_Dance_ceremony"><span class="tocnumber">1.2</span> <span class="toctext">1876 Sun Dance ceremony</span></a></li>
<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-4"><a href="#1876_U.S._military_campaign"><span class="tocnumber">1.3</span> <span class="toctext">1876 U.S. military campaign</span></a>
<ul>
<li class="toclevel-3 tocsection-5"><a href="#7th_Cavalry_organization"><span class="tocnumber">1.3.1</span> <span class="toctext">7th Cavalry organization</span></a></li>
<li class="toclevel-3 tocsection-6"><a href="#Battle_of_the_Rosebud"><span class="tocnumber">1.3.2</span> <span class="toctext">Battle of the Rosebud</span></a></li>
<li class="toclevel-3 tocsection-7"><a href="#Little_Bighorn"><span class="tocnumber">1.3.3</span> <span class="toctext">Little Bighorn</span></a></li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-8"><a href="#Prelude"><span class="tocnumber">2</span> <span class="toctext">Prelude</span></a>
<ul>
<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-9"><a href="#Military_assumptions_prior_to_the_battle"><span class="tocnumber">2.1</span> <span class="toctext">Military assumptions prior to the battle</span></a>
<ul>
<li class="toclevel-3 tocsection-10"><a href="#Number_of_Indian_warriors"><span class="tocnumber">2.1.1</span> <span class="toctext">Number of Indian warriors</span></a></li>
<li class="toclevel-3 tocsection-11"><a href="#Role_of_Indian_noncombatants_in_Custer's_strategy"><span class="tocnumber">2.1.2</span> <span class="toctext">Role of Indian noncombatants in Custer's strategy</span></a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-12"><a href="#Lone_Teepee"><span class="tocnumber">2.2</span> <span class="toctext">Lone Teepee</span></a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-13"><a href="#Battle"><span class="tocnumber">3</span> <span class="toctext">Battle</span></a>
<ul>
<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-14"><a href="#Reno's_attack"><span class="tocnumber">3.1</span> <span class="toctext">Reno's attack</span></a>
<ul>
<li class="toclevel-3 tocsection-15"><a href="#Reno_and_Benteen_on_Reno_Hill"><span class="tocnumber">3.1.1</span> <span class="toctext">Reno and Benteen on Reno Hill</span></a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-16"><a href="#Custer's_fight"><span class="tocnumber">3.2</span> <span class="toctext">Custer's fight</span></a>
<ul>
<li class="toclevel-3 tocsection-17"><a href="#Custer_at_Minneconjou_Ford"><span class="tocnumber">3.2.1</span> <span class="toctext">Custer at Minneconjou Ford</span></a></li>
<li class="toclevel-3 tocsection-18"><a href="#Other_views_of_Custer's_actions_at_Minneconjou_Ford"><span class="tocnumber">3.2.2</span> <span class="toctext">Other views of Custer's actions at Minneconjou Ford</span></a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-19"><a href="#Last_stand"><span class="tocnumber">3.3</span> <span class="toctext">Last stand</span></a>
<ul>
<li class="toclevel-3 tocsection-20"><a href="#Custer's_final_resistance"><span class="tocnumber">3.3.1</span> <span class="toctext">Custer's final resistance</span></a></li>
<li class="toclevel-3 tocsection-21"><a href="#Last_break-out_attempt"><span class="tocnumber">3.3.2</span> <span class="toctext">Last break-out attempt</span></a></li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-22"><a href="#Aftermath"><span class="tocnumber">4</span> <span class="toctext">Aftermath</span></a></li>
<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-23"><a href="#Participants"><span class="tocnumber">5</span> <span class="toctext">Participants</span></a>
<ul>
<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-24"><a href="#7th_Cavalry_officers"><span class="tocnumber">5.1</span> <span class="toctext">7th Cavalry officers</span></a></li>
<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-25"><a href="#Native_American_leaders_and_"warriors""><span class="tocnumber">5.2</span> <span class="toctext">Native American leaders and "warriors"</span></a></li>
<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-26"><a href="#Arapaho_participation"><span class="tocnumber">5.3</span> <span class="toctext">Arapaho participation</span></a></li>
<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-27"><a href="#Notable_scouts/interpreters"><span class="tocnumber">5.4</span> <span class="toctext">Notable scouts/interpreters</span></a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-28"><a href="#Order_of_battle"><span class="tocnumber">6</span> <span class="toctext">Order of battle</span></a></li>
<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-29"><a href="#Casualties"><span class="tocnumber">7</span> <span class="toctext">Casualties</span></a>
<ul>
<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-30"><a href="#Native_American_warriors"><span class="tocnumber">7.1</span> <span class="toctext">Native American warriors</span></a></li>
<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-31"><a href="#Native_American_noncombatants"><span class="tocnumber">7.2</span> <span class="toctext">Native American noncombatants</span></a></li>
<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-32"><a href="#7th_Cavalry"><span class="tocnumber">7.3</span> <span class="toctext">7th Cavalry</span></a></li>
<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-33"><a href="#Civilians_killed_(armed_and_embedded_within_the_Army)"><span class="tocnumber">7.4</span> <span class="toctext">Civilians killed (armed and embedded within the Army)</span></a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-34"><a href="#Legacy"><span class="tocnumber">8</span> <span class="toctext">Legacy</span></a>
<ul>
<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-35"><a href="#Reconstitution_of_the_7th_Cavalry"><span class="tocnumber">8.1</span> <span class="toctext">Reconstitution of the 7th Cavalry</span></a></li>
<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-36"><a href="#Expansion_of_the_U.S._Army"><span class="tocnumber">8.2</span> <span class="toctext">Expansion of the U.S. Army</span></a></li>
<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-37"><a href="#"Sell_or_Starve""><span class="tocnumber">8.3</span> <span class="toctext">"Sell or Starve"</span></a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-38"><a href="#Controversies"><span class="tocnumber">9</span> <span class="toctext">Controversies</span></a>
<ul>
<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-39"><a href="#Reno's_conduct"><span class="tocnumber">9.1</span> <span class="toctext">Reno's conduct</span></a></li>
<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-40"><a href="#Custer's_errors"><span class="tocnumber">9.2</span> <span class="toctext">Custer's errors</span></a></li>
<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-41"><a href="#Admiration_for_Custer"><span class="tocnumber">9.3</span> <span class="toctext">Admiration for Custer</span></a></li>
<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-42"><a href="#Gatling_gun_controversy"><span class="tocnumber">9.4</span> <span class="toctext">Gatling gun controversy</span></a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-43"><a href="#Weapons"><span class="tocnumber">10</span> <span class="toctext">Weapons</span></a>
<ul>
<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-44"><a href="#Lakota_and_Cheyenne"><span class="tocnumber">10.1</span> <span class="toctext">Lakota and Cheyenne</span></a></li>
<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-45"><a href="#7th_Cavalry_2"><span class="tocnumber">10.2</span> <span class="toctext">7th Cavalry</span></a></li>
<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-46"><a href="#Lever-action_repeaters_vs._single-shot_breechloaders"><span class="tocnumber">10.3</span> <span class="toctext">Lever-action repeaters vs. single-shot breechloaders</span></a>
<ul>
<li class="toclevel-3 tocsection-47"><a href="#Model_1873_/_1884_Springfield_carbine_and_the_U.S._Army"><span class="tocnumber">10.3.1</span> <span class="toctext">Model 1873 / 1884 Springfield carbine and the U.S. Army</span></a></li>
<li class="toclevel-3 tocsection-48"><a href="#Malfunction_of_the_Springfield_carbine_extractor_mechanism"><span class="tocnumber">10.3.2</span> <span class="toctext">Malfunction of the Springfield carbine extractor mechanism</span></a></li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-49"><a href="#Survivor_claims"><span class="tocnumber">11</span> <span class="toctext">Survivor claims</span></a></li>
<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-50"><a href="#Battlefield_preservation"><span class="tocnumber">12</span> <span class="toctext">Battlefield preservation</span></a></li>
<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-51"><a href="#In_popular_culture"><span class="tocnumber">13</span> <span class="toctext">In popular culture</span></a></li>
<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-52"><a href="#See_also"><span class="tocnumber">14</span> <span class="toctext">See also</span></a></li>
<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-53"><a href="#Notes"><span class="tocnumber">15</span> <span class="toctext">Notes</span></a></li>
<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-54"><a href="#References"><span class="tocnumber">16</span> <span class="toctext">References</span></a></li>
<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-55"><a href="#Further_reading"><span class="tocnumber">17</span> <span class="toctext">Further reading</span></a></li>
<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-56"><a href="#External_links"><span class="tocnumber">18</span> <span class="toctext">External links</span></a></li>
</ul>
</div>
<h2><span class="mw-headline" id="Background">Background</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn&action=edit&section=1" title="Edit section: Background">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2>
<h3><span class="mw-headline" id="Battlefield_and_surrounding_areas">Battlefield and surrounding areas</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn&action=edit&section=2" title="Edit section: Battlefield and surrounding areas">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h3>
<p>In 1805, fur trader François Antoine Larocque reported joining a <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Crow_Nation" class="mw-redirect" title="Crow Nation">Crow</a> camp in the Yellowstone area. On the way he noted that the Crow hunted buffalo on the "<a href="/enwiki/wiki/Little_Bighorn_River" title="Little Bighorn River">Small Horn River</a>".<sup id="cite_ref-16" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-16">[16]</a></sup> St. Louis-based fur trader <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Manuel_Lisa" title="Manuel Lisa">Manuel Lisa</a> built <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Fort_Raymond" title="Fort Raymond">Fort Raymond</a> in 1807 for trade with the Crow. It was located near the confluence of the Yellowstone and the Bighorn River, about 40 miles (64 km) north of the future battlefield.<sup id="cite_ref-17" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-17">[17]</a></sup> The area is first noted in the 1851 <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Treaty_of_Fort_Laramie_(1851)" title="Treaty of Fort Laramie (1851)">Treaty of Fort Laramie</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-18" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-18">[18]</a></sup>
</p><p>In the latter half of the 19th century, tensions increased between the Native inhabitants of the <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Great_Plains" title="Great Plains">Great Plains</a> of the US and encroaching settlers. This resulted in a series of conflicts known as the <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Sioux_Wars" title="Sioux Wars">Sioux Wars</a>, which took place from 1854 to 1890. While some of the indigenous people eventually agreed to relocate to ever-shrinking <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Indian_Reservations" class="mw-redirect" title="Indian Reservations">reservations</a>, a number of them resisted, sometimes fiercely.<sup id="cite_ref-19" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-19">[19]</a></sup>
</p><p>On May 7, 1868, the valley of the Little Bighorn became a tract in the eastern part of the new <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Crow_Indian_Reservation" title="Crow Indian Reservation">Crow Indian Reservation</a> in the center of the old Crow country.<sup id="cite_ref-20" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-20">[20]</a></sup> There were numerous skirmishes between the Sioux and Crow tribes<sup id="cite_ref-White1978_21-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-White1978-21">[21]</a></sup> so when the Sioux were in the valley in 1876 without the consent of <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Crow_Nation" class="mw-redirect" title="Crow Nation">the Crow tribe</a>,<sup id="cite_ref-22" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-22">[22]</a></sup> the Crow supported the US Army to expel them (e.g., Crows enlisted as <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Crow_scouts" title="Crow scouts">Army scouts</a><sup id="cite_ref-Bradley1896_23-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Bradley1896-23">[23]</a></sup> and Crow warriors would fight in the nearby <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Battle_of_the_Rosebud" title="Battle of the Rosebud">Battle of the Rosebud</a><sup id="cite_ref-24" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-24">[24]</a></sup>).
</p><p>The battlefield is known as "Greasy Grass" to the Lakota, Dakota, Cheyenne, and most other <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Plains_Indians" title="Plains Indians">Plains Indians</a>; however, in contemporary accounts by participants, it was referred to as the "Valley of Chieftains".<sup id="cite_ref-25" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-25">[25]</a></sup>
</p>
<h3><span class="mw-headline" id="1876_Sun_Dance_ceremony">1876 Sun Dance ceremony</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn&action=edit&section=3" title="Edit section: 1876 Sun Dance ceremony">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h3>
<p>Among the <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Plains_Indians" title="Plains Indians">Plains Tribes</a>, the long-standing ceremonial tradition known as the <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Sun_Dance" title="Sun Dance">Sun Dance</a> was the most important religious event of the year. It is a time for prayer and personal sacrifice for the community, as well as making personal vows. Towards the end of spring in 1876, the Lakota and the Cheyenne held a Sun Dance that was also attended by a number of "Agency Indians" who had slipped away from their reservations.<sup id="cite_ref-26" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-26">[26]</a></sup> During a Sun Dance around June 5, 1876, on <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Rosebud_Creek" title="Rosebud Creek">Rosebud Creek</a> in <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Montana" title="Montana">Montana</a>, <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Sitting_Bull" title="Sitting Bull">Sitting Bull</a>, the spiritual leader of the <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Hunkpapa_Lakota" class="mw-redirect" title="Hunkpapa Lakota">Hunkpapa Lakota</a>, reportedly had a vision of "soldiers falling into his camp like grasshoppers from the sky."<sup id="cite_ref-27" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-27">[27]</a></sup> At the same time US military officials were conducting a summer campaign to force the Lakota and the Cheyenne back to their <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Indian_reservation" title="Indian reservation">reservations</a>, using <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Infantry" title="Infantry">infantry</a> and <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Cavalry" title="Cavalry">cavalry</a> in a so-called "three-pronged approach".
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<div class="thumb tnone" style="margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto;overflow:hidden;width:auto;max-width:993px"><div class="thumbinner"><div class="noresize" style="overflow:auto"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/File:Cheyenne_dance4.jpg" class="image" title="A Cheyenne Sun Dance gathering, circa 1909"><img alt="" src="/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a1/Cheyenne_dance4.jpg/985px-Cheyenne_dance4.jpg" decoding="async" width="985" height="133" srcset="/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a1/Cheyenne_dance4.jpg/1478px-Cheyenne_dance4.jpg 1.5x, /upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a1/Cheyenne_dance4.jpg/1970px-Cheyenne_dance4.jpg 2x" data-file-width="4555" data-file-height="617" /></a></div><div class="thumbcaption" style="text-align:center"><div class="magnify"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/File:Cheyenne_dance4.jpg" title="File:Cheyenne dance4.jpg"> </a></div>A <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Cheyenne" title="Cheyenne">Cheyenne</a> <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Sun_Dance" title="Sun Dance">Sun Dance</a> gathering, circa 1909</div></div></div>
<h3><span class="mw-headline" id="1876_U.S._military_campaign">1876 U.S. military campaign</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn&action=edit&section=4" title="Edit section: 1876 U.S. military campaign">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h3>
<div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:292px;"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/File:Custermovements.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b1/Custermovements.jpg/290px-Custermovements.jpg" decoding="async" width="290" height="175" class="thumbimage" srcset="/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b1/Custermovements.jpg/435px-Custermovements.jpg 1.5x, /upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b1/Custermovements.jpg/580px-Custermovements.jpg 2x" data-file-width="875" data-file-height="528" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/File:Custermovements.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>1876 Army Campaign against the Sioux</div></div></div>
<p>Col. <a href="/enwiki/wiki/John_Gibbon" title="John Gibbon">John Gibbon</a>'s column of six companies (A, B, E, H, I, and K) of the <a href="/enwiki/wiki/7th_Infantry_Regiment_(United_States)" title="7th Infantry Regiment (United States)">7th Infantry</a> and four companies (F, G, H, and L) of the <a href="/enwiki/wiki/2nd_ACR" class="mw-redirect" title="2nd ACR">2nd Cavalry</a> marched east from <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Fort_Ellis" title="Fort Ellis">Fort Ellis</a> in western Montana on March 30 to patrol the <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Yellowstone_River" title="Yellowstone River">Yellowstone River</a>. Brig. Gen. <a href="/enwiki/wiki/George_Crook" title="George Crook">George Crook</a>'s column of ten companies (A, B, C, D, E, F, G, I, L, and M) of the <a href="/enwiki/wiki/3rd_Armored_Cavalry_Regiment_(United_States)" class="mw-redirect" title="3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment (United States)">3rd Cavalry</a>, five companies (A, B, D, E, and I) of the <a href="/enwiki/wiki/2nd_U.S._Cavalry" class="mw-redirect" title="2nd U.S. Cavalry">2nd Cavalry</a>, two companies (D and F) of the <a href="/enwiki/wiki/4th_Infantry_Regiment_(United_States)" title="4th Infantry Regiment (United States)">4th Infantry</a>, and three companies (C, G, and H) of the <a href="/enwiki/wiki/9th_Infantry_Regiment_(United_States)" title="9th Infantry Regiment (United States)">9th Infantry</a> moved north from <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Fort_Fetterman" title="Fort Fetterman">Fort Fetterman</a> in the <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Wyoming_Territory" title="Wyoming Territory">Wyoming Territory</a> on May 29, marching toward the <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Powder_River_(Montana)" class="mw-redirect" title="Powder River (Montana)">Powder River</a> area. Brig. Gen. <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Alfred_Terry" title="Alfred Terry">Alfred Terry</a>'s column, including twelve companies (A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, K, L, and M) of the 7th Cavalry under Lt. Col. <a href="/enwiki/wiki/George_Armstrong_Custer" title="George Armstrong Custer">George Armstrong Custer</a>'s immediate command,<sup id="cite_ref-John_Gray_28-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-John_Gray-28">[28]</a></sup> Companies C and G of the 17th U.S. Infantry, and the <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Gatling_gun" title="Gatling gun">Gatling gun</a> detachment of the 20th Infantry departed westward from <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Fort_Abraham_Lincoln" title="Fort Abraham Lincoln">Fort Abraham Lincoln</a> in the <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Dakota_Territory" title="Dakota Territory">Dakota Territory</a> on May 17. They were accompanied by teamsters and packers with 150 wagons and a large contingent of pack mules that reinforced Custer. Companies C, D, and I of the <a href="/enwiki/wiki/6th_U.S._Infantry" class="mw-redirect" title="6th U.S. Infantry">6th U.S. Infantry</a> moved along the Yellowstone River from <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Fort_Buford" title="Fort Buford">Fort Buford</a> on the <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Missouri_River" title="Missouri River">Missouri River</a> to set up a supply depot and joined Terry on May 29 at the mouth of the Powder River. They were later joined there by the steamboat <i><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Far_West_(Steamboat)" class="mw-redirect" title="Far West (Steamboat)">Far West</a></i>, which was loaded with 200 tons of supplies from Fort Lincoln.<sup id="cite_ref-29" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-29">[29]</a></sup>
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<h4><span class="mw-headline" id="7th_Cavalry_organization">7th Cavalry organization</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn&action=edit&section=5" title="Edit section: 7th Cavalry organization">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h4>
<p>The 7th Cavalry had been created just after the American Civil War. Many men were veterans of the war, including most of the leading officers. A significant portion of the regiment had previously served 4½ years at <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Fort_Riley" title="Fort Riley">Fort Riley</a>, Kansas, during which time it fought one major engagement and numerous skirmishes, experiencing casualties of 36 killed and 27 wounded. Six other troopers had died of drowning and 51 in <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Cholera" title="Cholera">cholera</a> epidemics. In November 1868, while stationed in Kansas, the 7th Cavalry under Custer had successfully routed <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Black_Kettle" title="Black Kettle">Black Kettle</a>'s Southern Cheyenne camp on the <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Washita_River" title="Washita River">Washita River</a> in the <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Battle_of_Washita_River" title="Battle of Washita River">Battle of Washita River</a>, an attack which was at the time labeled a "massacre of innocent Indians" by the <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Indian_Bureau" class="mw-redirect" title="Indian Bureau">Indian Bureau</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-30" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-30">[30]</a></sup>
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<div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:222px;"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/File:S.J._Morrow,_Slim_Buttes.png" class="image"><img alt="" src="/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1f/S.J._Morrow%2C_Slim_Buttes.png/220px-S.J._Morrow%2C_Slim_Buttes.png" decoding="async" width="220" height="189" class="thumbimage" srcset="/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1f/S.J._Morrow%2C_Slim_Buttes.png/330px-S.J._Morrow%2C_Slim_Buttes.png 1.5x, /upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1f/S.J._Morrow%2C_Slim_Buttes.png/440px-S.J._Morrow%2C_Slim_Buttes.png 2x" data-file-width="548" data-file-height="471" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/File:S.J._Morrow,_Slim_Buttes.png" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>7th Cavalry Regiment Troop "I" <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Guidon_(United_States)" title="Guidon (United States)">guidon</a> recovered at the camp of <a href="/enwiki/wiki/American_Horse_(elder)" title="American Horse (elder)">American Horse the Elder</a></div></div></div>
<p>By the time of the Battle of the Little Bighorn, half of the 7th Cavalry's companies had just returned from 18 months of constabulary duty in the <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Deep_South" title="Deep South">Deep South</a>, having been recalled to <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Fort_Abraham_Lincoln" title="Fort Abraham Lincoln">Fort Abraham Lincoln</a>, <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Dakota_Territory" title="Dakota Territory">Dakota Territory</a> to reassemble the regiment for the campaign. About 20% of the troopers had been enlisted in the prior seven months (139 of an enlisted roll of 718), were only marginally trained and had no combat or frontier experience. About 60% of these recruits were <a href="/enwiki/wiki/United_States" title="United States">American</a>, the rest were <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Europe" title="Europe">European</a> immigrants (Most were <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Irish_people" title="Irish people">Irish</a> and <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Germans" title="Germans">German</a>)—just as many of the veteran troopers had been before their enlistments. Archaeological evidence suggests that many of these troopers were malnourished and in poor physical condition, despite being the best-equipped and supplied regiment in the Army.<sup id="cite_ref-31" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-31">[31]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-32" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-32">[32]</a></sup>
</p><p>Of the 45 officers and 718 troopers then assigned to the 7th Cavalry (including a second lieutenant detached from the 20th Infantry and serving in Company L), 14 officers (including the regimental commander) and 152 troopers did not accompany the 7th during the campaign. The regimental commander, Colonel <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Samuel_D._Sturgis" title="Samuel D. Sturgis">Samuel D. Sturgis</a>, was on detached duty as the Superintendent of Mounted Recruiting Service and commander of the Cavalry Depot in <a href="/enwiki/wiki/St._Louis,_Missouri" class="mw-redirect" title="St. Louis, Missouri">St. Louis, Missouri</a>,<sup id="cite_ref-33" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-33">[33]</a></sup> which left Lieutenant Colonel Custer in command of the regiment. The ratio of troops detached for other duty (approximately 22%) was not unusual for an expedition of this size,<sup id="cite_ref-dtch_34-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-dtch-34">[34]</a></sup> and part of the officer shortage was chronic, due to the Army's rigid seniority system: three of the regiment's 12 captains were permanently detached, and two had never served a day with the 7th since their appointment in July 1866.<sup id="cite_ref-35" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-35">[note 1]</a></sup> Three second lieutenant vacancies (in E, H, and L Companies) were also unfilled.
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<h4><span class="mw-headline" id="Battle_of_the_Rosebud">Battle of the Rosebud</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn&action=edit&section=6" title="Edit section: Battle of the Rosebud">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h4>
<p>The Army's coordination and planning began to go awry on June 17, 1876, when Crook's column retreated after the <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Battle_of_the_Rosebud" title="Battle of the Rosebud">Battle of the Rosebud</a>, just 30 miles (48 km) to the southeast of the eventual Little Bighorn battlefield. Surprised and according to some accounts astonished by the unusually large numbers of Native Americans, Crook held the field at the end of the battle but felt compelled by his losses to pull back, regroup, and wait for reinforcements. Unaware of Crook's battle, Gibbon and Terry proceeded, joining forces in early June near the mouth of <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Rosebud_Creek" title="Rosebud Creek">Rosebud Creek</a>. They reviewed Terry's plan calling for Custer's regiment to proceed south along the Rosebud while Terry and Gibbon's united forces would move in a westerly direction toward the <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Bighorn_River" title="Bighorn River">Bighorn</a> and <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Little_Bighorn_River" title="Little Bighorn River">Little Bighorn</a> rivers. As this was the likely location of Native encampments, all army elements had been instructed to converge there around June 26 or 27 in an attempt to engulf the Native Americans. On June 22, Terry ordered the 7th Cavalry, composed of 31 officers and 566 enlisted men under Custer, to begin a reconnaissance in force and pursuit along the Rosebud, with the prerogative to "depart" from orders if Custer saw "sufficient reason". Custer had been offered the use of <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Gatling_gun" title="Gatling gun">Gatling guns</a> but declined, believing they would slow his rate of march.<sup id="cite_ref-John_Gray_28-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-John_Gray-28">[28]</a></sup>
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<h4><span class="mw-headline" id="Little_Bighorn">Little Bighorn</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn&action=edit&section=7" title="Edit section: Little Bighorn">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h4>
<div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:222px;"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/File:Mitch_Boyer.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4e/Mitch_Boyer.jpg/220px-Mitch_Boyer.jpg" decoding="async" width="220" height="290" class="thumbimage" srcset="/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/4/4e/Mitch_Boyer.jpg 1.5x" data-file-width="250" data-file-height="330" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/File:Mitch_Boyer.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>Mitch Boyer was one of the scouts who warned Custer about the size of the Indian village (age at time of photo unknown)</div></div></div>
<p>While the Terry-Gibbon column was marching toward the mouth of the Little Bighorn, on the evening of June 24, Custer's Indian scouts arrived at an overlook known as the Crow's Nest, 14 miles (23 km) east of the Little Bighorn River. At sunrise on June 25, Custer's scouts reported they could see a massive pony herd and signs of the Native American village<sup id="cite_ref-37" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-37">[note 2]</a></sup> roughly 15 miles (24 km) in the distance. After a night's march, the tired officer who was sent with the scouts could see neither, and when Custer joined them, he was also unable to make the sighting. Custer's scouts also spotted the regimental cooking fires that could be seen from 10 mi (16 km) away, disclosing the regiment's position.<sup class="noprint Inline-Template Template-Fact" style="white-space:nowrap;">[<i><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed" title="Wikipedia:Citation needed"><span title="This claim needs references to reliable sources. (January 2013)">citation needed</span></a></i>]</sup>
</p><p>Custer contemplated a surprise attack against the encampment the following morning of June 26, but he then received a report informing him several hostiles had discovered the trail left by his troops.<sup id="cite_ref-38" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-38">[36]</a></sup> Assuming his presence had been exposed, Custer decided to attack the village without further delay. On the morning of June 25, Custer divided his 12 companies into three battalions in anticipation of the forthcoming engagement. Three companies were placed under the command of Major <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Marcus_Reno" title="Marcus Reno">Marcus Reno</a> (A, G, and M) and three were placed under the command of Captain <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Frederick_Benteen" title="Frederick Benteen">Frederick Benteen</a> (H, D, and K). Five companies (C, E, F, I, and L) remained under Custer's immediate command. The 12th, Company B under Captain <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Thomas_Mower_McDougall" title="Thomas Mower McDougall">Thomas McDougall</a>, had been assigned to escort the slower pack train carrying provisions and additional ammunition.<sup id="cite_ref-John_Gray_28-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-John_Gray-28">[28]</a></sup>
</p><p>Unknown to Custer, the group of Native Americans seen on his trail was actually leaving the encampment and did not alert the rest of the village. Custer's scouts warned him about the size of the village, with <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Mitch_Bouyer" title="Mitch Bouyer">Mitch Bouyer</a> reportedly saying, "General, I have been with these Indians for 30 years, and this is the largest village I have ever heard of."<sup id="cite_ref-40" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-40">[note 3]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-41" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-41">[38]</a></sup> Custer's overriding concern was that the Native American group would break up and scatter. The command began its approach to the village at noon and prepared to attack in full daylight.<sup id="cite_ref-42" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-42">[39]</a></sup>
</p><p>With an impending sense of doom, the Crow scout <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Half_Yellow_Face" title="Half Yellow Face">Half Yellow Face</a> prophetically warned Custer (speaking through the interpreter Mitch Bouyer), "You and I are going home today by a road we do not know."<sup id="cite_ref-Viola_43-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Viola-43">[40]</a></sup>
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<h2><span class="mw-headline" id="Prelude">Prelude</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn&action=edit&section=8" title="Edit section: Prelude">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2>
<h3><span class="mw-headline" id="Military_assumptions_prior_to_the_battle">Military assumptions prior to the battle</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn&action=edit&section=9" title="Edit section: Military assumptions prior to the battle">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h3>
<h4><span class="mw-headline" id="Number_of_Indian_warriors">Number of Indian warriors</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn&action=edit&section=10" title="Edit section: Number of Indian warriors">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h4>
<div class="thumb tleft"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:222px;"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/File:Little_Big_Horn.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4a/Little_Big_Horn.jpg/220px-Little_Big_Horn.jpg" decoding="async" width="220" height="246" class="thumbimage" srcset="/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4a/Little_Big_Horn.jpg/330px-Little_Big_Horn.jpg 1.5x, /upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4a/Little_Big_Horn.jpg/440px-Little_Big_Horn.jpg 2x" data-file-width="1433" data-file-height="1600" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/File:Little_Big_Horn.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>A Cheyenne artist's depiction of the Battle of the Little Bighorn</div></div></div>
<p>As the Army moved into the field on its expedition, it was operating with incorrect assumptions as to the number of Indians it would encounter. These assumptions were based on inaccurate information provided by the Indian Agents that no more than 800 "hostiles" were in the area. The Indian Agents based this estimate on the number of Lakota that Sitting Bull and other leaders had reportedly led off the reservation in protest of U.S. government policies. It was in fact a correct estimate until several weeks before the battle when the "reservation Indians" joined Sitting Bull's ranks for the Summer buffalo hunt. The agents did not consider the many thousands of these "reservation Indians" who had unofficially left the reservation to join their "unco-operative non-reservation cousins led by Sitting Bull". Thus, Custer unknowingly faced thousands of Indians, including the 800 non-reservation "hostiles". All Army plans were based on the incorrect numbers. Although Custer was criticized after the battle for not having accepted reinforcements and for dividing his forces, it appears that he had accepted the same official government estimates of hostiles in the area which Terry and Gibbon had also accepted. Historian James Donovan notes, however, that when Custer later asked interpreter <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Fred_Gerard" title="Fred Gerard">Fred Gerard</a> for his opinion on the size of the opposition, he estimated the force at between 1,500 to 2,500 warriors.<sup id="cite_ref-44" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-44">[41]</a></sup>
</p><p>Additionally, Custer was more concerned with preventing the escape of the Lakota and Cheyenne than with fighting them. From his observation, as reported by his <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Bugle" title="Bugle">bugler</a> John Martin (<a href="/enwiki/wiki/Giovanni_Martino" title="Giovanni Martino">Giovanni Martino</a>),<sup id="cite_ref-ReferenceA_45-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-ReferenceA-45">[42]</a></sup> Custer assumed the warriors had been sleeping in on the morning of the battle, to which virtually every native account attested later, giving Custer a false estimate of what he was up against. When he and his scouts first looked down on the village from the Crow's Nest across the Little Bighorn River, they could only see the herd of ponies. Later, looking from a hill <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1020198016">.mw-parser-output .frac{white-space:nowrap}.mw-parser-output .frac .num,.mw-parser-output .frac .den{font-size:80%;line-height:0;vertical-align:super}.mw-parser-output .frac .den{vertical-align:sub}.mw-parser-output .sr-only{border:0;clip:rect(0,0,0,0);height:1px;margin:-1px;overflow:hidden;padding:0;position:absolute;width:1px}</style><span class="frac" role="math">2<span class="sr-only">+</span><span class="num">1</span>⁄<span class="den">2</span></span> miles (4 km) away after parting with Reno's command, Custer could observe only women preparing for the day, and young boys taking thousands of horses out to graze south of the village. Custer's <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Crow_scouts" title="Crow scouts">Crow scouts</a> told him it was the largest native village they had ever seen. When the scouts began changing back into their native dress right before the battle, Custer released them from his command. While the village was enormous, Custer still thought there were far fewer warriors to defend the village.
</p><p>Finally, Custer may have assumed when he encountered the Native Americans that his subordinate Benteen, who was with the pack train, would provide support. Rifle volleys were a standard way of telling supporting units to come to another unit's aid. In a subsequent official 1879 Army investigation requested by Major Reno, the Reno Board of Inquiry (RCOI), Benteen and Reno's men testified that they heard distinct rifle volleys as late as 4:30 pm during the battle.<sup id="cite_ref-court_of_inquiry_46-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-court_of_inquiry-46">[43]</a></sup>
</p><p>Custer had initially wanted to take a day to scout the village before attacking; however, when men went back looking for supplies accidentally dropped by the pack train, they discovered that their track had already been discovered by Indians. Reports from his scouts also revealed fresh pony tracks from ridges overlooking his formation. It became apparent that the warriors in the village were either aware of or would soon be aware of his approach.<sup id="cite_ref-47" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-47">[44]</a></sup> Fearing that the village would break up into small bands that he would have to chase, Custer began to prepare for an immediate attack.<sup id="cite_ref-Donovan,_loc_3699_48-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Donovan,_loc_3699-48">[45]</a></sup>
</p>
<h4><span id="Role_of_Indian_noncombatants_in_Custer.27s_strategy"></span><span class="mw-headline" id="Role_of_Indian_noncombatants_in_Custer's_strategy">Role of Indian noncombatants in Custer's strategy</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn&action=edit&section=11" title="Edit section: Role of Indian noncombatants in Custer's strategy">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h4>
<p>Custer's field strategy was designed to engage non-combatants at the encampments on the Little Bighorn to capture women, children, and the elderly or disabled<sup id="cite_ref-Fox1993_49-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Fox1993-49">[46]</a></sup><sup class="reference" style="white-space:nowrap;">:<span title="Page / location: 297">297</span></sup> to serve as hostages to convince the warriors to surrender and comply with federal orders to relocate. Custer's battalions were poised to "ride into the camp and secure non-combatant hostages",<sup id="cite_ref-Donovan2008_50-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Donovan2008-50">[47]</a></sup> and "forc[e] the warriors to surrender".<sup id="cite_ref-Robinson1995_51-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Robinson1995-51">[48]</a></sup> Author Evan S. Connell observed that if Custer could occupy the village before widespread resistance developed, the Sioux and Cheyenne warriors "would be obliged to surrender, because if they started to fight, they would be endangering their families."<sup id="cite_ref-Fox1993_49-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Fox1993-49">[46]</a></sup><sup class="reference" style="white-space:nowrap;">:<span title="Page / location: 312">312</span></sup><sup id="cite_ref-Connell1997_52-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Connell1997-52">[49]</a></sup>
</p><p>In Custer's book <i>My Life on the Plains</i>, published two years before the Battle of the Little Bighorn, he asserted:
</p>
<style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r996844942">.mw-parser-output .templatequote{overflow:hidden;margin:1em 0;padding:0 40px}.mw-parser-output .templatequote .templatequotecite{line-height:1.5em;text-align:left;padding-left:1.6em;margin-top:0}</style><blockquote class="templatequote"><p>Indians contemplating a battle, either offensive or defensive, are always anxious to have their women and children removed from all danger ... For this reason I decided to locate our [military] camp as close as convenient to [Chief Black Kettle's Cheyenne] village, knowing that the close proximity of their women and children, and their necessary exposure in case of conflict, would operate as a powerful argument in favor of peace, when the question of peace or war came to be discussed.<sup id="cite_ref-Custer1874_53-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Custer1874-53">[50]</a></sup></p></blockquote>
<p>On Custer's decision to advance up the bluffs and descend on the village from the east, Lt. <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Edward_Settle_Godfrey" title="Edward Settle Godfrey">Edward Godfrey</a> of Company K surmised:
</p>
<link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r996844942"/><blockquote class="templatequote"><p>[Custer] expected to find the squaws and children fleeing to the bluffs on the north, for in no other way do I account for his wide detour. He must have counted upon Reno's success, and fully expected the "scatteration" of the non-combatants with the pony herds. The probable attack upon the families and capture of the herds were in that event counted upon to strike consternation in the hearts of the warriors and were elements for success upon which General Custer fully counted.<sup id="cite_ref-godfrey_54-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-godfrey-54">[51]</a></sup><sup class="reference" style="white-space:nowrap;">:<span title="Page / location: 379">379</span></sup></p></blockquote>
<p>The Sioux and Cheyenne fighters were acutely aware of the danger posed by the military engagement of non-combatants and that "even a semblance of an attack on the women and children" would draw the warriors back to the village, according to historian John S. Gray.<sup id="cite_ref-Gray,_John_S_1991_p._360_55-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Gray,_John_S_1991_p._360-55">[52]</a></sup> Such was their concern that an apparent reconnaissance by Capt. Yates' E and F Companies at the mouth of Medicine Tail Coulee (Minneconjou <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Ford_(crossing)" title="Ford (crossing)">Ford</a>) caused hundreds of warriors to disengage from the Reno valley fight and return to deal with the threat to the village.<sup id="cite_ref-Gray,_John_S_1991_p._360_55-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Gray,_John_S_1991_p._360-55">[52]</a></sup>
</p><p>Some authors and historians, based on archaeological evidence and reviews of native testimony, speculate that Custer attempted to cross the river at a point further north they refer to as Ford D. According to Richard A. Fox, James Donovan, and others, Custer proceeded with a wing of his battalion (Yates' E and F companies) north and opposite the Cheyenne circle at that crossing,<sup id="cite_ref-Fox1993_49-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Fox1993-49">[46]</a></sup><sup class="reference" style="white-space:nowrap;">:<span title="Page / location: 176–77">176–77</span></sup> which provided "access to the [women and children] fugitives."<sup id="cite_ref-Fox1993_49-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Fox1993-49">[46]</a></sup><sup class="reference" style="white-space:nowrap;">:<span title="Page / location: 306">306</span></sup> Yates's force "posed an immediate threat to fugitive Indian families..." gathering at the north end of the huge encampment;<sup id="cite_ref-Fox1993_49-4" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Fox1993-49">[46]</a></sup><sup class="reference" style="white-space:nowrap;">:<span title="Page / location: 299">299</span></sup> he then persisted in his efforts to "seize women and children" even as hundreds of warriors were massing around Keogh's wing on the bluffs.<sup id="cite_ref-56" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-56">[53]</a></sup> Yates' wing, descending to the Little Bighorn River at Ford D, encountered "light resistance",<sup id="cite_ref-Fox1993_49-5" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Fox1993-49">[46]</a></sup><sup class="reference" style="white-space:nowrap;">:<span title="Page / location: 297">297</span></sup> undetected by the Indian forces ascending the bluffs east of the village.<sup id="cite_ref-Fox1993_49-6" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Fox1993-49">[46]</a></sup><sup class="reference" style="white-space:nowrap;">:<span title="Page / location: 298">298</span></sup> Custer was almost within "striking distance of the refugees" before abandoning the ford and returning to Custer Ridge.<sup id="cite_ref-Bray2006_57-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Bray2006-57">[54]</a></sup>
</p>
<h3><span class="mw-headline" id="Lone_Teepee">Lone Teepee</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn&action=edit&section=12" title="Edit section: Lone Teepee">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h3>
<p>The <i>Lone Teepee</i> (or <i>Tipi</i>) was a landmark along the 7th Cavalry's march. It was where the Indian encampment had been a week earlier, during the <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Battle_of_the_Rosebud" title="Battle of the Rosebud">Battle of the Rosebud</a> on June 17, 1876. The Indians had left a single <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Teepee" class="mw-redirect" title="Teepee">teepee</a> standing (some reports mention a second that had been partially dismantled), and in it was the body of a <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Sans_Arc" title="Sans Arc">Sans Arc</a> warrior, Old She-Bear, who had been wounded in the battle. He had died a couple of days after the Rosebud battle, and it was the custom of the Indians to move camp when a warrior died and leave the body with its possessions. The Lone Teepee was an important location during the Battle of the Little Bighorn for several reasons, including:<sup id="cite_ref-58" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-58">[55]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-59" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-59">[56]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-60" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-60">[57]</a></sup>
</p>
<ul><li>It is where Custer gave Reno his final orders to attack the village ahead. It is also where some Indians who had been following the command were seen and Custer assumed he had been discovered.</li>
<li>Many of the survivors' accounts use the Lone Teepee as a point of reference for event times or distances.</li>
<li>Knowing this location helps establish the pattern of the Indians' movements to the encampment on the river where the soldiers found them.</li></ul>
<h2><span class="mw-headline" id="Battle">Battle</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn&action=edit&section=13" title="Edit section: Battle">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2>
<h3><span id="Reno.27s_attack"></span><span class="mw-headline" id="Reno's_attack">Reno's attack</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn&action=edit&section=14" title="Edit section: Reno's attack">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h3>
<div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:222px;"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/File:Custer.gif" class="image"><img alt="" src="/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4d/Custer.gif/220px-Custer.gif" decoding="async" width="220" height="273" class="thumbimage" srcset="/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4d/Custer.gif/330px-Custer.gif 1.5x, /upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4d/Custer.gif/440px-Custer.gif 2x" data-file-width="676" data-file-height="838" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/File:Custer.gif" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>Movements of the 7th Cavalry<br />A: Custer B: Reno C: Benteen D: Yates E: Weir</div></div></div>
<div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:222px;"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/File:Www-cgsc.army.mil_MAP20_Renos_Attack.GIF" class="image"><img alt="" src="/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e7/Www-cgsc.army.mil_MAP20_Renos_Attack.GIF/220px-Www-cgsc.army.mil_MAP20_Renos_Attack.GIF" decoding="async" width="220" height="165" class="thumbimage" srcset="/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e7/Www-cgsc.army.mil_MAP20_Renos_Attack.GIF/330px-Www-cgsc.army.mil_MAP20_Renos_Attack.GIF 1.5x, /upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e7/Www-cgsc.army.mil_MAP20_Renos_Attack.GIF/440px-Www-cgsc.army.mil_MAP20_Renos_Attack.GIF 2x" data-file-width="2950" data-file-height="2210" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/File:Www-cgsc.army.mil_MAP20_Renos_Attack.GIF" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>Movement of Major Reno's three companies</div></div></div>
<p>The first group to attack was Major Reno's second detachment (Companies A, G and M) after receiving orders from Custer written out by Lt. <a href="/enwiki/wiki/William_W._Cooke" title="William W. Cooke">William W. Cooke</a>, as Custer's Crow scouts reported Sioux tribe members were alerting the village. Ordered to charge, Reno began that phase of the battle. The orders, made without accurate knowledge of the village's size, location, or the warriors' propensity to stand and fight, had been to pursue the Native Americans and "bring them to battle." Reno's force crossed the Little Bighorn at the mouth of what is today Reno Creek around 3:00 pm on June 25. They immediately realized that the Lakota and Northern Cheyenne were present "in force and not running away."
</p><p>Reno advanced rapidly across the open field towards the northwest, his movements masked by the thick bramble of trees that ran along the southern banks of the Little Bighorn River. The same trees on his front right shielded his movements across the wide field over which his men rapidly rode, first with two approximately forty-man companies abreast and eventually with all three charging abreast. The trees also obscured Reno's view of the Native American village until his force had passed that bend on his right front and was suddenly within arrow-shot of the village. The tepees in that area were occupied by the Hunkpapa Sioux. Neither Custer nor Reno had much idea of the length, depth and size of the encampment they were attacking, as the village was hidden by the trees.<sup class="noprint Inline-Template Template-Fact" style="white-space:nowrap;">[<i><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed" title="Wikipedia:Citation needed"><span title="This claim needs references to reliable sources. (January 2013)">citation needed</span></a></i>]</sup> When Reno came into the open in front of the south end of the village, he sent his Arikara/Ree and Crow Indian scouts forward on his exposed left flank.<sup id="cite_ref-61" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-61">[58]</a></sup> Realizing the full extent of the village's width, Reno quickly suspected what he would later call "a trap" and stopped a few hundred yards short of the encampment.
</p><p>He ordered his troopers to dismount and deploy in a <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Skirmish_line" class="mw-redirect" title="Skirmish line">skirmish line</a>, according to standard army doctrine. In this formation, every fourth trooper held the horses for the troopers in firing position, with 5 to 10 yards (5 to 9 m) separating each trooper, officers to their rear and troopers with horses behind the officers. This formation reduced Reno's firepower by 25 percent. As Reno's men fired into the village and killed, by some accounts, several wives and children of the Sioux leader, <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Gall_(Native_American_leader)" title="Gall (Native American leader)">Chief Gall</a> (in Lakota, <i>Phizí</i>), the mounted warriors began streaming out to meet the attack. With Reno's men anchored on their right by the protection of the tree line and bend in the river, the Indians rode against the center and exposed left end of Reno's line. After about 20 minutes of long-distance firing, Reno had taken only one casualty, but the odds against him had risen (Reno estimated five to one), and Custer had not reinforced him. Trooper <a href="/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Billy_Jackson_(soldier)&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Billy Jackson (soldier) (page does not exist)">Billy Jackson</a> reported that by then, the Indians had begun massing in the open area shielded by a small hill to the left of Reno's line and to the right of the Indian village.<sup id="cite_ref-62" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-62">[59]</a></sup> From this position the Indians mounted an attack of more than 500 warriors against the left and rear of Reno's line,<sup id="cite_ref-63" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-63">[60]</a></sup> turning Reno's exposed left flank. This forced a hasty withdrawal into the timber along the bend in the river.<sup id="cite_ref-64" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-64">[61]</a></sup> Here the Native Americans pinned Reno and his men down and tried to set fire to the brush to try to drive the soldiers out of their position.
</p><p>Reno's Arikara scout, <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Bloody_Knife" title="Bloody Knife">Bloody Knife</a>, was shot in the head, splattering brains and blood onto Reno's face.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTENevin1973214_65-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTENevin1973214-65">[62]</a></sup> The shaken Reno ordered his men to dismount and mount again.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTENevin1973214_65-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTENevin1973214-65">[62]</a></sup> He then said, "All those who wish to make their escape follow me."<sup class="noprint Inline-Template Template-Fact" style="white-space:nowrap;">[<i><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed" title="Wikipedia:Citation needed"><span title="This claim needs references to reliable sources. (June 2021)">citation needed</span></a></i>]</sup> Abandoning the wounded (dooming them to their deaths), he led a disorderly rout for a mile next to the river.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTENevin1973214_65-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTENevin1973214-65">[62]</a></sup> He made no attempt to engage the Indians to prevent them from picking off men in the rear.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTENevin1973214_65-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTENevin1973214-65">[62]</a></sup> The retreat was immediately disrupted by Cheyenne attacks at close quarters. A steep bank, some 8 feet (2.4 m) high, awaited the mounted men as they crossed the river; some horses fell back onto others below them.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTENevin1973214_65-4" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTENevin1973214-65">[62]</a></sup> Indians both fired on the soldiers from a distance, and within close quarters, pulled them off their horses and clubbed their heads.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTENevin1973214_65-5" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTENevin1973214-65">[62]</a></sup> Later, Reno reported that three officers and 29 troopers had been killed during the retreat and subsequent fording of the river. Another officer and 13–18 men were missing. Most of these missing men were left behind in the timber, although many eventually rejoined the detachment.
</p>
<h4><span class="mw-headline" id="Reno_and_Benteen_on_Reno_Hill">Reno and Benteen on Reno Hill</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn&action=edit&section=15" title="Edit section: Reno and Benteen on Reno Hill">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h4>
<div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:222px;"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/File:Bloody_Knife,_Custer%27s_scout,_on_Yellowstone_Expedition,_1873_-_NARA_-_524373.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5e/Bloody_Knife%2C_Custer%27s_scout%2C_on_Yellowstone_Expedition%2C_1873_-_NARA_-_524373.jpg/220px-Bloody_Knife%2C_Custer%27s_scout%2C_on_Yellowstone_Expedition%2C_1873_-_NARA_-_524373.jpg" decoding="async" width="220" height="251" class="thumbimage" srcset="/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5e/Bloody_Knife%2C_Custer%27s_scout%2C_on_Yellowstone_Expedition%2C_1873_-_NARA_-_524373.jpg/330px-Bloody_Knife%2C_Custer%27s_scout%2C_on_Yellowstone_Expedition%2C_1873_-_NARA_-_524373.jpg 1.5x, /upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5e/Bloody_Knife%2C_Custer%27s_scout%2C_on_Yellowstone_Expedition%2C_1873_-_NARA_-_524373.jpg/440px-Bloody_Knife%2C_Custer%27s_scout%2C_on_Yellowstone_Expedition%2C_1873_-_NARA_-_524373.jpg 2x" data-file-width="2631" data-file-height="3000" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/File:Bloody_Knife,_Custer%27s_scout,_on_Yellowstone_Expedition,_1873_-_NARA_-_524373.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Bloody_Knife" title="Bloody Knife">Bloody Knife</a></div></div></div>
<p>Atop the bluffs, known today as Reno Hill, Reno's depleted and shaken troops were joined about a half-hour later by Captain Benteen's column<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTENevin1973216_66-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTENevin1973216-66">[63]</a></sup> (Companies D, H and K), arriving from the south. This force had been returning from a lateral scouting mission when it had been summoned by Custer's messenger, Italian bugler John Martin (Giovanni Martino) with the handwritten message "Benteen. Come on, Big Village, Be quick, Bring packs. P.S. Bring Packs."<sup id="cite_ref-court_of_inquiry_46-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-court_of_inquiry-46">[43]</a></sup> This message made no sense to Benteen, as his men would be needed more in a fight than the packs carried by herd animals.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTENevin1973216_66-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTENevin1973216-66">[63]</a></sup> Though both men inferred that Custer was engaged in battle, Reno refused to move until the packs arrived so his men could resupply.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTENevin1973216_66-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTENevin1973216-66">[63]</a></sup> The detachments were later reinforced by McDougall's Company B and the pack train. The 14 officers and 340 troopers on the bluffs organized an all-around defense and dug rifle pits using whatever implements they had among them, including knives. This practice had become standard during the last year of the <a href="/enwiki/wiki/American_Civil_War" title="American Civil War">American Civil War</a>, with both Union and Confederate troops utilizing knives, eating utensils, mess plates and pans to dig effective battlefield fortifications.<sup id="cite_ref-67" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-67">[64]</a></sup>
</p>
<div class="thumb tleft"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:222px;"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/File:Www-cgsc.army.mil_MAP21_Defense_of_Reno-Benteen_Hill.GIF" class="image"><img alt="" src="/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d9/Www-cgsc.army.mil_MAP21_Defense_of_Reno-Benteen_Hill.GIF/220px-Www-cgsc.army.mil_MAP21_Defense_of_Reno-Benteen_Hill.GIF" decoding="async" width="220" height="167" class="thumbimage" srcset="/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d9/Www-cgsc.army.mil_MAP21_Defense_of_Reno-Benteen_Hill.GIF/330px-Www-cgsc.army.mil_MAP21_Defense_of_Reno-Benteen_Hill.GIF 1.5x, /upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d9/Www-cgsc.army.mil_MAP21_Defense_of_Reno-Benteen_Hill.GIF/440px-Www-cgsc.army.mil_MAP21_Defense_of_Reno-Benteen_Hill.GIF 2x" data-file-width="2920" data-file-height="2222" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/File:Www-cgsc.army.mil_MAP21_Defense_of_Reno-Benteen_Hill.GIF" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>Reno–Benteen defensive position</div></div></div>
<p>Despite hearing heavy gunfire from the north, including distinct volleys at 4:20 pm, Benteen concentrated on reinforcing Reno's badly wounded and hard-pressed detachment rather than continuing on toward Custer's position. Benteen's apparent reluctance to reach Custer prompted later criticism that he had failed to follow orders. Around 5:00 pm, Capt. <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Thomas_Weir_(American_soldier)" title="Thomas Weir (American soldier)">Thomas Weir</a> and Company D moved out to contact Custer.<sup id="cite_ref-court_of_inquiry_46-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-court_of_inquiry-46">[43]</a></sup> They advanced a mile, to what is today Weir Ridge or Weir Point. Weir could see that the Indian camps comprised some 1,800 lodges.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTENevin1973216_66-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTENevin1973216-66">[63]</a></sup> Behind them he saw through the dust and smoke hills that were oddly red in color; he later learned that this was a massive assemblage of Indian ponies.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTENevin1973216_66-4" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTENevin1973216-66">[63]</a></sup> By this time, roughly 5:25 pm,<sup class="noprint Inline-Template Template-Fact" style="white-space:nowrap;">[<i><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed" title="Wikipedia:Citation needed"><span title="This claim needs references to reliable sources. (June 2021)">citation needed</span></a></i>]</sup> Custer's battle may have concluded. From a distance, Weir witnessed many Indians on horseback and on foot shooting at items on the ground-perhaps killing wounded soldiers and firing at dead bodies on the "Last Stand Hill" at the northern end of the Custer battlefield. Some historians have suggested that what Weir witnessed was a fight on what is now called Calhoun Hill, some minutes earlier.<sup class="noprint Inline-Template Template-Fact" style="white-space:nowrap;">[<i><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed" title="Wikipedia:Citation needed"><span title="This claim needs references to reliable sources. (June 2021)">citation needed</span></a></i>]</sup> The destruction of Keogh's battalion may have begun with the collapse of L, I and C Company (half of it) following the combined assaults led by <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Crazy_Horse" title="Crazy Horse">Crazy Horse</a>, <a href="/enwiki/wiki/White_Bull_(Native_American)" class="mw-redirect" title="White Bull (Native American)">White Bull</a>, Hump, <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Gall_(Native_American_leader)" title="Gall (Native American leader)">Chief Gall</a> and others.<sup id="cite_ref-michno1997_68-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-michno1997-68">[65]</a></sup><sup class="reference" style="white-space:nowrap;">:<span title="Page / location: 240">240</span></sup> Other native accounts contradict this understanding, however, and the time element remains a subject of debate. The other entrenched companies eventually left Reno Hill and followed Weir by assigned battalions—first Benteen, then Reno, and finally the pack train. The men on Weir Ridge were attacked by natives,<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTENevin1973216_66-5" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTENevin1973216-66">[63]</a></sup> increasingly coming from the apparently concluded Custer engagement, forcing all seven companies to return to the bluff before the pack train had moved even a quarter mile (<link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1020198016"/>400 m). The companies remained pinned down on the bluff, fending off the Indians for three hours until night fell.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTENevin1973216_66-6" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTENevin1973216-66">[63]</a></sup> The soldiers dug crude trenches as the Indians performed their war dance.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTENevin1973216_66-7" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTENevin1973216-66">[63]</a></sup>
</p><p>Benteen was hit in the heel of his boot by an Indian bullet. At one point, he led a counterattack to push back Indians who had continued to crawl through the grass closer to the soldier's positions.<sup class="noprint Inline-Template Template-Fact" style="white-space:nowrap;">[<i><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed" title="Wikipedia:Citation needed"><span title="This claim needs references to reliable sources. (November 2020)">citation needed</span></a></i>]</sup>
</p>
<h3><span id="Custer.27s_fight"></span><span class="mw-headline" id="Custer's_fight">Custer's fight</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn&action=edit&section=16" title="Edit section: Custer's fight">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h3>
<table class="infobox" style="width: 210px; float: right; clear: right; margin:0 0 1.5em 1.5em"><tbody><tr><th colspan="2" class="infobox-above" style="font-size:115%">External video</th></tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="infobox-image"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/File:Chief_Gall_ca1880s.jpg" class="image"><img alt="Chief Gall ca1880s.jpg" src="/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8a/Chief_Gall_ca1880s.jpg/210px-Chief_Gall_ca1880s.jpg" decoding="async" width="210" height="317" srcset="/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8a/Chief_Gall_ca1880s.jpg/315px-Chief_Gall_ca1880s.jpg 1.5x, /upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8a/Chief_Gall_ca1880s.jpg/420px-Chief_Gall_ca1880s.jpg 2x" data-file-width="2639" data-file-height="3983" /></a> <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Gall_(Native_American_leader)" title="Gall (Native American leader)">Gall</a></td></tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="infobox-full-data" style="text-align: left"><img alt="video icon" src="/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1b/Nuvola_apps_kaboodle.svg/16px-Nuvola_apps_kaboodle.svg.png" decoding="async" width="16" height="16" srcset="/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1b/Nuvola_apps_kaboodle.svg/24px-Nuvola_apps_kaboodle.svg.png 1.5x, /upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1b/Nuvola_apps_kaboodle.svg/32px-Nuvola_apps_kaboodle.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="128" data-file-height="128" /> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2UzKRUgzJ0">C-SPAN Cities Tour – Billings: Battle of the Little Bighorn</a>, 38:44, <a href="/enwiki/wiki/C-SPAN" title="C-SPAN">C-SPAN</a><sup id="cite_ref-cspan_69-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-cspan-69">[66]</a></sup> Park Ranger Steve Adelson describes the battle on-site</td></tr></tbody></table>
<p>The precise details of Custer's fight and his movements before and during the battle are largely conjectural since none of the men who went forward with Custer's battalion (the five companies under his immediate command) survived the battle. Later accounts from surviving Indians are useful but are sometimes conflicting and unclear.
</p><p>While the gunfire heard on the bluffs by Reno and Benteen's men during the afternoon of June 25 was probably from Custer's fight, the soldiers on Reno Hill were unaware of what had happened to Custer until General Terry's arrival two days later on June 27. They were reportedly stunned by the news. When the army examined the Custer battle site, soldiers could not determine fully what had transpired. Custer's force of roughly 210 men had been engaged by the Lakota and Northern Cheyenne about 3.5 miles (5.6 km) to the north of Reno and Benteen's defensive position. Evidence of organized resistance included an apparent skirmish line on Calhoun Hill and apparent <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Breastworks" class="mw-redirect" title="Breastworks">breastworks</a> made of dead horses on Custer Hill.<sup id="cite_ref-michno1997_68-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-michno1997-68">[65]</a></sup> By the time troops came to recover the bodies, the Lakota and Cheyenne had already removed most of their own dead from the field. The troops found most of Custer's dead men stripped of their clothing, ritually mutilated, and in a state of decomposition, making identification of many impossible.<sup id="cite_ref-Brininstool,_60–62_70-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Brininstool,_60–62-70">[67]</a></sup> The soldiers identified the 7th Cavalry's dead as best as possible and hastily buried them where they fell.
</p><p>Custer's body was found with two gunshot wounds, one to his left chest and the other to his left temple. Either wound would have been fatal, though he appeared to have bled from only the chest wound; some scholars believe his head wound may have been delivered postmortem. Some Lakota oral histories assert that Custer, having sustained a wound, committed suicide to avoid capture and subsequent torture. This would be inconsistent with his known right-handedness, but that does not rule out assisted suicide (other native accounts note several soldiers committing suicide near the end of the battle).<sup id="cite_ref-71" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-71">[68]</a></sup> Custer's body was found near the top of Custer Hill, which also came to be known as "Last Stand Hill". There the United States erected a tall memorial obelisk inscribed with the names of the 7th Cavalry's casualties.<sup id="cite_ref-Brininstool,_60–62_70-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Brininstool,_60–62-70">[67]</a></sup>
</p><p>Several days after the battle, <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Curly_(scout)" title="Curly (scout)">Curley</a>, Custer's Crow scout who had left Custer near Medicine Tail Coulee (a drainage which led to the river), recounted the battle, reporting that Custer had attacked the village after attempting to cross the river. He was driven back, retreating toward the hill where his body was found.<sup id="cite_ref-72" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-72">[69]</a></sup> As the scenario seemed compatible with Custer's aggressive style of warfare and with evidence found on the ground, it became the basis of many popular accounts of the battle.
</p><p>According to <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Pretty_Shield" title="Pretty Shield">Pretty Shield</a>, the wife of Goes-Ahead (another Crow scout for the 7th Cavalry), Custer was killed while crossing the river: "...<span class="nowrap"> </span>and he died there, died in the water of the Little Bighorn, with Two-bodies, and the blue soldier carrying his flag".<sup id="cite_ref-linderman_73-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-linderman-73">[70]</a></sup><sup class="reference" style="white-space:nowrap;">:<span title="Page / location: 136">136</span></sup> In this account, Custer was allegedly killed by a Lakota called Big-nose.<sup id="cite_ref-linderman_73-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-linderman-73">[70]</a></sup><sup class="reference" style="white-space:nowrap;">:<span title="Page / location: 141">141</span></sup> However, in Chief Gall's version of events, as recounted to Lt. <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Edward_Settle_Godfrey" title="Edward Settle Godfrey">Edward Settle Godfrey</a>, Custer did not attempt to ford the river and the nearest that he came to the river or village was his final position on the ridge.<sup id="cite_ref-godfrey_54-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-godfrey-54">[51]</a></sup><sup class="reference" style="white-space:nowrap;">:<span title="Page / location: 380">380</span></sup> Chief Gall's statements were corroborated by other Indians, notably the wife of Spotted Horn Bull.<sup id="cite_ref-godfrey_54-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-godfrey-54">[51]</a></sup><sup class="reference" style="white-space:nowrap;">:<span title="Page / location: 379">379</span></sup> Given that no bodies of men or horses were found anywhere near the ford, Godfrey himself concluded "that Custer did not go to the ford with any body of men".<sup id="cite_ref-godfrey_54-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-godfrey-54">[51]</a></sup><sup class="reference" style="white-space:nowrap;">:<span title="Page / location: 380">380</span></sup>
</p><p>Cheyenne oral tradition credits <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Buffalo_Calf_Road_Woman" title="Buffalo Calf Road Woman">Buffalo Calf Road Woman</a> with striking the blow that knocked Custer off his horse before he died.<sup id="cite_ref-helenair.com_74-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-helenair.com-74">[71]</a></sup>
</p>
<h4><span class="mw-headline" id="Custer_at_Minneconjou_Ford">Custer at Minneconjou Ford</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn&action=edit&section=17" title="Edit section: Custer at Minneconjou Ford">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h4>
<div class="thumb tleft"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:222px;"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/File:William_W._Cooke%27s_%22Come_quick%22_message_to_Frederick_Benteen,_Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn,_June_25,_1976.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0a/William_W._Cooke%27s_%22Come_quick%22_message_to_Frederick_Benteen%2C_Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn%2C_June_25%2C_1976.jpg/220px-William_W._Cooke%27s_%22Come_quick%22_message_to_Frederick_Benteen%2C_Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn%2C_June_25%2C_1976.jpg" decoding="async" width="220" height="328" class="thumbimage" srcset="/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0a/William_W._Cooke%27s_%22Come_quick%22_message_to_Frederick_Benteen%2C_Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn%2C_June_25%2C_1976.jpg/330px-William_W._Cooke%27s_%22Come_quick%22_message_to_Frederick_Benteen%2C_Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn%2C_June_25%2C_1976.jpg 1.5x, /upwiki/wikipedia/commons/0/0a/William_W._Cooke%27s_%22Come_quick%22_message_to_Frederick_Benteen%2C_Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn%2C_June_25%2C_1976.jpg 2x" data-file-width="350" data-file-height="522" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/File:William_W._Cooke%27s_%22Come_quick%22_message_to_Frederick_Benteen,_Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn,_June_25,_1976.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>Lt. Adjutant William W. Cooke's message conveying Custer's orders to Frederick Benteen, June 25, 1876. Benteen's transcription is at upper right.</div></div></div>
<style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1038770936">.mw-parser-output .quotebox{background-color:#F9F9F9;border:1px solid #aaa;box-sizing:border-box;padding:10px;font-size:88%;max-width:100%}.mw-parser-output .quotebox.floatleft{margin:.5em 1.4em .8em 0}.mw-parser-output .quotebox.floatright{margin:.5em 0 .8em 1.4em}.mw-parser-output .quotebox.centered{overflow:hidden;position:relative;margin:.5em auto .8em auto}.mw-parser-output .quotebox.floatleft span,.mw-parser-output .quotebox.floatright span{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output .quotebox>blockquote{margin:0;padding:0;border-left:0;font-family:inherit;font-size:inherit}.mw-parser-output .quotebox-title{background-color:#F9F9F9;text-align:center;font-size:larger;font-weight:bold}.mw-parser-output .quotebox-quote>:first-child{margin-top:0}.mw-parser-output .quotebox-quote:last-child>:last-child{margin-bottom:0}.mw-parser-output .quotebox-quote.quoted:before{font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;font-weight:bold;font-size:large;color:gray;content:" “ ";vertical-align:-45%;line-height:0}.mw-parser-output .quotebox-quote.quoted:after{font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;font-weight:bold;font-size:large;color:gray;content:" ” ";line-height:0}.mw-parser-output .quotebox .left-aligned{text-align:left}.mw-parser-output .quotebox .right-aligned{text-align:right}.mw-parser-output .quotebox .center-aligned{text-align:center}.mw-parser-output .quotebox .quote-title,.mw-parser-output .quotebox .quotebox-quote{display:block}.mw-parser-output .quotebox cite{display:block;font-style:normal}@media screen and (max-width:640px){.mw-parser-output .quotebox{width:100%!important;margin:0 0 .8em!important;float:none!important}}</style><div class="quotebox pullquote floatright" style="width:23em; ;">
<blockquote class="quotebox-quote left-aligned" style="">
<p><i>Hurrah boys, we've got them! We'll finish them up and then go home to our station</i>.
</p>
</blockquote>
<p><cite class="left-aligned" style="">— Reported words of Lieutenant Colonel Custer at the battle's outset.<sup id="cite_ref-75" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-75">[72]</a></sup></cite>
</p>
</div>
<p>Having isolated Reno's force and driven them away from their encampment, the bulk of the native warriors were free to pursue Custer. The route taken by Custer to his "Last Stand" remains a subject of debate. One possibility is that after ordering Reno to charge, Custer continued down Reno Creek to within about a half-mile (800 m) of the Little Bighorn, but then turned north and climbed up the bluffs, reaching the same spot to which Reno would soon retreat. From this point on the other side of the river, he could see Reno charging the village. Riding north along the bluffs, Custer could have descended into Medicine Tail Coulee. Some historians believe that part of Custer's force descended the coulee, going west to the river and attempting unsuccessfully to cross into the village. According to some accounts, a small contingent of Indian sharpshooters effectively opposed this crossing.
</p><p>White Cow Bull claimed to have shot a leader wearing a buckskin jacket off his horse in the river. While no other Indian account supports this claim, if White Bull did shoot a buckskin-clad leader off his horse, some historians have argued that Custer may have been seriously wounded by him. Some Indian accounts claim that besides wounding one of the leaders of this advance, a soldier carrying a company <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Guidon_(United_States)" title="Guidon (United States)">guidon</a> was also hit.<sup id="cite_ref-76" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-76">[73]</a></sup> Troopers had to dismount to help the wounded men back onto their horses.<sup id="cite_ref-michno1997_68-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-michno1997-68">[65]</a></sup><sup class="reference" style="white-space:nowrap;">:<span title="Page / location: 117–19">117–19</span></sup> The fact that either of the non-mutilation wounds to Custer's body (a bullet wound below the heart and a shot to the left temple) would have been instantly fatal casts doubt on his being wounded and remounted.<sup id="cite_ref-77" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-77">[74]</a></sup>
</p><p>Reports of an attempted fording of the river at Medicine Tail Coulee might explain Custer's purpose for Reno's attack, that is, a coordinated "hammer-and-anvil" maneuver, with Reno's holding the Indians at bay at the southern end of the camp, while Custer drove them against Reno's line from the north. Other historians have noted that if Custer did attempt to cross the river near Medicine Tail Coulee, he may have believed it was the north end of the Indian camp, only to discover that it was the middle. Some Indian accounts, however, place the Northern Cheyenne encampment and the north end of the overall village to the left (and south) of the opposite side of the crossing.<sup id="cite_ref-michno1997_68-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-michno1997-68">[65]</a></sup><sup class="reference" style="white-space:nowrap;">:<span title="Page / location: 10–20">10–20</span></sup> The precise location of the north end of the village remains in dispute, however.
</p>
<div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:292px;"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/File:Custer%27s_route_over_Little_Bighorn_battlefield.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5f/Custer%27s_route_over_Little_Bighorn_battlefield.jpg/290px-Custer%27s_route_over_Little_Bighorn_battlefield.jpg" decoding="async" width="290" height="197" class="thumbimage" srcset="/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5f/Custer%27s_route_over_Little_Bighorn_battlefield.jpg/435px-Custer%27s_route_over_Little_Bighorn_battlefield.jpg 1.5x, /upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5f/Custer%27s_route_over_Little_Bighorn_battlefield.jpg/580px-Custer%27s_route_over_Little_Bighorn_battlefield.jpg 2x" data-file-width="1024" data-file-height="696" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/File:Custer%27s_route_over_Little_Bighorn_battlefield.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>Custer's route over battlefield, as theorized by <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Edward_S._Curtis" title="Edward S. Curtis">Curtis</a>. (Credit: <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Northwestern_University_Library" title="Northwestern University Library">Northwestern University Library</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://digital.library.northwestern.edu/curtis/"><i>Edward S. Curtis's The North American Indian,</i> 2003</a>).</div></div></div>
<div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:292px;"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/File:Custer_Battlefield_1908_(bottom).jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/46/Custer_Battlefield_1908_%28bottom%29.jpg/290px-Custer_Battlefield_1908_%28bottom%29.jpg" decoding="async" width="290" height="218" class="thumbimage" srcset="/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/46/Custer_Battlefield_1908_%28bottom%29.jpg/435px-Custer_Battlefield_1908_%28bottom%29.jpg 1.5x, /upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/46/Custer_Battlefield_1908_%28bottom%29.jpg/580px-Custer_Battlefield_1908_%28bottom%29.jpg 2x" data-file-width="4032" data-file-height="3024" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/File:Custer_Battlefield_1908_(bottom).jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>1:5260 of Custer battlefield – surveyed 1891, detailing U.S. soldiers' body locations</div></div></div>
<p>In 1908, <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Edward_S._Curtis" title="Edward S. Curtis">Edward Curtis</a>, the famed ethnologist and photographer of the Native American Indians, made a detailed personal study of the battle, interviewing many of those who had fought or taken part in it. First, he went over the ground covered by the troops with the three Crow scouts <a href="/enwiki/wiki/White_Man_Runs_Him" title="White Man Runs Him">White Man Runs Him</a>, <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Goes_Ahead" title="Goes Ahead">Goes Ahead</a>, and <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Hairy_Moccasin" title="Hairy Moccasin">Hairy Moccasin</a>, and then again with <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Two_Moons" title="Two Moons">Two Moons</a> and a party of Cheyenne warriors. He also visited the Lakota country and interviewed <a href="/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Red_Hawk_(chief)&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Red Hawk (chief) (page does not exist)">Red Hawk</a>, "whose recollection of the fight seemed to be particularly clear".<sup id="cite_ref-curtis_78-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-curtis-78">[75]</a></sup><sup class="reference" style="white-space:nowrap;">:<span title="Page / location: 44">44</span></sup> Then, he went over the battlefield once more with the three Crow scouts, but also accompanied by General <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Charles_Woodruff_(general)" title="Charles Woodruff (general)">Charles Woodruff</a> "as I particularly desired that the testimony of these men might be considered by an experienced army officer". Finally, Curtis visited the country of the <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Arikara_people" class="mw-redirect" title="Arikara people">Arikara</a> and interviewed the scouts of that tribe who had been with Custer's command.<sup id="cite_ref-curtis_78-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-curtis-78">[75]</a></sup><sup class="reference" style="white-space:nowrap;">:<span title="Page / location: 44">44</span></sup> Based on all the information he gathered, Curtis concluded that Custer had indeed ridden down the Medicine Tail Coulee and then towards the river where he probably planned to ford it. However, "the Indians had now discovered him and were gathered closely on the opposite side".<sup id="cite_ref-curtis_78-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-curtis-78">[75]</a></sup><sup class="reference" style="white-space:nowrap;">:<span title="Page / location: 48">48</span></sup> They were soon joined by a large force of Sioux who (no longer engaging Reno) rushed down the valley. This was the beginning of their attack on Custer who was forced to turn and head for the hill where he would make his famous "last stand". Thus, wrote Curtis, "Custer made no attack, the whole movement being a retreat".<sup id="cite_ref-curtis_78-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-curtis-78">[75]</a></sup><sup class="reference" style="white-space:nowrap;">:<span title="Page / location: 49">49</span></sup>
</p>
<h4><span id="Other_views_of_Custer.27s_actions_at_Minneconjou_Ford"></span><span class="mw-headline" id="Other_views_of_Custer's_actions_at_Minneconjou_Ford">Other views of Custer's actions at Minneconjou Ford</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn&action=edit&section=18" title="Edit section: Other views of Custer's actions at Minneconjou Ford">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h4>
<table class="box-More_citations_needed_section plainlinks metadata ambox ambox-content ambox-Refimprove" role="presentation"><tbody><tr><td class="mbox-image"><div style="width:52px"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/File:Question_book-new.svg" class="image"><img alt="" src="/upwiki/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/99/Question_book-new.svg/50px-Question_book-new.svg.png" decoding="async" width="50" height="39" srcset="/upwiki/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/99/Question_book-new.svg/75px-Question_book-new.svg.png 1.5x, /upwiki/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/99/Question_book-new.svg/100px-Question_book-new.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="512" data-file-height="399" /></a></div></td><td class="mbox-text"><div class="mbox-text-span">This section <b>needs additional citations for <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Wikipedia:Verifiability" title="Wikipedia:Verifiability">verification</a></b>.<span class="hide-when-compact"> Please help <a class="external text" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn&action=edit">improve this article</a> by <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Help:Referencing_for_beginners" title="Help:Referencing for beginners">adding citations to reliable sources</a>. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.</span> <span class="date-container"><i>(<span class="date">December 2013</span>)</i></span><span class="hide-when-compact"><i> (<a href="/enwiki/wiki/Help:Maintenance_template_removal" title="Help:Maintenance template removal">Learn how and when to remove this template message</a>)</i></span></div></td></tr></tbody></table>
<p>Other historians claim that Custer never approached the river, but rather continued north across the coulee and up the other side, where he gradually came under attack. According to this theory, by the time Custer realized he was badly outnumbered, it was too late to retreat to the south where Reno and Benteen could have provided assistance. Two men from the 7th Cavalry, the young Crow scout <i>Ashishishe</i> (known in English as Curley) and the trooper <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Peter_Thompson_(soldier)" class="mw-redirect" title="Peter Thompson (soldier)">Peter Thompson</a>, claimed to have seen Custer engage the Indians. The accuracy of their recollections remains controversial; accounts by battle participants and assessments by historians almost universally discredit Thompson's claim.
</p><p>Archaeological evidence and reassessment of Indian testimony have led to a new interpretation of the battle. In the 1920s, battlefield investigators discovered hundreds of .45–55 (11–14 mm) shell cases along the ridgeline known today as Nye-Cartwright Ridge, between South Medicine Tail Coulee and the next drainage at North Medicine Tail (also known as Deep Coulee). Some historians believe Custer divided his detachment into two (and possibly three) battalions, retaining personal command of one while presumably delegating Captain George W. Yates to command the second.
</p><p>Evidence from the 1920s supports the theory that at least one of the companies made a feint attack southwest from Nye-Cartwright Ridge straight down the center of the "V" formed by the intersection at the crossing of Medicine Tail Coulee on the right and Calhoun Coulee on the left. The intent may have been to relieve pressure on Reno's detachment (according to the Crow scout Curley, possibly viewed by both Mitch Bouyer and Custer) by withdrawing the skirmish line into the timber near the Little Bighorn River. Had the U.S. troops come straight down Medicine Tail Coulee, their approach to the Minneconjou Crossing and the northern area of the village would have been masked by the high ridges running on the northwest side of the Little Bighorn River.
</p><p>That they might have come southwest, from the center of Nye-Cartwright Ridge, seems to be supported by Northern Cheyenne accounts of seeing the approach of the distinctly white-colored horses of Company E, known as the Grey Horse Company. Its approach was seen by Indians at that end of the village. Behind them, a second company, further up on the heights, would have provided long-range cover fire. Warriors could have been drawn to the feint attack, forcing the battalion back towards the heights, up the north fork drainage, away from the troops providing cover fire above. The covering company would have moved towards a reunion, delivering heavy <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Volley_fire" title="Volley fire">volley fire</a> and leaving the trail of expended cartridges discovered 50 years later.
</p>
<h3><span class="mw-headline" id="Last_stand">Last stand</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn&action=edit&section=19" title="Edit section: Last stand">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h3>
<p>In the end, the hilltop to which Custer had moved was probably too small to accommodate all of the survivors and wounded. Fire from the southeast made it impossible for Custer's men to secure a defensive position all around Last Stand Hill where the soldiers put up their most dogged defense. According to Lakota accounts, far more of their casualties occurred in the attack on Last Stand Hill than anywhere else. The extent of the soldiers' resistance indicated they had few doubts about their prospects for survival. According to Cheyenne and Sioux testimony, the command structure rapidly broke down, although smaller "last stands" were apparently made by several groups. Custer's remaining companies (E, F, and half of C) were soon killed.
</p><p>By almost all accounts, the Lakota annihilated Custer's force within an hour of engagement.<sup id="cite_ref-79" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-79">[76]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-80" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-80">[77]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-81" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-81">[78]</a></sup> <a href="/enwiki/wiki/David_Humphreys_Miller" title="David Humphreys Miller">David Humphreys Miller</a>, who between 1935 and 1955 interviewed the last Lakota survivors of the battle, wrote that the Custer fight lasted less than one-half hour.<sup id="cite_ref-82" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-82">[79]</a></sup> Other native accounts said the fighting lasted only "as long as it takes a hungry man to eat a meal." The Lakota asserted that Crazy Horse personally led one of the large groups of warriors who overwhelmed the cavalrymen in a surprise charge from the northeast, causing a breakdown in the command structure and panic among the troops. Many of these men threw down their weapons while Cheyenne and Sioux warriors rode them down, "<a href="/enwiki/wiki/Counting_coup" title="Counting coup">counting coup</a>" with lances, coup sticks, and <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Quirt" title="Quirt">quirts</a>. Some Native accounts recalled this segment of the fight as a "buffalo run."<sup id="cite_ref-83" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-83">[80]</a></sup>
</p><p>Captain <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Frederick_William_Benteen" class="mw-redirect" title="Frederick William Benteen">Frederick Benteen</a>, battalion leader of Companies D, H and K, recalled his observations on the Custer battlefield on June 27, 1876
</p>
<link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r996844942"/><blockquote class="templatequote"><p>I went over the battlefield carefully with a view to determine how the battle was fought. I arrived at the conclusion I [hold] now—that it was a rout, a panic, until the last man was killed ...
</p><p>There was no line formed on the battlefield. You can take a handful of corn and scatter [the kernels] over the floor, and make just such lines. There were none ... The only approach to a line was where 5 or 6 [dead] horses found at equal distances, like skirmishers [part of Lt. Calhoun's Company L]. That was the only approach to a line on the field. There were more than 20 [troopers] killed [in one group]; there were [more often] four or five at one place, all within a space of 20 to 30 yards [of each other] ... I counted 70 dead [cavalry] horses and 2 Indian ponies.
</p><p>
I think, in all probability, that the men turned their horses loose without any orders to do so. Many orders might have been given, but few obeyed. I think that they were panic stricken; it was a rout, as I said before.<sup id="cite_ref-84" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-84">[81]</a></sup></p></blockquote>
<p>A Brulé Sioux warrior stated: "In fact, Hollow Horn Bear believed that the troops were in good order at the start of the fight, and kept their organization even while moving from point to point."<sup id="cite_ref-85" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-85">[82]</a></sup> Red Horse, an Oglala Sioux warrior, commented: "Here [Last Stand Hill] the soldiers made a desperate fight."<sup id="cite_ref-86" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-86">[83]</a></sup> One Hunkpapa Sioux warrior, Moving Robe, noted that "It was a hotly contested battle",<sup id="cite_ref-87" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-87">[84]</a></sup> while another, Iron Hawk, stated: "The Indians pressed and crowded right in around Custer Hill. But the soldiers weren't ready to die. We stood there a long time."<sup id="cite_ref-88" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-88">[85]</a></sup> In a letter from February 21, 1910, Private William Taylor, Company M, 7th Cavalry, wrote: "Reno proved incompetent and Benteen showed his indifference—I will not use the uglier words that have often been in my mind. Both failed Custer and he had to fight it out alone."<sup id="cite_ref-89" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-89">[86]</a></sup>
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<div class="thumb" style="width: 222.66666666667px;"><div style="margin:0px auto;"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/File:Edgar_Samuel_Paxson_-_Custer%27s_Last_Stand.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a4/Edgar_Samuel_Paxson_-_Custer%27s_Last_Stand.jpg/334px-Edgar_Samuel_Paxson_-_Custer%27s_Last_Stand.jpg" decoding="async" width="223" height="150" srcset="/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a4/Edgar_Samuel_Paxson_-_Custer%27s_Last_Stand.jpg/502px-Edgar_Samuel_Paxson_-_Custer%27s_Last_Stand.jpg 1.5x, /upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a4/Edgar_Samuel_Paxson_-_Custer%27s_Last_Stand.jpg/668px-Edgar_Samuel_Paxson_-_Custer%27s_Last_Stand.jpg 2x" data-file-width="3610" data-file-height="2433" /></a></div></div>
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<p>Custer's Last Stand by Edgar Samuel Paxson
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<div class="thumb" style="width: 133.33333333333px;"><div style="margin:0px auto;"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/File:Custer%27s_Last_Stand,_1877.png" class="image"><img alt="" src="/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c3/Custer%27s_Last_Stand%2C_1877.png/200px-Custer%27s_Last_Stand%2C_1877.png" decoding="async" width="134" height="150" srcset="/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c3/Custer%27s_Last_Stand%2C_1877.png/300px-Custer%27s_Last_Stand%2C_1877.png 1.5x, /upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c3/Custer%27s_Last_Stand%2C_1877.png/400px-Custer%27s_Last_Stand%2C_1877.png 2x" data-file-width="533" data-file-height="600" /></a></div></div>
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<p>Looking in the direction of the Indian village and the deep ravine. Photo by Stanley J. Morrow, spring 1877
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<li class="gallerybox" style="width: 201.33333333333px"><div style="width: 201.33333333333px">
<div class="thumb" style="width: 199.33333333333px;"><div style="margin:0px auto;"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/File:Little_Bighorn_Battlefield_National_Monument.JPG" class="image"><img alt="" src="/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/62/Little_Bighorn_Battlefield_National_Monument.JPG/299px-Little_Bighorn_Battlefield_National_Monument.JPG" decoding="async" width="200" height="150" srcset="/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/62/Little_Bighorn_Battlefield_National_Monument.JPG/449px-Little_Bighorn_Battlefield_National_Monument.JPG 1.5x, /upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/62/Little_Bighorn_Battlefield_National_Monument.JPG/597px-Little_Bighorn_Battlefield_National_Monument.JPG 2x" data-file-width="2272" data-file-height="1712" /></a></div></div>
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<p>Looking in the direction of the Indian village and the deep ravine. Taken November 2011
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<li class="gallerybox" style="width: 207.33333333333px"><div style="width: 207.33333333333px">
<div class="thumb" style="width: 205.33333333333px;"><div style="margin:0px auto;"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/File:Keogh_Memorial_-_Little_Big_Horn_Battlefield.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="/upwiki/wikipedia/en/thumb/3/3f/Keogh_Memorial_-_Little_Big_Horn_Battlefield.jpg/308px-Keogh_Memorial_-_Little_Big_Horn_Battlefield.jpg" decoding="async" width="206" height="150" srcset="/upwiki/wikipedia/en/thumb/3/3f/Keogh_Memorial_-_Little_Big_Horn_Battlefield.jpg/463px-Keogh_Memorial_-_Little_Big_Horn_Battlefield.jpg 1.5x, /upwiki/wikipedia/en/3/3f/Keogh_Memorial_-_Little_Big_Horn_Battlefield.jpg 2x" data-file-width="600" data-file-height="438" /></a></div></div>
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<p>Keogh Battlefield Marker 1879
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<li class="gallerybox" style="width: 202px"><div style="width: 202px">
<div class="thumb" style="width: 200px;"><div style="margin:0px auto;"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/File:2008_0909Battlefield0026.JPG" class="image"><img alt="" src="/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/db/2008_0909Battlefield0026.JPG/300px-2008_0909Battlefield0026.JPG" decoding="async" width="200" height="150" srcset="/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/db/2008_0909Battlefield0026.JPG/451px-2008_0909Battlefield0026.JPG 1.5x, /upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/db/2008_0909Battlefield0026.JPG/600px-2008_0909Battlefield0026.JPG 2x" data-file-width="2592" data-file-height="1944" /></a></div></div>
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<p><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Mitch_Bouyer" title="Mitch Bouyer">Mitch Bouyer</a> marker on Deep Ravine trail. Deep Ravine is to the right of this picture (south/southwest) and about 65 yards (60 m) distant.
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<h4><span id="Custer.27s_final_resistance"></span><span class="mw-headline" id="Custer's_final_resistance">Custer's final resistance</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn&action=edit&section=20" title="Edit section: Custer's final resistance">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h4>
<p>Recent archaeological work at the battlefield indicates that officers on Custer Hill restored some tactical control.<sup id="cite_ref-Fox1993_49-7" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Fox1993-49">[46]</a></sup><sup class="reference" style="white-space:nowrap;">:<span title="Page / location: 255–259">255–259</span></sup> E Company rushed off Custer Hill toward the Little Bighorn River but failed to reach it, which resulted in the destruction of that company. This left about 50-60 men, mostly from F Company and the staff, on Last Stand Hill. The remainder of the battle took on the nature of a running fight. Modern archaeology and historical Indian accounts indicate that Custer's force may have been divided into three groups, with the Indians attempting to prevent them from effectively reuniting. Indian accounts describe warriors (including women) running up from the village to wave blankets in order to scare off the soldiers' horses. One 7th Cavalry trooper claimed to have found several stone <i>mallets</i> consisting of a round cobble weighing 8–10 pounds (about 4 kg) with a rawhide handle, which he believed had been used by the Indian women to finish off the wounded.<sup id="cite_ref-Scott-TheyDied_90-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Scott-TheyDied-90">[87]</a></sup><sup class="reference" style="white-space:nowrap;">:<span title="Page / location: 314">314</span></sup> Fighting dismounted, the soldiers' skirmish lines were overwhelmed. Army doctrine would have called for one man in four to be a horseholder behind the skirmish lines and, in extreme cases, one man in eight. Later, the troops would have bunched together in defensive positions and are alleged to have shot their remaining horses as cover. As individual troopers were wounded or killed, initial defensive positions would have been abandoned as untenable.<sup id="cite_ref-ReferenceB_91-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-ReferenceB-91">[88]</a></sup>
</p><p>Under threat of attack, the first U.S. soldiers on the battlefield three days later hurriedly buried the troopers in shallow graves, more or less where they had fallen. A couple of years after the battle, markers were placed where men were believed to have fallen, so the placement of troops has been roughly construed. The troops evidently died in several groups, including on Custer Hill, around Captain <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Myles_Keogh" title="Myles Keogh">Myles Keogh</a>, and strung out towards the Little Bighorn River.<sup id="cite_ref-ReferenceB_91-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-ReferenceB-91">[88]</a></sup>
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<h4><span class="mw-headline" id="Last_break-out_attempt">Last break-out attempt</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn&action=edit&section=21" title="Edit section: Last break-out attempt">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h4>
<div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:222px;"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/File:Far_West_(steamship).jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/dc/Far_West_%28steamship%29.jpg/220px-Far_West_%28steamship%29.jpg" decoding="async" width="220" height="162" class="thumbimage" srcset="/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/dc/Far_West_%28steamship%29.jpg/330px-Far_West_%28steamship%29.jpg 1.5x, /upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/dc/Far_West_%28steamship%29.jpg/440px-Far_West_%28steamship%29.jpg 2x" data-file-width="1585" data-file-height="1170" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/File:Far_West_(steamship).jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>The shallow-draft steamer <i><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Far_West_(River_Steamboat)" class="mw-redirect" title="Far West (River Steamboat)">Far West</a></i> was chartered by the Army to carry supplies for the Custer expedition. After the battle, captain and pilot <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Grant_Marsh" title="Grant Marsh">Grant Marsh</a> set a speed record bringing wounded men and news of the Custer disaster back to Fort Lincoln.<sup id="cite_ref-92" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-92">[89]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-93" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-93">[90]</a></sup></div></div></div>
<p>According to Indian accounts, about forty men on Custer Hill made a desperate stand around Custer, delivering <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Volley_fire" title="Volley fire">volley fire</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-michno1997_68-4" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-michno1997-68">[65]</a></sup> The great majority of the Indian casualties were probably suffered during this closing segment of the battle, as the soldiers and Indians on Calhoun Ridge were more widely separated and traded fire at greater distances for most of their portion of the battle than did the soldiers and Indians on Custer Hill.<sup id="cite_ref-michno1997_68-5" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-michno1997-68">[65]</a></sup><sup class="reference" style="white-space:nowrap;">:<span title="Page / location: 282">282</span></sup>
</p><p>Modern documentaries suggest that there may not have been a "Last Stand", as traditionally portrayed in popular culture. Instead, archaeologists suggest that in the end, Custer's troops were not surrounded but rather overwhelmed by a single charge. This scenario corresponds to several Indian accounts stating Crazy Horse's charge swarmed the resistance, with the surviving soldiers fleeing in panic.<sup id="cite_ref-michno1997_68-6" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-michno1997-68">[65]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-94" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-94">[note 4]</a></sup> Many of these troopers may have ended up in a deep ravine 300 to 400 yards (270 to 370 m) away from what is known today as Custer Hill. At least 28 bodies (the most common number associated with burial witness testimony), including that of scout <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Mitch_Bouyer" title="Mitch Bouyer">Mitch Bouyer</a>, were discovered in or near that gulch, their deaths possibly the battle's final actions.
</p><p>Although the marker for Mitch Bouyer was found accurate through archaeological and forensic testing of remains, it is some 65 yards away from Deep Ravine.<sup id="cite_ref-Scott-Arch_14-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Scott-Arch-14">[14]</a></sup><sup class="reference" style="white-space:nowrap;">:<span title="Page / location: 82">82</span></sup> Historian Douglas Scott theorized that the "Deep Gulch" or "Deep Ravine" might have included not only the steep-sided portion of the coulee, but the entire drainage including its tributaries, in which case the bodies of Bouyer and others were found where eyewitnesses had said they were seen.<sup id="cite_ref-Scott-TheyDied_90-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Scott-TheyDied-90">[87]</a></sup>
</p><p>Other archaeological explorations done in Deep Ravine found no human remains associated with the battle.<sup id="cite_ref-Scott-TheyDied_90-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Scott-TheyDied-90">[87]</a></sup><sup class="reference" style="white-space:nowrap;">:<span title="Page / location: 39–48">39–48</span></sup> Over the years since the battle, skeletal remains that were reportedly recovered from the mouth of the Deep Ravine by various sources have been repatriated to the Little Big Horn National Monument. According to Scott, it is likely that in the 108 years between the battle and Scott's excavation efforts in the ravine, geological processes caused many of the remains to become unrecoverable. For example, near the town of Garryowen, portions of the skeleton of a trooper killed in the Reno Retreat were recovered from an eroding bank of the Little Big Horn, while the rest of the remains had apparently been washed away by the river.<sup id="cite_ref-Scott-TheyDied_90-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Scott-TheyDied-90">[87]</a></sup>
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<h2><span class="mw-headline" id="Aftermath">Aftermath</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn&action=edit&section=22" title="Edit section: Aftermath">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2>
<p>After the Custer force was soundly defeated, the Lakota and Northern Cheyenne regrouped to attack Reno and Benteen. The fight continued until dark (approximately 9:00 pm) and for much of the next day, with the outcome in doubt. Reno credited Benteen's luck with repulsing a severe attack on the portion of the perimeter held by Companies H and M.<sup id="cite_ref-95" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-95">[note 5]</a></sup> On June 27, the column under General Terry approached from the north, and the natives drew off in the opposite direction. The Crow scout <a href="/enwiki/wiki/White_Man_Runs_Him" title="White Man Runs Him">White Man Runs Him</a> was the first to tell General Terry's officers that Custer's force had "been wiped out." Reno and Benteen's wounded troops were given what treatment was available at that time; five later died of their wounds. One of the regiment's three surgeons had been with Custer's column, while another, Dr. DeWolf, had been killed during Reno's retreat.<sup id="cite_ref-96" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-96">[91]</a></sup> The only remaining doctor was Assistant Surgeon Henry R. Porter.<sup id="cite_ref-97" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-97">[92]</a></sup>
</p>
<style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r978413945/mw-parser-output/.tmulti">.mw-parser-output .tmulti .thumbinner{display:flex;flex-direction:column}.mw-parser-output .tmulti .trow{display:flex;flex-direction:row;clear:left;flex-wrap:wrap;width:100%;box-sizing:border-box}.mw-parser-output .tmulti .tsingle{margin:1px;float:left}.mw-parser-output .tmulti .theader{clear:both;font-weight:bold;text-align:center;align-self:center;background-color:transparent;width:100%}.mw-parser-output .tmulti .thumbcaption{background-color:transparent}.mw-parser-output .tmulti .text-align-left{text-align:left}.mw-parser-output .tmulti .text-align-right{text-align:right}.mw-parser-output .tmulti .text-align-center{text-align:center}@media all and (max-width:720px){.mw-parser-output .tmulti .thumbinner{width:100%!important;box-sizing:border-box;max-width:none!important;align-items:center}.mw-parser-output .tmulti .trow{justify-content:center}.mw-parser-output .tmulti .tsingle{float:none!important;max-width:100%!important;box-sizing:border-box;text-align:center}.mw-parser-output .tmulti .tsingle .thumbcaption{text-align:left}.mw-parser-output .tmulti .trow>.thumbcaption{text-align:center}}</style><div class="thumb tmulti tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:342px;max-width:342px"><div class="trow"><div class="tsingle" style="width:158px;max-width:158px"><div class="thumbimage" style="height:178px;overflow:hidden"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/File:18760706_Indian_War_-_The_Helena_Independent.png" class="image"><img alt="" src="/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/96/18760706_Indian_War_-_The_Helena_Independent.png/156px-18760706_Indian_War_-_The_Helena_Independent.png" decoding="async" width="156" height="179" srcset="/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/96/18760706_Indian_War_-_The_Helena_Independent.png/234px-18760706_Indian_War_-_The_Helena_Independent.png 1.5x, /upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/96/18760706_Indian_War_-_The_Helena_Independent.png/312px-18760706_Indian_War_-_The_Helena_Independent.png 2x" data-file-width="1854" data-file-height="2122" /></a></div><div class="thumbcaption">This Helena, Montana newspaper article did not report the battle until July 6, referring to a July 3 story from a Bozeman, Montana newspaper—itself eight days after the event.<sup id="cite_ref-HelenaIndependent_18760706_98-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-HelenaIndependent_18760706-98">[93]</a></sup></div></div><div class="tsingle" style="width:180px;max-width:180px"><div class="thumbimage" style="height:178px;overflow:hidden"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/File:18760706_Massacre_of_Our_Troops_-_The_New_York_Times.png" class="image"><img alt="" src="/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f1/18760706_Massacre_of_Our_Troops_-_The_New_York_Times.png/178px-18760706_Massacre_of_Our_Troops_-_The_New_York_Times.png" decoding="async" width="178" height="178" srcset="/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f1/18760706_Massacre_of_Our_Troops_-_The_New_York_Times.png/267px-18760706_Massacre_of_Our_Troops_-_The_New_York_Times.png 1.5x, /upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f1/18760706_Massacre_of_Our_Troops_-_The_New_York_Times.png/356px-18760706_Massacre_of_Our_Troops_-_The_New_York_Times.png 2x" data-file-width="900" data-file-height="900" /></a></div><div class="thumbcaption"><i>The New York Times</i> also appears to have first reported the event on July 6. The earliest journalistic communication cited in the <i>Times</i> article was dated July 2—a full week after the massacre.<sup id="cite_ref-NYTimes_18760706_99-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-NYTimes_18760706-99">[94]</a></sup> Full text is <a class="external text" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:18760706_Massacre_of_Our_Troops_-_The_New_York_Times.png">here</a>.</div></div></div></div></div>
<p>The first to hear the news of the Custer disaster were those aboard the steamboat <i><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Far_West_(steamship)" title="Far West (steamship)">Far West</a>,</i> which had brought supplies for the expedition. Curley, one of Custer's scouts, rode up to the steamboat and tearfully conveyed the information to <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Grant_Marsh" title="Grant Marsh">Grant Marsh</a>, the boat's captain, and army officers. Marsh converted the <i>Far West</i> into a floating field hospital to carry the 52 wounded from the battle to Fort Lincoln. Traveling night and day, with a full head of steam, Marsh brought the steamer downriver to Bismarck, Dakota Territory, making the 710 mi (1,140 km) run in the record time of 54 hours and bringing the first news of the military defeat which came to be popularly known as the "Custer Massacre." The editor of the Bismarck paper kept the telegraph operator busy for hours transmitting information to the <i><a href="/enwiki/wiki/New_York_Herald" title="New York Herald">New York Herald</a></i> (for which he corresponded). News of the defeat arrived in the East as the U.S. was observing its <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Centennial_Exposition" title="Centennial Exposition">centennial</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-100" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-100">[95]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-101" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-101">[96]</a></sup> The Army began to investigate, although its effectiveness was hampered by a concern for survivors, and the reputation of the officers. Custer's wife, <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Elizabeth_Bacon_Custer" title="Elizabeth Bacon Custer">Elizabeth Bacon Custer</a>, in particular, guarded and promoted the ideal of him as the gallant hero, attacking any who cast an ill light on his reputation.<sup id="cite_ref-102" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-102">[97]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-103" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-103">[98]</a></sup>
</p><p>The Battle of the Little Bighorn had far-reaching consequences for the Natives. It was the beginning of the end of the "Indian Wars" and has even been referred to as "the Indians' last stand"<sup id="cite_ref-104" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-104">[99]</a></sup> in the area. Within 48 hours of the battle, the large encampment on the Little Bighorn broke up into smaller groups because there was not enough game and grass to sustain a large congregation of people and horses.<sup id="cite_ref-sonofthesouth.net_105-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-sonofthesouth.net-105">[100]</a></sup>
</p><p><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Oglala_Sioux" class="mw-redirect" title="Oglala Sioux">Oglala Sioux</a> <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Black_Elk" title="Black Elk">Black Elk</a> recounted the exodus this way: "We fled all night, following the Greasy Grass. My two younger brothers and I rode in a pony-drag, and my mother put some young pups in with us. They were always trying to crawl out and I was always putting them back in, so I didn't sleep much."<sup id="cite_ref-Welch_and_Steckler_106-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Welch_and_Steckler-106">[101]</a></sup><sup class="reference" style="white-space:nowrap;">:<span title="Page / location: 194">194</span></sup>
</p><p>The scattered Sioux and Cheyenne feasted and celebrated during July with no threat from soldiers. After their celebrations, many of the Natives returned to the reservation. Soon the number of warriors amounted to only about 600.<sup id="cite_ref-107" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-107">[102]</a></sup> Both Crook and Terry remained immobile for seven weeks after the battle, awaiting reinforcements and unwilling to venture out against the Sioux and Cheyenne until they had at least 2,000 men. Crook and Terry finally took the field against the Native forces in August. General <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Nelson_A._Miles" title="Nelson A. Miles">Nelson A. Miles</a> took command of the effort in October 1876. In May 1877, Sitting Bull escaped to Canada. Within days, Crazy Horse surrendered at <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Fort_Robinson" title="Fort Robinson">Fort Robinson</a>, Nebraska. The Great Sioux War ended on May 7 with Miles' defeat of a remaining band of <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Miniconjou" title="Miniconjou">Miniconjou</a> Sioux.<sup id="cite_ref-sonofthesouth.net_105-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-sonofthesouth.net-105">[100]</a></sup>
</p>
<link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r978413945/mw-parser-output/.tmulti"/><div class="thumb tmulti tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:342px;max-width:342px"><div class="trow"><div class="tsingle" style="width:164px;max-width:164px"><div class="thumbimage" style="height:230px;overflow:hidden"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/File:Plenty_Coups_Edward_Curtis_Portrait_(c1908).jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/db/Plenty_Coups_Edward_Curtis_Portrait_%28c1908%29.jpg/162px-Plenty_Coups_Edward_Curtis_Portrait_%28c1908%29.jpg" decoding="async" width="162" height="230" srcset="/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/db/Plenty_Coups_Edward_Curtis_Portrait_%28c1908%29.jpg/243px-Plenty_Coups_Edward_Curtis_Portrait_%28c1908%29.jpg 1.5x, /upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/db/Plenty_Coups_Edward_Curtis_Portrait_%28c1908%29.jpg/324px-Plenty_Coups_Edward_Curtis_Portrait_%28c1908%29.jpg 2x" data-file-width="451" data-file-height="640" /></a></div><div class="thumbcaption">Plenty Coups Edward Curtis Portrait (c1908).</div></div><div class="tsingle" style="width:174px;max-width:174px"><div class="thumbimage" style="height:230px;overflow:hidden"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/File:TwoLeggings2.0.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f5/TwoLeggings2.0.jpg/172px-TwoLeggings2.0.jpg" decoding="async" width="172" height="231" srcset="/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f5/TwoLeggings2.0.jpg/258px-TwoLeggings2.0.jpg 1.5x, /upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f5/TwoLeggings2.0.jpg/344px-TwoLeggings2.0.jpg 2x" data-file-width="477" data-file-height="640" /></a></div><div class="thumbcaption">Crow warrior <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Two_Leggings" title="Two Leggings">Two Leggings</a> joined the U.S. army for a short time after the defeat of Custer. Two Belly had given him and nearly 30 other Crows a lecture and explained how the Sioux had taken the hunting grounds of the Crow. "Two Belly said ... we should help the soldiers drive them back to their own country."<sup id="cite_ref-108" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-108">[103]</a></sup></div></div></div></div></div>
<p>Ownership of the <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Black_Hills" title="Black Hills">Black Hills</a>, which had been a focal point of the 1876 conflict, was determined by an ultimatum issued by the <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Manypenny_Agreement" title="Manypenny Agreement">Manypenny Commission</a>, according to which the Sioux were required to cede the land to the United States if they wanted the government to continue supplying rations to the reservations. Threatened with forced starvation, the Natives ceded <i><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Paha_Sapa" class="mw-redirect" title="Paha Sapa">Paha Sapa</a></i> to the United States,<sup id="cite_ref-Welch_and_Steckler_106-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Welch_and_Steckler-106">[101]</a></sup><sup class="reference" style="white-space:nowrap;">:<span title="Page / location: 196–97">196–97</span></sup> but the Sioux never accepted the legitimacy of the transaction. They lobbied Congress to create a forum to decide their claim and subsequently litigated for 40 years; the United States Supreme Court in the 1980 decision <a href="/enwiki/wiki/United_States_v._Sioux_Nation_of_Indians" title="United States v. Sioux Nation of Indians">United States v. Sioux Nation of Indians</a> acknowledged<sup id="cite_ref-109" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-109">[note 6]</a></sup> that the United States had taken the Black Hills without just compensation. The Sioux <a href="/enwiki/wiki/United_States_v._Sioux_Nation_of_Indians#Response_to_the_decision" title="United States v. Sioux Nation of Indians">refused the money subsequently offered</a> and continue to insist on their right to occupy the land.
</p><p>When the Crows got news from the battlefield, they went into grief. Crow woman Pretty Shield told how they were "crying ... for Son-of-the-morning-star [Custer] and his blue soldiers<span class="nowrap"> </span>..."<sup id="cite_ref-110" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-110">[104]</a></sup> With the defeat of Custer, it was still a real threat that the Lakotas would take over the eastern part of the Crow reservation and keep up the invasion. In the end, the army won the Sioux war. Crow chief Plenty Coups recalled with amazement how his tribe now finally could sleep without fear for Lakota attacks. "...<span class="nowrap"> </span>this was the first time I had ever known such a condition."<sup id="cite_ref-111" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-111">[105]</a></sup>
</p>
<h2><span class="mw-headline" id="Participants">Participants</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn&action=edit&section=23" title="Edit section: Participants">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2>
<h3><span class="mw-headline" id="7th_Cavalry_officers">7th Cavalry officers</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn&action=edit&section=24" title="Edit section: 7th Cavalry officers">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h3>
<ul><li>Commanding Officer: Lt. Col. <a href="/enwiki/wiki/George_Armstrong_Custer" title="George Armstrong Custer">George Armstrong Custer</a> (killed)</li>
<li>Maj. <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Marcus_Reno" title="Marcus Reno">Marcus Reno</a></li>
<li>Adjutant: 1st Lt. <a href="/enwiki/wiki/William_W._Cooke" title="William W. Cooke">William W. Cooke</a> (killed)</li>
<li>Assistant Surgeon <a href="/enwiki/wiki/George_Edwin_Lord" title="George Edwin Lord">George Edwin Lord</a> (killed)</li>
<li>Acting Assistant Surgeon <a href="/enwiki/wiki/James_Madison_DeWolf" title="James Madison DeWolf">James Madison DeWolf</a> (killed)</li>
<li>Acting Assistant Surgeon <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Henry_Rinaldo_Porter" title="Henry Rinaldo Porter">Henry Rinaldo Porter</a></li>
<li>Chief of Scouts: 2nd Lt. <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Charles_Varnum" title="Charles Varnum">Charles Varnum</a> (detached from A Company, wounded)</li>
<li>2nd in command of Scouts: 2nd Lt. <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Luther_Hare" title="Luther Hare">Luther Hare</a> (detached from K Company)</li>
<li>Pack Train commander: 1st Lt. Edward Gustave Mathey (detached from M Company)</li>
<li>A Company: Capt. <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Myles_Moylan" title="Myles Moylan">Myles Moylan</a>, 1st Lt. <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Charles_DeRudio" title="Charles DeRudio">Charles DeRudio</a><sup id="cite_ref-112" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-112">[106]</a></sup></li>
<li>B Company: Capt. <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Thomas_Mower_McDougall" title="Thomas Mower McDougall">Thomas McDougall</a>, 2nd Lt. Benjamin Hodgson (killed) as Adjutant to Major Reno</li>
<li>C Company: Capt. <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Thomas_Custer" title="Thomas Custer">Thomas Custer</a> (killed), 2nd Lt. <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Henry_Moore_Harrington" title="Henry Moore Harrington">Henry Moore Harrington</a> (killed)</li>
<li>D Company: Capt. <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Thomas_Weir_(American_soldier)" title="Thomas Weir (American soldier)">Thomas Weir</a>, 2nd Lt. <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Winfield_Scott_Edgerly" title="Winfield Scott Edgerly">Winfield Edgerly</a></li>
<li>E Company: 1st Lt. <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Algernon_Smith" title="Algernon Smith">Algernon Smith</a> (killed), 2nd Lt. James G. Sturgis (killed)</li>
<li>F Company: Capt. <a href="/enwiki/wiki/George_Yates" title="George Yates">George Yates</a> (killed), 2nd Lt. William Reily (killed)</li>
<li>G Company: 1st Lt. <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Donald_McIntosh" title="Donald McIntosh">Donald McIntosh</a> (killed), 2nd Lt. George D. Wallace</li>
<li>H Company: Capt. <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Frederick_Benteen" title="Frederick Benteen">Frederick Benteen</a>, 1st Lt. Francis Gibson</li>
<li>I Company: Capt. <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Myles_Keogh" title="Myles Keogh">Myles Keogh</a> (killed), 1st Lt. <a href="/enwiki/wiki/James_Porter_(7th_Cavalry)" class="mw-redirect" title="James Porter (7th Cavalry)">James Porter</a> (killed)</li>
<li>K Company: 1st Lt. <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Edward_Settle_Godfrey" title="Edward Settle Godfrey">Edward Settle Godfrey</a></li>
<li>L Company: 1st Lt. <a href="/enwiki/wiki/James_Calhoun_(7th_Cavalry)" class="mw-redirect" title="James Calhoun (7th Cavalry)">James Calhoun</a> (killed), 2nd Lt. <a href="/enwiki/w/index.php?title=John_Jordan_Crittenden_III&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="John Jordan Crittenden III (page does not exist)">John J. Crittenden</a> (killed)</li>
<li>M Company: Capt. Thomas French</li></ul>
<ul class="gallery mw-gallery-packed center" style="text-align:left">
<li class="gallerybox" style="width: 106.66666666667px"><div style="width: 106.66666666667px">
<div class="thumb" style="width: 104.66666666667px;"><div style="margin:0px auto;"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/File:Soldier_memorial_little_bighorn_1.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ae/Soldier_memorial_little_bighorn_1.jpg/157px-Soldier_memorial_little_bighorn_1.jpg" decoding="async" width="105" height="150" srcset="/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ae/Soldier_memorial_little_bighorn_1.jpg/237px-Soldier_memorial_little_bighorn_1.jpg 1.5x, /upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ae/Soldier_memorial_little_bighorn_1.jpg/315px-Soldier_memorial_little_bighorn_1.jpg 2x" data-file-width="2286" data-file-height="3263" /></a></div></div>
<div class="gallerytext">
<p>Memorial Marker as seen from the east
</p>
</div>
</div></li>
<li class="gallerybox" style="width: 197.33333333333px"><div style="width: 197.33333333333px">
<div class="thumb" style="width: 195.33333333333px;"><div style="margin:0px auto;"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/File:Soldier_memorial_little_bighorn_3.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/08/Soldier_memorial_little_bighorn_3.jpg/293px-Soldier_memorial_little_bighorn_3.jpg" decoding="async" width="196" height="150" srcset="/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/08/Soldier_memorial_little_bighorn_3.jpg/439px-Soldier_memorial_little_bighorn_3.jpg 1.5x, /upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/08/Soldier_memorial_little_bighorn_3.jpg/585px-Soldier_memorial_little_bighorn_3.jpg 2x" data-file-width="1580" data-file-height="1216" /></a></div></div>
<div class="gallerytext">
<p>Memorial Marker plaque
</p>
</div>
</div></li>
<li class="gallerybox" style="width: 110.66666666667px"><div style="width: 110.66666666667px">
<div class="thumb" style="width: 108.66666666667px;"><div style="margin:0px auto;"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/File:Soldier_memorial_little_bighorn_2.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/22/Soldier_memorial_little_bighorn_2.jpg/163px-Soldier_memorial_little_bighorn_2.jpg" decoding="async" width="109" height="150" srcset="/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/22/Soldier_memorial_little_bighorn_2.jpg/245px-Soldier_memorial_little_bighorn_2.jpg 1.5x, /upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/22/Soldier_memorial_little_bighorn_2.jpg/326px-Soldier_memorial_little_bighorn_2.jpg 2x" data-file-width="2924" data-file-height="4031" /></a></div></div>
<div class="gallerytext">
<p>Memorial Marker as seen from the west
</p>
</div>
</div></li>
<li class="gallerybox" style="width: 227.33333333333px"><div style="width: 227.33333333333px">
<div class="thumb" style="width: 225.33333333333px;"><div style="margin:0px auto;"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/File:Where_custer_fell_little_big_horn.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/ba/Where_custer_fell_little_big_horn.jpg/338px-Where_custer_fell_little_big_horn.jpg" decoding="async" width="226" height="150" srcset="/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/ba/Where_custer_fell_little_big_horn.jpg/508px-Where_custer_fell_little_big_horn.jpg 1.5x, /upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/ba/Where_custer_fell_little_big_horn.jpg/676px-Where_custer_fell_little_big_horn.jpg 2x" data-file-width="4085" data-file-height="2720" /></a></div></div>
<div class="gallerytext">
<p>Marker indicating where General Custer fell among soldiers – denoted with black-face, in center of photo
</p>
</div>
</div></li>
</ul>
<h3><span id="Native_American_leaders_and_.22warriors.22"></span><span class="mw-headline" id="Native_American_leaders_and_"warriors"">Native American leaders and "warriors"</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn&action=edit&section=25" title="Edit section: Native American leaders and "warriors"">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h3>
<div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:222px;"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/File:Arapaho_woman_Pretty_Nose,_1879,_restored.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6f/Arapaho_woman_Pretty_Nose%2C_1879%2C_restored.jpg/220px-Arapaho_woman_Pretty_Nose%2C_1879%2C_restored.jpg" decoding="async" width="220" height="275" class="thumbimage" srcset="/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6f/Arapaho_woman_Pretty_Nose%2C_1879%2C_restored.jpg/330px-Arapaho_woman_Pretty_Nose%2C_1879%2C_restored.jpg 1.5x, /upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6f/Arapaho_woman_Pretty_Nose%2C_1879%2C_restored.jpg/440px-Arapaho_woman_Pretty_Nose%2C_1879%2C_restored.jpg 2x" data-file-width="1484" data-file-height="1855" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/File:Arapaho_woman_Pretty_Nose,_1879,_restored.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Pretty_Nose" title="Pretty Nose">Pretty Nose</a> who, according to her grandson, was a woman war chief who participated in the battle</div></div></div>
<div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:222px;"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/File:CheyenneStone.JPG" class="image"><img alt="" src="/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/34/CheyenneStone.JPG/220px-CheyenneStone.JPG" decoding="async" width="220" height="312" class="thumbimage" srcset="/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/34/CheyenneStone.JPG/330px-CheyenneStone.JPG 1.5x, /upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/34/CheyenneStone.JPG/440px-CheyenneStone.JPG 2x" data-file-width="529" data-file-height="750" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/File:CheyenneStone.JPG" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>Marker stone on the battlefield</div></div></div><p>The English term "warriors" is used for convenience; however, the term easily leads to misconceptions and mistranslations (such as the vision of "soldiers falling into his camp"). The Lakota had formed a "Strongheart Society" of caretakers and providers for the camp, consisting of men who had demonstrated compassion, generosity and bravery. As the purpose of the tribes' gathering was to take counsel, they did not constitute an army or warrior class.<sup id="cite_ref-lapointe_113-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-lapointe-113">[107]</a></sup>
</p><ul><li><b>Hunkpapa (Lakota)</b>: <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Sitting_Bull" title="Sitting Bull">Sitting Bull</a>, Four Horns, <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Crow_King" title="Crow King">Crow King</a>, <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Gall_(Native_American_leader)" title="Gall (Native American leader)">Chief Gall</a>, <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Black_Moon_(person)" title="Black Moon (person)">Black Moon</a>, <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Rain-in-the-Face" title="Rain-in-the-Face">Rain-in-the-Face</a>, <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Moving_Robe_Woman" title="Moving Robe Woman">Moving Robe Woman</a>, Spotted Horn Bull, Iron Hawk, <a href="/enwiki/wiki/One_Bull" title="One Bull">One Bull</a>, Bull Head, Chasing Eagle, <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Little_Big_Man" title="Little Big Man">Little Big Man</a></li>
<li><b>Sihasapa (Blackfoot Lakota)</b>: Crawler, <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Kill_Eagle" title="Kill Eagle">Kill Eagle</a></li>
<li><b>Minneconjou (Lakota)</b>: Chief Hump, <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Black_Moon_(person)" title="Black Moon (person)">Black Moon</a>, <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Red_Horse_(Lakota_chief)" title="Red Horse (Lakota chief)">Red Horse</a>, Makes Room, Looks Up, <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Lame_Deer" title="Lame Deer">Lame Deer</a>, Dog-with-Horn, Dog Back Bone, <a href="/enwiki/wiki/White_Bull_(Native_American)" class="mw-redirect" title="White Bull (Native American)">White Bull</a>, Feather Earring, Flying By</li>
<li><b>Sans Arc (Lakota)</b>: Spotted Eagle, Red Bear, Long Road, Cloud Man</li>
<li><b>Oglala (Lakota)</b>: <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Crazy_Horse" title="Crazy Horse">Crazy Horse</a>, <a href="/enwiki/wiki/He_Dog" title="He Dog">He Dog</a>, <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Kicking_Bear" title="Kicking Bear">Kicking Bear</a>, <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Flying_Hawk" title="Flying Hawk">Flying Hawk</a>, Chief Long Wolf, <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Black_Elk" title="Black Elk">Black Elk</a>, White Cow Bull, <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Running_Eagle" title="Running Eagle">Running Eagle</a>, Black Fox II</li>
<li><b>Brule (Lakota)</b>: Two Eagles, <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Hollow_Horn_Bear" title="Hollow Horn Bear">Hollow Horn Bear</a>, Brave Bird</li>
<li><b>Two Kettles (Lakota)</b>: Runs-the-Enemy</li>
<li><b>Lower Yanktonai (Dakota)</b>: Thunder Bear, Medicine Cloud, Iron Bear, Long Tree</li>
<li><b>Wahpekute (Dakota)</b>: <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Inkpaduta" title="Inkpaduta">Inkpaduta</a>, Sounds-the-Ground-as-He-Walks, White Eagle, White Tracking Earth</li>
<li><b>Black Powder (Sioux Firearms trader)</b>: Black Powder, Johann Smidt</li>
<li><b>Northern Cheyenne</b>: <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Two_Moons" title="Two Moons">Two Moons</a>, <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Wooden_Leg" title="Wooden Leg">Wooden Leg</a>, Old Bear, <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Lame_White_Man" title="Lame White Man">Lame White Man</a>, <a href="/enwiki/w/index.php?title=American_Horse_(Cheyenne)&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="American Horse (Cheyenne) (page does not exist)">American Horse</a>, Brave Wolf, Antelope Women, Thunder Bull Big Nose, Yellow Horse, Little Shield, Horse Road, Bob Tail Horse, Yellow Hair, Bear-Walks-on-a-Ridge, Black Hawk, <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Buffalo_Calf_Road_Woman" title="Buffalo Calf Road Woman">Buffalo Calf Road Woman</a>, Crooked Nose, Noisy Walking</li>
<li><b>Arapahoes</b>: Waterman, Sage, Left Hand, Yellow Eagle, Little Bird</li></ul>
<h3><span class="mw-headline" id="Arapaho_participation">Arapaho participation</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn&action=edit&section=26" title="Edit section: Arapaho participation">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h3>
<p>Modern-day accounts include <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Arapaho" title="Arapaho">Arapaho</a> warriors in the battle, but the five Arapaho men who were at the encampments were there only by accident. While on a hunting trip they came close to the village by the river and were captured and almost killed by the Lakota who believed the hunters were scouts for the U.S. Army. <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Two_Moons" title="Two Moons">Two Moons</a>, a Northern Cheyenne leader, interceded to save their lives.<sup id="cite_ref-114" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-114">[108]</a></sup>
</p>
<h3><span id="Notable_scouts.2Finterpreters"></span><span class="mw-headline" id="Notable_scouts/interpreters">Notable scouts/interpreters</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn&action=edit&section=27" title="Edit section: Notable scouts/interpreters">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h3>
<p>The 7th Cavalry was accompanied by a number of scouts and interpreters:
</p>
<ul><li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Bloody_Knife" title="Bloody Knife">Bloody Knife</a>: Arikara/Lakota scout (killed)</li>
<li>Bob Tailed Bull: Arikara scout (killed)</li>
<li>Boy Chief: Arikara scout</li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Charley_Reynolds" title="Charley Reynolds">Charley Reynolds</a>: scout (killed)</li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Curly_(scout)" title="Curly (scout)">Curley</a>: Crow scout</li>
<li>Curling Head: Arikara scout</li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Fred_Gerard" title="Fred Gerard">Fred Gerard</a>: interpreter</li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Goes_Ahead" title="Goes Ahead">Goes Ahead</a>: Crow scout</li>
<li>Goose: Arikara scout (wounded in the hand by a 7th Cavalry trooper)</li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Hairy_Moccasin" title="Hairy Moccasin">Hairy Moccasin</a>: Crow scout</li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Half_Yellow_Face,_Crow_Indian" class="mw-redirect" title="Half Yellow Face, Crow Indian">Half Yellow Face</a>, leader of Crow Scouts, also known as Paints Half His Face Yellow<sup id="cite_ref-curtis_78-4" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-curtis-78">[75]</a></sup><sup class="reference" style="white-space:nowrap;">:<span title="Page / location: 46">46</span></sup></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Isaiah_Dorman" title="Isaiah Dorman">Isaiah Dorman</a>: interpreter (killed)</li>
<li>Little Brave: Arikara scout (killed)</li>
<li>Little Sioux: Arikara scout</li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Mitch_Bouyer" title="Mitch Bouyer">Mitch Bouyer</a>: scout/interpreter (killed)</li>
<li>One Feather: Arikara scout</li>
<li>Owl: Arikara scout</li>
<li>Peter Jackson: half-Pikuni and half Blackfoot brother of William, scout</li>
<li>Red Bear: Arikara scout</li>
<li>Red Star: Arikara scout</li>
<li>Running Wolf: Arikara scout</li>
<li>Sitting Bear: Arikara scout</li>
<li>Soldier: Arikara scout</li>
<li>Strikes The Lodge: Arikara scout</li>
<li>Strikes Two: Arikara scout</li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Two_Moons" title="Two Moons">Two Moons</a>: Arikara/Cheyenne scout</li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/White_Man_Runs_Him" title="White Man Runs Him">White Man Runs Him</a>: Crow scout</li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/White_Swan" title="White Swan">White Swan</a>: Crow Scout (severely wounded)</li>
<li>William Jackson: half-Pikuni and half Blackfoot scout</li>
<li>Young Hawk: Arikara scout</li></ul>
<ul class="gallery mw-gallery-packed center" style="text-align:left">
<li class="gallerybox" style="width: 207.33333333333px"><div style="width: 207.33333333333px">
<div class="thumb" style="width: 205.33333333333px;"><div style="margin:0px auto;"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/File:Edward_Curtis_with_Crow_Indians_1908.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d4/Edward_Curtis_with_Crow_Indians_1908.jpg/308px-Edward_Curtis_with_Crow_Indians_1908.jpg" decoding="async" width="206" height="150" srcset="/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d4/Edward_Curtis_with_Crow_Indians_1908.jpg/463px-Edward_Curtis_with_Crow_Indians_1908.jpg 1.5x, /upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d4/Edward_Curtis_with_Crow_Indians_1908.jpg/616px-Edward_Curtis_with_Crow_Indians_1908.jpg 2x" data-file-width="960" data-file-height="701" /></a></div></div>
<div class="gallerytext">
<p>Three of Custer's scouts accompanying <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Edward_S._Curtis" title="Edward S. Curtis">Edward Curtis</a> on his investigative tour of the battlefield, circa 1907. Left to right: <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Goes_Ahead" title="Goes Ahead">Goes Ahead</a>, <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Hairy_Moccasin" title="Hairy Moccasin">Hairy Moccasin</a>, <a href="/enwiki/wiki/White_Man_Runs_Him" title="White Man Runs Him">White Man Runs Him</a>, Curtis and <a href="/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Alexander_B._Upshaw&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Alexander B. Upshaw (page does not exist)">Alexander B. Upshaw</a> (Curtis's assistant and Crow interpreter)
</p>
</div>
</div></li>
<li class="gallerybox" style="width: 110.66666666667px"><div style="width: 110.66666666667px">
<div class="thumb" style="width: 108.66666666667px;"><div style="margin:0px auto;"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/File:Portrait_of_Curley,_A_Crow_Indian_Scout_with_the_Seventh_Cavalry_at_the_Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn_-_NARA_-_533090_NewEdit.tif" class="image"><img alt="" src="/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/50/Portrait_of_Curley%2C_A_Crow_Indian_Scout_with_the_Seventh_Cavalry_at_the_Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn_-_NARA_-_533090_NewEdit.tif/lossy-page1-163px-Portrait_of_Curley%2C_A_Crow_Indian_Scout_with_the_Seventh_Cavalry_at_the_Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn_-_NARA_-_533090_NewEdit.tif.jpg" decoding="async" width="109" height="150" srcset="/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/50/Portrait_of_Curley%2C_A_Crow_Indian_Scout_with_the_Seventh_Cavalry_at_the_Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn_-_NARA_-_533090_NewEdit.tif/lossy-page1-245px-Portrait_of_Curley%2C_A_Crow_Indian_Scout_with_the_Seventh_Cavalry_at_the_Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn_-_NARA_-_533090_NewEdit.tif.jpg 1.5x, /upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/50/Portrait_of_Curley%2C_A_Crow_Indian_Scout_with_the_Seventh_Cavalry_at_the_Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn_-_NARA_-_533090_NewEdit.tif/lossy-page1-326px-Portrait_of_Curley%2C_A_Crow_Indian_Scout_with_the_Seventh_Cavalry_at_the_Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn_-_NARA_-_533090_NewEdit.tif.jpg 2x" data-file-width="1832" data-file-height="2525" /></a></div></div>
<div class="gallerytext">
<p>Curley, Custer's Crow scout and interpreter through the battle.
</p>
</div>
</div></li>
<li class="gallerybox" style="width: 202px"><div style="width: 202px">
<div class="thumb" style="width: 200px;"><div style="margin:0px auto;"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/File:CurlyPhilKonstantin.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/25/CurlyPhilKonstantin.jpg/300px-CurlyPhilKonstantin.jpg" decoding="async" width="200" height="150" srcset="/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/2/25/CurlyPhilKonstantin.jpg 1.5x" data-file-width="419" data-file-height="314" /></a></div></div>
<div class="gallerytext">
<p>Grave of Curley
</p>
</div>
</div></li>
<li class="gallerybox" style="width: 221.33333333333px"><div style="width: 221.33333333333px">
<div class="thumb" style="width: 219.33333333333px;"><div style="margin:0px auto;"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/File:Crow_Scouts_1913.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/41/Crow_Scouts_1913.jpg/329px-Crow_Scouts_1913.jpg" decoding="async" width="220" height="150" srcset="/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/4/41/Crow_Scouts_1913.jpg 1.5x" data-file-width="360" data-file-height="246" /></a></div></div>
<div class="gallerytext">
<p>Former U.S. Army <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Crow_Scouts" class="mw-redirect" title="Crow Scouts">Crow Scouts</a> visiting the Little Bighorn battlefield, circa 1913
</p>
</div>
</div></li>
</ul>
<h2><span class="mw-headline" id="Order_of_battle">Order of battle</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn&action=edit&section=28" title="Edit section: Order of battle">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2>
<p><b>Native Americans</b>
</p>
<table class="wikitable">
<tbody><tr>
<th width="25%">Native Americans
</th>
<th width="25%">Tribe
</th>
<th>Leaders
</th></tr>
<tr>
<td rowspan="4">
<p><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Native_Americans_in_the_United_States" title="Native Americans in the United States">Native Americans</a><br />    
</p>
</td>
<td><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Lakota_people" title="Lakota people">Lakota Sioux</a>
<p><br />  
</p>
</td>
<td>
<ul><li>Hunkpapa: <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Sitting_Bull" title="Sitting Bull">Sitting Bull</a>, Four Horns, <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Crow_King" title="Crow King">Crow King</a>, <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Gall_(Native_American_leader)" title="Gall (Native American leader)">Chief Gall</a>, <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Black_Moon_(person)" title="Black Moon (person)">Black Moon</a>, <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Rain-in-the-Face" title="Rain-in-the-Face">Rain-in-the-Face</a>, Moving Robe Women, Spotted Horn Bull, Iron Hawk, <a href="/enwiki/wiki/One_Bull" title="One Bull">One Bull</a>, Bull Head, Chasing Eagle</li>
<li>Sihasapa: Crawler, <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Kill_Eagle" title="Kill Eagle">Kill Eagle</a></li>
<li>Minneconjou: Chief Hump, Black Moon, Red Horse, Makes Room, Looks Up, <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Lame_Deer" title="Lame Deer">Lame Deer</a>, Dog-with-Horn, Dog Back Bone, <a href="/enwiki/wiki/White_Bull_(Native_American)" class="mw-redirect" title="White Bull (Native American)">White Bull</a>, Feather Earring, Flying By</li>
<li>Sans Arc: Spotted Eagle, Red Bear, Long Road, Cloud Man</li>
<li>Oglala: <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Crazy_Horse" title="Crazy Horse">Crazy Horse</a>, <a href="/enwiki/wiki/He_Dog" title="He Dog">He Dog</a>, <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Kicking_Bear" title="Kicking Bear">Kicking Bear</a>, <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Flying_Hawk" title="Flying Hawk">Flying Hawk</a>, <a href="/enwiki/wiki/American_Horse_(elder)" title="American Horse (elder)">American Horse the Elder</a>, Chief Long Wolf, <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Black_Elk" title="Black Elk">Black Elk</a>, White Cow Bull, <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Running_Eagle" title="Running Eagle">Running Eagle</a>, Black Fox II</li>
<li>Brule: Two Eagles, <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Hollow_Horn_Bear" title="Hollow Horn Bear">Hollow Horn Bear</a>, Brave Bird</li>
<li>Two Kettles: Runs-the-Enemy</li></ul>
</td></tr>
<tr>
<td><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Dakota_people" title="Dakota people">Dakota Sioux</a>
<p><br />  
</p>
</td>
<td>
<ul><li>Lower Yanktonai: Thunder Bear, Medicine Cloud, Iron Bear, Long Tree</li>
<li>Wahpekute: <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Inkpaduta" title="Inkpaduta">Inkpaduta</a>, Sounds-the-Ground-as-He-Walks, White Eagle, White Tracking Earth</li></ul>
</td></tr>
<tr>
<td><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Northern_Cheyenne" class="mw-redirect" title="Northern Cheyenne">Northern Cheyenne</a>
<p><br />  
</p>
</td>
<td>
<ul><li>Northern Cheyenne: <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Two_Moons" title="Two Moons">Two Moons</a>, <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Wooden_Leg" title="Wooden Leg">Wooden Leg</a>, <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Old_Bear" class="mw-redirect" title="Old Bear">Old Bear</a>, <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Lame_White_Man" title="Lame White Man">Lame White Man</a> <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Killed_in_action" title="Killed in action">†</a>, <a href="/enwiki/w/index.php?title=American_Horse_(Cheyenne)&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="American Horse (Cheyenne) (page does not exist)">American Horse</a>, Brave Wolf, Antelope Women, Thunder Bull Big Nose, Yellow Horse, Little Shield, Horse Road, Bob Tail Horse, Yellow Hair, Bear-Walks-on-a-Ridge, Black Hawk, <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Buffalo_Calf_Road_Woman" title="Buffalo Calf Road Woman">Buffalo Calf Road Woman</a>, Crooked Nose, Noisy Walking<a href="/enwiki/wiki/Killed_in_action" title="Killed in action">†</a></li></ul>
</td></tr>
<tr>
<td><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Arapaho" title="Arapaho">Arapaho</a>
<p><br />  
</p>
</td>
<td>
<ul><li>Arapahoes: Waterman, Sage, Left Hand, Yellow Eagle, Little Bird</li></ul>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<p><b>United States Army</b>, Lieutenant Colonel <a href="/enwiki/wiki/George_A._Custer" class="mw-redirect" title="George A. Custer">George A. Custer</a>, 7th United States Cavalry Regiment, Commanding.
</p>
<table class="wikitable">
<tbody><tr>
<th width="25%">7th United States Cavalry Regiment
</th>
<th width="25%">Battalion
</th>
<th>Companies and Others
</th></tr>
<tr>
<td rowspan="5">
<p><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Lieutenant_colonel_(United_States)" title="Lieutenant colonel (United States)">Lieutenant Colonel</a> <a href="/enwiki/wiki/George_A._Custer" class="mw-redirect" title="George A. Custer">George A. Custer</a> <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Killed_in_action" title="Killed in action">†</a>, commanding.<br />    
</p>
</td>
<td>Custer's Battalion
<p><br />  
Lieutenant Colonel George A. Custer <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Killed_in_action" title="Killed in action">†</a>
</p>
</td>
<td>
<ul><li>Company C: Captain <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Thomas_Custer" title="Thomas Custer">Thomas Custer</a> <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Killed_in_action" title="Killed in action">†</a></li>
<li>Company E: First Lieutenant <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Algernon_Smith" title="Algernon Smith">Algernon Smith</a> <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Killed_in_action" title="Killed in action">†</a></li>
<li>Company F: Captain <a href="/enwiki/wiki/George_Yates" title="George Yates">George Yates</a> <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Killed_in_action" title="Killed in action">†</a></li>
<li>Company I: Captain <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Myles_Keogh" title="Myles Keogh">Myles Keogh</a> <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Killed_in_action" title="Killed in action">†</a></li>
<li>Company L: First Lieutenant <a href="/enwiki/wiki/James_Calhoun_(7th_Cavalry)" class="mw-redirect" title="James Calhoun (7th Cavalry)">James Calhoun</a> <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Killed_in_action" title="Killed in action">†</a></li></ul>
</td></tr>
<tr>
<td>Reno's Battalion
<p><br />  
<a href="/enwiki/wiki/Major_(United_States)" title="Major (United States)">Major</a> <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Marcus_Reno" title="Marcus Reno">Marcus Reno</a>
</p>
</td>
<td>
<ul><li>Company A: Captain <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Myles_Moylan" title="Myles Moylan">Myles Moylan</a></li>
<li>Company G: First Lieutenant <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Donald_McIntosh" title="Donald McIntosh">Donald McIntosh</a> <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Killed_in_action" title="Killed in action">†</a></li>
<li>Company M: Captain Thomas French</li></ul>
</td></tr>
<tr>
<td>Benteen's Battalion
<p><br />  
<a href="/enwiki/wiki/Captain_(United_States_O-3)" title="Captain (United States O-3)">Captain</a> <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Frederick_Benteen" title="Frederick Benteen">Frederick Benteen</a>
</p>
</td>
<td>
<ul><li>Company D: Captain <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Thomas_Weir_(American_soldier)" title="Thomas Weir (American soldier)">Thomas Weir</a></li>
<li>Company H: Captain Frederick Benteen</li>
<li>Company K: First Lieutenant <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Edward_Settle_Godfrey" title="Edward Settle Godfrey">Edward Settle Godfrey</a></li></ul>
</td></tr>
<tr>
<td>Pack Train
<p><br />  
<a href="/enwiki/wiki/First_lieutenant#United_States" title="First lieutenant">First Lieutenant</a> Edward Gustave Mathey
</p>
</td>
<td>
<ul><li>Company B: Captain <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Thomas_Mower_McDougall" title="Thomas Mower McDougall">Thomas McDougall</a></li></ul>
</td></tr>
<tr>
<td>Scouts and Interpreters
<p><br />  
<a href="/enwiki/wiki/Second_lieutenant#United_States" title="Second lieutenant">Second Lieutenant</a> <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Charles_Varnum" title="Charles Varnum">Charles Varnum</a> <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Wounded_in_action" title="Wounded in action">(wounded)</a>, Chief of Scouts
</p>
</td>
<td>
<ul><li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Bloody_Knife" title="Bloody Knife">Bloody Knife</a> <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Killed_in_action" title="Killed in action">†</a>, <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Charley_Reynolds" title="Charley Reynolds">Charley Reynolds</a> <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Killed_in_action" title="Killed in action">†</a>, <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Isaiah_Dorman" title="Isaiah Dorman">Isaiah Dorman</a> <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Killed_in_action" title="Killed in action">†</a>, <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Mitch_Bouyer" title="Mitch Bouyer">Mitch Bouyer</a> <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Killed_in_action" title="Killed in action">†</a>, Bob Tailed Bull<a href="/enwiki/wiki/Killed_in_action" title="Killed in action">†</a>, Little Brave<a href="/enwiki/wiki/Killed_in_action" title="Killed in action">†</a>, White Swan <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Wounded_in_action" title="Wounded in action">(severely wounded)</a>, Goose <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Wounded_in_action" title="Wounded in action">(wounded)</a>, Curley, Curling Head, <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Fred_Gerard" title="Fred Gerard">Fred Gerard</a>, Goes Ahead, Boy Chief, Hairy Moccasin, Half Yellow Face (Paints Half His Face Yellow), Little Sioux, One Feather, Owl, Peter Jackson, William Jackson, Red Bear, Red Star, Running Wolf, Sitting Bear, Soldier, Strikes The Lodge, Strikes Two, Two Moons, White Man Runs Him, Young Hawk</li></ul>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<h2><span class="mw-headline" id="Casualties">Casualties</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn&action=edit&section=29" title="Edit section: Casualties">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2>
<h3><span class="mw-headline" id="Native_American_warriors">Native American warriors</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn&action=edit&section=30" title="Edit section: Native American warriors">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h3>
<p>Estimates of Native American casualties have differed widely, from as few as 36 dead (from Native American listings of the dead by name) to as many as 300.<sup id="cite_ref-115" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-115">[109]</a></sup> Lakota chief <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Red_Horse_(Lakota_chief)" title="Red Horse (Lakota chief)">Red Horse</a> told Col. W. H. Wood in 1877 that the Native Americans suffered 136 dead and 160 wounded during the battle.<sup id="cite_ref-116" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-116">[110]</a></sup> In 1881, Red Horse told Dr. C. E. McChesney the same numbers but in a series of drawings done by Red Horse to illustrate the battle, he drew only sixty figures representing Lakota and Cheyenne casualties. Of those sixty figures, only thirty-some are portrayed with a conventional Plains Indian method of indicating death. In the last 140 years, historians have been able to identify multiple Indian names pertaining to the same individual, which has greatly reduced previously inflated numbers. Today a list of positively known casualties exists that lists 99 names, attributed and consolidated to 31 identified warriors.<sup id="cite_ref-117" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-117">[111]</a></sup>
</p>
<style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1021810730">@media all and (max-width:720px){.mw-parser-output .mod-gallery{width:100%!important}}.mw-parser-output .mod-gallery{display:table}.mw-parser-output .mod-gallery-default{background:transparent;margin-top:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .mod-gallery-center{margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto}.mw-parser-output .mod-gallery-left{float:left}.mw-parser-output .mod-gallery-right{float:right}.mw-parser-output .mod-gallery-none{float:none}.mw-parser-output .mod-gallery-collapsible{width:100%}.mw-parser-output .mod-gallery .title,.mw-parser-output .mod-gallery .main,.mw-parser-output .mod-gallery .footer{display:table-row}.mw-parser-output .mod-gallery .title>div{display:table-cell;padding:0.2em 0 0.6em 1.6em;text-align:center;font-weight:bold}.mw-parser-output .mod-gallery .main>div{display:table-cell}.mw-parser-output .mod-gallery .gallery{line-height:1.35em}.mw-parser-output .mod-gallery .footer>div{display:table-cell;padding:0.2em 0 0.6em 1.6em;text-align:right;font-size:80%;line-height:1em}.mw-parser-output .mod-gallery .title>div *,.mw-parser-output .mod-gallery .footer>div *{overflow:visible}.mw-parser-output .mod-gallery .gallerybox img{background:none!important}.mw-parser-output .mod-gallery .bordered-images .thumb img{border:solid #eaecf0 1px}.mw-parser-output .mod-gallery .whitebg .thumb{background:#fff!important}</style><div class="mod-gallery mod-gallery-default mod-gallery-center"><div class="title"><div>Red Horse pictographic account of Lakota casualties in the Battle of the Little Bighorn, 1881</div></div><div class="main"><div><ul class="gallery mw-gallery-traditional nochecker bordered-images whitebg">
<li class="gallerybox" style="width: 215px"><div style="width: 215px">
<div class="thumb" style="width: 210px;"><div style="margin:15px auto;"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/File:Red-Horse-cabinet-card.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="/upwiki/wikipedia/en/thumb/1/1e/Red-Horse-cabinet-card.jpg/123px-Red-Horse-cabinet-card.jpg" decoding="async" width="123" height="180" srcset="/upwiki/wikipedia/en/thumb/1/1e/Red-Horse-cabinet-card.jpg/185px-Red-Horse-cabinet-card.jpg 1.5x, /upwiki/wikipedia/en/thumb/1/1e/Red-Horse-cabinet-card.jpg/247px-Red-Horse-cabinet-card.jpg 2x" data-file-width="395" data-file-height="576" /></a></div></div>
<div class="gallerytext">
<p>Red Horse
</p>
</div>
</div></li>
<li class="gallerybox" style="width: 215px"><div style="width: 215px">
<div class="thumb" style="width: 210px;"><div style="margin:40.5px auto;"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/File:Red_Horse_pictographic_account_of_the_Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn,_1881._0000.png" class="image"><img alt="Red Horse pictographic account of the Battle of the Little Bighorn, 1881. 0000.png" src="/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2e/Red_Horse_pictographic_account_of_the_Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn%2C_1881._0000.png/180px-Red_Horse_pictographic_account_of_the_Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn%2C_1881._0000.png" decoding="async" width="180" height="129" srcset="/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2e/Red_Horse_pictographic_account_of_the_Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn%2C_1881._0000.png/270px-Red_Horse_pictographic_account_of_the_Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn%2C_1881._0000.png 1.5x, /upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2e/Red_Horse_pictographic_account_of_the_Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn%2C_1881._0000.png/360px-Red_Horse_pictographic_account_of_the_Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn%2C_1881._0000.png 2x" data-file-width="915" data-file-height="657" /></a></div></div>
<div class="gallerytext">
</div>
</div></li>
<li class="gallerybox" style="width: 215px"><div style="width: 215px">
<div class="thumb" style="width: 210px;"><div style="margin:40.5px auto;"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/File:Red_Horse_pictographic_account_of_the_Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn,_1881._0100.png" class="image"><img alt="Red Horse pictographic account of the Battle of the Little Bighorn, 1881. 0100.png" src="/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/63/Red_Horse_pictographic_account_of_the_Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn%2C_1881._0100.png/180px-Red_Horse_pictographic_account_of_the_Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn%2C_1881._0100.png" decoding="async" width="180" height="129" srcset="/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/63/Red_Horse_pictographic_account_of_the_Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn%2C_1881._0100.png/270px-Red_Horse_pictographic_account_of_the_Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn%2C_1881._0100.png 1.5x, /upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/63/Red_Horse_pictographic_account_of_the_Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn%2C_1881._0100.png/360px-Red_Horse_pictographic_account_of_the_Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn%2C_1881._0100.png 2x" data-file-width="915" data-file-height="657" /></a></div></div>
<div class="gallerytext">
</div>
</div></li>
<li class="gallerybox" style="width: 215px"><div style="width: 215px">
<div class="thumb" style="width: 210px;"><div style="margin:40.5px auto;"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/File:Red_Horse_pictographic_account_of_the_Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn,_1881._0200.png" class="image"><img alt="" src="/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a2/Red_Horse_pictographic_account_of_the_Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn%2C_1881._0200.png/180px-Red_Horse_pictographic_account_of_the_Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn%2C_1881._0200.png" decoding="async" width="180" height="129" srcset="/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a2/Red_Horse_pictographic_account_of_the_Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn%2C_1881._0200.png/270px-Red_Horse_pictographic_account_of_the_Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn%2C_1881._0200.png 1.5x, /upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a2/Red_Horse_pictographic_account_of_the_Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn%2C_1881._0200.png/360px-Red_Horse_pictographic_account_of_the_Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn%2C_1881._0200.png 2x" data-file-width="915" data-file-height="657" /></a></div></div>
<div class="gallerytext">
<p>Plate XLIV
</p>
</div>
</div></li>
<li class="gallerybox" style="width: 215px"><div style="width: 215px">
<div class="thumb" style="width: 210px;"><div style="margin:15px auto;"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/File:Lakota_casualites.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4f/Lakota_casualites.jpg/128px-Lakota_casualites.jpg" decoding="async" width="128" height="180" srcset="/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4f/Lakota_casualites.jpg/193px-Lakota_casualites.jpg 1.5x, /upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4f/Lakota_casualites.jpg/257px-Lakota_casualites.jpg 2x" data-file-width="822" data-file-height="1152" /></a></div></div>
<div class="gallerytext">
<p>Plate XLV
</p>
</div>
</div></li>
<li class="gallerybox" style="width: 215px"><div style="width: 215px">
<div class="thumb" style="width: 210px;"><div style="margin:49px auto;"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/File:Annual_report_of_the_Bureau_of_Ethnology_to_the_Secretary_of_the_Smithsonian_Institution_(1888)_(19363409875).jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Annual_report_of_the_Bureau_of_Ethnology_to_the_Secretary_of_the_Smithsonian_Institution_%281888%29_%2819363409875%29.jpg/180px-Annual_report_of_the_Bureau_of_Ethnology_to_the_Secretary_of_the_Smithsonian_Institution_%281888%29_%2819363409875%29.jpg" decoding="async" width="180" height="112" srcset="/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Annual_report_of_the_Bureau_of_Ethnology_to_the_Secretary_of_the_Smithsonian_Institution_%281888%29_%2819363409875%29.jpg/270px-Annual_report_of_the_Bureau_of_Ethnology_to_the_Secretary_of_the_Smithsonian_Institution_%281888%29_%2819363409875%29.jpg 1.5x, /upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Annual_report_of_the_Bureau_of_Ethnology_to_the_Secretary_of_the_Smithsonian_Institution_%281888%29_%2819363409875%29.jpg/360px-Annual_report_of_the_Bureau_of_Ethnology_to_the_Secretary_of_the_Smithsonian_Institution_%281888%29_%2819363409875%29.jpg 2x" data-file-width="3072" data-file-height="1911" /></a></div></div>
<div class="gallerytext">
<p>Indians leaving the Battlefield Plate XLVIII
</p>
</div>
</div></li>
</ul></div></div></div>
<h3><span class="mw-headline" id="Native_American_noncombatants">Native American noncombatants</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn&action=edit&section=31" title="Edit section: Native American noncombatants">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h3>
<p>Six unnamed Native American women and four unnamed children are known to have been killed at the beginning of the battle during Reno's charge. Among them were two wives and three children of the Hunkpapa Leader Pizi (Gall).<sup class="noprint Inline-Template Template-Fact" style="white-space:nowrap;">[<i><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed" title="Wikipedia:Citation needed"><span title="This claim needs references to reliable sources. (July 2019)">citation needed</span></a></i>]</sup>
</p>
<h3><span class="mw-headline" id="7th_Cavalry">7th Cavalry</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn&action=edit&section=32" title="Edit section: 7th Cavalry">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h3>
<p>The 7th Cavalry suffered 52 percent casualties: 16 officers and 242 troopers killed or died of wounds, 1 officer and 51 troopers wounded. Every soldier of the five companies with Custer was killed (except for some <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Crow_scouts" title="Crow scouts">Crow scouts</a> and several troopers that had left that column before the battle or as the battle was starting). Among the dead were Custer's brothers Boston and Thomas, his brother-in-law James Calhoun, and his nephew Henry Reed.
</p><p>In 1878, the army awarded 24 <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Medal_of_Honor" title="Medal of Honor">Medals of Honor</a> to participants in the fight on the bluffs for bravery, most for risking their lives to carry water from the river up the hill to the wounded.<sup id="cite_ref-118" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-118">[112]</a></sup> Few on the non-Indian side questioned the conduct of the enlisted men, but many questioned the tactics, strategy and conduct of the officers. Indian accounts spoke of soldiers' panic-driven flight and suicide by those unwilling to fall captive to the Indians. While such stories were gathered by <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Thomas_Bailey_Marquis" title="Thomas Bailey Marquis">Thomas Bailey Marquis</a> in a book in the 1930s, it was not published until 1976 because of the unpopularity of such assertions.<sup id="cite_ref-cheyenne_119-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-cheyenne-119">[113]</a></sup> Although soldiers may have believed captives would be tortured, Indians usually killed men outright and took as captive for adoption only young women and children.<sup id="cite_ref-cheyenne_119-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-cheyenne-119">[113]</a></sup> Indian accounts also noted the bravery of soldiers who fought to the death.<sup id="cite_ref-120" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-120">[114]</a></sup>
</p>
<link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1021810730"/><div class="mod-gallery mod-gallery-default mod-gallery-center"><div class="title"><div>Red Horse pictographic account of dead U.S. cavalrymen in the Battle of the Little Bighorn, 1881</div></div><div class="main"><div><ul class="gallery mw-gallery-traditional nochecker bordered-images whitebg">
<li class="gallerybox" style="width: 215px"><div style="width: 215px">
<div class="thumb" style="width: 210px;"><div style="margin:40.5px auto;"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/File:Red_Horse_pictographic_account_of_the_Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn,_1881._0300.png" class="image"><img alt="Red Horse pictographic account of the Battle of the Little Bighorn, 1881. 0300.png" src="/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1b/Red_Horse_pictographic_account_of_the_Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn%2C_1881._0300.png/180px-Red_Horse_pictographic_account_of_the_Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn%2C_1881._0300.png" decoding="async" width="180" height="129" srcset="/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1b/Red_Horse_pictographic_account_of_the_Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn%2C_1881._0300.png/270px-Red_Horse_pictographic_account_of_the_Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn%2C_1881._0300.png 1.5x, /upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1b/Red_Horse_pictographic_account_of_the_Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn%2C_1881._0300.png/360px-Red_Horse_pictographic_account_of_the_Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn%2C_1881._0300.png 2x" data-file-width="915" data-file-height="657" /></a></div></div>
<div class="gallerytext">
</div>
</div></li>
<li class="gallerybox" style="width: 215px"><div style="width: 215px">
<div class="thumb" style="width: 210px;"><div style="margin:40.5px auto;"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/File:Red_Horse_pictographic_account_of_the_Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn,_1881._0400.png" class="image"><img alt="" src="/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8e/Red_Horse_pictographic_account_of_the_Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn%2C_1881._0400.png/180px-Red_Horse_pictographic_account_of_the_Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn%2C_1881._0400.png" decoding="async" width="180" height="129" srcset="/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8e/Red_Horse_pictographic_account_of_the_Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn%2C_1881._0400.png/270px-Red_Horse_pictographic_account_of_the_Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn%2C_1881._0400.png 1.5x, /upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8e/Red_Horse_pictographic_account_of_the_Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn%2C_1881._0400.png/360px-Red_Horse_pictographic_account_of_the_Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn%2C_1881._0400.png 2x" data-file-width="915" data-file-height="657" /></a></div></div>
<div class="gallerytext">
<p>Cavalrymen and two Indian Government scouts[?]
</p>
</div>
</div></li>
<li class="gallerybox" style="width: 215px"><div style="width: 215px">
<div class="thumb" style="width: 210px;"><div style="margin:40.5px auto;"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/File:Red_Horse_pictographic_account_of_the_Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn,_1881._0500.png" class="image"><img alt="Red Horse pictographic account of the Battle of the Little Bighorn, 1881. 0500.png" src="/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c6/Red_Horse_pictographic_account_of_the_Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn%2C_1881._0500.png/180px-Red_Horse_pictographic_account_of_the_Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn%2C_1881._0500.png" decoding="async" width="180" height="129" srcset="/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c6/Red_Horse_pictographic_account_of_the_Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn%2C_1881._0500.png/270px-Red_Horse_pictographic_account_of_the_Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn%2C_1881._0500.png 1.5x, /upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c6/Red_Horse_pictographic_account_of_the_Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn%2C_1881._0500.png/360px-Red_Horse_pictographic_account_of_the_Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn%2C_1881._0500.png 2x" data-file-width="915" data-file-height="657" /></a></div></div>
<div class="gallerytext">
</div>
</div></li>
<li class="gallerybox" style="width: 215px"><div style="width: 215px">
<div class="thumb" style="width: 210px;"><div style="margin:40.5px auto;"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/File:Red_Horse_pictographic_account_of_the_Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn,_1881._0600.png" class="image"><img alt="" src="/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b5/Red_Horse_pictographic_account_of_the_Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn%2C_1881._0600.png/180px-Red_Horse_pictographic_account_of_the_Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn%2C_1881._0600.png" decoding="async" width="180" height="129" srcset="/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b5/Red_Horse_pictographic_account_of_the_Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn%2C_1881._0600.png/270px-Red_Horse_pictographic_account_of_the_Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn%2C_1881._0600.png 1.5x, /upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b5/Red_Horse_pictographic_account_of_the_Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn%2C_1881._0600.png/360px-Red_Horse_pictographic_account_of_the_Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn%2C_1881._0600.png 2x" data-file-width="915" data-file-height="657" /></a></div></div>
<div class="gallerytext">
<p>Cavalrymen and dead cavalry horses
</p>
</div>
</div></li>
<li class="gallerybox" style="width: 215px"><div style="width: 215px">
<div class="thumb" style="width: 210px;"><div style="margin:40.5px auto;"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/File:Red_Horse_pictographic_account_of_the_Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn,_1881._0700.png" class="image"><img alt="" src="/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4a/Red_Horse_pictographic_account_of_the_Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn%2C_1881._0700.png/180px-Red_Horse_pictographic_account_of_the_Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn%2C_1881._0700.png" decoding="async" width="180" height="129" srcset="/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4a/Red_Horse_pictographic_account_of_the_Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn%2C_1881._0700.png/270px-Red_Horse_pictographic_account_of_the_Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn%2C_1881._0700.png 1.5x, /upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4a/Red_Horse_pictographic_account_of_the_Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn%2C_1881._0700.png/360px-Red_Horse_pictographic_account_of_the_Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn%2C_1881._0700.png 2x" data-file-width="915" data-file-height="657" /></a></div></div>
<div class="gallerytext">
<p><sup id="cite_ref-121" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-121">[115]</a></sup>
</p>
</div>
</div></li>
</ul></div></div></div>
<h3><span id="Civilians_killed_.28armed_and_embedded_within_the_Army.29"></span><span class="mw-headline" id="Civilians_killed_(armed_and_embedded_within_the_Army)">Civilians killed (armed and embedded within the Army)</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn&action=edit&section=33" title="Edit section: Civilians killed (armed and embedded within the Army)">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h3>
<ul><li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Boston_Custer" title="Boston Custer">Boston Custer</a>: brother of George and Thomas, forager for the 7th</li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Mark_Kellogg_(reporter)" title="Mark Kellogg (reporter)">Mark Kellogg</a>: reporter</li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Henry_Armstrong_Reed" title="Henry Armstrong Reed">Henry Armstrong Reed</a>: Custer's nephew, herder for the 7th</li></ul>
<h2><span class="mw-headline" id="Legacy">Legacy</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn&action=edit&section=34" title="Edit section: Legacy">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2>
<h3><span class="mw-headline" id="Reconstitution_of_the_7th_Cavalry">Reconstitution of the 7th Cavalry</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn&action=edit&section=35" title="Edit section: Reconstitution of the 7th Cavalry">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h3>
<p>Beginning in July, the 7th Cavalry was assigned new officers<sup id="cite_ref-hils_122-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-hils-122">[116]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-123" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-123">[note 7]</a></sup> and recruiting efforts began to fill the depleted ranks. The regiment, reorganized into eight companies, remained in the field as part of the Terry Expedition, now based on the Yellowstone River at the mouth of the Bighorn and reinforced by Gibbon's column. On August 8, 1876, after Terry was further reinforced with the 5th Infantry, the expedition moved up Rosebud Creek in pursuit of the Lakota. It met with Crook's command, similarly reinforced, and the combined force, almost 4,000 strong, followed the Lakota trail northeast toward the <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Little_Missouri_River_(North_Dakota)" title="Little Missouri River (North Dakota)">Little Missouri River</a>. Persistent rain and lack of supplies forced the column to dissolve and return to its varying starting points. The 7th Cavalry returned to Fort Abraham Lincoln to reconstitute. The regimental commander, Colonel <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Samuel_D._Sturgis" title="Samuel D. Sturgis">Samuel D. Sturgis</a>, returned from his detached duty in St. Louis, Missouri. Sturgis led the 7th Cavalry in the campaign against the <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Nez_Perce_War" title="Nez Perce War">Nez Perce</a> in 1877.
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<h3><span class="mw-headline" id="Expansion_of_the_U.S._Army">Expansion of the U.S. Army</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn&action=edit&section=36" title="Edit section: Expansion of the U.S. Army">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h3>
<p>The <a href="/enwiki/wiki/United_States_Congress" title="United States Congress">U.S. Congress</a> authorized appropriations to expand the Army by 2,500 men to meet the emergency after the defeat of the 7th Cavalry. For a session, the Democratic Party-controlled House of Representatives abandoned its campaign to reduce the size of the Army. Word of Custer's fate reached the 44th United States Congress as a conference committee was attempting to reconcile opposing appropriations bills approved by the House and the Republican Senate. They approved a measure to increase the size of cavalry companies to 100 enlisted men on July 24. The committee temporarily lifted the ceiling on the size of the Army by 2,500 on August 15.<sup id="cite_ref-124" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-124">[117]</a></sup>
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<h3><span id=".22Sell_or_Starve.22"></span><span class="mw-headline" id=""Sell_or_Starve"">"Sell or Starve"</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn&action=edit&section=37" title="Edit section: "Sell or Starve"">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h3>
<link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1033289096"/><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">Main article: <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Black_Hills_land_claim" title="Black Hills land claim">Black Hills land claim</a></div>
<p>As a result of the defeat in June 1876, Congress responded by attaching what the Sioux call the "sell or starve" rider (19 <a href="/enwiki/wiki/United_States_Statutes_at_Large" title="United States Statutes at Large">Stat.</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://legislink.org/us/stat-19-192">192</a>) to the Indian Appropriations Act of 1876 (enacted August 15, 1876), which cut off all rations for the Sioux until they terminated hostilities and ceded the Black Hills to the United States.<sup id="cite_ref-125" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-125">[118]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-126" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-126">[119]</a></sup> The Agreement of 1877 (19 <a href="/enwiki/wiki/United_States_Statutes_at_Large" title="United States Statutes at Large">Stat.</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://legislink.org/us/stat-19-254">254</a>, enacted February 28, 1877) officially took away Sioux land and permanently established Indian reservations.
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<h2><span class="mw-headline" id="Controversies">Controversies</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn&action=edit&section=38" title="Edit section: Controversies">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2>
<h3><span id="Reno.27s_conduct"></span><span class="mw-headline" id="Reno's_conduct">Reno's conduct</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn&action=edit&section=39" title="Edit section: Reno's conduct">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h3>
<p>The Battle of the Little Bighorn was the subject of an 1879 U.S. Army Court of Inquiry in Chicago, held at Reno's request, during which his conduct was scrutinized.<sup id="cite_ref-127" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-127">[120]</a></sup> Some testimony by non-Army officers suggested that he was drunk and a coward. The court found Reno's conduct to be without fault. After the battle, Thomas Rosser, James O'Kelly, and others continued to question the conduct of Reno due to his hastily ordered retreat.<sup id="cite_ref-128" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-128">[121]</a></sup> Defenders of Reno at the trial noted that, while the retreat was disorganized, Reno did not withdraw from his position until it became apparent that he was outnumbered and outflanked by the Indians. Contemporary accounts also point to the fact that Reno's scout, Bloody Knife, was shot in the head, spraying him with blood, possibly increasing his panic and distress.<sup id="cite_ref-Fox1993_49-8" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Fox1993-49">[46]</a></sup>
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<h3><span id="Custer.27s_errors"></span><span class="mw-headline" id="Custer's_errors">Custer's errors</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn&action=edit&section=40" title="Edit section: Custer's errors">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h3>
<p>General Terry and others claimed that Custer made strategic errors from the start of the campaign. For instance, he refused to use a battery of Gatling guns and turned down General Terry's offer of an additional battalion of the 2nd Cavalry. Custer believed that the Gatling guns would impede his march up the Rosebud and hamper his mobility. His rapid march en route to the Little Bighorn averaged nearly 30 miles (48 km) a day, so his assessment appears to have been accurate. Custer planned "to live and travel like Indians; in this manner the command will be able to go wherever the Indians can", he wrote in his <i>Herald</i> dispatch.<sup id="cite_ref-Donovan_2008_129-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Donovan_2008-129">[122]</a></sup>
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<div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:222px;"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/File:Pawnee_bill_wild_west_show_c1905.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Pawnee_bill_wild_west_show_c1905.jpg/220px-Pawnee_bill_wild_west_show_c1905.jpg" decoding="async" width="220" height="175" class="thumbimage" srcset="/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Pawnee_bill_wild_west_show_c1905.jpg/330px-Pawnee_bill_wild_west_show_c1905.jpg 1.5x, /upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Pawnee_bill_wild_west_show_c1905.jpg/440px-Pawnee_bill_wild_west_show_c1905.jpg 2x" data-file-width="3756" data-file-height="2993" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/File:Pawnee_bill_wild_west_show_c1905.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div><i>Death of Custer</i>, scene by Pawnee Bill's Wild West Show performers c. 1905 of Sitting Bull's stabbing Custer, with dead Native Americans lying on ground</div></div></div>
<p>By contrast, each Gatling gun had to be hauled by four horses, and soldiers often had to drag the heavy guns by hand over obstacles. Each of the heavy, hand-cranked weapons could fire up to 350 rounds a minute, an impressive rate, but they were known to jam frequently. During the <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Black_Hills_Expedition" title="Black Hills Expedition">Black Hills Expedition</a> two years earlier, a Gatling gun had turned over, rolled down a mountain, and shattered to pieces. Lieutenant William Low, commander of the artillery detachment, was said to have almost wept when he learned he had been excluded from the strike force.<sup id="cite_ref-Donovan_2008_129-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Donovan_2008-129">[122]</a></sup>
</p><p>Custer believed that the 7th Cavalry could handle any Indian force and that the addition of the four companies of the 2nd would not alter the outcome. When offered the 2nd Cavalry, he reportedly replied that the 7th "could handle anything."<sup id="cite_ref-130" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-130">[123]</a></sup> There is evidence that Custer suspected that he would be outnumbered by the Indians, although he did not know by how much. By dividing his forces, Custer could have caused the defeat of the entire column, had it not been for Benteen's and Reno's linking up to make a desperate yet successful stand on the bluff above the southern end of the camp.<sup id="cite_ref-131" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-131">[124]</a></sup>
</p><p>The historian James Donovan believed that Custer's dividing his force into four smaller detachments (including the pack train) can be attributed to his inadequate reconnaissance; he also ignored the warnings of his Crow scouts and Charley Reynolds.<sup id="cite_ref-132" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-132">[125]</a></sup> By the time the battle began, Custer had already divided his forces into three battalions of differing sizes, of which he kept the largest. His men were widely scattered and unable to support each other.<sup id="cite_ref-133" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-133">[126]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-134" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-134">[127]</a></sup> Wanting to prevent any escape by the combined tribes to the south, where they could disperse into different groups,<sup id="cite_ref-Donovan,_loc_3699_48-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Donovan,_loc_3699-48">[45]</a></sup> Custer believed that an immediate attack on the south end of the camp was the best course of action.
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<h3><span class="mw-headline" id="Admiration_for_Custer">Admiration for Custer</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn&action=edit&section=41" title="Edit section: Admiration for Custer">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h3>
<p>Criticism of Custer was not universal. While investigating the battlefield, Lieutenant General <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Nelson_A._Miles" title="Nelson A. Miles">Nelson A. Miles</a> wrote in 1877, "The more I study the moves here [on the Little Big Horn], the more I have admiration for Custer."<sup id="cite_ref-135" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-135">[128]</a></sup> Facing major budget cutbacks, the U.S. Army wanted to avoid bad press and found ways to exculpate Custer. They blamed the defeat on the Indians' alleged possession of numerous repeating rifles and the overwhelming numerical superiority of the warriors.<sup id="cite_ref-136" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-136">[note 8]</a></sup>
</p><p>The widowed <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Elizabeth_Bacon_Custer" title="Elizabeth Bacon Custer">Elizabeth Bacon Custer</a>, who never remarried, wrote three popular books in which she fiercely protected her husband's reputation.<sup id="cite_ref-137" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-137">[129]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-138" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-138">[note 9]</a></sup> She lived until 1933, hindering much serious research until most of the evidence was long gone.<sup id="cite_ref-139" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-139">[130]</a></sup> In addition, Captain Frederick Whittaker's 1876 book idealizing Custer was hugely successful.<sup id="cite_ref-140" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-140">[131]</a></sup> Custer as a heroic officer fighting valiantly against savage forces was an image popularized in <i>Wild West</i> extravaganzas hosted by showman <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Buffalo_Bill" title="Buffalo Bill">"Buffalo Bill" Cody</a>, <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Pawnee_Bill" title="Pawnee Bill">Pawnee Bill</a>, and others. It was not until over half a century later that historians took another look at the battle and Custer's decisions that led to his death and loss of half his command and found much to criticize.<sup id="cite_ref-141" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-141">[132]</a></sup>
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<h3><span class="mw-headline" id="Gatling_gun_controversy">Gatling gun controversy</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn&action=edit&section=42" title="Edit section: Gatling gun controversy">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h3>
<p>General Alfred Terry's Dakota column included a single battery of artillery, comprising two <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Field_artillery_in_the_American_Civil_War#3-inch_rifle" title="Field artillery in the American Civil War">3-inch Ordnance rifle</a> and two <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Gatling_Gun" class="mw-redirect" title="Gatling Gun">Gatling guns</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-142" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-142">[133]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-143" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-143">[134]</a></sup> (According to historian Evan S. Connell, the precise number of Gatlings has not been established: either two or three.)<sup id="cite_ref-144" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-144">[135]</a></sup>
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<div class="thumb tleft"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:222px;"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/File:Mitrailleuse-gatling-p1000591.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4a/Mitrailleuse-gatling-p1000591.jpg/220px-Mitrailleuse-gatling-p1000591.jpg" decoding="async" width="220" height="165" class="thumbimage" srcset="/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4a/Mitrailleuse-gatling-p1000591.jpg/330px-Mitrailleuse-gatling-p1000591.jpg 1.5x, /upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4a/Mitrailleuse-gatling-p1000591.jpg/440px-Mitrailleuse-gatling-p1000591.jpg 2x" data-file-width="2560" data-file-height="1920" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/File:Mitrailleuse-gatling-p1000591.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>The Gatling gun, invented in 1861 by <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Richard_Jordan_Gatling" title="Richard Jordan Gatling">Richard Gatling</a>. Custer declined an offer of a battery of these weapons, explaining to Terry that they would "hamper our movements". Said Custer: "The 7th can handle anything it meets."<sup id="cite_ref-145" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-145">[136]</a></sup></div></div></div>
<p>Custer's decision to reject Terry's offer of the rapid-fire Gatlings has raised questions among historians as to why he refused them and what advantage their availability might have conferred on his forces at the Battle of the Little Bighorn.
<sup id="cite_ref-146" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-146">[137]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-147" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-147">[138]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-148" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-148">[139]</a></sup>
</p><p>One factor concerned Major Marcus Reno's recent 8-day reconnaissance-in-force of the Powder-Tongue-Rosebud Rivers, June 10 to 18.<sup id="cite_ref-149" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-149">[140]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-150" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-150">[141]</a></sup> This deployment had demonstrated that artillery pieces mounted on gun carriages and hauled by horses no longer fit for cavalry mounts (so-called condemned horses) were cumbersome over mixed terrain and vulnerable to breakdowns.<sup id="cite_ref-151" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-151">[142]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-152" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-152">[143]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-153" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-153">[144]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-154" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-154">[145]</a></sup> Custer, valuing the mobility of the 7th Cavalry and recognizing Terry's acknowledgment of the regiment as "the primary strike force" preferred to remain unencumbered by the Gatling guns.<sup id="cite_ref-155" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-155">[146]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-156" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-156">[147]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-157" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-157">[148]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-158" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-158">[149]</a></sup> Custer insisted that the artillery was superfluous to his success, in that the 7th Cavalry alone was sufficient to cope with any force they should encounter, informing Terry: "The 7th can handle anything it meets".<sup id="cite_ref-159" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-159">[150]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-160" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-160">[151]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-161" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-161">[152]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-162" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-162">[153]</a></sup> In addition to these practical concerns, a strained relationship with Major James Brisbin induced Custer's polite refusal to integrate Brisbin's Second Cavalry unit—and the Gatling guns—into his strike force, as it would disrupt any hierarchical arrangements that Custer presided over.<sup id="cite_ref-163" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-163">[154]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-164" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-164">[155]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-165" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-165">[156]</a></sup>
</p><p>Historians have acknowledged the firepower inherent in the Gatling gun: they were capable of firing 350 .45-70 (11–18 mm) caliber rounds per minute. Jamming caused by black powder residue could lower that rate,<sup id="cite_ref-166" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-166">[157]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-167" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-167">[158]</a></sup> raising questions as to their reliability under combat conditions.<sup id="cite_ref-168" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-168">[159]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-169" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-169">[160]</a></sup> Researchers have further questioned the effectiveness of the guns under the tactics that Custer was likely to face with the Lakota and Cheyenne warriors. The Gatlings, mounted high on carriages, required the battery crew to stand upright during its operation, making them easy targets for Lakota and Cheyenne sharpshooters.<sup id="cite_ref-170" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-170">[161]</a></sup>
</p><p>Historian <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Robert_M._Utley" title="Robert M. Utley">Robert M. Utley</a>, in a section entitled "Would Gatling Guns Have Saved Custer?" presents two judgments from Custer's contemporaries: General <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Henry_J._Hunt" class="mw-redirect" title="Henry J. Hunt">Henry J. Hunt</a>, expert in the tactical use of artillery in Civil War, stated that Gatlings "would probably have saved the command", whereas General <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Nelson_A._Miles" title="Nelson A. Miles">Nelson A. Miles</a>, participant in the Great Sioux War declared "[Gatlings] were useless for Indian fighting."<sup id="cite_ref-171" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-171">[162]</a></sup>
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<h2><span class="mw-headline" id="Weapons">Weapons</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn&action=edit&section=43" title="Edit section: Weapons">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2>
<h3><span class="mw-headline" id="Lakota_and_Cheyenne">Lakota and Cheyenne</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn&action=edit&section=44" title="Edit section: Lakota and Cheyenne">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h3>
<div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:222px;"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/File:Henry_Winchester_Musket.JPG" class="image"><img alt="" src="/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/55/Henry_Winchester_Musket.JPG/220px-Henry_Winchester_Musket.JPG" decoding="async" width="220" height="101" class="thumbimage" srcset="/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/55/Henry_Winchester_Musket.JPG/330px-Henry_Winchester_Musket.JPG 1.5x, /upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/55/Henry_Winchester_Musket.JPG/440px-Henry_Winchester_Musket.JPG 2x" data-file-width="1854" data-file-height="850" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/File:Henry_Winchester_Musket.JPG" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>Henry rifle and a Winchester Model 1866 rifle. These <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Repeating_rifle" title="Repeating rifle">repeater</a> rifles were capable of higher rates of fire than the <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Springfield_rifle" title="Springfield rifle">Springfield</a> <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Trapdoor_mechanism" title="Trapdoor mechanism">trapdoor.</a></div></div></div>
<p>The Lakota and Cheyenne warriors that opposed Custer's forces possessed a wide array of weaponry, from war clubs and lances to the most advanced firearms of the day.<sup id="cite_ref-172" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-172">[163]</a></sup> The typical firearms carried by the Lakota and Cheyenne combatants were <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Muzzleloader" title="Muzzleloader">muzzleloaders</a>, more often a <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Caplock_mechanism" class="mw-redirect" title="Caplock mechanism">cap-lock</a> smoothbore, the so-called Indian trade musket or Leman guns<sup id="cite_ref-173" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-173">[164]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-174" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-174">[165]</a></sup> distributed to Indians by the US government at treaty conventions.<sup id="cite_ref-175" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-175">[166]</a></sup> Less common were surplus rifled muskets of American Civil War vintage such as the <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Pattern_1853_Enfield" title="Pattern 1853 Enfield">Pattern 1853 Enfield</a> and <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Springfield_Model_1861" title="Springfield Model 1861">Springfield Model 1861</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-176" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-176">[167]</a></sup> Metal cartridge weapons were prized by native combatants, such as the <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Henry_rifle" title="Henry rifle">Henry</a> and the <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Spencer_repeating_rifle" title="Spencer repeating rifle">Spencer</a> lever-action rifles, as well as <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Sharps_rifle" title="Sharps rifle">Sharps</a> breechloaders.<sup id="cite_ref-177" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-177">[168]</a></sup> Bows and arrows were utilized by younger braves in lieu of the more potent firearms; effective up to 30 yards (27 meters), the arrows could readily maim or disable an opponent.<sup id="cite_ref-178" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-178">[169]</a></sup>
</p><p>Sitting Bull's forces had no assured means to supply themselves with firearms and ammunition.<sup id="cite_ref-179" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-179">[170]</a></sup> Nonetheless, they could usually procure these through post-traders, licensed or unlicensed, and from gunrunners who operated in the Dakota Territory: "...a horse or a mule for a repeater...buffalo hides for ammunition."<sup id="cite_ref-180" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-180">[171]</a></sup> Custer's highly regarded guide, "Lonesome" <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Charley_Reynolds" title="Charley Reynolds">Charley Reynolds</a>, informed his superior in early 1876 that Sitting Bull's forces were amassing weapons, including numerous Winchester repeating rifles and abundant ammunition.<sup id="cite_ref-181" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-181">[172]</a></sup>
</p><p>Of the guns owned by Lakota and Cheyenne fighters at the Little Bighorn, approximately 200 were repeating rifles<sup id="cite_ref-Hatch_1997,_p._184_182-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Hatch_1997,_p._184-182">[173]</a></sup> corresponding to about 1 of 10 of the encampment's two thousand able-bodied fighters who participated in the battle.<sup id="cite_ref-183" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-183">[174]</a></sup>
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<h3><span class="mw-headline" id="7th_Cavalry_2">7th Cavalry</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn&action=edit&section=45" title="Edit section: 7th Cavalry">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h3>
<div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:222px;"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/File:SAA_5773_oN.JPG" class="image"><img alt="" src="/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a1/SAA_5773_oN.JPG/220px-SAA_5773_oN.JPG" decoding="async" width="220" height="247" class="thumbimage" srcset="/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a1/SAA_5773_oN.JPG/330px-SAA_5773_oN.JPG 1.5x, /upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a1/SAA_5773_oN.JPG/440px-SAA_5773_oN.JPG 2x" data-file-width="1255" data-file-height="1408" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/File:SAA_5773_oN.JPG" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>Colt Single Action Army, serial No 5773 7th Cavalry issued</div></div></div>
<div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:222px;"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/File:Springfield_Trapdoor_breech_open.JPG" class="image"><img alt="" src="/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/60/Springfield_Trapdoor_breech_open.JPG/220px-Springfield_Trapdoor_breech_open.JPG" decoding="async" width="220" height="142" class="thumbimage" srcset="/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/60/Springfield_Trapdoor_breech_open.JPG/330px-Springfield_Trapdoor_breech_open.JPG 1.5x, /upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/60/Springfield_Trapdoor_breech_open.JPG/440px-Springfield_Trapdoor_breech_open.JPG 2x" data-file-width="1958" data-file-height="1268" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/File:Springfield_Trapdoor_breech_open.JPG" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>Springfield trapdoor rifle with breech open. Custer's troopers were equipped with these breech-loading, single-shot rifles.</div></div></div>
<p>The troops under Custer's command carried two regulation firearms authorized and issued by the U.S. Army in early 1876: the breech-loading, single-shot <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Springfield_Model_1873" class="mw-redirect" title="Springfield Model 1873">Springfield Model 1873</a> carbine, and the 1873 <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Colt_Single_Action_Army" title="Colt Single Action Army">Colt</a> single-action revolver.<sup id="cite_ref-184" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-184">[175]</a></sup> The regulation <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Model_1860_Light_Cavalry_Saber" title="Model 1860 Light Cavalry Saber">Model 1860 saber</a> or "long knives" were not carried by troopers upon Custer's order.<sup id="cite_ref-185" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-185">[176]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-186" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-186">[177]</a></sup>
</p><p>Except for a number of officers and scouts who opted for personally owned and more expensive rifles and handguns, the 7th Cavalry was uniformly armed.<sup id="cite_ref-187" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-187">[178]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-188" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-188">[179]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-189" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-189">[180]</a></sup>
</p><p>Ammunition allotments provided 100 carbine rounds per trooper, carried on a <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Bandolier" title="Bandolier">cartridge belt</a> and in saddlebags on their mounts. An additional 50 carbine rounds per man were reserved on the pack train that accompanied the regiment to the battlefield. Each trooper had 24 rounds for his Colt handgun.<sup id="cite_ref-190" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-190">[181]</a></sup>
</p><p>The opposing forces, though not equally matched in the number and type of arms, were comparably outfitted, and neither side held an overwhelming advantage in weaponry.<sup id="cite_ref-191" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-191">[182]</a></sup>
</p>
<h3><span class="mw-headline" id="Lever-action_repeaters_vs._single-shot_breechloaders">Lever-action repeaters vs. single-shot breechloaders</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn&action=edit&section=46" title="Edit section: Lever-action repeaters vs. single-shot breechloaders">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h3>
<p>Two hundred or more Lakota and Cheyenne combatants are known to have been armed with Henry, Winchester, or similar lever-action repeating rifles at the battle.<sup id="cite_ref-Hatch_1997,_p._184_182-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Hatch_1997,_p._184-182">[173]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-192" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-192">[183]</a></sup> Virtually every trooper in the 7th Cavalry fought with the single-shot, breech-loading Springfield carbine and the Colt revolver.<sup id="cite_ref-193" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-193">[184]</a></sup>
</p><p>Historians have asked whether the repeating rifles conferred a distinct advantage on Sitting Bull's villagers that contributed to their victory over Custer's carbine-armed soldiers.<sup id="cite_ref-194" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-194">[185]</a></sup>
</p><p>Historian Michael L. Lawson offers a scenario based on archaeological collections at the "Henryville" site, which yielded plentiful Henry rifle cartridge casings from approximately 20 individual guns. Lawson speculates that though less powerful than the Springfield carbines, the Henry repeaters provided a barrage of fire at a critical point, driving Lieutenant James Calhoun's L Company from Calhoun Hill and Finley Ridge, forcing it to flee in disarray back to Captain Myles Keogh's I Company and leading to the disintegration of that wing of Custer's Battalion.<sup id="cite_ref-195" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-195">[186]</a></sup>
</p>
<h4><span id="Model_1873_.2F_1884_Springfield_carbine_and_the_U.S._Army"></span><span class="mw-headline" id="Model_1873_/_1884_Springfield_carbine_and_the_U.S._Army">Model 1873 / 1884 Springfield carbine and the U.S. Army</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn&action=edit&section=47" title="Edit section: Model 1873 / 1884 Springfield carbine and the U.S. Army">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h4>
<p>After exhaustive testing—including comparisons to domestic and foreign single-shot and repeating rifles—the Army Ordnance Board (whose members included officers Marcus Reno and Alfred Terry) authorized the Springfield as the official firearm for the United States Army.<sup id="cite_ref-196" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-196">[187]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-197" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-197">[188]</a></sup>
</p><p>The Springfield, manufactured in a .45-70 long rifle version for the infantry and a .45-55 light carbine version for the cavalry, was judged a solid firearm that met the long-term and geostrategic requirements of the United States fighting forces.<sup id="cite_ref-198" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-198">[189]</a></sup>
</p>
<div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:222px;"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/File:Tomahawk_and_sabre;_or_even_odds.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c4/Tomahawk_and_sabre%3B_or_even_odds.jpg/220px-Tomahawk_and_sabre%3B_or_even_odds.jpg" decoding="async" width="220" height="185" class="thumbimage" srcset="/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c4/Tomahawk_and_sabre%3B_or_even_odds.jpg/330px-Tomahawk_and_sabre%3B_or_even_odds.jpg 1.5x, /upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c4/Tomahawk_and_sabre%3B_or_even_odds.jpg/440px-Tomahawk_and_sabre%3B_or_even_odds.jpg 2x" data-file-width="1385" data-file-height="1167" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/File:Tomahawk_and_sabre;_or_even_odds.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div><i>Tomahawk and sabre; or even odds</i>, painting by <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Charles_Schreyvogel" title="Charles Schreyvogel">Charles Schreyvogel</a> (1861–1912). This kind of combat never occurred at the Battle of the Little Bighorn: none of the 7th Cavalry carried sabers on Custer's orders.</div></div></div>
<p>Historian Mark Gallear claims that U.S. government experts rejected the lever-action repeater designs, deeming them ineffective in a clash with fully equipped European armies, or in case of an outbreak of another civil conflict. Gallear's analysis dismisses the allegation that rapid depletion of ammunition in lever-action models influenced the decision in favor of the single-shot Springfield. The <a href="/enwiki/wiki/American_Indian_Wars" title="American Indian Wars">Indian Wars</a> are portrayed by Gallear as a minor theatre of conflict whose contingencies were unlikely to govern the selection of standard weaponry for an emerging industrialized nation.<sup id="cite_ref-199" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-199">[190]</a></sup>
</p><p>The Springfield carbine is praised for its "superior range and stopping power" by historian James Donovan, and author Charles M. Robinson reports that the rifle could be "loaded and fired much more rapidly than its muzzle-loading predecessors, and had twice the range of repeating rifles such as the Winchester, Henry and Spencer."<sup id="cite_ref-200" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-200">[191]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-201" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-201">[192]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-202" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-202">[193]</a></sup>
</p><p>Gallear points out that lever-action rifles, after a burst of rapid discharge, still required a reloading interlude that lowered their overall rate of fire; Springfield breechloaders "in the long run, had a higher rate of fire, which was sustainable throughout a battle."<sup id="cite_ref-203" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-203">[194]</a></sup>
</p><p>The breechloader design patent for the Springfield's Erskine S. Allin <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Single-shot#Trapdoor_actions" title="Single-shot">trapdoor system</a> was owned by the US government and the firearm could be easily adapted for production with existing machinery at the <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Springfield_Armory" title="Springfield Armory">Springfield Armory</a> in Massachusetts.<sup id="cite_ref-204" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-204">[195]</a></sup> At time when funding for the post-war Army had been slashed, the prospect for economical production influenced the Ordnance Board member selection of the Springfield option.<sup id="cite_ref-205" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-205">[196]</a></sup>
</p>
<h4><span class="mw-headline" id="Malfunction_of_the_Springfield_carbine_extractor_mechanism">Malfunction of the Springfield carbine extractor mechanism</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn&action=edit&section=48" title="Edit section: Malfunction of the Springfield carbine extractor mechanism">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h4>
<p>Whether the reported malfunction of the Model 1873 Springfield carbine issued to the 7th Cavalry contributed to their defeat has been debated for years.<sup id="cite_ref-206" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-206">[197]</a></sup>
</p><p>That the weapon experienced jamming of the extractor is not contested, but its contribution to Custer's defeat is considered negligible. This conclusion is supported by evidence from archaeological studies performed at the battlefield, where the recovery of Springfield cartridge casing, bearing tell-tale scratch marks indicating manual extraction, were rare.
The flaw in the ejector mechanism was known to the Army Ordnance Board at the time of the selection of the Model 1873 rifle and carbine, and was not considered a significant shortcoming in the overall worthiness of the shoulder arm.<sup id="cite_ref-207" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-207">[198]</a></sup> With the ejector failure in US Army tests as low as 1:300, the Springfield carbine was vastly more reliable than the muzzle-loading Springfields used in the Civil War.<sup id="cite_ref-208" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-208">[199]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-209" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-209">[200]</a></sup>
</p><p>Gallear addresses the post-battle testimony concerning the copper .45-55 cartridges supplied to the troops in which an officer is said to have cleared the chambers of spent cartridges for a number of Springfield carbines.<sup id="cite_ref-210" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-210">[201]</a></sup> This testimony of widespread fusing of the casings offered to the Chief of Ordnance at the Reno Court of Inquiry in 1879 conflicts with the archaeological evidence collected at the battlefield. Field data showed that possible extractor failures occurred at a rate of approximately 1:30 firings at the Custer Battlefield and at a rate of 1:37 at the Reno-Benteen Battlefield.<sup id="cite_ref-211" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-211">[202]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-212" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-212">[203]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-213" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-213">[204]</a></sup>
</p><p>Historian Thom Hatch observes that the Model 1873 Springfield, despite the known ejector flaw, remained the standard issue shoulder arm for US troops until the early 1890s.<sup id="cite_ref-214" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-214">[205]</a></sup>
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<h2><span class="mw-headline" id="Survivor_claims">Survivor claims</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn&action=edit&section=49" title="Edit section: Survivor claims">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2>
<div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:222px;"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/File:Giovanni_Martini_(militare).jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a7/Giovanni_Martini_%28militare%29.jpg/220px-Giovanni_Martini_%28militare%29.jpg" decoding="async" width="220" height="433" class="thumbimage" srcset="/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a7/Giovanni_Martini_%28militare%29.jpg/330px-Giovanni_Martini_%28militare%29.jpg 1.5x, /upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a7/Giovanni_Martini_%28militare%29.jpg/440px-Giovanni_Martini_%28militare%29.jpg 2x" data-file-width="1110" data-file-height="2186" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/File:Giovanni_Martini_(militare).jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>John Martin wearing the US Army uniform, ca. 1904</div></div></div>
<p>Soldiers under Custer's direct command were annihilated on the first day of the battle, except for three <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Crow_scouts" title="Crow scouts">Crow scouts</a> and several troopers (including <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Giovanni_Martino" title="Giovanni Martino">John Martin (Giovanni Martino)</a>) that had left that column before the battle; one Crow scout, <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Curly_(scout)" title="Curly (scout)">Curly</a>, was the only survivor to leave after the battle had begun. Rumors of other survivors persisted for years.<sup id="cite_ref-215" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-215">[note 10]</a></sup>
</p><p>Over 120 men and women would come forward over the course of the next 70 years claiming they were "the lone survivor" of Custer's Last Stand.<sup id="cite_ref-Custer_Survivors_101_216-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Custer_Survivors_101-216">[206]</a></sup> The phenomenon became so widespread that one historian remarked, "Had Custer had all of those who claimed to be 'the lone survivor' of his two battalions he would have had at least a brigade behind him when he crossed the Wolf Mountains and rode to the attack."<sup id="cite_ref-217" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-217">[207]</a></sup>
</p><p>The historian <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Earl_Alonzo_Brininstool" title="Earl Alonzo Brininstool">Earl Alonzo Brininstool</a> suggested he had collected at least 70 "lone survivor" stories.<sup id="cite_ref-218" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-218">[208]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-219" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-219">[209]</a></sup> Michael Nunnally, an amateur Custer historian, wrote a booklet describing 30 such accounts.<sup id="cite_ref-Nunnally_Survived_220-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Nunnally_Survived-220">[210]</a></sup> W. A. Graham claimed that even Libby Custer received dozens of letters from men, in shocking detail, about their sole survivor experience.<sup id="cite_ref-221" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-221">[211]</a></sup> At least 125 alleged "single survivor" tales have been confirmed in the historical record as of July 2012.
</p><p><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Frank_Finkel" title="Frank Finkel">Frank Finkel</a>, from <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Dayton,_Washington" title="Dayton, Washington">Dayton, Washington</a>, had such a convincing story that historian Charles Kuhlman<sup id="cite_ref-222" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-222">[212]</a></sup> believed the alleged survivor, going so far as to write a lengthy defense of Finkel's participation in the battle.<sup id="cite_ref-Kuhlman_Finkel_223-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Kuhlman_Finkel-223">[213]</a></sup> Douglas Ellison—mayor of <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Medora,_North_Dakota" title="Medora, North Dakota">Medora, North Dakota</a>, and an amateur historian—also wrote a book in support of the veracity of Finkel's claim,<sup id="cite_ref-Ellison_Finkel_224-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Ellison_Finkel-224">[214]</a></sup> but most scholars reject it.<sup id="cite_ref-Boyes_225-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Boyes-225">[215]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-Nunnally_Hoax_226-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Nunnally_Hoax-226">[216]</a></sup>
</p><p>Some of these survivors held a form of celebrity status in the United States, among them Raymond Hatfield "Arizona Bill" Gardner<sup id="cite_ref-227" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-227">[217]</a></sup> and Frank Tarbeaux.<sup id="cite_ref-228" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-228">[218]</a></sup> A few even published autobiographies that detailed their deeds at the Little Bighorn.<sup id="cite_ref-229" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-229">[219]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-230" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-230">[220]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-231" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-231">[221]</a></sup>
</p><p>A modern historian, Albert Winkler, has asserted that there is some evidence to support the case of Private Gustave Korn being a genuine survivor of the battle: 'While nearly all of the accounts of men who claimed to be survivors from Custer's column at the Battle of the Little Bighorn are fictitious, Gustave Korn's story is supported by contemporary records.' Several contemporary accounts note that Korn's horse bolted in the early stages of the battle, whilst he was serving with Custer's 'I' company, and that he ended up joining Reno's companies making their stand on Reno Hill.<sup id="cite_ref-232" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-232">[222]</a></sup>
</p><p>Almost as soon as men came forward implying or directly pronouncing their unique role in the battle, there were others who were equally opposed to any such claims. <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Theodore_Goldin" class="mw-redirect" title="Theodore Goldin">Theodore Goldin</a>, a battle participant who later became a controversial historian on the event, wrote (in regards to Charles Hayward's claim to have been with Custer and taken prisoner):
</p>
<blockquote><p> The Indians always insisted that they took no prisoners. If they did—a thing I firmly believe—they were tortured and killed the night of the 25th. As an evidence of this I recall the three charred and burned heads we picked up in the village near the scene of the big war dance, when we visited the village with Capt. Benteen and Lieut. Wallace on the morning of the 27th... I'm sorely afraid, Tony, that we will have to class Hayward's story, like that of so many others, as pure, unadulterated B. S. As a clerk at headquarters I had occasion to look over the morning reports of at least the six troops at Lincoln almost daily, and never saw his name there, or among the list of scouts employed from time to time ... I am hoping that some day all of these damned fakirs will die and it will be safe for actual participants in the battle to admit and insist that they were there, without being branded and looked upon as a lot of damned liars. Actually, there have been times when I have been tempted to deny that I ever heard of the 7th Cavalry, much less participated with it in that engagement ... My Medal of Honor and its inscription have served me as proof positive that I was at least in the vicinity at the time in question, otherwise I should be tempted to deny all knowledge of the event.<sup id="cite_ref-A_Pretended_Custer_Survivor_233-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-A_Pretended_Custer_Survivor-233">[223]</a></sup></p></blockquote>
<p>The only documented and verified survivor of Custer's command (having been actually involved in Custer's part of the battle) was Captain Keogh's horse, <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Comanche_(horse)" title="Comanche (horse)">Comanche</a>. The wounded horse was discovered on the battlefield by General Terry's troops and, although other cavalry mounts survived, they had been taken by the Indians. Comanche eventually was returned to the fort and became the regimental mascot.<sup id="cite_ref-234" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-234">[note 11]</a></sup> Several other badly wounded horses were found and killed at the scene.<sup id="cite_ref-235" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-235">[224]</a></sup> Writer <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Evan_S._Connell" title="Evan S. Connell">Evan S. Connell</a> noted in <i><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Son_of_the_Morning_Star" title="Son of the Morning Star">Son of the Morning Star</a></i>:<sup id="cite_ref-236" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-236">[225]</a></sup>
</p>
<div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:222px;"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/File:ComancheeCuster-GrabillLR.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6e/ComancheeCuster-GrabillLR.jpg/220px-ComancheeCuster-GrabillLR.jpg" decoding="async" width="220" height="148" class="thumbimage" srcset="/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6e/ComancheeCuster-GrabillLR.jpg/330px-ComancheeCuster-GrabillLR.jpg 1.5x, /upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6e/ComancheeCuster-GrabillLR.jpg/440px-ComancheeCuster-GrabillLR.jpg 2x" data-file-width="1522" data-file-height="1024" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/File:ComancheeCuster-GrabillLR.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Comanche_(horse)" title="Comanche (horse)">Comanche</a> in 1887</div></div></div>
<blockquote><p>Comanche was reputed to be the only survivor of the Little Bighorn, but quite a few Seventh Cavalry mounts survived, probably more than one hundred, and there was even a yellow bulldog. Comanche lived on another fifteen years. When he died, he was stuffed and to this day remains in a glass case at the University of Kansas. So, protected from moths and souvenir hunters by his humidity-controlled glass case, Comanche stands patiently, enduring generation after generation of undergraduate jokes. The other horses are gone, and the mysterious yellow bulldog is gone, which means that in a sense the legend is true. Comanche alone survived.</p></blockquote>
<h2><span class="mw-headline" id="Battlefield_preservation">Battlefield preservation</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn&action=edit&section=50" title="Edit section: Battlefield preservation">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2>
<link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1033289096"/><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">Main article: <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Little_Bighorn_Battlefield_National_Monument" title="Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument">Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument</a></div>
<p>The site of the battle was first preserved as a United States <a href="/enwiki/wiki/U.S._National_Cemetery" class="mw-redirect" title="U.S. National Cemetery">national cemetery</a> in 1879 to protect the graves of the 7th Cavalry troopers. In 1946, it was re-designated as the <i>Custer Battlefield <a href="/enwiki/wiki/U.S._National_Monument" class="mw-redirect" title="U.S. National Monument">National Monument</a></i>, reflecting its association with Custer. In 1967, Major Marcus Reno was re-interred in the cemetery with honors, including an eleven-gun salute. Beginning in the early 1970s, there was concern within the <a href="/enwiki/wiki/National_Park_Service" title="National Park Service">National Park Service</a> over the name Custer Battlefield National Monument failing to adequately reflect the larger history of the battle between two cultures. Hearings on the name change were held in <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Billings,_Montana" title="Billings, Montana">Billings</a> on June 10, 1991, and during the following months Congress renamed the site the <i>Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument</i>.
</p><p>United States memorialization of the battlefield began in 1879 with a temporary monument to the U.S. dead. In 1881, the current marble obelisk was erected in their honor. In 1890, marble blocks were added to mark the places where the U.S. cavalry soldiers fell.
</p><p>Nearly 100 years later, ideas about the meaning of the battle have become more inclusive. The United States government acknowledged that Native American sacrifices also deserved recognition at the site. The 1991 bill changing the name of the national monument also authorized an Indian Memorial to be built near Last Stand Hill in honor of Lakota and Cheyenne warriors. The commissioned work by native artist <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Colleen_Cutschall" title="Colleen Cutschall">Colleen Cutschall</a> is shown in the photograph at right. On Memorial Day 1999, in consultation with tribal representatives, the U.S. added two red granite markers to the battlefield to note where Native American warriors fell. As of December 2006, a total of ten warrior markers have been added (three at the Reno–Benteen Defense Site and seven on the Little Bighorn Battlefield).<sup id="cite_ref-237" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-237">[226]</a></sup>
</p><p>The Indian Memorial, themed "Peace Through Unity" l is an open circular structure that stands 75 yards (69 metres) from the 7th Cavalry obelisk. Its walls have the names of some Indians who died at the site, as well as native accounts of the battle. The open circle of the structure is symbolic, as for many tribes, the circle is sacred. The "spirit gate" window facing the Cavalry monument is symbolic as well, welcoming the dead cavalrymen into the memorial.<sup id="cite_ref-238" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-238">[227]</a></sup>
</p>
<ul class="gallery mw-gallery-packed center" style="text-align:left">
<li class="gallerybox" style="width: 234.66666666667px"><div style="width: 234.66666666667px">
<div class="thumb" style="width: 232.66666666667px;"><div style="margin:0px auto;"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/File:Littlebighorn_HR_Locke.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0c/Littlebighorn_HR_Locke.jpg/349px-Littlebighorn_HR_Locke.jpg" decoding="async" width="233" height="150" srcset="/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0c/Littlebighorn_HR_Locke.jpg/524px-Littlebighorn_HR_Locke.jpg 1.5x, /upwiki/wikipedia/commons/0/0c/Littlebighorn_HR_Locke.jpg 2x" data-file-width="600" data-file-height="387" /></a></div></div>
<div class="gallerytext">
<p>Photo taken in 1894 by <a href="/enwiki/wiki/H.R._Locke" class="mw-redirect" title="H.R. Locke">H.R. Locke</a> on Battle Ridge looking toward Last Stand Hill (top center). To the right of Custer Hill is Wooden Leg Hill, named for a surviving warrior. He described the death of a Sioux sharpshooter killed after being seen too often by the enemy.<sup id="cite_ref-239" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-239">[228]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-240" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-240">[229]</a></sup>
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<li class="gallerybox" style="width: 230px"><div style="width: 230px">
<div class="thumb" style="width: 228px;"><div style="margin:0px auto;"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/File:Little_bighorn_memorial_overview_with_clouds.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d8/Little_bighorn_memorial_overview_with_clouds.jpg/342px-Little_bighorn_memorial_overview_with_clouds.jpg" decoding="async" width="228" height="150" srcset="/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d8/Little_bighorn_memorial_overview_with_clouds.jpg/514px-Little_bighorn_memorial_overview_with_clouds.jpg 1.5x, /upwiki/wikipedia/commons/d/d8/Little_bighorn_memorial_overview_with_clouds.jpg 2x" data-file-width="600" data-file-height="395" /></a></div></div>
<div class="gallerytext">
<p>The battlefield in 2005
</p>
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<li class="gallerybox" style="width: 202px"><div style="width: 202px">
<div class="thumb" style="width: 200px;"><div style="margin:0px auto;"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/File:Casualty_Marker_Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8b/Casualty_Marker_Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn.jpg/300px-Casualty_Marker_Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn.jpg" decoding="async" width="200" height="150" srcset="/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8b/Casualty_Marker_Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn.jpg/451px-Casualty_Marker_Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn.jpg 1.5x, /upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8b/Casualty_Marker_Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn.jpg/600px-Casualty_Marker_Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn.jpg 2x" data-file-width="960" data-file-height="720" /></a></div></div>
<div class="gallerytext">
<p>US Casualty Marker Battle of the Little Bighorn
</p>
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<li class="gallerybox" style="width: 447.33333333333px"><div style="width: 447.33333333333px">
<div class="thumb" style="width: 445.33333333333px;"><div style="margin:0px auto;"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/File:Little-bighorn-memorial-sculpture-2.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/bc/Little-bighorn-memorial-sculpture-2.jpg/668px-Little-bighorn-memorial-sculpture-2.jpg" decoding="async" width="446" height="150" srcset="/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/b/bc/Little-bighorn-memorial-sculpture-2.jpg 1.5x" data-file-width="842" data-file-height="284" /></a></div></div>
<div class="gallerytext">
<p><i>Indian Memorial</i> by Colleen Cutschall<sup id="cite_ref-241" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-241">[230]</a></sup>
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<h2><span class="mw-headline" id="In_popular_culture">In popular culture</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn&action=edit&section=51" title="Edit section: In popular culture">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2>
<link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1033289096"/><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">See also: <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Cultural_depictions_of_George_Armstrong_Custer" title="Cultural depictions of George Armstrong Custer">Cultural depictions of George Armstrong Custer</a></div>
<ul><li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/John_Mulvany" title="John Mulvany">John Mulvany</a>'s 1881 painting <i>Custer's Last Rally</i> was the first of the large images of this battle. It was 11 by 20 feet (3.4 by 6.1 m) and toured the country for over 17 years.<sup id="cite_ref-242" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-242">[231]</a></sup></li>
<li>In 1896, Anheuser-Busch commissioned from Otto Becker a lithographed, modified version of Cassilly Adams' painting <i>Custer's Last Fight</i>, which was distributed as a print to saloons all over America.<sup id="cite_ref-243" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-243">[232]</a></sup></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Edgar_Samuel_Paxson" title="Edgar Samuel Paxson">Edgar Samuel Paxson</a> completed his painting <i>Custer's Last Stand</i> in 1899. In 1963 <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Harold_McCracken" title="Harold McCracken">Harold McCracken</a>, the noted historian and Western art authority, deemed Paxson's painting "the best pictoral representation of the battle" and "from a purely artistic standpoint...one of the best if not the finest pictures which have been created to immortalize that dramatic event."<sup id="cite_ref-244" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-244">[233]</a></sup></li>
<li>In 1927, <i>Little Big Horn</i> opened in theaters in the U.S., featuring <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Roy_Stewart" title="Roy Stewart">Roy Stewart</a> with John Beck as Custer.<sup id="cite_ref-245" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-245">[234]</a></sup></li>
<li>The 1964 novel, <i><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Little_Big_Man_(novel)" title="Little Big Man (novel)">Little Big Man</a></i> by American author <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Thomas_Berger_(novelist)" title="Thomas Berger (novelist)">Thomas Berger</a>, and 1970 <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Little_Big_Man_(film)" title="Little Big Man (film)">film of the same name</a>, includes an account of the battle, and portrays a manic and somewhat psychotic Custer (<a href="/enwiki/wiki/Richard_Mulligan" title="Richard Mulligan">Richard Mulligan</a>) realizing to his horror that he and his command are "being wiped out."<sup id="cite_ref-HollywoodsIndian_246-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-HollywoodsIndian-246">[235]</a></sup></li>
<li>In 2007, the <a href="/enwiki/wiki/BBC" title="BBC">BBC</a> presented a one-hour drama-documentary titled <i>Custer's Last Stand</i>.<sup id="cite_ref-247" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-247">[236]</a></sup></li>
<li>The May 2011 episode of the <a href="/enwiki/wiki/BBC_Radio_4" title="BBC Radio 4">BBC Radio 4</a> program <i><a href="/enwiki/wiki/In_Our_Time_(radio_series)" title="In Our Time (radio series)">In Our Time</a></i> featured <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Melvyn_Bragg" title="Melvyn Bragg">Melvyn Bragg</a> (and guests) discussing the context, conditions, and consequences of the battle.<sup id="cite_ref-248" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-248">[237]</a></sup></li>
<li>In 2017, historian <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Daniele_Bolelli" title="Daniele Bolelli">Daniele Bolelli</a> covered the battle and the events leading to it in a three-part series on the "History on Fire" podcast.<sup id="cite_ref-249" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-249">[238]</a></sup></li></ul>
<h2><span class="mw-headline" id="See_also">See also</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn&action=edit&section=52" title="Edit section: See also">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2>
<ul><li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn_reenactment" title="Battle of the Little Bighorn reenactment">Battle of the Little Bighorn reenactment</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/List_of_battles_won_by_Indigenous_peoples_of_the_Americas" class="mw-redirect" title="List of battles won by Indigenous peoples of the Americas">List of battles won by Indigenous peoples of the Americas</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Fetterman_fight&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Fetterman fight (page does not exist)">Fetterman fight</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Battle_of_the_Rosebud" title="Battle of the Rosebud">Battle of the Rosebud</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/St._Clair%27s_Defeat" class="mw-redirect" title="St. Clair's Defeat">St. Clair's Defeat</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Dade_battle" title="Dade battle">Dade battle</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Battle_of_Powder_River" title="Battle of Powder River">Battle of Powder River</a></li></ul>
<h2><span class="mw-headline" id="Notes">Notes</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn&action=edit&section=53" title="Edit section: Notes">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2>
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<ol class="references">
<li id="cite_note-35"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-35">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Capt. Sheridan (Company L), the brother of Lt. Gen. <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Philip_H._Sheridan" class="mw-redirect" title="Philip H. Sheridan">Philip H. Sheridan</a>, served only seven months in 1866–67 before becoming permanent aide to his brother but remained on the rolls until 1882. Capt. Ilsley (Company E) was aide to Maj. Gen <a href="/enwiki/wiki/John_Pope_(military_officer)" title="John Pope (military officer)">John Pope</a> from 1866 to 1879, when he finally joined his command. Capt. Tourtelotte (Company G) never joined the 7th. A fourth captain, Owen Hale (Company K), was the regiment's recruiting officer in St. Louis and rejoined his company immediately.</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-37"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-37">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Plains_Indians" title="Plains Indians">Plains Indians</a> were semi-nomadic peoples and had no permanent settlements off the <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Indian_reservation" title="Indian reservation">reservations</a> (aka "Agencies). A "village" was a collection of <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Tipis" class="mw-redirect" title="Tipis">tipis</a>, housing a group of Indians under the leadership of a chief, including those of tribes other than the chief's. A village would be created wherever a group stopped by simply erecting the tipis and could last from a single night to several weeks. Young warriors without a tipi would generally create <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Lean-tos" class="mw-redirect" title="Lean-tos">lean-tos</a> or sleep in the open. When the chief decided that it was time to move on the villagers simply struck their tipis, tied the tipi poles to their horses so as to form a <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Travois" title="Travois">travois</a> for their goods and children, and followed the chief. The term "village", therefore, refers to the group while moving OR encamped.<sup id="cite_ref-36" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-36">[35]</a></sup></span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-40"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-40">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Villages were usually arrayed in U-shaped semi-circles open to the east; in multi-tribal villages, each tribe would erect their tipis in this manner separately from the other tribes but close to the other tribes. Sitting Bull's village was multi-tribal, consisted of "a thousand tipis [that] were assembled in six horseshoe-shaped semicircles", had a population of approx. 8000 people, and stretched over two miles end-to-end.<sup id="cite_ref-39" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-39">[37]</a></sup></span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-94"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-94">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Testimony of Yellow Nose.</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-95"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-95">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Reno Court of Inquiry.</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-109"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-109">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">According to <i>United States v. Sioux Nation of Indians</i>, 448 U.S. 371 (1980), the US government had to pay just compensation and interest to the Sioux for taking the Black Hills. This case confirmed the court's view that the government can treat Indian reservations like private property and take them by <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Eminent_domain" title="Eminent domain">eminent domain</a> if just compensation is paid.</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-123"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-123">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Major Elmer I. Otis of the <a href="/enwiki/wiki/1st_Cavalry_Regiment_(United_States)" title="1st Cavalry Regiment (United States)">1st Cavalry</a> was promoted to replace Custer effective June 25, 1876, but did not report until February 1877. Two 1876 West Point graduates designated for the 7th Cavalry were advanced to 1st lieutenant effective 10 days after their graduation. Four others appointed to other regiments, along with eight experienced 2nd lieutenants, were transferred and designated one to each company of the 7th. However, five declined the appointment, replaced by 2nd lieutenants of infantry and unappointed new officers in July and August 1876. Only three replacements were able to report while the 7th was still in the field.</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-136"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-136">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Twenty-three men were called to testify at the inquiry, which met in session daily except Sundays. For the army, far more was at stake than individual reputations, as the future of the service could be affected. On January 2, General Sheridan had quoted Lee's report of agent malfeasance in a supplement to his annual report, which continued the General's running battle with the <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Bureau_of_Indian_Affairs" title="Bureau of Indian Affairs">Bureau of Indian Affairs</a> and the <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Department_of_the_Interior" class="mw-redirect" title="Department of the Interior">Department of the Interior</a>. At the same time, a House committee was busy debating a new appropriations bill that required a major reorganization of the army. "Reduction of expenses" was emphasized. One proposal would lop off entire regiments, including two cavalry regiments. Another would set the line officers (those in the field) from Major down back a few years in the promotion schedule. The total reduction in officers was proposed to be 406, almost 25 percent of the total. The military strongly wanted to avoid confirmation of incompetency or cowardice—rumors of which were circulating around the impending court of inquiry in Chicago. Donovan (2008). <i>A Terrible Glory</i> (Kindle Locations 6395–6403)</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-138"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-138">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Libbie Custer "spent almost sixty years commemorating her marriage—and her memories of it quite literally kept her alive....she was quintessentially the professional widow, forcing it to become a very touchy matter for any military writer or officer to criticize Custer for having insanely launched an attack without taking the most elementary precautions or making even an attempt at reconnaissance. To say or write such put one in the position of standing against bereaved Libbie". Smith, Gene (1993) <i>op cit</i>.</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-215"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-215">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Graham, 146. Lt Edward Godfrey reported finding a dead 7th Cavalry horse (shot in the head), a grain sack, and a carbine at the mouth of the Rosebud River. He conjectured that a soldier had escaped Custer's fight and rafted across the river, abandoning his played-out horse.</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-234"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-234">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Badly wounded, the horse had been overlooked or left behind by the victors, who had taken the other surviving horses. Comanche was taken back to the steamer <i>Far West</i> and returned to Fort Abraham Lincoln to be nursed back to health.</span>
</li>
</ol></div>
<h2><span class="mw-headline" id="References">References</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn&action=edit&section=54" title="Edit section: References">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2>
<link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1011085734"/><div class="reflist reflist-columns references-column-width" style="column-width: 30em;">
<ol class="references">
<li id="cite_note-1"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-1">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Ewers, John C.: "Intertribal Warfare as a Precursor of Indian-White Warfare on the Northern Great Plains". <i>Western Historical Quarterly</i>, Vol. 6, No. 4 (Oct. 1975), pp. 397–410 [408].</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-2"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-2">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Stands In Timber, John and Margot Liberty (1972): <i>Cheyenne Memories</i>. Lincoln and London. p. 170, note 13.</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-3"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-3">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Calloway, Colin G.: "The Inter-tribal Balance of Power on the Great Plains, 1760–1850", <i>Journal of American Studies</i>, Vol. 16, No. 1 (April 1982), pp. 25–47 [46].</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-4"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-4">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">White, Richard: "The Winning of the West: The Expansion of the Western Sioux in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries", <i>The Journal of American History</i>, Vo. 65, No. 2 (Sep. 1987), pp. 319–343 [342].</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-5"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-5">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Medicine Crow, Joseph (1992): <i>From the Heart of the Crow Country. The Crow Indians' Own Stories</i>. New York. pp. 64, 84.</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-6"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-6">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Dunlay, Thomas W. (1982). <i>Wolves for the Blue Soldiers. Indian Scouts and Auxiliaries with the United States Army, 1860–90</i>. Lincoln and London. p. 132.</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-7"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-7">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Calloway, Colin G.: The Inter-tribal Balance of Power on the Great Plains, 1760–1850. <i>Journal of American Studies</i>, Vol. 16, No. 1 (April 1982), pp. 25–47 [46].</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-8"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-8">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Dunlay, Thomas W. (1982). <i>Wolves for the Blue Soldiers. Indian Scouts and Auxiliaries with the United States Army, 1860–90</i>. Lincoln and London. pp. 112–114.</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-9"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-9">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Medicine Crow, Joseph (1992): <i>From the Heart of the Crow Country. The Crow Indians' Own Stories</i>. New York. p. xi.</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-10"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-10">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Hoxie, Frederick E. (1995): <i>Parading Through History. The making of the Crow Nation in America, 1805–1935</i>. Cambridge, p. 106.</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-11"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-11">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Annual Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, 1873. Washington 1874, p. 124.</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-12"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-12">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r999302996">.mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"\"""\"""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-free a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-free a{background:linear-gradient(transparent,transparent),url("/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/6/65/Lock-green.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-registration a{background:linear-gradient(transparent,transparent),url("/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:linear-gradient(transparent,transparent),url("/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration{color:#555}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration span{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:linear-gradient(transparent,transparent),url("/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg")right 0.1em center/12px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output code.cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:none;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#33aa33;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-right{padding-right:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .citation .mw-selflink{font-weight:inherit}</style><cite class="citation news cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.smithsonianmag.com/videos/category/history/the-battle-of-the-greasy-grass/?no-ist">"The Battle of the Greasy Grass"</a>. <i><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Smithsonian_(magazine)" title="Smithsonian (magazine)">Smithsonian</a></i><span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">December 7,</span> 2014</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=article&rft.jtitle=Smithsonian&rft.atitle=The+Battle+of+the+Greasy+Grass&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.smithsonianmag.com%2Fvideos%2Fcategory%2Fhistory%2Fthe-battle-of-the-greasy-grass%2F%3Fno-ist&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-13"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-13">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Kappler, Charles J (1904): <i>Indian Affairs. Laws and Treaties</i>. Vol. 2. Washington, pp. 1008–1011.</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-Scott-Arch-14"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-Scott-Arch_14-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Scott-Arch_14-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite id="CITEREFScottFoxConnorHarmon2013" class="citation book cs1">Scott, Douglas D.; Fox, Richard A.; Connor, Melissa A.; Harmon, Dick (2013) [1989]. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://books.google.com/books?id=iSUA23jOi1sC&pg=PA244"><i>Archaeological Perspectives on the Battle of the Little Bighorn</i></a>. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. <a href="/enwiki/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-8061-3292-1" title="Special:BookSources/978-0-8061-3292-1"><bdi>978-0-8061-3292-1</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Archaeological+Perspectives+on+the+Battle+of+the+Little+Bighorn&rft.place=Norman&rft.pub=University+of+Oklahoma+Press&rft.date=2013&rft.isbn=978-0-8061-3292-1&rft.aulast=Scott&rft.aufirst=Douglas+D.&rft.au=Fox%2C+Richard+A.&rft.au=Connor%2C+Melissa+A.&rft.au=Harmon%2C+Dick&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fbooks.google.com%2Fbooks%3Fid%3DiSUA23jOi1sC%26pg%3DPA244&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-15"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-15">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite id="CITEREFKershaw2005" class="citation book cs1">Kershaw, Robert (2005). <i>Red Sabbath: The Battle of Little Bighorn</i>. Ian Allan Publishing. pp. vi–5. <a href="/enwiki/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-7110-3325-2" title="Special:BookSources/978-0-7110-3325-2"><bdi>978-0-7110-3325-2</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Red+Sabbath%3A+The+Battle+of+Little+Bighorn&rft.pages=vi-5&rft.pub=Ian+Allan+Publishing&rft.date=2005&rft.isbn=978-0-7110-3325-2&rft.aulast=Kershaw&rft.aufirst=Robert&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-16"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-16">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Wood, Raymond W. and Thomas D. Thiessen (1987): <i>Early Fur Trade on the Northern Plains. Canadian Traders among the Mandan and Hidatsa Indians, 1738–1818</i>. Norman and London, p. 184</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-17"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-17">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Hoxie, Frederick E. (1995): <i>Parading Through History. The Making of the Crow Nation in America, 1805–1935</i>. Cambridge, p. 66.</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-18"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-18">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Kappler, Charles J. (1904): <i>Indian Affairs. Laws and Treaties.</i> Vol. II. Washington, pp. 594-596.</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-19"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-19">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite id="CITEREFCarole_A._Barrett" class="citation encyclopaedia cs1">Carole A. Barrett. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://archive.today/20130626183913/http://jetson.unl.edu/cocoon/encyclopedia/doc/egp.war.044">"Sioux Wars"</a>. <i>Encyclopedia of the Great Plains</i>. Archived from <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://jetson.unl.edu/cocoon/encyclopedia/doc/egp.war.044">the original</a> on June 26, 2013<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">May 6,</span> 2013</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=bookitem&rft.atitle=Sioux+Wars&rft.btitle=Encyclopedia+of+the+Great+Plains&rft.au=Carole+A.+Barrett&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fjetson.unl.edu%2Fcocoon%2Fencyclopedia%2Fdoc%2Fegp.war.044&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-20"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-20">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Kappler, Charles J. (1904): <i>Indian Affairs. Laws and Treaties.</i> Vol. II. Washington, pp. 1008–1011. Treaty with the Crows, 1868.</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-White1978-21"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-White1978_21-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">White, Richard: The Winning of the West: The Expansion of the Western Sioux in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries. The Journal of American History. Vol. 65, No. 2 (Sept. 1978), p. 342.</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-22"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-22">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Hoxie, Frederick E.: Parading Through History. The Making of the Crow Nation in America, 1805–1935. Cambridge,1995, p. 108.</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-Bradley1896-23"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-Bradley1896_23-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Bradley, James H.: Journal of James H. Bradley. The Sioux Campaign of 1876 under the Command of General John Gibbon. <i>Contributions to the Historical Society of Montana</i>. p. 163.</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-24"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-24">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Dunlay, Thomas W.: Wolves for the Blue Soldiers. Indian Scouts and Auxiliaries with the United States Army, 1860–90. Lincoln and London, 1982, pp. 40, 113–114.</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-25"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-25">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Medicine Crow, Joseph (1992): <i>From the Heart of the Crow Country. The Crow Indians' Own Stories</i>. New York. p. 44.</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-26"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-26">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Hutton, Paul Andrew, <i>The Custer Reader</i>, 1992, University of Nebraska Press</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-27"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-27">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/546854/Sitting-Bull">"Sitting Bull"</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20100327021927/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/546854/Sitting-Bull">Archived</a> March 27, 2010, at the <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Wayback_Machine" title="Wayback Machine">Wayback Machine</a>, <i>Encyclopædia Britannica</i></span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-John_Gray-28"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-John_Gray_28-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-John_Gray_28-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-John_Gray_28-2"><sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite id="CITEREFGray1988" class="citation book cs1">Gray, John S. (1988). <i>Centennial Campaign: The Sioux War of 1876</i>. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Centennial+Campaign%3A+The+Sioux+War+of+1876&rft.place=Norman&rft.pub=University+of+Oklahoma+Press&rft.date=1988&rft.aulast=Gray&rft.aufirst=John+S.&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-29"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-29">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://steamboats.com/museum/lossingmodels.html">"Virtual Online Steamboat Museum at"</a>. Steamboats.com. January 30, 1914. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20111212015204/http://steamboats.com/museum/lossingmodels.html">Archived</a> from the original on December 12, 2011<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">March 15,</span> 2012</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=unknown&rft.btitle=Virtual+Online+Steamboat+Museum+at&rft.pub=Steamboats.com&rft.date=1914-01-30&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fsteamboats.com%2Fmuseum%2Flossingmodels.html&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-30"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-30">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://muse.jhu.edu/article/218456/pdf">Washita Memories: Eyewitness Views of Custer's Attack on Black Kettle's Village (review)</a>, <i><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Project_Muse" class="mw-redirect" title="Project Muse">Project Muse</a></i>, James T. Carroll, July 2007. Retrieved March 28, 2018.</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-31"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-31">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.astonisher.com/archives/museum/wm_slaper_little_big_horn.html">"A 7th Cavalry survivor's account of the Battle of the Little Bighorn"</a>. <i>Conversations with Crazy Horse</i>. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20080906155747/http://www.astonisher.com/archives/museum/wm_slaper_little_big_horn.html">Archived</a> from the original on September 6, 2008<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">August 19,</span> 2008</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=unknown&rft.jtitle=Conversations+with+Crazy+Horse&rft.atitle=A+7th+Cavalry+survivor%27s+account+of+the+Battle+of+the+Little+Bighorn&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.astonisher.com%2Farchives%2Fmuseum%2Fwm_slaper_little_big_horn.html&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-32"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-32">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Barnard, pp. 121–36.</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-33"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-33">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Places/America/United_States/Army/USMA/Cullums_Register/1303*.html">"Online version of Cullum's Register of Graduates of the United States Military Academy – Class of 1846 – Samuel D. Sturgis"</a><span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">December 10,</span> 2018</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=unknown&rft.btitle=Online+version+of+Cullum%27s+Register+of+Graduates+of+the+United+States+Military+Academy+%E2%80%93+Class+of+1846+%E2%80%93+Samuel+D.+Sturgis&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fpenelope.uchicago.edu%2FThayer%2FE%2FGazetteer%2FPlaces%2FAmerica%2FUnited_States%2FArmy%2FUSMA%2FCullums_Register%2F1303%2A.html&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-dtch-34"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-dtch_34-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20080121092726/http://www.historynet.com/magazines/wild_west/3035376.html">"The 7th U.S. Cavalry Regiment Fought in Battle of the Little Bighorn"</a>. HistoryNet.com. Archived from <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.historynet.com/magazines/wild_west/3035376.html">the original</a> on January 21, 2008<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">January 18,</span> 2008</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=unknown&rft.btitle=The+7th+U.S.+Cavalry+Regiment+Fought+in+Battle+of+the+Little+Bighorn&rft.pub=HistoryNet.com&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.historynet.com%2Fmagazines%2Fwild_west%2F3035376.html&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-36"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-36">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Philbrick, Nathaniel, <i>The Last Stand: Custer, Sitting Bull, and the Battle of the Little Bighorn</i>, Viking, 2010, pp. 102, 106, e<link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><a href="/enwiki/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-101-19011-1" title="Special:BookSources/978-1-101-19011-1">978-1-101-19011-1</a></span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-38"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-38">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Andrist, Ralph K., "The Long Death: The Last Days of the Plains Indian". <i>Editorial Galaxia</i>. 2001, p. 272.</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-39"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-39">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Philbrick, Nathaniel, <i>The Last Stand: Custer, Sitting Bull, and the Battle of the Little Bighorn</i>, Viking, 2010, Ch 3, e<link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><a href="/enwiki/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-101-19011-1" title="Special:BookSources/978-1-101-19011-1">978-1-101-19011-1</a></span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-41"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-41">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Macnab, David B., <i>A Day to Remember: Introducing the Drama, Irony, and Controversies of the Battle of the Little Bighorn</i>, iUniverse, 2003, p. 45, based on Abstract of the Official Record of Proceedings of the Reno Court of Inquiry, 35.</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-42"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-42">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite id="CITEREFGray1991" class="citation book cs1"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/John_C._Gray" title="John C. Gray">Gray, John</a> (1991). <i>Custer's Last Campaign</i>. University of Nebraska Press. p. 243. <a href="/enwiki/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-8032-7040-2" title="Special:BookSources/0-8032-7040-2"><bdi>0-8032-7040-2</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Custer%27s+Last+Campaign&rft.pages=243&rft.pub=University+of+Nebraska+Press&rft.date=1991&rft.isbn=0-8032-7040-2&rft.aulast=Gray&rft.aufirst=John&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-Viola-43"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-Viola_43-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite id="CITEREFViola2001" class="citation book cs1">Viola, Herman J. (2001). <i>It Is A Good Day to Die, Indian Eyewitnesses Tell the Story of the Battle of the Little Bighorn</i>. US: Bison Books. p. 30. <a href="/enwiki/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-8032-9626-6" title="Special:BookSources/0-8032-9626-6"><bdi>0-8032-9626-6</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=It+Is+A+Good+Day+to+Die%2C+Indian+Eyewitnesses+Tell+the+Story+of+the+Battle+of+the+Little+Bighorn&rft.place=US&rft.pages=30&rft.pub=Bison+Books&rft.date=2001&rft.isbn=0-8032-9626-6&rft.aulast=Viola&rft.aufirst=Herman+J.&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-44"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-44">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Donovan, loc 3576</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-ReferenceA-45"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-ReferenceA_45-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Charles Windolph, Frazier Hunt, Robert Hunt, Neil Mangum, <i>I Fought with Custer: The Story of Sergeant Windolph, Last Survivor of the Battle of the Little Big Horn: with Explanatory Material and Contemporary Sidelights on the Custer Fight</i>, University of Nebraska Press, 1987, p. 86.</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-court_of_inquiry-46"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-court_of_inquiry_46-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-court_of_inquiry_46-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-court_of_inquiry_46-2"><sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite id="CITEREFReno1951" class="citation journal cs1">Reno, Marcus A. (1951). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/History.Reno">"The official record of a court of inquiry convened at Chicago, Illinois, January 13, 1879, by the President of the United States upon the request of Major Marcus A. Reno, 7th U.S. Cavalry, to investigate his conduct at the Battle of the Little Big Horn, June 25–26, 1876"</a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=article&rft.atitle=The+official+record+of+a+court+of+inquiry+convened+at+Chicago%2C+Illinois%2C+January+13%2C+1879%2C+by+the+President+of+the+United+States+upon+the+request+of+Major+Marcus+A.+Reno%2C+7th+U.S.+Cavalry%2C+to+investigate+his+conduct+at+the+Battle+of+the+Little+Big+Horn%2C+June+25%E2%80%9326%2C+1876&rft.date=1951&rft.aulast=Reno&rft.aufirst=Marcus+A.&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fdigital.library.wisc.edu%2F1711.dl%2FHistory.Reno&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span> <span class="cs1-hidden-error error citation-comment">Cite journal requires <code class="cs1-code">|journal=</code> (<a href="/enwiki/wiki/Help:CS1_errors#missing_periodical" title="Help:CS1 errors">help</a>)</span></span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-47"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-47">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Donovan, loc 3684</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-Donovan,_loc_3699-48"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-Donovan,_loc_3699_48-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Donovan,_loc_3699_48-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text">Donovan, loc 3699</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-Fox1993-49"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-Fox1993_49-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Fox1993_49-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Fox1993_49-2"><sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Fox1993_49-3"><sup><i><b>d</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Fox1993_49-4"><sup><i><b>e</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Fox1993_49-5"><sup><i><b>f</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Fox1993_49-6"><sup><i><b>g</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Fox1993_49-7"><sup><i><b>h</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Fox1993_49-8"><sup><i><b>i</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite id="CITEREFFox1993" class="citation book cs1">Fox, Richard A. (1993). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20160624003916/https://books.google.com/books?id=dpaWb9WmbPUC"><i>Archaeology, History and Custer's Last Battle</i></a>. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. <a href="/enwiki/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-8061-2998-0" title="Special:BookSources/0-8061-2998-0"><bdi>0-8061-2998-0</bdi></a>. Archived from <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://books.google.com/books?id=dpaWb9WmbPUC&pg=297">the original</a> on June 24, 2016.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Archaeology%2C+History+and+Custer%27s+Last+Battle&rft.place=Norman&rft.pub=University+of+Oklahoma+Press&rft.date=1993&rft.isbn=0-8061-2998-0&rft.aulast=Fox&rft.aufirst=Richard+A.&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fbooks.google.com%2Fbooks%3Fid%3DdpaWb9WmbPUC%26pg%3D297&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-Donovan2008-50"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-Donovan2008_50-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite id="CITEREFDonovan2008" class="citation book cs1">Donovan, James (2008). <i>A Terrible Glory</i>. Little, Brown and Company. p. 253.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=A+Terrible+Glory&rft.pages=253&rft.pub=Little%2C+Brown+and+Company&rft.date=2008&rft.aulast=Donovan&rft.aufirst=James&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-Robinson1995-51"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-Robinson1995_51-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite id="CITEREFRobinson1995" class="citation book cs1">Robinson, Charles M. (1995). <i>A Good Year to Die</i>. Random House. p. 257.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=A+Good+Year+to+Die&rft.pages=257&rft.pub=Random+House&rft.date=1995&rft.aulast=Robinson&rft.aufirst=Charles+M.&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-Connell1997-52"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-Connell1997_52-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite id="CITEREFConnell1997" class="citation book cs1">Connell, Evan S. (1997). <i>Son of the Morning Star</i>. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. p. 278.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Son+of+the+Morning+Star&rft.pages=278&rft.pub=Farrar%2C+Straus+and+Giroux&rft.date=1997&rft.aulast=Connell&rft.aufirst=Evan+S.&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-Custer1874-53"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-Custer1874_53-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite id="CITEREFCuster1874" class="citation book cs1">Custer, George Armstrong (1874). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://name.umdl.umich.edu/ACP4940.0001.001"><i>My Life on the Plains: Or, Personal Experiences with Indians</i></a>. New York: Sheldon and Company. p. 220.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=My+Life+on+the+Plains%3A+Or%2C+Personal+Experiences+with+Indians&rft.place=New+York&rft.pages=220&rft.pub=Sheldon+and+Company&rft.date=1874&rft.aulast=Custer&rft.aufirst=George+Armstrong&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fname.umdl.umich.edu%2FACP4940.0001.001&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-godfrey-54"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-godfrey_54-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-godfrey_54-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-godfrey_54-2"><sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-godfrey_54-3"><sup><i><b>d</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text">Godfrey, E. S. (1892) <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://ebooks.library.cornell.edu/c/cent/cent.1892.html"><i>Custer's Last Battle</i></a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110811113204/http://ebooks.library.cornell.edu/c/cent/cent.1892.html">Archived</a> August 11, 2011, at the <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Wayback_Machine" title="Wayback Machine">Wayback Machine</a>. The Century Magazine, Vol. XLIII, No. 3, January. New York: The Century Company.</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-Gray,_John_S_1991_p._360-55"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-Gray,_John_S_1991_p._360_55-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Gray,_John_S_1991_p._360_55-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite id="CITEREFGray1991" class="citation book cs1">Gray, John S. (1991). <i>Custer's Last Campaign</i>. Norman: University of Nebraska Press. p. 360.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Custer%27s+Last+Campaign&rft.place=Norman&rft.pages=360&rft.pub=University+of+Nebraska+Press&rft.date=1991&rft.aulast=Gray&rft.aufirst=John+S.&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-56"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-56">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Donovan, James, A<i> Terrible Glory</i>, Little, Brown and Company (2008). p. 267.</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-Bray2006-57"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-Bray2006_57-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite id="CITEREFBray2006" class="citation book cs1">Bray, Kingsley M. (2006). <i>Crazy Horse – A Lakota Life</i>. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. p. 222.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Crazy+Horse+%E2%80%93+A+Lakota+Life&rft.place=Norman&rft.pages=222&rft.pub=University+of+Oklahoma+Press&rft.date=2006&rft.aulast=Bray&rft.aufirst=Kingsley+M.&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-58"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-58">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite id="CITEREFThompson1914" class="citation web cs1">Thompson, Peter (1914). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20170131184949/http://pie.midco.net/treasuredude/Peter_Thompson_Narrative.pdf">"Custer's Last Fight"</a> <span class="cs1-format">(PDF)</span>. Belle Fource Bee. Archived from <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://pie.midco.net/treasuredude/Peter_Thompson_Narrative.pdf">the original</a> <span class="cs1-format">(PDF)</span> on January 31, 2017<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">January 19,</span> 2017</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=unknown&rft.btitle=Custer%27s+Last+Fight&rft.pub=Belle+Fource+Bee&rft.date=1914&rft.aulast=Thompson&rft.aufirst=Peter&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fpie.midco.net%2Ftreasuredude%2FPeter_Thompson_Narrative.pdf&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-59"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-59">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite id="CITEREFMurchison1973" class="citation web cs1">Murchison, R. (November 1973). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-vetscor/1643759/posts">"George Armstrong Custer and The Battle of the Little of The Little Big Horn (A South African View)"</a>. <i>S.A. Military History Society Journal</i>. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20170202071940/http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-vetscor/1643759/posts">Archived</a> from the original on February 2, 2017<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">January 24,</span> 2017</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=unknown&rft.jtitle=S.A.+Military+History+Society+Journal&rft.atitle=George+Armstrong+Custer+and+The+Battle+of+the+Little+of+The+Little+Big+Horn+%28A+South+African+View%29&rft.date=1973-11&rft.aulast=Murchison&rft.aufirst=R.&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.freerepublic.com%2Ffocus%2Ff-vetscor%2F1643759%2Fposts&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-60"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-60">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.hmdb.org/Marker.asp?Marker=45581">"Lone Tipi (marker)"</a>. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20170202031049/http://www.hmdb.org/Marker.asp?Marker=45581">Archived</a> from the original on February 2, 2017<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">January 24,</span> 2017</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=unknown&rft.btitle=Lone+Tipi+%28marker%29&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.hmdb.org%2FMarker.asp%3FMarker%3D45581&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-61"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-61">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite id="CITEREFRunning_Dog" class="citation web cs1">Running Dog. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.astonisher.com/archives/museum/little_sioux_big_horn.html">"Confirmed by one of his surviving Arikara scouts, Little Sioux"</a>. Astonisher.com. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120118221826/http://www.astonisher.com/archives/museum/little_sioux_big_horn.html">Archived</a> from the original on January 18, 2012<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">March 15,</span> 2012</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=unknown&rft.btitle=Confirmed+by+one+of+his+surviving+Arikara+scouts%2C+Little+Sioux&rft.pub=Astonisher.com&rft.au=Running+Dog&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.astonisher.com%2Farchives%2Fmuseum%2Flittle_sioux_big_horn.html&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-62"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-62">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite id="CITEREFRunning_Dog" class="citation web cs1">Running Dog. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.astonisher.com/archives/museum/little_sioux_big_horn.html">"Little Sioux's Story of the Battle of the Little Bighorn"</a>. Astonisher.com. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120118221826/http://www.astonisher.com/archives/museum/little_sioux_big_horn.html">Archived</a> from the original on January 18, 2012<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">March 15,</span> 2012</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=unknown&rft.btitle=Little+Sioux%27s+Story+of+the+Battle+of+the+Little+Bighorn&rft.pub=Astonisher.com&rft.au=Running+Dog&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.astonisher.com%2Farchives%2Fmuseum%2Flittle_sioux_big_horn.html&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-63"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-63">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Goodrich, Thomas. <i>Scalp Dance: Indian Warfare on the High Plains, 1865–1879.</i> Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 1997. p. 242.</span>
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<li id="cite_note-64"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-64">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Perrett, Bryan. <i>Last Stand: Famous Battles Against the Odds.</i> London: Arms & Armour, 1993; p. 8.</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-FOOTNOTENevin1973214-65"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTENevin1973214_65-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTENevin1973214_65-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTENevin1973214_65-2"><sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTENevin1973214_65-3"><sup><i><b>d</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTENevin1973214_65-4"><sup><i><b>e</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTENevin1973214_65-5"><sup><i><b>f</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="#CITEREFNevin1973">Nevin 1973</a>, p. 214.</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-FOOTNOTENevin1973216-66"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTENevin1973216_66-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTENevin1973216_66-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTENevin1973216_66-2"><sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTENevin1973216_66-3"><sup><i><b>d</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTENevin1973216_66-4"><sup><i><b>e</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTENevin1973216_66-5"><sup><i><b>f</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTENevin1973216_66-6"><sup><i><b>g</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTENevin1973216_66-7"><sup><i><b>h</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="#CITEREFNevin1973">Nevin 1973</a>, p. 216.</span>
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<li id="cite_note-67"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-67">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">John Keegan, The American Civil War.</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-michno1997-68"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-michno1997_68-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-michno1997_68-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-michno1997_68-2"><sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-michno1997_68-3"><sup><i><b>d</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-michno1997_68-4"><sup><i><b>e</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-michno1997_68-5"><sup><i><b>f</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-michno1997_68-6"><sup><i><b>g</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text">Michno, Gregory F., <i>Lakota Noon, the Indian narrative of Custer's defeat</i>, Mountain Press, 1997, pp. 284–285. <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><a href="/enwiki/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-87842-349-4" title="Special:BookSources/0-87842-349-4">0-87842-349-4</a>.</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-cspan-69"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-cspan_69-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.c-span.org/video/?315349-1/battle-little-bighorn">"Battle of Little Bighorn"</a>. <a href="/enwiki/wiki/C-SPAN" title="C-SPAN">C-SPAN</a>. September 12, 2013. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20170612134900/https://www.c-span.org/video/?315349-1%2Fbattle-little-bighorn">Archived</a> from the original on June 12, 2017<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">May 24,</span> 2017</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=unknown&rft.btitle=Battle+of+Little+Bighorn&rft.pub=C-SPAN&rft.date=2013-09-12&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.c-span.org%2Fvideo%2F%3F315349-1%2Fbattle-little-bighorn&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-Brininstool,_60–62-70"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-Brininstool,_60–62_70-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Brininstool,_60–62_70-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text">Brininstool, 60–62.</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-71"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-71">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Wooden Leg, <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Thomas_B._Marquis" class="mw-redirect" title="Thomas B. Marquis">Thomas B. Marquis</a> (interpreter), <i>A Warrior Who Fought Custer</i>, p. 246<div class="plainlist" style="margin-left:1em;"><ul><li>Sun Bear, "A Cheyenne Old Man", in Marquis, <i>The Cheyennes of Montana</i>, p. 86</li><li>Kate Big Head, <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Thomas_B._Marquis" class="mw-redirect" title="Thomas B. Marquis">Thomas B. Marquis</a> (interpreter), <i>She Watched Custer's Last Battle</i></li></ul></div>
<p class="mw-empty-elt">
</p>
</span></li>
<li id="cite_note-72"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-72">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Fox, pp. 10–13.</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-linderman-73"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-linderman_73-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-linderman_73-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text">Linderman, F. (1932) <i>Pretty-shield: Medicine Woman of the Crows</i>. University of Nebraska Press. <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><a href="/enwiki/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Special:BookSources/0803280254" title="Special:BookSources/0803280254">0803280254</a>. (Preface © 2003 by Alma Snell and Becky Matthews).</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-helenair.com-74"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-helenair.com_74-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.helenair.com/news/state-and-regional/article_fcf44c96-cfb6-56f4-9c57-062e944350ce.html">Martin J. Kidston, "Northern Cheyenne break vow of silence"</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20100628050508/http://helenair.com/news/state-and-regional/article_fcf44c96-cfb6-56f4-9c57-062e944350ce.html">Archived</a> June 28, 2010, at the <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Wayback_Machine" title="Wayback Machine">Wayback Machine</a>, <i>Helena Independent Record</i>, June 28, 2005. RetrievedOctober 23, 2009.</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-75"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-75">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite id="CITEREFWindolph1987" class="citation book cs1">Windolph, Charles (1987). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://books.google.com/books?id=E6t3ODKOQkkC&q=custer+%22We've+got+them.+We'll+finish+them+up+and+then+go+home+to+our+station%22&pg=PA86"><i>I fought with Custer by Charles Windolph, Frazier Hunt, Robert Hunt</i></a>. <a href="/enwiki/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-8032-9720-3" title="Special:BookSources/978-0-8032-9720-3"><bdi>978-0-8032-9720-3</bdi></a><span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">March 15,</span> 2012</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=I+fought+with+Custer+by+Charles+Windolph%2C+Frazier+Hunt%2C+Robert+Hunt&rft.date=1987&rft.isbn=978-0-8032-9720-3&rft.aulast=Windolph&rft.aufirst=Charles&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fbooks.google.com%2Fbooks%3Fid%3DE6t3ODKOQkkC%26q%3Dcuster%2B%2522We%27ve%2Bgot%2Bthem.%2BWe%27ll%2Bfinish%2Bthem%2Bup%2Band%2Bthen%2Bgo%2Bhome%2Bto%2Bour%2Bstation%2522%26pg%3DPA86&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-76"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-76">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.astonisher.com/archives/museum/white_cow_bull_little_big_horn.html">"White Cow Bull's Story of the Battle of the Little Bighorn #1"</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20080511210009/http://www.astonisher.com/archives/museum/white_cow_bull_little_big_horn.html">Archived</a> May 11, 2008, at the <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Wayback_Machine" title="Wayback Machine">Wayback Machine</a>.</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-77"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-77">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Wert, 1996, p. 355.</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-curtis-78"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-curtis_78-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-curtis_78-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-curtis_78-2"><sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-curtis_78-3"><sup><i><b>d</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-curtis_78-4"><sup><i><b>e</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text">Curtis, E. (1907) <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://curtis.library.northwestern.edu/"><i>The North American Indian. Vol.3</i>. The Sioux</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20160223022135/http://curtis.library.northwestern.edu/">Archived</a> February 23, 2016, at the <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Wayback_Machine" title="Wayback Machine">Wayback Machine</a>.</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-79"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-79">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Miller, David Humphreys, <i>Custer's Fall</i>, Lincoln, Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press, 1985, p. 158</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-80"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-80">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Graham, Benteen letter to Capt. R.E. Thompson, p. 211.</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-81"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-81">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Graham, <i>Gall's Narrative</i>, p. 88.</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-82"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-82">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Miller, David Humphreys, <i>Custer's Fall, the Indian Side of the Story</i>. Lincoln, Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press, 1985 (reprint of 1957 edition), p. 158.</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-83"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-83">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Graham, pp. 45–56.</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-84"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-84">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite id="CITEREFRice1998" class="citation book cs1">Rice (1998). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.loc.gov/rr/frd/Military_Law/Reno_court_inquiry.html"><i>Benteen testimony at Reno Court of Inquiry, January 13 – February 11, 1879</i></a>. <i>The Library of Congress</i>. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20171007141134/http://www.loc.gov/rr/frd/Military_Law/Reno_court_inquiry.html">Archived</a> from the original on October 7, 2017.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Benteen+testimony+at+Reno+Court+of+Inquiry%2C+January+13+%E2%80%93+February+11%2C+1879&rft.date=1998&rft.au=Rice&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.loc.gov%2Frr%2Ffrd%2FMilitary_Law%2FReno_court_inquiry.html&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-85"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-85">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Gregory Michno, Lakota Noon, Mountain Press, 1997, p. 177</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-86"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-86">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Gregory Michno, Lakota Noon, Mountain Press, 1997, p. 252</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-87"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-87">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Gregory Michno, Lakota Noon, Mountain Press, 1997, p. 179</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-88"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-88">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Gregory Michno, Lakota Noon, Mountain Press, 1997, p. 254</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-89"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-89">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">GSklenar, Larry, To Hell with Honor, p. 260</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-Scott-TheyDied-90"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-Scott-TheyDied_90-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Scott-TheyDied_90-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Scott-TheyDied_90-2"><sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Scott-TheyDied_90-3"><sup><i><b>d</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite id="CITEREFScottWilleyConnor2013" class="citation book cs1">Scott, Douglas D.; Willey, P.; Connor, Melissa A. (2013) [1998]. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://books.google.com/books?id=KO-9A4b2t4IC"><i>They Died With Custer: Soldiers' Bones from the Battle of the Little Bighorn</i></a>. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. <a href="/enwiki/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-8061-3507-7" title="Special:BookSources/978-0-8061-3507-7"><bdi>978-0-8061-3507-7</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=They+Died+With+Custer%3A+Soldiers%27+Bones+from+the+Battle+of+the+Little+Bighorn&rft.place=Norman&rft.pub=University+of+Oklahoma+Press&rft.date=2013&rft.isbn=978-0-8061-3507-7&rft.aulast=Scott&rft.aufirst=Douglas+D.&rft.au=Willey%2C+P.&rft.au=Connor%2C+Melissa+A.&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fbooks.google.com%2Fbooks%3Fid%3DKO-9A4b2t4IC&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span><span class="cs1-maint citation-comment">CS1 maint: ignored ISBN errors (<a href="/enwiki/wiki/Category:CS1_maint:_ignored_ISBN_errors" title="Category:CS1 maint: ignored ISBN errors">link</a>)</span></span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-ReferenceB-91"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-ReferenceB_91-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-ReferenceB_91-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text">Gray, John C. "Custer's Last Campaign"</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-92"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-92">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">"Last of the Argonauts: The Life and Services of Capt. Grant Marsh," <i>Sioux City Journal,</i> p. 10, January 16, 1916, Sioux City, Iowa.</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-93"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-93">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">"Grant Marsh Tells of his Part in the Custer Expedition," <i>Bismarck Tribune,</i> p. 1, January 23, 1906, Bismarck, North Dakota.</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-96"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-96">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite id="CITEREFBrustPohankaBarnard2005" class="citation book cs1">Brust, J.S.; Pohanka, B.C.; Barnard, S. (2005). <i>Where Custer Fell: Photographs of the Little Bighorn Battlefield Then and Now</i>. University of Oklahoma Press. p. 57.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Where+Custer+Fell%3A+Photographs+of+the+Little+Bighorn+Battlefield+Then+and+Now&rft.pages=57&rft.pub=University+of+Oklahoma+Press&rft.date=2005&rft.aulast=Brust&rft.aufirst=J.S.&rft.au=Pohanka%2C+B.C.&rft.au=Barnard%2C+S.&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-97"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-97">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite class="citation book cs1"><i>Reno-Benteen Entrenchment Trail</i>. Western Parks Association. 2004. p. 6.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Reno-Benteen+Entrenchment+Trail&rft.pages=6&rft.pub=Western+Parks+Association&rft.date=2004&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-HelenaIndependent_18760706-98"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-HelenaIndependent_18760706_98-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite class="citation news cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://newspaperarchive.com/helena-independent-jul-06-1876-p-3/">"Indian War / Gen. Gibbons Letter Relating to Terrible Massacre"</a>. <i>The Helena Independent</i>. July 6, 1876. p. 3.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=article&rft.jtitle=The+Helena+Independent&rft.atitle=Indian+War+%2F+Gen.+Gibbons+Letter+Relating+to+Terrible+Massacre&rft.pages=3&rft.date=1876-07-06&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fnewspaperarchive.com%2Fhelena-independent-jul-06-1876-p-3%2F&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-NYTimes_18760706-99"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-NYTimes_18760706_99-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite class="citation news cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://newspaperarchive.com/new-york-times-jul-09-1876-p-1/">"Massacre of Our Troops / Five Companies Killed by Indians"</a>. <i>The New York Times</i>. July 6, 1876. p. 1. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190517051100/https://newspaperarchive.com/new-york-times-jul-06-1876-p-1/">Archived</a> from the original on May 17, 2019<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">May 18,</span> 2019</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=article&rft.jtitle=The+New+York+Times&rft.atitle=Massacre+of+Our+Troops+%2F+Five+Companies+Killed+by+Indians&rft.pages=1&rft.date=1876-07-06&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fnewspaperarchive.com%2Fnew-york-times-jul-09-1876-p-1%2F&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-100"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-100">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">"The Little Horn [<i>sic</i>] Massacre", <i>The New York Times.</i>, Vol. 25, No. 7742, July 7, 1876, p. 1, recounting "dispatches" published the day before.</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-101"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-101">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite id="CITEREFCheney1974" class="citation journal cs1"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Lynne_Cheney" title="Lynne Cheney">Cheney, Lynne V.</a> (April 1974). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20140228012212/http://www.americanheritage.com/content/1876-eagle-screams">"1876: The Eagle Screams. Historical Register of the Centennial Exposition 1876"</a>. <i><a href="/enwiki/wiki/American_Heritage_(magazine)" title="American Heritage (magazine)">American Heritage</a></i>. <b>25</b> (3). Archived from <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.americanheritage.com/content/1876-eagle-screams">the original</a> on February 28, 2014<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">April 12,</span> 2021</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=article&rft.jtitle=American+Heritage&rft.atitle=1876%3A+The+Eagle+Screams.+Historical+Register+of+the+Centennial+Exposition+1876&rft.volume=25&rft.issue=3&rft.date=1974-04&rft.aulast=Cheney&rft.aufirst=Lynne+V.&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.americanheritage.com%2Fcontent%2F1876-eagle-screams&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-102"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-102">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite id="CITEREFBrown1974" class="citation book cs1"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Dee_Brown_(writer)" title="Dee Brown (writer)">Brown, Dee</a> (1974). "15". <i>The Westerners</i>. <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Michael_Joseph_Ltd" class="mw-redirect" title="Michael Joseph Ltd">Michael Joseph Ltd</a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=bookitem&rft.atitle=15&rft.btitle=The+Westerners&rft.pub=Michael+Joseph+Ltd&rft.date=1974&rft.aulast=Brown&rft.aufirst=Dee&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-103"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-103">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite id="CITEREFHansen" class="citation book cs1">Hansen, Joseph Mills (1909, 1937, 1946). <i>The Conquest of the Missouri: Being the Story of the Life and Exploits of Captain Grant Marsh</i>. New York and Toronto: Murray Hill Books, Inc. pp. 277–279, 290–315.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=The+Conquest+of+the+Missouri%3A+Being+the+Story+of+the+Life+and+Exploits+of+Captain+Grant+Marsh&rft.place=New+York+and+Toronto&rft.pages=277-279%2C+290-315&rft.pub=Murray+Hill+Books%2C+Inc.&rft.aulast=Hansen&rft.aufirst=Joseph+Mills&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span> <span class="cs1-visible-error error citation-comment">Check date values in: <code class="cs1-code">|year=</code> (<a href="/enwiki/wiki/Help:CS1_errors#bad_date" title="Help:CS1 errors">help</a>)</span></span>
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<li id="cite_note-104"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-104">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite class="citation news cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120817010350/http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/1991/09/29/the-custer-syndrome.html">"The Custer Syndrome"</a>. <i><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Newsweek" title="Newsweek">Newsweek</a></i>. September 29, 1991. Archived from <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/1991/09/29/the-custer-syndrome.html">the original</a> on August 17, 2012<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">August 30,</span> 2012</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=article&rft.jtitle=Newsweek&rft.atitle=The+Custer+Syndrome&rft.date=1991-09-29&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thedailybeast.com%2Fnewsweek%2F1991%2F09%2F29%2Fthe-custer-syndrome.html&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-sonofthesouth.net-105"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-sonofthesouth.net_105-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-sonofthesouth.net_105-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.sonofthesouth.net/union-generals/custer/custers-last-stand.htm">"Custer's Last Stand"</a>. <i>sonofthesouth.net</i><span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">October 19,</span> 2016</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=unknown&rft.jtitle=sonofthesouth.net&rft.atitle=Custer%27s+Last+Stand&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sonofthesouth.net%2Funion-generals%2Fcuster%2Fcusters-last-stand.htm&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-Welch_and_Steckler-106"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-Welch_and_Steckler_106-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Welch_and_Steckler_106-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite id="CITEREFWelchSteckler1994" class="citation book cs1"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/James_Welch_(writer)" title="James Welch (writer)">Welch, James A</a>; Steckler, Paul (1994). <i>Killing Custer – The Battle of the Little Bighorn and the Fate of the Plains Indians</i>. New York: <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Penguin_Books" title="Penguin Books">Penguin Books</a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Killing+Custer+%E2%80%93+The+Battle+of+the+Little+Bighorn+and+the+Fate+of+the+Plains+Indians&rft.place=New+York&rft.pub=Penguin+Books&rft.date=1994&rft.aulast=Welch&rft.aufirst=James+A&rft.au=Steckler%2C+Paul&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-107"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-107">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite id="CITEREFAmbrose1996" class="citation book cs1"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Stephen_E._Ambrose" title="Stephen E. Ambrose">Ambrose, Stephen E.</a> (1996). <i>Crazy Horse and Custer</i>. New York: <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Anchor_Books" class="mw-redirect" title="Anchor Books">Anchor Books</a>. pp. 451–52.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Crazy+Horse+and+Custer&rft.place=New+York&rft.pages=451-52&rft.pub=Anchor+Books&rft.date=1996&rft.aulast=Ambrose&rft.aufirst=Stephen+E.&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></span>
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<li id="cite_note-108"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-108">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite id="CITEREFNabokov1982" class="citation book cs1">Nabokov, Peter (1982). <i>Two Leggings. The Making of a Crow Warrior</i>. Lincoln and London. p. 185.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Two+Leggings.+The+Making+of+a+Crow+Warrior&rft.place=Lincoln+and+London&rft.pages=185&rft.date=1982&rft.aulast=Nabokov&rft.aufirst=Peter&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-110"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-110">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite id="CITEREFLinderman1974" class="citation book cs1">Linderman, Frank B. (1974). <i>Pretty Shield. Medicine Woman of the Crows</i>. Lincoln and London. p. 243.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Pretty+Shield.+Medicine+Woman+of+the+Crows&rft.place=Lincoln+and+London&rft.pages=243&rft.date=1974&rft.aulast=Linderman&rft.aufirst=Frank+B.&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-111"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-111">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite id="CITEREFLinderman1962" class="citation book cs1">Linderman, Frank B. (1962). <i>Plenty Coups. Chief of the Crows</i>. Lincoln/London. p. 177.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Plenty+Coups.+Chief+of+the+Crows&rft.place=Lincoln%2FLondon&rft.pages=177&rft.date=1962&rft.aulast=Linderman&rft.aufirst=Frank+B.&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-112"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-112">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120425135359/http://www.derudio.co.uk/PAGE%20two.htm">"Count Carlo Di Rudio at Little Bighorn"</a>. Derudio.co.uk. Archived from <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.derudio.co.uk/PAGE%20two.htm">the original</a> on April 25, 2012<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">March 15,</span> 2012</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=unknown&rft.btitle=Count+Carlo+Di+Rudio+at+Little+Bighorn&rft.pub=Derudio.co.uk&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.derudio.co.uk%2FPAGE%2520two.htm&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-lapointe-113"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-lapointe_113-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite class="citation cs2"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-3NIrXW92s"><i>Ernie Lapointe Family Oral History of Little Big Horn Battle</i></a><span class="reference-accessdate">, retrieved <span class="nowrap">May 19,</span> 2020</span></cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Ernie+Lapointe+Family+Oral+History+of+Little+Big+Horn+Battle&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3Du-3NIrXW92s&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-114"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-114">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Graham, <i>The Custer Myth,</i> p. 109.</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-115"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-115">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Hardorff, <i>Hokayhey!,</i> p. 13.</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-116"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-116">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Graham, Col. W. A. <i>The Custer Myth</i>. NY, Bonanza Books, 1953, p. 60.</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-117"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-117">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite id="CITEREFThomas" class="citation web cs1">Thomas, Rodney G. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.littlebighorn.info/Articles/IndianCasualties.pdf">"Indian Casualties of the Little Big Horn Battle"</a> <span class="cs1-format">(PDF)</span>. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20160403040007/http://www.littlebighorn.info/Articles/IndianCasualties.pdf">Archived</a> <span class="cs1-format">(PDF)</span> from the original on April 3, 2016.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=unknown&rft.btitle=Indian+Casualties+of+the+Little+Big+Horn+Battle&rft.aulast=Thomas&rft.aufirst=Rodney+G.&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.littlebighorn.info%2FArticles%2FIndianCasualties.pdf&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-118"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-118">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.history.army.mil/html/moh/indianwars.html">"Medal of Honor Recipients: Indian Wars Period"</a>. <a href="/enwiki/wiki/United_States_Army_Center_of_Military_History" title="United States Army Center of Military History">United States Army Center of Military History</a>. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130803232814/http://www.history.army.mil/html/moh/indianwars.html">Archived</a> from the original on August 3, 2013.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=unknown&rft.btitle=Medal+of+Honor+Recipients%3A+Indian+Wars+Period&rft.pub=United+States+Army+Center+of+Military+History&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.history.army.mil%2Fhtml%2Fmoh%2Findianwars.html&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-cheyenne-119"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-cheyenne_119-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-cheyenne_119-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite id="CITEREFLiberty" class="citation web cs1">Liberty, Dr. Margot. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.friendslittlebighorn.com/cheyenneprimacy.htm">"Cheyenne Primacy: The Tribes' Perspective As Opposed To That Of The United States Army; A Possible Alternative To "The Great Sioux War Of 1876"</a>. Friends of the Little Bighorn. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20080124135151/http://www.friendslittlebighorn.com/cheyenneprimacy.htm">Archived</a> from the original on January 24, 2008<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">January 13,</span> 2008</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=unknown&rft.btitle=Cheyenne+Primacy%3A+The+Tribes%27+Perspective+As+Opposed+To+That+Of+The+United+States+Army%3B+A+Possible+Alternative+To+%22The+Great+Sioux+War+Of+1876&rft.pub=Friends+of+the+Little+Bighorn&rft.aulast=Liberty&rft.aufirst=Dr.+Margot&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.friendslittlebighorn.com%2Fcheyenneprimacy.htm&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-120"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-120">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite id="CITEREFRunning_Dog1920" class="citation web cs1">Running Dog (August 19, 1920). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.astonisher.com/archives/museum/he_dog2_little_big_horn.html">"He Dog's Story of the Battle of the Little Bighorn #2"</a>. Astonisher.com. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120118221821/http://www.astonisher.com/archives/museum/he_dog2_little_big_horn.html">Archived</a> from the original on January 18, 2012<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">March 15,</span> 2012</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=unknown&rft.btitle=He+Dog%27s+Story+of+the+Battle+of+the+Little+Bighorn+%232&rft.pub=Astonisher.com&rft.date=1920-08-19&rft.au=Running+Dog&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.astonisher.com%2Farchives%2Fmuseum%2Fhe_dog2_little_big_horn.html&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-121"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-121">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite id="CITEREFleeanne2016" class="citation web cs1">leeanne (June 24, 2016). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2016/06/24/battle-greasy-grass-140-years-later-complete-story-18-drawings-164918">"The Battle of the Greasy Grass 140 Years Later: The Complete Story in 18 Drawings"</a>. <i>indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com</i>. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20161026182510/http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2016/06/24/battle-greasy-grass-140-years-later-complete-story-18-drawings-164918">Archived</a> from the original on October 26, 2016<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">October 19,</span> 2016</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=unknown&rft.jtitle=indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com&rft.atitle=The+Battle+of+the+Greasy+Grass+140+Years+Later%3A+The+Complete+Story+in+18+Drawings&rft.date=2016-06-24&rft.au=leeanne&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Findiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com%2F2016%2F06%2F24%2Fbattle-greasy-grass-140-years-later-complete-story-18-drawings-164918&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-hils-122"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-hils_122-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite id="CITEREFHamersly1883" class="citation book cs1">Hamersly, Lewis Randolph (1883). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://books.google.com/books?id=w-VCAAAAIAAJ&q=record+of+living+officers+of+the+united+states+army"><i>Records of Living Officers of the United States Army (1884)</i></a>. <a href="/enwiki/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0722293980" title="Special:BookSources/978-0722293980"><bdi>978-0722293980</bdi></a><span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">January 17,</span> 2008</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Records+of+Living+Officers+of+the+United+States+Army+%281884%29&rft.date=1883&rft.isbn=978-0722293980&rft.aulast=Hamersly&rft.aufirst=Lewis+Randolph&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fbooks.google.com%2Fbooks%3Fid%3Dw-VCAAAAIAAJ%26q%3Drecord%2Bof%2Bliving%2Bofficers%2Bof%2Bthe%2Bunited%2Bstates%2Barmy&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></span>
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<li id="cite_note-124"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-124">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Utley, Robert M. (1973) <i>Frontier Regulars: The United States Army and the Indian 1866–1890</i>, pp. 64 and 69 note 11.</span>
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<li id="cite_note-125"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-125">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">House Report 95-375</span>
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<li id="cite_note-126"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-126">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><i><a href="/enwiki/wiki/United_States_v._Sioux_Nation_of_Indians" title="United States v. Sioux Nation of Indians">United States v. Sioux Nation of Indians</a></i> (Ct. Cl. 1979), 601 F.2d 1157, 1161</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-127"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-127">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/cgi-bin/History/History-idx?type=goto&id=History.Reno&isize=M&submit=Go+to+page&page=1">"A Complete scanned transcript of the Reno Court of Inquiry (RCOI)"</a>. Digicoll.library.wisc.edu. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120406080132/http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/cgi-bin/History/History-idx?type=goto&id=History.Reno&isize=M&submit=Go+to+page&page=1">Archived</a> from the original on April 6, 2012<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">March 15,</span> 2012</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=unknown&rft.btitle=A+Complete+scanned+transcript+of+the+Reno+Court+of+Inquiry+%28RCOI%29&rft.pub=Digicoll.library.wisc.edu&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fdigicoll.library.wisc.edu%2Fcgi-bin%2FHistory%2FHistory-idx%3Ftype%3Dgoto%26id%3DHistory.Reno%26isize%3DM%26submit%3DGo%2Bto%2Bpage%26page%3D1&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-128"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-128">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Donovan, James (2008). <i>A Terrible Glory: Custer and the Little Bighorn – the Last Great Battle of the American West</i> (Kindle Location 5870). Little, Brown and Company. Kindle Edition.</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-Donovan_2008-129"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-Donovan_2008_129-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Donovan_2008_129-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text">Donovan (2008). <i>A Terrible Glory</i>, (Kindle Locations 3080–3086)</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-130"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-130">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Connell, Evan S. (1997). <i>Son of the Morning Star</i>. New York: HarperPerennial, p. 257.</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-131"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-131">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Donovan (2008). <i>A Terrible Glory</i> (Kindle Location 5758)</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-132"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-132">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Donovan (2008). <i>A Terrible Glory</i> (Kindle Location 3697)</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-133"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-133">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Goodrich, Thomas (1984). <i>Scalp Dance: Indian Warfare on the High Plains, 1865–1879</i>. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, p. 233.</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-134"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-134">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Wert, Jeffry D. (1964/1996) <i>Custer: The Controversial Life of George Armstrong Custer</i>. New York: Simon & Schuster, p. 327.</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-135"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-135">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Sklenar, p. 341.</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-137"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-137">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite id="CITEREFSmith1993" class="citation journal cs1">Smith, Gene (1993). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.americanheritage.com/content/libbie-custer">"Libbie Custer"</a>. <i>American Heritage</i>. <b>44</b> (8). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20131220201035/http://www.americanheritage.com/content/libbie-custer">Archived</a> from the original on December 20, 2013<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">September 10,</span> 2012</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=article&rft.jtitle=American+Heritage&rft.atitle=Libbie+Custer&rft.volume=44&rft.issue=8&rft.date=1993&rft.aulast=Smith&rft.aufirst=Gene&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.americanheritage.com%2Fcontent%2Flibbie-custer&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></span>
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<li id="cite_note-139"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-139">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Smith, Gene (1993) <i>op cit</i>.</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-140"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-140">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><i>A Complete Life of General George A. Custer</i> (1876), noted in Donovan (2008). <i>A Terrible Glory</i> (Kindle Locations 6222–6223)</span>
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<li id="cite_note-141"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-141">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite id="CITEREFRobert_B.Smith2006" class="citation web cs1">Robert B.Smith (June 12, 2006). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.historynet.com/buffalo-bills-skirmish-at-warbonnet-creek.htm">"Buffalo Bill's Skirmish At Warbonnet Creek"</a>. <i>American History Magazine</i>. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20121001171445/http://www.historynet.com/buffalo-bills-skirmish-at-warbonnet-creek.htm">Archived</a> from the original on October 1, 2012<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">August 25,</span> 2012</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=unknown&rft.jtitle=American+History+Magazine&rft.atitle=Buffalo+Bill%27s+Skirmish+At+Warbonnet+Creek&rft.date=2006-06-12&rft.au=Robert+B.Smith&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.historynet.com%2Fbuffalo-bills-skirmish-at-warbonnet-creek.htm&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></span>
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<li id="cite_note-142"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-142">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Sklenar, 2000, p. 68: Terry's column out of Fort Abraham Lincoln included "...artillery (two Rodman and two Gatling guns)..."</span>
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<li id="cite_note-143"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-143">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Lawson, 2007, p. 48: "[Three] rapid-fire artillery pieces known as Gatling guns" were part of Terry's firepower included in the Dakota column.</span>
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<li id="cite_note-144"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-144">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Connell, 1984, p. 101: "How many Gatling guns lurched across the prairie is uncertain. Probably three."</span>
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<li id="cite_note-145"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-145">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Lawson, 2007, p. 50</span>
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<li id="cite_note-146"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-146">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Donovan, 2008, p. 175: "Custer refused Terry's offer of the Gatling gun battery."</span>
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<li id="cite_note-147"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-147">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Lawson, 2008, p. 50: "Military historians have speculated whether this decision was a mistake. If Gatling guns had made it to the battlefield, they might have allowed Custer enough firepower to allow Custer's companies to survive on Last Stand Hill."</span>
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<li id="cite_note-148"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-148">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Philbrick, 2010, p. 73: "Since its invention during the Civil War, the Gatling gun had been used sparingly in actual battle, but there was no denying, potentially at least, an awesome weapon."</span>
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<li id="cite_note-149"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-149">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Sklenar, 2000, pp. 71, 75</span>
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<li id="cite_note-150"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-150">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Donovan, 2008, pp. 162–63: Reno's wing "left...on June 10...accompanied by a Gatling gun and its crew..."</span>
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<li id="cite_note-151"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-151">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Donovan, 2008, p. 163: "The [Gatling gun] and its ammunition...was mostly pulled by two 'condemned' cavalry mounts [p. 176: "...drawn by four condemned horses..."] judged not fit to carry troopers, but it needed the occasional hauling by hand through some of the rougher ravines. (The gun would eventually upset and injure three men.)" and p. 175: "...Reno had taken [a Gatling gun] on his [June reconnaissance mission], and it had been nothing but trouble."</span>
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<li id="cite_note-152"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-152">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Sklenar, 2000, p. 72: On Reno's [June 10 to June 18] reconnaissance "the Gatling guns proved to be an annoying burden...they either fell apart or had to be disassembled and carried in pieces over rough terrain." And p. 79: "During the Reno scout [reconnoitering], the two guns were actually abandoned (and retrieved later) because soldiers got tired of dragging them over rough spots...[I]f Custer did not already have a fully formed negative opinion of the Gatlings on such an expedition, the experience of the Reno [reconnaissance of early June] surely convinced him."</span>
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<li id="cite_note-153"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-153">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Philbrick, 2010, p. 73: "The biggest problem with the [Gatling] gun was transporting it to where it might be of some use... [in the week preceding the Battle of the Little Bighorn], the Gatling, not the mules, proved to be the biggest hindrance to the expedition."</span>
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<li id="cite_note-154"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-154">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Donovan, 2008, p. 175: "...Reno had taken one [Gatling gun] along [on his June reconnaissance], and it had been nothing but trouble." And p. 195: Custer, in comments to his officer staff before the Battle of the Little Bighorn, said that "...if hostiles could whip the Seventh [Cavalry]...they could defeat a much larger force."</span>
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<li id="cite_note-155"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-155">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Hatch, 1997, pp. 80–81: The Gatling guns "were cumbersome and would cause delays over the traveled route. The guns were drawn by four condemned horses [and] obstacles in the terrain [would] require their unhitching and assistance of soldier to continue...Terry's own battery [of Gatling guns]—the one he had offered to Custer—[would have] a difficult time keeping up with the march of Colonel John Gibbon's infantry."</span>
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<li id="cite_note-156"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-156">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Lawson, 2007, p. 50: "[Custer] turned down General Terry's offer to bring the three Gatling guns, because they would slow down his movement."</span>
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<li id="cite_note-157"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-157">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Philbrick, 2010, p. 99: "Custer knew he had to move quickly to accomplish his objective. That was why he ultimately declined the offer of the Gatling guns that had proven such a bother to Reno."</span>
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<li id="cite_note-158"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-158">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Sklenar, 2000, p. 79: After the 7th Cavalry's departure up Rosebud Creek, "even Brisbin would acknowledge that everyone in Gibbon's command understood [that]...the Seventh was the primary strike force."</span>
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<li id="cite_note-159"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-159">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Philbrick, 2010, p. 99: "Thinking his regiment powerful enough to handle anything it might encounter, [Custer, in addition to declining the Gatling guns] declined the offer of four additional cavalry companies from [Gibbon's] Montana column." And p. 114: Custer told his officer staff days before the battle that he "opted against the Gatling guns...so as not to 'hamper our movements'"</span>
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<li id="cite_note-160"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-160">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Sklenar, 2000, p. 92: Custer "on the evening of 22 June...[informed his officer staff]...why he had not accepted the offers...of Gatling guns (he thought they might hamper his movements at a critical moment)."</span>
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<li id="cite_note-161"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-161">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Lawson, 2007 p. 50: "Custer...refused Major James Brisbin's offer to include his Second Cavalry Regiment [200 troopers], told Terry "the 7th can handle anything it meets."</span>
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<li id="cite_note-162"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-162">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Donovan, 2008, p. "Explaining his refusal of the Gatling gun detachment and the Second Cavalry battalion, he convolutedly reaffirmed his confidence in the Seventh's ability to defeat any number of Indians they could find."</span>
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<li id="cite_note-163"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-163">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Hatch, 1997, p. 24: "Brisbin argued with Terry that Custer was undermanned, and requested that his troops [which had the] Gatling guns – with Terry in command because Brisbin did not want to serve under Custer—be permitted to accompany [Custer's] column. Custer refused the assistance, and Terry abided by that."</span>
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<li id="cite_note-164"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-164">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Sklenar, 2000, pp. 78–79: "Apparently, Terry offered [Major James] Brisbin's battalion and Gatling gun battery to accompany the Seventh, but Custer refused these additions for several reasons. First of all, Custer and Brisbin did not get along and Custer thus would not have wanted to place Brisbin in a senior command position. Custer was on the verge of abolishing the wings led by Reno and Benteen, and the inclusion of Brisbin would have complicated the arrangement he had in mind. Also, Custer retained the conviction that the Seventh could handle any force of Indians it might encounter, and he may have reasoned that taking the Second Cavalry would leave [Colonel John] Gibbon's column susceptible to attack and defeat..."</span>
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<li id="cite_note-165"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-165">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Hatch, 1997, p. 80: "The offer of 3 Gatling Guns...was made to Custer by General Alfred Terry [at the] urging of Major James Brisbin, who also desired his Second Cavalry to become part of Custer's detachment. Custer respectfully declined both offers, state that the Gatlings would impede his march.</span>
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<li id="cite_note-166"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-166">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Hatch, 1997, p. 80: "The Gatling Guns would have brought formidable firepower into play; this rapid fire artillery could fire up to 350 rounds in 1 minute."</span>
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<li id="cite_note-167"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-167">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Donovan, 2008, p. 175: "Each of these heavy, hand-cranked weapons could fire up to 350 rounds a minute, an impressive rate, but they were known to jam frequently.</span>
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<li id="cite_note-168"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-168">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Hatch, 1997, pp. 80–81: "The Gatlings had major drawbacks, such as frequent jamming due to residue from black powder..."</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-169"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-169">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Philbrick, 2010, p. 73: "Military traditionalists like to claim the gun was unreliable, but in actuality the Gatling functioned surprisingly well."</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-170"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-170">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Hatch, 1997, p. 81: "...The [Gatling] guns were mounted on large [diameter] wheels, which meant that in order to operate them the gun crews would [necessarily] be standing upright, making them [extremely vulnerable] to Indian snipers."</span>
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<li id="cite_note-171"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-171">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Utley, 1987, pp. 80–81</span>
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<li id="cite_note-172"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-172">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Gallear, 2001: "The Indians were well equipped with hand-to-hand weapons and these included lances, tomahawks, war clubs, knives and war shields were carried for defense. Such weapons were little different from the shock and hand-to-hand weapons, used by the cavalry of the European armies, such as the sabre and lance...[in addition] the Indians were clearly armed with a number of sophisticated firearms..."<br />Hatch, 1997, p. 184: "Sioux and Cheyenne weapons included...clubs, bows and arrows, lances, and hatchets [as well as] an array of new and old [model] firearms: muzzleloaders, Spenser, Sharps, Henry and Winchester repeating rifles, and...Springfield carbines taken from Reno's dead cavalrymen."<br />Robinson, 1995, p. xxix: "...Indians carried at least forty-one different kinds of firearms in the fight."</span>
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<li id="cite_note-173"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-173">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Flaherty, 1993, p. 208: "By 1873, Indians "used the traditional bow and arrows and war club along with firearms such as the muzzle-loading Leman rifle, issued as part of treaty agreements, and rapid-fire Henry and Winchester rifles, obtained through civilian traders."</span>
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<li id="cite_note-174"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-174">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Gallear, 2001: "Trade guns were made up until the 1880s by such gunsmiths as Henry Leman, J.P. Lower and J. Henry & Son."</span>
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<li id="cite_note-175"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-175">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Gallear, 2001: "These guns were crudely made for Indian trade and were given out as a sweetener for treaties."</span>
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<li id="cite_note-176"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-176">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Gallear, 2001: "Civil War type muzzleloader rifles would have had an effective range of about 500 yards, but with <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Volley_fire" title="Volley fire">volley fire</a> were effective to 1000 yards."</span>
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<li id="cite_note-177"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-177">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Donovan, 2008, p. 188: "Though most of the men in the village carried the bow and arrow in battle...over the past decade [1866–1876] the sale and trade of arms to the Indians had increased significantly...[t]he latest Winchester magazine rifles were available for the right price...Many men carried older guns—muzzleloaders, for which some molded their own bullets; Henry and Spencer repeaters; Springfield, Enfield [rifled muskets], Sharps breechloaders and many different pistols. All told, between one-third and one-half of the gathering warriors had a gun."</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-178"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-178">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Gallear, 2001: "The bows effective range was about 30 yards and was unlikely to kill a man instantly or even knock him off his horse. However, it would incapacitate and few troopers would fight on after an arrow hit them."</span>
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<li id="cite_note-179"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-179">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Gallear, 2001: "There is also evidence that some Indians were short of ammunition and it is unclear how good a shot they were. They certainly did not have the ammunition to practice, except whilst hunting buffalo, and this would suggest that the Indians generally followed the same technique of holding their fire until they were at very close range,"</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-180"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-180">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Donovan, 2008, p. 188 (fragment of quote)<br />Utley, 1993, p. 39: The Indians had grown to depend on the goods [white traders] supplied, especially firearms and ammunition...they could be obtained only though white men, directly, of through Indian intermediaries."<br />Gallear, 2001: "Indian trade muskets...could be legitimately obtained from traders at Indian agencies...The Sioux [however] were keen to obtain metal cartridge weapons [available].from half-breed Indian traders out of Canada or unsupervised traders at Missouri River posts in Montana...By 1876 almost all [Model 1860 Henry rifles] in civilian use would have disappeared so Indian use must have come from ex-Civil War stocks sold off cheaply and bought by Indian traders, such as the Métis.<br />Flaherty, 1993, p. 208: By 1873, Indians "used the traditional bow and arrows and war club along with firearms such as the muzzle-loading Leman rifle, issued as part of treaty agreements, and rapid-fire Henry and Winchester rifles, obtained through civilian traders."<br />Donovan, 2008, p. 188: "...there were many...ways a warrior could acquire a rifle. Post-traders on some reservations supplied illegal arms to non-treat[y] [Indians]; so did unlicensed traders—primarily the half-breed Canadian Métis gunrunners to the north in the desolate area known as Burning Ground below the Black Hills.<br />Robinson, 1995, p. xxix: "Studies of the cartridge cases recovered in archaeological investigations of the Little Big Horn show the Indians carried at least forty-one different kinds [models] if firearms in that fight, and it estimated that at least 25 to 30 percent [of Lakota and Cheyenne combatants] were armed with modern sixteen-shot Winchester and Henry repeating rifles....they also armed themselves with captured Springfield carbines...[and] carried traditional weapons...bows and arrows, hatchets...and war clubs."</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-181"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-181">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Donovan, 2008, p. 118: Reynolds "...<span class="nowrap"> </span>best white scout in Dakota Territory...had earned Custer's respect for his excellent work...report[ed] to Custer that Lakotas under Sitting Bull were 'gathering in force'. They had been preparing for war by collecting Winchester repeating rifles and plenty ammunition."</span>
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<li id="cite_note-Hatch_1997,_p._184-182"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-Hatch_1997,_p._184_182-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Hatch_1997,_p._184_182-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text">Hatch, 1997, p. 184: "It has been estimated that perhaps 200 repeating rifles were possessed by the Indians, nearly one for each [man in Custer's battalion]."</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-183"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-183">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Sklenar, 2000, p. 163: "...the village contained possibly 1,200 lodges, plus several hundred wikiups housing individual warriors. The total population of men, woman and children probably reached 6,000 to 7,000 at its peak, with 2,000 of these being able-bodied warriors..."</span>
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<li id="cite_note-184"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-184">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Lawson, 2007, pp. 52–53: "The troops of the 7th Cavalry were each armed with two standard weapons, a rifle and a pistol. The rifle was a .45/55-caliber Springfield carbine and the pistol was a .45-caliber Colt revolver...both weapons were models [introduced in] 1873 [though] they did not represent the latest in firearm technology."</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-185"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-185">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Lawson, 2007, p. 53: "Although each soldier was also issued a sword or saber, Custer ordered these weapons boxed before the strike force departed [up Rosebud Creek]...the lack of swords would prove to be a disadvantage during some of the close fighting that lay ahead. Gunpowder of the day is now known as black powder. It causes substantial fouling within the firearm. After about 25 rounds are fired from the M1873 revolver using black powder, the cylinder binds on the cylinder pin. The cavalry trooper would then have used his saber. However, their inclusion would not have changed the ultimate outcome."</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-186"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-186">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Gallear, 2001: "No bayonet or hand to hand weapon was issued apart from the saber, which under Custer's orders was left behind."</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-187"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-187">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Lawson, 2008, p. 53: "Many of the officers and most of the civilians brought along their own weapons."</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-188"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-188">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Donovan, 2008, p. 191: "...<span class="nowrap"> </span>each enlisted man carried the regulation single-action breech-loading, M1873 Springfield carbine...the standard issue sidearm was the reliable [single-action] M1873 Colt .45 cal. pistol."</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-189"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-189">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Gallear, 2001: "Officers purchased their own carbines or rifles for hunting purposes...[however] these guns may have been left with the baggage and is unclear how many officers actually used these weapons in the battle. However, there is evidence that Reno's men did make use of long-range hunting rifles. White Scouts would have been better armed and seemed to favor long-range buffalo hunting type rifles over fast-shooting lever actions... Henrys, Spencers and Winchester M1866s would also have been popular choices... Some Scouts would have been armed with both types of weapons plus a variety of side arms."</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-190"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-190">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Donovan, 2008, p. 191: "[Each] trooper carried 100 rounds of carbine ammunition and 24 pistol cartridges with him—as many as 50 on a belt or in a pouch, and the remainder in his saddlebag (the pack train mules carried 26,000 more carbine rounds [approximately 50 extra per trooper])."</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-191"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-191">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Hatch, 1997, p. 184: "...<span class="nowrap"> </span>not a wide disparity<span class="nowrap"> </span>..." in arms of the opposing forces.</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-192"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-192">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Gallear, 2001: "the .44 rim-fire round fired from the Henry rifle is the most numerous Indian gun fired with almost as many individual guns identified as the Cavalry Springfield Model 1873 carbine."</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-193"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-193">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Gallear, 2001: "...by the time of the Little Bighorn the U.S. Army was standardizing on the Springfield rifle and carbine [and] saw breech-loading rifles and carbines as the way forward."</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-194"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-194">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Lawson, 2008, p. 93: "The rapid fire power of the Henry repeaters was intimidating, especially to inexperienced soldiers. Their use was probably a significant cause of the confusion and panic among the soldiers so widely reported by Native American eyewitnesses."</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-195"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-195">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Lawson, 2007, pp. 91–93: "[Henryville] was named in the mid-1980s by archaeologists after they discovered a large artifact collection there, which included numerous .44-caliber Henry cartridges. The number of cartridges indicated that about 20 warriors at this position were using Henry repeating rifles. These weapons were less powerful than the cavalry's Springfield rifles, especially at long range; however, they had the advantage of providing rapid fire...The rapid fire power...was intimidating, especially to inexperienced soldiers. Their use was probably a significant a confusion and panic among the soldiers so widely reported by Native American eyewitnesses...Survivors of the assaults...fled north to seek safety with Keogh's Company I...they could react quickly enough to prevent the disintegration of their own unit."</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-196"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-196">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Donovan, 2008, p. 191: "The Springfield had won out over many other American and foreign rifles, some of them repeaters, after extensive testing supervised by an army board that had included Marcus Reno and Alfred Terry."</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-197"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-197">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Gallear, 2001: "In 1872 the Army tested a number of foreign and domestic single-shot breechloaders..."</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-198"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-198">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Robinson, 1995, p. xxviii: "...the Model 1873 Springfield rifle, in caliber .45-70 for the infantry, and .45-55 light carbine for cavalry."</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-199"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-199">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Gallear, 2001: "The established wisdom is that the U.S. Army did not adopt lever-action multiple shot weapons during the Civil War because of the problems they would create regarding the supply of ammunition. However, I believe that by the time of the Indian Wars the Army viewed the lever-actions weapons as under-powered novelty weapons and that they were equipping their men to fight wars against European equipped enemies or to re-fight the Civil War. The Indian Wars were seen as a minor sideshow in which troops armed to fight on European battlefields would be more than a match for fighting any number of Indians."</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-200"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-200">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Donovan, 2008, p. 191: "...a solid weapon with superior range and stopping power..."</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-201"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-201">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Robinson, 1995, p. xxviii</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-202"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-202">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Gallear, 2001: "The Army saw breech-loading rifles and carbines as the way forward. They could fire a much more powerful round at longer ranges than lever-actions."</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-203"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-203">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Gallear, 2001</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-204"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-204">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Gallear, 2001: "The Allin System had been developed at the Government Armories to reduce the cost, but the U.S. Treasury had already been forced to pay $124,000 to inventors whose patents it infringed. The adoption of the Allin breech gave the advantages of being already familiar throughout the Army, involved no more royalties, and existing machinery at the Springfield Armory could easily be adapted to its manufacture.</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-205"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-205">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Donovan, 2008, p. 191: "Army appropriations were at an all-time low, and a key factor in the Springfield's favor was its low production cost."</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-206"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-206">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Gallear, 2001: "...some authorities have blamed the gun's reliability and tendency for rounds to jam in the breech for the defeat at the Little Bighorn.."</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-207"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-207">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Hatch, 1997, p. 124: "This defect was noted by the board of officers (which included Major Reno) that selected the weapon in 1872, but was not considered particularly serious at the time."</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-208"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-208">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Gallear, 2001: "A study of .45-55 cases found at the battle concludes that extractor failure amounted to less than 0.35% of some 1,751 cases tested...the carbine was in fact more reliable than anything that had preceded it in U.S. Army service. These weapons were vastly more reliable than the muzzle-loading weapons of the Civil War, which would frequently misfire and cause the soldier to uselessly load multiple rounds on top of each other in the heat of battle.</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-209"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-209">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Hatch, 1997, p. 124: 'Scholars have for years debated the issue of whether or not the Model 1873 Springfield carbine carried by cavalrymen, malfunctioned during the battle and [whether this] was one reason for the defeat" and "No definitive conclusion can be drawn [as to] the possible malfunction...as being a significant cause of Custer's defeat. Writers of both pro- and anti-Custer material over the years...have incorporated the theory into their works..."</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-210"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-210">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Donovan, 2008, p. 440: footnote, "the carbine extractor problem did exist, though it probably had little impact on the outcome of the battle. DeRudio testified that 'the men had to take their knives to extract cartridges after firing 6 to 10 rounds.'...but 'the men' seems to have been an exaggeration. Private Daniel Newall mentioned the problem..."</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-211"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-211">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Hatch, 1997, p. 124: "The controversy results from the known failure of the carbine to [eject] the spent .45-55 caliber cartridge [casings]. The cartridge cases were made of copper, which expands when hot. That—coupled with a faulty extractor mechanism and dirt—could cause the head of the cartridge to be torn away when the block was opened, and the cartridge cylinder would then be left inside the chamber...The casings would have to be removed manually with a pocketknife before [reloading and] firing again. This defect was noted by the board of officers (which included Major Reno) that selected the weapon in 1872, but was not considered particularly serious at the time."</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-212"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-212">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Hatch, 1997, p. 124: "How often did this defect [ejector failure] occur and cause the [Springfield carbines] to malfunction on June 25, 1876? According to Dr. Richard Fox in <i>Archeology, History and Custer's Last Battle</i> (1993), there were very few .45-55 caliber cartridge casings found during the digs on the battlefield that showed any evidence to pry or scratch marks [indicating manual extraction]. Only 3 of 88 [3.4%] found on the Custer [battalion] portion of the battlefield could possibly have been removed in an extraction jam. On the Reno-Benteen defense site [Reno Hill], 7 of 257 fit this category [2.7%]. If this was a representative number it would appear that malfunction from that source was minimal."</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-213"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-213">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Hatch, 1997, p. 124: "Both sides [troopers and Indians] apparently believed that some weapons malfunctioned. Indian testimony...reported that some soldiers threw down their long guns and fought with their short guns. Could this indicate a malfunctioning [carbine] that was discarded and therefore could not have left its marked [pry scratched] casings on the field? ... No definitive conclusion can be drawn about the possible malfunction...as being a significant cause of Custer's defeat. Writers of both pro- and anti-Custer material over the years...have incorporated the theory into their works..."</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-214"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-214">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Hatch, 1997, p. 124: "On a final note: the Springfield carbine remained the official cavalry firearm until the early 1890s"</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-Custer_Survivors_101-216"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-Custer_Survivors_101_216-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite id="CITEREFHarris2012" class="citation book cs1">Harris, Ethan E. (2012). <i>Custer Survivors 101: The Impostor Roster</i> (E-book). Warrior's Quill. Introduction.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Custer+Survivors+101%3A+The+Impostor+Roster&rft.pages=Introduction&rft.pub=Warrior%27s+Quill&rft.date=2012&rft.aulast=Harris&rft.aufirst=Ethan+E.&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-217"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-217">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite id="CITEREFStewart1980" class="citation book cs1">Stewart, Edgar I. (1980). <i>Custer's Luck</i>. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press. p. 490. <a href="/enwiki/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-8061-1632-7" title="Special:BookSources/978-0-8061-1632-7"><bdi>978-0-8061-1632-7</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Custer%27s+Luck&rft.place=Norman%2C+OK&rft.pages=490&rft.pub=University+of+Oklahoma+Press&rft.date=1980&rft.isbn=978-0-8061-1632-7&rft.aulast=Stewart&rft.aufirst=Edgar+I.&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-218"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-218">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite id="CITEREFVan_de_Water1988" class="citation book cs1">Van de Water, Frederic F. (1988). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://books.google.com/books?id=Ln5AQjdS9l8C&pg=PA5"><i>Glory-Hunter: A Life of General Custer</i></a>. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press. p. 5. <a href="/enwiki/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-8032-9607-7" title="Special:BookSources/978-0-8032-9607-7"><bdi>978-0-8032-9607-7</bdi></a>. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20170117221402/https://books.google.com/books?id=Ln5AQjdS9l8C&pg=PA5">Archived</a> from the original on January 17, 2017<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">May 16,</span> 2014</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Glory-Hunter%3A+A+Life+of+General+Custer&rft.place=Lincoln%2C+NE&rft.pages=5&rft.pub=University+of+Nebraska+Press&rft.date=1988&rft.isbn=978-0-8032-9607-7&rft.aulast=Van+de+Water&rft.aufirst=Frederic+F.&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fbooks.google.com%2Fbooks%3Fid%3DLn5AQjdS9l8C%26pg%3DPA5&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-219"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-219">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite id="CITEREFEge2008" class="citation book cs1">Ege, Robert J. (2008). <i>Curse Not His Curls</i>. Old Army Press. p. 121.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Curse+Not+His+Curls&rft.pages=121&rft.pub=Old+Army+Press&rft.date=2008&rft.aulast=Ege&rft.aufirst=Robert+J.&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-Nunnally_Survived-220"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-Nunnally_Survived_220-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite id="CITEREFNunnally2005" class="citation book cs1">Nunnally, Michael L. (2005). <i>I Survived Custer's Last Stand</i>. p. 38.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=I+Survived+Custer%27s+Last+Stand&rft.pages=38&rft.date=2005&rft.aulast=Nunnally&rft.aufirst=Michael+L.&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-221"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-221">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite id="CITEREFGraham1995" class="citation book cs1">Graham, W.A. (1995). <i>The Custer Myth: A source book of Custeriana with a new introduction by Brian C. Pohanka</i>. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books. pp. 353–57, 413. <a href="/enwiki/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-8117-0347-9" title="Special:BookSources/0-8117-0347-9"><bdi>0-8117-0347-9</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=The+Custer+Myth%3A+A+source+book+of+Custeriana+with+a+new+introduction+by+Brian+C.+Pohanka&rft.place=Mechanicsburg%2C+PA&rft.pages=353-57%2C+413&rft.pub=Stackpole+Books&rft.date=1995&rft.isbn=0-8117-0347-9&rft.aulast=Graham&rft.aufirst=W.A.&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-222"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-222">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.lib.montana.edu/collect/spcoll/findaid/1043.html">"Charles Kuhlman Papers, 1896–1959"</a>. University of Montana Library. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20131221005946/http://www.lib.montana.edu/collect/spcoll/findaid/1043.html">Archived</a> from the original on December 21, 2013<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">June 10,</span> 2013</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=unknown&rft.btitle=Charles+Kuhlman+Papers%2C+1896%E2%80%931959&rft.pub=University+of+Montana+Library&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.lib.montana.edu%2Fcollect%2Fspcoll%2Ffindaid%2F1043.html&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-Kuhlman_Finkel-223"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-Kuhlman_Finkel_223-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite id="CITEREFKuhlman1968" class="citation book cs1">Kuhlman, Charles (1968). <i>The Frank Finkel Story</i>. Omaha, NE: Citizen Printing Co. p. 20.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=The+Frank+Finkel+Story&rft.place=Omaha%2C+NE&rft.pages=20&rft.pub=Citizen+Printing+Co.&rft.date=1968&rft.aulast=Kuhlman&rft.aufirst=Charles&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-Ellison_Finkel-224"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-Ellison_Finkel_224-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite id="CITEREFEllison1983" class="citation book cs1">Ellison, Douglas W. (1983). <i>Sole Survivor: An Examination of the Frank Finkel Narrative</i>. North Plains Press. p. 128.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Sole+Survivor%3A+An+Examination+of+the+Frank+Finkel+Narrative&rft.pages=128&rft.pub=North+Plains+Press&rft.date=1983&rft.aulast=Ellison&rft.aufirst=Douglas+W.&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-Boyes-225"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-Boyes_225-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite id="CITEREFBoyes1977" class="citation book cs1">Boyes, William (1977). <i>No Custer Survivors: Or, The Unveiling of Frank Finkel</i>. WJBM Associates. p. 16.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=No+Custer+Survivors%3A+Or%2C+The+Unveiling+of+Frank+Finkel&rft.pages=16&rft.pub=WJBM+Associates&rft.date=1977&rft.aulast=Boyes&rft.aufirst=William&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-Nunnally_Hoax-226"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-Nunnally_Hoax_226-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite id="CITEREFNunnally2008" class="citation book cs1">Nunnally, Michael L. (2008). <i>The Frank Finkel Hoax: No Survivor of Custer's Last Stand</i>. Old Scout Books. p. 32.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=The+Frank+Finkel+Hoax%3A+No+Survivor+of+Custer%27s+Last+Stand&rft.pages=32&rft.pub=Old+Scout+Books&rft.date=2008&rft.aulast=Nunnally&rft.aufirst=Michael+L.&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-227"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-227">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite id="CITEREFRaymond_Hatfield_Gardner1944" class="citation book cs1">Raymond Hatfield Gardner (1944). <i>The Old Wild West: Adventures of Arizona Bill</i> (1st ed.). San Antonio, TX: Naylor Company.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=The+Old+Wild+West%3A+Adventures+of+Arizona+Bill&rft.place=San+Antonio%2C+TX&rft.edition=1st&rft.pub=Naylor+Company&rft.date=1944&rft.au=Raymond+Hatfield+Gardner&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-228"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-228">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite class="citation book cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://archive.org/details/autobiographyoff00tarb"><i>The Autobiography of Frank Tarbeaux, as Told to Donald Henderson Clarke</i></a>. Vanguard Press. 1930. p. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://archive.org/details/autobiographyoff00tarb/page/n304">287</a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=The+Autobiography+of+Frank+Tarbeaux%2C+as+Told+to+Donald+Henderson+Clarke&rft.pages=287&rft.pub=Vanguard+Press&rft.date=1930&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Farchive.org%2Fdetails%2Fautobiographyoff00tarb&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-229"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-229">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite id="CITEREFRyan1951" class="citation book cs1">Ryan, Ed (1951). <i>Me and The Black Hills</i>. Custer, South Dakota: Ed Ryan. p. 89.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Me+and+The+Black+Hills&rft.place=Custer%2C+South+Dakota&rft.pages=89&rft.pub=Ed+Ryan&rft.date=1951&rft.aulast=Ryan&rft.aufirst=Ed&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-230"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-230">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite id="CITEREFGardner2009" class="citation book cs1">Gardner, Raymond Hatfield (2009). <i>The Old Wild West: Adventures of Arizona Bill</i>. Kessinger Publishing. p. 326. <a href="/enwiki/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-104-84859-0" title="Special:BookSources/978-1-104-84859-0"><bdi>978-1-104-84859-0</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=The+Old+Wild+West%3A+Adventures+of+Arizona+Bill&rft.pages=326&rft.pub=Kessinger+Publishing&rft.date=2009&rft.isbn=978-1-104-84859-0&rft.aulast=Gardner&rft.aufirst=Raymond+Hatfield&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-231"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-231">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite id="CITEREFClarke1930" class="citation book cs1">Clarke, Donald Henderson (1930). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://archive.org/details/autobiographyoff00tarb"><i>The Autobiography of Frank Tarbeaux</i></a>. New York: Vanguard Press. p. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://archive.org/details/autobiographyoff00tarb/page/286">286</a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=The+Autobiography+of+Frank+Tarbeaux&rft.place=New+York&rft.pages=286&rft.pub=Vanguard+Press&rft.date=1930&rft.aulast=Clarke&rft.aufirst=Donald+Henderson&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Farchive.org%2Fdetails%2Fautobiographyoff00tarb&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-232"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-232">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Winkler, A. (2013). 'The case for a Custer Battalion survivor: Private Gustave Korn’s story.' <i>The Magazine of Western History</i>, 63(1). Reprinted in <a rel="nofollow" class="external free" href="https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2881&context=facpub">https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2881&context=facpub</a>. Retrieved 17 April 2020.</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-A_Pretended_Custer_Survivor-233"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-A_Pretended_Custer_Survivor_233-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=mdGv78FIKkEC&dat=19260505&printsec=frontpage&hl=en">"A Pretended Custer Survivor: Another Attempt to Pose As a Survivor Punctured by the Regiment's Clerk"</a>. The Big Horn Searchlight<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">August 2,</span> 2012</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=unknown&rft.btitle=A+Pretended+Custer+Survivor%3A+Another+Attempt+to+Pose+As+a+Survivor+Punctured+by+the+Regiment%27s+Clerk&rft.pub=The+Big+Horn+Searchlight&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fnews.google.com%2Fnewspapers%3Fnid%3DmdGv78FIKkEC%26dat%3D19260505%26printsec%3Dfrontpage%26hl%3Den&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-235"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-235">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite id="CITEREFShanks2007" class="citation web cs1">Shanks, Jenny (June 26, 2007). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://newwest.net/topic/article/comanche_the_horse_that_survived_the_battle_of_the_little_bighorn_part_2/C39/L39">"Comanche: The Horse that Survived the Battle of the Little Bighorn, Part 2"</a>. <i>NewWest</i>. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20121025010617/http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/comanche_the_horse_that_survived_the_battle_of_the_little_bighorn_part_2/C39/L39/">Archived</a> from the original on October 25, 2012<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">January 15,</span> 2017</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=unknown&rft.jtitle=NewWest&rft.atitle=Comanche%3A+The+Horse+that+Survived+the+Battle+of+the+Little+Bighorn%2C+Part+2&rft.date=2007-06-26&rft.aulast=Shanks&rft.aufirst=Jenny&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fnewwest.net%2Ftopic%2Farticle%2Fcomanche_the_horse_that_survived_the_battle_of_the_little_bighorn_part_2%2FC39%2FL39&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-236"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-236">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite id="CITEREFConnell1984" class="citation book cs1"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Evan_S._Connell" title="Evan S. Connell">Connell, Evan S.</a> (1984). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://books.google.com/books?id=f7uQZPCvPPcC"><i>Son of the Morning Star: Custer and the Little Bighorn</i></a>. <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Macmillan_Publishers_(United_States)" class="mw-redirect" title="Macmillan Publishers (United States)">Macmillan</a>. <a href="/enwiki/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-88394-088-4" title="Special:BookSources/0-88394-088-4"><bdi>0-88394-088-4</bdi></a><span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">January 15,</span> 2017</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Son+of+the+Morning+Star%3A+Custer+and+the+Little+Bighorn&rft.pub=Macmillan&rft.date=1984&rft.isbn=0-88394-088-4&rft.aulast=Connell&rft.aufirst=Evan+S.&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fbooks.google.com%2Fbooks%3Fid%3Df7uQZPCvPPcC&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-237"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-237">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">National Park Service website for the Little Bighorn Battlefield.</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-238"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-238">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.nps.gov/libi/the-indian-memorial-peace-through-unity.htm">"The Indian Memorial Peace Through Unity – Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument (U.S. National Park Service)"</a>. <i>www.nps.gov</i>. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150413060331/http://www.nps.gov/libi/the-indian-memorial-peace-through-unity.htm">Archived</a> from the original on April 13, 2015<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">April 7,</span> 2015</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=unknown&rft.jtitle=www.nps.gov&rft.atitle=The+Indian+Memorial+Peace+Through+Unity+%E2%80%93+Little+Bighorn+Battlefield+National+Monument+%28U.S.+National+Park+Service%29&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nps.gov%2Flibi%2Fthe-indian-memorial-peace-through-unity.htm&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-239"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-239">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.friendslittlebighorn.com/martinpate.htm">"Martin Pate"</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20101123193206/http://friendslittlebighorn.com/martinpate.htm">Archived</a> November 23, 2010, at the <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Wayback_Machine" title="Wayback Machine">Wayback Machine</a>, <i>Friends Of The Little Bighorn Battlefield</i>, retrieved April 24, 2010.</span>
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<li id="cite_note-240"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-240">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Wooden Leg, <i>q.v.</i>, p. 236.</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-241"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-241">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite id="CITEREFRankin1997" class="citation book cs1">Rankin, ed. by Charles E. (1997). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://archive.org/details/legacynewperspec0000unse/page/310"><i>Legacy: New perspectives on the Battle of the Little Bighorn; [proceedings of the Little Bighorn Legacy Symposium, held in Billings, Montana, August 3–6, 1994</i></a> (Nachdr. ed.). Helena, Mont.: Historical Soc. Press. p. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://archive.org/details/legacynewperspec0000unse/page/310">310</a>. <a href="/enwiki/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-917298-41-1" title="Special:BookSources/0-917298-41-1"><bdi>0-917298-41-1</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Legacy%3A+New+perspectives+on+the+Battle+of+the+Little+Bighorn%3B+%5Bproceedings+of+the+Little+Bighorn+Legacy+Symposium%2C+held+in+Billings%2C+Montana%2C+August+3%E2%80%936%2C+1994&rft.place=Helena%2C+Mont.&rft.pages=310&rft.edition=Nachdr.&rft.pub=Historical+Soc.+Press&rft.date=1997&rft.isbn=0-917298-41-1&rft.aulast=Rankin&rft.aufirst=ed.+by+Charles+E.&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Farchive.org%2Fdetails%2Flegacynewperspec0000unse%2Fpage%2F310&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span><span class="cs1-maint citation-comment">CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (<a href="/enwiki/wiki/Category:CS1_maint:_extra_text:_authors_list" title="Category:CS1 maint: extra text: authors list">link</a>)</span></span>
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<li id="cite_note-242"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-242">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Russell, D. Custer's List: A Checklist of Pictures Relating to the Battle of the Little Big Horn. Fort Worth: Amon Carter Museum of Western Art, 1969</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-243"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-243">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.kshs.org/publicat/khq/1946/46_4_taft.htm">"Kansas Historical Quarterly – The Pictorial Record of the Old West, 4"</a>. Kansas Historical Society. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20100729021654/http://www.kshs.org/publicat/khq/1946/46_4_taft.htm">Archived</a> from the original on July 29, 2010<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">March 15,</span> 2012</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=unknown&rft.btitle=Kansas+Historical+Quarterly+%E2%80%93+The+Pictorial+Record+of+the+Old+West%2C+4&rft.pub=Kansas+Historical+Society&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.kshs.org%2Fpublicat%2Fkhq%2F1946%2F46_4_taft.htm&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-244"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-244">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120226201104/http://home1.gte.net/espaxson/custer.htm">"Custer's Last Stand – Artist E.S. Paxson"</a>. Home1.gte.net. Archived from <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://home1.gte.net/espaxson/custer.htm">the original</a> on February 26, 2012<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">March 15,</span> 2012</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=unknown&rft.btitle=Custer%27s+Last+Stand+%E2%80%93+Artist+E.S.+Paxson&rft.pub=Home1.gte.net&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fhome1.gte.net%2Fespaxson%2Fcuster.htm&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></span>
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<li id="cite_note-245"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-245">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Evans 2000, p. 180.</span>
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<li id="cite_note-HollywoodsIndian-246"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-HollywoodsIndian_246-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite id="CITEREFRollins2011" class="citation book cs1">Rollins, Peter (2011). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://books.google.com/books?id=kvLJQsO3O0oC&q=%22Little+Big+Man%22+film&pg=PP2"><i>Hollywood's Indian: The Portrayal of the Native American in Film</i></a>. University Press of Kentucky. pp. 121–136. <a href="/enwiki/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-8131-3165-8" title="Special:BookSources/978-0-8131-3165-8"><bdi>978-0-8131-3165-8</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Hollywood%27s+Indian%3A+The+Portrayal+of+the+Native+American+in+Film&rft.pages=121-136&rft.pub=University+Press+of+Kentucky&rft.date=2011&rft.isbn=978-0-8131-3165-8&rft.aulast=Rollins&rft.aufirst=Peter&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fbooks.google.com%2Fbooks%3Fid%3DkvLJQsO3O0oC%26q%3D%2522Little%2BBig%2BMan%2522%2Bfilm%26pg%3DPP2&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-247"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-247">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00795r3">Custer's Last Stand</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20161102172600/http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00795r3">Archived</a> November 2, 2016, at the <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Wayback_Machine" title="Wayback Machine">Wayback Machine</a>. <a href="/enwiki/wiki/BBC_Two" title="BBC Two">BBC Two</a>, Friday 23 Feb 2007.</span>
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<li id="cite_note-248"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-248">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0112xfd">Custer's Last Stand</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20111004143828/http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0112xfd">Archived</a> October 4, 2011, at the <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Wayback_Machine" title="Wayback Machine">Wayback Machine</a>. <a href="/enwiki/wiki/BBC_Radio_4" title="BBC Radio 4">BBC Radio 4</a>, Thursday 19 May 2011.</span>
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<li id="cite_note-249"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-249">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://historyonfirepodcast.com/episodes/2017/3/31/episode-18-the-war-for-the-black-hills-part-3-last-stand">"The War for the Black Hills"</a>. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20171007021003/http://historyonfirepodcast.com/episodes/2017/3/31/episode-18-the-war-for-the-black-hills-part-3-last-stand">Archived</a> from the original on October 7, 2017.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=unknown&rft.btitle=The+War+for+the+Black+Hills&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fhistoryonfirepodcast.com%2Fepisodes%2F2017%2F3%2F31%2Fepisode-18-the-war-for-the-black-hills-part-3-last-stand&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></span>
</li>
</ol></div>
<h2><span class="mw-headline" id="Further_reading">Further reading</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn&action=edit&section=55" title="Edit section: Further reading">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2>
<style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1011217839">.mw-parser-output .refbegin{font-size:90%;margin-bottom:0.5em}.mw-parser-output .refbegin-hanging-indents>ul{margin-left:0}.mw-parser-output .refbegin-hanging-indents>ul>li{margin-left:0;padding-left:3.2em;text-indent:-3.2em}.mw-parser-output .refbegin-hanging-indents ul,.mw-parser-output .refbegin-hanging-indents ul li{list-style:none}@media(max-width:720px){.mw-parser-output .refbegin-hanging-indents>ul>li{padding-left:1.6em;text-indent:-1.6em}}.mw-parser-output .refbegin-100{font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .refbegin-columns{margin-top:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .refbegin-columns ul{margin-top:0}.mw-parser-output .refbegin-columns li{page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column}</style><div class="refbegin refbegin-columns references-column-width" style="column-width: 30em">
<ul><li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite id="CITEREFBarnard1998" class="citation book cs1">Barnard, Sandy (1998). <i>Digging into Custer's Last Stand</i>. Huntington Beach, California: Ventana Graphics. <a href="/enwiki/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-9618087-5-6" title="Special:BookSources/0-9618087-5-6"><bdi>0-9618087-5-6</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Digging+into+Custer%27s+Last+Stand&rft.place=Huntington+Beach%2C+California&rft.pub=Ventana+Graphics&rft.date=1998&rft.isbn=0-9618087-5-6&rft.aulast=Barnard&rft.aufirst=Sandy&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></li>
<li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite id="CITEREFBrininstool1994" class="citation book cs1">Brininstool, E. A. (1994). <span class="cs1-lock-registration" title="Free registration required"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://archive.org/details/trooperswithcust0000brin"><i>Troopers With Custer</i></a></span>. Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania: Stackpole Books. <a href="/enwiki/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-8117-1742-9" title="Special:BookSources/0-8117-1742-9"><bdi>0-8117-1742-9</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Troopers+With+Custer&rft.place=Mechanicsburg%2C+Pennsylvania&rft.pub=Stackpole+Books&rft.date=1994&rft.isbn=0-8117-1742-9&rft.aulast=Brininstool&rft.aufirst=E.+A.&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Farchive.org%2Fdetails%2Ftrooperswithcust0000brin&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></li>
<li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite id="CITEREFChamot2005" class="citation book cs1">Chamot, Jean-Marc (2005). <i>La Représentation du Général G. A. Custer dans le Cinéma et la Télévision des Etats-Unis (1909–2004)</i>. Paris/Nanterre France: Université Paris 10 Nanterre – 974 p. (2 volumes).</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=La+Repr%C3%A9sentation+du+G%C3%A9n%C3%A9ral+G.+A.+Custer+dans+le+Cin%C3%A9ma+et+la+T%C3%A9l%C3%A9vision+des+Etats-Unis+%281909%E2%80%932004%29&rft.place=Paris%2FNanterre+France&rft.pub=Universit%C3%A9+Paris+10+Nanterre+%E2%80%93+974+p.+%282+volumes%29&rft.date=2005&rft.aulast=Chamot&rft.aufirst=Jean-Marc&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></li>
<li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite id="CITEREFChiaventone1996" class="citation book cs1">Chiaventone, Frederick J. (1996). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://archive.org/details/roadwedonotknown00chia"><i>A Road We Do Not Know: A Novel of Custer at the Little Bighorn</i></a>. New York: Simon & Schuster. <a href="/enwiki/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-684-83056-6" title="Special:BookSources/0-684-83056-6"><bdi>0-684-83056-6</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=A+Road+We+Do+Not+Know%3A+A+Novel+of+Custer+at+the+Little+Bighorn&rft.place=New+York&rft.pub=Simon+%26+Schuster&rft.date=1996&rft.isbn=0-684-83056-6&rft.aulast=Chiaventone&rft.aufirst=Frederick+J.&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Farchive.org%2Fdetails%2Froadwedonotknown00chia&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></li>
<li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite id="CITEREFConnell1984" class="citation book cs1">Connell, Evan S. (1984). <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Son_of_the_Morning_Star" title="Son of the Morning Star"><i>Son of the Morning Star</i></a>. New York: North Point Press. <a href="/enwiki/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-86547-510-5" title="Special:BookSources/0-86547-510-5"><bdi>0-86547-510-5</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Son+of+the+Morning+Star&rft.place=New+York&rft.pub=North+Point+Press&rft.date=1984&rft.isbn=0-86547-510-5&rft.aulast=Connell&rft.aufirst=Evan+S.&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></li>
<li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite id="CITEREFCornut2012" class="citation book cs1">Cornut, David (2012). <i>Little Big Horn: Autopsie d'une bataille légendaire</i>. Parçay-sur-Vienne: Anovi. <a href="/enwiki/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-2-360351-34-3" title="Special:BookSources/978-2-360351-34-3"><bdi>978-2-360351-34-3</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Little+Big+Horn%3A+Autopsie+d%27une+bataille+l%C3%A9gendaire&rft.place=Par%C3%A7ay-sur-Vienne&rft.pub=Anovi&rft.date=2012&rft.isbn=978-2-360351-34-3&rft.aulast=Cornut&rft.aufirst=David&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></li>
<li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite id="CITEREFDickson" class="citation journal cs1">Dickson, Ephriam D. III. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.american-tribes.com/messageboards/dietmar/KillEagleByEphriamDickson.pdf">"Prisoners in the Indian Camp: Kill Eagle's Band at the Little Bighorn"</a> <span class="cs1-format">(PDF)</span>. <i>Greasy Grass</i>. <b>27</b> (May 2011): 3–11. <a href="/enwiki/wiki/OCLC_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="OCLC (identifier)">OCLC</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="/enwiki//www.worldcat.org/oclc/38114524">38114524</a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=article&rft.jtitle=Greasy+Grass&rft.atitle=Prisoners+in+the+Indian+Camp%3A+Kill+Eagle%27s+Band+at+the+Little+Bighorn&rft.volume=27&rft.issue=May+2011&rft.pages=3-11&rft_id=info%3Aoclcnum%2F38114524&rft.aulast=Dickson&rft.aufirst=Ephriam+D.+III&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.american-tribes.com%2Fmessageboards%2Fdietmar%2FKillEagleByEphriamDickson.pdf&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></li>
<li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite id="CITEREFDonovan2008" class="citation book cs1">Donovan, James (2008). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780316155786"><i>A Terrible Glory: Custer and the Little Bighorn</i></a>. Little, Brown, and Co. <a href="/enwiki/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-316-15578-6" title="Special:BookSources/978-0-316-15578-6"><bdi>978-0-316-15578-6</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=A+Terrible+Glory%3A+Custer+and+the+Little+Bighorn&rft.pub=Little%2C+Brown%2C+and+Co.&rft.date=2008&rft.isbn=978-0-316-15578-6&rft.aulast=Donovan&rft.aufirst=James&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Farchive.org%2Fdetails%2Fisbn_9780316155786&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></li>
<li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite id="CITEREFDustin1939" class="citation book cs1"><a href="/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Fred_Dustin&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Fred Dustin (page does not exist)">Dustin, Fred</a> (1939). <i>The Custer Tragedy: Events Leading Up to and Following the Little Big Horn Campaign of 1876</i>. Ann Arbor, Michigan: Edwards Brothers. <a href="/enwiki/wiki/OCLC_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="OCLC (identifier)">OCLC</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="/enwiki//www.worldcat.org/oclc/4387990">4387990</a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=The+Custer+Tragedy%3A+Events+Leading+Up+to+and+Following+the+Little+Big+Horn+Campaign+of+1876&rft.place=Ann+Arbor%2C+Michigan&rft.pub=Edwards+Brothers&rft.date=1939&rft_id=info%3Aoclcnum%2F4387990&rft.aulast=Dustin&rft.aufirst=Fred&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></li>
<li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite id="CITEREFElliot2007" class="citation book cs1">Elliot, M.A. (2007). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://archive.org/details/custerologyendur00elli_0"><i>Custerology: The Enduring Legacy of the Indian Wars and George Armstrong Custer</i></a>. University of Chicago Press. <a href="/enwiki/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-226-20146-7" title="Special:BookSources/978-0-226-20146-7"><bdi>978-0-226-20146-7</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Custerology%3A+The+Enduring+Legacy+of+the+Indian+Wars+and+George+Armstrong+Custer&rft.pub=University+of+Chicago+Press&rft.date=2007&rft.isbn=978-0-226-20146-7&rft.aulast=Elliot&rft.aufirst=M.A.&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Farchive.org%2Fdetails%2Fcusterologyendur00elli_0&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></li>
<li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite id="CITEREFConnell1984" class="citation book cs1"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Evan_S._Connell" title="Evan S. Connell">Connell, Evan S.</a> (1984). <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Son_of_the_Morning_Star" title="Son of the Morning Star"><i>Son of the Morning Star: Custer and The Little Bighorn</i></a>. New York: North Point Press. <a href="/enwiki/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-86547-510-5" title="Special:BookSources/0-86547-510-5"><bdi>0-86547-510-5</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Son+of+the+Morning+Star%3A+Custer+and+The+Little+Bighorn&rft.place=New+York&rft.pub=North+Point+Press&rft.date=1984&rft.isbn=0-86547-510-5&rft.aulast=Connell&rft.aufirst=Evan+S.&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></li>
<li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite id="CITEREFEvans2000" class="citation book cs1">Evans, Alun (2000). <i>Brassey's Guide to War Films</i>. Brassey's. <a href="/enwiki/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Special:BookSources/1-57488-263-5" title="Special:BookSources/1-57488-263-5"><bdi>1-57488-263-5</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Brassey%27s+Guide+to+War+Films&rft.pub=Brassey%27s&rft.date=2000&rft.isbn=1-57488-263-5&rft.aulast=Evans&rft.aufirst=Alun&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></li>
<li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite id="CITEREFFlaherty1993" class="citation book cs1">Flaherty, Thomas H., ed. (1993). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://archive.org/details/wildwest00"><i>The Wild West</i></a>. New York: Time-Life Books. <a href="/enwiki/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-446-51761-5" title="Special:BookSources/0-446-51761-5"><bdi>0-446-51761-5</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=The+Wild+West&rft.place=New+York&rft.pub=Time-Life+Books&rft.date=1993&rft.isbn=0-446-51761-5&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Farchive.org%2Fdetails%2Fwildwest00&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></li>
<li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite id="CITEREFFox1993" class="citation book cs1">Fox, Richard Allan, Jr. (1993). <span class="cs1-lock-registration" title="Free registration required"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://archive.org/details/archaeologyhisto00rich"><i>Archaeology, History, and Custer's Last Battle</i></a></span>. Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press. <a href="/enwiki/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-8061-2496-2" title="Special:BookSources/0-8061-2496-2"><bdi>0-8061-2496-2</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Archaeology%2C+History%2C+and+Custer%27s+Last+Battle&rft.place=Norman%2C+Oklahoma&rft.pub=University+of+Oklahoma+Press&rft.date=1993&rft.isbn=0-8061-2496-2&rft.aulast=Fox&rft.aufirst=Richard+Allan%2C+Jr.&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Farchive.org%2Fdetails%2Farchaeologyhisto00rich&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></li>
<li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite id="CITEREFGallear2001" class="citation book cs1">Gallear, Mark (2001). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20060908225428/http://www.westernerspublications.ltd.uk/CAGB%20Guns%20at%20the%20LBH.htm"><i>Guns at the Little Bighorn</i></a>. Custer Association of Great Britain. Archived from <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.westernerspublications.ltd.uk/CAGB%20Guns%20at%20the%20LBH.htm">the original</a> on September 8, 2006.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Guns+at+the+Little+Bighorn&rft.pub=Custer+Association+of+Great+Britain&rft.date=2001&rft.aulast=Gallear&rft.aufirst=Mark&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.westernerspublications.ltd.uk%2FCAGB%2520Guns%2520at%2520the%2520LBH.htm&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></li>
<li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite id="CITEREFGoodrich1997" class="citation book cs1">Goodrich, Thomas (1997). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://archive.org/details/scalpdanceindian00good"><i>Scalp Dance: Indian Warfare on the High Plains, 1865–1879</i></a>. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books. <a href="/enwiki/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-8117-1523-X" title="Special:BookSources/0-8117-1523-X"><bdi>0-8117-1523-X</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Scalp+Dance%3A+Indian+Warfare+on+the+High+Plains%2C+1865%E2%80%931879&rft.place=Mechanicsburg%2C+PA&rft.pub=Stackpole+Books&rft.date=1997&rft.isbn=0-8117-1523-X&rft.aulast=Goodrich&rft.aufirst=Thomas&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Farchive.org%2Fdetails%2Fscalpdanceindian00good&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></li>
<li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite id="CITEREFGraham1953" class="citation book cs1">Graham, Col. William A. (1953). <i>The Custer Myth: A Source Book for Custeriana</i>. New York: Bonanza Books. <a href="/enwiki/wiki/OCLC_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="OCLC (identifier)">OCLC</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="/enwiki//www.worldcat.org/oclc/944258">944258</a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=The+Custer+Myth%3A+A+Source+Book+for+Custeriana&rft.place=New+York&rft.pub=Bonanza+Books&rft.date=1953&rft_id=info%3Aoclcnum%2F944258&rft.aulast=Graham&rft.aufirst=Col.+William+A.&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></li>
<li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite id="CITEREFGray1991" class="citation book cs1">Gray, John S. (1991). <i>Custer's Last Campaign: Mitch Boyer and the Little Bighorn Reconstructed</i>. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. <a href="/enwiki/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-8032-7040-2" title="Special:BookSources/0-8032-7040-2"><bdi>0-8032-7040-2</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Custer%27s+Last+Campaign%3A+Mitch+Boyer+and+the+Little+Bighorn+Reconstructed&rft.place=Lincoln&rft.pub=University+of+Nebraska+Press&rft.date=1991&rft.isbn=0-8032-7040-2&rft.aulast=Gray&rft.aufirst=John+S.&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></li>
<li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite id="CITEREFGrinnell1956" class="citation book cs1">Grinnell, George Bird (1956) [1915]. <i>The Fighting Cheyennes</i> (Reprint ed.). Norman: The University of Oklahoma Press. <a href="/enwiki/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-7394-0373-7" title="Special:BookSources/0-7394-0373-7"><bdi>0-7394-0373-7</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=The+Fighting+Cheyennes&rft.place=Norman&rft.edition=Reprint&rft.pub=The+University+of+Oklahoma+Press&rft.date=1956&rft.isbn=0-7394-0373-7&rft.aulast=Grinnell&rft.aufirst=George+Bird&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></li>
<li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite id="CITEREFHammer2000" class="citation book cs1">Hammer, Kenneth (2000). Nichols, Ronald H. (ed.). <i>Men with Custer: Biographies of the 7th Cavalry: June 25, 1876</i>. Hardin, Montana: Custer Battlefield Historical and Museum Association. <a href="/enwiki/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Special:BookSources/1-892258-05-6" title="Special:BookSources/1-892258-05-6"><bdi>1-892258-05-6</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Men+with+Custer%3A+Biographies+of+the+7th+Cavalry%3A+June+25%2C+1876&rft.place=Hardin%2C+Montana&rft.pub=Custer+Battlefield+Historical+and+Museum+Association&rft.date=2000&rft.isbn=1-892258-05-6&rft.aulast=Hammer&rft.aufirst=Kenneth&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></li>
<li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite id="CITEREFHammer1976" class="citation book cs1">Hammer, Kenneth, ed. (1976). <i>Custer in '76: Walter Camp's notes on the Custer Fight</i>. Provo: Brigham Young University. <a href="/enwiki/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-8061-2279-X" title="Special:BookSources/0-8061-2279-X"><bdi>0-8061-2279-X</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Custer+in+%2776%3A+Walter+Camp%27s+notes+on+the+Custer+Fight&rft.place=Provo&rft.pub=Brigham+Young+University&rft.date=1976&rft.isbn=0-8061-2279-X&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></li>
<li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite id="CITEREFHardorff1997" class="citation book cs1">Hardorff, R. G., ed. (1997). <i>Camp, Custer and the Little Big Horn</i>. El Segundo, California: Upton and Sons. <a href="/enwiki/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-912783-25-7" title="Special:BookSources/0-912783-25-7"><bdi>0-912783-25-7</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Camp%2C+Custer+and+the+Little+Big+Horn&rft.place=El+Segundo%2C+California&rft.pub=Upton+and+Sons&rft.date=1997&rft.isbn=0-912783-25-7&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></li>
<li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite id="CITEREFHatch1997" class="citation book cs1">Hatch, Thom (1997). <i>Custer and the Little Bighorn: An Encyclopedia</i>. London: McFarland & Company, Inc. <a href="/enwiki/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-7864-0154-0" title="Special:BookSources/0-7864-0154-0"><bdi>0-7864-0154-0</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Custer+and+the+Little+Bighorn%3A+An+Encyclopedia&rft.place=London&rft.pub=McFarland+%26+Company%2C+Inc.&rft.date=1997&rft.isbn=0-7864-0154-0&rft.aulast=Hatch&rft.aufirst=Thom&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></li>
<li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite id="CITEREFHardorff1993" class="citation book cs1">Hardorff, R. G. (1993). <i>Hokahey! A Good Day to Die! The Indian Casualties of the Custer Fight</i>. University of Nebraska Press. <a href="/enwiki/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-8032-7322-3" title="Special:BookSources/0-8032-7322-3"><bdi>0-8032-7322-3</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Hokahey%21+A+Good+Day+to+Die%21+The+Indian+Casualties+of+the+Custer+Fight&rft.pub=University+of+Nebraska+Press&rft.date=1993&rft.isbn=0-8032-7322-3&rft.aulast=Hardorff&rft.aufirst=R.+G.&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></li>
<li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite id="CITEREFKeegan1996" class="citation book cs1"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/John_Keegan" title="John Keegan">Keegan, John</a> (1996). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://archive.org/details/warpathstravelso0000keeg"><i>Warpaths</i></a>. London: Pimlico. <a href="/enwiki/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Special:BookSources/1-55013-621-6" title="Special:BookSources/1-55013-621-6"><bdi>1-55013-621-6</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Warpaths&rft.place=London&rft.pub=Pimlico&rft.date=1996&rft.isbn=1-55013-621-6&rft.aulast=Keegan&rft.aufirst=John&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Farchive.org%2Fdetails%2Fwarpathstravelso0000keeg&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></li>
<li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite id="CITEREFLawson2007" class="citation book cs1">Lawson, Michael L. (2007). <i>Little Bighorn: Winning the Battle, Losing the War</i>. New York: Chelsea House Publishers. <a href="/enwiki/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-7910-9347-4" title="Special:BookSources/978-0-7910-9347-4"><bdi>978-0-7910-9347-4</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Little+Bighorn%3A+Winning+the+Battle%2C+Losing+the+War&rft.place=New+York&rft.pub=Chelsea+House+Publishers&rft.date=2007&rft.isbn=978-0-7910-9347-4&rft.aulast=Lawson&rft.aufirst=Michael+L.&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></li>
<li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite id="CITEREFLehman2010" class="citation book cs1">Lehman, Tim (2010). <i>Bloodshed at Little Bighorn</i>. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 219. <a href="/enwiki/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-8018-9501-2" title="Special:BookSources/978-0-8018-9501-2"><bdi>978-0-8018-9501-2</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Bloodshed+at+Little+Bighorn&rft.place=Baltimore&rft.pages=219&rft.pub=Johns+Hopkins+University+Press&rft.date=2010&rft.isbn=978-0-8018-9501-2&rft.aulast=Lehman&rft.aufirst=Tim&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></li>
<li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite id="CITEREFMails1996" class="citation book cs1">Mails, Thomas E. (1996). <i>The Mystic Warriors of the Plains: The Culture, Arts, Crafts and Religion of the Plains Indians</i>. New York: Marlowe & Co. <a href="/enwiki/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Special:BookSources/1-56924-538-X" title="Special:BookSources/1-56924-538-X"><bdi>1-56924-538-X</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=The+Mystic+Warriors+of+the+Plains%3A+The+Culture%2C+Arts%2C+Crafts+and+Religion+of+the+Plains+Indians&rft.place=New+York&rft.pub=Marlowe+%26+Co.&rft.date=1996&rft.isbn=1-56924-538-X&rft.aulast=Mails&rft.aufirst=Thomas+E.&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></li>
<li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite id="CITEREFMichno1994" class="citation book cs1">Michno, Gregory F. (1994). <i>The Mystery of E Troop: Custer's Grey Horse Company at the Little Bighorn</i>. Missoula, Montana: Mountain Press Publishing. <a href="/enwiki/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-87842-304-4" title="Special:BookSources/0-87842-304-4"><bdi>0-87842-304-4</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=The+Mystery+of+E+Troop%3A+Custer%27s+Grey+Horse+Company+at+the+Little+Bighorn&rft.place=Missoula%2C+Montana&rft.pub=Mountain+Press+Publishing&rft.date=1994&rft.isbn=0-87842-304-4&rft.aulast=Michno&rft.aufirst=Gregory+F.&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></li>
<li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite id="CITEREFMiller1985" class="citation book cs1">Miller, David, H. (1985). <i>Custer's Fall: The Native American Side of the Story</i>. University of Nebraska Press. <a href="/enwiki/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-452-01095-0" title="Special:BookSources/0-452-01095-0"><bdi>0-452-01095-0</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Custer%27s+Fall%3A+The+Native+American+Side+of+the+Story&rft.pub=University+of+Nebraska+Press&rft.date=1985&rft.isbn=0-452-01095-0&rft.aulast=Miller&rft.aufirst=David%2C+H.&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></li>
<li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite id="CITEREFNeihardt1979" class="citation book cs1">Neihardt, John G., ed. (1979). <i>Black Elk Speaks: Being the Life Story of a Holy Man of the Oglala Sioux</i>. University of Nebraska Press. <a href="/enwiki/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-8032-8359-8" title="Special:BookSources/0-8032-8359-8"><bdi>0-8032-8359-8</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Black+Elk+Speaks%3A+Being+the+Life+Story+of+a+Holy+Man+of+the+Oglala+Sioux&rft.pub=University+of+Nebraska+Press&rft.date=1979&rft.isbn=0-8032-8359-8&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></li>
<li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite id="CITEREFNevin1973" class="citation book cs1">Nevin, David (1973). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://archive.org/details/soldiers00nevi"><i>The Old West: Soldiers</i></a>. New York: <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Time-Life_Books" class="mw-redirect" title="Time-Life Books">Time-Life Books</a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=The+Old+West%3A+Soldiers&rft.place=New+York&rft.pub=Time-Life+Books&rft.date=1973&rft.aulast=Nevin&rft.aufirst=David&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Farchive.org%2Fdetails%2Fsoldiers00nevi&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></li>
<li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite id="CITEREFNichols1996" class="citation book cs1">Nichols, Ronald H., ed. (1996). <i>Reno Court of Inquiry</i>. Hardin, Montana: Custer Battlefield Historical and Museum Association. <a href="/enwiki/wiki/OCLC_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="OCLC (identifier)">OCLC</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="/enwiki//www.worldcat.org/oclc/45499454">45499454</a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Reno+Court+of+Inquiry&rft.place=Hardin%2C+Montana&rft.pub=Custer+Battlefield+Historical+and+Museum+Association&rft.date=1996&rft_id=info%3Aoclcnum%2F45499454&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></li>
<li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite id="CITEREFPanzeri1995" class="citation book cs1">Panzeri, Peter (1995). <i>Little Big Horn, 1876: Custer's Last Stand</i>. London: Osprey. <a href="/enwiki/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Special:BookSources/1-85532-458-X" title="Special:BookSources/1-85532-458-X"><bdi>1-85532-458-X</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Little+Big+Horn%2C+1876%3A+Custer%27s+Last+Stand&rft.place=London&rft.pub=Osprey&rft.date=1995&rft.isbn=1-85532-458-X&rft.aulast=Panzeri&rft.aufirst=Peter&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></li>
<li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite id="CITEREFPerrett1993" class="citation book cs1">Perrett, Bryan (1993). <i>Last Stand!: Famous Battles Against the Odds</i>. London: Arms & Armour. <a href="/enwiki/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Special:BookSources/1-85409-188-3" title="Special:BookSources/1-85409-188-3"><bdi>1-85409-188-3</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Last+Stand%21%3A+Famous+Battles+Against+the+Odds&rft.place=London&rft.pub=Arms+%26+Armour&rft.date=1993&rft.isbn=1-85409-188-3&rft.aulast=Perrett&rft.aufirst=Bryan&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></li>
<li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite id="CITEREFPhilbrick2010" class="citation book cs1"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Nathaniel_Philbrick" title="Nathaniel Philbrick">Philbrick, Nathaniel</a> (2010). <span class="cs1-lock-registration" title="Free registration required"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780670021727"><i>The Last Stand: Custer, Sitting Bull, and The Battle of The Little Bighorn</i></a></span>. Viking Press. <a href="/enwiki/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-14-242769-9" title="Special:BookSources/978-0-14-242769-9"><bdi>978-0-14-242769-9</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=The+Last+Stand%3A+Custer%2C+Sitting+Bull%2C+and+The+Battle+of+The+Little+Bighorn&rft.pub=Viking+Press&rft.date=2010&rft.isbn=978-0-14-242769-9&rft.aulast=Philbrick&rft.aufirst=Nathaniel&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Farchive.org%2Fdetails%2Fisbn_9780670021727&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></li>
<li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite id="CITEREFReno1951" class="citation book cs1">Reno, Marcus A. (1951). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/History.Reno"><i>The official record of a court of inquiry convened at Chicago, Illinois, January 13, 1879, by the President of the United States upon the request of Major Marcus A. Reno, 7th U.S. Cavalry, to investigate his conduct at the Battle of the Little Big Horn, June 25–26, 1876</i></a>. University of Wisconsin Digital Collections.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=The+official+record+of+a+court+of+inquiry+convened+at+Chicago%2C+Illinois%2C+January+13%2C+1879%2C+by+the+President+of+the+United+States+upon+the+request+of+Major+Marcus+A.+Reno%2C+7th+U.S.+Cavalry%2C+to+investigate+his+conduct+at+the+Battle+of+the+Little+Big+Horn%2C+June+25%E2%80%9326%2C+1876&rft.series=University+of+Wisconsin+Digital+Collections&rft.date=1951&rft.aulast=Reno&rft.aufirst=Marcus+A.&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fdigital.library.wisc.edu%2F1711.dl%2FHistory.Reno&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></li>
<li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite id="CITEREFRice1998" class="citation book cs1">Rice, Earle Jr. (1998). <i>The Battle or the Little Bighorn</i>. World History Series. San Diego: Lucent Books. <a href="/enwiki/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-56006-453-4" title="Special:BookSources/978-1-56006-453-4"><bdi>978-1-56006-453-4</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=The+Battle+or+the+Little+Bighorn&rft.place=San+Diego&rft.series=World+History+Series&rft.pub=Lucent+Books&rft.date=1998&rft.isbn=978-1-56006-453-4&rft.aulast=Rice&rft.aufirst=Earle+Jr.&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></li>
<li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite id="CITEREFSandoz1966" class="citation book cs1"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Mari_Sandoz" title="Mari Sandoz">Sandoz, Mari</a> (1966). <span class="cs1-lock-registration" title="Free registration required"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://archive.org/details/battleoflittlebi0000sand"><i>The Battle of the Little Bighorn</i></a></span>. Lippincott Major Battle Series. Philadelphia: Lippincott. <a href="/enwiki/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-8032-9100-0" title="Special:BookSources/0-8032-9100-0"><bdi>0-8032-9100-0</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=The+Battle+of+the+Little+Bighorn&rft.place=Philadelphia&rft.series=Lippincott+Major+Battle+Series&rft.pub=Lippincott&rft.date=1966&rft.isbn=0-8032-9100-0&rft.aulast=Sandoz&rft.aufirst=Mari&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Farchive.org%2Fdetails%2Fbattleoflittlebi0000sand&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></li>
<li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite id="CITEREFRobbins2014" class="citation book cs1">Robbins, James S. (2014). <i>The Real Custer; From Boy General to Tragic Hero</i>. Washington D.C.: Regnery Publishing. <a href="/enwiki/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-62157-209-1" title="Special:BookSources/978-1-62157-209-1"><bdi>978-1-62157-209-1</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=The+Real+Custer%3B+From+Boy+General+to+Tragic+Hero&rft.place=Washington+D.C.&rft.pub=Regnery+Publishing&rft.date=2014&rft.isbn=978-1-62157-209-1&rft.aulast=Robbins&rft.aufirst=James+S.&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></li>
<li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite id="CITEREFRobinson1995" class="citation book cs1">Robinson, Charles M. III (1995). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://archive.org/details/goodyeartodiesto00robi"><i>A Good Year to Die: the story of the great Sioux war</i></a>. New York: Random House. <a href="/enwiki/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-679-43025-3" title="Special:BookSources/0-679-43025-3"><bdi>0-679-43025-3</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=A+Good+Year+to+Die%3A+the+story+of+the+great+Sioux+war&rft.place=New+York&rft.pub=Random+House&rft.date=1995&rft.isbn=0-679-43025-3&rft.aulast=Robinson&rft.aufirst=Charles+M.+III&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Farchive.org%2Fdetails%2Fgoodyeartodiesto00robi&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></li>
<li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite id="CITEREFSarf1993" class="citation book cs1">Sarf, Wayne Michael (1993). <span class="cs1-lock-registration" title="Free registration required"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://archive.org/details/littlebighorncam0000sarf"><i>The Little Bighorn Campaign: March–September 1876</i></a></span>. Conshohocken, Pennsylvania: Combined Books. <a href="/enwiki/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Special:BookSources/1-58097-025-7" title="Special:BookSources/1-58097-025-7"><bdi>1-58097-025-7</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=The+Little+Bighorn+Campaign%3A+March%E2%80%93September+1876&rft.place=Conshohocken%2C+Pennsylvania&rft.pub=Combined+Books&rft.date=1993&rft.isbn=1-58097-025-7&rft.aulast=Sarf&rft.aufirst=Wayne+Michael&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Farchive.org%2Fdetails%2Flittlebighorncam0000sarf&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></li>
<li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite id="CITEREFScottConnor1997" class="citation book cs1">Scott, Douglas D.; Connor, Melissa (1997). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://archive.org/details/forensictaphonom0000unse/page/27">"Context Delicti: Archaeological Context in Forensic Work"</a>. In Haglund, W.D.; Sorg, M.H. (eds.). <i>Forensic Taphonomy: The Postmortem Fate of Human Remains</i>. Boca Raton: CRC Press. pp. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://archive.org/details/forensictaphonom0000unse/page/27">27–38</a>. <a href="/enwiki/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-8493-9434-8" title="Special:BookSources/978-0-8493-9434-8"><bdi>978-0-8493-9434-8</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=bookitem&rft.atitle=Context+Delicti%3A+Archaeological+Context+in+Forensic+Work&rft.btitle=Forensic+Taphonomy%3A+The+Postmortem+Fate+of+Human+Remains&rft.place=Boca+Raton&rft.pages=27-38&rft.pub=CRC+Press&rft.date=1997&rft.isbn=978-0-8493-9434-8&rft.aulast=Scott&rft.aufirst=Douglas+D.&rft.au=Connor%2C+Melissa&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Farchive.org%2Fdetails%2Fforensictaphonom0000unse%2Fpage%2F27&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></li>
<li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite id="CITEREFSklenar2000" class="citation book cs1">Sklenar, Larry (2000). <i>To Hell with Honor, General Custer and the Little Big Horn</i>. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. <a href="/enwiki/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-8061-3472-0" title="Special:BookSources/0-8061-3472-0"><bdi>0-8061-3472-0</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=To+Hell+with+Honor%2C+General+Custer+and+the+Little+Big+Horn&rft.place=Norman&rft.pub=University+of+Oklahoma+Press&rft.date=2000&rft.isbn=0-8061-3472-0&rft.aulast=Sklenar&rft.aufirst=Larry&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></li>
<li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite id="CITEREFTucker2017" class="citation book cs1">Tucker, Phillip Thomas (2017). <i>Death at the Little Bighorn: A New Look at Custer, His Tactics, and the Tragic Decisions Made at the Last Stand</i>. Skyhorse. <a href="/enwiki/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-63450-800-1" title="Special:BookSources/978-1-63450-800-1"><bdi>978-1-63450-800-1</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Death+at+the+Little+Bighorn%3A+A+New+Look+at+Custer%2C+His+Tactics%2C+and+the+Tragic+Decisions+Made+at+the+Last+Stand&rft.pub=Skyhorse&rft.date=2017&rft.isbn=978-1-63450-800-1&rft.aulast=Tucker&rft.aufirst=Phillip+Thomas&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></li>
<li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite id="CITEREFUtley1993" class="citation book cs1">Utley, Robert M. (1993). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://archive.org/details/lanceshieldlifet00utle"><i>The Lance and the Shield: the life and times of Sitting Bull</i></a>. New York: Henry Holt & Company. <a href="/enwiki/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-8050-1274-5" title="Special:BookSources/0-8050-1274-5"><bdi>0-8050-1274-5</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=The+Lance+and+the+Shield%3A+the+life+and+times+of+Sitting+Bull&rft.place=New+York&rft.pub=Henry+Holt+%26+Company&rft.date=1993&rft.isbn=0-8050-1274-5&rft.aulast=Utley&rft.aufirst=Robert+M.&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Farchive.org%2Fdetails%2Flanceshieldlifet00utle&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></li>
<li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite id="CITEREFUtley2001" class="citation book cs1">Utley, Robert M. (2001). <i>Cavalier in Buckskin: George Armstrong Custer and the Western Military Frontier</i> (Revised ed.). Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. <a href="/enwiki/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-8061-2292-7" title="Special:BookSources/0-8061-2292-7"><bdi>0-8061-2292-7</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Cavalier+in+Buckskin%3A+George+Armstrong+Custer+and+the+Western+Military+Frontier&rft.place=Norman&rft.edition=Revised&rft.pub=University+of+Oklahoma+Press&rft.date=2001&rft.isbn=0-8061-2292-7&rft.aulast=Utley&rft.aufirst=Robert+M.&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></li>
<li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite id="CITEREFVestal1934" class="citation book cs1">Vestal, Stanley (1934). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://archive.org/details/warpathtruestory00vest_0"><i>Warpath: The True Story of the Fighting Sioux Told in a Biography of Chief White Bull</i></a>. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. <a href="/enwiki/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-8032-4653-6" title="Special:BookSources/0-8032-4653-6"><bdi>0-8032-4653-6</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Warpath%3A+The+True+Story+of+the+Fighting+Sioux+Told+in+a+Biography+of+Chief+White+Bull&rft.place=Lincoln&rft.pub=University+of+Nebraska+Press&rft.date=1934&rft.isbn=0-8032-4653-6&rft.aulast=Vestal&rft.aufirst=Stanley&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Farchive.org%2Fdetails%2Fwarpathtruestory00vest_0&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></li>
<li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite id="CITEREFViola1999" class="citation book cs1">Viola, Herman J. (1999). <span class="cs1-lock-registration" title="Free registration required"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://archive.org/details/littlebighornrem0000viol"><i>Little Bighorn Remembered: The Untold Indian Story of Custer's Last Stand</i></a></span>. Westminster, Maryland: Times Books. <a href="/enwiki/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-8129-3256-0" title="Special:BookSources/0-8129-3256-0"><bdi>0-8129-3256-0</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Little+Bighorn+Remembered%3A+The+Untold+Indian+Story+of+Custer%27s+Last+Stand&rft.place=Westminster%2C+Maryland&rft.pub=Times+Books&rft.date=1999&rft.isbn=0-8129-3256-0&rft.aulast=Viola&rft.aufirst=Herman+J.&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Farchive.org%2Fdetails%2Flittlebighornrem0000viol&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></li>
<li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite id="CITEREFWelchStekler1994" class="citation book cs1">Welch, James; Stekler, Paul (1994). <span class="cs1-lock-registration" title="Free registration required"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://archive.org/details/killingcusterbat00welc"><i>Killing Custer: The Battle of the Little Bighorn and the Fate of the Plains Indians</i></a></span>. New York: Norton. <a href="/enwiki/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-393-32939-9" title="Special:BookSources/0-393-32939-9"><bdi>0-393-32939-9</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Killing+Custer%3A+The+Battle+of+the+Little+Bighorn+and+the+Fate+of+the+Plains+Indians&rft.place=New+York&rft.pub=Norton&rft.date=1994&rft.isbn=0-393-32939-9&rft.aulast=Welch&rft.aufirst=James&rft.au=Stekler%2C+Paul&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Farchive.org%2Fdetails%2Fkillingcusterbat00welc&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></li>
<li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite id="CITEREFWert1996" class="citation book cs1">Wert, Jeffry D. (1996). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://archive.org/details/custercontrovers0000wert"><i>Custer: The Controversial Life of George Armstrong Custer</i></a>. New York: Simon & Schuster. <a href="/enwiki/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-684-81043-3" title="Special:BookSources/0-684-81043-3"><bdi>0-684-81043-3</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Custer%3A+The+Controversial+Life+of+George+Armstrong+Custer&rft.place=New+York&rft.pub=Simon+%26+Schuster&rft.date=1996&rft.isbn=0-684-81043-3&rft.aulast=Wert&rft.aufirst=Jeffry+D.&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Farchive.org%2Fdetails%2Fcustercontrovers0000wert&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></li>
<li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r999302996"/><cite id="CITEREFWinkler2017" class="citation book cs1">Winkler, Albert. (2017). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2948&context=facpub"><i>Physical Evidence and the Battle of the Little Bighorn: The Question of Interpretation</i></a>. Custer Battlefield Historical & Museum Association: The Brian C. Pohanka 30th Annual Symposium, pp. 36-51.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Physical+Evidence+and+the+Battle+of+the+Little+Bighorn%3A+The+Question+of+Interpretation&rft.place=Custer+Battlefield+Historical+%26+Museum+Association&rft.pub=The+Brian+C.+Pohanka+30th+Annual+Symposium%2C+pp.+36-51&rft.date=2017&rft.aulast=Winkler&rft.aufirst=Albert.&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fscholarsarchive.byu.edu%2Fcgi%2Fviewcontent.cgi%3Farticle%3D2948%26context%3Dfacpub&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+the+Little+Bighorn" class="Z3988"></span></li></ul>
</div>
<h2><span class="mw-headline" id="External_links">External links</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn&action=edit&section=56" title="Edit section: External links">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2>
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<td class="mbox-text plainlist">Wikimedia Commons has media related to <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;"><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn" class="extiw" title="commons:Category:Battle of the Little Bighorn">Battle of the Little Bighorn</a></span>.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<ul><li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://findingaid.lib.byu.edu/viewItem/MSS%20SC%20860/">Account of Custer's fight on Little Bighorn, MSS SC 860</a> at <a href="/enwiki/wiki/L._Tom_Perry_Special_Collections" class="mw-redirect" title="L. Tom Perry Special Collections">L. Tom Perry Special Collections</a>, <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Harold_B._Lee_Library" title="Harold B. Lee Library">Harold B. Lee Library</a>, <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Brigham_Young_University" title="Brigham Young University">Brigham Young University</a></li>
<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20180704113147/http://www.custermuseum.org/">Custer Battlefield Museum, Garryowen, Montana</a></li>
<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/lakota_sioux_and_comanche_indians/13112519013/sizes/o/in/photostream/">Map of Battle of Little Bighorn, Part III.</a></li>
<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/lakota_sioux_and_comanche_indians/13112752414/sizes/o/in/photostream/">Map of Battle of Little Bighorn, Part IV. Indians.</a></li>
<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/lakota_sioux_and_comanche_indians/13112632373/sizes/o/in/photostream/">Map of Battle of Little Bighorn, Part V.</a></li>
<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/lakota_sioux_and_comanche_indians/13112687093/sizes/o/in/photostream/">Map of Battle of Little Bighorn, Part VI.</a></li>
<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/lakota_sioux_and_comanche_indians/13112744393/sizes/o/in/photostream/">Map of Battle of Little Bighorn, Part VII. Custer's Last Stand.</a></li>
<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/lakota_sioux_and_comanche_indians/12445642425/sizes/o/in/photostream/">Map of Indian battles and skirmishes after the Battle of Little Bighorn. 1876–1881.</a></li>
<li>Battle field related
<ul><li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.nps.gov/libi/">Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument</a></li>
<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.friendslittlebighorn.com/">Friends of the Little Bighorn Battlefield</a></li></ul></li>
<li>Portals
<ul><li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.lbha.org/">The Little Big Horn Associates</a> – includes a bibliography and articles, as well as many general and commercial links</li>
<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.custerwest.org/">custerwest.org</a> – site for traditional scholarship with sources and videos</li></ul></li>
<li>First-person accounts
<ul><li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/resources/archives/six/bighorn.htm">The Battle of Little Bighorn:</a> An Eyewitness Account by the Lakota Chief Red Horse</li>
<li>An <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1881/05/07/98555099.pdf">eyewitness account</a> by Tantanka Iyotake (Lakota Chief Sitting Bull), <i>New York Times</i> archive pdf.</li>
<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/cgi-bin/History/History-idx?type=goto&id=History.Reno&isize=M&submit=Go+to+page&page=1">Complete transcript</a> of the Reno Court of Inquiry</li>
<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.astonisher.com/archives/museum/index.html">100 Voices:</a> Sioux, Cheyenne, Arapaho, Crow, Arikara and American eyewitness accounts of the Battle of the Little Bighorn</li></ul></li>
<li>Lists of participants
<ul><li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.friendslittlebighorn.com/Soldiers-Warriors.htm">Friends Of The Little Bighorn Battlefield</a> – Battle information, including names of 7th Cavalry soldiers and warriors who fought in the battle.</li>
<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20050427062829/http://freepages.folklore.rootsweb.com/~pickensarchive/custer.html">Muster Rolls of 7th U.S. Cavalry, June 25, 1876</a></li></ul></li>
<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20080110071723/http://www.cbhma.org/">Custer Battlefield Historical and Museum Association</a></li>
<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130514172105/http://library.uww.edu/special-collections/special-collections/hammer-collection">Kenneth M. Hammer Collection on Custer and the Battle of the Little Bighorn</a> (Harold G. Andersen Library, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater)</li>
<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://findingaid.lib.byu.edu/viewItem/MSS%201401">Charles Kuhlman collection on the Battle of the Little Big Horn, MSS 1401</a> at <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://sites.lib.byu.edu/sc/">L. Tom Perry Special Collections</a>, <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Brigham_Young_University" title="Brigham Young University">Brigham Young University</a></li>
<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://video.pbs.org/video/2186572157">"Custer's Last Stand"</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130527131734/http://video.pbs.org/video/2186572157">Archived</a> May 27, 2013, at the <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Wayback_Machine" title="Wayback Machine">Wayback Machine</a> – An <i><a href="/enwiki/wiki/American_Experience" title="American Experience">American Experience</a></i> Documentary</li>
<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.amerisurv.com/PDF/TheAmericanSurveyor_Michelsen-VerdictAtLittleBighorn_October2009.pdf">Verdict at the Little Bighorn</a> – <i>The American Surveyor</i> (October 2009)</li>
<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/Cyclorama_of_Custer_s_Last_Battle_Or_The/9Hh0AAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=Cyclorama%20">Cyclorama of Custers LAst Stand</a></li></ul>
<p class="mw-empty-elt">
</p>
<div role="navigation" class="navbox" aria-labelledby="Native_American_battles_in_Montana" style="padding:3px"><table class="nowraplinks mw-collapsible expanded navbox-inner" style="border-spacing:0;background:transparent;color:inherit"><tbody><tr><th scope="col" class="navbox-title" colspan="2"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r992953826"/><div class="navbar plainlinks hlist navbar-mini"><ul><li class="nv-view"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Template:Montana_Indian_Battles" title="Template:Montana Indian Battles"><abbr title="View this template" style=";;background:none transparent;border:none;box-shadow:none;padding:0;;text-decoration:inherit;">v</abbr></a></li><li class="nv-talk"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Template_talk:Montana_Indian_Battles" title="Template talk:Montana Indian Battles"><abbr title="Discuss this template" style=";;background:none transparent;border:none;box-shadow:none;padding:0;;text-decoration:inherit;">t</abbr></a></li><li class="nv-edit"><a class="external text" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Template:Montana_Indian_Battles&action=edit"><abbr title="Edit this template" style=";;background:none transparent;border:none;box-shadow:none;padding:0;;text-decoration:inherit;">e</abbr></a></li></ul></div><div id="Native_American_battles_in_Montana" style="font-size:114%;margin:0 4em">Native American battles in Montana</div></th></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Wars</th><td class="navbox-list navbox-odd hlist" style="text-align:left;border-left-width:2px;border-left-style:solid;width:100%;padding:0px"><div style="padding:0em 0.25em">
<ul><li><span class="nowrap"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Powder_River_Expedition_(1865)" title="Powder River Expedition (1865)">Powder River War</a> (1865)</span></li>
<li><span class="nowrap"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Red_Cloud%27s_War" title="Red Cloud's War">Red Cloud's War</a> (1866–1868)</span></li>
<li><span class="nowrap"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Great_Sioux_War" class="mw-redirect" title="Great Sioux War">Great Sioux War</a> (1876–1877)</span></li>
<li><span class="nowrap"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Nez_Perce_War" title="Nez Perce War">Nez Perce War</a> (1877)</span></li>
<li><span class="nowrap"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Crow_War" title="Crow War">Crow War</a> (1887)</span></li></ul>
</div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Battles</th><td class="navbox-list navbox-even hlist" style="text-align:left;border-left-width:2px;border-left-style:solid;width:100%;padding:0px"><div style="padding:0em 0.25em">
<ul><li><span class="nowrap"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Powder_River_Battles_(1865)" title="Powder River Battles (1865)">First Powder River</a> (1865)</span></li>
<li><span class="nowrap"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Hayfield_Fight" title="Hayfield Fight">Hayfield</a> (1867)</span></li>
<li><span class="nowrap"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Battle_of_Honsinger_Bluff" title="Battle of Honsinger Bluff">Honsinger Bluff</a> (1873)</span></li>
<li><span class="nowrap"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Battle_of_Powder_River" title="Battle of Powder River">Second Powder River</a> (1876)</span></li>
<li><span class="nowrap"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Battle_of_the_Rosebud" title="Battle of the Rosebud">Rosebud</a> (1876)</span></li>
<li><span class="nowrap"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Battle_of_Prairie_Dog_Creek_(1876)" title="Battle of Prairie Dog Creek (1876)">Prairie Dog Creek</a> (1876)</span></li>
<li><span class="nowrap"><a class="mw-selflink selflink">Little Bighorn</a> (1876)</span></li>
<li><span class="nowrap"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Battle_of_Cedar_Creek_(1876)" title="Battle of Cedar Creek (1876)">Cedar Creek</a> (1876)</span></li>
<li><span class="nowrap"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Battle_of_Wolf_Mountain" title="Battle of Wolf Mountain">Wolf Mountain</a> (1877)</span></li>
<li><span class="nowrap"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Battle_of_Little_Muddy_Creek" title="Battle of Little Muddy Creek">Little Muddy Creek</a> (1877)</span></li>
<li><span class="nowrap"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Battle_of_the_Big_Hole" title="Battle of the Big Hole">Big Hole</a> (1877)</span></li>
<li><span class="nowrap"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Battle_of_Canyon_Creek" title="Battle of Canyon Creek">Canyon Creek</a> (1877)</span></li>
<li><span class="nowrap"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Battle_of_Bear_Paw" title="Battle of Bear Paw">Bear Paw</a> (1877)</span></li>
<li><span class="nowrap"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Mizpah_Creek_incidents" title="Mizpah Creek incidents">Mizpah Creek</a> (1879)</span></li>
<li><span class="nowrap"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Battle_of_Pumpkin_Creek" title="Battle of Pumpkin Creek">Pumpkin Creek</a> (1880)</span></li></ul>
</div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Massacres</th><td class="navbox-list navbox-odd hlist" style="text-align:left;border-left-width:2px;border-left-style:solid;width:100%;padding:0px"><div style="padding:0em 0.25em">
<ul><li><span class="nowrap"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Marias_Massacre" title="Marias Massacre">Marias Massacre</a> (1870)</span></li>
<li><span class="nowrap"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Swan_Valley_Massacre_of_1908" title="Swan Valley Massacre of 1908">Swan Valley massacre</a> (1908)</span></li></ul>
</div></td></tr><tr><td class="navbox-abovebelow" colspan="2"><div><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Timeline_of_pre-statehood_Montana_history" title="Timeline of pre-statehood Montana history">Timeline of pre-statehood Montana history</a></div></td></tr></tbody></table></div>
<div role="navigation" class="navbox" aria-labelledby="American_frontier" style="padding:3px"><table class="nowraplinks hlist mw-collapsible mw-collapsed navbox-inner" style="border-spacing:0;background:transparent;color:inherit"><tbody><tr><th scope="col" class="navbox-title" colspan="2"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r992953826"/><div class="navbar plainlinks hlist navbar-mini"><ul><li class="nv-view"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Template:American_frontier" title="Template:American frontier"><abbr title="View this template" style=";;background:none transparent;border:none;box-shadow:none;padding:0;;text-decoration:inherit;">v</abbr></a></li><li class="nv-talk"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Template_talk:American_frontier" title="Template talk:American frontier"><abbr title="Discuss this template" style=";;background:none transparent;border:none;box-shadow:none;padding:0;;text-decoration:inherit;">t</abbr></a></li><li class="nv-edit"><a class="external text" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Template:American_frontier&action=edit"><abbr title="Edit this template" style=";;background:none transparent;border:none;box-shadow:none;padding:0;;text-decoration:inherit;">e</abbr></a></li></ul></div><div id="American_frontier" style="font-size:114%;margin:0 4em"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/American_frontier" title="American frontier">American frontier</a></div></th></tr><tr><td class="navbox-abovebelow" colspan="2"><div id="c._1650_to_1912"><abbr title="circa">c.</abbr> 1650 to 1912</div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Notable people</th><td class="navbox-list navbox-odd" style="text-align:left;border-left-width:2px;border-left-style:solid;width:100%;padding:0px"><div style="padding:0em 0.25em"></div><table class="nowraplinks navbox-subgroup" style="border-spacing:0"><tbody><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Explorers<br />and pioneers</th><td class="navbox-list navbox-odd" style="text-align:left;border-left-width:2px;border-left-style:solid;width:100%;padding:0px"><div style="padding:0em 0.25em">
<ul><li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/John_Bozeman" title="John Bozeman">John Bozeman</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Jim_Bridger" title="Jim Bridger">Jim Bridger</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Tom%C3%A1s_V%C3%A9lez_Cachup%C3%ADn" title="Tomás Vélez Cachupín">Tomás Vélez Cachupín</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/William_Clark" title="William Clark">William Clark</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Davy_Crockett" title="Davy Crockett">Davy Crockett</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/John_C._Fr%C3%A9mont" title="John C. Frémont">John C. Frémont</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Liver-Eating_Johnson" title="Liver-Eating Johnson">Liver-Eating Johnson</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Meriwether_Lewis" title="Meriwether Lewis">Meriwether Lewis</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Joe_Mayer" title="Joe Mayer">Joe Mayer</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/William_John_Murphy" title="William John Murphy">William John Murphy</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/John_Wesley_Powell" title="John Wesley Powell">John Wesley Powell</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Juan_Rivera_(explorer)" title="Juan Rivera (explorer)">Juan Rivera</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Levi_Ruggles" title="Levi Ruggles">Levi Ruggles</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Jedediah_Smith" title="Jedediah Smith">Jedediah Smith</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Jack_Swilling" title="Jack Swilling">Jack Swilling</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Trinidad_Swilling" title="Trinidad Swilling">Trinidad Swilling</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Ora_Rush_Weed" title="Ora Rush Weed">Ora Rush Weed</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Richens_Lacey_Wootton" title="Richens Lacey Wootton">Richens Lacey Wootton</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Henry_Wickenburg" title="Henry Wickenburg">Henry Wickenburg</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Brigham_Young" title="Brigham Young">Brigham Young</a></li></ul>
</div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Native Americans</th><td class="navbox-list navbox-even" style="text-align:left;border-left-width:2px;border-left-style:solid;width:100%;padding:0px"><div style="padding:0em 0.25em">
<ul><li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Antonga_Black_Hawk" title="Antonga Black Hawk">Black Hawk</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Black_Kettle" title="Black Kettle">Black Kettle</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Bloody_Knife" title="Bloody Knife">Bloody Knife</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Chief_Joseph" title="Chief Joseph">Chief Joseph</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Cochise" title="Cochise">Cochise</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Crazy_Horse" title="Crazy Horse">Crazy Horse</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Geronimo" title="Geronimo">Geronimo</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Irataba" title="Irataba">Irataba</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Allen_Wright" title="Allen Wright">Kiliahote</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Mangas_Coloradas" title="Mangas Coloradas">Mangas Coloradas</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Manuelito" title="Manuelito">Manuelito</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Massai" title="Massai">Massai</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Quanah_Parker" title="Quanah Parker">Quanah Parker</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Red_Cloud" title="Red Cloud">Red Cloud</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Sacagawea" title="Sacagawea">Sacagawea</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Sitting_Bull" title="Sitting Bull">Sitting Bull</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Ten_Bears" title="Ten Bears">Ten Bears</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Touch_the_Clouds" title="Touch the Clouds">Touch the Clouds</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Tuba_(chief)" title="Tuba (chief)">Tuvi</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Victorio" title="Victorio">Victorio</a></li></ul>
</div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Lawmen</th><td class="navbox-list navbox-odd" style="text-align:left;border-left-width:2px;border-left-style:solid;width:100%;padding:0px"><div style="padding:0em 0.25em">
<ul><li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Elfego_Baca" title="Elfego Baca">Elfego Baca</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Charlie_Bassett" title="Charlie Bassett">Charlie Bassett</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Roy_Bean" title="Roy Bean">Roy Bean</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Morgan_Earp" title="Morgan Earp">Morgan Earp</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Virgil_Earp" title="Virgil Earp">Virgil Earp</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Wyatt_Earp" title="Wyatt Earp">Wyatt Earp</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Henry_Garfias" title="Henry Garfias">Henry Garfias</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Pat_Garrett" title="Pat Garrett">Pat Garrett</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Jack_Helm" title="Jack Helm">Jack Helm</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Wild_Bill_Hickok" title="Wild Bill Hickok">"Wild Bill" Hickok</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Bat_Masterson" title="Bat Masterson">Bat Masterson</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Mysterious_Dave_Mather" title="Mysterious Dave Mather">"Mysterious Dave" Mather</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Bass_Reeves" title="Bass Reeves">Bass Reeves</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/George_Scarborough_(cowboy)" title="George Scarborough (cowboy)">George Scarborough</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/John_Selman" title="John Selman">John Selman</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/John_Horton_Slaughter" title="John Horton Slaughter">John Horton Slaughter</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Bill_Tilghman" title="Bill Tilghman">William "Bill" Tilghman</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/James_Timberlake" title="James Timberlake">James Timberlake</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Harry_C._Wheeler" title="Harry C. Wheeler">Harry C. Wheeler</a></li></ul>
</div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Outlaws</th><td class="navbox-list navbox-even" style="text-align:left;border-left-width:2px;border-left-style:solid;width:100%;padding:0px"><div style="padding:0em 0.25em">
<ul><li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Billy_the_Kid" title="Billy the Kid">Billy the Kid</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Dalton_Gang" title="Dalton Gang">Dalton Gang</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Black_Bart_(outlaw)" title="Black Bart (outlaw)">Black Bart</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/William_Brocius" title="William Brocius">"Curly Bill" Brocius</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Butch_Cassidy" title="Butch Cassidy">Butch Cassidy</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Billy_Clanton" title="Billy Clanton">Billy Clanton</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Ike_Clanton" title="Ike Clanton">Ike Clanton</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/William_M._Dalton" title="William M. Dalton">Bill Dalton</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Bill_Doolin" title="Bill Doolin">Bill Doolin</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Bill_Downing" title="Bill Downing">Bill Downing</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/John_Wesley_Hardin" title="John Wesley Hardin">John Wesley Hardin</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Johnny_Ringo" title="Johnny Ringo">Johnny Ringo</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Jesse_James" title="Jesse James">Jesse James</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Tom_Ketchum" title="Tom Ketchum">Tom Ketchum</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Frank_McLaury" title="Frank McLaury">Frank McLaury</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Tom_McLaury" title="Tom McLaury">Tom McLaury</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Joaquin_Murrieta" title="Joaquin Murrieta">Joaquin Murrieta</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Cochise_County_Cowboys" title="Cochise County Cowboys">Cochise County Cowboys</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Belle_Starr" title="Belle Starr">Belle Starr</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Soapy_Smith" title="Soapy Smith">Soapy Smith</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Sundance_Kid" title="Sundance Kid">Sundance Kid</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Cole_Younger" title="Cole Younger">Cole Younger</a></li></ul>
</div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Soldiers<br />and scouts</th><td class="navbox-list navbox-odd" style="text-align:left;border-left-width:2px;border-left-style:solid;width:100%;padding:0px"><div style="padding:0em 0.25em">
<ul><li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Frederick_Russell_Burnham" title="Frederick Russell Burnham">Frederick Russell Burnham</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Kit_Carson" title="Kit Carson">Kit Carson</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Buffalo_Bill" title="Buffalo Bill">"Buffalo Bill" Cody</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Texas_Jack_Omohundro" title="Texas Jack Omohundro">Texas Jack Omohundro</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/James_C._Cooney" title="James C. Cooney">James C. Cooney</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/George_Crook" title="George Crook">George Crook</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/George_Armstrong_Custer" title="George Armstrong Custer">George Armstrong Custer</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Alexis_Godey" title="Alexis Godey">Alexis Godey</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Samuel_P._Heintzelman" title="Samuel P. Heintzelman">Samuel P. Heintzelman</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Tom_Horn" title="Tom Horn">Tom Horn</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Calamity_Jane" title="Calamity Jane">Calamity Jane</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Luther_Kelly" title="Luther Kelly">Luther Kelly</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Ranald_S._Mackenzie" title="Ranald S. Mackenzie">Ranald S. Mackenzie</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Charley_Reynolds" title="Charley Reynolds">Charley Reynolds</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Philip_Sheridan" title="Philip Sheridan">Philip Sheridan</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Al_Sieber" title="Al Sieber">Al Sieber</a></li></ul>
</div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Others</th><td class="navbox-list navbox-even" style="text-align:left;border-left-width:2px;border-left-style:solid;width:100%;padding:0px"><div style="padding:0em 0.25em">
<ul><li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/John_Jacob_Astor" title="John Jacob Astor">John Jacob Astor</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/William_H._Boring" title="William H. Boring">William H. Boring</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Jonathan_R._Davis" title="Jonathan R. Davis">Jonathan R. Davis</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/George_Flavel" title="George Flavel">George Flavel</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/C._S._Fly" title="C. S. Fly">C. S. Fly</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/John_Joel_Glanton" title="John Joel Glanton">John Joel Glanton</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/George_E._Goodfellow" title="George E. Goodfellow">George E. Goodfellow</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Doc_Holliday" title="Doc Holliday">Doc Holliday</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Andrew_Jackson" title="Andrew Jackson">Andrew Jackson</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Zephaniah_Kingsley" title="Zephaniah Kingsley">Zephaniah Kingsley</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Seth_Kinman" title="Seth Kinman">Seth Kinman</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Nat_Love" title="Nat Love">Nat Love</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Sylvester_Mowry" title="Sylvester Mowry">Sylvester Mowry</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Emperor_Norton" title="Emperor Norton">Emperor Norton</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Annie_Oakley" title="Annie Oakley">Annie Oakley</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Sedona_Schnebly" title="Sedona Schnebly">Sedona Schnebly</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Thomas_William_Sweeny" title="Thomas William Sweeny">Thomas William Sweeny</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Jack_Swilling" title="Jack Swilling">Jack Swilling</a></li></ul>
</div></td></tr></tbody></table><div></div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Native_Americans_in_the_United_States" title="Native Americans in the United States">Native Americans</a></th><td class="navbox-list navbox-odd" style="text-align:left;border-left-width:2px;border-left-style:solid;width:100%;padding:0px"><div style="padding:0em 0.25em">
<ul><li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Apache" title="Apache">Apache</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Arapaho" title="Arapaho">Arapaho</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Arikara" title="Arikara">Arikara</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Assiniboine" title="Assiniboine">Assiniboine (Nakota)</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Blackfoot_Confederacy" title="Blackfoot Confederacy">Blackfoot</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Cahuilla" title="Cahuilla">Cahuilla</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Cayuse_people" title="Cayuse people">Cayuse</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Cheyenne" title="Cheyenne">Cheyenne</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Chinookan_peoples" title="Chinookan peoples">Chinook</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Ojibwe" title="Ojibwe">Chippewa (Ojibwe)</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Caddo" title="Caddo">Caddo</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Cocopah" title="Cocopah">Cocopah</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Comanche" title="Comanche">Comanche</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Crow_Nation" class="mw-redirect" title="Crow Nation">Crow</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Dakota_people" title="Dakota people">Dakota</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Five_Civilized_Tribes" title="Five Civilized Tribes">Five Civilized Tribes</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Hidatsa" title="Hidatsa">Hidatsa</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Hopi" title="Hopi">Hopi</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Hualapai" title="Hualapai">Hualapai</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Kickapoo_people" title="Kickapoo people">Kickapoo</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Kiowa" title="Kiowa">Kiowa</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Ktunaxa" class="mw-redirect" title="Ktunaxa">Ktunaxa</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Kumeyaay" title="Kumeyaay">Kumeyaay</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Lakota_people" title="Lakota people">Lakota</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Lenape" title="Lenape">Lenape (Delaware)</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Mandan" title="Mandan">Mandan</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Maricopa_people" title="Maricopa people">Maricopa</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Modoc_people" title="Modoc people">Modoc</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Mohave_people" title="Mohave people">Mohave</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Muscogee" title="Muscogee">Muscogee</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Navajo" title="Navajo">Navajo</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Nez_Perce_people" class="mw-redirect" title="Nez Perce people">Nez Perce</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Northern_Paiute" class="mw-redirect" title="Northern Paiute">Northern Paiute</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Nuu-chah-nulth" title="Nuu-chah-nulth">Nootka (Nuu-chah-nulth)</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Pawnee_people" title="Pawnee people">Pawnee</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Pend_d%27Oreilles" title="Pend d'Oreilles">Pend d'Oreilles</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Pequots" title="Pequots">Pequots</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Pima_people" title="Pima people">Pima</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Puebloans" title="Puebloans">Pueblo</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Seminoles" class="mw-redirect" title="Seminoles">Seminoles</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Shoshone" title="Shoshone">Shoshone</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Sioux" title="Sioux">Sioux</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Southern_Paiute" class="mw-redirect" title="Southern Paiute">Southern Paiute</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Tohono_O%27odham" class="mw-redirect" title="Tohono O'odham">Tohono O'odham</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Tonkawa" title="Tonkawa">Tonkawa</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Umpqua_people" title="Umpqua people">Umpqua</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Ute_people" title="Ute people">Ute</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Washoe_people" title="Washoe people">Washoe</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Yaqui" title="Yaqui">Yaqui</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Yavapai" title="Yavapai">Yavapai</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Quechan" title="Quechan">Yuma (Quechan)</a></li></ul>
</div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Western_lifestyle" title="Western lifestyle">Frontier culture</a></th><td class="navbox-list navbox-even" style="text-align:left;border-left-width:2px;border-left-style:solid;width:100%;padding:0px"><div style="padding:0em 0.25em">
<ul><li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/American_bison" title="American bison">American bison</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Barbed_wire" title="Barbed wire">Barbed wire</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Boot_Hill" title="Boot Hill">Boot Hill</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Cattle_drives_in_the_United_States" title="Cattle drives in the United States">Cattle drive</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Cowboy_poetry" title="Cowboy poetry">Cowboy poetry</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Cattle_raiding" title="Cattle raiding">Cattle rustling</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Cattle_towns" title="Cattle towns">Cow town</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Fast_draw" title="Fast draw">Fast draw</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Ghost_town" title="Ghost town">Ghost town</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Gunfighter#Famous_gunfights" title="Gunfighter">Gunfights</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Homestead_Acts" title="Homestead Acts">Homesteading</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Land_run" title="Land run">Land rush</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Manifest_destiny" title="Manifest destiny">Manifest destiny</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Moonshine" title="Moonshine">Moonshine</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/One-room_school" title="One-room school">One-room schoolhouse</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Rodeo" title="Rodeo">Rodeo</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Stagecoach" title="Stagecoach">Stagecoach</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Train_robbery" title="Train robbery">Train robbery</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Vigilante" class="mw-redirect" title="Vigilante">Vigilante justice</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Western_saloon" title="Western saloon">Western saloon</a>
<ul><li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Tack_piano" title="Tack piano">Tack piano</a></li></ul></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Territorial_evolution_of_the_United_States" title="Territorial evolution of the United States">Westward expansion</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Wild_West_shows" title="Wild West shows">Wild West shows</a></li></ul>
</div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Transport<br />and trails</th><td class="navbox-list navbox-odd" style="text-align:left;border-left-width:2px;border-left-style:solid;width:100%;padding:0px"><div style="padding:0em 0.25em">
<ul><li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Barlow_Road" title="Barlow Road">Barlow Road</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Bozeman_Trail" title="Bozeman Trail">Bozeman Trail</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Butterfield_Overland_Mail" title="Butterfield Overland Mail">Butterfield Trail</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/California_Trail" title="California Trail">California Trail</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Chisholm_Trail" title="Chisholm Trail">Chisholm Trail</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Great_Platte_River_Road" title="Great Platte River Road">Great Platte River Road</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Great_Western_Cattle_Trail" title="Great Western Cattle Trail">Great Western Cattle Trail</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Lolo_Pass_(Oregon)" title="Lolo Pass (Oregon)">Lolo Pass</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Meek_Cutoff" title="Meek Cutoff">Meek Cutoff</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Mormon_Trail" title="Mormon Trail">Mormon Trail</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Oregon_Trail" title="Oregon Trail">Oregon Trail</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Pony_Express" title="Pony Express">Pony Express</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Santa_Fe_Trail" title="Santa Fe Trail">Santa Fe Trail</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Southern_Emigrant_Trail" title="Southern Emigrant Trail">Southern Emigrant Trail</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Tanner_Trail" title="Tanner Trail">Tanner Trail</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/First_Transcontinental_Railroad" class="mw-redirect" title="First Transcontinental Railroad">First Transcontinental Railroad</a></li></ul>
</div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Folklore_of_the_United_States" title="Folklore of the United States">Folklore</a></th><td class="navbox-list navbox-even" style="text-align:left;border-left-width:2px;border-left-style:solid;width:100%;padding:0px"><div style="padding:0em 0.25em">
<ul><li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Dead_man%27s_hand" title="Dead man's hand">Dead man's hand</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Dime_novel" title="Dime novel">Dime novel</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/John_Henry_(folklore)" title="John Henry (folklore)">John Henry</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Johnny_Kaw" title="Johnny Kaw">Johnny Kaw</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Long_Tom%27s_treasure" title="Long Tom's treasure">Long Tom's treasure</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Lost_Dutchman%27s_Gold_Mine" title="Lost Dutchman's Gold Mine">Lost Dutchman's Gold Mine</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Lost_Ship_of_the_Desert" title="Lost Ship of the Desert">Lost Ship of the Desert</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Montezuma%27s_treasure" title="Montezuma's treasure">Montezuma's treasure</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Paul_Bunyan" title="Paul Bunyan">Paul Bunyan</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Pecos_Bill" title="Pecos Bill">Pecos Bill</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Seven_Cities_of_Gold" title="Seven Cities of Gold">Seven Cities of Gold</a></li></ul>
</div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Gold_rush" title="Gold rush">Gold rushes</a></th><td class="navbox-list navbox-odd" style="text-align:left;border-left-width:2px;border-left-style:solid;width:100%;padding:0px"><div style="padding:0em 0.25em">
<ul><li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Black_Hills_Gold_Rush" title="Black Hills Gold Rush">Black Hills Gold Rush</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/California_Gold_Rush" title="California Gold Rush">California Gold Rush</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Confederate_Gulch_and_Diamond_City" title="Confederate Gulch and Diamond City">Confederate Gulch and Diamond City</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Klondike_Gold_Rush" title="Klondike Gold Rush">Klondike Gold Rush</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Pike%27s_Peak_Gold_Rush" title="Pike's Peak Gold Rush">Pike's Peak Gold Rush</a></li></ul>
</div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/List_of_Old_West_gunfights" title="List of Old West gunfights">Gunfights</a></th><td class="navbox-list navbox-even" style="text-align:left;border-left-width:2px;border-left-style:solid;width:100%;padding:0px"><div style="padding:0em 0.25em">
<ul><li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Dalton_Gang#Coffeyville_bank_robbery" title="Dalton Gang">Battle of Coffeyville</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Battle_of_Lincoln_(1878)" title="Battle of Lincoln (1878)">Battle of Lincoln</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Frisco_shootout" title="Frisco shootout">Frisco shootout</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Gunfight_at_the_O.K._Corral" title="Gunfight at the O.K. Corral">Gunfight at the O.K. Corral</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Long_Branch_Saloon_gunfight" title="Long Branch Saloon gunfight">Long Branch Saloon gunfight</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Variety_Hall_shootout" title="Variety Hall shootout">Variety Hall shootout</a></li></ul>
</div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Military conflicts</th><td class="navbox-list navbox-odd" style="text-align:left;border-left-width:2px;border-left-style:solid;width:100%;padding:0px"><div style="padding:0em 0.25em">
<ul><li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Battle_of_the_Alamo" title="Battle of the Alamo">Battle of the Alamo</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Battle_of_Glorieta_Pass" title="Battle of Glorieta Pass">Battle of Glorieta Pass</a></li>
<li><a class="mw-selflink selflink">Battle of the Little Bighorn</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Battle_of_San_Jacinto" title="Battle of San Jacinto">Battle of San Jacinto</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Battle_of_Washita_River" title="Battle of Washita River">Battle of Washita River</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Bear_Flag_Revolt" class="mw-redirect" title="Bear Flag Revolt">Bear Flag Revolt</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Revolt_of_1837_(New_Mexico)" title="Revolt of 1837 (New Mexico)">Chimayó Rebellion</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/First_Battle_of_Adobe_Walls" title="First Battle of Adobe Walls">First Battle of Adobe Walls</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/American_Indian_Wars" title="American Indian Wars">Indian Wars</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Mexican%E2%80%93American_War" title="Mexican–American War">Mexican War</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Sand_Creek_massacre" title="Sand Creek massacre">Sand Creek massacre</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Seminole_Wars" title="Seminole Wars">Seminole Wars</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Texas_Revolution" title="Texas Revolution">Texas Revolution</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Wounded_Knee_Massacre" title="Wounded Knee Massacre">Wounded Knee Massacre</a></li></ul>
</div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Range_war" title="Range war">Range wars</a><br />and <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Family_feuds_in_the_United_States" title="Family feuds in the United States">feuds</a></th><td class="navbox-list navbox-even" style="text-align:left;border-left-width:2px;border-left-style:solid;width:100%;padding:0px"><div style="padding:0em 0.25em">
<ul><li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Cochise_County_in_the_Old_West" title="Cochise County in the Old West">Earp-Clanton feud</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Johnson_County_War" title="Johnson County War">Johnson County War</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Lincoln_County_War" title="Lincoln County War">Lincoln County War</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Mason_County_War" title="Mason County War">Mason County War</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Pleasant_Valley_War" title="Pleasant Valley War">Pleasant Valley War</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Sheep_Wars" title="Sheep Wars">Sheep Wars</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Sutton%E2%80%93Taylor_feud" title="Sutton–Taylor feud">Sutton–Taylor feud</a></li></ul>
</div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Lists</th><td class="navbox-list navbox-odd" style="text-align:left;border-left-width:2px;border-left-style:solid;width:100%;padding:0px"><div style="padding:0em 0.25em">
<ul><li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/List_of_Arizona_Rangers" title="List of Arizona Rangers">Arizona Rangers</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/List_of_cowboys_and_cowgirls" title="List of cowboys and cowgirls">Cowboys and cowgirls</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/List_of_Old_West_gangs" title="List of Old West gangs">Gangs</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/List_of_Old_West_gunfights" title="List of Old West gunfights">Gunfights</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/List_of_Old_West_lawmen" title="List of Old West lawmen">Lawmen</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/List_of_mountain_men" title="List of mountain men">Mountain men</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/List_of_Old_West_gunfighters" title="List of Old West gunfighters">Outlaws</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Timeline_of_the_American_Old_West" title="Timeline of the American Old West">Timeline of the American Old West</a></li></ul>
</div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Influence</th><td class="navbox-list navbox-even" style="text-align:left;border-left-width:2px;border-left-style:solid;width:100%;padding:0px"><div style="padding:0em 0.25em">
<ul><li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Cuisine_of_the_Western_United_States" title="Cuisine of the Western United States">Cuisine of the Western United States</a>
<ul><li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Chuckwagon" title="Chuckwagon">Chuckwagon</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Cuisine_of_California" title="Cuisine of California">Californian</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Native_American_cuisine" class="mw-redirect" title="Native American cuisine">Native American</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/New_Mexican_cuisine" title="New Mexican cuisine">New Mexican</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/New_Mexico_chile" title="New Mexico chile">New Mexico chile</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Pacific_Northwest_cuisine" title="Pacific Northwest cuisine">Pacific Northwestern</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Rocky_Mountain_Oysters" class="mw-redirect" title="Rocky Mountain Oysters">Rocky Mountain Oysters</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Tex-Mex" title="Tex-Mex">Tex-Mex</a></li></ul></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Gothic_Western" title="Gothic Western">Gothic Western</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Weird_West" title="Weird West">Weird West</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Western_genre" class="mw-redirect" title="Western genre">Western genre</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Western_lifestyle" title="Western lifestyle">Western lifestyle</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Western_music_(North_America)" title="Western music (North America)">Western music</a>
<ul><li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/New_Mexico_music" title="New Mexico music">New Mexico</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Red_Dirt_(music)" title="Red Dirt (music)">Red Dirt</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Tejano_music" title="Tejano music">Tejano</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Texas_country_music" title="Texas country music">Texas country</a></li></ul></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Western_wear" title="Western wear">Western wear</a>
<ul><li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Cowboy_boots" class="mw-redirect" title="Cowboy boots">Cowboy boots</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Cowboy_hat" title="Cowboy hat">Cowboy hat</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Jeans" title="Jeans">Jeans</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Snap_fastener" title="Snap fastener">Snap fastener</a></li></ul></li></ul>
</div></td></tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0px"><div style="padding:0em 0.25em"></div><table class="nowraplinks navbox-subgroup" style="border-spacing:0"><tbody><tr><th id="Places" scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Places</th><td class="navbox-list navbox-odd" style="text-align:left;border-left-width:2px;border-left-style:solid;width:100%;padding:0px"><div style="padding:0em 0.25em"></div><table class="nowraplinks navbox-subgroup" style="border-spacing:0"><tbody><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Department_of_Alaska" title="Department of Alaska">Alaska</a></th><td class="navbox-list navbox-odd" style="text-align:left;border-left-width:2px;border-left-style:solid;width:100%;padding:0px"><div style="padding:0em 0.25em">
<ul><li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Anchorage,_Alaska" title="Anchorage, Alaska">Anchorage</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Iditarod,_Alaska" title="Iditarod, Alaska">Iditarod</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Nome,_Alaska" title="Nome, Alaska">Nome</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Seward,_Alaska" title="Seward, Alaska">Seward</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Skagway,_Alaska" title="Skagway, Alaska">Skagway</a></li></ul>
</div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Arizona_Territory" title="Arizona Territory">Arizona Territory</a></th><td class="navbox-list navbox-even" style="text-align:left;border-left-width:2px;border-left-style:solid;width:100%;padding:0px"><div style="padding:0em 0.25em">
<ul><li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Canyon_Diablo,_Arizona" title="Canyon Diablo, Arizona">Canyon Diablo</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Fort_Grant,_Arizona" title="Fort Grant, Arizona">Fort Grant</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Prescott,_Arizona" title="Prescott, Arizona">Prescott</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Phoenix,_Arizona" title="Phoenix, Arizona">Phoenix</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Tombstone,_Arizona" title="Tombstone, Arizona">Tombstone</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Tucson,_Arizona" title="Tucson, Arizona">Tucson</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Yuma,_Arizona" title="Yuma, Arizona">Yuma</a></li></ul>
</div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/History_of_California" title="History of California">California</a></th><td class="navbox-list navbox-odd" style="text-align:left;border-left-width:2px;border-left-style:solid;width:100%;padding:0px"><div style="padding:0em 0.25em">
<ul><li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Bakersfield,_California" title="Bakersfield, California">Bakersfield</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Fresno,_California" title="Fresno, California">Fresno</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Jamestown,_California" title="Jamestown, California">Jamestown</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Los_Angeles" title="Los Angeles">Los Angeles</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Sacramento,_California" title="Sacramento, California">Sacramento</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/San_Diego" title="San Diego">San Diego</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/San_Francisco" title="San Francisco">San Francisco</a></li></ul>
</div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/History_of_Colorado" title="History of Colorado">Colorado</a></th><td class="navbox-list navbox-even" style="text-align:left;border-left-width:2px;border-left-style:solid;width:100%;padding:0px"><div style="padding:0em 0.25em">
<ul><li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Creede,_Colorado" title="Creede, Colorado">Creede</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Denver" title="Denver">Denver</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Telluride,_Colorado" title="Telluride, Colorado">Telluride</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Trinidad,_Colorado" title="Trinidad, Colorado">Trinidad</a></li></ul>
</div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Dakota_Territory" title="Dakota Territory">Dakota Territory</a></th><td class="navbox-list navbox-odd" style="text-align:left;border-left-width:2px;border-left-style:solid;width:100%;padding:0px"><div style="padding:0em 0.25em">
<ul><li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Bismarck,_North_Dakota" title="Bismarck, North Dakota">Bismarck</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Deadwood,_South_Dakota" title="Deadwood, South Dakota">Deadwood</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Fargo,_North_Dakota" title="Fargo, North Dakota">Fargo</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Pine_Ridge_Indian_Reservation" title="Pine Ridge Indian Reservation">Pine Ridge</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Rapid_City,_South_Dakota" title="Rapid City, South Dakota">Rapid City</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Yankton,_South_Dakota" title="Yankton, South Dakota">Yankton</a></li></ul>
</div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Florida_Territory" title="Florida Territory">Florida Territory</a></th><td class="navbox-list navbox-even" style="text-align:left;border-left-width:2px;border-left-style:solid;width:100%;padding:0px"><div style="padding:0em 0.25em">
<ul><li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Angola,_Florida" title="Angola, Florida">Angola</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Negro_Fort" title="Negro Fort">Negro Fort</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/History_of_Pensacola" class="mw-redirect" title="History of Pensacola">Pensacola</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Prospect_Bluff_Historic_Sites" title="Prospect Bluff Historic Sites">Prospect Bluff</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/History_of_St._Augustine,_Florida" title="History of St. Augustine, Florida">St. Augustine</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/San_Marcos_de_Apalache" class="mw-redirect" title="San Marcos de Apalache">St. Marks</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/History_of_Tallahassee,_Florida" title="History of Tallahassee, Florida">Tallahassee</a></li></ul>
</div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Idaho_Territory" title="Idaho Territory">Idaho Territory</a></th><td class="navbox-list navbox-odd" style="text-align:left;border-left-width:2px;border-left-style:solid;width:100%;padding:0px"><div style="padding:0em 0.25em">
<ul><li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Fort_Boise" title="Fort Boise">Fort Boise</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Fort_Hall" title="Fort Hall">Fort Hall</a></li></ul>
</div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/History_of_Illinois" title="History of Illinois">Illinois</a></th><td class="navbox-list navbox-even" style="text-align:left;border-left-width:2px;border-left-style:solid;width:100%;padding:0px"><div style="padding:0em 0.25em">
<ul><li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Fort_Dearborn" title="Fort Dearborn">Fort Dearborn</a></li></ul>
</div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/History_of_Kansas" title="History of Kansas">Kansas</a></th><td class="navbox-list navbox-odd" style="text-align:left;border-left-width:2px;border-left-style:solid;width:100%;padding:0px"><div style="padding:0em 0.25em">
<ul><li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Abilene,_Kansas" title="Abilene, Kansas">Abilene</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Dodge_City,_Kansas" title="Dodge City, Kansas">Dodge City</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Ellsworth,_Kansas" title="Ellsworth, Kansas">Ellsworth</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Hays,_Kansas" title="Hays, Kansas">Hays</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Leavenworth,_Kansas" title="Leavenworth, Kansas">Leavenworth</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Wichita,_Kansas" title="Wichita, Kansas">Wichita</a></li></ul>
</div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/History_of_Missouri" title="History of Missouri">Missouri</a></th><td class="navbox-list navbox-even" style="text-align:left;border-left-width:2px;border-left-style:solid;width:100%;padding:0px"><div style="padding:0em 0.25em">
<ul><li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Independence,_Missouri" title="Independence, Missouri">Independence</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Kansas_City,_Missouri" title="Kansas City, Missouri">Kansas City</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/St._Louis" title="St. Louis">St. Louis</a></li></ul>
<ul><li class="mw-empty-elt"></li></ul>
</div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Montana_Territory" title="Montana Territory">Montana Territory</a></th><td class="navbox-list navbox-odd" style="text-align:left;border-left-width:2px;border-left-style:solid;width:100%;padding:0px"><div style="padding:0em 0.25em">
<ul><li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Billings,_Montana" title="Billings, Montana">Billings</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Bozeman,_Montana" title="Bozeman, Montana">Bozeman</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Deer_Lodge,_Montana" title="Deer Lodge, Montana">Deer Lodge</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Fort_Benton,_Montana" title="Fort Benton, Montana">Fort Benton</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Fort_Peck,_Montana" title="Fort Peck, Montana">Fort Peck</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Helena,_Montana" title="Helena, Montana">Helena</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Livingston,_Montana" title="Livingston, Montana">Livingston</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Missoula,_Montana" title="Missoula, Montana">Missoula</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Virginia_City,_Montana" title="Virginia City, Montana">Virginia City</a></li></ul>
</div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/History_of_Nebraska" title="History of Nebraska">Nebraska</a></th><td class="navbox-list navbox-even" style="text-align:left;border-left-width:2px;border-left-style:solid;width:100%;padding:0px"><div style="padding:0em 0.25em">
<ul><li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Chadron,_Nebraska" title="Chadron, Nebraska">Chadron</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Fort_Atkinson_(Nebraska)" title="Fort Atkinson (Nebraska)">Fort Atkinson</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Fort_Robinson" title="Fort Robinson">Fort Robinson</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Nebraska_City,_Nebraska" title="Nebraska City, Nebraska">Nebraska City</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Ogallala,_Nebraska" title="Ogallala, Nebraska">Ogallala</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Omaha,_Nebraska" title="Omaha, Nebraska">Omaha</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Valentine,_Nebraska" title="Valentine, Nebraska">Valentine</a></li></ul>
</div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/History_of_Nevada" title="History of Nevada">Nevada</a></th><td class="navbox-list navbox-odd" style="text-align:left;border-left-width:2px;border-left-style:solid;width:100%;padding:0px"><div style="padding:0em 0.25em">
<ul><li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Carson_City,_Nevada" title="Carson City, Nevada">Carson City</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Virginia_City,_Nevada" title="Virginia City, Nevada">Virginia City</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Reno,_Nevada" title="Reno, Nevada">Reno</a></li></ul>
</div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/New_Mexico_Territory" title="New Mexico Territory">New Mexico Territory</a></th><td class="navbox-list navbox-even" style="text-align:left;border-left-width:2px;border-left-style:solid;width:100%;padding:0px"><div style="padding:0em 0.25em">
<ul><li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Alamogordo,_New_Mexico" title="Alamogordo, New Mexico">Alamogordo</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Albuquerque,_New_Mexico" title="Albuquerque, New Mexico">Albuquerque</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Cimarron,_New_Mexico" title="Cimarron, New Mexico">Cimarron</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Fort_Sumner,_New_Mexico" title="Fort Sumner, New Mexico">Fort Sumner</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Gallup,_New_Mexico" title="Gallup, New Mexico">Gallup</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Las_Vegas,_New_Mexico" title="Las Vegas, New Mexico">Las Vegas</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Lincoln,_New_Mexico" title="Lincoln, New Mexico">Lincoln</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Mesilla,_New_Mexico" title="Mesilla, New Mexico">Mesilla</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Mogollon,_New_Mexico" title="Mogollon, New Mexico">Mogollon</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Roswell,_New_Mexico" title="Roswell, New Mexico">Roswell</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Santa_Fe,_New_Mexico" title="Santa Fe, New Mexico">Santa Fe</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Tucumcari,_New_Mexico" title="Tucumcari, New Mexico">Tucumcari</a></li></ul>
</div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Oklahoma_Territory" title="Oklahoma Territory">Oklahoma Territory</a><br />and <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Indian_Territory" title="Indian Territory">Indian Territory</a></th><td class="navbox-list navbox-odd" style="text-align:left;border-left-width:2px;border-left-style:solid;width:100%;padding:0px"><div style="padding:0em 0.25em">
<ul><li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Broken_Arrow,_Oklahoma" title="Broken Arrow, Oklahoma">Broken Arrow</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Fort_Sill" title="Fort Sill">Fort Sill</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Oklahoma_City" title="Oklahoma City">Oklahoma City</a></li></ul>
</div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Oregon_Territory" title="Oregon Territory">Oregon Territory</a></th><td class="navbox-list navbox-even" style="text-align:left;border-left-width:2px;border-left-style:solid;width:100%;padding:0px"><div style="padding:0em 0.25em">
<ul><li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Astoria,_Oregon" title="Astoria, Oregon">Astoria</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/The_Dalles,_Oregon" title="The Dalles, Oregon">The Dalles</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/La_Grande,_Oregon" title="La Grande, Oregon">La Grande</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/McMinnville,_Oregon" title="McMinnville, Oregon">McMinnville</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Oregon_City,_Oregon" title="Oregon City, Oregon">Oregon City</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Portland,_Oregon" title="Portland, Oregon">Portland</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Salem,_Oregon" title="Salem, Oregon">Salem</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Vale,_Oregon" title="Vale, Oregon">Vale</a></li></ul>
</div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/History_of_Texas" title="History of Texas">Texas</a></th><td class="navbox-list navbox-odd" style="text-align:left;border-left-width:2px;border-left-style:solid;width:100%;padding:0px"><div style="padding:0em 0.25em">
<ul><li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Austin,_Texas" title="Austin, Texas">Austin</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Abilene,_Texas" title="Abilene, Texas">Abilene</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/El_Paso,_Texas" title="El Paso, Texas">El Paso</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Fort_Worth,_Texas" title="Fort Worth, Texas">Fort Worth</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Gonzales,_Texas" title="Gonzales, Texas">Gonzales</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Lubbock,_Texas" title="Lubbock, Texas">Lubbock</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/San_Antonio" title="San Antonio">San Antonio</a></li></ul>
</div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Utah_Territory" title="Utah Territory">Utah Territory</a></th><td class="navbox-list navbox-even" style="text-align:left;border-left-width:2px;border-left-style:solid;width:100%;padding:0px"><div style="padding:0em 0.25em">
<ul><li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Salt_Lake_City" title="Salt Lake City">Salt Lake City</a></li></ul>
</div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Washington_Territory" title="Washington Territory">Washington Territory</a></th><td class="navbox-list navbox-odd" style="text-align:left;border-left-width:2px;border-left-style:solid;width:100%;padding:0px"><div style="padding:0em 0.25em">
<ul><li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Everett,_Washington" title="Everett, Washington">Everett</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Port_Townsend,_Washington" title="Port Townsend, Washington">Port Townsend</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Seattle" title="Seattle">Seattle</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Vancouver,_Washington" title="Vancouver, Washington">Vancouver</a></li></ul>
</div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Wyoming_Territory" title="Wyoming Territory">Wyoming Territory</a></th><td class="navbox-list navbox-even" style="text-align:left;border-left-width:2px;border-left-style:solid;width:100%;padding:0px"><div style="padding:0em 0.25em">
<ul><li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Fort_Bridger" title="Fort Bridger">Fort Bridger</a></li>
<li><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Fort_Laramie_National_Historic_Site" title="Fort Laramie National Historic Site">Fort Laramie</a></li></ul>
</div></td></tr></tbody></table><div></div></td></tr></tbody></table><div></div></td></tr><tr><td class="navbox-abovebelow" colspan="2"><div>
<ul><li><b><img alt="Category" src="/upwiki/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/96/Symbol_category_class.svg/16px-Symbol_category_class.svg.png" decoding="async" title="Category" width="16" height="16" class="noviewer" srcset="/upwiki/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/96/Symbol_category_class.svg/23px-Symbol_category_class.svg.png 1.5x, /upwiki/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/96/Symbol_category_class.svg/31px-Symbol_category_class.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="180" data-file-height="185" /> <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Category:American_frontier" title="Category:American frontier">Category</a></b></li>
<li><b><a href="/enwiki/wiki/File:Symbol_portal_class.svg" class="image" title="Portal"><img alt="Portal" src="/upwiki/wikipedia/en/thumb/e/e2/Symbol_portal_class.svg/16px-Symbol_portal_class.svg.png" decoding="async" width="16" height="16" class="noviewer" srcset="/upwiki/wikipedia/en/thumb/e/e2/Symbol_portal_class.svg/23px-Symbol_portal_class.svg.png 1.5x, /upwiki/wikipedia/en/thumb/e/e2/Symbol_portal_class.svg/31px-Symbol_portal_class.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="180" data-file-height="185" /></a> <a href="/enwiki/wiki/Portal:United_States" title="Portal:United States">United States Portal</a></b></li>
<li><b><img alt="Commons page" src="/upwiki/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/12px-Commons-logo.svg.png" decoding="async" title="Commons page" width="12" height="16" class="noviewer" srcset="/upwiki/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/18px-Commons-logo.svg.png 1.5x, /upwiki/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/24px-Commons-logo.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="1024" data-file-height="1376" /> <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Wild_West" class="extiw" title="commons:Category:Wild West">Commons</a></b></li></ul>
</div></td></tr></tbody></table></div>
<div role="navigation" class="navbox authority-control" aria-labelledby="Authority_control_frameless_&#124;text-top_&#124;10px_&#124;alt=Edit_this_at_Wikidata_&#124;link=https&#58;//www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q205422#identifiers&#124;Edit_this_at_Wikidata" style="padding:3px"><table class="nowraplinks hlist mw-collapsible autocollapse navbox-inner" style="border-spacing:0;background:transparent;color:inherit"><tbody><tr><th scope="col" class="navbox-title" colspan="2"><div id="Authority_control_frameless_&#124;text-top_&#124;10px_&#124;alt=Edit_this_at_Wikidata_&#124;link=https&#58;//www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q205422#identifiers&#124;Edit_this_at_Wikidata" style="font-size:114%;margin:0 4em"><a href="/enwiki/wiki/Help:Authority_control" title="Help:Authority control">Authority control</a> <a href="https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q205422#identifiers" title="Edit this at Wikidata"><img alt="Edit this at Wikidata" src="/upwiki/wikipedia/en/thumb/8/8a/OOjs_UI_icon_edit-ltr-progressive.svg/10px-OOjs_UI_icon_edit-ltr-progressive.svg.png" decoding="async" width="10" height="10" style="vertical-align: text-top" srcset="/upwiki/wikipedia/en/thumb/8/8a/OOjs_UI_icon_edit-ltr-progressive.svg/15px-OOjs_UI_icon_edit-ltr-progressive.svg.png 1.5x, /upwiki/wikipedia/en/thumb/8/8a/OOjs_UI_icon_edit-ltr-progressive.svg/20px-OOjs_UI_icon_edit-ltr-progressive.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="20" data-file-height="20" /></a></div></th></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">General</th><td class="navbox-list navbox-odd" style="text-align:left;border-left-width:2px;border-left-style:solid;width:100%;padding:0px"><div style="padding:0em 0.25em">
<ul><li><span class="uid"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://d-nb.info/gnd/4202534-5">Integrated Authority File (Germany)</a></span></li></ul>
</div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">National libraries</th><td class="navbox-list navbox-even" style="text-align:left;border-left-width:2px;border-left-style:solid;width:100%;padding:0px"><div style="padding:0em 0.25em">
<ul><li><span class="uid"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://catalogue.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb12485996b">France</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://data.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb12485996b">(data)</a></span></li>
<li><span class="uid"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85077676">United States</a></span></li>
<li><span class="uid"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://aleph.nkp.cz/F/?func=find-c&local_base=aut&ccl_term=ica=ph117713&CON_LNG=ENG">Czech Republic</a></span></li></ul>
</div></td></tr></tbody></table></div>
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