Battle of Little Bighorn

I took a trip with the Smithsonian Journey's group of the Battle of Little Bighorn. Our tour leader was the amazing Ed Bearss, one of my favorite octogenarian's. Another of course being my dad who will soon turn 81. Here's a great interview with Ed about his WWII wounding and the civil war navy. The tour included not only Custer's Last Stand, but several smaller battles dating from 1866 and leading up to the June 25th, 1876 battle. We had a great group of folks from all over the country. Most being retired, so for once I was actually considered a "kid"! The tour lasted from September 17-22, 2003. We started out in Billings, Montana then drove to Sheridan Wyoming for our first battle. My photos don't do the rugged western plains justice. It was gorgeous, low humidity and sunny with the bluest skies and the air crisp. Oh and they both happen to be two of the least populated states in the U.S. Makes coming back to DC quite depressing!

Our first stop was Gary Owen, Montana. There is buried here an unknown soldier from the era. Gary Owen is an old Irish drinking song the 7th Cavalry used as their theme song. It was quite popular in the 19th century and was one of Custer's favorites.

Our next stop was Fort Phil Kearny, 20 miles south of Sheridan Wyoming. This fort was one of many setup along the Bozeman Trail to give some shelter to traveling pioneers. The Bozeman trail was a shortcut to the mines in western Montana, thus saving over 200 miles versus going the traditional route from Utah. Unfortunately it was not a very safe trail due to it being right smack in the middle of Sioux territory. The U.S. government having setup treaties with the Indians and not keeping their end of the bargain, friction rain high. The Powder River region being the traditional hunting ground of the Sioux, the red man wanted the white man out. Red Cloud was a spiritual leader of the Sioux and with the help of some of his war chiefs including Crazy Horse began a concerted effort against the whites in the area, especially the soldiers at Fort Kearny. For a link to all the Indian battles of the west, click here for the NPS website. By the end of the 1860's however, Red Cloud himself became more pragmatic and felt the best solution was to try being peaceful with the whites. Crazy Horse and others however still fought against the whites and the forced reservation lifestyle.

"With eighty men, I can ride through the entire Sioux nation" - Captain William Fetterman

"Support the wood train. Relieve it and report to me. Do not engage or pursue Indians at its expense. Under no circumstances pursue over the ridge, that is, Lodge Trail Ridge" - written orders from Colonel Carrington to Captain Fetterman.

On December 21, 1866, Sioux, Cheyenne, and Arapaho warriors engaged a military force commanded by Captain William J. Fetterman. Ordered to rescue a besieged wagon train, Fetterman's men pursued Crazy Horse and other warriors acting as decoys over Lodge Trail Ridge, where over 2,000 Indians waited in ambush. Fetterman ignored an order given by his superior, Colonel Henry Carrington not to pursue the Indians over Lodge Trail Ridge. The ridge had been the sight of a previous ambush and Carrington was worried of another ambush by the Indians. Unfortunately for Fetterman's' command, the warriors attacked the soldiers, overwhelming the separated cavalry and infantry units. All 81 men in Fetterman's command were killed within 30 minutes. They were also horribly mutilated with the exception of a bugler. He had ended up with only his bugle to use as a weapon in hand to hand combat. The warriors were very impressed and as a sign of respect covered his body with a buffalo hide without mutilation. The warriors believed that if you cut out the eye or nose or ear or private part, that person would not have that available in the happy hunting ground. They also would cut out the bicep muscle believing it would not be there for use in the afterlife. Scalping they believed gave the warrior the power of the dead man's spirit. Only the Battle of the Little Big Horn stands as a worse defeat for the United States Army, and greater victory for the Plains Indians. A civilian, John "Portugee" Phillips was hired by Colonel Carrington to ride for reinforcements. He rode over 236 miles in 4 days through a blizzard to reach Fort Laramie, on Christmas day, 1866.

Nearly a year later on August 2, 1867 - The Wagon Box fight occurred involving men on a wood detail from Ft. Kearny. This time, the soldiers had breech loading rifles versus the civil war era springfields they had during the Fetterman massacre. This gave them an advantage. The Indians were expecting to see the soldiers arms raise up with the ramrods in order to load their ammo. The breech loaded rifles were a definite advantage. About 800 Sioux attacked woodcutters and soldiers camped at a cutting area 5 miles from Fort Phil Kearny. The men took cover inside an oval of wagons used to corral stock. The soldiers and men held off the massed warriors until a relief force from the fort arrived. 3 men were killed and 2 wounded, while Indian casualties were estimated at 5-60 killed and 5-120 or more wounded.

Here's the website for Fort Phil Kearny. Click on the photos in the photo albums to enlarge them. For maps, let the image load, then you should get a boxed icon in the lower right hand corner which will expand the image to regular size when clicked.

In the Hayfield Fight, near Ft. Smith, a haying detail consisting of 19 soldiers and 6 civilians, under Lt. Sigismund Sternberg, equipped with breech-loading Springfields and several repeating rifles, successfully held off a superior force, sustaining only 3 killed and 3 wounded. Lt. Sternberg was killed when he insisted on shooting standing up. His men, wisely used the haying wagons to shoot from behind. These men held off the Indians for over 6 hours before a relief force came to their rescue. Interestingly, one of the first murders in the state of Montana occurred at Fort Smith. Julia Roach, a fort laundress was killed by her husband for allegedly committing adultery. Being a civilian he got away scott free due to there being no civilian courts. Ed likes to kid participants throughout his tours and call them by a historical person's name related to the tour. Ed caught me red handed buying the book "Soiled Doves: prostitutes in the early west" by Anne Seagraves from the Fort Kearny bookshop, so he keyed in on my bawdy sense of humor and from that point on, I was called Mrs. Roach, the unfortunate laundress! The book was a great read, those women lived a hard life. He pointed out my "grave" when we got to the Custer national cemetery. Mrs. Roach is buried near Lt. Sternberg with the other casualties of Ft. Kearny and Ft. C.F. Smith. Ft. Smith is approximately 90 miles north of Ft. Kearny. The site of Ft. Smith is on private land, on the Crow reservation. The owner, Mr. Plainfeather allowed our group onto his land to view the site. All the forts along the Bozeman trail were abandoned by the army in accordance to the Indian Treaty of 1868. The Indians burned these forts shortly after the armies left them.

We then headed onto the Rosebud Battlefield. On the way we stopped at the infamous Kirby Saloon in Busby Montana. Ed explained about it on our way there, its known for its unusual urinal in the men's room! Its simply a trough with a drain on the floor filled with ice. The guys on the tour reported that it was just like Ed stated and that it reminded them of peeing in the snow! Its one of the bars featured in a book about the watering holes of Montana. I was further teased by our tour guide because I ordered a glass of wine. The Kirby Saloon isn't exactly an upscale place, so Ed surmised that I was probably the first person to ever order a glass of wine in there. Anyway, I don't drink beer and I rarely drink booze. I should have stuck with a soda because as one would guess from a bar like this, the wine was cheap and tasted nasty. Everyone else wisely got beers. It was a bar with character, not at all like the yuppie bars of D.C. So if you want to get a beer while visiting the Rosebud Battlefield, stop by the Kirby Saloon. They also sell hats and t-shirts. And if you're of the male persuasion, check out their infamous urinal!

Ed's in his red Kirby Saloon hat wisely drinking beer versus their version of white wine! My fellow tour members kept to beer and shots of whiskey.

On June 17th, 1876 - General George Crook's command of 1300 gets surprised by an equal number of Sioux and Cheyenne warriors. I scanned in the pamphlet which gives a great rundown of the battle. Crook was an interesting character from Ed's description. He parted his beard down the middle and braided it and he rarely wore a conventional army uniform. He preferred to wear a civilian duster and straw hat. He must have been a sight! Oh and I met my first rattlesnake upon the trail going up to Crook's Hill. Ed who grew up in Montana on his grandfather's cattle ranch knew how to handle the snake. He threw a rock near it and got the rattler to leave the trail into the prairie grass. One of the guys on tour has a place in the country out in central Texas. He explained that the rattler's out there are larger. My picture of the snake didn't turn out well unfortunately. He sure scared some of the ladies but I found him to be fascinating albeit from a distance!

"If I were an Indian, I would greatly prefer to cast my lot among those of my people who adhered to the free open plains rather than submit to the confined limits of a reservation" - George Armstrong Custer

"I did not marry you for you to live in one house, me in another. One bed shall accommodate us both." George Custer in a letter to his wife Libbie.

"I could whip all the Indians on the Continent with the Seventh Cavalry". George Armstrong Custer, June 25, 1876

"Ho-ka hey! It is a good day to fight! It is a good day to die! Strong hearts, brave hearts, to the front! Weak hearts and cowards to the rear". Crazy Horse, Sioux War Chief, June 25, 1876

On the hot Sunday afternoon of June 25th, 1876 - General George Armstrong Custer commanding the 7th Cavalry and numbering around 260 soldiers met defeat and death at the hands of nearly 2,000 Lakota Sioux and Cheyenne warriors in what is popularly known as "Custer's Last Stand" or more appropriately the Battle of the Little Bighorn near present day Crow Agency, Montana. The national park service can describe the battle far better than I. Click here for the National Park Service's detailed description of the battle.

Custer had been a colorful civil war hero, the "Boy General" making the grade at the tender age of 23 right before the infamous Gettysburg campaign. He was a impulsive, reckless, extremely brave officer who was thought to be perfect for the Indian campaigns. An example of his recklessness was his leaving his command without permission and riding over 200 miles to get his wife Libbie so he could enjoy her company. Theirs was a passionate relationship, their civil war time letters getting captured by some confederate soldiers during a raid into Custer's camp. The Richmond newspapers having a field day publishing them to the amusement of the southern population at there titillating content! One quote referred to trying not to make the bed squeak when they met in Washington!

But the Indian wars were nothing tactically like the civil war. Its one thing to run a cavalry charge against confederate soldiers, its another against the guerilla warfare tactics waged by the likes of Crazy Horse, Gall and Lame White Man. Another huge mistake by the U.S. Government and particularly the Army, they underestimated their enemy, the Lakota Sioux under the spiritual leadership of Sitting Bull. Usually the hostiles as the army referred to them fought in small bands of a few hundred or less. They very rarely fought in a large cohesive group. With Sitting Bull's influence the whole Lakota Sioux nation along with some northern Cheyenne came together in the summer of 1876 to push the white man out of their traditional hunting grounds. Custer from the crow's nest on the early morning of June 25th, 1876 saw only a small portion of the Indian village due to haze. Therefore, he mistakenly thought he was overtaking only a few hundred Indians, not the over 7,000 Indians of which approximately 2,000 were warriors. Armed I might add with not only their traditional bow and arrow and war clubs but many with Henry repeating rifles and plenty of ammo. The entire battle lasted less than an hour. He had earlier split his force into 3 groups near the crow's nest. Benteen is farthest south, Reno in the middle and Custer's force is the most north. Upon spotting the Indian village he sends Reno's group to charge into the southern end while he and his contingent will flank the northern end and support Reno. Reno's men upon charging into the village suddenly get overrun by 2,000 warriors and retreat to the Reno-Benteen portion of the battlefield. Bloody Knife a scout on staff has his brains blown out while talking to Reno and Reno then looses his composure. Just then Benteen and his men ride up and Benteen basically takes charge over the distraught Reno. Custer's portion of it is estimated to have lasted less than 20 minutes. He and his entire command were killed. Custer's body was one of the few that wasn't horribly mutilated. Many of the women and children aided in the mutilation after the battle in retaliation. It was a very bad day for the Custer family. They lost not only George, but his brothers Tom and Boston, their nephew Autie Reed along with their brother-in-law Calhoun - 5 men in all. Next to Gettysburg, the Battle of the Little Bighorn is the most written about American battle. It was a huge victory for the plains Indians - however it would lead to their losing their way of life permanently. By 1877, Sitting Bull would retreat into Canada and Crazy Horse would be dead.

My photos don't do justice to the vast rugged landscape and the incredible amount of ravines and coulee's. You could hide an entire division behind one and never know they were there. The terrain in this battle was a huge factor in its confusion. As Ed and a lot of other noted historians state, you can read all you want about a battle but to truly understand it you've got to walk the ground.

We visited Chief Plenty Coup State Park on Sunday morning before heading off for the Bighorn battlefield. Chief Plenty Coup was the last great Crow chief and lived a long life. He was a teenager when Custer met his fate in 1876 and he died in the early 1930's. Ed remembered his funeral being a big deal in the state of Montana. One of the humorous anecdotes Ed told of the chief was his meeting President Calvin Coolidge and taping him with his coup stick! One way a warrior counted coup was to tap his enemy with his coup stick, this was considered more brave than killing your enemy. So Chief Plenty Coup got some presidential Coup from old Silent Cal. The chief was a very pragmatic man. He urged his people to accept the more modern way of the white man and use education to further themselves. To help promote this, he kept his tepee but also built a house. He lived in the tepee during the summer months and the house during winter. He had a vision about a medicine tree near a stream and a bird - so when he spotted the property and a particular tree near a stream with a bird he knew it was the place to build his house. He donated his land and house to his tribe as a museum to their way of life in his will. The park has a great website with some interactive learning for kids, check it out.

All photos by Ann Collins, maps were provided by Smithsonian and the National Park Service