The Little Bighorn...

retiredbadge8091

retiredbadge8091

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My wife and I just got back from the Little Bighorn Battlefield Monument. What an awe inspiring experience. I've always liked the history of the west and really enjoyed being able to travel to this historic site. Now I'll have to re-read the many accounts of this iconic event, maybe with a little more understanding after getting the lay of the land, so to speak.
 
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I enjoyed it 30 years ago and now advise most to skip it for reasons that would probably get me banned.
 
I have visited twice and am eager to visit for the third time. I wandered several of the Civil War battlefields in Georgia while I lived there and was not nearly affected as much as I have been at the site of the Custer's Last Stand. I am not a normal fan of the US Park Service, BUT I have to admit they have done a remarkable job at the Little Big Horn. I have never held G.A. Custer in much regard; after reading much of the history and then seeing the actual site it was confirmed to me that Custer's massive ego was not enough to solve the problem presented that morning. Unfortunate as it became for the men in his command.

And, there is a US DOD Cemetery there that is not to be missed. Wandering thru the grounds and reading tombstone inscriptions is humbling at best.

What is the icing on the cake for me is the proximity of Cody, WY and the Buffalo Bill Museum with its magnificent firearms displays. I plan on one day at the Little Big Horn and two days at the museum. .......
 
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My wife and I made a big loop vacation last year, We did enjoy the Buffalo Bill Museum.

Spent a day at the Little Big horn. It is humbling. Looking down the ridge that comes up from the River. Seeing markers up the hill and the sight of the last stand. One can imagine the noise, the smell of Black Powder and the demise of the troops as thousands of Native Americans swept over them.

It is only the 2nd place I've been so far where one can not only see the tombstones but also feel the event.

Keep the 3 groups together and win Custer would have been a shoo in for the presidency. Split them up and get all the glory, after all he was outnumbered when he attacked Jeb Stuart at Gettysburg and pushed back a numerically superior force.


Custer was a huge risk taker. Jeb Stuart was protecting his Cavalry, get cut off or tied down and all could be lost. The 3000 or so native americans were not under one leader in military fashion, they were a large force that set out to protect their families. They were more successful than they imagined. One can imagine a few hundred surrounded by 3000, fight for all you're worth and it was over quickly without much time to think about it.

I might think if one was there early in the morning with a light fog one might see shadowy figures fleeing up the hill pursued by death.
 
I was there about 40 years ago. It was all much smaller than I had pictured it. I'd love to go again.
 
Buffalo Bill Museum...

I'd like to make that trip and also see the B.B. museum again. 35 years ago I didn't quite have the knowledge of guns that I do now, though it's still only a drop in the bucket compared to that massive collection.
 
Big Cholla said:
I have visited twice and am eager to visit for the third time. I wandered several of the Civil War battlefields in Georgia while I live there and was not nearly affected as much as I have been at the site of the Custer's Last Stand. .....
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Same here. I visited Shiloh and Chickamauga not too long ago, and while it was an awe-inspiring experience, the geography of such large battles makes it difficult to get a real sense of the place. You're just moving through trees and fields somewhere. On the Little Bighorn, if you know the basics, the geography and the story of the battle just lays open in front of you as you move along the ridge road and walk some of the trails like to the Deep Ravine. You're always in the whole fight. That's what struck me most about the place.
 
Interestingly, my last name is Custer and I cant count how many times I have been asked if I am related to George. Many people tell me they are desenents and related. Then I tell them that he had no children so that string of Custers died out. Further, just yesterday some friends called from Cody and were at the museum, said it was huge, several days could be spent there alone. It is on our list of places to go soon. Now where is that bucket list?
 
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My wife and I visited the battlefield and environs during Independence Day weekend back in 2000 following a visit to a friend in Clancy, MT.

It was a very powerful and moving experience, one that still resonates very strongly.

I've read quite a few books on the subject from all sides and it never ceases to be captivating.
 
Love that part of the world. I have spent the last two afternoons packing cloth for my return to that part of the world, hoping to spend a month to 6 weeks at a spot where, on a good clear day, I can see the battleground. I have been there years ago and also enjoy going by the Fetterman site and the wagon box site which took place in 1866 and 1867, a few years before the Little Big Horn. They are located a few miles south in Wyoming. Fetterrman was just like Custer, his commander told him "not to go" and he lead 80 men to their death. I understand why the native people tried so hard to keep others from their lands and then it became protecting their families. I truly believe George Armstrong Custer got what he deserved. It is tragic that the other 79 with Fettener and those with Custer had to die following these leaders. Rest in piece Mr. Custer.
 
Huskerguy said:
Interestingly, my last name is Custer and I cant count how many times I have asked if I am related to George. Many people tell me they are desenents and related. Then I tell them that he had no children so that string of Custers died out. Further, just yesterday some friends called from Cody and were at the museum, said it was huge, several days could be spent there alone. It is on our list of places to go soon. Now where is that bucket list?
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Custer had 2 brothers, Tom and Boston, along with his nephew(?) perish at the little Big Horn. He had children with a native, Monaseetah. I think she bore him 3 daughters. He had 2 brothers pass young and one lived until 1915 but I do not think he had any military experience he was younger and sickly as a child per historians. So being his descendant might be tricky except his father had many children with 2 wives. George was known to perform his famous dash too.

The BB museum is huge with sections that are like museums unto themselves. I love guns but it was over whelming to see so many old and newer guns.

We went to a museum in Cody that had lots of western type guns that belonged to known people with pictures. I liked it too.

I've read many books on Custer. I think he thought he was very brave. Some times there is a fine line between bravery and lack of intellect. He style by generals was often called reckless and foolhardy. Grant called Custers last stand a waste of good men, uncalled for. But then Custer had testified that Grants brother was getting rich running indian stores by doubling prices. He who lives longest gets the last word.
 
model70hunter said:
He had children with a native, Monaseetah. I think she bore him 3 daughters. He had 2 brothers pass young and one lived until 1915 but I do not think he had any military experience he was younger and sickly as a child per historians. So being his descendant might be tricky except his father had many children with 2 wives.
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You lost me...can you explain ?
 
Xfuzz said:
You lost me...can you explain ?
Click to expand...

It is purported that Custer took her as his mistress. There was a book about her being the hidden wife. It is speculated that she bore a son but that it was his brother's not his because Custer himself was sterile from having contracted VD.....or so says wiki.
 
"The seventh can handle anything it meets." Gen. George A. Custer
Gen. Custer gets all the blame for the wipe out of the seventh cavalry,
but did he deserve all the blame? I have read accounts about the single
shot Springfield 45-70s used by Custer's troopers. Many of the carbines
failed to extract spent cartridges. Much evidence after the battle of
jammed cartridge cases and broken knife blades where the troopers were
trying to pry the spent cases out.
Custer was hailed as a national hero before the Little Big Horn, but lost
his "legacy" because of something beyond his control. Some who studied
the event shortly after it happened, say He could have won the battle
had it not been for the malfunctioning carbines and/or ammo.
Lets cut him some slack.
 
I'm not a student of Custer or his actions. I hope to someday visit the Little Big Horn along with Mt. Rushmore, etc. and especially the BB museum in Cody as well as Deadwood area. I think one could spend several weeks doing that and not really see it all.
Years ago, I visited the Black Kettle/Battle of the Wa****a museum in Cheyenne, Okla. IIRC, there were conflicting reports regarding that battle and Custer faced court martial at one point.
 
Being from the NE USA originally and not a big student of the Indian wars I always wondered a) what were they fighting over (land and Black Hills gold) and, b) how could anyone sneak up on someone. In the early 90's my wife and I began riding our Harley's from Washington State to Sturgis. We always took and extra week to tour the West. Been to the battlefield twice. Obviously there were lots of ways to move about unobserved (unless you were in military formation with a huge dust cloud announcing your location). Numerous tactical error from the battle and preceding events have been Monday morning quarterbacked regarding Custer's decisions - including the availability of good intelligence prior to the battle that he didn't wait for or went unheeded. The biggest error seemed to be the mindset that the indians would make a short stand then run as per there usual guerrilla tactics - tactics that were totally misunderstood by calvary doctrine of that error.
 
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