Little Bighorn Battlefield

Little Bighorn Battlefield, the site of Custer's last stand, was our next stop.   They have several memorials on the site.   General George Armstrong Custer and about 200 of his cavalrymen, severely underestimated the fighting ability of several thousand Native Americans they were trying to exterminate, and they were all slaughtered here at Little Bighorn back in 1876.  They have several stone markers on the hill, showing where each soldier fell and was buried.  Several years later, the bodies were dug up and reinterred at the top of the hill in a mass grave.  A large marker now notes the spot.  There have been new memorials added since my last visit, A large memorial to the Native Americans who perished here, and even a memorial to the horses the were killed in battle.

  In desperation, the cavalrymen had shot their own horses to create a wall to shoot from behind, but the effort was in vain.  When the soldiers were reburied, they rounded up all the horse bones and put them in a mass grave as well.   General Custer's remains were brought to West Point in New York, along with some of the other officers.  

 There is a Battlefield museum and visitor center near the hill, with artifacts that were found and recovered several years ago after a prairie brush fire cleared away the undergrowth and grasses.  Guns, belt buckles, knives, bullets, buttons and arrowheads were all found.  The rangers also give interpretive talks about the battle.  An interesting place to visit if you are into history. It's right off the highway on the way to Yellowstone National Park, which we spent the rest of the day driving to!