The battle of the Little Bighorn

In 1875, the Sioux and Cheyenne Indians left their lands to fix a conflict. They were mad about the whites intruding into there land in the Black Hills. Both indian tribes gathered in Montana with the awesome warrior, Sitting Bull.

In order to force the large Indian army back to their land, the Army made three smaller armies to attack in an orderly fasion, one of which was lead by Lt. Colonel George Custer and the Seventh Cavalry. Spotting the Sioux village about fifteen miles away along the Rosebud River on June 25, 1876,  Custer also found a nearby group of about forty warriors. He ignored orders to wait, and he decided to attack before they could alert anyone. He did not see that there were more warriors than his army. He then divided his forces in three, Custer sent troops under Captain Frederick Benteen to prevent their escape through the upper valley of the Little Bighorn River. Major Marcus Reno was to go with the group, cross the river, and charge the Indian village in an organized fashion having the troop still under his command. He hoped to strike the Indian village at the northern and southern ends together, but he did not know what kind of terrain he would have to cross before making his assault. He then discovered that he would have to go through a maze of bluffs and valleys to attack.

Major Reno's army attacked the southern end. With bad luck, they had little hope in winning. In ten minutes, they withdrew from the fighting. They then retreated back to the bluffs.

As the Indians drove Major Reno's army out, they began seeing Custer's men coming towards them. The Cheyenne and Sioux crossed the river and fought against the army. They forced them back to the ridge in the north. Meanwhile, another Sioux army went downstream and attacked Custer and his men. They began to fire and shoot arrows.

At that point, Custer told his men to shoot their horses so it could be a wall protecting them from bullets. In less than an hour, Custer and his army were defeated and killed.

The Battle of the Little Bighorn was a great acheivement achieved by the indians. The government was unhappy about the death of a great war hero, so they changed the Black Hills boundary to where white settlement was allowed. In a year, the Sioux nation was defeated and died.