The Battle of Little Bighorn was the site of the first intensive battlefield archaeology studies, conducted between 1985 and 1989, by Douglas Scott and Melissa Connor who investigated the dry hills of southeastern Montana for cartridge cases, bullets, army equipment, clothing fragments and skeletal remains: all that was left of George Armstrong Custer and his doomed 7th cavalry.
Basic Facts
The Battle of the Little Bighorn was one of the turning points in the long, drawn-out war between the Euro-american settlers and the Native Americans who lived there first; it was a crucial moment, in that although the Sioux and Cheyenne far and away out-fought Custer's forces, they ultimately lost the war.
On PBS's Archives of the West website is included the eyewitness account of the battle by the Lakota Chief Red Horse.
Battle Statistics
The battle took place on June 25 and 26, 1876, between the U.S. Army's seventh cavalry, guided by Crow and Arikara scouts and led by George Armstrong Custer, and several bands of Lakota Sioux, Cheyenne, and Arapaho, led by Sitting Bull (Hunkpapa Sioux) and Crazy Horse (Oglala Sioux), who were camped on the Little Bighorn River with their families. About 210 of the 7th cavalry and 32 Native American warriors were killed.
Recent Research and Findings
The Little Bighorn Battle site has been the focus of archaeological studies beginning in 1983. Excavations at the site were led by Richard Allan Fox and his colleagues, and they represent the first full-scale archaeological investigations of a battle site anywhere.
Photographs
A self-guided tour of the battlefield winds the way around the dry hills above the Little Bighorn River. A page from the Mohican Press has larger pictures, with a soundtrack of Custer's personal favorite, Garryowen.
Conservation
Parts of the battlefield belong to the US Federal Government, under the National Park Service, which like all federal government bodies is under budget restraints; the rest of the battle site lies on the Crow Reservation. The Friends of Little Bighorn is a nonprofit organization built to raise funds and directly promote management programs and objectives of the site.
Learning More
The Hanksville site has a list of many of the books written about George Custer and the Little Bighorn Battle, including archaeological studies.
