Great Plains Studies, Center for
Date of this Version
2005
Abstract
The Battle of the Little Big Horn, popularly known as Custer's Last Stand, retains its fascination for Custer buffs, historians, and scholars who continue to seek a satisfactory explanation of why Sioux and Cheyenne warriors were able to overwhelm the Seventh Cavalry on that fateful June day in 1876. Although the story has been told and retold with inexhaustible fascination focused on Custer and his doomed command, the Indian side of that story has been largely neglected. As Hardorff points out, scholars frequently discounted Indian testimony because of its apparent conflict with known facts and accepted theories about the battle. Admittedly, there is some distortion in Indian accounts. There was no overall Indian battle plan. Each warrior came away with his own impression of what happened. Because of fear of punishment, many veterans of the fight waited years before telling their story, and memories had faded. Nonetheless, the twenty-nine Sioux and nine Cheyenne accounts published here help present the much-neglected Indian point of view. Also included are three brief accounts from Seventh Cavalry soldiers.
Comments
Published in GREAT PLAINS QUARTERLY 25:3 (Summer 2005). Copyright © 2005 Center for Great Plains Studies, University of Nebraska–Lincoln.