the battle of little bighorn
the battle of little bighorn is tThe Battle of the Little Big Horn ensured for General George Custer the fame he had always wanted. His death and the destruction of those men in the US Army's Seventh Cavalry who fought with him by the largest gathering of Native American warriors that the country had seen, immortalised Custer in films, books and in the psyche of Americans. Paintings by the likes of Edgar Paxson and Kurz and Allison portrayed Custer as the all-American hero fighting with his men to the death at the Big Horn Valley against vastly superior odds.
But was the real villain of the Battle of the Little Big Horn Custer himself? Did his arrogance and desire for fame lead to the unnecessary death of hundreds of men in the Seventh Cavalry?
George Custer
Why did a battle between the US Army and tribes of the Western Sioux Nation take place at all?
The battle took place in 1876. For many years before this date, the Sioux and the American government had been in conflict. The Sioux nation was a powerful collection of tribes. Throughout the Nineteenth Century, they had been pushed further and further west as the white settlers expanded into the American heartland from the Thirteen Colonies on the eastern seaboard. By 1850, the Sioux nation had been cut in two by the expansion west of the white settlers. The eastern Sioux had remained in the area near the Great Lakes of America. The western Sioux had been in conflict with the government over land ownership and it was arguments with this group that lead to the Battle of the Little Big Horn.
By the 1840's the western Sioux had found good hunting grounds in the high plains of Dakota and in Montana and Wyoming. Here for a while, the Sioux were free from trouble with the white settlers. The worst problems occurred along the North Platte river when the Sioux were disturbed by wagon trains using the Oregon Trail. Then in 1862, gold was discovered in the Rocky Mountains in Montana. As with all
But was the real villain of the Battle of the Little Big Horn Custer himself? Did his arrogance and desire for fame lead to the unnecessary death of hundreds of men in the Seventh Cavalry?
George Custer
Why did a battle between the US Army and tribes of the Western Sioux Nation take place at all?
The battle took place in 1876. For many years before this date, the Sioux and the American government had been in conflict. The Sioux nation was a powerful collection of tribes. Throughout the Nineteenth Century, they had been pushed further and further west as the white settlers expanded into the American heartland from the Thirteen Colonies on the eastern seaboard. By 1850, the Sioux nation had been cut in two by the expansion west of the white settlers. The eastern Sioux had remained in the area near the Great Lakes of America. The western Sioux had been in conflict with the government over land ownership and it was arguments with this group that lead to the Battle of the Little Big Horn.
By the 1840's the western Sioux had found good hunting grounds in the high plains of Dakota and in Montana and Wyoming. Here for a while, the Sioux were free from trouble with the white settlers. The worst problems occurred along the North Platte river when the Sioux were disturbed by wagon trains using the Oregon Trail. Then in 1862, gold was discovered in the Rocky Mountains in Montana. As with all