The battle popularly known as "Custer's Last Stand," and now also recognized as the last stand of the Plains Indians (who called it the Battle of the Greasy Grass), was fought in southeastern Montana on June 25-26, 1876. Here are some highlight statistics for Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument and the battle it commemorates.
320,959
Recreational visits in 2010. This tally reflects a slight increase over the previous year, but is far short of the 425,995 recorded in the peak year of 2002. Visitation is strongly seasonal, with two-thirds occurring in June-July-August.
149,000
Objects in the park's museum and archival collections, which have been temporarily relocated to the National Park Service’s Western Archeological and Conservation Center in Tucson, Arizona, for preservation and conservation.
900-2,000?
Estimated number of warriors, including the renowned war chiefs Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse, among the roughly 7,000 Lakota (Sioux), Northern Cheyenne, and Arapahos (small contingent) encamped along the Little Bighorn River in June 1876. This immense encampment, possibly the largest-ever gathering of Plains Indians, stretched for several miles along the river valley and had a pony herd of some 15,000 animals.
765
The park's acreage, all federal. Actually, the park's two widely separated units -- the Custer Battlefield and the Reno-Benteen Battlefield -- preserve only a small fraction of the sprawling area encompassing the 1876 Indian encampment and the ground on which fighting, movements of the combatants, and other battle-related activities occurred. The great majority of this land is located on the Crow Indian Reservation. The several miles-long stretch of Battlefield Road connecting the park's two units is on an Indian-granted right of way easement.
About 647
Total size of the U.S. Army Seventh Cavalry, including attached personnel, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel (brevet Major General) George Armstrong Custer as of June 22, 1876. This count included 31 officers, 566 enlisted personnel (+/- a few), a dozen or so mule packers and quartermaster employees, and 35 Indian scouts (six Crows, the rest mostly Arikaras). Custer's command was organized into twelve companies, one of which was assigned to guard the pack train.
268
Soldiers and attached personnel of the Seventh Cavalry killed in the Battle of the Little Bighorn. The Seventh Cavalry lost 16 officers, 242 troopers, and 10 scouts. Included among the dead were Custer, all of the personnel in the five-company battalion under his immediate command, and 18 men who fought in the southern part of the battlefield (valley and hilltop engagements in the Reno-Benteen Battlefield).
The body counts made on and near Last Stand Hill are unreliable and conflicting. The first was 197, the second was 214, and neither is considered indisputable.
About 100?
Indians killed in the Little Bighorn fight. Historical accounts are ambiguous and conflicting, with estimates ranging from as few as 36 to more than 130. Since Plains Indians customarily minimized their battle losses, usually scattering when hard pressed, it was unusual to have such a large number of warriors killed in a single battle.
Less than 60 minutes
Duration of the engagement at Last Stand Hill in which Custer and the remainder of his battalion were wiped out. Some Indian witnesses insisted that this final stage of the fighting in Custer's area of the battlefield lasted no more than half an hour.
55
Seventh Cavalry troops wounded at the Battle of the Little Bighorn. These were men in the battalions commanded by Major Reno and Captain Benteen. Engaged in fierce fighting about three miles to the south of Last Stand Hill, an area now lying mostly within the park's Reno-Benteen Battlefield unit, these troops were immobilized in a defensive perimeter and rendered no help to Custer's doomed detachment.
After burial details finished their grim work, wounded soldiers were transported to the Yellowstone River, placed aboard the riverboat Far West, and evacuated some 700 miles to the post hospital at Fort Abraham Lincoln on the Missouri River near Mandan, North Dakota. When the Far West arrived in Bismarck during the night of July 5, the news of Custer's defeat was quickly telegraphed to the public at large, stunning a nation engaged in its Centennial celebration.
24
Medals of Honor awarded for bravery above and beyond the call of duty during the Little Bighorn fight. Fifteen were awarded to troopers of the Reno-Benteen force who volunteered to fetch river water for the thirsty defenders of Reno Hill. Four sharpshooters who provided covering fire also received medals. (Ironically, a 16th water carrier, the only trooper wounded during the successful foray, was not awarded a medal even though his leg was amputated.)
20
Years since "Custer" was deleted from the park's official name. Much to the disgust of Plains Indians who fought to save their families and way of life, "Custer's Last Stand" became a cultural icon portraying the 7th Cavalry troopers as heroes and the Indians as bloodthirsty savages. The battlefield property, which was transferred from the War Department to the National Park Service in 1940, was redesignated Custer Battlefield National Monument in 1946. It wasn't until December 10, 1991, that the park was finally renamed Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument via legislation that also called for an Indian Memorial to be built near Last Stand Hill.
17 minutes
Duration of the orientation video show at the park's visitor center, which is located in the Custer Battlefield unit not far from Last Stand Hill.
17 stops
Organization of the Park Tour, a self-guided driving tour on the park's Battlefield Road. Understandably, Last Stand Hill is the Park Tour's star attraction.
1 hour
Duration of an Apsaalooke tour (aka native guide tour). Scheduled five times daily from June through Labor Day, these Native American-guided bus tours of the battlefield are offered with the support of Little Bighorn College and the Apsaalooke (Crow Indian) Nation.
Comments
Many years back, there was a range fire that burned over the area where the battlefield is. After the fire was out scores of historians and scientists scoured the area, using metal detectors and other equipment to learn more about the battle. National Geographic (I think) did a show about this event. Can anyone tell me WHEN this fire took place?
We were there in 2018. The area the Indians were camped ( otherside of Little Big Horn River)they did not make it a part of the National Park. They have let people build condos there. That is very sad.
I was in Custers outfit 2/7 Cav Delta company in Vietnam. I am very proud of that. I also believe the Indians were wrongly pushed and attacked. There is no winner here. If the Indians would have put up a white flag they would have just been moved to another piece of land the white people didnt want at that time!
Because of the battle the Indians were basically hunted till they finally all gave up. Save for a few in Arizonia/New Mexico the Indian way of life was over.
I would love to petition the Government to take back those condos and restore the land to the prairie it was and make that area 1st Indian National Park. If I ever win a lottery thats the first thing I would do.
Thank You,
Dale L Hamblin
It is sad that the original people of what is now known as the Americas (U.S.) suffered by the white man. In the south of the American border the Coahuilteca and Tlaxcalan people also suffered by the white man, the Spanish. My people, Grand father was Taxcalan my grand mother was Coahuilteca this is 1782,which make them 5 times remove Up until now 2022, there is still racsism the poor are still poor and the rich are still rich. If you ever pay attention to Mexican TV, all the people in power are always blue eyed fair complexion, light colered hair the maids, cooks, or farm workers are always of a dark complexion.
My Grand Fathers name was Jose Francisco Vasquez who married Maria Josefa my grand mother in 1782.
Don t forget the lesser known but major factor for the ferocity of the allied tribes at Little Big Horn..June 25 1876..they were all gathered to follow the natural 1 in 7 rule..the buffalo herds were very carefully culled to ensure healthy robust animals ..(1summer in 7 ) and also celebrate their thanks to the Great Spirit..the Indians knew the army 's whereabouts since they left the fort..Had General Custer left them alone the battle may have been limited to some minor interactions..of a lesser nature
This cull was of great religious value and significance to our indigenous peoples..and was honored with genuine gratitude to their God and the animals they took..The cavalry attacked the encampment at a time of holy meaning to these honorable peoples.
The battle took the ferocious turn it did in no small part due to this..Custer attacked a very very sacred part and event in the plains peoples customs..and daily honor of living.
Reparations to the " Blacks".???? No one ran thru any encampment, homes of living families of Black and slayed them all. Women and children.. But that's what the Calvary did to the 1st Americans. There still on " Reservations". Suicide is prevalent, mental illness, alcoholism, and we turn a blind eye.. I would think Reparation's are more legitimate ten elsewhere.
Very nice website with some interesting comments. I have been to the battlefield three times and each time I come away with a sense of awe. After reading the many comments, it appears all condemn the Army (Custer and the 7th Cavalry) and government in dealing with the Indians. The soldiers and Indian warriors that battled at the Little Bighorn 25-26 June 1876 fought for their beliefs. But most people are using 21th century morals and norms in dealing with the events leading up to the battle and the battle itself. For those that subscribe to this revisionist history, they are short sided in their approach to what happened in 1876. You cannot look at what took place in 1870s through the lens of the 21st century.
In the 1870s the country was expanding. Thousands of European immigrants were escaping poverty, war and unrest risking all to settle in America seeking a better life. There do they go? Crowed cities or out west where land and opportunity were plenty. Many died on the journey to America or on the frontier. All who respond to the comments here are direct benefactors of the immigration process and westward movement protected by the government and Army. My ancestors were European immigrants seeking a better life in America. My great-grandfather was a Union soldier that fought to end slavery in America and traveled by covered wagon from Missouri to Montana on the Boseman Trail in the late 1860s settling in the Livingston area. He was a farmer and raised a family during the Sioux war of 1876. So, I generally take his side in any discussions of the events of the time.
Did the government and Army do wrong? Maybe. But put yourself in their shoes in the 1870s. Were the Indians pure noble inhabitants of the frontier? Maybe not. Indian history is full of tribal warfare, conquest, enslavement of others, and brutality to all opponents, red and white. So, there is much blame and finger pointing to go around and no race or population is clean when dealing with American history and continental expansion.
For the "living room liberals" that condemns America's actions of the last century as vogue, we can't remake the past. That is our history, good and bad. We can only strive do better in the future. But what we must do as Americans all, is to look upon the soldiers and Indian warriors that battled at the Little Bighorn and commemorate their valor and sacrifice as they fought for their beliefs.
The White Man has cheated the Native American ever since we met them. We always did treaties before we knew what treasures the land held. Once we knew, we ignored the treaty. The idea of owning property came from Europe. The Native Americans did not own property. I'd anyone is repatriated, it should be the Native Americans.