Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Custer's Last Stand

The Little Bighorn Battlefield Monument lies approximately 70 miles north of Sheridan, Wyoming on the Crow Indian Reservation (south of Hardin, Montana). On June 25, 1876, Custer and 220 men under his direct command were defeated and killed by a combined force of Plains Indians: Lakota, Cheyenne, and Blackfoot. The battle lasted approximately 45 minutes. The park is a place for somber reflection on the realities of United States' history and the Westward Movement ... the final defeat of the indigenous peoples and the "victory" of European-American values and customs. The park contains monuments to Natives and the 7th Calvary; assorted grave markers (see below); an interpretive center; and a National Military Cemetery. Directly to the north of the park are a gas station, a Cheyenne Indian Health Service healthcare center, and a casino...how ironic.

Photo: Canon EOS Rebel T2i; 1/250s; F10; ISO:100; f=53.00mm; no flash.
Edited with GIMP 2.8.
Compiled and further edited with Zoner Photo Studio 15. 

 
Scattered across the Little Bighorn Battlefield are hundreds of white marble grave markers showing the approximate locations of fallen 7th Calvary troopers. The bodies were buried in situ immediately after the battle, then reburied under a monument that sits on "last stand" hill. Only the enlisted men, scouts, and civilians are buried in Montana. Officers were buried across the United States and Custer's body was buried at West Point.  Red marble markers (not shown) also mark the approximate location of Indian bodies. The exact count of Native dead is unknown; it is estimated to be 60 to 200 in number. There also is an Indian monument located directly north of the monument to the 7th Calvary.
 
Photo: Canon EOS Rebel T2i; 1/160s; F8.0; ISO:100; f=49.00mm; no flash.
Edited with GIMP 2.8.
Compiled and further edited with Zoner Photo Studio 15.

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