Little Bighorn Battlefield NM Landscape: Cultural Landscape Inventory, Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument, National Park Service
Timmons M, Linn D, Mardorf C. 2010. Little Bighorn Battlefield NM Landscape: Cultural Landscape Inventory, Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument, National Park Service. Cultural Landscapes Inventory Report. 890199. NPS Intermountain Regional Office. Intermountain Regional Office/CLI Database
Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument (NM) Landscape is located in southeast Montana, on the bank of the Little Bighorn River. The 765.34-acre cultural landscape aligns with the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument boundary. The acreage is divided into two parcels: the Custer Battlefield Historic District, and the 162-acre Reno-Benteen Battlefield to the south. The entire monument lies within the Crow Indian Reservation. The landscape period of significance is identified as 1875 to 1940, beginning when the United States government first required all non-reservation Lakota Sioux and Cheyenne Indians in the region to report to reservations. This was in response to the U.S. failure to purchase the mineral-rich Black Hills from the Lakota Sioux, who considered the area to be a sacred site. A group of non-reservation Sioux, Cheyenne, and Arapaho ignored the summons, and in late June they traveled west from their winter camp to the Little Bighorn Valley in search of game. The confrontation along the Greasy Grass (Little Bighorn) River occurred on June 25, 1876, when Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer and his five companies of the 7th Cavalry battled with a large group of Lakota Sioux, Cheyenne, and Arapaho under the guidance of Sitting Bull. During the ensuing conflict, all 210 men under Custer’s immediate command were killed, and seven companies under Reno and Benteen held out at their defense site until the main army column arrived two days later. The defeat occurred as the nation was in the midst of celebrating the 100th anniversary of American independence from Great Britain; to the native groups, it marked a great victory against the U.S. in their long struggle to maintain a traditional lifestyle. Victory was short lived, however. The death of the much-admired Custer shocked the nation and the army renewed the Campaign, ultimately ending the Lakota, Cheyenne, and Arapaho nomadic way of life forever. The monument was transferred to the National Park Service in 1940, which also marks a period when focus shifted away from the National Cemetery and toward the battlefield and its interpretation. The landscape is significant for associations in areas of military, politics/government, and as an historical interpreted/preserved site. The resources help convey a fuller understanding of the tumultuous period surrounding the battle, the events that occurred here, and the extent of its impacts. The Battle at Little Bighorn was a major conflict of the Sioux War of 1876-1877, and Little Bighorn Battlefield NM commemorates a cultural and physical opposition. The United States military was seeking to perpetuate national expansion, and the Native forces were struggling to preserve a traditional way of life. The monument landscape is also architecturally significant for its commemorative markers and monuments, contributing to the interpretive value of the site. It is associated with several figures who played important roles in American history: most notably, George Armstrong Custer, Sitting Bull, and Crazy Horse. The landscape may also have archeological significance for its potential to yield further information relevant to an understanding of the historical record. The battlefield and has been associated with continuous cultural disputes, especially by Native Americans demanding more recognition. In 2003, the Indian Memorial was dedicated. Along with the addition of granite markers for Cheyenne and Lakota casualities, these vital additions provide a fuller interpretive balance and perspective of the cultural landscape that was lacking for over 120 years. Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument now acknowledges both the U.S. Army and the Cheyenne and Lakota sacrifice and loss that occurred during the battle; a significant historic event for all peoples of the national landscape.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Timmons, Michael; Linn, Derek; Mardorf, Carrie
- Date of Issue
- 2010-11-04
- Publisher
- NPS Intermountain Regional Office
- Units
- IMR , LIBI
- Keywords
- 7th Cavalry, arapaho, Battle of the Greasy Grass, Battle Site, Big Horn County, Cheyenne, Common Chokecherry, Crazy Horse, Crow Indian Reservation, Custer Battlefield National Monument, Custer Monument, Custer National Cemetery, Ethnographic/Traditional Landscape, Ethnohistory of Indigenous American Populations, Exploration-Settlement, Expressing Cultural Values, Fort Laramie Treaty, Funerary Architecture, George A. Custer, George Armstrong Custer, historic site, Indian Memorial, Indian Wars (1860-1890), Interpretive Landscape, John Gibbon, Lakota Sioux, Lame White Man, Last Stand Hill, Little Bighorn River, Little Bighorn Valley, Mass Burial, Military, Military Commemoration, Montana, monument, Political and Military Affairs 1865-1939, prickly pear cactus, Reno-Benteen Battlefield, Sagebrush, Sioux War of 1876-1877, Sitting Bull, Stone Lodge, Tatanka Iyotaka, Two Moons, Upland Grassland, War Department, Western Snowberry, Westward Expansion of the Colonies and the United States 1763-1898, yucca