By 1876, the U.S. government had ordered all Lakota and Northern Cheyenne onto reservations. Those who refused - including the bands of Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse - were declared 'hostile.' The Army launched a three-pronged campaign to force their surrender. Custer's 7th Cavalry was part of General Alfred Terry's column approaching from the east. On June 22, Terry ordered Custer to locate the Indian village and wait for reinforcements. Custer, ambitious and confident, had other plans. When his scouts found the trail leading to the Little Bighorn, he decided to attack immediately, fearing the Indians would escape. He divided his regiment into three battalions. It was the last command decision he would ever make.

Custer's scouts had found the village, but not its size. The encampment stretched three miles along the Little Bighorn, containing perhaps 7,000 people - far more than the 800 that intelligence suggested. Custer sent Captain Frederick Benteen to scout the bluffs. He ordered Major Marcus Reno to attack the southern end of the village. Then he led five companies - approximately 210 men - along the ridges to strike from the north. What happened next remains debated. Reno's attack failed; his command retreated to defensive positions on a hilltop. Custer's battalion rode toward the river, then turned to the ridges. Warriors led by Crazy Horse and Gall surrounded them. The fighting lasted perhaps an hour. There were no survivors from Custer's immediate command to tell what happened.

When General Terry's column reached the Little Bighorn on June 27, they found the dead scattered across the hillside. Custer's body had been stripped but not mutilated - unusual treatment suggesting he had not been recognized or had been shown unusual respect. Other bodies showed signs of ritual mutilation, which the soldiers interpreted as savagery but which reflected Plains warrior customs. The Indians had vanished, their victory complete. The nation was stunned. The battle occurred during the country's centennial celebration; news of the disaster arrived as Americans were celebrating their founding. The defeat galvanized the military. Within a year, the Lakota resistance was crushed, Crazy Horse was dead, and Sitting Bull had fled to Canada.

Custer's Last Stand entered American mythology immediately. For whites, it was a martyrdom - a brave soldier overwhelmed by savage hordes. Paintings, poems, and Wild West shows immortalized the yellow-haired boy general dying with pistols blazing. For Native Americans, it was a moment of triumph - proof that they could defeat the American military. The reality was more complicated. Custer was reckless, not heroic. The warriors were defending their families, not committing atrocities. The 'massacre' was a battle in a war of extinction. In 1991, the battlefield's name was changed from Custer Battlefield to Little Bighorn Battlefield, and an Indian Memorial was added to honor the warriors who had won.

Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument lies in southeastern Montana, 65 miles southeast of Billings. The visitor center tells the battle's story from multiple perspectives, including Lakota and Cheyenne oral histories. A road and walking trails connect key sites: Reno-Benteen Battlefield, where survivors held out for two days; Last Stand Hill, where Custer and 40 men made their final defense; Calhoun Hill, Deep Ravine, and other locations where companies died. White marble markers show where soldiers fell; red granite markers, added recently, honor fallen warriors. The Indian Memorial, dedicated in 2003, provides a Native American perspective. The landscape is largely unchanged - rolling grassland broken by ravines and ridges. Custer National Cemetery, adjacent to the battlefield, holds military dead from multiple wars. Billings Logan International Airport (BIL) is 65 miles northwest. Summer brings crowds; autumn offers solitude and golden light.