What Really Happened at Little Big Horn Custers Last Stand ?

have you been to California same sites and people there hi I'm Michael and we're California travel videos and here we go again grace this is one of your favorites along the way where we this is somewhere I want to definitely start or otherwise known as Custer's last stand in 1876 100 years up in the nation was born there was a big battle here between that American to the Barbie so learn more about that today stay tuned should be very interesting and we look forward to getting some good information to share with you also we'll see a little bit you may wonder what's the scariest part of the whole trip they're not scary she's doing good which one's the brake pedal whichever one you wanted to be you're an immigrant if you're American you know if you're Montanan if you're native or non-native if you served in our armed forces or not doesn't matter this history's yours take it with you share it proudly because today this is our combined shared history together this is now what unifies us to be [Music] the Indian Memorial that was dedicated in 2003 to the five tribes who participated in this battle the Absaroka or crow and Arikara the Lakota Sioux the Northern Cheyenne and a handful of Arapaho as well and inside there's a little Plaza with information on each one of those tribes to our right this is Last Stand Hill the granite monument you see here was placed here five years after the battle underneath it is a mass grave holding the remains of the Calvary men who died on this side of the battlefield it has also believed there are a few or icarus Scout remains and these white stones out here they lay still bark for individual soldiers fell in battle the Indian encampment that fled to the South had left some tepee poles behind them Reno on his men on the 28th with gathered gather those poles break them into steaks and use the stakes of mark where each man fell in battle when they could identify them they wrote their names onto a piece of parchment rolled it up stuffed it into a spent shell casing and tapped it into the stake as well so 68 of these white stones do have names on them and as I mentioned they still mark where they fell in battle there's also red stones on the battlefield a mark where individual warriors fell in battle this one here his name was bear with horns 1983 a wildfire swept through this half of the battlefield consuming everything it turned out to be a mixed blessing because it burned away the overgrowth and there was literally artifacts laying out on the ground archaeologists came in they gridded out the area they started cataloging those artifacts they found over 5,000 artifacts here everything from shell casings pocket watches pocket knives even a few wedding rings they did Studies on those artifacts those findings came out in the early 1990s and they corroborated the native accounts of this battle prior to that time the native accounts were kind of brushed off to the side but we now take them very seriously as they're backed up by the forensic evidence as well that forensic evidence also contributed to the name change of the monument use Phoebe Custer National Monument now tis the Little Bighorn to be more inclusive of our tribes and their rich histories as well this area marks where the northern end of the Indian encampment was located this portion of the camp belonged to the Northern Cheyenne the Northern Cheyenne are a completely separate tribe from the Lakota Sioux different language different customs different culture real quick though I want to talk about how the camps were set up so typically they would place their fiercest warriors on each end of the camp one of the reasons why the Cheyenne were here they were known to have had very fierce warriors a warrior society or a family in the smaller camps would then be given the responsibility of policing within that camp while Scouts were out anywhere 10 to 20 miles in every direction surrounding the camp this is how the camps were set up they're always thinking of safety the size of this camp would be very uncommon though we're going to talk about the size of this camp when we get to the Reno Benteen defense point right now we're entering into medicine tell this is where Custer and his men will make their first attempt to cross the Little Bighorn this is the Little Bighorn the Little Bighorn is a muddy river that means it has steep riverbanks please take note of those riverbanks on this side where Custer would be fighting those river banks could be 1 3 5 feet high where Reno would be fighting on the other side those banks could be 8 to 12 feet high the landscape itself plays a significant part in this battle as well 1868 the 2nd Fort Laramie Treaty will be signed this treaty establishes two important locations the first of which we are currently on it was called the great Pro Indian Reservation the second location was called the Great Sioux Reservation back then they called them great because of their actual physical sizes we're talking about very large reservations The Crow Reservation was 38 million acres in total size the Sioux Reservation was the entire western half of the state of South Dakota so large large reservations in between the two great reservations was called the on ceded territory this was Indian Territory without a specific tribal designation it was meant to be shared amongst the tribes it wasn't just the crow and the Sioux in this area there could be anywhere from 15 to 30 different tribes than the unceded territory at any given time each one of those tribes had their own unique intertribal relationships they all have their own enemy tribes they all have their own ally in right so it could get pretty messy in this area the 68th treaty wasn't just the treaty between the tribes and the government it was also a treaty between those tribes as well it was also illegal at the Sun for non natives to come into Indian territory without a military escort it was a very dangerous place Louisville 1873 the stock market crashes it's called the panic of 73 it is a significant stock market crash and it will contribute to the events that will take place over the following year 1874 Custer is sent into the Black Hills right in the heart of the Sioux Reservation his job is to find a suitable place to build a military fort prior to the 68 Treaty of Red Cloud's war Red Cloud was victorious in this war one of the concessions made by the US government was to tear down the fort's to the west they were now looking for new places to build forts the Black Hills was a candidate location custard is mendel they would make another discovery in the Black Hills what is that discovery gold gold okay so when the news of gold hits the east coast coming back soon after that recent recession it becomes too enticing for people and illegal settlers will pour into the Black Hills by the tens of thousands within so we're talking about a large influx of people and it causes conflict fighting between the Sioux and the settlers escalates both settlers also force the Sioux westward into cruel territory traditionally the probe and the Lakota branch of the Sioux were enemies fighting between the crow and Lakota had already been escalating the 15 years prior to this time it would now just kind of boil over so it was a big mess out in the plains this is where the southern end of the Indian encampment was located this portion of the camp belonged to the home Papa chief amongst them would be Sitting Bull now there's a common misconception about Sitting Bull that he was a war chief he was actually a medicine man and his focus was the spiritual well-being of his people that did not mean he never fought that doesn't mean he didn't have a very successful military career because he did but they're also in the camp here was a war chief his name was Gul Gul you guys want to read about someone fascinating read about Gaul he would be active on both sides of this battlefield here when Reno's attack takes place Gaul is one of the first to realize if there's an attack here there will be an attack on the other side he gathers up some men they go to scout out that area unfortunately while doing that Gaul will lose both of his wives and all of his daughters here in Reno's attack when he finds out he said it made his heart bad he said I threw down my white man's weapon I picked up my hatchet and I went on a suicide run a suicide run is when a man vows I am going to kill my enemy or they are going to kill me these are the only two options Gaul will be victorious here on that day later in life he goes through a dramatic transformation he converts to Christianity and he becomes the judge in their tribal court system as well so like I said fascinating person worth reading about I'm gonna talk about a much more literal interpretation as well when we talk about renals attack down here after the Sun Dance it's time to celebrate that victory against crook they pack up their things they follow an antelope herd in that animal purred leads them here onto the Crow Indian Reservation the traditional enemy of both the Cheyenne and the Sioux they set up their camp down into this valley the military knows there's an encampment down here they estimate between five and six hundred people are gonna be in this camp what they're actually going to encounter is gonna be one look more like 7 to 8,000 people 1,500 to 2,000 of them fighting warriors as well you know 15 16 on up for their mid-30s why were those counts so far off there's a few reasons why we've already discussed both those reasons the first being the incident at the Powder River as far as the military was concerned that band of Cheyenne had either scattered or frozen to death on the plains they were unaware that they were here in this camp the other reason tied back to those Indian agents on the reservations now in order to receive those materials in the full amount to sell to those settlers for the maximum profit they had to mark the rolls as being full as people fled the reservations the agents kept them marked present the government heard about this camp started pulling paperwork from the reservations to the quick headcount and figured dealing with June 22nd Custer and his men are dispatched out of the present-day Miles City Montana area they march 84 miles in two days they set up their camp in present-day Busbee Montana 20 miles east of here on 212 with Custer and his men are 5 crow Scouts including my great-great-grandfather his name was goals ahead also included was Tara's great-great-grandfather his name was white man runs him pretty famous scout and he may have seen images of him with the streak or paint running down his face they also have a Busta fitting down in our visitor center as well those Scouts continue self another 15 miles into those far mountains back there those are called the wolf teeth mountains they're sacred to us as crow people and from those mountains the scouts look down into this valley now in the movies they have superhuman vision they look down here they start taking names that's not how it happened they look down here they didn't see the camp but Scouts were trained to look for signs of camps one of those signs is horses if you look at those hills behind the interstate they looked over there they saw a horse herd of 20,000 that told them the camps here that told them this camp is large they report this back to Custer he packs up his men they make the same 15 mile march throughout the night they arrive in those mountains at dawn and realize they've lost supplies along the way they send men back to find those supplies when they find them they also find a group of natives rummaging through them and they open fire on them most people will get away unharmed these soldiers report this back to Custer they could not identify which tribe those people belong to they didn't know if they were crows a Shawnee Cheyenne Sioux so Custer will assume they belong to the camp here and that's going to change his plans because that means if they belong to this camp they've been spotted the original plan was to wait until Terry and given arrived from the West as far as both columns noob crook was still coming from the south now believing they've been spotted he'll pack up his stuff they start marching this way now if you look to the south you'll see a bluff down there with some trees on it and right below it a tree line like this Custer will send Benteen south past that tree line he tells Reno to pitch into the loop up camp here his plan is to ride to the north force the encampment south where Reno and Ben team will be waiting to gather them up we know this is the case because he had promised real I will support you from the north in order for that plan to work two things had to happen Custer had to attack at the top of the camp he's going to hit it dead center he also has to make his attack first so the people will flee south Reno's attack will come first and the people will then flee north so let's talk a little bit about Reno's attack this will take place just above those trees over there by that red building and I cannot emphasize you how hard they hit this camp they hit it so hard when Reno yells halt the sheer volume of all those horses charging not all the men are gonna hear him a few of them plow into the camp they knock over women children and cooking ware and a few of them also fall off their horses upside down fulfilling Sitting Bull's prophecy and as I mentioned much more literally they couldn't hear Reno's commands down there that would become an issue during his retreat as well make another advance towards the camp this time they halt they dismount their horses and form what's called skirmish lines they line up five yards apart from each other weapon strong facing the encampment every fourth man is called a horse holder he takes his horse and the three next to him and tries to get off to a safe distance not the best tactic this will automatically cut down their fighting force by a quarter and they are already severely outnumbered down there Reno's attack begins as I said weapon strong facing the encampment there's no real discernment there and unfortunately the first casualties here are going to be elderly women and children as well warriors ride out they surround that skirmish line younger warriors hungry for war honors we're gonna talk about war honors on the way back they right in front of it back and forth taunting Reno and his men they are also creating a diversion while that takes place Sitting Bull gathers the remaining women and children and they start to flee north out of the trees here keep in mind he is still recovering from that recent Sundance as well once they're out of the trees the Warriors who have surrounded the skirmish line they'll close in forcing them into the trees where other warriors have already begun to set those trees on fire not what Reno was expecting Reno has never before fought with any of the Plains tribes but with Reno was Custer Scout his name was bloody knife bloody knife was half Arikara but he was down on this side with Reno because he was also half home papa and he's spent his childhood with the people that were in this camp he spoke their language he knew how they fought his job was to tell RINO how to fight the room papa unfortunately bloody knife will then be shot in the head in front of RINO covering RINO and viscera and this causes RINO to become very distraught he starts issuing contradicting orders to his men he tells a mount up dismount mount up dismount now some of the soldier accounts say we mounted our horses the men next to us were dismounting that's how fast Reno's commands were coming finally he tells them if you want to survive follow me and they make their retreat up to this area here now on that stone you'll see a red cross painted on it that indicates there was a field hospital set up here in order to have a field hospital you had to have a perimeter defending it the tactic employed in those days was to dig trenches Custer liked to travel light there were three shovels in the entire expedition he had all three of them heading north so these men started digging trenches with pocket knives tin cups and there and these sidewalks here are actually built over where those trenches were dug on top of it all they had to deal with a sharpshooter on that hill directly behind us that is six hundred yards away that sharpshooter was accurate an officer named Ryan said the companion on my right fell the one on my left fell and I knew I was next so I hit the ground I started looking around and on the hill I happen to see a puff of smoke so just by looking over there at the right time he identified where that sharpshooter was the men here would return fire they eventually stopped him but I had a great cost of their own ammunition with that recent recession they were given three rounds a month for target practice in the north that medicine tell Cooley Custer will start fighting the Cheyenne and he sends a messenger to the south to Benteen bring the ammunition that messengers name was giovanna martini they called him John Martin for short and he didn't want to ride through all this mess here I don't blame him one bit at all he takes the long way around it takes Benteen and his man 30 minutes to arrive here some people will accuse Benteen of dragging his feet but if you look at these distances you know that's pretty timely Benteen asked reno where's custer his response I don't know but for God's sake stay and help me I've lost half of my men and he has lost half of them at that point some of the warriors down in the encampment they described Reno's retreat as a buffalo hunt Benteen will comply with Reno Reno was his superior he will stay in help and he helps bring some order back into this area as I mentioned renal being distraught 350 men are going to survive this battle here on the side of the battlefield unfortunately for them that fighting won't end for another few days down in the Indian encampment few days after Reno's attack they look to the west they see a large dust cloud this is Terry and Gibbons men the week before they just fought with crook last few days they just fought with Custer Reno and Benton they didn't have another fight in them so they packed up their things they went south they burned everything behind them some of the men up here on this hill were so traumatized they thought that was a trick they refused to leave this hill they actually hear the news of Custer's death from Terry and give when they arrived here although they were just miles away from when Terry and Gibbon arrived here many of the men down in this camp their first concern is where's Custer what happened with Custer but officer Ryan's and a few other men they want to know who that sharpshooter was as I mentioned he was accurate so they go up onto the hill but all they're gonna find is a buffalo robe some shell casings and a blood trail heading away from the hill they never discovered the identity of that sharpshooter the way tribes in the plain spot with each other it will add to a theory about that sharpener the Sharpshooter most likely was not a warrior there were no honors for sharpshooters so they believed the Sharpshooter most likely was a fur trapper or fur trader married into the encampment down below pretty common at that time um trappers and traders would often be on the same hunting trails as the Warriors they tried to maintain good relations with them and this was pretty much half of their clientele so to speak so it wasn't uncommon for them just to marry into the tribes also the bottle of weapon used by that sharpshooter tends to corroborate that theory that sharpshooter used a sharps 50 Cal very expensive very accurate powerful weapon not commonly used by the warrior symbol pinned down with Reno and Benteen was a man named Thomas weird he was personal friends with George Armstrong Custer when fighting started at Medicine tail Coulee some of the men on this side could hear that gunfire Thomas Weir was one of those men and he would make three requests to head north to check on Custer and his progress each one of those requests looking now as I mentioned renal lost half his men they needed all the manpower they could muster up there but we're would break his orders head north and fifty men decided they're gonna follow him Benteen eventually sees them heading north Karaca know what they're doing he follows as well and they head right up to the big hill over here where the road has been cut through that is called Weir point the highest point in the entire 12 square mile battlefield from where point you can see the Visitor Center you can see the cemetery most importantly you can see last Sam Hill when they arrived there they pull off their binoculars looking glasses they look at Last Stand Hill because they see a dust cloud they also see what some of those soldiers described as a peculiar sight they saw Indians on horses shooting at the ground with their guns what was where Benteen and the rest of those men actually watching this was the aftermath of the last stand but they didn't realize that they're watching at the time now they also saw men in blue coats riding towards them they took this as a sign of victory they took off their hats they started waving them around whooping and hollering the men in blue quotes see them and opened fire on them these are not 7th Calvary these were Lakota and Northern Cheyenne warriors wearing the blue coats of the Mende had just killed at last sandhill Plains tribes their societies function on a coup system if you wanted a position of prominence later in life you have to perform certain deeds earlier in life amongst those deeds are war deeds one of the more respected war deeds is to take a weapon or a trophy from your enemy hence the men wearing the blue coats in the United States especially here in Montana stealing a horse was a despicable crime did you strung up and hung by the neck until you're dead but on the plains that was an honorable war deed they called it cutting a horse because oftentimes a warrior would sleep with his best horse tied to his leg or to a stake outside of his teepee if you could get into that camp cook that rope and get out that horse that was an honorable war d no man's career could progress without performing that deed at least once in battle it seems illogical to give your enemy your location but all the men on the plains were practicing what's called counting who you approach your enemy and he tapped them you topped them with your hand or with what was called as boots take that coup stick wasn't meant to be a weapon you approach your enemy we taught them getting their attention this tells your enemy I'm not afraid of you learn faster I'm quieter and I didn't stab you in the back when you weren't looking I've gotten your attention giving an opportunity to fight back it also proves to your peers you've got close up that is one no man's career could progress without performing that deed 52 percent of the 7th Calvary here in this fight 47% overall we're immigrants who came from Italy Germany France England and primarily Ireland I am NOT trying to make any political statements here today but some would argue this even today we didn't treat those immigrants very well imagine coming here from another country you arrived here for opportunity both to apply for a job and there's a storefront window you see signs that say no Irish allowed Irish need not apply where did those men go for wages and meals they enlist in the military all the tall strapping handsome men are sent into the infantry all the short thin men are sent to the Calvary because every pound on a horse matters they were riding exhausted thoroughbred horses they were firing the Springfield carbine powerful that slow weapon the Warriors they would be fighting had 20,000 fresh Mustangs ready to go many of them firing G newer Henry repeating rifle they outnumbered the Calvary men they knew the land better and they were standing six foot to six foot five now you're gonna hear two different accounts of what happened the older information places Custer coming through the Coulee here what they're starting to talk about now that he was actually up on the hill of the Girl Scouts if he was up there he knew the size of the camp he was down here he didn't but assuming he was down here coming into this Coulee you can't see the Lakota camp because of that little bluff there and you can't see the Northern Cheyenne camp because of these hills here you can only see what's on the other side of the river that would have been Sitting Bull leading those women and children north the scholars all pretty much agree now he was after those women and children prior to this at the Battle of the Washita Custer capture 52 southern Cheyenne women and children held them as hostage when the Warriors want to make their approach they come out in front of them as the body shield the Warriors then brought their weapons they stopped fighting all together if he can capture the women and children here it won't matter if he's outgunned and outnumbered outside the fighting stocks like I said you cannot see the Northern Cheyenne County there were still Northern Cheyenne warriors here heading south to bull fight with Reno and his men they would meet up with Custer at the river as well fighting starts their men are killed and are wounded Custer and his men then head north through the lower lying grounds here their goal now is speed whoever gets to the next river crossing first most likely will win this fight those warriors aware of what he's doing are all turning around over there at the river Custer has wounded men with him this is gonna slow him down so they make a stop at a place called Calhoun Hill the purpose for that stop set up to skirmish lines one fight back the cheyenne threat in this direction i want to fight back for the lakota threat coming from the sell these skirmish lines will also provide a safe place for those wounded men they will also make Custer's floor slider so he can get to that River crossing first down in the encampment here are some young men a little too young to be warriors 13 14 and 15 years old they see those skirmish lines being set up all their heroes we got to remember this our warriors who perform war deeds regularly they mount their horses and they charge the group of those men company C will break off in charge right back they'll Cheyenne boys whose heart they head back for the camp but down in the camp is the war chief I mentioned earlier named lame white man he's in a sweat lodge he hears a commotion he comes out and he sees what's happening he doesn't have time to get dressed so he throws a buffalo robe around his waist he doesn't have time to braid his hair he grabs his rifle mounts his horse intercepts those young men and tells them be brave there's not that many we can kill them all those young men will then surround companies see right here killing company some of those young men now feel empowered they now know what it feels like to be warriors they're gonna sneak up to those horse holders of those skirmish lines on Calhoun Hill and snap buffalo blankets at those horses removing the ammunition from this side of the battlefield their efforts will pay off here on that day this is Calhoun Hill this is where those skirmish lines were set up the battle here also served as an unintentional diversion while it was taking place Crazy Horse and his men have had time to ride north from the Lakota camp they hit the Cheyenne camp here switch out their horses and they start charging up this hill towards the next group of men who were led by captain miles keel another fascinating person worth reading about captain keel was an Irish immigrant brought to the United States at the request of the US military he had earned a reputation for bravery in the old world as a member of the Vatican Guard these were the men guarded the Pope he owned his men's are gonna earn that reputation again here in their deaths well you'll see both stones right up here as we head north they dwindle down until finally you see them in pairs so please keep that in mind Crazy Horse and his men charged up the hill they stopped then Crazy Horse makes his now-famous bravery run not one bullet hits him there was a prophecy about Crazy Horse stating he will never be killed by an enemy bullet whether or not we believe that today doesn't matter Crazy Horse's man six hundreds of them just sat there and watched 40 bullets miss him they're fired up most intense fighting takes place between Calhoun Hill and last and he'll to moon and Cheyenne warriors said they followed their big guns they fought with their little guns and where you see the stones and pears these men stood back-to-back and fought with their bare hands for their lives here remember that ammunition has been scattered at that point shields body will be the only body on the entire battlefield not mutilated by those warriors after this one years later they would often mention him and his men and he'll bravely they fought Custer's force now light would have raced up here north with the Round Last Stand Hill heading for the trees down there by the river where he was met by the Cheyenne and the Lakota and they make their retreat through the present-day cemetery up here to Last Stand Hill and just the momentum timing and circumstance they're almost immediately surrounded once again quoting to moon he said we swirled around them like water around the stone there's thus there's bullets and arrows one of the companies will make an attempt to escape from up there Sandhill it looks like a straight shot down to that River but there's that deep ravine down there it serves as a trap for them 28 men will be killed in that ravine back on the hill Custer orders his men shoot your horses this would have been the most devastating thing to hear because it meant you most likely weren't going to survive this battle they use those horses as barricades the sounds of gunfire start to dwindle down and finally the younger warriors hungry for those war honors charge up that hill and start finishing off both survivors keep in mind we're venting and the rest of those men who witnessed this from the other side but don't realize what they're watching Reno's attack on the hump up a village will take place at 3:00 p.m. all the fighting on the side of the battlefield will be completely over by 5:00 p.m. wooden leg a 17 year old Cheyenne warrior said it took as long as it takes a hungry man to eat his meal and I don't like to end my tour on that note I'm gonna tell you guys why I shared this history I share it with you because it belongs to you you're an immigrant if you're American you know if you're Montanan if you're native or non-native if you've served in our armed forces or not doesn't matter this history is yours take it with you share it proudly because today this is our combined shared history together this is now what unifies us to be thank you guys for taking my [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] you [Music] [Music] have you been to California same sites and people they walked the streets of Sleepy Satan's tasted salty ocean [Music]

Channel: California Travel Videos

Views: 77,911

Rating: 4.8121047 out of 5

Keywords: Little Big Horn, Custers Last Stand, Indian Treaty, Native American, Black Hills Gold, Crazy Horse, Sitting Bull, Panic of 1873, American Indian War, cTv, cTvFun, California Travel Videos, American History, the real story, Indigenous truth, battle of the little bighorn, general custer, native americans, sioux wars

Id: jJeVtFHLNRw

Length: 36min 33sec (2193 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 01 2019