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Top 10 Remarquable Facts about the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument

Battle of the Little Bighorn National Monument, honors all who participated in the 1876 battle at which Lakota and Cheyenne warriors defeated the 7th U.S. Cavalry in one of the most famous and decisive encounters in American history.

The monument is located within the Crow Indian Reservation near the intersection of Highway 212 and Interstate 90, about 60 miles east of Billings, Montana.

This battlefield’s cultural legacy far transcends its military significance by symbolizing the clash of two vastly dissimilar cultures: the buffalo/horse culture of the northern plains’ tribes, and the highly industrial/agricultural based culture of the United States.

Below are the top 10 remarquable facts about the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument;

1. Little Bighorn National Monument is the only national monument located in the state of Montana

Little Bighorn memorial obelisk – Wikipedia

In the United States, a national monument is a protected area that can be created from any land owned or controlled by the federal government by proclamation of the President of the United States or an act of Congress.

The United States has 129 national monuments. On July 1, 1940, Little Bighorn Battlefield was declared a national monument.

2. George H.W. Bush renamed the monument

George H.W. Bush – Wikipedia

The Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument was originally named Custer Battlefield National Monument.

It featured a memorial to Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer and the more than 250 soldiers from his 7th Cavalry who died fighting 2,000 members of the Sioux and Cheyenne tribes on June 25, 1876. There were no tributes to the Indians.

On February 1991 the legislation was introduced to two separate bills; one to change the name Custer Battlefield National Monument and add an Indian memorial to the site. The bills were merged to one and were successful. President George H.W. Bush renamed the site on December 10, 1991.

With the name change it now represented all those who were in the battle, Native Americans and the 7th Cavalry. 

3. Custer National Cemetery, on the battlefield, is part of the national monument

Custer National Cemetery – Wikimedia Commons

Adjoining the visitor center at Little Bighorn Battlefield is an open field with uniform white headstones. This is the Custer National Cemetery, which has approximately 5,000 graves. It was established after the battle and was later expanded.

The Custer National Cemetery opposes the rigid caste system that defined day-to-day military operations, conferring each soldier an equal honor in death regardless of their military rank or financial success before their death.

In army rules, officers and enlisted men are segregated, even after death. As a result, a given section of a cemetery is filled with enlisted servicemen, while another is reserved for officers.

4. There is a museum that features exhibits of the history of the battle

The Custer Battlefield Museum dedication – Flickr

The Custer Battlefield Museum is located on the former site of Sitting Bull’s camp, on the famous Garryowen bend of the Little Bighorn River.

Custer Battlefield Museum is dedicated to collecting and preserving the history of Western Expansion on the American high plains, including artifacts, manuscripts and memorabilia related to the Seventh Cavalry, frontier military life and Plains Indian tribes.

The museum is open year-round, admittance fees are $7.50 for adults and those under 12 admitted free.

5. An Indian Memorial was added

Indian Monument at Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument – Wikipedia

The Indian Memorial honors and recognizes the American Indians who died to preserve their traditional way of life at the 1876 battle, as well as to provide a better understanding of the causes and consequences of the battle.

The groundbreaking dedication of the Indian Memorial began in 2003 with the final dedication ceremony marking the completion of the memorial in 2019.

Located on the battlefield near Last Stand Hill, the Memorial is in the shape of a perfect circle. In the center is a circle of red dirt. Around it is a circled stone walkway. On the inner walls sit panels for each tribe that fought in the battle (Sioux, Cheyenne, Arapaho, Crow, Arikara).

6. There’s even a cemetery for the horses

Horse Cemetry at Bighorn – Flickr

During the battle, many horses also died, and it is even sadder to learn that the 7^th Cavalry shot some of their horses to make a last-ditch defensive wall.

There is a marble marker including a 7^th Cavalry Horse drawn by Park Historian, John Doerner, marking the 1881 7th Cavalry Horse Cemetery on Last Stand Hill.

The cemetery was originally discovered on April 9, 1941, when NPS maintenance staff were digging an excavation for an overflow water drainage pipeline which ran from the old water reservoir tank on Custer Hill.

7. The Superintendent’s lodge is believed to be haunted

Little Bighorn Superintendent Lodge – Wikimedia Commons

The Superintendent’s Lodge is a two-story stone building built in 1894 as a residence for the first superintendent of Custer National Cemetery. It is one of the first permanent dwellings in eastern Montana.

Some believe that it is haunted, so be very keen as you explore this beautiful lodge.

8. You’ll see both white marble and red granite markers

Red granite markers – Wikiwand

In 1890, Company D of the 25th Infantry placed 249 white marble headstones on the hillside to indicate where individual soldiers had died.

Fifty-two of these marble gravestones lie in a dense cluster directly downhill of the monument, enclosed by a low iron fence. The remaining 197 gravestones are strewn throughout the battlefield, many weaving through the Deep Ravine, where soldiers were trapped and taken down by the Sioux, Cheyenne, and Arapaho warriors.

After the battle, the bodies of the fallen Lakota and Cheyenne warriors were removed by tribal members and set to rest in teepees and tree scaffolds across the Little Bighorn Valley.

Starting in 1999, red granite markers were placed on the battlefield to show the places where the Native American warriors fell.

9. Custer’s remains were transferred from the site of the 7th U.S. Cavalry Memorial

Base of Custer Monument, West Point, NY – Wikipedia

The 7th U.S. Cavalry Memorial is located at the top of Last Stand Hill, and below it is a mass grave that holds the remains of the 7th Cavalry Regiment members.

On June 28, 1876, three days after the Battle of the Little Bighorn, survivors of the 7th U.S. Cavalry under the command of Major Marcus A. Reno began burying Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer’s command. The men were buried where they fell, in shallow graves, marked with wooden tipi poles.

In 1877, the partial remains of Lt. Col. Custer and many of the officers were re-interred at various location in the eastern U.S. Custer’s remains were re-interred at West Point, New York.

10. There is a visual cue on how the battle went down

White marble markers – Flickr

If you visit the battlefield at Little Bighorn, there is a visual cue for gaining perspective on how the battle went down.

The places where the soldiers fell are marked with white marble headstones, so from afar you can get a picture of what the aftermath looked like.