When they get around to deciding what's important about today's date in history, I doubt that Michael Jackson's death will warrant more than a word or two. The start of the Korean War will get even less ink, and Virginia ratifying the Constitution won't even be mentioned.
I suspect the story of Custer's Last Stand at Little Bighorn in Montana will live on as one of those uniquely American tales no one ever forgets, and for all the wrong reasons. Custer's Seventh Cavalry was wiped out by thousands of Sioux and Cheyenne when they tried to remove those tribes from land granted to them by the U.S. Government after gold was discovered in the territory. According to legend, the only survivor of the Battle of Little Bighorn was a horse named "Comanche" belonging to a Captain Keogh.
Of course, that summary isn't exactly true. The horse "Comanche" wasn't the only survivor... thousands of Sioux and Cheyenne rode away just fine when the dust settled.
3 comments:
Don't forget Jack Crabb!
"My heart soars like a hawk."
135 years later, the battlefield still captivates the unsuspecting visitor. Each summer day, some lone figure stands apart, staring off into the distant, tree lined, Little Bighorn River or down at the markers of Custer and his E & F troops, scattered on the face of that small knoll, deep in thought. Solitary white & red stones, strewn over uneven terrain, indicate, as close as possible, the place where a battle participants' life ended. It is a much more personal experience to stand where a man fell and look at the same surroundings, his last to be seen on this earth. Feel the breeze on your face and wonder what it would have been like to be part of the 7th Cavalry or a Lakota Warrior that day.
Consider this a personal invitation to come visit Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument and walk amidst the Greasy Grass and history.
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