This Day in History: , Battle of Little Bighorn.
June 25, 1876.
The battle was between the
Sioux and Cheyenne tribes of the
Great Plains, and the U.S. Army.
It is also known as
Custer's Last Stand,
after Lieutenant Colonel
George Armstrong Custer.
Led by Chief Crazy Horse,
the Native American forces
defeated Custer's 7th Cavalry near the
Little Bighorn River in southern Montana.
The members of the
Great Plains tribes had
gathered near the river in defiance
of a U.S. War Department order.
Sent in to scout for
enemy troops, Custer
fatefully decided not to
wait for reinforcements.
Custer and 200 of his
men were killed in the attack.
The Great Plains tribes would be confined
to reservations within five years