Sitting Bull was the Indian leader at this time, and his warriors were stationed between the head waters of the Rosebud and the Big Horn rivers. Into this section Custer and his gallant troops marched.
With Sitting Bull was another noted chief, Crazy Horse, and both were very hostile to the whites. Other discontented tribes drifted to their camps and swelled the force to a very large number. They occupied a position of great advantage near the head of the Yellowstone, surrounded by the “bad lands,” a tract most difficult to travel because there was but little water for the troops and horses. Besides the Indians were well located at about an equal distance from the Indian agencies, from which they were annually supplied by the government with the best of arms and ammunition according to treaty agreements.
Sitting Bull was a heavily built Indian with an extremely large and handsome head, and unlike most Indians, his hair was brown. He had a forceful mind, with a genius for war, and was extremely heroic. The order requiring him to go on the reservation was in violation of a treaty made between his tribe and the United States authorities, and the attempt to force it was a national disgrace, proving how unfairly we treated the Indian. Soon after the battles with General Crook, Sitting Bull said to General Miles, who commanded the western troops, “I want peace, but if the troops come out I will fight them. I want to hunt buffalo and to trade. I don’t want rations and money. I want to live like an Indian.”
In accordance with government orders, General Custer set out on the twenty-third of June with the Seventh Cavalry, to follow the Indian trail up the Rosebud River. After three days they found themselves in the valley of the Little Big Horn River, close to the hostile tribes. The command was divided into three detachments—one led by Custer, one by Major Reno, and a third by Captain Benteen. In attacking the Indian village it was planned that Reno was to take the upper section, Custer the lower.
Major Reno’s attack was not strongly made and he was easily driven back, as was also Captain Benteen, so that these two detachments failed to support Custer. So it happened that with only five companies this brave general was compelled to encounter the entire Indian force. “Do not let an Indian escape,” were his orders, and he threw himself upon them, believing that with the help of the other commands he could inflict a severe punishment upon the red foe.
And now comes a sad story. It seemed as though the Great Spirit was for once with his own people. Custer surprised the Indians at the river front, but they quickly rallied and drove the troops back up the hill. Hundreds of Indians poured into the river on ponies and on foot and attacked the small force in front of them. They made a circuit around the hill and slowly but surely closed in on the valiant troops. A final stand was made at the lower end of the hill in a bloody fight that lasted from two o’clock until sunset. Not one man of the five companies, not even the brave general, was left alive.
From this time on the government persistently fought the red man, finally conquering his spirit and gaining complete possession of his lands.