The Little Bighorn: A Post-Post Analysis

Why did “Custer’s Last Stand,” or the Battle of the Little Bighorn, (fought in the Black Hills of modern-day Montana, 25 June 1876) mushroom into such a mammoth, enduring American tragedy? Why has it been sensationalized, analyzed and scrutinized repeatedly, even to this day?

All the to-do arose in the first place not just because of what happened, but because of when it happened: just before the nation’s centennial July 4th celebration. As all America was preparing for its glorious independence party, from the remote Dakotas spread news of one of the most stunning, unexpected defeats of an American military force in the nation’s hundred-year history. Some 265 soldiers were slain -- a mere fraction of the toll killed in numerous Revolutionary and Civil War battles. Yet, Americans were numbed. It was (relatively speaking) peacetime. The national pride was crushed. In many regards, it never would recover. Later generations still shudder at the visage of yellow-haired Custer’s gory demise on the eve of the Independence Day centennial.