The Custer Contradiction Part II
By 1876 the gold rush on sacred Indian land provided hawks in the War Department all the ‘provocation’ they needed to mount an offensive against the Sioux and their allied tribes. The tribes were known to gather each year in the area of the Big Horn Mountains to celebrate their summer dances. General Sheridan, Commander of the Department of the Missouri, ordered a three pronged campaign against the Sioux under the command of General Alfred H. Terry. Terry would lead one column, which included Custer’s Seventh, west out of Fort Abraham Lincoln. A second column under Colonel John Gibbon would march east out of Fort Ellis. Terry and Gibbon were to rendezvous in the vicinity of the Yellowstone River; and march south to link up with a third column under General George R. Crook, marching north out of Fort Fetterman.
Sitting Bull called the tribes to meet “In the moon of making fat” (June) on the banks of the Little Big Horn River at a place known to the tribes as Greasy Grass. There they would celebrate their summer dances. In preparation for the dances, Sitting Bull prayed the Sun Dance that spring in search of a vision to guide the people in confronting the white incursion into the sacred Paha Sapa (Black Hills). His quest was rewarded with a vision of blue coat soldiers falling from the sky. The vision foretold a great victory. Encouraged by Sitting Bull’s vision, Crazy Horse led a band of Oglala and Cheyenne warriors to meet the blue coats. They engaged Crook’s column on Rosebud Creek and fought to a stand-off. Crazy Horse took it for victory when Crook withdrew his column to resupply.
The Lakota tribes answered Sitting Bull’s call that summer, assembling in the greatest numbers ever seen. The numbers vary depending on whose account you read. Some accounts have as many as ten thousand attending the dances that year. By most accounts the warriors numbered somewhere between twenty-five hundred and perhaps as many as four thousand.
Terry’s offensive seemed star-crossed from the beginning. Delayed by a freak late spring snow-storm he reached the Yellowstone River and met Colonel Gibbon around June 21st. With the fate of Crook’s column unbeknownst to Terry, he dispatched Custer and the Seventh south to link-up with Crook and coordinate their advance. The combined forces would march on the Little Big Horn from the north and south, seeking to discover the Indian camp.
Next week: Vain Glory Part III
https://www.amazon.com/author/paulcolt
Ride easy,
Paul
Sitting Bull called the tribes to meet “In the moon of making fat” (June) on the banks of the Little Big Horn River at a place known to the tribes as Greasy Grass. There they would celebrate their summer dances. In preparation for the dances, Sitting Bull prayed the Sun Dance that spring in search of a vision to guide the people in confronting the white incursion into the sacred Paha Sapa (Black Hills). His quest was rewarded with a vision of blue coat soldiers falling from the sky. The vision foretold a great victory. Encouraged by Sitting Bull’s vision, Crazy Horse led a band of Oglala and Cheyenne warriors to meet the blue coats. They engaged Crook’s column on Rosebud Creek and fought to a stand-off. Crazy Horse took it for victory when Crook withdrew his column to resupply.
The Lakota tribes answered Sitting Bull’s call that summer, assembling in the greatest numbers ever seen. The numbers vary depending on whose account you read. Some accounts have as many as ten thousand attending the dances that year. By most accounts the warriors numbered somewhere between twenty-five hundred and perhaps as many as four thousand.
Terry’s offensive seemed star-crossed from the beginning. Delayed by a freak late spring snow-storm he reached the Yellowstone River and met Colonel Gibbon around June 21st. With the fate of Crook’s column unbeknownst to Terry, he dispatched Custer and the Seventh south to link-up with Crook and coordinate their advance. The combined forces would march on the Little Big Horn from the north and south, seeking to discover the Indian camp.
Next week: Vain Glory Part III
https://www.amazon.com/author/paulcolt
Ride easy,
Paul
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