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What happened at the Battle of the Little Bighorn in 1876?

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Plains style — Indigenous peoples of the Great Plains Dancers at the Totah Festival Powwow performing the Northern Tradition dance, a dance inspired by Plains traditions, on September 1, 2007, in Farmington, New Mexico.

The Battle of the Little Bighorn, fought on June 25, 1876, in the Montana Territory, was a significant conflict between the U.S. 7th Cavalry and a coalition of Lakota and Northern Cheyenne warriors.12

Context and Causes

The confrontation arose from the U.S. government's failure to honor the Second Treaty of Fort Laramie, which had guaranteed territory to the Plains Indians. When gold miners encroached on sacred lands, the government ordered tribes to return to reservations by early 1876. Many, led by Sitting Bull, refused, choosing instead to resist U.S. expansion.2

The Battle

Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer led the 7th Cavalry to attack the large encampment. Underestimating the number of warriors—who numbered approximately 2,000—Custer split his forces into three battalions. This tactical error left his troops unable to support one another. Custer and all 210 men under his immediate command were killed in a fight known as "Custer’s Last Stand," while other battalions held out until the following day.2

Although a major victory for the Native American forces, the battle ultimately accelerated the end of their sovereignty in the West as the U.S. military intensified its efforts to force their surrender.12