For the Custers, Little Bighorn Was A Family Affair

Americans were in shock exactly 140 years ago today. And it wasn’t supposed to have been that way.

July 1876 was, after all, the nation’s centennial. The little upstart country had beat the odds by bucking the greatest military power on earth, then beat them again by surviving 100 years. It was supposed to have been time for a national party.

Instead, stunning news came from the Black Hills in distant Montana Territory. George Armstrong Custer, dashing Civil War hero and flamboyant Indian fighter, plus all 267 of his men, had been wiped out in a ferocious battle with Native American braves.

The defeat cast a dark shadow over centennial celebrations and launched a legend that lingers nearly a century and a half later. Continue reading →