In the 1800’s, America’s spirit of westward expansion came at the expense of many of the Indian tribes that had lived in the region for generations. In 1876, American General George Custer and his army of 262 men traveled to Eastern Montana to forcably remove a band of Plains Indians. The government wanted their land because gold was found nearby, but the Indians refused to leave and settle on a designated reservation. On July 25, Custer and his army were surrounded by a group of some 1,500 Cheyenne, Sioux and Arapaho warriors on a grassy ridge above the Little Big Horn River. Custer and his men were massacred; all 263 were killed. The event came be to known as "Custer’s Last Stand." |
