Battle of Little Bighorn

THE BATTLE OF LITTLE BIGHORN GAVE RISE TO A LEGEND

THAT PERSISTS ACROSS CENTURIES...

...THE ASTONISHING DEATH OF A CELEBRATED INDIAN FIGHTER.

Woman: THIS WAS AKIN TO THE COUNTRY BEING SHOCKED

BY THE ASSASSINATION OF PRESIDENT KENNEDY.

Man: AMERICA LIKES A TRAGIC LOSER.

Narrator: THE BEGINNING OF THE END OF FREEDOM ON THE PLAINS.

Man: THE STRATEGY THERE WAS TO FIND INDIAN VILLAGES

AND TO DESTROY THEM.

Man: WE ALL HAD TO DO WHAT WE HAD TO DO TO SURVIVE.

Narrator: THE EXECUTION OF AN HONORED LEADER,

THE BIRTH OF AN AMERICAN CLICHÉ...

Man: OUR MYTHIC IMAGINATION IS POPULATED BY AMERICAN INDIANS.

Narrator: ...AND A FIGHT FOR IDENTITY

AGAINST THE TYRANNY OF PROGRESS.

AMERICAN INDIANS CALL IT THE BATTLE OF THE GREASY GRASS.

IN HISTORY BOOKS, IT’S THE BATTLE OF THE LITTLE BIGHORN.

THE IMAGE SEARED INTO MEMORY IS SIMPLY CUSTER’S LAST STAND.

THREE NAMES, DIFFERENT LENSES FOR VIEWING THE SAME FEW HOURS,

A PIVOTAL MOMENT IN HISTORY THAT CHANGED THE FATE OF MANY

AND SHAPED THE MYTH OF A NATION IN UNEXPECTED WAYS.

ENTHRALLING FROM THE START,

THE STORY BECOMES A BONA FIDE FIXATION.

FROM INITIAL OUTRAGE TO A GLOBAL SPECTACLE

TO CINEMATIC OBSESSION,

THE LEGEND HAS PERSISTED MORE THAN A CENTURY.

EVEN TODAY, WE CONTINUE TO MAKE SENSE OF WHAT HAPPENED.

THE BRUTAL BATTLE PLAYED OUT IN JUNE OF 1876,

BUT THE STAGE HAD BEEN SET DECADES EARLIER

ON THE GREAT PLAINS,

A VAST EXPANSE OF PRAIRIE EAST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS.

IN 1800, MORE THAN HALF A MILLION PEOPLE,

A DOZEN DISTINCT TRIBES, LIVED ON THOSE GRASSLANDS,

BUT THEIR DAYS WERE NUMBERED.

David Penney: THE CUSTOMARY WAY OF THINKING

ABOUT SETTLEMENT OF NORTH AMERICA

IS THIS WAVE OF SETTLERS THAT MOVE FROM EAST TO WEST,

BUT MORE ACCURATELY IT’S KIND OF LIKE A DOUGHNUT,

BECAUSE IT’S EASIER TO GO AROUND THE TIP

OF TIERRA DEL FUEGO IN SOUTH AMERICA

THAN MAKE YOUR WAY ACROSS THE CONTINENT.

SO, CALIFORNIA, OREGON,

THE COLUMBIA VALLEY HAD ALL BEEN SETTLED.

NATIVE PEOPLE WHO WERE LIVING IN THE PLAINS

WERE RELATIVELY UNDISTURBED MILITARILY

UNTIL ABOUT THE MIDDLE OF THE CENTURY.

Narrator: WHEN DESTINY FINALLY LEADS

AMERICAN SETTLERS WESTWARD HO,

IT SETS UP AN EPIC CLASH OF CULTURES ON THE PLAINS,

A GRAB FOR RESOURCES

THAT WILL DETERMINE THE FATE OF MANY NATIONS.

Penney: THE LARGER FRAME OF THIS, OF COURSE,

IS THE PROGRESS OF CIVILIZATION,

YOU KNOW, THAT THE AMERICAN INDIANS

ARE A VALIANT OPPONENT,

BUT THEIR PRIMITIVE NATURE DOOMS THEM TO HISTORY.

THEY NEED TO MOVE OUT OF THE WAY OF PROGRESS.

Narrator: AS THE COUNTRY PICKS UP THE PIECES

AFTER THE CIVIL WAR,

THE WESTERN FRONTIER BECOMES THE NEXT BATTLEGROUND.

Michelle Delaney: THE MILITARY MOVES RIGHT INTO THE WEST,

CONQUERING THOSE LANDS THAT HAD PREVIOUSLY BEEN HELD

BY AMERICAN INDIANS.

IT IS A HARD TIME IN AMERICAN HISTORY.

Narrator: THE MILITARY CLEARS THE WAY,

AS PROSPECTORS, BUSINESSMEN, AND SETTLERS EAGER TO STAKE CLAIMS

COMPETE WITH NATIVE AMERICANS FOR LAND.

THE GENESIS OF THE CONFLICT AT BIGHORN

OCCURS AT THE SPIRITUAL BIRTHPLACE OF THE LAKOTA SIOUX

IN PRESENT-DAY SOUTH DAKOTA.

Emil Her Many Horses: PART OF OUR ORIGIN STORY

IS THAT THE LAKOTA EMERGED FROM THE BLACK HILLS AREA

AND WERE TAUGHT HOW TO USE THE BUFFALO

FOR FOOD AND SHELTER,

AND THAT’S ALL CONSIDERED KIND OF SACRED LAND.

Narrator: IN 1868, THE TREATY OF FORT LARAMIE

RECOGNIZES THE BLACK HILLS AS LAKOTA TERRITORY

IN EXCHANGE FOR AN END TO HOSTILITIES.

IT ALSO SETS UP A PERMANENT RESERVATION,

IMPLYING EVENTUAL CONTAINMENT--

A NUANCE LOST TO THE LAKOTA AT THE TIME.

THE GOVERNMENT’S GOAL IS TO CONFINE ALL NATIVE AMERICANS

TO AGENCIES OR RESERVATIONS.

Marvin Dawes: THEY DIDN’T WANT THEM TO BE SCATTERED,

AND THE ONLY WAY THAT THEY COULD CONTAIN

WAS TO PUT THEM ON THE RESERVATION,

PUT THEM ON THE RESERVATION

AND KEEP AN EYE ON THEM AND WATCH THEM.

Narrator: DOZENS OF NATIVE LEADERS SIGN THE DOCUMENT.

Dawes: THERE WERE TWO TYPES OF NATIVES, INDIANS.

WE HAVE THE NON-TREATY INDIAN AND THE TREATY INDIANS.

Narrator: HUNKPAPA SIOUX CHIEF SITTING BULL

IS AMONG THOSE WHO REFUSE TO SIGN.

BUT ALMOST IMMEDIATELY IN THE BLACK HILLS,

A COMPLICATION EMERGES.

Penney: THE RUMORS ABOUT GOLD BEGIN TO DEVELOP

RIGHT AFTER THE SIGNING OF THE TREATY.

THE AGITATION TO KIND OF RESOLVE THAT QUESTION RESULTS

IN THE GOVERNMENT-SPONSORED EXPEDITION IN 1874,

WHICH IS LED BY GEORGE ARMSTRONG CUSTER.

Narrator: IN THE CIVIL WAR, CUSTER WAS A UNION HERO,

THOUGH AN UNLIKELY ONE,

HAVING GRADUATED LAST IN HIS CLASS FROM WEST POINT.

Scott Sagan: CUSTER HAD A LONG HISTORY

OF SUCCESSFUL, BRAVE FIGHTS.

HE WOULD OFTEN HAVE A CHARGE INTO CONFEDERATE UNITS

AND CAME OUT VICTORIOUS EVEN AT GETTYSBURG.

Narrator: AFTER THE WAR, A 27-YEAR-OLD CUSTER

REINVENTS HIMSELF AS AN INDIAN FIGHTER.

Penney: HE WAS A LARGER-THAN-LIFE PERSONALITY.

HE HAD ALREADY DECLARED INTEREST IN POLITICAL OFFICE.

Narrator: THOSE LARGER AMBITIONS ARE SHARED BY HIS WIFE,

ELIZABETH, OR LIBBIE.

Penney: SHE WAS BIG IN SOCIETY.

SHE CAME FROM A PROMINENT FAMILY.

THEY’RE BIG IN POLITICS.

THEY SAW THEIR UNION AS A SORT OF BIGGER SOCIAL OPPORTUNITY,

ONE KIND OF PLAYING OFF THE OTHER.

THEY WERE A POWER COUPLE.

Narrator: BUT THEIR BID FOR POWER WILL PROVE PERILOUS.

SOON THERE WOULD BE SECRETS AND BLOODSHED.

OFFICIALLY, THE U.S. EXPEDITION INTO THE BLACK HILLS

IS SCOUTING A SITE FOR A NEW FORT,

BUT IT’S REALLY A HUNT FOR GOLD,

AND CUSTER, A 19th-CENTURY MEDIA DARLING,

WANTS TO BE THE ONE TO FIND IT.

MORE THAN 1,000 SOLDIERS, PLUS GEOLOGISTS, ENGINEERS, MINERS,

A PHOTOGRAPHER, A BAND, THE SON OF U.S. PRESIDENT GRANT,

AND 300 HEAD OF CATTLE FOR MEAT

ALL GO ROLLING INTO LAKOTA SACRED LAND.

Penney: AND THERE’S DISPUTE

WHETHER OR NOT THEY FOUND GOLD THERE.

THERE’S A GEOLOGIST WHO CLAIMS THEY DIDN’T FIND ANY GOLD,

AND, UH, THE PAPERS, OF COURSE, SAY THAT THEY DID.

Narrator: THE GOLD RUSH IS ON,

AND WHEN PROMISING DEPOSITS ARE DISCOVERED

IN THE NORTHERN BLACK HILLS, THOUSANDS POUR INTO SIOUX LAND.

WHOLE TOWNS, LIKE DEADWOOD, SOUTH DAKOTA,

RISE UP ON TREATY TERRITORY.

Penney: THE FIRST WAVE OF AMERICAN SETTLEMENT

AND THE DISPOSSESSION OF LAND FROM INDIANS

IS OFTEN MINERAL RIGHTS OR TIMBER RIGHTS.

AFTER THE 1874 EXPEDITION, BY THE SUMMER OF 1875,

THERE ARE OVER 4,000 MINERS IN THE BLACK HILLS.

THEY’RE PRIMARILY MEN,

AND THEY’RE SENDING ALL THEIR MONEY

BACK EAST TO THEIR FAMILIES,

YOU KNOW, UM, QUICK MONEY AND LOTS OF IT.

Narrator: PRESIDENT GRANT OFFERS TO PURCHASE THE BLACK HILLS

FOR $6 MILLION,

BUT THE TRIBES REFUSE.

THEY WANT THE LAND.

Penney: SO, YOU’VE GOT ALL THE INGREDIENTS

OF A, OF A BIG CONFLICT THERE.

Her Many Horses: REALLY WHAT THEY WERE FIGHTING FOR

WAS THE RESOURCES FOR THE SURVIVAL OF THEIR COMMUNITY,

SO SAY THEIR HUNTING GROUNDS, THEIR HUNTING TERRITORIES.

Narrator: THOSE WHO WILL NOT GIVE UP THEIR LAND,

AND THEREFORE THEIR TRADITIONAL WAY OF LIFE,

ARE DESIGNATED HOSTILES.

Sarah Sadlier: THE TERM HOSTILE WAS USED BY THE U.S. MILITARY

TO REFER TO THOSE NATIVE AMERICANS

WHO HAD NOT COME INTO THE RESERVATION SYSTEM

AND WHO WERE REBELLING AGAINST THE EDICT

THAT TOLD THEM TO DO SO.

Narrator: SITTING BULL RALLIES SO-CALLED HOSTILES,

AND HIS ENVOYS SLIP ONTO RESERVATIONS

AND URGE AGENCY INDIANS TO JOIN THE RESISTANCE.

IT’S A FIGHT FOR LAND THAT IS VITAL TO THEIR VERY EXISTENCE.

Her Many Horses: A LOT OF TIMES,

LAKOTA PEOPLE ARE CONSIDERED NOMADIC,

BUT THEY ACTUALLY WERE NOT NOMADIC WANDERING ABOUT.

THEY WERE ACTUALLY FOLLOWING THE BUFFALO,

AND THAT WAS A REALLY IMPORTANT ASPECT OF THEIR SURVIVAL.

Narrator: BUFFALO WERE THE WALMART OF THE PLAINS.

THEY PROVIDED FOOD, CLOTHING, TOOLS, BLANKETS, ROPE, GLUE,

UTENSILS, WEAPONS, AND FUEL.

FOR COMMERCIAL HUNTERS, THEY BECOME A BONANZA.

Penney: LARGE-SCALE INDUSTRIAL BUFFALO HUNTING

REALLY BEGINS IN EARNEST AFTER THE CIVIL WAR.

THEY’RE BEING CONSUMED

IN ENORMOUS AND UNPRECEDENTED NUMBERS.

Her Many Horses: THERE’S A COUPLE IMAGES

THAT EVERY TIME I SEE THEM, I’M KIND OF THROWN OFF BY THEM

BECAUSE YOU JUST CAN’T IMAGINE THAT THIS WAS DONE.

AN IMAGE OF A PILE OF BUFFALO SKULLS, I MEAN,

AND THERE’S SOMEONE STANDING ON TOP OF IT.

Narrator: BONES ARE USED TO MAKE FERTILIZER AND CHINA.

HIDES ARE TAKEN FOR ROBES

AND LEATHER TO MAKE BELTS FOR INDUSTRIAL MACHINERY.

MUCH IS WASTED.

UPWARDS OF 30 MILLION BUFFALO ROAM THE PLAINS IN 1850.

WITHIN JUST A FEW DECADES,

THEY ARE HUNTED TO NEAR EXTINCTION.

ON RESERVATIONS, RATIONS REPLACE HUNTING.

Her Many Horses: YOU DID NOT HAVE THAT KIND

OF TRADITIONAL ABILITY TO HUNT AND TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF.

YOU HAD TO DEPEND ON SOMEBODY ELSE.

Narrator: THE LAST FREE INDIANS ON THE PLAINS,

AS MANY AS 10,000, BANDED TOGETHER UNDER SITTING BULL,