Thank you, Rex.

@ Rob Lewis -- yes. It was in the upper 90's and a clear day.. If you go close to June 25th in the late afternoon you can get an idea of the position of the sun in the sky. Temperatures and the transit of the sun across the sky never change. If you do that, you'll see that the sun generally shined right in the eyes of the troopers. In the Keogh sector they probably saw silhouettes coming up and over the ridge. It must have been terrifying.

Americans can’t stand undisturbed areas now any better than they did 150 years ago

Thank you. I'm glad I was able to share the photos with you.

Thank you. Photographing this battlefield has been a passion of mine since the early '80s. It was a pleasure sharing what knowledge I have, and photos of the battlefield.

Thank you.

The Sioux were encroaching on Crow land.

@@31terikennedy I seem to recall the Sioux encroached on the lands of many other tribes, and there were continuing encounters between many of the tribes over Mother Earth - in the end it mattered little.

@@johntrubicyn8068 Some tribes were very warlike and some cooperated. Aren't there more Indians today than ever?

Thanks so much.

Thanks. Glad you enjoyed it.

Thank you, Sir.

Custer was a legend in his own mind...the indians didnt give a damn about him being a war hero...his mistakes were baffling to me...as a soldier we see these things

Perhaps put yourself in his boots at the crow's nest on the morning of the 25th. Deployed in reconnaissance, his written orders by his commander were inexplicit at best - which would leave any flexibility needed, to the discretion of the cavalry commander. What would you have done differently with the information he had on hand? His command had been discovered by the 'hostiles' and he had to move quickly, else the tribes would scatter and the planned envelopment of the region would be for not. It's my opinion, any one of those army columns approaching the Little Bighorn would have been wiped out. Just so happens, the 7th arrived on site first. At some point, your barrel's gonna overheat and you're gonna run out of pee. I mean, like perhaps 3000 'hostiles' vs a battalion of 260? Beggin the Col's pardon, but I got plans this weekend, and becoming a grease stain on a prairie hilltop ain't one of them.

@@RW4X4X3006 thats all well and good, but he was trying to be a damn hero, and do it all by himself... He never had a grasp on the forces he was fixing to deal with, he did not do due diligence, and i still sit here and wonder how any commander could f--- up like that. Completely illogical. So what if the indians scattered, terry and cook and gibbons were coming from the north anyways, all custer had to do was keep a eye on them and give gibbons, terry and cook time to reach him which he didnt do..thats what i would do, not take 600 soldiers against 3-4000 indians, complete and utter suicide..he was warned by his scouts, HE CHOSE NOT TO LISTEN..HE CHOSE DEATH.. Why ? Why in the blue hell would you not get a firm grasp on the hostile numbers before engagement? Because the general even said the seventh could whip anyone all by themselves.. My god what a delusional thought that was

@@RW4X4X3006 please take this into account..one of custers crow scouts, his name was curly, decided that june 25th 1876 was not a good day to die and he got the hell out of dodge and said the hell with this...GOOD COMMON SENSE

@@ericstevens8660 Apparently, Curly rode off to some high ground to the east/northeast, and watched the calamity unfold. Probably had to rest his horse in that heat. Back in those days, that's something you'd best keep tight lipped about. I think he did.

Most definitely. The first photo was taken July 1877 by John Fouch.

i've been to Shiloh 3 times with Scout troops. i agree, one can sense the spirits there, and can feel the pains of the wounded.

If you do go digging around, that's a Federal felony. If you vandalize, depending how bad it is, it's either a Federal misdemeanor or a felony. In addition to being disrespectful.

Captain Benteen was not in command of the supply wagons.

Thank you very much. I took that photo early in the evening after the battlefield was closed. It was quiet except for the unsettling storms moving through the area. The air was fresh and temps cool, but thunder in the distance. I didn't have time to spend long there, but I lucked out with my window of opportunity here.

@@bobreece5842 Wow. To have that descriptive background you just laid out for me...well, that's just special now. I thank you. I get a somewhat odd sense of... 'Super-Satisfaction'... (for lack of a better word) when I can gaze upon a telling photograph that ends up speaking/appealing to me. Especially if I know more about the story of said photo than almost anyone else bar the photographer. Love that history coming alive. To me. Kind of odd & slightly psycho, I realize, but I enjoy good photography like that.

@@allenpeck8239 A photo that captures one's imagination can inspire further curiosity and learning. My ultimate goal is to enable the viewer to better understand the power of that landscape in this battle.

@@bobreece5842 I fully believe, My Good Man, that what you describe will be wholly and completely successful venture on your part, and vastly successful in the long run. God Bless...

Thank you. As the years go by, I find that the black and white photos reveal the features of the terrain so much better than color.

We will never know but I'm inclined to believe that a warrior had very likely removed the dead McIntoshs ring by cutting off his finger not being able to pull the ring off he simply cut off the mans finger, savage yet predictable. Yet somewhere in the fanfare of celebrating the victory that warrior lost his prize possession, perhaps beffitingly on the battlefield to be found over a century later. An amazing find no doubt about it.

Agree 100% plus soldiers stood out in dark blue uniforms no camoflage

Thank you. Glad you're able to visit the battlefield and have the great experience while there.

They used them for scouts.

Thanks, DKS.

You may be interested in information attributed to a discussion between Daniel Boone and Native American Indian leaders near where Boone was living at the time. He wanted to know who built the large mounds in his area. The Indian he was speaking with told Boone that those large mounds were not built by his people. They were built by an earlier people which his people had run off the land. He is said to have added that his tribe did not know who these people were or where they went after they had been displaced. This sounds to me to most likely be a faint echo of pre-history suggested by archeological findings that the original occupants of North Anerica came across the Bering Strait at different times in waves. It would just be ancient tribal motivation to run a weaker people off the choice pieces of land. Just as the Sioux had taken the Black Hills from the Kiowa in the 1700s, the Kiowa were probably the last in a long series of stronger groups who displaced a previous group. That does not justify violation of our government's treaties with Indian tribes. It does place displacement of weaker populations by stronger populations in a long term context.

Fixed thank you for the typo catch

The tragedy was happening to the Indians anyway--the Agencies were corrupt and the natives who co-operated were neglected and abused. Good for those at LBH who stood up and fought back (and at the Rosebud as well.) At least they left a legacy behind.

True. Daniel Boone is said to have asked local Indians whether they knew who built the large mounds. He was told that the present people did not make them. They were made by the peoples the present peoples drove off the land long ago. Boone added that his Indian source said that his people did not know where the conquered people had come from or where they went after being driven off the land.

You're correct, the Springfield carbine had nowhere near the range of 1000 yards. I knew that. Why my brain was set at 1,000 yards, I don't know. What's really funny is, I've worked on the archaeological digs with Doug Scott, along with his outstanding archaeologists, and historians. However, my brain didn't want to cooperate with that particular subject during the 60-minute presentation, with no script. I'm surprised I didn't have more errors. Just so we all can learn, did you find anymore? You did bring up the revolver, I think to make a point. Maybe you didn't want to listen to more of my presentation, otherwise you would have heard me address the limitations of the Colt revolver. I used an example from the Keogh Sector where the fight was brutal, and occurred incredibly fast. Soldiers threw down their carbines because there was no time to reload. They then unholstered their revolvers, and started making noise. However, the biggest problem came after all five or six bullets were fired, depending on how one loaded their gun. That weapon was impossible to reload under those circumstances. Just no time. Warriors later said how some of the soldiers threw their empty revolvers at them. Anyway, thanks for pointing out my error regarding the Springfield carbine, and a chance for me to correct it. Just curious, what do you think about the rest of the presentation of photographs that I've shot over the last 40 years at the battlefield?

The Carbines Custer had were very efficient up to 300 yds, which was superior to the henry, and had a effective range out to 600, but only the best sharpshooters could generally hit anything, if firing at a group, they could be expected to make some hits. Most Cavalrymen did not get alot of training based on cost, today we have millions of rounds made and men train much more in combat units than they could have expected to be in the late 19th century.

@@bobreece5842 Might be more of a simple case of confusing yards and feet. Carbines were fairly accurate up to about 300 yards, which is 900 feet. Naturally some people might round that up to a thousand feet, then compound that by replacing feet with yards, and there you get the whole "Thousand yards" as it relates to the carbines. From what I recall of my own understanding of the springfield carbines it was that, properly maintained, they were quite suitable for tactics of the time. Keep the enemy at a distance, with steady accurate fire, which the carbines provide. The trouble starts as the range between the indians and the troopers decreases, allowing the rapid fire of the repeaters possessed by the Indians, as well as the bow and arrow, to begin picking off mounts and troopers. This of course had the affect of weakening the firepower of the troopers, as well as inciting an erosion of morale and unit stability. The common story about the troopers suffering extraction failures of casings, and thus losing the battle because of those issues, has been debated and in the eyes of most, debunked. Given the seriousness of such environs and campaigns, NCOs and officers typically made sure troopers frequently inspected their ammunition and removed any verdigris to reduce extraction failures. It is fair to conclude that no single element decided the fate of the 7th during those fateful days. There were no doubt a lot of factors; failings in coordinating the assault, fatigue, leadership, overconfidence, and poor recon. Looking at it from a personal perspective, the whole ordeal of a trooper fated to die is more terrifying to me than any horror movie yet produced. Imagine: You are soaked in sweat, stinking to high heaven of fear. Your heart pounds in your head. Your lungs painfully gulping up air and grit and dirt. You ears ring with the sounds of gunfire, war cries, shouts of pain, hoarse bellowing of orders. Your limbs ache from the strain of hours in the saddle, likely now from running, fueled by terror and the stark uncaring sunlight. No shade, no cover. You'd trade everything to escape what will be those final frightening moments of existence. Maybe you hear the shot or the woosh of the arrow, club or lance that pierces your flesh and bone. Maybe you feel that hot metal from the bullet, or the sharp edge of the knife. Maybe you don't. Maybe you don't have the time or mind to think of what is about to happen, not even a second to really reconcile with what is about to happen to you, as you face the wrath of another human being who at that moment doesnt see you as a human being, but as someone to kill. Maybe your life passes by in your mind with a flash, or perhaps your senses elevate to a point where it seems as if time slows down and you are in the front row seat of witnessing your own death. Perhaps it is instant. No more pain, just flash of light and a moment of darkness. Perhaps it takes awhile for death to release you from your physical cage. And then who knows, maybe it is like those scenes in the movies, where the camera slowly pans from above, showing your body on the ground, surrounded by grass, dust, revealed in all its glory and gory detail, then you float higher and higher, seeing the whole of the battle around you. Or who knows, it all fades to white and there ends that past life. Who knows. I wasn't there. Might just be a bit of fanciful imagination. But no matter what, I wouldnt want to have ever experienced that sort of ending of life.

@@tr4480 Well said. You're correct for the causes contributing to the Custer defeat. I would add terrain as well. My photography began after seeing the terrain for the first time, and realizing it played a big part in the defeat. The photographs I'd seen in books up to my first visit to the battlefield, did not do justice regarding the importance of terrain. I wanted to change that.

He lost ten men and less than 40 injured bud,

​@@oldhippiejon no

The Indian force, led by Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull, numbered 750 to 800 mounted warriors and it is safe to say they were armed to the teeth with modern weapons. Casualties on both sides were relatively light with Crook claiming he lost 10 killed and 21 wounded. However his aid Lt. John Bourke reported that four of the wounds were mortal and he gave total casualties as 57. Crazy Horse later said that the Lakota and Cheyenne casualties were 36 killed and 63 wounded.

On page 16 of Gregory Michno's "The Mystery of Company E," there is a paragraph relating the process for selecting the Springfield 1873. It was more accurate, had better ballistics, and was far more rugged and reliable than anything else. Also, archeology has established that the failure rate of them at the LBH was only 3%. Most Indian battles were fought at a longer range than LBH. There is another story in that book about how one of General Sully's marksmen fired three shots and killed three warriors before any of them could fire back at him. A talented man could fire a Springfield that quick. There was none of the "Ribleman" style rapid firing or modern Cowboy Action shooting with lever actions recorded in the 19th century.

my cat died ...

@@winterrhorse 🤣😆😁

You might enjoy this. friendslittlebighorn.com/ghosts-along-the-little-bighorn.htm

You might enjoy this. friendslittlebighorn.com/ghosts-along-the-little-bighorn.htm

@Adrian Cozad -- Custer was a lot of things, but a coward wasn't one of them. He was physically fearless and actually loved the thrill of combat. He left behind Major Joel Elliott and 80 men at the Washita. I don't know if you call that cowardice, but I call it unforgivable. That's one big reason Benteen hated him so much.

@@4thamendment237 Did you read what the Elder's said??? They were there, you and I wasn't,.. Elder's say, they cried like woman and threw their big gun's away, then use their little one's..many then shot themselves!.. During the Reno Flight..they say that it was like Hunting buffalo... They would pull them off their horse's with their bow's... and finish them,.. telling some.. your just kid's, you should have brought more crow and arikara's for us to kill! ... Others say Custer was killed early in the battle!

@@adriancozad8308 yes I have read what the elders or the Native American participants in the battle had said. Many of the troopers were inexperienced, many had never seen combat, many had never had much firing range time with their weapons. Those may have panicked, especially those with Reno in the valley floor. But you had said Custer was a coward. And as I had said, he definitely was not. He had an almost preternatural lack of fear. He had been in every major battle in the Eastern theater during the Civil War. He had engaged and killed enemies in close quarter combat. Gettysburg and Trevilian Station, just to name two. As the LBH fighting grew closer, the troopers threw down their carbines and switched to pistols because the 1873 Springfield was a single shot weapon -- at that point they didn't have the time to reload each shot. So they switched to the 1873 Colt pistol which held six shots and became equally effective at the closer range -- that's the same thing you would do if the enemy was closing in. Some of them may have committed suicide, but most likely not many. The Native Americans didn't know if Custer was killed early in the fight because they didn't know they were fighting Custer. They knew they were fighting the soldiers or the blue coats or the wasichu. They wouldn't have known it was him even after they killed him -- there wasn't TV or the internet then. Even if they had heard his name they didn't know what he looked like -- the only time the public at large might have seen his picture or portrait was in the newspapers of the time. And the Native Americans weren't reading the white man's newspapers. Maybe they had heard of "Long Hair". But Custer was balding and had cut his hair short for the campaign -- his body was multilated but they didn't take his scalp because there wasn't enough to take. Two other aspects to take into account -- every warrior saw his own experience at the battle. Some started early -- Crazy Horse came in later. Some stayed fighting Reno, others went right to Custer and C,E,F,I, and L companies with him. Those two spots are four miles apart. The warriors at Reno Hill could not see what was happening on Last Stand Hill in any detail, and vice versa. Which leads me to the other aspect -- the visibility. The ground was hard and apparently incredibly dusty. The firearms used black powder, which in volume creates huge clouds of smoke. Toward the end the combatants had trouble even seeing each other at times. There is some Native American testimony that some of the warriors died from arrow wounds, having been shot accidentally by friendly fire. It was melee fighting and chaotic -- and Custer wasn't a coward. Neither was his brother Capt. Tom Custer, incidentally. Tom Custer is one of the very few soldiers who was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor TWICE -- you don't receive that once, much less twice for being a coward or crying like a woman.

A number of warrior accounts speak of one officer mounted on a sorrel horse who rode back and forth shouting to his men. They say he was very brave; some said the bravest of all (meaning the least cowardly of all). My personal opinion is that was either Capt. Myles Keogh or Lt. James Calhoun.

@@4thamendment237 Read what Two moon's say's about the battle,he was there!

There are several pairs of markers scattered around Keogh area and toward deep ravine . Most of the pairs are actually one person . For some odd reason two markers were erected for one person a few yrs after the battle .

Many of the 2 markers are of only one soldier killed. The other is often spurious.

For many summers immediately after the battle soldiers from Fort Custer, 15 miles northwest of the battlefield, would visit the battlefield to rebury exposed remains. These soldiers had no idea how many bones are in the human body. Where they thought were two bodies, they placed two wooden stakes. Eventually, in 1890, wooden stakes would be replaced with white marble markers at each "grave". The archaeological surveys conducted in 1984 and 1985 concluded that the soldier markers are quite accurate, except where two marble markers stood beside another. Archaeological work at two markers side by side would prove that the original grave was for one soldier, not two.

Saving the day?had Custer not broke his word to Chief John Grass who had smoked a peace pipe previously after other battles.And then led his men on a hopeless charge that he had not even scouted out this whole horrible incident may have been averted

@@bigwoody4704 The LBH was a campaign to convince the Indians to return to their reservations after they left to go raiding. The Indians were encroaching on Crow lands. Custer knew the Chain of Command and did not make policy on his own.

@@31terikennedy Maybe that was it's aim but custer hardly presented himself as a humble correspondant. On many of these plaques the indians quoted that the soldiers attacked - they did not approach under a flag of truce. Like others here,I'm a history buff and read plenty about Custer exploits in the CW.Brave to a fault but an arrogant prick non the less.He got his command wiped out

@@bigwoody4704 Custer was best cavalry commander to come out the Civil War. The plan was to attack from one side of the encampment and the leave the back door open to give the Indians some place to go. Custer's objective was to neutralize Indian mobility by destroying and capturing the horse herd. It was a repeat of the Washita. For being a history buff, you seem to forget just how much Grant was interfering with Custer at the LBH.

@@31terikennedy You are making too many assumptions he was last in his class @ WP.Too many eye witnesses indians and soldiers both said he went charging right in. Of course you could tell them a thing or two .Autie had no interior lines secured and was certain they were trying to get away when they were in fact hiding the non combatants and taking up positions.When he figured it out he knew he was in deep kimshee.BTW the pacs Benteen was to bring were 7 miles distant in the rear.Over all commander didn't think it thru he was notorious for show boating even riding out in front of the column during the Grand Review celebration after the Civil war.Perhaps you should read a little more and critisize a little less I time stamped this at Sheridan,Grant,Terry were well versed and put the blame squarely where it belongs kzfaq.info/get/bejne/ar2ThaWmq7HSiYk.html

Yes. It's rattlesnake country.

Yes, and we need more just like him!

@@johndunbar1678 You go down there, General.

@@louistracy6964 Well, he's certainly not the villain you, and people like you, make him out to be.

Custer did what he did at the bidding of the government. Lest you forget, he was first an officer of the Union Army. When you consider history, you don't consider it by today's metrics. You consider it by the metrics of that era. I would submit that every person who looks back at their own personal history will find some things that wouldn't measure up to the person they are today.

No hero status for government busybodies. They’ll do the same to anyone who gets in their way.

In simple terms, Custer approached from the Wolf Mountains to the east. I very well know and understand the directions the soldiers moved from and to during this fight. I've been telling this story to visitors at Little Bighorn for the Park Service for decades. As seen in the presentation, the maps I used are courtesy of Douglas Scott from his books on the archaeological digs at the battlefield. He was the chief archaeologist for all the digs in the 1980s and '90s through the early 2000s. He knows this battlefield better than just about anybody. It is best to explain the many movements of the soldiers and Indians in as simple terms as possible or it would quickly become a muddled mess. For example, if we tell the account of Custer moving beyond Last Stand Hill in his attempts to control the Indian noncombatants in the river valley, we could say, "Custer continued moving west beyond Last Stand Hill to locate a ford at the river". In actual fact, he would've moved slightly northwest along the Custer Ridge Extension, cut west, and then south to reach the ford before turning back northeast through today's Cemetery Hill where he would finally fight his way east to Last Stand Hill. For the viewer of this presentation, I would not help the viewer's understanding of Custer's move to the battlefield, except to keep it simple. Same with maps, I had to keep it as simple as possible.

Thank you. Another concern I have, and to add to your comment, is the lack of interest in history within the younger generation.

Thank you. There is another similar comment below where the presenter corrected that statement.

​​​​@@OLLI-UAWhat "Mean Rude Know it All" Bruce is saying is pretty accurate. A Springfield Carbine in 45/70, 510 grain, muzzle velocity of about 1200 fps is good to about 200 yards all day long. Not much further than 300 yards. But that's not the focus of your presentation now is it? No need in furthering your education. Keep up the good work! BEAR DOWN! 😆

Custers wife Libby adored him and spent the rest of her life telling people how wonderful he was. There must have been a side of him people didn't see.