The Battle of the Greasy Grass

On June 25 & 26, 2011 mark the 135th anniversary of The Battle of the

General George Armstrong Custer

Greasy Grass, also known as The Battle of Little Bighorn.


The story of Custer's staggering defeat has assumed near-mythic proportions, and Custer is either glorified as a hero or vilified as the general who put his own life and the lives of his men in peril in order to achieve glory in the battle against the Sioux, the Cheyenne, and the Arapahoe that was fought near the Little Bighorn River in Montana.


There are several websites that tell the story of the battle from the Native American perspective, and at least one book that examines the events of June 25 & 26, 1876 with a careful, even approach making neither heroes nor villains of the opposing forces.

Tatanka-Iyotank, Sitting Bull

Nathaniel Philbrick's The Last Stand explores the volatile political, economic, and social forces that led to the infamous confrontation. In this carefully researched book Philbrick has produced an absorbing page-turner rich with complex characters and fast-paced action.  He demolishes commonly held myths along the way.


Smithsonian.com's "How the Battle of Little Bighorn was Won" tells the story of the battle from the Indian's point of view.


PBS.com's New Perspectives on the West offers a brief biography of Tatanka-Iyotanka, Sitting Bull (1831 - 1890), including an account of his involvement in The Battle of the Greasy Grass.


In 1991, a landmark redesignation acknowledged that the Little Bighorn Battlefield has a duel identity. More recently, in an act that was long overdue, the National Park Service established an Indian Memorial at the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument, which has helped to re-image the place as hallowed ground for Indians as well as whites.


NPS.gov has an online article, "Indian Memorial at Little Bighorn" which tells the story of how the Memorial came to be.

Drawing of Tashunkewitko (Crazy Horse)
No photograph of Crazy Horse
is known to exist.

An examination of "The Custer Myth", on the NativeAmerican.co.uk website is based on primary source material, including the words of George Armstrong Custer himself, Tashunkewitko (Crazy Horse,) Rain in the Face (a survivor of the battle,) General Philip Sheridan, White Man Runs Him (one of Custer's Crow scouts,) and others.


We would love to add to this list.  If you know of other web sites or books that you think are well researched, please send the link or title to us. 

MKIM Receives High Praise

     John Goff, the president of Salem Preservation, Inc., attended our Celebrate the Earth Festival May 1.  Later he wrote about his visit in the Salem (MA) Gazette, where he had some highly favorable things to say.  Here's an excerpt from the article:
     "On May 1, I was treated to a superb ash splint and sweetgrass basket-making demonstration by Abnaki Liz Charlebois at the fantastic Mt. Kearsarge Indian Museum in Warner, NH. I was impressed by that museum as well as by Charlebois’ basketry."
     You can read the entire article here.


     Salem Preservation, Inc. is a nonprofit organization. John Goff is also the principal of Historic Preservation & Design, a consulting business.