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The Battle Of The Little Bighorn River

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Little Bighorn Battle Analysis
The Battle of the Little Bighorn River, which took stage on the 25th and 26th of June 1876, was known to the Lakota as the Battle of the Greasy Grass. This Battle was also one of the last important stands of the American Indians against the United States of America. The Battle took place in the Montana Territory between the combined Indian tribes of the Lakota, Northern Cheyenne, and Arapaho tribes. These Indian tribes led by Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse and other Indian leaders battled the Seventh Cavalry Regiment of the United States Army. The Indian forces were victorious during this battle where they faced their much smaller in number opponent led by General George Armstrong Custer. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the events that led to the conflict, the environment of the battle ground, the disposition and composition of each side, actions, inactions taken as well as the their significance.

The Indians, threatened by the expansion of the white settlements west of the Mississippi River, this endangered their way of life that revolved around the Buffalo and eventually led to their confinement to reservations. The United States Government claimed a large portion of their lands for other uses but did grant the plain Indians with an area exclusive to them known as the Great Sioux Reservation, established by the treaty of 1868. It also allowed them hunting ground and grazing land for the Buffalo outside the reservation.

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