More Than a Last Stand: Reflections from Little Big Horn Battlefield

Last Stand Hill

After driving for an hour or so this morning, we pulled off for what we thought was a brief history lesson. We had arrived in Crow County in the south-east corner of Montana. Unbeknownst to us, this was sacred land.

With a short window to take in this place with such an ugly history, we payed a fee and entered Little Big Horn Battlefield National Monument.  

We had just spent the night at a moderately priced hotel in a local town and were still enjoying our cups of perfectly crafted coffees from a happy barista, who was probably starting college this week. 

As our car pulled into a parking space at the visitors center, we faced a sea of white tombstones. My hurried pace left me and suddenly my coffee seemed unnecessary. I stood by the car for a moment wondering what my family was going to encounter on this National Monument visit. 

 

Grave site at Little Big Horn

On entering, the park ranger had encouraged my quick pace by telling me that the Ranger Talk had just started and we wouldn't want to miss it on the porch of the visitor's center. Like a tractor beam I was drawn from my car to the voice of park ranger, Steve Adelson (a drill-sergeant of a man) wearing mirrored sunglasses and holding a single arrow in his hand as a pointer. 

Park Ranger Steve Adelson

It took only a couple of minutes before I realized I was in the presence of a "national treasure". This was not JUST another park ranger. Steve Adelson, who was telling the story of Little Big Horn, was a master storyteller. He had the audience of about 40ish people in a complete trance. We hadn't missed much of his story, but realized quickly where he was in the epic saga. 

Behind the great storyteller was the expanse of land about which he spoke. As my boys, wife, and I listened, we were transported to the battlefield just yards away (but back in 1876).  You could almost hear the bullets and arrows whizzing past. The ground seemed to tremble as he spoke of the cavalry moving over the hills before us. Not a soul moved from his/her seat - we were riveted. 

Ranger Talk at Visitor's Center

Ranger Adelson told us of the clash of cultures that took place and what he termed a "battle of apocalyptic proportions." The blood of men ran like a river down the hills before us. You could sense the stench of death in the air.

My high school history book told this story, but I was again (more passionately than in high school) asking, "Why this conflict?" The answer to that question visually and emotionally was coming alive before me. We heard the truth of this place of "last stands." It had all taken place because one group of people refused to be restricted to reservation life (after being granted it by men who had no right to take it from them in the first place). These were people who preferred their way of nomadic life, who wanted to live in peace, and who already were granted the right to live on the land they were on - the only land they knew. It was actually THEIRS! 

Indian Memorial

And then there were those on the other side of this conflict - what history says I am to consider "my people" - who were there simply because of greed. A literal army of men were in this area solely to guarantee the capitalist ventures and successes of the seekers of the "American Dream" (at this time the pursuit was gold). 

Ranger Adelson also told us that many of the soldiers were Christian and had come with a message to convert the "savages." By the time of the conflict their message had been replaced by a thoughtless task of removal by force. 

Meanwhile, across the lines, a native spiritual leader known as Sitting Bull was becoming a champion of his culture and teaching his people to work together - something deeply lacking among the white Christian men of the time. 

Crucifix given to Sitting Bull by Fr. De Smet

Later, as we stood reading the native people's memorial we learned more. It was General Custer who has gone down in infamy for his "last stand." But it was also Custer who said the following, 

"I will never harm the Cheyennes again. I will never point a gun at a Cheyenne. I will never kill another Cheyenne." 

Custer had been warned by Stone Forehead, a Cheyenne arrow keeper, 

"If you break your promise, you and your soldiers will go to dust like this.  If you are acting treacherously toward us, sometime you and your whole command will be killed."

Inner wall of the Indian Memorial

But it would be the native spiritual leader, Sitting Bull who heard in a vision from the Great Spirit a truth that is still today being lived out in white man's history, 

"I give you these because they have no ears."  

The white man's history continues to find itself having "no ears." This national monument is a permanent symbol to future generations of what may result from not listening to the people with whom we share this world. 

It was at this moment that Ranger Adelson informed us (white people) in stern tones, 

"We were the illegal aliens to this land." 

He added that the natives had all the right to build a wall and keep us out and referenced the current similar statements of Donald Trump. We paused, reflected, sighed, and tears began to well up in our eyes. 

Gate at Last Stand Hill

Those golden hills before us, littered with small white tombstones for the fallen, were beginning to look a lot different. This was NOT just a monument to the fallen. This was NOT just a "last stand" of a military general and his cavalry. 

This was a lasting memorial to the fall and last stand of a people who had their livelihood slowly stripped from them by another people group who could not see the greater possibilities of life together. 

Lone horse in the battlefield

When Ranger Adelson finished his story, the mixed feelings were evident. Some clapped, others wiped tears, and some sat silently. During his lesson, Ranger Adelson had told us how he had taught high school history for 30 years. I thought that if I had been in his class I would have never left it. I believe we not only need passionate teachers, but we need more people like Steve willing to speak passionately about the hard truths of this land. 

Seeing the sights, the land, the graves were beyond words, but what we experienced was far more than that - it was a warning. The entire site was a monument to remind us not to do this ever again. We should be seeking peace and learning to live with each other. Just because someone lives differently than me, doesn't mean I have the right to take their livelihood or way of life from them simply for my greedy gain. Just maybe Sitting Bull had realized the gospel message those white Christian men had brought, better than they did. You and I need to listen to ALL the voices around us and always seek that of God in every person so together we may thrive in this world. 

Stone marker where General George A. Custer fell to his death

Thank you Park Ranger Steve Adelson for making a difference in the lives of students for so many years and for reminding us at Little Big Horn Battlefield of the importance of remembering the true stories of our land. 

"In order to heal our grandmother earth, we must unify through peace" 

Tatanka Itotake 

Sitting Bull

Hunkpapa Lakota 1831-1890