Teaching Notes

Article from the Smithsonian about Custer stealing a horse.

Custer Social Studies/History

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Little Bighorn Battle Rain-in-the-Face The Ekalaka Eagle (Ekalaka, Mont.), 20 Nov. 1925, located at <http://montananewspapers.org/lccn/sn85053092/1925-11-20/ed-1/seq-6/>, image provided by MONTANA NEWSPAPERS, Montana Historical Society, Helena, Montana.

Rain-In-the-Face recalls what he saw of Moving Robe Woman during the battle.

Rain-In-The-Face Little Bighorn Battle Moving Robe Woman Mary Crawley Social Studies/History

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Excerpt from the book Lakota Recollections of the Custer Fight:  New Sources of Indian Military History; compiled and edited by Richard G. Hardorff.

Moving Robe Woman, also known as Mary Crawley fought in the Little Bighorn Battle. Lakota Recollections of the Custer Fight Moving Robe Woman Mary Crawley Social Studies/History Little Bighorn Battle

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This is the clip of the song Garryowen  Just over 2 min Garryowen Died With Their Boots On Little Bighorn Battle

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This is a 52 page database with the names of Warriors who fought in the Little Bighorn Battle.  It shows tribal affiliation and source information.  Great place to start.

Warriors Little Bighorn Battle

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Isaiah Dorman died at the Battle of the Little Bighorn.  This link is the information from the National Park service.

Isaiah had been married to a Sioux woman.  When he fought with the cavalry he was looked at as a traitor.

This link takes you to a contemporary piece of Ledger Art created by Daniel Long Soldier depicting Moving Robe Woman killing him in battle.   http://www.greenwichworkshop.com/details/default.asp?p=3347&t=1

Isaiah Dorman Moving Robe Woman Little Bighorn Battle Social Studies/History

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• The Powder River County examiner and the Broadus independent. (Broadus, Mont.), 28 Oct. 1921. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress. <https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84036256/1921-10-28/ed-1/seq-7/>

This newspaper was published in 1921, recounting the fight at Little Bighorn.

Teaching Notes

The ‘Map’ (Wowapi) of Tatanka Wajina (One Bull) … an article submitted by Welch to the National Geographic Society, 1934.

https://www.welchdakotapapers.com/2011/11/little-big-horn-survivors-talk-to-welch/#one-bulls-and-white-bulls-pictographic

Teaching Notes

Cheyenne chiefs in council on the 50th anniversary of the Battle of Little Bighorn, July 26, 1926. MS 165 Thomas Marquis Native American Nitrate Negative Collection. PN.165.1.24

This website is connected to the Buffalo Bill Center of the West. Little Bighorn Battle Buffalo Bill Center of the West Cheyenne Thomas Marquis Social Studies/History

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Pictures and explanation about the Stone War Clubs, used by the Plains Indians. Stone War Clubs Little Bighorn Battle

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This is a pdf from the magazine "Points West" Summer 2001.  On page 17 there is a photograph ow Wooden Legs depicting an event from Custer's Battle.  The original photograph is in the Buffalo Bill Museum - Center of the West.

Buffalo Bill Museum Wooden Leg Little Bighorn Battle Social Studies/History

Teaching Notes

Billings Gazette June 20, 1910.

Article about the March 1876 Battle

Ledger art shows Wooden Leg rescuing two children when Col. Joseph J. Reynolds' soldiers attacked lodges of Cheyenne on the Powder River in March 1876.

Little Bighorn Battle Wooden Leg Thomas Marquis

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Article talking about Red Horse and his drawing depicting his view of the Little Bighorn Battle.

Little Bighorn Battle Red Horse Ledger Art

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This postcard is in the MT Memory Project.   https://mtmemory.org/digital/collection/p16013coll91/id/83/

The actual photograph was taken in 1948.

Little Bighorn Battle   Sioux Social Studies/History

Teaching Notes

Teaching Notes: This lesson is an adaptation of a framework created by Martha Kohl at the Montana Historical Society. It provides students the opportunity to examine a visual source and compare it to a piece of text, (primary or secondary source). Students are asked to look at the visual image and the text for a geographical perspective.

Write a reflection Comparing and contrasting the two pieces to gain a deeper understanding. An optional assignment is to have the students answer a writing prompt using the paired texts. This truly becomes a higher-level reading, thinking, and writing activity when you use a paired passage. There are two separate segments to this lesson. One with art questions to look at the visual piece. The second segment looks at the text and visual portion together. This combination creates a complex text.

Article about Daniel Long Soldier (Contemporary artist) https://rapidcityjournal.com/thechadronnews/community/long-soldier-s-paintings-tell-native-american-stories/arti cle_1933fcb8-acab-11e0-9215-001cc4c03286.htm

Social Studies/History Little Bighorn Battle Teaching Strategies Daniel Long Soldier Ledger Art Pairing Pictures and Text

Teaching Notes

Daniel Long Soldier grew up with these family stories.  He is a contemporary ledger artist.  This link takes you to prints that are available for sale that he did of the Battle of the Little Bighorn and Rosebud Battle.   http://www.greenwichworkshop.com/details/default.asp?p=3348&a=342&t=1&page=1&detailtype=artist

Teaching Notes

This paper was written by Dr. Tim Lehman.   He has graciously given permission to include it in this album.

Dr Lehman Tim Lehman Little Bighorn Battle Custer Tim Lehman Bloodshed at Little Bighorn Social Studies/History is also the author of Bloodshed at Little Bighorn.

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This is an interview with Moving Robe Woman.   Moving Robe Woman Battle of Little Bighorn Battle

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Docs Teach is a tool from the National Archives.  https://www.docsteach.org/documents/documents?filter_searchterm=Little+Bighorn+&searchType=all&filterEras=&filterDocTypes=&filter_order=&filter_order_Dir=&rt=kHMEthMgAJdt 

I searched Little Bighorn in Docs Teach.  These are the primary sources I found.

• Telegram Reporting the Battle of Little Bighorn
• First Report of the Battle of the Little Bighorn
• Curley, Crow Indian Scout
• Dull Knife (Chief Morning Star)
• Bloody Knife on Yellowstone Expedition
• Letter from Captain John S. Poland to the Assistant Adjutant General of the Department of Dakota in Saint Paul, Minnesota
• Letter, R. W. Leonard to Adjutant General offering to raise regiment of volunteers to fight the Sioux Indians
• Scene of Gen. Custer's Last Stand
• Fort Laramie Treaty
• Gaul, Sioux Leader
• Gen. and Mrs. George A. Custer
• Sitting Bull (Tatonka-I-Yatanka), a Hunkpapa Sioux

National Archives Docs Teach Little Bighorn Social Studies/History

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Just before the Rosebud Battle.

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This is a webpage sponsored by the Friends of the Little Bighorn Battlefield.

Battle of the Little Bighorn Battle

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This is a one page biographical sketch about Wooden Leg's involvement in both the Rosebud Battle and the Little Bighorn Battle.  

Wooden Leg Rosebud Battle Battle of the Little Bighorn Social Studies/History

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He Dog was a lifelong friend of Crazy Horse. He was born in the spring of 1840 on the headwaters of the Cheyenne River near the Black Hills. He Dog was the son of a headman named Black Stone and his wife, Blue Clay, was a sister of Red Cloud. He Dog and his brothers formed a small Oglala Lakota band known as the Soreback Band which was closely associated with Red Cloud's Bad Face Band of Oglala. As he achieved warrior status, participating in many fights with neighboring tribes, he eventually became a leader of Red Cloud's Bad Face band. He Dog participated in all of the major fights with the U. S. army during the Sioux War of 1876-1877.

He Dog Crazy Horse Sioux Rosebud Battle Little Bighorn Battle

Teaching Notes

US 7^th Cavalry

• Major Marcus Reno
• Captain Frederick Benteen
• Captain Myles Keogh
• Captain Tom Custer
• Doctor Henry Porter
• Charley Reynolds
• Isaiah Dorman

American Indians

• Rain-in-the-Face
• Crazy Horse
• Lame White Man
• Gall
• White Bull
• Wooden Leg
• He Dog

Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument Social Studies/History

Teaching Notes

In 1876, the Lakota, Cheyenne, and Arapaho people defended their sovereignty, their land, and their lives against the United States. The Rosebud and Little Bighorn battles proved the tribes’ military strength but ultimately contributed to tragic consequences for the victors. A young Cheyenne mother, Buffalo Calf Road Woman, fought alongside her brother and husband at both battles in defense of Cheyenne freedom.

Women Warriors Buffalo Calf Road Woman Cheyenne Rosebud Battle Little Bighorn Battle Biographical Sketch

Teaching Notes

"A Northern Cheyenne Album" photos and interview by Thomas B Marquis. Original captions by Wooden Leg.  Historical context by Margot Liberty.

Dr Thomas Marquis photographed and interviewed many of the warriors who fought at the Little Bighorn.

https://billingsgazette.com/news/features/magazine/american-indian-images/article_7879faa3-6215-52d0-a2f4-731c6c04a064.html

Margot Liberty Thomas B. Marquis Cheyenne Wooden Leg Little Bighorn Battle

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Gravestone marker taken 1877.

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Article from National Archives Prologue magazine about searching records for information on Indian Scouts 1866-1914.

Indian Scouts US Army National Archives Social Studies/History

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Smithsonian article by Thomas Powers.  Gives account from native perspective.

Thomas Poweres Smithsonian Little Bighorn Battle

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"One hundred and forty-one years ago, from the evening of June 25, 1876, to dusk on the 26th, General Armstrong Custer and his troops engaged in battle with the Sioux and Cheyenne at the Battle of Little Bighorn in Montana Territory.  As was often the case from the colonial through the expansion eras, Native Americans aligned on both sides of the battle; although in this case, only a few Army Scouts were involved with Custer."

Native Warriors Indian Scouts National Archives Little Bighorn Battl

Teaching Notes

I was a Sioux chief in the council lodge. My lodge was pitched in the center of the camp. The day of the attack I and four women were a short distance from the camp digging wild turnips. Suddenly one of the women attracted my attention to a cloud of dust rising a short distance from camp. I soon saw that the soldiers were charging the camp. To the camp I and the women ran. When I arrived a person told me to hurry to the council lodge. The soldiers charged so quickly we could not talk (council). We came out of the council lodge and talked in all directions. The Sioux mount horses, take guns, and go fight the soldiers. Women and children mount horses and go, meaning to get out of the way.

https://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/resources/archives/six/bighorn.htm

Little Bighorn Battle PBS Red Horse

Teaching Notes

Marcus Kellogg, a journalist traveling with Custer’s 7th Cavalry, files one of his last dispatches before being killed at the Battle of the Little Big Horn.

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Crooks Column - 

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Custer's Last Battlefield.  

Social Studies/History Calhoun Custer Reno

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Civilian comments.  Looks at how civilians were responding to the battle.

Social Studies/History

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https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/94506170/

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Wolf Mountain Campaign   https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/94501468/

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Sitting Bull

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Portrait of Chief Gall Chief Gall Social Studies/History

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https://education.blogs.archives.gov/2017/06/25/little-bighorn/

• Copy of General Alfred Terry’s telegram reporting the Battle of the Little Bighorn, June 25, 1876, and the defeat of Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer.
• First Report of the Battle of the Little Bighorn, From Gen. Alfred H. Terry, Montana, to Assistant Adjutant General R.C. Drum, Chicago June 27, 1876

Photos

• Dull Knife
• Gaul (Gall)
• Curley (Crow)
• Bloody Knife (Sioux & Ree)

National Archives Indian Warriors Little Bighorn Battle

Teaching Notes

National Archives -  Primary Source about  Chief Gall   https://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2008/fall/gall.html

Chief Gall

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Nov fight with Mckenzie.  Chief Dull Knife (Cheyenne) is mentioned.

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General John Gibbon also wrote the book"The 1876 Yellowstone Expedition: Catastrophe at the Little Bighorn"

John Gibbon Social Studies/History

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• Bismarck daily tribune. (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]), 30 March 1910. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress. <https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85042242/1910-03-30/ed-1/seq-6/>

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How the battle was reported.  Compare these reports with contemporary battles.  How are they the same and different?

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Sitting Bull and Great Sioux War

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Articles on the Reno court of inquiry. 

  Major Reno Social Studies/History Custer Little Bighorn Battle

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Coverage told from anglo perspective.

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General Terry

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Far West Steamboat 

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Background of the song Garryowen.  

Conjecture about how it came to be chosen for the 7th Cavalry. (1) Custer's knowledge of it in the Civil War (2) Captain Miles Keogh, an Irishman and a former member of the Papal Guard.  The song's connection with the 7th seems to predate Keogh.

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Bismarck Tribune - reported fallen officers including Lt Miles Keogh.

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General information about travel, transportation and steamboats.

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Wendy Red Star is a gifted artist, she is a member of the Crow tribe.  

I am also including a link to another interview where she took historic pictures of Crow Leaders and reproduced them and then added biographical information to the photos.

I have used this strategy with other students with great success.  It especially works well with students who struggle with writing.

https://aperture.org/blog/wendy-red-star/

https://www.missoulaartmuseum.org/files/files/Art%20In%20America%20Interview%20with%20Wendy%20Red%20Star_Nov%208%202017.pdf 

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Controversy:  Did he really kill Custer?

Custer Little Bighorn Battle Sioux Social Studies/History

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Involved in the Rosebud Battle.

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Article written by Nancy McClure (Buffalo Bill Center of the West)

Crow warrior and Army Scout White Swan was one of six scouts serving under the command of Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer during the two days of the Battle of Little Bighorn, June 25–26, 1876. White Swan was 25 years old when he fought alongside U.S. Army troops and Crow and Arikara scouts during Major Marcus Reno’s attack of the Indian camps near the Little Bighorn River. What occurred in the river valley and on the bluffs above—an unprecedented defeat of large and well-armed regiments of Army soldiers and their leaders—would change White Swan’s life, as well as American history. Because White Swan was an Army scout, military records documented his wounds. He was shot in the right hand, right knee, and thigh, and was struck in the head by a Sioux warrior’s weapon, rendering him deaf and mute for the rest of his life. In the tradition of male Indian warriors and artists, White Swan recorded this and other momentous battles from his lifetime in a complex narrative, filled with movement and violence. The muslin became the voice and words for his graphic memories. 

Buffalo Bill Center of the West White Swan Little Bighorn Battle Crow Scout Ledger Art   https://centerofthewest.org/2018/03/01/treasures-white-swan-muslin/

Teaching Notes

This is an example of Wendy Red Star's work.  https://aperture.org/blog/wendy-red-star/   This inspired a teaching strategy to get students to take biographical information and annotate a photo of the person.  This also helps students summarize.

Wendy Red Star Medicine Crow Teaching Strategy Little Bighorn, album Social Studies/History English/Language Arts

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Description of the mourning and loss of the soldiers from the white community.

This would also be a good place to use the Harvard Project Zero Strategy - Circle of Viewpoints   http://www.pz.harvard.edu/resources/circle-of-viewpoints-vt

Social Studies/History Battle of the Little Bighorn

Teaching Notes

This would be a good picture to pair with the newspaper  https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn93063916/1911-01-03/ed-1/seq-3/#date1=1789&index=5&rows=20&words=battle+Bighorn+Little&searchType=basic&sequence=0&state=&date2=1963&proxtext=Little+Bighorn+Battle&y=0&x=0&dateFilterType=yearRange&page=1   

The Daytona daily news., January 03, 1911, Image 3  This is a secondary source as it was published in 1911.

Teaching Notes

Mary Crawley, a Sioux Woman who fought in the Little Bighorn Battle is interviewed.

Published  The Dillon Examiner (Dillon, Mont.), 30 Sept. 1925, located at <http://montananewspapers.org/lccn/sn85053034/1925-09-30/ed-1/seq-9/>, image provided by MONTANA NEWSPAPERS, Montana Historical Society, Helena, Montana.

Also she excerpt about the "Moving Robe Woman" (Mary Crawley) from the book "Lakota Recollections of the Custer Fight: New Sources of Indian - Military History; compiled and edited by Richard G. Hardorff. Moving Robe Woman Mary Crawley Little Bighorn Battle

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Photo and article https://www.geni.com/people/Moving-Robe-Woman-T%C8%9Fa%C5%A1%C3%ADna-M%C3%A1ni/6000000031182145889 Mary Crawley Moving Robe Woman