Custer's Last Stand

On the highway to and from Billings, MT is the Monument of the Battle of Little Bighorn.  I stopped by for a few minutes.  

I somehow absorbed from school and/or popular culture that Custer's Last Stand and the Little Bighorn is famous for being a great loss.  I just never really knew any of the details.  

It turns out Custer is famous for being a particularly brave idiot.  

He was one of several commands sent to clear out the Lakota and Cheyenne Indians that had become a thorn in the side of the Americans.  The Indians apparently had indisputable rights to the land that was being fought over.  But unfortunately for them, gold was discovered in their territory after the treaty had been signed.  

Custer led the 7th Calvary (~600 men) to engage the Indian tribes where they had camped in the crook of The Little Bighorn River.  It's a very bad sign that nobody can figure out what Custer was thinking when he split his men into 3 groups to attack from different directions.  There are apparently several theories, none of which are satisfy historians.  (Maybe I'm  judging harshly because I've been listening to the biography of Douglas McArthur on audiobook during this whole trip). 

The bottom line is that Custer split his men up against a force that outnumbered him and who were put in the position of defending their wives, mothers and children . .  Final result: Custer and ~300 of his men to their famous end overlooking the Little Bighorn River.  It's the only major defeat I know during the war for land between the United States government and the Native Americans.  Maybe that's why it's famous.