Custer's Last Stand: Hero or Fool?

What this episode covers

The Battle of the Little Bighorn is one of the most famous and most misunderstood events in American history. On June 25, 1876, Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer and roughly 210 men of his immediate command were wiped out along a ridge in southeastern Montana by a massive village of Lakota, Northern Cheyenne, and Arapaho fighting under Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse. But how did Custer really die? Did he go down fighting, was he killed trying to reach the river, or did he take his own life to avoid capture? And did the warriors who killed him even know who he was? Also discussed is the entire chain of events that led to Custer's Last Stand, from the Lakota claim to the sacred Black Hills and the broken Fort Laramie treaties, through Sand Creek, Red Cloud's War, and the Black Hills gold rush, to the three-column campaign of 1876.   00:00:00 Introduction
 00:00:39 The Lakota and the Black Hills
 00:03:51 Sand Creek and Red Cloud's War
 00:06:25 The Black Hills Gold Rush
 00:09:56 The 1876 Campaign Begins
 00:22:34 The Battle Begins: Reno's Charge
 00:28:30 Custer's Last Stand
 00:36:25 How Did Custer Really Die?   Check out the website! https://www.wildwestextra.com/   Email me! https://www.wildwestextra.com/contact/   Free Newsletter! https://wildwestjosh.substack.com/   Buy Me A Coffee!  https://buymeacoffee.com/wildwest   Join Patreon for ad-free bonus content! https://www.patreon.com/wildwestextra   Merch! https://wildwestextramerch.com/   Wooden Leg Part 1 - https://www.wildwestextra.com/wooden-leg-the-battle-of-little-bighorn/   Wooden Leg Part 2 - https://open.spotify.com/episode/1yiQvAJE0q7ODJN3cBl8GU? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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