The Seventh Cavalry Memorial is part of a larger historic site known as the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument. The site as a whole pays homage to some of the most iconic figures in the history of the American West, such as George Armstrong Custer, Sitting Bull, and Crazy Horse, all of whom fought in the Battle of the Little Bighorn. The battle took place on June 25, 1876 between twelve companies of the U.S. Seventh Cavalry and several thousand warriors from the Lakota Sioux, Cheyenne, and Arapaho tribes. Though they experienced their own casualties on the battlefield, the Native Americans ultimately defeated Custer and the Seventh Cavalry after killing 263 soldiers, including Custer himself.

The Seventh Cavalry Memorial is a granite obelisk that commemorates Custer and the men who died alongside him at the Battle of Little Bighorn. The U.S. government constructed the obelisk over the Seventh Cavalry’s mass grave in 1881 to honor the men perceived as “heroes” by many Americans of the time. However, the battle has since become a controversial topic for historians as well as the American public. Most of the controversy stems from the way in which past historians portrayed Custer and his men as “heroes” or victims of Native American savagery, without acknowledging that the Native warriors were defending their way of life. In order to correct this biased portrayal of the battle’s history, the site has since incorporated an Indian Memorial that lies adjacent to the Seventh Cavalry Memorial and commemorates the Native American warriors who perished on the field of battle along with the Seventh Cavalry.

Researched, written, and narrated by University of West Florida Public History Student Ashley Goethe.