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Little Bighorn Battlefield - Part III

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General Custer fell here After destroying Custer's entire battalion, the warriors raced south across the ridges to engage the last remnant of the Seventh Cavalry. Lying flat on the ground, the soldiers formed a perimeter of defense around a natural depression scooped out of the summit of their hilltop refuge. They managed to hold off a determined siege throughout the evening and into the darkness. Many of the spooked men recalled how down in the Indian village there was a celebration of dancing and singing that lasted all night. Desperate cries from captured soldiers who were being tortured below filtered eerily through the hills. Troopers who chose to hide in the timber rather than retreat, somehow worked their way back up to the relative safety of rejoining their comrades. By first light the next morning, the conflict resumed and the remaining 300 or so soldiers continued to hold the high ground. Incredibly, a group of volunteers even snuck down a steep ravine all the ...

Little Bighorn Battlefield - Part II

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Medicine Tail Coulee Ford What happened to General Custer after he separated from Major Reno is one of the great mysteries of the American West. Because there were no survivors from Custer's battalion, the truth will forever elude historians, fanning the flames of controversy that are sparked by the multitude of differing theories. A wealth of information can be gathered from Native American oral history as circulated by the battle's victorious participants, documents containing eyewitness testimony from soldiers who surveyed the battlefield's aftermath and recent archaeological discoveries. By combining the evidence from these three sources, we can get a pretty good feel for what happened concerning Custer's strategy, movement and ultimate demise. The following is how I believe the events of that fateful day may have transpired. While Reno and his men were being chased back to high ground, Custer was dividing his battalion into two wings. Companies C, I and ...

Little Bighorn Battlefield - Part I

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The Little Bighorn River Valley Located in south central Montana, the Little Bighorn Battlefield is a remarkable monument preserving a fascinating piece of American History. Here, General Custer and his battalion of 210 soldiers were massacred by a combined fighting force of Lakota and Cheyenne warriors. What makes this memorial so unique is the scattering of marble markers that pinpoint the exact location of where each of the soldiers were killed. The white headstones' seemingly random arrangement betrays the sobering story they have to tell. Upon approaching the Little Bighorn in early June, the spectacular scenery is as beautiful as any place on earth. Tall, green grass is windswept across the vast prairie of rolling hills that at one time supported thousands of buffalo. Upon reaching the river valley, the terrain becomes more rugged as high bluffs to the east are broken by deep ravines and wide coulees. The serpentine-shaped thread of silver water is narrow, cold and...

Warrior Horsemanship - A Reconnection with Nature

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Common Sense Horsemanship "A horse is a thing of beauty... none will tire of looking at him as long as he displays himself in his splendor." ~ Xenophon circa 360 BC Clinicians Bern and Kay Miller are traversing the panhandle of Nebraska sharing a common sense approach to horse care with all who will listen. Their well-received demonstrations about Warrior Horsemanship are a fascinating blend of art, history and natural horsemanship. A reconnection with nature is the most important aspect of their philosophy and the principles discussed apply not only to the equine but also humanity. "The natural horse clinicians, they're all into working with horses in a natural kind of way: bitless riding, bridleless riding, a lot of ground work, liberty work - where you put the horse at liberty without a rope on him. They believe we need to get back into natural principles." ~ Bern Miller A central theme running through the movement is the assertion that teaching th...