Crow tribal members portraying Sioux and Cheyenne warriors cross the Little Bighorn River with the American and 7th Cavalry flags after defeating Gen. Custer in the Real Bird Battle of the Little Bighorn Reenactment Friday. (Casey Riffe/Billings Gazette)

The Battle of the Little Bighorn is known around the world.

On Friday afternoon, about 500 people from as far away as England came to the Real Bird Ranch, adjacent to the Little Bighorn Battle Monument, north of Garryowen, to see the battle for themselves. The Real Birds, members of the Crow Tribe, have put on the re-enactment for about 17 years.

Visitors sat in bleachers overlooking the Medicine Trail Coulee, near where Lt. Col. George Custer and the 7th Cavalry met decisive defeat on June 25, 1876. The brown Bighorn River drifted along lazily in the background.http://buffalopost.net/wp-admin/post-new.php

Authenticity is critical to the success of the re-enactment of the battle, said Ken Real Bird. Members of the cavalry wear uniforms and use firearms similar to the ones fired in the battle.

Those who portray the Cheyenne and Sioux warriors are only permitted to wear breechcloths and moccasins. Most paint themselves and their horses with symbols of red, white, yellow and black.

Between 70 and 80 people re-enact the roles of the soldiers, the warriors and tribal members. Friday’s presentatoin of the battle was choreographed by retired Lt. Col. Bobby Jolley, from Fort Lewis, Wash.

Steve Alexander, from Monroe, Mich., portrayed Custer. Frank Knows His Gun, a member of the Ogallala Sioux Tribe, portrayed Crazy Horse.

Want more? There’s a whole photo array, a schedule of events, and of course the rest of this most excellent story. Click here.

Gwen Florio

Tags: 7th Cavalry, Apsaalooke, Battle of the Little Bighorn, Bighorn River, buffalo post, Cheyenne Tribe, Crazy Horse, Crow Tribe, Garryowen, Gwen Florio, Little Bighorn Battle re-enactment, Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer, Medicine Traile Coulee, Native American history, Oglala Sioux Tribe, Real Bird Ranch

Historic markers tell the story of the Rosebud Battle. (Bob Zellar/Billings Gazette)

The Rosebud Battlefield in southern Montana is now par with Wounded Knee, the Alamo and Mount Vernon in terms of National Historic Landmark status.

This week, a celebration on the 134th anniversary of the historic battle there between an alliance of Oglala Sioux and Cheyenne against the U.S. Army, marked that status. Lorna Thackeray of the Billings Gazette writes about it here.

The drum group Last Bear played and sang at the celebration for the Rosebud Battlefield. (Bob Zellar/Billings Gazette)

Estimates of the Sioux and Cheyenne force ranged between 1,000 and 1,500 warriors. The battle raged through six hours with soldiers and Indians advancing and retreating over the battlefield.

The Cheyenne call the battle site Kase’eetsevo’ – Where the Girl Saved Her Brother. The name comes from the actions of Buffalo Calf Trail Woman, who rescued her brother, Chief Comes In Sight, when his horse was shot out from under him.

By 2:30 that afternoon, with no clear victory for either side, the battle wound down. Crook lost 10 men and 21 more were wounded. The Sioux lost about 25 warriors and one Cheyenne was killed. Crazy Horse estimated the wounded at 63.

The major result was that [Gen. George] Crook withdrew his column to Wyoming, spoiling the government’s plan for a three-pronged assault.

A week later, and about 30 miles away, the same alliance of Sioux and Cheyenne were camped along the Little Bighorn River when Lt. Col. George Custer ordered an attack.

As William Walks Along, a member of the Northern Cheyenne’s Rosebud and Wolf Mountain National Historic Landmark Committee, told the people at this week’s ceremony, “events like this anchor me to the Earth.”

Thackeray recounts his comments that such sits have to be preserved so future generations will know their history.

“It is our duty,” Walks Along said.

Tags: Buffalo Calf Trail Woman, Chief Comes In Sight, Crazy Horse, Gen. George Crook, Gwen Florio, Kase'eetsevo', Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer, National Historic Landmark, Native American news, Northern Cheyenne, Oglala Sioux, Rosebud Battlefield, The Alamo, William Walks Along, Wounded Knee

The early stages of the Crazy Horse Memorial in Crazy Horse, S.D. (Rapid City Journal)

Officials at Crazy Horse Memorial north of Custer plan one of the largest blasts in the history of the project.

While work continues on the horse’s head, Wednesday’s blast will remove 4,362 tons from an area called the 300 bench. The 300 bench represents work being done 300 feet below the top of Crazy Horse’s head, according to a news release from the memorial. The blast is planned for 2 p.m.

While blast work is common at the enormous sculpture, blasts of this magnitude are very unusual. According to Crazy Horse officials, the 4,362 tons is the equivalent of 363 dump truck loads of rock.

For more information, call (605) 673-4681 or go to the memorial’s Weg site, here.

And, um, stand clear. There is, of course, debate over the propriety of the memorial, given that Crazy Horse refused to let his image be captured. (Maybe the pile of rock in that photo looks like him, but maybe not. I gotta say, it makes me a little hinky even to run the photo.)

There was some chatter during the recent Sturgis, S.D., motorcycle rally when Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler took a tumble from the stage, breaking his shoulder. Said stage just happened to be near Bear Butte, a site sacred to Native people, who have have gathered in recent years to protest the noise, loud music and drinking associated with the rally. I’ll probably get in trouble for saying this, but it just makes me nervous to mess with this stuff. You know?

Gwen Florio

Tags: Add new tag, Aerosmith, buffalo post, Crazy Horse, Crazy Horse Memorial, Native American news, Steven Tyler, Sturgis motorcycle rally