Custer's Last Stand- southern Montana

Back in the mid-1980's- I don't remember just which year- I journeyed to Montana to visit Custer National Historical Monument. I had just finished reading an excellent documentary book, Son of the Morning Star, by Evan S. Connell. That well-researched historical account had really whetted my appetite to visit the site, and the day of my visit turned out to be noteworthy in an unexpected way.

Visiting the Monument adequately really takes several hours. By late afternoon, most visitors were leaving, but a small group of us were let in on a little secret by one of the naturalists. The newly-discovered grave of one of the cavalry soldiers was currently under excavation. Back in 1876, within days after the battle, the bodies of soldiers were for the most part buried where they had fallen. A cluster of monuments marked the specific site of the "last stand"; however, many other soldiers fell scattered over an area covering many acres and were left in unmarked graves. It was now in one of the outer-lying parts of the park that the new grave had just been discovered.

Following the naturalist's directions, our small group drove our cars along a narrow road and pulled off at the appointed spot. A short walk took us to the active dig. I don't know who the archaeologists were, but they basically stayed focused on task in their methodical work, ignoring the small group of us onlookers.

The open grave was about a foot deep, and a portion of a crumpled up human skeleton was evident. Most obvious was the exposed lower leg bone with part of a boot still intact on the foot.

As I reluctantly left the park a few minutes later, any doubts as to the significance of what I had witnessed were extinguished when I spotted an USA Today media van in the parking lot. Sure enough, on June 25th of that year (the anniversary of the battle), the cover story of USA Today newspaper featured an article about the Custer Monument, and did make reference to the grave I had seen, but did not include any photos of the grave. I felt pleased to have been at the right place at the right time.