Hi everyone! We are back from our trip to Nebraska. Jacks show was great. Sara and Layla were wonderful as Fiona at different ages. JJ was Mr. Spotlight and hit his cues. All in all it was a great time.
On this trip we passed by the Little Bighorn Battlefield twice. The anniversary of the battle is June 25, 1876. I encourage you to visit if you get out this way and if you can do it during the anniversary you will be in for a treat. There are re-enactments, the tribes will do special activities (The Cheyenne do a charge on horseback that will give you chills) and the group I belonged to, Friends of the Little Bighorn will give helpful talks at various places. A new visitors center is being built and that should be amazing. Go to the official website run by the government for more info. Since it is the anniversary I decided to rerun one of my two pieces on on the battle that are from my perspective. Hope you like it.
Sunday, June 25th is the anniversary of the Little Bighorn battle where George Custer, commander of the 7th Calvary, and his battalion were destroyed by the massed forces of the Lakota, Cheyenne and other tribes. The rest of Custer’s command survived, having the good fortune of being relieved by reinforcements while the tribes dispersed out onto the northern plains. They had won a great victory but little did they know it signaled the beginning of the end of their way of life.
I wrote a piece for Montana Historian a few years ago about a troop farrier who is mostly forgotten because we focus on the major players like Custer, Sitting Bull, and Crazy Horse. It was one of my more popular articles at the time. I hope you enjoy it. Click on the link below.
If you ever get the chance to come to the battlefield you should try for the 25th of June. The tribes will be there celebrating their victory. There will be lectures and reenactments. You can look up schedules of events online.
Enjoy:
https://www.montanahistorian.com/vincent-charley-farrier-troop-d-7th-cavalry/
Uncle John! So good to see you and the family. You make us proud to be an O’Connell.