14. Battle of Little Bighorn (1876)
In June 1876, along Montana’s Little Bighorn River, Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer led the U.S. Seventh Cavalry into a disastrous confrontation against Lakota, Cheyenne, and Arapaho warriors. Under leaders Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse, indigenous forces decisively defeated Custer’s troops, leaving no survivors in what became known as “Custer’s Last Stand.” Though a significant symbolic victory for Native Americans, Little Bighorn galvanized American public opinion, intensifying military campaigns against indigenous peoples. The battle ultimately marked a critical turning point, hastening the brutal conclusion of Native resistance and dramatically shaping the course of westward expansion across the continent.
