Rosebud Creek

In June 1876, the columns of General John Gibbon and Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer, both under command of General Alfred Terry, met near here at the mouth of Rosebud Creek aboard the steamer Far West. They were under orders to locate and attack the Lakota, Northern Cheyenne, and Arapaho Indians and force them back onto their reservations. Terry ordered Custer to lead the Seventh Cavalry up Rosebud Creek and follow a fresh Indian trail which had been found by a scouting party under Major Marcus Reno. Terry and Gibbon were to proceed to the mouth of the Big Horn River and follow that stream up to the valley of the Little Bighorn where they believed the Indians would be found. Custer was expected to contact Gibbon and the two columns would cooperate in an attack. As Custer left the Far West, Gibbon told Custer not to be greedy and save a few Indians for the rest of them. Three days after the meeting, on June 25th, Custer reached and attacked the Indian camp on the Little Bighorn. Thousands of Indian warriors annihilated the 210 men under Custer’s command. Although badly mauled, Major Reno and Captain Benteen’s command survived the battle.