History re-enacted at Custer's Last Stand in Hardin, Montana

Custer’s Seventh Cavalry will ride again this summer near Hardin as Indian warriors gather to protect their homelands -- four times in three days.
The annual Custer’s Last Stand Reenactment, a spectacular outdoor pageant sponsored each summer by the Hardin Chamber of Commerce.

The hour-long performance features a narrative written by Crow tribal historian Dr. Joe Medicine Crow and takes a look at the infamous battle, and events leading up to it, through the eyes of the Native American people.

Battle of the Little Bighorn in Hardin, MT

Beginning with Lewis & Clark and the mountain men’s first excursions into Indian territory, more than 200 performers will play out the drama that spanned nearly a century of American history.

Painted horses, the sounds of battle cries fom the prairie and the stuggle to stop White settlement in the Montana Territory are played out during Custer's Last Stand Re-enactment each year near Hardin, Montana. The annual re-enactment is based on the story of Crow Tribal Historian Joe Medicine Crow. The performance retraces early Montana history and Custer's battle from the Native American point of view. It was June 25, 1876 when Plains Indiains gathered in large numbers and destroyed Custer and his much smaller cavalry.

On the day of the actual battle, an overconfident Custer told his men: "Hold your horses in boys, there are plenty of them down there for all of us."

While visitors watch from bleachers, pioneers in covered wagons will make
their way across the placid fields, the children running and playing next
to the wagon train as it rolls its way westward. In the distance, tipis stand bright against the sky, and Indian children play in their village. The scene is pastoral... until violence erupts between settlers and natives.

The pioneers flee on foot and in wagons as the Indian warriors arrive on the scene.
The event culminates with the retelling of the Battle of the Little Bighorn -- Custer’s Last Stand. Indian warriors in vivid war paint gallop across the battlefield to meet the blue-clad cavalry in a swirling melee of horses. Gunshots echo across the field, and the cries of the warriors send shivers up the spines of spectators. When the dust settles, Custer’s troops have been defeated -- there are no survivors.

The re-enactment has been performed each year since 1990 and is part of the Hardin Chamber of Commerce's Little Bighorn Days. Go to * www.custerslaststand.org.

INFO

The reenactment takes place 6 miles west of Hardin off Highway 87. Tickets are available by calling the Hardin Chamber office at 888-450 3577.