MEMORIES FROM THE RIVER FIGHT
t dawn on Nov. 27, 1868, along the banks of the Washita River in western Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma), Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer led 7th U.S. Cavalry troopers and Osage scouts against the Southern Cheyenne village of Chief Black Kettle. The attack came in response to bloody raids against white settlers by young Cheyenne warriors. Though Custer lost 21 soldiers killed and 13 wounded, he prevailed on the field, restored his reputation as a fighting man and succeeded in
