Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument

I don't know about you but I never really understood the real significance of Little Bighorn and Custer's Last Stand until now.
Lee, Sammy, and I visited the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument yesterday.
This monument memorializes one of the last armed efforts of the Northern Plains Indians to preserve their ancestral way of life. Here in the valley of the Little Bighorn River on two hot June days in 1876, more than 260 soldiers and attached personnel of the US Army met defeat and death at the hands of several thousand Lakota and Cheyenne warriors. Among the dead were Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer and every member of his immediate command. Although the Indians won the battle, they subsequently lost the war against the military's efforts to end their independent, nomadic way of life.
At least 100 American Indian men, women, and children died in defense of their families, land, and traditional way of life.
In 1881, the War Department erected a monument to the 7th Calvary, attached civil personnel, and Indian Scouts killed in the battle. The US Army also took custody of the site, controlling access and historic interpretation for decades. In 1940, the jurisdiction of this battlefield was transferred to the National Park Service.
It wasn't until 1991 that the US Congress signed legislation to change the name of the battlefield from Custer Battlefield National Monument to what it is now and ordered construction of a privately funded memorial for the American Indian. The theme of the memorial is "Peace Through Unity".
"If this memorial is to serve its total purpose, it must not only be a tribute to the dead; it must contain a message for the living......power through unity...." Enos Poor Bear, Sr., Ogala Lakota Elder
The battle of the Little Bighorn was another instance of American settlers resuming their vigorous westward movement, possessing little or no understanding of the Indian way of life, showing slight regard for the sanctity of hunting grounds or the terms of former treaties. The Indian's resistance to those encroachments on their domain only served to intensify hostilities. Once again, Lee and I felt incredible sadness about the treatment of the American Indian and for the loss of life on both sides.