Item Number JLGt069
- Matte print on photographic paper
- 10-3/4" X 13-3/4" actual photo size
- 1-3/4" soft white matte (all around)
- 2-3/4" rustic/finished pine wood frame (all around)
- 19-3/4" X 22-5/8" finished size
- Shipping weight = 6lbs.
- Price = $150.00 (Includes shipping!)
- To purchase, call: (518) 915-4949
Or, send an e-mail to: jeff@jlgardnerphotography.com

Well, on the same day I visited Devil's Tower in the northeast corner of Wyoming, I drove almost all the way across Montana to see the site of Custer's Last Stand - the Little Bighorn Battlefield. It was a beautiful Easter Sunday and late in the afternoon by the time I rolled into the battelfield park. I only had an hour to see the park and take some pictures before the gates closed for the day. Unfortunately, I didn't have time to do and see everything I would have liked to have done while I was there. I did drive from one end of the battlefiled park to the other and read many of the plaques along the road that explained how the battle on that fateful day in 1876 unfolded. I never realized how huge an area or number of combatants were involved in this battle. The park ranger came along in his vehicle and found me about fifteen minutes before the gates were to close for the day. I explained to him that I was visiting from Massachusetts, out in the area for work and may never have the opportunity to see this place again. He said I could take my time but needed to be out of the park by dark, (which gave me about one more hour) and that I should just honk the horn when I pull up to the gate to exit, then he'll come out to open the gate so I can leave. I thanked him for being so understanding, kind and accommodating, then commenced to renew my energies to squeeze everything in. I still didn't have enough time though and want to return one day to hike the hills and see the park in it's entirety.

Here's some inofrmation about the battlefield park and monument from the National Park Service's website: "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., Oglala Lakota Elder

"Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument near Crow Agency, Montana, commemorates one of America's most significant and famous battles, the Battle of the Little Bighorn. Here on June 25 and 26, 1876, two divergent cultures clashed in a life or death struggle."

"Four hundred years of struggle between Euro-Americans and Native Americans culminated on this ground. Like a handful of battles in American history, the defeat of 12 companies of Seventh Cavalry by Lakota (Sioux), Cheyenne, and Arapaho warriors rose beyond its military significance to the level of myth. Thousands of books, magazine articles, performances in f ilm and theater, paintings, and other artistic expressions have memorialized Custer's Last Stand."

"In 1879, the Little Bighorn Battlefield was designated a national cemetery administered by the War Department. In 1881, a memorial was erected on Last Stand Hill, over the mass grave of the Seventh Cavalry soldiers, U.S. Indian Scouts, and other personnel killed in battle. In 1940, jurisdiction of the battlefield was transferred to the National Park Service. These early interpretations were largely mono-cultural, honoring only the U.S. Army's perspective, with headstones marking where each fell."

"The essential irony of the Battle of the Little Bighorn is that the victors lost their nomadic way of life after their victory. Unlike Custer's command, the fallen Lakota and Cheyenne warriors were removed by their families, and "buried" in the Native American tradition, in teepees or tree-scaffolds nearby in the Little Bighorn Valley. The story of the battle from the Native American perspective was largely told through the oral tradition."

"Even so, today, no memorial honors the Native Americans who struggled to preserve and defend their homeland and traditional way of life. Their heroic sacrifice was never formally recognized - until now. In 1991, the U. S. Congress changed the name of the battlefield and ordered the construction of an Indian Memorial. In 1996, the National Park Service - guided by the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument Advisory Committee, made up of members from the Indian nations involved in the battle, historians, artists and landscape architects - conducted a national design competition. In 1997 a winning design was selected."

"Forty Years ago I fought Custer till all were dead. I was then the enemy of the Whitemen. Now I am the friend and brother, living in peace together under the flag of our country." Two Moons, Northern Cheyenne