Friday, June 25, 2010

The Associated Press: Mich. museum's Little Bighorn flag for sale in NYC


Little Big Horn Battlefield, Montana

The Associated Press: Mich. museum's Little Bighorn flag for sale in NYC

This iconic Plains battle took place in Montana.

Previously, Custer led scientific exploration missions in South Dakota's Black Hills, where a State Park bears his name today.

The Army was first deployed to enforce treaty provisions, keeping white settlers out of Tribal land (including the Hills). But when gold was discovered, the government changed the mission and called on the military to move the Tribes out.

Little Big Horn was a tactical victory but a strategic defeat for the Plains Tribes. Screaming headlines and sensationalized news created a public outcry and justified the government's ultimate destruction of the Tribes' lifestyle.

Before heading west, Custer played a significant role in the Civil War, his notoriously reckless flair giving the Union cavalry a fighting chance against the generally superior Confederate horsemen.

After his death, he became a mythic hero. In recent decades, of course, he has been remythologized as a genocidal madman (a nice way for DC politics and journalism to disown their cold blooded and racist policies and lies).

Like Davy Crockett, Wild Bill Hickok and other larger than life figures, Custer was something of an aging rock star who met his end out on a final, edgy tour.

2 comments:

Scott said...

It would be great of a benefactor would purchase it and donate it to the museum at the Little Bighorn.

TLF+ said...

That would be ideal, Scott. I hope that's the outcome.