Rosebud Battlefield State Park in
Big Horn County, Montana
Big Horn County is a county located in the U.S. state of Montana. As of the 2020 census, the population was 13,124. The county seat is Hardin. The county, like the river and the mountain range, is named after the bighorn sheep in the Rocky Mou ...
preserves a large portion of the battlefield of the
Battle of the Rosebud
The Battle of the Rosebud (also known as the Battle of Rosebud Creek) took place on June 17, 1876, in the Montana Territory between the United States Army and its Crow and Shoshoni allies against a force consisting mostly of Lakota Sioux and Nort ...
, fought on June 17, 1876. The battle is known by various other names such as The Battle Where the Girl Saved Her Brother by the
Northern Cheyenne
The Northern Cheyenne Tribe of the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation ( chy, Tsėhéstáno; formerly named the Tongue River) is the federally recognized Northern Cheyenne tribe. Located in southeastern Montana, the reservation is approximately ...
, and Crook's Fight on the Rosebud. A
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...
, the park is a day use facility offering hiking, hunting, picnicking and wildlife viewing. It is located south of
Kirby, Montana
Kirby was an unincorporated community in Big Horn County, Montana, United States. The community location is at an elevation of . The site is on the west bank of Rosebud Creek. Rosebud Battlefield State Park lies approximately twelve miles south ...
on
Montana Highway 314
Montana () is a U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West List of regions of the United States#Census Bureau-designated regions and divisions, division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North ...
.
Setting
Rosebud Battlefield State Park is located in a rural setting of
Big Horn County, Montana
Big Horn County is a county located in the U.S. state of Montana. As of the 2020 census, the population was 13,124. The county seat is Hardin. The county, like the river and the mountain range, is named after the bighorn sheep in the Rocky Mou ...
, southeast of Billings and just east of the
Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation
The Northern Cheyenne Tribe of the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation ( chy, Tsėhéstáno; formerly named the Tongue River) is the federally recognized Northern Cheyenne tribe. Located in southeastern Montana, the reservation is approximately ...
. It is located west of Montana Highway 314, in an area of rolling prairie characterized by numerous ridges. Immediately to the south of the battlefield is a
mesa
A mesa is an isolated, flat-topped elevation, ridge or hill, which is bounded from all sides by steep escarpments and stands distinctly above a surrounding plain. Mesas characteristically consist of flat-lying soft sedimentary rocks capped by ...
, below which
Rosebud Creek meanders in a generally easterly direction.
The park has an information kiosk and vault toilet at its entrance, and a rough gravel road traverses around the main battlefield area, but is otherwise undeveloped.
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]
History
The Battle of the Rosebud, fought on June 17, 1876, marked a turning point in the Great Sioux War of 1876
The Great Sioux War of 1876, also known as the Black Hills War, was a series of battles and negotiations that occurred in 1876 and 1877 in an alliance of Lakota Sioux and Northern Cheyenne against the United States. The cause of the war was the ...
, in which the United States sought to force Native American tribes in the region onto reservations. United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
forces under the command of General George Crook
George R. Crook (September 8, 1828 – March 21, 1890) was a career United States Army officer, most noted for his distinguished service during the American Civil War and the Indian Wars. During the 1880s, the Apache nicknamed Crook ''Nantan ...
were attacked here by a mixed force of Lakota Sioux and Cheyenne commanded by Crazy Horse
Crazy Horse ( lkt, Tȟašúŋke Witkó, italic=no, , ; 1840 – September 5, 1877) was a Lakota war leader of the Oglala band in the 19th century. He took up arms against the United States federal government to fight against encroachment by wh ...
, stopping an advance that was part of an intended three-pronged movement against Native villages in Bighorn area. Over a six-hour period, the battle extended across a nearly area along Rosebud Creek. It was tactically a stalemate, but Crook failed to make the planned rendezvous and withdrew from the theater of war, ultimately leaving General George Armstrong Custer
George Armstrong Custer (December 5, 1839 – June 25, 1876) was a United States Army officer and cavalry commander in the American Civil War and the American Indian Wars.
Custer graduated from West Point in 1861 at the bottom of his class, b ...
exposed to defeat at the Battle of the Little Bighorn
The Battle of the Little Bighorn, known to the Lakota and other Plains Indians as the Battle of the Greasy Grass, and also commonly referred to as Custer's Last Stand, was an armed engagement between combined forces of the Lakota Sioux, Nor ...
a week later.
The Cheyenne name for the battlefield, "Where The Girl Saved Her Brother", is derived from an incident during the battle, in which Buffalo Calf Road Woman
Buffalo Calf Road Woman, or Brave Woman, (c. 1844 – 1879) was a Northern Cheyenne woman who saved her wounded warrior brother, Chief Comes in Sight, in the Battle of the Rosebud (as it was named by the United States) in 1876. Her rescue helped ...
, a Cheyenne woman, came to the rescue of her brother, Chief Comes in Sight, who was lying wounded on the battlefield. Her act of valor is said to have rallied the Native American forces.
See also
*List of National Historic Landmarks in Montana
The List of National Historic Landmarks in Montana contains the landmarks designated by the U.S. Federal Government for the U.S. state of Montana. There are 28 National Historic Landmarks (NHLs) in Montana.
The United States National Historic La ...
*
References
External links
Rosebud Battlefield State Park
Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks
Rosebud Battlefield State Park Map
Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks
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National Historic Landmarks in Montana
Protected areas of Big Horn County, Montana
State parks of Montana
Conflict sites on the National Register of Historic Places in Montana
National Register of Historic Places in Big Horn County, Montana
Great Sioux War of 1876
1876 in Montana Territory