AUG 10: Fire Consumes Battlefield

Approximately 600 acres of Little Bighorn Battlefield Monument were consumed by fire on Aug. 10, 1983. (Credit: Friends of the Little Bighorn Battlefield)

On this date in 1983, a burning cigarette tossed by a careless motorist ignites an intense grass fire that burns across 600 acres of land at the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument in Montana. (About 90 percent of the monument’s total acreage.)

According to Friends of the Little Bighorn Battlefield, the fire consumed all the grass, yucca, and Big Sage on the property. The Visitor Center and Custer Battlefield National Cemetery were saved “due to the diligent work by the National Park Service (NPS) staff.”

“The fire exposed the ground along with battle related cartridges, bullets, and other artifacts,” Friends of the Little Bighorn Battlefield wrote. “The NPS decided to take advantage of the situation and conduct archeological digs the following summer as well as 1985, 1989, 1994, 2004, and 2010. As a result, ideas about what happened during the Custer fight (June 25,1876) have changed.”