JULY 26: Last Stand Hill Memorial Erected

In July 1881, a 14-foot tall granite obelisk, a memorial to the 7th Cavalry, is erected on Last Stand Hill by the War Department. The remains of soldiers buried on the field in the aftermath of the Battle of Little Bighorn (June 25-26, 1876) were collected and reinterred in a mass grave around the base of the memorial.

In 1890, Army personnel erected more than 240 white marble markers at the location of the fallen 7th Cavalrymen.

The remains of George Armstrong Custer were reinterred at the cemetery at West Point in New York on Oct. 10, 1877. The remains of Custer’s brother Tom, a two-time Medal of Honor recipient, were reinterred at Fort Leavenworth National Cemetery, Kansas that same year.

Capt. Thomas Ward Custer (1845-1876.) (Credit: Library of Congress)