The Battle of Greasy Grass/ Battle of Little Big Horn/ Custer’s Last Stand had a great influence regarding the tide of Native resistance in the West as it was such a devastating, humiliating loss for the American government. The American government had long gotten into the habit of not honoring treaties or changing key points whenever it suited them, thinking for some reason that the Natives would either roll over and take it or be no match for American forces to fight back. This battle, taking place during the country’s first centennial ended in complete Lakota, Northern Cheyenne, and Arapaho victory as they not only wiped out the entire calvary that was encroaching on the area and had planned to invade the sacred Black Hills for rumored gold (such circumstances also caused The Modoc War and Nez Perce War), but also by taking down of a (at the time) beloved general and proclaimed “Indian fighter,” General George A. Custer served as further humiliation. While it was a great victory for the Native people allied in this conflict, unfortunately the message that should have been received by American settlers, prospectors, and the government itself was twisted. The way this event was being portrayed as a massacre led to the depiction of Native peoples as ruthless and savage, with American attitudes being propagandized in works such as F. Otto Becker’s Custer’s Last Fight where the Americans are portrayed as the sympathetic figures being shot, clubbed, and scalped and the Native Americans depicted as the sole perpetrators2 . This conflict had the opportunity to have otherwise been a wake up call to live and let live rather than inspiration for “taking care of the Native problem” through destructive means as retaliation. I think The Battle of Greasy Grass probably gave hope to Native resistance in that when these different groups unite under a common interest they have the ability to challenge their oppressors, but dually it led to the American government’s “big picture” being to eradicate its Native peoples and put a bigger target on their backs that manifests bloodily in years to come.