History
Custer National Cemetery, located within the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument, has a history deeply intertwined with the Battle of the Little Bighorn. Initially, soldiers who died in service were buried where they fell or in private cemeteries, with families handling arrangements. The Civil War, however, necessitated a change, leading to the establishment of national cemeteries to identify and bury casualties. Custer National Cemetery was established after the battle, with reburials occurring between 1877 and 1881 by troops from nearby Fort Custer. Most identified officers, except Lieutenant John Crittenden, were reinterred elsewhere at their families' request, including General Custer, who was moved to West Point.
To protect the graves, General William Tecumseh Sherman issued General Order No. 78 in 1879, designating part of the Custer Battlefield as a national cemetery. A memorial was erected by 1881, and a trench around its base served as a mass grave for recovered remains. Bones discovered since have been buried as "Unknowns." President Grover Cleveland reconfirmed Sherman's order in 1886, establishing a one-square-mile area for the "National Cemetery of Custer's Battle-field Reservation." Civil engineer W.H. Owen's 1893 survey recommended a 6.91-acre plot, chosen for its ability to encompass existing interments, allow for a superintendent's lodge, and preserve the battlefield's historical integrity.
In 1940, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt transferred the cemetery's management from the War Department to the Department of the Interior. The site was redesignated as Custer National Battlefield six years later, and in 1991, it became Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument to honor all who perished in the battle, with Custer National Cemetery retaining its separate name. Today, the National Park Service administers the cemetery, which closed for new reservations in January 1978, though prior arrangements are still honored.
Landscape and markers
The cemetery is a physical record of the harshness of the frontier. The dates carved into the markers tell a story of brief booms and sudden collapses, of winters that took the young and mining accidents that took the strong. To walk among these graves is to feel the immense weight of the past pressing down on the present landscape.
Who is buried here
The stones here tell the story of the settlement. Brevet Brigadier General Marcus Reno Private Dale Hepler Unknowns (bones discovered since initial reburials)
Visiting
Custer National Cemetery is part of the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument, managed by the National Park Service. It is located near Hardin, Montana, with the nearest town being Crow Agency, Montana. The monument is open year-round, and visitors should check the official NPS website for specific hours. The cemetery is on public land and is well-maintained with rows of white headstones. Visitors can expect to walk among the graves in this solemn place. A visitor center is available at the monument.