Editing Battle of the Little Bighorn (section)

====Custer at Minneconjou Ford====
[[File:William W. Cooke's "Come quick" message to Frederick Benteen, Battle of the Little Bighorn, June 25, 1876.jpg|thumb|left|Lt. Adjutant William W. Cooke's message conveying Custer's orders to Frederick Benteen, June 25, 1876. Benteen's transcription is at upper right.]]
{{quote box|width=23em|''Hurrah boys, we've got them! We'll finish them up and then go home to our station''.|— Reported words of Lieutenant Colonel Custer at the battle's outset.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=E6t3ODKOQkkC&q=custer+%22We've+got+them.+We'll+finish+them+up+and+then+go+home+to+our+station%22&pg=PA86|title=I fought with Custer by Charles Windolph, Frazier Hunt, Robert Hunt|year=1987|access-date=2012-03-15|isbn= 978-0-8032-9720-3|last1=Windolph|first1=Charles|publisher=U of Nebraska Press}}</ref>}}

Having isolated Reno's force and driven them away from their encampment, the bulk of the native warriors were free to pursue Custer. The route taken by Custer to his "Last Stand" remains a subject of some debate. One possibility is that after ordering Reno to charge, Custer continued down Reno Creek to within about a half-mile (800 m) of the Little Bighorn, but then turned north and followed a ridge towards the bluffs, reaching them near the same spot to which Reno would soon retreat. A half mile farther, he reached the high ground and ridge, near the high point called Weir’s Hill (2500’ above Weir Peaks). From this high pinnacle where the bluff was tight to the river, he could see part of the big village in the valley on the other side. After passing over the high ridge (which connected Weir’s Hill to Sharpshooter’s Hill, sometimes referred to as “Martin’s Ridge”), Custer and his troops descended Cedar Coulee (RCOI figure 8) and into Medicine Tail Coulee. Some historians believe that part of Custer's force descended the coulee, going west to the river and attempting unsuccessfully to cross into the village. According to some accounts, a small contingent of Indian sharpshooters effectively opposed this crossing.

White Cow Bull claimed to have shot a leader wearing a buckskin jacket off his horse in the river. While no other Indian account supports this claim, if White Bull did shoot a buckskin-clad leader off his horse, some historians have argued that Custer may have been seriously wounded by him. Some Indian accounts claim that besides wounding one of the leaders of this advance, a soldier carrying a company [[Guidon (United States)|guidon]] was also hit.<ref>[http://www.astonisher.com/archives/museum/white_cow_bull_little_big_horn.html "White Cow Bull's Story of the Battle of the Little Bighorn #1"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080511210009/http://www.astonisher.com/archives/museum/white_cow_bull_little_big_horn.html|date=May 11, 2008}}.</ref> Troopers had to dismount to help the wounded men back onto their horses.<ref name="michno1997" />{{rp|117–19}} The fact that either of the non-mutilation wounds to Custer's body (a bullet wound below the heart and a shot to the left temple) would have been instantly fatal casts doubt on his being wounded and remounted.<ref>Wert, 1996, p. 355.</ref>

Reports of an attempted fording of the river at Medicine Tail Coulee might explain Custer's purpose for Reno's attack, that is, a coordinated "hammer-and-anvil" maneuver, with Reno's holding the Indians at bay at the southern end of the camp, while Custer drove them against Reno's line from the north. Other historians have noted that if Custer did attempt to cross the river near Medicine Tail Coulee, he may have believed it was the north end of the Indian camp, only to discover that it was the middle. Some Indian accounts, however, place the Northern Cheyenne encampment and the north end of the overall village to the left (and south) of the opposite side of the crossing.<ref name="michno1997" />{{rp|10–20}} The precise location of the north end of the village remains in dispute, however.

[[File:Custer's route over Little Bighorn battlefield.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|Custer's route over battlefield, as theorized by [[Edward S. Curtis|Curtis]]. (Credit: [[Northwestern University Library]] [http://digital.library.northwestern.edu/curtis/ ''Edward S. Curtis's The North American Indian,'' 2003]). ]]
[[File:Custer Battlefield 1908 (bottom).jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|1:5260 of Custer battlefield – surveyed 1891, detailing U.S. soldiers' body locations]]

In 1908, [[Edward S. Curtis|Edward Curtis]], the famed ethnologist and photographer of the Native American Indians, made a detailed personal study of the battle, interviewing many of those who had fought or taken part in it. First, he went over the ground covered by the troops with the three Crow scouts [[White Man Runs Him]], [[Goes Ahead]], and [[Hairy Moccasin]], and then again with [[Two Moons]] and a party of Cheyenne warriors. He also visited the Lakota country and interviewed Red Hawk, "whose recollection of the fight seemed to be particularly clear".<ref name="curtis" />{{rp|44}} Then, he went over the battlefield once more with the three Crow scouts, but also accompanied by General [[Charles Woodruff (general)|Charles Woodruff]] "as I particularly desired that the testimony of these men might be considered by an experienced army officer". Finally, Curtis visited the country of the [[Arikara people|Arikara]] and interviewed the scouts of that tribe who had been with Custer's command.<ref name="curtis" />{{rp|44}} Based on all the information he gathered, Curtis concluded that Custer had indeed ridden down the Medicine Tail Coulee and then towards the river where he probably planned to ford it. However, "the Indians had now discovered him and were gathered closely on the opposite side".<ref name="curtis" />{{rp|48}} They were soon joined by a large force of Sioux who (no longer engaging Reno) rushed down the valley. This was the beginning of their attack on Custer who was forced to turn and head for the hill where he would make his famous "last stand". Thus, wrote Curtis, "Custer made no attack, the whole movement being a retreat".<ref name="curtis" />{{rp|49}}