Two unnamed cavalrymen are memorialized here, below the hill where Custer made his last stand. Until fairly recently, there were no similar monuments to the Native Americans who won the battle. Now there are several, naming the heroes who defended their village, wives and children here from the cavalry attack. Custer intended on burning the village and likely was trying to take women and children hostage when he overextended his forces to this hill. The natives were surprised by the attack, and while this was their greatest and last victory over better armed US troops, it must be recognized as essentially a defensive act in response to US military aggression.

Seeing the landscape helps understand what went wrong. Custer split his forces, sending some towards the far south end of the village as he approached the north. Underestimating the size of the village both physically and in number of warriors and underestimating how fiercely they would fight back, he spread his forces thinly in order to prevent natives from escaping. He sent word to his other troops to join him thinking that he had found the village, not realizing that they had also found the village at the other end two miles away. His cavalry would have been visible on the ridge, while the natives would be hiding in the grasses & creek beds that allowed them to slowly climb the ridge. Urged on by Crazy Horse, White Bull and other chiefs, the natives stopped the US advance, kept the troops separated and eventually took the hill as Custer ran out of ammunition.