Last updated: August 22, 2021
Place
1883 Monument
NPS photo
Quick Facts
Location:
The monument is located along the 1.2 mile round trip siege trail.
Amenities
1 listed
Benches/Seating
Soldier/Civilian Volunteer Monument In 1883, six years after the Battle of the Big Hole, a 6-ton granite monument was placed on the battlefield to remember and honor the officers and soldiers of the 7 th US Infantry and the civilian volunteers who had fought and died during the battle. In 1882 Secretary of War Robert T. Lincoln authorized the building and erection of the monument and the stone was cut in Concord, New Hampshire. On three sides there are inscriptions carved into the stone including the names of the fallen.
The monument was transported by train to Dillon, Montana and brought the rest of the way to the battlefield in a wagon pulled by oxen. A detachment of soldiers under the supervision of First Lieutenant J.P. Thompson of the Third US Infantry Regiment out of Missoula, Montana would put the monument in place.
In the ensuing years the monument would see vandalism from souvenir and relic seekers and in 1909 a wrought iron steel fence was placed around it to protect it. In 1967 the fence was taken down and the monument still stands in the Siege Area.
The monument was transported by train to Dillon, Montana and brought the rest of the way to the battlefield in a wagon pulled by oxen. A detachment of soldiers under the supervision of First Lieutenant J.P. Thompson of the Third US Infantry Regiment out of Missoula, Montana would put the monument in place.
In the ensuing years the monument would see vandalism from souvenir and relic seekers and in 1909 a wrought iron steel fence was placed around it to protect it. In 1967 the fence was taken down and the monument still stands in the Siege Area.