House OKs New Name for Custer Battlefield Site

The House on Monday voted to take Gen. George Armstrong Custer’s name off the Montana site where he and his troops died in battle 115 years ago.

“It’s now time to tell the world that we made a mistake in denying American Indians equal and fair honor on the battlefield,” said Rep. Ben Nighthorse Campbell (D-Colo.), who said his great-grandfather fought there. Campbell is the only American Indian member of Congress.

The bill, approved by voice vote, would change the name of the Custer Battlefield National Monument to the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument. It would also set up a process for building a memorial there to the American Indians who died.

The cemetery containing the U.S. Army soldiers who died on Last Stand Hill would be named the Custer National Cemetery.

Custer and 263 soldiers died in the 1876 battle with an overwhelming force of Plains Indians, mostly Sioux and Cheyenne.

Only Rep. John D. Dingell (D-Mich.) spoke against the bill. He said the measure “makes it appear (the soldiers’) behavior was improper” when they “served their nation right to the last moment of their lives.”

The bill was sent to the Senate, which approved similar legislation last year. The White House has indicated that President Bush would sign it.