Custer, Montana Custer, Montana Custer is a census-designated place (CDP) in Yellowstone County, Montana, United States. The population was 145 at the 2000 census. This community bears the name of U.S. Army General George Armstrong Custer who was defeated and killed at the Battle of Little Big Horn, which took place nearby in 1876. Custer is located at (46.128870, -107.556302). According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of , all of it land. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Custer has a semi-arid climate, abbreviated "BSk" on climate maps. As of the census of 2000,
Battle of the Little Bighorn In 1805, fur trader Francois Antoine Larocque reported joining a Crow camp in the Yellowstone area. On the way he noted that the Crow hunted buffalo on the "Small Horn River". The US built Fort Raymond in 1807 for trade with the Crow. It was located near the confluence of the Yellowstone and the Bighorn River, about north of the future battlefield. The area is first noted in the 1851 Treaty of Fort Laramie. In the latter half of the 19th century, tensions increased between the Native inhabitants of the Great Plains of the US and encroaching settlers. This resulted