Battle of the Little Bighorn river and were captured and almost killed by the Lakota who believed the hunters were scouts for the U.S. Army. Two Moon, a Northern Cheyenne leader, interceded to save their lives. The 7th Cavalry was accompanied by a number of scouts and interpreters: Native Americans United States Army, Lieutenant Colonel George A. Custer, 7th United States Cavalry Regiment, Commanding. Estimates of Native American casualties have differed widely, from as few as 36 dead (from Native American listings of the dead by name) to as many as 300. Lakota chief Red Horse told Col. W. H. Wood in 1877 that the
Battle of the Little Bighorn gone, and the mysterious yellow bulldog is gone, which means that in a sense the legend is true. Comanche alone survived. The site of the battle was first preserved as a United States national cemetery in 1879 to protect the graves of the 7th Cavalry troopers. In 1946, it was re-designated as the "Custer Battlefield National Monument", reflecting its association with Custer. In 1967, Major Marcus Reno was re-interred in the cemetery with honors, including an eleven-gun salute. Beginning in the early 1970s, there was concern within the National Park Service over the name Custer Battlefield National Monument failing to