Last Stand at Little Big Horn pt1 - Custer's flag sells for $2.2 million

Custer battle flag sells for 2.2 million dollars

Washington - A flag flown by George Armstrong Custer's ill- fated battalion at the Battle of Little Bighorn fetched 2.2 million dollars at auction Friday.

The battered, blood-stained guidon was bought by a private collector at Sotheby's in New York, the auction house said.

The flag is known to be the only one flown by Custer's troops that was not destroyed or captured by the Native Americans who overwhelmed the US troops in the battle in what is now the western state of Montana.

The July 1881 battle was part of the Indian Wars, which saw the US military clash with native peoples in the west trying to hold onto their lands. Hundreds of Lakota, Cheyenne, and Arapaho warriors led by Crazy Horse overwhelmed Custer and his men, killing 258 members of the US military, including Custer and all those under his immediate command.

The fight came to be known as Custer's Last Stand, capturing the imagination of the American public and was immortalized in books and film. The site of the battle is now a national park.