George Armstrong Custer was a United States Army officer. He served as a cavalry commander in the American Civil War and the American Indian Wars.

After the American Civil War he pursued US aims in the West, and participated in a campaign against the Sioux and Cheyenne Indians. He spent the next few years in many skirmishes with the Plains Indians, and developed the view that they were savages.

Custer led the Black Hills expedition for the United States Army. Its mission was to look for suitable locations for a fort, to find a route to the southwest, and to investigate the possibility of mining for gold. Gold was found in the Black Hills, which prompted a gold rush. This, in turn, antagonised the Sioux, as their sacred land had been protected by treaties with the US government.

Custer led the 7th Cavalry in a disastrous attack against the largest gathering of Plains Indians ever seen. He was killed at the Battle of the Little Bighorn, in what became known as 'Custer's Last Stand.'.

Custer was given a hero's burial at West Point. Owing to his status as a Civil War hero, his death shocked the American people. As Americans came to regret their government's mistreatment of Native Americans, however, Custer's image changed.