17. The Contested West, 1865

Quiz for Analyzing Historical Evidence: “Custer’s Last Stand”

Select the best answer for each question. Click the “submit” button for each question to turn in your work.

Question 17.1

1. Although there are many differences in the way Amos Bad Heart Bull’s pictograph and the lithograph by a white artist depict the Battle of Little Big Horn, both of these illustrations

place Crazy Horse at the center of the action.

were produced years after the battle took places.

were painted using the same artistic techniques.

display more sympathy for the horses than the people.

Question 17.2

2. How does the lithograph's depiction of the use of guns at the Battle of Little Big Horn differ from Amos Bad Heart Bull’s pictograph?

All the guns depicted in the lithograph are pistols, while all the guns depicted in the pictograph are rifles.

The guns in the lithograph look like they are European in origin, while the pictograph’s guns appear American-made.

Almost all the people firing guns in the lithograph are white, while only Indians fire guns in the pictograph.

The lithograph suggests that guns were more significant to the outcome of the battle than the pictograph does.

Question 17.3

3. The white soldier who was separated from Custer’s group during the Battle of Little Big Horn thought he heard the sound of victory dances coming from the Lakota camp, but a different source—a Cheyenne warrior—reported that what the man actually heard was

the cries of a dying animal.

warriors planning their next attack.

mothers warning their sons to be careful.

songs sung to mourn the dead warriors.

Question 17.4

4. Why did the lithograph artist show that Custer’s troops were dramatically outnumbered while Amos Bad Heart Bull suggested that the Indians were outnumbered?

Amos Bad Heart Bull was trying to appeal to white American audiences, who loved images of brave Indians warriors.

The lithograph showed the Indians with more sophisticated weaponry to explain why Custer's forces were defeated.

Amos Bad Heart Bull’s pictograph made the Indian warriors seem extremely talented and brave to have been able to win the battle.

The pictograph showed the difference in the types of military resources the white Americans and the Indians had to explain why the Indians won the battle.

Question 17.5

5. This essay supports which of the following historical arguments?

Recollections of a single historical event can differ depending on who recorded the event.

The further removed the artist is from the subject which he is painting, the more historically inaccurate the result is going to be.

White artists' depictions of Indians were often inaccurate due to their prejudice against Indian people.