A closer look at the lives of the important native leaders is essential in the analysis of the Battle of the Little Bighorn. This is to reorient away from a trite obsession with George Armstrong Custer toward a more balanced and nuanced approach about what the battle has meant for Indians, whites, and the history of America. To understand the outcomes of the Greasy Grass fight and the Great Sioux War of 1876, it is first necessary to understand the role of leadership. Hunkpapa Lakota chief Sitting Bull is the most famous of the “patriot chiefs” today, as he was in his own time. Crazy Horse's military prowess and courage in the battle made him an ideal candidate for leadership positions in the Lakota political structure. Unlike Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull, the passage of time has not been kind to the legacy of the third “patriot chief,” Gall.