BILLINGS, Mont. - The Northern Cheyenne plan to celebrate the recent designation of two battlefields as national historic landmarks.

The tribe will honor the history of the Rosebud Battlefield near Kirby and the Wolf Mountain Battlefield near Birney at an event planned in Lame Deer on Wednesday.

The battle of the Rosebud occurred June 17, 1876, when Sioux and Cheyenne forces attacked the command of Gen. George Crook. Both sides claimed victory, but Crook returned to Wyoming, where he was neutralized as part of a campaign to round up free-roaming tribes and force them onto reservations.

A week later, more than 260 troopers under the command of Lt. Col. George Custer were wiped out at the Battle of the Little Bighorn.

After that battle, Col. Nelson Miles was sent to Montana to retaliate. On Jan. 8, 1877, his Fifth Infantry clashed with Sioux and Cheyenne warriors at Wolf Mountain in three feet of snow and blizzard conditions. Few casualties were reported on either side, but the tribes lost many of their winter supplies.

Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne designated the battlefields as historic landmarks earlier this year. Wednesday's ceremony will begin at 1 p.m. in the Allen Rowland Gymnasium.