Gibbon, General George Crook, and General Alfred Terry were to make a coordinated campaign against the Sioux and Cheyenne, but Crook was driven back at the Battle of the Rosebud, and Gibbon was not close by when Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer attacked a very large village on the banks of the Little Bighorn River.
Gibbon, general George Crook og oberstløjtnant George A. Custer skulle gnnemføre en koordineret kampagne mod Sioux- og Cheyenneindianerne, men Crook blev drevet tilbage i Slaget ved the Rosebud, og Gibbon var ikke i nærheden, da Custer angreb en meget stor landsby på bredden af Little Bighorn floden.