Up the Creek.
Name changes to various terrain features play a part in confusions that confound study of the battle, Reno and Benteen Creek in particular. Bless E.S. Godfrey. There was once upon a time, a Custer Creek and you should bet bottom dollar that Custer was up it. That Creek was also, apparently, known as Medicine Tail and was four miles from Reno's entrenchments. We therefore come to a hic-cup. Medicine Tail refers equally to MTC and what is today Deep Coulee/Creek, a Deep Creek named Custer Creek, where Gen. H.L. Scott stood with White Man Runs Him, discussing events in 1919; shortly after Scott retired as Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army.
Hugh Lenox Scott, 1859-1934, joined the 9th Cavalry on June 15, 1876, and on June 26, 1876, was transferred to the 7th Cavalry and served in the Sioux expedition in 1876, the Nez Perce expedition of 1877, and on the plains until 1891, being put in charge of the investigation of the Ghost Dance disturbances of 1890-1891. He recruited and served as commander of the Kiowa, Commanche and Apache Indians, Troop L, 7th Cavalry, saw additional service in the Philippines, wrote for the Bureau of Ethnology, negotiated disputes with various Indian tribes, and from 1915-1917 served as Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army.
A presentation first edition copy of Usher L. Burdick's, 'The Last Battle of the Sioux Nation',including David F. Barry's Indian Notes on the Custer Battle; was inscribed and signed by the author to Scott was a part of John M. Carroll collections and study of Little Big Horn.
Minneconjou warrior 'Feather Earring' told Gen. H. L. Scott, "After the Terry command went away, we came back down Greasy Grass Creek crossed over where Custer attempted it, up Custer Creek, and then over to the Rosebud."
Springfield carbines jammed carried ammunition. A report by Maj. Reno shortly after the battle raised technical problems with design of the weapons breach block and drew attention to the lack of cleaning tools and ram-rod to clear jammed cartridges. From 7th Cavalry accounts, those of scouts. and warriors who fought, carbines on Custer's field jammed and ammunition ran short. Neither Marcus A. Reno or Alfred Terry stood to gain from acknowledgement of serious problems with the weapon and its ammunition, the opposite being truth as both were instrumental in adoption of the weapon into the US Army. It was common knowledge at the time of the battle, that the weapons were prone to jam and that this was due to the copper ammunition then in use.
That a problem with military combat arms was subdued and addressed quietly away from publicity, should surprise no-one. It is a practical fact of life and security. From second hand reference to problems with the carbines from for example, Cyrus Townsend Brady in 'Indian Fights and Fighters' and Frank Bird Linderman's 'Red Mother' amongst a host of records, throgh to E.S. Godfrey, Gall, M.A. Reno - the carbines were a cause of defeat. It is accepted that terrain played an important part in allowing warriors to close with Custer's command and yet it must equally be true that forced reliance on pistols with only twenty four rounds issued per man, played significant part in the defeat.
Archaeology has indicated only a small percentage of recovered 'spent' cavalry calibre weapons as showing signs of being prized from weapons, yet this is a misleading conclusion. There is direct reference to a weapon jam and method of claering the de-rimmed cartridge case in Peter Thompsons account of the battle. He used finger nails. Jammed weapons were discarded and according to C.T. Brady they littered the battle-ground. No comment on the matter is left by Henry J. Nowlan, assigned to Terry's staff as Quatermaster and replaced by Winfield S. Edgerley after the battle.
Both Reno and Terry would have been aware of the potential for embarrassment and neither needed that at the time. I've touched on the carbine matter in several ways, carried banded rounds did dirty up, Herendeen and the dozen or so troops he was left in the timber with, settled down and began cleaning their ammo. There was a subsequent redesign of the breach and ammunition specifications were changed, quite a bit else besides. On the tactical side of it, on Reno Hill, those with impaired weapons were under cover whilst clearing jammed weapons. Custer's companies did not have such luck. Warrior tactics were to draw fire, specific reference to jamming weapons is attributed to 'Crazy Horse' before battle, he knew of the problem.
Army Staff and Sherman, Sheridan and on down will have been looking at everything that had transpired since Reynolds at Powder River, reviews,analysis, study of tactics......... is the skirmish line actually an acceptable 'battle' formation. It will have been picked apart and pulled to pieces for answers to wtf was going on. The problem with the Springfield weapon system quietly drifted through post battle furore and was dealt with. Strategy on the Plains was amended. In 1942/43 US torpedoes were defective. It was a problem that was not initially conceded or recognised up above and was a devil of a problem to prove let alone resolve. It was a highly classified secret.
From an account given by Cheyenne 'Soldier Wolf' - 'In the Custer fight rode at a man who tried to shoot him, but the gun failed to discharge and SW rode over the man knocking him down. Turning his horse, SW came back again. The man had regained his feet, tried again to shoot, but once more his gun snapped and 'Soldier Wolf' shot him in the chest. Eli S. Ricker interviewed Fred Server. Voices of the American West by Eli Seavey Ricker, Richard E. Jensen. Pages 141 onwards. He says that by actual count there were fron 12 or 14 to 68 empty shells left beside the troopers. The Indians themselves say Custer's ammunition gave out, ...... ......
Proof of widespread knowledge and practice to counter the problem with fouled weapons and degraded carried rounds was given by Nelson A. Miles in his Personal Recollections' of 1896, p213-215.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
' Within a few days the command was equipped for the field, and the announcement that the regiment was to leave by train on a certain day at a specified hour, brought a large concourse of people from the surrounding country, numbering hundreds, if not thousands, to see us move away. Many were presented with bouquets and other tokens of regard, and while it was an inspiring sight to behold the resolute and determined appearance of both officers and men, yet within all our hearts there was certainly a deep sadness as we bade adieu to our families and friends. The command was paraded, and, at the order to march, stepped off as lightly over the turf as they were accustomed to do in their ordinary parades ; the band playing "The Girl I Left Behind Me," and one of the national airs. We marched to the depot, and from there were moved by train to Yankton, Dakota.
As we passed through the towns and villages it reminded me of the time when the troops were going to the war for the Union in the days of 1861 and '62, Many of the public buildings and private houses were draped in mourning, and frequently the national colors were displayed in token of sympathy for the dead and encouragement for the living. The command was cheered wherever it passed a gathering of citizens, and finally went on board a large river steamer at Yankton. As we moved up the river the same tokens of respect and confidence were shown at every village we passed, and these demonstrations were answered by the cheers and hurrahs of the men, indicating the utmost confidence in their own prowess. As we passed one of the military posts, a few officers and ladies of the garrison were down on the beach to watch our steamer ploughing its way up the Missouri River. One of the officers signaled a single word to us with a handkerchief, as we were beyond the reach of communication except by signaling ; the word was "Success". To show their confidence and at the same time their independence, one of our men signaled back two short words, "You bet."
These and like incidents marked our course until we reached Fort Lincoln which we found shrouded in the deepest gloom and mourning. The relatives and friends of that portion of the gallant Seventh that had perished were still at this military station. More than thirty widows of officers and soldiers were there in sadness and loneliness, including the widow of the brave Ouster. Such a scene could not fail to touch every heart, while it nerved them all to fortitude for the future. Here the command was inspected by the department inspector to see that all the paraphernalia and equipments that were supposed to be demanded for such a campaign as was before it. had been supplied. The command was found in perfect condition, having all the equipments required by the regulations. The inspection being over we reembarked, and, after moving up the Missouri for several miles, an order was given for the troops to pack up all the paraphernalia that we had found in our experience with the southern Indians to be not absolutely essential for a campaign in the field. These included bayonets and bayonet scabbards, sabres, cartridge boxes, military caps, &c. This order was received by the men with a hurrah, and they quickly and carefully packed in boxes to be shipped down the river all that they did not require, realizing that to carry unnecessary material on the long, weary marches was a useless burden. In place of cartridge boxes, they gladly buckled about their waists the more useful equipment of cartridge belts, with the cartridges carefully polished for immediate and serious action.
For ten days the great steamer ploughed its way up the Missouri, frequently coming upon a sand bank, owing to the constant changes in the channel of that turbulent river. When an accident of this kind occurred the great shafts in the bow of the boat were lowered, and with the engines the bow was partially lifted off, while the stern wheel was reversed and then another effort made to find the main current of the waters. At one time near the close of day the bow struck a sand bank. The weary roust-abouts on board the vessel, impatient and tired as they were with the day's work were still inclined to be humorous, one of them remarking that "it had been said that the world was created in six days, but he did not believe that the Creator had yet made up his mind where he wanted the Missouri River."
--------------------
During the day the men occupied themselves in polishing their cartridges or looking over their equipments to see that everything was in order, or in cleaning their rifles. When at leisure they were engaged in reading, or in writing letters to their friends to be sent back whenever they might have an opportunity. In the evening they gathered on the upper and lower decks and amused themselves by listening to the songs of those of their number who were fortunate enough to have fine voices and were good solo or quartette singers.
--------------------
We reached Fort Buford, at the mouth of the Yellowstone, just after dark, and a large number of the officers and men came down to the wharf to see our troops. Such terror had the disaster to Ouster occasioned in the hearts of these men that they seemed overcome with sadness; not a cheer greeted our command as the steamer moved up to the wharf; and they were surprised to hear from the deck a quartette of our men singing the most jolly and rollicking songs that they knew, with a chorus of laughter joined in by their comrades.
We then moved on up the Yellowstone, and during our first evening on that river I noticed some trepidation on the part of one of the black servants as the men were about to put down their blankets for the night. He appeared a shade lighter than usual as he said to the steward of the steamer, "Hyar massa, kin you inform me which is de Sioux side of dis yere Yellowstone?" Upon being asked why he wanted to know, he said, "So I kin lay my blanket down on de udder side of de boat." We continued our journey up to the Rosebud and I reported my command to Brigadier-General Terry. We formed part of his forces during the two months following, and moved up the Rosebud, where General Terry's troops joined those under Brigadier-General Crook. This brought the two department commanders together with one of the largest bodies of troops ever marshalled in that country. The combined forces then moved east across the Tongue River to the mouth of the Powder River. There the commands separated again, General Crook crossing the tributaries of the Yellowstone and Little Missouri, then going southeast,crossing the Belle Fourche, and going into camp near the Black Hills. His command suffered very much for want of food and many of his animals perished on this march. He sent some troops on in advance, under the command of Captain Anson Mills, now colonel of the Third Cavalry, to obtain supplies. This gallant and skillful officer surprised a band of Indians near Slim Buttes and captured their camp, containing a large amount of supplies which proved of great benefit to his detachment and also to the troops of General Crook when they came up. This command moved south from the Black Hills to the various stations and did not, as a whole, take any further part in the campaign against the Sioux.
From the mouth of the Powder River the remaining portion of the command, under General Terry, moved north to the Big Dry, thence east, then south again, and ultimately to Glendive, on the Yellowstone. There it embarked in steamers and returned to the various stations, leaving my command, the Fifth Infantry, with six companies of the Twenty-second Infantry, in the field to occupy that country during the approaching
winter.
It was contemplated that my troops should build a cantonment, but it was not supposed that they would do much more than occupy that much of the country until the next spring, when it was expected that they would form the basis for another season's campaign. This order was given by General Sherman, commanding the army, and he also made an order for a larger body of troops to be located at that point. For several reasons the cavalry regiment first designated to be a part of that command was not sent into that country. A few horses were procured about thirty in all for mounting some of the infantry to act as couriers and messengers. A few fi'iendly Indians were also obtained for the command, as well as a few frontiersmen for service as scouts and guides.
It was my purpose when I found I had been designated to remain in that country not to occupy it peaceably in conjunction with the large bodies of Indians that were then in the field, and which practically included the entire hostile force of the five Indian tribes, namely : the Uncpapas under Sitting Bull, the Ogalallas under Crazy Horse, the Northern Cheyennes under Two Moons, and the Minneconjoux and Sans Arcs under their trusted leaders. Judging from our experience of winter campaigning in the southwest, I was satisfied that the winter was the best time for subjugating these Indians. At that period it was regarded as utterly impossible foi white men to live in that country and endure the extreme cold outside the protection of well-prepared shelter. But I was satisfied that if the Indians could live there the white men could also, if properly equipped with all the advantages we could give them, which were certainly superior to those obtainable by the Indians. I remarked to General Terry that if given proper supplies and a reasonable force, I would clear the Indians out of that country before spring. He remarked that it was impossible to campaign in the winter, and that I could not contend against the elements. '
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Timothy John Fitzgerald "Tim" McCoy - rose to the rank of Colonel with the Army Air Corps in Europe during WWII. He is another of the frontier heros who loomed so large in american life. A very interesting guy.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_McCoy He learned the skills of a cowboy, homesteaded in Wyoming, and became a rancher of sorts. The Indians of the area, the Arapahoes and Shoshones, saw in him a man of their own spirit. He learned their language, including the sign language, and was given by them the name “High Eagle.”
He served as an aide to General Hugh L. Scott, the following is from an interview published in 1977 - High Eagle The Many Lives of Colonel Tim McCoy
'General Scott and I went out and we took with us the last two living scouts who had guided Custer into the Little Bighorn. We followed Custer’s march, where he camped, everything he did, got the whole story from those scouts, right up to the beginning of the fight. Of course, they turned and went back; they didn’t want to have any part in what was going to take place, because they could see it. They tried to warn Custer, but you couldn’t tell him anything.
Then, I was the first one to dig out the fact that there were five Arapahoes in that fight. I dug that out one night sitting in a powwow with a bunch of Arapaho Indians down along the Little Wind River. They started telling me that Old Water Man was in that fight. I sort of scoffed at it because every Indian and his brother was in that fight. Practically all of them killed Custer. When they described Custer and described the fight, you could tell they didn’t know what they were talking about. So I was a little bit dubious about it, but they said Water Man and Left Hand, who were still alive, were both in that fight. So I took a stick of sagebrush and cleared a space on the ground and I drew the Bighorn River and the Little Horn and I started asking questions of Water Man. Where was the village? Where did Custer come from? And so on and so on … and by God he knew. So I arranged then to get him in to get his story rather than having to tell it myself. I arranged to have him come into the town of Riverton, Wyoming, and one night I got a hold of Left Hand. I didn't get them together, you see. I brought Water Man in one night and Left Hand another night, and in order that no one would have to take my word for it, I got an interpreter and court stenographer and I did one of these question/answer things that were doing here and I got a transcript of this whole thing. So I got it from Water Man one night and Left Hand the next night. And I could tell they knew what they were talking about.
Toward the end of the Civil War we had gotten a new rifle, the first of the repeating rifles for the Army. It was called the Spencer and it had a tubular magazine. It fired seven shots and that was the first repeating rifle or carbine. The Cavalry was armed with it first. The Indians used to say about it: “That gun, you load it on Saturday, it shoots all week.” You see, it held seven shots. It was used very successfully by Custer’s division. They were armed with it at Appomattox, for instance, so that the fire power for that one outfit was as much as Lee had in his whole army. But after the war, when somebody wanted to adopt that carbine for the Cavalry, these old fuddy-duddies in Washington, the old-timers in the War Department, said: No, no, these fellows don’t know how to handle arms well enough and they’d shoot away too much ammunition. So they went back to the old trap-door Springfield rifle and carbine. It was single shot. You had to throw open the trap door and it was supposed to eject the shell. Well, the shells that they used in those Civil War guns, both the rifle and the carbine, were copper, and copper is fairly soft. It would expand in the chamber of the gun, and when the shell was ejected the ejector would tear the ri m off the cartridge, and the fellows at the Custer fight, as the Indians told me, had their knives out trying to pry these shells out of their guns.
Old 'Left Hand' told me that he came up the hill and this soldier was wounded and he handed him his gun, wanted to surrender to him. They didn’t understand. You don’t surrender to an Indian. And 'Left Hand' said he took the gun, but he couldn’t use it because the shell jammed in the chamber. You fought or you died. They didn‘t take prisoners there because they didn't understand surrender. '
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Cheyenne Little Chief surrendered to Nelson A.Miles at Fort Keogh in 1877. Little Chief married Twin Woman, the widow of Lame White Man after his death at LBH. Little Chief was John Stands in Timber's stepfather. In 1880 he talked several hundred young men gathered on the reservation out of killing agent John D. Miles for the poor rations. Eventually he returned to the Tongue River, Montana settling his followers alongside.
Maj. John D. Miles account of the battle, 'Custer's Last Trail'. published at September 7, 1876, began as follows ' Some Cheyenne Indians coming from the north to their agency in the Indian Territory gave to Agent Miles the following account of Custer's fight with Sitting Bull. .....' It is perhaps, the first full account of events of the fighting and as close to events as anyone will ever get. This account is dismissed and ignored 'chiefly' because of reference to, 'Custer, with the balance of his troops, endeavored to cross the river and make his way out through the hills on the opposite side of the river, but was unable to do so on account of the steepness of the bank. Failing in this, and as the Indians believe, fully realizing the trap into which he had been drawn, he recrossed the river thinking that he might possibly cut his way back through the Indian camps and escape by the way he came in....' , a confusing and obviously confused translation. Perhaps. Of course, a river loop indicated on detailed maps and sketches dating to the battle and immediately subsequent years, does not exist today in other than its geology.
The Cheyenne circle was pitched in cresent moon, opening towards the east. The sacred lodge was at the south side of the open space at the center of camp. The Sacred Arrow lodge should have been east of the Hat tipi, but was not pitched. The Cheyenne village was across from the mouth of modern day named Deep Coulee.
____________________________________________
Time thingumajigs..... E.G. Mathey was an officer of 7th Cavalry at the Battle at Little Big Horn River, assigned to the pack train. He was a veteran of the Civil War, Washita & numerous other battles. His trunk with letter of authentication and history of his army career, was offered at Western Estate Auction, October 11th - 12th ,2008.
www.liveauctioneers.com/item/5742777A seemingly important event is the firing of 'Two volleys' heard from the Custer fight. Amongst those who heard it was Lt. Mathey some 15 minutes before arriving at Reno Hill, where he then reported it to Major Reno. A quarter hour before reporting to Major Reno, Mathey heard firing to his right. "I was going towards the Little Big Horn and to right would be north. I did not know at the time, but when I got to the command I knew it was down stream. It was just two volleys." - page 471&473 of W.A. Grahams Reno Inquiry transcript.
Mathey missed the officer's call, McDougall did not and was fully aware that combat lay ahead and that his column was vulnerable and its security a concern to his CO. Elements of the Rear guard with Mathey advanced to charge and fight through to Reno Hill, clearing a way through for the packs. Warriors, packers and some cavalry troopers state they arrived as Reno's troopers did, there was chaos. The arrival from the valley was scattered and stretched out but some of the companies packs had arrived before Benteen and while Renos men organised themselves. It may have been the train of five mules carrying the Arikara scouts supplies which arrived early.
By the testomony of Charles A. Varnum at the Reno Inquiry, those two volleys which were more of a crash, crash, can be placed in time relative to the retreat from the valley to Reno Hill; can be related to the location off the pack train which was within hearing distance at that time; and can be related to events on the Custer battleground by reference in the Peter Powell accounts 'Sweet Medicine', Cheyenne record as related by John Stands in Timber.
From Crow Scout Curley it is known that a messenger on a roan sorrel was despatched by Custer from Medicine Tail Coulee and that can only have been Richard Kanipe. Trumpeter Martin followed a short time later, departing before Custer's command had reached the battle ground. Kanipe found the pack train some four miles or so from the village, which is between one half and one and one half miles from Ford A.
Records of firing heard down river from Reno Hill after the retreat across the river, generally do not allow for or consider the fighting which occured between Lacotas and Cheyennes with Arikara scouts who advanced after Custer's command; and combat by the men of Company D who engaged Minnieconjou warriors at the mouth of Water rat creek.
Central to timing is when Crazy Horse did what he did. Not what he did, but when it snaps into the Custer fights' chronology. Eagle Elk, an Oglala Sioux interviewed by John G. Neihardt, November 27, 1944, is assumed to have been at Last Stand Hill when Company E moved off the hill. He chased many men into Deep Ravine. Eagle Elk was a member of the Last Child Society, the military lodge directed by Crazy Horse. The son of Long Whirlwind and Pretty Feather Woman or Good Plume, he was a cousin of Crazy Horse; explaining this relationship, Eagle Elk said Crazy Horse "chose to call me 'cousin' from the marriage of his mother," adding, "My father married Crazy Horse's aunt."
'Just about that time, some Indians started a fire because soldiers were hiding in the tall grass." Just then someone said more soldiers were coming. There was a party of eight Indians and I who started that way and got to a point where they could see there were soldiers all right. We nine went down and saw the soldiers on the ridge.
Before we crossed the water, we were the first to make a charge. One man went out of the bunch and took away the flag that one soldier had. The Cheyenne was shot through the heels, and his horse stumbled and broke his legs. We went right up to the soldiers. Just at this moment we noticed that the other Indians were charging from the south end." From that time, the others were coming across the creek after the soldiers. The soldiers were shooting a lot, so the Indians were thrown back.'
From an interview with David Humphreys Miller - 'Downstream, near the timber, Indians were setting the brush afire to drive out the soldiers hiding there. Racing back that way, Eagle Elk and High Horse saw some Sioux boys shooting arrows at a soldier who dodged around in the burning brush. He seemed to have lost his gun, and was trying to keep from being caught in the flames.'
Brule Sioux Red Feather was interviewed by Hugh L. Scott on August 19, 1920. 'The people in Sitting Bull's camp ran to the Oglala camp. The Oglalas ran, too. When Red Feather was putting his bridle on his pony, Crazy Horse came out with his bridle and rifle, and said to Red Feather, "Our ponies aren't in yet." Red Feather said, "Take any horse." Red Feather had his horse ready, so he followed the others onto the hill. The hill was covered with men, warriors congregating from the Oglala and Uncpapa camps; the other camps were now in commotion. The sun was quite well up.
They charged toward the soldiers; there were two places where flags were planted, and it was toward these they charged. As the Indians charged, the soldiers took down their flags and started to retreat toward the woods back of them. One flag bearer was shot down but sat up again. Red Feather was in front and hit him with his quirt. The man behind took the flag away from the soldier.
Below the point the soldiers crossed, they saw two men in white shirts and blue trousers running across the river; afterwards found they were scouts. Kicking Bear took after them and shouted, "These two are Indians - Palani! Red Feather shot the horse from under one and Kicking Bear followed the other and shot the first one twice. Red Feather stabbed him to death. They left Reno and went as fast as possible to the other end, but the Cheyennes were already fighting. The Oglalas acted as reinforcements.
Northern Cheyenne 'Soldier Wolf' told George Bird Grinnell in 1908, - "Custer had gotten down to the mouth of the dry creek and was on the level flat of the bottom. They began firing and for quite a time fought in the bottom, neither party giving back. There they killed quite a good many horses, and the ground was covered with the horses of the Cheyennes, the Sioux and the white men, and two soldiers were killed and left there."
Cheyenne Brave Wolf to George B. Grinnell in 1895. "In the Cheyenne camp when Reno made his charge I went with the rest to meet him. We fought there. The citizen packers and the pack mules were on the hill before Reno got there, then we heard the shooting below, and all rushed down the river. When I got to the Cheyenne camp, the fighting had been going on for some time. The soldiers were right down close to the stream, but none were on this side. Just as I got there, the soldiers began to retreat up the narrow gulch.
Now, simply to loosen up a few nuts, let's jump back in the battle and to 1936 when Frank Zahn was chewing the cud with Hunkpapa Sioux Little Soldier, a stepson of Sitting Bull as result of his mother Four Robes Woman's remarriage in 1869 and Sitting Bull's subsequent adoption of Little Soldier. Sitting Bull's many adopted sons included the Minneconjou brothers, One Bull and Lazy White Bull.
'A young boy, Deeds, and Hona were shot at by soldiers. Both were shot at. Little Bear was also wounded, but got away. His horse was killed and he was shot in the leg. (Frank Zahn explains that when Little Bear's horse was shot and he was wounded so that he could not continue in the fight, that the Indians regarded and spoke of such a man as dead). Little Bear was father of Deeds and Hona and Mary Crawler. Hona is brother of Deeds. The boy was over one mile from camps when killed.'
The Arikara Narrative relates which of the scouts pursued the Dakota horse herders. Minnieconjou Lazy White Bull, Sitting Bulls stepson, related how he heard Little Bear shouting the alarm across the river into the camps, providing a starting point for the Arikara pony stealing epic as never before understood. Were ponies accompanying Little Bear, Hona and Deeds, those taken by Bloody Knife before he returned up the valley to meet Reno's advance and quite probably warn Reno that there was very much more cud than he might care to chew.
Deeds was Sitting Bulls nephew. Four Robes Woman was Mary Crawlers mother. Mary Crawler was Moving Robe, who saw Custer on the bluffs before Reno's skirmish line opened fire. Moving Robe returned across the river and painted up before joining Rain in the face to attack Custer's command. Rain in the Face did not join the attacks against Reno but moved directly to confront Custer. A discrepency exists between map data of Rain in the Face and Edward S. Curtis in regards to the route of retreat followed by Custer's command. This discrepency offers understanding of what actually took place, since by Rain in the Face's own words, he commanded the 'left' of the Hunkpapa forces. Maps such as that published in the New York Herald, Lt. Maguire's and Capt. Freeman's sketch, showing two routes of march from the Ford B area can thus be explained, to some degree. Morern counterpoint is to the end of battle retreat by a number of men. Both can apply as well as either, or.
Corroborating Moving Robes sighting of Custer on the bluffs before Reno's gunfire erupted, is Gall who saw Custer and Trumpeter Martin overlooking the valley from Reno Hill; and also Little Soldier, who told Frank Zahn: We all looked east at the bluffs and saw three bodies of soldiers. The south body moved first and went south. Then the middle body moved and crossed. Everybody was running for horses. I saw Reno's men crossing the river. I saw two divisions of Reno's men coming, each carrying a flag. The soldiers who went north went behind the ridges rode bay and gray horses. I got on my horse and so did other warriors, and men shot into the Hunkpapa camp.
Southern Cheyenne Brave Bear told David Humphreys Miller, 'Not far from Two Moon's lodge was the tribal medicine tepee which contained the sacred Buffalo Head of the Northern Cheyennes -- corresponding to the Buffalo Calf Pipe of the Sioux as a revered object. Like all the camps, the lodges were pitched in a great circle open to the east. The medicine tepee was along the western edge of the wide space within the circle, directly across from this gap. Guarding the sacred lodge was Roan Bear, a Fox warrior. Also - 'On 25th June 1876, eight Southern Cheyenne warriors and their families, led by 'Brave Bear', stayed in one big lodge next to Lame White Man's'. We are into Two Moon's territory, which is a step too far at the moment because the conundrum that has become the four Crows who were only three must be resolved. Timing studies are used to destroy understanding of the tactical fight but to no avail any longer.
Four Crow Pi. Crow scouts accompanied Edward S. Curtis during his visit to Lima Bravo and advised him of what they knew. Curtis photographed those scouts on the North Fork of Upper Reno Creek. Where I assume, Custer's companies watered their horses as Custer and trumpeter Marint rode to Reno Hill and surveyed te valley. Reno had not then crossd the river and Lt. Cooke was with Custer's men. Gall saw Custer at Reno Hill as he used Lt DeRudio's field glasses.
From Hugh L. Scott in 1919, on August 24, at the mouth of Custer Creek, from White Man Runs Him, 'Custer followed down the Lodge Pole Trail which goes down the north fork of Upper Reno Creek, then down Reno Creek to the Little Horn River. The lodge where the dead Sioux was found was near where we saw the pack train. The trail often crossed the creek down the valley. Custer was led into the pocket near the last point north of the Wolf Mountains. It heads up near the lookout. Crook fought the Sioux village on the Rosebud and Custer followed the Sioux from the Rosebud. Custer came in a southwesterly direction through a pass to the head of the north fork of Upper Reno Creek. This pass follows up Davis Creek from the Rosebud and is fairly smooth.'
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NOTE - 'The lodge where the dead Sioux was found was near where we saw the pack train.'
Since the scout pony herders stated by E.S. Godfrey to be Crows, were in truth the Arikara scouts, when did the Crow scouts see the pack train near the lodge where the dead Sioux was found. The dead Sioux was a Cheyenne and his burial lodge was Black Sun or Eclipse, rescued from the Rosebud fight with Crook by the Minnieconjou Lazy White Bull, and buried at the mouth of Prairie Dog Creek; referred to by F.F. Gerard at the Reno Inquiry, Marquis, Wooden Leg p202; Stanley Vestal, Warpath p189; White Bull interview; John Stands in Timber. This was not the Sioux (Lone Tepee) burial.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hairy Moccasin saw the village from a butte at the head of Reno Creek. He reported the camp to Custer and that none running away from the camp. This was the ride forward of the command noted by Peter Thompson in Black Hills Trails, after the move onto Crows Nest and during the advance and halt before Officer's call at 10 o'clock.
Hairy Moccasin -'When we separated Half Yellow Face and White Swan were ordered to go with Reno. Goes Ahead, White Man Runs Him, Curley and myself were ordered with Custer. We came down and crossed Reno Creek. Mitch Boyer was ahead with the four scouts right behind. Custer was ahead of his command a short distance behind us. Custer yelled to us to stop, then told us to go to the high hill ahead (the high point just north of where Reno later entrenched). From here we could see the village and could see Reno fighting. He had crossed the creek. Everything was a scramble with lots of Sioux. The battle was over in a few minutes. We thought they were all killed.
Goes Ahead, White Man Runs Him and Hairy Moccasin watched the Reno fight, before contining along the bluffs to Custer. They were reported on the bluffs, Arikara Narrative - Red Bear rode up to the top of the ridge and saw the Dakota scout. White Cloud, riding up from the river, and he told Red Bear that the Arikara scouts had driven off a number of Dakota horses, and they were to return but they had not yet come back. White Cloud had one horse he was leading and Red Bear had picked up two where Reno had halted, and he led them. They came to a little hill and from there saw four riders coming toward them, they thought they were Dakotas and turned to ride back to where Reno was. The riders were really Crow scouts and they seemed to recognize Red Bear.
So the Crow scouts rode on to the ridge and Red Bear and White Cloud waited for them a long time. Then Red Bear said to White Cloud: 'The Crow scouts will not return, let us go back to Reno." They went back and found Reno with his soldiers still there.
The four Crows were four - that is the fact of the account. It is given that one was actually the Ree Black Fox but that is impossible. The Four Crows stated to Red Bear that, 'The Crow scouts said that two of their number had been killed on the ridge and that they were going there and then would comeback (the missing Crow scouts were those that escaped with Young Hawk).' Goes Ahead, Hairy Moccasin and White Man Runs Him, did not know that Half Yellow Face and White Swan survived the battle until word arrived to Pryors Creek, where the Crow village camped and to where they returned after leaving Terry's command. 'Red Mother' by Frank Bird Linderman.
Red Bear rode across the river in retreat with Reno before climbing the bluffs and meeting the four Crow scouts.
Making further sense of matters is the usual pita this battle becomes but matters are now entirely projected along their true trajectory. We know that Custer was alive when the Hairy Moccasin and White Man Runs Him reached Custer Creek and that heavy fighting was underway there.
Hugh L.Scott's interview of White Man Runs Him continued - AT THE MOUTH OF CUSTER CREEK OR MEDICINE TAIL CREEK, 4 MILES FROM RENO'S INTRENCHMENT.
Q. How far down here did Custer get?
A. Right down to the river
Q. How far did they come?
A. They came down the ravine to the river here and started back.
Q. What did the scouts do then? Where was Mitch Boyer?
A. He was on that point there.
Q. Where was Curley?
A. He was back on the ridge.
Q. Where did you go then?
A. I went back.
Q. Why?
A. Mitch Boyer said "You go back; I am going down to Custer."
Q. Did you see Reno go up on the bluffs then?
A. No. I saw him fighting across the river but didn't know he had retreated back to the bluffs.
Q. When Custer came down here could he hear the shooting over there?
A. Didn't pay much attention; everybody around us was shooting and no one could tell the place where most of the firing was done.
Crow Agency, Mont., August 25, 1919.
I hereby certify that the foregoing account is correct as told by the two scouts on August 24, 1919.
(Sig.) Russell White Bear
Red Mother by Frank Bird Linderman, 1932 p. 222-247; tells the three Crows story. Like it or not.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From Nelson A. Miles personal recollections, p 209-210, is an honest assessment of the battle. 'Captain Godfrey says that from where Reno's command remained they could hear the firing going on farther down in the valley between Custer's men and the Indians, for a long time. The Indians disappeared from that front after having chased Major Reno's troops out of the valley and up on the bluffs. Captain Weir with his troops moved a short distance along the crest in the direction of the firing, and seeing smoke and dust and a great commotion in the valley, reported that he could go no further. That may have been a time when one troop under a gallant officer might not have been able to go where seven troops could and ought to have gone. One of the scouts, Herendeen, and thirteen men who were with Reno, and who were left in the timber from which Reno retreated, after the Indians had gone down the valley, walked across the plain, forded the river, and rejoined their command on the hill. These two movements indicate that there were no Indians in this vicinity during the time that the firing was going on that is mentioned by Godfrey, down the valley of the Little Big Horn where the real battle was being fought.
All that was known of the fate of Custer's command for at least two years, was derived chiefly from the evidence found upon the field after the engagement. In this way it became known that his trail, after passing the butte from which he had sent the last order to Captain Benteen, bore on down toward the Indian village nearing the creek at one point of low ground, and then moving to the right where it took position along a crest parallel with the Little Big Horn and the Indian village. Here the dead bodies showed that the engagement had occurred along this crest. The bodies of the men were found, some on the slope toward the Indian camp, many on the crest, and some back a short distance in the rear of the crest. Lieutenant Crittenden's body was found near the extreme left; Captain Keogh, with a number of his troops, in the rear of the center; General Custer and his two brothers on the extreme right. The bodies of some forty soldiers were found scattered on the ground between the extreme right and the Little Big Horn, those nearest the river in a small ravine or depression of ground. At first the impression was that Custer had attempted to go down this ravine and had been driven back; but no horses were found along this line of dead bodies.
This is approximately all that is known of the fate of Custer and his command from what information could be obtained from the appearance of the ground and the bodies of the men and horses after the fight. '
Later, from Sioux, Cheyenne and Crow, Miles learnt as much as anyone, of the tactical fighting that took place on Custer's battle ground. Two images, 'Unknown' and 'Lt. Crittendon's grave and marker', are dated by Miles to 1878, two years after, when he was himself present on the ground conducting his own enquiry and during which, contrary to popular knowledge and according to the logs of the river-boat Y.F. Batchelor's captain Grant Marsh, Crow scout Curley spoke at length in privacy with Nelson A. Miles aboard the steamer.
Nelson A. Miles investigations continued criticism's of Reno and Benteen that had crystalised in Frederick Whittaker's 1876 book about Custer, and fell equally foul of the belief that those two officers, had they rushed on to Custer's battle ground could have saved the five companies. That fallacy stands today, romantically subverting objective assessment of Custer's fight. No-one would, could or can believe that the fight was over after a very brief struggle once the onset came. Custer was engaged by hostiles from the moment he entered Medicine Tail Creek, which co-incided with the opening of battle by Reno's skirmishers in the valley.
The famous two volleys were onset of the warrior onslaught upon the five companies and that onset was overwhelming. Look no further than Two Moons account in 'The Vanishing Race' and Peter Powell's 'Sweet Medicine'. It is enduring incredulity and disbelief of the truth of the close of Custer's fight within 30-40 minutes of Benteen reaching Reno, that caused and causes this battles dilemmas and discordant acrimony between very many disparate factions. The pack train and Company B arrived 15 minutes after Benteen's command, that is according to the officer leading the pack train. Benteen arrived by 2:30 pm according to Reno. Mathey heard the two volleys reported by Varnum.
Nelson A. Miles studied conclusions of 1878, were based upon the absense of horses remains along a line of march. A first hand account of the battleground from 1877 by Cherokee Advocate undermines Miles or indicates that remains of 28 men of E company were wrongly indicated as being in Deep Ravine. Skeletons of 14 horses lay with those dead, in 1877. Company E were never at Last Stand Hill and their route towards Deep Ravine from their known position on Battle Ridge, is not that considered today, even though it is indicated by record given to Stanley Vestal by White Bull.