here are some Indian views--
Black Elk (Oglala)— He saw gray horses—their saddles empty—stampeding toward the river. [125] Neihardt, John G.,
Black Elk Speaks, Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press, 1932 [1988], 1931.
Brave Bear (Southern Cheyenne)— The three companies turned their horses loose. [85] Hardorff,
Indian Views of the Custer Fight. This appears to be another letter, written by George Bent (an educated mixed – blood Indian married to a Southern Cheyenne woman) and addressed to George Hyde, an anthropologist and historian. The letter is dated March 8, 1906, from Colony, OK.
Brave Wolf (Northern Cheyenne)— The three companies turned their horses loose. [85] Hardorff, Richard G.,
Cheyenne Memories of the Custer Fight, Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press, 1998. An interview with George Bird Grinnell, at the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation in Montana, 1895.
Crow King (Hunkpapa)— The troops tried to hold onto their horses, but as the Indians got closer, the horses were released. The troops fought bravely. [68 – 69] Hardorff, Richard G.,
Indian Views of the Custer Fight, Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 2005. In all likelihood this is the same interview contained in Graham’s The Custer Myth, below. It was conducted on July 30, 1881, at Fort Yates in the Dakota Territory, and it was carried in the Leavenworth Times, August 14, 1881.
Flying By (Minneconjou)— Flying By captured some horses and brought them back to the village. When he returned he went to the east end of the battlefield [Keogh sector]. Many soldiers were already killed. [210] Camp/Hammer,
Custer in ’76. Walter Camp interview conducted, May 21, 1907, interpreter: William S. Claymore.
Flying Hawk (Oglala)— The men on Last Stand Hill had their horses with them. They were also the only ones surrounded. [50 – 51] Hardorff, Richard G., ed.,
Lakota Recollections of the Custer Fight. University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln, NE: 1991 (1997). Interviewed by Judge Eli S. Ricker, March 8, 1907, on the Pine Ridge Reservation.
Flying Hawk (Oglala)—The troops horses ran down the ravine and into the village. [125] Hardorff, Richard G.,
Indian Views of the Custer Fight, Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 2005. Hardorff writes that this interview was contained in M. I. McCreight’s,
Firewater and Forked Tongues (Trail’s End Publishing Co.: Pasadena, CA, 1947), pp. 111 – 115. It was conducted at DuBois, PA, in 1928.
Gall (Hunkpapa)—The Indians made a special effort to kill the horse – holders and stampede the horses. [89] Graham, W. A., COL,
The Custer Myth. Stackpole Books, Mechanicsburg, PA: 1953 (2000). From a Chicago newspaper, June 26, 1886, ten years after the battle and from the re-union. Another interview printed in the
St. Paul Pioneer Press, dated July 18, 1886
Gall—
The warriors directed a special fire against the troopers who held the horses, while the others fought. As soon as a holder was killed, by moving blankets and great shouting the horses were stampeded, which made it impossible for the soldiers to escape…. As fast as the men fell the horses were herded and driven toward the squaws and old men, who gathered them up.
The Custer Myth, p. 87 – 89.
Good Voiced Elk (Hunkpapa)—Only a few of these last soldiers had their horses and grays were mixed in with others. The troops who broke off LSH for the river were dismounted. [84] Hardorff, Richard G., ed.,
Camp, Custer, and The Little Bighorn (El Segundo, CA: Upton and Sons, Publishers, 1997). Interview with Walter Mason Camp, May 21, 1909, at the Standing Rock Indian Reservation. Camp papers, Ellison Collection, DPL. Harry McLaughlin and Jesse Pleets were the interpreters.
He Dog (Oglala)—At first, the gray horses were all together, but got mixed up with others on the hill. [207] When the soldiers rushed from Custer Hill, the dismounted ones made for the gully, the mounted tried to head south toward Finley Ridge. [207]
Corroborated the 28 men in the gully. [207] Camp/Hammer,
Custer in ’76. Walter Camp interview conducted, July 13, 1910. Interpreter: William Berger.
Hollow Horn Bear (Brulé)— There was no fighting near the river and the fighting was heavy as it went. The soldiers were dismounted and many of their horses were killed. [181] The troops on Last Stand Hill had their horses. [183] Hardorff, Richard G., ed.,
Lakota Recollections of the Custer Fight. University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln, NE: 1991 (1997). Interviewed by Sewell B. Weston using a questionnaire submitted by Walter Mason Camp. The interview took place in June 1909.
Iron Hawk (Hunkpapa)—He said where Custer fell there were about 20 soldiers on horseback and about 30 on foot. [66] Hardorff, Richard G., ed.,
Lakota Recollections of the Custer Fight. University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln, NE: 1991 (1997). Interviewed by Judge Eli S. Ricker, May 13, 1907, at Chadron, NE.
Iron Hawk (Hunkpapa)—He describes riding downstream and stopping “on the east side of the river at the foot of a gulch [Deep Ravine] that led back up the hill where the second soldier band was….We stayed there awhile waiting for something and there was shooting everywhere. Then I heard a voice crying: ‘Now they are going, they are going!’ We looked up and saw the cavalry horses stampeding. These were all gray horses.” [121 – 122] Soldiers began running down the hill, right toward them. Almost all of them were on foot. [122] Iron Hawk said the soldiers were acting strangely, waving their arms as if they were running, but they were only walking, many shooting their guns in the air. [122 – 123] Neihardt, John G.,
Black Elk Speaks, Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press, 1932 [1988], 1931.
Iron Hawk (Hunkpapa)—Iron Hawk and others stayed there “a long time” when he heard someone yell out, “Now they are going, they are going.” As he looked he saw cavalry horses stampeding. They were all gray. Soon, they saw soldiers running to where the Hunkpapa were. The soldiers were on foot. The Hunkpapa charged at them. [191] DeMallie, Raymond J., ed.,
The Sixth Grandfather. University of Nebraska Press: Lincoln, NE, 1985. Neihardt interviews, 1931.
Little Hawk (Northern Cheyenne)—The soldiers on the knoll let go their horses and the horses ran toward the river. Little Hawk claimed there were 23 dead Indians. One “company” of soldiers ran toward the river and all but one man dismounted. [63] Hardorff, Richard G.,
Cheyenne Memories of the Custer Fight, Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press, 1998. An interview with George Bird Grinnell, at the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation in Montana, 1908.
Little Soldier (Hunkpapa/Yanktonai Sioux)—“First the Indians rode to [the] soldiers holding horses and drove them away to cover. Then [the] warriors attacked the soldiers on foot. [These] soldiers lay down, and others got on [their] knees and others stood. Warriors rode into them.” [175] “Custer’s men dismounted. [Their] horses got away and ran for [the] river. Custer’s men were all scattered out.” [176] Little Soldier makes mention of the destruction of “100” horses. [176] [Hardorff points out that this “took place on Calhoun Ridge {Finley – Finckle Ridge} which was littered with horse bones until 1904.” {176, FN 5}] Hardorff, Richard G.,
Indian Views of the Custer Fight, Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 2005. This is from an interview with Joseph G. Masters, arranged by Frank B. Zahn. It was conducted on August 24, 1936, at Fort Yates, ND. Little Soldier was about 14 at the time of the battle. He was known amongst the whites as “Henry” Little Soldier.
Lone Bear (Oglala)—There were short stands made on Finley Ridge and Calhoun Hill, but a heavy “stand” in the Keogh Sector. Many horses were killed there. He seemed to think Keogh made a longer stand than that made on Last Stand Hill. [157] From Finley Ridge to Last Stand Hill, the troops were dismounted, moving most of the time. At times there would be short “stands” made. [157] A great many horses were taken, but none before the troops had reached Finley Ridge. [158 – 159] Hardorff, Richard G., ed.,
Lakota Recollections of the Custer Fight. University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln, NE: 1991 (1997). Interviewed by Sewell B. Weston, based on a Walter Camp questionnaire. Interview conducted at Cody, WY, January 5, 1909.
Moving Robe Woman (Hunkpapa)—Moving Robe saw a trooper holding 8 or 10 horses. An Indian waved a blanket and the animals stampeded. She saw soldiers running up a ravine to the north [the Keogh Sector]. They were firing as they ran. [95] Hardorff, Richard G., ed.,
Lakota Recollections of the Custer Fight. University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln, NE: 1991 (1997). Interviewed by Judge Frank B. Zahn, 1931, at the Standing Rock Agency.
Moving Robe Woman—The troops’ “horses got loose and ran to the river.” [186] Hardorff, Richard G.,
Indian Views of the Custer Fight, Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 2005. This interview was conducted by Joseph G. Masters and arranged by Frank B. Zahn. It was held at Fort Yates, ND, on August 24, 1936.
Red Feather (Oglala)— As the soldiers dismounted on the hill, the Indians crept up toward them, some in a ravine, hiding behind sagebrush. As the soldiers left their horses, the Indians would pick them up. If a head showed, it was shot at. Red Feather’s horse was shot, so he was also on foot. [87] Hardorff, Richard G., ed.,
Lakota Recollections of the Custer Fight. University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln, NE: 1991 (1997). Interviewed by General Hugh L. Scott, August 19, 1920, at the Pine Ridge Agency. The translators were probably Baptiste Pourrier and William Garnett.
Shoots Walking (Hunkpapa)—Some of Custer’s men fought from horseback, but a great many of them “left their horses behind.” [168] Hardorff, Richard G.,
Indian Views of the Custer Fight, Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 2005. Interview conducted circa 1935 at the Standing Rock Reservation.
Soldier Wolf (Northern Cheyenne)— Quite a number of horses were killed there “and two soldiers were killed and left there.” [43] [Hardorff explains that the dead horses were found on Calhoun Hill and not near MTC ford.] The soldiers horses were run down to the creek, “eighty or ninety head….” [44] [As Hardorff points out, this was a very credible number, citing both Martini and Benteen’s reports of what they saw on the battlefield. {44, FN 5}]Hardorff, Richard G.,
Cheyenne Memories of the Custer Fight, Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press, 1998. An interview with George Bird Grinnell, at the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation in Montana, 1898.
Standing Bear (Minneconjou)— The troopers were surrounded when suddenly their horses broke away. [115 – 116] [There is no reference to where this may have been, though from the tenor of his story, it seems fairly early in his adventures. If we apply that to a Ford B crossing, it makes it appear as though it may have been Calhoun Hill. A compression of time, however, probably makes it the final phase of the Custer fight, the horses being those from the Gray Horse Troop.] Neihardt, John G.,
Black Elk Speaks, Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press, 1932 [1988], 1930.
Standing Bear—He watched the soldiers on Custer Hill and heard some Indians yell that the soldiers had gone. He saw cavalry horses running down the hill/ridge [SSL]. He now saw fewer and fewer horses on the hill. [186] DeMallie, Raymond J., ed.,
The Sixth Grandfather. University of Nebraska Press: Lincoln, NE, 1985. Neihardt interviews, 1931.
John Stands In Timber—Indians coming up the “big ravine” scared the gray horses. [171] Hardorff, Richard G.,
Cheyenne Memories of the Custer Fight, Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press, 1998. An interview with Don Rickey, Jr., and Jesse W. Vaughn at the Custer Battlefield in Montana, 1956. They galloped up to where the museum is now, some stampeding the gray horses of E Company. [201] 1957 – 1966—Liberty, Margot, and John Stands In Timber,
Cheyenne Memories, New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1967 (1998). Written by Liberty from notes and recordings taken over a period of several years. The book was published shortly after Stands In Timber’s death.
Tall Bull (Northern Cheyenne)— The troops’ horses—“a good many”—ran down toward the river. [47] Hardorff, Richard G.,
Cheyenne Memories of the Custer Fight, Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press, 1998. An interview with George Bird Grinnell, at the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation in Montana, 1898.
Thunder Bear (Yanktonai)— The soldier horses that were not killed stampeded down the hills and were captured by Indian women. [88] Hardorff, Richard G.,
Indian Views of the Custer Fight, Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 2005. The Thunder Bear narrative is contained in the Edward Curtis papers at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, CA. Thunder Bear was interviewed on a Sioux reservation in 1907.
Turtle Rib (Minneconjou)—No stand was made except that at the end of the long ridge (Custer Hill). Here, the bay and gray horses were all mixed together. [201] Camp/Hammer,
Custer in ’76. Walter Camp interview conducted September 22, 1908.
Two Eagles (Brulé)— In the fighting along Finley Ridge, up to Calhoun Hill, some troopers were dismounted while others fought on horseback. [146 – 147] A slight stand was made in the Keogh Sector, while most of the soldiers there were dismounted and moving when they were killed. [147] He said the gray horses were all mixed with the others. [147] [He may have seen trumpeters’ horses mixed in, especially considering where he was in the fight.]Hardorff, Richard G., ed.,
Lakota Recollections of the Custer Fight. University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln, NE: 1991 (1997). Interviewed by Sewell B. Weston, December 1908. The interview was based on a questionnaire given to Weston by Walter Camp.
Two Moons (Northern Cheyenne)— He said, finally “100” men and five horsemen stood together on the hill. He heard a soldier chief was killed and about 40 of the men, plus the five horsemen, broke for the river. [
The Custer Myth, 103]
Two Moons—The Gray Horse Troop was the only company that held its horses. Each man held his own and there was no shooting by them. “They were making preparations.” [110 – 111] Two Moons and his warriors swept to the right and north of the ridge. Soldier horses in the gulley—the swale—were turned loose and they fled toward the river. [111] The interpreter’s uncle was a Cheyenne warrior named Roan Bear who was at the battle. Roan Bear told Rowland that the Gray Horse Troop stood its ground at the top of the knoll where the monument now stands, finally releasing their horses because they were hard-pressed and surrounded. [114] [In another footnote, Hardorff confirms this account citing the Minneconjou warrior, Iron Hawk. “Some mistook the stampeding grey horses for a mounted charge by the soldiers.” {114, FN 14}] Hardorff, Richard G.,
Indian Views of the Custer Fight, Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 2005. This is a series of interviews taking place on Monday, March 3, through Wednesday, March 5, 1913, at the New Capitol Hotel, Washington City.
"John" Two Moons— Troopers’ horses got away and Two Moons ran toward them. [66] The Indians re-mounted and charged. The Gray Horse Company released its horses and they ran toward the river. [67] The yelling of the Indians frightened the soldiers’ horses. [67] Hardorff, Richard G.,
Cheyenne Memories of the Custer Fight, Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press, 1998. An interview with George Bird Grinnell, at the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation in Montana, 1908.
Waterman (Arapaho)— When the troops moved back to the hill
, they got off their horses. “Some of the horses got away and came down to the river where they were caught by some of the Indians. These were gray horses and some sorrels.” [110] Graham, W. A., COL, The Custer Myth. Stackpole Books, Mechanicsburg, PA: 1953 (2000). Interviewed by Colonel Tim McCoy in 1920. Of the five Arapaho who fought at the LBH, Waterman and Left Hand were the only ones still alive in 1920.
White Shield (Northern Cheyenne)—He then follows the retreating troops—off Calhoun Hill—and said that the soldiers had now lost their horses. [55] [This is referring to the panic in the Keogh Sector.] The Gray Horse Troop held onto their horses until the very last. [56] Hardorff, Richard G., Cheyenne Memories of the Custer Fight, Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press, 1998. An interview with George Bird Grinnell, at the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation in Montana, 1908.
Wooden Leg (Northern Cheyenne)— The only soldiers remaining now were the ones on the western end of the ridge, concealed behind dead horses. [105] [Referring to LSH.] Graham, W. A., COL, The Custer Myth. Stackpole Books, Mechanicsburg, PA: 1953 (2000). Interviewed by Dr. Thomas B. Marquis.
Wooden Leg— He now rode around “into the gulch north from the west end of the soldier ridge.” All the troops were dead except for a small band at the west end of the ridge, hidden behind dead horses. [235] One big band of soldier horses went down toward the river “from the west end of the ridge.” [267] [This is almost certainly referring to the E Company horses—though he does not mention color—coming down the SSL or that area.] A number of months after the battle—the weather was clear and chilly; no snow on the ground—Wooden Leg and a war party of nine other Cheyenne wound up back at the battlefield. “Dirt and sagebrush mounds now were at the places where had been the dead soldiers. In a few places we could see some parts of their bodies exposed. But mostly the graves were good, except they had no stones piled over them. At one end of many different ones of the graves was a straight board stuck into the ground, to stand up there. They were straight boards, not crosses. Dead horses were lying in decay here and there among the graves.” [284] Marquis, Thomas B., Wooden Leg. University of Nebraska Press: Lincoln, NE: 1931 [1965].
Yellow Nose (Ute)— The soldiers held their horses and that created more problems for them. The horses were wild with fright and many of the troops wound up shooting wildly, unable to control their aiming. The kicking and rearing horses added a great deal of dust and with the powder smoke added to the tremendous confusion. [103] Hardorff, Richard G., Indian Views of the Custer Fight, Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 2005. The Yellow Nose narrative was in a newspaper dispatch in the Chicago Inter Ocean issue of March 24, 1912. The interview took place in 1911, in Geary, OK. The translator was Edward Guerrier, an old scout and a friend of Yellow Nose.
Best wishes,
Fred.