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COLLECTIONS OF THE
STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY
OF NORTH DAKOTA
BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE
STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY
OF NORTH DAKOTA
TERM EXPIRES
President, Judge Charles F. Amidon, Fargo March 31, 1923
Vice President, C. B. Little, Bismarck . . March 31, 1921
Secretary, 0. G. Libby, Grand Forks . . March 31, 1923
Treasurer, J. L. Bell, Bismarck . . . March 31, 1921
Iver A. Acker, Hillsboro
Judge L. E. Birdzell, Bismarck
L. F. Crawford, Sentinel Butte
G. Grimson, Langdon .
J. M. Gillette, Grand Forks
H. J. Hagen, Fargo
S. Johnson, Grand Forks
"Wm. Langer, Bismarck .
J. A. Poppler, Grand Forks
Geo. F. Shafer, Watford City
Victor Wardrope, Leeds
Major Dana Wright, Jamestown
March
March
March
March
March
March
March
March
March
March
March
March
31, 1923
31, 1921
31, 1923
31, 1923'
31, 1923
31, 1921
31, 1923
31, 1921
31, 1921
31, 1921
31, 1923
31, 1921
Ex-officio directors: Governor, auditor, secretary of state,
superintendent of public instruction, commissioner of agricul-
ture and labor.
ii
i
I:
-I- .
^
.T
m
^0rtl| ^akota ^istortcal (doUectirmsi, j^oUime 6
THE ARIKARA NARRATIVE OF
THE CAMPAIGN AGAINST THE
HOSTILE DAKOTAS
JUNE, 1876
O. G. LIBBY, Editor
BISMARCK NORTH DAKOTA
NINETEEN TWENTY
Copyright 1920
BY O. G. LiBBY
THE TORCH PRESS
CeOAR RAPIDS
SI
CONTENTS
Preface
Historical Introduction .
Narrative op the Arikara ,
Sitting Bear's Story
Story of the First Enlistment .
The Narrative as continued hy Soldier
The Enlistment as told hy Young Hawk
The Second Enlistment .
Red Bear's Story ....
Boy Chief's Story of His Enlistment
Account of an Interview with Custer
Red Star's Story of the March .
Story of how the Mail was brought .
Continuation of Red Star's Story .
Young Hawk's Story
Red Star's Story, continued
Red Star's Story of Special Scout Work
Narrative of Young Hawk
Supplementary Story by Soldier
Continuation by Red Star, Boy Chief, and Strikes
Two
Red Star's Additional Interview
Supplementary Story by Red Bear .
Later Story by Running Wolf .
Later Story of Little Sioux
Later Story of Goes-Ahead
Appendix
Expedition to the Black Hills
Gerard's Story of the Custer Fight
9
17
37
37
41
46
48
50
52
53
55
57
63
66
69
71
86
93
115
118
119
121
135
149
157
161
163
171
6 Contents
Biographies 177
Soldier 179
Strikes Two 187
Young Hawk 193
Red Star 195
Red Bear 200
One Feather 203
Running Wolf 204
Goes Ahead, Crow Scout 205
James Coleman 206
State Park System of North Dakota . . . 211
North Dakota's Park System .... 213
Walhalla State Park 215
Fort Abercrombie State Park .... 216
Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park . . . 217
Fort Rice State Park 218
The Pembina State Park 219
The Cavalier County State Park . . . 221
Constitution and By-laws for State Parks . 222
State Historical Parks 226
List of Trees, Shrubs, etc 238
Index 267
ILLUSTRATIONS
Fort Abercrombie in 1875
Sitting Bear
Little Sioux, Soldier, Young Hawk
Group of Scouts
Indian Sign
Indian Sign left by Dakotas
Curly Head
Line of March of the Troops
Wagon
Soldier
Strikes Two
Little Sioux
Young Hawk
Red Star .
Red Bear
Boy Chief .
One Feather
Running Wolf
Goes Ahead, Little Brave, Bob-tailed
Bull ....
Capital Grounds and Park
Walhalla State Park
Abercrombie State Park .
Fort Lincoln State Park .
Fort Rice State Park
Arikara Village
Pembina State Park .
. frontispiece
facing p. 41
facing p.
facing p.
facing p.
facing p.
facing
facing
facing
facing
49
71
78
79
120
125
148
179
facing p. 187
facing p. 191
facing p
facing
facing
facing
facing
facing
facing
facing
facing
facing
facing
facing
facing
facing
193
195
200
202
203
204
205
211
215
216
217
218
219
220
PREFACE
The purpose in publishing this material on the
Indian campaign of 1876 is twofold. Merely as a
matter of justice to the Arikara Indian scouts their
version of the campaign in which they played an
important part should have long ago been given to
the public. Nearly every other conceivable angle
of this memorable campaign has received attention
and study. But during the past generation the
Arikara scouts, true to their oath of fealty to the
government as they understood it, have remained
silent as to their own part in those eventful days.
The present narrative is designed to make public
the real story of the Arikara Indian scouts who
served with Terry and under the immediate com-
mand of Custer.
In August, 1912, the nine survivors of some forty
of these scouts met at the home of Bear's Belly on
the Fort Berthold Reservation, at Armstrong, and
there they related to Judge A. McG. Beede and to
the secretary of the State Historical Society the
various portions of the narrative that follow. Each
of the scouts gave that special portion of the whole
with which he was most familiar. The narrators
were very scrupulous to confine themselves to just
10 North Dakota Collections
that portion of the common experience to which
they were eye witnesses. While it was not always
possible to maintain this rule in every part of the
narrative, yet for the most part what is set down in
this account is the testimony of those who were ac-
tual participants. The narratives were carefully
taken down as interpreted by Peter Beauchamp, a
graduate of Hampton Institute, Virginia. After
the whole story was put in form it was submitted to
the Indians to be read and corrected through their
interpreters by all those who had taken part. Thus
there has been assembled a complete account of
these important events given from the standpoint
of an Indian scout. While it is true that these
scouts knew nothing of the general plan of the cam-
paign nor of the larger features of the movements
in which they took part, nevertheless they have sup-
plied an astonishing number of clear cut facts and
observations that have all the definiteness and ac-
curacy of an instantaneous photograph.
In the second place the narratives of individual
scouts and their accompanying biographies give us
a vivid insight into the life of a few individuals and
families under actual conditions as they existed on
our reservations. The true Indian is extremely ret-
icent concerning matters of ritual, family tradition,
and tribal observance. Not as much of such details
was obtained as was asked for, still the narrative
affords, in many instances, a flashlight picture of
Indian life.
The Arikara Narrative 11
Among the valuable records collected while the
narrative was being secured is a set of phono-
graphic records made of the Arikara songs used
during the battles or composed in honor of Custer
and the scouts who were killed by the Dakotas. We
were privileged to hear, also, a large number of
other rare and remarkable ceremonial chants and
songs, but the scouts did not allow them to be re-
corded.
At the close the occasion was celebrated by the
organization of a society known as the U. S. Volun-
teer Indian Scouts, in imitation of the G. A. R.
Two local posts are already in existence, to which
belong most of the veteran scouts of the Fort Ber-
thold Reservation, including those who had enlisted
subsequent to the campaign of 1876.
An impartial examination of the evidence offered
in the narrative of these scouts will completely clear
them from the old charge of cowardice which has so
long been voiced against them. These scouts were
charged with being responsible for the defeat of
Reno's men in their first encounter with the Da-
kotas at the upper village on the Little Big Horn.
The evidence points clearly to the fact that the thin
line of Arikara scouts extending from where the
soldiers stood out to the left was overwhelmed and
rolled up by a mass of Dakota horsemen who rode
out from behind some low hills farther to the left.
Of these scouts. Bob-tailed Bull was the first to fall
and he stood until the attack came, far out to the
12 North Dakota Collections
left, a solitary horseman facing scores of circling
warriors. The second leader of the scouts, Bloody
Knife, also took a prominent part in the prelim-
inary skirmishing and he was finally killed by a
shot from a Dakota marksman on the high ground
to the rear of Reno's position. All of the scouts,
when asked their opinion regarding the retreat of
the troops from the strong position behind a cut
bank on the edge of the timber, were emphatic in
maintaining that Reno could have held this well
protected position indefinitely. According to Judge
A. McG. Beede, who is well acquainted with the Da-
kotas, these Indians, also, held the same view.
The vigorous efforts made by the scouts to drive
off the pony herd of theDakotas is justified by their
understanding of Custer's orders to that effect
which they have given in detail. That they paid
more attention to this portion of their orders was
simply the result of the fact that they understood
that the pony herd was vitally important in the
fighting power of the Dakotas. That they failed in
their skillful and gallant attempt to carry out the
orders of their chief lay not in their lack of courage
but from the fact that Reno's soldiers failed to hold
their own strong line of defense on the other side of
the river. This released swarms of Dakota horse-
men who crossed the river and swept down upon
the handful of scouts who had already started to
drive off the pony herd and sent them scurrying
for safety to the high ground overlooking the river.
The Ankara Narrative 13
After Benteen had joined his command with Reno's
there does not seem to have been anyone able or
willing to give the scouts any order as to their next
move. Left to themselves they fell back upon their
last order from Custer, that in case of defeat they
were to retreat to the base camp. On this retreat
they attempted once more to drive off a herd of Da-
kota ponies that had previously been assembled by
various scouts during the earlier part of the day.
The Crow scouts tell a somewhat similar story.
They speak of their dismissal by Custer after his
command was ready to move to the attack. He left
them free to stay or go as they saw fit.
This brings out a fact which Custer understood
very well and upon which he planned his strategy.
He never used his scouts for line fighting. They
were trained, as he well knew, for skirmishing, for
trailing, for capturing the pony herds of the enemy.
In planning this last of his battles he depended
upon the scouts to show him the enemy and, if pos-
sible, to cripple the fighting power of the force op-
posed to him by capturing or stampeding their
horses. From every detail of this long narrative,
Custer's scouts seem to have performed their part
with skill and courage. They even gave such fine
examples of personal prowess as those related of
Bob-tailed Bull, Bloody Knife, and Young Hawk.
That Custer's plan of battle broke down can not in
all fairness be ascribed to any failure on the part
of his devoted scouts who carried out his orders in
14 North Dakota Collections
a manner whicli, had lie lived, would have elicited
from him the warmest commendation. We may
well leave to military experts the task of pointing
out the defects in the strategy and in the conduct of
the battle of the Little Big Horn. All that this
present narrative expects to accomplish is to sup-
ply the facts upon which we may base a judgment
regarding the behavior of Custer's Arikara scouts.
That they faced a difficult task and attempted to
carry out his orders against heavy odds seems f airlj^
well attested by the evidence. From a complete
misunderstanding of the duty Custer assigned to
these scouts, military men have pretty generally
minimized their services and laid them under
the heavy charge of cowardice in the face of
the enemy. Custer understood them perfectly and
did not expect them to do more than what they did.
That they did not feel themselves guilty of any
failure to carry out orders is evident from the
straightforward character of their various narra-
tives. The same impression was given in listening
to their own words and watching their facial ex-
pression as they reviewed, bit by bit, throughout the
long four days' session, the part they had played in
the events leading up to the loss of their great bene-
factor and friend.
Quite different is the impression made as to the
parts played by Black Fox, the Arikara scout, and
Curly, the Crow scout. The false and absurd claims
made by Curly that he was the sole sui-vivor of the
The Ankara Narrative 15
Custer fight are absolutely repudiated by his fellow
scouts and even the Arikara scouts are aware of his
untrustworthiness. By the testimony of the only
Arikara scout to leave the field before the fight be-
gan, Curly, his companion, did what Custer had
told the other Crow scouts to do. By what accident
or design he has been made to appear, perhaps in-
nocently at first, as the sole survivor of Custer's
command, has not yet been made to appear. That
the other Crow scouts look upon him with contempt
as an imposter is beyond question.
The present volume is offered as a piece of evi-
dence worthy of being included in the source ma-
terial for the future study of this period of our
history. It may serve, also, as a demonstration of
the value and credibility of such first-hand testi-
mony in any research that may be conducted in
this field.
HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION
In the year 1867 Congress provided for a com-
mission composed of four civilians and three army
officers who were to treat with all the Indian tribes
of the Great Plains and arrange a treaty which
would grant to them definite lands. This, it was
thought, would cause them to settle down and cease
their war on the white man. Parts of two years
were spent in visiting the scattered bands and
finally, in April, 1868, an agreement was concluded
which defined clearly the boundaries of the terri-
tory set apart for the Dakotas.^ This area was not
large when compared with the fields over which the
Dakotas had been accustomed to roam at will, but
it included the Black Hills and adjacent lands
which they had cherished for a long time as a hunt-
1 The United States aet apart reservation for their occupancy as fol-
lows: "Commencing on the east bank of the Missouri river where
the 46th parallel of north latitude crosses it; thence along low-
water mark down said east bank to a point opposite where the north
line of the state of Nebraska strikes said river; thence west across said
river and along said northern line of Nebraska to the 104th meridian;
thence north along said meridian to the 46th parallel of north latitude;
thence east along said parallel to the place of beginning. Said Indians
relinquish all right to occupy territory outside the above defined reserva-
tion, but reserve the right to hunt on any lands north of North Platte
and on the Republican Fork of Smoky Hill River so long as buffalo
may range there in numbers sufficient to justify the chase." — U. S.
Bureau of Am. Ethnology. Annual Report, 1896-1897, XVIII, p. 848.
18 North Dakota Collections
ing ground and asylum. Consequently when gold
was discovered in these hills and when the expedi-
tion commanded by Colonel Geo. A. Custer was
sent **to reconnoiter the route from Fort Abraham
Lincoln to Bear Butte," a well known point north
of the Black Hills, and "to explore the country
south, southeast, and southwest of that point, ' ' the
Indians were much disturbed.
This expedition had been organized at Fort Lin-
coln in June, and since the trails from the camp of
the hostile Dakotas on the Yellowstone to the In-
dian reservation agencies near the Missouri led by
a southeasterly course through the hills, it was con-
sidered desirable to obtain positive and accurate in-
formation regarding them and *'to connect them as
well by reconnaisance with the posts of Lincoln and
Laramie."^ Colonel Custer was directed to pro-
ceed by the route which he would find most desir-
able to Bear Butte or some other point on or near
the Belle Fourche, and thence push explorations in
such directions as in his judgment would enable
him to obtain the most information in regard to the
character of the country and the possible routes of
communication through it. He was directed to re-
turn to Fort Lincoln within sixty days from the
time of his departure from it, but he was author-
2 The expedition consisted of six companies of the Seventh Cavalry
stationed at Fort Lincoln; four companies of the same regiment then
stationed at Fort Rice; Company I, Twentieth Infantry; and Company
G, Seventeenth Infantry; together with sixty-one Indian scouts from
Fort Lincoln and Fort Bice selected by the commander of the expedition.
The AriJcara Narrative 19
ized to return from any point of his contemplated
march, even before the Belle Fourche would be
reached, if any unforeseen obstacle made it neces-
sary or advisable.
The expedition started from Fort Lincoln on
July 2, 1874, taking a southwesterly course. It was
able to explore the cave about which the Indian
scouts had told so many wonderful stories. This
cave was found in the eastern side of a ridge sev-
eral miles long, covered with pine. It was a hole
washed out of the sandstone two or three hundred
feet in depth horizontally, with an entrance fifteen
by twenty feet, and it proved to possess no special
interest other than that imparted to it by the super-
stitions of the Indians. When the valley of the
Belle Fourche was reached, July 19th, the command
remained in camp. The distance marched from
Fort Lincoln was 292 miles, an average of 181/4
miles per day. The Indians were reluctant about
entering the hills, protesting that the wagons could
not be taken further. They had supposed the ex-
pedition would not seriously attempt an entrance,
but would only skirt the hills. However, on July
20th, the first day's journey was made into the
hills. The course led southward up the valley of
the Red Water, a branch of the Belle Fourche ; and
a well-marked pony and lodge trail led up the valley
southeasterly to the Red Cloud and Spotted Tail
Agencies. An old badly cut lodge trail was discov-
ered which, according to the scouts, was originally
20 North Dakota Collections
an old voyageur pack-trail; and it was one of the
routes between the hostile camp on the Tongue
River and the agencies. On the afternoon of the
26th, a Dakota village of seven lodges was found.
Custer wanted these Indians to guide his party-
through the hills but at nightfall they abandoned
their camp and made their escape. Their chief,
One Stab, was in Custer's camp when their flight
was discovered and he was detained as a guide and
hostage. His wife was the daughter of Red Cloud.
On the 3d of August, Charles Reynolds, a white
scout, was sent to Fort Laramie with dispatches.
He made the seventy-five-mile trip with only a
compass to guide him through a country infested
with Indians. He suffered great hardship due to
lack of water. Fort Laramie, a very old frontier
post on the left bank of the Laramie River, about
two miles from its junction with the North Platte,
and just at the foot of the northeastern slope of the
Laramie Range of the Rockies, was originally a
station of the Hudson's Bay Company and later a
station and trading post of the American Fur Com-
pany. It was first occupied by the United States
as a military post in 1849.
On August 6th, camp was broken for the return
trip. Colonel Custer decided to partly retrace his
route, instead of going eastward upon the prairie,
as he desired to discover if a northward route
through the hills, emerging somewhere near Bear
Butte, was practicable. So the old trail was fol-
The Arikara Narrative 21
lowed with but slight divergence. During the re-
turn four Cheyenne Indians were encountered on
their way to the agencies from the hostile camp on
the Tongue River. They asserted that Sitting Bull
with 5,000 warriors was preparing to intercept the
expedition at Short Pine Hills, but nothing was
seen of them. On August 20th the march led north
and west over a rolling prairie which the Indians
had burned over to embarrass the expedition and
which necessitated a descent into the Little Mis-
souri Valley, where the Bad Lands begin, for wood,
water, and grass. The command worked gradually
out of the burnt district on the 27th and crossed the
Heart River at noon, August 30th. The wagon
train had traveled 883 miles ; the men had marched
nearly 1,000 miles and the total number of miles
surveyed was 1,205. The evidence gathered on the
trip with regard to a large amount of precious
metal in the Black Hills was on the whole discour-
aging. But otherwise, the expedition was in every
way successful and it made a large addition to the
existing knowledge of the country, which was likely
to be of value in case of hostilities with the Dakotas.
Other expeditions followed, and soon there began
a rush of white men into this territory.^ It was at
3 The question of gold in the Black Hills was not considered settled
by the expedition of 1874; therefore in 1875 another expedition was
sent out by the Interior Department, headed by Walter P, Jenny, a
mining engineer, escorted by an ample force of troops under Colonel R.
I. Dodge. — Eeport of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, 1876, Wash.,
1875, p. 8.
22 North Dakota Collections
this point that the Indians were aroused and made
a desperate attempt to defend their lands and their
rights in the treaty.
From the time of the treaty of 1868 there had re-
mained outside of the reservation a number of Da-
kotas, known as hostiles. To these were constantly
being added outlaws who left the reservations, until
the number which could be called hostile was prob-
ably about three thousand. Most of these were un-
der the leadership of Sitting Bull. In November,
1875, the commissioner of Indian affairs reported
*'it will probably be necessary to compel the north-
em non-treaty Sioux, and such outlaws from the
several agencies as have attached themselves to
these same hostiles, to cease marauding and settle
down, as the other Sioux have done. " * The Indian
inspector, E. C. Watkins, after investigation ad-
vised that troops be sent against these hostile In-
dians "that winter; the sooner the better," and that
the force consist of a thousand men. Accordingly
General Sheridan, in whose division these Indians
were, instructed General Crook to prepare for the
expedition.^ But in December the secretary of the
4 Eeport of Secretary of War, 1876, Wash., 1876, I, p. 28.
5 In 1876, the territory of the United States was divided into three
military divisions, namely, the Missouri, the Atlantic, and the Pacific.
The division of the Missouri embraced the states and territories border-
ing on the Mississippi and Missouri Eivers, extending westvrard so as
to include substantially the entire Eocky Mountain chain, and was com-
manded by Lieut. Gen. P. H. Sheridan, with his headquarters in Chicago
and was composed of five different departments. The first was that of
Dakota, commanded by Brig. Gen. A. H. Terry, with his headquarters
The Arihara Narrative 23
interior stated that it was his purpose to send out
runners to notify these Indians that they must
come in to their reservations by or before the 31st
of January, 1876, or a military force would be
sent against them. On the first day of February,
when the time given the hostiles had expired, the
secretary of the interior formally turned them over
to the military authorities for such action as they
might deem proper under the circumstances, and
General Sheridan then instructed General Crook to
proceed to reduce these Indians to subjection. This
officer, and Colonel J. J. Reynolds with an expedi-
tion numbering 883 men, went into the Rosebud
and Powder Horn countries. Here the group was
divided into two parts. Colonel Reynolds followed
the trail of two Indians and struck the camp of
Crazy Horse, one of the hostile bands. The Indians
fled, the soldiers destroyed the camp, while being
shot at from rocks, bushes, and gullies, and then
they returned to the place where they were to meet
General Crook. Together they went back to Fort
Fetterman, reaching that place March 26th.
The results of this expedition were neither con-
clusive nor satisfactory, since General Crook was
at St. Paul; the second that of the Platte, commanded by Brig. Gen.
George Crook, with headquarters at Omaha; the third that of the Mis-
souri, commanded hj Brig. Gen. John Pope, with headquarters at Fort
Leavenworth; the fourth that of Texas, commanded by Brig. Gen. E.
O. C. Ord, with headquarters at San Antonio; the fifth that of the Gulf,
commanded by Brig. Gen. C. C. Augur, with headquarters at New
Orleans. ^Report of Secretary of War, 1876, Wash., 1876, I, p. 25.
24 North Dakota Collections
driven back by the Indians, and General Sheridan
now determined to carry out a systematic cam-
paign. Accordingly he ordered three distinct di-
visions, General Crook (who had recovered from
his winter's defeat) from the Platte, General Terry
from Dakota, and Colonel Gibbon from Montana,
to march simultaneously toward a common center,
that common center to be near the Big Horn River,
a tributary of the Yellowstone.
The military authorities assumed that any one of
these three divisions could defeat the enemy, the
only difficulty being to catch him, for it was be-
lieved that no one of the commanders would en-
counter more than five or eight hundred hostile
warriors. But the failure of Crook's expedition in
March, and the delay of Custer's command at Fort
Lincoln, had caused hundreds of Indians to slip
away from the Red Cloud and Spotted Tail reser-
vations in Nebraska, and from their reservations
on the Missouri, so that Sitting Bull 's camp as Cus-
ter found it contained approximately twenty-five
hundred to three thousand warriors from all the
different tribes of the Dakota nation. They were
supplied with fine rifles and had large quantities of
ammunition. Many of these were outlaws, but the
worst feature of the matter was that the agents at
the reservations had concealed the fact that nu-
merous bands had left their reservations.
On the 29th of May, the division under General
Crook, consisting of two battalions of the Second
The Arikara Narrative 25
and Third Cavalry commanded by Lieutenant
Colonel W. B. Royall and a battalion of five com-
panies of the Fourth and Ninth Infantry under
Major Alex. Chambers, marched northward from
Fort Fetterman on the Platte, to Goose Creek, head
of Tongue River, a tributary of the Yellowstone.
Here he established his supply camp June 8th.
Moving from this camp on the 16th, toward the
headwaters of the Rosebud, another tributary of
the Yellowstone, General Crook encountered, June
17th, a large number of Indians commanded by
Red Cloud, forty miles north of Goose Creek, and
was so badly crippled that he retreated the next day
to his supply camp to await reenforcements and
supplies, practically eliminated from the cam-
paign.**
Colonel John Gibbon, with his division consist-
ing of four companies of the Second Cavalry and
six companies of the Seventh Infantry (total 450
men), marched from Fort Ellis in Montana east-
ward along the north bank of the Yellowstone
River to the mouth of the Rosebud, to meet Gen-
eral Alfred H. Terry. The infantry started March
30th, and the cavalry April 1st. General Terry,
with the Seventh Cavalry under its lieutenant-
colonel, Geo. A. Custer, was stationed at Fort Abra-
ham Lincoln, near Bismarck. This command con-
6 Sheridan in his report gives the date when Crook moved from
Goose River as June 13th. The correct date was June 16th as stated
in the reports of both Sherman and Crook. Eeport of Secretary of War,
1876, Wash., 1876, I, pp. 30, 442, 504.
26 North Dakota Collections
sisted of twelve companies of the Seventh Cavalry,
twenty-eight officers, and about seven hundred
men; two companies of the Seventeenth U. S. In-
fantry, and one company of the Sixth U. S. Infan-
try, eight officers and one hundred five men; one
platoon of three gatling guns; two officers and
thirty-two men of the Twentieth U. S. Infantry,
and forty Arikara Indian scouts.
On the morning of May 17th this command start-
ed on its ill-fated expedition. The first halt was
made near the Little Missouri where Custer, with
four troops, went on a reconnoitering trip up the
valley. On June 1st and 2d they were delayed by a
snow storm, but they reached the mouth of the
Powder River June 10th. From here Major Reno,
with a part of Custer's army, was sent to recon-
noiter, and Custer went on to the mouth of the
Tongue River to which place Reno returned, June
19th, bringing news of a *' large Indian trail" lead-
ing up the Rosebud. There were many indications
that the Indians' stronghold was upon the Little
Big Horn about fifteen miles above its junction
with the Big Horn. Custer reached the mouth of
the Rosebud on June 21st. Here he was met by
General Terry who had gone up the Yellowstone on
the supply steamer. General Gibbon also joined
them here, having left his command near the mouth
of the Big Horn. A conference was held on board
the steamer "Far West" at which it was decided
that Custer with the Seventh Cavalry should fol-
The Arikara Narrative 27
low the Indian trail discovered by Reno, while the
others were to continue to the mouth of the Big
Horn where Custer was to report later. The writ-
ten instructions given to Custer were as follows :
Camp at the Mouth of the Rosebud River,
Montana Territory.
June 22, 1876.
Lieutenant-Colonel Custer, 7th Cavalry.
Colonel: The Brigadier-General Commanding
directs that, as soon as your regiment can be made
ready for the march, you will proceed up the Rose-
bud in pursuit of the Indians whose trail was dis-
covered by Major Reno a few days since. It is, of
course, impossible to give you any definite instruc-
tions in regard to this movement, and were it not
impossible to do so the Department Commander
places too much confidence in your zeal, energy,
and ability to wish to impose upon you precise or-
ders which might hamper your action when nearly
in contact with the enemy. He will, however, indi-
cate to you his own views of what your action
should be, and he desires that you should conform
to them unless you shall see sufficient reason for
departing from them. He thinks that you should
proceed up the Rosebud until you ascertain defi-
nitely the direction in which the trail above spoken
of leads. Should it be found (as it appears almost
certain that it will be found) to turn toward the
Little Big Horn, he thinks that you should still
proceed southward perhaps as far as the head-
waters of the Tongue, and then turn towards the
Little Horn, feeling constantly, however, to your
28 North Dakota Collections
left, so as to preclude the possibility of the escape
of the Indians to the south or southeast by passing
around your left fiank. The column of Colonel
Gibbon is now in motion for the mouth of the Big
Horn. As soon as it reaches that point it will
cross the Yellowstone and move up at least as far
as the forks of the Big and Little Horns. Of
course its future movements must be controlled by
circumstances as they arise, but it is hoped that
the Indians, if upon the Little Horn, may be so
nearly inclosed by the two columns that their es-
cape will be impossible.
The Department Command desires that on your
way up the Rosebud you should thoroughly exam-
ine the upper part of Tulloch's Creek, and that
you should endeavor to sent a scout through to
Colonel Gibbon's column, with information of the
result of your examination. The lower part of
this creek will be examined by a detachment from
Colonel Gibbon's command. The supply steamer
will be pushed up the Big Horn as far as the forks,
if the river is found to be navigable for that dis-
tance, and the Department Commander, who will
accompany the column of Colonel Gibbon, desires
you to report to him there not later than the ex-
piration of the time for which your troops are ra-
tioned, unless in the meantime you receive further
orders.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
E. W. Smith, Captain 18th Infantry,
Acting Assistant Adjutant-General.
The Arikara Narrative 29
Having received these instructions, the Seventh
Cavalry and its accompanying party of Arikara
and Crow scouts marched out of camp at noon on
June 22d. In consultation with its officers that
evening, Custer took unusual precautions to pro-
vide for secrecy. During the first day's march
three large Indian camping places were passed.
June 24th was a tedious, dusty day, and the troops
made long halts to keep in touch with the scouts,
who were carefully examining the country, espe-
cially on the right towards Tulloch's Creek as Terry
had ordered. Many more forsaken camping places
were passed this day and instead of realizing, as he
should have done, that these were the camps of an
unusually large number of Indians, Custer, prob-
ably influenced by the reports of military authori-
ties that there were not more than five or eight hun-
dred warriors in this hostile band, mistook these
numerous camps for a succession of camps of the
same or a few villages.
In the largest of these forsaken camps, a large
sun dance lodge was standing. It contained a white
man's scalp. At sundown, after marching about
twenty-eight miles, a camp was made under cover
of a bluff. General Custer seemed strangely de-
pressed, and that evening, departing from his usual
custom, he consulted with his officers. He informed
them that the trail led over the divide between the
Rosebud and the Little Big Horn Rivers, and that
30 North Dakota Collections
the marcli would be continued at once for he was
anxious to get to the divide before daylight. After
marching about ten miles, he halted the command a
little after 2 a.m., June 25th, and waited news from
the Arikara scouts, who, with the chief scout, Lieu-
tenant Varnum, were reconnoitering. He was of
course anxious that these scouts should definitely
locate the enemy in their camp, and that the enemy
should not be aware of his approach. After a much
needed rest of five and one-half hours they moved
on cautiously for a distance of ten miles, and halted
again in a ravine concealed from view. This ra-
vine was about a mile from the Little Chetish or
Wolf Mountains, a high, broken, and rough coun-
try of precipitous hills and deep narrow gulches
which form the divide between the Little Big
Horn and the Rosebud. Looking from the high
hills at this point the Indian scouts discovered the
Dakota village in the Little Big Horn Valley, which
they concluded was twelve or fifteen miles away.
But with this news they also reported that the In-
dians had evidently discovered the approach of the
white men, for the group nearest Custer's com-
mand was moving away. Later they learned that
this was but a smaller camp joining the larger one
down the valley.
However, Custer, fearing that the Indians were
moving away, and thinking that there were not
more than eight hundred Indian warriors in the
country, decided to attack at once as delay would
The Arikara Narrative 31
allow tlie village to scatter and escape. After an
inspection of the troops, the column started and
crossed the divide a little before noon. Shortly af-
terwards the command was divided into three
parts/ one under Eeno, one under Custer, and a
third under Benteen. The pack-train was under
the escort of McDougall with Troop B.
Reno's battalion marched down a valley that de-
veloped into a small tributary of the Little Big
Horn now called Benteen 's Creek. Custer's col-
umn and*the pack-train followed closely, but Ben-
teen was ordered to the left and front, to a line of
high hills three or four miles distant, where the
country was exceedingly rough and hard on his
horses. The first two battalions did not meet any
Indians until they arrived at a burning tepee, prob-
ably fired by the scouts, and here they saw a few.
They did not act surprised, nor did they make any
attempt to delay the troops. They simply kept far
enough ahead to invite pursuit.
The Indian village was strung along the west
bank of the Little Big Horn for a distance of three
or four miles. When the troops were close to the
river, Custer ordered Reno to move forward at as
rapid a gait as he thought prudent, and "charge the
village." Reno moved off at a trot toward the
river, delayed ten or fifteen minutes watering the
horses, then crossed the stream and reformed his
column on the left bank with the Arikara scouts on
7 Godfrey, Custer's Last Battle, N. Y., 1892, 368.
32 North Dakota Collections
his left. Advancing about a mile further, he met
with little resistance. Then the Indians opened a
brisk fire and made a dash toward the left where
the scouts were. Here Reno, instead of obeying his
commands and charging the village as he had been
ordered to do, to throw the Indians into confusion
and destroy a part of their village, halted, dis-
mounted his troops, and fought on foot until he was
forced back into the timber. This position was a
strong one and he remained there till nearly sur-
rounded, when he gave the order to mount and get
to the bluffs. This order was not generally un-
derstood and a confused retreat followed. He was
forced to the left by the attack and did not get to
the ford by which he had entered the valley. He
found a f ordable place, but by this time the com-
mand had lost all semblance of organization and a
number of men were killed before they reached the
bluffs.
Meanwhile, Benteen had gone to the left over a
succession of high hills and deep valleys. The far-
ther he advanced, the more difficult the way became.
During this march his men could get occasional
glimpses of the Custer battalion, distinguished by
the troop mounted on gray horses. Before he had
gone too far over this rugged country, Benteen de-
cided to follow the trail of the rest of the command
and turning back, reached it just before the pack-
train. Shortly afterwards he received a message
from Custer telling him to hurry on to join his com-
The Arikara Narrative 33
mand. Benteen's march brought him to the bluffs
where he met Reno 's retreating troops and his bat-
talion was ordered to dismount and deploy as skir-
mishers along the valley.* The Indians soon with-
drew from this attack, presumably in order to give
their whole attention to Custer, who was by this
time separated from the other troops by a distance
of two and one-half or three miles.
Custer, on leaving Reno, had gone to the right of
the river and the ridge down a ravine that led to the
river. Some of Reno's men had seen a party of
Custer's command, including Custer himself, on
the bluffs about the time the Indians began to de-
velop their attack on Reno's front. This party was
heard to cheer, and the men were seen to wave their
hats as if to give encouragement, and they then dis-
appeared behind the hills. It is probable that from
this ridge, Custer saw plainly the Indian village,
and realized that the chances were desperate.
Reno was already in the fight, and Custer had no
reason to think that he would not push his attack
vigorously ; accordingly it was about this time that
the messenger was sent to Benteen with Custer's
last order, "Benteen, come on. Big village. Be
quick. Bring packs. Cook, Adjutant. P.S. Bring
packs."
For a long time after Benteen joined Reno, firing
was heard down the river in the vicinity of Custer's
command. Benteen 's three companies had doubled
8 Godfrey, Custer's Last Battle, p. 372.
34 North Dakota Collections
Reno's force and with the company of the pack-
train, which arrived a little later, there were seven
companies under Reno, while Custer had only five.
Custer's need of supplies and men was shown by his
urgent message to Benteen, and if these seven com-
panies with their ammunition had hastened to his
aid, their imited force might have enabled Custer
to save his command. The attack on Custer's com-
mand lasted but a short time, and no survivor was
left to tell the story of the fight. An examination
of the field, however, gave evidence of the stubborn
resistance offered by the troops.
After the annihilation of Custer's command the
Indians turned their attention to Reno who was
moving out in Custer's direction. He was driven
back to the ridge and the Indians continued to fire
upon his command till dark, when they stopped to
celebrate their victory by a scalp dance in the val-
ley below. Some of the scouts were sent out after
dark to look for signs of Custer 's command but they
returned after a short absence to report that the
country was full of the enemy. The next morning
the Indians renewed the attack, the soldiers dug
shallow rifle pits and piled up boxes of hard tack
across the most exposed portion of their position.
They suffered much from thirst as the Indians care-
fully guarded the river to prevent any water from
being obtained. Later in the afternoon the firing
grew slack and about 3 o'clock it ceased altogether.
It is thought that their runners must have brought
12.37381
TJie Arikara Narrative 35
to the Indians news of the approaching column, for
Terry with Gibbon's command arrived about 11
o'clock on Tuesday morning. Reno and his men
had seen the Indians moving away at dusk, but did
not then know the cause. The timely arrival of
Terry, without doubt, saved Reno and his command
from a fate like that of Custer's.
Thus the expedition, so carefully planned, and so
confident of victory, had completely failed. The
Indians had succeeded in hiding their strength from
the scouts and were able to go into battle with at
least three times as many warriors as Custer had
expected to find. The principal war chief engaged
in the battle was Gall, of the Hunkpapas. Other
important leaders were Crow King and Black Moon
of the same band ; Low Dog, Crazy Horse, and Big
Road of the Oglalas ; Lame Deer, leading the Minni-
conjous, and Hmnp of the same band ; White Bull
and Little Horse of the Cheyennes, and Spotted
Eagle of the Sans- Arcs. Gall, Crow King, and
Crazy Horse played the leading part, while Sitting
Bull, though important in the councils, took no part
in the battle.^
9 It is impossible to ascertain with any certainty the whereabouts of
Sitting Bull during the battle of the Little Big Horn. Various writers
differ in their accounts and the Indians when questioned on the subject
remain silent.
NARRATIVE OF THE ARIKARA
OF THEIR Part in the Campaign of Lieut.-Col,
George A. Custer, June, 1876
Sitting Bear's Story of Ms father, Son-of-the-Star,
in the words of Son-of-the-Star as Sitting Bear
rememhers hearing them^
The beginning of the permanent friendship be-
tween the Arikara and the whites came about from
a meeting held by Grand-father, as they called him,
on Mussel Shell River in Montana. There was one
representative of the Arikara tribe at this meeting.
Bear Chief, and he was given authority to choose a
colleague on his return, to be chief with him over
the Arikara. White Shield was so named and he
afterwards appointed Son-of-the-Star as head of
the Arikara police. Each chief, according to Ari-
kara custom, had such a police force. The purpose
of the Mussel Shell meeting was peace. And thus
the police were to prevent hostilities between the
Arikara and the whites. The whole camp was full
1 Unless otherwise stated the regular interpreter of these narratives
was Peter Beauchamp, a graduate of Hampton Institute, Virginia. The
numerous footnotes that accompany this narrative are added to indicate
how closely the Indian story agrees with the general trend of the official
and unofficial accounts of the same events.
38 North Dakota Collections
of respect for the new regime of order and peace,
even the oldest of the tribe. The police served to
check inter-tribal skirmishes, but not all of the
tribes respected the new plan, for the Dakotas con-
tinued to plague the Arikara. At this time there
were many whites spread far and wide, working in
wood camps, on boats, etc., and the Dakotas massa-
cred them. The Arikara and the whites suffered
the same fate. This continued from bad to worse ;
some of the Arikara present at this meeting had
helped to defend the whites against the Dakotas.
Now Bear Chief died and White Shield was still
living when Son-of-the-Star was called to Washing-
ton because of his services as chief of police. Son-
of-the-Star took with him to Washington, Bull
Head, Peter Beauchamp, the interpreter, and three
Mandans, Bad Gun, Bald Eagle, and Chief Red
Cow's son, Show-Fear-in-the-Face (the one older
than Black Eagle). This was about the year 1874.^
When they arrived at Washington the Indian com-
missioner greeted Son-of-the-Star. He began the
council with these words: "Son-of-the-Star, I have
sent for you because I wish to see you. Now I see
you for you stand before me. Son-of-the-Star, you
have seen me with your own eyes. What is your
2 In 1875, a year before Custer's Big Horn fight, the following Indians
went to Washington: Bad Gun, Dance-Flag, and Running Face, Man-
dans, the interpreter being Chas. Packenau; Son-of-Star, Bull Head, and
Black Fox, Arikara, with their interpreter, Peter Beauchamp. — Colleo-
tioiis of the State Historical Society of North Dal-ota, Bismarck, 1908,
II, p. 466.
The Arikara Narrative 39
opinion of me?" Son-of-the-Star replied: *'Yes,
I have seen you, I admire you, I admire your whole
being. We can depend upon you for protection, we
have faith that you will protect us. I came at your
call because I felt weak. We have kept our promise,
we have kept peace. We have tried to protect the
whites among us. I see myself that I am weak.
You are strong, whatever you need you have ready.
You have all that is needed to protect yourselves in
the way of weapons. I feel that in comparison
with you I am as a little child dodging the blows of
someone stronger. To consult with you about this
is my one purpose in coming to you. My game and
my means for providing for my people have been
diminished. It is all the same, you have cattle and
you have provisions." The commissioner said:
** Son-of-the-Star, you have touched my heart. I
am sorry that both your people and mine have
trouble with the Dakotas. You have made tears
come to my eyes. Yes, Son-of-the-Star, I have a
great many boys (soldiers). I will do what you
suggest. I will decide to fight Sitting Bull and I
will fight him. It will not be ten years, it will prob-
ably be two or three years, if Sitting Bull is strong.
But if you look around the earth you will see clouds
of dust going up to the sky where my armies are set-
ting out after Sitting Bull. Sitting Bull is like a
prisoner in a room, four walls shut him in, he can-
not escape. I have my boys all around him. If he
breaks one circle there will be another around him.
40 North Dakota Collections
He cannot escape, he has no way of going under the
earth, and no way of getting away from me. It will
probably be about two years after you arrive home
that the expedition against Sitting Bull will set out.
Son-of-the-Star, you will furnish some boys for this
expedition." Son-of-the-Star replied: "Yes, I have
boys (warriors), they will take part in the expedi-
tion." Then he asked the commissioner what the
plan would be if his boys were to help on the expe-
dition. The reply was : '* If I lose one of your boys,
he or his relatives will have money for a long time.
In the event that one of the boys is wounded, I will
reward him. While the boys are under me, doing
any work for the government, should they be in-
jured accidentally in storm, in flood, or by breaking
a leg or arm, or by any other accident in service, I
will remember that he is under my orders and that
he is entitled to a reward. The boys that work in
the service shall be rewarded, if they are wounded
about the eyes or head, their injuries shall be paid
for. I will remember that I am responsible for
them and reward them also, for any loss of stock or
horses." Son-of-the-Star replied that he would
comply with the wishes of the commissioner. The
commissioner then went into another room and
brought out a AVinchester rifle for each of them and
gave it to them. He said : '^ Any time I issue goods
to you, I will also send guns. I will try and make
you happy. I will provide you with provisions, I
will provide you with cattle. After the Sioux have
SiTi'iNc 1>i;ak
The Arikara Narrative 41
been broken up, you will probably be visited by
straggling Sioux who have no longer any land. I
want you to treat them well and share what you
have with them. Think of them as prisoners, those
taken by the soldiers and held in captivity. ' ' Two
years after Son-of-the-Star's arrival home, he re-
ceived a letter from the Indian commissioner ask-
ing him to carry out his promise. A council was
called to take the matter into consideration, and
Sitting Bear said, ''Those here tonight volunteered
to go, though some of them were very young. This
is what we consider an agreement between the Unit-
ed States Government and ourselves."
Story of the First Enlistment of the Arikara as
United States Scouts. (Told hy Sitting Bear,
who spoke in place of Soldier.)
The first time I heard of the Arikara enlistment
was when the steamboat first arrived at Fort Bert-
hold. We were told that this boat had on it three
United States representatives. It was announced
that a council was to be held by these representa-
tives with the three tribes. At this time there were
many honored men alive among the three tribes. In
Fort Berthold village there was a large Arikara
medicine-lodge and here the representatives of the
three tribes met with those representatives from the
United States. They asked the United States rep-
resentatives what was wanted of them. The first
speaker said that they had come to obtain consent
42 North Dakota Collections
of the three tribes to have a portion of their reser-
vation ceded to the United States. He told them
that this request was made in order to have an
establishment there where the United States author-
ities could look out for them. The representatives
of the three tribes formally approved of the plan.
They agreed to give up land as follows : Beginning
at the mouth of Snake Creek and going northeast to
Dog Den Butte, from thence east to Com Cob
Buttes, thence south to the old Arikara Village at
Fort Clark, thence up the Missouri River on the
west side to the point of starting. While this was
under the consideration of the council no objection
was raised to it ; the area, price, etc., were not taken
up as yet. The Arikara representatives were White
Shield, Son-of-the-Star, Iron Bear (Shows-fear-
in-the-face), and Black Road (Trail).
White Shield spoke first for the Arikara, Crow
Gizzard (Crow's Breast), Hidatsa chief, spoke
second. Red Cow, for the Mandans, spoke third.
The interpreter for all three tribes was Pierre Gar-
reau. Before the business was completed, and while
the discussion was still going on, an alarm came of
a Dakota attack on the village. All the Indians left
the lodge and the United States representatives
were left alone. It was reported that while the fight
was going on one of these commissioners went up
on the lodge with a paper and prayed for victory
for the three tribes. They were victorious and
killed five Dakotas, one of whom wore a war-bon-
The Arikara Narrative 43
net. Thus the United States representatives were
eye-witnesses of our difficulties and troubles. Not
all of the Indians went out to fight, a few of the old
people remained in the lodge and we do not know
what happened there. When we came back the
steamboat that had brought the United States rep-
resentatives had gone, for the fight had lasted all
day. It was very hot and some horses died of heat.
The Dakotas were chased from Timber Coulee to
Blue Hills near Rose Glen. I do not know how
many Indian representatives stayed behind in the
tepee, but White Shield and Son-of-the-Star stayed
and they told the rest of the Indians about the
prayer of the white man and Pierre Garreau also
told them that this man had prayed. The white
man when he prayed had a book or paper in his
hand. The Indians had been so successful in the
fight that they looked upon the praying white man
as a holy man. Summer went, fall came, the soldiers
came on the steamboat and located the fort (Stev-
enson) up the river from the land agreed upon.
When the three tribes heard of this some of their
representatives went down to see the officer at Fort
Stevenson about the location of the fort on land not
granted in the treaty. This was while the soldiers
were still living in tents. The buildings were not
up. At this conference the officer replied that they
had located the fort nearer to the three tribes in
order to help them better, but that the land upon
which Fort Stevenson was built still belonged to
44 North Dakota Collections
the Indians (Sitting Bear did not know this, or
what was said, by being present at the conference,
but reported only what he heard). The following
spring permanent building began. The officer in
charge asked F. F. Gerard to arrange with the Ari-
kara to come down to Fort Stevenson and enlist as
scouts, and he particularly named Bull Head. Ge-
rard was at Fort Stevenson at this tune, as trader
or clerk, and he likely suggested Bull Head to the
officer in charge. All the Arikara who responded
to Gerard's call were members of the police force
of White Shield. Red Dog and Tall Bear were at
Fort Stevenson at this time visiting Gerard and he
said to them: *'I am glad to see you for I have an
order for enlistment of Arikara scouts. I will send
by you this hard tack, bacon, coffee, sugar, and
front quarter of beef. You take it all back to Fort
Berthold and make a feast and help me enlist. ' ' So
Red Dog and Tall Bear took the provisions back on
their horses to the village. It was after dark when
they got back. ''I was in bed when Red Dog opened
my door and said I was to meet at Tall Bear's to see
about enlistment. ' ' Gerard, he said, had given him
provisions, and had particularly named Soldier and
Two Bears as being the ones he w^anted. (The
above quotation is in Soldier's own words.) Soldier
went with Red Dog to the lodge of Tall Bear. Be-
sides these two there were present in his lodge the
following: Big Star, Dog's Backbone, White Ghost
(Smoke), Ree Chief, Elk Head (Not-Afraid-of-
The Arikara Narrative 45
Anybody), Bull Head, Eed Elk, Charging Bull,
Two Bears, Tall Bear, Only Brave, and Peter
Beauchamp. These fourteen people were all who
were present. Tall Bear and Red Dog opened the
meeting and told them why they had called them
together. They said they had been at Fort Steven-
son and that Gerard had given them some provi-
sions. Now, as members of White Shield's police
force, they suggested that they all go down and en-
list. "We will fare like other soldiers," they said,
**food, pay, and lodging, and we go with this under-
standing." They voted one by one to go until all
agreed. The next day they packed up and went to
Fort Stevenson, some on foot, others on horseback.
They had knives, bows and arrows, and only Indian
dress. At Fort Stevenson Gerard met them and
told them to camp. He gave them rations and said
that the officer would see them next day. They
camped in tents supplied to them, across on the
other side of Garrison Creek. The next day they
went up to the officer's house and were told to come
in. They all stripped to the breech clout and were
examined by the army doctor, for only strong men
were wanted for the hard work. After inspection
they received complete suits of clothes, each a hat
with a feather, under-clothes, flannel shirt, shoes,
and a blue cape. Here they received also long,
breech-loading rifles with three brass bands (the
interpreter added at this point that he had heard
these were 45-70's). Soon these guns were ex-
46 North Dakota Collections
changed for shorter ones (about three and one-half
feet long), cavalry guns with magazines holding
seven cartridges. They received also cartridge belts
and bags for extra shells. They were given one
horse for their camp and they took turns using it.
The Narrative as continued hy Soldier.
Bull Head was made head of the band by the of-
ficer; he had three stripes on his arm and black
trouser stripes. On his hat he wore a brass bugle
emblem. Bull Head detailed Two Bears and Sol-
dier to look after the rations furnished. The ration
consisted of square thick crackers, salt, fresh bread,
flour, bacon, sugar, plug tobacco, tea, beans, peas,
hominy, and square, solid strips of beans and leaves
mixed (succotash), and occasionally fresh beef.
They boiled the succotash, it seemed to be a mixture
of cabbage leaves and beans. They were furnished
with tin plates, large cups, kettles, and a camp
stove or oven. For pay each man received sixteen
dollars per month and for each horse twelve dollars
extra. They were paid every two months. **What
first took the heart out of my body (made it jump
with happiness) was the sight of the green paper
money in my hands. ' ' Soldier served six winters at
Fort Stevenson, enlisting for six months at a time.
For this reason he took no part in the village battles
against the Dakotas as did so many others and he
has nothing to tell of them. He said, *'I was once
working in the woods when I heard a war-cry that
The Ankara Narrative 47
the Sioux had carried off the horses." He rushed
out, got on a horse, and met Peter Beauchamp car-
rying a quiver and a rifle. They rode across a hill
and they saw two Dakota warriors on a ridge ahead.
Soldier told Beauchamp to make ready and be brave
in the fight, for Beauchamp was still untried in war.
Beauchamp got out of patience at his insistence and
replied : ''I know wha,t is coming, the birds and un-
derground people are hungry and if I am killed
they will feed on me, they will get fat on me, that is
what I expect. ' ' Then Beauchamp saw that he had
lost his bow, though he still had his quiver full of
arrows and his gun. The Dakotas retreated and
the Arikara could not overtake them for the ene-
my's horses were swifter. The other scouts tried to
head the Dakotas off, but Sitting Bull's band ap-
peared and drove all the scouts in. Sitting Bull had
captured some boat loads of people on the river, but
he let them go and dashed out to attack the fort.
Bull Head was thrown from his horse and lay still
in the grass. Soldier swung around on the Dakotas
and was about to fire at them but Two Chiefs called
out to him not to fire. Two Dakota warriors rode
up and stood one on each side of the body of Bull
Head, as he lay stunned. One of them called out :
"I am Sitting Bull, himself." And he and his com-
panion kept the rest of the Dakotas off from Bull
Head so that they did not hurt him. The scouts left
Bull Head lying and the Dakotas stripped him and
took his arms but did not hurt him because of Sit-
48 North Dakota Collections
ting Bull and his companion. Then the white sol-
diers took a wagon out to bring back Bull Head's
body and Soldier saw someone coming in over the
hill, staggering, hardly able to walk; it was Bull
Head. Sitting Bull and Bull Head belonged to the
same secret society, the New Dog, and so Bull Head
was not hurt by the enemy.
The enlistment of the present Ankara Scouts as
told hy Yotmg Haivk
Young Hawk's father enlisted first at Fort Lin-
coln and he himself stayed there with his father
and after a time his father suggested that he enlist
and earn money too. So he enlisted under Lieuten-
ant Gurley at Fort Lincoln. At this time an army
of cavalry came there under Custer from the West.'
Fort Lincoln was then on top of the hill but Custer
changed the camp to the bottom land and scouts
were put under his command.
Custer then set out on the Black Hills expedition
and Young Hawk accompanied him. We were
told that this expedition was for the purpose of lo-
3 Lieutenant General Sheridan of the Military Division of the Mis-
souri refers to this event in his report of October 27, 1873, as follows:
"Early last spring in consequence of reported attacks by the Indians
on the post of Fort Abraham Lincoln, I deemed it necessary that a
regiment of cavalry should be transferred to the Department of Dakota
in order that these Indians might be followed and punished, if they
again renewed their attacks. On application to headquarters of the army
the Seventh Cavalry was ordered from the Military Division of the South
to the Department of Dakota, and by direction of Gen. A. H. Terry,
stationed at Forts Rice and Abraham Lincoln. ' ' — Beport of the Secretary
of War, 1873-1874, Wash., 1874, I, p. 40.
The Arikara Narrative 49
eating gold. We saw men in the party who were
surveyors with instruments and they used them on
the hills and streams/ Some time after the arrival
of the expedition at Black Hills, Custer came
up with something concealed in his hands. Then
Custer put a yellow nugget in Young Hawk's
hand and it felt very heavy.'' He was told it was
gold and the scouts were told to look for more of it,
and they did on their hands and knees.^ The timber
was heavy and much delay was caused in preparing
roads through it. The timber continued heavy until
Custer was discouraged. The scouts climbed high
hills and saw more timber. Then Custer called for
someone to go ahead and see what was beyond. He
called Young Hawk and gave him a compass to find
his way with and at last Custer ordered some scouts
to go with Charley RejTiolds to the Mussel Shell
River. The scouts who were sent on this expedition
were Rough Horn, Bear's Ears, Red Bear, Young
Hawk, Strikes Two, Bloody Knife, and Red Horse.
4 Captain William Ludlow, chief engineer of the Department of
Dakota, and his assistants of the Engineer Battalion made daily instru-
mental observations, in taking the general topography and locating im-
portant elevations with the transit, preparatory to making maps of the
country. — Ludlow, Beport of a Reconnaissance of th^ HiJls of Dakota,
Wash., 1875, pp. 7, 13, 16.
5 The gold excitement with regard to the Black Hills which furnished
one of the motives for the expedition of 1874, had this origin. Some
Indians brought some small grains and nuggets of gold into a frontier
trading-post. Whiskey and presents induced them to disclose that these
came from the Black Hills. — Dodge, Lieut. Col. R. L, Tlie Blade Hills,
N. Y., 1876, pp. 9-10.
6 See Appendix, 130.
50 North Dakota Collections
A company of cavalry went along and after two
days and nights they came out of the timber and
Charley Reynolds said: "The distance is short."
After reaching Mussel Shell Eiver they returned to
Custer. The army followed the scouts and came
out at Bear Butte and so went back to Fort Lincoln.
At the same time that Young Hawk enlisted,
thirty other Arikara enlisted also, as follows:
Strikes Two, Red Bear, Little Sioux, Enemy Heart,
Standing Soldier, Horns-in-Pront (Young Hawk's
father). Growling Bear (Bear Growls), Rough
Horn, Bull Neck, Pretty Wolf, Dry Bear (Very
Lean Bear), Bear's Eye (second name, Wolf-
Stands-in-the Cold), Poolish Bear, Black Rabbit,
Angry Bear, Charging Bull, Goose, Paint, Left
Handed, String Ear-rings, Crow Bear, Angry Bull,
Sees- the -Track, Carries -the -Moccasin-about-the-
Room, Bear Robe, Bear's Ears, Bull-in- the-Water,
Bear's Belly, Two Bulls, and Pointed Hill. After
the camp had moved down on the flat, White Belly
enlisted. By the time Young Hawk returned his
period of enlistment was up and he went back to
Fort Berthold with most of the scouts.
The Second Enlistment, as told hy Young Hawk,
General Custer had told them that he was going
on another expedition and that they might be called
upon to serve. After his return Young Hawk de-
cided not to serve any more, but his father insisted
that he should go. After a time Son-of-the-Star
The Arikara Narrative 51
got a letter from Custer asking for more scouts. It
was announced that Son-of-the-Star would call a
council in his own house and many came. Son-of-
the-Star said: ''My boys, I have had a letter from
a white man asking for some of you boys to serve
as scouts." He told them that they would serve
under Long Hair (Custer) and they were not sur-
prised at this, for they had heard him say he would
go on another expedition, and, besides, Son-of-the-
Star had been to Washington.^ His words were
heard by all present and all that was necessary to
say was: "I will go." Young Hawk's father said,
"I will go and my son, too." Those who promised
to go at this time and afterwards enlisted were:
Bob-tailed Bull, Stabbed, Charging Bull, Horns-in-
Front, Young Hawk, Bull-in-the-Water, Little
Brave, Bloody Knife, Tall Bear (High Bear), One
Feather, Running Wolf, Red Star, Strikes Two,
Foolish Bear, Howling Wolf, White Eagle, Crook-
ed Horn, Strikes-the-Lodge, Scabby Wolf, Pretty
Face, Curly Head (Hair), Black Fox, and One
Horn. Certain scouts had reenlisted at Fort Lin-
coln and were already in service. Red Bear was
asked to remain by Crooked Horn, so that they
could return to Fort Lincoln together and he did so.
Red Bear spent the winter at Heart Camp, two
miles up from Armstrong and the next winter Wolf-
Stands-in-the-Cold came up from Fort Lincoln
1 General Custer had for a long time been called ' ' Ouches ' ' or Long
Hair, by the Indians. — Mrs. Elizabeth Custer, Boots and Saddles, 190.
52 North Dakota Collections
with word that additional scouts were needed. He
was seen by Red Bear when he arrived.
Red Bear's Story.
I did not know they had called a council to see
who would volunteer. I knew they were enlisting
when Boy Chief, my brother, asked me for a horse
so that he could go and be a scout. I was away from
the camp at the tune of both meetings. Boy Chief,
with some of his young friends, started for Fort
Lincoln a few days before Son-of-the-Star asked
for volunteers. My brother and the rest had been
gone three or four days when I went to the agency
office and saw Son-of-the-Star, who said : "I see you
have not gone. ' ' I hadn 't thought of going and this
touched my pride, I thought it over. I remembered
my one brother had been killed in United States
service but I decided to follow with the rest. Son-
of-the-Star said: "I am glad you wish to go and I
want you to be brave." Then Son-of-the-Star asked
for a passport for me and the agent gave it to me.
I went as soon as I could find my horses. Only
Brave went with me, we had our wives. Only Brave
was going to visit not to enlist. We were two days
on the road, we crossed on the ferr}^ at Bismarck
and when I arrived at Fort Lincoln I noticed the
scout quarters west of the post. I stopped at the
tent of Wolf-Standing-in-the-Cold, who was mar-
ried to my sister. I knew my sister was there so I
went where she was. The scouts alreadv enlisted
The Arikara Narrative 53
then were : Soldier, Strikes Two, Little Brave, Lef t-
Handed, Red Foolish Bear, Running Wolf, Red
Wolf, Little Sioux, Boy Chief, Bull, Cha-ra-ta
(Mandan name). Black Porcupine, Goose. These
were the men to go on the expedition with Custer to
the west. There were there two young Arikara,
Owl and Wagon, who were not enlisted. Red Bear
showed his permit to Gerard who said: ''There are
two boys here, get them with you to enlist when you
enlist," meaning Owl and Wagon. Gerard took
them all over to the office of the commanding officer
and he took in Red Bear 's permit and coming out
soon told them they were to enlist and get clothes
and arms. After medical examination was over,
Gerard took them into Custer's office where Cus-
ter's brother (Tom, the one with the scar on his
face) was. He raised his hand and Gerard told the
Indians to raise theirs also. Custer soon came in
and told them through Gerard that they were the
last scouts to enlist and for that reason, since the
expedition was ready, they must remain on duty at
Fort Lincoln.
Boi/ Chief ^s Story of His Enlistment.
Bob-tailed Bull found Boy Chief at Fort Bert-
hold village and told him some of the boys were go-
ing to enlist as scouts at Fort Lincoln. Again a
little later Bob-tailed Bull saw him and told him
that the boys had started for Fort Lincoln. So Boy
Chief got a horse, saddled up, and started last of all.
54 North Dakota Collections
He caught up with them just out of the Bad Lands,
as they sat smoking. As he came up he saw there
Son-of-the-Star, Peter Beauchamp, Bob-Tailed
Bull, Shoots-at-the-Bear, Big Star, Growling Bear,
and others he cannot recall. They stopped over
night at Fort Stevenson. About where Hancock is
the ice began to break up. At three miles below the
house of old Joe Taylor there was a building where
the army mail carriers exchanged mail (the Arikara
call it Porcupine Dens). They stopped there that
night, and a hard snow and rain storm came on but
they were comfortable there. They waited two days,
and by the third day they were not only out of pro-
visions but also very hungry. The storm had lasted
all this time. They could do nothing but wait. Son-
of-the-Star and Beauchamp went to the man in
charge of the mail house and told him they were out
of provisions and very hungry, and that they were
on their way to enlist at Fort Lincoln. This man
was willing to feed them, he baked a dish pan full
of bread and gave it to them with coffee, saying he
had little himself but he could do this much for
them. The next morning, the 4th, it was clear and
they set out for the crossing near Bismarck. Late
in the evening they came to Bismarck, the end of
the railroad. There were several buildings there
with soldiers and Beauchamp and Son-of-the-Star
had a talk with the officer. The soldiers were about
to cross the river and the Indians were told to hold
up their right hands. Then they were all taken into
The Arikara Narrative 55
quarters. Apparently it was too late for supper,
and though they were very hungry, they got nothing,
though their horses were fed well. Taps called them
to bed very hungry. The bugle called them out of
bed in the morning and they ate a big breakfast,
sitting a long time at the table. They were given
feed and hay for their horses. The ferry was out
of order and they were delayed there seven days.
During this time they lived with the soldiers all the
time and were fed well. On the seventh day (which
was probably Sunday), just at dark, they were
warned to be ready in the morning. The next day
they went over on the ferry and got to Fort Lincoln,
which was down on the flat. Bob-Tailed Bull took
him to headquarters to "touch the pen" (enlist-
ment papers) . He thought that the medical exami-
nation would throw hun out, as he was very young,
but he passed. In another room an officer enlisted
him, and they received guns at another building,
and at another, clothing and two gray blankets
apiece.
Soldier's Account of an Interview with Custer.
Soldier and Bob-tailed Bull met Custer at his
camp on the river bank, in his own tent, Gerard was
interpreter. Custer said: "The man before me,
Bob-tailed Bull, is a man of good heart, of good
character. I am pleased to have him here. I am
glad he has enlisted. It will be a hard expedition
but we will all share the same hardships. I am very
56 North Dakota Collections
well pleased to have him in my party, and I told it
at Washington. We are to live and fight together,
children of one father and one mother. The great-
grandfather has a plan. The Sioux camps have
united and you and I must work together for the
Great Father and help each other. The Great Fa-
ther is well pleased that it was so easy (took few
words) to get (coax) Son-of-the-Star to furnish me
scouts for this work we have to do and he is pleased,
too, at his behavior in helping on the plan of the
Great Father. I, for one, am willing to help in this
all I can, and you must help too. It is this way, my
brothers. If I should happen to lose any of the
men Son-of-the-Star has furnished, their reward
will not be forgotten by the government. Their re-
lations will be saddened by their death but there
will be some comfort in the pay that the United
States government will provide. ' '
Bob-tailed Bull replied: "It is a good thing you
say, my brother, my children and other relatives
will receive my pay and other rewards. I am glad
you say this for I see there is some gain even though
I lose my life."
Custer then said: ''No more words need be said.
Bob-tailed Bull is to be leader and Soldier second
in command of the scouts. ' '
Clothing was issued to the two leaders, on Bob-
tailed Bull 's sleeve there were three stripes, and on
Soldier's sleeve there were two. Custer called on
Bob-tailed Bull to speak, and he said through Ge-
The Arikara Narrative 57
rard, that lie was not a man to change tribes all the
time, that he was alwaj^s an Arikara and respected
their chiefs and had served under them gladly. He
said : ''Yes, Long Hair, I am a member of the police
and also chief, with one hand I hold the position of
police among my people and with the other I hold
the position of chief of the scouts. My brother, I
am going to address you so, for you said we were
brothers, I have had experience fighting the Sioux,
and when w^e meet them we shall see each other's
bravery."
Red Star's Story of the March from Fort Lincoln
to Powder River.
There was no Indian ceremony at Fort Lincoln
before the march, but on the way to Fort Lincoln
they sang their war songs at every camp. We were
all w^aiting six days, Custer had gone east to Wash-
ington.^ Red Star heard of his return and there
8 General Custer had received peremptory telegraphic summons to
Washington, about March 16, 1876, to testify before a Congiessional
committee with regard to alleged abuses of the War Department in con-
nection with the post-trader business. A provision of a military bill,
of 1870, gave the secretary of war power to appoint traders at the
military posts on the frontier, and this investigation concerned an al-
leged sale by Secretary Belknap of a post-tradership to a person called
Marsh. Belknap had resigned his office under charges and was at once
impeached by the House of Representatives. In St. Paul, on his way
home to Fort Lincoln, Custer was notified May 5th by telegram that he
was not to accompany the expedition against the Indians. When this
expedition was planned by Sheridan and Sherman it was ordered that
Custer should be assigned to the command of the Dakota column. Cus-
ter's appeal to the president for permission to be allowed to go with his
regiment was supported by Brigadier General Terry, the department
58 North Dakota Collections
was a rumor of a call to meet Custer at Fort Lin-
coln, the regular headquarters, but he is not certain
of such a meeting. Bob-tailed Bull, Bloody Knife,
Tall Bear, Stabbed, Black Fox, and Crooked Horn
went to meet Custer. Not one of the present scouts
attended this meeting with Custer at headquarters
but he heard that Custer was well pleased with the
appearance of the scouts. Custer was happy to see
Bloody Knife, he presented him with a handker-
chief and a medal, which were given to him for
Bloody Knife at Washington.^ Then he recognized
one of his old scouts. Black Fox. "If he repeats
his trick of the last time," he said, "I will have a
remedy, if he takes his wife along again he will be
well punished. " Custer was pleased to see the beau-
tifully decorated shirt which belonged to Bob-tailed
Bull. Custer told him that he had been to Washing-
ton and that he had been informed that this would
be his last campaign in the West among the Indians.
He said that no matter how small a victory he could
win, even though it were against only five tents of
Dakotas, it would make him President, Great Fa-
ther, and he must turn back as soon as he was victo-
commander. The President yielded to these petitions and permitted
Custer to go with the expedition as lieutenant colonel of his regiment.
Custer had hoped to take the field early in April. It was May 7th by
the time he received the answer to his request. — Whittaker, Life of
Gen. Geo. A. Custer, N. Y., 1876, pp. 535-562; J. E. Walker, Campaigns
of Gen. Custer, N. Y., 1881, pp. 40-47,
9 General Custer valued Bloody Knife, his favorite Indian scout, for
his splendid service during the Black Hills expedition of 1874. He had
proved himself an invaluable and faithful scout. — Mrs. Elizabeth Cus-
ter, Boots and Saddles, 302.
The Arikara Narrative 59
rious. In case of victory he would take Bloody
Knife back with him to Washington.
It was early in the morning when the bugle sound-
ed, and the camp broke up and the march began.
The army strung out in order toward the fort. Ge-
rard told the scouts they were to have their own
company, and they were the first to parade on the
fort grounds.'" He told them to form themselves
by societies in order, first the New Dog Society (the
oldest men in it) , second the Grass Dance Society,
and third the Da-roch-pa (its members had a cres-
cent moon shaved on the back of head) . At the head
of the New Dog Society were Soldier and Crooked
Horn. The Grass Dance leaders were Young Hawk
and Bob-tailed Bull. The leaders of the Da-roch'-pa
were Strikes-the-Lodge and BuU-Stands-in-the-
Water. The parade ended and the march began,
with Custer ahead. There were four Dakota scouts
who had been at Fort Lincoln that went along with
the Arikara. One of these scouts was Ca-roo, an-
other was Ma-tok'-sha, a third was Mach-pe'-as-ka
(White Cloud), the fourth was Pta-a'-te (Buffalo
Ancestor). The first camp was on both sides of the
Heart River." A drove of cattle went along to
10 By 7 'clock on May 17th, the Seventh Cavalry was marching
around the parade-ground of Fort Lincoln led by the band playing
"Garry Owen," the battle tune of the Seventh. General Terry had
consented to this demonstration, or perhaps ordered it, in order that the
formidable appearance the command presented might allay the fears of
those left behind. — Capt. E. S. Godfrey, Custer's Last Battle, Century,
1892, p. 358.
11 Brig. Gen. E. S. Godfrey states that the command struck straight
60 North Dakota Collections
furnish beef to the soldiers; he saw them on the
first day 's march. The white soldiers were paid off
at this camp, the scouts did not receive any pay at
all for they were just enlisted." The second camp
was at a place called Stone House, north of Heart
River but in sight of its tunber. The third camp
was made where a hail storm struck the line of
march ; it was about time to stop for the day." The
fourth camp was on a hill, and here they had a hard
thunder storm, the lightning struck in the middle
of the camp. The scouts saw the soldiers looking at
the place where it struck. At this camp Red Star,
Bull-in-the- Water, and Strikes-the-Lodge were de-
tailed for scout duty. The fifth camp was at a place
near Young Maiden's Breasts (Buttes), we passed
these hills and camped a little beyond, a little north
of what is now the line of the Northern Pacific
Railway.'* The sixth camp was a little east of the
across the country from the old post on the hill to the first camp on the
Heart Eiver.— Letter of Brig. Gen. E. S. Godfrey, May, 1912.
The scouts on being questioned at a later meeting said that Custer's
wife and sister were not seen the first day's march. At the first camp
Custer's wife arrived. On the first day's march the Arikara scouts
marched in the rear of Custer 's command but they do not know why.
12 The troops were paid off at the Heart Eiver camp by Major Wni.
Smith, later paymaster general. — Letter of Brig. Gen. E. S. Godfrey,
May, 1912, 1-2. Mrs. Elizabeth Custer, Boots and Saddles, p. 265.
13 General Terry in his report to Sheridan had the following to say
about the first days of the march : ' ' This column marched on the morn-
ing of May 17th. For some days its progress was slow, for the wagons
were heavily laden and recent rains had made the ground extremely
soft."— Eeport of Secretary of War for J 876, Wash., 1876, I, p. 460.
14 " In general we paralleled the N. P. routing, keeping to the mesa
or plateau because of the soft ground in the valleys, keeping north of
The Arikara Narrative 61
present town of Hebron, in some groves of box
elder. All this time Custer was always first on the
march." They passed the site of what is now He-
bron and marched on to the hills near by. Break-
fast was always ready just after daybreak each day
of the march. The seventh camp was at Young
Man's Butte.'" Custer picked out his own camps
because he kncAV the country well." The scouts
were kept in details on the flank and on the hills
ahead all night. There was plenty of game. Strikes
Two was a very good old hunter and Young Hawk
was a good young hunter. The scouts always
camped near Custer's headquarters, and as they
were getting supper Custer came to them on a visit.
They knew his choice of meat very well and how he
liked to have it cooked. Young Hawk always cooked
his meat for him, and Custer was very fond of him,
and also of Goose because they were jolly young
fellows, reckless and full of life. Custer said to
them by signs that he liked to see men eat meat by
the fire; if they were full, they would be strong.
the N. P. till we got to the Bad Lands of the Little Missouri. ' ' — Letter
of Brig. Gen. E. S. Godfrey, May, 1912, p. 2.
15 This was customary on Custer 's expeditions. His zeal is best
described by his own words in connection with the Black Hills expedition,
' ' I have attempted to be several other things besides commanding
officer, particularly guide since the expedition started. ' ' — Mrs. Elizabeth
Custer, Boots and Saddles, p. 304.
16 "One of our camps was at 'Young Men's Butte,' at the head of
the Knife River. ' '— Letter of Brig. Gen. E. S. Godfrey, May, 1912, 2.
17 Two years before Custer had passed through this country. The
trail of the Black Hills Expedition of 1874 was practically followed to
the Black Hills. — lb., p. 2.
62 North Dakota Collections
Once Custer was eating with them when he said
through Gerard, the interpreter: ''There is one
thing I do not like, there are three tribes of you and
only one represented here tonight. It was agreed
that they should all be represented." He said he
had made up his mind to go on this expedition to
fight. He said he had been to Washington and had
been given instructions to follow the Dakotas. Now
that he was on the war-path, if he had a victory, he
said: "When we return, I will go back to Wash-
ington, and on my trip to Washington I shall take
my brother here, Bloody Knife, with me. I shall
remain at Washington and be the Great Father.
But my brother, Bloody Knife, will return, and
when he arrives home he shall have a fine house
built for him, and those of you present will be the
ones appointed to look after the work that will be
placed in charge of Bloody Knife. You will have
positions under him to help in what he is to do and
you can, when you wish to speak wdth me or send
me word, gather at Bloody Knife's house and de-
cide what the message will be. Then he will send it
to me. He will be given the whole tribe of the
Arikara to be the head of. I will have papers made
out for each of you here, then you will have plenty
to eat for all time to come, and you and your chil-
dren. ' '
Custer continued: "When these papers are in
your hands, you will have food to eat always. In
case your child is hungry and wants something to
The Arikara Narrative 63
eat, take your papers to any citizen and he will di-
vide with you. Take them to any store, and when
they are read, they will speak and tell what you
wish and you will get it. You will be the ones after
we return who will have charge of the Arikara
tribe." He then asked if the Mandans and the
Arikara were friends, and was told that they were.
He did not ask if the Grosventre were friends of
the Arikara.
He then continued: ''I don't like it because the
Mandans and Grosventre are not here. While you
are out on scout duty, you should see a party of In-
dians coming to visit us, and you find out that they
are Grosventre, we will shoot them down and kill
them. If one or more of this party that comes
are Mandans, you will divide your provisions and
ammunition with them, for they are probably
hunting."
Story of Jiow the Mail was brought to Custer^s
Camp by Red Bear.
At Custer Camp No. 8, One Horn and Red Fool-
ish Bear were sent back with mail to Fort Lincoln.
John Howard was interpreter at Fort Lincoln in
place of Gerard, and he told Red Bear to take One
Horn's place and go to Custer's camp. Red Bear
had been retained at this post because his mare was
unable to travel. This was at sundown, and they
were to report at dark at headquarters. The mail
would then be ready for them, and they were to
64 North Dakota Collections
start with it at once. When the wives of the Arikara
scouts heard that these two were going to join Cus-
ter they began to bring in moccasins for their hus-
bands at Custer's camp, very many pairs of moc-
casins. They went over with Howard to headquar-
ters for the mail. There were some soldiers there
and they brought out a large sack of mail. Red
Bear wondered about his poor horse with this mail
and all the moccasins, but Red Foolish Bear's load
was the same. Howard said he would go part of the
way with them. He went a little way, then said
good-bye and rode back. They reached Heart
River, unsaddled, and slept a little. At daybreak
they started again, cutting straight across to Young
Maiden's Buttes. In the afternoon they were hun-
gry. Red Bear had some crackers and lump sugar
which his wife had put into his bullet pouch. These
he divided with Red Foolish Bear. Then his horse
began to give out. Food was short, he tried to shoot
an antelope but missed twice. Red Foolish Bear
was better mounted and got ahead. Red Bear
walked most of the way, and could hardly keep up
with his companion. They talked over how much
longer his mare could keep up. They chose a camp
in a ravine that had a little stagnant water. Red
Bear unsaddled his mare and turned her loose. She
was very tired and lay down instantly. They saw a
jack rabbit, and Red Foolish Bear shot it for sup-
per, and they roasted it there. They crossed the
trail of the army beyond the Young Maiden's
The Arikara Narrative 65
Buttes and made supper on what they found thrown
away on the march. Red Bear proposed to his com-
panion that he go ahead on his good horse, but he
refused. They found plenty of food along the trail
which the soldiers had thrown away. The next day
they made Bull Snake Camp. Red Foolish Bear
insisted on staying with Red Bear though the army
was getting farther away every day. At sunset
they smoked together, and then Red Foolish Bear
said good-bye and galloped off, telling Red Bear he
would follow the trail all the way. Beyond the
present site of Dickinson Red Bear found the road
very difficult and his mare lay down for rest as soon
as she was unsaddled. Red Foolish Bear got into
camp that night, but the scouts did not come back
for Red Bear for fear of frightening him. At sun-
rise he saddled up and went on. Then he saw some
Indians coming, and he thought they were Dakotas,
and made ready to fight on a little hill. Then he
saw Bob-tailed Bull leading the scouts, and he said
to Red Bear : ' ' This is a hard trip you have had,
this is a soldier's life, you cannot get away from
your duty. There is a horse being brought for you
and your breakfast."
Red Wolf and Scabby Wolf then came up ; there
were six in all. They told him that there was no
need to hurry, as the army would not march until
noon. Red Bear went to headquarters where he
delivered the mail, there were many newspapers
and letters. Custer told Red Bear through Gerard
66 North Dakota Collections
that a soldier's life was hard, and that it was diffi-
cult to carry the words of the Great Father. Cus-
ter then asked about his horse, and Red Bear said
that he had abandoned it. Custer replied through
Gerard : ' ^ I know you have lost a horse in the gov-
ernment service. If we return alive you can choose
money or a horse in the place of the one you have
lost." In their camp Strikes Two loaned him a big
black horse to ride.
Continuation of Red Star's Story.
Camp 8 was made at a spot just beyond where
Dickinson now stands. Camp No. 9 was in a small
ravine. Two bull-snakes were killed here and Rob-
ert Jackson,''* a half-breed Blackfoot Indian, put
one of them around each leg. From Camp No. 10
we went on to Camp No. 11. Here the scouts had a
horse race between a horse owned by Stabbed (the
winner) and one owned by Pta-a-te. Each side put
up ten dollars. We now went into the Bad Lands
and some of the soldiers were set to making roads
in the worst places." Camp No. 12 was at the Lit-
tle Missouri and Custer here forbade all shooting
lest it should give warning to the Dakotas.'^ Rob-
17a Gerard calls him Wm. Jackson.
18 "In going thru the Bad Lands we followed Sully's trail of 1864
down what was then known as Davis Creek and crossed the Little Mis-
Bouri at 'Sentinel Butte' several miles above (south of) Medora the
N. P. crossing; thereafter we were south of the N. P." — Letter of
Brig. Gen. E. S. Godfrey, May, 1912, p. 2.
19 On May 20th, in camp, forty-six miles from Fort Lincoln, General
Custer wrote to Mrs. Custer as follows: "It is raining now, and has
The Ankara Narrative 67
ert Jackson shot his revolver at a snake in the
river. The officer of the day came up and asked
who had fired a shot and Jackson said, '*I did it."
They put him under discipline for this, a keg was
turned upside down, and he stood on it on one foot.
They now crossed the Little Missouri River to Sol-
dier Hill (Sentinel Butte);''' this was Camp No.
13."' Scabby Wolf and Left Handed were sent
back to Fort Lincoln with mail and they later came
back with the mail from Fort Lincoln." Snow fell
here, a heavy storm, some of the tents were drifted
half way up to the top." It cleared off very cold.
They stayed here four sleeps and when they went
been since vie started. The roads are fearfully bad. Here we are on
the Little Muddy, after marching four days, and only forty-six miles
from home. . . A wet season and bad roads can be looked for always
in this region in the months of May and June. ' ' — Mrs. Elizabeth Custer,
Boots and Saddles, pp. 304-305.
20 On May 30th, Custer, with four companies of cavalry and some of
the Arikara scouts, went on a fifty miles scout in the valley of the Little
Missouri to determine the truth of the many rumors to the effect that
the hostile Indians were gathering on the Little Missouri with the inten-
tion of fighting Custer's command there. In a letter to Mrs. Custer,
dated this day he says: "Only think, we found the Little Missouri
River so crooked and the Bad Lands so impassible that in marching
fifty miles today we forded the river thirty-four (34) times." No Indians
were found, nor evidence of their recent presence. — lb., pp. 305-307.
21 This was May 31st. — Eeport of Secretary of War, 1876, I, p. 460.
22 The General wrote to Mrs. Custer: "It has just been decided to
send scouts back to Lincoln. They leave here at daylight, and will re-
main there thirty-six hours, returning to us with despatches and mail."
— Mrs. Elizabeth Custer, Boots and Saddles, p. 305.
23 On the 1st and 2d of June, the column was detained in camp by
a heavy snow storm, on the edge of the Bad Lands which border the left
bank of the Little Missouri. — Eeport of Secretary of War, 1876, I, .p
460.
68 North Dakota Collections
on, they camped at Beaver Creek, Camp No. 14."
Here scout Limping Grosventre came with mail
from the Yellowstone River. He told the scouts
that a soldier had been killed up there while hunt-
ing. They camped again on Beaver Creek, Camp
No. 15.^' They march on to a coulee, the Dakota
scouts called it Cottonwood Creek, this was Camp
No. 16. They went on to a dry coulee with bunches
of willows. Here they could see the peaks of the
mountains by Powder River, this was Camp No.
2y 26 rpjjgy marched towards the timber and when
they reached it they made Camp No. 18." Here
two soldiers went out hunting and at dark they had
not returned. The scouts lighted fires for them on
the hills and they returned late at night. From
here they made a hurried march ; they could now
see the bluffs on the Powder River. Custer or-
dered a halt and ordered that the cavalry only were
to go on. The infantry and wagon train were to
stay behind.^^ Then the order to move was sent
24 On the Sd of June, Beaver Creek was reached. — Eeport of Sec-
retary of War, 1876, I, p. 460.
25 At Beaver Creek, the command turned south and followed that val-
ley two days, June 4th to 6th, turning again to the west June 6th. — lb.,
p. 461.
2R On the evening of June 7th, Powder River was reached at a point
about twenty miles from the Yellowstone. — lb.
27 This was on the 9th. — Capt. E. S. Godfrey, Custer's Last Battle,
Century, January, 1892, p. 361.
28 General Terry went on June 8th to the mouth of the Powder River
to communicate with the supply steamer Far West. He went on the
steamer up the Yellowstone to meet General Gibbon. On his return he
ordered all the troops and supplies to be transferred to a depot to be
The Ankara Narrative 69
back to the scouts and they marched on the Powder
River and made Camp No. 19. ''^ Here Young Hawk,
Forked Horn, One Feather, and the Dakota scout,
Ca-ro6, were detailed by Custer to follow up Pow-
der River.
Young Hawk's Story of this Scouting Expedition.
These four Indians were sent ahead to scout for
a detail of cavalry that followed after, two by two.^°
Custer ordered them to follow up Powder River
and look for the Dakota trail. They were to go far
up on one side and if they did not find the trail,
they were to return on the other side in the same
way. As soon as they struck the Dakota trail they
were to instantly return to Custer. The party fol-
lowed up the Powder River to the Tongue River and
then went up the Tongue River. They got into the
moimtains and Young Hawk killed and cut up an
elk which made him lose the rest of the party for
established at the mouth of the Powder Eiver. — Report of Secretary of
War, 1876, I, 461.
29 This camp was reached June 10th. The General's letters to Mrs.
Custer report that when the command was on the Powder Eiver, it was in
a country which had never been visited by white men; and they reveal
how invaluable his services were as griide. Twice when he left the com-
mand it lost its way and Terry depended on Custer's gift in that line,
again and again, to extricate the column in embarrassing situations.
Mrs. Elizabeth Custer, Boots and Saddles, pp. 307-309.
The command remained in camp on the Powder River three days,
Godfrey, Custer's Last Battle, p. 361.
30 Major M. A. Reno started at 3 p.m., June 10th on a scout up the
Powder River and to the Tongue River, to look for the trail of the
Dakota. He found a heavy trail on the Tongue and followed it about
forty miles up the Rosebud River. — lb., p. 362.
70 North Dakota Collections
some time. He caught up with the rest of them
on the Rosebud River and here fires were lighted.
Forked Horn got the scouts out to go ahead and see
what they could find. They saddled up and he told
Young Hawk to go in a different direction from
the rest. Young Hawk got on the hill where he
could see the Rosebud River and discovered an
abandoned camp with birds flying over it. It was
a deserted Dakota camp and a horse was standing
near it. He rode up to the deserted camp and saw
evidence of many Indians having been there and
he decided it was a Dakota camp. Saddles had
been made here and the horses had trampled the
bank at the watering place. He knew the camp was
Dakota from what he could see of hide tanning,
meat scaffolds, and the arrangement of tepees.
Here the whole party camped, it was a very old
camping place.''' On the next day's scout they found
an intrenchment showing evidence that all the white
occupants had been killed. Our interpreter said
this was the Bozeman party. The scouts found the
camp by following the Dakota trail to it and they
camped on the trail. The commanding officer of
the cavalry called Forked Horn to him and said:
''What do you think of this trail, Forked Horn?"
Forked Horn replied : "If the Dakotas see us, the
sun will not move very far before we are all killed.
But you are leader and we will go on if you say'
31 The trail seemed about three weeks old, and the number of lodges
in the deserted village, estimated by the number of camp fires, were
about 350. — Godfrey, Custer's Last Battle, pp. 362-363.
The Arikara Narrative 71
so." The commanding officer said: "Custer told
us to turn back if we found the trail, and we will
return, these are our orders." They turned and
followed the Rosebud River down to the Elk River
and there they found Custer's camp. The cavalry
only had come on. The infantry and wagon train
stayed behind at Powder River.^^
Red Star's Story, continued.
From Camp 19 we followed the Powder River
down to the Yellowstone and made Camp No. 20.^^
Here was a large tent owned by a white man who
was trading. The Arikara called him Arrow-
Feathered-by-Crow-Peathers and he looked like an
Arikara. This white trader was selling liquor to
the soldiers.^* The tent was black with soldiers
buying liquor, it looked like a swarm of flies. There
was no guardhouse at this camp and when the sol-
diers were arrested for being drunk they were
taken out on the prairie and guarded there. The
32 All the wagons with their infantry guard were left at the depot
at the mouth of the Powder Eiver. — Bcport of Secretary of War, 1876,
I., p. 461.
33 Camp No. 20 was made at the mouth of the Powder Eiver, June
11th. As usual Custer was the guide; the eompany sent out the pre-
vious day to look for a road had lost its way but was found by the com-
mand at about 10 a.m. on the 11th. This camp was due west from Fort
Lincoln. — Mrs. Elizabeth Custer, Boots and Saddles, p. 309.
34 The trader was James Coleman, who had come to the Powder River
on the steamer Far West and had been put off for a few days to sell
liquor, — For Coleman 's story, see Appendix, p. 155.
The scouts all agreed that Custer took his hunting dogs as far as the
Powder River camp. None of them saw the dogs after they rode back
from the battle.
72 North Dakota Collections
scouts were forbidden to drink for Gerard had told
them not to go to the tent. After a time when there
was less drinking and most of the white soldiers
had gone away, Gerard came to the scouts and told
them that Custer had permitted each one to buy
one drink. They had plenty of money for they had
killed game all the way on the march. The soldiers
bought the game at the following prices: deer's
hind quarter $2, front quarter $1, back or saddle
$1. (At this point Strikes Two interrupted the
interview and said that he had earned $200 this way
himself. Soldier said that his nephew, Goose,
hunted also and earned $128 ; he knew this because
he carried the purse. All of the scouts agreed that
they had made money this way and had plenty of
it at this camp.) Red Star spoke, also, and, in
confirmation of what the other scouts had just said,
related another instance.
At one of the earlier camps on Powder Eiver, the
Da-roch-pa challenged the Grass Dancers to a Moc-
casin Game, and $300 was put up on each side. Two
white men, mule drivers of scout provision wagons,
took sides with the Indians, one on each side. The
Grass Dancers won the $600. They were two days
in camp here and there was a camp of soldiers just
across the river.^' Two Arikara scouts were sent
out ahead. Stabbed and Goose, and they were given
a letter to take to the camp across the river. Here
35 This was the eamp of General Gibbon, with the Montana column,
who had been ordered by Terry to move eastward to meet him, — Report
of Secretary of War, 1876, I, p. 472.
The Ankara Narrative 73
there were some Crow scouts, and their interpreter,
Man-with-a-Calfskin-Vest, came across the river
to tell them about it. When Custer's army came
up to Camp 20, Red Star saw the army across the
river, it was already on the march up the Yellow-
stone.'*' Stabbed and Goose came back and report-
ed to Custer's camp. Camp 20 was the base camp
for the infantry, the band, all the wagons, and part
of the mules. There was an inspection of the horses
of the scouts and of the cavalry here." Many had
to stay behind because their horses were out of con-
dition.'^ Those who stayed here were Red Bear,
36 The column was on its way up the Yellowstone to the mouth of the
Big Horn which it reached June 24th. There it was ferried across the
Yellowstone by 4 a.m. before proceeding up the Little Big Horn. — Ee-
port of Secretary of War, 1S76, I, pp. 473, 463.
37 At the Powder Eiver when Custer was inspecting the horses and
forbidding those with disabled horses from going on with him, Howling
Wolf hid his horse, thinking to evade the inspection. Custer asked
Howling Wolf by signs where his horse was. Howling Wolf replied:
"I put him on the island in the river, so he will be strong for the
journey. He is as smooth and vsdthout galls as he was when he was a
colt." Custer said impatiently: "Bring him here very quick or I will
shoot him." Howling Wolf brought the horse and Custer said (here
the narrator made a face which would resemble Custer's in such a case) :
' ' See that gall on his back, as large as my hand ? What do you mean by
your story?" Howling Wolf said to Custer: "You see the gall is be-
hind the saddle. It is natural to him and was there when he was born.
See, he is sound under the saddle. He can out-travel any horse but yours
and should he fall I will keep up with you on foot. ' ' Custer laughed and
said: "Since you are a wolf you may go." Howling Wolf had been
riding for several days with the saddle far back so as to have his horse
in good trim when they should meet the Dakotas.
38 Reno told High Bear that he could not go with the rest because
his horse was badly galled. High Bear said to him: "You see the sun
there, if you say it does not move I will not dispute you." This is the
polite way the Indians have of telling any one that his opinion is totally
74 North Dakota Collections
Tall Bear, Horns-in-Pront, Cha-ra-ta, Foolish Bear
(Crooked Foot), Eunning Wolf, Howling Wolf,
Curly Head. Six of these were at this camp be-
cause they were sent back to carry mail. Horns-in-
Front was very sick, and Cha-ra-ta had only a colt
to ride. They broke camp and marched on; the
band played all the time. Custer and Bloody Knife
came by and Bloody Knife said: "The General
says we are all marching. There are numerous en-
emies in the country; if we attack their camp we
are beaten, we must retreat in small groups. You
scouts must not run away, nor go back to your
homes. ' '
The next order was that if our command was
broken up into squads or single horsemen that this
camp should be the appointed place for reassem-
bling all those that had scattered. "For my part
my heart was glad to hear the band, as far as we
could hear the band played. There were some can-
non being brought along. We came to the mouth
of the Tongue River and here a camp was made.*'
•wrong. Reno (not understanding the figure of speech) said to Gerard:
"Tell him any man who is not a fool would agree with me, and that he
will show himself a soldier by agreeing with me without question."
High Bear grew very angry at this and said to Reno: "If only one of
us is to go on we will decide by a fight which one is to go. The one
killed in the fight will not go." Reno thereupon threatened to shoot
High Bear and High Bear started for him with his knife. Bloody
Knife sprang between them and said: "General Custer is my brother
and I forbid this fight. ' ' Then Bloody Knife turned to Reno and said :
' * I wish for my sake you would let him go. ' ' So Reno consented to let
him go. They called Reno ' ' The man with the dark face. ' '
39 This place was reached June 16th. Custer started on the morning
of the 15th. — Beport of Secretary of War, 1876, I, p. 461.
The Ankara Narrative 75
We marched up on a hill overlooking the Elk River
and then down to the mouth of the Tongue River.*"
Right at this point was an abandoned Dakota
camp." Here lay the body of a soldier, and all
about him were clubs and sticks as though he had
been beaten to death, only the bones were left. Cus-
ter stood still for some time and looked down at the
remains of the soldier." ""
They found a burial scaffold with the uprights
colored alternately black and red. This was the
mark of a brave man buried there. Custer had the
scaffold taken down and the negro, Isaiah, was told
to take the clothing and wrappings off the body."
As they turned the body about they saw a wound
partly healed just below the right shoulder. On the
scaffold were little rawhide bags with horn spoons
in them, partly made moccasins, etc. Isaiah threw
40 Custer started on Thursday morning for the Tongue River. It
was less than forty miles from the mouth of the Powder but it took
about one and a quarter days to make the march. He was accompanied
by six companies of the Seventh, one Gratling gun, the scouts, and pack-
mules. Terry and his staff went by steamer. — Mrs. Elizabeth Custer,
Boots and Saddles, p. 310.
41 The Indians had occupied it the winter before. * ' Miles City,
Montana, was first built on the site of the camp. ' ' — Godfrey, Custer 's
Last Battle, p. 362.
42 On the march to the Tongue River, Custer passed through the re-
mains of several large abandoned Indian villages. In one of these he
found the remains of a soldier and his uniform, indicating that he had
been a cavalry soldier. The evidence pointed toward a victim of torture
and perhaps death by burning. — Mrs. Elizabeth Custer, Boots and
Saddles, p. 311.
43 Isaiah Dorman was a colored interpreter married to a Dakota
(Sioux) woman. — Walker, Campaigns of General Custer, New York,
1881, p. 53.
76 North Dakota Collections
the body into the river, and as he was fishing there
later, they suppose he used this for bait. They
camped here, and next day crossed the Tongue
River and went through the bad lands and en-
camped at the mouth of the Rosebud.** There was
a steamboat here, and the cannon were taken across
the Yellowstone by the steamboat.*^ Here they
waited while the scouts went up the river. Two
days later the scouts returned and reported a big
Dakota trail on each side of the Rosebud.*® Op-
posite this camp there was another camp on the
other side of the Yellowstone.*' Six of the
Crow scouts and one interpreter came across
from that camp.*^ They broke camp and went up
** Custer reached this point June 21st, — Beport of Secretary of War,
1876, I, p. 461,
<5 Gibbon took with him the Gatling guns which had accompanied the
Seventh Cavalry to the Rosebud. They were taken across on the steamer
Far West. — Ih., I, p, 461, 473,
<6 Custer wrote : ' * The seouting-party has returned. They saw the
trail and deserted camp of a village of three hundred and eighty (380)
lodges. The trail was about one week old. The scouts reported that
they could have overtaken the village in one day and a half. I am now
going to take up the trail where the scouting-party turned back. . . ,
I will move directly up the Rosebud." — Mrs. Eliabeth Custer, Boots
and Saddles, p. 312.
*7 This was Gibbon 's command on its way up the river. In Gibbon 'a
report of October 17, 1876, he says: "Custer reached a point on the
opposite side of the river with the whole of the Seventh Cavalry that
afternoon" (June 21st). — Beport of Secretary of War, 1876, I, p.
473.
*8 In a letter dated June 21st, Custer writes: "I now have some
Crow scouts with me, as they are familiar with the country. They are
magnificent looking men, so much handsomer and more Indian-like than
any we have seen and so jolly and sportive; nothing of the gloomy, silent
red-man about them. They have formally given themselves to me, after
The Arikara Narrative 77
the Rosebud River.*^ From this camp Howling
Wolf, Rumiing Wolf, and Curly Head were sent
back with mail to the base camp. At this camp
they issued mules for carrying supplies.'** The
scouts were given five mules to carry their supplies.
Here Gerard told us he wanted us to sing our death
songs. The Dakota trail had been seen and the
fight would soon be on.'^ Custer had a heart like
an Indian ; if we ever left out one thing in our cere-
monies he always suggested it to us. We got on our
horses and rode around, singing the songs. Then
we fell in behind Custer and marched on, and a halt
was soon made.^^ Custer then ordered two groups
of scouts to go ahead, one on each side of the river.
Soldier led one of these bands with Red Bear, and
Bob-tailed Bull the other. The scouts rode only a
little ahead of the soldiers and the army camped on
a flat." At supper time Bloody Knife was missing,
and the scouts waited for him till it was late but he
the usual talk. In their speech they said they had heard that I never
abandoned a trail; that when my food gave out I ate mule. That was
the kind of a man they wanted to fight under; they were willing to eat
mule too." — Mrs. Elizabeth Custer, Boots and Saddles, p. 312.
49 The camp at the mouth of the Rosebud River was about midway
between Tongue River and the Big Horn. — lb., p. 311.
50 Custer said he liked campaigning with pack mules much better than
with wagons. — Mrs. Elizabeth Custer, Boots and Saddles, p. 312.
51 The General (Custer) told his officers at a conference on June 22d,
that he intended to follow the trail until he could get the Indians even if
it took him and the command to the Indian agencies on the Missouri
River or in Nebraska. — Godfrey, Custer 's Last Battle, p. 365.
52 The command began this march June 22d at noon. — lb., p. 364.
53 The command went into camp at 4 p.m., June 22d, after having
marched twelve miles. — lb., p. 364.
78 North Dakota Collections
was drunk somewhere, he got liquor from some-
body. Next morning at breakfast Bloody Knife
appeared leading a horse. He had been out all
night. Then the bugle sounded and we saddled up,
Custer ahead, the scouts following and flanking the
army that marched behind. Bob-tailed Bull was in
charge, with Strikes Two and others on one side.
About nightfall they came to an abandoned Dakota
camp where there were signs of a sun dance circle.^*
Here there was evidence of the Dakotas having
made medicine, the sand had been arranged and
smoothed, and pictures had been drawn. The Da-
kota scouts in Custer's army said that this meant
the enemy knew the army was coming. In one of
the sweat lodges was a long heap or ridge of sand.
On this one Red Bear, Red Star, and Soldier saw
figures drawn indicating by hoof prints Custer's
men on one side and the Dakota on the other. Be-
tween them dead men were drawn lying with their
heads toward the Dakotas. The Arikara scouts un-
derstood this to mean that the Dakota medicine was
too strong for them and that they would be defeat-
ed by the Dakotas. Here they camped, the scouts
at the left on the right bank under Bob-tailed Bull.
They brought in two Dakota horses which had been
discovered by Strikes Two. Bob-tailed Bull
64 This ' ' Sun-dance ' ' lodge was found on June 24th. The Sun-
dance was always a ceremony of great importance to the Indians. This
one had taken place about June 5th; and it was at this c-amp that the
Indians from the agencies had joined the "hostiles" in anticipation
of this event.— Godfrey, Custer's Last Battle, pp. 363, 366.
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The Arikara Narrative 79
brought in one of them, a bald-faced bay, and Lit-
tle Brave brought in the other, a black with white
on the forehead (this indicated that the Dakotas had
hurried away from the camp in great haste). On
the right bank of the Rosebud as they marched they
saw Dakota inscriptions on the sandstone of the
hills at their left. One of these inscriptions showed
two buffalo fighting, and various interpretations
were given by the Arikara as to the meaning of
these figures." Young Hawk saw in one of the
sweat lodges, where they had camped, opposite the
entrance, three stones near the middle, all in a row
and painted red. This meant in Dakota sign lan-
guage that the Great Spirit had given them victory,
and that if the whites did not come they would seek
them. Soldier saw offerings, four sticks standing
upright with a buffalo calfskin tied on with cloth
and other articles of value, which was evidence of
a great religious service. This was also seen by
Strikes Two, Little Sioux, and Boy Chief. All the
Arikara knew what this meant, namely, that the
Dakotas were sure of winning. Soldier said he
55 The Arikara scouts who were present during the giving of the
narrative finally agreed upon the interpretation. The smaller buffalo
charging at the larger one was Custer and his army. They would pursue
the Dakotas into the broken bad-land countiy, represented by the shaft
of stone between the two buffaloes. The Dakotas are pictured as a lar-
ger buffalo drawing back into the broken country which the Dakotas
claimed as their own and would fight for to the last. The message of
the picture to Custer's command was: Do not follow the Dakotas into
the Big Horn country to which they have gone for they will turn and
destroy you.
80 North Dakota Collections
heard later that Sitting Bull had performed the
ceremonies here in this camp/" After they passed
this inscription of the two buffaloes charging, they
came to the fork of the Rosebud River (about
where the Cheyennes are now located). Six of the
Crow scouts with their interpreter had been out
scouting and they returned at this camp." They
reported many abandoned Dakota camps along the
Rosebud.^^ The whole army stopped here and ate
dinner on a hill. While the scouts were at dinner,
Custer came to their camp with his orderly, the one
who carried his flag for him. The Arikara were
sitting in a half -circle. Stabbed sat at the right of
Red Bear. Custer sat down with one knee on the
ground and said: "What do you think of this re-
port of the Crow scouts ? They say there are large
camps of the Sioux. What do you suppose will be
the outcome of it all?" Stabbed jumped up and
hopped about the fire, pretending to dodge the bul-
lets of the enemy, and Custer watched him.
Stabbed then said: "Chief, this is a part of our
tactics ; when we dodge about this way, we make it
hard for the enemy to hit us. We have learned
56 A short time previous to the battle of the Little Big Horn, Sitting
Bull had ' ' made medicine, ' ' had predicted that the soldiers would attack
the Dakotas, and that they would all be killed. — Godfrey, Custer's Last
Battle, p. 363.
57 Captain Godfery praises the Crow scouts for their activity and for
their thorough and efficient work. Half- Yellow-Face was the chief of
the Crow scouts.— 76., p. 365, 366.
58 The command passed a great many camping places on June 23d
and 24th.— Godfrey, Custer's Last Battle, p. 366.
The Arikara Narrative 81
from the Sioux that they have shot you whites down
like buffalo calves. You stand in rows, erect, and
do not dodge about, so it is easy to shoot you.'^
After Stabbed sat down he said to Gerard: "I want
you to tell Custer that I showed him how we fight,
for when his soldiers go into the fight they stand
still like targets while the Sioux are dodging about
so it is hard to hit them. But they shoot the sol-
diers down very easily. " Custer replied : "I don't
doubt you. Stabbed. What you say seems reason-
able. I know your people ; you are tricky like the
coyote, you know how to hide, to creep up and take
by surprise.'' The other officers came to the fire
and stood around it. Custer said again through
Gerard : ''My only intention in bringing these peo-
ple to battle is to have them go into battle and take
many horses away from the Sioux. " ^^ At this Cus-
ter extended his arms and said he was glad and
pleased to have with him on this expedition famil-
iar faces. ' ' Some of you I see here have been with
me on one or two other expeditions, and to see you
again makes my heart glad.^ And on this expedi-
tion if we are victorious, when we return home,
59 This part of Custer 's plan was very important, since, as Sheridan
sajs in one of his reports, "A Sioux on foot is a Sioux warrior no
longer." This well known fact makes apparent how valuable was the
work of the Indian scouts in the battle, in driving off the horses of the
Dakota. General Crook in speaking of them says: "The Sioux ia a
cavalry soldier from the time he has intelligence enough to ride a horse
or fire a gun. ' ' — Beport of Secretary of War, 1876, I, pp. 447, 500.
60 This was on the Yellowstone expedition of 1873 and the Black Hills
expedition of 1874.
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Bloody Knife, Bob-tailed Bull, Soldier, Strikes
Two, and Stabbed will be proud to have following
behind them on parade marches those who have
shown themselves to be brave young men. When
your chief, Son-of-the-Star, sees you on this pa-
rade, I am sure he will be proud to see his boys."
To Gerard, Custer then said: ^*I want you to tell
these young men, these boys, that if we are success-
ful, when we return, my brother. Bloody Knife, and
I will represent you at Washington and perhaps
we will take you in person to Washington."
The bugles blew and they went on. Bob-tailed
Bull ahead. They came upon another abandoned
Dakota camp. These camps were large, one-half
to one-third of a mile across. It must have rained
at this camp for the sod was dug up about the tent
circles to carry off the water. At this point they
could see, far ahead, the hill called ''Custer's Last
Look," about twelve miles off. They marched to-
wards these hills for they were to stop merely for
supper and then push on all night.^^ This tempo-
rary camp was on both sides of the Rosebud and it
was very dark after they had eaten supper. Prom
across the Rosebud Crooked Horn called over:
*' Strikes- the-Lodge, you saddle up and Red Star
also with Red Foolish Bear, Black Fox, and Bull."
Forked Horn led this party and here Red Bear
heard that Bob-tailed Bull was ahead and had been
61 The command went into camp at sundown and the orders were to he
in readiness again at 11:30 p.m. This was on the evening of the 24th, —
Godfrey, Custer's Last Battle, p. 366.
The Arikara Narrative 83
gone since noon. This was the beginning of the
night march and they rode all night.^^ At dawn
they came to the stopping place for breakfast and
they were tired and tumbled off their horses for a
little sleep.''^ Bull-in-the- Water and Red Bear had
charge of one mule which they were unpacking and
the former said: "Let us get breakfast for if we
go to the happy hunting grounds we should go with
a full belly." In getting water for their breakfast
they had to pass through the camp of the soldiers.
The soldiers were lying in groups on the ground
snoring, for they were very tired, and lay down
where they had unsaddled. The scouts got water
and made breakfast; Bull-in-the-Water boiled
pork, opened crackers and called the rest of the
scouts. Some got up and others did not. Custer's
tent was on a little knoll at the right of the scouts'
camp. Bull-in-the-Water ate his breakfast stand-
ing up and looking around and he told the rest of
the scouts what he saw. Soon he gave a yell:
"Look what's coming," he said; "two scouts are
coming." They were Red Star and Bull.^* Camp
broke up, the horses trotted, and the army stopped
62 Godfrey, Custer's Last Battle, p. 366.
63 The command halted a little after 2 a.m., June 25th. Some of
the men unsaddled their horses to rest them; and some coffee was made
after daylight. They rested three hours. — Ih., p. 367. ATso Eeport of
Secretary of War, 1876, I, p. 466.
64 This fact is confirmed by F. F. Gerard, who accompanied the com-
mand as interpreter. These two Arikara scouts were returning from
Lieutenant Varnum, chief of the scouts, who had gone ahead to recon-
noitre, and whose party discovered the camp of the Dakotas. — See
Gerard's account. Appendix, p. 132.
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at a Mil and Custer came down to join them. His
orders were to go ahead riding hard and take the
Dakota horses."' Stabbed rode around on horse-
back, back and forth, exhorting the young men to
behave well and be brave. He said : ' ' Young men,
keep up your courage, don't feel that you are chil-
dren; today will be a hard battle. We have been
told that there is a big Sioux camp ahead. We at-
tack a buffalo bull and wound him, when he is this
way we are afraid of him though he has no bullets
to harm us with." He said these things for he saw
many of us were young and inexperienced and he
wished to prepare them for their first real fight.
He was at some distance when he said this and he
was rubbing some clay between his hands. Then he
prayed: ''My Father, I remember this day the
promises you have made to me ; it is for my young
men I speak to you." Then he called up the young
men and had them hold up their shirt in front so
that he could rub the good medicine on their bodies.
They came up one by one, he spat on the clay and
then rubbed it on their chests.®" He had carried this
clay with him for this purpose. The mule train
65 Varnum and his scouts had discovered the pony herd of the Dako-
tas grazing in the valley of the Little Big Horn. The capture of the
horses would leave them unable to move rapidly and they could not
scatter and escape without them. — Godfrey, Ctister's Last Battle, p. 376.
66 On the forenoon of the 25th of June, the ' ' medicine man ' ' of the
Artkara scouts anointed them and invoked the Great Spirit to protect
them from the Sioux, Captain Godfrey says that ' ' they seemed to have
become satisfied that we were going to find more Sioux than we could
well take care of. ' ' — lb., p. 368
The Arikara Narrative 85
with supplies was left behind and Pretty Face was
detailed on the duty of looking after it." The Ari-
kara scouts who rode to the charge were: Bloody
Knife, Bob-tailed Bull, Stabbed, Strikes Two,
Young Hawk, Boy Chief, Little Sioux, White
Eagle (he rode on a very small horse not much
larger than a dog). One Feather, Black Fox, Red
Foolish Bear, Goose, Red Wolf, Bull-stands-in-the
Water, Charging Bull, Strikes-the-Lodge, Bull,
Little Brave, Red Bear, Red Star, Soldier, and
Forked Horn. Of these twenty-two men the follow-
ing were killed : Bloody Knife, Bob-tailed Bull, and
Little Brave. There were in Reno's camp Young
Hawk, Goose, Red Foolish Bear, and Forked Horn.
In the fighting line there were thirteen in all. This
includes the seven already named and Strikes Two,
Little Sioux, Red Bear, One Feather, Boy Chief,
and Red Star. The following nine Arikara did not
cross the Little Big Horn at all: Stabbed, Black
Fox, Bull-stands-in-the- Water, Red Wolf, Strikes-
the-Lodge, Charging Bull, White Eagle, Bull, and
Soldier. The following were retained at the camp
on Powder River: Tall Bear, Horns-in-Front,
Scabby Wolf, Black Porcupine, Curly Head, Cha-
ra-ta. Howling Wolf, and Running Wolf. At Fort
Lincoln there was the scout One Horn.
67 General Terry in his report of June 27, 1876, says: "Captain
McDougall, with his company, B, was at first some distance in the rear
with the train of pack-mules." — Eeport of Secretary of War, 1876,
I, p. 463.
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Bed Star's Story of His Special Scout Work ahead
of the Army.
We were eating supper at the temporary camp
on the Rosebud when, a little after dusk, Crooked
Horn was called to Custer's quarters.^^ On coming
back he said to us : "Come, Black Fox, Red Foolish
Bear, Strikes-the-Lodge, Red Star (Strikes-the-
Bear), and Bull." These scouts reported at Cus-
ter's headquarters and there they saw four ponies
of the Crow scouts standing saddled. At his tent
stood Custer with Gerard, and Gerard said to them :
"Long Hair wants to tell you that tonight you shall
go without sleep. You are to go on ahead, you are
to try to locate the Sioux camp. You are to do your
best to find this camp. Travel all night, when day
comes if you have not found the Sioux camp, keep
on going until noon. If your search is useless by
this time you are to come back to camp.*^ These
Crow Indians will be your guides for they know the
country."" Just then Charley Reynolds (called by
the Arikara, Lucky Man) came along with his horse
all saddled, he was to be their interpreter. The four
Crow Indians were called by the Arikara, Big Belly,
Strikes Enemy, Comes Leading (Man-with-Fur-
68 This was the evening of June 24th. — Godfrey, Custer 's Last
Battle, p. 366,
69 When they found the Dakota's camp, two of the Arikara scouts
hurried back with the news to Custer. — See Gerard 's account, Appendix,
p. 132.
70 The Crow Indians joined Custer at the camp on the mouth of the
Eosebud and were secured because they were familiar with the country. —
Mrs. Elizabeth Custer, Boots and Saddles, p. 312.
The Arikara Narrative 87
Belt), Curly Head. Their interpreter was called
Man- Wearing-Calf-Skin- Vest, a white man, and he
went along, making a party of twelve. Custer said
to them : "Soon after you leave we will march on."
They started out, their horses trotted on briskly, be-
ing used to the broken country. They headed for
the Custer Butte, led by the Crows, directly from
their camp on the left side of the Eosebud. They
stopped to smoke and one of the Crows told them
by signs that by daybreak they would reach a high
mountain where they could see far, from it all the
hills would seem to go down flat.^' They rode on and
on and reached a small grove where they smoked
again and a Crow scout told them they were near.
They came on to the foot of the mountain and the
same Crow scout, the leader, told them they had
come to the mountain and they were to climb up.
They climbed up and dismounted on the top nearest
their camp on the Rosebud and they smoked there
together on the hill. As soon as they reached the
top they unsaddled and it was just daybreak. "I
saw two of the Crow scouts climbing up on the high-
est peak of the hill. I had carried some coffee on
my saddle to give Bob-tailed Bull the night before.
I was told to give it to the Crow scouts, and started
towards them when I heard the Crows call like an
owl, not loud but clear (the Sioux call this way)."
71 This was the divide between the Little Big Horn and the Eosebud
known as the Little Chetish or Wolf Mountains, though the divide was in
reality only a high, broken country. — Godfrey, Cutter's Last Battle,
p. 367.
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The scouts were all sitting together when they saw
the two Crow scouts coming back from the highest
point of the hill. These two scouts touched the Ari-
kara scouts and they got up to sing the song they
usually sing, but the two scouts signed to them to
keep silent. One of these two Crow scouts then
came up to Crooked Horn and told him by signs
that they had seen Dakota tepees ahead. Then all
the scouts climbed up the peak to look for signs of
the Dakotas. The first two Crow scouts pointed in
the direction of the Dakota camp. As Crooked Horn
and Red Star looked, the former said : ' ' Look sharp,
my boy, you have better eyes than I." Red Star
looked and saw a dark object and above it light
smoke rising up from the Dakota tepees." It was
at the upper end of the village, the tepees were hid-
den by the high ridge but the smoke was drawing
out and up. Beyond the smoke he saw some black
specks he thought were horses. Charley Reynolds
looked a long time, then took out his field glasses
and looked a long time. Then he put them down
and nodded his head. He took a note book, sat
down and wrote a note and got up, folded the paper,
and handed it to Crooked Horn. Crooked Horn
took it and turned to Red Star and said: ''Boy,
saddle up your pony; Bull, saddle up your pony."
They had saddled up when Crooked Horn said to
them: "Look, you can see the smoke of our camp."
72 From the divide the scouts saw smoke rising above the village of
the enemy. — Godfrey, Custer's Last Battle, p. 367.
The Arikara Narrative 89
Red Star looked and saw a cloud of smoke rising
up and their way back w^as clear, they could follow
the smoke. They started down the hill, after they
were down he urged his horse on for he had the note
and he paid no attention to his companion. Once in
a while he looked back to see where Bull was, his
horse was bad. As he came up out of hollow he saw
the sentries and he gave the call, as is the custom
among Arikara (the Crow scouts use the same call
on bringing a message to camp), and he also began
turning his horse zig-zag back and forth as a sign
that he had found the enemy. When he left camp
he had told Stabbed that if he came back with a
message that they had found the Dakota camp, he
would tie up his horse's tail, as is the custom of the
Arikara. The sun was just coming up when he got
to camp. The sentries began to come together in
groups. Stabbed came up and said : '*My Son, this
is no small thing you have done. " (Meaning it was a
great honor, according to Arikara custom, to have
brought such a message.) Red Star rode by Stabbed
and got off and unsaddled. Stabbed turned and
called out to the scout camp: "Why are you sleep-
ing, Strikes-the-Bear (Red Star) has come back."
Bloody Knife got up at once and met Red Star and
asked him if he had seen anything. He said, yes,
they had found the camp. Then he saw Gerard
coming up with Custer and they came where he had
unsaddled. Tom Custer was there. Custer sat down
on his left knee near Red Star who was squatted
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down with a cup of coffee. Custer signed to Red
Star asking liim if he had seen the Dakotas, and he
answered by a sign that he had. Then Red Star
handed the note to Custer, taking it from his coat,
and Custer read it at once and nodded his head. By
Red Star's side was Bloody Knife and Tom Custer.
Custer said to Bloody Knife by signs, referring to
Tom, '*Your brother, there, is frightened, his heart
flutters with fear, his eyes are rolling from fright
at this news of the Sioux. When we have beaten
the Sioux he will then be a man. " Custer then told
Red Star, through the interpreter, to saddle up at
once. "We are going back to where his party are
on the hill, ' ' he said. Red Star was not through his
breakfast, but he left his coffee, knocking it over
with his foot, saddled up, and joined Custer. In the
party were Custer, his bugler, Tom, Red Star, Ge-
rard, Bloody Knife, Bob-tailed Bull, and Little
Brave.^^ They rode hard toward the hill and Red
Star heard a bugle as he left camp, blown by Cus-
ter's bugler, who turned backward on his horse to
do so. Custer asked by signs of Red Star if the dis-
tance was short, and Red Star made signs that it
was. When they got to the foot of the hill. Red Star
signed that this was the place. They clunbed the
hill, and came to the scouts. Charley Reynolds came
up and he and Custer went ahead leaving the others
73 Custer went up on the divide to see for himself whether the report
of the seouts was true, while the command remained concealed in a ravine
where it halted at 10:30 a.m., June 25th. — Godfrey, Custer's Last
Battle, pp. 368, 367.
The Arikara Narrative 91
behind. Charley Reynolds pointed where Custer
was to look, and they looked for some time and then
Gerard joined them.
Gerard called back to the scouts: "Custer thinks
it is no Sioux camp. ' ' Custer thought that Charley
Reynolds had merely seen the white buttes of the
ridge that concealed the lone tepee. Charley Rey-
nolds then pointed again, explaining Custer's mis-
take, then after another look Custer nodded that he
had seen the signs of a camp. Next Charley Rey-
nolds pulled out his field glasses and Custer looked
through them at the Dakota camp and nodded his
head again. Crooked Horn told Gerard to ask Cus-
ter how he would have felt if he had found two dead
Dakotas at the hill. The scouts had seen six Dakota
Indians after Red Star and Bull had left them. Two
of them had gone over the ridge down the dry coulee
and four of them had ridden into the timber at the
foot of the hill. They thought the two Dakotas were
planning to ambush the messengers and they wished
to kill them first. They did not do so because they
were afraid Custer might not like it. Custer replied
that it would have been all right, he would have been
pleased to have found two dead Dakotas. Then the
scouts sat down and one of the Crow scouts. Big
Belly, got up and asked Custer through the Crow
interpreter what he thought of the Dakota camp he
had seen. Custer said: ''This camp has not seen
our army, none of their scouts have seen us." ^'' Big
74 This point whether the Dakotas knew of Custer's movements and
realized he was about to attack them, is a disputed one. Captain God-
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Belly replied: ''You say we have not been seen.
These Sioux we have seen at the foot of the hill, two
going one way, and four the other, are good scouts,
they have seen the smoke of our camp. " Custer said,
speaking angrily : ' ' I say again we have not been
seen." That camp has not seen us, I am going ahead
to carry out what I think. I want to wait until it is
dark and then we will march, we will place our army
around the Sioux camp." Big Belly replied : ''That
plan is bad, it should not be carried out. ' ' Custer
said: "I have said what I propose to do, I want to
wait until it is dark and then go ahead with my
plan. ' '
Red Star as he sat listening first thought that
Custer's plan was good. The Crow scouts insisted
that the Dakota scouts had already seen the army
and would report its coming and that they would
attack Custer's army. They wanted him to attack
at once, that day, and capture the horses of the Da-
kotas and leave them unable to move rapidly. Cus-
frey, in his valuable account whicli is given the place in military history,
mentions many incidents which prove that the Indians knew of the
movements of the column and of an impending attack; but General
Sheridan, in his report of November 25, 1876, says that he believes that
' ' the Indians were not aware of the proximity of Custer until he arrived
within about eight or nine miles of their village, and that then their
scouts who carried the intelligence back to the valley were so closely
followed up by Custer that he arrived on the summit of the divide over-
looking the upper portion of the village almost as soon as the scouts
reached it. " — Beport of Secretary of War, 1876, I, p. 444.
75 Godfrey 's account represents Custer as being well aware of the
fact that his presence was discovered. — Godfrey, Custer's Last Battle,
p. 368.
The Arikara Narrative 93
ter replied : ''Yes, it shall be done as you say. " The
army now came up to the foot of the hill and Cus-
ter's party rode down and joined the troop.
Narrative of Young Hawk.
The army was on the little knoll at the foot of the
hill, they were met by Custer's party from the high
butte.'^ Considerable excitement among the scouts
was to be seen. They wondered what Custer would
say when he heard that the Dakotas knew of his ap-
proach. The scouts from the hill had told them of
the six Dakotas. When the scouts saw Custer com-
ing down they began to group themselves according
to tribes, Arikara, Crows, etc. The Arikara
grouped themselves about the older men who spoke
to the younger men as is the custom of the tribe.
Stabbed spoke to the young men " and Custer gave
the instructions here to the scouts through Gerard.
He said : "Boys, I want you to take the horses away
from the Sioux camp. ' ' Then Stabbed told the Ari-
kara scouts to obey Custer's instructions and to try
and take away as many horses as possible. Custer
continued: ''Make up your minds to go straight to
their camp and capture their horses. Boys, you are
going to have a hard day, you must keep up your
courage, you will get experience today." On the top
of the ridge the bugle sounded for the unfurling of
76 Gerard 's account confirms this statement. — See Gerard 's account,
Appendix, p. 132.
77 See Eed Star '3 Storj, p. 65.
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the flag (this is what Gerard told the scouts) . This
caused great excitement, all made ready, girths were
tightened, loads were made light/* Another bugle
sounded and Custer ordered the scouts forward.
They went down the dry coulee and when about half
way to the high ridge at the right, Young Hawk saw
a group of scouts at the lower end of the ridge peer-
ing over toward the lone tepee/^ The scouts he was
with slowed up as the others came toward them.
Then behind them they heard a call from Gerard.
He said to them : ''The Chief says for you to run."
At this Strikes Two gave the war-whoop and called
back : ' ' What are we doing ? ' ' and rode on. At this
we all whooped and Strikes Two reached the lone
tepee first and struck it with his whip.^* Then Young
Hawk came. He got off on the north side of the
tepee, took a knife from his belt, pierced the tent
through and ran the knife down to the ground. In-
side of the lone tepee he saw a scaffold, and upon it
a dead body wrapped in a buffalo robe.*^
At the same moment he saw by him on horseback,
Red Star. All of the scouts rode around to the north
78 The troops were inspected just before the column started to the
divide. — Godfrey, Custer's Last Battle, p. 368.
79 Major Reno in his report of July 5, 1876, says: "We approached
a deserted village in which was standing one tepee." — Beport of Secre-
tary of War, 1876, I, p. 477.
so The scouts seem to have fired this tepee for when Benteen 's bat-
talion passed it the place was burning. — Godfrey, Custer's Last Battle,
p. 369.
81 In his report Benteen says : "I came to a burning lodge with the
dead body of an Indian in it on a scaffold." — Report of Secretary of
War, 1876, I, p. 480.
The Arihara Narrative 95
side of the tent at full speed and turned into the dry-
coulee just beyond the tepee. A little further down
they overtook the white soldiers and all rode on
mixed together. The best mounted scouts kept up
with the hard riding soldiers, others straggled be-
hind. They crossed at the mouth of a dry coulee
through a prairie dog village, turned sharp to the
right, and Young Hawk saw across the Little Big
Horn on the west side, Red Star, Goose, Boy Chief,
and Red Bear. Young Hawk had a bunch of loose
eagle feathers, he unbraided his hair and brought it
forward on his head and tied it in with the eagle
feathers. He expected to be killed and scalped by
the Dakotas. Turning sharp to the right the battle
began at about the spot where the prairie dog village
stands. The first fighting began as skirmishing in
front of the line.^^ Behind the ridge at the left he
could see the Dakotas circling in and swarming
about. The soldiers and the scouts dismounted, the
horses were held in groups behind the line.*^ The sol-
diers formed in line toward the right, the scouts at
the left out toward the ridge, while far to the left on
a slant were scattered scouts.^* Bob-tailed Bull was
farthest at the left and nearest the ridge. In front
of the line rode the Dakotas skirmishing back and
forth. Young Hawk moved toward the right and
took his position there. He saw the following scouts
82 Godfrey, Custer's Last Battle, p. 369.
83 Eeno dismounted his command when he should have charged the
•village as ordered by Custer. — lb., p. 371.
84 Keno formed the battalion with the scouts on left. — Ih.
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in order: Red Bear, Little Brave, Forked Horn,
Red Foolish Bear, Goose, Big Belly (Crow), and
Strikes Enemy ( Crow) . The last scout to the left
was Bob-tailed Bull, far out beyond the others.
Young Hawk stood between Goose and Big Belly.
Behind them all, on the Little Big Horn, there ap-
peared Bloody Knife. ^'He came right toward me
and I looked up and noticed his dress. He had on
the black handkerchief with blue stars on it given
him by Custer. He wore a bear's claw with a clam
shell on it. ' ' Bloody Knife spoke to Young Hawk,
calling out: "What Custer has ordered about the
Sioux horses is being done, the horses are being
taken away." Then Bloody Knife passed on back
of the line and took his stand by Little Brave. The
battle got stronger and the line curved back toward
the river.^^ Many of the soldiers were killed and
they began to fall back.^" One Dakota charged the
soldiers very closely and was shot about sixteen feet
from the line. He rode a sorrel horse with a bald
face and his tail was tied with a piece of red cloth.
When the Dakota fell, the horse kept on coming
toward the soldiers, and Young Hawk took the horse.
He said : * ' I yelled to Red Bear that I wanted to give
him the horse I had captured, and for him to come
where I was." Red Bear did not come to take the
horse. A Crow Indian, Big Belly, came and said :
**My brother, I want this horse, give him to me."
85 Godfrey, Custer's Last Battle, p. 371.
86Z&., p. 271
The Arikara Narrative 97
Big Belly was Young Hawk's friend and his other
name was Half -Yellow-Face. He took this Dakota
horse, let his own horse go, as it was a very poor one,
and jumped on the back of the Dakota horse. All
this time the Dakotas had been collecting back of
the ridge nearest to Bob-tailed Bull. All at once
over the middle of the ridge came riding a dense
swarm of Dakotas in one mass straight toward Bob-
tailed Bull. At the same moment a white soldier
standing nearest to Young Hawk turned to him and
cried : ' ' John, you goV^ The Dakota attack doubled
up the line from the left and pushed this line back
toward the soldiers." They all retreated back across
the river lower down about two miles.^^ They re-
treated across the flat and up the bluff on a long di-
agonal up the steep bank, which was hard climb-
jjjg S9 rpj^g soldiers were the first to retreat across
the river. Of the scouts two Crows were ahead.
Half- Yellow-Face and Strikes-Enemy, then fol-
lowed Eed Foolish Bear and Forked Horn and then
Goose and Young Hawk. When Young Hawk got
back to the timber, before crossing the river, he
heard Forked Horn call: ''Let's get off and make a
stand." He did this on account of Bob-tailed Bull
who was hard pushed by the pursuing Dakotas and
had fallen back nearly to the ford used by the sol-
87 The left fell back before the dash of the Sioux. — Godfrey, Glister's
Last Battle, p. 371.
88/6.
89 " It was surprising to see what steep inclines men and horses
clambered up under the excitement of danger." — lb.
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diers. Young Hawk thought this was a general sig-
nal for the scouts and jumped off his horse and
Goose followed him, also, in making the stand. They
did not stop their horses, but leaped off as they were
running and both shot at the Dakotas. At the cross-
ing where the soldiers forded the river Bob-tailed
Bull got over the river. The charging Dakotas
turned sharply as the scouts fired at them and rode
back. Young Hawk intended to fire again, but as
he opened the breech of the gun he dropped his
shell. The four scouts, Half -Yellow-Face, Strikes
Enemy, Eed Foolish Bear, and Forked Horn rode
into the brush and over the river still lower down
less than one-eighth of a mile. Goose and Young
Hawk followed them through the brush and crossed
the river where the water was deep and the brush
grew very thick on the opposite bank and the horses
struggled hard before getting to land. They took
refuge in a thick grove of trees just across the river.
The Dakotas were riding on all sides of them by this
time. Here Young Hawk found the other four
scouts who had ridden ahead, he did not know they
were there.
All of the scouts had their horses in this grove.
The Dakotas saw them ride in and began firing at
them through the trees as they crouched there on
horseback. He and Goose stood facing each other,
then he heard a sound like a sigh and Goose groaned
and called to him : * ' Cousin, I am woimded. " Young
Hawk said: ''When I heard this my heart did not
The Arikara Narrative 99
tremble with fear but I made up my mind I would
die this day." Goose showed him his wound, his
right hand was badly shot. Then Young Hawk took
off the cartridge belt belonging to Goose and put it
on himself, as he stood by the horse on the ground.
He told Goose to get off his horse and he helped him
dismount. Then Young Hawk was seized with rage
(madness). He took off his coat and army blouse
and made ready to fight for his life. Just as Goose
dismounted his horse was shot down. Young Hawk
put Goose against a tree and told him to hold his
horse. Goose had a revolver in his belt. Just then
Young Hawk saw Half -Yellow-Face crawling to-
ward him. He said, *'My friend is being killed, he
is just on the edge of the thicket." Young Hawk
went with him crawling on hands and feet to where
the Crow scout lay on his back with his hands up.
The two scouts took him by his arms and dragged
him back to where Goose sat with his back against
a tree. He was Strikes Enemy or White Swan
(Crow). He told them he was not afraid and that
he was glad he was wounded. Young Hawk said :
'^The sight of the wounded men gave me queer feel-
ings, I did not want to see them mutilated, so I de-
cided to get killed myself at the edge of the timber.
Before going out I put my arms about my horse's
neck, saying, 'I love you.' I then crawled out and
stood up and saw all in front of me Sioux warriors
kneeling ready to shoot. I fired at them and re-
ceived a volley, but was not hit. I was determined
100 North Dakota Collections
to try again and get killed, so I crawled out to the
edge of the timber in a new place, jumped up and
fired again and received a volley, but I dropped out
of sight before I was hit. Then I saw near me a tree
with driftwood piled against it, making a very good
protection and behind it I found Forked Horn ly-
ing face down to avoid being shot. ' ' When Forked
Horn saw that it was Young Hawk who had drawn
the fire of the Dakotas the second time, he scolded
him, saying : ''Don't you do so again, it is no way to
act. This is not the way to fight at all, to show your-
self as a mark." The Dakotas tried to burn the
scouts out but the grass was too green to burn.^
Young Hawk sat still for a time after being scolded
by Forked Horn and the Dakotas came closer, one
on a gray horse came very close indeed. Young
Hawk fired and missed him, then he jumped up and
shot again, killing him. The horse had on a very
handsome bridle with very beautiful trimming and
after the Dakota was shot and fell the horse kept
circling to the left, probably because he was tied by
a lariat to the body of the Dakota. Young Hawk
fired twice at the horse and at last killed him. As
the horse fell. Young Hawk gave the Arikara yell
which is always given at the death of an enemy.
Goose saw the horse fall and he called Young Hawk
to get the fine bridle for hun. Young Hawk said :
''Some little time after this the Sioux came closer
90 The Indians fired the grass more than once in this engagement with
the double purpose of driving the troops out and covering their own
movements. — Godfrey, Custer's Last Battle, p. 372.
The Arikara Narrative 101
again and I saw one Sioux coming right toward me
and I drew a fine bead on him and dropped him,
then I jmnped up and gave the death call again."
While this was going on several Dakota women rode
up and gave the woman's yell urging on the warri-
ors to kill all the Arikara." He heard them in many
places about the bushes where he lay hiding, then
they went away with the others. Some tmie before
noon he noticed that the Dakota attack was slack-
ening and he saw them begin to ride off down
stream, which made him think that Custer's attack
had began at the lower ford. They could see many
Dakotas crossing the river farther up and riding
down past them to the north. He said : "After the
shooting had slackened, I stood up and looked
around. On the ridge above me on the highest
point I saw a United States flag." Forked Horn
then said to Young Hawk : "My grandson, you have
shown yourself the bravest. The flag you have seen
up there shows where the pack-train is which we
were to meet and we must try now and reach it. ' ' ^^
Custer had instructed them what to do, so as not to
be mistaken for the Dakotas. So Young Hawk cut
a stick and tied his white handkerchief on it. They
tried to put Strikes Enemy on a horse ; his leg was
pierced by a shot and his right hand also. They
were able to put him on his own horse and Goose
91 ' ' The women took a hand while the battle was in progress by
stampeding the horses." — Major James McLaughlin, My Friend tlie
Indian, p. 137, New York, 1910.
S2 McDougall with the pack-train joined Reno shortly after Benteen
did. — Godfrey, Custer 's Last Battle, p. 373.
102 North Dakota Collections
was mounted on the horse of Red Foolish Bear,
who himself went on foot. Young Hawk rode ahead
with the white flag. They rode down the stream
half way the length of the ridge and as they clunbed
up the slope they saw the Dakotas riding back on
the east side of the ridge toward the white camp.
The Custer fight was over and the Dakotas com-
pletely covered the hill where the soldiers had made
their last stand and were swarming toward him
and beginning to fire."^ The rest of the party turned
back down the hill. Goose took Red Foolish Bear
up with hun and they rode back the entire length of
the ridge and up at the other end into the white
camp. Young Hawk rem.ained behind and the Da-
kotas chased him along the ridge. He held to his
white flag, waving it in front of him. The soldiers
fired over him at the enemy and the Dakotas fired
at him. A few rods from the camp his horse was
shot down but he scrambled to his feet still carry-
ing his white flag and ran into the camp. The first
man he saw was his chief of scouts, Peaked Face
(Varnum). The pack-train was there and the sur-
vivors from the fight on the Little Big Horn.^* Then
he met the officer in charge and he was glad to see
Young Hawk, his face showed it. He signed to
Young Hawk that the sergeant (Bob-tailed Bull)
was killed and that his horse was in camp there.
93 The Dakotas did not attack Eeno for over an hour after their
destruction of Custer's battalion; but now renewed the attack. — Godfrey,
Custer's Last Battle, p. 375.
94 They were on the bluffs across the river. — /&., p. 374
The Arikara Narrative 103
Young Hawk saw the spotted horse which be-
longed to Little Brave and he caught it for he had
no horse of his own and he thought Little Brave
must be dead. Meanwhile the Dakotas were coming
up and riding around them. The other scouts who
had left him now rode into the camp. Then the
whole party retreated into a ravine near by (some-
thing like the ravine adjoining the house of Bears
Belly, at the northwest between the graveyard and
the telephone line). Here the Dakotas attacked
them and the shooting made a continuous roar on
both sides, soldiers and horses were killed very fast.
Then the Dakotas worked around at the right and
began firing into the ravine at one end. The soldiers
threw up breastworks across the open end of the ra-
vine, consisting of cracker boxes, bags of bacon,
etc.^^ Young Hawk was not one of the party that
built these breastworks, but he took a cracker box
and put it in front of himself as he lay on the ground.
The Dakotas were on every side, firing into the ra-
vine, they came very close, crouching in lines on all
sides.^^ The guns made such a noise that nothing
else could be heard. The wounded men were dragged
up to the breastworks as the safest place. This
heavy firing went on without a break until it was
dark. When it grew dark they began to take up the
wounded and to place the dead at one side. They
95 < ' The pack and dead animals were utilized for breastworks. ' ' —
Godfrey, Custer's Last Battle, p. 375.
9G The Indians had the advantage of holding the high points surround-
ing Eeno 's battalion. — 76.
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all stayed up until morning watching for the Dako-
tas and just at dawn a few shots were fired at them.^^
Then the fight began again with heavy firing as be-
fore and this went on until late in the afternoon.^^
All the scouts were together on the side next to
where the Dakotas came from and nearest to the
ridge. During the first afternoon an officer came
to the scouts, saying, a message was to be carried
after dark. Forked Horn said, "All right." The
officer told Goose he could not go for he was wound-
ed and that each scout was to carry the same mes-
sage. Later he came again and brought with him a
sergeant and told them that this man was to go with
them so that in case all the scouts were killed he
could tell what the conditions were in the camp.
Goose said he would go, too, although his hand was
wounded; if they were killed, he wanted all to be
killed. The officer told the scouts they were to carry
the message out to the President of the United
States, in order that all might know what had hap-
pened. They were told that they could ride govern-
ment horses since they were faster than their own.
Each one was to ride hard and pay no attention to
anyone else who might be shot by the Dakotas. If
anyone fell wounded or shot he was to pull out the
paper with the message on it and leave it on the
ground so that when the soldiers came they could
97 They intrenched themselves during the night, June 25th. Between
2 and 3 o'clock the next morning the Indians resumed the attack. —
Godfrey, Custer's Last Battle, p. 375.
98 By 3 o'clock p.m. the firing had ceased altogether. — 11., p. 378.
The Arikara Narrative 105
learn what had happened and where the camp was.
Then Forked Horn said that the government horses
were shod and he wanted the shoes taken off so
they could run better. When the messages were
written for each of the scouts, the two Crow scouts
stayed behind, one was wounded and the other stayed
to care for him. The scouts who had the messages
to carry were Goose, Forked Horn, Red-Foolish-
Bear, Young Hawk, and the white sergeant. When
it was dark they followed the ravine out but there
the Dakotas fired on them and they all ran back.^^
The officer told them to stay until morning and start
again. They stayed there all night and in the morn-
ing the Dakotas began firing again as hard as ever,
the guns were going very rapidly (Young Hawk
showed how the guns sounded by clapping his hands
as fast as possible). Then he heard in the midst of
the firing on the farther side of the ravine, the south
side, not fifty yards away and very close to the sol-
diers, a Dakota warrior call out and give the Da-
kota song for a charge. The words were: ''Come
on, white man, come on, if you are brave, we are
ready for you." As soon as he had done singing,
all the Dakotas seemed to disappear suddenly and
the firing stopped.'^" Then the soldiers and scouts
all got up and in every direction they saw the Da-
09 Some of the scouts were sent out soon after dark, the evening of
June 25th, but returned soon saying the country was full of the Dakota.
— Godfrey, Custer's Last Battle, p. 377.
100 The Indians had nearly all left Eeno at 1 o'clock. They came
back an hour later and drove the men into the trenches again. — Godfrey,
Custer's Last Battle, p. 378.
106 North Dakota Collections
kotas retreating all on horseback toward their camp
over the ridge down to the dry coulee. He saw no
wounded or dead being carried off. When they
climbed the ridge they could see the Dakotas in
groups retreating down toward the dry coulee, all
on horseback. This was now about noon. The Da-
kotas got to their village and the tents went down
in a hurry. They thought that the Dakotas might
camp where they were before. The Dakotas then
moved toward the ford and reached the prairie dog
village near the ford, only five tents were standing
on their camping place. But the Dakotas passed
the ford and went into the timber along the Little
Big Horn above the f ord.^''^ Then smoke began to
come up as from a camp. They could see the trees
above which the smoke rose. As they watched, off
past the old Dakota camp to the west was a ridge
over two miles away and here they saw a band or
body of people moving over the ridge and down
toward the Dakota camp. They thought it was a
band of Dakotas returning to camp from hunting.^*^
Then the party approached the five Dakota tents
101 The Indians set fire to the grass in the valley about 2 p.m. to
screen their movements and about 7 p.m. they were seen going toward
the Big Horn Mountains. — Beport of Secretary of War, 1876, I, p. 478.
102 Colonel Gibbon refers to an encounter with the scouts. "Our
scouts brought in news that they had encountered some Indians, and giv-
en chase, had run them across the Big Horn. They had dropped articles
in their flight which proved them to be Crows, assigned to duty with
Lieut.-Col. Custer's command. They having discovered that their pur-
suers belonged to their own tribe, refused to come back, and called
across the river that Custer's command had been entirely destroyed by
the Sioux. ' ' — Beport of Secretary of War, 1376, I, p. 473.
The Arikara Narrative 107
and they rode about among them. The commanding
officer said to Young Hawk and Forked Horn:
**They are the white men who were coming to help
us. Saddle up and go to them. ' ' So these two scouts
rode to meet them down the ridge to the west and
across the Custer ford until they were quite near to
the party. Then they saw that they were whites and
they rode back again.'^^
The soldiers in the party were busy stripping off
the buckskin shirts from the bodies of the dead Ha-
kotas there and taking their ear-rings. When the
scouts got back they told the officer through the in-
terpreter, Gerard, that the party were white men.
The officer, Varnum, said that these were the white
men whom they were expecting to come and help
them. It was not right that Custer went ahead, he
ought to have waited. The officer then said : "Now
let us go and look for Custer's body."'** Then
Forked Horn, Red-Foolish-Bear, Goose, Young
Hawk, and Gerard, Varnum, and some soldiers
(the Dakotas called one of these soldiers Jack
Drum Beater, probably a white drummer) went
down to look for Custer's body. They w^ent north
along the ridge and followed Custer's trail across a
103 Gibbon and Terry with their column were arriving. Two of the
Crow scouts had come to camp and told of the disaster but Terry did
not believe their story. He was bringing medical assistance. — Godfrey,
Custer's Last Battle, p. 382.
104 A detachment under Captain Benteen proceeded to the battle-
ground. Lieutenant Bradley, Seventh Infantry, was the first of Terry's
command to reach the field of carnage. — Report of Secretary of War,
1876, I, pp. 478, 473.
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low soft place or coulee east of the hill called Cus-
ter's last stand. On the other side of the ravine
they began to find dead soldiers lying with a few
dead horses. When they came to the flat-topped
hill where Custer fell, the officer, through Gerard,
told the scouts to go off east on the hill and watch
for the Dakotas lest they come back to attack them.
Lying all over the hill Young Hawk saw dead
horses of the Dakotas and of the whites and also
many bodies of the soldiers, lying stripped. He
also saw the circle breastwork made of dead horses
on top of the hill.'^^ Here Young Hawk took a
piece of bearskin from the saddle of a buckskin
horse and then shot the horse because he was very
angry at the Dakotas for the death of Custer. He
did not take the trappings from the horse because
he could see from them that the horse was much
beloved by its owner. Varnum told them through
the interpreter that when they found Custer's body
the bugle would call and Gerard would go and tell
the scouts that they had found his body. The scouts
had not been long on the hill watching (a little more
than half a mile away) when they heard the bugle
sound the reveille and Gerard came to tell them that
Custer's body had been found. When he told them
this they came back to camp, the sun was near the
horizon and they were very hungry. The command-
ing officer said: "Let's go to the village and follow
along up the river through where the Sioux
105 Godfrey, Custer's Last Battle, p. 375.
The Ankara Narrative 109
camped. ' ' The soldiers at the camp had been placing
the dead in rows in preparation for the burial.
They crossed lower down than where they had first
crossed, a good watering place, right below Custer's
hill (probably the Custer ford) . The body of Bloody
Knife lay a little back from the brush near the ford.
He saw evidence of fighting from the Custer hill
clear to the river by the dead horses, though he saw
no bodies of soldiers. The five tepees in the desert-
ed Dakota camp were thrown down and some of
the bodies stripped by the soldiers they had seen
there. They went on to the Dakota camp and found
the body of a dead Dakota lying on a tanned buffalo
hide. Young Hawk recognized this warrior as one
who had been a scout at Fort Lincoln, Chat-ka. He
had on a white shirt, the shoulders were painted
green, and on his forehead, painted in red, was the
sign of a secret society. In the middle of the camp
they found a drum and on one side lying on a blan-
ket was a row of dead Dakotas with their feet to-
ward the drum.''"' Young Hawk supposed that a
tent had covered them, with the entrance to the tent
at the side opposite where the dead bodies lay, that
is, at the holy or back side of the tent. When alive
these braves would sit on the other side and drum.
This drum was cut up and slashed. Farther on they
found three more groups of dead Dakotas lying on
canvas, buffalo hides, or blankets at the back side
100 Colonel Gibbon in his report refers to the finding of the dead
warriors. — Report of Secretary of War, 1876, I, p. 473.
110 North Dakota Collections
of where the tent had stood, that is, opposite the
opening. All the line buckskin shirts they had worn
as well as beads and ear-rings had been stripped
off by the soldiers. These groups of bodies were
two, three, or four. In this camp they found evi-
dence of great haste, bedding thrown away, bundles
of dried meat dropped, etc.'*^ Young Hawk picked
up a paunch of pemmican and put it on his horse.
Then they rode on to where the fight first began and
on the west side of the river they found the mule
drivers camped. On the prairie dog village at the
end of the bushes they found the negro, Isaiah, ly-
ing dead ; he was a Dakota interpreter enlisted at
Fort Lincoln. The Dakotas had left a kettle full of
his own blood close by his head and the body was
very much mutilated."® Further on they found one
of the Arikara scouts ; the body was stripped, the
head pounded to pieces, and a willow branch was
thrust into his chest, the leafy part outside. They
went on to the mule camp, and there they had sup-
per, for it was nearly dark. While in camp Young
Hawk volunteered to go with Forked Horn to the
deserted Dakota camp for dried meat. They went
on horseback through the dark and at the end of the
camp he saw lying on the ground a long dark bun-
dle. He cut it open and found it to be meat and he
107 This is confirmed by Gibbon 's report. — Report of Secretary of
War, 1876, I, pp. 473, 474.
108 This seems to have been the only genuine ease of mutilation re-
ported by the scouts. The bodies of the soldiers and oflScers were not
reported as mutilated by any of the scouts. The Dakotas did not, how-
ever, spare the dead bodies of the Arikara scouts.
The Arikara Narrative 111
selected the widest pieces to take back with Mm.
At tMs camp they met a white man (one of those
who had come with Gibbon's command) and he had
taken from the Dakota camp a stick with a scalp
on it. He asked the scouts if this were a Dakota
scalp and when they looked at it they recognized
from the gray hair that it was the scalp of Bloody
Knife, since he was the only one with hair slightly
gray. The white man said the scalp was hanging
from a stick standing by the body of a dead Dakota
in the deserted camp. The scouts told the white
man to throw it away since it was an Arikara scalp
but he said: *'No, if it is Bloody Knife's scalp, I
will keep it for my father knew him and I will
show it to him. ' ' He said he was sorry that Bloody
Knife was killed and that his father would be sorry
to hear it, too. He had captured twenty-five Da-
kota ponies which he said he would give to the
Arikara scouts. His father was a well-to-do man,
well known in the West, whom the Arikara called
Woolly-Back, and he was at one time commandant
of a post on the Yellowstone. At this post Bloody-
Knife once acted as guide and hunter for him and
he thought a good deal of him. Young Hawk se-
lected for himself a black pony from the Dakota
ponies the white man had captured.
In the morning they looked after the dead. Young
Hawk saw one of the soldiers standing near the
bank. He went close and the soldier told him to go
into the river and get out the body of the dead sol-
112 North Dakota Collections
dier there. There were no bushes on the bank here ;
this was about the place where the soldiers retreat-
ed across two days earlier. He took off his clothes
and went into the water nearly to his armpits.
The dead soldier lay on the water, head down,
and his back was out of the water; he had on
trousers but no coat or shirt. It seemed to
Young Hawk that the Dakotas on the other side
had pulled this much of his clothes off and left
him there. He and the soldier pulled the body
up on the land and left it and went further
up the bank. Then Young Hawk met the rest of
the scouts and they agreed to go where Bob-tailed
Bull was chased by the Dakotas. They found the
place where he went over the bank and there they
saw four leafy branches of willow sticking up in
the stream. The water was shallow here and they
wondered to see the willow branches there. Then
they went up to a better crossing; the water was
up to their hips when they crossed over. They came
down on the right bank, seeing two dead soldiers
stripped, all the way to the brush and there, in the
edge of the brush, was the body of a sergeant (they
called him ' ' Sarge ' ') .^'' The soldiers followed and
placed the bodies straight. The scouts went into
109 Terry reported: Custer trail is "marked by the remains of his
officers and men and the bodies of his horses, some of them dotted along
the path, others heaped in ravines and upon knolls, where halts appear
to have been made. There is abundant evidence that a gallant resistance
was offered by the troops." — Eeport of Secretary of War, 1876, I, p.
463.
The Arikara Narrative 113
the bushes and found their coats where they had
left them on the day of the fight and they put them
on. They went on but found no more dead soldiers
and crossed back again at a watering place for
horses. As they came up the bank they found a sol-
dier standing there and he said: ''Here is one
scout lying in the bushes. ' ' They could not tell who
the scout was because his face and head were aU
pounded to pieces, but they think it was the body of
Bloody Knife. Then they all got together and Ge-
rard told them that the soldiers were going to cut
poles for horse travois for carrying all the wound-
ed. Goose said that they had better do it for him,
too, for his hand was wounded. Red Foolish Bear
began to fix a travois for Goose for riding jarred
his wounded hand. The white soldiers collected the
ten poles from the abandoned Dakota camp for the
travois and the scouts wondered how they would
use them. Two of the poles were lashed to the sides
of two mules, one mule at each end of the poles,
making mule litters. Over these poles suspended
between the mules were lashed army blankets, and
upon these blankets the wounded were laid."" A
soldier walked at the head of each mule. Young
Hawk took care of Goose himself, dressing his
wound and bringing him food and drink. Gerard
told the scouts that they were to follow the Little
110 Lieutenant Doane, who superintended this work, received much
praise for the skillful construction of the litters and the rapidity with
which they were made. — 'Report of Secretary of War, 1876, I, p. 474.
114 North Dakota Collections
Big Horn and then the Big Horn River down to
the mouth of the Yellowstone or Elk River, and
there would be a steamboat waiting for the wound-
ed/" The march was very slow and wounded suf-
fered very much."" Young Hawk led the pony
which dragged the travois upon which Goose lay.
At last they reached the Elk River and saw the
steamboat waiting for them near the shore with
soldiers on board. Young Hawk put Goose and his
property near the wheel, for the deck was covered.
The Crow scout, White Swan, was helped on board
by his companions. The soldiers and scouts, who
were not wounded, marched down the south side
of the Yellowstone and camped there. The next
day they saw a soldier-camp across the river."^
Some of the Arikara scouts had brought mail to
this camp as the boat had arrived already. Here
Goose saw Horns-in-Front, Young Hawk's father,
and told him that his son was coming down the
river. Horns-in-Front took Goose off the boat, un-
wrapped his wounded hand and washed it for him.
It was very badly swollen and Goose said he was
111 The Far West, commanded by Captain Grant Marsh, waited for
the wounded at the mouth of the Little Big Horn. — Report of Secretary
of War, 1876, I, p. 474.
112 General Terry in a telegram to General Sheridan dated July 2d,
reports that he commenced moving the wounded on the evening of June
28th and at 2 a.m. of the 30th they were placed on the steamer at the
mouth of the Little Big Horn. The afternoon of the 30th they reached
the depot on the Yellowstone and from there were sent by steamer to
Fort Lincoln with one of Terry's aids, Captain E. W. Smith, — 7b,, I,
p. 464,
113 This was the supply depot or camp on the Yellowstone. — Ih.
The AriJcara Narrative 115
getting no attention at all on the boat. The Arikara
scouts who brought the mail heard that their com-
rades were coming down on the other side so they
crossed to the south bank and met them as they
came along. Young Hawk jumped off his Dakota
horse and placed the bridle in his father's hand for
the horse was the gift to his father. His father was
very glad to see him alive and embraced him as he
used to do when he was little. The soldiers and
scouts all crossed the Yellowstone to camp. The
soldiers from the battlefield were in great disorder,
some were hatless, others wore dirty and bloody
clothing.
Supplementary Story hy Soldier.
Soldier said : ^'I had a very poor horse and was
one of those left far behind in the charge. While
the other scouts are telling what they did, I sit cry-
ing in my heart because I was not in the fight. I
feel that if I had owned a good horse I would have
been killed because I would have been in the hard
fighting.""*
Soldier caught up with the scouts at the lone
tepee but his horse was behind from the start. They
started to go very fast from just beyond the lone
tepee."^ As the charge went on, the poor horses
11* During the narrative by Young Hawk, Soldier went out of the
house and sang a wailing song outside to relieve his feelings; no one
inside paid the slightest attention although we could hardly hear what
the interpreter was saying.
116 Reno, who had orders from Custer to move forward at as rapid a
116 North Dakota Collections
trailed out far behind. As he started on he heard
a whistle behind him and he saw Stabbed coming
up. He had been detailed to follow up a trail off
toward the left and had not gone on with the rest
of the scouts. He handed Soldier a nose-bag with
some cartridges and dried meat in it. He said: "I
give you these cartridges and if we retreat I will
come right for you and get them for I see you are
not going to keep up. ' ' At this point he heard the
firing begin, it was about two miles away. Soldier
first caught up with White Eagle and the two rode
on together until they caught up with Bull. Stabbed
rode on ahead to the end of the ridge east of the
river and the three scouts followed him. At the
ridge they began to see signs of Custer's march off
to the east. They could see the trails through the
grass. Here they found a white soldier trying to
get his horse up, he was cursing and swearing,
pounding his horse 's head with his fists and kicking
him under the belly. Here the grass was much
trodden down and the trails were very plain. Soon
a little farther up the ridge, they foimd another
white soldier with his horse down. This soldier in-
dicated by signs that he belonged to Custer's com-
mand. From the ridge they saw the whole Dakota
camp and the battlefield. At this point Soldier was
riding very hard. He saw Bob-tailed Bull far out at
the end of the line and many Dakotas riding behind
gait as was prudent, took a fast trot for about two miles to the ford of
the river. — Beport of Secretary of War, 1876, I, p. 477.
The Arikara Narrative 117
the ridge at the left. He met on the ridge some of
the Arikara scouts driving off the Dakota horses
from between the ridge and the river. He saw some
shooting at the end of the ridge over which the Da-
kotas were to charge later on down upon Bob- tailed
Bull and the rest of the scouts. Strikes Two was
one of the first he saw, and he gave him a horse.
Soldier turned here and went along with Strikes
Two. Then Red Star came up and said to him:
*' Uncle, you can have that mouse-colored horse with
a spot underneath. Take that horse to ride, it is
strong and you are heavy." Just at the point of
the ridge where the horses came over, they met Red
Wolf and Strikes-the-Lodge. Stabbed now came
back and joined the party.''^ Soldier saw many Da-
kota tents go down and many of the Dakotas swarm-
ing back and forth at the end of the village nearest
where the fighting was going on."^ Now the Ari-
kara scouts, Stabbed, Strikes-the-Lodge, Red Wolf,
White Eagle, Soldier, Red Star, and Strikes Two,
headed the horses some distance from the ridge.
Boy Chief rode off with the horse Red Star had
promised Soldier, till he got one. In this party also
were Bull, Little Sioux, Bull-stands-in-the-Water,
116 There was great excitement in the camp of the Dakotas. — Mc-
Laughlin, My Friend the Indian, pp. 169, 171.
117 When Custer was advancing to the attack, "the chiefs gave orders
for the village to move, to break up; at the time of Eeno's retreat, this
order was being carried out, but as soon as Eeno's retreat was assured
the order was countermanded, and the squaws were compelled to return
with the pony herds." — Godfrey, Cutter's Last Battle, pp. 383-384.
118 North Dakota Collections
and One Feather. The scouts who mounted fresh
horses here and rode back toward the river were:
Boy Chief, Strikes Two, Soldier, Red Star, Little
Sioux, One Feather, Stabbed (he did not take a
fresh horse), Strikes-the-Lodge, and Bull-stands-
in-the- Water (Red Bear and Strikes Two say that
at this point Pretty Face came up with the mule
train and that he left the train and joined the
scouts).
Continuation by Red Star, Boy Chief, and
Strikes Two.
"We had no arrangement or order on the field.
Strikes Two mentioned the plan first and pointed
out the Sioux horses." It did not occur to them
that it would make any difference what they did
first as at this time there was only some light
skirmishing going on. Custer's plan was for them
to seize the Dakota horses across the river. They
crossed the river at a point where there was no
regular ford and rode after the horses of the Da-
kotas. There was very little fighting on the line at
this time and the village was just stirring. As they
headed the horses into a group. One Feather and
Pta-a-te had a bunch nearer the ford and these
horses were retaken by the Dakotas who had crossed
the river lower down, below the timber where
Young Hawk and his party were to hide. They
crossed the ridge just ahead of the Dakotas and got
away with the horses. Little Sioux and Bull-in-
The Arikara Narrative 119
the- Water helped to get the horses over the ridge.
Here were aU the remaining scouts who did not
cross the river. The horses were headed into a ra-
vine east of the ridge and the scouts changed horses.
There were twenty-eight of these Dakota horses
here. As the scouts turned back to fight and rode
up on the ridge, they saw that the line was broken
and that the soldiers were coming up the hill.^^*
The Dakotas were across the river already and com-
ing right after the soldiers. Down the river they
could see the smoke of much firing around the
grove where Young Hawk and his party were hid-
ing. At the Dakota camp they noticed that the rid-
ers were headed down stream. Red Star saw Var-
num, his orderly was with him, wounded in the
ankle. Boy Chief rode down the hill toward the
river, right among the Dakotas, to look for his
brother, Red Bear, but he was driven back.
Bed Star's Additional Interview.
When Custer stood at the bank where Hodgson's
stone stands. Curly and Black Fox (Arikara) were
there with him (Goes Ahead confirms this). Pretty
Face reported that after he had joined the Arikara
scouts he saw an Arikara with a white cloth about
his head. Black Fox was the only Arikara with this
on. When Black Fox reached the mouth of the
Rosebud he met the older scouts already there, they
came out to meet him, he came on slowly. In an-
us Reno 's retreat from the vaJley.
120 North Dakota Collections
swer to their queries lie said he and Curly got to-
gether near Reno ford. Curly told Black Fox he
would take him back to show him where the soldiers
left some hard tack. So Curly took Black Fox to
the flat below the hills overlooking the present town
of Busby, north side. Curly told Black Fox that
for his part he was going home.
On the ridges overlooking the place where the
Dakotas defeated Reno, Red Star said he saw the
pack-mules unharnessed in a hollow by their dri-
vers, and there over one ridge to the north came
three Crow scouts, Goes Ahead, Hairy Moccasin,
and Crow-who-talks-Grosventre. They came to the
Arikara scouts and told them to go back because
the army was beaten ; * * the Dakotas kill the soldiers
easy," that Curly, White Swan, and Big Belly
(Crow) were killed. They, the Crows, were intend-
ing to circle to the west and go home where they
lived. The older Arikara scouts told the younger
ones to take the Dakota horses down to the creek
(near the sheep ranch) and water them. While they
were watering the horses they saw the older scouts
chased by the Dakotas back on the trail and more
Dakotas coming up to the Reno ford to attack the
soldiers. Then some Dakotas attacked them and
they left the horses and escaped. The younger
scouts were Red Star, Red Bear, Bull-in- Water,
Pretty Face, Little Crow, Red Wolf, Pta-a-te (Da-
kota), White Eagle, Bull. The older scouts were
Stabbed, Strikes Two, Strikes-the-Lodge, Ca-roo
Ci'KLV Head
The Arikara Narrative 121
(Dakota), Ma-tok'-sha (Dakota), Soldier, Boy
Chief, and Little Sioux.
Supplementary Story by Red Bear, 'beginning at
the Lone Tepee. Interpreter, Alfred Bear.
Custer had ordered the charge and he also gave
them orders to take the Dakota horses from their
camp. The scouts charged down the dry run, and
when Red Bear came to the lone tepee, the other
scouts were ahead of him and were riding around
the lone tepee, striking it with their whips. He did
this also. All the scouts stopped at the lodge per-
haps half an hour. One of them called out : ' ' There
is plenty of grub here. ' ' One Feather went into the
tepee and drank the soup left for the dead Dakota
warrior and ate some of the meat."® Just then
Custer rode up with Gerard and the latter called
out to them : ** You were supposed to go right on in-
to the Sioux village." While the scouts were ex-
amining the lone tepee, Custer, who was ahead of
his troops, overtook them and said by words and
signs : *'I told you to dash on and stop for nothing.
You have disobeyed me. Move to one side and let
the soldiers pass you in the charge. If any man
of you is not brave, I will take away his weapons
and make a woman of him." One of the scouts cried
out : ' ' Tell him if he does the same to all his white
soldiers who are not so brave as we are, it will take
119 <' This was the body of Chief Circling Bear's brother, a man of
some prominence." — McLaughlin, My Friend the Indian, p. 130.
122 North Dakota Collections
him a very long time indeed." The scouts all
laughed at this and said by signs that they were
hungry for the battle. They rode on ahead at this,
but Red Bear noticed that Custer turned off to the
right with his men about fifty yards beyond the
lone tepee. Gerard rode on with the scouts here.^^"*
Young Hawk, Goose, Black Fox,'"^ Red Star,
Strikes Two, Bloody Knife, Little Sioux, Bob-tailed
Bull were with him, also Forked Horn, Red-Foolish-
Bear, Boy Chief, Little Brave, and One Feather.
They rode hard, charging down to the Little Big
Horn and, after crossing it, they were near the camp
of the Dakotas. When they got across, they separa-
ted again. Six of the scouts turned off to the right
sharply, where the Dakota horses were by the tim-
ber. Boy Chief and Red Star were ahead, then
followed Strikes Two, Black Fox, Little Sioux, and
One Feather. The other party led by Bloody Knife
went on toward the point of the Dakota camp.
Bloody Knife was far ahead and he brought back
three horses toward his party, calling out: "Some-
one take these horses back to the hill. One of them
is for me." Red Bear did not see Bloody Knife
because of the dust, but he heard afterwards who it
120 ' ' The command moved down the creek toward the Little Big Horn
valley, Custer with five companies on the right bank, Eeno with three
companies on the left bank, and Benteen farther to the left, and out of
sight." — Eeport of Secretary of War, 1876, I, p. 477.
120a Red Bear differs from the other scouts in stating that Black Fox
crossed the Little Big Horn. The others relate that he stayed on the
east of the river with the Crow scout, Curly, and the soldiers until Custer
rode with his men to attack the Dakotas at the lower ford.
The Ankara Narrative 123
was. In this party were Bloody Knife, Young
Hawk, Goose, Forked Horn, Little Brave, Red
Bear, Bob-tailed Bull, and the two Crow scouts.
"Now we all came to the point of the Sioux camp,
the guns began to go off and we got off our horses
and began to shoot." The Dakotas were shooting
at them from the bluffs or hills, lying down out of
sight. At this time no one was riding around on
horseback. They were less than a quarter of a mile
off when they dismounted to fire. Forked Horn was
at the point of the timber at one side and called out :
"Come on this side." At the ford as they crossed
down to the Dakota village, the soldiers caught up
with the scouts, and the scouts crossed more at the
left and Red Bear saw at his right the soldiers
stringing across the river. All was excitement and
confusion at this point, he recognized no white sol-
dier or officer.^^^ When Bloody Knife called out
about the horses, the white soldiers had not yet dis-
mounted. But they were all there with the scouts.
The soldiers were dismounting at the time Forked
Horn called and Red Bear mounted and rode to
him. At the same time, he saw coming toward the
line where Young Hawk stood a Dakota horse, shot
in the neck or cheek. As the horse passed along,
Young Ha^k struck him, saying, "I strike an
enemy's horse." The white soldiers were calling
and shouting. As Red Bear reached Forked Horn
121 Reno stopped here and watered the horses, delaying about ten or
fifteen minutes, and reformed on the left bank of the stream. — Godfrey,
Custer's Last Battle, p. 370.
124 North Dakota Collections
and dismounted, Young Hawk rode up and said to
Mm: ''Uncle, I have struck the bay horse and it is
mine, and I give it to you. You have a rope, get
the horse for your own. " Red Bear replied : "What
is the use, we are fighting and I may be killed, and
can have no use for it." Then Young Hawk rode
back to his place. Just then he saw Little Brave
riding from the timber and he said that he had
heard from the yelling at the Dakota camp (he
knew a little of the Dakota language) that they
were about to charge. He said: ''Let me fire one
shot at the camp, and then let's get back to the hill,
for they are too much for us.'' Now as Little Brave
went to fire his one shot on foot. Red Bear held his
horse for him. He came back at once and said to
Red Bear that the Dakota were about to charge,
and that they had better mount and ride back to
timber and then across the river. They started to
ride back and as they were going through the bushes
toward the river, they received a volley from the
bushes in front of them just across the Little Big
Horn. The Dakotas were in ambush there, without
horses. At this the scouts doubled back again to
where they started from. When they rode toward
the river, they saw a great mass of Dakota horse-
men between the ridge and the river, riding toward
the ford, yelling and firing, — it was alive with them.
Red Bear dismounted when the Dakotas fired and
led his horse, a leaning tree struck his saddle horn
and stopped the horse. He pulled again and again
The Arikara Narrative 125
at the horse 's head until finally the horse came on,
the saddle girth broke but he did not turn back,
though he lost his extra cartridges. Then he tried
to mount but twice his canteen, which he carried
around his neck, got under him and he fell off. At
last he mounted and rode on after Little Brave, who
had not dismounted and was by this time far ahead.
He soon came out of the timber where he had lost
sight of Little Brave. He could see nothing on ac-
count of the smoke and dust which filled the air, but
somewhere ahead he saw dimly someone riding.
Just then he saw ten soldiers on horseback in full
retreat toward the timber.'^^ At this point there
was a deep cut and the horses of the soldiers fell in-
to it and he heard the soldiers calling out, *'Whoa,
whoa. ' ' He swung his horse to the left and escaped
falling into the cut and he left the soldiers flounder-
ing there with their horses. He followed on after
Little Brave until the dark object ahead of him
turned to the left. Then he rode straight on think-
ing that this could not have been Little Brave and
he rode past the point where he saw the rider turn
to the left. His horse stumbled and fell and threw
him off. The horse then ran on toward the river
and Red Bear chased him. It was an open place
here, a few trees and many rose bushes. A long, dry
limb caught in the side of the bridle and dragged
behind the horse, and stopped him so that Red Bear
122 Reno's left fell back into the timber, — Godfrey, Glister's Last
Battle, p. 370.
126 North Dakota Collections
could catch him. The hanging rope gave him a hold
but the horse was scared and jumped about a good
deal. Because he could use only his left hand, he
could not stop the horse very well, for he still held
his gun in his right hand. Then he saw a Dakota
riding toward him up stream on his right, his face
was painted, the lower half red and the upper half
and forehead yellow as well as the eyes. He shot
the Dakota and he fell from his horse, which reared
up and wheeled back. By this time he could hear
nothing but the steady firing of guns and the shrill
whistles of the Dakotas. He followed his horse to
the river and saw him swimming about. He leaped
into the water and swam to him, caught him by the
mane and they went over together. As he climbed
out of the water, he saw swimming behind him the
horse of the Dakota he had shot. It was a dark bay
and his forehead had a white streak on it, around
the horse's throat was a string of deer hoofs that
rattled as he swam. This horse crossed a little above
him. Down stream he saw Little Brave, who had
already crossed the river, and he noticed that he
was wounded under his right shoulder and the
blood was running down in a stream over his white
shirt. Little Brave's horse was going on a slow
trot toward the ridge, but not upstream toward
Red Bear. He went up to where the Dakota horse
had landed, intending to drive him down to Little
Brave. Just then, up the bank, through the bushes
at his left downstream came the horse of Bob-tailed
The Arikara Narrative 127
Bull, the reins and rope were flying, and the tail and
mane floating in the wind. The horse was much
frightened and ran snorting past Red Bear but a
few yards away from him and Red Bear saw that
the saddle was all bloody in front. Five or six white
soldiers were riding through the bushes at his left,
having just crossed the river. The horse of Bob-
tailed Bull followed after them, and the Dakota
horse he was driving dashed away after the others.
(Bob- tailed Bull's saddle was an Indian saddle
with a wooden frame covered with raw hide. Bloody
Knife was the only one with a government saddle,
horse, etc.) Little Brave was still riding on slowly
and he waved his hand to Red Bear to go slowly
also. The Dakotas were above them on the hills fir-
ing down at them.'^* Red Bear thought Little Brave
w^aved his hand at him meaning that Red Bear was
to catch one of the horses for him as his own was
played out, so Red Bear jumped off and caught at
a rope which was dragging through the bushes from
one of the two horses, either that of the Dakota or
of Bob-tailed Bull. But the horse was badly fright-
ened and though he caught the rope he was dragged
about through the bushes, his moccasins being lost
in the river, his bare feet were torn by the rose
bushes. The horse dragged him up the stream
toward the end of the ridge while Little Brave and
the soldiers were riding straight toward the fir-
123 According to Godfrey 's account the Dakotas had that advantage
all the time.
128 North Dakota Collections
ing line of the Dakotas. Finally he let go of the
rope and mounted his own horse. He did not see
Little Brave again and he thought the soldiers were
all killed. As he rode up to the end of the ridge, he
saw many soldiers retreating. Then at their head
he saw Reno, with a white handkerchief tied about
his head, his mouth and beard white with foam,
which dripped down, and his eyes were wild and
rolling.''* The soldiers with Reno took Red Bear
for a Dakota and aimed their guns at him, but he
rode in close to Reno and struck him on the chest
with his open hand, crying *' Scout, scout !'^ Reno
called out to him in reply: **The Sioux, the Sioux,
where ?" '^^ Red Bear pointed down over the ridge
where the Dakotas were. Just then an officer with
three stripes gave him some cartridges for his gun,
this officer had cartridges in boxes on his arm and
as he opened a box the cartridges tumbled out. As
the officer gave Red Bear the cartridges, he called to
him, *' John, John." They then all fired at the Da-
kotas higher up on the ridge without taking any
aim, merely holding the guns up on a slant and fir-
ing.'^® Red Bear had a bullet cut his coat at his
arm-pit. A Dakota horse, wounded in the haunch,
ran toward them and Red Bear tried to catch him.
124 Keno had lost his hat and had a handkerchief tied about his head,
and appeared to be very much excited." — Godfrey, Custer's Last
Battle, p. 372.
125 '< Reno was with the foremost in this retreat or 'charge' as he
termed it in his report." — 76., 371.
126 In the funnel shaped ravine leading into the bluffs "the com.-
mand got jammed and lost all semblance of organization. ' ' — lb.
The Arikara Narrative 129
He got up in order to do so, for they were all kneel-
ing down and firing, but the soldiers shot the horse.
Here Reno made a short halt, but he could not hold
his men together, they kept falling back all the
time, though quite a group stayed here/" Then
the Dakotas began to fall back and stop firing. The
other remounted scouts now came up and formed
a group with Reno 's men. Seven scouts were miss-
ing : Young Hawk, Bloody Knife, Bob-tailed Bull,
Little Brave, Forked Horn, Red-Poolish-Bear, and
Goose. Red Bear had remounted when he could
not catch the horse down on the flat, and the last
he saw of Little Brave was his horse and the rider
coming on a slow trot. 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 Da-
kota horses, and they were to return but they had
not yet come back. Then White Cloud said to Red
Bear: ''Let's go where the scouts are with the
horses." 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 they 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, and waved to him that they were friends.
127 Nearly all the casualties occurred during the retreat and after
leaving the timber. — Godfrey, Custer's Last Battle, p. 372.
127a Bed Bear is in error here. There were but three Crow scouts.
130 North Dakota Collections
He stopped and called the Dakota scout back, for
he recognized then the dress of the Crow Indian,
red shoulders painted on a white shirt. The Crow
scouts halted and then they rode together. 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). 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.
Just then the scouts who had taken fresh horses
came back. The first one to come was Bull-in-the-
Water, then Strikes Two, then Red Star, Boy Chief,
One Feather, Soldier, Stabbed, Strikes-the-Lodge,
and Little Sioux. After awhile the other scouts
came in with the herd of captured horses, about
forty in number; the scouts were Charging Bull,
Bull, Red Wolf, and White Eagle."' Where Reno
was the soldiers were on higher ground, and the
scouts were down the slope about ten rods off.
Stabbed was riding about on horseback, making a
speech. He said: ''What are we doing now, we
scouts ? We ought to do what Custer told us to do
if we were defeated. He told us to fall back to the
Powder River where the rest of the scouts are and
128 In Captain Godfrey 's account, he mentions Crow scouts coming by
driving a small herd of ponies. — Godfrey, Cutter's Last Battle, p. 372.
The Ankara Narrative 131
the wagons and provisions." Pretty Face had al-
ready joined them from the pack-mule train and
was there also at the time. Red Bear did not see
this mule train at all. Pretty Face was probably
with the herd scouts on the way back. The white
soldiers were partly dismounted in their group,
Red Bear did not notice any officers. The scouts
were aU saying among themselves that seven of
them had been killed, for his part he was glad to be
among them again. Stabbed told them that part of
the scouts were to take the herd of horses on while
the rest of them were to stay behind and keep the
Dakotas off. So some of the scouts got ready to go
on with the horses. They were : Bull-in-the-Water,
Charging Bull, Red Wolf, White Eagle, Red Star,
Pretty Face, Red Bear, One Feather, and the Da-
kota scout, Pta-a'-te, and they started back with
the herd of horses. Those who stayed behind
were: Strikes Two, Stabbed, Soldier, Boy Chief,
Strikes-the-Lodge, Little Sioux, the two Dakota
scouts. White Cloud and Ca-roo, the half-breed
Dakota interpreter, E-esk, and Bull. The ten scouts
with the herd of horses had not gone very far when
another Dakota scout. Bear- Waiting (Matoksha),
came in and joined the scouts, who were detailed
to keep the Dakotas back. Red Bear and his other
scouts rode along past the lone tepee and when they
had left it six miles behind, the sun was just touch-
ing the hills. They followed the same trail they
had used early in the morning. A little way out
132 North Dakota Collections
Bull joined them; he was sent by Strikes Two with
word for them to go a little faster, as he could see the
Dakota tents going down, and they thought the Da-
kotas might chase the herd. From this point Bull
went on with them and after sundown Red Wolf
and Bull-in-the- Water rode ahead of the herd. It
was just getting dark when they heard three shots
fired somewhere ahead of the herd. The scouts be-
hind took the alarm, swung around the herd and
rode ahead, reaching the valley of the Rosebud
when it was too dark to see. The two scouts who
had been ahead fell back when they heard the shots
and when they reached the herd they agreed that
the Dakotas were coming to meet them and that
they had better escape. So they picked out fresh
horses and rode off ahead. When the scouts who
were driving the herd from behind heard the shots
ahead, they looked back on the trail and saw a cloud
of dust coming, dirt flying as though from the hoofs
of many horses, and they thought it must be the Da-
kotas coming after them. So they took fresh horses
also from the herd and rode around and on until
they saw the black line of timber. Here they
stopped hungry and thirsty, and a big wind struck
them there. They waited at the edge of the timber
while one of the scouts rode on through, over a cut
bank, and found a muddy water hole. He called
the rest of the scouts and they led their horses over
the bank; the horses slid down. Each scout then
set to making his own drinking place with his
The Arihara Narrative 133
hands and drinking the water as it filled into the
hole. There was not enough water for any of the
horses. As they talked among themselves, Whole
Buffalo said that he knew the way out, so they fol-
lowed him to the Rosebud, which they reached at
midnight and then on to the present Cheyenne
Agency, which they reached at daylight. Then they
climbed a high ridge and stopped, below them was
the place where the Dakotas had their sun dance
(already described). The Dakota scout advised
them to stay here all day until the sun went down,
because they could see in every direction, back on
their trail as well as in front of them. So they
stayed here until sundown, some slept while others
watched. Then they rode on all night until at day-
light they had reached the camp where Bloody
Knife had been drunk. They hunted about among
the camp leavings and found meat and spoiled
crackers, which they had for breakfast. They
crossed the Rosebud at the point where they had
crossed it on the march. Here they discovered that
the scouts led by Stabbed had already crossed ahead
of them in great haste. They recognized their party
by the tracks of the mule ridden by Stabbed. Then
they followed the Rosebud to its mouth and reached
the old camp, the last parade ground. Here they
found the remains of a fresh camp fire, such as cans
for cooking, etc. They decided that it was the
breakfast camp of the party ahead, it was now
about noon. They went down the bank of the Rose-
134 North Dakota Collections
bud and found some boxes of crackers partly spoiled,
wet and moldy, but they made saddle packages
of these and rode on. The party of Strikes Two
saw them and thought they were Dakota Indians
and so rode on faster out of sight. They followed
the old Custer trail very slowly until they were near
the Tongue River and then camped on top of the
ridge in the timber. In the morning they reached
and crossed the Tongue River and found the place
where the soldier had been clubbed to death. On
the top of a range they went on and reached the
Powder River camp. Here they f oimd the party led
by Strikes Two and a company of infantry, with a
wagon train. The commander was called Wearer-
of-the-White-Hat, he was from Fort Buf ord. This
officer had two interpreters, a half-breed Dakota
called The Santee, and a Grosventre called Crow-
Bear. They told the officer through these interpre-
ters all that they knew about the fight. The officer
caUed the scouts all together and told them to bring
in their horses. He picked out two of the best
horses for the scouts who were to carry word to the
officer who had gone up the Elk River on a steam-
boat to the mouth of the Big Horn River.'^^ He se-
lected Foolish Bear and White Cloud to carry the
orders. These two scouts swam their horses over the
Yellowstone or Elk River, swimming themselves
and pulling a small raft behind them, which had
129 This was General Terry who went up the Yellowstone on the Far
West. — Report of Secretary of War, 1876, I, p. 463.
The Arikara Narrative 135
upon it their guns and a small bag with the message
in it. These scouts rode to the mouth of the Big
Horn and after a time (several days), they came
back and called for Strikes Two and BuU-in-the-
Water to cross over to them and carry the mail to
Fort Buford. Foolish Bear and White Cloud then
recrossed the river and joined the other scouts.
Later Supplementary Story hy Running Wolf.
Interpreter, Alfred Bear.
Running Wolf enlisted in the spring of 1876 at
Fort Lincoln with six others, Young Hawk, Horns-
in-Front, Tall Bear, Foolish Bear, Red Foolish
Bear, and Charging Bull. They started from Fort
Berthold and camped over night at Fort Stevenson.
Big John, an Arikara scout, was in charge of the
party. The same man (already referred to) was in
charge at Fort Stevenson. They camped next day
just north of where Washburn is now and reached
Bismarck by noon and went across the river in a
steamboat. Next morning Gerard took them to
headquarters where they were enlisted. The camp
of the scouts was at the foot of the hill, but the next
day they joined the soldiers in camp farther back
from the river. While in camp they learned that
Custer was at Washington and they were told
that on his return he would start on the expe-
dition.'^" After Custer returned, six days went by
130 < ' Lieut. Col. Custer of the 7th Cavalry was at first assigned to
the command of this force; but under subsequent instructions I assumed
136 North Dakota Collections
before the expedition started. On the last day, Bob-
tailed Bull and Soldier were called to headquarters
and the former was made sergeant. Then Gerard
notified them next day to get ready for the parade,
for they were to march Indian style, singing their
own songs. This was to be the beginning of the first
day of the march, and the songs they sang at that
time were some of the same ones that were given
when this story was told at the cotmcil at Bear's
Belly.^^^ After the parade, the scouts led the march
with Custer ahead, and the white cavalry bringing
up the rear."^ The scout chief was Varnum (Peaked
Face), he camped all the way near the scouts and
had one orderly and a cook, who served his meals
in his own tent. The army camped at noon and re-
mained there till next morning. When they stopped
the command in person, Lieut. Col. Custer being assigned to the com-
mand of his regiment. ' ' — Beport of Secretary of War, 1876, I, p. 459,
(Terry's report).
131 < « The Indian scouts themselves beat their drums and kept up
their peculiar monotonous tune, which is wierd and melancholy beyond
description. Their war-song is misnamed when called music. It is more
of a lament or a dirge than an inspiration to activity. This intonation
they kept up for miles along the road." — Mrs. Elizabeth Custer, Boots
and Saddles, p. 262.
132 < < The cavalry and infantry in the order named, the scouts, pack-
mules, and artillery, and behind all the long line of white-covered wagons,
made a column altogether some two miles in length." Mrs. Custer rode
with her husband at the head of the column during the first day's march,
returning to the post from the first camp beyond the fort. The arrange-
ment with regard to the scouts, referred to above, undoubtedly lasted
only the first day, while Mrs. Custer rode with the General, after which
they would ride at the head of the column with the commander. —
11., p. 263.
The Arikara Narrative 137
for dinner the next day it started to rain and they
went no farther that day. The next morning they
went on and made a second camp west and north of
the Heart River on a big flat. The next day there
was no stop for dinner and the scouts called Camp
No. 3, Turkey Buzzard Camp. From this camp at
sunset the mail was sent back by two scouts, One
Horn and Red Foolish Bear. The soldiers were
paid off at the first camp. A herd of cattle was
driven along with the army. The army ate dinner
at Big Mountain (Butte) and made Camp No. 4 in
a wide valley. They ate dinner the next day on
the open prairie and Camp No. 5 was made at what
is now Hebron. At the dinner stop next day it
rained and the army camped there close to Young
Man's Butte, Camp No. 6. Dinner was eaten the
next day on a muddy flat and because the roads were
too heavy for the loads, the army camped here. Camp
No. 7, beyond Young Man's Butte. The army took
dinner next day at a coulee east of the present sta-
tion of Dickinson. At Camp No. 8, in the middle of
the night. Red Foolish Bear came in and reported
to Bob-tailed Bull that he had left Red Bear back
on the trail with a played-out horse. Bob-tailed
Bull took a party back on the trail for Red Bear
and brought him to camp early in the morning.
Strikes Two gave Red Bear his spare horse. The
dinner stop that day was in a coulee with trees, and,
because it was muddy, the army camped here, Camp
No. 9. The army reached the Bad Lands by noon
138 North Dakota Collections
the next day and camped here, Camp No. 10/^*
Custer went ahead to look for a trail for the wagons.
The next day the army went into the Bad Lands and
Camp No. 11 was just inside. Timber was cut and
carried along for bridges. The orders next morn-
ing were that each man was to carry his own dinner.
Camp No. 12 was made at the Little Missouri Val-
ley, near Soldier Butte.^^* The next day they passed
the Butte and camped just beyond. Camp No. 13.
It snowed here in the night, the snow was from two
to three feet on the level. The army stayed here all
day and the next night, and by the following day
the snow had melted a good deal. So they went on
through the mud and slush, which was heavy for
the teams, along a flat-topped ridge. At the end of
the ridge about noon they met Crow Bear, a Gros-
ventre scout on horseback. He had come from Pow-
der River with the mail and after dinner he turned
back again. There was no stop for dinner that day.
The army marched down a coulee to Beaver Creek
and made Camp No. 14. The next day they followed
up Beaver Creek to the end and made Camp No. 15.
The next day the march was made on the open prai-
rie, a flat land, and in the distance they could see
blue hills. Camp No. 16 was made on the open prai-
rie. They marched on next day toward the blue
hills, toward a coulee with cottonwoods. Camp No.
133 The Bad Lands of the Little Missouri were reached on May 27th.
— Godfrey, Custer's Last Battle, p. 361.
134 "On the 31st we crossed the Little Missouri without difficulty."
— 7&.
The Arikara Narrative 139
2Y 135 rpj^g Dakota scouts said that their name for
the place was Cottonwood Creek. They reached the
foot hills by dinner time and after dinner they went
on until they reached the point where the Powder
River enters the Bad Lands. Here they made Camp
No. 18. In the morning Custer came to Yarnum's
tent and called for Bob-tailed Bull. He told Bob-
tailed Bull that he wanted seven scouts to be sent
ahead to look for signs of the Dakota, four Dakota
scouts and three Arikara. The Arikara scouts sent
out were Young Hawk, Forked Horn, One Feather.
The Dakota scouts were Ca-ro6, Ma-tok'-sha, Buf-
falo Body (Pta-a-ate), and White Cloud. Some
white soldiers went along, too, and they marched in
two lines. The orders were not to return until they
had foimd fresh signs of the Dakotas. They were
to report at the base camp at the mouth of the
Powder River. Camp No. 19 was made at the mouth
of the Powder River and there was a steamboat here.
Two sick scouts, Horns-in-Front and Cha-ra-ta
(Wolf), were left here at this camp, in care of Tall
Bear. There was a store tent here in charge of a
white man and he sold the hindquarters of a deer
to the soldiers at $4 each. The wagons were left
here with a guard of soldiers. The army marched
on to Tongue River and camped up from the mouth
about two and one-half miles. Camp No. 20."^ At
135 There is a slight discrepancy between the stories of Red Star and
Running Wolf with regard to Camps 17 and 19.
136 Custer reached the Tongue River on the 16th of June, — Report
of Secretary of War, 1876, I, p. 461.
140 North Dakota Collections
this point the scouts sent back a report to Custer
as to what they had found. They crossed the Tongue
River and went on to a plateau, Camp No. 21. The
next day they camped on a flat-topped elevation,
quite a distance from the Rosebud and one mile
from the Elk River, Camp no. 22. Camp No. 23
was on the high ground about a quarter of a mile
above the mouth of the Rosebud River. Camp No.
24 was on the flat at the mouth of the Rosebud.^"
The next morning Custer and his brother Tom came
to the scout camp to see Soldier, Bob-tailed Bull,
and Bloody Knife ; Gerard was interpreter. While
they were there at the camp. Young Hawk told them
that on this river they had found a fresh trail and
camp of the Dakotas. At this time the steamboat
was there landing boxes of hardtack crackers and
they were opening the boxes. Just then the bugle
blew and they all saddled up and rode to where the
crackers were and each one took rations enough to
fill his leather saddle bags. Custer was then writ-
ing dispatches and six scouts were detailed to take
them to the base camp at the mouth of the Powder
River. The scouts were: Foolish- Angry Bear (in
charge), Running Wolf, Howling Wolf, Curly
Head, Goose, and Young Hawk. But afterward,
when Custer found out what scouts were in the
party, he detained Young Hawk and Goose, because
they had found traces of the Dakotas and he knew
that Young Hawk could shoot well and would kill
137 This camp was made on June 21st. — Report of Secretary of War,
1876, I, p. 461.
The Arikara Narrative 141
some of the enemies. He remembered Young Hawk
from Ms Black Hills expedition and also Goose."'
The dispatches were ready and the four scouts who
carried them received Custer's orders to stay at the
base camp after delivering the dispatches. This was
3 or 4 'clock in the afternoon. The scouts detailed
for this duty were not anxious to return to the
base camp, they preferred going on with the rest.
They traveled all night, ate breakfast, traveled all
day and all the next night until, at sunrise, they saw
the wagons at the base camp one and a half miles
away. Two Arikara scouts rode out of the camp to
meet them, Charging-up-the-Hill and Wagon, these
two had been left behind at Fort Lincohi. They all
talked together for some time and then they went
down to the base camp. It was then about noon and
the six scouts were at once detailed to carry some
Fort Lincoln dispatches on to Custer, and along
with them went a white soldier. Running Wolf led
this party of scouts and there were also Howling
Wolf, Horns-in-Front, Tall Bear, Charging-up-the-
Hill, and Curly Head. After dinner they started
back and rode until the middle of the night, when
they were too tired to go further and camped in or-
der to sleep. In the morning they traveled on and
reached a place to camp at dark near the Rosebud.
The next morning they came up to the mouth of the
138 It was Goose who told Custer about the wonderful cave in the
Hills, before the expedition of 1874 started. — Mrs. Elizabeth Custer,
Boots and Saddles, p. 299.
142 North Dakota Collectimis
Rosebud where the crackers were landed, and in the
distance they saw men there. They thought it was
the Dakotas and turned sharp into the timber on
the Rosebud. They stayed here all day until sunset
and then Tall Bear said, ** Let's go back to the base
camp." But the soldier, by signs and the use of a
few Dakota words, told them they could not go back,
that they must carry the dispatches on to Custer.
He proposed to them that they cross the Rosebud
after dark and swing around the Indians, whom
they supposed were the Dakotas, and so go on to
Custer. They followed his directions, they forded
the Rosebud, the water was up to their arm-pits.
They traveled all night, and the next day about 4
o'clock they saw the camp of soldiers at the mouth
of the Big Horn."^ They thought this was Custer's
trail they were following because it was too dark to
see where he had gone and then, too, they feared
the Dakotas, whom they supposed were seen at the
mouth of the Rosebud. Those whom they had seen
there were really the party of Strikes Two, retreat-
ing to the base camp from the fight on the Little
Big Horn. This party of scouts had ridden ahead
of those detailed to carry off the horses, they had
passed them in the night in their hurry to keep out
of the way of the Dakotas. At the Big Horn camp
the scouts learned all the news of the Custer fight.
139 Terry was in command of this camp on the Yellowstone near the
Big Horn River. It was a supply depot. — Beport of Secretary of
War, 1876, I, p. 464.
The Arikara Narrative 143
Terry was in command here, he was called by the
Arikara, Man-Wearing-the-Bear-Robe. Terry
once wore a coat made of bearskin and the older
scouts remembered him for this. Running Wolf
does not know who told the news of the fight but all
the scouts learned of it. The steamboat had gone
up the Big Horn a little way, as far as the depth of
the water would allow.'*^ It was understood that
this boat had gone up for the wounded and survi-
vors of the Custer fight. It was about noon when they
learned this news. Then two scouts came in from
the base camp, Crow Bear and a white soldier,
bringing news of the arrival of Strikes Two and
his party, with their news of defeat and loss. It
was reported: ''All of the white soldiers and some
of the scouts were killed." Then Crow Bear said:
''The scouts kiUed are Bloody Knife, Bob-tailed
Bull, Little Brave, Forked Horn, Red-Foolish
Bear, Young Hawk, and Goose," for these scouts
were not in the two parties escaping to the base
camp. Crow Bear and the white soldier were sent
back immediately to the base camp with dispatches.
Then Terry came to the scout camp and gave Run-
ning Wolf a pair of field glasses and told him to go
up the Big Horn to the hills and look out for the re-
turning steamboat. Running Wolf took Charging-
140 Terry reports : ' ' Thanks to the zeal and energy displayed by
Capt. Grant Marsh, the master of the steamer (Far West), the mouth of
the Little Big Horn was reached by her, and she was of inestimable
service in bringing down our wounded. They were sent upon her to
Fort Lincoln," — Report of Secretary of War, 1S76, I, p. 465.
144 North Dakota Collections
up-the-Hill and rode off on this duty. At night they
came back and reported they could see no boat. The
next morning Terry again came to the camp and
gave Running Wolf the same directions, handing
him his own field glasses. Terry told Howling Wolf
to go along also, to see if the steamboat was coming.
They returned for dinner and Running Wolf hand-
ed back the glasses to Terry. Then about 3 or 4
p. M. he heard a sharp whistle upstream and knew
that the steamboat was coming to them. They went
down to the bank, scouts and all, and they saw a
white canvas cover over the whole deck and wound-
ed soldiers lying under it in the shade. On the prow
of the boat they saw Strikes-Enemy, the Crow scout
who was wounded. The soldiers began taking off
the wounded and putting them down on the canvas
lying on the bank."^ When this was about half
done Running Wolf noticed Goose near the engine
room with a blanket over his shoulders and his hand
wounded and wrapped up in his chest. Then he
went to him with another scout and helped him up
the bank. Goose said to him : "We have fought the
fight with the Sioux, we were cut off in the timber
with the Sioux on every side but we escaped alive.
The other scouts are coming on after the boat on
foot. ' ' Soon they saw the white survivors coming
along, and the four scouts last of all. Young Hawk,
Red-Foolish-Bear, Forked Horn, and a Crow scout,
141 The wounded were brought to the depot oa the Yellowstone on
the afternoon of June 30th. — Beport of Secretary of War, 1876, I, 464.
The Arikara Narrative 145
Half- Yellow-Face. As he came up Young Hawk
began to tell the story of the fight. '* Bloody Knife
is dead," he said, ''Bob-tailed Bull is dead and
Little Brave is dead. We could not find the body
of Little Brave but the bodies of the others we found
with their heads pounded and smashed to pieces."
Young Hawk was leading the spotted pinto that
had belonged to Little Brave. Young Hawk then
related his story of his fight in the timber and also
what took place after he reached the camp in the
ravine. The next morning they put the wounded
soldiers back into the boat with the scout, Goose,
and they went down the river in the boat.'" Terry
and the Chief-with-a-Red-Nose were in com-
mand."^ They told all the scouts to follow down the
east bank of the Yellowstone (Elk) and look for a
Dakota crossing over to the western side. The
scouts were gone ten days and in the party were :
Forked Horn, Horns-in-Front, Red Foolish Bear,
Charging-up-the-Hill, Tall Bear, Young Hawk,
Running Wolf, and Wagon. Two of the scouts
stayed behind in Terry's camp. Curly Head and
Howling Wolf. They hunted for the Dakota trail
across the river for ten days. They returned to
142 The steamer bearing the wounded reached Fort Lincoln July 5th,
and brought the first news of the disaster to the post. — Mrs. Elizabeth
Custer, Boots and Saddles, p. 268.
143 The Chief -with-a-Eed-Nose appears to be Colonel Gibbon, who
joined Terry with his command July 2d, and remained in the Yellowstone
camp untU July 27th, when it was transferred to the new depot at the
mouth of the Eosebud. — Report of Secretary of War, I, pp. 465, 474.
146 North Dakota Collections
Terry 's camp and Soldier was not there. The camp
was changed to the mouth of the Rosebud and so
was the base camp at Powder River, making one
base camp."* The two commanders said they must
go up the Rosebud and search for Sitting Bull.'*'
Half way up the Rosebud they met Crook in charge
of a body of foot and some mounted scouts, Arap-
pahoe or Shoshone. Here all the scouts got together,
Terry and the Chief-with-a-Red-Nose, with Var-
num and Crook and their men."^ They followed
the Dakota trail to the Tongue River where they
camped. Next day they went on to the Powder
River where there was big timber on the bank. Here
they camped. The next morning the surviving sol-
diers of Custer's command, all the Arikara scouts,
and Crook's Indian scouts marched under Terry
and Varnum down to the mouth of Powder River
and camped there."^ Crook's command and all the
rest of the soldiers stayed here. At the mouth of
the Powder River the Crow scouts and Crook's
144 ' ' The depot was moved to the north bank of the Yellowstone, op-
posite the mouth of the Eosebud and the troops from both above and
below were brought to it." — Report of Secretary of War, 1876, I, p.
465.
145 <<0n the third, the crossing of the river commenced. It was com-
pleted on the 7th, and on the 8th of August the march up the Rosebud
began." — lb.
"6 On the 10th of August, Terry and Gibbon met Crook and his com-
mand coming down the Rosebud and the united commands resumed the
march on the Indian trail which Crook was following. — lb., p. 475.
147 ' ' The command moved across to the Tongue River, down that and
across to the Powder River, and down that to its mouth, which it reached
on the 17th." — 7b.
The Arihara Narrative 147
scouts went back to their reservations. The rest of
the camp returned to Crook's camp on the Rosebud
but Crook had already gone on the Dakota trail.
The Chief -with-a-Red-Nose and some other officers
came to the camp of the scouts with a letter in his
hand. He selected a detail of seven scouts to carry
the letter to Crook while the rest of the camp were
to go back to the base camp. The seven scouts were
Soldier, Black Fox, Charging-up-the-Hill, Boy
Chief, Young Hawk, Running Wolf, and Ca-roo
(Dakota). They carried the letter to Crook's camp
and delivered it to him. They found out that he was
on Sitting Bull's trail. Crook notified them they
were to stay and scout for him, reporting every
other day, so they followed these orders day by day
under Crook's command. When they came to Bea-
ver Creek, Running Wolf and Young Hawk were
out hunting by themselves on a ridge and the rest
of the scouts were together."® When Running Wolf
and Young Hawk got to Beaver Creek, they found
the rest of the scouts there and also a party of In-
dians on foot. There were cavalry here also under
a separate commander. Ca-ro6 had already been
sent back to Powder River with the mail but he
soon returned and reported that the orders from
Beaver Creek were that he was not to go with the
mail but in place there were to go Soldier, Boy
i<8 Crook 's column moved south on the Indian trail to a point on
Beaver Creek, opposite Sentinel Buttes, where the trail split into sev-
eral smaller ones. — Report of Secretary of War, 1876, I, p. 509.
148 North Dakota Collections
Chief, Black Fox, and Charging-up-the-Hill. The
sun was just setting and the three scouts camped,
that was all there was left of the original scouting
party. The rations they got were two crackers
apiece and two spoonfuls each of coffee and sugar.
Just as they were going to bed somewhere about
midnight they heard the sound of horses coming up.
They were the Dakotas coming on horseback and
soon they began firing at the camp. The soldiers
began to run out of tents, half asleep, sometimes
without guns or anything to fight with. The orders
were that they were to make for a ridge of higher
ground. The Dakotas were circling and firing into
the camp and the soldiers were firing back, making
it quite light. The cavalry did not at first take part
in the fight but presently the bugle sounded, they
got lanterns and saddled up and began to take part
in the fight, too, and the Dakotas retired into the
darkness. The scouts were on a little hill and did
not take much part in the fight. The next day the
soldiers stopped following the Dakota trail and
came to Soldier Butte, where they camped. They
reached the Little Missouri and found an old Da-
kota camp there and camped for the night. About
noon they found a Dakota camp in the timber but
the officer would not let them fight the Dakotas, for
he said he wanted them to stay by the camp and
that he would camp on Custer's old camp site east
of the Rosebud Butte. They reached this spot about
5 P.M. About dark the scouts noticed a confused
Wagon
The Arikara Narrative 149
gathering of men in the cavalry camp and it looked
strange to them. Ca-ro6 went up to see what was
going on among the soldiers and Young Hawk fol-
lowed him and then, calling Runing Wolf by name,
he said : * ' These men are writing letters to go back
to Fort Lincoln and we are to carry them tonight."
They had supper and at sunset they started out with
the letters for Fort Lincoln. They rode all night
and then stopped to eat and feed their horses at
Young Man's Butte. They rode all day and reached
Sentinel Butte when it was very dark. They trav-
eled all that night and all the next day, reaching
Fort Lincoln when it was nearly dark. Running
Wolf was discharged in January, 1877.
Later Supplementary Story of Little Sioux.
Interpreter, Reuben Duckett.
It was early in the morning, just at sunrise, and
there came down from the butte. Red Star and Bull.
By this time the army was all together and the mule
pack train was with them. Custer told all the scouts
to come to him and they made a circle about him."^
He said to them : ''Well, I want to tell you this, the
way I want it. We all want to charge together and
after we get to the Sioux camp I want you to run
off all the horses you can." Then the charge began
for the Dakota camp; they went three or four
149 At the same conference the Indian scouts told Custer that he
would find enough Dakotas to keep him fighting two or three days. The
General smiled and remarked, "I guess we will get through with them
in one day." — Godfrey, Glister's Last Battle, p. 367.
150 North Dakota Collections
miles and then Custer went up on the high butte
and came down again after seeing the Dakota camp.
The scouts led on with the charge and reached the
lone tepee about noon. It was about as far to the
Little Big Horn as it was from the high butte to
the lone tepee. It was nearly 3 o 'clock when they
reached the Dakota camp.^^" They rode at full speed
with Custer and Little Sioux about the middle.
When he reached the river he saw going up the bank
on the other side, Young Hawk, Strikes Two, Boy
Chief, and Goose. As he came up the bank he saw
before him a curved, flat space covered with sage
brush and with timber at the right. The soldiers
were forming a line at right angle to the timber
and then the firing began. In front of the soldiers,
while he was a little way from the bank. Little
Sioux saw Black Fox ''"' and Forked Horn. Away
to the left and in front of the soldiers, near some
buttes, he saw Bob-tailed Bull. Some Dakotas were
riding in between Bob-tailed Bull and the soldiers.
Little Sioux was about half way to the line of sol-
diers with others all around him, and then he saw
Bloody Knife swing in from the timber along which,
from the direction of the Dakota camp, he was driv-
ing three horses. Bloody Knife was his uncle and he
came up to him and said: "Take these horses away
back, this is what Custer told us to do." Little
150 Little Sioux places the time too late. Captain Godfrey says it
was 2:30 p.m. when Eeno was joined by Godfrey and then Custer's bat-
talion was being surrounded and wiped out. — Godfrey, Custer's Last
Battle, p. 374,
150a For Black Fox being here see auto., p. 122, footnote 120a.
The Arikara Narrative 151
Sioux paid no attention and Bloody Knife turned
back without waiting to see what became of the
horses. With Little Sioux there were Red Star,
Strikes Two, and Boy Chief. As they stood there
together looking across the river they saw at the
foot of the ridge (about where they were to cross
later) three women and two children coming across
the flat running and hurrying along as best they
could, on a slant toward the river. Little Sioux
fired twice at them and so did Red Star. Then all
four of the scouts rode through the timber toward
the river to kill them. But just at this point they
saw across the river on the flat a large herd of about
two hundred Dakota horses in the sage brush, so
they stopped pursuing the women and children and
started after the horses.'" Little Sioux had no
trouble at either bank, he rode his horse swimming.
On the opposite side there was much sage brush and
willows and the four all crossed together. They
started to head the horses upstream. Red Star rode
farthest to the left, then Boy Chief, then Strikes
Two, and last of all Little Sioux. While they were
driving the horses he first saw the tepees of the Da-
kotas, three-quarters of a mile away across the
river, just the tops of the poles and very many of
them.'" They had ridden farther ahead than the
battle line of the soldiers, that is, farther down-
151 The Dakotas had an immense pony herd. — Godfrey, Custer's Last
Battle, p. 367.
152 The village was very large. — Beport of Secretary of War, 1876,
I, p. 463.
152 North Dakota Collections
stream in order to head off and drive the horses back
to where they could get them away from the Da-
kotas. They had hardly headed the horses before the
Dakotas came across the river from the village where
he had seen the tops of the tepees and from there they
carried on a running fight up the valley for over a
mile with the pursuing Dakotas chasing and firing at
them. They reached and crossed the high bluff, at
which point was the hardest fighting, and the Dako-
tas chased them back on the trail seven or eight miles.
This fight for the horses was kept up until nearly
dark or until the red blaze from the guns could be
seen and there were only five Dakotas left. These
seemed to have ridden around in front of the herd
and attacked the scouts as they went by. The flat
between the ridge and the river was about three-
quarters of a mile wide and they drove the horses
nearer the river than the ridge. They crossed the
ridge because it curved in front of them and they
did not turn out of their course. Where they crossed
the ridge, was a mile below the first crossing and
about three-quarters of a mile from the second
crossing. The two places on the river where Little
Sioux crossed were about a mile apart. While he
was driving off the horses on the flat he heard the
battle going on very plainly at his right and on his
left also. Slightly behind him he heard sounds of
another battle but not quite so plain. As Little
Sioux came up the ridge he met the other scouts
that had been left behind and they all went on to-
The Arikara Narrative 153
gether. From the ridge he saw that the battle was
over, dead men and horses lay all the way from
where the battle line was to the river, and also on
the bank and up to the hill. They rode on and look-
ing back they saw some dismoimted soldiers, who
had straggled up from the river, fighting the Da-
kotas back. He saw a dead soldier lying just where
he came up over the ridge on the hill. Here Little
Sioux's horse played out, the one he had ridden
from the first. He was riding ahead of the other
scouts when he saw a black horse with a piece of
buckskin around his neck from which hung a bell.
He threw himself off his horse, caught the Dakota
horse, put his own saddle on it, and turned his own
horse loose, all of this during his ride up the hiU.
At the time he looked back to the battle-ground he
also looked toward where he had heard the firing
at his left. There he saw, about two miles west,
near enough to hear the guns, along the ridge, a
high sloping hill, the sides of which were covered
with Dakota horsemen, thick as ants, riding all
about. At the top some soldiers were lying down
and were shooting down at the Dakotas, who were
firing back. He noticed many little fires on the
prairie where the first fighting took place, much
smoke but no blaze. He saw also on the hill at the
south, groups of Indians moving off here and there.
He noticed that these groups scattered as they got
up higher and broke up in every direction, this was
about three miles off. He saw also on the battle-
154 North Dakota Collections
ground Dakotas riding about among the dead bodies
shooting at them/'^ There were five Dakotas in the
last attack which was made on the scouts who were
driving off the herd of Dakota horses. Stabbed told
some of them to dismount and hold back the enemy.
Those who stopped to do this were Little Sioux, Sol-
dier, Strikes Two, Boy Chief, Stabbed, and Strikes-
the-Lodge. When the four scouts met the others at
the top of the hill some of them stayed behind to
fight back the Dakotas. These were : Soldier, Little
Sioux, Stabbed, Strikes-the-Lodge, Strikes Two,
and Boy Chief. They fought on foot to hold back
the Dakotas who had by this time killed all the dis-
mounted soldiers. Their horses were tied to their
cartridge belts by a loose slipknot and when riding
this rope hung in a coil on the saddle-horn. This
device was used by all the Indians so that they might
never be in danger of losing their horses in battle.
When this group of scouts had stopped the Dakotas
and driven them back, it was about an hour from
sunset and they tried to find the herd but missed the
way for a time. In the last fight with the five Da-
kotas, already referred to, the herd of horses was
so close that the firing scared them and in spite of
all the other scouts could do the whole herd was
lost. Little Sioux fell back now with the other five
scouts for they thought all the soldiers were killed
and all the horses lost. Stabbed drove his horse
153 Captain Godfrey confirms this statement. — Godfrey, Custer's Last
Battle, p. 373.
The Ankara Narrative 155
and rode a mule taken from the big herd when the
scouts first met him. They rode all night long and
all the next day till evening without stopping and
they came to where the steamboat unloaded. Here
were some spoiled crackers and they made camp all
night and rested and ate. While they were in camp
here they were seen by the party led by Running
Wolf, who thought that they were Dakotas. After
sunrise the next day Black Fox came up and joined
them. After he was seen in distance Little Sioux
was sent back to meet him and he called to him
that he was an Arikara, but Black Fox could not
hear him for the wind blew toward him and he
thought it was a party of Dakotas. Black Fox got
off of the Dakota horse he was riding, leaving the
saddle, and mounted his own, bareback. He rode
into a blind washout with high banks but here he
heard Little Sioux's voice echoing back from the
high bank and he recognized him and rode out
again. He was glad to see Little Sioux and gave
him the horse he had caught. The six scouts slept
under the roots of a fallen tree and they had a fire.
They were cooking some camp leavings when Black
Fox came in sight a long way off, about 8 o'clock.
The seven scouts traveled all day and camped at the
mouth of Tongue River and slept there. The next
day they came to the Powder River base camp just
as the bugles were blowing for dinner. Some sol-
diers came out to meet them and they told them
what had happened but the soldiers did not believe
156 North Dakota Collections
them. Then the commanding officer called them in
and the scouts told him what they knew. He said
nothing when they had finished and sent them out
again. In camp they found four scouts, Horns-in-
Front, Cha-ra-ta, and two others. About three
days later the commanding officer ordered them to
bring their horses up for inspection, as mail was to
be carried. But the horses were all worn out so
two mules were used instead. He sent the mail out
by two scouts. Crow Bear and a half breed, to Gen-
eral Terry on the Big Horn River. No other scouts
had come in yet. Before they had reached Terry's
camp the steamboat came in with the wounded. Un-
til the boat came in seven scouts were missing, the
three who were killed and the three with Young
Hawk, besides the interpreter, Gerard. The steam-
boat took the scouts across the river, about twenty-
four of them, and they went up the river and met
the Crow Indians who had come together too late
to help Custer at the mouth of the Rosebud. They
recrossed the Elk River by steamboat and it went
along with them up the river. They marched on the
east side of the river and met some soldiers and
later some other soldiers with Arapahoes."* All of
these were to meet and go with Custer against the
Dakotas but it was now too late. As the Arapahoe
Indians came near, the soldiers first took them for
Dakotas and got ready to fight."^ The Arapahoes
154 They met Crook August 10th. — Beport of Secretary of War, 1376,
I, p. 466.
155 This was true. Terry's scouts brought information that the Da-
The Arihara Narrative 157
told the scouts that the whole plan had been made
for a battle after all the soldiers had assembled, but
Custer had fought too soon.
Later Supplementary Story of Goes-Ahead, Crow
Scout with Custer.
He put his name down with the others. The sol-
diers were encamped where still water flows into
the Yellowstone. The grass was just coming up,
and there was snow on the ground. The Indians
called General Terry, No-Hip-bone. They went on
to where Powder River j oins the Yellowstone. They
turned back and up the Yellowstone a little till the
leaves began to come on the trees and the water was
high. The buffalo began to get scarce and they
knew that someone was hunting them (Dakotas and
Cheyennes). The Crows were on the north side of
the Yellowstone and the soldiers wanted to cross
but it was too high. General Terry had a canoe.
At Medicine Creek an infantry commander who
had smallpox joined General Terry; they called
him Porous Face. Then a steamboat came up the
Yellowstone, opposite the mouth of the Rosebud.
Some of the Crow scouts got on this boat and went
across. Among those with Goes- Ahead were : Young
Yellow Wolf, Long Crow, Spotted White Bird, a
white man (Bonny Brave), interpreter. Bull Jack
Rabbit, Shows-his-Face, Small Face, Dirty-Faced
kotas were in front of them and while preparations for attack were being
made, Crook's couriers arrived and announced it was Crook's force that
confronted Terry. — Report of Secretary of War, I, p, 466.
158 North Dakota Collections
Coyote, Two Whistles, Grandmother's Knife, Heart
Horse, Elk, Push, Throws-his-Ears, Buffalo Calf,
Mountain, Coyote, White-Man-Runs-Him, Half-
Yellow-Face, Curly, Hairy Moccasin, and White
Swan.
The roll was called at the bank at the boat for
these Crow scouts. Six of them were called to go on
board. Hairy Moccasin, White-Man-Runs-Him,
Goes-Ahead, Curly, Half- Yellow-Face, White
Swan. The boat went up a little way and landed
the scouts. Their interpreter was Mitch. Bouyer,
(Ka-pesh), a half-breed Dakota. He told them that
when they went down below the mouth of the Rose-
bud they would see Arikara scouts.^'^ When they
came to this camp there was a big tent with a flag,
and in it they met Custer. He shook hands with
them and said, *'We are glad to have you, we sent
for you and you came right away." Custer had
then hair down to his shoulders. He told them he
was going to fight the Dakotas and Cheyennes and
that he understood that the Crows were good scouts.
'*If we win the fight, everything belonging to the
enemy you can take home, for my boys have no use
for these things." The next day they broke camp
and went up the Rosebud imtil night.'" Next day
they found where the Dakotas had their first camp,
a very big one.'"* They had had a sun dance, they
156 Mitch Bouyer was the guide and Crow interpreter. He was a
half -breed. — Godfrey, Custer's Last Battle, p. 365.
157 This was June 22d. — Ii., p. 364.
"8 On June 23d. 7b., p. 366.
The Arihara Narrative 159
could see the frame of the dance lodge/'" The third
day they camped at what is now Busby School, the
second camp on the Rosebud. Just at dawn they
reached Wolf Mountain, the sun was just coming
up. Custer always warned them to look out for
themselves, for every squad of soldiers had scouts
and they might be mistaken for the enemy. Custer
said to the six Crow scouts : **If nothing happens
to me I will look after you in the future." From
Wolf Mountain the Crow scouts were ahead but
stopped a moment at the lone tepee. At White
Rocks, Mitch Bouyer told them to go with Custer.
As Custer swung off from the trail after Reno left
him to cross the upper ford there was an Arikara
scout and four Crow scouts with him.'^" Custer rode
to the edge of the high bank and looked over to the
place where Reno's men were, as though planning
the next move. When they had arrived at about the
point where Lieutenant Hodgson's headstone was
placed later, the three Crow scouts saw the soldiers
under Reno dismounting in front of the Dakota
camp and thought that the enemy were '* too many."
Close to where Reno and Benteen later in the day
were attacked by the Dakotas, on the ridge of hills
above the river, the three Crow scouts were left be-
hind and Custer's command went down the draw
toward the lower ford on the run. Custer had told
159 It was June 24th that they found the ' ' Sun-dance ' ' lodge. —
Godfrey, Ciister's Last Battle, p. 366.
160 The Crows were with Custer and remained with the command. —
lb., p. 372.
160 North Dakota Collections
the Crow scouts to stay out of the fight and they
went to the left along the ridge overlooking the
river while he took his command to the right (Goes-
Ahead is sure Curly, the Crow scout, was not with
him). At this point both Curly and (Black) Fox,
Arikara scout, disappeared. Black Fox rode a bay
horse and Curly rode a bald-faced pony with front
white stockings and a D brand on the rump. The
three Crow scouts rode along the high ridge, keep-
ing back from the view of the Dakotas till they
came to the end of the ridge and to the bluff just
above the lower ford. There they dismounted and
fired across into the Dakota camp, the circle of
tents they could see over the tree-tops below them.
They heard two volleys fired and saw the soldiers'
horses standing back of the line in groups. Then
in accordance with orders Custer had given them
about staying out of the fight, they rode back along
the ridge and met the Arikara scouts and pack-
mules. They then rode away around the point of
the highest hill, incorrectly called Custer's Last
Look, and along the ridge. After riding all night
they reached the mouth of the Little Big Horn by
daylight. Here Terry met them. He asked about
Custer and they told him Custer had been wiped
out. He asked them four times."^
161 Terry 's scouts were sent out at 4 a.m. June 26th. ' ' They soon
discovered three Indians, who were at first supposed to be Sioux; but,
when overtaken, they proved to be Crows, who had been with General
Custer. They brought the first intelligence of the battle. Their story
was not credited." — Report of Secretary of War, 1876, I, p. 463.
APPENDIX
STORY TOLD BY STRIKES TWO AND
BEAR'S BELLY
Of an Expedition under Custer to the Black
Hills in June, 1875
alfred bear, interpreter
The scouts on the expedition were as follows:
Bloody Knife and Lean Bear, as leaders; Bear's
Ears, Horns-in-Front, Crow Bear, Standing Sol-
dier, Standing, Red Horse, Bear's Arm, Strikes
Two, Bear's Belly, Enemy Heart, Young Hawk,
Red Bear, Little Sioux, Bear's Eyes, Left Hand
(different in his discharge papers). Goose, Angry
Bear (Mandan name, He-ra-ta-ke), Red Angry
Bear, Crooked Horn (Arikara), Elk Face, Angry
Bull (half Dakota and half Arikara), Left Hand
(Dakota), Spotted Horse Eagle (Dakota), Shoots
the Bear (Dakota), Two-Blackfoot, and twenty-
five Santee scouts.
They started from their camp at the bottom of a
hill on the present site of Mandan and joined Cus-
ter at his fort. They went south on the hill, cross-
ing the Cannon Ball at the sacred stone or the stone
with the holy writing on it. After two or three
nights they camped at a place they called the cave
164 North Dakota Collections
or den. The Arikara were told by the Dakota
scouts that they were near the big den or cave so
that they camped and went to look for it. The walls
were covered with painted designs and toward the
interior were carved figures on the walls. On the
ceiling a flash of lightning was figured.^ The dung
of deer covered all the floor to the opening into the
interior. Here the ceiling was out of reach and it
was wholly dark. At the opening of the interior
were offerings of beads in a heap and bracelets.
From here they picked up a flint-lock and took it to
Custer. Beyond the cave were two piles of stones
put up by the Dakotas and still farther on from the
opening was a large flat rock. When they first
found this cave they saw on the flat rock a woman
taking the hair off a deer hide with an old-fashioned
scraper. She ran away and they could not find
her. They thought she hid in the cave, far in. Be-
yond the flat rock was a spring. Here was a large
hollow rock full of water like a trough in a pasture
and the tracks of the deer were all about like cow
tracks at a watering place. The soldiers came af-
ter this to explore the cave. They had three can-
dles and a pick and shovel. The Arikara scouts
went in till the cave floor slanted steeply down and
then they went back. The Mandan scout was with
the soldiers and stayed after the other scouts left.
But he turned back too after he was about half way
1 The Lucky Man was the first to enter the cave, Enemy Heart waa
second and Red Nose, a white man, was third. The figures of all sorts
of animals were carved on the rocks in the cave.
The Arikara Narrative 165
down. The next morning their interpreter for the
Dakotas, Baker (his sons are Lewis and James),
told them that the soldiers found it wet and muddy
and had to turn back after going knee deep without
reaching the end. The next morning they broke
camp and came to a butte shining with selenite, and
large pieces at the bottom. The next place was
Black Butte, heavy cedar timber was all over it.
Here Custer sent two scouts back with mail, Bull
Neck and Skunk Head.
They now entered the timber, it looked like a
prairie that had been burned, it was so black. They
camped at a river, shallow like the Little Missouri.
They called it the Big River and the Dakotas call
it the Beautiful River. There was pine timber on
both sides of the river. Across the river was the
Cut Butte, with two high points, and they camped
here. The scouts were on a hill and the soldiers
were in a valley. Their interpreter told them that
two soldiers were quarreling and one of them asked
Custer for permission to finish the fight. Custer
said, **I don't care," and one of the soldiers got his
gun out. The scouts heard someone call, ' ' Hold on,
hold on," and then a shot, and then another. The
soldier shot his comrade through the arm and then
through the heart. The dead body was carried on
in a wagon. Custer came to the scouts and told
them that the doctor was planning to cut up the
body to see why he was so quarrelsome. The scouts
saw the doctor cut the body open, put salt in the
166 North Dakota Collections
body, put all the parts back and then the body was
buried. The soldiers fired a salute over the grave.
The next morning they set out through the timber
and they tried to keep track of the number of days
they were in the woods. When they came to a butte
they went up and saw only timber, no earth at all.
They found an old Dakota camp where they had
been preparing tepee poles, peeling bark and lean-
ing the poles up on trees near by. The camp was
old but presently they struck a fresh Dakota trail.
Custer told them to go on duty and a few scouts
went ahead to scout. A fresh Dakota camp was re-
ported by the scouts and they all went on to the
place and found coals of fire not yet out, deer bones
freshly gnawed, dried meat still hanging here and
there. All the scouts lined up under Custer's or-
ders and he picked out the best of them to scout
ahead to look for the Dakota camp. Strikes Two
was one of these and two white men, soldiers, not
officers. At a place where there was a junction of
two ravines they saw at their right up the ravine
the Dakota camp. There were five tepees and it
was as far as from Bear's Belly's house to Red
Bear's house. They sent the two white soldiers
back to Custer to notify him. They stood together
at the top of the hill and looked across the ravine.
They could hear scattered shots from the Dakota
hunters. The soldiers came up and Custer sent one
party of scouts to surround the camp and the others
were to charge straight in. Strikes Two was with
The Arikara Narrative 167
the first party and Bear 's Belly was with the second.
The first party surrounded the camp and waited
for the others to charge. Then they heard the
horses charging in and they ran out of the woods.
They saw two boys with a yellow blanket on and
they were afraid and cried and ran up where there
was a creek. They threw away their blanket and
the scouts saw the fish they had. Then a naked
warrior ran out with a gun which he held up against
the charging scouts. Red Angry Bear reached him
first and struck him with his whip and the others
did the same. The women ran out and tried to get
away into the woods but the scouts told them to go
to their tents. They found out the warrior's gun
had no hammer and he was the only man there.
Then he went inside and came out with a pipe
which he held towards the scouts as a peace sign.
Custer then came up with his men and called up
the Dakota scouts and they told Custer that the
camp would follow as they were prisoners. He
left one white man in the camp to see that they
came on and one white man on a hill to watch them.
When three Dakota hunters came back they told
the man in camp they were going to buy a
gun of the soldiers so he went with them to the
other white soldier and they all came onto Custer's
camp. One Dakota came to where the scouts were
and by signs told them that he wanted to get a gun
in exchange for a horse. He said he would go and
get his horse and Custer said, all right, but told the
168 North Dakota Collections
other two to stay behind. The other Dakota scouts
went along with the Dakota captives but one lagged
back and ran away to a creek. Then they saw the
other Dakota wrestling on horseback with his cap-
tor. The Dakota scout drew his revolver and fired
but the two Dakotas got away. The Arikara scouts
fired one shot apiece and the Dakota scouts held one
of the Dakota captives, the old man. They all rode
on to the old camp but all the Dakotas were gone.
They followed hard on the trail till dark and then
gave it up.
They returned and found the old Dakota tied
outside to an iron picket pin. His feet were hob-
bled, he had a string around his waist and his leg
was bandaged but his hands were not tied. Custer
came to the Arikara and made signs that he at first
planned to have them kill this Dakota captive but
that now he was to be guide. The captive tried to
tell them that they were coming to more Dakotas
than their whole number and all would be killed.
At last they came to the Shell River (Shell as breast
plate, Arikara name). Here the Dakota guide
pointed out distant smoke on the prairie and said
it was a train and a town. Custer said he was to
stop and give up and return on the back trail. The
officer the Arikara called the Lucky Man (Char-
ley Reynolds), was given papers by Custer and he
went on alone. He was a good hunter and a dead
shot. He was to go to the town in the direction of
the smoke. The Dakota captive cried in the night
The Arikara Narrative 169
and by signs said that his children would cut their
hair as for his death since he was as good as dead.
At one place Custer signed to the scouts that he
proposed to let the Dakota captive go. He gave the
Dakota a good suit, hat, and other things, and
though the Arikara planned to kill him, Custer got
him off in the night and they never saw him again.
From this they camped at a broken place. Red
Angry Bear foimd some gold in a spring and word
was sent in the Arikara language that they were
all to come and get some of the pretty yellow stuff
to trim their bridles with. They all got some and
their arms were sparkling with the golden dust.
Custer asked them where they got the gold and they
showed him. He sounded a bugle and called the
soldiers and put pickets out to keep all others away.
Then Custer came with some gold in a cloth and
opened it before the Arikara saying, *'You scouts
have found this which is money and you shall have
your share, " as he said this he picked up and threw
down gold by handfuls, ''You shall have it like
this," he said. The soldiers had gotten this gold
from the spring, digging where the Indians had
first found it. He said this land would be marked
and it was marked so they could find it again. Piles
of stones were put up and the soldiers went about
putting up marks or signs. They marched to the
Bear Butte and six scouts were sent with mail to
Fort Lincoln. Three of these were Arikara scouts.
Strikes Two, Angry Bear, and Left Hand. The
170 North Dakota Collections
other three were Dakota scouts, one of them was
called Goose. Strikes Two had a horse with mail-
bags and Custer gave him a flask of whiskey. They
rode off at sunset and rode all night and after a
rest they rode on all day and reached the Beautiful
River. After crossing the river they traveled one-
half the night and all day. They took six days to
get to Fort Lincoln. They were here a day when
the Lucky Man got in. He had delivered his papers
and had come on to Fort Lincoln by rail. After
twelve days Custer's party came in.
F. F. GERARD'S STORY OF THE CUSTER
FIGHT ^
On June 22d, Custer's command left the mouth
of the Rosebud looking for Indians. On June 24th,
we broke camp and marched all day and in evening
went into camp. The men had supper and grazed
their horses and then marched all night till 4 a. m.,
when a halt was called. The horses remained sad-
dled but the soldiers slept on the ground as best they
could. Two Arikara scouts arrived from Lieuten-
ant Varnum, who had been sent out to reconnoitre
and locate Indian camps. They brought word of a
very large camp down in Little Big Horn Valley,
but the Indians had discovered us and were on the
run. Custer ordered me to go with him and the two
Arikara scouts who had come in from Varnum and
two of our scouts, to where Lieutenant Varnum was.
About daybreak we reached Varnmn and could see
the large black mass moving in front and down the
Little Big Horn and a dense cloud of dust over all
and behind. The camp we had found was the
smaller camp (the larger camp was downstream
farther), and was on the way to the larger camp
and this led us all to believe that the Indians were
stampeded. Custer and his party with Varnum
1 From a personal interview.
172 North Dakota Collections
and his scouts started back to rejoin the command
at a sharp gait. Before reaching his troops, about
half way back, Tom Custer met us at the head of
the troops and Custer addressed him saying : ' ' Tom,
who in the devil moved these troops forward ? My
orders and intentions were to remain in camp all
day and make a night attack on the Indians but
they have discovered us and are on the run." Af-
ter joining the troops, Custer with his officers held
a consultation and decided it would be better to fol-
low the Indians so he divided his command into
three battalions, one under his own command, Ben-
teen in command of the second, and Reno of the
third. Benteen he sent to the left of the command
to overlook the ridges as we marched down the val-
ley. He then ordered Reno to take his command
and try to overtake the Indians and bring them to
battle while he himself would support him. Custer
said : ' ' Take the scouts with you. ' ' Reno started on
the double quick down the valley until he came to
the Little Big Horn. Up to that time we were all
still under the impression that the Indians were
running away. Upon reaching the ford of the
Little Big Horn, I discovered that the Indians
were coming back to give us battle and called Re-
no's attention to this change in their movements.
Reno halted for a few seconds and ordered the men
forward. Thinking that Custer should know of
this change of front on the part of the Indians, I
rode back at once to tell Custer the news. At an
The Arikara Narrative 173
abrupt turn I met Cook, Custer's adjutant, ahead
of his command, who said: "Gerard, what's up?"
On hearing the news he ordered me back to Reno's
command and rode to inform Custer of the change
in the front on the part of the Indians. I rejoined
Reno's command just as he was drawing up his men
on the skirmish line. The men were ahnost six
feet apart along the brow of a hill below which was
a belt of timber. As the Indians came charging
back the men used the timber for cover and the In-
dians rode by on the left and around to the higher
ground at the rear and left. Not more than four
rounds had been fired before they saw Custer's
command dashing along the hills one mile to their
rear. Reno then gave the order : "The Indians are
taking us in the rear, mount and charge." This
was then about 1 :30 p.m. I was surprised at this
change of position as we had excellent cover and
could hold off the Indians indefinitely, but the
orders were to mount and charge. Charley Reynolds
was killed as he rode up the slope at the left and
Isaiah a little farther out. Reno led his men in
Indian file back to the ford above which he had
seen Custer's command pass. The Indians picked
off the troops at will; it was a rout not a charge.
All the men were shot in the back, some men fell
before high ground was reached. As soon as the
hiU was gained, Benteen and his command came up
and the demoralization of Reno's men affected his
own men and no attempt was made to go to Custer's
174 North Dakota Collections
aid. They remained where they were though it was
about 2 P.M. and no Indians attacked them for
more than an hour.
After Reno's command left, I found in the tim-
ber Lieutenant de Rudio, Sergeant O'Neill and
Wm. Jackson, a half-breed Blackfoot scout, who
were also cut off from the command. All the after-
noon we could hear the troop volleys, but the scat-
tering fire of the Indians gradually predominated
till we were sure that the Indians had won. The
fight where Reno's men were began shortly after
4 and kept up till dark. We remained where we
were till dark and then struck out west thinking
Reno's command had returned. We missed the
morning ford and tried the ford Reno used to re-
treat by but the dead bodies made the horses snort
and the water looked too deep so they returned and
found a new ford. As we mounted the bank we
saw a match lit and called out: '* There are the
troops. Hello!" and then the match was put out.
As we neared the old crossing we saw the In-
dian lances against the sky and the Indians hearing
us turn off suddenly, called out, ''Are you afraid,
we are not white troops." De Rudio and O'Neill
lay down and hid in the brush at this point while
Jackson and I rode down and across the stream
straight against a cut bank. Both horses threw
their riders, our guns were lost, bnt finally
a ford was found and just at dawn we rode out
on the prairie. At the left we could hear more
The Arikara Narrative 175
Indians coming across the Little Big Horn, coming
down to attack Reno. Then we galloped hard to
the bunch of willows at the right and reached it
before the Indians came out of the water. Here
we remained till dark. About 11 a. m. we saw
them attack Reno 's camp. About one hour before
sunset a great talking and confusion arose, the In-
dians evidently saw Terry coming and began to fall
back. Some left for their village to gather their
families while others rode away up the Little Big
Horn. The retreating warriors passed by hundreds
close to where we lay hid in the willows.
BIOGRAPHIES
Soldier
BIOGRAPHIES
Soldier
Soldier was born in 1831. His people lived in
the Arikara village next to the timber on the Mis-
souri River. The chief of the village was then Dog
Chief. The other village was called the village of
the Easterners. His village was across the coulee
from this one. Both villages were on the west side
of the Missouri River (Grand River villages).
Soldier was born in a winter camp, late in the fall,
on the day when the Arikara and the Yanktonnais
fought. Some of their houses were still incomplete,
not yet being covered over with earth. The follow-
ing spring One Feather was born on the journey of
the tribe to the Pawnee country. Both villages
were on their way down to the Pawnees in 1832.
They remained with this tribe three winters. The
land of the Pawnees was called the country of the
Broad River. Soldier was then four years old and
he remembers that on their return one camp was
made late in the fall because there was snow on the
ground.
On this journey he saw a party of white men.
They had long yellow hair, wore mustaches, carried
guns and bows and arrows, were dressed like In-
180 North Dakota Collections
dians, and rode horses. They had fine blankets and
different kinds of corn and the Arikara traded
robes for the corn. Some of the robes that the Ari-
kara had for trade were decorated with the sign of
the cross. He remembers that the white men gave
very much more corn for these robes for they said
the cross was a holy sign that should be used only at
death. The Indians and whites held a council and
the whites said many more of their kind were com-
ing to the Indian country and they would not let
Arikara have their medicine but they would use it
only to kill their enemies. The traders told the
Arikara that they were their friends and would not
sell their medicine to the many whites who were
coming in, for the settlers would distribute it and
kill many Indians. These traders came from the
south. Soldier remembers the camp caller going
about among the tents repeating the words of the
traders regarding their medicine. This took place
in the Black Hills country, and he remembers
seeing here a large upright stone. The Arikara
pushed on toward the Missouri River and they met
before leaving it, the war party that had left them
and they had three prisoners, people who lived in
grass houses beyond the Crow Indians and the
Black Hills country. These prisoners were two
women and one boy. One of the women was named
by them the Grass House Woman. The boy was
called Yellow Bird, and the other woman, daughter
of the first, later married a white man, a laborer.
The Arikara Narrative 181
This white man had come up the Missouri River in
a row boat and he took his wife back down the river
with him.
Late in the fall the Arikara arrived at Painted
Butte across the Yellowstone. Here they wintered
and in the spring they returned to the Missouri and
spent the summer hunting with the Hidatsa at the
Five Villages. There were two Hidatsa villages on
opposite sides of the Knife River, or as they called
it, Branching Creek. In the fall of 1837 they left
the Hidatsa and made a winter camp on the west
side of the Missouri River near Washburn, Here
they were attacked by the smallpox and many of
them died. Soldier was living at this time with his
parents at the Antelope, or Upper Village of the
Mandans. The smallpox spread from the Arikara
camp to this village of the Mandans and here both
of his parents and his sister died of the disease.
After this Soldier was taken to the lower or larger
(Fort Clark) Mandan village by his grandmother,
his mother's mother. Skunk Woman. Here he had
the smallpox when he was just six years old. To
escape the smallpox many of the Arikara and Man-
dans went up the river and a number of them died
on the way and the bodies were left behind them on
the trail.
At the Fort Clark Village Soldier lived twenty-
four years. Near this village on a little creek there
was a trading post. The Indians called the trader
Big Knife, and Soldier remembers him as short.
182 North Dakota Collections
slender, and good looking. The same year the tra-
der married an Arikara wife, Lucky Woman, daugh-
ter of Star and sister of Son-of-Star. At this same
place there was a white doctor and he vaccinated
some of the Indians, among them Sitting Bear and
all of his sisters (children of Son-of-Star), and
Chief Woman, Young Hawk's wife. Gerard was
interpreter for the doctor. That same year, 1837, a
steamboat was reported going up the river and it
landed near the village. There were other white
men here also.
Soldier married an Arikara woman when he was
twenty years old, and their two children died long
after at Port Berthold of the smallpox. The trader,
Big Knife, died at Fort Clark and was buried there.
The next trader was Dawson, but the Indians called
him Big Knife also. His son. Bear's Arm, and his
daughter, Anne Snow, are both still living.
After Dawson, Gerard was the next trader at
Fort Clark. A short distance up the river there
was at this time an Hidatsa village. In 1838, the
trading post was abandoned and the traders moved
up to Fort Berthold. Soldier remembers that the
cause of the abandonment of the Fort Clark trad-
ing post was a quarrel between the Dakotas and
Gerard's clerk, and that the Arikara sided with
the traders. Soldier saw the traders get on their
loaded boats and go up the river to Fort Berthold,
and the same year the Arikara were invited by the
Hidatsa to come up the river. For some time after
The Arikara Narrative 183
this the Arikara had to go up to the post to get
supplies and it was very inconvenient. Some time
later the Arikara moved up the Missouri River and
camped near Expansion. The next day they moved
over to Fort Berthold. This was before the build-
ing of the two Arikara villages opposite Fort Bert-
hold. White Shield led this band of Arikara and
Soldier lived here in a roundhouse until the village
broke up.
He remembers seeing a miner's boat with some
men, one woman, and two children come down the
river. One of the men had a long beard and they
aU landed and made a fire on the bank and then
went up to Gerard's store where they stayed for
the night. This was the same year that the soldiers
fought the Dakotas at Bismarck (Sibley's Expedi-
tion, 1863). Gerard told the Arikara that he tried
to make the men in the boat stay six or seven days
till the Dakotas got across and away from the Mis-
souri River, but the leader of the whites, the man
with the beard, said they would go right on. After-
wards the Arikara reported that they had heard
shots down the river and they told Gerard. He
sent Soldier and Howling Bear to go down the
river and find the boat. He told them that the gold
was in skin sacks in each end of the boat. "If you
find the boat, ' ' he said, ' ' look in the end, there is a
little door, and there is the gold. If the Dakotas
find the gold they will throw it away for they do not
know what it is. ' ' Some of the other Arikara heard
184 North Dakota Collections
that Soldier was going and Red Bear (not the pres-
ent one), Bull Head, and Bull Neck came in and
said that they were going too. One other Indian
went also. They went down the west side of the
river for they were afraid of the Dakotas. Gerard
gave them a nugget of gold so they would know
what to look for. He promised the two Arikara
that if they found the gold, Howling Bear could
have the best horse he had and Soldier could go to
his store twice and pick out what he wanted.
When they crossed the Knife River they killed
one of a herd of buffalo for food. Here they stayed
all night. The next morning they started on foot
and camped near the mouth of Heart River. Then
they went toward the Missouri and saw many horse
tracks. On the other side of the river they saw a
small log raft which the Dakotas had probably
used in crossing. They put their clothing and guns
on a raft and crossed by pushing and pulling it. On
the other side they found many of the rafts used by
the Dakotas. They left their clothes on the raft
and took their guns. Soldier and the other Indian
stayed behind. Presently they heard the others
call that they saw dead bodies on a sand-bar. The
bodies were naked and looked white as paper. They
lay about one and one-half miles upstream from
where the Northern Pacific bridge now stands. The
current ran on the west side and the bodies lay on
the lower end of the long sand-bar with the slack
water between them and the east bank. As Soldier
The Arikara Narrative 185
came down the bank lie saw holes in the river sand
on the side where the Dakotas had thrown up breast-
works. One was large enough for four or five per-
sons, the others would hold only one. Out on the
sand-bar upstream from the dead bodies, he saw
in the largest rifle pit an empty coffee-pot and some-
thing that showed yellow when the wind blew the
sand up. He called Howling Bear, who had one of
the gold nuggets Gerard had given them, and with
this they concluded that they had found the gold,
but Howling Bear said nothing, he simply gathered
up the gold into a coffee-pot. Where they found the
gold, the Dakotas had cut open the sacks and poured
the gold out in a heap on the sand. Afterwards
Howling Bear cleaned the gold by holding it in a
shallow pan in the swift current of the river. After
Howling Bear left the place, the other Indians
came and dug and got a little in their own hands,
but Howling Bear persuaded them to put it all in
his sack. The Indians took turns in carrying the
gold back to Fort Berthold. They put it all into
one sack about twelve inches long and Soldier re-
members that it weighed about as much as a sack of
flour. All this gold they gave to Gerard as he was
the only trader at the fort.
After gathering up the gold they all went over
and looked at the bodies of the white men. They
were slashed with knives but not scalped. There
were nine or ten of them all thrown together and
Soldier judged that they had been dead about five
186 North Dakota Collections
days. They saw just the top of a tepee in the tim-
ber on the east bank of the river and heard after-
wards that it contained the body of a Dakota killed
in the fight with the white men.
Soldier was a member of various secret societies
of his tribe, passing from one to the other as he
grew older. Among them were the Crow Society,
Foolish Dog Society, Black Mouth Society, and last
of all the Buffalo Society, of which he is still a
member. In 1904 he was made chief by the Arikara
and he was presented with a chief's war shirt by
Dog's Backbone, who had resigned. The latter had
received his chief 's war shirt from the former chief ,
Soup. Bear's Teeth, Strikes Two, Standing Sol-
dier, and Sitting Bear are the other Arikara chiefs
who are entitled to wear these shirts.
While he was on a hunting trip about 1854, many
Dakotas chased the party into the woods near Dick-
inson, on a creek running north. Many of the Ari-
kara were killed and Soldier was shot clear through
the upper chest on the right side. Many other Ari-
kara were wounded and the ten who were killed
were buried in the ground. With the party were
also Mandans and Hidatsa and one trader, grand-
father of Peter Beauchamp. The trader on this
hunting trip had a wagon which was abandoned on
the chase and the wheels were chopped to pieces by
the Dakotas. Soldier was so badly wounded that
he made part of the return trip on a travois.
Soldier's family: Grandfather, He-Holds-the-
Strikes Two
The Arikara Narrative 187
Enemy-Back ; father, Bear's Arm, born about 1767,
died at Fort Clark, 1837 ; mother, Assiniboine Wo-
man, born about 1787, died, 1837; uncles, Many
Bears and Angry Horse ; brother. Good Day.
Steikes Two
Strikes Two was born in 1844 at Fort Clark Vil-
lage. His father was Arikara Chief and his mother
was Young- Woman- Village. His father's father
was Holding Medicine, and his mother's father was
Old Elk. His father's mother was People-They-
Know-Her, and his mother's mother was Old- Wo-
man-Mist. His mother died of cholera (1851 ?) and
his father died at Fort Berthold in 1901.
They left Fort Clark in the fall of 1861 and win-
tered in two parties, one four miles from Bear's
Belly and one just below William Fighting Bear's
place in the bottom and farther up the stream. The
lower camp was without a head, for all the chiefs
were in the upper camp, where there were also some
Mandans and some Hidatsa. Before the ice broke
in the spring, all the Arikara moved down the river
and built two villages across from Fort Berthold.
In the fall of the same year they crossed the river
and joined the Fort Berthold Village, after they
had been attacked by the Dakotas, who camped
near their villages, to trade for corn. That winter
they all camped at L'eau Qui Monte with a few
Assiniboines. This was the year the Dakotas at-
tacked Fort Berthold and were beaten off by Ge-
188 North Dakota Collections
rard and his white men, Pierre Garreau, Dawson's
son, Hair-on-Upper-Lip, one mulatto, and the fol-
lowing Arikara, Hidatsa, and Mandans, who re-
mained there without their families :
Arikara: Black Road, One-Horn- Wandering,
Paint, White-Face-Bear, Young Fox, Bull Neck,
Strikes Enemy, Rough Horn, Spotted Horse, Wea-
sel Tail, He Hawk, Bull Head, Stabbed.
Hidatsa : Snake Cane, Hay Wolf, Hard Horn,
Pan, Many Bears (he took the news to L'eau Qui
Monte), Pointed Knife.
Mandans : White Bear, Leggings, Bald-Headed
Eagle, Bad Gun.
One day Many Bears and Strikes Enemy were
trying to sneak up on a herd of antelope near the
present graveyard at Fort Berthold. Strikes
Enemy saw the Dakotas coming, and ran back with-
out telling Many Bears, who escaped the Dakotas
and gave the alarm to the camp at L'eau Qui
Monte. The whole camp then moved back to Fort
Berthold and remained the rest of the winter.
In 1872, Howling Bear, an Arikara and chief of
the scouts at Fort Lincoln, rode to Fort Berthold
for recruits. He went to the lodge of Son-of-Star
and told him what he wanted. The chief called a
feast and Howling Bear made a speech for volun-
teers. Sitting Bull and Picketed offered themselves
as leaders and Howling Bear left these two Arikara
to recruit at Fort Berthold and went back to Fort
Lincoln. The third leader was Lean Bear, and the
The Arikara Narrative 189
other scouts were Strikes Two, Enemy Heart, Bull
Neck, Four Rings, Elk Face, White Eagle, Skunk,
Paint, Afraid-of-No-One, Pretty Crow, Elk
Tongue, Wolf Looking, Buffalo, Bull- Walking-
Through- Village, Bravest Man, Skunk Head.
This was in the fall, either in September or Octo-
ber. They went in bull-boats down to Fort Lincoln
on the hill. They took in their boats corn balls, ears
of corn, guns, and blankets. They hunted on the
way down and the trip took three days. When they
arrived they found that the Dakotas had attacked
the fort four days before and had killed five Ari-
kara. They were shown where their comrades had
been killed for they had all lain close together and
the blood was dried and cracked in the sun. Red
Bear and Paint had gone out on duty in the mor-
ning and the Dakotas had attacked them suddenly.
Red Bear was overtaken and kiUed but Paint got
back to the fort. Boy Chief then rushed out to
avenge his father's death and was killed close to
his body. The other Arikara killed were Crow Tail,
Spotted Eagle, and Ree-Standing-among-the-Hi-
datsa.
When the scouts from Fort Berthold reported
for duty their commander told them they were to
be examined the next day. Early the next morning
they went out on foot to look for the Dakotas. Red
Wolf overtook Strikes Two and gave him his horse.
Strikes Two rode out with a few others who had
borrowed horses from the older scouts. The Da-
190 North Dakota Collections
kotas met them and killed Strikes Two's horse and
one of them dashed up and struck the horse. Then
Strikes Two got behind some rocks and shot at the
Dakotas. He was wounded in the right leg just
above the knee by a bullet from a shell loaded by a
Dakota. Standing Soldier (Young War Eagle)
put him on his own horse and took him back to
camp. Elk Tongue and Wolf Looking, two Arikara
scouts, who were fighting on foot, were killed. When
the white soldiers saw the Arikara fall back, they
went out and drove off the Dakotas.
Strikes Two 's wound was first cared for in camp
by three Arikara women. Fighting (War) Woman,
White Woman, wife of a soldier, and the wife of
Bear's Arm. War Woman took part in the fight at
the fort after Red Bear was killed. She lived by
herself and she was the mother of Bull, companion
of Red Star during the Custer campaign of 1876.
She lived at the camp and did work among the sol-
diers. Her son, too young at first to scout, lived
with her. Bear's Arm was her nephew. War Wo-
man and White Basket Woman helped Strikes Two
to cut the bullet out of his leg. The doctor advised
that the leg be cut off but the other Arikara did not
like this and they sent him home on horseback. All
the new recruits went back with him. He had to
camp often on account of his wound and all winter
he limped about on canes.
Strikes Two was married in 1876 after his re-
turn from service, and his wife is still living with
Little Sioix
The Arikara Narrative 191
him after thirty-six years. He did not reenlist as
a scout. Chief Scab-on-Eye was one of the agents
at Fort Berthold and the scouts afterwards saw
him on the Powder River as an officer of the in-
fantry.
Little Sioux
Little Sioux (One Wolf, earlier name), was born
at Fort Clark, in 1857. His father was Small
Brave, a Dakota, and his mother. Young Holy
Woman, an Arikara. His grandfather, his mo-
ther's father, was Black Crow, and his grand-
mother was an Arikara. He remembers the white
trader at Fort Clark, Going-on-side ; he was a half-
breed Pawnee. He was trading in opposition to F.
F. Gerard and his trading post was a short dis-
tance north of the Fort Clark Village. Little Sioux
was four years old when the Arikara came up to
Fort Berthold from Fort Clark in the fall of 1861,
and the tribe wintered down the river from Heart
Camp, four miles above the present home of Bear's
Belly.
He was young when his father died, but old
enough to work at the time of his mother's death.
They both died at Fort Berthold, where they lived
in a round house. His brother was Red Wolf (Red
Brush) and his two sisters were Young- Calf -Wo-
man and Young-Bird-Woman. He was married in
1874 at the age of eighteen to his first wife, Young-
Big-Horn-Woman.
In 1875, both he and his brother enlisted at Fort
192 North Dakota Collections
Lincoln on the hill. After the Custer fight, his time
expired and he went up the river on a steamboat as
hunter with the Northern Pacific survey. There
were at this time but a few soldiers at Fort Lincoln.
The surveyors began work at the Yellowstone and
they met the graders at Taylor, east of Dickinson.
Little Sioux was gone all summer and was back by
winter. He received for the season's work $160, be-
sides board and lodging. There was one other Ari-
kara hunter with him, Charging-up-the-Hill. The
total number of animals he killed was one hundred
five, mostly black-tailed deer. Among them was one
buffalo, a few antelope, and five or six mountain
sheep. Charging-up-the-Hill killed one hundred
six. They brought the game in on pack-mules.
When these two hunters returned in the fall they
went out again with a party of twelve white men
who were getting deer to ship east. With the party
were two hunters on horseback, and the rest carried
the camp outfit in three sleds drawn by horses.
They went up the Heart River from Mandan and
were gone three weeks. All of the game was shipped
from Mandan. Little Sioux killed six deer and
Charging-up-the-Hill killed nine. They received
$25 a month for their work.
The next summer Little Sioux was mail carrier
on the route from Fort Berthold to Fort Yates. On
the trip he crossed the river by ferry at Fort Lin-
coln and stopped at Fort Rice. It took two days to
make the entire trip, which included the regular
r^
4/^
Young Hawk
The Ankara Narrative 193
stop at Fort Lincoln. He carried mail from 1878
to 1882, received $25 per month, and rode his own
pony. He received besides this, feed for his horse
and drew regular rations from the government. He
used to stop at Joseph Taylor's woodyard, for Tay-
lor could talk Pawnee. Near Pretty Buttes lived
Long Feet and his wife, and Little Sioux stopped
there sometimes. A wood-chopper named George
lived above Joseph Taylor's place, the Arikara
called him Humped-Back.
In 1882 Stabbed was hunting in the Little Mis-
souri Bad Lands with a party. He went out after
dark to look after the horses and a Dakota shot him
and ran off all the horses. At this time Little Sioux
was at Fort Lincoln and saw the white soldiers
leave it. When he heard of his uncle's (Stabbed)
death he went at once to Fort Berthold. The murder
was reported to the agent at Fort Berthold, an old
man they called Soft Neck, and the Dakotas and
the horses were finally located on the Rosebud in
South Dakota. The next sunmier an equal number
of horses were returned for at this time the govern-
ment did not allow the Indians to make war on each
other or to steal horses. The traders at Fort Bert-
hold were called White-Man- Who-Talks-Sioux and
Big Nose.
Young Hawk
Young Hawk was born in the spring of 1859 at
the winter village of the Arikara just below Mann-
haven. His father. Forked Horn, was a Custer
194 North Dakota Collections
scout and died in 1894. He was born about 1815.
His mother, Red-Corn-Silk-Woman, was born in
1835 and died in 1911. Her father was Wolf-Skin-
Arrow-Sheath and her mother was named Eagle.
Yoimg Hawk's early name was Striped Horn, then
Crazy Head; Young Hawk was his uncle's name.
This uncle was a very brave man and when Young
Hawk first enlisted at Fort Lincoln, his father had
his name changed to Young Hawk. At the time
Red Bear's father was killed. Young Hawk was
present and fought. He was then only thirteen years
old and he was not an enlisted scout, but his father
was so proud of him that he named him Young
Hawk. He was on the Black Hills Expedition with
Custer.
On this trip Charley Reynolds and Bloody Knife
were scouting the trail and the wagons got stuck
at a high cut-bank where there were many trees.
Custer asked whose fault it was and Reynolds said,
*' Bloody Knife's." Then Custer drew a revolver
and shot at them several times, and they saved
themselves by dodging behind trees. When Custer
put up his pistol. Bloody Knife came to where he
sat on his horse and said, **It is not a good thing
you have done to me; if I had been possessed of
madness, too, you would not see another day."
Custer replied, ''My brother, it was the madness of
a moment that made me do this, but it is gone now.
Let us shake hands and be friends again." So
Bloody Knife agreed and they shook hands.
i
■4
I
Red Star
The Ankara Narrative 195
On another occasion, during Custer's march from
Fort Lincoln to the Yellowstone in 1876, Custer
had ridden ahead with a scout in search of a trail.
When the rest of the command reached a place
where the roads forked, no one knew which way
Custer had gone. Some one asked Custer's negro
servant, Isa, which road to take and he chose the
fork of the road in the other direction from the one
taken by Custer because it was a very good road.
When Custer and his scout returned he found that
the whole command had not halted but had taken
the other road. Red Star was at some distance
scouting among the hills, but as he rode into camp
he saw Isa on his knees before Custer, who was
cursing him furiously, while the darky was crying
and begging for mercy. The next day as a punish-
ment Isa had to go on foot all day.
Red Star
Red Star (Strikes the Bear) was born in 1858
at Fort Clark. His father, also Red Star, was born
at Fort Clark in 1828 and died at the same place in
1860 or early in 1861. His mother, Woman-Goes-
Into-Every-House, was born at Fort Clark in 1831
and was killed with her five-year-old daughter by
the Dakotas at the Arikara village opposite Fort
Berthold. When the Arikara village at Grand
River was fired upon by soldiers using cannon in
1828, some of the Arikara went down to the Paw-
nees and some went up to the Mandan village at
196 North Dakota Collections
Fort Clark. The family of Eed Star's mother
went north; her father's name was Man-That-
Drives-Horses-Away. Red Star's foster grand-
father was Big Star, who was born at the Cannon
Ball village, the one the soldiers fired upon. His
grandfather. White Geese, was son of Star, and the
father of Big Star was Looking-for-Kettle. His
older brother. Red Willow, about ten years older
than Red Star, died when fifteen years old at Fort
Berthold. His sister. Owl Woman, was eight years
younger than Red Star. She died at Fort Berthold
at the age of twelve. The three children went to
their grandmother, Spotted-Corn-Stalk, and his
father's sister, Omaha Woman, whose husband was
Sweat or Little Bear.
Red Star began to look after his uncle's horses
when he was about nine years of age. At night the
horses were kept in the front part of the lodge,
twenty-five or thirty of them, tied to the rail at the
right or left of the door, and one-fourth the way
around the circle of the house. The women cut
grass or bark of young cottonwood limbs and twigs
in May, June, and July to feed the horses in the
lodge. Red Star slept on a scaffold of four poles
built two feet from the ground. The bottom of the
bed was made of round willow poles laid crosswise,
interlaced lengthwise by three willows and the
whole was firmly bound together with rawhide. He
had a bear-skin robe under him and a buffalo robe
for cover.
The Arikara Narrative 197
Red Star's government record began when lie
was eighteen years old. When Boy Chief and
Goose brought up the letter from Fort Lincoln ask-
ing for more scouts, Red Star went along with a
group to serve. In this group were Young Hawk,
Running Wolf, Strikes-the-Lodge, Charging Bull,
Little Brave, Stabbed, Howling Wolf, One Horn,
One Feather, Bull-in-the- Water, Tall Bear, and
Strikes Two.
At Fort Lincoln they found Bloody Knife, Sol-
dier, Bob-tailed Bull, No Heart, Bear, Red Wolf,
Buffalo, Curly Head, and Owl. Red Star got his
outfit and took the oath like the rest. They camped
near the soldiers. At Bismarck they saw a few lit-
tle houses and some stores but he saw no soldiers,
only the buildings where the soldiers had been.
They crossed the river on a steamboat. He had
never been on a boat before. Here orders were
given them for a day and a night by an officer. Ger-
ard was their interpreter. This officer in charge
of the Arikara scouts was Peaked Face (Lieuten-
ant Varnum), and his orderlies were Bloody Knife
and Bob-tailed Bull. They received their orders
standing in line. Bloody Knife stood by Varnum
at this time and Bob-tailed Bull stood in line with
the rest of the scouts. Their first order was that a
man who did not get up was to go without his break-
fast. The scout who did not help the cook by get-
ting water and wood when called upon was to go
without meals. The scout who got drunk was pun-
198 North Dakota Collections
ished by losing his horse and by being compelled to
go on foot. Forked Horn and Black Fox volun-
teered to cook and the Indians chose them for that
work. The cooks were not to go on scout. If the
cook did not get up at call then someone else was
to take his place. The guards called the cooks in
the morning. As sentinels three of the scouts were
detailed to go to the highest points as long as they
were in camp but at night one of these sentinels
was to come down and guard the horses and the
other two remained at their post. Scouts on night
duty did not come in until noon of the next day.
All the scouts were inspected by an officer early
each morning and anyone found asleep was com-
pelled to go on foot during that day's march. Ge-
rard told the scouts that they did not need to drill.
Roll was called at night just before bed- time. On
the march, the roll call was always taken on horse-
back, and the Arikara were not satisfied until they
learned the reason why.
Red Star was on police duty for three years, from
1898 to 1901. His name was changed from Strikes-
the-Bear to Red Star at the advice of Big Star, af-
ter the Custer campaign. Paint was the name of
the man who performed the ceremony of giving
him his new name. Red Bear got his father's name
at the same time. Part of the ceremony was the
offering of sacrifices and gifts to Mother Corn and
these were afterwards given to the singers in the
sacred lodge.
The Ankara Narrative 199
One fall Red Star and Bear's Belly went out
hunting bear. They tracked one bear to the river
and across the sand up to a cut bank cave. They
went to the entrance and looked in but could see
nothing. Then Red Star took a stick and poked
about and at last felt the bear but could not stir
him. Bear's Belly went up the bank to the other
entrance and seeing the bear's head shot at him.
He sank out of sight and the two men crawled into
the den about eight feet and began poking about to
find whether the bear was dead or alive. At last
they found him dead, and Bear's Belly and Red
Star had hard work dragging the bear out of the
cave for he was large and very heavy. Bear's Belly
took the head and skin to use in a ceremonial dance.
In order to use this skin he was compelled to drag
it home by means of thongs fastened to his own
flesh. Red Star cut two gashes in Bear's Belly's
back and fastened the rawhide thongs as is done in
the sun dance. Red Star went on ahead after do-
ing this for his companion and left him to drag the
hide painfully the whole way home. When Red
Star reached camp with the load of bear's fat he
told the old men that Bear's Belly was dragging
the hide and head into camp, and several of them
went out to help him whenever his load caught on
the edges of the cut banks over which he had to
drag it. They did not come into the camp till the
next day.
One day a bear 's cub was brought into the Arik-
200 North Dakota Collections
ara village by a hunter. It tried to get milk from a
woman but she did not know what it wanted and
drove it away. Then at last a woman came into
camp with a nursing boy and the cub went to her
and pulled her dress with its claws, and she
guessed what it wanted. She nursed him with the
boy. The boy is now Yellow Bird. The bear grew
up and was sold down the river on a boat.
A man rode first in a buffalo hunt and was first
to fire at a buffalo while the other Indians waited
for him. The buffalo turned quickly and charged
and threw the man off his horse by catching him
with his horns. The buffalo then turned and catch-
ing the man again tossed him into the air. The
horse was standing close by waiting for the man to
mount. The buffalo tried to gore the man but the
horse sprang at him and caught him with his teeth
near the ear and the two animals then fought, the
horse biting and striking with his fore feet. At
last the buffalo got clear and killed the horse with
his horns. The man was saved and they kept the
head of the horse in the village because it was un-
usual for a horse to attack a buffalo to save his
master.
Eed Bear
Red Bear was born at Fort Clark in September,
1853. His father, Red Bear (Red Man) , was killed
in 1872 at the Fort Lincoln fight described by
Strikes Two. He was born in 1793 among the
Pawnee. His mother, White Corn, was born in
Red Bear
The Arikara Narrative 201
1837 at Rock Village, a mile above the present town
of Expansion on the Missouri River. His grand-
father, Red Man's father, was Bear Above. His
grandfather. White Corn's father, was a white
man, a trader at Rock Village. His grandmother,
Red Man's mother, was Yellow and she died at
Rock Village. His grandmother, White Corn's
mother, was Pretty-Stalk-of-Corn, who died at
Fort Berthold when it was still a village, about the
breaking up time.
Red Bear's early name was Handsome Elk,
given him by Chief Owl, at his father's request so
that he might live a long time and become famous.
His father gave Chief Owl two large buffalo robes
and a pile of dried meat. Then according to tribal
ceremony the old man took the boy up on his own
lodge in view of all the village when he was about
six years old, and had the boy hold upright his
scalp stick upon which hung an enemy's scalp.
Then Chief Owl prayed to all the gods and last of
all to the Great Spirit, that the boy might grow to
be a good and brave man. He called to the boy to
grow up brave and get a scalp and fight for him,
his godfather. Then he pressed the boy's two feet
together and down on the ground by taking hold
of his ankles. Next he pressed his shoulders down,
then his head with one hand, and finally he passed
his hand upward from the boy's feet to his head,
meaning for him to grow up a good man. Then he
called upon all the people to witness that the boy
202 North Dakota Collections
was to be called. Handsome Elk. The sun was near
the horizon when the ceremony was completed, and
the old man stood facing it. It was still and his
voice carried far to all the listening village. This
was a special ceremony performed only for the chil-
dren of leading men.
Immediately after his father's death, Red Bear
passed through the sun-dance torture in order to be
his father's representative. He enlisted at Fort
Stevenson in 1872 but returned home on account of
sore eyes. His second enlistment was at Fort Lin-
coln, already described in the narrative. At Fort
Stevenson there enlisted with him Yellow Horse,
Red Chief, Little Soldier, and Little Brave. At
the time of these enlistments the barracks at Fort
Stevenson were just completed. He enlisted at his
father's request, and his half-brother. Boy Chief,
had already been taken to Fort Lincoln by his
father.
He married Shell Woman in 1876. They were
separated after two years. In 1883 he married
Pretty Goods. They were separated also and he
married one of Sitting Bear's wives, as at that time
only one wife was permitted by government regula-
tion. Sioux Woman was this wife's name and she
died in 1890. Later, in 1896, he married Julia Bull
Neck. Red Bear was made judge of the Arikara
by Agent Jermark in 1915. He visited Washing-
ton in 1910 with Enemy Heart. Alfred Bear was
their interpreter. He got his pension in 1911,
through the efforts of Congressman Hanna.
Boy Chief
One Feather
The Arikara Narrative 203
One Feather
One Feather was born in the land of the Pawnee,
on the southern trip described by Soldier, in 1832,
and remained in that country until he was five
years old. He recalls that on the journey to Fort
Clark by way of the Rosebud and Yellowstone riv-
ers a bear came through their camp. A baby in her
cradle lay in his path and he bit her. The child
survived but she was known when she grew up as
Broken or Crippled Child. She was killed by the
Dakotas at the crossing of the Knife River near
the present village of Hidatsa.
One Feather *s father was Blue Bird, his mother,
Young- White-Girl, and his grandmother, Young-
Woman- Ahead. His father and mother both died
of cholera at Fort Clark in the summer of 1851.
The Hidatsa and the Mandans sent eight horses
and a peace pipe to ask the Arikara to come up to
Fort Berthold, and they did so under the command
of White Shield, Charging Bear, and White Horse.
At the head of the Hidatsa delegation was Poor
Wolf, and the Mandans were led by Crow's Heart
(not the present one) . They wintered at the Heart
Camp and in the spring they crossed over the Mis-
souri and built two villages.
One Feather became a warrior at Fort Clark and
went on his first war expedition under the com-
mand of Soldier. About this time he suffered an
attack of smallpox. He enlisted at Fort Steven-
son in the second contingent of scouts. He was at
204 North Dakota Collections
the Custer fight and crossed the Little Big Horn at
the lower ford and made his way through the tim-
ber and reached Reno 's camp by climbing the steep
intervening ridge.
One Feather was married first in Fort Clark vil-
lage, giving for his wife a mule and a dressed elk
skin. She died of measles on the journey from
Fort Clark. Later he married, at Fort Berthold,
his second wife, a woman of mixed blood (Arikara
and Dakota).
Running Wolf
Running Wolf was born at Fort Clark Village
in the winter of 1856. His father was Gun-Point-
ing-to-Breast, and his mother was Chief-Woman-
Village. His mother's father was The-Only- Crow-
Head. Both his parents had smallpox at Fort
Clark in 1837. He just remembers the Dakota at-
tack upon the two Arikara villages opposite Fort
Berthold. He also remembers a fight between the
Dakotas and Arikara in the timber near the Fort
Berthold village.
His first enlistment was in 1876, for a period of
six months. This was all of his service in the
United States Army. His first fight with the Da-
kotas was at the present site of Kasmer, Mercer
county. He was then eighteen years old. The
grass was just coming up in the springtime when
three hundred Dakotas came to the bank and offered
to fight, and the whole village, even some of the
women, went across. It had been a long tune since
Running Woi.f
m
W O
W p
The Arikara Narrative 205
the Dakotas had come. Five Arikara, Bear-Turn-
ing, Bear-Going-in- Woods (wounded in U. S. ser-
vice as scout). Little Crow, Standing Bear, and
Black Shirt were killed. Foolish (Alfred Chase's
father), a Mandan, was killed also, but no Dakotas
were killed.
Running Wolf was married at sixteen to Young-
Red- Calf -Woman. The first winter after they scat-
tered from Fort Berthold, his mother died. Mur-
phy was agent there at the time. His father had
died much earlier at Fort Berthold. He was a
member of the War Dance Society, now existing,
before he was sixteen; at that time its head was
Chief-White-Man.
Goes Ahead, Crow Scout
Goes Ahead was born in 1852 on the Platte River,
where the timber was very big. The Crows had
smallpox and he was born in a party fleeing from
this country on account of smallpox. His father's
name was Many-Sisters. His mother was called
Her-Door. His grandfather was White-Ear-Bear.
At twelve he stole two horses during a raid to the
Dakota country, near Forsyth. He was the first
one to get back home. He fasted first at the age of
twenty-two and celebrated his first sun-dance at
the age of twenty-three, and carries the scars on his
shoulders. His medicine was a coyote hide given
him by his father-in-law. He once fought the Utes
in the western country. He was never in Canada,
206 North Dakota Collections
but knew the country well south of the Black Hills.
He recalls that about 1873 a party of white men
went through his country fighting with the Dako-
tas. They had pack-horses, picks, and shovels.
They were fine shots and killed many of the Da-
kotas and took scalps. They wore war-bonnets and
they gave some to the Crows, who were friendly.
Among the men were four called Yellow Mule,
Crooked Nose, Big Nose, Liver Eater. The two
first named talked the Crow language very well
and they were trappers and hunters in the Crow
country.
James Coleman
In the year 1872 Wilson and Dickey were post
traders at Fort Lincoln. Major Dickey of this firm
was the man for whom Dickey County was named.
Their store was located at the ferry landing and
James Coleman and George Harmon were clerks.
The bookkeeper was a man named Perkins. Jack
Morrow of Omaha was interested in the store.
James Coleman and John Smith went up the
river on the Far West. This was the boat which
met the army at Powder River, and it was com-
manded by Captain Marsh. On the boat were Cap-
tain Baker, and Company B of the Sixth United
States Infantry. General Terry and one orderly
were on board also. When the expedition reached
the Rosebud, Terry restored Custer to his com-
mand.
John Smith was appointed post trader for the
The Arikara Narrative 207
expedition, for Custer knew and trusted him. He
had been post trader at White Clay, South Dakota,
and had made fifty thousand dollars there. Most
of this sum was used to clear his brother at Yank-
ton, who had killed a negro in a quarrel. John
Smith bought about a hundred mules and did work
hauling at the new post at Fort Lincoln. The store
was at the mouth of the coulee and the mules were
kept on the north side in dugouts. Most of the
goods were taken on at Fort Buford, where Joe
Leighton and W. B. Jordon were post traders. At
the close of navigation the goods were freighted to
Glendive and Miles City (Fort Keogh).
At Powder River Coleman was put off for a few
days to sell liquor. Just a shelter tent was pro-
vided for the goods with partitions of canned goods
separating the men from the officers. Canteens
were filled only on an order from the captain. They
held three pints and the liquor was sold at $1 a
pint. No gold was used at all and the currency was
in denominations of twenty-five cents and upwards.
They received the liquor in forty-five gallon barrels
and the finer brands were in bottles packed in
casks. When the army moved the traders followed,
going on boat to the mouth of the Rosebud where
they again sold liquor. Then they went back to the
mouth of the Tongue River, where Miles City is
now, and Coleman has lived there ever since.
Smith made over a hundred thousand dollars be-
fore he left Miles City. At Bozeman he had a
208 North Dakota Collections
liquor palace, but the murder of a gambler at a card
game in bis place ruined him. He was later in Yel-
lowstone Park selling liquor to the soldiers, and he
died a pauper in a Sisters' Hospital at Billings,
Montana, in 1904 or 1905. His son, Raymond, is
in the Interior Department, Washington, D. C,
and was called Buckshot. According to Coleman's
report, the expedition netted forty thousand dollars
from June to December, 1876.
After Custer's defeat, Coleman was on the boat
with Terry at the mouth of the Little Big Horn,
when Curly appeared on the east bank, a little
above the mouth. He was lower than the boat.
Curly held up his hand with a rag in it, and they
waved him aboard. He wore a cloth about his head,
a black shirt, a breech-clout, and moccasins. He
came on board by the gang-plank. Coleman saw
Curly make one sign, the sleep sign, once. Then a
crowd of officers and men cut off his view. George
Morgan, a squaw man (he had a Crow wife), who
had a woodyard near the Muddy River, east of Bu-
ford on the Missouri River, translated Curly 's
signs and speech. He reported that Curly said he
had crawled two miles wrapped in a Sioux blanket ;
that Custer's command was wiped out, and that
Reno was in great danger. Terry sent word to Gib-
bon and Coleman saw a big dust following this re-
lief column. After a while the soldiers arrived
with mule litters of the wounded. One mule was
hitched in front and one behind. Coleman stayed
The Arikara Narrative 209
at the camp at the mouth of the Little Big Horn
and sold supplies.
Steve Coleman, second cousin of James Coleman,
was at Fort Randall in the United States army.
He also carried mail from Yankton to the agency,
and from Randall to Sully. He returned to Sioux
City, Iowa, and recommended James Coleman for
his position as watchman on board the government
boat Miner, under Captain Hawley. This was in
1868, when he was about twenty years old ; his du-
ties were to watch on the boat after it was tied up,
and call the mate and steward. The government
was then building the fort at Port Stevenson and
at Berthold there was a village and trading post,
also an agent named Courtenay. On one trip he
remembers seeing soldiers at Fort Buford and a
post trader named A. C. Leighton. Coleman went
as far as Fort Benton, and returned to Sioux City
on the June rise, the trip having taken six weeks.
He saw both Reno and Benteen at Fort Rice in
1876.
GENERAL PLAN
ARRANGEMENT OF CAPITOL GROUNDS
AND
mSTOfflCAL PARK
BISMARCK NORTH D\KOTA
: rTf^f*^"*! f*»'*'«*|
ri
OP SAKAKAWCA
THE STATE PARK SYSTEM OF
NORTH DAKOTA
NORTH DAKOTA'S STATE PARK SYSTEM
By O. G. Libby, Secretary
North Dakota is peculiarly fortunate in having
already made a beginning for what will soon be-
come an unexcelled system of state parks. Al-
ready there are seven of these parks well distrib-
uted throughout the state and each of them located
upon some well known historic spot.
The State Historical Society is by law made cus-
todian of these parks and its twenty-one directors
have the general care and management of them.
Each park has, however, a park board of three or
five members appointed by the directors of the
State Historical Society. Any community, town,
or country can secure a state park by donating some
desirable tract of land to the state for park pur-
poses. As soon as this gift is accepted by the State
Historical Society, its directors appoint a local park
board who organize under the constitution and by-
laws of the state parks. All such state parks are
maintained and improved by state appropriations
that are used by the local boards at their own dis-
cretion.
The general policy which has been adopted is to
consider the parks as community centers for the
214 North Dakota Collections
special use and enjoyment of the residents of the
whole region adjoining each park. The parks are
to be utilized for the purpose of preserving and
displaying the whole range of plants native to the
state. In a lesser way some of the characteristic
animals, which were formerly so nmnerous here,
will be protected and allowed to multiply, such as
the beaver, prairie dog, antelope, deer, elk, and
buffalo. While, therefore, the park system will
enable us to preserve our famous and historic sites,
at the same time opportunity will be given for the
building up of living musemns in which can be
studied not dried skins and mounted specimens but
the live plants and animals in their natural environ-
ment. That such parks will also come to be com-
munity centers is the natural outcome of such a
park policy, intelligently carried out through a
series of years. Our state is to be congratulated
on having an opportunity to work out so admirable
and scientific an experiment at community better-
ment. Every county in the state should as soon as
practicable acquire land for park purposes and
cooperate with the State Historical Society in fur-
thering the general plan. The special committee
in charge of the state parks consists of Professor
C. B. Waldron, Fargo, Curator Melvin R. Gilmore,
Bismarck, and Secretary O. G. Libby, Grand Forks.
The seven state parks already established are
described in the following pages. A list of mem-
bers in each park board is also given and a full
page plate accompanies each description.
State Park Sys tem 215
Walhalla State Park
At Walhalla the park is beautifully situated up-
on the Pembina River, in the suburbs of the city of
Walhalla and within a short distance from where
Norman W. Kittson located his trading post as far
back as 1844. The log house that Kittson occupied
now stands in the park, as a memorial of the early
fur-trade days. In one corner of the park may be
seen the cellar of the old trading post established
here by Alexander Henry, Jr., in 1801. The
boundaries of the park are as follows :
Commencing at a point three chains and thirty-
five links (3 c. 35 1.) south 35° east and at 38.03
chains south 55° west of quarter section corner
common to Sections 20 and 29, Township 163
north, Range 56 west of the Fifth P. M. ; thence
running south 35° east five chains; thence south
55° west ten chains, thence north 35° west five
chains to the south side of Riverside Avenue ex-
tended in the To^vn of Walhalla, N. D. ; thence
north 55° east along south side of Riverside Ave-
nue extended ten chains to the place of beginning
and containing five acres, and being a fractional
portion of the southwest quarter of the northwest
quarter of Section 29, Township 163 north. Range
56 west of the Fifth P. M.
The present park board is composed of the fol-
lowing members : George DeLisle, Walhalla, term
expiring May 5, 1923; J. W. Harvey, Walhalla,
term expiring May 5, 1923 ; Paul Johnson, Moun-
tain, term expiring May 5, 1921 ; Chas. H. Lee, Wal-
halla, term expiring May 5, 1922; Minnie May,
Walhalla, term expiring May 5, 1922.
216 North Dakota Collections
Fort Abercrombie State Park
This park is located at Abercrombie and is on the
bank of the Red River and contains a portion of
the military reserve upon which was built in 1858
Fort Abercrombie, the first Federal fort within the
limits of the state. During the Dakota Indian out-
break of 1862 the garrison of this fort was subject
to a fierce attack by the Indians. Fort Abercrombie
served in early days as a defense for the first set-
tlers of the Red River Valley and as the gateway
into the new lands of the West and Northwest.
Two deeds cover the transfer of the present site
of the park to the state, as follows :
Lots 1 and 2, containing according to survey
thereof made by W. A. Baker, civil engineer, six
and twenty-five hundred twenty-eight (6.2528)
acres and known as the Abercrombie State Park,
being part of the north half of the southeast quar-
ter of Section 4, Township 134 north. Range 48
west.
A part of Lot 7 of Section 4, Township 134
north, Range 48 west, bounded as follows : Com-
mencing at the quarter section corner between the
northwest and southwest quarters of said Sec-
tion 4 and the northeast and southeast quarters
of Section 5, in said Township and Range, running
thence east 2640 feet to the quarter section line
running north and south through said Section 4;
thence south along said quarter section line
578.50 feet ; thence east at an angle of 89 degrees,
51 minutes, 15 seconds, QQ feet to the place of be-
ginning; thence east at the same angle, along
the south side of Broadway Street, projected
752.66 feet, thence southeast at an angle of 121
/ Off icier 5 ' Quarters =s^
2 Company Quarters
3 Kitchens 9 L aundry
4 Hospital /O Arsenal
5Q.M Depf /I Com miss ary
6 Cellar 12 Ice House
7 Bakery 15 Butcher Shop
dStoreHouse 14 Post Traders BTd
FT LINCOLN STATE PARK
Sco/e
o _ ^o ZOO 3o g__4goft
Drawn t>y £E Foster
state Park System 217
degrees, 12 minutes, 30 seconds, 180.36 feet; thence
east at an angle of 63 degrees, 50 minutes, 30
seconds, 145 feet to the Red River; thence south-
easterly along said Red River to the intersection
of the north line of Abercrombie Street, pro-
jected thence west along said north line of said
Abercrombie Street 1108.27 feet; thence north
at an angle of 90 degrees, 8 minutes, 50
seconds, 300 feet to place of beginning, containing
6.2528 acres and known as the Abercrombie State
Park ; reference being had, for the location of said
Abercrombie and Broadway Streets to the plats
of the Village of Abercrombie and Broadway
Streets, to the plats of the village of Abercrombie
and Barnaby's Addition to said Village, on file in
the office of the Register of Deeds in and for said
County and State.
The present board of directors of the park is as
follows: Olaf Bjerke, Abercrombie, term expir-
ing May 29, 1922; M. M. Borman, Abercrombie,
term expiring May 29, 1921; A. G. Divet, Fargo,
term expiring May 29, 1923; Dr. C. A. Durkee,
Abercrombie, term expiring May 29, 1922 ; Christ
Ness, Wahpeton, term expiring May 29, 1923.
Fort Abraha:m Lincoln State Park
The Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park is located
on a portion of the old Fort Abraham Lincoln Mili-
tary Reserve, two miles south of Mandan. It in-
cludes most of the old officers' quarters of Fort
Lincoln and occupies a sightly spot on a high bluff,
offering a very beautiful view of the river valley.
The park also includes the site of an old Mandan
village at the foot of the bluff, called by the Indians,
218 North Dakota Collections
Slant Village. This is the largest of the state parks
and is described as follows:
The Lots 3 and 4 and the northeast quarter of
the southwest quarter of section 13, Township 138
north, Range 81 west of the Fifth P. M., North
Dakota, containing seventy-five and fifty one-hun-
dredths acres.
The present board of directors is as follows : E.
J. Conrad, Mandan, term expiring May 12, 1921 ; J.
M. Hanley, Mandan, term expiring May 12, 1922 ; J.
H. Newton, Mandan, term expiring May 12, 1922 ;
R. S. Towne, Bismarck, term expiring May 12,
1923 ; Geo. P. Will, Bismarck, term expiring May
12, 1921
Fort Rice State Park
The Eort Rice Park is located at the town of Fort
Rice and stands upon the site of old Fort Rice,
which was built in 1864 by General Sully as a mili-
tary base during his Indian campaign of that year.
It was the first Federal fort on the Missouri River
within the present limits of North Dakota. M. C.
Caddell, an old soldier at the fort in the early days,
was for many years the resident member of the
board. He died May 1, 1919. The description of
the park is as follows :
All lands included in the site of Fort Rice de-
scribed by metes and bounds as follows: begin-
ning where the north boundary line of Lot 3 of
Section 14, Township 135, Range 79 intersects with
right-of-way of the Northern Pacific Railway Com-
pany, thence running south 396 feet along right-of-
way ; thence running east 325 feet, thence running
state Park System 219
north 509 feet; thence running west 360 feet to
place of beginning, containing three and one-half
(31/^) acres, more or less, according to the survey
thereof.
Attached to this park for administrative pur-
poses is another small tract of land, purchased by
the State Historical Society and preserving a por-
tion of an old Arikara Indian village. The de-
scription of this property is as follows :
Beginning at a point on the section line between
Sections 5 and 8 in Township 136, Range 79, where
said section line is intersected by the present right
of way of the Missouri River Railway Company,
thence east along said section line for a distance
of 12 and 84/100 chains ; thence southeast on a line
south 36° 30' east for a distance of 2 and 66/100
chains; thence southwest on a line south 53° 53'
west a distance of 9 and 34/100 chains; thence
northwest on a line north 41° 10' west for a dis-
tance of 10 and 25/100 chains to the point of begin-
ning ; said described land containing 6 and 15/100
acres and being part of Lot 3 in said Section 8.
The present board of directors consists of the
following members : W. E. Badger, Mandan, term
expiring May 29, 1922 ; R. G. Gwyther, Fort Rice,
term expiring May 29, 1923; Ray McKaig, Fort
Rice, term expiring May 29, 1921.
The Pembina State Paek
The Pembina State Park was donated by the city
of Pembina and is located in the city of Pembina at
the junction of the Red and Pembina Rivers, on
the south side of the latter stream. It includes the
220 North Dakota Collections
site of the first trading post in the state, built by
Chaboillez in 1797. The site has been used ahnost
continuously ever since that time and in the early
history of fur-trade in the Northwest it is one of
the most important points in this entire region.
The area of the present park will be enlarged in the
near future by the purchase of a few acres directly
across the Pembina River, the site of the trading
post and stockade built by Alexander Henry, Jr., in
1801, and also the spot where was built Fort Pem-
bina in 1863, the first Federal military post in this
portion of the state.
The description of this park is as follows :
All of Block B within and of the City of Pem-
bina, North Dakota, according to the plat thereof
on file and of record in the office of the Register of
Deeds within and for said county, said Block B
three and one-half acres, more or less, lying be-
tween Stutsman Street in said city and the Pem-
bina and Red Rivers and embracing the southerly
point of land at the intersection of said rivers.
The present board of directors consists of the fol-
lowing members: Mrs. C. B. Harris, Pembina,
term expiring December 8, 1921 ; Judson LaMoure,
Pembina, term expiring December 8, 1922 ; Dr. J.
F. McQueen, Pembina, term expiring December 8,
1921; C. W. Shumaker, Pembina, term expiring
December 8, 1920; Walter Welford, Neche, term
expiring December 8, 1922.
PEMBINA STATE PARK
Pembina, No Dak
° = Trees
I H^ Icelandic Hall.
state Park System 221
The Cavaliek County State Park
The last one of state parks to be established is the
Cavalier County State Park, situated on O'Brien's
coulee. The original donation for this park was
made by J. B. Beauchamp of Olga, but other gifts
are expected to soon largely increase the area of
the park. This park is unique in being the site of
one of those numerous battles fought between the
buffalo hunters from Canada, the Chippewas and
French half-breeds, and their old enemies, the Da-
kotas. The site was identified by an old Chippewa
Indian resident on the Roseau Reservation in Can-
ada and called Big Indian. He took part in this
fight, which occurred about the year 1848, and
helped to rescue a wounded comrade who had been
left behind on the battlefield. The fortification
which defended the camp of the buffalo hunters on
this occasion is still to be seen in a field one mile
west of Olga and about the same distance from the
park.
The present board of directors consists of the
following members: John B, Beauchamp, Olga,
term expiring December 8, 1922; Otto Dettler,
Langdon, term expiring December 8, 1921 ; C. W.
Plain, Milton, term expiring December 8, 1920;
Magnus Snowfield, Hannah, term expiring Decem-
ber 8, 1922 ; E. J. Fox, Langdon, term expiring De-
cember 8, 1921.
CONSTITUTION AND BY-LAWS
FOR
THE STATE PARKS OF NORTH DAKOTA
Preamble
It is the purpose of the state park system to secure the
preservation of places of historic interest and to commemo-
rate the events that occurred at these points by markers or by
monuments with appropriate inscriptions. In the manage-
ment of the state parks it shall be the policy of each com-
mission to use only the native flora, the trees, flowers, and
shrubs, that belong to the general region to which each park
belongs.
The general policy of using native plants to the exclusion of
others shall be followed in each park in order that full oppor-
tunity may be afforded for the scientific study of all indige-
nous forms of vegetation within the state. It is extremely de-
sirable that the public may come to know the economic and the
esthetic uses of our own flora and that the plants known to the
Indians and the early traders and trappers may be saved from
extinction. To this end the park commissioners of the state
shall all cooperate in taking measures to show the value of
certain plants for food, for medicine, and for ceremonial and
such other uses as may be possible in their locality. It is
very desirable for these purposes that for a few months each
year provision be made within the park for the residence there
of an Indian family or some individual versed in Indian cus-
toms, both from the point of view of care of the park and of
the educational value to the public.
As soon as practicable, also, the state parks shall be used
state Park System 223
for the preservation and study of such wild animals as can be
cared for within their limits.
Article 1. Organization
Section 1. Any county, municipality, or local organization
may secure a state park by donating a tract of land to the
state for public purposes. The deed should be made in favor
of the State Historical Society as custodian for the state.
After the land has been accepted by the directors of the State
Historical Society as suitable for park purposes, the organiza-
tion of a park commission shall at once be provided for.
Section 2. Each state park shall be under the control of a
commission of three or jBve members, appointed by the direc-
tors of the State Historical Society for a term not to exceed
three years. The curator of the State Historical Society shall
be an ex-ofjicio member of each park commission but he shall
have no power of voting.
Section 3. The park commissioners, upon being notified of
their appointment, shall meet and choose a president, a vice
president, and a secretary.
Section 4. Upon notice from the secretary of the State
Historical Society the state park commissions shall designate
one of their number to represent them at the joint meeting of
the commissioners and the directors of the State Historical
Society. At these meetings details of the general policy shall
be adopted and the estimates for the entire budget of the
parks shall be fixed.
Article 2. Government
Section 1. The duties of the several officers of the park
commissions shall be such as usually devolve upon these
officers.
Section 2. The president of each park commission shall
audit all bills presented to the commission of which he is a
member and upon unanimous vote of the commissioners he
224 North Dakota Collections
shall authorize the expenditure of such part of the appro-
priation as may be determined upon.
Section 3. The secretary of the State Historical Society
shall sign all vouchers calling for the expenditure of the state
appropriations for park purposes.
Section 4. It shall be the duty of the secretary of each
park commission to make a biennial report of all expenditures
of the commission of which he is a member. This report shall
contain, also, all recommendations of the commission and shall
be presented and read at the joint meeting of the park com-
missioners and the directors of the State Historical Society,
held to consider the biennial appropriations needed to carry
on the work of the state parks.
Section 5. The secretary of the State Historical Society
shall be empowered to call for such financial and other re-
ports from each commission as may be needed in the prepara-
tion of the biennial budget and for use in the publication of
the current volume of Collections.
Article 3. Miscellaneous
Section 1. All state parks shall be continuously open to
the public under such regulations as may be imposed by the
commissions for the preservation of the park property and for
the furtherance of the general policy. The park commission-
ers shall at their discretion allow the use of the parks under
their control for such public gatherings and celebrations as
shall contribute to foster community interest in the work of
the state parks.
Section 2. All vacancies shall be filled by the directors
of the State Historical Society but the secretary of the society
shall have power to make temporary appointments which
shall be valid until the directors shall fill the vacancy at some
regular meeting.
Section 3. This constitution and by-laws may be amended
State Park System 225
at any regular meeting of the directors of the State Historical
Society or at any joint meeting of the park commissioners and
directors. Three weeks notice of such amendment must be
given to all directors of the Society and to each of the state
park commissioners.
STATE HISTORICAL PARKS OF NORTH
DAKOTA
By Melvin R. Gilmore, Curator
One of the functions of the State Historical So-
ciety is to promote the proper marking of historic
sites within the state. Ordinarily the most suitable
manner in which to mark such spots is to create
them into public parks. Every community within
whose limits lies a spot of public historic interest
should take steps to preserve such spot before it
has been marred by the plow or built over by resi-
dence or shop buildings. In this way the local com-
munity may definitely link itself up with the com-
monwealth.
The State Historical Society has been instru-
mental in reserving a number of historic sites
already. These historical parks are intended to
serve several useful purposes. They are to stand
in the relation of momunents of the times and
events which they mark ; but they are also to serve
as community meeting places and community plea-
sure grounds, as well as outdoor historical and scien-
tific museums. The present curator of the museum
has proposed a general plan for the planting of
these sites, and others to be acquired in the future,
State Historical Parks 227
which has had universal acceptance on the part of
the local boards of these historical parks. The
plan of improvement and planting which he has
proposed is to employ only native trees, shrubs,
vines, and flowering plants.
This plan of planting the parks with natives of
North Dakota and excluding exotics will serve a
number of useful purposes. First of all it will
help to preserve from total extermination some na-
tive species which are in real danger of being en-
tirely extirpated by the plow and by the excessively
close grazing of cattle and sheep, or by wanton de-
struction and rampant ravaging from ungoverned
and senseless plucking by ruthless human beings.
Preservation of native species by planting and fos-
tering in the historical parks will also serve science
by providing living herbariiuns for the scientific
study of native species of plants in their native
habitat. History in its broad sense wall also be
served, for here will be preserved in living books
chapters of the material history of the state.
The esthetic sense also would be served by this
plan, for plants are most beautiful when placed in
complete accord wdth their enviromnent. So the
native vegetation planted according to natural sit-
uation will give an effect of harmony with its en-
vironment, whereas exotics, however beautiful they
may be in themselves and in their home surround-
ings, would but appear out of place, homesick and
lonely in an alien situation. They would but make
228 North Dakota Collections
manifest the disharmony of their unhappy environ-
ment. •
This plan of planting native vegetation also has
the advantage of better chance of survival. Native
vegetation is already inured to climatic conditions.
The rate of mortality of transplanted exotic stock is
very high.
Each of the historical parks should be planted
with the trees, shrubs, vines, flowering plants, and
grasses pertaining to its own immediate region;
that is to say, a park in the valley of the Red River
of the North should not be planted with species
which pertain to the region of the Bad-lands or the
High Plains. On the other hand, a park on the
bluffs of the Missouri River should not be planted
with certain species found in the low altitude and
more humid conditions of the Red River Valley and
eastern woodlands. But there are many species
which are found distributed very widely over the
state. Such species are suitable for general plant-
ing in all the parks.
I shall give here a partial list and description of
trees, shrubs, vines, flowering plants, and grasses
suitable and desirable for planting within the state
historical parks. Some of the species named are
almost sure to be present even now, unless the site
to be reserved has been denuded already by farming
operations.
For high, dry, rocky, or gravelly hills the native
pine (Pmus scopulorum) and the red cedar (Juni-
State Historical Parks 229
perus virginiana) are suitable and appropriate.
For terraces and extremely exposed points the
ground cedar (Juniperus liorizontalis) makes a
suitable and successful cover. For gullies in hill-
sides and ravines the scrub cedar, or scrub jimiper
{Juniperus communis) should be used. On hills
and hillsides next in altitude below those on which
it is recommended to plant pines and cedars one
should plant bur oaks {Quercus macrocarpa).
Next below oaks should be planted green ash (Frax-
inus viridis), white elm (JJlmus americana), and
hackberry (Celtis occidentalis) .
On lower ground, where soil moisture is sufficient-
ly abundant there should be planted linden, other-
wise called hsiSswood(Tiliaamericana),Gottonwood
(Poptilus sargentii) ,hoxeldev (Acer negundo) , smd
any of several different species of willow, as the
peach-leaf willow (Salix amy gdaloides) ,riYer-b8ink
willow (Salix fluviatilis) , slender willow (Salix
petiolaris), and diamond willow (Salix cordata).
In very cool situations, as in pockets on the north
sides of hills there should be planted thick clumps
of trembling aspens (Populus tremuloides) , and in
deep, cool ravines balsam poplars (Populus hal-
samifera) may be planted. The paper birch (Be-
tula papyrifera) also grows in cool, moist situa-
tions.
In planning the planting of parks the natural
habitat and associations of species should be studied
carefully and the artificial plantings should be
230 North Dakota Collections
made to conform to the situations and groupings in
nature. Thus the park, when developed, will pos-
sess the charm and grace of natural growth.
Grouping and situations of trees and plants con-
trary to nature offend the esthetic sense in a man-
ner comparable to the pain and displeasure occa-
sioned by a congenital deformity or abnormality in
a human body. For instance, rows of cottonwoods,
willows, or boxelders marshaled in stiff lines stand-
ing stark upon an exposed hilltop are as lacking in
beauty as a clubfoot or a six-fingered hand. Cot-
tonwoods, boxelders and willows find their natural
situation on low, moist ground, in association with
various species of shrubs and herbaceous plants
which also love moisture. In such situation, and
such natural association they are in harmonious
setting and make a pleasing sight. In all cases the
natural conditions must be studied and the imagi-
nation must first truly depict what the future ap-
pearance will be after the plantations shall have
become established. Only thus can any really suc-
cessful and pleasing result be obtained.
Among the native shrubs which should be used
conspicuously in the historical parks of North Da-
kota the prairie rose (Rosa pratincola) should have
prominent place, for it is this species which is the
state flower by act of legislature. Three other
species of rose are found in the state, namely, Rosa
acicidaris, Rosa hlanda, and Rosa woodsii. These
also deserve proper consideration in planning
parks.
State Historical Parks 231
A beautiful shrub for decorative planting is the
leadplant (Amorpha canescens). Its natural hab-
itat is upon high ground. It grows in clumps one
to one and one-half feet high, with feathery foliage
and racemes of dark purple flowers with golden
anthers.
On account of its bright green, hopeful leafage
very early in spring the wild gooseberry (Ribes
missouriensis) should surely find a place in the
park planting. It is also prolific in fruit. For
foliage, fiower, and fruit the wild black currant
(Ribes floridum) also deserves large use in the
parks.
For its very attractive beauty of foliage, fiower,
and fruit the Nebraska sandcherry {Priinus bes-
seyi), which is found in sandy situations in this
state should surely be planted in the parks wher-
ever the situation is suitable. The bush is low-
growing. In early spring the snow-white blossoms
bourgeon before the foliage, making the bushes to
appear like airy white clouds of delicate beauty
and entrancingly fragrant with the delicious wild
plum blossom fragrance. After the blossoms fall
the bushes become banks of living green from the
new foliage. Later in summer the rich purple-
black masses of fruit shine among the dark green
leaves. In autumn the foliage becomes a flame of
reds and yellows of various tints and shades.
For the name's sake alone the pembina {Vibur-
num opulus) ought to be planted in every historical
park in this state where the soil conditions are suit-
232 North Dakota Collections
able to its growth. But besides the interest per-
taining to this shrub because of its name having
been attached to the river, mountain, county, and
town in the northeastern part of the state, it well
deserves a place for the beauty of its white flowers
in springtime and its scarlet fruit in summer.
A shrub which is very desirable to plant where
a bit of color is wanted in winter is kinnikinnick
(Cornus stolonifera). This dogwood is beautiful in
summer with its light-green foliage, its clusters of
starry white flowers, and later its white berries.
But it is in the dead of winter that this shrub is
most noticeable and attractive, for while all the
landscape is covered with a white mantle of snow,
or, in the absence of snow, when all is dreary and
drab this shrub by the brilliant red coloring of its
bark gives warmth and brightness and life to the
view.
The saskatoon (Amelanchier alni folia) should
be in all the parks because of its universal distribu-
tion in the state and because of its beauty and
gracefulness of form and foliage and blossoms, and
for its desirable and very prolific fruit.
The wild plum {Primus americana) should be
planted in every park for the beauty and charming-
ly delightful fragrance of its bloom, and for its
delicious fruit. For its beauty of foliage, flowers,
and fruit the western chokecherry (Padus melano-
carpa) should always have place.
For certain situations and combinations the buf-
State Historical Parks 233
falo berry (Lepargyraea argentea) is very desira-
ble. It is also in the highest degree characteristic
of the landscape of the western part of the state.
For that region no landscape is complete without
the buffalo berry.
Of vines native to this state and suitable for park
planting there are the following: virgin's bower
(Clematis ligustici folia), moonseed (Menispermmn
canadense), bittersweet (Celastrus scandens), the
wild grape (Vitis vulpina), Virginia creeper (Par-
tlienocissus quinquefolia), hops (Humulus lupu-
lus), and wild cucumber (Micrampelis lohata).
A few of the native flowers of North Dakota have
been brought into cultivation, and many others de-
serve to be cultivated in our gardens and parks.
Gaillardia is one flower common over all the dry
prairies which has been brought into cultivation
and has responded wonderfully. Our state has
such a host of species of wild flowers which should
be planted in our parks and also in private grounds
and gardens that lack of space forbids any adequate
description, or even a list of more than a small part
of them. In another part of this paper is given a
list of the most desirable of the native trees, shrubs,
vines, flowering plants, and grasses for use in the
parks. So, at this place we shall mention but a
few, with reference to their season and character.
In the springtime, when the snow has scarcely
gone, we have the Pasque-flower {Pulsatilla pat-
ens') . It is popularly often called ' ' Crocus. ' ' This
234 North Dakota Collections
is a very great error, for the crocus is not even
native anywhere in North America. Besides, the
Pasque-flower does not resemble a crocus. A cro-
cus is somewhat like a lily in structure, and is a mon-
ocotyledon, while the Pasque-flower is a dicotyle-
don, hence very different in its whole structure and
anatomy. It does very closely resemble an anem-
one, and is closely related to that flow^er.
Among the Dakota nation there is a very pretty
conceit connected with the Pasque-flower. The
Dakotas call it the Twin-flower, because, they say, it
is so frequently found putting up two flower stalks
together at the same time. Indians generally are
keenly observant of all things in nature, and rever-
ent toward them. They feel reverence for all liv-
ing creatures, the birds and beasts, the trees and
shrubs and flowers. They have songs and stories
about most of the plant and animal forms of life
with which they are acquainted. They believe that
each species has its own particular song which is
the expression of its life or soul. The Song of the
Twin-flower (which we call the Pasque-flower)
when translated out of the Dakota language into
the English is something like this :
I wish to encourage the children of other -flower
nations
Which now are appearing over all the land;
So, ivhile they waken from sleep and rise from
the bosom
Of Mother Earth, I stand here old and gray-
headed.
State Historical Parks 235
"I wish to encourage the children of other flower
nations" refers to the very early vernal blossoming
of this flower while other species are just peeping
through the ground. The entire plant is hairy, and
when ripe the head is bushy and white, having a
resemblance to a full and heavy growth of very
white hair on the head of an old man. This ex-
plains the allusion in ''I am standing here old and
gray-headed."
When in springtime an old man of the Dakota
nation first finds one of these flowers it reminds him
of his childhood, when he wandered over the hills
at play, as free from sorrow and care as the birds
and flowers. He sits down near the flower upon
the lap of Mother Earth, takes out his pipe and fills
it with tobacco. Then he reverently holds the pipe
towards the earth, then towards the sky, then to-
wards the north, the east, the south, and the west.
After this act of silent invocation he smokes. While
he smokes he meditates upon all the changing scenes
of his lifetime, his joys and sorrows, his youthful
hopes, his accomplishments, his disappointments,
and the guidance of the Unseen Powers accorded
to him thus far upon the journey of life, and he is
encouraged to believe that he will be guided to the
end. After finishing his pipe he rises and plucks
the flower and carries it home to show his grand-
children, singing as he goes ' ' The Song of the Twin-
flower" which he learned as a child and which he
now teaches to his grandchildren.
236 North Dakota Collections
The mention of '* reverently holding the pipe" is
an allusion to an act of religious worship. Tobac-
co was mysterious and sacred, and was used cere-
monially, and the pipe might be considered as a
kind of censer. The Earth was poetically and
mystically regarded as Mother of all living things,
all plants, animals, and human beings. The Sky
was likewise regarded as Father, and the Cardinal
Points as the Paths of approach of the Powers
which are all about us in the world. Man is not
apart from nor above nature, but is a part of na-
ture. All good things in nature are his friends and
kindred, and he should be friendly with all.
A little later than the Pasque-flower come
throngs of violets of several different species ; also
the pure white ground phlox, the Star-of-Bethle-
hem, the painted-cup, the heavenly blue Mertensia,
the dainty oxalis, and the gladsome anemone.
Among the more notable flowers of summertime
we have the columbine, the white larkspur and the
blue larkspur, several species of evening primroses,
three species of blazing-star, the gorgeous flame
lily, and the dainty campanula, otherwise called
hare-bell and blue-bell of Scotland. And there is
the lovely blue perennial wild flax.
As autumn approaches we have the goldenrod in
eight species, twenty species of asters, and last of
all five species of gentian. The predominant col-
ors of the prevernal, vernal, estival, and autumnal
flowers constitute a kaleidoscope of progressive
State Historical Parks 237
color changes from the earliest Pasque-flowers to
the latest gentians. These species and numerous
others native in our state are very desirable for use
in planting for the sake of their own merit, but
especially because, being native, they would give
character and local distinctiveness.
Wherever and whenever it may be practicable to
do so it is hoped that native birds and mammals as
well as native vegetation shall be established in the
state historical parks. Thus the parks shall serve
as zoological gardens as well as botanical gardens.
In general, it is intended that the parks shall be
useful for science, history, social service, and to
conserve the beauty of nature and to promote the
love and enjoyment of it.
LIST OF TREES, SHRUBS, VINES, HERBACEOUS
FLOWERING PLANTS AND GRASSES NATIVE TO
NORTH DAKOTA AND SUITABLE AND DESIR-
ABLE FOR USE IN PLANTING OF PARKS
Conifers
Pinus scopulorum (Eng.) Lemmon. Bull Pine.
Southwest part of the state as far north as Medora.
Juniperus scopulorum Sarg. Red Cedar,
Juniperus communis L. Scrub Juniper or Cedar.
A small shrub.
Juniperus horizontalis Moeneh, Ground Cedar.
Forms dense mats upon buttes and rocky hillsides.
Suitable for all terrace work.
Deciduous Trees
Tilia americana L. Linden, Basswood.
Along streams, usually near water.
Salix amygdaloides Anders. Peach-leaf Willow.
Along streams.
Salix interior Rowlee. Riverbank Willow.
Probably most common species, forming dense thickets in
moist ground.
Salix petiolaris Smith. Slender Willow.
Along streams and in low ground.
Salix cordata Muhl. Diamond Willow.
The favorite camp-fire wood of travelers, trappers, and
cowboys. It is found to give the quickest, hottest, and
cleanest fire of any native wood. It is also much used for
walking sticks, being curious in the diamond-shaped
scars left on the stem by the death of twigs.
State Historical Parks 239
Populiis halmamifera L. Balsam Poplar.
About lakes and in ravines, especially in the northern
part of the state.
Populus deltoides Marsh. Cottonwood.
Along streams and about lakes.
Populus tremuloides Miehx. Trembling Aspen.
In cool situations, as in pockets high up on the north
slope of hills.
Vlmus americana L. American Elm.
Along stream valleys.
Vlmus fulva L. Red Elm, Slippery Elm.
Along streams; not common in this state.
Celtis occidentalis L. Hackberry.
Along stream valleys and in ravines.
Fraxinus virdis Michx. Green Ash.
Along stream valleys, lake shores, and far-up ravines.
Acer negundo L. Boxelder,
The only member of the Maple Family in North Dakota,
and of peculiar interest because of its economic impor-
tance to the tribes of this region, being the only source of
sugar here before the coming of white men, except by
importation of the maple sugar made from the hard
maple by the woodland tribes to the eastward. But a
considerable domestic production of sugar from the
sap of boxelder obtained among all the tribes of the up-
per Missouri region.
This tree grows naturally and properly only where
moisture is comparatively abundant, as along streams
and lake shores.
Ostrya virginiana (Mill.) Willd. Ironwood.
Said to be found along streams in the eastern part of the
state and in Pembina Mountain ravines.
Betula papyrifera Marsh. Paper Birch.
In cool situations in Pembina Mountains and Turtle
Mountain.
240 North Dakota Collections
Quercus macrocarpa L. Bur Oak.
In the upper part of ravines and on knolls in the sand
hills.
Shrubs
Xanthoxylum americanum Mill. Prickly Ash.
Said to be found along the Red River of the North. It
is a desirable shrub for certain situations, and is of
ethnological interest because of the use of its dry aro-
matic fruits for perfume by all the tribes which had
access to its range.
8alix humilis Marsh. Prairie Willow.
Salix tristis Ait. Dwarf Gray Willow.
Arctostaphylos uva-ursi (L.) Spreng. Bear Berry.
On rocky buttes and stony soil. In Pembina Mountains
and some rocky ravines tributary to the Missouri River.
A pretty little shrub of ethnological interest for its use
by the native tribes. The dried leaves were used for
smoking.
Bubus arciicus L. Eye Berry.
Also called Arctic Raspberry and Strawberry Raspberry.
The name Eye Berry is the English translation of its
name in the Chippewa language. The plant is scarcely
a shrub, being no larger than a strawberry plant and
not much more woody. In Turtle Mountains, Pembina
Mountains, and Sully Hill.
Uubus strigosus Michx. Wild Red Raspberry.
In streamside woods and in wooded ravines.
Rosa pratincola Green. Prairie Rose.
Very common over all the state. This species is the
state flower.
Rosa acicularis Lindl.
In Turtle Mountains.
Rosa Matida Ait.
Eastern and north eastern parts of the state.
State Historical Parks 241
Rosa woodsii Lindl.
Along streams and in ravines.
Amelanchier alnifoUa Nutt. Saskatoon.
This shrub and its fruit are in various parts of the
country called by numerous different popular names,
June-berry, Shad-berry, Service-or Sarvice-berry, Wild
Pear, and so forth. Throughout western Canada it is
called Saskatoon, which is the name of the berry in the
Chippewa language. The adoption of this name by Eng-
lish-speaking people has given it a distinctive name, and
therefore this name would seem to strongly commend
itself for universal adoption. Moreover it has been
adopted by formal action in resolution of the Interna-
tional Horticulturists' Society' of America and Canada
in convention in August, 1919. This shrub or small
tree is abundant over all parts of the state.
Crataegns chrysocarpa Ashe jj^^^horn, Thornapple, Red Haw
Crataegus succidenta Schrad.
The thornapple is abundant over all parts of the state.
The species vary greatly, many forms being found inter-
mediate between the two species named. In the first-
named species the anthers are yellow, in the second they
are pink.
An interesting item in connection with this shrub is
the fact that it is the source of the name of Apple Creek,
a stream flowing into the Missouri River from the north-
east near Bismarck. In the Dakota language the haw-
thorn is called "taspan." Because so many thickets of
taspan grow along the courae of this stream the Dako-
tas call it Taspan Wakpala (Taspan Creek or Hawthorn
Creek, or Thornapple Creek). Some white man with an
imperfect knowledge of the Dakota language mistrans-
lated Taspan Wakpala as "Apple" Creek instead of
Thornapple Creek, which the name really means.
242 North Dakota Collections
Primus americana Marsh. Wild Plum.
Along streams and in wooded ravines. Very desirable
for its beauty of foliage, either estival or autumnal, and
for its very fragrant and beautiful white prevernal blos-
soms which appear like delicate snowy clouds, even before
the cold, dull days of earliest spring are gone. Also de-
sirable for its fruit. This native species is the ancestor
of most of the cultivated varieties of plums grown in
North America.
Prunus pennsylvanica L. Pin Cherry.
Along streams and on wooded slopes, in Turtle Moun-
tains, Pembina Mountains, Sully Hill, and many other
places.
Prunus hesseyii Bailey. Nebraska Sand Cherry.
This is a low-growing shrub of great beauty at all sea-
sons. In early spring it is a mass of delicate white
bloom of a most delicious wild plum blossom fragrance.
The blossoms appear before the foliage. After the blos-
soms are gone the brilliant glossy green foliage appears.
Later, in the summer, the rich purple black fruit makes
a contrast with the enfolding dark-green foliage. Then
in autumn the foliage turns to colors of flame.
Padus melanocarpa (A. Nels.) Rydb. Rocky Mountain Cherry.
Along streams and cutbanks. A small tree or tall shrub,
beautiful in foliage both in summer and autumn; also
desirable for blossoms and fruit.
Amorpha fruUcosa L.
The Pawnees call this shrub by a name meaning "water-
rod " or " water- wand ' ' because of its nature and habitat.
It is a slender graceful shrub growing along banks of
streams and lake shores in sandy soil at the margin of
the water. Bradbury, the botanical explorer of the up-
per Missouri in 1811 mentions that at one time when
the boat lay to during a storm it was moored by tying up
state Historical Parks 243
to shrubs of Amorpha fruticosa growing at the edge of
the stream.
Amorpha canescens Pursh. Lead Plant, Shoestring.
Lead-colored, feathery bushes 1 foot to 1 and i/^ feet
high. It bears gray-green foliage and spikes of rich
blue-purple flowers with golden anthers. It grows on
hills and high, dry ground.
Amorpha microphylla Pursh.
Much smaller than Amorpha canescens, and grows in ex-
ceedingly dry situations, as upon rocky buttes.
Ribes ruhrum L. Wild Ked Currant.
Said to be in Pembina Mountains and in Turtle Moun-
tains.
Ribes fioridum L'Her. "Wild Black Currant.
In woods along streams, widely distributed over the state.
Ribes aureum Pursh. Buffalo Currant^ Missouri Currant.
Banks of streams and in clefts and ravines of rocky
buttes.
Ribes missouriensis Pursh. Missouri Gooseberry.
In woods along streams and about wooded lakes. Most
desirable for its brightness of emerald green in early
spring while all other shrubs are still bare. Also the
foliage in autumn flames in brilliant reds. The fruit is
desirable also.
Rhamnus alnifolia L 'Her. Buckthorn.
In low or wet ground in woods. Reported from Pem-
bina Mountains.
E lea gnus argent ea Pursh. Silver Berry.
In cool situations mostly, along the north and northeast
slopes of hills, sometimes on the northwest. More abun-
dant in the northern part of the state where it occurs in
almost any situation. The gray foliage and silvery ber-
ries are attractive, and the flowers are very fragrant.
Lepargyraea argentea (Nutt.) Greene. Buffalo Berry.
Effective for its gray foliage and its abundance of shin-
244 North Dakota Collections
ing red berries. It is so prolific that the red masses of
berries become almost more conspicuous than the gray
foliage. The fruit is also very desirable for use in mak-
ing jelly. Buffalo berry jelly has a distinctive taste all
its own which creates a desire for more. As a fruit
sauce the buffalo berry was of very high economic im-
portance to all the tribes of the region of its range.
Rhus glabra L. Smooth Sumac.
On hillsides in Pembina Mountains, Turtle Mountains,
Sully Hill, and in places along the Red River of the
North. Six or eight feet high, beautiful for its glossy
green foliage in summer and brilliant reds in autumn.
Rhus trilohata Nutt. Aromatic Sumac.
Grows in low and close clumps on rocky and dry buttes.
Coryltis americana Walt. Hazelnut.
In ravines tributary to some of the streams and in Tur-
tle Mountains, Pembina Mountains, and Sully Hill.
Corylus rostrata Ait. Beaked Hazelnut.
Turtle Mountains, Pembina Mountains, Sully Hill.
Betula pumila L. Low Birch.
In boggy places in woods of Pembina Mountains, prob-
ably also in Turtle Mountains.
Alnus incana (L.) Willd. Speckled Alder.
Red River of the North, Pembina Mountains, probably
also Turtle Mountains.
Cornus stolonifera Michx. Kinnikinnick.
In stream valleys and in ravines and along cutbanks.
Widely distributed over the state. Very desirable for its
graceful form and beautiful foliage, and for its abun-
dant clusters of white flowers as well as the later clus-
ters of white berries. It has the habit of changing color
of the bark to a deep, rich red in autumn. This red
color persists through the winter and the vernal
season until the full estival foliage has come. This
property makes the shrub greatly to be desired for deco-
state Historical Parks 245
rative planting where its bright color will be effect-
ive in winter, whether in time of white landscape or dull
days of bare ground and sombre, gray shrubs and trees.
In either case Cornus gives the stimulus of a bit of
brightness and color.
It has another feature of interest, in the economic
value it had for the aboriginal tribesmen; the inner
bark being used for smoking in the same way as tobacco
was used, or it was also mixed with tobacco, being de-
sired for its aromatic flavor and odor,
Vhhurnum opulus L. Pembina.
The well-known snowball bush is simply the pembina
bush with sterile, so-called double, flowers. It is de-
sirable for its beauty of foliage and of flowers; also its
scarlet fruits are attractive in autumn. A peculiar in-
terest attaches to this shrub for the state of North Da-
kota in that the name pembina, the name of the berry,
has been given to a river, a mountain, a county, and a
town in the northeastern part of the state. The name
pembina is one of a number of corruptions of pronuncia-
tion of "nepin minan," which is the name of this berrj'-
in the Chippewa language. In the Chippewa language
nepin means summer, minan means berry. They called
this berry the "summer berry." The Chippewa name
of that river is Nepin-minan Sipi, Summer-berry River.
Sipi is the Chippewa word for river. The white man's
tongue has corrupted the nepin-minan to "pembina,"
hence the name.
The pembina is rather abundant in the northern part
of the state in wet places in the woods, and in cool ra-
vines as far south as Bismarck at least.
Viburnum lentago L. Sheep-berry, Nanny-berry.
In woods along streams and in ravines throughout the
state. Its habit is to grow in clumps. It is desirable
for foliage, flowers, and fruit. The leaves are glossy and
246 North Dakota Collections
bright green in summer and take glorious tints of reds
and yellow in autumn. The fruit hangs on very late into
the winter and is blue-black in color, and suffused with
frosty bloom.
Viburnum puhescens (Ait.) Pursh. Downy-leaved Arrow-
wood.
In woods along streams in eastern and northeastern
parts of the state.
Symphoricarpos occidentalis Hook. Wolf Berry, Buck Brush.
Very common everywhere in the state in depressions on
the prairie and along the edges of ravines. It is related
to the honeysuckle, and its dainty honeysuckle-like pink
flowers are attractive.
Symphoricarpos racemosus Michx. Snow Berry.
Similar to S. occidentalis but smaller and more delicate.
Lonicera dioica var. glaucescens (Rydb.) C. R. B. Honey-
suckle.
In woods and thickets in eastern and northeastern part
of state.
Vines
Clematis ligusticifolia Nutt. Virgin's Bower.
In thickets among shrubs along streams. Succeeds very
well in transplanting. It has white flowers in leafy pan-
icles succeeded by silky white plumose heads.
Menispermum canadense L. Moonseed.
In woods along streams and in ravines. Greenish-white
flowers in loose panicles, succeeded by the blue-black
fruits. The leaves are broadly ovate, light green.
Humulus lupulus L. Hop Vine.
A climber over shrubs along streams.
Celastrus scandens L. Bittersweet.
Along the sides of wooded ravines, climbing upon shrubs
and small trees. Attractive for its clean pale green
foliage in summer, which turns to pale gold in autumn.
state Historical Parks 247
Then the yellow persistent calyx lobes open, disclosing
the orange-colored fruit within.
Vitis vulpina L. Wild Grape.
In woods along streams. Desirable for beauty and
gracefulness of its twining vines and bright green leaves
and for its tart fruit in autumn. The fruit is very
desirable for making jelly. During the blossoming sea-
son in springtime the flowers very delightfully perfume
the air all about.
Parthenocissus quinquefoUa (L.) Planch. Virginia Creeper.
In woods along streams and about lakes. Beautiful in
its green foliage and clusters of purple-black fruit borne
on crimson pedicels.
Micrampelis lohata (Michx.) Greene. Wild Cucumber.
Grows over shrubs and bushes along streams and in low
ground. The masses of bloom make a lovely sight in the
evening when shadows grow long and dusk begins to
soften the lines of the landscape.
Herbaceous Flowering Plants
Aquilegia canadensis L. Wild Columbine.
In rich, well-drained moist soil where leaf-mold abounds
on steep slopes of wooded ravines of some tributaries of
the Missouri River and along the Red River of the
North, in the Pembina Mountains, Turtle Mountains, and
Sully Hill. Beautiful in form and color; it is interest-
ing also from the esthetic economic value which it had
to the aboriginal tribesmen as a source of perfume. For
this purpose the ripe seeds were carefully gathered and
stored in buckskin bags. When wanted for use the seeds
were pulverised to a fine powder, dampened to a paste,
and scattered among the clothing.
Delphinium virescens Nutt. (D. albescens Rj'bd.) Prairie
Larkspur.
In moister parts of the prairie. Stem 2-3-4 feet tall
248 North Dakota Collections
bearing- a long spike of white flowers, or the flowers
slightly tinged with bluish or brownish spots. Leaves
deeply cleft into narrow linear segments.
A7iemone canadensis L. Anemone
Widely distributed throughout the state in moister sit-
uations as in valleys and along streams and around non-
alkaline lakes. It is very hardy and takes well to culti-
vation. Its profusion of large white flowers of delicate
waxy appearance makes it very desirable. A pe-
culiar charm about this plant is an extremely delicate
and evasive fragrance which it possesses. This is not a
fragrance noticeable in the way the fragrance of the rose
or of the sweet pea is noticeable. By most persons it
would not be noticed at all, and probably would be
denied ; but it is indubitably there. It is rather an im-
palpable quality and gives the plant a property of deli-
cate mystery.
Anemone hudsoniana Rich. Cut-leaved Anemone,
Its range is from the far north into the northeastern
part of the state, where it is found on dry prairie knolls.
Anemone cylindrica A. Gray. Long-fruited Anemone.
Found throughout the state in dry situations among
bushes and at the upper edge of woody growths on
ravine sides.
Ptdsatilla patens (L.) Mill. Pasque Flower.
Abounds throughout the state on dry prairies. It is the
earliest flower to bloom in the springtime, and often ap-
pears before all snow is gone. Its bluish-purple flowers
gladden the bare brown bleak hillsides with great pro-
fusion of bloom, an earnest of returning life. Later,
when the flowers are succeeded by the ripened heads
waving their white silky tufts in the breeze the aptness
of the song ascribed to this flower by the people of the
Dakota nation can be appreciated. The Song of the
Pasque Flower has already been given in the forepart
of this paper.
State Historical Parks 249
Clemne serndata Pursh. Bee Balm, Rocky Mountain Bee
Plant.
On high banks of streams and along water courses.
About 2 to 3 feet high and has rather pretty pink flow-
ers.
Malvastrum coccineum (Pursh) A. Graj^ False Red Mallow.
Low, dusty-green plant, deeply incised leaves, salmon-
pink flowers. Grows in very dry and hard ground on
the prairie. The plant was used by the Indians to make
a salve for all kinds of skin eruptions and rash.
Viola papilionacea Pursh. Blue Violet, Johnnie-jump-up.
In woods, brush, and wet meadows,
Viola sororia Willd.
Similar in appearance and habit to V. papilionacea.
Viola pedatifida G. Don. Large Blue Prairie Violet.
Rather common on high rich ground. Large deep-blue
flower.
Viola nuttallii Pursh. Small Yellow Prairie Violet.
On very dry soil, high plains, and stony or gravelly
knolls.
Viola rugulosa Greene. Large White Wood Violet.
In woods and thickets.
Oxalis violacea L. Sheep Sorrel.
In loose sandy soil on prairies. Pretty, delicate pink
flowers.
Oxalis stricta Small. Yellow Sheep Sorrel.
In woods, thickets, and fields. Smaller than 0. violacea.
Small yellow blossoms.
Linum Icwisii Pursh. Wild Blue Flax.
On dry prairies and high dry buttes. Perennial. Very
profuse bloomer, especially when planted in more fa-
vorable soil. Blossoms are beautiful sky-blue.
Euphorhia manjinata Pursh. Snow-on-the-mountain.
On prairies. About 2 feet high. Notable for the white-
margined bracts under the inflorescence.
250 North Dahota Collections
Dodecatheon pauciflorum (Dur.) Greene. Shooting-star.
In wet meadows or open grounds near woods in eastern
and northern part of state.
Gentiana procera Holm. Small Fringed Gentian.
In low wet grounds and wet meadows.
Gentiana acuta Miclix. Northern Gentian.
On banks of streams, lake shores, and damp depressions
of prairie.
Gentiana af finis Griesb. Oblong-leaved Gentian.
In moist meadows.
Asclepias incarnata L. Swamp Milkweed.
In marshes and sloughs. Flowers red or rose-purple.
Asclepias syriaca L. Big Milkweed.
Two to three feet tall, leaves large, oblong or oval, flowers
greenish-purple. A useful food plant and much used by
the people of the various native tribes. The parts used
are the tender young sprouts, the young leaves, the bud
clusters, and the tender immature seed-pods.
Physalis lancealata Michx. Prairie Ground-cherry.
Grows in little clumps in sandy prairie soil. Flowers
dull yellow. Fruits yellow, with persistent, enlarged
calyx enclosing them.
Physalis heterophylla Nees.
Dull yellow flowers.
Pentstemon cristatus Nutt.
Erect stalk, flowers red or yellow, root perennial.
Pentstemon grancUflorus Nutt.
Perennial from the root, stalk stout, 2 to 3 feet tall,
leaves glabrous, pea-green, obovate, fleshy ; flowers large,
showy, lavender-blue. Flourishes in sandy soil. Re-
sponds magnificently to cultivation.
Pentstemon gracilis Nutt.
Stalk small, flowers purple.
Pentstemon angustifolius Pursh.
Stalk small, glaucous ; flowers blue.
state Historical Parks 251
Oerardia aspera Dougl.
In dry prairies. Flowers deep purple,
Gerardia renifolia Vahl.
Flowers light purple, spotted, rarely white,
Castilleja sessiflora Pursh. Painted Cup.
Stems stout, densely leafy, 8-10 inches high, flowers
yellowish.
Phlox pilosa L. Prairie Sweet William,
In moist meadows. Stems 2 feet to 2i/2 feet high.
Flower cluster corymbed, variant in color, white, pink,
rose, and white with flecks of pink.
Phlox hoodii Rich,
P. douglasii Hook ^^round Phlox.
On dry knolls and buttes, growing in low tufts with
pine-like sharp-pointed leaves, and snow-white flowers.
Mertensia lanceolata (Pursh) D C,
In thickets and on open hillsides. Eight to ten inches
high. Flowers deep blue.
Lithospermum canescens (Michx,) Lehm. Puccoon.
In dry sandy loam on prairie. In little clumps of sev-
eral stalks from one root. Tubular, orange-colored
flowers in short leafy racemes. The root was used by
Indians for staining articles red,
Lithospermum linearfolium Goldie, Narrow-leaved Puccoon,
Single stalks, tubular lemon-colored flowers. Similar
habitat as the preceding species.
Verbena hastata L, Blue Vervain or Blue Verbena,
In moist meadows, 3 or 4 feet high, spike of blue
flowers.
Agastache anethiodora (Nutt.) Britton. Wild Anise.
In open woods and among bushes in moist places, as in
ravines. Stems rather slender, 1 to 3 feet high, leaves
ovate or triangular, bright green above, tending to turn
purplish in autumn, whitish on under side. Spikes of
blue flowers. The entire plant is fragrant with an
252 North Dakota Collections
anise-like odor. It was used by Indians as a perfume
in a manner similar to the English use of lavender, to
lay away among articles of clothing.
Monarda fistulosa L. Horse-mint. Wild Bergamot.
Among bushes, in ravines, and in depressions in the
prairie. Dusty-green leaves, purple-streaked stalks from
1 foot to 21/2 feet high. Flowers pinkish-purple.
There is a sweet-scented variety (or sub-species?) recog-
nized by the Indians but not recognized by taxonomic
botanists. But this species, sub-species or variety nev-
ertheless does exist and is not uncommon, being found in
fewer individual numbers everywhere seemingly that
the strong-scented one is found. The leaves of the
sweet-scented form were gathered and dried to lay away
with clothing for perfume by all the tribes inhabiting the
range of the species.
Mentha canadensis L. Native Mint.
Along banks of streams, about ponds and other wet
places. Perennial, spreading by root-stocks as well as
by seed. Leaves and stem bright green and fragrant
and aromatic. Used by Indians for a drink like tea ; also
for flavoring meats in cooking, and for packing away
with dried meat.
Fragaria virginana Duch. Scarlet or Meadow Strawberry.
In moist meadows. Very handsome flower and fruit.
Leaves dark green, clusters of white flowers followed
by brilliant scarlet fruit, held well up from the ground,
and of good size. Most delicious flavor.
Fragraria americana (Porter) Britton. Wood Strawberry.
In woody ravines. Plant small and delicate, fruit small
and narrowly conical.
Lupinvs argentens Pursh. Silvery Lupine.
Rather bushy, silvery foliage, 9 to 18 inches high.
Flowers purple.
State Historical Parks 253
Luphius pusillus Piirsh. Low Lupine.
Flowers blue.
Astragalus crassicarpus Nutt. Buffalo Pea. Ground Plum.
Prostrate stems green with mottling of red. Pinnately
divided leaves, purple flowers in racemes, followed by
large fleshy plump pea-pods, green in color mottled with
red.
Hosackia america^ia (Nutt) Piper. Ghost Beans.
Annual, slender, brownish, branched stems, leaves tri-
foliate, flowers small, white, profuse, followed by slender
brown pods containing the small, hard, brown peas or
beans. Called "Ghost Bean" by the Arikara tribe of
Indians.
Glycyrhiza lepidota Nutt. Wild Licorice.
The native species of licorice. Used medicinally by In-
dians before the coming of white men and white men's
drugstores with the imported species of licorice.
Bushy, half-woody plants, perennial root, white or
yellowish white flowers, followed by a bur-like pod.
Called by the Dakota nation winawizi (jealous woman)
' ' because they stick to a man. ' '
Psoralea esculenta Pursh. Tipsin.
A low, bushy plant, perennial by the rather large stor-
age root. Leaves trifoliate, hairy ; flowers blue. The
root was a very important item of the food supply of all
of the prairie tribes. In the writings of the early voy-
ageurs it is mentioned by the name ' ' pomme blanche ' ' or
"pomme de prairie" by which the French trappers and
traders called it. The roots were dug in June or early
July, depending upon the latitude and consequent stage
of maturity of the plant. They were peeled, and either
cooked for present consumption, or dried for future use.
The women gathered them by the use of their digging
sticks. A very pretty fancy attached to the industry
254 North Dakota Collections
of their harvesting. From the branching habit of the
plant the women would say to their children, whom they
had assisting them by looking for the plants upon the
prairie, ''See, they point to each other. Now here is
one, notice the directions in which its arms point and
you will find another one." So the children would look
for the plants, and of course, if they followed in any
direction pointed by a branch of the plant, and kept
close watch, they would find another.
Psoralea argophylla Pursh.
Perennial, gray, widely branching, bushy plants, small
blue flowers.
Falcata comosa (L.) Kuntze. Ground Bean.
Slender, winding, climbing, and spreading vine. Very
bean-like in appearance. Racemes of pale purple blos-
soms borne on the upper branches. It forms two kinds
of branches, bearing two forms of flowers, producing
two forms of fruits. Leafy branches climb up over the
shrubbery, but under these, in the shade, prostrate on
the earth, starting out from the base of the main stem,
are leafless, colorless branches, forming a network on
the surface of the ground. The tiny, inconspicuous
blossoms borne on these prostrate branches are self-pol-
linated and push into the leafmold and soft soil and
there each produces a single large bean closely clothed
by a thin, filmy pod or husk. These beans which are
formed in the earth are about the size of Lima beans.
Upon the upper leafy branches are borne showy, pur-
plish flowers appearing like small bean blossoms. From
these blossoms are produced small bean pods about a
half inch in length. These pods contain each from three
to four or five small, hard, mottled beans about* an
eighth of an inch long.
The large beans produced in the ground are desirable
for food. They are of good flavor when cooked. The
state Historical Parks 255
small beans of the upper branches are also good for
food, but they are so small and difficult to harvest that
not much use is made of them by the people. The large
beans formed in the earth would also be hard to gather
but for the help of certain little animals called wood
mice, or bean mice. The bean mice dig the large beans;
and store them in considerable quantities in storage
places which they hollow out in the ground and which
they cover up with sticks and leaves and earth. In these
places the little animals put away sometimes a peck or a
half bushel of beans.
Throughout all the extensive range of Falcata comosa,
the ground-bean, it was sought by the people of the vari-
ous Indian tribes to add to their food supply. The peo-
ple said they did not take away all the beans from the
bean mice as it would be wicked to loot the animal's
food stores and leave the animals to starve after they had
worked to gather them. But they would take a part of
the store, in a manner making themselves beggars to the
little animals. The Omahas have a saying "The
bean mouse is a very industrious fellow, he even helps
human beings."
But in all accounts I have had from the people of the
Dakota nation the women have always said that they
never took away any beans from the bean mice without
making payment in kind. They said it would be wicked
and unjust to take the beans from the animals and give
nothing in return. So they said they always put back
some corn, some suet, or some other food material in
exchange for the beans they took out. In that way they
said both they and the little animals obtained a variety
in their food supply. They said they thought it very
wrong to deprive the animals of their store without such
payment, but that it was fair if they gave a fair ex-
change.
256 North Dakota Collections
The people of the Dakota nation speak of the wood-
mice or bean mice by the designation of "hintunka
people." In the Dakota theory of the universe they
personifj^ the maternal power and spirit by the name
Hunka. Hunka is the mystic All-Mother in nature, the
mother of all living beings, plant and animal, which of
course includes mankind. For they do not think of
mankind as being apart from nature and the community
of life in the world.
The Dakota have a moral story which is told as follows :
A certain woman went and plundered the store-house
of some hiutunka people. She robbed them of their
entire food supply without even giving them anything at
all in return. The next night this woman who had
robbed the hintunka people of all their food supply
heard a woman down in the woods crying and saying
"Oh, what will my poor children do?" It was the
voice of one of tlie hintunka women crying over her
hungry children.
The same night the woman who had done the wrong
had a dream. In her dream Hunka appeared to her and
said "You should not have taken the food from the
hintunka people. Take back the food to them, or else
your own children shall cry for food."
The next morning the woman told her husband what
Hunka had said to her. Her husband said, "You had
better do as Hunka tells you to do." But the woman
was hard-hearted and perverse and would not restore to
the hintunka people the food of which she had robbed
them, neither would she give them anything in ex-
change.
A short time after this a great prairie fire came,
driven by a strong wind, and swept over the place where
this unjust woman and her family were camping. The
fire burned up her tipi and everything it contained, and
State Historical Parks 257
they barely escaped with their lives. They had no food
nor shelter and they had to wander on the prairie des-
titute.
The bean mouse and its works are regarded with re-
spect, admiration, and reverence b}^ the people of the
various Indian tribes which benefit by its labor. They
feel very resentful towards any seeming tendency to
meddle unwarrantedly with the winter store-houses of
the bean mouse. Upon hearing of the desire of a white
man to make a photograph of such a store-house an old
man of the Teton-Dakota on the Standing Rock Reserva-
tion expressed bitter resentment and declared himself
ready to fight to prevent such a thing from being done.
He said "We have enough misfortune already, counting
the war and the epidemic of influenza, without inviting
further disaster by such sacrilege."
In the month of November, after the bean mice have
harvested their beans and laid them up in their store-
houses for the winter, the people often go out alone and
sit near some such store-house in silent meditation on
the ways of Providence. At that time of year mission-
aries and priests are often pained and puzzled because of
the absence of some of their church members from Sun-
day service or from mass on Sunday morning. They do
not know, and likely would not appreciate or understand
the feeling which has caused these people to go out at
such a time, not to the church but out to this quiet place
under the open heaven where they sit upon the lap of
Mother Earth reverently and thankfully to meditate
upon the mysteries of nature and the wonderful provis-
ions of God in nature.
At such times they like to bring in to their homes or
to their churches some object connected with the bean
mouse and his marvelous ways and work. If they find
some beans which the bean mouse has spilled in trans-
258 North Dakota Collections
portation to his store-house, or a tree-leaf which they
fancy he has used as his sled for carrying his loads from
field to store-house they lay them up reverently in the
home or in the church with devout regard for prayerful
meditation. Indians say that the bean mouse uses a leaf
of the box elder tree, or sometimes another kind of a
leaf of suitable shape, as a sled for gathering his stores.
At one time an old blind man of the Teton-Dakota
on the Standing Rock Reservation on the upper Mis-
souri River went out to the vicinity of a bean mouse's
store-house to meditate and pray. A man saw him and
quietly approached within hearing distance. As the old
man was blind he did not perceive the approach of the
observer. Thinking himself alone in the presence of the
powers of nature, this devout old man, gave expression
to his religious feeling in the following prayer :
Thou who art holy, pity me and help me I pray.
Thou art small, but thou art sufficiently large for
thy place in the world. And thou are sufficiently
strong also for thy work, for Holy Wakantanka con-
stantly strengthens thee. Thou art wise, for the
wisdom of holiness is with thee constantly.
May I be wise in all my heart continually, for if
an attitude of holy wisdom leads me on, then this
shadow-troubled life shall come into constant light.
Petalostemum candidmn Michx. White Prairie Clover.
Stems 12 to 18 inches high ; erect, leaves finely divided.
Cjdindrical blossoms heads white, 1 to 2 inches long.
Petalostemum purpureum (Vent.) Rydb. Purple Prairie
Clover
Similar to preceding, but a little larger, and the flowei-s
purple.
Oenthera rhomhipetala Nutt, Evening Primrose.
In sandy soil ; erect stems, 18 inches to 3 feet high. The
lemon yellow flowers appear before dawn and are glad-
State Historical Parks 259
some in appearance and enehantinglj'- fragrant with a
haunting, most delicate fragrance. The flowers wither by
midforenoon unless the day be cloud}^, cool, and dami).
Anogra pallida (Lind.) Britton.
Diffusely branched, sparsely leaved, whitish, shreddy
stems. Flowers similar to Oenothera but white, chang-
ing to a pinkish color just before withering.
Meriolix serrulata (Nutt.) Walp. Tooth-leaved Evening
Primrose.
Deep green leaves, stems fine and half woody, growing
in tufts. The flowers are comparatively large, lemon
j^ellow, charming.
Gaura coccinea Pursh.
Stems much branched, 8 to 12 inches high, delicate pink
flowers which turn to scarlet.
Coi'i/phantha vivipara (Nutt.) Britton & Rose. Ball Cactus.
(Mamillaria vivipara (Nutt.) Haw.; Cactus viviparus
Nutt.)
In dry soil and on stony buttes on the prairie. Grooved
spherical stems bearing several reddish-brown spines.
Rose red flowers, followed by rosy-red fruits of pleasant
tart flavor.
Opimtia polyacantha Haw. Prickly Pear.
In dry soil and on buttes. Spiny, flat, jointed stems,
flowers large and delicate yellow in color.
Mentzelia decapetala (Pui*sh.) Urban & Gilg.
(Nuttallia decapetala (Pursh.) Greene)
In shaly soil on buttes. Erect, stiff stems about 2 feet
high. Large, showy white flowers appearing at evening.
Galium horeale L.
In valleys, ravines, and depressions of the prairie. Dense
panicles of white flowers. About 2 feet high.
Galium triflorum Michx. Ladies' Bouquet.
Trailing, vine-like plant of delicate green. In moist,
shad}'' situations. Fragrant in withering. Used for per-
fume by Indian women.
260 North Dakota Collections
Canipanida rotundfoUa L. Bluebell. Hare-bell.
On prairies, especially on northern aspect of hills. Slen-
der, graceful stems, linear leaves, beautiful blue, bell-
shaped flowers.
Lobelia syphilitica L. Blue Lobelia.
In wet ground along streams. Flowers mostly bright
blue, sometimes pale.
Vernonia fascicvlata Michx. Ironweed.
Stiff, erect stems 2 to 3 feet high. In marshy places.
Close heads of deep purple flowers.
Liatris scariosa (L.) Hill. Blazing Star.
Stiff, erect stems, linear leaves, spikes of purple flowers.
Grindelia squarrosa (Pursh.) Dumal.
Bushy, much branched, stiff plant, resinous, glossy leaves,
bright yellow flower heads.
Solidago canadensia L. and a number of other species. Gol-
denrod.
Various types of goldenrod are well known ; most of them
graceful and splendid in their glowing golden color.
Boltonia asteroides (L.) L'Her.
In low wet ground. Pure white flowers.
Aster spp.
Thirteen species are reported in the state, both purple
and white, also blue. There is the small bushy white
aster of the prairie, and the tall, grand, purple New
England aster of the woods. The asters reported for the
state of North Dakota are as follows :
Aster sagittifolius Willd.
Aster Noviae-angliae L.
Aster multiflorns Ait.
Aster commutatus (T. & G.) A. Gray.
Aster salicifolius Lam.
Aster paniculatus Lam.
Aster ptarmicoidea (Nees.) T. & G.
State Historical Parks 261
Erigeron multifides Rydb.
On dry, stony knolls.
Erigeron asper Nutt. \
Erigeron suhtrinervis Rydb. > In dry prairie soil.
Erigeron pumilus Nutt. ]
Erigeron philadelphicus L.
In woods and fields.
Erigeron raniosus (Walt.) B. S. P.
On prairie and waste places.
Erigeron lonchophyllus Hook.
In moist places, about ponds or streams.
Silphium perfoliatum L. Cup-plant.
In moist places in valleys and depressions. Tall, strong
stems, broad, clasping leaves which make a cup about the
stem holding water. Large yellow flower heads.
Rudheckia hirta L. Black-eyed Susan.
Floral rays orange colored, or darker at the base, the
disk velvety purple-brown.
Rudbeckia laciniata L. Wild Golden-glow.
In moist thickets. Tall, branching stems pale green,
leaves deeply divided, ray flowers yellow, disk flowers
greenish-yellow.
Echinacea angustifoUa D C. Purple Cone Flower.
In dry soil on the prairie. One foot to one and one half
feet tall. Stem and leaves rough ; ray flowers purple,
the disk flowers forming a spiny brown cone.
Helianthus annuus L. Common Sunflower.
Annual, stems strong and tall, 3 feet to 6 or 8 feet. The
ray flowers are brilliantly yellow, the disks brown. The
seeds are rich in food value, and are used by Indians of
various tribes. This species was brought into cultiva-
tion ages ago by Indians, probably in the region of the
Platte and Kansas Rivers. Cultivated sunflowers
thence spread from tribe to tribe all the way to the At-
262 North Dakota Collections
lantic Coast, so that when the first English, Dutch, and
French settlers came they found that among other crops
the Indians of those regions produced was the cultivated
sunflower. From them the seed reached Europe.
Helianthus petiolaris Nutt. Prairie Sunflower.
Similar to the preceding species, but smaller and more
branching. Found especially in sandy situations.
Helianthus tuderosus L. "Jerusalem Artichoke."
This plant is not an artichoke and has no connection in
any way with Jerusalem; aside from these strictures
the common name is all right. It is an annual but
tubers are formed which live over and start out new
growth in spring just as do potatoes. The tubers were
used for food by the Indian tribes. They were so im-
portant an item that they figure in many legends and
stories.
Helianthus niaximiliani Schrad. Maximilian's Sunflower.
Perennial by thickened fleshy roots. Stems stout, tall,
flowers abundant and brilliantly yellow.
Gaillardia aristata Pursh. Gaillardia.
Perennial; stem simple, one to one and one-half feet
high. On dry prairies. Flowers variable, yellow and
orange with reddish tints ; showy.
Achillea lanulosa Nutt. Western Yarrow.
Perennial, leaves finely bipinnatifid. From this char-
acter of the leaf, and from its curvature, some Indian
tribes name it "Squirrel-tail Plant." Inflorescence
white, in dense cymes.
Artemisia spp. Wild Sage and Sage Brush.
All species of Artemisia are of interest for their uses by
the people of the various Indian tribes, and for the con-
sequent folk-lore connected.
All the smaller, herbaceous species of Artemisia were
used b3^ Indians medicinally and ceremonially. The
stem of sage-brush was used for making pipe-picks for
State Historical Parks 263
cleaning the pipe bowl. This may be connected with the
idea pertaining to Artemisia that its spirit is inimical
to evil powers and will drive them away. It is with
that idea that Artemisia was used in ceremonial in-
cense.
Carduus flodmanii Rydb. Thistle.
In dry soil on the prairie. Flowers rose or purplish.
Herbaceous Flowering Plants, Monocotyledons
Sagittaria arifolia Nutt. Arrowleaf .
Glossy green leaves and snow-white waxy flowers. In
low, wet places, sluggish streams and ponds. Tubers
were used for food by Indians.
Typha latifolia L. Cat-tail.
In margins of ponds and slow streams. Has a certain
beauty in such situations, and also of interest for its
use by Indians in surgical dressings and in caring for
infants.
Tradescantia hracteata Small,
Tradescantia occidentalis Britton.
Spiderwort. Flower-of-romance.
In sandy soil. This is a charmingly beautiful and deli-
cate flower, deep blue in color, with a tender-bodied
plant of graceful lines. There is no more appealingly
beautiful flower on the western prairies than this one
when it is sparkling with dewdrops in the first beams of
the rising sun. There is about it a suggestion of purity,
freshness, and daintiness.
When a young man of the Dakota nation is in love, and
walking alone on the prairie finds this flower blooming,
he stops and sings to it a song in which he personifles it
with the qualities of his sweetheart's character as they
are called to his mind by the characteristics figuratively
displayed by the flower before him. In his mind the
beauties of the flower and of the girl are mutually trans-
muted and flow together into one image.
264 North Dakota Collections
The words of his song, translated from the Dakota
language into the English, are something like this.
"Tiny gladsome flower.
So cheerful and modest,
Thou art dear and sweet,
And for love of thee I 'd die. ' '
Lilhim umhellatum Pursh. Flame Lily. Fire Lily.
In moist places in valleys and in depressions of the
prairie. One of the early botanical explorers a hundred
years ago describes the valley of a small tributary of the
Knife River, from the abundance of flame lilies, as ap-
pearing like a scarlet ribbon winding between the hills,
from one of which he viewed it.
Fritillaria atropurppurea Pursh. Purple Fritillaria.
In sandy soil on prairies.
Calochortus nuttallii T. & G. Mariposa Lily.
On buttes and plateaus in the Bad Lands.
Yucca glauca Nutt. Yucca. Spanish Bayonet.
Clumps of bayonet-like blades surround the tall flower
stalk. The flowers are large and creamy-white. Desir-
able for its beauty and interesting for several points of
usefulness in aboriginal domestic economy. One use is
that of the root for washing, in the manner of soap, es-
pecially in shampooing the hair.
Hypoxis hirsuta (L.) Coville. Star-of-Bethlehem.
Dainty golden star-like flowers among the grass in moist
places.
Sisyrinchium mucronatum Michx. Blue-eyed Grass.
A beautiful little starry blue flower of the Iris family,
growing with the grass in moist places.
Cypripedium hirsutum Mill. Lady's Slipper. Moccasin
Flower.
In wet woodsy places. Very desirable for its delicate
beauty and rarity.
state Historical Parks 265
Cypripedium candidum Willd. White Lady's Slipper.
What was said of the preceding species may also be said
of this.
Grasses
Andropogon furcatus Muhl. Big Blue-stem. Big Blue-joint.
Tall, rich, beautiful grass, emerald green when young,
taking purplish coloring in summer, and in later sum-
mer becoming red as it matures. This chacteristic sug-
gested the name of this grass in the Omaha language.
The Omahas call it "Hade zhide," which means "red
hay." It delights in rich moist soil.
Andropogon scoparius Michx. Little Blue-stem. Bunch
Grass.
Has the habit of growing in bunches, slender, stiff stems.
Like the previous species it turns reddish in color in
maturity.
Panicum virgatum L. Switch Grass.
A tall, graceful grass. Grows in similar situation as
Andropogon furcatus. It has a good green color, turn-
ing yellow, or sometimes a little reddish in maturity.
The heads are spreading, the seeds each inclosed in a
glossy brown glume.
Zizania aquatica L. Wild Rice.
Five or six feet tall or more according to the depth of
water in which it may be growing. Grows in ponds and
streams of sweet water ; will not grow in alkaline waters.
This was an item of the utmost importance in the domes-
tic economy of the native tribes.
Savastana odoata (L.) Scribn. Sweet Grass.
Low-growing, fine, delicate, bright green grass, aromatic.
Used by Indians as incense in sacred ceremonies. Also
used as a perfume in clothing, as English people use
lavender. This grass likes a moist situation.
Stipa spartea Trin. Needle Grass. Porcupine Grass.
Grows in similar situations as Andropogon furcatus, in
266 North Dakota Collections
fact, is found in association with that grass. The long,
stiff awns of this grass were used by Indians to make
hair brushes.
Spartina michauxiana Hitch. Slough Grass.
Tall, erect stalks, leaves bright green, the seed spike of
several spikelets. Grows in very wet ground.
Bouteloua hirsuta Lag.
Bouteloua oligostachya (Nutt.) Torr. Gramma Grass.
In dry soil, especially dry, sandy loam. A short, fine
grass, the stems rising about six or eight inches above
the low mat of leaves, and bearing two spikelets shaded
with purplish color.
Bulb His dacty hides (Nutt.) Kaf. Buffalo Grass.
This is the true Buffalo grass, found on dry prairies, but
rather rare in North Dakota, though it is found in some
places. Makes a close, low mat of curly leaves on the
ground. The stems also creep very close to the ground
and take root at intervals, thus increasing the area of a
patch of this grass.
INDEX
American Fur Company, Fort
Laramie station of, 20
Arikara, important part in cam-
paign, 9-15; form U. S. Volun-
teer scouts, 11; Indian scouts
with Custer's command, 26; dis-
cover Dakota village, 30; with
Eeuo, 31 ; narrative of their part
in the Custer campaign, 37 ; dele-
gation goes to Washington, 38;
story of first enlistment, 41;
cede lands to United States, 42;
attacked by Dakotas, 42; enlist
as scouts, 45 ; in fight with Da-
kotas, 47; another enlistment,
48; further enlistments, 50;
friends of Mandans, 63 ; earn
money killing game, 73 ; read
Dakota medicine, 78; interpret
signs, 79 and note; anointed
by medicine man, 84, note; list
of those who rode to the charge,
85 ; led by Crows, 86-88 ; in bat-
tle of Little Big Horn, 93-121;
carry messages of the defeat,
104, 105; drive off Dakota
horses, 117; reported killed,
143 ; camp attacked by Dakotas,
148; charge for Dakota camj),
149, 150; fight with Dakotas,
166, 167, 168, 169; find gold,
169; visit the Pawnees, 179;
winter at Painted Butte, 181;
many die of smallpox, 181; war-
riors killed by Dakotas, 189,
190; go to Fort Berthold, 203
Arikara Indian village, in Fort
Eice State Park, 219
Armstrong, meeting of scouts, 9
Augur, General C. C, commands
Department of the Gulf, 23,
note
Arrow - Feathered -by- Crow-Feather,
see Coleman, James
Badgek, M. E., member park
board, 219
Bear, Alfred, interpreter, 121,
135, 163
Bear Chief, chief over Arikara, 37
Bear's Belly, scouts meet at his
home, 9; story of expedition to
Black Hills, 163-170; drags head
and skin of bear, 199
Beauchamp, J. B., donates site for
park, 221; member park board,
221
Beaucham]), Peter, interpreter, 10,
37, note; goes to Washington,
38 ; present at meeting of scouts,
45; fights with Dakotas, 47;
mentioned, 54
Beede, Judge A. McG., hears scout
narratives, 9; mentioned, 12
Belle Fourche, Black Hills camp,
19
Benteen, Major, commands part of
Custer 's expedition, 31 ; ordered
268
Index
to join Custer, 32; meets Eeno,
33 ; in battle of Little Big Horn,
94, note, 107, note, 122, note,
172, 173; mentioned, 209
Bortliold, Fort, reservation, 9;
mentioned, 44; attacked by Da-
kotas, 187, 188
Big Belly, Crow scout, 86; dis-
putes with Custer, 92; in battle
of Little Big Horn, 96, 97, 98,
99
Big Horn Eiver, center for Indian
operations, 24
Bjerke, Olaf, member park board,
217
Black Fox, enlists as scout, 51 ;
battle of Little Big Horn, 119,
120, 122 and note, 150 and note,
155; disappears, 160; killed,
193
Black Hills, part of Dakota reser-
vation, 17 ; gold discovered, 18 ;
second expedition, 21, note;
story of expedition, 163-170
Black Mouth, secret society, 186
Bloody Knife, takes prominent
part, 12; sent on expedition, 49;
enlists as scout, 51 ; Custer 's
favorite scout, 58 and note;
promised many things by Custer,
62; orders to scouts, 74; stops
quarrel between Reno and High
Bear, 74, note; drunk, 78; his
dress in battle, 96; body found,
109 ; scalp recognized. 111 ; in
battle of Little Big Horn, 122,
123, 127, 129, 150, 151; shot at
by Custer, 194
Bob-tailed Bull, first to fall, 11;
mentioned, 53, 55; interview
with Custer, 55-57; made leader,
56; meets Custer, 58; leader of
Grass Dance Society, 59; leads
band of scouts, 77, 82; in bat-
tle of Little Big Horn, 95, 96,
97, 98, 102 (killed), 122, 123,
126, 127, 150; made sergeant,
136
Borman, M. M., member park
board, 217
Bouyer, Mitch., interpreter, 158
and note; tells scouts to go
with Custer, 159
Boy Chief, brother of Red Bear,
52; story of enlistment, 53-55;
in battle of Little Big Horn,
95, 122, 130, 131, 150, 151, 154;
continues narrative, 118-119;
killed, 189
Bradley, Lieutenant, first of Ter-
ry's command to reach field of
disaster, 107, note
Buffalo, secret society, 186
Bull Head, enlists as scout, 44;
made head of band, 46; thrown
from horse, 47; belongs to se-
cret society, 48
Bull-Stands-in-the-Water, leader of
Da-roch'-pa, 59; wants to go to
happy hunting ground with a
full belly, 83 ; in battle of Little
Big Horn, 130, 131, 132
Burial scaffold, 75
Caddell, M. C, member park
board, 218
Caroo, Dakota scout, 59; detailed,
69 ; in battle of Little Big Horn,
131
Caviller County State Park, 221
Chaboillez, builds first trading post
in state, 220
Index
269
Chambers, Major Alex., commaiuls
troops, 25
Charging Bull, enlists as scout, 45,
50, 51; in battle of Little Big
Horn, 130, 131
Clark, Fort, mentioned, 42
Coleman, James, white trader, 71
and note; biography of, 206-
209
Commission, to treat with Indians,
17
Congress, provides commission to
treat with Indians, 17; investi-
gation of abuses, 57, note
Conrad, E. J., member park board,
218
Crazy Horse, camj) destroyed, 23
Crook, General George, commands
Department of the Platte, 22,
note; ordered to proceed against
Indians, 23; driven back, 24;
second expedition, 24; again re-
treats, 25; quoted, 81, note;
unites with Terry and Gibbon,
146 and note; on Sitting Bull's
trail, 147
Crooked Horn, enlists as scout,
51; meets Custer, 58; head of
New Dog Society, 59; orders
scouts to take note to camp, 88
Crow, secret society, 186
Crow Gizzard, Hidatsa chief, 42
Crow scouts, with the army, 76
and note; report abandoned Da-
kota camps, 80; in battle of
Little Big Horn, 93-121, 123,
129, 130; reported killed, 120;
return to reservation, 146, 147;
meet Custer, 158; brought Ter-
ry first news of battle, 160 and
note
Crows, lead the scouts, 86-88; in
battle of Little Big Horn, 93-
121
Curley, not sole survivor, 14, 15;
with Custer at battle of Little
Big Horn, 119, 120; not with
Custer, 160; reaches mouth of
Little Big Horn, 208
Custer, Mrs. Elizabeth, with her
husband, 136, note
Custer, General Geo. A., his strat-
egy? 13, 14; commands expedi-
tion to Black Hills, 18; at Fort
Lincoln, 25; starts on last ex-
pedition, 26; receives instruc-
tions, 27; strangely depressed,
29; decides to attack, 30; first
sees Indian village, 33; killed
with entire command, 34; at
Fort Lincoln, 48; finds gold in
Black Hills, 49; called Long
Hair, 51; interview with scouts,
55-57; summoned to Washington,
57, note; first on the march and
picked out his own camps, 61;
writes to Mrs. Custer of diflacul-
ties, 66, note, 67, note; reproves
Howling Wolf, 73,?io«e; marches
to Tongue River, 75, notes ; heart
like an Indian, 77; asks opin-
ions of scouts, 80; speech to
scouts, 81-82; views camp of
Dakotas, 91; disputes with Big
Belly, 92; movements known by
Dakotas (?), 91, note, 93; in-
structs scouts to capture Dako-
ta horses, 93; fight was ended,
102; body found, 108; exhorts
scouts, 121; calls for scouts,
270
Index
V.S9; visits scout camp, 140; his
confidence, 149 and note; in the
middle of the charge, 150;
fought too soon, 157; meets
Crow scouts, 158; planning next
move, 159; expedition to Black
Hills, story of, 163-170; permits
a fight, 165; gold found, 169;
consults with officers, 172 ; shoots
at Reynolds and Bloody Knife,
194; punishes Isaiah, 195
Custer, Tom, brother of the Gen-
eral, 53; frightened, 90; visits
scout camp, 140; mentioned, 172
Custer's Last Look, hill, 82, 108,
160
Dakotas, territory set apart for,
18 and note; hostiles, 22; at-
tack Arikara, 42; defeated, 43;
scouts go along with Arikara,
59; make medicine, 78; inscrip-
tions on sandstone, 79; abandon
camps, 80; knew of Custer's
movements (?), 91, note, 93;
in battle of Little Big Horn, 93-
121 ; women urge warriors, 101 ;
dead bodies stripped by soldiers,
107, 109, 110; break up village,
117, note; attack camp of scouts,
148; fight with Black Hills ex-
pedition, 166, 167, 16S; attack
on Reno and Custer, 172, 17:!,
174, 175; retreat, 175; attack
Fort Berthold, 187, 188; attack
Fort Lincoln, 189
Da-roch''-pa, secret society, 59;
Moccasin Game with Grass
Dancers, 72
Death songs, scouts told to sing,
77
DeLisle, George, member park
board, 215
Dettler, Otto, member park board,
221
Divet, A. G., member park board,
217
Doane, Lieutenant, constructs lit-
ters for wounded, 113, note
Dorman, Isaiah, negro interpreter,
75 and note; body found, 110;
punished by Custer, 195
Duckett, Reuben, interpreter, 149
Durkee, C. A., member park board,
217
Elk Head (Not-Afraid-of-Any-
body), enlists as scout, 44
Ellis, Fort, in Montana, 25
Expedition to Black Hills, story
of, 163-170
Far West, steamboat, waits for
wounded soldiers, 114, note;
mentioned by Terry, 143, note;
arrives at depot, 144 and note;
mentioned, 206
Fetterman, Fort, mentioned, 23;
troops march from, 25
Fight of horse and buffalo, 200
First trading post in state, 220
Foolish Bear, enlists as scout, 50,
51 ; in battle of Little Big Horn,
97; carries message, 134, 135
Foolish Dog, secret society, 186
Forked Horn, detailed on scouting
expedition, 69; leads party, 82;
in battle of Little Big Horn, 97,
98, 100, 101, 104, 105, 107, 110,
122, 123, 129, 150
Fort Abercrombie State Park, 216-
217
Index
271
Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park,
217-218
Fort Kice State Park, 218-2 J 9
Fox, E. J., member park board,
Game, Indians earn money killing,
72, 192
Garreau, Pierre, interpreter, 42;
mentioned, 188
Gerard, F. F., at Fort Stevenson,
44; aids Indian enlistments, 44,
45; at Fort Lincoln, 53; directs
scouts, 59; tells Indians they
can buy liquor, 72 ; tells scouts
to sing their death songs, 77;
gives scouts orders from Custer,
86; looks for Custer's body, 107,
108; directs scouts, 113, 114,
121; takes scouts to headquar-
ters, 135; his story of the Cus-
ter fight, 171-175; mentioned,
182; sends Arikara to find gold,
183, 184; receives gold, 185;
beats off Dakotas, 187, 188;
mentioned, 191
Gibbon, Colonel John, commands
division, 25; meets Terry and
Custer, 26; with Terry saves
Eeno, 35; in camp, 72, note;
quoted, 106, note; reaches bat-
tle field, 107, note; called Chief-
with-a-Eed-Nose, 145 and note;
unites with Crook, 146 and note ;
mentioned, 208
Gilmore, Melvin K., committee on
state parks, 214
Goes-Ahead, Crow scout, supple-
mentary story by, 157-160; bi-
ography of, 205, 206
Gold, found by Soldier, 185
Goose, enlists as scout, 50, 53;
favorite of Custer, 61; carries
letter, 72, 73 ; in battle of Lit-
tle Big Horn, 95, 96, 97, 98
(wounded), 99, 100, 101, 102,
104, 105, 107, 113, 114, 122,
123, 129, 150; detailed by Cus-
ter, 140, 141 and note.
Grass Dance, secret society, 59;
Moccasin Game with Da-roeh'-
pa, 72
Grasses, native, list of, 228-233,
238
Gwyther, R. G., member park
board, 219
Gurley, Lieutenant, at Fort Lin-
coln, 48
Hax,f-Yellow-Face, chief of Crow
scouts, 80, note; see Big Belly
Hanley, J. M., member park
board, 218
Harvey, J. W., member park
board, 215
Harris, Mrs. C. B., member park
board, 220
Henry, Alexander Jr., trading
post, 215, 220
Hidatsa, cede lands to United
States, 42; send peace pipe to
Arikara, 203
High Bear, enlists as scout, 51;
dispute with Eeno, 73, note
Hodgson, Lieutenant, headstone,
159
Horns-in-Front (Young Hawk's
father), enlists as scout, 50;
welcomes Young Hawk, 115
Howard, John, interpreter at Fort
Lincoln, 63; goes with mail car-
rier, 64
272
Index
Howling Bear, calls for recruits,
188
Howling Wolf, enlists as scout,
51; hides his horse, 73, note
Hudson's Bay Company, Fort Lar-
amie originally station of, 20
Indian songs, death songs, told to
sing, 77; war songs and march-
ing songs, 136 and note
Indians, reservation for, 18, note;
object to entering Black Hills,
19; hostiles and outlaws, 22;
drive back Crook, 24; hundreds
leave reservations, 24; strong-
hold on Little Big Horn, 26;
concentrate on Custer's troops,
33; war chiefs in battle of Lit-
tle Big Horn, 35; delegation
goes to Washington, 38; cede
lands to United States, 42; earn
money killing game, 72; sun-
dance, 78, and note; sign lan-
guage, 79; fighting tactics de-
scribed to Custer, 80-81 ; march-
ing songs, 136 and note
Johnson, Paul, member park
board, 215
Jordon, W. B., post trader, 207
Kittson, Norman W., trading
post, 215
Keogh, Fort, see Miles City
LaMoure, Judson, member park
board, 220
Laramie, Fort, old frontier post,
20
Lee, Chas. H., member park board,
215
Left Handed, enlists as scout, 50;
carries mail, 67
Leighton, A. C, post trader, 209
Leighton, Joe, post trader, 207
Libby, O. G., committee on state
parks, 214
Lincoln, Fort Abraham, explora-
tion party leaves for Black
Hills, 18; near Bismarck, 25;
cavalry stationed there, 48 and
note; wounded arrive, 145, note;
scouts arrive with letters, 149;
Black Hills expedition arrives,
170; attacked by Dakotas, 189;
state park, 217
Liquor selling to soldiers and In-
dians, 71, 72
Little Big Horn River, Indian
stronghold, 26; battle of, de-
scribed by Young Hawk, 93-121 ;
news of defeat reaches Gibbon,
106, note; story of battle told
by Little Sioux, 149-157
Little Brave, in battle of Little
Big Horn, 96, 103, 122, 123,
124, 125, 126, 129
Little Sioux, enlists as scout, 50;
in battle of Little Big Horn,
130, 131; supplementary story
by, 149; biography of, 191-193
Long Hair, see Custer, General
Geo. A.
Lucky Man, see Beynolds, Charles
McKaig, Eay, member park board,
219
McQueen, J. F., member park
board, 220
McDougall, escorts pack-train, 31;
joins Reno, 101, note
Mandans, delegation goes to Wash-
Index
273
ington, 38; cede lands to Unit-
ed States, 42; friends of Ari-
kara, 63; smallpox, 181; send
peace pipe to Arikara, 203
March from Bismarck to the Lit-
tle Missouri, story of, told by
Running Wolf, 135-149
March from Fort Lincoln to Pow-
der River, 57-63, 66-69, 71-85
Marsh, Captain Grant, in com-
mand of Far West, 143, note
May, Minnie, member park board,
215
Miles City, Montana, built on site
of Dakota camp, 75, note; men-
tioned, 207
Mutilation of bodies, only one,
Isaiah, the negro interpreter,
110 and note
Native trees, shrubs, etc., to be
planted in state parks, 227, 228;
list of, 228-233, 238
Ness, Christ, member park board,
217
New Dog, secret society, 48
Newton, J. H., member park
board, 218
Not-Afraid-of-Anybody, see Elk
Head
One Feather, enlists as scout, 50,
51 ; detailed on scouting expedi-
tion, 69; in battle of Little Big
Horn, 121, 122, 130, 131; born,
179 ; biography of, 203-204
One Horn, enlists as scout, 51 ;
sent back with mail, 63, 137
One Stab, guide and hostage, 20
Only Brave, enlists as scout, 45
Ord, General E. C, commands De-
partment of Texas, 23, note
Pasque-flower, song of, 234
Park system, 213-225; constitution
and by-laws, 222-225; parks to
be i)lanted with native trees,
etc., 227
Peaked Face, see Varnum, Lieu-
tenant
Pembina, Fort, first Federal mili-
tary post in northern part of
state, 220
Pembina State Park, 219-220
Plain, C. W., member park board,
221
Plants, flowering, native, list of,
228-233, 238
Pope, General eTohn, commands
Department of the Missouri, 23,
note
Porcupine Dens, where carriers ex-
changed mail, 54
Pretty Face, enlists as scout, 51;
detailed with mule train, 85; in
battle of Little Big Horn, 131
Red Bear, sent on expedition to
Mussel Shell, 49; enlists as
scout, 50, 51; winters at Heart
Camp, 51 ; story of enlistment,
52-53; carries mail to Custer's
camp, 63-66; leads band of
scouts, 77; in battle of Little
Big Horn, 96, 123, 124, 125,
126, 127, 128, 129, 131; supple-
mentary story, 121-135; biogra-
phy of, 200-202
Red Cloud, his daughter wife of
One Stab, 20; commands large
numbers, 25
Red Cow, Mandan chief, 42
R^d Dog, enlists as scout, 44
Red Elk, enlists as scout, 45
274
Index
Red Foolish Bear, enlisted as
scout, 53; sent back with mail,
63, 137; in battle of Little Big
Horn, 96, 98, 102, 105, 107, 113,
122, 129
Red Star, story of march, 57-63,
66-69, 71-85; story of special
scout work, 86-93; in battle of
Little Big Horn, 94, 95, 122,
130, 131, 151; gives horse to
Soldier, 117; continues narra-
tive, 118-121; biography of,
195-200
Reno, Major, could have held posi-
tion, 12; with Custer's expedi-
tion, 26; ordered to "charge the
village," 31; saved by Terry,
35; dispute with High Bear, 73,
note; "The man with the dark
face," 74, 7iote; in battle of
Little Big Horn, 94, note, 95,
note, 102, note, 103, note, 105,
note, 115, note, 117, note, 119,
note, 120, 122, note, 123, note,
124, note, 128 and notes, 129,
130, 150, note, 159; ordered to
overtake Indians, 172; results
of his tactics, 173, 174, 175;
mentioned, 209
Reynolds, Charles, sent to Fort
Laramie, 20; in Black Hills, 49,
50; called "Lucky Man," 86;
sends note to camp, 88; at the
cave or den, 164, note; sent with
papers by Custer, 168; arrives
at Fort Lincoln, 170; killed,
173; shot at by Custer, 194
Reynolds, Colonel J. J., with ex-
pedition to Indian country, 23
Rice, Fort, cavalry stationed there,
48, note
Royal, Colonel W. B., commands
troops, 25
Running Wolf, enlists as scout,
51; supplementary story by,
135-149; biography of, 204-205
Scabby Wolf, enlists as scout,
51; carries mail, 67
Secret societies. New Dog, 48, 59;
Grass Dance, 59; Da-roch'-pa,
59; Moccasin Game, 72; Crow,
Foolish Dog, Black Month, Buf-
falo, 186
Sheridan, General P. H., in com-
mand of Missouri Military Di-
vision, 22 and note; orders
Crook to proceed against In-
dians, 23 ; plans another cam-
paign, 24; reports on Indian at-
tacks, 48, note; quoted, 81, note,
92, note
Shrubs, native, list of, 228-233,
238
Shumaker, C. W., member park
board, 220
Sibley 's expedition, mentioned,
183
Sioux, see Dakotas
Sitting Bear, tells story of his
father, Son-of-the-Star, 37; t<-lls
of first enlistment of Arikara,
41
Sitting Bull, leader of hostiles, 22 ;
commands large forces, 24; not
in battle, 35 and note; fights
with Arikara scouts, 47 ; belongs
to secret society, 48; makes
medicine, 80 and note; offers
to lead scouts, 188
Smallpox, kills many Indians, 181
Smith, E. W., assistant adjutant
Index
275
general, issues instructions to
Custer, 27
Smith, John, post trader, 206;
trusted by Custer, 207; died a
pauper, 208
Smoke, see White Gliost
Snowficld, Magnus, member park
board, 221
Soldier, enlists as scout, 44; con-
tinues narrative, 46-48; to^look
after rations, 46; fights with
Dakotas, 47 ; interview with
Custer, 55-67; second in com-
mand, 56; head of New Dog So-
ciety, 59; leads band of scouts,
77; supplementary story, 115-
118; wailing song, 115, note;
in battle of Little Big Horn,
130, 154; biography of, 179-187
Son-of-the-Star, story told by Sit-
ting Bear, 37; head of Arikara
police, 37; called to Washington,
38; promises to furnish warriors,
40; asked for more scouts, 51;
encourages scouts, 52
Stabbed, enlists as scout, 51 ;
meets Custer, 58; carries letter,
72, 73; tells Custer Indian tac-
tics, 80-81; exhorts young men,
84; instructs scouts, 93; in bat-
tle of Little Big Horn, 130, 131,
133, 154
State Historical Society, custodian
of state j.arks, 213, 223, 224,
225; marking historic sites, 226
Stevenson, Fort, built on Indian
land, 43; meeting place for
scouts, 44, 45
Strikes Enemy, in battle of Little
Big Horn, 96, 97, 98, 99 (wound-
ed), 101
Strikes-the-lodge, enlists as scout,
51; leader of Da-roch'-pa, 59;
in battle of Little Big Horn,
130, 131, 154
Strikes Two, sent on expedition,
49; enlists as scout, 50; in bat-
tle of Little Big Horn, 94, 122,
130, 131, 132, 134, 150, 151,
154; continues narrative, 118-
119; story of expedition to
Black Hills, 163-170; biography
of, 187-191
Sully, General, built Fort Rice,
218
Sun-dance, Indian ceremony, 78
and note; mentioned, 212, 205
Tall Bear, enlists as scout, 44,
45; meets Custer, 58
Taylor, Joe, mentioned, 54, 193
Terry, General Alfred H., com-
mands Department of Dakota,
22, note; at Fort Lincoln, 25;
meets Custer and Gibbon, 26;
saves Reno, 35; goes to mouth
of Powder River, 68, note; quot-
ed, 85, note; disbelieves story
of Custer's defeat, 107, note;
called Wearer-of-the-White-Hat,
134 and note; assumes command
of the Seventh Cavalry, 135,
note; in command of camp on
the Yellowstone, 142, note; re-
ports on Far West, 143, note;
unites with Crook, 146 and note;
called No-Hip-Bone, 157; hears
of Custer's defeat, 160 and
note; on Far West, 206; sends
word to Gibbon, 208
Towne, R. S., member park board,
218
276
Index
Travois for wounded, 113; used
for Soldier, 186
Trees, native, list of, 228-233, 238
Two Bears, enlists as scout, 45
U. S. Volunteer Indian scouts,
posts found, 11
Vaenum, Lieutenant, chief scout,
30; discovers camp of Dakotas,
83, note; discovers pony herd,
84, note; in battle of Little Big
Horn, 102, 107, 108; mentioned,
136, 146, 171, 197
Vines, native, list of, 228-233, 238
Waldron, C. B., committee on
state parks, 214
Walhalla State Park, 215
Watkins, E. C, Indian inspector,
22
Wearer-of-the-White-Hat, see Ter-
ry
Welford, Walter, member park
board, 220
White Cloud, Dakota scout, in bat-
tle of Little Big Horn, 129, 130,
131; carries message, 134, 135
White Ghost (Smoke), enlists as
scout, 44
White Shield, chief over Arikara,
37; represents his tribe, 42, 43;
police force, 45
Will, Geo. F., member park board,
218
Woolly-Back, white commandant
of post. 111
Wounded, carried on travois, 113,
114; placed on steamboat, 114;
arrive at depot, 144; reach Fort
Lincoln, 145, note
Young Hawk, tells story of en-
listment, 48; enlists as scout,
48; goes with Custer to Black
Hills, 48, 49 ; tells of second en-
listment, 50; again enlists, 51;
leader of Grass Dance Society,
59; cooked for Custer, 61; de-
tailed on scouting expedition,
69 ; story of the expedition, 69-
71 ; narrative of, 93-115 ; expects
to be killed, 95; seized with
madness, 99; carries message of
defeat, 105; angry at Custer's
death, 108; in battle of Little
Big Horn, 122, 123, 124, 129,
130; detailed by Custer, 140,
141 ; carries letters to Fort Lin-
coln, 149; biography of, 193-195
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