The US Scouts on Campaign

In 1888, Harper's Weekly reported that the US Army was limited by law to 25,000 enlisted service men. The Army was also limited to only 200 Indian scouts. General Miles believed that the Indian scouts were essential to the Army's efforts on the frontier. Wood engraving by RF Zogbaum which appeared in Harper's Weekly, May 1889. 

The US Indian Scouts On Expedition

On The Little Bighorn Campaign

By Dakota Wind
MANDAN, N.D. - The scouts who served at Fort Abraham Lincoln were called the Fort McKeen Detachment of Scouts. Most of them were Indian scouts in service in the United States military defending their way of life, that is, that their people could live. Other scouts were contracted civilians, holdovers from the last days of the fur trade era, who could speak the native languages fluently or knew the lay of the land like the back of their hand.

This book was required reading for one of my courses at university. It details the interactions of whites, blacks, and natives leading up to the Revoluntionary War. The English had promised freedom to black slaves who fought for the British. The English and Americans divided several tribes as each country vied for allies during the war. Log onto Amazon or ebay and get yourself a copy.

The history of scouts serving our country goes back to before there even was a United States.Certainly the history of Indians serving our country goes back just as far, and the AmericanRevolution couldn't have been won without Indians aiding the colonials or the colonials adapting the guerilla fighting techniques the Indians favored.

It wasn't until the Civil War that Congress took note of the thousands of Indians who were already fighting for both the North and South, entire companies and commands made up of Indians, including battles fought by Indians, and against Indians (ex. Cabin’s Creek) that Congress recognized the Indians' service by forming an official branch for them, the US Scouts. This new branch of the Army included an official insignia and crossed sabers accompanied by the letters “USS.”

This is the first official insignia worn by the US Scouts. The sabers of this insignia were later replaced by crossed arrows in the mid 1880s. 

The Indian scouts who served at Fort Abraham Lincoln began their service at Fort McKeen, a two company infantry post constructed in 1872. Fort Abraham Lincoln, a six company cavalry post, was built a year later on the plains below the infantry post and the new name encompassed both forts. The only thing to retain the name “Fort McKeen” was the detachment of Indian Scouts.

Each detachment of Indian Scouts received their own guidon like this one pictured. Some detachments even had their tribal affiliation on the guidon as well as which territory or fort they served at.

On July 6, 1872, Fred Gerard was hired as an interpreter at Fort McKeen. He held his position until 1882. During his first year he recruited several Arikara scouts from Fort Buford where activity was primarily running down deserters, to Fort McKeen where they engaged the Sioux in several hit-and-run raids. That first year seven Arikara Scouts died. The Post Surgeon remarked “The Indian scouts in the several skirmishes with the Sioux in Oct. and Nov. exhibited instances of the greatest personal bravery and fearlessness.”

This image of four Arikara scouts was taken at Fort Abraham Lincoln. Bloody Knife is featured in this image on the far right wearing a shaved horn headdress with eagle feather trailer, a symbol of his chieftainship in the peacekeeping society of the Arikara. 

General Custer was well aware of the value of the Indian scouts on the frontier. Oftentimes an Indian scout could get messages and mail through hostile territory where a white soldier or civilian scout could not. The scouts provided General Custer with intelligence, given with respect and varying degrees of awe, and were rewarded with preferential treatment.

Forty Arikara scouts were brought on to guide the military from Fort Abraham Lincoln to the Yellowstone in 1873. Only three civilians joined the Indian scouts to escort twenty companies of the 6th, 8th, 9th, 17th, and 22nd infantry regiments, and ten companies of the 7th Cavalry (about 1500), about 350 Northern Pacific Railway survey crew employees, four scientists, and two members of the British nobility, to Yellowstone country. General Custer often accompanied the Indian scouts.

General Custer and the Seventh Cavalry engaged in a skirmish on the north bank of the Yellowstone River across from Pompey's Pillar. Sixty-nine years before, the Corps of Discovery came by here and Captain William Clark left his signature on the east side of the pillar. When you visit the Battle of the Little Bighorn, be sure to take in a visit to Pompey's Pillar too. Its about an hour's drive north, just off of Interstate 94.

On August 4, 1873, the Yellowstone Expedition reached the Powder River. About 90 men, including the scouts, explored the Tongue River. There they were surprised when six Sioux men attempted to stampede their horses. The Sioux were driven off and pursued to a heavy stand of trees, when an estimated 300 mounted Sioux warriors led by Chief Gall, burst forth to fight. Bloody Knife was the quickest draw, remarked General Custer, having shot and killed the first antagonist, from horseback. The scouts' bravery and guidance spared all the soldiers' lives but for three.

The Arikara scouts were a conservative lot, who often complained to the chief of scouts, a non- Indian second lieutenant who served as liaison to the commanding officer, about the traffic in flesh the enlisted soldiers partook in. The scouts also had zero tolerance for domestic abuse, and any soldier who was found beating women was arrested immediately.

In his yearly report of 1873, Post Surgeon Middleton praised the service of the scouts, saying, “There have been no successful desertions during the year, although many have attempted it…deserters are easily overtaken by the scouts and [accompanying] detachments.” At some forts, the desertion rate was as high as 30% after many newly enlisted soldiers realized life in the army in the frontier wasn't what they expected. Middleton's acclaim for the scouts pulling military police duty was mirrored throughout Dakota Territory. Simply put, the scouts were at home in a land they were born and raised in, and could read the features of friend or foe in a glance.

Here's an image of the encampment at the Black Hills. Photo by Illingsworth.

The Black Hills Expedition of 1874, led by General Custer, a journey intended to confirm the discovery of gold in the hills, left Fort Abraham Lincoln guided by a detachment of scouts that consisted of 22 Arikara and 38 Santee Dakota Sioux up from Nebraska. There is no written record if the groups socialized, but together they led about 1,200 men to the hills and back, covering nearly 1,200 miles. Professor Donaldson, a geologist on the expedition, remarked, “The scouts are invaluable. Where they scour the country, no ambush could be successfully laid.”

Above is a map of what was then called the "Centennial Campaign."

On May 17, 1876, the Centennial Campaign left Fort Abraham Lincoln with the scouts in lead, guiding about 1200 men to meet their destiny at the Little Big Horn. Twenty-one scouts were left behind at Fort Abraham Lincoln, twelve at Fort Stevenson, and six at Fort Buford to maintain open lines of communication. In all, a total of fifty-one Indian scouts from the Arikara, the Crow, the Sioux, and the Pikuni (also called Piegan or Blackfoot) escorted and safeguarded the 7th Cavalry. Surgeon DeWolf wrote of the scouts, “…we cannot be surprised very easily. The Indian

Scouts are all camped tonight outside us…Scouts working ten miles out.” Indeed, no ambush or raid could be laid.

Approaching the Little Bighorn, General Custer divided his command into three columns. One column was led by Captain Benteen, another by Major Reno, and one by General Custer himself. General Custer recieved a missive from General Terry telling him to engage the Lakota and Cheyenne. The General Terry/General Custer command was supposed to have waited a few more days for General Crook and General Gibbon.

The duty of the scouts was to guide the 7th Cavalry to the encampment of the Sioux and their ally, the Cheyenne. Vacant camps, trails, and other sign of the Sioux encampment lead the Indian scouts to believe there were perhaps five thousand of the enemy. On June 25, 1876, the Crow and Arikara, believing that they were likely seen approaching the Sioux, urged General Custer to engage the enemy immediately if that's what they came out to do, or lose any advantage that surprise would give them. Despite the advice to Custer to immediately go into battle with the Sioux, the scouts didn't seem as excited to fight as the general. Many accounts mention the scouts singing songs, plaiting their hair, painting, etc., not to take their time in meeting the enemy, but because many of them were preparing to meet the creator, as some of them did that day.

General Custer was attempting to flank the Lakota and Cheyenne from northeast of the encampment. General Custer used this same strategy at Washita where he was outnumbered there as well. That strategy was to capture the women and children who fled opposite from the first attack. The native camp was far larger than General Custer believed it was and his attempt failed. 

The scouts didn't have to be at the Battle of the Little Big Horn. Their duty came to an end the moment they ascended the Crow's Nest and directed General Custer to the direction of the Sioux encampment. The scouts voluntarily entered combat against the principles for which they were employed, and they went to take traditional honors by stealing horses from the Sioux and Cheyenne.

General Custer ordered his men to take the higher ground, a last attempt to hold a strategic advantage over the Lakota and Cheyenne when the warriors began to retaliate. Today the hill is called Last Stand Hill. 

The Battle of the Little Big Horn didn't go as General Custer envisioned it would. Instead, a swift and utter downfall met his command. General Custer ordered the Scouts into battle with Major Reno, whose experience fighting the Indians was virtually none, primarily to distract the Sioux on one side so General Custer could flank the Sioux from the north. Dividing his command was a mistake which paved the way for Custer's last stand. Reno's witness to Bloody Knife's sudden death so rattled the Major that he ordered a halt and retreat three times.

Bloody Knife kneels on General Custer's left side and points to a location on a map. Bloody Knife was General Custer's favorite scout. From Bloody Knife, General Custer learned to speak a little Lakota, Arikara, and became well practiced in the Plains Indian sign and gesture language. The two became so close, they regarded one another as brother.

Bob Tailed Bull, Little Soldier, and Bloody Knife lost their lives, two others received wounds, Goose and White Swan, on Major Reno's retreat.

The Battle of the Little Bighorn is often broken down into lines, fights, and skirmishes, with the Last Stand Hill serving as climax. The Arikara and the Lakota regard the Battle of the Greasy Grass, as they regard it, as simply one battle. This author has visited the battle several times, and has heard the Lakota and Cheyenne bristle when they hear “there were no survivors.” For certain there were, for the victors in that fateful battle survived to either fight another battle, return to the reservations, or go to Canada.

Captain Miles Keogh's horse, Comanche, shown here is often regarded as the last survivor of Custer's command at Last Stand Hill. There were perhaps a hundred other horses and even one a yellow bulldog survived. Comanche died fifteen years after the battle and was stuffed. Comanche can be seen today in a glass class at the University of Kansas.

For several years Captain Miles Keogh’s horse was accorded some great degree of respect, almost reverence, even honored with a song by Johnny Horton. Similarly do the Arikara hold Bloody Knife’s horse in high regard. Bloody Knife’s pony was shot and injured at the battle and journeyed over 300 miles back to Fort Berthold where he came to stand outside Bloody Knife’s wife’s, She Owl’s, lodge. After arriving home, Bloody Knife’s buckskin pony lay down and died. The Arikara honored the pony in song. If you, dear reader, are fortunate enough to visit the White Shield pow-wow on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation in North Dakota, you may hear that song, and if you’re luckier, hear one composed for the scouts, other veteran songs, or even one composed for General Custer.

Bloody Knife on one of his horses on the Yellowstone Expedition. 

Whether it was skirmishes at the infantry post, the cavalry post, or on expedition, the Indian scouts were the first in line to defend their charges, but most importantly, they protected our country to ensure that their people would live.

War Correspondence from the Front Lines: The Black Hills

This beautiful book has the entire Black Hills Expedition of 1874 faithfully mapped and is profusely illuminated with images of the photos taken in 1874 with photos of those same sites today. This book is by Ernest Grafe and Paul Horsted. Go get yourself a copy and plan a visit to the Black Hills. 

War Correspondence from the Front Lines:
The Black Hills Expedition Of 1874

By Dakota Wind
BLACK HILLS, S.D. - Finerty, a war correspondent for the Chicago Times, offers a retrospective narrative in his book “Warpath and Bivouac: or Conquest of the Sioux,” 1890, about the causes of “Indian trouble,” wars between the Indians, the gold rush to the Black Hills, and depredations and perils that prospectors faced during “Black Hills Fever.”

Captain William Ludlow authored this map of the Black Hills entitled "Reconnaisance of the Black Hills." This map appears in the Grafe and Horsted book. 

There had raged for many years a war between the Sioux Nation, composed of about a dozen different tribes of the same race under various designations, and nearly all the other Indian tribes of the Northwest. The Northern Cheyenne were generally confederated with the Sioux in the field, and the common enemy would seem to have been the Crow, or Absarake, Nation. The Sioux and the Cheyennes together were more than a match for all the other tribes combined, and even at this day the former peoples hold their numerical superiority unimpaired. There must be nearly 70,000 Sioux and their kindred tribes in existence, and they still possess, at least, 5,000 able-bodied warriors, more or less well armed. But times have greatly changed since the spring of 1876. Then nearly all of Dakota, Northern Nebraska, Northern Wyoming, Northern and Eastern Montana lay at the mercy of the savages, who, since the completion of the Treaty of 1868, which filled them with ungovernable pride, had been mainly successful in excluding all white men from the immense region, which may roughly described as bounded on the east by the 104th meridian; on the west by the Big Horn Mountains; on the south by the North Platte, and on the north by the Yellowstone river.

This stereoscopic view of Chief Red Cloud was taken by S.J. Morrow.

Finerty is referring to Red Cloud’s War from the early spring of 1866 to November of 1868. The United States immediately broke the 1866 Fort Laramie Treaty by constructing new forts along the Bozeman Trail. Red Cloud led a series of engagements from 1866 to 1868, known as Red Cloud’s War. Those engagements include attacks on Fort Kearny and Fort Smith to close the Bozeman Trail, the Wood Train Fight, the Fetterman Fight, the Hayfield Fight, and the Wagon Box Fight. The Lakota were held off in the latter two fights, but won the war when Red Cloud was invited to parley at Fort Laramie for a second treaty. Red Cloud refused to parley until the Powder River strongholds were abandoned. They were, and Red Cloud went to Fort Laramie in November, 1868.

A wood engraving of Fort Laramie. This fort served as the meeting place where the treaties of Fort Laramie were signed.

In fact, the northern boundary, in Montana, extended practically to the frontier of the British possessions. About 240,000 square miles were comprised in the lands ceded, or virtually surrendered by the Government to the Indians - one-half for occupation and the establishment of agencies, farms, schools and other mediums of civilization; while the other half was devoted to hunting grounds, which no white man could enter without the special permission of the Indians themselves. All this magnificent territory was turned over and guaranteed to the savages by solemn treaty with the United States Government. The latter made the treaty with what may be termed undignified haste. The country, at that time, was sick of war. Colonel Fetterman, with his command of nearly one hundred men and three officers, had been overwhelmed and massacred by the Sioux, near Fort Phil Kearney, in December, 1866. Other small detachments of the army had been slaughtered here and there throughout the savage region. The old Montana emigrant road had been paved with the bodies and reddened with the blood of countless victims of Indian hatred, indeed, twenty years ago, strange as it may now appear to American readers, nobody, least of all the authorities at Washington, thought that what was then a howling, if handsome, wilderness, would be settled within so short a period by white people. Worse than all else, the Government weakly agreed to dismantle the military forts established along the Montana emigrant trail, running within a few miles of the base of the Big Horn range, namely, Fort Reno, situated on Clear Fork of the same stream, and Fort C. F. Smith, situated on the Big Horn river, all these being on the east side of the celebrated mountain chain. The Sioux had no legitimate claim to the Big Horn region. A part of it belonged originally to the Crows, whom the stronger tribe constantly persecuted, and who, by the treaty of ‘68, were placed at the mercy of their ruthless enemies. Other friendly tribes, such as the Snakes, or Shoshones, and the Bannocks, bordered on the ancient Crow territory, and were treated as foemen by the greedy Sioux and the haughty Cheyennes. The abolition of the three forts named fairly inflated the Sioux. The finest hunting grounds in the world had fallen into their possession, and the American Government, instead of standing by and strengthening the Crows, their ancient friends and allies, unwisely abandoned the very positions that would have held the more ferocious tribes in check. The Crows had a most unhappy time of it after the treaty was ratified. Their lands were constantly raided by the Sioux. Several desperate battles were fought, and, finally, the weaker tribe was compelled to seek safety beyond the Big Horn River.

The 1874 Black Hills Expedition left Fort Abraham Lincoln on July 2, 1874, with about 1200 men. They were guided by the Fort McKeen Detachment of Scouts (Arikara) and a detachment of Sioux scouts up from Santee, NB. Lieutenant Colonel George A. Custer led the expedition and had orders to return by August 30, 1874. He followed the order to the letter, arriving back at Fort Abraham Lincoln on August 30.

At the time, many newspapers criticized the actions of Colonel Carrington, General Crook, and others for being too soft and lenient with the “Indian problem.” Finerty’s writings don’t criticize the soldier or officer who commands; he praised the dead soldiers and officers of failed campaigns like the Fetterman Fight or the Battle of the Little Bighorn as heroes; Finerty took aim at the authority in Washington for exasperating the conditions of war on the American frontier.

Miners pan for gold in the Black Hills. The leftmost miner could very well be a 49er.

Simply telling readers that miners came from the across the country and from the world over isn’t enough for Finerty. Here Finerty indulges in describing from where and how far away miners came just to get to the Black Hills. 

Had the Sioux and Crows been left to settle the difficulty between themselves, few of the latter tribe would be left on the face of the earth to-day. The white man’s government might make treaties it pleased with the Indians, but it was quite a different matter to get the white man himself to respect the official parchment. Three-fourths of the Black Hills region, and all of the Big Horn, were barred by the Great Father and Sitting Bull against the enterprise of the daring, restless and acquisitive Caucasian race. The military expeditions under Generals Sully, Connors, Stanley and Custer - all of which were partially unsuccessful - had attracted the attention of the country to the great region already specified. The beauty and variety of the landscape, the immense quantities of the nobelest species of American game; the serrated mountains, and forested hills; the fine grazing lands and rushing streams, born of the snows of the majestic Big Horn peaks; and , above all else, the rumor of great gold deposits, the dream of wealth which hurled Cortez on Mexico and Pizarro on Peru, fired the Caucasian heart with the spirit of adventure and exploration, to which the attendant and well-organized danger lent an additional zest. The expedition of General Custer, which entered the Black Hills proper - those of Dakota- in 1874, confirmed the reports of “gold finds,” and, thereafter, a wall of fire, not to mention a wall of Indians, could not stop the encroachments of that terrible white race before which all other races of mankind, from Thibet [sic] to Hindostan [sic], and from Algiers to Zululand, have gone down. At the news of gold, the grizzled ‘49er shook the dust of California from his feet, and started overland, accompanied by daring comrades, for the far-distant “Hills;” the Australian miner left his pick half-buried in the antipodean sands, and started, by ship and saddle, for the same goal; the diamond hunter of Brazil and of “the Cape;” the veteran “prospectors” of Colorado and Western Montana; the “tar heels” of the Carolinian hills; the “reduced gentleman” of Europe; the worried and worn city clerks of London, Liverpool, New York or Chicago; the stout English yeoman, tired of high rents and poor returns; the sturdy Scotchman, tempted from stubborn plodding after wealth to seek fortune under more rapid conditions; the light-hearted Irishman, who drinks in the spirit of adventure with his mother’s milk; the daring mine delvers of Wales and of Cornwall; the precarious gambler of Monte Carlo - in short, every man who lacked fortune, and who would rather be scalped than remain poor, saw in the vision of the Black Hills, El Dorado; and to those picturesquely sombre eminences the adventurers of the earth - some honest and some the opposite - came trooping in massess, “like clouds at eventide.”

One of the more famous images of a miner camp in the Black Hills.

In vain did the Government issue its proclamations; in vain were our veteran regiments of cavalry, commanded by warriors true and tried, drawn up across the path of the daring invaders; in vain were arrests made, baggage seized, horses confiscated and wagons burned; no earthly power could hinder that bewildering swarm of human ants. They laughed at the proclamations, evaded the soldiers, broke jail, did without wagons or outfit of any kind, and, undaunted by the fierce war whoops of the exasperated Sioux, rushed on to the fight for gold with burning hearts and naked hands! Our soldiers, whom no foe, white, red or black, could make recreant to their flag upon the field of honor, overcome by the moral epidemic, deserted by the squad to join the indomitable adventurers. And soon, from Buffalo Gap to Inyan Kara [Lakota: lit. “The Stone is Made” or “The Stone Makes;” In reference to the Lakota creation story], and from Bear Butte to Grand Cañon, the sound of the pick and spade made all the land resonant with the music of Midas. Thickly as the mushrooms grow in the summer nights on the herbage-robbed sheep range, rose “cities” innumerable, along the Spearfish and Deadwood and Rapid Creeks. Placer and quartz mines developed with marvelous rapidity, and, following the first, and boldest, adventurers, the eager, but timid and ease-loving, capitalists, who saw Indians in every sage brush, came in swarms. Rough board shanties, and hospital tents, were the chief “architectural” features of the new “cities,” which swarmed with gamblers, harlots, and thieves, as well as with honest miners. By the fall of 1875, the northern segment of the irregular, warty geological formation, known as the Black Hills, was prospected, “staked” and, in fairly good proportion, “settled,” after the rough, frontier fashion.

Yet another image of an early miner camp in the Black Hills. 

Pierre and Bismarck, on the Missouri river, and Sidney and Cheyenne, on the Union Pacific railroad, became the supply depots of the new mining regions, and, at that period, enjoyed a prosperity which they have not equaled since. All the passes leading into “the Hills,” from the points mentioned, swarmed with hostile Indians, most of whom were well fed at the agencies, and all of whom boasted of being better armed, and better supplied with fixed ammunition, than the soldiers of regular army. The rocks of Buffalo Gap and the Red Cañon, particularly, rang with the rifle shots of the savages, and the return fire of the hardy immigrants, many of whom paid with their lives the penalty of their ambition. The stages that ran to “the Hills” from the towns on the Missouri and the Union Pacific rarely ever escaped attack - sometimes by robbers, but oftenest by Indians. All passengers, even the women, who were, at that time, chiefly composed of the rough, if not absolutely immoral, class, traveled with arms in their hands ready for immediately action. Border ruffians infested all the cities, and, very soon, became almost as great a menace to life and property as the savages themselves. Murders and suicides occurred in abundance, as the gambling dens increased and the low class saloons multiplied. Notwithstanding these discouragements, the period of 1874, ‘75 and ’76 was the Augustan era, if the term be not too transcendental, of the Black Hills. The placer mines were soon exhausted, and, as it required capital to work the quartz ledges, the poor miners, or the impatient ones, who hoped to get rich in a day, quickly “stampeded” for more promising regions, and left the mushroom “cities” to the capitalists, the wage workers, the gamblers, the women in scarlet, and to these, in later days, may be added the rancheros, or cattle men.

The last Deadwood stage coach drive.

Morality has greatly improved in “the Hills” since 1876, and business has settled down to a steady, old fashioned gait, but the first settlers still remember, with vague regret, the whisky was bad and fighting general; when claims were held dear and life cheap; when the bronzed hunter, or longhaired “scout,” strutted around in half savage pride, and when the renowned “Wild Bill,” who subsequently met a fate so sudden and so awful, was at once the glory and the terror of that active, but primitive, community.

Wild Bill Hickok, famous gunman and gambler. Shortly after marrying he ditched his bride in Cinncinati for the Black Hills. He was shot in the head playing a round of poker, his cards, a hand of aces and eights became the Dead Man's Hand.

War Correspondence from the Front Lines: Slim Buttes

General George Crook pictured here led the soldiers at the Slim Buttes fight. Slim Buttes is located in the northwestern corner of South Dakota. Just south of Slim Buttes, going towards Spearfish, is Crow Buttes, where not ten years earlier, the Lakota defeated the Crow Indians in a gunfight there.
War Correspondence from the Front Lines: 
Slim Buttes, Conflict On The Northern Plains

By Dakota Wind

SLIM BUTTES, S.D. - Note: Fintery’s account of the Slim Butte Fight took place three months after the Battle of the Little Bighorn.

As we were about to break camp, on the morning of September 9th, a packer named George Herman rode up in hot haste to General Crook, bearing a dispatch from Colonel Mills, which announced that his detachment and attacked and captured, that morning, an Indian village of forty-one lodges, a large herd of ponies, and some supplies. The Sioux were still fighting to regain what they had lost, and the colonel requested reinforcements. He was then seventeen miles south , at Slim Buttes, on a tributary of Grand river. General Crook at once selected one hundred men, with the horses, from the 3d Cavalry, fifty from Noyes’ battalion of the 2d [Cavalry], and the 5th Cavalry, and, accompanied by his staff and the commanding officers of the different regiments, rode forward to the assistance of his subordinate. Mills, not anticipating an Indian fight, had allowed his men only fifty rounds of ammunition each, and Crook was alarmed lest the Sioux should compel him to expend his last cartridge before assistance could reach him. Finerty followed General Crook to the captured village. The Lakota retreated to gather together reinforcements to crush the white offense. Finerty speculates that the Lakota thought that Mills was alone like Custer before, because they weren’t anticipating Crook’s arrival to back Mills. The capture of the village took a few minutes at about 10 o’clock according to Finerty. Milles dispatched the scout Gruard to track the fleeing Lakota, which he did for about four miles. Mills then determined to attack the next morning.

Of course it rained all night, and while yet dark, the colonel moved forward his attachment, together with the pack mules, two miles. Then he halted the packers, fearing heir beats praying would alarm the Indians, dismounted all his cavalry, except twenty-five men under Schwatka, of Omaha, a well-known scout, and some other guides, went with Gruard and joined in the subsequent charge. Mills arriving in the edge of the ravine where the redskins sle[t securely, as they thought, sent Lieutenant Shwatka with his twenty-five mounted men, to drive off the pony heard [sic]. The ponies were stamped at once, but rushed for the village and alarmed the Indians.

A photo of Slim Buttes from Bob's Blah Blah Blog. There are plenty of beautiful and haunting images of Slim Buttes online, and blogs of people who visited that site. Plenty of antelope roam the range there, and an antelope research station is also at Slim Buttes. 

Von Leutwitz and Crawford, with fifty men each, on foot, surrounded the lodges and charged. There was a ripping of canvas and buffalo hide, as the Sioux had no time to untie the strings of the lodges and, therefore cut the tents with their knives. The soldiers fired a volley which the Indians returned in a desultory way. Almost at the first shot, Lieut. A. H. Von Leutwitz, of Troop F, 3d Cavalry, fell with a bullet through his right knee joint. This gentleman had served in the Austrian and Prussian armies, had fought at Montebello, Magneta, Solferino, all through the Italian campaign of ’59, had distinguished himself at Gettysburg and other great battles of our war, and had escaped comparatively unscathed. Yet his hour had come, and he fell wounded in a miserable Indian skirmish the very first man. Colonel Mills and Lieutenant Crawford then led on the soldiers and made short work of the village, although the Indians kept up a scattering fire from the bluffs.

When daylight came, the Sioux made matters much hotter, and the soldiers who were much exposed on that bare bluff were almost at their mercy. Mills sent back for his train, which came up with Moore, Bubb and R.A. Strahorn, all of whom behaved in a gallant manner during the skirmish which followed. Lieutenant Crawford acted fine judgment, and was spoken highly of by the soldiers who participated in the affair. Shwatka did his work in a thorough manner, and made a mark of which he may well be proud. But Mills is peculiar, and occasionally the reverse of politic, which to some extent neutralizes his undeniable ability as an officer. Yet, for all that, Crook’s column can never forget his brilliant dash on September 9, which saved it from much greater privation. He captured a large amount of dried provisions, 2,500 buffalo robes, and many other campaign luxuries which Indians appreciate as much as white men.

Anson Mills recovered this guidon from American Horse's band at the fight at Slim Buttes. The guidon was carried into battle at the Little Bighorn a few months earlier. 

One of the gallant Custer’s guidons, Colonel Keogh’s gauntlets, five horses of the 7th Cavalry and several other relics of the fated regiment were among the prizes secured. A party of Sioux, unable to make their escape, took refuge in a sort of deep, brush-covered gully, just above the site of the village, on the eastern slope, dug intrenchments [sic] with their hands and knives, and could not be dislodged by Mills’ detachment. In an attempt to drive them out, nearly all the casualties occurred. Private John Wenzel, of Troop A, 3d Cavalry was killed, and Sergt. Ed Glass, of Troop E, one of the boldest non-commissioned officers in the army, was shot through the right forarm. Several other soldiers were wounded in attempting to carry this fatal den.

The firing of the Indians from the bluffs compelled the soldiers to throw up temporary breastworks, which saved them particularly serious damage. The riding mule of Mr. Moore, and a horse belonging to Troop I were shot from the “lava bed” arrangement. Mills, when he sent back for his train in the morning, had the good sense to send for re-enforcements at the same time. Crook arrived a little after 11 o’clock, and immediately attacked the Indian burrow in the gully. In that affair he displayed to the fullest extent his eccentric contempt for danger. No private soldier could more expose himself than did the General and the officers of his staff. I expected to see them shot down every moment; for Charley White, the well-known scout, was shot through the heart, just across the ravine, not ten paces from Crook. Kennedy, of the 5th Cavalry, and Stevenson, of the 2d, were wounded, the one mortally and the other dangerously, beside him, while many other soldiers had hair-breadth escapes. The boys in blue, although unquestionably brave, did not quite relish the idea of being shot in the digestive organs by an unseen and “ungettable” enemy, but their officers rallied them without difficulty, heading the assault musket or carbine in hand. Besides General Crook and his staff, Major W.H. Powell and Major Munson, of the infantry, Major Burke, of the same branch of service; Lieut. Charles King, of the 5th Cavalry; Lieutenant Rogers, and the ever gallant Lieut. W. Philo Clark, of the 2d Cavalry, took desperate chances in true “forlorn hope” fashion. The guide, Baptiste Pourier, already so distinguished for bravery, fought his way into the cavern, and succeeded in killing one of the male Indians, ingeniously using a captive squaw as a living barricade between himself and the fire of the other warriors. He took the scalp of the fallen brave in a manner that displayed perfect workmanship. Scalping is an artistic process, and, when neatly done, may be termed a satanic accomplishment. Lieutenant W. Philo Clark would later study the universal Plains Indian sign language and write of it in such detail, that his notes were edited and compiled into a book, “The Indian Sign Language” was became required reading at West Point Military Academy for several years.

Clark's book "The Indian Sign Language" is one of the most detailed examinations of the Plains Indian sign language, however, there are no illustrations or photographs to reference from. There are, however, other really good books out there that do. Do a search at Barnes and Nobles or Amazon and get yourself a copy. 

Crook, exasperated by the protracted defense of the hidden Sioux, and annoyed by the casualties inflicted among his men, formed, early in the afternoon, a perfect cordon of infantry and dismounted cavalry around the Indian den. The soldiers opened upon it incessant fire, which made the surrounding hills echo back a terrible music. The circumvallated Indians distributed their shots liberally among the crowing soldiers, but the shower of close-range bullets from the latter terrified unhappy squaws, and they began singing the awful Indian death chant. The papooses wailed so loudly, and piteiously, that even the hot firing could not quell their voices, and General Crook ordered me to suspend operations immediately. Then Frank Gruard and Baptiste Pourier, both versed in the Sioux tongue, by order of General Crook, approached the abrupt western bank of the Indian rifle pit and offered the women and children quarter. This was accepted by the besieged, and Crook in person went to the mouth of the cavern and handed out one tall, fine looking women, who had an infant strapped to her back. She trembled all over and refused to liberate the general’s hand. Eleven other squaws, and six papooses, were then taken out, but the few surviving warriors refused to surrender and savagely re-commenced the fight.

Then our troops re-opened with a very “rain of hell” upon the infatuated braves, who, nevertheless, fought it out with Spartan courage, against such desperate odds, for nearly two hours. Such matchless bravery, electrified even our enraged soldier into the spirit of chivalry, and General Crook, recognizing the fact that the unfortunate savages had fought like fiends, in defense of wives and children, ordered another suspension of hostilities and called upon the ducky heroes to surrender.  

This image is said to be that of the elder American Horse. The younger, a nephew, also named American Horse, rose up to lead his uncles band of Oglala Lakota.

After a few minutes’ deliberation, the chief, American Horse – a fine looking, broad-chested Sioux, with a handsome face and a neck like a bull – showed himself at the mouth of the cave, presenting the butt end of his rifle toward the General. He had just been shot in the abdomen, and said, in his native language, that he would yield, if the lives of the warriors who fought with him were spared. Some of the soldiers, who lost comrades in the skirmish, shouted, “No quarter!” but not a man was base enough to attempt shooting down the disabled chief. Crook hesitated for a minute and then said – “Two or three Sioux more or less can make no difference. I can yet use them to good advantage. Tell the chief,” he said, turning to Gruard, “that neither he nor his young men will be harmed further.”

This message having been interpreted to American Horse, he beckoned to his surviving followers, and two strapping Indians, with their long, but quick and graceful stride, followed him out of the gully. The chieftan’s intestines protruded from his wound, but a squaw – his wife perhaps – tied her shawl around the injured part, and then the poor, fearless savage, never uttering a complaint, walked slowly to a little camp fire, occupied by his people, about 20 yards away, and sat down among the women and children. The surgeons examined the wound, pronounced it mortal, and during the night American Horse, one of the bravest and ablest of the Sioux chiefs, fell back suddenly, and expired without uttering a groan.

This photograph was taken by Stanley J. Morrow, of a family that was taken prisoner at the fight at Slim Buttes. 

It seems to have taken Finerty some time to acknowledge the fortitude and bravery of the Indian foe, which at first was only haltingly begrudged, now seemingly flows as he sees the enemy less a savage antagonist and more as desperate human beings with reasons of their own to fight. Finerty’s sympathetic account of the victims of the Slim Buttes Fight here now follows.

Crook under the surrender of the chief, took all the survivors under his protection, and ordered the dead and wounded to be taken from their stronghold. Let the country blame or praise the General for his clemency, I simply record the affair as it occurred. Several soldiers jumped at once into the ravine and bore out the corpses. The warrior killed by Baptiste Pourier was a grim looking old fellow, covered with scars and fairly laden down with Indian jewelry and other savage finery. The other dead were three squaws – one at first supposed to be a man – and, sad to relate, a tiny papoose. The captive squaws, with their children, came up to view the corpses. They appeared to be quite unmoved, although a crowd of half-savage camp followers, unkempt scouts and infuriated soldiers surged around them – a living tide. The skull of one poor squaw was blown, literally, to atoms, revealing the ridge of the palate and presenting a most ghastly and revolting spectacle. Another of the dead females – a middle-aged woman – was riddled by bullets that there appeared to be no unwounded part of her person left. The third victim was young, plump, and, comparatively speaking, light of color. She had a magnificent physique, and, for an Indian, a most attractive set of features. She had been shot through the left breast, just over the heart, and was not in the least disfigured.

“Ute John,” the solitary friendly Indian who did not desert the column, scalped all the dead, unknown to the General or any of the officers (of ignored by), and I regret to be compelled to state a few – a very few – brutalized soldiers followed his savage example. Each took only a portion of the scalp, but the exhibition of human depravity was nauseating. The unfortunates should have been respected, even in the coldness and nothingness of death. In that affair, surely, the army were the assailants, and the savages acted purely in self-defense. I must add, in justice to all concerned, that neither General Crook nor any of his officers of men suspected that any women or children were in the gully until their cries were heard above the volume of fire poured upon the fatal spot.

That was a particular picture of Indian warfare at Slim Buttes. There a dead cavalry horse lay on his side on the western bank of the bloody burrow, while Tom Moore’s mule, his feet sticking up in the air, lay on his back about thirty years nearer to the abandoned tepees. On the southern slope of the embankment, in the line of fire, face downward, the weight of his body resting on his forehead and knees, the stiff, dead hands still grasping the fully cocked carbine, two empty cartridge shells lying beside him, lay John Wenzel. He had been shot through the brain – the bullet entering the left jaw from below, and passing out through the top of his head – by either American Horse or Charging Bear, after having fired twice into the gully. He, doubtless, never realized that he had been hit, poor fellow. Wenzel knew more about a horse than, perhaps, any man of Troop A, 3d Cavalry, and used to attend to my animal before he was detailed, for the reason that he was well mounted, to accompany hat [sic] to him, fatal advance movement of Colonel Mills. Diagonally the opposite, on the northern slope, lay the stalwart remains of Charley White – “Buffalo Chip,” as he was called – the champion harmless liar and most genial scout upon the plains. I saw him fall and heard his death cry. Anxious to distinguish himself, he crept cautiously up the slope to have a shot at the hostiles. Some of the soldiers shouted, “Get away from there Charley, they’ve got a bead on you!” Just then a shot was fired, which broke the thigh bone of a soldier of the 5th Cavalry, named Kennedy, and White raised himself on his hands and knees in order that he might locate the spot from whence the bullet came. As he did so, one of the besieged Indians, quick as lightning, got his range and shot him squarely through the left nipple. Charley threw up his hands, crying out loud enough for all of us to hear him, “My God, my God, boys, I’m done for this time!” One mighty convulsion doubled up his body, then he relaxed all over and rolled like a log three or four feet down the slope. His dead face expressed tranquility rather than agony when I looked at him some hours later. The wind blew the long, fair locks over the cold features, and eyes were almost perfectly closed. The slain hunter looked as if he were taking a rest after a toilsome buffalo chase. Last, and also least (in size I suspect from Finerty’s account, not in importance as it would seem to read today) the slaughtered Indian papoose, only about two months old, lay in a small basket, where a humane soldier had placed the tiny body. Had the hair of the poor little creature been long enough, “Ute John,” I believe, would have scalped it also.

A horse drawn strecher carries a wounded soldier from the fight at Slim Buttes. Photo by Stanley J. Morrow.

With all this group of mutilated mortality before them, and with the groans of the wounded soldiers from the hospital tepee ringing in their ears, the hungry troopers and infantry tore the dried Indian meat they had captured into eatable pieces, and marched away as unconcernedly as if they were attending a holiday picnic. It was, indeed, a ghastly, charnel-house group – one which, if properly put on canvas, would, more than anything I have read of, or heard described, give the civilized world a faithful picture of the inevitable diabolism of Indian warfare. Most of our dead were hastily buried by their comrades, but the bodies of the Indians, both male and female, were left where they fell, so that their friends might have the privilege of properly disposing of them after we had left. The Sioux Indians, so far as known, never place their dead in the earth, so that leaving the bodies above ground was of no particular consequence in their case. During the afternoon, American Horse, and some of the squaws, informed Gen. Crook, through the scouts, that Crazy Horse was not far off, and that we would certainly be attacked before nightfall. The General, under the circumstances, wished for nothing better.

As Lieutenant Lawson was about to preside over funeral rites for the fallen soldiers, the troops were fired upon at once. The terrain of Slim Buttes offered modest protection to Crazy Horse’s war party. Crook’s men quickly mounted a counter offensive. Gen. Merritt took command of the soldiers in the vicinity of the burials; Col. Chambers made for the southern bluff to flank the Lakota war party; Col. Royall led the offense on the northern and north-western bluff; Major Noyes led to the 2nd Cavalry to protect the eastern flank of Crook’s command. The soldiers ascended the bluff, Slim Buttes actually offered more protection for them as they made their way up, than to the Lakota who had the high ground. The Lakota mounted a strike from horseback against the 3rd Cavalry from out of a ravine in the northwestern angle of the bluffs, led by a mounted warrior on a quick white horse, whom Finerty speculates must be Crazy Horse.

This map comes from the Command and General Staff College's "Atlas of the Sioux Wars." Though there isn't a close-up of the flight at Slim Buttes as there is of the Little Bighorn or the Battle of the Rosebud, this one documents the dispersal of the Lakota and Cheyenne after the battle of the Little Bighorn. It does note where the Slim Buttes fight is, in the north west corner of South Dakota.

Like the Napoleonic cuirassiers at Waterloo, they rode along the line looking for a gap through which to penetrate. They kept up a perpetual motion, apparently encouraged by a warrior, doubtless Crazy Horse himself, who, mounted on a fleet, white horse, galloped around the array and seemed to possess the power of ubiquity. Failing to break into that formidable circle, the Indians, after firing several volleys, their original order of battle being completely broken, and recognizing the folly of fighting such an outnumbering force any longer, glided away from out front with all possible speed. As the shadows came down into the valley, the last shots were fired, and the affair of Slim Buttes was over.

Finerty estimates that Crook lost about thirty men in this “battle.” They settled down for rest that night after hasty burials presided over by Sergeant Van Moll and a small party of soldiers from Troop A. General Crook’s surgeon, Dr. McGillicuddy attended American Horse’s last hours, noting the Lakota’s zest for life to the end. They broke camp the next morning, September 10th, 1876.

The rear guard of the column consisted, that morning, of two troops of the 5th Cavalry, commanded by Captains Summer and Montgomery, under Gen. E.A. Carr. They remained dismounted, until all the rest of the command had filed by them, bound for “the Hills.” Scarcely had they mounted their horses, when they were attacked most determinedly by Indians secreted in the ravines that abound that region. But they were veterans, and coolly held their ground. They lost many wounded, but none killed outright. The Indians on the other hand, were unfortunate, and left five warriors gasping upon the sod. Crazy Horse, convinced that Slim Buttes was not the Little Bighorn, drew off in despair, and the remainder of the march was made without molestation.

Blue Thunder: Profile of a US Indian Scout's Service

Blue Thunder: A U.S. Indian Scout's Service
Yanktonai Dakota Man Enters Military Service

By Dakota Wind

FORT YATES, N.D. - The role of the US Indian Scouts consisted of four duties: to gather intelligence about the land and people therein, to interpret languages when or if needed, to run down deserters, and to deliver correspondence between the forts on the frontier, and to & from the campaign trail. 

Brigadier General Alfred Howe Terry is pictured above.

On March 6, 1873, Brigadier General Terry issued General Orders No. 19:

During the last five years, “Indian scouts,” enlisted under the provisions of the Act of Congress, approved July 28, 1866, have been employed at many of the military posts of this Department. As a rule, they have renounced entirely their former habits and modes of life, and in assuming the uniform of the military service, they have conformed to its requirements in a manner worthy of all praise and of the emulation of their white comrades. They have performed the same duties as are imposed upon white soldiers serving on the frontier, with a prompt obedience, with a cheery alacrity, courage, skill, and intelligence which have won the highest applause from their military superiors. The Department Commander desires that his high appreciation of their services in the past shall be made known to every scout in the command, accompanied by the assurance that their good conduct has been brought to the attention of those still higher in military rank and command, and is duly appreciated by them. To this end he directs that each and every post commander where scouts are employed, shall cause this order to be, under his personal supervision, so read and in interpreted to them that all shall fully understand the degree of commendation intended.

In addition to the commendation, hereinbefore expressed and intended to apply to all the scouts, the following instances of good conduct have attracted the Department Commander’s attention, and are by him worthy of special mention, viz.:

Extract from the report of Colonel D. S. Stanley, 22nd Infantry, commanding the “Yellowstone Expedition,” dated October 28th, 1872:

“First Lieutenant Eben Crosby, 17th Infantry, left his camp to hunt, and when about one and half (1 ½) miles from camp, was surrounded and murdered by 100 mounted Sioux. The day before this murder, this same party had discovered the five Santee scouts who had served me during the summer, and whom I had sent to Fort Rice with dispatches. The wild Sioux attacked these brave fellows at sunrise, at Heart Butte, and kept up the fight for nearly fifty miles and during the entire day. The Santees [sic] were well armed, had 100 rounds each, and they kept their assailants off and came off themselves with the loss of two of their horses, and their blankets, clothing, and some accoutrements, which they dropped to lighten their horses. I recommend these brave Santees [sic] to the notice of the Commander of the Department.”

Captain Seth Eastman painted this scene of Fort Rice.

The names of the scouts above referred to are, Chaska [Firstborn Son], Hepkakwajidan, Kapojan, Omanisa [Walks Red, or Walks White (note: without a diacritical accent mark, translating the name correctly poses a problem) [smudge], Waakakahan. 

Extract from the report of Colonel T. L. Critenden, 17th Infantry, commanding Fort Rice, dated November 11th, 1873:

“A Sioux Indian by the name of ‘Goose’, “ “ “ “ “ [quotations in reference to scouts already listed by Brigadier General Terry] carried the dispatch, to Colonel Stanley, commanding the Yellowstone Expedition, and brought back an answer in eight days from his departure. It is needless to speak of the extreme peril he encountered, or to any that except through Indians no such rapid communication could have been had with Colonel Stanley. 

Attention is also [unreadable] to the conduct of “Cold Hand,” also a Sioux scout at this post. Some time last summer, during my absence from the post, a party of Indians stole most of the horses belonging to the scouts at this post, and carried them beyond to the Yellowstone. Cold Hand accompanied by four Indians that he induced to follow him , pursued and overtook these robbers, recaptured his horses, and brought them safely back. 

Only about ten days since, Cold Hand, with three other scouts, all Sioux, left here with the mail for Grand River. On the way, they were attached by a party about thirty strong. Cold Hand and his party repulsed these Indians, wounding one badly, and capturing two horses, which, together with the mail, they delivered safely at Grand River. 

When it is remembered that the Indians who attacked these scouts belong to the Sioux tribe, and live at Grand River, when not at war, and that they duty of the scouts requires them to go to Grand River weekly, I think the conduct of these scouts can only be regarded as very remarkable for fidelity and courage. I even think it worthy of some notice from the War Department, and I am sure that such notice would do good.

The Department Commander takes great pleasure in recommending all the above named scouts to the notice of the President of the United States, and in requesting for them the “Certificate of Merit” authorized by the 17th section of the Act of Congress, approved March 3d, 1847. 

By Command of Brigadier General Terry.

O. D. Greene,

OFFICIAL: [signed O.D. Greene]

Captain, 6th Infantry

Blue Thunder sits outside his lodge down by the Missouri River near Fort Yates, (Dakota Territory) North Dakota. Photo by Frank Fiske.

On July 2, 1873, Brigadier General Terry sent another letter, this time to Edward Parmelee Smith, Commissioner of Indian Affairs in Washington DC, requesting recognition of service of two more US Indian Scouts:

To the Honorable Commissioner of Indian Affairs, Washington DC

Sir

Recently, at Fort Rice, I was informed that each of the Indian Scouts mentioned in the enclosed copy had been furnished a Medal from the Indian Bureau or by some one of its agents. I am just in receipt of a Communication from the War Department informing me of the decision of the Honorable Secretary of War that the “Certificates of Merit” asked for by me on behalf of these Indians could not be under the law, made to apply to them. In view of this decision I have the honor to request that you will give such instructions, if prachcable [sic, practical?], and you think proper, as will insure. The issue of medals to “Blue Thunder” and “Bear-Coming-Out” Sioux Indians employed as Scouts at Fort Rice and referred to in the enclosed Copy of an Official Report from the Commanding Officer Fort Abraham Lincoln. I am reliably informed these Indians were much incited to their meritououes [sic, meritorious?] Conduct by the hope of receiving Medals and I am satisfied such Award to them would have a beneficial effect not only upon the particular Indians but upon all others in the Military Service.

I am Sir Very respectfully Your obedient Servant

[signed Alfred H. Terry]

Brigadier General, USA CommOn August 15, 1873, Captain William Thompson Commander of the 7th Cavalry at Fort Rice, sent the following letter to Captain O. D. Greene:

Sir

I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your communication of the 29th ultimo [of last month] enclosing two Silver medals for presentation to “Blue Thunder”and “Bear-Comes-Out,” Indian Scouts, and to report that the medals were duly presented by me today to the scouts to whom they were awarded, with a full and clear explanation as to why the presents were made.

The recipients were highly pleased with the medals and adhered fully to appreciate the commendatory nature of the correspondence on the subject – all of which was carefully interpreted to them – as well as the explanatory remarks made by me. A copy of the correspondence referred to was also given to each Indian in consideration of the high estimation in which a testimonial of this character is always held by their race.

Very respectfully your obedient servant

[smudge; signed –smudge – Thompson, Captain –smudge – Cavalry]

Blue Thunder pictured here old and blind when this was taken. He still maintained a tipi behind his cabin by the river's edge down by Fort Yates, ND. When he went on his last journey isn't known, but he took it sometime in the early 1920s. 

Blue Thunder enlisted as a US Indian Scout at Fort Rice for a couple of years before transferring to Fort Yates where he served a few more years. He wasn’t accorded the Certificate of Merit as requested by General Terry because Blue Thunder wasn’t a US citizen. 

Blue Thunder later fought in a three-day gun fight at the Little Heart Butte fourteen miles southwest of Fort Abraham Lincoln, in 1874. He held off an estimated 100 “wild” Sioux from attacking Fort Abraham Lincoln. 

The Indian Citizenship Act was passed in 1916. Blue Thunder died a US citizen sometime in 1922-23. Blue Thunder so impressed the citizens of Mandan, ND that they put his image above the Mandan Fire Department which can still be seen today, bottled a soft drink they called “Blue Thunder,” and used his imagery to represent the city. 

This image of Blue Thunder was carved out of granite by Mandan artist Hynek Rybnicek. 

Some might regard the US Indian Scouts as “sell-outs” or “traitors” but the times were that a man would do what he had to do to feed his family. With the bison disappearing across the Great Plains, many native men enlisted not just because it afforded a chance to take revenge on an enemy tribe, but to provide for their loved ones. 

Above is the cover of Traditional Lakota Songs by the Porucpine Singers. Their music can now be purchased on iTunes. Go support these traditional singers and buy their CD and listen to the history in these songs.  

The Porcupine Singers in South Dakota recall a song Our Friends Came With The Soldiers on their CD Traditional Lakota Songs. The lyrics go:

Wayankiye Lakota kol miye
Kola Lakota kol
Nape wayelo
“Our Friends came with the soldiers,
So I chased my friends away.”