 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
A startling different, and personal, story of "Custer's Last Stand"
| The Little Big Horn |
| By Chief Rain-In-The-Face, As Told to H. Kent Thomas |
"If you want a story, I will tell you a true one. It's about myself. I with
crutches. My heart is good now, but it was all the time bad when I was a
fighter and a hunter. The maidens admired me, but the bucks were afraid of
me. I would rather fight than eat. The Long Swords [soldiers] trembled when
they knew I was near, and "If you want a story, I will tell you a true one. It's
about myself. I the Rees [a tribe employed by the government as scouts]
and was a bad man and dangerous to fool with before I had to walk was a
bad man and dangerous to fool with before I had to walk with crutches. My
heart is good now, but it was all the time bad when I was a fighter and a
hunter. The maidens admired me, but the bucks were afraid of me. I would
rather fight than eat. The Long Swords [soldiers] trembled when they knew I
was near, and the Rees [a tribe employed by the government as scouts] and
Crows always felt of their hair every morning to see if their scalps were still
on when Rain-in-the-Face was nearby."
crutches. My heart is good now, but it was all the time bad when I was a
fighter and a hunter. The maidens admired me, but the bucks were afraid of
me. I would rather fight than eat. The Long Swords [soldiers] trembled when
they knew I was near, and "If you want a story, I will tell you a true one. It's
about myself. I the Rees [a tribe employed by the government as scouts]
and was a bad man and dangerous to fool with before I had to walk was a
bad man and dangerous to fool with before I had to walk with crutches. My
heart is good now, but it was all the time bad when I was a fighter and a
hunter. The maidens admired me, but the bucks were afraid of me. I would
rather fight than eat. The Long Swords [soldiers] trembled when they knew I
was near, and the Rees [a tribe employed by the government as scouts] and
Crows always felt of their hair every morning to see if their scalps were still
on when Rain-in-the-Face was nearby."
| Chief Rain-In-The-Face |
This interview with Chief-Rain-In-The-Face ran as part of a nine-page article in
the March 1903 issue of Outdoor Life Magazine. It gives a far different view of
the Battle of the Little Big Horn, fought June 25, 1876, than is generally
accepted. The author, H. Kent Thomas, made it clear that he felt that General
George A. Custer's reputation has been maligned in the two decades
following the legendary battle. In this portion of the article, he interviewed
Rain-in-the-Face at Coney Island, NY. The Chief, who Thomas estimated was
in his mid-60s at the time, had been left behind while his fellow member's of
the "Custer's Indians" troupe were all away from camp on a visit to their
friends, the Ogallalas at Buffalo Bill's (William F. Cody's competing show) Wild
West Show."
the March 1903 issue of Outdoor Life Magazine. It gives a far different view of
the Battle of the Little Big Horn, fought June 25, 1876, than is generally
accepted. The author, H. Kent Thomas, made it clear that he felt that General
George A. Custer's reputation has been maligned in the two decades
following the legendary battle. In this portion of the article, he interviewed
Rain-in-the-Face at Coney Island, NY. The Chief, who Thomas estimated was
in his mid-60s at the time, had been left behind while his fellow member's of
the "Custer's Indians" troupe were all away from camp on a visit to their
friends, the Ogallalas at Buffalo Bill's (William F. Cody's competing show) Wild
West Show."
| Buffalo Bill Cody |
| General George A. Custer |
| Captain Tom Custer |
Here Harry [McLaughlin, an interpreter] headed
Rain-in-the-Face off. "Yes, we know you were a
bad man and fighter from way back," said Harry.
"but we want to hear about the time Custer
[referring to Captain Tom Custer, nephew of the
General] made you take water. If you were such a
brave man, how did it happen that a little man like
Tom Custer got the best of you?"
This had the desired effect, and Rain winced
under such a reflection on his bravery, for he
measured 46 inches round his chest, stood five
feet nine inches and weighted about 195 pounds
at the time, while Capt. Tom Custer had been
under the average weight and height.
With great deliberation and much gesticulation,
Rain told his version of the incident in question,
and much to our surprise he continued on and
related his version of the "Custer Massacre."
Now, since nearly all the officers in the regular
army, as well as all the agents of the Interior
Department, have failed to even speak of this fight
(their trying, coaxing and threatening for years
has been in vain), and since Rain gets credit of
being the slayer of General Custer and has been
immortalized in verse by Longfellow* [at the end
of this paragraph], it was a pleasant surprise to
have this unexpected revelation. I
am writing it down as nearly like McLaughlin
interpreted it as I can.
Rain-in-the-Face off. "Yes, we know you were a
bad man and fighter from way back," said Harry.
"but we want to hear about the time Custer
[referring to Captain Tom Custer, nephew of the
General] made you take water. If you were such a
brave man, how did it happen that a little man like
Tom Custer got the best of you?"
This had the desired effect, and Rain winced
under such a reflection on his bravery, for he
measured 46 inches round his chest, stood five
feet nine inches and weighted about 195 pounds
at the time, while Capt. Tom Custer had been
under the average weight and height.
With great deliberation and much gesticulation,
Rain told his version of the incident in question,
and much to our surprise he continued on and
related his version of the "Custer Massacre."
Now, since nearly all the officers in the regular
army, as well as all the agents of the Interior
Department, have failed to even speak of this fight
(their trying, coaxing and threatening for years
has been in vain), and since Rain gets credit of
being the slayer of General Custer and has been
immortalized in verse by Longfellow* [at the end
of this paragraph], it was a pleasant surprise to
have this unexpected revelation. I
am writing it down as nearly like McLaughlin
interpreted it as I can.
| Chief Gall |
*"And Rain-in-the-Face, in his flight/Uplifted high in the Air/As a ghastly trophy, bore/the brave heart, that
beat no more/of the White Chief with yellow hair." --From "The Revenge of Rain-in-the-Face," by Henry
Wadsworth Longfellow.
beat no more/of the White Chief with yellow hair." --From "The Revenge of Rain-in-the-Face," by Henry
Wadsworth Longfellow.
| Chief Sitting Bull |
"Two years before the fight, Gall and Sitting Bull had their camp at Standing Rock. All were 'hostiles.' They
were coolers' [cowards] and hung around the Agency, which was at Lincoln then [Fort Abraham Lincoln
on the upper Missouri]."
were coolers' [cowards] and hung around the Agency, which was at Lincoln then [Fort Abraham Lincoln
on the upper Missouri]."
"We used to have great times in the hostiles' camp, dancing, running races, shooting and playing games.
Buffalo and deer were plenty and we had many ponies. I was a great fellow with the girls. They used to
tease me to get me mad--when I got mad, I knew no reason, I wanted to fight. One night a girl dared me to
go up to Fort Lincoln and kill a White Man. I told her it was too risky, as the Long Swords always kept
watch. Besides, the Rees had their lodges on the hill back of the Fort. The woodchoppers were camped
between the Fort and the river. She said: 'A brave man fears nothing. If you are a coward don't go. I'll ask
some other young man who isn't afraid, if he hasn't most horrible self-torture.)
"The other girls laughed, but the young men who heard it didn't. They feared me. I would have killed them
for laughing. I went to my lodge and painted sapa [the colors used on the war path], took my gun, my bow,
my pony. Sitting Bull had forbidden anyone to leave camp without his permission. I skipped off under cover
of darkness and
went to Lincoln [45 miles north, opposite the present site of Bismark, N. Dak.]. I hung around for two days,
watching for a chance to shoot a Long Sword. I had plenty of chances to kill a Rees squaw, plenty to kill a
woodchopper, but I wanted to carry back brass buttons of a Long Sword to the girl who laughed at me. I
did so and she sewed them on her shawl. One morning I saw the sutler [storekeeper] and a horse
medicine man [a Veterinary Surgeon] go out to a spring; Long Yellow Hair [General Custer] and his men
were riding about 100 yards. I rushed up and shot the sutler and brained the horse medicine man with my
war club, then I shot them full of arrows and cut off some buttons. Long Yellow Hair heard the shot and his
troop charged back. I jumped on my pony and yelled at them to catch me. They chased me to the Cannon
Ball [a small river 25 miles south], Charlie Reynolds [a scout] knew me and told Yellow Hair who did this
deed."
"Next winter I went to the Agency store at Standing Rock. I drew no rations--I hadn't signed the paper. [All
the Indians who signed a peace treaty and consented to live on the reservation, under military orders,
were furnished with rations by the government once a month. The 'hostiles' had to live by hunting.] Little
Yellow Hair [Capt. Tom
Custer] had thirty Long Swords there. He slipped up behind me like a squaw, when my back was turned.
Then they all piled on me at once; they threw me in a sick wagon [ambulance] and held me down till they
got me to the guard room at Lincoln. I was treated like a squaw, not a Chief. They put me in a room,
chained me, gave me
only one blanket. The snow blew through the cracks and on to me all winter. It was cold. Once Little Hair
let me out and the Long Swords told me to run. I knew they wanted to shoot me in the back. I told Little
Hair that I would get away some time [but] I wasn't ready then. When I did, I would cut his heart out and eat
it."
"I was chained to a White Man. One night we got away. They fired at us, but we ran and hit on the bank of
the Hart River in the brush. The White Man cut the chains with a knife [a file]. They caught him the next
day. I rejoined Sitting Bull and Gall. The Long Swords were afraid to come and get me there. I sent Little
Hair a picture, on a piece
of buffalo skin, of a bloody heart. He knew I didn't forget my vow. The next time I saw Little Hair, I got his
heart. I have said all."
We all knew that the greater part of this was true, since it tallied with government accounts of the death of
the sutler and Surgeon Huntsinger. But we wanted to hear how Rain took Tom Custer's heart. McFadden
[another individual present at the interview], who is quite an artist as well as an actor of note, had made
an imaginary
sketch of "Custer's Last Charge." He got it and handed it to Rain, saying: "Does that look anything like the
fight?"
Rain studied it a long time and then burst out laughing. "No," he said, "this picture is a lie. These Long
Swords have swords--they never fought us with swords, but with guns and revolvers. These men are on
ponies--[the soldiers] fought us on foot, and every fourth man held the other's horses. That's always the
way of fighting."
"We tie ourselves onto out ponies and fight in a circle. These people are not dressed as we dress in a
fight. They look like Agency Indians--we strip and have ourselves and our ponies painted."
"This picture gives us bows and arrows. We were better armed than the Long Swords. Their guns
wouldn't shoot but once--the thing wouldn't throw out the empty cartridge shells." (In this, Rain was
historically correct, as dozens of guns were picked up on the battlefield with shells still sticking in them,
showing that the ejector
wouldn't work.)
"When we found they could not shoot, we saved our bullets by knocking the Long Swords over with our
war clubs--it was like killing sheep. Some of them got on their knees and begged--we spared none! This
picture is like all the White Men's pictures of Indians, a lie. I will show you how it looked."
Then turning the drawing over he pulled out a stump of a lead pencil from his pouch and drew a large
shape of the letter S, turned sideways. "Here," he said, "is the Little Big Horn River. We had our lodges
built along the banks in the shape of a bent bow."
"How many lodges did you have?" asked McLaughlin.
"Oh many, many times ten. We were like blades of grass." (It is estimated that there were between four
and six thousand Indians, hence there must have been at least a thousand lodges.)
"Sitting Bull had made medicine way off on a hill. He came in with it. He had it in a bag on a stick. He made
a big speech and said Waukontonka [Great Spirit] has come to him riding an eagle. Waukontonka had told
him that the Long Swords were coming, but the Indians would wipe them off the face of the earth. His
speech made our hearts glad. Next day our runners came in and told us the Long Swords were coming."
"Sitting Bull had the squaws put up empty death-lodges along the bend of the river to fool the Rees scouts
when they came up and looked down over the bluffs. The brush and the bend in the river hid our lodges.
Then Sitting Bull went away to make medicine and didn't come back till the fight was over. Gall was head
Chief, Crazy Horse led the Cheyenne's, Goose the Bannocks. I was not head Chief--my brother Iron Horse
was--but I had a band of the worse Uncapapas, all of them had killed more enemies than they had fingers
and toes."
"When the Long Swords came we knew their ponies were tired out. We knew they were fooled by the
death-lodges. They thought we were but a handful. We knew they made a mistake when they separated.
General Custer sent [Major Marcus] Reno around to attack from the rear. Gall took most of the Indians up
the river to come between them and cut them off." (This was true, for it was Gall's party that found Reno's
command and drove them across the river. Gall had them surrounded on top of a hill for three days. They
would have been exterminated but for the bravery of the Captain under Reno, who virtually took command
until they were finally rescued by General Gibbon's forces.)
Buffalo and deer were plenty and we had many ponies. I was a great fellow with the girls. They used to
tease me to get me mad--when I got mad, I knew no reason, I wanted to fight. One night a girl dared me to
go up to Fort Lincoln and kill a White Man. I told her it was too risky, as the Long Swords always kept
watch. Besides, the Rees had their lodges on the hill back of the Fort. The woodchoppers were camped
between the Fort and the river. She said: 'A brave man fears nothing. If you are a coward don't go. I'll ask
some other young man who isn't afraid, if he hasn't most horrible self-torture.)
"The other girls laughed, but the young men who heard it didn't. They feared me. I would have killed them
for laughing. I went to my lodge and painted sapa [the colors used on the war path], took my gun, my bow,
my pony. Sitting Bull had forbidden anyone to leave camp without his permission. I skipped off under cover
of darkness and
went to Lincoln [45 miles north, opposite the present site of Bismark, N. Dak.]. I hung around for two days,
watching for a chance to shoot a Long Sword. I had plenty of chances to kill a Rees squaw, plenty to kill a
woodchopper, but I wanted to carry back brass buttons of a Long Sword to the girl who laughed at me. I
did so and she sewed them on her shawl. One morning I saw the sutler [storekeeper] and a horse
medicine man [a Veterinary Surgeon] go out to a spring; Long Yellow Hair [General Custer] and his men
were riding about 100 yards. I rushed up and shot the sutler and brained the horse medicine man with my
war club, then I shot them full of arrows and cut off some buttons. Long Yellow Hair heard the shot and his
troop charged back. I jumped on my pony and yelled at them to catch me. They chased me to the Cannon
Ball [a small river 25 miles south], Charlie Reynolds [a scout] knew me and told Yellow Hair who did this
deed."
"Next winter I went to the Agency store at Standing Rock. I drew no rations--I hadn't signed the paper. [All
the Indians who signed a peace treaty and consented to live on the reservation, under military orders,
were furnished with rations by the government once a month. The 'hostiles' had to live by hunting.] Little
Yellow Hair [Capt. Tom
Custer] had thirty Long Swords there. He slipped up behind me like a squaw, when my back was turned.
Then they all piled on me at once; they threw me in a sick wagon [ambulance] and held me down till they
got me to the guard room at Lincoln. I was treated like a squaw, not a Chief. They put me in a room,
chained me, gave me
only one blanket. The snow blew through the cracks and on to me all winter. It was cold. Once Little Hair
let me out and the Long Swords told me to run. I knew they wanted to shoot me in the back. I told Little
Hair that I would get away some time [but] I wasn't ready then. When I did, I would cut his heart out and eat
it."
"I was chained to a White Man. One night we got away. They fired at us, but we ran and hit on the bank of
the Hart River in the brush. The White Man cut the chains with a knife [a file]. They caught him the next
day. I rejoined Sitting Bull and Gall. The Long Swords were afraid to come and get me there. I sent Little
Hair a picture, on a piece
of buffalo skin, of a bloody heart. He knew I didn't forget my vow. The next time I saw Little Hair, I got his
heart. I have said all."
We all knew that the greater part of this was true, since it tallied with government accounts of the death of
the sutler and Surgeon Huntsinger. But we wanted to hear how Rain took Tom Custer's heart. McFadden
[another individual present at the interview], who is quite an artist as well as an actor of note, had made
an imaginary
sketch of "Custer's Last Charge." He got it and handed it to Rain, saying: "Does that look anything like the
fight?"
Rain studied it a long time and then burst out laughing. "No," he said, "this picture is a lie. These Long
Swords have swords--they never fought us with swords, but with guns and revolvers. These men are on
ponies--[the soldiers] fought us on foot, and every fourth man held the other's horses. That's always the
way of fighting."
"We tie ourselves onto out ponies and fight in a circle. These people are not dressed as we dress in a
fight. They look like Agency Indians--we strip and have ourselves and our ponies painted."
"This picture gives us bows and arrows. We were better armed than the Long Swords. Their guns
wouldn't shoot but once--the thing wouldn't throw out the empty cartridge shells." (In this, Rain was
historically correct, as dozens of guns were picked up on the battlefield with shells still sticking in them,
showing that the ejector
wouldn't work.)
"When we found they could not shoot, we saved our bullets by knocking the Long Swords over with our
war clubs--it was like killing sheep. Some of them got on their knees and begged--we spared none! This
picture is like all the White Men's pictures of Indians, a lie. I will show you how it looked."
Then turning the drawing over he pulled out a stump of a lead pencil from his pouch and drew a large
shape of the letter S, turned sideways. "Here," he said, "is the Little Big Horn River. We had our lodges
built along the banks in the shape of a bent bow."
"How many lodges did you have?" asked McLaughlin.
"Oh many, many times ten. We were like blades of grass." (It is estimated that there were between four
and six thousand Indians, hence there must have been at least a thousand lodges.)
"Sitting Bull had made medicine way off on a hill. He came in with it. He had it in a bag on a stick. He made
a big speech and said Waukontonka [Great Spirit] has come to him riding an eagle. Waukontonka had told
him that the Long Swords were coming, but the Indians would wipe them off the face of the earth. His
speech made our hearts glad. Next day our runners came in and told us the Long Swords were coming."
"Sitting Bull had the squaws put up empty death-lodges along the bend of the river to fool the Rees scouts
when they came up and looked down over the bluffs. The brush and the bend in the river hid our lodges.
Then Sitting Bull went away to make medicine and didn't come back till the fight was over. Gall was head
Chief, Crazy Horse led the Cheyenne's, Goose the Bannocks. I was not head Chief--my brother Iron Horse
was--but I had a band of the worse Uncapapas, all of them had killed more enemies than they had fingers
and toes."
"When the Long Swords came we knew their ponies were tired out. We knew they were fooled by the
death-lodges. They thought we were but a handful. We knew they made a mistake when they separated.
General Custer sent [Major Marcus] Reno around to attack from the rear. Gall took most of the Indians up
the river to come between them and cut them off." (This was true, for it was Gall's party that found Reno's
command and drove them across the river. Gall had them surrounded on top of a hill for three days. They
would have been exterminated but for the bravery of the Captain under Reno, who virtually took command
until they were finally rescued by General Gibbon's forces.)
| Major Marcus Reno |
Chief Rain-in-the-Face traded on his fame long after the Little Big Horn. |
"I had sung the war song, I had smelt the powder smoke. My heart was bad--I was like one that had no mind.
I rushed in and took their flag. My pony fell dead as I took it. I cut the thong that bound me--I jumped up and
brained the Long Sword flag man with my war club, and ran back to our line with the flag."
"The Long Sword's blood and brains splashed in my face. It felt hot and ran in my mouth. I could taste it. I
was mad. I got a fresh pony and rushed back, shooting, cutting and slashing. This pony was shot and I got
another. This time I saw Little Hair. I remembered my vow. I was crazy, I feared nothing. I knew nothing
would hurt me, for I
had my white weasel-tail charm on." (Rain-in-the-Face wears the charm to this day.)
"I don't know how many I killed trying to get to him. I laughed at him and yelled at him. I saw his mouth move,
but there was so much noise I couldn't hear his voice. He was afraid. When I got near enough I shot him with
my revolver. My gun [rifle] was gone, I don't know where."
I leaped from my pony and cut out his heart and bit a piece out of it and spit it in his face. I got back on my
pony and rode off. I was satisfied and sick of fighting; I didn't scalp him. I didn't go back on the field after
that. The squaws came up afterward and killed the wounded, cut their boot legs off for moccasin soles.'
I rushed in and took their flag. My pony fell dead as I took it. I cut the thong that bound me--I jumped up and
brained the Long Sword flag man with my war club, and ran back to our line with the flag."
"The Long Sword's blood and brains splashed in my face. It felt hot and ran in my mouth. I could taste it. I
was mad. I got a fresh pony and rushed back, shooting, cutting and slashing. This pony was shot and I got
another. This time I saw Little Hair. I remembered my vow. I was crazy, I feared nothing. I knew nothing
would hurt me, for I
had my white weasel-tail charm on." (Rain-in-the-Face wears the charm to this day.)
"I don't know how many I killed trying to get to him. I laughed at him and yelled at him. I saw his mouth move,
but there was so much noise I couldn't hear his voice. He was afraid. When I got near enough I shot him with
my revolver. My gun [rifle] was gone, I don't know where."
I leaped from my pony and cut out his heart and bit a piece out of it and spit it in his face. I got back on my
pony and rode off. I was satisfied and sick of fighting; I didn't scalp him. I didn't go back on the field after
that. The squaws came up afterward and killed the wounded, cut their boot legs off for moccasin soles.'
"When we saw Rees scouts had stayed back with Yellow Hair, we were glad. We
saw them trotting along, and let them come in over the bluffs. Some of our young
men went up the gully which they had crossed and cut them off from behind."
"Then we showed our line in front and the Long Swords charged. They reeled under
our fire and started to fall back. Our young men behind them opened fire. Then we
saw some officers talking and pointing. Don't know who they were, for they all
looked alike. I didn't see Long Yellow Hair then or afterward. We heard the Rees
singing their death song-they knew we had them. We rushed like a wave does at the
sand out there [the beach at Coney Island] and shot the pony holders and
stampeded their ponies by waving our blankets in their faces. Our squaws caught
them, for they were tired out."
saw them trotting along, and let them come in over the bluffs. Some of our young
men went up the gully which they had crossed and cut them off from behind."
"Then we showed our line in front and the Long Swords charged. They reeled under
our fire and started to fall back. Our young men behind them opened fire. Then we
saw some officers talking and pointing. Don't know who they were, for they all
looked alike. I didn't see Long Yellow Hair then or afterward. We heard the Rees
singing their death song-they knew we had them. We rushed like a wave does at the
sand out there [the beach at Coney Island] and shot the pony holders and
stampeded their ponies by waving our blankets in their faces. Our squaws caught
them, for they were tired out."
"They hunted for Long Yellow Hair to scalp him, but could not find him. He didn't wear his fort clothes
[uniform], his hair had been cut off and the Indians didn't know him." (This corroborates what General
Custer's wife says about her husband having his long curls cut at St. Paul some weeks before he was
killed.)
"That night we had a big feast and scalp dance. Then Sitting Bull came up and made another speech. He
said: 'I told you how it would be--I made great medicine--my medicine warmed your hearts and made you
brave.' he talked a long time. All the Indians gave him credit for winning the fight because his medicine won
it. But he
wasn't in the fight. Gall got mad at Sitting Bull that night. Gall said, 'We did the fighting, you only made
medicine.' It would have been the same anyway. Their hearts were bad towards each other, after that,
always."
"After the fight we could have killed all the others on the hill [Reno's command], but for a quarrel between
Gall and Sitting Bull. Both wanted to be head Chief. Some of the Indians said Gall was right and went with
him. Some said Sitting Bull was right. I didn't care, I was my own Chief and had my bad young men; we
would not obey either of them unless we wanted too, and they feared us."
"I was sick of fighting--I had had enough. I wanted to dance. We heard more Long Swords were coming with
wheel guns. We moved camp north. They followed many days till we crossed the line. I stayed over there till
Sitting Bull came back and I came back with him. That's all there is to tell. I never told it to White Men
before."
When we had finished I said to him: "Rain, if you didn't kill Long Yellow Hair, who did?"
"I don't know. No one knows. It was like running in the dark."
"Well," asked McFadden, "why was it Long Yellow Hair wasn't scalped when everyone else was? Did you
consider him too brave to be scalped?"
"No. No one is too brave to be scalped. That wouldn't make any difference. The squaws wondered afterward
why they couldn't find him. He must have lain under some other dead bodies. I didn't know, till I heard it long
afterward from the Whites, that he wasn't scalped."
"How many Indians were killed in the fight?"
"I don't remember, but about ten and four or ten and six."
"How about Curley, the Crow scout, who claims to have escaped?" asked Mac.
"Ugh! I know Curley. He is a liar. He never was in the fight. His pony stumbled and broke something. He
stayed behind to fix it. When he heard the firing, he ran off like a whipped dog. One Long Sword escaped,
though, his pony ran off with him and went past our lodges. They told me about it in Chicago. I saw the man
there and I
remembered hearing the squaws tell about it after the fight."
[uniform], his hair had been cut off and the Indians didn't know him." (This corroborates what General
Custer's wife says about her husband having his long curls cut at St. Paul some weeks before he was
killed.)
"That night we had a big feast and scalp dance. Then Sitting Bull came up and made another speech. He
said: 'I told you how it would be--I made great medicine--my medicine warmed your hearts and made you
brave.' he talked a long time. All the Indians gave him credit for winning the fight because his medicine won
it. But he
wasn't in the fight. Gall got mad at Sitting Bull that night. Gall said, 'We did the fighting, you only made
medicine.' It would have been the same anyway. Their hearts were bad towards each other, after that,
always."
"After the fight we could have killed all the others on the hill [Reno's command], but for a quarrel between
Gall and Sitting Bull. Both wanted to be head Chief. Some of the Indians said Gall was right and went with
him. Some said Sitting Bull was right. I didn't care, I was my own Chief and had my bad young men; we
would not obey either of them unless we wanted too, and they feared us."
"I was sick of fighting--I had had enough. I wanted to dance. We heard more Long Swords were coming with
wheel guns. We moved camp north. They followed many days till we crossed the line. I stayed over there till
Sitting Bull came back and I came back with him. That's all there is to tell. I never told it to White Men
before."
When we had finished I said to him: "Rain, if you didn't kill Long Yellow Hair, who did?"
"I don't know. No one knows. It was like running in the dark."
"Well," asked McFadden, "why was it Long Yellow Hair wasn't scalped when everyone else was? Did you
consider him too brave to be scalped?"
"No. No one is too brave to be scalped. That wouldn't make any difference. The squaws wondered afterward
why they couldn't find him. He must have lain under some other dead bodies. I didn't know, till I heard it long
afterward from the Whites, that he wasn't scalped."
"How many Indians were killed in the fight?"
"I don't remember, but about ten and four or ten and six."
"How about Curley, the Crow scout, who claims to have escaped?" asked Mac.
"Ugh! I know Curley. He is a liar. He never was in the fight. His pony stumbled and broke something. He
stayed behind to fix it. When he heard the firing, he ran off like a whipped dog. One Long Sword escaped,
though, his pony ran off with him and went past our lodges. They told me about it in Chicago. I saw the man
there and I
remembered hearing the squaws tell about it after the fight."
| Could It Be Possible? |
| Could There Really Be A Photograph Of Oglala Sioux Chief Crazy Horse? |
| This Website Says There Is! |
| Click The Button At The Right And Read All About The Story Of This Picture! |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |