A Hungpapa or Unkpapa Sioux baby is born on the plains of Montana territory. His mother and grandmother name him Rain in the Face. Because it is raining and the rain is hitting his face.
RAIN IN THE FACE
Many of my best friends are named for their fathers. Tom Jr., Tom Jr., Norman Jr., Gordon Jr., Charles Jr. I was close -- Mom and Dad used my Dad’s first name as my middle name. Remember the movie “Little Big Man?” He was a real Indian, the son of Big Man. In my neighborhood I was Big Bobby. Bobby Gamache was little Bobby. I wish they would have used Indian names such as White Man Runs Him or Two Moons or Crazy Horse or He Dog or Two Whistles or Goes Ahead or Chief Coming Up or Chased By Owls. My brother-in-law Brian probably would prefer Spotted Eagle. If you are a runner, then you remember the first -- and best -- running store in Hanover. It was called The Runnery, and the owner was a white man named Sharpless Jones.Today he probably is on Barak Obama’s staff.
1876. Rain in The Face fights at Little Bighorn. The Indians call it the fight of the Greasy Grass. He slays Tom Custer, George’s brother, during the fight. Sitting Bull joins Buffalo Bill Cody’s Wild West Show, which tours Europe with sellout crowds in England, France and Germany. While in Chicago, Rain In The Face attends the 1893 World’s Fair and takes a ride on the world’s first Ferris Wheel. And you want me to read a book with a story that someone made up?
BUFFALO BILL'S WILD WEST SHOW
The Greasy Grass Fight, Custer’s Last Stand or the Battle of the Little Bighorn, June 1876. Our country is only 100 years old. In formation, they charged across a broad and open flood-plain just west of the river called the Little Bighorn. A line of men on horses headed directly for the southern end of the encampment of nearly a thousand lodges and eight thousand people. At some point in the headlong gallop, the attacking soldiers opened fire. Blasts of gunfire shattered the relative stillness of the hot afternoon.
SIOUX TEEPEES
Bullets from the first scattered volleys easily reached the camp. Their first kills were not combatants, however. Two women and a girl were the first casualties of the Battle of the Little Bighorn. They happened to be the wives and daughter of a capable and respected battle leader among the Hunkpapa Lakota, named Gall.
GALL
Their deaths would motivate him to “fight like a wounded bear.” In battle he would only fight with a hatchet.
He fought the battle with white stripes painted on his arms and split many heads with his hatchet. “I killed a great many,” he said. Elizabeth Bacon Custer said “Painfull as it is for me to look upon the pictured face of an Indian, I never in my life dreamed there could be in all the tribes so fine a specimen of a warrior as Gall.” He was Sitting Bull’s adopted brother. Gall died on George Custer’s birth date. Okay, okay, I give up. Give me your fiction book.
In his book, “My Life on the Plains,” Custer reproduced a telegram from Sherman to President U.S. Grant which says in part, “We must act with vindictive earnestness against the Sioux, even to their extermination, men women and children. Nothing less will reach the root of the case.”
Last photo of George Armstrong Custer leaving for Custer’s Last Stand. Just the name alone should have tipped him off to what was about to happen.
Crazy Horse. NO photo ever taken. It was said he did not want to lose himself inside the white man’s box. His exploits as a fighting man drew other fighting men to him. His individual achievements came early. Consequently, he became a combat leader as a very young man, reaching that status sooner than any of his predecessors. He frequently exhibited opposite sides of his persona as a warrior. On one hand he was reckless to a fault, seemingly taunting death. On the other hand he was capable of staying unwaveringly calm in stressful situations. Riding with him into battle, warriors knew that any man who was injured or killed would not be left on the battlefield. Away from the battlefield, Crazy Horse was a quiet and contemplative young man. He had a lifelong habit of taking care of elderly people first. Whenever he hunted, before he took meat to his own family, he made sure the elderly had enough to eat. And he influenced others to do the same.
Sitting Bull, the Hunkpapa Sioux who brought all these tribes together, had sixty-three battle coups. He became one of only two sash-wearers in the Strong Hearts warrior society, a distinction that entitled him to wear a buffalo horn bonnet covered with crow feathers, his mark of office being a strip of wool long enough to drag the ground. This trailing sash was more than decorative: when a sash wearer took a stand in battle, he pinned it to the earth with a lance, signifying that he would never retreat.
SITTING BULL
Most plains Indians could put an arrow entirely through a buffalo.
The most powerful Colt revolver would not send a ball through a buffalo. Scout George Catlin watched a Manden shoot so fast that an eighth arrow was en route before the first one hit the ground. A typical warrior could fire fifteen to twenty arrows per minute.
Rain in The Face had been invited to a feast. The guests were eating when they heard bluecoat guns, which did not sound like their own. Rain habitually carried a stone-headed war club, even to parties, but he rushed back to his lodge for a gun, his bow, and a quiver of arrows. Then he hopped on his pony and was about to ride south when he and his friends saw troops on the eastern ridge. While riding against these troops, they discovered a young woman – Tashenanini, Moving Robe – riding with them. Her brother had been killed during the fight with General Crook and now she was holding her brother’s war staff above her head at the Greasy Grass fight.
In the battle, White Elk wore a famous headdress designed by his uncle – the brow embellished with dragonflies and butterflies. Sun Bear’s bonnet was rudimentary and violent: a single horn projecting from his forehead. Wooden Leg wore a cloth shirt, beaded moccasins, and a pair of britches given to him by a Sioux. A blue-black charcoal circle enclosed his face, the interior colored red and yellow – a design never to be altered.
Sioux warriors who were first to touch an enemy could wear a golden eagle feather upright. The next wore an eagle feather tilted to the left, the next wore a feather horizontally, while the fourth might wear a buzzard’s feather dangling. A warrior who saved a friend’s life might display a cross on his clothes. A double cross if the rescue was accomplished on horseback.
LITTLE WOLF And DULL KNIFE
(Little wolf has crosses on him.) Little Wolf and Dull Knife, Northern Cheyenne chiefs 1828-1904 & 1810-1883. A rare photograph of the two most important Cheyennes.The prowess of Little Wolf as a warrior is evident by the numerous enemy scalps displayed on his shirt. Both fought at Little Bighorn. Killing an enemy hand to hand entitled the victor to paint a red hand on his clothing his horse or his war shield.
CROW KING
Crow King, Hunkpapa Sioux, who at the Little Bighorn was the first to reach Medicine Tail Coulee from the south with eighty men, becoming the first to pursue Custer’s five companies up the long slope. At the end of the Indian wars, he was one of the last to give up. After turning in his weapons, he asked a Chicago Times reporter for two dollars so he could buy dolls for his daughters. Died in 1884.
SPOTTED EAGLE
Spotted Eagle was a Sans Arc Sioux Chief noted for his battlefield prowess and leadership. Photo is from 1880, four years after the Greasy Grass Fight.
HIGH HORSE
High Horse, Brule Sioux Chief, 1852-1931. Fought at Little Bighorn when he was thirteen.
FLYING PIPE
Flying Pipe, Yankton Sioux, fought at Little Bighorn.
FOOL BULL
Fool Bull, 1844 -1909. Was a participant at Little Bighorn at age eleven. Shown here with his war shield of shrunken buffalo hide, which is presently on display at the Sioux Indian Museum in Rapid City South Dakota.
BOB BACON
In his favorite Indian store, “Prairie Edge “ (art of the Lakota), Rapid City, South Dakota.
HE DOG
He Dog, Oglala Sioux. Nephew of Red Cloud, who fought at Little Bighorn and Slim Buttes.
YELLOW HAWK
Yellow Hawk, Sioux, North Dakota.
RED HORSE
Red Horse, Miniconjou Sioux warrior. Drew photos of the battle on ledgerbooks taken at Little Bighorn.
CUSTER'S BATTLE FLAG
LITTLE BIGHORN BATTLEFIELD
CUSTER'S BUGLE
Custer traveled with 80 some dogs and a whole Army marching band who rode white horses. Only four dogs came to The Last Stand. George and Libbie Custer had a porcupine that slept in the same bed as them. On the plains pronghorn antelope would come right up to Custer and nuzzle him to pet them. The old fur traders couldn't believe their eyes. When the 7th would leave a fort for battle, the band would strike up “Gerry Owen,” an old Irish tune. The 7th was only one-third American-born, mostly 5' 8" and under, and young -- 19- 24 years of age average. WELL they were cavalry. Did you want them to be football lineman size? Speaking of .... The head musicians name was Vinatieri, and until fairly recently his great, great, great grandson was the kicker for the New England Patriots. You can't make up stuff like this. I am not lying to you Mi Amore, I would NEVER lie to YOU. P. S.Fiction is dead.
WILD HORSE
Wild Horse, Oglala Sioux Chief, cousin or brother of Crazy Horse, of whom no documented photograph is known.
AMERICAN HORSE
American Horse, Oglala Sioux, 1898.
LITTLE HORSE
Little Horse, Oglala Sioux, 1899.
LITTLE BIG MAN
Little Big Man, Oglala Sioux, 1877.
LONG SOLDIER
Long Soldier, Hunkpapa Sioux, 1874.
RED ARMED PANTHER
Red Armed Panther, Cheyenne, 1879.
TWO STRIKE
Two Strike, Brule Sioux, 1875.
TOUCH THE CLOUDS
Touch The Clouds, Miniconjou Sioux, 1877.
COMES OUT HOLY
Comes Out Holy, Oglala Sioux, 1904.
SCORCHED LIGHTNING
Scorched Lightning, Miniconjou Sioux, 1880.
SHORT BULL
Short Bull, Brule Sioux.
BULL'S GHOST
Bull Ghost, Yankton Sioux, 1872.
ONE BULL
One Bull (Tatanka Wanjila), Hunkpapa Sioux warrior, born 1853. He was thirteen at Little Bighorn and wore his uncle Sitting Bull’s shield there. He stood next to Sitting Bull after his surrender in 1881. Taken at Fort Randall, Dakota Territory, 1882.
SLOW BULL
Slow Bull, Oglala Sioux,1907 (Edward S. Curtis)
KICKING BEAR and SHORT BULL
Miniconjou and Brule Sioux, 1891.
MEDICINE BEAR
Medicine Bear, Cut Head Dakota, 1872.
BEAR'S RIB
Bear's Rib, Hunkpapa Sioux, 1872.
HOLLOW HORN BEAR
Hollow Horn Bear, Brule Sioux, 1900.
KICKING BEAR
Kicking Bear, Miniconjou Sioux, 1896.
RUNNING ANTELOPE
Running Antelope, Hunkpapa Sioux, 1872.
OGLALA WAR PARTY
Oglala War Party, Teton Sioux, 1907 (Edward S. Curtis)
WOLF ROBE
Wolf Robe, Southern Cheyenne, 1898.
YOUNG CROW WARRIOR
Young Crow Warrior, 1912.
LOW DOG
Low Dog, Ogalala Sioux, born 1846. Became a war chief at age fourteen. Low Dog’s account of the battle is one of history’s best known.
BLACK TONGUE
Black Tongue, Cheyenne. As allies of the Sioux, the Cheyenne fought against Custer at the Little Big Horn. Photo: Niobrara, Nebraska, 1878.
TWO MOONS
Two Moons, Cheyenne, standing six foot, four inches. He is best remembered for his courageous exploits as one of the nine warrior chiefs who defeated the 7th Cavalry at the Battle of Little Bighorn. He is credited as being the only Cheyenne to have carried a repeating rifle during the battle. In February of 1876 he was camped on the Yellowstone River on his way to the reservation when he was attacked by soldiers during a snow storm. Because of that, he joined Sitting Bull’s band. Photo by Edward S. Curtis, 1910.
CUSTER'S CROW SCOUTS
Custer's Crow Scouts at Little Bighorn. White Man Runs Him, Moccasin, Curley and Goes Ahead. The 7th cavalry had 51 scouts made from six Indian tribes. Curly was Custer’s very favorite.
CURLEY
Just west of the Buffalo Bill Museum in Cody, Wyoming stands the original log cabin built for Curly by the United States Army.
CURLEY'S CABIN
The site where it is, is called Trail Town.
TRAIL TOWN
At Custer’s Last Stand, not one rider survived, military or civilian. George’s brothers Tom and Boston were killed, as well as his brother-in-law. Custer’s four Crow scouts all withdrew when Custer gave permission. They had been employed to find the enemy, which they had done. Many troopers horses were taken by the warriors, as well as scalps, clothing, weapons and much green paper with writing on it. Only Comanche, the badly wounded horse of Captain Myles Keogh, was left. Comanche was a 15–hand gelding of mustang and Morgan breeding who ran with a wild horse band that was rounded up and sold to the U.S. Cavalry in St. Lewis, April 1868. Comanche was brought back to good health and no one was allowed to ride the gelding for the remainder of its life.
COMANCHE
Depending on who was counting, 256 men of Custer’s 7th died and only 42 Indians. Their names: Lame Whiteman, Hump Nose, Open Belley, Noisey Walking, Whirlwind, Red Horn Buffalo, Black Cloud, Left Hand, Owns Red Horse, Flying By, Limber Bones, Closed Hand, Black Moon, Young Black Moon, High Eagle, Bear With Horns, Guts, Flying Charge, Hawk Man, Red Face, Swift Cloud, Mustache, White Buffalo, Rectum, Swift Bear, Many Lice, White Buffalo Bull, Dog With Horns, Dogs Backbone, Bear With Horns, Swift Bear, Three Bears, Bad Light Hair, Elk Standing On Top, Cloud Man, Elk Standing High, Deed, Eagle Hat, Kills Him, Chased By Owls, Young Bear and Long Road.
The last two Indian living participants were Sitting Bull’s deaf mute son John, who died in May of 1955. The last witness, not a participant, probably was a Cheyenne named Charles Sitting Man, who lived until 1961.
This story is 99.99% fiction-free.
Bob (Moccasin Breath) Bacon
Books read and then reread as follows. Son of the Morning Star G.A. Custer , Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee. Red Cloud and Crazy Horse, I Rode with Custer , Black Elk Speaks , My Life on the Plains ( G.A. Custer). Down the River , Edward Abbey , The Day the World Ended ( Little Big Horn ), Buffalo Bill's America and Blood and Thunder ( settling of the West ). OK Ed Abbey had nothing to do with it but I thought I would mention him any way.
The Twenty Volumes, The North American Indians, took over two decades for Edward Sheriff Curtis (1868-1952) to complete. He visited 80 tribes from Mexico to Alaska taking over 2,200 photos recording the last living traditions of North American Indians.
FROM 2005
