Table of Contents Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Epigraph PREFACE CHAPTER - At the Flood CHAPTER - The Dream CHAPTER - Hard Ass CHAPTER - The Dance CHAPTER - The Scout CHAPTER - The Blue Pencil Line CHAPTER - The Approach CHAPTER - The Crow’s Nest CHAPTER - Into the Valley CHAPTER 10 - Reno’s Charge CHAPTER 11 - To the Hill CHAPTER 12 - Still Point CHAPTER 13 - The Forsaken CHAPTER 14 - Grazing His Horses CHAPTER 15 - The Last Stand CHAPTER 16 - The River of Nightmares EPILOGUE APPENDIX A APPENDIX B Acknowledgements Notes Bibliography Illustration Credits Index ALSO BY NATHANIEL PHILBRICK The Passionate Sailor Away Off Shore: Nantucket Island and Its People, 1602–1890 Abram’s Eyes: The Native American Legacy of Nantucket Island Second Wind: A Sunfish Sailor’s Odyssey In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex Sea of Glory: America’s Voyage of Discovery, the U.S Exploring Expedition, 1838–1842 Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community, and War VIKING Published by the Penguin Group Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, U.S.A Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4P 2Y3 (a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.) Penguin Books Ltd, 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England Penguin Ireland, 25 St Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2, Ireland (a division of Penguin Books Ltd) Penguin Books Australia Ltd, 250 Camberwell Road, Camberwell, Victoria 3124, Australia (a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty Ltd) Penguin Books India Pvt Ltd, 11 Community Centre, Panchsheel Park, New Delhi–110 017, India Penguin Group (NZ), 67 Apollo Drive, Rosedale, North Shore 0632, New Zealand (a division of Pearson New Zealand Ltd) Penguin Books (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd, 24 Sturdee Avenue,Rosebank, Johannesburg 2196, South Africa Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England First published in 2010 by Viking Penguin, a member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc Copyright © Nathaniel Philbrick, 2010 All rights reserved Map illustrations by Jeffrey L Ward Copyright © Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 2010 Image credits appear on page 447 LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA Philbrick, Nathaniel The last stand : Custer, Sitting Bull, and the Battle of the Little Bighorn / by Nathaniel Philbrick p cm Includes bibliographical references and index eISBN : 978-1-101-19011-1 Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book via the Internet or via any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal and punishable by law Please purchase only authorized electronic editions and not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrightable materials Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated http://us.penguingroup.com To Melissa Maybe nothing ever happens once and is finished Maybe happen is never once but like ripples maybe on water after the pebble sinks, the ripples moving on, spreading, the pool attached by a narrow umbilical water-cord, to the next pool which the first pool feeds, has fed, did feed, let this second pool contain a different temperature of water, a different molecularity of having seen, felt, remembered, reflect in a different tone the infinite unchanging sky, it doesn’t matter: that pebble’s watery echo whose fall it did not even see moves across its surface too at the original ripple-space, to the old ineradicable rhythm —WILLIAM FAULKNER, Absalom, Absalom! Heart River campsite He Dog (Oglala Lakota) Herendeen, George Hodgson, Benny Holy Medicine (Hunkpapa Lakota) Horned Horse Horse Holders’ Ravine horses hot-air balloon Howells, William Dean Hughes, Robert Hunkpapa Lakota akicita (police) and bands of Lakota and Battle of Killdeer Mountain at Battle of Little Bighorn and Custer’s brass band important members of Sitting Bull as leader of village of Indian agencies See also specific agencies Indian country Indian reservations Indian scouts See also specific scouts; specific tribes Inkpaduta (Santee Sioux chief) interracial unions Iron Hawk (Hunkpapa Lakota) Jackson, Billy (Pikuni scout) Johnson, Benjamin John Stands in Timber (Cheyenne) Jordan, John Joseph Horn Cloud Julia Face (Brulé Lakota) Jumping Bull (Sitting Bull’s brother) Kanipe, Daniel Kansas Kate Bighead (Cheyenne) Kellogg, Mark Keogh, Myles at Battle of Little Bighorn as Custer’s senior officer description of friendship with Libbie horse of Kicking Bear (Oglala Lakota) Kill Eagle (Blackfeet Lakota) Kiowa Korn, Gustave Ku Klux Klan Lakota and “Battle in the Dark,” and Battle of Killdeer Mountain at Battle of Little Bighorn and Black Hills burial grounds of camped at Little Bighorn children at boarding schools and Custer desiring peace different bands of facing white soldiers and Grouard history/culture of nomadic lifestyle of opinion of whites outnumbering soldiers at Battle of Little Bighorn Parkman’s description of and reservations and scouts and sun dance U.S Army attacks vast village of and victory and warfare strategy warriors of and water weapons used by whites’ expansion into territory of see also other tribes Lame White Man (Cheyenne) LaPointe, Ernie Last Stand Last Stand Hill Left Hand (Arapaho) Lewis and Clark Expedition Lincoln, Abraham Little Bighorn River and the battle and Lakota/Cheyenne villages Little Bighorn Valley Little Big Man (Oglala Lakota) Little Big Man (film) Little Bird (Cheyenne) Little Brave (Arikara scout) Little Face (Crow scout) Little Hawk (Cheyenne) Little Missouri River Little Soldier (Hunkpapa Lakota) Little Wolf (Cheyenne) Lone Man (Hunkpapa policeman) Lone Tepee Long Road (Sans Arc Lakota) Lord, George Lorentz, George Lounsberry A Low Dog (Oglala Lakota) Lynch, Dennis McCaskey, William McCormick, Samuel McCurry, Joseph McDougall, Thomas McGuire, John McIntosh, Donald McLaughlin, James McVay, John Madden, Michael Maguire, Edward Mahoney, John maps Battle of the Rosebud Battle of the Washita Benteen’s swing left General Terry’s plan Last Stand march of the Dakota Column march of the Montana Column to the Little Bighorn march of the Seventh Cavalry march to the Divide Northern Plains and Kansas, with detail of Custer in the Black Hills Peter Thompson’s walkabout Reno’s scout river of nightmares siege, day Sitting Bull’s village into the valley valley fight to Weir Peak and back Marsh, Grant and Libbie Custer and massacre of Custer’s battalion and Seventh Cavalry Terry’s faith in trips on the Missouri trips on Yellowstone River turning boat into hospital Martin, John Martini, Giovanni, see Martin, John Mathey, Edward Mechling, Henry Medicine Arrow Medicine Tail Coulee Medicine Water Lake Melville, Herman Meyer, William Miles, Nelson Mills, Anson miners Minneconjou Lakota Missouri River and forts geography of and Indians and riverboats trips on Mizpah Creek Monahsetah (Cheyenne) Monroe, Michigan Montana Montana Column Moore, Orlando Morris, William Moving Robe Woman (Hunkpapa Lakota) Moylan, Myles mule pack trains and Crook guarding of and McDougall’s B Company mishaps with and transport of supplies My Life on the Plains (George Custer) Native culture Native police Native religious movement Neihardt, John Newell, Daniel New Rumley, Ohio New York Herald Noisy Walking (Cheyenne) No Neck (Hunkpapa Lakota) North American Indians, The (Curtis) North Dakota Nugent, William officers’ wives, see women: married to officers Oglala Lakota agency for and Battle of Little Bighorn at Chicago World’s Fair leaders of Parkman’s observations of village of warriors of O’Hara, Miles O’Kelly, James One Bull (Sitting Bull’s nephew) One Feather (Arikara scout) O’Neill, Thomas Oregon Trail, The (Parkman) Osage scouts pack trains, see mule pack trains Parker, Ely Parkman, Francis Paulding, Holmes Petring, Henry Pickett, George Pigford, Edward Pine Ridge Reservation Plains Porter, Henry Porter, James Powder River Powder River encampment press, the See also specific reporters Pretty White Buffalo Woman (Hunkpapa Lakota) Radisson, Pierre railroads Rain in the Face (Hunkpapa Lakota) Ream, Vinnie Red Cloud (Oglala Lakota) Red Cloud Agency Red Horse (Minneconjou Lakota) Red Star (Arikara scout) Red Tomahawk (Hunkpapa policeman) Red Woman (Sitting Bull’s wife) Reed, Harry “Autie” (George Custer’s nephew) Reno, Marcus battalion of conduct investigated on Cooke and Custer death of description/background of drinking problem of fighting Indians at Battle of Little Bighorn and Gerard leading battalion at Battle of Little Bighorn leading battalion to Battle of Little Bighorn retreating from battle on scouts searching for Benny Hodgson on Yellowstone River Reno, Mary (Mrs Marcus Reno) Reno Hill Reynolds, Charley Richmond Despatch Rigney, Michael rock art Rock Writing Bluff Roe, Charles Roman Nose (Cheyenne) Roosevelt, Theodore Rosebud River army marching to army scouts along and Indian villages Roy, Stanislas Runs the Enemy (Two Kettle Lakota) Rutten, Roman Ryan, John sabers Sans Arcs Lakota Santee Sioux Scott, Hugh Second Cavalry Seen by the Nation (Sitting Bull’s wife) Server, F E Seventh Cavalry and alcohol consumption band and Battle of Little Bighorn under Custer Custer’s trust in escorting surveying expedition on Far West at Fort Lincoln inexperience of and Lakota and losses at Little Bighorn officers of and officers’ wives in Reconstruction South under Reno soldiers of led by Terry Shave Head (Hunkpapa policeman) Sheridan, Michael Sheridan, Philip and campaigns against tribes as commander of Military Division and court of inquiry and Custer and Grant Sherman, William Tecumseh Shoots Walking (Hunkpapa Lakota) Shoshone Sioux bands of and Battle of Little Bighorn and Black Hills campaigns against naming of territory of and warfare see also Lakota Sipes, James Sitting Bull (Hunkpapa Lakota leader) appealing to Wakan Tanka and Battle of Killdeer Mountain at Battle of Little Bighorn and Black Hills camped at Little Bighorn and Custer death of fame of and family as fearless warrior final arrest of followers of and Gerard greatest victory of great-grandson of as great leader home along Grand River interviews of last days of peace desired by physical appearance of pursued by army reputation of returning to Standing Rock and sacred pipe scorning move to reservations singing talents of soldiers eluded by and sun dance surrender of threatening war view of whites village of visions of war strategies of and Weldon and wives skirmish lines Slaper, William Smith, Algernon Smith, E P Smith, E W Smith, Nettie (Mrs Algernon Smith) Snake warriors Snow on Her (Sitting Bull’s wife) South Dakota Spotted Tail (Brulé Lakota) Springfield carbines Standing Bear (Minneconjou Lakota) Standing Holy Standing Rock Agency Stanley, David Stronghold (Dakota badlands) Stuart, Jeb Sturgis, James “Jack,” Sturgis, Samuel sun dance Sun Dance Creek Sword (Oglala Lakota) Sylvester Knows Gun (Cheyenne) Tanner, James Taylor, William tepees Terry, Alfred background/personality of on badlands at Battle of Little Bighorn blaming Custer for tragedy and campaigns against tribes disastrous plan of on Far West at Fort Lincoln and Grant relationship with Custer and Reno returning to base camp skills of warfare strategies of Teton Sioux, see Lakota They Died with Their Boots On (film) Thompson, Peter awarded Medal of Honor at Battle of Little Bighorn on Custer on Far West and Reno testimony on Battle of Little Bighorn Thompson, Susan Tilden, Samuel Tongue River travois poles treaties Tullock’s Creek Twain, Mark Two Kettle Lakota Two Moons (Cheyenne warrior) United States celebrating centennial during Civil War and immigrants and Native cultures and panic of 1873 territories of Upshaw, Alexander U.S Army See also Seventh Cavalry U.S cavalry U.S Congress U.S government blamed for tragedy of Little Bighorn campaigns against Sitting Bull campaigns against tribes expansion into Indian territory Indian policies of and Indian reservations Indians deciding to work with and Lakota and rations for Indians and Standing Rock Agency trying to buy Black Hills and War Department Varnum, Charles and Battle of Little Bighorn on campaign against Lakota and Custer leading Arikara scouts and Reno’s retreat on Reynolds Vinatieri, Felix Voight, Henry Wagoner, John Wakan Tanka (Great Spirit) Wallace, George warfare, intertribal washichus (Lakota word for whites) Washington.C Washita River Waterman (Arapaho) Watkins, Erwin C Watson, James Weir, Thomas Weir Peak Weldon, Catherine West Point Academy Whitaker, Frederick White, Charles White Buffalo Calf Woman White Bull (Sitting Bull’s nephew) White Horse Creek White Man Runs Him (Crow scout) White Swan (Crow scout) Whittaker, Alfred wicasa wakan (holy man) wickiups Wilson, James Windolph, Charles Winney, Dewitt Wolf Mountains Wolf River Wolf’s Tooth (Cheyenne) women and Battle of Little Bighorn at Battle of Sand Creek captives Indian widows in Lakota villages and Laundress Row married to officers in Oglala villages Sitting Bull’s opinion of soldiers’ abuse of Wooden Leg (Cheyenne warrior) and the army on benefits of reservations on mutilating the dead on Sitting Bull and Sioux at village on Little Bighorn River as warrior Wounded Knee Wovoka (Paiute medicine man) Wylie, George Wyoming Wyoming Column Yates, Annie Yates, George Yellow Hair (Cheyenne) Yellow Nose (Cheyenne) Yellowstone campaign Yellowstone River and Battle of Little Bighorn encampment on geography of as rendezvous point Yellowstone Wagon Road and Prospecting Expedition Young Black Moon (Hunkpapa Lakota) Young Hawk (Arikara scout) Young Two Moons (Cheyenne warrior) Based on Kenneth Hammer’s “The Glory March” and Ronald Nichols’s Men with Custer Based primarily on Lakota Recollections, Cheyenne Memories, and Indian Views of the Custer Fight, all edited by Richard Hardorff ... CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA Philbrick, Nathaniel The last stand : Custer, Sitting Bull, and the Battle of the Little Bighorn / by Nathaniel Philbrick p cm Includes bibliographical... of the officers of the Seventh Cavalry as overdue revenge for their defeat at the Little Bighorn This is the story of the Battle of the Little Bighorn, but it is also the story of two Last Stands,... why the mothers wailed out their farewells By the time they reached the officers’ quarters, the band had moved on to The Girl I Left Behind Me.” The wives, who had been standing bravely at their