A Note on 100 Voices by Bruce Brown 100 Voices: Full List * Crow/Arikara * Sioux/Cheyenne * American * Rosebud Guided Tours: Crazy Horse at the Little Bighorn * Crazy Horse at the Rosebud Features: Who Killed Custer? * Bogus Crazy Horse Photos * Unsung Scouts Saga Features: Crazy Horse Surrender Ledger * Winter Count of Crazy Horse's Life Features: Indian Battlefield Tactics * Woman Warriors * Virtual Museum Features: U.S. Atrocities * Indian Atrocities * U.S. Medal of Honor Winners Features: Little Bighorn Mysteries * Little Bighorn Maps * 100 Voices Forum

American Horse's Story of the Battle
A Northern Cheyenne's account of the Battle of the Little Bighorn

Cheyenne Chief American Horse provides the single most complete account of the scouting information that the free Indian leaders were receiving on Custer's movements before the battle.

Other important scouting info came from Hollow Horn Bear, Little Wolf, Fast Horn, Foolish Elk, Owns Bobtailed Horse, Respects Nothing and Chat-ka, as well as both Sioux and Cheyenne youths moments before the American invaders' attack. And here is High Dog's description of Sioux and Cheyenne scouting: "how it is done."

Although the Indians did not expect Custer to ride all night and attack immediately on the 25th, Sitting Bull's "G7 was excellent," as W.A. Graham noted.

-- B.B.
August 10,2010
updated April 21, 2011

THE AMERICAN HORSE INTERVIEW

Northern Chevenne Indian Reservation, Montana, 1895

WE FIRST came together and heard that the white soldiers were in the country, down near the mouth of the Rosebud, close to the Yellowstone. A large camp gathered there. After a while, we all moved up the Rosebud, keeping scouts out all the time. While we were going up the Rosebud, we had a fight with the soldiers. [Note: this was the Battle of the Rosebud, where a Cheyenne / Sioux force commanded by Crazy Horse defeated a larger force commanded by Gen. George Crook. See Crazy Horse at the Rosebud for more info.] Afterward we crossed over to Reno Creek and camped. Scouts came in and said that lots of white men (soldiers) were coming.

Next morning we moved on and camped in a big bottom where there is a bunch of timber, the place where we were afterwards attacked [by Custer]. Scouts were kept out all the time. The next day some men were back on the Rosebud, watching to see where the troops with whom they had fought were going. These went the other way, but these scouts discovered Custer going up the Rosebud. A short time after the scout who made this discovery got into camp, four or five lodges of Sioux, who had set out to go to Red Cloud Agency, discovered Custer's troops close to them...

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100 Voices

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