100 Voices from the Little Bighorn by Bruce Brown Deluxe CD-ROM Bundle Edition

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100 Voices: Sioux, Cheyenne, Arapahoe, Crow, Arikara and American Eye-witness accounts of the Battle of the Little Bighorn

100 Voices: Full List * Crow/Arikara * Sioux/Cheyenne * American * Rosebud

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Features: Who Killed Custer? * Who Killed Custer? Audio Book
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This is a FREE EXCERPT from
Bruce Brown's 100 Voices...

Flying By's Story of the Battle
A Minnneconjou Sioux's account of the Battle of the Little Bighorn

From an interview with Walter M. Camp and interpreter William S. Claymore on May 21, 1907.

Note

Minneconjou Sioux warrior Flying By[WE WERE] IN VILLAGE two or three days before battle. Some Sioux who had lost horses came in and reported Custer coming on trail and Custer showed up not long after Custer's soldiers got there. They called Custer, Paonski (Long Hair) and some of Indians thought it might be Custer. Had not been looking for soldiers in that direction.

Soldiers attacked Hunkpapa tepees first. All Indians that had ponies went out to help Hunkpapas fight Reno and some were dismounted. Battle with Reno lasted only short time and my horse shot. Soldiers went through timber and retreated to river. My horse shot and I went back to village for another horse. As soon as Reno retreated more soldiers (Custer) were in sight from village farther down the stream. The soldiers had four or five flags. Custer acted as though he would cross and attack village.

We crossed over at all points along river as quick as we could and found Custer already fighting Indians and driving Indians back toward river but when we got over in great numbers Custer was soon surrounded. The soldiers then got off horses and some let them go and we captured a lot of them. I captured one myself. I took some of the horses to village before battle was over and then came back. Got ammunition from saddles of horses. After came back from taking horses to village I came to gully east of long ridge and many soldiers already killed. . . .

Says Custer's soldiers kept together all the time and were killed moving along toward camp. Killed all way along. Some soldiers still had horses at this time. Did not make any stand except in one place where Custer [was] killed at end of long ridge. Soldiers had plenty of ammunition when killed. Indians closed in and at last part of battle soldiers were running through Indian lines trying to get away. Only four soldiers got into gully toward river.

[In the Custer fight] soldiers excited and shot wild. We lost only a few men. Did not recognize Custer until some time after the battle and all soldiers killed. Our village the winter before was on Tongue river.

When I got to Custer Indians had been fighting quite awhile. Some of the soldiers let horses go early in fight. Soldiers did not charge after I got there. Four Minneconjous killed. When [we] moved away [we] had considerable ammunition. I had a Winchester rifle with 14 shots. Many of Indians had pump guns....


Lakota and Cheyenne: Indian Views of the Great Sioux War, 1876-1877 by Jerome A. Greene, University of Oklahoma Press 1994, p 59 - 61

NOTE:

Flying By was the son of Minnneconjou Chief Lame Deer.



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