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Posted on 05/17/2005 9:01:22 PM PDT by SAMWolf
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 are acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated.
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After helping his people win the Battle of the Little Bighorn, the daring Oglala leader fought the soldiers again at Slim Buttes in September 1876 and the Wolf Mountains in January 1877 before finally surrendering at Camp Robinson that May.  On the afternoon of September 9, 1876, 600 to 800 Lakota warriors led by Oglala leader Crazy Horse rode to the crests of some hills overlooking a broad depression near the Slim Buttes range of western Dakota Territory. What they saw below must have turned their stomachs. The village of Minneconjou Lakota leader American Horse lay in ruin. Most of the 40 lodges had been demolished, with dead ponies and personal belongings scattered about. Soldiers were everywhere, far more than Crazy Horse had expected to see. They were not shooting their guns now—there was no need to. No Indians were in sight. Crazy Horse and his warriors had been called from their village some 10 miles away. The bluecoats had attacked and must be driven off. But Crazy Horse had been told there were no more than 150 soldiers, fewer than the number killed earlier that summer along the Greasy Grass in Montana Territory. Crazy Horse had been there, too, and before that on the Rosebud battlefield. He knew how to fight soldiers. Before him now, though, were more than 1,000 bluecoats. Captain Anson Mills and 150 cavalrymen had made the initial attack on American Horse's village that morning, but they had since been reinforced by many more of Brig. Gen. George Crook's troops. Most of the Indians from the village had fled to the south, and some women and children were captured. American Horse himself had surrendered after he was mortally wounded. Crook's men had found a number of relics from the Greasy Grass fight, better known as the Battle of the Little Bighorn, including a swallow-tailed guidon of the 7th Cavalry.  Custer and the 7th Cavalry at the Little Big Horn" From their positions atop the hills, Crazy Horse's warriors opened fire on the troops. Crook immediately had his men form a defensive line around the horses and mules, while other soldiers went ahead and set the Indian village ablaze. The general then ordered some of his troops into skirmish lines to advance toward the warriors. Four companies of infantry led the way, with dismounted troopers from three cavalry regiments following. As the troops came within range, the Indians rained gunfire down on them, but the troops answered with a furious volume of fire and kept on coming. After 45 minutes of steady fighting, the troops drove most of the warriors from their positions on the hills. But some of the Lakotas held their ground, and at one point they charged Lt. Col. William Royall's 3rd Cavalry, on the perimeter of Crook's line. It took a well-aimed fusillade to drive them away. The battle cost the lives of two cavalrymen and one of Crook's scouts, Charles "Buffalo Chips" White, but the outnumbered Indians, who had an estimated 10 killed, could not defeat the soldiers. That night, Crook's men ate well while camping near the smoldering ruin that had once been American Horse's village. When the bluecoats pulled out on September 10 and headed toward the Black Hills, Crazy Horse had his warriors keep up a running fight. On September 15, Crook finally reached a supply column in the Black Hills and was no doubt glad to have Crazy Horse out of his hair.  The September 9 Battle of Slim Buttes (fought near present-day Reva, S.D.) marked the first time since the late June fight at the Little Bighorn that Crazy Horse had fought soldiers in large numbers. During those couple of months in between, avoiding a fight with the bluecoats had not been difficult. After learning of Lt. Col. George Custer's shocking defeat, Generals Crook and Alfred Terry had been unwilling to take on the Lakotas until reinforcements had arrived. Meanwhile, the Lakotas had kept on the move, traveling mostly east and burning the grass behind them to deny forage to the horses of any soldiers who might follow. Crazy Horse had too few warriors to attack the soldiers in force, but he did all he could to resist the white intruders in Paha Sapa, the sacred Black Hills. Alone or with a few friends, he attacked miners and others, and then brought the spoils home to his people. One time he returned to his village with mules loaded with goods, and another time he brought sacks of raisins that the Indian children happily gobbled up. What he could not obtain enough of, though, was ammunition.  After the Battle of Slim Buttes, Crazy Horse and his people went west to the Tongue River. They settled in for the winter near Hanging Woman Creek. "It snowed much; game was hard to find, and it was a hungry time for us," recalled Oglala holy man Black Elk, who was Crazy Horse's cousin through marriage and just a teenager in 1876. "Ponies died, and we ate them. They died because the snow froze hard and they could not find enough grass that was left in the valleys and there was not enough cottonwood to feed them all. There had been thousands of us together that summer, but there were not two thousand now." Meanwhile, General Crook, having retreated to Fort Laramie on the Bozeman Trail, outfitted for a winter campaign against Crazy Horse. He had 2,200 soldiers and more than 400 Indian scouts, including 60 Sioux from the agencies. His cavalry was commanded by Colonel Ranald Mackenzie and his infantry by Lt. Col. Richard Dodge. The soldiers left Fort Laramie on November 5, 1876, and followed the Bozeman Trail to Fort Fetterman and then to Fort Reno. There, Crook learned that some Indians had gone to warn Crazy Horse of his approach. At that point, the general changed his plan, sending Mackenzie and the cavalry to attack the Northern Cheyenne village of Dull Knife and Wild Hog, some 37 miles away on the Red Fork of the Powder River.  "Fight for water" by Charles Chreyvogel Mackenzie hit the village at dawn on November 25 and destroyed it. Although the village had been warned of Mackenzie's approach, the attack was a surprise. Some 40 Cheyenne men, women and children were killed. The rest escaped, but only with the clothes on their backs. For two weeks they trudged northward through the snow and subfreezing temperatures to reach their only source of help, the village of Crazy Horse. Several people, mostly children, died along the way. Crazy Horse took in the surviving refugees, feeding, clothing and sheltering them as best he could. But Crazy Horse's own people could not keep up such support for long; they themselves were suffering. Some of the Northern Cheyennes left the village to surrender to the whites at Camp Robinson. Mackenzie's attack on Dull Knife's village and the lack of game that winter convinced many of the Lakota leaders on the Tongue River to pursue peace. Crazy Horse, whose following at the time consisted of about 250 lodges, struggled with that concept and, according to Black Elk, began to act even queerer than usual. "He hardly ever stayed in camp," Black Elk said. "People would find him out alone in the cold, and they would ask him to come home with them. He would not come, but sometimes he would tell the people what to do. People wondered if he ate anything at all. Once my father found him out alone like that, and he said to my father: ‘Uncle, you have noticed the way I act. But do not worry; there are caves and holes for me to live in and out here the spirits may help me. I am making plans for the good of my people.'"  Wounded being removed from field at Slim Buttes. Photo by Stanley J. Morrow. Crazy Horse knew not only of Crook but also of Colonel Nelson A. Miles, who had established a cantonment at the mouth of the Tongue River (and would soon build Fort Keogh nearby). Miles, a veteran of the Red River War in Texas, had effectively campaigned against Sitting Bull and the Hunkpapa Lakotas in October and November. By mid-December, Crazy Horse had come to agree with those Lakota leaders who said it was in their best interests to talk peace with Miles. A delegation of 25 Lakotas and Northern Cheyennes made the trip. As they drew close to Cantonment Tongue River, five of them went ahead, carrying two white flags of truce. To reach Miles' headquarters, the peacemakers had to pass through a camp of Crow scouts. The Crows greeted the Lakotas, shaking their hands, but then, without warning, one of the Crows pulled a pistol and shot the Minneconjou Gets Fat With Beef. The Crows surrounded the others and killed them too. The murders did not sit well with Miles, who ordered the remaining Crows disarmed and their horses seized. He sent the Lakotas the guns and the horses and a letter of apology, assuring them that the white men had nothing to do with the killings. Crazy Horse did not buy it. Clearly, the whites still could not be trusted, and he wanted revenge. Most of the other Indian leaders agreed with him. They held a council and decided to send a decoy party to draw the soldiers away from the post and into an ambush by the main body of warriors. A similar Lakota tactic at Fort Phil Kearney in 1866 had enabled Crazy Horse and friends to annihilate Captain William Fetterman's force in the Fetterman Fight (also known as the Fetterman Massacre).  Fetterman Massacre artist -- Harold von Schmidt The decoy party struck the post on December 26, 1876, stealing nearly 250 head of cattle and driving them south. Miles immediately sent Companies C and F, 22nd Infantry, and Company D, 5th Infantry, all under the command of Captain Charles Dickey, in pursuit. The next day, Lieutenant Mason Carter's Company K, 5th Infantry, followed. On December 28, Miles himself set out with three companies (A, C and E) of the 5th Infantry, eight scouts, a 12-pounder Napoleon cannon and a 3-inch rifled Rodman gun. In all, Miles had 436 men in the field. The decoy party allowed Miles to follow it southwest through the Tongue River valley, engaging in small-scale skirmishes with his rear guard on January 1 and 3, 1877. The deep snow and freezing temperatures made conditions difficult for everyone, but the soldiers were better prepared. They wore buffalo coats over layers of clothing, as well as fur caps, rubber overshoes and warm mittens. "Bear Coat" Miles, relentlessly eager to find Crazy Horse's village, was playing right into the hands of the Lakotas. The decoy party was leading him to a spot near Prairie Dog Creek, where the ambush was supposed to take place.
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Ditto, another excellent read.
This Creek-Kiowa boy enjoyed the post and the prayers. Both are important.
Group Hugs. The sun came out and we were busy today so not much time to post. The sun is no longer out and we have rain.
"Dances with pop-ups". LOL. Don't you just hate that?
Inspired by the hit film "Dances With Pop-Ups"
LOL! Just saw "Dances With Wolves" on TV the other day.
We had a load of seed come in oday and about a quarter of the bags had gotten soaked and torn open during transit. What a mess! Now we have to deal with the shipper to get credit for the damaged bags. :-(
That's outrageous. Onan needs a facelift with a forklift.
The Polish flag flies over the ruins of the Monte Cassino monastery. The road to Rome was open.
Quite a library on the Indian Wars you have. :-0
Deep within the brain of most humans, resides the Moron chip. This chip, when working properly, is constantly observing the person's behavior. In the event of dangerous or stupid behavior, it will go into alarm mode. Historically, this chip may be what helped the smarter cavemen to not become "food" or "stuff on a rock".
What we have here is what's known as a Moron Chip failure.
LOL
BTTT!!!!!!
Runs about 10-12' of book shelf. I left out the books specifically referencing Custer, the Little Big Horn, the Apaches, the Southern Plains, the Modoc War, and the wars east of the Mississippi.
Can't blame you snippy, enjoy the nice weather while you got it.
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