Post by ephriam on Mar 22, 2014 18:01:52 GMT -5
Standing Bear (c1859-1933), Oglala: Oyuhpe.
Interview with Edmond S. Meany:
Wounded Knee
Manderson, S.D. 21 July 1907
John Monroe, Interpreter
Standing Bear
Ma-to-nazhi
Ogalala
47 years
19 years old when he went on the war party first. It was against the Blackfeet. The leader was Shell-Earring. They had no fight but in the night took 30 horses and went home. They were grazing out from the camp and Standing Bear saw a Blackfoot and shot him and then he ran towards home.
At the age of 20 he took the pipe and led a war party against the Blackfeet. They found five lodges of Blackfeet. At night they approached and took all the horses about 36 head.
He took part in 9 battles against Crows.
His only coup was a fourth coup on a white man. The man had been shot and Standing Bear was fourth to strike the dead man with his bow.
He thinks the greatest leader of the Sioux was Crazy Horse and General Custer of the whites.
His father was a brave warrior against the Assiniboines and was also the one to "answer" the bear when it stood at bay in the hunt. So the father named his boy, after the battle with the Assiniboines, "Standing Bear."
He was with Buffalo Bill in Europe when he married an Austrian woman who is now an expert worker in beads and quills at their home at Wounded Knee. She has a name in Sioux meaning "Young Buffalo Woman." They have three girls and one boy died.
Interview with Eli S. Ricker:
Manderson, March 12, 1907
Custer Battle only.
Standing Bear, a full-blood Sioux being interpreted says: There was a creek on which the Crows lived called Grease Grass Creek.
An Oglala Indian went out on opposite side of L. Big Horn to look for horses and came back saying that there were white soldiers coming, & then they sent out a scout.
The Indians first saw Custer about noon when he made a charge on them.
The first fighting of all the fighting was down on the river bottom and began about noon.
He did not fight against Reno. Reno's bullets came right into the camp. Standing Bear was in or just back of the camp when Reno attacked it.
Standing Bear says that Custer came down the ridge across the creek -- the second or rear ridge from the river. He made no known attempt to reach the river to cross. He went right up to Calhoun Hill and disposed his forces along the trop of the ridge to Custer Hill. The men on Calhoun Hill finally gave way and fell back toward Custer Hill. Keogh made a desperate stand & he & his men were killed. The men fell back along the ridge leading their horses. No Indians crossed at the lower crossing. They all crossed at the mouth of the creek and spread out both ways around Custer completely encircling his troops and both hills. Custer was first confronted and engaged by a few Indians who took position all along the south side of the ridge, and their numbers increased rapidly as the Indians came over the River and joined in the battle. There was no fighting on the creek. The soldiers made a stout defense. A good many Indian horses were killed & lying around in the big circle. Twenty-four Indians were all the dead Indians he saw; does not know how many died from wounds.
No soldiers were mutilated either of Custer's or Reno's; but an Indian that was with the soldiers & killed was scalped and cut across the bowels.
The soldiers that fell back along the ridge uniting with those left alive on Custer Hill broke and ran on foot down toward the ravine and river, and were killed by Indians surrounding them, with arrows, guns and war clubs.
The fight on the river bottom began about noon and Custer was finished about an hour later. It seemed as though the sun was in the same place when the Custer battle was over that it was when the Reno fight started.
Interview with Walter Camp:
July 12, 1910
at Manderson, South Dakota
Says Black Bear and several others early in morning of June 25 were up on divide going off on a visit, and as they proceeded they crossed the trail of the Sioux leading into valley of Little Bighorn. This trail was then several days old and there was something about it that attracted their attention, and upon closer inspection, they discovered a fresh trail of shot horse tracks on the older trail. Having fought solders (Crook) only a few days before, their suspicions were at once aroused, and one of them proposed that they ride back to the top of the divide and take a look around, which they quickly did. From this point they could see the smoke of Custer's camp to their left, and away off to their right, high up among some trees, a small party of men, apparently scouts (Varnum's party). From this I take it that the shod horse tracks on the old trail which they discovered was the trail of Varnum in advance of Custer. They then retraced their steps to high ground, and here it was that Varnum saw them.
Says that Custer's dust was seen approaching the village over low ground to the east, down a kind of dry coulee. as soon as the soldiers came in sight they halted and apparently were preparing for a charge. All this time the Ogalallas were getting ready. Finally the soldiers advanced very near to the river, but before they could cross were engaged by the Indians and forced back to the ridge where the main fight took place.
Says as soon as Custer came in sight and halted, some of the Indians crossed over, but he advanced against this resistance nearly to the river before it became strong enough to check him.
Says that the Indians first prepared to fight were the ones camped farthest from the river. While Reno's battle was going on, Crazy Horse was getting his warriors ready, and before they were ready the other soldiers (Custer) appeared. Crazy Horse, however, took time to consult the medicine man and invoke the spirits. This he did very coolly, and he delayed so long that many of his warriors became impatient.
Was on bluffs (where Knipe saw Indians), and Custer went down coulee into Medicine Tail and crossed over to Custer ridge in full view of village. Custer's soldiers did not fire into village. On my map I should change places with Minneconjou and Sans Arc camps. Ogalallas were not on river at all but over toward bluffs to west of Brule and Sans Arc. Custer's men did not fight by companies but all were together all the time. Could not make him say different. His recollection clear on this point. They gray horses mixed in with rest and but few horses got beyond Keogh. Nearly all killed or captured before got farther than this.
Keogh is the first place where any of the soldiers stopped to fight. Those between Custer and river were soldiers running toward river on foot. Between Calhoun and monument there were Indians both sides of river as soldiers went along. The soldiers killed between Custer and river were men on foot trying to make the river, and they were killed in the deep ravine.
Standing Bear took a buckskin shirt from one of the dead men and gave it to his mother, and she kept it many years and finally cut it up. At the time he supposed this to be the only buckskin shirt that was found, and he therefore for some years supposed he had Custer's shirt, whom he (after the battle) was told wore such a shirt. In talking with other Indians, however, he found it was claimed that other buckskin shirts were found among the dead.
At the time of the battle and while I the vicinity, no Indian recognized Custer's body, nor even supposed they had been fighting Peoushi. He saw the three Indian scouts killed with Reno and one of these they took to be Sioux (This must have been Bloody Knife, who was part Sioux).
Interview with Edmond S. Meany:
Wounded Knee
Manderson, S.D. 21 July 1907
John Monroe, Interpreter
Standing Bear
Ma-to-nazhi
Ogalala
47 years
19 years old when he went on the war party first. It was against the Blackfeet. The leader was Shell-Earring. They had no fight but in the night took 30 horses and went home. They were grazing out from the camp and Standing Bear saw a Blackfoot and shot him and then he ran towards home.
At the age of 20 he took the pipe and led a war party against the Blackfeet. They found five lodges of Blackfeet. At night they approached and took all the horses about 36 head.
He took part in 9 battles against Crows.
His only coup was a fourth coup on a white man. The man had been shot and Standing Bear was fourth to strike the dead man with his bow.
He thinks the greatest leader of the Sioux was Crazy Horse and General Custer of the whites.
His father was a brave warrior against the Assiniboines and was also the one to "answer" the bear when it stood at bay in the hunt. So the father named his boy, after the battle with the Assiniboines, "Standing Bear."
He was with Buffalo Bill in Europe when he married an Austrian woman who is now an expert worker in beads and quills at their home at Wounded Knee. She has a name in Sioux meaning "Young Buffalo Woman." They have three girls and one boy died.
Interview with Eli S. Ricker:
Manderson, March 12, 1907
Custer Battle only.
Standing Bear, a full-blood Sioux being interpreted says: There was a creek on which the Crows lived called Grease Grass Creek.
An Oglala Indian went out on opposite side of L. Big Horn to look for horses and came back saying that there were white soldiers coming, & then they sent out a scout.
The Indians first saw Custer about noon when he made a charge on them.
The first fighting of all the fighting was down on the river bottom and began about noon.
He did not fight against Reno. Reno's bullets came right into the camp. Standing Bear was in or just back of the camp when Reno attacked it.
Standing Bear says that Custer came down the ridge across the creek -- the second or rear ridge from the river. He made no known attempt to reach the river to cross. He went right up to Calhoun Hill and disposed his forces along the trop of the ridge to Custer Hill. The men on Calhoun Hill finally gave way and fell back toward Custer Hill. Keogh made a desperate stand & he & his men were killed. The men fell back along the ridge leading their horses. No Indians crossed at the lower crossing. They all crossed at the mouth of the creek and spread out both ways around Custer completely encircling his troops and both hills. Custer was first confronted and engaged by a few Indians who took position all along the south side of the ridge, and their numbers increased rapidly as the Indians came over the River and joined in the battle. There was no fighting on the creek. The soldiers made a stout defense. A good many Indian horses were killed & lying around in the big circle. Twenty-four Indians were all the dead Indians he saw; does not know how many died from wounds.
No soldiers were mutilated either of Custer's or Reno's; but an Indian that was with the soldiers & killed was scalped and cut across the bowels.
The soldiers that fell back along the ridge uniting with those left alive on Custer Hill broke and ran on foot down toward the ravine and river, and were killed by Indians surrounding them, with arrows, guns and war clubs.
The fight on the river bottom began about noon and Custer was finished about an hour later. It seemed as though the sun was in the same place when the Custer battle was over that it was when the Reno fight started.
Interview with Walter Camp:
July 12, 1910
at Manderson, South Dakota
Says Black Bear and several others early in morning of June 25 were up on divide going off on a visit, and as they proceeded they crossed the trail of the Sioux leading into valley of Little Bighorn. This trail was then several days old and there was something about it that attracted their attention, and upon closer inspection, they discovered a fresh trail of shot horse tracks on the older trail. Having fought solders (Crook) only a few days before, their suspicions were at once aroused, and one of them proposed that they ride back to the top of the divide and take a look around, which they quickly did. From this point they could see the smoke of Custer's camp to their left, and away off to their right, high up among some trees, a small party of men, apparently scouts (Varnum's party). From this I take it that the shod horse tracks on the old trail which they discovered was the trail of Varnum in advance of Custer. They then retraced their steps to high ground, and here it was that Varnum saw them.
Says that Custer's dust was seen approaching the village over low ground to the east, down a kind of dry coulee. as soon as the soldiers came in sight they halted and apparently were preparing for a charge. All this time the Ogalallas were getting ready. Finally the soldiers advanced very near to the river, but before they could cross were engaged by the Indians and forced back to the ridge where the main fight took place.
Says as soon as Custer came in sight and halted, some of the Indians crossed over, but he advanced against this resistance nearly to the river before it became strong enough to check him.
Says that the Indians first prepared to fight were the ones camped farthest from the river. While Reno's battle was going on, Crazy Horse was getting his warriors ready, and before they were ready the other soldiers (Custer) appeared. Crazy Horse, however, took time to consult the medicine man and invoke the spirits. This he did very coolly, and he delayed so long that many of his warriors became impatient.
Was on bluffs (where Knipe saw Indians), and Custer went down coulee into Medicine Tail and crossed over to Custer ridge in full view of village. Custer's soldiers did not fire into village. On my map I should change places with Minneconjou and Sans Arc camps. Ogalallas were not on river at all but over toward bluffs to west of Brule and Sans Arc. Custer's men did not fight by companies but all were together all the time. Could not make him say different. His recollection clear on this point. They gray horses mixed in with rest and but few horses got beyond Keogh. Nearly all killed or captured before got farther than this.
Keogh is the first place where any of the soldiers stopped to fight. Those between Custer and river were soldiers running toward river on foot. Between Calhoun and monument there were Indians both sides of river as soldiers went along. The soldiers killed between Custer and river were men on foot trying to make the river, and they were killed in the deep ravine.
Standing Bear took a buckskin shirt from one of the dead men and gave it to his mother, and she kept it many years and finally cut it up. At the time he supposed this to be the only buckskin shirt that was found, and he therefore for some years supposed he had Custer's shirt, whom he (after the battle) was told wore such a shirt. In talking with other Indians, however, he found it was claimed that other buckskin shirts were found among the dead.
At the time of the battle and while I the vicinity, no Indian recognized Custer's body, nor even supposed they had been fighting Peoushi. He saw the three Indian scouts killed with Reno and one of these they took to be Sioux (This must have been Bloody Knife, who was part Sioux).
