From History net. by Gregory Michno. I did not know, is this correct?
The Battle of the Little Bighorn, fought on the banks of the river of that name in Montana Territory in June 1876, is the most often discussed fight of the Indian wars. It has been said that we will never know what happened there because there were no survivors. That is nonsense. There were thousands of survivors. The Indians clearly told us what happened. We need only to listen to what they said.
There are also many misconceptions about Lt. Col. George A. Custer and the 7th Cavalry, among them being that Custer had long yellow hair and that he and his regiment carried sabers into the battle. In reality, Custer’s hair was cut short, and the regiment left its sabers behind.
An examination of 10 of the major myths about the Battle of the Little Bighorn follows. The first two myths are widely held fallacies that do not require Indian testimony to discredit; the last eight myths are largely discredited by eyewitness accounts of those on the winning side.
Pulled from the koda (friend) keoghs page in Sioux accounts of battle of little big horn. little bighorn associates message board, Zahn Frances narrative.
“Grey Track“ (Rumor about who killed Custer)
ALL YELLOW talks to Welch, December 30, 1925:
Oye-correct spelling , Track,Tracking,Footprint definition. He also said that the man who killed General Custer was named Ajemakasan (White Track). He was half Sisseton and Half Hunkpati and All Yellow insisted in calling him a wicheyelo. He said that he never came back to the United States but died in Canada, and that he dressed up in Custer’s clothes, and had a revolver which belonged to Custer, but that he threw that away.
I do not take any stock in this story – W.
This is from Idonna's update for one of her tribe affiliations on this site, Under yanktonais:
This is what i know
My family call ourselves Ihunktonwana-Little End Dwellers
From my families history of who we are it was always said we come from the "Burnt Wood" band on my great great NapeHotaWin side.
I never seen anyone who ever posted anything about the band before.
We are also called Wiciyelo which translate-
"They want sometime".
Hunkpatina-They live at the end village
Lower Yanktonais
Corroboration of above Custer Story,
Frances Zahn, half blood, educated, to Welch, April 21st, 1926. Indian name is Makhpia kin yapi (Floating Cloud):
This young man called on me today at Mandan. He was returning from a visit to his relatives on the Fort Totten Reservation, and while there heard that a woman knew who killed Custer. So he drove out to her place. She was a large woman, Isanti, and her name is Mrs. Big Shoulder. She told Zahn that her father was the man who killed Custer. His name, as given by Zahn, is Oyehota – and he translated it as ‘Gray Track.’ She said that he belonged to the Isanti and came from wooded Mountain country. They often called him Inkpaduta (Scarlet End or Point) and thought he was a relative of the renegade of that name. He was in the fighting and came back with a sorrel horse and saddle, which was identified as that ridden by Custer. In the swirl of the fight he shot at this man two times and thinks that he killed him as he fell then. He did not have long curls but did have on a buckskin coat and fired with a white handled revolver.
Compared with the story of All Yellow, this seems to bear it out, and may be the real story of Custer’s death. He died in Canada two years ago, being afraid to ever come back to the United States.
From the book "indian views of the custer fight" Also a narrative from His Holy Pipe,Tthat a Grey Earth Track killed Custer ://books.google.ca/books?id=QM_R7y5tAoIC&pg=PA183&lpg=PA183&dq=santee+killed+custer&source=bl&ots=EEJ1gOfwgC&sig=ACfU3U1A2j-AvNqHZIEtKdYV-uweQNjVLQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjYgMz-lvPoAhXHKs0KHfWQDV8Q6AEwBnoECA8QKQ#v=onepage&q=santee%20killed%20custer&f=true
Here is a miniconjou lakota red horse story of what he heard. he painted all the battle pictures from the battle, but this is an interesting for the santee tribe. i dont think he would have said something like that if he didn't believe it, or eles his pictures would be discredited too i would think. But pretty cool story. i just keep finding them and the storys are believable depending on the research i did.
The officers point of view, while they watched. the same first group that left the reno fight to go after Custer. i think ehanamani was right on who went after Custer. but i found good info in this book. im sure the author has done his research.
"The strategy of the defeat at the battle of little big horn, A military and timing analysis of the battle. Fredric c. Wagner III"
Couple pages from the soldiers timeline Wagner wrote. sure looks like the warriors that left the Reno fight knew how Custer looked.
-Red Horse- Among the soldiers was an officer who rode a horse with four white feet. [This officer was evidently Capt. French, Seventh Cavalry.] The Sioux have for a long time fought many brave men of different people, but the Sioux say this officer was the bravest man they had ever fought. I don't know whether this was Gen. Custer or not. Many of the Sioux men that I hear talking tell me it was. I saw this officer in the fight many times, but did not see his body. It has been told me that he was killed by a Santee Indian, who took his horse. This officer wore a large-brimmed hat and a deerskin coat. This officer saved the lives of many soldiers by turning his horse and covering the retreat. Sioux say this officer was the bravest man they ever fought. I saw two officers looking alike, both having long yellowish hair.
Before the attack the Sioux were camped on the Rosebud river. Sioux moved down a river running into the Little Bighorn river, crossed the Little Bighorn river, and camped on its west bank.
This day [day of attack] a Sioux man started to go to Red Cloud agency, but when he had gone a short distance from camp he saw a cloud of dust rising and turned back and said he thought a herd of buffalo was coming near the village.
This is apparently Renos testimony after the battle of little big horn, 1879—RCOI, Friday, 7Feb1879; Saturday, 8Feb1879.
From Ford A, down the valley, to Reno’s timber—
15. As he moved down the valley, Reno realized there were even more Indians and he brought the third company into line. [561]
• Reno was out front, maybe about 40 paces, and a little to the right. [561]
16. Except for 3 or 4, the Indian scouts had run. [561] [Reno’s numbers are a little off here.]
17. By the time the third company had moved into line, they were moving at a gallop. [561]
• Reno did not consider this a charge. [590]
18. Reno saw 40 or 50 Indians to his front. He described them as decoys. [585]
• He saw no Indians driving ponies. “Every pony I saw had an Indian on him.” [585]
19. As they got farther down valley, Reno saw Indians coming out of a ravine. [561-562]
• The ravine was about 800 or 900 yards in front when he spotted it. [562]
• There were times—going down the valley—when Reno could not see the village. [562]
• I wonder if this ravine was one of the dry river courses that seemed so common.
• “It was afterward developed that if I had gone 2- or 300 yards further I should have thrown my command into a ditch 10 yards wide and 3 or 4 feet deep.” [590]
20. Reno ordered the battalion to dismount. [562]
• Hodgson told G, Reno told A and M. [562]
21. Reno said he saw 500 to 600 Indians, but he also had an idea of how many there could be from what he saw along the trails. [562]
• The dust on the trails they had been following was sometimes 4 to 6 inches deep and there were several other trails showing numbers of animals had moved along them. [562]
• Reno also said the trails got larger as they continued up the Rosebud. [579]
22. There were many Indians to Reno’s front, but he also saw small parties of warriors moving around his left. [562]
23. Reno was with Moylan on the skirmish line. They were there for 15 or 20 minutes “when word came to me from out of the timber that the Indians were turning our right.” [562]
• Reno left Hodgson on the line with instructions to let Reno know what was going on there, and Reno took Company G “to the banks of the river.” [562]
• When he got there Reno could see many scattering tepees. [562]
• Reno felt the Indians were using the woods as well as he, sheltering themselves and creeping up on him. [562]
24. Reno then rode back out to the skirmish line. He did not see where some of the firing was coming from. [562]
25. Hodgson told Reno the Indians were moving beyond the troops’ left flank and Reno ordered him to bring the skirmish line in along the edge of the timber. [562-563]
26. Reno claimed no one ever told him Custer had been spotted on the bluffs. [593]
27. Reno had no idea the amount of ammunition each man had or was supposed to have. He found out from the company commanders. [563] [This is an amazing statement, if true.]
• The Recorder brought out the fact that the ammunition Custer ordered to be carried—100 rounds of carbine—was a general order in this type of expedition. [580]
• Reno replied that he did not know if Custer’s order had been complied with. [580] [Rather weak!]
28. In leaving the timber, Reno instructed Hodgson to tell French, while Reno told Moylan and McIntosh. They were instructed to mount their men and bring them to the edge of the timber. [563]
29. Reno stood there for 10 minutes while the troops were forming in a column-of-fours. [563 and 587]
30. Reno left the woods with the intention of trying to re-unite the regiment. He believed the “regiment had evidently scattered or someone would have sent [him] an order or come to aid [him].” [563]
31. Indian numbers were increasing, especially in the woods and brush along the right bank. [564] [See Gibbon’s testimony about the brush along the river’s right bank.]
32. When Bloody Knife was killed, Reno rode out to Moylan to see if the troops were ready to go. [564]
• Orders to leave the timber had been given prior to Bloody Knife’s death. [564-565]
• Reno lost his straw hat in the bottoms. [573]
Retreat from the timber to the arrival on Reno Hill—
33. Reno estimated 600 to 900 Indians to his left and rear when he moved out of the timber. [585]
• There were plenty more between Reno’s men and the village. [585]
• They were also in force across the river. [585]
34. The formation was a column-of-fours, A leading, G in the middle, and M in the rear. [565] [That does not seem right.]
35. Reno led, the gait was rapid. [565]
36. Reno said the men crossed the river rapidly, throwing the rear of the column into some confusion. He stopped there for a moment. [565]
37. Reno testified that he believed Custer’s command was all dead by the time he left the woods. [589] [Of course he did not realize that at the time.]
this book coincides with Renos testimony he used all Dakota Lakota narratives. he is a Lakota from pine ridge, and lived at standing rock where some of the descendants live from the battle of little big horn. Dr. Allen Ross (EHANAMANI) " Crazy Horse and the Real Reason for the Battle of little Big Horn". the pages are not in order. but you can read this book at Open library.org. it has all of charles a eastman. (OHIYESA) books. most of them.
Another thing i found many more narratives of him and his twin brother were the warriors that killed him, along many many others including the last man and lt Harrington so it is believable all the evidence is here just never brought to light really. i dont know why. many Lakota state this. why give it to the Santee if its not true. everything this i found on my great great unka. no way he was going to return to the united states to be killed. his cousin returned and they shot him on the spot while smoking his pipe. this narrative is in the book. looking through the Dakota eyes a Dakota narrative of 1862.
p.s im just trying to tell his story a history that should be told what an exiled warrior has done to honor his family and oyate. and a real hero for all natives. much love to all. and also if anyone else find narratives of them in any part of the path please help me tell the Santee side as it is not well known today.
BATTLE PHASE TWO.
Here is a narrative of inkpadutas twin son's killing the last man. Written By Captain john S. Poland at standing rock reservation.