The Last Stand: Custer, Sitting Bull, and the Battle of the Little Big Horn

25, 1876
    T here were two major tribes represented at the Battle of the Little Bighorn: the Lakota (also known as the Teton Sioux) and the Cheyenne, along with a small number of Arapaho and Santee Sioux. Of the Lakota, there were seven bands: the Blackfeet, Brulé, Hunkpapa, Minneconjou, Oglala, Sans Arcs, and Two Kettles. Below is a listing of the participants mentioned in the text, grouped alphabetically by tribe and band. 2
    ARAPAHO
    Left Hand: part of a five-man hunting party that joined the village shortly before the battle; mistakenly killed a Lakota warrior in the dusty confusion around Last Stand Hill
    Waterman: companion of Left Hand’s who described the Oglala warrior Crazy Horse as “the bravest man I ever saw”
    BLACKFEET LAKOTA
    Kill Eagle: leader of a band detained against their will by Sitting Bull’s warriors
    BRULÉ LAKOTA
    Julia Face: married to Thunder Hawk; watched the battle from the hills to the west of the river
    Standing Bear: not to be confused with the Minneconjou of the same name; told his son Luther of his experiences at the battle
    CHEYENNE
    Beaver Heart: told tribal historian John Stands in Timber of Custer’s boast about capturing the Lakota woman “with the most elk teeth on her dress”
    Buffalo Calf Road Woman: rescued her fallen brother during the Battle of the Rosebud prior to the Little Bighorn
    Comes in Sight: saved by his sister Buffalo Calf Road Woman at the Rosebud
    Hanging Wolf: told the tribal historian John Stands in Timber of the soldiers’ northernmost approach to the river
    Kate Bighead: told Thomas Marquis of how she watched the fighting from the periphery of the battlefield
    Lame White Man: warrior killed by friendly fire during the charge near Battle Ridge
    Little Hawk: discovered Crook’s Wyoming Column prior to the Battle of the Rosebud; also present at the Little Bighorn
    Little Wolf: saw the Seventh approaching from the east but didn’t reach Sitting Bull’s village till after the fighting
    Noisy Walking: cousin to Kate Bighead; mortally wounded by a Lakota during the battle
    Two Moons: played a pivotal role during the battle with Custer; later spoke extensively about his experiences
    White Shield: about twenty-six years old at the time of the battle; had a nine-year-old son named Porcupine and fought with a stuffed kingfisher tied to his head
    Wolf’s Tooth: young warrior who later told John Stands in Timber about the battle
    Wooden Leg: fought both Reno’s and Custer’s battalions and later told of his experiences to Thomas Marquis
    Yellow Hair: brother to Wooden Leg
    Yellow Nose: Ute captive raised as a Cheyenne who figured prominently in the Custer fight
    Young Two Moons: twenty-one years old at the time of the battle; nephew to Chief Two Moons
    HUNKPAPA LAKOTA
    Black Moon: announced Sitting Bull’s vision at the 1876 sun dance; lost a son during the battle
    Crawler: father of Deeds and Moving Robe Woman; closely aligned with Sitting Bull
    Deeds: ten-year-old son of Crawler; one of the first killed
    Four Blankets Woman: younger sister of Seen by the Nation and wife of Sitting Bull
    Gall: lost two wives and three children at onset of the battle; subsequently led in capturing the troopers’ horses
    Good Bear Boy: friend of One Bull injured during the attack on Reno’s skirmish line
    Gray Eagle: brother of Sitting Bull’s two wives, Four Blankets Woman and Seen by the Nation
    Gray Whirlwind: with Sitting Bull when Reno attacked the Hunkpapa circle
    Her Holy Door: mother of Sitting Bull
    Iron Hawk: only fourteen years old during the battle; fought near Last Stand Hill
    Jumping Bull: adopted brother of Sitting Bull
    Little Soldier: Sitting Bull’s fourteen-year-old stepson at the time of the battle
    Moving Robe Woman: also known as Mary Crawler; joined the fighting after the death of her brother Deeds
    Old Bull: close ally of Sitting Bull who later claimed, “Soldiers made mistake attacking Hunkpapas first”
    One Bull: Sitting Bull’s nephew and a major source on the life of his uncle
    Pretty White Buffalo Woman: also known as Mrs. Horn Bull; claimed Reno might have won the battle if he had charged the village
    Rain in the Face: noted warrior who became famous for the apocryphal story that he cut out Tom Custer’s heart
    Seen by the Nation: elder sister of Four Blankets Woman and wife of Sitting Bull
    Shoots Walking: just sixteen years old, fought against the objections of his parents; claimed that the soldiers “did not know enough to