My name is Left Hand, though some call me the one who runs behind the clouds. I was fifty-six years old when I told this story. I am of the Miniconjou people. I fought under the leadership of Spotted Elk.
We had been in the village for four or five days when the soldiers came. Shortly before they appeared, some of our men who had been out riding returned and said they had seen clouds of dust to the northeast and the east. We did not know whether it was Crook or someone else. We knew only that soldiers were coming.
The fighting began with the Uncpapa, the people of Sitting Bull. That is where the soldiers struck first. I was in the battle against Reno. It started in the morning around nine-thirty and lasted until about noon.
I had a companion who was wounded in the head south of the high hill. I stopped to tend to him. I did not go any farther than that. No one got ahead of Reno when he fled.
We did not cut him off. After Reno’s men fled to the bluffs, great confusion swept through the village. The women and children scattered, some down the river, some to the hills. The disorder was severe.
Then we saw more soldiers. They appeared first near the high ground to the east. When these soldiers appeared, I did not see any warriors already on that side of the river. The men came out of the lodges in large numbers.
The soldiers came within a quarter mile of the river, but no closer. They all appeared to be on foot. They did not try to cross. We were very numerous when we came out.
The soldiers’ leader seemed more concerned with the safety of his men than with forcing a crossing. They fell back in military formations, still in good order. The fighting continued all the way as they moved. It was not heavy at first, but it was constant firing from both sides.
We crossed the river where it was safe and convenient. The soldiers moved from the first hill back to the next high point. They stayed together. They did not split up.
I was close enough on the northeast side to see the entire movement clearly. They all went together toward the far end of the ridge. There were no warriors in front of them on the long hill when they first reached it. We came up on both sides.
I do not think many warriors remained in the river bottom. Most of us followed those soldiers. The soldiers kept moving. They did not hold long at the first hills.
The only place they held for any real time was the last hill at the end of the ridge. Between points, most of the soldiers were still on their horses. Those who were on foot had lost their horses, either killed or run off. They were not fleeing in panic.
They were retreating because our numbers were so great. Near the end, some of them tried to escape. A few jumped over the high banks toward the ravine. That is where I was at the end.
I had moved near the ravine because the fighting by the last hill had become very intense. One company was riding gray horses. For a time, they were at the front of the fighting. Later, their horses mixed with the other horses.
The soldiers were trying to cover each other as they retreated. One group would hold while another moved. They never attacked us. The men who still had horses kept them until the horse was killed or taken.
Many horses were captured alive. Most of the saddles carried plenty of ammunition. Some horses were taken early, though many were already wounded. We controlled the long hills throughout the battle.
We kept the soldiers above them. I cannot say how many hours the whole fight lasted. After it ended, I returned to camp, caught another horse, and rode toward the soldiers who were still on the bluff. The sun was still shining.
At the last hill, the fighting became close, close enough that we looked into each other’s eyes. Between that hill and the ravine, we were pulling guns from the soldiers. Some of the men who tried to escape were so shaken that they fired into the air. They were easy to finish off.
Many were killed above the hills. Those found on the slope were men trying to flee. I did not see any soldier escape to the river. I heard later that a wounded man was found after several days, far from the field, with raw frogs in his pockets.
I also heard that a body in a buckskin suit was first found some distance west of the hills and was later carried to the last hill. I did not see these things myself. I know of no wounded soldiers who remained alive after the fighting stopped. I saw women moving among the bodies.
I suppose they went to strip them. No soldiers were taken to the village alive. We did not scalp many of them. Their hair was short.
We did not know Long Hair or his brother from any of the others. No one recognized them, as far as I heard. I cannot say how many of our people were killed. Quite a few were wounded.
Once the fighting with those soldiers was over, we turned back toward those still on the bluffs. A messenger came from the creek telling us that more soldiers were coming. That is why we did not stay to finish off the men on top of the hill. We left thirty of our dead in the village because there was no time.
I fought under Spotted Elk. Lame Deer was also a chief of the Miniconjou. The Sans Arc followed Chief Spotted Eagle. The Brulé who were there had no single chief.
They were a hunting party that joined us. That is what I saw with my own eyes.