In the spring of 1876, Cheyenne war leader Two Moons was camped along the Powder River near present-day Fort McKinney with 50 lodges when soldiers under Colonel McKenzie, known to the tribes as Three Fingers, charged the camp by surprise. The Cheyenne scattered, leaving their ponies behind, and the soldiers captured the entire herd. That night, under cover of darkness, the warriors crept back and reclaimed their horses before fleeing the area. Two Moons and his people traveled a long distance and eventually reached a large Sioux encampment at Charcoal Butte, where they were welcomed by Crazy Horse.
“I am glad you are here,” the Sioux chief told him. “We are getting ready to fight the white man again. ” The camp was already full of wounded men, women, and children. Two Moons replied, “I am ready to fight with you.
I have fought before, and I have lost family and horses to the enemy. ”
Around May, when the grass was high and the horses strong, the combined camp moved toward the mouth of the Tongue River. Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse, and the allied warriors traveled up the Rosebud, where they fought a hard battle against General Crook and won. According to Two Moons, many soldiers died while few Indians lost their lives, with heavy smoke and dust filling the air during the intense fighting.
After the victory, the tribes crossed the divide and made camp in the Little Horn Valley, believing they had finally escaped the reach of the white man and could live in peace. But a few days later, a Sioux messenger arrived with surprising news: “Get ready for a great celebration. Cook, make food, and prepare for a big dance. ” The Cheyenne prepared for the festivities, planning to dance all day in celebration of their freedom.
Two Moons went to water his horses at the creek and took a swim. As he walked back to camp, he looked up the Little Horn toward Sitting Bull’s camp and saw a huge cloud of dust rising like a tornado. Suddenly, Sioux horsemen rode into camp yelling that white soldiers were coming. Two Moons ran to his lodge and told his brother-in-law to hurry and get the horses ready.
Outside, he heard a distant war cry and the fast shooting of guns drawing closer. A Sioux warrior warned that many soldiers were on the way and told the women to move aside, saying, “We are getting ready for a hard fight. ” Two Moons mounted his horse and rode into camp, calling out to his people: “I am Two Moons. You are a leader.
Do not run. Stand your ground and fight. We must face the white soldiers. I will stay, even if it takes my life.
”
He rode toward Sitting Bull’s camp, where he saw the white soldiers under Reno’s command engaged in battle. The flatland was covered with Indians driving the soldiers back, a confused mix of Sioux, soldiers, and more Sioux, all firing their guns. The air was heavy with smoke and dust. Two Moons watched the soldiers retreat and go down into the riverbed like running buffalo, with no time to find a crossing.
The Sioux chased them up the hill, where they met more soldiers in wagons. Messengers then arrived saying that more soldiers threatened the women, which made the Sioux turn back toward the camp. Chief Gall fought bravely, and Crazy Horse was also present during the fighting. Two Moons returned to his own camp and stopped the women from moving the lodges.
As he sat on his horse, he saw flags coming over the hill to the east. The soldiers formed three groups, squadrons with space between them. A bugle sounded, and they dismounted, while some soldiers took the horses back over the hill. The Sioux galloped up the ridge from every direction, with the Cheyenne taking the left side.
Gunfire started quickly and heavily. Some soldiers were on their knees, others standing, with officers leading from the front. Smoke hung thick like a huge cloud, and wherever the Sioux rode, dust blew up like smoke. Two Moons described the attack as surrounding the soldiers from every side, moving like water circling a stone.
The warriors shot, rode fast, then shot again. Soldiers fell, horses fell over them, and soldiers in line dropped. One man rode back and forth along the line, shouting the whole time. He rode a sorrel horse with a white face and white front legs.
Two Moons said he did not know who the man was, but described him as brave. The Indians kept circling, and the soldiers managed to kill only a few. Many soldiers fell. In the end, all the horses were dead except for five.
Now and then, a man would break away and run toward the river, only to fall soon after. Finally, about 100 men and five horsemen stood on the hill, all grouped together. Throughout the entire battle, the bugler kept blowing his calls, and Two Moons noted his bravery. Then a chief was killed.
Two Moons said he heard it was Long Hair Custer, but he was not certain. The five horsemen and a group of about 40 men began moving toward the river, led by the man on the sorrel horse, who shouted encouragement the entire time. He wore a buckskin shirt, had long black hair and a mustache, and fought bravely with a large knife. His men were covered in white dust, making it hard to see their ranks.
One soldier ran far down toward the river alone, then circled back over the hill. Two Moons thought he might escape, but a Sioux warrior shot and hit him in the head. He was the last man standing and had braids on his arms. All the soldiers were dead, and their bodies were stripped of their belongings.
After that, it was difficult to tell who had been officers. The bodies remained where they fell. No dance was held that night, as sadness filled the hearts of the camp. The next day, four Sioux chiefs, two Cheyenne, and Two Moons went to the battlefield to count the dead.
One man carried a bundle of sticks. As they came to each lifeless body, they took a stick and passed it to another man, counting the dead in this manner. They counted 388 bodies in total. Among the fallen were 39 Sioux and seven Cheyenne killed, with about 100 wounded.
Some white soldiers had been cut with knives to make sure they were dead, and the war women damaged some bodies. Most were left where they lay. The group came across the man with the big mustache, lying down the hill toward the river. Custer fell higher up on the ridge.
The Indians did not take off his buckskin shirt. The Sioux said, “That is a big chief. That is Long Hair. ” Two Moons could not confirm this, as he had not seen Custer before.
Still, he maintained that the man on the horse with the white face was the bravest of them all. That day, as the sun set, the young men raced up the Little Horn and saw many white soldiers coming in a big boat with smoke blowing up. Two Moons gathered his people and quickly moved up the Little Horn into Rotten Grass Valley. They stayed there for three days, then rode back fast along their earlier path to the east.
Sitting Bull went back to the Rosebud and headed down the Yellowstone, traveling north. Two Moons did not meet him again.