The rain that had plagued the region for days had ceased, leaving the Montana plains slick and heavy with the scent of wet earth and blood. It was there, in the aftermath of the most devastating defeat of the United States Army in the Indian Wars, that a story was born—a story of a warrior’s promise, a severed heart, and a name whispered in fear. For decades, the victor remained silent, but now, in a stunning confession that has sent shockwaves through historical circles, the man known as Rain in the Face has broken his vow of silence, offering a harrowing, first-hand account of the Battle of the Little Bighorn and his claim to have consumed the heart of Captain Tom Custer.
The confession, obtained and recorded by an interviewer identified only as “McLoughlin,” paints a visceral and brutal picture of the conflict that claimed the lives of Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer and over 260 men of the 7th Cavalry. Rain in the Face, a Hunkpapa Lakota chief and warrior of formidable reputation, has finally spoken, and his words challenge the long-held narratives of the battle, offering a chilling glimpse into the chaos, the fury, and the personal vendetta that fueled one of the most iconic clashes in American history. His testimony, which he claims he has never before shared with a white man, details not only the tactics of the battle but also the deeply personal act of retribution that has defined his legacy.
Rain in the Face, now approximately 60 years old, is described as a powerful and physically imposing figure, a living relic of a bygone era of plains warfare. For years, army officers and government agents attempted to extract his story, employing a mix of kindness, offers of reward, and direct threats, but all were met with stony silence. The warrior, renowned for his courage and feared for his ferocity, had refused to utter a single word about the events of June 25, 1876.
His sudden willingness to speak, prompted by a taunt regarding his capture by the smaller-framed Tom Custer, has provided historians with a raw, unfiltered, and deeply personal perspective on the massacre.
The narrative begins not on the battlefield, but two years prior, with a dare from a young woman that ignited a chain of events leading to the fatal promise. According to Rain in the Face, he was goaded into traveling to Fort Lincoln to 𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁 a white man. He waited for two days, seeking an opportunity to 𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁 a soldier and retrieve his brass buttons as a trophy.
He successfully killed a storekeeper and a horse doctor, but was pursued by “Long Yellow Hair” (Custer) and forced to flee. This initial skirmish set the stage for his capture, imprisonment, and the vow that would become his life’s mission. He was captured at Standing Rock and taken to Fort Lincoln, where he was chained and held through a brutal winter.
It was during this imprisonment that Rain in the Face claims he was treated “like a woman, not a chief,” and that he made his solemn promise to the man he held responsible for the deaths of his brother and sister. “I informed little hair that I would break free, cut out his heart, and consume it,” he recounted. After a daring escape, in which he was shackled to a white man who sawed through the chains, Rain in the Face fled back to the camp of Sitting Bull and Gaul.
He sent a drawing of a bloody heart on buffalo skin to his captor, a promise of the vengeance that was to come. “The next time I encountered him, I took his heart,” he declared, his words chilling in their simplicity.
The confession then pivots to the day of the battle itself, offering a strategic overview that contradicts popular depictions. Rain in the Face describes a massive encampment of “four to six thousand” Indians, a force far larger than Custer’s scouts had reported. He details how Sitting Bull performed powerful magic, promising victory, while Gaul served as the principal war chief.
He describes the deliberate deception of creating empty lodges to lure the soldiers into a false sense of security, and the tactical error made by Custer in dividing his forces. “We knew they had erred when they divided their forces,” he stated, explaining how the Lakota and Cheyenne warriors were able to isolate and surround Custer’s battalion.
His account of the fighting is one of overwhelming force and technological failure on the part of the U. S. Army.
“Their rifles could only fire once, with cartridges jammed inside,” he said, claiming to have observed dozens of malfunctioning firearms on the battlefield. “When we saw their guns were not working, we used our war clubs to strike them down. It was simple, like slaughtering sheep.”
This detail, if accurate, provides a crucial explanation for the speed and totality of the defeat. He describes the soldiers as being trapped, their horse-holders shot, and their mounts spooked, leaving them dismounted and vulnerable to the encircling warriors.
The most sensational part of Rain in the Face’s testimony is his graphic account of killing Captain Tom Custer, the brother of George Armstrong Custer. He describes a frenzy of combat, where he was consumed by rage, his pony shot from under him multiple times, and his face splattered with the blood and brains of his enemies. It was in this state of “frenzy” that he recognized “Little Hair” and recalled his promise.
“I saw his lips forming words, but the din was too great to hear his voice. He was terrified,” Rain in the Face recounted. He claims he shot Tom Custer with his revolver, leaped from his pony, and then performed the gruesome act that has haunted the Custer family legend.
“I cut out his heart, bit a piece from it, and spat it into his face,” he said, a statement that is both 𝓈𝒽𝓸𝒸𝓀𝒾𝓃𝑔 and profoundly revealing of the depth of his personal hatred.
However, the confession takes a surprising turn when Rain in the Face is pressed on the fate of George Armstrong Custer himself. When shown a drawing of the famous “Last Stand,” he laughed, calling it a lie. He insisted that Custer was not identifiable, as he wore no officer’s coat and had cut his hair short.
“I did not see long yellow hair at that time or afterward,” he stated. When asked who killed Custer, he replied, “I do not know. Nobody knows.
It was similar to battling in the darkness.” He also addressed the mystery of Custer’s body not being scalped, suggesting he was simply hidden beneath other corpses and that the women, who came to finish off the wounded, were puzzled by their inability to locate him.
The confession also reveals internal strife within the victorious camp. Rain in the Face describes a bitter argument between Sitting Bull and Gaul over who was responsible for the victory, an argument that he claims prevented them from destroying the remaining soldiers who had fortified on a nearby hill. “We might have destroyed the remaining soldiers on the hill, but the argument between Gaul and Sitting Bull prevented it,” he said.
He portrays Sitting Bull as a leader who performed magic but did not participate in the fighting, while Gaul was the true military commander. This internal division, he suggests, was the only reason any of the 7th Cavalry survived the day.
Following the battle, Rain in the Face describes the aftermath, including the arrival of the women to strip the dead of their valuables, severing fingers for rings and cutting boots for leather. He recounts the celebratory feast and scalp dance, and the subsequent retreat north as more soldiers approached with “large cannons.” He remained in Canada until Sitting Bull returned, and he eventually surrendered to U.
S. troops, serving a prison term before becoming a proponent for Native American rights and a performer in Wild West shows. It was during these performances that he would often narrate his wartime experiences, though he had never before given a full, detailed account of the battle itself.
The interviewer, McLoughlin, notes that Rain in the Face’s story aligns with government reports regarding the deaths of the settler and surgeon at Fort Lincoln, lending credence to his account. He describes the chief as a man of his word, though difficult to secure a commitment from, and notes his limited but functional understanding of English. The confession, which Rain in the Face says he is “pleased” to have shared, offers a unique and invaluable primary source that will undoubtedly spark intense debate and re-examination among historians.
It is a story of a promise made in a frozen prison cell and kept on a dusty, blood-soaked battlefield, a story that has finally been told in its entirety.
The revelation that Rain in the Face claims to have killed and eaten the heart of Captain Tom Custer, rather than the more famous General, adds a new layer of complexity to the Custer mythos. It suggests that the primary target of his vengeance was not the man who led the 7th Cavalry, but the man who had captured and imprisoned him. This personal vendetta, rooted in a dare and a brutal winter of captivity, may have been the driving force behind one of the most infamous acts of the battle.
His statement that he “bit a piece from it, and spat it into his face” is a visceral detail that brings the horror of the conflict into sharp focus, a far cry from the romanticized paintings of the era.
This confession is more than just a historical document; it is a testament to the power of memory and the enduring nature of personal grievance. Rain in the Face’s account, given in his own words and with his own gestures, provides a counter-narrative to the official U. S.
Army reports and the popular imagination. It is a story told by the victor, not the vanquished, and it is unflinching in its depiction of the violence and chaos of frontier warfare. His description of the soldiers as “sheep” and the battle as a simple slaughter, combined with the technical detail of jammed rifles, paints a picture of a desperate and doomed force, overwhelmed by a larger, better-armed, and more mobile enemy.
The historical significance of this testimony cannot be overstated. For over a century, the exact circumstances of the Battle of the Little Bighorn have been a subject of intense speculation and debate. Rain in the Face’s account provides a rare, first-person perspective from a key participant, offering answers to long-standing questions about the battle’s tactics, the failure of Custer’s strategy, and the fate of its most famous participants.
His assertion that the soldiers’ weapons malfunctioned is a critical piece of evidence that could explain the sheer one-sidedness of the casualty count. His description of the argument between Sitting Bull and Gaul offers a new explanation for why the remaining soldiers on the hill were not also annihilated.
As the sun sets on the story of Rain in the Face, his confession stands as a powerful and disturbing reminder of the human cost of westward expansion. His words, recorded for posterity, ensure that the story of the Little Bighorn will no longer be told solely from the perspective of the defeated. The warrior who was once a feared and formidable presence, who danced in the sun dance and whose name was spoken in hushed tones, has finally had his say.
His story, filled with pride, fury, and a chillingly personal act of vengeance, will now be scrutinized and studied, adding a vital new chapter to the history of the American West. The man who ate Custer’s heart has spoken, and the world is listening.