Into Annihilation: The Arikara Story of Custer’s March to, and the Battle of, the Little Bighorn, part 3

Summary: Scouting forward and encountering the portents of a momentous battle to come: giant deserted camps with sun dance circles and sweat lodges, drawings in sand of dead men, drawings on hills of fighting bison, rocks painted red.<br><br> ⁓The Voice before the Void<br> Into Annihilation: The Arikara Story of Custer’s March to, and the Battle of, the Little Bighorn<br> from The Arikara Narrative of the Campaign against the Hostile Dakotas, June, 1876<br> compiled from interviews conducted by the North Dakota State Historical Society with the aged Arikara scouts in 1912 at Fort Berthold Reservation<br> edited by O.G. Libby and The Voice before the Void<br> part 3<br> An interview with Custer as told by the Arikara scout named Soldier<br> Soldier and Bob-tailed Bull met Custer at his camp on the river bank, in his own tent, F.F. Gerard was interpreter. Custer said: “The man before me, Bob-tailed Bull, is a man of good heart, of good character. I am pleased to have him here. I am glad he has enlisted. It will be a hard expedition but we will all share the same hardships. I am very well pleased to have him in my party, and I told it at Washington. We are to live and fight together, children of one father and one mother. The great-grandfather has a plan. The Sioux camps have united and you and I must work together for the Great Father and help each other. The Great Father is well pleased that it took few words to coax Son-of-the-Star to furnish me scouts for this work we have to do and he is pleased, too, at his behavior in helping on the plan of the Great Father. I, for one, am willing to help in this all I can, and you must help too. It is this way, my brothers. If I should happen to lose any of the men Son-of-the-Star has furnished, their reward will not be forgotten by the government. Their relations will be saddened by their death but there will be some comfort in the pay that the United States government will provide.”<br> Bob-tailed Bull replied: “It is a good thing you say, my brother, my children and other relatives will receive my pay and other rewards. I am glad you say this for I see there is some gain even though I lose my life.”<br> Custer then said: “No more words need be said. Bob-tailed Bull is to be leader and Soldier second in command of the scouts.”<br> Clothing was issued to the two leaders, on Bob-tailed Bull’s sleeve there were three stripes, and on Soldier’s sleeve there were two. Custer called on Bob-tailed Bull to speak, and he said through Gerard, that he was not a man to change tribes all the time, that he was always an Arikara and respected their chiefs and had served under them gladly. He said: ”Yes, Long Hair, I am a member of the police and also chief, with one hand I hold the position of police among my people and with the other I hold the position of chief of the scouts. My brother, I am going to address you so, for you said we were brothers, I have had experience fighting the Sioux, and when we meet them we shall see each other’s bravery.”<br> <a href="https://i1.wp.com/www.thevoicebeforethevoid.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Bloody-Knife-US-Army-cavalry-Arikara-scout-1873.jpg?ssl=1"></a><br> The march from Fort Lincoln to Powder River as told by Red Star<br> There was no Indian ceremony at Fort Lincoln before the march, but on the way to Fort Lincoln they sang their war songs at every camp. We were all waiting six days, Custer had gone east to Washington. Red Star heard of his return. Bob-tailed Bull, Bloody Knife, Tall Bear, Stabbed, Black Fox, and Crooked Horn went to meet Custer at Fort Lincoln, the regular headquarters. Red Star heard that Custer was well pleased with the appearance of the scouts. Custer was happy to see Bloody Knife, he presented him with a handkerchief and a medal, which were given to him for Bloody Knife at Washington. Then he recognized one of his old scouts, Black Fox.