A Companion to Custer and the Little Bighorn Campaign WILEY BLACKWELL COMPANIONS TO AMERICAN HISTORY This series provides essential and authoritative overviews of the scholarship that has shaped our present understanding of the American past. Edited by eminent historians, each volume tackles one of the major periods or themes of American history, with individual topics authored by key scholars who have spent considerable time in research on the questions and controversies that have sparked debate in their field of interest. The volumes are accessible for the non‐specialist, while also engaging scholars seeking a reference to the historiography or future concerns. A Companion to the American Revolution A Companion to American Immigration Edited by Jack P. Greene and J. R. Pole Edited by Reed Ueda A Companion to 19th‐Century America A Companion to American Cultural History Edited by William L. 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Lookingbill This edition first published 2015 © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Registered Office John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, The Atrium, Southern Gate, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 8SQ, UK Editorial Offices 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148‐5020, USA 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford, OX4 2DQ, UK The Atrium, Southern Gate, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 8SQ, UK For details of our global editorial offices, for customer services, and for information about how to apply for permission to reuse the copyright material in this book please see our website at www.wiley.com/wiley‐blackwell. The right of Brad D. Lookingbill to be identified as the author of the editorial material in this work has been asserted in accordance with the UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, except as permitted by the UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, without the prior permission of the publisher. Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that appears in print may not be available in electronic books. Designations used by companies to distinguish their products are often claimed as trademarks. All brand names and product names used in this book are trade names, service marks, trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners. The publisher is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book. Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: While the publisher and author have used their best efforts in preparing this book, they make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. It is sold on the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering professional services and neither the publisher nor the author shall be liable for damages arising herefrom. If professional advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional should be sought. Library of Congress Cataloging‐in‐Publication Data A companion to Custer and the Little Bighorn Campaign / edited by Brad D. Lookingbill. pages cm Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-4443-5109-5 (cloth) 1. Little Bighorn, Battle of the, Mont., 1876. 2. Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument (Mont.) 3. Custer, George A. (George Armstrong), 1839–1876. I. Lookingbill, Brad D., 1969– editor. E83.876.C6955 2015 973.8′2092–dc23 2015014605 A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Cover image: Flag from battle of Little Bighorn, 1876 © Chris Hondros / Getty Images Set in 11/13pt Galliard by SPi Global, Pondicherry, India 1 2015 Contents List of Illustrations viii Notes on Contributors x Acknowledgments xiv Introduction 1 Brad D. Lookingbill Part I The Indians of the Northern Plains 11 1 The Lakota Sioux 13 Rani‐Henrik Andersson 2 The Northern Cheyenne and Arapaho 34 Leo Killsback 3 Patriot Chiefs 54 Kurt Windisch 4 The Native Way of War 74 Daniel Sauerwein 5 Auxiliaries and Scouts 92 Adam R. Hodge Part II The US Army in the Western Territories 111 6 The Policies of War and Peace 113 Bill Carney 7 Forts on the Northern Plains 130 Janne Lahti vi CONTENTS 8 Army Life 148 Robin S. Conner 9 Women and Dependents 170 Shannon D. Smith 10 Technology and Tactics 188 Andrew J. Forney Part III The Making of George Armstrong Custer 209 11 A Young General 211 Mark Ehlers 12 Commander in the West 229 Jeff Broome 13 The 7th Cavalry 246 John R. Dreyer 14 Elizabeth Bacon Custer 264 Tonia M. Compton Part IV Into the Valley 283 15 The Convergence 285 Debra J. Sheffer 16 The Reno‐Benteen Site 302 Wesley Moody III 17 Custer’s Fight 318 Bob Reece 18 The Aftermath 341 Alan M. Anderson Part V The Last Stand of Myth and Memory 367 19 Native Traditions 369 Carole A. Barrett 20 The Press 387 Hugh J. Reilly 21 Popular Culture 404 Rebecca S. Wingo 22 Reenacting the Battle 423 Jeremy M. Johnston CONTENTS vii 23 The Legacy of Archaeology 445 Douglas D. Scott 24 A National Monument 462 Douglas Seefeldt and Jason A. Heppler 25 The Battle of History 485 Michael Welsh Index 505 List of Illustrations Between Parts IV and V Figure 1 Major General George Armstrong Custer, 1865. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress. 360 Figure 2 Sitting Bull, 1884. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress. 360 Figure 3 Victim of Indians, 1869–1878. Record Group 57: Records of the US Geological Survey, 1839–2008, National Archives. 361 Figure 4 Map of the Great Sioux War, from Cavalier in Buckskin, by Robert M. Utley. Copyright 1988 University of Oklahoma Press. Reproduced with permission. 362 Figure 5 Red Horse pictographic account of the Battle of the Little Bighorn, 1881. Manuscript 2367‐a, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution (NMNH‐2367A_08569200). 363 Figure 6 Otto Becker, Custer’s Last Fight, 1896, chromolitho­ graph based on Cassilly Adams’s painting. Buffalo Bill Center of the West, Cody, Wyoming. 363 Figure 7 Buffalo Bill’s Wild West and Congress of Rough Riders of the World, 1898. Buffalo Bill Center of the West, Cody, Wyoming. James Wojtowicz Collection, MS327. OS2.07.001. 364 Figure 8 Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument, National Park Service, US Department of the Interior. 365 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS ix In Chapter 24 Figure 9 Relative frequency word trends for the most frequent words in the entire corpus, when compared to the rest of the corpus. Visualization generated by Voyant Tools. 473 Figure 10 Distinctive words are computed based on their raw frequency and unique appearance in each of the texts. Visualization generated by Voyant Tools. 474 Notes on Contributors Alan M. Anderson is a PhD candi­ focuses on the impact of reservation date in the Department of War life on the Lakota.