Great Warriors II

Despite popular legends to the contrary, when Col. George Armstrong Custer's body was found after the Battle of the Little Bighorn/Greasy Grass in June 1876, he wasn't scalped or mutilated.  However, the corpses of many of the men nearby, including George's brother Thomas, were mutilated.  Although some White commentators at the time believed the lack of mutilation might have been the Natives way of showing respect to a brave enemy anyone who had rode and fought with Custer knew this idea held no water whatsoever.  No Native respected George Custer.  He had the blood of the Washita Massacre of 1868 on his hands.  There would have been plenty of Cheyenne and Arapaho warriors on the battlefield who would have taken the chance to show their disdain for him.  Other specular insists that it was because Custer wasn't in military dress, or that he'd cut his famous long, curly yellow hair prior to battle.  Still, someone could've recognized him and pointed him...

Some people's lives are one tragedy after another.  Black Kettle of the Southern Cheyenne was a capable leader and warrior who tried his best to deal with the realities of White incursion into his people's home and hunting range.  And he would face two of the most horrific incidents to happen in the west, the Sand Creek Massacre and the Battle of the Washita. Black Kettle was born in the Black Hills of South Dakota.  By birth, he was a member of a band of Northern Cheyenne, but he would marry into the Southern Cheyenne and achieve leadership among them.  He eventually became the leader of the Council of Forty Four, the governing body of the entire Cheyenne tribe, a testament to his skills as a leader and warrior.  In 1851, the Cheyenne had signed the Treaty of Fort Laramie, which set the boundaries for their land and guaranteed that the U.S. would prevent trespassers.  The Settlers kept coming and conflicts between Cheyenne war and hunting parties an...