Winners Of The West
Official Bulletin National Indian War Veterans U.S.A.
Published in the Interest of the Survivors of Indian Wars and the Old Army of the Plains Vol X No. 3
St. Joseph Missouri, Feb. 28, 1933

What About Wounded Knee Experience of General Shafter's Regiment, 1st Infantry

C.W. Ames

I was there and as I remember there was about 50 soldiers shipped out of there in boxes and a bunch of wounded in the hospital some of whom died soon afterward. I was on the detail to go out and bury the dead Indians, but we had to turn back on account of the weather, and another detail was sent a couple of days after. That was no picnic, with the thermometer at 30 degrees below zero and our regiment had just come from California and were not acclimated for such weather. We were sent first as they did not know how long it would last, and for fear the railroads would be blocked, they got us there in a hurry. I think there were 112 Indians buried and there was a whole churchful of the wounded Indians I don't just remember, but I was on guard there once or twice. There was bout 5,000 Indians in camp, and about as many soldiers. They mounted my regiment, Shafter's 1st U.S. Infantry, on cow ponies, and we were a sight and the laughing stock for the Indians when we were drilling with Gun, Clothing Bag, 2 Blankets, Canteen, Haversack or Grub Bag and a big Belt of ammunition. Men and ponies were scattered all over the plains.

Historical Reference

The following letter was written by Mari Sandoz (Author of the book,Crazy Horse) to Will Robinson of the SD State Historical Society.

I quote in its entirety.

October 19, 1947
Will G. Robinson, Secretary
South Dakota State Historical Society
Pierre, S. Dakota

Dear Mr. Robinson: I'm happy to know that the Plains Indians are suddenly getting so much attention. During the past ten days I've had eight queries from new correspondents about the Sioux, and about Crazy Horse and his place in history, including one letter from Texas and one from Switzerland. I predict you will have a find turnout to the Sioux Memorial dedication. I hope to be there. Now about the identification of the picture sent you by Blanche M. Lewis of Sioux City, with the name of Crazy Horse in pencil on the back, and published in the Sept. 1, 1947 WI-IYOHI. I recall seeing that picture many times (I have it in my files in storage in Denver) always identified as the same man--not Crazy Horse. My difficulty now is that, after five years away from my Indian material and anything Indian, I can't recall the man's name. I tried to locate the picture here but the library has little such material and other likely places, like the Heye Foundation, only show pictures when requested by name. I tried Crazy Horse there, as I did ten years ago, and I got that same old picture of the dark, sadly war-bonnetted little Indian whom I've known all my life (and verified by queries at Pine Ridge) as Crazy Horse No. II, the successor of the war chief. As was often done by the Sioux, when married the widow of an illustrious man he took his predecessor's name.

The Heye people showed me another Crazy Horse picture--the wrinkled old man who might have been the war chief's father, but looked more like the Arapaho Crazy Horse. I tried a few probably names for your photograph on the Heye files but nothing came of that. The picture in your Bulletin isn't the Larvie woman, not if thepictures I've seen of her were authentic. One of these was purchased with the picture of the little Crazy Horse II, with the photographers name stamped on the back of both, and the year, 1890. The Larvie pictures I saw showed more white blood and more fire than the woman here seemed to have. The hair arrangement and the clothing of the picture in your Bulletin suggest that the woman may not be Sioux at all. Pictures of Arapaho women and an occasional Ute have the side part and the pulled-back hair, etc. See pictures of Chipeta as a young woman. In fact, this could be an early picture of Chipeta.

There is the same nose and forehead. Bothyour pictures seem to have been taken about 1874 and 1893, judging by the photography and the wearing of the Indians. There was a subtle change in the latter after Ninety-three. The scar at the corner of the mouth in the WI-IYOHI picture seems to beold, older, I think, than Crazy Horse's would have been. It looks like the one in the portrait of Black Heart, the Oglala, in the Cross painting at the Walker Gallery, Minneapolis, and in the photograph of him at the American Museum of Natural History, taken 1917, at the Coney Island Shows. Little Big Man, too, had a scar at the corner of his mouth, a little above, made by a spear back when he was around 17, in a fight with the Snakes (Shoshonis). If it weren't for the dress and hair, your picture of the woman would resemble one of the wives of Little Big Man. Now about the Crazy Horse scar: There was no discrepancy in the stories about the bullet wound Crazy Horse received or the scar.

I found the scar described in the AGO records as a small hole under the left nostril with a slight ridge outside it, enough to give that side of Crazy Horse's face a slightly haughty cast--striking, one officer wrote, considering the mildness and gentleness of his face otherwise, more the face of a holy man as his father was than the fierce, relentless warrior the army knew he could be. In order to be very certain of the whole No Water incident, upon which so much of the summer of 1877 depended, and to clear up which No Water (there were three) did the shooting, Eleanor Hinman and I went back to He Dog's to have him tell the whole story a second time. With the familiarity from the previous hearing, we got the full wing account: (See "Interview with He Dog at Oglala, S. Dak, July 13, 1930, Interpreter John Colhoff:). Little Shield, brother of He Dog, who was with Crazy Horse at the time of the shooting, sat in on this interview and contributed his account of the actual shooting to the story: "Crazy Horse had taken the woman and a few followers and had gone on a war expedition against the Crows.

On the second night he came to a place on Powder River where several bands had joined together and they stopped with friends. Little Shield was with Crazy Horse at the time he was shot.No Water overtook him on the second night after he had left camp with the woman. Crazy Horse and the woman were sitting by the fire in a friend's tipi when No Water rushed in, saying, "My friend, I have come!" Crazy Horse jumped up and reached for his knife. No Water shot him just below the left nostril. The bullet followed the line of the teeth and fractured his upper jaw. He fell forward into the fire. No Water left the tent at once and told his friends he had killed Crazy Horse. The woman went out the back of the ten, crawling under the tent covering, when No Water fired. She went to relatives and begged for protection. She did not go back to Crazy Horse. It was Bad Heart Bull's revolver that No Water borrowed for the shooting. Yellow Bear brought back the revolver and the word that No Water had killed Crazy Horse. Later, someone brought word that Crazy Horse was not dead."

I thought about this until the summer of 1931, then, when I was back on the Pine Ridge reservation with my sister, and back to He Dog's for more information, I asked about the shooting again, particularly the caliber of the revolver. I know enough about guns to know that was remarkably little bullet penetration at such short range. Perhaps the powder had deteriorated or the Indians had divided the powder into two shells, as they often did those short years. Otherwise the gun had to be a very small one. He Dog laughed and stretched out his hand. "My granddaughter would find it little I think," the interpreter, Colhoff said for the old man. "It could be hidden in the hand" (The laughing was, I suppose, for the fact that I knew more about bigger guns, the hunting rifles my father had repaired for the old Indians for years)

He Dog also showed us where the scar was, just under the nostril and with his hand showed the path of the bullet around above the roots of the teeth, too high to knock any of them out, but the jaw was fractured and caused a slight and disdainful ridge along the corner of the nose. No, the only picture of Crazy Horse that I know about is the one in the Amos Bad Heart Bull paintings of the Reno Battle, available in the Sioux Indian Painting, Editions d'Art C. Zwedricki, Nice France, copied from the Amos Bad Heart Bull Manuscript, interpreted by Helen Blish for the Carnegie Foundation. I have one purporting to be Crazy Horse, copied from a canvas lodge, Crazy Horse on a yellow-spotted horse. In the Bull painting referred to above, Crazy Horse is on a white and yellow spotted horse, with his greenish paint with hailstone marks, as described in my book. I'm sorry my information is so meager. I've put in a great deal of time trying to find a picture of the war chief, both for the Historical Society at home and for my book. But all this is good, good for the history of our region and good for your Memorial.

Sincerely, Mari Sandoz

Notes of Mari Sandoz, no date given "He Dog, Oglala, nephew Red Cloud sided with Crazy Horse at Ft. Robinson,in Sioux War fighting 1876. Surrendered with Crazy Horse at Ft. Robinson, May 7, 1877. When Court of Indian Offenses was established at Pine Ridge, he was made judge of it. Served in this capacity many years until his advanced age and failing eyesight forced him to quit. Was 92 years old.Lives with niece in Oglala."

Historical Reference Thanks to Tatanka Cante, Lakota, Green Grass, SD for making these documents available for http://www.wintercount.org.

This document may not be redistributed in whole or in part without permission.

Source: Winner of The West.
Published St. Joseph Mo, Wing Printing Co.
June 1939 Issue.
Vol XVI No. 5
"Official Bulletin National Indian War Veterans,
U.S.A. Published in the Interest of the Survivors of Indian Wars and The Old Army of the Plains."