History would have  been altered had Gen. Custer followed the advise of the Crow scouts who urged  him not to lead his forces into the valley of the Little Big Horn. In the  ensuing battle, White Swan was severely injured, and after a long recovery,  returned to Crow Agency seriously disabled.

In 1894 White  Swan, crippled and unable to hear or speak, created a series of drawings on  pages from an accounting ledger book to explain his role in the famous battle to  his friend, the pastor at the Congregational Church.

—  Billy Markland

The  photo below is White Swan around 1899 taken at the Crow Agency, Montana, by  Arthur M. Tinker, an inspector for the Indian Office and amateur photographer.

National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum®

Another photo of  White Swan holding his war club:

TMI number 00466, Photograph by F. A. Rinehart, 1898, © Omaha Public Library, 1998

TMI number 00467, Photograph by F. A. Rinehart, 1898, © Omaha Public Library, 1998

Painted at Crow Agency, 1897 by Elbridge Ayer Burbank

Joseph Henry Sharp (1859 - 1953) oil on canvas

Sharp moved to the West,  establishing homes in Montana and New Mexico, in order to live among the  subjects he wanted to portray. Buffalo Bill Historical Center, Whitney Purchase  Fund (18.61)

— Grahame Wood

White Swan was at  the battlefield with some of the survivors of the LBH battle on June 25th  1886:

http://sirismm.si.edu/naa/4605/01605403.jpg

— Dietmar  Schulte-Möhring

Born in 1839, Dakota Territory
Enlisted with the Seventh Cavalry on April 27, 1876
In valley and hilltop fights at the Battle of the Little Bighorn (June 25-26, 1876)
Died in 1894

— Diane Merkel

Forked Horn is mentioned in “The Arikara Narrative of Custer’s campaign and the Battle of the Little Bighorn” by Orin B. Libby (editor) several times.

He was one time the leader of an Arikara scouting party during the march to the Little Bighorn valley. Later he was in the fight with Reno, fighting in the brush along with Young Hawk.

After the fighting Forked Horn, several Arikaras, Varnum, Gerard and others went down to look for Custer’s body. Then he volunteered with Young Hawk to go to the deserted Sioux camp for dried meat. There they found the body of a scout they thought was Bloody Knife. (See narrative of Young Hawk.)

It is also stated later in the book that Forked Horn was the father of Young Hawk. He was born about 1815 (?) and he died in 1894.

— Dietmar Schulte-Möhring

Bloody Knife

http://www.wyomingtalesandtrails.com/custer5.html.

— Dietmar Schulte-Möhring

Bloody Knife was born in 1840 to an Hunkpapa Sioux father and a Ree mother. He spent his first 16 years with his father but was frequently taunted, beaten and abused for being a “half-breed.” At age 16, he left the Sioux camp with his mother but returned in 1860 to visit his father. Bloody Knife was still despised by the Sioux and was almost killed during his visit. Chief Gall, a leader of the Hunkpapa, killed Bloody Knife’s two brothers in 1862. Bloody Knife was married to She Owl in 1866.

In 1868, Bloody Knife enlisted as a scout in the U.S. Army and was assigned to the 7th Cavalry. He quickly became George Armstrong Custer’s favorite scout. He was insolent toward whites and ridiculed them. He often amused Custer by ridiculing his marksmanship. Custer never got angry and often gave gifts to Bloody Knife.

In 1874, Bloody Knife guided the Seventh Cavalry through the Black Hills. He was with Custer in the Little Bighorn campaign and told Custer there were too many Indians to fight, a warning Custer ignored. Bloody Knife, in turn, ignored Custer’s plea for him to stay out of the battle. Bloody Knife was assigned to Major Marcus Reno during the Battle of the Little Bighorn and was killed by a shot to the head as he was standing beside Reno in the battle. Reno was attempting to ask him what the Indians were doing when he was shot and his blood splattered Reno’s face. Reno then lost all inhibition and barked out orders that did not make sense before fleeing. It has been speculated that Bloody Knife’s blood splattering put Major Reno in a state of shock.

Bloody Knife was beheaded by the Sioux, who took the head to their camp. From one of Libbie Custer’s books:

Bloody Knife was naturally mournful; his face still looked sad when he put on the presents given him. He was a perfect child about gifts, and the general studied to bring him something from the East that no other Indian had.

He had proved himself such an invaluable scout to the general that they often had long interviews. Seated on the grass, the dogs lying about them, they talked over portions of the country that the general had never seen, the scout drawing excellent maps in the sand with a pointed stick. He was sometimes petulant, often moody, and it required the utmost patience on my husband’s part to submit to his humors; but his fidelity and cleverness made it worthwhile to yield to his tempers.

— Crzhrs

Bloody Knife was not “assigned to the 7th Cavalry” in 1868. His first enlistment as a scout was at Ft. Stevenson, Dakota. The Seventh Cavalry was in Kansas then. Bloody Knife’s first scouting duties were likely with one of the infantry regiments, such as the 22nd. He worked as a mail runner prior to this; carrying the mail between the Missouri River posts. Bloody Knife didn’t hook up with Custer until Ft. Lincoln was built in 1872.

— stevewilk