Photo of Little Big Man from the U.S. Signal Corps
One of forty-nine photographs in “Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee” by Dee Brown. NY: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, (1970).
Little Big Man was a fearless and respected warrior who fought against efforts by the United States to take control of the ancestral Sioux lands in the Black Hills of the Dakota Territory. He also fought at the Battle of Little Big Horn in 1876. [Source: Wikipedia]
Quoting Dee Brown (p. 283):
“. . . About three hundred Oglalas who had come in from the Powder River country trotted their ponies down a slope, occasionally firing off rifles. Some were chanting a song in Sioux:
The Black Hills is my land and I love it
And whoever interferes
Will hear this gun.
“An Indian mounted on a gray horse forced his way through the ranks of warriors gathered around the canvas shelter. He was Crazy Horse’s envoy, Little Big Man, stripped for battle and wearing two revolvers belted to his waist. ‘I will kill the first chief who speaks for selling the Black Hills!’ he shouted. He danced his horse across the open space between the commissioners and the chiefs.
“Young-Man-Afraid-of-His-Horses and a group of unofficial Sioux policemen immediately swarmed around Little Big Man and moved him away. The chiefs and the commissioners, however, must have guessed that Little Big Man voiced the feelings of most of the warriors present. General Terry suggested to his fellow commissioners that they board the Army ambulances and return to the safety of Fort Robinson.”
Photo of Little Big Man from the U.S. Signal Corps
One of forty-nine photographs in “Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee” by Dee Brown. NY: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, (1970).
Little Big Man was a fearless and respected warrior who fought against efforts by the United States to take control of the ancestral Sioux lands in the Black Hills of the Dakota Territory. He also fought at the Battle of Little Big Horn in 1876. [Source: Wikipedia]
Quoting Dee Brown (p. 283):
“. . . About three hundred Oglalas who had come in from the Powder River country trotted their ponies down a slope, occasionally firing off rifles. Some were chanting a song in Sioux:
The Black Hills is my land and I love it
And whoever interferes
Will hear this gun.
“An Indian mounted on a gray horse forced his way through the ranks of warriors gathered around the canvas shelter. He was Crazy Horse’s envoy, Little Big Man, stripped for battle and wearing two revolvers belted to his waist. ‘I will kill the first chief who speaks for selling the Black Hills!’ he shouted. He danced his horse across the open space between the commissioners and the chiefs.
“Young-Man-Afraid-of-His-Horses and a group of unofficial Sioux policemen immediately swarmed around Little Big Man and moved him away. The chiefs and the commissioners, however, must have guessed that Little Big Man voiced the feelings of most of the warriors present. General Terry suggested to his fellow commissioners that they board the Army ambulances and return to the safety of Fort Robinson.”