34 Facts About Bloody Knife

Bloody Knife was born to a Hunkpapa Sioux father and an Arikara mother around 1840.

Bloody Knife was abused and discriminated against by the other Sioux in his village because of his background, in particular by Gall, a future chief.

When Bloody Knife was a teenager, he left his village with his mother to live with the Arikara tribe.

Bloody Knife's brothers were killed during a Sioux raid led by Gall in 1862.

Bloody Knife found employment as a courier and hunter for the American Fur Company and later served under Alfred Sully before scouting for George Custer on several military expeditions.

Bloody Knife died from a bullet wound to the head on June 25,1876, during the Battle of the Little Bighorn.

Bloody Knife's father was a Hunkpapa Sioux and his mother a member of the Arikara tribe, known as the Ree.

Bloody Knife grew to hate the Sioux and especially a Sioux named Gall.

Gall was the adopted brother of Sitting Bull, but while Sitting Bull had mistreated Bloody Knife it was his peer with whom Bloody Knife developed an enduring feud.

When Bloody Knife's mother left his father in 1856 to return to her own tribe, Bloody Knife joined her.

Bloody Knife did not pass through these years unscathed.

Bloody Knife proved useful to the group of Galvanized Yankees, prisoner soldiers from the Confederate States Army who served the Union in the American West instead of serving time in a prisoner-of-war camp at Fort Berthold.

Bloody Knife worked as a messenger, helping the troops to communicate with other military units in the area, which was still mainly controlled by the Sioux.

In late 1865, Bloody Knife met with Captain Adams Bassett of Company C, Fourth US Volunteer Infantry, whom he told that Gall had recently arrived near Fort Berthold, that Gall was not peaceful and had killed white men along the Missouri River.

Bloody Knife led the soldiers to the Hunkpapa village, south of the fort where Gall was staying.

Bloody Knife argued furiously with the officer to no avail.

Bloody Knife departed, leaving Gall alive to become a Sioux war chief.

Bloody Knife enlisted as a corporal at Fort Stevenson in May 1868, but his early service was not without issue.

Bloody Knife had a problem with alcohol that may have led to him deserting his post in September 1868.

Bloody Knife was himself a volatile man, and during an expedition in 1874 would shoot at Bloody Knife during a fit of rage.

Custer occasionally gave Bloody Knife gifts, including a silver medal inscribed with Bloody Knife's name that Custer ordered from Washington.

Bloody Knife helped to discover an abandoned Sioux village which he estimated to have held 1,000 warriors.

In 1874, Bloody Knife took part in the Black Hills Expedition, which included over a thousand men, geologists, infantry, cavalry, two miners, several reporters, and sixty-five Arikara scouts.

On November 30,1874, Private Bloody Knife was discharged from service, and for his efforts in the Black Hills Expedition, he received an additional $150 for what was called his "invaluable assistance".

In 1876, during the Little Bighorn campaign, Bloody Knife repeatedly tried to warn Custer there were too many Indians to fight.

Bloody Knife was assigned to Major Marcus Reno, who had a command of 140 soldiers, at the Battle of the Little Bighorn on June 25,1876.

Bloody Knife was shot in the head and killed while mounted on his horse before making a reply.

Reno, his face smeared with the gore from Bloody Knife's wound, panicked and ordered a withdrawal.

Bloody Knife was one of three Arikara scouts assigned to Reno to die during the battle; the others were Little Brave and Bobtail Bull.

When she saw the head and recognized it as that of her brother, Bloody Knife's sister was horrified.

Bloody Knife had wed an Arikara woman named Young Owl Woman, or She Owl, in 1866.

Bloody Knife fathered at least three children, a daughter and two sons.

Bloody Knife's deeds were remembered in song composed by the Arikara scouts after his death at the Battle of Little Big Horn.

Bloody Knife's story spread wide, and he became one of the more famous scouts associated with the army.