American Horse (Oglala Lakota: Wašíčuŋ Tȟašúŋke in Standard Lakota Orthography) (AKA "American Horse the Elder") (c. 1830–September 9, 1876) was an Oglala Lakota warrior chief renowned for courage and honor. American Horse is notable in American history as one of the principal war chiefs allied with Crazy Horse during Red Cloud's War (1866–1868) and the Battle of the Little Bighorn during the Great Sioux War of 1876–1877. Chief American Horse was a son of Old Chief Smoke, an Oglala Lakota head chief and one of the last great Shirt Wearers, a highly prestigious Lakota warrior society. He was a signatory to the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868, along with his brothers Chief Red Cloud and Chief Blue Horse. A month or so after the Treaty, American Horse was chosen a "Ogle Tanka Un" (Shirt Wearer, or war leader) along with Crazy Horse, They Even Fear His Horses and Man That Owns a Sword. On September 9, 1876, American Horse was mortally wounded in the Battle of Slim Buttes fighting to protect his family while committing his invasion of the Black Hills. "Paha Sapa" Black Hills.

The Smoke People

Chief American Horse was a son of Old Chief Smoke. Old Chief Smoke was an Oglala Lakota head chief and one of the last great Shirt Wearers, a highly prestigious Lakota warrior society. The Smoke People were one of the most prominent Lakota families of the 18th and 19th centuries. Old Chief Smoke was one of the first Lakota chiefs to appreciate the power of the whites, their overwhelming numbers and the futility of war. He appreciated the need for association and learned the customs of the whites. Old Chief Smoke had five wives and many children.Old Chief Smoke's five wives were Looking Cloud Woman of the Teton Mnikȟówožu, Comes Out Slow Woman of the Teton Oglála, Burnt Her Woman of the Teton Sičháŋǧu, Yellow Haired Woman of the Southern Cheyenne, and Brown Eyes Woman of the Teton Húŋkpapȟa. Old Chief Smoke's sons carried the Smoke People legacy of leadership in Oglala Lakota culture into the early 20th century. The children of Old Chief Smoke were Spotted Horse Woman, Chief Big Mouth (1822-1869), Chief Blue Horse (1822-1908), Chief Red Cloud (1822-1909), Chief American Horse (1830-1876), Chief Bull Bear III, Chief Solomon Smoke II, Chief No Neck and Woman Dress (1846-1920).Red Cloud was adopted by Old Chief Smoke, his maternal uncle, around 1825 at the age of three after Red Cloud's parents died. Blue Horse and Red Cloud were raised as brothers and mentored by Old Chief Smoke.

Treaty of Ft. Laramie 1868

Chief American Horse was one of the principal war chiefs allied with Crazy Horse and Red Cloud during Red Cloud's War (1866-1868). American Horse was a signatory to the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868, along with Chief Red Cloud and Chief Blue Horse, his brothers. The treaty was an agreement between the United States and the Lakota Nation guaranteeing the Lakota ownership of the Black Hills "Paha Sapa" and land and hunting rights in South Dakota, Wyoming and Montana. The Powder River Country was to be henceforth closed to all whites. The Treaty ended Red Cloud's War. A month or so after the Treaty of 1868, four "Ogle Tanka Un" (Shirt Wearers, or war leaders) were chosen: Crazy Horse, American Horse, They Even Fear His Horses and Man That Owns a Sword.Edward Kadlecek and Mabell Kadlecek, "To Kill an Eagle: Indian Views on the Last Days of Crazy Horse," (1981), p. 14. Shirt Wearers occupied a position of considerable responsibility. They selected promising hunting areas, settled personal conflicts and set tribal policy in important matters such as treaties and land use. Edward J. Reilly, "Legends of American Indian Resistance," (2011), p.155.

Possible delegation to Washington D.C. Chief American Horse is said in some nineteenth-century accounts to have led a small Oglala delegation to Washington D.C. in the Spring of 1875, to press the federal government to enforce the terms of the Fort Laramie Treaty. According to these anecdotes, the party carried a beaded hide petition and several sacred bundles as symbols of the Black Hills' sanctity, appeared before a congressional subcommittee, and met with a high-ranking Interior Department official who promised to relay their demands to President Cleveland. Contemporary frontier papers — especially a St. Louis daily — allegedly published dramatic sketches of American Horse addressing the committee, and the visit was later used by pro-reservation advocates as evidence that some Lakota leaders sought negotiated settlement rather than further warfare. Modern historians, however, have found no archival record of the trip and treat the tale as apocryphal.Lewis Sampson: Hidden Tales of the Sioux Warchiefs, 1989. Colorado State University Press

Crook's Horsemeat March

Crook's "Horsemeat March" marked the beginning of one of the most grueling marches in American military history. Crook's command consisted of about 2,200 men: 1,500 cavalry, 450 infantry, 240 Indian scouts, and a contingent of civilian employees, including 44 white scouts and packers. Crook's civilian scouts included Frank Grouard, Baptiste “Big Bat” Pourier, Baptiste “Little Bat” Garnier, Captain Jack Crawford and Charles "Buffalo Chips" White.Jerome A. Greene, "Slim Buttes, 1876: An Episode of the Great Sioux War", (hereinafter "Greene") (1982), p.33. News of the defeat of George Armstrong Custer at the Battle of the Little Big Horn on June 25 and 26, 1876, arrived in the East as the U.S. was observing its centennial.Lynne V. Cheney, "1876: The Eagle Screams", American Heritage 25:3, Apr. 1974. The American public was dismayed and called to punish the Sioux. On August 26, 1876, with his men rationed for fifteen days, a determined General Crook departed from the Powder River and headed east toward the Little Missouri pursuing the Indians. Crook feared that Indians would scatter to seek game rather than meet the soldiers in combat after the fight with Custer. All other commanders had withdrawn from pursuit, but Crook resolved to teach the Indians a lesson. He meant to show that neither distance, bad weather, the loss of horses nor the absence of rations could deter the U.S. Army from following its enemies to the bitter end.Greene, p. 26, 31, 114-115. War correspondents with national newspapers fought alongside General Crook and reported the campaign by telegraph. Correspondents embedded with Crook were Robert Edmund Strahorn for The New York Times, Chicago Tribune and the Rocky Mountain News; John F. Finerty for the Chicago Times; Reuben Briggs Davenport for the New York Herald and Joe Wasson for the New York Tribune and The Daily Alta California (San Francisco).Greene, p.15.

Chief American Horse at Slim Buttes

The Battle of Slim Buttes was fought on September 9 and 10, 1876, in the Great Sioux Reservation between the United States Army and the Sioux. The Battle of Slim Buttes was the first U.S. Army victory after Custer's defeat at the Battle of the Little Big Horn on June 25 and 26, 1876, in the Great Sioux War of 1876-1877. Brigadier General George R. Crook, one of the U.S. Army's ablest Indian fighters led the "Horsemeat March", one of the most grueling military expeditions in American history destroying Oglala Chief American Horse's village at Slim Buttes and repelling a counter-attack by Crazy Horse. The American public was fixed on news of the defeat of General George Custer at the Battle of Little Bighorn; and war correspondents with national newspapers fought alongside General Crook and reported the events. The Battle of Slim Buttes signaled a series of punitive blows that ultimately broke Sioux armed resistance to reservation captivity and forced their loss of the Black Hills "Paha Sapa".Greene, p.xiii-xiv. Vestal p.184.

The Village

Following the Battle of the Little Big Horn, Lakota leaders split up, each doing what they thought best for their people. Most were heading back to the reservations. On September 9, 1876, Chief American Horse's camp of 37 lodges, about 260 people, of whom 30 to 40 were warriors, was attacked and destroyed by General George Crook at the Battle of Slim Buttes.The number of occupants, including warriors, is a matter of conjecture. Greene, p. 49, 159. John Frederick Finerty, "War-path and bivouac: The Conquest of the Sioux", (hereinafter "Finerty") (1890), p. 255. Chief American Horse's camp was a rich prize. "It was the season when the wild plums ripen. All the agency Sioux were drifting back to the agencies with their packs full of dried meat, buffalo tongues, fresh and dried buffalo berries, wild cherries, plums and all the staples and dainties which tickled the Indian palate." See Stanley Vestal, "Sitting Bull: Champion of the Sioux" (1932), p.184. The lodges were full of furs and meat, and it seemed to be a very rich village. Crook destroyed food, seized three or four hundred ponies, arms and ammunition, furs and blankets."We took the horses along and they amounted to three or four hundred head." DeBarthe, Joe (1958). "Frank Grouard's Story of the Battle". Life and Adventures of Frank Grouard", (hereinafter "Grouard"), University of Oklahoma Press. p.307-311. The troopers also captured about 300 fine ponies to partly replace their dead horses. Strahorn, Autobiography, p. 203-204.

In a dispatch written for the Omaha Daily Bee, Captain Jack Crawford described the cornucopia he encountered: "Tepees full of dried meats, skins, bead work, and all that an Indian's head could wish for." Darlis A. Miller, "Captain Jack Crawford: Buckskin Poet, Scout and Showman," (hereinafter "Buckskin Poet") (1993), p. 60. Of significance, troopers recovered items from the Battle of Little Bighorn, including a 7th Cavalry Regiment guidon from Company I, fastened to the lodge of Chief American Horse, and the bloody gauntlets of slain Captain Myles Keogh."During the charge made on the village Private W. J. McClinton, of Troop C., Third cavalry, discovered one of the guidons belonging to the ill-fated Custer command. It was fastened to the lodge of American Horse." Grouard, p. 306. "One of the largest of the lodges, called by Grouard the "Brave Night Hearts," supposedly occupied by the guard, contained thirty saddles and equipment. One man found eleven thousand dollars in one of the tipis. Others found three 7th Cavalry horses; letters written to and by 7th Cavalry personnel; officers' clothing; a large amount of cash; jewelry; government-issued guns and ammunition." Joe DeBarthe, "Life and Adventures of Frank Grouard",(hereinafter "Grouard") (1894), p. 307. Greene, p.73.

Chief American Horse's Defiance