The white soldiers began firing at her while the Crow scouts aimed their arrows towards her horse. But no one could hit her, her brother, or her horse. The horse moved to swiftly for that. Buffalo-Calf-Road-Woman then turned her horse and rushed up the hill from where all the old chiefs and medicine men had been watching her brave deed.
At first, only the Sioux and Cheyenne saw what Buffalo-Calf-Road-Woman was doing. Then the soldiers noticed, also. All these brave fighting men, white and Indian, suddenly stopped fighting for a time. They just stood and watched this wonderful girl who had saved her brother’s life. The Indians raised their arms and gave a great shout. Then even some of the whites threw their hats in the air and sang her praises.
“Many who saw what she had done thought that she had counted the biggest coup of all—not taking life, but giving it.” And that is the reason the Indians call the Battle of the Rosebud The Fight Where the Girl Saved Her Brother.
Further study of the Black Hills gold rush may be explored, on the Internet at:
Black Hills Gold Discovery http://www.historytelevision.ca/chiefs/h...
To further explore this subject as well as Custer and the Battle of the Little Bighorn and the events that led up to it, coming soon to Suite 101 University will be THE LITTLE BIGHORN: 1872-1876. Check here often for the link to this exciting course.
The sources for this article are:
Ambrose, Stephen E. Crazy Horse and Custer: The Parallel Lives of Two American Warriors. Random House, Inc. New York, 1996.
Battle, Kemp. Hearts of Fire: Great Women of American Lore and Legend. Three Rivers Press, New York, 1997.
Bourke, John G. On the Border with Crook. Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1891.
Connell, Evan S. Son of the Morning Star: Custer and the Little Bighorn. North Point Press, San Francisco, 1984.
Crook, George. Martin F. Schmitt, Editor. General George Crook: His Autobiography. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, 1986.
Custer, George Armstrong. My Life on the Plains Leisure Books, New York.
Lazarus, Edward. Black Hills White Justice: The Sioux Nation Versus the United States, 1775 to the Present. Harper Collins Publishers, 1991.
