Did She Strike Down Custer?
Rosemary & Joe Agonito publish story first told in True West.
By: Candy Moulton 11/01/2006
Has the tribe provided any further details?
JA: They claim they will release more information in time.
What direct evidence documents Calf’s participation in the Battle at the Rosebud and at Little Bighorn?
JA: Oral accounts from the period, including those present at the battles, most notably, “Wooden Leg: A Warrior Who Fought Custer” and Kate Bighead’s “She Watched Custer’s Last Battle: The Story of Kate Bighead,” both pieces interpreted by Thomas Marquis. Also John Stands in Timber, in Cheyenne Memories, as taken down by Margot Liberty. The oral accounts of Calf’s valor in battle have survived to the present in Cheyenne tradition.
For the Northern Cheyenne people, the Battle at the Rosebud with Gen. George Crook in June of 1876 is known as the “Battle Where the Girl Saved Her Brother” for her act of bravery on the battlefield in rescuing Comes In Sight after he was knocked from his horse.
In Buffalo Calf Road Woman, the Agonitos have recounted not just the story of a female warrior who participated in important battles, but also they have painted a portrait of Cheyenne life: birth and death, courtship, love, family relationships and social customs. In doing so, they bring emotional reality to anthropological facts.
In piecing together Buffalo Calf’s life story, they ferreted out information about a Cheyenne woman, a task made more difficult by the fact that ethnologists, even the Cheyenne people themselves, seldom mentioned exploits by women either on the battlefield or in camp life.
The writings of Mari Sandoz, author of Cheyenne Autumn, were particularly useful, they admitted.
JA: We don’t have anywhere near as much information on her as we do with the great male warriors such as Crazy Horse.... Although the Battle of the Rosebud was named for her, most warriors fail to even mention her. Wooden Leg’s extensive references to her are the exception. And all this also is why Mari Sandoz is so special. Because she interviewed women, we have a richer account from her about Buffalo Calf Road and the other women.
Candy Moulton is a regular True West contributor. She makes her home near Encampment, Wyoming.
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