Reno’s Valley Fight

After fording the Little Bighorn River one mile to the left, Reno’s battalion gallops down the valley below. Convinced he is vastly outnumbered, Reno dismounts and forms a skirmish line across the valley floor, firing into the lodges. Warriors in great numbers rush forward to defend the village. Outflanked, Reno retreats into the timber. Sitting Bull directs surprised noncombatants to flee to the north and west. Major Marcus Reno recalled, “The very earth seemed to grow Indians and they were running towards me.” Lieutenant George Wallace of Company G, 7th Cavalry, said the warriors fought “in regular Indian style,” with some on foot, some on the hills to the left, and others passing around and coming in on the rear, filling the space behind with scattered riders. Waterman, an Arapaho, said the soldiers were coming toward the camp and that he knew they would be beaten because there were many Sioux and Cheyenne. Low Dog, an Oglala Lakota, said he first thought the alarm was false and did not think any white men would attack a force so strong.

Crow Agency, Montana · United States