Bloody Knife (army scout)
Bloody Knife was an army scout of mixed heritage, born around 1840 to a Hunkpapa Sioux father and an Arikara mother. Facing racial taunts as a child, he returned to the Arikara community in Missouri, where he developed a deep-seated animosity toward the Hunkpapa Sioux and notable leaders like Gall and Sitting Bull. By 1860, he worked as a mail carrier, honing skills to evade Sioux patrols, and later enlisted as a scout for the U.S. Army, earning commendations from several generals. In a notable incident in 1865, he led a patrol against Gall's encampment, where an attempted assassination failed when Gall survived the encounter.
By 1876, Bloody Knife became one of General George Armstrong Custer’s primary scouts during the campaign against the Sioux. Despite his warnings about the potential size of the Sioux forces, he participated in the advance attack on June 25, 1876. Tragically, he was killed during the battle at Little Bighorn, where he suffered a fatal head wound and was subsequently beheaded by Sioux warriors, with his head displayed as a trophy. Following his death, his widow, She Owl, faced hardship, struggling for years to collect the meager wages owed to him by the army.
Bloody Knife (army scout)
- Born: c. 1840
- Birthplace: Dakota Territory (now North Dakota)
- Died: June 25, 1876
- Place of death: Little Bighorn, Montana
Category: Army scout
Tribal affiliation: Arikara, Hunkpapa Sioux
Significance: A skilled army scout, Bloody Knife served with George Armstrong Custer and fought at the Battle of the Little Bighorn
Bloody Knife was born about 1840 to a Hunkpapa Sioux father and an Arikara mother. Taunted by his peers for his mixed heritage, he returned at age twelve with his mother to the Arikara in Missouri. He carried a hatred for the Hunkpapa, especially Gall and Sitting Bull. By 1860, he was working as a mail carrier between forts and settlements along the Missouri River, where he developed skills in avoiding Sioux patrols. He enlisted as an army scout and received the commendation of several generals. In 1865, while at Fort Berthold, North Dakota, he led an army patrol to Gall’s encampment. Gall was shot as he emerged from his dwelling and pronounced dead. To be certain, Bloody Knife put his shotgun to Gall’s head and fired. An army officer kicked the gun and it discharged harmlessly in the snow. Gall recovered.
By 1876, Bloody Knife had become one of Custer’s best scouts. He rode with George Armstrong Custer from Fort Abraham Lincoln as Custer set out in search of Gall and Sitting Bull. Bloody Knife expressed concern about the possible size of the Sioux party they were pursuing and recommended against attack. On June 25, he was deployed with Major Marcus A. Reno’s detachment as Custer split his command. Bloody Knife rode with the advance attack, which Custer had hoped would disperse the Sioux in panicked flight. The Sioux, however, counterattacked. Early in the fighting, Bloody Knife’s skull was shattered by a shot from Gall’s warriors, causing Reno’s detachment to disperse in their own chaotic retreat. Bloody Knife was then beheaded and his head paraded among the victorious Sioux.
Following his death, it took his wife, She Owl, four years to collect the less than one hundred dollars the army owed Bloody Knife in back wages.