ry gave the command for
us all to mount and go ahead of the line. Then he selected men from this
line of scouts to send to General Custer as scouts. He mentioned my name
and also called Yellow-Shield, White-Man-Runs-Him, White Swan, Hairy
Moccasin, and Curly out of this line. There were six of us. Then they
gave us orders to go on the steamboat. We sailed down to the mouth of the
Little Rosebud, there we got off the boat. Then our interpreter told us
there was a man in the camp of the army who wanted to see us, and we went
over there. Then we went into General Custer's tent; we sat on one side
of the tent, and that was a day of great pleasure to me. I saw that
General Custer was a man of about six feet two inches, slim and
well-built, and kind-hearted. He wore long hair. General Custer told us
that he had heard that the Crow Indians were the bravest scouts and the
best horsemen among all the Indians, and that was the reason he asked
General Terry to send us to him. He said he had some Mandan scouts but
they were not going to do any Indian scouting for him, but would remain in
the line and do the cooking for the scouts. Then General Custer told us
he wanted us to find the Sioux trail and follow it until we reached the
Sioux camp and to report to him where they were. He did not want us to
enter into battle with the Sioux, but to come back and tell him the
location of their camp. Then after he had won the battle he would give us
all the Sioux horses we could drive home. Then we scouted in search of
the Sioux. We followed the trail of the Sioux where they had been moving,
and we got to where they had camped on the Little Rosebud. I got to the
place where they had been camping just after their fight with General
Crook at the battle of the Little Rosebud, and they had moved to the
Little Horn. General Custer gave us strict orders when we were scouting
not to mistake the scouts of General Terry and General Crook for the other
Indians, because we might run across them and to be sure we had seen the
Sioux. We were two nights on our way before we came upon the village. It
was located on the plain above where the Custer fight took place, on the
banks of the Little Horn. I was by myself and after I saw the village I
went back and reported to General Custer and he was greatly pleased. I
always tried to obey orders and follow closely my instructions. I
reported to General Custer that it was a pretty big village.