Case Study: Northern Plains Indians

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Northern Plains Indians. The initial estimate of the Northern Plains Indians was that no more than 800 hostile Indians would be in the area of operations according the Indian Agents responsible for monitoring the reservations (Nightengale, 1996). This was a correct estimate until the first battle between Crook’s column and the Cheyenne village, where the following three weeks Indian tribes and villages began to consolidate into one giant force (Neumann, 2001). Traditionally, this would have not been the case as opposing tribes were fiercely territorial and maintained a small footprint during the hunts; however, realizing that the Army would use force, they banded in mutual defense of each other. Historians believe that the main body of the …show more content…
Traditionally, the Northern Plains Indians’ scouts served two purposes: one was for hunting parties and conducting raids against competing villages; the second was to screen the tribes’ movements and campsites from detection of potential enemies (p. 37). In essence, these techniques created two layers of reconnaissance, enabling the Northern Plains Indians to easily detect the movement and location of Custer’s 7th Cavalry as they approached. On morning of 25 June, Custer’s scouts discovered the position of the Northern Plains Indians being about 18 miles away from the regiment. Based off this information, Custer had decided he would rest his troopers and when the sun had set, maneuver his elements using the cover of darkness to surround the Indian camp. However, by midday, Custer received three separate reports that his position had been discovered by three separate scouting parties, with one actually engaging the trail company with small arms fire before eventually breaking contact. Needing to confirm if the reports were true, Custer had his scouts return to the Crows Nest determine what the response of Indian camp was. According to Neumann (2001), while at the top of Crows Nest, Custer’s scouts saw about 400 lodge fires, with a portion of the village breaking camp and moving north. At this moment, Custer had two vital pieces of intelligence; the size of the Indian element and their direction of travel; and that his position had been compromised, providing the Indians information on the size of his force and the equipment they carried. It is believed, Custer would have estimated the Indian element to be at least 1,200 strong, assuming three persons per lodge fire. Custer then must have concluded two things: his initial intelligence on size of the Indian hostiles being no more than 800 Indians was incorrect and the Indians became aware of his regiments
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