Curley, by D.F. Barry, 1878

Curley (or Curly), is the English name for Ashishishe (var. spellings)(1856? - 1923), a Native American of the Crow tribe. Ashishishe was born in approximately 1856 in Montana, the son of Strong Bear (Inside the Mouth) and Strikes By the Side of the Water. Curley resided on the Crow Reservation in the vicinity of Pryor Creek, and married Bird Woman. He enlisted in the U.S. Army as an Indian scout on April 10, 1876 and was later chosen to scout for the Seventh Cavalry during the Little Bighorn expedition in 1876 along with fellow Crow warriors White Man Runs Him, Goes Ahead, Hairy Moccasin and others. He witnessed parts of the Battle of the Little Bighorn, and his translated account later appeared in several newspapers, as he was thought to be the only surviving witness from the U.S. side of Custer's Last Stand. Curley later gave several variations on his account, and the accuracy of his recollections has been questioned. The word English can mean: The people of England as an ethnic group. ... 1856 was a leap year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... 1923 was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... Native Americans (also Indians, Aboriginal Peoples, American Indians, First Nations, Alaskan Natives, Amerindians, or Indigenous Peoples of America) are the indigenous inhabitants of The Americas prior to the European colonization, and their modern descendants. ... The Crow, also called the Absaroka or Absáalooke, are a tribe of Native Americans who historically lived in the Yellowstone river valley and now live on a reservation south of Billings, Montana, and the current chairman of the tribal council is Carl Venne. ... 1856 was a leap year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... State nickname: Treasure State Other U.S. States Capital Helena Largest city Billings Governor Brian Schweitzer Official languages English Area 381,156 km² (4th)  - Land 377,295 km²  - Water 3,862 km² (1%) Population (2000)  - Population 902,194 (44th)  - Density 2. ... The Army is the branch of the United States armed forces which has primary responsibility for land-based military operations. ... Scout can refer to: Scouting An American rocket, Scout (rocket) A Helicopter, Scout (helicopter A professional sports talent scout A reconnoiter This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... 1876 is a leap year starting on Saturday. ... The Battle of the Little Bighorn, also called Custers Last Stand, was an engagement between a Lakota-Cheyenne combined force and the 7th Cavalry of the United States Army that took place on June 25, 1876 near the Little Bighorn River in the eastern Montana Territory. ... Reading the newspaper: Brookgreen Gardens in Pawleys Island, South Carolina. ...

However, two of the most influential historians of the Battle of the Little Bighorn, Walter Mason Camp (who interviewed Curly on several occasions) and John S. Gray, accepted Curley's account. Curley later lived on the Crow Reservation on the bank of the Little Bighorn River, close to the site of the Battle. He served in the Crow Police. He divorced Bird Woman in 1886, and married Takes a Shield. Curley had one daughter Awakuk Korita ha Sakush ("Bird of Another Year") who took the English name Nora. Curley received a U.S. pension as of 1920. He died of pneumonia in 1923, and his remains were interred in the National Cemetery at the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument, only a mile from his home. Reservation is something reserved. ... The Little Bighorn River The Little Bighorn River is a tributary of the Bighorn River in the United States in the states of Wyoming and Montana. ... 1920 is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar) Events January January 7 - Forces of Russian White admiral Kolchak surrender in Krasnoyarsk. ... Pneumonia (the ancient Greek word for lungs) is defined as an infection involving the alveoli of the lungs. ... 1923 was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... The Battle of the Little Bighorn, also called Custers Last Stand, was an engagement between a Lakota-Cheyenne combined force and the 7th Cavalry of the United States Army that took place on June 25, 1876 near the Little Bighorn River in the eastern Montana Territory. ...

Curley's story

Curley's earliest account as recorded in the Helena (Montana) Herald on July 15, 1876, is as follows: July 15 is the 196th day (197th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 169 days remaining. ... 1876 is a leap year starting on Saturday. ...

"Custer, with his five companies, after separating from Reno and his seven companies, moved to the right around the base of a hill overlooking the valley of the Little Horn, through a ravine just wide enough to admit his column of fours. There was no sign of the presence of Indians in the hills on that side (the right) of the Little Horn, and the column moved steadily on until it rounded the hill and came in sight of the village lying in the valley below them. Custer appeared very much elated and ordered the bugle to sound a charge, and moved on at the head of his column, waving his hat to encourage his men. When they neared the river the Indians, concealed in the underbrush on the opposite side of the river, opened fire on the troops, which checked the advance. Here a portion of the command were dismounted and thrown forward to the river, and returned the fire of the Indians.

"During this time the warriors were seen riding out of the village by hundreds, deploying across his front to his left, as if with the intention of crossing the stream on his right, while the women and children were seen hastening out of the village in large numbers in the opposite direction.

"During the fight at this point Curley saw two of Custer's men killed, who fell into the stream. After fighting a few moments here, Custer seemed to be convinced that it was impracticable to cross, as it only could be done in column of fours exposed during the movement to a heavy fire from the front and both flanks. He therefore ordered the head of the column to the right, and bore diagonally into the hills, downstream, his men on foot leading their horses. In the meantime the Indians had crossed the river (below) in immense numbers, and began to appear on his right flank and in his rear; and he had proceeded but a few hundred yards in the direction the column had taken, when it became necessary to renew the fight with the Indians who had crossed the stream.

"At first the command remained together, but after some minutes' fighting, it was divided, a portion deployed circularly to the left, and the remainder similarly to the right, so that when the line was formed, it bore a rude resemblance to a circle, advantage being taken as far as possible of the protection afforded by the ground. The horses were in the rear, the men on the line being dismounted, fighting on foot. Of the incidents of the fight in other parts of the field than his own, Curley is not well informed, as he was himself concealed in a ravine, from which but a small portion of the field was visible.

"The fight appears to have begun, from Curley's description of the situation of the sun, about 2:30 or 3 o'clock p.m., and continued without intermission until nearly sunset. The Indians had completely surrounded the command, leaving their horses in ravines well to the rear, themselves pressing forward to attack on foot. Confident in the superiority of their numbers, they made several charges on all points of Custer's line, but the troops held their position firmly, and delivered a heavy fire, and everytime drove them back. Curley said the firing was more rapid than anything he had ever conceived of, being a continuous roll, as he expressed it, "the snapping of the threads in the tearing of a blanket. The troops expended all the ammunition in their belts, and then sought their horses for the reserve ammunition carried in their saddle pockets.

"As long as their ammunition held out, the troops, though losing considerable in the fight, maintained their position in spite of the efforts of the Sioux. From the weakening of their fire toward the close of the afternoon, the Indians appeared to believe their ammunition was about exhausted, and they made a grand final charge, in the course of which the last of the command was destroyed, the men being shot where they lay in their position in the line, at such close quarters that many were killed with arrows. Curley says that Custer remained alive through the greater part of the engagement, animating his men to determined resistance; but about an hour before the close of the fight, he received a mortal wound."

"Curley says the field was thickly strewn with dead bodies of the Sioux who fell in the attack, in number considerably more than the force of soldiers engaged. He is satisfied that their loss will exceed six hundred killed, beside an immense number wounded.

"Curley accomplished his escape by drawing his blanket around him in the manner of the Sioux and passing through an interval which had been made in their lines as they scattered over the field in their final charge. He says they must have seen him, for he was in plain view, but was probably mistaken by the Sioux for one of their number, or one of their allied Arapahos or Cheyennes.

"The most particulars of the account given by Curley of the fight are confirmed by the position of the trail made by Custer in his movements, and the general evidence of the battle field.

"Only one discrepancy is noted, which relates to the time when the fight came to an end. Officers of Reno's command, who, late in the afternoon, from high points, surveyed the country in anxious expectation of Custer's appearance, and commanded a view of the field where he had fought, say that no fighting was going on at that time, between 5 and 6 o'clock. It is evident, therefore, that the last of Custer's command was destroyed at an earlier hour in the day than Curley relates."

George Armstrong Custer George Armstrong Custer (December 5, 1839 - June 25, 1876) was an American cavalry commander in the Civil War and the Indian Wars who is best remembered for his defeat and death at the Battle of the Little Bighorn against a coalition of Native American tribes, led by...

References

• Hammer, Ken. With Custer in '76. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1976.
• Gray, John S. Custer's Last Campaign: Mitch Boyer and the Little Bighorn Reconstructed Lincoln: University of Nebraska, 1991.
• Nichols, Ron. Men with Custer." Hardin: Custer Battlefield Historical and Museum Association, 2000.