{"id":40288,"date":"2026-07-02T23:19:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-03T04:19:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/the-arapaho-five-unsuspecting-braves-who-fought-custer-150-years-ago-this-week\/"},"modified":"2026-07-02T23:19:09","modified_gmt":"2026-07-03T04:19:09","slug":"the-arapaho-five-unsuspecting-braves-who-fought-custer-150-years-ago-this-week","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/the-arapaho-five-unsuspecting-braves-who-fought-custer-150-years-ago-this-week\/","title":{"rendered":"The Arapaho Five: Unsuspecting Braves Who Fought Custer 150 Years Ago This Week"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/span><\/div>
\"Left<\/a><\/p>\n

Left Hand (left) was 22 years old when he snuck away from the agency at Fort Robinson and ended up fighting with the Sioux and Cheyenne in the Battle of the Little Bighorn. (Courtesy)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

They have been dubbed by historians as the Arapaho Five, warriors who found themselves fighting against the cavalry in the Battle of the Little Bighorn 150 years ago this week. In the spring of 1876, these young bucks, as they called themselves, snuck off from the fort where their band was camping and became part of history.<\/p>\n

Their names were Left Hand, Yellow Eagle, Yellow Fly, Water Man and Sage.<\/p>\n

In 1919, Tim McCoy, actor and adopted member of the Arapaho tribe, was sitting in a powwow with several Arapaho friends on the Wind River Indian Reservation along the Little Wind River.<\/p>\n

He later related the story to Darryl Ponicsan in a June 1977 article for the American Heritage magazine, \u201cHigh Eagle The Many Lives Of Colonel Tim Mccoy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThey started telling me that Old Water Man was in that fight,\u201d McCoy said. \u201cI sort of scoffed at it because every Indian and his brother was in that fight. Practically all of them killed Custer.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, when McCoy began asking Water Man questions, the old Arapaho answered them all accurately. Determined to have the old men tell the stories themselves, McCoy arranged for separate interviews with Water Man and Left Hand in nearby Riverton by 1920.<\/p>\n

The other three warriors had already gone to the \u201cgreat mystery\u201d according to Left Hand and Water Man. However, Sage, was still living near St. Stephens under the name of Sherman Sage. Only remnants of Sage\u2019s own story were ever recorded.<\/p>\n

The two warriors McCoy knew about agreed their stories needed told.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had lived 22 snows at the time of the great battle on the Little Bighorn River,\u201d Water Man told McCoy. \u201cSoon Left Hand and I must go to the long sleep, and no one will be alive to tell the story, so I will tell you, whom the Arapahoes call their Soldier-Chief, everything just as I saw it, and nothing that is not the truth.\u201d<\/p>\n

Left Hand & Water Man<\/strong><\/p>\n

Left Hand began his story by stating that he was part Blackfeet and part Cheyenne but had always lived among the Arapaho. He was born in the Powder River Country and, in 1876, was camped with the Arapaho at Fort Robinson, Nebraska, drawing rations, when he left with a war party to fight the Shoshones. \u201cWhen we were young men, it was the custom of the young Indian to go on small war parties looking for Shoshones or other unfriendly tribes,\u201d Water Man explained. \u201cIf your medicine was good, we sometimes returned to camp with a scalp or a number of ponies.\u201d<\/p>\n

The young bucks rode north into the buffalo country and, near the Little Bighorn River just south of what is now Crow Agency, Montana, met a small party of Sioux.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey told us that the Sioux were going to have a sundance and said that we should come along with them to the Sioux village and have a good time,\u201d Water Man said. \u201cAfterward I learned that these Sioux thought we were scouts for the white soldiers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Unaware that they were being tricked, the five Arapaho rode with the Sioux. As they came near the village, a great many Sioux came out of the camp.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey took all our guns away, and made us prisoners, saying that we were scouts of the white man, and that they were going to kill us,\u201d Water Man said.<\/p>\n

Young Two Moon, nephew of Cheyenne Chief Two Moon, said all the Sioux believed they were scouts from a camp of soldiers. He verified the Arapahos\u2019 claim of being held prisoner in a 1908 interview with George Bird Grinnell.<\/p>\n

\u201cTwo men took their part \u2014 Black Wolf and Last Bull,\u201d Young Two Moon said. \u201cThey said the people should wait and not act hastily.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Arapaho were taken into Two Moon\u2019s lodge. The Sioux threatened to kill the five all night.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the morning, Two Moon, Chief of the Cheyenne, learned we were Arapahoes, so he went to the Sioux Chiefs and made them give us back our guns and set us free,\u201d Water Man said.<\/p>\n

The Arapaho were given back their guns but not allowed to leave camp. The young men saw the sun rise two times and the village grew to thousands of warriors, the most any had ever seen in one place.<\/p>\n

It was on the third day, June 25, 1876, that the battle began.<\/p>\n

The War Cries<\/strong><\/p>\n

All the Arapaho men had readied themselves for the battle. Water Man said he was dressed in beaded leggings, breechclout, a white shirt and a large war bonnet. Left Hand was dressed in a shirt and breechclout, and his medicine was a piece of buffalo hide made into a cross with two feathers in it, which he wore in his hair.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy face was painted yellow and red and, around my neck, tied in a deer-skin medicine bag, was a certain root, which was my medicine,\u201d Water Man said. \u201cI still have that same medicine,\u201d<\/p>\n

Left Hand said the first attack, led by Major Marcus Reno, was at the south end of the village when the sun was at the position of about 9 a.m.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe soldiers fired a few shots, but when we rushed toward them, they became frightened and started back across the river,\u201d Left Hand said. \u201cMany of them lost their horses and had to swim across.\u201d<\/p>\n

He described how the soldiers climbed on a high ridge and built a barricade.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere were many soldiers killed there,\u201d Left Hand said. \u201cThe Sioux were all around them.\u201d<\/p>\n

When the sun was straight up, about noon, Left Hand heard shooting at the lower end of the village and knew it must be more soldiers.<\/p>\n

\u201cI went down through the village and crossed the river with a large party of Sioux and Cheyennes,\u201d Left Hand said. \u201cWe Arapahoes had all gotten separated during the first fight.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Water Man had joined a group of warriors at the lower end of the village and fought off troops who were trying to cross the river and attack the camp. During the earlier part of the fight, Waterman was in a small gulch below the hill where the soldiers were stationed. He later moved up the hill and closed in on the enemy.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was a great deal of noise and confusion,\u201d Water Man said. \u201cThe air was heavy with powder smoke, and the Indians were all yelling.\u201d<\/p>\n

Water Man said Crazy Horse, the Sioux Chief, was the bravest man he had ever seen.<\/p>\n

\u201cCrazy Horse rode closest to the soldiers, yelling to his warriors,\u201d he said. \u201cAll the soldiers were shooting at him, but he was never hit.\u201d<\/p>\n

Water Man said he only knew of one soldier he personally killed. It was near the end of the fight when they rushed to the top of the hill and finished all that were still alive.<\/p>\n

\u201cI killed him with my gun, but did not scalp him because the Arapahoes do not scalp a man with short hair, only long hair,\u201d Water Man said.<\/p>\n

Killed A Sioux But Not White Soldier<\/strong><\/p>\n

Left Hand, who counted 13 coup during the battle, saw an Indian on foot who was wounded in the leg.<\/p>\n

\u201cThinking he was one of the Crow or Arikara scouts with the soldiers, I rode at him, striking at him with a long lance which I carried,\u201d Left Hand said. \u201cThe head of the lance was sharpened like an arrow. It struck him in the chest and went clear through him.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Indian fell over a pile of dead soldiers. Afterward. Left Hand discovered the man he killed was actually Sioux.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Sioux were going to kill me because I had killed their friend,\u201d Left Hand said. \u201cOne Sioux tried to take my horse away from me, but I would not give him up.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone was excited. The hills were swarming with Indians, all yelling and shooting.\u201d<\/p>\n

Left Hand said that as he came up on the ridge, one soldier, who was on the ground, handed him his gun.<\/p>\n

\u201cI took the gun and did not kill him, but some Sioux who were behind me killed him,\u201d Left Hand said. \u201cI went back and took his belt, which had many cartridges in it.\u201d<\/p>\n

McCoy said the soldier was wounded and handed Left Hand his gun to surrender.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey didn\u2019t understand. You don\u2019t surrender to an Indian \u2014 you either fight or you die,\u201d McCoy said. \u201cLeft Hand took the gun, but he couldn\u2019t use it because the shell jammed in the chamber.\u201d<\/p>\n

Custer\u2019s Last Stand<\/strong><\/p>\n

Both Water Man and Left Hand saw Custer near the end of the fight.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was dressed in buckskin and was standing up and had pistols in his hands shooting into the Indians,\u201d Left Hand said. \u201cI did not see him again until it was all over. I walked around and saw him lying there. He was dead.\u201d<\/p>\n

Water Man also reported that Custer was wearing buckskin. But by the time he saw him, Custer was on his hands and knees.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe had been shot through the side and there was blood coming from his mouth,\u201d Water Man said. \u201cHe seemed to be watching the Indians moving around him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Water Man described how four soldiers were sitting up around Custer, but they were all badly wounded. The next time he saw Custer, he was dead.<\/p>\n

Snuck Away<\/strong><\/p>\n

After the squaws, as the old men called the women of the tribe, had cleared the battlefield, the Arapahoes knew they had to escape. The Sioux were angry at Left Hand for killing one of their own and were waiting to take revenge.<\/p>\n

The next morning, the Sioux broke camp and started for the mountains. They had heard some soldiers were coming up the river, and the Indians were scared.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat night after they had made camp and it was dark, we four Arapahoes crawled out to the pony herd and, each mounting a pony, slipped away,\u201d Left Hand said. \u201cWe travelled as fast as we could back to Fort Robinson where the Arapahoes were.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the time they shared their stories with McCoy, the old men were living on the reservation and life was much different.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe buffalo are all gone, and the Indians who once roamed these plains and were happy are now held on reservations as wards of the government,\u201d Water Man said. \u201cWe are old men now, and soon we too must pass over to the great mystery. That is why I have told you this story.\u201d<\/p>\n

Left Hand also commented on how different times were during his 1920 interview.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe white men used to trade us guns for buffalo robes, but now it is all changed,\u201d Left Hand said. \u201cThe buffalo are all gone, the antelope are gone, and now we old men can only sit by the fire, sing our war songs and dream of the past.\u201d<\/p>\n

(Jackie Dorothy can be reached at jackie@cowboystatedaily.com)<\/span><\/p>\n

The post The Arapaho Five: Unsuspecting Braves Who Fought Custer 150 Years Ago This Week<\/a> first appeared on Native Sun News Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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<\/span><\/div>

Left Hand (left) was 22 years old when he snuck away from the agency at Fort Robinson and ended up fighting with the Sioux and Cheyenne in the Battle of the Little Bighorn. (Courtesy) They have been dubbed by historians as the Arapaho Five, warriors who found themselves fighting against <\/p>\n

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