Bloody Knife
Chief of Indian Scouts, 7th U.S. Cavalry

Bloody Knife was born in 1840 near the present day Standing Rock Reservation in the North Dakota Territory. His father was Hunkpapa and his mother was Arikara. Ridiculed in his childhood by other Indians because of his mixed blood, after the Civil War he served as an Indian Scout for General Alfred Sully's 4th U.S. Cavalry.

In 1868 he enlisted as an Indian Scout at Fort Stevenson, and in 1872, after the establishment of Fort Lincoln and the arrival of Lieutenant Colonel George Custer, he was made Chief of the Indian Scouts.

On 25 June 1876, during the Battle of Little Big Horn, Custer assigned Bloody Knife to Major Marcus Reno's detachment and ordered them to circle around the Indian Camp they had found at the Little Bighorn River in Montana Territory. Reno attacked the camp on the western side of the River and was overwhelmed by the Indians and retreated to what is known as Reno Hill. Sometime during the retreat, Bloody Knife was killed by a gunshot to the head while standing next to Major Reno.

Death and Burial

Bloody Knife was killed on 25 June 1876 in Montana Territory. He is buried at Red Cloud Cemetery in Pine Ridge, SD.