Fred Girard and Frank Gruard: Scouts And Interpreters With Confusing Consonants

Many have read casually about the Little Bighorn and related events. Most have likely confused Fred Girard and Frank Gruard. Although their names bear only small similarities, the two performed similar roles and services – just not at the Little Bighorn. The two likely did not meet there, but it appears each was present.

Frederic Girard

Boyhood and Background

Frederic Girard (sometimes spelled Gerard) was an interpreter for the Dakota Column. His parentage was mixed only in the sense that his father was Canadian (perhaps a French Canadian trader) and his mother American. Gruard, on the other hand, was of both mixed race and a checkered past. He became a scout and interpreter for General Crook’s Wyoming Column.

Girard was born in St. Louis in 1829. He attended St. Xavier Academy for four years and was quite literate compared to many on the frontier. (Actually, a number of officers and enlisted men wrote very well, but many did not.) In fact, Girard was employed by the St. Louis Republic newspaper for a time, but by 1848 he had ventured up the Missouri to Fort Pierre in Dakota Territory. He worked as a clerk for the American Fur Co.

On the Upper Missouri

The company moved Girard up to Fort Clark, where he learned the Arikara and Sioux tongues. By 1855 he was moved to Fort Berthold, another trade fort. There in 1863 he and 17 other occupants stood off an attack by 600 Yankton Sioux. They claimed they killed at least 40 and wounded 100. When Assiniboines drove the Sioux off, the white traders all left.

By 1869 Girard became an independent trader at Forts Buford and Stevenson, also on the upper Missouri. By 1873, though, he was hired as a post interpreter for the Sioux and Ree scouts at Fort Abraham Lincoln. He also farmed nearby, selling vegetables and milk at the fort.

Interpreter and Impromptu Scout

Girard’s first foray into scouting duties came with the Dakota Column in 1876. He was employed as an interpreter at $75 per month (as compared to $150 a month for Mitch Bouyer, who served the Montana Column as both interpreter and scout.) When Custer climbed to the Crow’s Nest on June 25^th after Crow scouts spotted the hostiles’ encampment, he took Girard along.

With others, Girard saw a distant body of Indians moving away, toward the larger village. It appeared the Indians were already fleeing, which made a quick attack imperative. Girard joined the scouts, though, in warning Custer just how large that village was. Custer denied being able to see it. Confident, he forged ahead.

Later, as Custer split his command and sent Reno to attack, Girard peeled off and rode up a small knoll. Again he spotted a group of Indians moving away. He galloped back and told the command, “There go your Indians, and they are running like devils.” Custer continued to press the attack. The scouts were sent with Reno.

Surviving Reno’s Retreat

Girard was negatively impressed with Reno’s attack, retreat and subsequent conduct. Like many, including trained officers, he believed Reno abandoned a defensible position after moving his troops backward into a stand of timber. When Reno led a disorganized “charge,” or retreat, out of the timber up to the bluffs, many in his command were left behind. Girard was among them.

Girard later remarked how the Indians (accustomed to running buffalo) rode near and shot many soldiers in the back. Left behind, he met up with Billy Jackson, another mixed-blood (half-blackfeet) scout as well as Lt. Charles DeRudio and Private O’Neil. Girard and Jackson still had mounts; the other two were on foot.

The group hid until dark. Then, encountering hostiles, the two mounted scouts charged away and hid another day in brush along a tributary. They remained hidden the next day until dark, as did DeRudio and O’Neil. Both pairs managed to sneak up to the siege lines, joining their comrades on the bluffs at dusk on June 26^th.

Court Witness and Civilian Life

Girard, like George Herendeen, was called to testify at Reno’s Court of Inquiry in 1879. He seemed to echo the belief that those present had “closed ranks” and colluded to protect the hapless major. Regarding those officers, Girard later commented he was “amused to see how bad their memories became.” By 1883 he embraced civilian life, mainly working for Pillsbury Mills. He died in 1913.

Frank Gruard

Birth and Background

Frank Gruard mainly ranged further south. Regarding his past, it seems difficult to discern fact from embellishment. His Buffalo, Wyoming biographer in 1891 is said to have embellished freely.

Some accounts state Gruard was born on a Polynesian island to a Mormon missionary and a native girl. Others assert he was actually born to a French Creole father and a Sioux mother. Still others say his father was a black steamboat cook and his mother an Indian of unspecified tribe. Regardless, his dark skin seems to have helped him gain acceptance among the Sioux tribe.

Early Career and Captivity

Some accounts have Gruard doing honest work as a mail carrier when he ran afoul of either a Crow or Sioux party. One version, not necessarily contradictory, says he stole mail horses and fled, ending up amongst the Sioux. Some say he was captured.

Gruard may have lived with Assiniboine or Yankton Sioux, but it is generally accepted he was adopted into the family of Hunkpapa Sioux leader Sitting Bull. He may have remained as a de facto captive until gaining freedom at the Fort Robinson Sioux agency in Nebraska.

Gruard has been described as “hulking;” it is believed he was named Standing Bear because his buffalo coat made him look like one. The account says he was grappling with one of his captors who tried to steal the coat. Sitting Bull mistook him for a large bear.

Gruard lived among the Sioux for several years. He is said to have joined the 1873 attacks against Custer’s troop along the Yellowstone. He may have raised Sitting Bull’s ire by reporting an inside deal with traders to the soldiers at Fort Peck. Whatever his motivation, he soon parted ways with the Sioux.

Scouting for General Crook

When General George Crook tried to recruit scouts at a Sioux reservation, “using Indians to find Indians,” he found no Sioux willing to assist. He did recruit Gruard, however. Given Gruard’s knowledge of Sioux habits and patterns, he became invaluable – at least in terms of finding their winter camps. Crook was later quoted as saying he would rather lose a third of his command than lose Gruard’s services.

Gruard led Crook’s forces to a Cheyenne and Sioux camp on the Powder River in March, 1876. Crook delegated the attack to a Colonel, and it was poorly coordinated, then botched. In June 1876 Gruard again accompanied Crook’s Wyoming Column into Montana Territory. Before they located the hostiles, the tribes attacked unexpectedly, again turning Crook back.

The Little Bighorn

When Custer was defeated just eight days later, Crook’s scouts apparently knew of it before Crook was informed. Gruard was said to have seen smoke signals that indicated the annihilation. Officers did not believe him.

Gruard was then said to have dressed as an Indian and ridden to confirm the message. He may have passed undetected near Reno’s besieged troops.

The Killing of Crazy Horse

Accounts also vary regarding Gruard’s involvement with the death of Crazy Horse. In 1877, after the war chief’s surrender, the U.S. army asked Sioux to act as scouts to against the Nez Perce in Montana Territory. Crazy Horse was among them, and Gruard acted as interpreter. Some say he was drunk. Others speculate he intentionally misinterpreted to spite Crazy Horse.

Either way, when asked, Crazy Horse is said to have replied he would help until all Nez Perce were dead. Gruard’s interpretation led officers to believe Crazy Horse said he would fight until all whites were dead. He was arrested, and when he saw he would be placed in a guard house he resisted. He was bayoneted by a soldier and soon died.

Although highly regarded as a scout, Gruard is viewed with suspiscion due to the chief’s scandalous death. Girard and Gruard traveled different paths, but those paths may have nearly crossed at the Little Bighorn.