Women’s History: Females Who Fought at the Rosebud

With March politically designated at Women’s history month, the Rosebud Battle will get an early mention. The battle itself will be featured more fully on or near June 17^th, its sesquicentennial. However, a pair of women on opposing sides played parts in the battle. They will be featured here:

Buffalo Calf Road Woman: The Girl That Saved Her Brother

The more renowned of the two was a Cheyenne. Buffalo Calf Road Woman (or Buffalo Calf Trail Woman) rode to the battle alongside her husband, Black Coyote. Why she participated in the battle is uncertain. No accounts of her presence there seem to give a reason.

It may not have been unheard of for women amongst various Plains Indian tribes to participate in warfare, but it does not seem common. Men normally did the raiding or defensive fighting on their tribes’ behalf. It was not uncommon for younger females to be taken away as captives (Sacajewea, a Shoshone, is a well known example). Therefore, the men took more of the combative and defensive roles.

Regardless, Buffalo Calf Road Woman is widely recognized as having ridden to battle at the Rosebud. She gained renown by riding to the rescue of her brother, Comes In Sight, who was a chief or sub-chief. Some accounts state he had been wounded. More commonly it is simply stated that he was left without a horse (both could have been true) and was surrounded by enemy fighters.

Universally, though, accounts all state that upon seeing her brother surrounded and unhorsed, Buffalo Calf Road Woman galloped to rescue him. He was able to climb onto her horse and the pair galloped out of danger with neither suffering a wound in the incident.

It is also unclear as to whether Comes In Sight was surrounded by U.S. soldiers or by General Crook’s Crow and/or Shoshone Indian scouts. As many as 262 scouts rode with Crook. They not only fought in the battle but saved him from being outflanked and surrounded.

The Battle of the Rosebud, as it is commonly known today, was significant. Crook’s command was one of three military columns sent to converge on and entrap non-treaty tribes. The intent was to force those tribes onto reservations. Instead, Crook’s forces were stymied at the Rosebud.

Realizing he was badly outnumbered by the combined non-treaty tribes, Crook retreated back southward to await more supplies and reinforcements. Without his column’s presence, the Seventh Cavalry met with disaster at the Little Bighorn.

The Rosebud Battle is known amongst the Cheyenne as “The Fight Where the Girl Saved Her Brother.”

The Other Magpie

Records also list another woman fought at the Rosebud. A Crow woman named The Other Magpie is said to have ridden to the battle with scouts from her tribe. She sought vengeance against the Sioux, who had killed her brother.

Accounts are less prevalent regarding The Other Magpie, but some hold that she carried no weapon other than a “coup” stick with which to strike enemy warriors. Some say she not only “counted coup” by striking a live enemy but managed to kill and scalp a Sioux warrior.

Another Twist

A more recently revealed oral tradition states that Buffalo Calf Trail Woman also fought at the Little Bighorn. Some say she struck Custer, knocking him from his horse before he was killed.

In reality, after the battle numerous different warriors claimed to have killed Custer. It is uncertain that any of the combatants actually even recognized him that day. Eventually a consensus of tribal leaders attributed Custer’s death to a warrior named Brave Bear, but he did not necessarily lay claim to that honorary distinction.

The reality also exists that several members of Custer’s regiment wore buckskin shirts that day. More than one could have been mistaken for Custer in that confused, chaotic scene. In other words, many varied accounts abound, but no solid documentation exists.

It is possible Buffalo Calf Road Woman actually did strike Custer and knock him from his horse at the Little Bighorn. However, many conflicting accounts exist as to how Custer died and also to just where he died on the battlefield. (Some say he died in the Little Bighorn while attempting to cross it. Others say he never reached the river with his troops, for example. His body was found high on a ridge, far from the river.) 

It is uncertain that any given fighter actually struck Custer before his death at the Little Bighorn. That is part of the ongoing mystique and mystery of the event. Regardless, at the Battle of the Rosebud, The Other Magpie and Buffalo Calf Trail Woman each earned a place in history.