Former Arikara scouts in the U.S. Army: Red Star (left), Boy Chief (center) and Red Bear (right)
Active
1868 – 1881
Allegiance
United States
Branch
United States Army
Type
Indian scouts
Garrison/HQ
Fort Stevenson
Fort McKeen
Fort Abraham Lincoln (former Fort McKeen)
Engagements
Lakota attacks near Fort McKeen
Yellowstone Expedition of 1873
Battle of Honsinger Bluff
Battle of Pease Bottom
Great Sioux War
Battle of the Little Big Horn
Commanders
Notable commanders
George A. Custer, George Crook, Charles A. Varnum, Alfred Terry
Military unit
Arikara scouts were enlisted men from the Arikara Nation serving in the U.S. Army at different frontier posts in present-day North Dakota from 1868 to 1881. The enlistment period was six months with re-enlistment possible. Each scout received a uniform, firearm and drew rations. Scout duties ranged from carrying mail between commands to tracking down traditional enemies perceived as hostile by the Army in far ranging military campaigns. Detailed to secure the horses in located enemy camps, the scouts were often the first to engage in battle. The Arikara took part when the Army protected survey crews in the Yellowstone area in the early 1870s. They participated in the Great Sioux War of 1876 and developed into Colonel George Armstrong Custer's "… most loyal and permanent scouts …".[1]: 132
Nearly 150 Arikara enlisted at different times from 1868 until the end of the Indian Wars in the area. They served "bravely and honorably".[2]: 13 The experience of the scouts motivates some present-day Arikara people to carry on the tradition and enter military service.[2]: 21
^Cite error: The named reference McGinnis1990 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ abvan de Logt, Mark.: Whoever Makes War upon the Rees Will Be Considered Making War upon the 'Great Father': Sanish Military Service on the Northern Great Plains, 1865-1881. Wíčazo Ša Review, Vol. 32, No. 1 (Spring 2017). Pp. 9-28.
Arikarascouts were enlisted men from the Arikara Nation serving in the U.S. Army at different frontier posts in present-day North Dakota from 1868 to...
Arikara (English: /əˈrɪkərə/), also known as Sahnish, Arikaree, Ree, or Hundi, are a tribe of Native Americans in North Dakota. Today, they are enrolled...
number of scouts and interpreters: Bloody Knife: Arikara/Lakota scout (killed) Bob Tailed Bull: Arikarascout (killed) Boy Chief: Arikarascout Charley...
Knife (Sioux: Tȟamila Wewe; Arikara: NeesiRAhpát; ca. 1840 – June 25, 1876) was an American Indian who served as a scout and guide for the U.S. 7th Cavalry...
The Arikara War was a military conflict between the United States and Arikara in 1823 fought in the Great Plains along the Upper Missouri River in the...
territory at Honsinger Bluff and Pease Bottom. Further east, soldiers and Arikarascouts from Fort McKean at the Missouri had to fight attacking Lakotas on August...
the Little Bighorn battlefield. Apache ScoutsArikarascouts Navajo Scouts Pawnee Scouts Black Seminole Scouts Medicine Crow, Joseph (1939): The Effects...
Arikara is a Caddoan language spoken by the Arikara Native Americans who reside primarily at Fort Berthold Reservation in North Dakota. Arikara is close...
country than the Arikarascouts whose home was on the Great Plains along the Missouri River, far to the east. On June 21 the scouts were detached from...
Native Scouts, and made contact with the Indians the next day, causing him to turn west towards the Little Bighorn River. On 24 June, Custer's Arikara and...
Colt Single Action 1873 Cavalry Model George Armstrong Custer with ArikaraScouts during Black Hills Expedition of 1874; Colt pistols are visible .45...
(six died later from their wounds), including four Crow scouts and at least two Arikarascouts. The Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument honors...
the same year. Apache ScoutsArikarascouts Navajo Scouts Crow Scouts Black Seminole Scouts Major Frank J. North of Pawnee Scouts - Obituary Wyoming State...
insignia in 1984. Apache ScoutsArikarascouts Black Seminole Scouts Navajo Scouts Pawnee Scouts Crow Scouts The following 16 Indian Scouts received the Medal...
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be a translator's error; near his body was that of one of the Ree (Arikara) scouts, which had been slashed open and a willow branch stuck in the opening...
Crow warrior/scouts, including Goes Ahead, Curly, Hairy Moccasin, White Swan, and Half Yellow Face, the leader of the scouts. He scouted for Lt. Charles...
Black Seminole Scouts, also known as the Seminole Negro - Indian Scouts, or Seminole Scouts, were employed by the United States Army between 1870 and 1914...
and packed them away because it was so hot. According to Soldier, an Arikarascout, "Custer took off his buckskin coat and tied it behind his saddle."...
and the chief Crow Scout Half Yellow Face, along with Arikarascouts accompanied the detachment under Major Reno. The Indian scouts were told to stampede...
about an hour before the last stand. He joined Strikes the Bear (an ArikaraScout), White Man Runs Him, and Goes Ahead with Major Marcus Reno's column...
late 1920s to early 1940s. Apache ScoutsArikarascouts Black Seminole Scouts Crow Scouts Eskimo Scouts Pawnee Scouts Marei Bouknight and others, Guide...
fur trappers in an attack on an Arikara Indian village at Grand River (now South Dakota) in August 1823, named the Arikara War. Members of the Lakota, a...
up with many of the men that had joined in 1822, and were attacked by Arikara warriors. Glass was apparently shot in the leg and the survivors retreated...
Arapaho–Cheyenne–Lakota–Dakota alliance to act as Indian scouts, most notably from the Crow, Arikara, and Shoshone. Unlike previous conflicts involving the...
river. Near the river the Arikarascout Bloody Knife was shot through the head while next to Reno. Most of the other scouts slipped away and escaped....
and the Crow scouts in his unit and a few Arikaras discovered the location of a huge Indian village with hundreds of lodges. Arikarascout Red Star carried...
Global Information
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