Distinctly Montana Magazine

40 D I S T I N C T LY M O N TA N A M A G A Z I N E • S U M M E R 2 0 2 4 F EW, IF ANY, ASPECTS OF NINETEENTH-CENTURY NA- TIVE AMERICAN CULTURE have piqued the interest of the public more than the Plains Indian warrior tradition. Despite the literary and cinematic attention previously devoted to this topic, the participation of women in combat during that period has been largely ignored in scholarly discourse. Many examples of such behavior reflect deeply personal motives, such as the pursuit of revenge for the death of a relative slain in battle, or occurred as instantaneous responses to a military attack on one's people. For example, Pretty Shield informed her biographer, Frank B. Linderman, that The Other Magpie, an Apsáalooke (Crow) woman, fought in the Battle of the Rosebud because "her broth- er had been lately killed by the La[k]ota." With the assistance of Finds Them and Kills Them, a two-spirit person, The Other Magpie rescued Bull Snake, a Crow warrior who sustained a bul- let wound that badly shattered his left leg, just above the knee. Armed only with a coup stick, The Other Magpie rode directly at onrushing Lakota warriors, spitting at them, and exclaiming "my spit is my arrows." She made physical contact with one Lakota's horse and counted coup on its rider, just before Finds Them and Kills Them shot and killed their adversary. The Other Magpie then scalped the slain Lakota and, according to Pretty Shield, triumphantly displayed her trophy when the Crow con- tingent returned to their village. Similarly, Moving Robe Woman was one of at least two La- kota female combatants in the Battle of the Little Bighorn. Also known as Her Eagle Robe or Mary Crawler, she entered the fray after learning that her brother, One Hawk, had been killed. This young boy, known less formally as Deeds, was probably the first Lakota casualty on that fateful day. NINETEENTH-CENTURY WOMEN WARRIORS OF THE APSÁALOOKE (CROW), PIIKÁNI (PIEGAN BLACKFEET), AND OTHER PLAINS TRIBES INDIGENOUS TO MONTANA by DOUGLAS A. SCHMITTOU The Custer Fight, a painting by C.M. Russell (1903), features Moving Robe Woman, Rain-in-the-Face, and Buffalo Calf Road Woman in the Battle of the Little Bighorn. Woman Chief and Running Eagle

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