the-Face had an alterca-
tion with an older Che-
yenne youth and beat
him, although he was cut
on the face severely
enough that the blood
washed away his cere-
monial paint. The second
incident happened when
he was a young warrior
engaged in combat with
the Gros Ventre Indians.
“We fought all day in the
rain, and my face was
partly washed and
streaked with red and
black; so again I was
christened Rain-in-the-
Face. We considered it
an honorable name.”
Throughout the course
of his young manhood,
Rain-in-the-Face partici-
pated in countless skir-
mishes against his tradi-
tional Crow, Mandan, and Pawnee enemies.
The young warrior gained a reputation for
prowess in battle and was eventually elected
to war chief. This was a singular distinction,
because among many Sioux tribes, the posi-
tion was usually hereditary. In his own words,
“My father was not a chief, my grandfather
was not a chief, but a good hunter and a feast
maker. On my mother’s side I had some noted
ancestors, but they left me no chieftainship. I
had to work for my reputation.”
At this time, the Bozeman Trail in Wyoming
and Montana was beset by a large influx of
whites settlers and miners, who built camps
and railroads and engaged in other activities
that infringed upon the Indian way of life.
Rain-in-the-Face first came to the attention of
whites during the 1866 war against forces
under Red Cloud. In December of that year,
he was an active participant in the massacre
of Capt. William Fetterman’s command of 80
soldiers outside Fort Phil Kearny, Wyoming.
He subsequently participated in many minor
skirmishes before being
severely wounded at Fort
Totten, North Dakota, in- That year the Treaty
of Fort Laramie recog-
nized Sioux claims to the
sacred Black Hills region,
and the whites were re-
quired to burn their forts
and withdraw entirely
from the Bozeman Trail.
The peace of the
Northern Plains was shat-
tered when white miners
and railroad surveyors,
disregarding Sioux sover-
eignty, began exploring
the Black Hills region in
search of gold and suit-
able ground for railroad
tracks. In 1873, a detach-
ment of the Seventh U.S.
Cavalry under Gen.
George Armstrong Custer
was detailed as an escort
for these activities, and they were attacked by
the Sioux in the vicinity of the Tongue River.
In the course of fighting, Rain-in-the-Face ap-
parently killed a veterinary surgeon and a sut-
ler belonging to Custer’s command who had
strayed from the main column. Peace was re-
stored as soon as the Americans withdrew.
However, a year later the Sioux were en-
camped at the Standing Rock Agency, North
Dakota, to draw government rations. A cere-
monial war dance ensued, in which Rain-in-
the-Face recounted his killing of the two men.
An American scout conversant in the Sioux
language was present, understood what tran-
spired, and relayed the warrior’s boasts back
to Custer. The enraged general, touchy over
his regiment’s reputation, immediately dis-
patched 100 troopers under his younger
brother, Tom Custer, to arrest Rain-in-the-
Face and return him to Fort Abraham Lincoln.
This was done forcefully, and the chief was
imprisoned and later confessed to the mur-
ders. Rain-in-the-Face was somewhat bewil-
RAIN-IN-THE-FACE
Rain-in-the-Face
National Archives