MALLERY.] BATTLES. 563 
with a fatigue cap further shows the soldiers were white. Indian sol- 
diers are usually represented in a circle or semicircle. The gesture- 
sign for white soldier means “all in line,” and is made by placing the 
nearly closed hands, with palms forward and thumbs near together, in 
front of the body and then separating them laterally about 2 feet. 
Fig. 795.—The Dakotas killed one 
: aoe Souls 
hundred white men at Fort Phil. Kear- Sly ah 
. 5 rs wy ry 2 
ny. American-Horse’s Winter Count, Se ae Z te 
186667. The hats and the cap-covered 325 ifr ‘4. 3 
head represent the whites; the red all aise = 
d : : Ps naa 
spots, the killed; the circle of charac- oi Trt = 
ters around them, rifle or arrow shots; eerie 
Fic. 795 
the black strokes, Dakota footmen; 
and the hoof-prints, Dakota horsemen. The Phil. Kearny massacre oc- 
curred December 21, 1866, and eighty-two whites were killed, including 
officers, citizens, and enlisted men. Capt. W. J. Fetterman was in com- 
mand of the party. 
THE BATTLE OF THE LITTLE BIGHORN. 
Dr. Charles E. McChesney, acting assistant surgeon, U.S. Army, has 
communicated a most valuable and unique account, both in carefully 
noted gesture-signs and in pictographs, of the battle, now much dis- 
cussed, which was fought in Montana on June 25, 1876, and is popularly 
but foolishly styled ‘“‘Custer’s massacre.” If the intended surprise, 
with the object of killing as many Indians as possible. had been suc- 
cessful instead of being a disastrous defeat, any surviving Indians 
might with some propriety have spoken of ‘‘Custer’s massacre.” The 
account now presented in one of its forms, was given by Red-Horse, 
a Sioux chief and a prominent actor in the battle. The form which gives 
the relation in gesture-signs and shows the syntax of the sign-lan- 
guage perhaps better than any published narrative, will be inserted in 
a work now in preparation by the present writer to be issued by the 
Bureau of Ethnology. The narrative, closely translated into simple 
English, is given below. Accompanying the record of signs are forty- 
one sheets of manila paper, besides one map of the battle ground, all 
drawn by Red-Horse, which average 24 by 26 inches, most of them 
being colored. These may either be considered as illustrations of the 
signs or the signs may be considered as descriptive of the pictographs. 
It is impossible to reproduce now this mass of drawing on any seale 
which would not be too minute for appreciation. It has been decided 
to present, with necessary reduction from the above-mentioned dimen- 
sions, the map and nine of the typical sheets in Pls. Xxx1x to XLVIII. 
Indeed, without considering the space required, there would be small 
advantage in reproducing all of the sheets, as they are made objection- 
able by monotonous repetitions. 
Here follows the story of Red-Horse. Pl. xxxtx is the map of the 
