Native American US Army Scout & Guide. Original burial site. Blood Knife, Neesirapat, was born in Dakota Territory sometime between 1837 and 1840. His father was a Hunkpapa Lakota. His mother was an Arikara. Reportedly in 1850, Bloody Knife's mom, taking him with her, returned to the Akikara at Ft Clark. For the remainder of his life, Blood Knife held a deep animosity towards the Lakota over what he claimed had been mistreatment by them as a child. In 1868, Bloody Knife enlisted as a corporal in the "Indian" Scouts of the US Army as a corporal. He was one of the scouts assigned to the Yellowstone Expedition in 1873. It was during this expedition that he became one of LTC George Armstrong Custer's favorite scouts. In 1874, he was in charge of a 100 scouts on Custer's Black Hills Expedition. In the days leading up to the Battle Little Big Horn, Scout Fred Gerard recalled Bloody Knife had become apprehensive about the number of Lakota they had been following. Bloody Knife was heard to say; "We'll find enough Sioux to keep fighting two or three days." On the day of the Battle of the Little Big Horn, Bloody Knife accompanied Maj Marcus Reno and his battalion. When Reno, Bloody Knife and the soldiers entered an area of timber in the Valley of the Little Big Horn, they began to form a skirmish line. Suddenly a group of warriors broke through the brush and fired a volley. Bloody Knife, seated on his horse just in front of Reno, was shot and killed instantly. Several witness accounts of the incident stated that it was Bloody Knife's death that caused Reno to call for a retreat to a line of bluffs (later called Reno's Bluffs), back across the Little Big Horn. The retreat became a panicked rush for the river. After the battle, Bloody Knife was buried where he had died.
Native American US Army Scout & Guide. Original burial site. Blood Knife, Neesirapat, was born in Dakota Territory sometime between 1837 and 1840. His father was a Hunkpapa Lakota. His mother was an Arikara. Reportedly in 1850, Bloody Knife's mom, taking him with her, returned to the Akikara at Ft Clark. For the remainder of his life, Blood Knife held a deep animosity towards the Lakota over what he claimed had been mistreatment by them as a child. In 1868, Bloody Knife enlisted as a corporal in the "Indian" Scouts of the US Army as a corporal. He was one of the scouts assigned to the Yellowstone Expedition in 1873. It was during this expedition that he became one of LTC George Armstrong Custer's favorite scouts. In 1874, he was in charge of a 100 scouts on Custer's Black Hills Expedition. In the days leading up to the Battle Little Big Horn, Scout Fred Gerard recalled Bloody Knife had become apprehensive about the number of Lakota they had been following. Bloody Knife was heard to say; "We'll find enough Sioux to keep fighting two or three days." On the day of the Battle of the Little Big Horn, Bloody Knife accompanied Maj Marcus Reno and his battalion. When Reno, Bloody Knife and the soldiers entered an area of timber in the Valley of the Little Big Horn, they began to form a skirmish line. Suddenly a group of warriors broke through the brush and fired a volley. Bloody Knife, seated on his horse just in front of Reno, was shot and killed instantly. Several witness accounts of the incident stated that it was Bloody Knife's death that caused Reno to call for a retreat to a line of bluffs (later called Reno's Bluffs), back across the Little Big Horn. The retreat became a panicked rush for the river. After the battle, Bloody Knife was buried where he had died.
Bio by: Randy
Inscription
INTERPRETER GUIDE
NEESIRAPAT
BLOODY KNIFE
FELL HERE
JUNE 25, 1876
WHILE DEFENDING
THE ARIKARA WAY
OF LIFE
Gravesite Details
Originally buried where he had died in the Valley of the Little Big Horn
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