JULY 17: First Scalp for Custer!
‘The Scout,’ William F. "Buffalo Bill” Cody. (Credit: Library of Congress)
On July 17, 1876 near Warbonnet Creek in the northwest corner of Nebraska, William F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody kills and scalps a young Cheyenne warrior named Yellow Hair, personally avenging George Custer's death. It comes less than one month after the devastating Battle of the Little Bighorn.
Cody, a renowned showman with his Wild West performances, left the stages of the East in June 1876 to rejoin the U.S. Army as a scout for the 5th Cavalry Regiment for whom he was the chief scout in 1868, according to Chris Wimmer in his book, “The Summer of 1876.” On July 6, Cody broke the news of the death of Custer and much of the 7th Cavalry to a group of junior officers camped along Sage Creek in southern Wyoming.
The regiment was ordered to hurry north and join General George Crook’s Wyoming column in a retaliatory effort against hostiles responsible for Custer’s death. But the force took a detour toward northwest Nebraska after receiving a report that 1,000 Cheyenne warriors were about to leave the Red Cloud Agency and join Sioux Chief Sitting Bull to the north.
The 5th Cavalry moved to cut off the Cheyenne and force them back to the agency. At dawn on July 17, the cavalry made it to Hat Creek in present-day Oglala National Grassland. They set up an outpost to cover the Cheyenne’s arrival. Cody, who had been out reconnoitering, said he saw 800 to 1,000 Cheyenne camped behind nearby hills and were about to move.
Col. Wesley Merritt. (Credit: Library of Congress)
At 5 a.m. the Cheyenne rode into view and spotted a wagon train of supplies that supported the cavalry. As two couriers, intending to deliver messages to Col. Wesley Merritt, were approaching the area, several warriors set out after them. Cody received an order from Merritt to stop the Cheyenne. The two groups clashed with Cody out in front of the troopers and Yellow Hair leading the Cheyenne.
“Both men raised their guns and fired as they charged,” Wimmer writes. “The shots rang out at nearly the same time. But only Cody’s bullet did damage. The shot passed through Yellow Hair’s leg and slammed into his horse. The pony crashed to the ground and took Yellow Hair with him. A moment later Cody’s horse stepped into a prairie dog hole and stumbled. Cody jumped off his horse and dropped into a kneeling position and fired again. Yellow Hair fired his second shot a split second before Cody, but again it went wild (sic). Cody’s second shot found its mark. This time with deadly precision. It hit Yellow Hair in the head and killed him instantly.”
Cody then scalped Yellow Hair, a rare occurrence for a soldier in the U.S. Army. It became part of the legend of Buffalo Bill, since it was the only time in 14 engagements with an Indian that he scalped a man.
Later, when Cody returned to performing, he re-created his showdown with Yellow Hair and at the conclusion of the bloody incident, the showman exclaimed, “The first scalp for Custer!”
