The Battle of Slim Buttes was the turning point in the Sioux Wars. After Custer’s defeat, General George Crook left Fort Fetterman in Wyoming Territory with a large force of soldiers – to locate and subjugate the Northern Cheyenne and the Teton Sioux. As supplies ran low, Crook sent Captain Anson Mills and his detachment to get provisions from Deadwood in Dakota Territory. On the way to Deadwood, Mills encountered a large [Native American] village of 37 lodges at Slim Buttes (in present day Harding County, South Dakota). In the early hours of September 9, 1876, Mills began his approach on the village. However, stampeding ponies alerted the camp and forced a pre-dawn attack. The soldiers dashed through the village and fired into the lodges. The Native Americans had to cut slits in the sides of their tipis to escape.
After hiding the women, children, elders, and wounded in a nearby ravine, the warriors returned to defend their village. Sporadic fighting continued for a day and a half at various locations. General Crook arrived with his main force of 2,000 soldiers and secured the area. Crazy Horse and warriors from his village arrived too late to help the embattled village and retired from the battlefield. A large number of Natives were killed and wounded; among them was American Horse, who died from wounds he received during the fighting.
The soldiers found about 5,500 pounds of dried meat and a large quantity of dried fruit, robes, and clothing in the village. After taking the supplies they wanted, the soldiers destroyed the lodges and discarded materials and left the area. Figures in the Museum’s Battle of Slim Buttes diorama were made by Oscar Howe (the Native American figures and Indian ponies) and Helen and Phil Redden (the soldiers, their horses, and the background). The Diorama is a representation of the moment the warriors returned to defend their village after they had taken the women, children, elders and wounded to the relative safety of a nearby ravine.
This information was written by Dr. Robert L. Freese.