Arikara scouts were enlisted men from the Arikara Nation serving in the U.S. Army at different frontier posts in present-day North Dakota from 1868 to 1881. The enlistment period was six months with re-enlistment possible. Each scout received a uniform, firearm and drew rations. Scout duties ranged from carrying mail between commands to tracking down traditional enemies perceived as hostile by the Army in far ranging military campaigns. Detailed to secure the horses in located enemy camps, the scouts were often the first to engage in battle. The Arikara took part when the Army protected survey crews in the Yellowstone area in the early 1870s. They participated in the Great Sioux War of 1876 and developed into Colonel George Armstrong Custer's "… most loyal and permanent scouts …".
Nearly 150 Arikara enlisted at different times from 1868 until the end of the Indian Wars in the area. They served "bravely and honorably". The experience of the scouts motivates some present-day Arikara people to carry on the tradition and enter military service.
History of service
There are abundant historical examples of Native Americans joining with whites to fight against other tribes. On the northern plains, 700 Yankton, Yanktonai and Lakota people were the first to aid the U.S. Army in an attack on two adjoining Arikara villages in South Dakota in 1823. In 1868, Osage scouts found Cheyenne chief Black Kettle's camp, leading to the Battle of Washita River.
To commanders of the frontier Army, the need for native scouts with special skills not easily found among ordinary soldiers was pressing. On August 1, 1866, the "Act to increase and fix the Military Peace Establishment of the United States" came into force, and the Army could now legally enlist a certain number of native scouts, but no more than 1,000 nationwide at any time, as long as needed.
Enlistment and the life at the garrisons
On May, 1868, the first Arikara enlisted at Fort Stevenson, to duplicate the success of the Pawnee scouts already enlisted in Nebraska. All recruits came from the tribal police force of chief White Shield. Initially armed with infantry rifles, they soon received Spencer repeating carbines in addition to other equipment. They were paid 40 cents a day for the use of their own horse.
Additional members later enlisted at Fort McKeen down river. Strikes Two, Pretty Crow, Elk Tongue and other Arikara made the tour in three days in bull boats. The Army provided clothing including under-clothes, a flannel shirt, footwear and a plumed hat. Some scouts lived with their immediate family at the scout quarters of the garrison. Arikara like Forked Horn and Black Fox served as cooks for the scout unit. They received pay in the amount of 16 dollars per month disbursed every second month and scouts received an addition 12 dollars per month if they rode their own horse.
Service history
At Fort McKeen
Scouts at Fort McKeen, near the confluence of Heart and Missouri Rivers, fought the Lakota in 1872. Although the latter had agreed "not to attack any persons" after the signing of the Fort Laramie treaty of 1868. On August 26, more than 100 Sioux attacked seven soldiers and two scouts outside the fort and the Arikara there were killed. The scouts were again involved in fights with the Lakota near the garrison on October 2, October 14 (with eight scouts taking part) and November 3, with the apparent primary target being the Arikara scouts themselves. Due to the heavy losses, some scouts left the service. However, Arikara second chief Son of the Star still encouraged the men to enlist.
Protecting surveying crews
Arikara scouts formed part of the forces assigned to protect crews surveying a route from Bismarck, North Dakota to Bozeman, Montana for the Northern Pacific Railway in 1873. The Dakota had attacked crew members and soldiers the year prior, despite treaty provisions stipulating that they would allow rail construction "not passing over their reservation".
Bloody Knife served as "scout and guide" to the leader of the 7th Cavalry Regiment, George A. Custer. Bloody Knife took part in the defense, when the Cavalry came under attack in U.S. territory north of the Yellowstone near the mouth of the Tongue on August 4. Again on August 11, the Army and the scouts were attacked by hundreds of Lakota, with the tribesmen shouting at one another through breaks in rifle fire.