Send us Fan Mail.

Rain-in-the-Face became one of the most famous Lakota warriors associated with the Battle of the Little Bighorn—but much of what Americans thought they knew about him came from a story that may never have happened.

Years before the battle, Rain-in-the-Face was arrested by Tom Custer and imprisoned at Fort Abraham Lincoln. After his escape, stories spread that he had sworn revenge. When Tom Custer was later killed at the Little Bighorn, legend transformed Rain-in-the-Face into the warrior who hunted him down and cut out his heart.

In Episode 3 of History Was Human, Brian R. Smith follows the man behind that legend: his early life as a Hunkpapa Lakota warrior, his arrest and escape, his experience at the Little Bighorn, and the conflicting accounts he gave later in life about what actually happened.

Brian later wrote the historical novel Rain-in-the-Face because the distance between the legendary avenger and the complicated human being behind the story proved far more fascinating than the legend itself.

Support the show

• Original podcast music composed and performed by Ken Burns.
• Hosted by author Brian R. Smith.
• Learn more: authorbrianrsmith.com
• https://www.facebook.com/AuthorBrianRSmith

Send us Fan Mail.

Bloody Knife is often remembered simply as "Custer's favorite scout." His real life was far more complicated.

Born to a Hunkpapa Lakota father and an Arikara mother, Bloody Knife grew up between two peoples with a long history of conflict. He became an accomplished Army scout, developed a close working relationship with George Armstrong Custer, and ultimately rode into the Battle of the Little Bighorn—where an old enemy from his past, Gall, was fighting on the opposite side.

In Episode 2 of History Was Human, Brian R. Smith follows Bloody Knife's life beyond the famous photograph and the Custer legend: his divided childhood, his reasons for becoming a scout, his experiences on the northern plains, and the complicated personal history that led him to the Little Bighorn.

Bloody Knife's story fascinated Brian enough that he later wrote the historical novel Bloody Knife, because the man himself proved far more interesting than the supporting role history usually gave him.

Support the show

• Original podcast music composed and performed by Ken Burns.
• Hosted by author Brian R. Smith.
• Learn more: authorbrianrsmith.com
• https://www.facebook.com/AuthorBrianRSmith