Little Big Man Little Big Man Little Big Man (Lakota: Wičháša Tȟáŋkala), or Charging Bear, was an Oglala Lakota, or Oglala Sioux, who was a fearless and respected warrior who fought under, and was rivals with, Crazy Horse ("His-Horse-Is-Crazy"). He opposed the 1868 Treaty of Fort Laramie and fought against efforts by the United States to take control of the ancestral Sioux lands in the Black Hills area of the Dakota Territory. He also fought at the Battle of Little Big Horn in the Montana Territory in 1876. Late in life he decided to cooperate with the White conquerors and may have been
Battle of the Little Bighorn Sitting Bull's ranks for the summer buffalo hunt. The agents did not take into account the many thousands of these "reservation Indians" who had unofficially left the reservation to join their "uncooperative non-reservation cousins led by Sitting Bull". Thus, Custer unknowingly faced thousands of Indians, including the 800 non-reservation "hostiles". All Army plans were based on the incorrect numbers. Although Custer was severely criticized after the battle for not having accepted reinforcements and for dividing his forces, it must be understood that he had accepted the same official government estimates of hostiles in the area which Terry and Gibbon had