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Rh Horn Mountains, in the buffalo country along the Powder, the Tongue, and the Rosebud. They were led by great war chiefs,—Crazy Horse, Black Moon, Gall, Inkpaduta, the brutal old Wakpekuta who had murdered the settlers at Spirit Lake,—and they were counseled and advised by Sitting Bull and other crafty medicine men. It was their purpose, when their plans had been perfected, to descend upon the Black Hills and drive out the miners. There is much dispute about the number of warriors gathered in these camps, but there certainly were not less than twenty-five hundred, and possibly there were thirty-five hundred.

The government sent word to these Indians to come in at once to their reservations and settle down as good Indians should, or they would be regarded as hostile and must suffer the consequences. A great campaign was planned against them. General Crook was to lead an army up from Fort Laramie, General Gibbon was to bring another column down from Fort Ellis, Montana, and General Terry was to lead a third division out from Fort Abraham Lincoln. The hostiles were to be caught between the three converging armies and crushed.

Crook was first to come in contact with the Indians. He met a large body of them, under Crazy Horse, on the Rosebud on the 17th of June, 1876, and a hard battle was fought. Crook suffered so seriously that he was compelled to return to his base of supplies, near old Fort Phil Kearney, and so his part of the campaign proved a failure.

Terry reached the Yellowstone at the mouth of the