Was Crazy Horse even there?
I just cannot see him not being in the battle at all. There just are not any primary eyewitness Indian sources to nail it down.

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What inspired the title Where a Hundred Soldiers Were Killed?
Non-Indian students of the Fetterman Fight have often wondered why Lakotas and Cheyennes have always called the battle "Where a Hundred Were Slain," "Where a Hundred Soldiers Were Killed" or, most frequently, "Hundred in the Hand" when Fetterman died along with only 80 men. I originally intended to title my book Hundred in the Hand, but Joseph Marshall III came out with a novel with that title shortly before my book went to print, so we decided to change the title. Indian variations on the name always have 100 in the title because of a Lakota prophet who shortly before the ambush had a vision that 100 soldiers would fall to his people in the ensuing battle. His vision was only 19 short—21 short if you don't count the two civilians who were killed in the fight.

Which Indian leader do you find most compelling?
Of all the Native American leaders I have studied, I find Little Wolf of the Northern Cheyennes to be the most intriguing. I don't believe he has been given the credit he deserves in secondary histories about the remarkable Cheyenne trek to Montana in 1878–79. This is probably due to some unfortunate events that took place in his life on the reservation in later years. (He shot and killed fellow Cheyenne Starving Elk while intoxicated.) But, unlike Chief Joseph in 1877, he brought his people home and helped see to it they could remain there forever. I am currently researching information for a biography on this unusual and remarkable Cheyenne chief.

Candy Moulton is a regular contributor to Wild West and author of the Spur Award–winning biography Chief Joseph: Guardian of the People.

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