Gall eventually did lead a party of warriors across the Greasy Grass, but only after Crazy Horse and Crow King had preceded him. Following his crossing at Medicine Tail Coulee, Gall led a resolute charge against the dismounted troopers of Captain Miles W. Keough on a slope north of Deep Coulee. His main contribution was to exhort his warriors to stampede the horses of Keough’s embattled troopers, thus making it almost impossible for them to retreat. Gall was also one of the warriors who cut down those desperate members of Captain George F. Yates’ Company E who were charging down a hill to reach the Greasy Grass. One historian claimed that four or five of Yates’ men ran right into the avenging Gall’s arms and were promptly killed. The ubiquitous Gall even dashed across Custer Hill on horseback; he participated in the attack where Custer and approximately 40 of his men were killed during their so-called Last Stand.

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Although Gall was probably not the bellwether at the Little Bighorn, as many historians have maintained, his observations have shaped today’s understanding of the battle. In 1886, at the Little Bighorn’s 10-year commemoration, Gall became the first major Indian participant to give his version of this bloody conflict. He related his experience to Captain Edward S. Godfrey, who had fought under Reno on that hot and dusty day. Although much of his rendition was convincing to Godfrey and other Army officers, many Lakota veterans at the Little Bighorn were dubious. For instance, some criticized Gall for focusing on his own deeds at the battle. This rebuke was unfair given the common Lakota practice of not commenting on the battle achievements of others.

Although at 44, Sitting Bull had a minimal role in the combat at the Little Bighorn, he did exhort many younger warriors to fight. Thus, he and Gall were important figures at the battle for different reasons. Sitting Bull’s famous vision just prior to the Battle of the Rosebud of soldiers and their horses falling upside down into the Indians’ camp had given the Lakotas great confidence at both the Rosebud and the Little Bighorn. Moreover, the two men continued to cooperate during the difficult months after defeating Custer. During the final phases of the Great Sioux War (1876-77), Gall fought alongside his mentor at such battles as Ash Creek and Red Water. Colonel Nelson A. Miles, however, continued his zealous pursuit, eventually forcing the Hunkpapas and their allies to cross the Canadian border. There on the buffalo-rich plains of Saskatchewan, many Lakota Sioux would live in exile for four years.

The early months spent by these nontreaty Indians in Grandmother’s Land, as they called this remote western province of Queen Victoria, were reasonably happy. The Canadian government was represented by Major James M. Walsh of the North-West Mounted Police (NWMP), a strict but fair-minded man. The main problem for the Sioux exiles was the attitude of the U.S. government; it pressured the Canadian authorities in Ottawa to expel these defiant nontreaty Indians or at least discourage them from staying. During the late 1870s, Sitting Bull and Gall remained friends and allies while camped for the most part near the NWMP post at Wood Mountain (just north of Montana Territory). Sitting Bull, however, tended to rely more on his nephew One Bull to help him accomplish his goal of remaining free and content. Curiously, Gall assumed a rather low profile in Canada during much of the time.

More serious problems for these exiles occurred when a decline in the number of buffalo in Canada began to match an earlier decline of bison south of the border. This development soon worsened relations between the Lakotas and such Canadian tribes as the Crees, Bloods and Blackfeet, who also depended on the buffalo for survival. Although the Canadian government was willing to give the Canadian tribes a reservation for their support, it was unwilling to make a similar offer to the Sioux. Because of the buffalo’s diminishing numbers, many Lakotas, including Gall and his band, would often cross the international boundary in search of game. These crossings antagonized the U.S. government; more important, they were telling indications that the nontreaty bands were hungry and approaching starvation.

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