View source for Cheyenne murder trial

Three Cheyenne warriors stood trial in the murder of an Army soldiers. This was the first territorial court held east of Bozeman. 

Shortly before [[Little Wolf]] surrendered the surviving band that fled the reservation in Oklahoma, [[Black Coyote]], an unruly warrior in his band, killed [[Black Crane]] in a [[Black Coyote banishment|quarrel]] over his stealing Army livestock and was banished. A few of his relatives went with him, including his wife [[Buffalo Calf Road Woman]] famous for rescuing her brother in the [[Battle of the Rosebud]], his brother-in-law [[Whetstone]] and [[Hole in the Breast]] which, with children, made a total of 8. On [[5 Apr 1879]], in the vicinity of [[Mizpah Creek]], they discovered a sergeant and a private working on the [[Fort Keogh-Deadwood telegraph line]]. They severely wounded the sergeant, killed the private, and stole their horses. Five days later, they were captured by a small detail under the command of [[Sergeant Glover]], an ambitious non-com of the [[2nd Cavalry]]. As the case was adjudged to be a civil one, the three warriors were taken to the [[Custer County jail]] in [[Miles City]] (probably after being detained at the fort).

The trial lasted ten days: [[27 May 1879]] to [[5 Jun 1879]] and was held in a one-room cabin of hewn logs that served as the court house for the newly-formed Custer County.
[[Thompson P. McElrath]] was present as a reporter for The New York Times, in town for his health (two months later, he launched the Yellowstone Journal). McElrath reported on the 8th that while the Army was more respectful of the Indians plight, the civilians tended to subscribe to the maxim "that the only good Indian is a dead Indian". The accused sat through the proceedings stoically, although Hole in the Breast sometimes put his hands to his head in sadness. Translations of testimony against them were provided, but they declined to question any witness. They were found guilty and sentenced to death on the last day and were to be executed two days later on [[7 Jun 1879]]. Two of them were able to kill themselves in jail before the next morning, despite being handcuffed and their ankles chained to bull-ring in the floor. They tied a belt to the opening in the cell door and hung themselves. They had to take turns, the second one releasing his relative after death and then hanging himself. The third later used used a cord from his moccasins to choke himself. (One source says that Buffalo Calf Road had died of diphtheria in June and that Black Coyote killed himself in grief.)