My grandfather Oliver Eagleman is Hunkpapa. His mother is from Shoot the Bear and Good Furs. Who come from Gall, My grandfather who is still alive at 85 years recalls the stories of young warriors claiming to have killed Custer, Jokingly!

Goodfur is my grandfathers family and so is Shoot the Bear. Shoot the Bear is the original family name of Gall. Gall was my grandfathers, grandfather. He married my grandfathers parents.

The origin of Shoot the Bear and Good Fur comes from Gall and his family hunting bears. When they took the hides and tanned them, the furs were soft. So that is how Good Furs came along. My grandfather told me these origins. I recently visited Chief Galls grave site a couple of weeks ago. He is buried next to our Eagleman family. A powerful spiritual experience. Something I always knew all my life but, hadn't taken seriously, until my public lectures to educate audiences about our people. I hope I explained it so you know something more about this. When I speak to my Grandfather Eagleman, things can be a little unclear because of his Alzheimer's. But, he seems to remember 80 years ago like it was yesterday. But, yesterday is a lot more difficult for him to remember. Most of our history is handed down orally, and has been done that way for centuries. Documentation is hard to come by for Our Indigenous people. But there are some records that help immensely. — J.R. Redwater

According to Gall he killed soldiers with an axe, but yet confided to some whites that he actually got to the fight late, when it was almost over. Hundreds of books on the LBH has Gall 'leading hordes' of warriors against Custer but there dosen't seem to be any eyewitness accounts that say this happen and no Indian claimed to have being led by him. This seems to be a story that Gall put forth and the newspapers were happy to print. Many Indians didn't think much of him...he seemed to be his own creation. There also seemed to be a general dislike between himself and Sitting Bull, the roots of which are unknown. — Scout

For all of you who like to read more about Gall take a look at HistoryNet where you find an interesting article by Robert W. Larson: http://www.historynet.com/culture/native_american_history/3038876.html?page=1&c=y.

There are some comments regarding Gall´s role in the battle:

Gall's role at the Battle of the Little Bighorn would become a controversial one. (...) In the first stages of the battle, Gall was more of a victim than an active participant; two of his wives and three of his children were killed by the Army's Indian scouts during Reno's surprise attack. (...) In fact, Gall spent most of the early phases of the battle scouting Custer's five companies on the other side of the Greasy Grass, as the Lakotas called the Little Bighorn. His diligent search for the whereabouts of his family also continued. (...) 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. (...) 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.

Some Gall photos from SIRIS:

[The child in the right photograph is identified as Pat Clifford.]

— Dietmar Schulte-Möhring

"With Little Sioux there was Red Star, Strikes Two, and Boy Chief. As they stood there together looking across the river they saw at the foot of the ridge three women and two children coming across the flat running and hurrying along as best they could, on a slant towards the river. Little Sioux fired twice at them and so did red Star. then all four of the scouts rode through the timber toward the river to kill them. but just at this point, they saw across the river a large heard of about two hundred Dakota horses in the sage bush, so they stopped pursuing the women and children and started after the horse." — The Arikara Narrative, page151

They didn't admit the killing but they killed them. This confirms Gall's account for the place where the action had happened. — Shatonska

 

[The first two photographs above were submitted by Grahame Wood. The right photograph by Zalmon Gilbert of Mandan, North Dakota (from Beinecke Library, Yale University) was submitted by Dietmar as were the photographs in the top banner.]

Notice the man's arm at the right of this uncropped photo of Gall: I presume it's Captain Clifford who accompanied him to Barry's studio. — Grahame

Hunkpapa
Father-Iciskhan-Making Many Sister- Running Horses
Mother-Cajeotawin-Walks With Many Names
Gall's family relatived to Black Moon
Wife-Stand in Center, Martina Blue Earth,
Gall's daughters names was Red Hawk Woman, Brown Woman, Red Horses Woman English names=Nancy Shaved Elk, Sarah Shoots, and Jenny Gall.
Society
Strong Heart Society
Silent Eaters Society— Ladonna