Editing Battle of the Little Bighorn (section)

===Lakota and Cheyenne===
[[File:Henry Winchester Musket.JPG|thumb|Henry rifle and a Winchester Model 1866 rifle. These [[Repeating rifle|repeater]] rifles were capable of higher rates of fire than the [[Springfield rifle|Springfield]] [[Trapdoor mechanism|trapdoor.]]]]

The Lakota and Cheyenne warriors that opposed Custer's forces possessed a wide array of weaponry, from war clubs and lances to the most advanced firearms of the day.<ref>Gallear, 2001: "The Indians were well equipped with hand-to-hand weapons and these included lances, tomahawks, war clubs, knives and war shields were carried for defense. Such weapons were little different from the shock and hand-to-hand weapons, used by the cavalry of the European armies, such as the sabre and lance&nbsp;... [in addition] the Indians were clearly armed with a number of sophisticated firearms".<br />Hatch, 1997, p. 184: "Sioux and Cheyenne weapons included&nbsp;... clubs, bows and arrows, lances, and hatchets [as well as] an array of new and old [model] firearms: muzzleloaders, Spenser, Sharps, Henry and Winchester repeating rifles, and&nbsp;... Springfield carbines taken from Reno's dead cavalrymen."<br />Robinson, 1995, p. xxix: "Indians carried at least forty-one different kinds of firearms in the fight."</ref> The typical firearms carried by the Lakota and Cheyenne combatants were [[muzzleloader]]s, more often a [[Caplock mechanism|cap-lock]] smoothbore, the so-called Indian trade musket or Leman guns<ref>Flaherty, 1993, p. 208: "By 1873, Indians 'used the traditional bow and arrows and war club along with firearms such as the muzzle-loading Leman rifle, issued as part of treaty agreements, and rapid-fire Henry and Winchester rifles, obtained through civilian traders'."</ref><ref>Gallear, 2001: "Trade guns were made up until the 1880s by such gunsmiths as Henry Leman, J.P. Lower and J. Henry & Son."</ref> distributed to Indians by the US government at treaty conventions.<ref>Gallear, 2001: "These guns were crudely made for Indian trade and were given out as a sweetener for treaties."</ref> Less common were surplus rifled muskets of American Civil War vintage such as the [[Pattern 1853 Enfield]] and [[Springfield Model 1861]].<ref>Gallear, 2001: "Civil War type muzzleloader rifles would have had an effective range of about 500 yards, but with [[volley fire]] were effective to 1000 yards."</ref> Metal cartridge weapons were prized by native combatants, such as the [[Henry rifle|Henry]] and the [[Spencer repeating rifle|Spencer]] lever-action rifles, as well as [[Sharps rifle|Sharps]] breechloaders.<ref>Donovan, 2008, p. 188: "Though most of the men in the village carried the bow and arrow in battle&nbsp;... over the past decade [1866–1876] the sale and trade of arms to the Indians had increased significantly&nbsp;... The latest Winchester magazine rifles were available for the right price&nbsp;... Many men carried older guns—muzzleloaders, for which some molded their own bullets; Henry and Spencer repeaters; Springfield, Enfield [rifled muskets], Sharps breechloaders and many different pistols. All told, between one-third and one-half of the gathering warriors had a gun."</ref> The Lakota and Cheyenne warriors also used bows and arrows. Effective up to {{convert|30|yd|m|abbr=off|sp=us}}, the arrows could readily maim or disable an opponent.<ref>Gallear, 2001: "The bow's effective range was about 30 yards and was unlikely to kill a man instantly or even knock him off his horse. However, it would incapacitate and few troopers would fight on after an arrow hit them."</ref>

Sitting Bull's forces had no assured means to supply themselves with firearms and ammunition.<ref>Gallear, 2001: "There is also evidence that some Indians were short of ammunition and it is unclear how good a shot they were. They certainly did not have the ammunition to practice, except whilst hunting buffalo, and this would suggest that the Indians generally followed the same technique of holding their fire until they were at very close range".</ref> Nonetheless, they could usually procure these through post-traders, licensed or unlicensed, and from gunrunners who operated in the Dakota Territory: "a horse or a mule for a repeater ... buffalo hides for ammunition."<ref>Donovan, 2008, p. 188 (fragment of quote)<br />Utley, 1993, p. 39: "The Indians had grown to depend on the goods [white traders] supplied, especially firearms and ammunition ... they could be obtained only though white men, directly, of through Indian intermediaries."<br />Gallear, 2001: "Indian trade muskets ... could be legitimately obtained from traders at Indian agencies ... The Sioux [however] were keen to obtain metal cartridge weapons [available] from half-breed Indian traders out of Canada or unsupervised traders at Missouri River posts in Montana ... By 1876 almost all [Model 1860 Henry rifles] in civilian use would have disappeared so Indian use must have come from ex-Civil War stocks sold off cheaply and bought by Indian traders, such as the Métis."<br />Flaherty, 1993, p. 208: By 1873, Indians "used the traditional bow and arrows and war club along with firearms such as the muzzle-loading Leman rifle, issued as part of treaty agreements, and rapid-fire Henry and Winchester rifles, obtained through civilian traders."<br />Donovan, 2008, p. 188: "there were many ... ways a warrior could acquire a rifle. Post-traders on some reservations supplied illegal arms to non-treat[y] [Indians]; so did unlicensed traders—primarily the half-breed Canadian Métis gunrunners to the north in the desolate area known as Burning Ground below the Black Hills."<br />Robinson, 1995, p. xxix: "Studies of the cartridge cases recovered in archaeological investigations of the Little Big Horn show the Indians carried at least forty-one different kinds [models] if firearms in that fight, and it estimated that at least 25 to 30 percent [of Lakota and Cheyenne combatants] were armed with modern sixteen-shot Winchester and Henry repeating rifles ... they also armed themselves with captured Springfield carbines ... [and] carried traditional weapons... bows and arrows, hatchets ... and war clubs."</ref> Custer's highly regarded guide, "Lonesome" [[Charley Reynolds]], informed his superior in early 1876 that Sitting Bull's forces were amassing weapons, including numerous Winchester repeating rifles and abundant ammunition.<ref>Donovan, 2008, p. 118: Reynolds "best white scout in Dakota Territory ... had earned Custer's respect for his excellent work ... report[ed] to Custer that Lakotas under Sitting Bull were 'gathering in force'. They had been preparing for war by collecting Winchester repeating rifles and plenty ammunition."</ref>

Of the guns owned by Lakota and Cheyenne fighters at the Little Bighorn, approximately 200 were .44 caliber Winchester Model 1866 repeating rifles,<ref name="Hatch 1997, p. 184">Hatch, 1997, p. 184: "It has been estimated that perhaps 200 repeating rifles were possessed by the Indians, nearly one for each [man in Custer's battalion]."</ref> corresponding to about 1 of 10 of the encampment's 2,000 able-bodied fighters who participated in the battle.<ref>Sklenar, 2000, p. 163: "the village contained possibly 1,200 lodges, plus several hundred wikiups housing individual warriors. The total population of men, woman and children probably reached 6,000 to 7,000 at its peak, with 2,000 of these being able-bodied warriors".</ref>