Counting Coup on the Great Plains (c. 1870 AD)
Great Plains Indian tribes of the trans-Mississippi West used to be numerous, with those meeting encroaching white settlers and emigrants usually doing so on less than favorable terms. Beginning in the early 16th century, white colonists steadily pressed most tribes west until, during the mid-1800s, many groups found themselves on the far side of the Mississippi River. Tribes, such as the Sioux, Cheyenne, Lakota, and Arapaho generally resented such treatment, were willing to pick a fight, and resisted most attempts at being forced onto reservations by the U.S. Army and Bureau of Indian Affairs.
After the Civil War ended, American policy-makers turned their full attention to the interior of the country and launched a full-fledged war against the recalcitrant members of Plains Indian society. The frontier army generally excelled in stand-up fights against these tribes, but was occasionally dealt stunning defeats, such as Custer’s infamous “last stand” at the Battle of Little Bighorn (1876). With all the U.S. Army’s training, technology, and manpower, one is thus left wondering how pockets of renegade Indians presented such a great obstacle to westward expansion.
The Plains Indians wars dragged on, in part, due to several policy issues that exacerbated logistical and operational problems within the War Department and U.S. Army. On the opposite side of the coin, however, soldiers were facing a proud and savage enemy that excelled in irregular warfare and guerrilla tactics both on and off the battlefield. Native American warriors were great fighters because they were born into a society that exalted bold warriors who constantly engaged in intertribal warfare. While they lacked a professional standing army, Plains Indians organized themselves into devastating raiding parties on short notice.
Plains Indian tribes prepared their young men to fight from a very early age. Some Lakota tales, for example, recount little boys practicing horsemanship and archery during their fifth summer. Initiations into this warrior culture were manifold, but the most hazardous ritual was undoubtedly counting and collecting coup. Done in the pursuit of honor and glory, warriors would ride into battle and, instead of trying to kill their enemy, would simply attempt to touch them with a special coup stick. This practice continued even after the introduction of firearms, which made it a particularly risky rite of passage.