Zodiac's Bleeding Knife

As you know since my last post I have been looking into the area of Paradise in California. I have been astounded at the history that lies in the surrounding landscape and have been learning so much whilst looking at the old maps of Paradise, reading about the American West, the Civil Wars and Expeditions of the early settlers.

It occurred to me that Zodiac must have had a love of history to be looking at old railway maps and after finding out about Yellowstone Kelly and his expedition I felt Zodiac's communications with Law Enforcement and the Newspapers possibly had subliminal messages throughout, I just had to find them. So I took another look at some of the Letters again and came to Zodiac's Bleeding Knife, contemplating what he was trying to relate.

The Bleeding Knife Letter is another that has been looked upon as a Fake by Law Enforcement but I prefer to look upon the Letter with an open mind as Handwriting analysis can be tricky, especially given the nature of Zodiac and if he was ambidextrous his handwriting could get really messy if the opposite hand hasn't been used in a while. We all have a preference, I am left handed but can write with my right hand, the more I write with my right hand, the letters become stronger but if I've not used that hand for a while it can look childlike which is what I think Zodiac aimed for, possibly making it more difficult for Law Enforcement to pin him down. Therefore I leave it up to the reader to determine their own thoughts on if the Bleeding Knife has any bearing at all on the case.

I had many pages up on my laptop and was scanning documents when I saw it and I stopped in my tracks. Thanks to Yellowstone Kelly I discovered another interesting part of history that may just relate to Zodiac's Bleeding Knife.

What I realized was that Zodiac possibly used a bit of psychology when constructing his letters, it was clever, very clever, let's take a look at Zodiac's Bleeding Knife sent on 16th December 1969.

Now if I take away "The Bleeding Knife of Zodiac" away, what do you see?

We aren't looking at a Bleeding Knife now, without Zodiac's misdirection we are looking at a Bloody Knife. What is that meant to mean I hear you ask well I think it refers to this man.

Bloody Knife was a Native American Indian c1840 to 1876 born in the Dakota region and one of the most famous Indian Scouts to serve the US Army. Bloody Knife was a favourite scout of Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer.

Born to a Hunkpapa Sioux father and an Arikari mother Bloody knife was treated badly and an outcast in his village due to his background. Bloody Knife left his village as a teenager with his mother, finding employment as a Courier and Hunter for the American Fur Company at the trading post Fort Clark.

He had lost his brothers in war and due to his mistreatment he hated the Sioux, especially a Sioux called Gall the adopted brother of Sitting Bull. Sitting Bull had also mistreated Bloody Knife but it would be Gall he would have a longstanding feud. Conflicts between the Sioux and Arikaris were routine and Bloody Knife took on the job of Courier and succeeded, delivering mail to other Forts in Missouri and to Fort Totten in North Dakota.

After working with the American Fur Company Bloody Knife went to work with Brigadier General Alfred Sully in 1865 as a scout on his Sioux Expedition. In late 1865 he met Captain Adams Bassett of Company C, Fourth U.S. Volunteer Infantry and it was here Bloody Knife would see Gall again. Gall had not been peaceful and had killed several white men along the Missouri river so Captain Bassett sent Bloody Knife with a Lieutenant and platoon to go and capture Gall, kill him if he resisted. Gall did resist and was speared twice with Bayonets when Bloody Knife went to take a shot at Gall's head, the Lieutenant knocked Bloody Knife's aim saying he was already dead which enraged Bloody Knife. Leaving Gall alive where he would become the next War Chief of the Sioux.

In 1866 President Andrew Johnstone formed a force of Indian Scouts with Bloody Knife enlisting as a Corporal at Fort Stevenson in 1868. Bloody Knife had an issue with drink and would often go awol but by 1872 he eventually joined the Yellowstone Expedition becoming a Lace Corporal.

In 1873 Bloody Knife met George Armstrong Custer at Fort Rice, the two became good friends and Custer admired his talents as a scout. Bloody Knife quickly became Custer's favorite scout and on the next Yellowstone Expedition, Bloody Knife joined Custer and fought against the Sioux helping to discover an abandoned Sioux village which he estimated to have held around 1,000 warriors. The group followed the trail, which led them to a battle at Yellowstone.

In 1874, Bloody Knife took part in the Black Hills Expedition, which included over a thousand men, geologists, infantry, cavalry, two miners, several reporters, and sixty-five Arikari scouts. Shortly before the beginning of the expedition, the Sioux attacked the Arikara village at Fort Berthold, killing five Arikaras and one Mandan. One of Bloody Knife's sons was killed in the attack blaming the death of his son on Gall.

During the Black Hills Expedition, several wagons became stuck at a bank and when Custer asked whose fault the delay was another scout Charley Reynolds blamed Bloody Knife for the incident. Custer drew his revolver and fired shots in the two scouts' direction. Bloody Knife and Reynolds hid behind some trees. Bloody Knife then told Custer, "It is not a good thing you have done to me; if I had been possessed of madness too, you would not see another day." Custer replied, "My brother, it was the madness of the moment that made me do this, but it is now gone. Let us shake hands and be friends again." Bloody Knife agreed and shook Custer's hand.

In 1876 during the Little Bighorn campaign, Bloody Knife repeatedly tried to warn Custer there were too many Indians to fight. In spite of the overwhelming odds, he refused to stay out of the battle. During the battle, Custer directed Bloody Knife and the other Arikara and Crow scouts to drive off the herds of Indian ponies in the Sioux camp. As Reno's soldiers and scouts approached the camp, the Indians spotted them and quickly mobilizing their warriors to attack. Reportedly, Bloody Knife was standing next to Major Marcus Reno, who had motioned Bloody Knife to approach him to ask Bloody Knife what the Indians would do when his command began to retreat from their village. Bloody Knife was shot in the head and killed while mounted on his horse before making a reply, Reno, his face smeared with the gore from Bloody Knife's wound panicked and ordered a withdrawal. Reno and his men ran into woodland near the river, the Braves in aggressive pursuit and due to Reno's poor response it cost many of his troops their lives. The US Army suffered a huge defeat.

Bloody Knife was decapitated by the Sioux. According to Bloody Knife's sister, her daughters had found his body on the battlefield and unaware that it was the body of their uncle, cut off his head and took it to the Hunkpapa village where it was displayed on a pole. In the aftermath of the battle, Colonel John Gibbon's troops found and identified by its gray color pattern the scalp of Bloody Knife, these remains were buried on the battlefield on June 27, 1876. He was later buried in the scout cemetery near White Shield, North Dakota.

Bloody Knife's life is remembered in a song composed by the Arikara scouts after his death at the Battle of Little Big Horn. His story spread far becoming one of the more famous scouts associated with the army

So what if anything does this story tell us about Zodiac? What was he trying to convey, we can only guess but I think Zodiac possibly seen himself as a great hunter/scout or did he feel like an outcast. He had sent plenty letters, postcards over the years which is possibly in relation to the Courier that Bloody Knife was, he showed no fear, did Zodiac see himself going down in history as Bloody Knife did?

Zodiac's Bleeding Knife has turned into quite the story, as Bloody Knife is it possible Zodiac gave something away? Has Zodiac revealed more of himself in other letters? that has yet to be seen but I do think Zodiac was playing a game of Chess with Law Enforcement and the public at large. I plan to look through all Zodiac's communications he sent over the years in the hope that something more can be revealed. Zodiac appeared to want to be stopped in his letter to Melvin Belli pleading for help, did Zodiac let something slip at all, thinking he was too clever for us, lets hope so.