The Black Man At Little Big Horn

Isaiah Dorman is known for his death—but his life was also noteworthy.

- Mark Boardman

Isaiah Dorman’s claim to fame? He was the only black man killed at the Little Big Horn battle. While not much is known about his early life, Dorman was quite the fascinating character.

Historians are unclear on when Dorman was born (1832 and 1820s are dates given) or where (born as a Pennsylvania freedman or a Louisiana slave who escaped north).

Dorman appears in the records in 1865, when the U.S. Army hired him as a courier between Forts Wadsworth and Rice in Dakota Territory, a tough and dangerous, 360-mile trek through the heart of Sioux country. Dorman traveled it by foot, for $100 a month. He apparently made friends with the Sioux, including Chief Sitting Bull, and eventually married a Hunkpapa woman.