Overview of My Favorite Murder Episode 538: 726 Demerits
This episode opens with the hosts joking about chinstrap beards, a movie assignment to watch Witness (1985), and their ongoing love of giving each other “homework” to watch. The main story is a solo deep dive into Buffalo Calf Road Woman, a Northern Cheyenne warrior whose oral-history legacy challenges the whitewashed myth of Custer and reframes the Battle of Little Bighorn from a Native perspective. The episode is part history lesson, part corrective to U.S. mythology, and part reminder of how much Indigenous history has been erased or minimized.
Main Story: Buffalo Calf Road Woman and the Battle of Little Bighorn
Karen traces the broader historical context leading to the Plains Wars:
- The Cheyenne were a powerful Great Plains nation with strong military traditions, including women who fought when necessary.
- U.S. expansion under Manifest Destiny steadily violated treaties and pushed settlers and the army onto Native lands.
- Buffalo Calf Road Woman was born around 1844 into the Northern Cheyenne and grew up amid escalating violence and land theft.
Key historical events covered
- Treaty of Fort Laramie (1851): recognized Cheyenne and other tribes’ lands.
- Pikes Peak Gold Rush (1858): white miners flooded protected territory.
- Treaty of 1861: shrank Cheyenne land dramatically.
- Sand Creek Massacre (1864): U.S. forces attacked a peaceful camp, killing mostly women and children.
- Washita Massacre (1868): Custer attacked Black Kettle’s village, further cementing his reputation as a brutal “Indian fighter.”
- Black Hills seizure: after gold was discovered, the U.S. ignored treaty protections and eventually took the land from the Lakota.
Custer’s Real Reputation vs. His Myth
The episode spends time dismantling the heroic image of George Armstrong Custer:
- He graduated last in his West Point class and accumulated 726 demerits.
- He was reckless, vain, and highly self-mythologizing.
- He wrote glowing stories about himself to the press and cultivated a flashy public persona.
- His image as a fearless commander was built as much by propaganda as by battlefield behavior.
Buffalo Calf Road Woman’s Courage
The emotional centerpiece of the episode is the Cheyenne oral tradition about Buffalo Calf Road Woman:
- At the Battle of the Rosebud in June 1876, her brother, Comes in Sight, was knocked from his horse and trapped under fire.
- According to oral history, Buffalo Calf Road Woman charged into battle, rescued him, and got him to safety.
- Days later, at Little Bighorn, Cheyenne storytellers say she was again in the thick of the fight.
- Their oral history holds that she knocked Custer off his horse, helping lead to his death.
Important takeaway
The story was reportedly kept quiet for generations because elders feared the U.S. military would retaliate even more harshly if it learned a Cheyenne woman had played such a decisive role.
Aftermath and Legacy
The episode continues through the aftermath of the battle and Buffalo Calf Road Woman’s later life:
- In 1877, she and her family were forced onto a reservation in Oklahoma.
- In 1878, she joined the Northern Cheyenne Exodus, a desperate and dangerous attempt to return north to Montana.
- She died in 1879, likely of diphtheria, in her mid-30s.
- Unlike Custer, who has countless books, paintings, and monuments, Buffalo Calf Road Woman has no confirmed portrait and has been widely erased from mainstream historical memory.
Modern Erasure and Ongoing Resistance
Karen connects the story to present-day politics:
- She notes that in 2026, the Trump administration ordered reviews of monuments and signage that could be seen as critical of the U.S. government.
- At Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument, interpretive text about land theft and broken promises to Native people was reportedly altered or removed.
- Northern Cheyenne leaders pushed back, arguing that such changes harm healing and truth-telling.
Notable Quote
“A nation is not conquered until the hearts of its women are on the ground.”
The episode closes on the idea that Buffalo Calf Road Woman “stayed on her horse the whole time,” symbolizing enduring resistance and courage.
Charity Mention
The hosts encourage donations to the Native American Rights Fund (NARF), which works to protect Native rights through litigation and legal advocacy.
Side Notes and Show Banter
- The episode begins with joking about chinstrap beards and listener reactions to them.
- Karen assigns Georgia the film Witness (1985) as beard-themed homework.
- They also plug Exactly Right Media, Fan Cult, and other network shows.
Key Takeaways
- Buffalo Calf Road Woman is a historically significant Cheyenne warrior whose story was preserved through oral tradition, not mainstream U.S. history.
- The episode emphasizes that Native oral history is essential, especially where colonial records distort or omit the truth.
- Custer’s “hero” image is presented as largely built on self-promotion and mythmaking.
- The story is also about land theft, genocide, survival, and Indigenous resistance, then and now.