[2] By the early 1870s, his band was the second largest among the Sihasapa and had settled on the Missouri River near the Standing Rock Agency in present northern South Dakota.

Concerned that rations were not sufficient to feed his people, Kill Eagle illegally departed Standing Rock in May 1876 with approximately 26 lodges, heading out on a buffalo hunt.

[3] Kill Eagle and his followers were treated as prisoners of war for nearly a year, with another prominent Sihasapa named Goose serving as band leader.

In the Sitting Bull Surrender Census, taken in September 1881, Kill Eagle is shown as leader of a small band of 25 families, totaling 123 people.

The census also noted that Kill Eagle had cultivated two acres for the past two years and had cut twelve tons of hay and produced 37 1/2 bushels of corn.