English longbow
The Indians had few guns and little ammunition; only six of the 81 soldiers who were later killed in the Fetterman Fight had gunshot wounds, and two of those may have shot themselves accidentally. Their basic weapon was the bow and arrow. The short (usually less than four feet long) and stout Indian bow was designed for short-distance hunting from horseback. Although deadly at short range, it probably had less than one-half the range of the English longbow, which was effective to 200 yards (180 m). Indian warriors lacked the capability to do significant damage to their opponents at ranges of more than 100 yards (90 m). By contrast, the soldier's Springfield Model 1861 muskets had an effective range of 300 yards or more. The Springfield musket, however, had a much lower rate of fire than the bow, offsetting to an extent its range advantage.