Indian Wars
118-753: George Bent, also named Ho—my-ike in Cheyenne (c. 1843 – May 19, 1918), was a Cheyenne - Anglo (in Cheyenne: Tsėhésevé'ho'e - ″Cheyenne-whiteman″) who became a Confederate soldier during the American Civil War and waged war against Americans as a Cheyenne warrior afterward (particularly due to the Sand Creek Massacre perpretrated by the US Army, which he survived). He was the mixed-race son of Owl Woman , daughter of White Thunder (and Tall Woman),
236-649: A Cheyenne chief and keeper of the Medicine Arrows, and the American William Bent , founder of the trading post named Bent's Fort and a trading partnership with his brothers and Ceran St. Vrain . Bent was born near present-day La Junta, Colorado , and was reared among both his mother's people, his father and other European Americans at the fort, and other whites from the age of 10 while attending boarding school in St. Louis, Missouri . He identified as Cheyenne. After
354-484: A child named Smoke Woman and from her lineage came some of the recent and present Chiefs of the Southern Cheyenne. By 1901 Bent was at a low stage in his life. He had stopped drinking, but his influence with the Cheyenne was largely gone, as was his earlier prosperity. His meeting with the anthropologist George Bird Grinnell was beneficial for both. Grinnell realized that Bent, who spoke both Cheyenne and English,
472-462: A few Cheyenne, as their horses were fresh. This was the first battle that the Cheyenne fought against the US Army. Casualties were few on each side; J.E.B. Stuart , then a young lieutenant, was shot in the breast while attacking a Cheyenne warrior with a sabre. The troops continued on and two days later burned a hastily abandoned Cheyenne camp; they destroyed lodges and the winter supply of buffalo meat. Sumner continued to Bent's Fort . To punish
590-513: A marriage gift, Black Kettle gave George the fine bay horse that General William S. Harney had given Black Kettle during the negotiations preceding the Little Arkansas Treaty when Black Kettle's wife showed her nine wounds from the Sand Creek Massacre . His other wives were Kiowa Woman (d. 1913) and Standing Out (d. 1945). With them Bent had a total of six children: Mary, William, Daisy, Lucy, George Jr., and Charlie. Daisy gave birth to
708-807: A retaliatory attack with about 1000 warriors on Camp Rankin, a stage station and fort at Julesburg . The Indians made numerous raids along the South Platte, both east and west of Julesburg, and raided the fort again in early February. They captured much loot and killed many European Americans. Most of the Indians moved north into Nebraska on their way to the Black Hills and the Powder River. (See Battle of Julesburg , Battle of Mud Springs , Battle of Rush Creek , Powder River Expedition , Battle of Platte Bridge ) Black Kettle continued to desire peace and did not join in
826-411: A serious problem with alcohol during this period. He became prosperous by assisting European-American cattlemen to obtain grazing leases on Indian land. Because of his influence peddling, he lost the trust of some Cheyenne and was fired as a U.S. interpreter. But in 1890, he was the crucial go-between to persuade the Cheyenne and Arapaho to accept plans for allotment of land by individual households under
944-566: A unified tribe. The Cheyenne tribes today descend from two related tribes, the Tsétsėhéstȧhese / Tsitsistas (Cheyenne proper) and Só'taeo'o / Só'taétaneo'o (better known as Suhtai or Sutaio). The latter merged with the Tsétshéstȧhese in the mid-19th century. Their oral history relays that both tribal peoples are characterized, and represented by two cultural heroes or prophets who received divine articles from their god Ma'heo'o, whom
1062-469: A well-known and feared Cheyenne warrior, was killed in a skirmish with soldiers. In 1868, Bent was hired by the U.S. government as an interpreter, first at Fort Larned and later for the newly created Indian Agency headed by Brinton Darlington , the first US Indian Agent for the Cheyenne and Arapaho. In 1870, the Agency was located at El Reno, Oklahoma . Bent lived on the Cheyenne and Arapaho reservation near
1180-613: Is Sáhea'eo'o , a word that sounds similar to the Lakota word Šahíya . Another of the common etymologies for Cheyenne is "a bit like the [people of an] alien speech" (literally, "red-talker"). According to George Bird Grinnell , the Lakota had referred to themselves and fellow Siouan -language bands as "white talkers", and those of other language families, such as the Algonquian Cheyenne, as "red talkers" ( Šahíyena ). The etymology of
1298-558: Is 12,130, as of 2008 . In 2003, approximately 8,000 of these identified themselves as Cheyenne, although with continuing intermarriage it has become increasingly difficult to separate the tribes. The Cheyenne called themselves Tsétsêhéstâhese (more commonly as the Tsitsistas ; singular: Tsétsêhéstaestse ), which translates to "those who are like this". The Suhtai, also called the Só'taeo'o, Só'taétaneo'o, Sutaio (singular: Só'taétane) traveled with
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#17330850606701416-550: Is kept in the vonȧhéome (old term) or hóhkėha'éome (new term) ("Sacred Hat Lodge, Sacred Hat Tepee"). Erect Horns gave them the accompanying ceremonies and the Sun Dance . His vision convinced the tribe to abandon their earlier sedentary agricultural traditions to adopt nomadic Plains horse culture . They replaced their earth lodges with portable tipis and switched their diet from fish and agricultural produce, to mainly bison and wild fruits and vegetables. Their lands ranged from
1534-419: Is the Cheyenne prophet who predicted the coming of the horse, the cow, the white man, and other new things to the Cheyenne. He was named for motsé'eonȯtse ( sweetgrass ), one of the sacred plant medicines used by many Plains peoples in ceremonies. The Maahótse (Sacred Arrows) are symbols of male power. The Ésevone / Hóhkėha'e (Sacred Buffalo Hat) is the symbol of female power. The Sacred Buffalo Hat and
1652-530: Is the Contrary Warrior Society, most notable for riding backward into battle as a sign of bravery. All six societies and their various branches exist among the Southern and Northern Cheyenne nations in present times. Warriors used a combination of weapons from war clubs , tomahawks , and bows and arrows, and lances to firearms acquired through raiding and trade. The enemies of the Cheyenne included
1770-574: Is today northern Mexico and the Southwest United States. In 1539, Fray Marcos de Niza led an expedition north from Mexico City . He caught glimpse of a Zuni town in the distance, probably Hawikuh , and returned to Mexico City claiming it might have been one of the fabled Seven Cities of Gold . The disappearance of Estevanico in the region prompted future expeditions to be more heavily armed, and far more cautious. 1540-1542 with Marcos de Niza's tales in mind, Francisco Vázquez de Coronado began
1888-554: The Algonquian language family . Over the past 400 years, the Cheyenne have changed their lifestyles from Great Lakes woodlands to Northern Plains and by the mid-19th century, the US government forced them onto reservations. At the time of their first European contact in the 16th century, the Cheyenne lived in what is now Minnesota . They were close allies of the Arapaho and loosely aligned with
2006-514: The Apsáalooke (Óoetaneo'o – "crow (bird) people"), Shoshone (Sósone'eo'o), Blackfeet (Mo'ȯhtávėhahtátaneo'o, same literal meaning), Interior Salish and Kuntenai (Kȧhkoestséataneo'o – "flat-headed-people"), Nez Perce (Otaesétaneo'o – "pierced nose people"), Arikara , Gros Ventre (Hestóetaneo'o – "beggars for meat", "spongers" or Mȯhónooneo'o – lit. "scouting all over ones"), Assiniboine , and Plains Cree (Vóhkoohétaneo'o – "rabbit people") to
2124-666: The Arapaho , the Cheyenne pushed the Kiowa to the Southern Plains. In turn, they were pushed west by the more numerous Lakota . The Northern Cheyenne, known in Cheyenne either as Notameohmésėhese, meaning "Northern Eaters" (or simply as Ohmésėhese meaning "Eaters"), live in southeastern Montana on the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation . Tribal enrollment figures, as of late 2014, indicate that there are approximately 10,840 members, of which about 4,939 reside on
2242-678: The Battle of Wilson's Creek near Springfield, Missouri , on August 10, 1861; and at the First Battle of Lexington near Lexington, Missouri , on September 20, 1861; both were Confederate victories. As a member of the 1st Missouri Cavalry Regiment , he fought at the Battle of Pea Ridge in Arkansas , March 6–8, 1862, which was a Union victory. When the Missouri cavalry was converted to infantry, Bent became attached to Landis' Battery, Missouri Light Artillery ,
2360-594: The Colorado Gold Rush , European-American settlers moved into lands reserved for the Cheyenne and other Plains Indians. Travel greatly increased along the Emigrant Trail along the South Platte River and some emigrants stopped before going on to California. For several years there was peace between settlers and Indians. The only conflicts were related to the endemic warfare between the Cheyenne and Arapaho of
2478-512: The Colorado War . General warfare broke out and Indians made many raids on the trail along the South Platte, which Denver depended on for supplies. The Army closed the road from August 15 until September 24, 1864. On November 29, 1864, the Colorado Militia attacked a Cheyenne and Arapaho encampment under Chief Black Kettle , although it flew a flag of truce and indicated its allegiance to
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#17330850606702596-621: The Compromise of 1850 Texas accepted $ 10 million in exchange for its claim to areas within and north of the present boundaries of New Mexico and the Texas panhandle. Presidents Zachary Taylor and Abraham Lincoln both proposed that New Mexico immediately become a state to sidestep political conflict over slavery in the territories. The already established rule of law which had passed from New Spain and Mexico within New Mexico already outlawed slavery, as
2714-459: The Dawes Act . Presented as a way for Indians to assimilate by adopting Euro-American farming styles, the allotment plan caused the loss of considerable tribal land. The former communal tribal land was allocated to households of members, and any remaining land was declared "surplus" by the government, making it available for sale to non-Indian parties. Many Cheyenne and Arapaho held Bent responsible for
2832-666: The Indian Wars , Bent worked for the United States government as an interpreter. Starting in 1870 with the US Indian agent to the Cheyenne and Arapaho , he lived on the reservation in present-day Oklahoma, where he stayed to the end of his life. Although a member of the Cheyenne because he was born to his mother's clan, in the tension of the postwar years Bent felt an outsider to both Cheyenne and whites because of his dual heritage. Some Cheyenne blamed him for losses to communal land suffered by
2950-632: The Lakota . By the early 18th century, they were forced west by other tribes across the Missouri River and into North and South Dakota , where they adopted the horse culture . Having settled the Black Hills of South Dakota and the Powder River Country of present-day Montana and Wyoming, they introduced the horse culture to Lakota people around 1730. The main group of Cheyenne, the Tsêhéstáno,
3068-725: The Mexica people's accounts of their ancestral origin in Aztlán to the north before their migration to Mexico centuries prior. The Nahuatl-language history of the Mexica people, the Crónica Mexicayotl , dated to 1609, makes this identification explicit, describing how the Mexica left "their home there in Old Mexico Aztlan Quinehuayan Chicomoztoc , which today they call New Mexico ( yancuic mexico )." Nuevo México
3186-626: The Mississippi River and Mille Lacs Lake . Their economy was based on the collection of wild rice and hunting, especially of bison , which lived in the prairies 70 to 80 miles west of the Cheyenne villages. According to tribal history, during the 17th century, the Cheyenne were driven by the Assiniboine (Hóheeheo'o) from the Great Lakes region to present-day Minnesota and North Dakota , where they established villages. The most prominent of
3304-627: The Republican River . The Indian agent at Fort Laramie negotiated with the Cheyenne to reduce hostilities, but the Secretary of War ordered the 1st Cavalry Regiment (1855) to carry out a punitive expedition under the command of Colonel Edwin V. Sumner . He went against the Cheyenne in the spring of 1857. Major John Sedgwick led part of the expedition up the Arkansas River , and via Fountain Creek to
3422-538: The South Platte River . Sumner's command went west along the North Platte to Fort Laramie, then down along the Front Range to the South Platte. The combined force of 400 troops went east through the plains searching for Cheyenne. Under the influence of the medicine man White Bull (also called Ice) and Grey Beard (also called Dark), the Cheyenne went into battle believing that strong spiritual medicine would prevent
3540-881: The Tsétsėhéstȧhese (also spelled Tsitsistas , [t͡sɪt͡shɪstʰɑs] ); the tribes merged in the early 19th century. Today, the Cheyenne people are split into two federally recognized nations : the Southern Cheyenne , who are enrolled in the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes in Oklahoma , and the Northern Cheyenne , who are enrolled in the Northern Cheyenne Tribe of the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation in Montana . The Cheyenne language belongs to
3658-417: The horse artillery of General Martin E. Green 's Missouri Brigade; this was part of General Sterling Price 's division. His artillery unit participated in the siege and retreat from Corinth, Mississippi , where it stayed behind to cover the retreat of 66,000 Confederates under the command of P.G.T. Beauregard . Later that summer, Bent either was captured or deserted. After his return to St. Louis, which
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3776-478: The 1600s, mostly Pueblo people. The missionaries commanded new converts to take part in Catholic services and rituals. They also destroyed Pueblo religious objects, banned ceremonies, and persecuted holy men. Despite the spread of Catholicism across the province, Pueblo men and women worshiped in secret and their traditional faith endured. Some pueblos were friendly to the foreigners, but after cultural differences and
3894-448: The 20-year-old Adaline Harvey in 1869, the educated mixed-race daughter of a fur trader friend from Kansas City . Their daughter (George's half sister) was born after William Bent's death later that year. When George was 10 years old, his father sent him to Kansas City, to an Episcopal boarding school for a European-American education. By the time the American Civil War began, Bent was a student at Webster College for Boys (unrelated to
4012-565: The Battle of Mud Springs, and the Battle of Rush Creek, near present-day Broadwater, Nebraska , the Battle of Platte Bridge Station /Red Buttes on July 26, 1865, near present-day Casper, Wyoming , and the three-day Battle of Bone Pile Creek in August, near present-day Wright, Wyoming. In the summer, the U.S. Army sent the Powder River Expedition, under Brigadier General Patrick E. Connor into
4130-589: The Bent Ranch at Big Timbers , where Bent recovered. The Cheyenne and Arapaho planned revenge for the Sand Creek Massacre. The Bent brothers and Charles' mother Yellow Woman joined the Dog Soldiers band. In January 1865, the young men rode with an Indian army of 1,000 warriors in a successful attack on Julesburg, Colorado , in which they killed many townspeople and soldiers. (See Battle of Julesburg ) Most of
4248-815: The Cheyenne and Arapaho territory on the Great Plains between the North Platte River and the Arkansas. This territory included what is now Colorado, east of the Front Range of the Rockies and north of the Arkansas River; Wyoming and Nebraska , south of the North Platte River; and extreme western Kansas . In April 1856, an incident at the Platte River Bridge (near present-day Casper, Wyoming ), resulted in
4366-512: The Cheyenne and identified with them. Bent had helped draft the letters sent by Cheyenne chief Black Kettle to Major Edward Wynkoop at Fort Lyon in Colorado to propose a return of settler hostages if discussions would take place about a peace treaty with Black Kettle's band. This led to four hostages (a young woman and three children) being returned, and to Black Kettle and other Cheyenne chiefs being escorted into Denver to start negotiations with
4484-416: The Cheyenne further west, and they, in turn, pushed the Kiowa to the south. By 1776, the Lakota had overwhelmed the Cheyenne and taken over much of their territory near the Black Hills . In 1804, Lewis and Clark visited a surviving Cheyenne village in what is now North Dakota. Such European explorers learned many different names for the Cheyenne and did not realize how the different sections were forming
4602-481: The Cheyenne homeland is Tsistano . The Cheyenne of Montana and Oklahoma speak the Cheyenne language , known as Tsėhésenėstsestȯtse (common spelling: Tsisinstsistots). Approximately 800 people speak Cheyenne in Oklahoma. There are only a handful of vocabulary differences between the two locations. The Cheyenne alphabet contains 14 letters. The Cheyenne language is one of the larger Algonquian-language group. Formerly,
4720-560: The Cheyenne went north to join Red Cloud on the Powder River in Wyoming. Before leaving the area, they burned many homesteads in the South Platte River valley. "At night the whole valley was lighted up with the flames of burning ranches and stage stations, but these places were soon destroyed and darkness fell on the valley." Throughout 1865, George Bent fought with Cheyennes, participating in
4838-713: The Cheyenne, he distributed their annuities to the Arapaho. He intended further punitive actions, but the Army ordered him to Utah because of an outbreak of trouble with the Mormons (this would be known as the Utah War ). The Cheyenne moved below the Arkansas into Kiowa and Comanche country. In the fall, the Northern Cheyenne returned to their country north of the Platte. Starting in 1859 with
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4956-455: The Cheyenne. Bent began collaborating with the deaf, nearly blind, and reclusive George E. Hyde . Eventually, at Bent's recommendation, Hyde became a ghost writer for Grinnell and probably wrote most of The Fighting Cheyennes , published in 1915. Grinnell mentioned Bent as a source in the book, but did not give him full credit for his assistance and contributions. Later, Grinnell wrote The Cheyenne Indians: Their History and Lifeways , in which he
5074-610: The Comanche, Kiowa, and Plains Apache ended in 1840 when the tribes allied with each other. The new alliance allowed the Cheyenne to enter the Llano Estacado in the Texas and Oklahoma panhandles and northeastern New Mexico to hunt bison and trade. Their expansion in the south and alliance with the Kiowa led to their first raid into Mexico in 1853. The raid ended in disaster with heavy resistance from Mexican lancers, resulting in all but three of
5192-510: The Comanche, Kiowa, and Plains Apache to fight invading settlers and US soldiers. The Arapaho were present with the Cheyenne at the Sand Creek Massacre when a peaceful encampment of mostly women, children, and the elderly were attacked and massacred by US soldiers. Both major divisions of the Cheyenne, the Northern Cheyenne and Southern Cheyenne were allies to the Arapaho who like the Cheyenne are split into northern and southern divisions. The Southern Cheyenne and Southern Arapaho were assigned to
5310-431: The Council Bluff in Nebraska, the commission had successful negotiations with the Otoe , the Pawnee and the Omaha . Increased traffic of emigrants along the related Oregon , Mormon and California trails, beginning in the early 1840s, heightened competition with Native Americans for scarce resources of water and game in arid areas. With resource depletion along the trails, the Cheyenne became increasingly divided into
5428-434: The Governor. Bent was at Black Kettle's camp of Cheyenne and Arapaho at Sand Creek about 35 miles (56 km) north of Lamar, Colorado , on November 29, 1864. The Indians in the camp had initiated peace negotiations with the U.S. Army, and believed they were under its protection, but Colonel John Chivington and his force of 700 Colorado volunteers attacked the village. They killed about 150 Indians. Bent's brother Charles
5546-503: The Kiowa, Comanche, Ute , Plains Apache , Osage , Wichita , various Apache tribes, and Navajo . Many of the enemies the Cheyenne fought were only encountered occasionally, such as on a long-distance raid or hunt. Some of their enemies, particularly the Eastern Plains tribe such as the Pawnee and Osage would act as Indian Scouts for the US Army, providing valuable tracking skills and information regarding Cheyenne habits and fighting strategies to US soldiers. Some of their enemies such as
5664-510: The Lakota would later in their history become their strong allies, helping the Cheyenne fight against the United States Army during Red Cloud's War and the Great Sioux War of 1876 . The Comanche, Kiowa and Plains Apache became allies of the Cheyenne towards the end of the Indian wars on the Southern Plains, fighting together during conflicts such as the Red River War . The Cheyenne and Arapaho formed an alliance around 1811 that helped them expand their territories and strengthen their presence on
5782-460: The Missouri River, the Cheyenne came into contact with the neighboring Mandan , Hidatsa (Tsé-heše'émâheónese, "people who have soil houses "), and Arikara people (Ónoneo'o), adopting many of their cultural characteristics. They were first of the later Plains tribes to move into the Black Hills and Powder River Country . About 1730, they introduced the horse to Lakota bands (Ho'óhomo'eo'o). Conflict with migrating Lakota and Ojibwe people forced
5900-439: The Missouri, they negotiated treaties of friendship and trade with tribes of the upper Missouri, including the Arikara , the Cheyenne, the Crow, the Mandan , the Ponca , and several bands of the Lakota and Dakota. At that time, the US had competition on the upper Missouri from British traders, who came south from Canada. The treaties acknowledged that the tribes lived within the United States, vowed perpetual friendship between
6018-403: The North Platte and Yellowstone rivers. The groups became the Southern Cheyenne, or Sówoníă (Southerners), and the Northern Cheyenne, or O'mǐ'sǐs (Eaters). The two divisions maintained regular and close contact. In the southern portion of their territory, the Cheyenne and Arapaho warred with the allied Comanche, Kiowa, and Plains Apache. Numerous battles were fought including a notable fight along
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#17330850606706136-403: The Northern Cheyenne and Southern Cheyenne, where they could have adequate territory for sustenance. During the California Gold Rush , emigrants brought in cholera . It spread in mining camps and waterways due to poor sanitation. The disease was generally a major cause of death for emigrants, about one-tenth of whom died during their journeys. Perhaps from traders, the cholera epidemic reached
6254-415: The Plains Indians in 1849, resulting in severe loss of life during the summer of that year. Historians estimate about 2,000 Cheyenne died, one-half to two-thirds of their population. There were significant losses among other tribes as well, which weakened their social structures. Perhaps because of severe loss of trade during the 1849 season, Bent's Fort was abandoned and burned. In 1846, Thomas Fitzpatrick
6372-509: The Plains, the government officials "assigned" territories to each tribe and had them pledge mutual peace. In addition, the government secured permission to build and maintain roads for European-American travelers and traders through Indian country on the Plains, such as the Emigrant Trail and the Santa Fe Trail , and to maintain forts to guard them. The tribes were compensated with annuities of cash and supplies for such encroachment on their territories. The Fort Laramie Treaty of 1851 affirmed
6490-547: The Powder River Country to punish the Sioux, Cheyenne, and Arapaho, with orders to kill all men and boys over the age of 12. On September 8, 1865, the Bents were camped with the Cheyenne at the confluence of the Big and Little Powder Rivers, near present-day Broadus, Montana , when soldiers were sighted only a few miles away. The soldiers were the Eastern and Central columns of the Powder River Expedition under Colonel Nelson D. Cole , and Brevet Brigadier General Samuel Walker respectively. The Cheyennes led by Roman Nose , attacked
6608-442: The Sacred Arrows together form the two great covenants of the Cheyenne Nation. Through these two bundles, Ma'heo'o assures continual life and blessings for the people. The Só'taeo'o prophet Tomȯsévėséhe ("Erect Horns") received the Ésevone (aka Is'siwun – " Sacred (Buffalo) Hat Bundle ") at Tȯhóonévose (″Stone Hammer Mountain″) near the Great Lakes in the present state of Minnesota. The Ésevone / Hóhkėha'e (Sacred Buffalo Hat)
6726-433: The Smoky Hill and Republican basins, between the Arkansas and the South Platte, where there were plentiful buffalo. Efforts to make a wider peace continued, but in the spring of 1864, John Evans , governor of Colorado Territory, and John Chivington , commander of the Colorado Volunteers, a citizens militia , began a series of attacks on Indians camping or hunting on the plains. They killed any Indian on sight and initiated
6844-409: The Spanish, who sought restoration of the conquered holdings. Diego de Vargas achieved the reoccupation of Santa Fe. The province came under the jurisdiction of the Real Audiencia de Guadalajara , with oversight by the Viceroy of New Spain at Mexico City. In 1777, with the creation of the Commandancy General of the Provincias Internas , the Nuevo México Province was removed from the oversight of
6962-469: The Só'taeo'o (Só'taétaneo'o) or Suhtai (Sutaio) bands of Southern and Northern Cheyenne spoke Só'taéka'ėškóne or Só'taenėstsestȯtse , a language so close to Tsėhésenėstsestȯtse (Cheyenne language), that it is sometimes termed a Cheyenne dialect. The earliest written record of the Cheyenne was in the mid-17th century, when a group of Cheyenne visited the French Fort Crevecoeur , near present-day Peoria, Illinois . The Cheyenne at this time lived between
7080-445: The Só'taeo'o called He'emo. The Tsétsėhéstȧhese / Tsitsistas prophet Motsé'eóeve (Sweet Medicine Standing, Sweet Root Standing, commonly called Sweet Medicine) received the Maahótse ( (Sacred) Arrows Bundle ) at Nóávóse (″medicine(sacred)-hill″, name for Bear Butte , northwest of Rapid City, South Dakota, which they carried when they waged tribal-level war and were kept in the maahéome (Arrow Lodge or Arrow Tepee). He organized
7198-450: The Tsétsêhéstâhese and merged with them after 1832. The Suhtai had slightly different speech and customs from the Tsétsêhéstâhese. The name "Cheyenne" derives from the Lakota Sioux exonym Šahíyena meaning "little Šahíya ". The identity of the Šahíya is not known, but many Great Plains tribes assume that it means Cree or another people who spoke an Algonquian language related to Cree and Cheyenne. The Cheyenne name for Ojibwe
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#17330850606707316-408: The US and the tribes, and, recognizing the right of the United States to regulate trade, the tribes promised to deal only with licensed traders. The tribes agreed to forswear private retaliation for injuries, and to return stolen horses or other goods or compensate the owner. The commission's efforts to contact the Blackfoot and the Assiniboine were unsuccessful. During their return to Fort Atkinson at
7434-423: The US government. The Sand Creek massacre , as it came to be known, resulted in the death of between 150 and 200 Cheyenne, mostly unarmed women and children. The survivors fled northeast and joined the camps of the Cheyenne on the Smoky Hill and Republican rivers. There warriors smoked the war pipe, passing it from camp to camp among the Sioux, Cheyenne and Arapaho. In January 1865, they planned and carried out
7552-450: The United States as a result of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848). Nuevo México is often incorrectly believed to have taken its name from the post-independent nation of Mexico. But as early as 1561 (260 years before Mexican independence ), Spanish colonial explorers used el Nuevo México to refer to Cíbola, cities of wealth reported to exist far to the north of the recently conquered Mexico . This name also evoked
7670-404: The Viceroy and placed solely in the jurisdiction of the new commandant general. This caused much unrest, due to the sudden lack of representation in Santa Fe for the region of Nuevo México. The province remained in Spanish control until Mexico's declaration of independence in 1821. Under the 1824 Constitution of Mexico , it became the federally administered Territory of New Mexico. The part of
7788-436: The Washita River in 1836 with the Kiowa which resulted in the death of 48 Cheyenne warriors of the Bowstring society. In summer 1838, many Cheyenne and Arapaho attacked a camp of Kiowa and Comanche along Wolf Creek in Oklahoma resulting in heavy losses from both sides. Among the losses were White Thunder (keeper of the Medicine Arrows and Owl Woman's father), Flat-War-Club (Cheyenne), and Sleeping Wolf (Kiowa). Conflict with
7906-426: The already established Wind River Indian Reservation in Wyoming with their former enemies the Shoshone . In the summer of 1825, the tribe was visited on the Upper Missouri River by a US treaty commission consisting of General Henry Atkinson and Indian agent Benjamin O'Fallon , accompanied by a military escort of 476 men. General Atkinson and his fellow commissioner left Fort Atkinson on May 16, 1825. Ascending
8024-455: The ancient Cheyenne villages is Biesterfeldt Village , in eastern North Dakota along the Sheyenne River . They first reached the Missouri River in 1676. A more recent analysis of early records posits that at least some of the Cheyenne remained in the Mille Lac region of Minnesota until about 1765, when the Ojibwe defeated the Dakota with firearms — pushing the Cheyenne, in turn, to the Minnesota River, where they were reported in 1766. On
8142-454: The anthropological fraternity, he could not find a publisher. Hyde and Bent's collaboration is the principal source for the Cheyenne side of the wars of the 1860s and subsequent events. Bent died on May 19, 1918, at Washita, Oklahoma in the 1918 flu pandemic . At the time, his dream of a well-written book about the history and culture of the Cheyenne was unrealized. In 1968, George E. Hyde's book Life of George Bent: Written from His Letters
8260-402: The band was hostile or friendly. Historians believe that Chief Black Kettle, head of the band, was not part of the war party but the peace party within the Cheyenne nation. But, he did not command absolute authority over members of his band and the European Americans did not understand this. When younger members of the band took part in raiding parties, European Americans blamed the entire band for
8378-431: The banishment of local religions, tensions against the Spanish rose significantly. After compounding misdeeds and overbearing taxes by the Spanish invaders, the indigenous communities rebelled in what is now referred to as the Pueblo Revolt of 1680. This rebellion saw the Spanish expelled from Nuevo México for a period of 12 years, and the pueblo people were able to regain lost lands. In 1692, they returned to battle against
8496-753: The capital was La Villa Real de la Santa Fe de San Francisco de Asís . The name of "New Mexico", the capital in Santa Fe , the gubernatorial office at the Palace of the Governors , vecino citizen-soldiers , and rule of law were retained as the New Mexico Territory and later state of New Mexico became part of the United States . The New Mexican citizenry , primarily consisting of Hispano , Pueblo , Navajo , Apache , and Comanche peoples, became citizens of
8614-479: The centers of pueblos. The encounter between different worlds--Native and Spanish--took place all across New Mexico, but especially at the missions. They were small communities, centers of Spanish religious and economic life, and a permanent intrusion into Pueblo ways and beliefs. Here the clash of faiths, customs, and people was immediate, personal, and sometimes bitter and violent. At missions across New Mexico, Franciscan priests baptized thousands of Native Americans in
8732-460: The crown. However, Lieutenant Governor Gaspar Castano de Sosa of Nuevo Leon launched an expedition on his own authority. He planned to start a colony in New Mexico and persuade the viceroy to accept it after the fact. Pursued through New Mexico, he was arrested and taken back to Mexico City. On July 12, 1598, Don Juan de Oñate Salazar established the New Spain colony of Santa Fe de Nuevo Méjico at
8850-598: The enforcement of laws within the nation. Each of the six distinct warrior societies of the Cheyenne took turns leadering the nation. The four original military societies of the Cheyenne were the Swift Fox Society, Elk Horn Scrapper or Crooked Lance Society, Shield Society, and the Bowstring Men Society. The fifth society is split between the Crazy Dog Society and the famous Dog Soldiers . The sixth society
8968-523: The first decade of the province's existence, its capital was in the foothills of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains at the ancient city of La Villa Real de la Santa Fe de San Francisco de Asís ( modern-day Santa Fe ). In 1536, the legendary explorers Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca and Estevanico , and two other men, survived an ill-fated expedition known as the Narváez expedition . For 8 years they wandered across what
9086-631: The former province east of the Rio Grande was claimed by the Republic of Texas , which won its independence in 1836. This claim was disputed by Mexico. In 1841, the Texans sent the Texan Santa Fe Expedition , ostensibly for trade but with hopes of occupying the claimed area, but the expedition was captured by New Mexican troops under New Mexico governor Manuel Armijo . The United States inherited
9204-513: The government's orders, some of its members had been linked to raiding into Kansas by bands operating out of the Indian Territory . Custer claimed 103 Cheyenne "warriors" and an unspecified number of women and children killed whereas different Cheyenne informants named between 11 and 18 men (mostly 10 Cheyenne, 2 Arapaho, 1 Mexican trader) and between 17 and 25 women and children killed in the village. There are conflicting claims as to whether
9322-422: The ill effects of the transition to allotments, including the loss of substantial amounts of tribal lands from the reservation. Allotment would have happened without Bent's assistance, but he was considered partially responsible. Bent was married three times. In the spring of 1866, he first married Magpie (Mo-he-by-vah; May 10, 1886), a niece (raised as a daughter) of Black Kettle of the Southern Cheyenne tribe. As
9440-564: The incidents and casualties. Santa Fe de Nuevo M%C3%A9xico Santa Fe de Nuevo México (English: Holy Faith of New Mexico ; shortened as Nuevo México or Nuevo Méjico , and translated as New Mexico in English) was a province of the Spanish Empire and New Spain , and later a territory of independent Mexico. The first capital was San Juan de los Caballeros (at San Gabriel de Yungue-Ouinge ) from 1598 until 1610, and from 1610 onward
9558-503: The keeper of the bundle demanded the keeper Broken Dish give up the bundle; he agreed but his wife did not and desecrated the Sacred Hat and its contents; a ceremonial pipe and a buffalo horn were lost. In 1908 a Cheyenne named Three Fingers gave the horn back to the Hat. The pipe came into possession of a Cheyenne named Burnt All Over who gave it to Hattie Goit of Poteau, Oklahoma who in 1911 gave
9676-643: The later Webster University ) near St. Louis. Bent served in the Missouri State Guard with the Confederate Army . The Missouri State Guard was commanded by outgoing Missouri Governor Sterling Price , who had avenged George's uncle Charles's killing as part of the Taos Revolt during the U.S. invasion and occupation of Nuevo México as part of the Mexican-American War . George saw fighting at
9794-689: The most ambitious expedition. Fears caused by rumors surrounding Estevanico's disappearance eventually led to tensions underlying the Tiguex War . In two years, the Coronado expedition journeyed from present-day Mexico throughout the Southwest United States and as far east as Kansas. In 1581-1582, Fray Augustin Rodriguez, two other friars, and a few soldiers and servants walked across much of present-day New Mexico seeking converts. In 1590-1591, an order had arrived from Spain requiring all expeditions to be authorized by
9912-487: The moving column to protect their village, in what would later be called the Battle of Dry Creek/Ford, or Roman Nose's Fight, possibly preventing another Sand Creek Massacre. Bent later wrote about this period, saying he believed that the "savages" in the conflict were the U.S. soldiers. Bent participated in 27 Cheyenne war parties, but never gave many details about his personal role in the Indian wars. George's brother Charles
10030-538: The name Tsitsistas (Tsétsėhéstȧhese), which the Cheyenne call themselves, is uncertain. According to the Cheyenne dictionary offered online by Chief Dull Knife College , there is no consensus and various origins and translation of the word have been proposed. Grinnell's record is typical and states, "They call themselves Tsistsistas [sic, Tsitsistas is the correct pronunciation], which the books commonly give as meaning "people". It most likely means related to one another, similarly bred, like us, our people, or us. The term for
10148-674: The new village of San Juan de los Caballeros adjacent to the Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo at the confluence of the Río Bravo (Rio Grande) and the Río Chama . The expedition had been authorized by Philip II to survey the region. Though the Spanish believed that cities of gold such as Tenochtitlan of the Aztecs , whom they had previously conquered, lay to the north in the unexplored territory, the major goal
10266-485: The north and west of Cheyenne territory. By the help of the Medicine Arrows (the Mahuts), the Cheyenne tribe massacred a Crow camp in 1820 . To the east of Cheyenne Territory they fought with the Lakota , Dakota , Pawnee , Ponca , Kaw , Iowa , Ho-Chunk , and Omaha (Onéhao'o). The Pawnee captured the Cheyenne's Sacred Arrows during an attack on a hunting camp around 1830. South of Cheyenne territory they fought with
10384-684: The pipe to the Oklahoma Historical Society. In 1997 the Oklahoma Historal Society negotiated with the Northern Cheyenne to return the pipe to the tribal keeper of the Sacred Medicine Hat Bundle James Black Wolf. After being pushed south and westward by the Lakota, the Cheyenne began to establish new territory. Around 1811, the Cheyenne formally allied with the Arapaho people (Hetanevo'eo'o), which would remain strong throughout their history and into
10502-570: The plains and the Utes of the mountains. US negotiations with Black Kettle and other Cheyenne favoring peace resulted in the Treaty of Fort Wise : it established a small reservation for the Cheyenne in southeastern Colorado in exchange for the territory agreed to in the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1851. Many Cheyenne did not sign the treaty, and they continued to live and hunt on their traditional grounds in
10620-524: The plains. Like the Cheyenne, the Arapaho language is an Algonquian language , although the two languages are not mutually intelligible. The Arapaho remained strong allies with the Cheyenne and helped them fight alongside the Lakota and Dakota during Red Cloud's War and the Great Sioux War of 1876, also known commonly as the Black Hills War. On the Southern Plains, the Arapaho and Cheyenne allied with
10738-480: The present. The alliance helped the Cheyenne expand their territory that stretched from southern Montana, through most of Wyoming, the eastern half of Colorado, far western Nebraska, and far western Kansas. By 1820, American traders and explorers reported contact with Cheyenne at present-day Denver, Colorado , and on the Arkansas River. The Cheyenne likely hunted and traded in Denver much earlier. They may have migrated to
10856-517: The reservation. Approximately 91% of the population are Native Americans (full or part race), with 72.8% identifying themselves as Cheyenne. Slightly more than one-quarter of the population five years or older spoke a language other than English. The Southern Cheyenne , known in Cheyenne as Heévâhetaneo'o meaning "Roped People", together with the Southern Arapaho, form the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes , in western Oklahoma. Their combined population
10974-470: The same reservation in Oklahoma Indian Territory and remained together as the federally recognized Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes after the reservation was opened to American settlement and into modern times. The Northern Arapaho were to be assigned a reservation of their own or share one with the Cheyenne; however, the US federal government failed to provide them with either and placed them on
11092-424: The second raid or in the plan to go north to the Powder River country. He left the large camp and returned with 80 lodges of his tribesmen to the Arkansas River, where he intended to seek peace with the US. Four years later, on November 27, 1868, George Armstrong Custer and his troops attacked Black Kettle's band at the Battle of Washita River . Although his band was camped on a defined reservation, complying with
11210-483: The soldiers' guns from firing. They were told that if they dipped their hands in a nearby spring, they had only to raise their hands to repel army bullets. Hands raised, the Cheyenne surrounded the advancing troops as they advanced near the Solomon River . Sumner ordered a cavalry charge and the troops charged with drawn sabers; the Cheyenne fled. With tired horses after long marches, the cavalry could not engage more than
11328-472: The south for winter. The Hairy Rope band is reputed to have been the first band to move south, capturing wild horses as far south as the Cimarron River Valley. In response to the construction of Bent's Fort by Charles Bent , a non-Native trader and ally, a large portion of the tribe moved further south and stayed around the area. The other part of the tribe continued to live along the headwaters of
11446-526: The specific coups required to become a war chief. Specific warrior societies evolved. Each society had selected leaders who would invite those that they saw worthy enough to their society lodge for initiation into the society. Often, societies would have minor rivalries; however, they might work together as a unit when warring with an enemy. Military societies played an important role in Cheyenne government. Society leaders were often in charge of organizing hunts and raids as well as ensuring proper discipline and
11564-460: The structure of Cheyenne society, their military or war societies led by prominent warriors, their system of legal justice, and the Council of Forty-four peace chiefs. The latter was formed from four véhoo'o (chiefs or leaders) of the ten principal manaho ( bands ) and an additional four ″Old Man″ meetings to deliberate at regular tribal gatherings, centered around the Sun Dance . Sweet Medicine
11682-581: The terms failed when the Viceroy changed hands in 1596. After a two-year delay and lengthy vetting by the new viceroy, Oñate was finally allowed to cross the Rio Grande River into modern-day Texas and New Mexico. Most of the Spanish missions in Nuevo México were established during the early 17th century with varying degrees of success and failure, oftentimes building directly atop ancient pueblo ruins, and in
11800-424: The town of Colony and worked as a U.S. government employee for most of the rest of his life. Because of his knowledge of both European-American and Cheyenne culture, Bent became a prominent and powerful person on the reservation. During the first several years, he tried to moderate hostilities between the two cultures. He learned that, as a half-breed or mixed-race man, he was an outsider to both. Bent developed
11918-622: The tribe when it was forced to accept allotment of lands to individual households under the Dawes Act . In the early twentieth century, Bent became an important source, or informant, for James Mooney and George Bird Grinnell , anthropologists studying and recording Cheyenne culture, as he was bilingual and knew the culture well. Anxious to get a book on the Cheyenne completed, Bent encouraged Grinnell to work with George E. Hyde , who probably wrote most of Grinnell's book The Fighting Cheyennes . Through Bent's letters to him, Hyde wrote his biography: Life of George Bent: Written from His Letters. It
12036-694: The unenforced claim to the east bank with the Texas Annexation in 1845. The U.S. Army under Stephen Kearny occupied the territory in 1846 during the Mexican–American War , a provisional government was established, and Mexico recognized its loss to the United States in 1848 with the Mexican Cession in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo . Texas continued to claim the eastern part, but never succeeded in establishing control except in El Paso . However, in
12154-457: The upper Missouri River into what is now Wyoming , Montana, Colorado, and South Dakota. The Ésevone / Hóhkėha'e ("Sacred Buffalo Hat") is kept among the Northern Cheyenne and Northern Só'taeo'o. The Tséá'enōvȧhtse (″Sacred (Buffalo) Hat Keeper″ or ″Keeper of the Sacred (Buffalo) Hat″) must belong to the Só'taeo'o (Northern or Southern alike). In the 1870s tribal leaders became disenchanted with
12272-467: The war party being killed. To the north, the Cheyenne allied with the Lakota, which allowed them to expand their territory into part of their former lands around the Black Hills. By heading into the Rocky Mountains, they managed to escape the 1837–39 smallpox epidemics that swept across the plains from white settlements but were greatly affected by the 1849 cholera epidemic. Contact with Euro-Americans
12390-515: The wounding of a Cheyenne warrior. He returned to the Cheyenne on the plains. During the summer of 1856, Indians attacked travelers along the Emigrant Trail near Fort Kearny. In retaliation, the US Cavalry attacked a Cheyenne camp on Grand Island in Nebraska . They killed ten Cheyenne warriors and wounded eight or more. Cheyenne parties attacked at least three emigrant settler parties before returning to
12508-665: Was Union-controlled, he was briefly confined in the Gratiot Street Prison , but was allowed to swear an oath of allegiance to the Union and be released. His guardian, Robert Campbell , a prominent St. Louis citizen assigned to him when George was in school, had eased his way. Bent returned to his father's ranch in Colorado Territory , but anti-Confederate sentiment was intense there. For safety, he went to live with his maternal Cheyenne relatives. From that time on, Bent lived among
12626-466: Was appointed US Indian agent for the upper Arkansas and Platte River . His efforts to negotiate with the Northern Cheyenne, the Arapaho and other tribes led to a great council at Fort Laramie in 1851. Treaties were negotiated by a commission consisting of Fitzpatrick and David Dawson Mitchell, US Superintendent of Indian Affairs , with the Indians of the northern plains . To reduce intertribal warfare on
12744-534: Was centered on the upper valley of the Rio Grande (Río Bravo del Norte) : from the crossing point of Oñate on the river south of Ciudad Juárez , it extended north to the Colorado River , encompassing an area that included most of the present-day American state of New Mexico and sections of Texas, Colorado, Kansas, and the Oklahoma panhandle. Actual Spanish settlements were centered at Santa Fe , and extended north to Taos pueblo and south to Albuquerque . Except for
12862-418: Was considered Cheyenne. She died about 1847, by which time his father had already taken her two younger sisters as secondary wives, in the Cheyenne traditional way of successful men. The youngest, Island, essentially reared Owl Woman's four children. Yellow Woman had a son by William Bent; Charles Bent, a half-brother to the others, was born in 1845. These two women had both left William Bent by 1867. He married
12980-547: Was described and pictured in the March 1868 edition of Harper's Magazine . Many Dog Soldiers, including George's brother Charles, were killed in 1869, at the Battle of Summit Springs in Colorado. Bent began his return to a peaceful world as an interpreter at the Medicine Lodge Treaty Council of October 1867. Bent impressed the U.S. soldiers and officials with his negotiating skills. Soon after, his brother Charles,
13098-423: Was literate, and could write passable English, would be invaluable for his research into Cheyenne culture. (Bent had been an informant of James Mooney earlier, but he had little respect for Mooney.) Bent told Grinnell what he knew and arranged interviews with other Cheyenne for what he did not know. He wanted the story of the Cheyenne told in a book. In Bent's opinion, Grinnell was too slow to finish his book about
13216-470: Was more generous in crediting Bent. Cheyenne culture is unusually well described in Grinnell's books, thanks largely to Bent's insights and Hyde's writing. Although the two never met, Hyde and Bent became close collaborators. Bent wrote 340 letters to Hyde between 1904 and 1918. From these letters, Hyde distilled a book, Life of George Bent: Written from His Letters . Hyde finished the book but, still unknown in
13334-553: Was mostly light, with most contact involving mountain men, traders, explorers, treaty makers, and painters. Like many other Plains Indian nations, the Cheyenne were a horse and warrior people who developed as skilled and powerful mounted warriors. A warrior in Cheyenne society is not a fighter but also a protector, provider, and leader. Warriors gained rank in Cheyenne society by performing and accumulating various acts of bravery in battle known as counting coups . The title of war chief could be earned by any warrior who performs enough of
13452-530: Was nearly killed by the soldiers, but was rescued by friends. Jack Smith, another young mixed-race Cheyenne man, was killed in the soldiers' attack. Bent was among the Indians who fled upstream and found shelter in sandpits dug in the creek bed beneath a high bank. Wounded in the hip, he was with about 100 survivors who crossed the plains to the Indian camps on the Smoky Hill River . He was found there by his friend Edmund Guerrier , who accompanied him back to
13570-523: Was not published until 1968. Bent was born at Bent's Fort, owned and operated by his father William Bent , a major fur trader from St. Louis, Missouri. His mother was Owl Woman, daughter of White Thunder (and Tall Woman), a Cheyenne chief and keeper of the Medicine Arrows, and he was born into her clan under the matrilineal kinship system. Bent and his three siblings grew up speaking both Cheyenne and English at home. He learned much about Cheyenne culture from his mother and her family, and in their culture
13688-679: Was once composed of ten bands that spread across the Great Plains from southern Colorado to the Black Hills in South Dakota. They fought their historic enemies, the Crow and later (1856–79) the United States Army . In the mid-19th century, the bands began to split, with some bands choosing to remain near the Black Hills, while others chose to remain near the Platte Rivers of central Colorado. With
13806-621: Was published, and in 2005, David F. Halaas and Andrew E. Masich published Halfbreed: The Remarkable True Story of George Bent-- Caught Between the Worlds of the Indian and the White Man . Cheyenne people The Cheyenne ( / ʃ aɪ ˈ æ n / shy- AN ) are an Indigenous people of the Great Plains . The Cheyenne comprise two Native American tribes, the Só'taeo'o or Só'taétaneo'o (more commonly spelled as Suhtai or Sutaio ) and
13924-554: Was to spread Catholicism . Other expeditions had taken place before Oñate's 1598 expedition. He was unable to find any riches, however. As governor, he mingled with the Pueblo people and was responsible for the establishment of Spanish rule in the area. Oñate served as the first governor of the Nuevo México Province from 1598 to 1610. He hoped to make it a separate viceroyalty from New Spain in an original agreement made in 1595, but
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