Okla-homey
3/25/2008, 06:58 AM
March 25, 1879: Cheyenne Chief Little Wolf surrenders
http://aycu23.webshots.com/image/46822/2003828988995494528_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2003828988995494528)
Stereoview portrait of Cheyenne Chief Little Wolf, leader of the Cheyenne Outbreak, 1878-79. Photographed by Mitchell, McGowan & Company, Omaha, Nebraska, 1877.
129 years ago today, Little Wolf, often called "the greatest of the fighting Cheyenne," surrenders to his friend Lieutenant W. P. Clark.
Little Wolf was the chief of the Bowstring Soldiers, an elite Cheyenne military society. From early youth, Little Wolf had demonstrated rare bravery and a brilliant understanding of battle tactics. First in conflicts with other Indians like the Kiowa and then in disputes with the U.S. Army, Little Wolf led or assisted in dozens of important Cheyenne victories.
Historians believe Little Wolf was probably involved in the disastrous Fetterman Massacre of 1866, in which the Cheyenne cleverly lured a force of 80 American soldiers out of their Wyoming fort and wiped them out.
http://aycu20.webshots.com/image/50539/2004346279873720340_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2004346279873720340)
Fetterman Fight
After Cheyenne attacks had finally forced the U.S. military to abandon Fort Phil Kearney along the Bozeman Trail, Little Wolf is believed to have led the torching of the fort. He was also a leading participant in the greatest of the Plains Indian victories, the Battle of the Little Bighorn in 1876.
As with many of the other Plains Indian warriors, Little Wolf was finally forced to make peace during the army's major offensive following the massacre at Little Bighorn.
In 1877, the government sent Little Wolf to a reservation here in Indian Territory. Disgusted with the meager supplies and conditions on the reservation, in 1878 Little Wolf determined to leave the reservation and head north for the old Cheyenne territory in Wyoming and Montana. Chief Dull Knife and 300 of his followers went with him.
http://aycu34.webshots.com/image/48193/2003838373576437578_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2003838373576437578)
Little Wolf (L) and Dull Knife
Though Little Wolf and Dull Knife announced that their intentions were peaceful, settlers in the territory they passed through feared attack. The government dispatched cavalry forces that harrassed the Indians, but Little Wolf's skillful defensive maneuvers kept Cheyenne casualties low.
When the band neared Fort Robinson, Nebraska, Dull Knife and some of his followers stopped there. Little Wolf and the rest of the Cheyenne continued to march north to Montana.
In the spring of 1879, while still traveling north, Little Wolf and his followers were overtaken by a cavalry force at the headwaters of Otter Creek and the Yellowstone River. The force was led by Captain W.P. Clark, an old friend of Little Wolf's.
http://aycu30.webshots.com/image/48669/2004398897452893365_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2004398897452893365)
Little Wolf photographed late in life
The confrontation might easily have turned violent, but with his force of warriors diminished and his people tired, Little Wolf was reluctant to fight the more powerful American troop. Clark's civilized and gracious treatment of Little Wolf helped convince the chief that further resistance was pointless, and he agreed to surrender.
After returning to the reservation near Ft. Reno. Oklahoma, Little Wolf briefly served as a scout for General Nelson A. Miles. Later, he was involved in a dispute regarding one of his daughters, which resulted in the death of Starving Elk. Allegedly, Little Wolf was intoxicated when he shot and killed him at the trading post of Eugene Lamphere on December 12, 1880. Little Wolf went into voluntary exile living as a recluse on the reservation as a result of this disgrace.
http://aycu33.webshots.com/image/48232/2003166352187246774_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2003166352187246774)
Little Wolf scouted for Nelson A. Miles. Miles is depicted here as the Commanding General of the U.S. Army, the last post he held before retirement. Miles was the last CG of the Army, after Miles tenure, the position was eliminated by Act of Congress and replaced by the position of Army Chief of Staff. Miles won the Medal of Honor in the Civil War, was a key leader in the Plains Indian Wars, and led the conquest of Puerto Rico during the Span-Am War. President Wilson denied his request to come out of retirement and fight in WWI.
In 1884, the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation was created in Montana by presidential executive and expanded to today's boundaries - nearly doubling it - with a second executive order in 1900.
http://aycu22.webshots.com/image/46821/2003874429310531280_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2003874429310531280)
http://aycu29.webshots.com/image/46748/2003810620658483198_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2003810620658483198)
The tribal administrative building on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation is named the Little Wolf Building
Little Wolf accompanied his people north to the new Montana reservation and died there in 1904.
http://aycu18.webshots.com/image/47337/2003897410977888299_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2003897410977888299)
Northern Cheyenne tribal members walk to Chief Little Wolf's grave on April 7, 2007 near Billings, MT.
http://aycu11.webshots.com/image/49970/2003896856958253392_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2003896856958253392)
Incidentally, many Cheyenne remained in Oklahoma. Today, they are referred to as Southern Cheyenne and reside among their cousins, the Arapaho people in and around Clinton, Oklahoma
http://aycu10.webshots.com/image/47409/2004383425612431795_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2004383425612431795)
Northern Cheyenne woman showing where she stands on the meth scourge
http://aycu15.webshots.com/image/50094/2003843142282519959_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2003843142282519959)
http://aycu23.webshots.com/image/46822/2003828988995494528_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2003828988995494528)
Stereoview portrait of Cheyenne Chief Little Wolf, leader of the Cheyenne Outbreak, 1878-79. Photographed by Mitchell, McGowan & Company, Omaha, Nebraska, 1877.
129 years ago today, Little Wolf, often called "the greatest of the fighting Cheyenne," surrenders to his friend Lieutenant W. P. Clark.
Little Wolf was the chief of the Bowstring Soldiers, an elite Cheyenne military society. From early youth, Little Wolf had demonstrated rare bravery and a brilliant understanding of battle tactics. First in conflicts with other Indians like the Kiowa and then in disputes with the U.S. Army, Little Wolf led or assisted in dozens of important Cheyenne victories.
Historians believe Little Wolf was probably involved in the disastrous Fetterman Massacre of 1866, in which the Cheyenne cleverly lured a force of 80 American soldiers out of their Wyoming fort and wiped them out.
http://aycu20.webshots.com/image/50539/2004346279873720340_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2004346279873720340)
Fetterman Fight
After Cheyenne attacks had finally forced the U.S. military to abandon Fort Phil Kearney along the Bozeman Trail, Little Wolf is believed to have led the torching of the fort. He was also a leading participant in the greatest of the Plains Indian victories, the Battle of the Little Bighorn in 1876.
As with many of the other Plains Indian warriors, Little Wolf was finally forced to make peace during the army's major offensive following the massacre at Little Bighorn.
In 1877, the government sent Little Wolf to a reservation here in Indian Territory. Disgusted with the meager supplies and conditions on the reservation, in 1878 Little Wolf determined to leave the reservation and head north for the old Cheyenne territory in Wyoming and Montana. Chief Dull Knife and 300 of his followers went with him.
http://aycu34.webshots.com/image/48193/2003838373576437578_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2003838373576437578)
Little Wolf (L) and Dull Knife
Though Little Wolf and Dull Knife announced that their intentions were peaceful, settlers in the territory they passed through feared attack. The government dispatched cavalry forces that harrassed the Indians, but Little Wolf's skillful defensive maneuvers kept Cheyenne casualties low.
When the band neared Fort Robinson, Nebraska, Dull Knife and some of his followers stopped there. Little Wolf and the rest of the Cheyenne continued to march north to Montana.
In the spring of 1879, while still traveling north, Little Wolf and his followers were overtaken by a cavalry force at the headwaters of Otter Creek and the Yellowstone River. The force was led by Captain W.P. Clark, an old friend of Little Wolf's.
http://aycu30.webshots.com/image/48669/2004398897452893365_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2004398897452893365)
Little Wolf photographed late in life
The confrontation might easily have turned violent, but with his force of warriors diminished and his people tired, Little Wolf was reluctant to fight the more powerful American troop. Clark's civilized and gracious treatment of Little Wolf helped convince the chief that further resistance was pointless, and he agreed to surrender.
After returning to the reservation near Ft. Reno. Oklahoma, Little Wolf briefly served as a scout for General Nelson A. Miles. Later, he was involved in a dispute regarding one of his daughters, which resulted in the death of Starving Elk. Allegedly, Little Wolf was intoxicated when he shot and killed him at the trading post of Eugene Lamphere on December 12, 1880. Little Wolf went into voluntary exile living as a recluse on the reservation as a result of this disgrace.
http://aycu33.webshots.com/image/48232/2003166352187246774_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2003166352187246774)
Little Wolf scouted for Nelson A. Miles. Miles is depicted here as the Commanding General of the U.S. Army, the last post he held before retirement. Miles was the last CG of the Army, after Miles tenure, the position was eliminated by Act of Congress and replaced by the position of Army Chief of Staff. Miles won the Medal of Honor in the Civil War, was a key leader in the Plains Indian Wars, and led the conquest of Puerto Rico during the Span-Am War. President Wilson denied his request to come out of retirement and fight in WWI.
In 1884, the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation was created in Montana by presidential executive and expanded to today's boundaries - nearly doubling it - with a second executive order in 1900.
http://aycu22.webshots.com/image/46821/2003874429310531280_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2003874429310531280)
http://aycu29.webshots.com/image/46748/2003810620658483198_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2003810620658483198)
The tribal administrative building on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation is named the Little Wolf Building
Little Wolf accompanied his people north to the new Montana reservation and died there in 1904.
http://aycu18.webshots.com/image/47337/2003897410977888299_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2003897410977888299)
Northern Cheyenne tribal members walk to Chief Little Wolf's grave on April 7, 2007 near Billings, MT.
http://aycu11.webshots.com/image/49970/2003896856958253392_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2003896856958253392)
Incidentally, many Cheyenne remained in Oklahoma. Today, they are referred to as Southern Cheyenne and reside among their cousins, the Arapaho people in and around Clinton, Oklahoma
http://aycu10.webshots.com/image/47409/2004383425612431795_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2004383425612431795)
Northern Cheyenne woman showing where she stands on the meth scourge
http://aycu15.webshots.com/image/50094/2003843142282519959_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2003843142282519959)