LITTLE WOLF, THE GREAT CHEYENNE CHIEF
Chief Little Wolf
As a Southeasterner, I haven’t had an opportunity to
become acquainted with the descendants of the western tribes of Native
Americans. The Cherokee and Lumbee Indians where I live have become widely
incorporated into our blended society. Although there is a Cherokee reservation
in the mountains of North Carolina, most of the Cherokee were forced to leave
their native land here by President Andrew Jackson on the now infamous Trail of
Tears exodus.
Because I’m a western author, I am fascinated by
western tribes and their battle to maintain their culture and land. One of
these famous American Indian leaders was Cheyenne Chief, Little Wolf or Ohcumgache which literally translated
means Little Coyote. Little Wolf was
born in Montana in the mid-1820’s. As he grew into adulthood, he became greatly
respected and honored by his people. Little Wolf was chosen as one of the
"Old Man" chiefs among the Council of Forty-four, a high honor in
traditional Cheyenne culture. He was also chosen as Sweet Medicine Chief,
bearer of the spiritual incarnation of Sweet Medicine, a primary culture hero
and spiritual ancestor of the Cheyenne. Because of this honorary title, he was
expected to be above anger, as well as concerned only for his people and not
for himself.
Little Wolf is known as a great military tactician and
led a group of warriors known as the "Elk Horn Scrapers" during the
Northern Plains War. He also fought in Red Cloud's War and the war for the
Bozeman Trail, which lasted from 1866 to 1868. He was the chief of the Bowstring
Soldiers, an elite Cheyenne military society. Even in his youth, Little Wolf
demonstrated exceptional bravery and 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 most likely
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. After Cheyenne attacks 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.
Although he did not fight in the Little Bighorn
battle, he did play a significant role before and after the battle. Some scouts
from Little Wolf’s camp found food left behind by Custer’s attack troops and
were observed by U.S. military scouts. When it was reported to Custer, he
thought he had been discovered by the main camp of the Sioux and Cheyenne on
the Little Bighorn and decided it was crucial for him to move forward with his attack
in order to prevent the escape of the Indians. When the battle ended, Little
Wolf arrived and was almost killed by the angry Sioux who believed he had
scouted for the whites. Little Wolf was able to convince the Sioux by his
adamant denials and from the support of his fellow Northern Cheyenne present
during the battle and, therefore, was saved him from harm.
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Little Wolf at Fort Laramie
But, what Little Wolf is most famous for is his great
escape from captivity.
After the defeat of Morning Star (Dull Knife) by Col.
Ronald S. Mackenzie in November 1876, Little Wolf was forced onto a reservation
in Oklahoma's Indian Territory. Two years later, he and Dull Knife led almost
300 Cheyenne from their reservation near Fort Reno, Oklahoma, through Kansas,
Nebraska, and the Dakota Territory into the Montana Territory, their ancestral
home.
All the while, they miraculously eluded the U.S.
cavalry units which repeatedly tried to capture them. 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 assaulted 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.
While continuing to travel north, in the spring of
1879, Little Wolf and his followers were overtaken by a cavalry force under the
leadership of Captain W.P. Clark, an old friend of Little Wolf’s. The
confrontation could have turned violent, but with his force of warriors
diminished and his people tired, Little Wolf was reluctant to fight the more
powerful American army. Clark’s civilized and gracious treatment of Little Wolf
helped convince the chief that further resistance was pointless, and he agreed
to surrender.
Little Wolf And His Wife, Morning Star
Later on, Little Wolf would become a scout for the
U.S. Army under Gen. Nelson A. Miles. It is unfortunate that Little Wolf became
involved in a dispute which resulted in the death of Starving Elk. Drunk, Little
Wolf shot and killed Starving Elk at the trading post of Eugene Lamphere on
December 12, 1880. Little Wolf went into voluntary exile as a result of this
disgrace. His status as a chief was revoked. Though formerly a celebrated
Cheyenne warrior, the disgraced Little Wolf lived out the rest of his life in
self-imposed exile on the Northern Cheyenne Indian reservation but had no
official influence among his own people. He died in 1904 and is interred in the
Lame Deer cemetery, alongside the gravesite of Morning Star. George Bird
Grinnell, a close friend and ethnographer who documented Little Wolf's life,
called him, "the greatest Indian I have ever known."
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You can find all her western stories about the Wilding family saga by clicking onto The Wildings link.
