CheyenneWarStory

About the year 1839 ten or twelve men, under Standing On The Hill as their leader, set out on the warpath from the camp on the South Platte River. They went south and on the way stopped at Bent's Old Fort on the Arkansas, and there obtained guns, ammunition, blankets, and new knives.

Colonel Bent usually gave the Cheyenne these things on credit. He did not know all the Indians, but he knew the chiefs, and the leader of any war party commonly vouched for the men with him, giving Colonel Bent the names and relatives of the different men and saying that if the men were killed these relations would pay their debts. As a matter of fact, they always did pay.

This party crossed the Arkansas and the Cimarron and when they reached Wolf Creek turned off a little to the east. While crossing the divide between the Arkansas and the Cimarron rivers they lived on horseflesh, for on the divide wild horses were everywhere. Standing On The Hill, a man of great experience, told his young men that before they went into an enemy's camp to capture horses they should wash themselves with mud, in order to rid themselves of the odor of horseflesh that they had been using. Horses greatly feared this smell, and if the men entered the camp smelling of horseflesh, the horses would be afraid of them and would be hard to catch.

After they had crossed Wolf Creek, they saw signs where people had been traveling, but they could not be sure who the people were or where they were going. To find out about this they sent out scouts - Wolf Road, Sun Maker, and Walking Coyote. The main party stopped above the Antelope Hills on the divide between the North and South Canadian, and the scouts set out before daylight. They were told to cross the South Canadian and go to the west of Antelope Hills and to look over the Washita, following up a tributary of the South Canadian and, as usual, traveling in ravines and low places.

As they were traveling up this tributary stream they saw some people come up over a hill. Buffalo were everywhere on the plain. The people who had come in sight rode toward the scouts and began to chase a large herd of buffalo that was not far away. The scouts ran up to the head of the ravine and there hid in a little hollow. Buffalo were falling all about them.

As the scouts lay there watching, one of them looked down the ravine and saw a Kiowa riding across the stream they had followed up. Suddenly the man stopped and turned up the stream in the direction they had come, riding slowly, looking at the ground, and evidently following the tracks they had made. He kept on the stream and just before he reached the place where they lay hidden he turned off their trail and rode up on a side hill to look. The scouts had determined that as soon as he was near enough they must kill him, but that it would not do well to kill him with a gun, for those who were running buffalo would be sure to hear the shot.

When the Kiowa turned off the trail, the scouts crept up a little side ravine and under a bank over which the Kiowa would be likely to come. Presently they saw him approaching. He was looking all over the country, far off, trying to see people, and rode within twenty or thirty feet of them without seeing the scouts. All three shot at him with arrows. Walking Coyote shot his horse, Wolf Road's arrow struck in the pommel of the saddle, and Sun Maker's passed through the Kiowa's heart under his arm. The horse gave a great plunge, the man fell off, and the three scouts rushed forward to count coup. Wolf Road reached him first, and then Sun Maker, who also received credit for knocking him off his horse. They dragged the man into the ravine, got his horse and led it down there. They scalped the man and shot the horse again.

The Kiowa was wearing silver hair plates and the horse a good bridle. The scouts recovered their arrows and taking these things started down the creek as they had come. When they had walked to the flat they looked back and could see some Kiowa's still cutting up animals, and a few buffalo running. When they reached an open space which they were obliged to cross they got close together one behind the other, stooped down and hung a blanket over themselves and walked across the flat, looking like a buffalo. When they again came to the brush they ran on as fast as they could.

They reached the stream where their party was and found everyone asleep, except one man, who was watching on the hill. They reported what they had done, and Standing On The Hill said to Wolf Road: "Now, my friend, you are the fastest runner; you must stay behind and watch the trail and we will go back. These people will look for the man who is dead and may find our tracks. It will be too dangerous to go on further." They started back.

Wolf Road waited until the party had disappeared over the farthest hill and then seeing nothing, he ran on and at length overtook his people. They ran all that night, slept a little in the morning, and then ran on until late that night, when they rested for a short time.

When they reached the Arkansas River they met a war party going south and talked for some time with friends, learning that the main camp was near by, on the north side of the river. For a little while they said nothing about what they had done, but at length Standing On The Hill drew out the scalp and said: "Friend, this is what we have done. If you will come back with us, we will have a dance." As he said this, Wolf Road snatched the scalp out of his hand and ran toward the main camp, and the others of the party ran after him. No one could overtake him, for he was swiftest of all. He ran about the camp circle singing, and then, going to the lodge where the medicine arrows were kept, he hung the scalp on the bundle as an offering.

It is important to have the knowledge to understand the many stories which the Indians narrate. Besides their inherent interest, many of them have a direct relation to the early history of our country, and some of the events happening on the grounds now occupied by a great many of white people. In the following pages, I will attempt to explain many of the Cheyenne traditions and beliefs so the reader may clearly understand the above Cheyenne War Story. It is my hope that this paper will give the reader an appreciation and respect for the culture of the Cheyenne Indian. It is through education which we gain an understanding of other people.

The Cheyenne are a tribe of buffalo-hunting Indians well known in the early days of Colorado History before the white settlement of the plains. The tribe belongs to the Algonquian linguistic group, and is one of three usually spoken of as the western Algonquians, the other two being the Arapahoe and the Blackfeet.

We commonly think of the Cheyenne Indians as mounted nomads following buffalo over the plains. Yet, since there were no horses in America at the time of discovery, the Indians were foot travelers. Many of them lived in permanent settlements. The Cheyenne have always cultivated the ground, raising corn, beans, and squash. They also gathered wild fruits and roots. This constituted a major portion of their subsistence. They also hunted small game such as birds and small mammals. As their migration took them to the plains they made foot surrounds of buffalo, and when possible drove the large animals off cliffs or into snowdrifts. Then, as the Cheyenne acquired horses they would then abandon agriculture and follow the buffalo herds across the plains; which would change them forever.

The social life of the Cheyenne was friendly and agreeable. As a rule, husbands and wives were devoted to one another, and parents loved their children tenderly. The training of the little ones began in infancy, the first lessons being that they should always be good-natured and never quarrel with their fellows. They never scolded their children, only speaking to them and telling them the many stories of the past that would in turn shape their future.

In contrast, the Cheyenne were a warlike tribe and almost the first lesson taught a growing boy was that he must be brave. He was told that success in war would cause him to be respected and praised by all the people, and was reminded that the most important men of the tribe had reached their distinction through bravery and triumphs in war.

For many years the Cheyenne have been separated into two groups known as the Northern and Southern Cheyenne. These are merely two divisions of the same people, and the separation took place less than two hundred years ago. There is nothing permanent about it. Some people go to the south, live there a few years or a generation, and then come back to the north and vise versa. In the old days before the coming of the railroads there was frequent passing back and forth between Northern and Southern Cheyenne.

Story telling was a favorite form of entertainment. It was a common practice for hosts to have a feast and invite a story teller to be a guest, then after all had eaten, to relate his stories. Men known as good story tellers were in demand and very popular.

Some of the stories were short others were long, sometimes told in great detail, and even in sections. A short story may be told, and when it was finished the narrator stopped, and after a pause, said, "I will tie another one to it." Then there was a long pause; the pipe was perhaps lighted and smoked; a little conversation had; then the story teller began again and told another section of the tale, ending as before. At formal gatherings a man might tell a story and when finished might say: "The story has ended. Can anyone tie it to another?"

Since the Cheyenne had no written characters their history was wholly traditional, handed down from one generation to another by word of mouth. The elder, who transmitted these accounts to younger people, solemnly impressed upon his hearers the importance of repeating the story just as it had been told to them. Now it is clear to see that without the story teller the Cheyenne history would have been lost forever; and with it a piece of our American past.

The Cheyenne have a tradition of a golden age when war was unknown. No doubt there was fighting and wars long before the coming of the white man, but these were probably the results of more or less temporary quarrels, and were not bloody. The only incentive they had for fighting was revenge, and this desire if not quickly acted upon was usually forgotten.

The introduction of the horse, furnished to all the plains tribes a new and strong motive for war, for by war men could acquire something of great value. Until the coming of the horse, the only possessions of the plains tribes, except food and clothing, were their dogs, and their arms. When the horse came, its' usefulness was at once recognized, for here was an animal whose possession added immensely to the comfort and freedom of the people. Since everyone desired to own horses, all men would exchange valuable things for them; thus no one could have too many horses.

Only two ways of procuring horses in any numbers were known - by capturing those running wild on the prairie and those which were in the possession of neighboring tribes. Among the plains tribes the practice of taking a horse from the enemy became a regular profession. Everybody needs a little danger in their lives. The Cheyenne were pirates on land.

When we read or watch the old western movies about the Indian, we think of surprise battles and the killing and scalping of enemies; but there were many brave and successful warriors of the Cheyenne who never went on the warpaths of this description, who on their war journeys tried to avoid coming in close contact with their enemies, and had no wish to kill anyone. Such men went to war for the sole purpose of obtaining horses; they carried on a war for profit. Some men possessed a high reputation of courage and boasted never killing a man, and perhaps never counting coup. An example of this is Big Foot:

While out with a war party the Cheyenne charged a body of the enemy, who fled. Big Foot was riding a very fast horse and noticed that one of the enemy was riding a particularly fine horse. Instead of taking part in the fight he followed this man, and when he overtook him, did not try and kill him, but threw his rope over him, dragged him from his horse, and letting the man go, caught the horse and went off with it.

As late as 1850, war parties usually went out on foot. These excursions were made for the purpose of taking horses. It was not until somewhat later that trips for the purpose of killing the enemy became the norm. On the other hand, when some grave injury had been inflicted on the tribe, the general movement to revenge this injury was made on horseback.

On the foot parties, the men who carried the war-pipe, the leaders were usually middle-aged men. Young men very seldom led a war party. They were satisfied to gain experience by following their elders, until they reached a point where they thought themselves competent to carry the pipe. When this time arrived, and a man felt he was ready to lead a war party-carry the pipe to war- he called into his lodge some older man of great experience, and offered him the pipe and asked him for help. When the elder had accepted the pipe, the younger man explained that he wished to lead a party to war, and asked advice as to what he should do to insure success. Very often he was told to make an offering to the medicine arrows. The most accepted offer to the arrows was the tail feathers of eagles but also included blankets, cloth, and calico.

After the young man had smoked with his adviser, he put on his buffalo robe, took his gift for the arrows and filled the pipe, and left the lodge. Wailing and mourning so everyone in the village could hear him, while walking very slowly until he reached the door of the arrow lodge. The arrow-keeper would receive the visitor. The man would place the pipe on the ground in front of the arrow-keeper, and then stepped back around the fire to the other side, because no man might pass between the arrows hanging at the head of the arrow-keepers bed and the fire.

The young man presented the offerings to the arrow-keeper, who took them first in his left hand, placed the palm of his right hand on the ground, and passed the right hand down over the offerings. This he repeated. Then he transferred the offerings to his right hand and rubbed his left hand on the ground and passed it over the offerings, and repeated this. He then handed the offerings back to the young man and directed him to tie them around the arrow bundle. While doing this the young man prayed to the arrows aloud, for the arrows hear everything that is said to them. He would tell the arrows that he intended to go out with a party to get scalps and horses; begged that none of his men should be hurt or killed; that he himself might count a first coup, and that his men might return home happy and with blackened faces. The arrow-keeper then lighted the pipe and they smoked together. Any man who was going with this party might make an offering such as the leader made, or might make other sacrifices.

A man who had already led parties to war and contemplated another trip made less formal preparations. He called into his lodge his friends and some older men to discuss the matter. After they had eaten, a pipe was filled and the intending leader spoke, saying: "My friends, I wish to go to war. I wish to make up a party to follow me, and I have called you here to ask if any of you will join me." If he was a successful man- a number of young men always smoked, thus signifying that they wished to join him. Those who did not wish to join let the pipe pass without smoking.

When a number had agreed to go, a pipe was filled but not lighted, and they went to the lodge of some priest or doctor. The leader said to the medicine man, "We wish to go to war," and offered him the filled pipe. The man took the pipe- thereby agreeing to perform the necessary ceremonies. Then he was likely to say to them, "It is well my friends; you are to go to such and such a place, on such a stream; there you will find people - your enemies." As you can see the offering of the pipe was the general ceremonial way of asking an important favor.

Before starting, the party sometimes went into the sweatlodge with this priest, who prayed over some special war implement that someone was to carry. This might be a war-bonnet, a shield or lance. The good influence of the prayers extended over the entire party. During this ceremony the young men cut bits of skin from arms and legs, and when exiting, put them under the buffalo skull which rested just outside the sweatlodge. This ceremony is most likely why the Cheyenne were also termed the "Cut Arms."

Before the war party started, they supplied themselves with a little food, put their arms in order, and provided themselves with extra moccasins. On the appointed day, the leader, alone left the camp on foot, and afterward, at different times throughout the day, others set out, all meeting before night and camping together. When camp was made at night, the pipe was formally lighted and offered to the sky, the earth, and the four cardinal points. The leader talked to the young men, giving them good advice, and telling them how they should act.

Small private raiding parties were out either to take horses or to get a scalp for revenge for the death of a friend or relative. If the main objective was horses they would sneak into camp at night. If its scalps they were after, they preferred to come across lone travelers.

It has been often said that Indians at war are a howling, unorganized mob, each man for himself. This is not true in general, and certainly not true of the Cheyenne. The tactics for battle were carefully planned by the leaders, and when faithfully carried out often resulted in success. The Cheyenne did not aim for total victory, but for glory. Set battles were therefore avoided, and the tactics were those of stealth, surprise, and maneuver. If the enemy was alerted, they withdraw and tried another time.

When the enemy camp was found for the purpose of a horse raid and circumstances were favorable, at night when the camp was asleep, they crept down and took whatever horses they could. It was the work of the older men to go through camp, cut loose the more valuable horses which were tied in front of the lodges and lead them out. The horses taken by each man belonged to him.

When the people of the plundered camp discovered that their horses had been taken, a force of pursuers set out to overtake the raiders. Sometimes they succeeded in doing this; more often they failed. Those who were driving the horses had so many fresh animals to choose from that they had the distinct advantage over those following them, each of whom had only a single horse to ride in pursuit.

Upon their return, a man who had preformed a deed of noteworthy bravery would be sent out to ride ahead of the line. The whole camp would come out a short way from the village and welcome them. They would most likely dance all night, and perhaps keep dancing for two days and two nights.

When a war party lost men and came in sight of the village, they would signal their loss by waving robes the same number of robes as men that had been killed. If a member of the war party was killed, his companions left him on the ground on the battlefield unburied. The Cheyenne warrior wished to be killed, if at all, on the broad level plains, where everyone could see him. When he died he did not wish to be covered by earth, but preferred to lie on the ground where the birds and animals would devour his body, and his remains might be scattered far and wide.

The quality most highly esteemed among the Indians of the plains was courage. It has been said the most notable achievement of an Indian was the taking of the scalp. This simply is not true. Among the Plains tribes, to kill an enemy was good so far as it reduced the numbers of the hostile party, but otherwise the act was regarded as relatively unimportant.

Likewise to scalp an enemy was not a notable feat and in no sense especially creditable. If scalped, the skin of the head was taken merely as a trophy, something to show, something to dance over, a good thing, but no great importance. However, to touch the enemy with something held in the hand, or with the bare hand, was proof of bravery - a feat which entitled the man or boy who did it to the greatest credit.

When an enemy was killed, each of those nearest to him tried to be the one to reach and touch him, usually by striking the body with something held in the hand. Those who followed raced up and struck the body. Anyone who wanted could take the scalp.

The biggest credit was to the man who could first touch a fallen enemy. The Cheyenne's bravest act was to count coup on - to touch or strike - a living, unhurt man and to leave him alive. This was frequently done.

Cases are often told of where, when the lines of two opposing tribes faced each other in battle, some brave man rode out in front of his people, charge upon his enemy, ran through their line, struck one of them, and then turning and riding back, joined his own party.

It was evidence of bravery for a man to go into battle carrying no weapon that could harm at a distance. It was more creditable to carry a lance than a bow and arrows; a hatchet or war club than a lance; and the bravest thing of all was to go into a fight with nothing more than a whip, or a long twig- called a coup stick.

The Cheyenne's counted coup on an enemy three times; that is to say, three men might touch the body and receive credit, according to the order in which this was done. The Arapahoe touched four times. When the Cheyenne were allied with the Arapahoe (which they often were) during a fight a total of seven coups could be counted, causing great confusion during the battle.

In the great battle that took place on Wolf Creek in 1838, between the allied Kiowa, Comanche, and Apaches, on the one hand, and the Cheyenne and Arapaho on the other, coup was counted on Yellow Shirt, a Kiowa, nine times. When the charge was made on the Kiowa camp, Yellow Shirt was fighting on foot and was touched three times, but not seriously injured.

Later, he reached his village, mounted a horse, came out to fight, and was touched three times on horseback. Almost immediately afterward his horse was killed and his leg broken, and he sat on the ground still fighting by shooting arrows, and was again touched three times and killed.

The scalp was a good thing to carry back to the village and dance over; in addition, it was used to trim and fringe war clothing and to tie to the horses bridle in going to war. Usually the scalps taken were only a little larger than a silver dollar, but like any any other piece of flesh they stretched greatly, and the young men were instructed how to do this.

Anyone familiar with Indians and Indian ways will understand that that the various dances they practice are not merely haphazard jumping up and down and chance singing. The ceremony of the dances is perfectly well defined, and the songs are well known and unvarying as if they had been printed. There was a ceremony established for the scalp dance. While it was a victory dance it was also very social in character.

These old-time scalp dances were directed by a little group of men called Hee man eh, "halfmen - halfwomen." They were men, but had taken up the way of women; even there voices sounded between that of a man and a woman. They often served as second wives in a married man's household.

There were only five of these in the tribe, and were all members of the same kindred- the Bare Legs family. They were very popular and favorites of the young Cheyenne because they were known matchmakers. They were fine love talkers. When a young man wanted to send gifts to a girl, horses to her family, one of these halfmen-halfwomen were sent to the girls relatives to do the talking in making the marriage. These men had both men's names and woman's names. It could be said these were the first transvestites.

When a war party was preparing to start out, one of these persons was asked to accompany it. They were good company and fine talkers. During the fighting they would care for the wounded, in which they were very skillful, for they were doctors or medicine men. If one of the party had been killed, the scalps were thrown away and there was no scalp dance upon their return. If a person had counted coup and had been killed, the scalp dance went on just as if no one had been killed.

The scalp dance was no wild frenzied affair, as most people might imagine, rather it was a sociable courtship dance, made up of several parts. It took place around a huge bonfire prepared by the halfmen-halfwomen. The singers for the dance were middle-aged men, all married. The young men lined up north of the fire, and the young women lined up across from them.

The first dance was a Sweetheart's Dance, followed by a Matchmaking Dance, a Round Dance, the Slippery Dance and the Galloping Buffalo Bull Dance. Then everyone stood up and went into the Round Dance, and the drummers and the singers, mating couples and old people, were all united in one, closed happy, collective unity. They all sang together as they danced while morning dawned.