The Hardin tribune-herald. [volume] (Hardin, Mont.) 1925-1973, 1936-09-11
Stoically limiting Death to Exile From Montana
Cheyennes Paid Dearly for Tongue Riuer Reserve
BY WALTER ED TAYLOR

BY WALTER ED TAYLOR
Down In the rolling hill country
Of southeastern Montana, sand:
Tongue rivers flowing north for
their conflux with the Yellowstone,
live 1,5OO Cheyenne Indians, the
remnant Of q once fierce and pow
erful tribe of the plains. Their
4OO,OOO-acre domain Is particularly
suited to stock raising and they
are the proud owners OF several
large herds.
The first historical mention Of the
Cheyennes was made as early as 1880,
when q party of that tribe, under the
name of Chaa, described as living at
the headWaterS of the Mississippi, VS.
tied LaSalle's fort, Crevecour, on the
Illinois river, near the present site OF
Peoria, to invite the French to come
to their territory. which they repre-,
other fur animals. At later period
the Cheyennes moved to the river which
now bears their name. AT that time
thew were an agricultural people, noted
among other tribes for their ability to
raise fine crops. They had come tnou-
sands of miles from their original nome
in what is now eastern Canaaa a. i idft
Cheyenne, like many other tribes, lett
the far northeast in the middle OF the
18th century when the first trading
posts were being established there by
the Hudson's Bay Co.
Lewis and Clark held friendly COM
munication with the Cheyennes on the
upper Missouri in 1905 and later IN
1906. These two explorers stated that
the tribe had once lived in g village
and cultivated corn on the Cheyenne
river until driven out of the district by
the Sioux same Sioux with whom
they were to be allied 100 years later
in the Custer massacre. They fled be-
fore the Sioux and crossed the Mis-
souri,, establishing a fortified village,
the ruins of which were still! visible IN
1904, few miles north of the present
site of Fort Yates, N. D.
According to tribal tradition, the
Cheyennes made long journeys to the
southwestern Spanish settlements to
steal horses. There were no traders
among the Cheyennes at the time OF
Lewis and Clark but the tribe trans
ported its buffalo robes to the famous
Aricara village on the Missouri IN what wat
traders from the Hudson's Bay Co. The
story Of the tribe is full Of clashes with
the Sioux until 1910, when the final
peace between the two tribes was made.
Because of their continual Quarrels
with other tribes, the Cheyennes
changed their way of living entirely.
Once they had been 2 peaceful agricui,;
been destroyed so consistently by their
enemies that by the middle Of the last
century the tribe had become one OF the
fiercest Indian groups in the west. IN
til the 1850's the Cheyennes had no
trouble with whites, but were almost
continually engaged IN war with the
Utes and the Assinniboines.
First Clash With Whites
The first serious trouble between
Cheyennes and white men occurred in
1857, near the Upper Platte bridge, ana
was caused by four horses held by the
Indians and said to belong to the white
men, The CheyenneS agreed to give
up three of the horses but refused TO
surrender the fourth, saying that II
had long been in their camp: The COM
man not famous for his tact, ordered
the Cheyennes arrested. One was caught
by the guard; the others broke and ran.
Printed reports of the clash say the sol,
diers fired upon the Indians and killed
one. The man arrested was VOL fTe
and he died in the guard house. TINS
was merely the first Of long series OF
such incidents, the most OUTRAGEOUS OF
1864, when a large number OF Chey-
ennes, variously estimated at from 100
to 500 persons, many Of them women
and children, were killed BY Umteo
states troops under Colonel ckiving-
The first incidental mention Of the
CheyenneS in the annual reports OF
the commissioner of Indian affairs was
in 1885, and the first prominent mem
ton several years later. On July 4,
1874 a severe defeate Of the northern
Cheyennes was inflicted by Captain
Bates, Second cavalry, on Badwater
creek, Wyo. As q result, many q the
THOSE who did not joined the western
Sioux under Crazy Horse and Sitting
Bull, refused to go upon the reserva-
lions in 1875, and roved about the coun::
try, frequently clashing with troops and
citizens.
Active Warfare Starts
Early in 1876, Generals Terry and
Crook were directed to begin active OPP
erations against these renegades. On
March II, 1876, Colonel Reynolds with
about 500 men of the Second and Third
cavalry charged the camp Of Crazy
Horse on Powder river, destroyed more
than 100 tepeeS and routed the Indians,
of whom more than a third were Chey-
ennes. In this raid Reynolds captured
what he described as "a perfect maya
zine of ammunition, war material and
general supplies" Where the Indians
obtained the supplies has never been
revealed. It Is one of the mysteries OF
Montana history.
on June II, Crook engaged the main
force of Indians on the Rosebud, near
the present Tongue River reservation.