Glacier County chief. [volume] (Browning, Mont.) 1931-1940, 1939-12-29

Cheyennes occurred in the spring of
1857 along the Platte river. The cause
of the contention was the claim of
the whites that the Cheyennes had
stolen their horses. There was brief
exchange of shots, but no serious kill
ing, and the fight accomplished moth
ing save to generate a hate for the
paleface throughout the entire Chey-
enne nation.
In the years that followed the Chey-
ennes shared, with the rest of the
western tribes, the resentment the
white man and his lawless encroach-
ment upon their lands engendered
dian uprisings. On July 4, 1874, the
northern Cheyennes and the Araphoes
were defeated by the Second cavalry
under the command of Captain Bates
and it was decided to put them on
reservations. The idea did not look SO
good to the northern Cheyennes nor
to the Araphoes and when they refused
to reservationize themselves they had
powerful support in the Sioux bands
of Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull. They
reorganiZed themselves and allied with
the Sioux movement of which the
most conspicuous incident was the Gus
ter battle along the Little Big Horn.
On March II, 1876, Colonel Reynolds
with 500 men Of the Second and Third
cavalries struck Crazy Horse on Powder
river and defeated him. On Nov 25 of
the same year Colonel Mckenzie with
the Fourth cavalry struck the northern
Cheyennes on Crazy Womans creek
in Wyoming and defeated them. Fol-
lowing the defeat began a story OF
wanderingS as dramatic as any IN the
history of the west.
Dull Knife and Little Wolf were
the most influential leaders of the
northern Cheyennes, and they surren-
dered with the rest. In the summer
of 1877 men and women to the number
of about 1000, including the chiefs
we're sent by the United States gov
ritory. They represented the best OF
the tribe-the ones considered by the
government the most dangerous, as it
happened. 1t was assumed that they
would adjust themselves to their new
conditions to live in peace and quiet.
But the northern Cheyennes from
earliest times had lived along the
Powder river, and not SO easily could
they give up their country and take
in the Indian territory and practically
told to make their own living. Such
supplies as came from the government
were diminished and of poor quality
due to graft. Conditions were intoler-
able from the first and grew worse
as time passed.
Malaria, a disease to which the
northern Cheyennes were not accus-
toned, spread to ravage the lodges OF
the tribe. In every lodge there was
someone sick or dying And there were
very few recoveries for the Cheyennes
did not have the ability to ward off
germs. The moment a person first dis
played symptoms of the disease, he
was considered dead.
Little Wolf Calls Council
Little Wolf watched his people dying
day by day.. and was very sad. One
night he called a council
1.-The white men are very strong
he told the warriors who listened to
him. I'VE can hardly fight against
them. They do not want us. to live
in the country where lie the bones OF
our fathers. But it is better to die at
tempting to get there than remain
here and have the white mans sick
ness carry us away!"
There were many who agreed with
him. So on the night of Sept. 9, 1878
SO men and 246 women, with their few
belongings on their backs, headed