Iron Tail Iron Tail ( Oglala Lakota : " Siŋté Máza " in Standard Lakota Orthography ) ( 1842 - May 29 , 1916 ) was an Oglala Lakota Chief and a star performer with Buffalo Bill ’ s Wild West . Iron Tail was one of the most famous Native American celebrities of the late 19th and early 20th centuries and a popular subject for professional photographers who circulated his image across the continents . Iron Tail is notable in American history for his distinctive profile on the Buffalo nickel or Indian Head nickel of 1913 to 1938 . Early life and family . " Siŋté Máza " was the chief ’ s tribal name . Asked why the white people call him Iron Tail , he said that when he was a baby his mother saw a band of warriors chasing a herd of buffalo , in one of their periodic grand hunts , their tails standing upright as if shafts of steel , and she thereafter called his name " Siŋté Máza " as something new and novel . Iron Tail and Iron Hail . Chief Iron Tail is often mistaken by historians for Chief Iron Hail ( “ Dewey Beard ” ) , being Lakota contemporaries with similar sounding names . Most biographies incorrectly report that Chief Iron Tail fought in the Battle of the Little Bighorn and that family was killed at in 1890 at Wounded Knee , when it truth it was Chief Iron Hail who suffered the loss . Major Israel McCreight reported : " Iron Tail was not a war chief and no remarkable record as a fighter . He was not a medicine man or conjuror , but a wise counselor and diplomat , always dignified , quiet and never given to boasting . He seldom made a speech and cared nothing for gaudy regalia , very much like the famed War Chief Crazy Horse . In this respect he always had a smile and was fond of children , horses and friends . " Iron Tail and Buffalo Bill . Chief Iron Tail was an international personality and appeared as the lead with Buffalo Bill at the Champs - Élysées in Paris , France and the Colosseum in Rome , Italy . In France , as in England , Buffalo Bill and Iron Tail were feted by the aristocracy . Iron Tail was one of Buffalo Bill ’ s best friends and they hunted elk and bighorn together on annual trips . On one of his visits to The Wigwam of Major Israel McCreight , Buffalo Bill asked Iron Tail to illustrate in pantomime how he played and won a game of poker with U S . army officials during a Treaty Council in the old days . " Going through all the forms of the game from dealing to antes and betting and drawing a last card during which no word was uttered and his countenance like a statue , he suddenly swept the table clean into his blanket and rose from the table and strutted away . It was a piece of superb acting , and exceedingly funny . ” Iron Tail continued to travel with Buffalo Bill until 1913 , and then the Miller Brothers 101 Ranch Wild West until his death in 1916 . Iron Tail and Gertrude Käsebier . Photographing the Sioux . Gertrude Käsebier was one of the most influential American photographers of the early 20th century and best known for her evocative images of Native Americans . Käsebier spent her childhood on the Great Plains living near and playing with Sioux children . In 1898 , Käsebier watched Buffalo Bill ’ s Wild West troupe parade past her Fifth Avenue studio in New York City , toward Madison Square Garden . Her memories of affection and respect for the Lakota people inspired her to send a letter to Buffalo Bill requesting permission to photograph Sioux traveling with the show in her studio . Buffalo Bill and Käsebier were similar in their abiding Native American culture and maintained friendships with the Sioux . Buffalo Bill quickly approved Käsebier ' s request and she began her project on Sunday morning , April 14 , 1898 . Käsebier ' s project was purely artistic and her images were not made for commercial purposes and never used in Buffalo Bill ’ s Wild West program booklets or promotional posters . A session with Chief Iron Tail . Käsebier took classic photographs of the Sioux while they were relaxed . Chief Iron Tail was one of Käsebier ’ s most challenging portrait subjects . Käsebier ' s session with Chief Iron Tail was her only recorded story : “ Preparing for their visit to Käsebier ’ s photography studio , the Sioux at Buffalo Bill ' s Wild West Camp met to distribute their finest clothing and accessories to those chosen to be photographed . ” Käsebier admired their efforts , but desired to , in her own words , photograph a “ real raw Indian , the kind I used to see when I was a child ’ , referring to her early years in Colorado and on the Great Plains . Käsebier selected one Indian , Chief Iron Tail , to approach for a photograph without regalia . He did not object . The resulting photograph was exactly what Käsebier had envisioned : a relaxed , intimate , quiet , and beautiful portrait of the man , devoid of decoration and finery , presenting himself to her and the camera without barriers . Several days later , however , when presented with the photograph , Chief Iron Tail immediately tore up the image , stating it was too dark . Käsebier photographed him once again , this time in his full feather headdress , much to his satisfaction . Chief Iron Tail was an international celebrity . He appeared with his fine regalia as the lead with Buffalo Bill at the Avenue des Champs - Élysées in Paris , France , and the Coliseum of Rome . Chief Iron Tail was a superb showman and chaffed at the photo of him relaxed . but Käsebier chose it as the frontispiece for a 1901 " Everybody ’ s Magazine " article . Käsebier believed all the portraits were a " revelation of Indian character , " showing the strength and individual character of the Native Americans in " new phases for the Sioux . " The Indian on the nickel . Early in the twentieth century , Iron Tail ' s distinctive profile became well known across the United States as one of three models for the five - cent coin Buffalo nickel or Indian Head nickel . The popular coin was introduced in 1913 and showcases the native beauty of the American West . Bee Ho Gray , the famous Wild West performer , accompanied Chief Iron Tail to act as an interpreter and guide to Washington D . C . and New York where Iron Tail modeled for sculptor James Earle Fraser as he worked on designs for the new Buffalo nickel . Iron Tail was the most famous Native American of his day and a popular subject for professional photographers who circulated his image across the continents . Iron Tail and Major Israel McCreight . Chief Iron Tail was a friend of Major Israel McCreight and a frequent visitor to The Wigwam in DuBois , Pennsylvania . Chief Iron Tail and Chief Flying Hawk considered The Wigwam their home in the East . On June 22 , 1908 , Chief Iron Tail presided over a ceremony at the tent of Buffalo Bill adopting McCreight as an honorary Chief of the Oglala Lakota . In 1915 , McCreight hosted a grand reception for Iron Tail and Flying Hawk at The Wigwam . Adoption of Čhaŋté Tȟáŋka . On June 22 , 1908 , Chief Iron Tail and " Buffalo Bill " Cody visited Du Bois , Pennsylvania with the Wild West Congress of Rough Riders . Twelve thousand people a day attended Cody ’ s Wild West performances and 150 Oglalas were in town with 150 ponies . On this occasion , Chief Iron Tail presided over the adoption of Major Israel McCreight as an honorary Chief of the Oglala Lakota and named McCreight “ " Čhaŋté Tȟáŋka " ( " Great Heart " ) . Chief Iron Tail performed the ceremony assembled at Buffalo Bill ' s tent and attended by Chief American Horse , Chief Whirlwind Horse , Chief Lone Bear and 100 Oglala Lakota members of the Wild West Congress of Rough Riders . The Oglala Lakota chiefs formed a small circle around McCreight and his wife Alice , and Chief Iron Tail began the ceremony with a speech in Lakota , a hearty handshake all around , and then placed a war bonnet McCreight ’ s head and moccasins upon his feet . Chief Iron Tail then presented McCreight with a tepee on which an owl had been traced with yellow chalk and told this was for him and Alice to live in . Tom - tom drums were then beaten and tribal songs put up vigorously . Concluding remarks were made by Chief Iron Tail ending with hearty handshakes . Chief Iron Tail and Buffalo Bill were loaded into a new 1908 Rambler touring car and driven to McCreight ’ s town house for the banquet which followed . There , Chief Iron Tail was presented with a new Winchester rifle as a souvenir of the event . McCreight was forever moved by the solemnity of the occasion , and carried the honor proudly and with distinction the rest of his life . McCreight later remarked that the title , honorary Chief of the Oglala Lakota , was a far greater tribute than could have been conferred by any president or military organization . Grand Reception at The Wigwam . In 1915 , McCreight hosted a grand reception for Chief Iron Tail and Chief Flying Hawk at The Wigwam in Du Bois , Pennsylvania . “ When Chief Iron Tail was finished with greeting the long line of judges , bankers , lawyers , business men and neighbors who filed past in a receiving line just as the President is obliged to receive and shake the hands of multitude of strangers who call on New Years , the chief grasped hold of the fine buffalo robe which had been thrown over a porch bench for him to rest on drawing it around his shoulders , walked out on the lawn and lay down to gaze into the clouds and over the hundred mile sweep of the hills and valleys forming the Eastern Continental Divide . He had fulfilled his social obligations when he had submitted to an hour of incessant hand - shaking , as he could talk in English , further crowd mixing did not appeal to him . He preferred to relax and smoke his redstone pipe and wait his call to the big dining room . There he re - appeared in the place of honor and partook of the good things in the best of grace and gentlemanly deportment . His courteous behavior , here and at all places and occasions when in company of the writer , was worthy of emulation by the most exalted white man or woman ! ” After Chief Iron Tail had shaken hands with the assembled guests he gathered the big buffalo hide about his shoulders , waived aside the crowd and walked away . He spread the woolly robe on the grass , sat down upon it and lit his pipe , as if to say , “ I ’ ve done my social duty , now I wish to enjoy myself . ” Chief Flying Hawk long remembered the gala festivities . “ Here he himself and his close friend Iron Tail had held a reception once long ago , for hundreds of their friends , when bankers , preachers , teachers , businessmen , farmers , came from near and far along with their ladies , to pay their respects and say , How Cola ! ” “ The historian Chief Flying Hawk reminded that when dinner was served , Iron Tail asked to have his own and Flying Hawk ’ s meals brought to them on the open porch where they ate from a table he now sat beside , while the many white folks occupied the dining - room , where they could discuss Indians without embarrassment . This , he remembered , was a good time , and they talked about it for a long time together , but now , his good friend had left him and was in the Sand Hills . ” Final Days . In May 1916 , Chief Iron Tail , at the age of 74 , became ill with pneumonia while performing with the Miller Brothers 101 Ranch Wild West in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , and was placed in St . Luke ' s Hospital . Buffalo Bill was obliged to go on with his show next day to Baltimore , Maryland , and Iron Tail was left alone in a strange city with doctors and nurses who could not communicate with him . McCreight learned about the Chief ' s admission to the hospital in the morning Philadelphia paper , and immediately sent a telegram to Buffalo Bill to send Iron Tail by next train to Du Bois , Pennsylvania , for care at The Wigwam . No reply was had and the wire was not delivered or forwarded to Baltimore . Instead the hospital authorities put Chief Iron Tail on a Pullman , ticketed for home to the Black Hills . On May 28 , 1916 , when the porter of his car went to wake him at South Bend , Indiana , Iron Tail was dead , his body continuing on to its destination . Buffalo Bill expressed regret that the Chief was sent to the hospital and that he had not received the telegram . Iron Tail ' s body was transferred to a hospital in Rushville , Nebraska , then to Pine Ridge Indian Reservation , where he was buried at Holy Rosary Mission Cemetery on June 3 , 1916 . With deep emotion , Buffalo Bill said he was going to put a granite stone on Chief Iron Tail ' s grave with a replica of the Buffalo nickel ( for which Chief Iron Tail had posed ) carved on it as a memento . However , Buffalo Bill passed away on January 10 , 1917 , just six months after Chief Iron Tail ' s death . In a ceremony at Buffalo Bill ' s grave on Lookout Mountain , west of Denver , Colorado , Chief Flying Hawk laid his war staff of eagle feathers on the grave . Each of the veteran Wild Westers placed a Buffalo nickel on the imposing stone as a symbol of the Indian , the buffalo , and the scout , figures since the 1880s that were symbolic of the early history of the American West .