Northern Cheyenne Exodus

The Northern Cheyenne Exodus, also known as Dull ganize to leave, leaving were 297 (the number could be
Knifes Raid,[1] the Cheyenne War,[2] or the Cheyenne as high as 353) men, women, and children.[6]
Campaign,[3] was the attempt of the Northern Cheyenne
to return to the north, after being placed on the Southern
Cheyenne reservation in the Indian Territory, and the
United States Army operations to stop them. The period
3 Escape to the North
lasted from 1878 to 1879.[4][5]

In the early morning of September 10 the band ed up the

North Canadian River. By 3 AM the alarm was sounded
that the Cheyenne were gone. Passing the present sites of
Watonga, Oklahoma and Canton, Oklahoma they crossed
north over the watershed into the Cimarron basin, crossing the Cimarron River the evening of September 10.
There, near the present site of Freedom, Oklahoma they
rested then trailed 11 miles up Turkey Creek to Turkey
Springs. After a few hours rest there Dull Knife and a few
others led the women and children on to St. Jacobs Well
and The Big Basin in what is now Clark County, Kansas
where they camped.[9]

Background

Following the Battle of the Little Bighorn attempts by the

U.S. Army to subdue the Northern Cheyenne intensied.
In 1877, after the Dull Knife Fight, when Crazy Horse
surrendered at Fort Robinson a few Cheyenne chiefs and
their people surrendered as well. The Cheyenne chiefs
that surrendered at the fort were Dull Knife, Little Wolf,
Standing Elk, and Wild Hog with nearly one thousand
Cheyenne. On the other hand Two Moon surrendered at
Fort Keogh with three hundred Cheyenne in 1877. The
Cheyenne wanted and expected to live on the reservation with the Sioux in accordance with an April 29, 1868
treaty of Fort Laramie of which both Dull Knife and Little Wolf had signed.[6] However shortly after arriving at
4 The ght at Turkey Creek
Fort Robinson it was recommended that the Northern
Cheyenne be moved to the reservation at Fort Reno with
the Southern Cheyenne.
The Cheyenne, anticipating pursuit, prepared an ambush
at Turkey Springs.[10] While one band prepared rie pits
at the springs, other bands fanned out over the country
looking for supplies. In one case, attacking and killing
2 Connement in the South
two cowboys, they obtained two mules, in another, attacking some cowboys during breakfast, obtained both
Following conrmation from Washington the Cheyenne breakfast and a Sharps carbine.[11]
started their move with 972 people; upon reaching the
Cheyenne-Arapaho reservation on August 5, 1877 there
were only 937.[7] Some elderly had perished along the
way and some young men crept away and headed back
north. When reaching the reservation the Northern
Cheyenne noticed how poverty-stricken the reservation
was and began to fall sick in late summer of 1877. However when conditions did not improve upon a federal investigation into reservation conditions the Cheyenne were
given authorization to hunt.[8] When the Cheyenne attempted to nd game to hunt none was found, just a
wasteland of dead bualo remains; this was the winter of
1877-1878. Unfortunately in 1878 there was a measles
outbreak that struck the Northern Cheyenne, and in August 1878 the Cheyenne chiefs began the organization to
Battle Canyon, site of Battle of Punished Womans Fork
move north. On September 9, 1878 Little Wolf, Dull
Knife, Wild Hog, and Left Hand told their people to or1

8 DIVISION

Battle of Punished Womans

Fork

chased the Cheyenne both day and night.[15] During the

last two weeks of September the army had caught up to
the Cheyenne ve times but the Cheyenne were able to
evade the army by keeping to arduous grounds where it
After crossing the Arkansas River the Cheyenne were fol- was challenging for the army to follow.
lowed closely by a mixed command of 238 soldiers of the
19th Infantry and 4th Cavalry under Lieutenant Colonel
William H. Lewis of the 19th Infantry. On September 27, the Cheyenne prepared an ambush in a canyon
on Punished Womans Fork (north of present-day Scott
City, Kansas), but it was aborted due to an over-eager
brave who red on the scouts before the ambush was
sprung. Lewis deployed a company of infantry to block
the entrance to the canyon and attacked late in the afternoon along the rim of the canyon with four troops of
dismounted cavalry, advancing by bounds, pinning the
Cheyenne including their families in the closed end below. However Lewis was unaware of the Cheyennes
marksmanship and was shot in the leg, severing his
femoral artery. This left a vacuum in Cavalry Regiments leadership which the Cheyenne were able to ex- Stump Horn and family (Northern Cheyenne); showing home
and horsedrawn travois.
ploit, escaping after dark. Lewis bled to death the next
day and several other soldiers were wounded. However,
the Cheyenne lost 60 horses, much baggage, and all of
their food when part of the pony herd was discovered by 8 Division
the troopers.[12]

Depredations in Kansas

A party of drovers encountered Cheyenne camped on

Prairie Dog Creek, in northwestern Kansas on September 29 and lost 80 cattle. Between September 30 and
October 3, 1878, in northwestern Kansas in present day
Decatur County, Kansas and Rawlins County, Kansas
near Oberlin, Kansas, then a tiny hamlet, small parties
of Cheyenne foraging for horses, cattle, and supplies fell
on isolated settlers who had recently homesteaded along
Sappa and Beaver Creeks, some of whom, recent immigrants from eastern Europe, had never seen an Indian;
men and boys were killed; women and older girls raped.
Often the settlers were approached in a friendly manner; then shot point blank. About 40 men and boys were
killed and perhaps 25 women and girls raped. Some observers link the actions of the Cheyenne with the Battle
of Cheyenne Hole, an action in the spring of 1875 in the
same area when a small village of Cheyenne was surprised
and destroyed by army troops.[13][14]

On to Nebraska

From Turkey Creek on it was a running battle across

Kansas and Nebraska, and soldiers from all surrounding forts (Fort Wallace, Fort Hays, Fort Dodge, Fort Riley, and Fort Kearney) were in pursuit of the Cheyenne.
About ten thousand soldiers and three thousand settlers

In the fall of 1878 after six weeks of running the

Cheyenne chiefs held council and it was discovered that
34 of the original 297 were missing, most had been killed
but a few had decided to take other paths to the north.
This is where the Cheyenne split into two groups. The
ones that wished to stop running were going along with
Dull Knife to Red Cloud Agency, Wild Hog and Left
Hand also decided to follow Dull Knife. Little Wolf continued north intending to go to the Powder River country.

8.1 Dull Knifes band

On October 23, 1878 Dull Knifes band of Cheyenne,
only two days from Fort Robinson happen to be surrounded by the army. After hearing that Red Cloud and
Spotted Tail had been relocated to Pine Ridge, decided
due to weather and his peoples condition to go to Fort
Robinson anyhow. The Cheyenne decided that night to
take apart their best guns, women hid the barrels under their clothing and the smaller pieces were attached
to cloths and moccasins as ornaments. On October 25,
1878 Dull Knife, Left Hand, Wild Hog and rest of the
Cheyenne nally reached Fort Robinson. The barracks
that were built to hold seventy-ve soldiers now held one
hundred and fty Cheyenne. In December Red Cloud
was brought to Fort Robinson for a council with Dull
Knife and the other chiefs. Dull Knife agreed to ght
no more if the great father in Washington would let his
people live on Pine Ridge that now held Red Cloud and
his tribe. However on January 3, 1879 the Cheyenne
were ordered to return south to the Southern Cheyenne

3
reservation. When the Cheyenne refused to return to the
reservation in the south, bars were put on windows and
no rations were given, including wood for heat. On January 9, 1879 Dull Knife still refused to go back south,
however Wild Hog and Left Hand had agreed to talk but
said their people would not go. Upon hearing this Wild
Hog was held as a prisoner and shackled. At 9:45 that
night the Cheyenne tried to make a daring escape using the dismantled guns they had hidden upon arriving at
the fort. The Cheyenne were immediately followed and
many were killed, the Fort Robinson massacre. By morning sixty-ve Cheyenne, twenty-three of them wounded
went back to Fort Robinson as prisoners. Only thirtyeight Cheyenne had escaped and were alive, thirty-two of
these were together moving north pursued by the army.
Six Cheyenne were hiding only a few miles from the fort
among rocks, and were found during the next few days.
At the Hat Creek Blus, 32 Cheyennes led by Little Finger Nail were trapped, and after the nal battle at the pit,
only nine were left alive.[16]

the scouts, then later Lieutenant Clark, the band agreed to

surrender and go with the troopers to Fort Keogh. There
they were oered service in the army as scouts. After
some discussion even Little Wolf agreed to become a
scout, as did Red Armed Panther.[17]

9 Northern Cheyenne Reservation

After some delay, a reservation for the Northern
Cheyenne was established in southeastern Montana near
the Black Hills, the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation and they were never forced to return to the south.

10 Notes and references

[1] Page 19, Maddux, In Dull Knifes Wake
[2] Military history of the United States Articles and Information. Neohumanism.org. 2001-09-11. Retrieved
2012-07-29.
[3] List of wars involving the United States. Issuu.com.
2010-10-15. Retrieved 2012-07-29.
[4] Chapter 14, Cheyenne Exodus, pages 331 to 359, Bury
My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the
American West, Dee Brown, Henry Holt (1970, Owl paperback edition 1991), trade paperback, 488 pages, ISBN
0-8050-1730-5

After the nal battle at The Pit. Painting by Frederic Remington, 1897

In January 1879 Dull Knife reached Pine Ridge where

Red Cloud was being held as a prisoner. After months of
delay from Washington the prisoners from Fort Robinson
were released and allowed to go to Fort Keogh, where Little Wolf had ended up. However several of the escapees
later had to stand trial for the murders that had been committed in Kansas, and in 1994 the remains of those killed
were repatriated.

[5] Chapter 29, Little Wolf and Dull Knife, 1876-79,

pages 398 to 413 and Chapter 30, The Fort Robinson
Outbreak, pages 414 to 427, The Fighting Cheyennes,
George Bird Grinnell, University of Oklahoma Press
(1956, Scribners Sons 1915), hardcover, 454 pages
[6] Brown, Dee (1970). Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee,
pp.332-349. Holt, Rinehart and Winston. ISBN 0-80501730-5.
[7] Bourke, John G. (1966). Mackenzies Last ght with the
Cheyennes, .New York Arogonaut Press.
[8] US Congress (1860-1891).
Senate Report 708,
p.153,266,269. 46th, 2nd Session.
[9] Pages 20 to 22, Maddux, In Dull Knifes Wake

8.2

Little Wolfs band

After the council near the North Platte where the Northern Cheyenne split up, Little Wolfs band continued north
to the Sand Hills of Nebraska where they wintered along
Wild Chokecherry Creek where there was plentiful deer,
antelope and cattle. They saw a few white men during the
winter but were undisturbed. In early spring they moved
north to the Powder River. There they were located by
scouts attached to troops from Fort Keogh commanded
by Lieutenant W.P. Clark, an army ocer known as
White Hat to the Cheyenne and who had been friendly
with Little Wolf in the past. After negotiation with rst

[10] Page 22, Maddux, In Dull Knifes Wake

[11] Pages 27, 31 to 33, Maddux, In Dull Knifes Wake
[12] Maddux (2003), pp. 88-92
[13] Pages 78 to 103, Monnett, Tell Them We Are Going Home
[14] Pages 177 to 191, Boye, Holding Stone Hands
[15] Wright, Peter M. (1968). The Pursuit of Dull Knife from
Fort Reno in 1878-1879, pp141-154. Chronicles of Oklahoma, Volume 46.
[16] Lackie, William H. (1941). Liquidation of Dull Knife,
pp.109-110. Nebraska History Vol.22.

10

[17] Pages to 409 to 413, Grinnell, The Fighting Cheyenne

Chapter 14, Cheyenne Exodus, pages 331 to 359,

Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West, Dee Brown, Henry Holt
(1970, Owl paperback edition 1991), trade paperback, 488 pages, ISBN 0-8050-1730-5
Chapter 29, Little Wolf and Dull Knife, 187679, pages 398 to 413 and Chapter 30, The Fort
Robinson Outbreak, pages 414 to 427, The Fighting Cheyennes, George Bird Grinnell, University
of Oklahoma Press (1956, Scribners Sons 1915),
hardcover, 454 pages
Maddux, Vernon R. (2003). In Dull Knifes Wake:
The True Story of the Northern Cheyenne Exodus of
1878, Horse Creek Publications. ISBN 0-97222171-9
Dennis Collins, The Indians last ght or the Dull
Knife raid, Press of the Appeal to Reason (1915),
hardcover, 326 pages Read on line or Download
Holding Stone Hands: On the Trail of the Cheyenne
Exodus, by Alan Boye, Bison Books (September 1,
2001), trade paperback: 347 pages, ISBN 0-80326185-3 ISBN 978-0803261853 Google Books
Tell Them We Are Going Home: The Odyssey of
the Northern Cheyennes, by John H. Monnett, University of Oklahoma Press (December 2004), trade
paperback, 255 pages ISBN 0-8061-3645-6 ISBN
978-0806136455
Cheyenne Autumn, Mari Sandoz, Bison Books
(February 1, 1992), trade paperback, 290 pages,
ISBN 0-8032-9212-0 ISBN 978-0803292123

NOTES AND REFERENCES

11
11.1

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