Chief Henry Roman Nose

Chief Henry Roman Nose. . , Chief Henry Roman Nose, for whom this park is named, was one of forty-four chiefs of the Southern Cheyenne tribe. He was a council chief from 1897 until his death in 1917. Born in 1856, Roman Nose (Woqini in the Cheyenne language) grew up during a turbulent and tragic time for the Plains Indian tribes. As a teenager, Roman Nose participated in raids against white settlers and was among the warriors who surrendered in 1875 at the Darlington Indian Agency., After serving a three-year prison sentence in Florida and receiving some education, Roman Nose returned to Oklahoma. Upon leaving the Darlington Agency, Roman Nose and his family made their home on a knoll within the valley of Bitter Creek. There is a historical marker near the center of this park that indicates the location of their tepee and dug-out. In 1912, Roman Nose had a conventional wood-frame home built on the rim of the canyon, north of the dug-out., As a council chief, Roman Nose served his people in many ways. He helped the members of his tribe deal with profound changes in their lives. Not far removed from a free-roaming life on the plains, his people had to adjust to life with white society. His first wife and two infant children died of disease. Although trained as a tinsmith, he was often forced to work in jobs which he was untrained or ill-suited. Om his later years, disillusioned by unkept government promises, Roman Nose rejected white society. Roman Nose died a few days short of his sixty-first birthday.