Cheyenne Dog Soldiers

Cheyenne Dog Soldiers. Indian Wars on the Colorado Plains. , November 29, 1864. To the Cheyenne people, this day will forever be "Bo-No-ya-Hit": The Sand Creek Massacre. To the tribe's elite society of Dog Soldiers, it was their call to arms in a grasslands war with the United States., Home on the Range , By 1800, as many as 3,000 Southern Cheyennes and their Arapaho allies controlled the Colorado plains. The Cheyennes lived in about ten bands that gathered every spring for a full tribal council. Bands often camped near the huge buffalo herds that regularly grazed around Denver's future site. But after gold was discovered near here in 1858, swarms of newcomers forced the buffalo herds to change their migration routes., By then, many thousands of Indian horses had devoured the area's short grass prairie down to its roots. As the buffalo moved to quieter, greener pastures, the Cheyenne and Arapaho people around Denver began to starve., Dogged Determination , According to Cheyenne custom, every young man joined one of several tribal warrior societies. With names such as the Bowstrings and the Fox Soldiers, these highly ritualized military organizations drew members from each band. They defended the the tribe, led raids on enemies and maintained order within the camps., Of all the warrior societies, the Dog Soldiers, or Dog Men, were the most powerful. Highly skilled guerrilla fighters, the Dog Soldier Society led the Cheyennes - and eventually several other Plains tribes - in a full-scale war with the United States. After the Ft. Wise Treaty in 1861, the Dog Soldiers rode north to the Smoky Hills. Vowing never to live on a reservation, they operated with their own military and political authority., War In The Air , In 1864, the sporadic clashes between Dog Soldiers and whites escalated to war. That spring, a string of bloody attacks and counter-attacks terrified whites across Colorado Territory. Governor John Evans ordered Col. John M. Chivington to raise the Third Colorado Calvary for 100 days., In September, Black Kettle asked to meet with government officials to discuss peace. At Camp Weld, the Southern Cheyenne and Arapaho leaders agreed to move their people to Sand Creek under U.S. military protection., By late November, Black Kettle, White Antelope and others were camped at Sand Creek. Meanwhile, Chivington marched his army of 700 volunteers toward their encampment. By mid-morning of November 29, the "Bloodless Third" was bloodless no more., Blood In The Valley , After the massacre, other military societies joined the Dog Soldiers in challenging the peace efforts of their chiefs. Military leaders, especially Dog Soldiers, stepped to the forefront of Cheyenne society., By early 1865, the Dog Soldiers had assembled a force of 2,000 Cheyenne, Arapaho and Sioux warriors along the South Platte River. They launched a deadly attack on an army outpost and stage stop near Julesburg. That night began a reign of terror, as the Dog Soldiers captured wagon trains, destroyed telegraph lines and raided settlements up and down the Platte., President Lincoln sent 8,000 troops to fight the Indian Wars. Within two years, war-weary Peace Chiefs signed the Medicine Lodge Treaty. The Cheyenne and Arapaho leaders who survived took their people to a bleak reservation in Oklahoma., Honor In The End , The Dog Soldiers never regained their prominence as a separate political division of warriors. But they are still revered by the Cheyenne people today. Young Cheyenne men are still recruited into this respected soldier clan. During the 20th Century, Dog Soldiers served with honor in the United States military in two World Wars and in the conflicts in Korea, Vietnam and the Persian Gulf region.