Wooden Leg
Encyclopedia
Wooden Leg (1858–1940) was a Northern Cheyenne warrior who fought against Custer
at the Battle of the Little Big Horn.
, near the Cheyenne river
. He was son of Many Bullet Wounds (also called White Buffalo Shaking off the Dust) and Eagle Feather on the Forehead. He had three brothers (the two elder ones being Strong Wind Blowing and Yellow Hair, the younger one Twin) and two sisters (the elder one being Crooked Nose, the younger one Fingers Woman).
During his childhood he was known as Eats from His Hand. Later, he inherited the name Wooden Leg from his uncle, a Crow
adopted by the family of Eagle Feather on the Forehead. This young Crow proved to be a tireless walker, outlasting all the young Cheyenne and earning the name Wooden Leg, since his tireless legs seemed to be made of wood. Only his nephew was able to follow him during his endless walks and so the friends of Eats from His Hand began calling him by his uncle's name in sport. Eventually, Eats from His Hand took his uncle's name as his own.
In his childhood and youth, he lived among his tribe, wandering in the land between the Black Hills
and the Little Bighorn river
. During this period, he lived like any other Indian of the Plains, spending his time, hunting the game and fighting against the enemy tribes, in particular Crow
and Shoshone
.
The first remarkable battle with the white men he saw was the battle of Fort Kearny
in 1866. Wooden Leg was too young to take part in the battle, but during the fight his eldest brother Strong Wind Blowing died. So, in spite of the final victory of the Cheyenne, that was a mourning day for all his family. At fourteen, he was invited by Left Hand Shooter to become part of the warrior society of the Elkhorn Scrapers, one of the three warrior societies (the other being the group of the Crazy Dog and the group of the Fox) in which the men of the tribe were divided. At seventeen, he went on retreat to thank the Great Spirit. He spent four days closed in a tepee, meditating and contemplating, visited only once a day. After the trial, his face was painted with a black circle enclosing his forehead, chin and cheeks; the internal area of the circle was yellow. This facial picture, together with his best suit, his shield and his flute made from the wing of an eagle, became part of his war equipment for the rest of his life.
At the end of the winter of 1876, after some sightings of white troops, the tribe encamped near the Powder river
. During the night of 16 March 1876, because of the darkness and a storm, the sentinels saw nobody approaching; so, in the early morning of 17 March 1876, the soldiers, led by General Reynolds, attacked by surprise the Indian camp. Cheyenne fled everywhere; Wooden Leg, unarmed, took one of his horses and fled bringing with him towards safety two children. Because of the agitated flight, he abandoned his flute, which was later destroyed in the following destruction of the camp. After the battle, the Northern Cheyenne marched towards north-east, reaching the Oglala Sioux. Here they were joined by other tribes, such as Miniconjou
, Sans Arcs, Santee Sioux and Blackfeet. Together they reached, and camped in, the valley of the Little Bighorn
.
The morning of the 25 June 1876, while sleeping under a tree after a feasting night, Wooden Leg and his brother Yellow Hair were awaken by the cries of the old men claiming the arrival of the soldiers. Wooden Leg ran to his tent. He quickly prepared himself for the battle, then moved himself to the melee with his brother. At first, he fought with soldiers hidden and surrounded in the woods near the river. Defeating these enemies, he went towards the river where he found a rifle and ammunition. Then, he attacked the soldiers on the hills. The Battle of Little Bighorn lasted all day.
After the victorious battle, the Northern Cheyennes wandered for some time in the region of the Little Bighorn river, soon chased by the soldiers. Then some Cheyennes, who had lived for some time in the reservations of the United States, were sent by the U.S. Government to persuade the tribe to surrender and to live in a reservation. Because of their hunger, a great part of the tribe accepted the offer; Wooden Leg, with a group of other 34 Cheyennes, among which his brother Yellow Hair, refused, since he and his fellows "still desired, more than anything, that freedom that they considered a right". He lived a laborious life in the area of the Tongue river
and the Powder river
, until, again because of the hunger, he and other 30 Cheyennes decided to give up their lives as hunters and sought the reservation.
Wooden Leg entered in the reservation of the White River
. He lived here until the soldiers moved the reservation southward. In this new place, he learned how to hunt eagles. However, the new reservation was very far from the native land of many Northern Cheyennes, so a group led by Little Wolf
, disobeying the soldiers, left the reservation to go back to their ancient home. Wooden Leg at first refused to follow the old leader and remained in the reservation. In 1878, he married a Southern Cheyenne woman. After the death of his father, Wooden Leg and his family decided to leave the southern reservation. Passing from the White River reservation, renamed by that time as Pine Ridge Indian Reservation
, they reached the place where Little Wolf and the other Cheyennes camped. It was the core of the future reservation of the Tongue River
.
In 1889, Wooden Leg enlisted at Fort Keogh
as a scout, and, in 1890, he guided the soldiers in the campaign of the Wounded Knee Massacre
. In the same years, he served also a messenger and a sentry.
In 1906, thirty years after the battle of Little Bighorn, he took part to a meeting of whites and Indians, gathered on the field of the battle to remember that event. He spoke of the battle, being one of the few Indians who had the courage to tell his experience to Dixon, a white doctor.
In 1908, Wooden Leg was baptized by the priest in the reservation. He thought that the whites and the Indians worshiped the same god, even if in different manner (i.e.: calling him with different names).
In 1913, Wooden Leg, together with the young Little Wolf (nephew of the old Cheyenne leader), Two Moons
and Black Wolf
, was part of a delegation sent to Washington
to speak about the Cheyenne tribe. During this journey, he visited Washington and New York
. Back in the reservation, he became a judge: he had the responsibility to solve quarrels in the tribe and to teach the law of the United States. Twice, he was offered to become a chief in lower order of the warrior group of the Elkhorn Scrapers, but he refused; some white men called him Chief Wooden Leg, but indeed he was never a chief. He had two daughters, but they both died in their youth. After the death of the last daughter, he and his wife decided to adopt the son of his sister, John White Wolf.
In 1930, he was interviewed by Thomas B. Marquis, a former agency physician for the Cheyenne, and related a great deal of information about Cheyenne life prior to the reservations and the battle of Little Bighorn. His account is published in a book called Wooden Leg: A Warrior Who Fought Custer
.
He died in 1940.
George Armstrong Custer
George Armstrong Custer was a United States Army officer and cavalry commander in the American Civil War and the Indian Wars. Raised in Michigan and Ohio, Custer was admitted to West Point in 1858, where he graduated last in his class...
at the Battle of the Little Big Horn.
Biography
Wooden Leg was born, in 1858, in the region of the Black HillsBlack Hills
The Black Hills are a small, isolated mountain range rising from the Great Plains of North America in western South Dakota and extending into Wyoming, USA. Set off from the main body of the Rocky Mountains, the region is something of a geological anomaly—accurately described as an "island of...
, near the Cheyenne river
Cheyenne River
The Cheyenne River is a tributary of the Missouri River in the U.S. states of Wyoming and South Dakota. It is approximately 295 mi long and drains an area of...
. He was son of Many Bullet Wounds (also called White Buffalo Shaking off the Dust) and Eagle Feather on the Forehead. He had three brothers (the two elder ones being Strong Wind Blowing and Yellow Hair, the younger one Twin) and two sisters (the elder one being Crooked Nose, the younger one Fingers Woman).
During his childhood he was known as Eats from His Hand. Later, he inherited the name Wooden Leg from his uncle, a Crow
Crow Nation
The Crow, also called the Absaroka or Apsáalooke, are a Siouan people of Native Americans who historically lived in the Yellowstone River valley, which extends from present-day Wyoming, through Montana and into North Dakota. They now live on a reservation south of Billings, Montana and in several...
adopted by the family of Eagle Feather on the Forehead. This young Crow proved to be a tireless walker, outlasting all the young Cheyenne and earning the name Wooden Leg, since his tireless legs seemed to be made of wood. Only his nephew was able to follow him during his endless walks and so the friends of Eats from His Hand began calling him by his uncle's name in sport. Eventually, Eats from His Hand took his uncle's name as his own.
In his childhood and youth, he lived among his tribe, wandering in the land between the Black Hills
Black Hills
The Black Hills are a small, isolated mountain range rising from the Great Plains of North America in western South Dakota and extending into Wyoming, USA. Set off from the main body of the Rocky Mountains, the region is something of a geological anomaly—accurately described as an "island of...
and the Little Bighorn river
Little Bighorn River
The Little Bighorn River is a tributary of the Bighorn River in the United States in the states of Wyoming and Montana. The Battle of the Little Bighorn was fought on its banks in 1876, as well as the Battle of Crow Agency in 1887....
. During this period, he lived like any other Indian of the Plains, spending his time, hunting the game and fighting against the enemy tribes, in particular Crow
Crow Nation
The Crow, also called the Absaroka or Apsáalooke, are a Siouan people of Native Americans who historically lived in the Yellowstone River valley, which extends from present-day Wyoming, through Montana and into North Dakota. They now live on a reservation south of Billings, Montana and in several...
and Shoshone
Shoshone
The Shoshone or Shoshoni are a Native American tribe in the United States with three large divisions: the Northern, the Western and the Eastern....
.
The first remarkable battle with the white men he saw was the battle of Fort Kearny
Fort Kearny
Fort Kearny was a historic outpost of the United States Army founded in 1848 in the western U.S. during the middle and late 19th century. The outpost was located along the Oregon Trail near present-day Kearney, Nebraska, which took its name from the fort .-Origins and various missions of the...
in 1866. Wooden Leg was too young to take part in the battle, but during the fight his eldest brother Strong Wind Blowing died. So, in spite of the final victory of the Cheyenne, that was a mourning day for all his family. At fourteen, he was invited by Left Hand Shooter to become part of the warrior society of the Elkhorn Scrapers, one of the three warrior societies (the other being the group of the Crazy Dog and the group of the Fox) in which the men of the tribe were divided. At seventeen, he went on retreat to thank the Great Spirit. He spent four days closed in a tepee, meditating and contemplating, visited only once a day. After the trial, his face was painted with a black circle enclosing his forehead, chin and cheeks; the internal area of the circle was yellow. This facial picture, together with his best suit, his shield and his flute made from the wing of an eagle, became part of his war equipment for the rest of his life.
At the end of the winter of 1876, after some sightings of white troops, the tribe encamped near the Powder river
Powder River (Montana)
Powder River is a tributary of the Yellowstone River, approximately long in the southeastern Montana and northeastern Wyoming in the United States. It drains an area historically known as the Powder River Country on the high plains east of the Bighorn Mountains.It rises in three forks in eastern...
. During the night of 16 March 1876, because of the darkness and a storm, the sentinels saw nobody approaching; so, in the early morning of 17 March 1876, the soldiers, led by General Reynolds, attacked by surprise the Indian camp. Cheyenne fled everywhere; Wooden Leg, unarmed, took one of his horses and fled bringing with him towards safety two children. Because of the agitated flight, he abandoned his flute, which was later destroyed in the following destruction of the camp. After the battle, the Northern Cheyenne marched towards north-east, reaching the Oglala Sioux. Here they were joined by other tribes, such as Miniconjou
Miniconjou
The Miniconjou are a Native American people constituting a subdivision of the Lakota Sioux, who formerly inhabited an area from the Black Hills in South Dakota to the Platte River. The contemporary population lives mostly in west-central South Dakota...
, Sans Arcs, Santee Sioux and Blackfeet. Together they reached, and camped in, the valley of the Little Bighorn
Little Bighorn River
The Little Bighorn River is a tributary of the Bighorn River in the United States in the states of Wyoming and Montana. The Battle of the Little Bighorn was fought on its banks in 1876, as well as the Battle of Crow Agency in 1887....
.
The morning of the 25 June 1876, while sleeping under a tree after a feasting night, Wooden Leg and his brother Yellow Hair were awaken by the cries of the old men claiming the arrival of the soldiers. Wooden Leg ran to his tent. He quickly prepared himself for the battle, then moved himself to the melee with his brother. At first, he fought with soldiers hidden and surrounded in the woods near the river. Defeating these enemies, he went towards the river where he found a rifle and ammunition. Then, he attacked the soldiers on the hills. The Battle of Little Bighorn lasted all day.
After the victorious battle, the Northern Cheyennes wandered for some time in the region of the Little Bighorn river, soon chased by the soldiers. Then some Cheyennes, who had lived for some time in the reservations of the United States, were sent by the U.S. Government to persuade the tribe to surrender and to live in a reservation. Because of their hunger, a great part of the tribe accepted the offer; Wooden Leg, with a group of other 34 Cheyennes, among which his brother Yellow Hair, refused, since he and his fellows "still desired, more than anything, that freedom that they considered a right". He lived a laborious life in the area of the Tongue river
Tongue River (Montana)
The Tongue River is a tributary of the Yellowstone River, approximately 265 mi long, in the U.S. states of Wyoming and Montana. The Tongue rises in Wyoming in the Big Horn Mountains, flows through northern Wyoming and southeastern Montana and empties into the Yellowstone River at Miles City,...
and the Powder river
Powder River (Montana)
Powder River is a tributary of the Yellowstone River, approximately long in the southeastern Montana and northeastern Wyoming in the United States. It drains an area historically known as the Powder River Country on the high plains east of the Bighorn Mountains.It rises in three forks in eastern...
, until, again because of the hunger, he and other 30 Cheyennes decided to give up their lives as hunters and sought the reservation.
Wooden Leg entered in the reservation of the White River
White River (South Dakota)
The White River is a Missouri River tributary that flows through the U.S. states of Nebraska and South Dakota. The name stems from the water's white-gray color, a function of eroded sand, clay, and volcanic ash carried by the river...
. He lived here until the soldiers moved the reservation southward. In this new place, he learned how to hunt eagles. However, the new reservation was very far from the native land of many Northern Cheyennes, so a group led by Little Wolf
Little Wolf
Little Wolf was a Northern Cheyenne Chief...
, disobeying the soldiers, left the reservation to go back to their ancient home. Wooden Leg at first refused to follow the old leader and remained in the reservation. In 1878, he married a Southern Cheyenne woman. After the death of his father, Wooden Leg and his family decided to leave the southern reservation. Passing from the White River reservation, renamed by that time as Pine Ridge Indian Reservation
Pine Ridge Indian Reservation
The Pine Ridge Indian Reservation is an Oglala Sioux Native American reservation located in the U.S. state of South Dakota. Originally included within the territory of the Great Sioux Reservation, Pine Ridge was established in 1889 in the southwest corner of South Dakota on the Nebraska border...
, they reached the place where Little Wolf and the other Cheyennes camped. It was the core of the future reservation of the Tongue River
Tongue River (Montana)
The Tongue River is a tributary of the Yellowstone River, approximately 265 mi long, in the U.S. states of Wyoming and Montana. The Tongue rises in Wyoming in the Big Horn Mountains, flows through northern Wyoming and southeastern Montana and empties into the Yellowstone River at Miles City,...
.
In 1889, Wooden Leg enlisted at Fort Keogh
Fort Keogh
Fort Keogh is located on the western edge of Miles City, Montana. Occasionally spelled Fort Keough. Originally a military post, today it is a United States Department of Agriculture livestock and range research station. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places...
as a scout, and, in 1890, he guided the soldiers in the campaign of the Wounded Knee Massacre
Wounded Knee Massacre
The Wounded Knee Massacre happened on December 29, 1890, near Wounded Knee Creek on the Lakota Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, USA. On the day before, a detachment of the U.S. 7th Cavalry Regiment commanded by Major Samuel M...
. In the same years, he served also a messenger and a sentry.
In 1906, thirty years after the battle of Little Bighorn, he took part to a meeting of whites and Indians, gathered on the field of the battle to remember that event. He spoke of the battle, being one of the few Indians who had the courage to tell his experience to Dixon, a white doctor.
In 1908, Wooden Leg was baptized by the priest in the reservation. He thought that the whites and the Indians worshiped the same god, even if in different manner (i.e.: calling him with different names).
In 1913, Wooden Leg, together with the young Little Wolf (nephew of the old Cheyenne leader), Two Moons
Two Moons
Two Moons , pronounced ‘Ishaynishus’ was the son of Carries the Otter, an Arikara captive who married into the Cheyenne tribe...
and Black Wolf
Black Wolf
The Black Wolf is a melanistic color variant of the grey wolf .Black Wolf may also refer to:* Black Wolf, West Virginia* Black Wolf, Wisconsin* Black Wolf , an Australia/New Zealand brand of outdoor leisure equipment...
, was part of a delegation sent to Washington
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
to speak about the Cheyenne tribe. During this journey, he visited Washington and New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. Back in the reservation, he became a judge: he had the responsibility to solve quarrels in the tribe and to teach the law of the United States. Twice, he was offered to become a chief in lower order of the warrior group of the Elkhorn Scrapers, but he refused; some white men called him Chief Wooden Leg, but indeed he was never a chief. He had two daughters, but they both died in their youth. After the death of the last daughter, he and his wife decided to adopt the son of his sister, John White Wolf.
In 1930, he was interviewed by Thomas B. Marquis, a former agency physician for the Cheyenne, and related a great deal of information about Cheyenne life prior to the reservations and the battle of Little Bighorn. His account is published in a book called Wooden Leg: A Warrior Who Fought Custer
Wooden Leg: A Warrior Who Fought Custer
Wooden Leg: A Warrior Who Fought Custer is a book about the life of a Northern Cheyenne Indian, Wooden Leg, who fought in several historic battles between US forces and the Plains Indians, including the Battle of the Little Bighorn...
.
He died in 1940.
Sources
- "Wooden Leg - University of Nebraska Press," URL accessed 05/27/06
- Thomas B. Marquis. Wooden Leg: A Warrior Who Fought CusterWooden Leg: A Warrior Who Fought CusterWooden Leg: A Warrior Who Fought Custer is a book about the life of a Northern Cheyenne Indian, Wooden Leg, who fought in several historic battles between US forces and the Plains Indians, including the Battle of the Little Bighorn...
(Midwest Company, 1931).