Wooden Leg (1858–1940)

From the Indian Wars reading program. Wooden Leg (he didn’t actually have a wooden leg; he was called that because he could walk long distances without getting tired) was a Northern Cheyenne who was fought at the Battle of the Rosebud (Battle of the Rosebud) and the Battle of the Little Bighorn (rel="nofollow" target="_top">Indian Views of the Custer Fight, The Battle of the Little Bighorn, Killing Custer, The Last Stand. Wooden Leg was interviewed when he was in his 70s by Thomas Marquis, a reservation doctor; Marquis notes that the interview was conducted in “sign talk” supplemented by Wooden Leg’s “scanty” English. This makes me wonder how much of the narrative comes from Wooden Leg and how much comes from Marquis; however, Marquis claims he cross-checked and confirmed the accounts with other Northern Cheyenne, and in his introduction Richard Littlebear, a Northern Cheyenne and president of Dull Knife College, doesn’t find anything amiss with Marquis’ work.

The book covers almost all of Wooden Leg’s life, from his birth in 1858 to his old age (he died in 1940). Most of the book covers ordinary life among the Cheyenne – hunting, setting up camp, flirtation with the girls, contests with the other young men. There’s quite a bit of casual violence against traditional enemies – the Crow and the Shoshoni; Wooden Leg feels sorry for one of the dead Crow, comments on the bravery of an old man of the Shoshoni, and notes that an Indian should help another Indian in need, even if it’s an enemy. (In his introduction Richard Littlebear says Cheyenne still feel animosity toward some of the traditional enemies, but claims it’s now expressed in a “joking” way). The Rosebud and Custer battle accounts are personal – the battlefields were smoky and confused, and Wooden Leg didn’t see much of the “big picture”. He does comment that many of the soldiers at the Little Bighorn “went crazy” and killed themselves, which he attributes to Indian “medicine”. He was questioned about the Little Bighorn several time in later years; he doesn’t say so directly but implies that whites seemed to want him to confirm their beliefs about the battle rather than say what actually happened.

The narrative feels “authentic”, but I have to consider that may be due to my own prejudices. However the Cheyenne were allies of the Lakota and Wooden Leg’s accounts of Lakota customs generally agree with what I’ve read elsewhere (Lakota Society).

Footnotes (by Marquis); no index, which is a handicap. Drawings of the Little Bighorn battle and the Powder River campaign. Interesting and recommended.… (mere)