1866: westward expansion

A Cheyenne Odyssey

ESTIMATED TIME: 1.5-2 HOURS

The year is 1866. You are Little Fox, a Northern Cheyenne boy. Can you help your tribe survive life on the Plains?

Meet the Characters

Cheyenne

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Meet the Characters

Roll over a character to learn more.

Big Eared White Man

Big Eared White Man is a trader who supplies metal goods, woven cloth, guns, and ammunition to Plains Indians in exchange for buffalo hides. He has worked for the American Fur Company since the 1840s and has always had good relations with the Plains Indians. He is worried about the declining number of buffalo his business relies on.

Chief Dull Knife

Also called Morning Star, Dull Knife (c. 1810-1883) was a prominent Northern Cheyenne chief and Dog Soldier. Dull Knife fought in the Battle of a Hundred Slain (Fetterman's Massacre) and signed the Treaty of Fort Laramie in 1868. In 1878, he and Little Wolf led nearly 300 Cheyenne on an exodus from Oklahoma, where they had been forced to relocate. During the journey north to their homeland, Dull Knife and his band split from Little Wolf to seek refuge at Red Cloud Agency in Nebraska but were imprisoned by white soldiers in Fort Robinson. Rather than face removal back south, they broke out of prison. Many were killed, but Dull Knife survived and lived until 1883. He is buried in Montana on land he helped secure for his people.

Crooked Rabit

Crooked Rabbit is Little Fox's friend, who also helps watch after the band's horses. His father and Little Fox's father were close friends who both belonged to the Elk warrior society. When the game begins, he is 16 years old.

Yellow Fox

Yellow Fox is Little Fox's mother. She is responsible for butchering and preparing all the meat for the family, gathering wild turnips and berries, cooking all meals, maintaining their lodge, and packing up the family belongings and tipi as they move from place to place.

Porcupine

Porcupine (c. 1847-1929?) was a Southern Cheyenne healer and warrior. He was a member of the Dog Soldiers, a Cheyenne warrior society known for bravery. Porcupine actively opposed the construction of the transcontinental railroad. He gained fame as a leader of the northern ghost dance movement in the late 1880s.

Little Fox

Little Fox is a member of the Northern Cheyenne, one of several Indian tribes who lived in the northern Great Plains. He was born in the Powder River Valley (present-day Montana) and lives with his mother, sister, and uncle as part of a band with about 100 fellow Cheyenne. When the game begins, Little Fox is 12 years old. Along with other young boys, he is responsible for tending and training horses. As he gets older, he will join a warrior society and participate in the buffalo hunts his tribe depends on to survive. Little Fox is based on a real person - Wooden Leg (c. 1858-1940), a Northern Cheyenne warrior who wrote a memoir about growing up on the Great Plains and events leading up to the Battle of the Little Bighorn.

Fire Wolf

Little's Fox's uncle, Fire Wolf, is a member of the Elk warrior society. Like many Northern Cheyenne, he opposes the building of US army forts along the Bozeman Trail, a wagon road for miners going to western Montana. He will fight with Lakota allies against US soldiers in the Battle of a Hundred Slain (also known as Fetterman's Massacre).

Calling Bird

Calling Bird, Little Fox's older sister, is 17 years old at the start of the game. She is very skillful at making and decorating clothes, and beading moccasins. She is being courted by two suitors, Black Moon and Many Horses.

Many Horses

Many Horses is a Lakota warrior who is noted for his trading skills. He has made many trips to the white man's trading post. He wants to marry Calling Bird in part to strengthen the alliance between his Lakota band and the Northern Cheyenne.

Black Moon

Black Moon is a Southern Cheyenne warrior whose family travelled with Chief Black Kettle's band. Even though Black Kettle had pledged peace with the whites, US soldiers attacked his settlement at Sand Creek in 1864 and killed over 100 Cheyenne. Black Moon escaped, but his entire family was killed. He has travelled north to start a new life and hopes to marry Calling Bird.

Blue Feather

Blue Feather is a young Northern Cheyenne woman who likes to ride horses and help in hunting. She knows the creeks and hills of the Powder River Valley as well as any warrior. Her family often travels with Chief Dull Knife's band.

Chief Little Wolf

Little Wolf (c. 1820-1904) was a Northern Cheyenne chief and leader of the Elk Warriors. A skilled military strategist, he led soldiers in the Battle of a Hundred Slain (Fetterman's Massacre) and signed the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868. After the Battle of the Little Bighorn, his band was forced to relocate to Oklahoma, where Little Wolf spoke out against the terrible conditions they faced. With Dull Knife, he led an exodus of nearly 300 Cheyenne from Oklahoma back north to their homeland. His band separated from Dull Knife's band and hid in the Black Hills for one winter before surrendering at Fort Keogh, only after receiving assurances they could remain in Montana. Little Wolf later worked as an army scout for General Nelson Miles.

Agent Saville

Dr. John J. Saville, a physician from Sioux City, Iowa, was the US government's Indian Agent at Red Cloud Agency from fall 1873 to late 1875. He arrived after the agency moved to Nebraska amid growing tensions between the army and the Lakota and Cheyenne. He requested greater military protection after the murder of an agency clerk, and facilitated construction of Fort Robinson near Red Cloud Agency. He also played a role in the first treaty negotiations for the Black Hills between the US government and the Lakota.

Big Eared White Man

Big Eared White Man is a trader who supplies metal goods, woven cloth, guns, and ammunition to Plains Indians in exchange for buffalo hides. He has worked for the American Fur Company since the 1840s and has always had good relations with the Plains Indians. He is worried about the declining number of buffalo his business relies on.

Chief Dull Knife

Also called Morning Star, Dull Knife (c. 1810-1883) was a prominent Northern Cheyenne chief and Dog Soldier. Dull Knife fought in the Battle of a Hundred Slain (Fetterman's Massacre) and signed the Treaty of Fort Laramie in 1868. In 1878, he and Little Wolf led nearly 300 Cheyenne on an exodus from Oklahoma, where they had been forced to relocate. During the journey north to their homeland, Dull Knife and his band split from Little Wolf to seek refuge at Red Cloud Agency in Nebraska but were imprisoned by white soldiers in Fort Robinson. Rather than face removal back south, they broke out of prison. Many were killed, but Dull Knife survived and lived until 1883. He is buried in Montana on land he helped secure for his people.

Crooked Rabit

Crooked Rabbit is Little Fox's friend, who also helps watch after the band's horses. His father and Little Fox's father were close friends who both belonged to the Elk warrior society. When the game begins, he is 16 years old.

Yellow Fox

Yellow Fox is Little Fox's mother. She is responsible for butchering and preparing all the meat for the family, gathering wild turnips and berries, cooking all meals, maintaining their lodge, and packing up the family belongings and tipi as they move from place to place.

Porcupine

Porcupine (c. 1847-1929?) was a Southern Cheyenne healer and warrior. He was a member of the Dog Soldiers, a Cheyenne warrior society known for bravery. Porcupine actively opposed the construction of the transcontinental railroad. He gained fame as a leader of the northern ghost dance movement in the late 1880s.

Little Fox

Little Fox is a member of the Northern Cheyenne, one of several Indian tribes who lived in the northern Great Plains. He was born in the Powder River Valley (present-day Montana) and lives with his mother, sister, and uncle as part of a band with about 100 fellow Cheyenne. When the game begins, Little Fox is 12 years old. Along with other young boys, he is responsible for tending and training horses. As he gets older, he will join a warrior society and participate in the buffalo hunts his tribe depends on to survive. Little Fox is based on a real person - Wooden Leg (c. 1858-1940), a Northern Cheyenne warrior who wrote a memoir about growing up on the Great Plains and events leading up to the Battle of the Little Bighorn.

Fire Wolf

Little's Fox's uncle, Fire Wolf, is a member of the Elk warrior society. Like many Northern Cheyenne, he opposes the building of US army forts along the Bozeman Trail, a wagon road for miners going to western Montana. He will fight with Lakota allies against US soldiers in the Battle of a Hundred Slain (also known as Fetterman's Massacre).

Calling Bird

Calling Bird, Little Fox's older sister, is 17 years old at the start of the game. She is very skillful at making and decorating clothes, and beading moccasins. She is being courted by two suitors, Black Moon and Many Horses.

Many Horses

Many Horses is a Lakota warrior who is noted for his trading skills. He has made many trips to the white man's trading post. He wants to marry Calling Bird in part to strengthen the alliance between his Lakota band and the Northern Cheyenne.

Black Moon

Black Moon is a Southern Cheyenne warrior whose family travelled with Chief Black Kettle's band. Even though Black Kettle had pledged peace with the whites, US soldiers attacked his settlement at Sand Creek in 1864 and killed over 100 Cheyenne. Black Moon escaped, but his entire family was killed. He has travelled north to start a new life and hopes to marry Calling Bird.

Blue Feather

Blue Feather is a young Northern Cheyenne woman who likes to ride horses and help in hunting. She knows the creeks and hills of the Powder River Valley as well as any warrior. Her family often travels with Chief Dull Knife's band.

Chief Little Wolf

Little Wolf (c. 1820-1904) was a Northern Cheyenne chief and leader of the Elk Warriors. A skilled military strategist, he led soldiers in the Battle of a Hundred Slain (Fetterman's Massacre) and signed the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868. After the Battle of the Little Bighorn, his band was forced to relocate to Oklahoma, where Little Wolf spoke out against the terrible conditions they faced. With Dull Knife, he led an exodus of nearly 300 Cheyenne from Oklahoma back north to their homeland. His band separated from Dull Knife's band and hid in the Black Hills for one winter before surrendering at Fort Keogh, only after receiving assurances they could remain in Montana. Little Wolf later worked as an army scout for General Nelson Miles.

Agent Saville

Dr. John J. Saville, a physician from Sioux City, Iowa, was the US government's Indian Agent at Red Cloud Agency from fall 1873 to late 1875. He arrived after the agency moved to Nebraska amid growing tensions between the army and the Lakota and Cheyenne. He requested greater military protection after the murder of an agency clerk, and facilitated construction of Fort Robinson near Red Cloud Agency. He also played a role in the first treaty negotiations for the Black Hills between the US government and the Lakota.