Cheyenne Dog Soldiers: A Ledgerbook History of Coups and Combat

by Andrew E. Masich, Jean Afton, David Fridtjof Halaas, Richard N. Ellis

Overview

Since the Battle of Summit Springs on July 11, 1869, a ledgerbook of over one hundred color drawings lay neglected in the archives of the Colorado Historical Society for nearly a century. The authors, working in close association with the Cheyenne nation, have produced an unprecedented look at the Dog Soldiers based on this ledgerbook. Unlike other books that interpret ledgerbook art, the authors treat the Summit Springs ledger drawings as historical documents, a history of the Dog Soldiers recorded by the warrior-artists themselves.

In Cheyenne Dog Soldiers, the earliest of the extant Cheyenne ledgerbooks, the authors have painstakingly matched drawings with known events, such as the 1865 sack of Julesburg, Colorado, and the 1865 battles of Rush Creek, Platte River Bridge, and Tongue River in the Dakota and Montana territories. Also identified are such noted Dog Soldiers as Tall Bull, Big Crow, Whirlwind, and Wolf with Plenty of Hair.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780870815744
Publisher:	University Press of Colorado
Publication date:	05/28/1998
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	432
Product dimensions:	8.50(w) x 11.00(h) x 0.80(d)

Editorial Reviews

Spectacular . . . Cheyenne Dog Soldiers deserves wide readership and careful study.

Montana Magazine

Without question, this volume will long stand as a landmark achievement in the interpretation not only of ledgerbook art but also of the Cheyenne's historic struggle to preserve their ancestral way of life.

Nebraska History

Cheyenne Dog Soldiers offers us our best opportunity to enter the minds of the long-departed warrior artists who created the scenes.

Journal of Indian Wars