Dog Soldiers

[1] After nearly half the Southern Cheyenne died in the cholera epidemic of 1849, many of the remaining Masikota band joined the Dog Soldiers.

[citation needed] The two central institutions of traditional Cheyenne tribal governance are the Council of Forty-Four[2] and the military societies, the Dog Soldiers.

Prior to the peace council held at Bent's Fort in 1840, the Algonquian-speaking Southern Cheyenne and Arapaho were allied against their traditional enemies, the Comanche, Kiowa, and Plains Apache, who belonged to different language families and cultures.

He reached a Northern Cheyenne camp along the South Platte River just after it had traded for liquor from American Fur Company at Fort Laramie.

[8][9] Although outlawed by the main body of the Cheyenne, Porcupine Bear led the Dog Soldiers into battle against the Kiowa and Comanche at Wolf Creek.

[8] The outlawing of Porcupine Bear, his relatives, and his followers led to the transformation of the Dog Soldiers from a warrior society into a separate division of the tribe.

[11] Other elements contributing to the breakdown of the traditional clan system were the high rate of deaths from the 1849 cholera epidemic, which killed perhaps half the Southern Cheyenne population,[14] particularly devastating the Masikota band and nearly wiping out the Oktoguna.

[17] By the 1860s, as conflict between Indigenous people and whites intensified, the militaristic Dog Soldiers increased their influence, together with that of the warrior societies of other Cheyenne bands.

The warriors became a significant counter-influence to the leadership of the traditional Council of Forty-Four chiefs, who were likely to favor working for peace with the whites.

Dog Soldiers refused to sign treaties that limited their hunting grounds and restricted them to a reservation south of the Arkansas River.

They attempted to hold their traditional lands at Smoky Hill, but the campaigns of General Philip Sheridan foiled these efforts.

Attacked by General Eugene Carr, the Dog Soldiers began raiding settlements on Smoky Hill River in revenge.

After raiding sites in Kansas, they were attacked by a force composed of Pawnee Scouts led by Major Frank North, and United States cavalry, who killed 23 of an estimated 450 Cheyenne warriors (5%), including Tall Bull, in the Battle of Summit Springs in June 1869.