Wooden Leg (Kâhamâxéveóhtáh) was a Northern Cheyenne Warrior who fought against George Armstrong Custer at the Battle of the Little Big Horn.
Early Life. Wooden Leg was born, in 1858, in the region of the Black Hills, 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, 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 game and fighting against the enemy tribes, in particular Crow and Shoshone. Wooden Leg was known for his gargantuan height and was measured 6'3" tall in his 70s.
The first remarkable battle with the white men he saw was the Wagon Box Fight 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 14, 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 17, 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 bone of an eagle, became part of his war equipment for the rest of his life.
Later Life. 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 tribes to surrender and to live in a reservation. Because of their hunger, a great part of the Cheyenne tribe accepted the offer; Wooden Leg, with a group of 34 other Cheyennes, among whom was his brother Yellow Hair, refused, since his fellows and he "still desired, more than anything, that freedom that they considered a right". He lived a laborious life in the area of the Tongue and Powder Rivers, until again because of hunger, he and the other 30 Cheyennes decided to give up their lives as hunters and sought the reservation.
Wooden Leg entered the White River Reservation. He lived there until the U.S. government forced the Cheyennes to Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma). There, Wooden Leg learned how to hunt eagles. However, the new reservation was very far from the native land of many Northern Cheyennes, and many died of disease. A group led by Dull Knife and Little Wolf disobeyed the soldiers and left the reservation to return north. Wooden Leg at first refused to follow the leaders, and remained on 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 Tongue River.
In 1889, Wooden Leg enlisted at Fort Keogh as a U.S. Indian scout, and was assigned to First Lieutenant Edward W. Casey's Cheyenne Scouts of the Department of Dakota. In 1890, Casey's Scouts and Wooden Leg guided soldiers in the Ghost Dance campaign resulting in the Wounded Knee Massacre. In the same years, he served also as a messenger and a sentry.
Thirty years after the battle of Little Bighorn, he took part in a 1906 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.
Wooden Leg was baptized by the priest in the reservation in 1908. He thought that the whites and the Indians worshiped the same god, even if in a different manner (i.e.: calling him with different names).
Wooden Leg, together with the young Little Wolf (nephew of the old Cheyenne leader), Two Moons and Black Wolf, was part of a 1913 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 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 a 1903 interview with Thomas B. Marquis, a former agency physician for the Cheyenne, Wooden Leg related a great deal of information about Cheyenne life prior to the reservations and the battle of Little Bighorn. His account is published in the book Wooden Leg: A Warrior Who Fought Custer.
Wooden Leg died in 1940.
Early Life. Wooden Leg was born, in 1858, in the region of the Black Hills, 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, 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 game and fighting against the enemy tribes, in particular Crow and Shoshone. Wooden Leg was known for his gargantuan height and was measured 6'3" tall in his 70s.
The first remarkable battle with the white men he saw was the Wagon Box Fight 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 14, 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 17, 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 bone of an eagle, became part of his war equipment for the rest of his life.
Later Life. 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 tribes to surrender and to live in a reservation. Because of their hunger, a great part of the Cheyenne tribe accepted the offer; Wooden Leg, with a group of 34 other Cheyennes, among whom was his brother Yellow Hair, refused, since his fellows and he "still desired, more than anything, that freedom that they considered a right". He lived a laborious life in the area of the Tongue and Powder Rivers, until again because of hunger, he and the other 30 Cheyennes decided to give up their lives as hunters and sought the reservation.
Wooden Leg entered the White River Reservation. He lived there until the U.S. government forced the Cheyennes to Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma). There, Wooden Leg learned how to hunt eagles. However, the new reservation was very far from the native land of many Northern Cheyennes, and many died of disease. A group led by Dull Knife and Little Wolf disobeyed the soldiers and left the reservation to return north. Wooden Leg at first refused to follow the leaders, and remained on 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 Tongue River.
In 1889, Wooden Leg enlisted at Fort Keogh as a U.S. Indian scout, and was assigned to First Lieutenant Edward W. Casey's Cheyenne Scouts of the Department of Dakota. In 1890, Casey's Scouts and Wooden Leg guided soldiers in the Ghost Dance campaign resulting in the Wounded Knee Massacre. In the same years, he served also as a messenger and a sentry.
Thirty years after the battle of Little Bighorn, he took part in a 1906 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.
Wooden Leg was baptized by the priest in the reservation in 1908. He thought that the whites and the Indians worshiped the same god, even if in a different manner (i.e.: calling him with different names).
Wooden Leg, together with the young Little Wolf (nephew of the old Cheyenne leader), Two Moons and Black Wolf, was part of a 1913 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 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 a 1903 interview with Thomas B. Marquis, a former agency physician for the Cheyenne, Wooden Leg related a great deal of information about Cheyenne life prior to the reservations and the battle of Little Bighorn. His account is published in the book Wooden Leg: A Warrior Who Fought Custer.
Wooden Leg died in 1940.
Wooden Leg (Kâhamâxéveóhtáh) was a Northern Cheyenne Warrior who fought against George Armstrong Custer at the Battle of the Little Big Horn.
Early Life. Wooden Leg was born, in 1858, in the region of the Black Hills, 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, 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 game and fighting against the enemy tribes, in particular Crow and Shoshone. Wooden Leg was known for his gargantuan height and was measured 6'3" tall in his 70s.
The first remarkable battle with the white men he saw was the Wagon Box Fight 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 14, 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 17, 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 bone of an eagle, became part of his war equipment for the rest of his life.
Later Life. 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 tribes to surrender and to live in a reservation. Because of their hunger, a great part of the Cheyenne tribe accepted the offer; Wooden Leg, with a group of 34 other Cheyennes, among whom was his brother Yellow Hair, refused, since his fellows and he "still desired, more than anything, that freedom that they considered a right". He lived a laborious life in the area of the Tongue and Powder Rivers, until again because of hunger, he and the other 30 Cheyennes decided to give up their lives as hunters and sought the reservation.
Wooden Leg entered the White River Reservation. He lived there until the U.S. government forced the Cheyennes to Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma). There, Wooden Leg learned how to hunt eagles. However, the new reservation was very far from the native land of many Northern Cheyennes, and many died of disease. A group led by Dull Knife and Little Wolf disobeyed the soldiers and left the reservation to return north. Wooden Leg at first refused to follow the leaders, and remained on 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 Tongue River.
In 1889, Wooden Leg enlisted at Fort Keogh as a U.S. Indian scout, and was assigned to First Lieutenant Edward W. Casey's Cheyenne Scouts of the Department of Dakota. In 1890, Casey's Scouts and Wooden Leg guided soldiers in the Ghost Dance campaign resulting in the Wounded Knee Massacre. In the same years, he served also as a messenger and a sentry.
Thirty years after the battle of Little Bighorn, he took part in a 1906 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.
Wooden Leg was baptized by the priest in the reservation in 1908. He thought that the whites and the Indians worshiped the same god, even if in a different manner (i.e.: calling him with different names).
Wooden Leg, together with the young Little Wolf (nephew of the old Cheyenne leader), Two Moons and Black Wolf, was part of a 1913 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 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 a 1903 interview with Thomas B. Marquis, a former agency physician for the Cheyenne, Wooden Leg related a great deal of information about Cheyenne life prior to the reservations and the battle of Little Bighorn. His account is published in the book Wooden Leg: A Warrior Who Fought Custer.
Wooden Leg died in 1940.
Early Life. Wooden Leg was born, in 1858, in the region of the Black Hills, 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, 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 game and fighting against the enemy tribes, in particular Crow and Shoshone. Wooden Leg was known for his gargantuan height and was measured 6'3" tall in his 70s.
The first remarkable battle with the white men he saw was the Wagon Box Fight 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 14, 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 17, 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 bone of an eagle, became part of his war equipment for the rest of his life.
Later Life. 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 tribes to surrender and to live in a reservation. Because of their hunger, a great part of the Cheyenne tribe accepted the offer; Wooden Leg, with a group of 34 other Cheyennes, among whom was his brother Yellow Hair, refused, since his fellows and he "still desired, more than anything, that freedom that they considered a right". He lived a laborious life in the area of the Tongue and Powder Rivers, until again because of hunger, he and the other 30 Cheyennes decided to give up their lives as hunters and sought the reservation.
Wooden Leg entered the White River Reservation. He lived there until the U.S. government forced the Cheyennes to Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma). There, Wooden Leg learned how to hunt eagles. However, the new reservation was very far from the native land of many Northern Cheyennes, and many died of disease. A group led by Dull Knife and Little Wolf disobeyed the soldiers and left the reservation to return north. Wooden Leg at first refused to follow the leaders, and remained on 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 Tongue River.
In 1889, Wooden Leg enlisted at Fort Keogh as a U.S. Indian scout, and was assigned to First Lieutenant Edward W. Casey's Cheyenne Scouts of the Department of Dakota. In 1890, Casey's Scouts and Wooden Leg guided soldiers in the Ghost Dance campaign resulting in the Wounded Knee Massacre. In the same years, he served also as a messenger and a sentry.
Thirty years after the battle of Little Bighorn, he took part in a 1906 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.
Wooden Leg was baptized by the priest in the reservation in 1908. He thought that the whites and the Indians worshiped the same god, even if in a different manner (i.e.: calling him with different names).
Wooden Leg, together with the young Little Wolf (nephew of the old Cheyenne leader), Two Moons and Black Wolf, was part of a 1913 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 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 a 1903 interview with Thomas B. Marquis, a former agency physician for the Cheyenne, Wooden Leg related a great deal of information about Cheyenne life prior to the reservations and the battle of Little Bighorn. His account is published in the book Wooden Leg: A Warrior Who Fought Custer.
Wooden Leg died in 1940.
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