Scope and Contents

Ledger book, now disbound, containing drawings of warfare, courtship, hunting and ceremony. The pages are numbered 1-113, with the following numbers missing: 5-6, 27-28, 31-32, 69-70, 93-96. Endpaper inscribed "Cheyenne Agency, Darlington Ind[ian] Terr[itory]". Additional laminated sheet contains original collector's tag, associated note, and early museum label. The drawings are by several artists, the most prominent being Yellow Nose. When possible, individual drawings have been assigned to Yellow Nose on stylistic grounds by comparison to his other known work.

Biographical / Historical

Yellow Nose aka Little Face, Hehuwesse, He-her-we. (1848-1910) was a Ute captured as a young boy by Dives Backward and raised within Northern Cheyenne society by his adopted father Spotted Wolf. He is recorded to have participated in the Battle of Rosebud (June 17th, 1876) and the Battle of Little Bighorn (June 25-26th, 1876) where he reportedly 1) lost a famous shield made by Whistling Elk (later acquired by the NMAI) 2) captured the guidon of the 7th Cavalry and 3) strangled Custer to death with his bare hands. After the Battle of Little Big Horn, Yellow Nose traveled with a group of Northern Cheyenne led by Little Wolf and Dull Knife eventually making camp along the Powder River. The group was attacked by General Ranald McKenzie in the Battle of Crazy Woman Fork (November 20th, 1876). During this battle Yellow Nose distracted the US soldiers, allowing the women and children to escape, and sustained a shot to the chest. Eventually, the group, including Yellow Nose, was captured and removed to the southern Cheyenne reservation in present-day Oklahoma, where Yellow Nose remained for the remainder of his life. Information on Yellow Nose from: Powell, Peter John, Sweet Medicine: The Continuing Role of the Sacred Arrows, the Sun Dance, and the Sacred Buffalo Hat in Northern Cheyenne History. Norman; University of Oklahoma Press (1969).

Biographical / Historical

For a biography of H. R. Voth, see Kaufman, Edmund G. (1973) "Heinrich R. Voth" in General Conference Mennonite Pioneers. North Newton, Kansas: Bethel College. (1973) pp. 326-333