Guide to Tracing of a Cheyenne drawing, undated

Scope and Contents

The collection consists of a single leaf of thin, tracing paper laminated to a supporting board. The drawing shows a mounted warrior facing fire from a group of enemies represented only partially by their firearms. A pictorial name glyph is labeled "Gellow [sic] Nose," probably intended as Yellow Nose. Inscription on top left reads "McKenzie's fight with Cheyenne on hd Powder Riv."

Please note that the contents of the collection and the language and terminology used reflect the context and culture of the time of its creation. As an historical document, its contents may be at odds with contemporary views and terminology and considered offensive today. The information within this collection does not reflect the views of the Smithsonian Institution or National Anthropological Archives, but is available in its original form to facilitate research.

Biographical Note

John Gregory Bourke (1846-1896) was an Army captain and prolific writer. A graduate of West Point, Bourke spent most of his military career in the Northern Plains under Brigadier General George Crook. After serving in these campaigns from 1869-1888, Bourke was given some time off from his military duties to study Native people. He compiled ethnological accounts of the Apache and several other tribes in the Southwest.

Biographical Note

Yellow Nose, also known as 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.

Related Materials

This is a tracing rather than an original drawing. Bourke assembled a substantial series of tracings and copies of Plains drawings. A number are now in the collection of the National Museum of the American Indian (23/4251-4599), and five are in the collection of the National Museum of American History (GA08109-8113). Scholars have matched several of these copies to works in different Cheyenne books of drawings, demonstrating that Bourke's materials are from various sources to which he had access over time. The NMAI records indicate that these copies were collected 1880-81; they originally attributed them to "Chief Yellow Nose," subsequently changed to "probably non-Indian."

Other, original Plains drawings collected by Bourke are held by the National Anthropological Archives in MS 176622, and several accessions from Bourke are cataloged in the Anthropology object collections (Acccession numbers 001136, 021242 and others).