The Cheyenne were among the most formidable tribes on the American plains, and at the heart of their military strength stood the Dog Soldiers, a warrior society famed for its courage and refusal to retreat. Organized into fraternal, military, and semi-religious orders, the Cheyenne structured their fighters into distinct societies with unique dress codes, rituals, and traditions. Among these, the Dog Soldiers were exceptional, their reputation for steadfastness in battle becoming legendary. The most detailed account of their origins comes from George A.
Dorsey’s 1905 work, “The Cheyenne Ceremonial Organization. ” According to this origin story, the Dog Soldier Society was established by a young man of little prominence who had been selected by the Great Prophet. One morning, he walked to the center of the camp circle and declared his intention to create a society. Initially, no one joined him, and he stood alone all day while other medicine men easily formed their own societies.
Lacking the authority of a medicine man, he faced mockery and struggled to attract followers. That evening, feeling discouraged, he sat in the camp center praying to the Great Prophet and the Great Medicine Man for guidance. At sunset, he began chanting a sacred song. As he sang, the dogs throughout the camp, big and small, began to whine, howl, and grow agitated.
The people in their lodges fell asleep. The man sang from sunset to midnight, then began to wail. Continuing his singing, he walked to the opening of the camp circle. There he ceased singing, and all the dogs in the camp, male and female, some carrying puppies in their mouths, followed him.
He sang four times before reaching his destination. At dawn, he and the dogs arrived at a partially wooded river bottom. The man sat by a tree leaning toward the north. Immediately, the dogs formed a semicircle around him, mimicking a camp circle, and laid down to rest.
By some mystical force, a lodge appeared over the man, incorporating the leading tree and three other saplings trimmed at the base with branches left at the top, covered with buffalo hides. As the dogs entered the lodge, they transformed into human beings dressed as members of the Dog Men society. They began to sing, and the man listened intently, learning their songs, ceremonies, and dances. For three days, the Dog Men blessed him, promising success in his endeavors and declaring that his society and band would become the greatest if he followed their guidance.
When the Cheyenne later found the camp, the dog lodge vanished and the Dog Men reverted to dogs. The medicine men and warriors regretted refusing to join the young man’s society. The next day, following the Great Prophet’s instructions, he again invited warriors to join, and hundreds did. He directed the society to emulate the Dog Men in attire and song, earning them the name Dog Men warriors from other societies.
This origin story bolstered the Dog Soldiers’ reputation for strength, skill, and steadfast courage in battle. Their refusal to yield became legendary. The Dog Soldiers served multiple roles within the Cheyenne tribe. They were ritual dancers, performing over 400 songs and ceremonies.
They often acted as camp enforcers, upholding tribal regulations, and held unique privileges such as the right to slaughter fat dogs for feasts. They also administered punishments for minor infractions—cutting a man’s robe or breaking his lodge poles—and for grave offenses, they could whip him, beat him with clubs, or kill his horses. They ensured adherence to ritualistic hunting rules, ensuring every man had a chance to hunt and preventing overhunting, a form of early resource management. By 1840, the Dog Soldiers were so influential that Cheyenne chiefs entrusted them with deciding whether to make peace with the Kiowa, Comanche, and Apache tribes after a stalemate battle in 1837.
The Dog Soldiers negotiated a lasting peace that endures today. In 1853, after a defeat against the Pawnee, relatives of fallen warriors brought gifts to the Dog Soldiers to inspire them for another fight. They engaged the Pawnee, but finding them heavily reinforced, retreated tactically. Guided by their cultural hero, the Dog Soldiers believed mingling with white settlers would harm their way of life.
In 1860, they refused to sign a treaty at Bent’s Fort, vowing never to settle on a reservation. After the Sand Creek massacre of 1864, a brutal attack by Colorado volunteers on peaceful Cheyenne and Arapaho, the Dog Soldiers united with the Southern and Northern Cheyenne and Oglala Sioux, forming a party of nearly 3,000 to raid the Platte Bridge. Led by their prominent warrior, Roman Nose, their strategic maneuvers secured a significant victory. Despite repeated attempts to negotiate with the Cheyenne, the Dog Soldiers under Roman Nose’s influence refused to compromise, prioritizing freedom over reservation life.
In 1867, General Winfield Hancock’s insistence on negotiating solely with Roman Nose, a warrior rather than a chief, prevented a treaty. Hancock’s campaign with 1,400 men resulted in only two hostile Indian deaths, highlighting the Dog Soldiers’ elusiveness. The Dog Soldiers’ military structure began to weaken after their defeat by buffalo hunters at Adobe Walls, Texas, in 1874, leading to the capture of a Southern Cheyenne village. White Horse and the Dog Soldiers surrendered, marking the decline of their formal military organization.
However, they reemerged when the Northern Cheyenne were relocated to Indian Territory, modern Oklahoma, in 1877 to unite the tribe on one reservation. The Northern Cheyenne, originally from Montana, struggled with Oklahoma’s climate, suffering high mortality due to inadequate medical supplies and rations. After a year of dissatisfaction with their conditions, they fought to return north under Little Wolf’s leadership. They succeeded, but faced further conflict.
General Nelson Miles persuaded most to surrender in 1879. However, Tangle Hair and some Dog Soldiers following Dull Knife split off and were imprisoned at Fort Robinson. After refusing to return south, they were starved for eight days. On the eighth day, during an escape attempt, a third of them, including Tangle Hair, were killed.
Tangle Hair died standing his ground, ensuring women and children could escape. The Cheyenne Dog Soldiers maintained strict rules within the tribe structure. Their bold battles and tragic fate serve as a reminder of the courageous people who inhabited the American continent before European arrival, particularly before significant British and American settlement.