Jean Afton

Never before have scholars attempted to match Plains ledgerbook drawings with specific events. But in Cheyenne Dog Soldiers, the earliest of the extant Cheyenne ledgerbooks, the authors have painstakingly matched many of the drawings with known events, such as the 1865 sack of Julesburg, Colorado, and the 1865 battles of Rush Creek, Platte River Bridge, and Tongue River in the Dakota and Montana territories. Also identified are such noted Dog Soliders as Tall Bull, Big Crow, Chirlwind, Feathered Bear, White Horse, Lean Bear and Wolf with Plenty of Hair. Using Cheyenne sources -- both past and present -- as well as US military records, legal depositions, diaries, and contemporary newspaper accounts, the author analyse each drawing, identifying the warriors and describing the actions depicted. With more than 100 beautifully reproduced colour drawings, this volume presents not only a groundbreaking departure from standard ledgerbook interpretation but also a riveting story of the Cheyenne Dog Soldiers making a last stand for their existence as free people.

Since the Battle of Summit Springs on July 11, 1869, a ledgerbook of over one hundred color drawings lay neglected in the archives of the Colorado Historical Society for nearly a century. The authors, working in close association with the Cheyenne nation, have produced an unprecedented look at the Dog Soldiers based on this ledgerbook. Unlike other books that interpret ledgerbook art, the authors treat the Summit Springs ledger drawings as historical documents, a history of the Dog Soldiers recorded by the warrior-artists themselves. In "Cheyenne Dog Soldiers, " the earliest of the extant Cheyenne ledgerbooks, the authors have painstakingly matched drawings with known events, such as the 1865 sack of Julesburg, Colorado, and the 1865 battles of Rush Creek, Platte River Bridge, and Tongue River in the Dakota and Montana territories. Also identified are such noted Dog Soldiers as Tall Bull, Big Crow, Whirlwind, and Wolf with Plenty of Hair.