Tall Bull (1830 - July 11, 1869) (''Hotóa'ôxháa'êstaestse'') was a chief of the
Cheyenne
The Cheyenne ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Great Plains. Their Cheyenne language belongs to the Algonquian languages, Algonquian language family. Today, the Cheyenne people are split into two federally recognized tribe, federally recognize ...
Dog Soldiers
The Dog Soldiers or Dog Men (Cheyenne: ''Hotamétaneo'o'') are historically one of six Cheyenne military societies. Beginning in the late 1830s, this society evolved into a separate, militaristic band that played a dominant role in Cheyenne res ...
. Of Cheyenne and Lakota parentage, like some of the other Dog Soldiers by that time, he identified as Cheyenne.
[Hyde 1968, p. 339.]
He was shot and killed in the
Battle of Summit Springs
The Battle of Summit Springs, on July 11, 1869, was an armed conflict between elements of the United States Army under the command of Colonel Eugene A. Carr and a group of Cheyenne Dog Soldiers led by Tall Bull, who was killed during the engag ...
in Colorado by Major
Frank North, leader of the
Pawnee Scouts.
Leadership
Tall Bull was a major
Southern Cheyenne
The Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes are a united, federally recognized tribe of Southern Arapaho and Southern Cheyenne people in western Oklahoma.
History
The Cheyennes and Arapahos are two distinct tribes with distinct histories. The Cheyenne (Tsi ...
Chief, war chief and
Dog Soldier leader. In 1864, under his leadership he had approximately 500 people following him in the eastern Colorado and western Kansas and Nebraska area. He participated in the 1864-65 Arapaho-Cheyenne War, the retaliation that followed the
Sand Creek massacre, but gave up the fight after seeing the futility of winning the war. In 1868, he participated in the
Beecher Island battle. During the battle he warned
Roman Nose
Roman Nose ( – September 17, 1868), also known as Hook Nose ( chy, Vóhko'xénéhe, also spelled Woqini and Woquini), was a Native American of the Northern Cheyenne. He is considered to be one of, if not the greatest and most influential war ...
not to go into battle until he fixed his broken medicine and to do it quickly so that he could join the fight. During 1869, Tall Bull was shot dead, during an ambush by Maj
Frank North at a ravine near
White Butte
White Butte is the highest natural point in the U.S. state of North Dakota. At an elevation of 3,506 ft (1,069 m), it is a prominent butte in Slope County, in the Badlands of the southwestern part of the state. It is located east of U.S. ...