Little Raven, also known as Hosa (Young Crow), (born — died 1889) was from about 1855 until his death in 1889 a principal chief of the

Southern Arapaho The Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes are a united, Federally recognized tribes, federally recognized tribe of Southern Arapaho and Southern Cheyenne people in western Oklahoma. History The Cheyennes and Arapahos are two distinct tribes with distinct ...

Indians. He negotiated peace between the

and

Cheyenne The Cheyenne ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Great Plains. Their Cheyenne language belongs to the Algonquian language family. Today, the Cheyenne people are split into two federally recognized nations: the Southern Cheyenne, who are enroll ...

and the

Comanche The Comanche or Nʉmʉnʉʉ ( com, Nʉmʉnʉʉ, "the people") are a Native American tribe from the Southern Plains of the present-day United States. Comanche people today belong to the federally recognized Comanche Nation, headquartered in La ...

Kiowa Kiowa () people are a Native American tribe and an indigenous people of the Great Plains of the United States. They migrated southward from western Montana into the Rocky Mountains in Colorado in the 17th and 18th centuries,Pritzker 326 and eve ...

, and

Plains Apache The Plains Apache are a small Southern Athabaskan group who live on the Southern Plains of North America, in close association with the linguistically unrelated Kiowa Tribe. Today, they are centered in Southwestern Oklahoma and Northern Texas an ...

. He also secured rights to the Cheyenne-Arapaho Reservation in

Indian Territory The Indian Territory and the Indian Territories are terms that generally described an evolving land area set aside by the Federal government of the United States, United States Government for the relocation of Native Americans in the United St ...

.May, Jon D
Little Raven (ca. 1810-1889).
Oklahoma Historical Society's Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History & Culture. (accessed 2 July 2012)

Biography

Little Raven was born on the central

Great Plains The Great Plains (french: Grandes Plaines), sometimes simply "the Plains", is a broad expanse of flatland in North America. It is located west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains, much of it covered in prairie, steppe, an ...

around 1810, perhaps along the

Platte River The Platte River () is a major river in the State of Nebraska. It is about long; measured to its farthest source via its tributary, the North Platte River, it flows for over . The Platte River is a tributary of the Missouri River, which itself ...

in present-day

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the southwe ...

. He became a progressive leader known for his stately appearance and oratorical skills. In 1840, he mediated peace between the

and

and the

, and

. To aid his tribe's subsistence, in 1857 he sought agricultural tools and instruction from the United States government. After the

Pike's Peak Gold Rush The Pike's Peak Gold Rush (later known as the Colorado Gold Rush) was the boom in gold prospecting and mining in the Pike's Peak Country of western Kansas Territory and southwestern Nebraska Territory of the United States that began in July 1858 a ...

of 1858 brought thousands of white miners to dig gold out of the Indians' land, the miners built a large village called

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

. Little Raven (as well as his neighboring chief,

Chief Niwot Chief Niwot ( Hinóno'eitíít/Arapaho: Nowoo3 ɔ'wɔːθ or Left Hand(-ed) (c. 1825–1864) was a Southern Arapaho chief, diplomat, and interpreter who negotiated for peace between white settlers and the Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes during the ...

) visited the Denver gold camp and welcomed the white settlers, maintaining a stance of peaceful coexistence with the whites. But, he expressed the hope that they would not stay after they had found all the yellow metal that they needed. The white settlers not only stayed but thousands more of them came. While in Denver, Little Raven learned some of the white man's ways, such as how to smoke cigars and eat meat with utensils. The Arapaho chiefs were so welcoming that the newcomers named the first county in the territory after the tribe, as well as streets in both Denver and

Boulder In geology, a boulder (or rarely bowlder) is a rock fragment with size greater than in diameter. Smaller pieces are called cobbles and pebbles. While a boulder may be small enough to move or roll manually, others are extremely massive. In c ...

. Along with six chiefs of the Southern Cheyenne and three others of the Arapaho, Little Raven signed the

Fort Wise Treaty The Treaty of Fort Wise of 1861 was a treaty entered into between the United States and six chiefs of the Southern Cheyenne and four of the Southern Arapaho Indian tribes. A significant proportion of Cheyennes opposed this treaty on the grounds th ...

on 18 February 1861, but he became frustrated when whites failed to comply with the agreement. In 1863, he toured

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

During the summer of 1864, Little Raven took care to keep his band of Arapaho south of the Platte River and to avoid white soldiers and buffalo hunters by avoiding forts, trails, and settlements. 1864 saw Little Raven's disappointment with the United States turn to anger following the Sand Creek massacre. Little Raven and his band of Arapaho survived the massacre because they had camped far away from the other Cheyenne and Arapaho. Still, Little Raven sought peace in the form of the

Little Arkansas Treaty The Little Arkansas Treaty was a set of treaties signed between the United States, United States of America and the Kiowa, Comanche, Plains Apache, Southern Cheyenne, and Arapaho, Southern Arapaho at Little Arkansas River, Kansas in October 1865. O ...

on 17 October 1865, and when this treaty was broken less than 18 months later, he accepted the

Medicine Lodge Treaty The Medicine Lodge Treaty is the overall name for three treaties signed near Medicine Lodge, Kansas, between the Federal government of the United States and southern Plains Indian tribes in October 1867, intended to bring peace to the area by re ...

on 28 October 1867. He would not sign it until the Cheyennes had signed it. The treaty allotted the Southern Arapaho a reservation between the

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

and Cimarron rivers in

(present-day

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

). Following the

Battle of the Washita The Battle of Washita River (also called Battle of the Washita or the Washita Massacre) occurred on November 27, 1868, when Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer's 7th U.S. Cavalry attacked Black Kettle's Southern Cheyenne camp on the Washita River ...

on 27 November 1868, Little Raven led the Southern Arapaho to

Fort Sill Fort Sill is a United States Army post north of Lawton, Oklahoma, about 85 miles (136.8 km) southwest of Oklahoma City. It covers almost . The fort was first built during the Indian Wars. It is designated as a National Historic Landmark ...

for protection. Then the Southern Arapaho and Southern Cheyenne were granted a reservation in western Indian Territory. Little Raven again toured

, and other Eastern cities, in 1871. He spoke before a large audience at the

Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art (Cooper Union) is a private college at Cooper Square in New York City. Peter Cooper founded the institution in 1859 after learning about the government-supported École Polytechnique in ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. President

Ulysses S. Grant Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant ; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was an American military officer and politician who served as the 18th president of the United States from 1869 to 1877. As Commanding General, he led the Union Ar ...

even offered him a peace medal, but Little Raven declined, saying that he had no peace talk to make because he had never been at war with whites. Little Raven influenced the Southern Arapaho to remain neutral during the Red River War of 1874-75. Eventually Little Raven settled at

Cantonment A cantonment (, , or ) is a military quarters. In Bangladesh, India and other parts of South Asia, a ''cantonment'' refers to a permanent military station (a term from the British India, colonial-era). In military of the United States, United Stat ...

in present-day

Blaine County, Oklahoma Blaine County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of the 2020 census, the population was 8,735. Its county seat is Watonga. Part of the Cheyenne-Arapaho land opening in 1892, the county had gained rail lines by the early 190 ...

, where the old military hospital served as his home. Little Raven died at Cantonment in 1889. His remains are interred at the Fort Sill Post Cemetery in Oklahoma. Little Raven Street in Riverfront Park between 15th and 20th Street in

, near the

South Platte River The South Platte River is one of the two principal tributaries of the Platte River. Flowing through the U.S. states of Colorado and Nebraska, it is itself a major river of the American Midwestern United States, Midwest and the American Sout ...

, commemorates him.

Quotes

Bibliography

References

External links

Statue of Little Raven by Marie Barbera in Westminster, Colorado, and brief profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Little Raven 1810s births 1889 deaths Native American people of the Indian Wars People from Nebraska Arapaho people Native American leaders