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 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 (Ts ...

Indians. He negotiated peace between the

and

Cheyenne The Cheyenne ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Great Plains. The Cheyenne comprise two Native American tribes, the Só'taeo'o or Só'taétaneo'o (more commonly spelled as Suhtai or Sutaio) and the (also spelled Tsitsistas, The term for th ...

and the

Comanche The Comanche (), or Nʉmʉnʉʉ (, 'the people'), are a Tribe (Native American), Native American tribe from the Great Plains, Southern Plains of the present-day United States. Comanche people today belong to the List of federally recognized tri ...

Kiowa Kiowa ( ) or Cáuigú () people are a Native Americans in the United States, 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 Colora ...

, and

Plains Apache The Plains Apache are a small Southern Athabaskan tribe who live on the Southern Plains of North America, in close association with the linguistically unrelated Kiowa Tribe. Today, they are headquartered in Southwestern Oklahoma and are federally ...

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

Indian Territory 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 States, ...

.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 is a broad expanse of plain, flatland in North America. The region stretches east of the Rocky Mountains, much of it covered in prairie, steppe, and grassland. They are the western part of the Interior Plains, which include th ...

around 1810, perhaps along the

Platte River The Platte River () is a major American 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, w ...

in present-day

Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...

. 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 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 List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

. Little Raven (as well as his neighboring chief, Chief Niwot) 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 ...

. Along with six chiefs of the Southern Cheyenne and three others of the Arapaho, Little Raven signed the Fort Wise Treaty on 18 February 1861, but he became frustrated when whites failed to comply with the agreement. In 1863, he toured

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

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 The Sand Creek massacre (also known as the Chivington massacre, the battle of Sand Creek or the massacre of Cheyenne Indians) was a massacre of Cheyenne and Arapaho people by the U.S. Army in the American Indian Genocide that occurred on No ...

. 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 of America and the Kiowa, Comanche, Plains Apache, Southern Cheyenne, and Southern Arapaho at Little Arkansas River, Kansas in October 1865. On October 14 and 18, 1 ...

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 r ...

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 West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...

and Cimarron rivers in

(present-day

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

). Following the Battle of the Washita 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 (137 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 a ...

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 in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. President

Ulysses S. Grant Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was the 18th president of the United States, serving from 1869 to 1877. In 1865, as Commanding General of the United States Army, commanding general, Grant led the Uni ...

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 type of military base. In South Asia, a ''cantonment'' refers to a permanent military station (a term from the British Raj). In United States military parlance, a cantonment is, essentially, "a permanent residential ...

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 1 ...

, 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 Sou ...

, 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 Arapaho people 19th-century Native American leaders Native American people from Nebraska People from Nebraska Territory