The Unbowed Spirit: Dull Knife’s Cheyenne Resistance Against Annihilation
In the bitter heart of the American winter, 1878, a desperate gamble for survival was made. It was a journey etched in the frozen earth, stained with blood, and fueled by an unyielding spirit that defied the crushing might of the United States Army. At its helm was Dull Knife, known to his people as Wo-hpi-mah-is, or Morning Star – an elder Cheyenne chief whose quiet determination would ignite one of the most poignant and tragic acts of resistance in the annals of Native American history. This was not a quest for conquest, but a desperate flight for home, for freedom, and for the very right to exist.
The story of Dull Knife’s resistance is rooted in decades of broken treaties, escalating violence, and a systematic policy of forced assimilation by the U.S. government. By the late 1870s, the once vast and free lands of the Cheyenne had shrunk to a fraction, their traditional hunting grounds in the Powder River country and the Black Hills systematically encroached upon by settlers, miners, and the relentless advance of Manifest Destiny. The 1868 Treaty of Fort Laramie, intended to secure lands for the Lakota and Cheyenne, proved to be another in a long line of hollow promises. While it nominally recognized the Powder River Country as unceded Indian territory, the discovery of gold in the Black Hills quickly rendered such agreements meaningless.
The Northern Cheyenne, who had traditionally roamed the northern plains, found themselves increasingly confined. Following the pivotal Battle of Little Bighorn in 1876, a brutal retaliatory campaign by the U.S. Army crushed remaining Native American resistance. Dull Knife himself had fought alongside Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull in that monumental victory, but the aftermath brought only intensified pressure. In 1877, under immense duress and facing starvation, Dull Knife’s band, along with Little Wolf’s, was forcibly relocated over 1,500 miles south to the Cheyenne-Arapaho Reservation in Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma).
This forced relocation was a death sentence in slow motion. The Northern Cheyenne were people of the northern plains, accustomed to a different climate, different game, and different spiritual landscape. The Indian Territory was hot, humid, and rife with diseases to which they had no immunity. Malaria and other illnesses ravaged their numbers, particularly among the children. The promised rations were meager, often spoiled, and rarely arrived on time. Their buffalo hunting, a cornerstone of their culture and survival, was impossible. Starvation became a constant companion.
"We had rather die fighting than to starve to death," a sentiment often attributed to the Cheyenne chiefs of this era, perfectly encapsulated their desperate resolve. For Dull Knife and Little Wolf, watching their people waste away in a foreign land was unbearable. After a year of suffering, with their numbers dwindling from over 1,000 to just under 500, a council was held. The decision was unanimous: they would break out and return to their homeland, no matter the cost.
On September 9, 1878, approximately 300 Cheyenne – men, women, and children – slipped away from their reservation, embarking on a perilous journey north. The column was led by Dull Knife and Little Wolf, two leaders with differing but complementary approaches. Little Wolf, a seasoned warrior, advocated a more aggressive stance, prepared to fight any who stood in their way. Dull Knife, older and wearier, sought to avoid conflict where possible, prioritizing the safety of the women, children, and elderly who comprised the majority of their desperate band.
The odyssey that followed was an epic of endurance against impossible odds. Pursued by thousands of U.S. cavalry and volunteers, the Cheyenne covered hundreds of miles, crossing Kansas and Nebraska. They moved mostly at night, hiding during the day, relying on their deep knowledge of the land and their unbreakable spirit. When cornered, they fought with ferocity born of desperation. The women and children, far from being passive burdens, were integral to their survival, helping to break camp, gather food, and tend to the wounded.
One particularly poignant detail of their journey was their careful avoidance of major settlements, aiming to bypass confrontation with settlers. However, hunger and the need for horses sometimes forced them into contact, leading to skirmishes that inevitably resulted in casualties on both sides. The U.S. press, fueled by sensationalist reports, painted the Cheyenne as bloodthirsty savages, ignoring the context of their flight from starvation and their initial efforts to avoid conflict.
As winter deepened, the group faced new challenges. Snow, ice, and bitter winds added to their misery. The elderly and the very young suffered immensely. Near the Platte River in Nebraska, with their pursuers closing in, a strategic disagreement led to a fateful split. Little Wolf’s band, still aiming for the Powder River country, continued north, determined to fight their way through. Dull Knife’s band, numbering around 150, largely women, children, and elderly, were exhausted and nearing the point of collapse. Believing they could negotiate a peaceful return to their northern lands, they turned towards Fort Robinson in northwestern Nebraska, surrendering to U.S. troops under Captain J.B. Johnson on October 23, 1878.
Their hope was that the Army would understand their plight and allow them to remain in the North, perhaps on a smaller reservation. Instead, they were confined to an unheated barracks at Fort Robinson. For weeks, they were subjected to intense pressure from General Philip Sheridan and the Department of the Interior to return to Indian Territory. Dull Knife and his people steadfastly refused. "We have suffered enough," Dull Knife reportedly told the officers, "We want to go back to our own country, the Powder River country. We would rather die here than go back to Indian Territory."
The Army, frustrated by their refusal, began to systematically starve and freeze them into submission. Rations were cut, and wood for fires was withheld. The Cheyenne, shivering in the barracks, watched their children grow weaker. The situation became unbearable. On January 9, 1879, faced with the agonizing choice between a slow death by starvation and disease, or a desperate break for freedom, Dull Knife and his people chose the latter.
In the dead of night, in a pre-planned act of coordinated defiance, the Cheyenne barricaded the doors of their barracks, broke through the windows, and burst out into the frigid night. The guards were caught by surprise, but the alarm was quickly raised. What followed was not merely an escape but a brutal, one-sided slaughter. Many of the Cheyenne were unarmed, some carrying only knives or whatever makeshift weapons they could fashion. As they fled into the darkness, U.S. cavalry troopers pursued them relentlessly, firing indiscriminately into the panicked groups.
The snow-covered landscape became a killing field. Men, women, and children were cut down as they tried to reach the protective cover of the bluffs. Over the next two days, the pursuit continued. Those who managed to escape the initial fusillade were hunted down in the bitter cold. The official casualty count varied, but it is estimated that nearly 60 Cheyenne were killed, including women and children. Many more were wounded or died of exposure in the days that followed. Only a handful managed to survive and evade capture.
The Fort Robinson Massacre, as it became known, sparked outrage among some segments of the American public and even within the military. The brutal killing of unarmed men, women, and children, after they had surrendered and under such desperate circumstances, exposed the callousness of government policy. It brought to light the moral bankruptcy of forcing a people to choose between certain death by disease and starvation, or a violent death at the hands of their captors.
Dull Knife himself, wounded but alive, managed to escape the immediate massacre with a small group, including his wife and son. They endured unimaginable hardship, surviving on roots and scraps, before finally reaching the camp of Red Cloud, a Lakota chief, weeks later. His odyssey of suffering was a testament to the resilience of the human spirit.
The Fort Robinson Massacre, alongside Little Wolf’s successful, albeit arduous, return to the Powder River country, ultimately forced the U.S. government to reconsider its policy. The public outcry and the sheer determination of the Cheyenne demonstrated the futility of trying to force a people to live where they did not belong. In 1884, the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation was finally established in southeastern Montana, on a portion of their ancestral lands. It was a hard-won victory, achieved through immense sacrifice and immeasurable suffering.
Dull Knife passed away in 1889, having lived to see his people granted a measure of peace and a return to their beloved homeland. His legacy is not one of military triumph, but of profound moral courage. He embodied the unyielding spirit of a people who, when faced with annihilation, chose defiance. His resistance, though steeped in tragedy, stands as a powerful testament to the enduring human desire for freedom, for home, and for the right to determine one’s own destiny, even against the most formidable odds. The Northern Cheyenne Nation thrives today on the land Dull Knife fought so desperately for, a living testament to the chief who led his people through the darkest night towards a dawn he might not have seen, but for which he bravely sacrificed everything.
