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This small notebook contains drawings by Northern Cheyenne Indians who were confined in jail in Dodge City, Kansas, in 1879. The State of Kansas was trying the six Indians (Wild Hog, Run Fast, Frizzly Head, Young Man, Old Man, and Crow) for a murder committed the previous year. In September 1878, chiefs Dull Knife and Little Wolf left Indian Territory with some 300 Cheyenne bound for their homeland north of Kansas. Atrocities committed during the band's trek through the state prompted a severe response from authorities, culminating in a standoff in Nebraska. The so-called "Dull Knife Raid" of 1878 proved the last major conflict between whites and Indians in Kansas. These drawings are often called ledger art. Sallie Straughn of Denver, Colorado, donated the notebook to the Kansas Historical Society in 1922. Mrs. Straughn was matron of the Dodge City jail in 1878 during the Cheyenne's incarceration when her husband, John W. Straughn, was the Dodge City jailer. Within the notebook, the images are arranged like a flip book. Left-facing images are right side up, while right-facing images are upside down. To preserve this original arrangement, we show all pages from cover to cover, then turn the book over and present all pages cover to cover again. This preserves the relationship between the images and allows all images to be viewed right side up.
Creator: Northern Cheyenne
Date: About May 1879
Item Number: 208508
Call Number: Indian History Coll. #590, Box 2 Folder 22
KSHS Identifier: DaRT ID: 208508
Collections - Manuscript - History - Indian - Ledger art
Community Life - Arts and Entertainment - Art - American Indian
Community Life - Arts and Entertainment - Art - Drawing
Date - 1870s - 1879
Military - Wars - Indian Wars
Objects and Artifacts - Communication Artifacts - Original Art - Drawing
People - American Indians - Tribes - Cheyenne
Places - Cities and towns - Dodge City
Places - Counties - Ford
Thematic Time Period - Immigration and Settlement, 1854 - 1890
Type of Material - Art objects - Original art - Drawings
Type of Material - Art objects - Original art - Ledger art
Type of Material - Illustrations
http://www.kansasmemory.org/item/208508