To order images and/or obtain permission to use them commercially, please contact the KSHS Reference Desk at KSHS.reference@ks.gov or 785-272-8681, ext. 117.
For more information see the Copyright and Permission FAQ.
This small notebook contains drawings by Northern Cheyenne Indians who were confined in jail in Dodge City (Ford County) in 1879. The State of Kansas was trying the six Indians (Wild Hog, Run Fast, Frizzly Head, Young Man, Old Man, and Crow) for murders 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. Dora A. Clayton of Denver, Colorado, donated this notebook to the Kansas Historical Society in 1939. Her husband, James Clayton, was clerk of the Indian Claims Commission created by the Kansas legislature in 1879 to investigate the losses resulting from the 1878 raid. The drawings appear upside down in the original beginning with pages 28-29 to the end. We rotated the images of these pages 180 degrees to make viewing easier.
Creator: Wild Hog, Cheyenne chief
Date: About May 1879
These drawings can be grouped with other sources related to the last Indian raid in Kansas. Other selections include a picture of the six Cheyenne who were put on trial, a letter by William Sutton (prosecutor), a newspaper article providing the native perspective, and a map of the Cheyenne's route through Kansas. This story can be particularly useful for demonstrating how native groups resisted the reservation system.
KS:7th:3.1:Federal Government and Indian Lands (2005)
Item Number: 208521
Call Number: Indians History Coll. #590 Box 2, Folder 23
KSHS Identifier: DaRT ID: 208521
Collections - Manuscript - History - Indian - Ledger art
Community Life - Arts and Entertainment - Art - American Indian
Community Life - Arts and Entertainment - Art - Drawing
Curriculum - 7th Grade Standards - Kansas History Standards - 1860s to 1870s (Benchmark 3) - Fed. Gov. and Indian lands (Indicator 1) - Cheyenne
Curriculum - 7th Grade Standards - Kansas History Standards - 1860s to 1870s (Benchmark 3) - Fed. Gov. and Indian lands (Indicator 1) - Indian reservations
Curriculum - 7th Grade Standards - Kansas History Standards - 1860s to 1870s (Benchmark 3) - Fed. Gov. and Indian lands (Indicator 1) - Last Indian raid in Kansas
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/208521