"I'll empty their guns!"
The fall of Roman Nose, a great warrior of the Cheyenne who was killed at Beacher Island. Roman Nose belonged to the Crooked Lance society. Roman Nose's distinguishing feature was his war bonnet made by the medicine man Ice. Among his other feats, Roman Nose counted coup against General Winfield Hancock Scott.
Yellow Hair Woman was a Cheyenne woman who also appeared at this battle, stricken with grief over the killing of a husband she taunted the soldiers. Yellow Hair Woman was mother to the Bents and wife to William Bent.
The Beacher Island battle was a debacle for U.S. forces. An early special forces unit gets in over their heads on the Arickaree Fork fighting the Sioux and Cheyenne. The party suffers starvation and wounds under siege for 9 days on their sandbar stronghold until relieved by a rescue force.
Colonel Forsyth, though badly wounded in the leg, affected to be reading a book when the force found him.
Adapted from
Monnett, John H. The Battle of Beecher Island and the Indian War of 1867-1869. 1 May 1994.
Mcdermott, John. Circle of Fire. S.L., Stackpole Books, 2020.
McGinnis, Anthony. Counting Coup and Cutting Horses. Johnson Books, 1990.
