Wooden Leg (1858–1940)
Author of Wooden Leg: A Warrior Who Fought Custer
About the Author
Image credit: public domain
Works by Wooden Leg
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Other names
- Kâhamâxéveóhtáhe
Eats from His Hand - Birthdate
- 1858
- Date of death
- 1940
- Gender
- male
- Nationality
- Northern Cheyenne Nation
- Birthplace
- Moʼȯhta-voʼhonáaeva
Members
Reviews
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Associated Authors
Statistics
- Works
- 2
- Members
- 109
- Popularity
- #178,011
- Rating
- 3.8
- Reviews
- 2
- ISBNs
- 8
- Languages
- 1
The book covers almost all of Wooden Leg’s life, from his birth in 1858 to his old age (he died in 1940). Most of the book covers ordinary life among the Cheyenne – hunting, setting up camp, flirtation with the girls, contests with the other young men. There’s quite a bit of casual violence against traditional enemies – the Crow and the Shoshoni; Wooden Leg feels sorry for one of the dead Crow, comments on the bravery of an old man of the Shoshoni, and notes that an Indian should help another Indian in need, even if it’s an enemy. (In his introduction Richard Littlebear says Cheyenne still feel animosity toward some of the traditional enemies, but claims it’s now expressed in a “joking” way). The Rosebud and Custer battle accounts are personal – the battlefields were smoky and confused, and Wooden Leg didn’t see much of the “big picture”. He does comment that many of the soldiers at the Little Bighorn “went crazy” and killed themselves, which he attributes to Indian “medicine”. He was questioned about the Little Bighorn several time in later years; he doesn’t say so directly but implies that whites seemed to want him to confirm their beliefs about the battle rather than say what actually happened.
The narrative feels “authentic”, but I have to consider that may be due to my own prejudices. However the Cheyenne were allies of the Lakota and Wooden Leg’s accounts of Lakota customs generally agree with what I’ve read elsewhere (Lakota Society).
Footnotes (by Marquis); no index, which is a handicap. Drawings of the Little Bighorn battle and the Powder River campaign. Interesting and recommended.… (more)