Medicine Arrows (real name Rock Forehead or Stone Forehead) (17951876) was a

Cheyenne The Cheyenne ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Great Plains. The Cheyenne comprise two Native American tribes, the Só'taeo'o or Só'taétaneo'o (more commonly spelled as Suhtai or Sutaio) and the (also spelled Tsitsistas, The term for th ...

chief and Keeper of the Medicine Arrows from 1850 until his death. Rock Forehead became known to whites as Medicine Arrows after his appointment to this office. Among the Cheyenne he was also known by the nickname "Walks with His Toes Turned Out."Hardorff 2006, p. 262 note 16. Rock Forehead was a cousin of

Black Kettle Black Kettle (Cheyenne: Mo'ohtavetoo'o) (November 27, 1868) was a leader of the Southern Cheyenne during the American Indian Wars. Born to the ''Northern Só'taeo'o / Só'taétaneo'o'' band of the Northern Cheyenne in the Black Hills of presen ...

. His nephew, Little Man, would later become Arrow Keeper after his son, Black Hairy Dog. Several of his children took part in violent confrontations with whites. His youngest son, Fox Tail, was accused of killing a Mexican herder at

Fort Zarah Fort Zarah was a fort in Barton County, Kansas, northeast of present-day Great Bend, Kansas, that was used from 1864 to 1869. Dates of operation In July 1864, because of frequent attacks from indigenous tribes in the area, Camp Dunlap was estab ...

in 1866 during a drunken brawl. His oldest son, Tall Wolf, was one of the principal men who took part in violent raids on white settlements along the Saline and

Solomon Solomon (), also called Jedidiah, was the fourth monarch of the Kingdom of Israel (united monarchy), Kingdom of Israel and Judah, according to the Hebrew Bible. The successor of his father David, he is described as having been the penultimate ...

rivers in

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

in August 1867 and August 1868, "Report of an interview between E. W. Wynkoop, US Indian Agent, and Little Rock, a Cheyenne Chief Held at Fort Larned, Kansas, August 19, 1868." Bureau of Indian Affairs, Cheyenne and Arapaho Indians. Published in U.S. Senate, ''Letter of the Secretary of the Interior, Communicating in Compliance with the Resolution of the Senate of the 14th ultimo, Information in Relation to the Late Battle of Washita River, ''. 40th Cong., 3d sess., 1869. S. Exec. Doc. 40. Available wholly or in part in Hoig 1980, pp. 47-50; Custer 1874, pp. 105-107; Greene 2004, pp. 52-53; Hardorff 2006, pp. 45-49. one of the precipitating events leading ultimately to the

Battle of the Saline River The Battle of the Saline River in the beginning of August, 1867, was one of the first recorded combats of the Buffalo Soldiers of the U.S. 10th Cavalry. This battle occurred 25 miles northwest of Fort Hays in Kansas on August 2. see discussion ...

and the

Battle of Washita River The Battle of the Washita River (also called Battle of the Washita or the Washita Massacre) occurred on November 27, 1868, when Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer's 7th U.S. Cavalry attacked Black Kettle's Southern Cheyenne camp on the Washita ...

in 1867 and 1868 respectively. Rock Forehead's camp was one of several camps along the

Washita River The Washita River () is a river in the U.S. states of Texas and Oklahoma. The river is long and terminates at its confluence with the Red River of the South, Red River, which is now part of Lake Texoma () on the TexasOklahoma border. Geogra ...

downstream of Black Kettle's village at the time the battle of the Washita which took place on November 27, 1868.Hoig 1980, p. 94. Rock Forehead's daughter was married to a man in

Tall Bull Tall Bull (c. 1830 - July 11, 1869) (''Hotóa'ôxháa'êstaestse'') was a chief of the Cheyenne Dog Soldiers. Of Cheyenne and Lakota parentage, like some of the other Dog Soldiers by that time, he identified as Cheyenne.Hyde 1968, p. 339. He was s ...

's Dog Soldier band. She and her four children survived the Battle of Summit Springs on July 11, 1869, in which Tall Bull's village was destroyed by the

5th Cavalry Regiment The 5th Cavalry Regiment ("Black Knights") is a historical unit of the United States Army that began its service on March 3, 1855, as the Second Cavalry Regiment. On August 3, 1861, it was redesignated as the 5th Cavalry Regiment following an ...

; they were taken prisoner but were later released. Fearing military reprisals following the

Red River War The Red River War was a military campaign launched by the United States Army in 1874 to displace the Comanche, Kiowa, Southern Cheyenne, and Arapaho tribes from the Southern Plains The Great Plains is a broad expanse of flatland in Nort ...

, Rock Forehead fled his reservation in January 1875 to join the Northern Cheyenne in

Montana Montana ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota to the east, South Dakota to the southeast, Wyoming to the south, an ...

. He died there peacefully in 1876. His son Black Hairy Dog succeeded him as Keeper of the Medicine Arrows. Descendants of Rock Forehead reside in the Western Oklahoma area.

Notes

* Custer, George Armstrong. (1874).
My Life on the Plains: Or Personal Experiences With the Indians.
' New York: Sheldon and Company. * Greene, Jerome A. (2004). ''Washita, The Southern Cheyenne and the U.S. Army.'' Campaigns and Commanders Series, vol. 3. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press. . * Hardorff, Richard G., compiler & editor (2006). ''Washita Memories: Eyewitness Views of Custer's Attack on Black Kettle's Village''. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press. . * Hoig, Stan. (1980).
The Battle of the Washita: The Sheridan-Custer Indian Campaign of 1867-69.
' Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press. . Previously published in 1976 (Garden City, NY: Doubleday). .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Medicine Arrows 1790s births 1876 deaths People from pre-statehood Montana Cheyenne people Native American leaders Comanche campaign