Little Rock (in Cheyenne, recorded by the Smithsonian as Hō-hăn-ĭ-no-o′)This name may be ''Ho'honánoo'o'', meaning "Fry-stone," describing heated small stones used in frying, baking, boiling, etc. (cf.

Ojibwe The Ojibwe (; Ojibwe writing systems#Ojibwe syllabics, syll.: ᐅᒋᐺ; plural: ''Ojibweg'' ᐅᒋᐺᒃ) are an Anishinaabe people whose homeland (''Ojibwewaki'' ᐅᒋᐺᐘᑭ) covers much of the Great Lakes region and the Great Plains, n ...

: '' asiniibwaan''). The Cheyenne name "Little Rock" itself is ''Ho'honahke''. (Se
Cheyenne Names
by Wayne Leman.) ( – 1868) was a council chief of the Wutapiu band of Southern

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 ...

s.Hardorff 2006, p. 44. He was the only council chief who remained with Black Kettle following the Sand Creek massacre of 1864.Greene 2004, pp. 103. Little Rock was a signatory of the

Medicine Lodge Treaty The Medicine Lodge Treaty is the overall name for three treaties signed near Medicine Lodge, Kansas, between the Federal government of the United States and southern Plains Indian tribes in October 1867, intended to bring peace to the area by r ...

of 1867. In August 1868, Little Rock was interviewed at Fort Lyon by Indian agent Edward W. Wynkoop about raids by a large Cheyenne war party 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 ...

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 ...

. Little Rock gave Wynkoop information about those responsible for the raids, which included members of several different Cheyenne bands including that of Black Kettle, and agreed to try to persuade the other Cheyenne chiefs and headmen to surrender the raids' leaders to U.S. authorities, in accordance with the terms of the Medicine Lodge Treaty. In case he was unable to persuade the chiefs and headmen to give up the responsible men, Little Rock asked if Wynkoop would take him and his family under Wynkoop's protection, which Wynkoop agreed to. "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. With Black Kettle, Little Rock attended a conference at Fort Cobb, Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma) with Maj. Gen. William B. Hazen on November 20, 1868, at which Black Kettle sought but was refused permission to come in to Fort Cobb in order to avoid war with the U.S. Army. A week later, in the Battle of Washita River of November 27, 1868, Black Kettle's and Little Rock's camp on 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 ...

was attacked at dawn by the

7th U.S. Cavalry Regiment The 7th Cavalry Regiment is a United States Army cavalry regiment formed in 1866. Its official nickname is "Garryowen", after the Ireland, Irish air "Garryowen (air), Garryowen" that was adopted as its march tune. The regiment participated i ...

under the command of Lt. Col.

George Armstrong Custer George Armstrong Custer (December 5, 1839 – June 25, 1876) was a United States Army officer and cavalry commander in the American Civil War and the American Indian Wars. Custer graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point ...

. Little Rock, whose lodge was at the eastern edge of the village, joined with the Cheyenne warrior She Wolf and a visiting Kiowa warrior Trails the Enemy to form a rear guard to protect women and children fleeing downriver from attacking cavalrymen, believed to have been a detachment under Maj. Joel H. Elliott. Little Rock was killed in the action. He was survived by his wife Skunk Woman, his daughter

Mo-nah-se-tah Mo-nah-se-tah or Mo-nah-see-tah (c. 1850 - 1922), aka Me-o-tzi, was the daughter of the Cheyenne Council of Forty-four, chief Little Rock (Cheyenne chief), Little Rock. Her father was killed on November 28, 1868, in the Battle of Washita River whe ...

(or Me-o-tzi, Spring Grass), his mother, his sister White Buffalo Woman, and another sister. Of these, his mother and his daughter Mo-nah-se-tah were among the 53 women and children taken captive by the 7th Cavalry.

Notes

References

* Custer, George Armstrong. (1874).
My Life on the Plains: Or Personal Experiences With the Indians."> My Life on the Plains: Or Personal Experiences With the Indians.
' New York: Sheldon and Company. Also available onlin
from Kansas Collection Books
* 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). . {{DEFAULTSORT:Little Rock (Cheyenne chief) Cheyenne people Native American leaders Comanche campaign 1800s births 1868 deaths Year of birth uncertain