Black Beaver

If you haven’t read the two posts prior to this one, I would recommend doing that first.

The first Northern Cheyenne killed on the trail home from Indian Territory was a man named Black Beaver. After the Battle of Turkey Springs, the Northern Cheyenne had moved into the countryside south of Dodge City Kansas. Once there, they began raiding the ranches that had sprung up along the many cattle trails recently etched through that country.

Black Beaver and two others were stealing horses owned by the nearby Driskill ranch when they were discovered by cowhands from that ranch. A running fight ensued in which Black Beaver was shot from his horse. His kinsmen were unable to go back to recover his body and had to reluctantly leave him. The cowhands threw a rope around his corpse and dragged it back to the ranch headquarters where they encountered a company of soldiers who were out looking for the Northern Cheyenne

Military records mention that the cowboys showed them the body of an Indian they had killed. This story was also told by one of those ranch hands, a man named J.E. George. It was then printed in local periodicals into the early 1900’s. Mari Sandoz shared her version of the Northern Cheyenne perspective in her book, Cheyenne Autumn. Sandoz had the opportunity to interview Northern Cheyenne participants and their descendants who identified the man as Black Beaver.

As was often the case with Sandoz, she gave an overly-sympathetic Northern Cheyenne slant to the event when she said that Black Beaver was killed while trying to purchase the horses. When one considers the impoverished state of the Northern Cheyenne, along with the amount of raiding they did all along the trail north, it seems extremely partial to believe that any of the Northern Cheyenne would consider contacting a white man in an attempt to purchase horses from him.

In the “boots on the ground” part of my research, I’ve found that local legend often provides vital information not found in documented history. In the years since the incident, ownership of the land had changed hands at least twice. After one of the sales, one of the ranch hands, who was now an old man, visited the new owner and told him the story of how, after showing the body to the soldiers, they were advised to dispose of it, lest the Indians come back looking for him and seek revenge.

He said they dragged the body north of the ranch and buried it in a shallow grave along the creek. It happened that the new owner’s young son overheard this little-known story about the old west and remembered it all of his life. When that young boy became an old man, and the time came for the land to be sold again, he shared the story along with the approximate location of the “Indian grave,” with the man who bought the land and is the current landowner.

It was through this short chain of storytellers that the local legend was passed on to me as I came wandering up the trail. To say I was excited would be an understatement. I had been searching for my ancestor’s legacy, not an actual ancestor.

To protect the site, I won’t provide the location or the current landowner’s name, but I will say that he has become a great friend, and a great ally for Black Beaver and the Northern Cheyenne people. I was led to him by another friend, Kim Goodnight, of the Goodnight Cattle Trail lineage. Kim works for ITC Great Plains and it was through that friendship and the generosity of that organization that funds were secured to finance a search to see if there was any truth to this incredible story.

A 2023 geo-physical survey of the site determined that there were anomalies in the soil significant enough to suggest the possibility of a subsoil disturbance of sufficient proportions. For the layman, (like me) that meant we did a Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) survey, to see if a grave might have been dug in that area. It showed us that there were a few spots of interest. While we were deciding our next step, my friend, Rebecca, with Algonquin Consultants, suggested we might try a different approach. She then put me in touch with Jennifer Jordan Hall with KYK9 Search Dogs.

Dogs have always been a boon to the Northern Cheyenne. Most of us consider them to be relatives. They’ve been with us from some of the earliest stories on the plains, and they continue to enrich our lives today. The idea of using oeškėseho (dogs) or hotāme (old-time usage) to help find our lost relative seemed very fitting indeed. Arrangements were made and, on March 9^th, we all met at the site. It didn’t take Jennifer’s associates, Pocket and Wick, two hardworking and talented Parson Russell Terriers, very long to confirm our research.

Pocket, who was recently recognized by the AKC with the 2023 Award for Canine Excellence as a search dog, keyed on the gravesite first. It was intriguing to watch the communication taking place between Jennifer and Pocket, and later Jennifer and Wick, when he too keyed on exactly the same spot. This communication, this cooperative relationship between dog and human, goes back so far in time, and remains such a vital connection. Family is like that. It was an amazing and inspirational moment for everyone at the site.

I will leave it to the reader to try to imagine how it felt to go from that powerful moment to another, just a short while later, when I was able to stand next to the long-forgotten grave of my relative, and tell him, “Uncle, we came back for you.”

The Northern Cheyenne Cultural Commission will decide what happens next. They may repatriate and help Black Beaver finish his journey home, or they may leave him where he currently rests. Leaving your bones on the prairie was an honorable act. Whatever happens, he is no longer lost or forgotten.