first gained prominence during the July 26,
1865, Battle of Platte Bridge, Wyoming, in
which Cheyenne warriors overpowered a cav-
alry detachment under Lt. Caspar Collins. That
same afternoon, the enraged warriors also at-
tacked and destroyed a small wagon train
headed for Platte Bridge Station. On Septem-
ber 5, 1865, Roman Nose attacked and roughly
handled a cavalry force under Col. Nelson Cole
during the Power River Expedition. It was dur-
ing this encounter that he theatrically rode un-
scathed before the soldiers several times. Such
bravado enhanced his standing among fellow
tribesmen and made him the idol of younger
warriors. Surprisingly, Roman Nose was never
a war chief of the Southern Cheyenne, simply a
high-ranking warrior.
When the Indians felt that they had ex-
tracted ample revenge for Black Kettle’s
death, they simply retired back to the South-
ern Plains. Only more trouble awaited. At this
time, the Union Pacific was planning to build a
railroad through prime buffalo territory, and a
council was held at Fort Larned, Kansas, to
settle the dispute peacefully. Gen. Winfield
Scott Hancock was present and fully expected
to deal with the mighty Roman Nose in per-
son. However, unaware of Roman Nose’s low
rank, he felt snubbed by the warrior’s absence
and trotted off in search of him. Roman Nose
considered Hancock’s sudden appearance out-
side his village threatening and provocative.
The angry warrior intended to kill him person-
ally but was dissuaded by other chiefs at the
last minute. A tense exchange of harsh words
settled nothing, and within weeks the Indians
were battling soldiers and surveyors. In June
1867, the Treaty of Medicine Lodge was con-
cluded, whereby many Plains tribes agreed to
be relocated to reservations in present-day
Oklahoma. Roman Nose, predictably, refused
to sign and threatened to kill any whites he
found trespassing in his vicinity. “We will not
have the wagons which make a noise [trains]
in the hunting grounds of the buffalo,” he
warned. “If the palefaces come farther into
our land, there will be the scalps of your
brethren in the wigwams of the Cheyenne.”
Increasing Indian raids throughout the
Central and Southern Plains resulted in a
full-scale military effort to end them. Gen.
Philip H. Sheridan authorized Maj. George A.
Forsyth to recruit a company of civilian
scouts to find and fight the elusive warriors.
Forsyth accordingly raised his company of
50 men, all expert shots, and was patrolling
the Arickaree Fork of the Republican River
when they encountered a much larger force
of 600 Sioux and Cheyenne. Forsyth posi-
tioned himself on a large sand spit in the
middle of the river while snipers stationed
themselves in the tall grass lining the river
bank. At this juncture Roman Nose appeared
with his braves. His men were excited and
ready to plunge into battle with the outnum-
bered whites, but he initially balked. Appar-
ently, while eating with a Sioux family the
previous evening, Roman Nose had con-
sumed bread that had been touched by a
metal fork, thus negating the power of his
warbonnet. At the urging of other chiefs, in-
cluding the Dog Soldier Tall Bull, he disre-
garded strong premonitions of death and gal-
loped off toward Beecher Island. “My
medicine is broken,” Roman Nose declared.
“I know that I shall be killed today.” The Indi-
ans continued fighting for nine days but
could not overpower Forsyth’s little com-
mand. At length they dejectedly drew off
with loss. Among them was Roman Nose,
shot by snipers in the first moments of bat-
tle. He died that evening, a favorite warrior
of his people and, to many whites, the heroic
ideal of a noble savage.Bibliography
Afton, Jean, David F. Halas, and Andrew Masich.
Cheyenne Dog Soldiers: A Ledgerbook of Coups and
Combat.Niwot: University Press of Colorado, 1997;
Berthong, Donald J. The Southern Cheyenne.Nor-
man: University of Oklahoma Press, 1963; Collins,
Ellsworth. “Roman Nose: Chief of the Southern
Cheyenne.” Chronicles of Oklahoma42 (1965):
429–457; Criqui, Orvel A. “A Northern Cheyenne
Called Roman Nose.” Kansas History8, no. 3ROMANNOSE