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Lean Bear
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Lean Bear
Lean Bear (Cheyenne name Awoninahku, c. 1813–1864), alternatively translated as Starving Bear, was a Cheyenne peace chief. He was a member of the Council of Forty-four, a tribal governance devoted to maintaining peace with encroaching United States settlers. Lean Bear's most notable peace deals include the Treaty of Fort Wise and a meeting with US President Abraham Lincoln. His work towards peace between his people and the American settlers in the Southern Plains was cut short when he was killed by the 1st Colorado Cavalry Regiment and violent retaliations ensued.
Lean Bear suffered from vertigo, which commonly ran in the family. During a meeting with President Abraham Lincoln in 1863, he suffered an attack and spoke while seated in a chair. Lean Bear brushed it off as a result of him simply being too nervous to stand.
Lean Bear had a brother called Bull Bear. In 1864, Bull Bear was the leader of the Dog Soldiers, a position he would hold for many years.
Lean Bear also worked closely and served on the Council of Forty-four with fellow peace chief Black Kettle, especially in the last decade of his life.
The first known historical account of Lean Bear is from 1851. He was roughly 35 at this time. Agent Thomas Fitzpatrick was hosting a council in Fort Atkinson to convince plains tribes to attend a larger peace council at Fort Laramie later on. The Comanche, Kiowa, Apache, Arapaho, and Cheyenne people went out to meet the soldiers and each other. They feasted and traded goods. Fitzpatrick spoke with each group, and eventually convinced the Arapaho and Cheyenne tribes to attend the next peace council. The other tribes refused, wary about bringing their horses up north near tribes that were notorious for stealing horses.
The troops were beginning to leave as the council ended when Colonel Sumner arrived at Fort Atkinson on his way to New Mexico. He stayed for a few days to trade and obtain some horses from the tribes in attendance. After some time, the tribes began to freely explore both the fort and his camp, and Fitzpatrick grew nervous at the opportunities for conflict. Lean Bear, who was in attendance at the peace council, was fascinated by the rings and bracelets on the hand of Sumner's wife and grabbed to get a better look. She reacted by pulling her hand back and screaming, provoking Sumner to rush forward to beat Lean Bear. Because Cheyenne culture considers striking even a male child to be an insult, Lean Bear was incredibly indignant about the assault. He painted his face and rode around his camp announcing his plans to attack the whites, inviting his brothers to join him. Fitzpatrick initially refused to make reparations until some Kiowas and Comanches told him that the Cheyennes were getting ready to attack. A meeting was later arranged for Colonel Sumner to present Lean Bear with a blanket in apology, which he accepted.
Lean Bear was chosen to join the Council of Forty-four[when?] by past chiefs, as the council chose its own successors. The council worked to sway their people towards a preference for peace with the Americans. Once named a chief of the council, one would have to give up membership in the war societies that new chiefs often came from. These efforts contrasted with the increasingly vocal Dog Soldiers, bands of Cheyennes who held a longstanding opposition to white settlement and did not wait to cooperate and make peace. They stole livestock and fought with troops and settlers. The Dog Soldiers were exiled for their behavior and deemed renegades, operating independently of the tribe. Nonetheless, their provocative nature caused a lot of trouble for the peace-seeking Cheyennes.
In October 1857, Chief Lean Bear and three other Cheyenne chiefs approached William Bent with concern about attacks on his people by Sumner's troops along the Republican River. Bent then sent a letter to Washington, D.C., on their behalf, stating that the Cheyenne chiefs would like to speak with someone from the government. The response came in 1860, when Commissioner A.B. Greenwood met the chiefs at Fort Wise. Chief Lean Bear was one of the principal signers in the Treaty of Fort Wise in 1861. This treaty was made with Cheyenne and Arapaho chiefs, cutting roughly 40 million acres of land from their territory.
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Lean Bear
Lean Bear (Cheyenne name Awoninahku, c. 1813–1864), alternatively translated as Starving Bear, was a Cheyenne peace chief. He was a member of the Council of Forty-four, a tribal governance devoted to maintaining peace with encroaching United States settlers. Lean Bear's most notable peace deals include the Treaty of Fort Wise and a meeting with US President Abraham Lincoln. His work towards peace between his people and the American settlers in the Southern Plains was cut short when he was killed by the 1st Colorado Cavalry Regiment and violent retaliations ensued.
Lean Bear suffered from vertigo, which commonly ran in the family. During a meeting with President Abraham Lincoln in 1863, he suffered an attack and spoke while seated in a chair. Lean Bear brushed it off as a result of him simply being too nervous to stand.
Lean Bear had a brother called Bull Bear. In 1864, Bull Bear was the leader of the Dog Soldiers, a position he would hold for many years.
Lean Bear also worked closely and served on the Council of Forty-four with fellow peace chief Black Kettle, especially in the last decade of his life.
The first known historical account of Lean Bear is from 1851. He was roughly 35 at this time. Agent Thomas Fitzpatrick was hosting a council in Fort Atkinson to convince plains tribes to attend a larger peace council at Fort Laramie later on. The Comanche, Kiowa, Apache, Arapaho, and Cheyenne people went out to meet the soldiers and each other. They feasted and traded goods. Fitzpatrick spoke with each group, and eventually convinced the Arapaho and Cheyenne tribes to attend the next peace council. The other tribes refused, wary about bringing their horses up north near tribes that were notorious for stealing horses.
The troops were beginning to leave as the council ended when Colonel Sumner arrived at Fort Atkinson on his way to New Mexico. He stayed for a few days to trade and obtain some horses from the tribes in attendance. After some time, the tribes began to freely explore both the fort and his camp, and Fitzpatrick grew nervous at the opportunities for conflict. Lean Bear, who was in attendance at the peace council, was fascinated by the rings and bracelets on the hand of Sumner's wife and grabbed to get a better look. She reacted by pulling her hand back and screaming, provoking Sumner to rush forward to beat Lean Bear. Because Cheyenne culture considers striking even a male child to be an insult, Lean Bear was incredibly indignant about the assault. He painted his face and rode around his camp announcing his plans to attack the whites, inviting his brothers to join him. Fitzpatrick initially refused to make reparations until some Kiowas and Comanches told him that the Cheyennes were getting ready to attack. A meeting was later arranged for Colonel Sumner to present Lean Bear with a blanket in apology, which he accepted.
Lean Bear was chosen to join the Council of Forty-four[when?] by past chiefs, as the council chose its own successors. The council worked to sway their people towards a preference for peace with the Americans. Once named a chief of the council, one would have to give up membership in the war societies that new chiefs often came from. These efforts contrasted with the increasingly vocal Dog Soldiers, bands of Cheyennes who held a longstanding opposition to white settlement and did not wait to cooperate and make peace. They stole livestock and fought with troops and settlers. The Dog Soldiers were exiled for their behavior and deemed renegades, operating independently of the tribe. Nonetheless, their provocative nature caused a lot of trouble for the peace-seeking Cheyennes.
In October 1857, Chief Lean Bear and three other Cheyenne chiefs approached William Bent with concern about attacks on his people by Sumner's troops along the Republican River. Bent then sent a letter to Washington, D.C., on their behalf, stating that the Cheyenne chiefs would like to speak with someone from the government. The response came in 1860, when Commissioner A.B. Greenwood met the chiefs at Fort Wise. Chief Lean Bear was one of the principal signers in the Treaty of Fort Wise in 1861. This treaty was made with Cheyenne and Arapaho chiefs, cutting roughly 40 million acres of land from their territory.
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