11 Facts About Ten Bears

Ten Bears was the leader of the Ketahto local subgroup of the Yamparika, probably from the late 1840s.

Ten Bears was orphaned as a baby when his family group was murdered by Lakotas.

Ten Bears was a key figure in making peace between the Comanches and the Utes in 1820.

In 1840 the Yamparika chief, Ten Bears, was one among the principal promoters of the peace and large alliance between the Comanche and Kiowa alliance and the Cheyenne and Arapaho alliance after the Cheyenne and Arapaho's victory at Wolf Creek during the spring 1838.

Ten Bears first came to the attention of Anglo-Americans in 1853 when he, among others, signed the Treaty of Fort Atkinson.

Ten Bears became the principal Yamparika chief about 1860 after the death of the man known to Anglos as 'Shaved Head' ; the latter's Comanche name is uncertain as there were several men whom Anglos called by that name.

In 1863, along with a delegation of Western Indians, including Southern Cheyennes, Southern Arapahoes, and Kiowas, Ten Bears visited Washington, but he was unable to get any major concessions for his people from the US government.

In November 1864, Ten Bears was the chief of the Yamparika Comanches nearest the ruins of the Bent brothers' old adobe trading post when troops under Col.

In 1872, Ten Bears again visited Washington, along with a delegation that included his grandson Cheevers, as well as other Comanches and Kiowas.

Ten Bears died soon after his return, November 23,1872, at Fort Sill where he is buried.

Ten Bears, played by the Muscogee actor Will Sampson, is portrayed in the film The Outlaw Josey Wales as a Comanche chief defending his home who then makes a "live and let live" peace with the title character, portrayed by Clint Eastwood.