Wooden Leg was born, in about 1858, in the region of the Black Hills, near the Cheyenne River.
15 Facts About Wooden Leg
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2.
Wooden Leg was son of Many Bullet Wounds and Eagle Feather on the Forehead.
3.
Wooden Leg was too young to take part in the battle, but during the fight, his eldest brother Strong Wind Blowing died.
4.
Wooden Leg spent four days closed in a tepee, meditating and contemplating, visited only once a day.
5.
On June 17,1876, Wooden Leg participated in the Battle of the Rosebud, against Brigadier General George Crook's force of 1,000 US cavalrymen and infantrymen who were allied with 300 Crow and Shoshone warriors.
6.
Wooden Leg quickly prepared himself for the battle, then moved himself to the melee with his brother.
7.
Wooden Leg had just fought in the Battle of Little Bighorn, one of the bloodiest battles of the American Indian Wars.
8.
Wooden Leg lived a laborious life in the area of the Tongue and Powder Rivers, until again because of hunger, he and the other 30 Cheyennes decided to give up their lives as hunters and sought the reservation.
9.
Wooden Leg lived there until the US government forced the Cheyennes to Indian Territory.
10.
In 1889, Wooden Leg enlisted at Fort Keogh as a US Indian scout, and was assigned to First Lieutenant Edward W Casey's Cheyenne Scouts of the Department of Dakota.
11.
In 1890, Casey's Scouts and Wooden Leg guided soldiers in the Ghost Dance campaign resulting in the Wounded Knee Massacre.
12.
Wooden Leg spoke of the battle, being one of the few Indians who had the courage to tell his experience to Dixon, a white doctor.
13.
Wooden Leg was baptized by the priest in the reservation in 1908.
14.
Wooden Leg had two daughters, but they both died in their youth.
15.
Wooden Leg's account is published in the book Wooden Leg: A Warrior Who Fought Custer.