Mad Bear and Traveling Bear

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The Battle of Summit Springs, on July 11, 1869, was one of the most decisive engagements fought between the U.S. military and the Southern Plains Indians. In retribution for raids on Kansas settlements in 1868 and 1869, Brig. Gen. C. C. Augur, commander of the Department of the Platte, organized the "Republican River Expedition." His orders to expedition leader Maj. Eugene A. Carr were to clear Indians from the Republican River country with eight companies of the Fifth Cavalry and 150 Pawnee scouts under Maj. Frank North.

Among the Pawnee – Scouts were Mad Bear ( Co-Rux-Te-Chod-Ish ) and Traveling Bear ( Co-Rux-A-Kah-Wadde ) . There are various spellings of the names.

Both scouts received honorable mention in Major Carr`s military report. In the night of July 8, a small group of Dog Soldiers went out on a night attack to where soldiers under Major Eugene A. Carr with his fifth cavalry were camped. The young Dog Soldiers hoped to stampede some of the cavalry’s horses. In that night, Mad Bear was accidentally wounded by his own command as he breaks ranks in an attempt to capture a hostile Indian, who had been thrown from his horse.

On major Carr`s recommendation, congress awarded Mad Bear the Medal of Honor on August 24, 1869.

Citation : Ran out from the command in pursuit of a dismounted Indian; was shot down and badly wounded by a bullet from his own command.

According to Luther North, Carr accidentally awarded the medal to the wrong man. Carr had intended to award the medal to Traveling Bear, for his action during the battle of Summit Springs, when he entered a ravine in pursuit of four Cheyennesm whom he subsequently killed and scalped.

Due to the language barrier, the Pawnee – Scout names were misinterpreted and so, the name on the medal was Mad Bear. The error, while understandable, has never been corrected .

Mad Bear, who was a sergeant in the Pawnee Scouts, U.S. Army and was the first American Indian enlisted in the U.S. Army to receive the Medal of Honor, the military’s highest honor of valor in action against an enemy force, on August 24, 1869 – seven years after the honor was introduced to the U.S. Army.

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When Mad Bear was wounded in the night attack, he was shot through the fleshy part of the thigh, just above the hip point, but was not seriously injured. At Summit Springs, Mad Bear was in an ambulance wagon, as he was not yet well enough to ride on horseback.

No one ever knew whether he was shot by the Cheyennes or by „friendly fire“

For interest, the Cheyenne warrior, who was thrown from his horse during the night attack, was Yellow Nose, at that time about twenty years old ( See note ) .
On July 8, 1869 Yellow Nose with a small group of Dog Soldiers went out on a night attack . The young Dog Soldiers hoped to stampede some of the cavalry’s horses. Yellow Nose’s horse ran against a picket rope and threw him among the frightened cavalry horses. His arm was broken and his horse got away from him, leaving him afoot. He also lost his lance and shield and could not find them in the dark. The cavalry horses were threshing around wildly and making it very dangerous for Yellow Nose. Meanwhile, the soldiers and Pawnee scouts were shouting and shooting close to where Yellow Nose was hiding. However, he was able to slip through them. The rest of the Cheyenne war party thought Yellow Nose had been killed, so they returned to the Cheyenne camp. Much to everyone’s surprise, two days later Yellow Nose walked into camp with his arm in a sling, which he had cut from his shirt.
Years later, George Bent was told by a white man named J.J. White that he had bought the shield and lance that Yellow Nose lost from one of officers of Carr’s command.

Note: Yellow Nose, a Ute, was born about 1849 and was captured with his Ute mother by Cheyenne chief Lean Bear ( sometimes Starving Bear ) in the late 1850th. After the death of Lean Bear in 1864, he was adopted by Spotted Wolf. At Little Big Horn, he captured an army flag, which he used to count coup on a soldier.

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