18th Century Cheyenne War Party

[jim boorn]

I have a note from George Hyde that even through the Cheyenne in the late 18th Century had horses that "war parties" would set out on foot when going out to attack their enemy such as the Assiniboine.  I am looking for an expert in Cheyenne 18th century war strategy that can tell me How a war party when have traveled to attack an "enemy" tribe on the Northern Plains.

[carlo]

Hi Jim, welcome to the forum.

To answer your question we must realize the following:



Firstly, while by the late 18th century horses were indeed owned by the Cheyennes and other Northern Plains tribes, they were not as prevalent as in the mid-1800s—the high point of the plains horse culture. In the late 1700s not everyone owned horses, or even a single horse, so the value of a single animal was extremely high. Horses were used not only for war but also for hunting and (most importantly) as pack animals. Losing your only horse in war was not a risk you would easily take.



Secondly, we must make distinction between a war party, focused on doing battle and gaining war honors, and a horse stealing (or raiding) party, focused on stealing horses. They are not mutually exclusive of course and could ‘blend’ depending on the situation. Historians tend to identify all native excursions as war parties.

Note that large scale battles were not common, especially not in the 1700s, so most of the expeditions were actually made with horse stealing in mind. These parties would often go out on foot, carrying provision and extra moccasins for the long trek to enemy territory, with the intent on riding back on a stolen horse. This type of expedition, mostly with just a few warriors in a party, took place even until the late 1800s (there are several examples of Lakota warriors in the late 1870s and’80s walking all the way from Canada to the Crow Reservation in southern Montana to steal horses.) The warriors would be out for weeks or even longer, on foot, trying to find an enemy camp to raid. Since they were on foot, they would try to keep concealed the entire time, and would enter an enemy campsite stealthily at night to either round up horses from the horse herd, or (as the ultimate horse stealing feat) cut the lariat of a prized horse staked close to an enemy lodge and lead it away from the camp with being noticed.



While mounted war parties did take place even in the late 1700s, they would only gain popularity in the 1800s with the increasing availability of horses and guns. And then we see an increase in set piece battles between tribes.



Hope this helps.