Cheyenne prisoners photograph in Dodge City, 1879

[jinlian]

Yesterday, I was reading In Dull Knife's Wake by V. R. and A. G. Maddux and came across a different identification of the Cheyenne prisoners portrayed in this famous picture taken in 1879 on the steps of the Dodge City courthouse:



The usual identification has the Indian sitting third from left, first row as "Noisy Walker" and the one sitting first from left in the second row as "Big Head/Tangle Hair"; however, in the Maddux text "Big Head" is given as "Noisy Walker" and the supposed "Noisy Walker" becomes "Big Head". The authors also suggest that both Noisy Walker and Left Hand were the nephews of the Noisy Walker killed at LBH. If so, the new identification makes sense, as the two individuals (who are sitting next to each other) appears to be of a similar age. Also, I was noticing that the Indian usually identified as "Noisy Walker" appears to hide his arm and hand, and in a report of the Topeka Commonwealth (February 1879) it is said that "Big Head (Tangle Hair) hand one hand shot away and carried his arm on a sling". What's more, if my sources are correct, Big Head/Tangle Hair was born around 1831and would have been about 48 at the time, while the man usually identified with him looks to be in his early thirties.

Any other opinions?

[Dietmar]

Jinlian,

good question. I have not read Maddux´book, but I have indeed read somewhere else about the same alternative identification.
However, I doubt Left Hand or Noisy Walker could have been nephews of Noisy Walker/Noisy Walking, killed at the Little Bighorn. The latter was the young son of White Bull, the Cheyenne holy man, and almost a teenager. How could a man like Left Land aka Strong Left Hand, who was the chief of a Cheyenne Soldier Society be his nephew?

[jinlian]

Dietmar,

although it is indeed a not-so-frequent situation, a teenage may have nephews of his own age or even older, if these nephews' father or mother are his much older siblings. Thus (of course, this is a conjecture, as I would need objective data to have it as a historical fact), the Noisy Walker killed at LBH might have had a much older brother (son of another wife of White Bull? The possibility of a great age difference between siblings is higher in a society where multiple wives are allowed) and Strong Left Hand and Noisy Walker might have been this elder brother's sons.

Just for more brainstorming...

[jinlian]

Yet another identification: