Cheyenne Dog Soldiers

A Ledgerbook History of Coups and Combat

by Jean Afton

At Summit Springs, Colorado, on July 11, 1869, Maj. Eugene A. Carr led the Fifth United States Cavalry and a force of Pawnee scouts in an attack on Chief Tall Bull’s Cheyenne Dog Soldier village. When the day’s fighting was over, 52 Cheyenne Dog Soldiers lay dead. On that day, a soldier picked up what appeared to be a plain army ledgerbook. When opened, the book revealed page upon page of colored drawings–all rendered by Cheyenne warrior-artists. Working in close association with Cheyenne people, the authors have produced an unprecedented look at the Dog Soldiers, treating these ledger drawings as historical documents–as the history of the Dog Soldiers by the warrior-artists themselves. This is an extremely important work and possibly the best documented ledgerbook to date. Highly recommended.

400 pp ~ 141 color photos — ©1997